This series highlights the radio teaching of
Dr. Donald R. Hubbard on Ephesians 5:18
"If it’s not about Jesus, it’s not about anything"
Motto of the Fountain of Life
Part 1 of 6
I N T R O D U C T I O N
SPS (Sermon
Purpose Statement) is threefold. 1st)
to examine the filling of the Spirit from the vantage of its Essence, Experience, and Evidence; 2nd)
to demonstrate it as orthodox teaching; 3rd) to demonstrate that
doctrines about the Holy Spirit and Jesus are interrelated.
Prayer: Father, as we begin
to search Your Holy Word, we ask in Jesus’ name that You remove our ego
attachments from our many ideas about this subject. We recognize that many good and godly men and
women disagree sharply over points of this doctrine. Therefore, we pray for the ability to examine
the filling of the Spirit fairly, humbly and respectfully. May this study lead to your honor and glory
and magnify Jesus, your Son and our Lord. Amen
Text: Ephesians 5:18: And be not drunk with wine, which is excess,
but be filled with the Spirit.
USEFUL TERMS
Orthodoxy: Speaking and
teaching the truth of the Word of God.
Orthopraxis: Doing the Word;
living the Word; putting the truth into practice.
Charisms: Divinely inspired
gifts, grace or talent. (Also Charisma
or Charismatic)
I do not speak in tongues or
manifest other charisms. My late friend
Mary did. She had taught Sunday school
since Harry Truman’s presidency. For
several years she led the Masontown Senior Center’s monthly Bible Study. We were talking about religious matters one
day. She had the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. She observed that Christians who
don’t have charisms associated with the Spirit baptism are immature
spiritually. This was said honestly
without rancor or pride. She felt
Christian pity and concern for them, not ridicule or hostility.
Was she correct? 500 million Pentecostals believe that
speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit. What about my baptism? Since I do not speak in tongues am I filled
with the Holy Spirit or not? Am I
spiritually immature? Are you?
Several doctrines about the Holy
Spirit are controversial. Far too often
this occurs when the search for truth itself becomes a tool for self-validation
and being right becomes more important than what is right or true. I, myself, am not immune to this trap; it is
seductive to all of us. That is why we
pray for fairness, humility and respect in approaching this study. This series will ask hard and sincere questions
and make candid observations, however they are done in the spirit of intramural
debate among brothers, not in the spirit of political posturing among
enemies.
Let us accept that the study of
the Holy Spirit leads into understanding of the truth of Orthodoxy. That means we gain a clearer knowledge of who
Jesus is. That is very exciting. Some gain the knowledge of who we are in
relationship to Jesus. That is very
exciting. Some feel a manifestation of
Spiritual power. That is very
exciting. We understand that we are more
than conquerors through Him who loved us.
That is very exciting.
But the Holy Spirit is also a
mirror in which we see our carnal face.
That is unlovely. The study of
the Holy Spirit unveils the extent of orthopraxis in our lives; the living or
not living the Word of God. Through a
study of the Holy Spirit I gain a true understanding of myself. That aspect of truth is private and
uncomfortable for the preacher and for the congregation. Because if a preacher opens a light from the
pulpit that lets the congregation see his unloveliness, that same illuminating
light shines on them. Humanly speaking,
no one wants that kind of light. This
series may shed that kind of light and may be uncomfortable for some of us.
Excess
How often have you heard
Christians say “Be not drunk on wine but be drunk on the Holy Spirit”? Many of you readers are nodding your heads. I have heard it expressed that way too.
Ephesians 5:18 – And be not
drunk with wine, which is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Please note
that the actual text does not say, “Be drunk on the Holy Spirit.” It reads, “…be filled with the Spirit.” That simple misreading has ramifications in
doctrine. Our focus here is on the word
excess.
Excess
is rendered in different Bible translations as:
Reckless
action: (Holman Christian Standard
Version)
Ruin
your life: (New Living Translation)
Ruin
you: (New Century Version)
Cheapens
your life: (The Message)
Debauchery: (NIV, English Standard, Today’s NIV
Dissipation: (American Standard and New King James
Version)
The filling of the Spirit: This is a highly emotional and controversial
subject. The doctrine and ministry of
the Holy Spirit are debated. Excellent
and sincere Christians disagree about the meaning. Let us be slow to condemn other points of
view. Rather, let’s again ask for fairness,
humility and understanding in the study.
God gives the ministry of the Holy
Spirit. And part of the ministry is
found in the letter to the Ephesians.
The letter has six chapters and two divisions. This letter will help to answer the question;
are we filled with the Spirit or not? There
are two divisions in the letter; chapters (1-3) and chapters (4-6). Two perspectives are revealed. Chapters 1 thru 3 present grand heavenly
truth; the picture of the church as God sees the Church. It is from God’s point of view. We, the Church, are seated in the heavenlies
in Christ Jesus now. God sees the Church
as being redeemed as sealed by the Holy Spirit, now.
Chapters 4 thru 6 reveal how God
wants the world to see church. The Church
is us, you and me. The word “walk” is
emphasized. Chapter 5:17-18 presents
several bedrock truths for the Christian walk.
Vs. 5:17: “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand
what the will of the Lord is.” Brethren,
as you may well already realize that understanding of the will of the Lord is
vital for our walk as children of God.
Vs. 5:18: “And be not drunk with wine, which is excess,
but be filled with the Spirit.” Be
filled, not be drunk.
ORTHOPRAXIS - what we do:
The Apostle Paul recognized this
fact: Very often what we want to be, we are
not. Often we experience frustration in
our physical lives, and that feeling attaches itself to our spiritual lives. Why
do so many of us struggle in our Christian lives? This is what Paul said about it in Rom.
7:15: “That which I ought to do, I do not, that which I ought not to do I
do.”
Brethren, how often do we feel
trapped? How often do our lives seem
like a Merry-Go-Round? We go up and down
and round and round; we watch the scenery pass by, then it passes by again as
we go up and down and round and round.
After all that activity we stop and find ourselves back where we began
and shake our heads in bewilderment. And
we begin to think that it was wasted effort.
Perhaps we are on a swing, reaching for our goals, swinging higher and
higher never quite reaching what we desire to achieve until we swing too high
and fall to the ground in failure. And
we begin to think that we are just no good.
This is not the picture of the
child of God who has received great promises such as Rom 8:37: “We are
more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” The sad fact is that so many Christians
experience what I myself experience in my own life. Brethren, in so much of my life I find that I
am not a conqueror. What do I
mean? For me there have been several job
losses, mom’s very poor health and death, the collapse of my 401k stock
portfolio, a broken water pipe, broken bone, a flat tire, truck repairs, a
severe backache, knee injury, etc. These
things can get me down. Do you have
things that get you down? Such trials
are common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Such things try us, and sometimes discourage us, and sometime we feel
conquered by our circumstances. And
therefore we ask ourselves the question, “Why?”
Why is it that so many of us
struggle in our Christian experience?
Why do so many of us have spiritual dreams that our reality crushes? Why do some lives seem to radiate the
presence of God? Why can’t I experience
things like that? The answer to a great
degree has to do with the ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life; in our
lives.
Different stages of Christian
growth:
1 John 2:12-14: John refers to young men, little children,
and fathers: This shows three different
levels of Christian growth. In 1
Corinthians Paul says there are some who are carnal and some are
spiritual. Paul tells the Galatians that
the carnal person is controlled by the lusts of the flesh. The spiritual person is the one who is
gradually being controlled by the Spirit of God. The control of the Holy Spirit over us does
not supersede the exercise of our own free will. The Spirit’s control is more rightly
experienced as our willing and heightened sensitivity and positive response to
the unction or leading of the Spirit. I
certainly don’t want to be one of the carnal ones that Paul mentions. But the shameful reality is that I find parts
of my own life are carnal and parts of it are spiritual. Do you at times feel that internal tension? What is missing is ministry of Holy Spirit;
being filled with Spirit.
Dr. Donald Hubbard points out the
valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37: “I will cause a day when upon these bones
will come upon the breath of God.”
The breath of God is the cause, and the miraculous effect is that the
dry bones become resurrected. Hubbard
indicates that while this prophecy deals primarily with Israel, there is
another application. Many of us have a
spiritual experience that is, if you will, dry.
Just like those dry bones many lives lack vitality; there is little
evidence of the active breath of God. The
church attendance is there, the doctrine is there, the offerings are there, the
administration is there, the organization is there, but there is dryness. We may have everything so neatly
pigeon-holed, our orthodoxy so neatly compartmentalized, we may have our life
so deeply structured, but it doesn’t have the breath of God upon it. We are dry inside; our orthopraxy is
dry. No breath of God is visible. In Greek, hagia
pneuma means the Holy Spirit. I believe in Jesus and the bible tells me the
Spirit of God lives in me and yet I ask, “Where is the Holy Spirit?” I ask, was Mary correct?
IMPORTANT POINT: We
have three interrelated yet different ministries of the Holy Spirit. They are incoming, infilling and
indwelling. When you and I were
converted, with the Holy Spirit’s incoming we were infilled with and by Him.
With His daily and uninterrupted infilling He continually indwells us. So, today, since you have already confessed
your sin, you already believe that Jesus is the Christ and He is the
remission of sins, etc. then you were born again when His incoming infilled you
with Himself and therefore the Spirit of God indwells you regardless of how you
feel. How do I know? These things about sin and Jesus and the
Resurrection are foolishness to carnal man.
You can’t confess nor believe these things unless Holy Spirit lives in
you (I John 4:2). You don’t have to feel Him to confess Him. He is there.
You know it. If the Spirit of God
lives in me that means that God is concerned about what is happening to
me.
There are two well-intentioned
but mistaken approaches to the operation of the Holy Spirit in our lives: 1) How can I use the Holy Spirit? 2) How much of Holy Spirit do I have?
- How can I use Holy Spirit? Dr. Hubbard says that this question is a cardinal mistake. We can’t manipulate God. The Holy Spirit uses us. If we think we will use the Holy Spirit in our Christian life, we will be disappointed. Humanly speaking, we look at any new thing and in order to understand it a natural question is “How is it used?” However, in this case the correct question is how the Spirit of God will use us. This use is not a possession. The Holy Spirit does not use us in that manner. Possession implies a lack of our consent. The Holy Spirit never violates human free will. He uses us in that He works through us. God does not use us in the sense of involuntary control over us. However, for the sake of Dr. Hubbard’s point, the use of the phrase “He uses us” is permissible as language of accommodation for purposes to illustrate a contrast between our use and God’s use.
- How much of Holy Spirit do I have? Do I have enough to heal the sick or move mountains? This question is also misdirected. You don’t get the Holy Spirit in installments. We don’t plug into God and say, “I’d like 28% of the Holy Spirit today, please.” God doesn’t deal in terms like this. He doesn’t say that today, Tom and Jerry earned 28% and Martha and Mary earned 29% etc. But we humans want to quantify. How much? 20% of Him, 40% of Him? We often forget that the Holy Spirit is an undivided person as much as Jesus Christ is an undivided person. Therefore when you have the Spirit of God, you have the Spirit of God. You never receive the Spirit of God in installments; you never receive a part of the Spirit of God. He cannot be received in parts. He does not indwell you by proxy or by percentages. Some may see a problem with this and point out that Jesus had the Spirit in full measure and then say we do not have it in full like Jesus had to heal the sick and move mountains. That may seem true only because we will allow God access to only 18% of our lives, or 10% or 4%. Of all humans only Jesus, only one human, only Jesus surrendered 100% of His life to God’s will. Surrendering to Jesus, saying Jesus is Lord is not the getting more and more Holy Spirit, but it is surrendering more and more of me to the Holy Spirit. We have all, not part of the Holy Spirit, but we are all in different stages of growth and surrender. Some are full of the Spirit; some quench the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19). Since I know I am filled with the Holy Spirit, our correct question is: How can the Holy Spirit use more of me?
Recap of part 1:
Why do we struggle in our
Christian Experience? The answer has to
do with the ministry of the Holy Spirit filling our lives. Dr. Hubbard has explained much of the filling
of the Spirit from the vantage of the essence, the experience and the evidence. He also included an old fashion word
study. Following his example our next topic
is the essence of filling.
Rev. George Relic, Assistant Pastor
Fountain of Life Church, www.gcfountainoflife.org
2021 Old National Pike
Washington, Pa 15301
A congregation of Grace Communion International
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