Pentecost Was Just The Start
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:4 (KJV)
On the day of Pentecost, Jesus’s followers were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Thus, we see tongues is evidence of being filled with the Spirit. But, is it to be a one-time thing?
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Ephesians 5:18-21 (KJV)
Be filled with the Spirit would be more correctly interpreted from the Greek as be being filled. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not to be a one-time event but is to happen continuously over our whole Christan lives. It starts with an event, but is to be continued. The same people in the Book of Acts who were filled with the Spirit were filled over and over again.
As we are filled with the Spirit, or baptized in the Spirit, we speak in tongues, but there is more. We are to speak and sing to each other in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to God. This helps us to receive a fresh filling of God’s Spirit regularly. When we are giving thanks to God, we remain humble, submitting to one another based in fear, reverence, awe, and respect of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
As we are daily filled with the Spirit, we grow in the fruit of the Holy Spirit, letting Him change us to make us more loving, joyful, peaceful, etc. It will result in less of the flesh in our lives and more of God. He will influence our thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions. We won’t fight for our own way because we’ll be filled with Holy Spirit and His ways. All that will matter to us is that we glorify God. When we don’t get what we want, we’ll trust God because we are filled with His Spirit. We’ll just be happy to be with Jesus and to be like Him, knowing that God will do what is best.
