Sermon Topic: The Filling of the Holy Spirit

Sermon Title: Under the Influence: Filled With His Fullness

Primary Text: Eph. 5:15-21

Craig Allen – July 2003

Eph. 5:15-21

¹⁵Be very careful, then, how you walk--not as unwise but as wise,

¹⁶making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

¹⁸And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,²⁰giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

²¹submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (combo: NIV/NKJV/ESV)

BIG IDEA: The Christian Community and spiritual impact we long for is experienced as we are filled with the Holy Spirit and participate in the supernatural empowering life of Christ through us.

PREACHING GOALS:

Þ Inform and clarify the meaning(s) of “spirit-filling”,

Þ help people grasp the connections between “spirit-filling” and resultant relationships with God (worship) and believers (fellowship),

Þ and inspire believers to live lives of continuous “filling”, so that Christ be formed in them and revealed in the Community.

INTRODUCTION:

I love our banners! Would you look at them? Go ahead – look around!

The ones in the back – notice how they point us to the Gospel: Jesus was crucified, but He arose, and He’s alive! This one on the left – it’s calling us to Prayerful Dependence on God; It’s a call to a life of Worship. These 2 on the front walls – Our Mission and our Vision – call us to Make Faithful Followers of Jesus and Evangelize the lost so that God is glorified. And this one on your right – it calls us personal Godliness, to have a Godly Attitude.

These banners collectively reveal our spiritual call, the heights to which we aspire as Christ’s church. Aren’t these aspects of the kind of community you want to be a part of?

Let’s think and dream further. Can you imagine:

- seeing God ignite a boldness among us to where our people are courageously sharing their faith!

- Every time you come to this place, that it is filled with conversation – people who just can’t wait to talk to one another, to speak with you and hear from you.

- Every time we sing that we “raise the roof” with our praise and worship because we must express our WORSHIP or we will burst!

- A place where we rarely hear grumblings, because everyone’s conversation is focused on thanking God for everything.

- A place with no pride issues, no power-plays or demands, but where everyone is eager to submit to everyone else.

Is this the kind of place your heart is longing for?

My heart often grieves at the distance between the reality of life as it is, here under the sun; and life as it will be in heaven. And I can wonder: Is the picture I’ve described even possible? The BAD news is: No…it’s not. Rejoice always? Give thanks in everything? No – in our flesh – we are absolutely unable to pull it off!

The kind of Christian community and Christian experience we long for – is a Supernatural calling, a Supernatural life – it only comes by Supernatural means.

But here is the GOOD NEWS: This is exactly why Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit! This supernatural life is the very life of Christ formed in us by the Holy Spirit – God’s indwelling Presence, by means of our being “filled with the Spirit.”

[Title Slide]

That is the topic for this morning – what it means to be filled with the very Spirit of God.

Today:

- I want to help clarify how the “filling of the Spirit” is described in Scripture.

- I want to develop our clearest teaching on this phrase (in Eph. 5) to help you grasp the connections between “spirit-filling” and life in Christian Community – the expressions of Worship and Fellowship – that result from this filling.

- And I want to inspire you to live lives of continuous Spirit-filling so that Christ can be formed in you, in us, and revealed in this Community called S.Gables!

All this is toward the goal of us owning this truth:

The Christian Community and spiritual impact we long for is experienced as we are filled with the Holy Spirit and participate in the supernatural empowering life of Christ through us.

We’re going on a fast-paced ride this morning… Please pray with me…

What is “the filling of the Spirit”?

1. First I’d like to say: What it Is Not!

“Filling” of/by/with the Holy Spirit is NOT the same thing as “Spirit-baptism”. There has been much confusion on this topic. I won’t take time to develop the meaning of “baptism” of the Spirit, but simply differentiate it from the Holy Spirit’s “filling” work.

The key Scripture verse to understand Spirit Baptism is I Cor. 12:13 which reads:

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body.”

From this verse we can distinguish significant differences between the role and purpose of Spirit Baptism and Spirit-filling.

Spirit Baptism Spirit Filling

- 1 time at Conversion - happens repeatedly in the Christian Life

- initiation into Christ’s body - gives us power for effective spiritual ministry

- happens to all believers - commanded for believers (some pursue and are filled)

- for eternal life - for effective evangelism, worship and fellowship

What else is it Not?

· “Speaking in Tongues” (or any other specifically manifested Spiritual Gift or Fruit)

· “2^nd Step” process of personal holiness (that puts us on a higher plane)

· not a “feeling” for my personal benefit (we have no Scr. authorization to

know how it feels to be filled with the Spirit.)

Also-

· not something to ignore or be passive about (as if it doesn’t matter, or it will

simply just happen on it’s own.)

I want to draw attention to Scripture’s descriptions of

2. What “filling” Sometimes looks like: Examples of the Extraordinary.

Sometimes, the scriptural examples of “being filled with the Spirit” look like a sports highlight reel: Look at some of these “greatest moments” extraordinary descriptions we have in the NT:

Luke presents a variety of characters – Among them are

John the Baptist – Luke 1:15-17

¹⁵ …and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit … ¹⁶Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah … to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Elizabeth and Zechariah – Luke 1:41, 67 both described as being

“filled with the Holy Spirit” and prophesied…

Peter and the 120 at Pentecost – Acts 2 “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…”

Peter preached and at the end of the day – over 3000 people were saved.

The whole Community of Believers -- Acts 4:31-32

³¹After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
³²All the believers were one in heart and mind.

Result – 5000 converts.

Criteria for Table Waiters / Stephen -- Acts 6:3,5,7

³Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them… They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch… ⁷So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

These are truly extraordinary examples – “highlight film” material. But what they have in common are these primary characteristics:

They were recognized by others to display the life or power of God for particular spiritual tasks or ministries. These individuals or groups displayed God’s power through them, frequently for bold and empowered witness, to impact God’s kingdom. Each case appears to be God’s sovereign power through yielded people to accomplish God’s purposes.

If God graces you with an extraordinary spiritual experience – praise Him and remain usable. But please don’t put that expectation on anyone else or take credit for what God has sovereignly chosen to do. Most of us don’t make the highlight reels, but we do desire to be used by God. So, what does “filling of the spirit” look like for the rest of us, the vast majority of us, most of the time?

3. What “filling” Normally looks like: The Command for the Ordinary.

There is one specific teaching for ALL believers under the New Covenant on this topic. It is Eph. 5:18b: to “be filled with the Spirit”

The complete Greek meaning, is, rather:

“all you” keep being continually filled by the Holy Spirit.”

There are 5 primary characteristics here that we want to grasp:

1. it is a command! (this is not an option, not for a few)

2. for all believers in the Christian Community (corporate emphasis – all of you)

3. is a continuous, ongoing approach to life (not a one time event)

4. is a work done by the Holy Spirit in us (we don’t control Him, He controls us)

5. we actively participate in yielding to the Spirit (our role is not passive; we are held responsible for being filled)

Some parallels we have here in isolated Scripture commands include:

· “keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16), (to actively walk with Him)

· be “led by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:18);

Think what a difference it would make in our lives and our ministries if we knew we were being continuously “led” by the Spirit of God, in our decisions and pursuits.)

Similar negative commands include:

· “do not quench the Spirit” (I Thess. 5:19) (literally, “do not put out the spirit’s fire!”)

· “do not grieve the Spirit” (Eph. 4:30) (same larger context in Eph. – where grieving the spirit is marked by broken relationships and unforgiveness – opposites of being “filled” with the spirit.)

The essence of all of these parallels, and the clearest single phrase I can offer is this:

“be controlled by the Spirit of God”

The issue is not how much of the Spirit we can “get” or wield for our own purposes, but how much of us the Spirit can get a hold of and control. Remember, He is the Holy Spirit whose mission is to make us holy – set apart for God’s use.

Let’s look at the preceding verses in the immediate context

4. The Context

Eph. 5:15-17:

¹⁵Be very careful, then, how you walk--not as unwise but as wise,

¹⁶making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

Here, Paul specifically contrasts wise living with unwise or foolish living. Wise living involves walking carefully and intentionally.

Ex: Last fall we were putting in a wood floor (now that’s a project!) It involved some deconstruction—including the removal of the existing wood trim. I didn’t take the time, however, to remove all the nails from the trim. I just carefully stacked it all up in the garage. Well, rather than “walking with careful precision” like Eph. 5:15 calls us to, at one point I took a careless step and put my 36 year-old foot through a 30 year-old nail. My foot was punctured badly, it swelled up fiercely. And I spent most of our 3 day planned vacation in Steamboat Springs medicated on the couch with my foot raised.

The stakes can be high for careless walking. I didn’t get those 3 days of vacation back. The stakes can be high for careless living – as Kobe Bryant has tragically discovered. We don’t get another shot at this life on earth. Paul says: Don’t be a fool with how you live, with the decision you make. Rather, make the most of the time God has given you on this earth! Make the most of EVERY OPPORTUNITY for His kingdom. – Understand what the Lord’s will is for you, and it is this: v. 18.

¹⁸And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation;

but be filled with the Spirit,

To explain what he means by “spirit-filling”, Paul uses the surprising analogy to drunkenness to both compare and contrast.

Here we find the

5. The Basic Meaning of “filling”:

In comparison to drunkenness, being “filled with the Spirit of Christ” centers on being “under the influence of” or “controlled by” the Holy Spirit. Like someone who heavily drinks, we actively participate in allowing another influence to overtake us and control our behavior. As a drunk yields to his destructive desire and continually drinks in an abusive substance, so the “spirit-filled” believer yields to his supernatural desire and continually drinks in Christ.

We have a great Scriptural analogy of this in John 7:37-39, where Jesus said…

"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." ³⁹By this he meant the Spirit.”

Here, Jesus was standing by the pool of Siloam where people hoped the fresh waters would provide healing for their bodies.

-Jesus says – “Come to Me.” This is ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIP – with Jesus! Don’t just “get the stuff!” Come to Him! Come over and over again – Drink from the well of Jesus. Drink from the waterfall of Jesus!

-Notice, the streams of living water will “flow from within him” –toward others! The goal of living water is to be the refreshing Presence of Jesus to others!

-Notice that He is speaking of the “Holy Spirit” whom He would send. The “living water” is the “filling of the Holy Spirit” within us, as we come to Jesus!

-And note how this is activated: by Belief – by Faith! By recognizing our thirst, our longing for the way things should be, and coming to Jesus to fill us.

Notice, Jesus doesn’t say,

- “Clean yourself up!”

- “Empty yourself so there’s room or me.”

- “I’ll meet with you after you have confessed every sin you have ever committed.”

No, He invites us to come to Him, to be filled with His Spirit – and that is the means by which He will transform us and make us usable.

Back to Eph. 5:18

¹⁸And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation;

but be filled with the Spirit,

6. What it looks like

“Filling with the Spirit” involves the contrast with the drunkenness metaphor.

Some translations describe being drunk with the phrase, “in which is dissipation.”

I looked for help in other translations, that used helpful words like: “debauchery”

I knew God was trying to grow my vocabulary when a couple Greek scholarly sources recommended the best word to be “profligation”

Finally I came to understand this to be a description of a particular a kind of life or direction of life; a kind of life characterized by and leading to destruction.

EX: Last Saturday and Monday I was in the hospital visiting Bernardo Arabalo, a policeman and a part of our church. Bernardo’s wife, Cheryl, sings with our Worship Team. Bernardo was on a “call” when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver! Both men were hospitalized for serious hip surgery and are fortunate to be alive. The driver, unaware of his “dissipation” was heard to say, “I only had 12 beers.”

In contrast to drunkenness which renders us unusable for anything good or productive, “being filled with the Spirit” makes us usable by God in the Christian Community for Worship and Fellowship.

Rather than being “filled with mind-altering substances” – in which all kinds of destructive patterns of living manifest various bad expressions; we are to be “filled with the Spirit” – in which all kinds of supernatural manifestations are given wonderful expression.

Here is a living picture of what a group of people “filled with the Spirit” look like:

4 expressions of the Spirit’s filling; Collectively, it paints a picture of

Vibrant Christian Community: Fellowship & Worship. [Eph. 5:19-21]

Þ ¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

Þ singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,

Þ ²⁰giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Þ ²¹submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

a. “speaking to one another” – a place where people enjoy relating.

(Col. 3:17, a complementary passage describes this as “teaching & admonishing one another”). A place where people care enough to help each other grow.

This includes the use of singing. This is Music Ministry for Edification purposes:

What are these categories of songs?

i. “psalms” (poetry sung with musical accomp., emphasizing direct Scripture and including actual Psalms)

ii. “hymns” (songs of praise, especially about Christ and His saving work)

iii. “spiritual songs” (any kind of song prompted/led by the Holy Spirit for spiritual purposes, possibly including spontaneous expressions of worship)

b. “singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart”.

This is Music Ministry for Worship!

The range of variety indicated above applies to our singing to the Lord – the key is that we do it with our hearts engaged. Understand – this is what the Holy Spirit does within us. The key to effective and vibrant worship is not that we hone in on one style of music – if anything, this passage promotes variety, but that we rely on collectively being “filled with the Spirit”, so we can sing from our hearts.

More and more, this is my prayer for this place on Sundays: That the Holy Spirit would blow like the the wind He is, and fill and lead me, and our musicians, and fill you, and fill this room with the Presence of Jesus that we might sing to God from our renewed hearts!

So, understand – in our Sunday gatherings we have actually 2 audiences:

§ we come to sing with other believers to EDIFY each other,

§ and we come to sing to the Lord in WORSHIP.

c. Attitude of “giving thanks ALWAYS and FOR EVERYTHING to God”.

This is also a combination of Worship and Fellowship. We give thanks to God --in the hearing of others. This is the most convicting for me personally; It’s as if we have a sign that says: “no grumblers allowed.” The Spirit-filled believer will not be a complainer, not because there is nothing wrong, but because he will rather have his eyes focused on the Lord to see what God is doing.

Q: Are you filled with the Spirit? How do you know? Try an attitude check. Do you tend to focus on what is wrong? Or, is your attitude marked by “giving thanks always and for everything?” Ouch! This is why we need the Spirit’s filling power. He enables us to live the supernatural life of Christ.

d. “submitting to one another” as a reflection of our “reverence for Christ.”

This involves deferring to others’ preferences or wishes, subjecting myself to another’s authority, A genuine reverence for Christ, empowered by the Spirit of God will allow us to submit to just about anyone in just about any circumstance. This is powerful stuff!

7. A Full Understanding: “the Filling of the Spirit”

In all the NT’s descriptions of “Spirit-filling” - the common, consistent theme is this:

The supernatural life of Christ becomes the controlling influence by the power of the Spirit through yielded believers and manifests itself in effective witness (toward unbelievers), worship (toward God), and/or edification/fellowship (toward believers).

The Power for Witness seems to be the primary emphasis in Luke and Acts.

Power for Worship and Fellowship seem to be the emphasis of Paul’s letters.

Look at the complementary passage in Col. 3:16

¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,

as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God…

…giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Interestingly, Paul takes several of the same expressions or results of being “filled with the Spirit” from Eph. 5, and in Col. 3 makes them the means by which “the word of Christ dwells in us richly.”

And finally things clicked. I saw clearly a cycle that makes sense of the relationship between “the filling of the Spirit” – expressions of Worship and Fellowship – and the Word/Life of Christ being formed in us.

CYCLE diagram:

Filled With The Spirit ® Worship & Fellowship ® Christ Dwelling In Us

(describe ongoing relationship:)

We are filled with the Spirit – that leads to enhanced Worship and Fellowship – and then increasingly we experience Christ dwelling in us and through us; Which people then see to be the Holy Spirit filling us – which manifests itself in powerful worship and fellowship – and Christ in increasingly formed in us – as that happens, we are filled with the Spirit … on and on…

The issue is not so much where you get on this cycle, but that you do get on. And

Don’t get off!

I wondered this week while preparing to preach: Is there one place that brings all of this together? That combines these issues of manifestations of “power”, of “internal filling by the Spirit”, of the “life of Christ dwelling within us”, of Fellowhip and Worship -- and I did! And I found it right there in the book of Ephesians. And I found it in Paul’s prayer for the church – the kind of church he longed for them to become. Here is his prayer for their filling, which today becomes my prayer for our corporate filling :

Ephesians 3:16-19

“¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches

he may strengthen you with power

through his Spirit in your inner being,

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints,

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

I see here the clearest parallel to the essence of "being filled with the Spirit", as he phrases it in Eph. 5. It involves:

- Jesus strengthening us in our inner being with the power of the Holy Spirit (like in Eph. 5:18)

- the result of which is "Christ dwelling in us" (the correlation to Col. 3:16)

- the activator is our "faith" (just as in John 7)

- the context is displays of "love" toward others (Fellowship)

- the specific focus is on "power" that is revealed through believers (as seen in Luke & Acts)

- none of this for pride, feeling, or for exhibition, but to grasp Christ's deep love! (motivates our Worship)

All of this describes what it means to be "filled with the fullness of God!"

This is available to the Christian Community – the kind of church we all long for!

When we see God manifesting Himself through special power, surprising grace, significant spiritual influence, we recognize, “That person is ‘filled with the Spirit’. Look how God is using him to build God’s kingdom!”

When an entire community is corporately “filled with the Spirit” – it is usually called “revival.” Are you interested?

If so, we need to make sure we are clear HOW this happens.

8. How are we Filled? (Conclusion – Review)

I am intentionally resisting giving any kind of formula/step by step approach. Yet I think we have seen in Scripture the various means or Perspectives God has given us for us to be filled. Let me remind you of those perspectives.

q Under the Influence perspective (Eph. 5 emphasis. Don’t be under controlling influences that lead to destruction, but pursue yielding to the controlling influence of the Spirit.)

q Relational “Living Water” perspective (John 7:37-39): Keep coming to Jesus relationally, keep activating the living water of the Spirit through Faith, through Belief.

q Worshiping Community perspective (Col. 3:16-17): worship/edification are the means of “letting Christ dwell in you richly” which is the complement to “being filled with the Spirit.”

q “Be Usable” analogy: We can infer that those like Zechariah, Stephen, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and others – had a desire to be usable. That when God was sovereignly looking for usable people to display His power in evangelism toward the lost, in Fellowship/Edification toward believers, in worship toward the Lord – that He seeks out yielded people. But know that your quenching or grieving of Him may limit His access to you and power through you.

q Paul’s Prayer perspective: Be in continual prayer – for the Holy Spirit to fill you, our leadership, and our church body – with the fullness of Christ, that we might live grasp Christ’s love and minister through the Spirit’s empowerment to one another.

Again:

The Christian Community and spiritual impact we long for is experienced as we are filled with the Holy Spirit and participate in the supernatural empowering life of Christ through us.

Do you desire this kind of dynamic Christian Community – vibrant worship & rich relationships – impact toward the lost?

“ALL YOU KEEP BEING CONTINUOUSLY FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT!”

And let the Spirit lead and empower you

as you talk with people here,

as you Worship and SING TO the Lord,

as you cultivate an attitude of thankfulness for everything,

and as you relate to others and submit to them.

This is your Christian Community! As you join me in pursuing living the supernatural life of Christ – it can be awesome! “Be Filled!”

[Invitation to Prayer in Prayer Chapel]

SING: “Spirit of the Living God – Fall Fresh on Me”

[Worship Singing]

[Benediction – of Eph. 3:16-19]