Text: Ephesians 5:18-6:4

Introduction

As Christians, we are urged to be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18).  We are not to be drunk with wine (Eph 5:18a).

1.          We have seen an intoxicated person.

2.         But being “filled with the Spirit” is the reverse.

a.          To be “filled with the Spirit” is a deliberate choice.

b.         When a Christian is “filled with the Spirit”, he is transformed into another kind of person.

c.          The Holy Spirit’s filling is not permanent.

Paul used the present continuous tense, “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18b).

3.         Do you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

            If so, there are several points we need to understand about the call to “be filled with the Spirit”.

a.          It is a command, not a suggestion.  We are not to ignore it.

b.         It is a plural command to the whole church.

None of us is to get drunk.  All of us are to “be filled with the Spirit.”

c.      It is a passive command.

It means to let the Holy Spirit fill you.  There is no ritual, no formula.

d.         It is a present tense command.

4.         When a person is filled with the Spirit, several things will happen.

a.          Joy (Eph 5:19).

(1)        When a person is filled with the Spirit, he will be “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph 5:19).

            That is, joy comes into the heart of a person when he is filled with the Spirit.

(2)        This leads to a closer fellowship with the Lord in worship (Eph 5:19b).

(a)        We will sing joyfully from our hearts.

(b)        We will serve the Lord with gladness (Ps 100:1, 2).

b.         Thankfulness (Eph 5:20).

(1)        When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, he will be “giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20).

(2)        He is in close contact with God.  He knows that God is able to meet his every challenge of life.

(3)        He is able to thank the Lord for “all things.”

c.          Submission (Eph 5:21)

            When we are filled with the Spirit, we will be “submitting… one to another in the fear of God” (Eph 5:21). 

I.      The Challenge to Wives (Eph 5:22–24).

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Eph 5:22).

These are things every spirit-filled Christian should have and do.  And “submitting” is likewise one of those things (v.21).

1.          Why then does Paul say that wives in particular are to submit to their husbands?

It is a problem wives have — in this area of submitting to their husbands.

A spirit-filled wife will do it as unto the Lord.

2.         Submission is a major concern of the Apostle Paul in his writing to the Ephesians.

3.         Wives are to assume a subordinate role in the home.

a.          It is not a matter of lack of equality, for God made everyone equal.

b.         Subordination, particularly that of the wife, is voluntary.

c.          Her submission “as unto the Lord” (Eph 5:22) is a duty of Christian obedience.

II.     The Challenge to Husbands (Eph 5:25–33)

1.      What about the husband?

            In those days men were the dominant figures in the home.

            Wives were subjected to their husbands; in fact they had to.

a.          Paul’s challenge to Christian husbands to love their wives.

b.         The present imperatives speak of continuous action.

            That is, husbands are to make a habit of loving their wives.

2.      How?

            Paul described three characteristics of a husband’s love:

a.          A sacrificing love (Eph 5:25).

(1)        Paul challenged husbands to love their wives with the love that Christ had for the church (Eph 5:25a).

(2)        One woman said that her husband spoke three languages: golf, football and baseball.

(3)        When a husband really loves his wife, he will speak a fourth language: the language of sacrifice and self-giving.  He will show his love in action to meet his wife’s needs.

b.         A sanctifying love (Eph 5:16–17)

            Paul says, “that he might sanctify…” (Eph 5:26).

(1)        To “sanctify” means “to set apart for sacred use.”

(2)        The word carries the connotation of equipping, and enabling wives to be what they should be.

(3)        A husband who loves his wife will help her discover who she really is, and her special gift.  This will encourage and enable her to become what God wants her to be.

c.          A satisfying love (Eph 5:28, 29).

            “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself (v.28).

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church” (v.29).

As a man “nourishes and cherishes” his own body, so he should take care of his wife in the same way.

III.  The Challenge to Children.

What is the responsibility of the children?

1.      Obey (Eph 6:1)

            Paul urged Christian children to “obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” (Eph 6:1).

Children are commanded to continuously listen to their parents so that they can do what their parents say.

Why should a child obey his parents?

Notice the two modifying phrases, “in the Lord” and “for this is right” (Eph 6:1b).

2.      Honour (Eph 6:2)

a.          “To honour our parents” means “to correctly estimate their value, and to act accordingly.”

b.         Honour is the inner attitude that leads to the outward action of obedience.

c.          Paul describes this command to honour parents as “the first commandment with promise” (Eph 6:2).

d.         So, a spirit-filled child will obey the parents because this is the Lord’s desire.  The Lord promised the obedient child a good and long life. 

IV.  The Challenge to Parents (Eph 6:4)

Ephesians 6:4 speaks of child-parent relationship.

William Barclay says, “A Roman father had absolute power over his family.  He could sell them as slaves, he could make them work in his fields even in chains, he could take the law into his own hands and punish as he liked, he could even inflict the death penalty on his child” — Jn R.W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians, p.245.

The parents have responsibilities toward their children.  What are these responsibilities?

1.          Encourage (Eph 6:4)

            Parents are not to “provoke your children to wrath” (Eph 6:4).

2.         Discipline (Eph 6:4)

            Paul urged Christian parents to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4b).

3.         Conclusion

a.          When Christian parents are filled with the Spirit, and yield to His Word, they are naturally submissive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

b.         They bring much happiness and spiritual blessings to their children, and bring much glory, honour and praise to God.

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