In his book, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, the great Puritan author, Jeremiah Burroughs, once wrote: “Oh, that we could but convince men and women that murmuring spirit is a greater evil than any affliction, whatever the affliction!” Burroughs’ statement can be summarized in that a complaining man is one who is never satisfied, especially in what God has given him. This is a sin among men but even a greater evil among Christians. It is poison to their souls and may lead to even greater sinning! When satisfaction is not within a Christian’s heart, he falls into the trap of the sin of covetousness. He looks around him and sees the wicked prospering while he is struggling. He watches those around him buy large homes, luxurious cars, travel the world or perhaps have a multitude of children and good health and he wonders why? The why is often because this is simply what God has given him and He expects him to be content with that. But the true sin is that they are not satisfied in God. Borrowing a little from Jonathan Edwards and John Piper, God wants you to be happy in Him. God is to be the source of your contentment, and to whom you sing songs of praise and thanksgiving no matter what is surrounding you. This is Christian maturity springing forth from the Spirit of God.
The Text
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 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; (Ephesians 5:15-20)
Wisemen & Fools
If the previous section could be defined as how Christians walk in the light verses how they might walk in the darkness, these next few verses could be said to define as how to live the Christian life wisely verses how to live it foolishly. There is a call from the apostle here to walk carefully. Christians need to pay attention to their steps so that they might not tumble. This will have an impact on their own lives and could impact the lives of others. Living loosely will bring about decline in our own sanctification and perhaps damage our testimony to others. We are called to walk as a wise man and not as fools. This doesn’t mean we are all Christian sages but that we are vigilant in attempting to honour the Lord. The formula is expanded upon in v.17 where Paul will describe what walking as a wiseman in contrast to a fool entails, mainly to walk as one knowing the will of the Lord. This also demonstrates the importance of consistently reading your bible and being reminded of the will of the Lord so that you can walk this way. As Paul says elsewhere, we are to walk worthily of Him increasing in the knowledge of the Lord (Colossians 1:9-10).
Buying Time
The wiseman walks with a mindset of productivity. He makes the most of your time (or the preferred redeeming the times (έξαγοραζω– NKJV) meaning that within the time that has been allotted to us, we walk with being practical for the Lord. To redeem is to purchase or gain as much time and opportunity as possible since we are living in the last days. There is a Kingdom to build, and there is still lots to do! We are not to waste our time but be as industrious in the things of the Lord as possible. The reason for this imperative is that the days are evil. Paul utilizes this expression elsewhere as the present evil age (Galatians 1:4). The evil day that Paul is referring to is the present day, the day where he will exhort believers in Ephesus to put on the full armour of God (Ephesians 6:13). Most commentators see this evil day as running through the entire church age and even growing worst. But we must remember that at the time of the writing of this epistle, Paul was still in its beginning phases on that age, and this doesn’t necessitate a constant development of evil. In other words, it doesn’t mean that the days will progressively be evil, but that while we are living in these days or this age, that we must work with quality and there is no time for rest.
Luxurious Fermented Juices Vs. The Holy Spirit
There are a few things reiterated in the next few verses that exemplify the non-foolish. The first is that the wiseman understands the will of the Lord. The will of the Lord has been a focus in this letter especially in the opening chapter. Paul explains the will of God in predestination (1:5, 11) and compares it to a mystery that is being revealed to them (1:9). There is a certain desire for growth here in the words of the apostle. The Ephesians had been revealed the will of God, now they were expected to mature in their understanding of it. This time however, the call is to understand it in a way as to live it out. It isn’t simply head knowledge but wisdom that leads to activity. We are to utilize this understanding of His will to bring glory to Him. But as many commentators point out, the purpose here is not to define the will of the Lord as a search for what He wants us to do, but that we understand the will of the Lord in what He has done in Christ for our salvation in which we will act accordingly.
The following verse deals with the prohibition of getting drunk with wine and the exhortation to be filled with the Spirit. It should be said firstly that this is a quotation from Proverbs 23:31. While abolitionists have made much of this text to prohibit alcohol et toto, the text is unquestionably not arguing for this type of total prohibition. If this was the case, the text would read: “do not drink wine and be filled with the Spirit”. Paul specifies the exclusion of excesses. But why mention drinking wine? Was this a problem in Ephesus?
Some have associated this exhortation against the temple practices of the Gentiles. Some of these Ephesian Christians in Asia Minor may have participated in the worship of Dionysius, the God of wine which entailed heavy drinking and sex with temple prostitutes. This could be the context where Paul is continuing to exhort them not to live as Gentiles (Ephesians 4:17).
Prior to moving on, we want to be clear that we are not advocating that people should drink wine or any other form of alcohol but neither does a total ban on wine have biblical basis. As a side note, we would caution people who want to consume alcohol to consider that it needs to be respected and the dangers of excess. The Scriptures are full of dire warnings against the abuse of the drink (Proverbs 20:1; 23:31-35) and in this text, the idea of dissipation or debauchery shows the weight behind the statement. Simply put, not everyone should participate. If someone has shown addiction in their life’s pre-conversion, or lack maturity, they should refrain, and in return, Christians should be mindful of who they expose to the drink. Again, there is a tremendous amount of maturity that is required to drink alcohol and unless you are certain you have it, run the other way.
The contrast to this, we are to be filled with the Spirit. Our aim should not be focused upon wine but upon consuming the power and wisdom that the Holy Spirit brings! In Ephesians, the expression is generally related to Christ filling all things (Ephesians 1:23; 4:10) and that the knowledge of Christ would fill them (Ephesians 3:19).[1]
Hymns, Psalms & Songs of Praise
Being filled with the Spirit is manifested in that we praise God in thankfulness. This is manifested through the singing of the saints! While this flood of praises comes in the form of song, we shouldn’t ignore the teaching aspect of these spiritual melodies. We are told in Colossians:
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
So, the expression, “to speak”, could very well be paralleled with Colossian’s expression to teach and admonish. The songs, hymns and Psalms should be edifying to others and not simply I love Jesus repeated 11 times per minute. The content was probably what stirred the emotions of the saints, not the guitar and congas. The term Psalms could be referring to the OT Psalms but without a definite article, it’s difficult to see where it would be referring to specific OT content. Some commentators have concluded that these Psalms were prototyped on the OT but were new content. The term “hymns” is probably referring to a festive song of praise (Hebrews 2:12) with the subject of the praise being both God and Christ. The third expression spiritual song is used at least in some form in the book of Revelation where it’s called the new song dealing with praising God for redemption (Revelation 5:9; 14:3) and in another instance, where it’s called the song of Moses where it identifies the kingship of God (Revelation 15:3).
But this praise and exhortation isn’t with sheer intellectualism. You are to be singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. We are to sing with all our being to Him in praises and honour. So, when you sing while with the Saints, whether in fellowship or in formal worship, sing like you mean it and know that it will bless others and honour the Lord.
The Thanker
The wise spirit-filled Christian will not only sing to edify the Saints to the glory of God, but they will also give thanks! Christians are to be a thankful people. They are to be beholden by a God who would supply their needs, and they are to do so “always” or frequently. There needs to be an ongoing consistency to our thanksgiving. We are also to give thanks “for everything”. Whatever God has granted us both Spiritually or tangibly, we are to appreciate since it comes from His hand. We are especially meant to ponder the giving of God’s Son on our behalf (John 3:16) and the hope that we have received through this divine offering. What is the most challenging thing for a Christian and demonstrates the wise/foolish motif is when we must give thanks for our trials and tribulations. God does everything for the good of a believer (Romans 8:28). If we believe that God truly is sovereign and that He is always accomplishing His good will for us, we must pray that the Lord would reveal His purpose in these to us and trust that there is something good that will come out of it. The thanksgiving should be done in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One through Whom we are to offer our prayers is Jesus Christ because He sits at God’s right hand to intercede on our behalf. We offer our thanksgiving in His precious Name so that He will presents those thanksgiving to the Father on our behalf. So, this week, when you worship the Lord, give thanks for all things and sing l
[1] The expression and concept of wine vs Spirit is also found in Luke 1:15 regarding John the Baptist.
The Moncton Herald 