Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
3 15 2024
Filled with the Holy Spirit; Does it happen once or often?
It is a recurring event. When we receive the baptism of the Spirit the first time it is typically referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost in Act 1:4-5 “He (Jesus) commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water,
but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now”
The Bible explains that being filled with the Spirit the first time is different than walking in the Spirit in our day-to-day lives. “Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (Acts 10:46-47).
There are many examples, Act 19: 1-2 and Acts 8: 14-15 that show the account of the apostles dealing with new believers who just accepted Christ.
But the Bible is clear that in continual fellowship with God, we should continually be filled with the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18. “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit“
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel’” (Acts 4:8).
Paul is saying to live a lifestyle of praise if you want to be continually filled with the Spirit. The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).
Can we ask for more of the Holy Spirit?
If you have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, you do not need to ask for more of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is a Person so when you receive Him, you receive all of Him. You cannot receive a fraction of a person. But a fresh outpouring of his spirit is something I ask for every day and in every situation. I ask him to walk with me and guide my decisions.
The Bible says all of the fullness of God dwells in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10). The Bible also says Christ dwells in you (Colossians 1:27). So, if Christ who is the fullness of God dwells in you then why do you need to ask for more of God?
We can’t receive more of a person, but we can receive from that person more often. The more we learn to be continually filled with Him, the more we let go of the reason he cannot stay close to him, the more we will walk in holiness, divine wisdom, and divine power. The goal is not to try to get more of God, but to be filled with God continually. “More of him and less of me” John 3”:30 “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. … It is necessary [for] Him to increase, and me to become less;”
Practically, I believe that as we grow in Christ, and die to our old worldly ways we open up our spiritual lives to more of the power of the Holy Spirit to work through us. The more we mortify the flesh, the more we will walk in holiness, divine wisdom, and divine power.
I love this explanation by Rev C. A Fox. “But I thought that they have the spirit already! Yes, certainly: but here is a further gift of the spirit, a deeper draught. (depth of water needed to float a vessel) The blessed stream of the Holy Spirit is forever proceeding from the Father and the Son. There is no finality in this work. It is not like Christ’s work – A finished work. Observe that there is no expression in scripture which limits the power or the measure of the outgoing of the Holy Ghost. There is no word to say that the Spirit of God is come to an individual or a church, and that therefore the door may be shut because there is no more spirit of God to come. We are to be ever receiving, and ever expending and yet ever expecting at the same time. We must be forever more opening our hearts to receive further gifts and provisions, forever letting in great waves of the spirit to pour through our lives. May our God flood us all afresh with fuller waves of truth, and love, and power.
Excerpts taken from Reverend C. A. Fox, “The spiritual grasp of the Epistles
God of all my days. Casting Crowns
