“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is
excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
In our opening scripture,
the Apostle Paul was writing to the Ephesian church which was already
acquainted with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. So he wasn’t telling them to
receive the Holy Spirit afresh, but that they should be continually filled with
the Spirit.
In Acts chapter 2, when
Peter and the other believers received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost,
they were filled with the Holy Spirit, simultaneously. But they continued to
experience other times of infilling. An account is recorded in Acts 4:31: “…when
they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with
boldness.” This wasn’t referring to the Apostles alone, but all the other
believers with them.
A Christian who has
received the Holy Spirit without experiencing this continual infilling will
live an ordinary life. The Apostle Paul lived an extraordinary life because he
understood the importance of being constantly filled with the Spirit. To the Church
in Corinth, he said “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all…”
(1 Corinthians 14:18).
You can
get yourself filled with the Spirit today as you speak in other tongues, study
the Word of God, and give yourself to it in meditation. Ephesians 5:19-21 show
us more ways: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks
always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”
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