PT-1 "The Meaning of Being Filled" (Eph. 5:18b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/11/2019 10:30 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-1 The Meaning of Being Filled

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5:18b

 

            Message of the verse:  “But be filled with the Spirit.”

 

            As mentioned in our last SD we will begin today to look at the first sub-section under the main section “The Command.” 

 

            As we begin this SD we want to look at what the filling of the Spirit is not.  The first thing we can say that the filling of the Spirit is not a dramatic, esoteric experience of suddenly being energized and spiritualized into a permanent state of advance spirituality by what some call a second blessing after a person is saved.  It is not some temporary kind of “zap” that results in ecstatic speech or some kind of unearthly visions.

 

            Second:  Being filled with the Spirit is not the notion at the other extreme, that is simply stoically trying to do what God wants us to do, with the Holy Spirit’s blessing but basically in our own power.  It is not an act of the flesh which has God’s approval.  If you think about anything a believer does in the flesh it will never glorify the Lord.

 

            Third:  There is a difference in being indwelt with the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit as all believers are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, as Paul says if we do not have the Holy Spirit we do not belong to God (See Rom. 8:9).

 

            Fourth:  We do not receive the Holy Spirit in degrees or in doses, as every Christian not only possess the Holy Spirit but possesses Him in His fullness.  MacArthur adds “God does not parcel out the Spirit, as if He could somehow be divided into various segments or parts.  ‘He gives the Spirit without measure,’ Jesus said (John 3:34).”

 

            Fifth:  We read in 1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”  This verse shows us that the filling with the Spirit is not the same as the baptism of the Spirit, and the reason for this is that every believer has been baptized with and received the Spirit.  MacArthur adds “Although its results are experienced and enjoyed, baptism by and reception of the Spirit are not realities we can feel, and are certainly not experiences reserved only for specially-blessed believers.  This miracle is a spiritual reality—whether realized or not—that occurs in every believer the moment he becomes a Christian and is placed by Christ into His Body by the Holy Spirit, who then takes up residence in that life.”

 

            When reading the first letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians we see that there were many problems that they were experiencing.  Let me note that when we read letters like this we can certainly learn from the problems that these believers had.  Paul did not say that the problems with the Corinthians of their immaturity and sinfulness was due to the fact that they were not did not have the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  He reminded them that each one of them already possessed the Holy Spirit, and earlier in his letter to them he had pleaded with them to “flee immorality.  Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Cor. 6:18-19).  Their sins were not because they did not have the Spirit presence in them, but in spite of the Holy Spirit’s presence. 

 

            MacArthur adds one more thing:  “The filling with the Spirit is not the same as being sealed, or secured, by Him.  That is an accomplishment fact (see 1:13).  Nowhere are believers commanded or exhorted to be indwelt, baptized, or sealed by the Holy Spirit.  The only command is to ‘be filled.’”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I realize that all of what I wrote about today, I have learned earlier in my walk with the Lord.  The Christian life is all about bringing glory to the Lord, not to have some kind of feelings that some think are important.  In my prayer list I have written and ask the Lord to help me in this area.  “I want to remember that truth is more important than emotions.  Warren Wiersbe writes:  ‘The Lord always has the last word, and in will not be darkness.  We should never doubt in the darkness what God has taught us in the light.’”

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I do believe that I have to better understand humility in order for the Spirit of God to continually fill me.  It is all about God.

 

Today’s quotation comes from David Jeremiah who states “You re in His hands and He is Lord.”

 

7/11/2019 11:11 AM