SERVING THE
LORD BY MEANS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
III. The Filling
Of The Holy Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18 et
al.)
I.
Introduction
A.
“From
the viewpoint of practice and experience, the filling with the Spirit is the
most important aspect of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit . . . But, like many
other aspects of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit it is not always clearly understood.” (Charles C. Ryrie, The
Holy Spirit, 1973, p. 93)
B.
We thus
view the critically important doctrine of the “filling” of the Holy Spirit that
we might be used of God in life and service with His empowering effectiveness
(as follows):
II.
The Filling
Of The Holy Spirit (I am partly indebted to C. C. Ryrie, The Holy
Spirit, 1973, p. 93-103)
A.
The idea
of “being filled with the Holy Spirit” cannot mean that a believer
can at times not be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, or that he has more of the Holy
Spirit at certain times than at other times, for Ephesians 4:30 reveals that even
when we grieve the Holy Spirit by committing sin, we believers are sealed with the
Holy Spirit until the “day of redemption,” until the rapture of the Church.
B.
Thus, when
the only verse in Scripture that commands us to be “filled with the Spirit” is
Ephesians 5:18, we must view its context to understand the proper definition of
the Holy Spirit’s “filling” activity (as follows):
1.
In this
verse, Paul directed his readers not to be drunk with wine, but rather to be
“filled” with the Spirit.
2.
Thus, by
“filling,” Paul figuratively meant control: Instead of being
filled with wine so that one is negatively controlled by its effects,
Paul directed believers to be controlled by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
C.
Since
the “filling” of the Spirit involves the idea of being controlled by the Holy Spirit, we view other Scriptures to discern what is involved
in this control in a practical sense (as follows):
1.
1
Thessalonians 5:19 directs us believers to stop quenching
(present imperative) the Holy Spirit, Ibid., p. 95. The “fruit” or product of the Holy Spirit
is identified in Galatians 5:22-23 ESV as the characteristics of “love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control.” When we then rely by faith on the Holy Spirit and He produces
the drive within us to align with or to express any one or combination of more
of these characteristics in us, God wants us to yield to that drive to be
“filled” or controlled by the Person of God the Holy Spirit.
2.
Ephesians
4:30 directs us to stop grieving (present imperative lupeite from lupeo, “grieve” [U. B. S. Grk. N. T., p. 673;
The Analyt. Grk. Lex. (Zon), 1972, p. 254] with the negative particle me) the Holy Spirit, and the context addresses the sins of one’s speech to
be avoided. Thus, God wants us to rely
on the Holy Spirit to avoid sin, to be under His control that we not sin
especially with the words of our mouths.
3.
Galatians
5:16 directs us to be walking (present imperative peripateite from peripateo, “to walk,
walk about,” Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 660; Ibid., The
Analyt. Grk. Lex., p. 320) in the Holy Spirit that we might not fulfill the
lusts of the sinful nature. The verb
“walk, walk about” suggests one’s general conduct in his daily functions of living,
so Paul directed that we believers are to rely on the Holy Spirit’s promptings
as we go about our daily activities that we either initiate or respond to every
issue we face with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that God the Holy Spirit prompts
within us.
D.
This
“filling,” or control by the Holy Spirit, is interrupted by sin in
a believer’s life, which sin puts a believer out of spiritual control by the
Holy Spirit and outside his fellowship with the Lord (cf. 1 John 1:6; 2:1-2).
The believer must then confess that sin to return to a state of fellowship with
the Lord (1 John 1:9) and then sustain that fellowship status by ordering his
life in the light of God’s Word (1 John 1:7) by relying on the Holy Spirit’s
promptings of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control to function in his functions in life. (Galatians
5:16)
Lesson: To
live for and to serve the Lord effectively, we must be “filled” with- or
“controlled” by God the Holy Spirit.
This control occurs as we yield to the Holy Spirit’s promptings to align
with- or to express the Holy Spirit’s production of love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, to avoid
grieving the Spirit by not committing sin and to heed the Holy Spirit’s
characteristic promptings in all of our functions in daily living. If we sin, that control by the Holy Spirit is
temporarily broken, so to regain the Spirit’s control of us, we need to confess
our sin for restoration to fellowship with God and the control of the Holy Spirit.
Application:
May we always function with the “filling” of the Holy Spirit, being under His control
as a way of life.