being filled with the holy spirit
Welcome to Red Hyssop Ministries
Congratulations! You have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior. You now have a home in heaven when you die that can never be taken away from you. This is wonderful! Now it is time to learn what the role of the Holy Spirit is in your life. This lesson is a huge banquet and will take time to fully digest. It’s recommended that you read this lesson several times and ask God to help you understand the material each time. This will help you to learn all that is here. Also, each time you read this you may learn something more. Take time right now to ask God to help you learn this material. He will help you.
1 Cor.12:13 reads, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized (immersed)into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” We also find in John 6:63a, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth.” At the very moment that we accept Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit immerses us into the body of Jesus. He quickens us, gives us eternal life. When the Holy Spirit gives us eternal life He also moves inside of us. When the Holy Spirit comes inside of us He does two things for us. The Holy Spirit seals us and becomes our earnest. 2 Cor.1:22 says, “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” Also in 2 Cor.5:5 we find, “Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given us the earnest of the Spirit.” This earnest is the down payment we receive for our future immortal bodies that we will receive when Jesus raptures the church. Receiving this earnest is a guarantee of heaven so also is the sealing we receive from the Holy Spirit. Eph.1:13 tells us, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” This seal is the seal of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. No one may remove that seal. It is permanent, declaring that Jesus Christ, the Lord Almighty is our owner. So the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our bodies, becomes our earnest, and seals us all which serve as a guarantee of heaven. There is more though. There is also a filling of the Holy Spirit that is available.
Let’s follow the disciples as they receive the Holy Spirit and then later receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus after He had risen from the dead meets up with the disciples and gives them the Holy Spirit. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost (Spirit).” The disciples have now received the Holy Spirit. Then later Jesus has them wait in Jerusalem for power to witness. In Acts 2:4a we find, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Also later in Acts 4:31 it says, 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.” The disciples receive the filling of the Holy Spirit twice. The filling of the Holy Spirit will need to be repeated, not because God cannot keep us filled but because our flesh will get in the way. The filling they received enabled them to boldly proclaim the truth of the gospel and bring others to the Savior. The first benefit that we notice is that the filling of the Holy Spirit enables the believer to share the Word of God with boldness and power to help others get saved. There are more benefits of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let’s look at several passages of Scripture and see what other benefits are available with the filling of the Holy Spirit. Eph.3:16 reads, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.” The filling of the Holy Spirit gives us strength to fight and win the battles that we face everyday. The moment that we are saved we enter into a war, a war between evil and righteousness. Yes, a war, as related in Eph.6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” For us to win in this war we need the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our source of power against the enemy and this is also called grace. The Holy Spirit is He that applies God’s grace to us. Also in John 16:13Jesus gives us another benefit, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.” The Holy Spirit is our guide and teacher for learning what the Word of God has to say. We need the Holy Spirit’s aid to fully understand all that God has for us in the Word of God. Other benefits can be found in Rom.15:13 which says, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” The Holy Spirit is our source of joy, peace, and hope. Acts 13:52 also emphasizes the Holy Spirit as being our source of joy, “And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.” Our joy and happiness as well as peace and hope (the strength of our faith) come from being filled with the Holy Spirit. When we ask for more faith, it is the Holy Spirit that gives it to us. Living the Christian life without the filling of the Holy Spirit is a major mistake. So how do we get the filling of the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is holy just as God the Father and God the Son are holy. Sin in our lives will keep us from being filled with the Holy Spirit. Sin in our lives will first quench the Holy Spirit. He simply cannot bless our lives with His power when sin is blocking up the channels. 1Thess.5:19commands, “Quench not the Spirit.” This means we are not to quench the Holy Spirit by having sins in our life. Fortunately God gives a cure for this problem. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When we come to God and ask for forgiveness, repenting of our sins, He also cleanses us from all unknown sin. The first thing we need to do to get the filling of the Holy Spirit is to ask God what sins are in the way that need to be forgiven and repented of. We should do this first thing in the morning, clearing the way. We need to wait until the Lord shows us what needs to be repented of and forgiven. When we know of a sin that needs forgiven we need to ask for forgiveness immediately. Failing to do so immediately can lead to grieving the Holy Spirit which is more serious. Eph.4:30warns us, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Confess and forsake any sin that you are aware of immediately. Sins that have not been forgiven and forsaken will block all communication with God until they are taken care of. Continuing to have sins in our life that are not forgiven and forsaken will grieve the Holy Spirit. When this happens we are in danger of drifting away from God and losing all of His blessings. We will not lose our salvation but we will become unfruitful, unhappy, and life will become a constant frustration. We simply must keep the channels of communication with God wide open by keeping our known sins forgiven and forsaken.
With our sins taken care of, we need to take the next step. That step is to surrender all of our will to God’s will. Paul in Romans 12:1-2 tells us what our reasonable responsibility is, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Yes, that is a mouth full. It is necessary though. We must yield all of our will to the will of God who is our Lord, King, Commander, General, loving Father, and Provisioner. The filling of the Holy Spirit cannot be had until this is done. The filling of the Holy Spirit is often referred to as giving the Holy Spirit all of ourselves. All of our wills need to be yielded to God’s will. When the Holy Spirit has all of us then and only then can we receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Only one step is left to do to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must ask for it. Jesus says in Luke 11:13, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” If our lives have been cleansed of all known sins, we have yielded our wills to His will, and we ask God the Father to fill us with the Holy Spirit or be controlled by the Holy Spirit then God will indeed give us the filling of the Holy Spirit. We must believe that when we ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit that we have indeed received it. The filling of the Holy Spirit is NOT an emotional experience. No special feelings are needed. We simply must believe that we have received it and do what God wants us to do knowing that He has empowered us to complete it. However, every time we sin we need to do this all over again. It’s simple and easy to do, so there is no reason not to. The filling of the Holy Spirit will bring us joy, peace, hope, and power to spread the Gospel to all that are around us that need the Savior. To add to the blessing, when we bring someone to the Savior we make Jesus happy with us. The number one thing Jesus wants to do is save those who are lost without Him. Jesus said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 We are also commanded to take the good news (Gospel) of salvation to others. In Matt.28:19-20 Jesus commands us, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the earth.” Seek the filling of the Holy Spirit everyday and renew it every time you need to. God intends for you to live being fully surrendered to Him and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Win the lost to Jesus. Make Jesus happy and bring Him glory and honor and bring yourself many rewards. God bless!