Filled With The Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-21)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:03.919 Well, please remain standing if you're able, and let's together turn our attention 2 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:11.669 to Ephesians chapter five. We continue. I'm working our way through, hearing 3 00:00:11.710 --> 00:00:17.429 God's Word and in this wonderful book. Tonight, Ephesians Five, verses eighteen 4 00:00:17.469 --> 00:00:26.420 through twenty one. I'm so I'll be focusing on eighteen through twenty one, 5 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:32.219 but let me go ahead and begin at Verse Fifteen. That's her God's word. 6 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:36.530 Give our attention to it. Look carefully, then, how you walk, 7 00:00:37.689 --> 00:00:42.770 not as unwise but as wise making the best use of time, because 8 00:00:42.810 --> 00:00:47.250 the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what 9 00:00:47.369 --> 00:00:50.840 the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine, 10 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:55.799 for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit, addressing one another 11 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:00.759 in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord 12 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:06.269 with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God, the father, 13 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:11.510 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out 14 00:01:11.510 --> 00:01:21.659 of reverence for Christ. You may be seated well, having begun in these 15 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:26.739 chapters to describe in Ephesians, to describe so clearly who we are in Christ, 16 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:32.099 of what God has done for us and purposed from before, of even 17 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:37.329 the beginning of the world. He is now teaching us and talking to us 18 00:01:38.530 --> 00:01:47.280 about the ways in which that new life is manifested in our lives. I'm 19 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:49.879 not just the way it shows forth, but the way it is actually lived, 20 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:55.239 what it looks like, what it sounds like them as we see in 21 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:00.280 this passage, or here in this passage. He begins in chapter five by 22 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:04.510 saying, therefore, be imitators of God. Therefore, and the basis of 23 00:02:04.549 --> 00:02:07.829 all these things that the Lord has done for you, on the basis of 24 00:02:07.950 --> 00:02:13.270 you, are receiving a faith and through that faith I'm receiving the grace of 25 00:02:13.389 --> 00:02:16.060 God in Christ. Because of who God is and because of what he has 26 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:23.780 done. Now be imitators of God as beloved children. Before we were not 27 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:28.379 imitators of God. Before God called us out of the world and out of 28 00:02:28.419 --> 00:02:34.090 our slavery to Sin, we were not beloved children. We were, by 29 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:39.250 nature, he says, children of Wrath. I'm angry against God, spiteful, 30 00:02:39.530 --> 00:02:46.199 disrespectful, dishonoring, irreverent, irreligious, impious. We hated him, 31 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:52.000 hated the things of God, but as beloved children, as those that are 32 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:54.080 close to him, those that are loved by him, those that are being 33 00:02:54.520 --> 00:03:00.189 made into the image of his son. We have a new way we walk, 34 00:03:00.310 --> 00:03:06.389 as he says, in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself 35 00:03:06.430 --> 00:03:10.590 up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. It's with 36 00:03:10.750 --> 00:03:15.900 this foundation and then they begins to talk about the various ways this on plays 37 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:22.180 out in our lives. He's talked about sexual immorality, he's talked about other 38 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:27.610 kinds of deeds and misdeeds, and then, when he comes to Verse Fifteen, 39 00:03:27.650 --> 00:03:30.250 he brings back this sort of summary Point, a way of thinking about 40 00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:36.330 it that we considered last time, about look carefully how you walk, that 41 00:03:36.449 --> 00:03:38.810 the ways in which we walk, the ways in which we imitate God, 42 00:03:39.729 --> 00:03:45.560 are to be done with thoughtfulness, with care and, as Paul says, 43 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:53.840 with wisdom. Well, with that introduction, then we now come to a 44 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:59.430 new and specific command in verse eighteen. Do not get drunk with wine. 45 00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:03.789 I'm do not get drunk with wine. Now, speaking of wine, there 46 00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:10.300 Paul is not excluding other kinds of alcohol, as though he's not saying get 47 00:04:10.300 --> 00:04:13.740 drunk with anything you want, as long as it's not wine. Right, 48 00:04:13.819 --> 00:04:17.300 that's that's not his point. Here. Wine is particularly singled out because it 49 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:23.019 was the common drink by which you would most likely get drunk by, if 50 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:29.329 you were to get drunk. In fact, it was so common in ephesus 51 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:32.490 a wine was common throughout the whole ancient world, but in ephesis in particular 52 00:04:32.649 --> 00:04:40.639 that later on, I believe sometime after Paul, there was a command given 53 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:44.399 to sell a lot of the vineyards so to make way for other kinds of 54 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:47.920 crops. It was just very, very common part of the agriculture, a 55 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:53.670 major part. Largely well, for a lot of different reasons, but one 56 00:04:53.790 --> 00:05:01.389 reason being the templed Artemis there and the resources that were the the liquid resources 57 00:05:01.430 --> 00:05:08.339 that would be needed to sustain that kind of Pagan Temple. But it wasn't. 58 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:13.819 The use of wine was not just used in in Pagan temples and false 59 00:05:13.899 --> 00:05:19.579 worship. Is used at regular dinner tables and for medicine sometimes for kinds of 60 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:26.610 all kinds of drinking. The water was not very good there. In effesions. 61 00:05:27.370 --> 00:05:32.250 There were pipes that people would occasionally dump things into and knowing into the 62 00:05:32.329 --> 00:05:38.040 water and knowing this, you would not want to usually drink the water. 63 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:41.759 And so there were various kinds of ways in which they would try to minimize 64 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:47.920 exposure and and things like that. I would refer you to Steve baws commentary 65 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:54.189 to learn more about that. So all that to be saying, he's he's 66 00:05:54.310 --> 00:05:57.949 he's not singling out wine, he's just talking about the thing that was most 67 00:05:57.990 --> 00:06:04.620 common and the thing which was perhaps the most dangerous in terms of getting drunk. 68 00:06:05.819 --> 00:06:11.579 And so the basic command is don't get drunk, and I says with 69 00:06:11.740 --> 00:06:15.139 wine, partly too, because it's going to provide this nice contrast. Right, 70 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:19.490 he won't. He's setting up this this way of speaking where he will 71 00:06:19.529 --> 00:06:24.689 say don't get drunk with wine, but be filled with the spirit, or 72 00:06:24.810 --> 00:06:28.610 perhaps better to translated, even in the spirit. Will come to that in 73 00:06:28.649 --> 00:06:32.759 a minute. But just to be clear, to not get drunk is a 74 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:39.680 very clear command in scripture. It's commanded not only here, but it is 75 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:44.959 an aspect of of wisdom. Right, he says Walk Wisely, not as 76 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:48.790 fools, and this is an aspect that comes up, for example, frequently 77 00:06:48.910 --> 00:06:55.829 in proverbs. So proverbs two and twenty says be not among drunkards or among 78 00:06:55.990 --> 00:07:00.819 gluttonous eaters of meat. Right, there's a danger of warning there to avoid 79 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:06.980 these kinds of people or listen to proverbs thirty one. You perhaps know that, 80 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:12.660 for this being the what if people call it the something woman? I'm 81 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:17.769 forgetting of a sudden x what is it? Virtuous? Thank you, virtuous, 82 00:07:17.810 --> 00:07:23.970 excellent woman, excellent wife. This is an address proverbs thirty one is 83 00:07:24.009 --> 00:07:30.079 a dress to a king, and one of the things we find in proverbs 84 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.560 thirty one, before the description of this amazing woman there at the end, 85 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:40.959 is this a regarding alcohol and proverbs thirty one. For it is not for 86 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:45.629 kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for 87 00:07:45.829 --> 00:07:50.670 rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed 88 00:07:51.350 --> 00:07:57.350 or pervert the rights of the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who 89 00:07:57.470 --> 00:08:01.860 is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress. Give drong drink to 90 00:08:01.899 --> 00:08:05.019 the one who is perishing, and I read this in wine to the in 91 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:09.620 bitter distress. Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no 92 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:13.490 more. It's so basically what he's saying. He says, you know, 93 00:08:13.649 --> 00:08:18.810 you give wine to to people where it doesn't matter if they forget. Wine 94 00:08:18.930 --> 00:08:22.769 is the kind of thing where if they if they lose all their senses and 95 00:08:22.850 --> 00:08:26.370 they can't feel any more. Well, if you're dying. Perhaps that might 96 00:08:26.410 --> 00:08:31.800 be a nice thing for somebody who is just so down and out. Let 97 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:35.759 them forget it now. This even that you perhaps is not a good idea, 98 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:39.440 but his point is to make the contrast, to say to a King, 99 00:08:41.509 --> 00:08:46.629 you need your wits about you. Your job, Oh Lemuel, is 100 00:08:46.750 --> 00:08:52.870 to protect the rights of the afflicted. You are to uphold the week, 101 00:08:52.950 --> 00:08:56.899 you are to exercise wisdom, you are to make good decrees and remember them. 102 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:01.419 This is a significant part of your work and you need to be on 103 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:07.179 your game, as we might say. Paul says this is emphasized in the 104 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:13.649 New Testament as well, and other in other epistles and First Corinthians and eleven, 105 00:09:13.690 --> 00:09:16.850 Paul says, but now I am writing to you not to associate with 106 00:09:16.970 --> 00:09:20.210 anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual and the 107 00:09:20.289 --> 00:09:26.600 reality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard or Swin Lord, 108 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.039 not to even eat with such a one. So this is another way 109 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:35.159 in which Paul says there's a there's a separation needs to happen when you have 110 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.950 someone who says there are a Christian and yet acting not like a Christian. 111 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:45.389 Well, in all these verses we see that there's no forbidding of alcohol all 112 00:09:45.470 --> 00:09:52.549 together. But it does. The scriptures do clearly worn against and forbid a 113 00:09:52.669 --> 00:09:58.899 drunkenness. So then the question, as we've removed through our text here, 114 00:09:58.059 --> 00:10:05.220 is why? Right? Why? What is what's the problem with being drunk? 115 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:09.929 Well, there's a lot of reasons that you might give. Of Paul 116 00:10:09.049 --> 00:10:20.049 gives us reason and he says because in drunkenness is debauchery. This is, 117 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:24.360 interestingly, a translated in lots of different ways. Debauchery is used in the 118 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:31.519 ESV, wherein is riot, the ASV overcome in another translation, where there 119 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:37.629 is excess in the King James version, or dissipation in another version. The 120 00:10:37.750 --> 00:10:48.789 best lexicons give glosses like debauchery, reckless living, profligacy. But I'm afraid 121 00:10:48.870 --> 00:10:52.379 for most of us that doesn't get us a whole lot further. What is 122 00:10:52.460 --> 00:10:56.539 debauchery? Right, this is not a word that we use very often, 123 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:01.580 maybe never accept in instances like this. Well, it is a good word 124 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:07.690 because it describes something that we experience on and we see a lot. Hopefully, 125 00:11:07.690 --> 00:11:11.850 you don't experience it, but experience in the sense of we are a 126 00:11:13.009 --> 00:11:16.809 very much aware of this and certainly many of us have given ourselves over to 127 00:11:18.570 --> 00:11:24.639 debauchery. And what is it? My favorite Webster's dictionary describes it this way. 128 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:33.509 Excessive indulgence of the appetites, excessive indulgence of lust, intemperance, sensuality. 129 00:11:35.950 --> 00:11:39.269 That word and used in one of the translations. Dissipation is a similar 130 00:11:39.309 --> 00:11:43.669 kind of word. It's this way of sort of giving yourselves over over to 131 00:11:43.789 --> 00:11:50.740 these things, giving yourselves over to indulgence of one's appetites. I'm gonna just 132 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:54.100 take what I want right. It's an interesting it makes sense, then, 133 00:11:54.179 --> 00:11:58.980 why Paul would put together a gluttony, for example, and drunkenness. Right, 134 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:07.289 both eating and drinking to these kinds of extremes. But the thing that 135 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:11.610 Paul seems to be indicating here is that the danger in drunkenness is that in 136 00:12:11.850 --> 00:12:18.519 drunkenness it leads to, resultant, or usually involves this kind of debauchery. 137 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.559 The word is used to describe, for example, the prodigal son who was 138 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:30.789 just spending away his wealth, just giving it all away, letting himself go, 139 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:37.549 giving him himself up to all of his desires. And this happens when 140 00:12:37.789 --> 00:12:45.139 alcohol is taken in excess. We lose our self control, we lose our 141 00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:50.740 memories, are minds, and and and on particular, as I set our 142 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:54.940 self control. And in that way it lets other things out right, when 143 00:12:56.139 --> 00:12:58.450 you sort of open the gates, so to speak, and I'm just going 144 00:12:58.529 --> 00:13:03.330 to do what I want, then these like letting wild animals out in your 145 00:13:03.370 --> 00:13:07.450 house. Would you do that? Would you let a bear right loose in 146 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:11.129 your home and just so well, you know, I like bears. Hopefully 147 00:13:11.129 --> 00:13:13.000 it'll be okay, maybe not too bad this time. Would you let a 148 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:18.120 wild lion, you know, just sort of walk around your house? No, 149 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.080 you would not do these things. Even well, anyway, you would 150 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:26.320 not do these things. But this is what we do when we get drunk, 151 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:30.789 when a person gets drunk and they they just sort of give themselves over 152 00:13:30.950 --> 00:13:37.629 to their appetites. It is dangerous thing. So listen the way proverbs again, 153 00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:41.230 going back to proverbs a, proverbs describes this in proverbs twenty three, 154 00:13:41.269 --> 00:13:46.139 thirty one, hundred thirty five. Do not look at wine when it is 155 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:52.620 red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. Right. 156 00:13:52.700 --> 00:13:56.889 So it's it's a sort of appealing to the the enticings, the enticement of 157 00:13:58.610 --> 00:14:03.330 the drink. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it's 158 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:07.929 sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like 159 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:15.279 a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, 160 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:22.600 and your heart butter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down 161 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:26.710 in the midst of a sea, like one who lies down on the top 162 00:14:26.789 --> 00:14:31.070 of a mast. Your eyes will see strange things, in your heart, 163 00:14:31.350 --> 00:14:35.509 I'm repeating myself again. I you will be like one who lies down in 164 00:14:35.549 --> 00:14:37.899 the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of the 165 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:43.100 mast. They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt. 166 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:48.779 They beat me, but I didn't feel it. When shall I awake? 167 00:14:48.659 --> 00:14:56.250 I must have another drink. That's the way proverbs describes it right. 168 00:14:56.330 --> 00:15:00.730 Clearly, this is somebody who understood what it meant to be drunk. This 169 00:15:00.889 --> 00:15:05.570 senselessness right, like not feeling any pain, not being able to sort of 170 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:11.279 stand on your own two feet, feeling like you're out at sea. Oh, 171 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:16.679 it looks so good, but it ends up hurting so so bad. 172 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:22.870 And of course you know the the the the writer of the proverb of there 173 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:28.509 is describing it in this sort of in the way that I think amplifies the 174 00:15:28.549 --> 00:15:35.509 fool right, amplifies the foolishness of being drunk and and and it's danger to 175 00:15:35.779 --> 00:15:43.019 right, even getting physically hurt. But of course we know the the catastrophic 176 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:52.889 effects that drunkenness I can have in our lives and in our families, on 177 00:15:52.049 --> 00:16:00.049 the way it can destroy our relationship, the take away the things that we 178 00:16:00.809 --> 00:16:06.960 love the most. It is a dangerous thing and it it stings. Stings 179 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:12.120 very bad. Drunkenness, as we see in these scriptures, and I think 180 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:17.200 is Paul is getting it at, particularly in effusion five, goes directly against 181 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:22.309 the command to be a why, to be wise, to be sober minded 182 00:16:22.470 --> 00:16:26.789 right away of describing wisdom, to be alert and ready, carefully attentive, 183 00:16:26.990 --> 00:16:33.899 to walk the straight path. After God, you can't walk straight for the 184 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:38.899 Lord or for anything else when you're drunk. It goes against the very way 185 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:48.289 of living that Paul is describing and is about to describe even more. So 186 00:16:48.649 --> 00:16:57.490 that's why we don't get drunk. Instead, there's an alternative and Paul puts 187 00:16:57.529 --> 00:17:02.600 it this way. He says do not get drunk with wine, for that 188 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:11.480 is debauchery or in which is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. 189 00:17:15.710 --> 00:17:21.029 Now the spirit here, with the spirit could mean what he could one thing 190 00:17:21.069 --> 00:17:23.829 he could mean is the sense of this is sort of the the content, 191 00:17:25.069 --> 00:17:27.869 right, and which we were filled with, sort of as you drink wine. 192 00:17:29.069 --> 00:17:32.140 so you are filled with wine and now you are going to be filled 193 00:17:32.180 --> 00:17:36.339 with the spirit. And they're good reasons to think that. But other interpretations 194 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:41.980 suggest that in the spirit is perhaps a better option. I'm so, instead 195 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:45.970 of being filled with the spirit, being filled in the spirit. What's the 196 00:17:47.049 --> 00:17:51.369 difference? Well, not that there's really anything theologically wrong with the first, 197 00:17:51.450 --> 00:17:56.490 but the second brings up something bring or the second is tied to the way 198 00:17:56.609 --> 00:18:04.640 in which Paul is speaking so strongly in this book. This in meaning being 199 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:11.440 filled within the sphere or within the power and sovereignty of the spirit. The 200 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:18.549 word, the preposition, its end sounds like in the preposition end seems to 201 00:18:18.589 --> 00:18:21.670 be used this way, for example in effusions two hundred and eighteen, where 202 00:18:21.670 --> 00:18:26.900 it says for through him we both have access in one spirit to the father, 203 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:33.619 or effusions to twenty two. In Him, you also are being built 204 00:18:33.660 --> 00:18:41.410 together into a dwelling place for God in the spirit or verse. Our chapter 205 00:18:41.970 --> 00:18:47.730 eighteen, praying at all times in the spirit. Right sort of, within 206 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:52.130 this, within the power of the spirit, within the sphere or sovereignty of 207 00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:59.519 the spirit. It's a kind of locational or chronological in you might say. 208 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:03.559 So, like we might say in English, in his day he was a 209 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:08.599 great man, right sort of, in that time or according to that sort 210 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:15.509 of location in time and space, or, as we might say, such 211 00:19:15.589 --> 00:19:19.789 and such MOTORCI company became so powerful in the modern age, right sort of, 212 00:19:21.190 --> 00:19:26.819 or in the A or in the modern age, these things, these 213 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:32.099 things worked or functioned or whatever you want to say. So when Paul speaks 214 00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:36.140 about in the spirit, these things are happening be filled in the spirit. 215 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:41.289 It is in accordance with this way and it's a key point in Ephesians because, 216 00:19:41.289 --> 00:19:45.690 as Paul begins the book, He says to these Christians we are blessed 217 00:19:45.769 --> 00:19:51.849 in Christ, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Throughout the book 218 00:19:51.849 --> 00:19:57.319 Paul's been talking about the way in which in which the great things that Christ 219 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:03.640 has done and accomplished and will be consummated in the end. Are Breaking in 220 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:11.549 in the present. We have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in 221 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:15.990 the heavenly places, within this realm and within this work of the spirit. 222 00:20:17.710 --> 00:20:21.819 The New Testament teaches us that the new age, the Kingdom of Heaven, 223 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:26.740 is breaking into this world. The triune God, who will rule at the 224 00:20:26.779 --> 00:20:30.259 end of the way ages, is not waiting till the end. He's pushing 225 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:34.099 back on the forces of darkness. He's securing his victory here and now. 226 00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:41.009 He's active by his king and by his spirit who are working here and now. 227 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:47.849 Perhaps it will help you'd understand this if you think about this passage in 228 00:20:47.890 --> 00:20:52.599 light of what John says in first John to seventeen. He says it this 229 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:57.240 way. He says for all that is in the world. This is actually 230 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:02.119 verse sixteen. For All that is in the world, the desires of the 231 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:04.470 flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pride of life, you know, 232 00:21:04.549 --> 00:21:11.190 our appetites, we might say. Is Not from the father, but 233 00:21:11.269 --> 00:21:15.230 it is from the world, and the world, John says, is passing 234 00:21:15.349 --> 00:21:21.779 away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. 235 00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:26.299 You see, Paul are, I'm sorry, John says, these appetites, 236 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:29.500 these desires, the sort of giving yourselves over to these the things of 237 00:21:29.579 --> 00:21:34.170 the world, isn't just bad because they're sinful and of the flesh, but 238 00:21:34.289 --> 00:21:42.170 they have this additional problem and that they're passing away. There's a kind of 239 00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:51.119 location ale in chronological sense, or problem with our appetites, with our fleshly 240 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:57.279 nature. It's it's temporary, it's ending, it's dying. Not only are 241 00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:02.190 they sinful, not only is it bad, but it's passing away, it's 242 00:22:02.509 --> 00:22:07.190 under God's wrath and his judgment. So what Paul is saying in Ephesians is 243 00:22:07.349 --> 00:22:11.069 when we sort of give ourselves over to our appetites, when we get drunk 244 00:22:11.150 --> 00:22:15.670 and or anything else and lose self control, whether we're drunk or not, 245 00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:19.619 when we give ourselves over to debauchery, we give ourselves over to the desires 246 00:22:19.700 --> 00:22:22.500 of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life, 247 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:30.089 we're putting our hope and temporary passing things. We're putting ours hope in the 248 00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:34.490 things of this world, are bodies which are falling apart and dying, hoping 249 00:22:34.529 --> 00:22:37.930 in the things of this world to save us, to bring us happiness or 250 00:22:38.049 --> 00:22:44.680 whatever else that what other else thing that can only and should always be put 251 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:56.119 in Christ and his spirit and in the heavenly places. So what does it 252 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:02.509 look like then? What does it look like to actually live our lives in 253 00:23:02.630 --> 00:23:07.470 light of the age, to come, to live our lives in light of 254 00:23:08.190 --> 00:23:17.740 the work of the spirit and light of the light of the work of Christ? 255 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:22.579 It's been accomplished for us and is now at work in us. What 256 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:27.769 Paul says is, instead of living our lives in the flesh and the things 257 00:23:27.809 --> 00:23:30.970 that are passing away, the things that are of the night, et Cetera. 258 00:23:33.730 --> 00:23:37.809 He tells us this. He says, be filled in the spirit, 259 00:23:40.049 --> 00:23:47.240 addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody 260 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:51.799 to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God, 261 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:56.109 the father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to 262 00:23:56.230 --> 00:24:06.069 one another out of reverence for Christ. These are the ways in which our 263 00:24:06.190 --> 00:24:11.940 lives are lived out in the presence of God. You remember the verse I 264 00:24:11.019 --> 00:24:15.259 read earlier about the spirit. Right, we're focusing on the work of the 265 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:18.460 spirit here, that it says that the spirit comes and dwells in us, 266 00:24:19.380 --> 00:24:26.170 as he dwelled in the temple in the old under the old covenant. Under 267 00:24:26.210 --> 00:24:30.609 the old covenant there was a way of life, a way of living in 268 00:24:30.769 --> 00:24:34.569 light of the presence of God, and involved all kinds of sacrifices, and 269 00:24:34.890 --> 00:24:41.279 there's a priestly institution and a very various things which were done in connection with 270 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.720 God's presence there. There were also rules about who could come in contact with 271 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:49.200 the temple, who could be there, who could be near the Lord and 272 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:56.990 present with him. What is life look like now that we are the new 273 00:24:57.109 --> 00:25:03.309 temple and that the spirit dwells in us? We are those in whom the 274 00:25:03.390 --> 00:25:08.940 whole structure being joined together, grows into a Holy Temple in the Lord Effusians 275 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:12.619 to twenty one and twenty two. In Him, you also are being built 276 00:25:12.660 --> 00:25:18.460 together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit or in the spirit. 277 00:25:18.539 --> 00:25:27.609 All of us together are able to equally be near the Lord and live out 278 00:25:27.609 --> 00:25:33.930 our lives together in his presence and by the by the brightness of his light. 279 00:25:34.569 --> 00:25:38.079 This comprehensiveness is worth pointing out and should be a great joy to you 280 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:44.079 and the Old Testament the bulk of the work and closeness of the presence to 281 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:47.960 the presence of God, was done by the priests and the Levites, people 282 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.549 we discussed this morning in this morning sermon. But Ta Peter tells us that 283 00:25:52.630 --> 00:26:02.789 we are all a priesthood of believers, and it's why, it's why we 284 00:26:03.069 --> 00:26:10.180 sing as we do. How is life lived out in the temple of the 285 00:26:10.259 --> 00:26:14.980 New Testament, in the New Covenant Hell? It's lived out by addressing one 286 00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:18.650 another in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the 287 00:26:18.769 --> 00:26:23.450 Lord with your heart. It's lived out by giving thanks always for everything to 288 00:26:23.569 --> 00:26:26.210 God, the father, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus 289 00:26:26.250 --> 00:26:32.210 Christ. It's doing so not just in our little closets all by ourselves, 290 00:26:32.650 --> 00:26:38.319 but together, even submitting to one another, not out of trying to gain 291 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:44.319 power or positions or anything like that, but out of reverence for quiet, 292 00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:49.430 for Christ. That's very much affects how we live our lives, even here 293 00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:57.869 at covenant. It teaches us how we how we how we worship. Even 294 00:27:00.309 --> 00:27:03.259 we have people that help us to sing, for example, help us to 295 00:27:03.339 --> 00:27:07.619 make melody to the Lord, but we don't turn up the music so loud 296 00:27:07.660 --> 00:27:12.700 that we can't hear ourselves singing. We encourage one another to sing and to 297 00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:19.849 sing together. We don't have a professional choir or praise band that does our 298 00:27:19.930 --> 00:27:26.890 work for us. We are the choir together. We are those who sing 299 00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:32.759 and make melody to the Lord. It's interesting to the way that a all 300 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:37.759 uses this word address, addressing one another in psalms hymns and spiritual songs. 301 00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:42.319 I don't think I, at least I don't, usually think about addressing in 302 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:48.269 this way. The word could mean a couple of things. One it refer. 303 00:27:48.349 --> 00:27:52.670 It could refer and likely does refer to the amazing amount of teaching that 304 00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:56.230 happens in our singing, in our worship, this living in light of the 305 00:27:56.269 --> 00:28:02.940 spirit and the is age to come. There is a word centeredness to everything 306 00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:07.220 that we do. Yes, we make a joyful noise to the Lord, 307 00:28:07.299 --> 00:28:11.180 but it is more than that, isn't it? It's filled with the content 308 00:28:11.339 --> 00:28:15.609 of the praises of God, singing that is done in his name and for 309 00:28:15.849 --> 00:28:21.970 his glory. And we learned, don't we? I will confess there are 310 00:28:22.009 --> 00:28:26.960 many times I've I've preached a sermon and then we'll sing the hymn afterwards. 311 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:33.319 Something I've chosen, but I'll sing the him afterwards and I'll say to myself 312 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.480 that's what I was trying to say, that's how I wanted to say it. 313 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:41.829 Maybe a little frustrated sometimes, but still very thankful that you, at 314 00:28:41.869 --> 00:28:45.910 least you all, get to hear it right. Thankful that the content of 315 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:48.990 our songs, the content that we sing, the content of what we seeing, 316 00:28:49.109 --> 00:28:53.190 is so rich and so saturated in the word. In a similar passage 317 00:28:53.230 --> 00:28:56.819 in Colossians, three pulses, let the word of Christ dwell in you, 318 00:28:56.940 --> 00:29:03.740 richly singing psalms hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord. This is one of 319 00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:07.220 the ways in which we grow up in the Lord, it's one of the 320 00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:19.970 ways in which we are strengthened, and it's through our are singing. I 321 00:29:21.089 --> 00:29:23.440 want to just point out, before I bring this to a conclusion, that 322 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:30.440 some people think that these words here refer just to the psalms, and there 323 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:33.799 are a couple reasons I want to mention that. I don't think that's right, 324 00:29:34.599 --> 00:29:38.150 though we are certainly a church that loves to sing the Psalms. We 325 00:29:38.269 --> 00:29:42.869 have salter hymnals and they're glad to have access, easy access, to all, 326 00:29:42.869 --> 00:29:48.470 a hundred fifty psalms. I don't believe the scriptures require US only to 327 00:29:48.589 --> 00:29:53.420 sing the songs, and certainly not from this passage. Some people argue that 328 00:29:53.579 --> 00:30:00.579 spiritual songs here refers to it only the inspired or inspired words of scripture. 329 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:07.609 But notice that when Paul says be filled with the spirit, addressing one another 330 00:30:07.690 --> 00:30:11.250 in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, that refers to all of these things, 331 00:30:11.890 --> 00:30:15.569 to all of the things that we do. Also notice that there are 332 00:30:15.569 --> 00:30:19.369 other things that's Christians are required to do in the spirit that we don't think 333 00:30:19.450 --> 00:30:26.359 of as being a necessarily inspired in the way that scripture is inspired. So, 334 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:30.240 for example, and effusion six hundred and eighteen, Paul will say pray 335 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:36.109 with prayer and supplication in every season in the spirit. We do that, 336 00:30:36.470 --> 00:30:41.190 I hope. But that doesn't mean that our prayers are inspired any more than 337 00:30:41.230 --> 00:30:45.630 our hymns are. But though they are not inspired in the way that the 338 00:30:45.710 --> 00:30:48.950 words of scripture are, it certainly should never prohibit us from singing the inspired 339 00:30:48.990 --> 00:30:53.339 words of scripture and it all, and it does certainly bind us always to 340 00:30:53.500 --> 00:30:59.700 singing the content of scripture, to singing only what is true and expressed in 341 00:30:59.859 --> 00:31:04.410 God's words. So then the question is, and this is the the the 342 00:31:04.529 --> 00:31:08.849 main point I want to get before we conclude. Why does Paul Say Psalms, 343 00:31:08.890 --> 00:31:14.410 hymns and spiritual songs? Why does he use all of these terms? 344 00:31:14.490 --> 00:31:21.720 What does he mean by them? Why not just say sing? I think 345 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:26.039 the best explanation is that Paul is piling up synonyms as a way to say 346 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:33.470 to all of us sing, sing, sing, sing, sing and sing 347 00:31:33.670 --> 00:31:37.869 some more. Sing everything. Psalms him spiritual songs. He's using basically every 348 00:31:37.950 --> 00:31:41.789 Greek word there is, except for lament, which wouldn't make sense very make 349 00:31:41.829 --> 00:31:47.140 very much sense here. He's piling them up in this way because to describe 350 00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:51.740 the robustness of our actions right, as we read earlier in the psalms a 351 00:31:51.980 --> 00:31:56.900 sing and make a joyful noise to the Lord, make melody in your heart, 352 00:31:56.099 --> 00:32:00.690 lift up praises, lift up your voices to the Lord and as he 353 00:32:00.769 --> 00:32:05.970 goes on to sing. This is not just an outward thing amure wrote, 354 00:32:06.170 --> 00:32:09.609 you know, reading these words or something like this, the song is ultimately 355 00:32:09.809 --> 00:32:15.640 come from our hearts. That sounds a little wishywashy to me until I read 356 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:17.960 it in the Bible at I say, Oh, that's right. There it 357 00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:22.839 says sing and make melody with your hearts. It's not to be just this 358 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:28.720 mere external action, which I think is one reason we allow it to even 359 00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:32.710 be noise sometimes. If you are afraid to sing here a covenant. Don't 360 00:32:32.829 --> 00:32:37.710 be. Lift up your hearts, lift up your voices. We are here 361 00:32:37.829 --> 00:32:44.299 to praise the Lord, to make melody with our hearts, first and foremost 362 00:32:45.339 --> 00:32:50.460 for him, because of what he has done. There is the described here 363 00:32:50.539 --> 00:32:54.180 in these verses. Instead of an abundant outpouring of our lusts and our lack 364 00:32:54.220 --> 00:33:00.170 of self control and our anger and our are fighting and all the rest, 365 00:33:00.690 --> 00:33:04.970 what is poured out instead by a person who is filled with the spirit is 366 00:33:05.329 --> 00:33:10.730 singing and singing and singing and and more singing and praise and thankfulness and gratitude 367 00:33:10.730 --> 00:33:16.279 and mutual love and submission. There is this kind of energy and abundance of 368 00:33:16.519 --> 00:33:24.079 life that is described here by Paul in Ephesians Five. I'll end with this 369 00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:30.950 quote from a theologian whose name is always fun to say, Wilf get musicalus. 370 00:33:32.869 --> 00:33:37.670 It's a little long, but I think you'll enjoy it. He says 371 00:33:37.670 --> 00:33:45.380 there are many similarities between corporal like fleshly, and spiritual drunkenness. First of 372 00:33:45.460 --> 00:33:52.619 all, all wine is by nature spiritual. Second, drinking is fun. 373 00:33:52.779 --> 00:33:58.849 Third, one drink leads to another. Fourth, wine has the ability to 374 00:33:58.930 --> 00:34:04.730 gladden people's hearts. Five, it causes people to forget their troubles. Sixth, 375 00:34:05.410 --> 00:34:08.530 even when taken in moderation, wine encourages people to talk and sing. 376 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:16.079 Compare this with the spiritual wine that Christ's companions drink. It is also spiritual 377 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:22.119 and adapted to our spirits. Second, when it is drunk, it produces 378 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:27.429 the greatest possible happiness, carnal. People do not understand this because they've never 379 00:34:27.510 --> 00:34:31.190 experienced it. Third, when you have, the more you have, the 380 00:34:31.309 --> 00:34:37.309 more you want. Fourth, it gladdens the spirit of the one who drinks 381 00:34:37.349 --> 00:34:43.539 in the most amazing way. V, spiritual drunkenness, as he puts it 382 00:34:43.659 --> 00:34:46.780 here. V, it causes us to forget our sorrows, not us for 383 00:34:46.900 --> 00:34:52.730 a time or for a moment, but permanently completely. Six, that breaks 384 00:34:52.769 --> 00:35:01.449 out in Thanksgiving and into singing, psalms and hymns and songs. That's what 385 00:35:01.570 --> 00:35:06.489 the work of the spirit does. MAKES US relax, it makes us sit 386 00:35:06.570 --> 00:35:12.079 around the table, it makes us have some peace in our hearts and even 387 00:35:12.119 --> 00:35:15.719 sing. So, my brothers and sisters, this is why we are a 388 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:22.190 singing church, because we're a spiritual church, because we're Christian church, and 389 00:35:23.590 --> 00:35:28.909 my encouragement to all of you is to look at this world in light of 390 00:35:28.949 --> 00:35:32.510 Christ and by his spirit. Look at this world and see it for what 391 00:35:32.590 --> 00:35:37.179 it is, something that, with all its lusts and desires and appetites that 392 00:35:37.219 --> 00:35:45.179 are passing, passing, passing away. Instead, look wisely on the things 393 00:35:45.219 --> 00:35:50.849 of this world, wisely on the things of Christ. Look away from sin, 394 00:35:51.090 --> 00:35:55.849 look away from misery, and find in Christ joy and fellowship and the 395 00:35:55.969 --> 00:36:00.769 love that we have in him. Why? Because, in love he gave 396 00:36:00.849 --> 00:36:07.760 himself up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice for God. So 397 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:13.559 let us now, in the spirit, pray, give thanks and sing.