Ephesians 5 Series #2
"FILL-ER-UP!"
TEXT: Ephesians
5:18; Acts
2:4-21
INTRO: There is
one thing in the universe that all things must have to continue on ...
ENERGY!
a.
Stars cannot give light or warmth once they run out of energy - they
collapse!
b.
Stop the energy flow to your home and see what
happens!
c.
Food is nothing more than a form of supplying our bodies with needed
energy so we can continue to function.
d.
Your automobile must have regular supply stops for energy if you hope to
keep going somewhere in it ... no one has ever returned a car to the dealership
after they bought it just because it ran out of fuel ... it is expected you will
have to replace the energy frequently!
e.
AND SO IT IS SPIRITUALLY, we must maintain an energy flow from God to
keep going spiritually, this is what is meant by being "FILLED WITH THE
SPIRIT" the ultimate source of energy! (And a supply without end or
limit!)
ILLUS: There must be a
correspondence between the receiver and the transmitter. When we listen to a
radio broadcast, there are many sound waves all around us, but the only way for
us to become aware of them is to have an appropriate receiver able to catch them
and make them audible. We would never know that anyone was talking to us from a
distance if we expected our watch to pick up the sound waves. There is only one
way in which man can know God, and that is through man's own spirit. God is a
Spirit and can be known only by a spirit. We must not expect to feel Him with
our fingers, or see Him with our physical eyes. It cannot be done. Yet that
which can be perceived only by the spirit of man is just as real as that which
can be perceived by his physical senses. - Source Unknown
PROP. SENT: The Bible teaches us to be
"filled with
the Spirit" every day, not just when we feel like it ... we need
daily energy for living as God would have us live, to be "energized" Christians; ("dynamite"
from Greek word in Acts 1:8 "dunamos" meaning, "power.")
I. FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT! Eph.
5:18a
A.
Drunk! Eph.
5:18a
1.
Paul is setting up a contrast of thought in this
verse.
a.
The Greek word in this text for "filled" means to "cram"
or "fill
up."
b.
But, it is to be filled up with God's Spirit, not the kind of "spirits"
the world uses to become numb.
2. In his call to the church at
ILLUS: Strong drink
can weaken character. -- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).
a.
Drunkenness dulls the senses ... thus leaving us open to actions that we
might not otherwise get involved in.
b.
Because drunkenness tends toward poor judgment, creating possible
situations that might lead to horrifying consequences later, Paul admonishes
them to stay away from these "spirits" of the bottle! They impact negatively the following
areas of our lives:
(1.
Physical
(2.
Spiritual
(3.
Mental
c.
Rather than help us have energy it would rob us of energy; we would only
think we are more energetic when
drunk!
d.
Because it would impair their physical nature towards being
uncoordinated, and leading to accidents, and possible
destruction.
e.
Because drunkenness tends to give a FALSE sense of well-being, at best a
temporary elation!
3.
What is Paul's point: There are always choices in this world ... go for
the "gusto" of this world, or go for God's
"gusto!"
a.
The feeling of joy from the first is brief and false, works by dulling
the body and mind and lowering the issues of discretion in one's
behavior.
b.
The feeling of joy from the second is eternal and true, works by
sharpening the senses and the spirit!
The Spirit of God actually sharpens our sense of
discretion.
B.
Debauchery! Eph.
5:18a
1.
The "spirits of the bottle"
are always associated with debauchery and destruction ... never with clarity and
productiveness!
a.
Old Testament:
(1.
Noah got drunk and his children "uncovered" his nakedness and one was
cursed because of it. (Genesis
9)
(2.
(3. David got Uriah drunk deliberately
in an attempt to cover his own sin (2 Sam.
b.
New Testament:
(1.
The Corinthians were getting drunk at the Lord's table, it was a
disaster! (1 Cor. 11)
(2.
Jesus used the idea of drunkenness in a parable about stewardship;
explaining that the wicked servants were those who had a connection with
drinking.
(Matt. 24:49)
(3.
1 Thessalonians 5:7 Paul warned the
Thessalonians to avoid drunkenness, to stay alert.
c.
Even when used in a more positive role like passages in the Old Testament
that talks about giving "beer to the perishing." (Prov. 31:6-7)
d.
Wine or beer then was given as a pain reliever like a drug; not for
debauchery.
2.
The end result of drunkenness is loss, not gain ... something you will
likely never see in a beer or wine commercial on
T.V.!
3.
The reason Paul is so emphatic on this point is because of the way
alcohol works, it strips from its victims control over their body and mind, and
lowers the moral standards normally intact ... a dangerous thing when you have a
fallen nature!
a. We
are called to be IN CONTROL of our body and
mind!
ILLUS: Both in
b.
Not to have our fallen nature rule us! History is replete with horrible results
and stories in people's lives from
alcohol.
c.
This is the real issue on the problem of drunkenness; it is not about
bad people, it is about losing
control.
4.
Drunkenness is nothing but trouble!
II. FILLED
WITH THE SPIRIT! Eph.
5:18b; Acts
2:4-21
A.
Dynamic! Eph. 5:18b; Acts
2:4-13
1.
What a contrast!
a.
These men had just come out from hiding for fear of the Jews and now,
filled with the Spirit of God they are praying fearlessly in the presence of the
same Jews, along with over 100 others; both men and women! (120 in the upper
room)
b. It is interesting that the Jews at
first make the mistake of thinking they are drunk! (See Acts
(1. A similar mistake had been made
about Hannah in the Old Testament when she was praying at the
(2.
When the Spirit of God comes on a person, it is a powerful
experience! Even in the Old
Testament this happened: 1 Sam 10:6 "The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you
in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a
different person."
c.
The crowd is amazed at these disciples, rather than being drunk with
spirits they are "filled with THE
SPIRIT!"
2.
This filling of the Holy Spirit had transformed these common men and
women into uncommon men and women ... people you couldn't
overlook!
a.
This is what the filling of the Holy Spirit does for you, it doesn't
make you necessarily better than another Christian, BUT IT DOES
MAKE YOU BETTER THAN YOU!
b.
This we can all use! It is
NEVER meant to be a gauge or spiritual superiority, to compare ourselves to one
another ... it is meant to empower US to "Be witnesses" (Acts 1:8) To be under the control of the Spirit,
in contrast to earthly wine which does the opposite, earthly wine leaves you out
of control!
3. In Acts
a.
Either spirit will transform you ... Alcohol or God's
Spirit!
ILLUS: There are
various kinds of drunkenness. Holy
Scripture speaks of those who "are drunken, but not with wine." There is the drunkenness of pride, of
anger, and of vengeance; and there
is another kind altogether, of zeal and fervor. It was with this latter that the
apostles were filled when they received the Holy Spirit. -- Francois Fenelon in Spiritual Letters to Women.
Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no. 8.
b.
Alcohol's transformation was well known ... but this filling of the
Spirit of God's was unknown to this crowd, they would soon see how it
transformed the small band of scared followers of
Christ!
c.
Rather than dulling their senses, the Holy Spirit heightened their
natural qualities by assigning to them a supernatural quality ... at this moment
of being filled with the Spirit they spoke in other
tongues!
d.
This dynamic gift of tongues proclaimed to the crowd the wonders of God
in the various languages of the crowd ... instead of slurred speech which would
normally occur with drunkenness; their speech when filled with the Spirit was
clear, articulate, and speech testifying of the wonders of
God!
e.
This is the dynamic of God's Spirit, He sharpens our entire being, what a
dynamic gift!
B.
Declaration! Acts
2:14-21
1.
What happens?
a.
Peter the former frightened disciple stands up and declares to the crowd
the GOSPEL!
b.
While drunkenness often contains "BAD NEWS," the new wine of the Gospel
is "GOOD NEWS!"
2.
Peter preaches like he never preached before, a new boldness grips him
and the others as they stand for Christ in the midst of a crowd that only 50
days earlier gave assent to the murder of Jesus, and just days before had forced
them into hiding for fear of their own
lives!
3.
Now they stood out in the crowd ... these were Spirit filled men and
women!
a.
The verb tense in Eph. 5:18b for "Be
Filled" is Present, Indicative, Active in the original Greek:
meaning, "KEEP ON BEING FILLED EACH DAY." It was not meant as a single event, but
as present and continuous!
ILLUS: God commands us
to be filled with the Spirit, and if we are not filled, it is because we are
living beneath our privileges. -- Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899) - Edythe Draper,
Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 5778
b.
It is not a onetime thing, it is meant to be a daily
thing!
c.
just like you don't fill your car up once with gas, you don't get filled
just once with the Spirit!
d.
The Spirit of God is the real
"ENERGIZER!"
e.
Recharging or refilling is a need for every
believer!