THEOLOGY LESSON 26

LESSON 26 – HOLY SPIRIT – FILLING

Holy Spirit – Filling

1 Thessalonians 5:19
Ephesians 4:30
Galatians 5:16
Hebrews 4:1-4, Romans 12:1-2
2 Timothy 1:6
Hebrews 12:5-13
1 John 1:9
Galatians 5:16, 22-23
Ephesians 5:19-21 Holy Spirit – Filling
Spirituality

INTRODUCTION

In Ephesians 5:18 we are told "Be filled with the Spirit". This is in the present tense which means continuous action.

DEFINITION It is the spiritual state where the Holy Spirit is fulfilling all that He came to do in the hearts and lives of the individual believer.

The filling of the Spirit did occur prior to Pentecost but it was limited and was observed only in a small number of individuals prior to the start of the Church

Since Pentecost however the Holy Spirit indwells all believers in New Testament times. Everybody therefore has the opportunity to be filled with the Spirit and can now conform to Ephesians 5:18.

EFFECT OF THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

There is an observable difference in the daily life and character of Christians who are filled with the Spirit. Unfortunately there are few who can be characterized in this way. This is based on the failure of man rather than the lack of provision by God.

With Satan so active in the world we are told to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is very important on a moment by moment basis. You need to be spiritually led by God. If you can get your congregation to live under the control of the Holy Spirit you are going to have a wonderful church, active, blessed and very productive. If you are going to achieve this everything else will happen, you will never need to seek funds, there will be evangelism and spiritual growth, blessing and impact.

If you do not stress the Holy Spirit you will have a hymn singing social club. You will be counseling and have a mess on your hands which you will call a church. Without the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit in your church you will have to have all the gimmicks to get people to give.

It is important that people come to church to know the Lord without coercion. If you teach systematically, verse by verse, stressing the filling of the Holy Spirit, they will come freely. If they are not interested it is a sign that they are not filled with the Spirit. If the people do not come the pastor should look at himself as to whether he is teaching or not.

In the church you should refer to the filling of the Holy Spirit every week. The Holy Spirit is the dynamic of the Christian life. If you have not got the Spirit you are not a Christian. This topic and your attitude to it, is going to determine how you are going to run your church.

The secret of church growth is for the individual to pray the prayer, "let there be a revival and let it start with me." You should walk with the Lord in the Spirit, study and teach the Word systematically. As you see people come alive you ask them to pray. Two or three people can change a church or a nation.

Filling of the Holy Spirit Contrasted with Spiritual Maturity.

The filling of the Holy Spirit can occur if you are mature or not. Maturity occurs as one spends a lot of time in the filling of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit should be the normal Christian life. It is only in that state that you are going to grow spiritually. The longer and more often you are under the control of the Holy Spirit the quicker you will mature. The baby believer does not spend a lot of time working under the power of the Holy Spirit. Spirituality is therefore not the same as maturity. You are only spiritual if God rules in your life as He intended it to be. You are spiritual if there is no sin in your life.

Three Conditions for the Filling of the Spirit,

[a] Quench not the Spirit 1 Thessalonians 5:19,

[b] Grieve not the Spirit Ephesians 4:30,

[c] Walk in the Spirit Galatians 5:16 and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

Quench not the Spirit.

Do not put out the fire, is the literal meaning from the Greek. Do not smother the Holy Spirit's work. There are three components to a fire, fuel, air and heat.

If you want to put the fire out you eliminate one of the three items, remove the fuel, air or heat and the fire will go out. A great example of a Christian getting cold is given by the ember that is taken from a glowing fire. As the ember is removed from the fire and laid aside it ceases to glow and becomes cold. It does not matter how strong a Christian you are, if you lose your ardor you will grow cold. Stay with the fire and do not quench the Spirit. Sometimes it gets tough in the Christian life but we must keep the heat on.

This can also happen if you have no fuel or the wrong fuel. In John 14 16 the Lord says that the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth. It is important to feed upon the Word of God and not people's experiences however moving they may be they are not fuel for the Holy Spirit they are fuel for your emotions. Only God's Word will strengthen you as a believer.

The third way to put a fire out is to rob it of air; also if you do not breathe you do not live. Inhale taking in the Word exhale letting God's Word work through you into every detail of daily life. After breathing in by means of a good message you breathe it out with a great worship songs or hymns at the end of the service.

Paul says to Timothy, “stir up the gift that is in you”, 2 Timothy 1:6 – literally he is saying, keep the fires burning. Throw more fuel on the fire. You can be smothered by the cares of the world, concerns of family and friend or work pressure, especially if you are surrounded by non believers all the time. Do not let yourself get smothered by the evil of the world.

Romans 12:1 2 shows that you have to commit yourself to your spiritual life. Present yourself a living sacrifice. Throw yourself into this life because it is important.

Grieve not the Spirit:

Ephesians 4:30, shows that you do this when you have sin in your life. You can deal with it quickly using 1 John 1:9. If you do not use that verse you will be subject to Hebrews 12:5 13, which gives divine discipline. You are either going to be living under the power of the Holy Spirit or under Divine discipline. You will be miserable because the Spirit is quenched, miserable because the Spirit is grieved, miserable because of divine discipline. This is why disobedient believers are the most miserable and obnoxious of people on the planet!

Walk in the Spirit:

The word walk means to advance in ranks, making use of the assets you have. Believe the Word, feed on it and apply it. The Christian life is difficult as we are in Satan's world and are surrounded by evil, the world, the flesh and the devil. If you do not walk in the Spirit you will be walking with the enemy. You are either strong in the Spirit or you are being beaten about by the enemy. You have to have the intestinal fortitude to fight, you have the equipment, use it or you will become a casualty. There is a battle being fought out here and the Lord wants winners. The Lord won on Calvary. If you are in Him, you are a winner.

Characteristics of the Filling of the Holy Spirit:

What are going to be the characteristics of the Filling of the Holy Spirit?

[a] Christ likeness, the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22 23. Do not be overly impressed by miracles, signs and wonders; because some people are going to be told to depart from the Lord on judgment day because they are unbelievers, even though they have done miracles in the Lord's name. Matthew 7. A lot of people claim miracles, but even when the miracles seemed to be legitimate it only shows that the ‘Healing Ministry’ had power. The question is whether the power is from God or not. It is the fruit and not the signs that are important; as Jesus said by their fruit you will know them.

[b] You will have an evangelistic involvement, if they have no desire for souls, if they are not involved in teaching God's Word there is something wrong.

[c] Praise, worship, thanksgiving and submissiveness Ephesians 5:18 this shows the basis of submissiveness that Christians should be mutually submissive. The basis of submissiveness is the filling of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 5:18. Once you are submissive one to another you can be submissive husbands and wives as you are in submission to the Spirit. We as ministers need to lead as examples.

Characteristics of the Filling of the Spirit:

[a] The Power of the Spirit

[b] Holiness of Life

[c] Ministries of the Spirit

[d] Teaching you wonderful things

[e] Guide into all things

[f] Assurance of Salvation

[g] True worship of the Lord.

[h] Good prayer fellowship.

The major problem in the church is Christians who have grown cold. Obedience is the answer to spiritual coldness; we warm our spirit and soul by obeying the revealed Word of God and letting the Spirit loose again through confession of our sins. Do not be distracted by strange and weird things, for God is straight forward. The devil does not need to go after most believers for they trip themselves up easily by their sin and laziness. If you get someone spouting “words of wisdom” in a convoluted manner you know it is not of the Lord because the Lord is clear and succinct. The Lord is not into dramatic things, he is into transformed and holy lives, living to praise his name.

Many of the healings that take place in special "healing" services are found over time to have been psychological and ‘hyped up’. Many that have been followed up medically have been shown not to be healings at all. Paul towards the end of his ministry was not able to heal his close friend who he had to leave behind in Troy. Miracles are rare, but they do occur; it is important however to be cautious over ‘hyped up’ healing events. We must always be aware that the Lord is the healer and not some ‘anointed’ healing evangelist. The Lord’s name and the faith will be held in derision by the unbeliever who will see through false miracles easily! Paul also used the healing ministry to present the gospel. He did not heal for healings sake, but worked miracles whenever the Lord opened the door. He also saw a vision of heaven which he was told not to speak about and he kept silent on what he saw. Paul was not into drama, he was into obedience to the Holy Spirit and the Word; so must we be!

The Word of God is all important, not the signs and miracles; where they are bone fide they will always lead to evangelism and to people studying the Word and growing through obedience to it. The filling of the Holy Spirit is all important, and the evidence of that is the fruit of holiness in their life.

DOCTRINES

HOLY SPIRIT: FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. We are commanded to allow Him to fill (or fully control) our lives (Ephesians 5:18).

2. The filling (controlling) of the Spirit can be broken by:
a) Grieving the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) - sin, doing something you shouldn't.
b) Quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19) - not doing something you should (like quenching a fire, allowing the flame to go out).

3. The filling (controlling) of the Spirit can be restored by confession of sin and full surrender to do the will of God (1John 1:9)

4. The Spirit produces the very character of the Christ in the believer: (Galatians 4:19, 5:22, 23, Ephesians 3:16, 17, Philippians 1:20, 21, 2 Corinthians 3:3)

a) The fruit of the Spirit:
i) Galatians 5:22-23 - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control.
ii) Romans 14:17 - Righteousness, Peace, Joy.
iii) Colossians 3:12-15 - Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, Patience, Forgiveness, Love, Peace, Thankfulness.
iv) 1 Thessalonians 1:3 - Faith, Love, Endurance, Hope.

b) Rejoicing in Christ (Philippians 3:1, 4:4).
c) Loving one another (John 15:12, Romans 12:10, Ephesians 5:2).
d) Striving for the faith (Philippians 1:27, Jude 3).
e) Putting away all sin (1 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 12:1).
f) Abstaining from all appearances of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22).
g) Submitting to injuries (1 Corinthians 6:7).
h) Subduing the temper (Ephesians 4:26, James 1:19).
i) Shunning the wicked (2 Thessalonians 3:6).
j) Abounding in the works of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58 1 Thessalonians 4:1).
k) Showing a good example (1 Timothy 4:12, 1 Peter 2:12).
l) Following after that which is good (Philippians 4:8, 1 Timothy 6:11).
m) Perfecting holiness (2 Corinthians 7:1, 2 Timothy 3:17).
n) Hating defilement (Jude 23).
o) Overcoming the world. (1 John 5:4-5)
p) Adorning the gospel. (Philippians 1:27, Titus 2:10)
q) Forgiving injuries. (Romans 12:20)
r) Living peaceably with all. (Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:14)
s) Visiting the afflicted. (James 1:27)
t) Sympathising with others. (Romans 12:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:14)
u) Honouring others. (Romans 12:10)
v) Submitting to authorities. (Romans 13:1-7)
w) Being content. (Philippians 4:11, Hebrews 13:5)
x) Walking worthy of the Lord. (Colossians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:12)
y) Walking in the newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
z) Walking as children of light. (Ephesians 5:8)
aa) Glorifies Christ in his body. (Philippians 1:20, 21)
bb) Christ is at home in his body. (Ephesians 3:16,17)
cc) A lifestyle which honours God in the presence of men. (2 Corinthians 3:3)

5. The filling of the Holy Spirit in every believer only occurs in two dispensations:
a) Church age Ephesians 5:18, Galatians 5:22, 23
b) Millennium - Joel 2:28, 29 (characterized by ecstatics)

THEOLOGY LESSON 25

LESSON 25 – BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT


Holy Spirit - Baptism

Ephesians 4:5
1 Corinthian 12:12-13
Ephesians 5:18
Acts 1:5
Galatians 3:26-28

Baptism of Holy Spirit In Christ

INTRODUCTION

In Ephesians 4:5 we are told of One Lord, One Faith One Baptism. This is a very controversial verse and theologians do not all agree as to the meaning of ‘one baptism’.

Many believe that this verse is not talking about water baptism at all; but a totally different baptism all together. They teach that the ‘one baptism’ we all share in; is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which marks the beginning of the believer's association with Christ. Yet other theologians claim that baptism in water is ‘that which saves us’ and go as far as to teach that unless we are baptized in water we are not saved

The verses in 1 Corinthians 12:12, 13 seems to contradict this argument, as they show all Christians are baptized by one Spirit into one body and drink the one Spirit. This event is common to all believers in the Church age. If you have not been baptized by the Holy Spirit you are not a believer. This is clearly seen in the Greek and it is therefore important to analyze it. We believe that water and Holy Spirit baptisms are important and should be a part of our Christian walk with our heavenly Father.

Baptism - What is it?

Baptizo, the Greek verb, means to baptize. It is in the aorist passive indicative, aorist means a point of time in the past or passive, we can receive it at the point of salvation, but not always. You as a believer should have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at some time in the past; you did not earn it or deserve it, as it was freely given to you. Nothing was done to receive it. It was grace all the way. There are no exceptions. Even the poorest believer should receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The meanings of "Baptizo" is to totally dip or immerse, to wash. However the primary meaning is to identify one object with another so that the first object is changed. A historical example was the baptizing of the hunting spears of the Greek soldiers.

In the day of Alexander the Great, before the army headed off towards modern Turkey, many of the Greek troops had not been in a battle. In order to enhance their performance the hunting spears which they took with them were dipped in a bucket of pig’s blood in the belief that it changed the nature of the hunting spear into a warrior's spear. By analogy once we were part of the world but the Holy Spirit so identified us with Christ that we were changed into part of His body. This shows how critical the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is.

Definition

The baptism of the Holy Spirit should enable the believer to come into union with Christ and the ‘Body of Christ’. This gives the believer their identity as a Christian. I am a member of the Christian Body; I am a member of the Body of Christ. This is done so that a love relationship may grow with Him and in Him. This opens the channel of blessing for us because it relates us to His church, His Body on earth.

Your attitude to the Holy Spirit will determine your attitude to the local church. The local church should be based on the reality of the Work of the Holy Spirit, but many are not. The Biblical teaching is that we have been Born Again once and for all by the Holy Spirit into the church. Some groups do not realise this important fact and do not even recognise the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an important event to accepting Jesus as their saviour.

We also need to recognise that this is also different from asking for the Holy Spirit to fall on the believers and fill them up with dunimas power, but many leaders get confused over this issue.

Origin of the Church

One of the main reasons for confusion in this area is because some people believe that the church began in Abraham's tent or with the ministry of John the Baptist. This makes it much more difficult to understand rather than believing that it started at Pentecost where the first Baptism of the Holy Spirit took place. Baptism is often taken as a synonym to the filling of the Holy Spirit but this is associated with the ministry of regeneration in the church age. As a result we are special. Many of the problems that occur are because Christians do not understand just how special they are.

It is important not to study Acts by itself. At Pentecost everything happens at once and is therefore unique. They are sealed, indwelt, regenerated, baptized and given spiritual gifts as mature believers. The following day Peter was preaching the Gospel with boldness, which was unusual as he had denied the Lord out of fear only a few weeks before this occurrence.

In Ephesians 5:18 we are told that Christian’s should not get drunk, but be filled with the Spirit. This is a command, present passive imperative; you are commanded not to get drunk habitually. A literal translation would be to keep on letting the Spirit fill you.

In 1 Corinthians 12:13, if you think that the Baptism and filling of the Spirit is the same, you have a problem as there is a contradiction in the passages reviewed. You only need to be baptized once and for all; but you need to be habitually filled. We need to deal with sin in our lives and let the Holy Spirit control us.

In Acts 1:5 when did it occur in the person's life? This is ten days before the time when they are going to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not baptized anyone before that and everyone was looking forward to the feast of Pentecost.

Results of the Baptism of the Spirit

Two results of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit it joins us to the body of Christ with all of our individuality (1 Corinthians 12:13) there being many varieties in the body. The unity is the baptism of the Spirit. It is only a relationship with the Lord that allows you to have a relationship with other believers. You are part of Him and therefore joined to other believers. This is our co crucifixion with Christ. It also identifies us with the death, resurrection and glorification of the Lord. We are left on earth to learn more about what it means to be in union with Christ. If you are in an intimate relationship with the Lord you also have a great responsibility along with it.

Every relationship has responsibilities, husband and wife, parent and child. The responsibility for us in Christ is to be obedient. The Lord's responsibility is to keep us safe. We should also get to know and love Him more. This is going to modify how you think about the Lord the result is that you should walk worthy according to your calling.

The filling of the Holy Spirit allows you to do the work of the Lord and is evidence of baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians have wasted a lot of time trying to ‘work up’ the baptism of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Many believe they can chase after some kind of ‘special impartation or anointing by an anointed celebrity’ but this hinders them. In the Hyper Charismatic movement there is a lot of emphasis on praise and worship but it is often shallow. That is why many who have heading up ‘Praise the Lord’ Television show’s and been regarded as ‘special’ prophets or ‘healers’; have been living a life totally contrary to Bible teaching. Quite a number of them have been committing serious sins in their own personal lives. So if you are going to be involved with just ‘experiences and emotions’ you are not going to have the Holy Spirit control your life. Living with the Holy Spirit is a daily walk with him.

DOCTRINES

BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned in (1 Corinthians 12:13) "By means of one spirit are we all baptised into one body". Once we obtain the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, it allows us to achieve being a part of the Body of Christ and confirms our salvation as part of the body.

2. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is different to His other ministries: Indwelling, filling, sealing, regeneration, distributing spiritual gifts.

3. The basis of unity and union of believers is achieved by Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:5) "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - we have one faith in one Lord and receive one baptism, which unites us in the Body of Christ.

4. The implication of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is given in (Galatians 3:26-28) - all believers are united and "equal" in standing before God.

5. The Baptism of the Spirit provides identification with Christ - as the Body of Christ, we share everything that He has (his righteousness, heir-ship, priesthood, kingship, etc) (Ephesians 1:3, Colossians 2:12)

6. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus Christ. (John 14:19-20, Acts 1:5)

7. The Baptism of the Spirit did not occur in Old Testament times. It is unique to the Church Age. Only Church Age believers are "in Christ" - that is, part of the Body (and the Bride) of Christ. (Colossians 1:25-26)

8. The Baptism of the Spirit begins the Church Age. In (Acts 1:5) Jesus said "Ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many (10) days hence". In (Acts 2:3) no mention of the Baptism of the Spirit is made but the experiential side of these happenings are described. In (Acts 11:15-17) Peter says that they received the Baptism of the Spirit just as it was in the beginning and quotes (Acts 1:5).

9. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with water baptism, nor with speaking in tongues, but tongues often come out of a person who has just been baptised by the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of the Spirit is not just an experience; it is not always manifest or seen, felt, or experienced. (1 Corinthians 12:13)

10. The incidence of tongues at Pentecost was because many nations were present in Jerusalem at that time. Tongues fulfilled two requirements initially evangelisation and later within the congregations, tongues could be spoken but required interpretation and there were also tongues for edification. (1 Corinthians 14:2-4)

IN CHRIST

1. At the point of salvation (being infilled by the Holy Spirit), every believer in the Church Age is entered into the Body of Christ, and is therefore united with Christ. Our position is now, "in Christ".

2. The baptism of the Spirit is how we are united with Christ. (Acts 1:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:5) The Holy Spirit places the believer in union with Christ.

3. Positional truth belongs to the carnal as well as the spiritual believer, to the apostate believer as well as to the mature believer. (1 Corinthians 1:2, 30)

4. Positional truth protects the believer from divine judgment in eternity, as long as they remain in Christ. (Romans 8:1)

5. Positional truth qualifies the believer to live with God forever:

a) Eternal life (1 John 5:11,12)
b) Imputation of God's righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

6. Positional truth is the key to both election and predestination (Ephesians 1:3-6).

7. Positional truth creates a new creature. (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10) based on who and what Christ is, therefore what grace accomplishes - not what changes we make - at salvation or thereafter.

8. Positional truth guarantees the eternal security of the believer, unless he/she renounces the Lord and never repents for their actions. (Romans 8:38, 39, Hebrews 6:4).

9. Positional truth has two aspects:

a) Past - identification with Christ in His death (Romans 6; Colossians 2:12; 3:3)
b) Present (and Future) - identification with Christ in His "new resurrection life".

10. Current positional truth implies that the believer shares certain things in union with Christ:

a) Eternal life (1 John 5:11,12)
b) Righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)
c) Election (Ephesians 1:4)
d) Destiny (Ephesians 1:5)
e) Son ship (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1,2)
f) Heir ship (Romans 8:16,17)
g) Sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:2,30)
h) Kingdom (2 Peter 1:11)
i) Priesthood (Hebrews 10:10-14; 1 Peter 2:5, 9).

11. Our new position in Christ means we are and must be separated from the world (Ephesians 2:6).

12. As new creatures in Christ, we have a new ministry as ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-21, 1Corinthians 3:6, 6:4).

13. In Christ, we are never alone, (Colossians 3:4, John 17) we have communion with Him, and with His body (other Christians).

14. We are united with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit forever- we are in the Father, He is in us - Ephesians 4:6, we are in Christ, He is in us - John 14:20, Colossians 1:26, we are in the Spirit, He is in us - Romans 8:9.

15. We are members of His body, branches of His vine, living stones of His building, sheep of His fold, part of his Bride, priests in his kingdom, saints set apart for his glory.

16. The characteristics of positional truth are six-fold:

a) It is not an experience - neither emotional nor ecstatic.
b) It is not progressive - cannot be improved in time or eternity.
c) It is not related to human merit, ability, or human good. Here are the implications of retroactive positional truth. There is no place in the plan of God for human good.
d) It is eternal in nature; it cannot be changed by God, angels or mankind.
e) It is known only through the Word of God.
f) It can be obtained totally at the point of salvation, but often a believer gets baptised by the Holy Spirit at a later time.