For most of my Christian life I have struggled with God’s
command to be filled with his Spirit.[1]
It has felt strange to me that I would be obligated to be filled with another
person, particularly the Spirit of the Living God who moves in his people like
the wind that “blows where it wishes”.[2]
Who can determine that the Spirit will fill us just because we are told to
experience such a state of relationship with God?
Hold it a minute? If life in the Spirit is like the wind
blowing where it wishes, and God commands us to be filled with his Spirit, what
would this look like if we were dealing with the wind? If God told his
children, “be filled with the wind,” what would we do?
Wouldn’t we focus on which way the wind was blowing, turn in
that direction, and breathe in the wind until our lungs were full? We know we
would never breathe in the whole wind, but we could breathe in the wind until
we were full, right?
And what if we were like a little sail boat, seeking to know
and do the will of God, and our Father told us that all we would need to do is
open our sail fully to the wind, and the wind will take us wherever he directs
the wind to go? To be “filled with the
wind” would mean that we would open up our sail to head in the same
direction the wind is blowing, and let the wind fill our sail to the full so we
can make the best progress in the direction the wind takes us.
What about when God says, “be
filled with the Spirit”? Can we relate to the person of the Holy Spirit,
the presence of Jesus Christ with his Church, as a sail opening to the wind, or
as our lungs breathing in as much of the fresh breeze as possible? In other
words, can we be so sure of what the Spirit is doing that we can know we are
filled with him, and keeping in step with whatever he is doing?
To answer this, we can look at synonymous expressions to the
command to be filled with Jesus’ Spirit. As we look at this one diamond through
its many facets, so to speak, we will understand the whole by seeing it through
each of its parts. Here, then, are some other ways God’s word teaches us to be
filled with the Spirit.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.[3]
In contrast to surrendering ourselves to the chemical
influence of wine (easily applied to any of the chemical dependencies of our
day), the believer in Jesus Christ is called to surrender to the influence of the
Holy Spirit. There is a sense in which, in every situation we face, we set our
sail to be filled with whatever the Spirit is doing amongst God’s people.
Notice that the expression of being filled with the Spirit
includes the way we address each other. If the Spirit fills us, our interest
will be in how to fellowship with the rest of the church in sharing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”
that will help us to sing and make melody to the Lord with our hearts. The
Spirit captivating our thoughts will lead us to give thanks “always and for everything”, the Spirit
leading us to “God the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ”. This attention to the Spirit will also lead us
to submit to others in all the ways Paul then describes in the following
paragraphs.
The emphasis is simply that, when we fill our sail with the
Spirit, we express ourselves in fellowship and ministry to the rest of the body
of Christ so that God is glorified, and everyone else is, at least potentially,
built up.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.[4]
As we have read Paul’s exhortation to “be filled with the Spirit” in context, and noted the fruit of living
in such a focus, we discover that letting “the
word of Christ dwell in your richly,” produces the same characteristics. We
can bring together these two commands as two facets of the same diamond. Living
in constant fellowship to Jesus Christ involves both being filled with his
Spirit, and being filled with his words. The two cannot be separated, and, when
we are not sure that we are filled with the Spirit, we can just get filled
richly with his words and will discover we have arrived at the Spirit-filled
life after all.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.[5]
Those who have the characteristic of living their lives “according to the Spirit” do so by
setting “their minds on the things of the
Spirit.” If “the things of the Spirit”
were the breeze blowing through our lives and churches, raising our sails to
this current of God’s activity would happen as we set our minds on these
things. Our minds are like the sail that opens to the breeze of God’s activity
by his Spirit, and when we set our minds on the Spirit, we are filled with him
and his work. Again, if we are not sure we are living “according to the Spirit,” just set our minds on the things of the
Spirit and watch what happens.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.[6]
This is another parallel expression, this time to the
exhortation regarding where we set our minds. Those who “set their minds on the things of the Spirit,” also, synonymously
speaking, set their minds “on things that
are above”. The things “above”
means the things of God, the things of the kingdom of heaven, the things that
are of the mind of Christ.[7]
Setting our minds on the Spirit is the same as setting our minds on the things
above. If we are not sure we are setting our minds on the Spirit, set our minds
on the things above, and the Spirit will see us opening our sails to his
activity and rejoice that we are joining him in our Father’s work.
When Jesus told people, “But
seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will
be added to you”,[8]
he was setting the stage for the gospel of his kingdom that would deliver us
out of the domain of darkness, and transfer us into the kingdom of God’s
beloved Son.[9]
Seeking first the kingdom and righteousness of God is done by setting our minds
on the Spirit, by setting our minds on things above, by being filled with the
Spirit, by being filled richly with the words of our Savior. We must let each
facet of this diamond lead us into the unified aim of walking in the obedience
of faith,[10] what
Paul referred to as “the new way of the
Spirit”,[11] and
growing up to be like our Savior “from
one degree of glory to another”.[12]
When Jesus’ breathed-out the letters to the seven churches in
Revelation,[13]
and John was carried along by the Holy Spirit to write down what Jesus said,[14]
each letter concluded with the phrase, “He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”[15]
We know this was Jesus speaking, because it was Jesus who told John to write
down what was spoken to him.[16]
However, as these letters would circulate among the churches, even to our day, Jesus’
put the attention on what the Spirit “says
to the churches”.
This does not mean that the Spirit would say something
different from what was written, but that we were to let these words of Christ
dwell in us so richly that we would be filled with the Spirit in our experience
of these words. We would know exactly how they apply to us because the Spirit
would speak them into our hearts now as Jesus spoke them into John’s heart
then. Jesus’ promise to those who received the book of Revelation as the
breathed-out words of God was, “Blessed
is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those
who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”[17]
Jesus pictured the churches receiving the letter in that day
and knew that one of the elders would “read
aloud the words of this prophecy,” while the rest of the congregation would
be “those who hear” the words that
were read to them. He assured everyone that both reader and hearer would be
blessed as long as they are those “who
keep what is written in it”.
The life that is in the new way of the Spirit, that is
according to the Spirit, is a life where the church sets its mind on the word
and the Spirit of God in order to live in constant fellowship with Jesus Christ.
We are blessed when we read and hear the words of God’s Book, because in these
words we hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches even now.
It is no wonder that Jesus said that, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”,[18]
and, “These things I have spoken to you,
that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”[19]
Because Jesus’ kingdom is about “righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”,[20]
we are filled with his righteousness, his peace, and his joy, as we are filled
with his Spirit, and his words.
One of the illustrations that has helped me understand being
filled with the Spirit is to compare it to when we say that someone is full of
himself. What we mean is that such a person is consumed with himself and his
own well-being. He is the only person he thinks of. His own interests are the
only interests he pursues. No matter what he is going through, and no matter
what anyone around him is facing, he only wants to know how it relates to him,
and how he can come out of it for his own best good.[21]
When we say that someone is full of the Spirit, we are
talking about someone who is consumed with the Spirit’s interests in his own
life, and in the lives of others. No matter what is going on, this person wants
to know the mind of Christ about the situation, trusting that the Holy Spirit
will lead him to know and do the will of his Savior. He looks to the interests of
Christ in the interests of his people, always wondering what the Spirit is
doing in everyone around him.[22]
Such people will also exemplify both the fruit and the gifts
of the Spirit.[23]
If their minds are on the Holy Spirit, they will exude the characteristics of
their Savior as present in the Spirit who fills them. As they constantly set
their minds on the Spirit, filling their hearts with the words of their Savior,
they discover ways they are gifted to serve the purposes of Christ in his
people. They become more Christlike in character while becoming more Christlike
in serving the body in their distinctively gifted ways.
Now, in ultra-practical terms, no matter how “in a mirror dimly”[24]
the Spirit-filled life may seem, whatever we are going through today can be
presented to God in prayer, asking him his will on the matter. We can open the
Scriptures to ask God what is on his mind for us today so we have a sense of
what he is working on in our lives, and how he is preparing us to join him in
his work.[25]
We can consciously set our minds on the Spirit, seeking to know what he is
doing in the church for our participation, what he is doing in our families for
our mutual edification, or what he is doing in us for our freedom, and the
benefit of others who could stand with a new-and-improved version of ourselves.
If nothing else, all the Scriptures I have shared about the
Spirit-led life are God’s will for his church. This means that “If you then, who are evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”[26]
Since God always grants us answers to our prayers in full accord with his will,
he invites us to be earnest in seeking the fullest experience of the Holy Spirit
as is possible this side of heaven. If we seek the Spirit-filled life, we shall
find it in real-life experiences.[27]
© 2016 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Ephesians 5:18
[2]
John 3:8
[3]
Ephesians 5:18-21
[4]
Colossians 3:16
[5]
Romans 8:5
[6]
Colossians 3:1-2
[7]
I Corinthians 2:16
[8]
Matthew 6:33
[9]
Colossians 1:13-14
[10]
Paul begins and ends his epistle to the Romans with this phrase (Romans 1:5;
16:26).
[11]
Romans 7:6
[12]
II Corinthians 3:18
[13]
Revelation 2-3
[14]
II Peter 1:21
[15]
Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22
[16]
Revelation 1:19
[17]
Revelation 1:3
[18]
Romans 10:17
[19]
John 15:11
[20]
Romans 14:17
[21]
The same can be said of the woman who is filled with herself. No favoritism or
partiality, remember!
[22]
Again, there is no distinction in this regard between the Spirit filled man and
the Spirit-filled woman. Whoever is Spirit-filled will have the mind of Christ
for the church and the world.
[23]
See Galatians 5:22-25 for an expression of the fruit of the Spirit, and I
Corinthians 12:1-31 for an expression of the gifts of the Spirit.
[24]
I Corinthians 13:12
[25]
This is the only way Jesus did anything at all, by doing whatever he saw his
Father doing (John 5:19). He taught his disciples to live the same way in
relationship with him, telling us to remain in him as branches in constant
fellowship with the vine because apart from him we can do nothing (John 15:1-11,
particularly vs 5).
[26]
Luke 11:13
[27]
Matthew 7:7-8
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