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To maintain a vigorous, active life, one must
be healthy. Good health comes from a particular and a planned program of
physical care. If I follow this plan I can feel the benefit in many ways.
Someone said, "If I had known I would live this long, I would have taken
better care of myself." I think all of us can say that with all sincerity.
For a Christian to have a healthy Christian
life, he/she must be filled with the Spirit of God. Most of Christianity
does not know what being filled with the Spirit of God is all about.
In our text verse Paul is conducting a class
on the filling of the Holy Spirit and the purpose for such a filling. He
makes a reference to wine that most Christians do not understand or have
never heard about:
"...But be filled with the Spirit". The
heathen priests pretended to be filled with the influence of the god they
worshipped; and it was in these circumstances that they gave out their
oracles. They would simulate the filling of the spirit by the fullness of
wine. The apostle exhorts the Ephesians not to resemble these, but, instead
of being filled with wine, to be filled with the Spirit of God.
Paul continues on in the remainder of the
chapter teaching them what the filling of the Spirit consists of. Look in
Vs. 19 & 20.
Eph 5:19 "Speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord;"
Eph 5:20 "Giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;"
Eph 5:21 "Submitting yourselves one to
another in the fear of God."
Eph 5:22 "Wives, submit yourselves unto your
own husbands, as unto the Lord."
You must have the fullness of the Holy Spirit
to enable you to overcome sin and temptation. The fullness of God's Spirit
is not necessarily accompanied by an overflow of emotional outburst.
Neither is a quiet calm spirit evidence of NOT being filled, or of being
spiritual.
The reason Christians are not living in
victory is they are not experiencing the power and fullness of the Holy
Spirit of God. The reason that nearly every Christian suffers spiritual
defeat is the absence of the fullness and power of the Spirit. The reason
that churches worldwide are stagnant and dormant is they, or the membership,
are working in the energy of the flesh.
The question is, "How can we be filled with
the Spirit.”
I want to give you four steps to this
endeavor. These thoughts were gleaned from a writing by Andrew Murray.
First, "I Must Have The Filling."
Second, "I May Have The Filling."
Third, "I Will Have The Filling."
Fourth, "I Shall Have The
Filling."
I. I MUST HAVE THE FILLING
There are three thoughts I want to give you
on this:
A. It Is The Command Of God.
"...be filled with the Spirit."
Just as a man dare not get drunk if he is a
Christian, just as much must a man be filled with the Spirit. A Christian
must come to the reality that if he is going to please God he must be filled
with the Spirit.
Too many are content with just operating with
the indwelling Spirit and not the fullness of the Spirit. The Spirit enters
the Christian for indwelling at the time of conversion, but the fullness
brings with it the power of victory for the convert. You can have as much of
God's power as you are willing to pay the price to get it. A person can have
as expensive a diamond as he/she is willing to pay. The same is true with
the Spirit of God.
Too many erroneously think and practice that
the fullness is just for some and not for all. How far from the truth of
God's Word this practice is. God commands that you be filled with His power
and Spirit, and when God gives a command He will provide the necessary means
for fulfilling that command.
I Must Have The Filling.
It Is The Command Of God.
B. It Is The Great Need Of Man.
To attempt the work of God with only the
ability of man is foolish. Your greatest need as a child of God is to have
the fullness of the Spirit of God. If your approach in accomplishing God's
plan is to do so under your own power, you of all men will be most
disappointed.
It Is The Command Of God.
It Is The Great Need Of Mankind.
C. It Is A Great Need Of The
Church.
If our church, or any church attempts any
work of God apart from the fullness of God's Spirit we have committed a
spiritual crime.
A Sunday School teacher who is trying to
teach a class in only his/her teaching skills will do harm to that class. If
one attempts a heavenly work in the power of the flesh, failure will be
extended to all. All teachers should immediately pursue the power and the
fullness of the Spirit of God. The success of the work you are doing depends
upon Him.
"I Must Have The Filling..."
II. I MAY HAVE THE FILLING
The first point had to do with duty - I Must
Be Filled. The second has reference to privilege - I May Be Filled. We have
so long been accustomed to the low state of the Christian life until we
think it is the proper state. Too many believe that they cannot be filled.
Our attitude should be: "God wants it. God commands it. I must be filled,
and I may be filled!"
We have grown accustomed to mediocrity in
Christians until we do not expect those around us to live up to the
expectation that God has for each.
We judge them by sincerity or earnestness,
even though they are regular failures in
their attempts to live for God. We excuse it as "being human". If they are
faithful in church and give regularly, we overlook the fact that they lose
their temper or that they cannot be trusted. Attending church is not the
criteria for fullness of the Spirit, but living a holy life is. God longs to
give you and I the fullness of His Spirit so we can live in victory every
day for Him and through Him. How sad it must be to God to witness the level
of Christian power today among His children.
These Ephesian people had just gotten saved.
They had just come out of paganism, lying, and stealing, yet Paul commanded
them "to be filled with the spirit." There is not a certain time element
that we must first experience. God is willing and ready to fill us as soon
as we empty
ourselves of self. I thank God for each
member that is faithful to their duty in service, but the greater importance
is to be filled with His Holy
Spirit. Don't listen to the devil's lie that
the fullness is only for certain Christians.
Those who may say, "I cannot be filled", are
saying that they will not pay the price by giving up their sin.
I Must Have The Filling…
I May Have The Filling…
III. I WILL HAVE THE FILLING
"Will" is the motivation. The drive. The
desire. The force. Without that drive, that desire, that force, or
motivation, you will never be filled.
Someone said, "You must want the filling more
than you want the next breath of air."
A. "I Will" Means I Will Give Up
Your Sin.
1. Search your life for
hidden sin.
2. All sin must be
eliminated.
3. Confess and forsake all
known sin.
It matters not what it may be; it must go.
Whether it be temper, pride, money, lust, or self fulfillment, or the fear
of man, just say to Christ, "I will be filled." [I have decided to follow
Jesus!]
B. "I Will" Means To Give Up Your
Self.
1. Your will.
2. Your pleasure.
3. Your honor.
This will be impossible as long as Satan
blinds us by making us think that it is impossible.
You must give up any and everything that
stands between you and God.
Satan often tempts by saying, "Would you give
up that certain thing? That is an awful price to pay." He makes us afraid,
but once you say to the Lord, "Anything and Everything", the fear turns to
joy and filling.
You will never understand nor experience the
fullness of God's Spirit until you have given Him your total family. [as
opposed to co-dependence].
Perhaps there is one here who would say, "I
cannot give all." Allow me to take you to the Cross of Calvary and show you
the Crucified Christ. Look at Him. When you see Him high and holy, lifted
up, dying on the cross for you…when you see the dying love that God the
Father displayed for us by giving His only begotten Son, how can you say, "I
can't do it?" The only other reply would be, "I won't do it."
I Must Have The Filling…
I May Have The Filling…
I Will Have The Filling…
IV. I SHALL HAVE THE FILLING
When a Christian gets so hungry for the power
of God that he will pay any price for it, then he shall have it.
When men/women give themselves to God to be
filled and used of the Holy Ghost, they shall have it. It is to be an act of
obedience and surrender. You must cast yourself before God and trust in Him
for the filling. You must give yourself as an empty vessel before God to be
filled with His blessed Holy Spirit. When you have presented yourself in
that manner, then ask for His Spirit to fill you, and He will do it. (Luke
11:13)
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" This verse is assuming that you have
paid the price required for filling. God will not fill a dirty vessel.
"I shall be filled" is the faith side of the
filling. Believing that God will deliver His promise of the fullness of His
Spirit to any believer that will prepare himself for the filling, and then
ask for it.
There is not a certain feeling that comes
over you when you are filled. The filling is not by feeling, but by faith.
And that filling is for doing the work of God, not just for our own benefit
or entertainment in a service.
Are you filled with the Holy Spirit of God
right now? What evidence do you have to show that filling? Compare yourself
with the remainder of Eph. 5.
Some thoughts and portions of this sermon
were taken from a chapter in Deeper Christian Life, by Andrew Murray. The
chapter is entitled, "The
Blessing Secured."
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