The Holy Spirit: The Filling Of The Spirit (Part 4)

Review

Turn to Ephesians 5:18-21.

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The contrast of the example

“Stop being drunk with wine.” Instead, “put yourself under the control of the Spirit.”

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The command for filling

Nowhere are we commanded to be baptized with the Spirit.

Nowhere are we commanded to be indwelt by the Spirit.

But here we are commanded to “be filled with the Spirit.”

So the command is…

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Be filled: be controlled (by the Spirit)

This command is in the present tense, passive voice.

As you go about your daily routine, the Spirit controlling you is not to be…

a one-time action.

an on-and-off action.

The Spirit controlling you is to be a continuous kind of action.

Application: You are commanded to be filled with the Spirit every waking moment of the day!

We also learned that this command is in the passive voice.

Being filled with the Spirit is not something you do yourself, it is something that the Spirit does to you. You don’t control yourself by the Spirit, you submit to the Spirit’s controlling you.

Being filled with the Spirit does not mean we receive more of the Holy Spirit, it means “He is given (by us) CONTROL OVER US! [It is] Not us using the Spirit as a Power Source, but letting Him use us.” - Pastor Frank Camp

Because this is a command, this is a choice that we must make by faith. Control is not the work of man; it is the work of God. He will control us, but we must yield to His controlling by faith.

“Lord, I want You to control me today. I yield myself to your leading and I am trusting you to control me today.”

The Bible doesn’t command that we pray for filling. It simply commands us to be filled, so it’s an appeal to our will. It’s a choice that you make by faith and you can express that choice in prayer to God. But so often we stop being submitted to the Spirit and we take back control from him as we do what we want to do.

continue here on Wednesday 5/29/24

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Perhaps at this point, you may be asking, “Pastor Tim, just tell me, how can I be filled or controlled by the Spirit?”

If that’s you, I understand the question, but it’s not the right question to ask. A better question is, “how can I submit myself to the filling of the Spirit?”

Do you see the difference between the two? Ephesians 5:18 does not command you to fill yourself with the Spirit. It commands you to submit yourself to the filling of the Spirit.

“How can I submit myself to the filling of the Spirit?” Or, “how can I submit myself to the control of the Spirit?”

That is a choice you make by faith.

The Holy Spirit is not your co-pilot. He doesn’t ride shotgun with you. He is not there to debate with you what you ought to do. No, you hand Him the keys and you climb into the backseat. “It’s all yours. Whatever you want for me today, I will continually listen, submit, and obey.” And then you go live it that day.

Christian, that must be your ongoing walk with the Lord throughout the day. Your responsibility before God is not to be controlled; your responsibility is to submit to His controlling. God the Holy Spirit guarantees that He will do His job, but you must do yours. You must be submitted.

Don’t fill your life with the noise or the control of outside influences like alcohol. Beware of that. Beware of submitting yourself to outside influences that will prevent you from being submitted to the Spirit of God within you.

As you begin your day alone with God, make sure that you are submitted to His control. If you stop submitting to His control by going and sinning against Him, confess that sin, claim His forgiveness, and then consciously choose to submit to Him again. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to control you, but you must submit to Him by faith.

I always try to have a prayer time on Sunday morning after I get to church and have most everything ready. I do that so I can pray for the services, but even more importantly, I think the main reason I do that is to make sure that my own heart is ready.

As I’ve been studying this passage, I’ve been learning that I need to take God as His Word about this just like the rest of Scripture. According to Ephesians 5:18, if I choose to submit myself to the Spirit’s control, He will control me.

And so, often when I pray on Sunday mornings or most any morning, I will tell the Lord of my decision to submit to the Spirit’s control.

I might say something like this:

“Lord, I want to be submitted to your Spirit’s control today, so I’m taking you at your Word and I’m trusting you to control what I say, what I do, and what I think.”

In other words, I’m simply telling God about the choice I’m making to submit to Him by faith. And then I go through my day, believing that He is going to control me.

Here’s some certainties:

The Spirit will not control you if you don’t desire Him to control you. Why? Because you’re not submitted. If you are spiritually self-sufficient, where you’re trying to live the Christian life in your own strength, then you won’t be submitted to the Spirit’s control.

The Spirit will not control you if you don’t confess known sin. Why? Because you’re not submitted. You’re not willing to live in obedience to the Scriptures, which is what the Holy Spirit will always prompts you to do.

The Spirit will not control you if you are not dedicated to the Lord. Why? Because you’re not submitted. When it comes to your walk with God, you have to be committed. The Spirit of God will not control a Christian who treats God as a hobby. You have to be serious about walking with God each day or you are not ready to submit yourself to His control.

Object lesson: two water bottles

I have two water bottles here. What’s the difference that you see between the two?

One bottle is filled with water with some food coloring in it. The other is empty, right? Well, not really. It looks empty, but it actually is filled with air. It’s filled with the stuff we breathe.

One bottle is filled or controlled by the water inside of it, while the other bottle is filled or controlled by the air inside of it.

What happens when I tip the full bottle of water over and pour the water out? The bottle fills with air.

Yes, that is guaranteed. Every single time you pour out a bottle of water you are also filling it with air. The bottle is not empty. It is simply filled with something else: the air that we breathe.

Likewise, when a Christian chooses by faith, “You know what, I am not going to submit to the control of the flesh today or to anything else. I am going to submit to the control of the Spirit” You make that choice and it is guaranteed. He will fill you just like the air fills the bottle. He will assume control and He will lead you.

You cannot see, taste, or touch the air in the bottle, but you know the bottle is full of air. It is evident because the bottle is not crushed like in a vacuum. Likewise, you may not be able to feel the filling of the Spirit, but you can know with confidence that you are filled.

The bottle filled with water represents a Christian who is indwelt by the Spirit of God but is controlled by the flesh. The works of the flesh are obvious.

The bottle filled with air represents a Christian who is indwelt by the Spirit of God and is controlled by the Spirit of God.

Christian, that’s how God intends for you to live every moment of the day. By faith, give up control of yourself and when you do that, you are in essence handing the keys to your temple to its permanent resident, the Holy Spirit, and saying, “here, it’s yours. You do what you want with my body and with my life today.”

Next week: the characteristics of being filled