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-51-
The God Who Is
In Ephesians chapter 5, beginning at verse 18, the Word of God exhorts, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but," (i.e. just the opposite) "be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord..." The person who is truly "Spirit-filled" sings the songs of Zion, not the songs of the drunkard and of the fornicator. His mind is stayed on Christ and he speaks to himself in psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs. He sings in his heart to the Lord. He is not occupied with rhythm or with harmony, but with melody. And, when he is all alone, he sings and makes melody in his heart to the Lord.
"Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but," (i.e. just the opposite), "be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs ..." I marvel how people can claim to be filled with the Spirit, and listen to music with messages and rhythms that cater to the lust of the flesh. Most contemporary, so-called "Christian" music uses rhythms borrowed from demons, and harmonies invented by the effeminate.
Another evidence a person is "filled with the Spirit" is that he is a thankful individual: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ..." He is a person who is thankful unto God "for all things." No selfish person is filled with the Spirit of God.
Still another evidence a person is "filled with the Holy Spirit" is submission. So the apostle exhorts, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." From here, the apostle deals with family relations: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church." No domineering woman is filled with the Spirit of God. She may be involved with church work, and she may talk of religion, but she is not a spiritual woman; if she were, she would be obedient to this precept.
One test of a person's spirituality is his willingness to submit himself to others in the fear of God. This is true of husbands, as it is of wives; and the duty extends to children. From there it extends to the employer as well as to the employee. All who are filled with the Spirit of God are to submit themselves one to another "in the fear of God."
The Indwelling of The Holy Spirit
The fifth major misconception of the Holy Spirit concerns His indwelling believers in every age. In recent years it has been argued that in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit "came upon" believers, but that He did not indwell them. Consider what Pharoah said of Joseph: "Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?" (Genesis 41:38).
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, `See, I have called by name Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship..." (Exodus 31:1-3).
In Isaiah chapter 63, we read beginning in verse 10, "But (Israel) rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, `Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?'"
In the New Testament, Peter testifies that the prophets of old were filled with the Holy Spirit. In I Peter chapter 1, in verse 10, we read, "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."
In Luke chapter 1, "It came to pass that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost" (verse 41). And, when the child was named "John" (He became known as "The Baptist"), his father Zacharias was "filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied" (verse 67).
Someone may argue that in John chapter 7, we read, "the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (verse 39). The meaning is explained in the preceding verse: "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (verse 38). The Holy Spirit was not poured out until Christ was glorified (See: John 16:7) that Old Testament believers without us should not be made perfect. Believers, since the time Jesus was glorified, experience the effusion of the Holy Spirit.