The Holy Spirit interrupts...

Winning the lost at any cost pt. 4

The Holy Spirit interrupts…

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Let us pray…

This is the last of our four part series in chapter 10 of the book of Acts. We have shown in the Scripture where Peter build a foundation for the teaching of the Gospel and prayed to prepare the hearts of those who would hear it. God the Holy Spirit also gave a vision to both men, first to Cornelius and then to Peter.

Then in second part of the series we are given the information needed to accept God’s conclusion, to accept those whom God had also given the Gospel and to accepted the consequences of the vision of a true church both Jew and Gentile. Last week we spoke about the proclamation of the Gospel to those who fear God and need Jesus, to those who need to know who Jesus is and to those who need to understand what Jesus has done for us.

Now this morning we find ourselves at a place of exoneration for all the claims we have put forth, a place of substantiation because all the words of God the Holy Spirit now show themselves as being true, and a place of vindication, where our ultimate defense is proved by the interruption of God the Holy Spirit in the middle of Peter’s sermonic presentation. Peter was just getting started in his message when his congregation believed and the Holy Spirit interrupted the meeting. As the Holy Spirit fell on these people just as He fell upon the Jews at Pentecost, it is not usual for God to interrupt. Interruption seems to me a trinitarian prerogative, look at the following instances. God the Father interrupted Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration,

, “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

God the Son interrupted Peter concerning the matter of the temple tax,

, “When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

Now, in our text this morning God the Holy Spirit, interrupts Peter and he is never able to finish his sermon for the God the Holy Spirit finishes it for him. O” that, God the Holy Spirit would interrupt our service to morning and finish it for us, O’ that God the Holy Spirit would show up and show out this morning, O’ that the God the Holy Spirit would fell afresh upon this morning and continue to fill us with His presents. The Bible never teaches we should pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but that we are continually filled and filled with Holy Spirit constantly.

The Holy Spirit interrupts… to grant vindication

, “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed…”

Our text tells us that while Peter was still speaking the words of his sermon, he was stunned, because suddenly, surprisingly, and dramatically he was interrupted by the very Spirit of God.

The text here infers without making it implicit, that the people whom Peter was speaking to, had heard the words of God’s forgiveness. God’s forgiveness that was instantly available through His Son Jesus Christ and they had believed, immediately through faith in Christ. They had responded to the irresistible call of Christ, they had responded to the effectual call of Christ, as the Bible teaches, faith comes by hearing and hearing the words of Christ. And because of their newly found faith, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. Saving faith results in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,

,You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

Everyone who is a Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling within them; to be devoid of the Spirit characterizes one as an unbeliever.

, “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

It is true that the Spirit’s coming to the Samaritans was delayed, they were saved through Philip’s preaching, yet they had to wait until the arrival of Peter. But as seen in .

, “Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Apparently in this unique case, where the gospel was first moving beyond the bounds of Judaism, the Lord sovereignly waited to give any manifestation of the full power of the Holy Spirit (cf. vv. 15–16) until some of the apostles themselves could be present (Philip was not an apostle), and therefore there would be α question if the Samaritans had received the new covenant empowering of the Holy Spirit in the same way that the Jewish Christians had if an apostle was not present. This why God send Peter and John to officiate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them. This would show that the Samaritans should be counted full members of the one true church, the new covenant community of God’s people, founded and based at that time in Jerusalem. It would also guarantee that the Samaritans, who for many generations had been hostile toward the Jews, would not establish a separate Christian church or be excluded from the church by Jewish believers. The Spirit was given only at the hands of the apostles, to show convincingly to Samaritan and other later, non-Jewish leaders of the church that both Jews and non-Jews who believed in Jesus now had full membership status among God’s people. No such delay was needed here, since the apostle Peter was already present. So listen to me, this clearly shows that does not establish the norm for receiving the Spirit. Think about it, If believers were always to be saved and then later receive the Spirit, why did Cornelius and the other Gentiles receive the Spirit the moment they were saved?

The view of some that they were already saved and merely received the Spirit really runs afoul of , “he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.” Furthermore, if they were already saved and this was simply the occasion of their receiving the Spirit, why did Peter preach the gospel to them?

Why did he not instead give them teaching on how to receive the Spirit? It just does not make any sense at all biblically,

Receiving the Holy Spirit requires no petition, no confession, no water baptism, and no laying of on hands. If you are a Christian then you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you.

These people came, they listen, they believed and they were saved! Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

This is clearly stated as well in , “If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

There can be no such thing as a Christian without the Holy Spirit, since He is essential to the Christian life.

The Holy Spirit grants power to witness and to pray. Through His ministry comes the assurance of salvation, , “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Through God the Holy Spirit’s ministry comes the understanding that we are sealed for the day of redemption, that the Holy Spirit is our earnest money that guarantees our inheritance.

Peter was no doubt startled by what had happened, though he had previously seen the same reality with the Samaritans. But the text gives is another significant testimony, when it says, “And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed. He is the Holy Spirit vindication of the vision given to Peter, these six brethren that he had brought with him, his posses with a purpose. Now they were astonished by the fact that the Gentiles were saved and received the Spirit. They now understood that the church was not to be exclusively Jewish; this must have come as quite a shock to them. Yet they could hardly deny what had happen right before their eyes.

Here the members of the circumcision recognized that the Holy Spirit had vindication vision and the actions given to Peter. Now what follows is only greater verification.

The Holy Spirit interrupts… to gives verification

, “…Because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God.”

Yes, they were amazed by the fact of seeing and hearing the Gentiles speaking in tongues and exalting God right before them.

This passage does not teach that speaking in tongues is normative expected, or bring evidence of the coming of the Spirit.

The Spirit granted in on this occasion as visible proof that the Holy Spirit in dwelt these Gentile in the same way that He had the Jewish Christian at Pentecost. God the Holy Spirit knew that the Jewish brethren would be hard to convince, that the Gentiles had equal status with them, so God granted the same manifestation that the Jewish Christians experienced be experienced by these Gentiles as well.

But pastor what is speaking in tongues?

The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the day of Pentecost in . The apostles went out and shared the gospel with the crowds, speaking to them in their own languages: “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (). The Greek word translated tongues is glossa literally means “languages.” It is a dialect that is distant from other nations. Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language a person does not know in order to minister to someone who does speak that language. In 1 Corinthians chapters 12–14, Paul discusses miraculous gifts, saying, “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?” (). According to the apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his or her own language, but it is useless to everyone else unless it is interpreted/translated.

A person with the gift of interpreting tongues () could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language that was being spoken. The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues speaker to everyone else, so all could understand. “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says” (). Paul’s conclusion regarding tongues that were not interpreted is powerful: “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (). Is the gift of tongues for today? mentions the gift of tongues ceasing, although it connects the ceasing with the arrival of the “perfect” in . Some point to a difference in the tense of the Greek verbs referring to prophecy and knowledge “ceasing” and that of tongues “being ceased” as evidence for tongues ceasing before the arrival of the “perfect.” While possible, this is not explicitly clear from the text that it has stopped. Some also point to passages such as and as evidence that speaking in tongues was a sign of God's oncoming judgment. describes tongues as a “sign to unbelievers.” According to this argument, the gift of tongues was a warning to the Jews that God was going to judge Israel for rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah. Therefore, when God did in fact judge Israel (with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70), the gift of tongues would no longer serve its intended purpose. While this view is possible, the primary purpose of tongues being fulfilled does not necessarily demand its cessation. Scripture does not conclusively assert that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased. At the same time, if the gift of speaking in tongues were active in the church today, it would be performed in agreement with Scripture. It would be a real and intelligible language

(). It would be for the purpose of communicating God's Word with a person of another language (). It would be in agreement with the command God gave through the apostle Paul, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God” (). It would also be in accordance with , “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” God most definitely can give a person the gift of speaking in tongues to enable him or her to communicate with a person who speaks another language. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the dispersion of the spiritual gifts (). However, God does not seem to be doing this. Tongues does not seem to occur today in the manner it did in the New Testament, despite the fact that it would be immensely useful. The vast majority of believers who claim to practice the gift of speaking in tongues do not do so in agreement with the Scriptures mentioned above. These facts lead to the conclusion that the gift of tongues has ceased or is at least a rarity in God's plan for the church today.

But here in Caesarea God the Holy Spirit using it to bring verification

The Holy Spirit interrupts… to garner veneration

, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

To venerate is to introduce a feeling of awe, a feeling an a sense of respect, and a feeling an sense of reverence. This is the feeling and the sense surrounding the sacrament of baptism.

Here, as always in the New Testament, baptism follows salvation. Indeed, Peter’s entire argument for baptizing Cornelius and the others rests on the fact they had received the Holy Spirit, and therefore were saved. Baptism plays no part in salvation. Yet, through it, believers publicly confess in a symbolic fashion the inner transformation of salvation. Rather than do it himself. Peter wisely ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ by the Jewish Christians who accompanied him. He thus involved the Jews in the momentous reality, knowing they would then be even more willing to support it. Peter could anticipate the reaction when he reported back to Jerusalem, and wanted all the support that he could muster.

, “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”

This raises yet another misunderstanding with our brothers and sisters in the Pentecostal movement.

Should we be baptized in Jesus' name (), or in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ()?" records the Apostle Peter’s words on the day of Pentecost, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

This was a strong affirmation by Peter that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (). Being baptized in the name of Jesus indicates an understanding by the person being baptized that Christ is the Savior. The word in the Greek for name “onoma” which means every thought, words, deed, and characteristic associating with the person carrying that name. So to be baptized in the name of Jesus, is to be baptized in the name of the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In the original Greek it would have read, “Epi ta onomati Iesou Christos” in the name of Jesus. So Christian baptism is also in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (). Being baptized in this manner simply means we are identifying ourselves with the Trinity. We belong to the Father, are saved by the Son, and in dwelt by the Spirit. This is similar to how we pray in Jesus’ name (). If we pray in the name of Jesus, we are praying with His authority and asking God the Father to act upon our prayers because we come in the name of His Son, Jesus. Being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is being baptized in identification with them and their power over and in our lives. Jesus Himself specifically tells us to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. In the Book of Acts, new believers were baptized in the name of Jesus (; ; ; ; ). It is, however, essentially the same thing—Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are one (; ). Per Jesus’ own instructions, believers should be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but as the book of Acts proves, baptizing in the name of Jesus is also done. The bottom line is that the name/names in which we are baptized in identifies us with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, our Savior. We are buried with Him and risen to walk with Him in newness of life.

Lastly, Peter add these words, , “Then they asked him to remain for some days.”

Since the joy of fellowship with those of like precious faith, and the opportunity to learn from the noble apostle all they could about their Lord and salvation was so precious. Cornelius and his fellowship invested in this new fellowship and their desire to learns expressed a genuine mark of saving faith. Later on in Acts we will see Lydia expressed a similar desire after her conversion. This important and significant chapter has witnessed the inclusion of Gentiles as equals in the church. The last barrier has fallen, Peter later described this great experience in ,“The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.”

So we see that God the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel, wins the lost at any cost and bring saving faith to the Gentiles and the completing of the church to the Jews. Now we are one church, with one baptism, one faith, and one Lord who is in all and over all.