Mike Todd’s Introduction
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Ephesians 5:15-20 New Living Translation (NLT)
Living by the Spirit’s Power
15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Message Title: Be Filled
Holy Spirit, fill us. Amen.
When you hear a commandment like “Be filled”, we think of what God has filled to show us His glory.
When the Holy Spirit is first introduced, He is hovering over the face of the deep. He is hovering because He doesn’t have anything to inhabit. When He hovers, it’s because there is no structure for Him to dwell in.
As God begins to create, the Holy Spirit begins to animate.
What God creates, He fills. Galaxies and fills them with stars and planets. The Earth and fills it with fish, vegetation, livestock, and humans. He’s a filler. As a creator, it has no meaning or significance without His presence being there.
After Genesis 3 (the fall of humanity due to disobedience), there is still a filling – it’s just completely different.
We still have fillers. We’re still a people looking to have something that fills us up.
If you’re in your 20s, you know what it feels like to be broke, and most fast food places are trying to fill you up with the cheap. You may have 5 items on the menu to fill you up. Media, and social media is filled with content to fill up your time. Music is filled with beats and lyrics to fill up your emotions. Your relationships are there to try and fill you up with something. Isn’t it amazing that it doesn’t last? None of them are permanent. You have to be filled again.
Have you ever eaten so much that you have to push back from the table? Maybe thanksgiving, then two hours later, you’re right back at it. Even though you got filled, you needed to be filled again, no matter how good it was, how good it felt, how good you experienced it, you needed it again.
When thinking about what Paul wrote, it’s curious. Ephesians was written by Paul in prison. You can be going through the worst season of your entire life and you can encourage yourself and others, regardless of what’s going on in your life. Your bank account doesn’t need to be filled, nor does your gas tank need to be filled, nor does your goals need to be filled in order to praise God. You can praise Him right now.
Paul’s prison letters indicate that everything doesn’t have to be right for it be right. It doesn’t have to be fixed to be fair. It doesn’t have to be welded to be well.
He penned this letter to a group of people that needed to be encouraged. He told them that they needed to live their life that reflects Jesus to people in a way that attracts people to the Jesus that they talk about. They need to be nice people.
Paul is an intellectual and should have probably stayed in Jerusalem with the other leaders, but instead, he was sent to the Gentiles where his “doctorate in divinity” would be null and void. God sent Paul to the Gentiles and left Peter with the theologians, “the dumb fisherman” had to stay with the smart people. Then Paul had to go to those without a covenant. God uses the foolish things to confound the wise so that one person won’t get glory about what they know and the other person won’t get haughty about what they don’t know.
Paul makes a comparison in this letter that seems disrespectful. He makes an analogy that seems lower than God, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Who compares God (The Holy Spirit) with liquor?
This instruction is tense for some people. There’s something about this comparison that we need to examine. Anyone watching/reading, have you ever been drunk? Completely faded, bent, so gone that you don’t even remember the day before? Have you ever woke up the next day and not remember what happened and hope it wasn’t filmed? Why would Paul use something like drunkenness to compare to the Holy Spirit? Be filled.
Everyone right now is filled with something. You are filled with something right now. The misconception is that there are seasons where you are empty and others where you are filled. You have never been empty and you’re always filled with something. Be filled wasn’t a suggestion, it was a commandment. It doesn’t say, “may I suggest, or may I recommend.”
Pastor Tim Ross was the young adult pastor for 4 years. When Pastor Mike said he was going to do The Upgrade, Pastor Tim reflected on his own teachings of the Holy Spirit as a youth pastor. He was thoroughly prepared and was going to invite people to be filled with the Holy Spirit. As he began to back up the car, the Holy Spirit said, “Hey Tim, that message you’re about to preach, that’s not it.” “That message will bring so much confusion. They won’t get what you’re about to say.” “I want you to go to the liquor store and buy the bottle of vodka.” Tim thought it was the devil. He drove down to a store in the opposite direction of the church so that nobody he knew would see him. He got the vodka and put it in a brown bag like in the movies. He drove up to the church presuming it would be the analogy.
There’s something to be said about a bottle of vodka.
Vodka is referred to as a spirit.
People that partake of this spirit are affected by this spirit. If you were to get filled with this spirit – i.e. there’s no one that can drink this entire bottle of vodka and stay the same person. Against your best judgment/attempts, it would change the way that you walk, talk, and act. There is zero way that you can drink that bottle and stay the same.
Have you ever met someone under the influence of this type of spirit? That person has behavioral changes that they can’t even control. This changes the way that they talk. A person under the influence of this type of spirit is bolder than they ever thought they would be.
Here’s Tim’s issue – why do we have more respect for what’s in this bottle than we do of the person of the Holy Spirit. There’s nobody in here that would take the vodka to the head and drink half of the bottle. We would administer it with shot glasses to slowly control what we were consuming.
When you take shots? Who are you really shooting? They are impacting you in ways that you don’t even know. We have hindered the conversation about the Holy Spirit inside of church. When we have talked about the Holy Spirit, due to trying to control our environment, we don’t tell people to be filled, we tell them to take sips. We administer little shot glasses of the Holy Spirit. “That song blessed me. I felt the spirit. We need to move on now. We can’t have another shot of that. Our service has to be over in 65 minutes. We can’t have another shot because we might lose control of our service today and my sermon must be preached.” Why would we be so absolutely into what’s in the vodka bottle, but not absolutely submitted to what’s coming from up above.
The Holy Spirit Changes Us Fundamentally in Three Ways:
1. The Holy Spirit Changes the Way We Walk
The Holy Spirit will change the way we walk.
People filled with the spirit of vodka stagger and stumble. Have you ever seen it? Have you seen someone have to take a sobriety test? Walking in a straight line for 10 feet should be easy. This will make you walk crooked. The Holy Spirit will make you walk Christ – not straight, but the way Christ walks. You can’t do that taking a sip.
Both only change the way you walk if you get enough in you.
You can’t watch every 7th message from TC and be filled. You can’t be disconnected from the body and expect God to do something in and through you.
Tim is married to a woman who’s father is a Jamaican man. He could hold his liquor, but after a certain amount, he couldn’t function as he would if he was sober.
Some of us keep walking back to the stuff we just walked out of because you’re not filled, you just sip.
Sipping saints grieves Tim in the body of Christ. Off of a shot, you try to live like you’re filled. Buzzed doesn’t change behavior.
If you want your walk to change, be filled.
2. The Holy Spirit Changes the Way We Talk
Find someone filled with the spirit of vodka, and you’ll see someone who’s talk has changed.
It’s when your aunt has to come in and interpret your uncle because she can understand his tone. “He’s just talking about what he went through in the army.” That can change his talk but the Holy Spirit can’t change yours? Yet, you don’t want to speak in tongues. You didn’t need to know what you were saying when you were filled with vodka.
Pastor Mike already told us what the Holy Spirit allows us to speak, outside of tongues, but even what you post. You stop saying what you want to say, but what He wants to say.
What He wants to say doesn’t sound like your usual clapback or the post you want to make, or the DM you want to send.
When Paul says, “be filled”, in the Greek, the connotation is to dominate. When somebody drinks, vodka starts to dominate them, absolutely. If you give your life to the Holy Spirit, you will be absolutely dominated by His fruit, His behavior, His spirit. You start forgiving people you swore you would hate for the rest of your life. You pray for people who have been hating on you because somebody else is completely dominating you.
You’re “outchea” with your hands out when you’re on the vodka, but you’re conservative and embarrassed at church. Even the music doesn’t feel like it has the knock you need – but that’s because the enemy is trying to fill you with something.
We were created to be filled. If you’re not filled with the Holy Spirit, you’ll be filled with something else. There’s nobody walking around empty. You’re already filled with something. We’re desperately imploring you to be filled with something else. Don’t be filled with wine, shame, hate, lust, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, that would ruin your life, be filled with the holy spirit. We’re trying to convince you trade what you’re filled with.
3. The Holy Spirit Changes the Way We Act
Tim has seen people filled with vodka act in ways that they would never act if they were sober. The shyest people turn into the boldest people after only a few hits with a natural spirit.
People who bashfully say, “that’s not me. I would never do that.” Then they get filled and get reckless quick, crazily saying things like, “who is you? I’ll knock you out. I will kill you son, today, if you say something else about my best friend. We came here to have a good time. Stay away from us.” That’s not how she is when she’s not under the influence. That’s why it’s called liquid courage in the streets. Perhaps people aren’t courageous or bold in their faith right now because we have too much sober saints in the body of Christ instead of filled up saints ready to step into the purposes and plans of God and do what He has called them to do in the way that He called them to do it.
Make no mistake why a place like TC has become so intoxicating to the world. Maybe we shouldn’t be trying to analyze the data, but ask, where can I get a bottle of what you got? Where can I get filled? I’ll have what he’s having.
As the apostolic elder of this church, Tim wants to address the haters. Mike is too nice to talk to you and will not address you, or ignore you, but he hears you. As his covering, you’re looking at the wrong thing, talking about him, but you can have exactly what you have, maybe not on his scale, because God will only trust you with what he can trust you with, but Mike only has what he has because he stays filled. It has nothing to do with slick media, his IG, but with the bartender that he’s getting his drink from. Because he’s filled, we’re all filled and we represent and we transform. We are filled and you can be too. When you get filled you stop hating. You stop looking and you’re so excited about what you’re filled up with that you can’t pay attention to what’s going on around you. Two drunk people don’t compare who’s drunker. In the spirit, if they are both healed, thrilled, sealed, it changes the way you act.
If you find a group of people ready and willing to do whatever it takes to get the message of Jesus Christ out, that happens because we’re filled, not sober.
Paul wasn’t blindly writing this comparison to be cute. He had already been with Peter, James, and was exposed to the original disciples, and of course they shared stories. Paul likely heard what happened in Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit fell on the 120 people in a room and they walked downstairs and poured out into the streets and instead of speaking Hebrew and Aramaic, they spoke Cretan, Syrian, Chinese, German, Spanish, with perfect diction – completely fluent and the people that could get the revelation said, “this has to be God.” The people who couldn’t understand said, “they must be drunk.” Peter had to respond that they weren’t drunk, but filled – so filled they couldn’t control what they were doing. There’s another person on the inside compelling us to speak about the Jesus we serve. We used to be silent, fearful, locked up behind doors, in shame, in fear for our lives, and now we couldn’t care less.
Tim is praying for some people to get filled with the Holy Spirit in way who couldn’t care less. He’s waiting for some people to get filled with the holy spirit, care free, who care less about what people think, care less about how I look, care less about my behavior, care less about how you think I act.
Lift your hands right where you are. The Holy Spirit will come right into the room you are and will fill you right now. The bartender is serving drinks, the tap is open and this is a well that cannot run dry. There’s enough to go around. Don’t take shots today. “Fill me Holy Spirit.” He will fill you right now. It doesn’t matter what your background is. The Holy Spirit is not falling on denominations, He is falling on nations. He will still pour out and fill you up. He still wants you to have the experience. That experience can happen right there in your bedroom or office. You can be filled in the same way you received Christ, you can just ask Him to come in. You may not have a shiver or violent convulsion, it’s an emotion people have to the holy Spirit, but that doesn’t mean it’s the actual Holy Spirit. If you lift your hands and ask Him to come in, He will come in and He will fill you. You’re meant to be filled to go out and use it, if you use it right, you need to be filled again – you need a refill.
The same way you can toss your head back for a shot, toss it back to let God come down.
Holy Spirit, we pray that you will fill every single person. Do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. Thank you for filling us up.
This bag is really nothing without something in it. If you’re transparent, there has always been a lot of stuff in the bag. For example, shame, porn addiction, people pleasing, and low self-esteem – you’ve never been empty. When you gave you life to Christ, and you’re open to the Holy Spirit, what you’re filled up with begins to get emptied out. You can choose to allow the spirit of God to literally fill you up. The only thing people see if the bag – they don’t see the spirit in the bag. If Christ is in you, the hope of glory, allowing you to do exceeding, abundantly, or above anything you can ask or think according the power working on the inside of you. When we go to church, we let it out of the bag a little bit. At work, we try to cover it back up. Tim is trying to get us to the point where it’s completely exposed. If you can just push your flesh down (the bag), the spirit will do more through you. Some of us have too much flesh around for Him to really operate the way He needs to operate in you. You need to push that flesh down and let the spirit take full control.
Tim wants to make two calls:
- To the believer who has not been a receiver. You believe in Jesus but haven’t received the Holy Spirit since you believed. Open up and receive. Holy Spirit, I pray that you will fill our friends with your spirit, intoxicate them, inebriate them, fill them up from the bottom to the top, may they not waste a single drop. Thank you Lord Jesus for every single person you are filling with your holy Spirit. We pray they are overflowing with your love, peace, and grace.
- To the person who wants the spirit, but you need Jesus. You feel the spirit in a way that you have never felt Him before. If you want to give your life to Jesus today, would you be against giving Jesus your life today? If you answered no, then what’s standing in the way of you making that commitment today? Would you be opposed to letting Jesus lead your life today as Lord and savior? If you’ve answered no, then Tim hopes you would accept this invitation. Lord, thank you for loving me enough to die on the cross, for my sins, and to get up from the dead, with all power in your hand, I accept you as savior, I receive you as Lord, I renounce my sins, I changed my mind about the way I was living and I’m totally committed to following you.
- Text ‘Saved’ to 828282
Tim is praying for testimonies of fill ups all over the world.
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SUMMARY NOTES
The Holy Spirit Changes Us Fundamentally in Three Ways:
- The Holy Spirit Changes the Way We Walk
- The Holy Spirit Changes the Way We Talk
- The Holy Spirit Changes the Way We Act
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Abby Olurin Dames
I love Jesus, my husband, Will, my toddler daughter, Sola, and the beautiful friends and family in our lives. Me and Will are from the Bahamas, but we currently reside in Austin, Texas. We joined TC Nation as online members of Transformation Church in 2017 when we moved to Austin from Miami, Florida. In 2020, we also happily took on a more active role with the E-Fam of Elevation Church by fellowshipping with other married couples and were pleased to have the opportunity to join TC Beta Belong Groups. I believe that representing God doesn’t have to be done in “traditional spaces”. After listening to Pastor Mike's sermon, "Who's the Minister Here?", it became my mission to shed light on Christ in all arenas, including, but not limited to, corporate America, marketing, technology, and finance. I'm not perfect, but I'm progressing. I am a marketer, but first, I am a Christian, and the aim of this blog is to publicly share my sermon notes as a form of stewardship. I hope that these message notes can bring clarity to anything you may be seeking and help you to experience the peace and glory of Jesus Christ. I'm happy to pray for you as well if you ever wanted to shoot me an email. The effectual fervent prayers of many of you have helped countless circumstances in my life and in the lives of those around me. Thank you! Also, for any Amazon specific links that you see, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
