Acts 1:6-8

Last Tuesday night we found that Luke packed a lot into these three verses.  We saw there are some things God wanted the apostles to know, i.e., that they would receive 'power' when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and other things God did not, i.e., knowing the times and seasons that the Father has fixed. which was Jesus' answer to the apostles' question, "will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

Some bible interpreters say that Jesus, in refusing to answer, actually "re-directed" the gist of their question so as to "de-carnalize" their sensibilities.  What I mean by that is Jesus in effect said, "there is no coming political reign in this age; rather, it is the presence of the Spirit that constitutes my reign, i.e., kingdom.  As much as I have leanings toward the amillennial position, I find this reading somewhat forced.  There is disjunction, if not a slight rebuke, by Jesus (it is set up by the Greek - men...de/on the one hand, but on the other hand).  A simpler, upfront reading of the text would take his rebuke in terms of the words Jesus spoke.  Jesus simply said the time and seasons of the restoration of the kingdom is not for them to know; rather, they need to focus on promise of the Father, i.e., the coming of the Spirit, because they absolutely need this to accomplish what God wants from them at this time, i.e., to be his witnesses - leaving the timing of Israel's restoration to God himself.  If the rebuke was 'carnalization' the point is subtle.  What is commonly accepted is that the apostles saw NO GAP between the inauguration of the kingdom and its consummation.  They were expecting an immediate and completed kingdom, a rule and reign of God that had no interm whereby they would be witnesses through the empowered Spirit.  They missed this entirely.  Jesus' rebuke was in essence, "You guys have missed the boat on this; get your mind off the coming end and completion and onto the task before you.
 
The next thing for us to look at is what the focus is to be on - divine enablement.  Various phrases are used for this: promise of the Father (v. 4c); baptism of the Holy Spirit (v. 5b); and the Holy Spirit will come upon you (v. 8b).   What is this event that is coming?  Given the time and space Luke utilizes, and its old covenant roots, I think it is safe to say that it is no mere momentary enablement; to the contrary, something HUGE is taking place within the history of redemption.  Some of the OT promises concerning a new covenant, e.g., Isaiah 32; Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 11; and Joel 2, suggest as much:

"...until the spirit is poured out upon us..." (Is 32:15)
and
"Behold the days are coming\, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant..." (Jer 31:31)
and
"And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them..." (Ez 11:19)
and
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit..." (Joel 2: 28)

So the HUGE thing that God does through A NEW COVENANT is he SENDS HIS SPIRIT into the hearts of his people.  But didn't the spirit already exist?  Wasn't David filled with the spirit?  Yes, the spirit existed, and, yes, David was filled with the spirit.  I think the answer to this apparent dilemma has to do with THE EXTENT and PERMANENCE of the spirit.  What God did to a select few, he now does to all those within the covenant; we are the new temple; we possess the spirit and so WE BECOME HIS WITNESSES!  There seems to be some contextual support for affirming the definitive and non-repeatability of this event - at least in its grand public display.  When Luke writes, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you," he uses the aorist tense.  The aorist tense often has in mind a definitive/punctiliar occurrence; meaning, the event is completed in a moment or act.  The context (remember a verse without a context becomes a pretext!) must be our guide.  Given all that we have said so far: 1) promise of a new covenant, correlated with 2) the outpouring of the Spirit, I believe the context supports a non-repeatable event, i.e., this is the INAUGURATION of the NEW COVENANT, and as such, does not repeat.  But some things are repeatable - and I would argue necessary - one being > the reception of the spirit; if one does not possess the Spirit, one is not part of the new covenant community, i.e., a Christian.  So the baptism of the Holy Spirit is necessary for salvation, and therefore must occur with salvation, e.g., 1 Cor 12:13.  What we will find ourselves grappling with throughout Acts, is what, if any, secondary characteristics cease as the Spirit is given to the new covenant community, e.g., must one speak in tongues to give proof of the spirit's presence?  If not, then why did everyone in Luke?  These and other questions will be dealt with as we journey along together.
 
Now as to the promises of land and restoration of Israel, I don't think this text is definitive.  What is left dangling are those promises that seem to address Israel as a nation, distinct from all others.  Are there promises to Israel - as such - that will yet be fulfilled in God's own time?  The answers we give to these and other similar questions place us either in the pre-millenial camp (where the promises are taken more literalistically) or the a-millinial camp (where the promises are more typological and spiritual).  Where we end up should not be seen as AN ESSENTIAL to the faith.  We can fellowship, worship, and certainly love each other as brothers and sisters, even though we take different positions.  We must jealously guard the unity of the body of Christ.

Lastly, it is very interesting and noteworthy to see that Luke structures 'The Acts of the Apostles' around this verses; indeed, it is verse 8b that gives the entire book a broad outline.  The verse says: "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." So when we look at Acts and compare it with this verse, we find the interesting outlay:

1) Jerusalem (chapters 2-7)
2) All Judea and Samaria (chapters 8-12)
3) end of the earth (chapters 13-28)

So one of Luke's primary purposes is to show how this new emphasis, i.e., the inclusion of all into salvation, is played out in the early history of the church.  God has a GRAND REVERSAL in mind; instead of gentiles coming to Jerusalem; Jerusalem goes to the gentiles.  This new plan of God only 'begins' in Jerusalem.  Now they must 'go' and bring this good news to all the world.  One quote is noteworthy for us, and it comes from NT scholar Darrell Bock, who paraphrases Robinson and Wall, "...the church does not have a mission;...it is a mission."  We do not have the option of enjoying each others presence as we gather to worship, and simply pray that others will come; to the contrary - we must go to them; we must prayerfully strategize and energetically engage; we must sacrificially give our time, talents and treasures toward this end, or we are disobedient to our heavenly calling.  May this never happen at Arvada Community Church!