The Presence of The Holy Spirit

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is the personal presence of God himself. But how do you know if you have the Holy Spirit?

Transcript

There is a lot of disagreement around the presence of the Holy Spirit. Denominations have split over how they believe the Spirit manifests himself in a Christian or in a church. Theologians fight over whether you’re baptized “in the Spirit,” “with the Spirit,” or “by the Spirit.” And there is a shocking amount of rigidity, legalism, and pride on both sides of the Holy Spirit debate.

And then there’s the language. Let’s talk about the phrase “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” Here is the variety of beliefs around just that phrase:

1. It refers to receiving the Holy Spirit at conversion.

2. It refers to being filled with the Holy Spirit sometime after conversion.

3. It happens once in a believer’s life.

4. It can happen over and over again.

5. Believing this makes you Pentecostal.

6. Speaking in tongues is the first evidence of being baptized in the Spirit.

That’s 6 different beliefs around one phrase. That’s enough to just make you want to give up. And I think that’s what a lot of us do—we just quit thinking about the Holy Spirit. But I hope you’ve seen over the last 2 weeks that to miss out on the Holy Spirit is to miss out on God himself.

So, today, I want to share with you a passage that’s one of the best at explaining the idea of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

But first, here are 3 of my biblical convictions about the Holy Spirit.

1. The work of the Spirit is for today, just like it was in the time of the Acts.

2. We receive the Spirit at conversion when we first believe in Jesus. He resides in us from that point on.

3. We can be filled with more or less of the Spirit, depending on how much of ourselves we give over to Jesus.

And it’s that last one that we’re going to talk about today—being filled with the Spirit. And to help us understand this, we’re going to look at Ephesians 5:15-20. This is what it says, “15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It might seem like this passage is teaching against getting drunk—which it is, and it’s consistent teaching across Scripture—but more importantly, this passage explains what it means to be filled with the Spirit. The drunkenness is just an illustration of contrast.

To understand this passage in its Greek context, you need to understand the cult of the god Dionysus. He was the god of fruitfulness, orchards, and especially wine. So, naturally, worship of this god involved wine and a lot of it. In fact, followers believed that getting drunk allowed the spirit of Dionysus to possess their bodies and unite with them, thereby receiving his strength, wisdom, and abilities and following his will. Their temple worship was often accompanied by wild parties, rave dancing, and frequent sex.

This probably sounds outrageous to our modern ears. It’s a good thing nobody nowadays participates in raves of frenzied dancing, drinking, sex… Oh wait, I just described Thursday through Saturday nights for many people.

So, when Paul wanted to teach about the Holy Spirit, this is the context he chose.

Paul begins chapter 5 by encouraging believers to walk in the way of love, avoid sexual immorality, and stay away from other impurities, like obscenity, greed, and dishonesty.

Then, he moves into the passage we read, saying to be wise because there’s a lot of evil around us these days, and it’s easy to do unwise things. Instead, you should understand what God’s will is.

And then verse 18, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit…”

Here’s what he’s saying to those Ephesians: “When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, God did an internal change in you. You’re a new creation with a new heart and new Spirit inside you. You don’t need to be filled with wine; you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

“You don’t need to be like the Dionysians. You don’t need to get drunk to allow God to inhabit you. I’ve already given you my Spirit. The only thing you need to do is allow that Spirit to fill you.”

FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

So, if you are a believer in Jesus, the Holy Spirit resides inside you. But, let me ask you: Is the Spirit locked away in some back room, or does he have free reign throughout your house?

Think of that house metaphor for a second. This is you, all of you. The rooms are different parts of your life, of your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

• Do you keep the Holy Spirit locked away in a tiny closet? You don’t want to think about him, believe in him, let alone be convicted by him. It’s easy to ignore him in there.

• Or, maybe you have the Holy Spirit set aside in one room, maybe your “religion” room? It’s safe and convenient. It’s easy; he doesn’t cause too much trouble. But you don’t really want to let him into too much of your life. You don’t want to go overboard after all.

• Maybe you’ve leaned into walking with the Holy Spirit. But there are still some parts of your life that you want to keep secret. You’re just not ready to let the Holy Spirit into those spaces.

• Now, imagine the supernatural power when you give your whole self over to the Holy Spirit. This is where the Spirit of God doesn’t just reside in you. He presides over you. All of you—your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Your work, your home, your hobbies, your private life. All your past, all your present, and all your future.

WHAT NOT TO DO

So, how do you actually do that—let the Holy Spirit preside over you, not just reside in you? How do you allow yourself to be filled with the Holy Spirit, not just once, but over and over again?

We’re going to answer that question for the next four weeks in October. I’m really excited because my wife, Pang Foua, will be teaching the new series based on an amazing book called Soul Care. You’re not going to want to miss this new series.

But for today, I want to tell you two things to STOP doing. The Bible gives us two clear commandments about our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We shouldn’t do these two things because they prevent us from being filled with the Spirit. We shouldn’t grieve the Spirit, and we shouldn’t quench the Spirit. These keep us from fully experiencing life with the Spirit.

1. Grieve the Spirit

Grieving the Holy Spirit means we make the Holy Spirit sorrowful or sad. Ephesians 4 says, [16] 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [17] 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

We grieve the Holy Spirit when we rebel against God and use our words and thoughts to hurt others. Like I told you 2 weeks ago when you hurt someone else with your words, you hurt the Holy Spirit.

2. Quench the Spirit

The next thing we need to stop is quenching the Holy Spirit. This is when we extinguish or suppress the Spirit of God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22, it says, “19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.”

The word quench conjures an image of putting out a fire, like dousing it with water. You can quench the fire of the Holy Spirit inside you, going from a raging flame into soggy embers.

Quenching is preventing the Holy Spirit from acting and doing what he is supposed to do. And if being filled with the Spirit means we allow him complete access to our house to move, control, and direct us however he wants, we should suppress or stop him by forcing him into a closet with our own will and desires. That is quenching the power of the Spirit.

CONCLUSION

Let the Holy Spirit preside over you, not just reside in you.

Does the Spirit reside in you? That’s a once-and-done question. No? You need to believe in Jesus Christ and follow him. And God will give you his promised gift of the Holy Spirit.

Does the Spirit preside over you? Is he over your whole life? Does he have access to your whole house, or do you keep him locked away in a room?

I’ll close with a benediction of sorts from Romans 15:12: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”