No Crisis Experience Commanded #7

In this part of the sermon: He details the events of Acts 2, emphasizing that the apostles were commanded to 'wait' without conditions, and the Spirit's outpouring was God's initiative, a fulfillment of…

He contrasts the simple biblical command to 'tarry' or 'wait' with the Pentecostal practice of 'tarrying meetings' involving intense spiritual exercise, arguing the latter reads into the text what is not there.

behold I send forth the promise of my father upon you so the gift of the spirit or the baptism in the spirit is called by our Lord the promise of my father and you will find that language used several times in John chapters 14 to 16 the gift of the spirit is called the promise of the father but tarry or literally sit in the city until you be clothed with power from on high now notice they were not told to go back to the city and meet three five seven or ten different conditions in order to earn the blessing of the spirit nor were they told to agonize for X number of days until they got the bap...

13:53 - 15:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains Acts 8, where the Spirit is given to Samaritans through the apostles, as God's way of visibly dismantling the ancient prejudice between Jews and Samaritans…

Martin quotes extensively from Frederick Dale Bruner's work to explain the unique significance of the Samaritan incident in Acts 8, emphasizing that the remedy for the Spirit's absence was not in the Samaritans' actions but in God's will to establish unity.

Then laid they, that is, Peter and John, apostles, laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now, what's the significance of this particular incident? Well, I believe I can do no better than to read for you from an excellent work on this whole subject, The Theology of the Holy Spirit, the Pentecostal Experience, and the New Testament Witness. That's the subtitle by Frederick Dale Bruner.

28:35 - 29:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: To teach this basic and important fact, it was the fact of the gospel, God withheld His gift until the apostles should see with their own eyes, and don't let it be overlooked, be instrumental with their own hands in the …

Bruner's description of Samaria as 'both a bridge to be crossed and a base to be occupied' is used to illustrate its strategic importance in the spread of the gospel beyond Judaism.

Samaria was the church's first decisive step out of and beyond Judaism. This was no casual event. Only the accession of the Gentiles, chapter 10, can be compared with it. Samaria was both a bridge to be crossed and a base to be occupied.

31:18 - 31:41 Read in full sermon

Driving home: To teach this basic and important fact, it was the fact of the gospel, God withheld His gift until the apostles should see with their own eyes, and don't let it be overlooked, be instrumental with their own hands in the …

The story of Jesus asking the Samaritan woman for water in John 4 is used to highlight the deep-seated enmity and inconsistency between Jews and Samaritans.

And you remember in John chapter 4, when Jesus, weary in the middle of his journey, stops by the well at Sychar and asks for a drink of water, you remember the question of the woman? How is it that you, being a Jew, ask water of me, a Samaritan?

34:27 - 34:45 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And so God had to punch that thought through the thick skull and the hard hearts of the Jews for all time.

The parable is referenced to show how Jesus used the most despised human being (a Samaritan) to demonstrate the universal definition of 'neighbor' to a Jewish lawyer.

You're acting inconsistently, you're acting inconsistently, with a practical expression of the enmity and bitterness that exists between Jew and Gentile. When a smart aleck young lawyer asked the Lord, not a lawyer as we think of them, but a doctor of Jewish law, asked the Lord, who is my neighbor? You remember how our Lord responded? By the parable of the what?

34:47 - 35:10 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He then moves to Acts 10 and 11, showing how God used visions to convince Peter to preach to Cornelius's Gentile household. The Spirit's outpouring on these Gentiles, with…

Martin humorously notes that God had to give Peter his vision three times, unlike Cornelius who only needed one, to illustrate Peter's deep-seated Jewish prejudice against Gentiles.

A vision by which he directs Cornelius to send messengers to Joppa to fetch a man named Peter. Verses 9 to 16 are the record of how the same God is giving a vision to Peter. Now Peter was a little thicker than Cornelius. God only had to give one vision to Cornelius, but he had to repeat, the vision thrice, or repeat it twice, give it once and repeat it two times.

39:34 - 40:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He then moves to Acts 10 and 11, showing how God used visions to convince Peter to preach to Cornelius's Gentile household. The Spirit's outpouring on these Gentiles, with…

Peter raising Cornelius who fell down to worship him is contrasted with modern popes allowing people to kiss their toe or ring, to emphasize Peter's humility and refusal of worship.

Unlike present popes, the successors to Peter, he would allow no one to bend down, even in anything that looked like an act of worship, let alone kiss his toe or kiss his ring. I myself also am a man. And as he talked with him, he went in, and finding many come together, he said unto them, You yourselves know how it is unlawful for a man that is a Jew to join himself or come unto one of his own. And yet, God has showed me I should not call any man common or unclean.

40:58 - 41:34 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Holy Ghost coming to indwell dogs? Gentile dogs? I mean, isn't it enough that God brings the gospel near their ears? But to send His Spirit into their hearts?

The phrase 'Gentile dogs' is used to vividly convey the Jewish perception of Gentiles, highlighting the shock and amazement of Jewish believers when the Holy Spirit indwelled them.

Holy Ghost coming to indwell dogs? Gentile dogs? I mean, isn't it enough that God brings the gospel near their ears? But to send His Spirit into their hearts?

43:45 - 43:59 Read in full sermon