圣灵充满 Part II

was reading up on the topic, googled the Internet, and came upon an e-book, by 王国显牧师, at here . read a bit of it, seems not bad, but i haven't read everything, so i dunno if the content has anything that is out of the Bible, or strayed from the Bible. i don't know much about the pastor, so if you go read the e-book, don't just take everything as written. well, we shouldn't take everything as we hear it or read anyway, other than the Bible, in its correct translation. but from what i've read so far, the content hasn't strayed from the Bible and its intended meaning.

as i read, and did some research on my own, it seems that the 和合本 translation isn't very complete in translating some of the meanings. well, i already knew this, but just got to know that 圣灵充满 was used during translation to mean two things: filled with the Holy Spirit and full of the Holy Spirit. this is mentioned in the e-book too. translated accurately, they should be 圣灵充满 and 满有圣灵 respectively.

in the 和合本, there are several verses which has the phrase 圣灵充满, of which some meaning filled with the Holy Spirit (filled, Greek word is plēthō) (Luke 1:15, 1:67; Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31, 9:17, 13:9, 13:52, Ephesians 5:18), and some others meaning full of the Holy Spirit (full, Greek word is plērēs) (Luke 4:1, Acts 6:3, 7:55, 11:24).

in all of the above verses, when the individuals or group of people were filled with the Spirit or full of the Spirit, there were no mention of any manifestation such as shaking, falling down, etc. one verse (Acts 2:4) mentions that those filled with the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues, but to say that speaking in tongues means filled with the Holy Spirit, doesn't make much sense to me. like the author of the e-book says, the instances where individuals or group of people were filled with or full of the Holy Spirit, is to empower them to do things to glorify God. in the words of the author, "简单的说，圣灵充满就是圣灵在人的身上显出他的管理和供应，彰显基督的能力和美丽。"

what the author says, and from the little research into the verses (yes, it is only very simple research on the surface of things), it all supports my thinking that those so-called manifestations are not 圣灵充满. a previous thought of constantly being 圣灵充满, in the Bible, is actually being full of the Holy Spirit, which means to live a life fully led by the Holy Spirit. filled with the Holy Spirit is different in the sense that it is like.. empowerment by God in a particular situation, and after the situation, the state of being Spirit-filled no longer remains. can go read the e-book for a clearer explanation of the terms.

thus, in conclusion, 现象 such as 被圣灵击倒, shaking, etc, is not 圣灵充满. i do believe it is manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit, but not the equivalent of being filled with the Holy Spirit. until research into the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit, i am not sure what it does for the individuals who have such experiences, other than to edify them and to boost their faith. oh yeah, sometimes there are healings and stuff too. hmm.. to think of this, like how Peter and Paul, and also Jesus, proclaimed healing to the sick and to exorcise evil spirits, was there any mention of the Holy Spirit? Holy Spirit came to guide us, comfort us, etc. was there any verse that said Holy Spirit came to heal the sick and exorcise the evil spirits? from what i remember, is no. healing and exorcism is by the power of God and His authority right? not exactly the work of the Holy Spirit. woah, more and more questions to think about. haha.

圣灵充满

hmm, the last Sunday, for MTS and Service, talked about 圣灵充满. i kept thinking about something, a lot. haha. what exactly does it mean to be 圣灵充满? the so-called manifestations, what are they a manifestation of? what 东威哥 said really set me thinking. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, but did He ever have such manifestations? Bible didn't say. well, if Bible didn't say, probably cos it's not recorded, but if it's not recorded, probably means, it never happened, or that it wasn't important at all to be recorded. and to note, it seems that neither of the apostles had such manifestations too.

it seems all too associated that now, people normally say that when someone has the manifestations, he is filled with the Holy Spirit. as i thought about it more and more, and as 东威哥 preached, it seemed to me that it is more and more not the case. ways to be 圣灵充满 never mentioned having others pray for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. the ways are to worship, pray and read the Bible. how to know if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, none of the ways mentioned if you show any manifestations.

圣灵充满 should be followed with a positive change in the person right? so if someone who shows such manifestation, but afterward did not have any change, what does it mean? what did the manifestation do for the person? early in 东威哥's sermon, he asked if someone who 倒下去, is he 圣灵充满. many said yes and nobody said no. is it really like that? i'm starting to doubt. if so, why so many people 倒下去, but like so few have a change in their lives?

maybe now too early for me to make any conclusions. i want to do some research on this, and hopefully, with what i've learnt, can help correct any wrong mindsets we have on 圣灵充满. wow, i was so excited to do research and ponder over this question on Sunday. haha. i felt so much propelled to seek the Truth. must really get to it and not just think about it and say only. haha. must 突破!