A Spirit-Filled Unity

Date: August 29, 2010 Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-21
Series: The Gospel for Relationships
Proposition: Being filled with the Holy Spirit nurtures a joyful fellowship.

Title: A Spirit-Filled Unity

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Intro: In a memorable, actor Karl Malden would hold up a card toward the camera, and say in a very authoritative voice:
American Express – Don’t leave home without it.

We might say in similar bold tones: “The Holy Spirit – Don’t try to live the Christian life without Him.” Of course in one sense you can’t – the Holy Spirit has been conferred upon all believers.
To be a Christian in essence is not simply to accept certain propositions as true but also to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He is a wonderful gift from God to you. You aren’t meant to live the Holy Spirit based on grasping concepts only, but by the indwelling life and power of Jesus Christ by His Spirit.
Transition: The Holy Spirit – don’t try to live the Christian life without dependence upon Him.
The Apostle Paul calls his readers to be wise, and a main point of wisdom, it turns out, is to live in full dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
Main Points:
I) Choose wisely because the days are evil
A) Walk Carefully v 15
NKJV says walk “circumspectly”
Don’t walk as a fool, but as wise.
To walk carefully means two things – be alert – we can drift into foolish choices if we are not thinking.
And take care with each step.
That means we need to slow down – not to automatically go with our first instinct on how we will react, or speak, but to think first.
On the target range the order is “ready, aim, fire!”
Too often our bent is “ready, fire! aim”.
Take time to understand what God’s will is.
Remember this principle – God guides, and the devil rushes.
Walk carefully.

B) Redeem the time because the days are evil.
The days are evil Paul says. They always have been, they have always had the stain of Satan’s work and human depravity.
The Greek word for time here carries a sense of opportunity. In other words, all day long you have opportunities. Each day is an opportunity and moments in those days are opportunities – to live and reflect love and holiness, or just let them go by. You can buy up those times, redeem them for good.

C) Understand what the will of the Lord is. That is synonymous with wisdom. Wisdom is making correct moral choices, and to make them, we need to understand what the will of the Lord is.

II) And then he specifies one aspect of God’s will – it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the 3rd Person of the Trinity, the presence of Jesus Christ with us and within us.

A) We learn here what the filling of the Holy Spirit means
1) It means the Holy Spirit is the dominating influence on your life. And just as being filled with alcohol means that alcohol would dominate your personality and your judgment and your emotions and desires, so being filled with the Spirit means that the Spirit of Jesus Christ dominates your personality and your judgment and your emotions and desires.
2) The filling of the Spirit is to be continuous. The verb tense in the Greek is translated literally as be ye being filled with the Spirit. To redeem the time when the days are evil we need to be filled, refilled, renewed, refreshed.
3) This verb is in the imperative voice. It means it is a command. Christians can choose whether they want to eat meat or not, and whether or not they choose to celebrate Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. But being filled with the Spirit isn’t an option. It is for every believer.
In this world with all its bumps and bruises and temptations and when the days are obviously evil – Don’t turn to alcohol, turn to the Spirit
Don’t surrender your powers of judgment to alcohol.
Surrender your powers to the Holy Spirit.

B) Paul goes on to give the characteristics of being filled with the Holy Spirit. What does that look like?
V 18-21 are all one sentence in the Greek manuscript – so these all continue in one unified thought. The command to be filled with the Spirit is followed by four descriptive clauses, which all have verbs ending in ing– speaking, singing and making melody, giving thanks, and submitting.

1) These characteristics are given in the context of Ephesians subject of unity in relationships.
Other portions of Scripture emphasize the fruits of the Spirit – virtues like love, joy, peace…
And other text emphasize the gifts of the Spirit – special abilities given to minister, like teaching, mercy, leading, serving, and tongues.
But here, in the special focus on being filled with the Spirit – the emphasis in on our relationship – and how our relationship to God directs our relationship to others.
In other words, being filled with the Holy Spirit shows in relationships. This is the Gospel for relationships.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit nurtures a joyful fellowship.

2) Let’s look at the four characteristics
a) The first is a shared spiritual encouragement
19 a
This is speaking encouragement to one another. Paul has in mind corporate worship. Part of us being filled with the Spirit is that we want to share a joyful encouragement. A song in which we sing encouragement to one another is a good song – “Come, now is the time to worship.” Or “Trust and obey,f or ther’s no other way,To be happy in Jesus, then to trust and obey.”

b) A second characteristic is being filled with joy toward God.
19 b
And let your heart fill up with melody where nobody else can hear but God.
being filled with the Spirit means, basically, having great joy in God.
Acts 13:52, “The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

c) A third characteristic is thanking
We might be able to do that in or own power, but then Paul ratchets up the standard: always –
And he ratchets it up yet again: for all things.
This is God’s will for you… give thanks always in all circumstances.

Come home for work exhausted, and what can you be thankful for? That you have work and you can work.
Come out of the grocery store with a huge grocery bill, and for what can you be thankful? That you have family and friends to have at your table.
Have adversity, where the pain is deep and long, and the pathway is confusing. For what can you be thankful;? That God has a purpose in that to make you more like Jesus Christ.

d) The fourth characteristic is submitting reverently
20 b
This is indispensable to getting along. Would a child who got his way all the time be a healthy child? That child would not mature, and will likely be in dangerous places. So it is with us. It is good for us to have places where we aren’t getting our way all the time, but rather we have to bend our wills.

This phrase sets the topic for the next section in Ephesians, which I shall pick up next Sunday. It is about submission in husband and wife relationships, in parent child relationships, and in the workplace.

Application: So how are we filled with the Holy Spirit?
There is not a step by step formula. But consider these three factors using the acronym “DAY”:
Desire - we need to want the Holy Spirit to be the dominating influence eon our lives. That means we are ready to give our self-directed ways.
I remember saying o the filling of the Holy Spirit before going off to college – I was afraid of what he Holy Spirit would do with me. It was fear that caused me to say no. The opposite of trust. I didn’t realize that the Holy Spirit’s goal was to make me more and more like Jesus Christ.

Ask -Jesus said: “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:13 It is a good thing to ask for the fullness of the Spirit.

Yield – You have all the Holy Spirit. Does the Holy Spirit have all of you?
There is a choice to be made in being filled with the Spirit. These four characteristics are ways we can choose to cultivate the Holy Spirit’s influence on us.
We can direct our thoughts and with that our attitudes. When we first wake up in the morning – we can be startled by the alarms buzzer, and fumble foggily for the off button. Step on the floor, and man, rigor mortis sunk into my ankles last night. Hey, who glued my eye shut. Honey, get the Goo-Gone. But please, don’t talk to me. Don’t ask me how my day has gone so far.
As the wife’s T-shirt sys: Someday I wake up grumpy, and some days he wakes up all by himself.
But we can’t let that dictate our day. We can speak encouragement, we can rejoice in the Lord, and give thanks, and get off our throne to take up a towel and basin.

Conclusion: Be Filled with the Spirit. It God’s will, and it is God’s blessing.

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