Walk in Harmony- Our Relationship with others in the church

INTRODUCTION

God has called us to walk in Harmony with one another- over the next 4 weeks we are going to look at how Christians are called to walk in Harmony with one another, In our Marriages, With our children and as Employers and employees.

But before we get into the practical application of living in Unity we need to understand How we are able to live in Harmony with one another.

Open up your Bibles with me to Ephesians 5:18

Ephesians 5:18-21 “And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Paul Begins this text with a negative exhortation and then contrasts it with a positive command

“do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit.

This seems pretty Clear- We see what God says believers are to stop doing and what God commands Believers to start doing.

DO NOT BE DRUNK with wine

3 Points we can see about alcohol in this verse.

Being Drunk is never God’s Will for a Christian

1 Thess. 4:3-4,” “3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor

Being drunk is always A SIN.

Eph 5: 18 “And do not get drunk with wine,”

Gal.5:21 “envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!”

Being drunk is a debauchery to God

Def.- excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures. It is a life of wickedness.

Drunkenness leads to other sinful actions and Behaviors because the person loses control of their mind and actions.

and this a Debauchery to God.

Debauchery is mentioned 3 times in the greek new testament

Titus 1 :6 Describing the qualifications of a pastor “An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who cannot be charged with Debauchery or rebellion.”

if a pastor’s dependents are living a life of wickedness or rebellion the pastor is not qualified to be a pastor.

1 Peter 4:4 describes the heart of those w/o Jesus as filled with debauchary

“So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of Debauchery, and they vilify you.”

Basically people without jesus don’t understand why a spirit filled Believer wouldn’t want to run to the sensual pleasures of this world. In fact, they make fun of the believer and speak harshly against them.

and the third mention of an excessive indulgent life is in our text this moring

Eph. 5:18 “And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit,”

So why does scripture call drunkenness debauchery?

When a Christian chooses to get drunk he gives up control of his mind to the Alcohol.

Drunkenness makes people do foolish things that you wouldn’t naturally do

Understand that it is NEVER God’s Will for a Christian to be Drunk: IT IS A SIN. and God calls it debauchery

Paul is contrasting this sinful control of the mind with what Godly control of the mind looks like.

Instead of letting sin control us, we should be filled with the H.S and let Him be in total control of our lives.

THE CONTRAST PAUL IS MAKING>>>

Drunkenness makes the Believer do foolish things that wouldn’t please God.

The H.S causes the believer to do WISE things that Bring God Glory.

Being Controlled by any substance always results in sin.

Being controlled by the H.S. Always leads to Gods glory

Transition: If God has called us to walk in harmony in every relationship we have, then we need to understand that this is only possible when we let the H.S. completely be in control of our lives.

BIG IDEA: To walk in Harmony (with one another) Requires (each of us to live) Spirit Filled Lives

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

Just like how drunkenness controls how talk, how we walk, how we reason, how we do everything, When a believer is filled with the Spirit- It means that God has complete control of your life.

the Greek word used for “Be Filled is “Pleroo” Which means to be constantly and fully influenced by the H.S.

to “Be filled” is a present tense verb meaning that it is actively happening over and over again in your life.

This means that believers needs to “Keep on Being filled with the Spirit”

To be filled with the spirit does not mean that we are spiritually empty and need to be filled up to be full.

When the Bible uses the word “filled up” with the H.S. it is not describing a container that needs to reach its maximum capacity, but what Paul is communicating with the church is that to “be filled" means to be completely controlled by something else.

Bible Illustration “

Acts 5:17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison

the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy towards the apostles meaning that they were controlled by their jealousy and the actions they committed where a result of that control.

Romans 1:29 “They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips,..........they not only do these things but approve others who practice them.

Mankind without God is filled with every kind of unrighteousness. meaning they are completely controlled by it.

When Anger controls us we are filled with Anger, When worry controls us we are filled with Worry, When lust controls us we are filled with lust, and when we are controled by the H.S. we are filled with the spirit.

Warren Wiersbe put it this way “To be “filled with the Spirit” means to be constantly controlled by the Spirit in our mind, emotions, and will.

We are commanded to be filled with the spirit , to let God have complete control of our lives.

Before we move on I think it would be good for us to understand that the filling of the spirit is not the same as Spirit baptism.

Spirit Baptism

1 Cor. 12:13 “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.”

When a person puts his faith in Jesus Christ and they become a Christian , He is immediately baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ .

You can not have spiritual salvation without Spirit baptism- they happen simultaneously at the moment of Conversion.

The N.T. is clear- Being Baptized by the spirit is not something that we have to do after salvation in order to be obedient to God,

WHY? Because at the moment you accept Jesus as your savior the H.S. BAPTIZES you into the body of Christ. and this is a one time event that last for all eternity.

When the Spirit of God baptizes us - He is identifying us as His own.

When we realize that our salvation is all about God and what He has done, than spirit baptism at salvation makes complete sense.

The H.S. is the one who convicts people of their sin and brings them to repentance through Christ

John 16:8 “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:” esv

The H.S. is the one seals the redeemed sinners new inheritance IN CHRIST

Eph. 1:13 “And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,” net

The H.S. is the one who Baptizes these redeemed sinners into the Body of Christ .

1 Cor. 12:13 “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.”

The H.S. is also the one who Indwells all believers and sanctifies them to be more like Jesus Daily

john 14:16-17 “Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.”

Spirit baptism makes biblical sense when we understand the role of the H.S. in our lives as believers.

His entire purpose is to point sinners to Jesus.

to Secure sinners salvation with Jesus

to Baptize Sinners into the body of Jesus

and to grow sinners to be like Jesus.

If he is the one who draws us to Christ, convicts us of sin, seals our eternity, makes us live more like Jesus then it makes sense that He is the one who Baptizes us into the Body of Christ and that He is the one that we need to fill us so that we can live for Christ.

This leads us back to our passage in Eph. 5:18 “And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit,”

There is a difference between spirit baptism which happened at Salvation, and being spirit filled which we need daily in our lives if we are going to live for God.

The difference is that we needed spirit baptism to become part of the Body of Christ , and we need spirit filling to live righteously as the Body of Christ.

What does it mean to be spirit filled?

Up until this point in our study through Ephesians Paul has been stacking Christian behavior on top of more Christian behavior,

HE has been saying if you are in Christ than this should be your actions.

Walk in humility

walk in love,

Walk in Unity

walk in holiness

walk in the light

walk in wisdom

and if your like me than all of this can be competly overwhelming understanding that there is no way for me to be able to possible walk in a manner worthy of my calling on my own.

if we are left to our own ability to do all of these things in our lives then we will come up very short at living righteously because we are not able to live like Christ , if God is not the one who is in total control of our lives.

and this is why we need to be constantly filled with the Spirit in our mind, in our emotions, and our will.

In order for any of us to be Filled with the spirit we need to fall on our knees give up control of our lives and ask the Holy Spirit to completly fill us and be in total control of everything.

Trans: So how can we know if we are filled with the H.S. in our lives?

The Bible is clear Look at our text in Eph. 5:18-21 “And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit ,speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

3 Evidences of a spirit filled Believer-

Joyful-

vs. 19 “Speaking to One another in Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs Singing and making Music in your hearts to the Lord”

A Spirit filled believer lives a life of Joyfulness.

If we are in Christ there should be great Joy in the church. We should have fun together as believers in Christ singing joyfully to our God.

The Joy that we have as a believer only comes through Christ and it is not just a shallow emotion of happiness, but a deep inner confidence in God’s Sovereignty , Knowing that what ever happens in this world that we are still ok, because God is still on His throne.

One thing that I love about going outside with Doug is that I know He is going to speak about how amazing Gods Creation is, I know that if we are in the woods, or in the marsh or even working on a building project outside that We are going to be speaking about Gods creation, Our amazing savior, and what He has done for us.

The evidence of someone who is spirit filled is that they have great joy in their life

and this leads them to have a heart of Praise - “singing and making music in their hearts to the Lord.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you just cant get enough of the Lord and your heart just keeps singing his praise.

a few weeks ago I was in a store walking down the Isle and as I turned the corner a lady looks at me and says wow you have a beautiful voice, you should sing more often.

I didn’t at first get it, then she said that she could here me singing in the next isle over.

I hadn’t even thought about it but I was singing a song that we had just sang in church Oh Praise the name… and my heart and my lips were just happy and confident in the Lord, and what I thought was quiet humming was apparently loud enough for that lady to hear in the next Isle.

Evidence of a spirit filled believer is that your heart sings the praises of your Savior

Another evidence of being filled with the spirit is an attitude of thankfulness

Thankful

vs. 20 “Always giving thanks to God For one another”

throughout his epistles Paul makes it very clear to Believers that our lives should be marked with gratitude towards one another.

We should be genuinely thankful that we have brothers and sisters in Christ

Eph. 1:16 “I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers.”

Eph. 5:4 “Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting—all of which are out of character—but rather thanksgiving.”

Phil. 1:3 “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

Col. 1:3 “We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,”

COl. 2:7 “rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Tim. 2:1 “First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people,”

To Be spirit filled means that You have a deep gratitude for other believers in your life.

Its easy for us to be thankful for other believers who help us or like us and are nice to us but Paul doesn’t differentiate between the Christians we like and the ones we don’t Like

It is hard for us a humans to like and especially be thankful for people that we don’t get along with- isn’t it?

I mean there are just some Christians that just (humanly speaking) get on my nerves. they drive me crazy sometimes,

and this is why we need to be filled with the spirit daily, because on our own IT IS IMPOSSIBLE for us to truly be thankful for them, but with the filling of H. S Power It takes my focus off of my desires and puts it on Gods glory- and this leads me to thanksgiving.

Through the filling of the H.S. Christians have the supernatural ability to have genuine deep gratitude to God for all of their brothers and sisters in Christ.

If you are spirit filled , then you will live a life of thankfulness for everything in your life, including the good things and the bad things , because you know that God is in total control and that He has a plan for you.

Trans: Paul gives us a 3rd evidence of a believer who is Spirit Filled.

Submissive-

vs 21 “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

It’s one thing to be joyful with one another, its another to be thankful for one another, and now Paul goes a little deeper into our relationships and says that a truely spirit filled Believer Submits to one another out of Reverence for Christ.

the word submit does not mean obey

It makes sense that we submit to authority in our lives, it makes sense that the church submits to the pastors leading, it makes sense that the kids in Sunday School Submit to the authority of their teacher,

Paul is not saying that if you follow the rules of those in authority over you then you have evidence of the filling of the spirit in your life.

He says submitting to one one other is evidence of the filling of the H.S.

To understand what Paul means by submitting to one another listen to his instruction to each of the churches He ministered to

Church of Ephesus

Eph. 4:1-2 “I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”

Church of Galatia

Gal. 5:13 “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another.”

The Church in Philipi

Phil 2:3 “Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.”

Corinthian church

1 Cor. 12:25 “so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.”

Colossian church

Col. 3:12-14 “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.And to all these virtues add love, which is the perfect bond.”

to Submit to one another means that you live your life humbly for the spiritual good of others around you .

Plain and simply to submit to one another out of reverence for God means that you do not try to run the church, you do not try to get your way, but instead you Submit your will and serve others with with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness

As pastors, deacons, church leaders, Teachers, adults, and children we are all part of the body of Christ and everyone of use is called to submit to one another in Christ.

If you are filled with the Holy Spirit in your heart then the fruit of the Spirit will be evidenced in your life.

IF we as believers are going to live worthily of the calling by which we have been called, then it takes the filling of the Holy Spirit daily in our lives. and its only when we are led by the H.S. that we have the ability to walk with all humility and gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love,”

Bring it Home

understand this morning that To be filled with the Spirit a person must first possess the Spirit. - which means that they are a believer in Jesus.

If you have never accepted Jesus as your savior than it is impossible for you to ever be filled with the Spirit.

It is impossible for you to produce the fruit that can only come from the Holy Spirit.

Eph. 1:13 “And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,”

Without Jesus you are without the H.S. in your life.

Many of us in this room are believers in Jesus and this means that we have already been BAPTIZED into the Spirit.

The H.S. has identified you as belonging to Christ.

But being in the spirit does not equal being filled by the spirit.

I believe that many Christian live their entire life without ever being filled with the Spirit.

Without the filling of the spirit it is impossible for us to live in a manner WORTHY OF THE CALLING BY WHICH WE HAVE BEEN CALLED.

If we as a church want to make and equip followers of J.C. in our community than we all need to be filled with the Spirit.

We need to let the Holy Spirit take total control of our lives.

Just like drunkenness takes over and controls ever part of a persons life, the way he talks, the way he acts and the way he thinks, ....

So we as followers of Jesus Christ need to ask daily for the filling of the H.S. in our lives.

If we are to talk like Jesus

If we are to act like Jesus

and if we are to think like Jesus

Then WE NEED TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN OUR LIVES.

The Exhortation Paul has given us as the Church, is that we need to humble ourselves and cry out in faith for the H.S. to be in total control of our lives.

and its only when He is in total control of our lives that we have the ability to live like Jesus in this world.

Our prayer each morning, before our feet even hit the ground should be “ God ,fill me with the Holy Spirit today so that I have the ability to be who you have called me to be. So that I can walk worthy of my Calling as a follower of Jesus Christ

I Believe that if each of us fervently ask for the spirit of God to fill us with His control - Our church will see God do abundantly more than we could ever ask or image.

are you with me, will you commit to giving up control of your life so that God Can use you to do what is impossible for mankind to do on his own.. !!!!!!!