Are You Holy Spirit Filled?

So I asked on Facebook the other day, what action is most immediately connected to the filling of the Holy Spirit in Luke and Acts?

We got a lot of different answers, and some were correct. And no, it is not speaking in tongues specifically, though tongues is included under the answer.

Rather, the action most immediately connected to the filling of the Holy Spirit is the proclamation of the

Word of God. We see this in the very first chapter of Luke's Gospel, in verse 15 and 16,

John the Baptist will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, and from there, the text immediately describes the nature of his preaching ministry.

Again in Luke chapter 1, as the angel speaks to Mary, he says the Holy Spirit will come upon Mary, at which the

Word is made flesh. The eternal Word is made flesh, becomes incarnate by whom

God has spoken to us in these last days. Again in Luke chapter 1, when Mary visits

Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit, and, verse 42, she cried out with a loud voice.

Again in Luke chapter 1, after John is born, in verse 67, his father, Zacharias, is filled with the

Holy Spirit, and he prophesied. In Luke chapter 2, the Holy Spirit is upon Simeon, who prophesies concerning the child

Jesus. In Luke chapter 3, verse 22, the Spirit descends upon Jesus at his baptism, and the

Word of God is proclaimed, this time, the voice of the Father testifying to the identity of his

Son. In Luke 4, Jesus returns from his wilderness temptation in the power of the

Spirit, beginning his public ministry by proclaiming the Word of God. This is confirmed further in Luke 4, when he reads from the

Isaiah Scroll, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel.

In Luke 12, Jesus tells his disciples that when they are brought before the authorities, the Holy Spirit will teach them what to speak.

In Acts 1, verse 2, Jesus speaks to his apostles by the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 1, verse 8, the power of the

Holy Spirit is directly linked to being a witness for Christ, which necessarily involves the bold proclamation of his

Word. In Acts 1 .16, in the upper room, Peter says, Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the

Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David. In Acts 2 .4, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the

Spirit gave them utterance. And in those foreign languages, they were proclaiming the mighty deeds of God.

In Acts 2 .17, Peter quotes Joel, another connection between the Spirit and prophecy. In Acts 4, when

Peter and John are arrested, the rulers ask, By what power or in what name have you healed the lame man?

And verse 8, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, He speaks. Acts 4 .31, one of my favorites,

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the

Word of God with boldness. We see Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit as he preaches in Acts 7.

I'll leave it to you to search out the rest, but I think this is a fascinating observation that suggests that where the

Holy Spirit is present, the Word of God will be proclaimed. And if a church claims to be

Spirit -filled, but does not preach the Word, or even decentralizes the proclamation of the