How to be Filled with The Holy Spirit | Ephesians 5:18 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Can we show our appreciation to the praise team with our hands?

I wish we could have kept going. That was glorious.

And I just want to let you know. Maranatha Bible Church, you're a

gift. You're a gift.

In my life. I praise God for what he's doing

in this church and what I mean by this church.

I'm not speaking about this building.

I'm not speaking about the events that we have necessary.

I'm speaking about you, your lives, your consecration to the

Lord, your love for the word of God.

I like Paul, always thank God the Father for you, for your

faith, for your love for him. May it only grow and intensify

for his glory, and may he continue to keep his hand on NBC

in these trying and difficult times.

I'm just so grateful today. I want to do something today

different. I don't want us to go to Mark

today. This is going to be a different

message, one that may be a reminder to many of us.

But even Peter said that we can be stirred up by way of

reminder. My desire, my prayer, is that

this would demand in a response from us, that this would cause

us to pursue the Lord in a new way, in a fresh way, as we've

entered into 2024. And so I want to look at one

particular verse, and this verse is a command, but it's a command

filled with so much promise, so much wonderful, glorious

consequences. And my desire again is that as

we hear it and unpack it together, it would.

Create a cry in our. Hearts for us to experience it

for ourselves. And so if you have a copy of

God's Word in your hands, I ask you to please meet me in the

book of Ephesians in chapter 5 and verse 18.

Here's what the Lord says to us today.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be

filled with the Spirit. Do not get drunk with wine, for

that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.

This is not a suggestion, this is not an option, this is a

command. Let's ask the Lord to help us

understand it and obey it. Though we come to you wanting to

be filled with the Holy Spirit and Lord, even perhaps in our

weakness now we ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit, and

we pray that the presence of the Holy Spirit would be so obvious

to us. And that Lord, the things that

we will hear about the Holy Spirit filling us would cause us

to yearn a greater, more intense, consistent, protective

relationship with the Holy Spirit.

We trust in your help at this time.

In Jesus name we ask these things.

Amen. Be filled with the Holy Spirit

that is my exhortation to you today.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit. And before we understand what

this means, I want to give you a heads up that we're going to

look at this with three headings. 3 very simple

headings. I want us to #1 understand what

the meaning of being filled with the Spirit is.

I want us to then consider secondly the effects of being

filled with the Spirit. And then lastly, I want us to

understand very clearly the ways that we are filled with the Holy

Spirit, the meaning of being filled with the Holy Spirit, the

effects of being filled with the Holy Spirit and the way or ways

that we can know the filling of the Holy Spirit.

And before we can understand the meaning of what it means to be

filled with the Holy Spirit, let's clarify two major

misconceptions concerning this verse that a new believer might

have, or perhaps a misunderstood student of the word of God.

The first thing that we need to understand is that Paul is not

suggesting that as Christians we are void of the indwelling

presence of the Holy Spirit and. Though we have confessed faith

in Christ, it is our responsibility to somehow

acquire him. That is not the case for one

simple reason. And the reason is this, that

when you call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, when you offer

your repentant faith, you know the indwelling presence of the

Holy Spirit. You are sealed with the Holy

Spirit. You receive him as a guarantee.

And so the very same epistle, what we're told be filled of the

Holy Spirit, assures us in the first chapter of our inheritance

of the Holy Spirit upon our confession upon our faith in

Christ. So look at Ephesians chapter

one, verse 13. The same letter, the same author

who says in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the

gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed

with the promised Holy Spirit. And so upon salvation you

receive the Holy Spirit, you receive his person, you receive

his seal, you receive the guarantee that he will be with

you and he will sanctify you until the day of redemption.

And so this is not Paul suggesting that you and I have

to search and strive for the Holy Spirit's presence and

reality to be known in our lives.

He's there when you believed in the Son of God.

The Second, probably more common misconception that may be true

for many believers is that Paul, in saying be filled of the Holy

Spirit, is inferring that the presence of the Holy Spirit in

our lives is incremental. In other words, that when we're

saved, we received like a portion of the Holy Spirit and

then it's up to us to have more of the Holy Spirit.

And depending on our hunger and our spiritual disciplines that

will determine how much of the Holy Spirit you will experience.

And so you have some who again innocently might believe, well,

here's somebody who has a quarter of the Holy Spirit, who

here's somebody who's a little bit more spiritual.

So they have maybe reach the halfway point of the Holy

Spirit. And there are very few who have

the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And the reason why that might be

confusing is because Paul contrasts the filling of the

Holy Spirit with the negative command of not being drunk with

wine. And we understand that to be

drunk with wine you have to drink it, and it's a substance.

And so they kind of misapply the parallel, and they equate

drinking alcohol with the experience of the Holy Spirit

filling us. And so they kind of view the

Holy Spirit as a substance that you can have an empty tank, a

full tank of a three quarter filled tank of the Holy Spirit.

And here's where this is clarified.

The Holy Spirit is not a substance.

He's a person, he's a person. And sometimes you even hear this

the way people pray or refer to the Holy Spirit as an IT.

No, he's a he and he's a person. What does that imply?

Well, if we just learned that upon salvation and believing,

you receive the sealing of the Holy Spirit, and he's a person,

well, what does that mean? You receive all of him?

You don't receive a quarter of a person.

You don't receive half of a person.

You receive a person in his totality.

And so Paul is now suggesting again that the Holy Spirit can

be known in fragments or in units.

He's a person, and when he seals you, you have all of him.

OK, good. So we clarified these two

misconceptions, but it still begs the question, what does it

mean for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit again?

If we have an understand that he's a person and we receive all

of him, then what does this suggest?

And here's what I propose to you, a phrase that I've used

before, a phrase that I believe is worth repeating.

Perhaps Paul's argument here and commanding us to be filled with

the Holy Spirit, is less about us seeking to have more of him,

and it's actually about him having more of us.

This is less about us having more of the Holy Spirit, and

this is actually more about the Holy Spirit having more of you.

You can safely replace the word filled with the word controlled.

Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be

controlled with the spirit you're saying.

Why would you do that? And is it appropriate to do

that? And I say absolutely.

It is because that is the very essence of Paul's command here.

That is the very reason why he connects being filled with the

Holy Spirit with a negative command of not getting drunk

with wine. So this insertion is appropriate

if it helps you clarify the meaning, because the reality is

that when somebody is inebriated by wine, what happens to

somebody that arrives that state of mind?

They are under the control of another substance.

So what Paul is saying is don't get under the control of another

substance. If you're going to be under the

control of anything, let it be the Holy Spirit.

Let him fill you. Let him intoxicate you.

Let him be the thing that determines your behavior, your

words, your actions, your walk in life.

This is what he is getting at. Be controlled of the Holy Spirit

to be filled as to have him have absolute domination of who you

are as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Why do people pursue intoxication or any other

substance that removes them from sobriety and brings them to

another state of mind? They do so intentionally.

It's not accidental and the main reason is because to do so

offers something that these people believe that they need.

So let's talk about that for a moment.

When you think about those who find joy or are finding

themselves bound by alcoholism, some rely on it to forget.

To forget their troubles, forget the troubles of the past, their

worries for tomorrow. And so they indulge and over

indulge in this substance as an escaping agent to numb

themselves from the unfavorable realities that they are facing.

This is a way to feel carefree, and sometimes that's what you

see with people who are intoxicated.

They loosen up, they're able to have a song in their mouths,

they can laugh, and there are other obvious negative

consequences that follow. Others actually depend on

drinking to aid them, and so it's not really an escape

mechanism, it's more an assistance.

And some people in the world today rely on this to loosen up

again in social settings, to become less self-conscious, to

be more approachable, and to find the confidence to approach

others. So this is really some kind of

form of help to them. And so they come to a place

where they are intoxicated so that they can be someone else.

Others simply enjoy the sensation of drunkenness.

It's an experience and an excuse to again be somewhere else, be

someone else that demands and comes at a price of abandoning a

sober mind and our God champion sobriety.

All in all, listen, we can confidently say that for most

reasons, drunkenness is a form of aid, and it is an entryway

into a desirable experience. A form of aid and an entryway

into a desirable experience. And in some sense and to an

extent, this is what Paul is saying about being filled with

the Holy Spirit. He offers the same to be filled

with the Holy Spirit is to tap into a holy assistance, a state

of mind that makes way for a sanctifying, joy filled God,

glorifying experience. And not just for a moment, not

just a buzz, but as a way of life depending on your

willingness to yield to his control as Paul.

Suggests here, and that's in fact the reason for this

exhortation. This is.

The prayerful reason for this message today that as you hear

what Paul has to say, you would realize that he, the Spirit,

through him longs for each of us to reach a state of the

Christian life that the Spirit is willing to bring us into.

Look at Ephesians 515. This is the context in the same

section where he says be filled with the Holy Spirit, he says

earlier. Look carefully then, how you

walk, not as unwise but as wise. Paul is concerned about how we

walk, and walk is a simple term of a way of life, your

consistent way of life, your day-to-day way of life.

And so in the same place where he says I want you to be careful

and calculated and strategic and invested, mindful of how you

walk. Consider this exhortation be

filled to the Holy Spirit. If you're going to walk this

walk that God wants you to have. If you want to reach the heights

of glorious promise and experience that you must know

something of a constant filling of the Holy Spirit.

If drunkenness affects your behavior, so does being filled

with the Holy Spirit. You know that drunkenness

enhances the likelihood of our actions in our speech to be more

embarrassing, shameful, foolish, regretful, and downright

destructive on every level. And on the other hand, to be

filled the Holy Spirit increases a different behavioral pattern.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit. You know them, Lovejoy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

self-control. Holy Spirit longs to make that

more manifest, to stretch those realities, to grow you into that

place where you are, a walking garden that glorifies the lore

with a special fragrance that he enables and stimulates.

Some of us who are the unfortunate witnesses of what

drunkenness does to a person realize that when they bring

themselves to that place, they become a different person, and

it makes you act like a completely different individual.

And I argue in the same way. The Holy Spirit offers the same

outcome. And when you are filled with the

Holy Spirit, you are a different person.

Not in a shameful way, not an embarrassing way, but in an

amazing way. What does the Holy Spirit want

you to be like? Who does he want you to be?

Like the Son of God? Christ Jesus?

If drunkenness affects your behavior, so does being filled

with the Holy Spirit. If drunkenness has an impact on

those around us, so does being filled with the Holy Spirit.

You know a person who has developed a habit of getting

drunk. You also know that they've

developed a reputation along with it.

The drunkard doesn't usually improve their relationships.

They don't really offer much positive force and impact on

social gatherings, at least civilized ones.

Disorder, inappropriateness, lack of sensitivity, and loss of

control. Sometimes.

Violence is usually what drunkards bring to the table,

and in the same way person who is filled with the Holy Spirit

does make an impression on others, but for the good They

carry a blessed fragrance, As I said, not a repulsive one.

And there's no doubt that the aroma that they exude from the

Spirit's influence is recognizable, and it is

delightful to those who are around them.

Let me prove that to you. When there was a need in the

local church, in the early church, in Acts chapter 6,

Acts 6 · chapter mention

there's a practical ministry need.

And when the resumes were needed, the requirements for the

candidates were spelled out in Acts chapter 6 verse 3, where

Acts 6:3

we're told by the apostles who instructed the church.

Therefore, brothers, in Acts 6, three pick out from among you

seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit.

Find men who are full of the Spirit and of Wisdom whom we

will appoint to this duty. You know what this tells me?

This is what it tells me. Being filled with the Spirit is

not a distinguishing mark between the saved and the

unsaved, it's a distinguishing mark among the saved.

Yes, we all receive the Holy Spirit when we're saved, but not

all of us are walking in the filling of the Holy Spirit.

And so as believers, the early church indicates the scriptures

indicate because there's the facts of being filled with the

Holy Spirit, we can look at believers and say that person's

filled with the Holy Spirit. That person ain't that person's

walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

That person is sorely lacking. He says look for men who are

full of Holy Spirit. Evidently, I can see.

I can know. I can study.

This is a person who's filled with the Holy Spirit, and I

don't know about you. But although I am eternally

grateful for being sealed by the Holy Spirit, sealed until the

day of redemption, I am not willing to live my life

uncontrolled by the Holy Spirit. I want it.

I want to live it. I want it to mark my life.

And some may be content to take Paul's command here as a

suggestion and not to take it as a command not to take it

seriously. But I want to remind you that

there is a great cost at approaching this command and

hearing it with indifference. A great cost.

You're going to hear the effects and I pray that it gives you a

divine jealousy and it sets you on a path to live depended upon

the Holy Spirit. But there are things beyond

this. Message is 1 message to

communicate the great treasures that come with being filled with

the Holy Spirit. But let me make this comment

here under the point that if drunkenness impacts those around

us, so does being filled with the Holy Spirit.

If you examine the Book of Acts carefully, you will notice that

there is a pattern. And the pattern that you will

notice is that when the Lord desires to accomplish something

in His church through His church, he will often do so by

recruiting a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit.

God uses people who are filled with the Holy Spirit, So you

just. Read it in Acts Chapter 6 verse

Acts 6:3

3. There is a need in the church.

Find several men who are full of the Holy Spirit.

It doesn't end there. Go with me to Acts again.

You're already there, I'm sure. So that's Acts 6.

Three. Look at Acts 917.

So Ananias departed and entered the house, and laying his hands

on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to

you on the road by which you came.

Has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled

with the Holy Spirit. So here's Saul of Tarsus, who

had a temporary blindness. God sent this man Ananias to

minister to him to lay hands on him.

The scales would fall from his eyes, but he would also know a

filling of the Holy Spirit, and it would be necessary for the

ministry that he was called to. Paul needed to be filled with

the Holy Spirit. Look at Acts Chapter 11, verse

Acts 11:22

22. The report of this came to the

ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to

Antioch. When he came and saw the grace

of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain

faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a

good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

And a great many people were added to the Lord.

So here are these several men. In Acts chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

There was a ministry need. And through the discernment of

the leaders, the apostle of the early church find men who are

full of the Holy Spirit. Here's.

Paul the great apostle and Ananias was sent to him for a

mission, a purpose, a great purpose.

He needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Here's Barnabas sent to the church at Antioch, and we're

given a description of this man who is effective for the Lord,

who was a trustworthy individual who is fruitful and effective in

his ministry. Why?

For he was a good man. Not just a good man, he was full

of the Holy Spirit. If you are a person who desires

to be used of God, then you will take Paul's command seriously.

Here you will want to be full of the Holy Spirit walking in the

fullness of the Holy Spirit, protecting your fullness in the

Spirit, because God uses people who are filled with the Holy

Spirit, and it's obvious when the Lord recruits those among

his own. He finds those who are yielded

to the Spirit's influence if drunkenness.

Affects your behavior. So does being filled with the

Holy Spirit. If drunkenness impacts those

around you, so does being filled with the Holy Spirit.

If drunkenness promises a happier in look and outlook,

being filled with the Spirit guarantees it.

I can remember my days in high school and college as a

professing Christian. A whitewashed tomb, Pretty on

the outside, dead on the inside. And I remember being among those

who are not even whitewashed tombs, they were just walking

skeletons. And I can remember whenever we

would gather together in social gatherings.

Seems as though we couldn't get together unless we had alcohol.

Seems that we couldn't do anything unless somebody went

and made a trip to the near liquor store and and I remember

even being an unsafe person. Thinking to myself at one point,

why is it that almost every single time we hang out, whether

it's in a basement or we're going out to some kind of event,

that we? Need to put this nasty stuff in

our mouth to come to a place where we have no control.

Even then I thought it was strange there was such a

dependency on this to just even have a good time to apparently

make memories. In one sense, Paul is telling

these believers not to turn to drunkenness, to try to tap into

a bliss or state of ecstasy. You know why?

Because you have the Holy Spirit.

You have everything that you need in him.

You know what the psalmist says, right in Psalm 4, verse seven?

You have put more joy in my heart than they when their grain

and wine abound, you have put more joy in my heart in Psalm 4,

verse seven, than they when their grain and their wine

abound, I have more than them, more security, more assurance,

more joy because I have him. If drunkenness tries to allure

people with an happier outlook in look, the Holy Spirit

guarantees it. This is what it means to be

filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not so much about us having

more of Him, but about Him having more of us.

And so now I want to speak to you about the effects of being

filled with the Holy Spirit, because what I just said to you

were just general observations, but the.

Apostle Paul here in this very same text gives us four specific

practical outcomes that we inherit and we enjoy when we do

know the filling of the Holy Spirit, and so let's read it.

Back in Ephesians 5 we read verse 18.

Let's read it again and continue the thought in verse 19 down and

do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery.

But be filled with the Spirit addressing one another in psalms

and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the

Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything

to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Between verse 19 to 21, what you have here is Paul spelling out

the sequence of the results when one is walking in the filling of

the Holy Spirit. And I believe that there are

four. Four.

Not limited to these four. We could talk about boldness and

courage and preaching and witnessing and all these

different things that are found in the New Testament.

But I want to. Speak to you of the highlighted

outcomes that Paul spells out, the main ones that can ensue

from a person who has received the filling of the Holy Spirit.

So here for if you want to know what you can know if you take

this command seriously, this is what you will experience.

Being filled number one with the Holy Spirit causes us causes us

to be actively engaged within a community of faith.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit causes us to be actively

engaged within a community of faith.

Saying where do you see that from?

Well again this is from Paul's first mark.

Notice how this point of singing psalms and hymns and spiritual

songs is in the context of the first few words of verse 19,

addressing one another, addressing one another.

He's not speaking about you. Singing in your kitchen,

although that's true in the Holy Spirit.

Can cause a song in your heart while you do your dishes is it's

true as you're driving in your car, it's true as you're taking

a walk. The filling of the Holy Spirit

can cause you to sing passionately unto the Lord, yes,

but Paul's concern here is that there is a singing that takes

place in the context of addressing one another, implying

relationships. When you're filled with the Holy

Spirit, understand this. You will be.

Somebody who will be driven, excited, longing, convicted

about being in a consistent and invested community of believers.

The Holy Spirit does not 'cause you to justify isolation.

He does not cause you to be cynical toward the local church.

He does not cause you to have a light commitment to the body of

Jesus Christ. When the Holy Spirit fills you,

you will have a heart swollen toward the bride of Christ.

Your life will be very much orbited around a community of

believers who regularly. Meet to sing, to receive the

Word, to worship, and to serve. That's what the Holy Spirit will

do in you and if a professing follower of Christ.

Does not have that conviction and that belief.

That could very well be a sign that not only are they lacking

insight, let me say this boldly, but they are lacking the

presence and the influence of the Holy Spirit and His fullness

in their lives. Full stop.

So a person who doesn't take the local church seriously is a

person in my estimation, according to this, who does not

know the feeling of the Holy Spirit.

Because when you're filled, you will love the church.

When you're filled, you will serve in the church.

Notice my language is very specific, actively engaged

within a community of faith. Actively engaged, you won't be

able to help it. You'll be so stirred.

You remember what it was like when you knew the filling of the

Holy Spirit by the grace of God, when you first got saved.

Church was exciting. You were longing.

Nothing can get in your way. Well, you don't have to just

reminisce on those memories. You can know it for the rest of

your life. Through the help of the Holy

Spirit, He increases that desire, He protects that desire,

and He gives you the energy to be actively engaged with other

believers. Addressing one another, the Holy

Spirit's filling, will cause you to know one another in your

Christian walk. Being filled with the Holy

Spirit causes that number two. Being filled with the Holy

Spirit cause us to sing wholeheartedly unto the Lord.

What is he saying? That same verse, addressing one

another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and

making melody to the Lord. Now notice this with your heart.

So I'm not speaking here about a singing that is superficial.

I'm not seek. I'm not speaking here about a

singing that is distracted. I'm not here sing speaking about

a singing that is under compulsion.

What Paul is saying here is that when a person is filled with the

holy. Spirit to one another.

The Holy Spirit can be in our singing, but it requires us to

be filled with Him and ultimately to the Lord.

May I make a side note as well? Notice what Paul says here in

psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, Singing and making melody

to the Lord with your heart. Do you notice the variety of

style mentioned here? You have churches who are

dividing, splitting over styles of singing, and Paul here is

very open to a variety of styles.

You want Paul and the Holy Spirit is more concerned more

than anything. Substance.

Substance. And so as long as the style

doesn't interfere or dilute the substance, we have license to

offer the Lord a variety of ways of singing to Him.

Maybe somebody needs to be encouraged by that as well.

Being filled causes us to sing passionately unto the Lord.

Let her singing be accurate, let it be honorable.

There is variety available, but what the Lord is pressing on

here is that there's something from the heart that He helps us

bring to each other and to God. Being filled #3 with the Holy

Spirit causes us to offer radical gratitude.

Radical gratitude, verse 20. Giving thanks always and for

everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus

Christ. Notice the quality of

Thanksgiving He says always. And he says for everything

that's supernatural that can only come from the Holy Spirit's

help. And just like singing, there is

a Thanksgiving. From the heart.

That God wants to help us know and express.

This is not a hypocritical Thanksgiving.

This is not a gritting your teeth.

This is the Christian kind of thing to do to give thanks.

Though I really feeling many other emotions that don't make

sense to give thanks with. And that is not to say let me

say this. That is not to say that being.

Thankful, always and for everything, deletes any other

feelings. Because when he says for

everything, that means for everything.

In difficult times and trying times and pressing times, in

challenging times, you can know sorrow.

It doesn't make you less spiritual, You can weep.

It doesn't make you less Christian or sensitive to God or

faithful trusting in his promises.

Paul, in a catalogue in Corinthians expresses that right

sorrowful yet always rejoicing. And he lists different things

that seem paradoxical, but it's true because of the Holy Spirit.

What this means is that despite what you're being cascaded with

that might want to bring you down, that might want to make

you somber and unpleasant, you can still know gratitude.

With all of that complexity in your heart, you can know this

dominant sense of Thanksgiving to who look at this God, Not

just God, God the Father, God the Father.

Always and for everything. You can see God as Father and

address Him as such. I may not understand this I may

not comprehend, but I can still see Him as Father and address

him as such. I think of Paul and.

One of my favorite examples of his thankful spirit when he was

on his way to Rome. And that was a very bumpy

journey. Weeks at sea, Storm tossed No

sunlight. Anxiety that so crippled those

on the ship they couldn't even eat.

And Paul, who was a prisoner on that ship, ends up becoming the

captain of. It.

I love that. Such control, such revelation,

such absolute faith. And you've heard me say this

over and over again. Whenever we speak about trusting

God is one of my favorite examples.

Paul could be so confident because he was told early in

Acts 23 by the Lord Jesus himself, you're going to Rome.

You're going to go to Rome and testify about me.

And that's why Paul was so unmoved.

But here he is now, taking charge of the ship leading the

people in a pastoral way, almost.

And there's this one little sliver of light among other rays

of light in that story. Let me read it to you in Acts

Acts 27:35

27, verse 35. Just envision it.

Here they are in this ship, ready to fall apart, not knowing

N from West, S from east. And we read here about Paul.

And when he had said these things, he took bread, and,

giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and

began to eat. I love that sight, the deafening

wind, the crashing waves, all these other men, professional

sailors and soldiers, weaken the body, weaken the mind, and hears

Paul standing strong chest out, exhorting them.

And in the middle of all of this he takes bread, and he gives

thanks to God, and he breaks it and he eats.

Do you know how you can do that in the middle of a storm?

Do you know how you can do that? In the middle of chaos?

Be filled with the Holy Spirit again?

You can hear this and say, oh man, you mean you're saying I

got to do all this to be filled with?

No, no, I'm saying you got to be filled the Holy Spirit, and you

can do all of this. Don't put the cart before the

horse. So this is a command, but this

is a command. Pregnant with so much promise.

Get excited about what the Holy Spirit's willing and able to do

in you. Being filled with the Holy

Spirit causes us to offer radical gratitude always and for

everything. #4 Being filled with the Holy Spirit causes us to be

in loving submission to one another.

Verse 21 submitting to one another at a reverence for

Christ. Remember that that's tied into

verse 18, right? So verse 18 is the cup, and

what's being poured out of the cup is all of these things, and

the last thing here mentioned is submitting to one another.

And so here's what Paul is saying that to be filled with

the Holy Spirit causes us as individual believers to be

lowly. And the loneliness that Paul has

in mind here is measured by how we are willing to come alongside

other believers in order to support them and to serve them

with absolute humility and sincerity.

Submitting to one another. Elevating your needs.

Elevating who you are above myself and the spirit is ready

to stimulate a longing. A lot like a genuine longing.

Not just this is my duty as a Christian.

No. A real thing.

It gets in your blood where you look at another Christian.

You say I really want to honor you.

I really want to help you. I really want to respect you.

I really want to listen to you. I really am willing to endure

your shortcomings. Even I'm willing to do anything

to maintain harmony in this place.

The Holy Spirit with that cancels the urge to push for

your own way to manipulate things and to have your agenda

creep into situations or ministries.

He cancels that because when you're filled with them he

replaces selfish ambition with spirit LED submission.

And if you and I need help and knowing what that exactly means,

how does it look like to submit one another?

Oh, be excited to know the reach of it, the depth of it, the

spheres and the circles that it is willing to impact.

Because we read this and then we see this little title.

If you have the ESV Wives and Husbands, and then we read

what's commonly referred to in the context of marriage,

teaching about marriage. But do you realize we're still

in the same context of being filled with the Holy Spirit?

So verse 21, submitting to one another out of reference for

Christ. OK, Paul's done here.

He's moving on to another point. No, he's not.

He's now expanding upon the different areas where the

submission can be known. And what does he say next?

Wives, submit to your own husbands as of to the Lord.

Husbands loving your wives, right?

Look at verse one of chapter six.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord.

Look what you read here in verse 5.

Bondservants obey your earthly masters.

Verse 9. Masters do the same to them.

Do you want your marriage to be blessed?

You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Children, Do you want an enriched relationship with your

parents? Do you want to do your part and

fulfill your duty? Be filled.

With the Holy Spirit Fathers, do you want to know how you can

raise your children? As an example, as a discipler

mothers be filled with the Holy Spirit employers.

Do you want to be a better boss? To your employees.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit employees.

Do you want to be a better contributor in your work field?

Be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is what he's saying.

Submitting to one another. And let me show you where the

Holy Spirit can help you In your house, in your marriage, with

your children, with your parents, with your Co workers

everywhere. He impacts every sphere of your

life. This is what he's saying.

So you can't know blessings in your relationships unless you

first establish this relationship with the Holy

Spirit. How do we summarize all these

realities? How do we summarize these

promises and these outcomes? Very simple.

The filling of the Holy Spirit will enrich your fellowship with

God, and it will sweeten your interactions and your

commitments to one another. That's what he's ready to do, so

he's longing to do. That's what the blood of Jesus

made. Available to you and to me to

enrich your fellowship with God and to sweeten the interactions

and the commitments that you have to others.

These are the effects of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

So how do I get it? What is the way in which I am

filled with the Holy Spirit? And we might agree that to know

the control of the Holy Spirit, we must first surrender to the

Holy Spirit. Lord, here's every part of my

life. Here's my marriage, here's my

work, Here's my ministry. I want you to have full control

of it. That's pretty evident.

And from there, some might say, well, there's so many things

that come to mind in terms of the promise and even the

availability of the Holy Spirit through prayer that we pray for

the filling of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we pray.

We pray and we ask. Holy Spirit, fill me, Holy

Spirit, fill me. Holy Spirit, fill me.

As I'm about to go into this meeting, fill me as I'm about to

preach this message. Fill me as I'm about to have a

difficult confrontation with a fellow believer, fill me.

Yes, you can pray for it. You should always pray for it.

But I want to speak about a component being filled with the

Holy Spirit that is often overlooked.

That is not considered that when you do see it, I'm sure will

change the way you view this very thing.

And the only way to see it is if you are willing to read a larger

portion of a New Testament text and something will go off, I

assure you, unless you've been paying attention.

If you have been paying attention what I'm about to read

and ask you to read with me, a light bulb will go.

Off and you will see a paralleling truth that will

unlock one of the main ways in which you and I know how to be

filled with the Holy Spirit. OK, here's our final text in

Colossians in chapter 3. Let's begin in verse 16.

In Colossians 3 verse 16. Colossians 316 The Apostle Paul

Colossians 3:16

writing to a different group of Christians.

But you're going to see something that'll perhaps

surprise you. Colossians 316 reads, Let the

word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing

one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and

spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to

God. And whatever you do in Word or

deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks

to God the Father through him. Now check this out in verse 18.

Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting to the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Children, obey your parents and everything, for this pleases the

Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your

children, lest they become discouraged, Bond, servants,

obey, and everything those who are your earthly masters, not by

way of I service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of

heart, fearing the Lord. Does that sequence look

familiar? It should, and it is.

It almost mirrors Ephesians 518 to 21.

Perfectly. The same kind of thought

pattern, the same kind of outcomes.

But notice the cause. What was the cause of singing,

Of giving thanks, of submitting to one another?

The cause was being filled with the Holy Spirit.

What is the cause here in Colossians 316?

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

What does that mean to achieve? To know the filling of the Holy

Spirit is correlated to richly investing God's word in your

life. So you want to be filled with

the Spirit? Yeah.

Here's what you can say with these two texts married to one

another consume God's. Word.

Now think about it again. We can go back to the metaphor,

or rather the connection between getting drunk with wine and

being filled with the Holy Spirit.

You can take that analogy too far.

You can overly explain that. But I think even in that we have

a clue to what it takes to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

What does it take for somebody to get drunk, not thinking about

drunkenness? You got to consume.

You got to drink it, you got to put it in your mouth, you got to

pick it up, You got to go buy it.

You got to be willing to endure the taste of it, let it get into

your bloodstream for it to have an effect on you.

Paul saying don't do that, don't drink that, drink this.

Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Again, he's not a substance, but the idea there of consuming

something in order to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, I

think is very appropriate. And when you come to Colossians,

you see the substance that we must consume in order to arrive

there, consume the word of God, indulge in it.

You can't nibble at the Bible and expect to be filled.

That's not going to happen. But.

When you feast on it. And when you want to master it

and when you code it and when you saturate yourself with it.

Because notice his wording here In Colossians 316 he didn't say

let the word of. Christ dwell in you, he said.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you.

What? Richly, Richly.

A person doesn't get intoxicated by taking a sip of something.

They have to drink more. You have to drink a lot.

And in the same case here, if you want to know the influence

of the Holy Spirit in your life, you need to know the word of

Christ richly. You know what that word richly

means abundantly. That doesn't necessarily mean

that you have to consume large portions of scripture every

single day. Some people do that, and there's

no effect of the word of God in their lives.

Just to say I read this many chapters isn't going to cut it.

But to have this view of the scriptures, to have this longing

to be deep in the scriptures, to have this desire to be mastered

by the scriptures saying, well, how does that work?

How does letting the word of Christ dwell in me richly

correlate and contribute to the reality of me being filled with

the Holy Spirit? Very simple.

Who authored it? The Holy Spirit?

Are these words natural? No, they are supernatural.

They're supernatural nature, and they are supernaturally

experienced when they are met with faith and eagerness and

humility. Let the word of Christ dwell in

you richly, and then here are the sequence of things you can

expect. You know, you have people who

say very strange things and christen them.

I'm not a word guy, I'm a spirit guy.

What does that mean? What does that mean?

You can't know the spirit unless you have the word You can't.

And there's so many people who equate the spirits work and even

the spirits filling to some mystical strange experience.

Can we experience the Holy Spirit?

Yes. Can the Holy Spirit do

supernatural things? Yes.

Can he open our eyes and can he do something in US and around us

that is above the natural? Yes, he can.

But to think that the Holy Spirit's filling is something to

be sought after or separated from the word of God, you are

dead wrong. You are dead wrong.

Now again, I've seen this with my own eyes, even in the context

of preaching, that people who believe that they are led by the

Spirit don't rely on the Word. They don't.

Study with the word. They almost see that as

something that, again, is not spirit LED, not spiritual.

You don't know the Bible, evidently.

You don't know what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

You want to be filled. You want to know His influence.

You want to know His leading? You're going to love the Bible

and you're going to invest your time and you're going to drink

and consume. And if you don't, if you don't

have the word of Christ dwelling in your richly, can I say

something? You're going to be weak and

you're singing. If you don't have the word of

Christ dwelling in you richly, you are going to be weak in your

Thanksgiving. If you don't have the word of

Christ dwelling in you richly, you will be weak.

You'll be weak in your relationship with others.

If you don't have the word of Christ dwelling you richly, you

will not know the blessing of being with and part of the local

church. You will not know a blessed

marriage if you're not with the word of God and in the word of

God richly. You will not know a blessing in

your relationship with your children.

You will not know a blessing in your relationship with your

parents and any other sphere of relationship.

Well, when you have this word, you invest in your heart the

guidelines, the principles, the promises, the truth, and even

the energy the Holy Spirit works with and through to make you a

person. Full of him.

Full of him. So how is 1 main way I'm filled?

Colossians tells us, like this word rain in your life.

Ask the Lord for this word to be sweet to you.

Ask the Lord as we come to a close to expand your appetite.

Because you know what's that cost?

Many things. And one of the things is the

Holy Spirit's filling in our lives.

My friends, my brothers, my sisters, I exhort you to be

filled with the Holy Spirit. And I praise God that he's made

it so simple and so clear. And I pray that after all that

you've heard, what can come about when we are filled with

the Holy Spirit would make you very ambitious to seek it.

Someone asked the Al Moody once if he was filled with the Holy

Spirit. The Al Moody?

Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?

You know what he said? Yes, but I often leak.

And that is true. Because to be filled with the

Holy Spirit is not just one time thing.

It's something that you and I walk in and we seek after.

And although it's a promise from God, is conditioned upon a

willing heart to say, you know what, I don't want to be in the

driver's seat. Let me park Lord you take the

driver's seat. And the way you do that is when

you learn of him and you submit to what you read here.

When the Holy Spirit sees that investment, he comes, and he

does supernatural things in your life.

Father, we thank you for the promise, the promise of the Holy

Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the effects of being

filled with the Holy Spirit, the way we can be filled with the

Holy Spirit. Thank you that we can pray for

it. Thank you that we can posture

ourselves for it. But thank you also that you've

reminded us that this book is supernatural is God.

Breathe, and when we breathe it in, we breathe in the influence

of the Holy Spirit. Lord, let faith arise.

For some who might have heard this message and say that sounds

too simplistic, help us believe again in the supernatural

component of our faith, that you're ready to help us and

Lord. For those who might be lacking

joy, for those who might find their hope in other things,

maybe people or substances, remind us again that we have

everything in the Holy Spirit. We have so much in Him and so

Lord. Now, even now we ask that you

would fill us with the Holy Spirit so that what we're about

to do in this moment, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual

songs to one another and to the Lord, would be from the heart.

So blow, Lord, a fresh wind into our sails.

And may you be glorified in how we walk, not just now, but for

the rest of this week, as we daily say, Lord, fill me As we

come to this word and we say fill me, we ask these things in

Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. So I exhort.

You now as you stand with me that address one another in

psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in your

hearts to the Lord. Let's stand and offer to one

another the edification, and offer primarily to the Lord a

sacrifice of praise that he is worthy of.