Being filled with the Spirit….?
Ephesians 5: 15. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Paul said to the Ephesian believers, be very careful how you are now living – not as unwise but as wise making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.
So how do we do this? Paul answers with a statement which provides the inner principle which will redeem our time and indeed our days…..Don’t be foolish, …don’t get drunk…but instead be filled with the Spirit……
Paul’s use of mentioning drunkenness and being filled with the Spirit may suggest an exact parallel. It is true when someone is drunk he is “under the influence”, and when one is filled with the Spirit he is under the Spirit’s influence. But the comparison ends here, and the rest is contrast!
Being filled with the Spirit is not a kind of spiritual intoxication in which we lose self-control, for self control is a fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22, 23; 2 Tim 1:7.
To be sure, at Pentecost the disciples were accused of having “had too much wine” – Acts 2:13, but only by their detractors who were making fun of them.
The rest of the people were awed by the Spirit’s power manifested in the disciples.
Today the church needs the Holy Spirit in this way more than anything else. Those in the church have received many blessings of the Holy Spirit.
– They have been baptized into Christ’s body – 1 Cor 12:13
– They have been sealed by the Holy Spirit – Eph 1:13
– They have been reconciled by the Holy Spirit – Eph 2:16 and
– Given the Holy Spirit as a deposit – Eph 1:14
Yet the church is so spiritually empty!
What is needed is the flood of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the woman at the well..whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst..Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life…John 4:14
The woman at the well got it and still has it!
On the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus stood and said, If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him – John 7:37-38.
What is the fullness of the Holy Spirit like?
How do we become filled?
Paul now answers these questions in the next verses.
V19. The apostle says those who are full of the Spirit should ..speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs…and …Sing and make music in your heart…to the Lord…
Spirit filled people overflow in song!
V20. Says that those full of the Spirit are always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…
That is, we are to have a radical spirit of gratitude. We are to thank God not for the trials but in the trials and trust that He will get us through. The fullness of the Spirit rules out a grumbling, complaining, negative, sour spirit.
Finally those full of the Spirit obey the Scriptural admonition to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ…Verse 21
To summarise, the fullness of the Holy Spirit produces a life of profound beauty.
It knows what is important. It is a life that orders its priorities and gives time to the eternal.
Are we filled with the Spirit? Is there music in our souls? Is there thankfulness and praise? Is there submission in our lives?
Do we want to be filled? If so, there are several points we need to understand about the call to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is a COMMAND, not a suggestion. We are not free to ignore it.
It is a PLURAL COMMAND to the whole church. None of us is to get drunk but all of us are to be filled with the Spirit. It is not for a few or for some elite.
It is a PASSIVE COMMAND. It means, “Let the Holy Spirit fill you”. There is no ritual, no formula. We must turn from any known sin. We must open ourselves to God’s Word so it dwells richly in us – Colossians 3:16.
We must yield to the Spirit.
Finally, it is a PRESENT TENSE COMMAND; it is not once for all but continuous. We are to go on being filled. We are to keep drinking and drinking and drinking.