The Spirit Filled Life

Sermon Notes, June 26, 2016 AM

Filled With the Spirit

Steve W. Reeves

   

INTRODUCTION:  

A. A preacher demonstrated the importance of priorities. He took a bucket and filled it

    with large rocks. He then added gravel to fill in the spaces between the large

    rocks. Next he took sand and poured it into the bucket. It filtered in around the large

    rocks and gravel. Then he took a bottle of water and poured it in until it came to the

    top of the bucket. What if he had filled the bucket with water, sand and gravel before

    the large rocks? Would there have been room for them? His illustration demonstrated

    how you must give priority to the “big” things or the “little” things will crowd them out.

    1. What fills your life? Perhaps you are thinking, “family,” “job,” “baseball,” or any

       number of things.

    2. Where does God fit into your life?

       1. Do you give Him an hour or two a week?

       2. Is He a “special events” God you serve on certain days of the year?

       3. Do you keep Him tucked away for a rainy day?

B. In Ephesians 5:18 through 6:9 Paul says that every aspect of life is to be “filled with

    the Spirit.”

    1. Starting in 5:15 we find the fourth, “walk” passage in this letter. The others are

       found in 4:1, 4:17 amd 5:2.

    2. “Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, ¹⁶ making the

       most of your time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So then do not be foolish, but

       understand what the will of the Lord is.”

    3. In verse 18 he says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be

       filled with the Spirit,”

       a. There are two other occasions in the New Testament where a comparison is

           made between being filled with wine and being filled with the Spirit.  

       b. Luke 1:15 – When Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, was told that his

           wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a son the angel said, “He will drink no wine or

           liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

       c. Acts 2:15-17 - When Peter and the apostles spoke on the day of Pentecost in the

            different languages of people gathered some said they were drunk. Peter said,

           “These men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; ¹⁶ but

            this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel ¹⁷ ‘And it shall be in the last days,’

           God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind.” If you doubt the

           power of the Holy Spirit remember this was the man who had denied knowing

           Jesus less than two months earlier.

    4. God wants your life to be filled with the Spirit.

    5. The verb “be filled” in this verse is a present, passive imperative. What does this

       mean?  

       a. Present tense – it is an ongoing action. This is not a one-time thing. Like it or not

           your “bucket” has a hole in it. It has to keep on being refilled.

       b. Passive voice – it is dependent on the action of another. As we submit to the will

           of God (revealed by the Holy Spirit in Scripture) He fills our lives.

       c. Imperative – it is a command, not a suggestion.

C. In this text (5:18-6:9) Paul reveals how being filled with the Spirit affects our lives.

I. JOYFUL PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

    A. In verses 19 and 20 he says, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and

       spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; ²⁰ always

       giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the

       Father.”

       1. Compare this verse to Colossians 3:16 (in fact, you can compare this entire text

           to Colossians 3:16 – 25) – “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all

           wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and

           spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

       1.  In the book, Thou Shalt Worship the Lord Thy God, Andy T. Ritchie, Jr.,

           illustrated our singing with these words. “We might think of a deep well from

           which the clear water overflows and say that the Christian’s life is like that, and

           when the heart is filled with love and praise and gratitude the expression of these

           qualities cannot be stifled.” (Andy T. Ritchie, Jr., Thou Shalt Worship The Lord Thy God, Firm    

               Foundation Publishing House, Austin, TX/. 1969 pp110-111.)

       2. If your joy comes from your circumstances anything can take it away. If your joy

           Comes from the Holy Spirit nothing can take it away. The joy in our heart will

           overflow in praise and gratitude.

       3. Too often our focus is on the external sound rather than the internal heart. If you

           want to improve the quality of your worship improve the quality of your heart.

    B. The Spirit-filled life is also filled with thanksgiving.

       1. H.A. Ironside (1876-1951) was a well-known preacher and scholar during the first

           half of the 20^th century. On one occasion he was eating at a restaurant and

           paused to give thanks for his food. The man he was with said, “I earn my own

           money and buy my own food. I don’t give thanks to anybody or anything.”

           Ironside replied, “Just like my dog.”

       2. Lives fiilled with the Spirit overflow with gratitude.

II. RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS

    A. Paul gives three relational areas in which Spirit filled living is manifested.

       1. Relationships within the church (body of Christ).

           a. Vs. 21 – “And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.”

           b. Ephesians is a corporate letter. It is written to a body of believers. The church

               is not about ”me.” It is about “one another.”

           c. We consider one another’s needs. Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing from

               selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as

               more important than yourselves.” 

           d. We have become a very self-focused society. Our electronic age has greatly

               diminished human interaction. The Spirit filled life looks out for the needs of

               others.     

       2.  Families.

           a. Vs. 22 - Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”                                

               1.) The phrase “be subject to” causes a lot of problems with some people.

                    Here are two ideas for you to consider.

               2.) This passage is directly linked to the one before it. The phrase “be subject

                    to” is not even in verse 22. It is supplied by translators to show that the

                    action is being borrowed from the previous verse.
               3.) Consider Jesus. He was subject to his parents, the law of God, the

                    government authorities and ultimately to being executed on the cross.

                    Hebrews 5:8 says,, “He learned obedience through the things He suffered.”

               4.) The pattern for submission is the relationship the church has to Christ.

                    Everything about it is fostered in a spirit of love and respect.

           b. Husbands.

               1.) Verse 25 - “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the

                    church and gave Himself up for her.

               2.) If you are living a spirit filled life you will love your wife with the same

                    intensity and intimacy with which Christ loved the church and gave

                    Himself for it (Acts 20:28).

           c. Children

               1.) Chapter 6 verses 1-3 – ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is

                    right. ² Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with

                    a promise), ³ so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on

                    the earth.”

               2.) A spirit filled life means you submit to your parents. How old do you have to

                    be before you do not have to obey your parents?

       3. Fathers.

           a. Verse 4 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in

               the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

       4. Slaves and Masters.

           a. Verses 5-6 –  ^“Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to

               the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;

               ⁶ not by way of eye service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the

               will of God from the heart. “      

           b. Keep in mind that two thirds of the Roman Empire were slaves. It was not a

               racial issue but rather a conquest issue.

           c. A modern day application of this principle would be Employer/Employee

               relationships. Because of the Spirit of God in you make sure you give your

               best effort. Do you work to honor God, not man (Colossians 3:23).

CONCLUSION:

A. Last Sunday I shared an idea regarding Revelation 3:20 where Jesus said,

    “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,

    I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

    1. Jesus was speaking to His church.

    2. You and I must make the choice each day to open the door of our hearts and let

       Him in.

    3. We make a choice every day to allow God to fill us with His Spirit and to live

       according to the Spirit in our lives.

B. Where do we get this Spirit? Acts 2:38 - “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of

    you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you

    will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” May we assist you today?

Minor Prophets - Hosea

Sermon Notes, June 19, 2016 PM

Minor Prophets with a Major Message – Hosea

Steve W. Reeves

INTRODUCTION:

A. One of the greatest questions we face is, “What is God like?”

    1. Most of us in such an assembly as this believe God exists.

    2. We believe He created the heavens and earth. We believe, as Paul said to the

       Athenians in Acts 17:25, He “gives to all people life and breath and all things.”

    3. We spend our lifetime trying to grasp what God is like. I can remember sitting at

       the desk in my bedroom when I was a teenager writing a sermon on what God is

       like.

    4. What do you think God is like?

       a. Is God a mean old man in the sky waiting to zap you when you do something

           wrong? For many people religion is an exercise of “gotcha” with a long list of do’s

           and don’ts. I suspect all of us have witnessed this.

       b. Is God a heavenly scorekeeper keeping tabs on you and checking off a list of

           things you had better get right? Do we appease God’s wrath by our

           performance?

       c. Is God, “the man upstairs” who you turn to when you need something?

       d. Should we be afraid of Him? Should we treat Him casually?

B. How can we as limited, finite, temporal beings possibly understand a God who is

    unlimited, infinite and eternal? Can we ever wrap our minds around God? Can an ant

    comprehend an elephant?    

    1. God has never wanted people to guess. He has revealed His power and His

       attributes through the things He created (Romans 1:20).

    2. Hebrews 1:1-2 says that in times past He spoke through the fathers and the

       prophets and in these last days has spoken to us through His Son.  

C. In one of the greatest prophetic messages in the Old Testament God gives us an

    unmistakable illustrations of His steadfast love, covenant loyalty, relentless pursuit

    and unwavering desire to have a relationship with us. Let’s consider another minor

    prophet who had a major message – Hosea.

I. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

    A. The prophets of the 8^th century B.C. are more relevant for 21^st century America

       than any others.

       1. Jonah, Amos and Hosea prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel.

       2. Isaiah and Micah prophesied in the southern kingdom of Judah.

    B. This was a time of peace and prosperity. The young men were not having to go off

       and fight wars. People enjoyed a standard of living that was greater than they had

       ever known. There were a lot of people who gave the appearance of being

       religious.

       1. Aside from those initial appearances there was a lot of corruption.

       2. It was a time of broken promises. There was political chaos, bloodshed and

           hatred among the people. 

       3. Kyle Yates in Preaching Through the Prophets, comments, “Foolish and Godless

           rulers sought to further their own selfish schemes while the nations suffered and

           crumbled.”

       4. Political leaders set poor examples. Religion was immoral and corrupt.

       5. Family life was in shambles. Marriage was not honored. Commitments were not

           kept.

       6. Living in wealth and luxury they were unable to see beyond the

           satisfaction of their lusts to the larger purposes of God. The stern warnings of the

           prophet Amos fell of deaf ears.

    C. Following the death of Jeroboam II political unrest swept over the country. In 745

       B.C. Tiglath-Pileser rose to power as king of Assyia. To defend themselves against

       the mounting threat the new king of Israel, Pekah made an alliance with Resin, the

       king of Damascus. They were no match, however, for the fierce Assyrians who

       destroyed Damascus and then seized control of Israel.

    D. How did all of this chaos occur in Israel? Hosea lists seven steps in their

       downward spiral.

       1. Lack of knowledge – 4:6 – “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
           Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My

           priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your

           children.”

       2. Pride – 5:5 – “Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, And Israel and

           Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them.”

       3. Instability – 6:4 – “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you,

           O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes

           away early.”

       4. Worldliness 7:8 – “Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim has become

           a cake not turned.”

       5. Corruption 9:9 – “They have gone deep in depravity As in the days of Gibeah;

           He will remember their iniquity, He will punish their sins.”

       6. Backsliding – 11:7 – “So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they

           call them to the One on high, None at all exalts Him.”

       7. Idolatry – 13:2 – “And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves

           molten images, Idols skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of

           craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!”

II. THE PROPHET HOSEA

    A. Hosea means, “salvation” or “deliverance.”  (The English equivalent of Hosea is

       “Joseph.” When the Hebrews added the name of God YAHWEH to this word it

       became “Jeshua” or “Joshua).

       1. We don’t know much about Hosea’s background.

       2. Outside of the book of Hosea he is mentioned only one other time in the Bible in

           Romans 9:25, “As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My

           people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”      

       3. God does something through Hosea to a greater extent than any other prophet.

           He uses the experience of Hosea’s life and emotions to communicate how He

           feels about His people.

    B. Hosea’s story from chapters 1-3.

       1. Chapter 1:1 says the word of the Lord came to Hosea. We mentioned in our

           study of Jonah how the word of the Lord came to various individuals in the Bible

           including Abraham,, Moses, Samuel, Jonah and others. Here it came to Hosea.

       2. In verse 2 Hosea was instructed to take a wife. “When the Lord first spoke

           through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry

           and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the  

           Lord.”

           a. Was God really commanding Hosea to marry a prostitute? Some people say,

               “no” because of the command in Deuteronomy. Some say this is just allegory,

               others say that she wasn’t a prostitute when he married her but became one

               later.

           b. I believe the text is forthright. She was a prostitute. This was not an unusual

               thing due to the prevalence of cultic prostitution in Israel at this time. Jeremiah

               2:20, 3:6  – “She (Israel) went up on every high hill and under every green

               tree, and she was a harlot there.”

           c. Through Hosea’s marriage to this woman of harlotry God was saying, “My

               wife, Israel, is prostituting herself with other gods.”

           d. Throughout the Bible in both Old and New Testaments we find the metaphor

               of God being “married” to His people. The Jewish Rabbis referred to the

               wilderness wandering as their “honeymoon” with God who had taken Israel as

               his bride back in Egypt and carried them across the threshold of the Red Sea.

               In Ephesians 5 the Holy Spirit used intimacy of the husband wife relationship

               to describe the relationship between Christ and the church.  

       3. This woman’s name is “Gomer.” Her name means fullness or completeness. Her

           name represented the extent to which idolatry had permeated the land. Her

           father’s name, Diblaim was associated with raisin cakes which were used as

           sacrifices to idolatrous gods.

       4. Gomer gave birth to three children.

           a. A son, a daughter and another son.       

           b. Each of them is given a name that has to do with judgment. Jezreel, Lo-

               ruhamah and Lo-ammi. This is indicative of the judgment to come to Israel.

       5. You would think Gomer would have been content. She had a good husband and

           three children. Chapter 2 is a divorce decree that reveals the extent of her and of

           Israel’s unfaithfulness. In verse 5, “For their mother has played the harlot;

           She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my

           lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and   

           my drink.’

III. THE MESSAGE OF GOD

    A. Here is why I think Hosea’s message is so relevant for us.

       1. The Devil does everything he can to keep us away from God.

       2. One of his greatest tools is convincing us that we are not good enough for God to

           love us and save us.

           a. He wants us to believe we are too sinful.

           b. He wants us to doubt our significance. He tries to make us feel insignificant,

               unimportant and unloved.

       3. The message of Hosea’s experience in chapters 1-3 is that God’s care and love

           is not based upon our performance or even our righteousness.

    B. As the drama of Hosea’s marriage unfolds there are two important truths to

       recognize.

       1. The first of these is the heartache caused by sin.

           a. Though Gomer had become Hosea’s wife she continued to pursue immoral

              relationships.

           b. Though Israel had been redeemed by God they continued to pursue

               relationships with other gods. Remember the words of Hosea 2:5, “I will go

               after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax,

               my oil and my drink.”

           c. Can you imagine how Hosea felt? The hurt and pain of betrayal cannot be

               described nor comprehended by those who have not experienced it. Because

               of Gomer’s immoral conduct Hosea realized how God felt as Israel prostituted

               itself with idolatry and immorality.

           d. Whenever we sin we break the heart of God.

       2. The other important truth is that of God’s faithfulness.

           a. He never stops pursuing us with relentless, unchanging love.

           b. Though Gomer’s sin was great God commanded Hosea, “Go again, love a

               woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord

               loves the sons of Israel” (Hosea 3:1).

           c. Why did God want Hosea to pursue and reclaim his adulterous wife? He

               wanted to demonstrate how He loves His people.

           d. According to Hosea 3:2 the prophet paid a price that consisted of currency

               (fifteen shekels of silver) and commodities (one and a half homers of barley).

               The sum of these items reflects the sacrifice Hosea was willing to make to

               reclaim his sinful wife.

           e. In the book, He Loves Forever, by Tom Olbricht , the author explains the

               covenant loyalty and faithfulness of God. God’s grace is a result of His

               faithfulness. I am thankful that He is faithful even when I am not.

           f. Gomer, like us, was an unworthy recipient of grace.

CONCLUSION:

A. I hope our look at Hosea has helped you to see how much God loves you.

B. In consideration of His love for us how much do we love Him?

    1. Are we willing to submit to His will for our lives?

    2. Are we willing to put our faith in Christ and follow Him? Are there things in our lives

       we need to change?

    3. If you are not a Christian I urge you to accept God’s love, repent of your sins and

       be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. May we assist you?