I believe that Pentecost was a once-and-for-all event and is therefore not repeatable. Some would consider my view to be dangerous for the life of the church. Quite frankly, I am persuaded that presenting Pentecost as a repeatable event is the dangerous view. Pentecost served as a unique event in redemptive-history. Pentecost was the pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit upon the eschatological people of God. The movement in history has been from a promise of consummated life to the receiving of that very promise. Adam’s fall into sin modified that plan, as it were and it now must pass through the last Adam (eschatos Adam cf 3:15). Though the plan has been modified, the telos (goal) of Scripture is still the same.
Eschatology precedes soteriology in the sense that God had a plan and a promise of eschatological life even before man fell into sin. After Adam sinned, he and Eve were banished from the garden and the cherubim stepped in to protect the garden from the unholiness of sin. As redemptive-history unfolds, Christ serves to secure the blessings that the first Adam failed to secure while at the same time undergoing the penalty and curse due to Adam and his progeny (Rom 5; Gal 3; 1 Tim 3; 2 Cor 5). After dying and being raised, Christ secures the promised Holy Spirit who is then poured out to his people as a blessing and pledge (arrabwn) of consummated life that awaits at the second coming-consummation (parousia-sunteleia). This is the redemptive-historical nature of Pentecost. Given what it is it cannot be repeated. There is no second Fall into sin, there is no second death and resurrection of Christ, and therefore there is no second Pentecost to be secured by Christ and given to his people, the Church.
Furthermore, the Trinitarian design of Pentecost also suggests the once-for-all nature of the event. It is important to situation this event economically as it relates to redemptive-history and the divine decrees. The eternal Son of God humiliated himself to redeem his people (Phil 2:6-11). He did this at the appointment of the Father. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit for his Messianic work (Lk 3) and continued his ministry in teh Spirit’s power and guidance (Lk 4). Having died obediently, he was raised since it was impossible for death to hold him (Acts 2:24). The Father made him Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36) and he was declared such in the power of the Spirit (Rom 1:3-4). The Triune-God was at work at Pentecost in redemptive-history. Christ has since finished his work and there need be no second Pentecost.
Moreover, Pentecost had a uniquely ecclesiological character. This era is unique because it is the ingrafting of the Gentiles into the people of God (Rom 9-11). This ingrafting is again a unique event that marks the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise (Gen 12) wherein the nations are blessed through him in his seed (Gal 4). The dividing wall between Jew and Gentile has since been torn down (Eph 2:16) and there is no longer any distinction between them (Gal 3:29; Acts 11). Pentecost testifies to this fact as the Spirit is poured out on Gentiles. Since the hostility has been removed and the Spirit has been poured out, Pentecost need not occur for a 2nd, 3rd or xth time. Rather, the repetitions you find in subsequent portions of Acts should be seen as reverberations or waves of a singular outpouring. This massive eschatological event occurs in stages to Jews, then Gentiles, and then spreads.
Finally, the declarative nature of Pentecost is not conducive to repetitions. Pentecost was a once-for-all forensic event in which God sealed his people with the Spirit and made them eschatologically citizens of glory. They were redemptively transferred to a new order as the church was raised – eschatologically – into the heavenlies (Eph 1) to reign with Jesus, the LORD and Christ (Acts 2:36). This unique event stands in relation to other unique events and should not be – yea cannot be – repeated any more than the Fall into sin or Christ’s death and resurrection.
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I am incredibly indebted to the writings and teaching of Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. on this topic. This post is largely a reflection on the notes from his class Acts & Paul at Westminster Theological Seminary. You can purchase the recordings of these lectures from wtsbooks.com. Dr. Gaffin’s insights on this subject may also be found in his book Perspectives on Pentecost.
But if Pentecost is not repeatable that leads to the inescapable conclusion that the Bible is not about me but about God- an unpleasant result. Much easier to ignore that and keep looking to the next Pentecost.
That’s one way to put it
If you are saying that the sending of Ruach HaKodesh is a one time thing, I would agree, but if you mean will the Spirit ever manifest itself that way again, I don’t know that I would rush to agree. I generally find people speaking in tongues or otherwise manifesting charasmatic gifts unsettling, but then, a few years ago, G-d decided to give me a paradigm shift without a clutch, when I discovered that the most saintly woman I knew prayed in tongues.
To paraphrase the old Marx brothers routine, “Who do gonna trust me or your own eyes?”, I would trust her before myself. So, I can truthfully say I have seen the gifts of the Spirit manifested as they were on Pentacost, and I know to a certainty, they were manifested in a G-dly way.
I guess it is the same old issue, G-d will not conform to our ideas, but we MUST conform to his. Just when you think you KNOW something, too…..
What’s with the Hasidic superstitions? G-d?
1) The following are the proves that angels could perform miracles healing and there are falling angels in the Scripture to be against God too:
John 5:3-4, “In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.â€â€
From John 5:3-4, it shows that angels could heal various kinds of illnesses whether they are blinded, halt and withered. As angels could perform miraculous healings and there are so-called, fallen angels, it is irrational to jump into conclusion that certain illnesses be healed to be the work of God/Jesus Christ/the Holy Spirit since some wonders might be the work of angels and/or fallen angels.
2) The following are the proves that Angels could perform marvellous wonders:
Luke 1:7, “And they had no child, because that Elizabeth was barren and they both were now well stricken in years.†Luke 1:13, “but the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for their prayer is heard; and they wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Johnâ€. Luke 1:18, “And Zacharias said unto the angel, ‘Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my life well stricken in years.†Luke 1:19, “And THE ANGEL ANSWERING UNTO HIM, I AM GRABRIEL…†Luke 1:20, “AND BEHOLD, THOU SHALL BE DUMB, AND NOT ABLE TO SPEAK, UNTIL THE DAY THAT THESE THINGS SHALL BE PERFORMED, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.†Luke 1:22, “And when he came out, HE COULD NOT SPEAK UNTO THEMâ€.
Matthews 28:1-2, “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Many Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And, behold, THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE, FOR AN ANGEL OF THE LORD DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN, AND ROLLED BACK THE STONE OF THE DOOR, and sat it.â€
Acts 12:23, “Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.â€
3) Angels could appear in somebody’s dream:
Matthews 2:19, “…an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph…â€; Matthew 1:20, “…an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream…â€
As angels could perform wonders, are there any strongest proves to show that those wonders in contemporary Charismatic Churches are from God? If someone in contemporary Charismatic Church could prove it, we have to accept it. However, if nobody could prove whether the existence of wonder in contemporary Charismatic Churches is from God or the Holy Spirit or Angels, there is a danger that one would comment that certain wonders are from God or from the Holy Spirit or from Jesus Christ and, in case if they are not and it would turn up that we have forced God or Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit to bear the name of doer and indirectly we have abused the name of Jesus Christ or God or the Holy Spirit and this causes us to speak against Jesus Christ or God or the Holy Spirit indirectly.
For holy bark, you could see people running around the churches crazily to bark here and there.
For Holy laughter, you could see people laugh without stopping.
For manifestation of the Spirit, you see people roll from one place to another without knowing what he/she has done after performing.
All these are not mentioned in the book of Acts.
A number of people in the church mention that they receive revelation from God through words of knowledge, prophecy, tongues speaking, words of wisdom. Many prophets arose previously claimed that year 2000 and 1987 were the end of the world. However, the year before year 2000 and 1987, none of these people that claim to receive so-called, special gifts of the Holy Spirit, say that these years 2000 and 1987 are not the end of the world. If it is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit should have informed all these people to correct their mistakes.
Luke 9:49, 50 (TCNT), “Hereupon John said: “Sir, we saw a man driving out demons by using your name, and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow you with us.†“None of you must prevent him,†Jesus said to John; “he who is not against you is for you.â€
Were these people that were mentioned in Luke 9:49-50 to be the disciples of Jesus since it is mentioned that they did not follow Jesus?
The following are the verses to prove that God’s people would surely follow Jesus:
John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.â€
John 10:3, “To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by nam, and leadeth them outâ€.
From the above verses, it is obvious that the sheep will surely follow the shepherd, Jesus.
As the phrase, he is not against you is for you, is mentioned in Luke 9:49 instead of the phrase, he is not against you is for me Jesus, it does not show that all these people that could use Jesus to perform miracles were for Jesus but for us, disciples, especially Jesus had mentioned clearly in John 10:27 and 10:3 that Christians would surely follow Jesus. The possible interpetation for Luk 9:49 for him to mention that they were for us that it might be that they could assist us in bringing outsiders to the attention of Jesus Christ for our evangelism. However, they are not for Jesus since they do not follow Jesus since they would definitely follow Jesus if they are for Jesus.
Indeed the people as mentioned in Luke 9:49-50 that could perform wonders in Jesus’s name were not God’s people or else Jesus should have included these people ont top of the twelve disciples. Or in other words, if these people that could perform wonders in Jesus’ name were God’s people, there would be more that twelve disciples instead of remaining to be twelve all the time during Jesus’ mission and it proves the fact that Jesus’ name could be abused to perform miracles. Or in other words, despite these people as mentioned in Luke 9:49-50 were not following Jesus and were not the disciples of Jesus, they could use Jesus’ name to perform wonders.
CASTING OUT DEMONS MIGHT NOT NECESSARILY CAUSE ONE TO HAVE DISTURBED BY DEMONS AS MENTIONED IN ACTS 19:13-16:
Matthew 17:15-16, “Lord have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.†Matthew 17:18-19, “And Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, ‘Why could not we cast him out?’ †Matthew 17:21, “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.†From these verses, it is obvious that the failure in casting out demons might not necessarily cause one to be disturbed by demons as that is mentioned in Luke 9:49-50.
One might have quoted Luke 9:49-50 well that nobody should stop those people that perform miracles in Jesus’ name. However, he should meditate Matthew 7:22-23 carefully again that the so-called people to use Jesus’ name to perform wonders might be rejected by the Lord. For instance, if these people that are mentioned in Matthew 7:22-23 to use Jesus’ name to perform wonders are the work of God/Jesus Christ/the Holy Spirit, there should not be any strong ground for Jesus to reject them. However, Jesus will reject them despite they do perform wonders in Jesus’ name and there is a query the so-called wonders that they perform are from God. The following are the extracts:
Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practise lawlessness!’
Charismatic people say that they believe in Jesus Christ. However, they depend mostly on their emotions; their sights of miracles; and whatever they could visualize from their sights. Whenever they feel and see the existence of some forms of power and they say that there is God. When they could not see any miracles or wonders or their emotions are down, they say that God is not with them. They claim that they receive the Holy Spirit due to they say that they feel something passing through their bodies. All in all they claim that they are saved and yet all these are done through feelings. According to the Scripture, faith is the substance of hope of what is unseen and/or what would occur in the future. Dependence upon emotions to give comment the existence of God contradicts the principality of faith in the Scripture. Their salvations are in doubt and they might not be saved since salvation is through faith and not feeling. What good does it bring about if the number of Charismatic churches has been expanding!  Many are non-Christians and a few are true Christians. Now the underlying problem is we, the true Church, must be strengthened in Biblical knowledge and not to be affected by false teachings.
Those people that mention that they do not add any words in the prophecy especially the book of Revelation, they are right in the sense that what they have received the explanation of the prophecy has been passed down from the past and they did not and do not add any words in it. I was once a victim of it that I too support all those that are not mentioned in the Scripture that were passed down from our predecessors. Now, I realise the mistake and I repent.
The interpretation of the Revelation that has been passed down from the past relates Rev 6 and 8:1-2 as the first half of tribulation; and the Great Tribulation to be for Rev 8; 9, 11:15 as well as Rev 15:16. Pre-tribulation supports that Christians will be raptured before Rev 6 since they believe that Christians would not go through tribulation; Post-tribulation supports that Chrstians would be raptured after Rev 16 and perhaps in Rev 20; mid-tribulation assumes that Christians would be raptured in the middle of the book of Rev. All these interpretations have indeed abused the book of Revelation in which Rev 22:18-19 command us not to add words in the book of Prophecy and yet the so-called, manifestation of the Holy Spirit in contemporary Charismatic Churches, should have warned Christians not to violate the book of Revelation on the condition if their so-called, gifts, are from God. As mentioned in the Scripture, the Holy Spirit will guide us for the truth of the Scripture and yet the so-called, gifts, in current world do not correct the mistakes in interpreting the book of Revelation, there is a question whether the so-called, gifts, in contemporary Charismatic Churches are from God. What if in God’s interpretation that Christians would be raptured in Rev 6 instead of Rev 20, our insisting the support that God would be raptured in Rev 6 would have added words into God’s mouth for the comment that Christians would be raptured at that time even though Rev 6 does not mention Christians would be raptured at that time. The same are for mid- and post-tribulation too. They even relate Rev 12:3, 13 to be the rise of Antichrist. Nothing is mentioned in the book of Rev 12:3, 13 that the so-called, 666, is the antichrist and yet one has related the word, antichrist, in 1 John 1 to be that is mentioned in Rev 12:3, 13. What if God’s interpretation for Rev 12:3, 13 not to be an antichrist instead of some other thing, the insisting that Rev 12:3, 13 have undoubtedly added words into God’s mouth that Rev 12:3, 13 were the antichrist.
Rev 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of this prophecy of book…†As the phrase, this prophecy of book, in Rev 22:18-19 is in singular tense, it implies a single book instead of other books and it certainly refers to the book of Revelation undoubtedly.
Some might relate Daniel 2:42-44 for the rise of the antichrist and that would occur during the tribulation and that falls within Rev 6-16. The word, antichrist, is not spelt out clearly in the book of Revelation. The insisting that antichrist would come during Rev 6-16 has undoubtedly added words into God’s mouth what if God’s interpretation of the prophecy is not in this way but in other alternative way.
For instance, if one relates Rev 22:18-19 to be in broader term and this incudes other prophecy in the Bible too. To interpret Daniel 2:42-44 to be the rise of antichrist would certainly act against Rev 22:18-19 since one has added words into Daniel 2:42-44 especially the word, antichrist, is not mentioned in Daniel 2:42-44. One has simply related the word, antichrist, from 1 John 1 to Daniel 2:42-44. What if God’s interpretation of Daniel 2:42-44 not to be antichrist, one has added words into God’s mouth to force him to accept this interpretation.
Let’s examine the 666 and the antichrist as below: As the word, he, is mentioned throughout Rev 13:12-18 and Rev 13:18 refers it to the so-called, 666. The lists as mentioned between Rev 13:12-18 must be the characteristics of the so-called, 666. The following are the extracts:
Rev 13;12, “…he exercises all the authority of the first beasts…”
Rev 13:13, “He performs great signs…”
Rev 13:14, “…he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs…”
Rev 13:15, “He…cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”
Rev 13:16, “…he causes all…to receive a mark on the right hand or on their foreheads”.
Rev 13:17, “…no man buy or sell except one has the mark on their right hand or their foreheads.”
The following are the characteristics of antichrists:
1 John 2:18, “…now are there many antichristts..”
1 John 2:19 is the continuation of 1 John 2:18 and this shows his further characteristics as:
1 John 2:19, “They went out from us…”.
1 John 2:19, “…they were not of us…”.
1 John 2:22, “Who is a liar but he that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”
1 John 4:3, “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist…”. The same is mentioned in 2 John 1:7, “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
From the above description, I apologize that I could not explain the relationship between these two in the past and I decide not to deal with it few years ago so as not to violate Rev 22:18-19. I seek your brilliant advice on how these two different characteristics can be related with each other in which I, being ignorant, could not figure out myself.
Contemporary Charismatic Churches say that they are the one that could receive direct revelation from God and surely they should be the first to receive advice from God for the mistakes that have passed down from the past and yet, they did not warn us not to violate Rev 22:18-19 and there is a query whether their so-called, gifts, are from God since the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to guide us for the truth of the Bible.