God exhales
Greeting-
Introduction-
Good Morning Church! If you would flip to Ephesians 5:15-18, we are going to look at our text in Ephesians and then we are going to use some other verses in Ephesians to help us understand the text. First let’s pray over God’s Word.
Prayer
Ephesians 5:15-5:18 Read from Bible
Most think this verse is about the debate of weather a believer should drink alcohol or not- the big debate of abstinence or moderation… but is not.
The verse is about being very careful on how you live your life.
Taking every positive opportunity that is given because the world is turning evil.
It is about being filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
I want to concentrate on believers being filled with the Spirit.
Notice here that unbelievers cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is not an option for an unbeliever. They can be saved- the Spirit of God moves upon their hearts to want to change their heart but an unsaved heart is not filled with God’s Spirit.
Paul actually tells the readers and the Ephesians church don’t be foolish-understand God’s will- Do not get drunk on wine which leads you to do things that are against the things of God .
He says instead of being filled with alcohol that takes you away from the things of God, you should do the opposite and be filled with the Spirit of God.
Paul is not talking to the unsaved but is talking to the church. If you have a choice and you do, be filled with the Spirit of God and not the world.
Abstinence or moderation is not the point- I’ll say this and move on to the text point here- having been in the world I cannot think of one good thing that has come from alcohol.
Someone weather you or someone you know has abused alcohol and it has hurt you or someone you know.
Alcohol only covers hurts and masked feeling that need to be dealt with- the point Paul is making to the church is that is better to be filled with the Spirit of God rather than the world and its vices to hurt us.
Paul tells the church about Christ- “In him (Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment- to bring all things in heaven and earth together under one head, even Christ.”
In Jesus we have redemption
He has made known things that use to be mysteries.
One day everything in heaven and on earth will be put under the Lordship of Jesus Christ your savior.
Get this! Ephesians 1:13
“Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of His glory”
As a believer, you belong to Christ, you were bought with a price and that price was his atoning blood on the cross and He has marked you as His and He deposits into believers His Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and Paul is telling the church why would you want to be filled with the world when you have been bless with an inheritance and have the opportunity to be filled with His Holy Spirit working in our lives. AMEN
What does that look like in a believer’s life?
The best way to explain it
I have a friend… wink. wink… no really I have a friend…who doesn’t let his gas tank get below a half a tank. He will fill it back up. With the price of gas right now I can surely understand wanting to keep it full and not letting it get empty because you almost have to give your first born.
Illustration-
Have you ever ran out of gas? Some have some interesting stories of how they did and what they did to get gas and get back moving. In the seventies when I first started driving- I have done a lot of things but fortunately I never ran out of gas but if you ran out of gas, you didn’t just pull over and phone someone to bring you a gallon of gas. It was before cell phones and at best if you knew where a station was you had to hike it up and get gas and beg someone who had a gas can to put it in. if you were out of town, you had to do that walk of shame up to someone house and knock on the door and ask for some gas. So many stories and so little time of what happens when you show up on someone porch asking for gas. It was a humbling experience you probably don’t want to do often.
I think today a lot of people are running on empty. They are not making sure they have enough gas to do what they intend to do. Running on empty doesn’t only happen in their cars it is in their lives. They live a lifestyle that has them not living up to their potential.
Why would you not want to be like my friend and be prepared and keep a near full tank of gas?
Here is how I think it affects a believer- we get it from verse one- “Be very careful then, how you live your life- not as unwise but as wise making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil”
Live with purpose- make sure it lines up with God’s Word
You were dead in your sins, you followed in the ways of the world but now as a believer the spirit of God guides you into His truths-
“But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ”
“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.”
He emptied Himself, He made himself of no reputation. He took upon himself the form of a servant. He was made in the likeness of men, he became man so that He could save mankind.
We as believers are so grateful for what He has done that we want to be more Christ-like. Our purpose is to become more like Christ and please Him. The only way we can do that is the Spirit of God actively working and dwelling in us.
We are to live life on purpose, and that purpose, as we said last week, should be an imitation of Jesus.
He also tells us not to live like fools, but rather to be wise in all we do.
He’s not referring to intellectual knowledge, but to keep our lives on target, and that target is to please God in all we do.
Quote-
I’m not sure who said this, but I think it’s the truth. “God has a plan for your life. The enemy has a plan for your life. Be ready for both. Just be wise enough to know which one to fight and which one to embrace.”
The Bible tells us to live like we’re wise and not like fools. Now, what are going to do with that knowledge?
The Bible tells us to be doers of the word and not just hearers of it. Now, what are going to do with that knowledge?
Just because we know what to do doesn’t guarantee that we are going to make the wise choice.
You Will Receive Power
Illustration:
The gift of the Spirit is much too important not to share, but sometimes we don't share it. James Emery White is the president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In his book, Long Night's Journey into Day, he tells this story: To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we allow Him to occupy and control every area of our lives...How much of you does the Holy Spirit have? When teaching this to my seminary students, I bring two glasses of water and two packets of Alka-Seltzer to class. I drop a packet of Alka-Seltzer, with the wrapper on, into one glass. Then I plop an unsealed packet into the second glass, and watch it fill with fizz. I say to my students, "Both glasses have the Alka-Seltzer, just as all Christians have the Holy Spirit. But notice how you can have the Holy Spirit and not His filling." Our goal is to live in such a way as to unwrap the packaging around the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within us. [Source: Adapted from James Emery White, Long Night's Journey into Day (WaterBrook, 2002)]
FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE:
Proverbs 1:7 –
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
What you know is called Knowledge, but the application of the knowledge is called wisdom.
Wisdom is to think before speaking.
Wisdom is to do right thing at a right time!
Wisdom is to be careful in all our deeds.
James 1:5 –
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
God is the source of wisdom, let us seek Him for the wisdom we need.
What God has called you too, He has given you everything needed to do it
Be filled with the Spirit
“Do not be drunk with wine, instead be filled with the Spirit.”
Last thing- lean in and get this… without breath you cannot survive.
Man can go almost two months without food if they had too.
They can go several days without water if they had too, but we cannot go more than 4-8 minutes with air… without breath!
As a believer, one that has confessed Jesus as Lord of their life- you cannot survive without the Holy Spirit of God directing and empowering your life.
Without Him you have not life.
Without Him, your life at best is existing instead of the abundant life He promises with Him.
The earth was void of life until the Holy Spirit of God breathed life into a dark and void world.
Adam made in perfect by God did not have life until God bent down and breathed His breath in his nostrils. He had no life without God.
Without hesitation, the world and Adam had life once God breathed His Spirit.
Todd Smith calls God’s breath a kiss of life!
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
We need a fresh outpouring of His Spirit into our lives first and then into this dark and void world that has turned its back on God.
The dry bones first were made alive by the prophet Ezekiel and then the valley of dry bones came alive. It begins in the house of the Lord.
Close,
It begins with us of us as believers asking the Lord to fill us with His Spirit and as He does that be praying that the world is taken out. More of Him and less of the world!
Prayer-
Father today we bow and humbly open our hearts and lives to you. We ask that you would fill us to overflowing with your Spirit and that you would exhale on us and allow us the fullness of your Spirit to be ever present in our lives. Lord Jesus, more of you and less of us so that we might live the abundant life you talk about and want for us in John 10:10. We surrender all of us to you this morning, understanding that means we must allow you into the areas of our heart that has been roped off. We invite you to make all changes and empower your people to experience your presence- joyfully we surrender and submit.
In your presence is peace and guidance and in your presence we trust you to do what is needed in our lives so we might be all that you want us to be.
I sense your presence and your presence is welcome here!
Amen.
