Remaining Filled

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5, verses 18 to 21 is where we are continuing in God's Word today. The title is "Remaining Filled." Remaining Filled. Remaining Filled by the Holy Spirit. The command in the text is to be filled.

And if you are particular with the things that go inside of your body, then you'll be particularly interested in today's message, because we are to be filled by the Holy Spirit. And to fill yourself with Him is interesting, because the person of the Holy Spirit is particularly certain things and particularly not certain things. And I believe that we will see what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit today in some form, because this passage does not encapsulate all of what it means to be filled by the Spirit or to have apprehended all of who He is. It would take the entire disclosure of God's Word to be able to fully understand that.

And so for today, if you're a child, then you will see what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you're a young adult, then you'll see what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you're an adult, if you're older in age, then you'll see what it is to be constantly filled with the Spirit. And remaining filled is the idea in the passage. It's not a one-time experience to where it's kind of like a drug addict would get a high and then come down off of it. This is the normal means of grace being in your life as a regular pattern of life. And so the habits that you have in life are to be healthy, and those are called ordinary. Remember that God used ordinary men to achieve His means. And so these ordinary means of grace are to be a part of your ongoing life, and it produces what's named in the text today. And so may God's will be done in each of our lives.

Let's read Ephesians chapter 5, verses 18 to 21 together. I'm reading from the legacy today. Ephesians 5:18–21 says, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." And we spoke at some length last Sunday on that verse. Verse 19 says, "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 being subject to one another in the fear of Christ." May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word.

As we read this text, these ideas unfold as to what it means to have evidence in your life of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And as I've already mentioned, this is not a chasing of a spiritual climax. This is not trying to amp yourself up with coffee and sugar before a worship service and then empty yourself of anything intellectual and go all emotional out for God. This is not what the text is helping us to understand. In fact, our everyday faithfulness to remain under the influence of God's Spirit is a wonderful walk in Christ, which makes you a dynamic disciple. And it keeps you filled with the Spirit, exuberant with great joy, evidenced by speaking, singing, thanking, and submitting here in the text. So we'll see that the evidence of your life being faithful to walk by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, is evidenced by speaking, singing, thanking, and submitting. And we may get through all of those today.

In verse 18, it talks about the Spirit. Read with me again: "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." In the Greek, that's pneuma, which is breath, which is blowing. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, the Bible recounts that the Spirit's work in giving us the Scriptures is something that is breathed out. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, it says, "All Scripture is God-breathed," or pneuma, "and profitable for teaching and for reproof and for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work." And so this work of the Word of God equips you to walk with God. It equips you to fulfill the will of God that God has for your life. Everything is in the Word of God now. And so the Holy Spirit's work in you will be helping you to apprehend, understand, and apply God's Word to your life.

And so we are Word-centric. We're Christ-centric here. We're Bibliocentric people. We're not man-centered. We are not the measure of all things. We're not the center of our goal. Christ is everything. He is supreme. And as we have a good apprehension of what a biblical worldview is, then we live it out in these types of ways.

And so I'd like to open up today's message a little bit with this subject of pneumatology — the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. And so "Spirit" meaning pneuma, signifying a blowing or a breathing out, is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the third person of the triune Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, which is testified over and over and over throughout the Bible, especially in Ephesians. There are several places where God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit are testified to together.

And so the Holy Spirit is referred to in Genesis chapter 1, verse 2, and then as well in Revelation chapter 21, verse 10, and all in between. And so from Genesis to Revelation you have references to the Holy Spirit. In Genesis chapter 1, verse 2, it says, "And the earth was formless and void. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." You see the Spirit of God being referenced. And then all the way through the Bible He is referenced. But then as well, the second-to-last chapter in the Bible, in Revelation chapter 21, verse 10, the Bible says, "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God." And so the Holy Spirit is mentioned from Genesis to Revelation.

So it behooves us to take just a moment and talk about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Pneuma — that Greek word — is mentioned 379 times in just the New Testament. And so it is a predominant subject in the New Testament. We need to know about this. It's connected even with judgment, connected with many themes, not just salvation, but all kinds of things in between. And so if you are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need to know what the Holy Spirit is.

There is an essence here, and I'll give you three things. Number one, intellect. What is the Holy Spirit? If you are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, what are you to be filled with? Well, one part of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is His intellect, and that is testified in Romans chapter 8, verse 27. The Bible says, "And He who searches the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit." And so here you see the Bible attaches the word "mind" to the Spirit. The Spirit is a person who has a mind. And if you are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then you are to be filled with the intellect of the Holy Spirit, having the mind of the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, the Bible says. And so we can apprehend this. We can know this.

Not only is the Holy Spirit a person consisting of intellect, but the Holy Spirit of God also consists of will — willpower. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 11, "He distributes the gifts according to as He wills." The Holy Spirit distributes the gifts as He wills, and this is the will of God the Father. And so what you have by way of a gift is by way of the will of the Holy Spirit. And so the Holy Spirit wills these things.

In Acts chapter 16, I'd love for you to take a look at this with me if you would, because this is particularly interesting in regards to the will of the Holy Spirit. Acts 16:6 talks about how the Holy Spirit directs and prohibits. The Holy Spirit of God directs His saints — He directs and prohibits the saints, both directing and prohibiting. In Acts chapter 16, verse 6, it says, "And they passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been" — this is superbly interesting, look at this — "forbidden by the Holy Spirit." Isn't that interesting? Right there it says, "the Holy Spirit forbade them to speak the word in Asia." And then verse 7, "And after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and then the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them." And so the Spirit directs, permits, and prohibits our actions. He's a prohibitor and He's also a promoter. The Holy Spirit of God has a will, and that will is working in and through you.

And so to be filled with the Holy Spirit is, at heart, to be filled with His will — to have something placed upon you that is not only heavy, whether it be conviction, but also the conviction and the willpower to achieve Great Commission type work: to achieve the sharing of the gospel, to achieve studying the Bible, to achieve memorizing Scripture, to achieve — and sometimes it's even just getting to church — the will of God in your life. To have the Holy Spirit of God inside of you is to possess His intellect and to possess His will.

And then as well, the essence of the Holy Spirit consists of emotion. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 talks about the joy, and there is a lot of emotion wrapped up in being filled with the Spirit. This is not a dull, dry religion. This is, at heart, all that whom God has created you to be, involved in worshiping and living. And so 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verses 5 and 6: "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance. Just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake, you also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia."

I hope you were listening and extracting the references to emotion in regards to being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit produces in you full assurance according to verse 5. The security of the believer is wrapped up in the sealing of the believer. He has sealed you with salvation and you have security in Him. So you have full assurance. And as you are continuing in Christ, Philippians 1:6 says that He will produce that in you. He will continue to do what He has started to do. Philippians 1:6 is a very good verse for assurance of your continued sanctification. He's going to do it in you. What He started by saving you, He will continue to do by way of sanctification and service in and through your life.

Not only do we see this in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, but also in verse 6 — look at how we have received the word in much joy and affliction. These two things, especially in being one who is being personally revived — having a personal revival with the Lord, getting back to the ordinary means of grace and studying the Bible and praying and worshiping God — and you engage in these means of grace, we are now evangelizing and discipling and praying and worshiping together and baptizing and taking the Lord's Supper and all of these wonderful things that are just ordinary Christian lifestyles, what we do as Christians. Then that produces a heightened sense of being aware of God. It's called immanence. And then we live in the presence of God. We know that He is not only aware, but He's listening. We live with intentionality. Like we talked about last week, we walk on purpose. We walk intentionally.

Being filled with the Spirit has an essence of knowing that you are in God's presence. Knowing that He is a wonderful God and a wonderful Father produces a tremendous amount of joy, even in affliction. And so if you are being persecuted, or if you are in affliction, or if you're suffering, there is still an element of joy to be found because you can be filled with the Holy Spirit.

In regards to the Holy Spirit in His essence — not only is He intellect, not only does He have will, but He also has emotion. And I think the clearest verse to show that the Holy Spirit possesses emotion is back in Ephesians. If you turn to chapter 4, verse 30, Ephesians 4:30 helps you to see that the Holy Spirit has personhood. And in this most important doctrine — because it is the Holy Spirit of God that resides within the saved — you can cause the Holy Spirit to enjoy joy or to be grieved. In Ephesians 4:30 it says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." And obviously it would be sin that grieves the Holy Spirit. Obviously it would be dwelling upon sin that would grieve the Holy Spirit. Obviously it would be keeping yourself from the outflow of the Holy Spirit in your life, which in the text is speaking, singing, thanking, and submitting. So if you refuse to do those things, you're grieving the Holy Spirit.

And so if you were to be remaining filled — if you stay with the Lord — I could summarize it for you in that the goal of the Christian life is just the title of today's sermon. Remain faithful. Remain faithful. Continue in the Word. John 8:31 says, "If you continue in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine." Just remain faithful. Just keep taking the right steps. Remain faithful. Continue in the Word. Do what the Holy Spirit would be willing you to do. You have the mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit is inside of you. There's intellect there. You know the Scriptures. You know what is right. You know what is wrong. You know how to talk. You know what to sing. You know what not to sing. You know what not to say. You know where not to go. You know how not to grieve the Holy Spirit. So remain filled. Remain filled means to keep the mind filled with the things of the Spirit. Keep your mind dwelling on the things above. Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your mind on things above and not on things of the earth." And so it is in your best interest to take control of your mind and to set it on things above. Set it on the things of the Word. Fill your mind with the things of God. That's remaining filled at the level of mind.

To remain filled at the level of will: the Holy Spirit's will is to set your heart's desires on the things that you know God wants you to be doing. Don't continuously be distracted by the things of the world, but set your affections. Put your heart in front of where you know you're supposed to be going. Take your fleeting emotions that seem to be dragging behind and going up and down and backwards and forwards, and place them in front of you, and wholeheartedly engage in the things that you know you're supposed to be doing. Wholeheartedly place your emotional and mental energies inside of where God wants you to be going and to be doing.

Be excited about the things of God. Rejoice about the things of God. Do not hold yourself back and be reserved and be prideful and be all walled up about talking about God and doing the things of God. Be all in, and be one who is overflowing with these things. That is to be emotionally engaged. Remain faithful to be emotionally engaged. You cannot serve Christ and be walled off emotionally, because the Holy Spirit is in you in the deepest and most intimate parts of who you are.

Where are you? Are you up here or are you down here? I don't know where you are, but wherever you really are, I think the Hebraic thought of where you are is more down here, in the bowels. They felt convictions and experienced them more deeply. Obviously you are not your body, right? You are not just a mind. If you take the brain and put it on the table, you're not right there. Take the heart and put it on the table and get a new heart — you're not on the table in your heart. Where are you? You have to be fully engaged intellectually and emotionally in the will of God through the power of the Holy Spirit to remain filled with Christ. So be happy about the Spirit's work and be learning about these things, and be grieved about the things that the Spirit of God has grieved over.

Your heart will grieve. And that is the Holy Spirit grieving inside of you when you learn of some atrocity, when you learn of the abortion rate, when you learn of starving children around the world, when you learn of someone rejecting Christ who you have been praying for. The Spirit of God inside of you can grieve over these things, and that truly is fellowship in the Spirit, because you are grieving and agonizing over the same things that the Spirit of God is agonizing over. And at the same time, do not be a source of that agony to the Holy Spirit. Do not think and do things that would cause the Holy Spirit of God to agonize.

Oftentimes you can gauge — young people, listen to me, this is important — oftentimes you can discern real quick if what you are fixing to do makes your heart just race. Perhaps that is the Holy Spirit inside of you warning you: "No, no, no. Don't, don't. Stop, stop, stop. Turn, turn, turn. Run, run, run." "Flee from your youthful lusts" — 2 Timothy 2:22. Set your mind on things above. You have the ability to repent and go in the other direction. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. Don't be a part of what the world is doing to the Lord. Be a part of the family of God who is causing God to enjoy seeing obedience.

So, amen. Filled with the Holy Spirit — intellectually, mentally, emotionally, full of the willpower. And so this particular aspect of the Holy Spirit: He is in you and certainly not limited to these things. In regards to Acts 16 and how God prohibited and directed the ministry there, I also want you to know that God has the ability — and He does — to prohibit and direct you. And you can just trust in God's providential hand at work in your life, because He opens doors and He closes doors.

Personally, I look back at my own life and I remember how my wife and I tried to purchase a home over in Osceola County. We were excited about it. We were pre-approved, approved. And it was a 4% loan. Wasn't too happy about that, but 4% — okay, we could barely afford what we were looking at. And man, we looked at the home with a realtor, we went there, and, "Alright, this is what we're going to do." Prayed about it and went to closing. And down there in the little print, it wasn't a 4, it was a 6. And the Holy Spirit of God troubled our hearts, rightfully so. We were told 4%, but the paperwork said 6%. What do you do? Well, you yield to the Spirit. We were troubled, so we didn't do it.

So if the Spirit removes your peace, don't proceed. If the Spirit removes your peace, do not proceed. I want to give you a chapter and verse to help you with this. In Colossians chapter 3, verse 15 — turn there — when it comes to being led by the Holy Spirit of God, Colossians chapter 3, verse 15 says that the Holy Spirit of God — which is Jesus as well; we believe in the Trinity — is the judge. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." This peace is the ruling. It is the judgment call. You think to yourself, "I am owned by God. He has purchased me with the blood of His Son. I'm His child. He guides me. He protects me. And I want to allow the Holy Spirit of God to lead me." And when you are making decisions, pay attention to the peace, because the Holy Spirit of God has the ability to trouble you or to put you at peace. He is in control of those types of things. And in Colossians chapter 3, verse 15, it says, "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." This ruling — making you at peace or not at peace — is what you yield to. And so you just simply say confidently, "Sorry, I am not at peace with this." Thanks anyway. Be confident as a Christian that you're being led by your Father based upon the peace of God that resides within your heart. Because even in tragedies, God can put you at peace. But even in what seems like the best deal in the world, God could trouble you. Respond to the peace. That is the ruling that is for you in your life.

And so God's will was for us to buy a home in Orange County and not in Osceola County. Praise God. We're so glad we are here and not there. Amen, right? "And so let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." This is how you're to be led by the Holy Spirit of God. This is one way that you are remaining filled — by yielding to Him.

And so submit to the Spirit. If I was to give you a quick definition of remaining filled, it is to yield to the whole work of the Holy Spirit's labor in you to make you more holy. And I'll say that again. If you would remain filled, then yield to the whole work of the Holy Spirit's labor — yield to the Holy Spirit's labor in you to make you more holy. The end goal for you is to remain faithful. And God's work in you is to make you more holy.

Let me tell you what it's not. Remaining filled with the Holy Spirit is not a dramatic one-time experience — I've said that already. It's not an advanced godliness, as if you have apprehended more of God than your other brothers and sisters. It's not a temporary high. It's not the result of a holier person laying hands upon you. That's not the result of being filled. It's not receiving the Spirit in a progressive degree. You're not going to get more and more of God. God is. He already permeates the earth and all of what is. And when you get the Holy Spirit, you have all of Him.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit — that's salvation. If you've been baptized by the Spirit, then you have been saved. And the idea of remaining filled with the Spirit is not the sealing. It's not the securing of the Spirit. We've already read and studied in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13, that the Holy Spirit seals you. That is a one-time event of salvation and you're sealed and secured forever. And so that's what it's not.

But what is it? What is being filled with the Spirit? Well, first of all, it's a command for believers — an ongoing command for believers. Not only that, it's a responsibility regarding your walk in Christ. So it's a command and it's a responsibility. Also, it's a submission to the Spirit's control. You realize that you are not in control. Your life and all of its happenings are a product of God's providence. And however you humanistically feel about what's happening in your life, it doesn't matter. Submit your feelings to Christ. Submit your mind to Christ. So being filled is submission — submitting, embracing. Embrace God's providence. Embrace His sovereignty. Embrace His control. What He has for you is His good will intended for you. He is not intending to harm you for no reason. He is not intending to do anything but help you. He loves you. He cares for you.

The most important thing about you is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of who God is. And sometimes, as R.C. Sproul said, we don't know who God is — it's the biggest problem in Christianity. We don't know who God is. Who is God in your heart and mind? Is He provider? Is He good? Is He your security? All of these things displace worry and fretting.

So what is it to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It's a command. It's responsibility. It's submission to the Holy Spirit. It's God's will for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit — Ephesians 5:17. And then as well, what is it? It is conditioned upon obedience. And so if you disobey, then you have grieved the Holy Spirit and you're no longer filled to that degree. And so it's also not only conditioned upon obedience, but it's a result of God's Word being applied in your life, which is the same as obedience. And so being filled with the Holy Spirit — what is it? It is the result of you studying the Word of God, grabbing onto it, figuring out what it is, and then applying it to your life and figuring out how to do what you have just learned. Ezra 7:10 says to study and practice and teach God's Word — that gradual increase of knowing and doing the Word of God. First of all, you have to study the law of the Lord. And then you have to figure out how to practice it. And then once you've practiced what you have studied, once you've figured out how to live out what you know, then you can tell somebody what the things of God require of us to be and do.

And so it's also — what is it? It's a result of knowing and doing God's will. I want to give you some verification of being one who is remaining filled in the Spirit. It's an ongoing increase in obedience to the Word. Ongoing obedience to the Word of God.

Verification that you are filled with the Spirit is that gratefulness to God is coming out of your lips despite difficulties. That's being filled with the Spirit. Nobody who is not filled with the Holy Spirit is going to thank the Lord for anything difficult. It is a byproduct of being filled with the Holy Spirit — gratefulness. Verification of being filled with the Spirit is also an increased humility. Thinking of yourself as unworthy and others as better than yourself is verification that you are filled with the Holy Spirit. If you truly, from a humble heart, love and serve others and think of them more than you think of yourself — a servitude attitude — then you are truly one who is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Even more verification of being filled with the Spirit is a decreasing of one's pride. As God continuously chips away at our sinful hearts and polishes and shines our hearts, one of those things that continuously is removed is pride. You know that the letter at the very middle of the word "pride" is "I." And so you refer to yourself less and less and less. You're removing "I." It's not about me. How often do we say "I did this" or "I accomplished this." It becomes less and less of you and more and more of Christ. John 3:30 says, "He must increase and I must decrease."

So a decreasing of pride, and as well verification of being filled with the Spirit is that the frequency of sin is reducing in your life. The sins that you struggle with — the frequency with which you struggle with them — are being reduced. Not everybody can just cut sin out of their life cold turkey. I wish that we could, but oftentimes some sins are stickier than other sins and require more washing of the Word to get them out of your heart and mind. And so as you are continuously being filled with the Holy Spirit, or having your soul washed with the Word of God, having your mind washed with the Word of God, you will see that the sin in your life that you regularly struggle with is decreasing in frequency. You're sinning less and less and less.

As well, a verification of the Holy Spirit is that you have purer heart attitudes. The attitude of your heart is not of complaining and grumbling and murmuring. You're not always fault-finding and looking at what's going on wrong in your community, in your church, in the world, around the nation, all that kind of stuff. But your heart attitudes toward the things of God are becoming purer and purer. "Blessed are the pure in heart," Jesus said, "for they shall see God." And you see all that God is doing. The pureness of your heart is wonderful. And you'd rather talk about the things of God and the good things of God than you would complain about the things that are going on wrong in the world. It's really the difference between talking about what the devil is doing versus talking about what God is doing in your life. So to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be talking and thinking and dwelling and exuberating the things of the Spirit. And so your heart attitude is purer and purer and purer.

You're praying more as well. And so also verification is that good deeds are increasing. In Titus chapter 3, verse 8, it's evidence that good deeds are happening. You just want to live out your faith. And how do you do that? You want to evangelize and disciple and worship and everything like that. But as well, doing good deeds is a major part of being able to express your faith. And God puts the desire in your heart to be able to exercise the gift that He has given you. Every single person at salvation has been awarded gifts. And those unique gifts to glorify God and to serve Him through the church are given to you. And you have a desire to do that. And if you don't get to serve, you're frustrated. The frustration that builds up inside of you causes you to want to serve more. However God has gifted you — part of when I do spiritual checkups with our church family, I ask, "Are you serving God in the areas that He's gifted you?" I don't want you to be frustrated. I don't want you to be bound up. I want you to be able to exercise and be energized by the Holy Spirit to utilize the gift that He has given you. It's kind of like getting a brand-new vehicle and putting it off to the side of the house and closing the shed and never driving it. That would be a shame. A huge, wonderful gift that God has given you — that is powerful and effective unto salvation and sanctification for the saints, and fellowship and encouragement for the church, and the glorifying of God — is way more glorious than a new car. And so to be able to utilize your gift — and utilizing it — is verification that you are filled with the Spirit.

An increased desire to worship — Hebrews 13:15 — is verification. Not only an increased desire to worship, but also a deeper desire. We here are a church who is becoming more and more biblical in our Sunday morning worship. And so you are seeing more and more hymns that are of sound doctrine being interwoven in our worship set. It's because we desire to worship God in a deeper and more meaningful way. The things that are brought up in the songs — the intellectual side of the songs, the subject matter, the subjects of redemption, the subjects of substitutionary death, the subjects of Jesus being our substitutionary sacrifice — these wonderful thoughts are being sung, enabling us to worship.

And so you have inside of you not only these desires, but verification of being filled with the Spirit is also knowing and understanding that you are being compelled. There is a compulsion inside of you. If you're filled with the Holy Spirit, one thing that you are compelled to do — and I speak to many of you — is to share the gospel. Sharing the gospel is a result of you obeying, being compelled by the Spirit's will. The Spirit is who draws lost people to Christ, right? And "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." And so as you are an agent and a means, a vessel to spread the Word, the Holy Spirit of God compels you to want to speak. It is because the Spirit of God wants to draw the lost person into salvation. You responding to being compelled to share the gospel is God's will for your life. Whether you're a street preacher, whether you're a personal evangelist, however you are spreading the gospel and making disciples — continue doing that and fan that flame. Do all that you can while you can.

Not only are you compelled to share the gospel, but you're also compelled to impart truth. Those of us who have the gift of teaching — not that we're any better than anybody else; in fact, we will stand at a higher judgment — we are compelled to teach the truth. There's a compulsion inside of us that if we don't do it, we feel like we're being disobedient. That's how you know what your gift is — you feel like you're being disobedient to the Lord if you don't. And so there's an inward compulsion to impart truth — 1 John 4:2.

And then as well, for all of us, we're compelled by the Holy Spirit to give. Lost, sinful people are selfish. Saved, sanctified people are giving. They give of themselves. They give of their means. They give of their resources. They give of their finances. They give of their effort. They give, they give, they give, they give, they give. But those who are lost have self-interest in the mode of self-preservation. And they're worried about what's going on as if they have the sole duty to preserve what they love and cherish. It's the opposite of understanding God as Father. It's the opposite of hallowing Him and His attributes and recognizing that He's all-powerful. God takes good care of His children according to His good will. You say, "What about Job?" "Ha ha, gotcha, Pastor." No, you don't. God was good to Job. He was very good. Job was obedient to God. And through it all, Job would look back now in heaven and say, "Praise God that He blessed me with that trial, because what it accomplished is amazing. I went through it." But looking back at the goodness of God through it all — God is good no matter what. And you can say it with me: God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

And so quickly, here are three things. Number one, to be Spirit-filled is to speak. Number one — speak. In verse 19 in Ephesians, it says, "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." And so you're going to speak both publicly and privately. You cannot keep your mouth closed about Christ. You're going to speak. Those who are filled with the Spirit, if you're going to remain faithful, you're going to use your words. To speak at the very essence of it is to use and declare words, words that are coming out of your mouth. And this command for you to speak is being assaulted by Satan, even in the church, by clever ways, clever little colloquialisms, clever little sayings to try and keep you to keep your mouth shut when it comes to sharing the gospel. How many of you have heard this before? "Preach if necessary, use words." Right out of it. That's dumb. Right out of the pit of hell, "preach if necessary, use words" is to try and keep you from speaking. But "faith comes by hearing" — Romans 10:17 makes it very clear.

And if you would also be one who is remaining faithful and filled with the Spirit, then this first evidence of one who is filled with the Spirit is speaking to one another — speaking to one another in psalms and hymns. So if you're going to be speaking the psalms, then you are going to be speaking what the psalms say. Another way of saying that is you're going to say what the Word says. You're going to tell people what the Word of God says because you're filled with the Spirit, and to not speak is disobedience. And so whether you like it or not, you're going to get there. Somebody gave me a t-shirt — "Warning: In All Caps — May Bring Jesus Up at Any Time." Something like that. Yeah. Absolute fact.

So speak. Use your words. Don't be cowardly. Don't back down from an opportunity to share the gospel or to glorify God in every area of life, no matter where you're at. In fact, I would dare say — if you have someone who employs you who is saying to zip it, that you should unzip it. I would rather go into heaven with that on my résumé than to be fired by someone who is saying, "You'd better use that pronoun or you're gone." Right? That's me personally. You've got to decide for your own life whether or not that's advantageous for you to be faithful to take care of your family or not. But I'm just telling you — me? I'm going to be wide open about the gospel. I'm going to be an Acts chapter 5 guy. Acts chapter 5, verse 29 says to obey God and not man. And then at the end of Acts chapter 5, they got beaten for speaking in the name of Jesus anyway, causing a stir, and they left rejoicing. They left rejoicing in the Spirit. They left the presence of all the naysayers who were trying to get them to zip it — after speaking even more about Christ — as ones who had been so filled with the Holy Spirit that after a painful scourging, they're singing.

And so even through suffering, you can be singing by being filled with the Holy Spirit. If you are completely all in — this is not half in, it's not one foot in the world and one foot in church — this is all in. "Take me or leave me. I'm Christian." And so speak up. Titus chapter 2, verse 1: "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine." This is not a suggestion. Be obedient to the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Speak. So evidence of you being filled with the Holy Spirit number one is to speak. And so Ephesians chapter 6, verse 20 says to speak boldly. Speak boldly.

Ephesians chapter 6, verse 20 says, "For which I am an ambassador in chains, so that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." And so the result of being filled with the Spirit is speaking. And if you are all in heart and mind, then you cannot not speak. Matthew chapter 12, verse 34 says, "From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." So this is evidence that you are submitting to the Spirit, walking in Christ. You're speaking. Number one.

Number two is that you are singing. In the text it says, "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord." And here, singing — not like speaking — you do not have to use your lips to be singing. Did you catch that in the text? You have to use your lips and your tongue and your voice to speak, but you do not have to use your lips and your tongue and your mouth to sing. Read to you again: "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with what?" — "your heart to the Lord."

Obviously an overflow of this heart-singing is to truly sing. Psalm 33, verse 1 says, "Sing for joy." And then verse 2, "Sing praises to Him." And then verse 3, "Sing to Him a new song." And so singing is truly from the heart. It's an overflow of the heart. And so you're going to be speaking, you're going to be singing, and you can truly have a melody in your heart and be singing to the Lord as you're going through your day. In fact, church father Jerome said of this passage, "Those who have the office of singing or worship leader in the church, sing not with your voice, but with your heart to the Lord. This is not theater, but church." Now, those of you who know Jimmy — he's all in. He's all heart. He is up here pouring himself out as a drink offering unto the Lord. He is pouring himself out from the heart. He's singing from the heart. I thank the Lord for the wonderful voice that the Lord has given Jimmy. You don't want me to sing with my lips from the heart — it would not be as blessed in the hearing as it is with Jimmy. But I love following Jimmy's lead.

In verse 19b, it talks about this melody, and in the Greek it means to strike up a tune. So you are in control of what is going on inside of your heart. Strike up a tune. Sometimes you just simply need to turn on the hymns in your house to be able to strike up a tune. If you're in a bad mood, well, like my dad used to say, "Just change your pants, son." And he was telling me to change the words that are coming out of my mouth. Change my mind. Change. Just simply change. Turn on the right things. So you strike up the melody in your heart. Make a melody in your heart. This is authentic worship.

You think, "I'm forcing myself to do something that I don't want to do." No, you are making yourself conform to Christ. You must discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness — 1 Timothy 4:7. This is obedience. This is to make yourself in alignment with God's will. This is Spirit-filled. John Calvin said, "Let your praises not merely be on the tongue as hypocrites do, but from the heart." And as you obey and do what you're supposed to do, it conforms the heart to where you are enjoying what you do.

This idea of spiritual songs rules out carnal songs — like singing AC/DC on a Sunday morning as a means to evangelize and reach people. That is not evangelism. That is not reaching. That is a disgrace to God. And there are many today who would take a secular, catchy song and sing it on a Sunday morning as a means to try and connect with people. That is worldly. That's a disgrace. I could address that for hours, because it is not worship. It has no place — period — especially not in God's house. And so secular music, even your shallow, attractional music which is trending or which is popular, is not to be used. It's just church growth garbage. This mind-emptying repetition is garbage. We want to fill ourselves with the intellect and the will and the emotion of Christ, of the Holy Spirit, to be filled with Him.

So Voddie — in this past Founders Conference in the Q&A — testified to how he was taught early on, before his ministry, to sell cars. And he gladly said, "I can sell you a car." So he was taught how to sell. And then as he was newly on staff, the large church staff was led by the senior pastor to go to Willow Creek, led by Bill Hybels, which was the king of the church growth movement, who was discipled by California's Robert Schuller. You know how I feel about that. He led this church growth movement, and the tactics, the antics that Voddie was taught were the same as selling a car. Voddie resigned because of that conference he had to go to. Rightfully so — amen.

And so we are not to use antics. We are to participate in the ordinary means of grace. We're to participate in the commandments. Acts 2:42 talks about the apostles' teaching, the fellowship of the believers, the ordinances, prayer, communion, giving. These are our ordinary means, and plus many others. But this normative life is to be lived out with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And in that you will be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, to be able to speak and to sing and to fulfill God's will for which He wants to work in and through you. And the exact opposite direction of that is to sing songs that are not spiritual. And so "spiritual songs," the Bible says.

And number three, Spirit-filled people are thankful. They're thankful people. And so this regular expression of your heart attitude is gratitude. It truly comes out of your lips. It truly is something that you verbalize. Don't be grateful just at heart — actually be filled with the Spirit to the point to where you say what you're grateful for. Testify to the goodness of God. Thank Him. What if everything that you have not verbally expressed gratitude for was removed from your life tomorrow? There goes a lot in your life that you really enjoy, including some of the very precious things.

We ought to be ones who are overflowing with gratitude and thankfulness, because when we reflect upon the fact that we have received mercy and not the judgment which we deserve, it produces gratitude. We deserve God's judgment. There is nothing in us that deserves God's blessings. You are not born good. There's nothing that you have done that is worthy of praise to the point to where God would be benevolently good toward you. These things the devil can do — and he does. But it is a supernatural Holy Spirit empowerment of speaking and doing and worshiping that God works to His effectual will, to His effecting of it happening. And so as we are ones who are just simply operating in the ordinary means of grace and speaking the gratitude that we feel and have in our heart, then we are allowing the Holy Spirit to flow through us. And we are actually filled with the Holy Spirit unto an overflow so that it changes the circumstances and atmosphere wherever you are.

Griping people are so contagious and they taint the atmosphere. But so are courageous and bold people who are singing and making melody with their heart and testifying to the goodness of God. And they are thanking God along the way — thanking God, thanking God, thanking God along the way. Thank the Lord. Thank the Lord. Thank the Lord for the good things. Thank the Lord for the things that you don't understand, because you believe in His sovereignty. That is one who is submitting to the filling of the Holy Spirit.

We ought to be in a constant state of communicated gratitude, because the Bible says so. "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks." Always giving thanks. Now, if I could rewrite the Bible, I would put a couple more words in this verse. I would say, "Always giving thanks for some things that happen in your life." But verse 20 doesn't say that. That's the humanness. That's the weakness in me saying I want to give in to being spiritually weak or spiritually low. But the Bible calls us to a high standard of Christian living, and that is "always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father." This increased, heightened way of living and using your words — look at this: "Always giving thanks in all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father." How much more emphasis can the Bible place on a concept?

Gratefulness, thankfulness, expressing that — how can you express that without using your words? People don't really know what's going on inside of your heart. God is not getting the glory for it unless you're using your lips. And so speak of the things that you're grateful for. Did you know that lacking gratitude is arrogance? Colossians 3:17 says this: "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God." And so do not be arrogantly reserved or pridefully reserved and say, "I'm just going to live inside of my own skin and do good. I'm fine." No, no, no. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. And that is evidenced by verbally speaking in a grateful way.

And so to wrap up today's message, I give you one take-home truth. Are you ready? It's easy. Stop and go. Now let me explain. Stop the flesh. Go in the Spirit. Stop and go. Stop the flesh. Go in the Spirit. In every area that we have just discussed, think with me. It says in the text, "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns." Okay. If you're going to be filled with the Spirit, stop the flesh. Stop the negativity. Stop the complaining. Stop the unwholesome words that are coming from your mouth. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 29 says, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth." So stop it. If you're going to be filled with the Spirit, stop the flesh and go with the Spirit. Verse 29 says it really, really well. Ephesians 4:29: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for the building up of what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God" — verse 30.

And so do you see that with your lips you can grieve the Holy Spirit, but at the same time you can stop and go in the right directions? You can stop what is unwholesome. Stop speaking the words that are unhealthy. Do not be negative to your children in their spiritual condition. Do not bring them low. Do everything that you can to encourage them in the right direction. Fill them with the right things. Reward them in the right areas. Do everything that you can to lead and to speak in a way that is wholesome and healthy. Use your words to be — this word "unwholesome" refers to spiritual health. And so words have the ability to bring other people spiritually up toward Christ or spiritually away from Christ in a healthy and unhealthy way. Your words have life and death in them, the Proverbs say. And so we must be filled with the Spirit and stop and go. Stop the unhealthy words and speak the things which are good for building up, for what is needed, so that it will give grace — the ordinary means of grace, all of God's working of grace into their life.

And if you were to stop and go in the area of speaking, then you also stop and go in the area of singing. And so if you're going to be worshiping God — now, side note, entertainment, whatever — do not be singing devil songs, okay? But especially when you are worshiping God in your mode of worship, do not let songs creep into your life that perhaps affirm what the devil wants you to affirm. So be careful what you are singing. In fact, not only stop the secularization of your life, but go in the area of singing hymns and spiritual songs. Do all that you can in this area.

And then the third area of stop and go, which we've talked about today, is thanking Him. In Philippians chapter 2, verse 14, it's really, really clear that we should be ones who do all things without grumbling or disputing, "so that you will be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" — verse 15. If you are ones who are stopping the complaining and the murmuring, then you will shine in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation because you are thanking. So stop the grumbling and the disputing. This is both verbally and inwardly. And so your heart is to be conformed to Christ in the way that you are not inwardly murmuring against what the Lord is doing in your life.

Murmuring — heart murmuring — God hears loudly. Nobody else might hear it. They might perhaps discern and perceive it. But God knows the condition of your heart. And not only can you worship God with your heart, but you can also grieve God with your heart through murmuring or through complaining. It doesn't have to just come out of your lips to be a complaint.

And so do all things without grumbling or complaining, which God obviously seems to enjoy testing us in that area — to provide us ways to be able to grow in our sanctification, and that we can apply these truths to deny ourselves and to fully submit to Him. Can you say amen? Amen.

Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank You for today's truths in Your Word. I pray that You would help us to discipline ourselves to stop in the areas that grieve You and to go in the areas that would be yielding to Your Spirit's power. May You continue to conform us into Your image to bring You glory. Dear God, I pray that if anyone here has not ever been saved by Your glorious salvation, I pray, dear Jesus, that they would repent of their sin and place their faith and trust in You. I pray, God, as in Acts chapter 2, verse 40, that they would be saved from this perverse generation. I pray in alignment with Isaiah 45:22, "Turn to Me and be saved, for I am God, and there is no other."

God, I pray that You would empower those who are lost to be able to repent of their sin and to turn toward You, to trust You, dear Jesus, with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Give them the ability not to trust in the things of this world, but to truly, from the heart, trust in You. The Bible says, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. But in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Father, thank You for Proverbs 3:5–6. I pray that it would be true for all of us here, that we would trust You and submit to You to be filled with Your Holy Spirit.

For those who are considering Christianity, may the full disclosure of what it is to be a disciple of Christ be made known to them. May they not think that this is a glorious life filled with candy and sugar and good times and joy without any pain. I pray, Father, that they would be equipped to know You in all of Your fullness, and that in You is fullness of joy — Psalm 16:11 — but also You have warned us that in this life we shall suffer. It makes us long for You and long for heaven, dear God. Just because we're Christians doesn't mean that we have a better life than anybody else on this planet. But we do thank You for Your goodness that You've bestowed upon us, to have been born in this century, in this country, at this time. We enjoy many blessings that those who went before us never got to enjoy, including this fullness of the Holy Spirit.

God, I pray Your blessings upon us, that You would help us to live obedient lives. We do love You, and we count You as the One who is worthy of our praise. And now as we sing, "Come, You Sinners," I pray, dear God, that You would draw not only the lost sinners unto salvation, but You would draw us who are saints — but yet still deal with sin — closer to You. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.