David Guzik

Scott

Is anyone here familiar with David Guzik?

https://www.logos.com/product/41482/david-guziks-commentaries-on-the-bible

I noticed he was included in P&C Gold. I've never heard of him, let alone know where he stands.

Anyone know anything about him?

MWW

I have his commentary and enjoy it. He comes from a Calvary Chapel background which doctrinally is evangelical. Below is a sample taken from Acts 2.

Acts 2:1–13 (DGCB Ac): Acts 2—The Holy Spirit Is Poured Out On the Church
A. The initial experience of the filling of the Holy Spirit [2:1–13]
1. The disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit (1–4a)
a. The Day of Pentecost: This was a Jewish feast held 50 days after Passover. It celebrated the firstfruits of the wheat harvest.
i. In the Jewish rituals of that time, the first sheaf reaped from the barley harvest was presented to God at Passover. But at Pentecost, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were presented to God; therefore, Pentecost is called the day of the firstfruits (Numbers 28:26).
ii. Jewish tradition also taught that Pentecost marked the day when the Law was given to Israel. The Jews sometimes called Pentecost shimchath torah, or “Joy of the Law.”
iii. On the Old Testament Day of Pentecost Israel received the Law; on the New Testament Day of Pentecost the Church received the Spirit of Grace in fullness.
iv. “It was the best-attended of the great feasts because traveling conditions were at their best. There was never a more cosmopolitan gathering in Jerusalem than this one.” (Hughes)
v. Leviticus 23:15–22 gives the original instructions for the celebration of Pentecost. It says that two loaves of leavened bread were to be waved before the Lord by the priest as part of the celebration. “Were there not two loaves? Not only shall Israel be saved, but the multitude of the Gentiles shall be turned unto the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Spurgeon)
b. When the Day of Pentecost had fully come: It was now 10 days after the time Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 1:3), and since Jesus commanded them to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
i. The disciples were not strangers to the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
• The disciples saw the Holy Spirit continually at work in the ministry of Jesus.
• The disciples experienced something of the power of the Spirit as they stepped out and served God (Luke 10:1–20).
• The disciples heard Jesus promise a new, coming work of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15–18).
• The disciples received the Holy Spirit in a new way after Jesus finishes His work on the cross and instituted the New Covenant in His blood (John 20:19–23).
• The disciples heard Jesus command them to wait for a promised baptism of the Holy Spirit that would empower them to be witnesses (Acts 1:4–5).
ii. They waited until the Day of Pentecost had fully come, but they didn’t know ahead of time how long they would have to wait. It would be easy for them to think it would come the same afternoon Jesus ascended to heaven; or after 3 days, or 7 days. But they had to wait a full 10 days, until the Day of Pentecost had fully come.
iii. The only possible Scriptural precedent for this might be Jeremiah 42:7: Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. But who would have suspected that? God used this time to break them down and then to build them up. We can imagine how their patience and kindness and compassion was tested during this time, yet they all stayed together.
iv. What this passage tells us about the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit is promised to us.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit is worth waiting for.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit comes as He wills, often not according to our expectation.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit can come upon not only individuals, but also upon groups (see also Acts 2:4, 4:31, 10:44).
• The gift of the Holy Spirit is often given as God deals with the flesh and there is a dying to self.
v. What this passage does not tell us about the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit is given according to formula.
• We earn the gift of the Holy Spirit by our seeking.
c. They were all with one accord in one place: They were gathered together sharing the same heart, the same love for God, the same trust in His promise, and the same geography.
i. Before we can be filled, we must recognize our emptiness; by gathering together for prayer, in obedience, these disciples did just that. They recognized they did not have the resources in themselves to do what they could do or should do; they had to instead rely on the work of God.
d. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven: The association of the sound of a rushing mighty wind, filling the whole house, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is unusual. But it probably has connection with the fact that in both the Hebrew and Greek languages, the word for spirit (as in Holy Spirit) is the same word for breath or wind (this also happens to be true in Latin). Here, the sound from heaven was the sound of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the disciples.
i. The sound of this fast, mighty wind would make any of these men and women who knew the Hebrew Scriptures think of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
• In Genesis 1:1–2, it is the Spirit of God as the breath/wind of God, blowing over the waters of the newly created earth.
• In Genesis 2:7, it is the Spirit of God as the breath/wind of God, blowing life into newly created man.
• In Ezekiel 37:9–10, it is the Spirit of God as the breath/wind of God, moving over the dry bones of Israel bringing them life and strength.
ii. This single line tells us much about how the Holy Spirit moves.
• Suddenly: Sometimes God moves suddenly.
• Sound: It was real, though it could not be touched; it came by the ears.
• From heaven: It wasn’t of earth; not created or manipulated or made here.
• Mighty: Full of force, coming with great power.
e. There appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them: These divided tongues, as of fire, appearing over each one, were also unusual. It probably should be connected with John the Baptist’s prophecy that Jesus would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11).
i. The idea behind the picture of fire is usually purification, as a refiner uses fire to make pure gold; or fire can burn away what is temporary, leaving only what will last. This is an excellent illustration of the principle that the filling of the Holy Spirit is not just for abstract power, but for purity.
ii. In certain places in the Old Testament, God showed His special pleasure with a sacrifice by lighting the fire for it Himself—that is, fire from heaven came down and consumed the sacrifice. The experience of the followers of Jesus on Pentecost is another example of God sending fire from heaven to show His pleasure and power, but this time, it descended upon living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).
iii. The Holy Spirit sat upon each of them. “The word ‘sat’ has a marked force in the New Testament. It carries the idea of a completed preparation, and a certain permanence of position and condition.” (Pierson)
iv. Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit rested on God’s people more as a nation, that is, Israel. But under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit rests upon God’s people as individuals—the tongues of fire sat upon each of them. This strange phenomenon had never happened before and would never happen again in the pages of the Bible, but was given to emphasis this point, that the Spirit of God was present with and in and upon each individual.
f. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit: Essentially, the rushing mighty wind and the tongues, as of fire, were only unusual, temporary phenomenon, which accompanied the true gift—being filled with the Holy Spirit.
i. While it would be wrong to expect a rushing mighty wind or tongues, as of fire, to be present today when the Holy Spirit is poured out, we can experience the true gift. We, just as they, can be all filled with the Holy Spirit.
ii. But we should do what the disciples did before and during their filling with the Holy Spirit.
• The disciples were filled in fulfillment of a promise.
• They were filled as they received in faith.
• They were filled in God’s timing.
• They were filled as they were together in unity.
• They were filled in unusual ways.
iii. This coming and filling of the Holy Spirit was so good, so essential for the work of the community of early Christians, that Jesus actually said that it was better for Him to leave the earth bodily so He could send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7).
2. The phenomenon of speaking in tongues (4b–13)
a. And began to speak with other tongues: In response to the filling of the Holy Spirit, those present (not only the twelve apostles) began to speak with other tongues. These were languages that they were never taught, and they spoke these languages, speaking as the Spirit gave them utterance.
b. Devout men, from every nation under heaven: The multitude from many nations gathered in Jerusalem because of the Feast of Pentecost. Many of these were the same people who gathered in Jerusalem at the last feast, Passover, when an angry mob demanded the execution of Jesus.
c. And when this sound occurred: A crowd quickly gathered, being attracted by this sound, which was either the sound of the rushing mighty wind or the sound of speaking in other tongues. When the crowd came, they heard the Christians speaking in their own foreign languages. Apparently, the Christians could be heard from the windows of the upper room, or they went out onto some kind of balcony or into the temple courts.
i. Not many homes of that day could hold 120 people. It is far more likely that this upper room was part of the temple courts, which was a huge structure, with porches and colonnades and rooms. The crowd came from people milling about the temple courts.
d. We hear them speaking in our tongues the wonderful works of God: This is what the crowd heard the Christians speak. From this remarkable event, all were amazed and perplexed, but some used it as a means of honest inquiry and asked, “Whatever could this mean?” Others used it as an excuse to dismiss the work of God and said, “They are full of new wine.”
i. Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? People from Galilee (Galileans) were known to be uncultured and poor speakers. This was all the more reason to be impressed with their ability to speak eloquently in other languages. “Galileans had difficulty pronouncing gutturals and had the habit of swallowing syllables when speaking; so they were looked down upon by the people of Jerusalem as being provincial.” (Longenecker)
ii. They all spoke in different tongues, yet there was a unity among the believers. “Ever since the early church fathers, commentators have seen the blessing of Pentecost as a deliberate and dramatic reversal of the curse of Babel.” (Stott)
e. Whatever could this mean? What are we to make of the phenomenon of speaking in tongues? Speaking in tongues has been the focal point for significant controversy in the church. People still ask the same question these bystanders asked on the day of Pentecost.
i. There is no controversy that God, at least at one time, gave the church the gift of tongues. But much of the controversy centers on the question, “what is God’s purpose for the gift of tongues?”
ii. Some think that the gift of tongues was given primarily as a sign to unbelievers (1 Corinthians 14:21–22) and as a means to miraculously communicate the gospel in diverse languages. They believe there is no longer the need for this sign, so they regard tongues as a gift no longer present in the church today.
iii. Others argue that the gift of tongues, while a sign to unbelievers as stated by 1 Corinthians 14:21–22, are primarily a gift of communication between the believer and God (1 Corinthians 14:2, 13–15), and is a gift still given by God today.
iv. Many mistakenly interpret this incident in Acts 2, assuming that the disciples used tongues to preach to the gathered crowd. But a careful look shows this idea is wrong. Notice what the people heard the disciples say: Speaking … the wonderful works of God. The disciples declared the praises of God, thanking Him with all their might in unknown tongues. The gathered crowd merely overheard what the disciples exuberantly declared to God.
v. The idea that these disciples communicated to the diverse crowd in tongues is plainly wrong. The crowd had a common language (Greek), and Peter preached a sermon to them in that language! (Acts 2:14–40)
f. We hear them speaking in our tongues the wonderful works of God: The gift of tongues is a personal language of prayer given by God, whereby the believer communicates with God beyond the limits of knowledge and understanding (1 Corinthians 14:14–15).
i. The Gift of Tongues has an important place in the devotional life of the believer, but a small place in the corporate life of the church (1 Corinthians 14:18–19), especially in public meetings (1 Corinthians 14:23).
ii. When tongues is practiced in the corporate life of the church, it must be carefully controlled, and never without an interpretation given by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:27–28).
iii. The ability to pray in an unknown tongue is not a gift given to every believer (1 Corinthians 12:20).
iv. The ability to pray in an unknown tongue is not the primary or singularly true evidence of the filling of the Holy Spirit. This emphasis leads many to seek the gift of tongues (and to counterfeit it) merely to prove to themselves and others that they really are filled with the Holy Spirit.
g. Began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance: Was this speaking in tongues in Acts 2 the same gift of tongues described in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14?
i. Some say we are dealing with two separate gifts. They argue that the 1 Corinthians gift must be regulated and restricted, while the Acts 2 gift can be used any time without regulation. Those who believe they are two separate gifts emphasize that the speech of Acts 2 was immediately recognized by foreign visitors to Jerusalem, while the speech of 1 Corinthians was unintelligible to those present except with a divinely granted gift of interpretation.
ii. However, this doesn’t take into account that the differences have more to do with the circumstances in which the gifts were exercised than with the gifts themselves.
iii. In Jerusalem, the group spoken to was uniquely multi-national and multi-lingual; at feast time (Pentecost), Jews of the dispersion from all over the world were in the city. Therefore, the likelihood that foreign ears would hear a tongue spoken in their language was much greater. On the other hand, in Corinth (though a rather cosmopolitan city itself), the gift was exercised in a local church, with members all sharing a common language (Greek). If one had the same diversity of foreigners visiting the Corinthian church when all were speaking in tongues, it is likely that many would hear members of the Corinthian church speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.
iv. As well, it should never be assumed that each person among the 120 who spoke in tongues on the Day of Pentecost spoke in a language immediately intelligible to human ears present that day. We read they all … began to speak with other tongues; therefore there were some 120 individuals speaking in tongues. Since the nations spoken of in Acts 2:9–11 number only fifteen (with perhaps others present but not mentioned), it is likely that many (if not most) of the 120 spoke praises to God in a language that was not understood by someone immediately present. The text simply does not indicate that someone present could understand each person speaking in tongues.
v. However, we should not assume those who were not immediately understood by human ears spoke “gibberish,” as the modern gift of tongues is sometimes called with derision. They may have praised God in a language completely unknown, yet completely human. After all, what would the language of the Aztecs sound like to Roman ears? Or some may have spoke in a completely unique language given by God and understood by Him and Him alone. After all, communication with God, not man, is the purpose of the gift of tongues (1 Corinthians 14:2). The repetition of simple phrases, unintelligible and perhaps nonsensical to human bystanders, does not mean someone speaks “gibberish.” Praise to God may be simple and repetitive, and part of the whole dynamic of tongues is that it bypasses the understanding of the speaker (1 Corinthians 14:14), being understood by God and God alone.
vi. All in all, we should regard the gift of Acts 2 and the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians as the same, simply because the same term is used for both in the original language (heterais glossais). Also, the verb translated gave them utterance in Acts 2:4 is frequently used in Greek literature in connection with spiritually prompted (ecstatic) speech, not mere translation into other languages.

Myke Harbuck

He's brilliant, and an excellent Bible teacher. He's been lead pastor for several Calvary Chapel fellowships, and has also led Calvary Chapel Bible College in Germany. You can lean more about him, read his commentaries, and listen to his teachings here: https://enduringword.com

Even though you can read the commentaries online, I still enjoy having them in Logos too, for the tagging, Passage Guide access, etc.