AFTER FORTY DAYS,
BLAME THEIR TEACHER
from
DOES TONGUES SUPPLEMENT THE WORD OF GOD?
Maurice M Johnson
Publicly advertised meeting
March 30, 1963
Now watch. John the Baptist preaches glorious truth against Herod. Herod puts him in prison. John the Baptist hears of wonderful things done by Jesus of Nazareth called Christ, Matthew 11. And he calls two of his disciples together, and he says, "Go and ask Him, Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another?" You talk about pathos. I don't want to read anything into that, but it seems to me this must be there. John the Baptist said, "I can't understand it. l introduced Him, and surely I was right, as the Messiah, the King, Son of God. One standing among you that's mightier than I and He was greater than I, He was before me. Why the Lord said, "Upon whom you see the Holy Spirit descending and remaining, He it is that shall baptize with the Holy Spirit." I didn't know Him but that He might be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing with water." A little later in jail and you hear that this man is performing wonderful works. "Come here, will two of you brethren, my disciples that are not in jail, will go and ask Him, "Art Thou He that should come or look we for another?"
You remember the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the morning of the resurrection? Christ joined them, and their eyes were beholden: they didn't know who He was. And they were sorrowful, and He said, ''Why are you sorrowful as you walk?" Look... He said, "Why are you sorrowful?" You remember?
And what would they say? "Why are you sorrowful?" And they said, "Are you a stranger here, don't know what's happened?" He said, "What?" "Well concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man mighty in word and deed. And we hoped it should have been He which should have redeemed Israel. But He's crucified. Been dead three days. Some women were at the grave this morning and they didn't find His body, but they didn't find Him either." "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not the Son of Man to have suffered, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses.'', when He'd drawn all the disciples, Luke 24, "beginning at Moses, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures, Moses, and the Psalms, and the prophets::, all the things concerning Himself." And He sat down, "It was necessary, it behooved Me to suffer, the Messiah, the Christ, and to be raised the third day, and that remission of sins be preached in My name to all nations, and you're witnesses. Now you go to Jerusalem and wait. But behold, I will send", now watch, "I will send the promise of My Father upon you. Just wait." Luke 24.
He said,, "I will send", not if you go and "Hal-l-le-glory-ory-ory, halle-le-le-le-le-le-; yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yuh-yuh-yuh-yuh-yuh; yo-yo-yo-yah-yah.'', and then finally fall on the floor and get it... tarrying meeting. He said, "I will send the promise of My Father, but you go and wait at Jerusalem".
Then the same human writer Luke said in Acts 1, the risen Christ, after He gave the commandment, He said, they're all gathered together, He said, "John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence". He's been talking to them, watch now, He's been talking to them for forty days. Oh-h -h, I would like to have dwelt upon this, it's so important. Luke 24, "He opened their understanding", the risen Christ, "opened the apostles' understanding that they might understand the Scriptures". Acts 1, "And preached to them for forty days", the risen Christ having supernaturally opened their ...
Listen, this truth is completely ignored by the vast majority of Bible teachers. It's completely confused by the vast majority of Fundamentalists. Oh l plead with you to listen to it carefully. It is so revealing. It's so clarifying. He ... the risen Christ talks to the apostles for forty days having miraculously opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures, the Hebrew, and spoke to them of the things pertaining to the mystery, the new program. Not Ten thousand times no. He spoke to them of things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Just what John the Baptist had said. Just what Isaiah had said. Just what Samuel had told about. And what was potential way back here when God called Abraham, "I'm going to make you a great nation and thy seed, one and all." He spoke to them for forty days of the things pertaining to the kingdom, and they understood what He was talking about. But when He said, "John truly baptized with water, but you’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence". "Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
You know what the vast majority of theologians say about that, so-called theologians? They says it's strange that as late as the... time of the risen Christ, even the apostles had a depraved, a narrow, bigoted, Jewish conception of an earthly Palestinian kingdom. My dear friends, if the apostles were wrong in Acts 1:6 and 7 and 8, if they were wrong in placing the kingdom was going to be restored to Israel, just blame their teacher. Because He had opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. And He spoke to them for forty days of the things pertaining to the kingdom. And if they didn't get it straight by that time, whose fault was it? It's the teacher's fault. Don' t forget that.
He said, "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons. But you'll be witnesses. You just wait till you get power". And so they went to Jerusalem... what for? To wait. Wait for the time when He was going to give the Holy Spirit to them. And when the time came, He gave the Holy Spirit to them. And they didn't know what was happening. They didn't have the faintest idea that a new thing was taking place, the church which is His body. How could they? Now, 1 Corinthians 2."When I was among you Corinthians", Paul said, "I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I couldn't give you some excellency... excellency of speech and wisdom. I couldn't give it to you. I fed you with milk", 1 Corinthians 3." I fed you with milk, like babies." Well Paul, didn’t you ever speak anything but the milk-stuff to the Corinthians at that time?" "Yes, yes. Howbeit we speak wisdom to them that are perfect." And that's the same word in the English in the King James and it's the same word in the Greek for the word 'perfect' in 1 Corinthians 13, "When that which is perfect is come then that which is in part will be done away."
"When that which is perfect is come." What? The
revelation of the church which is Christ's body. The revelation that all
Christians are one in Christ. The revelation that the church isn't the kingdom.
The revelation that Christ ... that God is building a new man. That the middle
wall of partition, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, meets and
drinks, different baptisms have been taken away at the cross. What for? "To
make of the twain", Jew and Gentile, "one" what? "one new
man."