Chapter 2.14
Spirit Filled
THE Indwelling
Seek to be filled with the spirit, but don’t
waste your time
seeking empowerment that you don’t intend to use
First
Word
I have been a Christian
since I was about ten years old and I mean really OVERTLY expressing my faith at school and the later in the workplace, but I HAVE NEVER FELT SPIRIT FILLED. Moses face glowed, Stephen’s face glowed, and
on the day of Pentecost, 120 people became filled with the Spirit and flames of
fire settled on their heads. The Bible
speaks of many prophets and disciples being filled with the Holly Spirit and it
was “OBSERVABLE”.[1] I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and FEEL what they felt and KNOW it.
I posed this conundrum to my mentor and he asked, “WHY DID I THINK IT WAS A FEELING”, and then pointed
me to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. As
I begin this study, I am learning for myself about being “Spirit Filled” and I desire to share my findings
with other students of the Word who may have had some of these same emotions.
The Indwelling
There is a difference between
the Indwelling of
the Holy Spirit and the Filling of the
Holy Spirit.
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a
gift; a permanent condition given without exception or condition to ALL Believers immediately when they accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The Holy Spirit is collateral or a down
payment on the guarantee of our Salvation and future glorification in Jesus
Christ. The
Book Cautions us: if the
Holy Spirit does not indwell you; then you do not belong to God.[2]
The filling of the Holy Spirit is
just a different duck than the indwelling.
The Filling
Have you ever heard it said; that
someone was so EVIL that he was “possessed by a demonic spirit.” This is
true of the Holy Spirit; when we are so completely yielded to God to do GOOD, the Holy Spirit will
“in a sense” possess us; FILL US. Although there is only one baptism of the Holy
Spirit; there
are many
We were not commanded to be
baptized by the Holy Spirit however, the Book has
many examples of being filled. It is a definite distinctive
experience that one knows whether or not they have received the filling of the
Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy
Spirit is something that can be observed. There
are roadblocks that hinder us from being Spirit filled; the Spirit reasons and searches our heart; knows our thoughts and
can be grieved by hidden sin and motives that’s in our life. In Acts we find that Simon the magician
“saw the filling” and wanted to buy this
ability. He wanted to lay hands on
people and cause them be filled with the Spirit to gain prestige and profit.
Everyone has BS
a Belief System; a
worldview.
When you “born again” you become filled
with the Holy Spirit, you get a brand new worldview; you are
a new creation. Sooner or later this
There are NINE
qualities that
characterizes the person on whom the Holy Spirit rest: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Power & Strength, Knowledge,
Fear of the Lord, Righteousness, Justice & Fairness and Faithfulness.[3]
There are THREE
virtues of
those empowered by the Spirit; Prayer, Faith and Obedience.[4] Through these virtues the Holy Spirit
glorifies Jesus Christ through us.
God has replaced the few selected Old
Testament Leaders with the New Testament Pattern of empowerment for the whole
church. Not for just a few Believers,
but for ALL. We
have total access to all the assets; the gifts that have been made available by
the Holy Spirit. Regardless of when in life you receive the
filling of the Holy Spirit, you will be motivated to give your testimony to
others and involve yourself in service of some nature. This may not be in “China”, but perhaps in
your own church or local community; it might be just how you do your work on
the job and how you extend yourself to others around you.[5]
There will be a desire to be with others
of like faith; sharing and studying His Word; offering prayer & praise;
through this you are being CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON.[6] Your ability and desire to serve may not
necessarily be like someone else; so do not use others as a yard stick to
measure the Holy Sprit’s work in you.
The Holy Spirit is God’s Seal, Pledge and Witness that we are part
of His family.
Motivation
What is your motivation
for wanting to be filled with the Spirit?
The purpose of being filled with the Spirit is to glorify God. Do we ask the Holy Spirit to bless decisions
we have already made or do we involve the Holy Spirit resulting in a JOINT DECISION.[7] The Spirit doesn’t just help us, He prays for
us according to the will of God.[8] Our prayers are double effective. We have access to the mind of our Lord; we
have the mind of Christ.[9] It’s in the Book
There are two very important principles that are connected with
receiving the Holy Spirit; Divine Sovereignty
and Human
Responsibility. God
freely gives us His Spirit, but living up to His calling is up to us. Seek to be filled, but don’t waste your time
seeking empowerment that you do not intend to use. We can be “baptized” with the Holy Spirit,
but not “filled” or controlled by the Holy Spirit. A “feeling” does not necessarily imply a “Filling”. When we are filled, we are not totally filled
up like a barrel overrunning with rain water, but we are a barrel that needs to
be continually filled because we use it up, and we leak.
Jesus needed the presence of the Holy
Spirit from “The
Womb to the Tomb”,[10]
how much more do we also need the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Apostle Andrew was noticeably quiet and
in the background as; Peter, James and John seem to dominate the inner circle,
however it was Andrew that was credited for BRINGING so many to meet Christ. Andrew’s heart did not resent being a
supporting actor, living in the shadow of Peter his brother. He saw great value
in serving quietly in the background. Andrew delighted in pointing everyone and
anyone to Jesus. Because of the fact
that he brought Peter his brother to Christ, another 3000 souls received
eternal life.
Such is the Holy Spirit, rarely taking
center stage, but pointing us to the other members of the Trinity. He is like the wind, invisible, powerful,
uncontrollable and unpredictable, you cannot see Him or tell where He comes or
goes, but you can hear and feel His presence;[11]
The Spirit’s work will always point to our Lord and Savior Jesus the
Christ. We raise the sails in our boat;
the breath of the Holy Spirit powers our sails and God steers. The Holy Spirit alone is the source of empowerment that God
uses to accomplish His will. Don’t look
at how big the task is, instead look at the opportunity that allows the spirit
to empower you.
Raise your sails; Pray often.
Your Actions
It seems as though being filled with
the Spirit is not a “GLOWING IN THE
DARK” experience, but is how we live our everyday life. Paul explained the Spirit Filled Life to the
Church at Ephesus by starting off telling them to Imitate
God. The Book says
if we have seen Jesus the Son, we have seen God the Father. So our first action is to see the examples as
set forth by Jesus Christ. Imitate Jesus; live a life filled with Love.[12]
Stay away from sexual immorality,
impurity and greed. Abstain from telling
crude stories, coarse jokes and foolishness. Don’t try to excuse sin; when it starts up,
don’t participate; just walk away from it. Don’t listen; change the subject to something
that you are thankful to God for.
I have noticed that some of the best loved
managers were the ones that did not gossip, but praised good performance. As a Manager in retail, when sexual innuendos
and comments were said in my presence in the breakroom, I was required as a
manager to stand, state that the conduct was out of place and leave the room as
a statement to the other employees that I was not a part of the conversation;
nor did I condoned it, and that’s still a good company policy today.
The Book says to take no part
in the worthless deeds of evil and
darkness; instead, EXPOSE THEM. Don’t
spend your day with your mind in neutral; make the most of every opportunity;
find ways to redeem your time so you can get more accomplished. Put
thought into what you do and how you can make it better. Do
your work as unto the Lord, then your work will be of excellence whether your
boss is looking or not.[13] Everyone has a boss even President Trump; God
is his boss; He hired him. Pray for those in authority. It’s in the Book
The Book says instead of being
filled with booze; to be filled with the Holy Spirit; drinking alcohol is not a
sin, but being drunk is. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit the
results are observable
by your actions; your works. We do not
do good works in order to be saved, we do good works because we are save.
Sing hymns and spiritual songs to yourself,
making music to the Lord in your heart, giving thanks to God for anything and
everything you can think of.
Think on things that are of a good report, think on whatever is
true,
honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable, things of excellence
and anything worthy of praise; think on these things.[14]
The Take Away
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a permanent condition; a gift given to ALL
Believers without exception or condition, but it is different than being filled. The filling of the Spirit glorifies Jesus
Christ through us.
There
are THREE virtues found in those
empowered by the Spirit – Prayer, Faith and
the last one which is the hardest is Obedience.
There
are NINE qualities found in the
person on whom the Holy Spirit rest: Wisdom and Understanding, Counsel and Power/Strength,
Knowledge and Fear of the Lord, Faithfulness and Righteousness and
Justice/Fairness.
What is your motivation for wanting to be filled with the Spirit? The purpose of being filled is to glorify God.
God freely gives His Spirit, but living up to
His calling is up to us. Seek to be
filled, but don’t waste your time seeking empowerment that you do not intend to
use.
Being filled with the spirit does not make you “Glow in the Dark”, it’s a change in
your Worldview. You now desire to
imitate Jesus, to be conformed to His image.
Instead of finding fault with
stuff; you find things to be thankful for.
Instead of gossiping and running
people down, you notice things of good report and speak words of encouragement.
You
live a life filled with Love and stay away from sexual immorality, impurity and
greed; you abstain from telling coarse jokes, crude stories, and foolishness. You Sing hymns and spiritual songs to
yourself, making music to the Lord in your heart, giving thanks to God for
anything and everything you can think of.
You now have a desire to be with others of
like faith; studying the word; sharing and offering prayers and praise. You now do your work in excellence as unto
the Lord, whether your boss is looking or not. You are not just a man pleaser you are a God pleaser. Instead
of taking part in worthless deeds of
evil and darkness; you EXPOSE THEM wanting right to
prevail. It’s in the Book.
Nowhere in scripture are we
commanded to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, but to be filled, and it happens
over and over because we leak; therefore we need to spend time in the Word and
in prayer to get our tanks re-filled. The filling of the Holy Spirit is not necessarily a “feeling”
and a “feeling”
does not necessarily imply a “Filling.” The filling of the Holy Spirit changes your BS your Believe System; your worldview; if your worldview has not
changed, perhaps you are not really a Believer at all, but just a Make-Believer.[15]
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not what you FEEL, it’s what
you DO.
Believer or Make-Believer
It’s
in the Book
[1] Acts
[2] John 14:16-17 – Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would live in the
Believer -- John 7:37-39 – The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is given to ALL
Believers -- Ephesians 1:13-14 –
The indwelling is not only for the Jews, but the Gentiles too -- Galatians 3:2 – The indwelling is
received by believing the message of Jesus -- 2 Corinthians 1:22 – The Holy
Spirit is a down payment on God’s promises -- Ephesians 4:30 – The Spirits
guarantee of salvation on the Day of the Lord -- Romans 8:9 – Unless the Spirit
indwells; you do not belong to God
[3] Isaiah 11:2-5 – Nine
qualities of the Spirit; wisdom, understanding,
counsel, power, knowledge, justice, righteousness faithfulness and the fear of
the Lord
[4] 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 –
There are different ways to serve God; Gifts, Service
and Works
[5] Ephesians
5:18 – We are commanded to be filled with the
Holy Spirit
-- Ephesians 1:13-14 – When you
believed, you received the promised Holy Spirit -- Matthew 15:10-11 –
It’s not what goes in to a man that defiles him, it’s what comes out of him -- Romans
8:27 – The Spirit reasons and knows what’s in your heart -- 1 Corinthians
2:10-11 – The spirit has Knowledge of the thoughts of man and God -- Ephesians 4:30 – Your actions can make the
Spirit sorrowful; grieved -- 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 – Your actions
can stifle the Holy Spirit -- Acts
[6] Romans
8:29 – The Believer is predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son
[7]
1 Corinthians 10:1-5
– It’s up to us to live up to His calling –- Acts
[8] Romans
[9] 1 Corinthians
[10] Isaiah 61:1 – Jesus
needed the Holy Spirit; so much more us
[11] John 3:8 – The Spirit is
like the sound of the wind, invisible but working --
[12] Ephesians 5:1-20 – Live a life of Love; Imitate Jesus Christ
[13] Ephesians 6:6-7 – Do your work as unto the Lord
[14] Psalm 19:14 – Meditate and speak words acceptable to God -- Philippians 4:8 – Think on things that are true, honorable, just,
pure, lovely, commendable, excellence, worthy of praise
[15] Ephesians 5:1-2 – Live a life of Love; Imitate Jesus Christ -- Romans 8:9 – Unless
the Spirit indwells; you are just a MAKE-BELIEVER
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