Filled with the Holy Ghost, Prior to Pentecost
Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
Luke 1:67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
According to the Bible, there is a total of 4 people who were filled with the Holy Ghost prior to the Day of Pentecost. There is no record that they “spoke in tongues”, though one, Zacharias, did utter prophetic utterances, which, according to
Joel 2:28, is a sign of the reception of the Holy Ghost.
The 4 that were filled with the Holy Ghost included: John, the Baptist, his father and mother, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and, of course Jesus.
The OT speaks of one individual that were filled with the Spirit of God: Bezaleel the son of Uri Exd 31:2, A close look at this passage, and that of Chapter 35 reveals the fact that he was filled with God’s Spirit for a particular purpose. In fact, as we study this subject we find that the Spirit of God came upon people in the OT for the purpose of fulfilling some great feat. Some examples include: Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Saul, David and Azariah. In each case, it is important to note that the Spirit of God came upon these individuals enabling them to fulfill a particular purpose, or to perform a task. There is no record that implies they had a continual, permanent “in-dwelling” of the Holy Spirit.
And that seems to be the case with the 3 of the four individuals in the NT. John, the Bible tells us, was “filled with the Holy Ghost” from birth. John was born, according to the Luke narrative, for the particular purpose of introducing the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. His life mission was a particular purpose and it was necessary for him to be filled with the Spirit of God to fulfill his destiny.
Both Zacharias and Elizabeth had a particular purpose to fulfill which was to bring John into the world and prepare him for his future mission of introducing Jesus.
Mary, the mother of Jesus was “overshadowed” by the Holy Ghost, whereby she conceived the Christ Child, yet, again, there is no evidence of a continual baptism of the Holy Ghost as we see post-Pentecost. In fact, Mary was numbered with the 120 that assembled in the Upper Room during Pentecost to receive the
“promise of the Father”, the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. (
Acts 1:14)
Those who were “filled with the Holy Ghost“, including those in the OT, received this temporal “baptism” for a particular purpose. This is best illustrated in the case of King Saul. At times, the Holy Spirit “came” upon him for a particular purpose. At other times, however, an “evil spirit” came upon him. Samson is another example. The Spirit of God “came” upon him for a particular feat or purpose.
There is no biblical record, apart from the life of Jesus, where anyone received a permanent or continual infilling of the Holy Ghost prior to Pentecost. The closest record we can find is that of John the Baptist, but we must make note of the fact that John was born for a particular purpose. Even the last book of the OT , the Book of Malachi, speaks of his coming and of his purpose. In the case of Jesus, the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove when he was baptized by John.
Mat 3:16 Luke 3:22
Later, in
Luke 4:1 , we find Jesus,
“being full of the Holy Ghost”, being led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. So, from this we might conclude that, prior to Pentecost, Jesus was the only Person to receive a continual and permanent indwelling of the Spirit. But two facts cannot be overlooked: 1) Jesus was the Son of God. He was, in fact, the very manifestation of God to humanity. And 2) His very life had Divine purpose.
Receive ye the Holy Ghost
In
John 20, we find Jesus appearing to some of his disciples and breathing upon them and saying these words: ”Receive ye the Holy Ghost”. This was not an actual “baptism of the Holy Ghost” but rather a promise of the Gift which was to come. If, in fact, they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost at that time, there would have been no need to assemble in Jerusalem to await the promised baptism of the Holy Ghost. The fact is, Jesus made it clear that the Holy Ghost (the continual, permanent indwelling) could not be given until He had ascended. The baptism of the Holy Ghost, a component in the Plan of Salvation, could not be given until the full plan of salvation was paid for with the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. While it is true that, prior to
John 20, Jesus had already been crucified, buried and raised from the dead, the resurrection was not yet complete until He had ascended to the right hand of the Father. To completely purchase salvation, which includes the promise of the Holy Ghost, Jesus had to go away. This can be illustrated by the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. John had to “decrease”, so Jesus could “increase”.
Jhn 3:30 He must increase, but I [must] decrease. It was necessary for John to fade from the scene in order for Jesus to take His place as the Lord of all. Jesus, the manifestation of God to humanity had to leave, so the Holy Ghost could inhabit those who believe on Him.
Tarry...until ye be endued"
When Jesus said
“Receive ye the Holy Ghost”, He was conveying the Fathers promise to endue believers with “power from on high”. This promise would be actuated after His ascension. He urged them to return to Jerusalem to await this promised Gift.
Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.
Act 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Had they received the Holy Ghost in
John 2, there would have been no need for them to
“tarry…in Jerusalem” to await the promise of the Holy Ghost. That baptism which resulted on the Day of Pentecost was a permanent, continual indwelling. And the Book of acts records the results of that infilling. A continual, abiding presence of the Holy Ghost did, in fact, endue the Lord’s disciples with spiritual power that continues to spearhead the work of the Holy Ghost around the world.
-OneAccord (RAC)
1/22/11
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