MONDAY 30th
Ephesians 5
NIV (vv18–20) – ‘Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
ESV (vv18-20) – ‘And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Paul continues in chapter 5 with the subject of love, and introduces another fruit to us, the fruit of light (v9)
Obviously, the fruit of light contrasts with the fruit of darkness, and we have been called out of darkness and into the light. ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.’ (1 Peter 2:9)
In Romans 7:4, Paul says that we have been called to ‘bear fruit for God’. ‘Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.’
In Ephesians 5 Paul tells us where the fruit of light can be found, it is ‘found in all that is good and right and true,’ (v9) and that we as the children of God are to learn to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. (v10) Paul is concerned for the spiritual well-being of the Ephesian believers, they were living in dark days, difficult days, they were living in a pagan society where they would have been so easily enticed into so much that would be detrimental to them as Christians, or followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, as men and women who had come out of spiritual darkness and into the marvellous light. His instruction for them is also truly clear for us today in the society that we live amongst, ‘take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness . . .’ (v11) but rather ‘look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.’
What are we making of the time that we have? I wonder how more quickly than we realise will the days we are living in become darker and more difficult for the Church, for the believer, for the genuine follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even this week some of the news has been shocking in that the attack against the Christian faith has come not from outside sources but from within the Anglican Church where a synod member has said that Churches and Christians who hold to the Bibles teaching on sexual ethics are like ‘Holocaust deniers’ and rapists*. Within the so called ‘Church’ the light is being extinguished, darkness is being allowed to take hold, and we who desire to hold faithfully to the truth must uphold truth and righteousness. We must take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, we must take a stand and we need the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, we will need more than ever in our lifetime to be putting on the whole armour of God which is our subject as we move into the final chapter of Ephesians tomorrow. In verses 18-19, Paul uses a comparison between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Holy Spirit, for whatever reason Paul used this comparison he is making a point that being drunk leads to debauchery (that is depravity, immorality or sin) but being filled with the Spirit leads to a life that is in harmony or in tune with God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. We all know what drunkenness causes and leads to, like me you may have never drunk (that is we are teetotal) let alone have had enough to have been at risk of drunkenness, but we know its effects, we can see it, it leads to an individual losing control of their senses and leads to senseless behaviour putting themselves at risk and also others. I think one of the reasons Paul is using this comparison is because he wants the believers to remain level and clear headed, ‘don’t allow yourselves to become so intoxicated with drink that you can no longer be in control of both what you may do or what you may say!’ It is linked back to his telling them to discern back in verse 10, and we will certainly need to be level and clear headed to discern today. Paul’s alternative is to be filled, or to keep being filled with the Spirit, as he invades us and fills us, he will help us to discern, will help us to be fruitful and will help us to live good, morally upright lives in a corrupt society and of course in the context of these verses enable us to genuinely worship the Lord.