01.02D. The Conditions for Being Filled with the Spirit.
D. The Conditions for Being Filled with the Spirit.
After studying the importance of being filled with the Spirit, the immediate question should be: How can we be Spirit-filled? There is only one way and that is by God’s grace alone. We need to obey His conditions. We must offer Him our trust and obedience before He will fill us for His effective service. To trust and obey is not a demonstration of our cooperation with Him, nor is it any kind of meritorious work. It is simply complying with His prerequisites to be filled with Himself, just as we meet our need for fresh air by first exhaling the stale then inhaling the fresh.
Consider these scriptural examples. If the disciples had not obeyed Christ’s command to wait in Jerusalem for the outpouring and filling of the Holy Spirit, they probably would not have been filled (Acts 1:4; Acts 2:4). If Peter and John had given heed unto the high priest, Annas, to stop preaching the good news about the resurrected Christ rather than obeying God who told them to continue speaking of what they had seen and heard, they would not have been filled with the Holy Spirit time after time (Acts 4:6; Acts 4:8; Acts 4:31). Saul was not filled on the road to Damascus when he saw the Lord, but after he had prayed and fasted for three days. As soon as Peter started to speak, Cornelius and all those listening were filled with the Holy Spirit because he was “a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household…and prayed to God continually” (Acts 10:2; Acts 10:44; Acts 11:15). To those who desired His power for effective ministry, God’s requirements for Spiritfilling were the same in the Old Testament as in the New. Only after Gideon had obeyed God by pulling down the altar of Baal, cutting down the Asherah beside it and building a new altar on which he sacrificed to the LORD, did the Spirit of the LORD come upon him (Judges 6:25-34). The Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul and David after they had accepted God’s call and were anointed to be king over Israel (1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 10:10; 1 Samuel 16:13). When he looked and saw as his teacher asked of him, Elisha received a double portion of the spirit that moved Elijah (2 Kings 1:9-12).
Mighty Samson and David, Israel’s finest king, show the negative results that sin has upon the spiritual life of God’s man. It was only after Samson has lost his obedience and purity that “his strength left him” because “the LORD had departed from him” (Judges 16:19-20). Likewise, David, following his terrible sin of adultery and murder, knew that he could well lose the Holy Spirit’s power and anointing upon his life. By His mercy God spared David from becoming spiritually impotent when he quickly repented (“wash me thoroughly from my iniquity”) and prayed that God would “not take Thy Holy Spirit from me” (Psalms 51:2; Psalms 51:11). Numerous 20th century religious leaders and pastors, once mighty in spiritual power, lost their ministry and effectiveness, following their loss of moral character.
All these examples point to trust and obedience as divine requirements for Spirit filling. Since to “trust and obey” are so important, what do they mean and how can we put them into practice? The process of learning to “trust and obey” might follow these steps.
1. The need to recognize and acknowledge the importance of Spirit-filling. It is a sad fact that most believers have never been filled with the Holy Spirit. Some either do not understand what is meant by Spirit-filling or do not recognize how important it is to their spiritual life and ministry to be filled with the Spirit. There are others who lack courage to act upon what they know about Spirit-filling because they suffer from weak faith that does not allow them to believe and act upon all the truths of Scripture. These may have only a partial understanding or were abused or frightened by some who take an extreme view of Spirit-filling. The responsibility for the lack of understanding about being filled with the Spirit lies in part at least at the door of the church which unfortunately neglects this truth.
Without doubt, no one would ever be saved without first having a spiritual understanding of the importance of salvation and of the need to repent and believe.
Without knowledge he would not know where to begin. Likewise, no one can be filled with the Spirit until he has recognized the great value of being filled. This is why Christ repeatedly reminded the apostles, both before His death and after His resurrection, regarding the key role the Holy Spirit was to play in their life and ministry. He often spoke of this truth to teach His disciples to recognize the significance of Spirit-filling, to act upon it as quickly as possible, and not to waste their time in a fruitless ministry. In these last days, the necessity for Spirit-filling should be emphasized frequently from the pulpit. No matter what kind of work we do (secular or sacred), we still need the Holy Spirit to fill us over and over again, in recognition of the spiritual principle, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Our flesh can produce only what is earthy. To accomplish God’s work, we must have the Holy Spirit-the Divine Helper-to empower us.
2. The need to understand and accept the pure nature of the Holy Spirit. In order to be Spirit-filled it is essential to know and to accept the holy nature of the Spirit.
Dr. A. A. Hodge wrote an excellent description of the Spirit’s holiness. “He is called the Holy Spirit because He is the author of holiness throughout the universe…the end and glory of whose work in the moral world is holiness, as in the physical world beauty.”15
Since the Holy Spirit specializes in accomplishing beautiful and holy works, He will not fill an unclean vessel. The same principle was illustrated when Jesus said, “no one puts new wine into old wine skins” (Luke 5:37), because new wine and old wine skins are completely incompatible. Likewise, a dirty heart is not a suitable dwelling for the Holy Spirit. They do not belong together. God disciplined King Saul, rendering him unable to commit dreadful crimes against God’s chosen ones, Samuel and David. Those who desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit but are unwilling to be pure before the Lord should heed this serious warning (1 Samuel 19:14-24). The need for dedication in order to be Spirit-filled is seen in Acts 2:4, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” The phrase “with the Holy Spirit” is a genitive of material, showing who filled the disciples. As when Mary anointed the feet of Jesus “the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:2), the idea here is not to get more of the Spirit but to allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to be sovereign and to enter into every area of the believer’s life, much as the aroma of Mary’s ointment penetrated the entire house. This is well illustrated in Acts 2:2 when the noise from heaven heralding the Holy Spirit’s epochal approach “filled the whole house where they were sitting.”
“House” is in the accusative case referring to the thing filled, showing that every floor, room and closet was filled with the sound of the Holy Spirit’s arrival. As sound entered into every compartment of the house, so it is the Holy Spirit’s desire, and requirement for effective service, that every aspect of our lives must be open to Him: our thoughts, our relationships, our intellect and our emotions. The Holy Spirit could enter into every venue of the early believers’ lives because they had obediently remained in a hostile environment (“He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised” Acts 1:4), “continually devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14) and to fellowship with each other. We may need to remain in a hostile family, neighborhood, workplace, or even church relationship all the while showing reasonableness, sweet disposition and devotion to prayer, in order to develop and manifest our faithfulness to God and His truths before the Spirit fills us for the first time. We may then discover a complete change in both our attitude towards others and their relationship to us, in the same manner that many formerly antagonistic Jews turned to the early disciples when “about three thousand were added to their number that day [of Pentecost]…They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” (Acts 3:41; Acts 3:46-47).
Therefore, we must forsake unrighteousness by repenting of all our sins and allow the precious blood of our Lord Jesus to cleanse our hearts before seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This way we comply with the Holy Spirit in His desire for us to be pure before His work within us can proceed. As preparation for Spirit-filling, we may want to deal with our sin in this manner:
• If our sin has offended only God, we confess to God: “Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in Thy sight,” (Psalms 51:4 a).
• If we have offended our fellow man, then according to the Scripture, we have also offended the Lord, who created and cares for man. So we must confess to both parties (Leviticus 6:1-7; Numbers 5:6-7). J. Wilbur Chapman explains:
“It may be helpful to ask the question, ‘Why have I not received Him?’ This may be for many reasons. First. It may be because we have disobeyed some clear command of the Master: if at any time in the past we have broken a thread in the weaving of a garment, we need not expect to know about the fullness of the Spirit until we have made the past right with God. If it was an unkind word spoken, an inconsistent action which caused another to stumble or fall, if it is some unforgiven sin, then make it right.”16
• If our sin is robbery or theft or other similar transgressions, we must confess to the Lord and also repay the victim by making “restitution for it in full, and add to it onefifth more” (Leviticus 6:5).
• If the offended party is no longer living, or for some reason cannot accept restitution, it should be paid to his closest relative. If there are no relatives, it should be given to the church (“But if the man has no relatives to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest,” Numbers 5:8).
These are God’s mathematics governing the regulation of confession and restitution. Against whomever we have sinned, to him should our confession be; not to a substitute, nor to a priest. Compensation should be given to whom restitution belongs and should not be offered to God, unless the injured person has passed away and there is no near relative to accept the payment in his place. In short, real confession is confessing according to God’s standards.
3. The need to appropriate the filling of the Holy Spirit by prayer. Once we recognize how important it is for us to be filled with the pure and holy Spirit of God to accomplish God’s purpose in our life, how must we get the filling? Commenting on Acts 1:14 (“These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer”), I. Howard Marshall writes: “If the Holy Spirit is the divine gift which empowers and guides the church, the corresponding human attitude toward God is prayer. It is as the church prays that it receives the Spirit.”17 The spiritual understanding necessary to receive Spirit-filling is even more necessary than is the reading of numerous books on the subject. Part of your prayer life should be devoted to asking God again and again to illumine your insight concerning how to receive His spiritual power and ability, allowing you to minister grace and life to His children with liberty, wisdom and power. Because of failure to do this, the church is weak and powerless and the pulpit has no strength either to feed the spiritual life of the saints or to arouse them to serve God. Few believers are praying earnestly and persistently to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Having inherited from Adam a natural bent toward laziness our old sinful nature readily accepts the false view that the Bible does not teach us to pray for Spirit-filling. In the days before our Lord’s return all prayer will become so uncommon that Jesus said, “when the Son of Man comes, will He find [praying] faith on the earth” (Luke 18:8 b). I heard of a divinity school in the Far East where some students actually scoff at other students who pray, saying that they fail to see the reality of life.18 But what do the Bible and some of the saints have to say about the reality concerning praying for Spirit-filling? a. Taught by the Lord. There are not a great number of scriptural references emphasizing the necessity to pray for the filling of the Spirit, but our Lord clearly stated, “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask” (Luke 11:13). This promise agrees with Jesus’ teaching concerning prayer elsewhere. He said, “Ask [repeatedly] and it shall be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). In this verse the verb “ask” is the Greek present tense that means to pursue with persistence or to do again and again. Then the Father shall (future tense) give us the Holy Spirit. All of God’s grace exists as objective promises. If we want to enjoy God’s promises subjectively in our lives, we must accept them by faith in order to receive them. Praying to God again and again for Spirit-filling is one wonderful way for faith to be raised up to receive this marvelous blessing. The disciples’ filling with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is clearly related to the gathering of the 120 people in the upper room at Jerusalem who “with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14). When Peter and John were threatened and then released from jail, they went to their own companions, who together lifted their voices to God in one accord in prayer. The result was, “they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). These examples clearly demonstrate the relationship between Spirit-filling and prayer.
Praying for Spirit-filling does not mean that we should conduct all night prayer and waiting meetings, or continually fast and plead. As long as we acknowledge the importance of being filled with the Spirit, recognize His holy nature, give ourselves unto purity and pray time after time; one day, when faith to receive this blessing rises up within us, we shall truly have our first taste of the sweetness of being filled with the Spirit, just as the fresh air automatically rushes in when we expand our lungs to receive it. b. Testified to by the saints. At this point, the question might arise, “Since we are not to conduct all-night meetings to seek the filling with the Spirit, how long should one continue asking for the first filling?” The answer is, “Only God knows.” He knows exactly the best time for His child to experience this blessing. Usually the believer’s initial Spirit-filling will occur sometime after his new birth, although Spirit-filling and conversion can be experienced at the same time. G. Campbell Morgan once said, “When a person is born of the Spirit, he will possess the Spirit and this is very true or else, he does not belong to him. But it is possible that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit later on and this is also true.”19 The following testimonies show that God has no set time for it to occur.
It can happen at once: Dr. Wilbur Chapman (chosen by Mr. Moody to be the vicepresident of the Moody Bible Institute) had the experience of being immediately filled with the Holy Spirit the first time he went before God and dedicated himself for Spiritfilling. Dr. Chapman prayed, “My Father, I now claim from you the infilling of the Holy Ghost.” He testified later, “From that moment to this, he has been a living reality.”20
Concerning the relationship of prayer to Spirit-filling, Dr. Chapman writes: I had in a former parish a young Irishman; all would declare him to be ignorant and he was; but God marvelously used him. This was the secret. With a heart burdened for the men of the city, I called together a few of the men of the church, and laying before them the plan I had in mind, told them first of all that we could do nothing without the “infilling of the Holy Ghost.” When this had been explained I noticed this man leave the room. He did not return while the meeting was in session. When I sought him I found him in one of the lower rooms of the church, literally on his face before God. He was in prayer. I shall never forget his petition: “O God, I plead with Thee for this blessing”; then, as if God were showing him what was in the way, he said: “My Father, I will give up every known sin, only I plead with Thee for power”; and then, as if his individual sins were passing before him, he said again and again: “I will give them up; I will give them up.” Then, without any emotion, he rose from his knees, turned his face heavenward, and simply said, “And now I claim the blessing.” For the first time he became sensible of my presence, and with a shining countenance he reached out his hands to clasp mine. You could feel the very presence of the Spirit as he said: “I have received Him; I have received Him.” And I believe he had, for in the next few months he led more than sixty men into the Kingdom of God. His whole life had been transformed. He is just now being set apart to preach the gospel.21
It can take three hours: Christmas Evans, the Welsh evangelist, was filled with the Holy Spirit after three hours of praying before God.
It can take a week: Dr. Torrey became convinced from the study of the Acts of the Apostles that no one had a right to preach the gospel until he had been filled with the Holy Spirit. He said that he would never enter the pulpit again until he had been filled with the Holy Spirit and knew it. “But Sunday did not come before the blessing came…As to what the blessing has done for me, I could not begin to tell. It has brought a joy into my soul that I never dreamed of before; a liberty in preaching.”22
It might take a little longer: After Moody understood the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit, he said, “I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day in the city of New York, Oh, what a day!-I cannot describe it…it is almost too sacred an experience to name…I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world-it would be as the small dust of the balance.”23
It is the believers’ responsibility and obligation to persistently continue in prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit, especially for the first filling. The time, method, and degree of the believers’ being filled is in God’s hand. If the believers have tried their best, God will certainly do His part and wonderfully fulfill His promise. The Lord Jesus taught, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13). The requirements that God sets for being filled with the Spirit should be faithfully followed at every filling; but they are essential for the first filling.
After having experienced being filled with the Spirit the first time, the average Christian can easily appropriate and enjoy this grace regularly. Whether he is praying, meditating upon God’s Word, or thinking about God’s wonderful works in his life, at that moment, if he has a clean heart and conscience before God and is in total obedience, he can enjoy the blessing of being filled with the Spirit.
Those of us who have been sent by God to speak for Him especially need this grace from God so that we can imitate “those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven” (1 Peter 1:12). Before speaking we should always pray for His filling. To be filled is His command and our blessing. If we are pure and obedient, He will be willing to fill us for the sake of His children to whom we minister. If we are willing to believe God’s promise for Spirit-filling and appropriate it as He teaches us, we will be neither lazy nor unfruitful in our ministry and service.