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
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Rev.Relic's series on the Filling of the Spirit
for preceding installments
of
Rev.Relic's series on the Filling of the Spirit
Part 4 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.
2. Experience of Filling of the Spirit
The Orthodoxy
The experience is founded on the
promise and the command.
The Promise of Holy
Spirit: Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “You
shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” The Command for the Holy Spirit: Ephesians 5:18: “but be filled with the Spirit of God.”
Promise of coming: The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and He
baptized us into one Body the Church. The
promise of His coming is that that He takes/baptizes the believing sinner and joins
him/us into the body of Christ. The
Scripture never commanded to be baptized in the Spirit. That is not our initiative, but a passive yet
willing response.
But Scripture does command
us to be filled with the Spirit of God, and the sense of this command is to be
filled always. It is not that there is a
new fresh infusion of the Holy Spirit day after day. He is always there. The sense to me is that He is like a river;
In Masontown, the Monongahela has always been there; never changing; always
full; never emptying; always flowing.
There is a new fresh surrender to God day after day. It follows that the greater our personal
surrender, the greater our access to the Holy Spirit. It is not that I have more of the Holy Spirit,
but the Spirit has more of me. It is not
that I can use the Holy Spirit for my great spiritual works; it is that the
Holy Spirit can lead me willingly, eagerly into His chosen works.
How much of our spiritual and
physical stress is caused because we are not infilled with the power of the
Spirit of God? Yes, we can be Christian
and not be filled with the Holy Spirit, or rather not fully submitted to Jesus;
but we will be denying the PROMISE of receiving power and disobedient to the
COMMAND to be filled with the Spirit.
What causes this dissonance?
Four possible
reasons:
1.
Ignorance of what the scriptures say about Spirit
infilling.
2.
Indifference to His infilling.
3.
Inactivity in His presence.
4.
Impotence without His power.
Ignorance of ministry of
Spirit of God:
Our understanding of the ministry
of the Holy Spirit seems to be less than ideal.
Our differing viewpoints may be due to teaching usable yet inaccurate
analogies. Cars are so much a part of
our industrial cultural psyche that it is convenient to use the analogy of gas
in a tank. We need the Spirit to operate
our orthopraxis; we need gasoline to operate our car. We operate the car daily and drain the
limited supply of gasoline from the tank.
At the end of the day we refill the tank and replace the gas we used. In like manner our spiritual tank needs a
daily filling. That is a workable
analogy, but that is a WRONG Analogy.
That is not scriptural. Twice
Jesus likens the Spirit to water and His analogies of water transcend
industrial development or cultural differences.
I am saying that Jesus would not use the car analogy if He were here
today. He would use the same water
analogy to describe the Spirit.
Proper analogy #1 is John
4:14 with Jesus in Samaria at Jacob’s well.
“But who drinks of the water that I shall give, shall never thirst
[never run empty]. But the water
that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to
eternal life.” This well is always
filled.
Proper analogy #2 is John
7:37-39 with Jesus at the Last Great Day.
“If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said,
‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’ But he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who
believed in Him were to receive for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus
was not yet glorified.” These rivers are
always flowing.
Picture a well with its source in
the earth. No matter how much you draw
out, it is never exhausted. That is the
analogy of the Spirit of God. We are not
a tank going dry. We are the well and
the water is overflowing. Picture the
Ohio River always receiving the infilling of water at the confluence of the
Monongahela and Allegheny at Point State Park.
We are not the Los Angeles River, depending upon seasonal rains; we are
the Ohio River, always flowing. Jesus
embellished that and says we are like rivers of flowing water.
Two accurate analogies of filling
of the Spirit from scripture are about water overflowing continuously, not
about a tank going empty and needing refilling.
Today we just are not consistent about what the Scripture says about the
power and the working of the Spirit of God.
Please allow me to submit a 21st
Century water analogy that is not glamorous but very common.
Proposed analogy: The
bathtub: Turning on the faucet is the
incoming of the Spirit. And it is turned
on only once. It is never turned
off. It flows eternally. The water coming out of the tap is the
infilling of the tub. Because the tap is
on eternally, the infilling is eternal.
The full tub is the indwelling.
The eternal infilling produces the overflow of rivers from the tub. This process mirrors perfect surrender. The difficulty is our old man. He will not surrender his rebellion. He constantly throws sacks of dirt into the
tub, as many as he can. This dirt has no
mass but the sacks of dirt can absorb their own volume of water. Inactivity inside the sack causes the water
there to evaporate back to the eternal source at an equal rate to the
infilling. The eternal flow of water is
always the same. The amount of water in
the tub is always the same. The amount
of water overflowing the tub is decreased by absorption and evaporation caused
by the number of sacks of dirt we throw into the tub. Surrender is removing as many sacks as we
can.
Indifference:
How many Christians today are
really concerned if we are filled with the Holy Spirit? Has life challenged our faith? Have our 21st Century ideas of the
ministry of the Spirit confused our expectations in prayer life? Have we received answers and not even seen
them? Have we seen our desires and hopes
fail so often that we lose confidence in prayers or lose interest with things
of God? Do we become indifferent for any
reason to the filling of Spirit? If yes,
we become indifferent to His promptings.
We become spiritually inactive.
Inactivity: If our faith
is inactive it is not exercised. Like a
muscle it will weaken. Continued
inactivity will lead to atrophy. This
grieves the Holy Spirit; this quenches the Holy Spirit; this leads to spiritual
impotence.
Impotence: This is a lack of spiritual power in our
lives. Our prayer life ceases; our
thirst for spiritual knowledge ceases; our orthodoxy may be fine, but our
orthopraxis ceases or becomes ritual not spiritual; dead not alive.
Three words give a basic
understanding of the working of the Ministry of the Holy Spirit today. We’ll use statements Jesus made and look to
the doctrinal section that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and Romans.
- Incoming - once
- Indwelling - always
- Infilling - daily
The EXPERIENCE deals with
the incoming and indwelling and infilling.
The unique incoming [at our moment of conversion - See *Note below],
which yields the continuous indwelling are simultaneous events. When we confess Jesus, the Spirit comes
into an empty temple and dwells there.
Perhaps the incoming and indwelling is analogous to a bride being
carried over the threshold. Her incoming
into the home is through the threshold.
At that same moment she indwells the home because she is there; no
longer outside.
[* NOTE: Before you were converted the ministry of the
Holy Spirit was to teach Jesus and the cross; to convict of sin; to make aware
of grace and salvation; to desire Jesus and lead to repentance and
conversion. At the moment that you acted
on that information and confessed Christ as Lord and Savior you were born from
above, (John 3:3) and you experienced the incoming when the Spirit of God came
into you (past tense) to indwell you (present tense) and fill you
(present tense – continuous action) by helping you to surrender each day to the
continuous infilling. That is the
meaning of incoming and indwelling and infilling of the Spirit of God. Brethren, please another word of caution
here. Please do not let technical
differences over the efficacy of the rite of Baptism vs. the Sacrament of
Baptism vs. the mode of Baptism divert us from our understanding of the
workings of the incoming, infilling and indwelling as applied to the ministry
of the filling of the Holy Spirit. End
of Note.]
Look in the following scriptures
and see that this incoming, indwelling and infilling is the ministry of Holy
Spirit to each of us who have confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is the promise of the Holy
Spirit’s incoming.
John 14:15-17: “If you love Me you will keep My
commandments. And I will ask the Father,
and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth whom the world
cannot receive because it does not behold Him or know Him. But you know Him because He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
The Holy Spirit is coming. Luke 24:49:
“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon
you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on
high.” Acts 1 shows they were waiting in
Jerusalem. The promise of the incoming
of the Spirit was fulfilled on Pentecost.
The Spirit was to come into them and dwell with them. The promise had to do with this. The Holy Spirit would come upon them and the
Spirit would dwell with them.
John 16:7: “But I tell you the truth, it is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come
to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
Vs. 13: “But when He, the
Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [all truth
but remember, not in one day – infilling daily – we grow in grace and truth];
for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will
speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of
Mine, and shall disclose it to you.”
Romans 8:9-11: Writing to Christians: Look for the key word indwelling. “However, you are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he does not belong to Him. And
if Christ is in you though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is
alive because of righteousness. But, if
the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who indwells you.”
And if any man has not the Spirit
of God, he is none of his, but Jesus is in me because of indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. The Spirit dwells
in us but the Holy Spirit does not control us without our invitation. We want control. That is why we need the infilling of the
Spirit of God.
And the experience of the
Spirit of God is the fulfillment of what Jesus Christ taught. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is
controlling me, producing in me the character of Jesus Christ. Now this experience, the experience of the
filling of the Spirit of God is vital for every Christian. It [this experience] is conforming our
character to Jesus. Our continual infilling prompted by our conscious surrender
is the experience. The change in us that
conforms us to Christ IS THE EVIDENCE. [See part 5 of 6.]. Surrendering our control is entirely
different than losing control.
The experience of the filling of
Holy Spirit [It is real; it is effective] is vital for every Christian: We are filled or we are defective. The defect is there theologically and
realistically: It is not something that
you see on the outside necessarily. Although
the Holy Spirit may dwell with or in you it may not yet control (influence)
you.
When Paul writes: Don’t be drunk on wine, which is excess but
be filled with the Spirit of God. He is
speaking about divine control (influence).
1 Corinthians 6:19: “Know ye not that your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom ye have of God and ye are not your
own.” This Temple is with us
everywhere. That means the Lord is
always with us. We have proof. What else do you think it means in Matthew
28:20: “I am with you always” – what
else but the indwelling presence of Holy Spirit. God knows we need to be influenced by Holy Spirit
more and more and more.
Our need is seen by how much the
flesh fights against the spirit: In
Galatians 5 Paul draws the contrast between the fruit of the spirit, which is
the evidence of the spirit’s filling and the fruit of the flesh, the kind of
people we are when drunk on our carnal nature and under its control. This is the war. Paul says we need the filling of the
Spirit. It is essential for us. The Good news is that it is available. In fact it is ever present.
Some of our problems hindering
the infilling:
Ignorance: We may not understand the ministry of the
Spirit.
Indifference: We may not care about it.
Inactivity: We may neglect (forget about) it.
Impotence: we don’t have
power without it.
When Spirit came at Pentecost, He
baptized them into one body and the Church was formed. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the act of the
Spirit whereby He takes believing sinners and places them into the body of
Christ. Remember, the scripture never
commands to be baptized by the Spirit of God.
But it does command us to be filled with the Spirit of God.
Next we study further into the
experience of the filling of the Spirit:
Dr. Hubbard suggests that its elements are actual not
theoretical; essential not peripheral; normal not special; continual,
not a once for all experience; and it is effectual not
perfectional.
Elements of the Experience of
filling of Holy Spirit: 5 items:
The experience is actual, essential, normal, continual, and it is effectual.
1. It is actual, not
theoretical. It is reality, as the Scripture
indicates this is what God has said.
Acts 2:4: It is real to us where
we are. “They were all filled and spoke
the word with boldness.” Acts
4:8: “Then Peter, filled with the
Holy Spirit said unto them…Vs. 31:
And when they had prayed, the place where they gathered together was
shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” When Paul went to Damascus, Ananias said to
Paul “that you may be filled with the Spirit of God.”
All through the book of Acts the Spirit of
God and the filling of the Spirit is demonstrated as present reality. There is a relationship to the Christian
life, which sees life as it is and filling of the Spirit, which leads us to
navigate problems and to enjoy the blessings of seeing God work. Filling of the Spirit “fuels the tank” of
orthopraxis of living the Word or putting the Word into practice, and it
actually happens and we actually see growth.
2. Not only actual it is essential. It is essential it is not peripheral. The kind of man I am, my relationship to
parents, friends, what kind of man I am at work or at play. All of this is related to the filling of the
Spirit of God. The disappointment is
that some remain spiritual children.
I Cor. 1-7: Paul says they, the Corinthian congregation,
are not lacking in any spiritual gift.
The Spirit is with them, yet read what Paul says in 1 Cor.3:1: “Brothers, I can’t write to you as spiritual
men, but as carnal babes in Christ.”
Because (vs. 3) “You are still carnal.”
Why? Because, they were not filled
(surrendered) with Spirit of God. They
were filled with divisions, jealously and strife. They were indwelled with the Spirit yet they
were not surrendered and filled with the Spirit and they became destroyers,
they didn’t become builders. Daily
filling (surrendering) is essential to become a mature child of
God.
3. Actual, Essential and it is Normal
not Special.
Brethren, have you ever noticed
that at the job site or in work place, when someone does not curse, does not
pad the expense account, does not gossip; that the world thinks that they are
abnormal and that only special people can live righteously like that. However, godly living is not special, it is
normal. The normal pattern of walking
with Jesus is for us to be filled by and manifest the fruit of the Spirit. It is not reserved for just a special
few.
Most of the time you will be
unaware that you are filled. Read the
New Testament. You never find any saint
saying, “I am filled with the spirit of God.”
Instead, the Bible authors report:
Stephen, filled with the Spirit, Peter filled with the Spirit, the
apostles filled with the spirit. Their
lives reflected Christ to others. Their
being filled with the Spirit was the judgment of others who saw their actions
(orthopraxis). Their being filled was
not considered or reported as rare or unusual.
It was reported as a fact along with other facts in the narrative. Their being filled was reported
“matter-of-factly.” For example Acts 4
could be read using 21th century sound bites: Peter and John go to the Temple…are arrested…appear
before the rulers…Holy Spirit fills Peter…Rulers confer…Peter and John
released…They return home…fact, fact, fact, etc. No one aspect of the narrative is highlighted
over another. Our lives reflect Christ
as a normal pattern of action. Being
filled is a normal experience for Christians.
4. It is actual, essential, normal and it is a continual
experience, not a once a week experience.
(Nor once in a while experience.)
We access the rivers and fountains of God’s grace. He has more grace than I have need. It is a state of being filled day in and day
out. It is not that you are consciously
aware of it, in fact in scripture I don’t know that emotions have anything to
do with it. I do not think we are
consciously happy that we are breathing, but breathing is important. Today we have millions of Christians who
experience the Spirit emotionally at weekly meetings. And we see extraordinary behavior that is
supposed to indicate the filling of the Spirit.
But in the New Testament the filling is normal and presented as a case
of being continually filled with the Spirit of God.
5. It is actual, essential, normal, continual,
and it is effectual not perfectional. It is not the removal of our sin nature. There is still war. The old man wants to
escape his watery grave. We are filled
with the Spirit of God; it does not mean that we are perfect and sinless,
but it means that we will sin less.
As we walk and are filled with Spirit of God, our life will radiate and
reflect more and more of Jesus Christ.
And we literally will sin less.
Several Churches believe that after regeneration (baptism) there needs
be a second work of grace; that “glossolalia” or speaking in tongues is the
biblical evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. This second work done here and now purifies
believers from sin and makes them fit for service.
Notwithstanding this belief, our old carnal nature
has been already been judged not guilty and sinless at the cross of Jesus by a
unique work of grace, then and there.
And if sinless in God’s sight we are already fit for service. My old carnal nature will not be removed
until I die, but it will wither and weaken under our submission to the rule of
the Holy Spirit; finally to disappear at the Resurrection.
The elements of experience of
filling of the Holy Spirit are: It is
actual, essential, normal, continual and effectual.
How can I be filled with
Spirit?
- Desire, surrender, ask and
accept:
- Be willing to confess all sin
as the Spirit enlightens us and develops a sensitivity to sin in us.
- We may have to make wrongs
right with other people. We may have to
apologize or even say to someone, “I am sorry.”
Telling someone “I was wrong,” is the “ouch” of orthopraxy.
In orthopraxy we begin to see the
evidence of the filling of the Spirit.
Doctrine of the filling of Spirit
of God:
Danger: It is tempting to see the filling of Sprit in
a technical or abstract way rather than a personal way in which I should be
involved. We can study Scriptures as
topics and subjects (orthodoxy) rather than as areas that we need to apply to
our personal lives (orthopraxy). The
question as we approach the study of the teaching from the Word is, “Am I
filled today with the Holy Spirit?”
Ephesians 5:18: Paul emphasizing the walk of believer, be not
drunk on wine but be filled with the Spirit.
Recap of part 3:
We have studied this text along
two different lines. One was the essence
of the filling of the Spirit and the other was the experience of the filling.
Essence of filling: We studied the verb, “be filled.”
Passive
voice: to be obtained from outside by HS
Imperative
mood: command to be obeyed.
Present
tense: continually filled
Experience of
filling: It is actual, essential,
normal, continual and effectual
The next topic is
the evidence of the filling
Rev. George Relic, Assistant Pastor
Fountain of Life Church
2021 Old National Pike.
Washington, Pa 15301
A congregation of Grace Communion International
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