As a result of the dynamic potential of the child of God in receiving the revelation of the Holy Spirit because of His presence in their heart and soul, over the years, the enemy has brought confusion and fear into the hearts of God’s people and thus a rejection of that knowledge, for fear of walking in error.

This fear and rejection has strongly hindered the working of the body of Christ in the power and potential God has given to the church through the Holy Spirit in their lives.

My goal in writing this blog post today is to clarify what the Word of God presents as truth regarding being “filled with the Spirit.”

This is not a complete study concerning the Holy Spirit. The works and gifts of the Holy Spirit are many. I have posted a number of teachings on the Holy Spirit previously. Please reference the posts made on 9/29/20, “In the Spirit and Power”; 10/4/ 20, “The Holy Spirit Our Helper”; 10/12/20, “Holy Spirit, One Who Empowers Us”; 10/18//20, “Spiritual Gifts/Tongues”; 10/26/20, “More on Tongues”; 11/4/20, “More Concerning the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Prophecy, Word of Knowledge, Word of Wisdom”; and 11/11/20, “Actions and Ministry Gifts in the Body of Christ.” You may read these posts at any time.

I want to express very clearly, this post is not about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is a special endowment of power given to believers. Herein is the rub - this baptism manifested to the disciples in cloven tongues of fire and was evidenced by speaking in tongues. Some, without proper spiritual discernment, started to proclaim that anyone who speaks in tongues is of the devil. Remember, when Jesus cast the demons out of a man, the religious leaders claimed He did it by the prince of the devils….A topic for another time.

Let’s look at the indwelling Holy Spirit. God’s Word reveals that when we receive Christ as our Redeemer He promises that the Father will send the Holy Spirit to ‘indwell’ us, or live inside us. The Holy Spirit confirms our relationship with God and will be our Helper, Comforter, and Advocate.

John 14:16 and 17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

Ephesians 1:13, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,” The Greek word translated ‘sealed’ is sphragizo which means: (representing God, by the gift of the Holy Spirit indicates who are His.

Romans 8:15 and 16 (NLT), “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children.” Adopted (yhiothesia) is the nature and condition of the true disciples of Christ, who by receiving the Spirit of God into their souls, become the sons of God.

Galatians 4:6 (NLT), “And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father."

John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

John 15:26, (NLT), “"But I will send you the Advocate--the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.”

Hebrews 13:5b (NKJV), “For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” Dwells, from the Greek word oikeo in this verse means: to dwell in or to “take up residency in a house, not a guest who comes and goes.” When a person repents God’s Spirit moves in and takes up residence. The believer’s heart becomes the Holy Spirit’s permanent home.

When the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us, we receive all of Him. At times we may observe or experience a different attribute of the Spirit, such as: His power, Him being our Helper, Comforter, Advocate, or deliverer. We need to realize we do not receive ‘more’ of Him when He ministers to our immediate needs., we are simply seeing a different function of the Spirit.

Understand, to be filled with the Spirit is not receiving more of Him.

At this time, I would like us to investigate what the Scriptures teaches us about “being filled with the Holy Spirit.” I believe if we gain a clear and proper understanding of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be able to avail ourselves to participate in more of what He desires for us to accomplish in partnership with Himself.

Acts 13:52 (NASB20), “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

Ephesians 5:18b (NLT) tells us to “be filled with the Holy Spirit.” “Filled” from the Greek word pleroo, as used in this verse, means: to fill, diffuse (to spread or scatter) throughout one’s soul. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon expresses the idea of being filled with the Spirit as such: with everything which God wills, used of those who will nothing but what God wills. In other words, one whose own will has been given over completely to God’s will. Therefore, using these meanings and paraphrasing this verse, it could read, “Be filled, allow everything God wills, to be diffused or scattered widely and spread throughout your soul, to the point where your own will is given over completely to God’s will.” Pretty dynamic isn’t it? Is that where you live?

Being filled with the Holy Spirit, therefore is a choice we make to die to self and submit totally to Him.

“To be filled with the Spirit implies freedom for Him to occupy every part of our lives, guiding, and controlling us. Then, His power can be exerted through us so that what we do is fruitful to God. The filling of the Spirit does not apply to outward acts alone; it also applies to the innermost thoughts and motives of our actions.” (www.gotquestions.org)

Our “being filled with His Spirit” requires an act of our yielding to the Spirit on a continual basis. It requires our “choice” to be totally committed to His will and not our own. Matthew 16:24and 25, “Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We are told in God’s Word to pray or ask for the Holy Spirit. Luke 11: 9 and 13 (NLT), “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ... 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him."

The Word also reveals that God’s Spirit is given to empower us for proclaiming the gospel. Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." ‘Power’, dynamis in the Greek means: the power of God; the power of Christ invisibly present and operative in the church.

Listen though, His power, authority, knowledge, and wisdom can only be effective through us if we are submitted fully to Him.

Rick Renner states it this way, “The extent we benefit from the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives is the extent we decide to listen and follow His advice. That requires our ears, hearts, trust, and obedience.” He also said, “Although the Spirit wants to lead, our human will doesn’t like the idea of being led. Our human nature wants to call the shots and lead the way. We must learn to know His voice and follow His leading, direction, and guidance. In order “to experience real supernatural Christian living, we must come to a place of surrender to the Holy Spirit.”

Remember, being filled with the Spirit is not having more of the Holy Spirit, but giving Him control.

The apostle Paul called Himself a “bondservant of Jesus Christ” in Romans 1:1 (NKJV). The Greek word doulos, translated bondservant in this verse, means: one who gives himself up wholly to another’s will. What Paul is expressing here is that he has voluntarily made himself a slave of Christ. He does not act on his own will but on that of his Master, Jesus Christ.

How willing are you to empty yourself of ‘self’ and instead be filled with the Spirit? Are you willing to give up your ‘self’ control and allow the Spirit to be in charge of every aspect of your life? Realize this, if you accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you whether you acknowledge Him or not. “He speaks, directs, encourages, and helps even when we aren’t listening.” (Rick Renner)

It is a matter of your choice and self discipline.

We will end with two heavy verses today - 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20 (NKJV), “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

When we accepted Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit became a permanent resident of our heart. We are not our own. We have been bought with the blood of Christ. Therefore, our body and spirit should glorify God.

Choose to allow the Holy Spirit have total control!

Be filled with the Holy Spirit!

You will not be sorry!

Unless otherwise noted all scriptures are taken from the English Standard Version.

NLT New Living Translation

NASB20 New American Standard Bible 2020

NKJV New King James Version