Harmony in God’s House – Part 2 – Ephesians 5:19-21

In our lesson on Vs. 18, we considered the command to “be filled with the Spirit”. The Apostle now proceeds to demonstrate the fruit that flows out of a Spirit-filled, Word-filled life. It is so important that we understand what the Spirit of God actually produces in the lives of those whom He controls.

The Spirit-filled life produces:

• Harmony in God’s House (Eph. 5:19-21)
• Harmony at My House (Eph. 5:22-6:4)
• Harmony at the Work House (Eph. 6:5-9)

In this message we continue to consider the harmony produced in God’s House (the local church) by the filling of the Spirit. There are three clear fruits of the Spirit’s filling in these verses, one in each verse. In our previous message we considered the first (singing). We will briefly review then consider the next two.

• Singing (Vs. 19)
• Thanking (Vs. 20)
• Submitting (Vs. 21)

The Singing of the Spirit-Filled Life (Vs. 18-19)

The Christian faith is a singing faith. The filling of the Spirit results in a certain kind of worship music. There are 6 important considerations we need to look at in relation to church music.

1. The Musicians of Spirit-filled Music (Vs. 18; Col. 3:16)
2. The Message of Spirit-filled Music (Col. 3:16)
3. The Ministry of Spirit-filled Music (Vs. 19a)
4. The Medium of Spirit-filled Music (Vs. 19b)

The Melody of Spirit-filled Music (Vs. 19c)

1. The Standard of Melody
2. The Source of Melody
   1. The work of the Spirit of God in the heart is what produces godly melody. Beautiful, tuneful, melodious music is the fruit of revival and the genuine work of the Spirit. This is why the greatest hymns of the faith have come out of times of spiritual reformation, revival and refreshing. Harry Ironside writes, “Every believer’s heart is like a harp, and as the Spirit of God breathes over the heart-strings, real melody goes up to the ear of God.”
   2. Conversely, dark, rhythmic, beat dominated music is a fruit of man’s depraved appetites under the influence and control of Satan.
   3. Gary Gilley: “The new-paradigm church has caught the wave of our times and has created a church for the entertainment age. Rather than expose and correct the superficiality and wrong mindedness of a generation addicted to fun, amusement and self, the modern church has all too often chosen to go with the flow and give ‘them’ what they want…it is very difficult to distinguish what the modern church is offering from what the secular world is offering.” (This little church went to market, p. 33.)

The Motive of Spirit-filled Music (Vs. 19d)

1. As mentioned above, music is for the edification of the saints and the exaltation of the Saviour; it is for Christians and for Christ. The Lord Jesus is the focus of Spirit-filled music. We sing to Him and for Him. Our music should be Christ-centered not artist-centered.
2. NBC choir motto: “Sing for the audience of One”.
3. Johann Sebastian Bach: “The aim of all music is the glory of God.”
4. Illustration: Revival of temple worship under Hezekiah – “And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.” (II. Chronicles 29:27-29) The lamb was the focal point of this worship service.
5. The worship of heaven emphasizes Christ, the Lamb of God. Rev 5:11-12 “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”
6. Hodge: “Christ is the special object of Christian worship, to whom the heart when filled with the Spirit instinctively turns.”

The Thanking of the Spirit-Filled Life (Vs. 20)

Observe four principles in relation to thanksgiving in the verse:

The When of Thanksgiving – “always” (Vs. 20a)

1. “Giving thanks” = Thanksgiving is “The act of rendering thanks or expressing gratitude for favors or mercies.” (Webster 1828)
2. “Giving thanks always” = this is a great challenge as we thank the Lord sometimes, not all the time. It is relatively easy to thank the Lord during the good times but not so easy during the times of trial and test.
3. Un-thankfulness towards God is a mark of an unsaved person and is the fountain head of much wickedness (Rom. 1:21).

The What of Thanksgiving – “for all things” (Vs. 20b)

We need to thank the Lord for:

1. All the Blessings – it is not hard to thank the Lord for the blessings but we often forget to do so. Illustration: The cleansing of 10 lepers (Luke 17:11-19).
2. All the Burdens – this is what we struggle with the most and yet it is a command for us to obey. 1 Thess. 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” We can choose to thank the Lord even when our feelings tell us otherwise. Consider Job’s response to his trials in Job 1:20-22 “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” Note: Interesting to note from this example that worship does not have to involve music.
3. Hebrews 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
4. Joni Eareckson Tada, the Christian quadriplegic said “giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful, it is a matter of obedience.”
5. Note: The context of this command is the filling of the Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can enable the believer to thank the Lord in this way for “all things”.
6. Illustration: Legend of the two angels sent to gather prayers – one petitions and one thanksgiving.

The Who of Thanksgiving – “unto God and the Father” (Vs. 20c)

1. “God and the Father” = Granville Sharp Rule. Both titles refer to the same Person of the Godhead.
2. ‘Father’ = reminds us of our privileged position as God’s “dear children” (5:1). God has a very personal relationship to His children. We can approach God in prayer as our Father if we are saved and say “Our Father which art in heaven”.

The How of Thanksgiving – “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Vs. 20d)

1. “in the name” = means we “give thanks consistent with who He is and what He has done” (Macarthur)
2. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Mediator in all things to the Father. Notice Christ is given His full title. “The full title ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ with the personal pronoun “our” depicts the believer’s possession of the Lord of Glory through whom thanksgiving is made.” (Hoehner)
3. Note: While we are to give thanks to God each day in our personal lives, the context here is corporate worship in the local church. Thanksgiving should be offered to the Father in the Name of Christ during the public gatherings of God’s people in the local church.

The Submitting of the Spirit-Filled Life (Vs. 21)

The Meaning of Submission (Vs. 21a)

1. ‘submitting’ means “to be subject, subordinate; to order oneself under a leader.” (Hoehner) The word was “used in a military sense of soldiers submitting to their superior or slaves submitting to their masters. The word has primarily the idea of giving up one’s right or will.” (Linguistic Key) When believers are filled with the Spirit, they submit to one another in the local church.
2. Note: If we took to hear the two laws of submission for the local church, we would have very little division and conflict.
   1. Submit to other church members (Eph. 5:21).
   2. Submit to church leadership (Heb. 13:17).
   3. The spirit of rebellion is the opposite to the Spirit-filled life.
   4. This simply means that you don’t have to always have it your way. You can defer to others at times and be gracious and Spirit-filled.
   5. This is the opposite of the world’s philosophy of self-assertion and individualism.
   6. This verse forms a transition to the teaching on submission that follows. “While this verse concludes the section describing the affects of the Spirit’s filling it serves as a hinge verse to the entire following section.” (Hoehner)

The Motivative of Submission (Vs. 21b)

1. ‘fear’ = refers to the “fear, dread, and awe of God.” (Hoehner)
2. What will motive us to godly submission? A reverential fear of God. When believers scrap and fight amongst themselves rather than take the low road, they have lost the fear of God. Sadly, reverence for God doesn’t even come into the equation at times.

Conclusion

Are you a Spirit-filled Christian? If you are, these fruits of singing, thanksgiving and submitting will be evident in your life.

Sermon 23 of 31 in Ephesians Series

Sermon Audio Id: 6112165186322