In the previous parts of this study, I have tried to emphasize that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is simply the next logical, necessary step in the transition of the Mission from the Messiah to His disciples. As such, it is not only available to every believer, it is expected to be part of every believer’s life. Then why do we find some Christians wondering about it, or seeking special instruction on how to receive Him? Isn’t He right here next to us?

I mentioned already how in the Old Testament, God’s intended relationship with His people starts with Him sovereignly changing their heart. This is exactly the same way it is with us: In the New Testament, He is the one that brings us from death to life. There is no difference. It is the same God. It is He that enables us to follow Him.

Let’s turn to Moses’ discourse to the people, at the point where he was explaining that to them:

Deuteronomy 30:6-8 (NIV) The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live… You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today.

In direct analogy, Paul tells us:

Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV) Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Once that transformation takes place, enabling us to do God’s will, then we are ready to inherit His Promises.

Thus, Moses’ people would be able to inherit the particular promises God gave them regarding the Promised Land. (Not because then they would be worthy of those promises but because only then would they be able to know how to use them for God’s purposes.) That is what Moses tells them next:

Deuteronomy 30:9-10 (NIV) Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

God will give them the Promises, if...

Did you notice that? Do you remember reading something like that before? If you recall our study through the gospel of John, that last verse (and my underline) should sound familiar. Again, that is not surprising: Their God is our Heavenly Father.

Now: we are not them, and therefore we have not received their same promises; but we have certainly received our own promises. And it is regarding those promises that Jesus gives us the same kind of commandment:

John 14:15-17 (NIV) “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.

John 14:23 (NIV) Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Our promise is nothing like that of the Israelites in the Old Testament! What Jesus promised us is that He and the Father would make Their home in our lives. He promised us the presence of the Holy Spirit. No wonder the writer of the book of Hebrews says this when comparing the Old Covenant to the New:

Hebrews 8:6 (NIV) … in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

The rules under the Old Covenant are analogous to the rules under the New One… But they are not the same. And it is a mistake, even a dangerous mistake, to crave the things of the Old when we have been given the New.

What would you rather have: A long life in the land, tending your sheep and your fig trees, or eternal life in the Kingdom of God, carrying out the purpose He planned for you for that eternity?

I know what Jesus promised me… and that is what I have chosen to set my heart on.

God doesn’t hide His promises inside a labyrinth

As Moses goes on, he addresses the questions and doubts that always assail the human mind when faced with assurances about the future… a future we cannot see and therefore that requires we believe:

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NIV) Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

You see, the One making this Promise is the One and Only God who created us, who loves us. Other gods may be willing to put you to the test, to run you through the gauntlet in order to prove that you are worthy to receive the promise. But Jehovah, the Lord God, has never been like that.

He has always been within our reach:

Acts 17:24-28 (NIV) “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

It is not too difficult! It is not beyond our reach. We don’t have to scale our way to heaven or dive to the bottom of the sea to get the Promise… No! The Word is right here next to us.

Then why does it seem difficult for some? Or, said another way: Why do some of us believers feel like we have not experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit?

Well, let’s turn to a couple of instances we know about in the book of Acts where there is a delay between the born-again experience and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.

A palpable change

In Chapter 8, Philip goes to Samaria…

Acts 8:5-8 And Philip, going down to a city of Samaria, preached the Christ to them; and the crowds with one accord gave heed to the things spoken by Philip, when they heard [him] and saw the signs which he wrought. For from many who had unclean spirits they went out, crying with a loud voice; and many that were paralysed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.

We know from the history of the Bible and from events recorded in the gospel (see particularly John chapter 4) that although the Samaritans and the Jews did not get along with each other, the former still remembered the Lord God. I say this to point out that, as a harvest field, the Samaritans had a lot more in common with the Jews (the people to whom the Father chose to send the Messiah) than with the Gentiles.

Therefore, Philip’s ministry to them proceeds along the same lines as Jesus’ ministry to His people (and like the apostles’ early ministry in Jerusalem and Judea.) We see the Word preached and its power demonstrated by healing miracles.

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip announcing the glad tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women.

So far, everything has progressed exactly as expected.

Acts 8:14-16 And the apostles who were in Jerusalem, having heard that Samaria had received the word of God, sent to them Peter and John; who, having come down, prayed for them that they might receive [the] Holy Spirit; for he was not yet fallen upon any of them, only they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus.

So, having heard that they believed, and understanding from their own experience that the next step was for those believers to receive the Holy Spirit, the apostles go there. This doesn’t imply any defect in the Samaritans’ faith, nor on Philip’s ability to proclaim the Word as God directed him to. Apparently, with them, as was with the apostles, there was a time delay between the realization that they had been born again, and the appointed time (appointed by God) to receive the Promise that would enable them, themselves, to carry out the Mission of Salvation.

Why the delay? Well, maybe, for many of us, it takes time to understand what is happening inside us and time to understand the scope of the Mission we have been called to. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, we already know it took the apostles quite some time to “really get it.” I pointed out how, even at Jesus’ ascension, they were still thinking in terms of victory for an earthly Israelite Kingdom rather than seeing everything in terms of the Kingdom of God.

In the story of Philip and the Samaritans, the writer of Acts (Luke) goes out of his way to point out that there was nothing deficient in their instruction: He says, explicitly, that they had been baptized to the Name of Jesus (which is different from the next case we will come to.)

Maybe the whole narrative thread about Simon the sorcerer that Luke weaves into this story is there to highlight for us how hard it would have been for any one of those people to shake off the shackles of the ignorance they had been living under in their former lives. Yes, this Simon was a sorcerer, therefore at a minimum a charlatan or, most likely, misled by the powers of evil, but the Samaritan people believed in him! They were just as duped as him by the kingdom of darkness.

So, my conclusion is that that delay between Philip’s message of Salvation and their being ready to receive the Holy Spirit, had less to do with some spiritual “rule” or spiritual circumstance and more with a very human frailty: It takes time for paradigms to shift.

Suffice it to say that, when the apostles arrive, that change of venue or perspective is enough to get them to understand what is going on. Now they are ready.

Acts 8:17 Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received [the] Holy Spirit.

Notice that here we are told no more details about what happened when they received the Holy Spirit. We don’t know if they started singing and praising God (like King Saul). We certainly don’t know if they started speaking in tongues.

Absence of evidence can mean evidence of absence. We can speculate but we cannot assert. Whatever happened, something did happen because…

Acts 8:18-19 But Simon, having seen that by the laying on of the hands of the apostles the [Holy] Spirit was given, offered them money, saying, Give to me also this power, in order that on whomsoever I may lay hands he may receive [the] Holy Spirit…

But what it was that Simon saw, we do not know. The fact that he knew these people well (well enough to dupe them for a long time) means he was the one qualified – objective – observer to detect a dramatic change come over them.

All we can say for certain at this point is that those people who went to the apostles, ready to receive the Holy Spirit, received it… unlike Simon the sorcerer, who evidently was not ready to take that step. (Who, according to the text, in spite of being baptized was still in bondage to his old life.)

The next example we need to look at is in Acts chapter 19:

Acts 19:1-4 And it came to pass, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper districts, came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples, he said to them, Did ye receive [the] Holy Spirit when ye had believed? And they [said] to him, We did not even hear if [the] Holy Spirit was [come].

And he said, To what then were ye baptised? And they said, To the baptism of John.

There is a lot of information between the lines here. From the previous chapter in the book of Acts, we know that Apollos of Alexandria was a powerful preacher of the Way but when he began, he didn’t have all his facts straight.

Acts 18:24-26 But a certain Jew, Apollos by name, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, who was mighty in the scriptures, arrived at Ephesus. He was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in his spirit, he spoke and taught exactly the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John. And *he* began to speak boldly in the synagogue. And Aquila and Priscilla, having heard him, took him to [them] and unfolded to him the way of God more exactly.

From that background we know he was a Jew and that his audience in Ephesus were also, in all likelihood, Jews (or proselytes) since he was preaching in the synagogue. Which means, he is addressing an audience that, like that of Philip in Samaria, knew about the Lord God of Israel.

He was well acquainted with John’s baptism of repentance but, as suggested by the needed instruction by Priscilla and Aquila – and  by Paul’s comment in the next chapter when he meets those same people Apollos had preached to (and converted) – he initially did not understand the central role of baptism in Jesus’ ministry… More than just a sign of repentance it was a sign of the ushering of the believer out of the death of the kingdom of this world into the eternal life of the Kingdom of God.

That makes a big difference!

If the only baptism we know is that of John, of repentance, we remain in danger of believing that we can and must maintain that repentance our whole life, on our own strength. We would never realize that Jesus’ triumph changed the rules of the universe so that, by His power, we were sovereignly removed from the kingdom of death and transported to His Kingdom of eternal life. All the power we need to remain repentant and obedient is available to us through Jesus.

Now, still reading between the lines… How did Paul come to ask them that question: “Haven’t you received the Holy Spirit?” What was it about them, as believers, that revealed to him that something was missing from their lives? Maybe it is precisely what I just suggested: Maybe they were living their walk under the weight of the requirements of their own “holiness”. Maybe the divine Joy that Jesus promised us, that Peter talks about, was missing from their lives.

Acts 19:4-5 And Paul said, John indeed baptised [with] the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus. And when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus.

So, Paul corrects the first deficiency. And then, because these believers were indeed true believers, already primed for total devotion to God’s way… maybe as fervent as their teacher Apollos, there was no need to wait for a paradigm shift:

Acts 19:6 And Paul having laid [his] hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

Now, here we are told explicitly that they prophesied and spoke in tongues. I don’t think that that is a surprise. That is exactly what happened to the apostles when the Holy Spirit descended on them (came upon them) in power… and these are fellow Jews.

There is a difference between the case of the Samaritans and these disciples. There, the word used for the receiving of the Holy Spirit is lambano: they received/accepted the Holy Spirit. Here the word used is elthe from erchomai meaning to come, to enter, to fall upon. The consequence of the laying on of apostolic hands is the same but the activity is different… because, though the situation and audiences are somewhat similar, that audience’s level of spiritual maturity (or readiness) was different.

Ok, now let’s try a different one: What happens when Gentiles – not Jews – accept the message of salvation?

We are familiar with the story of Cornelius the Roman centurion:

Acts 10:1- 5 But a certain man in Caesarea,— by name Cornelius, a centurion of the band called Italic, pious, and fearing God with all his house, [both] giving much alms to the people, and supplicating God continually,  — saw plainly in a vision, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming unto him, and saying to him, Cornelius.

But he, having fixed his eyes upon him, and become full of fear, said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Thy prayers and thine alms have gone up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and fetch Simon, who is surnamed Peter.

This introduction sets the stage. Cornelius is not a Jew but he is a god-fearer. He may not know all there is to know about Moses and the Lord God of Israel or of His promises to them, but he knows there is a God worthy of his full devotion. The fact that his house also believed tells us how deep (serious) his (and their) commitment was.

This is not a deluded man nor an ignorant man. He is truly attuned to the reality of God; and therefore God freely intervenes directly into his life. I will let you read the rest of the story. Just note in particular that if anyone had to be moved from ignorance into truth, if anyone needed a paradigm shift in this story, it was not Cornelius, it was Peter.

Once Peter gets there and starts explaining all about Jesus and God’s plan of salvation…

Acts 10:44-47 While Peter was yet speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were hearing the word. And the faithful of the circumcision were astonished, as many as came with Peter, that upon the nations also the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out: for they heard them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, Can any one forbid water that these should not be baptised, who have received the Holy Spirit as we also [did]?

They were indeed astonished! Not only did they receive the message of salvation wholeheartedly, they were also so ready already, that there was no need to wait at all, not even for being baptized, or laying on of hands, they received the Holy Spirit, in power, immediately.

Now, these are not Jews. Speaking in tongues certainly would not have had the same significance for them as it did for the Jews. (Keep in mind Isaiah’s prophecy to the Nation, in his chapter 28.) So, why did Cornelius and his people end up speaking in tongues too? Is that an automatic result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Let me point out that even though these believers were not Jews, their whole audience, that is Peter and his entourage, were all Jews. Maybe this instance of speaking in tongues was for their benefit.

Again, I believe the key to understanding how these stories, apparently different in details, are all still perfectly consistent with each other, is to realize that the determining factor on the way the Holy Spirit is received by the different believers is their degree of “readiness.”

There is no magic recipe, no consistent prescribed discipline to be performed or adhered to that will “cause” the Holy Spirit to come upon a believer. The only requirement is total commitment to the Lord (being born again): loving Him and obeying Him. If that is where we are, then, by definition we are open to Him deciding how and when His plan will unfold in our lives.

Should we ask for it?

Sure, we should ask Him for it…

Jesus explicitly told us so: Luke 11:13 If therefore *ye*, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give [the] Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Therefore, we have two Promises: the Promise of the Holy Spirit and the Promise that the Father will give Him to us when we ask. What else do we need? The Father does not lie.

There is no reason why God would ever hold back this gift from us, because Jesus clearly told us that He planned to go back to Heaven so that we could have His Spirit inhabiting our lives. That is the kind of relationship He desires to have with us. And it is only through the power of the Spirit that we can carry on His work here in this world… which is precisely why He has left us here.

To tongue or not to tongue

Of the three cases I covered in detail above, two state that the believers receiving the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues that day, and one says nothing about it. How important that is, you can judge for yourself by reading the book of Acts and noting all the places where it is said that something was done by someone who was filled with the Holy Spirit or in the Holy Spirit or guided by the Holy Spirit. I am confident that you will find that the overwhelming majority of the activity of the Holy Spirit is directed toward the accomplishing of God’s purpose in this world. The instances of speaking in tongues, as an activity of the Holy Spirit, is just an incidental handful among all these other events.

Why it has become such a big deal, is probably better left to another study. It should suffice to say that Paul, who told us in a letter that he spoke in tongues more than anyone else, was the one that told us that “not all speak in tongues”. That is the clear conclusion from the rhetorical questions he asks in 1 Corinthians 12:29-30. If that were not what he meant and we are going to claim that all believers that receive the Holy Spirit must be able to speak in tongues, then we would have to conclude that all of us believers must also be apostles and prophets and be doers of miracles.