~ A place to find answers to gnawing spiritual questions ~
Question: I understand what it is to be slain in the Spirit, however I recently visited a church where the members would have "fits" or convulsions when the spirit came upon them. I would have thought it just emotion until it happened to me. Someone told me of a passage in the Bible where this happened but I can't remember it. Can you help?Answer:
Man is an emotional being. When the supernatural touches us we are going to respond. The example you may be thinking about is in Acts 24:25. Felix trembled at the preaching of Paul. In the old Methodist Churches unsaved people used to come under conviction and get the "shakes" which is probably very similar to what Felix had.
In Acts 4:31 we see the place where the disciples prayed was shaken. I don't know that we can be exactly sure what took place but there was a shaking.
In Acts 2 the disciples are accused of being drunk. It would be difficult to see this accusation if there were no external evidences. A person who was standing with their hands raised, speaking in other tongues would hardly be called drunk. This would be especially true if they were speaking in a known language. There must have been some visible things that were happening that made them appear as if they were drunk, i.e. staggering, falling, etc. Many pre-1900 commentaries agree on this. Modern ones have left this out due to their opposition to the Pentecostal message.
In Acts 8 Simon offers to buy the power of giving people the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. It seems obvious that there were very definite manifestations that accompanied the reception of the Holy Ghost. Why would a sorcerer who had a city under his spell want to buy the power just to lay hands on people and have them say "Thank you?" What took place must have been so supernatural that Simon had to have this power.
