Ephesians 5:18-20 – Be Filled with the Spirit
Alright well we’re there in Ephesians 5. And we are working our way through the book of Ephesians. If you remember last week, we started back up in the book of Ephesians. And last week we made it through the first 17 verses in the book of Ephesians. And today we’re going to continue. Just pick right up at verse number 18. Now Ephesians 5 has a lot of great truths in it. So, we’re going to spend several weeks here. At least three weeks.
Tonight, and then next week we’ll deal with the passage in regards to marriage. And I want you to notice there in verse number 18, the Bible says this, “18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”. And that’s really what I want to deal with tonight. And I want to deal with this idea of being filled with the spirit. I want you to notice that in this passage, the Apostle Paul is giving a command. He is commanding us to be filled with the Spirit. The way that phrase is worded, where it says be filled is actually an imperative statement. It is a command. It is like telling someone to be careful. You are telling someone to do something.
And here the Apostle Paul is telling us to be filled with the Spirit. He’s commanding us as Christians to be filled with the Spirit. And what’s interesting is that over the next several verses, he kind of gives us some characteristics of what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit. And he explains this and I want to show it to you. Tonight, I want to give you five thoughts. I want to give you five thoughts in regards to how to be filled with the Spirit of God. Because we’re commanded to be filled with the Spirit of God. You’re supposed to be filled, as far the Spirit of God, I’m supposed to be filled with the Spirit of God.
But how do we do that? What does that look like? Now you’re there in Ephesians 5. And I want you to notice verse eighteen. Notice the phrase before he says “but be filled with the Spirit of God”. Ephesians 5:18 says this “And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess”. Now it almost seems like when you read this passage that the Apostle Paul is kind of just ranting. Right? He tells you in one breath to not be drunk with wine. And of course, being drunk is being under the influence of something else. It’s when alcohol takes control or drugs take control. He says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess.
And then he says but be filled with the Spirit. Now here’s what’s interesting. In the Bible, there is a correlation between being filled with the Spirit and drunkenness. So, when the Apostle Paul says be not drunk with wine wherein is access, he’s not just randomly bringing these thoughts together. There’s actually a correlation between these things. Now in Acts Chapter 2, we have the famous day of Pentecost passage. We have the day of Pentecost here. We won’t read all of the verses. But look down at verse number 4. And notice what the Bible says happened on the day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:4, the Bible says this, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost”. So, notice, that’s what Paul said in Ephesians 5:18. “And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit”. Here in acts 2 we are told that “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”. Now notice what the Bible says in verse number 13. The Bible says this, others mocking right. So, we had 120 in the upper room. They’re filled with the Spirit. And then they go out and they go down and begin to preach the gospel with boldness. A miracle happens where they speak with other tongues. And I want you to notice what people said about them in verse 13 “13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.”. They said these guys are drunk. These guys are full of new wine. Notice in verse 14 “14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:”.
Notice verse 15, “15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.”. He’s saying look, it’s 9:00 a.m. It’s 9:00 in the morning. These hundred twenty people are not drunk right now. He says they are not drunk because they’re mocking and saying these men are full of new wine. He says these are not drunken as you suppose. And then he goes on to explain that this is what the Prophet Joel had prophesied would happen. That God would pour out his Spirit and that they would be filled with the Spirit of God. But it’s interesting that in the Bible you find this correlation.
Go to the book of Romans. You see this correlation between drunkenness and being Spirit filled. He says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit. And then in Acts 2, the famous “filled with the Spirit” passage. When they were filled with the Holy Ghost, they’re being mocked at. And they’re being told, hey these men are drunk with wine. So, what is the correlation? Why are these thoughts brought together? And the reason for it is because it has to do with control. See when you are drunk, when someone who’s drunk, they’re under the influence. They’re under the control. They are being influenced or they’re being controlled by something else. They’re not in control but they’re being controlled by the substance that they’ve taken in.
And here’s what Paul says. Paul says hey, be not drunk with wine. He says you never want to allow yourself to be in a place in life where you’re allowing something else to take control of your body. You’re allowing some substance; you’re allowing some drink to take control of you. He says don’t ever do that. He said be not drunk with wine wherein is excess. But then he says this, but you do want to allow the Holy Ghost to take control. He said you do want to be under the influence, under the control of the Holy Ghost. He says but be filled with the Spirit of God.
And when it comes to being filled, if we ask the question, “Well how do I get filled with it?”. It comes down to the idea of control. And if you’re taking notes, I’d encourage you to jot this down. When we asked a question, how do you get filled. You can be Spirit-filled. You can be filled with the Spirit through the surrender of your body. Through the yielding of your body in the same way. That alcohol takes control of your body. Takes control of your thoughts. Takes control of the things you do in the direction you take. The bible says that we can allow the Holy Ghost to take control. And look, the only way that you can ever be filled with the Spirit of God is to surrender your body. And heal your body.
Romans 6:12, the Bible says this “12 Let not sin therefore reign”. When we think of the word reign, we think of a king reigning over his kingdom. He says “Let not sin therefore reign”. What does that mean? He is saying don’t let it control “in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield”. Yield is when you submit to something. Yield is when you allow someone to go before you. Someone to take the lead. He says “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:” But notice the contrast. “but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Verse 14 “14 For sin shall not have dominion over you:” What does dominion mean? It means to rule or control. He says look, sin should not have dominion over you. “for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”.
Verse 15 “15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” Notice verse 16 “16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”. And here’s what I’m trying to tell you. And here’s what we’re going to learn tonight is that people get this idea about being filled with the Spirit, and they try to make it mystical or magical. And they think it’s some event that happens and it’s some experience you go through. And you know people talk about being filled with the Spirit like this “I was in a dark room and I saw a light. And I started shaking and I had this experience.”.
Look, the Bible teaches that being filled with the Spirit is simply yielding yourself and walking in the Spirit of God. You say how do I get filled with the Spirit? I’d like to be filled with the Spirit. I’m commanded to be filled with the Spirit. How do I get filled with the Spirit? Well step one, you surrender. Your body, you wake up every day and say “Not my will but thine be done. I’m not going to do what I want to do. I’m not going to allow the sin or the flesh or the world or the devil to tell me what to do. I’m going to yield to the will of God. I’m going to allow God to take control.”.
And this is why Paul says “Look, you want to be filled with the Spirit?”. He says “be not drunk with wine”. And by the way, let me just say this, you’ll never be filled with the Spirit if you’re drinking alcohol. You cannot be filled with the Spirit if you are drunk with wine. He says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess. He says look, you can’t be under the influence of something else if you want to be under the influence of the Holy Ghost. He says but be filled with the Spirit of God.
You know, we hear this term often, when we think of drunkenness, we hear this term of “you’re driving under the influence”. We can be driving under the influence of alcohol or marijuana or drugs or whatever. Well you know, you and I ought to be living our lives under the influence of the Holy Ghost. We should surrender our bodies to the Holy Ghost. So, when we ask this question, how to be filled with the Spirit, how can I be filled with the Spirit of God? Well step one, you’ve got to be filled with the Spirit by surrendering your body. You are filled with the Spirit by waking up tomorrow morning and saying “Lord, I submit to you. I yield to you. I will allow you to take control. I won’t allow anything else, whether it’s drugs or alcohol, whether it’s anything else, that the world has to offer to take control. I will allow you to reign in my life.”.
How to get filled with the Spirit? Number one, you’re Spirit filled through the surrender of your body. But there’s a second thing, Paul kind of lays it out for us in Ephesians 5:18 “18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”. He said it has to do with control. And then in verse 19, he says this, “19 Speaking to yourselves” And I want you to notice these words. “in psalms” A psalm is of course a scripture. We have an entire book in the Bible called the Book of Psalms. What were those songs? They were the songs of the children of Israel. He says “19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing” And then notice what he says “and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”.
He’s talking about being filled with the Spirit. And he begins by saying, you must surrender the control of your body to the Holy Spirit. If you’re going to be filled with the Spirit. But then he brings up this idea, in order to be Spirit filled, in order to be filled with the Spirit, you must sing Christ honoring music. He said Christ honoring music. That’s godly music. It’s something that is required in order to be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Let me say this, because you know you might look at that list and say “Being filled with the Spirit by singing to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs?”.
But I want you to understand something. And I want to be clear about this. Music is spiritual. Music is a very spiritual thing. So, it should not be odd to you that Paul says, if you want to be filled with the Spirit, you’d better have the right type of music. Because of the fact that music is spiritual. Let me give you an example of that. 2 Kings 3:14 “And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.”
So here we have a story where the prophet Elijah, the man of God, Elijah is being asked to prophesy on behalf of God. And he’s looking at this wicked King and saying “Look, I’m not doing this because of you. I’m doing this because Jehoshaphat is with you. That’s the only reason I’m going to do this.”. But I want you to notice verse 15. The Bible says this, “But now bring me a minstrel.”. A minstrel is a musician. He says “15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.” That’s just an Old Testament way of saying to be filled with the Spirit. That’s just a different way of saying he got filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of God came upon him. The hands of the Lord came upon him. You say why is that? Because of the fact that music is spiritual.
Go to Psalm 22:3. And look, I want you to see this music is spiritual. All music is spiritual. There is no such thing as music that is amoral. That is without moral. All music is spiritual. Psalm 22 verse 3, notice what the Bible says. Here in Psalm 22 it says “3 But thou art holy,” And this is of course the Psalmist speaking to God. The Psalmist is looking at God, speaking to God and saying “But thou art holy,” What does that mean? It means God is separate from sin, sanctified, separated. He says “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”. Your Bible teaches here that when the children of Israel, the people of God would sing praises to God, that God would actually inhabit the praises of his people. That God would inhabit the music and the singing and the worship and the praising of his people. You say why is that? It is because of the fact that music is spiritual. Music is a spiritual thing. So, when Paul says hey, be filled with the Spirit. You say how do I do it? He says we number 1, You’ve got to surrender. Be not drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit. But he says number 2, you’ve got to sing godly music. Because music is spiritual.
Go to book of Colossians. And you know, just understand this, all music is spiritual. But not all music is godly. I mean we’re not going to take the time to do it. We’ve done it a lot in recent months. I’m not going to take the time to develop it, and we could study. Satan himself, and we could look at the fact that Satan is actually a musical being. Satan actually produces music from his body. And here’s all I’m telling you, if God inhabits the praises of his people, who do you think inhabits the praises of the rock music of today. I mean who do you think, when people get up and they sing blasphemous things that talk about death and they talk about fornication and drunkenness and adultery and everything that is not pleasing to God. But the Bible says thou art holy and inhabitest the praises of Israel. He says look, you’re a holy God and you inhabit our praises.
So, you want holy music. But who do you think inhabits the other music? Music is spiritual. This is why it is important what you allow to go into your ears, into your eyes, into your mind, into your heart. And here’s all I’m telling you, and you know I said this last night, and I’ll say it to this group. This is something that I often don’t think about. And I remember brother Stucky used to help me a lot with this one. Brother Stucky was here and on staff he would help me a lot with this because of the fact that brother Stucky got saved at a later age in life. He went through the teen years. He went through the early twenties being a worldly person and listening to worldly music. So, when he got saved, then he started get plugged in to church and started walking with God. This is a big deal for him to get rid of the worldly music, to get the worldly music out of his life. So, he would always bring that stuff up in his sermons when he’d preach. And I would always appreciate that. I need to do a better job at bringing it up because for some of you it’s a big deal. You grew up in the world. You grew up with these things.
But I’m here to tell you, you’re never going to be filled with the Spirit of God, you’re never going to experience the fullness of God, you’ll never be filled with the Spirit while you are allowing the world’s music to come into your mind and into your heart. And you might think “Oh it’s no big deal. It’s just while I’m driving down the road. I just turned the radio on. It’s just me. None of the kids or anybody”. But look, it is hurting you because it’s hurting your spirit. And you’re never going to be filled with the Spirit of God, you’re never going to experience the fullness of God. you’re never going to experience the power of God while you are listening and allowing worldly music into your ears.
So, Paul says look y’all, be filled with the Spirit. You got to surrender your body. He says you want to be filled with the Spirit. You got to sing Christ honoring music. You have to have music that is pleasing to God. You say why Paul? Well first of all because music is spiritual. But there’s another reason. Now in Colossians chapter 3:16, we have what’s actually a parallel passage to Ephesians chapter 5:18-19. I’ll show you here in a minute how they’re parallel. They are very similar. But I want you to notice what the Bible says here in Colossians 3:16. It says “16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching” Notice his word teaching. What does that mean? It means to give instruction. “teaching and admonishing”. What does admonish mean? It means to warn. It means to caution. To encourage. He says “teaching and admonishing”.
Now you would think that he’s about to say in the preaching of God’s Word, right? In Sunday morning Church, in Wednesday night Bible study, in Thursday night Bible study. You think that’s what he’s going to say. He says “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”. And here’s what he says. He says music is not only spiritual but music is influential. Music will influence you. Music will teach and admonish you. Isn’t it true that you could have heard a song, you could have learned a song, you could have liked a song years ago? 10 years ago. 20 years ago. And walk into a store and they’re playing that song. And all the words just come rushing back. I mean you struggle to memorize the Romans Road but you got the words to an AC/DC song memorized.
You say why is that? Well, it’s because of the fact that music is not only spiritual but music is influential. Music will influence you. Music will teach you. Music will admonish you. Music will influence you. It shouldn’t be that hard to figure that out. Just look at music. You say what is music teaching? Look at the people that listen to certain music and you’ll find out exactly what they’re learning. What they’re being taught. How they’re being influenced. I mean it doesn’t matter which genre of music you look at. Isn’t it interesting how you look at people who listen to a certain type of music and they all dress the same? They all look the same.
I mean the dark, heavy metal or Satanic rock & roll music, right. And they’re all painted with black fingernails and black makeup. And you know gothic or whatever. Well that’s what they’re learning. That’s what they’re being instructed with. In those things. It doesn’t matter which type of music. Go to the country, you know the country good old boy. You know, my dog died and my wife left me. And look at that crowd and they’ve all got their big belt buckle. And they’ve got the cowboy boots. And they’ve got their hat. They’re Mr. cowboy. And it’s like, you’re from San Francisco. Why are you dressed like that? Because that’s the music they listen to. And if it was about hip hop, you’re going to have your baggy pants down. Showing your undergarments. And you’re going to have your chains. Because music is influential.
Here’s the truth, whatever you were into was silly. You look at the other guy and say “oh that’s silly how they all dress”. But they’re looking at you saying that you are dressed silly. Whatever music you’re into. But here’s what I know. Pick whatever music you just think is the stupidest. Emo you know or whatever. And if you listen to that music long enough, you’ll start wanting to dress like that. You’ll start thinking like that. Look, if we bring in contemporary Christian music into this church, eventually half of the men in this church will be in skinny pants. I promise you. Because it teaches and admonishes one another.
Now you know, would to God that I would never submit to that. Look at whatever music people are into and you’re going to find that they’re all being instructed. They’re all being discipled. They’re all being taught and admonished. And this is why God says, “teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns spiritual songs”. He said you want to be filled with the Spirit of God? But I have Christ honoring music. But I have music that honors the Lord. You better sing these old hymns that are filled with doctrine and are filled with the scripture and then filled the Word of God.
And look, this is what I was taught as a very young Christian. As goes the music, so goes the church. There is no such thing as a church….You will never find a church with a King James Bible, fire-breathing, Hellfire and brimstone preaching, cry aloud, spare not preacher but they’re humming contemporary Christian music before the service. That doesn’t exist. It’ll never exist. Wherever you have the shallow, weak, lame music, you’re going to have shallow, weak, lame preaching. And if you say, I like the hard preaching. I like the biblical preaching. I like the fact that we just take passages and dissect them. And we learn the Bible. I’m not really into these old hymns. Look, you can’t take one or the other. They come as a set. Because music teaches and admonishes us. And if we get rid of the old hymns and bring in lame music, shallow unscriptural worldly contemporary Christian music, the preaching will get shallow and liberal and lame.
So, you need to make sure you’re filled with the Spirit of God. You say, well I don’t feel like I’m filled with the Spirit of God. You know what, get a hymn book and just start singing through the hymns. I promise, look, I promise you can’t sit there and sing through the great hymns with me. You can’t sit there and, in your home, or in your car, shut off the radio and just start singing “How Great Thou Art”. I mean start singing the great hymns of God and I promise you; you’re not going to be able to sit there. And singing “It is well” and sing “And Can It Be” and sing “In my heart there rings a melody” and not have the Holy Spirit that’s inside of you be encouraged. And begin to have the filling of the Spirit.
Paul says this, be filled with the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. So how do we do it? Paul says, you got to surrender your body. Be not drunk with wine wherein is access. You can’t be under the control of anything other than the holy Spirit. You must yield your body to the Holy Spirit. But then he says number 2, you got to sing Christ honoring music. You got to have Christ honoring music. You got to sing music that is honoring to the Lord. You’ll be filled with the Spirit. You say why is that Paul? Because music is spiritual. And because music is influential.
Let me give you a 3rd thing you must do to be filled with the Spirit. Now let me show you how Colossians 3:16 is parallel to Ephesians 5:18. The Bible says this, “And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit.”. “Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess” but I want you on the inside to be filled with the Spirit. And then he says this in verse 19 “19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” Go to Colossians 3:16. Notice what the Bible says, “16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another” Notice this phrase. It ought to sound familiar. “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
These are parallel passages. Because in Ephesians 5, he’s saying in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing. In Colossians 3 he’s saying in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing. Here’s what’s interesting, in both passages he tells you to be filled with something. To have something inside of you. In Ephesians 5:18 he says, “but be filled with the spirit”. In Colossians 3:16 he says “Let the word of Christ dwell in you”. So, in these parallel passages, he says well you got to be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of God has to be in you, filling you. But then in Colossians 3 he says, “the word of Christ dwelling in you.”. He’s using these words synonymously. You say what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? It means to be filled with the word of God. It means to have scripture in your heart. Memorize it. You say how do I get filled with the Spirit? I want to be filled with the word of God, right? How do I get filled? Number 1 – you got to surrender your body. Number 2 – you got to sing Christ honoring music. But number 3 – how do you get filled with the Spirit? You got to have scripture memorized. You have that scripture memorized, internalized in your heart.
Go back to the book of Ephesians. Why is that? Why do I have to have scripture in my heart? Why do I have to have Scripture in my mind in order to be filled with the Spirit of God? Well notice what the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6. We have the famous passage about the armour of God. And we’re going to get to that in several weeks. And we’re going to go through and dissect the entire armour of God and look at that. But I want you to notice just one verse in this passage. Ephesians 6:17, the Bible says “17 And take the helmet of salvation,” And then he says this “and the sword of the Spirit,”.
So, here’s the tool of the Holy Spirit. Here’s the weapon of the Spirit. When we come to the armour of God, how does the Spirit interact with this armour that we use in spiritual warfare. He says “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”. He says look, the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. So, if you want to be filled with the Spirit of God, you need to be filled with the Word of God. You need to internalize scripture. You get spirit filled through Scripture memorization.
Go to the book of John. And look, it should make sense. I mean think about it. You say I internalize scripture. How does that help me to be filled with the Spirit? You’re supposed to surrender your body, right. So, when you memorize verses…I mean the Bible says “thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee”. So, you hide God’s word in your heart so that you can live a surrendered life to God. He says look, thy word have I hid in my heart. He said I’ve hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against thee. He says thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. The Word of God will guide you through life. He says I want you to think about it. I want you to internalize it. I want you to memorize it. I want you to meditate on it. I want it to be on your mind and in your heart. He said that’s what’s going to help you surrender your body to God. How does a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
So, you internalize the Word of God. You memorize the Word of God. That helps you surrender your members to God. Then you can even sing the word of God. “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. That I might not sin. That I might not sin. That I might not sin against thee.”. You can put the Word of God into music. We sing psalms and we have different songs outside from the hymns. You can actually just sing. “the law of the Lord is perfect converting”.
You say, I thought getting Spirit filled was like something emotional. I was going to jump up and get all crazy and no. Being Spirit filled. You say how do I know if I’m Spirit filled? Well, have you yielded your body unto God? Are you living in surrender to God? Are you allowing your life to be controlled by outside forces? Are you saying “God you’re in control? I’m yielding to you. I’m giving myself to you.”. “All to Jesus I surrender”. Are you singing praises to God? You come to church and sing. Are you sitting there? “I’m not really into singing.”. Well you might not be into singing but I’ll tell you what, you’ll never be filled with the Spirit of God. If you don’t sing. He says you need scripture. To be filled with the Spirit.
John 6:63, the bible says this “63 It is the spirit that quickeneth;” It is the Spirit that gives life. It is the Spirit that makes life. He says “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing:” Notice what he says “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”. He says look, my word, God says my word is spirit. My words are spirit. So, if you want to be filled with the Spirit, you have to have the Spirit of God. Go to Ephesians. While you turn there, I’ll just read to you a couple more verses about the words of God being likened unto the Spirit of God or as the sword of the Spirit of God. Proverbs 1:23 “23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.”
You say how do I get the Spirit of God upon me? Hey, get the Word of God in you and you’ll be filled with the Spirit. Isaiah 59:21, the Bible says this “21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee,” And notice these words “and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.” He says look, my spirit, that’s upon thee and my words which I’ve put in thy mouth, you have to have the Spirit of God.
As a Christian you might say, Pastor goodnight. Memorize scripture, oh I could never do that. Okay, well how about this. Can you at least read the Bible? I mean my prayer for Verity Baptist Church. I was praying for the church family today. My wife and I were talking about how we’re praying for all of you. Praying for the church family and we’ve got plans and lists and things that we try to pray through. One of my prayers for every single person at Verity Baptist Church is that you would all develop the daily discipline of Bible reading. At the very least you would take time in your day, I mean what would it cost you 10 minutes? 15 minutes? To open up the word of God, the everlasting Word of God. And spend time with God.
I mean so I can’t memorize, okay. We’re just going to read scripture. Could you at least read the proverb of the day? Could you read two, three chapters, four chapters? Could you ask God “Open now mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law?”. Could you find something in that reading of yours and ask God to give me something to meditate on? Give me something to think about? Give me something to apply? Hey, maybe you can’t memorize, okay. What can you meditate on?
And here’s the thing. You can memorize now. I’m not saying you need to sit there and memorize the book of Revelation. I’m not saying to memorize the Book of Daniel. But you know, how about memorizing John 3:16. How about starting with just the Romans Road. That’d be a good start. I’m just telling you this, you’re never going to be filled with the Spirit of God, if you don’t learn to internalize Scripture. If you don’t allow scripture to be in your heart and in your mind and let the Word of God be a light unto your path. Thy word, allow it to be a lamp. His word, allow it to be a path. So how do you get filled with the Spirit? Well, you get filtered through surrender of your body. You’re filled with the Spirit. Through singing Christ honoring music. You’re filled with the Spirit. You’re filled. You get filled in the Spirit through scripture memorization and scripture internalization and internalizing and meditating upon the Word of God.
Let me give you a fourth point on how to get filled with the Spirit. Notice verse 20, “20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” How do I get filled with the Spirit? You get Spirit filled through a satisfied attitude of gratitude. Through thanksgiving. Through being a thankful person. Go to Philippians 4. Let me tell you something, you will never be filled with the Spirit of God while you are an unthankful, ungrateful person. You will never experience the filling of God, you will never experience the fullness of God, you will never experience the filling of the Holy Ghost, while you’re unthankful. And it’s interesting to me that we have actually created a social media culture that prides itself on complaining. I mean if you need an example of complaining, go on Facebook, you’ll find all sorts of people complain about everything.
Look, the Bible says that we ought to give thanks always for all things. That we ought to be thankful. You say, well I can’t be thankful for everything. But you can be thankful in everything. And you can always find something to be thankful for. Look, a Christian ought to be characterized by the idea, by the attitude of being satisfied. Philippians chapter 4, look at verse 4. “4 Rejoice” What we learned about on Sunday morning; wilt thou not revive us again. Oh, that thy people may rejoice. You’ll know, you’ll feel the Spirit of God. You’ll know your revived with the Spirit of God when you are a Christian who is able to rejoice. “4 Rejoice in the Lord alway:”
I love this word always. It’s an old word. It’s an older way of writing in our King James Bible. I like it though because people look at that word and say always, is that supposed to be like all the way or alway like always, all the time. And yeah you know, I think the answer to the question is both. It’s always, the entire way, rejoice in the Lord. Always, all the time. The entire time rejoice in the Lord. Always then, I love Paul. You can tell he’s a preacher. He repeats himself. He says “and again I say, Rejoice.”. Philippians 4:5 “5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”. Be careful for nothing. He says don’t be anxious about anything. Don’t worry about anything. He says be careful for nothing. You say “Pastor, what do you think about this coronavirus thing? How do you think?”.
Look, I realized that we need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We need to keep our eyes open. To be watchful and when to be looking. And I agree with all that. I believe in all that. But make sure you’re not anxious over things. He says be careful for nothing. He says, but in everything. You say, I can’t be thankful for all things. But you can be thankful through all things. And in all things, in everything, by prayer and supplication. Notice, don’t miss it. With thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Now how do you get filled with the Spirit of God? You get filled with the Spirit of God through rejoicing. Through being thankful. Through being content. To being satisfied. Notice what the Apostle Paul says. Skip down to verse number 11. “11 Not that I speak in respect of want:”. There’s nothing that I want. There’s nothing that I’m complaining that I want. Paul said, hey the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He says “11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
You say, even when the state of California passed. Yeah even with the state of California. You can be content even with Governor Newsome. Yep, you can be content. “11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. You say, how could you do that Paul? Well, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Paul would say, listen to me, you will never be filled with the Spirit. Why? You are a complainer. Why? You are a criticizer. Why? You are a murmurer. You’ll never be filled with the Spirit.
I’ve learned in ministry over the last 10 years, you can’t make everyone happy. Obviously, you’re never going to make everyone happy. But what I’ve learned is this, there are some people you’re just never going to make them happy no matter what you do. Doesn’t matter what decision you made. It’s always the wrong decision. I mean some people, I don’t know why, but they just have in their head Pastor is always wrong. Pastor is always wrong. Staff is always wrong. No matter what they do, it’s wrong. You know we can’t come to church and we’re doing livestream only, that’s wrong. We’re okay. We’re going to do 5 services to try to get you guys in here. That’s wrong too. It’s like everything’s wrong. Okay. We’re going to have services 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m.. “Ah, I would have gone to 11, 2, & 5”. It’s like goodnight. I mean, we can’t win with you. It doesn’t matter.
But you know what I know about those people? It doesn’t matter what you do, learn about, what decision you make. It’s always wrong. They’re always right. You’re always wrong. But let me tell you something, those people will never be told. The Spirit of God. You cannot be filled with the Spirit while you are dissatisfied. You cannot be filled with the Spirit while you are not grateful and satisfied. Let me tell you something, you can always find something to be satisfied with.
I mean just this last week, I don’t know if you know it but we sent an email out. But you know this last week our internet went down here at the church building. And it went down. There was a blackout and there was something that was actually damaged out in the road. And it was like pulling teeth to get Comcast to come out here and fix it. And they actually send a crew out and everything to get it all fixed or whatever. And we didn’t have internet. We were planning on live-streaming on Thursday night last week. And Sunday services last week we were unable to Livestream because we didn’t have internet. We were able to put some sermons up and premiere them at that time. Because the staff guys did it from their houses. But we weren’t able to do anything from here.
Actually, we’re live streaming tonight. It’s the first time we’ve livestreamed them in a week because the internet was down. And I can tell you, look I was mad. I mean, I don’t know if I was filled with the Spirit. I was filled with something. But I was angry because of the fact that we not only pay for business internet, we pay for this special internet. Because we livestream, and I’m not an expert on it, you can ask brother Joe here, you can ask brother Oliver, they can tell you all about it. But you know, you got download speeds and upload speeds and all these different things. And we pay for this special thing to be able to upload and live stream, like the only thing we care about is really live stream service. And we can’t live stream. And I was angry about it and I was mad about it and I was just fuming about the fact that we couldn’t live stream. And I was mad and I was upset.
And then I started studying for this stinking sermon. And God tells me that I’m supposed to be satisfied and thankful always in all things. Everywhere and in everything. I started thinking, well you know I am thankful for something. I mean I’m thankful for the fact that our internet went down the week we got the church family back in church. I mean if this would have happened to us two weeks ago, when we were live stream only, then we would have had issues. It would have brought everything to a screeching halt. And you know what I learned? I learned this; you can always be thankful for something. You can always have something to be content about.
Notice there again, in Philippians, for being content is something you can learn. “11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,” I have learned “in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”. You say, I’m just that type of person. I’m just a negative person. Look, I get it. I’m a negative person, alright. I know I can be negative. But you know the Bible says that you can learn to be content.
I remember one of the biggest lessons I got on contentment, I told the story last night. I remember one of the biggest lessons I got on contentment was when I went to a boot camp when I joined the Air Force. I remember I went to boot camp and they put us on a plane. They flew us out to San Antonio, Texas. And they put us on a bus and drove us into Lackland Air Force Base. And I got there at like 3 in the morning or whatever. And when we got there, they took us into this processing office. And it was like 50 of us, maybe 60 of us. They brought us in there and we sit down on the floor and they handed us these boxes. Here’s your dinner. You open up the box and you’re like “I’m not even sure what this is. I’m supposed to eat this?”. I’m eating this and I remember there was a little bag of cookies. And I thought well maybe I’ll eat the cookies. And I open up the cookies and it was disgusting. And I’m like, I’m not even hungry. Whatever. I just threw it aside. Day one, right.
Here’s what’s interesting. After eight weeks of boot camp, after eight weeks of just being starved and tortured. And you know just having these people have their way with you, at the end that last week of boot camp, they took us in to get fitted for our blues for graduation. They brought us into the exact same processing room and they handed us the exact same boxes. “Here’s your dinner”. I was like licking the wrapper. I learned the lesson on contentment. That contentment is really a relative thing. You learn to be content in whatsoever state you are. And sometimes things around you change. You can be hungry and be really content. But you know, we should be content for everything.
I mean think about tonight. I’m happy tonight that we have 50 or 60 of you here spread out in this 300-seat auditorium. I’m very happy. But you know, if this was the midweek service two months ago, we’d be like what happened? If this many people showed up to a midweek service two months ago, we’d be like the church had a split. Goodnight. But tonight, we’re happy. Why? Because contentment is a relative thing. It’s relative in the fact that we allow it to be relative based on our circumstances. But a mature Christian, a spirit-filled Christian would say, I need to learn to be content no matter whatever situation. I’ll be spirit filled and satisfied and grateful for whatever is happening in our lives.
Go back to Ephesians 5. So, we’re talking about how to be filled with the Spirit. And look, I’m just telling you, you’ll never be filled with the Spirit while you are a murmurer and a complainer and a criticizer, a critical person. Paul says be filled with The Spirit. And we ask, Paul, well how do we do that? How do I get filled with the Spirit? Number one, you got to surrender your body. Number two you got to sing Christ honoring music. Number three you got to get filled with the Spirit through scripture memorization. Number four, you get filled with the Spirit through a satisfied attitude, a grateful disposition.
Let me give you a fifth one tonight. We’ll finish on how do you get filled with the Spirit? Spirit filled. You’re filled in the spirit through submission to biblical authority. Notice Ephesians 5:21, “21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” Now he’s about to begin in verse 22 a section on the Christian home. But he begins this section on being Spirit filled by saying submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God. Do you know that God has given you a biblical authority in your lives? He’s given us biblical authority and God expects us to submit ourselves to our biblical Authority. Let me tell you something, you will never be filled with the Spirit when you are rebelling against the biblical Authority in your life. Paul says to be filled with the Spirit. If you want to do it, you got to surrender your body. You got to sing Christ honoring music. You got to have scripture internalized and memorized. You have a satisfied and attitude of gratitude.
But he says, you have to submit to biblical Authority. And in different areas in life, you are to submit to the biblical authority of God. It’s put there. You say, well what are they? Well how about in the home? God has an authority structure in the home. I mean, look at verse 22. We’re going to delve into verse 22 and the rest of the chapter next week. But just look at what it says really quickly. Ephesians 5:22 “22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” Listen wife, you will never be filled with the Spirit of God, you will never experience the power of God, you will never experience the fullness of God while you are in rebellion to your husband. That is the biblical authority that God has given you. And you would say, well if you knew my husband. He’s such an idiot. And he’s so worldly. And he does this and that. Look, it doesn’t matter. That is the head of your home. And by the way, you married him. Nobody forced you to. You are to submit to him. You are to submit to that authority. Notice Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” Listen teens, you’ll never be filled with the Spirit of God while you’re in rebellion to your parents. You must submit to your biblical authority. Children, obey your parents in the Lord.
Go to Titus and while you turn there, I’ll read to you from Hebrews. Let me say this, we have to submit to Biblical authority. Okay, let me give you some examples. In the home. God has put some biblical authority in the home. You say, what if I don’t submit. Well, God’s going to chastise you and correct you. But here’s something else, you’ll never be filled with the Spirit, you will never experience the fullness and the power of God while you are in rebellion to your biblical authority.
You’re going to Titus but let me read to you from Hebrews 13:7. Here’s another one, how about in the church. Hebrews 13:7 “7 Remember them which have the rule over you,” This is in the context of the church. You say, who has the rule over you? Notice “who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.”. So, who’s speaking to you the Word of God? It’s the pastor. As a Pastor of course. you wouldn’t bring that up. Look, whether it’s me as your pastor or you leave here and go to some other church; let me tell you something, you will never experience the power of God in your life while you are in rebellion to your Pastor. “7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.”
Hebrews 13:17, he says this, “17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” Here God says, look, you’ve been given oversight, you’ve been given an overseer, a bishop, and you need to submit to your authorities. Like in the home and every institution that God has created. In the home you got to submit to your biblical authority, in the church you got to submit to your biblical authority, and you’re never going to be filled with the Spirit.….
Look, if you’re one of those church members where the Pastor is always wrong and everything is always wrong and I always got the right idea. Here’s what we know about you, you’re carnal. You’ll never be filled with the Spirit. It’s the truth. You need to submit to biblical authority where God has commanded us. Now of course, in church, the Bible says that we as Bishops should not lord over God’s heritage. So, the extent of our influence goes to church. You know as a Pastor, I’m never going to come into your personal life and tell you “You know, here’s what you need to do in your personal life.”. Look, what you do in your personal life, that’s between you and God. But when we enter church world, the Bible says the Pastor has the rule. That means he controls. That means he directs. That means what he says goes. And you need to submit. You need to learn to submit to the authority of the Pastor.
How about this? Government. Titus 3:1 this is not a popular one in our movement. Titus 3:1 “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities”. What’s the principality? A political leader. “and powers, to obey magistrates,”. What’s a magistrate? That’s a civil officer. “to be ready to every good work,”. The Bible teaches that we’re supposed to submit to the government. Now look, and I’m already getting the emails and whatever. Obviously biblical authority goes to an extent. When you’re being asked to sin against God, then we obey God rather than men. Do understand that. And that’s any authority.
Look, at work, we didn’t look at it in Ephesians 6, but at work, your boss, you’re supposed to serve him as unto the Lord. And at work, you got to submit to the authority of your boss. But if your boss asks you to do something illegal, then you don’t obey. You obey God rather than men. Look kids, you obey and you submit to the authority of your parents. But if your dad asked you to help him run heroin, then you say no. Dad, I love you, but no I’m not going to obey. Obey God rather than men. Ladies, submit unto your husband. But if your husband asked you to do something that is sinful that is against the laws of God, then you don’t submit. And when it comes to government, look…..
Sometimes you’ll get this idea because we’re conservative Christians, and we act like the government is always wrong. You know, it’s really just a defiance of authority. The pastor is always wrong. The boss is always wrong. The government is always wrong. The boss is an idiot. Pastor is an idiot. Everyone’s an idiot. My parents are idiots. I’m 13 years old. I’m the smartest one here. It’s like come on. My husband’s an idiot. It’s just in every area of authority you’re rebelling.
And here’s all I’m telling you; you’ll never be filled with the Spirit. You must submit to our biblical authority. If you want to be filled with the Spirit of God. Now if they ask you to sin, if they ask you to sin, then we obey God rather than men. Do you understand what I just said? If they ask you to sin, you obey God rather than men. But if they don’t ask you to sin, you know what a spirit-filled Christian does, they submit. And let me tell you a secret of submission, submission only works, it is only real, only apparent when you submit to something you don’t want to do. Do you understand that? You say, well I submit to my husband as long as I agree with him. That’s not submission. That’s agreement. Well I do what my boss tells me to do as long as I think it’s the right idea. But you know he’s an idiot. And when he leaves, I do what I want. Well you’re not submissive.
The only time we know that someone is submissive to their biblical Authority is when there’s a conflict, where you think something should be done different than the biblical authority, as long as it’s not a sin, and you submit. That’s how we know you’re submissive. Do you understand what I just said? That’s the only way we know a wife, the only way we’ll ever know that you’re a submissive wife is when your husband asked you to do something you don’t want to do. And it’s not a sin and you submit to his authority. The only time we know children are submissive is when mom and dad tell them to do something they don’t want to do, and it’s not a sin and you submit to their authority.
Last time I checked, I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, but last time I checked, putting a mask on wasn’t sinful. But you say “I’m never putting on a mask”. It just shows a little bit about your attitude. It shows a little bit about your spirit-filled heart. Because you’ll never be filled with the Spirit if you don’t submit. And the only time that we can tell that you are submitting is when it’s something you don’t want to do, but it’s not a sin and you submit. You say, “By this standard, I’ll never be filled with the Spirit”.
Well here’s the thing about that. Most Christians never are filled with the Spirit. It’s very rare to be a Christian who is walking in the Spirit, who is filled with the Spirit, who has the power of the Spirit of God, it’s very rare. You say why? Because you got to surrender your body. Because to be full of the Spirit, you got to sing Christ honoring music. You got to fill your mind, in your heart, with Christ honoring music. Because to be filled with the Spirit, you got to internalize scripture. Because to be filled the spirit, you got to rejoice in the Lord always. You got to be satisfied and grateful and content at all times. Because to be filled with the Spirit, you have to submit to Biblical Authority. When they’re not asking you to sin.
And look, that’s just a tall order to most Christians. Unfortunately, most Christians disobey the command to be filled with the Spirit of God. But I hope that tonight you and I would choose and say “I want to be filled with the Spirit. If it means I got to submit to my boss and yeah, he’s an idiot but whatever. He’s the boss. If it means that I got to go home and get rid of some music, delete some mp3s on my iPod or whatever. And I got to go get grab a hymn book and start singing praises to God. If it means that I need to start being thankful and not critical and not bitter and not a complainer. And start trying to look for things to be thankful for in my life. If it means that I’ve got to surrender my body, first thing tomorrow morning. I’ve got to get up and say, okay God, you’re in control. I yield myself. Would to God that you and I would choose to be filled with the Spirit of God.
Let’s pray.