For-Knowledge
May 2nd, 2007, 12:23 PM
Throughout the years, I've heard numerous pastors and teachers(mine included) parrot a widespread misconception, namely:
On the day of Pentecost, the 120 disciples were preaching the gospel while speaking in tongues.
Has anyone ever heard such a statement?
Let's look at what the bible has to say about this.
Acts 4:4-11
4.And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5.And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6.Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7.And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8.And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9.Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10.Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11.Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
We know exactly what was said on the day of Pentecost, for the bible leaves no ambiguity. We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
If the 120 were praising and thanking God(in foreign languages...aka tongues) for his wonderful works, how is it that some bible students, pastors and teachers miss this overt truth? I mean the bible is obviously clear as to what was said, and yet, there are people who still assert that the 120 were preaching the gospel. :scratch
If they(some pastors, teachers..) have overlooked this clear cut truth, what else have they missed? :suprised
I do not claim to be a scholar..no, not at all(far from it) however, I do expect those whom God placed over me to "grasp" clear cut, obvious truths in scripture. And in this case, the bible is "1st grade simplistic." Thank God this is not a salvation issue.
Did the 120 preach the gospel on the Day Of Pentecost?
14.But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15.For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.............
Needless to say, the rest was history. Peter, through the boldness and power given him via the freshly received Holy Spirit preach the gospel of Christ thus turning many hearts to Christ. The gospel of Christ brought a deep contrite/convicted/repentant heart amongst the crowd that day (Men and brethren what shall we do?) Where as, on the contrary, speaking in tongues induced a euphoric response from the crowd, for they said..."We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God!!!".
Yes indeed, it was "wonderful" and "refreshing"(and quite astonishing) to hear 120 men and women praise God(foreign languages...aka tongues) like no man or women has ever done in Israel's history!(On second thought, David knew how to praise his God too :nod But David did not have the "firstfruits" of the Spirit like the Church has.) Truly a remarkable moment in Israel' history. Praise him all ye lands!
The conclusion of the matter:
The first message(120 speaking in tongues) was a "welcomed" message by the crowd, a glorious message, a good message, a "praise God" message for all of his wonderful works. However, the second message(Peter standing up to preach Christ) brought about an "ill feeling" a deep sense of regret, a contrite and convicted heart, a sense of hopelessness(they were cut to the heart when they realized they were indeed responsible for the death of their Messiah whom God had ordained)
Two clear and contrary messages.
But then again, the goodness of God(first message) leads to repentance!(second message). Glory to His Name!
How unsearchable are his ways! Who has known the mind of God!
Who would've ever thought that God would use the first message in such a way( the 120 men and women praising him for his goodness and wonderful works) to "prepare" the crowd for the "ultimate" message which brings about repentance to life, namely, Christ and Him crucified.
Truely, the goodness of God does indeed lead to repentance, and, his ways are past finding out!
Another common misconception:
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
8.Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9.For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10.But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
Having consistency is the key to understanding this text of scripture.
I've battled many Jehovah's witnesses(some on this board think that I'm a Jehovah's withness too) on the streets over the years, and they often use this text of scripture to prove that many gifts have already been done away with.
In all honesty, if tongues and prophecies are done away with, doesnt logic demand that knowledge would also have to be done away with? Consistency, remember? We know knowledge has not ended..LOL (quite the contrary!!! Knowledge is increasing!!! We now have the ability to land a vehicle on planet Mars! And to think during the early 1900's man's instrument of transportation was via horseback..simply amazing!)
So I ask everyone in all honesty, if knowledge has not been done away with, then neither can prophesy and tongues or any other gift for that matter. We must keep this text of scripture uniform and consistent. Or, do we just pick and choose which gifts we would like to stay and which ones we would like to fade away? Is that it? Is that how we do it? "Every man did what was right in his own eyes"?
Besides everything else, that which is perfect(The Lord) has not come yet,(although the Jehovah's witnessess believe the bible is "perfect") so how could that which we do in part(prophesy, tongues....etc..etc) be done away with already? Consistency, we must have consistency. If one gift is gone, then they are all gone, if one gift stays, then they all stay until Jesus comes. Consistency, consistency. Last time I checked, the Holy Spirit still abides in the Church even till this day. God is no respecter of persons neither has he changed..Jesus the same yesterday, today...etc etc.
Feel free to post more common misconceptions, I'm sure we can all learn from one another.
John
On the day of Pentecost, the 120 disciples were preaching the gospel while speaking in tongues.
Has anyone ever heard such a statement?
Let's look at what the bible has to say about this.
Acts 4:4-11
4.And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5.And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6.Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7.And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8.And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9.Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10.Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11.Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
We know exactly what was said on the day of Pentecost, for the bible leaves no ambiguity. We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
If the 120 were praising and thanking God(in foreign languages...aka tongues) for his wonderful works, how is it that some bible students, pastors and teachers miss this overt truth? I mean the bible is obviously clear as to what was said, and yet, there are people who still assert that the 120 were preaching the gospel. :scratch
If they(some pastors, teachers..) have overlooked this clear cut truth, what else have they missed? :suprised
I do not claim to be a scholar..no, not at all(far from it) however, I do expect those whom God placed over me to "grasp" clear cut, obvious truths in scripture. And in this case, the bible is "1st grade simplistic." Thank God this is not a salvation issue.
Did the 120 preach the gospel on the Day Of Pentecost?
14.But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15.For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.............
Needless to say, the rest was history. Peter, through the boldness and power given him via the freshly received Holy Spirit preach the gospel of Christ thus turning many hearts to Christ. The gospel of Christ brought a deep contrite/convicted/repentant heart amongst the crowd that day (Men and brethren what shall we do?) Where as, on the contrary, speaking in tongues induced a euphoric response from the crowd, for they said..."We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God!!!".
Yes indeed, it was "wonderful" and "refreshing"(and quite astonishing) to hear 120 men and women praise God(foreign languages...aka tongues) like no man or women has ever done in Israel's history!(On second thought, David knew how to praise his God too :nod But David did not have the "firstfruits" of the Spirit like the Church has.) Truly a remarkable moment in Israel' history. Praise him all ye lands!
The conclusion of the matter:
The first message(120 speaking in tongues) was a "welcomed" message by the crowd, a glorious message, a good message, a "praise God" message for all of his wonderful works. However, the second message(Peter standing up to preach Christ) brought about an "ill feeling" a deep sense of regret, a contrite and convicted heart, a sense of hopelessness(they were cut to the heart when they realized they were indeed responsible for the death of their Messiah whom God had ordained)
Two clear and contrary messages.
But then again, the goodness of God(first message) leads to repentance!(second message). Glory to His Name!
How unsearchable are his ways! Who has known the mind of God!
Who would've ever thought that God would use the first message in such a way( the 120 men and women praising him for his goodness and wonderful works) to "prepare" the crowd for the "ultimate" message which brings about repentance to life, namely, Christ and Him crucified.
Truely, the goodness of God does indeed lead to repentance, and, his ways are past finding out!
Another common misconception:
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
8.Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9.For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10.But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
Having consistency is the key to understanding this text of scripture.
I've battled many Jehovah's witnesses(some on this board think that I'm a Jehovah's withness too) on the streets over the years, and they often use this text of scripture to prove that many gifts have already been done away with.
In all honesty, if tongues and prophecies are done away with, doesnt logic demand that knowledge would also have to be done away with? Consistency, remember? We know knowledge has not ended..LOL (quite the contrary!!! Knowledge is increasing!!! We now have the ability to land a vehicle on planet Mars! And to think during the early 1900's man's instrument of transportation was via horseback..simply amazing!)
So I ask everyone in all honesty, if knowledge has not been done away with, then neither can prophesy and tongues or any other gift for that matter. We must keep this text of scripture uniform and consistent. Or, do we just pick and choose which gifts we would like to stay and which ones we would like to fade away? Is that it? Is that how we do it? "Every man did what was right in his own eyes"?
Besides everything else, that which is perfect(The Lord) has not come yet,(although the Jehovah's witnessess believe the bible is "perfect") so how could that which we do in part(prophesy, tongues....etc..etc) be done away with already? Consistency, we must have consistency. If one gift is gone, then they are all gone, if one gift stays, then they all stay until Jesus comes. Consistency, consistency. Last time I checked, the Holy Spirit still abides in the Church even till this day. God is no respecter of persons neither has he changed..Jesus the same yesterday, today...etc etc.
Feel free to post more common misconceptions, I'm sure we can all learn from one another.
John