Today is the Fourth Advent. The word advent means coming and we are waiting and remembering the birth of Jesus, Christmas. Today we are looking at a verse where Mary and Joseph were waiting for the birth of Jesus, because Mary was already WITH CHILD.
Luke 1:39-45
In those days, Mary set out on her journey and hurried to the highlands, to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby in her womb stirred. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out with a loud voice, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it possible that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, behold, as soon as I heard your greeting, the baby stirred in my womb with joy. Blessed is he who has believed that all that the Lord has said to him will be fulfilled.
When does a person's life begin?
Today's Scripture speaks quite clearly that man's life begins before he is born (the baby moved joyfully in Elizabeth's womb [v.44]). From the Bible we can say that at the moment of conception the little foetus is already a human being, and therefore the image of God, with full human rights, and in need of protection.
„Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.” Isaiah 49:1 ESV
„On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” Psalm 22:10 ESV
„For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13 ESV
The closeness of Jesus
When Elizabeth comes close to Jesus, she is filled with the Holy Spirit. In the same way, her child John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit, which we know because the Lord had promised it:
„For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” Luke 1:15 ESV
What I want to emphasize from this story today is that when we are close to Jesus, we too can be filled with the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost, which is the same thing). This may sound a little strange to some because we rarely talk about this in Baptist churches. It is more a topic for charismatic churches. But the work of the Holy Spirit is very important in the life of a church or a believer. Without it, everything is a human effort.
When someone is converted, born again, the Holy Spirit moves into their heart and stays there. However, this does not mean that they never have to be filled with the Holy Spirit again. Moody says we are leaky vessels that need to be filled over and over again. So it was in the lives of the first disciples. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended and filled them. Soon after that we read:
„Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ..." Acts 4:8 ESV
Why did he have to be filled again if he was already filled at Pentecost? Because we are vessels with holes. ☺ A little later, the whole congregation prays for God's protection and blessing.
„And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31 ESV
The essence of the believer's life is that we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and again, so that we can walk in the way of the Lord and serve Him. This is expressed in Paul's Ephesians 5:18-20:
„And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ephesians 5:18-20 ESV
Here the Greek verb "be filled" shows 4 things about being filled with the Holy Spirit:
- Imperative Mood: God's command to be fulfilled is not just an offer or an opportunity, it is a command. It's like when the commander in a war says: "take up your weapons." What do soldiers do? Everybody grabs their rifle and puts it on their shoulder. What if someone said, "I'm not in the mood"? He will be punished.
- Present Imperative: indicates continuous action. Not just once, but continuously, over and over again.
- Passive Voice: The cat is climbed on the tree. ☺ It could literally be translated as "Be filled with the Holy Spirit. We don't have to be filled, we have to let God fill us.
- Plural Form: for everyone. God is not just saying this to the pastor, the singers and the other servants, but to all believers, because without this we cannot live authentic, victorious lives of faith.
What is the proof that we are filled? Speaking in tongues. ☺ No, that was just a joke. You can speak in tongues, but it's not mandatory and it's not the most important thing. What does Ephesians says?
„And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ephesians 5:18-20 ESV
Singing, praise, thanksgiving are the characteristics of a man who has been filled with the Holy Spirit, because what our hearts are full of, our mouths speak. And joy:
„For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17 ESV
There are many more to list, but these are perhaps the most important.
How to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Ask God to fill you up.
„And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”” Luke 11:9-13 ESV
Give yourself completely to the Holy Spirit. Someone said: It is not how much you possess the Holy Spirit, but how much He possesses you. In order for Him to fill us fully, we must give Him everything in our lives so that He can control it. Ezekiel 47's temple, the river is getting deeper, at the end he can't reach the bottom.
When you are filled, obey his word, his guidance.
Personal application
- How is your relationship with the Holy Spirit? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Do you feel His presence? If you are close to Jesus, He fills you with the Holy Spirit. If you are not sure, then ask Him now to fill you and He will do it, because it is His will.
- DON'T SETTLE for anything less than a life filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not just the privilege of some chosen believers, but this is the NORMAL BELIEVER'S LIFE. This is the difference between a religious person and a true believer. Don't give up.
- My baptism verses: „On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:37-39 ESV
I wish that not only the bottom of your Christmas tree is filled with gifts, but that your whole life is filled with the Holy Spirit.