The Book of Ephesians Pt. 48 Do Not Get Drunk. Be Filled By God's Spirit!

After the apostle Paul taught us about the pure doctrines of the Lord Jesus Christ in the first three chapters, he has been teaching us more and more about walking a worthy walk with the Lord. We learned about walking in love, walking circumspectly, not walking in the vanity of our minds, walking in the light and walking in the good works that God sets before each believer.  

Along the way of our studies, Paul effectively  uses imperatives telling us to "put off" sinful actions and to "put on" actions that are pleasing to the Father. Thus, we are literally exploring a rich treasure chest of spiritual blessings given to each child of God in Christ.

Do not become intoxicated.

Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 

We see two more imperatives in this text. First, Paul gives us a "put off"  through a command not to be drunk with wine. The idea of the command "be not drunk with wine" is making sure that consuming too much wine is not a habitual behavior. It also means that if one is guilty of drunkenness they are to stop now. 

The word "drunk" means becoming fully intoxicated and the word "excess" means doing worthless, ruinous, reckless things because of being intoxicated. The same word "excess" is translated "riot" in the other two places it is found. It is the idea of being drunk and causing commotion, stirring up strife, or doing and saying things that you would not normally do or say. 

We also know that when wine is used rightly it is permissible (1 Timothy 5:23). The distinction is that Paul told Timothy to ingest a small amount of wine for his health, in contrast to drunken pagans who consumed excessive amounts of wine.

Why a command against drunkenness? Because so many Gentile believers came out of paganism and into the light of the gospel. They needed to be taught about God's moral law. A god of the Greek myths named Bacchus (Roman Dionysius) was celebrated in his temples, by excessive wine consumption and unrestrained sexual orgies. 

Drunken orgies were practiced wherever there were temples dedicated to Bacchus. Every major city had one of these temples. Ephesus also had a temple dedicated to Bacchus. Drunkenness is not usually a singular sin. Rather, it usually involves other people and commission of other sins.  Drunkenness provokes God and greatly hinders our spiritual progress. 

As the gospel spreads to cities like Ephesus, many new converts to Christ were saved out of pagan religion. Moral perversion was all that former pagans knew up to this point and they needed a moral compass from God. This is what God is giving us in these texts. 

Most of us have known people who became hooked on drugs or alcohol and witnessed how they ruined their lives and hurt the people  around them. The scope of drug and alcohol abuse in America is well documented. The costs of substance abuse is about $1.45 trillion each year! 

Thus, the residual influence pagan cults has upon new believers at Ephesus should be underestimated and this is why the moral imperative from God is given.  

Be filled with the Spirit of God.

Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 

The second half of verse 18 contains a "put on" for us. After we "put off" drunkenness we are to "put on" being filled by the Spirit. What does this mean? 

The Greek words are a command "be filled" in the present tense which indicates a continuous or repeated action of filling. Being filled with the Spirit is not "one and done." Rather, being filled with the Spirit is as essential for new life in Christ and walking with God each day, as breathing  oxygen into our bodies is essential for each moment we live.

It is an imperative action, indicating our duty before God is to be Spirit-filled. It is not an onerous duty. Rather, it is a hope filled faith response of taking God at His word and anticipating that His Spirit will fill us as we need it and according to the situation we face. 

It is also passive, which means that the Holy Spirit is the One who does the filling, and that our role is to allow him to fill us. We trust the sovereign will of the Spirit to fill us as He deems best. This is part of being led by the Spirit and walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16; 18).

It is plural in form, indicating that we live in dependency upon God for all things and need repeated or daily fillings. This also implies that each Christian has a responsibility to be filled with the Spirit, not just our Pastors and leaders.

• We cannot fill ourselves any more than we can save ourselves. 

• We cannot expect to be filled with the Spirit of God if we are grieving (Ephesians 4:30) or quenching Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

• We can remove any obstacle to being filled by the Spirit by confessing our sins and renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 1:8-9).

Being filled with the Spirit is pure worship!

Eph 5:19  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 

Being filled with the Spirit of God creates a God centric life in us. It produces God centric speech. It produces God centric worship. It produces God centric actions in our lives. It leads to God centric thinking. This is the mighty ministry of the Spirit of God using the Word of God in the heart of the born again believer!

Songs were sung to Bacchus by his adherents with profane words and drunken energies. Such songs were sensual, depraved and godless in their orientation. 

A greater contrast cannot be imagined. A Spirit filled believer will sing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to Christ with their whole heart. The Spirit of God gives each believer's Spirit filled worship a truth based eloquence, whereas, drunken songs sung by the revelers of Bacchus bring the hearers down into the muck and mire of this fallen world. 

A Spirit filled believer will be "speaking to yourselves" which is the idea of communication that is edifying to the speaker and the hearer. It builds up, encourages and strengthens our faith. It glorifies Jesus Christ and points to the scripture as our source of absolute truth. Such speech should be part of Christian fellowship in our homes, in our church, with our church family and should guide how we speak to lost people around us. 

"Psalms" are part of the words spoken by a Spirit filled believer. It certainly includes the idea of instrumental and vocal singing that follows Biblical principles and expresses truth from the Bible. It is also a reference to the Book of Psalms which is often called the Hebrew Hymnal. 

Worship God in jail.

Acts 16:25-26  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26) And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 

"Hymns" are songs composed to honor God. They are a "Magnificat" (See Luke 1:46-55) declaring the beauty, holiness, majesty and greatness of God. A hymn is a direct address of praise and adoration to God. Hymns are sung to God, dedicated to God and overflowing with praises to God. 

Paul and Silas were put in jail at Philippi for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were beaten and placed in chains. They prayed and  after praying both men were spirit filled and offered their praise to God. They sang hymns and all the other prisoners heard the truth contained in their hymns of praise. 

"Spiritual songs" are Christian songs that come from those who are Spirit filled. The word "spiritual" refers to that which rightly belongs to the Spirit but is given to one who is filled and governed by Him. The Greek word translated "songs" is the word "ode" which is a short poem set to music. 

Worship God for His salvation and redemption.

Psalm 96:1-4  O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. 2) Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. 3) Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 4) For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. 

Christian worship should be marked by excellent singing because we are the redeemed people of God, the heirs of salvation and granted all hope in Christ. Paul calls this praise Spirit filled singing and making melody in our heart. 

The Greek word translated "singing" is the root of the word "adore." "Adoration" is the act of paying honor to a divine being. It is worship reserved only for God and is directed to the One, True Living God of heaven and earth. "Adoration" consists in external praising, expressions of love for God accompanied with the highest reverence for Him.

Psalm 96 is a praise Psalm. Believers sing a new song to Him because Jehovah put a new song into our hearts (Psalm 40:3). Singing and making melody in our hearts must be directed to the Lord. Our worship should bless His wonderful name and our songs should contain praises for His saving work.

Singing and making melody in our hearts should be motivated by declaring the glory of God and extolling all His wonderful works. He is great and we should offer Him the very best praise and worship that we can.

Being filled by the Spirit makes us thankful.

Eph 5:20  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 

The expression of giving thanks to God for all things reminds us that God is always good and will always work all things out for good in a believer's life. We give thanks to the Father for the good things and when we are suffering hardship. We thank Him for blessings and adversities. We thank Him in the name of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. 

Being filled with the Spirit brings unity to Christ's church.

Eph 5:21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.  

Being filled by the Spirit promotes unity within the body of Christ where each believer puts other believer's needs ahead of their own needs. The wonderful fear of the Lord which marks the beginning of wisdom will be on display when we are filled by His Spirit. 

Points to Ponder...

Being filled by the Holy Spirit is preceded by the command to "put off" drunkenness. We learned that the ancient cultures all had pagan rituals of the cult of Bacchus because promoting drunken behavior and sexual perversion gained control and power over people. 

The power of the gospel of Jesus Christ broke through the darkness of pagan religion and brought people into the light of the gospel. 

Thus, these new pagan converts needed to be taught God's moral standard so that they could understand why being drunk and committing sexual sins was wrong. 

Then, Paul brought us to an important aspect of our faith. Being filled by the Spirit of God. We need daily filling by the Holy Spirit just as much as we need air to live and breath. 

His filling brings out the new birth and the new song He placed into our heart, in worship and expressions of Christian joy. We will be a people filled with adoration of Jesus Christ. We will praise God for the wisdom and power of His salvation. We will tell others about the glories of our God and let our praises ring. We will become a thankful people in every circumstance. 

I pray that the Holy Spirit will have His way in each one of us today. I pray that His will be done in us and that we will readily embrace His leadership in our lives. I pray that He will fill us with unrestrained joy and passion for the great God who loved us so, that He crucified His own Son to save us.

Bob