Lesson 3-3 - Why So Few Christians are Filled with the Holy Spirit

Objective: To understand and deal with the barriers to a Spirit-filled life.

Read:

Galatians chapter 5 to chapter 6

Acts 5:1-11

Ananias and Sapphira

1 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

5 **As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”
   ”Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”

9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”

10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

Memorize:

I John 2:1-6

1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

I John 3: 15-17

15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

1. Why So Few Christians are Filled with the Holy Spirit
2. The Heart’s Battlefield
3. Why the Battle Is Often Lost

Through the centuries, many of Christ’s followers have been ordinary people. Nothing spectacular ever happened to them or through them. Then, as happened to Peter on the day of Pentecost when he was filled with the Holy Spirit, their lives were dramatically changed.

No longer ordinary or average, they became men and women of God – bold in faith and instruments of God’s power.

Today, the same Holy Spirit with His life-changing power, is available to each of us. Yet, tragically, multitudes of Christians go through life without ever experiencing the abundant and fruitful life that Christ promised to all who trust Him.

In this lesson, you will examine the reasons so few Christians have experienced the infilling of the Spirit. And you will have the opportunity to consider any barriers you may have erected between yourself and God. I urge you to mediate and reflect on how they may apply to your own life.

The Heart’s Battlefield

1. How does Paul describe himself in Romans 7:19-24?

19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

How does this description make you feel?

2. In your own words, explain why so many Christians are unhappy, according to Galatians 5:16-17.

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

Why the Battle Is Often Lost

1. According to each of the following verses, give one reason so few Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 119:105 105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

Proverbs 16:18 18 Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.

Proverbs 29:25  25 Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety.

Luke 9:26  26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

2. What is another barrier between you and the Lord that keeps you from being filled with the Spirit?

Psalm 66:18  18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

What else can divert you from being filled with the Spirit?

I John 2:15-17 15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

3. Lack of trust in God will also keep you from being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Read:

John 3:16  16 ”For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 8:32  32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

I John 3:16  16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

Describe how these verses help you trust God fully.

Basically, the reason most Christians are not filled with the Holy Spirit is that they are unwilling to surrender their wills to God.

Life Application

1. Examine the diagram above and write any of those, or other barriers you are aware of between yourself and God.
2. Prayerfully consider, then answer this question: “Am I willing to surrender my will to God?”
3. If you are, pray this prayer with all of your heart to turn your life over to God.

Dear Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have been directing my own life and that, as a result, I have sinned against you. I thank you that you have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite you to again take your place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as you commanded me to be filled. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank you for taking control of my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit.

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