0:00 Can we show our appreciation to the praise team with our hands? I wish we could have kept going. That was glorious. And I just wanna let you know, Maranatha Bible Church, you're a gift. My life.
0:18 And I praise God for what he's doing in this church. And what I mean by this church, I'm not speaking about this building. I'm not speaking about the events that we have, necessarily. I'm speaking about you, Your lives, your consecration to the Lord, your love for the word of God, I, like Paul, always thank God the Father for you, for your faith, for your love for him. May it only grow and intensify for his glory, and may he continue to keep his hand on NBC in these trying and difficult times.
0:52 I I'm just so grateful today. I want to do something today different. I I don't want us to go to Mark today. This is gonna be a different message, one that, maybe a reminder to many of us, but even Peter said that we can be stirred up by way of reminder. My desire and my prayer is that this would demand and a response from us, that this would cause us to pursue the Lord in a new way, in a fresh way as we've entered into 2024.
1:28 And so I wanna look at one particular verse, and this verse is a command, but it's a command filled with so much promise, so much wonderful, glorious consequences. And my desire, again, is that as we hear it and unpack it together, it would create a cry in our hearts for us to experience it for ourselves. And so if you have a copy of God's word in your hands, I ask you to please meet me in the book of Ephesians in chapter five in verse 18. Here's what the Lord says to us today. Do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit.
2:30 And do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. This is not a suggestion. This is not an option. This is a command. Let's ask, Lord, to help us understand it and obey it.
2:49 Lord, we come to you wanting to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And Lord, even perhaps in our weakness now, we ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit. And we pray that the presence of the Holy Spirit would be so obvious to us, And that, Lord, the things that we will hear about the Holy Spirit filling us would cause us to yearn a greater, more intense, consistent, protective relationship with the Holy Spirit. We trust in your help at this time. In Jesus' name, we ask these things.
3:34 Amen. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is my exhortation to you today. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. And before we understand what this means, I wanna give you a heads up that we're gonna look at this with three headings, three very simple headings.
3:50 I want us to, number one, understand what the meaning of being filled with the spirit is. I want us to then consider, secondly, the effects of being filled with the spirit. And then lastly, I want us to understand very clearly the ways that we are filled with the holy spirit, the meaning of being filled with the holy spirit, the effects of being filled with the holy spirit, and the way or ways that we can know the filling of the Holy Spirit. And before we can understand the meaning of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, let's clarify two major misconceptions concerning this verse that a new believer might have or perhaps a misunderstood student of the word of God. The first thing that we need to understand is that Paul is not suggesting that as Christians, we are void of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
4:43 And though we have confessed faith in Christ, it is our responsibility to somehow acquire him. That is not the case. For one simple reason, and the reason is this, that when you call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, when you offer your repentant faith, you know the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit. You receive him as a guarantee.
5:10 And so the very same epistle where we're told, be filled of the Holy Spirit, assures us in the first chapter of our inheritance of the Holy Spirit upon our confession, upon our faith in Christ. So look at Ephesians chapter one verse 13. The same letter. The same author who says, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. And so upon salvation, you receive the Holy Spirit.
5:51 You receive his person. You receive his seal. You receive the guarantee that he will be with you and he will sanctify you until the day of redemption. And so this is not Paul suggesting that you and I have to search and strive for the Holy Spirit's presence and reality to be known in our lives. He's there when you believed in the son of God.
6:15 A second probably more common misconception that may be true for many believers is that Paul in saying be filled with the Holy Spirit is inferring that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is incremental. In other words, that when we're saved, we receive like a portion of the Holy Spirit, and then it's up to us to have more of the Holy Spirit. And depending on our hunger and our spiritual disciplines, that will determine how much of the Holy Spirit you will experience. And so you have some who, again, innocently might believe, well, here's somebody who has a quarter of the Holy Spirit, who who here's somebody who's a little bit more spiritual, so they have maybe reached the halfway point of the Holy Spirit, and there are very few who have the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And the reason why that might be confusing is because Paul contrast the filling of the Holy Spirit with the negative command of not being drunk with wine.
7:13 And we understand that to be drunk with wine, you have to drink it, and it's a substance. And so they kinda misapply the parallel misapply the parallel and they equate drinking alcohol with the experience of the Holy Spirit filling us, and so they kind of view the Holy Spirit as a substance. That you can have, empty tank, a full tank, a three quarter filled tank of the Holy Spirit, and here's where this is clarified. The Holy Spirit is not And sometimes you even hear this the way people pray or refer to the Holy Spirit as an it. No.
7:55 He's a he. He's a person. What does that imply? Well, if we just learned that upon salvation and believing, you receive the sealing of the Holy Spirit and he's a person. Well, what does that mean?
8:08 You receive all of him. You don't receive a quarter of a person. You don't receive half of a person. You receive a person in his totality. And so Paul is not suggesting again that the Holy Spirit can be known in fragments or in units.
8:23 He's a person, and when he seals you, you have all of him. Okay. Good. So we clarified these two misconceptions, but it still begs the question. What does it mean for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
8:38 Again, if we have an understanding that he is a person and we receive all of him, then what does this suggest? And here's what I proposed to you. A phrase that I've used before, a phrase that I believe is worth repeating. Perhaps Paul's argument here in commanding us to be filled with the Holy Spirit is less about us seeking to have more of Him, and it's actually about Him having more of us. This is less about us having more of the Holy Spirit, and this is actually more about the Holy Spirit having more of you.
9:24 You can safely replace the word filled with the word controlled. Do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be controlled with the spirit. You're saying why would you do that? And is it appropriate to do that? And I say absolutely it is because that is the very essence of Paul's command here.
9:49 That is the very reason why he connects being filled with the Holy Spirit with the negative command of not getting drunk with wine. So this insertion is appropriate if it helps you clarify the meaning, because the reality is that when somebody is inebriated by wine, what happens to somebody that arrives that state of mind? They are under the control of another substance. So what Paul is saying is, don't get under the control of another substance. If you're gonna be under the control of anything, let it be the Holy Spirit.
10:23 Let him fill you. Let him intoxicate you. Let him be the thing that determines your behavior, your words, your actions, your walk in life. This is what he is getting at. Be controlled of the Holy Spirit.
10:38 To be filled is to have him have absolute domination of who you are as a follower of Jesus Christ. Why do people pursue intoxication or any other substance that removes them from sobriety and brings them to another state of mind? They do so intentionally. It's not accidental. And the main reason is because to do so offers something that these people believe that they need.
11:08 So let's talk about that for a moment. When you think about those who find joy or are finding themselves bound by alcoholism, some rely on it to forget. To forget their troubles. Forget their troubles of the past, their worries for tomorrow, and so they indulge and over indulge in this substance as an escaping agent to numb themselves from the unfavorable realities that they are facing. This is a way to feel carefree.
11:39 And sometimes that's what you see with people who are intoxicated. They loosen up. They're able to have a song in their mouths. They can laugh and and there are other obvious negative consequences that follow. Others actually depend on drinking to aid them.
11:55 And so it's not really an escape mechanism, it's more an assistance. And some people in the world today rely on this to loosen up again in social settings, to become less self conscious, to be more approachable, and to find the confidence to approach others. So this is really some kind of form of help to them. And so they come to a place where they are intoxicated so that they can be someone else. Others simply enjoy the sensation of drunkenness.
12:27 It's an experience and an excuse to, again, be somewhere else, be someone else that demands and comes at a price of abandoning a sober mind, and our God champions sobriety. All in all, listen, we can confidently say that for most reasons, drunkenness is a form of aid and it is an entryway into a desirable experience. A form of aid and an entryway into a desirable experience and in some sense and to an extent this is what Paul is saying about being filled with the Holy Spirit. He offers the same. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to tap into a holy assistance, a state of mind that makes way for a sanctifying, joy filled, God glorifying experience.
13:15 And not just for a moment, not just a buzz, but as a way of life depending on your willingness to yield to his control as Paul suggests here. And that's in fact the reason for this exhortation. This is the prayerful reason for this message today that as you hear what Paul has to say, you would realize that he, the spirit through him, longs for each of us to reach a state of the Christian life that the spirit is willing to bring us into. Look at Ephesians five fifteen. This is the context.
13:51 In the same section where he says be filled with the Holy Spirit, he says earlier, look carefully then how you walk, Not as unwise, but as wise. Paul is concerned about how we walk. And walk is a simple term of a way of life. Your consistent way of life. Your day to day way of life.
14:10 And so in the same place where he says, I want you to be careful and calculated and strategic and invested, mindful of how you walk. Consider this exhortation, be filled to the Holy Spirit. If you're gonna walk this walk that God wants you to have, if you wanna reach the heights of glorious promise and experience that you must know something of a constant filling of the Holy Spirit. If drunkenness affects your behavior, so does being filled with the Holy Spirit. You know that drunkenness enhances the likelihood of our actions and our speech to be more embarrassing, shameful, foolish, regretful, and downright destructive on every level.
14:54 And on the other hand, to be filled with the Holy Spirit increases a different behavioral pattern. The fruit of the Holy Spirit. You know them. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Holy Spirit longs to make that more manifest, to stretch those realities, to grow you into that place where you are walking garden that glorifies the Lord with a special fragrance that he enables and stimulates.
15:32 Some of us who are the unfortunate witnesses of what drunkenness does to a person realize that when they bring themselves to that place, they become a different person. And it makes you act like a completely different individual. And I argue in the same way the Holy Spirit offers the same outcome. And when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you are a different person. Not in a shameful way, not in an embarrassing way, but in an amazing way.
16:04 What does the Holy Spirit want you to be like? Who does he want you to be like? The son of God, Christ Jesus. If drunkenness affects your behavior, so does being filled with the Holy Spirit. If drunkenness has an impact on those around us, so does being filled with the holy spirit.
16:20 If you know a person who has developed a habit of getting drunk, you also know that they developed a reputation along with it. The drunken doesn't usually improve their relationships. They don't really offer much positive force and impact on social gatherings, at least civilized ones. Disorder, inappropriateness, lack of sensitivity, and loss of control, sometimes violence is usually what drunkards bring to the table. And in the same way, a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit does make an impression on others.
16:52 But for the good, they carry a blessed fragrance as I said, not a repulsive one. And there's no doubt that the aroma that they exude from the spirits influence is recognizable and it is delightful to those who are around them. Let me prove that to you. When there was a need in the local church, in the early church in Acts chapter six, there was a practical ministry need. And when the resumes were needed, the requirements for the candidates were spelled out in Acts chapter six verse three.
17:27 Where we're told by the apostles who instructed the church, therefore brothers, in Acts six three, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit. Find men who are full of the spirit and of wisdom whom we will appoint to this duty. You know what this tells me? This is what it tells me. Being filled with the spirit is not a distinguishing mark between the saved and the unsaved.
17:54 It's a distinguishing mark among the saved. Yes, we all receive the Holy Spirit when we're saved, but not all of us are walking in the filling of the Holy Spirit. And so as believers, the early church indicates, the scriptures indicate because there's effects of being filled with the Holy Spirit. We can look at believers and say, that person's filled with the Holy Spirit, that person ain't. That person's walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, that person is sorely lacking.
18:25 He says, look for men who are full of the Holy Spirit. Evidently, I can see, I can know, I can study. This is a person who's filled with the Holy Spirit. And I don't know about you, but although I am eternally grateful for being sealed by the Holy Spirit, sealed until the day of redemption, I am not willing to live my life uncontrolled by the Holy Spirit. I want it.
18:48 I wanna live it. I want it to mark my life. And some may be content to take Paul's command here as a suggestion. And not to take it as a command, not to take it seriously, but I wanna remind you that there is a great cost at approaching this command and hearing it with indifference. A great cost.
19:07 You're gonna hear the effects and I pray that it gives you a divine jealousy. And it sets you on a path to live dependent upon the Holy Spirit. But there are things beyond this message, this one message to communicate the great treasures that come with being filled with the Holy Spirit. But let me make this comment here. Under the point that if drunkenness impacts those around us, so does being filled with the Holy Spirit.
19:32 If you examine the book of Acts carefully, you will notice that there is a pattern. And the pattern that you will notice is that when the Lord desires to accomplish something in his church, through his church, he will often do so by recruiting a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit. God uses people who are filled with the Holy Spirit. So you just read in an Acts chapter six verse three. There was a need in the church, find several men who are full of the Holy Spirit.
20:06 It doesn't end there. Go with me to Acts again. You're already there? I'm sure. So that's Acts six three.
20:12 Look at Acts nine seventeen. So Ananias departed and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, he said, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. So here's Saul of Tarsus who had a temporary blindness. God sent this man, Ananias, to minister to him, to lay hands on him. The scales would fall from his eyes, but he would also know a filling of the Holy Spirit, and it would be necessary for the ministry that he was called to.
21:01 Paul needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Look at Acts chapter 11 verse 22. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose for he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
21:42 So here are these several men in Acts chapter six. There was a ministry need and through the discernment of the leaders, the apostle of the early church, find men who are full of the Holy Spirit. Here's Paul, the great apostle, Ananias was sent to him for a mission, a purpose, a great purpose. He needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Here's Barnabas sent to the church at Antioch and we're given a description of this man who is effective for the Lord, who was a trustworthy individual, who is fruitful and effective in his ministry.
22:15 Why? For he was a good man, not just a good man, he was full of the Holy Spirit. If you are a person who desires to be used of God, then you will take Paul's command seriously here. You will want to be full of the Holy Spirit, walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, protecting your fullness in the spirit because God uses people who are filled with the Holy Spirit. And it's obvious when the Lord recruits those among his own, he finds those who are yielded to the Spirit's influence.
22:51 If drunkenness affects your behavior, so does being filled with the Holy Spirit. If drunkenness impacts those around you, so does being filled with the Holy Spirit. If drunkenness promises a happier in look and outlook, being filled with the spirit guarantees it. I can remember my days in high school and college as a professing Christian, a whitewashed tomb, pretty on the outside, dead on the inside. And I remember being among those who were not even whitewashed tombs.
23:23 They were just walking skeletons. And I can remember whenever we would gather together in social gatherings, seems as though we couldn't get together unless we had alcohol. Seems like we couldn't do anything unless somebody went and made a trip to the near liquor store, and and I remember even being an unsafe person thinking to myself at one point, why is it that almost every single time we hang out, whether it's in a basement or we're going out to some kind of event, we need to put this nasty stuff in our mouth to come to a place where we have no control. Even then, I thought it was strange. There was such a dependency on this to just even have a good time, to apparently make memories.
24:18 In one sense, Paul is telling these believers not to turn to drunkenness, to try to tap into a bliss or state of ecstasy. You know why? Because you have the Holy Spirit. You have everything that you need in him. You know what the psalmist said.
24:35 Right? In Psalm four verse seven, You have put more joy in my heart than they when their grain and wine abound. You have put more joy in my heart in Psalm four verse seven than they. When their grain and their wine abound, I have more than them, more security, more assurance, more joy because I have him. If drunkenness tries to allure people with an happier outlook in look, the Holy Spirit guarantees it.
25:14 This is what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not so much about us having more of him, but about him having more of us. And so now I wanna speak to you about the effects of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Because what I just said to you were just general observations. But the apostle Paul here in this very same text gives us four specific practical outcomes that we inherit and we enjoy when we do know the filling of the Holy Spirit.
25:42 So let's read it back in Ephesians five. We read verse 18. Let's read it again and continue the thought in verse 19 down. 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, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Between verse 19 to 21, what you have here is Paul spelling out the sequence of the results when one is walking in the filling of the Holy Spirit.
26:32 And I believe that there are four, four, not limited to these four. We could talk about boldness and courage and preaching and witnessing and all these different things that are found in the New Testament, but I wanna speak to you of the highlighted outcomes that Paul spells out. The main ones that can ensue from a person who has received the filling of the Holy Spirit. So here four, if you wanna know what you can know, if you take this command seriously, this is what you will experience. Being filled number one with the Holy Spirit causes us causes us to be actively engaged within a community of faith.
27:12 Being filled with the Holy Spirit causes us to be actively engaged within a community of faith. Saying where do you see that from? Well again, this is from Paul's first mark. Notice how this point of singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs is in the context of the first few words of verse 19, addressing one another. Addressing one another.
27:37 He's not speaking about you singing in your kitchen. Although that's true and the Holy Spirit can cause a song in your heart while you do your dishes. It's true as you're driving in your car. It's true as you're taking a walk. The filling of the Holy Spirit can cause you to sing passionately unto the Lord.
27:54 Yes. But Paul's concern here is that there is a singing that takes place in the context of addressing one another, implying relationships. When you're filled with the Holy Spirit, understand this, you will be somebody who will be driven, excited, longing, convicted about being in a consistent and invested community of believers. The Holy Spirit does not cause you to justify isolation. He does not cause you to be cynical towards the local church.
28:37 He does not cause you to have a light commitment to the body of Jesus Christ. When the Holy Spirit fills you, you will have a heart swollen toward the bride of Christ. Your life will be very much orbited around a community of believers who regularly meet to sing, to receive the word, to worship, and to serve, that's what the Holy Spirit will do in you. And if a professing follower of Christ does not have that conviction and that belief, that could very well be a sign that not only are they lacking insight, let me say this boldly, but they are lacking the presence and the influence of the Holy Spirit in his fullness in their lives. Full stop.
29:29 So a person who doesn't take the local church seriously is a person, in my estimation according to this, who does not know the filling of the Holy Spirit. Because when you're filled, you will love the church. When you're filled, you will serve in the church. Notice my language, it's very specific. Actively engaged within a community of faith.
29:51 Actively engaged. You won't be able to help it. You'll be so stirred. You remember what it was like when you knew the filling of the Holy Spirit by the grace of God when you first got saved. Church was exciting.
30:05 You were longing. Nothing could get in your way. Well, you don't have to just reminisce on those memories. You can know it for the rest of your life through the help of the Holy Spirit. He increases that desire, he protects that desire and he gives you the energy to be actively engaged with other believers, addressing one another.
30:30 The Holy Spirit's filling will cause you to know one another in your Christian walk. Being filled with the Holy Spirit causes that. Number two, being filled with the Holy Spirit causes to sing wholeheartedly unto the Lord. What does he say in that same verse? Addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord.
30:57 Now notice this, with your heart. So I'm not speaking here about a singing that is superficial. I'm not I'm not speaking here about a singing that is distracted. I'm not here, sing speaking about a singing that is under compulsion. What Paul is saying here is that when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit to one another, the Holy Spirit can be in our singing but it requires us to be filled with him and ultimately to the Lord.
31:30 May I make a side note as well, notice what Paul says here in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Do you notice the variety of style mentioned here? You have churches who are dividing, splitting over styles of singing. And Paul here is very open to a variety of styles. You know what Paul Paul and the Holy Spirit is more concerned more than anything?
31:56 Substance. Substance. And so as long as the style doesn't interfere or dilute the substance, we have license to offer the Lord a variety ways of singing to him. Maybe somebody need to be encouraged by that as well. Being filled causes us to sing passionately unto the Lord.
32:26 Let our singing be accurate. Let it be honorable. There is variety available. But what the Lord is pressing on here is that there is something from the heart that he helps us bring to each other and to God. Being filled, number three, with the Holy Spirit causes us to offer radical gratitude.
32:47 Radical gratitude. Verse 20, giving thanks always and for everything to God the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the quality of thanksgiving. He says always and he says for everything. That's supernatural.
33:09 That can only come from the Holy Spirit's help. And just like singing, there is a thanksgiving from the heart that God wants to help us know and express. This This is not a hypocritical Thanksgiving. This is not a gritting your teeth. This is the Christian kind of thing to do to give thanks.
33:28 Though I really feeling, many other emotions that don't make sense to give thanks with. And that is not to say let me say this. That is not to say that being thankful always and for everything deletes any other feelings. Because when he says for everything, that means for everything in difficult times, in trying times, in pressing times, in challenging times. You can know sorrow, it doesn't make you less spiritual.
33:56 You can weep, it doesn't make you less Christian or sensitive to God or faithful, trusting in his promises. Paul in a catalog, in Corinthians expresses that. Right? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing and he lists different things that seem paradoxical. But it's true because of the Holy Spirit.
34:15 What this means is that despite what you're being cascaded with, that might want to bring you down, that might want to make you somber and unpleasant, you can still know gratitude. With all of that complexity in your heart, you can know this dominant sense of thanksgiving to who? Look at this. God, not just God, God the father. God the father.
34:44 Always and for everything, you can see God as father and address him as such. I may not understand this. I may not comprehend, but I can still see him as father and address him as such. I think of Paul in in one of my favorite examples of his thankful spirit, when he was on his way to Rome. And that was a very bumpy journey.
35:11 Weeks at sea, storm tossed, no sunlight, anxiety that so crippled those on the ship they couldn't even eat. And Paul, who was a prisoner on that ship, ends up becoming the captain of it. I love that. Such control, such revelation, such absolute faith. And you've heard me say this over and over again whenever we speak about trusting God.
35:33 It's one of my favorite examples. Paul could be so confident because he was told early in Acts 23 by the Lord Jesus himself, you're going to Rome. You're gonna go to Rome and testify about me. That's why Paul was so unmoved. But here he is now, taking charge of the ship, leading the people in a pastoral way almost.
35:53 And there's this one little sliver of light among other rays of light in that story. Let me read it to you in Acts 27 verse 35. Just envision it. Here they are in this ship ready to fall apart, not knowing north from west, south from east. And we read here about Paul.
36:14 And when he had said these things, he took bread and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat. I love that sight. The deafening wind, the crashing waves, All these other men, professional sailors and soldiers, weak in the body, weak in the mind, and here's Paul standing strong, chest out, exhorting them. And in the middle of all of this, he takes bread and he gives thanks to God. And he breaks it and he eats.
36:59 Do you know how you can do that in the middle of a storm? Do you know how you can do that in the middle of chaos? Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Again, you you can hear this and say, oh, man. You mean you're saying I gotta do all this to be filled with no.
37:15 No. No. I'm saying you gotta be filled with the Holy Spirit and you can do all of this. Don't put the cart before the horse. So this is a command, but this is a command pregnant with so much promise.
37:27 Get excited about what the Holy Spirit's willing and able to do in you. Being filled with the Holy Spirit causes us to offer radical gratitude always and for everything. Number four, being filled with the Holy Spirit causes us to be in loving submission to one another. Verse 21, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Remember that that's tied into verse 18.
37:55 Right? So verse 18 is the cup and what's being poured out of the cup is all of these things. And the last thing here mentioned is submitting to one another. And so here's what Paul is saying, that to be filled with the Holy Spirit causes us as individual believers to be lowly. And the loneliness that Paul has in mind here is measured by how we are willing to come alongside other believers in order to support them and to serve them with absolute humility and sincerity.
38:25 Submitting to one another, elevating your needs, elevating who you are above myself. And the spirit is ready to stimulate a longing, a lot like a genuine longing. Not just, this is my duty as a Christian. No. A real thing.
38:42 It gets in your blood where you look at another Christian you say, I really wanna honor you. I really wanna help you. I really wanna respect you. I really wanna listen to you. I really am willing to endure your shortcomings even.
38:55 I'm willing to do anything to maintain harmony in this place. And the Holy Spirit with that cancels the urge to push for your own way, to manipulate things, and to have your agenda creep into situations or ministries. He cancels that. Because when you're filled with them, he replaces selfish ambition with spirit led submission. And if you and I need help in knowing what that exactly means, how does it look like to submit one another?
39:31 Oh, be excited to know the reach of it, the depth of it, the spheres and the circles that it is willing to impact. Because we read this and then we see this little title, if you have the ESV, wives and husbands. And then we read what's commonly referred to in the context of marriage, teaching about marriage. But do you realize we're still in the same context of being filled with the Holy Spirit? So verse 21, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
39:57 Okay. Paul's done here. He's moving on to another point. No. He's not.
40:01 He's now expanding upon the different areas where the submission can be known. And what does he say next? Wives, submit to your own husbands as of the Lord. Husbands, loving your wives. Right?
40:13 Look at verse one of chapter six. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Look what you read here in verse five. Bondservants obey your earthly masters.
40:25 Verse nine, masters do the same to them. Do you want your marriage to be blessed? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Children, do you want an enriched relationship with your parents? Do you wanna do your part and fulfill your duty?
40:45 Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Fathers, do you wanna know how you can raise your children as an example, as a discipler? Mothers, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Employers, do you wanna be a better boss to your employees? Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
41:00 Employees, do you wanna be a better contributor in your work field? Be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is what he's saying, submitting to one another. And let me show you where the Holy Spirit can help you. In your house, in your marriage, with your children, with your parents, with your coworkers, everywhere.
41:16 He impacts every sphere of your life. This is what he's saying. And so you can't know blessings in your relationships unless you first establish this relationship with the Holy Spirit. How do we summarize all these realities? How do we summarize these promises and these outcomes?
41:38 Very simple. The filling of the Holy Spirit will enrich your fellowship with God and it will sweeten your interactions and your commitments to one another. That's what he's ready to do. That's what he's longing to do. That's what the blood of Jesus made available to you and to me.
41:57 To enrich your fellowship with God and to sweeten the interactions and the commitments that you have to others. These are the effects of being filled with the Holy Spirit. So how do I get it? What is the way in which I am filled with the Holy Spirit? We might agree that to know the control of the Holy Spirit, we must first surrender to the Holy Spirit.
42:21 Lord, here's every part of my life. Here's my marriage. Here's my work. Here's my ministry. I want you to have full control of it.
42:29 That's pretty evident. And from there some might say, well, there's so many things that come to mind in terms of the promise and even the availability of the Holy Spirit through prayer that we pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we pray. We pray and we ask Holy Spirit, fill me. Holy Spirit, fill me.
42:44 Holy Spirit, fill me. As I'm about to go into this meeting, fill me. As I'm about to preach this message, fill me. As I'm about to have a a difficult confrontation with a fellow believer, fill me. Yes, you can pray for it.
42:54 You should always pray for it. But I wanna speak about a component being filled with the Holy Spirit that is often overlooked, that is not considered, that when you do see it, I'm sure will change the way you view this very thing. And the only way to see it is if you are willing to read a larger portion of a New Testament text and something will go off, I assure you, unless you haven't been paying attention. If you have been paying attention, what I'm about to read and ask you to read with me, a light bulb will go off and you will see a paralleling truth that will unlock one of the main ways in which you and I know how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Okay?
43:31 Here's our final text in Colossians. In chapter three, let's begin in verse 16. In Colossians three verse 16. Colossians three sixteen. The apostle Paul writing to a different group of Christians, but you're gonna see something that'll perhaps surprise you.
43:58 Colossians three sixteen reads, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, Singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the father through him. Now check this out in verse 18. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
44:31 Children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. Not by way of eye service, as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Does that sequence look familiar?
44:50 It should and it is. It almost mirrors Ephesians five eighteen to 21 perfectly. The same kind of thought pattern, the same kind of outcomes, but notice the cause. What was the cause of singing, of giving thanks, of submitting to one another? The cause was being filled with the Holy Spirit.
45:10 What is the cause here in Colossians three sixteen? Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. What does that mean? To achieve, to know the filling of the Holy Spirit is correlated to richly investing God's word in your life. So you wanna be filled with the spirit.
45:34 Yeah? Here's what you can say with these two texts married to one another. Consume God's word. Now think about it. Again, we can go back to the metaphor or rather the connection between getting drunk with wine and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
45:54 You can take that analogy too far. You can overly explain that. But I think even in that, we have a clue to what it takes to be filled with the Holy Spirit. What does it take for somebody to get drunk? Not thinking about drunkenness.
46:08 You gotta consume. You gotta drink it. You gotta put it in your mouth. You gotta pick it up. You gotta go buy it.
46:14 You gotta be willing to endure the taste of it. Let it get into your bloodstream for it to have an effect on you. Paul's saying, don't do that. Don't drink that. Drink this instead.
46:29 Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Again, he's not a substance but the idea there of consuming something in order to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, I think is very appropriate. And when you come to Colossians, you see the substance that we must consume in order to arrive there. Consume the word of God. Indulge in it.
46:52 You can't nibble at the Bible and expect to be filled. That's not gonna happen. But when you feast on it, and when you want to master it, and when you code it, and when you saturate yourself with it, because notice his wording here in Colossians three sixteen. He didn't say let the word of Christ dwell in you. He said let the word of Christ dwell in you what?
47:21 Richly. Richly. A person doesn't get intoxicated by taking a sip of something. They have to drink more. They have to drink a lot.
47:35 And in the same case here, if you wanna know the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life, you need to know the word of Christ richly. You know what that word richly means? Abundantly. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to consume large portions of scripture every single day. Some people do that and there's no effect of the word of God in their lives.
47:57 Just to say I read this many chapters isn't gonna cut it. But to have this view of the scriptures, to have this longing to be deep in the scriptures, to have this desire to be mastered by the scriptures, you're saying, well, how does that work? How does letting the word of Christ dwell in me richly correlate and contribute to the reality of me being filled with the Holy Spirit? Very simple. Who authored it?
48:18 The Holy Spirit. Are these words natural? No. They are supernatural. They're supernatural nature and they're supernaturally experienced when they are met with faith and eagerness and humility.
48:33 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and then here are the sequence of things you can expect. You know, you have people who say very strange things in Christendom. I'm not a word guy, I'm a spirit guy. What does that mean? What does that mean?
48:51 You can't know the spirit unless you have the word. You can't. And there's so many people who equate the spirit's work and even the spirit's filling to some mystical strange experience. Can we experience the holy spirit? Yes.
49:10 Can the holy spirit do supernatural things? Yes. Can he open our eyes and can he do something in us and around us that is above the natural? Yes. He can.
49:23 But to think that the Holy Spirit's filling is something to be sought after or separated from the word of God, you are dead wrong. You are dead wrong. Now again, I've seen this with my own eyes. Even in the context of preaching. That people who believe that they're led by the spirit don't rely on the word.
49:44 They don't study with the word. They almost see that as something that again, is not spirit led, not spiritual. Well, you don't know the bible evidently. You don't know what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You wanna be filled, you wanna know his influence, you wanna know his leading, you're gonna love the bible.
50:03 And you're gonna invest your time and you're gonna drink and consume. And if you don't, if you don't have the word of Christ dwelling in you richly, can I say something? You're gonna be weak in your singing. If you don't have the word of Christ dwelling in you richly, you are going to be weak in your thanksgiving. If you don't have the word of Christ dwelling in you richly, you will be weak.
50:26 You will be weak in your relationship with others. If you don't have the word of Christ dwelling you richly, you will not know the blessing of being with and part of the local church. You will not know a blessed marriage if you're not with the word of God and in the word of God richly. You will not know a blessing in your relationship with your children. You will not know a blessing in your relationship with your parents and any other sphere of relationship.
50:50 But when you have this word, you invest in your heart the guidelines, the principles, the promises, the truth, and even the energy that the Holy Spirit works with and through to make you a person full of him. Full of him. So how is one main way I am filled? Colossians tells us. Let this word reign in your life.
51:16 Ask the Lord for this word to be sweet to you. Ask the Lord as we come to a close to expand your appetite because you know what's that cost many things and one of the things is the Holy Spirit's filling in our lives. My friends, my brothers, my sisters, I exhort you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And I praise God that he's made it so simple and so clear. And I pray that after all that you've heard, what can come about when we are filled with the Holy Spirit would make you very ambitious to seek it.
51:53 Someone asked D. L. Moody once if he was filled with the Holy Spirit. D. L.
52:00 Moody, are you filled with the Holy Spirit? And you know what he said? Yes. But I often leak. And that is true.
52:12 Because to be filled with the Holy Spirit is not just one time thing. It's something that you and I walk in and we seek after. And although it's a promise from God, it's conditioned upon a willing heart to say, you know what? I don't wanna be in the driver's seat. Let me park.
52:27 Lord, you take the driver's seat. And the way you do that is when you learn of him and you submit to what you read here. When the Holy Spirit sees that investment, he comes and he does supernatural things in your life. Father, we thank you for the promise. The promise of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the effects of being filled with the Holy Spirit, the way we can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
52:54 Thank you that we can pray for it. Thank you that we can posture ourselves for it. Thank you also that you've reminded us that this book is supernatural. It is God breathed. And when we breathe it in, we breathe in the influence of the Holy Spirit.
53:13 Lord, let faith arise. For some who might have heard this message and say that sounds too simplistic, help us believe again in the supernatural component of our faith that you're ready to help us. And Lord, for those who might be lacking joy, for those who might find their hope in other things, maybe people or substances, remind us again that we have everything in the Holy Spirit. We have so much in him. And so, Lord, now even now, we ask that you would fill us with the Holy Spirit so that what we're about to do in this moment, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another and to the Lord would be from the heart.
54:04 So blow, Lord, a fresh wind into our sails. And may you be glorified in how we walk, not just now, but for the rest of this week as we daily say, Lord, fill me. As we come to this word and we say, fill me. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
54:23 Amen. So I exhort you now as you stand with me, address one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in your hearts to the Lord. Let's stand and offer to one another the edification and offer primarily to the Lord, a sacrifice of praise that he is worthy of.
