1. “They were all together in the same place” (Acts 2:1).
Peter and the first one hundred twenty disciples were filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They pursued this matter together and received it together. When they received it, there was a sound out of heaven, as of a rushing violent wind, and the Holy Spirit filled the house where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues as of fire that were distributed and sat on each of them. They were all outwardly filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues even as the Spirit gave them to speak forth. They were in such a released condition that people jeered and said that they were full of new wine as if they were drunk. They not only received the Holy Spirit at this point, but they continued to be filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit (4:8, 31).
1. “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them...They believed...And they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:5, 12, 17).
When the early Samaritan believers believed and were baptized, the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon them. They did not obtain the outward filling of the Holy Spirit until Peter and John came to lay hands on them. At that point, they received it, and when they did, others saw it.
1. “As he went...a light from heaven flashed around him...Ananias went away and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him, he said, Saul, brother, the Lord has sent me...so that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:3, 17).
Saul (who later became Paul) repented and believed in the Lord on the road to Damascus. Three days later Ananias was sent by the Lord to lay hands on him. Then Saul received the outward filling of the Holy Spirit. When he was filled outwardly, he recovered his sight. He did not receive the outward filling only once; rather, he continued to be filled with the Holy Spirit (13:9).
1. “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those hearing the word” (Acts 10:44).
While Peter was preaching the gospel to those in the household of Cornelius, they heard, believed, and received the outward filling of the Holy Spirit. When they received this filling, they spoke in tongues and magnified God. Peter and the Jewish believers who came with him were witnesses of this filling.
1. “When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6).
Twelve of the early Ephesian believers were like the Samaritan believers who believed in the Lord and were saved, but who did not receive the outward filling of the Holy Spirit. When Paul came and laid hands on them, however, they received the outward filling. At that time they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
The five preceding examples occurred after the day of Pentecost. Peter with the disciples and those in Cornelius’s house were the two groups of believers who received the outward filling of the Holy Spirit directly from Christ the Head. The rest were filled outwardly through the laying on of hands by those representing the Body of Christ.
The New Testament gives three other examples of being filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit before the day of Pentecost.
1. “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15).
John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Therefore, he was able to be a powerful witness who prepared the way of the Lord.
2. “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).
Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, was filled with the Holy Spirit when she heard the greeting of Mary, who was pregnant with the Lord Jesus. For this reason, she could speak such a spiritual word in the following verses.
3. “Zachariah...was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied” (Luke 1:67-79).
Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, was filled with the Holy Spirit the day that John was named. Therefore, he could prophesy and utter high and spiritual praises.
1. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues”; “They heard them speaking in tongues” (Acts 2:4; 10:46; see also 19:6).
The disciples on the day of Pentecost, those in Cornelius’s house, and the Ephesian disciples all spoke in tongues when they were filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit. Thus, speaking in tongues is a manifestation of being filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit.