FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT - Part I

by
Scott Jones

Part II

Being FILLED with the Holy Spirit bears NO resemblance WHATSOEVER to such caricatures as "catching the spirit" or "the American spirit" or "the spirit of a horse" or "the spirit of the team" or "the spirit of the age" and so on. No, being FILLED with the Holy Spirit means being ENDUED with the UNCTION, or POWER, of an INDWELLING PERSON, and that INDWELLING PERSON just happens to be ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF. That's what being FILLED with the Holy Spirit means, for the Spirit of Christ, who is the PERSON of the Holy Spirit, is ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF -- not MERELY God -- but ALMIGHTY GOD -- FULL of MAJESTY, HOLINESS, and AWE, and EQUAL to the Father and the Son -- and so being FILLED with the Holy Spirit means being FILLED with the POWER of the INDWELLING PERSON of ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF, even as Jesus promised when he told his disciples --

Of course, the FIRST time a man ever becomes FILLED with the Holy Spirit ALWAYS occurs upon the MOMENT of his REGENERATION, or NEW BIRTH, and this FILLING of the Holy Spirit is a MANIFEST EXPERIENCE -- MANIFEST -- MANIFEST -- MANIFEST EXPERIENCE -- a MANIFEST EXPERIENCE of which ALL who partake can FEEL and REMEMBER and GLORY in, which is why the New Testament writers -- Paul, Peter, John -- ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS referred to the INDWELLING of the Holy Spirit as a MANIFEST EXPERIENCE, a MANIFEST EXPERIENCE of which ALL who had partaken were ACUTELY AWARE, as will be DEMONSTRATED herein. In the meantime, the following quotations MIMIC the New Testament writers -- Paul, Peter, John -- and are therefore representative of ALL such EXPERIENCES of being FILLED with the Holy Spirit --

EVERY single person who has been GENUINELY BORN AGAIN and thereby FILLED with the Holy Spirit can HONESTLY and LEGITIMATELY share the testimonies above, for as a matter of fact, you cannot be BORN AGAIN without also being FILLED with the Holy Spirit, for that is the VERY FIRST ACT that the Holy Spirit performs after bestowing SUPERNATURAL FAITH to the NEWLY REGENERATED BELIEVER -- and of course, in contravention of the unregenerate free-willer who is utterly ignorant of the operations of the Holy Spirit and his ways, a DEAD spirit CANNOT RECEIVE FAITH, nor can a DEAD spirit ACT FAITH, not SAVING FAITH -- which is why the New Testament also EXPLICITLY teaches that FAITH -- SAVING FAITH, SUPERNATURAL FAITH -- is a GIFT of the Holy Spirit HIMSELF, a GIFT that can ONLY be bestowed upon a LIVING SPIRIT, a REGENERATED SPIRIT -- and thus as a RESULT of that SUPERNATURAL FAITH, that SAVING FAITH, having just been bestowed upon the NEWLY REGENERATED BELIEVER, the FILLING of the Holy Spirit INFALLIBLY FOLLOWS -- I say, as a RESULT of that SUPERNATURAL FAITH, that SAVING FAITH, which has been bestowed upon the NEWLY REGENERATED BELIEVER upon the MOMENT of REGENERATION, the FILLING of the Holy Spirit INFALLIBLY FOLLOWS --  EXACTLY as described in the EXPERIENCES above [Galatians 3:2, Ephesians 2:8, 1 Corinthians 12:13].

And anyone who tells you that you can be BORN AGAIN and yet NOT be FILLED with the Holy Spirit upon the MOMENT of REGENERATION, or who tells you that SAVING FAITH is NOT a GIFT, indeed, ANYONE who spawns these doctrines of devils is the very MOUTHPIECE OF SATAN, and one who, like Korah, will perish in his gainsaying [Jude 1:11], for he who teaches such things is a DESTROYER OF SOULS, and is WHOLLY of the FLESH, and is himself a complete STRANGER to the SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH.

To be perfectly clear, any time a man tells you that he doesn't believe in the ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD in the salvation of the soul, including the MANIFEST FILLING of the Holy Spirit upon the MOMENT of REGENERATION, any man who who tells you that his OWN NATURAL FAITH is what brought him to Christ -- which, by the way, is SHEER BLASPHEMY -- indeed, any man who tells you such a thing is a man who GIVES HIMSELF AWAY IMMEDIATELY, and you may therefore be INFALLIBLY CERTAIN -- INFALLIBLY CERTAIN -- that such a man is absolutely CLUELESS about the Holy Spirit and his ways, that such a man has NEVER been GENUINELY born again himself, that such a man knows absolutely NOTHING WHATSOEVER of SAVING FAITH, SUPERNATURAL FAITH, and that such a man consequently has NEVER actually EXPERIENCED the INDWELLING of the Holy Spirit himself, no matter how much he protests to the contrary. It ain't merely IMPROBABLE; it is is IMPOSSIBLE. Wait and see, for God ALONE will be glorified in the salvation of EVERY SINGLE SOUL of his ELECT in the day of judgment, and that INCLUDES God's GIVING OF FAITH, SAVING FAITH, SUPERNATURAL FAITH. And there will not be a SINGLE exception. In short, the man who thinks that HIS OWN ARM brought him salvation, that HIS OWN NATURAL FAITH made him to DIFFER, indeed, such a man is a FOUL STENCH in the nostrils of God, and HE WILL BE TREATED ACCORDINGLY BY JESUS CHRIST on the day of judgment. Wait, I say, and see.

Yet, the FILLING of the Holy Spirit -- which is a MANIFEST EXPERIENCE in EVERY believer, EXACTLY as described in the quotations given earlier -- indeed, the FILLING of the Holy Spirit nevertheless VARIES with each REGENERATE believer, for the AMOUNT, or DEGREE, of the FILLING of the Holy Spirit is CONTINGENT upon the SIZE of the container, which is to say, the DEGREE to which a person can be FILLED by the Holy Spirit is CONTINGENT upon the MEASURE OF FAITH that each REGENERATE believer has RECEIVED and now possesses [Romans 12:3]. The GREATER the MEASURE OF FAITH, the GREATER will be the DEGREE to which each REGENERATE believer can be FILLED.

Jesus, of course, possessed IMMEASURABLE FAITH when he was in the flesh, and was therefore able to be -- and indeed was -- FILLED with the Holy Spirit WITHOUT MEASURE, even to OVERFLOWING [John 3:34]. In other words, since Jesus is an INFINITE BEING in his own right, even when he was in the flesh, Jesus was therefore FILLED by the Holy Spirit to an INFINITE DEGREE, and he still is, and he ALWAYS will be, for the Holy Spirit FLOWS THROUGH Jesus Christ INFINITELY, and thence to his elect PARTICULARLY. Accordingly, each believer is LIMITED in the FILLING of the Holy Spirit to the MEASURE OF FAITH that has been dealt to him by the Father.

Nevertheless, each believer can CONTINUALLY INCREASE his MEASURE OF FAITH [Luke 17:5-6, Mark 4:24], and can therefore INCREASE the DEGREE to which he can be FILLED by the Holy Spirit, albeit the believer will NEVER reach that INFINITE DEGREE to which Jesus can claim, for the believer will NEVER be an INFINITE being in his own right, as Jesus is, which is why Jesus can COMMUNICATE with his ELECT all over creation SIMULTANEOUSLY, just like the Father and the Spirit, but UNLIKE Mary or any other sinner. Or, to say it another way, since Mary is a sinner like every other human who has ever been conceived, excepting only Jesus, and since Mary is a FINITE being like every other human who has ever been conceived, excepting only Jesus, Mary is therefore NOT CAPABLE of hearing the prayers of ANYONE, much less capable of actually answering them, as ALL who are INDWELT by the Holy Spirit KNOW, and know INFALLIBLY, for the Holy Spirit bears witness ONLY to Jesus Christ; the Holy Spirit does NOT bear witness to Mary or any other sinner, and there isn't a GENUINELY born again Christian on this planet who doesn't know that. Not one. Wait and see.

Make no mistake, ONLY Jesus -- and Jesus ALONE -- indeed, ONLY Jesus is the MEDIATOR between God and men, and there is NO OTHER, not Mary, not Peter, not the Pope -- ESPECIALLY not the Pope -- NO ONE, but Jesus Christ, and JESUS CHRIST ALONE, just as it is written --

Moreover, there is NO MEDIATOR between Jesus and the sinner, for Jesus became a MAN FOR THAT VERY REASON, Jesus became FLESH FOR THAT VERY REASON, to wit, TO BE THE MEDIATOR between God and men, for Jesus Christ is GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH [1 Timothy 3:16] -- GOD AND MAN IN ONE -- and therefore the ONLY way the sinner can become UNITED to Jesus and God is by the WASHING OF REGENERATION AND RENEWING OF THE HOLY GHOST [Titus 3:5, 1 Corinthians 6:17, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 2:18], wherein the SINS of ALL THE ELECT -- and NO ONE else -- were IMPUTED to Jesus on the CROSS OF CHRIST, and likewise the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS was IMPUTED to ALL THE ELECT -- and NO ONE else -- in the RESURRECTION OF CHRIST [Romans 4:25], for the Holy Spirit APPLIES ALL -- ALL -- the Holy Spirit APPLIES ALL of the MERITS of Jesus Christ to ALL he REGENERATES AND INDWELLS -- and to them ONLY -- and thus when the REGENERATED believer stands before God, he stands there in the VERY RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus Christ HIMSELF [2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 2:13-18, 1 John 1:7, Revelation 1:5], and when the REGENERATED believer prays, his prayers pass THROUGH Jesus Christ, each prayer CLEANSED by the BLOOD of Jesus, as is the case with ALL of the believer's REGENERATE ACTS as well, for NO prayer, and NO act, even by the TRULY REGENERATE, indeed, NO prayer, and NO act, is WHOLLY without sin, one of MANY little FACTS that the unregenerate proud and presumptuous are comatosely unacquainted with.

Indeed, even in his HOLIEST moments, the TRULY REGENERATED believer is ACUTELY AWARE of INDWELLING SIN, for the LIGHT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT -- and that LIGHT is nothing less than a PRISTINE REFLECTION of the GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST [Revelation 21:23, John 8:12, Genesis 1:3] -- mark it, this LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT, which SHINES in the REGENERATED spirit of the TRULY REGENERATED believer, is a LIGHT which EXPRESSLY ILLUMINATES the INDWELLING SIN of the TRULY REGENERATE, even in his HOLIEST moments -- which is one of MANY reasons, by the way, that NO GENUINELY BORN AGAIN believer could EVER assert the deity of man, due to man's INDWELLING SIN, even in the TRULY REGENERATE -- yes indeed, the LIGHT of the Holy Spirit EXPRESSLY ILLUMINATES the INDWELLING SIN of the TRULY REGENERATE, even in his HOLIEST moments -- and the HOLIER the TRULY REGENERATED believer is, the GREATER is this the case, as ALL who are MATURE in Jesus Christ know -- and therefore ONLY the TRULY REGENERATE can TRULY VALUE the BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus Christ, which has been APPLIED to the TRULY REGENERATED believer -- and APPLIED to him ONLY -- SUPERNATURALLY through the WASHING OF REGENERATION AND RENEWING OF THE HOLY GHOST, a TRUTH which, as I said, the unregenerate proud and presumptuous remain blithely ignorant of.

Do you remember that I told you at the beginning that being FILLED with the Holy Spirit means being ENDUED with the UNCTION, or POWER, of a PERSON, even the VERY PERSON of ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF? Well then, know also that the CONDESCENSION by the Holy Spirit in this matter is therefore BEYOND ASTONISHING, and BEYOND any other words that language could ever POSSIBLY convey. The notion that INFINITE PURITY, and INFINITE HOLINESS, and INFINITE GLORY, and INFINITE RIGHTEOUSNESS, ad INFINITUM, can come and DWELL within SINFUL MAN, even REGENERATE MAN, indeed, such a notion is, as I said, BEYOND ASTONISHING, and BEYOND any other words that language COULD EVER POSSIBLY CONVEY. To attempt a perspective, note that the HOLY ANGELS are SO FAR ABOVE MAN in PURITY, HOLINESS, GLORY, RIGHTEOUSNESS, and so on, that ANY KIND of comparison would be PATENTLY ACADEMIC, and yet, even the HOLY ANGELS are not clean in God's sight [Job 4:18, Job 15:15]. In spite of this, ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF, even the Holy Spirit, in SPITE of this, ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF in the PERSON of the Holy Spirit STILL CONDESCENDS to DWELL within REGENERATE MAN, who, though REGENERATE, is nonetheless polluted by sin while still in his flesh by virtue of his OLD MAN, which, like Amalek, will hound him until the day he dies, or until the day the Lord Jesus returns and gathers him up, whichever occurs first. Either way, words cannot NOW, nor will they EVER be able to fully translate the CONDESCENSION of the Holy Spirit in this matter. But fear not, for there is a PERFECTLY UNDERSTANDABLE but INCOMPARABLY GLORIOUS REASON that this is possible...

Bluntly put, this CONDESCENSION by the Holy Spirit is POSSIBLE for ONE REASON, and ONE REASON ONLY, namely, because Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, FIRST CONDESCENDED to take upon HIMSELF the SIN -- singular -- OF THE WORLD, which PARTICULARLY refers to the SIN OF ADAM as the FEDERAL HEAD of all mankind, and from thence the Lamb of God SIMULTANEOUSLY CONDESCENDED to take upon HIMSELF the PARTICULAR SINS -- plural -- of ALL of God's ELECT, and ONLY God's ELECT, for Jesus Christ is not only PERFECT in his BEING, but he is likewise PERFECT in his DEEDS, INCLUDING the salvation of "HIS PEOPLE", and ONLY "HIS PEOPLE", to wit, those -- and those ONLY -- who had been GIVEN TO HIM BY THE FATHER, AND NO ONE ELSE, so that NOT ONE will be lost, except the SON OF PERDITION, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, [Matthew 1:21, John 6:39, John 17:9-12], and he who teaches otherwise is himself untaught of the Holy Spirit on this doctrine, which means he is either unregenerate or very much a babe in the Lord, and therefore -- no matter WHICH one he is -- he has NO business teaching the Word. None at all. And he will surely smart for it on the day of judgment unless he repents of it before he gets there, especially if he is UNREGENERATE. [James 3:1]. Wait and see. [John 1:29, Romans 5:12, Galatians 1:3-4, Hebrews 1:3].

And this brings us to the very heart of the matter, for it is PRECISELY on this point of the CONDESCENSION of BOTH Jesus Christ AND the Holy Spirit that the REDEMPTIVE WHEEL TURNS, for not surprisingly, this CONDESCENSION of BOTH Jesus Christ AND the Holy Spirit has been GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED in virtually every generation by those who profess to be disciples of Jesus Christ, ESPECIALLY in VISIBLE CHURCH LEADERSHIP -- and I emphasize "VISIBLE", for GENUINE evangelists, pastors, and teachers in the CHURCH MILITANT, or the INVISIBLE CHURCH, who have THEMSELVES been FILLED with the Holy Spirit, have in all generations UNDERSCORED what I AM UNDERSCORING NOW, in this very treatise -- indeed, this CONDESCENSION of BOTH Jesus Christ AND the Holy Spirit has been GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED by the MASSES of those who PROFESS themselves teachers, and this GROSS UNDERESTIMATION has accordingly FILLED the VISIBLE CHURCH with TEMPESTUOUS CONFUSION roundabout, and consequently has brought about the same degree of CONFUSION collaterally in the world at large, for the world at large unfortunately gets its notions about Christianity from the UNREGENERATE PROFESSING MEMBERS of the VISIBLE CHURCH, not the SMALL REMNANT of TRULY REGENERATE Christians.

Nor is the reason for this CONFUSION hard to see, not for the man of TRUE DISCERNMENT, for at the end of the day this GROSS UNDERESTIMATION can ALL be boiled down ELEMENTALLY to ONE word -- POWER --

You see, those UNREGENERATE souls who are IGNORANT of the MAGNITUDE of what Jesus Christ actually WON on his CROSS and in his RESURRECTION, indeed, these UNREGENERATE souls IN REALITY FAIL to place ANY AUTHENTIC VALUE on the INDWELLING of the Holy Spirit and his MANIFEST POWER, for they CONTINUALLY DEVALUE both the VICTORY that Jesus WON and the REWARD that Jesus SECURED in this matter of REDEMPTION, and they do this by DENYING THE MANIFEST POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF being PROJECTED through ALL he TRULY REGENERATES. Oh, they give LIP SERVICE to the doctrine, but IN REALITY they UTTERLY DENY IT, as Whitefield recognized in his day --

By perpetrating EXTRAVAGANT ABUSES throughout different sects of professing Christianity concerning the DOCTRINE of the Holy Spirit, put forth by UNREGENERATE AND SENSUAL SOULS on ONE side, and by UNREGENERATE AND LEGALISTIC SOULS on the OTHER, Satan has managed to almost COMPLETELY NEUTRALIZE the TRUTH of the DOCTRINE of the BAPTISM AND FILLING of the Holy Spirit altogether. And no wonder, for there is NOTHING that Satan fears MORE in this world than this TRUTH of being GENUINELY BAPTIZED IN AND FILLED with the Holy Spirit. Nothing WHATSOEVER, for not even Satan HIMSELF can stand before a GENUINELY SPIRIT-FILLED Christian. Indeed, Satan FEARS the BAPTISM AND FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT so MIGHTILY that he will stop at NOTHING to keep it from becoming MANIFEST, including doing EVERYTHING he POSSIBLY CAN to PREVENT the UNREGENERATE SOUL from HUMBLING HIMSELF to such a degree as to be ABLE to be GENUINELY BORN OF THE SPIRIT in the first place, or, having been BORN OF THE SPIRIT, Satan will then do EVERYTHING he POSSIBLY CAN to keep the TRULY REGENERATE Christian from being GENUINELY FILLED with the Holy Spirit in the second, for as I said, there is NOTHING ON THIS EARTH that Satan fears MORE than a GENUINELY SPIRIT-FILLED Christian. NOTHING.

I will take up the next portion of this topic in Part II, wherein the MANIFEST POWER of the Holy Spirit and the MANIFEST PROJECTION of that POWER through the TRULY REGENERATE Christian will be demonstrated and examined in detail. In the meantime...

Hear me well -- if you cannot HONESTLY and LEGITIMATELY claim the EXPERIENCE of being FILLED with the Holy Spirit, as demonstrated in the quotations above, then NEITHER can you claim the blood of Jesus, NOR can you claim the forgiveness of sins, for you are NOT born again, and unless that changes, you will NOT set FOOT in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And you are as deluded as deluded can be if you think otherwise, nor have you HEARD a word that has been written.

If that's the case, if you've heard nothing else so far, then hear this -- YOU may have made a commitment to Jesus Christ, but unless you have EVIDENCE -- SUPERNATURAL EVIDENCE -- unless you have SUPERNATURAL EVIDENCE that Jesus Christ has made a commitment to YOU, by FILLING you with his Spirit, indeed, unless you have SUPERNATURAL EVIDENCE that Jesus Christ has made a commitment to YOU by FILLING you with his Spirit, EXACTLY as described in the quotations noted earlier, then you will NEVER enter the kingdom of heaven, for if Jesus Christ has not borne witness to you here by FILLING you with his Spirit, neither will he bear witness to you there, when you stand before him at his judgment seat.

Consequently, I challenge every one of you, every one of you reading this right now, to SERIOUSLY EXAMINE YOURSELF, and be BRUTALLY HONEST with YOURSELF, for you can NEVER be FILLED with the Holy Spirit until you are BORN of the Holy Spirit in a MANIFEST SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCE -- MANIFEST -- MANIFEST -- MANIFEST SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCE -- and you will NEVER be BORN of the Holy Spirit unless you are BRUTALLY HONEST about your condition [2 Corinthians 13:5]. Accordingly, I warn you again, if you cannot HONESTLY and LEGITIMATELY claim the EXPERIENCE of being FILLED with the Holy Spirit, EXACTLY as demonstrated in the quotations above, a FILLING which occurs IMMEDIATELY UPON the MOMENT of REGENERATION, then do something about it NOW, while you still can -- I say, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW, WHILE YOU STILL CAN -- for if you INSIST on DECEIVING YOURSELF, God not only will NOT STOP YOU, but God will actually ENHANCE YOUR ABILITY to FURTHER DECEIVE YOURSELF, and God will do this by imposing JUDICIAL BLINDNESS upon you, for God HATES LIES, and there is NO LIE that God HATES WORSE than the SELF-DECEIVING LIE, for the SELF-DECEIVING LIE is ROOTED IN PRIDE, and that is the very NATURE of wickedness and iniquity [2 Thessalonians 2:11, John 8:44, Matthew 11:25-26].

Have you ever FELT, have you ever EXPERIENCED, the MANIFEST POWER of the Holy Spirit SUPERNATURALLY INDWELLING YOU? If not, then never think of going to heaven, for you are not yet meet for heaven. And yet...

I tell you -- and I call Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to record against that day I stand before the Lord Jesus at his judgment seat -- indeed, I tell you that Jesus Christ can be KNOWN, and KNOWN more INTIMATELY than ANY other person in existence. Jesus Christ is not only the source of all life, he is likewise the sustainer and dispenser of all life, and he is therefore capable of making HIMSELF MANIFEST to his ELECT more certainly than any created being can make himself known to you, exactly as he has promised in [John 14:21-23], and numerous other passages.

If you will not prize your soul above ALL ELSE, you will NEVER be granted a SAVING audience with Jesus Christ. Blind Bartimaeus, as recorded in the gospels, would be saved at all costs. Will you be saved at all costs? If you will not be saved at all costs, you will not be saved by Jesus Christ at all.

Would you be born again? GENUINELY born again?

Then take wise counsel -- pick up a Bible based on the Traditional Text -- in English, the ONLY VALID Bible based on the Traditional Text is the King James Bible -- and then read with SOLEMNITY, beginning in the Gospels preferably, and beg Jesus Christ to reveal himself to you, and give him no rest until he does, for if you read the TRUE written Word of God, you will find the Lord of Glory, even Jesus Christ, moving upon the face of the waters in its pages, just as he moved upon the face of the waters when he walked across the Sea of Galilee, and if you follow the advice just given, and if you persist, Jesus Christ HIMSELF will verily MANIFEST HIMSELF to you (for he HIMSELF promises to do this for those who truly heed this advice), just as he MANIFESTED HIMSELF to his disciples when he moved upon the face of the waters as he walked across the stormy sea some two thousand years ago, and just as he did with ME not too many years ago, and just as he has done with a FEW others from day to day since that time, in this very generation, and just as he will do for YOU if -- IF -- you heed my advice, and if -- IF -- you persist therein, for he who promised is FAITHFUL. John 14:21-23, Matthew 14:25-27
 

The Great Gamble
Regeneration And The Holy Spirit
Where Have All The Preachers Gone?

FAIR WARNING!