Filling of the Spirit --- What is it?

Sometimes I have felt completely on my own in the pulpit, and felt that I had done no good whatsoever and go home with a "down" feeling. (Thank God, not too often), I have wondered "have I done something" or is the congregation just not "praying'.


BBob,

 

You know what, I've been thinking about it and remembered something. When I was a 7th grader in 1965, my Dad was pastoring Southside Baptist in Millington, TN. He was fired by the church for his troubles (the biggest problem was letting a black sailor from the air base come), and then for awhile we went to Bellevue in Memphis while Dad looked for his next pastorate--which he took in Wisconsin, to get away from those Southerners, I guess. So Dad probably preached there too at one time or another, and I went there for a short while as a boy. :type:

 

I know that exact feeling. But then sometimes that's when the Lord does the most through us, amen? It's the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

 

Many times it is our own fault of entering the puplpit without God "on us", but also the congregation can be so uninterested and even critical of the speaker that the Holy Ghost is so grieved that nothing is accomplished, well, except that the word of God will not return unto Him void.

That is, the word will either accomplish what God sent it out to do, or it will accomplish that it will be held against the hearers it was intended to change.

I preach to our little group with grea LIBERTY! But other times I can discern in other groups they are not really ready to listen and that can make it hard to preach.

Being filled with the Spirit definitely requires the word of God, but it also comes when one is engulfed by His presence and all his anxieties are diminished to nothing.

I can remember driving down the road when it seemed God was right beside me. I don't want God to be my co-pilot, so I pulled over and let Him DRIVE! (not literally, but it got so good that I didn't need to be trying to operate a vehicle shouting, laughing, with both hands raised to the roof, and tears streaming down my face!!!
:godisgood:

 

Especially when a scripture is "opened" up to you and cause you to wonder why you could not see it before, knowing it came right from God. Yes, I know the feeling and have shed a many joyous tear.

BBob,

 

I agree that it is not about the right doctrine on the Spirit before a person is filled. It is primarily a desire to serve God.

Well, today's preachers need to hear this.

Well, I'm sure that once the scriptural sank in, she would have given her approval.

Even King Saul had the Spirit on him and prophesied.

But this side of the cross is different with respect to the Spirit. I do agree.

 

Here's the rub for me: We all ask for the Spirit guidance interpretation of Scripture, yet we all come out differently at times.

So much so that some are:

Pretrib
Midtrib
Postrib

If you get my drift.

 

I believe that the filling of the Holy Spirit is a command given to every believer and not just to confined to preachers or those in full-time ministry. It is the enablement of the Holy Spirit to speak the Word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31), and to live a life as a powerful witness for Him in all that we do.

Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

The command is in the present continuous. "Be ye continually filled with the Holy Spirit." It is not just for the pulpit. It is for all the time. It is to be continuously yielded to the Holy Spirit, in obedience to the commands of Christ and His Word. Time spent in the Word and Prayer can help us do that.

Every revival in history has come as a result of prayer. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Our society lacks the prayer warriors of yesteryears, when churches would hold all night prayer meetings.

Paul contrasts being filled with the Holy Spirit with "be not drunk with wine." When a man is drunk with wine or any alcoholic beverage, what happens? He does things and says things that he otherwise would never do or say. The wine controls him. He is controlled by an outside force.
In like manner a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit should be so controlled by that "outside force" that he will say things and do things that he normally would never do. He will speak the Word with boldness. He will not be shy to witness publicly even if others are going to be watching. He will lose that sense "shyness" in public places, and not be afraid to talk to others. He may even be willing to do some street preaching.

This is what Jesus meant when He said:
Mark 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

If we are filled with the Holy Spirit there is no question about our willingness to lose our life, our reputation, for the sake of Christ.

 

I quite agree with this.

Sometimes we give the impression that the filling of the Spirit is only for pulpit ministry.

Yeah, church history does attests to this.

I quite agree.

 

Or the differences, though not heretical, are evidence of limitations, which will all be removed at the eschaton (1 Cor 13).

 

Amen! Some of the greatest blessings of ministry have been in times of personal problems and distress.

I do believe that in the NT age God will not use someone who is knowingly in continual sin. But He often uses foolish things, weak things, base things, despised things and nothings to do His purposes (1 Cor. 1:27-29)!

 

Here is a sermon on the fullness of the Holy Spirit preached by John R. Rice in 1945.

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Book...d Sermons/Dr John Rice/fullness_of_spirit.htm

 

Maybe we are long lost cousins? :thumbs: