The Filling of the Spirit

Introduction

Pentecost was a turning point for the church. Jesus had told the disciples to wait until the promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. This event would kick start a movement that would spread and impact the world. As we discussed in the first message on the book of Acts, the book of Acts traces the spread of this movement by the working of the holy Spirit from Jerusalem all the way until it reaches Rome the center of the known world. It is important that we understand these events if we are going to understand the rest of the book of Acts.

Acts 2 is a very controversial chapter and has been interpreted in many ways by many different groups. Our understanding of this chapter shapes many of the differences between Baptists and Charismatics and Pentecostals. To begin to understand the events talked about here, we must understand some terms that are used throughout the book of Acts properly. The two main terms we will focus on today are Baptism and Filling of the Holy Spirit.

A. Baptism of the Spirit is something that every Christian receives at Salvation and is the means by which we are placed into union with Christ. 1 Cor 12:13 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

Other terms for this experience are the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Rom 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

the gift of the Holy Spirit Romans 5:5 “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Being sealed with the Holy Ghost Eph 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Baptism is never mentioned except in the context of salvation and no one is ever said to have received it twice.

B. Filling of the Spirit is something that is repeated throughout the life of a believer and empowers them for service. Eph 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

Acts 4:31 “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” The same group of people are mentioned as receiving the filling again.

This event was both a Baptism of the Spirit and a filling of the spirit according to Luke in Acts 1:5 “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” and Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The reason it was both is because this was the start of the Church, this was when the Holy Spirit came down live in them and subsequently they were also empowered to praise God in tongues at the same time.

Filling speaks of influence- we use this terminology when we talk of being filled with wrath. We are so consumed with anger that it is influencing our actions. We are still the one’s doing the action, but our motivation and driving force behind the action is anger.

I. The setting

Vs 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come- Pentecost was 50 days after the first Sabbath of Passover in the Feast of Weeks or the Day of firstfruits. It was essentially a Harvest Festival to offer up the firstfruits to God after coming out of Egypt. Some Jewish tradition as found in the book of Jubilees developed that this was also the day that the Lord gave the law from mount Sinai. While the link is interesting, it is clearly not the focus of Luke’s argument here. They were all with one accord- Prior to the filling of the Spirit there was a unity among the believers. In one place- it is unclear where this place is. Archaeological digs have unearthed buildings large enough to have held 120 people from this time. Some have proposed that it was the temple; however, Luke in every reference to the temple uses ιερον (hieron) while this passage uses οχλοσ (oklos) a term used for a house.

II. The Event

Vs 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind- Much emphasis has been placed on the wind concept in this verse, but it is important not to forget what actually came a sound. The sound is described in symbolic language as being like a rushing mighty wind. This wind analogy is often used to describe the presence of the Holy Spirit. Eze 37:1-14 “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them …” -the wind which symbolizes the Spirit produces life. This same imagery is used in John 3:6-8 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” - The sound filled the entire house. The implications of this is that the presence of the holy Spirit was not limited to one or two people, but the entire 120 people as we shall see late. ( Pentecostalism believes in the second blessing doctrine)

Vs 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire- Fire is symbolic throughout the scripture of multiple different things:

1. God’s presence Ex 3:2 “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”

2. Judgment Deut 9:3 “Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee.”

3. Purging Isa 6

Here the meaning is in the comparison like as of fire which could speak of their looks or the method in which they appeared: spreading out like fire. The symbolism seems to speak of God’s Shakina glory and presence with the disciples through the Spirit. And it sat upon each of them- again the indication here is that every one of the 120 experienced this Baptism and filling. The teaching is clear here that every believer experienced the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Contrary to Pentecostal teaching, it is not something you receive later on when you get the second blessing. We are not sitting here waiting for a baptism of the Spirit to come.

Vs 4 and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost- This event in Acts 2 has been called both a baptism and a filling 1:5; 2:4. These two terms while occurring at the same time for the believers in Pentecost are separate events. Filling of the spirit on the other hand is a repeatable event that empowers the believer for service. Acts 9:17, 4:8. Filling was also not often accompanied by these extraordinary signs such as wind, fire and tongues. In Acts 4:8, the filling of the spirit enabled Peter to speak boldly the word of God.  In Acts 9:17, Paul received his sight along with being filled with the holy Spirit, but we do not see these other signs. In Acts 13:9, Paul speaks boldly after being filled and in vs 52 the believers are filled with joy.

And began to speak with other tongues- tongues in this passage speaks of other languages as is clear from the following verses. The specific gift of tongues here in this text was not a gift of hearing the words in your language as Left Behind presents, it is a gift of speaking. It makes sense that the gift must be one of speaking because the Holy Spirit does not gift the unbelievers. As the Spirit gave them utterance- Luke reminds us that this gifting was the result of the filling of the Spirit. Next Sunday, we will be looking in more detail at the gift of tongues.

III. The Result

Vs 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men- Some have proposed that these men were proselytes- Gentile converts to Judaism. The text seems to contradict this position. First, they are called Jews which by itself is not conclusive because converts could be called Jews; however, they are also called devout men. This exact  terminology in Greek is restricted by Luke to references to Jewish men: Simeon Luke 2:25; the men who buried Stephen Acts 8:2; Ananias Acts 22:12 and here. (The passage in Acts 10:2  uses a different word to refer to Cornelius.)

Out of every nation under heaven- this is a use of hyperbole and refers to the known “civilized world” of the time. Most likely these were Hellenistic Jews who had lived in other nations but were now coming home to live or retire. The word for “dwelling” refers more to setting up residence. It is possible on hearing the gospel that some of these believers went back to their home countries with the gospel. It is unknown how the gospel made it to some parts of Asia minor and Rome before Paul arrived.

Vs 6 Word of what was going on spread throughout the city and crowds gathered. They marveled not because they heard this weird strange commotion, but because they heard these people speak in their languages.

Vs 7 Galilean were viewed as uneducated. It was clear this was a miracle because Galileans would not have been conversant in these languages.

Vs 8-11 The list of nations has no rhyme or reason to it other than possibly these were large areas where Jews had congregated. The message that was spoken by the disciples was not unintelligible gibberish. The focus here is on the message: the wonderful works of God. There was no interpreter here and no need for one. In application, we must remember that Spirit filling will produce praise. A praiseless Christian is a Christian who is not walking in the Spirit. Eph 5:18,19

Vs 12,13 There were two responses to the filling of the Spirit by the lost: Some were amazed vs 13, and others mocked  vs13. The accusation that these men were drunk was not because of incoherent language and strange actions as we see in many Charismatic churches today. The accusation is because of their rejoicing and magnifying God.

There were two responses from the believers: praise and proclaiming

Key Point: The Filling of the Spirit prompted praise and preaching. While the other’s praised God for all of his Great and Marvelous works, Peter stands up to declare God’s message.

IV. Peter’s Message

Peter’s message is not the focus of our message this evening, but I do want to highlight some parts of it. Peter begins his sermon as a defence of what they were seeing. Those who mocked said the disciples were all drunk. Peter appeals to logic.

Acts 2:15 “For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.” The third hour of the day was around 9 am.

Next He refutes their accusation by pointing them to scripture. Joel 2:28-32 “And it shall come to pass afterward, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids In those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, As the Lord hath said, And in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”

The point of the text in Joel is that in the last days, God’s Spirit would be poured out on all flesh: men and women, young and old, master and servant and these things would be signs. The primary purpose for the gift of tongues and the miraculous events following the spread of the gospel throughout the book of Acts was to be sign of the validity of the gospel message.

Peter then turns the table on his audience and accuses them of killing the Lord Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead. Peter then quotes Psalm 16:8-10 “I have set the Lord always before me: Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” to support the resurrection.

Vs 29-31 Peter then exposits or explains the meaning of the text. This is one of the few sermons where we see the Apostles preach expositorily. Peter claims that the prophecy could not have referred to David because he is dead and buried. But Christ the messiah, the offspring of David would fulfill this prophecy.

Peter concludes with a statement of application: that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ. vs 36

Finally, he makes a call for salvation: vs 38 and a promise: ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

It is no accident that Peter preaches a message of salvation after he is filled with the Spirit. The filling of the Spirit will move us to proclaim the good news of salvation.

Conclusion:

It could be easy to fall into the trap of thinking these events in Acts 2 must be repeated exactly as they are written in our account. There is a danger of looking for supernatural signs all the time and living from emotional experience to emotional experience. These events were designed to be confirmation of God’s message and messengers as the gospel went out into a world who had never heard before. Every time a person gets saved, they also receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The filling of the Spirit is something that is repeated in our lives from time to time as God empowers us for service. So as we are looking at the church in the book of Acts, it is important to realize the church is intended to be a Spirit-filled church. This Filling will produce at least two results in our lives: praise and proclaiming