How To Be Filled With The Holy Spirit
Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy
Spirit.
Before we look into the filling of the Holy Spirit, we need to
first discuss about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16-17
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another
Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He
dwells with you and will be in you.
When we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour, He
promises that His Spirit will dwell inside us. And this indwelling
is permanent. He dwells with us, and will be in us.
John 7:37-39
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has
said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit,
whom those believing in
Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because
Jesus was not yet glorified.
Praise God that Jesus had risen, and was glorified. And the Holy Spirit was
given! This indwelling of the Spirit is for all believers,
and not just a selected few. The promise of the Holy Spirit is for
everyone who believes in Jesus! The only condition to receive this
blessed gift of the Holy Spirit is our faith in Christ.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth,
the
gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Thus at the moment of our salvation, God gives us His Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of God is His guarantee that He will give us the
inheritance that He had promised. His gift of the Holy Spirit also proves
that God has
purchased us to be His own people. He did this so that we should
praise and glorify Him in our life.
Galatians 3:2
This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by
the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
We do not receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the laws of Moses as we
have not yet known God or His commandments! We receive the Holy
Spirit simply by believing in the gospel message, and accepting Christ in
our hearts. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit takes place at the time
of believing in Christ!
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us
is God,
22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a
guarantee.
God has also sealed us with His Holy Spirit. This is His mark of
ownership upon us. We are now His. He has given us the Holy Spirit
in our hearts as the guarantee.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your
own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
We now do not belong to ourselves but to God as He had bought us
with a great price! We should use our bodies for the glory of God.
Each
body of ours is now the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us! God has
given us His Holy Spirit to dwell inside us!
The filling of the Holy Spirit is not the same as the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given
as promised after Jesus had risen and was glorified! On that day in Acts 2, the permanent indwelling and the initial
filling of the Holy Spirit took place at the same time! First, to dwell inside the believers
permanently, and then to fill them
for the first time!
Acts 2:1-4
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one
sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples of Jesus and some believers
were meeting together in the upper room. Suddenly, there was a sound
from heaven like the roaring of a mighty wind, and it filled the
house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or
tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone,
who was present there, was filled with the Holy Spirit. They began
to speak in other languages, as the Holy Spirit enabled them to do
so.
Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled
together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy
Spirit.
The disciples of Jesus had already the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, and the initial filling of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
But they needed to be filled again with Holy Spirit in order to
preach the Word of God with boldness! The filling of the Holy Spirit
is a continual process, and not just once or twice!
When the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we may
not have completely
yielded our hearts to Him and His ways. Many of us still continue to live in our old
and sinful lifestyles by not trusting and
obeying God! We just chuck the Holy Spirit aside to some dark
corners of our lives. Out of sight and out of mind! We just go on our own ways, ignoring His presence and His guidance!
Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed
for the day of redemption.
We can bring sorrow to the Holy Spirit
if we do not follow Him, and live righteously before God.
1 Thessalonians 5:19
Do not quench the Spirit.
By ignoring the Holy Spirit inside us, we can restrain Him from
doing His wonderful works in us. The Holy Spirit desires to complete
the work that Christ has begun in us!
Romans 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, that you may abound in hope by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
If we continue to go our own ways, we will not abound in hope,
and we will not have the power of His Holy Spirit working in and through us.
John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance
all things that I said to you.
God has given us His Holy Spirit to help us, and
to teach us about Him and His Ways! We must begin to know Him and His Word!
The Holy Spirit is both our Helper and our Teacher!
How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit? We can first ask the Holy
Spirit to fill us through prayers. But the continual filling will involve more than just
praying to be filled again or praying in tongues! It will require us
to trust and obey God in doing what He truly desires us to do. We
must allow the Holy Spirit to have complete freedom and control to
work within us.
Ephesians 5:15-21
Walk in Wisdom
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but
understand what the will of the
Lord is.
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be
filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
We must learn how to live by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We must be careful to live and to do what is right in the sight of
God! We must wise up, and not continue
to live like fools. We must take every opportunity to do what
pleases God even though we are in the midst of evil days and perilous times.
We must not act unkindly and unlovingly. We must understand what the
Lord desires us to do. We must not continue to be addicted to our
past and sinful lifestyles that will ruin our lives.
We need to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs among ourselves, and making music to the Lord in
our hearts. We must be thankful, giving thanks to God the Father in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for everything He has done for us.
Furthermore, we need to submit to one another out of reverence for
Christ.
Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
As the Holy Spirit works inside us, our spoken words and unspoken thoughts will be pleasing in the sight of God!
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works and glorify your Father in heaven.
As the Holy Spirit
continues to work inside us, we will eventually bear the fruit of the
Holy Spirit. As we do so, our light will shine outwards before
others, and they will see the good works that we do, and will give
glory to God! What is inside will become visible on the outside!
Psalm 51:10-12
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Sometimes we may sin against the Lord in our journey of faith.
Whenever we do so, we must
immediately come before the Lord, and confess our iniquities and transgressions,
and renew our commitment to the Lord! We must not wait until our
hearts become hardened and indifferent towards God! Why? Because our sins,
if unchecked and unresolved, will
hinder the move and the filling of the Holy Spirit inside us.
Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
We must let Him lead us on the paths of
righteousness! We are to be led by the Spirit of
God! He should be leading us, and not the reverse! We must follow
Him! Walking behind Him, and not going ahead without Him!
Luke 4:1-2
1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the
Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 being tempted for forty days by the devil.
Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit!
Jesus was being filled continually with the Holy Spirit, and the
Holy Spirit was leading Christ.
Philippians 1:6
being confident of this very thing, that He who
has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day
of Jesus Christ;
The cure for unholiness is holiness, and the way out of all our
past and sinful
lifestyles is
through the process of sanctification! Not a one-time encounter but
a lifetime walk with God! Not man-made methods but God-given
solutions! For God is not interested in only starting a good work in
us but also completing the
good work that He has begun!
When we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us and filling us
continually, there will be no room for evil and lustful thoughts,
feelings and
behaviours.
And we will shine for Jesus, and we will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 4:7-8
7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who
has also given us His Holy Spirit.
God has not called us to live in immorality, but in holiness. If we
continue to live in our old and sinful lifestyles, we are rejecting
not man but God for He has given us His Holy Spirit.
Therefore, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit continually.
Written on 31 August 2021