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 20th 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
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?
