HOLY SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE - Ephesians 5:18
By Lay Pastor Kasieli Zebua
Johor, Sunday, November 4, 2018
Shalom,
Do we feel the presence of God and the power of the Holy Spirit among us while we are praising Him? In fact, God is so close to us, as it is written in Deuteronomy 4:7, ”For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?“ It is a fact that God whom we worship is nigh to us.
As we believe in the gospel of salvation, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). That way, the Holy Spirit is the seal that guarantees our salvation. In the past, we were far away, without Christ, non-Jews, strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God (Ephesians 2:12). But now we have been brought close to Him and filled with His Spirit. He not only redeemed us from our sins that we might be saved but also wants to be near and live in us.
The Epistle of Ephesians spurs us to spiritual maturity and growth to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). In this case, maturity means living closer to and having an intimate relationship with the Lord. On God’s part, it is His will that the Holy Spirit fills our lives. As it is written in Ephesians 5:18, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit.” Also, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth“ (Acts 1:8). If we take a look at the Apostles’ journeys, the power in this context refers not only to the power to testify about Jesus but also the power that enables them to control themselves in all things.
Why do we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
By the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to control ourselves.
Admittedly, our desires of the flesh sometimes strongly crop up even though we have been living in God and have been sealed with the Holy Spirit for quite sometime. Hence, no wonder if we come across someone who does ministry in an amazing way but produces no fruit in keeping with his ministry. Then we hear people comment, “He’s a priest, isn’t he? But, he’s got a sharp tongue!”; “He’s a preacher, right? But he doesn’t treat his family the way it shoud be”, and the list goes on and on.
When it comes to the desires of the flesh, there is no day without struggle; therefore, we need the Holy Spirit to fill us so that we can contain ourselves and put the fleshly desires to death. For instance, we must stop lying and speak the truth to each other. Put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander an all kinds of malice (Ephesians 4:25, 31).
As a matter of fact, when we have put away all those bad things, we pick them up again after some time. Why? Because we are not able (yet) to radically get rid of those bad things in our
lives. Obviously, this is not the work of the Holly Spirit, but our sheer efforts. How is this possible?
Well, we are not alone. Even the Apostle Paul went through the same thing. “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). Evidently, the desires of the flesh are too strong to ignore. Please take note: Every part of the body has its own will. For example, the eyes have their will and so do the ears, and so on. The Apostle Paul seemed desperate in his struggle against his fleshly desire as he said,“For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” (Romans 7:19)
Don’t we experience the same thing the Apostle Paul did? We cannot free ourselves from hatred, anger, grudge or dirty words. Truly, we need the power of the Holy Spirit to do away with all those bad things.
What is the difference between “Peter before being filled with the Holy Spirit” and “Peter after being filled with the Holy Spirit”? Before the Holy Spirit filled him, he easily denied Jesus, his Teacher, for the sake of the desire of the flesh. He was terrified of persecution. If he hadn’t denied Him, he would have been persecuted. But when the Holy Spirit filled him, the fear was gone. When people mocked and said that they were drunk with wine, Peter along with the other eleven apostles stood up and boldly said that they were not drunk with wine, but filled with the Holy Spirit according to God’s promise (Acts 2:13-18). Even before the Sanhedrin, Peter and John who were arrested, dared to testify about Jesus the Nazarene whom they crucified and whom God raised from the dead (Acts 4:1-13).
Why do we need the Holy Spirit to put the fleshly desires to death? As it is written in Romans 8:13, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” The deeds of the body refers to the flesh desires that against the Word of God.
So, never think that once the Holy Spirit guides us, we can stay passive and “leave everything up to” the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When you, for instance, have no interest in reading the Bible, you make up an excuse, saying that the Holy Spirit does not move you to do it. Don’t blame the Holy Spirit if you are still living your worldly lifestyle. Rather, we should actively surrender ourselves and let the Holy Spirit take control of our lives in a way that we are able to get rid of fleshly desires such as hatred, quarrels, idle words, etc. and put them to death.
In reality, as long as we live in this world, the desires of the flesh always come after us, and we must do away with them every day. Actually, it is this struggle that trains us to surrender to and rely on the Holy Spirit to put them away. Honestly speaking, it won’t be that easy to do! Today we have committed ourselves to getting rid of all the evil practices, but tomorrow they may roll in again. God knows how weak we are. That’s why He sent the Holy Spirit to help us. How good our God is! Everything He has done (as recorded from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation) is all meant for the benefit of man! He came into the world, died on the cross, will return and prepare places in heaven just for man. How do we respond to His love? Do we dedicate our works and thoughts to the Lord?
By the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to testify about Christ.
What did Jesus send the Holy Spirit to His disciples for? Acts 1:8 writes, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” So, the Holy Spirit was sent to us not to satisfy our self-interest, but rather to receive power to be His witnesses.
In order to be witnesses of Christ, He equips us with the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) for the ministry and for the building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). Each of us receives different gifts for the common purpose (1 Corinthians 12:7). We need the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses. Our testimonies display our transformed without traces of fleshly desires, making us more like Christ. His characters and lifestyle make up the perfect example.
Our ministries are tied to our talents. After all, let our ministries be under the control of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, another driving force / fire will manipulate us. And we must quench it. The Holy Spirit empowers us to testify through our life transformations (in our words and actions) visible to others. For example, we used to speak harshly, hurting people’s feelings. But now, the way we speak soothes people’s ears. Even an obedient wife’s behaviors can wordlessly win her husband who is disobedient to the Word (1 Peter 3:1-2).
Without the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to be witnesses of Christ. Instead of being the light in the darkness, we will otherwise drift away and drown in the darkness. Let the Holy Spirit fill us, guide our hearts and minds in line with His for the heart is deceitful above anything (Jeremiah 17:9), craving self-satisfaction. Paul also exhorted the Galatians to live a life led by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16,18). This also applies to us.
Indeed, we desperately need the Holy Spirit that empowers us to overpower the fleshly desires. That way, we may bear the fruit of the Spirit, namely, self-control (Galatians 5:23). On top of that, the Holy Spirit also enables us to be witnesses of Christ through our transformed speech, attitudes and actions. Even without saying a single word, we can also get people to come to the Lord and glorify Him. Amen.