The Spirit’s Filling (Ephesians 5:14-18)

Big Idea: Christians must be filled with the Holy Spirit daily to overcome spiritual defeat and live faithfully.

Can you point to wasted periods in your life? Perhaps you've been a Christian for a while, but you can identify a period in which you wasted your time. Have you ever made unwise decisions? Have you ever been a believer, and yet experienced a period of sleepiness and sluggishness in your life? Have you ever had the queasy feeling that you aren't in the will of God, or that you don't know God's will?

Read with me a few verses from Ephesians 5. We'll begin reading in the middle of verse 14.

"Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:14-17)

Paul says it's possible to be a Christian, and yet be asleep. To be a Christian, and yet waste your time. To be a believer, and yet be unwise. To be a Christian, and not know what God's will is.

The Solution to Spiritual Sluggishness

Paul gives a remedy to this sort of living. The next verse, verse 18, is unexpected and unparalleled in the Bible. This command is crucial in this passage and for the Christian life.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit... (Ephesians 5:18)

Last week we established a foundational truth: every believer has been baptized in the Spirit. If you've placed your faith in Christ, you've been Spirit-baptized—no exceptions. We all share in this reality. Each of us has received Jesus' gift at Pentecost. The Spirit dwells in every believer, not just an elite class of super-Christians.

Many believers still live defeated lives. Their paths veer off course, lacking the wisdom that aligns with God's will. The issue isn't a shortage of the Spirit—we all have complete access to his fullness. Rather, the Spirit doesn't have enough of us.

This explains Paul's command to "be filled with the Spirit." He's urging us to fully embrace the Spirit's influence, allowing him the rightful place in every aspect of our lives.

We understand what it means to be filled with an emotion. We know what it means to be filled with grief, or joy, or other strong emotions. When we are filled with a given emotion, that emotion dominates our being and describes what we are really like. It, in fact, describes what controls us.

There's a story in the book of Acts about Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple that lied to God about what they were giving him. Acts 5:3 describes Ananias by saying that Satan filled his heart. In other words, Satan dominated his impulses. Whenever we are filled with something, that means we are controlled by it.

Paul tells us that we are to be filled and controlled, and I might add, empowered, by the Holy Spirit. Only when this happens can we live faithfully. This is the key to growing in our faith. The more filled with the Spirit we are, the more we will grow as believers. The less filled with the Spirit we are, the slower we will grow as believers.

Back in 1989, I was dating Charlene. One evening, we headed to the Symphony of Fire show by the lake in her new 1988 Chevrolet Beretta. This car featured a digital gauge showing remaining driving distance based on fuel level. As we sat trapped in post-event traffic, that gauge plummeted from 30 kilometers to 15, then to just 7 without us moving an inch. We had to abandon the car roadside and take public transit home, returning the next day to retrieve it.

No reasonable person would have criticized our attitude. We were young and in love with plenty of good cheer between us. Positive attitudes alone couldn't start the car; it needed gas. No one would've suggested we didn't try hard enough or lacked faith. The issue wasn't effort or belief—the tank was simply empty.

This reflects our spiritual journey. When you experience spiritual drought, the core issue isn't your attitude, effort, or faith. Well-meaning friends might suggest you "just need more positivity" or "try harder" or "believe more strongly." These overlook the main issue. Just as my stranded car needed fuel, your spiritual life requires the filling of the Holy Spirit. Without his guidance, our best efforts can still lead to spiritual stagnation.

Living the Christian life by our own power isn't merely difficult. It's impossible. If we could manage it alone, we wouldn't need God. Jesus himself declared in John 15:5, "Apart from me you can do nothing." This is precisely why he promised the Holy Spirit before ascending to heaven. The Christian life is inherently supernatural and needs divine power. Our only true advantage comes from the Spirit dwelling within us, providing the power we need to overcome sin. Without his filling, we're attempting the impossible.

Think about the disciples. If anyone had credentials to succeed without the Spirit's help, it was them. They received three years of personal mentoring from Jesus himself. They witnessed extraordinary miracles: the lame walking, the blind seeing, the dead returning to life. They knew the teachings intimately and had even performed miracles themselves. No group was better equipped, more convinced, or more motivated.

Despite being well-prepared, Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit's power, as noted in Acts 1:4-8. Even with all their firsthand experience and training, they weren't to begin their ministry until the Spirit empowered them. Their preparation, though extensive, was incomplete without the Spirit's presence and power.

If those who walked with Jesus needed the Spirit's empowerment, how arrogant are we to face each day without recognizing our complete dependence on him! This explains the spiritual defeat many of us face. Determination isn't enough for us to survive. The Christian life demands a power source beyond ourselves.

We have a choice. As one person says, we can live the adequate Christian life, or we can live the wonderful, Spirit-filled life. Which one are you going to choose?

What It Means to Be Filled with the Spirit

So let's look again at Paul's command in Ephesians 5:18. "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18)

You'll notice it's a command. God doesn't make suggestions. This isn't, "If you would like, maybe it would be nice to be filled with the Spirit." It's a command. Do it! It's absolutely essential that we be filled with the Spirit.

You'll notice it's for all of us. You can't see this in the English, but in the Greek, the command is in the plural. You could almost say, "Now y'all be filled with the Spirit." It's not a command for one Christian, or an elite group of Christians, it's for all Christians. This morning the command is for all of us to be filled with the Spirit. It's for you to be filled with the Spirit.

You'll notice that it's a continual command. The verb is in the ongoing tense. It could almost be translated, "Keep on being filled with the Spirit." In other words, we don't get filled with the Spirit today and it's enough from here on out. We need to be filled with the Spirit daily. The filling is not permanent. We have to keep being filled, or we will run low.

The results of being Spirit-filled follow in Ephesians 5. To be filled with the Spirit does not lead to repeated charismatic experiences, as some claim. It leads to a transformation of our character, actually opening ourselves to the transforming presence of Christ. The Spirit becomes the dominating influence in our lives. His filling transforms our worship, our thankfulness, and leads to transformed relationships of mutual submission.

...addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:19-21)

How many people here would like their worship and relationships transformed?

Just a few more questions remain. What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? As I said earlier, it means being controlled by the Spirit. Paul's comparison is intriguing. Paul says, "Don't be drunk with wine." When we're drunk, we're what? Under the influence. Paul contrasts this to being under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He suggests, "Instead of being controlled by alcohol, which causes debauchery, let the Holy Spirit guide you toward a transformed life."

J. Oswald Sanders writes:

In the heart of the believer who is filled with the Spirit, He reigns supreme over the will, the emotions, the intelligence, but with his full consent and cooperation. The word [filled] carries the idea of being filled to the point of saturation, a fullness that leaves nothing to be desired… So to be full of the Holy Spirit means the habitual experience of having the Holy Spirit in the free and unhindered exercise of all his attributes – knowledge, power, holiness, peace, joy – exercising his sway and dominion in every realm of life.

Four Reminders

Let me wrap up by giving you some reminders, and then telling you how you can be filled with the Spirit.

Here are four important reminders:

• You cannot live the Christian life without the Spirit. Without him, you may have an adequate Christian life, but with him, you experience the fullness of a Spirit-filled life. Which would you choose?
• Christian maturity is not based on extraordinary experiences. The Spirit’s filling transforms lives through everyday holiness, not just through spectacular gifts like tongues, prophecy, and healings.
• And here’s the good news: the Spirit’s fullness is for everyone. It’s not reserved for an elite group or the spiritually advanced—it’s for new believers, seasoned Christians, and everyone in between.
• Remember, it’s not a one-time event. Yesterday's filling was intended for that day. Are you filled with the Spirit today? We must seek his filling daily, living in continual dependence on him.

How to Be Filled With the Spirit

I've left the most obvious question until now. How are we filled with the Spirit? I'll mention two ways this morning, and they're from Charles Stanley's book The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life.

Total Dependence

We are filled with the Spirit as we come to the place of total dependence. Listen to what Stanley writes:

The Spirit-filled life begins once we are absolutely and thoroughly convinced that we can do nothing apart from the indwelling strength of the Holy Spirit… The Spirit-filled life begins with an overwhelming realization that we are absolutely helpless and hopeless apart from the empowerment of the Holy Spirit…[Until then], we will always be out there doing things for God in our own strength.

Let me ask you, have you reached that point of total dependence in your life? That without God's help, you can do nothing.

Total Surrender

We are filled with the Spirit as we come to the place of total surrender. We must continually surrender control of our lives to the Spirit to be filled with him. Remember, to be filled with the Spirit means that we are controlled by the Spirit. In order to be controlled by the Spirit, we have to surrender everything to him.

Let's pray for total dependence and surrender to the Spirit, so he can fill and use us to live faithfully.

Periods of spiritual stagnation and wasted time are common, but the gospel offers the solution. Jesus came to rescue us from sin and death, giving us new life through his death and resurrection. When we trust in him, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, empowering us to live for God. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul’s instruction to “be filled with the Spirit” emphasizes that this is a continuous process of surrender and reliance on God.

We can't live the Christian life alone; we need the Spirit's power to transform our worship, relationships, and daily lives. The gospel assures us that transformation is possible, not by our efforts, but through Christ's work and the Spirit's ongoing support. Let’s wake up, walk wisely, and live in the fullness of the Spirit for God’s glory.