Sunday
Morning Bible Study
October
16, 2011
Introduction
In the first
half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks all about the wonderful
things that God has done for us.
In the second
half of Ephesians, Paul talks about how we respond to God’s work, how we are to
“walk”
We are not to live like people who don’t know Jesus. We are not to be greedy or immoral. We are to be different.
5:15-21 Walk in
Wisdom
:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with
the Spirit,
:18 be filled with
the Spirit
This is how we “walk circumspectly”. (vs. 15)
This is how we “redeem the time”. (vs. 16)
This is how we “understand what the will of the Lord is”. (vs. 17)
We are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Lesson
Overflowing with the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is God.
When we first
came to open our hearts to Jesus and receive His forgiveness, the Holy Spirit came to be a
part of our lives.
But God desires that the Holy Spirit is more than just “a part”.
God doesn’t just want to live in a little corner of our lives, He wants to
be a part of everything in our lives.
Illustration
My life is like
an empty glass. When I open my life to
Jesus, the Holy
Spirit comes into me. I have water in my
glass.
But God wants me to have more than just some water in my
glass. He wants my glass “filled”, overflowing with
water.
Jesus said,
(Jn
7:37–38 NKJV) 37 …“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who
believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Some people confuse the filling of the Holy Spirit with an emotional
experience.
They will
measure your spirituality by whether you speak in tongues, whether people are crying
in church, or how
loud your church worship music is.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit can be connected to things like this, but
it’s much, much more than that.
It’s about
allowing the Holy Spirit to control my life.
It’s about me “yielding” myself to God and letting Him lead me.
The filling of
the Holy Spirit is about receiving God’s power, God’s strength. Jesus said to His disciples,
(Ac 1:8
NKJV) But you
shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Do you need God’s power to live your life for Jesus? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Look back at
what Jesus said in John 7
–
Are you thirsty? Do you need God’s power?
You need to come to Jesus and just drink, just “receive”.
You need to believe that Jesus will keep His promise and fill you with the
Holy Spirit.
:19 speaking to
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord,
:20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
:21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
:19-21 speaking …
singing … submitting
These are things that happen when we are “filled” with the Holy Spirit. These are the kinds of things that the Spirit
of God will do in our lives.
He gives us a heart to worship
God – to sing when we’re together as well as having a melody in our heart when
we’re alone.
I don’t always have a “thankful”
heart. Too often I have a complaining
heart.
Illustration
While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped
at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the
restaurant and resumed their trip. When leaving, the elderly woman unknowingly
left her glasses on
the table and she didn’t miss them until they had been driving about twenty
minutes. By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they
could find a place to turn around in order to return to the restaurant to
retrieve her glasses. All the way back, the elderly husband became the classic grouchy old man. He
fussed and complained and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire
return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became. He just
wouldn’t let up one minute. To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got
out of the car and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer
yelled to her, “While you’re in there, you might as well get my hat and credit
card.”
The Holy Spirit teaches us to be thankful. Not
grumpy.
While I need to learn humility
and submit to others, I’m usually just selfish and think about myself.
Illustration
A grandfather caught
his 6-year old granddaughter in the act.
“Are you eating your little sister’s grapes?” he demanded.
“No,” she innocently replied, “I’m helping her share.”
The Holy Spirit teaches us to serve others instead taking from
them.
5:22-27 Marriage
:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
:23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the
church; and He is the Savior of the body.
:24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the
wives be to their own husbands in everything.
:22 submit
– The ancient Greeks used this word to describe how an army’s troops were organized under
their commander.
Warning: Wives are not the only ones in a marriage
that need to learn submission.
We are all supposed to be learning submission.
It’s one of those results of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
(Eph 5:21 NKJV) submitting
to one another in the fear of God.
Lesson
Learning to yield
This is an actual transcript of a radio conversation of a US naval ship
with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995.
Americans:
Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.
Canadians:
Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: This
is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, DIVERT YOUR COURSE!
Canadians: No,
I say again, you divert YOUR course.
Americans: THIS
IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED
STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE
ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND
NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS, I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES
NORTH, THAT’S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO
INSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.
Canadians: This
is a lighthouse! Your call!
There is something in us that doesn’t like to yield to others.
We don’t like it when other people tell us what to do.
But one of the keys to a godly life is learning when it is proper to submit
to another person.
Every single one of us, whether a husband, a wife, a parent, or a child,
needs to learn the
walk of humility. We need to learn how
to serve others.
(Mk
10:44–45 NKJV) —44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for
many.”
The King of Kings
did not come to be served. He came to
serve.
:25 Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the
word,
:27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot
or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
:25 love your wives
Warning: Loving is not limited to husbands.
Paul began the chapter by encouraging all the Ephesians to be “imitators of
God” by loving each other like Christ loved us (Eph. 5:1-2)
Lesson
Sacrificial Actions
We don’t have to figure this one out on our own. We have an example to follow.
Jesus loved us
so much that He gave His life for us.
He saw our greatest need, that our sin has separated us from God.
He died on a cross in order to pay the price for our sin.
He was willing
to lay down His life for us. This is
love.
You may not be called to die for your spouse. You may not be given the chance to “take a
bullet” for your spouse. But there are
other ways that we sacrifice for each other.
It may be
something as simple as letting her watch her TV show instead of making her
watch your game.
It may be something
as difficult as taking a second job in order to pay for her to go to college
like she always dreamed of doing.
It might be
learning to say “no” to that extra thing you want to do on Tuesday nights so
you can stay home and be with your family.
The biggest problem we face with this is the fact that we are just plain
selfish.
I’m going to play a video for you from England. The husband and wife BOTH have a cold. When the husband talks about dialing “999”,
he’s not talking about Herman Cain’s economic plan. In England they dial “999” instead of “911”.
Paul wrote,
(Php
2:3–4 NKJV) —3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you
look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Lesson
Loving Words
Part of the love that Jesus has for us the church is that He washes us in
the water of His Word.
Husbands are supposed to love their wives in the very same way.
I don’t think that just means that we read the Bible to
our wives.
It means that just as Jesus washes the church with His
words (the Bible), we are to wash our wives with OUR words (what comes out of
our mouths).
Sometimes we aren’t very good at saying kind things to our wives.
Illustration
A husband and wife are getting ready for bed. The wife is standing in front of a full-length
mirror taking a hard look at herself. “You know,” she says, “I look in the
mirror, and I see an old woman.” “My face is all wrinkled, every part of my
body is hanging out a mile.” “I’ve got fat legs, and my arms are all flabby.”
She turns to her husband and says; “Tell me something positive to make me feel
better about myself.” He
studies hard for a moment thinking about it and then says in a soft,
thoughtful voice; “Well, ... there’s nothing wrong with your eyesight.”
We need to work at saying things that build up the other person.
For some of us,
that means that we need to expand our vocabulary.
Learn new words
to describe your loved one’s physical beauty.
Magnificent,
wow, drop-dead gorgeous, wonderful, splendid, stunning, dazzling, glorious, elegant,
lovely.
Don’t just say the same thing over and over.
When she catches your eye and you think “wow”, tell her.
Learn new words
to describe your loved one’s heart.
Spiritual,
sensitive, loving God, responsive to God, insightful, caring, intelligent, wise
It’s important that your loved one knows that you care for
more than just their physical body.
Our loved one needs to know we are on their side.
They need to know that we are cheering for them, that if
they ever need a boost up in life we are the one to count on.
Every man wants
a beautiful wife.
Illustration
An Amish boy and his
father were visiting a mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw,
but especially by two
shiny, silver walls that could move apart and back together again. The boy asked his
father, “What is
this, Father?” The father (never having seen an elevator) responded, “Son, I
have never seen anything like this in my life. I don’t know what it is!” While
the boy and his father were watching wide-eyed, as an old lady in a wheel chair
rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the lady
rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched small
circles of lights with numbers above the walls light up. They continued to
watch the circles light up in the reverse direction. The walls opened up again and a
beautiful 24-year-old woman stepped out. The father said to his son, “Go get
your mother!
Listen
carefully. Here’s the secret to having a
beautiful spouse. It’s not in the magic elevator. It’s in how you love them.
Paul says that when Christ loves us, we are made more beautiful. He removes the spots and wrinkles.
My wife’s beauty is up to how I love her.
They say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
I think there’s truth in that statement, but there’s more.
The beholder also has a responsibility in cultivating that beauty.
I think every spouse wants to know that their marriage partner finds them
beautiful.
Are you beautifying your spouse?