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(See also The Baptism of the Spirit Part 2)
Acts 8:1–25 read by Jake Martin
“Experience.” This summer we drove to Maine, then to Prince Edward Island, CA. Part of the reason was to EXPERIENCE this part of the US. Drove up I-95 right through the biggest cities on the east coast. Again, to EXPERIENCE them.
Experienced something of what Maine is like, even what PEI is like. One thing to read about places, another to experience them. And when it comes to experiencing something, it’s hard to put into words. How I describe it might be very different from how you describe it
Can talk about the same thing in two very different ways, or talk about two separate things using the same words. It’s…tricky.
This week and next week we’ll be looking at EXPERIENCING GOD. Dealing with certain truths about God words are necessary and essential. Sometimes when it comes to the reality of EXPERIENCING GOD, words become clumsy.
But one of our great desires as Christians is to experience God. Or like the tagline for this series, to ENCOUNTER GOD. We want to do more than talk about him…believe the right things, do the right things. We want to EXPERIENCE the living God!
The particular EXPERIENCE of God we’re talking about this morning is sometimes called by NT authors THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. You probably know what baptism in water is like, but this is a baptism in the Spirit.
Immediately we realize we’re into things very hard to understand—which defy description. But b/c the NT holds out such an encounter w/ God, we want to learn all we can about it.
This week we’ll look at it through the lens of Acts 8, and next week we’ll think about it from the rest of the NT.
If you’re not a Christian, welcome to the deep end of the Christian pool!
Being a Christian starts with believing in Jesus Christ—affirming the truth of his heavenly origins, his birth, his perfect life, his death on the cross, his burial, his resurrection and ascension and future return. Being a Christian believes those things as 100% true.
It is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as complete salvation and perfect forgiveness for all my sins.
It is also following Jesus as the Lord and King of my life. Without that faith and that repentance, I am not a Christian.
But being a Christian is also about a new kind of existence. It’s about a change that occurs within me. The Holy Spirit, God himself, takes up residence in me. That’s some of what we’ll be thinking about here.
In most world religions the god believed in is somewhere out there, he’s in some temple. I perform a set of rituals or ceremonies to satisfy his demands. And if I do them well, he is pleased with me and gives me good things.
But Christianity is entirely different. It says that through faith in Christ the very Spirit of God will be in me. And through the Spirit I am in Christ. There is a true spiritual connection between me and the living God.
If you’re not a Christian, hear this as an invitation to believe! To experience!
Prayer – When Peter and Paul preached they needed to be filled with the Spirit. Fill me! Grace City Church (Wilmington) needs a new meeting space by Easter. Cassie Bollinger (Spirit meet her right now).
“Saul” in vv1,3. Enemy #1 of the Church will become its greatest evangelist.
“A great persecution” beginning with Stephen’s execution. John Foxe estimated hundreds were killed.
But… “a great persecution” was also a tool in the hand of the Lord. It led to gospel expansion.
“They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria” (v1), but, “those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (v4).
Echoes of Acts 1:8 can be heard loudly here:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Here in chapter Christians are “preaching the word” “throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.”
No accident that the first evangelists to take the gospel outside of Jerusalem were not the apostles—“all scattered…except the apostles” (v1).
The mission of the church is the mission of the WHOLE church, not just apostles.
Two things to see clearly here:
Don’t confuse how things APPEAR with what God is DOING!!!!
Luke then focuses on one man who left Jerusalem amidst all those scattered: Philip. The fact he isn’t described in any way means we already know who he is. He’s the same Philip as appeared in 6:1–7, esp. 6:5. Deacon Philip flees Jerusalem and becomes a preacher. Makes sense what we read in chapter 21:
On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. (Acts 21:8–9)
Fascinating! Surely Luke spent a good deal of time asking Philip, “Tell me about Samaria! What was it like?”
Luke tells the story with a clear progression. First is the preaching and “signs” (vv5-8). The result “was much joy.” Hint that Samaritans were believing in what he was saying.
Then Simon is introduced, “previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria” (v9). Justin Martyr—early defender of the faith—is from Samaria and speaks of this Simon as possessed by demons to perform magic and later honored by Rome as a god.[1] He had enjoyed some following in Samaria. The key is that they “paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest” (v10) and referrred to him as “the power of God that is called Great” (v11).
This sets up a showdown in Samaria. In the end Philip wins. The deacon-evangelist Philip has two things on his side: Gospel and Holy Spirit. He wins!
Samaritans are converted in v12. “Believed” and “were baptized.” This means that the Spirit of God is in them. This is because you cannot become a Christian except by the Spirit, and to be a Christian means the Spirit is indwelling you.
John 3:5 and Romans 8:9
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Rom 8:9)
So, because the Samaritans are Christians in v12, we know the Spirit is in them at that point. The Spirit has changed their hearts. They had a dead heart of stone, but the Spirit has given them a living heart of flesh. They are born again!
No small thing for Samaria to receive the gospel. First for a lot of things. First for the gospel to reach outside of Jerusalem. First for someone other than the apostles to evangelize in this way. First for the gospel to reach Samaria. There was a bitter division between Jews and Samaritans, dating back centuries. Luke 9 James and John want to call down fire on “a village of the Samaritans” for refusing welcome to Jesus (9:52–55).
We aren’t told why these “apostles at Jerusalem” sent Peter and John, only that they did.
But when the apostles come to town things get really interesting.
As we move into this section, I need to make a couple of comments. First is that what I’m saying here isn’t “The Church Position.” As a church we are CONTINUATIONIST in our pneumatology. Say what?
Continuationist Pneumatology (“study of the Spirit”): The view that says the spiritual gifts in the NT continue throughout the church age until the return of Christ.
Cessationist Pneumatology: The view that says there are several “sign” gifts in the NT that ceased after the writing of the NT and the death of the first apostles (typically speaking in tongues, prophecy, the gift of healing, apostles).
Our church is a “CONTINUATIONIST” church. But within that view there are different perspectives on certain texts and topics. One of these is the BAPTISM IN THE SPIRIT. The two basic views are (1) All Christians are baptized in the Spirit when you become a Christian; and (2) You can be baptized in the Spirit at conversion but it can also happen a later time (subsequent). My perspective is that the second of these views is the best description of what the NT teaches.
Based on my reading of the NT, here’s what I think the baptism in the Holy Spirit is:
A Definition of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a special giving of the Spirit by Jesus to the Christian either at conversion or afterwards. It is separate from regeneration and sanctification, though it’s the same Holy Spirit at work. It is an encounter with God that is undeniable and evident to others and accompanied by such things as new boldness, new assurance of God’s love, new fruitfulness, new displays of spiritual gifts, a new awareness of God, or even new joy. It is like a personal revival that enables someone to fulfill their callings with much greater spiritual power.
Acts 8 is a helpful introduction to this topic. Several things to learn.
First, this experience we’re calling the “baptism in the Holy Spirit” can be described in different ways:
These different words remind us that describing a spiritual experience is not easy. It feels like something being “poured out” on you or something “falling on” you. Maybe the only thing in common with all these words is a clear sense that the Holy Spirit came from outside of me and then came into me.
Reading accounts of people experiencing this you sometimes find phrases like, “wave upon wave of God’s love pouring out on me.” It’s hard to put the work of the Spirit into words, but the Spirit is often compared to water and so terms that connect to what you do with water are often ones chosen—Filled, received, poured, give.
Most of the Bible written by people living in a desert or in a wilderness. In an environment like that, water is life-giving, refreshing, cleansing. Maybe that’s why the Spirit is so often spoken of in water-like ways.
Second, you can be a Christian and NOT receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
It is possible for us to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ without having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Joy Unspeakable[2]
Third, the Spirit often comes through laying on of hands and through prayer—v17. Not a mathematical formula, but don’t miss the pattern!
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17)
Fourth, when a person receives the Spirit or is baptized in the Spirit, it is tangible, undeniable—v18.
Receiving the Spirit or being baptized in the Spirit is something that can be “seen” and “heard.”
Simon the magician knew dramatic works of power when he saw them. When he saw what happened after the apostles laid hands on these Samaritans and prayed for them, he wanted such power badly enough to pay for it. Peter, of course, rebuked him forcefully. “The gift of God” (v20) is something you can’t buy or steal. He told Simon to repent.
But Simon’s reaction does show us that “receiving the Spirit” is evident to others. It isn’t just a gradual, internal work of character transformation. It will be clear to other people. Acts 2:33:
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. (Acts 2:33)
Fifth, receiving the Spirit has a variety of ways it can be experienced.
Critical that we don’t narrow what it looks like to one event in the Bible or one event in our own lives or one event we read about in church history. There are common ingredients overall, but also enormous variety.
God acts in our lives according to what he’s made us to be. We don’t always know what he’s made us to be, of course. But it’s good to remember this variety as we work through the book of Acts.
And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. (Acts 19:6)
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)
Really, it’s that “boldness” at the end that is the tell-tale sign of something different, something of the Holy Spirit, something dramatic. “They were all filled” this is the place where the thousands saved at Pentecost and in the weeks to follow were “filled with the Spirit” for the first time. That first dramatic filling of the Spirit is what I mean by “the baptism with the Spirit.”
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 13:52)
This is one of the rich truths I’ve been meditating on through this study. “Joy” is not a personality type. It’s connected to character and our general hope in the gospel. But it can also be something even greater, a fullness that we experience in God that comes from a direct work of his Spirit.
Blaise Pascal, the mathematician scientist had an experience of such joy that he tried to describe in a kind of free-verse poem. He stuck this in the pocket of his jacket. His encounter of God was undeniable but also beyond words, it’s a mix of Scripture phrases and his own outbursts of prayer and praise:
The year of grace 1654,
Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology. Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others. From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,
FIRE.
GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacob not of the philosophers and of the learned. Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace. GOD of Jesus Christ. My God and your God. Your GOD will be my God. Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD. He is only found by the ways taught in the Gospel. Grandeur of the human soul. Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you. Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.
Blaise Pascal, “Memorial”[3]
Spiritual gifts, evangelism, and joy are three demonstrations of the baptism of the Spirit given by Luke. We’ll look at more next week.
Again, a definition of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit:
A Definition of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a special giving of the Spirit by Jesus to the Christian either at conversion or afterwards. It is separate from regeneration and sanctification, though it’s the same Holy Spirit at work. It is an encounter with God that is undeniable and evident to others and accompanied by such things as new boldness, new assurance of God’s love, new fruitfulness, new displays of spiritual gifts, a new awareness of God, or even new joy. It is like a personal revival that enables someone to fulfill their callings with much greater spiritual power.
Our church is filled with people who are filled with the Spirit. As elders we look around and see people active in evangelism and who display spiritual gifts and who live lives marked by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But the book of Acts regularly invites us to make assessments of our lives.
Is the Spirit of God at work in my life as he desires? In some ways the answer to this is always NO. But there are times when we need to stop and in a deliberate act, surrender our lives to him. Open our hands to him and say, “Whatever you would have for me, Lord, give it!”
Maybe you used to walk in spiritual gifts much more than you do today. There is an aspect of God’s sovereignty in this. But sometimes we need to stop and pray to be filled with the Spirit again.
And as I said, I think many of us can relate to wanting that “fullness of joy in the Holy Spirit.” True joy in Christ in a world like ours is something of a miracle. Don’t buy the lie that everyone else is happy and you’re the odd exception. Depression and despair affect many, many people. Depression and doubts can certainly make joy difficult.
At times God wants us to go through the process of seeking professional counseling and even medication. But there’s also a place to seek him for an experience of his Spirit that leads to that “fullness of joy and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52). Maybe that’s you. If it is, come up afterwards and ask for prayer.
We quoted Jesus when he said, “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). But remember this comes right after these famous words of our Savior:
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:9–10)
“Ask,” “seek,” “knock” are verbs in Greek that communicate: “Do it and keep on doing it!”
Come up for prayer to ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, but continue as you leave to ASK, SEEK, KNOCK!
Prayer
Song
[1] Cited Peterson, PNTC, 282.
[2] MLJ, Joy Unspeakable (Harold Shaw), 21.
[3] Cited MLJ, 106–107.
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