Were the Apostles
filled with the Holy Spirit?
Act 1:24 And
they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew
whether of these two thou hast chosen,
Act 1:25 That
he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by
transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.
Act 1:26 And
they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered
with the eleven apostles.
Act 2:1 And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place.
Act 2:2 And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each
of them.
Act 2:4 And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The answer to the
above question is yes. The Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Apostles were
leading lives in the Spirit, they were Spiritual Men.
Were their lives
easy because they were Spiritual Men?
Paul speaking--
2Co 11:24 Of
the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
2Co 11:25
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck,
a night and a day I have been in the deep;
2Co 11:26 In
journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine
own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
2Co 11:27 In
weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
2Co 11:28
Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care
of all the churches.
2Co 11:29 Who
is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?
2Co 11:30 If I
must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine
infirmities.
2Co 11:31 The
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth
that I lie not.
2Co 11:32 In
Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes
with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:
2Co 11:33 And
through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his
hands.
2Co 6:3 Giving
no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
2Co 6:4 But in
all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in
afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
2Co 6:5 In
stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in
fastings;
2Co 6:6 By
pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by
love unfeigned,
2Co 6:7 By the
word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right
hand and on the left,
2Co 6:8 By
honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet
true;
2Co 6:9 As
unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and
not killed;
2Co 6:10 As
sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having
nothing, and yet possessing all things.
2Co 6:11 O ye
Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.
2Co 6:12 Ye
are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.
2Co 6:13 Now
for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also
enlarged.
Rom 7:15 For
that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate,
that do I.
Rom 7:16 If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17 Now
then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I
know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is
present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For
the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I
do.
Rom 7:20 Now
if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me.
Rom 7:21 I
find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I
delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I
see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I
thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve
the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
The Apostles lives
were FAR from easy because they were Spiritual Men. They didn't have easy,
carefree lives. Yes, they trusted in the Lord, yet they remained men, they did
NOT become Gods. If we are looking to become something unique and special, with
amazing powers to live a spiritual life in some inexplicable way then we are
being deceived! If we are waiting for
some miraculous change to take place in ourselves so that we are no longer
ourselves, we are being fooled. We will forever be who we are and we can be no
other than who we are in our personalities, in our essential being. The things
we despise in ourselves and consider unspiritual, unseemly, ungodly are the
things we need to pray on and relinquish, to fight the war upon without
ceasing. We must seek forgiveness often never getting to a place we believe we
no longer are in need of forgiveness. Being a Spiritual Man is NOT asking to be
someone else, someone alien to us, but rather it is asking to be exactly who we
are as well as a full on Christian warrior in the spiritual battle being raged
all about us.
*******
'A Christian must be
delivered from every misconception with respect to spiritual life. He often
surmises, before he enters the spiritual sphere, that if only he could be as
spiritual as his brother how happy he would be! He visualizes the spiritual
odyssey as a most happy affair; and so he contemplates spending his days in
perfect joy. Little does he know that the opposite is the truth. The spiritual
path does not yield any enjoyment to the person himself; it is instead a life
of daily fighting. To remove warfare from a spiritual life is to render it
unspiritual. Life in the spirit is a suffering way, filled with watching and
laboring, burdened by weariness and trial, punctuated by heartbreak and
conflict. It is a life utterly outpoured entirely for the kingdom of God and
lived in complete disregard for one’s personal happiness. When a Christian is
carnal he lives towards himself and for his own “spiritual” enjoyment.' The Spiritual Man - by Watchman Nee
*******
Deliver us, Lord
from every single misconception we have about what it means to be Yours. Help
us to be YOURS wholly, fully YOURS. Work in us, do all for us we cannot ever
do. Save us from all that is in us which would keep us from belonging to You!
We would be YOURS! All though Jesus Christ our LORD our SAVIOR now and forever!
AMEN.
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