Acts 9:10-18 “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." (11) So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. (12) And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight." … (17) And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." (18) Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.”
This is the third account in scripture of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is the account of the apostle Paul being filled. The context of this account is that the Lord Jesus had appeared to Paul while he was on the road to Damascus, and it was during that encounter that Paul was born again. Because of the blinding light that shone around Paul during this encounter, Paul came away from that experience being blind and having to be led by the hand into the city. When Paul arrived in the city he prayed and fasted for three days, neither eating nor drinking anything. It was during this time that the Lord gave Paul a vision, in which he saw Ananias laying hands on him. The above account shows us that Jesus sent Ananias to lay hand on Paul for two reasons, i.e. to have his sight restored and also to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And so, in this account, we see the apostle Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit through the laying on of Ananias’ hands. It is important to note that on this occasion, an ordinary disciple who was himself filled with the Holy Spirit, laid hands on another disciple to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The only manifestation of the Spirit that we know of that occurred on this occasion, is that Paul spoke in tongues. We know that Paul spoke with other tongues when he was filled, because he thanked God that he spoke with tongues more than any other believer at the time (1 Corinthians 14:18). We also know that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit after he had already been saved, for he was saved when our Lord Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, and he was only filled with the Holy Spirit three days later. This account also shows us that Ananias baptized Paul in water directly after he had laid hands on him. And so, to summarise the phenomena in this occurrence, Paul received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, after he had already been saved. And Paul spoke with other tongues, as evidence that he had been filled.
Michael E.B. Maher
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