Controlled by the Spirit

So, if Paul is commanding us to walk in wisdom, how do we do that? The answer to
our question is that the Spirit empowers us to walk in wisdom.
In verses 15-17, Paul lifts up “making the best use of the time” and “understanding the
will of the Lord” as examples of wise, Spirit empowered living.
To me, both of these things sound nearly impossible. How in the world am I supposed
to make the best use of the time in such an evil day, and how does one know the will of
the Lord?
Here’s what we need to understand about this passage. As Paul is contrasting wise
living with foolish living, he is giving us specific examples of what it looks like to live
wisely - making the best use of the time and understanding the will of the Lord.
To do those things, is wise. To not do those things is foolish. So to understand Paul’s
commands here, we need to understand some of Paul’s thoughts about true wisdom.
I think that it is abundantly clear that Paul teaches that true wisdom is found in Jesus
Christ. Colossians 2:3 says that, “Christ, (is the one) 3 in whom are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In the Son are hidden ALL of the treasures of
wisdom.
True wisdom is seeing all of life from God’s perspective, and we know the Father
through the Son. In Ephesians 1, Paul prays earnestly to God that those reading his
letter would be given “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of (God the
Father).” It is through the revelation of God in Jesus Christ - God the Son incarnate - by
the power of the Spirit, that we can know true wisdom.
In contrast to the true wisdom revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit,
foolishness is revealed in the fleshly living of those who do not know Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 says, “18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of
God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of
what we preach to save those who believe. For the foolishness of God is wiser than
men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
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These verses reveal that the wisdom of all the earth is not sufficient on its own to cause
anyone to truly see God, and because of this the wisdom of the world is really no
wisdom at all.
As people, we either have wisdom in Christ or we do not have true wisdom.
This walk in true wisdom that Paul calls us to in verses 15-17 is only possible for those
who are sealed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
For those of us who are followers of Christ, we used to walk in this world as those who
were blind to the wisdom of Christ.
Though we could see with our earthly eyes, our spiritual eyes were unenlightened by
the powerfully, piercing light of the gospel. But, through faith in Jesus Christ our eyes
have been opened to the glories of gospel truth, and we can now walk in true wisdom.
If you are here today, and you do not know Christ, our collective prayer is that the Holy
Spirit would open your eyes to the true hope that we have in Jesus. Please believe in
the Christ who died on the cross, defeated sin and death in His resurrection from the
dead, and ascended on high in order to carry out this glorious exchange - blindness for
sight, foolishness for wisdom.
Application:
To those of us who believe, how do we make the best use of our time in this evil day?
We, in the power of the Spirit, continue to drink more deeply of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
How do we know the will of the Lord? We, in the power of the Spirit, follow the way of
Christ.
How do we walk wisely? We walk wisely in the power of the Spirit who unites us to
Jesus Christ.
For some of us, walking wisely will look like taking opportunities to evangelize at the
playground with the other moms. For others, walking wisely will look like mowing the
grass of a widow in our church.
Boys and girls who are in here, what do you think it could mean for you to walk wisely?
Maybe for you, it would be something as simple as putting away your toys the first time
that your parents ask.
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For all of us, though, walking wisely will look like obeying the commands of Christ
through the power of the Spirit in whatever opportunities lie before us.
As we move to verse 18, we’re going to see that not only is the believer’s walk in
wisdom empowered by the Spirit but we will also see that the believer’s walk is
empowered by the fullness of the Spirit.
In verse 18, Paul lays out one of the most crucial commands of the book of Ephesians
when he says, “be filled with the Spirit.”
Because the fullness of the Spirit empowers our growth in holiness, we dare not live the
Christian life without dwelling deeply on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
As we seek to follow all of the commands of Scripture, it is the fullness of the Spirit that
enables us to grow in obedience.
As we examine this command in verse 18 to be filled with the Spirit, I’m not going to
spend much time on the prohibition of drunkenness. While it’s a sin to be drunk, and I
would sternly condemn drunkenness, Paul’s main priority in this prohibition is to
contrast drunkenness with the filling of the Spirit as his central command.
So, unlike the hyper fundamentalist churches that I grew up in, who usually only
focused on condemning alcohol with this passage, I’m going to spend the majority of
my time with this passage focusing on what it means to be filled with the Spirit.
There are thousands of things that we should not be filled with, but the emphasis here
is that we should be filled with the Holy Spirit.
When we come to the command to be filled with the Spirit, there are several questions
to answer to grasp the topic of filling with the Spirit.
The first question that we must answer is “what is fullness with the Spirit?”
Because every believer is indwelled by the Spirit at conversion, we must first
understand that the fullness of the Spirit is not the initial indwelling of the Spirit.
While the Spirit certainly intends to fill the vessel that he indwells, the command to
continue to seek the fullness of the Spirit indicates that we are speaking of further
growth in the Spirit beyond the initial indwelling of the Spirit.
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Along the same lines, we must realize that Paul is assuming that the believers he is
writing to in Ephesians already have the Spirit, and that they are sealed by the same
Spirit. Paul’s use of the phrase “filled with the Spirit” is different from the sealing or
indwelling of the Spirit.
Throughout Scripture, the filling of the Spirit can be explained in three broad categories.
I’m drawing from John Stott’s wonderful little booklet, Baptism and Fullness as I explain
this to you. If you can, get this booklet to help as you seek to engage more thoroughly
with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
Of the three broad Scriptural categories for the filling of the Spirit, the first is that, in
Scripture, the fullness of the Spirit is used to refer to the normal characteristic of every
dedicated Christian. We see one example of this in Acts 6:3 as the Apostles were
choosing deacons. It says, “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of
good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.” It’s
clear here that these men were to be characterized as being full of the Spirit before
they were ever chosen for service as deacons. Certainly, fullness of the Spirit should be
normal for the growing, faithful Christian.
Secondly, the fullness of the Spirit refers to a special foundation for a particular ministry
or office. An example of this would be in reference to John the Baptist from Luke 1:15
which says, “15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong
drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” Even
in the womb, John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit for his special ministry of being
the forerunner of Christ.
Thirdly, there are occasions when the fullness of the Spirit is given to equip people not
so much for special, lifelong ministry as for an immediate task. An example for this
comes from the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts 7:55 which says, “55 But he, full of the
Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the
right hand of God.” As Stephen was martyred, the Spirit filled him to be able to boldly
proclaim Christ and to endure suffering.
So, what is the fullness of the Spirit? I believe that in the context of this passage and the
broader categories of Scripture that fullness of the Spirit refers to the characteristic
pattern of the believer’s walk being strongly influenced by the Spirit rather than
being strongly influenced by the flesh.
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In contrast to the way that being drunk causes one to be so influenced by the alcohol
that they turn to all kinds of uncontrollable actions, being filled with the Spirit means
that a believer is so strongly influenced by the Spirit that their life results in the
controlled actions of the fruit of the Spirit.
The second question that we must answer when it comes to the filling of the Spirit is
“how can I be filled with the Spirit?” To answer this question, in the clearest way, I think
that we must turn to the teachings of Jesus.
In Luke 11:13, Jesus says, “13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to
your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those
who ask him!”
Fullness of the Holy Spirit is something that we must relentlessly and humbly ask the
Father for. The Father’s desire is for His children to know the fullness of the Holy Spirit,
yet so often we do not ask our Father for the fullness of the Spirit.
Why don’t we ask the Father for the fullness of the Spirit?
For some it's because we’ve never understood what the fullness of the Spirit even is.
For others, it’s because we’re afraid of the dangerous excess and lack of Scriptural
foundation of some strains of modern day Pentecostalism.
For most of us, though, we do not ask the Father for the fullness of the Spirit because
we do not believe in the urgency of the spiritual battle that we are in
Christian brothers and sisters, we are at war! While victory is guaranteed through the
work of Christ on the cross, Satan still has a foothold in our flesh, and our self-sufficient,
proud hearts are all too eager to turn away from the battle for holiness.
We must battle this incredible tension that we experience in this age of the “already but
not yet - this time between the inauguration and consummation of Christ’s kingdom - by
the fullness of the Spirit!
Because of the constant war with our flesh that we face as believers, it is only through
the filling of the Spirit that we can see true, lasting, increasing victory over sin and
holiness in our lives.
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Do you want to conquer sin through the fullness of the Spirit? Ask God to fill you with
his Spirit. It is through this empowering work of the Spirit that we can see true victory
as we live in obedience to the commands of God.
The second teaching of Jesus that helps us to answer our question “how can I be filled
with the Spirit” is found in Luke 7. Verses 37-39 say this, “37 On the last day of the feast,
the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and
drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow
rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who
believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because
Jesus was not yet glorified.”
In this passage, Jesus stands up and paints a picture of one who thirsts in a way that
only Jesus can satisfy. Those who are separated from Jesus are parched, dry, and
panting for water, and Jesus bids them come to Him so that He can quench their thirst.
Only those who drink of Jesus will have the thirst quenching satisfaction of a mighty
river of living water.
But what is this living water? Verse 39 tells us that the rivers of living water are the Holy
Spirit. Fullness with the water that is supplied by Jesus is fullness with the Spirit.
Application:
If you desire to be full of the Spirit, you must drink deeply of the waters that flow from
Jesus Himself. Savor Him. Worship Him. Fill your mind with His Words. Oh church,
may we never tire of Jesus. May we go to Him time and time again for the rivers of
living water, and in doing so, Lord, may we be filled with your Spirit anew.
As we move on to the next verses in our passage, we can see that they answer the
question “what are the marks of being filled with the Spirit,” and the answer is that
fullness with the Spirit empowers the believer’s walk in worship. One of the
primary identifiers of one who is filled with the Spirit is that they participate in true
worship.
Verses 19-21 are some of the most powerful verses on worship in the New Testament
because they are so deeply connected to the role of the Holy Spirit in empowering our
worship. As we look at these verses, we must note that these verses clearly highlight
the Godward as well as the corporate aspects of worship in the church.
Verses 19 and 21 address the corporate aspects of our worship as Christians.
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It’s no mistake that Paul notes one of the first marks of being filled with the Holy Spirit is
addressing or speaking to one another in a way that propels our worship.
Now, when Paul says that we ought to address one another in “psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs,” he is not implying that being filled with the Spirit means that we can
only sing at each other as our primary means of communication, even though, as a
church family, we often do encourage one another through our sung worship.
What Paul is trying to press home here is that the content of our communication, our
addressing of one another, whether sung or otherwise, should be filled with the same
mingling of truth and emotion that is found in the greatest songs of the Christian faith.
What makes great Christian music such an important part of the historic Church?
It is the unique blending together of emotion and truth that binds our hearts to each
other and to God in singing. Just as our music ought to convey both emotion and
biblical truth, so too should all of our conversations with each other cause emotional,
truthful worship to be taking place.
The second corporate aspect of worship that Paul addresses in these verses as a mark
of being filled with the Spirit is found in verse 21.
Paul says that we should be submitting to one another.
I believe that local churches are the greatest, most tangible displays of the gospel in our
world, and I believe that a church that truly grasps living together in mutual
submission provides one of the greatest apologetics for Christ in our present day.
In a time of polarization due to politics and in a day where genuine connection with
others is lacking due to the commonality of online interactions, a church that lives in the
unity and connection that comes from mutual submission to each other will help the
world to see what true worship looks like.
Additionally, there’s nothing that inflames the worship of a church more than unity in the
gospel manifested in mutual submission.
In verses 19 and 20, Paul also addresses the marks of fullness in the Spirit that are
displayed in Godward worship.
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One of these marks is the giving of thanks to God always and for everything in the
name of Jesus Christ. The giving of thanks in everything is a God glorifying act of
worship, because it is a right response to the truth about our sovereign King.
What could be more God glorifying than responding to God’s self revelation in His
sovereignty over all things with true, heartfelt thanks?
While there’s genuine evil in this broken, sinful world, and we must not be ones to call
evil good and good evil, we can rest confidently in the fact that only in Christ Jesus can
“…all things work together for good…”
Application:
Cling to this promise my dear brothers and sisters and let this promise propel you to
give thanks to God in everything as an evidence of the fullness of the Spirit in your life.
The final mark of the fullness of the Spirit that Paul mentions here is singing that is
directed to the Lord and is done with the whole heart. As I mentioned earlier, the
combination of emotion and truth in singing is something that has united the church for
centuries, and we get to join in this chorus of all ages when we sing here at church, in
our homes, and on our ways to work.
While many of us do not have the greatest of voices, I hope that you know what it
means to engage in singing with all of your heart for the glory of God alone. Sing out
church, because in doing so we are offering pleasing sacrifices to the Lord himself. As
God’s new covenant people, we are, as it says in 1 Peter 2:5, “a holy priesthood, to offer
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Application:
In our singing, we offer, as a body, acceptable worship to God. And, each and every
one of us has a part in that.
Our worship team should never be the primary worshippers of Faith Community Bible
Church on a Sunday morning.
Our elders should not be the primary sacrifice offerers.
The guitars and drums should not be the primary instruments of praise.
The primary worshippers of FCBC on a Sunday morning should be you, the
priesthood of believers, using the instrument of your voice to lift praises to God in
Christ Jesus with all of your heart.
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That is evidence of the fullness of the Spirit empowering your walk in worship.
Conclusion:
If you remember the story about being lost that I told you at the beginning of this
message, well, obviously we eventually found the path.
The problem, though, was that we still had a ton of miles left to walk even after we had
spent all that time wandering in the woods. Eventually we made it to the end of the
hike, though, and it felt so good to reach our final destination. Finally, we could rest!
The Christian life is a lot like this arduous hike. It’s no short jaunt. It’s a long walk of
obedience in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Because of this, I believe that it is incredibly important that each of us leave here today
with a deep understanding that our walk as believers is empowered by the Holy
Spirit.
In all that comes in life, let us, as followers of Jesus, seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit
which empowers our walk.
In the parenting of a stubborn teenager, only the Spirit’s power can cause you to
speak words that He carries to their heart.
In the death of your dearly loved ones, only the Spirit’s power can enable you to see
the hand of a good God at work in every aspect of their life and death.
In all of the transitions and changes that our church has experienced, only the Spirit’s
power can keep us worshiping with white hot passion that displays God’s glorious
gospel to the rest of the world.
In the words of Psalm 95, and in earnest desire for the filling of the Holy Spirit, I say to
you Faith Community Bible Church, “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a
joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with
thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a
great God, and a great King above all gods…Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his
pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your
hearts…”