A STUDY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Part Thirteen)

By Bob Myhan

Because there is so much emphasis on miracles, today, many think that conversion itself is a miracle. Therefore, they expect certain things to accompany their own conversions, simply because these things occurred during one or more of the conversions in the book Acts. However, we must distinguish, in those recorded conversions, between what was temporary and what is permanent.

On the day of Pentecost, the apostles were baptized with the Holy Spirit and received miraculous power (Acts 1:5-8; 2:1-3). Among other things, they were enabled by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel in languages other than their own (Acts 2:4-11). The Holy Spirit directly operated on the apostles but the conversion of the multitude was not miraculous. That was accomplished by means of the word of God. After all, “the seed [of the kingdom] is the word of God” (Luke 8:11), which was planted in the hearts of the audience by the inspired preaching of the apostles.

In the city of Samaria, sometime later, Philip the evangelist proclaimed the gospel and confirmed that which he preached as the word of God with miraculous signs (Acts 8:5-7; see Mark 16:17-20). The Samaritans who were converted received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of Peter and John (Acts 8:14-19). This miraculous reception of the Holy Spirit was not necessary to their conversion. That had already been accomplished by means of the preaching of Philip. The Holy Spirit acted only indirectly in their conversion.

The angel of the Lord later told Philip to go down to Gaza. When he arrived, the Holy Spirit told him to overtake a certain chariot. An Ethiopian was sitting in the chariot reading from Isaiah 53 but did not understand what he was reading (Acts 8:26-40). [Of course, even Isaiah did not understand what the Holy Spirit inspired him to write (1 Peter 1:10-12).] The angel and the Holy Spirit operated directly on Philip but operated only indirectly on the Ethiopian. There is no evidence that anything miraculous happened to him.

Saul of Tarsus saw Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-6), was blinded by the light (Acts 9:8) and “was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:9). During those three days, he had a vision of a man restoring his sight (Acts 9:10-12). A man named Ananias was sent by Jesus to tell Saul what he “must do” (Acts 9:6). After his sight was restored he was told, “arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:12-16). “And he arose and was baptized” (Acts 9:18)

Saul’s seeing Jesus [a miracle, indeed] was not necessary to convert him but to qualify him as a witness to the resurrection so that he could be an apostle (Acts 22:14-15). The restoring of his sight was not for evidence of his salvation, but for confirmation of the truth of that which Ananias had said.

A man named Cornelius saw an angel, who told him to send to Joppa for Peter, who would tell him words whereby he and his household would be saved (Acts 10:1-6; 11:13-14). Four days later, Peter had a vision, which taught him that God is not a respecter of persons (10:9-16, 26-28). When the men sent by Cornelius came to Joppa, the Holy Spirit spoke directly to Peter, telling him to go with the men. When he came to Caesarea, he preached to those who had gathered in Cornelius’s home. While he spoke, “The Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word” (Acts 10:44-47). This was not proof that they were saved, however, for Peter still commanded them to be baptized in water (Acts 10:47-48). Since this is the only command they were given by the very one who would speak words whereby they would be saved, baptism in water [rather than baptism in the Holy Spirit] must have been necessary to their salvation. When Peter later related these events to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, they concluded, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts 11:18).

Yes, there were miraculous elements in several of the first century conversions but these were not necessary to the conversion of the people involved. They had to do with the fact that the gospel had just begun to be preached and needed to be confirmed. Now that it has been revealed and confirmed for all time there is no need for miracles to take place, today, in order for conversions to occur.

[To be continued]

DIVINE PROVIDENCE (Part Eight)

Providence and Civil Government (Continued)

By Bob Myhan

God certainly can and has brought about the defeat of kingdoms via miraculous intervention. Notice:

“Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses--all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.” (Isaiah 37:36-38)

Such is not necessary, however, for the course of history has been changed time and time again by seemingly insignificant events. The following nursery rhyme well illustrates this point.

For want of a nail

the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe

the horse was lost.

For want of a horse

the rider was lost.

For want of a rider

the battle was lost.

For want of a battle

the kingdom was lost.

And all for the want

of a horseshoe nail.

Biblical examples will be given in our next article.

[To be continued]