January 8, 2023
Sermon Series: Spirit-Filled Living Is Essential For Christians
Book of Ephesians
Sermon # 1: HOW TO START A SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE
Ephesians 1: 1-6
Introduction: The Spirit-filled life is not simply about spouting Spiritual garbage. It is about allowing the Holy Spirit to control every area of your life.
D.L. Moody was to have a campaign in England. An elderly pastor protested, “Why do we need this “Mr. Moody? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?” A younger, wiser pastor rose and responded, “No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody.”
Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Triune God. It was the Holy Spirit that hovered over the waters of the deep creation. It was the Holy Spirit that anointed the prophets and kings in the Old Testament. It was the Spirit that descended like a dove on Jesus at His baptism. It was the Holy Spirit that was given to the disciples and apostles on the day of Pentecost. It is the Spirit in Ephesians 1 that marks us as true believers and plants the life of Jesus in us. It is the One Spirit that can unite us together as the one body and temple for Jesus to live in. In Ephesians 5:18 we are commanded by Paul to be filled and controlled by God’s Holy Spirit that lives in us.
What’s the big deal about the Holy Spirit?
Does being filled with the Spirit really makes a difference?
ILLUSTRATION: Pastor Billy Richards and a church member
A church member and her husband came to see pastor Billy Richards. The wife was very distressed and upset.
‘I have worked for this company for 25 years, she began, “I have given my whole life to it, and now they fired me. I don’t know why, I am being fired, but I think it is because I am a Christian. I don’t know if I should take it to court or not.’ Pastor, what should I do?
The pastor calmed the lady down, and suggested that he go and talk with her supervisor.
The next day, pastor Bill visited the woman’s place of work and went to the office of the general manager.
Pastor Bill asked about the church member and her dismissal, the manager replied that he could not talk about the issues because it was a private company matter, but he was free to talk with any of the other workers who worked under this lady.
When the pastor casually spoke with the other workers, not one had a positive thing to say about her. Some even used foul language to describe how they felt about her behavior and actions which were less than Christ honoring. She would arrive to work late, but fudge her time card. She would leave early but add extra minutes to gain overtime. She would verbally abuse her fellow workers, and even spread rumors about them. She was even seen taking things from work with her.
A couple days later, the woman and her husband returned to the Pastor’s office. She asked the pastor what he had been able to learn?
Pastor Bill looked at the lady and said to her, “You are an embarrassment to the name of Christ. You have called yourself a Christian” and even boasted about being Spirit-filled, but everyone at your place of work says that you are negative, proud, steal from the company, and lazy.’ If you claimed to be a Spirit-filled follower of Jesus, then it will make a difference in your lifestyle.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit makes a difference in how you work, how you live, and how you worship.
The book of Ephesians tells us how to possess the spiritual riches that are a result of living the Spirit-filled life.
We have three requirements of “How To Start A Spirit-Filled Life”.
I. REMEMBER WHO WE ARE v. 1-3
A. God’s call to Paul
1. To be an apostle
2. By God’s will
Paul is an apostle by the will of God, and not by the will of man.
B. God’s call to the church & its believers
1. To be saints
The word translated saints means “holy ones” or “separated ones.” It refers to those who have separated themselves from the world to be used by God. Saints are people who are in Christ Jesus 1:1c. Every Christian is a saint. God only sees us in Christ’s righteousness. Have you ever gone to church services wearing no clothes? In Christ, God only sees us in the “spiritual clothes” of His righteousness. Look at Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
2. To be faithful
The word “faithful” means who has placed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
C. God’s blessings are heavenly blessings v. 3
This means God will not withhold any blessing in heaven from those who are in Christ. But, how do we appropriate all spiritual blessings? Joshua 1:3, God says he will give Joshua every place he sets his foot, as He promised Moses. Joshua and the Israelites had to do their part to receive God’s promised blessings, and so must we.
1. Remember who we are
II. REMEMBER WHOSE WE ARE v. 4a & 5
A. God has chosen (election)
us
1. How: In Christ
2. Purpose: To live “before Him in love” ---forever & ever
B. God has adopted us as children
1. Predestinated----Foreordained: Was His will
2. How: By Christ
3. Why to praise His grace
We get into God’s family by being born again John 3:3. The result of God, chosen or election and predestination is we are adopted as His children.
1. Remember who we are
2. Remember whose we are
III. REMEMBER WHY WE ARE HERE v. 4b, 6
A. We must remember why God chose us, predestined us, and adopted us.
B. He did those things so we could be holy and without blame before him 4b. This refers to moral excellence because God chose us to reflect His nature.
C. God chose us, predestined us, and adopted us----all to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved v. 6. This means our salvation is solely because of God’s grace. We should give praise to God’s awesome grace!
Three requirements of how to start a Spirit-filled life:
1. Remember who we are
2. Remember whose we are
3. Remember why we are here
Responsive reading: Ephesians 1:1-6
