This series highlights the radio teaching of
Dr. Donald R. Hubbard on Ephesians 5:18
Dear Reader Please Scroll Down for preceding installments
of Rev.Relic's series on the Filling of the Spirit
of Rev.Relic's series on the Filling of the Spirit
"If it’s not about Jesus, it’s not about anything"
Motto of the Fountain of Life
Part 3 of 6
SPS: 1st) to examine the filling of the
Spirit from the vantage of its Essence,
our Experience, and the Evidence; 2nd) to demonstrate it as
orthodox teaching; 3rd) to demonstrate that doctrines about the Holy
Spirit and Jesus are interrelated.
Text: Ephesians 5:18: And be not drunk with wine, which is excess,
but be filled with the Spirit.
As we go into the Scriptures we
pray to the Lord for fairness, humility and respect.
1. Essence of Filling of the Spirit
Ephesians 5:18 commands us to
be filled – this is the essence, the absolute foundation of filling with
Spirit; this is where it begins.
Three Divisions from
grammar:
All Greek verbs have mood a tense and a voice (rules of grammar).
-be filled: Imperative mood: this mood means a command to be obeyed.
-be filled: Present tense: this is the idea of a continuance to be
observed – day after day.
-be filled: Passive voice: It is it a control to be received, which is
outside of ourselves.
IMPERATIVE MOOD: a command to be obeyed. Let’s look at be filled in the imperative
mood.
When God drives us to the
position where we have no other option, we have to trust God. We have to want God. We have to desire God. Dr. Hubbard pointed out four steps to
follow. These are not presented as four
ways to manipulate God. They are offered
as indicators of our sincerity toward God and toward ourselves. And they reveal a grand heavenly truth.
Four Steps for
Christians to be filled with Spirit of God:
Desire, surrender, ask, accept:
1)
Desire.
God starts to take things out of my life. The things I have in my life can become idols
if I am not careful. That is why one of
the basic ingredients of being filled with the Spirit of God is the desire
to be filled with the Spirit of God.
When I yearn after the spirit, God will reveal the filth in me that
needs to be cleansed. Every day I become aware of the need of Jesus in my life
and desire filling.
2)
Surrender:
The Old and New Testaments are filled with admonitions for
obedience. Not my will, but Thine be
done. God also counsels us against
disobedience, obduracy, impenitence, reprobacy, willfulness, or self-will. Our carnal old man wants to rise up out of
the baptismal grave and reclaim control every day. How far out of that grave will we allow him
to come? How much re-control will we
surrender to him? Let us relinquish none. Let us commence every day, praying, “Jesus, I
surrender all.” Let us pray that
evening, morning and noon. (Psalm
55:17)
3)
Ask.
James says that if we desire wisdom, to ask. In Luke 11:13, Jesus expands that and tells
us, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask
Him?” Therefore I obey and submit to
Jesus’ encouragement and ask daily, Father, “give me” the Holy Spirit.
4)
Accept by faith that God has filled
us. You probably won’t feel a jolt. You received the Spirit at conversion. The point is that daily filling with the Spirit
of God is not necessarily an emotional or tactile experience. Technically speaking it is not even a new
incoming of more Spirit. In the language
of accommodation, the request for a refill of the Spirit is actually the daily
surrender of our will to Jesus and an access to more of what we already have. You accept filling without physical
evidence. It is a command to be
obeyed.
Brethren, a grand heavenly truth
is in action here. It is caused by the
interrelations of Jesus and the Holy Spirit and us. By daily and honestly, “Looking to Jesus as
the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), the Holy Spirit changes
us; putting the mind of Christ into us (Philippians 2:5). Little by little, our normal carnal nature
changes; we develop righteous behavior which becomes our normal way of
life. Through the Holy Spirit’s
ministry, we are the vessels who glorify Christ. That righteous behavior is the evidence of
the filling of the Spirit. We shall
discuss what that righteous behavior is in parts 5 of 6 and 6 of 6.
Life is so complex and
frustrating with so many challenges. How
can we live through the challenges unaware of our need for the Spirit of
God? I get distracted with the
necessities of life and forget God; then my carnal nature defaults to
self-reliance. And many of us are
struggling. God does not want us to
struggle. We don’t need to struggle,
trying in our own strength. THERE NEEDS
TO BE A RELIANCE ON THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD. We acknowledge that reliance when we desire,
surrender, ask and accept. Notice again
that it is not baptism of the Spirit of God here; it is the command to be
filled with the Spirit.
PRESENT TENSE: Be filled a continuance to be observed.
Often we choose only one meaning
for the word fill and that is the act of filling an empty container with
something. When this nuance is
understood as language of accommodation it is useful for illustrations or
examples. When you read through the
books of Acts we read that it says repeatedly of Paul, Peter and the other
disciples that they were filled with the Spirit of God. When you trace that through, you find there
is one baptism of the Spirit of God; there are many, many fillings. That does not mean that Peter and Paul were
empty vessels lacking the Holy Spirit one instant and then they were filled
with the spirit the next moment (Acts 4:8; 13:9). That means that they were constantly aware of
their need for Jesus. That means that
every day we become aware of the need of Jesus Christ in our lives.
That daily surrender to Jesus is the mechanism for a daily filling of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it is more accurate but more cumbersome to say that the daily surrender to Jesus is the mechanism for a daily access to the Holy Spirit already in us.
That daily surrender to Jesus is the mechanism for a daily filling of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it is more accurate but more cumbersome to say that the daily surrender to Jesus is the mechanism for a daily access to the Holy Spirit already in us.
I Surrender All*
By Judson W. Van DeVenter (1896)
My Spiritual experience
yesterday is not going to keep me today.
That experience was my awareness of the daily need of Jesus in my life,
or in the language of accommodation, my need of a daily filling of the Holy
Spirit. Some brethren are having
marital, financial or spiritual problems today because they are trying to live
on a spiritual experience they had five years ago and have not held onto that
experience, but have forgotten or neglected it.
That approach doesn’t work in marriage, business or in spiritual life
either. My filling yesterday is not
adequate for today: I must be filled
daily because my need for Jesus is daily.
Every morning when we arise, it is very much encouraged to pray, “O Lord
Jesus, I need you, I submit to You; help me to surrender.” How often do we ignore that prayer of surrender? Humanly speaking, how often do we really tell
God, “All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give.”* If I am not
surrendered to God how can I expect unlimited access to the Holy Spirit? In the words of accommodation, how can I
expect unlimited refillings?
I have a limited access to the Holy Spirit due to my limited surrender to Jesus. From my point of view it seems that I am only partially filled with the Spirit. Here again is the human paradox. It is true that every second, believers have the Holy Spirit in full, but it is true that every day we desire and often pray to be filled anew with the spirit. We will discuss this paradox further in a future section.
I have a limited access to the Holy Spirit due to my limited surrender to Jesus. From my point of view it seems that I am only partially filled with the Spirit. Here again is the human paradox. It is true that every second, believers have the Holy Spirit in full, but it is true that every day we desire and often pray to be filled anew with the spirit. We will discuss this paradox further in a future section.
Life becomes different when we
recognize what God has for us. It is not
that we become a super spiritual person.
Rather it is because God is getting more and more of me and I see more
and more through Jesus’ eyes.
Philippians 2:5: Having the mind
of Jesus becomes a reality and we change.
Our world is instant gratification. Instant coffee, tea, pudding, instant
millionaire, romance, etc. There is no
such thing as instant spirituality. You
cannot say, Lord fill me and then walk out of the Church and feel that you are
a 100% mature Christian good to go until the Second Coming. No, you grow.
It is continual growth. What God
will do today is start you on a wonderful marvelous path. John wrote to the children, to the young men
and to the fathers. You’ll find that
growth begins to happen in your life.
The 5 day-old Christian grows into a 95 year-old Christian. Brethren, during your own physical growth
years, did you consciously feel daily growth?
Did you stand by the yardstick at the end of the year and mom measured
you? Do you remember your surprise? You saw evidence of five inches growth that
you never felt. But it happened.
In like manner, you experience the
indwelling of the Spirit helping you day by day to walk with Christ and
suddenly as you look into your past you see the changes and you look to the
future with anticipation. Are we filled
with the Spirit? When you see Jesus
Christ reflected in someone, that is a day-to-day filling with the Holy Spirit
of God.
PASSIVE VOICE: It is an action to be exercised over us. For example the active voice says: “The
teacher corrects me.” The passive voice
says: “I was corrected by the
teacher.”
Three times in the bible you will
find that drunkenness is contrasted with the filling of
the Spirit. Luke 1:15: John the Baptist should not partake of
strong drink, but he should be filled with Spirit of God from his mother’s
womb. In Acts 2 Peter says they were
not drunk while they were filled with the Spirit. In Eph. 5:18 Paul says be not drunk
with wine, which is excess but be filled with the Spirit of God. What is being contrasted here? One thing:
When one becomes intoxicated with alcoholic beverages he passes under
the control of the alcohol that fills his system. The alcohol acts upon him; he responds to its
action.
He becomes intoxicated with the alcohol that he consumed. His behavior patterns become different; they oscillate, are erratic are high and/or low. Inhibitions become removed or intensified. People laugh at him or pity him.
He becomes intoxicated with the alcohol that he consumed. His behavior patterns become different; they oscillate, are erratic are high and/or low. Inhibitions become removed or intensified. People laugh at him or pity him.
When a person becomes filled with
the Spirit (Not drunk in the Spirit) he passes under the control of the Spirit
of God. When Holy Spirit begins to
control our life our behavior patterns become different. People can see Jesus Christ in us. We reflect linear steady positive growth. It is not that God gives me a better job with
more money to pay the sub-prime mortgage.
It is that Holy Spirit is going to make me a new man in my old job so
that where I work people can see Jesus Christ in me. He will make me a new husband or wife in my
marriage, a new student at my school, a new athletic on my team, etc. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to make
Jesus manifest in us. It is not to
respond to a prayer of faith that He gives us a new car or a better job or
healing.
And the reason so many Spirit
indwelled Christians are frustrated and can’t succeed at work is because they
do not understand the Spirit’s infilling.
God is not bound by a word of Faith. Some teach that God’s essence is Faith; that
He is a Faith being. Therefore anything
requested from Him in Faith, He is obliged to grant or deny his being. That is false. I don’t control the Spirit by my earnest word
of faith prayer in the name of Jesus into doing my bidding and giving me
something I want or even desperately need.
We ask to be filled and we pass under the control of the Spirit of
God. It is not that we receive filling
with more of the Spirit to use it is that the Spirit of God has more of us to
use where He wills.
See Jesus’ statement in John 4
the woman at the well and John 7:37-39, about His being in us a well of
everlasting water. The more we pass
under His control, the more Jesus can work in our lives.
Comment on word usage: Eph. 5:18 is a contrast of who controls us
not a comparison of methods and results.
Contrasts evaluate differences.
Comparisons evaluate similarities.
Drunkenness is contrasted with filling of the Spirit. However, many see it as a comparison of
effects. The list of physical
manifestations of drunkenness, excess, loss of control, laughing, barking, etc.
is projected onto filling of the spirit. (Be not drunk on wine, but drunk on the Holy
Spirit.) Then they say that the
manifestations are the same for both events.
In other words, those manifestations of carnal drunkenness in a sober
man are seen as the evidence of the spirit’s miraculous presence. Yet remember, the scripture does not say be
drunk it says be filled. But, Eph. 5:18
is not a projection of these carnal reactions onto the Spirit, nor a comparison
of manifestations or evidences of spiritual activity. It is a contrast of control. Being filled with the Spirit is not losing
control of our physical faculties. The
contrast is showing which spirit controls us.
Is it the spirit of alcohol or the Spirit of God?
One argument is: “I do bizarre things under the Spirit’s
influence to honor the Holy Spirit because it proves I surrender my pride to
Him and am willing to look foolish for Him.”
Perhaps a better view is: We yield control of our heart and will to Him
constantly, not once or twice a week for a few hours. If being created in the image and likeness of
God confers some sort of dignity upon the creature, how does surrendering my
pride (dignity rather than vanity) by loss of control of my faculties bring
glory to God? I really don’t know. Our lives should reflect Jesus. Yielding control of our will to God is
correct when it brings Glory to God by allowing Jesus to be seen in us. While in college and the army, I have yielded
control to alcohol, have been drunk, have acted drunk and have seen
drunks. Jesus was nowhere to be seen
while I was drunk. How could anyone see
drunken manifestations as honoring Jesus?
Again I don’t really know.
When we drink to excess, our will
comes under the control of alcohol. And
alcohol allows our foolishness to be seen by people. God does not intoxicate us. When God fills us, our will comes under the
control of the Spirit of God. And the
Spirit allows Jesus to be seen by people.
He will make people see Jesus in us.
It is not that we have more of the Spirit, but the Spirit has more of
us.
Importance of Meaning of
Terms, especially “filling of the Spirit”:
Popular Christianity has not used the term “filling of Spirit”
accurately. Spirit infilling is not
indwelling nor another incoming. We also
must accurately distinguish between the Baptism of Spirit and the filling of
the Spirit. They are not the same. The Baptism of the Spirit in the New
Testament refers to the beginning of a relationship never the subsequent
experience in that relationship. The New
Testament, interestingly enough never commands Spirit Baptism, but it does
command Spirit (in)filling. Thus being
filled with the Spirit is something different from being baptized in the
Spirit.
Recap of part 3:
The essence of the filling
of the Spirit placed the emphasis on the verb “be filled.”
Imperative mood: a command to be obeyed
Present tense: a continuance to be observed
Passive voice: a control to be received
The next topic is
the Experience of the infilling.
Rev. George Relic, Assistant Pastor
Fountain of Life Church
2021 Old National Pike
Washington, Pa 15301
A congregation of Grace Communion International
