The arrival of the Holy Spirit that was promised was a sign of the end of the age. The miraculous powers provided the needed proof that several events that we will be exploring were soon approaching.
- Nature of Signs
The first obvious implication of a sign is that it be visible or observable. It is not circumstantial or open to different interpretations. The proof of his arrival was not based on a subjective feeling or thoughts that we have worked out in our minds. Signs are objective proofs that would lead honest people to the same conclusion.
Second, the signs must point to something else. The Holy Spirit was indeed sent to accomplish the purpose of God on behalf of the human race. But, this broad generalization leaves out the given specifics, namely, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a sign of something to come. The Holy Spirit’s outpouring was not an end, in itself. For this to be true, a connection must exist between the sign and that which it signifies. Therefore, in connection to the “last days,” the New Testament points to some end in sight. When the Holy Spirit came, it was a sign that the end was in sight.
Third, a sign is relevant to the ones expected to see it. If it points to some specific period, it could hardly be a sign for those living thousands of years after the signs were given. This presents a problem for Charismatics because generations have come and gone, each claiming to be empowered by the Holy Spirit as a sign that the end is near. Yet, according to their teaching, Christ hasn’t come. If another hundred years pass, the people living today who are making the same claim will have made the same mistake made by their forefathers. What conclusion are we forced to make about the past generations who claimed that they are empowered by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit? Doubt and suspicion is the result of such claims. Their confidence and confirmation are lost because the Holy Spirit signified an empty promise.
We have already shown the imminent nature of Christ’s coming (Gr. parousia, presence). The Charismatics are correct to think that miracles belong to the last days. The problem is defining the end of which days. For them, that time is when Jesus physically returns at the end of time and the end of the world (kosmos), not the end of the Jewish age? As has been proven, the last days refer to the end of an age, not the end of the world. Not only does the Greek language support this conclusion, but the view overlooks the purpose of a sign, which must be relevant to the ones living during the ending event. This is just one facet of the problem faced by those who make the coming of the Lord some future event. The problem becomes even more problematic when you realize that the promise of His coming in the New Testament days was said to be soon. In those last days of the old covenant (the days of the New Testament context), we read of people who could raise the dead and miraculously heal people. The days of miracles provided powerful proofs that made cities declare them as gods and radically change lives in a way that can only be explained from that which they saw. We are not witnessing the same miraculous wonders that left crowds astounded. Anyone who claims to have that power has been deluded, for nothing has matched its equal in power and wonders.