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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 44
29 March 2009
Be Filled with the Spirit
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the
Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Mar 29, 09)
Text: Eph 5:18-20
Many religious leaders claim that they
are filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of the sign gifts of
speaking in tongues or prophesying or seeing visions and dreams or
performing miracles. They also published their books and tapes titled
“How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit,” or “A Holy Spirit-filled Life,”
etc. Sadly, many are being deceived by their claims and their fake sign
gifts! For example, the City Harvest Church in Singapore, under their
founder and senior pastor Kong Hee, is so proud of their most
contemporary style of worship with a big membership of 25,000 people!
Some brethren were so impressed by their big membership, success and
prosperity and asked me why so many attended that church if their
doctrines were unbiblical. Why? Our Lord Jesus Christ has given us the
answer, “for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matt 7:13).
Exactly, it is because many want to walk in a broad and easy way to
Heaven with the gospel of wealth and good health without sincere and
full submission to the Lord and His Word: “Believe in the Saviour Jesus
Christ, and you will prosper and be healed” while they can keep on
living in sins and worldliness. They do not want to deny themselves to
walk in the narrow way of the cross and in the boundaries of God’s Word
and God’s Truth, so this is God’s judgment, “because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”
(2 Thess 2: 10-11). It is so serious and dangerous if you and I ignore
or reject God’s Truth and God’s Word!
Then, what does it mean to be filled
with the Holy Spirit as this is a command of God? May God open our
hearts and minds so that we shall see the truth and be able to discern
what is truth and what is falsehood.
What Does Not “Be Filled with the
Holy Spirit” Mean?
“Be filled with the Holy Spirit” does
not mean “speaking in tongues” like those charismatic leaders claim
because their “tongue” is not an
identifiable language
but just gibberish, or meaningless speech, nonsense. Many who follow a
cult or a heathen religion also speak in “tongues.” In his tape titled
Can You Be Spirit-Filled without Speaking in Tongues?, Kong Hee
preached, “Speaking in tongues is the initial evidence that you are
filled with the Holy Spirit…It opens the door for all the other
supernatural gifts to come. Speaking in tongues is the main gate to the
world of miracles. You don’t enter into all the rest of miraculous gifts
without passing through the main gate.” Is that right? Absolutely not!
Through God’s Word, which is Truth, we know that:
(1) Sign-gifts served with a
purpose of authenticating God’s Word through His messengers, “the
Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following”
(Mark 16:20), so sign-gifts have ceased since God’s written Word (the
Holy Scriptures) was complete, “whether there be prophecies, they
shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall vanish away…For we know in part, and we prophesy in
part. But when that which is perfect (God’s written Word) is
come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (1 Cor
13:8-10). The verb “cease” in middle voice denotes that “tongues” would
cease by themselves;
(2) God’s revelation in the Holy
Scriptures is complete and totally sufficient for Christian needs (2
Tim 3:16-17; Rom 15:4; Rev 22:18-19). It is so dangerous for you and me
not to turn to God alone and to trust in God’s perfect Word alone but to
have to turn to sinful and fallible human beings for extra “revelation”
or “prophecies”!;
(3) “Tongue” is a real and
identifiable foreign language which one has never learned,
and it brings a message from God to man, “And they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance… every man heard them speak in his own
language” (Acts 2:4, 6). The meaning is understood by the speaker
and confirmed by an interpreter, for the benefit of the whole church (1
Cor 14:1-15); but nowadays people just “speak in tongues” and do not
know what they are speaking. They just want to show that they are filled
with the Holy Spirit! What a deception! I heard an interesting testimony
from a Christian brother coming to visit us when I was still in my
country. He tried attending a charismatic church and heard a brother
“speaking in tongues.” After that he asked the man what he spoke meant,
and the man said that he was prompted to speak Psalm 23 in Japanese.
This Christian brother left that church because he is a Japanese and
knew that the man was a big liar. Nowadays, you can ask those who “speak
in tongues” about the meaning of that they have spoken, and they will
say that they do not know or they just praised the Lord. They are big
liars too;
(4) “Speaking in an unknown
tongue/language” cannot be counterfeited or
duplicated (Acts 2:5-11), but people nowadays are taught how to “speak
in tongues” at charismatic churches! How wrong it is!;
(5) “Speaking in an unknown
tongue/language” is a sign for unbelieving Jews not
for Gentile Christians, “In the law it is written, With men of
other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people (the Jews
– Isa 28:11-12); and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith
the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe,
but to them that believe not” (1 Cor 14:21-22);
(6) “Speaking in an unknown
tongue/language” was not an everyday and normal feature of the life
and worship of the New Testament churches. In the book of Acts, only
three events describe speaking in tongues according to God’s sovereign
plan and timing in Acts 2:1-11; 10:45-47; 19:6 while the rest of the
book, even though God’s people were filled the Holy Spirit or gathered
together to worship, they did not speak in an unknown tongue/language at
all (Acts 2:42-47; 4:8, 31; 6:5-7; 7:55; 8:15-17; 9:17; 12:12-17;
13:9,52; 14:27; 20:6-12, 17-37; etc.). Furthermore, only in this first
epistle of Paul to the church in Corinth, which had a lot of problems,
mentions the “speaking in an unknown tongue/language.” The rest of
Paul’s epistles and other epistles in the NT do not mention “speaking in
an unknown tongue/language” at all (Heb 2:4); and
(7) “Speaking in tongues” or
prophesying or performing miracles cannot secure anyone’s salvation
except doing God’s will, “Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity.” (Matt 7:22-23). Then, dear friends, we should not be
impressed or deceived by those who claim that they have the sign gifts
of speaking in tongues, prophesying, seeing visions or performing
miracles.
What Does “Be Filled with the Holy
Spirit” Mean?
“Be filled with the Spirit”
is a command in passive voice and in the present tense, denoting, “Keep
on being filled with the Holy Spirit.” That means you and I must keep on
submitting to the control of the Holy Spirit not only at our devotion or
worship, but all the time, and failing to do this command is sin before
God. Realising this command, we shall humble ourselves all the time in
submission to the Holy Spirit. A man who is drunk is influenced and
controlled by alcohol, a person who falls in love with someone is
controlled by human love, a person who is a slave of pornography or
sexual immorality is controlled by human sinful nature and sinful lusts,
a person who is a slave of fashion, movies, worldly music or pleasures
is controlled by worldliness, a person who is possessed by Satan is
controlled by Satan, and so forth. We must thank God that He does not
want you and me to be slaves of sins, human sinful nature, worldliness
or Satan. Moreover, God wants you and me to be filled with the Holy
Spirit to be able to overcome sins, sinful nature, worldliness and Satan
and to be able to do His Word and His will. Praise the Lord for His
goodness! Then, how do you and I know that we or others are filled with
the Holy Spirit?
Christ Must Be the Centre and
Glorified, not the Selfish I:
The truth is that once we feel or think that we are filled with the Holy
Spirit, we are not fully controlled by Him at all because when we are
fully controlled by Him, there will be no more “I, but Christ” alone
(Gal 2:20). No more “I am holy, I am spiritual, I am mature, I am good,
etc.” but Christ alone. Our Lord Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will
glorify Him, “He shall glorify me” (John 16:14). Then, if we are
controlled by the Holy Spirit, He will use our minds, our tongues, our
lips, our bodies, our lives, our worship, our ministry, etc, to glorify
our Lord Jesus Christ alone, and to please God alone, not ourselves or
anyone else or anything else, “He must increase, but I must decrease”
(John 3:30). Many who claim that they are filled with the Holy
Spirit by speaking in tongues may praise our Lord Jesus Christ but also
promote themselves, their worldly method of worship, wrong doctrines and
worldly music as well. They are not filled with the Holy Spirit at all!
The Fruit of the Holy Spirit Must Be
Seen: Our Lord
Jesus teaches us, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them”
(Matt 7:20).
The most obvious fruit of the Holy
Spirit must be holiness (Rom 6:22) because He is the HOLY Spirit
and the Spirit of HOLINESS (Rom 1:4; 1 Thess 4:8). A person who claims
that he or she is filled with the Holy Spirit but just compromises and
fails to separate oneself from sins, self, wrong doctrines and
worldliness is just a liar.
Next is the fruit of God’s Truth,
“For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and
truth” (Eph 5:9). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and is
Truth. If we are controlled by Him, we must be controlled by God’s Truth
and God’s Word and must be for the Truth alone (2 Cor 13:8). A person
who claims that he is filled with the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth
while what he says, preaches, teaches or does is not according to God’s
Word is just a liar!
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is also,
“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal
5:22-23). Thank God that the Holy Spirit can produce His divine love,
the love that “rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth”
(1Cor 13:6), and His joy and peace that the world can never give to us,
His longsuffering that helps us endure others and all situations, His
gentleness, goodness and meekness that help us be a blessing to others,
His holy faith that helps us believe in God and in His Word without any
doubt or question, and His self-control that keeps us in the boundaries
of God’s Word. For example, “speaking in an unknown tongue/language” has
ceased, but even if that gift were still present today and if we were
controlled by the Holy Spirit, we would not speak that unknown language
to show off or to promote ourselves. We could control ourselves and
would rather “speak five words with my understanding than ten
thousand words in an unknown tongue” (1 Cor 14:19) and we would keep
silent if there were not an interpreter for the edification of the
hearers, “But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the
church” (1 Cor 14:28). Nowadays, many just keep speaking in
“tongues” for show, then how can they be controlled by the Holy Spirit
while they cannot control themselves to do God’s Word?
Finally, when we are controlled by the
Holy Spirit, we shall not speak in “tongues” but “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”
(Eph 5:19-20). Do you and I sing praise to the Lord in our hearts and
give thanks to God all the time for all things, even in unfavourable
situations? Those who praise themselves or others and fail to give
thanks to God for all things but just murmur or complain are not
controlled by the Holy Spirit at all.
Conclusion
Dear friends, God commands you and me
not to be controlled by alcohol, sin, our sinful nature, worldliness or
Satan, but to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. This is not an option
but a continuous command. Do you and I still keep on being controlled by
the Holy Spirit? That is a great blessing for you and me. Only the Holy
Spirit is able to help you and me overcome sins, selfishness,
temptations, worldliness and Satan. Only the Holy Spirit is able to help
us see the truth and obey the truth. Only the Holy Spirit is able to
help us live a life pleasing to God and bringing glory to our Lord Jesus
Christ. Only the Holy Spirit is able to regenerate us and sanctify us
and fill us with His precious fruit of holiness, love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith and self control.
May the Lord search our hearts and bring us to a humble repentance of
sins and selfishness and let us see our helplessness and hopelessness
without the help and ministry of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord help us
wisely turn to the Lord alone, trust in Him alone and submit to Him
alone so that the Holy Spirit may freely control us and use our lives
for God’s glory. Thanks and praise be to our God the Father and to our
Lord Jesus Christ always. Amen.
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