Filled with the Spirit

Background Scripture: Acts 2:1–36
Lesson Scripture: Acts 2:1–8, 16–21, 38–39

Introduction

The lessons in this quarterly are taken from the book of Acts. This book was written by Luke, who also wrote the third gospel. Most scholars agree that Luke was a gentile, and he is referred to as “the beloved physician” in Colossians 4:14. His Greek writings bear marks of his education and are the most literary in the New Testament.1

As a traveling companion of the apostle Paul, at least on one of his voyages, Luke may have personally witnessed some of the accounts in Acts. In the beginning verses of his Gospel, Luke testifies to being an eyewitness and having “perfect understanding of all things from the very first” (Luke 1:3). Therefore, we can believe his record of the events of the early church. It is marvelous how the Holy Spirit inspired four diverse men to record the history and teachings in the Gospels, and how well these accounts harmonize to portray a believable record.

The teachings of the “apostles’ doctrine” have been debated ever since they were first shared by the first evangelists. Satan has always found men willing to dispute and reject the life-giving doctrines of Christ. Christ declared that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church. This promise has comforted countless generations of Christian saints who faced the terrors of persecution and the sophisticated teachings of the reformers. Today, the beguiling effects of affluence with its soft winds of luxury minimize the message of the cross of Christ.

We do well to fortify ourselves against new interpretations of Scripture, false doctrines, and questioning spirits that assail the truth. The book of Acts remains a bulwark through the ages, clearly recording the work and mission of the first Christians: their ordinances, conferences, mission zeal, and lifestyle—all based on the teachings and example of Christ.

Sunday school is a valuable tool to help us discuss the application of doctrine to modern living. It should also be a great help to us if we began to drift from the “faith once delivered” to the saints. Let us listen discerningly to the Holy Spirit and also be willing to help each other to determine that we are building together on Christ, our true foundation.

Often the “little foxes” of falsity make an early appearance in Sunday school discussions. Then the “balm in Gilead” (Jer. 8:22) can be applied unto restoration.

1 International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, William B. Eerdmans, s.v. Luke

Filled with the Spirit

Lesson 1

June 2, 2019

Background Scripture: Acts 2:1–36

Lesson Scripture: Acts 2:1–8, 16–21, 38–39

Introduction

May this lesson inspire those who are walking in the Spirit to more dedication to Him and convict those who are void of the Spirit to repent and experience the infilling of the Holy Ghost. This is a matter of spiritual life or death. If you feel there is something missing in your life, take the Spirit’s warnings to heart. Be encouraged that God’s plan is not complicated, and the way of the gospel works today as well as it did in apostolic times. If we resist the Spirit’s work in our lives, we jeopardize our salvation and imperil our Christian witness to others.

Key Verse

Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts (2 Cor. 1:22).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

Jesus told His disciples they should tarry at Jerusalem until they were filled with power from on high. They probably had many questions as they wondered about the kingdom, asking whether God would “at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6). They had grown up under the law and tried to live good lives; perhaps some of them would have been considered blameless. On the day of Pentecost, something happened within them that answered their questions about the kingdom. They experienced what Paul would later describe: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

Perhaps some who have grown up in Christian homes can be compared to the Jews when they try to attain to a righteousness God would approve of. These struggling souls finally reach a place of desperation through the mercy of God and see that this is entirely hopeless. No one can come to the Son except the Father draw him. We must repent of our sins and accept by faith the blood of Christ as the propitiation for our sins—we cannot make ourselves righteous. The Holy Spirit is received simultaneously with the new birth.

Practical Truths for Today

To continue in life filled with the Holy Spirit, we must be emptied of self. Do we cling to questionable things for supposed security? We may have little corners in our hearts reserved for envy, lustful thinking, and questionable reading material. Perhaps we are holding someone whom we are reluctant to fully forgive. Have we an independent spirit that makes us unwilling to surrender our thinking and blend with our brethren? Is there some love for the things of the world? We may even find satisfaction in worries that we are unwilling to turn over to God.

Human nature causes us to compare ourselves with others and use that for a guide instead of letting the Holy Spirit direct our lives. When comparing ourselves with others, we may see their error but be blind to our own carnality. In repentance, we see our depravity and become sick of living in hypocrisy and trying to do and say the right things by willpower. With a broken and contrite spirit, we come to the place that nothing matters anymore except to be in the will of God and have His peace in our hearts. We are no longer concerned about what others think about us.

The infilling of the Spirit does not come upon us as a result of works such as confession, restitution, and resolution, although these are works of faith. The Holy Spirit comes when we surrender everything, as Abraham did when he was committed to sacrifice his beloved son. The Holy Spirit is a Comforter, and He bears “witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16). This comfort transcends a placated conscience based on good behavior.

We may wonder at the children of Israel, thinking that after all God did for them, they should have known better than to repeatedly backslide and worship idols. But are we not subject to the same thing when our love for God begins to wane? High on the list of possible idols is a love for the things of this world. Even those possessions God has made us stewards of can unduly capture our affection. Thereby we are making room for some substitute to enter our lives. However, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and love God above everything else, we are happy and free.

To trust God with everything and in all situations of life is evidence of the Holy Spirit. Our trust can move from an unconditional dependence on God to a dependence on tangible things, as the foolish man in Luke 12 who said, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.” This can be deceptive, because the “things” might not be forbidden, but Paul warned us to be as “they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it” (1 Cor. 7:30–31). The NAB translation says, “Those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully.” When our trust in God has been compromised, we may consider it our duty to be covered with insurance or have other securities the world has to offer.

Satan offers intellectual Christianity as a substitute for a genuine life in Christ. When we become weary of self-denial, we may be satisfied with this intellectual substitute, but God wants our heart. This independent spirit hinders our spiritual fellowship as well as our outreach. A hallmark of Spirit-filled Christians is their drawing together in unity of purpose. Acts 2:44–46 tells how the believers were together and had things in common, “continuing daily with one accord.” The openness and transparency between brothers and sisters in the faith surpasses the superficial fellowship of society.

Peter says, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Pet. 1:22). Should our love for God cool off, we tend to withdraw from our brethren. Perhaps we console ourselves in our absence of love for our brethren by exercising tolerance toward them. The spiritual fellowship in God’s church is special and transcends our relationship with those who are outside the faith.

After we have received the Holy Spirit, we need to be faithful to nourish our soul so that we can be renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16). We can feed the inner man or starve him, depending on the things we listen to, read, or occupy our minds with. Filling our minds with that which is not pure weakens us and makes us likely prey for evil spirits. We may reassure ourselves that we are not doing anything wrong and are considered good church members.

Jesus said, “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life” (Matt. 7:14). We may accept that the gate is strait that leads to life, but after we are through the gate, our tendency is to adopt a way that widens, allowing us to take liberties that are popular in society. Rather than observing what others do and governing your lives by it, let us maintain an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. When we are filled with the Spirit, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23).

Illustration

After his spiritual awakening, Menno Simons stayed with the state church for some years, gradually gaining more knowledge of the truth. He came to be considered a good preacher and could maintain his position quite successfully against those in error, such as the Münsterites, a radical Anabaptist movement. But it troubled him that he was living a life of ease and not doing the best he knew. Then the tragedy at the Old Cloister took place, where close to 300 misguided souls who had taken up arms lost their lives. He wrote, “The blood of these people became such a burden to me that I could not endure it nor find rest in my soul.” He became willing to leave his old life behind, as he writes, “The gracious Lord granted me His fatherly Spirit, aim, power, and help, that I voluntarily forsook my good name, honor and reputation which I had among men and renounced all the abominations of Antichrist, mass, infant baptism and my unprofitable life, and willingly submitted to homelessness and poverty under the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ; in my weakness I feared God, sought out the pious and, although they were few in number, I found some who had a commendable zeal and maintained the truth.” 1 Following the Holy Spirit takes us on the way of the cross.

If we are not filled with the Spirit, we lack inspiration and direction and are not active in the kingdom of God to help those in need. We can take note of God’s judgment of Sodom: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezek. 16:49).

Questions

1. In Acts 19 we read about believers who had not received the Holy Spirit. Does that happen today?
2. Discuss the difference between following the conscience and being led by the Holy Spirit.
3. Can we “have the Spirit” but not be “filled with the Spirit”?
4. What is the difference between unity for the sake of unity and the unity of the Spirit?
5. Is there a danger that we expect something dramatic when seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
6. 1 The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, Herald Press, 1956, pp. 11–13
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).