Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20060402.htm

THE BIBLICAL SPIRITUAL CHRISTIAN LIFE
Part II: Relating Properly To God The Holy Spirit As Believers
C. Heeding God's Admonition To "Be Filled" With The Holy Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18-6:20)
  1. Introduction
    1. The permanent indwelling ministry of God the Holy Spirit, God's priceless, eternal Gift to us who trust in Christ as Savior, provides many wonderful ministries for our blessing as we learned in this lesson series.
    2. Thus motivated to want to relate properly to the Holy Spirit, we view Ephesians 5:18-6:20 where God calls us to "be filled" with the Holy Spirit, a charge on effectively facing overwhelming challenges in life:
  2. Heeding God's Admonition To "Be Filled" With The Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:18-6:20.
    1. The believer has all of the Holy Spirit he will ever have since he is indwelt with the PERSON of God the Holy Spirit, Rom. 8:9b; Gal. 4:6! Thus, the Ephesians 5:18 call to "be filled with the Spirit" can NOT mean a believer must get MORE of the Holy Spirit as some in the Charismatic movement would teach!
    2. Thus, we view the CONTEXT of Ephesians 5:18b to discern what Paul meant by "be filled" and notice that this command given as a CONTRAST TO one's being DRUNK with WINE, Ephesians 5:18a.
    3. Well, men get drunk to escape life's circumstances, be it from fear or a choice to be irresponsible:
      1. People who are alcoholics often have serious personality maladjustments, Howard G. Hendricks, Christian Counseling For Contemporary Problems 1968, 3rd ed., p. 158, 161.
      2. Such maladjustments have risen due to a choice to incorporate aberrant social and psychological behavior learned from a bad environment or from choosing to act irresponsibly, Ibid., p. 158.
      3. Thus, failure to choose to function responsibly in life is what leads the alcoholic to become drunk!
    4. Thus, Paul urged believers to EXCHANGE a reliance on alcohol with a reliance on the indwelling Spirit so they might (1) responsibly face and (2) responsibly handle life's challenges! As Lewis Sperry Chafer put it in his book, He That Is Spiritual (1971), p. 43, "Every moment in a spiritual life is one of unmeasured need and superhuman demands, and the supply of enabling power and grace must be as constantly received and employed. As thy day, so shall they strength be.'"
    5. Ephesians 5:19-6:20 then reveals how life's circumstances are thus responsibly faced and then handled by an utter dependence upon the indwelling Person and power of God the Holy Spirit (as follows):
      1. The verbs in Ephesians 5:19-21 are all participles that qualify the main verb, "be filled" in Eph. 5:18, cf. U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1963 ed, p. 675-676; thus, they describe the "results" of "being filled with the Spirit," cf. Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 640.
      2. Well, the fourth participle, "submitting," is explained in the Ephesians 5:22-6:9 section where Paul addressed how first wives (Eph. 5:22-24, 33b), then children (Eph. 6:1-3) and finally servants (Eph. 6:5-8) were to submit to their respective overseers (husbands, parents and masters).
      3. Having introduced the need for subordinates to submit properly, Paul addressed the need for their respective overseers [husbands (Eph. 5:25-33a), parents (Eph. 6:4) and masters (Eph. 6:9)] on relying on the Holy Spirit's control to function well toward their respective subordinates, Eph. 5:22-6:9.
      4. In the end, Paul came "Finally" (Eph. 6:10) to the angelic conflict, showing how believers in the Holy Spirit's power were to "put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil," Eph. 6:11. This occurs by the believer's use of God's positional truth in Christ, the Word of God and Holy Spirit in the attitude and activity of prayer, cf. Ephesians 6:12-20!
      5. In summary, then, life's circumstances, if it involves marriage, family or the marketplace where there is any "wrestling" occurring that is thus fueled by the superhuman forces of evil spirits (Eph. 6:11-12), the BELIEVER is RESPONSIBLY to FACE and then EFFECTIVELY HANDLE all that life throws his way by LEANING on the HOLY SPIRIT VERSUS LEANING on STRONG DRINK!
Lesson: Life's challenges and temptations to sin that are regularly fueled by the superhuman angelic conflict are NOT to be met by our irresponsibly turning to crutches like strong drink; rather, we must LEAN HARD on the indwelling Holy Spirit for ALL we need to face and handle in life, Eph. 5:18-21!

Application: Let us REPLACE all other crutches with a full reliance on the Holy Spirit that we might RESPONSIBLY (1) FACE and then (2) HANDLE WELL all that God allows life to bring our way!