Written by Philip Thompson
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
This verse, written to the Ephesian church from Paul, holds a mountain of instruction throughout its entirety.
This verse has been on my mind recently, as my Pastor has been going through the book of James and the first chapter of that book is filled with instruction about how our attitude should be in many trials, temptations and difficulties. Verse two especially shows the demand for the right attitude in trials and temptations.
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
This passage goes along with that, although the context of this passage are the works that we perform and not the attitudes we hold, it is tied together because the attitude we have and the thoughts we consider in our minds affect what actions we take in our day to day lives.
With that said there should arise a question in our minds, if we are to think right and have the right attitude so we can then act in the right way before God, from what source do we draw the strength and direction to accomplish this?
This question is important because frankly the race of men is not very good at keeping goals. To give an example, only about 8% of people each year keep their New Year’s resolutions.
Thus, clearly there must be something more than our own willpower at work in order to accomplish this goal of living right each day.
And of course, there is. The provision of The Holy Spirit has been granted to each and every believer, the one who begins to abide within us when we are saved and the one who, according to Ephesians 4:30, seals us unto the day of redemption (He’s never going to leave us).
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
What is His ministry in us?
According to John 16:13 He guides us into all truth. He is the one who when you, Christian, think to do something sinful says to you, “but what about what God says in His word?”
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
He is the one who helps us to know what the Bible teaches, some of The Bible requires deep study and prayer to get straight, but if we will put in the effort and time, if we will rely on The Holy Spirit to help us understand, we can have that right doctrine.
According to Luke 11:13, His filling is given to those who ask the Father.
Luk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
This mirrors how we are supposed to have the wisdom of God laid out in James 1:5, in that verse it is stated “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
If we need something we need to ask God for it, He is always near and ready to help us!
Note: please understand that this is speaking of the filling of the Holy Spirit, meaning He being our guide in life that we are yielding to. The time when the Holy Spirit indwells us begins when we are saved and is eternal since we cannot lose our salvation.
How do we yield to Him?
According to Ephesians 4:30 we are able to have The Holy Spirit in our lives when we do not grieve Him, in the context of the chapter it is clear that we grieve Him by not having unrepentant sin in our lives.
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
This brings us to the main question arising from James 1:2, how can we “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;”?
It will be because instead of going the way of the world and being filled with wine, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, we are following God and embracing the sweet Holy Spirit that is in us! He will comfort us in our trials and give us the perseverance to overcome our challenges!
The world goes to different sources for comfort, I hear constantly from coworkers and just people in general “I can’t wait to drink tonight.” I’m extremely grateful that I have never been exposed to the things of the world, I have never tasted liquor and do not intend to take one sip for the rest of my life!
And of course this what is directly spoken of in Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;”, The word excess in this context doesn’t mean “too much” it instead is referring to what alcohol contains, it inherently, is evil. It leads to rioting and filthiness.
“Don’t have too much to drink” is NOT what is being stated, “Don’t drink at all because in that consumption is wickedness and filthiness!” is what is truly being communicated.
And so, we can only be filled with one, worldly pursuit and escapes, or the wonderful Holy Spirit. We can Invision this as a glass, personally I’m a massive sweet tea enjoyer, if my cup is filled with nasty dirty creek water then I can’t have my tea.
The sin in our lives has to be extinguished, poured out and scraped away, that’s when we, as the saved, can have the filling in our lives of The Holy Spirit.
It is stated in Galatians 5:16-17 that you can’t have both, and that’s because they are contrary to one another, they are not like two bulls in the yoke, they are like two bulls, one that’s pulling the plow east, the other pulling the plow west, the plow can only go one way or the other.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.