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LIVING IN THE LIGHT (3)
2021-10-17 16:31:07 30  

Living in the light
(Eph. 5:18-21)                                                                 Oct. 17, 2021

Living in the light without the Holy Spirit is not possible. Paul made a strong emphasis to be filled always with the Holy Spirit so that we can be fruitful and an overcomer against the works of the enemy. Nowadays, there are a lot of problems encountered not only with the virus, but with problems in the family, finances, relationships, and in our workplace. Covid 19 will be contained someday, but the wickedness that crept into our homes; sins and weaknesses of our lives are still active. How can we cope up with all these pressures? Paul gave us insights: 1) let us be filled with the Spirit (v.18), 2) let us be joyful (v.19), 3) let us be thankful always (v.20), and 4) be submissive to everyone (v.21).

Drinking wine vs being filled with the Spirit.

Have you asked why Paul make a contrast between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit of God. A drunk person is intoxicated with something. Here Paul said, "Do not be drunk with wine!" Why Paul said not to drink with wine? It simply because It can ruin our lives. It can lead you to wild living (v.18). Drunkenness is a common feature of ancient Mediterranean life, especially in Gentiles cities. A place like Ephesus which is rich and commercial city of Roman Empire; you can see a lot of late night 'city life'. Drunkenness often accompanied by sexual immorality because even in local taverns or inn for the travelers, there are a lot of women slaves who functioned as prostitutes at night (oldest institution). Wine is always associated with immorality and violence. Very funny, drunkards have their own god. The name of god is Dionysus, god of wine. Drunkard lost his self-control, self- respect, his value, and even his own reputation and dignity. Transfer this picture to the believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit! God controls his life. Spirit-filled man is not afraid to express to the glory of God. The drunk is really out of control while the Spirit-filled experiences a beautiful self- control that is really God in control. The drunk makes a fool of himself, but the spirit-filled Christian glorifies God and is willing to be a 'fool for Christ¡¯s sake'. (1 Cor.4:10). The drunk calls attention to himself, while the spirit- filled believer is a witness for Christ. He is directing people¡¯s attention to Jesus Christ.

Be filled with the Spirit of God

To be filled of the Spirit is God¡¯s command. Of course, the Lord expects us to obey. This is applicable to all because the command is plural. The verb is in present tense, so Paul was actually saying, ¡°keep on being filled!¡± It should be a constant experience and not only on special occasions. In the Bible, filled means ¡°controlled by¡±. For example, in Luke 4:28, Jesus after reading the Scripture in Isaiah, He claimed that the prophecy was fulfilled in Him and all those present in the Synagogue was filled with wrath. Or they were controlled by wrath and for that reason, they wanted to kill Jesus. In Acts 13:45, ¡°but when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy.¡± It means that they were controlled by envy or jealousy (in other translation) and for that reason, they opposed the ministry of Paul. In the same way, to be filled with the Spirit of God is to be constantly controlled by the Spirit of God in our mind, emotions, and will.

Paul said, ¡°Be filled with the Spirit!¡± God¡¯s Spirit provides inspiration for a different way of living. What is this different way of living I am referring to? You can find it in verses 19-21. Listen to GW version, ¡°be filled with the Spirit by (1) reciting psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs for your own good. (2) Sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts. (3) Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (4) Place yourselves under each other's authority out of respect for Christ.¡± In other words, there are three evidences that a believer is filled with the Spirit of God (v.18); 1) he is joyful (Eph.5:19), 2) he is thankful (Eph.5:20), and (3) he is submissive (Eph.5:21).

Be joyful!

Being joyful is expressed through speaking or encouraging each other with 1) psalms, 2) hymns, and 3) spiritual songs. 4) Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord. Let us take this one by one.

Speaking to one another with psalms (psalmos)

We can be filled with the Spirit of God by speaking or encouraging one another with psalms or other translation used words of scripture. When Paul used this term he was referring to ¡°a striking the chords of a musical instrument of a pious or holy song.¡± It is a holy song accompanied by instrument, particularly stringed instruments like guitar, violin, or any instruments that has string. This is not a new idea. King David is a man after the heart of God (Acts 13:22). Why? One of the reasons is that he is a worshipper of God. 1 Chro. 23:5, ¡°he made 4000 will be gatekeepers, and 4000 will be musicians. He made special musical instruments for them. They will use them to praise the LORD!¡± What kind of instrument he made? What instrument he used to play in front of Saul when he was tormented by evil? Harp – a string instrument. There is power of encouragement when we sing godly songs using stringed instruments. What else?

Speaking or encourage to one another with hymns

It is a sacred song. Hymn is a direct praise to God. It is used when we gather together. (1 Cor. 14:26). On the other hand, ancient people used hymn for their gods, heroes, and conquerors. When Paul and Silas were in prison, at midnight they prayed and praise God (Acts 16:25). The two great men of God suffered under the hands of the Gentiles because of the Gospel. They were beaten severely and thrown into inner prison and bound their feet between large blocks of wood. They were heavily guarded by soldiers. While engaged in pouring out their hearts in prayer, praise comes out from heart through singing. Praise here means to sing a hymn. They sang the praise of God while they suffer in chain.

What is inner prison? It is a pestilential cell where rats, cockroaches, and other crawling insects who loves dirty and dark places are found. It is damp or wet and cold place, no sunlight coming in, and chains were rusted. Their situation is miserable, but they were able to praise God. What happened while they were praising God? Suddenly there was an earthquake so strong that it shook the foundation of the jail. All the doors of the jail opened, and the chains on all the prisoners fell off (Acts 16:26). One important point here is that Paul did not write this just for the sake of informing the Ephesians. He himself experienced it. The incident in inner prison happens before he wrote Ephesians. What Paul literally was saying to the Ephesians and to us is ¡°a powerful praise is a praise when we are in crisis.¡± That even in the midst of storms, pandemic, problems, and trials we can still praise God. Praise in the midst of crisis shows what is really inside us.

Speaking or encourage to one another spiritual songs

Spiritual songs tell us the greatness of God, the power of God, the characteristics of God, it is all about God, it is all about Jesus, it is all about the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, there are songs that is not spiritual. Meaning, the message is centered on worldly lust, depression, fears, vulgar, suicidal, immorality, blasphemy, and rebellion against God. As believer of Jesus, let us be careful on what we listen to because it affects us. It affects our spirituality. Only spiritual songs can encourage us in serving and worshipping God.

Sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts.

Music in the beginning was used only to worship God, but today music was thwarted and has its own definition, identity, characteristics depending on places, people groups and culture. Ungodly composers are actually destroying the lives of people more than corona virus because of the message they put in the lyrics. The melody does not come from the heart; it came from their soul, therefore, it is soulish. The spirit of the song influenced the mind, emotion, and intellect of the listener. Have you noticed that there are a lot of TV program that focus on music? Anybody has the chance to be famous and earn a lot of money. Worldly music is about fame and money at the expense of their soul. BTS contributed 3.6 billion US dollars to the economy of South Korea. Hyundai car company had trouble keeping up with demand for the 'palisade' car after they endorsed it. According to celebrity Net Worth, BTS earned 170M US dollar from touring alone. But none of their songs glorifies God. On the contrary, spiritual songs and music are all about praise, worship, and thanksgiving to God to bless the worshippers of God. As believer of Jesus Christ, we are commanded to sing and make melody from our heart. This happens only when we praise and worship our God with instruments. Having instruments in the church is not man-made doctrine. Paul said, ¡°making melody in your heart!¡± Melody is psallo in Greek which means ¡°to twang.¡± To twang the strings of a musical instrument so that they gently vibrate or to play on a stringed instrument.

Let us thankful (v.20)

¡°Thank you¡± is just two simple words, but hard to express for an ungrateful person. How often are we grateful? ALWAYS!  What are we thankful for? In EVERYTHING! Thanking God in everything is trusting Him in all things. Even for the loss of our loved ones? Yes! Even if we don¡¯t have work? Yes! Even If we don¡¯t have money? Yes! Even if we are in trouble? Yes! Even in this pandemic  situation? Yes! God says, in everything! The thankful heart is a humble heart because he acknowledges ¡°God as the giver of every good and perfect gift¡± (James 1:7). Remember Mary who poured perfume to Jesus¡¯ feet out of her gratitude, the aroma of thanksgiving fills the house with fragrance (John 12:3). In closing, God says, let us live in the light by being filled and walk with the Spirit of God because we are living in this last days where wickedness increases. Satan has penetrated all sector of our society, government, churches and unfortunately homes. Without the Holy Spirit we can never be an overcomer.

 

 

 

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