[AI translation] Now I want to talk about what this story of the Trinity teaches us. It tells us quite definite things about the mysterious power. It is grouped around this verse, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them" (v. 8). What is it like when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit? What does it look like? What happens to him, by him and around him? I find this particularly important because we believers often have rather vague and confused ideas about the Holy Spirit. The reason why we remain free from the work of the Holy Spirit is that we do not recognise him, we do not know how he works. But to remain completely free of the Holy Spirit and his work is like having a beautifully built organ in the church and not having pneuma - wind. The whole instrument would be in vain, without winding!The Christian life of a believer without the Holy Spirit is like a sailing boat in the calm: the sail is set, the rudder is there, but the power to carry it is missing. You can push with a shovel, but it smells of sweat, it's unpleasant, especially in the long term - it's not useful. That's the believer without the Holy Spirit. Even these twelve men - who had spent three years with Jesus, who had personally heard the word of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus - were made apostles by the Holy Spirit. Until then, they had been just sort of disciples of Jesus. They became apostles by the Holy Spirit. The three thousand people who were converted there in Jerusalem were also made apostles by the Holy Spirit. Above all, a church doesn't need a lot of money - it does, but not a lot - not great buildings, excellent organisation, a well-formulated law - no! All that is good if it has it, but first of all it needs the Holy Spirit! Without Him, there is no building, no law, no money - the church is not the church.
But where is the Holy Spirit? Where is it? Where can we get it? Where can we make it real? The apostle Paul says something quite astonishing about the Holy Spirit in 1 Cor 3:16: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Where is he? Well, the Holy Spirit is in you, in us! The trouble is that we don't know it, we don't recognize it, we don't realize it! He works in us. He has been here since the first Pentecost, but we just don't realise it, we don't make ourselves aware of it, just as when Paul says: "Do you not know that... the Spirit of God dwells in you?" It's as if he were saying: Well, brethren, know this, realize that whenever God comes into your mind at all, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in you! Whenever a Word becomes more than just a human word, whenever you feel something powerful in it, it is the power of the Holy Spirit. Whenever you feel that human words in a sermon may have solved a problem, it is not by human wisdom, but by the Holy Spirit. Whenever in prayer we feel: now something real has really happened between us and the invisible God to Whom I pray, again it is by the Holy Spirit that this action has taken place. Let us be aware that the Holy Spirit is in us. He is the God within us, working within us. Jesus' promise is, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:18) was literally fulfilled when he sent God's Holy Spirit to this earth as a substitute for the Son. As God is here now, as he comes into our souls, he begins to work as God unites with us, this is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps I could say very roughly: there are three degrees. The first is when my faith acknowledges that God is. It is a great thing when one acknowledges that there is a God! But there is also a higher - or deeper - degree, whatever, a surplus, when my faith acknowledges that the God who is is as He came in Jesus Christ: Immanuel (God with us). There is a still fuller degree: when I acknowledge, I realize, that God is in me. So, first, that there is: this is perhaps more a reference to the Father. That God is with us is more about the Son, Jesus Christ. And that God is in me: that is the Holy Spirit. These are obviously the different degrees of the Holy Spirit's presence and work in me.
In the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians, there is such an exhortation: 'be filled with the Holy Spirit'. This word implies that there is a state in which we are not filled with the Holy Spirit. That is why it says, "be filled." It's as if he's saying: more, better, fully be filled with the Holy Spirit, or let the Holy Spirit fill you! That's what verse 8 of our Word says: "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit," he said, after he was filled with the Holy Spirit. This "then" almost gives a sense that Peter was not always filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not a stage that once one reaches it, one remains in it, but it seems to be a program to strive for. We know of a time in the life of the apostle Peter when he was obviously not filled with the Holy Spirit. Not the old Peter, the post-Pentecost Peter! Paul describes a scene in Galatians (read Galatians 2:11-16) where he destroys Peter for his pomposity. He was afraid. When he is there, out of fear of the Judeo-Christians - lest he be offended - he pretends to consider the Mosaic Laws as valid for himself. Paul pressed him very hard. Clearly, Peter was not filled with the Holy Spirit at the time.
But what we have here, when Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, is: when God takes dominion over man entirely by the Spirit. This is what we too must constantly strive for. I say, always a renewed aspiration: more and more, Lord, more and more, let me place myself at your disposal, under the dominion of your Spirit! Fill me more and more, fill me more and more with Yourself, with Your Holy Spirit!
What is it like when a man is filled with the Holy Spirit? I have summarized in four points how we can see from this story what it is like to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
1) The first is that a person filled with the Holy Spirit becomes an instrument in the hands of God. The greatest spiritual experience - I think the Brethren have experienced this - is when one experiences being used by God. I, the wretched, the nobody, the wretch, am used by God. He takes me into His hands by doing something through me. That is perhaps the highest degree of the believer's life: to realize that I am an instrument in God's hands, used by God; that through me he works, says or does something. So I am not only in contact with God for myself, for my spiritual or material troubles, to sort them out in some way, but also for the benefit of others. In the story, the Spirit of God used Peter to testify that Jesus is alive, the Jesus who was killed. Peter testified to this with great power.
And let no one here say, "Yes, Peter was fit, but I am unfit! Peter was a great individual, I'm a lousy nobody! "When they saw the boldness of Peter and John in speaking, and knew that they were illiterate and common men..." (Acts 4:13) Were they illiterate? In the strictest sense of the word! Such a man can be an instrument in the hands of God, once he is filled with the Holy Spirit. I think I've said before that I really understood this when a painter friend of mine came to visit me once. I cannot draw, I cannot even draw a straight line. I have no such ability. My friend said to me in conversation: give me your pencil. He started drawing with it. I was amazed. Wow, what my pencil can do! Depends on whose hand it's in. In the hands of a painter, even my pencil draws beautiful shapes and creates a work of art. It is the same in all our lives. It depends on who holds the instrument. If the greatest Artist, the Holy Spirit, takes our lives into His hands, let us trust Him with all of ourselves! I would like to say: let every believer strive to give himself or herself as an instrument to God, to accomplish something in the world through Him, because that is ultimately why we are believers. Let us not just work on sorting out our own spiritual world - most people only fiddle with themselves - but let us somehow really go to God with the intention, the programme, like Paul: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" So that God may do something through me. That's what it's about here. Now from this point of view, let each one think, what has God done through him today?
2) Another characteristic is that the cowardly man becomes courageous. Note how this Peter, who not long ago, confident in his own strength and so arrogant in his own faithfulness, asserted, though all forsake him, "Lord, with thee I am ready both to go to prison and to death!" (Lk 22,33) - Then we know that at the mocking remark of a little servant girl he was so frightened that he swore to heaven he did not know the man. By nature, the apostle Peter was a cowardly worm - we all are. Now his faith made him - not reckless, for that is not a Christian trait, but - courageous. He has gone from being an accused to being almost an accuser, to reading on the Pharisees' heads: they killed Christ, that He whom they rejected, He became the head of the nail. There is no other name by which we should be saved, but the name of Christ! This man was healed by Him, the apostles were but instruments. When they were rebuked to shut their mouths, they said, "Is it right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge! (Acts 4:19-20) "I cannot obey you, but not God," says Peter, with John. Such is his courage! But obviously not because he has made an effort - when he vowed, he made an effort - but obviously because he has been filled with the Holy Spirit.
This is very important, because there is a great process of conversion in the lives of Christian people. There is a feeling today that we are not fashionable enough. We are in the minority. It is as if we are the last mohicans of a lost cause. We're being dragged down. But we should know that we are witnesses of Jesus Christ, who said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Mt 28:18) Whoever bears witness to Him in such a way that He remains victorious in the arena is not serving a lost cause. The apostle Peter is the spokesman for this mighty Jesus, and it is on His authority that he dared to speak as he did. He who knows in Whose hands He is, who uses Him as an instrument, need not fear, he may safely lay the responsibility on Him in Whose hands He is. This is also important because there is an awful lot of fear in people's souls, and all such fear is actually a lack of the Holy Spirit within. For the promise of the Holy Spirit makes one courageous in the face of men, courageous even in the face of an imaginary illness or an existing one, courageous in the face of the future, in the face of passions, courageous even in the face of death. It makes a coward brave.
3) The third thing - again, not the third in order, but a third thing - is the effect of being filled with the Holy Spirit, of finding the right words. That is, the Holy Spirit telling us what we need to say at that moment. We almost wonder, along with the priestly princes: how does this illiterate Peter know what to say in this situation, and how can he say it so brilliantly? Jesus' promise to his disciples, made long ago, is fulfilled almost literally in this scene: 'when you are handed over, do not be anxious about what you shall say or how you shall say it, for it will be given you in that hour what you shall say. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." (Mt 10:19-20) Here is written one of the most powerful words in the Bible. It is the one I think about most often. Behold, this promise fulfilled, it was given in that hour what and how this unlearned Peter should speak. That is how much Jesus' promises can be counted on.
And now let me testify that I have experienced the same thing many times. He does indeed fulfil His promise to the one who believes. Let me tell you about my practice as a pastor, which may be useful to others, that I usually have the practice, the habit, that when someone comes to me and tells me his problem, his trouble, his problem - I only listen with one ear, because with the other ear I listen to what the Lord wants to say to him through me. At the same time, I listen outwardly while the person speaks, complains or asks questions, and I pray inwardly, invoking Jesus' promise that you will be given what to say, because it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. I do not know what to say now. I don't want to say what comes to my mind, but what You bring to my mind, Lord! Sometimes the promise is fulfilled in a most astonishing way. Well, the apostle Peter, too, what he says is obviously not coming from himself. The reason they were amazed when they heard Peter and John speak so boldly is because they understood that they were illiterate and ordinary men. They wondered: how can this man who has never studied speak like this? He received this wisdom there and then, in that moment. One of the world's greatest preachers of the last century, Spurgeon, never studied theology in his life, yet he was the greatest preacher of all, the theologian of the Holy Spirit. He taught Spurgeon, and this is the most, the greatest, the best, this is what cannot be learned, what must not be born but born again. Yes - and you can ask for it and you can get it.
This can be important for us from a practical point of view because our children can sometimes ask questions that most of the time we are terribly confused about how to answer about faith or biblical topics. But I've seen a father or mother filled with the Holy Spirit answer with such boundless wisdom that I've really just been amazed when they've told us what they answered. I understood that it was not from him, it was the work of the Holy Spirit. With our older children, I am often at a loss as to how to say what needs to be said so that it will be understood and have meaning. Well, dear Brothers and Sisters, at such times, a prayer. You have promised that it will be given in that hour, so let the Spirit of my Father speak through me. We will see that Jesus will not fail us. Whoever dares to count on His promise, count on it, you will not be disappointed! Or sometimes our co-workers confuse us about matters of faith. Then, in the same way, let us count on Jesus' promise that He will not abandon us. Let us appeal to the fact that this is the moment, God, save me from answering what I could answer! We will see that we receive what is needed at that time. The Holy Spirit will give us what we need to say.
4) Finally, the Holy Spirit authenticates the testimony with conviction. It's so great that the facts speak. So Acts 4:14 continues, "But when they saw the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against him." Of course, the man who had been healed in the name of Jesus was standing with them. They saw who he was before, they see who he is now. Behold, in one fact the power of Jesus Christ was made manifest. It cannot be undone. Facts speak without words. It cannot be contradicted. Facts cannot be argued with. Fact is the supreme argument, the supreme proof. Someone once said that facts lie. Well, dear Brothers and Sisters, that is what human desperation says to someone when he has no other argument to put forward. Appearances can be untrue, but facts can't be untrue, there's no fairy tale there. If someone can claim that I was blind and now I see - well, that fact is a convincing fact! In the same way, he who can plead that I was a fornicator and now I am pure, or he can say that I was of a lying nature and now the Lord has cleansed me, or he can say: I was desperate and inconsolably miserable, and behold, I am comforted, I am full of joy. Or: I have been struck down, and I have complete peace and balance in my heart. Or: I have been terribly slandered and hurt, and I am not angry with anyone - these are facts. These are what make our talk about Christ credible. Conversely: talking about Jesus without facts does more harm than good: it is hateful. Rather, no one should speak about Jesus without facts, because when one speaks about Jesus without facts, it is said and rightly so: Well, that's what believers are like! They are right. All our testimonies are only credible if we can say so: Look, Jesus did this to me, Jesus did this to me, Jesus did this to me, not me - Jesus! Again, let me ask you a question, let each one answer it for himself: are there facts in your life that give credibility to your word about Jesus?
In conclusion, what was the result of the whole thing, that Peter spoke filled with the Holy Spirit? Yes, we always want to see the result, to keep track of it, because we believe it is part of it. Let me say that it's not part of it - or rather, let me say that it's not our job to keep score. There is no direct, visible result here. It is not the result we would expect as a happy ending, which is what the sacred writer would have written about those we read about in Acts 4:5-6: Well, they are all converted! That's what we want, that would be a beautiful ending to the story. They are not converted! Yet, when someone is filled with the Holy Spirit, as Peter was, it is never in vain. It was certainly not in vain here either, if only because, behold, we draw strength from it as the Word of God. But if we look at the situation at the time, who knows which of those noblemen had a seed in their hearts that had been planted there, a feeling that: Now that Jesus is undeniable! It may be that some of them were converted later on - there is even a reference to some of the priests and Pharisees joining the churches - but that is not important, that is the Lord's business. The important thing is that Peter did then and there what the Lord had entrusted to him.
Let me briefly summarize what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit: to do then and there what the Lord had entrusted to me then and there. So let us pray!
Let our beautiful song be an answer to the Word we have heard:
O Zion, awake, fulfil your mission,
Say to the world: your dawn is near!
For he who made the nations will not leave you,
Let no man perish in night or in sin.
Be thou a giver of joy, a giver of peace,
Proclaim that the Savior is at hand!
(Canto 397, verse 1)
Amen
Date: Thursday, February 28, 1968.