Be not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:17-18 “Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
When you are “drunk with wine”; you have brought yourself under the influence and power of that wine.
So it is to be filled with the Spirit of God; you have brought yourself under the influence and power of the Holy Spirit. He is, in fact, in charge in your life.
Paul writes here that to understand what God’s will is, you must put yourself under the Holy Spirit’s control.
He will tell you the truth.
John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; He will show you things to come.”
The Holy Spirit impresses us through our spirit, if things are true, or if things are not what they say they are.
He will remind us of verses from the Bible (how important it is for us to know the Scriptures), and He will remind us of what Jesus said when He was here.
He will warn us of things coming up in our life, so we can prepare for them, or against them.
Wisdom in the Scriptures is from God. Paul is saying “Get the wisdom you need, to know and do My will, by yielding to the Holy Spirit.”
We are given the Holy Spirit at new birth.
But we are “filled” with the Holy Spirit; only as we are emptied of self.
Not emptied of our personality…that is precious to God. He died to save our souls, which are our personality.
But emptied of self: self-righteousness, self-pity, self-exaltation, selfishness in so many ways.
Basically, it is putting self first in our life.
As we are emptied of this attitude, we can be filled with the attitude of putting Christ, first.
And this is an attitude that is given us by the faith and trust of the Holy Spirit within….but we need to cultivate it by submitting to it.
How many Christians go through their lives, wanting to know God’s Will….they kinda, sorta, know….in general;……but do not know for themselves, for today, for now.
Perhaps you’re not even sure there is a plan and purpose for your life.
Well, Paul says there is, and to know it, you need to submit to the Holy Spirit’s influence from within.
This is a step by step process.
First, acknowledging His right to tell you what to do.
Second, begin to hear aright what He says to you. (And for this to happen, you need to become readers of His Word.)
Third, we need to yield. Yield as in:
Romans 6:13 “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Yield means to assist.
We are to assist the Holy Spirit in His work in us, and through us.
Why do we need to “assist” the Holy Spirit? He is Almighty!
Because, though He is Almighty, His desire is that we cooperate with Him…willingly. To come, to walk with, to talk to, to stand with….these are all the terms of willing, in practice.
He wants to fill us to our capacity; and give us more and more understanding.
This is the wisdom of God…yield, assist the Holy Spirit and learn to be under His influence in your life;….and know God’s Will, personally.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 