V. WHAT MUST I DO?

7. Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Read Acts 1:1-9; 2:1-21

When Peter was answering the crowd’s question “What must we do?” in Acts 2, his reply concluded with a reference to being filled with the Holy Spirit. On that occasion, being filled with the Spirit was more a promise than a command. It was what God would do for them after they had fulfilled the earlier part of Peter’s instruction. But for Peter and the other disciples, the need for them to receive the Holy Spirit had been part of Jesus’ instructions, as we shall now see.

1. Read Acts 1:1-9. These were Jesus’ last recorded words to his disciples. What command did Jesus give them? (Acts 1:4)

2. What did Jesus promise would be the outcome when they were filled with the Holy Spirit? (Acts 1:8)

3. Some time later, the believers were all together doing what Jesus had told them to do, as they had been faithfully doing since his ascension (see Acts 1:12-14). Then what happened suddenly? (Acts 2:1-4)

4. How many of the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit? (Acts 2:4)

5. What did they begin to do? (Acts 2:4). Was this a private experience? (Acts 2:5-12)

6. When people heard these other languages being spoken, what did they hear the believers saying? (Acts 2:11)

7. Jesus had made a promise about what would happen when they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). What indication is there that this promise had been fulfilled? (compare Acts 2:14 with John 20:19)

8. Was there any Scripture passage that would explain this strange phenomenon? (Acts 2:16-21)

9. Did Peter indicate that the experience that those first disciples had was unique to them? (Acts 2:17)

10. How do the testimonies of subsequent believers demonstrate that Peter’s expectation was accurate? (Acts 8:14-17; 9:17,18; 10:39-46)

11. What explanation did Peter give concerning the source of this event? (Acts 2:33)

The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ coronation gift to his disciples! He pours out the Holy Spirit to bring his victorious life and power down from heaven into the experience of his followers so that they can live for him and demonstrate his life on earth. This power was to become a crucial part of the gospel that they proclaimed (Mark 16:16-20). Have you received this gift from Jesus?