Focus: Spirit-filled Church

Text: Eph.5:18

"Be filled with the Spirit."

The church is Christ's body on earth. It is a body that is organic, organized and galvanized. As Christ's body, the church is designed by God to be the expression or reflection of Christ on earth. There should be no difference between Christ and the church, and to be the full expression of Christ to the world, the church needs to be constantly filled with the Spirit. The implication of that is that every believer in Christ has to be filled with the Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, everyone in the Upper Room was filled with the Spirit. The church of the first century was a powerful force in the world because of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 makes it clear that power comes into us when the Spirit comes upon us. He is the Spirit of power. The Greek word for power is 'dunamis'. Interestingly, 'dunamis' is also the word for miracle. What that means is that the power of the Holy Spirit is a miraculous power. It is only by the power of the Spirit that the church can work miracles.

The church is powerless without the Spirit. Jesus Christ says of Himself, "The Son can do nothing of himself… I can of mine own self do nothing… I do nothing of myself…" (Jh.5:19,30; 8:28). And He says to us, "For without me ye can do nothing" (Jh.15:5). All that Jesus did while here on earth was by the Father's authority and the Spirit's power, and the church cannot afford to do otherwise.

The Apostle Paul urges us "to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be FILLED with ALL the FULNESS of God" (Eph.3:19). God requires of us to be filled with the Spirit and to be filled with all the fullness of God. It is by knowing experientially the love of Christ that we come into this supernatural fullness. God is love, and to be full of God is to be full of love.

Back in the days of the Old Testament, Micah declares, "But truly I am FULL OF POWER BY THE SPIRIT of the LORD…to DECLARE…" (Mic.3:8). The church is a supernatural entity. Christ's church is never designed, nor authorized to take a single step without the Spirit. I believe it was Reinhard Bonnke, a world renowned evangelist from Germany, who said, "Truly, whether we like it or not, Christianity is inescapably supernatural." A superficial church lacks or ignores the Spirit.

The book of Acts gives us the story of the early church. It was a church born of the Spirit, baptized in the Holy Spirit, filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and empowered by the Spirit to do God's work, which is wholly supernatural.

In chapter 2:4, we read, "And they were ALL FILLED with the Holy Ghost, and BEGAN TO SPEAK…" In chapter 4:8, we read, "Then Peter, FILLED with the Holy Ghost, SAID…" We read again in verse 31, "They were all FILLED with the Holy Ghost, and they SPAKE the word of God with boldness." Again, in chapter 13:9, we read, "Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) FILLED with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him." And finally in verse 52, we read, "And the disciples were FILLED with joy, and with the Holy Ghost." That is the pattern of God. There is no other way to do church or be the church of God. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is our only option. Go through those Scriptures again and see that each time they are filled, they are enabled and emboldened to say or do something. There's nothing like being filled for fancy. You can't be filled with the Spirit and not do something. It is important for us to know that the implication of being filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit. You are controlled by what you are filled with. Everything we say or do, and wherever we go, must be by the Spirit.

A believer in Christ that is Spirit-filled becomes a miracle-worker, because he takes from Christ and gives to men. We trade in the supernatural; we bring heavenly things to the people we meet. There is no Spirit-filled church without Spirit-filled believers, and it is by being Spirit-filled that the church can work miracles.

Finally, to be Spirit-filled is a continuous thing. We must keep being filled. You do not fill yourself, but you must yearn and yield yourself for the filling. And, mind you, God does not want one out of ten believers being filled. He wants all ten. Let's all be filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We're filled to say God's words and do God's wonderful works. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter