Study 3: Replenish (Filling of the Spirit)

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1 Study 3: Replenish (Filling of the Spirit) For more details on this problem solving device, see The Parallax Mk.II: pages: Read Eph.5:18 The filling of the Spirit is part of a larger body of doctrine called pneumatology. A complete study of pneumatology would include: The name of the Holy Spirit The deity of the Holy Spirit (divine attributes, divine works) Types and Symbols of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit and Prophecy The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament The distinctive character of the present age The work of the Holy Spirit in the world Then the study moves on to the Holy Spirits relations to the Christian: Regeneration and the Holy Spirit Indwelling of the Holy Spirit Baptism of the Holy Spirit Then the believer s responsibility to the Holy Spirit: Power to overcome evil Power to do good Conditions prerequisite to Filling (grieve not, quench not, walk in) This lesson on the Soldiers Equipment is concerning itself only with the last point in the above list. What do you notice about this list? (Key observations: a] regeneration, indwelling, baptism, and filling are not the same thing. b] filling is the responsibility of the believer, c] there are conditions to being filled.) Definition of the Filling of the Holy Spirit Discuss the following statements: The filling of the Spirit is the very centre of the theme of the spiritual life Commented [RO1]: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, (Eph 5:18)

2 The Spirits fulfilling of all that He came to do in the heart of the believer by the filling of the Spirit Being filled with the Spirit means deliverance from the power of the world, the flesh and the devil When filled with the Spirit there is a manifestation of every divine grace Illustration of the Filling of the Holy Spirit To use a basic, and by no means sufficient illustration of the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit, some might remember when Australia changed from using Super or Standard fuel to Unleaded fuel. The new unleaded fuel is not entirely compatible with the old engines and without an additive, there is a risk of damaging the engine. Vehicles manufactured after that fuel-change date were made compatible by switching metal types in the engine. When a person becomes a believer (regenerated) we can no longer run on sin (pre-salvation nature) because our engines have been switched (regenerated) over to another, superior type of fuel. 1 When does the believer become indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Is this a permanent indwelling? When does the believer become filled with the Holy Spirit? Is this a permanent filling? This illustration tells us that the new engine (regenerated soul) runs best on the new fuel (Holy Spirit) and runs poorly on the old fuel (sin nature). Being filled with the Spirit is like running on superior and clean fuel. Not being filled with the Spirit is like running on inferior and dirty polluting fuel. Being filled with the Spirit is simpler than even the above illustration. the prerequisite adjustments outlined by the Scripture have been increased, demands being added which are foreign to the revelation God has given. 2 Discuss what you have been taught regarding being filled with the Holy Spirit. 1 Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, 1988, pg116 2 Chafer, Systematic Theology, 1983, vol.vi, pg232

3 Three common errors Error 1: asking God for the filling of the Spirit: Most common error is filled by asking for it. Lk11:13 is used to support this error however it is about receiving the Spirit, not being filled. God is not withholding this blessing until He is prevailed upon or some reluctance on His part is broken down. He awaits the requisite human adjustments...the results are immediate and the blessing is secured when the conditions are met, but prayer is not one of those conditions. 3 Error 2: waiting. The Pentecost account is used here, but the disciples were not waiting for their own filling, but were waiting for the advent of the Spirit. 4 Since He came and still is here, there is no waiting on the part of believers. It is the Holy Spirit who waits for the believer to meet the condition. Error 3: depends on a crisis and filling claimed by a supreme effort of faith: likened to taking a big breath. But the Spirit already indwells and when the believer makes the adjustment to meet the conditioned, the Spirit is released within to fill the believer. How the believer loses the filling and is refilled Do not condition 1: Eph4:30 grieving the Holy Spirit Being filled with the Holy Spirit means that the believer s thoughts, actions, and feelings are dominated by the divine life purposed by the indwelling Spirit. The Holy Spirit ministers through the believer. When the believer s thoughts, actions, and feelings are dominated by the presence or tolerance of sin, the Holy Spirit is grieved. The Holy Spirit has to minister to the believer. Is the Holy Spirit ministering through you or to you? Read John 14:16-17; 1Jn2:27 Discuss grieved but not lost. 3 Chafer, Systematic Theology, 1983, vol.vi, pg Chafer, Systematic Theology, 1983, vol.vi, pg233 Commented [RO2]: If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luk 11:13) Commented [RO3]: And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Eph 4:30) Commented [RO4]: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (Joh 14:16-17) Commented [RO5]: But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie just as it has taught you, abide in him. (1Jn 2:27)

4 There is prevention of losing the filling: a] the Word of God: when cherished in the heart Read Ps119:11 & Heb4:12. It preserves from sin and detects sin. b] the indwelling Spirit: the ability to resist sin c] the intercession of Christ There is a remedy to losing the filling: Read Jn13:3-11 In verse 10 we see The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. In the days of Jesus, people would go to the public baths and be wholly bathed (saving cleansing from sin). Then they would walk home, bare foot, on the dirty street and would require a partial bathing of their feet (post-salvation sin cleansing) before entering the home (enjoy communion/fellowship). Read 1 John 1:9 again. Confession of sin results in two things: a] forgiveness (whole bathing) and b] Cleansing (partial bathing). Do not condition 2: 1Thess5:19 quenching the Holy Spirit Discuss what this term might mean? When a thirst is quenched, thirst is no longer a motivator. When the Holy Spirit is quenched the Christian resists or rejects the will of God for him 5 Quench means an attitude of resistance or indifference toward the known will of God (the Bible). Many think that submitting to God s will means the necessity of rejecting our own will. Discuss this. Read Phil.2:13 God utilises the human will as His instrument to do His will through the human will. It is not that our own will is rejected, but that it is transformed to the same as the will of God. To not quench the Holy Spirit is to yield to Him. Read Rom.6:1-23 with special attention to vss How do these verses describe yielding? Read Rom.12:1-2 (Note the word transformed is mistranslated. It should be transfigured, as used in Lk.22:42 and Phil.2:8). Discuss why this correction in translation is important? 5 Chafer, Systematic Theology, 1983, vol.vi, pg251 Commented [RO6]: I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Psa 119:11) Commented [RO7]: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb 4:12) Commented [RO8]: Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean." When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. (Joh 13:3-13) Commented [RO9]: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1Jn 1:9) Commented [RO10]: Do not quench the Spirit. (1Th 5:19) Commented [RO11]: for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Php 2:13) Commented [RO12]: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (Rom 6:11-13) Commented [RO13]: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is...

5 (Hint: transformation comes from without/transfiguration comes from within) Three things to find the will of God, thus avoiding quenching the Spirit: a] leading of the Spirit is only for those already committed to do the will of God, b] Spirit guidance is always in harmony with the Scriptures in the heart and minds of believers, not in signs, dreams, visions, c] no rules governing the Holy Spirits guidance Do condition 3: Gal5:16 walk in the Spirit What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? Though the reading of this verse imposes responsibility upon the believer for the maintenance of walking in the Spirit, the more accurate rendering of the text assigns such achieving of the walk to the Holy Spirit and enjoins upon the Christian the attitude of dependence upon the Spirit.The Christian has no power within himself.to enter, promote, or maintain a walk in the Spirit. 6 Discuss this statement: If the believer is doing anything to walk or be filled with the Spirit, he is then able to lead the Spirit. If the believer maintains an attitude of confidence and expectation of walking or being filled with the Spirit, he will be led by the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit means to depend upon the Spirit. As in walking, there is a constant casting of one foot in front of another with confidence and anticipation that the foot will support the walker. This has become an activity that does not require thought of the process. the walk in the Spirit is not only a constant series of commitments, but a constant casting of oneself upon the Spirit with confidence and anticipation that all needed support will be realized. 7 Walking in the Spirit can also become an activity that does not require thought of the process. There are therefore three requirements to the Spirit s filling: a] confession of every known sin (see Bounce back study), b] yielding to the will of God, c] walking in dependence upon the Holy Spirit Commented [RO14]: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (Gal 5:16) 6 Chafer, Systematic Theology, 1983, vol.vi, pg261 7 Chafer, Systematic Theology, 1983, vol.vi, pg262

6 Why this is a Problem Solving device Three generalised adversities press on the soul of the believer, seeking an entry point to be converted into stress. Adversity 1: The world. Read Jam.1:27 discuss how this verse describes how being filled with the Spirit prevents the world from staining our soul. Adversity 2: The flesh Read 2Tim.3:16-17 discuss how being filled with the Spirit helps us overcome the flesh. Sin has had them (flesh impulses) in it grip and has twisted them. To be dead to sin with Christ is not to be lacking in these natural desires, but to have real alternative to sin and the world s sin system as the orientation and motivation for our natural impulses. We have a new force within us that gives us choice. In this sense we are free from sin even if not yet free of it. 8 Adversity 3: The Devil Read Eph.6:10-12; Jam.4:7, 1Pet.5:9 discuss how being filled with the Spirit empowers us to resist the devil (must be steadfast in the faith and in submission to God) If you are not experiencing victory in the world, the flesh, or the devil could it be because you are not filled with the Spirit? The believer can have every confidence and expectation of being filled with the Holy Spirit every time Problem Solving Device 1: Bounce back, is applied. Commented [RO15]: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (Jas 1:27) Commented [RO16]: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2Ti 3:16-17) Commented [RO17]: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:10-12) Commented [RO18]: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (Jas 4:7) Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (1Pe 5:9) 8 Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, 1988, pg117