Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

This is another very famous passage when it comes to the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement. It is part of the basis for what is called the “one baptism, many fillings” doctrine. Jesus spoke several times of believers being “baptized” in the Holy Spirit, but otherwise, “filled” is by far the more common expression. We forget that ritual bathing was very much part of normal Jewish practice in those days. I keep seeing reports of archaeologists locating another ritual bath. The Essenes, a very devout group of which John the Baptist was probably a member, stressed it, which is why it was natural for him to stress baptism. On the face of it, it would seem that baptism would be immersion in the Spirit, but that would be external, requiring that we also open up to be filled. That’s why Paul would tell the Ephesian believers, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) The tense of the Greek verb there would perhaps be better rendered, “keep on being filled.” In any case, the result of the believers in this verse being filled with the Holy Spirit wasn’t necessarily foreign languages, but that they spoke the Word of God boldly. Going back to what Paul said, alcohol is noted for removing inhibitions, which can make us bold to do things we wouldn’t otherwise do. One American expression for that is “Dutch courage,” but I doubt the Dutch drink any more than Americans do! When we remove inhibitions with alcohol we can be very foolish indeed, but removing inhibitions by the Holy Spirit makes us wise indeed, following God and acting as His agent and His spokesperson, for His glory.

I’ve never been big on alcohol, and indeed, the one time I tried to get drunk, just for the experience, I didn’t succeed. However, I have had times of being “drunk out of my mind,” so to speak, on the Holy Spirit. It’s glorious, and no hangover! The thing is, I don’t stay filled with the Spirit, any more than someone would stay drunk on one glass of alcohol. Like Paul said, I need to keep on being filled with the Spirit. I’m not a bottle, I’m a pipe. The volume, the flow, of the Spirit varies from time to time, and I need to be aware of that, and not be satisfied with just a trickle. The Bill Gaither song, “Fill My Cup,” is nice, but it’s entirely inadequate. I don’t want a cup full, I want to be connected to the water main! In all fairness, Bill Gaither was writing from the story in John 4 of the Samaritan woman at the well, so his imagery is not out of place. However, I don’t want to stop with that, but rather have a continuous connection to the unlimited supply that is available.

Father, thank You for this very clear Word. You have started me on a series of messages about Your Spirit, and I was wondering where it would go next. Help me express this in words that people can understand and genuinely receive, so that Your Word may work in them to transform them into the children, the disciples, that You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!