Distinctives – Empowered by the Spirit
Servant
School
April
29, 2021
Empowered by the Spirit (ch. 3)
Chapter three
of the Distinctives book is all about the power of the Holy Spirit.
With, In, and Upon
There are certainly a lot of different views when it comes to the things of
the Holy Spirit. There are also a lot of
abuses as well.
Illustration
Come Down Holy Spirit
A traveling
evangelist always put on a grand finale at his revival meetings. When he was to
preach at a church, he would secretly hire a small boy to sit in the ceiling rafters with a
dove in a cage. Toward the end of his sermon, the preacher would shout for the
Holy Spirit to come down, and the boy in the rafters would dutifully release the dove. At one
revival meeting, however, nothing happened when the preacher called for the
Holy Spirit to descend. He again raised his arms and exclaimed: “Come down, Holy
Spirit!” Still no sign of the dove. The preacher then heard the anxious voice
of the small boy call down from the rafters: “Sir, a yellow cat just ate the Holy Spirit. Shall
I throw down the yellow cat?”
We want to make sure that our beliefs about the Holy Spirit aren’t based
upon our feelings or our experience. We want to form our
doctrine from the Scriptures and then make sure our experience conforms to what
the Scripture teaches.
The Bible seems to indicate that for the New Testament believer, the Holy
Spirit relates to us in three different ways, as pictured by three Greek
prepositions that can be translated “with” (para),
“in” (en),
and “upon” (epi)
He is “with” us
(John 14:16–17 NKJV) —16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may abide with you forever—17 the Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows
Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
When the Holy
Spirit is “with” us, He is along side of us to
encourage us, comfort us, and to convict us.
The Holy Spirit
may be doing these things in anybody’s life, whether or not
they are a believer.
He dwells “in” us
His indwelling is a promise of
God’s “New Covenant” with man:
(Ezek
36:26-27 KJV) A
new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. {27} And
I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and
ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Under the Mosaic Law, the “Old
Covenant”, the Holy Spirit could be in a person (as He was in Moses, Joshua,
Ezekiel, and others, Num. 11:17; 27:18; Eze. 2:2), but it seems that the work
of the Holy Spirit in a person was limited to just certain special people,
primarily leaders, priests, or prophets.
Under the “New Covenant”, the Holy Spirit is promised to all
who believe.
As we’ve seen, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would be “in” the
disciples:
(John 14:17b NKJV) …for He
dwells with you and will be in you.
We believe this
took place for the disciples after the resurrection:
(John 20:22 NKJV) And when He had said this, He
breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Paul wrote of the Holy Spirit being
in him, writing to Timothy:
(2
Tim 1:14 KJV) That good thing
which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost
which dwelleth in us.
John called the Holy Spirit the
“anointing”:
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have
received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach
you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall
abide in him.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in us,
we become His temple:
1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which
ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
The Holy Spirit dwells in us from the moment that we accepted Jesus as our
Savior. We cannot belong to Jesus if we
do not have the Holy Spirit:
(Romans 8:9 NKJV) But you are not in the flesh but in
the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
He comes “upon” us
There was a third type of relationship that Jesus said the Holy Spirit
would have with us.
After Jesus had
“breathed” upon the disciples in the upper room to “receive” the Holy Spirit, before
He ascended to heaven, Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem …
(Acts 1:5 NKJV) for John
truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now.”
He explained more about this…
(Acts 1:8 NKJV) But you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Though some like to talk about this “power” being like “dynamite”, a better understanding of
the word is “ability”.
The Holy Spirit gives us ability.
The ability to witness, to experience God’s supernatural power, the
ability to do whatever God calls me to do.
This event
first takes place on the day of Pentecost, in Acts 2
(Acts 2:2–4 NKJV) —2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there
appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of
them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance.
This is the event that Jesus told the disciples to wait for. Here it is described as
being “filled with the Holy Spirit”.
Through the book of Acts, this same experience occurs over and over.
It is called by many names: the promise, the baptism, filling, and the
Spirit coming “upon” people.
Through the book of Acts we see
this experience being called many different names:
1. “the promise of the
Father”
Ac 1:4
…wait for the promise of
the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.
2. “baptized with the Holy
Ghost”
Ac 1:5
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days hence.
Here in Acts
1:5; 11:16, also in Mat. 3:11; Mar. 1:8; Luk. 3:16.
3. “filled” with the Holy
Ghost
(Acts 2:4 KJV) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The phrase occurs 6 times in Acts
(2:4; 4:8; 4:31; 9:17; 13:9; 13:52)
4.
The “upon” phrases (Greek “epi”, seven occurrences in Acts)
The preposition "upon" is
used with several other words to describe either the Acts 2 event, or the
baptism that took place at Cornelius' house.
“fell
upon”, “came upon”, and “poured out upon”
(Acts 10:44
KJV) While
Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. (Also Acts 11:15)
(Acts 1:8 KJV) But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come
upon (epi) you: (Also
in Acts 19:6)
(Acts 2:17 KJV) And it shall come to pass in the last
days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh …
Also 2:18; 10:45
5. “the gift of the Holy
Ghost”
Same Bible
Study with Peter, different phrase.
(Acts 10:45
KJV) And they
of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Also in Acts 2:38)
Does the “baptism of
the Holy Spirit” happen at salvation?
Some would say that the “baptism of the
Holy Spirit” occurs when a person is saved and the Holy Spirit comes into their
life.
They point to:
(1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have
all been made to drink into one Spirit.
The problem I have here is the
misunderstanding of “baptism”.
To
“baptize” means to “immerse”.
Jesus said He would “immerse” us in the Holy Spirit.
This verse in Corinthians is about the Holy Spirit
immersing us into the Body of Christ.
Wrong baptizer. Wrong immersion.
The Greek
here is similar, at least on the outset.
The “by one Spirit” could be translated “in one Spirit”, and is the same
Greek phrase as in Acts 1:5, except here, the translation works differently,
because the context (1Cor. 12:7-11) shows us that it’s the Spirit that’s doing
all the work, baptizing, immersing us into the Body of Christ. This does occur at salvation.
The “baptism
of the Holy Spirit” mentioned in Acts 1,2 on the other hand is a “baptism” done
by Jesus (Mat. 3:11, Luk 3:16), and is immersing us in the
Holy Spirit. It’s purpose is a little different, being that of
giving us power in ministry.
The ironic
thing is that people who hold this view often go on to say that though a person
is “baptized in the Holy Spirit” only once, a person can be “filled” over and over again, quoting -
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is
excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
But hopefully
you’ve notice by now, that Luke makes no distinction between the “baptism” and
the “filling”, but they’re both the same.
We'll see in
our study of Acts that the baptism of the Holy Spirit may occur when a person
is saved, or later, and many times after that.
Caution:
I know I’ve
made a big deal trying to show you how the “baptism” is the same as the
“filling”, but I do think that we need to be careful that we don’t make such a
big deal with people that we turn them off.
If they’re
more comfortable talking about the “filling” of the Holy Spirit, hey, let’s use
that word.
The baptism of
the Holy Spirit is separate from salvation.
Sometimes
people are saved AND baptized in the Spirit at the same time.
That happened
to Cornelius and his household (Acts 10)
Yet sometimes a
person is saved, and is baptized in the Spirit later.
We’ve seen that the Spirit was already “in” the disciples on the day of
Pentecost when they were “filled” (Acts 2).
In Acts 4, the same group of people who were already filled with the
Spirit experience ANOTHER filling of the Spirit.
The Samaritans
had already believed in Jesus through Philip’s preaching, but they weren’t
“filled” with the Spirit until Peter and John came to pray for them (Acts 8).
Paul will find
a group of “disciples” in Ephesus who don’t know anything about the Holy Spirit
(Acts 19) until Paul prays for them.
We see a couple of times in the
Book of Acts how the baptism of the Holy Spirit is related to salvation.
Acts 2 – the disciples are filled
with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 4:31 – the same people who were filled with the Holy
Spirit in chapter two are filled again.
Acts 8 – Philip goes to Samaria and
many believe and are baptized.
(Acts 8:14-17 KJV) Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and
John: {15} Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might
receive the Holy Ghost: {16} (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) {17} Then laid they their
hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Believing came first, then the filling of the
Holy Spirit came later.
Acts 10 – At Cornelius’ house – the
first Gentile converts – the group is listening to Peter give a Bible Study and
suddenly …
(Acts 10:44-45 KJV) While Peter yet spake
these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which
heard the word. {45} And they of the circumcision which believed were
astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was
poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
These folks were saved and baptized in the Holy Ghost all at
the same time.
Acts 19 – Paul comes across
disciples in Ephesus and realizes that they’re missing something.
(Acts 19:2 KJV) He said unto them, Have
ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy
Ghost.
(Acts 19:6 KJV) And when Paul had laid his hands upon
them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake
with tongues, and prophesied.
They are baptized in the Holy
Spirit after having believed.
The point: You can be saved but not be filled with the
Spirit. You will still go to heaven, but
you are not experiencing the power that God wants for your life.
How can I be filled
with the Holy Spirit?
That’s the real point of this whole study.
Don’t be too worried about what it’s called. Just be worried about whether you have it.
(John 7:37–39 NKJV) —37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart
will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He
spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the
Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus was talking about this baptism of the Holy Spirit. It’s the thing that took place after Jesus
was glorified, after He ascended.
Jesus gave four qualifications to receiving the filling of the Holy Spirit.
1. Thirst
There must be a strong sense of need in our life.
We need to come to the point where we realize just how much we need God's
help.
If we're complacent about it, and don't really care one way or another,
then don't expect anything!
Illustration:
Think of being outside doing yardwork on a hot summer day. You’ll come into the house about every
fifteen minutes and drink another huge glass of ice tea.
When you get too dehydrated, you get to feeling that if
you were to fall into a swimming pool, that your body would just soak it all
up!
2. Come to Jesus
He is the one who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist said,
(Matthew 3:11 NKJV) I indeed baptize you with water unto
repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I
am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
fire.
You have to realize that to be filled with the
Holy Spirit, you're going to have to come to Jesus.
It’s only through Jesus that you’ll have your deepest inner needs met.
3. Drink
To drink a glass of water, you first have to open up your mouth.
Imagine drinking a glass of water with your mouth closed.
You would certainly have a "drinking problem"!
To receive the Holy Spirit, you have to open up your heart.
Just open up and receive!
You might feel something.
You might not.
Wait a second here, is the Holy Spirit going to make me weird?
There have been so many abuses of the Holy Spirit over the
years, that it’s easy for us to think that being
filled with the Holy Spirit must be a weird or strange thing.
We’re afraid He might make us roll around on the floor or
bark like a dog.
I’m afraid that this isn’t the Holy Spirit. This may be a person’s response to the work
of the Spirit on their life, but the Bible says that one of the “fruits” of the
Holy Spirit is “self-control”. No
barking.
4. Believe
Jesus didn’t say, “He who feels this tingle down his back will have rivers
of living water ...”.
He said, “He that believes ...”
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is based on trust, on faith, not on
feelings.
We have a very strong promise to trust in:
(1 John 5:14–15 NKJV) —14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask
anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we
know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we have asked of Him.
Is it God’s will for you to be filled with the Holy
Spirit?
Eph. 5:18
says it is.
In fact it is God’s will that you
be “filled” over and over and over again.
We “leak”. We need
a fresh filling again and again.
So … does God hear you when you ask Him to fill you?
John says yes.
Receive it!
Hope that
helps!