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  BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
  by Andrew Murray
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Summary: Andrew Murray emphasizes the importance of obeying the command
to be filled with the Spirit and removing barriers to spiritual filling.

Topics: "Spiritual Fulfillment", "Holy Spirit"
Scripture References: Acts 2:4, Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 5:18

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DESCRIPTION
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Andrew Murray emphasizes the necessity of being filled with the Holy
Spirit, contrasting the narrative of Acts 2:4 with the command in
Ephesians 5:18. He challenges believers to reflect on their obedience to
this command and to examine their lives for any barriers that may
prevent them from experiencing the fullness of the Spirit. Murray
encourages a complete yielding of one's personality to the Holy Spirit,
asserting that this surrender allows God to fill the believer. He
invites listeners to commit to seeking this spiritual fullness and to
remove any doubts or misconceptions that hinder their relationship with
the Spirit.

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CONTENT
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Other words concerning the Holy Spirit are found in Acts 2:4: ''They
were all filled with the Holy Spirit'' (NKJV) and Ephesians 5:18: ''Be
filled with the Spirit.'' The one text is a narrative, telling us what
actually happened. The other is a command, telling us what we should be.
If there is any doubt about its being a command, we find it linked to
another in the first part of the passage in Ephesians: ''Do not get
drunk on wine. ... Instead ...'' If I were to ask you if you obeyed the
command not to be drunk with wine, you would no doubt answer, ''Of
course, as a believer, I obey that command.'' But what of the other:
''Be filled with the Spirit''? Have you obeyed it as well? Does your
life manifest the presence of the Holy Spirit?

If not, are you willing to take the command to heart and say, ''By God's
help I will obey. I will not rest until I am filled with the Spirit''?
Now the question comes, What is needed in order to be filled with the
Spirit? To find the answer we must allow God to search our lives. We
might ask ourselves, ''Am I in the condition in which God can fill me
with His Spirit?'' Some of you may be able to honestly answer, ''Thank
God, I am ready.'' If you can say this, you may realize that you have
been kept back from this full blessing by lack of knowledge, prejudice,
unbelief, or a wrong idea about what being filled with the Spirit is.
Being filled with the Spirit is simply this: The whole personality is
yielded to His power.

When the soul is yielded to the Holy Spirit, God himself will fill it.

(Excerpted from The Andrew Murray Daily Reader in Today's Language, p.
10)

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/andrew-murray/be-filled-with-the-spirit/
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