TOPOLOGIAS DE UNA RED WI-FI

AD 32

Pentecost, Birth of the Church

The coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church is recorded in Acts 2. It began this way:

before Jesus ascended, He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:4-5, 8). At that time they would be empowered to preach the gospel (Acts 1:8). Jesus also told them this would not occur until He had returned to the Father (John 16:7-15). On the Pentecost of AD 32, 50 days after the Crucifixion, the Holy Spirit came. The apostles were filled with boldness to preach the gospel and given the gift of the ability to speak in other languages.

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” ^{Acts 2:1-4}

Gifts of the Spirit

In Ephesians 4:7-16 Paul quotes the prophecy of Psalm 68:18, where he explains after the Resurrection of the Messiah, spiritual gifts would be given to those who believe in the Messiah. There are many gifts, not just speaking in tongues. For a complete list of the gifts, see 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 29-30; Romans 12:6-8; and Ephesians 4:11.

The festival of Passover foreshadowed the Crucifixion. Pentecost, which occurred when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, foreshadowed the birth of the church and the giving of the Holy Spirit. One Jewish legend says:

“When God gave the Law on Mt Sinai, he displayed untold marvels to Israel with his voice. What happened? God spoke and the voice reverberated throughout the whole land… it says, the people witnessed the thunderings (Exodus 18:15). Note that it does not say “the thunder,” but “the thunderings;” wherefore Rabbi Johanan said that God’s voice, as it was uttered, split into 70 languages, so that all the nations should understand.” Exodus Rabbah 5:9

In another legend, not only does God’s voice split into 70 languages, but can be seen visibly as tongues of fire coming upon the carved stones to produce the Ten Commandments. What is interesting about these legends is that about 1500 years later, on another Pentecost, as the Holy Spirit was given at the birth of the church, cloven tongues of fire could be seen resting on the heads of believers. Then the believers spoke in other tongues. Acts 2 lists over 17 different foreign languages, but I believe it was a lot more.

“And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,

both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs--we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” Acts 2:8-11

Peter recorded that all these things were a partial fulfillment of the prophecy given by Joel:

“but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY

BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT and they shall prophesy. AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.

AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” Acts 2:16-21

Tongues a Sign at Pentecost

In 1 Corinthians 14:21, Paul quoted a passage from Isaiah to say that the Christian gift of speaking in tongues is a sign that the nation of Israel had corporately rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah and was about to be destroyed. Within 40 years this prophecy was fulfilled. (Notice the same quote is used to denote the Rapture – see section on the Rapture for more details.)

“To whom would He teach knowledge, and to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there.’ Indeed, He will speak to this people through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, He who said to them, ‘Here is rest, give rest to the weary,’

and, ‘Here is repose,’ but they would not listen. So the word of the LORD to them will be, ‘Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there,’ that they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.” Isaiah 28:9-13

“In the Law it is written, ‘BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,’

says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.” 1 Corinthians 14:21-22

Replacement of the Covenant, Sacrifices, and Priesthood

The apostle Paul points out that in the church age we have a different covenant than they had in the Old Testament. He teaches that we have a different covenant (Hebrews 8:13), with a different priesthood (Hebrews 8:1), where animal sacrifices have been abolished (Heb 10:1-8). The Levitical laws regarding food and observance of the Sabbaths have been abolished (Colossians 2:16). When we become Christian, we receive not only forgiveness and eternal life, but a new nature (Ephesians 4:24). This new nature is specifically mentioned by Jeremiah.

“‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD. ‘But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’”

Jeremiah 31:31-33

Judas Replaced

Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord and committed suicide shortly afterwards. According to Acts 1:16-20, the apostles realized that Psalm 109:7-8 was referring to Judas and that they were supposed to pick another person to replace him. They selected a group of men who were both eyewitnesses of the Lord in the flesh and who had a godly reputation. Out of these they picked Mathias.

“Appoint a wicked man over him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; let another take his office.” Psalm 109:6-8

The True Church Never Destroyed

Matthew 16:17-18 records Jesus’ prophecy that nothing, including hell itself, could stop the church. The church has continued over 2000 years and is still here today. See the section on the Apostasy of the Church for more details on the apostasy and the section the Rapture to see the conclusion of the church age.

Rise of the Cults

Jesus said in Matthew 7:15 there would arise false teachers and false prophets much like wolves in sheep’s clothing. We see the start of this in Acts 8:9-22. A man named Simon Magus tried to buy the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Church history records that he went on to found the first Gnostic cult and started a movement that almost wiped out Christianity by the end of the second century. We will deal with Gnosticism in great detail in the section on the Apostasy of the Church.

The Prophecy of a Famine

About AD 45, the Lord revealed to His church by certain Christian prophets that there would be a famine in the land. Knowing this in advance, they took up a collation so that when the famine hit, the Christians in that area would not be so devastated.

“Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius. And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.” Acts 11:27-30

The Prophecy of Paul’s Imprisonment

The Christian prophet Agabas revealed to Paul that if Paul went to Jerusalem, he would be put into prison. Paul decided, however, that this was the will of the Lord for him and went to Jerusalem, anyway.

He was put into prison about the year AD 45.

“As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, ‘This is what the Holy Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’” Acts 21:10-13

Paul Prophesies His Own Death

Paul knew by revelation from God that he would preach the Gospel in Rome and be put to death there.

Here in Acts 20, Paul shares this with his brothers at Ephesus, because he knows this will be the last

time he will ever see them, until he sees them in the kingdom of heaven.

“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face… For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.” ^Acts

20:25,27

AD 70