Acts 1:4-8 “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; (5) for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." … (8) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Unlike the function gifts, which God gives to each and every saint, spiritual gifts are only given to those who qualify to receive them. And so in this section we want to discuss the various qualifications that the saints must have in order to receive spiritual gifts. Under the old covenant, the qualification that one needed to receive spiritual gifts was that the saint had to have been called to stand in the office of prophet, for under the old covenant, normal saints did not have access to spiritual gifts, only the prophets did. Under the new covenant however all saints are eligible to receive spiritual gifts, nevertheless the gateway through which all believers must enter to be able to operate in spiritual gifts, is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And so we see that unlike the old covenant, where only a select few had access to spiritual gifts, under the new covenant all saints have access to spiritual gifts, because all saints have access to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So why do we say that all saints that are filled with the Holy Spirit have access to spiritual gifts? We have already seen that the gifts of the Spirit are demonstrations of the miraculous powers of God, and in the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus has taught us that we can only receive that power when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. For when our Lord taught the disciples about the baptism of the Holy Spirit in this passage, they had already been born-again, for they had already believed in Him the first night He appeared to them, but they had not yet been baptised with the Holy Spirit and had therefore not yet received the power of God.
Acts 2:1-4 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
We have already said that the gifts of the Spirit are all supernatural. In the same manner the baptism of the Holy Spirit is also a supernatural experience, because it exposes the saint to the tangible power of God. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit that they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. In every account in the New Testament when the saints were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke with other tongues. Someone said that’s not true, because there is no record of the saints in Samaria speaking in tongues when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. That comment is correct, however if you read the full account your will see that it is strongly implied that the saints spoke with tongues, because it was evident to all observers on that occasion that the saints were filled with the Holy Spirit, as Peter and John laid hands on each one (Acts 8:14-24). And so we see that when believers are baptised in the Holy Spirit that the first and main evidence that will always be shown, is the supernatural gift of speaking in other tongues. The gift of other tongues given through the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for every believer, and is not to be confused with the spiritual gift of different kinds of tongues that we mentioned earlier.
Acts 19:1-6 “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples (2) he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So, they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." (3) And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So, they said, "Into John's baptism." (4) Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." (5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.”
The New Testament pattern teaches us that it is only saints that are filled with the Spirit that can operate in spiritual gifts. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see an account of the apostle Paul laying hands on new converts that he has just witnessed to, for although he initially thought that they were saved he found out that they were only John’s disciples and had not yet been saved. I want you to notice the very important question that Paul asks them when he initially speaks to them, thinking that they are already saved, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”. Obviously Paul asked this question because he clearly understood that being filled with the Holy Spirit is an event that takes place subsequent to salvation. In this passage we see that Paul then led them to salvation in Christ, and afterwards he laid his hands on them so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. In this instance, when the Holy Spirit came upon these new disciples, they not only spoke in tongues but they also prophesied. And so we see the gifts of the Spirit being manifested through them as well, but notice that they spoke in tongues first. And so this account shows us the clear sequence of events that transpired before these saints were eligible to operate in spiritual gifts, i.e. firstly they were born-again, secondly they were filled with the Holy Spirit speaking in other tongues, and only then did they prophesy. As an aside, as we have seen in this section there are two methods that God uses to fill the saints with the Spirit, i.e. directly from heaven and through the laying on of hands. For various reasons, the main method that God uses to fill His saints is through the laying on of hands. And so obviously the saint that lays hands on others to be filled, must themselves, already be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Michael E.B. Maher
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