THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

THE L.I.F.E. PLAN THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BLOCK 5 THEME 9 - EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT LESSON 4 (180 of 216)

BLOCK 5 THEME 9: EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT LESSON 4 (180 OF 216): THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT LESSON AIM: Share the benefits of the filling of the Holy Spirit. SCRIPTURE: (Ephesians 5:18-21) 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. God has done everything necessary to see that his people can do everything that he wants them to do. He has not left us to ourselves but has given us the divine enablement to live and do as he commands. The primary means through which his enablement comes to us is through the Holy Spirit. In the lessons of this theme, we have looked at several works of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. While the Holy Spirit does many works, there are at least four that he does in our life at the instant of salvation. We have said that these works seem to happen simultaneously when we are saved. At salvation, the Holy Spirit does the work of regeneration. This is the raising of our spirit from spiritual death, also called the new birth. He indwells us, or comes to live within us. He baptizes us, making us a member of the body of Christ. And, he seals us, guaranteeing that what God has started in our life, he is going to bring to completion. These works are onetime works. They cannot be undone therefore they are not repeated in the life of the believer. There is another work which the Holy Ghost does in the believer, however, which is done many times throughout our life. This is the work of the filling of the Holy Spirit. It is the filling of the Holy Spirit that empowers us for daily life and everything that goes with it. To be filled with the Spirit simply means to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit, or to walk in the Spirit. This is the condition in which we should seek to live every day. The filling of the Spirit helps us face and respond to every aspect of life on a spiritual level. The filling of the Holy Spirit is an ongoing work by the Spirit in our life. It is the way that God empowers us for his purpose in the world. When we study the way God empowered people in the Bible, we see two situations in which he did this. First, there were times when God had a special assignment for someone and the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, enabling them to do the assignment they had been given. In the Old Testament, the ministry of the Holy Spirit was different than that of the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit apparently did not abide with the people of God on an ongoing basis. He came upon them to empower them for their assignment and went away after the work was done. In the New Testament and into today, the Holy Spirit indwells the people of God, making it possible to live at all times under the influence of the Holy Spirit. This being possible should encourage us to be more intentional and urgent in the work God has given us to do at this time in history. This, therefore, is the second situation in which God empowered his people. He empowered them for daily living.

From our theme verse, we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. That is, we should seek to live our life each day, moment by moment, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Many factors contribute to whether we do this or not. There are some steps we can take which can lead to our walking in the Spirit. We will mention three of them. These steps are not a recipe we can follow like baking a cake, but they are things we can do from a human stand point which will put us into a position for the God who lives within us to live through us, and this, after all, is the point of being Spirit filled. The first requirement for being filled with the Spirit is salvation. This should go without saying. A person has to be saved to be Spirit filled. God does not fill the lost with his Spirit for daily living. This is a blessing only for those who believe in Jesus Christ unto salvation. If you are saved, you are a candidate for the filling of the Spirit. Second, if those who are saved want to be filled with the Spirit, they have to surrender to the will of God. God is working all things in the world according to his purpose. If we want our lives to be pleasing to God, we have to align with his will. We have to live and work toward the same purpose for which God is working in the world. This is an area of life in which every Christian faces the constant battle of living for self or living for God. It is a struggle, and one that is ongoing. It only gets easier to deal with when we surrender to God s will and keep our commitment to him. Next, if those who are saved and surrendered to the will of God want to be filled with the Spirit, they have to undergo the process of spiritual growth. We call this sanctification. It is not the will of the Lord for his people that they never progress in spiritual maturity. In like manner that we grow physically, we are to grow spiritually. Spiritual growth is a process that does not happen by itself; it has to be fed. We feed our spirit from God s Word through reading, studying, understanding, and applying it to our entire life. The more we do this, the more we grow in Christ. The more we grow in Christ, the more likely we are to be filled with the Spirit of God. Sanctification, as we said is a process. It is positional, that is, it means that God has set us apart for his glory and use. Sanctification is progressive. It is a progression in spiritual growth. And, sanctification is personal. As God does his work of sanctification in our soul, it will bring us to begin to make some personal decisions regarding how we live in this world. Writing to the Ephesians, Paul addressed the idea of personal sanctification in chapter four, verse twenty to chapter five verse twenty one. He talked about the daily decision we must make to put off the old man and to put on the new man. The old man, the old sinful nature, manifests itself through things like lying, anger, giving place to the devil in our life, stealing, profanity, grieving the Holy Spirit, bitterness, wrath, slander, unforgiveness, fornication, covetousness, idolatry and so on. The new man manifests itself in love, forgiveness, honest work, walking in the light of the Lord, producing the fruit of the Spirit, seeking to fulfill the will of God, wisdom, and worship. When these things are coming forth from our life, we can be sure that we are being filled with the Spirit of God and that we are walking in the Spirit. God s will is that his people walk in the Spirit. We cannot fellowship with darkness and walk in the Spirit at the same time. When we were lost, we walked in spiritual darkness. We were under the influence of the spirit of the devil. Now that we are in Christ, we are to put off the works of darkness and live as children of light. In the same way that God has set us aside for his use, we are to set ourselves aside for God s use. When we submit to God s will, put off the old man, and put on the new man in Christ, the Spirit of God will well up in us as a fountain of living water and he will live through us, empowering us for the work God has given us to do.

LESSON OUTLINE BLOCK 5 THEME 9: EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT LESSON 4 (180 OF 216): THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The filling of the Spirit: I SIMULTANEOUS WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AT SALVATION A. Regeneration B. Indwelling C. Baptizing D. Sealing II THE ONGOING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT A. God s empowerment of his people 1. For special service 2. For daily living B. Contributing factors to the filling of the Spirit 1. Salvation 2. Surrender to the will of God 3. Sanctification a. Put off the old man b. Put on the new man SCRIPTURES TO BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING 1. The filling of the Spirit John 14-16 Ephesians 4:20-5:21 Galatians 5:16-26 LINES OF THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION 1. PNEUMATOLOGY The works of the Holy Spirit The fruit of the Holy Spirit The filling of the Holy Spirit 2. THE DOCTRINE OF SATAN The works of the flesh 3. SOTERIOLOGY Sanctification 4. ANTHROPOLOGY Walking in the Spirit

QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY 1. What is God s primary means of enabling the believer to fulfill his mission in the world? The Holy Spirit 2. List the four simultaneous works of the Holy Spirit in the believer s life at salvation. Regeneration; Indwelling; Baptism; Sealing 3. Why can these works of the Holy Spirit never be repeated? Because they can never be undone 4. What is regeneration? The resurrection of man s dead spirit; also called the new birth 5. What does it mean to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit? It means that the Holy Spirit lives, dwells, abides within our spirit 6. What is the work of the Holy Spirit which is repeated in the life of a believer? The filling of the Spirit 7. What does the filling of the Spirit do for the believer? Allows him to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh 8. What evidence can we have that we are filled with the Spirit of God? The fruit of the Spirit and other godly actions such as love, forgiveness, etc

BLOCK 5 THEME 9: EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT LESSON 4 (180 OF 216): THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE THOUGHT 1. What is God s primary means of enabling the believer to fulfill his mission in the world? 2. List the four simultaneous works of the Holy Spirit in the believer s life at salvation. 3. Why can these works of the Holy Spirit never be repeated? 4. What is regeneration? 5. What does it mean to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit? 6. What is the work of the Holy Spirit which is repeated in the life of a believer? 7. What does the filling of the Spirit do for the believer? 8. What evidence can we have that we are filled with the Spirit of God?