At Pentecost, when Peter stood up to explain the gift of tongues, he said that the last days had come (Acts 2:16-17), and that this would be further evidence by two events: (1) the pouring out of the Spirit on God's people and, (2) the pouring out of judgment upon His enemies, all prophesied by Joel regarding "the great and awesome day of the Lord" (Acts 2:14-21 cf. Joel 2:28-32).
We know that the Spirit was poured out. But, the judgments that were to bring in the day of the Lord were not. There were no "wonders in heaven" or "blood" or "fire" or "columns of smoke." The sun was not "turned to darkness," nor the moon "to blood."
Instead, when Israel rejected Peter's offer of the return of Jesus Christ and "the times of refreshing" (Acts 3:19-21) — when the stage was all set for the judgment to fall — God did a wondeful thing. Our rejected Lord saved Saul of Tarsus and made him the apostle of grace. It was to this apostle that God gave the glorious message and program which is ours today, that God is now reconciling believing Jews and Gentiles to Himself by grace through faith, apart from the law or works. All those who accept this offer of "reconciliation" (2 Cor 5:19) become members of the "one body" (1 Cor 12:12-25) and are given "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" in Christ (Eph 1:3-4). The most general term for this good news is "the gospel of the grace of God," which the Apostle Paul declared in Acts 20:24 was specifically given to him (see also Eph 3:1-6).
The prophetic Scriptures contained no hint of this. It was a mystery "hidden for ages in God," "hidden for ages and generations," and "kept secret for long ages" (Eph 3:9; Col 1:26; Rom 16:25). This is why Paul again and again calls this great body of truth "the mystery" and tells us to "follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me" (2 Tim 1:8-14).
We know that the Spirit was poured out. But, the judgments that were to bring in the day of the Lord were not. There were no "wonders in heaven" or "blood" or "fire" or "columns of smoke." The sun was not "turned to darkness," nor the moon "to blood."
Instead, when Israel rejected Peter's offer of the return of Jesus Christ and "the times of refreshing" (Acts 3:19-21) — when the stage was all set for the judgment to fall — God did a wondeful thing. Our rejected Lord saved Saul of Tarsus and made him the apostle of grace. It was to this apostle that God gave the glorious message and program which is ours today, that God is now reconciling believing Jews and Gentiles to Himself by grace through faith, apart from the law or works. All those who accept this offer of "reconciliation" (2 Cor 5:19) become members of the "one body" (1 Cor 12:12-25) and are given "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" in Christ (Eph 1:3-4). The most general term for this good news is "the gospel of the grace of God," which the Apostle Paul declared in Acts 20:24 was specifically given to him (see also Eph 3:1-6).
The prophetic Scriptures contained no hint of this. It was a mystery "hidden for ages in God," "hidden for ages and generations," and "kept secret for long ages" (Eph 3:9; Col 1:26; Rom 16:25). This is why Paul again and again calls this great body of truth "the mystery" and tells us to "follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me" (2 Tim 1:8-14).
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