A Note from Michael Gossett
Spirit-Filled Living
If you were to go today to Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, you would find the 18th–century USS Constitution. This is an incredible ship that was commissioned in 1797 and became legendary in the War of 1812 for outrunning and outmaneuvering ships that were often larger and seemingly more powerful. Her secret wasn’t hidden weaponry or some rare advantage—it was her sails. Over an acre of canvas harnessed the wind, enabling her to reach speeds of up to 13 knots.
Every ship on the sea felt the same wind. But only those whose sails were fully expanded could experience the wind’s full power. The difference wasn’t the wind—it was how much of the ship the wind controlled.
The same is true for the Christian life. Every believer has the Spirit (Rom. 8:9). At the moment of conversion, we are indwelt fully by Him. The real question is not, Do you have the Spirit? But does the Spirit have all of you?
This is the question Paul raises in Ephesians 5:18–33. To be “filled with the Spirit” is not about receiving more of Him but surrendering more of ourselves. The imagery is powerful: just as wine can control and impair a person, so the Spirit is to govern, guide, and empower every part of our lives. And when He does, the results are unmistakable—in our worship, in our gratitude, in our relationships, and especially in our homes.
The Bible gives us many examples of “fully surrendered” lives:
- Stephen, in Acts 6–7, described as “full of the Holy Spirit,” courageously witnessed for Christ even as stones rained down.
- Barnabas, who “was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith” (Acts 11:24), fanning the flame of the early church’s mission.
- Mary, the mother of Jesus, whose Spirit-empowered “yes” to God (Luke 1:38) shaped redemptive history.
Church history, too, testifies to men and women who set every sail to catch the wind of God’s Spirit: William Carey, propelled to India by an unshakable gospel vision; Amy Carmichael, pouring herself out for the rescue of children; and Jonathan Edwards, whose mind and heart were set ablaze in the Great Awakening.
The Spirit’s wind has never ceased to blow. The question is—are we letting Him fill the sails of our lives?
Paul gives us two arenas where Spirit-filled living is meant to be most evident: the gathered church and the Christian home.
1. The Spirit-Filled Church
When Paul turns from the command to “be filled with the Spirit” to its implications for the gathered church in Ephesians 5:19–21, he is not giving us an optional supplement to the Christian life; he is describing the visible outworking of the Spirit’s reign among God’s people. The local church is not simply a collection of saved individuals who happen to meet on Sundays. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s purpose has been to gather a redeemed people into His presence for His glory. The tabernacle in the wilderness, the temple in Jerusalem, and the prophetic visions of a restored Zion all find their fulfillment in the church—“a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). To be Spirit-filled as individuals means we will be deeply committed to the worshiping life of this Spirit-built temple.
Paul names three marks of this life together: worship that is saturated with God’s Word, gratitude that flows without ceasing, and relationships marked by humility and service. He begins with corporate worship, urging believers to speak to one another “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” This language reminds us that worship is both vertical and horizontal—directed to God and edifying to His people. The psalms root us in the prayers and praises of God’s covenant people across centuries, giving us words for both lament and joy. Hymns proclaim doctrinal truth about Christ, much like the hymn in Philippians 2:6–11 that celebrates His humiliation and exaltation. Spiritual songs may rise from particular moments of God’s mercy, like the songs of Moses and Miriam after the Red Sea (Exodus 15) or Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1. Regardless of form, the common denominator is that worship is “from the heart”—not empty ritual or mere musical performance, but a sincere and truth-filled response to the living God.
From this worship flows an unbroken stream of gratitude. Paul’s command to give thanks “always and for everything” is a sweeping call to recognize God’s providence in every circumstance. This does not mean we pretend evil is good, but that we trust God’s sovereign ability to work all things for the good of His people (Romans 8:28). Gratitude is therefore an act of theological clarity: it refuses to interpret life by the instability of circumstances and instead interprets life through the stability of God’s character. It is the opposite of Israel’s wilderness grumbling, which doubted God’s goodness despite His daily provision. A Spirit-filled believer, and by extension a Spirit-filled church, learns to say with Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Such thanksgiving not only honors God but also strengthens the unity of His people, for grumbling divides while gratitude unites.
The third mark Paul gives is mutual submission “in the fear of Christ.” When we think about submission in the church, it is not about erasing all distinctions, disagreements, or removing leadership; it is about adopting the mind of Christ, “who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself” (Philippians 2:6–7). The Spirit-filled church is a body where members consider others more significant than themselves, where leaders serve as shepherds rather than lords, and where every member seeks the good of the whole over personal preference. This is not weakness; this is the strength of Christlikeness. When the church gathers with gospel-centered worship, thanksgiving toward the Lord, and Christlike humility, it becomes a living preview of a new creation. This new creation is when God will dwell fully with His people, and every knee will bow in glad submission to King Jesus.
2. The Spirit-Filled Marriage
Genesis chapter 2 presents marriage as God’s design for a man and a woman to become “one flesh.” This union of one flesh is complementarian and is also covenantal between the man and woman and with the Lord Himself. This design is not a cultural artifact; it is woven into creation before the fall. Even after sin distorts the relationship between man and woman (Genesis 3:16), God continues to use marriage as a picture of His covenant love — seen in the passionate fidelity of the Song of Solomon and the patient pursuit of the unfaithful bride in Hosea.
Paul calls this a “mystery” that “refers to Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32). From before the foundation of the world, God intended human marriage to point beyond itself to the ultimate union between the Redeemer and His redeemed. That is why attacks on marriage are not merely social debates but spiritual assaults. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that we wrestle “not against flesh and blood” but against spiritual forces. Everything that is happening in our culture today, from redefining marriage, gender confusion, and the attack on the family unit, is not random cultural attacks from the world alone; they are symptoms of the spiritual warfare that is taking place around us.
In that context, a Spirit-filled marriage becomes an act of resistance — a living testimony to the gospel’s truth. Paul’s instructions are radical because they are grounded in Christ. Wives are called to submit to their husbands “as to the Lord.” Submission here is not servility or silence; it is the willing, intelligent, faith-filled alignment under a husband’s leadership, patterned after the church’s joyful submission to Christ. It affirms God’s created order and trusts His wisdom, even when the surrounding culture scorns it.
Husbands, in turn, are commanded to love their wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Here is headship defined by the cross. Christ’s love was not domineering but self-emptying; it sought the church’s holiness and joy. A Spirit-filled husband uses his strength not to serve himself but to serve his wife, to protect, provide, and lead in a way that draws her nearer to Christ. His authority is not a right to be asserted but a responsibility to be carried with humility and courage. It means daily dying to self—sacrificing comfort, ambition, and even legitimate desires for her good.
When the man and the woman embrace their God-ordained callings, the marriage becomes a living display of the gospel. This really happens when the husband’s sacrificial love reflects the love of Christ, and the wife’s submission reflects the church’s desire to submit to Christ. In Revelation 19, the story reaches its climax at “the marriage supper of the Lamb,” when Christ and His bride are united forever. Every Christian marriage, lived in the fullness of the Spirit, points toward that day.
3. The Call to Raise the Sails
Paul’s vision for Spirit-filled life in Ephesians 5:18–33 is not meant to remain an inspiring ideal—it is a summons to action. If the wind of God’s Spirit is constant and full of power, then the question before us is not whether He is willing to move in our lives, but whether we are willing to yield to His direction. Raising the sails is the language of surrender, attentiveness, and intentional obedience. But what does that look like in practice?
First, we raise the sails by confessing and forsaking sin. Sin is the weight that keeps the sails tied down, resisting the Spirit’s movement. Isaiah 59:2 warns, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.” Paul makes the same connection in Ephesians 4:30: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” The Spirit is holy, and unrepented sin quenches His work in us (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Raising the sails, therefore, begins with agreeing with God about our sin, turning from it, and embracing His promise that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive” (1 John 1:9). This is not a one-time act at conversion, but a daily rhythm of humble repentance.
Second, we raise the sails by submitting every part of life to Christ’s lordship. The fullness of the Spirit is not a mystical experience that bypasses the will—it is the Spirit’s governance over all of life. That means Christ must be Lord over our relationships, ambitions, finances, schedule, and speech. Romans 12:1–2 gives the picture: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God… do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Living sacrifices don’t climb off the altar; they stay surrendered to God’s purposes.
Third, we raise the sails by abiding in God’s Word. The Spirit’s filling is always tethered to the Word He inspired. The parallel passage in Colossians 3:16 commands us to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” leading to the same results as Ephesians 5—singing, thanksgiving, and right relationships. The Spirit fills us as the Word shapes us. This means more than occasional Bible reading; it means meditation, study, memorization, and obedience. As Psalm 1 illustrates it, the Spirit-filled person delights in God’s law “day and night,” like a tree planted by streams of water.
Fourth, we raise the sails by praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is not a mere add-on to the Christian life; it is the lifeblood of communion with God. Spirit-filled believers are prayerful believers, because prayer is dependence in action. In Acts 4:31, the disciples prayed, and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” The Spirit works powerfully through a praying church, and a prayerless church will always run aground.
Fifth, we raise the sails by participating deeply in the life of the church. The Spirit fills us not only for personal holiness but for the building up of the body. The imagery of “speaking to one another” in Ephesians 5:19 assumes a life embedded in gospel community. The early believers in Acts “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). You cannot be Spirit-filled in isolation; the Spirit fills us for life together.
Finally, we raise the sails by keeping our eyes fixed on Christ. The Spirit’s role is to glorify the Son (John 16:14), to turn our gaze from self to the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another… for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Transformation happens not by gritting our teeth in self-effort but by beholding Jesus in His Word, in worship, and in the fellowship of His people. The more we see of Him, the more the Spirit conforms us to His image.
In all of this, it is vital to remember that raising the sails is not about trying to manipulate the wind. This simply does not work. We cannot control the Spirit’s work, but we can remove the hindrances that keep Him from carrying us forward in holiness and His mission. As Jesus said, we do not know where the wind blows or where it comes from, but we can position ourselves to catch it when it does. That is why the life of repentance, surrender, Scripture saturation, prayer, community, and Christ-centered worship is not optional, but is rather the posture of readiness.
When we live this way, both the gathered church and the Christian home become arenas where the Spirit’s power is evident. Worship becomes vibrant, gratitude becomes unshakable, relationships become marked by humility and service, and marriage becomes a living picture of the gospel. This is how a watching world comes to see that the life of Christ is real among His people. The wind of the Spirit is blowing. The call is to loosen every rope, lift every sail, and yield completely to the One who alone can carry us into the life God blesses.
Join us Wednesday, August 20, from 6-7pm for our weekly prayer gathering as we launch our Midweek season. This will be a powerful time for our whole church family to come together in worship and united in prayer seeking God for our lives, our church, and our community. Don’t miss this opportunity to start the semester strong, expecting God to move.
This Sunday at Green Acres
We’re kicking off the fall with Vision Sunday and returning to our series through the Gospel of Luke. I will be preaching Luke 6:20–26 with a message titled “A Life God Blesses”—a powerful look at Jesus’ upside-down vision for true blessing. In a world chasing comfort, status, and security, Jesus shows us what it really means to live a life that has heaven’s approval. This Sunday is more than a sermon—it’s a call to align our lives and our church with God’s Kingdom priorities. Come ready to worship, pray, and seek together what God has for us in the year ahead. Invite a friend and join us for this special day!
We also have Connect Groups, which are essential for your growth in Christ, that meet at 8:00am, 9:30am, and 11:00am. Come and join us!
You are loved and prayed for!
Michael Gossett