18. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 5:18-21
Greek scholars tell us the tense of the words “be filled with the Spirit” indicates to “be continually being filled.” The flow of thought indicates this. If you keep drinking wine, you will stay drunk on wine. If you keep drinking of the Spirit, you will be continually filled with the Spirit. So, how do we drink of the Spirit? It is by speaking. Let’s see some background for this.
We see in Acts 19:1-6 that these Ephesians had received the Holy Spirit and had spoken in tongues and prophesied. They had been filled to overflowing, speaking out that which was being poured into them. When we are overflowing, that shows we are full. See also Psalms 126.
When a person is initially filled with the Spirit, it is evidenced by a person speaking out with tongues, the supernatural prayer language of the Spirit. This is the normal operation of being filled with the Spirit in the Bible.
The Ephesians had not been filled because of the way they were taught. Apollos did not know about being filled with the Spirit, so he did not teach the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit. Consequently, they had no faith for it and no expectation of it. They were believers, but Paul came to them and perceived they had not been filled with the Spirit. When Paul preached Christ Jesus, the Spirit-anointed Jesus, they heard, they believed, and they received the Spirit, speaking out with tongues and prophecy.
One of the reasons people today do not receive the fullness of the Spirit is because of the way they have been taught. This keeps them in doubt and unbelief. Doubt and unbelief will stop us from receiving and speaking out. If we have been taught that being filled with the Spirit with speaking in tongues is not for us today, or that it is not for everybody, then we have doubt and unbelief working against us. This keeps us from yielding. We stay in the realm of reasoning. Jesus said we must become like a child to partake of the things of the kingdom. To overcome doubt and reasoning, we have to hear what the Word says. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We must believe God’s Word enough to dispel the lies we have been taught in order to receive all God has for us.
Another reason why people are not filled and speak in tongues is pride. If we are more concerned about what people think than what is our level of hunger and thirst for all God has for us, we won’t have the liberty to speak.
Another reason of not being filled and speaking out is fear of failure. We won’t speak out if we are thinking “What if I open my mouth to speak and there is nothing there?” These kinds of reasoning will keep us from speaking out. Again, we must just trust God like a little child to act on God’s Word and get all God has for us.
Many times, people will reason, “Well, I don’t want it to be me speaking.” If you are the one believing to be filled with the Spirit, you will be the one doing the speaking. You are the one to open your mouth in faith and give it breath. No, you don’t have to manufacture anything to say, all you have to do is be hungry and thirsty for all God has for you, and believe and yield in faith to speak by the Spirit as God gives utterance. God will give utterance. These are some elements concerning initially receiving the fullness of the Spirit to help you to first receive the fullness of the Spirit.
Now, we are talking about being continually filled. We see in the text, that to be continually filled, again, we are to be speaking— “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always.” And, part of being continually filled with the Spirit is to be “submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” In this we see that we are to be humble before God to keep all relationships on an open, cooperative level, clear of any superiority, strife or unforgiveness.
In 1 Corinthians 14:15, Paul, for self-edification and to allow his spirit to speak out the perfect will of God, said “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” Paul went on to say he was blessing with the spirit and giving thanks well, and that he engaged in praying with tongues more than all the Corinthians, who were speaking in tongues prolifically (verses 16-18).
Jude told us that we build ourselves up on our most holy faith and keep ourselves in the love of God by praying in the Holy Ghost–by speaking words by the Holy Spirit (Jude 20-21). It is extremely important for ourselves, and for the accomplishment of God’s assignment for us, that we express the words of the Spirit of God groaning within us. The Spirit knows and prays the perfect will of God. We are the vessels through which the Spirit of God can express His perfect will in this earth realm by us praying in tongues, the language given by the Spirit. Romans 8:26-27
So, to be filled initially and to stay filled continually, speaking out is involved. It is with all humility and trust in God, and with all humility before man. If we want to stay filled continually, we will be quick to repent to maintain the unity of the Spirit with all people, and we will be speaking out continually with our Spirit language and with praises and thanksgiving to God. In this way, the power of God can flow freely and we can dwell continually in His holy presence.