No Crisis Experience Commanded #7

Review: The Fourth Principle and the Problem of Acts Passages

0:05 This adult Sunday school class was held on November 28, 1982, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:17 Now, we propose to pick up precisely this morning where we left off last week, but since we are in the midst of a very intricately interlaced biblical argument, it will be necessary to back up and briefly to review where we were when the class time ran out last Lord's Day morning. We are engaged in a study that we have entitled, Some Major Principles of Living the Christian Life. And in this study, I have sought to bring into sharp focus some of the overarching principles of the Christian life as set forth in the Word of God, and to set them again and again as a backdrop of false or erroneous teaching with respect to how we are to live the Christian life. And we are presently examining the fourth major principle of living the Christian life, the principle that I have stated this way, that there is no crisis experience either promised or commanded as essential to living the Christian life. And we've identified the various forms of teaching which assert, otherwise, then we've turned to the scriptures to see that our principle is indeed an accurate expression of the teaching of the Word of God.

1:41 But because in the minds of many and because in the teaching of those who take the contrary position, there are certain passages, particularly in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which cause problems, I have felt it necessary to address myself to a study of those passages. And so we began last week with an undisputed, and then an inevitable question which arises out of that fact. Now the fact is that there is recorded in the book of Acts a reception of the Holy Spirit attended with miraculous and visible signs, especially speaking in tongues and prophesying. And we looked at four such passages, Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10, and Acts 19. Now those passages, passages and the undisputed fact which they set forth raises this burning, this inescapable question, namely, is this record meant to be a paradigm, a pattern for the experience of all believers in all ages? Yes or no? And our charismatic friends, some of them are our friends, some of them are the enemies of truth and we must be careful not to generalize, they assert yes.

3:00 Yes. What we have in these passages is indeed a pattern for the people of God in all ages. We assert a resounding no. These passages are not meant to set forth a pattern for the experience of all believers in all ages.

Building Blocks for Understanding Acts: Transition and One New Humanity

3:18 Well, if that's not their purpose, pray tell, why are they found in the word of God? And I began to answer that question last week, and I set before you two major, two major building blocks in our answer. The first building block was the assertion that the book of Acts records, along with the Gospels and even certain parts of the Epistles, but for the sake of our study, the book of Acts records the transition from the old economy to the new. And we saw from the Scriptures, this is not something we imposed upon the Scriptures, we saw from the Scriptures that the Old Testament age is described as the age of preparation and anticipation, whereas the new age is the age of fulfillment and of realization. And in the winding down of the old age and in the ushering in of the new, we have a period in the history of God's dealings with men in saving mercy, often called the history of redemption, that's a non-biblical term, but a very helpful term to describe what is in the Bible. We have this period, which is often entitled the transition period,

4:42 as God is winding down the old economy, the age of preparation and anticipation and ushering in the New Economy, the economy or the Age of fulfillment and of realization. And then the second major building block in our answer, ran out as we were just asserting this, that a major aspect of this new economy is the making of one new humanity in Christ. God's major dealings in the age of preparation and anticipation, his dealings were with the nation of Israel. Granted, the patriarchs before them, and even after the founding of the nation of Israel, occasionally God dealt in mercy with individual and even whole groups of Gentiles, but by and large his dealings were with the nation of Israel. However, in this new age, the age of fulfillment and realization, God is going to do a new thing in that he will constitute the new Israel, the one new humanity in Jesus Christ in which the old barriers will be broken down. And now you had a homework assignment, and that's briefly our...

5:59 review, and that homework assignment was to read Ephesians chapter 2, verses 12 and following.

Ephesians 2-3: The Abolition of the Wall of Enmity

6:08 Now, I was asked at home this morning if I were going to check up and see how many did their homework assignment, and I'm tempted to do so, but I won't. Now, Ephesians chapter 2, beginning with verse, perhaps we should say with verse 11.

6:33 To the Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, but now, the emphasis upon something that has happened now. Now. At this point in time, but now, in Christ Jesus, you that were once far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself of the two. One new man, so making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh. For through him, that is, through Christ,

7:55 we both have our access in one spirit unto the Father. So then, you are no more strangers, strangers, and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom each several building, fitly framed together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. And then Paul goes right on into chapter 3. And begins to express why he prays, or the things for which he prays, when he prays for these Ephesians. For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, in behalf of you Gentiles, and then he breaks off into this long parenthesis, picking up the train of thought, not again until verse 14, for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father. And it's as though he cannot wrench his spirit loose from the amazing statement, which is of course, I am going to tell you, I have written a lot of statements, that have come from his own pen, in chapter 2 verses 11 through 22, that God is now in the new humanity in Christ, is constituting this one body, in which the old wall of separation between Jew and Gentile is utterly abolished.

9:21 And he says, verse 2, If so be you heard of the dispensation, or the stewardship of the grace of God, that was given me to you word. . . .

9:30 was made known to me the mystery as I wrote in a few words whereby when you read you can perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit to wit that the Gentiles are fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel now you see that's one of the grand leading truths of the new economy that Gentiles would be in this new arrangement on exactly the same footing as Jews they would be fellow members they would be fellow heirs they would come in to the new humanity partakers of the promise and we'll see how significant that word is equally with the Jews now in your homework assignment I asked you not only to read the passage that I've read in your hearing but to see if you could then discover any relationship between the Ephesians 2 passage and the four passages in Acts which we read now how many of you think you discovered some relationship raise your hands if you will please no one discovered a relationship

Building Block 3: How God Accomplished the One New Humanity

10:58 how many made an effort to do so alright at least a few made an effort alright well we need now to ask the question we've seen our first two building blocks building block number one in our answer to the question are these passages in Acts normative no well what are they there for well they're there to teach us something precious something very valuable and to teach the church this lesson for all ages so we started with building block number one that the old economy I'm sorry how did I say that how did I express it I don't want to trust my memory that the book of Acts records the transition from the old economy into the new building block number two was that one of the primary marks of the new economy is the constituting of this new humanity in Christ now then the question is this is building block number three how did God actually accomplish this great thing how did he make it plain that Jew and Gentile would be according to the language of chapter three and verse six fellow heirs fellow members of the body fellow partakers of the promise in union with Christ and through the gospel how did God actually do that how did God make it evident to men

12:25 well you see that's precisely the fundamental significance of these passages in Acts God is doing something in time in history in human experience and doing it in such a way that the message will come through with unmistakable clarity that when he has done this transition work of winding down the old and ushering in the new that what he has ushered in is one new humanity in Christ in which Jew and Gentile stand on an equal footing in Christ before God all right in the light of that let's go back then to these passages and see precisely how God does it all right let's go back to the Acts two passage and we'll not attempt to be exhaustive we want to go through and catch the major principles and then I trust as the spirit of God blesses our study that we'll see the significance of these passages you'll remember that the book of Luke the gospel according to Luke closed with our Lord's command to his apostles verse 49 of chapter 4 chapter 24 with a promise and a command

Acts 2: Pentecost and the Promise of the Father

13:53 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 baptism they were simply told to wait or to sit in the city and the word tarry has no connotation of spiritual exercise whatsoever now in Pentecostal circles it has come to gather to itself the whole idea of great spiritual exercise tarrying meetings or meetings in which one prays himself into a white hot spiritual fervor and intensely seeks the baptism well you see all of that has to be read into the Greek word and into the directions of our word

15:22 it's not into the directions of our Lord it's not there in the text he simply says wait or sit in the city until you be clothed with power from on high and he led them out until they were against Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them and as he parted from them he was carried up into heaven and they worshipped him returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God so one of their great activities was going into the temple while they were awaiting the fulfillment of the promise in order to praise and bless God for the mighty things he had done in raising their Lord from the dead now when the book of Acts opens we have a little summation by Luke of some of the events of the latter part of his gospel and we read in Acts chapter 1 the former treatise I made O Theophilus concerning all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day in which he was received up after that he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles to whom he had chosen to whom he showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs appearing unto them by the space of forty days and speaking things concerning the kingdom of God and being assembled together with them

16:51 he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father you see the phrase again wait for the promise of the Father which said he you heard from me and here is that promise John indeed baptized with water but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence so here the Lord puts the emphasis upon the fact that it is the promise of the Father they are simply to wait in Jerusalem until that promise is fulfilled now there is not a shred of a hint of any kind of command to meet any kind of conditions inwardly and psychologically and subjectively and I want to underscore that because when that is read into the passage that's exactly what it is done it is read into the passage not read out of it and that's why I have taken the time to read the closing verses in Luke and then to see the parallel passage in Acts and now what are they doing well they are intermittently found in the temple blessing and praising God and then obviously they are gathered also in a private room having seasons of prayer verse 14 these all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brethren but they are not

18:20 simply praying they are also conducting business and so we have the business meeting recorded in verses 15 to the end of the chapter in which they recognize a successor to Judas now verse 1 of chapter 2 and when the day of Pentecost was now come they were all together in one place and suddenly there came from heaven now you see the emphasis of Luke he doesn't say and when the day of Pentecost was now come and they had met three conditions five conditions seven conditions when they had tarried long enough when they had sought earnestly enough when they had done this there is no emphasis upon their activity whatsoever when the day of Pentecost was come they were together in one place now God takes the initiative suddenly there came from heaven a sound as above the rushing of a mighty wind and it filled all the house not where they were prostrate agonizing but the house where they were sitting and as one author has said that's not the posture of heroes you're all sitting here today a relatively easy activity to sit and it filled all the house where they were sitting now the Bible has a word for agonizing and it's sometimes

19:49 used in conjunction with prayer the Bible has a word for travailing it has some very vigorous words to describe in figurative language intense spiritual activity of various kinds but no word is used here by Luke all we read is that they were sitting in a house and from heaven comes the sound as of a rushing mighty wind and then these tongues parting asunder above them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance and then you know the subsequent history as they then go out from that room and continue to speak in these various dialects people who've come to the Feast of Pentecost from all over the world recognizing these people speaking in their own peculiar dialect and they're amazed because they are speaking forth the mighty works of God and this has created such a stir that Peter then stands up and says brethren I'm going to tell you what has come to pass and so Peter stands up in the midst and begins to speak verse 14 but Peter standing up with the eleven lifted up his voice remember that preachers he didn't mumble into his beard he lifted up his voice and he spoke forth unto them saying you men of Jerusalem

21:17 and all that dwell I'm sorry you men of Judea and all that dwell at Jerusalem let this be known unto you and give ear to my words these are not drunken as you suppose seeing it is but the third hour of the day but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel and it shall come to pass in the last days saith God and then he quotes the promise of Joel that God would mark the latter days the day of fulfillment and realization by the copious effusions of the Holy Spirit and upon your daughters and your sons the spirit will come forth and power and it will be a day in which the door of mercy is open wide verse 21 and it shall come to be that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved and now he begins to focus on verse 22 on the person and work of the Lord Jesus to show that the mighty intrusion of the Holy Spirit has come in conjunction with the person and work of the Lord Jesus he does not say this is that which has been promised by Joel and it's come to pass because we did certain things and we met certain conditions no he says this is a fulfillment

22:46 of prophecy which has come to pass because of what Jesus has done and because of who Jesus is and so he preaches Christ to them in his saving work in his mighty acts of redemption verse 32 this Jesus did God raise up whereof we are all witnesses now here's the key text being therefore by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father here's that terminology again the promise of the Holy Spirit he has poured forth this which you now see and hear for David did not ascend into the heavens but he said himself the Lord said unto my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies the footstool of your feet let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ Lord and Messiah this Jesus whom you crucified and what was the crowning act of his formal installation as God's Messiah it was this work of ushering in the new age with power by sending forth the whole Holy Spirit he says therefore let all the house of Israel know

24:13 Jesus is indeed the Messiah promised and anticipated whose great work would be that of ushering in this age of fulfillment and realization in the outpouring of the Spirit it is to be the age of the Spirit the crowning distinction of the new covenant is it is a covenant administered by the mighty power of the Spirit based upon the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus so it becomes very evident then that in Jerusalem the one hundred and twenty people who are gathered are all partakers of the Spirit of the Ascended Christ and he comes in this unusual way and makes it evident to all all right now then we move to the next passage Acts chapter eight sorry it's one verse in chapter one yet that I failed to give to you and this is significant the pattern that God is going to fulfill Acts one in verse eight ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you and notice you shall be my witnesses or witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea

Acts 8: Samaria and the Bridge to a New Beachhead

25:41 and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth the result of receiving power by the Spirit coming upon them is not to be witnesses of the Holy Ghost and of their experience in the Holy Ghost when you receive the Spirit you'll be my witnesses Jerusalem Judea Samaria the uttermost part of the earth well we see this promise now beginning to find fulfillment in Acts chapter eight the Gospel is now seen as penetrating into Samaria and rather than try to draw you a rough map of Palestine I'll hold this one up many of you can get the general idea this is Palestine here we have the Dead Sea and then you have that little line always going up to the Sea of Galilee that's the Jordan River well here's Jerusalem well Samaria's up here and Caesarea where Acts ten takes place is up here then Ephesus is way up here so you'll get some idea now Jerusalem Judea Samaria then Caesarea which stands right on the border of what we would say the penetration into the Gentile nations and then Ephesus way up here in the heart of what we would call raw Gentile pagan territory so now the Gospel is come or is coming to Samaria

27:10 Acts eight and verse five Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed unto them the Christ he was a witness of Jesus Christ and you remember from our reading last week that multitudes give heed to the word and there is evidently a great conversion work many are baptized verse twelve but when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ they were baptized both men and women now then verse fourteen when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent unto them Peter and John who when they were come down now notice it says nothing about preaching to them about the baptism of the spirit laying out conditions that they ought to meet in order to receive the baptism of the spirit it simply says Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet it was fallen upon none of them, only they had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then, now again notice the simplicity of Luke's language.

28:35 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.

29:08 And since I'm making a public commendation of the book, I should make a public caution. And the caution is that Bruner holds a viewpoint. He holds a view of baptism that borders on being sacramentalist. And then in a few places, he holds a view of scripture that indicates a rather perhaps neo-orthodox view.

29:28 He does not believe that it's impossible that Paul should contradict himself in one or two places. But with those two words of caution, I can say that this is the finest treatment of these passages and of the whole Pentecostal movement that probably will be produced in our generation at least that has been produced up till now, and I frankly don't know how it can be exceeded.

29:53 Now, let me read from Bruner his comments on this passage. It should be noticed, first, that the remedy for the absence of the Holy Spirit was not sought or found, according to the text, in any disposition or action of the Samaritans, nor, according to our text, are any steps for receiving the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit proposed to the Samaritans. The Samaritans are asked no questions, and they are placed under no commands.

30:27 The problem does not lie with the Samaritans. We have no record that it lay with Philip, who in fact in the next scene is instrumental in the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch without any supplementation by the apostles. What, then, is the answer to this strange event? In which apostles come from Jerusalem to this band of believers at Samaria and lay hands upon them so that they receive the Holy Spirit in such a way that it is visibly evident that they've received it.

31:01 It doesn't say there were tongues or prophecy, but it was something that could be seen so that Simon Magus asked for the same power. Well, listen to Mr. Bruner's perceptive comments. We must look for the solution to the Samaritan puzzle in another direction.

31:18 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.

31:41 A bridge to be crossed and a base to be occupied. The reason behind the absolutely unique division of what everywhere else since Pentecost is one, that is, Christian profession, baptism, and the gift of the Spirit, may most satisfactorily be found in the divine will to establish unequivocally for the apostles, for the despised Samaritans, and for the whole church present and future, that for God, no barriers existed for His gift of the Spirit. That wherever faith in the gospel occurred, there was the work of God's Spirit, and there, accordingly, God purposed to give the gift of the Holy Spirit. In a word, the gift of God's Holy Spirit was free and was for all. 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 impartation of the gift of God,

33:07 merited by nothing, least of all by race or prior religion. If a Samaritan church and a Jewish church, if a Samaritan church and a Jewish church, if a Samaritan church and a Jewish church, if a Samaritan church and a Jewish church, if a Samaritan church and a Jewish church, had arisen independently, side by side, without the dramatic removal of the ancient and bitter barriers of prejudice between the two, particularly at the level of ultimate authority, the young church of God would have been in schism from the very inception of its mission. The drama of the Samaritan affair in Acts 8 included among its purposes the vivid and visual dis- the dismantling of the wall of enmity between Jew and Samaritan, and thus preserve the precious unity of the church of God through the unique divine interception, and then prompt presentation of the Spirit in the presence of the apostles. Now do you see what he's saying? Think back through the gospels. What was the attitude between Jews and Samaritans?

34:17 Hmm? They were half-breed Jews. They had their own independent priesthood. They accepted only the first five books of Moses.

34:27 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?

34:47 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?

35:10 Good Samaritan. When he wanted to demonstrate that your neighbor is any fellow human being, he took the most despised fellow human being, that a Jew could think of, a Samaritan, and he used that very incident. So you see, we've got to go back into that historical situation and realize that when the gospel begins to go to Samaria, there's a sense in which people dwelling in Jerusalem, that wouldn't have bothered them too much to hear the gospel had gone to Samaria. Sure, those Samaritan half-breeds, they need the gospel.

35:42 The dirty bums? Sure, they need the gospel. But to believe that those Samaritans, are becoming part of the new humanity in Christ, on an equal footing in God's new Israel, with equal access to God, under the one apostolic authority, that was an amazing thought. And so God had to punch that thought through the thick skull and the hard hearts of the Jews for all time.

Acts 10-11: Gentiles and the Breaking of the Final Barrier

36:15 And how did he do it? He did it by this incident. So that, although the normal process is exactly what you find later on in Acts, after the Spirit is given to the 120, you don't find any outpouring of the Spirit with tongues. You simply find people believing the gospel, repenting, baptized, and they come into the church.

36:37 No record from Acts 2 all the way on that the great multitudes who were added go through anything like the initial 120 did. God's got the message through. How many times does he need to repeat it? The people of God there in Jerusalem in that mighty outpouring of the Spirit are constituted the germ of this new humanity and all in that area who repent and believe become part of that new humanity.

37:05 Now the gospel goes across a bridge to establish a new beachhead. Bridge and beachhead. God must get the message through. I'm constituting one new humanity.

37:16 So by the secret, powerful operations of the Spirit in regenerating grace, he brings a multitude of Samaritans to repentance and faith, but that's an invisible, inward work that can't be seen with human eyes in the long-range changes, yes, but to get the message through, God grants this unusual gift of the Spirit with these unusual manifestations to make it evident that indeed, Samaritans are part of the one new humanity. Well, then, where's the next place the gospel's going to go? Here we have Palestine.

37:55 It's gone from Jerusalem out in Judea up here into Samaria, but now Caesarea, standing right on the borders of penetration into the Gentile world. Turn, please, to Acts chapter 10.

38:11 Now what does God do?

38:17 Acts chapter 10. And here we must quickly summarize Acts chapter 10, verses 1 and 2, make it evident that the household of Cornelius is a household of Gentiles. There was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called the Italian Band, a devout man, one that feared God with all his house, gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. Now that he was a Gentile, but a proselyte of the gate, one who would be welcomed into the outer court, but not in the outer court, but not in the outer court, but not in the outer court, but not in the outer court, but not in the outer court, but not in the outer court, but not the inner place where Jews could come, is evident from chapter 11 and verse 18.

39:01 Just so you don't assume that I'm asserting without proof. When they give a record of what happened in Cornelius' household, the Jews there at Jerusalem say, when they hear these things, they held their peace, glorified God, saying, then to the Gentiles hath God granted repentance unto life. So here is a Gentile household, what happens? Well, verses 1 to 8 of Acts 10 record the vision God gave to Cornelius.

39:34 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.

40:00 Three times God had to give this vision to Peter to get rid of his all-Jewish mentality that certain things and certain people were intrinsically unclean, and nothing was more unclean than a Gentile dog. So the Lord had to get the message through his thick skull, and then we have the record in verses 17 to 23 of how then these representatives from Cornelius' household acted, actually come to Peter and tell their story, and Peter's convinced now that God wants him to go into the home of a Gentile and preach the gospel. All right? Now then we have the record of the visit to Cornelius' house beginning with verse 24.

40:44 And on the morrow they entered into Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his kinsmen and his near friends. And it came to pass that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down, and worshipped him. But Peter raised him up.

40:58 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.

41:34 Wherefore also I came without gainsaying when I was sent for. I ask therefore with what intent you sent for me. Now you see, Peter was very conscious and no doubt was going through tremendous struggles even as he said it. Probably everything in him, just psychologically and emotionally, feeling this tremendous sense of, of, of disruption.

41:57 Probably the first time in his entire life that he had ever been in the company of a bunch of Gentiles in this close, intimate, social contact. But he says, God made it plain to me, so without disputing and arguing any further, here I am. And then, of course, they acknowledge that they are prepared to hear the word of God from his mouth. And what does he do?

42:21 Well, he begins to preach the gospel. Verse 36, the word which he sent, unto the children of Israel, preaching good tidings of peace, by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That saying, you yourselves know, which was published throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached. And then he goes on to preach Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

42:48 Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ the judge of the dead, and then Christ, verse 43, as the forgiver of sin, to him bear all the prophet's witness that through his name, everyone that believes on him shall receive remission of sins, While Peter yet spoke these words, words about Christ, words about remission of sin promised on the basis of the death and resurrection of Christ. Not a word about the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Not a word about tongues, not a word about meeting certain conditions. He's simply preaching Christ.

43:34 What happens? The Holy Spirit fell on them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed. You bet your boots they were amazed.

43:45 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?

44:00 They were amazed because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, how did they know it? For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. They knew that this was the Spirit coming upon this Gentile household because they heard them doing exactly what the Spirit made them.

44:27 They knew when He came upon them on the day of Pentecost. They heard them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Now, Peter gets the message. And here it is.

44:37 Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid the water, the symbol of their union with Christ, their incorporation into the new humanity? Can anyone forbid the water who has the Spirit? Can any forbid the water that these, should not be baptized to have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

45:07 Then prayed they them to tarry certain days. Now, is it right for us to extract from this the significance that we do? That God is now getting the message through that not only these half-breed Jews are included in the new humanity, but even Gentile dogs. Well, let's look.

45:27 In the next chapter, we'll talk about that. In the next chapter. And here you have the most extended, inspired commentary on any one of these incidents. Now, the apostles and the brethren that were in Judea, back here, they heard that the Gentiles had received, notice, the Word of God.

45:44 Receiving the Spirit with tongues is equated to receiving the Word of God in faith. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, You went into men uncircumcised and ate with them. I mean, this was unthinkable. Now, these are people saved and full of the Spirit.

46:14 And yet this was utterly shocking to them. Peter, tell us we didn't hear rightly. We've heard it say that you actually went into Gentiles and sat down with them and ate with them. But Peter began and expounded.

46:29 He said, And then Peter gives a summary of the vision God gave to him and how God brought the three men from Caesarea, from the household of Cornelius, verse 11. Now, notice very carefully. And he told us, verse 13, how he had seen the angel, that is, Cornelius did, and saying, And send to Joppa and fetch Simon, whose surname is Peter, who will speak to you words, whereby you will be saved, thou and all thy house. Now, Peter goes on speaking.

47:06 And as I began to speak, speak what? Speak the words by which people are saved. Now, by what words are people saved? The words of the gospel.

47:16 Preaching Christ crucified. Preaching Christ risen. Preaching that in his name forgiveness is granted to every believer. That's how people get saved.

47:27 And Peter says, As I'm preaching the message whereby people get saved, what happened? Verse 16. As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit, if then God gave unto them the like gift as he did unto us, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

47:58 The gift was given upon condition of faith in Jesus Christ.

48:07 Do you see it? I didn't put that in the text. It's there. The inspired apostle says, If God gave unto them the like gift as he did unto us, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?

48:23 And when they held these things, when they heard these things, they held their peace. It shocked them into silence for a minute. Then when they got their wits, they broke out of their silence and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also has God granted the baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues.

48:45 No, that's the conclusion. Charismatics and Pentecostals extract word of God, but God never put it there.

48:56 Then is God granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life. God's taking Gentile dogs and bringing them into the new humanity through Jesus Christ. And how do we know it? Well, God punched it through our thick skulls.

49:13 He sent his spirit upon them, causing them to manifest the same thing that we experienced here that we might get the message. He gave them the like gift, the inward gift of the spirit. How do we know it? Because of the external manifestation which paralleled what God did with us.

49:34 Now we know that Gentiles are saved by grace. They are brought to the repentance which is unto life. And you have an additional commentary on this to show again that this is not just one dimension of it. In Acts 15, when they gather at Jerusalem, these representatives from the church at Antioch come to the church at Jerusalem to discuss the problem of these teachers who supposedly came down from Judea and were troubling the Gentiles.

50:03 They were troubling the Gentile churches saying that you've got to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved. And when they gather to discuss things, Peter refers to this very incident as very, very germane to the whole discussion. Verse 6 of Acts 15. And the apostles and elders were gathered together to consider of this matter.

50:26 And when there had been much questioning, Peter rose up and said to them, Brethren, you know that a good while ago God made choice, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word concerning the baptism of the Spirit and speaking in tongues. No, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart, God alone knows the heart, and He saw the faith and repentance He created in them, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit even as He did in the first place. He did unto us, and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why make trial of God that you should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ as well or in like manner as they. Do you see what the whole question is?

51:34 The question was? The question was salvation.

51:39 And the message God gets through is that where there is repentance and faith, there is the gift of the Spirit, there is the full pardon of sin, all in a believing response to the Savior. So God's got the message through now about the half-breed Samaritans, and now He gets it through with regard to these Gentiles, and now there's one more incident, and that's, all Gentiles who aren't even proselytes way up in Ephesus who've heard some things about John's message and John's baptism, but even that was a smattering of the message. It wasn't even complete John the Baptist preaching as we'll see next week, but I hope to get through these four passages. But now, let me ask you to do something, and I hope you're a little more faithful in your homework this week. I want you to go back through the intervening passages between Acts 2 and Acts 8, between Acts 8 and Acts 10, and see if in those areas where God has once gotten the message through, there's any repetition of that unusual manifestation of the Spirit in conjunction with coming to faith in Christ. Is it beginning to make sense now?

Conclusion: The Normative Message for All Ages

52:54 Are you beginning to see something, the beauty and the glory of what God is telling us? God has not put these passages in here to be the pattern of, of your own individual experience. He's getting through a marvelous message which does indeed relate to your experience, and the message is this, when in the sense of your undoneness and wretchedness, you look to the Lord Jesus Christ in penitent faith, and in believing penitence, and embrace the Lord Jesus in Him, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit. And you don't need tongues, you don't need shivers, you don't need shapes, you don't need prophecy, God's gotten the message through that before the book of Acts is over, He's telling to the world for all time, I've constituted one new humanity in Jesus Christ. I've brought peace to those that were near, the Jews, those that were apart, and now all of them, in the language of 1 Corinthians 12, 13, are baptized by the one Spirit into the one body, and are made to drink of the one Spirit. Now I ask you, those of you who've dabbled, who've dabbled in charismadia, is this a more honest handling of the passages than you were ever apprised of in those circles?

54:15 I leave the matter with your own conscience before God, and trust that the Lord will continue to be with us. As I said last week, I don't like to do straight lecturing with a little preaching thrown in, but in this area, I felt I had to do it, and God willing, when we finish up the Acts 19 passage, then I've got three questions that I want to throw out for discussion, and I hope that you'll be able to answer them. Thank you. Thank you.

54:36 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

54:36 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

54:36 Thank you. Thank you. And hopefully then you'll be able to contribute and make helpful insights as well. Well, let's pray together.

54:48 Our Father, we are so thankful that your word has been given to us as a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway, and we praise you this morning for the great message of these portions in the book of the Acts, that in grace and mercy you have broken down the middle wall of partition, that you have swept away the prejudice and the animosity of years. You have constituted the one church of Christ, the one new humanity, and we thank you that living as we do at this point in redemptive history, we may come in all the clarity of this revelation to assure in certain knowledge that in Christ the promise of the Spirit is ours, that having heard and believed, we have been sealed with the Spirit, and we are able to promise unto the day of redemption. Oh God, give us such a working grasp upon these passages that we may be able to help those who are deluded and deceived, that we may be immunized against false teaching that would leave us vulnerable to excesses and to fanaticism, and we pray that in this day of charismania that you would bring sanity and biblical order back to your church, and that we may be able to help and practically biblical godliness may once again mark your people.

56:17 Oh Lord, hear our cry and seal to our hearts the things we've considered this morning. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.