Saturday, July 23, 2011

Why Must We Be Filled With The Spirit Part 2

Now that we’ve established why we must be filled with the Holy Spirit I want to discuss if only briefly since an entire series on the topic awaits your perusal, how it is that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit.

By a large margin, the most often asked question I receive in regards to the Holy Spirit is ‘how long do I have to wait?’ Unfortunately what many today have done is they’ve taken the ‘fast food, have it your way right away, delivered in thirty minutes or your money back’ mentality and superimposed it on the things of God.

‘But Brother Mike you don’t understand I prayed for a whole thirty minutes and nothing happened.’ (Excerpt from a real life conversation I had with someone concerning this topic.)

What we fail to understand is that it took three and a half years of being taught by Jesus for the disciples of Christ to be ready to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and even then when they were all gathered together in prayer and fellowship they had to wait another forty days for the power to descend.

Yes there are certain things that we can do, that are incumbent upon us to do, that we might be filled with the Holy Spirit, but the timing thereof is up to God and God alone. I needed to make this clear, because men attempting to impose their will on God, and saying ‘do this for me now or else’ is a tragic epidemic within the house of God.

Although the timing is up to God, as I said, there are certain things that we must do in order to ensure that we are ready to receive when He is ready to pour out.

The first thing we must do in order to be ready for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, is to desire it. This desire must spring from the depth of our hearts, it must be real and palpable and burning. Some have not, because they ask not, and contrary to popular belief, no, this does not apply to prosperity but rather the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The disinterest concerning the things of God within His own house, is evident enough for anyone to see. The disinterest and lack of desire for the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit is likewise evident in many congregations. Weak preachers offer up weak teachings which in turn produce weak Christians who are content with the thirty minutes per week they spend listening to their randomly chosen ‘spiritual leader’ who goes out of his way to appease their sensibilities, coddle their sin, and stroke their ego. There is not an ounce of desire, there is not even an inclination to press in to pray, to seek, to want more of God, because more of God would mean less of self, and we couldn’t have that because after all, self is that which we love more dearly than God Himself.

I realize this may sound cynical, even jaded, blame it on the twenty five years I’ve been in ministry, but much of the church is filled with pretenders, with posers, with hypocrites of all shapes, sizes and positions within the hierarchies of their chosen denominations, who like the camaraderie of being in a fellowship setting, but not the sacrifice and self-renunciation that comes with being a child of God. Most people who attend church today prefer it this way, they prefer being part of a spiritualized version of the rotary club, or the Shriners club, or whoever wears those funny fezzes. No we don’t wear fezzes, the little silver fish on our back bumper is our version of it though, and as long as we pay our membership fee, and attend the mandatory by-annual meetings, Easter and Christmas, then we’re golden.

Even though the Word tells us we are a peculiar people, we have an aversion to being considered different by those of the world, and we do our utmost to blend in, to assimilate, and to fit in. The only way a child of God can blend in with the world, the only way a child of God can fit in with those of the world is to become more like the world and as a direct result less like Christ.

We must desire to be more than a nominal Christian; we must desire the fullness of God in our life; we must desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit; and we must be ready and willing to lay aside every stumbling block that stands in the way of seeing these desires come to pass.

If we do not desire these things, if we continually seek out negative examples to point to in order to justify our indifference, if we put off seeking after God because it’s just not the right time, we will never know the power to which we as children of God have access to.

Doctrinal positions notwithstanding, the Bible tells us we are not to grieve, despise or treat with contempt the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

To me, these passages sound more like commands than they do suggestions or an alternative means by which to approach the spiritual. We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit, we are not to quench the Holy Spirit, and we are not to despise prophecy which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. What could grieve the Holy Spirit of God more than not being believed, or having His entire existence, relevance, purpose and presence doubted, maligned, and marginalized by those who claim to be of Christ?

If we take a position on any given doctrine or dogma let’s make sure it is Biblically sound rather than denominationally acceptable. Being consistently biblical rather than consistently towing the denominational line will save us much heartache and disappointment throughout our lives.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

5 comments:

Barbara said...

I watched a youtube video on the seven spirits of God by Tic toc ministries. In it the lady says that the holy spirit is female. I think she says that all of the spirits of God are female, but I know she said the holy spirit is female.

This makes sense to me. It is really a person who gives comfort and support and wisdom and joy. I think the spirit of wisdom is a separate spirit that the preacher spoke about, actually.

I see women being disrespected more and more in the modern world. This appears to be part of the spirit of antichrist. People feel free to subjugate and put down women. This is especially true in Islam which seems to be spreading all over as fast as it can, and with the aid and blessing of the powers that be.

The one unforgivable sin is blaspheming the holy spirit, so people should think about that. It reminds me of Proverbs saying that hell has no fury like a woman scorned. Women are not door mats and they need to be respected.

Michael Boldea Jr. said...

Dear Barbara,

Judges 21:25, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
The following reply to your post is not about whether or not women ought to be respected, because I believe they should, and if husbands understood that they must love their wives as Christ loves the church, then they would understand they must be ready to lay down their lives for them. As I said however, this reply is not about that, it is about the idea that the Holy Spirit is feminine, and whether or not that is found anywhere within the Word of God.
In our own eyes, in our own minds, many things seem right, many things seem reasonable, and reasonable and right as they might seem they contradict the word of God.
The notion that the Holy Spirit is a female is heretical, false, unbiblical, and void of any scriptural foundation.
Throughout the gospels Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as 'He' and if the case were any different Christ would have surely clarified it.
There are many teachings and doctrines that 'make sense' in our own minds. The fact that the children of God should always prosper and never have difficulty makes sense, it feels good, yet it is not Biblical, because Jesus said, 'in this life you will have many trials'.
So what it comes down to, at least for me, is do I believe Jesus, or do I call Him a liar to His face and believe the ramblings of a mere mortal.
In the end the Word of God must be the final authority in matters of doctrine, and if a certain teaching is not rediscovered withint he pages of Scripture then we must call it what it is, heresy, and free ourselves of it without delay.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

Barbara said...

I am sure the lady minister expalined it much better. You would have to watch the video yourself.

I don't recall where Jesus calls the Holy Spirit a He. I do think that there are patterns reflected in nature that mimic the things of heaven. That there would not be a female counterpart in heaven makes no sesne.

I think the general hatred of the feminine essence and sensibility is what precludes people from receiving the holy spirit in many instances. Women are subjugated and ridiculed and now even treated as feared, rather than honored and respected.

Women's liberation has devolved into women's enslavement with now more expectations and less respect heaped upon them.

If you would find the video on the seven spirits of God, it may actually be a series, and listen to it, you might find it interesting. It is very deep and intellectual, so I don't know if it is something that most people can just accept.

For instance, I realized that the unforgivable sin parallels the hell surpassing fury of a woman scorned.

Anyway, you can take it as food for thought as I take what you write also. I do believe it, but if you don't, I am not here to quibble over doctrines or take the speck out of your eye.

I even will go so far to say that I see the secret of Islam being hatred for women, while the secret of Christianity being love for women.

Michael Boldea Jr. said...

Dear Barbara,

Watched the video you linked to in your other post, but tangential parallels does not sound doctrine. We either stand on the Word of God, or we have nothing to stand on, be it opinions, parallels, or certain teachings that seem to make sense on the surface.
John 14:16-18, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."
Although there are other scriptures that refer to the Holy Spirit as 'He' within the two verses I just quoted, Jesus refers to the Helper, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, as masculine no less than five times.
So the question begs to be asked, whom will we believe? Will we believe Christ, or someone other than Him?
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

Anonymous said...

FYI
'Hell hath no fury... ' is a quote from the play The Mourning Bride, penned by William Congreve in 1697.

Mrs. Pugh