Filled by The Spirit

Introduction

Greetings and introducing myself

The Beauty of God’s Spirit influencing young people

Youth Led Sunday

celebration Sundays

Enjoyment of the Series and common misconceptions

the truth

we can only live righteously because of the Spirit

we have a change in our words, attitudes, and behaviors

we need to put the Spirit in our conversations and prayers to continue to live lives that express thanksgiving to Jesus Christ and His sacrifice that brought us peace between us and God

Bottom Line

Filled With The Spirit

To be filled with the Spirit is to surrender the control of our thinking and behaviors and to allow His influence to lead us both to praise God and encourage other believers as we understand God’s Word and obey it

Call up Students to Read the Bible

Ephesians 5:14–20 ESV

for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Prayer

Thanks for the day

Spirit come be present and make yourself known through the Word

Forgive us when we deny Your Spirit by living according to our own will

Remind us of the victory in the Spirit

Thanks for choosing us to be your dwelling and with that we would not grieve you

let us focus on you with everything we do and say and to find satisfaction in the Spirit alone

Verbal Illustration

ASK: Has anyone ever zoned out while driving somewhere and when you arrived at your destination you asked yourself,

“how did I get here?”

brain switches to autopilot and recognizes that the body can complete a task without thinking about it

driving home from work playing a conversation you had wishing it went differently and then boom your home

its like you were in control and not in control at the same time being under the influence of your thoughts

Bible Study

Paul makes an interesting contrast that doesn’t seem to make much sense .

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

ask: why does Paul make this contrast?

there is a connection between the subjects being contrasted which is being drunk with wine, and being filled with the Spirit

Background info: Interestingly, we see this contrast in action in Acts chapter 2 when the Spirit filled the upper room and the disciples began to speak in other tongues and some of them said that these people must be filled up with some new wine.

Verbal Illustration Continued

Driving example:

When someone drinks and then drives, it affects their performance on the road. There is a lack of motor skills and control and so when someone is pulled over and asked to walk in a straight line, it doesn’t go so well.

ASK: What is the acronym used to describe the offense of drinking and driving?

DUI:Driving Under the Influence

The person is under the influence of a substance which causes them to act, feel, and speak differently, so the statement"to be filled” simply means that you are under the influence of something.

Bible Study continued

Paul’s contrast can now be simply stated, “Don’t be under the influence of wine, but be under the influence of the Holy Spirit

Transition Statement: Again, we might push the Holy Spirit back and not think that we need to continuously be filled by Him. It’s not just a one time thing, when we think that it is only a one time thing, we can put some danger into our Christian life.

I’ll prove it with these balloons!

Balloon Illustration

3 balloons: One filled with nothing, one filled with my own breath, and then this one filled with helium.

1st let’s look at this empty one. Kids, if you went to a birthday party, and it was filled with balloons like this, you probably wouldn’t think that you’re going to have a good time.

when we aren’t saved, we are empty. The Spirit does not dwell within the unbeliever so there is no desire to serve God. Our purpose is created by our own selfish cravings.This person unfilled with the Spirit looks for ways help themselves and provide for themselves to satisfy their craving to be fulfilled by the things in the world. They might serve in ways that seem helpful but mainly only serve to feel good about themselves. If I were to let it go, it falls straight to the ground.

2nd here is the balloon filled with air from my lunges

This person says they are a Christian, they are saved and it is great, but they are still filled with their own desires. See what happens when I throw it up in the air it moves up a bit. It’s like God I serve you, I love you, I surrender to you. This person has been filled, but doesn’t really seek to keep getting filled. So they head downward because they give into their desires, they disobey God, or they trust their plans rather than God’s purpose. It’s a great start, but when we stop asking for the Spirit to fill us and lead us, we let begin to fall

3rd here is the balloon filled with helium

this person knows the need to be constantly filled by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has total influence over their choices, plans, and every detail of their lives. This person never worries about being outside the will of God, rather they are confident in God’s purpose for their lives. When I pull it down, you see how it gets back up. No matter what the enemy tries to do to stop this person, they trust in the Spirit. HOWEVER, after a while, helium begins to leak out, sin still exists and we might fall into temptation. So there is still a need to continuously be filled by The Holy Spirit.

SHIFT - APPLICATION

So what we need to do is ask ourselves, how do we live our lives totally under the influence of the Holy Spirit?

1. Let the Spirit Influence Your Will

our natural tendency is to be in control of our lives.

what to eat for lunch

the job we want to have

to person we want to be with

We like to dominate our lives therefore, everything is under our own influence.

Nothing wrong with having a plan, but when our plans influence our decisions, we will look to our plans as our savior

to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit is to surrender that dominating role and live our lives dominated by the Holy Spirit

Verse 17 Command

the command here is simple,

Ephesians 5:17 ESV

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

If we want to understand the will of the Lord we have to submit our will, our plans, our desires to Him.

It’s important to have a plan, but if our plans are leading our lives, we will have a tough time trying to figure out God’s will.

Proverbs 19:21 ESV

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Rather than be afraid of the changes that God might make in our lives, we ought to be so influenced by the Holy Spirit that we can be confident that all things we do are aligned with His Will.

Remember this, we don’t get more of the Spirit, He gets more of us. The Holy Spirit doesn’t send himself in pieces, He comes fully the first time, we are the ones that need to surrender all that we are to His Influence.

Ask yourself and reflect: “God, where in my life have I blocked your influence from? What is in my life that I am trying to control that I just need to surrender to you?”

2. Let the Spirit Influence Your World

The things that make up our worlds - Materialism

Ephesians 5:18a

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery

Explanation of Debauchery: debauchery is a word used to describe someone who lives for pleasure. A biblical example of this kind of person would be like the prodigal son who took his inheritance to spend it all on worldly pleasures.

So, I have a question I want you to consider:

What is influencing the decisions you make?

As we mentioned earlier, alcohol, has a major influence on our mind and actions

just like alcohol, there are many other things that play a significant role in the way we think, feel, act, and the words we say. Even how we treat other people

Social Media - we look at people who are influencers with millions of followers, and look up to them as examples for what a good life looks like

I’ve caught myself comparing my identity to people online who I’ve never met and because of that, it has affected the reality of my identity in Christ

The Media - the narratives that media outlets put out play a huge role in how we feel toward certain topics and even people. And the result? Discord and fighting from the people we disagree with.

Material values - money, wealth, possessions and so on have a large influence on how we view our success. We look at our bank accounts, our cars, the amount of people following us on social media and these things influence our identity, and in turn, affects the choices we make and how we treat others.

My question to you is this:

What in our lives are we replacing with the 3rd person of the Trinity?

The Holy Spirit convinces us that there is nothing more valuable, that has more influence, and that has more truth than living a life that reflects Jesus Christ and He works in us to do that.

Our views should be influences by the Holy Spirit, not what we see on TV, on our phones, or by the amount of money we have in our retirement accounts.

3. Let the Spirit Influence Your Light

Can we be real, there are times we don’t like to be very Christian. We have our moments and the light we are meant to shine, we might want to dim it just for a bit.

The thing is, our influence can fog the image of God rather than make it clear

What are our attitudes like around other people? Would people around you consider you to be a pleasant person?

What are your actions like outside these walls? What do people see you do and if they were to copy your behaviors, would that be a good influence?

What are your words like around friends and family? How’s your vocabulary around your children, your spouse, your friends? Do your words reflect the lips of Christ?

We Need To Let The Spirit’s Influence On Us, Influence The People Around Us.

The amazing thing about this, is that this is not something the Spirit does alone, He uses our efforts to be a light.

Ephesians 5:14–15 ESV

for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

The greek word for walk in verse 15 is peripateo which is a figurative way to say the way you live your life.

There is a command to look carefully how you live, which implies that you have to make an effort alongside the Spirit to live a life that shines the light of Christ for others to see.

The Spirit doesn’t just take control of you like a puppet, he makes you a co-heir, a co-worker alongside Him to fulfill His purposes which includes the way we love the people around us.

Let’s even consider vs. 19 which includes congregational worship

Ephesians 5:19 ESV

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

Even our worship among others should be Spirit-filled. We don’t just sing songs on a screen because “that’s what we do in church.” We sing praises of our Savior, and give Him glory for salvation, to thank Him for eternal life, and to surrender to Him our comfort so we can experience the comfort of the Spirit while we sing.

Our lives should reflect the influence of the Spirit, from how we sing to God in church to the conversations we have at the dinner table.

When the Holy Spirit influences us, people will be able to see Christ.

GOSPEL

Maybe today you want to experience the filling of the Holy Spirit in your life. First we must believe in Jesus Christ who brings us together with God. We all have committed sin against God and deserve punishment which a Just God gives, but rather than justice, we receive mercy because Jesus took on that punishment on the cross so we can be free. If you believe in Him and confess that He is king, we will have eternal life.

The Holy Spirit convinces us we are sinners, Jesus the Son cleanses us of that sin and makes us blameless so that God the Father would bring us in as His own Children

Will you allow the Spirit to influence your life entirely?

PRAY: