PHIUPPIANS ians 5:18). This is not an invitation but a command and an obligation to fulfill. We are actually filled with the Holy Spirit when our human spirit is mastered and controlled by Him. The idea is not so much that of an empty vessel passively waiting for something to be poured into it but rather the concept of the human personality voluntarily surrendered to the domination of the Holy Spirit. Filling in a sense can be equated with controlling. A hypnotized person speaks and acts at the behest of someone else since he has yielded control of his will to him. The subject is passive and allows his mind to go . blank. In being filled with the Holy Spirit there is no passivity. Every faculty and every power of the Spir it-filled person is constantly in the fullest exercise. Every born again believer has the Holy Spirit living within him. This is why Paul urges us to have our lives yielded to Him. The Spirit of Truth will purify our affections, giving them upon Jesus Christ. His ministry is always centered on the Saviour. He will also reinforce the will of a man who has been weakened by sinful indulgences. He empowers to do the will of God in every sense. The fulness of the Holy Spirit never obliterates one personality. Rather the individual is released with a new freedom redemption makes possible. Have you ever asked yourself the question, "Am I filled with the Holy Spirit?" A definite answer can be given to this inquiry. There is certain evidence available to help us know. Too often we are filled with selfish pride rather than con cerned humility. A great deal too Page 48
much emphasis has been laid on the emotional aspect of the Spirit's filling with too little on its ethical implications. Our feelings are not necessarily the evidence which should be noted. It is how one ac tually lives the Christian life that is really important. The real test is in the quality of our character and service. In Ephesians 5:18-21 we see cer tain characteristics of the Spirit- filled believer's life. The first is one of spontaneous praise. We are to be
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