Little did the disciples, the Jewish nation, or the Gentiles understand what was going to be the consequences of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and His ascension back to His Father. The Jewish leaders were wrestling with the two things they feared. The first was that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God; and the second was that He did rise from the dead on the third day just like He had said that He would. Their problem was that Jesus wasn’t making Himself public and speaking boldly in their presence like He had before they had Him crucified. The ‘rumor’ was that Christ was alive. They could go to the tomb and find it empty. They could ask around and try to find out what was the ‘word on the street’ regarding Christ. I wonder what they did.
We know what Christ did. Luke writes, Acts 1:1-3, (NKJV), “The former account I made O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandment to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Christ’s attention was focused on those He had chosen; those who would be instrumental in the NEW. He was teaching them to let go of the OLD and embrace the NEW.
Christ’s resurrection fulfilled the OLD covenant and established the foundation of the NEW covenant. The Ekklesia lives on resurrection ground, the other side of the cross.
In the previous blogs, I shared that on our 2021 calendar, the Day of Ascension is May 13, forty days since we celebrated Easter. And in another ten days, Sunday, May 23, it will be fifty days since Christ’s resurrection. On that day, the Jewish nation celebrates the Feast of Pentecost in remembrance of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai. The church remembers this day as the day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Holy Spirit is “the promise of the Father, which, He said, you have heard from Me.” (Acts 1:4b, NKJV).
In the forty days between Christ’s resurrection and His Ascension, the Apostles are, in effect, in a transition period. The OLD covenant has been set aside and the Jesus is instructing them regarding the NEW covenant and the Kingdom of God.
While the Apostles are going through their indoctrination about the NEW, the Jewish nation, and the Gentiles are, I assume, returning to life as normal. Things are quieting down in Jerusalem, and their routine is being re-established. The Feast of Pentecost is over, and people have returned home. In a way, this is like what is happening in our nation. The pandemic is quieting down, and lives are slowly returning to normal, or are we?
On the Day of Pentecost, normal is going to be ‘shaken’ in Jerusalem.
The Holy Spirit is going to be outpoured as prophesized in the OLD covenant by the prophet Joel, and the Apostles are going to be thrust into the ministry with authority given to them by Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And the Church will be born.
At the church, where Christine and I attend, the Pastor has been teaching/preaching through the Book of Exodus. Currently, his teaching has been about Moses receiving the details for the building of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. Where did that take place? On the top of Mt. Sinai. How long was Moses on the top of the mountain with God? 40 days. Interesting. What was the nation of Israel going through? A period of transition. Out of the OLD in Egypt, and into the NEW in God.
In Exodus 31, he entitled his sermon, Work Wisely. His emphasis was that, we as a believer, need to “work wisely regarding the work God has given me to do for Him.” His text was Exodus 31:1-11 (Dr. Kent Dresdow, North Creek Church, Walnut Creek, CA, 4-25-21).
Highlighting his teaching, God says to Moses, “I have called (chosen), [my insert] by name Bezalel…and I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship…to design…to work…in cutting…in carving…and to work in all manner of workmanship.” Exodus 31:1-5.
God continues, “Indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab…and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans (other individuals to help)[ my insert], that they may make all that I have commanded you…” ( Exodus 31:6)
The point is that God chose individuals, filled them with His Holy Spirit, and equipped them to build the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, exactly according to the pattern He showed Moses. Remember, Moses was on Mt. Sinai for forty days receiving from God the plans for the Tabernacle and God, also “gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God.” (Exodus 31:18b NKJV) What was on the two tablets of stone? the 10 commandments.
I would like to suggest the following: God summoned Moses to the top of Mt. Sinai to give him the information the nation of Israel needed, to live, as the people of God, no longer under the OLD (Egyptian government), but now under a NEW ( God in their midst). They were under a NEW government. He also gave him the details of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, where God would meet with His people in their midst.
Fast forward to the forty days between Christ’s resurrection and His Ascension. Jesus is talking to the Apostles, whom He has called/chosen to follow Him. He is instructing them about the New covenant and the Kingdom of God, a NEW government. On the Day of Pentecost, these Apostles, and other individuals, were filled with the Holy Spirit. Why? To carry out the work that the Lord has given them to do. In Christ, we, as the people of God, are under a NEW government. Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of God. We, as believers, are citizens of that Kingdom. We need to learn how to live under the NEW Covenant of Grace in Christ. To fulfill Christ’s direction for our lives, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to ‘Work Wisely’.
Being repetitive, that is what a teacher does; let us go back over the narrative in Acts 1,2. (NKJV)
Acts 1:3, “To them He showed Himself to be alive after His suffering through many convincing proofs; appearing to them for forty days, speaking to them about the Kingdom of God.”
Acts 1:5b, Jesus said to them “…but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Jesus ascended, the Apostles waited. Acts 2:1, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting…they were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Consider the following: The Tabernacle in the Wilderness was built by men chosen by God. God filled them with the Holy Spirit. God gifted them with the wisdom and abilities needed to build the Tabernacle as Moses was shown.
On the Day of Pentecost, the Ekklesia, the Church began. Jesus had said, “I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail it.” (Matthew 16:18)
To do this, Christ chose individuals. He called them to follow Him. He taught them; He instructed them; He corrected them; He mentored them until the time of His departure back to His Father. On the Day of Pentecost, these individuals and others were filled with the Holy Spirit. These individuals were gifted by the Lord to build His Church under His direction, according to His specifications.
What about today?
Ephesians 4:11,12 “And He, (Jesus) [my insert], Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
[We are the temple of the living God. We are the dwelling place of the Most High God. We are the living stones that comprise the church of the living God. Where two or three believers are gathered together, Jesus is in our midst.]
In Romans 12:1-8, Paul instructs us that God gives gifts to the Lord’s Church according to “the grace given to us…”; and in I Corinthians 12:1-31, Paul instructs us that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to the Church. The Trinity has gifted the church, the Ekklesia, the Body of Christ to function as the people of God bearing witness to the Gospel of Christ in the nations of this world.
Question: Is the Church functioning as the Body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of God?
Today, in order for the Church to function properly, it must be have individuals, called and chosen by God, submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, set apart with gifts to equip the people of God, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man , to the measure of the state of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13
For what purpose? to witness in our “Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8b
Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, exhorts them to put off the OLD, and put on the NEW.” Ephesians 4:17-32 [Please read and reflect]
Re-asking the question from above, Is the church functioning with chosen individuals filled with the Spirit.?
If not, then it is functioning carnally. This means that the leadership of the church can be ‘saved’ (born of the Spirit) but not leading the church ‘filled with the Spirit’. Such a church is under the direction of individuals seeking to please themselves, and fulfill their own agenda. Their center is not Jesus Christ; their center is self.
The more I read the letter to the Galatians, the more I am coming to the conclusion, that this was the issue Paul was addressing to this church. The leadership in the church was born again; but the church was not centered on Christ; and growing by the Spirit. See Galatians 5:1-25. Paul was entreating them to refocus on Christ, and follow after the Spirit and not the flesh.
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and filled those chosen by the Lord, and the other individuals assembled in the upper room. The Holy Spirit gifted these individuals with power from on high. And who was the first person stand up and speak? Peter.
Peter stands up and explains what is going on? He explains that this is what the prophet Joel was talking about. This is what you are seeing, hearing, and experiencing. Do you remember, when Peter answered Jesus’ question about who do men say that I am? Peter, responded, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16b). It was upon this confession, that Christ said that He would build His Church, and indicated that Peter would have a role in it’s formation and function.
So, the Holy Spirit descends, and Peter arises. and he preaches Jesus, as the Christ, the Son of God, whom God had raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter preached what the Jewish religious leadership feared. Christ is the Son of God, and He was raised from the dead. Now what? It’s out in the open.
Outside in Jerusalem, the OLD is being celebrated; Inside, in an upper room, the NEW is being proclaimed. It’s all about Christ. We know that the Old Testament, too, is all about Christ; but the religious tradition that celebrated the OLD has been put to death by the Cross. Jesus has completely fulfilled the Law and the New has been been resurrected to life in Christ. The Church is standing on resurrection ground. The OLD has passed away, and all things have become NEW. Do we get it?
Today, the church must continue to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” or else it will succumb to being like Judaism, following it’s traditions, being led by individuals who are saved, but are self-centered. The Church must be Christ-centered; Gospel-centered, and Holy Spirit-empowered. The Church must have leaders chosen by God, gifted by the Trinity, and centered on the work of the Lord.
The Book of Acts is a testimony of a Christ-centered, gospel-centered, Holy Spirit enabled church, going forward according to the Spirit of the Living God, and not the dictates of man.
What did the NEW covenant look like with Jesus as Lord, who is the Head of the Church, and who is the King of the Kingdom, and functioning under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who guides and directs the affairs of the Church?
Acts 2:42-47 is what it looked like in it’s the beginning. Yes, it did have issues; but the leadership under the anointing of the Holy Spirit handled those issues.
The Church continued in the Apostle’s Doctrine, and Fellowship, in the Breaking of Bread, and in Prayers…and they were in community[see Acts 2: 43-47].
Question: Is the Body of Christ functioning like that today?
Agree or Disagree: “Christianity now is very largely a built up thing with many Jewish features in it; i.e. outward orders, forms, vestments, titles, buildings and rigidly fixed boundaries of apprehension of truth.” T. Austin Sparks
TBC
Living Words of Encouragement 