Ronda, below is a snipit from the book "Me! A Priest?", pages 523-524,by
David Spurbeck. It is discussing music but relates to the term "filling of
the Spirit" found in Ephesians 5:18. The term translated "unsavingness"
indicates a believer living in his old sinful nature, whereas, when a
believer is rightly related to the Father, i.e. spiritual and living in the
realm of his new divine quality of nature, he is allowing the Holy Spirit to
make up his deficiencies. It should be obvious as well that this is a
command that the believer decides whether or not he or she will obey its
directives. The general context is about music but nonetheless it describes
the means of Spirit filling for the believer.
=Begin quotation=
"When the believer serves, he has a standard so that he can know that he is
acting right as a believer and a priest.
Ephesians 5:18, 19 indicates that this should be the result of the filling
of the Spirit. "And stop being drunk with wine, in which is unsavingness,
but keep on being filled [having your deficiencies made up] by the Spirit
while speaking to Yourselves in Psalms [basically Praise] and hymns
[basically worship] and spiritual songs [songs which come from the Holy
Spirit], singing and Psalming in your heart to the Lord." A spiritual
believer has the Potential for truly expressing appreciation to God as he
sings with his voice and within his heart. Every believer priest should be a
singing priest. The melody sung in the heart is far more important than that
which is produced on the lips. Undoubtedly, some of the best musical
appreciation comes from those who are tone-deaf. They sing in their hearts
even though they are incapable of hitting a note accurately with their
voices. Music must conform to biblical guidelines to be acceptable as an
expression of appreciation by God. One must always remember that music
appeals to the emotion and secondarily to the mind. Most popular music
clearly illustrates this fact. A third grader could produce better lyrics
yet crowds emote over the music, performers and atmosphere. A spiritual
believer will express his appreciation with intelligent and accurate lyrics
that have found a home in his heart because they express his attitude of
appreciation toward God and all He has done. It is the words that are
important. Every believer should enjoy accurate lyrics communicated by
pleasant, appropriate [to the words] music in his life." =End of quotation=
I personally can find no place in Scripture where the "filling of the
Spirit" is linked with the gift of "tongues (literally languages)".
Furthermore, it seems to me that the practice of praying in tongues is based
on taking one specific Scripture out of its full context and misapplying its
meaning. The gift of tongues (rather languages) was given for the purpose of
spreading the Gospel during the first century before the New Testament was
completed to other people of other languages throughout the Roman Empire.
All spiritual gifts were given for the purpose of evangelism, building up or
edifying, of other believers and never for self-indulgence or whatever. This
is at best a manmade doctrine.
Thanks for reading this little rant of mine. May the Father richly bless you
as you continue to relate to Him by considering yourself dead to your old
sinful nature and alive to God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:11),
while reflectively thinking on your position and possessions in Christ at
the right hand of the Father in the heavenlies (Colossians 3:1-3).
Listening for His shout!
Grant
Bartimaeus Alliance of the Blind, Inc.
Website: http://bartimaeus.us/
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