I’ve titled tonight’s message, “What in the world happened here?” because the text which we have read tonight is very intriguing to me. As we know, Peter and John had just been channels for Jesus to heal a lame man in chapter 3. Peter had preached Jesus Christ boldly, about 5000 men were saved, and Peter and John were threatened not to preach any more in Jesus’ name and were released.
What happens next, though, is what so fascinates me. Peter and John return to their companions and tell them everything that had transpired and what had been said. Then, they join in prayer and ask for boldness and confidence to speak the word of Christ and for signs and wonders to be performed among them through Jesus’ name.
Finally, the text says that “when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness” (v.31).
Now, this is where I say, “What is this? What just happened?” The room was shaken, they were filled with the Spirit, and they got up speaking the word with boldness. Do you read this story and say, “Sure, yeah” or are you amazed even as I am? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I haven’t witnessed rooms shaking very often in my life—in fact, never.
Therefore, tonight I want to attempt to identify what exactly happened by examining the terminology and events that consistently happen with such a thing and see if we can determine what this is and what it means for us. And in doing so, I think you will see that we are going to find some parallels to what we have already seen in these early chapters and what was preached a few months ago.
First, let me start out saying that I think the disciples’ were praying for exactly what happened. Namely, they were praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, I am aware that you do not see the terminology in the verses preceding 31. You do not hear them saying, “Lord, fill us with the Spirit,” but I think they are aware that that is exactly what they are requesting, whatever terminology they used. (I will show you why I think that as we proceed.)
Second, let’s identify (in Luke’s words) what did happen. Yes, the walls were shaken, but beyond that, they were “filled with the Spirit.” This is the phrase that I want us to be able to better identify and with which to become more familiar. Therefore, I am going to look at it again in a simple manner, making observations that anyone can make and, hopefully, be able to understand it more clearly. I will make four observations in order to help us identify what happened to these men and, consequently, what “being filled with the Spirit” is.
My first observation is that it [being filled with the Spirit] is something that happens repeatedly.
We are familiar with Acts 2 and the events of Pentecost, how a violent, rushing wind came through, tongues of fire rested on them, and they spoke the mighty deeds of God with each man hearing in his own language. And, as with the story in our text tonight, it is easy to get distracted by rushing wind, or tongues of fire, or shaking rooms, but let’s get down to the core of this event and see how Luke describes what happens.
Acts 2:4 says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …” There it is. So, we see that on the day of Pentecost, the early believers were filled with the Spirit. And we see in our text tonight that in Acts 4 (whatever amount of time later) that the disciples are filled with the Spirit again.
So, there are at least two occasions where these early believers are filled with the Spirit. And that would be enough to verify that being filled with the Spirit is something that happens repeatedly, but I also want to show some examples that I thing at least point us to understanding this same realization.
In Acts 4:8 (which we read last week) Luke writes, “Peter, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them …” (literal translation). Now, from the tense of the verb, it is unclear if Luke means that Peter has just been filled with the Spirit or if he is referring back to the event of Pentecost and is inserting this as a reminder to the reader of the events that had transpired. I believe the former understanding is correct, however.
The first suggested understanding—“Peter, having just been filled with the Spirit”—fits the context and would obviously show us that being filled with the Spirit is a repeatable action because it just happened. The second suggested understanding, however,—“Peter, having been filled with the Spirit [on the day of Pentecost]”—seems like an unnecessary addition if the event of Pentecost (namely, being filled with the Spirit) was unrepeatable.
It would be like someone speaking of their child , who is obviously perfectly healthy, saying, “Oh yeah, he has ten, natural, God-given fingers and toes.” We assume those kind of things unless we hear something different. Therefore, it seems most likely that Peter was filled with the Spirit again in Acts 4:8 and would be again in Acts 4:31. Therefore, it appears obvious that “being filled with the Spirit” is something that is repeated in the life of a believer. It is not a “one-time you got it” matter.
My second observation is that it is something that results in power.
Now, as I have said already, it is easy to be drawn away from the essence of what “being filled with the Spirit” is if you find yourself mainly looking at the wind, fire, or shaking room. And if you were to look at one of them, you might think that it is the essence of what “being filled with the Spirit” means. But I think you would be misled and, thus, miss the essence of it.
Let me give you an example of what I am trying to say. In John 9 we read of a blind man being given sight by Jesus as Jesus spat on the ground, made mud of it, applied it to his eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. Now what do you think this man would think would be the way in which someone who is blind regains their sight? Probably he would say, “Spit on the ground, make mud, rub it on your eyes, and go wash in the pool of Siloam.” But is that the way that Jesus healed everyone? No. Some people he simply spoke to, others he touched, some touched his clothes, and still others were healed differently. However, on most occasions he credited the power of God working through faith as the reason they were healed. Therefore, if you are simply looking for spit and mud you might miss the essence of how the healing occurred.
The same is true of being filled with the Spirit. So, what is the essence of being filled with the Spirit? What is the result or showing of it? I believe it is power.
Since we know it occurred at Pentecost, let us hear what Jesus tells his disciples in preparation for that day. In Luke 24:49 he says, “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high”. And again in Acts 1:8 he tells them, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth”.
On both of those occasions he is preparing them to be empowered by the Spirit—or I think you could say, “filled with the Spirit.” In fact, Spirit (pneuma) and power (dunamis) are used almost interchangeably in Luke 1:17, Acts 10:38, 1st Cor. 2:4, and Gal. 3:5. There is always a demonstration of power when someone is filled with the Spirit.
In our text tonight they speak the word boldly, in Acts 2 they speak where every man hears in his own language, in Acts 3 Peter sees a man healed and speaks boldly, in Luke 1:35 Elizabeth prophesies that Mary is carrying the Lord in her womb before Mary says anything, in Luke 1:67 Zacharias prophesies, in Acts 13:9-11 Paul pronounces blindness upon a man, and in Numbers 11:24-30 men are prophesying. The results are sometimes different—different gifts given, different manifestations—but there is always a display of bold power.
Let’s test this observation in light of Acts 6. The apostles are being burdened with serving food to the widows (among other things), and they are wanting to devote themselves to the word and prayer, so they tell the disciples to select men to perform these tasks. Verse 3 says, “But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task”. So, the disciples choose seven men. One of them is Stephen of whom the Scripture says that he was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (6:5).
Now, the thing that is interesting is that they were able to see from Stephen’s life that he was full of the Holy Spirit. If we were sent the same task today, what would we look for in someone? I would imagine that we would see if he were good and moral and read his bible. If my observation is correct, though, they should have seen power in his life and ministry. They should have been able to look at Stephen and said, “I know he is full of the Holy Spirit because he often demonstrates the power of the Spirit of God in his life.” After all, the essence of being filled with the Spirit is power. So, did they see that he was full of spiritual power? Verse 8 says, “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people”. And in chapter 7 he speaks the word of God so boldly that it costs him his life. He evidently showed a habit of being continually filled with the Spirit of God by the power displayed in his life and his preaching.
It is because of this observation that I believe the answer to prayer in verse 31 (the disciples being filled with the Spirit) is exactly what they were asking for in the preceding verses. And the reason I say that is because they were praying for power. Their hearts were that God would grant them boldness and confidence to speak his word and that he would grant signs and wonders among them. In essence, I think they were saying, “God do in us again what you did with us on the day of Pentecost and what you did with Peter yesterday. Keep it up. Do it again and again.” They did not care what it was called, they just wanted the power of the Spirit of God so they could have the power that transformed them from men who ran at the time of the crucifixion to men who proclaimed God’s word with boldness days later. They wanted that power. They were requesting to be filled with the Spirit.
My third observation is that it is something that is given for Christ exalting ministry.
The reason I say this is two-fold. For one, it seems that this is what happened with people who were filled with the Spirit. I have already spoken of Peter being filled with the Spirit at least three times in Acts 2-4. In each of those occasions he exalts Christ in the face of those who put him to death. In 2:32 and 36 he says, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses … Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified,” and that is the gist of his entire sermon. Again, in Acts 3:14-15 he says, “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the One whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” And finally, in 4:10 he says, “Let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands before you in good health.”
This is bold, Christ-exalting preaching if I have ever heard it. And if it is to be topped, then the one who might top it would be Stephen as he preaches a Christ-exalting sermon in Acts 7, being filled with the Spirit. And there are other examples as well, which we will look at as we go through the rest of the book in the weeks to come.
The second part that contributes to this observation that “being filled with the Spirit” leads to Christ-exalting ministry is that according to John 16:14 the Spirit’s role is to glorify Jesus (“He shall glorify Me …”). Therefore, if someone is filled with the Spirit, then it should lead ultimately to Christ being exalted and glorified because that is role the Spirit was purposed to have from the beginning. Thus, if someone claims to be filled with the Spirit, but they are not exalting and bringing glory to Christ, then you can assume that they are deceived.
The final observation I want to make about being filled with the Spirit is that it is something for which we should yearn and pray and seek with all our heart.
Let me ask you a question in order to make this point. Do you think there has ever been as powerful of preaching as there was in Acts 2? Before you answer, let me remind you that it was preached by Peter declaring God’s endorsement of Christ to the very men who had deemed him a blasphemer and killed him. It was so powerful that when it was over, men were pierced in their hearts and yelled to the disciples, “Brethren, what shall we do?” And on that day about 3000 souls were added to the church.
Now, I’m not exactly sure how you judge whether this or that preaching is more powerful than Peter’s in Acts 2 or 3 or Stephen’s in Acts 7, but rest assured that this was some very powerful preaching.
And yet in spite of such a display of boldness and power, these men come to their companions in Acts 4:23-31 and pray that the Lord would grant them confidence and power to speak his word. Therefore, let me make this conclusion. If these men in all that display of power needed to pray and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit so they could powerfully exalt Christ, then we need to even more.
I mean, what precedes this prayer is Peter’s trip to the temple and such powerful preaching that 5000 people are converted. They were speaking the very words of God (because they were recorded in Scripture). They were first-hand witnesses of the message—that Jesus Christ has risen and atoned for the sin of man. They had seen him alive. And they were asking God for confidence and power to speak his word. They were asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
I don’t know about you, but that cuts to my heart. To say that daily I don’t yearn, pray, and groan to be filled with the Spirit is to pronounce judgement upon myself that cuts to my heart. To think of these men crying out while I so often find myself content to simply go through life without an obsession to exalt Christ in power makes me sick to my stomach.
Jonathan Edwards wrote in his work, “Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival,” “The state of the times extremely requires a fullness of the divine Spirit … and we ought to give ourselves no rest till we have obtained it. And in order to [do] this … [we should] be much in secret prayer and fasting, and also much in praying and fasting one with another”.
And I agree. My application and exhortation to you tonight is to go home and cry out to God that he would fill you with his Spirit. Call up your brothers and sisters in Christ and meet together and pray for yourself and one another. Beg that you would walk in all the fullness of God and know the power of his Holy Spirit. And if sitting here right now your heart doesn’t long for that, then the exhortation to you is to go home, throw yourself on your face, and beg God to have mercy on your soul, making you discontent with your present situation and give you a hungering passion for Christ-exalting power that doesn’t rest until you have obtained it. Seek the Lord—until He comes!
May our God clothe us with power, for the exaltation of Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.