There are many good intentioned Christians out there who are
searching for experience after experience of being filled with the Holy
Spirit. It’s like the Holy Spirit is
some sort of spiritual drug that they can tap into and get high on for a few
days or maybe even a week or so. They
hunger for signs and wonders and the power that comes from the Holy
Spirit.
Don’t get me wrong, the Bible clearly teaches the importance
of Christians being filled with the Holy Spirit and every Christian can have an
abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit convicts us of sin in our lives (Jn. 16:8-10), He gives us spiritual
gifts for the edification of the church (1 Cor. 12:4-7), He transforms us into
the likeness of God (1 Cor. 6:11), He bears good fruit in our lives (Gal.
5:22-23) and the list goes on and on. The
necessity of the Holy Spirit is not to be debated but rather I question the
intentions of those who are seeking to be filled by Him for some sort of
spiritual high. Sounds a bit
self-focused to me.
It almost seems as though some people have a sort of romantic
infatuation with the Holy Spirit. They
have this deep inner desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit but do they
really know what it will cost them? Here
are some questions the inquirers should ponder before deciding if they truly
want to walk this road:
- Are you willing to give complete control of your life to God? (Luke 9:23-24)
- If the Spirit is in charge of your life, He will expect unquestioning obedience in everything; He will not tolerate your personal selfishness (self-love, self-pity, self-seeking, self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-ambition, self-defense). Are you willing to give these things up? (Rom. 12:1-2)
- The Spirit will be in sharp opposition to the easy ways of the world. Are you willing to do things the hard way? (Matt. 7:13)
- The Spirit will take the direction of your life away from you; He will demand that you do things His way. Are you OK with this? (Luke 22:42)
- It will mean taking the road of rejection and loss for if we fully cooperate with God He will take away the natural comforts which have served us so well and put us where we can receive no help except from the Comforter Himself. Are you ready for this? (Matt 10:34-39)
- He will take us on a path of undergoing an inward death. As we die to self over and over again and rid our hearts of sinfulness this opens all areas of our heart to be filled by Him. Are you still willing to walk this path? (John 12:24)
- The Spirit will test you, discipline you, chasten you, (Rev. 3:19) strip you of borderline pleasures yet through it all will wrap in you a love so vast, so mighty, so all-embracing, so wondrous that your very losses will seem like gains and your small pains like pleasures…are you still in?
The filling of the Spirit is not for the faint of heart, it’s
not some casual “experience” to seek after.
The filling of the Spirit is to empower us to live a lifelong walk with
Him in holiness, being directed and taught and empowered by Him to do the work
of God and bring Him much glory (Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 2:4-5). It's not about me getting some sort of spiritual experience but about God's Kingdom being advanced. This requires that we meet certain conditions
such as living in the Word of God. I’m
not talking about mere Bible study or a causal reading of His Word but rather meditating
on it day and night (Ps. 1:2); feasting on the Word, loving the Word, digesting
the Word day and night. This will also
require making our hearts a dwelling place for the Holy of Holies, a clean sanctuary
for His habitation (Ps. 51:10).
Being filled with the Spirit is not a special, deluxe
edition of Christianity but rather the normal state for every redeemed man and
woman. This is the standard we are
called to. So…the question remains, do you
want to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
References: God’s
Pursuit of Man – The Spirit-Filled
Life by A.W. Tozer.
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