Episode 13
The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit: An Examination of Scriptural Instances I
Summary:
The focus of our discussion centers on the remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as delineated in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. We commence our examination with the figures of Simeon and Anna, both of whom exemplify the profound influence of the Spirit to confirm the arrival of the last days and the coming of the Messiah. Their narratives are complemented by the accounts of Elizabeth and Zechariah, illustrating the divine orchestration surrounding the births of John the Immerser and Jesus. Each of these instances signifies a miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit, underscoring the extraordinary nature of these events. We conclude with the significant role of John the Immerser and the baptism of Jesus, both of which serve to encapsulate the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in that era. There was never promised a non-miraculous indwelling; therefore, we should not expect to find its fulfillment.
Notes:
The exploration of the Holy Spirit's outpouring during the formative days of the New Testament is a profound journey that commences with Simeon and Anna, who are depicted as inspired individuals reflecting the divine presence. Their experiences serve as a prelude to the miraculous events surrounding the births of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, where the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is unmistakably portrayed. The discussion delves into the prophetic utterances of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who, through the miraculous working of the Spirit, articulate the significant role of their son, John, as a precursor to the Messiah. This theme of divine inspiration continues to unfold as we examine John the Immerser's ministry, culminating in the baptism of Jesus, an event marked by the descent of the Holy Spirit. The episode articulates how these occurrences are not mere historical anecdotes but pivotal moments that align with the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, emphasizing the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in preparing humanity for a new covenant with God.
Takeaways:
- The miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a significant theme during the last days, highlighting divine guidance received by Simeon and Anna.
- Luke's narrative emphasizes that every mention of the Holy Spirit's indwelling in his works signifies a miraculous event rather than a non-miraculous experience.
- The birth announcements of John the Baptist and Jesus serve as pivotal moments of the Spirit’s influence, showcasing the extraordinary nature of these events.
- John the Immerser was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, marking a crucial moment in the prophetic lineage leading to Christ's ministry.
- The promise of the Holy Spirit was intricately tied to the prophetic fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, indicating a divine plan that spanned generations.
- Jesus himself was anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, demonstrating the essential role of the Spirit in his earthly ministry and teachings.
Transcript
And good day to you.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining us in this study.
Speaker A:We've been talking about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days, something that the prophets prophesied.
Speaker A:We've especially focused on Joel's prophecy in chapter two, and we're looking at its fulfillment in the last days.
Speaker A:And so today we want to continue that in looking at the examples that we have of such outpouring in the New Testament.
Speaker A:Think about the outpouring during this time, this period, and that this outpouring was a miraculous occurrence.
Speaker A:I think it's very significant to note that in all of Luke's work, which would include Luke and Acts, you'll not find a reference to one non miraculous indwelling.
Speaker A:There's no reference to it, there's no mention of it, no description of it.
Speaker A:The reason for this conclusion is that if the gift of the Holy Spirit does not apply, then how can we conclude that repentance and baptism for the remission of sins applies?
Speaker A:In fact, some people have made the argument that if the Holy Spirit's gift does not apply in verse 39, how can we have any proof or any confidence that there is remission of sins?
Speaker A:We feel forced to apply both the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:And so that leads to the conclusion that if the gift of the Holy Spirit is applicable, we must either have the gift given by the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:That is, we're talking about an objective genitive, a gift that is simply given by the Holy Spirit, or a non miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit, some subjective genitive.
Speaker A:As we might look at it grammatically, I would suggest to you, based on Luke's use of this, when we come a little further into the book of Acts, you'll remember that in Acts 5 there's a statement made in verse 32, and it appears from the text that the subjective genitive is meant and that since the Holy Spirit was promised to everyone who believed Mark 16, verse 20, and others, and Joel's prophecy was being fulfilled at that day in Acts 2, so that the promise that they were to receive and that they could receive him, that is the Holy Spirit in verse 38 was a part of the miraculous outpouring of the last days, now there's no doubt but that it was poured upon the apostles there in the city of Jerusalem.
Speaker A:They were told in Luke 24 to tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high.
Speaker A:That was a promise that was given to the apostles.
Speaker A:It was a promise, then that's why they stayed in Jerusalem.
Speaker A:And that's when in Acts chapter two.
Speaker A:Now there were a lot of people there.
Speaker A:But that's not to suggest to us that they all had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, that they all began to speak in other tongues.
Speaker A:Now I know that some people are making that conclusion, but it's a conclusion that's not warranted in the text.
Speaker A:So when we look at that, when Luke often uses the phrase throughout the book of Acts, using the phrase full of the Holy Spirit going back to Mark 16, let me just say to complete the thought, Joel's prophecy was being fulfilled on the day in Acts 2, and Peter makes that clear.
Speaker A:The promise that they should receive him in verse 38 was a part of the miraculous outpouring of the last days.
Speaker A:Just like Joel 2, several times the phrase is used regarding the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:We have those that were chosen to care for the Grecian widows in Acts 6 who were full of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Stephen was said to be full of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Now that marks a clear undeniable change that could not go unnoticed.
Speaker A:But to take these miraculous events away from the context of this time and apply them today, whether miraculous or not, destroys the purpose and plan of God and leaves the world in confusion.
Speaker A:God is a God that cannot lie.
Speaker A:And he purposed to fulfill his promises in the last days and to usher in a new and glorious era of spiritual realities that was unknown by the physical and the carnal.
Speaker A:To continue the miraculous claim after the plan is accomplished and the purpose achieved calls into question whether God fulfilled his promise to claim the gift of the Holy Spirit today by making it some non miraculous gift is equally disturbing to me and destroys the time of his work and the purpose of his coming.
Speaker A:A second observation as we go through this as a sort of a brief synopsis is we find the Holy Spirit coming during the birth announcements.
Speaker A:And I'm trying to illustrate the idea presented by Joel when he says he talks about the outpouring.
Speaker A:This was again a time of great outpouring like had never been seen before.
Speaker A:When you look at Luke's work, he starts before the introduction of Jesus to cite a few isolated occasions when someone is introduced and they are described as being guided by the Holy Spirit, the unborn children of John and Jesus.
Speaker A:Look first of all as he tells us that Elizabeth, the mother of John, was filled with the Holy Spirit when Mary had come to Visit.
Speaker A:In chapter one and verse 41, the message centered around the child in Mary's womb and can only be explained by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Then we come to the individual Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, father of John, that he prophesied concerning the birth of his own son in chapter one and verse 67.
Speaker A:This prophecy was the fulfillment of the sign promised Zechariah in a vision that had announced John's conception.
Speaker A:It's clear from the description of this event that Zechariah was endowed with a prophetic utterance that identified John as the prophet of the highest who would go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.
Speaker A:Luke 1:76.
Speaker A:There were also two others, remember Simeon and Anna at the temple who spoke under inspiration.
Speaker A:All of these individuals on all of these people seem to be focused on the confirmation that for the sake of their parents and the truth of what was about to be experienced, then not only do we find the Holy Spirit in these individuals early on, before the birth of the children, but then we come to the individual John himself.
Speaker A:The power of John was in his preaching because he never said to perform miracles.
Speaker A:But as noted in the announcement of his birth, the angel reports he'll be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.
Speaker A:There is no again, there's no evidence given in the text of him performing a miracle.
Speaker A:But the Holy Spirit was with John and directed.
Speaker A:John inspired the message of John with regard to the Messiah and the coming of his kingdom.
Speaker A:John's work as a prophet had broken a period of 400 years without any prophetic activity.
Speaker A:And that may explain why he was such a novelty.
Speaker A:While the Bible says in Matthew 3, 5 as well as Mark 2, 5, all the region around Jordan, Jerusalem and all Judea went to see him.
Speaker A:Some were baptized of him, confessing their sins, while others were just spectators.
Speaker A:But his work was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi, who wrote of him.
Speaker A:Just to connect the dots, look at Malachi 4, 6.
Speaker A:Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.
Speaker A:And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Speaker A:Also, Jesus tells his disciples that John was the Elijah to come.
Speaker A:So there's no thought that Elijah was reincarnated through John.
Speaker A:John's parents knew that he would go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah.
Speaker A:Luke chapter 1, verse 17.
Speaker A:And the purpose for that was simply to prepare a people ready for the Lord.
Speaker A:And if you take the statement made before the great and terrible day of the Lord come, it would also prepare a people ready for him and escape the day of wrath.
Speaker A:He promised that he would.
Speaker A:And we'll go back to come back to this a bit later that Jesus, when he comes, John says he'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Speaker A:Now I suggest to you that that's a reward for those who had been obedient, as well as a punishment for those who were not.
Speaker A:And that's just putting it simply.
Speaker A:So when he came, he would not only bring salvation, but it would also be a day of wrath.
Speaker A:Jesus asks, but what went ye out to see?
Speaker A:A man clothed in soft raiment.
Speaker A:Behold, they that wear soft raiment are in kings houses.
Speaker A:But wherefore went ye out to see a prophet?
Speaker A:Yes, and I say unto you, and much more than a prophet, this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.
Speaker A:And he says, if you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah that is to come.
Speaker A:So Jesus makes it clear that the coming of Elijah as presented by Malachi was in fact the coming of John the Baptist.
Speaker A:Luke gives the meaning that when he explains it this he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient, to walk in the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.
Speaker A:Several similarities can be found between John and Elijah.
Speaker A:That explains the similarity.
Speaker A:Well, if you think about the men themselves, Elijah had worn a garment of haircloth with a leather belt about his loins.
Speaker A:And Second Kings 1 describes him in that way.
Speaker A:And it is said of John that he wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather girdle around his waist.
Speaker A:Matthew 1, verse 2.
Speaker A:Also you have also where Ahab and his wife Jezebel can be compared to Herod, Herodias and her daughter.
Speaker A:Remember she asked for John the Baptist's head on a platter.
Speaker A:So Elijah fights with Ahab and Jezebel, while John confronts the others.
Speaker A:Third, both are on the periphery of society, even due to different circumstances.
Speaker A:The Jews who came to John's baptism, they exemplified the kind of heart in the people who would experience the dreadful day of the God's wrath.
Speaker A:You remember in chapter three of Matthew, beginning in verse eight, the text reads, therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance.
Speaker A:And do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, we have Abraham to our Father, for I say to you that God is able from these Stones to raise up children to Abraham.
Speaker A:And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees.
Speaker A:Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Speaker A:As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance.
Speaker A:But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove his sandals.
Speaker A:He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Speaker A:And his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor.
Speaker A:He will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Speaker A:Well, from this text we learn that first of all, John was preaching to a nation that needed to repent to change their lives in keeping with that repentance.
Speaker A:Second, it was nothing for God to raise children to Abraham from any source he wanted to.
Speaker A:And third, already Israel was being axed.
Speaker A:The tree was about to be burned.
Speaker A:It's not like the axes in the barn ready to be used.
Speaker A:It's at the root, it's ready to be used.
Speaker A:Fourth, John baptized with the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, making ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Speaker A:But fifth, the one mightier than I, he says he was about to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, which is a reference to both harvest, the harvest of good and the burning up of the chaff, that is the wicked.
Speaker A:This is very similar to same, similar elements in Malachi 4.
Speaker A:He'll burn up the chaff with the fire that would not be put out.
Speaker A:And so we have the Christ after John, and his work began.
Speaker A:And we see the work of the Holy Spirit present in his preaching.
Speaker A:We find in Jesus himself he was given the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Now, this is a difficult thought to wrap our minds around, but Jesus is limited.
Speaker A:He limited his divine prerogatives.
Speaker A:When he became a man.
Speaker A:He sought to identify himself with the human race.
Speaker A:He refers to himself many times as the Son of Man.
Speaker A:He was born into this world as a human being, advanced and grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Speaker A:Luke 2:52.
Speaker A:Now, while he may have been an extraordinary young man, no doubt he was from the occasion of him being in the temple at the age of 12.
Speaker A:We can get some sense of this.
Speaker A:But still he grew in favor with God and man.
Speaker A:Then he was baptized.
Speaker A:We find in Luke chapter three, that at that time the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and the Father declares that he's well pleased with him.
Speaker A:We are told In Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 7 beginning there, we're told that he learned obedience by the things that he suffered.
Speaker A:His experience as a man taught him to be submissive.
Speaker A:In fact, many times and throughout the Gospel of John, we have the record stating by Jesus that he does only the works of his Father.
Speaker A:That which the Father told him to speak.
Speaker A:Those are the words he speaks.
Speaker A:Again, it's difficult to even begin to discuss deity and how Jesus could himself be both God and man.
Speaker A:But his submission is seen by his emptying himself and subjecting himself to suffering.
Speaker A:Now, it's not clear if he had the power of deity before the Spirit's descent, or if he just voluntarily suppressed the full powers of deity due to his humanity, until which time the Spirit descended on him.
Speaker A:There's just a lot that's hard for us to wrap our minds around.
Speaker A:But if he had the power of a deity before his baptism, my question would be why would he need the Holy Spirit to be given at all?
Speaker A:It's said that he was given without measure.
Speaker A:Why he would have had all the power of deity without the Spirit, that wouldn't have been necessary.
Speaker A:But not having the power and the glory of deity certainly would not negate his person as the pre existent word.
Speaker A:It only is demonstrating the degree to which he subjected himself when he became a man.
Speaker A:But the Father, being well pleased on this occasion, gives him the full power of the Spirit.
Speaker A:Or as the text reads in John 3.
Speaker A:34, it was given without measure.
Speaker A:He's deserving of it as it fits his person.
Speaker A:What is clear is that Christ subjects himself to identifying with the human race and he does so to become our merciful and faithful high Priest.
Speaker A:This is the point the Hebrew writer is making.
Speaker A:And after his baptism, he's immediately driven by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.
Speaker A:In chapter four of Matthew.
Speaker A:In chapter four of Hebrews, the Hebrew writer says that he was tempted in all points like as we are, and yet without sin, why he can sympathize with us.
Speaker A:Chapter 4, verse 15.
Speaker A:It appears from the evidence that of all people, the man Jesus of Nathan would not be exempt from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the end of the age.
Speaker A:By the time Jesus begins his work, he's described as being full of the Holy Spirit and was anointed with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Look at the passages that we'll allude to here that describe the Holy Spirit's role in the life of Jesus.
Speaker A:Compare first of all Luke chapter 4 in Luke 4, beginning in verse 1, and we'll look at 1:14, it reads, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness, being 40 days tempted of the devil.
Speaker A:Now look at verse 14.
Speaker A:And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.
Speaker A:And news about him spread throughout all the surrounding district.
Speaker A:And he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
Speaker A:Now look further into chapter four.
Speaker A: Look at verse: Speaker A:And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.
Speaker A:And as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.
Speaker A:And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Speaker A:And he opened the book and found the place where it was written.
Speaker A:The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
Speaker A:He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.
Speaker A:Then we find Jesus reads.
Speaker A:He reads the prophecy in Isaiah 61.
Speaker A:It's found in verses one and two in our text.
Speaker A:And then he applies it to himself with these words.
Speaker A:Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
Speaker A:Now, in the Old Testament, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon someone, they were under the guiding influence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:There's too many proofs for this.
Speaker A:Judges, chapter 3, verse 10, 6, 24.
Speaker A:And a host and host of many others in Luke, chapter four.
Speaker A:Once again, we're still there.
Speaker A:Look at verse 36.
Speaker A:The people report with amazement.
Speaker A:With authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.
Speaker A:When Peter is preaching in Acts 10, he explains in verse 38 about Jesus.
Speaker A:He says, you know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Speaker A:Now, notice, please.
Speaker A:He says, you know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power.
Speaker A:So while you may not quite understand how it is that Jesus, being God, would even need the Holy Spirit to come upon him, my point simply is it reflects the age that Joel said it would be, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and even on Jesus Christ.
Speaker A:Now let's turn our attention to the Acts of the Apostles and the work of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.
Speaker A:It would be a great demonstration of miraculous power.
Speaker A:It was designed as a symbol or sign for the unbeliever and also a confirmation for the saints.
Speaker A:Later we find descriptions of believers who had spiritual gifts over in First Corinthians 12 through 14, Paul regulates the use of those gifts there.
Speaker A:But in all of these, the promise of the Holy Spirit speaks to the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:It was not a non miraculous.
Speaker A:I used to believe in the non miraculous indwelling of Acts 2, 38 and 39 and the miraculous indwelling that described the events of Joel 2 and fulfilled in the earlier portion of Acts 2.
Speaker A:However, I couldn't prove that a non miraculous indwelling was ever promised.
Speaker A:So why would we see a fulfillment of something that was never promised in Joel 2?
Speaker A:The absence of such a promise of the Spirit gives cause for doubt that such a gift was ever granted.
Speaker A:The Old Testament prophets did not promise a non miraculous gift of the Spirit.
Speaker A:Now most people would agree that Acts 2, verses 1 through 4 that describes the coming of the Spirit upon the apostles in those days, that that was miraculous.
Speaker A:Peter emphatically states that it is what Joel predicted.
Speaker A:Again, what did Joel predict?
Speaker A:He predicted prophetic utterances and dreams and visions that they would be given as a result of the outpouring of the Holy spirit in Daniel 7:9.
Speaker A:It reveals all sorts of ways, but they were miraculous, miraculous visions, for example.
Speaker A:And so when Peter quotes Joel's prophecy, it's clear that visions and dreams would return as in those earlier days.
Speaker A:Later, when the Hebrew writer writes in Chapter one, he tells us that God spoke to the prophets in different times and ways, but has now spoken to us in the last days.
Speaker A:He identifies those days as the last days and that he speaks to us in those days by His Son.
Speaker A:However, as we will outline, Jesus not only spoke to us in the days in his person, but he also sent the Holy Spirit to continue the same work in those days among his disciples.
Speaker A:So I'll now bring our attention to the gift of speaking in tongues.
Speaker A:The Greek word translated tongues is synonymous with languages.
Speaker A:They were intelligible languages that could be interpreted or translated into other languages.
Speaker A:Some have taken the idea from Paul's mention of tongues of men and angels in 1 Corinthians 13 that speaking in tongues just simply involves speaking a heavenly language that is unknown to both the hearer and the speaker, but that neglects the fact that speaking in tongues was designed by God to confirm the messages from God.
Speaker A:It couldn't confirm anything if it was unintelligible gibberish.
Speaker A:That would have no effect, but just produce the exact response that those on Pentecost gave when they said these men are drunk with wine.
Speaker A:But it gave a very different response response to those who saw the evidence, and that is, they were amazed.
Speaker A:You get the same response today.
Speaker A:No doubt the language was intelligible, and therefore it could be measurable.
Speaker A:The way it is defined today among many charismatics leaves the very subjective interpretation.
Speaker A:The sounds produce a very kind of a repeated gibberish that doesn't compare to any common elements of language.
Speaker A: Corinthians: Speaker A:And since no one can understand what's being said, we would expect certainly obedience to Paul's instructions to have an interpreter present.
Speaker A:And if there was no interpreter present, just be quiet, don't say anything at all.
Speaker A:If there's no interpreter, why, that's just going to cause confusion.
Speaker A:No one can be edified or be benefited by what is said in most cases.
Speaker A:Few people today offer an interpreter to give the translation to what has been spoken, and if they do, it would also be very subjective.
Speaker A:Paul was clear that if no interpreter is present, a speaker of tongues is to be silent.
Speaker A:The reason offered is that there's no edification for the hearers without either an interpreter, because there's for those who don't know the language or a language understood by the hearer, then there would be no benefit.
Speaker A:Tongues, according to Paul, were given for the unbeliever, and if all he or she hears is the language unknown to them, the effect is not one of amazement and wonder, but it's one of disappointment and confusion.
Speaker A:Paul said, therefore, if the whole ecclesia assembles together and all speak in tongues and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you're mad?
Speaker A:That's in verse 23 of First Corinthians 14.
Speaker A:Now, this is precisely the reaction that was received by unbelieving visitors who attended religious service today, where there's a lot of gibbers receiving a different Response in Acts 2 attests to the fact that Acts 2 doesn't begin to compare to anything witnessed today.
Speaker A:It was confirmed it was a language.
Speaker A:People heard them speak in their own language.
Speaker A:Furthermore, regarding First Corinthians 13 and the tongues of men and of angels, think about this for a moment.
Speaker A:Paul uses an extreme example here to accentuate his point.
Speaker A:The conclusion that he is trying to come to a similar text to compare it with might be Galatians 1.
Speaker A:This is a good comparison.
Speaker A:Paul begins in verse 6.
Speaker A:He says though we, or an angel from heaven should preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have received, let him be accursed.
Speaker A:And then he repeats it for emphasis.
Speaker A:Now, we're not to expect an angel to preach the gospel.
Speaker A:That's not Paul's point.
Speaker A:Holy men of God spake as the Spirit moved them.
Speaker A:That's what we're told by Peter.
Speaker A:So God chose these earthen vessels, 2 Corinthians 4, to carry the message of the gospel.
Speaker A:Not angels, not even the Holy Spirit directly, but men chosen by God, gifted through the Holy Spirit to speak.
Speaker A:Now, after Philip's work in Samaria, you will remember that the Holy Spirit told Philip to join himself to a chariot.
Speaker A:That's in Acts 8.
Speaker A:In verse 29, he's told to join himself to this chariot.
Speaker A:Now, the Spirit did not speak to the Ethiopian in some small still voice in the night, or give him some revelation or vision, but he was directed.
Speaker A:And he directed Philip where to go to find the man to teach.
Speaker A:You see, the example has always been that the Spirit used human agents, vessels.
Speaker A:The same thing is seen when the Spirit refused Paul going to Bithynia.
Speaker A:And then once he directed the men where to go, he.
Speaker A:He also gave them the words to speak.
Speaker A:You see, the effect of the argument that Paul is making, Galatians 1, is that no one would give heed to a different gospel, even if an angel from heaven delivers it.
Speaker A:It's just an exaggerated point that if even that were to happen, not that it would, we're not to expect an angel from heaven to speak the gospel, or to preach the gospel, or to preach another gospel.
Speaker A:For sure, that's not even possible.
Speaker A:Similarly, we're not to expect from the text in 1 Corinthians 13 that someone speaks the language of angels either.
Speaker A:I suppose angels may have their own language.
Speaker A:I don't know if they do or not, but if so, human beings certainly have no business speaking it.
Speaker A:But like Galatians 1, it is not Paul's point that men do speak languages of the angels any more than angels do preach the gospel.
Speaker A:You see, once again, the idea is to make an emphatic point that would match something like, I don't care if you speak the languages of angels.
Speaker A:If you don't have love, you're nothing.
Speaker A:The motivation of love is so important that if you could do the most spectacular thing in the world, it's still empty without the motivating, the action being love.
Speaker A:So taken together, any example that we have of tongues speaking had the same purpose as all other miracles.
Speaker A:Had, and it had to be understandable to the hearer to fulfill the purpose that was the purpose of all miracles, or at the very least, to have an interpreter there.
Speaker A:If any natural explanation could be given to explain why the apostles on Pentecost were able to speak other tongues, the purpose would have been voided, and all of Jerusalem would have walked away thinking, these guys are crazy.
Speaker A:But the fact of the matter is, they heard them speak in their own language and were amazed.
Speaker A:These being Galileans, unlearned men from Galilee.
Speaker A:Our time is about up today.
Speaker A:I've chosen to stay within the 30 minute period of time, and I'm we want to return to this because I think it's important to make some points with regard to the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Speaker A:And so we will pick this up.
Speaker A:Until then, have a great day and a pleasant week.
