(The Activity of the Holy Spirit) Being Filled by the Holy Spirit — Peter Brandon

The Spirit’s Indwelling and Living Water

Now we're going to speak tonight on the indwelling of the spirit and I want to take just two or three verses and we shall speak about them just for a few minutes. John's gospel chapter 4 verse 30 and Jesus answered and said unto her whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life and the word never thirst there means a strong negative and it could be translated as follows shall never never never never never never never never thirst so it means never thirst and that's clear isn't it.

Now let's turn to John chapter 7 in the last day verse 37 that great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me as the scripture had said out of his belly or his inward being shall flow rivers of living water but this spake he of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified and God will bless to us the reading of his precious well.

Tomorrow evening our subject will be the liberating Christ now let's have a little prayer and ask God. Father we pray as we open the scriptures that thou wilt now come and open our hearts and we pray that thou will do a twofold work tonight.

First of all we pray that thou will cause us who are thy people to see the tremendous power that God has invested in us in the power of the Spirit and we pray that we may use that power that God has given to us.

We pray too that those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord may really come to know him tonight in a personal and intimate way. Lord this is our prayer and we ask thee to do this for thy glory and for the extension of thy kingdom.

The Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus’ Cry

Amen. If you were alive during this great time of the Feast of Tabernacles the whole of Jerusalem would have been in a state of excitement. Some people were livid with anger. They had listened to one particular message that the Christ gave and they just couldn't believe it.

They were mad. Others were almost killed with curiosity and they were saying will he come up again and perform the miracle. Others were beginning to think seriously and they were beginning to say perhaps he is the Messiah the truth.

Some were prepared in their anger to actually put him to death. Some wanted the spectacular and they were longing to see a miracle. But there were some that were really hungry for him but they didn't basically know him.

Then came the last day of the feast and quite frankly most of them had been camping for eight days and they were quite dirty. They were living in booze. There was a very little water to wash in. In fact probably some of them had an offensive odor.

And you know what it is when thousands of people assemble in a very hot climate with a very little water. And then came this great last day of this great feast. When they were thinking of a time when the Israelites came out of Egypt and they were camping in the wilderness and that's why they used to living booze so that they might commemorate those days.

And all of a sudden the news sprang out. It's in the temple. Thousands flocked. Then suddenly Jesus stood up. The last day of the feast. And instead of speaking quietly and with that dignity of heaven he raised his voice like thunder.

And he cried out with all the pathos that the Spirit of God could give If any man thirsts let him come unto me and drink. And out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. I want to speak to you now on a great subject.

Firstly I want to show you man's thirst. Then I want you to look at God's fountains. And then quickly we shall close by taking up the challenge being treated a drink. First of all man thirsts. Here they were thirsting for water.

Human Thirst, Spiritual Longing, and the Image of God

But Jesus was saying look you have a greater thirst than water. There is something in your inner being that's not being satisfied. There is an aching void within you. You know that money hasn't given it to you.

You know that religion hasn't given it to you. You know that pleasure hasn't given it to you. And there is that insatiable desire within you to fill up the vacuum that's within your life. So what did he basically mean?

We only thirst when there's a difference. A man would be a fool to thirst if he had a tap in his house. You would be foolish to thirst if you had a well in the garden. People only thirst when they're in the midst of the Sahara and there's no water.

Or a man might be in a boat at sea. And he drinks his last drop of water. And for three or four days he goes without water. And there's water all around him. But there's not a drop to drink. He will be thirsty.

So you can see that thirst comes because of a distance. What does it mean? Thirst because of distance as far as God is concerned. Let me explain. When God created the first man he created the first man so that he could enjoy life.

And really enjoy. Now I want to say this as clearly as God can give me the power to do so. God is not a killjoy. Can I repeat that? God is not a killjoy. God has one desire and one complete desire and that is basically to make you a happy fellow or a happy girl.

He does not want to see misery. Now this doesn't mean to say that when you become a Christian you go around with a cheshire smudge. It doesn't mean that. But it means this that God wants to give you a deep seated joy.

And therefore when God made man he made him in such a wonderful way that creation would satisfy him but more. You see God not only gave man a body he gave him a soul. So that he needed something else to satisfy him.

He needed his emotions to be satisfied. And God gave him something that was absolutely brilliant that brought him into contact with God. He gave him a spirit so that he could enjoy God. When a man sits down to a meal he does one thing.

The food is before him and he feeds his body. The food goes into his mouth, he masticates it and it drops right into his stomach. And he feeds his body and that's all. When he is eating food he is not feeding his mind and he is not feeding his soul but he is feeding his body.

And that's essential. Secondly when a person listens to a lovely piece of music he is not feeding his body he is feeding his soul. Now let's face it you could listen to music all the days of your life and you could then starve to death couldn't you if you didn't eat.

Or you could eat food and just food and go stark raving mad if you did not have an emotional outlet. So can you see what I'm driving at? You need food for the body, you need food for the soul. But you need food for the spirit.

And that is why wherever you will go in this world you will see in the human family there is an instinct to worship. I remember during my naval days we went to Nacikunda that was one of the most primitive parts in our world.

And quite frankly when I saw how these people were living it really shook me. But this is what I observed. They knew nothing about western culture. They knew nothing about the one true God. But they had an instinct to worship and they were worshipping a particular instinct.

You see the whole of the human family has this worshipping instinct. Now man will never really be satisfied until he really comes into contact with God. And it doesn't matter who the man is or who the girl is that girl will never find satisfaction until they are made right with God.

And that's why Jesus was here to show men and women how to get right with God. And that's why he told them to come to him if they suspect. But more. First comes because of disease. I knew of a family unfortunately that had drinking diabetes.

And it was painful to watch. Children would drink almost a pint of water and then within 10 minutes they would crave for the water again. And after 10 minutes they would crave for it again. And sometimes the craving was so great it was almost painful to watch.

And of course all kinds of problems accrued because of this. And as I watched those children and also the parents I could see that they were alcoholics for water. Craving but never being satisfied. Why?

Because of a disease within them. Now we in the human family have an awful disease within. And it's not drinking diabetes. It's that filthy disease called sin. And we've all got it. And may I say this to you as clearly as I can.

It is a killer. Some diseases like palsy causes weakness and so does sin. You see the human family is so weak that it can't even keep the thinker mum. Some diseases like leprosy causes uncleanness. I once saw some lepers coming out of their leper camp in India and I shall never forget it.

And when I took one look at those lepers it scarred my memory for life. To see the lion like appearance. To see the loss of their fingers. To see blindness. To see ulceration that was bulging on the body.

And also the profuse smell was sick. And quite frankly when God looks inside us and he looks at the function of our minds. He sees our imagination. He says inwardly we are all unclean. As though we were lepers in the sight of God.

And then there is a particular disease that creates restlessness. It's called malaria. Have you ever seen a man caught in the vortex of malaria? When the fever is on him the whole of that body shakes.

There's no rest. It turns over. Struggle. Sweat. You see restlessness comes because the fever has gripped him. And that's the picture of sin. It takes away all peace and it brings restlessness. And isn't that a picture of the world today?

Thousands of people are struggling and striving to get happiness but they can't find it because of the restlessness of sin. And therefore thirst comes because of disease. But it lastly comes because of drought.

Sin as Disease, Barrenness, and Spiritual Drought

What a dreadful thing it would be to be in the heart of Australia without water. Can you visualize it? Doesn't it frighten you? Nothing growing. All palm. Growth. No water. And dear friends that's a picture of a life that's without Jesus and without God.

It's a life of drought. You see God wants to put into your life those lovely seeds of the Spirit tonight. So that he can develop within your life a beautiful garden. So that he can produce within you the fruits of love, joy and peace and patience and happiness.

So that you become a beautiful person. A lovely person. But sin makes a person barren and full of drought. I remember a young man that came under the gospel in London. He was about 19 years of age and then he turned it down.

And he plunged himself in this dark wicked world. And unfortunately he went from drink into sex, from sex into drugs. And like thousands of other young people he got stuck on herring. And I shall never never forget seeing that boy when he was 25 and he looked a lad of 84.

Skin torn. Totally bald. Eyes bulging. Arms pressed. And as I looked at him this is what I said with tears. A desert. Drought. Barrenness. Death. Don't you be like that. Let Christ come into your life and he'll make the desert bloom again.

He makes the desert blossom as a rose. Now God's fountain. What is it? If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. Now first of all he has a fountain for our unclean. When Jesus Christ went to the cross he went to the cross in order to deal with the sins of the world.

Christ’s Cross, Atonement, and Forgiveness

He knew man was at a distance from God. He knew that we were diseased by sin. He knew that we were guilty before God. And out of pure love for the human race he came into this world so that he might die on that center cross for the sins of the whole world.

And when he died upon that cross the scripture tells us that he bare our sins in his own body on the tree. John the baptist in order to clarify the meaning of his coming said with great authority look behold the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

And when our savior was on the cross sin was not only laid upon him but the judgment of God for those sins came upon him and he exhausted it all on the cross out of pure love for us. And when he died the writer to the Hebrews tells us once in the end of the age hath he appeared, now note this, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

You see God can now forgive sin, why? Because his judgment has fallen not on us but on his lovely son. And through his precious blood all our sins can be forgiven. So there's a fountain for uncleanness open to us at the cross.

And God now is able to bring us nearer to himself. Why? Because Jesus Christ is one God and one mediator between God and man and that is the man Christ Jesus. And therefore there is someone now that stands between you and God is here tonight and he wants you to come to him so that he can take you right into the presence of God and through his death plead your cause so that no longer you are at a distance from him.

Secondly he wants to come into your life and cleanse you from all sin so that the uncleanness of sin is removed once and forever. You know I think it's lovely to tell people this especially young people that God can clean up your life so beautifully that when he has done it there is a perpetual and eternal forgiveness.

And when he forgives he never has to forgive again. He forgives because of the once and for all sacrifice for sin and that forgiveness is once and forever. And when you have been cleansed not only can you not see one sin in you neither can God.

And I know this is going to be hard for you to understand but you are as clean and as pure as the angels in heaven when you are forgiven through the blood of Christ but that's not all. When you become a Christian God not only has a fountain for uncleanness but he has another fountain for dealing with your deadness and weakness.

The Holy Spirit’s Power for Christian Living

Now watch this. When he cleanses you from all your sin through his precious blood in comes the Holy Spirit. That Spirit of God he comes right into your life and he brings into your life the gift of eternal life so that you have eternal life within the confines of your little body.

But more. He not only brings life right down into your body but he brings power to live the Christian life. You know there is one verse in the Acts and I love it. Oh every time I quote it I feel like saying Hallelujah in my heart.

You listen. You shall receive. Beautiful isn't it. Dynamic isn't it. Marvellous isn't it. You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. The moment he cleanses your life he not only puts within you the Holy Spirit who gives you eternal life but he puts power in your life to live.

And that power can revolutionise the whole of your life. Someone might say well Mr. Brandon how do you know you have that power when you become a Christian because it's the power that changes. Now we mustn't be rugged tonight but if the Spirit of God has not changed your life it's a sure proof he hasn't come in.

My dear friend my dear senior brother and sister if the Lord hasn't changed your life you have never been converted. Never. How can you have within you the mighty power of the Spirit and be unchanged.

Look at the book of the Acts. See the dramatic change there. Admittedly some people have changed more than others. You say why. Let me explain. Supposing we all had a packet of seeds each right. We say they are people.

And I gave you a packet of seeds. You a packet of seeds and you a packet of seeds and you a packet of seeds and you a packet of seeds. Good old bee seeds. Do you have them there here? Bee seeds. Ah they are great seeds.

You want to get some from the old country. Every seed you'll get two bee roots from it. Bee seeds. Now what do we do? You plant your seeds. You plant your seeds. And you plant your seeds. Now watch this.

Some of the bee roots grow better than others. Why? One person has cultivated them more than the other. The watering, the fertilizer, the weeding. Another person just put them in and left them. And all he's got are weeds and a few spindly old bee roots that wouldn't feed a donkey.

But look at this other man. He's got bee roots like a donkey. Have you ever seen them like that? You see he's cultivated them. And when you look at some of the Lord's people they just look lovely. Why?

Because they have cultivated the seeds within them. And Christ is growing in them. Whilst you look at some of the Lord's people they even haven't got a hallelujah. As I was saying the other night, they constantly look as though they were in a dentist's chair just before final extraction.

You see there isn't the joy of the Lord in their lives. Now beloved, can you see what we are thriving at? First of all man's first and God's glorious planting. There's a planting for uncleanness. There's a planting for our deafness and weakness.

And praise God there's a planting for power. And with this I close. There's an entreaty centering. Now what would you think of me if you gave me an invitation and my beloved wife to come to your house for a meal.

Receiving Christ as Savior and Lord

Then you put before me some lovely tomato soup with some of those lovely new rolls. Right? And I said oh dear what lovely soup and isn't this roll delicious and then didn't take it or eat it. If you know anything about good old fashioned cockney you would say oh flannel.

And then supposing you put before me some beautiful steak, peas and carrots and cauliflower all with that lovely sauce. And I said oh dear I've never seen a meal like it. This is absolutely out of this world.

This is like the manna that came from heaven. This is absolutely delicious. And then I didn't eat it. You would say that's all patter. Lot of nonsense. Just imagine inviting him in. And then supposing you got me that lovely sweet.

Lovely tropical fruit salad. Lovely cream. Double cream. With a little tinge of chocolate all over it. Then I look at the fruit salad and I say now isn't this lovely. Isn't this delicious. Oh dear oh dear we do not see this in England.

And then I didn't touch it. Now what would you say? We shan't invite him again. There are hundreds of people like that with the Lord Jesus. We show through the gospel that God has a fountain for our uncleanness.

He wants to come into our life and give us eternal life. He wants to give us the power to live. And people say lovely delightful. And then you say this to them. Have you received Christ? Oh well very nice.

But that's it. Now would you mind if I point you. Have you received him? Have you received him? Have you received him? If not. Receive him now. Now how do you come and drink? First of all I come with a thirst.

And do you know what that means? I say this Lord. I know I've sinned. I know I'm unclean. I believe that Christ died for me on the cross. And I'm coming to receive but more. You see the Holy Spirit was not yet given because now note the word Christ was not yet glorified.

And when he was glorified God made him Lord. And when a person becomes a Christian and I'm going to say this slowly and loudly and please grasp it. You do two things. You make him your saviour because you want your sins to be forgiven.

And then you make him Lord because you want to be in his kingdom. And the kingdom of God is the place where the rule of God is acknowledged and submitted to. Oh you see if I make him Lord what does that mean?

It simply means that you read the Bible and you do what you're told. You say well where's the scripture for that? Here it is. If thou shalt confess with thine mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.

Oh you say but what about that other one Mr. Brandon? What's that? Act 16. What must I do to be saved? Believe yes. On yes go on. The Lord Jesus Christ and do you know what that means? Believe into his Lordship.

Believe into his Messiahship. Believe into his saviourhood. Now I know this is going to come as shock. This is not for the young people this is for the older ones. But you listen. If you have not made Jesus Lord and just Saviour and you've missed out Lordship you know you're not saved yet.

Now grip it. This is the clear teaching of God's word. Now look shortly the Lord is going to come and we don't want anyone to be left behind. It's Jesus Christ your Lord. Now some have made him more Lordly than others.

Agreed. But you never get into the kingdom until you repent of your sin and that basically means where sin reigns Christ reigns. And you make Jesus Saviour and Lord. And when you have done that you have drunk.

And as you open your heart and you receive him as Saviour and Lord he comes into your life. And then listen. Out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. And do you know what that means?

God will use you to lead others to Christ. On one occasion in my life I was terribly nervous and probably I had the best suit I've ever had in my life on. And I walked down the centre of this large building and sat down and fear gripped me.

And then all of a sudden in this large building people started to assembly. This was not a dream this is a fact. Until the place was packed to capacity. And as it got nearer to the time a sense of fear came upon me.

And then all of a sudden I heard a beautiful organ started to play. It was playing Handel's Lager. And then all of a sudden I stood up and I was conscious of another person standing beside me. And then suddenly quietly like a ghost someone all in white that was veiled stood by my side.

And I heard a man saying Peter John Brandon will you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife. And I just said this I will. Now I want to say this in the presence of everyone. That little darling there was the greatest gift that God has ever given me outside of Christ.

And we were joined together in that. Now listen. In this room tonight there is the Lord Jesus. And the Spirit of God is saying to many of you. Will you take Jesus Christ to be your Saviour and Lord. Now don't raise your hand.

Answer this in the shrine of your own being. Who's going to say right now I will. And come and drink. Let's pray. Lord we do pray that thou will work now in this room tonight. And we pray that thou will bring son to the feet of the Saviour.

Lord Jesus we bless thee for the boldness that marked thee when thou didst say with a loud voice. If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. And Lord in this 20th century we believe thou art saying that as loud as thou didst say it on the day when thou didst stand in the temple.

Oh Lord whisper that right down into someone's heart. And in this room again we would ask that. Bring someone to the Saviour. Make it clear make it plain. Give them the grace to come now. In the name of the Lord Jesus.

Responding to the Word and Practicing God’s Will

Amen. I must refrain from giving past headings. But may I say this brothers and sisters for your prayers. I do really believe that we have reached a very important stage in our mission. When we're going on or we're going back.

Now quite frankly I have been rather disappointed regarding the response after the meeting. I feel that if the Lord really touched us. Many more would want to pray. Many more would be upstairs on their knees.

And let us really pray that the word tonight may not just be an intellectual exercise. But may it come to us in such power that we shall want to do something about what God is saying. Now I believe this is ever so important.

Now regarding the conference at Wynnum. It is a historical occasion for us all. Supposedly it's the last. And that could be sad. But it could be a beginning. And let us pray that we shall not only hear the word of the Lord.

But we shall do something about it. I am sure God is not concerned so much about us hearing the word. But putting it right into practice. Now let's pray that we might begin to see that in operation in our mission.

Now that's all I feel I can say. I shall continue these studies on the Holy Spirit. At Caribbean we shall be talking about growth in the Spirit. And we shall be discussing that. And then I want to speak on the great subject of the fruits of the Spirit.

And then we shall turn from the work of the Spirit in the believer to the work of the Holy Spirit in the church. And then I want to give two addresses on the operation of the Holy Spirit in the world.

The Command to Be Filled with the Spirit

And let's pray that as we go on with this study it might be a real blessing to us all. Now let's turn to Ephesians 5 and we shall read from verse 8. Ephesians 5 reading from verse 8. For ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord.

Walketh children of light. Ephesians 5 I am now reading from verse 9. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Proving what is acceptable unto the law. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove or expose them.

For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever does make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead.

That literally means the dead ones. And Christ shall give thee light. Now please note there are three couplets in that verse that he quotes from Isaiah. Wake up, get up and then light up. And you will notice that the word light there is a different word to the word that's used in verse 13.

The light there is the light of exposure. The light of verse 14 is the light of radiance. And that means when we are awakened out of the bed of ease. Then God will give to us the radiance of the joy of the Lord.

See then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise. Redeeming the time because the days of evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess.

But be filled with the spirit. Now you will notice that there are two commands in that one verse. That we are commanded not to be drunk with wine. And in the same way in which we are commanded not to be drunk with wine.

We are commanded to be filled with the spirit. So we can see that the spirit filled life is not just for a few. It's for all the children of God. In fact a believer who is not spirit filled is a disobedient believer.

And therefore this is not just for a few of God's children. This is not just for a few of extra spiritual Christians. This is a command for all the children of God. Be being filled with the spirit. Then you will notice he goes on.

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. And that submission goes right the way through this chapter right into the sixth chapter. And the Lord will bless to us the reading of his precious word.

Fullness as Control, Maturity, and Continual Growth

We have seen in our study on the Holy Spirit that the word baptism is mentioned seven times in scripture. And five of those times were given to us by John the Baptist. And then we have seen once by the Lord Jesus and then just once by the Apostle Paul.

But when it comes to the filling of the spirit and the fullness of the spirit and the subject of fullness. The word is much more profuse. The word filled is actually mentioned thirteen times in scripture.

The idea of the word fullness is approximately forty to fifty could be by connotation sixty times in the New Testament. For instance when the scripture speaks about being filled with the fruits of righteousness it is the same thing.

When it speaks about being filled with the fullness of God it is the same idea. When the scripture speaks about being filled with joy it is the same principle. And therefore if you go through the epistles you will find over and over again this word fullness coming in.

Now right at the beginning we must try and understand what the apostle means by fullness. Now first of all it means total control. It simply means that when a person is filled he is led by the spirit.

And that is why when you read of the Lord Jesus being filled with the spirit in Matthew 4 he was led by the spirit into the wilderness. And therefore the first idea of the word to be filled means to come under the control and influence of the Holy Spirit.

And that is why he uses the analogy. Do not be drunk with wine. Why? Because a man that is drunk with wine is under the total influence of drink. And therefore we are told not to be under the influence of drink or alcohol.

We are told to be under the influence of the spirit. So the first meaning is control. The second meaning is obviously maturity. When the scripture speaks about being filled with the fruits of the spirit and when the scripture talks about being filled with all the fullness of God it literally means to be filled out.

Well what does that mean? Sometimes we have been through an orchard and we have seen an apple. Filled out, large, ripe, ready for picking. And then we have seen another apple, all withered, almost dying on the tree.

Or we have seen a banana plantation and those at the bottom are large, filled out, have come to maturity. Those at the top are much smaller. In fact some have withered. And therefore the idea here is coming to maturity and some of the Lord's people are beautiful.

They are filled out with Christ. And some are just withered. And therefore the idea of fullness and being filled simply means to come into the maturity of Christ. Sadly it has to do with the commencement of real growth.

And that is why there is no such thing in scripture as a once and for all fullness. And therefore if you understand the meaning of the verb here to be filled it basically means to be filled and filled and filled and filled and filled with all the fullness of God.

You blow a balloon up and it's full. If it's a good one and it's breathable you can keep on blowing it up. But there is a difference between you and the balloon. The balloon can burst but praise God you can't.

You have the capacity within that soul of yours to be filled up with all the fullness of God. And therefore the moment we look back to a point of history and we say ten years ago I was filled. Be sure of this you are in a poor spiritual state.

It is a constant filling, refilling, filling up with the mighty fullness of God. Now having made that statement let's go on to the basic subject and let's search the scripture to see what the book says about this fullness.

Receiving the Spirit at Conversion

What is the fullness of the Spirit? And I believe it's true now to ask the first question under that heading is every Christian possessed with the Spirit. Now if we went through the book of the Acts we would be in serious trouble.

Now what? Every manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the book of the Acts was different. Every one. Acts 2 they repented and they were baptized and they received the Holy Spirit. There's not a person in the room that received the Holy Spirit like that.

The moment you repented and believed you were a recipient of the Holy Spirit. But now he says repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

When we come to Acts chapter 8 we find this that Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ to them and they believed and there was great joy in that city and he baptized them but as yet they had not received the Holy Spirit.

And therefore they believed and were baptized but they had not received the Spirit. Then the apostles came and confirmed the work and laid their hands upon the convert and they received the Spirit of God.

Now that's another order. When we come to Acts 10 there's something different. Whilst Peter was preaching the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word of God. In other words he was rather surprised.