Conditions of Spirit Filling by G. B. Thompson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 20, 1913

Conditions of Spirit Filling

By G. B. Thompson

The Holy Spirit—No. 10

Conditions of Spirit Filling

G. B. THOMPSON

In the heart of every child of God there is an intense longing for spiritual power. For this he has earnestly prayed. Must he ask, and not receive? seek, and not find? knock, and the door not open? We can not so believe.

In this article we purpose to begin a study of that personal fellowship and communion with the Holy Spirit which is promised,—a study of how we can personally receive the fulness of spiritual power in our experience and labors which we so much need and long for. This is of vital concern to us. The Spirit is here; but unless he abides in us, his presence will do us but little good.

It is not implied that we have not experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. The Spirit is omnipresent. He is seeking a place in every heart. Conversion is the work of the Spirit. God’s people everywhere have a measure of his Spirit. But there is a fulness that is lacking. There is a gift of the Spirit for service that is not looked for and experienced as it should be. The disciples had experienced the work of the Spirit in their lives, but they needed a greater fulness, a baptism for service. This is our need also.

We must understand clearly how we can receive the Spirit into the heart, not as a transient visitor, but as our abiding guest. If we fail in this, all is lost. But we need not fail. God’s promises are sure; he has marked out the path very clearly, and when we follow his counsel the promised blessing will surely be realized.

In Eph. 5:18 we read: “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Here is a plain command of universal application. Be not intoxicated with wine, but “be Spirit-filled men,” the apostle seems to say. Why is this experience not realized?

The trouble is just here; before the filling there is an emptying. The emptying may be painful, doubtless is; but it is absolutely necessary to being filled.

“In the great and measureless gift of the Holy Spirit are contained all of heaven’s resources. It is not because of any restriction on the part of God that the riches of his grace do not flow earthward to men. If all were willing to receive, all would become filled with his Spirit.”—“Christ’s Object Lessons,” page 419.

All of heaven’s resources at our command through the Spirit, but held in check, and we destitute, cold, and lifeless because we are unwilling to receive, unwilling to be emptied that we might be filled! We need not mourn longer over the reason of our lack of spiritual power. This reaches the root of the difficulty. It is because we love sin in some form, and are unwilling to give it up.

There is a preparation, a getting ready, to receive the Heavenly Guest. The Spirit is as free as air, free for the asking; yet there is a price to be paid, not once, but daily and hourly. This is the point. There are terms, certain conditions, upon which “Christ’s Representative” takes his abode in the temple of our bodies. Is he asked to share the throne with another, or is he to be the sole occupant? We must settle this question. Christ, through the Spirit, will be Lord of all, or he will not be Lord at all.

The Representative of Christ in this world is sovereign; he will not sit on the throne with an idol. Here is where many fail, and the longing cry for Spirit-filling goes unanswered. They set up some idol, some pet, keepsake sin, some darling indulgence, set up their own will in opposition to the Spirit’s and refuse to do his bidding, and then ask the Spirit to sit enthroned with this unclean thing by his side. What a presumptuous insult to offer to the Holy Spirit! It is a clean temple he demands, not some den of impurity and wickedness, where selfishness, pride, and lust hold sway. When the Spirit takes up his abode in us, he is enthroned in the mind. It is a pure, clean mind that he wants to fill. Vile thoughts must be stamped out; unchaste, lascivious imaginations must be cast down. All our affections must be centered in God. Though our flesh remain the same, there must be a new mind, created after the image of Christ. In short, the rubbish of sin must be put away, the “vessel” must be cleansed if it is to be used by the Master. We must be purged from all unrighteous things.

Among the things that hinder the infilling of the Spirit might be mentioned:—

Regarding iniquity in the heart.
Censoriousness.
Self-dependence.
Gossiping, talebearing, backbiting.
Resisting conviction.
Dishonesty in dealings, driving sharp bargains, scheming.
Refusing to confess to those we have wronged.
Refusing to make restitution where we should.
Being prejudiced and uncandid.
A revengeful spirit; carrying some old grudge in the heart.
Worldly ambitions.
Being resentful, envious, jealous.
Quenching the Spirit by wrongdoing.
Grieving the Spirit by dissension.
Indulgence of bad temper.
Impatience and fretfulness.
Vain and trifling conversation.
Various forms of selfishness, covetousness, stinginess.
Neglect of prayer.
Neglect to study the Bible.
Lack of consecration.
Hatred in the heart.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, . . . variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, . . . and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Gal. 5: 19-21.

What an unclean brood is all this! And it is such a “den of thieves” as the foregoing that robs us of the abundant blessings which the Lord has promised. But while we are repeatedly assured that the Spirit of the pure and holy God will not live in a temple where such thieves are welcomed, if we are willing to have the temple cleansed the Spirit will come in with a whip of cords and drive out these unholy traffickers, illuminate every dark corner where the cobwebs of sin have been allowed to accumulate, and make the heart a fit habitation. It is ours to will; it is the Spirit’s to do.

“Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to his church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions.”—“Desire of Ages,” page 672.

It is intensely interesting to study the Bible in search of the conditions upon which the Lord has promised to bestow upon us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We shall notice some of these as mentioned in the Word, not necessarily in the order of their importance:—

1. Thirst. “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” John 7: 37-39.

We must desire the Spirit. We must hunger and thirst for it as for food. Those who do, the Lord has promised to fill. “He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” Luke 1: 53. I remember hearing a man relate how he had experienced real thirst. He was lost on the plains. He wandered about seeking to find his way. The earth was parched, the sun was hot. He began to grow thirsty. His tongue began to swell, and every pore in his body began to cry, “Water! water!” He said he finally reached the place where he would gladly have given all his land and money for a good drink of pure, cold water. This was real thirst, such as the psalmist expresses: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” Ps. 42: 1.

When our thirst for the fulness of the Spirit becomes so great that we are willing to yield all to God that we may drink from this refreshing spring, we shall be filled. And this is a blessed experience. To the woman at Jacob’s well, Jesus said, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4: 14.

It is indeed true, as the Saviour said, that those who drink of any earthly fountain, no matter how inviting it may be, will receive no permanent satisfaction. They will thirst again. We see about us those who are seeking satisfaction by drinking at the fountain of wealth. But it does not satisfy. The wise man declares, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.” Eccl. 5: 10. I heard of a dying capitalist who had spent all his life in the accumulation of wealth. In his dying hours a friend asked him how much money it took to satisfy a man. His answer was, “One dollar more.” The fountain of wealth does not bring happiness or satisfaction.

We find others seeking satisfaction by drinking at the fountain of pleasure. Many have tried it for years, but can testify that it was a failure. The husks and pods of sin do not satisfy the real cravings of the heart. Some we see drinking at the fountain of fame. For a time it lures them on, but in the end there is an aching void. When death begins to feel for the heart-strings, when circumstances change and our fame begins to wane, when former friends begin to desert us and the infirmities of the flesh begin to assert themselves, the real emptiness of earthly things begins to appear.

Some are drinking at the muddy fountain of human philosophy; but philosophy affords no foundation upon which to stand, no rock upon which to build the structure of life.

How different the spring of life, the Holy Spirit! It is always with us in its freshness and power. When sick or in distress; when circumstances and environments are against us; when without friends and afflicted; when called, perhaps, to stand by the casket and view for the last time a most cherished loved one; even in the hour of sore bereavement, in cloudy days and starless nights, this fountain, like a perennial spring, gushes forth and fills our souls with joy and peace, and the heart, though broken, finds comfort.