Although seeking the baptism of the Spirit is unscriptural, desiring to be filled with the Holy Spirit is not. Various examples, and the accompanying power of the Spirit’s testimony, are found in the book of Acts (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 7:55; 11:24; 13:9, 52). We also have explicit teaching in the epistle to the Ephesians exhorting us to be filled with the Spirit. “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). When the disciples were filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they were accused of being drunk with wine (Acts 2:13). This was more than a disparaging accusation. Wine offers a counterfeit experience to the joy of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). I do not suggest that the behavior of a drunken man mirrors one filled with the Holy Spirit. To the contrary, “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Cor. 14:32). That is to say, the prophets are in control of their spirit. The very fruit of the Spirit is self-control (Gal. 5:23). Rather, the parallel may be drawn elsewhere; it is “wine that maketh glad the heart of man” (Psa. 104:15). In this, wine is not alone; there are many things which can offer us counterfeit spiritual experiences. Music can make our spirits soar high; it can also make us melancholy and sad. A crowd singing in unison to loud music, heavy in rhythm, with colored and flashing lights will have a powerful effect upon the psyche. We can find churches, so-called, where this is presented as worship; it is a false imitation. It is not difficult to search the internet to find groups advertising this type of worship as being ‘Spirit filled’.
We find no example of musical instruments used in worship in the New Testament; it was associated with Jewish worship, a worship suited to the natural man. Conversely, we are instructed: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19), and again: “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15). Although these verses speak of singing, they do not mention musical instruments. Why then have they been brought into Christian worship? Why has the part they play increased in recent years? Modern worship is about creating a feeling in us, rather than adoration to God flowing from us. Man seeks an aid to fill him with a ‘feeling of worship’. The dishonor we show God in bringing Jewish principles of worship (and worse yet, pagan) into Christianity is simply not recognized. This is the modern counterpart to the condition found in the book of Malachi: “If ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?” (Mal. 1:8). The reaction to such a statement is: “Wherein have we despised thy name? ... Wherein have we polluted thee? (Mal. 1:6-7). It is the spirit of Laodicea: “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17).
Why aren’t we filled with the Holy Spirit? When we fill our lives with activities and earthly pursuits the Spirit of God is shut out. The faithful remnant in the days of Haggai were busy building themselves nice homes, and yet the house of God remained in ruins. There is nothing inherently wrong with a nice home, but we will be the poorer for it if God is excluded. God’s message to them was simple and direct: “Consider your ways” (Hag. 1:7). We would likewise benefit from a reassessment of our own ways. Jehovah reminds them, “according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not” (Hag. 2:5). The Spirit has not changed. We are the ones who have changed. As with the Ephesian saints, we have lost the freshness of first love and all its accompanying affection and activity (Rev. 2:4).
We should not, however, expect an outpouring of the Spirit of God as on the day of Pentecost. Spiritual pretension is as bad as spiritual indifference. The condition of the Jewish remnant in Haggai’s day resulted from God’s hand of government upon them. The glory of the house of God was nothing compared to its former glory—it is God who reminds them of this (Hag. 2:3). To reject God’s counsel against ourselves is Pharisaical (Luke 7:30). We must own and recognize the ruin of the Christian testimony and our part in it.
Just as truly as we can be filled with the Spirit, we can also grieve the Spirit. “Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30). When we act contrary to the mind of the Spirit, the Spirit is grieved. Various ways in which we can do this are given in the verses which follow: bitterness, wrath, anger, quarrelling, and hurtful words (Eph. 4:31). The characteristic marks of the Spirit are also provided: “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). An unforgiving spirit especially seems to be a grievance to the Holy Spirit. Forgiveness is to yield a matter up to God. Debt is frequently used in the Word of God to illustrate forgiveness (Matt. 6:12-15; 18:21-35; Luke 7:41-43). In the Old Testament, the forgiveness of a debt is called “a release to Jehovah” (Deut. 15:2 JnD). The matter is entirely given over to God: all claims are relinquished, the offending party is released from their obligation, and the matter is dropped. Unquestionably, forgiveness costs us something, for the debt is not repaid—not, at least, by the individual in question. God, however, is no man’s debtor; He will repay (Rom. 12:19). Failure to forgive does not injure the offending party; by it we injure ourselves and grieve the Holy Spirit.
“Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). To quench the Spirit is to suppress the activity of the Spirit. We may do this as individuals, but the statement is broader. The instructions at the close of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians are general exhortations to the assembly—the exhortation following, for example, is “Despise not prophesyings” (v. 20). The activity of the Spirit is quenched whenever a substitute is provided in place of the Holy Spirit’s leading—a program for worship, a worship leader, a minster who conducts the service—each one of these stands in place of the Spirit’s leading. It will be asked, but surely the Spirit can direct the worship leader or minister? He may choose to do so, but why would we dictate the channels through whom the Spirit may act? This is an extraordinary presumption on our part. It establishes a clergy distinct from the laity, a division of which Scripture does not speak. The priestly order of the Old Testament was done away with in the New. In its place, every true believer stands before God as a priest: “Jesus Christ ... hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father” (Rev. 1:5-6). To introduce a mediator, or to restrict the channel through which the Holy Spirit may act, especially in worship, is a direct challenge to the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having an High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:19-22). These verses are for us all. It shows the liberty of every true believer in Christ to approach God in worship in contrast to the restricted access permitted under the law. Christendom rather quickly retreated from this broad access and restricted priestly service to just a few.