FULL of the Holy Ghost

If I was to ask: “Name things that people are FULL of….?” I would get a wide range of answers.  Some responses, I would not want to hear or read.

Have you ever heard someone say, “He/She is so full of themselves!” ?

It’s a milder way of saying they are very self-centered and conceited.  They are very absorbed with their own self.

I’ve also heard, “They are so full of life!”

          Meaning, they are very lively, active, spirited, and energetic.  They’re exciting and entertaining to be around.

Another phrase used at times is, “They are so full of it!”

          The implication is that the person is not telling the truth. They are talking
nonsense. In other words, they may have claimed to have accomplished some task of feat but the hearer is highly doubting the truth of their words.
          For instance: I once knew a young man who was watching extreme sports.  It didn’t matter what was happening, he would quickly claim, “I’ve done that!”
or “I can do that!”  He was bragging on himself, but the validity as to it being
true was not believed.

A term used to describe a crowded place would be to say, “it is full of people.”  Typically, most just say it’s really crowded in there.

          This phrase can be a positive or negative depending upon whether you’re happy
           there’s a lot of people there (such as in Church) or unhappy there are so many
           people such as in the mall and stores around Christmas time.

That’s also a Biblical phrase “full of people”

          Lam 1:1 – how doth the city sit solitary that was full of people!

 

The Bible also talks about being ‘full of’ things…

Egypt became ‘full of swarms of flies’ when God sent plagues because Pharoah would not let God’s people go free. (Ex 8:21)

God warned against committing certain sins which would cause the land to become ‘full of wickedness’. (Lev 19:29)

Haman became full of wrath and full of indignation when he saw that Mordecai, the Jew, would not bow before him. (Esther 3:5, 5:9)

The Bible states the mouth of the wicked is full of cursing and deceit and fraud. (Ps 10:7)

Ecclesiastes 10:14 warns that a fool is ‘full of words’ – that person rattles on endlessly and never knows when to stop speaking.  They will have the last word, but what is lacking is depth and meaning of their words. I saw a quote, “Many who are empty of sense are full of words; and the least solid are the most noisy.”  This is not referring to those who are teaching and sharing wise counsel and study.  It is referring to those who prattle on, making your head hurt as you look for a way to get away from them.

Job proclaimed in his sorrow, “man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1)

Those are some negatives but the Bible also references some positive uses of that phrase….

Ecclesiastes 11:3 shares wisdom, “If the clouds be FULL of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth.”  God’s people knew this to be true before scientific studies were created.

Abraham was said to be ‘full of years’ when he died at 175 years of age (Gen 25:7-8)

Joshua is said to have been FULL of the spirit of wisdom. (Dt 34:9)

The Priest was instructed to bring within the vail a censer FULL of burning coals of fire from off the altar and to have his hands FULL of sweet incense. He was not to come with just a few but the censer and his hands were to be FULL. (Lev 16:12)

Psalm 29:4 proclaims the voice of the Lord is FULL of majesty!

The writer of Psalm 48:10 penned, “Thy right had is FULL of righteousness.”

We know there is a lot of wickedness on the earth right now, but Psalm 33:5 reminds us the earth is also FULL of the goodness of the Lord. Paul explains in Acts 14:16-17 that although the nations of the earth walked in their own ways and served false gods, the one true God did not leave them without a witness of who He was and His goodness.  Paul preached to the unbelieving that God still continued to do good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

Psalm 78:38 + 86:15 along with several other verses remind us the Lord our God is FULL of compassion. Psalm 119:64 says He is FULL of mercy.  If it wasn’t for His compassion, mercy, love, and forgiveness, we would have no hope!  We would still be lost in our sins. Aren’t you thankful our God is FULL of compassion?!

Isaiah prophetically foretold that one day the earth shall be FULL of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Is 11:9)

The definition of FULL means….Containing or holding as much as possible; having no empty space….there’s no more room.

 

On the day of Pentecost, the 120 that were in the Upper Room were FILLED with the Holy Ghost.  (Acts 2:4)

God sent Ananias to pray for Saul, later called Apostle Paul.  He instructed him in what he must do to be saved, prayed for him to receive his sight, and he was filled with the Holy Ghost.  (Acts 9:17)

 

Some may contend that these Scriptures are merely referring to when we FIRST receive the precious Gift of the Holy Ghost, speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance. Yes, we are FILLED with the Holy Ghost at the first…meaning we become FULL of the Holy Ghost.  But, we need to continue to STAY FULL of the Holy Ghost.

 

The Holy Ghost gave Peter and John boldness to be able to preach about Jesus before all the rulers, and elders, and scribes, despite being considered uneducated.  It was a testimony to all present that THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS!  I want people to be able to tell that I have been with Jesus! The rulers finally let them go so they hurried to find and tell the other disciples what had just happened.  As they prayed, the place was shaken and all present listening were FILLED with the Holy Ghost which gave them boldness to speak the Word of God. (Acts 4)

When the Apostles needed to appoint men to take care of the widows and take care of the business of serving tables, they did not just choose anyone.  They looked for certain qualifications and chose those who were honest and FULL of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. (Acts 6)

Among those chosen was Stephen. Stephen, who was later stoned, was said to be FULL of faith AND of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 6:5)  Stephen was able to walk in power and do great wonders and miracles BECAUSE he was FULL of the Holy Ghost. 

It was because Stephen was FULL of the Holy Ghost that he was able to forgive and ask God to forgive those who were stoning and taking his life from him. Can you imagine the excruciating pain he was feeling as the stones pelted his body and head, creating wounds, blood pouring out, possibly breaking bones?  Yet, he didn’t pray, “God, get ‘em!” Instead, he prayed, “God, forgive them and lay not this sin to their charge.” He was basically praying, “God, don’t keep record of this sin.  I’m not.”  It was a witness to Saul, who later became Apostle Paul, as he stood there holding the stoners’ coats.

It was said of Barnabas that he was a good man, and FULL of the Holy Ghost and of faith.  Because he was FULL of the Holy Ghost, many souls were added to the Lord. (Acts 11:24)

There is one thing that we need to make sure we’re full of….that’s the Holy Ghost!

I know I’ve mentioned the 10 virgins often lately but their lamps were FILLED, they were FULL.  The wise were not only FULL of oil, but they also had extra stored up.

They prayed until they were FILLED with the Holy Ghost and then they prayed some more. 

The Bible reveals the Holy Ghost is supposed to be like a RIVER of living water, not just a jug, or a pond, or a lake.  It’s supposed to be a RIVER. A jug, a pond, or a lake can become stagnant waters if they sit too long without any fresh water flowing in to replenish them. But a River is constantly flowing with fresh water passing through so as not to become stagnant waters.

Jesus said, “he that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow RIVERS of Living Water.” (John 7:38)  Notice, Jesus said RIVERS, not just a single river.

Do you know what the job of a river is?

          To carry water and nutrients to areas all around the earth.

When we are FULL of the Holy Ghost, rivers of Living Water will flow out of us in all directions, providing water and nutrients to parched barren souls. 

God doesn’t give us the Holy Ghost just for ourselves.  He gave us the Holy Ghost so we can reach out to others and lead them to Jesus.  

The Holy Ghost will give us the right words to say at the right time IF we are FULL of the Holy Ghost. 

Don’t be content to have been filled once. Don’t grow lukewarm in your walk with God. Stay FULL of the Holy Ghost.