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God's
Will For You. Have
you ever wondered what God’s will is for your life? Did you know
the Bible reveals some things that are His will for us? A very important
part of the will of God is to be “controlled by” or to “be
filled with” the Holy Spirit.
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So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the
Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation,
but be filled with the Spirit . . . (NASB) Eph. 5:17-18 |
To be filled with the Holy Spirit means to be completely controlled
by Him. Notice God’s illustration in this verse. He commands
us to not become drunk with wine but to be drunk with the Holy Spirit.
To be drunk means that wine has as taken control of our senses. That
illustrates the meaning of the Greek word “filled.” It means
“to make full, complete.” It was used to refer to someone
who was filled full of food. That is what God wants us to be –
to be filled full of the Holy Spirit or to be controlled by Him. When
we allow this to happen, we will be
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. . . speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one
another in the fear of Christ. (NASB) Eph. 5:19-21 |
A Spirit filled Christian will have joy in the heart, thankfulness,
and humility towards others, or submission. These are the marks of
a Spirit filled Christian. The passage does not talk about any other
experiences.
A person referring to those who teach
that a Christian must always have a happy smile once said, “Where
the sun always shines, there is a desert.” That is true. A person
without suffering is a shallow Christian. The great saints of the
ages have suffered. The great preacher C. Spurgeon suffered greatly
with depression between his messages. The saints in Hebrews 11:35-38
suffered great torture. The prophet Jeremiah is called the weeping
prophet. This passage is talking about melody and joy in the heart
and not necessarily on the face. It is also talking about humility
on the inside that causes wives to submit to their husbands (Eph.
5:22), husbands to love their wives Eph. 5:25-28), children to obey
their parents (Eph. 6:1), and slaves to obey their masters (Eph. 6:5).
Colossians 3:16-22 is a very interesting
passage because it is very close to Ephesians 5:17-6:5.
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Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom
teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to
God . . . Wives, be subject to your husbands . . . Husbands,
love your wives . . . Children, be obedient to your parents
. . . Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters
on earth . . . (NASB) Col. 3:16-22 |
In Ephesians 5:17-18 the list starts with “be filled with the
Spirit” and in Colossians the list starts with the “Word
of Christ.” In both Ephesians and Colossians we are commanded
to do something and then the results which follows are identical.
In Ephesians we are commanded to be “filled with the Spirit”
and in Colossians we are commanded to dwell richly in the “word
of Christ.” Then singing, thankfulness, submission to others
follows. Why? Because being filled with the Spirit and spending time
in the Word of God go together. One who is filled with the Spirit
will “dwell richly” in the Word. The Greek word for “dwell”
means to “live in” like a person living in a home. This
is an important spiritual insight. It implies that we want to spend
as much time as we can reading, meditating on and studying the Bible.
The Spirit then uses the Word of God to make us more like Jesus Christ.
Conclusion:Now
let us put it all together. To be constantly filled with the Spirit
results in victory over sin, peace and joy in the heart, and submission/humility
towards others. But in order to be filled with the Spirit, we must
ask God to have the Holy Spirit take control of us – “fill
us” - just as the apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians. You
must want to let Him take over your life. It is also important to
remember that in order to continue to “be filled with” or
“be walking in” the Spirit, you must confess your sins to
God the Father every time you realize that you have sinned and ask
for the Holy Spirit to take control of your life again. You should
also spend as much time in the Bible as you can. This is what it means
to live our life in the Spirit of God. I have found that the Holy
Spirit has changed my life, given me victory over many sins in life,
provided me with peace and joy in my heart and given me a tremendous
longing to know Him because I enjoy Him. Come – walk in the Spirit!
Just remember that only those who
are trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins can be
filled with the Holy Spirit. |
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