Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

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Tone of specific sentences

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Anger
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Confident
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Anger
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*/ /*
!! Eph.
5:17-18
* *
*Introduction:*  There is a lot said about the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Opinions vary from the sublime to the ridiculous about what is meant by this term.
You’ve heard some, I’m sure, so we won’t linger on strange ideas.
Now, since there are so many ideas floating around, I want to be very meticulous to form careful, precise arguments.
As evangelist John Van Gelderen says, we are going to get technical so we can get practical.
We need precision in our preaching today.
“Thus the early Christians, when harassed with the disputes which heresies produced, were forced to declare their sentiments in terms most scrupulously exact in order that no indirect subterfuges might remain to ungodly men, to whom ambiguity of expression was a kind of hiding place.”
- John Calvin, /Institutes/, I~/XIII~/4
 
But when we really understand what we are being commanded to do when we are told to “be filled with the Spirit,” it is an exciting thing!
It will fill us with confidence and a sense of purpose that will overcome fear and move us forward in God’s will.
/What does it mean to be “filled with the Spirit”?/
 
*I.*
What filling is /not/
 
~* First, to avoid confusion, let’s look at what “filled with the Spirit” does NOT mean:
 
     *A.*
It is not the indwelling of the Spirit.
- the term “filled” /was/ used to refer to what happened when the Holy Spirit was given to the Church in fulfillment of Christ’s promise.
*Acts 2:4 cf.
John 14:16*
 
- but that can’t refer to the same thing as our text, since Christ pointed out that the Spirit would dwell with us “for ever”.
As Christians we are already indwelt – the Holy Spirit has already taken up residence in our human spirit.
*John 7:38-39.
Rom.
8:9* (pres.
act.
part.
– /is continually dwelling/)
*1 Cor.
3:16; 6:19*
 
- if we are already indwelt, there is no reason to command us to “be filled” – unless the filling is something else!
 
     *B.*
It is not the baptism of the Spirit.
*1 Cor.
12:12-13*  (aor.
pass.
ind.
– it was done to us)
 
- again, as believers we have already experienced the /one-time­/ baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- the baptism of the Spirit is not necessarily a reality that we are conscious of at the time it occurs.
It happens to every believer when they get saved.
It is not a special blessing reserved for certain believers who “pray it down”.
- by the way, in *Matt.
3:11* John the Baptist tells his listeners that Jesus would baptize /in/ the Holy Ghost.
The Greek preposition is one of fixed location – Jesus does the baptizing, immersing us in the Holy Ghost.
~* It’s a one-time thing just like /water/ baptism is.
John MacArthur writes:
 
/“This miracle is a spiritual reality – whether realized or not – that occurs in every believer the moment he becomes a Christian and is placed by Christ into His body by the Holy Spirit, Who then takes up residence in that life.”/
*          1.
*It is not a “second blessing” – a melodramatic, sudden experience that propels a believer to a new level of Christian living.
- It is not a temporary “zap” that results in visions, ecstatic utterances, etc.
 
*          2.*
NOR is it the other extreme – doing God’s will in the power of our flesh, with the Holy Spirit’s blessing on our efforts.
*C.*
It is not the sealing by the Spirit.
*Eph.
1:13-14*  (aor.
pass.)
*D.*
It’s not a process of progressively receiving more of the Holy Spirit, in degrees or “doses”.
- the Holy Spirit is a Person, not a force.
And that Person has taken up residence.
*E.*
It’s not an Old Testament “coming upon” event, for a specific task.
- we often hear the phrase “one baptism; many fillings.”
As we will see, this is not really the idea of filling in our text.
- as we’ve already seen, the Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence.
~*~* Nowhere are we commanded to be baptized with the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, or sealed by the Spirit . . .
because nothing we do could make these happen.
They are works wrought /by/ God /to/ us.
~*~* We are, however, commanded to be filled with the Spirit.
*II.*
What filling /is/
 
     *A.*
The meaning of the word “fill”
 
- the Greek word is plhrow, which has a range of meanings, even if we only look in Paul’s writings:
 
            *1.*
To make full
 
i.e.
“to fill to the full, to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally”  *Rom.
15:13-14*
 
            *2.*
To render complete
 
i.e.
“to consummate, to carry through to the end, to accomplish, carry out (some undertaking)”  *Col.
2:10; 4:12*
 
            *3.*
To carry into effect, bring into realization
 
i.e.
“to bring to pass, to fulfill (i.e. to cause God’s will to be obeyed as it should be), to cause God’s promises to receive fulfillment”
 
- this is the primary way that the word is used in the Gospels.
*Matt.
13:34-35*
 
     *B.*
The usage of the word “fill”
 
~* When we look at the connotations in which the word is used, it means more than just filling a cup up to the rim with water.
Here are some ways the ancient Greeks used the word:
 
            *1.*
The wind filling a sail and thereby carrying the ship
     along.
*2.*
Salt permeating meat in order to flavor and
    preserve it (in fact, it was sometimes translated
    “impregnate”).
*3.*
Sailors manning a ship.
~* The connotation is one of total control.
For example, one could be “filled with anger”.
In that state, what dominates the individual and controls how he will talk, act, and react?
*Acts 5:3*
 
- /Moulton’s Analytical Greek Lexicon/ defines plhrow thus:
/ /
“to pervade with an influence, to influence fully, possess fully”
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