June 19, 2025 • 25 mins
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Many times Christen say I want to find God's will
for my life.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Doctor Tony Evans says, the search for God's specific will
for your life begins with being filled by the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
The filling up the Spirit enables you to understand what
the will of the Lord is.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. You can't pour
out what hasn't previously been poured in. Today, doctor Evans
explains what it means to be filled with the spirit
and how that filling transforms our attitudes, relationships, and worship.
(00:39):
Let's join him in Ephesians chapter five for a practical
look at the power behind a life that points others
to God.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Now, let me first of all talk about the importance
of the filling of the Holy Spirit. The importance why
he has said in the previous verses verse fifteen, Therefore,
be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise,
making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
So then do not be foolish, but understand what the
will of the Lord is. He tells us, it is
(01:09):
possible to waste time, to lose opportunity because the nature
of the times in which we live are evil, and
if we do not live our lives wisely, evil will
dominate them. And if evil will dominate them, we will
not be wise, but unwise, not making appropriate decisions, but
(01:32):
making what he calls foolish decisions in verse seventeen, and.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
We will wind up with a wasted life.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
There's probably not a person in this room who cannot
look back over some portion of.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Their life with regret.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
If I could live it over again, if I could
do it over again, I wouldn't have lost.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Those times made those decisions.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
While the Bible says that the reason verse eighteen why
the filling of the spirit if necessary, is because of
verses fifteen through seventeen, and that is time is short
and days are evil, so we don't have time to
waste time. We must maximize our opportunity. Well, how do
you maximize your opportunity? If you're under the control of
(02:17):
the Holy Spirit. He knows the opportunities, he knows the
best choices to make, when to make those choices, how
to make those choices, where to make those choices, And
the net result of it is verse seventeen, you.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Will understand what the will of the Lord is. Now.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
The beauty of this is that this means that you
do not have to find God's will for your life.
Many times Christians say, I want to find God's will
for my life.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
No, what you want is to be filled with the spirit.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
The feeling of the spirit enables you to understand.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
What the will of the Lord is. So the will
of the Lord will work.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Through the filling of the spirit in order to take
you to the wise choices in life. The feeling of
the spirit is always observable. It is an observable thing.
For example, in Acts chapter six, when they had to
pick leaders for the local church, and they went about
picking leaders verse three. But select from among you, brothren,
(03:19):
seven men of good reputation full of the spirit, He says,
go out and select leaders who are full of the spirit. Well,
if I'm a go and select a full of the
spirit leader. That means that's an observable quality. It's not
invisible quality. Fullness of the spirit is observable. It works
itself out in decision making, it works itself out in conduct,
(03:41):
it works itself out in how we function.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
It is a very.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Visible quality that leads to a second point, and that
is the nature of spirit filling. What does it mean
to be filled with the spirit? That can sound very amorphous.
What does it mean, Well, let's look at verse eighteen.
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation,
(04:06):
but be filled with the spirit. When a person is drunk,
he comes under the control of whatever alcoholic beverage he
is she is drinking. The issue is controlled. What happens
is that the influence of the alcohol dominates the brain
(04:29):
so that it produces a transformation in the character.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Alcohol takes over the brain. Character transformed.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Something else dominates you and has taken over the governing
influence of your life. You can't walk like you used
to walk, because you are now being controlled. Be not
drunk with wine. He uses the opposite extreme to illustrate
(05:00):
the positive point. Here use the negative be not to
illustrate the positive b So you have to understand that.
Now this is not a sermon on drunkenness, but there
are a lot of passages in the Bible that talk
about it. Let me just say a word about it.
Turned to Proverbs, chapter twenty three, the Book of Proverbs,
(05:23):
chapter twenty three. Her sweating be not with heavy drinkers
of wine verse twenty one. For the heavy drinker and
glutton will come to poverty verse twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Who has woe, who has sorrow.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Who has contention, who has complaining, who has wounds without cause?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Who has redness of eyes?
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Those who linger along over wine, who go to taste
mix wine? The first one is you linger over wine,
then you mix it when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly, And the last it bites
like a serpent and stings like a viper. Your eyes
will see strange things, and your mind will utter perverse things,
(06:11):
and you will be like one who lies down in
the middle of the sea, or like one who lies
down on the top of a mast. They struck me,
but I did not become ill. They beat me, but
I did not know it. When shall I awake, I
will seek another drink. Classic description of a drunkard a
(06:34):
person who imbibes to the point of loss of control.
He says, don't do that. God talks about condemnation of
the drunkard. Isaiah five eleven talks about that. Scripture says
in First Corinthians five, verse eleven, to separate yourself from
(06:55):
drunkards who profess to be Christians have no fellowship with them.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Why was and why it's drinking so important?
Speaker 1 (07:06):
People want liquor to do what God has given the
Holy Ghost to do.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
See, that's why a lot of coinnds. People don't want
to drink alone. Why do people go to a bar.
They can buy that stuff and drinking at home while
they go to a bar. While they go to a
bar to fellowship as they drink. Bars are pseudo churches.
It's where you go and there's always somebody who preaching
at you sitting on a stool.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
It's where you go to enter into an environment of
fellowship while you drink.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
But people want to drown their sorrows away, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
They want to be placed in another realm to not
have to deal with things.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
They want to be able to be knocked out of
the consciousness of the.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Struggles of day to day living. God says, you don't
have to get drunk to do that. You don't have
to get drunk to go to another realm. There's another
way to get to another realm, and it's a better
realm than the one you're trying to leave. Not a
worst realm. You see in pagan religion, wine and alcohol
and liquor was very important in order to cast you
(08:13):
into another zone, in another world. He then makes the
contrast to filling of the spirit. Now this is very important.
I don't mean this irreverently, but I need to say
it to make the point. God does want you intoxicated.
God does want you drunk, but not with wine. He
(08:37):
wants you full of the Holy Spirit. He wants you
to become totally consumed with the spirit.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
So that guess what, you come under the influence.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Same principle, only it's now applied to a different reality,
the spirit, not the spirits.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Make sure you leave that ass off of there. I'm
glas saying.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Bassa said I can get drunk in the spirits. Well,
you can get drunk in the spirit. What does this mean?
I want to make four observations about this phrase filled
with the spirit. First of all, it is a command.
It is imperative. It is not a statement, nor is
(09:23):
it a request. It is a demand. You can't make
it without it. Be filled, be filed. Not it would
be nice if you got filled.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Be filled.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
This is a non negotiable reality.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
You are not to ignore it.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Second thing I want to say is that it is
in the plural in the Greek.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It is in the plural.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
So what that means is this is not a special
experience for special people. This applies to everybody. All Christians
are to be filled.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
So it is.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Something that is commanded for every individual under the sound
of my voice, not negotiable, be filled. Thirdly, it is
in the present tense. Your past filling yesterday can't help
you today. It is a continuous reality. It is a
(10:27):
continuous reality. Just like a husband and wife can't depend
on what happened five years ago in that relationship to
make them happy today. That's got to be new today.
So it is this filling must occur for today today.
(10:48):
You cannot rest on yesterday's success or yesterday's filling.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Doctor Evans will unpack how this filling works and what
it looks like when the spirit is truly in control
when he returns with the second part of today's lesson
in just a moment. First though, I want to let
you know that the lesson we're hearing today is part
of an insightful faith building series from doctor Evans called
Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. This complete two
(11:17):
volume sixteen part collection walks you through the Book of Ephesians,
showing how God's power and purpose aren't limited to the big,
dramatic moments of life, but can transform the ordinary into
something extraordinary. We'd love to send the complete series of
full length messages to you as our way of saying
thanks when you make a contribution to help support the
(11:39):
ministry of the Alternative, and for a limited time, we'll
also include Tony's book Kingdom Living, a practical guide to
growing your faith and living out your identity in Christ
every single day. This special double offer will only be
available for a few more days now, so be sure
to visit us at Tonyevans dot org to request your
(12:01):
copy of Ordinary Holy and Kingdom Living. You find details
of the offer right on our homepage, or call us
at one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two
and let a member of our resource team help you out.
I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two
of today's message. Here's Tony again, picking up in Ephesians
(12:23):
chapter five.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Fourthly, it is passive be filled. Something else is filling you. Now,
let me try to help you in me to understand
this concept. When you are filled with the spirit. Let's assume,
(12:45):
for the sake of discussion, everybody under my voice is
filled with the spirit right now. Let's just assume that
you can pretty much equate this to driving up to
your local gas station and get and telling me attendant to.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Fill the tank.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
When that attendant fills the tank, he will give you
that fuel that you need to do. The problem occurs, however,
when you get up and go and use the filling
that you have, the filling that.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
You have that you're using, you're also losing.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
If if everybody in this room right now is filled
with the spirit.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
At the benediction, on your.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Way out the door, you will begin to use up
your feeling. Now, what uses up your feeling? While I
tell you a number of things use up your feeling.
People use up your feeling. Tell the truth, shame the
devil am I telling true? People begin to dream from you. Okay,
(14:01):
the filling that you at least think that you have,
so people can do it. Let me tell you what
else can do it. Circumstances can do it. Circumstances can
dream out this sense of spiritual positioning that you feel
that you have, this sort of fullness of God Another
thing that can drain us spiritually is sin. Sin can
(14:22):
seep away our spiritual energy. That is why refilling is
needed regularly. The nature of this feeling is that instead
of being controlled by alcohol, or for that matter, anything else,
be controlled by the fullness of the spirit, the spirit
dominating controlling you. It's an ongoing thing. That's why the
(14:45):
Bible relates to it in galletions. Five is walking. Whenever
you walk, you do a number of things. First of all,
it's progressive. You don't take one step and say you walked.
You took a step. Walking means continuous, Okay. Walking also
means you're going somewhere. If you're walking in serch, we
need to have a meeting, all right. Walking assumes that
you're going somewhere, So walking is continuous too. Walking means
(15:09):
you're going somewhere. And thirdly, walking me dependency because you're
putting all your weight on your leg, so you're resting
on your weight on your leg, So it's continuous, it's dependent,
and you're going somewhere. Now that leads to the means
of filling. Let's say you understand, okay, past it's important.
Now I understand the Holy Spirit takes control of my life.
(15:32):
How do I get that to happen? What do I
do to become filled? Since he's the one who does it,
he does it. But if you're in the environment of it,
then you're in the environment where he will in fact
do it. Let's look at verse nineteen through twenty one.
Speaking to one another in psalms and him spiritual song
(15:54):
and singing, making melody in your heart to the Lord,
always giving thanks for all things in the name of
our Lord, Jesus Christ than the Father, and be subject
to one another in the fear of Christ. Verses nineteen
through twenty one gives you the four things that you
must do in order to stay in a continuous state
of a full spiritual thank.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
What are the four things?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Number one speaking, he says, speaking to one another. To
put it another way, we must give and receive spiritual
input on a regular basis.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
To stay full.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Many of us don't know it, but our fullness is
being drained by our lack of spiritual input, both in
giving and receiving.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Speaking to one another. So it's give and take.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
People are putting into your life, you are putting into
somebody else's life. Spiritual reaffirmation, spiritual support, spiritual encoarriagement. There
is an ongoing spiritual interface regularly in your life. Many
of us lose our feeling because we go day after
(17:13):
day with no spiritual input except when we come to church.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
And if the only spiritual.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Input you either give or receive is when you come
to church, you may be filled in church, but you'll
be running on empty fairly quickly. All right, you're watching
TV all day. What you don't know is that there
has been a sucking of the spirit. Hello, there is
a sucking of the spirit. There must be regular spiritual
(17:44):
interface speaking to one another.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
There must be an ongoing taking and giving in your
life to keep the pump on, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Secondly, singing, singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord. Singing is a way of praising God for
who he is and what.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
He has done.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
In fact, even when he talks about speaking, he brings
in a singing component. Psalms, I think, refers to singing.
Scripture hymns refers to singing the spiritual principal spiritual truth,
and spiritual songs refer to testimonies of the Spiritus work
in your life. So whether it's spoken words speaking, or
whether it's spoken words spoken through song to one another.
(18:35):
But this one when he says singing, he's talking about
now you making melody in your heart to the Lord.
So the speaking is horizontal, but the singing here is
vertical where you are actually expressing in song to God.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
It is a verbal declaration.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Of who God is and what he is about from
the heart, So speaking singing. And then thirdly thanksgiving, or
to put it in another way, gratitude rather than grumbling.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Israel stop seeing God work in their lives because they
were always complaining. God delivered them through the Red Sea.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You know how much water was in the Red Sea,
enough to drown Pharaoh in his army. Soon as they
get on the other side of wheresee they complain that
they have no water. They've just seen God open up water,
and that they complain they don't have no water, he
says in verse twenty.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Always giving thanks.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Recognize God's complete control over all aspects of your life.
First Thessalonians five thirteen, give thanks in everything that is
in every scenario of life. There is always, always always
something to give thanks for.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Look at job. He had a reason to complain.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
And you're in the midst of it, he said, I'm
gonna bless him anyhow. Thanksgiving is powerful, powerful, So thanksgiving
is to be a way of life always. We are
to live our lives thankfully gratefully. There are three scenarios
for thanksgiving. Let me give you a three. One because
(20:28):
you have been blessed.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
In other words, you can reflect back on something God
has done.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Second spear of thanksgiving is in hope of being blessed.
This is an disciplatory thanksgiving. This is thanks for what
you are asking God to do, expecting God to do,
and trusting.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
God to do.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Thirdly, you give thanks for victory in the midst of
a battle. Give thanks. Question is why? Now, that's a
normal question, the natural human question. I am not saying,
don't ask that question. I'm saying, give thanks. How did
do it? Job say, in the middle of his trial,
(21:13):
the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. He gave thanks, and all what
power thanksgiving has. When the little boy brought Jesus the
loads and the fishes, the Bible says, Jesus gave thanks.
You know what he did watch this church. He gave
thanks for what he had. Then it got more. Ooh
(21:37):
see our prayers. Lord, give me more, God saying, but
I never heard thank you for what you have. Lord.
I want a bigger house, But have I heard thanks
for the apartment? You could be under a bridge? Have
I heard thanks for that?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Chet? And when you do, the Bible says God will.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Give you peace Philippians four, verse six, and finally submission
verse twenty one. Be subject to one another in the
fear of Christ. In other words, serve somebody else. Then
let me conclude with what all these four means. These
are four ways of thing one thing. Develop a worshipful lifestyle.
(22:13):
Don't just come to church to worship. Live worship, speak worship, flee,
sing worship, flee, give thanksgiving worship, flee. Relate to brothers
and sisters in the serving spirit worship flee.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
All of this ball down. The worship.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Worship keeps you in the presence of Christ, and like
virtual reality takes you to another realm. It's all worship.
Develop worship of the lifestyle. Worship when you get up
in the morning, Worship when you're driving, praise Him, sing
when you're talking to somebody on the phone, throwing a
little praise word, throwing something encourage and let them feed
you something back. And just keep that environment of worship,
(22:49):
shake it, serve somebody else in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Just keep this environmental worship hot. And
when that vient worship, how the Holy Spirit just fills
that atmosphere. When the people worship God temple, the Bible says,
and the glory of the Lord filled the house. God
fills worship, or to put it in the words of
the Scripture, he inhabits the praise of others.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
People.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Will you develop a worshipful lifestyle, You will develop a
transforming life because you will be full of God and
you will see heaven over.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Doctor Tony Evans on the power of a worship filled life.
Today's lesson comes from his complete sermon series entitled Ordinary
Holy Finding God in the Mundane. It's an in depth,
sixteen part look at the Book of Ephesians that shows
how God works powerfully through even the most ordinary parts
(23:42):
of life. For a limited time. When you support the alternative,
we'll send you the two volume audio set is our
thank you gift, along with Tony's encouraging book Kingdom Living
Full of Practical Ways to grow in your faith and
live a life of greater purpose.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
This special law.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Will only be available for a few more days now,
so visit Tonyevans dot org or call one eight hundred
eight hundred thirty two twenty two to make your request again.
That's Tonyevans dot org or call one eight hundred eight
hundred three two two two. A godly home doesn't happen
(24:21):
by accident. It's built on mutual love and submission. On Monday,
doctor Evans explores how God's designed for marriage reflects the
relationship between Christ and the Church and its ability to
bring Heaven into the home. Be sure to join us
Many times Christen say I want to find God's will
for my life.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Doctor Tony Evans says, the search for God's specific will
for your life begins with being filled by the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
The filling up the Spirit enables you to understand what
the will of the Lord is.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. You can't pour
out what hasn't previously been poured in. Today, doctor Evans
explains what it means to be filled with the spirit
and how that filling transforms our attitudes, relationships, and worship.
(00:39):
Let's join him in Ephesians chapter five for a practical
look at the power behind a life that points others
to God.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Now, let me first of all talk about the importance
of the filling of the Holy Spirit. The importance why
he has said in the previous verses verse fifteen, Therefore,
be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise,
making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
So then do not be foolish, but understand what the
will of the Lord is. He tells us, it is
(01:09):
possible to waste time, to lose opportunity because the nature
of the times in which we live are evil, and
if we do not live our lives wisely, evil will
dominate them. And if evil will dominate them, we will
not be wise, but unwise, not making appropriate decisions, but
(01:32):
making what he calls foolish decisions in verse seventeen, and.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
We will wind up with a wasted life.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
There's probably not a person in this room who cannot
look back over some portion of.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Their life with regret.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
If I could live it over again, if I could
do it over again, I wouldn't have lost.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Those times made those decisions.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
While the Bible says that the reason verse eighteen why
the filling of the spirit if necessary, is because of
verses fifteen through seventeen, and that is time is short
and days are evil, so we don't have time to
waste time. We must maximize our opportunity. Well, how do
you maximize your opportunity? If you're under the control of
(02:17):
the Holy Spirit. He knows the opportunities, he knows the
best choices to make, when to make those choices, how
to make those choices, where to make those choices, And
the net result of it is verse seventeen, you.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Will understand what the will of the Lord is. Now.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
The beauty of this is that this means that you
do not have to find God's will for your life.
Many times Christians say, I want to find God's will
for my life.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
No, what you want is to be filled with the spirit.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
The feeling of the spirit enables you to understand.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
What the will of the Lord is. So the will
of the Lord will work.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Through the filling of the spirit in order to take
you to the wise choices in life. The feeling of
the spirit is always observable. It is an observable thing.
For example, in Acts chapter six, when they had to
pick leaders for the local church, and they went about
picking leaders verse three. But select from among you, brothren,
(03:19):
seven men of good reputation full of the spirit, He says,
go out and select leaders who are full of the spirit. Well,
if I'm a go and select a full of the
spirit leader. That means that's an observable quality. It's not
invisible quality. Fullness of the spirit is observable. It works
itself out in decision making, it works itself out in conduct,
(03:41):
it works itself out in how we function.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
It is a very.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Visible quality that leads to a second point, and that
is the nature of spirit filling. What does it mean
to be filled with the spirit? That can sound very amorphous.
What does it mean, Well, let's look at verse eighteen.
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation,
(04:06):
but be filled with the spirit. When a person is drunk,
he comes under the control of whatever alcoholic beverage he
is she is drinking. The issue is controlled. What happens
is that the influence of the alcohol dominates the brain
(04:29):
so that it produces a transformation in the character.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Alcohol takes over the brain. Character transformed.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Something else dominates you and has taken over the governing
influence of your life. You can't walk like you used
to walk, because you are now being controlled. Be not
drunk with wine. He uses the opposite extreme to illustrate
(05:00):
the positive point. Here use the negative be not to
illustrate the positive b So you have to understand that.
Now this is not a sermon on drunkenness, but there
are a lot of passages in the Bible that talk
about it. Let me just say a word about it.
Turned to Proverbs, chapter twenty three, the Book of Proverbs,
(05:23):
chapter twenty three. Her sweating be not with heavy drinkers
of wine verse twenty one. For the heavy drinker and
glutton will come to poverty verse twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Who has woe, who has sorrow.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Who has contention, who has complaining, who has wounds without cause?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Who has redness of eyes?
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Those who linger along over wine, who go to taste
mix wine? The first one is you linger over wine,
then you mix it when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly, And the last it bites
like a serpent and stings like a viper. Your eyes
will see strange things, and your mind will utter perverse things,
(06:11):
and you will be like one who lies down in
the middle of the sea, or like one who lies
down on the top of a mast. They struck me,
but I did not become ill. They beat me, but
I did not know it. When shall I awake, I
will seek another drink. Classic description of a drunkard a
(06:34):
person who imbibes to the point of loss of control.
He says, don't do that. God talks about condemnation of
the drunkard. Isaiah five eleven talks about that. Scripture says
in First Corinthians five, verse eleven, to separate yourself from
(06:55):
drunkards who profess to be Christians have no fellowship with them.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Why was and why it's drinking so important?
Speaker 1 (07:06):
People want liquor to do what God has given the
Holy Ghost to do.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
See, that's why a lot of coinnds. People don't want
to drink alone. Why do people go to a bar.
They can buy that stuff and drinking at home while
they go to a bar. While they go to a
bar to fellowship as they drink. Bars are pseudo churches.
It's where you go and there's always somebody who preaching
at you sitting on a stool.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
It's where you go to enter into an environment of
fellowship while you drink.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
But people want to drown their sorrows away, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
They want to be placed in another realm to not
have to deal with things.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
They want to be able to be knocked out of
the consciousness of the.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Struggles of day to day living. God says, you don't
have to get drunk to do that. You don't have
to get drunk to go to another realm. There's another
way to get to another realm, and it's a better
realm than the one you're trying to leave. Not a
worst realm. You see in pagan religion, wine and alcohol
and liquor was very important in order to cast you
(08:13):
into another zone, in another world. He then makes the
contrast to filling of the spirit. Now this is very important.
I don't mean this irreverently, but I need to say
it to make the point. God does want you intoxicated.
God does want you drunk, but not with wine. He
(08:37):
wants you full of the Holy Spirit. He wants you
to become totally consumed with the spirit.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
So that guess what, you come under the influence.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Same principle, only it's now applied to a different reality,
the spirit, not the spirits.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Make sure you leave that ass off of there. I'm
glas saying.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Bassa said I can get drunk in the spirits. Well,
you can get drunk in the spirit. What does this mean?
I want to make four observations about this phrase filled
with the spirit. First of all, it is a command.
It is imperative. It is not a statement, nor is
(09:23):
it a request. It is a demand. You can't make
it without it. Be filled, be filed. Not it would
be nice if you got filled.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Be filled.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
This is a non negotiable reality.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
You are not to ignore it.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Second thing I want to say is that it is
in the plural in the Greek.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It is in the plural.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
So what that means is this is not a special
experience for special people. This applies to everybody. All Christians
are to be filled.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
So it is.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Something that is commanded for every individual under the sound
of my voice, not negotiable, be filled. Thirdly, it is
in the present tense. Your past filling yesterday can't help
you today. It is a continuous reality. It is a
(10:27):
continuous reality. Just like a husband and wife can't depend
on what happened five years ago in that relationship to
make them happy today. That's got to be new today.
So it is this filling must occur for today today.
(10:48):
You cannot rest on yesterday's success or yesterday's filling.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Doctor Evans will unpack how this filling works and what
it looks like when the spirit is truly in control
when he returns with the second part of today's lesson
in just a moment. First though, I want to let
you know that the lesson we're hearing today is part
of an insightful faith building series from doctor Evans called
Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. This complete two
(11:17):
volume sixteen part collection walks you through the Book of Ephesians,
showing how God's power and purpose aren't limited to the big,
dramatic moments of life, but can transform the ordinary into
something extraordinary. We'd love to send the complete series of
full length messages to you as our way of saying
thanks when you make a contribution to help support the
(11:39):
ministry of the Alternative, and for a limited time, we'll
also include Tony's book Kingdom Living, a practical guide to
growing your faith and living out your identity in Christ
every single day. This special double offer will only be
available for a few more days now, so be sure
to visit us at Tonyevans dot org to request your
(12:01):
copy of Ordinary Holy and Kingdom Living. You find details
of the offer right on our homepage, or call us
at one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two
and let a member of our resource team help you out.
I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two
of today's message. Here's Tony again, picking up in Ephesians
(12:23):
chapter five.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Fourthly, it is passive be filled. Something else is filling you. Now,
let me try to help you in me to understand
this concept. When you are filled with the spirit. Let's assume,
(12:45):
for the sake of discussion, everybody under my voice is
filled with the spirit right now. Let's just assume that
you can pretty much equate this to driving up to
your local gas station and get and telling me attendant to.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Fill the tank.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
When that attendant fills the tank, he will give you
that fuel that you need to do. The problem occurs, however,
when you get up and go and use the filling
that you have, the filling that.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
You have that you're using, you're also losing.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
If if everybody in this room right now is filled
with the spirit.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
At the benediction, on your.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Way out the door, you will begin to use up
your feeling. Now, what uses up your feeling? While I
tell you a number of things use up your feeling.
People use up your feeling. Tell the truth, shame the
devil am I telling true? People begin to dream from you. Okay,
(14:01):
the filling that you at least think that you have,
so people can do it. Let me tell you what
else can do it. Circumstances can do it. Circumstances can
dream out this sense of spiritual positioning that you feel
that you have, this sort of fullness of God Another
thing that can drain us spiritually is sin. Sin can
(14:22):
seep away our spiritual energy. That is why refilling is
needed regularly. The nature of this feeling is that instead
of being controlled by alcohol, or for that matter, anything else,
be controlled by the fullness of the spirit, the spirit
dominating controlling you. It's an ongoing thing. That's why the
(14:45):
Bible relates to it in galletions. Five is walking. Whenever
you walk, you do a number of things. First of all,
it's progressive. You don't take one step and say you walked.
You took a step. Walking means continuous, Okay. Walking also
means you're going somewhere. If you're walking in serch, we
need to have a meeting, all right. Walking assumes that
you're going somewhere, So walking is continuous too. Walking means
(15:09):
you're going somewhere. And thirdly, walking me dependency because you're
putting all your weight on your leg, so you're resting
on your weight on your leg, So it's continuous, it's dependent,
and you're going somewhere. Now that leads to the means
of filling. Let's say you understand, okay, past it's important.
Now I understand the Holy Spirit takes control of my life.
(15:32):
How do I get that to happen? What do I
do to become filled? Since he's the one who does it,
he does it. But if you're in the environment of it,
then you're in the environment where he will in fact
do it. Let's look at verse nineteen through twenty one.
Speaking to one another in psalms and him spiritual song
(15:54):
and singing, making melody in your heart to the Lord,
always giving thanks for all things in the name of
our Lord, Jesus Christ than the Father, and be subject
to one another in the fear of Christ. Verses nineteen
through twenty one gives you the four things that you
must do in order to stay in a continuous state
of a full spiritual thank.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
What are the four things?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Number one speaking, he says, speaking to one another. To
put it another way, we must give and receive spiritual
input on a regular basis.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
To stay full.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Many of us don't know it, but our fullness is
being drained by our lack of spiritual input, both in
giving and receiving.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Speaking to one another. So it's give and take.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
People are putting into your life, you are putting into
somebody else's life. Spiritual reaffirmation, spiritual support, spiritual encoarriagement. There
is an ongoing spiritual interface regularly in your life. Many
of us lose our feeling because we go day after
(17:13):
day with no spiritual input except when we come to church.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
And if the only spiritual.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Input you either give or receive is when you come
to church, you may be filled in church, but you'll
be running on empty fairly quickly. All right, you're watching
TV all day. What you don't know is that there
has been a sucking of the spirit. Hello, there is
a sucking of the spirit. There must be regular spiritual
(17:44):
interface speaking to one another.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
There must be an ongoing taking and giving in your
life to keep the pump on, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Secondly, singing, singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord. Singing is a way of praising God for
who he is and what.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
He has done.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
In fact, even when he talks about speaking, he brings
in a singing component. Psalms, I think, refers to singing.
Scripture hymns refers to singing the spiritual principal spiritual truth,
and spiritual songs refer to testimonies of the Spiritus work
in your life. So whether it's spoken words speaking, or
whether it's spoken words spoken through song to one another.
(18:35):
But this one when he says singing, he's talking about
now you making melody in your heart to the Lord.
So the speaking is horizontal, but the singing here is
vertical where you are actually expressing in song to God.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
It is a verbal declaration.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Of who God is and what he is about from
the heart, So speaking singing. And then thirdly thanksgiving, or
to put it in another way, gratitude rather than grumbling.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Israel stop seeing God work in their lives because they
were always complaining. God delivered them through the Red Sea.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You know how much water was in the Red Sea,
enough to drown Pharaoh in his army. Soon as they
get on the other side of wheresee they complain that
they have no water. They've just seen God open up water,
and that they complain they don't have no water, he
says in verse twenty.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Always giving thanks.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Recognize God's complete control over all aspects of your life.
First Thessalonians five thirteen, give thanks in everything that is
in every scenario of life. There is always, always always
something to give thanks for.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Look at job. He had a reason to complain.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
And you're in the midst of it, he said, I'm
gonna bless him anyhow. Thanksgiving is powerful, powerful, So thanksgiving
is to be a way of life always. We are
to live our lives thankfully gratefully. There are three scenarios
for thanksgiving. Let me give you a three. One because
(20:28):
you have been blessed.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
In other words, you can reflect back on something God
has done.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Second spear of thanksgiving is in hope of being blessed.
This is an disciplatory thanksgiving. This is thanks for what
you are asking God to do, expecting God to do,
and trusting.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
God to do.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Thirdly, you give thanks for victory in the midst of
a battle. Give thanks. Question is why? Now, that's a
normal question, the natural human question. I am not saying,
don't ask that question. I'm saying, give thanks. How did
do it? Job say, in the middle of his trial,
(21:13):
the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. He gave thanks, and all what
power thanksgiving has. When the little boy brought Jesus the
loads and the fishes, the Bible says, Jesus gave thanks.
You know what he did watch this church. He gave
thanks for what he had. Then it got more. Ooh
(21:37):
see our prayers. Lord, give me more, God saying, but
I never heard thank you for what you have. Lord.
I want a bigger house, But have I heard thanks
for the apartment? You could be under a bridge? Have
I heard thanks for that?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Chet? And when you do, the Bible says God will.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Give you peace Philippians four, verse six, and finally submission
verse twenty one. Be subject to one another in the
fear of Christ. In other words, serve somebody else. Then
let me conclude with what all these four means. These
are four ways of thing one thing. Develop a worshipful lifestyle.
(22:13):
Don't just come to church to worship. Live worship, speak worship, flee,
sing worship, flee, give thanksgiving worship, flee. Relate to brothers
and sisters in the serving spirit worship flee.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
All of this ball down. The worship.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Worship keeps you in the presence of Christ, and like
virtual reality takes you to another realm. It's all worship.
Develop worship of the lifestyle. Worship when you get up
in the morning, Worship when you're driving, praise Him, sing
when you're talking to somebody on the phone, throwing a
little praise word, throwing something encourage and let them feed
you something back. And just keep that environment of worship,
(22:49):
shake it, serve somebody else in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Just keep this environmental worship hot. And
when that vient worship, how the Holy Spirit just fills
that atmosphere. When the people worship God temple, the Bible says,
and the glory of the Lord filled the house. God
fills worship, or to put it in the words of
the Scripture, he inhabits the praise of others.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
People.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Will you develop a worshipful lifestyle, You will develop a
transforming life because you will be full of God and
you will see heaven over.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Doctor Tony Evans on the power of a worship filled life.
Today's lesson comes from his complete sermon series entitled Ordinary
Holy Finding God in the Mundane. It's an in depth,
sixteen part look at the Book of Ephesians that shows
how God works powerfully through even the most ordinary parts
(23:42):
of life. For a limited time. When you support the alternative,
we'll send you the two volume audio set is our
thank you gift, along with Tony's encouraging book Kingdom Living
Full of Practical Ways to grow in your faith and
live a life of greater purpose.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
This special law.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Will only be available for a few more days now,
so visit Tonyevans dot org or call one eight hundred
eight hundred thirty two twenty two to make your request again.
That's Tonyevans dot org or call one eight hundred eight
hundred three two two two. A godly home doesn't happen
(24:21):
by accident. It's built on mutual love and submission. On Monday,
doctor Evans explores how God's designed for marriage reflects the
relationship between Christ and the Church and its ability to
bring Heaven into the home. Be sure to join us
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.