The greatest need of the born
again Christian is to be filled with the Holy
Spirit. When we are under the
control of the Holy Spirit, we will always glorify
Jesus Christ. He will be exalted in our speech and
in our behavior.
The apostle Paul issued an
imperative command when he wrote, “Be filled with
the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
It is our duty and
responsibility to be under the constant influence
and control of the Spirit of God.
Paul used a verb in the
imperative and issued a command that every Christian
believer to be “filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Because the Christian life is a
supernatural life, the only way to live it is by
means of supernatural power. No
one can live the Christian life in his or her own
power and natural strength because we are dead in
our trespasses and sins. God must
empower us to live with His power.
He brings us to life, and then He indwells us
and enables us to live His kind of life.
When we obey His command, He gives us His
presence without limit. The
filling of the Holy Spirit is His enabling.
It is from this divine enabling
that God the Spirit produces in us love, joy, peace,
patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith,
self-control, etc. He produces in
us the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Are you “under the influence?”
What characterizes your life?
The idea behind the word “fill” is “control.”
The indwelling Spirit of God is the One who
should continually control and dominate the life of
the believer. The present tense
calls for a habitual and continual direction. The
passive could be permissive passive, “allow yourself
to be…” We are commanded to be filled with the
Spirit. We do not fill ourselves;
the Holy Spirit does the filling!
The idea Paul has in mind is
“be constantly controlled by the Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is the Agent (Gal, 5:16) and
Jesus Christ is the content of the filling of the
Spirit (Col.3:15).
“There is no such thing as a
once-for-all fullness. It is a
continuous appropriation of a continuous supply from
the Lord Christ Himself. It is a
moment-by-moment faith in a moment-by-moment Savior,
for a moment-by-moment cleansing and a
moment-by-moment filling. As I
trust Him, He fills me; the moment I begin to
believe, that moment I begin to receive; and as long
as I keep believing, praise the Lord, so long I keep
receiving,” said Charles Inwood.
When we are under the control
of the Spirit of God, our thought life, imagination,
volitional choices, and behavior will be occupied
with Jesus Christ. When we are
under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we go deeper
and deeper into our understanding of the ways of
God. Our communion with Christ is
deeper and closer with each day.
He will be constantly controlling our mind,
emotions, and will.
When we are under the control
of the Spirit, our prayer life is transformed, and
we pray with the heart and vision of a righteous man
(James 5:16).
When the Holy Spirit is in
control, we are of the same mind with God.
We are humble before God and man (Phil.
2:1-8).
When we are filled with the
Spirit, we have the mind and thus the attitude of
Christ (Phil. 2:5). We reproduce
His likeness (Gal: 5:22-23).
When we are under the influence
of God’s presence, nothing really matters but Jesus
Christ.
When we are filled with the
Spirit and therefore under His control, we live holy
lives (Gal. 5:16-18).
We have all of
the Spirit, but does He have all of us?
Am I yielded to Him? Do I
“keep on being filled”? Has this
command become a blessed habit to me?
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB." "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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