How You Can be Filled With the Holy Spirit - Part 1

by Dr. Bill Bright

The Wonderful News of the Spirit-Filled Life
The senior pastor of one of America's leading churches came to talk with me after one of my message on How to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit. He said, "My life will never be the same after tonight! I have been a pastor for more than twenty years, but until now, I have never understood how to be empowered and controlled by the Holy Spirit as a way of life. I can hardly wait to share this message with the members of  my church."

A retired businessman and his wife came to my office from almost all the way across the continent to share their excitement. "Our lives were totally changed when we learned how to be filled with the Holy Spirit as a result of your ministry. Now we are sharing Christ with others wherever we go."

They handed me a generous check with this request. "We have come to ask you to share on television how to be filled with the Holy Spirit with millions of others. We are eager for other Christians to experience the reality of the Holy Spirit in their lives as He is in ours."

At the conclusion of one of my lectures, a man came rushing down the aisle. "This is the greatest thing I have ever heard in all of my life!" he exclaimed. "Today I have been liberated!" This man was on twelve boards of various Christian organizations. He said, "I have been trying to serve God so diligently that I practically ignored my business and my family. I have been trying to serve God in the energy of the flesh he said. I understand now why I have been so miserable and so unproductive!"

Worldly Carnal Christians
These people were all liberated from what I believe is one of the greatest afflictions in the body of Christ today. This blight is at the core of all the problems hindering our Lord's Church throughout the world. The sickness I am speaking about is the epidemic of worldly carnal Christians. And this often takes the form of legalism, which is mans attempt to serve God in the energy of the flesh.

Consider carefully the very last words which our Lord spoke as He met with His disciples on the Mount of Olives only moments before He ascended into heaven. Jesus had commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel and to make disciples of all nations. But He had told them not to leave Jerusalem until they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

"You shall receive power,'" He said, "when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the world."

By these words, Jesus was suggesting, 'Though you have been with Me for three years and more, it is not enough that you have heard Me teach the multitudes, and have seen Me heal the sick and even raise the dead. You need to be empowered with the Holy Spirit in order to be effective and fruitful as My witnesses throughout the world.'

Adventure!
The Christian life is a great adventure. It is a life of purpose and power. Christ has given the almost unbelievable promise, "He who believes in Me, the works that I do, shall he do also. And greater works than these shall he do because I go to my father. And whatever you ask in My name that will I do."

Obviously, you cannot, in your own energy, accomplish these great works. It is Christ Himself - living within you in all of His resurrection power, walking around in your body, thinking with your mind, loving with your heart, speaking with your lips and will empower you with the Holy Spirit to do these great works. It is not your wisdom, your eloquence, your logic, your good personality or your persuasiveness which brings people to our Lord Jesus. It is the Son of Man, who came to seek and to save the lost, who sent His Holy Spirit to fill and empower you.

Yet tragedy of tragedies, multitudes of Christians do not even know who the Holy Spirit is. Or, if they do, they do not know how to appropriate His power. They go through life without ever experiencing the abundant and fruitful life which Christ promised to all who trust and obey Him.

Again and again I am reminded of the great contrast between Christ's church today and His church in the first century. In JB Phillips' introduction to the Letters to Young Churches he states:

"The great difference between present-day Christianity and that of which we read in these letters, the New Testament epistles, is that to us, Christianity is primarily a performance; to them it was a real experience. We are apt to reduce the Christian religion he said, to a code or, at best, a rule of heart and life. To these people it was quite plainly the invasion of their lives by a new quality of life together. They do not hesitate to describe this as Christ living in them."

He concluded with this statement:

"Perhaps if we believe what they believed we could achieve what they achieved."

You see, this same first century power - the power of the risen, living, loving, indwelling Christ made known through the Holy Spirit - is available to you today.

Do you know this power in your life? Are you a victorious, fruitful witness for Christ? If not, you can be.

I believe the most important message that I can possibly give to Christians all over the world is the wonderful news of the Spirit-filled life. I have shared these truths around the world with millions of Christians, old and young. I have never shared any message that has been more used by God to transform the lives of multitudes than this message.

If you are already experiencing the abundant life which Jesus promised and which is your heritage as a Christian, if you are not already introducing others to Christ as a way of life and you sincerely desire to do so, I have good news for you!

The answers to the following questions can change your life and enable you to experience the abundant and fruitful life which our Lord promises to all who trust and obey Him.

First, who is the Holy Spirit?
Second, why did the Holy Spirit come?
Third, what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Fourth, why is the average Christian not filled with the Holy Spirit?
Fifth, how can you be filled with the Spirit?
Now let us consider 'Who is the Holy Spirit?'

Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is God. He is not an 'it.' He is not a divine influence. He is not a fleecy white cloud. He is not a ghost nor a concept. He is God - with all the attributes of deity. He is the third person of the Trinity - co-equal with God the Father and God the Son. There is only one God, but He manifests Himself in three persons, which we call the Trinity.

I cannot define the Trinity. No one can. Dr. Wilbur Smith, one of my professors in Theological Seminary, once shared in class: "The man who denies the Trinity will lose his soul. The man who tries to understand the Trinity will lose his mind." We, are finite, and we can never comprehend God, who is infinite.

We try to illustrate the concept of the Trinity, but every attempt is wholly inadequate. For example, I could say that a man has a mind, a body and a spirit - which one is the man? Or I could describe H20 as a liquid, a solid or a vapor, depending on whether it is liquid, ice or steam. Which one is H20? Or, a man is a husband, a father, and a son - yet, he is one man. No illustration is adequate. At best, I can only suggest what God is like.

Second, Why did God send the Holy Spirit to Us?
The Holy Spirit came to glorify Christ and to lead believers into all truth. To convict of sin. On the eve of His crucifixion while still in the Upper Room, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, "When the Father sends the Comforter instead of me, and by the Comforter he meant the Holy Spirit, He will teach you much as well as remind you of everything I Myself have told you."  He will convict you of all sin. He will guide you in to all truth for He will not be presenting His own ideas. But He will be presenting what I have already told you.

The Holy Spirit came to enable you to know Christ through the new birth and to give you the power to live and share the abundant life which Jesus promised to all who trust Him.

The Holy Spirit inspired holy men of old to write the Holy inspired Scriptures. And only Christians who are filled with the Spirit can understand the true meaning of God's Word. As you read the Bible, The Holy Spirit reveals its truth to you. I read passages of Scripture that I have read many times before, and suddenly, at the moment I need a particular truth, a certain passage comes alive to me. Why? Because the Holy Spirit makes the Word of God relevant and meaningful when I need it. It is a living Book inspired by the Holy Spirit, and only the person who is filled with the Spirit can understand the true meaning of God's Word.

I pray and - except for the prayer of confession - I cannot expect God to answer my prayer unless I am walking in the Spirit. I witness, and no one responds unless I am controlled by the Holy Spirit.

You see it is impossible to know Christ apart from the regenerating ministry of the Holy Spirit. It was Jesus of Nazareth, Himself, who said to Nichodemus, a good and Godly man, "Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." It is impossible for you to pray, to live a holy life, to witness or do anything for the Lord Jesus apart from the person of the Holy Spirit of God.

What Does it Mean to be Filled With the Holy Spirit?
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with Christ. The Holy Spirit came to glorify Christ. Therefore, if I am filled with the Spirit, I am abiding in Christ. I am walking in the light as He is the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse and keep on cleansing me from all unrighteousness.

I am controlled by Christ because the word "filling" means to be controlled. And if I am controlled - not as a robot but as one who is led and empowered by the Spirit - the Lord Jesus will walk around in my body and live His resurrection life in and through me.

This amazing fact that Christ lives in you and expresses His love through you is the most important truth in the Word of God. The standards of the Christian life are so high and so impossible to achieve, according to the Word of God, that only one person has ever been able to succeed. That person is Jesus Christ. Now, through His indwelling presence, He wants to enable all who place their trust in Him to live this same supernatural life.

If you are willing for Jesus Christ to live His resurrection life in and through you, you will bear spiritual fruit as naturally as a healthy plant will bear an abundance of fruit.

In John 15:8 Jesus said,

"And this is the way My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and in so doing you prove that you are My disciples."

You can be a great preacher, a Christian scholar, a deacon or elder, attend church meetings daily, live a clean, moral life, memorize hundreds of verses of Scripture, direct a church choir,and teach Sunday school, but if you are not bearing fruit in the sense that you are introducing others to Christ as well as living a holy life, you are not filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God.

Some people say, "I witness for Christ by living a good life." But it is not enough to live a good life. Many non-Christians live fine, moral, ethical lives. According to the Lord Jesus, the only way to demonstrate you are truly following Him is to bear fruit, which includes introducing others to our Savior as well as living holy lives. And the only way you can produce fruit is through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Some time ago I asked one of the leading theologians of our time, the dean of faculty for a famous theological seminary, if he felt that one could be a Spirit-filled person with out sharing Christ as a way of life. His answer was an emphatic, "No!"

On what basis could he make such a strong statement? The answer is obvious. Our Savior came to "seek and to save the lost," and He has chosen you and me and has ordained us to share the good news of His love and forgiveness with everyone, everywhere. Now to fail to witness for Christ with our lips is to disobey this command just as much as to fail to witness for Him by living a holy life is to disobey His command. In neither case can the disobedient Christian expect God to control and empower his life, nor can we experience the reality of God's presence and God's blessing.

Now let me illustrate. A very discouraged student came to me for counsel after one of my messages. For some months he had spent at least three hours each day reading his Bible, praying and sharing his faith with others. Yet, he had never introduced anyone to Christ. After a time of discussion, his problem became apparent - he was not controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, although he wanted to be.

So we prayed together, and by faith he appropriated the power of the Holy Spirit on the authority of God's Word. That very day he had his first experience of introducing a person to Christ. The next day he led another to Christ and, two days later, another. He has since introduced hundreds, if not thousands, of people to Christ. Obviously his life was absolutely transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Not only do you receive a supernatural power for witnessing when you are filled with the Spirit, but your personality also begins to change. As you continue to walk in the control and power of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit becomes increasingly obvious in your life.

In Galatians 5:22,23, Paul explains it this way,

"When the Holy Spirit controls our lives He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control...."

Being filled with the Spirit results in an abundant and overflowing life. Jesus of Nazareth once cried out to the multitude,

"If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

Truly, this is "the abundant life," yet most Christians are experiencing little of it.

This brings me to my fourth point....

  Part 2 - Why is the average Christian not filled with the Holy Spirit?

Used with permission. © 1971, 1981, 1991, 1995, 1998 Campus Crusade for Christ Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

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