How to Check And See If You Are Filled with God’s
Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:18
Pastor
Craig Ledbetter
Sept 28,
2014 PM
Bible
Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I.
Introduction (Ephesians 5:18)
A.
These have been some very practical lessons on living the Christian life
B.
We have learned about
1.
Memorizing and meditating on Scripture
2.
Personalising Scripture as we read it
3.
Walking in the Spirit
4.
And now, learning about being FILLED with God’s Holy Spirit
C.
The Christian life is SPIRITUAL as much as it is PHYSICAL
D.
And if you and I are not right SPIRITUALLY, nothing we do in the flesh
will amount to anything
II.
Background
A.
You GET
the Holy Spirit at Salvation
1.
You received Christ Himself (John 1:10-12)
2.
God the Father moved into you, spiritually (John
14:23)
3.
And the Holy Spirit came along too (John 14:17)
B.
You CANNOT
Lose the Holy Spirit’s Presence – not in total
1.
The Holy Spirit lives permanently in every Christian.
a.
Rom 8:9 “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he
is none of his”
b.
Gal. 3:2,3 “Received ye the Spirit by the works of
the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the
Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
c.
Gal 4:6,7 “And because ye are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Wherefore thou art no more a servant (that can be dismissed, see Matt
25:30), but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
d.
Eph 1:13,14 “after that ye believed, ye were
sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise, Which is the earnest (only the BEGINNING) of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession (which is US)”
2.
Our good works could not earn His grace before we
were saved, and neither can our good works earn us His grace now that we are
saved (Romans 4:1-5; 5:1-11). If our good works could not save, and cannot
presently save us, then neither can our struggles with the flesh condemn us to
hell. If Jesus died for us when were yet enemies of God, how much more will He
now work with us after we have become born again (Romans 5:8-11)?
C.
Why His
Presence is Important
1.
Of the two dozen vital reasons for the presence of
the Holy Spirit in your life (i.e., he restrains sin, etc), these four are
pretty important!
2.
He seals you – secures you for heaven! Without Him
you have no assurance, no security
a.
King Saul lost the Holy Spirit
b.
King David worried about losing Him
c.
No Christian loses Him now! We are sealed until
pick-up day!
3.
He helps you pray – don’t forget just how important
HE is to your and my praying! Without Him, our prayers are dead!!!
4.
He strengthens you (Eph 3:16,17)
5.
And He FILLS you so that you can walk with God in
this world – so that you can be holy!
D.
Amazingly, He wants to FILL us! (Eph 5:18)
1.
He didn’t want to just save me, He wants to FILL all of me with ALL of Him
that I can hold!
2.
It means to occupy the whole of me
a.
Every minute of time
b.
Every remembrance of mine
c.
Every dark closet I hold
d.
Every past sorrow untold
e.
God’s Holy Spirit wants to fill and bring light and life into!
3.
To furnish me – as in furnish a house, with every possible spiritual
blessing of God
4.
To inflate (fill) me because without Him, I am empty and vain
5.
To make me holy (1Peter 1:15,16)
a.
Not boring, unable to do anything fun
b.
But to have the joy of the Lord in my life (John 10:10)
E.
But you
CAN LIMIT His work in your life, and limit His fullness in your life (Psalm
78:41). There is no Calvinism in the Bible!
F.
How?
1.
By not caring about HIS feelings – grieving
(Gen 6:6; 18:20; Eph 4:30)
a.
You and I worry about everyone else’s feelings
b.
And we worry about how WE are feeling – being
offended!
c.
A Christian worries about offending the Holy Spirit
in their life!
d.
Our bad ATTITUDES upset Him, because He is right in
the middle of what we are feeling and thinking! (Isaiah 63:10; Eph 4:31,32)
1)
ANY bitterness grieves Him
2)
ANY wrath grieves Him
3)
ANY anger grieves Him
4)
ANY clamour grieves Him
5)
ANY evil speaking grieves Him
6)
ANY malice grieves Him
7)
So, ALL must be constantly put away from you –
mortified, disowned, hated, rejected
8)
That is IF you want to be filled with God’s Holy
Spirit!
e.
So, WHY be kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you? So that
you can be FULL of Christ’s spirit!
2.
By not yielding to His tugging to humble yourself
(John 16:8; Act 7:51)
a.
When He calls you to DO something (Acts 13:2) – and
you won’t yield
b.
When He tries to STOP you from doing something (Acts
16:6) – and yet you push on
3.
By not honouring and worshipping Jesus
(John
16:13,14)
a.
Start worshipping a FEELING
b.
An idol
c.
People
d.
Yourself and what YOU want
4.
By abusing your body
(1Cor 6:19,20). If you are born again, your body is OWNED by God, and is a place
of worship and holiness – not for abuse with DRUGS or HARLOTS
G.
Next Week,
How to Test to see if you are FULL of Him, or FULL of YOURSELF!
III.
Conclusion – Let’s Review…
A.
You GET
the Holy Spirit at Salvation
B.
You CANNOT
Lose the Holy Spirit’s Presence – not in total
C.
His
Presence is VERY Important
D.
Amazingly, He wants to FILL us! (Eph 5:18)
E.
But you
CAN LIMIT His work in your life, and limit His fullness in your life. How?
1.
By not caring about HIS feelings – grieving
Him
2.
By not yielding to His tugging to humble yourself
3.
By not honouring and worshipping Jesus
4.
By abusing your body