HOLY SPIRIT-FILLED WITH

Nothing in Scripture teaches that the filling of the Spirit is accompanied by ecstatic experiences or external signs. To be sure, being filled with the Spirit does bring the believer tremendous exhilaration and joy, but the New Testament epistles reveal that being filled with the Spirit brings forth the fruit of the Spirit, not the gifts of the Spirit.

John MacArthur

Charismatic Chaos, Zondervan, 1992, p. 316.

[In Ephesians 5] Paul was not suggesting that we can possess the Spirit in varying measures. The Holy Spirit is an indivisible person – one of the divine persons of the Trinity, which means that He Himself is God – and He either indwells a person or not. No one has the Spirit of God in partial measure. But to be “filled with the Spirit” is to be controlled by the Spirit. The contrast Paul made proves the point. To be drunk with wine is to have your faculties controlled by alcohol – to be so given over to its influence that the wine governs you in a negative way. To be filled with the Spirit is simply to be controlled by Him so that His power dominates you in a positive way.

John MacArthur

The Fulfilled Family, Copyright: John MacArthur, 2005, p. 7-8.

Spirit filled souls are ablaze for God. They love with a love that glows. They serve with a faith that kindles. They serve with a devotion that consumes. They hate sin with fierceness that burns. They rejoice with a joy that radiates. Love is perfected in the fire of God.

Samuel Chadwick

Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.

Corrie ten Boom

Being filled with the Spirit means to be filled with the immediate presence of God to the extent that you are feeling what God Himself feels, desiring what God desires, doing what God wants, speaking by God’s power, praying and ministering in God’s strength, and knowing with the knowledge that God Himself gives.

Wayne Grudem

Being Filled With the Holy Spirit, Sermon Delivered at Bethlehem Baptist, www.DesiringGod.org.

Benefits of being filled with the Holy Spirit:

1. Spiritual counsel and edifying praise – Eph. 5:19.

2. Frequent worship of God – Eph. 5:19.

3. Constant attitude of thanksgiving – Eph. 5:20.

4. Humility and submission to those in authority – Eph. 5:21-6:9.

5. Greater victory over concentrated spiritual attack – Eph. 6:10-19.

6. More spiritual gifts in the church since the Spirit is the one who gives gifts.

7. More specific understanding of God’s will in the decisions which face us in life – Eph. 1:17, Gal. 5:18.

8. Greater holiness in life – Rom. 8:13.

9. More answers to prayer – Eph. 6:18.

10. Amazingly fruitful ministry – Zech. 4:6.

11. Much greater peace in our hearts – Rom. 8:6.

Wayne Grudem

Adapted From: Being Filled With the Holy Spirit, Sermon Delivered at Bethlehem Baptist, www.DesiringGod.org.

Men ought to seek with their whole hearts to be filled with the Spirit of God. Without being filled with the Spirit, it is utterly impossible that an individual Christian or a church can ever live or work as God desires.

Andrew Murray

Just as water ever seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds you abased and empty, His glory and power flow in.

Andrew Murray

Notice three important facts about Ephesians 5:18. First, it is in the imperative mood. It is not a suggestion or an appeal, but a command. Anything less than the fullness of the Spirit is disobedience to the Word of God. Second, it is a present tense verb. We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit now. And it is a continuous action verb. It could be translated, “Be being filled with the Spirit.” We must be filled daily, constantly, moment by moment. Yesterday’s blessings are not sufficient for today or tomorrow. Third, it is a passive verb. That means that being filled with the Spirit is not something we do, but something that is done for us. We must be yielded. We must be willing. We must be believing. But God does the filling. We simply receive it by faith.

George Sweeting

Who Said That? Moody Press, 1995, p. 23

Spirit-filling is…a metaphor describing our continuous, on-going experience and appropriation of the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is to come under progressively more intense and intimate influence of the Spirit. [The] results [are]: power, purity, proclamation [and] praise. Spirit-filling can be forfeited and subsequently experienced yet again, on multiple occasions, throughout the course of the Christian life.

Sam Storms
The Filling and Anointing of the Holy Spirit – Part I, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.

1. To be filled with the Spirit is different from being baptized in the Spirit. There is one baptism, but multiple fillings.

2. In no New Testament text are we commanded to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. There is no appeal to do something in order to be baptized; no exhortation, no imperative.

3. On the other hand, we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

4. It is possible to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, to experience the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and yet not be filled with the Holy Spirit (e.g. the Corinthian believers).

5. To be “full of the Holy Spirit” is to reflect a maturity of character; it is the ideal condition of every believer [see Acts 6:3, 5; 7:55; 11:24]. To be “filled with the Holy Spirit” is to experience an anointing for power, purity, proclamation, and praise.

Sam Storms
Baptism of the Holy Spirit – Part I, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.

The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. t is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.

A.W. Tozer

I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled.

D.L. Moody

Being “filled with the Spirit” as Paul speaks of in Ephesians 5:18 is not getting more of the Spirit, but yielding every area of our lives to the Spirit's empowering and direction – having our lives filled with God's Spirit as opposed to self.

Eddie Rasnake

The Book of Ephesians, AMG Publishers, 2003, p. 23

People notice a difference when someone is drunk… Is it difficult for others to tell who has been drinking of the living waters? It shouldn’t be. There ought to be a noticeable difference in our lives from God’s Spirit being in control… People under the influence of the Spirit of God manifest the fruit of that Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Eddie Rasnake

The Book of Ephesians, AMG Publishers, 2003, p. 133

Being filled with the Spirit is not an optional accessory to the Christian life. It is the hub of walking consistently with God… To not be “filled” (directed and empowered) with the Spirit is to disobey a direct command of Scripture and is therefore sin.

Eddie Rasnake

The Book of Ephesians, AMG Publishers, 2003, p. 134

There is no place in Scripture that indicates we can receive more of the Holy Spirit… The real issue is the release of the already present Spirit to have free reign in our hearts. It isn't about us getting more of Him, but of Him getting more of us.

Eddie Rasnake

The Book of Ephesians, AMG Publishers, 2003, p. 134

To be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit – intellect, emotions, will, and body. All become available to Him for achieving the purposes of God.

Ted W. Engstrom

The Making of a Christian Leader, Zondervan, 1976, p. 204. www.zondervan.com.

May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love and joy of God’s presence and not a moment without the entire surrender of myself as a vessel for Him to fill full of His Spirit and His love.

Andrew Murray

The goal of the Christian life is not to gain the Spirit-filled experience; rather, THE GOAL IS TO REMAIN SPIRIT-FILLED. That should be the normal Christian life. That is why abiding is so crucial. The believer is to move from “spring cleaning” and the Spirit-filled life to a firm commitment to maintain such.

John Napier

No one whose senses have been exercised to know good or evil can but grieve over the sight of zealous souls seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit while they are living in a state of moral carelessness and borderline sin. Whoever would be indwelt by the Spirit must judge his life for any hidden iniquities. He must expel from his heart everything that is out of accord with the character of God as revealed by the Holy Scriptures… There can be no tolerance of evil, no laughing off the things that God hates.

D.J. Fant

What shall we say, then, about the command: “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18)? Doesn’t this imply that Christians are not filled? It looks like it. The verse, however, could as well be translated, “Keep on being filled with the Spirit.” And I believe that is the right way. It brings out the force of the verb tense Paul used. But that translation implies that believers are filled with the Spirit. It says this: you are filled, stay filled. Or, more exactly keep being filled.

Tom Wells

Christian: Take Heart! By Permission of the Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. 1987, p. 60.

To be Spirit-filled means to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. While we are yet in this life we may do things that grieve the Spirit. We may assert our own authority. At such times we are not Spirit-filled; we are self-propelled. But God will not leave us in this state. We are to be spiritual Christians. God is determined about that! And He has His means! By whatever measures are necessary, He forces our hands from the throttles of our lives. He re-asserts control. Once more we are Spirit-filled. We are characteristically Spirit-filled, or we are not Christians at all.

Tom Wells

Christian: Take Heart! By Permission of the Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. 1987, p. 60-61.