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Profiting Fully from Pentecost and "Gentecost"

February 24, 2011

Luke provides us with lengthy accounts of two premier evangelistic events (Acts 2 and 10). He gives additional information about them in both Acts 11 and 15.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter first exercised the keys of the kingdom of heaven that Christ gave him (Matt. 16:18-19). On that occasion, the church began in Jerusalem with a multitude of devout Jews repenting toward God (Acts 2:38-41) and believing in Jesus Christ (11:17).

In Caesarea, Peter again exercised those keys of the kingdom. Many Gentiles repented toward God (11:18) and believed in Jesus Christ on that occasion (15:7; cf. 11:17; 15:11). In keeping with Peter’s explicitly linking these two key evangelistic events (11:15-17; cf. 15:8-9; 11), I have coined the term “Gentecost” as a fitting and convenient way to refer to the latter event (shortened from “Gentile Pentecost”; cf. comments on Acts 11:13-16 by J. B. Polhill, Acts, in NAC, 267).

Although many have directed considerable attention to Pentecost, it seems that they have given Gentecost far less attention by comparison.[1] Without a thorough treatment of both accounts, however, we do not profit fully from either.

We begin a thorough treatment of the accounts by determining the overall length of the information given about each event. Acts 2 provides 41 verses overall about Pentecost and 28 verses concerning Peter’s message and verbal ministry (2:14-41). Adding the four verses referring to that event in two subsequent passages (11:15, 17; 15:8-9) we learn that there are 45 total verses about Pentecost in three passages in Acts.

Acts 10 provides 48 verses overall about Gentecost and 12 verses concerning Peter’s message and verbal ministry (10:34-43; 47-48). Subsequent references in three passages provide at least 22 more verses about that event (11:1-18; Peter at the Jerusalem Council [15:7-9; possibly 15:11 as well]; James at the Jerusalem Council [15:14; cf. 15:15-17 and 15:18]). Luke thus provides at least 70 total verses about Gentecost in four passages in Acts.

At the very least, this comparison suggests that we should give equal attention to both the Pentecost and the Gentecost accounts. Because the latter accounts are of considerably greater combined length than the former, our concluding in fact that they warrant greater attention is reasonable.

In addition, because the vast majority of our evangelism today is Gentile evangelism, we would do well to give the Gentecost accounts both much more analysis that is thorough and widespread focused attention in our teaching and preaching. (Future articles will present many more reasons for giving these accounts special attention.) Only then will we put ourselves in a position to profit fully from Pentecost and Gentecost.

[1] In spite of my having heard several thousand messages in the more than twenty years that I have been a believer, I have not heard someone preach or teach a Sunday school class even once on Gentecost. Of course, people have preached and taught on that passage over those years, but somehow it has worked out that I have never heard any preaching or teaching that has focused on this premier account of Gentile evangelism.

In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation

The Glory of the Father!

February 23, 2011

Numerous references throughout Scripture speak of the Resurrection of Christ as the work of God the Father. The Psalms record predictions that the Father would raise His Messiah (Pss. 2, 16). Acts repeatedly shows us that the apostles bore testimony to the Father’s raising Christ (for example, 3:15; 10:40; and 17:31). Moreover, in key statements in two seminal messages, they used the statements in the Psalms of the Father’s raising Him (2:24-33; 13:30-37 [counting quotes there are seven statements of the Father’s raising Christ]).

Paul declares that all the apostles were witnesses of the Father that He raised up Christ (1 Cor. 15:11-15). He emphasizes that the “surpassing greatness” of the Father’s power toward us is “in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead” and exalted Him to His right hand (Eph. 1:19-20).

The writer of Hebrews concludes his epistle with prayer to the God of peace who “brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus” (Heb. 13:20). Peter declares to believers that they by Jesus “believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that [their] faith and hope might be in God” (1 Pet. 1:21).

Perhaps, we can best understand why the Scripture abundantly highlights that God the Father raised Christ by examining closely a key statement in the book that many regard as the greatest theological book ever written. The apostle Paul states, “Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father” (Rom. 6:4). The glory of a person or entity is best understood as his or its “unique excellence” (Definition from messages by Dr. Mark Minnick). Applying that understanding to Romans 6:4, we see that Paul sets forth the resurrection of Christ from the dead as the unique excellence of God the Father!

Although other passages do show that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit were also active in the Resurrection, Romans 6:4 instructs us that the Resurrection distinctively was the excellent work of God the Father. Moreover, careful attention to Paul’s full statement here suggests additional truth that deserves careful consideration. Paul argues, “Therefore we are buried with him in baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Those who baptize believers often use this passage when they baptize them, but very often, the truth expressed by the words, “by the glory of the Father,” is left out in their remarks.

We should change this practice in our baptismal services and direct special attention in those services to the Resurrection as the glory of the Father. To do so would honor Him in keeping with the revelation that He has provided for us in this explicit statement about what His glory is.

In Interpretation Interpretation

Learning from the Great Commissioner

February 22, 2011

The concluding verses of the Gospel of Matthew reveal vital information concerning the Great Commissioner. Concerning Him, the final twenty verses of Matthew’s Gospel display a striking contrast that becomes clear through close attention to the flow of thought.

As is true of the other Gospels, the conclusion of Matthew includes testimony concerning the appearances of Jesus to His disciples. In these accounts, Matthew 28 features two instances of people worshiping Jesus. First, we read that Jesus met and greeted two women. The women responded by coming to Him and worshiping Him (28:9). These Jewish women did so because they believed that Jesus was God. Because Matthew and the Holy Spirit chose to inform us of this event, we must keep it in mind as we further examine the flow of thought.

After five verses (28:11-15) not directly concerning the appearances, we read of a second appearance. Jesus met His disciples in the place that He had appointed them (28:16). Seeing Jesus, the disciples worshipped Him, but some doubted (28:17). Once again, Matthew presents us with testimony about those who believed that Jesus was God.

Matthew’s placing two such accounts in rapid succession suggests strong emphasis on the deity of Jesus. Intriguingly, the next verse, however, contrasts strikingly with that emphasis. Moreover, it does so through recording the statement with which Jesus as the Great Commissioner chose to preface His commissioning of the disciples. Jesus came and said to them, “All power [Gk. authority] is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (28:18). He could easily have said, “I have all authority in heaven and earth,” but He did not. Had He done so, the strong emphasis on His deity would have been continued, instructing all His disciples throughout the ages that He wants their attention directed chiefly to the authority that He had then and continues to have today as God.

Because Jesus chose not to preface His commissioning in this manner, we must conclude that He wants to emphasize to us that His God-given authority is the primary source of His authority as the Great Commissioner. Whatever else we do with the rest of the information given about the Commission, both here and elsewhere, we miss out on a key part of our discipling others concerning world evangelism and discipleship if we do not give attention to and emphasize His intermediate authority.

Moreover, this feature of Matthew 28 should serve to instruct us to attend carefully to many other seminal statements concerning Jesus’ role as the Agent of God (John 5:22; 26-27; Acts 1:7-8; 2:36; 3:26; 5:31; 10:42; 13:23; 17:30-31; Rom. 15:8-9; Gal. 4:4; 1 Thess. 4:14; Titus 3:6; Heb. 5:5-6; 1 Pet. 1:21; Rev. 2:27; 3:12). When we do so, we discover that the ending of Matthew 28 is not an exceptional instance that only serves to confirm the “rule” that emphasizing the deity of Christ is what we should primarily focus on in our evangelism and discipleship. Thorough attention to the entire New Testament shows that the New Testament writers greatly emphasized the agency of Jesus. We need to learn from Matthew 28 and many other passages that the Great Commissioner Himself wants us to do likewise.

Although we are to emphasize the deity of Jesus in our evangelism and discipleship, we must not stop there. We must also emphasize His agency.

In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism, Interpretation, Missions

‘God is My Judge’

February 19, 2011

In the 357 verses of the book of Daniel, there are more than 300 occurrences of words pertaining to civil authority: king (150); king’s (20); kings (12); kings’ (1) [183]; kingly (1); kingdom (54); kingdoms (3) [57]; prince(17); princes (18) [35]; reign (6); rule (4); ruler (6); ruled (2); rulers (2); ruleth (3) [17]; lord (4); and, lords (6) [10]. Noting much of this content, especially verses like Daniel 4:35, people often come away from the book thinking and saying that it is about God’s sovereignty.

The meaning of the word, “Daniel,” however, is not, ‘God is my Sovereign’; it means, ‘God is my judge.’ In keeping with the meaning of the title of the book, Daniel 7, the key chapter of the book, sets forth the Ancient of Days as the Judge who renders judgment (7:10, 22, and 26). His judgment brings about the rise and fall of the successive major kingdoms of the world and will one day bring in the kingdom of God and of His Christ.

Appreciation of the work of God as judge in the book of Daniel and in Scripture in general is not infrequently obscured by the overuse of the terms, “sovereign” and “sovereignty,” because God’s work as judge does not seem to be readily in view in such statements about His sovereignty. It seems that at least some people often think of sovereignty mostly in terms of an administrator or an executive and thereby lose sight of God’s work as judge.

Psalm 75 supports regarding Daniel as emphasizing the work of God as judge by declaring that promotion comes from God the Judge (75:6-7; see also 1 Sam. 15:3, 17-18; 1 Kings 19:16-17 [raising up kings] and 1 Sam. 15:23, 26; 2 Chron. 24:24 [removing kings in connection with His judging]). As the Judge, God is the One who puts down one and sets up another (75:7). Nearly the entire book of Daniel manifests the judicial activity of God in connection with the rise and fall of kings and their kingdoms.

It is important for us to have a scriptural understanding of the work of God as judge. His judging is not just His condemning, destroying, punishing, etc. His judgment is multifaceted and includes His promoting people and rewarding those who are upright. For example, God as the Judge of all manifests Himself gloriously in the book of Daniel by repeatedly exalting Daniel and his friends in spite of others’ attempts to destroy them (2:46-49; 3:28-30; 6:23-24).

Let us praise our God, the Judge who both exalts and abases!

Adam to Noah: Profiting More From Genesis 5

February 17, 2011

Working with the information in Genesis 5, I created a table that shows how long each person from Adam to Noah lived. I used my “After Adam” (AA) dating scheme to generate the table. Examining this table provides interesting information that simply reading through the text does not:

Everyone in the list from Seth to Lamech at least theoretically had the opportunity to know Adam personally. This fact has intriguing implications especially for what Enoch likely knew and how that information probably affected him (see my post, “In the Year after Adam“). Think also how many people may have attended the “funeral” of Adam (930 AA) and what it must have been like!

Everyone listed from Adam to Lamech had the opportunity to know Enoch for at least one century during the period that he walked with God. Yet, Scripture does not say that any of these people walked with God.

Jude 14-15 does not tell us when Enoch prophesied of the Lord’s future coming in judgment. If Enoch performed that ministry prior to Adam’s death, everyone listed before Noah could have had opportunity to hear Enoch’s prophesying personally. If he began to preach that message immediately after Adam’s death, all the rest listed from Seth to Lamech could still have had more than half a century to hear his preaching because Enoch was translated 57 years after Adam’s death.

Seth was still alive when Enoch was translated (987 AA), and so were Enosh, Cainan, Mahalel, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech. What effect must Enoch’s not being found (Heb. 11:5) have had on all those who learned of it?

In fact, Seth lived 55 years after Enoch’s translation, and the rest lived from 153 (Enosh) to 669 (Methuselah) years after Enoch’s translation. Every one of these, therefore, could have had the opportunity to perpetuate Enoch’s message for at least more than half a century.

Enosh, Cainan, Mahalel, Jared, Methuselah, and Noah’s father, Lamech, were alive when Noah was born in 1056 AA. These all were still alive until Noah was 84 (when Enosh died). Noah, therefore, had abundant time to get first hand information from and about his ancestors, especially about Enoch and his prophesying and not being found.

The flood occurred in the year 1656 AA, which means that all human beings other than Noah and those who were with him in the Ark died before man had existed for even two millennia. Noah died in 2006 AA.

I hope that this fascinating study somehow stimulates your studying the Scripture more thoroughly and profiting more from the parts of it that are often glossed over.

In Interpretation Interpretation

God's Mercy in His Judgment

February 16, 2011

God fiercely judged Saul for his disobedience. He rejected him from being king (1 Sam. 15:23), rent the kingdom of Israel from him, and gave it to David (15:28). “The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled” him (16:14).

Somehow, Saul’s servants knew that “an evil spirit from God” troubled Saul (16:14). They informed him of that fact and counseled him to seek out a skilled musician whose playing would relieve him of the affliction caused by the evil spirit (16:16). Responding to Saul’s request that his servants provide such a musician for him, one of his servants commended David to him (16:17-18).

The servant’s commendation informed Saul of much more than the fact that David was a skilled musician. The servant ended his six-fold commendation by saying, “The Lord is with him” (16:18). Saul sent for David (16:19-22), and David ministered effectively to him when he was troubled by the spirit: “Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” (16:19-23).

This account is often referenced by Christian musicians in their discussions of the value of good music. Although such use is valid, what the passage teaches about God’s mercy in His judgment is sometimes not fully appreciated. God rightly and fiercely judged Saul for his sinfulness. But, God extended mercy to Saul in His judgment through providing a means for him to be relieved of some of the ill effects of part of that judgment. Had God chosen to do so, He could have prevented Saul from ever learning of an effective remedy for the trouble the evil spirit was causing him.

Furthermore, God did not just allow him to learn of an effective remedy (16:16); He also put a servant among Saul’s servants who informed him of someone who could provide that remedy (16:18-22). Then, God allowed Saul’s request for that one to come to minister to him to be granted, and He allowed the ministry of that person to be effective in relieving him of his trouble (16:23).

As He did for Saul, God extends mercy in His judgment today to many who are suffering directly for their sinfulness. For example, He often allows people who have health problems directly attributable to their own evil behavior to yet learn of and obtain effective treatments that relieve some or all of their suffering.

God’s providing David as a means of relieving Saul of some of his trouble should inspire great appreciation for His mercy in His judgment. Let us praise God that He is the Judge who delights in mercy (Micah 7:18)!

In Interpretation, Music Interpretation

Evangelize Jesus and the Resurrection!

February 15, 2011

Concerning apostolic evangelism, few chapters in Scripture provide as much important information as Acts 17 does. With great skillfulness, Luke presents the Apostle Paul’s evangelistic ministry in multiple settings. The chapter records Paul’s evangelizing in three cities (Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens) on at least five separate occasions. We learn of his gospel ministry to Jews and Gentiles, men and women, rich and poor people, devout people and philosophers, and people in synagogues, in the marketplace, and at the Areopagus.

Thorough attention to all that Acts 17 records shows emphasis on Pauline proclamation of “Jesus and the Resurrection” at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the chapter (17: 3, 18, 32). Despite this consistent element of his preaching, some scholars and not a few preachers have asserted, in effect, that Paul more or less “failed” in his gospel ministry at the Areopagus. Lack of explicit record to his testifying concerning faith in the name of Jesus, the Cross, and Jesus as Savior lead many to regard this passage as a record of his departing from his normal evangelistic strategy.

Through three messages that I preached in October 2010, I have addressed such assessments to show that that they are unwarranted. Acts 17:18-34 is not in any sense a monument to Pauline failure in evangelism. Rather, the entire chapter plainly declares that Pauline evangelism at its essence was to evangelize Jesus and the Resurrection.

Acts 17 – Another King

Acts 17 – Make Known the True God

Various passages – Evangelize Jesus and the Resurrection

In Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation Evangelism, Interpretation

None Like Him in the Earth

February 12, 2011

In two celestial encounters, God confronted Satan concerning His servant, Job. God stated that there was “none like him in the earth” (Job 1:8; 2:3). He explained Job’s uniqueness on both occasions by declaring that he was “a perfect and an upright man,” one who fears God and turns away from evil. These statements highlight the exceeding godliness of Job.

These statements, however, do more than just informing us of Job’s spiritual excellence. They teach us truth about our God that is easily overlooked. We all understand that God examines our spiritual state and knows everything about us. What’s interesting about these statements is that they reveal that God not only evaluates all mankind, but that He also makes comparative evaluations about the spiritual state of all mankind. God declared Job’s unique spiritual status: there was “none like him in the earth.”

Scripture does not seem to provide any revelation that bars us from thinking that God does not continue to evaluate all people in the same manner today. We ourselves lack the ability to evaluate rightly who is the godliest person in our day. Perhaps, however, keeping in mind that God apparently does comparatively evaluate us and knows who the godliest living person is would somehow motivate us to excel in our own lives?

In Interpretation Interpretation

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