The Indwelling vs The Filling of the Holy Spirit (Spirit Filled Part 1)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. There was a church that had a lot of revival meetings and everyone, a certain man in that church could be counted on to walk down the aisle.

Every single time an invitation was given to recommit his life to Christ. And each time he would fall on his knees in front of the altar and kind of make a bit of a scene. And he would cry out, fill me, Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit.

And after the meeting, he'd get all fired up about his faith for about three weeks or so, and then just kind of slowly return to his old ways. That is until another evangelist came to town and the thing would just happen all over again.

And after seeing this happen over and over, people in the church started to get a little cynical about his behavior. And finally, on one occasion, when he walked the aisle for the umpteenth time and was up front crying out, fill me, Lord, fill me with your spirit.

A lady stood up in the back of the church and yelled, Lord, don't do it. He leaks. Well, we're going to look at the New Testament book of Ephesians, chapter five. And the title of the message is The Filling of the Holy Spirit.

And that man's probably not the only one who who leaks. So here in Ephesians, chapter five, we see what is really a command. It is an imperative. The Apostle Paul speaking to believers, he says, be filled with the spirit.

Look at Ephesians five, starting in verse 15. He says, see then that you walk circumspectly. That is, walk wise. Do not take unnecessary risks. Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, basically meaning debauchery. But be filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God, the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

So we're going to break this message down into three parts this morning. I'll tell you what they are in a moment. But let's begin by looking at this contrast that the Apostle Paul gives being basically drunk, filled with wine versus being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Well, when someone is filled with wine, what does this lead to? Well, that in and of itself is an ungodly behavior, but it leads to more ungodly behavior. And Paul is contrasting that with being filled with the Holy Spirit, which leads to, as you would expect, godly behavior.

So one leads to ungodliness. One leads to godliness. So both influence or even control a person's behavior and a person's life. Alcohol can control some people's lives and does control some people's lives.

Being filled with the Holy Ghost will control a person's life and does control a person's life when they are filled with the spirit. And, you know, this, if not by experience, you certainly have known people who, when they are drunk, they do things they wouldn't normally do.

Well, and it's almost always bad, right? Well, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, when you're filled, he will make you do things that in your flesh you wouldn't normally do as well. And that's always good.

So just as an alcoholic's whole life is influenced and controlled by the alcohol, the life of a Christian is to be affected and controlled by the Holy Ghost. And notice I said the life of a Christian is to be affected, being filled with the spirit, because not everybody is being filled with the spirit.

Again, it's not a suggestion, it is an imperative. Be filled, Paul says. So going back to what we said at the beginning, you know, a lot of Christians are filled, a lot of Christians are not. A lot of Christians get filled with the spirit and then, I know this probably isn't the proper theological term, but they leak the Holy Spirit.

They're filled up to the brim and then it kind of leaks out. And I don't believe that anybody is filled with the Holy Spirit 100 of the time just throughout their entire life. That is unrealistic, but we'll get into that.

So here's what we're going to do. We're going to break down this message into three parts. Number one, it's crucial that we understand the difference between the indwelling of the spirit and the filling of the spirit.

So that's what we're going to look at first. All believers are indwelt with the Holy Ghost, but not all are filled. So that's number one. Number two, we're going to debunk or clear up some of the false views of the filling of the Holy Spirit, because there's a lot of misunderstandings out there and what that looks like.

And then number three, we're simply going to go through a list of verses that talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit, because it's always best to let the Bible, let God speak for himself. So point number one, the distinction between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit vs. the Filling of the Holy Spirit

Turn back one chapter to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4. So the word indwell basically means to be permanently present. There's no shortage of verses in the New Testament that speak of believers being given or receiving the Holy Spirit, that if you're a true believer in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit within you.

Look at Ephesians 4 verse 30. Paul writes and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for what? The day of redemption. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

So in that verse, we see that believers have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is permanently present in the body and in the life of the believer. The Holy Spirit dwells alongside of our spirit within our body, and we are sealed permanently until the day of redemption.

So if you are saved, the spirit is indwelling you, and that will never change. So if you sin or when you sin, the Holy Spirit does not leave. He does not depart. What is he? Well, he's grieved, right?

He's grief.

So that's one thing. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Totally different than the filling of the spirit. OK, I think the best illustration I've heard about this to illustrate the indwelling versus the filling.

Think of your body as a house to indwell the house or to indwell any home. All you have to do is be inside.

That's it.

You just have to be inside. And to contrast that with the filling to have to fill a home, you have the run of the place. You can go wherever you want. You can go from room to room. You have the run of the place.

You can even make some changes. You can do a little remodeling if you want. That's the filling. The indwelling is, well, you're inside the front door. So two different things. Well, there are a lot of Christians who have the Holy Spirit there.

The spirit's indwelling their body. He's inside the house, but you got him stuffed in the closet. You don't allow him to enter into the living room. You don't allow him to open up the refrigerator and help himself.

You got all the rooms upstairs, so to speak, locked. He's not allowed up there because you're still in charge. You have the run of the house, and he simply cannot do what he wants and desires to do. You know, he has his little residence over there.

It's like, stay there. I got the rest, right? That's the way a lot of Christians are. You know, you've submitted to God, but to a degree. You really haven't given the Lord your whole life. This is what it's about.

The filling of the Holy Spirit. You know, it's not. I think a lot of people, they hear the filling of the spirit, and they think of it as sort of a mystical thing. It's an emotional experience. Well, let's just use a little thought experiment here because that's not really what it is.

It's not mystical or abstract. It's very simple. It's about giving the Lord your whole life and in doing what he wants you to do, following the spirit's lead moment by moment. So let's use this little thought experiment in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

So he needs to be in control. He needs to be the one directing your life. Not just some of the time being filled is you're submitting to him, and it's ongoing. So let's say the Lord called you. I'm not saying that he is, but again, hypothetically, let's say the Lord called you to go to the mission field.

Other side of the world, totally uprooting your whole life. You knew it'd be very difficult. You knew the Lord was calling you to the mission field.

Would you go?

Let's say there's a guy. He likes to spend Friday night out with the boys. You know, and in the guys, you know, breaking the Ten Commandments, that's like a sport to them. You know, whoever breaks the most commandments wins, and that's the environment every Friday night.

Well, the Holy Spirit's convicting him. You shouldn't be doing this anymore. Are you going to stop? One more thing. If the Lord wanted you to do whatever it is, pick any scenario, X, Y, or Z, whatever it is that you're convicted in your heart.

That the Lord does not want you doing this, or he wants you doing that. Are you going to say yes or no? See, if you're filled with the Spirit, you're going to submit. You're going to say yes. But what if your response is no?

Can a person be filled with the Holy Spirit if they're saying no to God? Absolutely not. But if a believer submits to the will of God day by day, hour by hour, indeed moment by moment, the Lord directing your path, that is the filling of the Holy Spirit.

How many times, how many sermons have you heard, you know, about wanting God's best for your life? We've all heard this. God's, we all want, every Christian wants God's best for their life. This is how you have it.

If you're not filled with the Spirit, if you're not saying yes to God every step of the way, you will not have God's best for your life. Again, what does Paul say? Be filled with the Spirit. Psalm 37, verse 23 says, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way.

When the Lord looks at us, is he delighted in our walk?

False Views of the Filling of the Holy Spirit

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven, this is our prayer that each believer would be Spirit-filled, walking in the Spirit day by day. And Lord, if there is anyone here who has never given their life to Christ, believing that Jesus died for their sin on the cross, rising the third day, may this be the day when they first experience the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, that they would be saved.

And Lord, if there's someone who is saved, but they know that they're not walking in this experience, the moment-by-moment conscious presence of the Lord, saying, May not my will be done, but thine.

Lord, may that person submit fully to your will. May they be filled with the Spirit. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.