Our subject is threefold, divine healing, speaking in
tongues, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit
in the book of Acts.
First of all, we take up divine healing,
and the first point in our message is
an example of divine healing, and we find
it in Acts chapter 3.
We read, Now Peter and John went up
together into the temple at the hour of
prayer, being the ninth hour.
And a certain man, laying from his mother's
womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at
the gate of the temple, which is called
Beautiful, to ask alms of men that entered
into the temple.
Who, seeing Peter and John about to go
into the temple, asked for alms.
And Peter fastened his eyes upon them, when
John said, Look on us.
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to
receive something of them.
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I
none, but such as I have, give I
thee.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand
and lifted him up, and immediately his feet
and ankle bones received strength.
And he, leaping up, stood and walked and
entered with them into the temple, walking and
leaping and praising God.
There's the example in Acts here that we
chose of divine healing.
Its definition now is this.
Namely, the healing was done by a person
to whom was given the power to do
that healing.
That's divine healing.
Without use of means, and through an individual
whom God has equipped to do the healing.
Now our second point is this.
The purpose of divine healing.
And we go to Matthew, and we read
in chapter 11 this, in verse 2, Now
when John had heard in the prison the
works of Christ, he sent two of his
disciples and said unto him, Art thou he
that should come, or do we look for
another?
That is, John says, Are you the Messiah,
or do we look for Messiah?
Jesus didn't answer yes or no.
Why?
John wouldn't have accepted it.
What did Jesus answer?
Go and show John again those things which
ye do hear and see.
The blind receive their sight, and the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf
hear.
What did Jesus answer?
Namely, go and show John again the miracles
I performed, which miracles were for the purpose
of proving that my claims to Messiahship and
my message were from God.
Therefore, the purpose of divine healing in the
first century was to attest the divine source
of a message which the person gave who
performed the miracle.
Now, most of the miracles our Lord and
his apostles performed were based on the healing
covenant God made with Israel, which miracles Israel
was therefore taught.
And we read in Exodus 15-26, If
thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of
the Lord thy God, and wilt do that
which is right in his sight, and wilt
give ear to his commandments, and keep all
his statutes, Now comes the healing covenant.
For I am the Lord that healeth thee.
And when I turn to Psalm 103, And
we bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all the sin of this, who
forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy
diseases, They were part of the healing covenant
which God gave Israel.
Now, the reason why God gave the healing
covenant to Israel was because Israel was to
be the channel through which God would work
to bring salvation to the human race.
And he needed a healthy nation.
So the healing covenant was never made with
the Gentiles.
And we're going to look at a passage
that shows that the healing covenant was not
made with the Gentiles.
And we turn to Matthew chapter 15, verses
21-28.
And we read, Then Jesus went thence, and
departed unto the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out
of the same coast and cried unto him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou
Son of David!
My daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.
Here was a Gentile, accosting our Lord as
Son of David, appealing upon the basis of
his Messiahship for healing for his demonized daughter.
She, a Gentile, was recognizing him as Messiah,
and upon that basis claimed healing for her
daughter.
But he answered her another word.
And the disciples came and besought him, saying,
Send her away, for she cries after us.
And he answered and said, I am not
sent but unto the lost seed of the
house of Israel.
In effect, the Lord Jesus says this to
the disciples, Don't you remember the healing covenant
God made with Israel?
That covenant was only for the Jews, and
for the reason that they were the channel
through which God was to work to bring
famine and need to be kept healthy.
Now, this Gentile woman has accosted me as
Messiah, and upon the basis of Messiahship has
claimed healing for her daughter.
I can't do it.
I was sent only to Israel, and the
healing covenant was only for the Jews.
Then, Matthew says, she came and worshiped him,
saying, Lord, help me.
And the minute that she recognized Jesus as
just a person who could help her, he
answered.
He answered and said, It is not meet
to take the children of bread and cast
it to the dogs.
Now, let's be careful to notice that Jesus
did not call this woman a dog.
The Gentiles called the Jews dogs, and the
Jews called the Gentiles dogs.
The Greek word means a little dog, and
Jesus was referring to the little pet puppies
that the children had.
And so he said, It isn't fitting to
take the children's bread and throw it to
the little pets underneath the table.
And she said, Truth, Lord, yet the little
pets eat of the crumbs which fall from
their master's table.
Then Jesus answered and said, And to all
women great is thy faith.
Be unto thee even as thou wilt.
And her daughter was made whole from that
very hour.
That is enough to show us that the
healing covenant, divine healing, was never for the
Gentiles and was for the Jewish nation.
Now, the healing covenant was an operation in
the early church.
And we turn to James chapter 5.
James chapter 5.
And we read this, if you will, please.
James chapter 5 and verses 14 and 15.
He read, If there is any sick among
you, let him call for the elders of
the church, and let them pray over him,
reminding him of all.
And the prayer of faith shall save the
sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.
Now, these verses and the whole official, for
instance, must be taken in view of the
historical fact.
James is generally, I think, conceded to be
about the first New Testament book that was
written.
It was written very early.
And it was written to the Jews.
And it was written to the Jews before
God set Israel aside as a nation.
And we'll read it from this standpoint now.
If there is any sick among you, let
him call for the elders of the church.
The reason why the elders of the church
were brought in is because this illness was
the result of God's disciplinary action in the
life of a certain saint who had sin
in his life.
And this sin affected the church.
So the elders were called in.
And they were called in to do two
things.
First, to pray for this person.
And second, to anoint him with oil, and
this in the name of the Lord.
Now, that Greek word anoint means to massage.
And one of the chief Nebidian agents in
the first century was oil.
You remember the Samaritan party to the woes
of the traveler whom the robbers injured?
Wine and oil.
Wine for its disinfecting properties.
The alcohol would do that.
And oil, olive oil, for the healing properties.
All of which means that oil here stands
for the medical aid in the first century.
And this is with the healing covenant.
And the prayer of faith shall save the
sick.
Now, this is applicable for this context.
We pray often, and we pray as far
as we know in place bereavement.
But we don't get well.
This has no reference for the day.
It's national, it's dispensational.
The prayer of faith shall save the sick
when?
When that person's sickness is due to the
disciplinary action of God, and he confesses his
sin and gets rid of it.
And then, the prayer of faith shall save
the sick.
We can't take this statement, the prayer of
faith shall save the sick, out of its
context, and say, no, Lord, answer prayer, and
now you're gone.
That wouldn't be correct interpretation of the Bible,
nor civic.
This has to do with sickness amongst the
Jews.
And they have the national covenant of the
Bible, and God guaranteed to heal.
Therefore, we have the healing covenant in Israel,
and it has nothing to do with the
Gentiles, although Jesus Now, God set Israel
aside as a nation, back there in Acts,
chapter 28, where we have Paul declaring that
he's going to the Jews.
We'll look at chapter 28 of Acts for
a moment, and we'll see what Paul has
to say.
The Jews he had called to confer with
him in Rome, in his imprisonment, rejected the
gospel.
And Paul says in verse 28, "...be it
known unto you, therefore, descend unto the Gentiles,
and that they will hear it."
Thus, the healing covenant had to do with
Israel as a nation.
And then, when God set Israel aside as
a nation, the healing covenant was also abrogated,
which means that the healing covenant is not
in effect today.
Today, God heals in answer to prayer when
it pleases him to heal.
He does not answer prayer for healing.
It is not as willed sometimes.
Sometimes, in his wise purpose, he allows saints
to be ill all their lives, as a
method of dealing with them, bringing them closer
to himself.
But he does heal in answer to prayer
when it pleases him.
And he usually uses a medium through which
he heals, not directly.
God doesn't spring at the miraculous.
When there's medicines at hand, he wants us
to use medicines.
In the case of a missionary, far from
any doctor, in instance it's God.
But there is no healing today through individuals.
There is no need for it.
The need for it in the first century
was to establish Christianity as from God.
And the healing miracles were to show Israel,
and therefore, since that has
now been proved, again,
Jesus and his apostles never emphasized or used
it as a bait to get people to
listen to the gospel.
Indeed, Jesus kept his healing ministry in the
background, and often told those whom he healed
not to say anything about it.
In contrast to many so-called divine healers,
and finally, Jesus and his apostles never took
money for healing, and thus we dealt with
the divine healing matter.
The gist of the matter is this, that
divine healing was an answer to the divine
covenant for the preservation of the nation.
That it had to do with Israel, with
the Gentiles.
Sometimes through means, sometimes through...
That brings us to speaking in tongues.
And we have enough...
The background for speaking...
And we find that speaking in tongues is
one of...
In dealing with Israel as a disobedient...
We read in...
Whom shall he teach knowledge?
And whom shall he...
With stammering lips...
Another language will he speak...
To this people.
Now that expression, this people...
And here we have...
When Israel is...
Now...
One of God's methods in dealing with rebellious
sinners was the confusion of tongues...
And so...
This is the way...
That brings us to the speaking in tongues
in the New Testament.
And we go to the book of Acts...
And we have in the book of Acts
two kinds of speaking in tongues.
Paul in 1 Corinthians says...
Though I speak with the tongues of men
and of angels.
That is there are two kinds of languages,
two kinds of tongues.
Human languages and languages of angels.
At Pentecost we have human languages.
And in chapter two of Acts...
We read that these languages are those of...
The Parthians and the Enamites and the Mesopotamians
and from Judea, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome,
Crete, the Arabians.
These were human understandable languages.
The miracle was mainly that these Galilean Jews
did not acquire these languages, did not learn
them in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And these languages were for the purpose of
attesting to the nation.
Then we turn to the tongues in the
later book of Acts.
Pardon me.
And we turn to Acts chapter 10 and
verses 44 to 46.
It's in the house of Cornelius and the
Gentiles are saved and receive the Holy Spirit.
We read, while Peter yet spake these words,
the Holy Ghost fell on all them which
heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed were
astonished, as many as came with Peter, because
that on the Gentiles also was poured out
the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Now how did these Jews know that the
Holy Spirit had been given to the Gentiles?
Because we read in verse 46, they heard
them speak with tongues.
Again we have God using tongues, languages foreign
to their own, to prove to them a
certain thing.
And we want to be careful to note
here that this was speaking in tongues was
not to prove that any individual received the
Holy Spirit, but that a large section of
the human race, known as the Gentiles, received
the Spirit.
In one section of the Christian Church today,
sincere believers teach that if a person doesn't
speak in tongues, he doesn't have the Holy
Spirit.
But they mistake this passage here.
This passage does not teach that the speaking
in tongues proved that any individual received the
Spirit, but that the Gentiles, as well as
the Jews, received the Spirit.
And that has been proved.
Therefore, speaking in tongues does not lead us
today to show that the Gentiles had received
the Spirit or that anyone had received the
Spirit.
Then we turn to Acts chapter 19, where
we have a case of Jewish disciples of
John the Baptist who were saved before the
cross.
And in the Old Testament times, the Holy
Spirit was not given.
And Paul says to them, Have ye received
the Holy Ghost, in view of the fact
that ye believed?
The Greek makes it clear that this is
what Paul meant.
Have ye received the Holy Ghost, in view
of the fact that you believed?
And they said unto him, We have not
so much as heard that there be any
Holy Ghost.
Then it turned out that they had been
baptized by John.
But when they looked backward to an accomplished
salvation at Calvary's cross, Paul laid his hands
upon them, and the Holy Ghost came upon
them, and they spoke in tongues.
Jewish believers now end up speaking in tongues,
which was for the purpose of showing that
they who had received the added benefits, and
that speaking in tongues was for the purpose
of showing that the Jews there had received
the Spirit.
Now, we do not have any instance of
a person being saved under the Old Testament
Satan today, and alive.
And therefore, that speaking in tongues is not
necessary.
That brings us to the speaking in tongues
in 1 Corinthians chapter 14.
And we find that there are two purposes
of the speaking in tongues there in the
early church.
And these speaking in tongues, of course, are
the tongues of angels.
And we read, We follow after love and
desire, spiritual gifts, for rather that ye may
prophesy.
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue
speaketh not unto men.
Howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries.
But he that prophesieth, that is, the person
in the early church who received the
Holy Ghost, but I would he all speak
with tongues, for rather that ye prophesy.
So one purpose of the speaking in tongues
here in the Corinthian church was edification.
But let us remember Jewish proselytes that needed
to have testimony borne to them regarding the
divine source of Christianity.
And then the other purpose of speaking in
tongues in the early church was, namely, as
an evidence of the divine source.
And in the same chapter of 1 Corinthians
14, verses 21 and 22, we read this.
In the law it is written, and here
is where Paul quotes Isaiah, With men of
other tongues in the church, and yet for
all that will they not hear me.
Wherefore tongues, and that Greek word sign, means
in the testing miracle.
A miracle whose purpose is the proof of
the person who speaks.
And there we have again the statement that
the speaking in tongues is for the unbeliever
and to the Jewish unbeliever.
Now, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 and
verse 8, Now Paul doesn't say in that
verse what we can use our reason here
in the book of Acts, in Acts 20,
And deals with the Jew today as he
deals with the Gentiles.
And setting Israel aside as a nation, he
also deals with the Gentiles as a nation.
Which means that there is no speaking in
tongues.
And for the reason that God has discontinued
that message.
And for the reason that any speaking in
tongues which occurs today comes from God and
from demonology.
And thus we've dealt with the speaking in
tongues.
Briefly, we said that speaking in tongues was
a method that Isaiah predicted God would use
with the disobedient Israel.
It wasn't for the Gentiles.
In the second place, it was to attest
to the divine source of God.
Never for the Gentiles.
And where the speaking in tongues in the
book of Acts proves that
the Gentiles are what which means that there
is no speaking in tongues.
So much for divine use and speaking in
tongues.
That brings us now to the ministry of
the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts.
And we turn first of all to Luke
chapter 11.
Luke chapter 11 and verse 13.
Where the Lord Jesus speaks to his disciples.
He said, if you then being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Now the Lord Jesus was inviting the disciples
there to ask that the Holy Spirit be
given to the disciples.
This was under the age of law.
And the Holy Spirit was not given to
a believer under the Mosaic economy as a
permanent indweller for sanctification.
The Holy Spirit came upon our unbelievers in
the Old Testament times.
And Jesus invited the disciples for the person
of the Holy Spirit to come and indwell
them.
And it appears that the disciples did not
pray that prayer.
And we have the Lord Jesus in John
chapter 14 and verse 16 saying this, I
will pray the Father and he shall give
you another counselor.
The implication being you didn't pray, but I
will pray.
And Jesus prayed and prayed that the Holy
Spirit might come.
And he came on the day of Pentecost.
And on the day of Pentecost, the Holy
Spirit entered into three new aspects of his
ministry, none of which was true under the
Mosaic dispensation.
On the day of Pentecost, three things took
place.
The anointing with the Spirit, the baptism by
the Spirit, and the firmness of the Spirit.
By the anointing with the Spirit, we mean
that God the Father, in answer to the
prayer of God the Son, sent the Holy
Spirit to take up his permanent residence in
the heart of the believer for purposes of
sanctification.
That took place at Pentecost, where individual believers
received the Holy Spirit as a permanent indweller
for sanctification.
Second, the baptism by the Spirit.
The act of God the Holy Spirit placing
these individual believers, indwelled by him, into vital
union with Jesus Christ, thus creating the body
of Christ of which he is the head.
And thus we have the Church of Jesus
Christ, the mystical body of Christ, formed at
Pentecost.
The third is the fullness of the Holy
Spirit, or his control over the believer.
Now, in the Old Testament times, the Holy
Spirit did control believers for a certain period
of time for service.
But he did not control them constantly through
their lives.
There was no process of sanctification.
Old Testament believers were regenerated, they had the
divine nature, but distinguished between regeneration and the
personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
They are two different things.
Regeneration is the act of God the Holy
Spirit imparting divine life again to the human
spirit of the individual, giving him the divine
nature.
That's one thing.
But to indwell him personally, that's another.
Now we have, therefore, the third thing, the
constant control, or let's say the control of
the Holy Spirit in the believer's life as
a process.
Those three things happen on the day of
Pentecost, and they are true for this age
of grace.
Now, we want to take up the matter
of the reception of the Holy Spirit in
the Book of Acts.
The Book of Acts is a transition book.
There are things in the Book of Acts
that happen in the early church that do
not happen today.
For instance, the reception of the Holy Spirit
in the Book of Acts, in at least
the three cases which we will point out,
is different from that which is today.
Every time a Jew, a Jew let's say,
in the Book of Acts receives the Holy
Spirit, it is in an extraordinary, out of
the ordinary way.
Every time a Gentile receives the Holy Spirit,
it's in the ordinary way.
We turn first to Acts chapter 2, and
it's at the close of Peter's sermon, and
Peter, he says, "...and
be baptized, every one of you, because of
the..." The Greek has it very clearly.
"...the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is
repentance, which includes faith, water baptism, and then
the reception of the Holy Spirit."
This verse has no application.
This is dispensational.
"...this earth and space, the Jews and the
Jewish nation, has crucified..." "...was accused of crucifying
Messiah..." That
brings us to the second instance in the
Book of Acts, where Philip went to preach
to the Samaritans.
And the Samaritans, you remember, were half Jewish,
and they had the Samaritan tentative, and they
had a rival temple at Mount Gereth, and
the Samaritans and the Jews had no dealings
with one another.
Now, some of these Samaritans were saved.
"...and when the apostles," we read, "...which were
in Jerusalem heard, who, when they were come
down, prayed for them that they might receive
the Holy Spirit..." Here we have an instance
in this age of grace, where believers were
saved.
The Holy Spirit was withheld for the reason
that had he been given, and they have
been given their full...
"...so far as this earth is concerned, the
split between the Samaritan nation and the Jews
might have..." "...and they..." "...the Samaritans, rivaling
the Jews..." "...therefore it was necessary..." "...then
laid they their hands on them."
"...and the laying on of hands and submission."
"...and the Holy Spirit was withheld, and
they spoke in confidence."
Now we come to another instance where the
Holy Spirit...
That is in Acts chapter 19.
We just had it, the
Holy Spirit.
Now, we don't have those...
That brings us to the place where the
Gentiles received the Spirit, and there we read,
"...while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy
Ghost fell on all them."
This is the normal order for this age
of grace.
Namely, the immediate reception of the Holy Spirit
puts his faith in Jesus Christ.
So we've had that matter of the reception
of the Holy Spirit in the book of
Acts.
And that when the Gentiles...
It was an immediate reception...
One more thing we want to take up,
and that is this.
As we read the book of Acts, we
seem to see in the standard translations what
is called a repeated...
I want to take you to some passages
now and submit to you that they are
not repeated fillings of the Holy Spirit.
The language there...
For instance, we have a certain cup we
fill with the Spirit here on one day.
We turn to Acts chapter 2 and verse
4.
They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.
That is, they were all controlled by the
Holy Ghost.
And we turn to Acts chapter 4 and
verse 8.
Then Peter, controlled by the Holy Ghost, said
unto them, in verse 31 of the same
chapter, When they had prayed, the place was
shaken, where they were assembled together, and they
were all controlled by the Holy Ghost.
Now they were not controlled by the Holy
Ghost because they prayed.
How could they pray if they were not
controlled by the Holy Ghost?
That's a description of the normal condition of
the saint in the early church.
Controlled moment by moment by the Holy Spirit.
We turn to Acts chapter 6 and verse
5.
We read in the same, Pleased the whole
multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full
of faith and controlled by the Holy Ghost.
That's the normal condition of the saint.
Should be.
Not a repeated filling.
Chapter 13 and verse 9 for a moment.
Then Paul, who was also called, then Saul,
who also was called Paul, controlled by the
Holy Ghost.
And then 1352.
And the disciples were controlled, filled with joy
and controlled, which means that instead of saying
one baptism in many fillings, we should say
one baptism and the only thing that will
keep the constant control of the Holy Spirit
is sin and the like.
Thus we have our priest and the ministry
of the Holy Spirit in the book of
Acts.