A people filled with the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 5:18-21

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Paul here is saying that our worship, our attitude, and our relationships all necessitate us being consistently filled up by the spirit of God.

Alcohol actually has a depressive effect on our senses, it slows our reactions, it dulls our judgement, and makes us less sensitive to others (which is why people use it to feel less inhibited). Often things are said, or people act in ways under its influence that they later regret. The Spirit, however, has the opposite effect: we are sharpened in our senses, our awareness of others, and judgement.

Paul is wanting the community of believers to walk holy lives, being very aware of each other, bringing encouragement to each other through gifts of the Spirit, scripture, songs etc. We need firstly to be baptised in the Holy Spirit, a one-off event that we can ask God for, and then to make it a practice of our lives to be filled again and again with His spirit (as Paul is commanding the Ephesians here).


Questions:

  • Talk about Paul’s two commands in this passage. He is not giving us some advice that we might like to consider, but clear commands! What does this mean for us?
  • This passage is one of the most important passages in the NT about corporate worship. What does it tell us about the responsibility we all have when we come together to worship God?
  • Go around and talk about your own struggles with the on going process of being filled with the spirit: what helps you? When you are ‘dry’ what things start to show up?

Finish with a time of praying for each other to ‘be filled some more’, if there are some who have never been ‘baptized in the Spirit’, pray as a group for them to be!