Filled with the Holy Spirit

2022-01-12

While being indwelt by or being baptized with the Holy Spirit is something that is true for every Christian all the time (objective truth), being filled with the Spirit is not necessarily true of the Christian all the time (subjective). Being filled with the Spirit is when your heavenly position in Christ and the indwelling of the Spirit become very tangible in your personal experience.

For example, to be filled with the Spirit is a command. If we were always filled with the Spirit, why command it?

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)

There is much truth in this verse. It defines being filled with the Holy Spirit as being controlled by the Spirit. We can tell because it compares it with drunkenness. When you are drunk, the booze controls you. You are not in control of your faculties any longer. On the contrary, when you are filled with the Spirit, you are controlled by Him.

The following verses tell us some ways that we become filled with the Spirit:

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (Ephesians 5:19-21)

Singing to the Lord and thanking Him is one way to be filled with the Spirit. Psalms are a part of the Scriptures; filling your mind with His Word and godly songs is one way to do this. But we do not just meditate on and sing those wonderful words; we speak and sing them “to the Lord.” Continuous thanks to the Lord is also a part of this. He provides all that we need, both spiritual and physical needs. Speaking and singing God’s Word is a part of pulling down strong holds of the mind.

This is depicted in the case of Zacharias when his speech came back at his son’s birth: “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:67-68). Interestingly, this is before the baptism of the Spirit came since Christ was yet to be born at this point.

This is also seen when the disciples were initially baptized with the Spirit. They preached in languages unknown to them, and onlookers said, “we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:11). Praising God (in any language, the focus is not on that!) and being filled with the Spirit go together.

Moreover, we are filled with the Spirit by being a part of the church and deferring to others. Submitting to others is seen in the context of the local church. We teach others and learn from others by being around them.

We can learn more about what being filled with the Holy Spirit does from other verses. After praying for boldness because of persecution, this was the result:

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 with boldness. (Acts 4:31)

Being filled with the Spirit correlates to preaching the Word with boldness. We see this also with the apostle Paul (Acts 9:17, 20). Persecution itself also can cause this, as seen in Acts 13:50-52.

Confrontation with evil spirits also causes one to be filled with the Spirit:

Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? (Acts 13:9-10)

A life that is focused on the Lord will be a life that is filled with the Spirit. It is the life of power when you set yourself aside and continually rely on Christ. When we are not focused on Him, but on ourselves and our circumstances, we will not be filled with the Spirit.

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? (Luke 11:13)