Sowing the Seed Series
Class 7 – The Measures of the Holy Spirit

1.    The non-miraculous measure of the Spirit

a.    Peter told the Jews they would receive the gift of the Spirit at baptism (Acts 2:38)

                                          i.    True or False: The Spirit is given to every Christian (Gal 4:6)

b.    The only individuals performing miracles after these baptisms are the  apostles (Acts 2:43)

                                          i.    Peter and John perform the next miracle (Acts 4:13-16)

                                        ii.    The apostles are still the only ones in Acts 5:12

c.    Acts 6:6-8 is the first instance of someone other than the apostles receiving the miraculous measure of the Spirit

                                          i.    The key word in understanding Stephen’s measure is power

d.    True or False: The Spirit is given to every Christian (Gal 4:6, 1 Cor 3:16)

                                          i.    This is the same as God and Christ dwelling in us (1 John 4:12, 2 Cor 13:5)

2.    The miraculous measure of the Spirit

a.    The miraculous measure was only passed on by the apostles

                                          i.    Philip could not pass this on to those in Samaria (Acts 8:17)

                                        ii.    The apostle Paul gives us another example in Acts 19:6

1.    They passed it on through laying their hands on you

b.    The miraculous measure was given by God on three occasions

                                          i.    In all three instances He did it to identify someone/something

1.    The first was Jesus (John 1:29-34, Acts 10:38)

a.    John did not know what He looked like

b.    The giving of the Spirit identified Him to John

c.    This measure given was the miraculous

2.    The second was the apostles in Acts 2 (Acts 1:8)

a.    They were identified as men of God to the Jews

3.    The third was the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-48)

a.    They received the Spirit before baptism

b.    They were identified to the Jews

c.    It happened to them like the apostles (Acts 11:15)

3.    The miraculous measure of the Spirit no longer exists

a.    When the perfect comes the miracles will cease (1 Cor 13:8-10)

                                          i.    Perfect means complete

1.    The perfect can only be Jesus or the Bible

2.    The perfect cannot be Jesus (Heb 11:1, Rom 8:24)

a.    When Jesus comes faith and hope will cease

3.    The perfect must be the Bible