THE BIBLE SPEAKS
by
ARE WE PENTECOSTAL?
Background Scripture:
Acts 2:1-47.
Devotional
Ephesians 2:11-22.
Some years ago, in a newspaper
interview, because I had twice used the term, “Holy Spirit,” the interviewer asked,
“So, are you a Pentecostal?” ”Certainly,” I replied, “but not
necessarily the way in which you understand that term.”
From the earliest days, all who are followers of Christ have access to
the Holy Spirit. The first Pentecost was for all who would receive the gospel,
repent and be baptized (2:38). So we all
are Pentecostals and also charismatics (Greek: recipients of the gracious gifts of God).
Unfortunately, the media have represented the Pentecostal promise as the
exclusive property of those who have undergone an ecstatic experience, “speaking
in tongues” with Acts 2 as the scriptural basis. But the ecstatic utterances in
Acts 2 are of recognizable languages, not the unintelligible, inarticulate,
meaningless sounds that are the norm for much that is called “speaking in
tongues” or glossalalia,
another Greek term. (See I Cor.12). (Glossalalia has been practiced not only by Christians, but
by other religious peoples.)
WHAT SHALL WE DO?
The purpose of Pentecost was to make clear the basis and invitation of
the gospel, not to hide it, and listeners to Peter’s sermon were “cut to the heart and said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’” Peter’s reply: ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (2:37,38).
Notice: Peter did not add, “And speak in tongues.”
So, in Acts 2, the utterances in “other tongues” were meant to unify the
people gathered together. Yet in 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul regarded the misuse
of tongue-speaking as divisive. Not edifying to the whole congregation, it is
of value only to the speaker. Paul ends up saying, “…in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to
instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Cor. 14:19).
So, what about glossalalia? Like Paul, I
believe that it can be a valuable experience for some, particularly in private
devotions: in public worship it should be employed under the strictures laid
out by him. But, if the result is division among the people of God, then it is
a gift wrongly received and employed, for “…since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel
in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). Divisions
are not of the Spirit.
LAW AND SPIRIT
One of Judaism’s oldest and most popular festivals, Pentecost means fiftieth
day after the consecration of the harvest. This one-day festival was also known
as “The Feast of Weeks,” “The Feast of Harvest,” and “The Day of the First
Fruits.” But in later Judaism it was also celebrated as the anniversary of the
giving of the law to Moses at Sinai, complimented at the first Christian
Pentecost by the giving of the Holy Spirit..
Theodore P. Ferris suggests that the significance can be embodied in a
five-fold pattern. First, “What Jesus
did”—demonstrating through his teachings, signs and wonders, Jesus revealed
the power and purpose of God in everyday life. Second, “What you did”---“...you crucified (him) by the hands of lawless
men” (2:23). “The best that man can conceive despoiled by the worst to
which man can stoop” (Ferris).
Third, “What God did”---“But God
raised him up…” (2:24). God did not prevent the cross, “But he
wondrously reversed the verdict and changed the cross from the seal of death to
the sign of salvation and the entrance to life” (Ferris). Fourth, “What are we doing now?”---“This Jesus God raised
up and of that we all are witnesses” (2:32). Finally, “What you can do?”---“Repent, and be
baptized…and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (2:38).
The charismatic power for our Pentecostal mission.
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
By
THE ‘NEW GUYS’AT CHURCH
Background Scripture:
Acts 6:1-15; 8:1-8...
Devotional
Acts 1:3-11.
As a seminary student assigned to serve
a little congregation way off the beaten track in the mountains of
I also have come to realize that the
church life depicted in Acts was not as idyllic as I had first thought. Even
before Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, there had been some tension and
dispute within the band of his close disciples. And in the post-resurrection
churches there was almost immediately some dissention and division. So, what
should be different in Christian congregations is not the absence of conflict,
but in the way that we handle it.
According to Acts 6, the first recorded
controversy in the early church occurred between two distinctive groups. First
there were the Jews who spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the
SPIRITUALLY
SNOBBISH
In order to carry on trade, however, many
Jews, particularly those in
In the synagogues at that time there was
a common concern among the Jews for those less fortunate. It was customary on
Friday mornings to take up a collection of cash and goods in the market places
and private homes. Food, sufficient for one week, was distributed weekly to the
poor. The distribution was called the Kuppah, or
basket. There was also a daily collection for those in even greater need. This
was called the Tamhui or tray.
So it was in these distributions that we
are told, “…the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) murmured against the
Aramaic-speaking Hebrews “because their widows were neglected in the daily
distribution” (6:1). Were their widows really “neglected” or was that just
their perception? And if they were “neglected,” was it on purpose? Were the Aramaic-speaking Jews resentful of those “new guys”
in the church or were the Greek-speaking Jewish Christians hyper-sensitive as
the “new guys”? Probably there were some of both.
DIVISION
OF LABOR
The problem was turned over to the
twelve, Jesus’ inner circle, and their first response was a b it on the
defensive side: “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of
God to serve tables” (6:1b). Essentially, I think their reasoning was
correct—that there needed to be a division of labor in the church—but I
wouldn’t want to indicate that distributing help to the poor and needy is a
lesser calling than preaching and teaching. St, Francis of Assisi is
remembered, not so much for what he preached, but what he did for people in
need.
The solution that came from the twelve
was a good one: “…pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the
Spirit and of wisdom…” (6:3). “Good repute” is probably the easiest of these to
find, but “full of the Spirit and of wisdom” may seem much more difficult.
“Full of the Spirit” probably means someone who is open and responsive to the
Spirit, whop relies on wisdom rather than force or coercion. Was everyone
satisfied with this solution? Probably not. But did it
help to bridge the gulf between the “Old Guard” and the “New Guys” in the
church?
For a time it did, but there are
always “New Guys” coming into our church.(64)
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
By
THE “REAL YOU”
Background Scripture:
Acts 9:1-31.
Devotional
Galatians 1:11-24.
William Barclay calls the life-changing
experience of Saul/Paul
on the road to
Since Paul’s story is
probably so familiar to most of us, I would like to concentrate on the role of Ananias in this great event. And I have chosen to do this
because, even though he played a key role in the conversion of Paul, Ananias
is sadly unknown to most Christians.
Possibly one reason is
that there were actually three men in the New Testament bearing the name of Ananias (ANNA-nye-us), meaning “God is gracious.”. (There are also two men by this
name in the Apocryphal books of Tobit and Judith).
A
WHITEWASHED WALL
Two of those bearing
that name in the New Testament were anything but exemplary. The first Ananias is mentioned in Acts 5:1-10. along
with his wife Sapphira (su-FIRE-uh),
both of whom came to a sorry end because they were dishonest with the apostles
about their ability to contribute---definitely negative examples. Another Ananias is found in Acts 23:3, the
If the name “Ananias” rang a bell in your memory, it was almost probably
one of the two mentioned above. But it is the third Ananias
whom we need to remember and revere because of his key role in Paul’s
What makes Ananias special, is that despite his justified fears, he
was nevertheless obedient to God’s instructions and performed the following:
(1) He greeted Paul as a Christian brother; (2) He guided Paul in understanding
his experience on the
AN
ADMIRABLE ANANIAS
I have singled out Ananias because, while we so greatly admire Paul and his
apostleship, most of us are more likely to identify with Ananias.
Few of us begin as persecutors of Christians and few, if any of us end up as
apostle with the stature of
Ananias
is a follower of The Way of Christ who challenges us, not to ask why we’re not
like Paul or even like Ananias, but why we are not
like the person God intended for us to be when he brought us into this world.
The real you, like the real Ananias, would be more
than you imagine.
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
By
ARE WE USEFUL?
Background Scripture:
Acts 13.
Devotional
Matthew 28:16-20.
A few months ago a pastor in
As we talked, however, it was apparent that he had saved it as a negative
illustration to the point he expected to make. Apparently, my column had been
on Joshua and I had said that, if there is any conflict between the revelation
of God through Joshua and that of Jesus, I would always opt for the revelation
through Jesus. “Did you really mean to say that?” he asked me and I said that I
did. “And you still believe that now?” and I affirmed that. “But,” he asked, “how could there be any difference or disagreement between
them?”
FELLOW
CHRISTIANS?
To make a 45-minute conversation short,
my explanation did not please him, so finally, I interjected, “Look, it doesn’t
appear that you and I will agree on this. I guess we need to quit and simply
affirm each other as brothers in Christ. OK?” There was a long pause before he
said, “OK.” I knew that was hard for him because he had already implied that
Christian brotherhood required agreement on matters of the faith. He is far
from being alone in that conviction.
Acts and some of the New Testament
epistles tell us that disagreement between Jesus’ followers occurred from the
faith’s earliest days. In Acts 13:5, Luke tells us that when Barnabas and Paul
went out on the First Missionary Journey, “…they had John to assist them.”
There are a number of people named
“John” in the New Testament, so which one is this? This is not John who was a
member of the Twelve. Nor was he the “John” who wrote the Fourth Gospel, the
epistles of John, or the Book of Revelation. Like Paul and many other Jews of
his day, this disciple had two names: a Jewish first name and a Greek second
name—John Mark. It was John Mark who was a close associate of Simon Peter (Acts
12:12-17), the cousin of Barnabas who accompanied Barnabas and Paul on part of
their first missionary journey and
very probably he was the writer of the Gospel According
to Mark.
USEFULTO CHRIST
Although Luke merely tells us that, when
they got to Perga in Pamphylia,
“And John left them and returned to
Jerusalem” (13:13), B.H. Throckmorton and other scholars believe that
John Mark left Paul and Barnabas because was upset that Paul seemed to have
edged out Barnabas as head of the mission. Later, when Paul planned his second
missionary journey, he refused to accept John Mark in the mission group, a
decision that led eventually to a break between Paul and Barnabas. So this was
a serious split in the early Christian movement.
But that is not the end of the story! In two of Paul’s later letters,
Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 24, Paul’s mention of John Mark indicates that
they have been reconciled and that
John Mark is with
him in his place of imprisonment (either
concluded they could not be remain divided and still be
useful to the same Lord.
Is this just musty, old church history?
No, this is a glimpse of Christianity today, too, when followers of Jesus
Christ seek to preserve their own theological integrity at the cost of great
harm to the witness and unity of the Church of Jesus Christ.