Are You Filled with the Holy Spirit? - Acts 8

Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?  Luke makes a point of showing how those filled with the Holy Spirit are changing the world.

The apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit resulting in them experiencing the life of God and changing the world.  The theme carries into chapter 4 where Luke says, “And great grace was upon them all.”  Stephen is filled with the Holy Spirit with Luke stating he is, “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit”.   Stephen preached the gospel until his death.  In Acts 8, the Spirit speaks to Philip who is filled with the Spirit telling him to go and share the gospel with the Ethiopian. 

However, there were those who were not filled with the Holy Spirit.  Ananias and Sapphira were believers who were not filled with the Holy Spirit.  As a result, they lied to the Holy Spirit about the amount they sold their land for.  In Acts 8 we see Simon the Sorcerer who came to faith in Christ.  Simon was not filled with the Holy Spirit; however, he wanted to buy the ability to fill people with the Holy Spirit.

^{Acts 8: 14} Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵ who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. ²² Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” (NKJV).

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?  While everyone is baptized into the body of Christ by means of the Spirit, the Bible tells us what it means to be filled with the Spirit in Galatians 5, “²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness and self-control.”  

In other words, to be filled by the Holy Spirit is to fully experience the life of God in the Spirit.  The Spirit is then able to speak to you through the Word about your activity in life because he gives us the desire to do good, to love, to experience joy, peace, etc…  Sin no longer has any room in your life and you become a witness to the life of God.  Once you have known the life of God as a result of being made spiritually alive in Christ, the Spirit empowers you making you a powerful witness for the Lord of His gospel.