Let the Spirit Have Control

(Ephesians 5:18)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
We know that as Christians,
The Lord has given us a special responsibility and task:
He has entrusted His Gospel to us,
So that we might share it with others.
The fact this is true,
Is one of the reasons we watched the series,
With Christ in the School of Evangelism and Discipleship
So we could learn from our Master
How to do this effectively.
Its also why were following up on that series:
So well keep this responsibility continually before our eyes,
And, by His grace, be just a bit better equipped to do it.

We need to get the message out.

But, weve seen that to do this effectively,
We need the right motivation.
The Lord has given us several
Anyone of which should be enough by itself.
Ive already mentioned one:
Its a responsibility the Lord has entrusted to us.

But its also an honor.

The Lord could have given this work to His angels
And they would gladly have done it
With all their heart and strength,
Because there can be no higher honor or privilege
But He gave it to us.
This reminds us why God made us in the first place.
It reminds us of His great love for us
In saving and calling us to this position.
It reminds us that we need a greater love for Him
To push forward to become more like the One who saved us.
But it also reminds us
Why we need to get the message out
So that others might come to know His love and mercy in Jesus:
So that our family, friends and neighbors
Might be saved from their sins and worship Him as well
Not only here, but one day before the throne in heaven
And so that they too might join us
In the great privilege of sharing this message with others.

But we also saw that these things will only move us

To the extent that we believe them to be true:
We need faith.

3
The author to the Hebrews tells us,
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen
(11:1).
The only reason any have served the Lord through history
Is because they believed what He said;
And the reason why some served Him
With a greater effort than others,
Is that they were more firmly convinced the Gospel was true.

B. Preview.
If we are believers
We already have faith
We already believe what He says.
If we didnt,
Why would we ever have trusted Jesus?

But we also know faith can be stronger or weaker

Depending on one thing:
How powerfully the Spirit is working in us
The more He works, the stronger our faith.
The less He works, the weaker.

This is at least one of the reasons

The Lord commands us to be filled with the Spirit:
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the
Spirit (v. 18).

If we are filled with Him,

We will have a stronger faith,
We will see the reality of these things more clearly,
And we will be more motivated to put a greater effort
Into doing what He calls us to do.

Since this command is the key,

Lets consider how we can better obey it.
There are two parts to it:
The first is: we are not to be drunk with wine.
The second is: we are to be filled with the Spirit.

II. Sermon.
A. First: we are not to be drunk with wine.
It may be true
That Paul chose the particular sin of drunkenness
Because that was something
The saints at Ephesus were particularly tempted to.
The same has been true
Of just about every generation and society in history.
Just because were believers
Doesnt mean we wont be tempted
By the same things that tempt the rest of mankind.
The Lord gave wine and strong drink

5
To be a blessing to us when we need it.
But as is true of many of His gifts,
Its possible to get too much of a good thing.

But Paul appears to have something more in mind here

Because of what he commands on the other hand:
We are not to get drunk with wine, but we are to be filled with the Spirit.
He appears to be pointing more towards what should control us:
We are not to be drunk or filled with wine
Because when we are, that is what influences us.
We just need to think about
The last time we saw someone inebriated/drunk,
To know that alcohol can dramatically alter the way we behave.

Looking at it in this way,

We know there are many other things
That can strongly influence our behavior
In a way other than what the Lord wants.
All of them can be boiled down into two categories:
The flesh and the world
Both of which Satan is always ready to use against us.

The flesh includes any and all desires in our hearts

That are opposed to the Spirit.

6
Paul gives us a partial list in Galatians 5:19-21, Now the deeds of the flesh are
evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities,
strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying,
drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I
have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God.
We can replace wine in Ephesians 5:18 with any of these things
And it would be equally true:
And do not be filled with jealousy, but be filled with the Spirit.
And do not desire immoral things, but desire the things of the Spirit.
And do not be controlled by anger, but be controlled by the Spirit.
We are not to be filled with the flesh
Under its control
But to be filled with the Spirit
Under His control.

Of course, there are also the things outside of us,

The things of the world,
That can stir up these fleshly passions
And bring us under their control:
Such as money,
Paul writes, For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by
longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with
many griefs (1 Tim. 6:10).
The rich young ruler was under the control of his wealth
Which is why he couldnt give it up to follow Jesus.
Jesus warns us against falling into the same trap:

7
Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, How hard it will be for those who are
wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! The disciples were amazed at His words.
But Jesus answered again and said to them, Children, how hard it is to enter the
kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23-25).

Of course, the desire for honor/recognition in this world can do the same thing:
Jesus says, How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and
you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? (John 5:44).

We are not to desire the world or the things of the world.

We are the bride of Jesus Christ
We are married to Him
To desire the world is to commit spiritual adultery:
James writes, You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is
hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God (James 4:4).
We need to be on our guard against these things
And not let them control us.

Of course, if we belong to Jesus,

We can never be completely under their control
The Spirit wont allow it.
But to the degree that we are
To that degree we will be weakened
Our faith will be weak;
Our sight of the reality of the things
The Lord tells us to be true will be dim;

8
Our love for God will be compromised;
And as a result,
Our desire to reach the lost
Wont be as strong or urgent.
And so what should we do?
First, we need to obey the first part of this command.

B. Second, we need to obey the second part:

We must be filled with the Spirit.
Paul isnt talking about the Holy Spirit
As though Hes some kind of quantity:
Some kind of spiritual fluid
That the Lord pours into our souls.
Hes talking about control:
We are not to be under the power/control of sin;
Under the spell of this world;
Seeking great things from men;
But we are to be controlled and led by Gods Spirit.

The Lord originally gave us His Spirit

To open our eyes,
And show us the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ
To show us that He is the door.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he
cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).

Hes the One who originally showed us the reality of these things.

He also gave us His Spirit to free us from our flesh.

Paul writes, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from
the law of sin and of death (Rom. 8:2).
He put a new principle in our hearts
A new desire for holiness and the things above.
That desire was all we needed
To break the power of sin
So that we might be free to obey Him.

But if we want these things to be strengthened in us,

Theres something we need to do:
We need to yield to Him
To the desire He put in our hearts
To follow Gods Word.
If we will surrender to Him,
Not only will He give us a greater certainty
That what God says is true
So that our desire to reach out will become greater
He will give us the power to overcome our flesh
So that the world wont have as much power over us,
And so well be able to reach out more effectively.
Paul writes to the Galatians, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry
out the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).

10

We need to understand that this is a command

Not only to be filled with the Spirit,
But to walk by the Spirit
Because if we dont do these things,
We wont be able to do what He made us and redeemed us to do:
To reach our neighbors for their good and for His glory.

Let me close by saying

The Lord wants us to enter this virtuous circle:
We so often walk in a vicious circle
Obeying the flesh and resisting the Spirit
That results in a downward spiral spiritually.
He wants us instead to walk in the circle
That leads to increasing spiritual power
By obeying the Spirit and resisting our flesh.
We need a stronger faith,
But it will only come
By a stronger work of the Spirit in our souls.
May the Lord grant to us from this point on
To resist our flesh and the world more,
And to yield more to the Spirit,
That we might reach more for Christ. Amen.

http://www.gcmodesto.org