This is a promise from Jesus to us. He knows that, in order for us to manifest his presence and to live a life of holiness, joy and power, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. And so, we’re told that the Spirit is a good gift (indeed, he is the superlative gift) that our good Father will not deny to those of his children who ask him for it.

But, we are not only to ask; we are also to seek and to knock. That is to say, we are to passionately (and consistently) pursue more and more of the Spirit. Martin Lloyd Jones wrote, “The (early Christian) fathers used this great term ‘pleading the promises.’ You never hear it now. Why? Because people do not really pray any longer. They send little telegrams to God…They know nothing about ‘wrestling’ with God and ‘pleading the promises.’” And this promise from Jesus is a promise to “plead” with God over! “Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit!”

Now, you may ask: “How do I know if God has filled me? Should I expect some kind of experience or manifestation that I am consciously aware of?” That’s a fair question. In the Scriptures, we do, at times, see obvious and even visible manifestations of the Spirit of God coming upon his people. In Acts 19, for example, Paul asks the believers at Ephesus if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed, which would suggest, at least, that he thought they would objectively know the answer to that question at some level (perhaps through some kind of manifestation or experience, or through the manifestation of the Spirit’s many gifts). Millions of people around the world claim to have had tangible encounters with the Spirit, either at or subsequent to their conversion (or both), which have brought great blessings to their lives and empowered their witness for Jesus. Many others have not had these kinds of experiences; but, when they look back on their lives, can see continual growth in power and spiritual giftings. We must trust God to fill us however he decides to do so; but we must trust him to do so! We must step out in faith and expect him to fulfill his promise as we surrender, wait, pursue and “plead” this promise.

For, the reality is that we need to be filled with the Spirit of God. We have all seen the direction our world is going and nothing less than the fullness and power of God in his church will be able to come against the growing darkness. Let us go after our birthright with our whole hearts and believe that God will work in us as he did in the lives of the Christians that we read about in the book of Acts (and in the recorded accounts of his work which span the entirety of church history)!

(For further reading on this subject, see Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, Chapter 39, Baptism in and Filling with the Holy Spirit”)