FILLING OF THE SPIRIT FILLING THE TEMPLE • the Shekinah Glory filled the tabernacle (Exod 40:34–35) and Solomon's temple (1 Kings 8:10–11) and will fill the millennial temple (Ezek 43:5; 44:4; Hag 2:7) • today our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) • the Spirit lives inside every believer (Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 6:19; Jude 19) and wants to fill His temple completely (Eph 5:18) DEFINITION • the filling of the Spirit is found 14 times in the NT (Luke 1:15, 41, 67; 4:1; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 6:3; 7:55; 9:17; 11:24; 13:9, 52; Eph 5:18) • to be filled with the Spirit is to be completely controlled by the Spirit—who is going to control your life, you or the Holy Spirit? • the opposite of Spirit-control is controlling your own life COMPARISON BETWEEN DRUNKENNESS AND THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT IN EPHESIANS 5:18 • a drunk is filled with alcohol; a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit • alcohol is a substance inside the body; the Holy Spirit is a person living inside the body • alcohol controls thoughts, speech, and behavior from within; the Spirit controls thoughts, speech, and behavior from within • alcohol is addictive; the filling ministry of the Spirit should be a moment by moment influence in your life • alcoholism is chemical dependency; those filled with the Spirit depend on Him for help, instruction, and guidance • drunks like the effect of alcohol; Spirit-filling is also desired for its effect: it produces the fruit of the Spirit and good works • as alcohol dominates those under its influence, the Spirit dominates those under His influence APOSTOLIC COMMAND IN EPHESIANS 5:18 • the filling of the Spirit is a command (imperative mood) addressed to every church-age believer (plural number) • it's a repeated, not continual, filling (iterative present tense) and is something you receive from God (passive voice) • the filling of the Spirit is lost by sinning, restored by confession, and maintained by obedience (sin grieves the Holy Spirit, quenches His work, and prevents Him from controlling your life) • unbelievers are not indwelt and therefore cannot be filled with the Spirit RESULTS OF THE SPIRIT'S FILLING • filling is a prerequisite of spiritual growth because the Holy Spirit is the divine author, teacher, and illuminator of Scripture • filling is a prerequisite for church leadership: deacons had to be "full of the Spirit and of wisdom" (Acts 6:3) • doing the hard things (difficult commands and prohibitions of Scripture) is proof of the Spirit's filling (self is not in control) • production of the fruit of the Spirit is proof of the Spirit's filling (Gal 5:22–23; cf. 2 Peter 1:5–9) • the filling of the Spirit makes you Christlike • the filling of the Spirit makes you a blessing to others (John 7:37–39): a single drink (indwelling) becomes rivers of running water (filling) flowing out of your soul in the form of blessings to others • the filling of the Spirit produces a local church that glorifies God (Eph 5:18–21): exhortation in song, worship in song, frequent prayers of thanksgiving, and submission to church leaders • the Holy Spirit is free to do everything He came to do in the lives of Spirit-filled believers • the Spirit's presence is known only by divine revelation and by the results it produces in the lives of believers (not a feeling) THE FILLING MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT IS NOT UNIQUE TO THE CHURCH AGE • in the OT it was selective, temporary, and given to accomplish a specific purpose (task, rule, prophesy, ministry); today it is universal (for every believer), permanent (for a lifetime), and normal (a requirement for living the Christian life)