Sermons
February 28th, 2010 by Pastor Solley022810AM Under Complete Control.
Sub. The Holy Spirit
Theme: Being under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Text: Eph 5:14-18
“Under Complete Control” Eph 5:14-18
IntroductionThe message this morning flows out of the message from last week just as the message last week flowed out of the message from the week before. It has not been my intention to preach a series but the Spirit of God has not permitted me to take my attention away from the spiritual walk of the believer in Christ. So for no ones benefit other than myself we will continue to look at the walk of the Christian in the Holy Spirit.
I. This began by looking at God’s threefold cure for weariness: I do believe that the spiritual walk of the Christian is the ultimate cure for weariness in this world. The answer to all the problems that plague us in this life, for every circumstance we find ourselves in is a closeness to God, is our spiritual walk. Walking in the Spirit will not exempt us from the problems of life, but it will sustain us through them. A walk in the Spirit is God’s cure for weariness in this world.
A. Then last week we looked at the hindrances to a spiritual walk: God does want us to walk in the Spirit so why doesn’t each and every born again child of God see that realized in his or her life. There are hindrances to the spiritual walk.
1. Failure to recognize that a spiritual walk will take an effort on out part is a hindrance to that walk:
2. Failure to recognize the Holy Spirit as a real person living within us is a hindrance to that spiritual walk:
3. Failure to recognize that the Holy Spirit is within us to help us is a hindrance to that spiritual walk:
B. This morning I want to look at one under complete control of the Holy Spirit: Because this is the next step.
II. That one under complete control of the Holy Spirit is seen in Ephesians 5: Eph 5:14-18 The picture here is of someone being controlled by something or someone else. Of being filled with something to the point it controls you. – Eph 5:18
A. This verse has nothing to do with the use of alcohol which is strictly forbidden by the Word of God: Many twist this to say it is OK for the believer to drink as long as he or she does not get drunk and that is a perversion of the Scriptures.
1. But a drunkard does become a slave to his alcohol: It controls and consumes him to his or her ultimate destruction. And Satan is able to mask nit so that the drunkard does not know what is happening until it has consumed and destroyed him or her.
2. In that same way the believer is to be controlled and consumed by the Spirit of God: Eph 5:18 But he will not consume us to our destruction but to our perfection. – Eph 5:19-20 He will consume you to joy and not misery.
B. To be filled is to be yielded to and controlled by the Holy Spirit of God:
PROP: let us consider this morning what it is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. TS. In the hope that we will be filled.
Body
I. 1st notice what it is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit: Eph 5:17-18 It is not a separate thought as you move from verse 17 to 18. It is the will of God as we saw last week for every child of God to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit, to yield to the Holy Spirit. As we noted last week God will not force this upon anybody anymore than God will force a lost person to be saved. But be assured that this is the will of God for you and me.
A. When an individual gets saved nothing changes on the outside: Salvation is a work that takes lace within the heart and soul of the individual and when a person gets saved nothing changes on the outside. We have the same voice, we look the same, we have the same personality, like the same foods, wear the same clothes, work at the same place, go to school at the same place, live in the same house, have the same appearance. When an individual gets saved nothing changes on the outside.
B. But when the Spirit of God takes up residence in the heart of the believer He makes changes within that bring to pass changes on the outside: The Christian does indeed have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within. – 1 Cor 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you , which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? That person now living within the believer will begin to make changes in his or her heart and soul that bring about changes that can be noticed on the outside. Still the same person but now with the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them.
1. So now the voice sounds the same but it says different things: Not the same intemperate and vulgar language comes out of your mouth. Someone else is controlling what you say even though you have the same voice.
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2. You do have the same personality but now the desires of your heart begin to change: Those things that you cared about so much now do not seem to matter so much anymore. Someone else is controlling your desires.
3. You have the same body but now your appearance begins to change: You don’t feel comfortable looking like the world does, dressing like the world so your appearance begins to change. Someone else is controlling the way you look.
4. And these changes within that bring about changes on the outside people begin to notice: 1 Peter 4:1-4 And people think it strange asking why aren’t they like they used to be? – 1 Peter 4:4 – They think you got religion.
5. But what you have is the Spirit of God within: 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new .
C. It is the will of God for you and me as born again believers to be controlled by the Spirit in this way: Eph 5:14-17 So many do not understand this and look at it as a yoke of bondage when in reality it is a yoke of freedom.
1. The professing Christian needs to wake up and understand that God wants what is best for us: Eph 5:14 Too many have been put to sleep, too many have their heads buried in the sand, too many think that to be controlled by the Holy Spirit is some sort of yoke of bondage.
2. What one needs to do is wake up and look at the destruction of those not controlled by the Holy Spirit: Eph 5:15 To walk circumspectly means to look with caution, to watch for danger, to guard against danger. Don’t be a fool.
3. Those not controlled by the Spirit of God are led to destruction: Eph 5:16 They are led to evil. Just look at the condition of those not controlled by the Holy Spirit. I am not talking about the condition of the world but of individuals both saved and lost who are not controlled by the Holy Spirit or led by the Holy Spirit. They are ultimately led to destruction and an evil end.
4. If you can find something better in the world than what Jesus and the Spirit of God has for me you need to please let me know: All I know is that God wants what is best for me and the enemy wants to destroy me. – Rom 12:2; 1 Peter 5:8
5. These are the two sides; which do you want?
D. God wants us for our good to be controlled by the Holy Spirit:
II. 2nd consider the possibilities of such a Spirit controlled walk: As was said last week the Spirit of God is given to us to help us in our walk in Christ in this world. Consider then the possibilities of the Spirit filled and controlled believer. I am going to use examples from both the Old and New Testaments because the Spirit of God did not have His beginning at Pentecost.
A. It was the Spirit of God that filled Gideon and made a very common man a very great servant of God: Judg 6:34 So many claim that they are unable to do things for God. Gideon was the same way until the Spirit of God filled him.
1. Here was one hiding from the enemies of God: Judg 6:11
2. Here was one who thought himself nothing: Judg 6:15
3. Here is one who even questioned the presence of God in Israel: Judg 6:13
4. Here is one who even when he began to serve did it under cover of darkness: Judg 6:27
5. But here is a man who was changed by the Spirit of God: Judg 6:34
6. And he became that mighty man of valor: Judg 6:12
B. It was the Spirit of God that filled Joseph and gave him strength to endure all unjust treatment and hardness: Gen 41:38-39
1. Hated by his brothers without cause: They sold him as a slave into Egypt.
2. Falsely accused by an evil woman he was thrown into prison: There he is left alone to die.
3. But he remained faithful because the Spirit of God was in him: The Spirit of God filled him and controlled him.
4. So what did he do when he had the opportunity to pay back his tormentors? Gen 45:4-8
C. It was the Spirit of God that filled Peter and John and made them wiser than the learned men: Acts 4:5-8 When Peter and John were called before this counsel they stood and were questioned by the most learned and educated men in Israel for the purpose of making them look foolish.
1. But something happened as they stood before that counsel: Acts 4:8
2. And those of the counsel could see it: Acts 4:13
D. It was the Spirit of God that filled Paul turning him from the greatest enemy of the church to its greatest champion: No one did more to hinder the cause of Christ than Saul of Tarsius.
1. And no one had a worse spirit than he did: 1 Tim 1:13
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2. But Paul was gloriously changed when he was filled with the Spirit of God:
E. These same things are promised to you and me today, to the believer in Jesus Christ who yields to the Holy Spirit: I could look at many more examples this morning of men and women changed as they yielded to the controlling power of the Holy Spirit. And the same Spirit that filled and changed them can fill and change us if we yield to Him.
1. The Spirit of God will make you strong if you yield to Him: 2 Cor 12:10-12
2. The Spirit of God will give you patience and forgiveness in the face of your enemies: Eph 4:30-32
3. The Spirit of God will give you wisdom you never knew you had: Luke 12:11-12
4. The Spirit of God will completely change you if you allow Him to control you:
III. 3rd notice the dangers of not being Spirit controlled: Eph 5:15 That is a harsh word that is used in that verse, no one likes to be called a fool. But only a fool does not realize the danger of not being Spirit filled and controlled.
A. Moses understood the danger of not having the presence of God with him: Ex 33:1-2, 12-15 This is after Moses was in the mount and received the Ten Commandments and when Moses came down from the mount he found the children of Israel worshiping an idol. – Ex 32:19-24
1. Because of this God was going to take away His presence from the people: Ex 33:2 God is still going to take them to the promised Land, still going to keep His promise, still going to fulfill His covenant. But now it would be an angel leading them.
2. But Moses desired the presence of God and not an angel: Ex 33:15-17 Moses knew it would be better to stay right where they were and not move rather than go on without the presence of God.
3. Moses understood the danger of not going forward in the presence of God:
B. David experienced the danger of not being controlled by the Spirit of God: 1 Sam 16:13 From this time on the Spirit of God never left David just like the New Testament believer in Christ. And if you study the life of David you find him controlled by the Spirit of God. In the battle with Goliath, in dealing with Saul, in being raised up as king of Israel, you find David being controlled by the Spirit of God.
1. But not in 2 Samuel 11: 2 Sam 11:1 Up until this point when Israel was at war David was a war. When Israel went out to battle David went out to battle. And the verse implies David should have been there then. – 2 Sam 11:1
2. But David tarried at Jerusalem: 2 Sam 11:1 I contend that at this time he was not yielded to the Spirit, not controlled by the Spirit but by his own flesh. I say that because of what follows in this chapter. By the time this chapter is over David commits adultery, fornication and murder.
3. David experienced the danger of not being controlled by the Spirit of God: 2 Sam 12:13
C. And the Christian today stands on dangerous ground when not yielded to and being controlled by the Spirit of God: Just stop and think about it for a moment. We stand on dangerous ground when not yielded to and controlled by the Holy Spirit.
1. Why is that so many who claim to know the Lord have never known the joy of the Lord? Why are so many miserable?
2. Why is that so many who claim to know the Lord cannot break the bands of sin? Why do they have no victory.
3. Why is that so many who claim to know the Lord have no works for Him: Why do they have no desire to serve?
D. Many have fallen because they did not even know they were standing on dangerous ground:
IV. 4th notice some practical ways to be filled with the Spirit, to give yourself over to His control: Again this is what God wants for us, what God wants for you and me. And this is not rocket science but many miss these simple things. If you really want to be controlled by the Spirit of God here are some simple things to follow.
A. Make no plans of your own: In all the reality the child of God has no right to decide what to do, where to live, or whom to marry. We are His purchased possession, His property paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. – 1 Cor 6:19-20 But are we willing to make our lives a blank piece of paper and allow Him to fill in the lines, to write the story of our lives?
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1. To often we make our own plans, bring them to Him and then say now bless this: And then wonder why we seem to be missing the blessings of God in what we are doing.
2. We only brought God into it after we decided what to do: We are controlled by self and not the Spirit.
3. You might think you are past these things: When is it too late to follow the leading of the Spirit or to place oneself under the control of the Holy Spirit of God.
4. If the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord then allow him to direct your steps: Ps 37:23
5. Even when God’s plans contradict yours it will bring you more joy to follow the leading of the Lord:
6. Make no plans of your own:
B. Begin to obey what you already know to be the will of God and the leading of the Spirit: You say that is what I am trying to find out. Some things we already know and just choose not to obey.
1. For example, the Spirit of God will never lead and individual contrary to the Word of God: So whatever I read in the Word of God I know is the leading of the Spirit of God for me. When I simply obey what I find written in the Word of God I place myself under the control of the Holy Spirit.
2. As one does this in little things greater things will follow: Matt 25:21
3. There are some things we don’t need to pray about as to if we should do them, just pray for the strength to do them:
a. One does not have to pray about being in church. – Heb 10:25 But I have had people tell me God doesn’t care about us being in church or not. Then who is this for?
(1) You need to pray about the right church.
(2) You need to pray for the conviction and commitment that God wants.
(3) But you don’t need to pray if you should go or not.
b. You need to separate from all sin. – 2 Cor 6:17-18 Things that are unclean we are not to touch.
(1) How do I know what is unclean? Let the Bible set your standard.
(2) When you begin to obey it will surprise you what changes you make in your life.
4. Make a list of the things in your life that you need to bring into obedience to the Word of God: The longer the list the less you are being controlled by the Spirit of God.
C. Begin to really listen for and to the voice of God: It is an amazing thing. The more one obeys the Word of God the easier it is to hear the voice of God. – 1 Kings 19:11-12 God still speaks in a still small voice.
1. Most people today are so caught up with self and the world they cannot hear God: And when they do they ignore Him.
2. You say Pastor I am listening but God is not speaking: Just how intent are we on hearing from God.
3. Most Christians have their ears stopped up with so many other things they cannot hear God:
ILL. I can hear you this morning…But if I put these on I hear a little less…Now a little less…Now a little less…
4. We need to turn some things off so we can hear God:
Conclusion
How much are you being controlled by the Spirit of God today?
I. Is the Holy Spirit of God controlling you today? Or is self.
II. Consider the possibilities of being Spirit Controlled:
III. Consider the dangers of not being controlled by the Spirit:
IV. Take the simple steps to place yourself under the Control of the Spirit of God:
A. Make no plans of your own. B. Obey what you already know to be true:
C. Listen for the voice of God.