The Holy Spirit and the Birth of the Church, II
Fresh Infillings
As the Church grew, it faced new challenges which demanded that the believers live a Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled life. In Acts 4, Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin, the same Sanhedrin which had condemned Jesus. But now as Peter stood before the governing council, he exercises Spirit-inspired authority: “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people …’” (Acts 4:8). He then preached a bold, truthful, Christ-exalting sermon.
This does not necessarily mean that Peter was freshly filled with the Holy Spirit as if the Spirit was no longer indwelling him but that, because he was filled with the Spirit, he was able to testify powerfully and courageously concerning Jesus. John MacArthur points out the relationship between Peter’s yieldedness to the Holy Spirit and his boldness in preaching and reminds us, “The filling of the Spirit occurs when the believer walks in obedience to the Word and the Spirit … Yielding to His control releases His power in the believer’s life …. Because Peter was Spirit-filled, persecution merely drove Him closer to the Lord.” 3
However, another trustworthy commentator has said: “The form of the Greek verb clearly indicates that this was indeed a new filling … But the idea is not that he had lost anything from the previous filling. God just increased his capacity and poured out the Spirit anew upon him in all His wisdom and power.” 4 Though previously baptized in the Holy Spirit and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, Peter is filled again in response to a new demand — new challenges called forth new and fresh outpourings of the Holy Spirit.
This second interpretation, fresh infilling, seems to be validated in the experience of the apostles following the release of Peter and John from the Sanhedrin. Having been commanded to stop proclaiming Jesus, Peter and John replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge” (4:19). The council then threatened and released them. Following this, the apostles returned to their friends and together they lifted their voices beseeching God for strength and faith to resist the enemies of the Church. The Lord responded with a fresh outpouring upon the gathered community: “And 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” (4:31).
Again, a trustworthy commentator says that the verb form indicates a “new, special filling.” 5 This is not to suggest that the Holy Spirit had departed from them or that the disciples were spiritually deficient or empty or separated from the Holy Spirit. Rather, with each new crisis, with each new demand, the Spirit again fills the disciples with the resources of power and wisdom needed to meet the challenge.
We might use the analogy of a runner rounding the final turn in the race and calling forth a greater burst of energy and adrenalin than before. So also the disciples of Jesus, when entering a more demanding level of spiritual warfare and needing a greater anointing of God’s power, can ask and expect the Holy Spirit to respond sufficiently to the need.
In Acts 13:50-52 we read of Paul and Barnabas undergoing persecution but Luke concludes by saying, “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52). One authority suggests that we may render the translation: they “kept on being filled” with joy and with the Holy Spirit. 6 As the church encountered new crises and opportunities, new responses were required and the Holy Spirit poured out new empowerment and fresh anointing. We too need to seek God for new and fresh outpourings. We too need to “keep on being filled” with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Remember that our God is a Self-giving God. When we encounter a crisis and cry out for deliverance, His answer is to pour out of Himself. When the disciples were caught in a stormy sea, their boat “battered by the waves” (Matt. 14:24), Jesus came to them walking on the sea and said, “Take courage, it is I (I Am); do not be afraid” (14:27). His answer to the storm was Himself.
This is the God of whom Paul testifies, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). If God would not withhold His own Son as a Sacrfice on our behalf, how will He not pour out His Spirit in our time of need? As John said, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (Jn. 1:16).
Baptized in the Spirit / Filled With the Spirit
We need to stop for a moment and distinguish again between baptism in the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit. In I Corinthians 12:13, Paul says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” The word “body” refers both to Christ and His church, though in this first letter to the Corinthians, Paul’s primary point is the union of believers in Christ — we have been baptized, plunged by the Holy Spirit into a living union with the saints in Christ.
However, in Galatians 3:27, Paul says, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” This refers not so much to our place in the body of Christ, the church, but more to our position in Christ, our identification with Him. This union with Christ into which the Holy Spirit has baptized us is so complete that Paul says we have “clothed” ourselves with Christ.
This is what Paul meant in his letter to the Romans, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Rom. 6:3-5).
When we confessed Christ, we were baptized into a spiritual union with His death and resurrection, immersed into union with Christ by the Holy Spirit. We were also filled with the Holy Spirit. He came to indwell us. So it was on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were baptized by the Holy Spirit into relationship with a Divine Person and filled with the Holy Spirit.
We do not need to be brought again into union with Christ. We do not need to be baptized in or by the Holy Spirit again. We have been immersed into relationship with Christ, into unity with Him by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit continually indwells us and will not leave us. But we do need to continually receive fresh expressions, infillings of the resources and empowerment of the Spirit as we live our lives in this world.
Of One Breath
It is more than coincidence that the first great infilling at Pentecost described in Acts chapter 2, and this later infilling in 4:31 were both preceded by a time of unified, earnest prayer. In chapter 1:14 we read, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer.” The phrase one mind or one accord is the word homothumadon.
Homothumadon means sharing the same passion or breath. This common passion to know, worship and proclaim Jesus Christ was the dominant quality of the disciples as they waited for the outpouring of the Spirit (1:14).
Homothumadon describes the way they received the outpouring of promise, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together (homothumadon) in one place” (2:1).
Homothumadon was the way they lived their new life together, “Day by day continuing with one mind (homothumadon) in the temple” (2:46). It was the way they faced persecution, leading to a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, “And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord (homothumadon)” (4:24).
The unity of the believers was an obvious, important quality of their life together. And notice that both occasions of Holy Spirit outpouring, in Acts chapters 2 and 4, are followed in the text by descriptions of the harmonious fellowship of the believers — “had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need …breaking bread from house to house” (2:44-46). And in chapter four, “one heart and soul … all things were common property to them” (4:32-35).
Notice also that both occasions of Holy Spirit outpouring are followed by an acknowledgment of the power at work in and through the believers: “wonders and signs” (2:43); “began to speak the word of God with boldness … and with great power the apostles were giving testimony …” (4:31,33). Unified fellowship led to outpouring which resulted in empowerment for ministry.
Four conclusions can be drawn from these outpourings of the Holy Spirit:
1. The earnest prayer of unified believers is needed to create an environment in which the Holy Spirit can freely move. Conversely, the absence of this environment can severely limit the Holy Spirit.
2. A powerful move of the Spirit results in a deeper building of community, a deeper experience of fellowship (2:42,44-46 4:32-35). We may also conclude that the lack of true unity and fellowship in a church indicates that the Spirit is being quenched or cut off.
3. An outpouring of the Spirit results in powerful and authoritative ministry: “Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles” (2:43). “And now, Lord, take note of their threats … while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus … and began to speak the word of God with boldness … And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all” (4:30,31,33 ).
4. Finally, power-filled ministry results in changed lives, impacted communities and therefore, a growing and vital church: “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
Ministry which does not move in the power of the Spirit will have nothing more than a superficial effect on the community. For ten days between the Ascension of Jesus and the day of Pentecost a community of believers existed but we do not read that anyone was converted. As a matter of fact, for fifty days between the Resurrection and Pentecost a faith community existed but we do not read that even one person preached one sermon. No one was healed; there was no ministry to the poor. Yet on the day of Pentecost, through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, three thousand people were impacted by the Spirit-filled church. Soon, mercy was being shared and signs and wonders were taking place.
The Holy Spirit is always seeking those who are willing to be convicted of sin and called into grace; always ministering to those who are willing to receive; empowering those who are willing to be empowered. But sometimes the Spirit is allowed only to hover over the face of the deep and the dark. There is no question that the Holy Spirit is creatively at work in the world and in the Church. The question is whether the Church will work with the Spirit and in the power of the Spirit. Or will we give Him no place at all, other than allowing Him to hover over our deep and dark indifference?
Just because the Spirit is present and at work does not mean that everything or anything the Church does is done in the power of the Spirit. The present day Church must relearn those lessons which the early Church learned so well — how to create an atmosphere in which the Holy Spirit is free to move and how to be sensitive to that moving of the Spirit. Only in true repentance and love and unity will we create a fellowship conducive to the free and powerful moving of the Spirit. Only in prayer and worship and earnestly seeking God will we develop the sensitivity to move with God.
One of the first works of the Spirit in the new Church was to break down the barriers of race, culture and nation. In Acts 2 we read of a diversity of cultures being evangelized (2:9-11). Later, the Apostle Paul said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
God had said through the prophets of the Old Testament that His purpose is to lead all people groups into the light of salvation (Isaiah 42:6, Micah 4:2). Israel, God’s covenant nation, was intended to be a primary instrument of this shining. However, racial prejudice, unfaithfulness and rejection of the Messiah prevented this purpose from being carried out through the Jewish nation.
The church then was commissioned by Jesus to go to the nations and the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was experienced, as we said, by culture groups spanning the Mediterranean basin (see Acts 2:9-11). It appears, though, that the Church was slow to move out of Jerusalem. But in Acts 8:1 we read of a wave of persecution which dispersed the church, propelling the Gospel into Samaria.
A problem is presented in the evangelization of Samaria which the serious Bible student must deal with. We read in Acts chapter eight that Philip preached the Gospel and miracles were taking place. We read in 8:12 that many were believing and being baptized. However, the Holy Spirit “had not yet fallen upon any of them” (8:16).
On the day of Pentecost, when the multitude were pierced to the heart by Peter’s preaching, they had cried out, “Brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise belongs to you and to your children and to all who are far off, to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself” (Acts 2:38,39). Again, in Acts 5:32, Peter says, “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” (Obedience here is defined as obeying God’s command to repent of sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ).
If repentance of sin and confession of Jesus as Lord and Savior are sufficient for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is baptism into Christ and the indwelling presence of the Spirit, then why had the Spirit not yet fallen on any of the Samaritan believers? They had been baptized in the name of Jesus (8:16) and were obviously believers so why were they lacking the fulness of the Spirit?
We must understand that this revival which swept through Samaria was the first great wave of Gentile evangelism. There most certainly were Gentiles who came to believe in Christ in Jerusalem, in the harvests described in Acts 2:8-10,41,47, 4:4 and 5:14. However, those Jerusalem harvests were superintended by the apostolic leadership.
But Samaria is the first recorded instance of massive conversions in a completely Gentile culture. There would surely be objections to this among some of the Jerusalem brethren, especially considering that Phillip, the evangelist in Samaria, may have been himself a Gentile convert. So the Jerusalem church sent Peter and John to assess the revival. When the apostles saw that this was indeed the work of Jesus, they laid their hands on the believers who then received the Holy Spirit (8:14-17).
It appears that the Lord wanted to validate this new wave of evangelism among non-Jewish, Gentile believers so He withheld the Holy Spirit until apostolic confirmation was provided. Then, through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, the Holy Spirit was given to the Samaritan believers. This is not to say that the laying on of hands is necessary to receive the Spirit. This happens as we confess the Lordship of Christ. But this was a special event in the history of the church and required special validation.
Luke does not inform us as to the evidence that the Samaritans were filled. The point is not how they knew the believers were filled but that the believers were in fact filled.
Luke does record the evidence of Spirit baptism in the account of the Roman soldier, Cornelius, because in this case, evidence was crucial. Cornelius was not a Jew nor even a Samaritan. He was a Roman and for a Roman to come into right relationship with God in the fulness of the Spirit was an event scarcely believable to a Jew. For Peter to even go and preach to Cornelius required a vision repeated three times (Acts 10:10-16), an audible word from the Holy Spirit (10:19) and messengers at his door requesting him to come and preach (10:19-23).
So Peter went with them and preached and when the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his friends, we read, “All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also” (Acts 10:45). How did they know? The evidence was undeniable: “For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God” (10:46).
Notice how convinced Peter was that the experience of Cornelius was identical to the experience of the Apostles on Pentecost. He said, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” (Acts 10:47). And in testifying before the Jerusalem leadership, Peter did not say, “I believe the Holy Spirit may have fallen on them.” He says, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:15-17).
A convincing evidence was needed to overcome the prejudice of devout Jews among the Jerusalem leadership and convincing evidence was provided. The leadership responded by affirming Peter’s experience: “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life’” (11:18).
For Cornelius and his household, Spirit baptism occurred simultaneously with conversion as it does for all believers today. Of course, the process of conversion had been going on for some time. Obviously Cornelius was already a devout man in the sense that he had some knowledge of God and prayed and gave alms (Acts 10:31). And Peter assumes in his preaching that Cornelius had already heard of Jesus and had heard something of the Gospel (10:36-38). Evidently then, while Peter was preaching, all of this prior work of the Spirit crystallized in Cornelius and his friends and as the word of faith was preached by Peter, the listeners were convicted of sin, convinced of grace, their open hearts received the word and they were converted. The outpouring of the Spirit bore witness to this accomplished fact of belief and conversion. Cornelius and those who were with him did not have time to confess their faith through formal vows but God knows the heart of each person and blesses in accordance with His will and His knowledge of inner faith. Peter understood this and in the council of Jerusalem many years later, he said: “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:7-9).
Another Scripture has caused some unnecessary confusion. In Acts 19:1-7 we read of Paul’s encounter with twelve men whom Luke describes as disciples. However, when Paul asks them if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed, their response is, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit” (19:2).
Does this mean that people can believe in Jesus and not have the Holy Spirit? Not at all. Then why did they not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Because they were not disciples of Jesus. Then whose disciples are they? Paul phrases the question this way, “Into what then were you baptized?” They responded, “Into John's baptism” (19:3). They were disciples of John the Baptist, baptized in water but had not yet heard of the redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus.
Paul responded, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus” (19:4). One commentator describes this pre-Pentecostal baptism of John as, “a baptism of expectation rather than one of fulfillment.” 7 These men were anticipating the Savior but had not encountered Him yet.
Paul then explained to them the incompleteness of their faith and evidently preached the good news of Jesus Christ. They must have responded by believing and so Paul then baptized them in the name of Jesus. He also laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues and prophesying.
The point is not that anyone needs to lay hands on a believer to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul did this as an expression of his apostolic authority. Nor is the point that anyone needs to wait for the indwelling presence of the Spirit — He is God’s promise to all who believe in Christ. Those men in Ephesus had not received the Holy Spirit because they had not yet believed in Jesus. When they did believe in Christ, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Key Truths
At the risk of being redundant, there are several key truths which can be clearly drawn from this brief study of the Holy Spirit at work in the New Testament Church.
1. First of all, the church was born in a definite, historical encounter with the Holy Spirit which dynamically empowered God’s people to be who they had not been before: the living witness of the Person and ministry of Jesus.
2. Second, there was an ongoing encounter with the Spirit through which the Church was continually recreated, re-empowered and re-inspired. Even the apostles needed fresh infillings, fresh encounters with the Holy Spirit. When they were confronted with crises, when the demands of discipleship required fresh resources of empowerment and inspiration, the church cried out to God in a context of unity and God responded with fresh infillings of His Spirit.
In Acts 13:52 we read of Paul and Barnabas undergoing persecution but Luke concludes by saying, “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” We too need to keep on being filled. This is the result of an ongoing encounter with the Holy Spirit.
3. Though we need fresh infillings of Holy Spirit empowerment, we do not need to be freshly bapized in the Spirit. When we turned from our sin and confessed Christ as Lord, we were baptized into relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit came to indwell us. As Peter said on Pentecost, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself” (Acts 2:38,39)
4. The Holy Spirit creates community and responds to community. When the Holy Spirit is moving freely in His church, filling and refilling disciples, empowering and inspiring, a true and deep fellowship of believers is formed which transcends boundaries. The apostolic church had some serious doctrinal disagreements and they were racially, culturally, nationally and economically diverse but they were homothumadon — like-passioned, of the same passion or breath. They shared one overriding passion: to know, worship and proclaim Jesus Christ and in this common passion they found their unity.
We do not pray for unity at any cost — there are doctrines which are essential to the life of the church and we cannot be in unity with people who deny those doctrines. Rather, we pray for unity in truth, unity in holiness and love. Regarding non-essential doctrines, it is not necessary that we be of one doctrine or opinion in all things. It is essential that we are intentional and deliberate in creating an environment in which the Holy Spirit is free to move and minister.
We create that environment as we continually repent of attitudes that would divide us and as we continually give ourselves to one another in servant love and in the adoration of our Savior. Division, strife and jealousy only quench the Spirit and resist the flow of God’s life through us. Loving fellowship opens the floodgates of the Spirit.
5. The Holy Spirit creates a church which is passionate about praise and worship. As we read, “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit ” (Acts 13:52). Joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit, an evidence of the Spirit's presence and an effective conductor of the Spirit's life. Joyful praise and earnest, heart-felt worship create a climate in which God is able to move mightily. The early Church was a community of worship, a people known for their joy even in the midst of lethal trials and persecution.
6. The Holy Spirit creates a church where signs and wonders abound. The Spirit-filled church is able to minister with divine authority. Note again that the outpourings of chapters 2 and 4 are followed by descriptions of the power with which the Church ministered. Truth was proclaimed with life changing authority, souls were saved, the chains of guilt were broken, broken lives were made whole — miracles validated the message.
7. This display of Jesus’ authority deepened the faith of the believers, created respect and reverence in the surrounding community and facilitated the healthy growth of the Church. The Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-empowered, Spirit-inspired church will always be a growing church. Today, we also need to have our faith deepened; we also need to increase the reverence and respect with which the world looks upon the Church; we also need to grow in healthy, vital ways. How do we do this? By ministering with God’s power instead of our own. The result will be a growing, living church.
8. The Holy Spirit created a church which moved strategically. In Acts 13:2 we read, “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” As the church sought the Lord, they were given clear, strategic direction. Again, in Acts 16:6-10, the Holy Spirit did not permit Paul to move into Asia or Bithynia, instead giving direction through a dream to move into Macedonia and thus the gospel was preached and the church was established in Greece.
Again, in Acts 15 the Jerusalem church met to consider the potentially divisive issue of whether believers needed to obey the Mosaic Law. After much discussion they said, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials” (Acts 15:28).
It is not so common today for a gathering of disciples to say, “The Holy Spirit said” or “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” But as we are willing to spend hours, days if need be, praying and fasting, seeking to hear from God, we too will be led strategically.
The early Church was intentional and deliberate in crying out for more of God and creating a climate in which the Holy Spirit was free to move. The contemporary Church must also be intentional and deliberate in this.
When we say, “I have all of God I need”, we are demonstrating that we do not know our Scripture nor do we understand our own weakness nor the demands of our generation nor our continual need to be empowered by God. We would do well to heed God’s wise counsel, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
When we say, “Oh, that was the Old Testament— now the Spirit of God indwells me and I do not have to seek God” — we demonstrate our ignorance of the fact that the Apostolic Church, though led by men who had known Jesus in the flesh, was a church which realized its utter dependence on the Lord. It was therefore a praying, seeking church and therefore it was a church which heard from God.
Is it possible that the Church today, rushing about with such a busy variety of programs and projects, and yet scarcely resembling that authoritative body of spiritual warriors who conquered the Roman Empire — is it possible that we would rediscover our heritage of spiritual power by simply being still and waiting on God — obediently, patiently, with seeking prayer, crying out for fresh infillings of the Spirit? One cannot help but wonder if the church today would witness more of the power of God if we not only waited on God but waited in unity — honoring and respecting one another rather than competing and criticizing.
Finally, it must be confessed that there are churches today not crying out for a fresh infilling of the Spirit, not allowing the Holy Spirit to create deeper fellowship, passionate praise and authoritative ministry, not seeking continual renewal in the Spirit, not growing, not devoted to Scriptural truth. Nevertheless, where there is true praise and worship, it is because the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of the people. Where there is faithful prayer, believing that God is hearing and moving on behalf of those praying, it is because the Holy Spirit is building faith in the hearts of the people. Where God’s Word of truth is preached with clarity and boldness, without compromise, there the Holy Spirit is creating signs and wonders.
When any person is touched by that Word, the Spirit was at work long before to prepare the heart and mind to receive the Word, and is now at work to apply that Word. When a lost sinner is pierced by the word of truth and given the gift of repentance and faith, when a family is reconciled, a community transformed from violent disunity to peace and mutual respect, where a body is healed, an addiction is broken, when a distraught and anxious personality is touched by the peace of God — this is only because the Holy Spirit is moving among us. Whatever good we can see in our Church or in our community, be it great or ever so humble, it is only because God is at work in our midst preserving, empowering and inspiring.
“So that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (I Cor. 1:31).
Endnotes (continued from Part I)
3. John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Acts 1-12 (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishing, 2008), p 133.
4. Stanley M. Horton, What The Bible Says About The Holy Spirit (Springfield, Missouri: Gospel Publishing House, 1976), p 150.
5. Horton., p. 151
6. Ibid., p 167.
7. F.F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, The New International Commentary On The New Testament, F.F. Bruce, ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979), p. 386.
Study Questions (continued from Part I)
2. The Holy Spirit came to live in us when we were saved. But do we need fresh encounters with the Holy Spirit?