31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Acts 4:29-31
This was after Pentecost when the disciples were initially filled with the Holy Spirit. In this passage it is talking about a refilling, or a recharging by the Holy Spirit. There are two different Greek words for our word "filling."
Rechargeable Battery Characteristics (when they are recharged):
1. Original chemical battery composition restored.
2. Recharge 100% efficiently -- should be able to do this 100s of times!
3. Recharge safely.
4. Return to their original state.
If we're going to use energy we need to be recharged.
Instances when Christians were recharged/refilled by the Holy Spirit:
--"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!" Acts 4:8
-- "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Acts 4:31
-- "Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said," Acts 13:9
Why do we need refilling?
Initial filling is at salvation which leads to regeneration.
Through salvation the Holy Spirit dwells in us. He won't leave. However, we need to be recharged.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
2 Corinthians 4:7
We are jars of clay -- we leak out. Clay is porous, has holes. It has a tendence to absorb and leak.
"be filled with the Spirit," Ephesians 5:18b
The following verse uses the same form of "fill" as a continuous filling:
"When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away." Matthew 13:48
This full is of a net that can be refilled. It was full to being crammed with fish. We can be crammed full of the Spirit. Crammed as full as you can get!
"The true measure of a spiritual life is not how much you get, but how much you give, how much the Spirit flows through you."
The Spirit wants to make us into people who love and give.
"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit." 1 John 4:12-13
If you don't let the Spirit out no one will see anything.
"the desire to be filled (by the Spirit) must be all consuming." A.Z. Tozar
God will fill you if you ask. So, how to be refilled.
1. Need to have that initial filling, the salvation filling.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6
2. Be daily in the Word and in prayer.
Like a farmer -- set the enviroment. Prep the field. If we want our yields to increase, we have to work the "soil" of our hearts.
3. Be sold out to God -- He has to have the first priority in our lives. Be All in!
"All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need." Actts 2:44-45
4. Praise -- an essential part of drawing near to God.
Praise will change us -- Praise will put our eyes on God.
"At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do." Luke 10:21
Even Jesus did this!
5. Spread the Gospel -- discharge the energy!
A battery will be able to hold its charge better and longer if it is allowed to drain and then be refilled. Same as us. We need to give all we have away and God will refill us. We have to let go and let God live through us.
We receive power for a purpose, for God's purposes, for other people. When we commit to God we will see His commitment to us. The only limits are in us. We are batteries. We aren't the power source.