The Spirit-Filled Church

Mark Chun

Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Ephesians 5:17–24

Church Nature

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What it means to be a Spirit-filled church

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

This morning we are finishing up our study in the book of Ephesians by looking at what it means to be a member of a Spirit-filled church. This message will be a bit different from our usual Sunday sermon because I’m going to give you an update in terms of where I feel God is leading us as a church in this next season and how you can join. This will also be a precursor to our servants retreat coming up this next weekend.

Ephesians 5:15–21 ESV

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. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 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.

If you are new to our church or even if you have been with us for some time, the mission statement for Radiance is a simple one that should become familiar to you if you plan to make this your spiritual family. Our mission is to make Spirit-filled believers who desire to know Christ and to make Him known. And the connection between a Spirit-filled church and Spirit-filled believers is an obvious one. If the majority of the people in the church are walking in the Spirit, then we can rightfully say that our church is filled with the Spirit. Conversely, if only a few of us desire the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit, no matter what you want the church to be known for, Spirit-filled is one thing that it can’t be described as.

No church wants to admit that they may not be Spirit-filled but you don’t have to be a church expert to realize that the Holy Spirit could leave many of our congregations and most Christians would hardly notice the difference. And the reason for that is simple, we have substituted human inspiration and warm positive feelings in place of the authentic power of the indwelling presence of God. It has always been my conviction that the measure of a church isn’t how good the programs are or how many people are attending or how good the music is or even the quality of the sermons. Ultimately, those are secondary issues because the true measure of a church is the degree in which the presence of God is manifested among us. At the end of the day, how much does it matter if we have a good children’s program, a great band, and good bible studies if we are empty of God’s presence in our lives? (Like Moses said, if you’re presence will not go before us, then I will not go!) I am glad that in this season, so many peripheral programs in the church have been paused so that we can get back to these foundations.

For those who signed our church’s membership agreement, there is an agreement to uphold to the best of your ability the mission along with the vision of this church. At this critical juncture of our church, we need people who will stand behind our mission as opposed to just coming for their own personal community or to fulfill some unmet social need. Those or things that a church can do when it is more established and after it’s set a core spiritual culture. We are currently in reset mode and at this point in time, I would much rather have 50 people who are committed to fulfilling God’s purpose as opposed to 250 people who just want to do life as usual.

As I mentioned during our town hall meeting, this fall will be used to reestablish the membership of our church, to see who is ready to fully commit to the relaunching of Radiance versus those who would prefer to remain attenders for now or consider moving on to another ministry. I would strongly recommend that everyone take the membership class that will be offered at the end of the month because we will be asking everyone to either make a new commitment or renew their commitments moving forward.

Now, I’m aware that some people might be thinking, “What is the big deal about official membership in a church?” I have even heard some pastors say that there is no such thing in the Bible and everyone is automatically a member by virtue of their attendance. It’s interesting, what I’ve noticed about those churches is that the congregation usually has very little power in terms of the major decisions that come about in the life of the church. It’s like bait and switch, membership might be loose and easy but it doesn’t mean much.

Here at Radiance, some of the biggest decisions are made through congregational vote. Decisions such as the purchasing of a building/property, the hiring of a new senior pastor, the election of elders, and the changing of by-laws is all dependent on the vote of the congregation. In the next 5 years or so, I can foresee that our church will need to make some of these decisions I’ve mentioned, if not all of them. For example, while the commercial real estate market is down, this might be the window of opportunity for us to buy a building and it’s only fair that decisions like these are made by the people who are demonstrating their commitment to the church with their time, finances, and service. In addition, most areas of leadership including CG leaders, Sunday school teachers, ministry team leads, prayer team, any position of teaching and shepherding are reserved for our members.

At the bottom line, I beleive there is a right church for everyone and it’s important for you to find that community where you can really buy into what that church is all about. You are not doing us a favor nor are you doing what’s good for you by remaining one foot in and one foot out of the church. If you are on the fence, I hope that this message today will help you make a decision one way or another. In a sense, we have been building up to this point as we have gone through the book of Ephesians. You know where we stand doctrinally, what we think about the nature of the church, how we think beleivers should conduct their lives in light of the Gospel, and the question is “Do you want to be a part of that?”

Body

As it relates to being a Spirit-filled believer and being a part of the mission of Radiance, there are three things to consider from this passage. The desire to be Spirit- filled means being committed to:

1. Worshipping together

2. Worshipping authentically

3. Worship that leads to right relationships

Many people assume that there is nothing they can do to be filled with the Holy Spirit, they see themselves as passive recipients of some random work of God. The apostle Paul tells us otherwise by the simple fact that he writes verse 18 in the imperative, he makes being filled with the Holy Spirit a command that needs to be obeyed. He doesn’t say, “Wait to be filled with the Holy Spirit” or even “Maybe you can be filled with the Holy Spirit if it is God’s will”. Why wouldn’t it be God’s will for you, a child of God, heir of all his eternal promises, to be filled with His Spirit. Just like you can determine whether or not you choose to be filled with wine which leads to foolishness, you can choose to be filled with the Holy Spirit which leads to wisdom. The responsiblity is on you becasue God has already poured out His Spirit through His Son on all flesh. The Holy Spirit is ready and available to hearts that desire Him and recognize their need to be filled with His presence.

In essence, this passage represents the culmination of Paul’s thoughts on the doctrines of the Christian faith, in connection with the unity of the church, and how our individual lives are connected to one another and to God. To put it more simply, if we truly want to truly be part of a community that lives out what it says it believes about God, then it is incumbent on every single believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And I think this is where each of us has to ask ourselves honestly, “Do I want to be filled with the Spirit of the living God?” or “Do I prefer to live life with no knowledge or regard for the will of God?” “Do I delight in the presence of God more than the fleeting pleasure of Napa Valley?”

As harsh as it may sound, my experience of Christians in the Bay Area is that many prefer the latter. They make the conscious choice to control their own lives rather than be led by the Spirit. In our own best interest, we live our lives under the directives of pleasure, ambition, financial security, personal agendas, and we often give God just the left over of our lives. It is not hard to see why that type of attitude towards God would lead to an unhealthy church. We talk so much about wanting to be spiritually healthy, there is no spiritual health apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit. This is why one of the greatest modern NT theologians and experts in pneumatology (doctrines of the Holy Spirit) describes verse 18 as the ultimate imperative in the Pauline corpus.

I love the way Gordon Fee summarizes these important verses:

“God’s people so filled with the Spirit’s own presence that they come to know God in all his fullness and reflect such in the way they live in relationship to one another and to God himself.”

If that doesn’t excite you, doesn’t awaken your spirit. If it sounds too spiritual or charismatic then this may not be the right church for you. Brothers and sisters, I think we can all sense that it’s going to be much harder to be a Christian in this new world and if you actually want to know the will of God and live it out, then you’ll need the presence of the Holy Spirit that is found within the life of a Spirit-filled community.

And not surprisingly, you can find the Holy Spirit in the corporate worship of the church. During this pandemic, the definition of what it means to worship together has come under a great deal of attack and questioning. I’ve heard sentiments like, “f we just all zoom in together but worship from our individual homes, doesn’t that meet the requirements of corporate worship.” And the weirdest arguments have been given to justify this new type of zoom worship. For example, the bible doesn’t take into account this wonderful new technology we have to be able to conveniently and safely worship apart from each other but by the power of the internet, we can still worship together. Did God not know that Zoom would be invented? I think He did and that He gave us verse 19 to correct our misunderstanding of worship.

Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It’s interesting, at the least, that being filled with the Holy Spirit is first dependent on speaking to one another through our worship. We often forget about this important part of our worship experience but the apostle Paul begins with it. Speaking to one another in song is something you cannot do through Zoom with your cameras and your mics off. And even if you turned on all the mics and allowed everyone to sing together, it would be the worst disaster in the history of Zoom church. But there is something deeply important and meaningful that is communicated to one another as we come together for worship and it cannot be replicated over the internet. Case in point, we were recently in worship service and usually people pick the same spots to sit in. It’s oddly fascinating that most people sit in the same area week in and week out. After a particular Sunday service, a brother turned to Mira and I and asked if everything was okay because he noted that we weren’t singing as loud and with the same fervency as usual. I wanted to tell that brother, “Shut up man, we just got into a fight.” (Just kidding but not really!) There was something that we were communicating to him through our worship and it was the simple fact, that we are having a difficult time and we need your prayers.

Whether you realize it or not, how you worship communicates a great many things to those around you and that is one of intended effects of worship which means that worshipping authentically before God with one another is critical to the life of the church.

I realize that I’m speaking mainly to the choir because you’re here this morning but I do need to address those who have not been back to our in person worship service for the past 18 months. I think we all know that it is safe to come back to church. Most of us are vaccinated, we have had vey few Covid cases, and even then it has not spread. Unless you have some serious health concerns, there is very little reason to stay home. I know that some people absolutely need to stay home and they don’t go out for any reason but let’s be honest that isn’t most of us. If you are shopping, traveling, sending your children to school, for the most part living life normally, but you won’t come back to worship with the church, your absence communicates something very clearly. “Obedience to God and love for His church is secondary.” What I feared greatly even at the beginning of the pandemic has become a reality. Because what started off as necessity has become our preference and our worship of God cannot be based on our preferences. We do not worship God on our own terms because His Spirit will not abide in that. One scholar in the theology of worship puts it this way:

...participation in the gathered church, the covenant community, is a necessity for every believer to know the fullness of God’s presence. This participation is not conditional upon a specific church’s ability to offer certain kinds of praise, but it is rather a theological reality for every true church in Christ by the power of the Spirit.

It’s time for us to obey the Word of the Lord as it is stated in Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

I’m not saying that you need to come back to this church but go in person to some church where you’ll be encouraged by others to love and good works because the Day of the Lord is drawing near. In ways that might be unseen, a church that sings and makes melody to the Lord with their hearts communicates the reality of God to one another. The Spirit of the Lord comes and fills our praises when we are joined together by authentic worship. When I’m in a room with other believers who are earnestly seeking the Lord in worship and prayer, it does something to my spirit. Does it not do the same for you? If it hasn’t or you’ve forgotten the sweetness of worshipping in the assembly of God, isn’t it all the more reason to come taste the goodness of the Lord’s presence that comes as we gather.

When a body of believers are in a right place of worship and the Spirit begins to fill that church, there is a shift in the atmosphere that is almost tangible. Psalm 100 which is considered to be the prototypical psalm of thanksgiving describes how genuine worship filled with heart-felt thanksgiving changes the culture of a church.

Psalm 100 ESV

A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

This should probably be a message all on its own but a church that is filled with thankful hearts is easy to spot.

There is joyful praise (In his presence, there is fullness of joy!)

It’s members serve the Lord with gladness (Why the gladness because we are not serving from our own strength but the Spirit of the Lord.0

They know the God that they worship (Do you know who you are worshipping, He created you and has lovingly cared for you as a shepherd!)

They freely worship God for his goodness, his love, and his faithfulness

Conclusion

The bottom line is this, we gather as a church for the purpose of worship. If you are part of a church for any other reason than that you’re in the wrong place. We are a worshipping community and everything else flows from that including the ability to correctly relate with one another. When relationships sour in the church, it usually means that something has gone wrong in the worship of that church. It’s no longer worshipping in Spirit and Truth. You’ll notice that the characteristic of mutual submission is based on reverence for Christ. Reverence is something that is often connected to worship and deals with the honor and respect that is owed to God. Someone who does not respect nor honor God can never be a respecter of people.

A Spirit-filled believer and subsequently a Spirit-filled church can be measured by the relationships found in that community. And here, we are given one critical barometer of relational health in the church and that is the willingness of the believers to mutually submit to one another. As you read chapter 6, you’ll notice that mutual submission has many different expressions depending on the relationship.

For wives, it means respecting your husbands. For husbands, it means loving their wives sacrificially like Christ loved the church and laid down His life for her. For children, it means obeying your parents. For parents, it means not exasperating your children. You see true worship doesn’t stay in the confines of this one hour but it needs to spill over into every other area of life.

Gordon Fee writes:

Here, perhaps, is an even greater need - that God’s people collectively be so “full of God” by his Spirit that our worship and our homes give full evidence of the Spirit’s presence: by song, praise, and thanksgiving that simultaneously raise and adore God and teach the community…how to love in the family as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.

Mutual submission to one another is how we maintain unity and the bond of love in the church. Just as Christ laid down his rights for us and bore the cross, we are called to lay down our rights and humble ourselves before one another. And we all recognize, this is not only difficult but impossible that is unless you are filled by the Spirit of Christ. Far from a nice to have, the church (you and I) must be filled by the Holy Spirit if we hope to overcome these dark times.