Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Isn’t it interesting how our English words can be used in many different ways to express many different meanings? So it is with the word fill. When you fill a glass with water, you put as much in the glass as it will hold. When your heart is filled with joy, you are controlled by this emotion. When the scent of perfume fills the room, it permeates the entire area. When an employee fills a new position, he takes over the new responsibilities of the job. When the pharmacist fills a prescription, he supplies what is needed for the patient. This word fill also has a special significance when it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit. In the past twelve articles, we have been studying the Holy Spirit, our Divine Comforter. We have seen how the Holy Spirit is instrumental in the work of salvation in seven areas: conviction, regeneration, indwelling, anointing, sealing, baptism, and giving gifts. We now look at the Spirit’s work in the believer’s life. This work that we will examine is foundational to all the ministries of the Spirit in the believer’s life. The Spirit’s other ministries will not be operational without this work. I’m referring to the filling of the Spirit. We will answer the question: “The Holy Spirit: What’s It Mean to Be Filled?”
What is meant by the Spirit’s work of filling?
The Spirit’s filling defined
This ministry of the Holy Spirit is that ministry by which He controls the believer. It is the spiritual state in which the Holy Spirit is fulfilling all that He came to do in the heart and life of the believer (L. S. Chafer, Major Bible Themes, p. 115).The Spirit’s filling described
How is it revealed?
It is marked by control (Eph. 5:18).
It is a spiritual, not a physical, filling (Acts 13:52; John 16:6; Luke 4:28; 5:26). It’s not like the Spirit literally expanding to fill every nook and crevice of our physical bodies. The idea instead is one of domination or control, as is true with emotional fillings. When an emotion like fear, sorrow, or anger fills you, it dominates or controls you. So it is when the Spirit fills the believer.
It is contrasted with drunkenness (Eph. 5:18). Note these parallels. . .
When a person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the foreign substance is controlling him; when a believer is filled with the Spirit, he is under the control of the Spirit.
When a person is drunk, his behavior is greatly altered. . . so the Spirit’s filling alters our behavior.
A person who is drunk, when he stops drinking, is no longer drunk; a person who is Spirit-filled, when he stops yielding to the Spirit, is no longer Spirit-filled.
It is expressed as a command (Eph. 5:18).
It is not an automatic result of salvation. The ministries of the Spirit that we have previously seen occurred automatically when we trusted in Christ as Savior. But not so with His filling. While the other ministries are permanent—we cannot lose them—His filling is not permanent. It must be continually maintained.
It involves our obedience. Since we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, we are expected to obey the command. The Spirit’s ministry is directly affected by our continuing obedience throughout our lives.
It is described as continual (Acts 2:4; 4:31; Eph. 5:18).
It was a repeated experience (Acts 2:4; 4:31). Some of the same believers who were filled with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 needed to be filled again in Acts 4, indicating that it’s not once-for-all.
The verb is one of continual action (“be being filled”) (Eph. 5:18). It should be our daily pattern.
What are its results? We should be filled for. . .
Performance of ministry or good works (Acts 6:3-5; 13:9-12; John 7:37-39; Luke 1:15-17; cp. Ex. 31:2-3; 35:30-36). The Spirit empowers us for ministry.
Proclamation of God’s message (Luke 1:41-45, 67-79; Acts 2:4; 4:8-13, 29-31). Boldness in proclaiming the message comes from the filling of the Spirit.
Power in fighting the spiritual battle (Gal. 5:16-17; Luke 4:1-2). The Spirit gives us power to defeat our spiritual enemies—Satan, the world, and the flesh.
Production of godly character (Gal. 5:22-23). The fruit of the Spirit results from the filling of the Spirit.
Praise and worship of God (Eph. 5:18-20). When we are filled with the Spirit, we sing praises to the Lord in corporate (as well as personal) worship and give thanks to Him for all things.
Promotion of good interpersonal relationships (Eph. 5:21-6:9). His filling results in mutual submission and changed relationships between believers, husbands/wives, parents/children, masters/servants, and every relationship.
How does a believer receive the filling of the Spirit? While not stated directly in Scripture, here are three necessary steps. . .
You must yield to the Spirit’s control rather than quench the Spirit (I Thess. 5:19). There must be a yielding to Him and His control (cp. Rom. 6:13). His work in our lives must not be quenched, but allowed to operate in full flame.
You must remove sin from your life (I John 1:9) rather than grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:29-32). Sin grieves Him and must be confessed and forsaken for Him to fill us. When you confess sin and yield to Him, He is back in control of your life.
You must live in continual dependence on the Spirit—walk by Him step by step (Gal. 5:16-17). Walk by the Spirit in order not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Each step that we take must be in dependence on the Spirit.
(Sources to Consult: Class notes—Soteriology, Professor Otis Stone, Calvary Bible College, 1978; The Holy Spirit, Charles C. Ryrie, pp. 93-103; The Divine Comforter, J. Dwight Pentecost, pp.. 154-164; Systematic Theology, Vol. VI, Lewis Sperry Chafer, pp. 232-268)
Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Are you daily living under His control moment by moment? Only then can you live in spiritual victory!
Because of His Grace—Pastor Charlie