Be Filled With the Spirit — Ray Brubaker

Ray Brubaker's Classic Radio. This is Ray Brubaker's Classic Radio, news-related subjects in light of the Bible. And now, here's your commentator, Ray Brubaker.

Thank you, and again we send greetings to our friends everywhere. Some 15 ,000 college kids spent a weekend recently at Daytona Beach here in Florida in a drinking spree that found the average daily beer consumption estimated at three cans per girl and nine per fellow.

The Social Damage of Alcohol Abuse

At a time when alcoholism is today's number one social problem here in America, it would seem that sober-minded citizens would express concern and alarm for this country's future. Time Magazine reported recently that excessive drinking is a cause of an estimated 50 of all car fatalities.

Someone has declared that for 10 ,000 people killed by liquor, only one person is killed by a mad dog. Yet we shoot the dog and license the liquor. Adding to this tragedy is the news from Washington that for the first time in history, a bar has recently been set up in the State Room of the White House, and liquor served for a social function.

This only tends to add precedent and encouragement to those who are anxious to justify their drinking habits. We're also informed that the greatest leakage of secret government information occurs in the cocktail lounge of the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

Again, what a sad commentary on the drinking habits of government officials upon whom we depend for clear thinking and the all-important decisions that must be made in the processes of government. And perhaps more shocking and most surprising is the fact that there is a bar in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.

A news reporter who had accompanied the Queen during her trip to the Vatican reported to the London Daily Express, quote, This morning I was taken into the bar. Yes, a bar in St. Peter's. Everything there, too, from gin to scotch.

The Call to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit

My friends, the Bible says, Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. And in today's broadcast we would like to answer the question, How may I be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Tarrying in God's Presence

In the first place, you will remember Jesus said to his disciples, Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. And let me ask you, have you ever seen a drunk man? Of course you have.

How did he get that way? My wife tells how when she was a little girl she went to a friend's home where they served alcoholic beverages. Her parents had warned her of the evils of drinking so that she knew she was to have nothing to do with this stuff.

However, her curiosity was aroused, and she waited until no one was looking and went and stuck her finger in the bottle and put it to her mouth. Thinking now she would get drunk, she laid under the bed expecting any moment for something to happen.

Well, there are those who think we can be filled with the Spirit without waiting in the presence of God. However, as in Proverbs we're reminded, it is they who tarry long at the wine who become drunk, so it is those who linger in the presence of God who often come to know of the infilling of His Spirit.

Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness

Were our churches to dismiss at the same time the tavern closes, we would know more of the fullness of God's Spirit. Do you believe it? Well, secondly, we are to hunger and thirst in order that we might be filled with the Spirit.

We read, Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Now, did you ever sit down to a luscious meal of meat, vegetables, and dessert? How were you filled with these?

The first thing that you had to do was to hunger and thirst for food. Your glands were stimulated, the saliva began to run, and you knew if you didn't soon eat, you'd starve. And so it is, my friend, to be filled with the Spirit you must have a desire to be filled.

Now, you may recall a time when you were sick, and as you came to the table, the food made you nauseated. No matter how hard you tried to eat, you just couldn't work up an appetite for that good food.

And so many today are suffering spiritual maladies of worldliness, pleasure madness, the lusts and cares of this life, and as a result they are nauseated. They have no spiritual appetite for holy things.

Being Filled With the Word of God

The third suggestion as to how one may be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with the Word of God. In John 6 .63 we read, Jesus says, The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit. Did you hear it?

A lot of folk go to meetings today where there is a lot of emotionalism. They come away thinking they are filled with the Spirit, but it doesn't have lasting results. Now, emotionalism is good, if directed by the Spirit, but mere emotionalism is like sitting up to the table filled with all kinds of good things, turkey, peas, corn, pies, and ice cream, and simply breathing in the rich aroma of that table.

Praying for the Holy Spirit

My beloved, you go away starved unless you begin eating some of that good solid food. And so it is with the Word of God, which is meat and milk to all who would be filled. Now, fourthly, we are told to pray.

R. A. Torrey, a close associate of the evangelist Dwight L. Moody, was on his way to a convention when a friend stopped him, saying, I see you are to speak on the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Said this friend, be sure to tell the people not to pray for the Holy Spirit.

Replied Torrey, I shall certainly not tell them that, for Jesus said, How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? It must be remembered, friends, that Pentecost came in a prayer meeting, and if we are to be filled with the Spirit, we must pray.

Following the Pattern of Pentecost

Fifthly, we need to follow the pattern of Pentecost if we are to be filled. At Pentecost, they were all with one accord in one place. Before you can be filled with God's Spirit, you must be right with God and right with one another.

Restitution must be made. Any doubtful hindrances must be removed. Unconfessed sin must be cleared away. Prejudice must be abandoned if we are to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Perhaps you say, if I seek the infilling of the Spirit, I'm afraid I'll get something that is of the devil.

Well, Jesus sought to relieve us of these fears, saying, If a man ask bread, of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? And so it is, beloved, if you are honest and sincere, and you are seeking for the Holy Spirit, you'll not get the devil.

Repentance and Holiness

Hallelujah! However, if you are seeking for only a manifestation, you might get that and not the Holy Ghost. Now, in the sixth place, we must repent of all unrighteousness. In Proverbs 1 .23, we read, Turn ye at my reproof, and I will pour out of my Spirit upon you.

We cannot have the fullness of the Spirit if given over to impure thoughts or unrighteous acts and deeds. God does not cast his pearls before a swine. We must repent and forsake all known sin. To desire the Holy Ghost in his fullness is also to desire holiness.

Obedience and Absolute Surrender

Now, in the seventh place, to be filled with the Spirit, we must be willing to obey God. In Acts 5 .32, we read that the Holy Ghost is given to them that obey him. How many refuse to yield their bodies to God as living sacrifices.

They feast their eyes on lust and uncleanness. They yield to pride and selfishness. Their hands are greedy for money, and they wonder why they are not filled with God's Spirit. To experience Pentecost necessitates an absolute surrender of everything we have to God.

For some it may mean giving up material things, even as at Pentecost were neither said any of the things which he possessed was his own. Some receive an infilling or anointing of the Spirit in the act of water baptism or in partaking of the Lord's Supper, for it is in the lowly acts of obedience that God's Spirit dwells.

Believing God for the Spirit

In the eighth place, we must believe God for this blessing. Just as you invited Christ into your heart and you believed he answered your prayer, so invite the Holy Spirit to completely control, to dominate your personality, your being, and believe that he will do it.

Praise, Thanksgiving, and Walking in the Spirit

Hallelujah! Galatians 3 .14 tells us that we receive the Spirit through faith. In the ninth place, begin thanking and praising God for his Spirit. And again, notice our text. Be filled with the Spirit, 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.

Ah, yes, if you would be filled with the Spirit, begin praising. How quickly the Spirit is greed by our murmuring, our complaining, and fault-finding. Again and again the Holy Spirit is spoken of, my friends, as God's gift to believers.

And the more we praise the Lord and say, thank you for this gift, the more we will realize the very presence of God. Then finally, keep walking in the Spirit. You know where a lot of folk get confused is that they expect some emotional or ecstatic experience to last them the rest of their lives.

In Galatians 5 .16 we're told this, I say, Then walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Every day you need that contact with God in fellowship, in his Word and through prayer.

And you need contact with others in testimony and witnessing to the goodness of God. The scriptures would remind us, Ye shall be witnesses unto me, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And so begin now to search your heart.

Discover your area of need. And remember our text. Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess. But as the Greek text reads, be ye constantly filled with the Spirit. God grant it. Amen.

Thank you for listening to Ray Brubaker's Classic Radio. For a free audio of this message, visit raybrubaker .com on the Internet. May God richly bless you is our prayer.