And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Points to Note:

God granted them. direct and immediate answer to their prayer. 'as Chrysostom commented, "that made them the more unshaken".' (Stott p. 100)"Shaken"-see Acts 16:25.

'filled with the Holy Spirit'-like that on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4).

Notice how this text doesn't fit the theology of the Pentecostal movement. This movement claims that speaking in tongues (devotional, private "prayer tongues") is the evidence of being baptized or filled with the Spirit. But the apostles aren't praying in tongues, rather the result of this filling is that they spoke the Word of God with boldness. In addition, carefully note that the apostles didn't spend hours or days in prayer, before the Spirit filled them.

As to why we have. second "filling", 'Some suggest that the presence of the baptismal power of the Holy Spirit was not an abiding thing--but each man was empowered from time to time as the occasion demanded.' (Reese p. 191) That may or may not be the case.

But this section of Scripture does tell us: Even though these men already had the Holy Spirit, the Spirit didn't overrule their freewill, and neither did He completely control all their thoughts (1 Corinthians 14:32), i.e. the Spirit didn't make them immune from fear or concern.

UNITY AND GENEROSITY OF THE EARLY CHURCH:

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Old Testament