Supporting Texts: Proverbs 23:20-21, 29-3531:4-6; Luke 4:1; John 14:16-17; Acts 6:3, 5; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Galatians 5:19-23; Ephesians 1:3; Philippians 4:8; 1 Timothy 5:23; 1 Peter 4:3.
Mediocre. Average. Unexceptional. Ordinary. Those words are not very inspirational nor do they urge you on to greater success. Over the years I have met people who are apparently of the opinion that there are different types of believers in Christ. Now, I do not mean the obvious difference between new Christians who are just learning about the Bible and how to live for the Lord and more mature Christians who have been around for a while. Evidently, some think there are supposed to be really vibrant, spiritual Christians, who get involved in ministry and whose lives show forth the transforming power of the Lord Jesus. Then, there are the spiritual underachievers, who really don’t count for much, who were saved years ago, but whose lives have not changed much at all. They rarely show up and never get involved. Then, there’s the group in the middle, the so-called average, ordinary and unexceptional Christian. Their goal is to not be like either of the other two groups. They live a mediocre Christian life. Their song is, “Lord, let me be a run-of-the-mill Christian.” However, that idea is quite foreign to the Bible.
Allow me to remind you of a well-known verse from Isaiah: “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:31). This verse informs us of the kind of life God has intended for us. In fact, our Lord knows of only one type of normal Christian life. It is His purpose to move us toward the place of highest service and greatest blessing. He is not interested in average, ordinary or mediocre, let alone below average or useless. There is an interesting story that comes from a Native American tribe that illustrates this point. One day a young member of the tribe saw two poachers kill a breeding pair of bald eagles. Though unlawful, the feathers would bring a big price back east. As the thieves left, the Indian went to the nest that he knew the eagles had been tending, and sure enough, he found a very young eaglet. Carefully he climbed down into the nest and gingerly scooped up the small bird. On his way home he thought of what he would do to feed and protect this noble creature.
He decided to put him in the pen where the chickens were kept. At first, the young eagle seemed to not understand how to eat grain and insects from the ground. But, after watching the chickens for a time, he got the hang of it. The diet, while not normally an eagle’s fare, after a time, helped him to grow big and strong – much larger than any of his fellow chickens. He could stretch his wings out and flap them mightily. But since the chickens didn’t fly, he didn’t learn on his own. After all, he thought he was a chicken. From time to time, he would catch sight of magnificent eagles flying high overhead and would wish he could fly at such altitudes. A silly notion for a chicken. Not so silly for an eagle.
Sometimes I think there are many Christians who are like that eagle. God designed the Christian life to be lived on the highest plane. He wants us to soar and thrive on His grace, but too many of us seem content to live a life of mediocrity. We should just be average. Ordinary. Unexceptional.
To live the life of His design, God arranged for us to have “everything pertaining to life and godliness – everything!” All that was necessary for faithful living was accomplished for us upon Calvary’s cross. Nothing more needs to be added. Paul speaks of the riches of God’s divine grace granted to believers in chapters one through three where he informs us that we have already been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).
Beginning in chapter four, Paul, under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, instructs us on how to put our powerful position in Christ into practice in this life. You can see from the context that there are five specific areas of concern, all designated by the word “walk”, which of course, means our behavior, or conduct. These five words are attributes of God and they are attributes God wants reflected in this special creation called “the church”. Those five words are: the walk in UNITY; the walk in HOLINESS; the walk in LOVE; the walk in LIGHT; and the walk in WISDOM.
In our verses today, Paul explained what the walk in wisdom is. We often say wisdom is insight. We could call it divinely powered common sense. We sometimes meet people who are very intelligent but seem unable to conduct themselves properly in society. We often say they lack common sense. What we are really saying is that they have been unable to translate what they have learned into practical living in daily life. God’s wisdom is the ability He gives to put His principles into practice every day. God did not give us a complete list of do’s and don’ts in the Bible. How could He? Instead, He gave us principles to live by and He gave His Holy Spirit to guide us into wisdom to put these principles into practice. The God of all wisdom wants His people to be known by their wise choices in life.
I have derived three points from today’s Scriptures: our walk in wisdom, the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Lord’s benefits to our lives when we walk in the Holy Spirit. Let us begin with walking in wisdom.
WALK IN WISDOM. Ephesians 5:15-17
Take Control of Your Thoughts. The focus of this passage from the Apostle Paul’s pen inspired by the Holy Spirit is that we correctly live the Christ-centered life. This should be the aim of every person who has trusted in Christ for salvation. He has already told us that we are to walk in love and live in light. Now through Paul, the Lord commands us to walk in wisdom. The contrast was between darkness and light. Now it changes to wisdom and foolishness. Wisdom focuses here on biblical thinking. Since there is so much foolishness in this world, all Christians must be very careful to live wisely. Fools are those who, having no insight into things that pertain to God and salvation, are not aiming to reach the highest goal and therefore do not know and do not care to know the best means to reach it.
The Bible has already told us that the Holy Spirit is focused on transforming our thinking. Romans 12:2 reminds us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The thinking process of a believer in Christ must be fundamentally different from the way the world thinks. Second Corinthians 10:5 puts it this way, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
We are given aspects of wise and godly thinking in the book of Philippians. There we find, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8). Living with wisdom is the first of three life principles we find in these verses. God’s design is that, as believers, that we live with wisdom while our families, neighbors, and others are watching. We must also remember that James has told us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).
Take Control of Your Time. You may be asking, “Why is God interested in time?” God, who lives beyond space and time actually invented time. Genesis tells us, “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years” (Genesis 1:14). He created the earth’s rotation so that we would have a continuous stream of days of approximately twenty-four hours. Because of this, Moses could write a discourse on time and conclude that God should “teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12). God has given us a limited amount of time and we will be judged on how we use the time He gives us. The second life principle found in verse sixteen tells us to make the most of every opportunity God gives us. The days are evil and many are walking in sin and since the time is short believers must make full use of their time to help turn them from darkness to light.
Take Control of Your Decisions. This third life principle caused by walking in wisdom is understanding God’s will. Instead of being foolish (this word can also be translated “senseless” or “unwise”), Christians should understand, that is, intelligently comprehend what the Lord’s will is. God does have a unique and special plan for your life and choosing to be obedient and submissive to Him, He will lead you to find His purpose for your life. The Bible gives us several examples of God’s will for all believers. For example, First Thessalonians 4:3 tells us, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.” The Apostle Peter revealed to us that God does “not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” By yielding to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives, we can discover God’s will, and in that way take control of our decisions.
BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. Ephesians 5:18
Do Not Get Drunk. Having just spoken about God’s will, Paul now reveals an aspect of God’s will for the true believer. Look carefully at your Bible – God’s command is that Christians not get drunk. Remember this is God’s Word, revealed to us – it is not a suggestion or an option. We are supposed to obey. I checked the major English translations and they all used the word “drunk.” In the original language, the word is methusko and it means intoxicated or drunk. Put simply, Christians are not to place themselves under the influence or under the control of alcohol or other substances.
Dr. Kent Hughes, who was the senior pastor of the College Church in Wheaton, Illinois wrote, “It is never the Lord’s will for a Christian to be drunk. This especially needed to be said in Ephesus, the heart of Greek culture and a wine country where overindulgence was common. The wine-god Bacchus was worshiped and dominated many lives and even enslaved some in the church – just is it does today.” Dr. Hughes continued, “Here Paul forbids drunkenness because it leads to “dissipation.” It degrades the drinker and others. People get drunk for various reasons. Typically, drunkenness brings a temporary personality change. Some become morose, others giddy, some are belligerent, some shout and others steal. With many there is an ego elevation. But in reality, drunkenness degrades.” Then Pastor Hughes quoted from the book of Proverbs: “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, those who go to taste mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things and your mind will utter perverse things. And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. “They struck me, but I did not become ill; they beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink” (Proverbs 23:29-35).
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer. God’s will is for each of us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. What exactly does the Bible mean by being filled with the Holy Spirit? It is not the indwelling of the believer by the Holy Spirit. Romans eight tells us, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9). Since every believer is indwelled by the Holy Spirit at the moment they receive Christ as Savior, Paul would not make it a command to be filled with the Spirit.
Neither is the filling of the Spirit the same as being sealed by the Spirit because that happens at the moment of salvation as well. The same can be said of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. According to First Corinthians twelve, every believer is baptized into the body of Christ, the church, when they are born again. In the sixth chapter of the book of Acts, the apostles called upon the church to choose new leaders for the church. One of their requirements was that they had to be filled with the Spirit. The people were able to select seven men who were filled with the Holy Spirit. This means that church members could discern who was filled with the Spirit and choose them from among others. So what does this filling mean?
What It Means to be Filled with the Spirit. Probably the best illustration I have heard over the years that pictures what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit is that of a glove. If I took an ordinary glove and placed it on the keys of our piano and commanded it to play, what would happen? Absolutely nothing. By themselves, gloves are unable to play the piano. If I put the glove on my hand and told it to play what would happen? Absolute chaos! But if Denise our pianist put the glove on and played, I have no doubt we would hear a beautiful melody. Why? Because Denise would be in control of the glove and she is skilled at playing the piano.
The fullness of the Holy Spirit means that He is in control of our lives. This happens when we fully submit ourselves to Him and deliberately choose to obey His will as it is expressed in the Bible. The Holy Spirit empowers and enables our service to the Lord and our spiritual growth, but we must choose obedience to God revealed truth in His Word. Obedience to God’s will is not legalism because it is not based on human effort but an ongoing and growing relationship with the Holy Spirit.
BLESSINGS OF BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. Ephesians 5:19-21
Worship. True worship includes singing and praising the Lord joyfully as the members of the local church gather. We worship individually, but since Ephesians is a letter to a church, I am sure Paul intended for us to worship the Lord together. We worship the Lord with psalms which are Old Testament psalms sung with stringed instruments such as harps, hymns, praise songs composed by Christians for the purpose of worship, and spiritual songs, which is a general classification. We worship the Lord by singing and making melody in the heart. Music in the local church should be a means of believers’ ministering to each other, and singing should be a means of worshiping the Lord.
Gratitude. True spirit-filled worship includes giving thanks to God the Father continually for all things. Paul wrote in Colossians, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17). A sincerely grateful person realizes that he or she is enriched because of others, which is a mark of humility. The people who think the world owes them a living are never thankful for anything. They think they are doing others a favor by permitting them to serve him. The thankful heart is usually humble, a heart that gladly acknowledges God as the “Giver of every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17). Like Mary’s gift to Jesus in John 12, gratitude fills the room with fragrance.
Humility. Spirit-controlled believers submit to one another, willingly serving others and being humble rather than dominating them and exalting themselves. But basic to Christians’ attitudes toward others is their reverence for Christ. The disciples struggled to learn the lesson of humility. Even at the Last Supper they were arguing over who was the greatest. In John chapter thirteen, when Jesus washed their feet, He taught them that the greatest is the person who uses his or her authority to build up people and not, like the Pharisees, to build up his authority and make himself important. We are to esteem others “more important than ourselves.” By nature, we want to promote ourselves, but the filling of the Holy Spirit enables us to submit ourselves.
What kind of Christian life do you want to live? Mediocre? Average? Ordinary? Unexceptional? Do you want to be like the young eagle I spoke of at the introduction of today’s message – thinking he was only a chicken – scratching around in the dirt and looking up with envy at the graceful and majestic eagles soaring high above? You can live in mediocrity by living in your own strength according to your own rules or you can be filled with the Holy Spirit by yielding yourself to God in humble obedience. Then you will be able to live that verse in Isaiah, “Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
Are you a Christian? Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? The Bible tells us that “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). Yes, He died for you! To receive His amazing gift of everlasting life, you simply trust in Him by faith. Recognize Him as your personal Lord, and realize that He died and rose again to forgive you of your sins. Trust in Him right now!
