Years ago Christians were just known as Christians, and hopefully that was descriptive enough. Today, however, there are many born again believers who do not live the Spirit filled life. According to the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 2:12-3:3 there are three types of mankind. The first type is the natural man seen in chapter 2, verse 14. This man is lost, separated from God, and on his way to Hell. The second type is the spiritual man seen in verses 15 and 16 and chapter 3, verse 1. The third type is the carnal person, who is saved, but living natural.
The way a Christian becomes carnal is by not beginning to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ when they are born again. A newborn Christian must immediately begin to partake of the milk of the Word of God and continue to do so, or they will be malnourished and live a natural life instead of a spiritual life.
We see, therefore that at any given time, a Christian is either being filled with the Holy Spirit or is in the flesh. The way to tell if we are being filled with the Spirit is by the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is named in Galatians 5:22 and is singular, such as a cluster of grapes or a bunch of bananas. If you have one you will have them all. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." This fruit in a baby Christian starts out as a bud, then a blossom, then the fruit; and the fruit gets riper and riper the more the saint grows in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus and the more trials, tests and afflictions they go through.
The work of the flesh, however, is plural, which tells us that if any of them are active in our life, we are not Spirit filled. These are listed in Galatians 5:19-21, but I would like to contrast the Fruit of the Spirit here to make it easy to show you when you are in the flesh.
Adam
Lust
Discouragement, depression, self-pity
Unrest
Impatience
Harsh, rude, unkind
Badness
Unbelief
Pride
Overindulgence
Christ Jesus
Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperance
The seed of God is incorruptible and as long as we are being filled with the Holy Spirit we do not sin. In order to sin, we have to get in the flesh or natural life as shown by the works of the flesh. At this time we are no longer being filled with the Holy Spirit. We must confess this sin, which means to judge it as sin. In other words, not blame it on someone else; i.e., I wouldn't have been impatient and unkind, if that person hadn't set me off. To confess our sins means to look at them like God does and judge it as sin. We can do this because the Lord Jesus has already paid for the sin with His own Blood. As we do this, God is faithful and just through the Cross and the Blood of Jesus to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In the Circle the Sin was Committed
I believe that when we get right with God, we're once again being filled with the Holy Spirit. It is good to ask others to forgive you who saw you sin. This not only restores you to fellowship with the Lord God, but also with those who viewed your sin. This jerks the rug of condemnation out from under the devil. The slate is clean with God through the Blood of the Lord Jesus and it is clean with family and friends as you humble yourself and ask them to forgive you. For example, a parent could say to the children, "What I said was right, but I said it in the wrong way. I lost my temper and I was harsh, rude and unkind. The Lord Jesus had nothing to do with this. Will you forgive me?" This is powerful and really restores fellowship with the people who saw you sin.
Now let's look at Ephesians 5, beginning with verse 13. We see here that a Spirit filled Christian is the light of the world and the salt of the earth. When the light is shining, the cockroaches run for cover. When I was a little boy, we didn't have exterminators. My mother was a very clean woman who worked very hard, but through grocery sacks primarily, roaches would get in our kitchen. We had roach poison everywhere. When you went in the kitchen at night and turned the light on the roaches ran for a dark place.
Again, when I was a kid, sin was done in the dark. The light was on, and you didn't dare sin in the light. Today, however, the homosexual marches right down Main Street unashamedly. God loves the sinner but He hates sin. Sin destroys His crown creation, mankind. The abortionist has murdered over 43 million babies since Roe vs. Wade. The pornographer is out in the wide open society. Violence fills the schools. The cockroaches are running wide open because the light is turned off. The Church has moved to the suburbs and kept the Light of the world in stained glass windows while our children and grandchildren are being destroyed by satan and his demons.
God says in verse 14, "Wake up Church, arise from the dead (carnality) and Christ shall give thee light." We can be filled with the Holy Spirit and the Light, the Lord Jesus Christ, will be released through us and once again, the cockroaches will run for cover. Light always dispels darkness.
We are instructed to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. A fool is one who will not take instruction. A young person who will not listen to their parents is a fool according to Scripture and anyone who will not listen to and heed the Word of God is a fool according to Scripture. God calls men wise in one context in Scripture. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise." Proverbs 11:30. The Lord Jesus Christ is made wisdom unto us and "He came to the earth to save sinners." 1 Timothy 1:15. The Spirit filled Christian will bring others to the Lord Jesus because He is flowing out of them like rivers of Living Water.
"Buy up the time" I believe means to take advantage of every opportunity to get the Gospel to a lost dead human race. For example: Kids are playing in your yard, tearing up your grass and destroying your prize rose bushes. Instead of angrily running them off, why not take cookies and milk out to them and tell them the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that most of the affliction that you and I suffer is designed by our Heavenly Father to get us to a place that we would not ordinarily be, to see people we would not ordinarily see, and to share with them what they would not ordinarily hear.
"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Let me share with you what the will of the Lord is here on this earth. God is not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance." 1 Timothy 2:4 says, "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 4:10 says, "For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially those that believe." 1 John 2:2 says, "And he (Christ Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins: and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." We are living here on this earth so that folks can be saved and made ready for the next world. This is the will of the Lord and illustrates the necessity of the Spirit filled life and the anointed life. (See the booklet, The Anointing of the Holy Spirit.)
"And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." This is a continuous action verse and God is saying to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The analogy is compared to one who is drunk with alcohol. This person is controlled by another spirit and acts uninhibited because of theis other spirit.
When we are being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus is living HIs resurrected life through us. The following verses tell us how to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
Singing
"Speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." I believe the Psams get us into the presence of God. "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with praise." The hymns teach us the Word of God and the spiritual songs are those who minister to us and we minister them to others. This has been called special music in past years.
Notice that we are to sing unto the Lord and make melody in our heart. This does not have to be vocal, but God does say, "Sing aloud of the mercies of God in the morning." When you get a song started in your heart, it will continue to play until you interrupt it with something else.
I personally like all kinds of music, but I only listen to and sing Psalms, hymns, ansd spiritual songs. Why? Because I want to be being filled with the Holy Spirit. Music other than this takes me away from the Lord Jesus; not in relationship, but in fellowship. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." I don't know about you, but when I listen to music other than Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, it is not long before I get in the old nature and begin to act in the natural.
The Affects of Music
Satan was the maestro of heaven. I believe that his ministry was to lead the angelic host to praise our Lord Jesus Christ. He is a master musician. He can incite rebellion, riot, immorality and many other emotions through music. Music by definition is melody, harmony and rhythm, anything else is distortion. The atmosphere in the home is affected by music. When you play melodious Christian music the atmosphere is calm and peaceful. When you play rock music you will notice great tension among those in the house. The syncopated beat is different that our heart rate and trhows our emotions out of rhythm. You can disagree with me, but run a test for yourself. Let me know if you prove me wrong.
These are the holy excercises that help us to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. A new Christian said, "But gee, the Christian life is easy as long as you are Spirit filled. The hard thing," he said, "is to stay filled." Yes, the flesh is just one sin away, but these guidelines will help you grow more like the Lord Jesus and less like Adam.
The Principle of Thanksgiving
"Giving thanks for all things unto God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." As we learn this, we find a great help in staying Spirit filled which is vital to our fellowship with God and keeping the light on in the world. If you were to walk outside and four tires on your car all have air, you could say, "Thank you, Lord God." What would you do however, if one or more was flat? It is at this point you will either get in the flesh or stay in the Spirit. If you begin to thank God for the flat and every fiery dart the demons throw at your mind, you will continue to be being filled wiht the Holy Spirit. Otherwise you are flesh bound.
If you get a raise on the job, you can thank God. What would happen however if you got a pay cut or even lost your job? If you will thank God or continue to thank Him several things will happen. First of all, you will get into the presence of God. Secondly, the demons will stop flooding your mind with negative thoughts. Next, you will get to God's supply and last, you will influence others for Christ.
When pastoring Calvary Baptist in St. Louis (Jennings), I bought my wife, Judy, and Olds 98 with all the bells and whistles. Although that car was six years old, it was very nice. Judy, our kids, our grandchildren, and I went to visit our family in East Texas for the Christmas holidays. On Friday evening I noticed a car detail shop and stopped to make an appointment for the next day to get the car detailed.
The next morning, my Dad followed me in his car to the detail shop about 7:30 a.m. I didn't realize that there was ice everywhere and there was a slanted driveway leading up to the big doors of the detail shop. I pulled the car up and set the brake, then went around to the other side to get the grandchildren's toys out. As I was bending over in the car, it began to slide backwards on the ice. I dove in the car and suddenly it stopped sliding and I said, "Thank you, Lord!" When I looked around, the car door had caught on a tall steel pole and it bent the door like a pretzel. The thoughts began to flood my mind which I believe come from demons, fiery darts. "This is Saturday and you have to go back to Missouri Monday. You won't be able to get the car fixed. This is going to cost a lot of money."
I began to turn those thoughts up to God and thank Him for all of those possibilities. This enabled me to stay in the Spirit and continue to be a light to my Dad and the owner as he walked up. The owner stated, "Your door is really torn up. I have a cousin who is paint and body man, but you'll never find him on Saturday." I said, "Well, I'm going out to the Chervolet dealership and see about a door." For some reason, Dad stayed there and I drove his car. At the dealership, they told me not to get a new door, but to get one from the wrecking yard. When I arrived back at the detail shop, there were three men standing out front by my car; Dad, the owner and another fellow. The owner said, "This is my cousin; he just happened to drive by and he is going to fix your car." Thanksgiving gets you to God's supply.
He worked on the car all afternoon after driving to Tyler and taking a door from another car. About dark he finished and handed me a bill for only $200 total cost. Then he said, "Preacher, I've been attending my wife's church and they keep talking about being born again. Will you pray for me that I could get born again?" I had the joy of leading this man to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus suffered on the Cross for us. What is a little affliction and hardship on our part to get the gospel to every creature?
Thanksgiving gets you into the presence of God. It gets the demons off of your mind with the fiery darts. Remember, their goal is to get us to act natural; worry fret, lose our temper, etc. And then, we get to the supply of God. God has the supply before we have the need. Finally, it gets others to Christ who may not have otherwise come to Him. This experience has happened several times as I practice the holy habit of thanksgiving. People do not always bow and accept the Lord Jesus right then and there; but the Light is always shining and the Holy Spirit can then draw them to our Lord Jeus Christ.
Submission
Submission is submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Submission is not a curse word. It is receiving from God what He has to give you through the one you are submitting to. If we get over that person, we are between them and God and we block out what God has for us.
The Body of the Lord Jesus
Also, the Church is literally the Body of our Lord Jesus. Two thousand years ago He was here in His physical body. Today He is the Head of the local Church, His mystical body. The Lord Jesus is the Head and we are the members: arms, legs, hands, feet, etc. In order to get the life of Jesus through another nember, we have to submit to them. Every Christian has at least one gift of the Holy Spirit and this gift is literally the Lord Jesus Christ living through that member. This is how the Lord Jesus lives His resurrected life here on earth, through His Body, the Church.
Wives Submit
We are talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit. When we fail to sing right, give thanks for and in everything, and submit to one another, we get in the flesh and do just the opposite.
"Wives, submit unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Notice that God doesn't tell women to submit to men, but to their own husbands. This allows God to make the husband, the servant leader of the wife and children. In the Kingdom of God, leadership serves those they lead. In the world those under serve those who are over. This is perversion.
And so, dear lady, your husband is your servant to provide, to protect and to be your prophet, priest and king. This makes you the queen, and everything God puts under him is under you. When we fail to submit to God's designated authority, God can't protect us or provide for us like He wants to. The devil will destroy our family and disgrace God's gospel, for the family is a type of Christ and the Church.
The man is not the head of the house, he is the head of the wife. God made him the head so that He could work through him to bless the family. The woman has a different role, and she is to guide the house. The man is not equipped to guide the house, he is equipped to go out into the world, get his brains beat out and still stand for his wife and children. These guidelines are amplified in Titus 2:1-5 and 1 Timothy 5:14.
Husband, Love Your Wives
We are talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit. The word love here is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is God so loved the world love. It is 1 Corinthians 13 love that is kind, gentle, good and does not think (meditate) on evil about anyone. The demons will put all kinds of negative thoughts in your mind, mister, about your wife. Take those thoughts captive to the Lord Jesus. Remember, satan is the accuser and the slanderer. When we are not kind and patient and gentle with our wives, we are not being filled with the Holy Spirit and we need to repent, get right with God, and ask our mate to forgive us.
A Great Mystery
Verses 32 and 33 tell us, "This is a great mystery: But I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let everyone of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; (one flesh) and the wife see that she reverence her husband."
A Word About Respect
The word reverence for one thing means respect. The respect is not for the good of the one being respected. it is for the good of the one doing the respecting. We are to reverence God, not for His good, but for our good. The world has a different view. We are to respect God's designated authority, not for their good, but for our good. It helps to keep us submissive. You wouldn't hear a child calling their dad or mom by their first name. Yet, in our day, people in authority are telling those younger than them to call them by their first name.
I believe this is very dangerous and ends up being disrespectful and thus placing ourselves in a wrong position. For example: I'm 65 years old at this time and my pastor is 45 years old. He has been on this church staff for fourteen years, 3 years as Senior Pastor. I have been submissive to him. He is a trememdous man of God, maturing in the faith; a man of prayer and one who is totally dependent on god. I believe he follows the Lord Jesus Christ totally. Even if he didn't however, I would respect him because he is God's designated authority to oversee this church. I call him Pastor, or Preacher, or Brother. He is my servant leader and I am under him; he does not need the respect, I need to give it. Even the Lord Jesus, God in human flesh, humbled himself and submitted to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Now the Father and the Holy Spirit have humbled themselves and given the Lord Jesus Christ the preeminence.
That is all I'll say about this for now, but I believe this lack of respect and lack of submission has done great harm to the Body of Christ and to the Kingdom of God. The rebellion escalated in the 1960's and hasn't let up to this day. Folks do what is right in their own eyes and until we repent in this area, how can we have genuine revival.
In chapter 6 we see, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy Father and Mother which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth." Now remember we are to obey God's designated authority unless they tell us to disobey God. For examples of this, look at Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Simon Peter. If authority tells you not to read the Bible or follow the Lord Jesus. If authority tells you to do something that violates your conscience, you can appeal and then take the circumstances. Otherwise, we are to submit.
Children disobeying parents not only means that they are in the flesh, but it is very dangerous because this puts them, or anyone who disobeys authority, on the devil's territory. As Bill Gothard so powerfully brought out, there is an umbrella of protection as long as we stay under authority, being filled with the Holy Spirit, but when we habitually disobey, we are on our own, out from under protection, and satan and his demons destroy our lives.
Father, Provoke Not
Why didn't the Holy Spirit say Mothers? Because when a man is not being filled with the Holy Spirit, he demands respect. When he feels disrespect from his children, he loses control since he is in the old sin nature, acting natural. This kills the spirit of the child and provokes them to wrath. It is imperative for we Fathers to be being filled (controlled) with the Holy Spirit.
Now On the Job
"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men." Ephesians 6:5-7
We are talking about the Spirit filled life when the light is turned on those about us. We are to make our boss successful by working unto him or her like they were the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When a company gets ready to hire, I believe they should call the Pastors for recommendations. We Christians should so work, being filled with the Holy Spirit, that when help is needed, they look for people like us. The question a Spirit filled Christian asks is not what can others do for me, but what can I do for others? Maybe this would help. Take a blank sheet of paper with pencil or pen. Get off by yourself with God and your Bible and ask God what is between you and Him. Ask Him to examine your heart with His Holy Spirit light. As the Holy Spirit shows you a sin, write it down. When the list is completed, ask Him if there is anything else. If not, write 1 John 1:9 at the bottom of the page and take God's Word that you are now cleansed. Ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit according to His Word in 1 John 5:14-15, "And this is the cofidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a commandment, therefore, the will of God for every Christian. When you ask anything according to His will, He hears you, and knowing God hears you is evidence that He gives you your request. Then keep short sin accounts. Confess immediately to God through the Cross and the Blood of our Lord Jesus and immediately yo are once again filled with the Holy Spirit. The evidence is the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, longsuffeing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
"BE NOT DRUNK WITH WINE WHEREIN IS EXCESS, BUT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT."
Ye Masters
"And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: Knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him." Ephesians 6:9 You may own the company or be the foreman. This does not negate your being filled with the Holy Spirit and if you do get in the flesh and lose your temper, get right with God and ask the people to forgive you also. This humility of Jesus Christ in you will let the light keep shining.
Proving Grounds
Yes, the home and the job are the proving grounds of whether or not we are being filled with the Holy Spirit. Christians who live in the flesh are a great hindrance to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the advancement of His kingdom.
You may ask, "How is one filled with the Holy Spirit to start with?" Well, you are filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit when you get saved; however, you still have that old sin nature. When you sin you are in the old nature. We must learn how to confess our sins. Look at them like God does and agree with what He says about them, and judge the thing as sin before God. This enables us to breathe the sin out and be filled again with the Holy Spirit.
First, make sure you are saved. The plan of salvation is on this website under "How To Go To Heaven". If you know that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior and that if you were to die today you would go to Heaven.
Copyrights © 2006 Evangelist Joe Murray