Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray for the church (and other things -- 7:00 PM Wed., LHF time).

Text: Eph. 5:15-20

"Be very careful, then, how you live -- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

This is a continuation of the teaching Paul gave in Eph. 5:3-14, which is a continuation of the teaching he started at the beginning of chapter 4. Let's be confident that the Holy Spirit will use these words to sanctify us.

Jesus Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:2) Because of Christ we are God's holy people (v3) and we are children of light in the Lord (v8). In verses 3 through 14, the apostle Paul tells us how to live in a way that's appropriate to who we really are -- God's holy people and children of light.

Paul tells us that there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, of any kind of impurity or of greed among us. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, but rather thanksgiving. In following these words, we are not doing what is unnatural or contrary to our personalities, but doing what is natural for God's holy people. At one time it would have been unnatural to do these things, but now, because of Christ, it is perfectly natural. If it seems unnatural to you, it may be because you are being deceived. Paul says, "Don't let anyone deceive you with empty words (v6). Probably, living as God's holy people seemed unnatural to, at least, some of those Paul was writing to, or he wouldn't have thought that it was necessary to write. (This is a prayer topic. Pray about it. God answers prayers that are according to his will. "It is God's will that you should be sanctified." - 1 Thess. 4:3)

Also, we are children of light in the Lord. When we live as children of light, we have the fruit of the light which consists of all goodness, righteousness and truth. (v 8, 9)

Now, to go on to verses 15 through 20: In verse 15 Paul says, "Be very careful, then, how you live -- not as unwise, but as wise..." The "then" in "Be careful, then" connects verses 15 through 20 with everything Paul has already said in verses 3 through 14. He is saying that, in view of all of the above -- that is, that we are saints and should certainly live as saints -- that we need to do the things he tells us in verses 15 through 20 (and also, for that matter, in the rest of the book of Ephesians).

So, we must be very careful how we live -- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. These are extremely strong words. "Making the most of every opportunity" when translated literally is, "buying back the time" or "buying up the time." It might be better translated as "making the most of every moment." The use of the word opportunity leads you to question what might constitute an opportunity and what might not. Actually, each moment is an opportunity and we must make the most of it! Also, we must be not just be careful how we live but VERY careful. Why must we be very careful to make the most of every opportunity? Because the days are evil.

The days are evil because this is the age of fallen man. The world is living in disobedience to God and under his wrath so we are told not to be partners with them (v 7). Our every moment belongs to Jesus who redeemed us by his blood shed on the cross, so we must not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. (v 17)

To make a long story short, the Lord's will is for us, his Church, to be filled with the Spirit. The "Spirit" is God's Holy Spirit, as the translators have indicated by capitalizing it -- Spirit. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? I want to go into, at least, a little detail about that.

I looked up references to being "filled with" or "full of" the Spirit in the NIV. There were nineteen references -- four in the Old Testament and fifteen in the New Testament. The first two references in the Old Testament are Ex. 31:3 and 35:31 and are references to Bezalel to whom God gave various artistic skills to be used in building the tabernacle. God also gave him the ability to teach others.

The next reference in the Old Testament is Deut. 34:9. This is when Moses laid hands on Joshua and he, Joshua, was filled with the Spirit of wisdom so the Israelites would listen to him and do what the Lord had commanded Moses.

The last Old Testament reference is Micah 3:8. The prophet is filled with the Spirit of the LORD to prophesy the truth about Israel's transgressions, while the others are telling falsehoods.

The first four references in the New Testament to being filled with the Spirit are in Luke. The first is Luke 1:15 where the angel Gabriel told Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. The second reference is Luke 1:41 where Mary, when she was pregnant with Jesus, came to visit Elisabeth, the wife of Zechariah who was pregnant with John. Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to Mary in a loud voice, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear." She also recognized that Mary was the mother of her Lord.

In Luke 1:67, after John the Baptist was born, Zechariah, his father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and praised God and prophesied about John and about Jesus in a beautiful poetic prophecy.

Finally, in Luke 4:1, Jesus himself was filled with the Holy Spirit after his baptism by John.

The next ten references to being filled with the Spirit or being full of the Spirit are in Acts. Here they are:

The first is Acts 2:4 where the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Three thousand new believers were added to their number that day (v 41).

Second is Acts 4:8 where Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and preached to the Sanhedrin. He told them, among other things, that Jesus was "the stone you builders rejected which has become the capstone." and "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (vv 11, 12)

Third is Acts 4:31. After Peter had finished speaking before the Sanhedrin and they had threatened him and John, telling them not to speak in the name of Jesus any more, they, Peter and John, returned to the other believers and reported all that had happened. The believers all prayed to speak even more boldly and for God to heal and to perform signs and wonders in the name of Jesus. After they prayed, the meeting place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly (vv 4:23-31).

The next two reference are Acts 6:3 and 5 where the seven deacons were chosen to distribute food to the needy Greek-speaking widows. Verse 3 gives the requirement that the men who were chosen had to be "full of the Spirit and wisdom." Verse 5 describes Steven, one of the seven chosen, to be a man "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit."

Reference number six is Acts 7:55. This is where Steven was brought before the Sanhedrin for questioning when he was accused of blaspheming against Moses and against God. He preached to them and rebuked them for their hypocrisy. Finally, "Steven, full of the Holy Spirit. looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 'Look,' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'" After that, they stoned him.

Next is Acts 9:17. This is where Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, was converted and commissioned by Jesus to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. The disciple Ananias placed his hands on Paul so that his sight would be restored and he would be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Next is Acts 11:24. It refers to Barnabus, when he was sent to Antioch to encourage the new believers. This is what is said about him: "He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord."

In Acts 13:9, Paul and Barnabus were preaching the gospel to the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, on the island of Cyprus. Elymus, a Jewish sorcerer, was opposing them. Then Paul, "filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 'You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right!'" Paul continued to rebuke him and for a time he became blind (v 11).

The last reference in Acts is 13:52. This where Paul and Barnabus, after preaching the gospel in Pisidian Antioch and making Gentile converts, were run out of town by the Jews who were jealous of them. Verses 51 and 52 say: "So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."

I could certainly say a lot more about each one of these references, but this message is getting pretty long already. In summary, through filling with the Holy Spirit, God gives power to do his work, especially to prophesy and to preach the gospel. When preaching is done through the filling with the Holy Spirit, people are saved and there is rejoicing. In short, God is glorified.

The last reference in the bible to being filled with the Holy Spirit is Eph. 5:18 in today's passage. It is the command for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. At this point I want to say a little more about the wording of this command, "be filled with the Spirit." In all the other reference in the new testament to being filled with the Holy Spirit, a different word is used for "filled" or "full" than Paul used in Ephesians. However, the word he used in verse 18 is also the same word he used in Eph. 1:23 when he said of the Church that it is Christ's body, "the fullness of him (God) who FILLS everything in every way. Also, in Eph. 3:16-19, Paul prayed for his readers to be strengthened by God through his Spirit so that Christ would live in their hearts by faith, that they would grasp how great the love of Christ is, know that love and "be FILLED to the measure of all the fullness of God."

We can reason that being filled with the Holy Spirit is being filled with God, since the Holy Spirit is God. But also, a more literal translation of Eph. 5:18, the command to be filled with the Spirit might be this: "Be filled by means of the Spirit." Or, in other words, by means of the Spirit of God be filled with God. To lift from my amplified translation of Eph. 1:23, "Be filled with the overflowing abundance, the wealth beyond measure and the full and perfect nature of God who fulfills and completes everything in every way.

Let pray to, as the Church, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus says this is a prayer that God loves to answer. "How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." (Luke 11:13) God wants us to speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, to sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord and to always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (vv 19, 20)

Come on Wednesday and pray for the Church. The Church is the overflowing abundance, the wealth beyond measure and the full and perfect nature of God who fulfills and completes everything in every way.

Grace and peace,
Dean Svoboda

PS: You can also bring you own prayer requests and pray for them with your brothers and sisters in Christ (i.e., with the Church). Bring your requests to God with thanksgiving and receive his peace.

PPS: Pass this invitation along to others in your household or to someone who doesn't have an e-mail address in the LHF directory