The Church of Divine Guidance (CDG) Sunday morning adult bible study group is doing a study of The Holy Spirit. The study will look at who the Holy Spirit is, His role in the Trinity, His interaction with man, His role in and after man's salvation. This is an intense study of theHoly Spirit in scripture. We are using the bible as our primary reference resource. These posts are my notes for each session. Please study with us. You can participate by asking your questions or making comments below. We welcome your thoughts, questions, comments, and prayers.
A quick review from last week
To be filled with the Spirit means to be carried along by the gracious pressure of the Holy Spirit. God wants the Holy Spirit to permeate and flavor our lives so when we're around others they will know for certain we possess the pervasive savor of the Spirit. which conveys the sense of domination or total control.
To be filled is to be controlled completely by the Holy Spirit and the believer is commanded to be filled.
Ephesians 5:15-20 (NLT)15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Results of Being Filled With the Spirit
Singing to the Lord
Ephesians 5:19 (NKJV) speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,The first thing is that you will have a song in your heart. You’ve got joy!
Giving Thanks to the Lord Always
Ephesians 5:20 (NKJV) giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Genuine thankfulness also sees beyond the tough circumstances to God's plan and purpose for us.
Romans 8:28-29 (NKJV)28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might
The Spirit-filled person will be thankful always and at all times because it’s God’s will.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 (NKJV)16 Rejoice always,17 pray without ceasing,18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.19 Do not quench the Spirit.20 Do not despise prophecies.21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.22 Abstain from every form of evil.When a believer is truly filled with the Spirit: he will be thankful toward God in and for all things.
Sometimes He blesses you unexpectedly, which makes it easy to give thanks.
At other times the Holy Spirit gives you the opportunity to be thankful in anticipation of something pleasant like a vacation or reunion with a loved one. It’s easy to be thankful then.
But what about when the anticipation is for something that is not pleasant? We may anticipate disaster but if we proceed with thanksgiving knowing that God's mercy endures forever, we will have reason in the end to give thanks.
2 Chronicles 20:21-22 (NKJV)21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: "Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever."22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
God may choose to bring a trial or test into your life unexpectedly. Then you'll be challenged to give thanks.Jonah, in spite of all his sinful shortcomings, is an excellent example of how to have the right response.
After he was swallowed by the fish Jonah prayed this to the Lord:
Jonah 2:7-9 (NKJV)7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.8 "Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy.9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD."
God honored Jonah's prayer and delivered him from the fish. You may never be tried in the same way as Jonah was, but God may allow unexpected hardships.
James 1:2-5 (NKJV)2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
If you respond with true thanks in the midst of such times, that will prove you are a mature Christian filled with the Spirit.
We talked about difficult times last week but let’s not forget that the bible also reminds us to be thankful for the positive things too.
The goodness and mercy of God
Psalm 106:1 (NKJV) Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalm 107:1 (NKJV) Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalm 136:1-3 (NKJV)1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever.3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever:
The gift of Christ
2 Corinthians 9:10-15 (NKJV)10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,14 and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!The triumph of the gospel
2 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
Victory over death and the grave
1 Corinthians 15:56-58 (NKJV)56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
The working of God's Word in others
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NKJV) For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
The supply of physical needs
Matthew 6:31-34 (NKJV)31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Philippians 4:19 (NKJV) And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
The point is that those filled by the Spirit know no limits on what to thank God for.
In the Name of Christ
Finally, those who are filled with the Spirit will give thanks in the name of Christ to God the Father. That means, first of all, you couldn't be thankful at all if it weren't for Jesus Christ and what He has done for you.
Ephesians 1:5-8, 11-12 (NKJV)5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
The object of Spirit-filled thanksgiving is God the Father in the name of Jesus
Submitting to One Another
Another result of being filled with the Holy Spirit is mutual submission to other believers
Ephesians 5:21 (NKJV) submitting to one another in the fear of God.
The word "submission" from the world's perspective has the connotation of weakness or caving in to a much stronger, overbearing authority. But that is not what it means biblically. Martyn Lloyd-Jones communicates the correct connotation and meaning this way:
It is the picture of soldiers in a regiment, soldiers in a line under an officer. The characteristic of a man in that position is this, that he is in a sense no longer an individual; he is now a member of a regiment; and all of them together are listening to the commands and the instructions which the officer is issuing to them. When a man joins the army he is as it were signing away his right to determine his own life and activity. That is an essential part of his contract. When he joins the army or air force or the navy, or whatever it is, he no longer governs and controls himself; he has to do what he is told. He cannot go on a holiday when he likes, he cannot get up at the hour in the morning when he likes. He is a man under authority, and the rules dictate to him; and if he begins to act on his own, and independently of the others, he is guilty of insubordination and will be punished accordingly.
Romans 12:5 (NKJV) so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Romans 14:13 (NKJV) Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.
Ephesians 4:11-12 (NKJV)11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Philippians 2:3-4 (NKJV) Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
All of those traits and actions, and many more in the New Testament, are parts of the normal, submissive lifestyle of the Spirit-filled Christian.
The only way to voluntarily and joyfully submit to the Lord and to one another in the Body of Christ is to be filled with the Spirit. He is the one who truly makes us willing to follow the narrow path of submission and relinquish our wills for His.
When you surrender to the control of God's Spirit, you'll find Him producing amazing things in you--things that are entirely of His doing.
Paul calls those marvelous blessings the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The person who is Spirit-filled and who bears the Spirit's fruit is the person who belongs to Christ and who has "crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:24-25 (NKJV)24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
To be filled by and walk in the Spirit is to fulfill your ultimate potential of your life on earth as one of God's children.
"Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit."
Present possession is declared. At this present moment we have the first fruits of the Spirit. We have repentance, that gem of the first water; faith, that priceless pearl; hope, the heavenly emerald; and love, the glorious ruby. We are already made "new creatures in Christ Jesus," by the effectual working of God the Holy Ghost. This is called the firstfruit because it comes first. As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, so the spiritual life, and all the graces which adorn that life, are the first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls. The firstfruits were the pledge of the harvest. As soon as the Israelite had plucked the first handful of ripe ears, he looked forward with glad anticipation to the time when the wain should creak beneath the sheaves. So, brethren, when God gives us things which are pure, lovely, and of good report, as the work of the Holy Spirit, these are to us the prognostics of the coming glory. The firstfruits were always holy to the Lord, and our new nature, with all its powers, is a consecrated thing. The new life is not ours that we should ascribe its excellence to our own merit; it is Christ's image and creation, and is ordained for His glory. But the firstfruits were not the harvest, and the works of the Spirit in us at this moment are not the consummation—the perfection is yet to come. We must not boast that we have attained, and so reckon the wave-sheaf to be all the produce of the year: we must hunger and thirst after righteousness, and pant for the day of full redemption. Dear reader, this evening open your mouth wide, and God will fill it. Let the boon in present possession excite in you a sacred avarice for more grace. Groan within yourself for higher degrees of consecration, and your Lord will grant them to you, for He is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think. - Charles Spurgeon
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