The outpouring of Holy Spirit was to be a sign that the last days spoken by the prophets had come. When Peter quotes Joel 2 in his sermon recorded in Acts 2, he is implying that the “last days” are here. Now, a relationship exists between a sign and that which it signifies. A sign looses its significance to the generation in which it was given, if they never live to see its fulfillment. If a sign signifies the end is near to the listening audience, then, they should expect to witness its completion. Yet, each generation since the first century makes the same claim of Jesus’ coming soon and the implication of that message is that we are still in the last days and the Holy Spirit is still with us, performing miracles, just as He was in the first century.
In order for this to be true, however, we must change the meaning of “last days” from the end of that present age to the end of our age and interpret the phrase “coming soon” to apply to each generation. In this case, Jesus is always “coming soon” and we are always in the “last days.” Because of the unending presence of both the Spirit and the last days, a phenomenon exist today wherein the sign is no sign at all. It becomes the end, itself. The presence of the Holy Spirit no longer points to the imminent coming of the Lord, even though the claim is still heard after two thousand years that He is coming soon. It just confirms that the “Lord is in the house,” as is commonly heard in their religious services.
Some of us have been conditioned to believe that the second coming is an unfulfilled event of the future that we cannot predict but has nothing to do with the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. However, if Jesus has not returned, then the Holy Spirit’s work has not been completed. To get around this, it is argued that the phrase of 1 Corinthians 13:10-12, “that which is perfect is come” is taken to mean the completed revelation. Given that interpretation, once the completed written revelation came, the miraculous measure of the Spirit ended. When discussing this with them, the completion of revelation is usually equated to the Bible as we know it, today. This would place the end of the miraculous much later than they would like it because the completion of the canon of Scripture was many years after the first century. Also, if you claim that miracles ended with the death of the last individual who had an apostle lay hands on him or her, and accept a late date for the writing of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, then, miracles and the transference of miraculous power by the laying on of an apostles’ hands ended at the close of the first century.
As we have shown in the previous chapters, the revelation of the Spirit was certainly started and completed in the “last days.” But, it is just one of many elements involved in the final passing of the old covenant and the bringing in of the new and glorious age of kingdom living. I would only refer to the writings of the apostles, not to the canon of inspired books compiled into one book centuries later.
What Christians enjoy today is the by-product of a life that the prophets and angels longed to see and understand. This age is the substance of the mere image or mirror of the Mosaic age. No longer are people looking at a type, a shadow, mirror or reflection. Instead, the new age in all its glory is the “face to face” reality to which the old age pointed. It is, in the opinion of this writer, that which is “perfect” or “complete”.
Two facts merge into one conclusion: (1)The Holy Spirit would be with them at the absence of Jesus Christ and until the end of the age. (2) The end of the age was marked by the revelation of Jesus Christ in judgment. At this time, the Holy Spirit’s work of revelation and miraculous proofs will have been completed. Then, “face to face” with Him, who confirmed their identity and sustained them guiltless until that day, they would be where He is, reigning with him in the new age and the new Jerusalem, of which there is no end. The Corinthians are no longer alive, and the last days of the Jewish era has been completed by the second coming of Christ as promised. This ending of that miraculous age ushered in the thousand year reign of Christ’s Kingdom. Once the Spirit’s work had ended at the close of the age and the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan, the Holy Spirit’s work ended.
Objection Offered From John 14:16
However, others would point out that Jesus had said in John 14:16, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever.” The Hebrew “forever” was an idiom that pointed to the present generation. The word was used to describe the limitation of a person’s lifetime. In so far as that individual’s life is concerned, it is “forever”. The word is not intended to convey a time without end. You may promise to love someone “forever” but that is only as good as life continues with both you and the loved one. Therefore, the Hebrew olam carries with it the idea of “all of our lives.” For example, the levitical garments worn by the priests were to be worn forever. If the levitical priesthood was not designed to exist without end, certainly their garments would not live forever. The temple was to stand forever, but when Jesus came, he taught that not one stone would be left upon another.” In 70 AD, it was destroyed. Other nouns tied to the word “forever” are the sacrifices, the law, the city, and the land. Not only do we know that generations later, these things ended, but even during the generations in which the application was made, many predictions were given that prophesied their end. As a result, you have a prophecy of something ending that was supposed to be “forever.”
Tomorrow, we will look at the implications involved if Jesus has not yet come.
By contrast, when the Hebrews or Greeks wanted to express endlessness, they said, “without end” (cf. Luke 1:31-35, Eph. 3:20-21). The Bible could speak of an end of things that were perpetual and generational but they would never speak of an end of anything that was “without end.”
Once again, as noted above, the Holy Spirit was promised in the last days of the Jewish world system to confirm the disciples until its end (John 14:16). In adding this text, we see that the gifts and the Holy Spirit are said to remain until the end, at which time many of the Corinthians would still be alive. Are the Corinthians still alive, needing the assurance that they are children of God? Are they still needing the confirmation that the word is surely the word of God? Are they still receiving spiritual gifts in proof of the Holy Spirit’s presence? Of course, the terms used neither support the end of time, nor the end of the kosmos.