Fullness of Holy Spirit Lesson Four — E.A. Johnston

From Indwelling to the Holy Spirit’s Preeminence

There is a story about the saintly British pastor F .B. Meyer, who knew the doctrine of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Meyer said,. The Holy Spirit dwells in each believer, but I've known some men, not many, where the Spirit was prominent in them.

And I've known even fewer still, where the Holy Spirit was preeminent in them. Our lesson today, friends, in our flame series is the fullness of the Holy Spirit. First, we will see this aspect of the Holy Spirit dwelling in believers from the following scriptures.

In Romans 8 -9 we read,. And over in 1 Corinthians 3 -16 we read,. So all believers are indwelt with the Spirit of God. But I want to focus our attention today, friends, on the subject of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Repeated Filling and Power to Live Above Sin

And the best way to approach this is by stating,. Once filled, many fillings, as we are leaky buckets, so to speak, and we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, as the directive in Ephesians 5 -18. And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.

We need power from above to live above the world in sin. But because the Christian life is impossible to live by fleshly effort, we will either walk in the flesh and fall on our face, or we will walk in the power of the enabling of the Holy Spirit, which gives us grace to live above sin.

Walking in the Spirit Rather Than the Flesh

We see this principle over in Galatians 5 -16, which declares,. But this I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We must understand the meaning of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Surrendering Self to Christ’s Lordship

Remember F .B. Meyer's comments about the distinction of the Holy Spirit being prominent and preeminent in our lives? I believe it's possible for the Holy Spirit to be present without being president, to be dormant without being dominant, to be resident without reigning.

When we surrender to the Lordship of Christ, and we surrender all of us to all He is, and by faith we enter into the fullness of the Holy Spirit, then sin is exposed and self is executed, and the Holy Spirit can fill the overflowing and anoint with authority and power.

Then when others look at us, self is decreased and the Spirit is prominent. I like what R .A. Torrey, the colleague of D .L. Moody said. He said, we can have as much of the Holy Spirit we want, so long as He can have as much of us as He wants.

The Church’s Lost Power and Dependence on the Holy Spirit

Listen friends, there can only be one answer to the question, why has the church lost her power? The answer lies in the reality that the church has forsaken the third person of the Trinity, replacing him with programs, money, and man-centered methodologies.

Our reliance is one of self, rather than reliance upon the Holy Spirit to empower us to pray, preach, and witness with an endowment from on high. Let us pray.