Consequences

Happy Sunday! I've truly enjoyed our study on the Holy Spirit. Thank you for joining me today. Last week we talked about Pentecost, and if you were with us, I shared that last Sunday on the church calendar was Pentecost Sunday.

Thinking of that this week, I realized that Pentecost Sunday should be celebrated much like we celebrate Christmas and Easter. In history, Pentecost changed the world. Today we're going to talk about the consequences of being filled with the Spirit, and there should be great consequences.

Last week we looked at Acts chapter 2. As the chapter ends, the church is growing exponentially. The new Christians are devoting themselves to teaching and praying and fellowship and sharing and praising God. And today I want to look at Ephesians 5.

In Ephesians 5 we find some controversial scripture that can only be explained by living Spirit-filled lives. I'll begin with verse 18: "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." That part should remind you of what was said in Acts chapter 2, by the way.

I continue with verses 19 and 20, but remember, verse 18 ended with "but be filled with the Spirit": "as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Spirit-filled people, according to this section of scripture, are thankful people. Spirit-filled people are appraising people.

Fanny Crosby, a great hymn writer from years ago, said, "It's not enough to have a song on your lips; you must have a song in your heart." The Holy Spirit puts a song in your heart. Remember today that we're talking about consequences of being filled with the Spirit of God. Ephesians 5 starts with the heart, thankful and praise-filled.

And beginning in verse 21, we read about relationships. Here is where the controversy can come if taken out of context. I'll read verses 21 to 24: "Be subject to one to one to another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands."

These few verses are quite explosive. They've been so misunderstood over the years. Taken out of context, they are hard to comprehend. Before I comment on them, I want to read the duties of the husband found in verses 25 to 28.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." I'll skip to verse 33: "Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband."

The key to understanding these verses is remembering that they are in light of being filled with the Spirit. On our own strength, this is impossible in a marriage. A husband and wife on their own power are not capable of such love and submission and care. We need to remember that these verses follow the command "be filled with the Spirit."

The key to all of this is found in verse 18: "be filled with the Spirit." This, in fact, is the key to the whole Christian life. Don't miss what I just said: the key to the Christian life is being filled with the Spirit. That's why Pentecost should be celebrated like Easter and Christmas. If you are to have godly consequences in your life, you must be filled with the Spirit, because on our own we are in trouble.

Ephesians chapter 6 gives us more good news. It talks about the consequences of Spirit-filled families in regard to children. Chapter 6 of Ephesians begins with these words: "Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right." The relationships of parents to children and children to parents is supposed to be a great blessing. Sadly, we all know examples where it is not.

If one or both of the parties are not walking in the Spirit, there will be trouble. God intends otherwise. As we have looked at the consequences of being filled with the Spirit from Ephesians 5 and 6, it's interesting to note that this is all about relationships. Your relationship with God is right; your relationship with others are right. All of this is a result of being filled with the Spirit.

If you're still confused about how to be filled, I want to show you something found in Colossians chapter 3. It's much like Ephesians 5. I want to read to you beginning with the middle of verse 16 and go through verse 20. There we are told: "With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, and word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting with the Lord. Husbands, love you, love your wives and never treat them harshly. Children, obey your parents and everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord."

If you read Colossians 3 next to Ephesians 5, you'll see the same results. I skipped the first part of verse 16 and Colossians 3. Let me read that to you. It begins by saying, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."

Ephesians says, "Be filled with the Spirit." Colossians says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." They are the same thing. How can I say that? They have the exact same results.

If you want to be Spirit-filled, feed yourself the word of God. Let it dwell in your heart. If you want to know what it is to be Spirit-filled, fill your life with God's word and live it.

Pray with me. Father God, we pray for that filling every day, and we have to do our part. We have to seek you, because you have promised if we seek, we will find. Father, help us in our relationships with you, and when that one's right, all others fall into place.

Bless marriages and relations with parents and children. If somebody's watching that has a broken relationship, we just pray that the Spirit of God will intercede. Father, work in us every day. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God bless. Thanks for watching.