If you have never experienced anything spectacular, does that mean the Holy Spirit does not live in you? The question comes up more often than we admit, and it can rob sincere believers of their assurance. Two pastors walk through the key accounts in Acts, Jerusalem, Samaria and the house of Cornelius, and read them alongside Paul’s words about the seal and about being continually filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5). Listen if you want to tell the difference between what Scripture describes and what it prescribes for every day.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Acts 2, 8 and 10 the Holy Spirit comes differently each time: to the Samaritans after baptism and the prayer of Peter and John, to Cornelius's household even before baptism. What is Luke showing us about the Gospel moving from Jews to Samaritans to Gentiles?
- The sermon distinguishes between a description and a prescription. What about Pentecost was a one time event, and what, according to Peter's words about the promise for you and your children, applies to the church in every age?
- In Ephesians Paul compares the Holy Spirit to an emperor's seal and to a deposit. What do these images say about who you are, and how might they reassure someone who has never had a dramatic experience?
- Peter and John, already filled with the Spirit, are filled again in Acts 4 and speak the Word boldly. How do you understand the sermon's line: we are filled, but we leak?
- Paul contrasts getting drunk on wine with being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). How is the Spirit's influence different from that of alcohol, and what, apart from God, do you most easily fill yourself with?
- The sermon points to worship, thanksgiving and God's Word as places where the Spirit can fill us, sometimes dramatically and sometimes like a father simply walking beside his son. What will you concretely do this week to make room for His work?
