Ephesians 5:18-21 says...
Today's verses are Ephesians 5:18-21, which read,
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Paul has told us to be careful how we walk, how we live in our daily conduct, as wise. To be wise is to focus on and imitate God being His beloved children. We do this with the limited time that we have and while we are living within this evil world under the influence of Satan.
Paul will now give another physical analogy to help us understand this change in our lives. The subject of the example is wine and drunkenness and its effects. When someone drinks too much alcohol it leads to a state of drunkenness and the result of drunkenness is dissipation or debauchery. Dissipation or debauchery is an uncontrolled life that produces sinful behaviors.
What happens when a person is filled with too much wine? The alcohol has its affects on the person and they are succumbed by its physical properties working on their physical properties. The usual affects are always selfish in nature. Many times the tongue is loosened to say what the mind is thinking in a very vocal way. The actions of a drunk have no thought to others but can only focus on themselves. The element of fear is gone and also respect for others. Even the "quiet" drunk who just sleeps goes into a very selfish state to avoid others and maybe situations that need to be handled.
But what happens if you are filled with the Spirit? What comes out of the Christian when they are "drunk with God?" The answer is the fruit of the Spirit. The tongue is loosed to say different things that thinks of others instead of disregarding them. The actions of thanksgiving to God are at the forefront of our minds. A deep respect is given to one another and to God. Instead of being selfish as a drunk with too much wine, we are being selfless as a Christian filled with God.
We sing and speak of scripture to each other and with each other as indicated by the word "psalms." We sing and speak of doctrine to each other and with each other as indicated by the word "hymns." We sing and speak of our personal relationship with God to each other and with each other as indicated by the words "spiritual songs." We give thanks for what God has provided. We submit to each other as we hold each other to the words of God through the Bible. We have a healthy respect and fear of what God has written that is and is to come. All of this comes out of a Christian as they are "drunk" with God.
It is very different than the one drunk with wine. Is this what is coming out of you? It won't be coming out of you unless you are in the practice of drinking of the Spirit. The drunk doesn't get drunk which leads to dissipation if he doesn't drink. The drinking is an essential element and so it is therefore also essential for the Christian who is going to display the fruit of the Spirit. What are you drinking and what is it leading to?
I hope we can make the connection that wine or alcohol is used here in this illustration but there are other things that we can be taking into our lives that lead to ungodly actions. We can be drunk with pornography. We can be drunk with greed. We can be drunk with hobbies that lead to idolatry. Whatever we are drunk with will lead to its affects upon what comes out of us. If what is coming out of you is not the fruit of the Spirit with a love for God and a love for others then follow the trail back to see what you are ingesting to produce those ungodly actions and stop drinking it.
"Lord, I pray that the fruit of the Spirit would be coming out of us because we are spending time being filled up with You to overflowing. I pray that the affects of being filled with the Spirit would have its great impact upon the lives of those You have put around us. At the day of Pentecost, the crowd thought the disciples were drunk with wine but what came out of Peter and the others showed they were drunk with Someone else. May we do the same as we submit to knowing and following You more. Amen."
Pastor Adam
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Paul has told us to be careful how we walk, how we live in our daily conduct, as wise. To be wise is to focus on and imitate God being His beloved children. We do this with the limited time that we have and while we are living within this evil world under the influence of Satan.
Paul will now give another physical analogy to help us understand this change in our lives. The subject of the example is wine and drunkenness and its effects. When someone drinks too much alcohol it leads to a state of drunkenness and the result of drunkenness is dissipation or debauchery. Dissipation or debauchery is an uncontrolled life that produces sinful behaviors.
What happens when a person is filled with too much wine? The alcohol has its affects on the person and they are succumbed by its physical properties working on their physical properties. The usual affects are always selfish in nature. Many times the tongue is loosened to say what the mind is thinking in a very vocal way. The actions of a drunk have no thought to others but can only focus on themselves. The element of fear is gone and also respect for others. Even the "quiet" drunk who just sleeps goes into a very selfish state to avoid others and maybe situations that need to be handled.
But what happens if you are filled with the Spirit? What comes out of the Christian when they are "drunk with God?" The answer is the fruit of the Spirit. The tongue is loosed to say different things that thinks of others instead of disregarding them. The actions of thanksgiving to God are at the forefront of our minds. A deep respect is given to one another and to God. Instead of being selfish as a drunk with too much wine, we are being selfless as a Christian filled with God.
We sing and speak of scripture to each other and with each other as indicated by the word "psalms." We sing and speak of doctrine to each other and with each other as indicated by the word "hymns." We sing and speak of our personal relationship with God to each other and with each other as indicated by the words "spiritual songs." We give thanks for what God has provided. We submit to each other as we hold each other to the words of God through the Bible. We have a healthy respect and fear of what God has written that is and is to come. All of this comes out of a Christian as they are "drunk" with God.
It is very different than the one drunk with wine. Is this what is coming out of you? It won't be coming out of you unless you are in the practice of drinking of the Spirit. The drunk doesn't get drunk which leads to dissipation if he doesn't drink. The drinking is an essential element and so it is therefore also essential for the Christian who is going to display the fruit of the Spirit. What are you drinking and what is it leading to?
I hope we can make the connection that wine or alcohol is used here in this illustration but there are other things that we can be taking into our lives that lead to ungodly actions. We can be drunk with pornography. We can be drunk with greed. We can be drunk with hobbies that lead to idolatry. Whatever we are drunk with will lead to its affects upon what comes out of us. If what is coming out of you is not the fruit of the Spirit with a love for God and a love for others then follow the trail back to see what you are ingesting to produce those ungodly actions and stop drinking it.
"Lord, I pray that the fruit of the Spirit would be coming out of us because we are spending time being filled up with You to overflowing. I pray that the affects of being filled with the Spirit would have its great impact upon the lives of those You have put around us. At the day of Pentecost, the crowd thought the disciples were drunk with wine but what came out of Peter and the others showed they were drunk with Someone else. May we do the same as we submit to knowing and following You more. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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