Dr. John Hartmann

Acts 2:17-21 (quoting Joel 2:28-32) states that the outpouring of the Spirit in the “last days” (the period between Jesus’ resurrection and return in glory) will result in the spirit of prophecy resting on God’s people, to bear the testimony concerning Jesus (Rev 19:10). The true church of Jesus Christ, which is called to be the dwelling of God in the Spirit (Eph 2:21-22) must be built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone (2:20). This is our passion: to see the dwelling place of God to built as the habitation of His glory.

David, the man after God’s heart, expressed such sentiment in both Ps 26:8 and 27:4. Why did David say this was his one desire … to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life? We today consider three reasons:

1. David wanted God to have a house, a dwelling-place for His glory, to establish His testimony among the nations, to provide a place where men might seek Him and truly find Him.
2. David himself personally wanted to live in communion with that glory of God, as expressed in Psalm 63:1-8.
3. David knew that the house of the Lord was a place of safety and refuge.

With this in place we return to the narrative of Acts 4 to reconsider the nature of true witness and the seriousness of that witness being rejected, as seen throughout salvation-history in Scripture. The disciples were persecuted for their witness. Herein is manifest a basic principle: whenever the unbelieving reject the message God sends to them, calling them back to Himself, they almost invariably reject not only the witness, but the witnesses, those who are God’s messengers. Several passages are here considered to underline this point (2 Timothy 3:12; 1:8-9; 2 Chronicles 36:11-20; Matthew 23:29-36).

We close looking at 4 aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit as laid out in John 15:16-16 :15. The Holy Spirit:

1. Bears witness of Jesus
2. Anoints Jesus’ witnesses
3. Convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment
4. Guides the church into all truth that it might be a sanctified people, set apart to fulfill its mission in the Lord

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