The Promise of the Father Zion Fellowship 11.1.26 Bible reading: Acts 2:1-4, 29-36
Bible Readings [] omitted from spoken sermon more theologically taxing
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vj1_PVK70Cc&si=svQLDKAMy4Vo4KLu
“On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water”.’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39 N.R.S.V)
“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.… In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:1-5; 2:33)
Background
Today’s subject is particularly difficult to do justice to [even though I have long held a particular passion for it. Years ago, in prepared a new unit in theology [ from scratch called Renewal Theology.] I begin with reference to a prophecy by [Pentecostal pioneer] Smith Wigglesworth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Wigglesworth): “When the new church phase (of Spirit power and presence) is on the wane, there will be evidence in the churches of something that has not been seen before: a coming together of those with an emphasis on the Word and those with an emphasis on the Spirit. “When the Word and the Spirit come together, there will be the biggest move of the Holy Spirit that the nations, and indeed, the world have ever seen. [It will mark the beginning of a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these shores, even the Wesleyan and Welsh revivals of former years.” Whilst Wigglesworth was a humble man, [who like my own father, started life illiterate, given the very being of God as Father, Son and Spirit, this is necessarily a true prophetic word [from the Lord. Whilst long believing this,] I trust my ability to hear the Lord has grown significantly on this vital practical topic of the unity of Word and Spirit. Word-people, Evangelicals and Spirit-people, Pentecostals, need to confess they NEED one another if we are ever going to be led into the fullness of God as the Body which Jesus died for. I sense the present blockage working against Church unity will only be resolved when a less self-confident, less independent, less arrogant generation arises to lead the people of God.
Unity In Gospel-Acts
Our Scripture readings today emphasise that the Father’s greatest gift to the Church through the Son’s glorious finished saving work is the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5). [“the inexpressible gift” of the Word made flesh for us (2 Cor 9:15) is that] “God gives God”. The Father sent the Son so that in turn the Son might send the Spirit (Rom 8:14-16; Gal 4:4-6) cf. John 3:16). This truth is affirmed by all genuine Christians and raises acutely the ancient question “What has caused the Church to be so divided about the relative roles of the Word and the Spirit?” [Some attribute divisions between Spirit-filled churches and Word-focused folk to ancient theological differences (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/a-pastoral-case-for-the-filioque-clause/) but the] The foundational stumbling block is rooted deeply in issues flowing from the human heart cf. Prov 4:23.
Factors in Division
Jesus prophesied of the Spirit’s ministry: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14). The Church can only testify to others of what it has first heard from the Spirit sent from heaven [“things into which angels long to look” (1 Pet 1:12)]. Ineffective mission i.e. lack of conversions, indicates deficient revelation. Charles Spurgeon [a brilliant preacher and evangelist] testifies: “Do you not know…what God’s estimate of the gospel is? Do you not know that it has been the chief subject of His thoughts and acts from all eternity? He looks on it as the grandest of all His works.” [Surely now, as always,] The rediscovery of the “whole counsel of God” (cf. Acts 20:27) will practically reunite the Word and the Spirit in the Church! My experience [as a pastor-teacher lecturer and prophet] is that in most churches we cut short the story of Jesus. We readily embrace his teaching, miracles and death but effectively stop at the resurrection. We fail to explain these words [from a literal translation: “On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out,]‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water”.’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39 N.R.S.V) [Literally, this is what Jesus said. Of course he was not stating that the Spirit did not exist when he was speaking in his power (cf. John 3:6; 4:24), but] in John’s Gospel the glorification of the Son includes death, resurrection ascension and outpouring of the Spirit. The Spirit must first complete his work in the man Jesus (John 17:30), before he can repeat this in us. Only after the Spirit had filled the exalted Christ to overflowing could this experience be true of those who later come to be “in him.” When we are grasped by this reality other passages make sense.
[John 12:32: “I, when I am lifted up/exalted (cf. Luke 14:11; 18:14) from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.”] John 14:12: “ Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (cf. 20:17)[Rather than go into a long exposition of theological, historical and sociological factors to do with the breakdown of holy unity between Christians, cf. JY’s life motto: “any friend of Jesus is a friend of mine”,] our lack of unity causes deep grief in the heart of God (Luke 19:41-44; https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-is-christian-unity-so-hard). [Do we believe that the meaning and consequence of the cosmic disintegration caused by the Fall into sin has been completely undone by Christ?] The Word was made sinful flesh (John 1:14; Rom 8:3 https://growrag.wordpress.com/2017/07/01/st-athanasius-and-thomas-torrance-in-collusion-on-the-assumption-of-the-fallen-human-nature-in-christ/) so that he would pour out on the whole Church the promised Holy Spirit first outpours on himself (Acts 2).
[Everywhere in the New Testament the Son and the Spirit work in perfect oneness (cf. https://www.4elect.com/the-spirit-and-the-word/).] Eph 5 [ “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead,] “be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph 5:18-20) is paralleled by Col 3:16-17 “[Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.] 16 Let the λόγος/word/ message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” In God his Word and his Spirit of God cannot be added divided or multiplied (Athanasian Creed) but are explosively unifying.
The Fall: Dividing the Father through Fear
[In his dispute with the Gnostics] in the second century [one of the great theologians and martyrs of the Early Church,] St Irenaeus spoke of the Son and Spirit as the two hands of God i.e. the Father. (Against Heresies: Book IV; preface) citing Ps 33:6 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath/Greek πνεύματι/pneuma = spirit of his mouth”. Creation took place when the Word and Spirit actualised/made concrete God the Father’s plan (Gen 1:1-3). Every Satanic assault on this original unity demands deep deception: as Jesus prophesied to the Pharisees, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, [not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language,] for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44). The Fall is the original failure to listen to the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. [The promise to Eve, ““You will not certainly die,”” (Gen 3:4) is the essence of the nature of evil. Whilst Satan’s evil being is sustained by the power of the unity of Word and Spirit he is living untrue to his essential nature as a creature.] Satan’s first words were false words because he was living outside the goodness of the living Word and the empowering Spirit (1 Tim 5:6). Every slander about a fellow believer cab be traced back to the devil (1 John 3:8, 15). An unforgettable example springs to my mind, 100 years ago a prominent Evangelical teacher described the Azusa St awakening as “the last vomit of Satan before the return of Christ” (Campbell Morgan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._Campbell_Morgan) [cf. the later declaration against German Pentecostalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Declaration_(1909).] Why have Christian people ever believed such things? Why are Bible believing Evangelicals and Charismatics often so slow to pray with one another?
The love of the Word and the love of the Spirit are totally complementary in the Father (1 John 4:8). In indivisible love within his sovereign glory Jesus prayed “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began…. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:5, 22-23) This means that a visibly divided Church is a disaster for the world!
The glorification of Jesus was accomplished by his return to the glorious Father through death, resurrection and ascension (cf. Rom 6:4; Eph 1:17-23), all of which are equally significant and indispensable [to the glorification of Father, Sin and Holy Spirit] through the magnification of his human nature (μεγαλύνω cf. Phil 1:20; Acts 5:13; Acts 10:46; 19:17 to manifest in an extraordinary degree.] Most believers focus more on the Return of Christ to us on earth (in Second Coming or “rapture”) than they ever do on his returning to the glory of the Father in heaven! (https://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/2022/10/the-ascension-and-parousia-of-christ.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9D%20(144).-,b.,the%20heart%20of%20the%20parousia), this confused focus has robbed Father, Son and Spirit of their glory achieved for us in Christ (cf. Mal 1:6; 2:10; 3:8-10; Acts 12:23; Rom 1:23). We cannot expect to have a Spirit-filled Word-centred understanding of the Return of Christ to earth if we diminish his foundational return to the Father in heaven (John 20:17; Acts 1:11). We will never witness earnest expectation and prayer (cf. Acts 12:5) about the final judgment of this fallen universe unless we see this as the culmination of the present rule of God which the perfected Son is exerting from heaven NOW through his Word and by his Spirit (1 Cor 15:20-28).
We must go back to the preaching at Pentecost to be grasped by the ascended Jesus’ experience of the Spirit as foundational to all believers’ reception of the Father’s glorious gift of the Spirit. “Exalted to the right hand of God, he [/the crucified, resurrected and ascended Jesus] has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” (Acts 2:33). This revelation into the finished work of Christ before the Father (coram deo) in heaven is the pinnacle of his perfection for us [what is called “the vicarious humanity of the Son of God” (https://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/2019/05/torrance-christs-vicarious-humanity.html). Everything that happens in the life of Jesus, by God’s grace and work of the Holy Spirit, includes us.] We can only ever receive what Jesus has first received. [The promise Jesus made to the disciples “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you” (Acts 1:8) and the promise he received as “exalted to the right hand of God” (Acts 2:33) may be chronologically separate events on earth but they are intertwined (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perichoresis) in one another in God.]
We later read in Acts of how various Christian groups “receive the Spirit” across times and locations (Acts 1:8; 2:38; 8:15, 19) [Jerusalem, Samaria,] for all such “receiving’s” [whether at our conversion or a later “filling” (Acts 2:4; 4:8)] are contained in the Spirit’s gift to the Son in his glorious exaltation to the right hand of power. Our receiving of the Spirit is a limited sharing in the initiation of the humanity of the Son of God in power over all created things when he ascended to the right hand of power (Mark 14:62; Heb 12:2). [I do not expect most you to mentally grasp this but you believe it by faith and live in the inner assurance of what it means to be “sealed by the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:1)] Our eternal security (https://growrag.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/assurance-of-salvation-in-the-theology-of-thomas-torrance/) is as certain as Christ’s reception into heaven by the Father and his gift of the Spirit! [As Jesus once said, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” (John 6:27 cf. 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13-14; 1 John 4:17).] The revelation of this reality to the whole Church will usher in an era of authority for mission, after his resurrection “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive(cf. Acts 2:33) the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”” (John 20:21-23) The empowerment of the Spirit correlates with the authority to forgive or not forgive sin i.e. the power of the Gospel (Rom 1:16). Let me go back a step to the problem of a divided Church.
[In eternity the apex of the Father’s good plan ordained that the Word as flesh would constantly receive the Spirit throughout his life from conception to ascension and session (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_of_Christ; https://cross-connect.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Renewal-Word-and-Spirit.pdf). To receive the baptism of the Spirit by faith is to share in the heart of Father, Son and Spirit in pure perfect love for him and one another (Rom 8:14-16; Gal 4:4-6 cf. Matt 23:37). [Such love is inestimably greater than intense-emotional, so Pentecostalism, or reasonable-brilliant insights, so Evangelicalism. Past divisions of right/left brain, subjective/objective, fact/feeling experience/idea, are all relativised in the revelation of the glory of the humanity of the Son of God! Jesus is greater than all these things because he is the ultimate source of them all.]
Fear of Punishment
What is binding our obedience concerning Christ’s command to love one another and walk in his complete unity is fear. At the deepest level we do not trust God to be our all-dispensing generous “Abba Father”. [The remedy is the power of the cross. The cry of dereliction (Mark 15:34), where Jesus “becomes sin” in our place (2 Cor 5:21,) is the sole (sufficient) place where bearing our wrath the everlasting Son prays to “God”, rather than speaking with his Holy Righteous “Abba” Father (Mark 14:36; John 17:11, 25). This is the deepest possible revelation of the fallen human struggle with the] The universal fear of the paternity of deity n.b. Mark 14:36a,of an Almighty Father, is abolished in “the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim 1:10).
John testifies, [the disciple whom Jesus loves (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:17, 20) at the end of a very long life], “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:13-18). Those healed of such fear of God are sealed by the power of the Spirit with perfect assurance of faith (Heb 10:22; 11:1) receiving from the all-provident Father the sending of both Word and Spirit in equal measure (John 3:34).
[Jesus said in a way that resonates through the ages, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:16-18). The Father was never anything less than the God who is love (1 John 4:9) but it highlights points an intensification of Christ’s experience of the love of the Father through the Spirit in the laying down of his life for the sheep. Such must be our progress in faith in obeying the Word in the fulness of the Spirit. “This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” (1 John 4:9-10)]
Application and Conclusion
Evangelicals and Pentecostals must confess they NEED on another if they are ever going to spearhead the Church into the fullness the Lord has planned for her. Not to confess such need is a display of arrogance and is independence from the Lord of glory. The scriptures emphasise emphatically: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” (1 Pet 5:6; cf. James 4:6). Insight into the unity of God in the heavenly places (as per Eph 2:6; Phil 2:9) awaits radical lowliness of mind and heart. We have in practice (cf. # Chalcedonian definition) horribly separated the Word and the Spirit)
As a glorious and united Church we will follow a glorified Lord and point indisputably to him. The outpouring of the Spirit is the public evidence of the coronation of Jesus as Lord of the universe (Dan 7:13-14; Ps 2; 110; Acts 10:236; Eph 4:7ff). “The giving of the Spirit thus announces the divine exaltation of Christ to the right hand of the Father. It is the public expression of his coronation (Jesus is now ‘glorified’).” (S. Ferguson)
We must sense [in the heavenlies, the place in which we all are already raised with Christ (Eph 2:6; Col 3:1-4),] that the whole weight of Jesus life, death, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of power, [i.e. his indivisible glory (2 Cor 4:17)] is interceding [in the fulness of the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph 6:18; Jude 20)] for re-union with his exalted Body for the coming of the kingdom of God with final power (cf. “the communion of the saints” (Apostles’ Creed, Lord’s Prayer). This is what it means to be living in these “last days” (Heb 1:2; Acts 2:17 etc.) the time in which the prophecy of the coming together in unity of the Word-Church and Spirit-Church shall be revealed as equal active agents of God in a complete revelation of the identity of God as undivided Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In 2 Cor 3:16-18 Paul expounds on a shift from an age of Law to an age of the freedom of the Spirit of the Lord. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18). As Christians gaze on the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8; James 2:1) we are progressively conformed into Christ’s likeness (cf. 2 Cor 1:4) in their experience. [This establishes the three-fold glory of God as Lord indivisibly served, worshiped and obeyed in everlasting power.] The believer becomes like God the Father as revealed in the Son through the Spirit. The future eternal experience of the Presence begins now. (As it has from Pentecost on.)