Be Filled with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:15-21—“Be Filled with the Spirit”

You may have heard the famous quote from Jim Elliott, a missionary in the 1950’s when he said that “The best use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.” And I think that we all desire that. We all desire to spend our lives on something that will outlast us. We want our lives to count for something. And yet, at the same time, it’s incredibly easy to allow days and weeks and even years to pass us by without having much to show for it. It’s so easy for us to lose track of time. This past week, I celebrated my birthday, and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly a year can go by. And the more years that go by, the faster they seem to go. It’s like I’m rolling down a hill without very good brakes, and as I keep on rolling down the hill, I pick up speed and go faster and faster, and the years just fly by. 

And Paul talks about this in our text this evening. So if you’ll turn to Ephesians 5 with me, that’s where we’ll be this evening. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 813. Ephesians 5, and we’ll go through verses 15-21, but let me begin simply by reading verses 15-17. Thinking about how short our time on this earth is, Paul writes, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” So Paul’s saying, “You don’ have any time to waste. Life is so short. Everything around us is so temporary.” So as he writes in verse 16, we should be “making the best use of the time.” That phrase also be translated “redeeming the time,” buying up the time like a hot commodity while you have the chance. Because you never know when your time will run out. 

Perhaps you’ve had a friend die before they reached an elderly age. And it really had an effect on you not only because you missed your friend but also because it reminded you that death can come to anyone at any time. I remember when I was living in Alabama for a few years, I worked as a hospice chaplain. And I would see people dying all the time—multiple people every week. And it made me sad, and there were some difficult days. But then I discovered that Karen, the hospice’s social worker, actually was dying of cancer herself. She was only 42 years old. And since Karen was the social worker and I was the chaplain, we worked closely together on a daily basis. And she declined so rapidly that within the span of a few weeks, I went from working with her as a coworker to ministering to her as a patient. And when she died a few months later, it really rattled my cage. Of course I missed her, but it wasn’t just that. It was that her death at age 42 reminded me of my own morality. And it had a greater effect on me that all of the other deaths that our hospice dealt with on a weekly basis. To use the words Paul uses in verse 16, I realized “the days are evil.” I realized that time is not on our side. 

I came across this app that’s available that’s meant to be sort of humorous. And I do find it sort of entertaining in a strange sort of way. It’s called “Death Clock.” And the way it works is that you put in some of your personal information, and it uses statistics to calculate the estimated date of your death. So I put my information in here, and it says that I have until January 12, 2062 before I die. And it even gives me a countdown clock of how long I supposedly have left to live. You can see it counting down. And of course, this is just for fun because only God knows when it’s our time to die. But I think this countdown clock illustrates for us in a very powerful way how limited our time is here on earth. The clock is ticking. Take a look around you. Everything you see right now will soon be gone. Everything you see here, at your home, at your job—all of this is so temporary. And if there’s any way right now that wasting time and living aimlessly, there’s coming a day when you’re going to wish you had that time back. 

So what should we do? Should we just mope around waiting for the inevitable? Not at all! Paul actually tells us what to do. Everything he’s said in verses 15-17 about “redeeming the time” are his way of setting up the very important instructions he’s about to give us in verses 18-21. Now that we grasping something of the sense of urgency that should drive the Christian life, here’s what we should do, verse 18: “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.”

The main idea of this passage is that God calls every Christian to be filled with the Holy Spirit. God calls every Christian to be filled with the Spirit. And I’d like to take a closer look at this by asking three questions related to being filled with the Spirit. Number one, “What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?” Number two, “What does it look like to be filled with the Spirit?” And number three, “How can we be filled with the Spirit?” So: “What does it mean?” “What does it look like?” And, “How can we experience it?”

What Does It Mean to Be Filled with the Spirit? 

First, being filled with the Spirit means being controlled by the Spirit. It’s when we yield ourselves to the Spirit to possess us fully and occupy every part of our lives—guiding us, controlling us, empowering us, shaping us, leading us to live the way Jesus would have us live. Notice in verse 18 how being filled with the Spirit is contrasted with being drunk with wine. Paul says, “Do not get drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit.” What happens when we’re drunk with wine? Well…bad things happen, that’s what. If you get drunk, there’s a good chance you’re going to say something or do something foolish. It’s as if the alcohol is controlling you. But Paul says, instead of letting alcohol control you, the Holy Spirit control you. Be filled with the Spirit. 

And it’s important to distinguish here between being indwelt by the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit. Every single Christian is indwelt by the Spirit. When God saves us and brings us to repentance and faith, at that moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts. He begins to live within us, and he continues to live within us for the rest of our lives. He never leaves. So every Christian is indwelt by the Spirit. That’s why Paul says in Romans 8:9, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” In other words, if you don’t have the Holy Spirit at all, you’re not saved, because every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But…not every Christian is always filled with the Holy Spirit. That’s why Paul has to command the Ephesians to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because many of them are not. He’s not telling to them they need to be saved. He’s telling them, as Christians, that they need to be filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit who already dwells within them. It’s kind of like the difference between the Spirit being in the driver’s seat driving the car and the Spirit being in the passenger seat just riding in the car. If someone’s truly a Christian, the Holy Spirit’s definitely in the car somewhere; he’s living within us constantly. But we have to make sure we’re allowing him to be in the driver’s seat, filling us, controlling us. 

You can also think of it like a canoe being carried along by a river. Wherever the river goes, that’s where the boat goes. If the river turns right, the boat turns right. If the river turns left, the boat turns left. And not only does the river guide the boat and determine the direction of the boat, but it also carries the boat forward. That’s what’s so nice about canoeing on a river rather than a lake. If you’re canoeing on a lake, it’s all on you to paddle and propel that canoe forward. But if you’re on a river, the river does most of the work for you. It carries the boat along, which makes thing a whole lot easier on you. And it works the same way with being filled with the Spirit. The Spirit determines our direction by guiding us, and he carries us forward by empowering us. 

And yet, many times, Christians can act as if the Holy Spirit doesn’t even exist. I think we’re all guilty of that to one degree or another. We kind of forget about the Holy Spirit and imagine that it’s just on our own trying our best to live for Jesus. And then we wonder why we have difficulty. You know, canoeing doesn’t work very well without water. I went canoeing a lot growing up, and there would be times when the water level was low so that parts of the river were too shallow for our canoe. So we would have to get out of the canoe and drag the canoe past those shallow sections. It really wasn’t that fun. And I think there are some Christians who are trying to drag their canoe not just over a shallow river but over a bone-dry riverbed. They’re almost completely ignoring the Holy Spirit. And I think we all slip into that mindset from time to time. 

And I think a good name for this is “Christian Deism.” Now, technically a Deist is someone who doesn’t believe God is actively involved with this world in any way. So a true Deist, by definition, can’t be a Christian. Deists believe God is like a cosmic clockmaker who created the universe to work a certain way but then took his hands off of everything and no longer gets involved. No miracles, no judgment, no salvation—nothing. And there aren’t really many Deists anymore because, if anyone doesn’t want to believe God is actively involved with this universe, they just call themselves atheists or agnostics and subscribe to the theory of evolution. But two or three hundred years ago, they didn’t have any theory of evolution that could explain the existence of the universe, so they had to admit there was a Creator. But…they just said that Creator created the world but doesn’t get involved any more. So that’s a Deist. Christian Deism, however, is what I’m calling it when Christians believe that God saved them but then act as if he leaves them on their own to live the Christian life. They embrace the gospel, but they think it’s all on them to live it out. 

And yet, Jesus told us in John 14:16 that he would not leave us alone but would give us, as he says, “another Helper to be with [us] forever.” And Paul says that we’re supposed to take advantage of that Helper or Spirit’s presence within us and be filled with the Spirit. Realize that he’s central for living the Christian life. He’s just as essential for the Christian life as water is for canoeing. So stop ignoring the Spirit and start looking to the Spirit for guidance, empowerment and as your source for everything you need. Let him reshape and redirect your affections so that you desire the things God desires and love the things God loves and even hate the things God hates. Let him have complete control over you and carry you along. Be filled with the Spirit.

What Does It Look Like to Be Filled with the Spirit? (vv. 19-21)

So that’s the first question, “What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?” Moving along more quickly, let’s talk about the second question, “What does it look like to be filled with the Spirit?” What does Spirit-filling look like? Paul tell us, verse 18: “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.” So being filled with the Spirit will show up in the form of music in our hearts (verse 19), continual thanksgiving (verse 20), and humble submission to other believers (verse 21). None of those things are normal. None of those things are natural. They’re all supernatural—they all come from the Holy Spirit.

Supernatural Joy

First, supernatural joy. The music in our heart of verse 19. You see, the Spirit testifies about Jesus as Jesus said he would in John 15. Jesus says, “He will testify about me.” So the Spirit continually does that from within us, leading us back to the gospel again and again. He reminds us of how Jesus became a human being, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. He reminds us of how Jesus saved us not because we were good enough or could ever be good enough but because Jesus was good enough in our place. And he reminds us how, through Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we stand fully accepted as children of God—and will continue that way in heaven throughout all eternity. Even though we frequently forget this gospel message, the Spirit reminds us. And by reminding us of the gospel, he leads us to joy. And it’s not uncommon for this joy in singing. Kind of like a pot boiling over. We can’t contain the joy we have in Christ, and it naturally comes out in song. The pot boils over. 

Supernatural Faith

And not only do we have supernatural joy that leads to singing, but we also have supernatural faith that leads to thanksgiving. Verse 20: “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father.” We’re able to be thankful in all situations because the Spirit gives us supernatural faith that God is working in and through everything we encounter to accomplish his good purposes. God’s goodness and God’s sovereignty are just as real in the deepest valleys as they are on the highest mountaintops. And the Spirit gives us the faith to believe that.

Supernatural Humility

And then verse 21 identifies the third example of what being filled with the Spirit looks like: supernatural humility. “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ,” it says. Giving preference to other believers. Putting aside our own preferences and our own interests and our own ego, and thinking about others before ourselves. Now, obviously, this is quite contrary to the way we’re normally inclined to act. Our first inclination is usually to look out for “number one,” to insist on our own preferences. As much as I’m hesitant to say it, isn’t there a little bit of Donald Trump in all of us? Different circumstances may bring it out in different ways, but don’t we find ourselves from time to time insisting that others bow to our will? Perhaps it’s the style of music that we sing or the time that we meet or whether we do this or that…the list is endless. Paul says, “Don’t be that way. Don’t make a big deal about your own preferences.” Instead, “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” It’s something that’s completely contrary to our natural inclinations, but it becomes possible as we’re filled with the Spirit. 

So being filled with the Spirit gives us supernatural joy commonly expressed in singing, supernatural faith commonly expressed in thanksgiving, and supernatural humility commonly expressed in submission. These things are all “supernatural” in the sense that they’re not possible by our own efforts or willpower but only through the Spirit’s influence and control over our lives. 

How Can We Be Filled With the Spirit?

So how do we get that? How do we become filled with the Spirit? Perhaps you’ve been asking yourself that question. And it’s an interesting question to ask, because if you notice in verse 18, Paul commands it, but the verb is in the passive voice. “Be filled with the Spirit.” It’s something that’s done to you. You’re not filling yourself; you’re being filled. And yet, it’s a command. Kind of confusing, isn’t it? 

I think the best way to handle this is to describe our responsibility in terms of yielding. We should be yielding ourselves, turning ourselves over to the Holy Spirit so he can fill us. We’re praying prayers of surrender, giving ourselves to the Holy Spirit to do with us and to lead us as he sees fit. If you wanted to think of it in terms of a canoe being carried along and directed by the river, I guess you could say we’re not holding the canoe back in any way. Instead, we’re positioning the canoe where the current of the river is the strongest with the expectation that the river will carry it where it needs to go. 

And we’re also avoiding any obstacles that would get in the way of that happening, such as sins in our lives. If you look back at Ephesians 4:30, Paul tells them, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” I think it’s safe to assume that grieving the Holy Spirit would definitely get in the way of being filled with the Spirit. So if you want to be filled with the Spirit, you have to repent of the sin in your life. 

And also, the Bible tells us that the Spirit of God and the Word of God work in conjunction with each other. The Spirit uses the Word—he uses biblical truth—to accomplish his ministry. So if you want to be filled with the Spirit and have the Spirit in control of your life, you need to be feeding yourself with a regular diet of Bible. Internalize it, think about it, roll up your sleeves and engage in the sometimes difficult task of understanding it. It’s like you have a master carpenter inside of you ready to remodel everything, but you have to give the carpenter his tools. You have to be taking in the Bible on a regular basis. 

So think about your life [holds up countdown clock]. Think about the limited time you have here on earth. And think about the impact you can make if you’re yielded and controlled and filled with the Holy Spirit.