Ephesians 5:18-20 Podcast
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20 NIV)
In our text today Paul tells us, "Do not get drunk on wine." There is a thing called responsible drinking. The problem is we live in a culture which isn't responsible. So, Paul prohibits excessive consumption of alcohol. Paul is not prohibiting the consumption of alcohol, he is prohibiting the excessive consumption of alcohol.
The problem with the consumption of excessive alcohol is it so easily leads to lack of self control or debauchery. The Greek word the apostle uses here for debauchery is "asotia", means "without any limits, with reckless abandonment." The real issue in our text today is who is in control.
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20 NIV)
In our text today Paul tells us, "Do not get drunk on wine." There is a thing called responsible drinking. The problem is we live in a culture which isn't responsible. So, Paul prohibits excessive consumption of alcohol. Paul is not prohibiting the consumption of alcohol, he is prohibiting the excessive consumption of alcohol.
The problem with the consumption of excessive alcohol is it so easily leads to lack of self control or debauchery. The Greek word the apostle uses here for debauchery is "asotia", means "without any limits, with reckless abandonment." The real issue in our text today is who is in control.
In contrast, Paul writes, "we must be being filled with the Spirit." "Be filled" is an imperative, but it is written in the passive voice and indicates that we receive the action being delivered in our lives. The Holy Spirit performs the action, it is He who is filling us. And, with his filling, comes His control. Although, we do not produce the filling, our volition is involved as we choose to be defined by God.
The Greek word Paul uses here for filled is "pleroo" which describes the inertia behind the action. This is a description of the wind blowing the sails on a boat, providing the power to move the vessel across the water. This gives the picture of the Holy Spirit providing the thrust to move the believer down the pathway of wisdom, obedience and Christlikeness.
When we believed in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live within us. At the moment of our New Birth, He awakened our once dead spirit and made it alive to God. At that point in time we received all of the Holy Spirit, but He didn't get all of us. The filling of the Spirit in the believer describes the process of the believer giving up control to the Holy Spirit (sanctification).
As we are being filled by Him daily, we are being changed by His ever increasing control over our souls (our minds, wills, and emotions). Mind you, we are not getting better, He is just able to express Himself through our increasingly yielded lives. The filling of the Holy Spirit is about Him gaining more and more control over us. This filling of the believer by the Holy Spirit happens in our lives when we yield control to Him in a given situation.
When we experiences the tuning of our heart to our creator by means of being filled by the Holy Spirit, joy is created in our heart. In addition, the filling of the Spirit produces a freed heart that sees from a transcendent perspective. This point of view enables us to recognize the sovereign control of God in our lives. The result is the rest the Lord Jesus spoke of in Matthew 11:27-28. The Voice translation puts it this way, "27 The Father has handed over everything to My care. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son—and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal the Father. 28 Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." This rest is non-threatening and freeing. This rest renders in us a joy and a gratitude which flows freely.
Finally, the filling of the Spirit creates in us the ability to stop striving and to begin trusting. We were meant to trust before we were meant to work. Trusting doesn't eliminate working, but it does eliminate striving. This is part of the reason we struggle with surrendering to the filling of the Spirit in our lives. Like Jacob in the Old Testament, our striving and stressing in life is over when we come under the control of the Holy Spirit. When He controls, we discover our sweet spot. When He controls, we find ourselves at home.
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The Greek word Paul uses here for filled is "pleroo" which describes the inertia behind the action. This is a description of the wind blowing the sails on a boat, providing the power to move the vessel across the water. This gives the picture of the Holy Spirit providing the thrust to move the believer down the pathway of wisdom, obedience and Christlikeness.
When we believed in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live within us. At the moment of our New Birth, He awakened our once dead spirit and made it alive to God. At that point in time we received all of the Holy Spirit, but He didn't get all of us. The filling of the Spirit in the believer describes the process of the believer giving up control to the Holy Spirit (sanctification).
As we are being filled by Him daily, we are being changed by His ever increasing control over our souls (our minds, wills, and emotions). Mind you, we are not getting better, He is just able to express Himself through our increasingly yielded lives. The filling of the Holy Spirit is about Him gaining more and more control over us. This filling of the believer by the Holy Spirit happens in our lives when we yield control to Him in a given situation.
There are two specific ways that we know that we are being filled with the Spirit according to this passage: the first is we will have a joyful heart (v.19), and the second is that we will have a thankful heart (v.20). Joy and gratitude are the products of a Spirit-filled life. Note that these psalms, hymns, and songs are from the Spirit. Note, also, that this music is a product of a heart that has been influenced by the Lord Himself. In addition, we sing to the Lord and to other believers.
When we experiences the tuning of our heart to our creator by means of being filled by the Holy Spirit, joy is created in our heart. In addition, the filling of the Spirit produces a freed heart that sees from a transcendent perspective. This point of view enables us to recognize the sovereign control of God in our lives. The result is the rest the Lord Jesus spoke of in Matthew 11:27-28. The Voice translation puts it this way, "27 The Father has handed over everything to My care. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son—and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal the Father. 28 Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." This rest is non-threatening and freeing. This rest renders in us a joy and a gratitude which flows freely.
Finally, the filling of the Spirit creates in us the ability to stop striving and to begin trusting. We were meant to trust before we were meant to work. Trusting doesn't eliminate working, but it does eliminate striving. This is part of the reason we struggle with surrendering to the filling of the Spirit in our lives. Like Jacob in the Old Testament, our striving and stressing in life is over when we come under the control of the Holy Spirit. When He controls, we discover our sweet spot. When He controls, we find ourselves at home.
