Dear Church Family:

Last week in our study of Romans 16 we ended with the admonition set forth in Romans 16:19: “I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil”. As we approach the Lord’s Table and the ordinance of communion this Sunday, I trust that you will be asking God to give you a renewed commitment to just that. Make it the prayer of your weekend as you approach the Lord’s Table: “Lord, by Your grace and mercy, enable me and compel me to seek Your wisdom from Your word, and use it, Lord, to make me very wise in the things that are good, that give You glory, that benefit my life and the lives of those I love, and Lord make me totally innocent, totally ignorant, of the ways of wickedness, evil, and sin.”

I cannot think of a greater prayer to start every day, let alone approach the ordinance of communion as a Church family this weekend, than by making that a regular petition to God. May He answer that prayer in each of our lives with each passing day. Soli Deo Gloria! 

ENCOURAGEMENT

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation, from Independence Day up to the present time, there have been celebrations and parties, and they will continue throughout the year. Probably 95% of all of those parties involve the imbibing of alcoholic beverages, and unfortunately the consumption of that alcohol has been/will be in many cases to excess. Sad to say, that is not an uncommon occurrence even among believers.

For that reason, as well as others, chapter 53 in Robert J. Morgan’s book, One Hundred Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, particularly caught my eye. It deals with Ephesians 5:18, which in the NASB states: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” In the translation that Morgan uses in his book, the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the verse reads: “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit.”

I thought you would be interested in Morgan’s “take” on this verse. Here it is.

Have you ever been accused of LUI? A drunk driver may be charged with DUI, which means “driving under the influence”. But when people with the Holy Spirit in their bloodstream are spotted, there should be evidence of living under the influence. That’s the simplest way I know to explain the contrast and comparison in this verse between being drunk and being Spirit filled.

In Ephesians 5:18, we have a clear contrast (don’t do this, but do this); but it’s a contrast based on comparison. The apostle Paul could have told us not to lose our temper but to be filled with the Spirit. He could have said, “Don’t hate your neighbor, but be filled with the Spirit.”

Yet the contrast is between being drunk and being Spirit filled.

This is the third time the New Testament mentions this parallel. We read in Luke 1:15 that John the Baptist “will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb” (HCSB).  And on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit burst upon the 120 believers in the upper room, people scoffed, “They’re full of new wine!” But Peter responded, “These people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only 9 in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit.’” (Acts 2:13-16, HCSB).

When we are living under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we are controlled and empowered by Jesus Christ, and He has full access and influence in every corner and quadrant of our lives. Being Spirit filled is being Christ-centered. It means that Jesus controls us and is living His life through us. It has an exuberance that could almost be compared with being under the influence of alcohol. Don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit.

Morgan then goes on to share the following personal account with regard to his conversion.

On a hot South Carolina evening in September, 1981, I learned about being filled with the Spirit. Kneeling at an old sofa at the end of an upstairs dormitory hallway, I asked the Lord, as best I could, to take control of my life and fill me with Himself and with His Spirit. I felt no electrical charges; but when I went to bed that night, I could hardly sleep. I was tremendously excited about Jesus Christ, and I couldn’t wait until the next morning to tell someone that I had given myself fully to Him. I have never gotten over the experience. I hope I never will.

Morgan then ends his chapter with the following quote from René Pasche:

Let us not forget that the Spirit within us is the presence of Christ. If we are filled with the Spirit, it is Christ Himself who fills us.  

Morgan’s account ends there. I couldn’t help but think about the joy that filled my own heart when I gave my life to Christ in August of 1975. Perhaps, as we continue to celebrate the birth of our nation during this 250th year of our country’s existence, it might be a great idea to stop and harken back to those early days when we came to know Christ as our Lord and Savior. Remember the joy? Remember the excitement? Remember the newness of literally everything? Remember how you could not wait to tell others about your new-found faith in the Savior? I think that joy is a part of the effect that experiencing the “fullness” of the Spirit is talking about. May we never lose that sense of joy in our salvation. The birth of our nation, and our own physical birth, mean nothing if we had never been born a second time. Soli Deo Gloria!

Love,

John & Terri
Eph. 5:18