“Fill ‘Er Up, Lord”
Ephesians 5: 18
August 27. 2009
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
New Beginnings Baptist Church of Jacksonville
“Fill ‘Er Up, Lord!”
Ephesians 5: 18
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
August 27. 2009
Sermon Outline
1. A REAL Experience!
A) The Manifestation of His Presence
1) Prior Times
2) Present Times
3) Personal Times
B) The Mandate for His People
2. A REPEATED Experience!
A) The Matter of Continuation
B) The Method of Operation
3. A REMARKABLE Experience!
A) Sing with Gladness
B) Speak with Gratitude
C) Submit with Grace
James MacDonald said it well, "If you don't want what God wants for your life, you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit changes your priorities and your goals when He fills your life. Without the Holy Spirit, God had made no other provision for you to live the Christian life."
I think of the little boy who was disappointed with the smallness of the egg his bantam had laid. He went downtown, returned with a large package, unwrapped it, and pulled out a large ostrich egg. He held it up to his little bird and said, "Now, take a good look at this and try harder."
That is the way many Christians look at the Spirit-filled life. They try their best to do their best, but when their best isn’t good enough, they look to themselves and say “Try harder.”
However, the life of Spirit-fulness is a work that can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. It is not a work we do for Him, but a work He does for us, in us, through us, and with us.
The role and person of the Holy Spirit has sparked great controversy among denominational circles over the past several years. Some overemphasize the role of the Holy Spirit, while others, including Baptists, underemphasize the role of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not someone who should surprise us, shock us, or scare us. He is our Best Friend, our Greatest Teacher, and our Highest Counselor. Furthermore:
WITHOUT HIM WE CAN’T LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE; WITHOUT US HE WON’T LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
It is a matter of ownership, because I am not my own. It is a matter of stewardship, because my body is His temple. It is a matter of partnership, because I am to glorify Christ by allowing the Holy Spirit to fill me.
1. A REAL Experience!
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT AN ‘IT!’ He is not ABSTRACT, He is ABSOLUTE. He is a PERSON.
“Grieve not the Holy Spirit.” (Eph. 4: 30)
You cannot grieve an object, or an abstract being. You can only grieve that which has emotions, which can only be a REAL person.
He is a member of the Cabinet of the Heavenly Trinity. He is just as much God as God the Father, or God the Son. Thus, when Paul speaks of being filled with the Holy Spirit he is speaking of a real experience with a real person.
A) The MANIFESTATION of His PERSON
The Holy Spirit makes His grand entrance throughout the pages of Bible history. He has been manifested in PRIOR times.
- Creation
“The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Gen. 1: 2)
- Flood
“Sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot.” (Gen. 8: 8-9)
- Wilderness
“Thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.” (Nehemiah 9: 12)
- Completion of the Solomon’s temple.
“Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. [2] And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house.” (2 Chronicles 7: 1-2)
- Baptism of Jesus.
“Spirit descended from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him…This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (John 1: 32)
- Resurrection. Three days after Jesus was placed into a borrowed tomb, the self-same spirit that “moved upon the face of the waters,” moved upon the dead body of Christ and breathed life into a cold, lifeless tomb.
- Day of Pentecost.
“There came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2: 2-4)
We see the Holy Spirit manifested in prior times, as well as PRESENT times. Even since Jesus ascended back to Heaven, the Holy Spirit has been at work, and will remain at work until Jesus comes again.
The Holy Spirit is the convictor, convertor, corrector, and comforter. The Holy Spirit is the initiator, investigator, interrogator, invigorator, and illuminator.
No one can be saved apart from the Holy Spirit. No Christian can grow apart from the Holy Spirit. No believer can survive without the Holy Spirit.
Because of His involvement in prior times and present times, He is to be involved in PERSONAL times. Paul writes to believers at Ephesus and says,
“Be filled with the Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit of the prior age and the present age is the same Holy Spirit that is to be involved in the personal age. His person is work through my person. The Holy Spirit is to work through our human spirit.
HOLY SPIRIT is the LAMP
HUMAN SPIRIT is the LIGHT
Major Ian Thomas said, "Through the Holy Spirit, man can make Himself available to God, and God is prepared to make Himself available to man. The Spirit becomes the Agent of a mutual inter-availability. All there is of God is available to every human being who is available to all there is of God."
B) The MANDATE for His PEOPLE
“Be filled with the Spirit.”
The statement is reflected in the imperative tense in the Greek language. In other words, it denotes a command. Thus, the matter of being filled with the Spirit is not an option, but an obligation.
It is not a choice, but a command. It is not to be a matter of prayer, but a matter of practice. God demands, and commands that every believer “be filled with the Spirit.”
If you are saved it is because one day you saw that you were a sinner on your way to hell, and you responded to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. He showed you that you were helpless and hopeless, apart from God, but that God loved you, Jesus died for you, and He would save you if you would ask Him.
When you did, you experienced the glorious work of regeneration. In other words, you were baptized, by the Holy Spirit, into the family of God. The Holy Spirit came and took up His abode in your heart. Again, that is what the Bible refers to as “the baptism of the Spirit.”
“One faith, one Lord, one baptism.” (Eph. 4: 4)
It took place the day that we were saved, and will NEVER happen again. However, the subject that Paul is discussing here is not the baptism of the Spirit, but the “filling” of the Spirit. While there is only 1 baptism, there are many fillings.
Furthermore, it is something that God commands of us as His children. It has no been thrown out for our discussion, opinion or approval. It has been given as a divine mandate to the people of God. We are to “be filled with the Spirit.”
It is a REAL experience. It is also:
2. A REPEATED Experience!
As I just mentioned, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a one-time event, never to take place again. However, the matter of being “filled with the Spirit” is not a one-time event, but rather it is a real experience, as well as to be a repeated experience.
A) The MATTER of CONTINUATION
In the Greek New Testament, verse 18 literally reads,
“Be being filled with the Spirit.”
The idea is that of consistency. In other words, this is something that is to happen on a repeated, continuous basis. Williams translates the phrase,
“Allow yourselves to be continually made full of the Holy Spirit.”
We were baptized into the family of God the day that we were saved, and we never need to be baptized again. However, we need to be “filled with the Spirit” day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment and second by second.
The matter of being filled with the Holy Spirit is a matter of continuation. Over and over and over and over again, we are to continually be filled with the Spirit.
Let me explain it this way. Let’s say that you pull your car onto the fuel island to put gas into your tank, and you fill it completely to the rim. I mean you fill it so full that it begins to run over, spilling upon the ground, your new shoes and the cuff of your pants. You go in to pay for gas, get in your car, start the engine, shift the transmission into drive and pull off onto the highway.
When does your car begin to use the gas that has just been placed into it?
It begins to consume fuel the very moment that you turn the key and start the ignition.
So it is with the filling of the Holy Spirit. He is the gasoline of the Christian life. We may fill up at this very moment, but we begin to “use our fuel” the very next moment.
That is why a Sunday-to-Sunday, or Sunday-to-Thursday filling will not last. It must be a constant matter, a consistent matter and a continuing matter in our lives.
B) The METHOD of OPERATION
The word “filled” that is used has nothing to do with quality, but quantity. Thus, the word “filled’ literally speaks of “being controlled.” Paul illustrates his point by speaking of being
“Drunk with wine.”
Wine, or alcoholic beverages are a controlling substance. When consumed in excess they place a person under its control, and cause him to do thing he would not normally do, and say things he would not normally say.
Thus, the point is that just as wine can control a person to do certain things, so too is the Spirit of God to control the believer to do certain things. The Spirit of God is to be the method of operation, the driving force, in the life of every believer.
I think of article written in the Houston Chronicle describing the effect of alcohol. It stated, "Alcohol is a product of amazing versatility. It will remove stains from designer clothes. It will also remove clothes off your back. If by chance it is used in sufficient quantity, alcohol will remove furniture from the home, rugs from the floor, food from the table, lining from the stomach, vision from the eyes, and judgment from the mind. Alcohol will also remove good reputations, good jobs, good friends, happiness from children's hearts, sanity, freedom, spouses, relationships, man's ability to adjust and live with his fellow man and even life itself. As a remover of things, alcohol has no equal."
Alcohol may have no equal when it comes to being a remover of things; but, the Holy Spirit has no equal when it comes to be a REPLACER, REPAIRER, and RESTORER of things.
He can turn a dull life into a dynamic life; a boring life into a blessed life; a lazy life into a lovely life; a hellish life into a Heavenly life. There are no substitutes for His presence, person and power.
On the Day of Pentecost, the crowd thought that Peter and the disciples were drunk at the 3rd hour of the day. They were not drunk physically; they were drunk spiritually, under the influence of the new wine of the Holy Spirit.
To the world one, under the control of the Holy Spirit, may look foolish. To the religious crowd one, under the control of the Holy Spirit, may appear to be putting on a show. But, to the believer, it is a real experience that is to be a repeated experience.
3. A REMARKABLE Experience!
Watchman Nee said, “By the time the average Christian gets his temperature up to normal, everybody thinks he has a fever."
The life of Spirit-fulness is not an abnormal or subnormal matter. It is the NORMAL Christian life. D. L. Moody said, “You might as well try to see without eyes, hear without ears, walk without legs, and breathe without lungs as to try to live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit.”
During WWII, a young teenager tried to enlist in the Navy. Only 15, but big for his age, he told the recruiter that he was 16. The officer looked at him and said, "Sorry son, you're not old enough." Two months later he returned. The recruiter didn't seem to remember him, so this time the boy said that he was 17. Again the answer was, "Sorry son, you're not old enough."
He waited a few weeks and returned again. This time he said that he was 18. The man looked at the teenager and said, "Young man, we would love to have you in the Navy. The only problem is that you're growing so fast that I'm afraid we'd have to put you on pension before the war is over.
The Holy Spirit equips us, enables us, enriches us, and empowers us to grow up unto Jesus and become all that God wants us to be.
One of the by-products of being filled with the Spirit is the FRUIT of the Spirit.
“Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. [23]Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5: 22-23)
ONE FRUIT—NINE FLAVORS
GIVER is GOD
GLORY is JESUS
GIFT is HOLY SPIRIT
GRACE is FRUIT
When we are under the control of the Holy Spirit, not only will we exhibit His likeness, but we will exhibit His loveliness.
A) SING with GLADNESS
[19] “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Norman B. Harrison said, “When the fullness of the Spirit fills the heart the lips will catch the overflow; and, the life will be swung into line. As a result, the fountain of life, once dried up, will never run dry.”
Once we are filled, and under the control of the Holy Spirit our heart and life will be governed by joy.
SCRIPTURAL--Psalms
SPIRITUAL--Hymns
SOULFUL—Spiritual Songs
Have you ever noticed someone who is always negative, complaining, discouraged and disgruntled? If so, then you have just seen a person who is not filled, and under the control of the Holy Spirit. A Spirit-filled person may not sing to be heard, but He will sing because he’s HAPPY!
Over the past quarter-century has there’s been a big debate over which types of music to use in churches. Most of the debate stems from what WE like or want.
PERSONAL PREFERENCE or ETERNAL ACCEPTANCE
“Making melody in your heart TO THE LORD.”
Isn’t that amazing? We have missed the boat. We must have thought that we were to sing to be appealing to others, when Paul says that we are to sing to be ADORING of God
B) SPEAK with GRATITUDE
[20] “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I think of a medieval legend that tells of 2 angels sent to Earth to gather up the prayers of the saints. One angel was to gather prayers and petitions. The other angel was to gather up prayers of thanksgiving. After much searching, the one angel who brought back prayers and petitions was not able to carry them in one load. However, the other angel, responsible for carrying the prayers of thanksgiving carried them back in one hand.
I submit unto you that a Spirit-filled believer is not a joyful Christian, but a grateful Christian. As Wiersbe said, “If we would THINK more, we would THANK more.”
Christians ought to be the most joyful, faithful, fruitful, and grateful people in the world. We were lost, headed to hell, nothing we could do about it, but God came to us when we couldn’t come to Him. The Holy Spirit is the one who made it become reality to us.
C) SUBMIT with GRACE
[21] “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”
We live in day that has gone from Adam’s rib to Satan’s fib to Women’s Lib. Everyone is concerned about their “equal rights,” as well as when, where and how to exert their rights.
Thus, the word submission is not a favorite word in the dictionary of most people. However, a person who is captivated, saturated and dominated by the Holy Spirit is a person who submits with grace.
The word “submit” is a military term. The word is hupotasso and it means, “To rank under.” It was often used to describe an officer accepting his role under his superior officer, as well as submitting to his orders.
The word reminds us that, as Christians, we are to submit ourselves to the Captain of our soul, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, once we humbly submit to Him, we will gladly submit “one to another.” We won’t look for an opportunity to get our way, but for an opportunity to let God have His way as weserve others.