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 In Ephesians 5 Paul gives us the command to be filled with the Spirit.  When you hear the phrase ‘be filled with the Spirit’ what comes to mind?  Is it some special group of super spiritual people?  Is it great feats of power?  Is it the odd, bizarre and fantastic?  Most of us likely have some mental image of what “spirit-filled” looks like.  A.W. Tozer once wrote, “The spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity.  It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.”  Since that is true, we ought to have a good sense of what it means to be “Spirit-filled” and what it looks like to live Spirit-filled lives.  There are several things here to keep in mind.  First, we need it.  Our experience teaches us that somewhere in our Christian journey we discover that we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength.  To obey God requires more that will power.  The more you and I try to obey God’s word in our own strength the more we discover that we can’t and don’t.  We may be able to rid ourselves of some of our ‘external big sins but the sins of the heart seem welded to our inner lives and are unyielding to our efforts to dislodge them.  We can’t seem to stop our critical spirit, our judgmental attitude, our keeping score, our lusts, our pride and many other internal habits. 

To be spirit filled first means the discovery that without the indwelling power of the Spirit of Jesus we can do nothing.  We the fulness of the life of Jesus living within.  This happens when we come to the end of ourselves and we surrender our efforts to obey God’s commands and ask the Lord to live his life through us.  We ask to be filled with His love, His power, His life, His will and in dependence and faith we begin to experience the reality of the Spirit-filled life.  Second, we need to know what it isn’t.  Paul uses the imagery of not being filled with wine.  This is both a comparison and contrast.  In one way the Spirit-life is under the influence of the Spirit like a person is under the influence of alcohol.  But that is where the comparison ends and the contrast begins.  When someone is under the influence of alcohol, they lose control of their faculties.  At increasing levels, they do not have self-control.  But the person under the influence of the Spirit doesn’t lose self-control they gain it.  Indeed, a fruit of the Spirit is self-control.  The reality is that the more Spirit-filled a person is the more human they become.  This stands to reason since Jesus was full of the Spirit and he was the perfect human. 

The more the Spirit is in your life you begin to reflect the image of Jesus who is the image of God.  Third, what specifically does it look like?  In Ephesians 5 Paul gives us four clear words of what the Spirit-filled life looks like.  1.  Edification (addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs).  Being Spirit-filled will evidence itself in public worship and in our conversations for we will talk to one another in song and our words about the Lord.  About who He is and what He has done.  This stands to reason, if we are Spirit-filled wouldn’t we care about the things the Spirit cares about?  On the other hand, if the content of our conversations speaks of everything but the Lord, we would need to ask ourselves, Am I Spirit-filled?  2. Worship (singing and making melody to the Lord in your heart).  A Spirit-filled person is regularly engaging in personal worship.  Praising God and seeing the goodness of God in all things.  3.  Gratitude (giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ).  A Spirit-filled person is marked by gratitude.  Their gratitude is frequent and comprehensive.  Gratitude shows that our focus in on Him and His fatherly care, not our circumstances or rights.  4.  Humility (submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ).  The Spirit-filled person is not about their own rights but is a person who submits.  They are not resisting authority but trusting God in the authorities he has established.  We all have trouble with authority.  That got started in the garden.  But in the Spirit-filled person that is changing.  What are you seeing in your life now?  Do you need to surrender from your efforts?  Do you need to ask the Lord for His filling and His life lived in you?  Are you out of control and need to be under His control?  Do you need one of these four words increasing in your life?  In Luke 11:13 Jesus says, “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”  Let us hear this word and ask.