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NASB | Luke 11:13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 11:13 "If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!" |
Bible Question:
Hi keruxib 12, You wrote, "the pattern is the same - allowing the Word of God richly dwell in us fills us with His Holy Spirit". You capitalized "Word" and "Holy Spirit". Is the pattern the same or can you recognize the pattern if I write, "the pattern is the same - allowing the word of God richly dwell in us fills us with His holy spirit." Colossians 3:16, "Let the word [sic] of Christ richly dwell within you,..." 1) Compare Ephesians 5:21 "fear of Christ" and "as to the Lord" with Colossians 3:22, "fearing the Lord" and "as for the Lord". Is there a pattern of words? From the heart, Ray |
Bible Answer: Who knows the way of the mind? Who knows the heart? Who knows how it is formed, how it operates, and how it expresses itself? The mind, it seems, can be filled with self, with words, with thoughts, with emotions, or with God. This also fluctuates with time. It is apparent, when we search the Scriptures, that we can be filled with many things. Throughout time people have been filled with fear (Luke 5:26), with wrath (Luke 4:28), with envy (Acts 13:45; Romans 1:29), with the spirit of one thing or the other (Exodus 35:31), and by the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). It is apparent that some have been filled, not only temporarily, but also in some cases habitually, and so they are characterized with those things. The idea of being filled is to have one’s mind saturated. Some say it means to be controlled, but that may not be so, for the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet (1 Corinthians 14:32). It means to be absorbed with, or to have all, and no more, of what one seems to need. But the sense of need, and the measure to which one is filled also varies with time. There is a filling followed by a dissipation, (1 Kings 18, 19) and a subsequent need to be filled again. And one can be filled with the Holy Spirit. This may happen one time, as at the time of the new birth, but it can happen again. The command to be filled with the Spirit suggests that we should remain appropriate and available so that he can fill us again and again as he sees fit and necessary. The Holy Spirit may fill us with love or joy or peace (Galatians 5) or power (Micah 3:8) that we do not ordinarily have (Judges 13,14,15). He may also fill us with wisdom so habitually that we become known for our wisdom (Exodus 28:3; 31:3: etc.). Then it may be said that we have a spirit of wisdom (Deuteronomy 34:9). It is but one of the characteristics that he gives to men. When one is filled with the Spirit, he may be filled with the spirit of many things: counsel, and might, the spirit of knowledge, the fear of the LORD (Isaiah 11:2). It seems foolhardy to think of a way to fill ourselves, as it were automatically, with the Spirit. The command (Ephesians 5:18) is in the passive voice, indicating that it is someone else, in this case the Lord himself, who fills us with the Spirit. The filling is what happens to us, rather than something we do. But we can prepare ourselves for it, by cleansing ourselves and thus becoming vessels fit for the master’s use (2 Timothy 2:21). In order to use us, he fills us. Our Lord Jesus Christ was always filled with the Spirit, for we read (John 3:34) that the Spirit was not given to him by measure. It suggests that the Spirit is given to us by measure. So we always have him, if we are saved, but we are not always filled. Is there a believer who has never been filled with the Spirit? I think not, or we would not know what we were asking for. But we have experienced it, and we want to be filled again. We can ask for that, and meeting the conditions, the Lord will fill us as he sees fit, for the tasks we face. It should be clear from the above, that we are not to seek the filling of the Spirit for its own sake. The Spirit fills us with joy so we can have strength for a task, for the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). He fills us with love (Romans 5:5) so we can love God and each other, with patience and experience and hope. He fills our minds with the word of God (John 14:26) so we can share it with power (Hebrews 4:12). There is so much that we have to do that is not human to do. Therefore the Lord says it is not by might nor by power but by his Spirit. We have to depend on him and wait on him. But when he fills us, it is like a jet with its engines running full speed, and the brakes on. We have the potential of so much power then, but we will be frustrated and overwhelmed within ourselves, and we’d be found making a meaningless noise, unless we went into action, to do the Lord’s will. It seems to me the Lord will fill us when he has a task for us. Within the church, it might be for the purpose of speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things. Outside, it might be so we can speak the word of God with boldness in places where it is accepted or not accepted, in season and out of season. May God fill us with his Spirit, and with the spirit of understanding so we can readily relate to these things. And let us not be afraid to think on these things or to experience them. We should stand ready and expect this filling of the Spirit again and again, because there is God's work to be done. And God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. |