Word of Salvation – Vol.35 No.07 – February 1990
Go On Being Filled With The Spirit
Sermon by Rev. J. De Boer on Eph. 5:1-12
Reading: Eph. 5:1-21.
We have here one of those texts which is designed to grab us by the collar and give us a shake. It reminds us of our calling, and our obligation to the Lord. It reminds us why our faith may be lukewarm or even cold. Sadly, it is also a text which has been wrongly understood and applied.
Before we consider it in any depth, we must not make the mistake of separating the verse from its context. Here Paul is speaking about Christian living. Read: 4:1 – “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. And 4:17 – “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility…! And 5:1 – “Be imitators of God as dearly loved children….” Here in our text, we are carrying on that theme of the application of the Gospel to our lives. So we are not looking here at unique experiences, but at our everyday Christian life. We, as ordinary, everyday believers, are to be filled with the Spirit.
Let us consider this under three main headings:
1. Meaning.
2. Characteristics.
3. Implications.
- Meaning
To properly understand this verse, we need to see how this word “filled” is used in other places. We find it used when people were given a special measure of the Spirit’s power to help them do a certain work. An example from the OT is Bezalel in Ex.31:3; a metalworker working on the tabernacle.
I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge… to make artistic designs in gold, silver and bronze. We find another example of this in Acts 4:8. Here Peter and John were before the Jewish ruling Council, on trial because of their healing of the crippled man at the Temple, and they had to defend themselves. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said to them…! Here we read that he was filled, in order to do a certain task.
When we look at those examples, we see that being filled with the Holy Spirit may be a momentary thing. But the NT also uses the phrase “filled with the Holy Spirit” to describe a person’s life. In other words: not a once-off thing, but a permanent characteristic. For example, of Christ we read in Luke 4:1 that He was full of the Holy Spirit. We find the same for Stephen in Acts 6:5. Stephen was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Not a once-off thing. No, he was chosen to be a deacon because he was a man who showed that his whole life was under the control of the Spirit. So we see there is an obvious difference between the ways this same word is used.
In our text, I believe we have a clear example of the second use, and we see that from the tense of the verb. When Paul says, ‘Be filled with the Spirit’ he uses the present continuous, i.e., an action that is continually repeated. Lit: Go on being filled with the Spirit. In other words, we are not speaking here about something that God only grants us in particular situations, as was the case with Bezalel and Peter. This being filled with the Spirit is meant to be a permanent feature in our lives. As it was with Christ and Stephen.
Here we are called to use all the means God has given us – His Word, the worship services, Bible Study, fellowship groups, Lord’s Supper, prayer to make sure that the Spirit controls our hearts, minds and lives. It is a command to each of us. Not to be under the influence of Satan, the world, and alcohol. But to be guided and led by the Holy Spirit. To be influenced and affected in our heart, and mind, and speech and life by Him, every day again.
The whole point of this text is that we cannot do without the Holy Spirit. We need His guidance and leading. Every day again, we need to be filled with His grace and power, applying God’s Word to our hearts. Leading us on the narrow path that leads to eternal life.
Only in that way can we know the fullness of the blessings which are ours in Christ. We have here a parallel to John 15:4, where Christ makes that comparison between himself and a vine, with us as the branches. It is only when we abide in him; when the Holy Spirit causes us to walk close with him, and be more and more like him, that we will bear spiritual fruit.
- Characteristics
We have spoken of the filling of the Spirit in general terms; now we need to look at it more specifically. How does this show itself? What is typical of the Spirit-filled life?
A. life in which Christ is the centre and content.
In John 16:14 Christ says that the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring glory to Me. The work of the Holy Spirit is not to glorify Himself; but to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit-filled life is one in which we know the reality of Lord’s Day 1. That our only comfort not just in death but also in life, with all of its difficulties and frustrations, is that we belong to Christ. And always will. Know with the sure knowledge and conviction of faith, that He has fully paid for all our sins; that He set us free from the slavery of the devil; that He watches over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our head without it being His will. And that we are whole-heartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him. That is one way to describe the Spirit-filled life.
B. life in which there is growth in Christ- likeness.
The work of the Spirit is to progressively conform us to the image of Christ. Eph.4:13-15 – Seeking to become more mature in our faith growing up into the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. So that more and more we are a picture of what Christ was on earth.
C. Another way we could think of this, is in terms of the fruit of the Spirit.
We seek to show the reality of the Spirit, in our daily life and relationships with others, and in the way we conduct ourselves. Gal.6;22 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
D. We can also look at this fullness of the Spirit, in terms of the verses which follow our text.
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God for everything, in the name of Jesus Christ. The life of the Spirit-filled man is a life of praise; and just as we end our Church services with the Doxology, praising God for all his blessings, so we live our lives from that same perspective. The Spirit-filled life, the Christ-like life is a life of gratitude. We see this in Job 1:21. After the tragedy he had been through Job said: The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Giving thanks in everything! Every day! Even when there is hardship, and persecution, and bereavement!
A third thing these verses show about the Spirit-filled life is that it has a bearing on our relationships. To be filled with the Spirit means something for you as a husband or wife, a parent or child, a boss or a worker. The Spirit-filled husband treats his wife the way Christ treated the church. The Spirit-filled wife will gladly submit to her husband’s headship; not being a doormat for him but giving him the proper position in the house as the head. The Spirit-filled child will seek to obey his parents, because this is right as far as the Lord is concerned. The Spirit-filled father treats his children the same way God treats His children.
So often it seems that when people speak about being “filled with the Spirit” they immediately think of tongue speaking, or some sort of ecstatic experience as the proof. That is not what the NT teaches. It is the humble Christ- like life, the grateful worshipping life; the life which finds its beginning and end in Him – that is truly Spirit-filled. May God move us to be more and more filled with the Spirit in that way.
- Implications
Having seen what “being filled with the Spirit” is, and how that manifests itself, let us now consider some implications for us.
- It explains the fact that many Christians have deep and moving spiritual experiences. Some have experienced an overwhelming sense of the love of God; some come to really know what it means to belong to Christ. Others have received new spiritual strength, and the Lord has blessed them greatly. Here we see why such experiences can occur in our Christian lives, and why they have a proper place.
- It also explains why so many of the Lord’s people are living on a spiritual low. Or why some of us just don’t seem to grow spiritually. Why there are those who always seem to remain babies in the faith; immature, ignorant in their faith; worldly in their outlook. Others may make some progress, but then the whole process comes to a halt and their faith seems to stagnate. The reason that so often we are shadows of what we ought to be, is not because God has withheld something from us – He hasn’t; when we are in Christ we have every spiritual blessing (1:3).
The problem is not with God, but with us. So often we do not obey the Lord’s command to keep on being filled with the Spirit. We are content to sit back, and wait for a spiritual shot in the arm. And we completely overlook this verse which commands us to seek that daily filling of God’s Spirit. Instead of sitting back, our half-heartedness should drive us on. To knock at the Lord’s door; pleading with Him that He would give us a closer walk with Christ. More strength to resist the devil and His temptations. More love for His Word and His people. Christ has told us in Matt.7:7 – Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. He is not speaking to the unconverted here; He is speaking to His people, who already have the Spirit. And yet we are to seek Him / ask Him / knock. That we might be filled with the fullness of the Spirit; that we grow up and become mature (Eph.4), attaining to the measure of the fullness of Christ.
How do we do that? There are no magic solutions; just the same thing you have heard before. If you want to be filled with the Spirit:
(a) spend time with the Word of God: the Holy Spirit caused it to be written, and He will use it to bring you closer to Christ. Take time with your wife, and family to read it and study it.
(b) use the resources God has given. Make time on the Sunday to be at Church when the Lord calls you to worship. Spend time in prayer; spend time putting His Word into practice. Let it govern your life.
Congregation, when we read this text, let us remember that it’s talking about that work of the Spirit that we need to seek every day again. That work whereby He takes possession of us, to lead and guide us in the ways of the Lord. May we seek that every day again. In order to realise the fullness of the blessings which are ours in Christ. May the results of it be seen in our lives: the Christ-like life, the fruits of the Spirit; the relationships with others. And may the Lord Jesus Christ be glorified.
AMEN