Can a Christian, who is filled with the Holy Spirit, be bored? I made that statement on Sunday that if a person is filled with the Spirit, he cannot be bored. The corollary is that if a Christian is bored, he is not filled with the Spirit. Is that a hard line?
Consider that every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”(Rom 8:9 NKJ) Every Christian receives the Holy Spirit at salvation and is indwelt by the Spirit until promotion to heaven.
However, not every believer is filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul writes to the church of Ephesus, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.”(Eph 5:18 NKJ) The phrase “be filled” is an on-going command to the Christian. Why is it an on-going command? Because every time the Christian sins, he is not filled with the Spirit. He remains indwelt by the Spirit, but not filled. The word filled means “to fill with a certain quality,” “to fill up to the full,” “to control” and “to fulfill.” The Christian, is filled with the Holy Spirit, when he has confessed his sins, repented to God and is dependent upon God’s empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Now, when a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit, he will bear the fruit of the Spirit. Paul writes,
<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.(Gal 5:22-23 NKJ)
There is nothing that can stop the fruit from being produced in the Christian, because that is what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit produces God’s love, God’s joy, God’s peace, etc. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is in control. When there is unrighteous anger, the Holy Spirit is not in control. It does not matter where the unrighteous anger comes from, whether from frustration, or outbursts or resentment. It prohibits the fruit of the Spirit, because the Spirit is quenched (1 Thes. 5:19) and is no longer in control .
Furthermore, when the Holy Spirit is in control, God not only indwells the believer, but “He is in” the believer energizing the believer to love and good works. It is the English word “enthusiasm,” which comes from en theos, or “God within.” Hence the Christian will be described by having enthusiasm, instead of slothfulness.
Solomon wrote about the bored person. He is described as lazy, slothful and idle. He wrote, “Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.”(Pro 19:15 NKJ) The bored person is stuck on himself rather than serving others. He is waiting on something outside of himself to stimulate him. He does not realize, if he is a Christian, he needs to let God within move him to love and good deeds.
Bored people are not joyful people. We’ve seen from Galatians 5:22 that the fruit of the Spirit is joy. David sang in his song, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.”(Ps. 16:11 NKJ) If God is within, the believer cannot have less than God’s joy, unless he is in sin and therefore not filled with the Spirit.
When a person is filled with the Spirit, he will be looking for opportunities to serve others. Because the Holy Spirit resides within, the filled Christian will be serving others. Peter writes, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.(1 Pet. 4:10 NKJ) If the Christian is ministering to others, he cannot be bored, unless he is doing it begrudgingly or out of duty, but then it is fleshly work and not Holy Spirit work.
Several times in Paul’s letter to Titus, Paul directs Titus to stir up believers for good works. He writes, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.”(Tit. 3:8 NKJ ) Paul uses the phrase “maintain good works,” which the Greek grammar means “to make it your purpose to keep on doing good works.” Bored people do not fit this phrase. He also says, “And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.”(Tit 3:14 NKJ) Bored people are not ready to “meet urgent needs” and they are “unfruitful.” Finally Paul uses a great phrase in Titus 2:14, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”(Tit 2:14 NKJ) Do you see that word “zealous”? Bored people are not characterized by being zealous!
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”(1Co 15:58 NKJ) The Christian, who is filled with the Spirit, is “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Bored people are waiting for someone else to lead the way or do something. Paul writes to the Philippians that growing Christians are, “being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”(Phi 1:11 NKJ) In fact, as Paul commands believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit, he also prays that believers be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, so “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”(Col 1:10 NKJ) The bored person is not fruitful.
Finally, and this only scratches the surface, the filled person is ready at all times as Paul exhorts Timothy, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”(2 Tim. 2:21 NKJ) Bored people are not ready for much besides what will stimulate them.
Does God love bored people? Of course He does. God just wants bored people to get their eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of their faith and get on to serving others, looking for opportunities to share their faith and build the kingdom by multiplication in building up those who will disciple others. A Christian, who is filled with the Spirit, cannot be bored. A bored person is not filled with the Holy Spirit.
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