Filled with the Spirit
Key Passage: Ephesians 5:18
Date: June 7, 2024
Ephesians chapter 5, a very familiar passage, just one verse: Ephesians 5 and verse number 18. We’re going to try to pull three words out tonight. We’ve been on different words of the scripture. Ephesians 5 and verse number 18 in God’s Word.
Would you please stand as we read just one verse tonight? We’ll focus on it. If you know it, or even if you don’t, let’s just read it out loud together. Ephesians 5, verse 18: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.”
What an amazing statement: “Be filled with the Spirit.” We’re tackling that tonight. The title is, “Be Filled with the Spirit.” Let us ask that God would make it all more real to you and in your life. May just a little statement spoken speak to your heart tonight. Let us ask the Lord that as we go to Him in prayer. Let’s pray together, please.
Father, we do come. Lord, I for sure, many times, even tonight again, need this command you gave us to be real and practical to me. Father, would you give us more light in that? Would you give us desire? Would you show us how it is possible for us? Father, for every person here tonight, would you speak to us and make your Word clear here? We will thank you, brag on you, and praise you for what you do, Lord. Father, we’re asking for that in the name of Jesus, we pray. Thank you, Lord, for it. Amen.
You may be seated.
It is very interesting: to be filled with the Spirit. That phrase, “the Spirit,” is mentioned about 250 times in the Bible. Now, I’ll be honest, I don’t know that every one of those—I think the vast majority of those—are talking about the Holy Spirit. But it’s mentioned often in Scripture. The Holy Spirit is mentioned seven times. That’s interesting: seven, the number of completion, the number of perfection. The Holy Ghost is mentioned 90 times in Scripture.
Someone asked me years ago, what’s the difference between the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit? I said, I’ve studied it out. Someone said they don’t know exactly the reason. Someone gave me a paper one time, and I don’t know that it really added up in my simple mind. But I said this to them: There’s a difference. God always has His words different for a reason. I’m just not advanced enough to know the reason why, but there is a reason for it. I wanted to mention that: the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost, the Spirit. We often say He is the third person of the Trinity, and that’s accurate, but it’s not saying He is lower, if you will, the same. And first on five, seven, these three are one. But the Holy Spirit…
But we want to just take a couple words out of this command here in the Bible: “Be filled.” That word, “filled.” We’re commanded to be filled with the Spirit. Now, when you get saved, the moment you got saved, you got the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
It’s interesting. Jesus, when He was with the apostles, told them in John 14:17, He said, “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” See, it was a little different before Jesus; essentially, He dwelleth with you, but shall be in you.
Now, you remember Jesus there after His death, burial, resurrection, and He was showing up for 40 days by many infallible proofs. He’s risen like He said He would. But one of those last days, John 20:22, when He had said thus, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” He breathed on them. That’s when they received the indwelling. That’s when He moved inside the believers at that time. And He indwells the believer now. Your body is His temple. He’s indwelling you.
Now, it changed them. By the way, Jesus said, “If I have a part, I will send him unto you.” But it changed, and that’s when He breathed and they received the Holy Ghost. But then He turned around about a week later, and He told them in Luke 24:49, “Behold, I send you the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.”
You see, there’s a difference in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He had already given that to them. And the empowering, or the fullness, or the feeling, or the baptism—many different names people use to describe it. That’s why a little bit later on, Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” That’s the empowering. You see, you get saved, you got the indwelling, but there’s something beyond just the fullness, the feeling of the Holy Spirit.
Someone put it this way: When you get saved, you got all the Holy Spirit as far as Him indwelling you, but how much of you does the Holy Spirit have? That’s what Scripture is talking about here when it says, “Be filled”—the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Could we describe it like this? When you got saved, you opened the door and the Holy Spirit moved inside. And by the way, He has, in so many ways, everything you need. He’s got all the wisdom you need. He’s got all the guidance you need. He’s got all the comfort you need. He’s got power that you and I need. He’s got all that. And He moves inside; if you will, He’s got a suitcase. He’s got all these things available for you. When He moves in, He’s sealed you unto the day of redemption. He’ll never leave you. He’ll be there.
Beyond that, a little bit, is your choice. You see, you can go one way and you can quench the Spirit—first, that’s all the five. You can go to the point where you grieve the Holy Spirit of Jesus. Now, He’s going to be inside there, but if you will, He moved inside your front living room there, but you kind of push Him over in the corner. Sometimes we can stack up boxes and everything else around, and we’re kind of pushing Him in the closet, if you will. If you’re a born-again Christian, every once in a while, you’re going to hear the Spirit of God. Even if He is quenched and grieved, it might be when you’re all alone. That’s why so many backslidden Christians want music or parties or something going on all the time because they don’t want to be alone, because the Spirit of God will convict them. If you never hear that voice sometimes, friend, something is not right. You ought to have that voice sitting inside of you from time to time. You may not hear it very often, but, friend, if you’re a child of God, you ought to hear His voice sometimes. I seep and know my voice, and you ought to have that voice at least sometimes.
But you can go the other way also. You’re born again. Praise the Lord for that. Isn’t it wonderful? Can you remember the day you got saved? Oh, what a happy day that was. A wonderful day. And the Holy Spirit moved in, and wow, everything’s brighter, everything’s sweeter, everything’s more wonderful. It’s just wonderful. It’s just amazing. You’re a new creature, born from above, born by the Spirit of God. But then it begins to move, if you will. He says, “Well, I’m so glad to be in your living room. You felt my warmth, my sweetness, my freshness, my cleanliness, my purity.” “I like to spread that little bit. If you don’t mind, I’ll just go down your hallway here. And I like to—let me just move in your kitchen here maybe for a moment.” Now you have a choice to make. “Holy Spirit, I’m so glad you’re so wonderful. I’m so glad to have you in my heart, my life, and you’re welcome to any room you’d like. Would you come on in the kitchen?”
I think about my dad. He got saved and went home that day. You’ve heard me talk about this. On Sunday afternoon, he said, “Do you have the meal ready?” She said, “Well, not quite yet.” So he went out, got in his car, rode down the road, and pulled the bottle out from underneath the seat. He tossed it out. It hit a police car as he tossed it. No, I’m joking about that. But it did. He used to tell me—he told me one time—he said, “When you tell that story, make sure you tell them that I was riding over and I tossed it in a river. I wasn’t just littering, you know.” So there were some drunk fish, is what I’m to tell you. But it did. Now, here’s the thing: The Holy Spirit said, “Hey, I’d like to come in your kitchen and find out what Dad had in the fridge.” And praise the Lord, Dad said, “That’s all right. You can clean up around here. I want your input in every part of my life.”
And the Holy Spirit comes along and says, “Well, thank you. Let me go over here to your den. Let me—oh my goodness, wow—let me look at what’s on the computer you have there or the TV you have there. I love to brighten this den up and make it a wonderful place of my sweetness and harmony between you and your spouse, where your children can learn more about the Lord Jesus Christ, and immorality is taken out of this room. It’s brightened up, and the filth and the music and all that is cleaned up.” And you have a choice to make. You say, “Oh, Holy Spirit, I want to be filled. I want to be full of you.” Or you can say, “Well, I’m glad I’m saved. I’m glad you’re inside, Holy Spirit. Glad I’m sealed to the day of redemption. But hey, this is my den. I’m going to watch what I want to in here.” The Holy Spirit won’t force Himself on you. He’ll be quenched. Some of that warmth from that fire that He brings in your heart, you won’t feel it anymore. It can get to the point where He’s grieved, just like someone grieving the loss of someone they loved. The Holy Spirit says, “But I’ve got so much to offer you. I’ve got every comfort you ever need for every time you get hit and burdened in life. I’ve got all the comfort you need. I’ve got the security. I’ve got wisdom. I’m your guide. I’ll guide you to all truth.” I’ve got all that available. But all right, the choice is yours.
The Holy Spirit will go down the hallway and say, “Let me look at the bedroom over there. Let me see what’s going on in there. Let me see how you treat your spouse when nobody else sees it. Let me see how loving and kind and wonderful you are when nobody else knows about it. Let me just check that out.” The Holy Spirit will come in there and say, “I’ve got a better plan for your marriage. I can bring so much light and love and joy and warmth and security and comfort. I can make it just a sweet castle for you and your spouse.” But all right, if you want to talk and act and be selfish—it’s your choice. But see, God tells us, “Be filled,” filled with the Spirit of God. He wants every room of your life to be filled with the Spirit. It’s a command.
Can I just say a word? This helped me years ago, and I understood this: Not always is the size of the house of the saint, if you will. Sometimes somebody just gets a newborn Christian; they have a starter house, if you will. But they can still be filled. A Christian that’s just born again, them being filled with the Spirit might be a little bit different than somebody who’s been saved for 30 years, been growing in the Lord. As you grow and you get filled, He increases your house. He gives you a bigger house. But you don’t get down there to that big house unless you start where you’re at, wherever you may be. You get filled right where you’re at. That’s the key. That’s why He says, “Be filled with the Spirit.”
The key is more than just letting Him have every part. You say, “Holy Spirit, I want you to take control of every part of me. I want you to have every nook and cranny in my life. I want you to have my eyes—what I see. I want you to have my mouth—what I say. I want you to have my legs, my feet—where I go. I want you to have every part of my heart. Holy Spirit, I want you to move in. I need you. I want you. I long for your presence in my life. What I do at work, how I act at work, how I handle my emotions and my thoughts—I want you to have everything.” And that’s when the Holy Spirit says, “Whoa, boy, I can feel this individual right here. It’s wonderful to be filled.” Not there like I like to be, as often as I like to be, but it’s wonderful. Would you seek tonight? “Holy Spirit, I want you to have every part: my emotions and my thoughts and my reactions. I want you to have all of it.” Would you just tell Him tonight, “I’d like to be filled with you”? You have access to every room, every closet, every den, every nook, every square inch of my heart; you have access to it all. I want to be filled with you. Would you let Him know that? He can bring so much to your life. He can change you like you can never change yourself. The things you dream of being and having, He can get them to you—the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit.
Now, let’s look at just another little part of this here, right there in verse number 18. Would you look at that? Would you notice the first part of the verse there? “And be not drunk with wine.” Then that “but”—it’s a comparison, it’s a contrast. I don’t want to try to make alcohol sound good. I’m so thankful—no credit to me, credit to my parents and a lot of good influences in my life—I’ve never been drunk a day of my life, and I never want to be drunk a day. I’m thankful for that. I don’t know what a hangover feels like. I don’t know what it’s like to wake up the next morning and say, “Why are they mad at me?” I don’t know what it’s like to be hanging over, throwing up. Now, I don’t want to try to glorify that wicked sin. Alcohol and drunkenness is tearing apart our country. It’s a sad day we’re at. I say the greatest growth in alcohol use in the last several years has been women drinking. It’s a sad thing, and health problems and suicides have gone up in that category also. It’s a sad thing, and I say that because it is true. The Bible is comparing here a drunk man to a Spirit-filled man. Drunk people do some crazy things.
My uncle was chained with the sin of alcohol for years; saved, but he just couldn’t win. Praise the Lord for the great day when he overcame that drink. It was a wonderful thing to see. I’ve seen him miserable for years because he couldn’t overcome it. He lived with my granny when he was very young. He had had an accident, a stroke. His right hand was always like this. His right side didn’t grow like at all, so he was handicapped. He lived with my granny, and we’d visit her often. Praise the Lord, he got married to a Christian girl; that’s what helped him overcome. I had the privilege of being the best man in his wedding. I love Uncle David, but that was his weakness. Granny, at one point, had a little yapping dog, a poodle, I think. Uncle David came in drunk one night. Granny would have this poodle on a leash sometimes out on the old country front porch. This dog was on a leash and would not stop barking at Uncle David the whole time. Uncle David, when he was drunk, sometimes couldn’t walk straight; he was already a little handicapped when drunk. I remember Uncle David bending down—this dog just barking, trying to get that leash, that chain. Finally, he got that chain. That wasn’t good for that dog. Eventually, he had that dog in that chain and was whirling that dog. That dog stopped barking. He threw him, and he went underneath the porch. It was all over that dog. I’m just saying drunk people do crazy things. They are bold sometimes.
They have different reactions to different people, but sometimes they just have a boldness about them when they are drunk. It’s very interesting. Several times, I’ll read one of those four: Acts 4:31: “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” When you feel the Holy Spirit, sometimes it just brings boldness about you. I think about Brother Gregory; he’s about to head off to the fairs. At fairs, you need boldness. How do you get that? Be filled with the Spirit.
I was talking with that senior person who visits our church sometimes. We were talking about my dad, and he had been with my dad one time in a very similar situation. I remember being with Dad one time at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. I think we were visiting Grand Elijah when he was in the hospital up there. Dad was with me. We hopped on one of those elevators at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, and the elevator filled up. This was years ago, before all the COVID rules. All these doctors were on there—the higher-ups and professionals in their robes. We started going up, and Dad started talking real loud to me. At first, I thought, “Dad, I’m right here. What’s going on?” But he started to say, “Hey, Paul, we’re going up, aren’t we?” “Yeah, we’re going up.” He said, “Well, one day, I’m going to go all the way up.” All these doctors were looking around, and people started to fidget a little bit. He said, “I’m a sinner, but Jesus Christ died for my sins. I’m so glad one day I called on Him to be my personal Savior. I’m excited, one day I’m going all the way up, Paul!” Man, he got the gospel in there. I guarantee you, four of those doctors, boom, they were out of there. “Let me get out of this place!” The Holy Spirit will give you boldness, kind of like a drunk person—they’ve got crazy boldness. If they weren’t intoxicated, they wouldn’t do those crazy things. When you get a Spirit-filled Christian, they give you boldness. At work, when they try to belittle you and make you sound like you’re a Sunday school boy, hey, do you get filled with the Spirit? It’ll just give you some boldness. Be filled with the Spirit.
The comparison is to a drunk person. Drunk people do crazy things. They sometimes have a temper they can’t control, and that’s always worse when they come down. They can have a temporary, just carefree attitude. I was talking to a man just recently; we were texting. He has nightmares about a horrible thing he went through, and he said, “Pastor, honestly,” and he’s battling, trying to overcome the bottle, “I drink sometimes just because I don’t want to dream about that. I don’t want to worry about that.” It’s always worse when he comes out of the drunkenness; it makes the whole situation much worse. But there is that temporary state where your burden is lifting. It seems fun for just that long, but it’s always worse when it’s over. Always. You think you need it before, you’ll need a whole lot more after that, and it just goes downhill from there. But there is that temporary feeling where you just don’t have a lot of cares and worries. When you get filled with the Spirit, you can experience that carefree feeling. You’re not worried about everything in the world; you’re not burdened down with all the cares. Someone might say, “Man, I don’t know where it’s from, man, I’m just happy in the Lord.” “Well, such and such happened.” “Well, God will take care of it. It’s going to be all right.” Did you hear what I just told you? “Yeah, but God’s got it. He’s in control. He holds the future. I’m in His hand. It’s going to be all right.” You’re like, “What’s wrong with you?” If you will, please don’t take it wrong, but he’s drunk in the Spirit; he’s filled with the Spirit. That’s the comparison: “Be not drunk with wine… but be filled.”
Sometimes a drunk person reacts so differently—sometimes very mean. But sometimes they’re just happy, and that’s temporary. They are not going to be happy tomorrow, that’s for sure. They can just laugh at the stupidest little things. “Well, that’s a yellow shirt you got on. It’s pretty bright.” They’ll just crack up over it. I’m just trying to give a biblical comparison here. When you are filled with the Spirit, you’ve got joy. One of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5 is love, joy. You say, “How can that person have joy in the midst of what they’re going through?” I mentioned this morning David Jones; I was so encouraged by his reaction to his cancer. He said, “I’m just going to enjoy every day God gives me. I’m not hurting right now. I’m just going to enjoy it. I don’t know how many I have left, but I’m just going to enjoy it.” You say, “How can he do that?” Well, the Spirit. When you’re filled with the Spirit, He can bring you joy, happiness. How can it be if they are going through this? How can it be with the news like it is and the economy like it is? How can you still have joy by being filled with the Spirit?
That’s the comparison. Oh, friend, can I just say here, it’s wonderful, wonderful when you are filled with the Spirit? Can I encourage you to be filled with the Spirit? You won’t regret it. You’ll be so thankful. Now, you can lose that. Remember David? He committed that sin with Bathsheba. About a year or so later, in Psalm 51, he said, “Restore unto me the joy of my salvation.” He worded it this way: “I want to get filled with the Spirit again, because I know what it is to have that joy and have all the burdens lifted and experience carefree living for the Lord. I just want to serve Him, and He takes care of all my burdens. I want to experience that again.” He asked the Lord, “Would you bring that back? I want to be filled with the Spirit.” A wonderful thing. He has so much to offer us. I regret so many times I don’t listen to Him and I ignore Him and I go on my own way and I’m not filled. Then I wonder, “Why am I so burdened? Why am I just so worried? Why do I feel like I have a thousand pounds on my shoulders?” But somewhere along the line, I’ve quenched the Spirit. I’m not letting Him in. “Well, I can worry about this. I want to have my mind on this.” The Holy Spirit says, “All right. You don’t want me to go in that part of your house? All right.” Oh, friend, you’ll never regret being filled, filled with the Spirit. “Be not drunk with wine or excess, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Last thing, just very quickly here, in this passage. He uses the term “Spirit,” meaning being filled with the Spirit. Many times the Bible uses that phrase. I mentioned already: seven times it says “the Holy Spirit,” 90 times it says “Holy Ghost.” Did you notice the emphasis on “Holy”? When they were talking about Daniel in Daniel, I think it’s the chapter before, four different times they said this: “In whom is the spirit of the holy God.” Notice, they had a lot of different gods there, but they said, “No, Daniel has the Spirit of the Holy God.” There’s a difference.
Can I say this: Sometimes this is what we try to do in our day and time. This world does it so much. They try to overhaul our flesh. Let’s just try to get the flesh better off, and all these sometimes help helps. It’s all about getting our flesh in line. That’s not God’s plan. Three of the four gospels talk about, “Look, you can’t put new wine into an old bottle.” As the grape ferments, it’s going to expand a little bit and it’s going to break that old bottle. He says, “Look, you can’t just take a new cloth and put it on the old bottle,” as it expands, it’s going to rip the old bottle. What is He saying? He said, “Look, I don’t want you to try to repair the old man. That’s not going to work. I want you to put on the new man.” I don’t want you to have the flesh and the Spirit contrary one to the other. It’s a battle; they’re fighting. I don’t want you to try to make the flesh better. You’ll always live defeated like that. I want you to put on the new man. I want you to yield to the Spirit of God. That’s when the holiness comes in that you and I can’t mimic, and the world cannot counterfeit. So holy—can I use this term? I’m not trying to say that the Spirit of God is not who He is, and please don’t take that wrong, but the Bible uses that word “Ghost” or “Spirit.” It’s almost an attitude, if you will: a holy sweetness. It’s the Holy Ghost, but it can bring something that nobody—this whole world has got all the reforms lined up for the flesh. No, friend, you need the new creature. Amen.
Look, if you will, over in Ephesians here. Ephesians chapter 4, if you would please. Ephesians 4, verse number 22. He says, “That ye put off”—I’ve got that underlined—“concerning the former conversation the old man,” which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. You see, we’re not supposed to reform that; that’s a losing battle. You put that thing off, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man. Who’s that? That’s the Spirit-filled man, the Spirit indwelling. “And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” It’s the Holy Spirit. Our goodness, compared to God, is kind of like a flashlight compared to the sun. There’s no comparison. We try to reform, reform, and think we’ll get this flesh better. No, friend, that’s not the answer. You need the Spirit. You put off the old man and you put on the new man, the new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). That’s the key.
Can I say this? Sometimes, I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time emptying myself of my flesh. Anybody out there with me? I have a tough time of that. I say it often, and I’ve got a flesh about a mile long. It’s always there, and it always wants the center of everything. It always wants to be in control. It was a good day—I’m not perfect about this like I ought to be—but it was a good day when I noticed Galatians 5:24. Would you look that up, please? This sometimes helps me so much when I practice it. You say, “I want to put off the old man, and I want the Spirit to fill me.” But see, you can’t be filled with the Holy Spirit when you’re full of yourself—your flesh. You can’t do it. If I had a glass here full of air, and I fill it up with water, all the air is out. You can’t have both in there. So how do I get rid of my flesh? This has been so helpful for me at times. Look in Galatians 5, verse number 24, if you would, please: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” They that are Christ’s—are you Christ’s? Have you given yourself to Him? Have you gone up on the cross with Him and said, “I’m Yours; everything I have is Yours”?
Sometimes it’s such a good thing for me: “Lord, I’m just so sick of my flesh. I want to get rid of it; I don’t want my flesh. I want to be filled with You, but my flesh is there.” It’s a good thing I can’t take care of my flesh, but if I give everything I have to Christ, I’m Yours. My future is Yours, my reputation is Yours, my affections—He mentioned my affections—my lust, my selfishness, my pride, my jealousy, all everything. I want to give it all to Christ; it’s Yours. I want to give everything to You. My truck is Yours. My house is Yours. My car is Yours. My family is Yours. He said, “Well, yeah, give me your family. I can take a whole lot better care of your family than you can anyway.” My marriage is Yours. My kids are Yours. My dog—He doesn’t want my dogs half the time, but my dogs are Yours. They get fur all over you, man. Anybody out there with me on the fur on your clothes? You’ve got to get it all. I give Him everything. I want You to have it. They that are Christ’s—He can crucify your flesh. Is He coming up here with me on the cross? That’s what is talked about in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” I try to get rid of my flesh, and I can’t do it. My flesh is too strong. But if I give my flesh to Jesus, “I’m Yours. I want You to have everything”—my reaction to that, my hurt feelings over that, my response to that, everything. Give Him everything. Christ can crucify your flesh. Here’s the wonderful thing about it: Then the Holy Spirit can fill you. He wants to. When He moved in the day you got saved, He’s got everything you’ll ever need. I don’t want to turn over a new leaf of my flesh. My flesh is rotten to the core; there’s no turning it over with that flesh. I want to get rid of that. Give it all to Christ, and He crucifies it. And you are filled.
Have you ever just gotten to the point where you’re so sick of your flesh? Have you ever gotten there? My flesh always wants to—it has all these affections and lusts, as it says over there, and pride and longing after this, these thoughts, and being critical—that’s pride. My flesh… I tend to think your flesh is like my head. Boy, then you’re thinking, “Well, I like to help somebody.” We can’t help anybody. Vain is the help of man. You need the Spirit of God flowing through you. We need this, and another night or day in time, all about techniques and machinery. I’m not against all that, but friend, at the end of the day, “Not by my might nor by my power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.” He’s the one that helps and changes lives. I’m so sick of Paul trying to help people. Paul can’t help a bird; can’t help a thing. Boy, you give yourself to Christ. He can crucify the flesh. Then you are filled with the Spirit. He can help people. It’s amazing. I’m not there like I want to be, like I ought to be for sure, but it’s wonderful sometimes when the Holy Spirit leads you. I think about years ago, a man wanted to get a divorce. We met for lunch, and he went on and on and on about divorce and what all his wife had done and all the problems, the water under the bridge, all that. I wanted to say all these things I learned in Bible college—I was a younger preacher—and all these different books I had. The Holy Spirit just said, “Hush, hush, hush, hush, hush.” He just talked. I believe the Lord, the Holy Spirit, led me. All I said was, I think about three or four words toward the end of the conversation. I said, “God hates divorce.” That’s all I said, really, honestly. Praise the Lord, they stayed married until he went home to heaven years and years later. Friend, I’m just saying it’s not going to be all our stuff; it’s going to be the Spirit of God.
You say, “I don’t want Paul helping anybody. Paul can’t help anybody.” I want to crucify my flesh that thinks it’s all that and can’t help anybody. Give yourself to Christ. Give Him everything, and He can crucify the flesh. And then you are filled. “Oh, Holy Spirit, I don’t want me; I want You.” It’s just a different feeling when the purity He brings: your motives are pure. Your affections and lust, your selfishness is gone. I can’t mimic that. I have too much of the flesh; I can’t make that up, and you can’t either. But the Holy Spirit just brings the warmth, the freshness of purity that only a holy God can bring. Nothing else like it.
Years and years ago, a missionary served for years in Japan with his family. God had used them there; they labored for years, and they even got to know a little part of the royal family back in the day in Japan. That’s something. It was when missionaries were being sent out a lot from Europe back in the day, and they went back to Europe for just a visit, a furlough type thing, and they had rented a little flat, a little apartment. While they were there, some other members of the royal family, who were also in Europe, heard that this missionary who had been in Japan for years was there. They said, “Let’s go visit.” So they went to the missionary and visited him for a little while, and then they left. Later, another Japanese family came to visit the missionary. When they walked into that little apartment, they said, “You’ve had royalty, part of the king’s, the Emperor’s family, here!” They asked, “How did you know?” At that time, there was a certain fragrance that only the royal family could have; it was very costly. That royalty who had visited had that fragrance on them. So the other Japanese family said, “Wow, you’ve had royalty here.” When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the world says, “You’ve had royalty here, haven’t you? You’ve got a Holy Spirit.” They can’t mimic that. That’s divine; it’s from God. “I smell that fragrance in your life.” The world takes note of that.
Original File: Filled with the Spirit - Pastor Paul Chisgar 2622