Friday evening and yesterday, we looked at what the Scriptures say about the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts. Why devote a weekend to studying the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts? Because you, as a church, and our family of churches are continuationists, meaning that we believe the spiritual gifts are for today, and are to continue to be used until Christ returns. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT WEEKEND
TEXT: Ephesians 5:15-21
TITLE: Be Filled With The Spirit
PREACHER: Mark Prater

POINTS:
1.  Why Do We Need to Be Filled With the Spirit?
2. What is the effect of being filled with the Spirit?
3. How may we be filled with the Spirit?

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”To effectively use your gifts for the good of your church, and for your witness here in the Tucson area, you need the Holy Spirit and His power. This morning, we are going to look at a verse in Ephesians 5 that tells us, even commands us, to be people who are filled with the Spirit because that command is given, in part, to meet our need for God’s power.”

“Verse 18 is a command that is not to be disregarded. We know it’s a command because the language used here “be filled” is in the imperative mood meaning that this is a command, and it is a good command that meets our need.”

“At our conversion, when we are born again, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3.) But it’s clear from this verse, that even though we are indwelt with the Spirit, we have a daily need to be filled with the Spirit. We know that because the language used in v.18 is not only written in the imperative mood, but also in the present tense. ‘Be filled.’”

“Paul doesn’t seem to think that a Christian can be too full of the Spirit. Rather, the present tense language assumes that we need more of the Spirit. For the believer being filled with the Spirit is not a one-time event but a continuous, daily on-going command and need.”

“We are commanded by God to be filled with the Spirit often, daily, continuously…”

“There are 12 references to the person and work of the Holy Spirit in this letter to the Ephesians and they reveal our need for the Spirit’s presence and work.”

“The presence of the Spirit in our lives meets our need of having a “guarantee of our eternal inheritance until we acquire possession of it.” (1:13) It is the Spirit that gives us wisdom, meeting our daily need for God’s wisdom, when we ask God for it in prayer. (1:17) It is in Christ that we are being built together in unity as a dwelling place for God by/in the Holy Spirit (2:22). It is through the Spirit that we receive God’s power when we pray and meets our daily need to grasp the h/l/w/b of Christ’s love for us, and the need for God’s power to use our spiritual gifts. (3:16) We are to pray at all times in the Spirit so that we will persevere in boldly proclaiming the gospel. (6:19) These references to the Spirit tell us that God gives us this good command to be filled with the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life, serve the church, be an effective gospel witness, and persevere in doing all of this until we possess our eternal inheritance. In other words, to do all of that, we need the work and power of the Spirit.”

“Did you note how this command is contrasted with being drunk with wine? In other words, Paul is asking what is influencing or controlling you? Either we are influenced by wine that we have drank, or we are influenced by the Spirit that fills us. We are to be filled with the Spirit because we have an ongoing need to be influenced by the Spirit in the way we live our lives. The influence of the Spirit in our lives is not some ecstatic event, rather the context tells us that influence is moral in nature resulting in spiritual and relational fruit. …we are to be people whose lives are so given over to the Spirit that the influence of the Spirit is to be as obvious as the influence of those who have drunk too much wine.”

“Paul wants us to be filled up with God himself. If you’re not aware of your need to be filled with the Spirit, consider for a moment that God is infinite, that He is unsearchable, that He unfathomable. In light of who God is, no wonder we, as God’s people, need to be filled daily by the Spirit for there is always more of God’s presence that we need and can receive.”

“Even though we are filled with the Spirit individually, contextually we see that the effect is a corporate one. READ vv.19-21. A community of believers that is filled with the Spirit addresses one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs which is partly a reference to the teaching of Scripture. It is a community that sings wholeheartedly to God. It is a group of people known for their gratitude for all things at all times and it is a community of people that is marked by mutual submission to one another out of reverence for Christ rather than being demanding of one another. Just as its obvious that a person is drunk with wine by the way they conduct themselves, a community of believers is obviously filled with the Spirit by the way they conduct themselves, seen in how they relate to one another and to God.”

“I don’t know about you, but I daily face situations and issues that I don’t know what to do, or how to handle them. These are moments to pray for the Spirit’s filling and fresh impartations of the Spirit’s wisdom, guidance, and power. Don’t waste those perplexing times, rather turn them into passionate prayers. And when it comes to using our spiritual gifts, we must pray for the Spirit to lead us and to give us power. What we have enjoyed this weekend can only be explained by the work of the Spirit as He has empowered our gifts. When your soul is dry, thirst for Jesus, and ask Him to fill you with the Spirit. Brothers and sisters, our response to this command to be filled with the Spirit must be marked by persistent prayers where we ask the Father and the Son to give us the Spirit.”

“Aware of our need for the Spirit, let us invite the Spirit’s presence, work, and power by asking the Lord to fill us with the Spirit.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Ephesians 4:26-32
Galatians 5:25
John 7:37-39
Luke 11:13

QUOTES:
Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith, pgs. 44-45 - “The full range of spiritual gifts remain at work in the church and are given for the good of the church and its witness to the world. We are therefore to earnestly desire and practice them until Christ returns.”

Richard Gaffin - “This command…is relevant to all believers throughout the whole of their lives. No believer may presume to have experienced a definitive filling of the Spirit so that the command of verse 18 no longer applies. Short of death or the Lord’s return, it continues in effect for every believer.”

Greg Allison & Andreas Köstenberger - “The expected or intended response to this command is for Christians to yield to the Holy Spirit, to be controlled-pervaded or permeated-by the Spirit in all their ways, to consciously place themselves under the guidance of the Spirit moment by moment.”

A.M. Stibbs and J.I. Packer - “Now imagine a doctor telling a patient that he is not using his lungs properly, and that he needs to learn to breathe more deeply. If the patient were like some seekers after the fullness of the Spirit, his immediate reaction would be to ask the doctor to produce his lung pump, and properly fill his lungs with air for him then and there! But the doctor’s prescription would be daily breathing exercises, by which he would himself learn to take in more air, and thus gradually to increase his capacity for intake…Something similar applies to the Christian’s experience of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The extent to which the Spirit actually penetrates and possesses every moment of our time, every corner of our lives, and every sphere of our thought and activity, is always capable of enlargement.”

Gordon Fee - “Here, then, is the ultimate imperative in the Pauline corpus: God’s people so filled with the Spirit’s own presence that they come to know God in all his fullness and reflect such in the way they live in relationship to one another and to God himself.”

J.I. Packer - “Christians are meant to grow spiritually through, and within, and under, the fullness of the Spirit’s new covenant ministry.”

J.I. Packer - “It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over on Jesus, who stands facing us. The Spirit’s message to us is never, “Look at me; listen to me; come to me; get to know me,” but always, “Look at him and see him, and see his glory; get to know him, and hear his word; go to him, and have life; get to know him, and taste his gift of joy and peace.”

Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith, pg. 43 - “The Spirit also desires to fill God’s people continually with increased power for Christian life and witness. To be filled with the Spirit is to be more fully under his influence, more aware of his presence, and more effective in his service. All Christians, therefore, must continually seek to be filled with the Spirit by living and praying in such a way that invites the Spirit’s work among us…”

APPLICATION:
Q. Are you aware of your daily need to be filled with the Spirit?

How may we be filled with the Spirit? Four recommendations:
1. Pursue living a holy life - Chapter 4 here in Ephesians ends by telling us that sin grieves the Holy Spirit!
2. Walk by the Spirit - Paul says that we walk by the Spirit by not gratifying the desires of the flesh, rather we produce the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) and we are people who are open to the Spirit’s leading, and promptings even when they are spontaneous and unplanned.
3. Thirst for Jesus - The more we are aware of our thirst, the more we see our need for Jesus and our need to be filled with the Spirit. Even though the Spirit works in distinct ways, His work consistently points to Christ.
4. Pray for the filling of the Spirit - We are to ask the Father to give us, to fill us, with the Holy Spirit. In addition, the context of Luke 11 teaches us to be persistent in prayer, which means that we should pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit repeatedly and persistently asking for fresh impartations of the Spirit’s power.

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Sing
God Is Faithful
He Will Hold Me Fast
Christ Our Hope In Life And Death
Help Us See Christ

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Colossians 1:9-14

A wife’s complementarian role in marriage isn’t an old-fashioned tradition or a barbaric form of oppression. When a wife embraces God’s design for her in marriage, she serves and worships the Lord. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: The Final Word
TEXT: Ephesians 5:22-24
TITLE:   It’s Not About Your Marriage, Part 2
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: When a wife gladly submits to her husband, she worships the Lord.

POINTS:
1. A Horizontal Mandate
2. A Vertical Motivation

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”…nowhere in Scripture are the roles ever reversed. The husband is always called to loving, sacrificial, and understanding leadership, and the wife is always called to joyful submission to her husband’s leadership. That’s God’s Final Word on roles in marriage.“

“Clearly, 21 calls us to submit to one another. But unless that submission is qualified and defined, it would be chaos. That’s precisely what Paul is doing. Beginning with the wives, Paul shows how we submit to one another, not in a mutually absolute way, but according to the God-ordained roles and relationships we find ourselves in. So, Paul instructs us on Christ-exalting submission in different relationships, first wives to husbands, then children to parents in 6:1, and finally employees to employers in chapter 6:5.” 

“What does biblical submission look like? Wives, your role is to partner with your husband (and your husband only—context is marriage) as his helpmate. That is not a mindless task. Biblical submission does not mean you’re a doormat. You are not a silent partner without a voice.”

“True complementarianism doesn’t mean you’re forbidden to disagree with your husband or speak out apart from your husband. You’re not called to obey your husband, as children obey their parents. That’s hyper-complementarianism. It’s destructive. It’s unbiblical. It’s no complementarianism at all. It grieves the Spirit. If your husband is leading you into sin or stubbornly leading you into a supremely unwise situation—don’t submit! I appeal to you to reach out to your pastor. If you don’t feel physically safe, reach out to your pastor and get help. If you are married to an unbeliever (tricky), reach out to your pastor and get help.” 

“A marriage is a loving, intimate, covenantal union between a man and a woman, co-heirs with Christ, equal yet different to complement one another. That means there is a necessary interdependence and a great degree of mutual submission in marriage. For the wife (husbands, we need to hear this and lead our wives in this), that means using your strengths, skills, wisdom, understanding, and perspective to help your husband as he makes decisions and leads your marriage and home in a Christ-exalting direction.”

“To be clear, Paul isn’t saying wives are to submit to their husbands EXACTLY as you submit to Christ—that’s idolatry! Husbands, we have to be careful that we don’t lead our wives and have expectations of them that, in effect, cause them to idolize us. Ladies, before you are a Christian wife, you are a disciple of Jesus. And as a disciple of Jesus, you are called to an absolute and complete submission to Him. So when Paul says submit to your husband as to the Lord, he means: A wife submits to her husband as an expression of her submission to the Lord.”

“This means your marriage is not about your marriage. It’s about God filling the earth with the glory of His wisdom and the mercy of His love—through your marriage! That should bring us to our knees. But it should also flood our hearts with hope. The very thing at the heart of your marriage—the gospel—is powerful enough to transform any marriage, including yours.”

“Nothing is more critical, essential, and hopeful to your marriage than believing the gospel is powerful enough for your marriage! When you believe it, your marriage is a living parable that produces joy in your heart, shines truth to the world, and brings glory to God.” 

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 3
1 Peter 3
Titus 2

QUOTES:
Alexander Strauch - “The word submission can hardly be used in our culture without misunderstanding and strong disdain. It is loaded with negative, provocative connotations, yet submission is a biblical word and a Christian virtue. We cannot avoid it.”

Gary Ricucci - “The relationship between a husband and his wife is meant to be a reflection of Christ’s relationship with his church—a living parable of the supernatural union between Jesus and his Bride.”

APPLICATION:
1. Know your calling by studying it
2. Transfer the truth
3. Don’t be surprised when submission gets difficult

Here is the good news—Being a husband is not about how far we have come but how far Jesus went to enable, empower, and ensure that, though imperfect, we can be God-exalting husbands. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: The Final Word
TEXT: Ephesians 5:25-33
TITLE:   It’s Not About Your Marriage
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Husbands, and future husbands, your role doesn’t begin with a ring at the altar; it begins with Jesus atoning sacrifice on the cross.

POINTS:
1. A Sacrificial Love
2. A Purposeful Love

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”We have spent the last two Sundays in Genesis 2 learning marriage is designed by God to be a life-long commitment between a man who lovingly leads and a woman who joyfully follows as her husband’s helpmate. Sin has made that hard (Genesis 3:16). Instead of leading in love, the husband’s inclination is to dominate his wife. Instead of a joyfully submitted helpmate, the wife now wants to rule over her husband. And the result is a sky-high divorce rate, adultery as the norm, crushing spousal abuse, and lovers turned roommates. That’s just in the church! What’s the answer? …we have to get our eyes off the latest five steps to a better marriage, off love languages, off romantic idealism, off the idol of self-fulfillment, and back on Jesus.” 

“Marriage is vertical before it’s horizontal. It’s about you and Jesus before it’s about you and your spouse. It’s about the gospel. Marriage is a relational context meant be a living parable of Christ and the church.”

“…before we even have time to think about it looks like to love your wife, Paul says, get your eyes of yourself and LOOK UP.”

“A husband’s love for his wife is not culturally defined, experientially defined, or traditionally defined. It is Christologically defined. God wants your holy duty as husbands to be informed, motivated, and shaped by Jesus’ love for sinners beginning with the cross.”

“No one made him do it. It’s not something he deserved. Yet, submitting to his Father’s will to the praise of his glory, Jesus took the initiative and gave, not simply what he had—he gave himself.“

“This daily sacrifice involves a willingness to see your wife, a co-heir in Christ as more important than yourself, as well as a readiness to lay down all you hold dear to care for her. This daily sacrifice is about living with our wives in an understanding way, even when she refuses to do the same with you. We don’t lead and love our wives this way because they’ve earned it. If Jesus is our model, Jesus didn’t make us earn his love. He loved us when we were unlovable and he continues to love us despite our unlovability.”

“Husbands, and future husbands, your role doesn’t begin with a ring at the altar—it begins with Jesus atoning sacrifice on the cross.”

“We all know the saying—Happy wife makes a happy life. While there may be some truth to that, our call as husbands is to be concerned, not primarily for her short-term happiness, but for her long term holiness and ever-increasing satisfaction and joy in Jesus. There is no greater way we can lead our wives.” 

“Listen, as husbands, we do not, we cannot sanctify and cleanse our wives of their sin. It’s not us who presents our wives in splendor before the throne of God above. Jesus alone can and does do that. But we are called to lead, encourage, promote, and spur them on in holiness. As God’s primary instrument of grace in our wives spiritual lives, we are to be purposeful in this calling.”

“Men, we need heavenly help for our holy duty. And God gives it. He made us new in Jesus. He fills us with His Spirit. He stands by His promises to give us all things we need for life and godliness. And as we will see next week, He gives us wives, the perfect helpmates who, with their wisdom, love, and own obedience, help us grow in being the husbands God has called us to be.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Galatians 2:20
1 John 3:16
1 Peter 3:7
Philippians 2:3-4
Romans 5
John 17:17

QUOTES:
Martyn Lloyd-Jones - “We must start by studying the relationship between Christ and the church, and then, and then only, can we look at the relationship between the husband and wife.”

Gary Ricucci - “The role of a husband doesn’t begin at the altar…it begins at the cross.”

Larry McCall - “A husband who would love his wife as Christ also loved the church will begin by understanding that his love is a choice, made in spite of (not because of) his wife’s actions, attitudes or appearance.”

Gary Ricucci - “Our role originates in the gospel, is empowered by the gospel, and is perfected through the gospel. We can love and lead our wives because our Savior, Jesus Christ, loved us, gave himself up for us, and leads us each day in mercy and grace.”

APPLICATION:
Redemptive Questions for Husbands (taken from “Love That Lasts” by Gary and Betsy Ricucci):
- Do I faithfully pray for her, that Jesus Christ might be glorified in her and that she might know his love and grace?
- Do I love her enough to confront and correct her sin, especially recurrent patterns of sin, and then patiently and consistently lead her into fruitful and liberating repentance?
- Do I wash her with the Water of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:25-27), or do I compromise her growth in godliness because my pride, selfishness, or fear keeps me from this God-given responsibility?
- Do I lead her into active involvement and service in our local church?
- Do I constantly remind her of the gospel of grace and of God’s active goodness on our behalf?

Lord, use this text to make us more amazed at you while feeling more desperate for and dependent on you.