 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
||||
The Filling of the Spirit (Part 2) |
||||
|
By Ralph I. Tilley
|
||||
|
Fresh Fillings of the Spirit The record of Acts makes it clear that the disciples not only were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but that they received subsequent fillings of the Spirit as well. Luke records the following accounts when the disciples of the Lord Jesus experienced fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit. ▪ The first account of the disciples experiencing a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit following the day of Pentecost is recorded in Acts 4. Peter and John had been God's instruments in the healing of a lame man (see Acts 3). Because of attributing this healing to the power of the crucified, resurrected Christ, these two apostles became targets of the Jewish leaders' wrath and were arrested. The day after their arrest and imprisonment, Peter and John were brought before the Jewish leaders to give an accounting of their involvment in the man's healing. They were asked, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Luke prefaces Peter's answer by inserting a significant commentary: "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, . . .”[27] The tense for "filled" is an aorist passive participle, denoting that Peter experienced the Spirit's sudden filling. • The second account of the disciples experiencing a fresh filling of the Spirit occurred after Peter and John were admonished and released by the Jewish authorities about teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus. Upon their release, these two apostles "went to their friends and reported" what the aurthorities had said.[28] The church responded in a concert of prayer: "And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God."[29] The result? Luke says, "And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.[30] The verb, "they were filled," is the same word and in the same verbal form as in Acts 2:4, aorist passive indicative, suggesting a special filling for the immediate ministry demands. • The third reference to a disciple of Christ being filled with the Holy Spirit after he had initially been filled on the day of Pentecost is found in Acts 13; it happened on the island of Cyprus, in the city of Paphos. There was a Jewish false prophet there by the name of Bar-Jesus, who oppossed the ministries of Barnabas, John Mark, and Paul. In the words of Luke, Paul received a special filling of the Spirit and rebuked the man with strong words. Once again, Luke's remarks are significant: "But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, . . .”[31] Again, the verb for "filled" here is in the aorist passive indicative, suggesting a sudden infilling of the Spirit. Of these subsequent, fresh fillings of the Spirit, as compared to the intial filling of the Spirit at Pentecost, the late New Testament scholar F. F. Bruce remarked, "The filling with the Spirit was an experience to be repeated on several occasions; but the Spirit-baptism took place once-for-all, so far as the believing community was concerned."[32] Kistemaker makes a similar observation in commenting on Acts 4:8: On the day of Pentecost Peter and the other disciples received the Holy Spirit, who continued to live in them. Nevertheless, the Spirit on special occasions enabled the apostles to speak boldly, for Jesus had told his disciples, "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what you will say or how you will say it. For what you are to say will be given to you at that time, because you are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you." (Mt. 10:19-20).[33] One will look in vain in the book of Acts for the term "baptism" describing what either took place on the day of Pentecost or subsequent infillings of the Spirit. However, as we've seen previously, the Pentecost event was clearly the fulfillment of both John the Baptist's prophecy as well as Jesus' promise of the coming Spirit.[34] So while the term "baptism" is not used with respect to the Pentecost event, what the disciples experienced on that special day certainly was effected by the Spirit coming upon them in a unique way that could be described as a baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is also my view that the same could be said of what was experienced by the Samaritans, Saul of Tarsus, Cornelius and his household, Apollos (by inference), certain Ephesian disciples.[35]
The Filling of the Holy Spirit A Way of Life In addition to the above accounts of the initial and fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit, there are also references in Acts to certain disciples enjoying a fullness of the Spirit—apparently as a way of life. Both the initial and subsequent fillings of the Spirit the disciples experienced are expressed by the Greek aorist tense, suggesting the fillings took place in a moment of time, though the linear effects of such fillings would differ. On the other hand, the imperfect tense and a noun are used in Acts with reference to the Spirit's fullness as a way of life, suggesting a sustained way of life is intended in contrast to a momentary filling. The following accounts reflect the fullness of the Spirit as a way of life. ▪ There is one account where the verb "filled" (epiērounto) occurs in the imperfect tense and passive voice: "And the disciples were being filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”[36] Luke makes this observation after Paul and Barnabas had undergone a period of intense opposition and persecution at Pisidian Antioch, and were about to leave the region. It would seem that when Luke uses the term "disciples" here, he has in view the Christians in the region and not only Paul and Barnabas.[37] The significance of the imperfect tense here is that it is denoting "action in progress in past time.”[38] In commenting on the tense and voice used here, Kistemaker says, "the imperfect tense . . . signifies extended action in the past tense. The passive voice implies that God is the agent.”[39]
? There are several accounts in Acts where Luke uses the adjective "full" (plēreis) in describing certain disciples' dynamic relation to the Spirit. Four of these occurrences appear in narratives about the early church's deacons, with the fifth used to describe Barnabas. In the first occurrence, Luke uses the word "full" in his account of the apostles' agreed-upon spiritual qualifications for the church's first seven deacons: "Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.”[40] The next three occurrences of the word are used in reference to the deacon Stephen. Acts 6:5, "they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.”[41] Acts 6:8, "And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people." While the Spirit is not explicitly mentioned here, certainly "grace" and "power" are products of the Holy Spirit. Acts 7:55, "But he [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." The fifth occurrence of the word "full" is used in reference to the apostle Barnabas." Luke says of him, "for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”[42]
The Effects of the Filling of the Holy Spirit What effects did the filling of the Holy Spirit have in the hearts and lives of those so filled (both initial and fresh fillings of the Spirit)? Is there evidence in Acts that the disciples were so transformed by the filling/s of the Holy Spirit that the spiritual deficiencies which had characterized their attitudes and behavior before the day of Pentecost were no longer impediments in their service to Christ? Furthermore, is there ample evidence in Acts following their filling/s of the Spirit to suggest that the multiple ministries of the Spirit which Jesus promised were present in the disciples' lives and ministries? According to D. A. Carson, the mark of being filled with the Spirit is "to be all that God wants you to be.”[43] This clearly could be said of the disciples following the day of Pentecost. While they were constantly growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ, they were men and women who were living in a new dimension with Christ through the Spirit. The following accounts will tell the story of how the disciples' experiences of the Spirit's fullness effected a change within them as well as impacting those around them. These samples will provide the answers to the questions we asked above. ? The disciples were given a new power to proclaim the gospel message with a boldness they had never known before—without fear of the consequences. This can be demonstrated by looking at any number of narratives in Acts; however, Peter is one of the foremost examples of this new Spirit-given courage. Whereas Simon Peter had previously manifested traits of cowardice before his initial filling of the Spirit, this was not the case afterward.[44] His Pentecost sermon was preached in the presence of those overtly hostile to the gospel of Christ. Later on, despite the threats of the authorities and imprisonment, Peter never shrank from his loyalty to Christ.[45] Sinclair Ferguson says, "The hallmark of the preaching which the Spirit effects is 'boldness'. . . . This boldness appears to involve exactly what it denotes: there is freedom of speech. We catch occasional glimpses of this in the Acts of the Apostles." Then Ferguson illustrates: "What was said of the early New England preacher Thomas Hooker becomes a visible reality: when he preached, those who heard him felt that he could have picked up a king and put him in his pocket!”[46] Having failed his Lord repeatedly because of his own ingrained and natural fears, the Holy Spirit's fiery cleansing and filling so energized this apostle that he became a pillar of courage in the early church. Clearly, this disciple had undergone a life-changing experience; a new dynamic was active in his life, a dynamic that gave him the ability to proclaim the gospel with a holy boldness. True, not all of us are called by God to be preachers of the gospel, but God has called each of us to be Spirit-people—people of courage when the circumstances dictate such. And we cannot be Spirit-people apart from the fullness of the Spirit cleansing and counteracting our fallen, fleshly appetites. Regarding this promise of power the 120 experienced, Laurence Wood says this Divine energy . . . is the energy to act in harmony with the kind of person we really should be and want to be. The power of the Spirit is the kind of power which enables us to affirm our feelings and thoughts with courage and to assert ourselves with authority in an appropriate way. This kind of spiritual power releases us from the inhibiting fear of self-doubt and from the bondage of others' opinions.[47]
God does not call any of his people to ever be brazen, but he does call us and fill us to be a bold, gentle people—especially in our witness to Christ. • Those commissioned to preach the gospel did so with the Spirit confirming their ministry by sinners being convicted of their sins and converted to Christ. Here are two typical examples. On the day of Pentecost, after hearing Peter declare the gospel message, Luke reports, "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' “[48] The result was three thousand conversions.[49] The second example is the conversion of just one person, an Ethiopian man. Returning home after visiting Jerusalem, he was reading the Scriptures when the Spirit-directed Phillip approached him. Acknowledging he was ignorant of the Isaiah 53 passage he had just been reading, Phillip used the occasion to preach Christ to the man, whereupon he was converted.[50] In thinking about the necessity of the Spirit doing his work in the hearts of people while the preacher is proclaiming the gospel message, reminds me of the words of the former president of Asbury College, Dr. Dennis Kinlaw: Any attempt to manipulate or coerce our people in our own strength is sure to be deadly and counter-productive. Lasting spiritual fruit does not come from clever selection of the "right" song, the telling of a dramatic story, or a display of emotion by the preacher to get the congregation to respond in the way he wants them to do. . . . But eternal fruit comes when Christ is present in the service and when the pastor's witness matches that of the Spirit of God. Godly sorrow is vastly different from humanly evoked guilt.[51] Peter and Phillip didn't manipulate their hearers. They depended on the Spirit to convict guilty sinners of their sins. • The disciples were given spiritual insights as to the meaning of the Scriptures following the Pentecost event. An example of this is found in Peter's Pentecost sermon. Quoting from the prophet Joel and two pslams, he applies these scriptures to the outpouring of the Spirit.[52] And it was said of Stephen's opponents, "But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.”[53] Luke attributes Stephen's wisdom, in the face of opposition, to the Holy Spirit. • There was an observable selfless love and generosity present in the church following the Pentecost event. For example, many people were moved to share their material possessions with those less fortunate: "And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”[54] • Joy, a fruit of the Spirit, was everywhere to be seen.[55] Peter and John rejoiced that they were "counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." The newly converted Ethiopian "went on his way rejoicing." After the Samaritans received the gospel message, "there was much joy in that city." The Christians at Antioch Pisidia were "filled with joy."[56] • The apostles exercised an implicit faith in God to do the humanly impossible. This is clearly seen on innumerable occasions when God performed signs through their respective ministries. Two examples: Peter and John's bold faith in the healing of the lame man: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”[57] Another example is when Peter believed God to bring Dorcas back from death: "But Peter . . . knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, 'Tabitha, arise.' And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.”[58] While none of us is an apostle, in the unique sense that the Twelve were, some Spirit-endued believers have been given the gift of faith—not necessarily to raise the physically dead, but to perform exploits of faith in Jesus' name to the glory of God. • The disciples consciously exalted God, giving him the glory for everything that was accomplished through their respective ministries. After God had graciously used Paul and Barnabas to bring healing to a lame man at Lystra, the people regarded them as gods and wanted to offer sacrifice to them. What was the apostles response? They rebuked the people for their ignorance, stating, "We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”[59] • The Spirit bore witness to Christ everywhere and on every occasion the disciples taught and preached. For example, this is apparent in Peter's Pentecost message. The very core of his message—Acts 2:22-36—centered on Christ. • The disciples were given a power to live in obedience to God, a power not always present before they were filled with the Spirit. When the apostles were admonished by the authorities to desist teaching in Jesus' name, their response was, "But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.' “[60] The fact is Peter declared the Holy Spirit was only "given to those who obey him.”[61] • Those who experienced the filling of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost were given pure hearts. When the first Jersualem Council was convened to discuss whether Gentile converts would be required to observe the Jewish law of circumcision, it precipated much debate. In arguing against circumcision and other Jewish regulations being imposed upon Gentile converts, Peter reported how the Gentiles had received the gospel through his ministry (Acts 10). In this speech, he said, "And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.”[62] Peter related that what happened to Cornelius and his household was a similar event to what the disciples had experienced on the day of Pentecost—both received a fullness of the Holy Spirit, and both had their "hearts cleansed by faith." Clearly, the filling of the Holy Spirit not only provides the ability to do the will of God—"power"—but purifies the hearts of all of those thus filled. • As Jesus had promised, from the Pentecost Spirit-event and forward, the Helper—the Paraclete—was present with the disciples at all times in all circumstances. Every page of Acts is a testimony of the Spirit-filled disciples of Jesus, who were able in the Spirit's strength, to overcome temptation, persevere in trials, live joyfully in every circumstance—including persecution and suffering—because of the Spirit's indwelling, powerful presence. Though many could be named, Stephen is a beautiful example of such a life. Following his Spirit-anointed message to Jewish unbelievers, the reaction he received was one of rage. What was Stephen's reaction to those hostile to the gospel and himself? But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. . . ." And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.[63]
I want to conclude this part of the series with two anecdotes. While anecdotes in and of themselves do not prove a doctrinal point, as with all illustrations they serve as "windows" into the truth of Scripture. Many illustrations in the history of the Church could be cited with regard to the filling of the Spirit and fresh fillings. Here are two. The first illustrates the initial filling of the Spirit (a baptism, if you will); the second illustrates the need for fresh fillings of the Spirit. The first anecdote. Blaise Pascal, a 17th century Roman Catholic living in France and one of the world's most remarkable men of his time, experienced a life-changing (a baptism in the Spirit?) revelation of the love of God in Christ Jesus which resulted in a glorious effusion of joy. Following his death, it was discovered that he had carried with him for some years a piece of paper he had sewn inside his coat pocket following the event. On this paper he had preserved the memory of that Spirit-event. This year of grace 1654. Monday, 23 November, feast of Saint Clement, Pope and Martyr, and of others in the Martyrology. Eve of Saint Chrysogonus, Martyr and others. From about half past ten in the evening until half past midnight. Fire! "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob," not of philosophers and scholars. Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace. God of Jesus Christ. God of Jesus Christ . . . Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy. . . .[64]
The second anecdote is taken from the life of Dr. John Wesley White, a former associate of Billy Graham, whom I heard share the following account. When White was a student at Oxford University, enrolled in a Ph.D. program, he became distressed with his studies. He was drained—spiritually depleted. One day while driving his car in the countryside, near Oxford, White said that a dark cloud descended on his spirit. He was immediately troubled. In White's words, "I looked up and said, 'What is it, Lord?' " White says the Spirit then spoke to his spirit, "John, you're running on empty." The aspiring evangelical scholar and evangelist said he immediately pulled off the road and experienced a fresh and definitive filling of the Holy Spirit. It was so pronounced that he made a covenant with God that from that day forth he would commit himself to pray two hours each day.
- Soli Deo Gloria - 27 Acts 4:8.
|
||||
|
|
|