Introduction:
A. I want to begin today’s sermon with an old story, which is a legend of unknown origin that has appeared in many forms over the years, but teaches an important principle.
1. Once there was a grandfather who was talking with his grandson.
2. The grandfather said, “In life, there are two wolves inside of us which are always at battle. One is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery, and love. The other is a bad wolf which represents things like greed, hatred, and fear”.
3. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked, “Grandfather, which one wins?”
4. His grandfather replied, “The one you feed.”
B. That’s not a perfect illustration for my purposes today, because the Holy Spirit who lives in us and represents the good wolf in this story, doesn’t need to be fed.
1. The Holy Spirit is powerful and self-sufficient.
2. What the Holy Spirit needs, or waits for, is our permission.
C. Let’s reset the picture.
1. Let’s imagine our inner life with a throne and let’s understand that God gives us the freedom to choose who we allow to be on the throne.
2. There are several choices of who we can give permission to be on the throne and they include: self, others, Satan, or the Spirit.
3. Look at these passages that describe the battle for control in our lives.
a. Galatians 5:16-17: I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.
b. Romans 8:5-6: For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.
4. Ultimately, we live under the influence of whomever we allow to sit on our throne.
D. Today’s sermon completes our sermon series “The Holy Spirit, Our Helper.”
1. I hope the series has helped you better know and understand the Holy Spirit and how He is our helper.
2. Throughout this series as we have looked at this third person of the Godhead, we have seen how the Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide, that He is like the wind that powers us along, that He is our intercessor, the seal of God’s ownership and guarantee.
3. We have learned that the Holy Spirit is like a dove bringing us peace, protection and comfort, that He is a fire that purifies, energizes, melts, and protects, that He is a stream of living water that flows from within us to refresh us and others, and that He is the gift giver who endows us with spiritual gifts.
E. Today, I want us to focus on the question: How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?
1. I believe this is one of the most important principles of our spiritual lives.
2. If we learn this lesson, then we will discover the source of the supernatural help that we need.
I. The Command
A. Let’s turn our attention to Ephesians 5:18.
1. Let’s look at that verse in several translations:
2. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit (CSB).
3. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit (NIV).
4. The New Living Translation says: Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.
5. Finally, consider Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase version: Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. (The Message)
6. Let’s make five observations from the text.
B. First, let’s notice the contrast between wine (the spirits) and the Spirit.
1. This is the most basic point of the verse.
2. There is a direct parallel drawn between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit.
3. What precisely is the point of comparison between wine and the Holy Spirit?
4. Surely it is the issue is influence or control.
5. A person under the influence of wine experiences altered behavior.
a. He or she may say or do things they would not ordinarily do.
b. If the person drinks enough wine, their mental processes will be affected and their decision making ability will be radically altered—almost always with a negative result.
6. Likewise, the influence of the Holy Spirit produces a change in behavior.
a. In the verses before and after the verse we are examining in Ephesians 5:18, Paul mentions a number of practical things that the influence of the Spirit enables.
b. The influence of the Spirit leads to wisdom for living in this evil age (vv. 15-16).
c. The influence of the Spirit leads to the understanding of God’s will (v. 17).
d. The influence of the Spirit leads to speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (v. 19).
e. The influence of the Spirit leads to a heart filled with thanksgiving (v. 20).
f. And the influence of the Spirit leads to an attitude of mutual submission (v. 21).
7. The contrast between the result of being under the influence of wine or the Spirit couldn’t be greater.
C. Second, let’s notice that being filled with the Spirit is a command.
1. In the Greek language this verb is in the imperative mode.
2. This means the filling of the Spirit isn’t an optional part of the Christian life, rather is a command or requirement.
D. Third, let’s notice that the command is in the present tense.
1. In the Greek language, the present tense has the idea of continual action.
2. Being filled with the Spirit isn’t a one-time event, but is an ongoing need.
3. The verse could be translated: “Be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.”
4. Kenneth Wuest’s translation renders it: “Be constantly controlled by the Spirit.”
5. Commentator John MacArthur says it could be literally translated: “Be being kept filled with the Spirit.”
6. The Amplified version catches the present tense this way: “But ever be filled and stimulated with the (Holy) Spirit.”
E. Fourth, let’s notice that it is in the passive voice.
1. This is a nuance many people would miss.
2. In Greek as in English, commands can be either active or passive voices.
a. In active voice, the subject performs the action of the verb: “The dog chased the cat.”
b. In passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb: “The cat was chased by the dog.”
3. Ephesians 5:18 is in the passive voice.
4. The command isn’t: “Fill yourself with the Spirit,” but rather, “Be filled with the Spirit.”
5. In other words the “filling” isn’t our job, but is God’s job.
6. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to fill (or influence) us at any moment, but we must make ourselves available to Him – we must give Him permission to influence; we must yield the throne to Him.
F. Fifth, and finally, let’s notice that it is a plural command.
1. Paul is saying, “Let each and every one of you be filled with the Spirit.”
2. So, this means that each of us should be being filled with the Spirit, individually and collectively, or corporately.
3. Christians should be filled with the Holy Spirit and then the church, which is made up by Christians will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
4. So, I am supposed to be filled with the Spirit, but I am not to be filled alone.
5. When the Holy Spirit fills us one by one, our individual lives and our corporate life will be transformed.
II. The Application
A. Let’s spend the rest of our time exploring the issues and actions related to being filled with the Spirit.
B. First, there is the issue of CONTROL.
1. This is the main point that I am trying to make about being filled with the Spirit.
2. We are truly filled with the Spirit when we are giving the Spirit the control and when He is free to exert His influence in us and over us – He is allowed to be on the “throne.”
3. Let’s go back to the contrast between wine and the Spirit.
a. Drunken and Spirit-filled people have one thing in common – they are both people being controlled by something or someone other than themselves.
b. Their lives and their behavior are radically changed by that which fills them.
c. The person who is filled with wine is under the influence of wine.
d. The person who is filled with the Spirit is under the influence of the Spirit.
4. In like manner: The person who is filled with anger is allowing anger to control their life.
a. The person who is filled with greed is allowing greed to dominate their life.
b. But in a positive sense: the person who is filled with love is allowing love to influence all they do.
5. Allow me to make an important distinction.
a. By using the idea of “being filled with the Spirit,” it is easy to misunderstand something.
b. When we become a child of God all of us receive the same Holy Spirit and the same amount of the Holy Spirit.
c. Being filled with the Spirit or not being filled with the Spirit doesn’t mean that some people have more or less of the Holy Spirit than others.
d. So, being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean I have more of the Spirit, rather it means the Spirit has more of me.
e. Being filled with the Spirit happens as we continually choose to live under His influence, by turning over control to Him.
C. Second, and similarly, there is the issue of COOPERATION.
1. Every Christian is filled with the Spirit from the moment of the new birth.
2. Why is it then that older Christians are usually more mature and complete than new Christians?
3. The answer is: they have learned to cooperate with the Spirit.
4. They allow themselves to be led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:18), and they walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), and they live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).
5. Unfortunately, we often don’t want to cooperate with the Spirit, because we want to do what we want to do, rather than what the Spirit wants us to do.
6. When we choose not to cooperate and we take control, then we grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:30) and quench the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19).
7. Because God gives us the freedom of choice, He won’t take control, but He waits for us to cooperate with Him and allow Him to control, guide and empower.
8. On the practical level, how do we give the Spirit more control and better cooperate with the Spirit?
a. I think it starts with deliberately looking to the Spirit for direction from the Word of God and from His prompting inside our hearts and minds.
b. Before we make decisions or act or react, we look to the Spirit for wisdom and guidance.
c. We want to be sure to know what God wants us to do and how God wants us to proceed.
d. Then the next step is always the hardest and that is actually doing God’s will, especially when we are struggling for it to be our will also.
e. This is when we need God the Holy Spirit to enable us to carry out God’s will, which leads to the last issue for our consideration.
D. A third issue related to being filled with the Spirit is the issue of CONNECTION.
1. As I said earlier, the idea of being filled with the Spirit can lead to the idea that we run out of the Spirit and need to receive a refill of the Spirit (like we need to refill our gas tanks when they are empty), but that’s not the best way to think about the Spirit.
2. A better way to think about the Spirit’s work is to think about the way electric trains work (not electric toy trains, but full-size electric trains.
3. Electric trains run on three rails - two of the rails are for the wheels and one is for the electricity.
a. The electricity is always there, but the train doesn’t move unless there is contact with the third rail.
b. Touch that rail and the train moves; pull away from that rail and it stops.
4. The third rail is like the Holy Spirit - His power is always available—and unlike our local utility companies, there’s never a power outage or shortage or brownout - but sometimes we live out of contact with His power.
5. When we don’t remain in contact and connected to the Holy Spirit, then we are not being filled with the Spirit and our lives simply stop working the way God intends.
6. Prayer is an important way we remain connected to the Spirit.
7. In prayer, we ask for God to empower us and give us the will and the strength to do His will.
8. In prayer, we declare we can’t do it on our own but are looking to the Spirit to empower us just like the Bible promises.
a. Like Philippians 2:13 says: For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
b. And like Ephesians 3:20 promises: Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.
9. Being connected to the Holy Spirit gives us incredible power like the power He exercised in raising Jesus from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20).
E. And so, in summary, being filled with the Holy Spirit means that we live in a state of being in which the Holy Spirit is free to do all that He wants to do in our lives.
1. The key is remaining in the state of being where the Holy Spirit is given control, where we are cooperating and staying in connection with the Spirit.
2. The filling of the Spirit is not primarily an emotional experience, and it’s certainly not reserved for a few super-Christians.
3. The filling of the Spirit is nothing more than the normal Christian life when the Holy Spirit is allowed to have influence over our lives.
4. When we live continually connected with the Spirit and are cooperating with the Spirit, giving Him permission to control and guide, then God is able to provide all that we need to live abundantly and service with strength and skill, boldness and effectiveness.
F. Join me in praying that we might be filled with the Spirit by living under the influence of the Spirit.
1. We will be better disciples of Jesus when we live under the influence of the Spirit.
2. We will have better families when we live under the influence of the Spirit.
3. We will be a better church when we live under the influence of the Spirit.
4. We will have a better nation when we live under the influence of the Spirit.
G. Let’s pray for revival to begin in our lives and families, our church and our nation, as we yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit.
1. How wonderful would be the results if all of us were being charged with L.U.I. (not D.U.I.) – L.U.I stands for living under the influence of the Holy Spirit!
2. Let’s not live another day without the Holy Spirit’s control in our lives.
3. God has made himself fully available to us.
4. Have we made ourselves fully available to him?
Resources:
Help Is Here, Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 2022
How Can I Be Filled with the Holy Spirit? Sermon by Ray Pritchard
