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, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5: 18-21
Under the influence? Today I spoke with a friend briefly on the topic of alcohol and how it can sometimes cause a problem when someone has had too much to drink. Paul’s message in the passage above, while it warns against drunkenness, it is primarily focused on a life that is continually filled with the Spirit of God. A Life under the influence of the Holy Spirit,
Martyn Lloyd Jones was an influential Welsh pastor and medical doctor who once observed the distinct differences between the idea of drunkenness and being filled with the Spirit, of being under the influence of our own tendencies as opposed to being under the influence of the Spirit –
“Alcohol is considered a depressant, the Holy Spirit is a stimulant . . . he stimulates your every faculty , the mind and the intellect, the heart and the will. “
– Martyn Lloyd Jones.
Look at the passage above. That stimulation of the Spirit is found in the phrases that follow Paul’s command to be filled.
- Speak to one another with psalms hymns and spiritual songs
- Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord
- Always give thanks to God the Father for everything to one another
- Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
And so, I read these passages about a life that is under the control of the Spirit and I ask myself these questions – Is there a joyful song in my heart? Am I living in gratitude? Am I putting the needs of others ahead of myself?
0 Comments