Filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: 7 Steps Toward Ephesians 5:18

Introduction

On the day of Pentecost, JM Botteron opens his Bible to Luke 11:9-13, where Jesus promises that the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Two thousand years after Pentecost, the question is still the same for you: how do you get filled with the Holy Spirit, and how do you keep being renewed regularly, as Paul commands the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:18, "Be filled with the Spirit"? This is a divine command. It is not an experience reserved for the first disciples or a privileged few: it is a promise for you, today, in your church, in your prayer life.

JM Botteron points out that of the 500 people to whom the risen Jesus appeared, only 120 persevered until Pentecost. 380 scattered. There are always fewer people who persevere in prayer than people who enjoy a season in the presence of Jesus. This message is a call to be among the 120: those who ask, listen, obey, let themselves be led, let themselves be taught, set their affections on the things of the Spirit, and let the Holy Spirit reign in them.

Outline of the Message

1. Ask the Father for the Holy Spirit

• Jesus uses the example of parents: "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?" (Luke 11:13).
• "Evil" here does not mean wicked: the word points to our sinful nature. Even the best human being remains a sinner. Yet even so, a parent knows how to give good gifts to their children, how much more the heavenly Father.
• Before you even ask for the Holy Spirit, you need to draw near to God as a Father, to realize that he is your Father and that he loves you. It's in that relationship of closeness that you can ask for the Spirit.
• Not every request pleases God. James 4:3 warns: "You ask, and don't receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures." The more you're in fellowship with God, the more your prayers line up with his heart. And asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit is a prayer that is according to his will, so it will be answered.

2. Listen to the Holy Spirit When He Speaks

• 1 Timothy 4:1-2: "But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons." The Spirit still speaks today, and he warns.
• We are in the last days. Scripture says that a day is like a thousand years to God, and a thousand years like a day: 2,000 years since the Ascension amounts to two days for God. The countdown has already begun.
• Here's the paradox of the last days: never have there been so many Bibles available, never so many ways to know the word, and yet biblical knowledge keeps declining. Reading and meditating on the word takes effort we don't like to make. Without that effort, you become spiritually soft (like a slug, with no backbone), and you let yourself be swayed by doctrines that are not the word of God.
• There is a difference between a believer and a disciple. The believer believes Jesus died on the cross for their sins: that's the first step, essential, but you can't stop there. The disciple adds discipline: praying every day, reading the word every day, meditating, taking time for the Lord. A well-grounded disciple is not among those who will fall away from the faith.

3. Obey the Holy Spirit

• Acts 7:51: Stephen addresses the Jewish people: "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit." This was a people who had received the promise, going back to Abraham, and yet disobeyed.
• In Romans 11, Paul takes up this example to warn the church. He uses the image of the olive tree: the natural branches (Israel) were broken off because of their disobedience. The wild olive tree (the church) was grafted onto the trunk.
• But Paul warns: believers who disobey will also be cut off. The covenant is conditioned on obedience. And he opens up hope for Israel: the Jews who do not persist in unbelief will be grafted in again.
• If you disobey God, you can lose the benefits of the covenant. Obedience to the Holy Spirit is not optional.

4. Let the Holy Spirit Lead You

• Luke 2:25-27 tells the story of Simeon: "This man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. He came in the Spirit into the temple."
• Simeon already had fellowship with God. He had received the promise that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. That day, he may have had other plans, but he felt led to the temple. He didn't know exactly why. He obeyed that prompting.
• At that very moment, Mary and Joseph arrived at the temple with the child Jesus. By letting the Holy Spirit lead him, Simeon saw his prayers answered.
• If you push away the leading of the Holy Spirit, you may miss out on the answer to your own prayers. The Spirit wants to lead you in a direction: don't be too quick to say, "that's just my own thoughts."

5. Let the Holy Spirit Teach You

• 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: "Things which an eye didn't see, and an ear didn't hear, which didn't enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him... God revealed them to us through the Spirit."
• The things of God are not natural but spiritual. Your five senses are useful for everyday life, but they are not enough to perceive the presence of God. You need a sixth sense, a spiritual sense that grows as you make room for God in your life.
• God has principles the world doesn't know, a logic the world doesn't understand. Your human logic works fine for math: 1 + 1 = 2. But for God, 1 + 1 + 1 = 1: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God.
• To adopt God's logic, you have to be humble. You have to set aside your human understanding and be willing to receive God's thinking. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).

6. Set Your Affections on the Things of the Spirit

• Romans 8:5-9: "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace."
• Living according to the flesh means letting your desires drive you, chasing the top seat, stepping on others, being selfish. The outcome is destruction and separation from God.
• Living according to the Spirit means loving what God loves: the word, praise, prayer. Your spirit aligns with God's Spirit, and God's heart is revealed to your heart. The outcome is life, peace, harmony.
• "I don't have time," people sometimes say. We always have time for what we love. Mark 12:30: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." Block out time for God first. Everything else will fall into place around it.

7. Let the Holy Spirit Reign in You

• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body."
• In the Old Testament, God dwelt in the tabernacle. In the New Testament, God chose to dwell in each one of us. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
• You no longer belong to yourself. Christ redeemed you: he gave 100 percent at the cross, so you belong to him 100 percent. That's the value you carry in God's eyes.
• Glorifying God isn't only for when things are going well. It's also in the storm, in rejection, in betrayal, in abandonment. Joseph, sold by his brothers, betrayed, humiliated, stayed a child of God through every stage. You too remain a child of God no matter what happens, because he has given you the Holy Spirit.

Key Takeaways

• Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not a privilege reserved for the first disciples. It is a promise (Luke 11:13) and a command (Ephesians 5:18) for you, today, at Pentecost and every day.
• Of 500 believers who saw the risen Jesus, only 120 persevered until Pentecost. There are always fewer people who persevere in prayer than people who enjoy a season in the presence of Jesus.
• There's a decisive difference between believing and being a disciple. The believer believes; the disciple adds discipline: daily prayer, meditative reading of the word, time set apart for the Lord. Without that spiritual backbone, you become soft and vulnerable to false doctrine.
• The Holy Spirit leads you, just as he led Simeon to the temple. If you obey that prompting, you often see your own prayers answered. If you push it away, you miss out.
• You belong to God 100 percent, because Christ gave 100 percent at the cross. You can glorify God in every circumstance (even in the storm, in rejection, in betrayal), because nothing can ever make you stop being a child of God.

Personal Application

1. Have you ever asked the Father, in simple words, to fill you with his Holy Spirit? Take a moment right now to do it, remembering that this is a prayer that is according to his will.
2. Are you more like the 500 who enjoyed a season in the presence of Jesus, or the 120 who persevered in prayer? What needs to change in your schedule so you can keep going for the long haul?
3. When did you last feel a prompting to do something (to visit someone, to pray for someone, to go somewhere)? Did you obey like Simeon, or did you push the thought aside?
4. What holds first place on your calendar this week? Where have you blocked out time for God that won't get eaten up by everything else?
5. Can you glorify God today, not because he has blessed you or answered you, but simply because you belong to him?

Scriptures Cited

• Luke 11:9-13 (WEB)
• Ephesians 5:18 (WEB)
• James 4:3 (WEB)
• 1 Timothy 4:1-2 (WEB)
• Acts 7:51 (WEB)
• Romans 11:17-24 (WEB)
• Luke 2:25-27 (WEB)
• 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (WEB)
• Romans 8:5-9 (WEB)
• Mark 12:30 (WEB)
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (WEB)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the promise of being filled with the Holy Spirit still for today?

Yes. In Luke 11:13, Jesus says the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him, and Paul commands believers in Ephesians 5:18: "Be filled with the Spirit." This is a divine command that still stands for the church today, not just for the first disciples.

How can I know if I'm filled with the Holy Spirit?

According to Romans 8:5, those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit: the word, praise, prayer. They begin to love what God loves. Their life bears fruit of harmony and peace, and they learn to let the Spirit move them, as Simeon did in Luke 2:25-27.

Why do some believers fall away from the faith according to 1 Timothy 4:1?

Paul explains that they cling to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. The root cause is that they have not fed their faith on the word of God. Without biblical roots, a person grows spiritually soft and gets swept along by the false beliefs that have multiplied in the last days.