Filled With the Holy Spirit

Acts 7:54-60

Introduction

Have you ever thought about what it will be like when you die? I don’t mean passing into the afterlife but in the hours and minutes leading up to it. I know that sounds morbid and yet it is something we will all experience.

I have spent time with a lot of people as they approach death. Everyone experiences it differently. I can say that how one approaches death says a lot about how that person lived their life.

That is certainly the case when it comes to Stephen. We have spent a lot of time with Stephen and now we come to his death. Stephen has spoken his mind, shared his faith, offended his accusers and now he is executed. This is probably more of a mob killing than a legal execution. Stoning is a terrible way to die. You probably don’t die with the first hit. Rock after rock does its damage. Then you lose consciousness and yet the crowd doesn’t stop until all life is gone. Sadly, stoning still happen today. 

This could be a very depressing message and yet I want to focus on something positive. As I said, how we die says something about how we live. What I want to focus on is the statement that Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? What does that look like? I used to attend a Pentecostal church and they had a very clear idea of what it was to be filled with the Holy Spirit. A Spirit-filled person was someone who was operating in the spiritual gifts described in 1 Corinthians 12. In other words, it should be accompanied by some kind of dramatic supernatural manifestation. Now we do see Stephen receiving a vision, but that is not the only thing that happens. We are going to look at what it meant for Stephen to be filled with the Holy Spirit and then what it means for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Stephen Full of the Spirit

So we do see that Stephen has a vision of Jesus on the right hand of the Father. It is significant that Jesus is standing and not sitting. Jesus is ready and prepared to be there for Stephen. That must have been very comforting for Stephen. But what I want to focus on are the moments leading right up to Stephen’s death. The crowd begins to stone Stephen and two things happen. Stephen does not grieve his own impending death. We don’t see him getting upset. Rather, Stephen calls upon Jesus to receive his spirit. Does that sound familiar? Jesus said something very similar during his crucifixion. Jesus called out to the Father, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” For both Jesus and Stephen, this was an act of surrender and trust that their existence was safe in the hands of God. That by itself would be enough.

But after that, Stephen asks the Lord to not hold their sin against them. Again, Jesus said something very similar as he was dying on the cross. Jesus said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” So both Jesus and Stephen, in addition to surrendering their lives to God, took time to forgive those who were responsible for their deaths. I believe that both of these actions by Stephen are directly related to his being filled by the Spirit.

Does this mean the evidence of being fill by the Holy Spirit is trust in God and forgiving of enemies? Yes, but I can be even more specific. I would say that being filled with the Holy Spirit leads to being Christ-like. It just so happens that this led Stephen to be very much like Jesus at his death but it doesn’t have to be limited to that.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not just a way for us to have a good death, it is also a way for us to have a good life. A disciples is not just one who respects their master, it is one who is attempting to be like their master. Disciples of Jesus, like Stephen and others mentioned in Acts, were empowered by the Spirit to become more and more like the Lord Jesus. If Stephen hadn’t been killed at that point, we would have seen other examples of his Christ-likeness.

How does being filled with the Spirit lead to becoming more like Jesus? Although Jesus is the Son of God, he took a route for his ministry that can be followed by us. The very first thing before starting his ministry was his baptism. We are told that at his baptism by John that the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that is available to us. That doesn’t make us exactly like Jesus but it gives us the direction by which our lives should be pointed.

Full of the Spirit

Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. But what about us? What would a church that was Spirit-filled look like? You might think that it would be a place where healings and miracles are taking place. That could be part of it but being full of the Holy Spirit has a broader meaning. Being full of the Holy Spirit means being like Jesus, not just in his death but in his life.

To understand what a Spirit-filled church would look like, we would need to understand what a Spirit-filled Jesus looked like. So yes Jesus performed miracles. But what else did he do? He had compassion and love. He cared for people’s practical needs. He spoke the truth in the face of opposition. He spent time with the marginalized. He invested himself in people. He prayed and spent time with the Father. He was faithful to his calling.

The Apostle Paul, another person who was filled with the Holy Spirit, said this, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Those are all very good virtues. And who does that sound like? It sounds like Jesus. The work of the Holy Spirit is to make us like Jesus and the list Paul gives is a very good indicator of where we are at.

If you are like me, you will notice areas of your life that are not very Christ-like. That might be concerning. I suspect that Stephen has areas that were not quite like Jesus. We can see some examples of where Paul and Peter missed the mark. 

The truth is that the Holy Spirit works in our lives in numerous ways. One is the slow and steady growth. It is like the planting of a seed. You cannot see the difference day to day, but over time there is definite growth. Another way the Holy Spirit works is with a sudden and powerful filling. We see examples in the Bible and the modern world of that happening. This is like those days in the spring when there is a warm and heavy rain and the trees that looked dead before the rain, suddenly are green with leaves. But even with this, that does not mean that Holy Spirit makes us Christ-like in every area all at once. The Spirit might change us in the area of ministry gifts or personal holiness or forgiveness or any other area. The point that I am trying to make is do not be discouraged if you are not as perfect as Jesus. What is important is that you are moving in the right direction.

Conclusion 

I am leaving for the conclusion what is perhaps the most confusing part. How do you become filled with the Holy Spirit. I wish I could give you three easy steps. I even wish that I could just pray for you and have it happen in an instant. But it is more complicated than that. We are not even told how Stephen was filled with the Spirit.

That is not to say we can’t say anything about it. I think the starting point is just wanting it. We will see later what happens when that is from impure motives. This has to be a deep desire to be like Jesus, not just in power but in suffering as well. It is going to require a surrender of our will, getting off our throne and giving it to Jesus. It probably should include a study of Jesus to know what he is like so we can recognize what is happening in us. 

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is like falling in love. You can’t give precise instructions but you will recognize it when it happens. And like falling in love, it will take over your life/

Stephen died full of the Holy Spirit. Let us live full of that same Spirit.