“Filled with the Spirit”

Mark 9:17 & Ephesians 5:18

1. in last week’s Jesus story Jesus healed a boy with an evil spirit. The boy’s father brought his son to Jesus, Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit. These words - possessed by a spirit – have been echoing through my mind for the last 10 days.

2. they open up for us the unseen world that surrounds us on all sides. The world of evil spirits, demons, Satan; the world of darkness, violence, oppression.

3. this unseen world takes in the things of God as well. The world of the Holy Spirit & angels; the world of freedom, deliverance, healing.

4. I want to talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit today. The absolute opposite of being possessed by a spirit.

Father Raniero Cantalamessa
1. this past February Asbury Theological Seminary invited Father Raniero Cantalamessa to give their Beeson Preaching Lectures. Father Raniero is the preacher to the papal household, appointed in 1980. He preached to Pope John Paul II & now Pope Benedict XVI.

2. in his personal testimony Father Raniero shares that the biggest turning point in his life occurred After he had earned 2 doctorate degrees. After he had established himself as the distinguished professor of the history of early Christianity at the Catholic University in Milan. After he had written a number of scholarly books.

3. in 1977 he was 43 years old, on a 3 month trip to the States. He attended an ecumenical, charismatic gathering of 40,000 people in Kansas City. Here he experienced the presence & power of the Holy Spirit as never before.

4. after Kansas City he traveled to a retreat house in New Jersey for a series of talks on the Trinity. He listened. He was convicted of the sin in his life. He confessed and repented. For the 1st time in his life he made Jesus his personal Lord. His friends laid hands on him & prayed that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit. And he was.

5. 4 things began to immediately change in his life:
§ the Bible came alive for him, it became the living Word of God
§ he was attracted to prayer like he had never experienced before
§ he newly understood that Jesus was his personal Lord and the master over all of his life
§ he began to feel a unity with all of God’s people & all of the church – Catholic, Protestant & Orthodox

6. after 3 months he returned home to Italy. His colleagues noticed a change. They began to say, we sent Saul to America & America sent Paul back to us! Shortly after his experience with the Holy Spirit Pope John Paul II appointed him to the office of papal preacher.

7. I’ve listened to Father Raniero’s testimony 2xs. It makes me long for more of God in my life, our church life. We need the Holy Spirit!

8. Ephesians 5:18 contains 2 commands: do not get drunk AND be filled with the Spirit. Next comes 5 expressions of being filled with the Holy Spirit. They encompass worship & relationships.



do not get drunk
1. Scripture forbids drunkenness. Not the moderate use of alcohol but the abuse of it. The reasons are obvious. Alcohol is a depressant. It slows down the functions of the central nervous system. Too much alcohol alters our perceptions & decision-making abilities. It slows down our reflexes & blocks some messages from actually reaching the brain.

2. wisdom is called for. Paul’s point is that we as Christ-followers are not to be controlled by it. Or, for that matter, by any substance that alters our behavior.

be filled with the Spirit
1. God’s will is for all of us to be filled with his Spirit. If alcohol is a depressant, the Spirit is a stimulant. If coming under the influence of alcohol can lead to debauchery (wasteful living, loss of direction), being filled with the Spirit can lead to a fruitful and God-honoring life.

2. the Greek verb be filled has 4 qualities:
§ present tense = repeatable, on-going experience NOT a one-time thing – keep being filled with the Spirit
§ imperative mood = this is a command from God; obedience expected
§ plural in number = for everyone NOT just a select few
§ passive voice = something that is done for us / to us; we can’t fill ourselves with the Spirit; only God can fill us BUT we have to be willing to be filled

3. the Holy Spirit is both the supplier & the supplied. The Giver & the Gift. But we are not passive participants. Ours is to give up control of our lives to the Spirit.

4. before being filled with the Spirit Father Raniero was struggling – was he willing to turn everything in his life over to Christ, especially his academic career? He was given a “picture” of his life – he was a man on a chariot holding the reins of the horses, he was in control. Jesus came to him & gently said, “do you want to give me the reins of your life?” His first reaction was panic. But then he surrendered his life fully & totally to Jesus and made him Lord.

5. one of you emailed me this week, being filled with the
Spirit is a continual decision of absolute surrender to the Lordship of Christ ("Thy Kingdom come") and the will of God for our lives. It is "all In," all the time. It is also radically countercultural - both to the secular culture AND the religious culture of our day.

6. when we accept Christ we receive the Holy Spirit. He indwells us. We are sealed in him. If this is so, than why are we commanded to be filled? Michael Cassidy says, You have the Spirit, but does the Spirit have you? You have taken him into your life, but you must now allow him to fill you – in the sense of releasing yourself so that he can occupy & control every area, every corner, of your being.

7. as a Christ-follower you have the Holy Spirit but does the Holy Spirit have all of you?

8. 5 expressions of being filled with the Spirit…

1. speaking to one another
1. when the church gathers to worship we speak to one another as we sing. We use psalms (Old Testament psalms), hymns (New Testament songs) & spiritual songs (utterances of the Holy Spirit given in worship).

2. there is a horizontal element to worship. Teaching & encouragement occur as we sing songs of praise.

2. sing and 3. make music to the Lord
1. these both mean the same thing – singing – using our vocal chords to praise God. Singing & the Holy Spirit go hand-in-hand. Filled with the Spirit, there’s no way we can keep our mouths shut.

2. notice where our singing originates – in your heart. Heart here means the controlling center of our lives. This goes back to Lordship. I don’t believe we can truly worship God unless we have totally surrendered our lives to him. Then we can sing with our whole being.

3. and who do we sing to? To the Lord. Evelyn Underhill, God alone matters. God alone Is – creation only matters because of Him. Worship, then, at every level always means God & the priority of God. Ultimately our worship is offered up to God. This is something we do for him & to him. Worship is about what we give to God.

4. giving thanks
1. gratitude comes next. Spirit-filled people are thankful people. We give thanks to God our Father. We give thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

5. submit to one another
1. now we come to relationships. How we treat each other. How we live together. Spirit-filled people submit to one another.

2. the word is used of soldiers to their superior, of slaves to their masters. Of me to you & you to me. To submit is to give up our rights, give up our will. It is to put the other person first & serve them, honor them.

3. at this point in our Bibles there’s a paragraph break. There shouldn’t be. The marriage teaching is a part of Paul’s teaching on being filled with the Spirit.

4. 5:22 – wives submit to your husbands. There is no verb submit in this verse in the Greek. The verb has to be supplied from 5:21. Submission marks the lives of those who are filled with the Spirit. They submit to one another

5. more specifically, wives submit to their husbands & husbands love their wives. Marital submission & love are to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

6. submission is offered in the Spirit out of reverence for Christ – literally in the fear of Christ. We live lives of submission by the Spirit in order to please Jesus.

Wrap-up
1. Lordship. The question all of us have to ask & answer daily is – is Jesus Lord of my life? Who’s holding the reins?

2. prayer. Prayer is how we do business with God. We work out the business of Lordship & the filling of the Spirit in prayer. First Friday 24 hrs This Friday. What better time!

3. community. Be filled with the Spirit is a command given to the whole church, all of us, everyone. We need to journey with others. This is not a time for Lone Ranger faith. Journey is sharing, confession, prayer, laying on of hands.