In this lesson, Pastor Dave Capoccia finishes overviewing the Bible’s fundamental teaching on the Holy Spirit. In part 3, Pastor Dave discusses the work the Holy Spirit does in believers today and how believers have an opportunity and obligation to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
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good morning good morning welcome to Sunday school please find your seats welcome back to our fundamentals of the faith Sunday school series I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing from missionaries the last two weeks please check out the recordings the Sunday School recordings if you miss those but today we’re back in fof and we’re wrapping up our study on the topic of the person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit that’s Ray and we’ll get into it God in heaven we thank you for your truth we thank you for your Holy Spirit ministering us ministering to us today in a way that is more wonderful than the Holy Spirit has ever ministered before well thank you for this Grand reality thank you that you have made your dwelling not just with us but in us pray that you’d show us more about that this morning help me to be able to explain it in Jesus name amen okay we are learning about the Holy Spirit again today from lesson seven in our fundamentals of the faith curriculum so if you have your books your workbooks please turn back to lesson seven we are going to be under Roman numeral 5 Roman numeral V if you heard me tell you previously studying the holy spirit is important because we want to avoid falling into two opposite errors today two opposite but common errors today underemphasizing and even forgetting about the Holy Spirit just talk about the other members of the Trinity just talk about the Bible and overemphasize and even becoming obsessed with the Holy Spirit you don’t talk about the other members of the Trinity and you’re not worried about the Bible at all we don’t want to fall into either one of those errors the Holy Spirit as we’ve come to learn is the one true God deserving equal honor worship and obedience alongside the father and the son yet the holy spirit is not concerned about bringing glory to himself his priority is glorifying the Son and conforming us into the image of the sun which is what we’ll talk about more today but last time we were together in our fof class we spent most of our lesson talking about what the Holy Spirit does in Salvation and he does a lot we talked about how the Holy Spirit fundamentally convicts of sin righteousness and judgment and holy spirit gives new spiritual birth even cleansing regeneration to Sinners the Holy Spirit baptizes us into Christ and into Christ body which is the church and the Holy Spirit seals us functioning as a down payment a guarantee of our full salvation inheritance to come now these are all one-time acts of the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit does not need to regenerate baptize or seal us multiple times but the spirit’s Ministry extends beyond our initial salvation experience for sure the spirit continues to play certain key roles in our sanctification in our daily walk as Christians in our becoming more holy and our becoming more like Christ and what’s notable about these ongoing works of the spirit is that we participate with the spirit in what he does yes salvation and sanctification is a work that is all of God and yet in the ongoing work our Wills are involved we can resist the spirit’s work or we can open ourselves up to it and experience God’s power and blessing so let’s talk today about the ministry of the holy spirit in the believer’s life like I said that’s Roman numeral 5 and lesson s we’re going to talk through the points here going to the end of the chapter now remember this is not exhaustive we’re just hitting some of the main things when it comes to the holy spirit’s Ministry in the believer’s life but the first ongoing Ministry of the holy spirit in the believer’s life that we want to talk about it’s even happening in your life right now if you belong to Jesus Christ is a Ministry to which we’ve already alluded and that is the ministry of indwelling indwelling as part of his functioning as a seal and guarantee of our Salvation the Holy Spirit continually dwells in us right now the holy spirit is dwelling inside you if you know Jesus Christ now this is not just true of you individually it’s also true of us corporately as a church we are the temple The Dwelling Place of God’s holy spirit Even in our bodies but also in our church look at question a under Roman numeral 5 in your books question a asks us asks us what is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the believer and it points us to Romans 88:9 so I’ll read Romans 88:9 to you Romans 88:9 says however you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you but if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ he does not belong to him so what’s the answer to question a what is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the believer yeah the spirit lives in Believers the spirit dwells inside Believers and notice from Romans 88:9 well you don’t have it in front of you but I’ll read it to you again however you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you but if anyone does does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him notice those two terms spirit of God Spirit of Christ both of them are used to describe the spirit that’s significant because that means that in some mysterious way both God the father and God the sun dwell in us through the spirit Jesus was not waxing poetical when he said in Matthew 28:20 I Am With You Always even to the end of the age Jesus is literally with us by his Spirit that’s an amazing reality compare John 14:23 John 14:23 Jesus says to his disciples if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to make our Abode with him what’s he talking about this is a reference to the indwelling ministry of the holy spirit in which the whole Trinity in a mysterious way come to reside in our hearts it’s by the Holy Spirit but look at question B is it possible to be a Christian and not be indwelled by the Holy Spirit it is not Romans 89 is really explicit about that right those without the spirit of Christ don’t belong to Christ there are no true Christians out there who lack the spirit the whole Holy Spirit dwells in every Believer by the way note that this is a new covenant reality this is a new covenant reality the spirit did not previously indwell God’s people permanently it was only after Christ’s salvation work and his Ascension to Heaven that God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell his people and most spectacularly on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter 2 this is a new covenant reality this is not the way it always was this is not to say however that the spirit was inactive before Pentecost that the spirit wasn’t doing anything in Old Testament times actually in the old the Old Testament and in the gospels you will read various descriptions of the spirit filling a person or coming upon a person empowering him to some kind of prophetic creative ruling or delivering action this is a temporary indwelling of the holy spirit for empowerment apart from the spirit coming upon Christ this was not permanent this was very notable in the gospels when you see the Spirit come upon Jesus what does John the Baptist say I saw the Spirit come upon him and remain on him he was permanently empowered by the Holy Spirit but apart from Christ it’s just temporary and it’s notable that some people that the Bible says were temporarily filled with the Holy Spirit they proved later to be faithless evildoers I’m thinking of balum by the Holy Spirit he prophesies about Israel and later on he’s slain because he was against the Lord or Saul Saul is empowered by the Holy Spirit to deliver Israel but the spirit later leaves Saul and Saul when he dies it is in a state where he doesn’t look like he’s repented doesn’t look like he’s following the Lord anymore and yet he was filled with the Holy Spirit he was empowered by the holy spirit for a time I would say this temporary nature of the Old Testament Spirit anointing it explains the prayer that we read from David in Psalm 5111 you don’t have to turn there but that prayer in Psalm 5111 from David is that God would not take away his holy spirit from David and you consider the context of that Psalm David had have reason to pray that prayer because David has just committed a terrible set of sins in connection with baath Sheba committed adultery committed murder living hypocritically before Israel for more than 9 months David prays that God would not take away his holy spirit now in this Psalm David is not describing the same situation that exists for believers today Believers in Christ cannot lose salvation and they cannot lose God’s spirit yet David in his own time he realized that his actions could have resulted in the Lord taking away that empowering Spirit the spirit was that was empowering David to specially Rule and deliver Israel God could have taken that away from David just as he took it away from Saul and so he implores the Lord please don’t take your spirit away from me so the spirit was certainly active in Old Testament times but in a different way his indwelling his filling his coming upon a person was a temporary thing empowering for specific action yet that was not the only way that the spirit was active in the Old Testament era under the old Covenant the spirit was also doing a version of the same things that he does in Salvation today let’s not misunderstand salvation was not fundamentally different for Old Testament Saints as for New Testament Saints salvation for them like us was by grace alone through faith alone through God alone and God’s perfect provision which ultimately was Christ Alone uh Galatians 3 emphasizes this truth furthermore the spirit had to cleanse and regenerate hearts in Old Testament times just as the spirit does today human nature hasn’t changed how could salvation happened any other way apart from God’s being or God’s begetting people from above people were just as helpless and dead in sin before Christ as when Christ arrived and after he arrived so when Jesus says in John 3 that one must be begotten from above in order to enter the kingdom of God he’s not articulating a new rule but an old rule an old reality one that Jesus says Nicodemus should have been aware of from studying the Old Testament but perhaps that may make you wonder H well the spirit saves the same way today as he did back then then what’s so new about the New Covenant what’s so new about the New Covenant that God promises to Israel in Deuteronomy Jeremiah and Ezekiel aren’t things kind of just the same I want to give a quick answer part of the newness of the New Covenant is that God promised to regenerate the whole nation of Israel not just individuals and that promise we’ve not yet seen fulfilled it will be fulfilled Paul confirms that in Romans but the other part of the answer is though what what Old Testament Believers had in God’s spirit was sufficient for salvation and for sanctification what comes by God’s spirit in Christ in the New Covenant is much better is much better it was sufficient in Old Testament times but it’s much better now for example Old Testament Saints believed in a coming provision for salvation but they did not yet fully know what that was they never heard the name Jesus Christ many of them had very little concept of a saving Messiah they knew God had to provide something for sin he had to provide some kind of Salvation and savior but they didn’t know what it was but we we have seen and we know specifically who our glorious savior is and what he has done that is so much better we can Rejoice even more we can find encouragement and empowerment even more because we know the savior or as another example though the spirit was with Old Testament Saints accomplishing the ministries of Salvation and sanctification he was not permanently in them and Jesus Promised something better in his new covenant and which is what we all experience John 1416 to17 John 1416 to1 17 records Jesus saying this to his disciples I will ask the father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever that is the spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you now if you’re listening carefully to that those statements from Jesus you notice two differences that he presents about the Holy Spirit compared to Old Testament experience he says the spirit will abide with Christ disciples forever this is going to be permanent it’s not going to be varying and he also says the spirit will be in his disciples he’s presently with you he will be in you you may notice something else from the verse in describing the Holy Spirit Christ calls the spirit another helper another helper that is another Advocate another counselor that is just like Jesus himself after all consider the context of John 14 Jesus is telling his disciples that he’s about to leave them and return to the father but he assures them that they will receive a helper soon just like him I mean if we think about it what could be more wonderful than to have Jesus the son of God the word made flesh with you all the time Old Testament Saints obviously didn’t get to experience that the disciples did and then they were facing their Prospect of losing that we’re at this high level and now we’re going to get a downgrade because you’re no longer with us Jesus essentially assures them there’s not going to be any downgrade there’s not going to be any downgrade for you or any of the disciples that come after me because when I leave the father and I will send the spirit to you he will be with you permanently he will be helper just like me now this is new this is wonderful this is better than what anyone experienced in the Old Testament you see what I mean about how even though the spirit’s Ministry in some ways is the same as the Old Testament and in other ways it’s not it’s so much better now we cannot say all the ways that the spirit’s Ministry in the Old Testament was different to the new but the main takeaway of that truth is twofold number one Old Testament Saints had whatever they needed to be saved and to follow God’s follow God in Holiness there’s no excuse on not having God’s indwelling holy spirit you shouldn’t look at the Old Testament Saints and be like oh you know they didn’t have the Holy Spirit indwelling them so what could they do they just had to sin not at all not at all they had whatever they needed for salvation and sanctification that’s number one but number two what we have is even better thus we have even more reason to turn to God in Repentance and faith and to follow after him in Holiness Hebrews 2:3 how will we escape if we NE if we neglect so great a Salvation it was great for them it’s even greater for us so one of the main ministries of the Holy Spirit ongoing Ministries in the believer’s Life Today is indwelling but it results in two further key Ministries towards Believers Ministries as I alluded to earlier Ministries in which we have both the opportunity and responsibility to cooperate with God’s holy spirit if you believe in Jesus he’s going to indwell you no matter what that’s that’s not really going to depend on you but there are some Ministries that flow out of indwelling with which you need to cooperate what are those Ministries well they are illumination and utilization what are those well I’ll tell you let’s keep following the questions in our book and and that’ll that’ll help explain for illumination look at question C question C in your books under Roman numeral 5 and for this question we’re told we’re told to look at 1 Corinthians 2 12-13 so why don’t you to take your Bibles and turn there 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 and we’ll actually add verse 14 in there too 1 Corinthians 2:12 to4 this has to do with the spirit’s Ministry of Illumination let’s see what these verses say Paul speaking he says now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit who is from God so that we may know the things freely given to us by God which things we also speak not in words taught by human wisdom but in those taught by the spirit combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words but a natural man does not accept the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised you may notice in verse 12 that it says that God gave us his spirit for a purpose what is that purpose know what things in particular Glenda right so I believe that’s essentially true he’s going to show us the things about Christ even the things that um Christ wanted his disciples to know but he didn’t they weren’t ready to receive yet specifically here in verse 12 it says that so that we may know the things freely given to us by God whatever things are freely given to us by God God gave us his spirit so that we may know it and so those would be the things about Christ uh in the preceding context he talks about the wisdom of God which is summed up in Christ certainly it’s the gospel in a way it is the mind of God he says that a little bit later we have the mind of Christ but where do we find this today where do we find God’s wisdom God’s mind God’s gospel mystery revealed in his word in the scriptures so to answer question C what is another Ministry of the holy spirit in the life of the believer he teaches us he helps us know and understand what God’s word the scriptures God’s truth about Christ from the scriptures these are the things that God has freely given to us the Holy Spirit causes Believers both to understand and welcome God God’s truth from scripture it’s like the holy spirit opens our eyes shines his light in our minds so that we may know the things of God and accept and love the very wisdom of God this of course happens in a fundamental way upon conversion but the holy spirit continues to do this for us as we walk as Christians we’ll continue to learn and know what the spirit teaches us from the word of Christ by the way way was the Holy Spirit involved in the ministry of Illumination in Old Testament times yes definitely how do we know that okay you make a good point mark in terms of people speaking prophetically it was definitely the spirit doing that illumination is involved that’s going to overlap a little bit with inspiration but even aside from people being specially empowered to write scripture or to speak prophecy we know that the spirit was causing people in the Old Testament to understand God’s word how do we know that I mean first it’s got to be logically required but we can even point to scripture that tells us this like Judy yeah Psalm 119 this Psalm that is dedicated to celebrating God’s word and in and imper tuning him on the basis of God’s word what is the kind of prayer that you see it again and again God teach me God open my eyes that I may see wondrous things in your law that’s beseeching the Lord by his Spirit to illuminate to go about his ministry of Illumination yeah Mark there’s a section there talks about right so yeah Mark mentioning from the Legacy Standard Bible translation of Psalm 119 even the verbs that say make me or teach me there’s a there’s an idea of cause cause me to understand cause me to see or to do certain things and the Legacy stand Bible captures that and that’s that’s certainly that’s because the spirit must do it the spirit must open your eyes the spirit M must cause you to learn so again the spirit was doing this in Old Testament times but the spirit is also doing it now an even better way we have the spirit not merely with us but inside us to teach us the things of God that we otherwise could not know could not understand could not welcome what a wonderful reality but here’s where someone might ask wait a second I know some unbelievers who know and understand the Bible very well some of them are Bible scholars so how can the bible say that those without the spirit the natural man unbelievers how can the bible say that they cannot understand the things of God experience seems to say otherwise that’s a good question can anybody think of a satisfactory reply let me go to I think the understanding has to do with acceptance also because if someone really understood that they be going to hell and what that was all about some that’s right so Dwayne has has put his finger on the key issue the understanding involves acceptance and involves welcoming notice those terms actually appear in the text that we read particularly in verse 14 what is the natural man’s reaction to God’s truth he does not accept them for they seem like foolishness to him he cannot understand them why because they are spiritually appraised or judged or appreciated many unbelievers do not know the Bible and do not want to know the Bible because they as Jesus says in John 3 they love Darkness rather than light and they do not want to come to the light lest their evil deeds will be exposed they don’t want to hear about Jesus they don’t want to know his word but for some unbelievers who find reason to learn God’s word but but who ultimately reject what’s written in it well as Dwayne said we can conclude that they’ve never truly understood it they’ve never truly understood it they may understand the words of it they may understand the structure of it they may understand the overall message of it they may be able to wax eloquently about the intricacies of the Hebrew and the Greek but they cannot welcome it they cannot judge it rightly to them it still seems like foolishness they’ll say yeah this is what the text says but I don’t believe it why is that because they have no Spirit they have no Spirit to illuminate it for them so that they will believe so that they will truly understand and believe you know I read in the news recently that a church had an AI preach a sermon to them and in one way we can understand this being even an AI can understand the biblical text well enough to tell you what it says but can an AI welcome and judge it rightly of course not an AI cannot appreciate the significance of the message of the Bible for the AI has no life it’s not alive in the same way the natural man cannot truly appreciate God’s truth because he has no life he has no Spirit to regenerate him or to illuminate him you cannot welcome the scriptures you need the Holy Spirit to understand and believe the wisdom of God and that’s what God has done for us in Christ he’s given us his holy spirit so that we may know the things freely given to us but perhaps there’s another question if God has given us his holy spirit to understand and appreciate his truth how come many Believers report that they struggle to do so they struggle to understand God’s word and they struggle to agree on it there are all sorts of professing Believers today and they don’t agree on what the Bible says how can that be if the spirit is Illuminating us to understand God’s truth now that is a good question and we do not have very much time to answer it so allow me just to share a section with you from Biblical Doctrine so biblical Doctrine is a Systematic Theology created by faculty of the master Seminary edited by MacArthur and mayew I believe we have some copies very valuable resource there’s a section in that book on the spirit’s work of Illumination and specifically what illumination does not mean or promise sorry the text is small I will read this to you what illumination does not mean or promise at least six things and we get this from scripture number one illumination does not function outside God’s word don’t expect the spirit to show you God’s truth without the ordained means of God’s word that’s the way God’s chosen to do it if you’re just say Okay Spirit illumin me I’m going to go off and meditate by myself but I’m not going to touch the word of God it’s not going to happen Spirit illuminates using God’s word number two illumination does not guarantee that every Christian will agree doctrinally why because the human element can cause false Doctrine the spirit doesn’t fail but we often do we fail due to our own sin our own ignorance our own weakness that explains why we sometimes cannot agree number three illumination does not mean that everything about God is knowable whatever he’s given to us yes that is knowable by the spirit but there are plenty of things he hasn’t told us and so the spirit is not going to illuminate those things to us he’s intent on revealing what’s in the word of Christ the scriptures number four illumination does not render the need for human teachers unnecessary actually God gave teachers this is clear from Ephesians 4 God gave teachers in the local and the UN unversal Church to be a means that the spirit would use to open Christ’s word to your understanding we can get the wrong idea we say God’s given me his Spirit he’s given me the Bible good I don’t need anybody else no God says you do need other people especially to make sure you’re not going off track you need to be in a community of faithful interpreters so that you can understand the word of God number five illumination is not a substitute for dedicated personal Bible study 2 Timothy 2:15 emphasizes this very well God has ordained that Spirit Insight it will come to you by your own reading listening and study and that’s not always easy but that’s how the spirit works the spirit works even through your own steud and then number six illumination is not a one-time experience as we said though illumination happens fundamentally for us at Salvation that’s why the Bible can talk about us becoming enlightened when you were enlightened that is when you believed illumination does happen fundamentally at Salvation but the spirit continues to illuminate Christ’s word for us and we need that we will not be able to understand and welcome the word of Christ those things freely given to us by God without the spirit continually ministering to us so six things that illumination does not mean but positively speaking taking the flip side of some of those things the illumination Ministry of the holy spirit means that as we go to God’s word by our own diligent steud and with the help of God sent teachers God tells us we will come to know God and his wisdom more and more that’s a great promise God I want to know you more how can I know you more he says I’ve given you my spirit go to my word listen to it being taught talk about it with one another and you will know me more you will know my truth more you will know my ways more you will see the beauty of Christ more and with that kind of promise what should we do we should do those things we should cooperate cooperate with the spirit’s intent we should respond to God’s Ministry of Illumination by his Spirit by seeking the Lord diligently in his word so in terms of ongoing Ministry we see that the spirit indwells us and as a consequence the spirit illumin us to understand and welcome the things of God but there is another important Ministry of the spirit that flows out of indwelling and we can call this ministry utilization what is utilization before I answer that let’s look at a few more scriptures Turn the Page let’s look at the uh the verses under question D question D asks us what exhortations are given to all believers in regard to the spirit from three passages and we’ll look at each of these the first one is Ephesians 4:30 Ephesians 4:30 actually turn there take your Bibles and turn there because we’re going to note some things about the context of each one of these verses Ephesians 4:30 says do not grieve the holy spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption what’s the exhortation given to all believers in regard of the spirit from this passage to not grieve the Holy Spirit that’s pretty straightforward okay we can move on wait wait wait wait wait look at the context how does one grieve the Holy Spirit okay so I think Glenn you’ve given an answer that’s General but correct when we go against what he says and even specifically when we do what he tells us not to do from the word we grieve the Holy Spirit and what are some things in the context that the spirit specifically says we should not do Danny says let all bitter and anger and wrath and andand be put away from you that’s right so when we don’t put those things away from us when we actually act in anger and Malice and bitterness and outbursts of anger we grieve the spirit what else no un wholesome words that’s right when we allow corrupting words to come out of our mouths that which does not build up that Grieves the spirit when we will not forgive that Grieves the spirit basically when we sin when we disobey the Lord we grieve the spirit thus in verse 30 Paul reminds us about the spirit’s wonderful ful sealing Ministry he says this Spirit was given to you as a guarantee and as a seal so by that Paul exorts us do not grieve God’s gracious Spirit by doing the evil that the spirit forbids now let’s turn over to 1 Thessalonians 5:19 1 Thessalonians 5:19 extremely short verse but again we’ll look at the context what does 1 Thessalonians 5:19 exhort Believers to do when it comes to the spirit and its Ministry his ministry 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says do not quench the spirit okay that’s an obvious exhortation then Believers are not to quench or extinguish the spirit what does that mean look at the context look at the kind of commands around this phrase notice Believers are commanded to Rejoice always pray without ceasing give thanks always way and do not despise prophetic utterances but listen to God’s true prophecy what do you notice these commands have in common okay thanks right right so Mike’s pointing out one quality they they are very inclusive always all things what else do these commands have in common okay yeah we should not stop doing these things and they are good things right these are actually positive commands that we see in the context right it’s not avoid doing this don’t do that it’s actually pray give thanks Rejoice that we do have the one that says Don’t despise prophetic utterances most of the commands in the context are positive and notice also most of them have to most of them involve speech especially righteous speech even speech that ministers to others or that brings praise to God so based on these observations can we get an idea of what Paul means when he says do not quench the spirit a strong argument can be made that Paul is thinking about the positive actions in which the spirit would have us engage especially as part of ministry to others do not shut down the spirit’s Ministry by failing to pray to failing to give thanks failing to Rejoice or failing to allow the proclamation of God’s Supernatural Revelation this is how the spirit is going to empower you Empower his people don’t shut this down now compare these two exhortations from Ephesians 4:30 and 1 Thessalonians 5:19 how are they similar and how are they different do not grieve the spirit do not quench the spirit yeah Steve um it seems like one is our action and the other one is the spirit’s reaction okay one yeah okay so Steve mentioning that one is more emphasis on our action and the other is more emphasis on the spirit’s reaction even in the second passage where it says basically allow the spirit to do certain things our action is involved right we can choose not to pray or we can choose not to give thanks or we can choose not to Rejoice but certainly there’s going to be an effect of those actions on the spirit’s Ministry to us what else I think you said it something like once more active one’s more reactive okay yeah that’s that’s what Steve’s comment was so grieving the spirit would be active Disobedience quenching U would be more like neglect not submitting or surrendering to his his work yeah so I think that’s a good way to describe in Mark grieving the spirit is more active Disobedience whereas quenching the spirit is more neglect or we could frame it this way I believe Pastor Bobby said something like this at the uh Men’s Conference when we grieve these are when we grieve the spirit that’s more like sins of commission when we quench the spirit that is more like sins of omission when you choose not to do what is good and helpful the spirit doesn’t want you to sin but the spirit does want you to do these acts of righteousness and does want you to know the Lord more when you refuse to do either one of those things you are diminishing the spirit’s Ministry both of these diminish the spirit’s Ministry and it’s based on our own actions like I said our will is involved in this in um in ministries of the Holy Spirit and this is one of them you see the spirit in his ministry is uh Ministry to Believers is not simply concerned with what we know but with what we think and with what we say and with what we do how we behave in fact part of the spirit’s work is taking what we know and translating it into the new Christian Christlike life turn over to Ephesians 5:18 now so going back to Ephesians this is a very famous verse when it comes to the holy spirit’s Ministry and how we can respond to it though this is an often misunderstood verse Ephesians 5:18 this is in a context of a series of exhortations toward the worthy walk after receiving so great a Salvation from the Lord and Paul gives another exhortation that has to do directly with the Holy Spirit actually let me read the verses around it so you get more of the idea verses 17 to 21 Ephesians Ephesians 5:1 17- 21 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 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 now some might try to use Ephesians 5:18 as a proof that Believers should seek a second baptism or further indwelling of the Holy Spirit but even today but certainly previously we’ve seen that the Bible doesn’t allow for this interpretation Spirit baptism and indwelling are realities that take place once they are taking place once in full at conversion though the effects are ongoing so what exactly is this exhortation here to be filled with the spirit well certainly we can see that command is part of a contrast a contrast that is first set up in verse 17 in verse 17 we’re told not to be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord that is the Lord Christ is then in parallel Verse 18 we’re told not to become drunk with wine leading to shameful and uncontrolled Behavior but to be filled with the Holy Spirit and in verses 19 to 21 we see the effects of a Spirit-filled life speaking and singing to one another the truths of Christ giving thanks in all things in Christ’s name to God the father and being subject to one another and God ordained submission Authority relationships out of reverence for Christ and we should include that last one in verse 21 because it that verb there be subject is actually a participle it’s another ing verb just like the two that we see in the verses before where it says speaking verse 19 giving thanks verse 20 literally in verse 21 being subject to one another these are all participles going back to that main verb be filled with the spirit so engaging in proper Authority submission relationships in a Christlike way that is a outcome of being filled with the spirit though do notice that this is a command and it is a command in the passive voice we’re told we’re not told rather to fill yourselves with the Holy Spirit but be filled with the spirit we are responsible to present ourselves to be filled up by someone else and this command is in the present tense meaning that it is to be an ongoing action we’re continually to allow ourselves to be filled with the spirit okay but maybe you’re still asking what does that mean all right I know I need to do it but what does that mean well many interpreters notice the contrast between wine and spirit and infer a meaning that has to do with influence over Behavior if being drunk with wine influences or lead you and to act in a shameful and out ofc control way then you are to act the opposite way as you let the spirit fill you that is lead and influence you but how do you know the leading of the spirit is it something mystical like let go let gone how do I feel what does the spirit want me to do many good interpreters would answer no that is not the leading of the spirit we know the leading of the spirit from Christ’s word after all does not verse 17 say understand what the will of the Lord is the Lord Christ should we not un should we not look to understand his will from the word that he left us with the very with the spirit intent on helping us understand that very word also significant is the parallel passage in Colossians 3:16 Pastor Bobby went through this verse recently in his preaching Colossians 3:16 Says 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 if you’re paying attention to that verse you may notice that the structure and progression of that verse is very similar to Ephesians 5:18 to20 there’s a command to be filled with something followed by the implied effect of speaking and singing to one another Christ’s truth and then giving thanks even more significant is that Colossians 3:18 so just two verses after the one I read to you talks about how Believers should submit in God ordained Authority submission relationships which is exactly what Ephesians 5:21 says and goes on to describe thus a paraphrase of Ephesians 5:18 to 21 could function as follows all believers have the spirit of God but not all Believers are choosing continually to yield to the spirit’s desires and control as expressed in Christ’s word Believers there therefore should become conscious of the spirit’s will for them through the word of Christ and then Moment by moment yield themselves to the spirit’s will instead of the will of the flesh you say oh I know that’s the good thing to do but I don’t really feel like doing it yield to the spirit be filled with the spirit for doing so will result in a new life of bold truth Proclamation Thanksgiving and radical obedience that’s one way we could paraphrase this and I would say essentially that such an interpretation of Ephesians 5:17 to 21 is correct however there is a certain grammatical nuance in Ephesians 5:18 that is worth noting you see the prepositions in Ephesians 518 with do not be drunk with wine but be filled with The Spirit Well the Greek prepositions are better translated with the word by or even with the phrase by means of do not get drunk by means of wine but be filled by means of the spirit actually this is the way the Homan Christian Standard Bible translates the second phrase in Ephesians 5:18 be filled by the spirit if you want to know the technical grammatical reason for that you can ask me after class why does this matter well the better preposition translated clarifies that rather than our being filled with the Holy Spirit like wear a balloon and the Holy Spirit is the air the holy spirit is the one filling us up with something else he’s the air dispenser he’s the means of our being filled so then we ask well with what then does the spirit fill us and the answer is Christ likeness Christ likeness being like the Lord and what we think say and do again consider the context verse 17 tells us to know the Lord’s will verse 19 to 20 tells us to speak the Lord’s will to each other and give thanks through the Lord verse 21 tells us to put the Lord’s will into practice into our specific relationships and then doesn’t all this parallel Colossians 3:16 even more directly let the word of Christ dwell in you richly the spirit is intent of filling you with the word of Christ and then bringing it to its proper outcome furthermore Ephesians 5:18 is not the only place in Ephesians that talks about Christ and and filling just to briefly sample uh few other verses from this book Ephesians 1:23 Ephesians 1:23 says that Christ is the head of the church his body the fullness of him who fills all in all Paul prays in Ephesians 3:17 that Christ might dwell in Believers Hearts through faith and he prays in Ephesians 3:19 Ephesians 3:19 that Believers would know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God Ephesians 4:10 mentions Christ’s Incarnation as as and Ascension as having the purpose that he Christ might fill all things even by the teachers and gifts that Christ has given to his church and then Ephesians 4:13 says that the equipping of the Saints has in mind the goal in the church the unity of the faith and the knowledge of of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ then finally Ephesians 4:15 says Believers speaking to one another the truth and love the intended result of such is growing up in all aspects into him who is the head even Christ so do you see Paul is actually emphatic in the book of Ephesians that God is interested in filling us so to speak with Christ with the knowledge of Christ with his love and those things resulting in Christlike living is it any Wonder then that the spirit of Christ that is so intent on pointing us to Christ and glorifying Christ should also be about the work of filling us with Christ to say it plainly the spirit is not only working to show us Christ’s word but to sanctify us to be more like Christ and to put Christ’s word into practice that’s good news because are you Christian on your own able to put Christ’s word into practice you are not you need God to do this work for you and guess what God promises that he is doing that work for you how by his spirit listen again to the prayer from Paul in Ephesians 3:16-17 this is for believers Ephesians 3:16-17 that he God would Grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the Inner Man so that Christ May dwell in your hearts through faith the spirit empowers you so that you may know and be like Christ so now we’re ready for a definition of utilization the holy spirit’s work of utilization in utilization the Holy Spirit empowers Believers for Holy Christlike living energizing the valtion or the will of Believers to obey scripture the Holy Spirit empowers Believers for Holy Christlike living energizing the valtion of Believers to obey scripture you see being filled by the holy spirit is not really about mystical mysterious promptings it’s about cooperating with the spirit’s purpose of making you more like Christ being like Christ acting like Christ obeying Christ we don’t have too much time but we could turn to other scriptures like Galatians 5 that also speak about the ministry of the spirit and are commonly misunderstood misunderstood as referring to Mystical guidance from the Holy Spirit after all we do see terms in that chapter about being about walking by the spirit or being led by the spirit or living by the spirit those sound like Pious goals right oh you’re so stuck in the Bible you need to be led by the spirit you need to walk by The Spirit Well what is the context of those phrases in Galatians 5 Galatians 5:16 to 25 we don’t have time to read it right now but it’s all about being Christlike not following the will of the Flesh and its evil outcomes immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery Etc but instead manifesting the fruit of the spirit in Holiness love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control the passage concludes in verse 24 now those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires if we live by the spirit let us also walk by the spirit walking by the spirit being led by the spirit means conforming yourself to the word of Christ walking in Holiness and consider how profound that is many people are looking for the spirit’s will what does God’s spirit want me to do how does he want me to act the spirit has already told you the spirit has already told you what he wants that you walk in Holiness and wisdom like Christ it’s all over his word so when you face a situation where you know what the right thing to do is but you’re not sure if you should do it or if you can do it well if you’re going to obey iians 5:18 what should you do yield to the spirit’s desire and will for you follow him be like Christ This is how he’s intent on Guiding you this is how he’s moving you this is how he’s empowering you he wants you to think and act and speak like Christ and he’s strengthening you to do it and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish when you let yourself be filled by the spirit like this say I can never speak to this person I know I should I have the opportunity but I can never do it but when you go past that you say I’m going to rely on the spirit I’m going to trust the spirit I’m going to follow the spirit’s will for me and you open your mouth suddenly you’re able to do what you thought you could never do you say I feel like I just have to turn this seal I have to yield I just feel so depressed I need this sin but you say but that’s not the spirit’s will for me the spirit wants me to be like Christ and he says he help me do that all right I’m not going to listen to the flesh I’m going to get out of this situation I’m gonna go after Christ all of a sudden you find yourself doing it you say I didn’t think I could do that before that’s utilization that’s Spirit filling that’s the spirit empowering you to be more like Christ this work may not be as mystical as we expect but it is certainly Supernatural you cannot become Christlike or obey Christ’s word on your own but it is a supernatural work which you can choose to cooperate with or resist perhaps you wonder if the spirit is empowering me for Christlike living why do I fall so much into sin well it’s not a failure of the spirit it’s your failure to make use of the power that is ready at hand you see Spirit power is access by faith in Christ’s word and by a commitment to do Christ’s will when you do not know Christ’s word when you do not believe it or when you are not willing to follow it well you do not walk by the spirit you instead Quench and grieve the spirit so is it any wonder that you do not see the spirit’s power on display in your life the spirit wants to fill you but are you presenting yourself to be filled you will not yield to his purpose being too intent on following your own fleshly purpose you won’t see the spirit’s power and if you persist in living this way Galatians 5 says you will not inherit the kingdom of God those who follow the desires of the flesh consistently they will not inherit the kingdom of God but if you really belong to Christ you will by faith align yourself with the spirit’s purpose even when you don’t feel like it even when you feel like you don’t have the power to do what’s right Galatians 5 says the flesh Wars against the spirit and the spirit Wars against the flesh but if you will more and more yield to the spirit’s desire as I said you will find suddenly that you have the power to do or to endure what you could not do or endure before you will become more like Christ you will be used more by the spirit to minister for Christ so how much more confident how much Holier how much more Joyful We would be if we would learn to utilize God’s spirit by walking by faith according to God’s word this is what God meant for all of us in the Christian Life it’s not like okay some people are going to be filled with the spirit to be Christlike and others oh they’re just going to struggle and they’ll never get there no this is for all of us this is a gift this is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to us but are we taking advantage are we responding it to it the way that we should for both illumination and utilization if you do respond well don’t put pat yourself on the back that’s really God doing that in you and yet your will is involved so don’t say I’m struggling with sin the spirits really failed me no it’s you not taking advantage of the spirit he’s there he’s ready yield to him yield to his desire to make you more like Christ by the way in all this I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be praying for the Lord to show you how to minister in certain ways looking for what he providentially provides I’m not discounting any of that but I hope you see that being led by the spirit being filled by the spirit is not as as mystical as some would like us to think that it is and the spirit makes actually clear his will for us through his word wants us to obey it as we come to the end of our chapter you notice that the last room of numeral is application we are basically out of time so I’m just going to give you these three questions to think about based on what we’ve talked about today based on what we’ve learned about the spirit how should we respond well we definitely should right the Holy Spirit knowing the Holy Spirit knowing his ministry should change our lives so here are three ways for you to consider number one consider indwelling 1 Corinthians 6:1 19 to20 says that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and 1 Corinthians 316 says that the church is the temple of God and the dwelling place of the holy spirit so how should those truths how should these truths move you to put off sin and glorify God in your body and in the church number two consider illumination 1 Corinthians 2:12 to4 says that the spirit has given you the spirit was given to you so that you would know the things of God even the mind of Christ so how are you cooperating with God’s purpose and the spirit’s work what needs to change so that you may align more with with God’s purpose and benefit thereby you don’t read the Bible don’t study or listen to the Bible how are you going to benefit from illumination certainly if you struggle with it get to help of your brethren they’ll help you understand help you benefit more from that Spirit Ministry and then number three consider utilization or filling Ephesians 5:18 says that you are commanded to present yourself continually to be filled up to the fullness of Christ by the holy Spirit how are you cooperating with this purpose of God what needs to change so that you may align with God’s purpose more and benefit thereby the spirit filled life the Spirit Led life that’s the blessed life not because everything is going well for you but because you are beholding and imitating and pleasing Jesus Christ if you want to a joy joy filled life take advantage submit to benefit from The Filling Ministry of the holy spirit all right if you have questions I’m sorry I didn’t leave any time for it come talk to me afterwards that’s it for this week next week we have another kingdom worker coming during the Sunday School hour to give us a presentation but that will not be streamed so make sure that you’re here in person following week we will resume fof and we’ll tackle the topic of prayer and the believer let’s close in prayer Lord God we thank you for your spirit but Lord we ask your forgiveness for not utilizing the spirit not choosing to benefit from the spirit as you would have us do Lord we do need you to open our eyes to behold wonderful things in your word and we need your spirit to put those things that we see in your word into practice but you’ve promised that you will do those things for us so Lord help us by faith therefore to go to your word and to obey you Lord how much power we cut off that is available to us when we simply won’t believe make us into a people of Faith Lord so that we can be filled up to the fullness of Christ and show Christ to the world in Jesus name amen