FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT: DELIGHTING IN THE MANIFESTED PRESENCE OF CHRIST

By Dustin Shramek

If I were to ask you, "What is the greatest thing about being a Christian that we can experience right now," what would you say? Maybe it isn't a question you have given much thought to. Tonight I want to look at what I think to be the greatest thing that we can experience this side of eternity. My prayer is that God will illumine these truths to your heart resulting in great glory and praise to His name.

My focus tonight is being filled with the Spirit. I think that as we study this concept we will begin to see the most glorious thing in the world that we as believers can enjoy everyday of our lives on earth. We will see the person of Jesus.

In our overview of being Spirit filled, we will look at it from two distinct view points. First, we will look at being Spirit filled from our perspective. What is our role in being filled by the Spirit? and What do we do as Spirit-filled people?

Then we will look at it from the perspective of the Holy Spirit. What is His role? What does He do in our lives and in the lives of others through us as we are Spirit filled?

I believe the greatest thing about being a Christian while on earth is that we are able to fellowship with the risen Christ. The essence of our role in being Spirit filled is delighting in God for all that He promises to be for us in Jesus. And the essence of the Spirit's role in being Spirit filled is mediating the person of Christ to our hearts so that Jesus will be glorified in all things and we will receive joy in all things.

Turn with me to Ephesians 5:18. Paul writes, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit..."

I am sure that many of you are familiar with this verse. We talk about being filled with the Spirit often. In my judgment, it has become a little Christian catch phrase that we don't even know the meaning for. If someone asked you what this phrase, "filled with the Spirit" meant, would you be able to answer them?

Unfortunately, within the church we have many misunderstandings concerning the Spirit filled Christian. Let's see if we can look at this text a little more closely, along with some additional texts, to clear up the confusion.

Let's go back to verse 15 and read through 21. "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ."

We need to ask ourselves what context verse 18 is a part of. Paul starts by commanding that we be careful how we walk, saying that we need to walk as wise men. Concluding in verse 17 that we ought not be foolish, instead we are to understand God's will for our lives.

Paul is talking about living a life of obedience, this is clear from the last part of verse 17, "understand what the will of the Lord is." How do we come to understand His will? We discover it by studying the Bible. For what is the Bible other than the revealed word of God? In essence, Paul is saying, "Don't be foolish, rather, be wise by studying God's will found in the Bible and doing it."

And then he adds his next command, "Do not get drunk...be filled with the Spirit..." So what is this filling of the Spirit and how does it relate to what we already saw in verse 15-17?

First, we must note the parallel that Paul uses. He likens being filled with the Spirit with being filled with wine. How are they similar? When one is filled with wine, he is in under its influence, meaning, he does things because he is filled with wine. And often these are things that he would otherwise never do.

Likewise, when we are filled with the Spirit, we are under His influence. We will do things because we are filled with the Spirit and they will be things that we would not otherwise do.

This aspect of being Spirit filled is pretty clear in our minds. We understand that to live obedient lives for Christ, we need the power of His Spirit. Obedience to God is a very important aspect of being Spirit filled. Yet, this is also the very point that is most likely misunderstood. When we consider what it means to walk obediently, we have the mind set of dying to self so that the Spirit can fill us and then Christ can work through us. We tell each other, "Let Christ do it through you" or "Let go and let God." Unfortunately, this thinking isn't totally accurate. In fact, it can even be dangerous.

Now I do affirm that we must die to our selfish desires and we must put to death the deeds of the body by the power of the Spirit. We are in desperate need of the Spirit's power to live obediently and we must say along with Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..." (Galatians 2:20).

But I wonder if we haven't taken some of our thinking to far, in such a way as to actually stray from the Biblical teaching.

Many of you are probably objecting in your minds. Thinking, "But Dustin, we aren't supposed to do it in our own power. We really do need to let go and let God. For how else can we be free from pride and self-reliance?" But I ask you, "What does it mean to let go?" or "What does it mean to let God?"

Those are tough questions and one can only guess at the answers. After all, these phrases aren't found in the Bible and the concept they portray isn't found either.

The problem with most teaching on being filled with Spirit and the phrases like, "Let go and let God" is that they carry an air of passivity. What I mean is, they lead us to think that if we want to be holy all we need to is trust God and then get out of His way. How would I apply such teaching in preparation for my talk? Before I begin do I pray, "Lord, I empty all that is me so that you may fill me with Jesus. Lord, please bypass me so that I won't mess it up," then I get up to the podium and just stand? No, I must speak. Was it wrong of me to write this talk out word for word because someone may think that I won't be open to the Spirit?

Now, I know that most people don't think this way, but this teaching really does lead us to a kind of passivity where we do nothing. Some have taken it so far that they won't do anything, even spiritual things, unless they are prompted by the Holy Spirit, thus being assured that it is not by their power they are doing it.

I don't see this kind of thinking in scripture when God tells us what it means to be sanctified, to live holy lives. Rather, I see very active verbs describing our part. For instance, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24, "Run in such a way that you may win." In Philippians 3:14, he says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Or Colossians 1:29 says, "And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." In 1 Corinthians 15:10 he writes, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me."

Paul labored, he ran, he pressed on, he strived. Yet, it wasn't him, but the grace of God with him. You see, Paul didn't say, "Let go and let God." No, he would have said, "Trust God and get going." Trust that God will work it out and that He will use your efforts for good and then do it. When writing this talk, I prayed, trusted God to speak to your hearts, then I wrote and delivered it to you, still trusting that His Spirit will cause you to rejoice in the truth. And then I will thank Him for His awesome grace to use me, a lowly sinner, for the building up of His church and the glorification of His name.

We see that sanctification then is both an act of God and us. It isn't our act in that we are the ultimate cause of it. We see this in 1 Corinthians 15:10 when Paul attributes all of His labor to God's grace. But nonetheless, Paul did labor. We must act as well, we must labor, we must run and we must strive. And then by God's grace, we will live holy lives. If want to understand what our role in being Spirit filled is, we must understand that we are to be very active in our sanctification. Don't take a back seat and then expect to watch God do everything as you do nothing. Trust God and get going!

Now, let's turn back to Ephesians 5 and see what else Paul sees as essential to being Spirit filled. We've seen that being filled with the Spirit isn't simply a total losing of one's self leading to passivity, but it is in fact a very active part of our lives. This is first of all evidenced by verses 15-17. We saw earlier how these verses are dealing with matters of moral areas. This helps us to see that being filled with the Spirit is the means by which we walk obediently. This is reiterated in Romans 8:13, "If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." If we want to walk obediently, we must walk in the Spirit, we must exemplify the fruits of the Spirit, we must be filled with the Spirit.

But there is another interesting aspect of being Spirit filled which I think even more clearly shows how we can battle sin by the power of the Spirit. This is seen in the succeeding verses. Paul says, "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father..."

When we are filled with the Spirit we will speak to one another in psalms and hymns. We will encourage one another as we talk about the greatness of God. In essence we will be praising God by telling others of His goodness as it says in Psalm 96:3, "Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples." This is the greatest act of love that we can show our brothers and sisters, we can point them to the one who satisfies and when we are filled with the Spirit, our spirit will overflow with praise for God.

Not only will we glorify God by telling of His greatness, but we will also worship God by "singing and making melody with our heart to the Lord." Being filled with the Spirit means overflowing with joy in God. When we are filled with the Spirit we say with the Psalmist, "I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High" (Psalm 9:2).

The essence of being Spirit filled is rejoicing in God so that you will tell of His greatness to others and by so delighting in Him, you will have the power to walk obediently. We will treasure God and all that He promises to be for us in Jesus and then we will be able to walk obediently with great joy.

If we really look closely, we see here the outlining of Christian Hedonism. Christian Hedonism is the pursuit of our joy in God, recognizing that God's pursuit for the glory of His name is the very thing that will most satisfy us. If we are filled with the Spirit, we will delight in God through worship, we will delight in God by telling of His greatness to others (praising Him), and we will delight in God by walking according to His will. The essential nature of a Spirit filled person is that he/she delights in God.

The reason this is so practical in our battle against sin is that delight in God severs the very root of sin. We sin when we seek our satisfaction and our joy in something other than God. But if we are filled with the Spirit and are rejoicing in God, the petty promises of sin will not be alluring.

So, what is our part in being Spirit filled? We must trust God and then get to work. We must study His word and live obedient lives. We must sound out His praises as we declare His greatness to others. And we must sing our hearts to God, glorifying Him by delighting in Him. Basically, our part is to be so satisfied in God that we overflow with joy in God and love for others, leading us to serve people by bringing them into that same enjoyment of the Almighty.

But now a very practical question is raised, "How do we become filled with the Spirit?" To begin, I would like to say that I think all believers are filled with the Spirit in some sense for all are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Also, we can never get too full of the Holy Spirit so that we can't have more of Him. Even when we are filled, the Spirit will increase our capacity to be filled so that we can experience even more delight in God. But unfortunately, we find error in many people's thinking of how one is filled with the Spirit. Often we are given a quick formula to follow:

1) God commands you to be filled with the Spirit(Ephesians 5:18).
2) God promises to answer all prayers according to His will (1 John 5:14-15).
3) Therefore, if we ask to be filled with the Spirit, God will do it.

On the surface, this seems both Biblical and logical. And as often as we hear it, why should we doubt it's legitimacy? But I wonder if this formula really works. Can we simply ask God to be filled with the Spirit and then immediately and automatically be filled?

Let me give a quick example to illustrate the flaw in this formula. In Micah 6:8, we are commanded to love kindness. What if someday after Kellie and I are married, she comes home from a very hard day of work and she takes her frustrations out on me. I know that she had a hard day and that it would be very kind for me to go make dinner and do the dishes. Even though I am angry and don't want to do them, I do. I may not love being kind to my wife in that moment, but I do perform a kind deed. Can I pray to God saying, "You command me to love kindness and you promise to answer my prayers according to your will. So cause me to love doing the dishes even though Kellie really hurt me." Should I expect to suddenly be overwhelmed with joy?

No, I should still pray that God would change my heart, but then I should forgive Kellie, go and do the dishes and meditate on scripture, trusting that God will bless me with a joyful heart of service. But I certainly mustn't expect immediate change.

So it is with being Spirit filled. We can't just pray and expect an automatic, immediate miracle. No, we need to trust God and then get going. Maybe this will be more clear after we look at Colossians 3:15-17.

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."

If we look closely, we will see some astonishing parallels with Ephesians 5:18-20. In Ephesians Paul says that when we are filled with the Spirit we are to, "speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God."

First, being filled with Spirit and having the word of Christ richly dwelling within you, both lead to sharing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with others. Secondly, they both result in singing to the Lord. And at the end of both we are to do all things in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God.

These parallels are too similar to merely pass over. It is especially interesting when we learn that Ephesians and Colossians were probably written within the same year.[1] Most theologians consider them "twin epistles." Don't you think that Paul had both of these things in mind when he was writing?

What then, are the implications? It would seem that being filled with the Spirit is very much an equivalent to having the word of Christ richly dwell within you.

We now have a better picture of what it means to be Spirit filled and how we come to be Spirit filled. If we want the fulness of the Holy Spirit we must first ask God to pour His Spirit upon us, then we must meditate on God's word so that it richly dwells within us. And finally we must be obedient to that word, acting with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. These are the fruits of the Spirit and they will be evident in our lives only if the Word of Christ is in our hearts. Psalm 119:11 says, "Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee." The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to break the power of sin, but not unless we are in the Word.

These two things are not the wings of an airplane, one wing being Spirit filled and the other being the word in our hearts. For such an analogy implies that even though it would be rough flying, it is logically coherent to have one without much of the other. But, they aren't two things that balance each other, rather they are the same thing. If you don't have the word of Christ richly dwelling within you, you will not be filled with the Spirit and if you aren't filled with the Spirit, while the word of Christ might be in you, it won't be dwelling within you richly.

The Spirit delights in conforming you to the image of Christ by causing His word to richly dwell in you. We've seen that our part in being Spirit filled is to enjoy God and then serve others in joy. It is by being Spirit filled that we will be conformed to the holy image of Christ which is essential for salvation. Now let us turn to what the Holy Spirit's role in being Spirit filled. And how does His role here reflect upon His ministry to glorify Christ by mediating His presence to the world.

When many of us think of the Holy Spirit we think of Him giving us power, or enabling us to perform various spiritual gifts, or purifying us from sin, or presenting to us the revealed will of God. While all of these things are an important aspect of His ministry, they are not the foundation of it.

The thing the Holy Spirit loves to do more than any other thing is glorify Christ by mediating His presence to us. He loves to make Christ known so that Christ is honored and praised. We actually see this as we put Ephesians 5:18-21 with Colossians 3:15-17. He fills us with Himself by causing the word of Christ to be in us richly resulting in praise to the Father and the Son. So His desire in filling us isn't merely to enable us to be obedient or to exercise spiritual gifts, yes they are included, but what He really wants to do is mediate Christ to us and though us.

We must recognize that the Holy Spirit isn't merely the Spirit of God, but He is also the Spirit of Christ. Luke writes in Acts 16:9 that the Spirit of Jesus did not permit Paul to go to Asia. Paul says in Romans 8:9, "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."

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit who indwelt Christ. Luke 4:1 says that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and John tells us in John 3:34 that God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit without measure.

This is the same Spirit that Jesus promises to give to us. Jesus says in John 15:26, "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me."

You might be thinking that you know all of this and I don't doubt that you do, but if you'll hold on for just a little bit longer, you'll hear what I believe to be the greatest thing that we can experience here on earth and it is the Holy Spirit who accomplishes it.

Turn with me to John 14 where we will see just how great the ministry of the Holy Spirit truly is.

Starting in verse 16, Jesus starts making some incredible promises. "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever" (v. 16). Jesus promises to give us another helper, the Holy Spirit, and He promises that this helper will always be with us. Then He says, "that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you" (v. 17). Here Jesus promises that the Spirit will abide in us. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you"(v. 18). Here Jesus gives us an interesting twist in His promises. He promises not to leave us as orphans. He promises to come to us. "After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also" (v. 19). Even though Jesus is leaving this world, Jesus promises that we will still be able to behold Him "In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (v. 20). Here is a glorious promise, Jesus says that He will be in us. Finally, Jesus says, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him...If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our abode with him" (v. 21,23). Jesus promises to disclose Himself to us and to make His abode with us.

We see then that when Jesus promises to send His Spirit, He is really promising to come Himself. It is through the Spirit that we experience the risen Christ.

Turn now to Romans 8:9-11. In this passage Paul has set up a dichotomy. On one hand we have the person in the flesh (the unbeliever) and the person in the Spirit (the believer). We already saw that the Spirit of God is equivalent to the Spirit of Christ (v. 9). And right after Paul has told these Roman Christians that the Spirit of Christ is in them, he says, "And if Christ is in you..." (V. 10). Do you see what he is saying? The indwelling of the Spirit of Christ is the same as the indwelling of Christ Himself!

This correlation between the Spirit and Jesus is very evident in the letters to the seven churches in Revelations. Each letter begins with the speaker revealing Himself as Jesus and yet they each end with this, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." When the Spirit ministers by speaking, it is really the Lord Jesus who speaks.

This obviously has some great implications for our lives and our ministries. When the Holy Spirit manifests Himself by granting us spiritual gifts for the edification of the church He does it so that we may experience Christ. What I mean is that when Billy Graham is exercising his gift of evangelizing, the Spirit is working through him to mediate the presence of Christ. Billy Graham isn't merely presenting the gospel, he is presenting Jesus. Tonight as I have stood up here teaching, the Holy Spirit has been using me to reveal to your hearts the very person of Jesus. What a joy to exercise our gifts so that the Spirit can mediate Christ though us!

Even our good works are works that Jesus has done through us. When I am blessed by someone's kindness, it is in essence Jesus who is the one being kind to me. He is the one who accomplishes our good works. Paul says in Romans 15:18, "For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me..."

So through our good works and our spiritual gifts, the Spirit is constantly making Jesus known to us. He is constantly ushering the presence of Jesus into our presence. Praise God!

Ultimately, all of this is done for the glory of the Son. Concerning the Spirit, Jesus says in John 16:14-15, "He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you."

The motivation behind every act of the Spirit of God is to glorify Christ. And the way that He does this for believers is by taking what is Jesus' and disclosing it to us. He takes the very person of Jesus and then reveals Him to our hearts.

In reference to the phrase, "what is mine," J.I. Packer says some great things. As I read his words think on the truth that the Spirit delights to take these things and then disclose them to you. Packer writes,

Everything that is real and true about me as God incarnate, as the Father's agent in creation, providence and grace, as this world's rightful lord, and as the one who actually is master of it whether men acknowledge me or not...all that is real and true about me as your divine lover, your mediator, your surety in the new covenant, your prophet, priest and king, your Saviour from the guilt and power of sin and from the world's corruptions and the devil's clutches; and all that is true of me as your shepherd, husband, and friend, your life and your hope, the author and finisher of your faith, the lord of your own personal history, and the one who will some day bring you to be with me and share my glory, who am thus both your path and your prize.[2]

This truly is the greatest thing that we could ever have hoped for here on earth. We are able to experience the risen Jesus!

When we have the proper perspective of the Spirit's ministry we are able to better understand what it means to be filled with the Spirit. We see that the Spirit fills us for the glory and praise of Jesus. He fills us so that we see all that Christ is, moving our hearts to sing to the Lord and praise His name among all peoples and tribes. When we fellowship with the risen Christ, we have much greater desire to walk in obedience because we know that the manifest presence of Jesus through the Holy Spirit is the greatest thing we can experience here on earth.

The beautiful thing is that Christ is honored and we get to serve God with great joy and commune with His Son. This is the heart of Christian Hedonism, God gets the glory and we get the joy. "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."

So I close with Paul's command, "Be filled with the Spirit!" Study God's word so that it will richly dwell within you. Be obedient to His commands and walk according to His will. Tell of His glory to others. Point them to the One who truly satisfies. But do it all because you are inwardly delighting in the person of Jesus as the Holy Spirit mediates His presence to you. And the Spirit will bring great glory to the Son as He gives us great joy in the Son's presence.

Notes
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE.

1. Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993), p. 400.
2. J.I. Packer, Keep In Step With the Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 1984), pp. 52-53.

Go back to Contend for the Faith.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws