To Keep Your Life Full of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:6-18)
(Ephesians 5:6-18)
“Let
no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the
wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be
partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light
in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is
acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak
of those things, which are done by them in secret. But all things that
are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest
is light. Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.’ See then that you walk circumspectly,
not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord
is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be
filled with the Spirit.”
What do we have to do in order to maintain our lives full of the Holy Spirit?
We have to abandon ourselves, take up the cross, and deny our evil thoughts, devoting ourselves to preaching the gospel.
In order to “maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit,” we must devote ourselves to preaching the gospel. To live a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must first receive the blessing that makes the Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts. To receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we must have this kind of faith, that is, we must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God gave us. By having this faith, we will receive the blessing that makes the Holy Spirit dwell in us.
Do
those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit want a life full of
the Holy Spirit? Of course they do. But why is it that some of them
cannot live this life? The reason is that their own problems take
precedence over the works of God, meaning that they cannot walk with
Him. To maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must learn and
believe in the words of God. First of all, let’s look in the Bible to
find out what kind of life and faith we must have.
What is the reason that some people cannot live a life full of the Holy Spirit?
First,
we can say that it is because they cannot abandon themselves. The Bible
said that only those who abandon themselves could walk with the Lord.
Since achieving a life full of the Holy Spirit is not possible through
one’s own power, everyone must have faith of the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit in order to abandon himself. Even for those who have the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is difficult for them to abandon their
selves without having some concern for the Kingdom of God. Thus, for a
life full of the Holy Spirit, we must serve the gospel of the water and
the Spirit. Only then can a person abandon himself and live as a servant
of righteousness.
In
Matthew 16:24-26 it says, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone
desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross,
and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it
to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what
will a man give in exchange for his soul?’”
The
reason that some people who are born again cannot live a life full of
the Holy Spirit is that they failed to deny the lusts of their flesh.
Even people who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can follow the
Holy Spirit only when they give up the lusts of their flesh. There are
many aspects of the life of the flesh that we must give up in order to
follow the Lord. The Lord said, “Let him deny himself, and take up his
Cross, and follow Me.”
To
be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace. People who wish to walk in the Spirit must abandon the life of
the flesh. Only those who dare to make this sacrifice can maintain a
life full of the Holy Spirit. This is the truth of the fullness of the
Holy Spirit.
Which
do you want to follow, the Lord or the world? According to your choice,
a life full of the Holy Spirit or a life of the lust is yours. If you
really want to live a life full of the Holy Spirit, the choice is yours.
God saved us from all our sins and gave us the gift of the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit. But it is up to you to decide whether you live a
life full of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the life full of the Holy
Spirit is not predestined or fated by God. The life full of the Holy
Spirit depends only on the wills of those of us who believe in the
beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit.
You must have the will to live a life full of the Holy Spirit
If
you have the will to live a life full of the Holy Spirit, God will
allow it. He will help and bless you. But if you do not want it, you
must give up the life full of the Holy Spirit.
You
can receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit only by faith in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit and not by your will. But to live and
maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit is totally dependent on your
will.
Therefore,
if you want a life full of the Holy Spirit, you must examine your own
will and ask for God’s help. If we really want lives full of the Holy
Spirit, God will bless us and fulfill our desires. But to achieve our
goal, we must deny the lusts of the flesh.
Second,
to live a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must take up our own
crosses. We must live and walk by the will of God even in difficult
situations. This is what it means to live a righteous life full of the
Holy Spirit.
And
third, the Lord said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit
is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or
what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” This means following the
Lord is relevant to our lives. Indeed, if we follow Him, our spirit and
flesh will prosper but if we do not follow Him and choose to live lives
of our own, our spirit and flesh will perish.
Why
can’t we have lives full of the Holy Spirit? The reason is that we
don’t deny our thoughts, namely the lusts of the flesh. When we follow
Jesus, the Spirit strengthens our inner selves and therefore He can lead
us with greater forcefulness.
In
Ephesians 5:11-13 it says, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to
speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things
that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes
manifest is light.” Christians must have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness. But when we indulge ourselves in the
unfruitful works of darkness, God tells us to expose them. We should be
reproached with our works of darkness, for it is shameful even to speak
of those things that are done by them in secret. But all things that are
exposed are made manifest by the light.
Who
is capable of exposing and talking about all these shameful things? If
others, your brothers or sisters and the servants of God cannot expose
them, you must expose them on your own. It is said that all things that
are exposed are made manifest by the light. Therefore we must admit our
evil deeds to be not right, and be led by the Holy Spirit to expose the
unfruitful works of darkness by ourselves or through our leader.
In
this world, all things that are exposed end just as they are rebuked
but in the world of God, all exposed things are made manifest by the
light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Since we are far from
perfect, we commit many sins unconsciously in this world. However, when
we shed the light of the words of God on ourselves, we become conscious
of certain sins and are able to admit them. And so it is that we come to
give endless thanks to God.
Because
Jesus took away all our sins and iniquities, and all the righteousness
of God was fulfilled when He was baptized in the Jordan River, we are
able to be manifest by the light through the righteousness of God. The
billions of sins that humanity has committed were transferred to Jesus
when John baptized Him. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sins of
the world, died on the Cross to be judged for them, and was resurrected.
Jesus forgave all the sins of humanity and when He said, “It is
finished” (John 19:30), all of mankind was saved. We become sanctified
through our faith in what Jesus Christ did. Since our sins are forgiven,
we can come into the light again and follow God righteously.
God told us to redeem the time
Paul
said that if we want to live a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must
redeem the time. In Ephesians 5:16-17 it says, “Redeem the time, because
the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the
will of the Lord is.” If we want to live a life full of the Holy Spirit,
we must redeem the time and not be unwise. We should understand what
the will of the Lord is and do it. We must decide which is more
worthwhile: the life faithful to our flesh or that devoted to God.
After
we are born again, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. If we receive the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it means our Master is the Lord and He is
our King. Only He is our Savior and we must admit Him absolutely to be
our God. He is our only Master. He is the Master who made me, forgave
all my sins and blessed me. And He is the King that has dominion over my
life and death, blessings or curses. We must admit that the Lord is the
Master Himself and God, so we should obey Him throughout our lives.
Let’s
see what it says from Philippians 2:5-11. “Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not
consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness
of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and
became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.”
Paul
said, “Let this mind be in you.” He said this was the heart of Jesus
Christ. What Paul said was that “this mind” is of Jesus, who was God the
Creator and came into this world to save His people from their sins
according to the will of His Father. The Lord came to this world and
took away all the sins of the world through His baptism by John. And
when He died on the Cross, the sins of the world were extirpated with
Him. He was then resurrected on the third day and became our Savior.
The
reason why Jesus Christ, the Creator, came to this world was to save
us. He showed His love for us through His baptism and blood on the
Cross. All creation must kneel before Him and appreciate His love that
gave us forgiveness of sin by lowering Himself as a creature even though
He is the Creator. That is why all the creatures should confess that He
is their true Savior. He made us confess that He is not only the Lord
of all creation but also the Lord of the utmost righteousness to us.
We,
who believe in God and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, must
believe that ‘God is the only real Master to me’ and have the love of
Jesus Christ in our heart. We must have faith that our master is not
ourselves but Jesus Christ, who created and saved us from all our sins.
And we must also have faith that He is the Master who makes us live a
blessed new life and prepares everything for us and works for us.
There
are many people who do not want to exchange masters after being born
again. There are many who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but
insist that they are the masters of themselves. The life full of the
Holy Spirit is the life of following God. This kind of life cannot be
gained in one day but is possible only when we believe that Jesus is the
Master of our lives and the One that created us and all other creations
in the universe. We need to have faith in order to serve Jesus our
Lord, Master and God, who has saved us from our sins and gave us
everlasting life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
We
need to bear the truth in our minds. Many people live their lives as
masters of themselves. They protect and maintain dominion over their own
lives. But now is the time to change masters. We’ve now become the ones
who know God, and so our essential Master is the Lord.
All
of us have sin in our hearts and should be condemned to hell for our
wrongdoing. But we found God through our faith in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. God loves us so much that He came into this world,
took away all our sins by being baptized by John and dying on the Cross
to become our real Savior. And through our faith in God, we were
delivered from all our sins. In other words, we received the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
The
Bible says, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is
not His” (Romans 8:9). When we received His redemption, that is, the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we became the children of God. The Holy
Spirit is God to us and we must walk in the righteousness of God under
the instruction of the Holy Spirit. To live so, we must give up mastery
over ourselves. After we met Jesus and are delivered by Him, we must
make Him our one and only Master.
We must hand the thrones in our hearts to Jesus
We
cannot follow the Lord if we consider ourselves masters of our own
lives. When God orders us to serve Him, we will say “Yes” without delay
if we are not our own masters. Otherwise, we might say “Why should I do
it for you?” The person who is his own master will refuse to do what God
wants him to do, thinking, “He should ask me as a favor to do what He
wants.” To such a person, God’s instructions are nothing but idle and
bothersome words.
However,
to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must obey His order. We cannot be
cows that are dragged to the slaughter, but rather we must volunteer to
follow God. We must follow God, our Savior, who leads us along the
righteous path. God is the Lord, who blessed us with salvation. If we
serve Him as our Master and keep His rules, we can be filled with the
Holy Spirit. If you and the members of your family hand your kingship to
Jesus and place Him above all else, you will have grace and blessings
in your lives.
You
may have seen pictures like the one in which a man who is sailing
against a strong windstorm and Jesus is standing right behind him. When
it seems that we are managing the challenges in our lives and doing the
work of the Lord, it is actually our Lord Jesus Christ who is leading us
and holding our hands. It is Almighty God who oversees our lives. He
saved us. He protects us from Satan, leads us and has dominion over our
lives.
Since
He became our Master, He is able to supervise and bless us. But if we
do not acknowledge Him as our Master, He cannot perform the role. As He
is the God of personality, He does not force us to obey His will. Even
though He is Almighty God, He does not do anything for us unless we
volunteer to serve Him as our Master and ask for help.
Cast all things on Him
Cast
all things on to Him so that He can fulfill His mastery over us. Serve
Him and admit that He is our Master. Since we are far from perfect, we
must cast all things on Him and pass all responsibility on to Him. Once
we cast our families, daily lives and everything else on Him, we will
receive the wisdom from God and become able to live as He wants,
managing all the problems with the faith and power that God has given
us.
Our
problems then become those of our Master, which means that if we just
follow Jesus the Almighty God, He will take responsibility for us. We
will be able to live a life full of the Holy Spirit and enjoy the peace
that resides in Him. As faithful Christians, we must kneel down before
God, admit and serve Him as our Master.
Let’s
see what it says in Philippians 3:3 about what kind of faith we must
have to live a life full of the Holy Spirit. “We are the circumcision,
who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh.” What it means by ‘the circumcision’ here is
the ones who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh.
To
live as the circumcision means to cut off all the sin in our hearts and
pass it on to Jesus Christ, who was baptized by John. Those who are led
by the Spirit owe their lives to the Spirit. They serve God and rejoice
in Christ Jesus saying, “Jesus has led me to live this glorious life.
He made me righteous and blessed me. He gave me all the grace I needed
to serve Him.” We need to live like this. This is the life full of the
Holy Spirit. Paul said, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or
whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
In
Philippians 3:13-14 it says, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have
apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press
toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus.” God told us to forget those things that are behind us in the
past and reach forward to those things that are ahead. We must press
toward our goal. Regardless of our righteous deeds or wrongdoings, we
must forget those things that are behind us and try to reach forward to
those things that are ahead and press toward our goal. Our goal is to
serve His will holding on to Jesus Christ by believing in Him.
We
are far from perfect, so we are apt to fall down when we feel the lure
of the flesh. However, by looking up to God and having faith, we can
dispose of all our weaknesses and iniquities. When Jesus Christ was
baptized by John and died on the Cross, all our sins were transferred to
Him. When He became our Savior through the resurrection, we were given
new lives thanks to our belief in Him. Therefore, we must dispose of all
those things that are behind us, reach forward to those things that are
ahead and press toward our goal.
To maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit
We
must reach forward to those things that are ahead and press toward the
higher goal. I hope you can forget all past things as quickly as
possible if they burden you. There are many things that can’t be done
because of our weaknesses, but those are of no concern because what is
important lies in the future. As the future is more important, we must
hand our kingship to Jesus Christ through faith and be led by Him. We
must let Him decide how we will live in the future and do what is
pleasing to Him.
We have to live as the disciples did
We
can lead a life full of the Holy Spirit only if we become strong in our
faith in the remission of sin. This is very important. Let’s look at 2
Timothy 2:1-10. “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many
witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others
also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of
this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And
also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he
completes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first
to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you
understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of
David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I
suffer trouble as an evil-doer, even to the point of chains; but the
word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake
of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ
Jesus with eternal glory.”
Just
as Paul said to Timothy, the Holy Spirit says to us, “Be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from
me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able
to teach others also.”
“Be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” To become strong in the
grace here means that we have to strengthen our faith in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit by believing in Him and holding on to Him.
Jesus Christ came into this world to accept all our sins through His
baptism, died on the Cross, was resurrected and became our Savior. This
means that we should be strong in the grace of God and be thankful to
Him. God saved us and therefore we should accept salvation through faith
as a gift of God. This is salvation of the remission of sins. It has
nothing to do with offering early morning daily prayers or donating
money for the construction of a church. All of these things do more harm
than good for receiving salvation.
Our
salvation through the forgiveness of sin means that Jesus Christ,
regardless of our deeds, was baptized to bear all our sins, then died on
the Cross to blot out all our transgressions. He was resurrected in
order to save us from all our sins. Pastors are forgiven for their sins
by believing this gospel of truth, as are laymen. Anyone who believes in
Jesus Christ like this with all his heart receives the forgiveness of
sin. We can therefore have confidence in the grace of salvation and
strengthen our faith.
If
we want a life full of the Holy Spirit, we must become strong in our
faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There are areas in our
lives where we fail to measure up, and have our share of weaknesses.
That is why we should become strong in the grace of salvation. Every
time our failings appear, we have to meditate on our faith by saying to
ourselves, “God saved me through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Jesus forgave all my sins through the water and the Spirit.” We become
righteous by believing in this gospel and strengthen ourselves by having
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We were saved from all our sins and
became strong by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We
became blessed people through our faith.
Paul
said, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). This is a very important. It means
that we must dedicate our lives to God. “Whether you eat or drink.” We
should eat, drink and be strong for God in order to do His work. We
should eat good things for our health in order to preach the gospel.
“No
one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life,
that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4).
You should lead a life full of the Holy Spirit in order to preach the
gospel. We can live a faithful life when we lead life for the sake of
preaching the gospel. All who live a faithful life like this is full of
the Holy Spirit. We should all strive for lives full of the Holy Spirit.
Even the offerings, which you earned through your hard work, should be
used for the gospel.
If
you want to maintain a life full of the Holy Spirit, you have to
dedicate yourself to the Lord, be at His service, use your money for the
gospel and share all your joys and sorrows with God. If we want to lead
this kind of life, we must live in faith with strong will to serve the
gospel.
Many
people have led a life for themselves until now. They have put up walls
and accumulated their property for themselves by being their own
master. However, now we have to live for God. We must take God as our
one and only Master. The Lord says, “No one engaged in warfare entangles
himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who
enlisted him as a soldier.” Living the life of a good soldier means
following the rules. The Lord solves our problems for us, protects and
leads us if we live for Him as His faithful soldiers. He tells us to
seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
There
is nothing false in the word of God. If we follow Him, we will
experience the truthfulness of His word. But remember that first you
must have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your heart. A person
without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit cannot hand his own throne
over to God. However, a person with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
can give the throne of his heart to God and thereby experience the
fullness of the Holy Spirit and have happiness and peace in his heart.
The
indwelling of the Holy Spirit will come true to you if you only
understand and believe in the beautiful gospel of the water and the
Spirit. If you want to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit and want to
live a blessed life, you should serve God as the King and live for the
good of His kingdom. Then you will be filled with the Holy Spirit and
your heart will then become abundant and your prosperous life will be
maintained as you win the blessings of being children in God’s Kingdom.
I
have delivered the message that people who have received salvation from
sin and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by believing in the Lord
should lead a life full of the Holy Spirit. I have defined the life
filled with the Holy Spirit and explained how this kind of life can be
maintained. I have also explained that by faith you must hand over your
thrones to the Lord and by faith you must serve Him and maintain a life
filled with the Holy Spirit.
Once
again, to someone who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to be born
again is not the end. He has to continue leading a life full of the
Holy Spirit. We should certainly know and believe that our spirits and
flesh can only be blessed if we lead such a life.
This
kind of life doesn’t happen spontaneously. It only happens when we
believe in the Lord as our Master and place Him in the foremost position
in our hearts. God saved us and has already given us a life full of the
Holy Spirit, a life of serving the gospel. He also gave us His work and
position to do His work, so we could maintain a life full of the Holy
Spirit.
You
should dedicate yourself to Him and live life for Him. Serve Him by
preaching this beautiful gospel. Your heart will then become full of the
Holy Spirit, and happiness and grace will flow from you. On the day of
His return, you will be blessed, proudly standing before God and winning
His reward. You and I should admire the life full of the Holy Spirit.
We should strive to live this kind of life through faith. This is how a
life full of the Holy Spirit is maintained.
Have
you abdicated the throne in your hearts in order to live a life full of
the Holy Spirit? I hope you will let Him hold the foremost position in
your heart. You must have the will to live a life full of the Holy
Spirit. It is then that He will bless you so that you can lead a life
full of the Holy Spirit.
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