Being Filled with the Holy Spirit
Sermon Summary
On Sunday, Elder Drew Howard opened Week 7 of "Ruach to Pneuma" by drawing a careful distinction that builds on last week: being indwelled by the Holy Spirit and being filled with Him are not the same thing. Indwelling, he explained from Ephesians 1:13, is the seal every believer receives at salvation, permanent, unconditional, and positional. Filling, from Ephesians 5:18, is His influence, and it is repeatable, conditional, and experiential, rising and falling with our response to Him. Working through the account of the ark of God in First and Second Samuel, Drew showed both the warning and the way. Israel first treated the ark as a good luck charm, carrying it into battle to force God's hand, and the result was disaster, defeat, the ark captured, and a child named Ichabod, "the glory has departed." His first warning landed there: God is not a genie in a bottle or a Santa Claus, and we must never use Him as a token to get what we want. Then, tracing David's life, Drew drew out five marks of a Spirit-filled life. Live out the calling God has given you, using your gifts for His glory. Inquire of the Lord and seek His will rather than your own. Seek your answers in the Word and live according to it, as David learned when moving the ark carelessly brought death and moving it God's way brought blessing. Sing songs of praise that fill the heart, as David danced before the Lord with all his might. And own it, be unashamed of being filled with the Spirit, even under the contemptuous gaze of David's wife Michal. Drew was honest that being filled can look a little crazy to a watching world, a Bible open on your desk at work, a mission trip instead of a vacation, and that this is exactly the point. He closed with a final warning drawn from Michal be careful how you judge others who are worshiping in the Spirit.
Discussion Questions
- When you were a kid, what filled you with pure excitement, the thing that had you dancing around the room or too keyed up to sit still?
- Elder Drew Howard distinguished two things: the Spirit's indwelling, which is permanent and never changes, and His filling, which can rise and fall. Read Ephesians 5:18. Where in your own walk have you sensed that difference, times you knew you belonged to God yet did not feel full of Him?
- Read 1 Samuel 4:1-3 together. Israel carried the ark into battle to force a victory, treating God like a good luck charm. Drew warned that God is not a genie or a Santa Claus. Where are you tempted to treat God as a means to get what you want, rather than seeking Him for who He is?
- Drew's first mark of a Spirit-filled life was living out the calling God has given you, using your gifts for His glory. What has God gifted you to do, and where might He be inviting you to use it more fully right now?
- Read 1 Chronicles 15:13-15. David's first attempt to move the ark ended in tragedy because it was not done God's way; the second succeeded because he sought the answer in God's Word. Where do you sense the Spirit asking you to bring your life back in line with what Scripture actually says, rather than what seems reasonable to you?
- Read 2 Samuel 6:14-16. David danced before the Lord with all his might, and Michal despised him for it. Drew admitted he is more of a "slight sway" worshiper himself. Are you more like David, unashamed, or more likely to hold back out of concern for how it looks? What drives that in you?
- Drew closed with a warning drawn from Michal: be careful how you judge others who worship differently than you do. Name one way you want to either worship more freely yourself, or extend more grace to how others worship, in the week ahead.
Extra Credit
Look up Ephesians 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 5:19, Galatians 5:16, and Ephesians 5:19-20. The first two name what dims the Spirit's influence: grieving Him by saying yes to what He hates, and quenching Him by saying no to what He wants. The last two show what being filled looks like in practice. How do these passages together help you recognize where you might be grieving or quenching the Spirit, and what one step toward being filled looks like this week?
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