Here is a little thinking exercise for you that presented some good questions to me this morning.
Firstly, check out these three verses and take careful notice of the words:
1. 'The Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.' John 14:17
2. 'And when he had said this, he (Jesus) breathed on them (his disciples), and said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:' John 20:22
3. 'You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come down upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me.' Acts 1:8
By these three very definitive scripture verses, we see a real distinction in the spiritual stages of the disciples.
The Holy Spirit was with the disciples, was later received by the disciples through the breath of Christ, and then was to come down upon the disciples with power after the ascension of Christ.
In the book of Acts, there were twelve men who were repentant 'believers', but had not received the Holy Ghost.
'Have ye received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.' Acts 19:2
'When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.' (Note, that they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, as that is how the followers of Christ should be baptized. See my notes .)
The disciples saw Christ performing miracles whilst being followers of him. They were then given authority and sent to lay hands on the sick and cast out devils: yet the Holy Spirit was not yet breathed into them, neither come down upon them. Nevertheless, they were true disciples, were called by God, and the Holy Ghost was undoubtedly with them.
So, whilst Christ was physically there with them upon earth, they could see the evidences of the power of the Holy Ghost, experience the authority of going in Jesus name to heal the sick and cast out demons, but once Christ was ascended, he would send the Holy Spirit down upon them in power, so that by their hands miracles were performed, the dead were raised, the sick recovered, and multitudes of souls saved. (Acts 19:11)
And yet, Peter stood and cried out to the people (who were astonished when the lame man was completely healed in Acts 2), 'Do not look on us as though we have done this! This is the power of the name of Jesus!'
So, the big question is, 'Where are you in all of this?' Where has your following of Christ taken you so far?
Are you a believer observing things, and the Holy Spirit is with you? Are you a believer daring to evangelize and pray for some sick folk after you received the Holy Spirit at some point?
Or has the Holy Spirit come down upon you in power as it did in the Acts of the Apostles?
If you believe that all the above happened at your 'conversion', then let me ask, 'Where is the evidence? where is the proof according to Mark 16:15-20?
Can we actually know where we are in this matter?
The answer to that is 'Yes', if we will deal honestly with our own hearts and thoughts, and with God. The early church searched the scriptures daily to find out the truth. I am not making a doctrinal statement here, but simply raising questions that the Scriptures in question raised in me.
In these dark days that we live in, we need to really search the Word to know what God is saying to us, and to walk in the reality of what the Bible says.
'If you then, being sinful, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13)
'Never mind the 'theology'; feel the truth! '
JGM 2022
