Class Lesson July 15, 2012

Hey Gang,

We continue in our series this week on the Holy Spirit and how He plays an active role in our salvation and continues to work in and through us to help us live out that salvation.

1. Our first lesson showed us that we can live free from the guilt and bondage of sin through the Holy Spirit – we have been forgiven.

2. Our second lesson last week introduced us to the Jekyll and Hyde natures that we all have but that through the Holy Spirit, we can live victoriously over the sinful habits we face each day.

3. This week we look at how the Holy Spirit fills us and empowers us to serve others and to pray. We have the choice to walk each day in the power of the Holy Spirit – to live empowered. We will see in this video that this power is as close as the very breath we take and that most of us only access 10 to 20% of this energy.

Question: How can we tap into God’s power? 

Answer: By taking off your shoes, and learning how to breathe from the stomach and not the chest. It's called Nooma - what?

Breathe - Rob Bell

Click Here to Watch

Are we standing on Holy ground all the time?

Job 33:4 "The Spirit of God hath made me and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life."

Hebrew name for breathing is Ruach and the Greek name is Nooma - both words are the same for Spirit. Physical breath is actually a picture of a deeper reality. Are we standing on Holy ground all the time? Maybe it depends on how you are breathing. 

Today we are going to look at what being filled by the Spirit means and then size up two ways He empowers us – to serve and to pray.

I. BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT – EPHESIANS 5:17-18
17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit:


When talking about the Holy Spirit, it’s important to remember that at the moment a person accepts Christ as Savior, he or she is baptized with the Holy Spirit. It is a onetime experience. Paul’s “be filled by the Spirit” is a verb tense that means that this filling is continual. We are filled with the Holy Spirit as a day-by-day experience like breathing. This “filling” is something that God does for us, and we can either accept it or reject it. When we are being filled by the Holy Spirit, then we are allowing ourselves to be under God’s control.



What is foolish according to these verses?

• Being foolish is not doing what God’s will is. We can’t say we don’t understand because God has revealed His will in the Bible and through His Spirit.
• We often think of sin as murder or stealing or some overt act. Though these certainly are sin, ignoring God and doing what we want is also sin. This foolishness causes much pain for us and those who know us. When have you caused God great pain by ignoring Him?

Why did Paul warn against becoming drunk with wine?

• Paul warned against being drunk with wine; instead, he said for believers to be filled with the Spirit. He warned that drunkenness leads to sins of many kinds, but that being filled with the Spirit leads to goodness of all kinds.
• The Bible condemns drunkenness, but offers mercy to drunkards when they turn to Christ. Drunkenness is often associated with a life of dissipation or self indulgence.

The contrast with drunkenness is the key here. What do people go to alcohol for?

• For a happy hour. We all want to be happy, but there is a problem: "The days are evil." Notice the logic of verses 16–18: The days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk . . . but be filled with the Spirit. Where do you turn when the days are evil, when you are frightened or discouraged or depressed or anxious? Paul pleads with us: "Don't turn to alcohol; turn to the Spirit. Anything of value that alcohol can bring you, God the Holy Spirit can bring more." There are people who can't begin to whistle a happy tune or sing a song at work because they are so tense and anxious about life. But later in the evening at the tavern with a few drinks under their belt they can put their arms around each other and sing and laugh. All of us long to be carefree, uninhibited, and happy. And the mounting tragedy of our own day, as in Paul's, is that increasing numbers of people (even Christians) believe that the only way they can find this child-like freedom is by drugging themselves with alcohol or other mind-benders. Such behavior dishonors God and so Paul says: There is a better way to cope with the evil days—be filled with the Spirit, stay filled with the Spirit. And you will know unmatched joy that sings and makes melody to the Lord.

Comparison of the filling: A comparison is made in Ephesians 5:18 between getting drunk and being filled with the Spirit. Note the similar comparison in Luke 1:15 and Acts 2:4, 13. "Do not be under the influence of alcoholic spirits, but be under the influence of the Holy Spirit."



Concept of the filling: The basic concept of "filling" in Ephesians 5:18 is that of control. "Do not be controlled (captivated, motivated, activated) by the alcoholic spirits, but be controlled (captivated, motivated, activated) by the Holy Spirit.



Content of the filling: The Holy Spirit is both the supplier and the substance supplied; the Giver and the Gift. The filling of the Holy Spirit is not our having more of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit having more of us!



How would you define Holy Spirit power according to these two verses?

• The power of knowing what God wants.
• Doing what God wants is even more powerful. The Spirit helps with both.

How can you tell if someone is filled with the Spirit? What will you see and not see?

• Filling relates to the control of the Holy Spirit. A believer who is filled with the Spirit submits his or her life to the leadership and control of the Spirit.
• Before coming to Christ, the Ephesians worshiped many false gods, including Baccus-the god of wine. Their worship rituals would have included drunkenness. Paul emphasized a different kind of control found in their new relationship with God. Instead of finding the will of a deity by losing control, they would find God’s will by yielding control.
• The Holy Spirit comes into a person’s life when the person responds to the Spirit’s conviction of sins. The Spirit fills a person’s life when a person is totally surrendered to God. Every good thing in our lives is the work of God’s Spirit.

How does one become filled with the Holy Spirit?

• Each believer receives the Spirit at conversion, but we need daily to allow Him to fill us and to guide us. Many people who were once slaves of alcohol have become Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote the Corinthians that persistent drunkards will miss the kingdom of God, but he reminded them that some of them once were drunkards, but in Christ they are new people (1 Cor. 6:9-11). The secret to living a new life is allowing the Spirit to fill you day by day.
• Christians are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event but a daily experience.

In a crime scene, detectives look for evidence. It could be a shell casing, a piece of fiber, a trace of blood, a strand of hair, or a footprint. If detectives looked for evidence of the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives, what evidence would they seek?

• Would it be words of praise and thanksgiving? Or would it be squabbling and backbiting?
• Would it be pride or humility? Rudeness or respect? Anger or peace? Gossip or encouragement? Service or control? 

II. SERVE OTHERS IN THE SPIRIT – EPHESIANS 5:19-21

19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.


These first Christians believed very passionately that the world was not made better through military power and political coercion. The gospel they were living had nothing to do with using political force to force people to live according to your laws. For them, this gospel was about serving the world, especially those on the underside of the Empire. For them, it was about serving, not ruling.



Do you think people today generally perceive Christians as people who serve or as people who want to be served?





2 Consequences of the filling:

A. Character. The "fruit of the Spirit" is the character of Christ - Gal. 5:22, 23 (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control)

B. Ministry. The "gifts of the Spirit" are but the empowerment by which the Life of Jesus Christ overflows in ministry unto others

• Rom. 12:3-8 use our gifts for God's service.
• I Cor. 12:4-31 all Christians have faith. Some however, have the Spiritual Gift of Faith, which is an unusual measure of trust in the Holy Spirit's power.

What does speaking, singing/making music, giving thanks, and submitting to one another have to do with the Holy Spirit?

• Context of the filling: The context of the admonition of Ephesians 5:18 has to do with practical behavior. When “filled with the Spirit" a Christian will have a song in his/her heart (19), a thankful attitude (20) and deference toward others (21). It will affect the relationships of husband and wife (22-33), parent and child (6:1-4) and employer and employee (6:5-9).
• Each of these terms helps define what it means to be filled by the Spirit (v. 18). An individual controlled by the Spirit will serve and encourage others in and outside church.
• When we think of being filled with the Spirit for service in and through the church, we must remember the gifts of the Spirit. Each believer is given one or more spiritual gifts. These gifts are the work of the one Spirit.

What do you think it means to live beyond ourselves?

• Christians are called to live beyond themselves by living in obedience to God for the good of others. Ephesians 5:17-21 shows this truth by tying the call to be filled with the Spirit to joyful worship and by living for others, not for self.
• The Spirit enables believers to make joyful music to the Lord in worship. He also empowers believers to live an unselfish lifestyle of Christ.
• It means to practice HUMILITY! Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ - humility. The Holy Spirit leads us to be humble toward one another. Jesus was humble to the Father, and the Holy Spirit is humble to Christ. You cannot live in Christlikeness without allowing Christ to teach you to be humble. Yet, humility is the most difficult spiritual grace people struggle with. Humility is also the foundational grace for all other spiritual graces. You will not be submissive to any other person without learning humility from the Spirit. The flesh wants to be filled with pride. It wants recognition and status. Even when it comes to being a spiritual person, the fleshly soul will boast of being spiritual. Men will often want to move on to verse 22, in which wives are told to submit to their husbands. Verse 22 is actually the first of several applications Paul makes on being submissive. Don’t pass by too quickly on verse 21. You cannot walk in the Spirit if you are unwilling to be submissive to others in the body, especially those who are given spiritual authority to guide you in God’s truths. Practicing submissiveness reverences Christ because it acknowledges His authority over the church. You are in the church because Jesus died for your sins. Jesus submitted to suffering to save you. Most who want to rule it over others are unwilling to be submissive because they are unwilling to suffer any loss to their status to help redeem others. Submissiveness is the life of the cross.

We hear all the time about the power of prayer. Well, Paul tells us in Ephesians and Romans that if you really want power then pray in the Spirit.

III. STAY IN TOUCH WITH GOD – EPHESIANS 6:18; ROMANS 8:26-27

18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

……………………………

26 In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. 27 And He who searches the hearts knows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.








According to Ephesians 6:18, what are some characteristics of powerful prayer?

• Paul wrote this in the context of describing the spiritual armor God provides for believers. Prayer pairs with all parts of the armor. We don’t tack on prayer; it’s the glue that holds everything together. We talk with God while doing the simplest things such as chores at night or driving to work. We talk with Him in the midst of conversations.
• We do not control the Spirit of God; He controls us. That is, He wants to direct our lives. Thus He calls us to be surrendered to Him and filled with His Spirit.
• He gives special help in times of prayer. Only the fullness of the Spirit can help us pray as we should.

What are some things you do almost every day without really thinking about them? How did you develop those habits? How can talking with God become like that?

• Breathing
• Habits (good and bad) happen with repetition until we become comfortable and like doing them.
• Prayer is the result of the Spirit’s work in the life of the believer.

Prayer of Commitment

Dear Father, may Your Spirit’s power empower me to do Your will. Amen

Be in prayer this week as we continue in this powerful series on the Holy Spirit. 

Hope to see everyone this Sunday! 

In His Love, 

David & Susan