The Filling of the Holy Spirit Aug 2006 am
THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
EPHESIANS 5: 13-21
Intro. The forester who came to buy a new saw.....powersaw....did not pull the cord...”What’s that sound?!?”
The Holy Spirit can be in you, and yet you can know very little of His Power and influence.
· the issue we always have to deal with is not how much of the Holy Spirit we have, because we have all of Him.
· the issue is how much He has of us!
OUR NEED OF THE SPIRIT’S FILLING
· Our text is Paul’s classic treatment of this subject in Eph. 5
1. Paul says it is possible to be a Christian and yet be asleep.
2. Paul says it is possible to be a Christian and yet waste your time.
3. Paul says it is possible to be a Christian and yet to be unwise.
4. Paul says it is possible to be a Christian and yet not know what God’s will is.
5. >>key verse--Eph.5:18
(I wonder what the response would be if we took a poll among an average group of Christians and asked how many of them could point to: 1. wasted portions of their lives, 2. to unwise decisions,
3. to periods of sleepiness and
4. sluggishness in their lives?)
*Why do we do some of the things we do and make some of the decisions we make?
It is because we are not filled with the Holy Spirit!!
**He is not the dominating influence in our lives!
**He is not in control!!
· If you are a believer the concern is never that you don’t have access to the Spirit’s fullness-----the concern is that the Spirit be given the place in your life that He wants and deserves to have!
· This is the purpose of the Spirit’s filling----The purpose of the Spirit of God is to control our lives so that we 1. wake up spiritually----------we 2.become wise spiritually----------3.so we know what God’s will is!
God gave us the Holy Spirit because He knows something we tend to forget.
--it is impossible to live the Christian life on our own!
Jesus Himself said in John 15:5: “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”
· When you were saved, you did not lose your fleshly desires.
· Your old flesh got dragged kicking and screaming into your new life, but your flesh has no intention of letting you go without a fight!
· That why so many of us have so many of the same old propensities we had before we were saved!
Your flesh is as corrupt today as it was when you were lost.
-----there is nothing in your flesh that is going to help you live the Christian life.
Romans 7:18: I “FOR I KNOW THAT IN ME (THAT S, IN MY FLESH) NOTHING GOOD DWELLS, FOR TO WILL IS PRESENT IN ME, BUT HOW TO PERFORM WHAT IS GOOD I DO NOT FIND.”
This means that in your own strength, your attempts at self-improvement won’t be any more successful today than they were in your unconverted state.
(the only remedy for the flesh is crucifixion with Christ.)
**If the Christian life is a supernatural life, then we need supernatural help to live it!!
**The only thing that makes you more powerful now than you were before is “He who is in you” I John 4:4.
--it is not a matter of doing your best and letting the Holy Spirit make up the difference.
--and it is not a matter of just being sincere
God has given us the Holy Spirit to provide us the enablement we need to overcome!
Our challenge is to “be filled with the Spirit.”
FOUR OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SPIRIT’S FILLING
Every word in this brief phrase---”be filled with the Spirit”---is packed with meaning, so let me make four observations...
1. GOD’S COMMAND ----God’s does not say, “ If you want to, it would be nice if you were filled with the Holy Spirit.” IS GOD NOT INTO SUGGESTIONS. ...HE IS ONLY INTO COMMANDS...........................(there is no command in the Bible to be baptized by the Spirit or indwelt by the Spirit...those are blessings we receive automatically when we come to Christ!.....But we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit-----because this relates to our daily experience of His influence!!
2. FOR EVERY BELIEVER----the command in Eph.5:18 is plural in the Greek---It applies to every believer!!
3. GOD DOES IT-----the command is passive-----you are to be filled, not fill yourselves
4. KEEP IT UP-----this is a plural, passive command, it is also in the present tense!! (a continual process) An accurate translation-----”KEEP ON BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT”
· In other words, don’t get filled with the Spirit today and expect the filling to cover you from here on out! (You may eat a big Sunday dinner, but that does you no good on Monday or Tuesday---the filling is depleted)
· (The same thing happens when you fill your car with gas---you drive around and the fuel is depleted)
· So no matter how full of the Spirit you are when you leave here today, what you receive today will not last you all week!)
· In fact, some of you will not get out of the parking lot without losing your sanctification!
Why?
*Because we live in a world that depletes the experience of filling!
1. Sin depletes it!
2. People deplete it!
3. They can take your attention away from the filling!!
{I want to make a crucial distinction between the Spirit’s filling and illustrations like food and gas...when your stomach or gas tank is depleted it is empty}
{But even though the filling of the Holy Spirit is an experiential concept, don’t ever think that if you are not filled with the Spirit, He leaves you empty.}
{He doesn’t leave you, period!!}
The depletion of the Spirit’s filling is the loss of the experience and enjoyment of His full benefits in your daily experience!!
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FILLED
In order to understand what Spirit-filled people should look, act, and think like-----look at a Greek word “plerousthe”-----”filled” in Ephesians 5:18
(It occurs throughout the Bible and has alot to teach us)
In Luke 4:28---the Bible says the people of Nazareth were “filled with rage” at Jesus when He challenged them with unbelief.
(notice in vv. 29-30 that they didn’t just get filled with anger and just walk away---they tried to push Jesus off a cliff!!)
(Their rage took possession of them!!)
In Acts 13:45, the Jews in Antioch became “filled with jealousy” at the success of Paul and Barnabas.
(they began to attack the two men verbally and even to blaspheme----now good Jews don’t commit blasphemy)
(but their anger took over and made them do things that they normally would not do)
A MATTER OF CONTROL
These two examples give you the idea behind the word FILLING
--it means control!!
**When you are filled in the NT sense, it means that somebody or something has taken over command in your life and is pulling the strings.
...if you have ever been so angry that your anger overwhelms you, you know what I’m talking about
(anger was in control of you)
**The purpose of the Spirit’s filling is that He might control our lives!!
--we know from Scripture and from experience that Satan also wants to control us!!
--he wants to rule our emotions and our passions
--he wants to set the agenda for our attitudes and actions
**So we have to replace the wrong control with the right control!!
That’s why sincerity alone isn’t enough--if the wrong person is in control
It’s not about sincerity---IT’S ABOUT CONTROL!!
Unless sincerity leads you to the right kind of control, you will not have any kind of power
What do we mean by the control of the Holy Spirit?
Back up to the beginning of Eph. 5:18 and pick up the opening phrase, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation,” or degradation
CONTROLLED BY ANOTHER
(there’s the picture we need right here)
--even if you don’t know what it means to be filled with the Spirit, you do know what it means for someone to be drunk!
--you know that a drunken man doesn’t get that way by looking at advertisements for liquor
--he gets drunk by drinking
--and the more he drinks, the drunker he gets---the more completely the alcohol inside him is controlling him
--when a man becomes drunk, another power takes over his life
--we say he is under the influence of alcohol
--this substance transforms him into someone he was not before
(one minute he is nice and quiet---but when the wine takes over he becomes loud and boisterous---he thinks he is Pavarotti and he starts to sing!)
--when a police officer stops someone who is driving under the influence of alcohol and tells him to walk a straight line, he cant do it---Someone else controls his legs
What alcohol is to the body negatively, the Holy Spirit is to the spirit positively.
--He makes you walk in ways you would not normally walk and talk in ways you wouldn’t normally talk
1. When the Spirit takes over, a lot of our excuses are nullified....
...we say, “Well, that’s just my personality.”
But the Spirit can change our personality!!
2. “But this is how I was raised!”
...well when the Spirit takes over, he can change the way you were raised into the way you ought to be.
3. “I’ve always been like this!”
...well, that’s because you have not always been under the control of the Holy Spirit!!
*The Spirit transforms us supernaturally!
*We need to filled with the Holy Spirit!!
**---a sober man doesn’t have to try to stagger---all he has to do is get drunk!!
--the alcohol will take care of the staggering.
**---a sober man doesn’t have to try to change his personality---he just has to get drunk!!
***Now can you see why Paul drew the analogy between someone who is drunk and someone who is under the Spirit’s control!!?
**The filling of the Spirit of God will energize you with such a supernatural overflow that people will be hard put to explain you away!
NEW POWER
When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will start hearing things like: “What in the world has happened to you?”
--now don ‘t get me wrong---they won’t be seeing someone weird or fanatical things....
1. *When the Spirit takes control, you will start loving people you used to hate!
2. *When people become intoxicated with the Holy Spirit, men who used to hit their wives when they got angry will find the ability to control their temper!
3. *When the Spirit takes control over your passion, you will be able to say no to sexual immorality!
**We need to get intoxicated!
**We need to get filled! With the Holy Spirit!!
***When we are filled with the Spirit, He releases His power and influence in our lives.
When you get indigestion, you may open a little packet containing two tablets and drop them in water. Those tablets start to fizz because they are releasing power to solve your problem.
But the power is in concentrated form. In order for that power to be released, you drop those two tablets in water and an explosion occurs. It’s the power of the tablet being released in the water, so that the water is not plain anymore.
Now when you drink that water, you get the power to fix your upset stomach.
*When you were indwelt by the Holy Spirit, you receive “HOLY GHOST CONCENTRATE”.
--the Spirit was placed in you in concentrated form
--but when His power is released by your submission and willingness to be filled, He cures your spiritual indigestion and empowers you to pull off great things!!!
THE PROCESS OF BEING FILLED
Making worship a lifestyle...not an event!!
*The way you learn to live a Spirit-filled life is to learn to do Monday through Saturday what you did on Sunday!
*The way you get filled with the Spirit as a day-by day experience is to make worship a way of life!
--you drink of the Holy Spirit when you worship Christ!!
Isn’t that what Paul is saying in Romans 12:1?
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,,acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
*He is calling us to hold our own private worship services!
--this is what Paul is saying in Eph. 5:19-21 is that when worship becomes a way of life for you,...
...when you begin to live in a spiritual environment on a day-by-day basis, you are going to be full of the Holy Spirit!
Tea Drinkers? There are Tea-dippers/There are
Tea-abiders!
Jesus said: “Abide in Me, Let My Words abide in you!/”Let the flow of My life flow in you!”
FOUR WAYS TO GET FILLED
1. He first says that we are to communicate with one another....v.19: “Speaking to one another...”
Do you know why more believers aren’t experiencing the Holy Spirit’s fullness in their daily lives?
--because our mouths and our ears and our hearts are so full of other stuff we don’t have anything to say on the subject of the Spirit’s work in us.
(The radio stations...T.V. programs...that fill our lives with secular and ungodly stuff...)
Christians should regularly be reinforcing others and being reinforced by others in order that their spiritual focus might be kept on track.
2. Communicate with the Lord by making melody in our hearts...
3. We are to give thanks for everything in Jesus’ Name. Eph. 5:20
--if you are a grumbler, I guarantee that you are not filled with the Spirit
4. When worship is a way of life, being subject to one another. Eph. 5:21
--an act of worship from a Spirit-filled heart to serve others
GETTING THIRSTY
John 7: 37-39
This is such a beautiful picture of the Holy Spirit’s fullness...Jesus inviting all who are thirsty to come and drink freely!!
**When you are Spirit-filled in your daily experience you are calling on Him all day long about everything.
--it’s as natural as breathing
**The first place we are to apply the Spirit’s filling is in the family...
--we have alot of marriages and families in trouble today...the problem in marriage is not that the two people are different personalities.
--that’s the beauty of marriage.....if you were both alike one of you would be unnecessary!
*The problem is that either one or both partners have not yet gotten drunk on the Holy Spirit.
*Am I telling you that the filling of the Spirit is going to change your problems?
No.
I am telling you that the filling of the Spirit will change you...then it really won’t matter as much whether your problems change or not!
**Jesus says “Come to Me and drink....then...out of your heart will flow rivers of living water.” AMEN!!!