The Holy Spirit clearly works in the life of the child of God in many different ways. Anyone who
would emphasise only the miraculous manifestations of God’s Holy Spirit in the lives of believers (eg.
signs, wonders, miracles, tongues, etc.) is doing a disservice to the word of God and the Holy Spirit. All
too easily many are caught up in seeking after the supernatural while failing to allow the Spirit to
practically work in and through their lives and the lives of those in their local church.
A tragic travesty among believers today is the confusion of the Spirit’s baptism and filling. The
result has often been false doctrine, misplaced priorities and perhaps most importantly, the devil robbing
Christians of the power of God that we so desperately need to boldly preach Christ to a lost world.
Assuming you are saved, and therefore have been automatically baptised with the Spirit of God,
may we ask, “Are you filled with the Spirit?” The Holy Spirit is a person who has come to live inside of
you and at salvation you received all of him that you will ever get – but does he have all of you? Are you
yielded to his control and living in such a manner that he can fill you with the necessary power to lead
other men and women to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Perhaps the best illustration of this is a sealed glass jar with a bit of water covering its bottom. At
salvation you received the blessed third person of the trinity (Gal. 3:2) into your soul and can never get
“any more” of him; like that bit of water, you have all you can get. At salvation, you, like the lid on that
jar, were “sealed” with the Spirit of God. (Eph. 1:13) If that jar was subjected to a bit of heat a
miraculous thing would take place – the water in that jar would turn to steam and expand to FILL that jar.
No water has been added, rather that jar was subjected to the right conditions that made it possible for
the water in the jar to expand to fill that jar. When you as a Christian are subjected to the right
conditions (prayer, obedience, walking with God in proper fellowship, etc.), the Holy Spirit who already
lives within you will be able to FILL you for the great work of serving Jesus Christ!
Questions For Study
1. How does the Holy Spirit help the believer maintain fellowship with God?
2. In addition to maintaining fellowship with God, in what other ways does the Holy Spirit assist a
person after they have been saved?
3. How does the Holy Spirit help the local church?
4. What is the difference between the baptism with the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit?
5. What is the main purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit?
6. What is the initial evidence of the filling of the Holy Spirit?