I recently was blessed to teach on yielding to the Holy Spirit, which generated some delightful mail. A couple of people requested copies of all the quotes used from Lewis Sperry Chafer’s excellent little book He That is Spiritual. Here are my selections:
By various terms the Bible teaches that there are two classes of Christians: those who “abide in Christ,” and those who “abide not;” those who are “walking in the light,” and those who “walk in darkness;” those who “walk by the Spirit,” and those who “walk as men;” those who “walk in newness of life,” and those who “walk after the flesh;”…those who are “spiritual” and those who are “carnal;” those who are “filled with the Spirit,” and those who are not.
In the Bible, the meaning of the phrase “filled with the Spirit,” is disclosed, and the filling of the Spirit is also seen to be the experience of the early Christians. One direct New Testament command is given: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (or, more literally, “be being kept filled by the Spirit.” Eph. 5:18). Here the form of the verb used is somewhat different from that which is used in connection with the other ministries of the Spirit. The Christian has been born, baptized, indwelt, and sealed by the Spirit: he must be getting (being kept) filled by the Spirit. It is the revealed purpose of God that the Spirit shall be constantly ministered unto the Christian.
[Filling] has to do with the quality of daily life of saved people and is in no way a contrast between the saved and the unsaved [like Spirit] baptism.
To be filled is not the problem of getting more of the Spirit: it is rather the problem of the Spirit getting more of us. We shall never have more of the Spirit than the anointing which every true Christian has received…A spiritual person, then, is one who experiences the divine purpose and plan in his daily life through the power of the indwelling Spirit. The tenor of that life will be the out-lived Christ. The cause of that life will be the unhindered indwelling Spirit (Eph. 3:16-21; 2 Cor. 3:18).
The Spirit is “quenched” by any unyieldedness to the revealed will of God. It is simply saying “no” to God, [resisting] the providence of God in the life. The word “quench,” when related to the Spirit, does not imply that He is extinguished, or that He withdraws: it is rather the act of resisting the Spirit. The Spirit does not remove His presence. He has come to abide. – Lewis Sperry Chafer, He That is Spiritual
Binary
Speaking of Chafer, my friend David wrote a great summary:
I think Chafer has it right when he says that spirituality (i.e. walking by The Spirit) is not a state attained over a long period of time. It can be obtained instantly if we confess our sins, yield to God and walk in step with the Spirit. To say it in more modern terms, it is a binary function, either off or on, walking by the Spirit or walking by the flesh. There is no middle ground. We are either doing one or the other every minute of the day and the choice is ours moment by moment. Of course, the flesh will always be around, and its siren song can be painfully sweet. But when we follow the flesh, we go back to a yoke of slavery; we join the rebellion; we turn our backs on the grace and love of God. When we choose to follow the Spirit, we have fellowship with Him and can rejoice in Him. Remaining in His love, we glorify Him by tasting and seeing that He is good.
