Ephesians 5:18-21
Whats your idea of a good time? A really smashing good time? Think about what you regard as a good time. Then think about what your friends who arent Christians think is a good time. Your friends, family, workmates, that is, the ones who dont know Christ. What do they regard as a good time? Now of course, there will be many answers to this question, as different people like different things. But one common one, one common idea of what constitutes a good time, a smashing good time, is to get smashed! Ive worked in a number of different workplaces, different types of workplaces, different jobs with people from different socio-economic backgrounds and different walks of life. But the conversation on Friday afternoon or on Monday morning is pretty much the same. On Friday morning the conversation, especially amongst younger people, is often along the lines of, What are you gonna do tonight?
Where are you going to party? And then on Monday morning there is the comparing notes, and the ones with the greatest stories to tell, of a great night on Friday are the ones who boast that they got so drunk they cant even remember the night - and thats regarded as a great night out.
I used to listen to this banter and be really confused. For me, if something was really great, Id hope Id be able to remember it! But apparently, not so. You know and I know this is not the case with every non-Christian, and so Im not trying to draw generalisations, but a lot of them regard a good night out, a good time, as a time of drinking too much and a time of general excess - of going too far, of wild living and reckless behaviour. And I remember from my time working in the secular workplace
that I wasnt the only one baffled. From my point of view, I just couldnt understand the idea that a good time is getting drunk and being reckless and not remembering anything.
But the misunderstanding went both ways. My workmates thought I lived a terribly drab, dull, boring life. They couldnt understand why I didnt want to get involved. Why I didnt want to drink with them. Why I didnt want to engage in other activities that went with it. They thought I was a prude. Once a stripper came to the workplace and I walked away, moved as far away as I could. I wouldnt participate. They couldnt understand that. In fact, many of them felt sorry for me, sorry for me that I was constrained by my religious beliefs, that I was constrained by this religious straightjacket and prevented from having fun.
You know, the idea of a good time as being a time of getting drunk, of drunken carousing and wild behaviour is not a new one! Its something that has been going on since the days of Noah and something very common in Ephesus when Paul wrote Ephesians. Hence he writes
Eph 518 And do not get drunk with wine (ESV).
He wouldnt have to write that unless it was a problem. And so he tells the Ephesians, and us, not to be drunk. And tells us what to do instead.
The passage we are looking at today continues very much on from what weve been talking about lately in Ephesians. Throughout Ephesians we are presented with the idea of contrasts. In Ephesians 2:1-10 we talked about death to life. We were dead in our sins, and now we have been made alive in Christ. And we have looked at how Christ died for us, to save us from our sins while we were still in our sins. And that we are saved from our sins not by anything we do, but purely by the grace the gift of God. But weve also been learning that although God has saved us by grace, that is, it is a gift, its something we didnt earn, that what He has saved us from is sin. That is , we are no longer dead in sin and that means we should be living lives that are moving away from sin and moving towards righteousness. In Ephesians 4:17 we were told that we must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. A few verses later, in verses 22-24, we were told to put off our old sinful selves and to put on our new sin-free selves. And weve been looking at a few areas where we need to do this. For instance, in the area of anger, our speech, and in forgiving others. A few weeks ago we looked at this in the area of sexual purity. And then the last couple of Sundays weve looked at making the most of our time, using what God has given us for His purposes. In all these things we are putting off our old self and putting on the new - living for God, the way He wants us to live. And today we are going to look at further at how God wants us to live.
As Ive said, weve been told not to get drunk, something that is so popular in the world, and perhaps something many of us got involved with before coming to Christ and maybe something some of you here still struggle with. But we are not just told here not what to do. We are told what to do instead, and that is, to be filled with the Spirit. So lets read again todays passage and see what that means, to be filled with the Spirit.
Eph 5 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
This passage tells us not to do one thing - that is, not to get drunk. And instead, it tells us to be filled with Spirit that is, the Holy Spirit. A very clear contrast between the old self and the new self, between the old, non-Christlike way and the new, Christ-like way. Dont get drunk, but instead be filled with the Spirit. And this filling with the Spirit has several outworkings of being filled with Spirit - that is, several ways being filled with Spirit is shown in our lives.
Those things are
1. vs 19 addressing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
2. vs 19 singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart
3 vs 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
4 vs 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
It is not clear in all English translations, but in the Greek it is very clear that these 4 things - addressing one another, singing and making melody, giving thanks, and submitting - are all outworkings of being filled with the Holy Spirit. They describe what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
So first to the negative - what we arent supposed to do. Weve already looked at what it says in verse 18 - dont get drunk. Now you might say, Why not? Certainly, thats what non-Christians Ive worked with have said to me. Why not?, Its fun, theyve told me. Well we are given the reason here. Because getting drunk with wine is debauchery. Now debauchery is not an everyday word, so perhaps I need to explain what it means. Debauchery means this: reckless living, extreme indulgence in sensuality, disorderliness, hooliganism. When someone drinks too much, that person loses control. They lose their self control over their actions and behaviour, and when they lose control, they do stupid things, things that are sinful, things that dont please God. So I need to say to you, if you are a Christian, and you drink too much, even if it is just every now and again, then you need to stop it its wrong.
Now although this passage doesnt address the topic of drinking in general - it just says, Dont get drunk, Im sure many of you are asking, Is it okay to drink provided I dont get drunk? Is it okay to have a glass or two of beer or wine, provided I never get drunk? It says in this passage quite clearly, Do not get drunk with wine, and other passages of Scripture tell us not to get drunk, but it is true that no passage of scripture tells us that we cannot drink at all. So if we were to say that Christians cant drink at all, that would be legalism. What is legalism? Legalism is when we come up with rules and regulations that arent in the Bible. The Bible doesnt say anywhere that Christians cant drink at all - just we shall not get drunk. So when we legislate and tell Christians they cant drink at all, that is not Gods rule but ours, and thats the definition of legalism, making rules up that God didnt give us.
So am I saying, go for it, have a drink, provided you dont get drunk? Well Im not saying that either. You see we dont want to be legalistic, but we also dont want to grant license. Theres a fine line sometimes between legalism and license. Remember the picture of the truck on the road on the side of the cliff? Remember Ephesians 5:15 which we looked at two weeks ago: Look carefully then how you walk. The opposite reaction to legalism is license. What is license? License is when we try and drive as close to the edge of that cliff as we can without falling off. The problem is, the closer you drive to the edge of that cliff, the more likely you are to go over the edge if you make a mistake and tumble down the cliff! You want to know, can you drink as a Christian provided you dont get drunk? The answer is, if you like, yes, you can. But the more you drink, the closer to that edge you are driving and the more likely you are to have one drink too much and go over the edge. And if you do it just once, then you have sinned.
This is a very individual question. If you are able to drink and never ever get drunk, never ever get tipsy, then fine. But if you arent able to always drink in moderation, even once if you go to far, then you are best to avoid alcohol totally, as I have chosen to done in my own life. And because of the problems with drinking and the potential for excess, we dont permit drinking on the church premises or at church functions, although what you do at other times and places is up to you provided you dont get drunk!
But the main thing this passage is talking about is not the whole issue of drinking per se, but it says, dont get drunk because of the lack of control that comes with it, and with that comes sin.
But the passage is not just negative. It is also positive. It gives the alternative to being drunk. And that is, in verse 18, but be filled with the Spirit. As Christians we dont miss out when we dont drink too much, when we dont participate in lewd behaviour. We dont miss out because we have something much better. We have the Holy Spirit. These few words are so important. And it is important to take a few moments to see how this sentence is constructed so we can see what it means. Firstly what is not so easy to see in this phrase, is the words be filled in the Greek, are in the present tense. This means that we arent just filled with Holy Spirit once, but we need to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Yes, we are filled with the Holy Spirit when we are born again, when we become a Christian. But because we struggle with our old nature, because we still sin, we often quench the Spirit and we need to be continually filled with the Spirit.
The other thing to note is that is doesnt say Fill yourself with the Holy Spirit. We cant fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit. Only God can fill us with the Holy Spirit. Thats why its says, Be filled. But the other thing to note is that it is also a command. A command to us, to be filled. In one of those things so characteristic of the Christian life, we are told to do something that God actually does! What does that mean? It means, yes we are to seek the Holy Spirit, we are to be receptive to His filling, but ultimately it is God that fills us with His Holy Spirit. And what could be better than being filled with the Holy Spirit! To be filled with the 3rd member of the Trinity God the Holy Spirit! To be filled with God!
And being filled with the Holy Spirit is necessary. Why? In Ephesians weve been looking at how we are told not live as the Gentiles do. We have been told to live lives worthy of our calling. We have been told to put off our old selves and put on our new selves. How do we do this? How do we receive the power, the strength, to live a holy life? A life that pleases God? Only by being filled with God Himself, filled with God the Holy Spirit.
And what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? What does He do in our lives? Well, Paul doesnt leave us in the dark on this one. He gives us in the following verses four ways we are filled with the Spirit. Four results of being filled with Spirit, and perhaps four ways that help us be filled with the Spirit. Ive mentioned the four ways already
1. vs 19 addressing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
2. vs 19 singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart
3 vs 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
4 vs 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
So lets have a look at them one by one, except the first two well look at together since they are linked quite closely.
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs - these are all songs that glorify God, that praise and worship God, and they have pretty similar meanings to each other. Psalms this is most likely a reference to the Psalms of the OT. They sang these, and so too, some of our worship songs are based on the Psalms, and it is good for us to base many of our worship songs on the Psalms and other scriptures. Hymns and spiritual songs - these are virtually synonyms, describing songs that praise God.
Now I should point out that the word hymn didnt mean the same as the word hymn means for us today. We tend to divide our worship songs into the hymns the slower, older songs, and the choruses - the faster, newer songs. Thats a modern division. In our New Testament, hymns and spiritual songs just refer to songs that are sung to the Lord and either could be fast or slow, new or old. The important thing is not how fast or slow, how old or new our songs are, but what they say, and well get to that in a minute.
These psalms, hymns and spiritual songs - our passage says that we should be singing and making melody with them. This phrase making melody in the English Standard Version, which in the New International Version is translated as make music, literally means, playing - literally, playing a stringed instrument. The Greco-Roman world had several stringed instruments. For example, the lyre from which developed the harp. The lute from which developed the guitar. The kithara from which we get the word guitar. So literally, we are told to be singing and playing to the Lord with your heart. Some say we shouldnt use musical instruments in worship because in the New Testament they didnt use them, but this word here literally means playing a stringed instrument, so they did play instruments in their worship in the New Testament! And so should we, as we do here at Gympie Baptist Church.
There are a few other things to notice here. There are three things about our worship, two of which probably wont surprise you, and one which might. The two that probably wont are that we see our worship is to be to the Lord. When we sing praise songs, we are doing so to the Lord. The other thing that is not surprising, is that we are to do it from the heart. When we come here on a Sunday morning and sing, do we just go through the motions, or are we really singing from our heart?
But the third thing that might be surprising, is that verse 19 tells us to address one another in these psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Why is that surprising? Because normally we think of worship as being directed to God. Which it is as the verse says we sing and play to the Lord. But as well as singing and playing to the Lord, we are also to address each other with our worship music. Why do we do that? Because worship in song happens together - it happens when Christians meet together. Yes we can worship in song when we are alone in our individual prayer times, but Paul here is talking about when we gather together, at church services on a Sunday, at home groups, at youth group, at other times we meet together. We address each other with spiritual songs. Why? Because as we sing spiritual songs to each other, we encourage each other For example this morning we sang Mighty to Save. Part of that song is addressing one another rather than to God. Note the chorus:
Saviour, He can move the mountains.
My God is mighty to save.
He is mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation.
He rose and conquered the grave.
Jesus conquered the grave.
Notice the wording we are not directly addressing God, but encouraging each other and reminding each other of what God has done for us.
So this is one result of being filled with the Spirit, we will address one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord with our hearts. And so I urge you, when you come here of a Sunday, and we sing, dont just do it because you happen to be here! But really, sing from your heart, to the Lord.
Then next outcome of being filled with the Spirit is in verse 20
It is:
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Being filled with the Spirit should lead us to give thanks for everything, always. This is not so easy to do when things dont go well. Perhaps you are in a bad situation now and it is hard to give thanks. But Paul who wrote this letter, who tells us to be thankful for everything - he knew what it was to be in dire straights. One time hed been evangelising in the town of Philippi and this is what happened.
Acts 16 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Hmm, how would you feel if youd been beaten up with big sticks and then thrown into prison, fastening your feet in stocks around your feet so you couldnt even move around the prison cell? This is what Paul and his companion Silas did:
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Paul knew what it was to praise God in everything. To be thankful. So we need to give thanks always to the Father not just sometimes. This attitude of thankfulness is a mark of being filled with the Spirit, and is not the first time it is mentioned in Ephesians. Back in Ephesians 5:4 it also tells us to be thankful. Throughout Ephesians we have been learning of the wonderful things God has done for us. The spiritual blessings that God has given us in Christ Jesus
1. Chosen to be blameless in His sight.
2. Adopted as His children.
3. Redeemed, forgiven our sins.
4. Eternity with God!
What more could we ask for? If we truly understand these spiritual blessings, then we will be thankful always in everything, even when things are bad. And it is because Paul could remember these wonderful spiritual blessings, that he could even be thankful when beaten, when locked up in prison.
Our final result of being filled with the Spirit is in verse 21
21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Submission. Not a very popular topic in todays world of independence and equal rights. But here it is. We are told to submit to one another and this verse then leads on to the rest of chapter 5 as well as the first 9 verses of chapter 6, where we are told how we submit to one another. Wives to husbands. Children to parents. And slaves or servants, to masters. But more of that next week!
So today weve looked at two contrasts. The ways of the world, the pleasures of the world, which is so often expressed in drunken behaviour, in lewd, reckless and sensual living. Our non-Christian friends think we are missing out when we dont get involved in their idea of fun. But really they are the ones who are missing out. What could be better than being filled with Gods Holy Spirit?
And as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will address one another in psalms and spiritual songs, edifying and building one another up. We will be singing and playing music to the Lord from our hearts, praising Him for who He is and what He has done for us. We will be thankful, giving thanks in everything, always, because we are always mindful of the amazing spiritual blessings He has given us. And even though its difficult and not trendy, we will be submissive to one another, within relationships that Paul lists in the next few passages, and which well look at next time.
So lets close with joy and thanksgiving in our heart as we sing Give thanks.
