1 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:10,320 Tonight, would you open your Bible to the book of Ephesians 2 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,600 chapter 5? This is the third message in our 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,880 series focusing in on the Holy Spirit. 4 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,440 The title of tonight's message is What Does the Holy Spirit 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,280 Look Like? Our first message. 6 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,120 We asked the question and hopefully answered it. 7 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,680 Who is the Holy Spirit? We saw that he is a divine 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,800 person, often referred to as the forgotten member of the Trinity, 9 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,840 but He is God nonetheless. Last week we built on that and 10 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:41,560 considered what does the Holy Spirit do? 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:46,040 Tonight I want to ask the question and answer what does 12 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,680 the Holy Spirit look like out of Ephesians 5? 13 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:55,120 We'll start in verse 15 and probably unlikely that we'll get 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,120 into chapter 6, verse 9, but that's that's kind of the the 15 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,280 parameters of the, the passage that we'll look at and consider. 16 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,800 And I'm asking this question, what does the Holy Spirit look 17 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,520 like? Because you may have come out of 18 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:12,280 a church background where some bizarre things perhaps took 19 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,520 place as an apparent evidence of what's called Holy Spirit 20 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,160 feeling. Maybe you've seen a, a church 21 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,160 service where it's like there's an athletic running track in 22 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:24,480 there and people are running around. 23 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,960 Or if it's not that, then it's like they're trying out for, for 24 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:32,680 gymnastics and they're flipping and doing things or, or waving 25 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,360 banners or it's like a cheer club. 26 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:37,160 I don't know what your experience is. 27 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:38,640 Maybe you've not experienced that. 28 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,920 Maybe you've at least seen it or witnessed it on TV or certainly 29 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,720 on online on YouTube or the like. 30 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,920 And often in those type of scenarios when you would ask 31 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:54,040 somebody, what are you doing, what happened then why are you 32 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,880 doing those things? They would almost give a 33 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,480 response like, you know, don't dare question and challenge. 34 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,560 The Holy Spirit made me do it, you know, as if that's like a, a 35 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,479 get out of gaol free pass on why the behaviour that just took 36 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:12,040 place is justified. And it's a little difficult to 37 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,840 try and argue against that. At least that's what they 38 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,000 surmise. But I'm a very practical person. 39 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,240 I think many of you are practical people. 40 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,640 And so if the Spirit of God is to come upon me, is to come upon 41 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:30,680 you, is to fill you, then it begs the question, what would 42 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,400 that look like? That's really what we're 43 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,600 considering tonight. And the question is probably not 44 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,840 so much what it's a Holy Spirit look like, but what does a 45 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,560 spirit filled believer look like? 46 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,400 That's that's really what is before us as we consider this, 47 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:51,520 you know, if you're I say that the Spirit of God is in me and 48 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,600 that's what this message is all about tonight. 49 00:02:54,080 --> 00:03:00,960 How can we witness that, observe that, see that in somebody's 50 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:02,840 life. So what does the Holy Spirit 51 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,840 look like in a person's life? Paul says, as we're going to 52 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,680 read this passage is that he says, here's what it looks like. 53 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,360 It looks like everyday transformation. 54 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,960 It looks like there's something different in you. 55 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:19,960 It's evident in a heart for the lost. 56 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,760 We'll see. It's evident in a heart that is 57 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:29,520 filled with worship unto God. It's evident in a life that is 58 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,680 thankful, grateful unto God for who He is and what He has done. 59 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,040 It's it's evident in how we love our spouse. 60 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,040 It's evident in how we raise our children. 61 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,280 It's evident in how we as children respond to our parents. 62 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,760 It's evident in how we conduct ourselves in the workplace. 63 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:53,400 These are all that's before us in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15 64 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,040 on and through chapter 6, verse 9. 65 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:58,960 And this is what we would call the Spirit filled life. 66 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:02,440 This is what the Spirit looks like. 67 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,320 This is what's before us. Maybe you've heard that the 68 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,800 Christian life is a walk. You know, you ever ask somebody 69 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,600 and the men we went up on Friday to out in Victoria Park to grab 70 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:19,120 a bite to eat and part of the the point of the evening was in 71 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,240 the carpool right up having met here at the church was to 72 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,320 converse one with another, see what God is doing. 73 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,440 Maybe maybe you ask one another on on that night in the car. 74 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,280 How's your walk with the Lord going? 75 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,960 We use that terminology. You know, it's part of our 76 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,360 Christianese. It's built out of what the Bible 77 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,000 teaches us. Here we go all the way back to 78 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,240 the book of Genesis and we see in Genesis that Adam and Eve, 79 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:46,800 what walked with God, It says there in Genesis 3, and we come 80 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,920 across a fellow called Enoch whose life was marked by this 81 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,360 fact that he walked with God. And it says that he was not for 82 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,760 God took him home. It's a pretty cool story in 83 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,880 Enoch. And then God told Abraham also 84 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:07,320 in Genesis chapter 17, Abraham, walk before me and be blameless. 85 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:13,360 David said in Psalm 23, Yeah, though I walk through the valley 86 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,600 of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil because you're with 87 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,200 me. And we love Micah. 88 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:24,240 Chapter 6, verse 8, it says that our lives were to be about this, 89 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:32,040 to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 90 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,360 So we can see that through the Scriptures Old Testament, New 91 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:41,440 Testament, that our, our life is described as a walk with God in 92 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:45,160 the New Testament, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7 says that we 93 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:51,240 walk by faith and not by sight. So the life lived with God is a 94 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,280 walk. And what this speaks of is, you 95 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:57,200 know, when you walk, you're in continuous movement, right? 96 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:01,440 There's there's action in a direction and it speaks 97 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:06,400 specifically in the Scriptures of our conduct of life. 98 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,120 What marks, what are the features, what are the 99 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,320 attributes of our life here on earth? 100 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:14,640 That's our walk. So now that we know what it 101 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,560 means to walk with God, the walk is to be the lifestyle, is to be 102 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,720 the action, is to be our conduct, is to be empowered by 103 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:28,440 the Holy Spirit, our lives as Christians, our walk with God is 104 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:32,600 to be spirit empowered. You see, we need the Holy Spirit 105 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,360 in us to live this life that we're called to live. 106 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:37,640 We can't do it in our own strength. 107 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:42,680 We need some supernatural empowerment to make possible 108 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,320 what we read of in the Scriptures to be those features, 109 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,440 those attributes, those marks, those characteristics of the 110 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,000 Christian life, the Christian walk. 111 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:53,400 We're about to see this now in Ephesians 5. 112 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,480 We're not reading it, but in in verse 2 and Paul, the writer to 113 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:03,280 the church at Ephesus, he asked them to walk in love in verse 2. 114 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:05,680 So all through this chapter, there's this idea of walk in 115 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,280 verse 8 there to walk in the light. 116 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:13,400 And verse 15 where we're going to start tells us he says, see 117 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:18,440 then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but 118 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:23,640 as wise. Now once again, walk, walk, he 119 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,360 starts with in verse 15, the Greek word. 120 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,920 There'll be a little, little bit of Greek language tonight 121 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,640 because it just helps to enhance the meaning of some of the 122 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:36,280 phrasing that Paul utilises here in our English, the word is 123 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,720 peripeteo. Peripeteo for walk. 124 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,600 And again, this speaks of conduct, of life. 125 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,360 So it's not just a a walk on a Sunday to church. 126 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,520 It's not just when we come back to church on a Wednesday 127 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,000 midweek. It's our whole conduct of life. 128 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,520 That's what's wrapped up in this Greek word, peripeteo, this 129 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,800 English word walk. See then that you walk. 130 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,800 It's the 24/7. It's the 365. 131 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:11,440 It's the every day of the week. Here is what your life is to be 132 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:13,800 marked by. Here is what your walk is to 133 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,080 look like. And so it says here, walk live. 134 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,360 May your conduct, may your action walk. 135 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,400 Live circumspectly, Circumspectly. 136 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,120 That's not a word that we typically use. 137 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:27,760 It's not part of my everyday vocabulary. 138 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,200 I don't know if it's a part of yours, but good luck to you. 139 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,600 If it is circumspectly, what does that mean? 140 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:37,039 Mean here? The Greek, again, the word 141 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:42,360 meaning to walk very carefully. Maybe your translation has that. 142 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:48,720 Maybe it's walk deliberately or with deliberation, walk with 143 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,920 focus, walk with discipline, walk with intentionality. 144 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,400 And so now we're starting to put it together that that my 145 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,120 Christian life, my Christian walk in the spirit is not just 146 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,520 this kind of haphazard bumbling about, you know, sometimes you 147 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:05,440 might go for an afternoon stroll. 148 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:10,160 We would say that physically and we've got no direction, no 149 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:11,960 purpose to it. It's just I'm going for a walk. 150 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,080 That's not what our Christian life is about. 151 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,600 We're not bumbling and fumbling our way through our days here. 152 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:23,320 Our walk, our our motion, our movement, our experience with 153 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,760 God, our life with God. There's some deliberation to it, 154 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,680 some intentionality, some focus, some deliberation. 155 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:33,480 There's a a purpose and a goal. It's careful. 156 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,880 That's what circumspectly means. So he says walk carefully, work 157 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:42,720 circumspectly. It's get this, it's watching 158 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:49,120 Jesus, watching Jesus. My wife and I, we've, you know, 159 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,480 dabbled with walking over the years. 160 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,680 And it's very, very tricky walking with her because she's 161 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:58,480 always about, you know, 5 to 10 steps ahead of me. 162 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,240 I'm like, I thought we were walking together. 163 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,040 Just slow down a bit. Oh, you're walking too slow. 164 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:08,760 And we have this and so I'm watching April in my walk to see 165 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:10,440 where we're going. It's just slow down a bit, 166 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,080 honey. And it's like, no, I'm not 167 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:13,320 walking with you if you're going to race. 168 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,720 So all of these sorts of conversations happen with us, 169 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,680 right? It's supposed to be a walk, but 170 00:10:18,680 --> 00:10:22,920 our walk is with Jesus. And so our walk is that we're 171 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,560 watching, we're careful, we're focused, we're disciplined, 172 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,840 we're connected to Jesus. That's our our walk 173 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,440 circumspectly. And so Jesus told us to watch 174 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,160 and pray, to be focused in that way that, you know, enter into 175 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:38,560 temptation. That's what he said to his 176 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:40,640 disciples. So there's something to this. 177 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,760 And so the first mark of a spirit filled life, what does 178 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,000 the Holy Spirit look like? The spirit filled person. 179 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:53,080 So the spirit in US is that our lives are intentional that that 180 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,160 it's about wise God conscious living. 181 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:02,360 And Paul says that our walking should not be as fools, but as 182 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,040 wise, building on this in verse 15. 183 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,600 Now we know because we're we're good Bible students here that 184 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,280 the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible. 185 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,600 And so when we're looking at a term like fools, we go, what's 186 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,200 the Bible definition of what a fool is? 187 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,680 And the Bible tells us Psalm 14, verse one, Psalm 53, verse one, 188 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,000 this, that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God. 189 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:27,400 There's the definition of a fool. 190 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,720 And so the fools here are the unbelievers. 191 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,240 And so here he's starting to paint a contrast going on. 192 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,440 OK, the Spirit filled life, The Walking circumspectly with Jesus 193 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,000 is to be wise and not as foolish. 194 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,320 But the foolish, they're walking, they're living, they're 195 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,000 conducting their lives. There's action, there's certain 196 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,800 things going on, but there's to be a marked difference between 197 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,920 our lives as believers and the the fool, by definition, the 198 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,600 unbeliever in God. That's what he means here by 199 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:01,920 saying walk wisely, not as fools. 200 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,480 So the contract contrast is that our walk, our lifestyle, our 201 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:10,200 conduct is to be different to the world around us. 202 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,640 That's different. You know, you're here Sunday 203 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:16,400 night. For some of you, this is the 204 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:18,400 second time that you've been in church. 205 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,320 Probably your neighbours. No, that's not a part of their 206 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,880 walk, their experience. So there's something different 207 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,920 going on here and he continues and builds on. 208 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:33,120 So here's why our lives are to be marked with this difference. 209 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:39,640 Verse 16 now not as fools verse 15 but as wise redeeming the 210 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:46,480 time because the days are evil. The Greek word for the phrase 211 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:54,840 redeem there exaggerazo comes from 2 words Ek even though it's 212 00:12:55,400 --> 00:13:00,080 EX in the the condensed form, the combined form which means 213 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:07,960 completely out of and agarazzo, the second part means to buy up 214 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,280 the opportunity. So here's why I highlight this. 215 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,600 It was used back then. So the audience they would hear 216 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,080 this, it's written in Greek and they would hear it and they 217 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,600 would immediately understand Paul's reference. 218 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:28,240 The reference was its use was in the buying of a slave out of off 219 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,840 the slave market. You know the 1st century Roman 220 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:37,880 Empire 10 Many speculate more like 20% of the population were 221 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,760 slaves. As Rome would conquer and defeat 222 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,400 various nations, those defeated peoples would become slaves of 223 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,320 the Romans. And so slavery was something 224 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,960 that was very well known and the people versed in the language 225 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,400 and terminology and the experience, particularly in this 226 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,840 time. And so this process of buying a 227 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:01,400 slave off the market is, is what Paul uses metaphorically here in 228 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,680 the language to describe how we need to buy up in our walking 229 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:09,960 the opportunities that we have for us in our lives as 230 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,560 believers. Making the most of the time, 231 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:18,400 buying out of slavery every minute, every hour is to be 232 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,040 focused on that which we're called to as believers. 233 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:25,160 Because the days are evil and we're walking amongst fools. 234 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,240 And man, you don't have to watch the news for very long to figure 235 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:29,720 out that the days are evil, right? 236 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,200 There's a whole heap of tomfoolery going on out there. 237 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,440 If there's anything needed right now in this chaotic world, it's 238 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:40,600 this. It's believers walking in the 239 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:45,280 light, empowered by the Holy Spirit, focused in on the 240 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:46,680 mission of Jesus. Right? 241 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,560 Because there is a messed up world out there of people 242 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,560 bumbling and chaotically walking in the dark. 243 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,240 But we're walking in the light with the Spirit guiding us, 244 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,880 taking and making the most of the time that we have in the 245 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:02,920 days in which we we live. OK, so to do what? 246 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,840 With that time, Paul gives us the answer. 247 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,480 Now you know, here tonight, we're here to worship God. 248 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,040 We've done that in song. The Bible tells us that we're 249 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,920 made to worship. Revelation 411 gives us an 250 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:23,320 indication of that, that we're that we're made to glorify God. 251 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,360 We're here tonight to study God's word and we need his daily 252 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:30,200 bread. Jesus said that man shall not 253 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,760 live by bread alone, but by every word that precedes mouth 254 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,840 of God. We're also called to the mission 255 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:39,560 that Jesus called his disciples to. 256 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,920 It's called the Great Commission that we're called to declare the 257 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,120 good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel. 258 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:52,360 Now here's what I want to say in that, you know, when we are in 259 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:57,680 eternity, we're going to be able to worship God, right? 260 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,400 We're going to join with all of those that have been washed by 261 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:06,000 the blood of the Lamb before us to worship Him and to sing and 262 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,440 to lift our voices in our resurrected bodies. 263 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,720 No, no restrictions in our voices. 264 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,320 To be able to praise him, to sing on key, to sing with all 265 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,920 that's within us, to not have, you know, emotions get the 266 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,400 better of us and be able to just declare how good and how 267 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,680 wonderful he is. We get to do that for eternity. 268 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:24,920 How awesome that will be. When we're in eternity, we're 269 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:28,400 going to be able to sit at the feet of Jesus. 270 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,000 John chapter 1 tells us in the beginning was the Word, and the 271 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,040 Word was with God, and the Word was God, or is God. 272 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:40,000 And so we're going to be face to face with the very Word that we 273 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,600 devour and that we love and that we enjoy studying for all of 274 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:48,120 eternity. But you know what we cannot do 275 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:57,840 in eternity, that we can only do here now on earth, is to win 276 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:03,440 souls to Christ, is to share the good news of Jesus. 277 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:10,680 So that's what we buy out the opportunity to do now for the 278 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:18,319 days of evil to be about winning souls under Jesus, to make the 279 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:23,920 most of the time. A Holy Spirit filled life is one 280 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:29,520 that is burdened for the lost. This is what the Spirit filled 281 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:33,400 life looks like. Is is Paul's first port of call. 282 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,320 It's not wandering aimlessly through life. 283 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,280 It's knowing that your time matters, that your days are 284 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:45,200 short, and that your life is part of God's saving plan. 285 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,000 So what does that look like? Buying up the time with that as 286 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,120 a focus. Maybe it's instead of bingeing 287 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:55,600 Netflix and devouring the next series, it's going, you know, 288 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:57,280 I'm going to, I'm going to give my mate a call. 289 00:17:57,440 --> 00:17:58,920 It's been a while since I spoke to him. 290 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:00,800 He's an unbeliever. He needs Jesus. 291 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,520 I might use that time to just catch up with him and just 292 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:05,520 continue to share the good news of Jesus. 293 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,800 Maybe instead of scrolling for 30 minutes through my social 294 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,280 media feed, it's maybe, yeah, I'm going to take 5 minutes to 295 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:16,800 pray for someone and redeem that time and commit them to the Lord 296 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,360 again. You see the the spirit filled 297 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:23,600 person sees time as precious because verse 17 he says, 298 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,440 therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the 299 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,760 Lord is. Oh, and they're the most popular 300 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,280 sermons, aren't they? What is the will of God for my 301 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,520 life? And people come and they go, oh, 302 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,880 they want to find out. It's a wonderful study. 303 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:41,600 God's will for my life. Absolutely. 304 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:43,600 And I'll connect it to these verses here tonight. 305 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,920 God's will is that souls get saved. 306 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:53,400 God's will is that souls get saved. 2 Peter 39 He says God 307 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,440 isn't willing that any should perish, but for all to come to 308 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,440 repentance. That's God's heart, that's God's 309 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:02,280 will. On Timothy 2 verses 4 to 5 it 310 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:06,440 says this God desires all men to be saved and come to the 311 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:12,320 knowledge of the truth. So the will of God, what God 312 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:19,440 desires is souls to be saved. And he has chosen us for 313 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,080 whatever reason. And the angels look at it and 314 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,720 go, they're just mind blown. Why has he chosen them? 315 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,240 But he has chosen you and I, spirit filled believers to be 316 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:35,880 about the business of connecting souls to Jesus, of redeeming the 317 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:40,760 time for the days of evil. Walking is wise, carefully, 318 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,200 circumspectly, for this is the will of God. 319 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:50,360 Verses 1516 and 17 and now verse 18, the power for this Christian 320 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:53,200 walking and really the verses that have come before that have 321 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:54,960 kind of been a little bit of the entree. 322 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:57,920 This is the main course now, right? 323 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,520 This is really the meat of the message. 324 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:02,720 Verse 18. Here it is. 325 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:08,440 Paul now shifts from describing how we walk to what empowers. 326 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,760 That walk and so this verse, think of it as as the engine of 327 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,120 everything that follows. You know, you're thinking, 328 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:17,880 hearing this. Yeah, I want to be wise. 329 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,440 I want to redeem the time. I want to walk circumspectly, 330 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,960 but I don't know how to do it. I can't do it in my own 331 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,320 strength, my own energy. I see it as important. 332 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:32,680 But help me God now, verse 18, here it is. 333 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:38,200 Do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be 334 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:42,920 filled with the spirit. It's what we've been focusing 335 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:44,440 on. This is what we've been teaching 336 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:49,520 through and studying. So the word dissipation in 337 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,960 English, again, probably not part of your regular vocabulary, 338 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:59,240 but in the Greek asotia, the A at the beginning means without. 339 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:05,880 And so Tia, the root of that word is where we get salvation 340 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,280 from. All right, so to put the 2 words 341 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:15,720 together, associa dissipation, it means without salvation, do 342 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,320 not be drunk with wine. Wherein is dissipation without 343 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,080 salvation, Not salvation as in the saving of our souls, but 344 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,720 without deliverance. So he said don't be drunk with 345 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:31,840 wine where you aren't like you look like you are anymore. 346 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,280 That's kind of the the point behind it. 347 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,560 And that really makes sense to us now when we hear it that way, 348 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,880 because we all know, we've all seen, we've all experienced 349 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:48,200 people, you know, a timid person. 350 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,000 Couple of drinks in, it's like, man, that's got the better of 351 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:55,480 them in a pretty powerful way. Wherein is dissipation. 352 00:21:57,120 --> 00:22:01,880 But notice he says that we would be filled with the spirit. 353 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,640 Don't be drunk with wine where you aren't looking like who you 354 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:12,920 should be, where you're without salvation almost, but be filled 355 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,760 with the spirit. Now that word filled again. 356 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:21,120 The Greek play OO is how you pronounce that. 357 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:30,920 Even though it looks like Pleeru play OO, there's a few different 358 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:33,200 uses of it. And I think they're all kind of 359 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,960 helpful for us in understanding what it means to be filled by 360 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,440 the Spirit, because immediately our minds go to those kind of 361 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,560 hyper Pentecostal experiences of filled with the Spirit and out 362 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,400 of control, right? They would use it. 363 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:54,040 Back then sailors had a use for it, that Greek word play, to 364 00:22:55,600 --> 00:23:01,520 describe how the winds filled the sails of a boat, carry that 365 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:06,360 boat on to its destination and so to the picture, The imagery 366 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,760 connected to the life of the Spirit, the walk of our lives, 367 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:14,360 our conduct is that we allow the Spirit of God to fill the sales 368 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:17,760 of our lives and carry us to the destination of becoming like 369 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:20,640 Christ. That sanctification process at 370 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:25,320 work in us. The second use of this word play 371 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:33,920 row OO was used by by bakers or or or cooks to describe often 372 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:38,640 their use of salt and it's permeation through through meat 373 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,040 in particular. You know, in the days of lack of 374 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,760 refrigeration back then, salt was a great preserver, but also 375 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,240 we enjoy it today and they would use it back then for the same 376 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:53,280 reason for flavouring. And so too, we should allow the 377 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:57,800 Spirit of God that the filling of the Spirit to permeate our 378 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,880 lives, to give our lives flavour, the flavour of Christ 379 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,920 in particular, so that when people come around us, they 380 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:11,520 should be kind of taste a bit but different, right? 381 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:19,040 There's is that salt in you? There's different to to you in 382 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,840 the way that you respond to situations, to circumstances. 383 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,200 Your colleagues at work, they notice that they sense that 384 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,240 your, your family, your loved ones, the people that you come 385 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:31,000 in contact with that there's something, I don't know, just it 386 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,400 tastes different about you. So they would use that. 387 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,360 You got a different flavour than everybody else has. 388 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,840 That's why Matthew 513, Jesus uses this language that we're to 389 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:49,120 be the salt of the earth. So that's the second use of the 390 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:51,040 word. Now the third use of the word is 391 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:54,920 really more what's used here and it spoke of total control. 392 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,840 Total control. The Spirit filled life is a life 393 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:06,160 that is totally controlled by the Holy Spirit, just as alcohol 394 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,440 controls an individual. So we should allow the Holy 395 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,600 Spirit to have total control of our lives. 396 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:18,520 So who's controlling your life today? 397 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,400 You know, as you're as you're looking at your life, as you're 398 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:27,280 examining your walk, thinking about the day to day, the 24/7, 399 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:33,880 the 365, what those hours look like circumspectly, carefully, 400 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:38,840 who's controlling it? And because what I'm about to 401 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,520 say to you in in verses and what's ahead, what's the flow 402 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:46,640 there and how far we get into these verses, time permitting, 403 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:57,520 is not even possible without the Holy Spirit play 00 filling you. 404 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:04,240 You have to be filled. You have to be empowered by the 405 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,520 Holy Spirit. If this is in any way possible, 406 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,440 you and I we need to be empowered and that word power 407 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,120 used in Acts chapter one verse 8. 408 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:18,800 Remember Jesus said to the disciples that they were to wait 409 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,520 in Jerusalem, He would ascend into heaven, that the Holy 410 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,600 Spirit would come upon them and he would fill them with power. 411 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,320 Again, the Greek word is dunamis, where we get in English 412 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:35,800 the words dynamite dynamic from. So you can really understand 413 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,720 that the power here that's utilised in that terminology is 414 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,440 that when the Holy Spirit would come upon them, there would be 415 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,800 this dynamic shift transformation in their lives 416 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:47,720 that would come from God, the Spirit in them. 417 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,360 And so to even do anything that we're about to read about, it's 418 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:57,360 impossible without the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit filling 419 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:05,320 our lives, controlling us. And So what does the Spirit look 420 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:09,680 like in the believer, You know, running around doing cartwheels, 421 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:13,080 flipping on the stage, me swinging off the the lights up 422 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,000 here at the front, no rolling on the floor and laughter. 423 00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:21,120 Now it's all as we're about to read here from verse 19 in 424 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:25,840 chapter 5 through into verse 9 of chapter 6. 425 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,600 It's evident in our worship under God. 426 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:35,200 It's evident in our interactions one to another in the church. 427 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,960 It's evident not only in the church life, but in the home 428 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,800 life, in our marriages. It's evident in our parenting. 429 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,960 It's evident in our response to our parents. 430 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,360 It's evident in the family. It's evident in the workplace. 431 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:55,120 That's what's before us. So what does a spirit filled 432 00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:57,320 person look like? What does the Holy Spirit look 433 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,520 like in our lives? Not something wild or strange, 434 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:07,120 but someone deeply stable, Worshipful, thankful, submitted, 435 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:13,360 loving, reflecting God in what they do, in what they say. 436 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,640 So let's look at as many verses as we can in the time that we 437 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:22,200 have left. Verses 19 through to 21 to begin 438 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,840 with speaking to one another. So verse 18, don't be filled. 439 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:30,280 So don't be drunk with wine, which is dissipation. 440 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,560 Be filled with the Spirit. Now here's what that will look 441 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:37,560 like speaking to one another. Verse 19 in Psalms and hymns and 442 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:41,520 spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to 443 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:46,280 the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the 444 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:48,920 Father. Verse 20 in the name of our Lord 445 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:53,000 Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. 446 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,360 Let's look at those verses. We want to know what does the 447 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,400 Spirit look like? What does the Holy Spirit look 448 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,840 like? We're we're really considering 449 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,320 what does the Spirit filled life look like? 450 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:10,200 Verse 19, it's Worshipful speaking in Psalms. 451 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,840 You know, the book of Psalms in the Old Testament was really the 452 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:15,760 hymn book for the nation of Israel. 453 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,480 These were the songs that they would sing as part of their 454 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,200 worship. These were songs that Jesus 455 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,840 himself sang with his disciples, with his family. 456 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:32,280 And hymns are those songs that you know, I, I handed down 457 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,960 through church history, those songs that that point to God 458 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:40,320 Almighty, that stir up within our hearts a passion for his 459 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,040 name. Spiritual songs are those songs 460 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,560 often birthed out of hurt, out of trial, out of tribulation in 461 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:52,640 our lives, our spirit crying out unto God, connecting our spirits 462 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,280 with with he's and saying, God, I need you, I need you in this 463 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,200 moment in this circumstance. And it's just that connection 464 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,440 that we're having bursting forth in song as as an expression of 465 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,760 emotion within us, singing and making melody in your heart to 466 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,160 the Lord, you know when you're Worshipful in this way. 467 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,040 And we know that worship is so much more than just songs, 468 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:16,280 right? But it's a whole attitude that 469 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,560 that all that we can do, it can be worship. 470 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:23,520 But there's something special in in singing in psalms and hymns 471 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:25,600 and making melody with our hearts unto the Lord. 472 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,240 There's something meaningful in that, right? 473 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,960 No matter what life throws at you, that capacity to be able to 474 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,560 worship in light of that in response to that ever found 475 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,400 times or experiences in your life where you go, man, I just 476 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:41,640 need to put on some worship music right now. 477 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,640 We'll we'll say I just need to steal and and quiet my heart in 478 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,440 the presence of God because man, there's just something that's 479 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,480 gone on at work or something going on in my family or in in 480 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,840 this relationship and I just need to connect with God and it 481 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,120 breaks out in worship within us and something happens within us. 482 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:02,000 There's something supernatural going on in that. 483 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,360 It's the spirit filled life at work. 484 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:07,080 And it's more than just, you know, because the world sings 485 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:11,000 songs too, doesn't it? But there's a difference in in 486 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,280 songs that we sing as worship to what the world sings as worship. 487 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,200 You can see what the world worships in the songs that they 488 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,320 sing. They're worshipping this 489 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,240 relationship, this experience and country music. 490 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,960 You know, my dog died, my pickup truck's broken down, and I don't 491 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,360 know what's going to happen, and woe is me and all of that. 492 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,240 But you and I, we worship. There's something different 493 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:37,880 going on in our songs. It's Lord. 494 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:42,280 I lift your name on high. Lord, I love to sing your 495 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:48,280 praises and worshipping songs. You know, like tonight. 496 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,560 It's not just a warm up for the message or just a thing where 497 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,760 you know, I can kind of arrive a little late. 498 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,680 No, it's there's something a little more significant. 499 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,600 There's intimacy and heartfelt expression going on connection 500 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:07,640 with God Almighty in worship, in psalms and hymns and spiritual 501 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,680 songs. Ever known someone? 502 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:18,320 Maybe you're it but and I just struggle to sing a song in key, 503 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,800 but boy, when I worship, tears streamed down my face because 504 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:23,440 there's a connection to the spirit. 505 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,680 Someone going through a difficulty illness, maybe it's 506 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:33,440 cancer, still lifting their hands in praise, worshipping 507 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,880 God. That's what the spirit filled 508 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:42,680 life looks like. Worship breaks forth and then 509 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:44,600 thankfulness. Verse 2020. 510 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:49,120 Now again a lot of people want to know what is God's will for 511 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,160 my life? God just direct me, guide me. 512 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:57,520 Here's 11 Thessalonians 5 verse 18 in everything give thanks. 513 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:02,720 And then Paul says, for this is the will of God, the will of God 514 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:08,920 to be thankful, to be grateful. God wants us so we are as spirit 515 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:10,800 filled people. One of the marks, one of the 516 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:15,040 attributes of us is to be Worshipful, yes, but is to be 517 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:15,640 thankful.