Has come upon you (1904) (eperchomai from epi = upon + erchomai = come) means literally to come upon or over a person or place. To draw near which can refer to people, events or time as shown in the nine NT uses. To come upon in the sense of arriving (Acts 14:19). To come upon in the sense of something happening or occurring (Acts 8:24) Eperchomai is used by Luke twice to describe the Holy Spirit coming upon individuals (Mary Lk 1:35, apostles Acts 1:8). Luke 21:26 uses eperchomai in a prophetic sense of coming global and heavenly catastrophic events. Luke 11:22 uses eperchomai to signify coming upon in a hostile sense, so as to assault someone. Epi and erchomai the root words of eperchomai are used in the Lxx translation of Isaiah 32:15 where the Greek can be rendered "until the Spirit has come (erchomai) upon (epi) you from on high." The context is the prophet speaking of the desolation of Israel which will continue until "the Spirit is poured out on us from on high." The point is that in Acts, the fulfillment of the promise of the Spirit is a sign that marks God's end-time restoration of Israel. Acts 1:8 however envisions a worldwide mission. The complete fulfillment of Isaiah 32:15 (Israel's restoration, specifically the believing remnant) awaits the completion of God's worldwide mission to both Jews and Gentiles. Has come is in the aorist tense which indicates the Spirit's coming is to be a definite historical event, not a continuous coming. He will come on believers at a given point in time, specifically on the day of Pentecost. It is important to clarify that since the time of the book of Acts, every believer has been "baptized" (in the sense of identified with) the Holy Spirit at the time of their new birth. Conversely, if a person does not possess the Holy Spirit, they are not born again. (See Romans 8:9). Baptism with the Spirit is a one time event, while filling with the Spirit is a repeated experience. Our goal as followers of Christ should be to continually seek to obey Paul's command to "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). When He fills us, He will control us and empower us. Is this mysterious? It is to me, but it is the great need of every blood bought, heaven bound believer until the day they see the Lord face to face! The renowned Bible teacher Donald Grey Barnhouse said that ... No one may ask a believer whether he has been baptized with the Spirit. The very fact that a man is in the body of Christ demonstrates that he has been baptized with the Spirit, for there is no other way of entering the body. TDNT summarizes the NT uses... Except in Eph. 2:7 and Jas 5:1 the word occurs in the NT only in Luke and Acts. Figuratively it means coming on someone, e.g., the stronger on the weaker in Lk. 11:22. The Holy Spirit as the power of God comes on Mary in 35" class="scriptRef">Lk. 1:35 and on the disciples in Acts 1:8. Disasters will come at the end, according to Lk. 21:26, 35 (cf. Jas 5:1). But in Eph. 2:7 the ineffable generosity of divine grace will be shown to coming ages. Eperchomai - 9x in 9v- Luke 1:35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you (the virgin Mary), and the power (dunamis) of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. Comment: Luke describes the creative act of the Holy Spirit, not the sort of divine-human cohabitation sometimes seen in pagan mythology. Doctor Luke is describing the doctrine of the virgin conception of Jesus. Luke also records "the Holy Spirit was upon" Simeon (Lk 2:25, 26, 27-35) Luke 11:22 "But when someone stronger than he attacks (Literally - comes upon) him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. Luke 21:26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. NET Note comment: An allusion to Isa 34:4. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely. Comment: I agree with the NET note that the powers that are to be shaken are the demonic powers who will indeed be devastated by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 8:24 But Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me." Comment: The sad commentary of a man who came close to salvation but never manifested genuine belief. See John MacArthur's back to back sermons on this sad scenario - Acts 8:9-24 The Faith That Does Not Save and Acts 8:25-40 The Faith That Does Save . Acts 13:40 "Therefore take heed, (present imperative - command to continually watch out! And the warning tells them why this is imperative!) so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: Comment: The reference is to the prophecy of Habakkuk that Judah would fall to Babylon. Acts 13:41 goes on to quote Hab 1:4 as a solemn warning of divine judgment to those who might be tempted to refuse God’s great offer of present salvation. To reject or ignore the Good News guarantees (eternally) frightening consequences. Acts 14:19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. Comment: The resistance of the enemies of the Gospel is seen in the fact that these Jews came from 100 miles to try to destroy Paul and his Gospel. Ephesians 2:7-note so that (This term always expresses purpose - stop and ask what purpose, why, when, who affected, etc) in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Comment: This is one of my favorite verses for it tells us (1) there will be more than one age to come (ages is plural), at least the millennium followed by the New Heaven and New Earth (? more - we don't know) and (2) the miracle of transforming grace will be the subject of eternal revelation so that "God will be unveiling to the heavenly throng what it cost Him to send His Son to this jungle of sin, and what it cost the Lord Jesus to bear our sins at the cross. It is a subject that will never be exhausted." (MacDonald). James 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Comment: Here eperchomai is used like Luke 21:26 in the context of judgment which is coming upon the disobedient, those who steadfast refuse God's gracious offer of the free gift of salvation by repentance and faith (Mark 1:15). The use of the present tense pictures these miseries as continually on their way! No excuses, and no escape, except in Christ! TDNT summarizes the following 82 Septuagint (Lxx) uses "The LXX uses the word with reference to things, events, conditions, etc. that bring evils, or, less frequently, blessings." Gen 42:21; Ex 10:1; 11.34" class="scriptRef">Lev 11:34; 14:43; 16:9f; Num 5:14, 30; 6:5; 8:7; Josh 24:20; Jdg 9:57; 20:33; 1 Sam 11:7; 30:23; 17" class="scriptRef">17.2" class="scriptRef">2 Sam 17:2; 19:7; 1Kgs 19:19; 2Chr 20:9; 22:1; 32:26; Job 1:19; 2:11; 3:5; 15" class="scriptRef">4:15; 15:19; 19:29; 20:22, 28; 21:17; 23:6, 17; 25:3; 27:9; 31:12; 37:9; 40:20; Ps 90:10; Pr 3:25; 4:14f; 5:6; 16:33; 18:3; 19:11; 26:2, 11; 27:12; Eccl 2:12; Isa 7:25; 13.13" class="scriptRef">13:13; 28:18; 32:15; 41.4" class="scriptRef">41:4, 22f; 42:23; 44:7; 45:11; 48:3; 63:4; 65:17; Ezek 33:4; 39:11; 47:9; Dan 4:19; 5:30; 9:11, 13; 10:13; 11:13, 15, 17, 41; Hos 10:11; Mic 3:11; 5:5f; Nah 3:19; Zeph 2:2; Zech 9:8; 12:9 METAPHORS DESCRIBING THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT David G Peterson has an interesting summary of the coming of the Spirit noting that His coming can be described metaphorically in terms of... clothing (Lk. 24:49), baptism (Acts 1:5; 11:16), coming upon (Acts 1:8; 19.6" class="scriptRef">19:6), falling upon (Acts 8:16; 10:44; 11:15), pouring out (17-Acts.2.18" class="scriptRef">Acts 2:17-18, 33; 10:45), reception (Acts 1:8; 2:38; 8:15, 17, 19; 10:47; 19:2), and filling (Acts 2:4; 9:17). These are complementary metaphors, used interchangeably in some contexts, and designed to express different aspects of the same experience. One should not be elevated above the others as an interpretive key to the rest. (The Acts of the Apostles. Pillar Commentary) As a fellow physician, I particularly love Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones metaphorical description of the Holy Spirit... If it were possible to put the Holy Spirit into a textbook of pharmacology I would put him under the stimulants, for that is where he belongs. Come, Holy Spirit, God and Lord! Be all thy graces now out-poured On the believer's mind and soul, To strengthen, save, and make us whole. --Martin Luther AND YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES BOTH IN JERUSALEM, AND IN ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA AND EVEN TO THE REMOTEST PART OF THE EARTH: kai esesthe (2PFMI) mou martures en te Ierousalem kai [en] pase te Ioudaia kai Samareia kai eos eschatou tes ges: (You shall be my witnesses: Acts 1:22 2:32 3:15 4:33 5:32 10:39-41 13:31 22:15 Mt 28:19 Mk 16:15 Lk 24:46-49 Jn 15:27) (Samaria: Acts 8:5-25) (Into: Ps 22:27 98:3 Isa 42:10 49:6 52:10 66:19 Jer 16:19 Mt 24:14 Ro 10:18 15:19) SPIRIT EMPOWERED EVANGELISM We wait, O Lord, Thy power to know, Before we forth to service go, Or else we serve in vain. We trust not human thought or might, Our souls are helpless for the fight, Until that power we gain. You shall be - When? In the future. Note Jesus does not say "you shall do" but "you shall be." Dr. Howard Hendricks comments that... It’s not, “You are going to be witnesses and then receive power,” but the other way around: “You are going to receive power, the result of which is, you are going to be witnesses.” That’s an interesting point, because often we spend a lot of time trying to urge people to witness concerning the faith. Yet nothing inside of them would ever warrant their doing that. They have nothing to share with others, and if they tried, they would be doing nothing but putting on an act. By contrast, suppose one of my female seminary students gets engaged over the summer. In the fall, she walks into my class, and the first thing you know she’s waving her ring finger in front of my face. I never have to beg her to show me her ring. No, there’s something inside that compels her to take the initiative. She’s in love with a man, and she’s got co share it. She can’t keep it to herself. That’s the kind of dynamic Luke wants us to see in this passage. As a result of what the apostles receive, they are going to be witnesses. But whose witnesses? Christ’s witnesses. His by personal identification. They are going to represent Him. (Living by the Book) As A J Gordon so pithily put it... Before Pentecost the disciples found it hard to do easy things; after Pentecost they found it easy to do hard things. My witnesses - There are two possible meanings -- The first sense is witnesses about Jesus (objective genitive) giving testimony of His life, death and resurrection. The second sense is witnesses of Jesus (possessive genitive) as those who belong to Him and are His feet on the ground so to speak. Luke 24:44-48 (cp also Acts 4:33 and Acts 10:42) would tend to favor that the intended meaning is witnesses who help establish the truthfulness of Jesus life, death, burial and resurrection by testifying firsthand about Him (even to the point of death, our English word martyr) . Now He said to them (to His apostles), "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance (Jesus directly refutes those in the modern church who say you do not need to preach repentance! cp Mk 1:15, Peter in Acts 2:38) for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem (cp Acts 1:8). 48 "You are witnesses of these things. 49 "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:44-48) A T Robertson - In Luke 24:48 Jesus calls the disciples "witnesses to these things" (objective genitive). There are two requirements necessary for one to be a witness (1) A witness must have seen that about which he or she seeks to bear witness. (2) A witness must tell others what he or she has seen. A witness is one who gives testimony to an event, person or circumstance. So a witness is one who has seen something, experienced something, heard something. For 3 ½ years these apostles had lived intimately with the Savior and now as a result of their contact with the Holy Spirit and His provision of power they are going to be totally different people. Up until now the apostles have been living primarily in their own strength and the results have not been too impressive! Now they are going to be the Savior's witnesses in the power of the Spirit! Notice that a witness does not need to have complete understanding of what they have witnessed (Cp Jesus' description of the "new birth" John 3:6,7). Furthermore a witness does not need to be eloquent, convincing, clever, persuasive, articulate or a seminary graduate! The greatest evangelist of the 1800's (and probably of all time) was Dwight L Moody (called "Crazy Moody") who had only a fifth grade education and yet this Spirit filled and empowered man was used by God to "witness" to more than 100 million souls! Remember that God is not as interested in your ability (to be His witness) but in your availability! Are you available? A witness for Jesus simply needs to tell others what they know to be true. What have you seen that you can relate to others? If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you have seen Jesus change your life (2Cor 5:17-note) and you can tell others what He about this miraculous supernatural transformation! Have you ever given your testimony of the life changing Gospel of grace? (Spurgeon's Personal Testimony; My Personal Testimony)