Each one has the measure of the Holy Spirit that he desires.

Ephesians 4, we are going to continue talking as the pastor has us on that thread, on that topic of the filling of the Holy Spirit and how we can be truly anointed people, each one of us. That's not for singers and preachers, this is for all of us. The spirit of God without measure in the last days the Lord says, on everyone I will pour out my spirit in the last days, my servants, my servants, old people, young people, everyone. We have to yearn for more and more of that spirit.

And we are going to talk today about the part that is up to us, to cultivate that fullness. I would like to start with a slightly radical comment. I am going to say that each one of us has the measure of the Holy Spirit that we want, if we want little, we have little, if we want more there is more. What you have is what you want. Let me correct one thing, if you are a Christian you cannot escape the Holy Spirit, you have the spirit in your heart. But what we do in a great way determines the level of fullness that we experience from that Holy Spirit that God has given us.

And today we are going to talk about the spiritual exercises, the push ups that we can do. I'm going to think of it like this, we all have blood, I hope so, but if we do certain things the blood begins to circulate and flow within us, like this with the spirit. You have it but it is what you do that is going to pump up the spirit within you or make it wane in the influence of the spirit within you. I want all of us to be like cups overflowing with that Holy Spirit. And for this we are going to talk and we are going to base ourselves on two key verses, famous verses but we are going to read them in their context because there is a lot that the word has about those verses. 4:30 says the following, we are only going to read the verse and then the paragraph, but first Ephesians 4:30 says the following:

“…And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

You were sealed with the spirit. It is there, it does not run away but it can be saddened, it can be saddened by certain things we do. I don't want the Holy Spirit within me to be sad, I want it to be happy, to be alive. And we're going to talk about it.

The other verse Ephesians 5:18 says the following:

“…And do not be drunk with wine in which there is debauchery, but rather be filled with the spirit.” Amen.

Drunk with the Holy Spirit. Amen. How many of us know that it is possible to be more or less drunk? You don't have to confess anything here, you don't have to raise your hand but some of us know that it's possible to be a little drunk but if there's a problem and the blood level is at a certain point, you think it's a little but it's more than you think. must be. That's why we don't drink and drive. Because there are levels of drunkenness, the Lord wants us to be, not a little, but well, well drunk with the Holy Spirit.

And we are going to talk about our level, not of alcohol in the blood, but of spirit in the mind and in the mouth. So, we pray together. Father, thank you that your wine, your spirit is better than wine, your spirit fills our sensitivity, our mind, our heart and body. Thank you, Father, for what you have for us and we settle for little. Lord, I ask that we be a non-conforming church in the best sense of the word, that we hunger and thirst for you, Lord. And thank you that you give your Holy Spirit without measure, Lord. We open our hearts today and we are going to talk, Lord, about very delicate issues in life and I thank you, Father, that you are the good shepherd, you do not cut just to hurt us, you cut us to heal us. I ask that the words we speak today be of life, of healing, Lord. Oh, Father, I recognize that we are going to talk about sensitive issues of the holy land. So speak to us, Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.

These two verses come from the book of Ephesians, a letter written to people who lived in an electric city in the spirit. How many of us know that there are certain places that have a more electric spiritual environment. You go to certain areas, certain towns, certain countries and you know that there are things in the spirit moving at a more intense level in certain places than in others. Ephesus was an electric city in the spirit, a center of worship of a goddess called Diana, and when the Apostle Paul came to preach the word, the spiritual waters were disturbed in such a way that an uproar broke out, a whole place was filled of conferences with people shouting, great is Diana of the Ephesians. It was a place of spiritual warfare.

And the whole letter of Ephesians, I believe, is a letter of spiritual warfare. It speaks from the beginning to the end of the reality of something called the heavenly places. He is not talking about when we die and are in heaven, he is talking about a heavenly environment that bathes all of the physical reality in which we live. It is a supernatural dimension. It is an invisible dimension around us full of angels, demons, the Lord himself reigning from his throne, there are spiritual waters around us. This is something real in which we live, in which we inhabit.

So that letter talks about heavenly places and it talks to Christians to be warriors. That is why at the end it says in Ephesians 6:12:

“…For we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly regions.”

The celestial regions are not in space, they are all around us. And there is spiritual government, there are real demons, there is a charged spiritual air. It says that the devil is the prince of the air around us. But thank God there is one who was raised at the right hand of the Father in heavenly places over all power, principality and reign in that spiritual environment Jesus reigns. Amen. But there is a war until Christ comes and all things in heavenly places and on earth are unified under one head, which is Christ. And this land is going to be God's land and the kings of this world will be kings under God's sovereignty. The Lord Jesus King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

But until that day we will live in two worlds. I said in the morning, I'm watching too much science fiction with my son, so forgive me for that. But there is an invisible environment and a visible environment and God, Jesus from the throne has put us in a privileged place in heavenly places.

Ephesians 1:3 says: “…Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.”

We are blessed in the spiritual environment. We have authority. It says in Ephesians 2:6: “…Together with him, with Jesus, he raised us up and also made us sit in heavenly places with Christ.”

I don't know how you woke up today but the reality of your identity is that you share a throne with Jesus Christ who reigns over heaven and earth. He has granted authority to his daughters and sons, for us to act on his behalf. And from there comes the call to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Because Jesus is not here in person, he was taken in the clouds, passing from the natural environment to the spiritual environment, he passed to the other side, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, but he said, don't worry, I won't leave you alone, I'm going to send something special, I am going to send my Holy Spirit from that side, from my throne I send it to you and I am going to act in the world through you by the Holy Spirit in you.

If we want to move in the power of God then we have to receive that spirit from the other side, from Jesus on the throne, and let that spirit work in us. And it's not something easy because the days are bad and the enemy comes against us and if we... what is that? I say it every week, I think, shrimp that falls asleep... you have to be filled with the Holy Spirit going forward or we go backwards. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now, for that, there are certain things that we have to get out of the way, remove all the obstacles that prevent the flow of the Holy Spirit through me, because there are blockages like pipes with all the dirt that has to be removed to Let the water flow freely through us.

But you know that the Holy Spirit is not water, it is not electricity, the Holy Spirit is a person. How odd. A person without a body, a person who is all spirit, all energy. Yes, but it's not electricity and a force like in Star Wars. No, the Holy Spirit is a person and what we do can either make him happy or sad. Our life, our actions can encourage and stimulate your activity or hurt your heart and spirit.

The word for grieving is the same word that was used for Jesus weeping in the Garden of Gethsemane. I know that when I say certain words the spirit cries and I don't want him to cry, I want him to be alive and happy in me. So let's talk about that.

You can open your Bibles to Ephesians 4:26-31. I'm going to start a little early. Says the following:

“…Be angry – it is no coincidence that we started with anger – but do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give place to the devil, the one who stole does not steal anymore but rather works doing with his hands what is good so that have to share with the one who is in need. No corrupted word comes out of your mouth but the one that is good for the necessary edification in order to give grace to the listeners. And do not sadden the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Remove from yourselves all bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander, and all malice, rather be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another as God also forgave you in Christ." Amen.

Be angry but do not sin. I believe that this is a beginning to think about removing the blockages of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Being angry in itself is not a sin, thank goodness every human being gets angry sometimes, and if you drive in Boston traffic you get angry every day. This is natural, that is how we live in the world. There will be discomfort, there will be anger, when we are offended it is healthy to get angry because one should be treated with respect. It's healthy to get angry about ugly things in the world.

Sin enters into how we handle anger. What do we do when we are angry? If we speak in a certain way, if we cross lines and also if we save anger from one day to the next. And then for another day, and another week, and another year and we're still angry about something that was done 10 years ago. We even forget why we are so brave. We are brave because we are angry at what was done to us years ago. We forgot but we still hold a grudge.

The Bible says that this becomes a satanic entrance, do not give place to the devil. There are discomforts that we have to deal with or it will accumulate and take root in our emotional, intellectual life. The word in Hebrews says not to let any root of bitterness grow, grow and contaminate many. It is that resentment is like a weed, it's like a weed, which grows in a garden and kills everything beautiful and grows until it contaminates the rest. Stored anger becomes like an emotional infection that kills life. And we keep repeating the same fight with each new person in our life if we don't root it out and let the spirit flow in that area.

There is nothing, perhaps I am exaggerating, but I believe that there is nothing that pleases the spirit more than when we show and demonstrate grace and mercy towards others, because God is a God of grace. He forgave us, that's why he sent Jesus, that's why Jesus on the cross prayed, forgive them, Father, they don't know what they're doing.

When we forgive we are like God himself giving grace. Now, forgiveness must be a practice of every day. The Our Father prayer, what does it say? Forgive us our sins as we also forgive our debtors. Why do we have to forgive every day? Because every day someone bothers you. It's true. Every day there is something. Forgiving is like brushing your teeth. It's good emotional hygiene.

And notice that even non-Christian psychologists recognize this today. I heard Dr. Phil talking about the importance of forgiveness. And I, preach it brother, he is not a Christian but amen. Because even they recognize that the human being is healthy when he does not hold a grudge from day to day and year to year. We are free of a burden when we let go.

Now, those of you who have taken Discipleship 2, and I know it's the majority, so you've heard we talk about this a lot in class because it's super important, that's why we talk about it so much. Forgiveness is not minimizing the seriousness of what happened, mind you, it's not like, oh, it wasn't a big deal, forget it. No, no, maybe it was serious, and you can admit it. To forgive is not to excuse either, to say, oh, it's good that he did it because he had his reasons. No. Forgiveness is not forgetting what happened either. Don't get me wrong. Some say, I forgive but I don't forget, which means I don't forgive in most cases.

But you literally can't forget certain things, they're in your head, but it means you're not going to keep it there. Forgiving is not necessarily going back to being friends with the person, it may be, there are sometimes people in conflict who later become best friends again. But sometimes not, there are some relationships that you have to go through in life. There are certain ones that should not be Facebook friends, please. I don't know much about it but I know some that it is not necessary to be in contact. Let it roll. Forgive them from afar and there you are free.

Forgiveness is canceling a debt owed to you. Because when an offense is made, a spiritual debt is formed. There is a debt with God because God is offended. That's why God says, leave it to me, revenge is mine. Leave it to me, and if you pray, Lord, forgive him because he doesn't know what he's doing. Alright. But it is between him and God. That gives us some comfort in knowing that God is going to deal with the person. It's in your hands.

Sometimes a debt is formed with society. Certain crimes have to be punished by law if someone has done something. Forgiveness does not mean that the person should not pay his debt to society. Some need a good jail ministry for a while. They need that. Not out of revenge but because it's fair. There are certain things in society that have to…

Forgiveness means what you owe me personally, in my spirit, I cancel it to you. I loose it. As that profound poet said in a song, let it go. Let it go. Let it go. I have seen people at the altar release it and at once freed sometimes from demons because bitterness is a satanic entrance, sometimes the demons leave when there is forgiveness. It is one thing that when someone forgives, the heart opens to the grace of a merciful God and blessing flows into one's life. Do it. It is something precious to us that God has given us the ability. Sometimes it is taken, it has to be repeated, it has to be done not once but a hundred times because some wounds only heal with time and it has to be repeated at the altar, it has to be said, but with time the pain is gone.

There are still marks on Jesus' hands but they don't hurt. The marks we have, we have, but they don't always have to hurt. And forgiveness is the best medicine so that it does not get infected. Don't let the sun go down on your anger. That does not mean, look, I have to confess that I do not take this verse completely literally, some do, couples who say, we are not going to bed angry, we are going to talk about things... I have seen that after midnight it is not possible nothing talking something We sleep, eat and everything is better, what happened? I don't know why he was so upset. Sometimes you have to eat, you have to sleep a little. But the spirit of the verse is, don't keep it. Let's be generous people who give, who give freely. Because? Because God forgave us. And I am not one to criticize or judge anything or anyone. So remove the block so that the Holy Spirit flows in me.

The second is, to prime the pump, pump the pump, prepare the pump so that the spirit flows in my blood, in my mind and in my spirit. Do stuff. And the Bible tells us precise and practical activities that we can do every day. So I'm going to assign them as a physical therapist, I'm going to give them exercises, there if they look in Ephesians 5, verse 15 to 21. It begins by saying:

“…Watch then, carefully how you walk, not as fools but as wise, making good use of the time because the days are bad. Therefore, do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine in which there is dissolution, rather be filled with the spirit, speaking among yourselves with psalms, with hymns and spiritual songs, singing and praising the Lord in your hearts, always giving thanks for everything to God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, – and in verse 21 – is part of submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

The text is very clear. If you want to be filled with the spirit so speaking among yourselves with psalms, hymns and praise. Number 2, always giving thanks to the Lord, and number 3, submitting to people in authority in your life. those three activities.

Some of us want to talk about the first, maybe the second but not the third. Let's get to that. First, something that we can do to start the spirit between us and I think we always live it, is to speak to each other with praise. What does that mean? does it mean that you are going to sing to someone else? Yes, we have some who serenade here, some who do and we don't want them to. Maybe they do. Serenade, how beautiful.

We're not talking about that. We are talking about in the church all together we are worshiping God but together. There's nothing wrong with looking around a bit and feeling, wow! How nice to be among the people of God. Because there is something different when we are together than when we are alone. And music has a special power, music is something highly spiritual.

I was thinking yesterday, my children are taking the piano and playing, and I began to think that the sound of my children playing the piano has to be the most beautiful sound I have ever heard in my life. I hear that sound… but even better when they sing on the piano, it kills me, every time I listen. It is the most beautiful. It doesn't matter, it doesn't have to be perfect, and I start to think, Lord, is this how you feel with us too, when we make music? What is the most precious sound you can imagine? And the Lord says, yes, you are my son, when you sing...

There is a beautiful poem that says, "when man works, God respects him, but when man sings, God loves him." How nice. God loves you when you work too but… you know what I mean. There is something special. Wow! when there is music for God. It's something powerful, it's something that rips out the spirit within us.

Once I remember I had to get up early for something, dawn at 3 in the morning for something I had to do, and I remember getting up and waking up from a deep sleep and in my dream I heard voices but crowds singing, that the Lord is holy , holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts, and I heard that music and woke up because I had to wake up. And I wondered if perhaps that music in the spirit is always playing in the Holy Spirit within us. As in English it would be said, the constant sound track of the Holy Spirit in your heart.

When we sing to the Lord in church we awaken that constant song of the spirit within us. And it is powerful. And there are a variety of songs, he says, with psalms. How many here like to read the psalms? If you are new and don't know how to find them, just do this, well, I found Lamentaciones… go a little bit to the left, and here we go, Psalms. There, in the middle of the Bible, 150 prayers and songs that you can sing to God. He also says hymns that people have written. I love that there are brothers in the church who write because it is a biblical anointing to write worship songs and in churches we can sing the songs that they write.

But there is also another song that I want to talk about, it says spiritual songs too, it says with hymns and spiritual chants. This is when the spirit is released within us. A new song, when you feel something inside of you, to sing improvised to the Lord, in Spanish, in English, in Greek, what do I know, singing in tongues, singing your spirit to the Lord. I encourage you sometimes in worship, when the spirit is moving to let words flow from your mouth and let a new song arise within us.

When we do this, something breaks in the environment, the clouds stop so that the sun shines on us, God's sun on us. It is called in English a break through, a break of heaviness so that there is freedom between us.

This morning I was talking about one of my favorite children's books, it's called Horton hears a who. How many here have read that book? The one with the big elephant. It has to do with a town of little people so small that no one can see them but an elephant, because it has very big ears, listens to them, but there are some bad monkeys that are going to cook that little world in a stew.

And the elephant tells him, you little people have to make a noise to be heard. So all the whos, all the little people, start to raise a clamor and yell and play instruments, but they're still not heard. The elephant says, are you sure that everyone is crying out? And then the mayor of the little town of all little people goes looking and finds a little boy hiding in an apartment, doing nothing, there with a yoyo, not making a noise. He tells him, “boy, we need you.” He grabs the boy – this is a children's story, okay? – he grabs the boy, pulls him up to the top of a large building, the Prudential Center and lifts him up and says, "Now yell kid, and the kid says, 'Yup,' and that 'yup' opens up the heavens and the bad monkeys hear that there are little people there. The heavens open and the cry rises.

Brethren, there is no passive person allowed in the praise of the Lord. Every voice means something. Your voice, each person together, all crying out to the Lord, break the heaviness and open the heavens and a spiritual warfare is waged, brothers.

Peter and Silas, two Apostles when they were imprisoned had chains. What would you do? Prisoner for the word of God, I would complain, they decide to sing hymns. Everyone listening to them, what are these crazy people doing? After these crazy people sing for a while, the chains fall off and they are free.

Sometimes, brothers, even if you don't want to sing, even if you're sad, even if you're heavy and angry, that's the moment when you have to sing the most until the chains we have fall off and the spiritual winds around us change.

And on Sundays it is important to be together to do it because Jesus says, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them. There is an organic power that grows in the community of God and if we do that, like a spiritual warfare, it is not for nothing, that the wars in the Old Testament sometimes had the singers in front, singing 'Praise Jehovah for he is good. His mercy endures forever.” And as they sang, angels were unleashed against the enemies of God.

In the book of Joshua there blowing the shofar and the heavens open and the walls fall. It is that if we do our work as a congregation and we do not come to church as something just to pass the time, no, but to fight in the spirit, to knock on the door of heaven, awaken the spirit within us, that's how we enter a revival among us. Because we are all called to that, brothers. There is no one who is not important in the congregation of God.

And also if we praise God together out loud in the congregation, it is more likely that we will be able to praise God not only on Sunday morning but also on Monday morning when we are in traffic, and have a song in our hearts. How many like to have praise all week? At work playing it, in the car, you singing and people looking at you like... are you crazy? It doesn't matter, because I'm getting drunk.

One behaves like a madman when drunk, well, drunk in spirit, what does it matter, I'm singing and people look at me strangely. Because the spirit is filling us with praise. So this is exercise number 1, praise with all your heart.

Number 2, I would like to talk about the need, verse 20, to do that, always giving thanks to God and the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So we give thanks for the good things, it says giving thanks for what? For all. When? At all times. This can be difficult because I don't think we have to thank God for sin, for something bad, but even during the bad I can thank God because even if it is bad, you are good and your mercy is forever.

This does not mean, I believe, that Christians always have to talk everything, all cheerful, all happy, without ever talking about our problems. I think we can be honest, read the psalms. The difference is speaking our problems to God instead of always complaining about everything.

I invite you to listen to your personal dialogue all day, the words that we say to each other all day. If I'm talking to myself about everything negative, the traffic, the weather and the sun and the heat and the cold and this and that, a heaviness begins to fall on us. I assign thanksgiving to you as if it were an exercise or a medicine. Try that: take 5 minutes, put there on the phone, 5 minutes, and take 5 minutes to just do thanksgiving. It can change my perspective for the rest of the day, because already the whole world changes to be a world that God has given me. It is no longer just a beautiful day, but it is a beautiful day that my Father has given me. It is no longer just a good meal, but a meal that the Lord himself cooked for me.

Loved ones, instead of always looking at their defects, take time to thank God for what is good about him, he does something good, at least something. Find something and thank God and appreciation begins to grow. And the Holy Spirit flows in you. Praise, thanksgiving. There is a proverb that says, the happy heart enjoys a continuous banquet, because for everything there is something to give thanks to God and this is to cultivate the fullness of the spirit within one because everything happens here.

The last one I would like and this is in a certain way the most difficult and on the other hand it is the most important. Verse 21 of Ephesians 5 says:

“Submit to one another out of reverence for the Lord, or out of fear of the Lord, submission out of fear of God.”

The submission. Favorite word. How many here like this word? Yes, I want to submit… well, it depends who, right? yes, if someone is perfect, I submit, but who is perfect? The submission. I want to clarify, then the text talks about submission in the family, with the husband, with the children, obeying the parents, the boss. The point is that the spirit of rebellion is contrary to the spirit of God.

The Bible says that rebellion is like the sin of divination, it's like witchcraft, it's a way to contaminate one's spirituality. And submission opens the way for the Holy Spirit to fill the human being. Submission can be healthy, happy, joyful. The submissive person is not always a quiet person, I want to clarify. Some of the most submissive people I know are happy, dynamic, strong, outspoken people who have strength but respect and honor the people around them.

And it is also possible to be very respectful on the outside and be super rebellious on the inside, around the bush. It's possible. God wants hearts that embrace submission and honor the people around us. I do not want to go into all the interpretation of this text, although I have studied it a lot and I have opinions that I can speak.

The general point I want to make is that we are called, if we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit to honor the people in our lives, a husband who honors his wife, who speaks nicely of her, who serves her, who washes the dishes, who takes her into account, who listens to her, who honors her as an important human being. A wife who, even when she is upset, does not speak to her as if she were a child, but respectfully. I don't want to wake up anything. OK.

Honor. It is not for nothing that the Bible says that husbands love their wives and wives respect their husbands. The man needs, sometimes more than love, he needs respect to feel that he can. And the woman in his life, wife, mom, they can with that respect make him feel, okay, I'm not a total failure. They can make you feel good. So honoring and the husband honoring the wife, holding her up, putting her needs first. Children, respecting parents even when they are not very cool. Respecting your parents even when they are not the coolest. Respecting, honoring.

Rebellion is not cool, rebellion kills life. If someone respects Father, honoring your children, disciplining them not with anger and frustration but with love and wisdom. Thoughtful discipline, respectful discipline, not embarrassing them in private or in public, not lowering them, but honoring their children.

When we do this at home, the spirit flows into the church. If we want revival here we have to be serious about honoring God there. Also at work, he talks about workers honoring the boss as if he were Jesus himself. Think about your boss. Maybe it doesn't look like Jesus, maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. honoring him and serving him not for man but for God because God rewards and with him there is no exception of person. Looking for the good of the boss, of the business instead of being political and looking for how to clip his wings or do something. Respect for the person in authority. Bosses, who treat their employees – because there are some bosses here among us, treating their employees to motivate and inspire them instead of threatening and dominating them.

When Christians we honor our family and co-workers, when there is proper submission the spirit flows, brothers. God's exercises are not always easy but they work. If we learn to take small steps and give thanks instead of complaining, praise when we are sad, honor even the most difficult people, when we take time to forgive, the fullness of the Holy Spirit flows within us.

Brothers, God has wine for you and me. I invite the musicians. Brethren, God wants us to be a church drunk on the Holy Spirit. And if we do this, if we take the word of God seriously and recognize how our words and attitudes influence the spiritual world and put these exercises into practice, we will be a pump of the Holy Spirit and it will flow in us.

We are willing? Amen. Some say amen to a, b, and c, not sure about d, but Lord, I receive it and I'm going to pray enough. We go forward in the name of the Lord. Let's stand up and we're going to pray about it.

Father, in the name of Jesus I thank you that you promise a filling of the Holy Spirit without measure. Thank you, Father, that the joy of Jehovah is our strength. Lord, thank you that your people can live in victory, Lord. These things that we have talked about, you know that they are not easy, that the struggle is real, Lord, but I know, Lord, that you are going to bless the honest efforts of your people.

Father, I ask that each one of my brothers have specific opportunities that you put in our path to put into practice what we have talked about. And I ask that when these moments arise and we do something different than normal, Lord, I ask you, Father, that you bless your people for the steps they take.

Lord, come among us. We hunger and thirst for you, Lord, and we do not want anything or anyone to grieve you, but Lord, we want you to be joyful among us. Hear our voice, we ask, in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.