By My Spirit – The Filling of the Holy Spirit
Alright well we’re there in Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5:18 says “18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” And we’ve been going through a series on Sunday nights on the subject of the Holy Spirit. And the series is called By My Spirit. And it’s been really a systematic study of the doctrine in this series. And we’re probably going to have at least 2 more before it’s all said and done. And what we’re doing tonight is we’re talking about the filling of the Spirit. And the last part of verse 18 it says “be filled with the Spirit”. He says “be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”. This is a command for we as New Testament believers are being instructed and commanded to be filled with the Spirit. And there are a couple things I want you to notice because of the fact this is a command and some things we can glean from that. And this is kind of just by way of introduction.
The first one is this. The command to be filled with the Spirit shows it is not automatic. Not every Christian is automatically filled with the Spirit. If we were just automatically filled with the Spirit, God would not have to command you to be filled with the Spirit. So, this is not an automatic thing that just happens when you get saved that you are filled with the Spirit. This is also something that is possible. It is possible for you to be filled with the Spirit. Because God would not command you to do something that you do not have the ability to do. So what we’re going to do tonight is look at this idea of the filling of the Spirit and I’m going to teach you that you may want to be filled with the Spirit, the requirement you need to fulfill to be filled with the Spirit and we’ll end tonight with the result of being filled with the Spirit.
When we’re talking about the filling and like I said this is the 8th sermon in the series. If you remember when we started learning about the Holy Spirit, we started with a sermon on the Person of the Holy Spirit is God. We talked about the Holy Spirit in the Trinity. We talked about the work of the Holy Spirit, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Last week we talked about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament vs. the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. So, I’m not going to re-preach that sermon. But you need to understand that there is a difference between the sealing of the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit. When you got saved, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise. That does not mean however that you are filled with the Holy Spirit which is what we learned from the command that it’s not automatic. God wants you to be filled but you are not automatically filled.
Let’s talk about some reasons for the filling of the Holy Spirit. What is the purpose of being filled with the Spirit? And we know from last week’s sermon and when we’re talking about the filling of the Holy Spirit. And these terms are used synonymously of the filling of the Spirit, the Spirit coming upon you and the pouring of the Spirit. We saw last week about how all of those are used synonymously in the Bible. And all of those are referring to having the power of the Holy Spirit upon your life. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, fills you or is poured upon you. It’s a reference to the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit is upon you and upon your ministry. Why would you want that? Why would you want the filling of the Holy Spirit? The first reason why you would want to be filled is for a specific position. Throughout the Bible we see that men (& women) were filled in the Holy Spirit when they had a specific position that God had ordained them to. Here is one example.
1 Samuel 16:13 “13 Then Samuel” Who was the High Priest, Prophet at the time “Then Samuel took the horn of oil,” Now I want you to remember that he took the horn of oil. Because we’re going to talk about this at the end of the sermon because there are several things, emblems that represent the Holy Spirit. And oil is one of them. Water is one of them. Fire is one of them. A dove is one of them. There are certain things throughout the Bible that represent or picture the Holy Spirit. One of them is oil. And here, David is going to be ordained or anointed as the king of Israel. And Samuel the Bible says took the horn of oil and anointed him. So, he took literal, physical oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. Notice and when the oil touched his head, the physical oil was poured upon him. “him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So, Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”.
So, we see here that David had the Holy Spirit come upon him. For what reason? For a specific position that God had given him. I believe that there are certain positions that God may give someone and they need, now this doesn’t mean they will have. Because if you remember that King Saul had the Holy Spirit of God come upon him but we saw last week that the Holy Spirit of God left him as well. So just because you have a position that needs the Spirit, the power upon your life. That doesn’t mean you’ll have it. That’s why we need to live our lives in a consistent way that we may meet the requirements to being filled with the Spirit.
But we understand this, that there are some positions that require it. You need it. I believe as a Pastor I have a job that really if I want to do it well and if I want to do the will of God, I need to have the power of the Holy Spirit upon my life. I need to have the power of the Holy Spirit. I need to be filled with the Spirit. I need the Holy Spirit upon me. As much as possible when I stand up to preach God’s word. I can’t do this out of my own will and ability and might, I need God’s Holy Spirit to help me. So, we see that you might need the filling of the Holy Spirit for specific positions.
What are some reasons you might need or want the filling of the Holy Spirit? #1 is for a specific position. And you might say well I’m not a Pastor or Deacon or Evangelist or King. I don’t know that I have a position that requires the filling of the Holy Spirit. But another reason that you may want the filling of the Spirit is for scriptural preaching. It is for the preaching of the Word of God. You say well I’m not a preacher. But you know what, if you were out there yesterday with a Bible in your hand preaching the gospel then you are a preacher. You are a preacher of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know there will be no more effective soulwinner in this church or any church than a soulwinner filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Then a soulwinner that has the Holy Spirit upon their lives.
Acts 2:4. This is of course the Day of Pentecost but notice what the Bible says. And we’re going to spend a whole sermon on the day of Pentecost later on in this series as we talk about Speaking in Tongues and all that. “4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,” Notice what happens and we see this throughout the Bible. When they are filled with the Holy Ghost, notice automatically. “and began to speak” Now there is a supernatural miracle here but you’ll notice that throughout the Bible when they are filled with the Holy Ghost. They always speak and they preach God’s word. Throughout the Old Testament, the Prophets when they had the Holy Spirit of God come upon them. It says the hand of the Lord was upon them and they would say “Thus saith the Lord”. Because in order to speak God’s Word. To preach God’s Word. For scriptural preaching, you must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 4:8 “8 Then Peter,” Notice what it says “filled with the Holy Ghost,”. What does he do? What is always done, he opens his mouth “said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,”. And he goes on to preach a great sermon. A great scriptural teaching. But why was he able to get up and preach and teach God’s Word? Because he was filled with the Holy Ghost. So, you need the Holy Spirit of God if you have a position that would require or that would be enhanced by being filled with the Holy Spirit. You need it for scriptural preaching, if you’re a soulwinner, to be effective. If you want to actually see people saved. To see God, work through your ministry of preaching and a minister of reconciliation. You need to have the Holy Spirit of God. But there is another reason that you may desire the filling of the Spirit and that is for a specific purpose.
You say ok Pastor well I’m not a preacher or a soulwinner. Well let’s see if there is another reason that you might require the filling of the Holy Spirit. We know we need it for a specific position and we need it for scriptural preaching. But we also need it for special purposes. There are special purposes that God has given you in your life. And maybe it’s not to preach God’s Word. And for all of us it’s to preach the gospel, but maybe it’s not to preach God’s word as a Pastor or some sort of Spiritual Leader. But I know this, God has a plan and God has a purpose for you. And whatever that purpose is, it will require the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Exodus 28:3 “3 And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have” Notice what he says “filled with the spirit of wisdom,” You say is that the Spirit of God or the Spirit of wisdom? Well throughout the Bible we are told that the Spirit of God is 7 spirits. One of those is the Spirit of Wisdom. He says “filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.”.
So, when the tabernacle in the Levitical Priesthood was being setup, God had ordained that there be certain garments for the priests to wear. And the Bible tells us that he had filled certain individuals with the Spirit of Wisdom to be able to make Aaron’s garments. And the primary people that were used to create those garments, to create the tabernacle, to create the curtains and all those things that were needed, it wasn’t just men, it was women. Women that were filled with the Holy Spirit of God. You say to what? To sew? To make clothes? But you know what, God needed their talents. We talked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve in the ministry of Moses. And they were filled with the Spirit for that purpose.
Exodus 35:31 “31 And he hath filled him” God has filled an individual “with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;” You say why did God fill this individual with the Holy Spirit? Verse 32 “32 And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,” Again, these are people that are just doing manual labor. They were getting the things ready for the tabernacle. They were building things that needed to be done for the tabernacle. And the Bible says that God filled them with the Spirit. Here is the point I’m trying to make to you, not only do we need Spirit filled preachers, not only do we need Spirit filled soulwinners, but you know that we need some Spirit filled plumbers. You know that we need some Spirit filled construction workers. You know what we need some Spirit filled homeschool moms. You know that we need some Spirit filled….
Look, whatever God has called you to do. Whatever God has you doing. Whatever skills and ability that God has given you, God wants you to do it filled with the Holy Spirit of God. You say I’m not a preacher, all I do is help clean up the building. Praise the Lord for it. What we need is a bunch of volunteers showing up filled with the Spirit of God. You say all I do is fold the bulletins. If you’re to fold the bulletins, do it with the Spirit of God upon your life. The point is this, God desires every Christian, no matter who you are, or where you are in life, to be filled with the Spirit of God. You say all I do is I help with maintenance and I paint things and I clean things and I drive the van, look, whatever it is you do, God desires you to do it filled with the Holy Spirit. We see that people were filled for specific positions and were filled with scriptural preaching and they were filled for special purposes. And here is the point, God desires you to live your life filled with the Spirit of God.
And we talked about the reasons for the filling of the Spirit. Why you might want to be filled. But let’s talk about the requirements for being filled with the Holy Spirit. You say, ok God commands us to be filled. But be filled with the Spirit. So how can I do that? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit of God? And what I’d like to do is give you 5 areas or 5 things to consider or things to do in order to receive the Holy Spirit of God. These are 5 things we see in scripture of how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The first one is this, you must pray for the filling. You must pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit. Acts 4:31 “31 And when they had prayed,” Do you see that? “the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” I want you to notice that they were filled with the Holy Ghost after they had prayed for the filling of the Holy Ghost. Go to Luke 11.
And let me just ask you this, when was the last time or have you ever prayed for the filling of the Holy Spirit? Have you ever prayed? And I don’t do this every day but I try to every day have a time, and usually it’s maybe earlier in the day when my wife and I are spending time reading the Bible over a cup of coffee or whatever. And I try to take a few minutes to remember and I try to every day, though I don’t always do it, but I try to every day to say “Lord will you please fill me with your Spirit today? Could you help me have the fulness of the Spirit today?”.
And the truth is this, that we often forget to even just ask for the Holy Spirit of God. The Bible says that ye have not because ye ask not. And the Bible says that if you would pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit, that that is one requirement needed in order to have the fulness of the Spirit. So I want you to consider that and I want you to think, tomorrow morning, when you get up, before you go off to work or school or whatever you want to do, take a moment and ask the Lord to fill you with the Spirit. And pray to have the fulness of the Spirit upon your life for the day.
Luke 11:11 “11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children:” He says look, you’re evil and you’re not going to give your kid a scorpion when they’re asking for an egg. You’re not going to give them a serpent when they’re asking for a fish. He says “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give”.
And here’s what’s interesting. You think he’s going to say good things. Give blessings. Give money. Give nice houses and nice cars and nice clothes. That’s what you think he’s going to say because he says that you don’t give your kids a scorpion when they ask for an egg. You don’t give them a serpent when they ask for a fish. You don’t give them a stone when they’re asking you for bread. But he says look, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” And you say, well why would he have to ask for the Holy Spirit? You say when I got saved, I got indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Yes, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit but you weren’t filled with the Holy Spirit. God says that he wants you to come to him every day as kids, as your heavenly Father and ask him for the Holy Spirit. Ask him for the filling of the Holy Spirit, ask him for the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, if you want to know what you need to do to have the filling of the Holy Spirit, #1 – You must pray for the filling of the Spirit. You must ask for the fulness. You must pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon you. But there’s more than that. There is more than just asking. These things that I am going to tell you. It’s not any one of these will fill you with the Spirit. God wants you to do all of these. The first step is to pray for the filling. The 2nd step is to yield your body. God desires and God’s will is that you would yield your body and yield your will to the Holy Spirit and that is the only way that you can be filled with the Spirit. Now he says it in an interesting way in Ephesians 5.
He says this in Ephesians 5:18. “18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;” He says that here is what I don’t want to you to do. He gives us a contrast. He says don’t get drunk with wine. And you may have never thought about this but throughout the Bible there is a link between being drunk with wine which is a negative thing, a bad thing and being filled with the Spirit. The most obvious link is here where it says “18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” But there are other connections. Remember Acts 2 at the day of Pentecost? They were filled with the Spirit. And what did people say? They said, these men have drunk new wine. They thought they were drunk. Peter had to get up and say, these men are not drunk. This is what Joel said would happen with the pouring of the Spirit.
Have you ever thought about this: The mother of John the Baptist was told that John would be filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb? And there is a specific command that he should not drink wine. Samson was told that he would be filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb. And then there is a specific command that he should not drink wine. There is a connection in the Bible which God makes between drunkenness and the Holy Spirit. And here’s what he says. You cannot be filled with the Spirit when you are drunk with wine.
You say well why does he contrast them? Here’s why he contrasts them. When you are drunk with wine, when you are drunk with alcohol, you are not under control. You are under the substance. You have something inside of you that is taking control of your mind and your body and your thoughts. You do things that you would not normally do. You say things that you would not normally say. You go places you would not normally go. When you drink alcohol, you are no longer in control of your body. And God says don’t do that but let’s learn a lesson from that. And here’s the lesson, don’t let alcohol to control you but allow the Holy Spirit to control you. He says don’t allow alcohol to control you and do things that you would not normally do. But in the same way that a drunk is out of control of themselves and has the spirits, isn’t that what they call them. And has the spirits controlling them, as believers we ought to have the Holy Spirit of God control us. What does that mean? It means you should yield your body to the Holy Spirit.
Let me show you from another passage. He says the same thing but in a different way. Galatians 5:16-18 “16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” The flesh is your body. Your carnal desires. They are desiring against the Spirit. The Spirit has certain things it wants you to do. Your flesh has certain things it wants you to do. “and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Notice verse 18 “18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”.
What does it mean to be led of the Spirit? It means you yield yourself to the will of the Holy Spirit. It means you do whatever the Holy Spirit wants you to do. It means you yield your body and say, just like alcohol would control my body, I’m going to let the Holy Spirit control me and lead me. Look at verse 24, same chapter. Galatians 5:24. “24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Remember Paul said, I die daily. Paul said “20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”.
As believers we must crucify the flesh. We must deny the flesh. I mean the Bible uses the same concept all sorts of different ways. Jesus said take up the cross, deny yourself and follow me. What’s the idea? That they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Verse 25 “25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”. Here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying, you live in the Spirit because if you’re saved you have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling you. But if we live in the Spirit, then we might as well walk in the Spirit. Here’s what we learn. Having the Spirit and walking in the Spirit are 2 different things. Walking in the Spirit is being led by the Spirit. It means that you allow the Holy Spirit to take control.
You say Pastor Jimenez, how can I be filled with the Spirit? #1 – You must pray for the filling of the Spirit. #2 – You must yield your body and control to the Holy Spirit. Let me give you a 3rd requirement. Go back to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5:18-19 “18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” Notice verse 19. It’s in the same context. “19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”. You want to be filled with the Spirit? You must pray for the filling. You must yield your body.
But thirdly you must sing Christ like music. The Bible teaches you, and this might surprise you, but the Bible teaches there is a connection that you sing and praise God with and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Let me give you an example of that. And please understand this. Music is spiritual. The Bible says about the songs that God inhabitest the praises of his people. This is why we teach as Fundamental Baptists, as goes the music, as goes the church. People will often try to pressure me or people like me and say “If you got rid of those old hymns and brought in more contemporary music, we could still have the hard preaching. We could still have the in-depth study. It doesn’t have to be shallow preaching but let’s have the worldly music.
But here’s the thing, if we bring in the worldly music then it will bring with it the shallow preaching. Because the music sets the context for the Spirit. Let me prove it to you. 2 Kings 3:14 “14 And Elisha” Remember him? Great prophet of the Old Testament. “And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.” And I don’t have time to develop the story but you have Ahab and the King of Edom and Jehoshaphat coming to Elisha. They want to ask him advice. And Elisha is getting a bit mouthy with King Ahab because he is a wicked king. And he says look, if it wasn’t for Jehoshaphat then I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. But notice what it says in verse 15 “15 But now bring me a minstrel.” A minstrel is a musician “And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.”.
The hand of the Lord, the Holy Spirit coming upon you, the pouring of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit, all talking about the same thing. Notice, the power came, the filling came, when the minstrel played. You say why? Because speaking to yourselves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, that’s how you get filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Look when that choir was singing this morning, if you didn’t feel the Holy Spirit in that, if you didn’t feel the Spirit of God in that then you need to check your salvation. Or you need to check how backslidden your heart is.
Because as a believer, you can’t help, you can’t help but just be together with God’s people and when you’re singing It is well with my Soul, And Can it Be, those beautiful songs, and you can’t help but feel the Holy Spirit inside of you saying yes. I like that. I want that. All week long we are just bombarded with the world’s trash. And we come here and sing the praises of God and that helps you be filled with the Spirit. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;. And he says here’s how you do it. 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
You say how can I get filled? Well pray. Ask for the Holy Spirit’s filling. How can I get filled? Yield your body and your will to the Holy Spirit. Be led by the Holy Spirit. How can I get filled? Sing Christlike music. Have Christlike music around you and you’ll be filled with the Spirit. Here’s another way. Internalize scripture. Internalize scripture. It’s really interesting as you look at Ephesians 5:18. Look at it again. “18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;” And notice this phrase “but be filled with the Spirit;”. He says that I want the Spirit inside of you and I want it filling you. Then he says here is how you do it. “19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”.
Now you’re there in Ephesians 5 and turn to Colossians 3. I want you to notice that Ephesians 5:18-19 are basically a restatement of Colossians 3:16 or Colossians 3:16 is a restatement of Ephesians 5:18-19. But there is a difference. Now whenever you see the Bible give you similar statements but then there is something used maybe synonymously or switched, there’s a reason for that. I want you to notice what Colossians 3:16 says. “16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another” Notice does this sound familiar. “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”. Alright. So, notice, Colossians 3:16, the 2nd part says, in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs singing, right? Ephesians 5:19 says in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs singing. Those are the same things, the same context, the same wording.
What’s the switch? In Ephesians 5:18 it says be filled with the Spirit. Colossians 3:16 says let the word of Christ dwell in you. What does that teach us? Here’s what that teaches us. If you want to be filled with the Spirit, you need to be filled with the Word of God. If the Word of Christ dwells in you, if you are filled with the words of God, you will be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And here’s what you need to understand, not only is there a connection between the Holy Spirit of God and music, not only is there some sort of connection in the Bible between the Holy Spirit of God and drunkenness, or the opposite of drunkenness, the control over your body.
But there’s also a connection in the Bible between the Holy Spirit of God and the Word of God. Let me just give you some examples. Ephesians 6. You have the famous passage of the armour of God, right? Notice what he says as part of that armour. Ephesians 6:17 “17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,” What is it? “which is the word of God:”. There’s a connection between the Word of God and the Spirit of God. In fact, he says you can’t wield the Sword of the Spirit without wielding the Word of God. Because the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Here’s the point. You want to be filled with the Spirit, be filled with God’s Word. You want to be filed with the Holy Spirit of God. Be filled with the Spirit speaking to yourselves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Well then, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Teaching and Admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Why? Because the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. And this is not the only place where that connection is made.
Here is what I am telling you, you cannot and will not be filled with the Holy Spirit of God when the only time you are in the Word of God is at church. You cannot and will not be filled with the Holy Spirit of God if you do not learn to internalize the Word of God. If you do not learn to spend time with the Word of God. If you do not develop a daily discipline of studying the Bible, Memorizing the Bible, being filled with the Word of God. You say I want to be filled with the Spirit. Then get filled with the Word. Because the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.
John 6:63 “63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” You want to get filled with the Spirit? Get filled with God’s Word. He says the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit. Remember we saw this last week, we saw that the Spirit was not given to Jesus by measure. It’s given to us by measure. Because we don’t get the fulness. We have to do these things to have the fullness. The Spirit was given to Jesus without measure. He had the fullness of the Spirit. But I want you to notice the connection in that verse. John 3:34 “34 For he whom God hath sent” Talking about Jesus. Notice what it says “speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.”. And I just want to highlight for you that there is a connection in the Bible between the Word of God and the Spirit of God. And if you want to be filled with the Spirit, you have to be filled with God’s Word.
Go to 1 Samuel and I’ll read a few other verses. Proverbs 1:23 “23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.”. Isaiah 59:21 “21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth,…”. And the verse goes on to talk about other things. But I want you to notice that throughout the Bible there is a connection between the Holy Spirit of God and the Word of God. So, you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God? You better get filled with the Word of God. In the Bible there is a connection between the Holy Spirit of God and Christlike, Godlike music. So, if you want to get filled with the Spirit of God, put away the worldly music.
In the Bible there is a connection between the Spirit of God and this idea of being under control of a substance, he says don’t be drunk with wine but let the Holy Spirit control you, in the same way that wine would control you. In the Bible there is a connection between praying for the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit. And here is the thing, if you aren’t doing these things then you won’t be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. You say, what do I do? Pray. What do I do? Yield. What do I do? Sing. What do I do? Read. Memorize. Study.
Let me give you a 5th one. If you want to be filled with the Spirit of God, you must be around people that are filled with the Spirit of God. See here’s what’s interesting about the Spirit of God, it’s contagious. You can get it by being around other Spirit filled people. Now we saw last week that the Holy Spirit of God came upon Saul. Remember we saw that. In 1 Samuel 10:9 “9 And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.”. Now I believe that in 1 Samuel 10:9, that’s when Saul got saved. He got a new heart. Look at verse 10 “10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him,” Talking about Saul. “and he prophesied among them.”.
Now again, there’s a connection between the Spirit of God coming upon you and someone opening their mouth and prophesying. Don’t tell me that you’ve got the filling of the Holy Spirit if you’re not preaching God’s Word. You say well I’m not a Pastor. You can preach to unbelievers. You dads can preach to your kids. You moms can preach to your kids. The Bible says the Spirit of God came upon him. And he prophesied among them. Verse 11 “11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him before time saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? 12 And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?”.
And this is one example. There are several examples in the Bible where Saul, who was a backslidden Christian, who was not right with God, who was persecuting David, for some reason, whenever he got around the Prophets the Holy Spirit came upon him and he prophesied with the Prophets. Because the Holy Spirit of God is contagious. You want to get the Holy Spirit of God? Get around people that have the Holy Spirit of God. Get around people that are filled with the Spirit and then you will want to be filled with the Spirit. So look, God commands you to be filled with the Spirit. And then he tells you that here is how you do it. You pray for the Spirit. You sing. You internalize God’s Word. He says you yield your body. He says that you get around people that have the Holy Spirit of God. And then you will see the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit of God and the power of the Holy Spirit of God upon your life.
We started by talking about the reason for the filling of the Spirit. Why would you even want to be filled with the Spirit? Well there’s 3 major reasons. For a certain position, God has given you a position that requires the Holy Spirit of God. And let me just say this, if you are a husband, you have a position that needs and requires the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you are a wife, you have a position that requires the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you are a father, if you are a mother, if you are a child, if you are a Pastor, a Deacon, a soulwinner, a volunteer, a plumber, a construction worker, I don’t care what you are. If you are saved, God wants you to have the Holy Spirit of God upon your life. So there’s a reason for the filling. There’s a requirement for the filling. You’ve got to yield, you’ve got to pray, you’ve got to read, you’ve got to be around others, you’ve got to sing the praises of God.
But lastly, let’s talk about the result of the filling of the Holy Spirit. And here’s the sad truth. Is that most Christians cannot even tell you that they’ve ever known that they’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Now I believe this, I believe that there are times in your life where you can have the power of the Holy Spirit of God upon your life and everyone will know it except you. In fact, I would say that most of the time that is the case. If you ever hear of a preacher or a Christian go around and tell you that they have the power of the Spirit upon their life, they probably don’t.
But you know there should be times in your life, and there’s been times in my life where I know, there have been times in my life and I can’t say that it’s every time that I stood up to preach that the Holy Spirit was upon me. And I hope that’s true. And I hope it’s most of the time. And I don’t know that. But I know that there have been some times where I preached sermons and God moved in a way and I thought I don’t know where that came from. That wasn’t even in my notes. That’s not what I studied. And I felt and I just knew that God had taken control. And God had used me as a vessel to minister to his people. And I hope that all of you would desire to know that there is a time when you were filled with the Spirit.
So here’s the question, how do you know? How do I know if I’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit of God? Well as far as I can tell in scripture, there are 2 major characteristics that will tell you. That are kind of the tell-tale signs of being filled with the Spirit. Let me show them to you. The first one is this, you will have boldness. When you are filled with the Spirit of God, the most common result we see through scripture is boldness. It is the boldness to do what God has called you to do.
In the Old Testament, I’m going to show you 1 example but we see this all throughout the Old Testament. You often have people that are going to fight the battles of God literally. Lead armies and nations in to battle. They are outnumbered. And they are out strategized. And they are out maneuvered. And they have no hope. And the Spirit of God comes upon some judge. The Spirit of God comes upon some King. The Spirit of God comes upon some man or woman of God. And they are able to lead that army in to battle. We see that a lot.
Let me give you 1 example. Remember when Saul became king, we’re not going to read verses 1 through 4 but in those verses, you have the context if you would like to read them. The enemies of God have come, the people are scared, they are outnumbered. They gave them a deadline. And they told them something gruesome. You got to cut out your eyes and do this and that. And if you do that in the next 24 hours and serve us, then we’ll let you live in peace as our servants. But if you want to fight us then we’re going to kill you and you have all that in verses 1 through 4. Notice in verse 5, “5 And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep?” Because everyone is weeping and crying saying what are we going to do. We’ve got this military coming against us. And he says what aileth the people that they weep. “And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. 6 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings,” Notice. “and his anger was kindled greatly.”.
Don’t miss that. Everybody else is scared. Everybody is afraid. The Holy Spirit of God comes upon Saul and he’s bold. He has righteous indignation. He is Spirit filled and mad as hell. I mean he is just like, WHAT? And here’s what I’m telling you, people that fight the battles of God, they fight the battles of God because they are filled with the Spirit of God. You say well how do I know if somebody is not filled with the Spirit. Here’s how you know, when someone is not willing to fight the battles of God, they’re not filled with the Spirit. When they’re cowards and they are running and when they are running away and they don’t want to take a strong stand and they are running away. Because look, the result of being filled with the Spirit is that you will have boldness. The Bible says that the Spirit of God came upon him and his anger was kindled greatly.
Verse 7, “7 And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.”. And they fought a great battle. And look, you can’t read the Old Testament without finding that to be true. They’re scared. They’re afraid. The Holy Spirit of God comes upon someone. And they have boldness. But let me just say this. It’s not just the Old Testament battles. Go to Acts 4. Now look, in the New Testament we don’t fight physical battles. The Bible says that our warfare is spiritual. The Bible doesn’t say that our battle is physical. It says ” 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”.
So, we don’t have physical battles that we fight today. We have spiritual battles but notice, Acts 4:8 “8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,” Here he’s being persecuted. They’re trying to intimidate him. He’s filled with the Holy Spirit of God. He stands up and preaches this awesome sermon. Notice verse 13. Notice the result. “13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John,” So look, he was filled with the Spirit and they saw the boldness. They said Wow this guy is bold. “and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”. Why? Because the filling of the Holy Spirit will give you boldness.
Let me give you another example. We could spend all night looking at this but I’m just going to give you one more. Acts 4:31 “31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God” Don’t miss this. “with boldness.” Why? Because a result of the filling of the Spirit is that you will have boldness. Here is all I’m telling you, if fear has crippled your Christian life, know this, just know this, and I’m not trying to hurt your feelings but I’m trying to help you identify some things. You are not filled with the Spirit. Because the filling of the Spirit will fill you with boldness.
You say “Pastor Jimenez, I’m just afraid. There are things I see in the Bible and I read in the Bible and I’m just afraid about this trusting God with my finances. I’m afraid to trust God with my marriage. I’m afraid to do the things that God has said that we should be doing with our children. I’m afraid to go out soulwinning. What do I do?”. Here’s what you do. Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you. Read the Bible. Sing praises to God. You say “I thought that was to get filled”. Ya but when you get filled, you will be bold. You’ll stop being afraid. Because the result of being filled with the Spirit is that you will have boldness.
But there’s a 2nd result. Go to Exodus 35. Let me give you the 2nd result. How do I know if I’ve been filled with the Spirit? Well, if you’ve been filled then you’ll have boldness. You won’t be afraid. You won’t be worried about everything. Everything scares you. Everything causes you fear. Boldness is the result of the filling. But let me give you a 2nd characteristic. And it’s this. When you are filled with the Spirit, you will not burn out. Now let me just show that to you and prove that to you. If you’re there in Exodus 35. I want you to remember when we talked about the oil being the emblem of the Holy Spirit. And I don’t have time to develop this and we could look at a lot of verses and I won’t take time to do this. Look up the word oil throughout the Bible and you’ll see that there’s a connection to the Holy Spirit.
I want you to notice in Exodus 35:14 “14 The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,” Now I’m just showing you 1 example. I could show you a lot of examples. In the Old Testament, in the tabernacle, they were commanded to have candles that were lit at all times. In fact, you will remember in the Old Testament that there are some major stories. Whenever the Priest allowed the fire to go out, it was a big deal. God was angry and upset at them. When the fire went out, it was a picture of God’s power being taken away from them. The priests were commanded to have candles that did not burn out. To have candles that were always lit but they did not burn out.
Remember also that here is another example of that. But the burning bush. When God appeared to Moses. Moses thought it was interesting. He went to the burning bush because it was on fire but it did not burn out. And then God tells them that he wants them to have these candles that are lit all the time but never burn out. You say well how do you have a candle that is lit but doesn’t burn out? Let me explain this to you. And we could run a lot of verses but I’m just going to explain to you and you can study it on your own. In the tabernacle they had these candlesticks for these candles. And these candlesticks had bowls. And you can read this in Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy. These candles were places inside these bowls and the bowls were filled with oil.
We read this in Exodus 35:14 “14 The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,”. And when they lit the candle, instead of the candle burning itself out in order to have what it needed to burn, it would suck in the oil from the bowl and it would burn the oil. As long as the Priest kept the bowl filled with oil, the candle would never burn out. Now if you remember, Jesus said that ye are the light of the earth. He said that ye are the light of the world. He says no man lights a candle and puts it under a bushel. He says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. You remember that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit of God from the womb. By the way, we proved through last week’s sermon that the filling of the Spirit is not necessarily connected with salvation. Even unsaved people are filled with the Spirit from time to time.
Luke 1:39 “39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:” So we see that John from the womb was filled with the Holy Ghost. Here’s what’s interesting about that. Go to John 5. Here’s what Jesus said about John. John 5:33 “33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.” Verse 35 “35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.” Jesus said about John, the Bible says that he was filled with the Spirit. And then the Bible says that he was a burning and a shining light. And Jesus said that he never went out. He lived with the filling and the shining of the Spirit until he was a martyr. Until they took off his head.
And here is all I’m telling you, if you’ve ever said “I’m just kind of burnt out with soulwinning”. All that means is that you’re not filled with the Spirit. I’m just kind of burnt out with this church stuff. All that means is that you’re not filled with the Spirit. “I don’t know about this church stuff anymore. I’m just kind of overworked. It’s just kind of too much. It’s just kind of too much to do”. Here’s all I’m telling you, Christians that live their lives filled with the Spirit, they never burn out because they’re not going off of their own energy. Their own candle. They are burning the Spirit of God that is empowering them. That is strengthening them. That is helping them. You can be like John. A burning and a shining light that doesn’t burn out.
But let me tell you something, most Christians burn out. We’re told statistically that most people do the Christian thing for about 3 years and then they quit. And the ones that make it past the 3-year mark, they usually quit at the 7-year mark. And if you can make it past the 7-year mark then you’ll probably make it decades. You say why do people quit after 3 years? Because they’re not filled with the Spirit and they burn out. Why do people quit after 7 years? Because they’re not walking in the Spirit and they burn out.
You say how can I identify if I’m filled with the Spirit? I can tell you how you can identify if you’re not filled with the Spirit. If you’re burnt out. “I just don’t feel like reading the Bible today”. Then you better get in the Bible and read it because you won’t make it in the Christian life. “I remember when soulwinning used to be exciting”. Translation: I’m not filled with the Spirit. “I remember when Sunday night church used to be exciting. Now I’d rather stay home and watch the Grammys”. Translation: You’re not filled with the Spirit. “I remember when all this stuff was fun and exciting.”.
Here’s all that means and I’m not mad at you, I’m trying to help you out. You’re not filled with the Spirit. You say well why is it important for me to be filled with the Spirit? Because if we want to make it to the end of our lives and say that I’ve fought a good fight, I’ve finished the course, I’ve kept the faith, you will not be able to say that. If you do not get connected to the vine, if you do not get the filling of the Holy Spirit in your life.
You know, I was talking to my wife about this sermon and I was telling her that these staff guys that we have running around here – Brother Oliver, Brother Matt and Brother David. I need them to be filled with the Spirit. Because we work them hard around here. Brother David just started working last week and he said “I had no idea that Brother Oliver did this much”. Ya, nobody does. “I didn’t know there was so much to do around here”. There’s a lot to do. And you know what, he needs to be filled with the Spirit. I need to be filled with the Spirit. Because we’re not going to be able to do this on our own. It’s too hard. It’s too much.
The only way you’re going to make it in the Christian life is if you quit burning your own energy and you get tapped in to the Holy Spirit of God. So, you better get in your Bible. You better get in prayer. You better start singing praises to God. You better get yielded. Here’s all I’m telling you. If you want to make it in the Christian life. If you want to burn out and fail then do what you want. But in order to be filled with the Spirit. In order to not burn out. In order to make it to the end. In order to be like John. A burning and a shining light, you better take that little candle and stick it in the oil. And you make sure that you keep pouring oil in that cup and you keep that cup filled with oil. You keep that cup filled with the Holy Spirit because that’s the only way to make it. It’s the only way to make it in the Christian walk.
Let’s pray.