All men by divine fiat are social creatures.
What it means to be a human being is found only in the expression of the
interaction of at least two people. Although a person has individuality, he
has his identity only in the light of another person. He actually comes to
know and to understand himself as he see himself reflected in the lives of
other people.
As beholding himself in a mirror, he comes to know himself from what he
sees. The reflections that come back to him from the people with whom he is
interacting is the sole basis for his sense of identity. This fact alone
inseparably ties an individual to the need of others.
Like the musical note that stands alone, the melodious medley of life is
non-existence in the acts of an individual. For an individual to experience
the good life he must enter into a strain or series of harmonious
interaction with others sharing the same moment of time. The individual
makes music only when he is placed in relationships with others.
Furthermore, changing the particular frequency of an individual musical note
standing alone matters little. Although the pitch of the note changes, it
still remains a musical note with only a higher or lower sound. Changing the
frequency of that musical note as it stands in relation to other musical
notes, however, can move the sound from harmony to disharmony or from mere
noise to the sound of music. It is the relationship of the notes that makes
the melodious music.
So it is in living life. It matters little if an individual standing alone
changes anything or everything about himself. As he moves in and out of
relationships, however, the essence of life is drastically altered. The good
life (or the bad life) is measured only by the interaction between
individuals.
Moreover, there are only three basic ways that an individual will attempt to
have relationships with others. The most basic interaction of man towards
another is one of pleasure. A relationship or friendship will exist when the
participants are receiving pleasure out of the interaction.
Obviously, this relationship is stable only as long as gratification is
being received by both individuals. If someone else comes along and this new
person is perceived to be more pleasurable, the relationship between the
original two becomes fragile. When pleasure is no longer being experienced
by either of the participants, this basic relationship will end.
Relationships can also be friendships of utility. Two may enter into a
relationship because each person can be of use to the other. They both are
receiving some sort of satisfaction from the affiliation. The relationship
exists so that basic needs can be met.
The relationship of utility is also anemic. When one determines that the
other is no longer useful, the interaction becomes tedious. If someone else
is perceived to be of more use, the fervency of the original relationship
will also weaken. It will also end, if it is perceived that the relationship
has become valueless by one or both of the participants.
Finally, there is the relationship of love. Beyond the limits of personal
pleasure and personal usefulness, this interaction thrives upon making sure
the needs of others are not neglected. Since all that one has in life has
been given to him, these generously given gifts must be generously shared.
Love is always kind and longsuffering towards others.
Love never seeks its own. Restraints against personal gain are always
exercised when it comes to the scheme of experiencing life. The loving
person never puts himself first in the interaction of love, never claiming
his own share of things when it would deprive the needs of others. It is the
enhancement of others at one’s own expense.
Although all natural relationships are entered into so that the individual
can enhance his own self, the relationship of love exists solely for the
enhancement of others. It "beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things" (1 Cor. 13:7) in the
interaction between its participants. Love is the anchor of all long-term
relationships.
This pinnacle of the life of love has been lived by only one man in the
history of humanity. While there has been perhaps a few who have approached
manifesting near perfection of this high calling, there has been only one
person who has totally refused to use others for any personal enhancement.
There has been only one who has totally refused to stand alone every moment
of his life. Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Son of God, is the only person
who has not resisted being taken to the end of himself for the needs of
others.
This is not to say that every man cannot experience this noble essence of
life. Every man can. If any man does experience this magnificent obsession,
however, a miraculous event must occur in his life. He must be moved from
experiencing life in the natural realm of relationships to the supernatural
kingdom of God. A new way of speaking, a new way of seeing, and a new way of
thinking must occur. He must be saved from the contamination of his warped
or perverted age.
This particular salvation of man that changes life into the noble venture of
living for others is first recorded by one of the early followers of Jesus.
He penned for history how those early believers were also taken to the end
of themselves for the needs of others. Luke, the author of the gospel
bearing his name and the Acts of the Apostles, wrote of the good news how
Jesus came into their lives to be their life. This miraculous event enabled
them to experience the supernatural relationship of love.
The understanding of Luke’s second treatise, the Acts of the Apostles, is
built upon the revelation of Jesus Christ as recorded in Luke’s first
treatise, the Gospel of Luke. The Acts of the Apostles continues from what
"all that Jesus began both to do and teach" during His earthly
ministry (Acts 1:1). The Acts of the Apostles is the story of the acts of
Jesus, not in His earthly life, but in the lives of the apostles.
As Jesus began His earthly ministry, He entered into the synagogue at
Nazareth. He was given the book of the prophet Isaiah to read. He found the
following passage, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the
acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18,19). He calmly said, "this
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21).
It was the acceptable time. Jesus began preaching the kingdom of God had
come. This proclamation of the kingdom of God was the essence of both the
ministry of Jesus (Luke 4:43) and the ministry of the Acts of the Apostles
(Acts 28:31).
It was a strange message in the light of the understanding of the time,
indeed, in the light of man’s understanding of every generation. Jesus
proclaimed that the "kingdom of God cometh not with observation . . .
for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20,21). The
kingdom of God could not be seen with the eyes of man. Man could see the
results of it but could not see or produce the power to perform as kingdom
saints.
The essence of the message of Jesus and the apostles in the Acts was
centered upon what God does for man. The message that was prevalent in the
time of Jesus, however, was focused upon what man does for God. The people
of God, before the preaching of Jesus, were consumed with the teaching of
the Pharisees, a religious sect of the Jews. They who "trusted in
themselves that they were righteous" (Luke 18:9) preached a message of
self-effort as the way to God. Jesus, however, preached a message of God’s
effort to man, the kingdom of God is within you.
Jesus simply stated, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose
it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it" (Luke 17:33).
He said of His own life and His own ministry, "Believest thou not that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I
speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the
works" (John 14:10). Again, He said, ". . . the living Father hath
sent me, and I live by the Father . . ." (John 6:57).
Jesus did not live His life in an attempt to do what the Father wanted Him
to do. The Father actually lived in and through Jesus. The Father did His
own will in and through the Son (John 6:38).
For example, Luke recorded, "The former treatise have I made, O
Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in
which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given
commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen" (Acts 1:1,2). Jesus
did not give commandments to the apostles by His own effort or being. It was
not Jesus in Himself that was giving the commandments. It was the Father
through His Spirit by the mouth of Jesus speaking the words of the
commandments to the apostles.
Just as the Father had sent the Son and the Son lived by the Father, the
Acts documents the history of the early believers not only being sent by the
Son but the believers living by the Son as well (John 6:57). They lived in
and through the supernatural relationship of love. In the key verse of the
Acts both aspects of being sent by the Son and the power to live through the
Son is stated: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost
is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and
in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth" (Acts 1:8). They were being told that they would go and through
what power they would live.
The context of this statement of Jesus reveals not only the issue of the
primitive church but the issue of life for every generation of believers.
The context speaks of the resurrection of Jesus, and "the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3). Both the resurrection of
the dead and the kingdom of God address the same issue of how man is to
experience the relationship of love.
When this issue is understood, it is not so surprising that it is also the
issue of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-5), the issue of the Children of
Israel going into their promised land (Deut. 1:22-46), and the issue of
every generation of believers (Gal. 5:16-26). The issue for man has always
been and will always be where he attempts to live his life, standing alone
or in others.
The fact that man has always struggled to understand how he was and is to
experience life is illustrated in the opening verses of the Acts. Jesus
spoke of things pertaining to the kingdom of God and that the early
believers would soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit. They, in turn, asked
Jesus, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel?" (Acts 1:6). Being physical creatures, they just automatically
assumed that the kingdom of God would be a physical kingdom. They thought,
as all natural men do, that the essence of life would be of and in the
earthly realm.
Because man experiences his life on this earthly realm, in his earthly body,
he continually wavers in his perception that the life of God is only by the
Spirit of God in the invisible kingdom of God. Man constantly struggles to
understand Jesus’ statement that the believer is in the world but not of
the world: "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the
world . . . I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world" (John 17:11,15,16).
Man faces conflict continually when he does not understand the real issue of
life: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do
the things that ye would" (Gal. 5:17). Failing to grasp the message and
the life of Jesus, man consistently attempts to set up an earthly kingdom by
his own fleshly means. He keeps forgetting that life is only of the kingdom
of God and by the Spirit of God.
The promise of the Father, as proclaimed by the Son, was that the Spirit of
God would come into man’s life and overwhelm him to take him where he
would not and could not go himself (Acts 1:4,5). Jesus not only taught this
mystery of life He experienced the mystery. As Luke wrote, Jesus
"showed himself alive after his passion" (Acts 1:3). The mystery
of being "alive after his passion" was what Jesus meant when He
said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:24,25). The
kingdom of God and life in the Spirit only occur as the kingdom of man and
the works of the flesh are continually falling into the ground and are
continually dying off.
The very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles illustrates this principles
when Luke recorded "he [Jesus] was taken up" and "he [Jesus]
through the Holy Ghost had given commandments" (Acts 1:2). He did not
ascend nor speak in His own power. The Father raised Him and the Holy Spirit
empowered him. This is the mystery of being "alive after his
passion," the mystery of the relationship of love.
This is also the mystery of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. Concerning
this baptism, Jesus said it was "the promise of the Father, which . . .
ye have heard of me" (Acts 1:4). It is in John’s gospel that the
record is given where Jesus told His disciples of the "promise of the
Father."
The record began with Jesus stating "Little children, yet a little
while I am with you . . . Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but
thou shalt follow me afterwards" (John 13:33,36). Peter responded,
"Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake" (13:37). Little did Peter realize that he was actually referring
to his kingdom (what he would do for God) and his fleshly deeds (what he
would do in the power of his own might).
At this point of time, Peter did not understand the kingdom of God and the
empowering of the Holy Spirit. He was still struggling to do a great deed
for God by his own power. It would be yet for another day until Peter would
"stretch forth [his] hands, and another [would] gird [him], and carry
[him] whither [he] wouldest not" (John 21:18).
Peter would eventually get where he wanted to go, but he would do so only by
the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would gird him and take him
where he could not and would not go himself. He would become baptized by the
Holy Spirit. His life would be empowered not by his efforts but by the Holy
Spirit.
Before this empowerment could occur in Peter, however, Jesus had to first go
and make it possible for Peter to come later and take up his residence in
the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to Peter, after Peter was told that
he would not lay down his life for Jesus but would actually deny Him three
times,
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe
in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions
[literal meaning, "a staying, i.e. residence"]: if it were not
so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also "(John 14:2,3).
The death, resurrection, ascension, and
return of Jesus would eventually enable Peter to be taken to the place where
he could live in the Spirit of God, the Spirit of love.
Near the end of this lengthy discourse of Jesus, He revealed the exact place
where Peter would be taken and the consequences of abiding (same word
translated mansion in John 14:2 is translated abode in John 14:23 and abide
in John 15:1-10) in the place prepared for him. Jesus said, "Ye have
not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go
and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye
shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (John 15:16).
It is the mystery of life, the mystery of love.
Jesus told His disciples that He had chosen them and ordained them. With
ordained meaning "to place (. . . in a passive and horizontal
posture)," Jesus is stating that He will take His disciples to a place
that is totally passive and horizontal as opposed to upright and active. He
is revealing the secret of experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit.
In addition to being in a passive and horizontal posture, the disciples will
also go. With go meaning "to lead under, i.e. withdraw or retire (as if
sinking out of sight)," Jesus is again revealing how the disciples
would experience the power of living in the life of the Spirit, the power of
being taken to the end of themselves for the needs of others. Jesus would
take the disciples down to a passive, horizontal posture that will cause
them to sink entirely out of sight.
When the disciples are taken to their "passion" (the dying off of
their fleshly effort), they will then experience the resurrected life of
Christ. The disciples, who have now passed out of sight, will not be seen
but Christ will be manifested in their lives. The Acts of the Apostles is
the story of Jesus being manifested in and through His apostles.
Jesus taking the disciples down (just as the Father took Jesus down) that
the Holy Spirit might become prominent in their lives is what it means to be
baptized with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that He must go and prepare a
place for the disciples. Then, He said to them, "I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John
14:3). He added, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to
you" (John 14:18). Finally, He said, ". . . we [the Father and the
Son] will come unto [you], and make our abode with [you]" (John 14:23).
With abode of John 14:23 and mansions of John 14:2 being translated from the
exact same original word, Jesus is revealing in this lengthy discourse the
secret and mystery of life: Jesus is to be manifested in the lives of the
believers by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. They, too, could
experience the essence of life, the relationship of love.
After Jesus commanded the disciples not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait
for the promise of the Father, ". . . he was taken up; and a cloud
received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). As they saw Him ascending
into heaven and a cloud eventually prohibiting them from seeing Him, they
still continued to gaze intently into heaven. Even though Jesus had told
them earlier that what they were now witnessing would occur (John 6:62),
they, as all men probably would, seemed to be dazed by what had occurred.
Two men standing "by them in white apparel" said unto them,
"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner
as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Jesus had been taken
from them into heaven. Jesus would be brought back to them from heaven.
Just a few short days after the apostles saw Jesus ascending into heaven,
they were gathered together in an "upper room." "And suddenly
there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled
all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost . . ." (Acts 4:2-4). Jesus had returned to
them.
Moreover, through this baptism of the Holy Spirit, He would be the source of
life within them. He would be the essence of their lives. As He said,
"because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19). Jesus Christ
would become the manifestation of their lives, the manifestation of true
love.
Throughout the history of the primitive church, the manifestation of Jesus
in the lives of the apostles declared the power and the glory of
experiencing the kingdom of God. Again and again, the signs and the wonders
of the Spirit filled life were made apparent for all to see. The people saw
the resurrected Christ living in and through His disciples.
The record of this greatest story ever told is a powerful proclamation of
the working of God in the human experience. It reveals the life of God being
manifested in men who had been taken to the end of themselves for the needs
of others. It is the story of the relationship of love.
The Acts of the Apostles, however, also contains the weakness and the shame
of man. It records the dismal destruction of Judas, one of the original
apostles. This grimmest story ever told reveals what happens when man
attempts to experience life apart from the divine influence. Losing sight of
the divine light of love, Judas was to experience the pain and the agony of
standing alone.
The saga of Judas, sadly, is a tale that is too often told in the Scripture.
It is the story of Lucifer (Ezekiel 28:11-19), Adam and Eve (Genesis
3:1-19), and the Children of Israel (Deuteronomy 1:19-46). Paul warned the
believers in Rome (Romans 1:18-32), in Corinth (1 Corinthians 10:1-10), and
in Ephesus (Ephesians 4:17-19) of the deadly destruction that can befall all
men as it did Judas. James, also, wrote of the certain death that comes when
one fails to live by the divine influence of the soul (James 1:13-16), when
one attempts to live in himself for himself.
Judas, as with all who have ever failed, did not understand the mystery of
experiencing life, being brought to the end of one’s self for the needs of
others. Failing to experience the life of dying, he experienced the death of
living, using others for the perceived needs of self. In attempting to
produce life in himself by using Jesus, Judas opened himself to death by his
own attempt to live.
Failing to understand the mystery of the relationship of love, he soon
experienced the reality of loneliness, the reality of hell. The destruction
of Judas, as Peter understood it, was predicted by David: "For it is
written in the book of Psalms [Psalms 69:25], Let his habitation be desolate
, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take"
(Acts 1:20).
Attempting to use others for his own enhancement, he soon had no place to
call home in which he might live, no friends in which he might share his
life, and no work in which he might experience his life. Once numbered among
those whom "the Lord Jesus went in and out" (Acts 1:20)
experiencing the life of love, Judas ended his life homeless, friendless,
and chargeless, the reality of hell.
Little did Judas realize that the land, which he bought with the price of
the betrayal, would become a memorial to his dismal deed. For it would be on
this land that Judas choked to death (Matthew 27:5), perhaps from grief and
horror, "falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his
bowels gushed out" (Acts 1:18). His land would become known as
"the field of blood" and no man would dwell therein (Acts
1:19,20).
The death of Judas became "known unto all the dwellers at
Jerusalem" (Acts 1:19). Once experiencing love personified in Jesus, he
ended his life alone in the isolation of himself. The life that could had
been numbered among the greatest was remembered as the vestige of betrayal.
The contrast of the life of Jesus and the life of Judas is both remarkable
and revealing. Jesus was seen "alive after his passion by many
infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3). Judas was found dead
after his "passion," being known by the people of Jerusalem, and
his death spoke of the things that pertain to the kingdom of man. The
kingdom of God or the kingdom of man, the life of love or the death of
loneliness awaits all men.
Pure, unadulterated love can be experienced by all men. The death,
resurrection, ascension, and return of Jesus provide the desire and the
power to love others as it was meant to be. The coming of Jesus Christ into
this world to be taken to His death for others is not only an example of
love it is also the means by which all men can experience the same
supernatural relationship of love.
This essence of life was first experienced by the followers of Jesus on the
Jewish feast day of Pentecost. Jesus had told them not to depart from
Jerusalem until they had received the promise of the Father. He had told
them (John 14) that something would occur that would forever change their
lives. They would become filled with His Holy Spirit. They would be enabled
to experience the magnificent obsession of loving others.
On that eventful day, they were patiently waiting "with one accord in
one place" (Acts 2:1). Although the 120 that were gathered in the upper
room probably disagreed in many different areas, they were all at the same
place at this time of their lives. They knew that Jesus had been raised from
the dead. They knew He was alive.
Moreover, Jesus told them to wait until the promise of the Father would
come. Jesus would come back to them the same way He was taken from them. The
Father would send the Son to take up his abode within them to be the essence
of their lives (John 14:23). The Son would indwell and enable the believers
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When the intercourse of the Holy Spirit comes into the flesh of man, there
is nothing else that can occur but the flesh of man experiencing the full
sensation of his being. Those early believers heard the wind. They saw the
fire. They spoke with a new tongue. It was an experience like no other
experience. It would forever change their lives.
Miraculously, those early followers of Jesus were speaking in a language
that was totally foreign to them. At this moment, they were able to speak
that which they did not know. They would soon recognize that this physical
miracle was teaching a spiritual reality. They were speaking with a new
tongue. Their way of speaking would forever be changed.
They would have a new way of expressing themselves, a new way of seeing, and
a new way of thinking. They were being moved to a different way of life.
They were becoming people of the kingdom of God.
This event of the Holy Spirit coming into the body of flesh caused quite a
stir among the people of Jerusalem. As the multitude from many different
localities came together to witness this phenomenon, they heard the
Galileans speak in their native tongues (Luke gives at least sixteen
different dialects). The multitude was perplexed (Acts 2:6). They did not
understand what was happening to their countrymen. They wondered, "What
meaneth this?" (Acts 2:12).
Although some thought their intoxication was the result of too much new
wine, Peter stood up and proclaimed,
Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at
Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are
not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come
to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all
flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men
shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants
and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they
shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the
earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be
turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and
notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:14-21)
Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
Peter explained what was happening to him and the other 119 gathered on that
notable day.
Peter not only expressed in words the truth of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit he was demonstrating the truth by the actual message he was
preaching. The words he was speaking were not coming forth from the working
of his mind within himself. He had not and was not putting together a
message to share with the people. The words coming forth out his mouth were
the words of God Himself speaking through the inspired speech of the Holy
Spirit.
Peter was prophesying, speaking as the Holy Spirit spoke. He was probably
hearing, as his audience was hearing, what he was saying for the first time.
It was not that he had not previously heard the words of Joel and David. He
had probably heard the written words of Joel and David many times. He was
now hearing them, however, in a different way. There was now an
understanding coming to him that he had not previously known prior to being
controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Peter was experiencing exactly what the prophet Joel had predicted (Joel
2:28-32). Many years prior to this particular feast of Pentecost, Joel had
prophesied that God was going to do a special work among His people. He
would bestow His Spirit upon man to become the essence of man’s life.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the people would not speak from their
own understanding but from divine inspiration. They would prophesy. As with
Peter on this feast of Pentecost, the words that would come forth from their
mouth would be the words of God Himself speaking through the inspired speech
of the Holy Spirit. Speaking with a new tongue, a different language, a
different way of saying things would come forth from their mouth.
They would not only speak a new tongue but they would also see things
differently. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they would be able to
discern the working of their lives clearly. They would come to understand
the way of life because they would now see with a new vision. Walking no
longer in darkness, perplexed by life, Jesus Christ would actually become
their sight.
They would speak differently and see differently because they would now
think differently. The thinking of the mind would not come from the
initiative of the individual, the exercise of the mind itself. The mind
would be exercised but it would be under the divine influence of the Holy
Spirit.
The mind would be restored to what God intended from the beginning. The
thinking of the mind would be beyond the control of the person. The
prophesy, the vision, and the dream of man would be by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Jesus had returned to them to be the anointing of their lives.
The day any individual begins to speak, to see, and to think differently is
a notable day. It is the restoration of life. For the glory of heaven or the
degradation of hell lies exclusively in the exercise of the mind of man. As
Peter would later quote David to say, concerning that notable day when
things change, God makes the person to be in a good frame of mind (Acts
2:26). He makes known the ways of life (Acts 2:28).
The prophet Joel correlated this new way of speaking, seeing, and thinking
with other sensational things that must occur before "that great and
notable day of the Lord [would] come" (Acts 2:20). It is only when the
ways of man begin to manifest death and hell, which they will eventually
always bring, that man will be ready for his salvation. This indication
(signs in the earth beneath) is the product of an omen (wonders in heaven
above) that has already occurred (Acts 2:19). When man begins to fail to
experience the heavenly life, a prodigy has been set. The "life"
of the earthly realm will be experienced.
The light of the heavenly realm, the light of life, will become darkened.
The actual attractiveness of life produced by God will lose its appeal.
Instead of life being glorious and powerful, it will become shameful and
weak. The "sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood" (Acts 2:20).
It is only when the ways of man become filled with bloodshed and fires of
tribulation that man will turn to the Lord. When life becomes a scant vapor
of what it should be, the heart of man is then conditioned to have Jesus
come forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. For it is only when man comes to
the end of himself will he call out to the Lord to be saved. The
"notable day of the Lord" only comes with the blood, the fire, the
vapor of smoke, the sun darkened, and the moon turning to blood.
The life of God can be quickened again in man because Jesus Christ Himself
has been raised from the dead. He was raised to life "after his
passion" (Acts 1:3). As Jesus had said during His earthly ministry, He
must first experience the miraculous life after death before others could be
taken to the same place of mystery.
The words of Peter now turn to the actual events on that feast day of
Pentecost. He said, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of
Nazareth . . . ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain" (Acts 2:22,23). Peter was to add, however, "let all the
house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye
have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Within the context
of these two statements, the secret to experience the life of God is given,
the mystery of life after death. It is the mystery of love, being taken to
the end of one’s self for the enhancement of others. Jesus Christ is both
Lord and Christ.
As it was manifested in Jesus, so shall it be experienced in every believer.
Peter quoted David to illustrate the power of life after death, the power of
being baptized with the Holy Spirit. David said, prophesying of Jesus and
all who would believe on Him, "Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my
tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope" (Acts
2:26).
The heart rejoicing, the tongue glad, and the flesh resting in hope is
miraculous because the one speaking these words is in hell (Acts 2:27). In
the midst of hell, it seems, as if hell is not being experienced. Only the
power of the Holy Spirit can produce that witness.
When Jesus had told His disciples that they should not depart from Jerusalem
but wait until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, they ask,
"Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel?" (Acts 1:6). His response to their query was, "It is not
for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his
own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts
1:7,8)
Jesus connected the experiencing of the kingdom of God with the times and
seasons of sowing and reaping. He stated that this process of dying to live
is only in the power of the Father. Then He gave His disciples the promise
that they would receive this power after that the Holy Spirit would come
upon them. This power of the Holy Spirit would enable them to be martyrs
(literal meaning of witnesses), enable them to be taken to the end of
themselves for the enhancement of others. Only the power of the Holy Spirit
can enable the supernatural relationship of love to exist.
David said, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my
right hand, that I should not be moved" (Acts 2:25). David would not
waver, be agitated, or disturbed when the circumstances of life were such
that the external world around him was crumbling, the dying process. Because
the Lord was always before him and was his source of strength, David would
not waver even though he was in hell.
In hell, David said his heart rejoiced (Acts 2:26,27). With the word rejoice
meaning "to put in a good frame of mind," the power of the Holy
Spirit can be seen. A new way of speaking, a new way of seeing, and a new
way of thinking not only enabled David but will enable every believer to
know what is transpiring in life. The ways of life, the mystery of life
after death (the mystery of the relationship of love), had been revealed.
In hell, the speech of David is glad (literally, "to jump for
joy"). Not that he is rejoicing in the pains of death, but knowing that
his "light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for [him] a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17).
The power of the Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, always turns pain
into gain.
When David was in hell, his "flesh rest[ed] in hope" because the
life that he would soon experience would be the unadulterated life of God,
unadulterated love. He would stand again. He would stand in the power of
being raised to newness of life, the power of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, the power of love.
Again, David said this would happen because the Lord of glory, the Lord of
life, had "made known to [him] the ways of life; [the Lord] shalt make
[him] full of joy with [the Lord’s] countenance" (Acts 2:28).
Beholding the face of the Lord, the believer will be changed to a new way of
speaking, a new way of seeing, and a new way of thinking by the power of the
Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 2:18). Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is
always freedom from the pains of death.
Using the words of David, Peter stated that God had raised up Jesus to set
Him "by the right hand of God exalted" (Acts 2:25-35). He
connected the ascension of Jesus with the events of the feast of Pentecost
on that particular day. He said, "Therefore being by the right hand of
God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy
Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear" (Acts 2:33).
The ascension of Jesus and the receiving of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost are inseparably connected not only by Peter but also by Jesus
(Gospel of John 13:33-14:28) and the angelic messengers (Acts 1:11). Jesus
Christ had come again to take up His abode within the hearts of the people
(John 14:23). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the unadulterated life
of love could once again be experienced by man.
The life of the only man to live in perfect love, Jesus Christ, can now be
experienced by every man. Jesus had come again in those early believers. He
will also come again for you. You, too, can experience the connecting
links of life, the relationship of love.
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