To Encourage You

Acts 6:3 “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.”

Throughout the Bible we find reference to people who were filled with the Holy Spirit.  In the verse above, we have reference to the selection of such men from the very first church in Jerusalem who were to have the responsibility of caring for the physical needs of the Greek widows who were part of the church.  One of these seven men was a man names Stephen, who was later put to death by stoning by the Jews.  Prior to his death, Stephen is further described as one who was “full of grace and power” (Acts 6:8) and one whom the hateful Jews were determined to shut up because “they could not withstand the wisdom and power with which he was speaking” (Acts 6:10).  Then as Steven died, we are told that “he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). 

So, what does this mean, to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Well, one thing it does not mean is that a person is “full of himself.”  I’m sure you’ve heard this term used, and never in a complementary manner.  When we think of a person who is “full of himself” our thoughts turn to other words that are rooted in “self,” words such as “self-centered” and “selfish.”  And it is these things that are the antipathy of love, a characteristic of a spirit-filled life. 

A Spirit-filled person is one who is filled with the fruit of the Spirit, namely, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, (and) self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).  But how does one become such a person?  Jesus told us that it all begins when one is born again, i.e., “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).  Jesus further said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).  In other words, that which is born of flesh is only flesh.  The “flesh” is that natural part of a person.  It could also be translated “self” if you will.  So, a “fleshly” person, according to the Bible is exactly the same thing as a self-centered, selfish person, i.e., one who is “full of himself.”  On the other hand, a Spirit-filled person is one in whom God has placed His Holy Spirit, and as such, is a person who is increasingly controlled by the Holy Spirit.  It is a person who is filled with the Word of God, i.e., God’s spiritual bread of life.  It is a person who reads the Word, meditates on it, and desires more than anything to live it out day in and day out. 

Nevertheless, it is a struggle, since the flesh doesn’t disappear when the Spirit enters a life.  Until we die, “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17).  The Christian has the desire to obey the Word of God and live by the Holy Spirit, something that isn’t a part of the unbeliever’s life.  And the Christian has the power and the means by which to be Spirit-filled rather than being full of themselves.  But unless one is constantly filling their heart and mind with the Word of God, and unless he or she is involved regularly in spiritual disciplines such as prayer, the flesh, i.e., the self, will be at work trying to shove the Spirit aside.

May God help us to be filled with His Holy Spirit, and all the wonderful things that are associated with this, rather than to be filled with ourself, and all those ugly things that are just the opposite.