[Robert Pate]

Jesus said to the apostles, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. (Paul revealed the Gospel of grace to them) Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; (nor will he draw attention to himself) but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, (the Gospel) and shall show it unto you," John 16:12, 13, 14.

THE BOOK OF ACTS IS THE APOSTLES RESPONCE TO THE GOSPEL.

On the day of Pentecost they were all together in one place and a sound from heaven like a mighty wind filled the house where they were sitting and cloven tongues of fire sat on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (foreign languages) as the Spirit gave them utterance. WHAT WAS THE UTTERANCE ABOUT? What was this message from God?

"Crete's and Arabians we do hear and speak in our own tongues about THE WONDERFUL WORKS OF GOD." Acts 2:11.

They spoke about the Gospel. The main thing in the book of Acts is not about the Holy Spirit coming into the world. It is about the Gospel coming into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not speak of himself, he speaks about Christ and his Gospel. Since there were foreigners there from all over the country, God made it possible for them to hear the Gospel in their own language.

The book of Acts is about God spreading the Gospel message of his Son Jesus Christ all over that part of the world.

After Pentecost the apostles went into Jerusalem to tell everyone about their wonderful religious experience. NO, NO, NO. They said NOTHING about the wind, fire, tongues, absolutly nothing. They had a far greater message than their religious experience. They had the Gospel. The Holy Spirit does NOT speak of himself. They went into Jerusalem preaching and teaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Here is a good example of a Spirit filled apostle. Peter and John go up to the temple to pray. Peter encounters a lame man who is a beggar. Peter commands him in the name of Jesus to get up and walk. the man is immediatly healed. There were many people there that day that witnessed this event. what was the purpose of this healing? After the healing Peter most certainly did have their attention. What did he do next? He didn't say anything about himself or his ability to heal a lame man? No, He glorified Christ and preached the Gospel.

The purpose of the healings that were done by Christ was to verify that he was indeed the Messiah the savior of the world. As Nicodemus said, "No man can do these things unless God is with him." The healings and the miracles that were done by the apostles was to verify that their message was from God. Like Peter they would perform a miracle in order to get everyone's attention and then they would preach the Gospel to them.

Right after Paul's conversion what did he do? Did he go up to Jerusalem and establish a church where they could talk about the wonderful experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues? No, Paul goes on a missionary journey to spread the Gospel. He was being led by the Holy Spirit to go into the world and preach the Gospel. Paul was being driven by the Holy Spirit to form churches so that the Gospel could go forward.

The book of Acts is not about a subjective experience of speaking in tongues nor is it about miracles. The apostles never did refer back to the day of Pentecost, nor did they make that day their message. Their message was Jesus Christ crucified and risen (the Gospel)

All that happened in the book of Acts was to further the Gospel. It is not about glorifying the flesh by speaking in tongues and trying to perform miracles. It is about how God was forming a body of Spirit filled believers that would take the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

The book of Acts is not a guide for todays church. We have the full revelation of Christ and his Gospel in the New Testament. God is no longer using tongues and miracles to further the Gospel. That was the old way. The new way is by preaching the Gospel out of the New Testament. Paul said that tongues would cease.