Filled with the Spirit

Introduction

Last week we began a series titled “Having Communion with God”. This series speaks to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit / Ghost of God. In that introduction, we looked at Act. 1:1-12, the Scripture which demonstrates the ‘Changing of the Guard’ as Jesus concludes His ministry AT THAT TIME upon earth, and gave instruction to look for the baptism of the Holy Ghost soon thereafter.

We looked at:

The Promise of the Spirit

It was from the Saviour, of the Father

It would be Sent

They would be Saturated (baptized)

As I said, when one is born again, they didn’t get just a little bit of God the Spirit, they were Immersed in Him. Which then now as we’re talking about being Filled with the Spirit, every Christian has the ability to do so as they have the means for it.

The Power of the Spirit

It is Immeasurable

It’s Irrefutable (Proven)

The Performance of the Spirit

It’s Definite

It’s Directed

To be a Witness

To Wherever

It’s Defined

He Seals

He Shows

He Intercedes

He Convicts

He Confirms

He Reveals

He Enables Godliness

So we spoke then of what the Spirit of God is and can do IN you and THROUGH you as believers.

Today we’re going to begin to examine what God says for US to do concerning the Spirit of God.

And the first thing that we’re going to look at is the command to be Filled with the Spirit

That being said, we’re going to look at the Cause of the Filling

I. The Cause of the Filling

Before I begin I want to clarify something. Being baptized with the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit for the Christian today is two different things.

The baptism we experience is a sealing and enabling. Being filled is different, as I’ll explain momentarily.

It’s one thing to be immersed in the Spirit, it’s another for the Spirit to be immersed IN YOU.

The Cause of the Filling #1 is Deliverance

Deliverance

We need to put ‘first things first’, in the sense that in order to be FILLED with the Spirit, you must first be BESTOWED WITH the Spirit. In other words, as Jesus told Nicodemus: ‘ye must be born again’. Ye must be Delivered from your sins - and the only way to do that is through the Salvation found in Christ Jesus!

(Ill.) Asking a lost person to be filled with the Spirit is like asking a cat to bark or a pig to cluck. It’s an impossible thing to do.

According to Jesus, He’s the only way: John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Religion can’t make you clean: Matthew 23:25–26 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

Keeping the Law can’t get you there: Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Only through Faith in Jesus can you be made righteous! Romans 3:21–23 “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

We’re all sinners in need of a Saviour - my question to you is, have you been saved?

You must be Delivered

Decluttering

Once you’ve been saved, and been baptized by the Spirit, in order to be filled a Decluttering must occur.

The truth is this: Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. (Ill.) Right now I have water in my cup. But if I wanted to put coffee in there, what would I have to do with the water? (Get it out).

The same principle holds true - if you desire to be filled with the Spirit, then there are some things in your life taking up space that you need to clear out.

Btw, this same principle holds true concerning your time. I’ve counseled many Christians over the years concerning time-management in the things of God. They say they want to spend more time in study, prayer, church, but just don’t have the time - well, you’d have the time if unprofitable things in your life wasn’t taking up the time.

In order to be filled with the Spirit, you first have to MAKE ROOM FOR THE FILLING TO OCCUR

Discernment (v10)

Ephesians 5:10 “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.”

Proving (def) testing, checking, examining

There are some things that are acceptable unto God, and others that are not.

There are some things that are acceptable, but are made unacceptable

What I mean by that is that is that anything that we put out of order in our lives is made unacceptable.

(Ill.) Sports - by themselves are not sinful, yet too many people elevate the importance over God and thereby make them unacceptable in God’s sight

There are some things that are acceptable, but not profitable.

(Ill.) Social media itself is not sinful, but more often than not, it’s not profitable, if for no other reason it is a destroyer of time.

In order to be filled, we need to make sure that we’re filling ourselves with the right stuff.

(Ill.) How many of you would put diesel fuel in a gasoline engine? Why not? Because it’s destructive! We use discernment when we fill up our cars, but oftentimes, not our hearts!

We must have discernment

Deliberately

We live in a sin filled world.

We are inherently sinful in our natural state.

It’s not in our nature to seek & desire the things of God, in fact - it goes against our culture and who we are!

That being said, if we’re to be filled with the Spirit of God, it will be by deliberate actions on our part!

It must be Deliberate - BECAUSE whether we’re filled with the Spirit of God or not is based on our Decisions

Decisions

Notice the wording in Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

This indicates a choice!

He didn’t say ‘but ye ARE filled’, but ‘BE filled’.

Many Christians today are SEALED with the Holy Ghost, but not FILLED - and the reasons are by what I just stated:

They haven’t Decluttered - gotten the things out that don’t need to be there

They refuse to Discern - what is acceptable & profitable unto the LORD

They have not Deliberately Decided to be filled with the Spirit

If you’re a Christian, and you desire to be Filled with the Spirit of God, then you must choose to do so. Have you? Will you?

We see the Cause of the Filling

II. The Contrast in the Filling

When Paul addresses the Filling of the Spirit, he gave a very specific contrast - that of a drunkeness with alcohol, which he says is ‘excess’. That word there means ‘riot’. So the literal reading of that is ‘be not drunk with wine, which is riotous’.

Given that Paul - by the Spirit of God - used this contrast, we’re going to use it today and try to see what God was saying for His people to be.

Paul contrasts:

A Fleshly vs. a Spiritual Filling

When people drink to drunkeness they are filling themselves with a fleshly, carnal intoxicant.

So Paul is saying: ‘Don’t feed your flesh these carnal intoxicants, but rather fill yourself with Spiritual Godliness.

(Ill.) This goes back to the story of the man with two wolves fighting within - when asked the question ‘which one wins’ the answer was ‘the one I feed’.

Paul is saying - Don’t feed or fill yourself with carnal delights, but the Spirit of God

And notice what he’s saying in the statement itself: YOU CAN’T BE FILLED WITH BOTH!

It’s a Fleshly vs. Spiritual Filling

Losing Inhibitions in the Flesh vs. the Spirit

Inhibitions (def) root word ‘inhibit’ meaning ‘to hold in or back’.

It is a holding back internally of something that you wouldn’t normally do.

When one become intoxicated on alcohol, rather quickly their inhibitions leave them.

(Ill) The person who wouldn’t normally commit fornication, once drunk suddenly loses their restraint and does things they typically wouldn’t do.

Paul says - DON’T DO THAT! Don’t lose your inhibitions in the flesh!

Young person & old alike, Proverbs 20:1 “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Don’t be deceived in that wicked thing!

However, if we’re filled with the Spirit, it’ll cause us to lose some inhibitions as well - but in a good way!

(Ill.) The Christian who wouldn’t normally tell someone about Jesus, suddenly can’t help themselves! The Christian who would normally come only to MWS, will have a desire to come to other services as well! THAT’S A GOOD THING! PAUL SAYS - YEAH, DO THAT!

Losing Inhibitions in the flesh vs. the Spirit

Pursuance of Fleshly vs. Spiritual Excitement

Those who seek drunkeness with alcohol do it for one of two reasons. A superficial reason and and deep-seated reason: The first one is they are looking for ‘a good time’ they are out ‘seeking excitement’. They feel that intoxicating beverages are the ticket to some fun.

Before I continue, let me pause there a moment: What’s wrong with your life in the first place to where you need that to find pleasure? If you must have that to have pleasure, you’ve got problems that need addressed, not drowned! More on this in a moment

Paul is saying ‘Don’t pursue that fleshly excitement which is fleeting and but for a moment. Seek your excitement in the Spirit!’

Church, living a Spirit-filled life is not dull or boring, it’s exciting!

(Ill.) I had a young man (Cole) say to me this week. He was studying intensely to present a Gospel message at his school and he said something to the effect ‘I didn’t know this could be this much fun!’.

Serving God, Learning about God, Telling others about God is not only enjoyable, but it’s exciting if you’re filled with the Spirit!

Don’t Pursue fleshly filling, but Spiritual Filling

Desirous to Fill an Internal vs. External Void

Here’s the other deep-seated reason people desire the drink alcohol - is that they desire to fill a void inside.

Something is missing from their life. They have a hole inside that they are trying to fill. It might be a hurt, it might be a desire - but there’s a void that they are trying to fill.

People drink - to fill a void. But when one is filled with the Spirit, there is no void. Not in them at least.

The Spirit-filled Christian seeks to fill voids - but they are not internal, but external - they are in other people.

The Spirit-filled Christian seeks to help others be made whole by Jesus. The lost who have a void that only Christ can fill - that’s the void the Spirit-filled Christians seeks to fill!

Desirous to fill an Internal vs. an External Void

Filling of Wine Degrades Men

When someone gets drunk on alcohol, they become caricatures, clowns. They become wicked and abominable. They don’t get suave & sophisticated - they become laughingstocks & are mocked.

Drunkenness degrades men - it makes you LESS - but being filled with the Spirit Exalts God

Filling of the Spirit Exalts God

(Examine Act. 2)

v4 - they are filled

v5-11 - men hear the Word of God in their tongue

What are they doing? Acts 2:11 “Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”

They are exalting God! They are telling the masses assembled there at Jerusalem about Jesus Christ - the one whom was Crucified for their sins, was Raised from the dead for their Justification, and then ascended to Heaven to prepare an Eternal Home for those who trust in Jesus!

The Filling of the Spirit Exalts God!

Filling of Wine Causes Men to Mock

We see that some mistakingly took them for being drunk (v13;15) - and what was their reaction? They began to mock - because that’s the natural reaction to a drunkard.

Filling of Wine causes Men to Mock

Filling of the Spirit Leads Men to Christ

After Peter preached unto them at Pentecost, we see the result of a Spirit-Filled Preacher: Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

Paul made this great contrast in filling because there’s a great difference between men being filled with carnal, ungodliness and the Spirit of God!

We see the Cause & the Contrast of the Filling

III. The Culmination of the Filling

What does it look like when someone is filled with the Spirit?

It’s seen in:

How they Follow (v1)

They don’t tell God ‘hey, I’m going this way God, you coming?’.

They don’t follow God kicking & screaming the whole way.

They follow God ‘as dear children’

As a child that looks up to, trusts, and this fully dependent on their parent. That’s the way a Spirit-filled believer follows God!

It’s seen in how they follow

By their Fruit (v9)

Is the fruit that they are bearing ‘goodness, righteousness & truth?’ (v9)

Do they have the joy of the Lord, singing & making melody in their hearts? (v19) or walking around ill & ticked at the world continually?

Are they giving thanks for all things? (v20) or are they constantly complaining?

It’s seen by their Fruit

In their Feet (v8;15)

Twice we see here in this passage a reference to the walk of the believer:

Ephesians 5:8 “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”

There should be a stark difference in the Spirit-filled believer’s daily life today than in time past. It should be apparent to anyone who looks. (I’m not talking about microscopic changes - when we’re born again, we’re a ‘new creature’ - (Ill.) it should be as stark a difference as between a moth & a butterfly!)

In their Fellowships (v21-6:9)

The way that they interact with those around them. In their family relationships, business relationships - those people that are closest to them & know them the best - they will be able to tell!

It’s easy to fool the stranger and the ignorant - but hard to fool your wife, children, business associates.

You’ll see the effects of the Spirit-filled Christian in their fellowships / relationships.

Conclusion

Some of you here can’t get filled with the Spirit, because you don’t yet HAVE the Spirit. But Jesus loves you and desires to save you and seal you with the Holy Ghost of God! But it’s your choice, whether you accept or reject Him.

Christian, let me ask you: Are you filled with the Spirit? If not, why not? If you paid attention to this message my guess would be that the Spirit of God showed you why not - you just might not want to admit it.

Might I remind you - you can only be filled by Deliberate Decisions. What one will you make today?