WALKING UNDER THE INFLUENCE (Ephesians 5:18)

I say, beginning in verse 12, he says, put on then, saints, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgive each other, as the

Lord has forgiven you. So, you must also forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.

Be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the

Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. That's why we gather today to give thanks to our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God the Father. We give thanks to God the

Holy Spirit. We are grateful and we long to be encouraged by one another to then further deepen our understanding and love for that triune

God, amen? Is that why you're here today? Amen, or are you just trying to get out of the cold?

Well, well guys, let's bow our heads now. Let's go to that great

God in a prayer of adoration. Oh, glorious God, oh, it is the flame of our lives to worship you.

The crown and glory of our souls to adore you. Heavenly pleasure to approach you.

Give us power by your spirit to help us worship you today. That we may not forget the world.

Be brought into fullness of life. Be refreshed, comforted, blessed.

Give us the knowledge of your goodness that Lord, we might not be overtaken by your greatness.

Give us Jesus, son of man, son of God, that we may not be terrified by your holiness.

But be drawn near with your fatherly love and your holy boldness.

Oh, for Christ is our mediator, our elder brother. He is our interpreter, he is the branch, he is the lamb.

Him we glorify and him we set on high. Crowns to give, we have none.

But what we have been given, we return. Content to feel that everything is ours when it is yours.

And the more fully ours when we have yielded it to you, Lord, let us live wholly to our savior.

Let us be free from distractions and cares. Flee from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way that Christ has called us on to and set us on.

For we are pardoned through the blood of Christ. Oh, Lord, I ask this morning that you give us a new sense of it.

And that continued pardon that you have placed and given us.

And we come today to be washed anew that we may worship you always in spirit and in truth.

Lord, as we begin this time of worship together as the saints today, we pray that you would be honored as we give you our first fruits.

Lord, as we worship you through a time of giving, and we would not give

Lord begrudgingly or out of compulsion some set arbitrary amount or number.

But Lord, that we would give as you have laid on each one of our hearts. So you would be honored in our giving.

You are worthy of all praise. You are worthy of all sacrifice. You are worthy of all glory. And we thank you for letting us participate and expressing that glory in Christ's name, amen.

As the guys come around with the offering plates, I just wanna welcome you to the Lord's Day gathering this morning.

Our prayer is that each one of us would grow in the fear and knowledge of the triune God. The father that has set his love upon us before the world.

The father that is the foundation of the world and has chosen us. The son that has redeemed us by blood ransom and the

Holy Spirit who now seals us and works in and through us. That we may stand holy, preparing us for that great inheritance of that glorious adoption through Jesus Christ.

For we are truly a blessed people, aren't we? Are we not? Amen. Amen.

We are a blessed people. The lions have truly fallen in pleasant places for us.

We may go through suffering. We may go through trials. I was speaking to a saint this week about the trials that we go through.

And they may pale in comparison to some of the trials that some other saints all over the world are going through, but they're true trials that you're dealing with in the moment that God has called you to.

Oh, but he is good because that is how he is molding us and growing us. And so I want to remind you as you've experienced this world as we gather today, part of it is for the encouragement and challenge and to draw our attention back to Christ, you are loved.

If you are in Christ today, you are most certainly loved by that triune God, aren't you?

Are you not? You forget that, don't you? Do you forget that great love of the triune

God upon you when you get lost out in the sea of the world, but then you come back in here and you know of it.

For those of us who know Christ as our savior and Lord, we are loved. You are loved by the people here.

We are recipients of much grace, grace on top of grace, right? And I want you to know if you are not in Christ today, you are loved by the people here also.

You are greatly loved for we have been the recipients of such mercy and such love and such grace.

We can't help but love all those around us. So we welcome you. We're glad you're here.

At the beginning of every one of our services every week, we seek to pray for another local church. Today, we want to pray for Finch Baptist.

Finch Baptist, I believe Marty Easel is the pastor over there. Let's just bow our heads and pray that their service this morning, their gathering would be

God honoring and that their people would grow in the fear and knowledge of the Lord together, amen? Let's pray.

Oh Lord, we come to you once again. We thank you for our brothers and sisters at Finch Baptist. Father, we pray for their people.

We pray for those brothers and sisters. We pray that they would know the great love in which you have loved them.

Lord, we pray that they would know the great love that their brothers and sisters here have for them.

Father, I long for them to grow in the fear and knowledge of the Lord just as we do here. Lord, we pray for brother

Marty as he prepares to preach your word this morning. I pray that he would rightly divide the word of truth, that he would declare what your word says and what your word says alone, and that you would do a mighty work in the hearts of those people.

We thank you for them in Christ's name, amen. Before we jump into our call to worship, I just wanna give one more announcement.

You know, we are a family integrated church, right? This just simply means that we do not have nurseries or childcare for the

Lord's Day gathering, but what we do is we know the nature of children. So we offer a nursing room right back in that back corner.

If you wanna know how to get over there, you just look right back there. You see the doors, the building's not that big, but somebody can help you get back there.

This is meant so that when children are fussy, when they're upset, we don't want it to be a distraction to the other saints here in the truth, right?

And so it's a great opportunity for you to be able to take your young ones back there if they just need to get it out of their system for a moment.

But I would encourage the mothers and even the fathers here, we don't want people to have to just be stuck back there the whole service and be separated from the body.

Use it with discernment and wisdom so that you may not be a distraction and lead others from not being able to hear the truth and be able to focus their attention on the

Lord, but also to be able to be a blessing to you to be able to utilize that space. Well, let's go ahead and start our service off this morning.

Let's stand in our call to worship. Our call to worship is this read and response from Psalm 96.

Sometimes we just do a portion of some of the Psalms. Today we wanted to do the whole of the Psalm.

And so I want you to really be thoughtful of what the psalmist is saying here when he says worship in the splendor of holiness.

And as I read and then you respond with the next reading, I desire for each one of us to take this moment to be reminded by his word who he is.

He is worthy. And we will declare that together as a people. The psalmist says, oh, sing to the

Lord a new song. Sing to the

Lord, bless his name. Declare his glory among the nations.

For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods, the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and unity are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, oh families of the peoples. Ascribe to the

Lord. Ascribe to the Lord the glory. Do his name.

Bring him on. Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

Say among the nations, the

Lord reigns. Yes, the world is established and shall never be moved.

He will judge the world. Let the heavens be glad.

And let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar and all that fills it. Let the field exult and everything yield.

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord. For he comes.

For he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen, sing this with me this morning.

Grace on top of grace. ♪ Of me

I'll deserve grace on top of grace ♪ ♪

More than I've asked for, more than I'm worth ♪ ♪ Grace on top of grace ♪

See how sweet. ♪ How sweet the sound ♪ ♪

Was lost but now found ♪ ♪ Heaven came down and grace rescued me ♪ ♪

Hallelujah, I am free from my sin and penalty ♪ ♪

At the cross you took my place ♪ ♪ With your grace on top of grace ♪

And now we sing this, how we've loved you. ♪

Lord how we've loved you because we have heard ♪ ♪ Grace on top of grace ♪ ♪

For the sake of your glory and your worth ♪ ♪ Grace on top of grace ♪ ♪

Hallelujah, I am free from my sin and penalty ♪

At the cross you took my place With your grace on top of grace

Sing how sweet the sound How sweet the sound

Once lost but now found Heaven came down And grace rescued me

One more time How sweet the sound

Once lost but now found Heaven came down And grace rescued me

Hallelujah, I am free From my sin and penalty

At the cross you took my place With your grace on top of grace

Sing that one more time Hallelujah, I am free From my sin and penalty

At the cross you took my place With your grace on top of grace

With your grace With your grace on top of One more time With your grace on top of grace

Amen God, we thank you for that grace this morning I just want to read something to you this morning

This next song is Psalm 150 We try to be intentional with the songs we sing with the time here

So this song comes from Psalm 150 It says, Praise the Lord, praise God in His sanctuary

Praise Him in His mighty heavens Praise Him for His mighty deeds Praise Him according to His excellent greatness

Praise Him with trumpet sound Praise Him with lute and harp Praise Him with tambourine and dance

We don't do that enough, do we? Praise Him with strings and pipe

Praise Him with sounding cymbals Praise Him with loud clashing cymbals

Let everything that has breath praise Him Amen Sing that with me

You made the starry host

You traced the mountain peaks You paint the evening skies with wonders

The earth, it is your throne From desert to the sea

All nature testifies your spirit Sing this with me, praise the

Lord Praise the Lord, praise the

Lord Sing His greatness, all creation

Praise the Lord, raise your voice

You heighten all your depths From birth, cease to rest

Let everything that has breath praise the

Lord Reached into the dust

In love your spirit breathed You formed us in your very life

To know your wondrous works To tell your mighty deeds

To join the everlasting chorus

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Sing His greatness, all creation

Praise the Lord, raise your voice

You heighten all your depths From birth, cease to rest

Let everything that has breath praise the

Lord The serpents resound

The drums and choirs ring out All heaven hears the sounds of worship

And every nation brings Its honor to the

King A roar of harmonies eternal

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Sing His greatness, all creation

Praise the Lord, raise your voice

You heighten all your depths From birth, cease to rest

You are distant burning stars All creatures near and far

From sky to sea to shore Sing out forevermore

Let everything that has breath praise the

Lord Amen, let everything that has breath praise the

Lord I think that's awesome Take your time and just worship God Almighty this morning with us

God we praise you for your goodness Thank you Father Thank you for each person you brought this morning

To worship and honor your holy name Praise you God Do you feel the world is broken?

We do Do you feel the shadows deepening?

We do Do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through?

We do Do you wish that you could see it all day?

It's all creation coming It's a new creation coming

It's a glory of the Lord's light within us

It's a gift that we remind ourselves Is anyone hurting?

Is anyone whole? Is anyone able to break the seal?

Open the scroll of Jude Who conquered the grave

He is David's root And the lamb who died to ransom the slave

Is he worthy? Is he worthy of all blessing and honor?

Is he yours? Does the

Father truly love us? He does Does the

Spirit move? He does Is Jesus our

Messiah? For heaven knows He was He does

Does our God intend to dwell again? He does

Is anyone hurting? Is anyone whole?

Is anyone able to break the seal? Open the scroll of Jude Who conquered the grave

He is David's root And the lamb who died to ransom us

From every people From every people and tribe From every nation and tongue

He has made us a kingdom and priest and God To eat with the

Son Is he worthy? Is he worthy of all blessing and honor?

And glory Is he worthy?

He is He is

He is He is

He is worthy He is worthy of all blessing and honor

And glory Is he worthy? Mine are days that God has numbered

I was made to walk with Him Yet I look to worthy treasure

And forsake the King of kings His holy

My Redeemer Though I fall

His love is sure For Christ has paid for every failing

I am His forevermore

My tears in times of sorrow Darkness long and understood

Through the valley I must travel

Where I see no earth I'm His peace that flows from heaven

And the strength inside of me I know my pain will not be wasted

Christ completes His work Not days here as a stranger

He'll go on and wear away Christ I will encounter

Harm and hatred for His name Remind His armor for His battle

Strong enough to last the war

And He has said He will deliver Safely to the goal

Mine are keys, mine are keys To Zion's city

Where beside the King I walk For there my heart has found its treasure

Christ is mine Rejoice now,

O my soul For His love is my reward

Fear is gone and hope is sure

Christ is mine forevermore

Come rejoice now, O my soul For His love is my reward

Fear is gone and hope is sure

Christ is mine forevermore Come rejoice now,

O my soul For His love is my reward

Fear is gone and hope is sure Christ is mine forevermore

And mine are keys to Zion's city

Where beside the King I walk

For there my heart has found its treasure

Christ is mine Christ is mine forevermore

Christ is mine forevermore

O gracious Heavenly Father, we sing of Your merciful grace on top of grace, on top of grace.

Now we sing of Your greatness in all of creation declaring that Your name and Your name alone is to be praised.

And then we look around and we see the brokenness of sin and we just remind ourselves that Christ is worthy.

Christ is the only one that is worthy. We are not. Because He is restoring that brokenness through the finished work of the cross and now

He is ours. He is ours forevermore. And as we sing these truths, they remind us of our own unworthiness and that creeps in.

And in sin it begins to condemn us because we know our wretchedness.

We know the state of our heart and the flesh. How prone we are to wonder to leave the

God that we love and drawn away by our own desires leading us to fail in walking in righteousness.

Yet this is precisely, Lord, why we must keep singing these great truths.

Such a reminder to ourselves and to each other that there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.

That we are held eternally secure by our glorious Savior Jesus Christ who declared,

All that the Father has given me I have not lost one for we are His and He is ours forevermore.

Help us to rest in this glorious truth this morning.

All God's people said, You may be seated. You may be seated. Well go ahead and open up your copy of God's Word to Ephesians chapter 5 as we make our way into our,

I believe this is our 50th week of this study of this rich epistle. That the

Apostle Paul addressed to the church at Ephesus. Yet as we've seen previously it's meant for the surrounding churches and extended by the

Holy Spirit to us today. Because if it was true then it's true now.

That's because truth doesn't change. God's truth does not change and we are molded by that truth just as the early church was molded by it.

I've titled today's message Walking Under the Influence. And we're going to primarily look at verse 18 there of Ephesians 5 but let's read around for the context.

Let's start in verse 15. Where Paul says, Look carefully then how you walk. Not as unwise but as wise.

I'm making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish.

But understand what the will of the Lord is and do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery.

But be filled with the Spirit. Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

Singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Giving thanks always and for everything to God the

Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

This is the reading of God's holy word. Last week we made it through verse 17 where we saw

Paul calling us to not be foolish but to understand what the will of the

Lord is. To comprehend. To look into. To want to know what

God's will is. But then at a cursory reading of the text well let's be honest which is unfortunately how most of us today read the scriptures.

Essentially skimming through without really focusing in on much of the details.

It can seem as though Paul then switches gears and just simply begins to denounce drunkenness there in verse 18.

He says and do not get drunk with wine and we read this as nothing more than a conscience binding platitude.

A moralistic prohibition. However if we slow down just a bit we will quickly see that what

Paul is saying here is not only not a new train of thought but a deeper understanding of what the will of the

Lord truly is. This should be obvious even without any theological framework because Paul's conjunction there and tying in what he's just previously said he says know the will of the

Lord and don't get drunk. Or walk in the will of the

Lord by not getting drunk. Scripture's clear right? Being drunk is a sin.

There is warning all throughout the scripture. And why is it?

He goes on he says for that is debauchery. The word that Paul uses here implies wastefulness.

Why not get drunk? That's wastefulness. Because it's one of the unfruitful works of darkness that he had told us to take no part in back in verse 11.

But here in this text Paul doesn't just give us this negative command. You see he follows it up with a positive.

And I think this positive is what gives us some insight into what he means with this negative command of do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery.

That is wastefulness. As he continues verse 18 and he says but. It's not enough to just not get drunk.

That's typically where the Christian today stops this. We see not getting drunk as a means of well

I'm good, I'm covered. I get there and I say okay I know and I know what the will of the

Lord is, don't get drunk. Okay well I don't get drunk, I must be in the will of the Lord. It's just moralism.

It's just simply do good, be better type of theology. And we often look at somebody and say well they don't drink to excess or they don't drink at all or whatever your paradigm is and they go well that's a good upright person.

And then we look at the drunkard and we go well they're the bad one, they're the good one. That's the one that God hates, that's the one that God loves, but that's not how this functions.

Right? It's not enough to just not get drunk. He says but with a positive

B filled with the Spirit. You see

Paul is not merely talking about parties where people are drinking in excess.

That's not what he's primarily focusing on. He's not talking about a dark lonely bar where people are drinking away their cares.

He's not talking about having a few too many drinks at dinner time because you lack self -control.

That's not what Paul is talking about. Of course all of these things are implied, all of them are debauchery, all of them are wastefulness.

If you do not have the self -control then you probably can't even categorize the positive command.

If you do not obey the first negative command you probably, well you can be guaranteed you're not looking to the second and the positive command.

Okay? Does that make sense? Everybody with me? You see, this is debauchery.

You are dishonoring King Jesus whenever you drink in excess. You drinking in excess is debauchery.

Now I want to be clear here before I move on. I feel like we need to address this. Drinking is not a sin.

As a matter of fact, scripture lays alcohol, wine out as a great glorious gift from God.

It to be used within God's prescribed means it was Jesus' very first miracle making wine for a wedding party.

And people who tell you that that was watered down in grape juice have no historical context,

I promise you. Right? There's nothing to that. The whole of it is that wine is a good gift from the

Lord. But drunkenness is a warning. Just as the sexual relationship within a marriage is a good gift prescribed by the

Lord that we in our sinful flesh pervert. And guess what? Scripture talks about sexual perversion and sexual immorality time and time again as a warning.

Just as it talks about great warning against drunkenness. It is wickedness.

And if you are to be filled with the Spirit, if you truly are in Christ, you will not long to dishonor

King Jesus in drunkenness. Okay? That's just application.

However, the immediate context here is something even deeper. It has something to do with knowing what the will of God is.

These Ephesian Christians that he's writing to. Remember? That's how we study Scripture, right?

We need to see what was the historical context and what is the grammar that he is using.

We must do that in order to understand what Paul truly means because he wrote this to the church in Ephesus, right?

That is specifically who he wrote to. So these people have grown up in and are surrounded by a

Roman culture there in Ephesus. You see, in each

Roman province there's a Roman territory. You had temples.

You had places of worship for their gods. And in Ephesus was the location of the goddess

Diana. And in order to be spoken to and to know the will of these pagan gods, it was believed and widely practiced that you must be drunk in order for these demonic pagan gods to communicate with you.

In other words, if you wanted to know what that god's plan and will for your life was, it could only be found out by partaking in a ritual of drunkenness.

That was the means of communicating with the gods in that culture.

And, on a side point, before you say, well, of course they did. They were a backward, superstitious, scientifically ignorant people.

They were simply hallucinating and thinking it was a god speaking to them. But I would like to propose something maybe a little more sinister into the mix, right?

These are not stupid people. Historians are finding time and time again, oh man, these people were not dumb.

They were more advanced than we give them credit for. And in our day, I'm afraid that we try and explain things away, spiritual things, with a scientific answer that, by the way, we don't understand.

We're just surmising some idea. I think that's a word. Maybe I just made up a word.

We're surmising that we know what's actually happening biologically or scientifically, but it's just a wild guess.

Remember, Paul tells us that we are in a physical battle. Testing you guys.

Nobody said anything. What kind of battle are we in, guys? A spiritual battle, right?

This is a spiritual battle against principalities and against an evil, a spiritual war that is going on that we don't really see.

This world is under the sway of the wicked one. And here's what I would like to present.

When we are filled with a substance, alcohol in this case, your inhibitions are gone, aren't they?

That's why we don't like people to drink and drive. Right? Inhibitions are gone. And you are fully controlled by that substance, leaving you vulnerable to spiritual influence.

I point this out, for one, as a warning to guard yourself, right? To guard yourself from this type of influence by avoiding drunkenness.

If you cannot handle drinking just a little, then you shouldn't drink at all.

Right? Because you're opening yourself up to influence in your life by tearing down walls.

You are not being filled with the Spirit. But then, two,

I share this with you to give us some insight into the perspective of the Christian worldview there in Ephesus.

You see, these believers that now trust in the one true God through Jesus Christ were once pagan worshippers, partakers in those very traditions.

And experience is a strong influencer, isn't it? Experience is a very strong influencer.

I say that because have any of you ever seen like hyper -charismatic churches where there's all types of experience and demons being casted out and seeming healings and all the things and prophecies that are being laid over you?

You experience that and that will influence your theology.

It will affect how you see the one true God. You see it time and time again. I counsel people in these situations and I'm like, yeah, but was that truly the

Spirit of God? Or do you think possibly that was either a trick, in most cases, or even another spirit trying to distract you from the task at hand, the truth of God.

But when you experience it, it starts to change your theology. What you intellectually see in Scripture, you begin to see it through a lens of your own experience.

Do you not? We all carry that weight, that's why we need each other. I do it. I bring my own experience to the text and so I need you to keep me accountable that I do not see that text through that lens and you the same.

We must do that. But these Christians here, they grew up experiencing miraculous signs, deep dark secrets being exposed and what seems to be answers to their questions.

And this was all done, I would say, by dark spiritual forces.

They would build what they called ziggurats. And ziggurats were just stone statues or bronze statues or temples and they would build this thing and those people were not dumb.

They didn't just bow down and worship some bronze statue or some concrete building. They didn't worship it.

They actually built it so that their deity could then indwell in that ziggurat.

And they would then worship that deity. Why would they build that building?

Because there was something they were receiving from that spirit. And so these people at Ephesus have experienced through this.

Don't you think that that would continue to influence you in your Christian life? Particularly before you know any better?

Because remember, they're the first ones getting this letter. They didn't have this letter from the

Apostle Paul warning them to not get drunk and to be filled with the spirit.

They may have understood some principles but the scriptures had not yet been completely written and given.

This was coming to them as they were growing in the faith. Paul has told them to understand what the will of the

Lord is and then he has to inform them of how that is not done.

Right? How knowing the will of the Lord is not done in case they are tempted to default to what they've always known.

Drunkenness. That's how the gods speak to us. You see, there's a deeper context going on here, isn't there?

Because it does seem arbitrary that he would pick drunkenness in this text when he's talking about the will of the

Lord when we're reading it in our context. Well then that's just moral like I don't get drunk. Like that's the context.

But it's more than that. It's something deeper because he wants to take our minds and then have them renewed by the word of God as to how we perceive the will of God and to not carry our previous experience to the table in how we know the will of God.

We're all guilty of it. And we must guard ourselves from this.

So when you read this text it says, do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery. You can actually place almost any element of what has influenced you in the past as to how you perceive the will of God into that and declare wastefulness.

But be filled with the Spirit. You see, even more than that warning them with this negative command helps give them this great picture of what they are to do when he says there at the second part of verse 18 but be filled with the

Spirit. Do not be drunk with wine is to be filled with wine is to be dominated by wine.

Make no mistake you drink too much it is your controlling entity.

And then whatever else spiritually wants to then come in and be an influence is capable.

This is wasteful. It's the unfruitful works of darkness. It's walking in darkness.

So in contrast walking in light is to be filled with the Spirit. And if you notice that Spirit is capitalized.

What does that mean, Saint? The Holy Spirit, right? We can see this word pneuma in scripture and we can say well, it's the

Spirit of this world or it's my spirit or whatever else but oh, when it's capitalized it's very intentionally about the third person of the

Godhead the Holy Spirit. And so as Paul says this this leads to a lot of confusion about what

Paul is saying here. A lot of people come to this text and they're not quite sure what this means and here's why.

Paul had already told us back in chapter 1 that we if we're in Christ we're sealed.

We're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit meaning he indwells in us, right?

That he is the guarantee of the inheritance is what he says.

That inheritance that we've been granted through adoption brought in by the blood of Christ being purchased by that finished work and we have been we've been guaranteed this inheritance with him all the way up until he says we acquire possession of that inheritance.

There's no break in between. You've been sealed. You've been indwelt.

The Spirit is already there. You see where the confusion starts to lie? I'll further that. Paul is pointing to what

Jesus has already said over in John 14. In John 14 verses 16 and 17 this is

Jesus and before he leaves he's telling the disciples I'm going to be leaving he says and I will ask the

Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.

Guaranteed, right? He says even the Spirit the Holy Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him or knows him you know him and for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Those of us who are in Christ who believe that that he lived the life that we could not live that he perfectly fulfilled the law of God and that he died and the death that you and I deserve taking our place under the very wrath of God and then rose from the grave defeating death and purchasing victory we are unequivocally irreversibly sealed.

Make no mistake you hold tightly to that, right? As Paul declares in Romans 8 he says you are not in the flesh but in the

Spirit if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. So if the

Holy Spirit is already within us and he never leaves us and here

Paul is telling us to be filled with the Spirit then what is he talking about? What's Paul getting at here?

Is he referring to some second blessing some extra outpouring of the Spirit? Is he saying that that the sealing of the

Spirit is not enough and that some of us can have more of it than others? Because that sure seems to go against the unity of the

Spirit that Paul has been pointing to throughout this whole letter, isn't it? All of us have the very same

Spirit within us, unified there are those who would teach such things that you need more leading them to feel lesser than if they don't show some outward evidence of extra outpouring of the

Spirit this is godless and thoroughly unbiblical Do not fall prey to those ravenous wolves.

Those who teach such things, make no mistake they are ravenous wolves or they're just blatantly ignorant of Scripture either way, don't listen to them

They use verses like this out of context but to help us better understand the context, we must look at the grammatical structure, right?

We've already looked at the historical now we must look at the grammatical structure Notice at the beginning of verse 18, he says

Do not get drunk You see this, this is in an active sense

Do not You, don't go get drunk Your action but here here in the second part of verse 18 he says well we have it translated be filled, this is a single word in the

Greek and it's in the passive voice you may not understand grammar very well but you can you can probably figure out what that means it's in the passive voice means it's passive on our end it's important to note because it's not something you do the other something you don't do this one is not something you do those false teachers would tell you that you need to do this, you need to do that you need to speak in tongues, you need to sing louder you need to do better, you need to be better and then you will be given this second outpouring more of a feeling more of a feeling of this spirit so that God can really work in your life acting as if Paul said to get filled that you must achieve something here that this feeling is dependent on you well this is the very opposite of what

Paul is saying but not only is it in the passive voice it is something ongoing it's written in the present tense it's in the passive voice, in the present tense as a matter of fact a literal transitional reading of this would probably be more something like be being kept filled be being kept filled another way of saying it would be be being dominated, be being overtaken, that's what the wine does doesn't it dominates you it controls you it takes away all of everything about who you are and your ability to think straight, your ability to function straight and it controls you but this be being dominated, what's

Paul saying here, well remember what he said back in chapter 4 in verse 30 actually flip your page back and look at it or look at chapter 4 verse 30 he says and do not grieve the

Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption do not grieve the

Holy Spirit of God you're not voiding the seal are you when you grieve you are simply grieving the one in whom seals you but notice he doesn't leave it's a guarantee it's still there it's just like what

Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5 he says do not quench the spirit do not quench the spirit and how do we quench him he goes on in that text there he says but test everything you don't want to quench the spirit test everything evaluate everything compare everything hold fast to what is good abstain from every form of evil that's the opposite of quenching the spirit isn't it simply put to being sensitive to his prompting and it's walking in his guidance to not quench the spirit it is being dominated by him controlled by him you see this word filled the same

Greek word that Paul used is used over in Luke chapter 5

Luke chapter 5 if you want to write this down in your notes it's verse 26 so you can understand the word a little bit it says an amazement sees them all speaking of the people gathered around amazement it sees them it grabs them it took hold of them and they glorified

God and were filled with awe they didn't do that did they they didn't conjure up that awe something external dominated and took over and drew them to awe it filled them they didn't fill themselves they were overtaken the greatness and awe of the work of God just as Luke 4 1 says when

Jesus was tempted and Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the

Spirit in the wilderness he was full of the Holy Spirit and he was led by the

Spirit into the wilderness guided we see this truth in our own lives as a matter of fact turn over with me to Galatians chapter 5

Galatians chapter 5 we're going to start looking at verse 16 I want you to see this this same principle being laid out maybe in a little bit more detail by Paul see

Galatians 5 starting in verse 16 I'll give you just a moment more here

I hear pages turning that's good he says but I say and he uses similar language here that he's been using all through Ephesians right all through chapters 4 and 5 we've been seeing this theme to walk to walk to move forward to the pattern of your life by the

Spirit the pattern of your life is to be is to be led is to be guided by the

Holy Spirit who's within you and what does he say he says and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh if you're being filled by the

Spirit if you are walking in the Spirit if you are obeying the Spirit if you are being prompted and dominated by the

Spirit then you will not fall into debauchery or worthlessness wastefulness and drunkenness or all other types of sin you will not gratify those desires of the flesh if you walk by the

Spirit verse 17 for the desires of the flesh they're against the Spirit when you walk in the desires of the flesh you are grieving the very

Spirit that is within you you are quenching his work and his prompting in your heart because you are bringing into the very temple of God godlessness for the desires of the flesh are against the

Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do

I think that goes both ways our flesh wants to sin he holds us from it our spirit wants to obey and walk in it our flesh is fighting against it and when we walk in the

Spirit he's telling us that we are opposed to the flesh verse 18 but here's that word again if you are led if you are led by the

Spirit notice he says walk in the Spirit earlier and now he says now be led by the

Spirit there was an active sense in walking in the Spirit and now there's a passive sense follow be led be prompted be dominated be led but if you are led by the

Spirit you are not under the law you see the law awakens the flesh and then condemns doesn't it that's what the law does the law can only point us to our need it can't redeem us it can't help us it does not have the comforting nature of the very

Holy Spirit the third person of the Godhead within you it can only tear down verse 19 now the works of the flesh oh they're evident and as I read through these

I want to make sure you're not looking at the this list as a list of moral do this and I'll be good with don't do these things and I'll be good with God I want you to see these things as pure enmity against you and more importantly a

Holy God that a Holy God has said these will harm you my child sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity strife jealousy some of us are like man

I've got my I've got my brain under control my eyes aren't wandering and we're totally okay with the fact that we're jealous against our neighbor our brother our sister fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions envy and here's that word drunkenness right this is against the spirit these things are opposed to the spirit these things are not walking in the spirit these things are not being led by the spirit he's not prompting you to them these things orgies and things like these

I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God they are worthless they are unfruitful works of darkness that will destroy you and all image bears around you and that's not the spirit verse 22 all but the fruit of the spirit you want to know if you're being led by the spirit you don't know if you're walking in the spirit you don't know if the spirit is dominating you are these things present because the fruit of the spirit will be present and I want you to pay special attention there to fruit it's not in the plural this is a whole package can't take bits and pieces it's the whole what is it love what is love

Christ is exemplified love it's sacrificial love right true love the love agape love of God joy joy unspeakable has nothing to do with circumstances right as Paul said in Philippians I have learned to be content in all circumstances peace peace is not as we've said before I want to remind you peace in scripture is not the absence of conflict it is the very overwhelming calmness and order of God true peace even in conflict patience

I struggle with that one don't you kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self control you see against such things there is no law

God doesn't have to police these things with his law because these are holy and good and right as he is prescribed because they flow from him verse 24 and those who belong to Christ Jesus all have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires when

Christ has become your Lord and Savior when you've seen the glory of Christ you do not long for the flesh for things do you you want peace you want joy you want love you want righteousness you want goodness and you're you're to be led you're to be dominated by the spirit into those things because the flesh is still present to draw you into the opposing side he says there in verse 25 and we'll jump out of this text he says if we right this this

Jesus Christ he is ours he is ours if we live by the spirit let us also keep in step with the spirit if we live by the spirit let us also keep in step with the spirit you're being led by the spirit aren't you you're being dominated by the spirit that was in the passive it's not in the active that's not your job but you are to keep being led by the spirit be being kept be being filled it's not a be better do better it's not a well as long as I don't go get drunk then

I'm filled with the spirit it doesn't work like that it's you're not wanting to be drunk because you're walking in the spirit because you're filled by the spirit you do not long for those things any longer you fight them you crush them at every turn you mortify the flesh the will of the lord is to keep in step with the spirit that we are continually being filled dominated and controlled living in and through the spirit continually being sanctified what is that set apart right and conformed more and more into the image of our glorious lord and savior

Jesus Christ that's what I long for is it not for you our lord and savior was not a drunk they accused him of it because he enjoyed wine with the disciples and with other people but he was by no means ever once even remotely close to drunk

I want to be like him he was not a glutton he was not a reviler he was good perfect in every way and when

I am walking in the spirit when I be being filled by the spirit oh

I now walk in the very same power that rose that Jesus from the dead you get that that very same power within you that fills you he is filling you and molding you is dominating you you do not belong to yourself any longer and we're actually going to talk about that in greater detail next week

I think we're not going to be able to continue on I wanted to get through verse 21 but that's not going to happen next week we're going to look at three evidences of that that are present really within our lives when we are truly being filled by the spirit but let me leave you with this if Christ has taken the wrath of the father on your behalf that's what he did on the cross isn't it if he's taken the wrath of the father for you the one who knew no sin became sin for you took your sin if you've seen the glory of God through that second person of the godhead if you've turned from your sins and believed on him then make no mistake you have become his righteousness it's a great exchange he became sin you became his righteousness he gave it to you he took from you and he gave and as I pointed to before the guarantee of that is the third person of the godhead in you the holy spirit and so when we read things like this in scripture imperatives commands commanding us what to do in scripture don't get drunk but be being filled with the holy spirit we should never approach them or perceive them as do this or else it doesn't work like that that's not

God God's not saying do this or else you want me to keep loving you then you better do this that's not

God no we are already perfectly loved if you're in Christ if you've seen the glory of the risen savior you are perfectly loved by God because Christ is perfectly loved and we are in him amen if you become numb to that I know

I say it all the time every Sunday because I have to remind myself every single day do not become numb to that you are perfectly loved in Christ even when you fall prey to the flesh even when you fall prey to sin we should see this as because he loves me

I should do this because he loves me you see the difference do you see the difference do this and I'll love you or do this because I love you there's a big difference there do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery it's wastefulness it's harmful it's destructive instead be filled be dominated be led by the spirit who seals you for the day of glory that God has predestined us for walking under the influence of the spirit of God well in light of that I say we go to the table how about you do y 'all want to see a physical representation of the sacrifice of our great savior the blood shed for us and the body given for us that then brings us into this glorious state of being being filled that we can walk in him that we can walk in his love then we come to this table with no condemnation and I would give a warning as I do every single week do not come to this table in an unworthy manner if this week has been dominated in your life by not be being filled by the spirit not walking in the spirit but then fulfilling the flesh time and time again maybe it's drunkenness maybe you drink too much maybe it's lust maybe it's pornography right maybe it's covetousness has dominated you this week maybe the flesh has driven you to not rest in Christ maybe the flesh has distracted you from being being filled dominated by the holy spirit within you and you have grieved him you have quenched the spirit in your life quite possibly if that's the case

I'm going to ask you to do one of two things the first that I think is primary and the one that I think you should do bow your head to the heavenly father right now confess your sin acknowledge it as sin knowing that you're not making penance as you confess your sin to him

I'm struggling with this myself we do this all the time we're like oh heavenly father I fell prey to sin just forgive me, forgive me, forgetting why

I'm already forgiven instead of coming and going oh lord I confess my sin before you and I rest in the fact that my savior paid for it and I'm already forgiven help me to walk in that that is

Christian repentance there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus but if you were in that before you come to this table don't come in an unworthy manner lay that at the foot of the cross and remember oh my savior paid for it now walk in the spirit and if you can't do that if you refuse to lay that down I ask you don't come to the table go get things right with a brother go get things right with a sister bend the knee to the lord and if you're not willing to do that then maybe you might want to come talk to me or pastor

Jeremiah or any other brother or sister in this room because because there's a heart issue and you might not be in the spirit you might not be in Christ and we can have that conversation sometimes we go through long periods where we we wallow in the flesh don't we but we walk together we confess our sins one to another so I pray that God would be honored in this time if you're not familiar how we do this we come around the outside there's a table over here where pastor

Jeremiah will be come around the outside over here a table over here I think as we do this maybe the back pews if you could come to this side we're a little lopsided maybe the back row kind of come over here because we get a little backed up on this side and a few over here but you can grab the wine and the bread there is a few grape juice on the back side if conscience sake bothers you on that and you can grab those but go back to your seats you can pray individually you can pray as a family you can pray as a group you can go to another brother or sister and ask hey can

I pray with you I want to partake with you y 'all partake together and then we'll come back together and sing this is how this works but pastor

Jeremiah and myself will be up here you're not bothering us if you want to pray with us you are welcome to come and do that we would love to do that so let's pray now that God would be honored in our time of the

Lord's supper oh dear heavenly Father Lord help us to help us to be being filled by the spirit even now

Lord as we as we prepare to go to this great table this ordinance that you have given to the church

God I pray that you would search our hearts God I pray that it would be a moment of great worship to our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that his name would be glorified and magnified in this Lord help us not to rest in our own merits in our own flesh in our own abilities in our own righteousness because we have none help us to rest in the righteousness of Christ and as we partake of this wine that represents the perfect spotless blood of Jesus Christ as we partake of this unleavened bread that is a symbol of the perfect spotless sinless flesh of Jesus Christ I pray that we would remember that sacrifice and we would rest and we would just lay our wretched flesh in sin that still battles us at the foot of the cross and declare

I am his forevermore I rest in you you are my righteousness you are my everything and now my identity everything about me is gone

Nathan is gone only Christ Christ be magnified Father worship in my heart worship in our hearts let this not become just just habit that we come and we partake but Lord help us to be a worship filled spirit filled memorial that we are be being filled by the spirit as we partake be honored in it in Christ's name