Filled With The Spirit

"Filled With The Spirit" – Ezekiel 37:1 If there is one thing God expects of everyone who claims to serve Him, it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit; for whoever is not filled has no contact with God. This study begins in the valley of dry bones — where the hand of the Lord carries Ezekiel in the Spirit and shows him a dead and defeated people into whom God promises to send breath so that they may live — and then walks through five passages that show the person and the work of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of truth who guides into all truth (John 16:13), the Spirit who speaks to Peter and sends him to Cornelius' house, opening the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:19-20), the Spirit who calls and sets apart Barnabas and Saul in an atmosphere of worship and fasting (Acts 13:2), the Spirit who also closes doors and governs the when and the where (Acts 16:6), and the mark of a child of God: being led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14).

I. Every righteous person must be filled with the Holy Spirit.

A. Whoever is converted shows fruit; our deeds speak for our lives.

1. It is not that someone gossiped about you: your life cried out what is in you.

2. Whoever is not filled with the Holy Spirit has no contact with God.

B. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead and carries everything.

1. In our lives He convicts us, rebukes us, corrects us and shakes us.

2. The Father on the throne, the Son at His right hand, the Spirit covering all: the three are one.

C. Your actions write in God's book, and the angels record them.

1. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the one sin without forgiveness.

2. What we must develop is the fear of God.

II. Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1).

A. “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord.”

1. The power and direction of God were within Ezekiel.

2. He prophesied in the transition of the captivity, when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the nation.

B. It is a prophetic vision of a people spiritually dead and defeated.

1. One can speak beautifully of oneself, but our very pores tell whether we are defeated or victorious.

2. The church is not a religion nor a coming and going: it is the body of Christ in those who sanctify themselves.

C. “Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life” (v. 5).

1. Though Israel seemed dead, it had a promise of life, restoration and hope.

2. Israel is the chosen nation; we Gentiles are grafted into the tree in the times of grace.

III. The Spirit of truth (John 16:13).

A. The day we repent, the Holy Spirit comes and begins to work in our lives.

1. One cannot live carnally all week and put himself in order on reaching the church.

2. Others can be deceived; God cannot.

B. He is the one who guides, who teaches, who convinces.

1.

“He will guide you into all the truth”: He helps us grasp spiritual truth, not know everything.

2. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will understand the Word.

C. “He will not speak on His own initiative”: it shows the unity of the Godhead.

1. The Spirit glorifies Christ and conveys the message of God.

2. “He will disclose to you what is to come”: this includes revelation.

IV. The Spirit directs Peter (Acts 10:19-20).

A. Cornelius was a Roman centurion, a God-fearing man, devoted and full of passion.

B. Peter had seen a vision of unclean animals and was reflecting on it.

1. God's revelations sometimes require meditation, discernment and spiritual patience.

2. We live carelessly and full of opinions, and so we are contaminated.

C. “The Spirit said to him”: the personal guidance of the Holy Spirit.

1. “Get up”: God calls him to act, not merely to ponder the vision.

2. “Do not hesitate to go with them”: God was breaking barriers, cultures and religions.

3. “For I have sent them Myself”: the meeting was part of God's plan.

D. The Gospel was also for the Gentiles: God shows no partiality.

1. The Holy Spirit is what activates the church; so there is no room for strife or a double life.

V. The Spirit calls and sets apart (Acts 13:2).

A. The church at Antioch was worshiping, serving the Lord, praying and fasting.

1. To minister to the Lord is that, when we speak with someone, we speak of the Lord.

2. Fasting reflects a search for direction and spiritual sensitivity.

3. What we long for is consecration: to be set apart from this world.

B. “The Holy Spirit said”: He speaks, He calls and He directs the work of God.

1. “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul”: here Paul's great missionary journey begins.

2. Missions were born in an atmosphere of worship and obedience to the Spirit.

VI. The Spirit also closes doors (Acts 16:6).

A. Paul and his companions were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

1. The Holy Spirit does not only open doors: He also closes them.

2. Sometimes God says “not yet”, or directs toward another place and another purpose.

B. Later God directs him to Macedonia through a vision (Acts 16:9).

1. Not every good idea is automatically God's direction.

2. The Holy Spirit guides the when and the where.

3. Obedience includes accepting closed doors.

VII. Led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14).

A. To be led by the Spirit is to live under God's direction, obeying and seeking His will.

1. It does not speak of absolute perfection, but of a life wholly directed toward God.

B. “These are sons of God”: the evidence of belonging to God is the desire to follow Him.

1. Walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

2. Where no knees are bent, no miracle is seen, nor anointing, nor joy, nor peace.