BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

I. We experience the infilling of the Spirit when we are saved, because the Spirit of God has come into our spirit to fill us when we got regenerated.

A. Our salvation includes the forgiveness of sins and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. On the cross we received the redemption of sins but in Christ resurrection we received the Spirit. The first thing Jesus did on the day of His resurrection was the breathing of the Holy Spirit into His disciples. The most important thing that life needs is breathing. We can postpone eating and drinking for days but not breathing.

B. Every life needs breathing to maintain life. Our spiritual life needs spiritual breathing. The word Spirit in Greek is "Pneuma", which means breath or air. The Holy Spirit is God’s breathing out. We have to breathe the Holy Spirit in. Our regenerated spirit needs the breathing in of the Holy Spirit.

C. Air is the first thing a baby needs right after birth. After a baby is born, right away he needs to breathe and be filled with air instantaneously and continuously that he may live. Likewise, having been born spiritually we need to breathe and be filled with holy air. The first thing we need to seek after is the infilling of the Spirit.

II. It is a miraculous normality. It is not something accidental or something hard to seek after, but through exercise it becomes a normal, daily experience. 1 Thes. 5:16-19

A. To be filled with the Spirit is miraculous. The greatest miracle is not when the blind can see nor the lame can walk. Rather, the greatest miracle is just when the Spirit, who is the great God Himself entered into a small man like us.

B. To be filled with the Spirit is miraculous yet normal. We can experience it in a normal way. Some say we can only be filled with the Spirit after twenty years of Christian experience. What an abnormal experience. After a baby is born he needs to be filled with air immediately lest he dies, no need to wait for twenty years.

C. Even if you are already twenty years in your Christian life but if you are not a prayerful person you can never experience the infilling of the Spirit. Even if you are just one day in your Christian life you can experience the further infilling of the Spirit by praying unceasingly.

D. Some said that you need to fast for ten days before you can be filled. However, without praying you can never be filled. The way to experience the infilling of the Spirit is just to pray. Many Christians are like flat tires because they are lazy to pray. If you claim that you are a Christian then you must unceasingly pray.

E. Breathing is a matter of life and death. If you breathe you live, if you don’t breathe you die. Praying is like breathing. We need to pray unceasingly as we need to breathe unceasingly. No matter how busy we are we need to breathe. We need to pray all the time even while working or walking in the street because it is our spiritual breathing.

III. This is the only way to experience the reality of the divine Trinity. John 16:13

A. The Spirit is the consummation of the processed Triune God. Once we are filled with the Spirit, the Spirit will transmit into us all what the Father has planned and what the Son has accomplished for us.

IV. The experience of the infilling: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. Gal. 5:22-23

A. God is Spirit. Once we are filled with the Spirit all the divine attributes of God will overflow from us and become our excellent human virtues. Just like when an orange juice filled the cup and overflowed from it, its attractive color is openly expressed. Being filled with the Spirit makes us attractive to others and can gain others to Christ.

V. The requirement to speak the word of the Lord. Eph. 5:18-19; 1 Cor. 14:26; Heb. 10:25

A. We need to be filled with the Spirit that we may be able to prophesy with all boldness. To prophesy is to speak God, speak for God, and speak forth God to the people.

VI. The dynamo of preaching the gospel. Acts 4:31

A. A balloon not filled with the helium cannot fly. Without being filled with the Spirit we do not have the boldness to share God’s word to others; we are ashamed to bring a bible; much more we do not have the power to overcome all persecutions. Not being filled with the Spirit will cause us to deny the Lord.

B. We need to be filled with the Spirit that we may have the power to preach God’s word. We must be a prayerful person. A prayerless Christian is a dead Christian – pitiful, weak, defeated, lukewarm, lifeless, and barren.

VII. The way to filled by the Spirit:

A. Pray at every time in spirit (Eph. 6:18). Like breathing, we could never graduate from praying; the moment we stop, we die. Praying all the time keeps our spirit active, burning, fresh, and living.

B. Confess all your sins to the Lord. The Spirit is so holy that it can not tolerate a single sin. The spirit is just like a very tidy person who does not want to live in a dirty house. 1 John 1:19

C. Call upon the name of the Lord always. The name denotes a person. The name of our Lord is Jesus and His person is the Spirit. The fastest way to contact a person is by calling His name. Just simply say, "O LORD JESUS"… "O LORD JESUS I NEED YOU"… "O LORD JESUS FILL ME." Rom. 10:12; 1 Cor. 1:2

D. Pray-read the word of God. The Spirit is also embodied in the Word. To breathe in the Spirit from the Word we need to turn our reading to prayer. John 6:63; Eph. 6:18

E. Open you whole being to the Lord. A close container could never be filled. Learn to speak hymns, psalms and spiritual songs to one another and to the Lord (Eph. 5:18-19). Be a speaking and a singing Christian.