The Word and the Spirit
"The Law was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made...which is Jesus Christ" (Gal. 3: 16, 19).
The dispensation of the law was to last only until the beginning of the ministry of the Lord Jesus--"the law was added until the seed should come...."
The Lord Jesus was sent as a "prophet" to preach the word of God:
"The Lord thy God will raise unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren...and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him" (Deut. 18: 15, 18).
The Prophet, the Lord Jesus, was enabled to confirm the word by the spirit that was upon Him. Early in His ministry He spoke the following words at the synagogue at Nazareth:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Lk.4:18-19).
The Lord next sent His Apostles to preach the "gospel of the kingdom" to the children of Israel: "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter not; But go, rather, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons..." (Mt. 10: 5-8).
Later, He sent out "seventy" of His disciples to preach the same gospel and these disciples were also empowered by the Holy Spirit. He told them to "heal the sick that are there, and say unto them, The Kingdom of God is come near unto you" (Lk. 10: 9).
However, the leaders of Israel would not believe the words which He spoke to them and they resisted the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ received no response but hate from the Jewish religious leaders. They "held a council against Him, how they might destroy Him" (Mt. 12: 14). They then "delivered up and denied" the Lord Jesus, and "cried out, away with Him...crucify Him" (Acts 3: 13; Jn. 19: 15). At last they "killed the Prince of Life".
Because of these actions of Israel the Lord would be justified in destroying that nation. However, due to the Lord Jesus’ intecessory prayer upon the cross, Divine forgiveness was secured for Israel:
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23: 34).
After His resurrection the Lord told the believers to remain in Jerusalem so that they would receive the "power" bestowed by the Holy Spirit (Lk.24:49; Acts 1:5,8). On the day of Pentecost the Lord did put His words in the mouths of the Jewish believers when they began to speak in tongues. The Apostle Peter said that what was happening fulfilled the prophecy of Joel:
"For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:15-17).
On the same day the Apostle Peter offered the kingdom to the unbelievers of the nation of Israel and their religious leaders: "Ye men of Israel...Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ" (Acts 3: 19, 20).
But instead of repenting, the leaders "laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison" (Acts5:18). They next brought spirit-filled Stephen before the Great Council and set up false witnesses against Him..."and cast him out of the city, and stoned him" to death (Acts 7: 58). We see that these leaders would not believe the Word of God and they "resisted the Holy Spirit". Stephen told them: "Ye stiffed-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you" (Acts 7: 51).
Throughout the ages God had remained on good terms with the nation of Israel. However, due to the crucifixion of Christ all this changed. Sir Robert Anderson writes, "We see every claim which the creature had on God was forever forfeited, and every tie forever broken. Promises there had been, and covenants; but Christ was to be the fulfiller of them all. If a single blessing now descend on the ancient people of His choice, it must come to them in grace" (Anderson,The Gospel and Its Ministry, Kregel Publications, 1978, p. 14).
It was no accident that "standing by and consenting" unto Stephen’s death was Saul (Paul), the leader of the rebellion against Christ, who was chosen by God to usher in the dispensation of the Grace of God.