BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
[p. 293] BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
Luke 11:13-14; Luke 11:24-27; Ephesians 5: 18 - 20
I have before me to speak a little about the Spirit of God, particularly with the end in view that room may be made for Him; that as those who have received the testimony of Christ we may be filled with Him, otherwise there will be a disparity between the light and ourselves. The early christians, as you will remember, were specially marked as being filled with the Holy Spirit. You will find it as marking them at the outset, that is, on the day of Pentecost; the Holy Spirit having come on them represented the wealth of heaven, and the vessel here was equal to what had come in. And so we read in Acts 4 that having prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and then that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit; and again in chapter 6 where the necessity for the work of a deacon or deacons arose, the requirement was that they were to be men full of the Spirit — a very great point, for these deacons were to move about visiting the saints, particularly the poor saints.
You can understand how great would be the influence of these seven men in Jerusalem who were full of the Holy Spirit, as they moved about in His service among the saints, caring for their bodies, ministering to their temporal needs. And then what we find in the leading one — the most distinguished of the seven — Stephen — is, that he is said to have been full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; so he would bring light into every house visited and with the light he would bring in all that marks the Spirit. He would not sit down in the houses of the saints and occupy the time, speaking of current events in this world, but being full of faith he would bring in the events of the spiritual world, the world set up in Christ in heaven. He would talk to the saints of the things of that world; he would be, as it is [p. 294] said later, one of those who spoke of that world. “The world to come whereof we speak”. Hebrews 2: 5. In a later chapter, we read that when he stood before the council his countenance shone as it had been the face of an angel.
Stephen is thus set before us as a type of a believer, not as a gifted man, for there is nothing said about his gift; what marked him was that he was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and again it is said of him that he was full of grace and power. Being such a one he is able to stand up in the council, and deliver such an address as embraced the whole history of the testimony of God up to that moment, and in finishing his service by martyrdom he is able to exhibit in the most striking manner the spirit of his Master. How much it was needed that he should be full of grace and power I need not say; he was, as it were, the last word from God to Israel, and in that last word there was the expression of Christ, so that the grace shone and the power shone. He needed both, beloved, for he was in the presence of all that Satan could bring against him at that moment; he needed power, and the power was present. The power was seen in the way he bore the persecution, and in bearing the persecution, he is able to exhibit grace. Grace shone as he kneeled down and prayed for his murderers. “Lord”, he said, “lay not this sin to their charge”. Acts 7: 60. Other sins might have been laid to their charge, for he had laid many to their charge in his address which was a tremendous indictment, but he did not lay this sin to their charge — the guilt of his own murder. Vindictiveness was not with him, he did not wish that sin to be laid to their charge, there were enough. Such is the intelligence and grace and power that came out in this wonderful vessel who is set before us as a type of the believer!
Now, I want to show you how God will bring us to what is set forth in this type; in one word it is by the Spirit. And so in this passage in Luke, the Lord, having spoken about prayer, arrives at the maximum [p. 295] of what prayer may result in, which I apprehend, is presented in the verse: “how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!” Luke 11: 13. God, beloved, can give us the very smallest thing that we may need; we must not think that anything is too small to ask for. God can descend to the minutest detail in human life. We have in this passage of Scripture part of which I did not read, “the finger of God” spoken of, which would indicate discrimination and detail. “If by the finger of God I cast out demons” Luke 11: 20: Luke, in his way of presenting God in Christ, impresses us with God’s knowledge of each of us, and so the gospel itself is written to an individual — an individual who is addressed by name. Was it for the sake of Theophilus only it was thus written? No, God would impress us with His interest in each one of us, and that as He knows the number of the stars and calls them by name (Psalm 147: 4) so He knows the saints, He knows them each by name. And so Theophilus is addressed by name, and if God acts with His finger in casting out a demon, it indicates that He knows the person, He singles out the person out of whom the demon is to be cast; He knows him, and if He knows the person, He knows all about him; the very hairs of our head are all numbered. So that no request is too small. If you begin with small requests, you will increase in your demands. And so the Lord here, in dealing with prayer, reaches the maximum gift (if I may use that word) which God gives. What more could be conceived in the way of gift than that the Holy Spirit should be given to us, and given so as to be received? The gift is so complete that it can be received. “This he said concerning the Spirit, which they that believed on him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7: 39). But then if you look at the gift of the Spirit, there is nothing too large to ask for, and that is how the Lord ends up His instruction here in regard of prayer.
[p. 296] I hope to come back to that in a moment, but I want to show you first how room is made for this great gift. God indicates the room required, and it is for you and me to accord it and see that the room that the Spirit should have is not occupied by anything else. It says, “He was casting out a demon” (Luke 11: 14). It is not here that He had cast out one, as you find elsewhere; it is the act itself that is brought to our attention here, Luke would keep the Lord before us in what He was doing. It is the grace of Christ here, and even although it be such a work, He would have you to rest your mind on it, that He was casting out a demon. The incident comes in immediately after the Lord speaks of heaven’s great gift: that those who ask for the Spirit receive Him. Mark you, it says “the Father who is of heaven” Luke 11: 13. It is not your heavenly Father, it is not that He is in heaven, but that He is of heaven: “how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (New Translation). So that the gift is brought to our attention and then it says, He was casting out a demon. Have you ever seen the Lord casting out a demon? You will understand I am speaking of the principle of the thing. You may watch persons who are under the influence of evil, but you feel powerless, you can do nothing. You see the action of evil, of will in a person but nothing will suffice but that it should be replaced by the blessed Spirit of God. Education will not suffice, example even will not suffice. I believe the leaders of this world are at the end of their resources, if they were to tell the truth. Were it not for personal ambition in these leaders of the world, where would they be? Were they thinking entirely of the welfare of the race, and of the possible or probable results of present methods, they must feel that they are entirely ‘at their wits’ end’. The matter is absolutely hopeless. But present gain, a little bit of honour or distinction that may accrue, and great ambition, keep them going. Christians know that the matter is hopeless; we have no [p. 297] personal interest in it, they have. We know that education and legislation cannot meet the present situation; and so as we see sin working we say, Would to God that instead of that will, instead of the will of the flesh, instead of the power of Satan in this or that one, there were the blessed Spirit of God! And that is what is yet to come about, beloved, in regard of this world. There is He “who takes away the sin of the world” John 1: 29, not only vicariously in His death but in power by and by. He baptises too with the Holy Spirit, and we believers rejoice in the very thought of it, that instead of what marks the world at the present time, we shall have the blessed Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit will be poured out on this earth and He will give character to it. “I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh”. Acts 2: 17. And so as I bring it down to one of my children it may be, or to one of my parents, or one of my brothers or sisters, I say, ‘Would to God that that will that I see so active were replaced by the Spirit of God!’ And we know that it is possible; this passage teaches me that it is possible, by prayer, it teaches me, too, that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given by the Father to those who ask Him; but it also teaches me that the Lord Jesus deals with the evil to make room for Him.
There is no hope of getting on together, unless we maintain what is due to God amongst the saints, unless we see these two things — that there is the Spirit of God, and that there is the action of the Lord in dealing with the evil. And I want to point out further that He was doing it, He was casting out the demon, it says, and if we are to deal with evil we have to see how He does it. It was a dumb spirit — a peculiar form of satanic power which hindered the man in speaking. Now God intends that man should speak, and we are in the dispensation of speaking; “every creature of God is good ... if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God” — that is God’s speaking; “and prayer” — that is my speaking (1 Timothy 4: 4). We [p. 298] have thus God speaking to man, and man speaking to God. These are the things that Luke would bring out. Here is a dumb man, a dumb spirit, he is not able to speak, and it says the Lord “was casting out a demon” Luke 11: 14. In order to deal with evil, dear brethren, we have to see how He did it, and I believe Luke calls attention to the fact that He was doing it, and as having done it, the man spoke. Need I say, that the connection is that if he spoke, he spoke by the Spirit, for speaking according to God must be in the power of the Spirit.
Well, the Lord having done this we read (Luke 11: 24 - 27) that “when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first”. Now this is a picture of one of the most dreadful events that will happen in christendom. It has a dispensational bearing. The Lord has favoured a certain area of the world specially, and idolatry has been overthrown, the wicked spirit has gone out, but he is coming back presently. He comes back and he finds this area, instead of being in heathen darkness, illuminated by the gospel. Men are wonderfully intelligent, they are marked by great discoveries, the house is ornamented — “swept and adorned”; but the wicked spirit comes back into it, and he takes with him seven other demons worse than himself and they dwell there. Terrible prospect! Let no one be deceived as to the end of things in this world in which we find ourselves! Satan has his eye on it, and the demon that has been ejected will come back again; he is walking through dry places, and is not finding what he wished for. It is a very solemn thing that in the Lord’s miracles in casting out demons, He did not restrict them. If men were to know that, it would enable them to understand [p. 299] many things. The Lord did not restrict them. What a world! Demons unrestricted! The Lord’s concern for the moment was the relief of the individual, and that is what is going on now — individuals relieved in the world, but the demons are unrestricted. Here is one demon walking through dry places and he says, “I will return unto my house” Luke 11: 24. Note, the demon claims it! If I were to say to the leaders of christendom at the present time, ‘This is a demon’s house’ they would say, ‘How dreadful’! But he says, “I will return unto my house” Luke 11: 24; he is unrestricted, although as a matter of fact there is a certain governmental restriction on evil in this world, and we can thank God for this. Another thing is that Babylon is said to have fallen, and that it has become the “cage of every unclean and hateful bird” Revelation 18: 2. The “cage” is restriction; that is to say, the Romish system will not allow men to do and say what they please, they are restricted. But that is not to further the work of God, that is not to help men or to save men from these unclean and hateful birds, it is rather to add to the system itself. They can use these unclean and hateful birds but under restriction. Such is the power of that system that they can control these foul spirits and hateful birds and yet use them!
Then there is Protestantism, which is likened in this gospel to the mustard seed becoming a great tree in the branches of which the fowls of the air lodged. They are at liberty there; men can say what they please and do what they please, and no one can restrict them. What does that mean? It means that the Lord has allowed the demons latitude. Who is immune from them? He who is occupied divinely and only he. When this wicked demon comes back, according to Matthew, he finds the house empty, that is “unoccupied”. That I specially mention for the young people. The Lord has wrought for you, He has east out the demon, so to say, He has brought down that will of yours, and you have accepted Him as your Saviour; now see to it that [p. 300] you are occupied by the Spirit, that there is this right occupant in your house, for the demon will come back. I may say here that while my remarks as to demons in a dispensational sense are literal, what I am saying as to an individual is more figurative of various forms of evil. You may go on well and happily through the power of the light you have received and the influence of the brethren, but depend upon it the evil will come back, and if it finds you unoccupied, that is the danger. Matthew tells us that the house was “unoccupied”, or “empty”. If the demon comes back, and finds you unoccupied, he will come in, and you will have no power to keep him out. That is a very solemn thing for all of us; but I would specially urge it on young believers to see to it that you are occupied. That you are swept and garnished is quite obvious, you are not a heathen, you are not a Jew, you believe the Scriptures and the gospel, maybe you attend the meetings, and in that way you are swept and adorned, but if you are unoccupied you are exposed, and the demon will come back with seven others worse than himself, and as we read, the last state of that man is worse than the first. I would urge you, young people, see to it that you have the Holy Spirit, and not only that you have the Holy Spirit, but that you are filled with the Holy Spirit. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, Christ will be all to you. You say, ‘How do I know that I am filled with the Spirit?’ By Christ being all to you. The Holy Spirit will say to you, No, not that but Christ. You say, ‘Well what about this book, I have had to read it at school, what about it now?’ What would the Holy Spirit say? Are there lies in it? Is it about Christ? Does it help you in regard of Christ, or does it hinder you in regard of Christ? If it hinders you, the Holy Spirit would say to you, ‘Not that book but Christ’, and, you may depend upon it that if that is the state of your soul, if there is the disallowance of all that is not of Christ, and the urging of what is of Christ, that [p. 301] is the principle of being filled with the Holy Spirit. If you allow bad books the demons will come back to you through them. I believe demons are largely employed in writing books at the present time. There never has been such a time as this for books, and so it is the devil’s way, for men want books and a great amount of time is devoted to reading.
Take now an instance by way of illustration. In the city of Corinth there is a young believer, he is a Greek, he has just been converted. In the same street, we may say, there is the Athenaeum, where the news of the day is dealt out. He goes in there — I suppose in every Greek city there was a “Mars Hill” where men came to hear and to tell some new thing — he goes in there, he looks around, he looks at the books, and the papers, he finds the news of the great Greek scholars, the orators, and poets, he finds idolatrous books there. Anything to remind him of God? No, nothing. Men are talking about the events of the day and exchanging the news. He turns and goes out, and enters in to the Jewish synagogue in the same street; maybe they are reading the Scriptures there — thank God for that! They were read in the synagogues, but how were they read? They were read in a dead, ceremonial way, with not a ray of light — men sitting there with their hats on, it maybe. This young convert is a believer in the Lord Jesus, and he finds hatred of Christ there, and His name is scorned. He leaves the synagogue and goes into a christian meeting room near by; he finds christians there; they, too, have the Scriptures; it may be Paul is there, and, discoursing to the brethren; he sits down and another stands up and speaks, then another gets up and prophesies, and he finds that God is there. All that is within him responds to what he finds. And so I say to the young people here, minister to those sentiments in you, develop those sentiments in you that make much of Christ, and that find delight in the company of God’s people. It is as you do this that you are filled [p. 302] with the Holy Spirit. You come in that way to test everything for yourself; you can test the book, you can test what you meet in everyday life, for Christ is the test of everything. “As ye have, therefore, received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him; rooted and built up in him” (Colossians 2: 6). Then the demon will knock in vain — you are occupied. And I may say to you, beloved, that that is the only hope of continuance, for the demon will come back in some form or another, however much light we have, unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
And so as I read in Ephesians 5: 18, it says, “And be not drunk with wine ... but be filled with the Spirit”; and then it goes on to give the details as to the effect of being thus filled: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” Ephesians 5: 19. The question is constantly being raised as to young people, what are we going to do with them? Give them the best thing you have; they are worthy of the best. They brought little children to the Lord that He might lay His hands on them and pray. You may say, ‘Why did they not bring those little ones to Peter or John, they could have understood Peter and John better than the Lord’. But they brought them to Jesus. The very best that heaven could give them was there, and those who brought these children knew it, so they did not go to any one inferior, they brought them to the Lord, and it was that He might lay His hands on them and pray. Think of the Lord interceding for the little ones! Could I expect the Lord to pray that they might become more accomplished in earthly pursuits? No, He would not pray for them in that relation. He would pray for them to be delivered from that. He laid His hands on them, and blessed them, and departed thence. What did He depart to do? To die for them. He has gone into heaven for them, and He gives heaven’s best gift to them — the Holy Spirit. What the Holy Spirit has brought into [p. 303] the world is the best, and it is not too good for them. It is a question of wisdom, how to bring it to them, but be sure of this, they are worthy of the best, and they understand more than we give them credit for sometimes. But then the word here is, “be filled with the Spirit” Ephesians 5: 18. If you profess to be a believer and have the Spirit, then the next thing is to be filled. And then we have the details working out as I said: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs making melody in your heart to the Lord” Ephesians 5: 19. What a delightful occupation this is! The vessels are filled; filled — not only with light but with the Spirit, and the outcome is, “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”. We are in accord, I believe, with heaven in this employ. It is not a question here of the meetings exactly, of worship in the meetings, it is more what marks the saints generally. Then what follows upon being filled and the outlet of song is, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Ephesians 5: 20.
Thus as the saints are filled with the Spirit, we get the singing to ourselves, and then making melody in the heart to the Lord. The Lord would thus have His part in everything, whether it be a happy season together in one of our houses, or in the assembly, and it is a challenge to one’s heart, Can the Lord have part in this? The Old Testament provides that there should be something for God in everything, there was something that the saints enjoyed, something for the priests, and something for God. So here, if we sing to ourselves, which is the idea of the peace offering, there is at the end, making melody in the heart to the Lord, and that is His part. We enjoy the things together, but the Lord has His part. It is melody in the heart to the Lord, then thanksgiving to God and the Father. Thus in the households of the saints, in everyday life, God has His part, and the Lord has His part, and there is in the saints here, as possessing the Spirit, and being filled [p. 304] with the Spirit, the counterpart of heaven; that is to say that what is going on in heaven is duplicated, so to speak, on earth.
May God bless the word!