This was a guest speaker (Doug Sargeant), and I must admit I got lost a few times. But did I get anything out of it? A little, I guess…

Your Supernaturally Natural Life (Part 1)

Ephesians 5:18-21 [show] [18]And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, [19]addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, [20]giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, [21]submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (ESV)

• in book of Ephesians, Ch1-3, 4-5, 6-end talks about the wealth, victory and warfare of the Christian walk (respectively)
• Question: what is the one thing apart from which it is impossible to live the Christian life?
• “The glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple.” 1 Kings 8:10-11 [show] [10]And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, [11]so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. (ESV)
  
  • Does the glory of the Lord fill your temple? Or are you filled with cares of the world?
  • the physical temple is now become flesh & blood
• 1 Cor 6:19,20 [show] [19]Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, (ESV) [20]for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (ESV)
  ; 1 Cor 3:16,17 [show] [16]Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? (ESV) [17]If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. (ESV)
  
• Being filled with the Spirit is absolutely essential to living the Christian life. Attempt to live the Christian life by any other means and it will end up in fleshly legalism and the desire to control others.

Just what is the Spirit-filled life?

1. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
   • “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.” Eph 5:18 (NLT)
   • excess: Greek word means opposite of salvation; drunkenness leads to destruction of one’s character
   • “drunk with wine” vs. “filled with the Spirit”
     • Similarities:
       1. the person is under a power outside himself; spirits (liquor) vs the Spirit
       2. the person is fervent (Acts 2:13 [show] [13]But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine." (ESV)
          )
       3. the person’s walk is affected — both physically and morally
     • Contrasts:
       1. in drunkenness, there is dissipation and debauchery. The Spirit’s filling  produces fruitfulness
       2. in drunkenness, there is loss of self-control. But the “fruit of the Spirit is self-control” (Gal 5:23 [show] [23]gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (ESV)
          )
     • physical vs Spiritual ecstasy
2. What Is The Means by which I can be filled with Holy Spirit?
   • The Holy Spirit’s ministries to believers are once-for-all sovereign acts of God realized at the moment a person is saved and are in no way dependent on us
   • Irreversible and irrevocable:
     • indwelling (John 14:16 [show] [16]And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, (ESV)
       )
     • baptism (1 Cor. 12:13 [show] [13]For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (ESV)
       )
     • sealing (Eph 1:13 [show] [13]In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, (ESV)
       )
     • Guarantee (Eph 1:14 [show] [14]who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (ESV)
       )
     • Gifts (Rom 12:6 [show] [6]Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; (ESV)
       )
     • Anointing (1 John 2:27 [show] [27]But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie--just as it has taught you, abide in him. (ESV)
       )
   • filling of Spirit is CONDITIONAL & NOT permanent
   • “Be constantly, moment by moment, being controller by the Spirit” is…
     • command
     • continuous action
     • present tense
     • plural in number; for everyone to enjoy
     • passive voice; something you allow God to do through you for you
     • instrumental case
   • “Being filled” is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit, but He only works through our willing submission. it is the most important command for a believer to obey
     • can’t obey any other command when you break this one
     • will only live in spiritual detriment, death, etc.
   • “Fill” [pleroo] examples:
     • wind filling sail; carry along
     • preserving meat with salt; permeation
     • having total fear in heart; total control
       • “filling” isn’t like filling heart as a cup with H2O…
     • Great Commission & Great Mission are important BUT can’t be fulfilled without being filled
     • John 16:6 [show] [6]But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. (ESV)
       ; Luke 5:26 [show] [26]And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen extraordinary things today." (ESV)
       , Luke 6:11 [show] [11]But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. (ESV)
       , Acts 6:5 [show] [5]And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. (ESV)
       , Acts 5:3 [show] [3]But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? (ESV)
       
       • To be so permeated by the Holy Spirit as to be under His total control and carried along by Him
   • The Wilderness Temptation (Luke 4:1,14 [show] And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness (ESV) [14]And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. (ESV)
     )
     • Jesus…being full of the Holy Spirit…was led by the Spirit…returned in the power of the Spirit.
     • We will never experience the power of the Spirit upon our lives until we are first filled/controlled by the Holy Spirit who leads us into victory over temptation and sin, and consequently empower us for service
     • It was not the methodology of the early church that caused it to grow. It was the spiritual power that overflowed from lives of those submitting to the power of the Holy Spirit
       • commitment vs submission
         • retains some control vs one equal voluntarily giving self to another equal to glorify God
   • be controlled by Spirit for power or be controlled by flesh
   • constant tug of war is NORMAL; when we are obedient to Holy Spirit we will not worry about the worry of world system
   • in Genesis “desire” means to seek total control of another (ie. Eve over Adam, Adam over Eve)
     • to see people want full control is to see absence of Holy Spirit