Ephesians 5:18

Eph_5:18

And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.

The sin and folly of drunkenness

This precept follows very naturally what he has said about the necessity of wisdom. For even a wise man when he is drunk becomes a fool; the light of reason and of conscience is quenched, and the blind impulses of his physical nature are left without control. Some men take drink in excess to deaden their sensibility to trouble, to lessen the pain of distressing memories or distressing fears. With them it acts as a opiate. But Paul was thinking of those who drink to excess because intoxication, at least in its early stages, gives them excitement. It exalts the activity both of their intellect and of their emotion. Thought becomes more vivid and more rapid. The colours of imagination become more brilliant. Their whole physical nature becomes more animated. The river of life, which had sunk low and had been moving sluggishly, suddenly rises, becomes a rushing flood, and overflows its banks. This is the kind of drinking which betrays men into violence and profligacy. Be not drunken with wine, for in drunkenness there is riot, dissoluteness, release from all moral restraint. The craving for a fuller, richer life, for hours in which we rise above ourselves, and pass the normal and customary limitations of our powers, is a natural craving. Paul indicates how it should be satisfied: Be not drunken with wine wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit. Forsake the sins which render it impossible for the pure and righteous Spirit of God to grant you the fulness of His inspiration; keep the channels open through which the streams that flow from Divine and eternal fountains may find their way into your nature; and then the dull monotony of life will be broken, and hours of generous excitement will come. The gray clouds will break, and the splendours of heaven will be revealed; the common earth will be filled for a little time with a great glory. Harmonies such as never fell on mortal ear will reach the soul. The limitations which are imposed upon us in this mortal condition will for a time seem to disappear. Your vision of eternal things will have a preternatural keenness. Your joy in God will be an anticipation of the blessed life beyond the grave. And, looking back upon these perfect hours, you will say, whether we were in the body or out of the body we cannot tell. But some men drink, not so much for the sake of personal excitement, as for the sake of good fellowship. They never drink much when they are alone; and when they are in company they drink to excess because, as the heat of intoxication increases, it seems to thaw and dissolve all reserve; conversation flows more freely and becomes more frank; mind touches mind more closely; lives which had been isolated from each other blend and flow in a common channel. Perpetual isolation is as intolerable as perpetual monotony. We were not made to live a separate and lonely life. This is the secret of our delight in listening to a great orator addressing a great assembly. If it were possible for him to touch the same heights of eloquence when speaking to us alone, we should be less moved. We like to lose our individuality in the crowd; sharing their thought, our own thought becomes more vivid; sharing their passions, our own passion becomes more intense. It is hard to explain the mystery; but we are conscious of it; the poor and narrow stream of our own life flows into the open sea, and the large horizon, and the free winds, and the mighty tides become ours. We have all known the same delight while listening in a crowd to a great singer or a great chorus. The craving for this larger life in the society of other men is as natural as the craving for excitement; and Paul tells the Ephesian Christians that instead of trying to satisfy it by drinking with other men they should satisfy it by common worship and by sacred song. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

Drunkenness

Drunkenness, though in general disallowed among the heathens, was admitted in their Bacchanalia, as an expression of gratitude to the god who gave them wine. This pagan rite the apostle seems to have in his mind here.

I. The nature and extent of this vice. Various degrees of intemperance: the highest degree is such an indulgence as suspends the exercise of the mental and bodily powers. But there is sin in lesser degrees also. If by the indulgence of your appetite, you unfit your hefty for the service of the mind, or your mind for the service of God; so waste your substance, as to defraud your family of a maintenance, or your creditors of their dues; become enslaved to a sensual habit, and fascinated to dissolute company; are diverted from the duties of religion, or the business of your worldly calling; awaken criminal desires and excite guilty passions; stupify your conscience, extinguish the sentiments of honour and banish the thoughts of futurity; you are chargeable with a criminal excess.

II. The guilt and danger of this vice.

1. It is an ungrateful abuse of Gods bounty.

2. It divests the man of his native dignity, and sinks him below the brutes.

3. It is injurious to the body, as well as the mind.

4. It consumes mens substance.

5. It destroys conscience.

6. It generates other vices--impure lustings, angry passions, profane language, insolent manners, obstinacy of heart, and contempt of reproof.

7. It has most lamentable effects on families.

(1) It subverts order and government.

(2) It discourages devotion.

(3) It destroys domestic peace and tranquillity.

(4) It brings family distress.

8. The Scripture abounds in the most solemn warnings against this sin.

9. This sin must be renounced, or the end of it will be death. (J. Lathrop, D. D.)

To be filled with the Spirit, the best defence against a besetting sin

I. The solemn caution. Those here addressed were the saints of God. Yet they needed this exhortation. The best of saints need to be cautioned against the worst of sins. There are the seeds of all evil in them. No previous consistency of walk, no deep experience, no holy acquaintance with God, no near walking with God, can give them the least security. But besides this, there are constitutional temptations. Some persons are constitutionally tempted to anger, some are tempted to vanity, some are tempted to worldliness in its excess of folly, some are tempted to untruthfulness, and oh! there are some who are tempted to drunkenness constitutionally. But besides this also, there are circumstances that oftentimes throw a man in danger here. Noah was, for aught I know, weary and tired as a husbandman; and by his inexperience, too, of the effects, he was overcome with drunkenness. We find in the case of Lot, in his secret retirement, there was in his circumstances that which exposed him to danger.

II. Observe now, secondly, the exhortation, the encouraging exhortation: be filled with the Spirit. I conceive there is in the expression that which would imply the power of the Spirit to fill the soul of man. Or rather the expression is--Seek to be filled in your understandings, in your memories, in your consciences, in your will, in your affections, seek to be filled with the Spirit. Now let me point out some few of the blessings that result from this communication of the fulness of the Spirit, in all His holy influences, to our souls. First of all, let us look at Him as the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. So I read in the first of Ephesians, and the seventeenth verse. Look at the Apostle Peter before the day of Pentecost. How dark his perception of the Atonement, how little did he see of what Jesus came into the world for! I talk with some men, many of whom, I doubt not, are truly converted to God; yet Christ is in the background, I see so little of Him. They talk of God; there is something about their creed that is so Jewish; they speak so much more of God, than of God in Christ. There is so little of the great work of the incarnate One, so little of realizing the strength of the covenant ordered in all things and sure. Oh! beloved, to be filled with the Spirit of wisdom is the highest wisdom. But let us look at the subject in another point of view. I find in the eleventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and the twenty-fourth verse, it is said of Barnabas, he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith. So, when we are filled with the Holy Ghost, we are filled with faith. Ah! who can describe the blessing of being filled with faith? To see everything in the light of Gods countenance; to see everything in the light of a Saviours fulness. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)

The wine Divine

In saying: Be not drunk with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit, St. Paul recognizes a pressing human appetite, or want. He not only perceives the necessity for wholesome gladness of heart in his disciples, but admits the encouragement of special moods or seasons of cheerfulness. It is impossible for anyone to stand always at the same spiritual level. There are mysterious risings and fallings of the mental barometer. The soul has its periods of high and low pressure. We are the subjects of many influences which we cannot command. And yet there are some at our disposal. The apostle indicates an elevation of which we are the conscious agents, when we set ourselves to counteract depression or to kindle a fresher thrill of cheerfulness. That is a legitimate desire. It is recognized by the Church itself in the appointment of thanksgiving days and special services--when we are summoned to show our gladness in a livelier strain. There are seemingly two distinct means for inducing cheerfulness. One is material, or bodily: the other mental, or spiritual; and the lesson before us is that one is temporary, imperfect; the other finally effective, being eternal. St. Paul instances wine as an example of the former. It is either a transitory stimulant, legitimate in its temperate use, or it overshoots the mark, leading to excess, or riot. There are several kinds of material relief which excite, deaden, regulate our bodily functions. And this affords the most obvious illustration of what the apostle here means to teach. It cannot, e.g., really drown dull care. Care dies hard. A material stimulant may do much, may help nature over a crisis. But man has troubles of mind as well as of body. And these constantly present difficulties, complications, which baffle the prescriber of drugs. Who shall minister to a soul diseased? Beneath the surface of beneficent science are sores and sorrows which have been caused by no grave offence against, or neglect of, the laws of health. They have come from a perception that the conscience has been defied, or perhaps they have grown from some seeds of distracting doubt, from some seemingly insoluble difficulties, social, intellectual, which makes him who feels them go mourning all the day long. Who shall tell the trouble and the hindrances over which we want to be helped, or above which we want to be lifted by some kindly and exhilarating influence? It is in meeting this desire that we must come to realize the two great sources of cheerfulness. The Spirit of God alone can fit the needs of the spirit of man. There is something special in this strengthening, healing, and cheering gift. It is the juice of the true vine, the new wine of the kingdom of heaven. Here we reach the great transforming power in the world. The knowledge of this is the support and recovery of mans life. He does not refuse, nor affect to despise, the material adjuncts of this existence. He does not put aside the flour of wheat because Christ is the true Bread. He sees no wrong in a right use of every creature of God. But his innermost and safe joy, his secure and trusted moods of exultation, come from the Spirit, the mysterious Spirit of God, which is our Fathers special gift to us His children upon earth. In that is the true buoyancy of life. (Harry Jones, M. A.)

Not wine, but the Spirit

I. The prohibition. I know it requires much courage, and much firmness of purpose in many cases to refuse the inducements, and to give a denial to the temptation to indulge in excess in drink. For instance, we are told it is fashionable to drink; if you dont drink freely you are not a man of the world; you are a strange, unsocial misanthrope; you are not fit for blending with society. I am not going to say that fashion has no place; I know fashion has a place; but fashion has no right to meddle with morals. Besides, I say, after all, it is not fashionable to be drunk: I say, after all, that although instances of intoxication are lamentably numerous, the instances of sobriety, thank God, are a vast deal more so. Then, again, it is said that to drink freely is almost a necessary passport to a knowledge of the world. How people abuse language!

II. The injunction.

1. In order to our being filled with the Spirit, we must be aware of the magnitude of this blessing.

(1) The Spirit is the great promise of the New Testament dispensation.

(2) The gift of the Spirit more than compensates for the absence of the bodily presence of Christ.

2. This supposes, also, that we have a relish for the blessing.

3. In order to being filled with the Spirit, you must make room for Him.

4. In order to be filled with the Spirit, you must be the subject of the same ardent desire which is expressed in many parts of Scripture.

5. In order to be filled with the Spirit, we must yield ourselves to His influence--we must give ourselves up to the guiding of His agency. (J. E. Beaumont, D. D.)

A warning against intemperance

I. The matters put in opposition to each other, which are both things and actions. The things are wine and the Spirit: the actions, being drunk with wine, and filled with the Spirit. First: The things: these two are put in opposition--

1. To check the temptation. The sensual pleasure which men find in wine enticeth them to excess. There are higher pleasures men should be taken up with, namely, the joy of faith and a delight in holiness.

2. To show the difference between the holy societies or meetings of the faithful, and the dissolute feasts of the heathens in honour of their idols.

3. Because of the analogy between wine and the Spirit; they are often proposed in Scripture as correspondent, or as having some likeness in their operations; as wine cheereth and exhilarateth the spirits: It maketh glad the heart of man (Psa_104:15); so the Spirit filleth the soul, and exhilarateth it. Only in this fulness there is no excess: Drink abundantly, O beloved (Son_5:1). And in this mirth there is no dissoluteness; when we are filled with the Spirit, it is no corruptive joy, but perfective, such as strengtheneth the heart: The joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh_8:10). But what is it to be filled with the Spirit? The phrase is taken two ways--

(1) Either to be filled with the gifts of the Spirit; or

(2) with the graces of the Spirit.

(1) The gifts of the Spirit: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Act_2:4).

(2) To be filled with the graces of the Spirit. And here we must consider His three offices--as He is our guide, sanctifier, and comforter.

II. The inconsistency of the one with the other; to be drunk with wine is inconsistent with being filled with the Spirit.

1. They that are filled by the one are acted by a contrary principle.

2. This contrary principle hath such an influence on them, that the Spirit of the gospel hath no place in them.

(1) Their sight is blinded (2Co_4:4).

(2) The delight and relish of the soul is corrupted (Php_3:19).

(3) Their strength is weakened, that they cannot resist any temptation. (T. Manton, D. D.)

The sin of intemperance

There is in the vice of intemperance that kind of dissoluteness which brooks no restraint, which defies all efforts to reform it, and which sinks lower and lower into hopeless and helpless ruin. This tremendous sin is all the more to be shunned as its hold is so great on its victims, that with periodical remorse there is periodical inebriety, and when the revulsion of a throbbing head and a sickening depression passes away; new temptation excites fresh desires, and the fatal cup is again coveted and drained, while character, fortune, and life are risked and lost in the gratification of an appetite of all others the most brutal in form and brutifying in result. There are few vices out of which there is less hope of recovery--its haunts are so numerous, and its hold is so tremendous. As Ephesus was a commercial town and busy seaport, its wealth led to excessive luxury, and Bacchus was the rival of Diana. The women of Ephesus as the priestesses of Bacchus danced round Mark Antonys chariot on his entrance into the city. Drunkenness was indeed an epidemic in those times and lands. Alexander the Great, who died a sacrifice to Bacchus, and not to Mars, offered a prize to him who could drink most wine, and thirty of the rivals died in the act of competition. Plato boasts of the immense quantities of liquor which Socrates could swill uninjured; and the philosopher Xenocrates got a golden crown from Dionysius for swallowing a gallon at a draught. Cato often lost his senses over his choice Falernian. (J. Eadie, D. D.)

Drunkenness to be avoided

I. I am to enter upon the apostles dehortation, or prohibition--Be not drunk with wine. For the right understanding of which I premise this, that wine is one of the good creatures of God which He hath given for the use of men. And He hath given it for these three considerable purposes.

1. To the inhabitants of those places where it grows, for part of their ordinary drink. For God hath so constituted the nature of mans body that he stands in need of drink as well as of meat.

2. Wine was given to cherish and refresh us when we are weak and languishing.

3. As wine is given to cure the infirm and fainting, so likewise to cheer and delight the sound and healthy. It is lawful to drink it not only for necessity, but sometimes for pleasure. Wine, without doubt, was given us by our gracious Benefactor to delight the taste, and refresh the palate, especially when sorrow and trouble clog the mind, and begin to oppress and weigh it down. As drinking, so sobriety may be abused. Men may effect those mischiefs by their abstaining from immoderate drinking, which they could never be able to do if they drank extravagantly. Generally the shrewdest contrivers and executors of mischief are those who are not addicted to intemperance: and their very sobriety renders them the more able to do harm. And yet I cannot say that this sort of men are wholly free from drunkenness; for it is possible they may be drunk even with their sobriety, i.e., with the conceit of it; they may be intoxicated with pride and arrogance, or with spite and malice, or with a heady confidence of success in their evil enterprizes. They may, as the prophet speaks, stagger, but not with strong drink, and be drunken, but not with wine. That which makes this sin is, first, the not restraining of our extravagant desire and appetite, which I mentioned before, and, secondly, the actual gratifying and satisfying of our desires. Which brings me to the next thing observable, viz., the reason of the apostolical dehortation, expressed in those words, wherein is excess: as much as to say, Re not drunk with wine, because there is a strange excess attends it. This is the genuine meaning of this clause of the text.

Now, in drunkenness there is excess not only formally, but causally (to speak in the language of the schools). It is both excess in itself, and the cause and origin of many other excesses.

1. The first evil of drunkenness is that injury which is done to the body by it.

2. This is a vice which injures not only the bodies but the estates of men. A drunkard is a spendthrift: the extravagant drinker is profuse and lavish.

3. A sottish course of drinking injures the name and reputation, no less than the bodies and estates of men.

4. The intemperance of the tongue usually attends that of the brain. Drunkenness first sets the tongue a going, and then soon makes it run too fast.

5. Wrath and fury, slaughter and bloodshed, are the cursed fruits of drunkenness. Strong drink is raging, saith Solomon (Pro_20:21).

6. Lust and lewdness, whoredom and fornication, are the frequent attendants of extraordinary drinking.

7. Among the direful effects and consequences of extravagant drinking this must not be omitted, that the soul and all its faculties are corrupted and debauched by it.

False notions are drunk in with the wine: undue and unbecoming apprehensions are entertained. Let us hear what men say for drink.

1. It is good nature and friendship, they say, to sit and drink, even till they can drink no more.

2. They say that it is for company and good fellowships sake that they drink sometimes to immoderation.

3. Others defend their immoderate draughts after this manner; We are persons well bred, we cannot be so rude and unmannerly as to refuse our glass when it comes to our turn.

4. Some excuse their drunkenness by saying, It is to put away melancholy.

5. There are those who defend their immoderate drinking, especially of wine, by the serviceableness of it, to exalt their parts, and to make them witty.

6. There is another excuse made by some men, which, though it be not worth the answering, yet that I may remove all the pretences of drinking men, I will say something to it. They are no common drunkards, they say, and when they exceed in drink, they do not, like others, spend their money, but are drunk gratis. They cannot afford to indulge so costly a vice, but they only take these opportunities when they may have wine at others charges.

7. There is another great objection or pretence of drunkards yet behind, which is this, they happen to be in the company of these persons who engage them to drink healths, and these going often round, and there being an obligation on them to pledge their next neighbour, and to drink cup for cup, they are sometimes unhappily overcome of the liquor which presents itself so fast to them. In the last place, I am to offer to you some proper means and helps whereby you may effectually extirpate this odious vice.

They are such as these:

1. Weigh this express command of God in the text, Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.

2. Consider the dreadful woes that are denounced against this sin. Read with trembling (Isa_5:11).

3. Consider that this vice is condemned even by those that are guilty of it. There is not a drunkard that breathes but at one time or other is cast by his own verdict, he passes sentence against himself.

4. That you may do so, learn to relish the pleasures of religion and holiness. Re acquainted with the excellency of virtue and goodness, understand the intrinsic worth of these.

5. That you may cast off this abominable vice, and stifle your excessive delight in intemperate drinking, and in that mirth which attends it, sit down, and seriously think of the distresses and miseries which your brethren labour under, in one part or other of the world.

6. That you may effectually abandon this vice, be careful to avoid all the occasions of it. (John Edwards, D. D.)

Christians invited to partake of the Spirit freely

I. What we are to understand by being filled with the spirit.

1. By the Spirit, the Spirit of truth, of life, of grace, of might, of wisdom and revelation, of Father and the Son, we are baptized, often termed the Holy Spirit, the eternal Spirit here, is meant that Divine Agent, in whose name, as well as in those of the holiness, the Comforter, the Spirit of God, of Christ. But observe, not His extraordinary gifts, which in no age are necessary to salvation, and were chiefly bestowed in the early ages, for the good of others, are here meant; but His ordinary influences, which are necessary to salvation (see verses 19-21; Gal_5:22-23).

2. The expression, filled with, or by, the Spirit, supposes there to be a sufficiency in the blessed Spirit, and His influences, to fill our souls, to supply all our wants, to satisfy our desires, and help our infirmities. We are in darkness, and need illumination, instruction, and direction; He is the Spirit of light, truth, wisdom. We are in want of consolation; He is the comforter. It imports our partaking of His influences and fruits in a large and plentiful manner; not indeed without measure; in this tense Christ only had the Spirit: nor so as to admit of no increase; thus we shall hardly have the Spirit in heaven. But so as to have every power and faculty of the soul subject to the authority, and under the influence of the Spirit; to have His influences rendered more mighty and operative in us, producing their proper and genuine effects; as greater light, life, power, purity, comfort, strong faith, a fully assured and confirmed hope, fervent love, an uniform meekness and patience, a full conformity to God, and close and constant communion with Him; filling us with all his fulness (Col_1:9-11; Eph_3:14-21; Joh_7:37); making us taste great sweetness and delight in Him, so as to aspire after full perfection (Php_3:13-14).

II. Why this is made a matter of exhortation to us. Because of--

1. The desirableness of being filled with the Spirit.

2. The attainableness of it.

3. Something being incumbent on us, in order to it. We must make use of the appointed means.

III. The obligations which lie upon us, as Christians, to aim at being filled with the spirit. The clear revelation we have concerning His agency, beyond all which was given in former ages of the Church, lays us under strong obligations to desire to be filled with His influences. The dignity of His person should make us ambitious of such a guest, when He is willing to dwell with us. He is no less than the Spirit of God, as our soul is the spirit of man (1Co_2:11). His relation to Christ obliges us (Rom_8:9; Gal_4:6). Our relation to Christ will be most clearly proved and manifested by His Spirit dwelling with us (Rom_8:9; 1Co_12:12-13). Thus we shall be vessels of honour, sanctified and made meet for the Masters use. (Anon.)

Filled with the Spirit

The command, be filled with the Spirit, is virtually an injunction to pray more fervently for enlarged spiritual communication, and to cherish those influences already enjoyed. Not only were they to possess the Spirit, but they were to be filled with the Spirit, as vessels filled to overflowing, with the Holy Ghost. This is the contrast. Men are intoxicated with wine, and they attempt to fill themselves with it: but they cannot. Wine cannot fulfil their expectation--they cannot live habitually under its power; its fumes are slept away, and new indulgences are craved. The exhilaration which they covet can only be felt periodically, and again and again must they drain the wine cup to relieve themselves of despondency. But Christians are filled with the Spirit, whose influences are not only powerful, but replete with satisfaction to the heart of man. It is a sensation of want--a desire to fly from himself, a craving after something which is felt to be out of reach, an eager and restless thirst to enjoy, if at all possible, some happiness and enlargement of heart, that usually leads to intemperance. But the Spirit fills Christians, and gives them all the elements of cheerfulness and peace--genuine elevation and mental freedom--superiority to all depressing influences, and refined and permanent enjoyment. Of course, if they are so filled with the Spirit, they feel no appetite for debasing and material stimulants. (J. Eadie, D. D.)

Grace expels vice

If there is any single vice which a man desires to eject from his character, or from anothers, he can accomplish the end finally and completely, and only, by letting in the corresponding grace. Sin, in every form of its indulgence, is to be looked upon as an intoxication. Let him therefore introduce into the blood vessels of his soul a counter-stimulant. Let him intoxicate himself with love, and joy, and peace, the fruit, as it were, of the True Vine, and there will be no possibility of intrusion from lower sources, because no room will remain for them. And it follows from the same principle that a Christian must apply more and more to spiritual sources as life goes on. The spiritual capacities enlarge with time. And the same amount of devotion will not fill them now as filled them a year ago. He must pray more, seek after godliness more, covet the best gifts more. The tendency of the experienced Christian often is to relax devotional habits and live on a grace that is past. He has reached a high level and his religion has become, as it seems to him, self-acting. But stagnation is all the more perilous because it is high. There is no smaller measure for the grace that is to be in him than this--he is to be filled with the Spirit. He defrauds himself of what he might possess and imperils all he has by seeking to live on less. The surplus must be made up from earth. And every minutest crevice left unfilled by good must, by the law against vacuum, be filled by something worse, something which must adulterate and may ruin at last the whole. (H. Drummond.)

Not spirits, but the Spirit

The human mind cannot be void. If it have not the light of true wisdom, it will have the light of fallacies. Fleshly baits are not the temptations by which superior men are caught. Their understandings must be flattered. They must be decoyed by facts, and the science of things patent to their senses. You shall be leaders in the world of thought, you shall be as gods, you shall open mens eyes to the reality of things. Beware of the strong drink of sense-bound intellectuality. Neither be drunk with the soul spiritualism. The Spirit will fortify both your bewitching magnetic ether of spiritualism. The Spirit will fortify both your understanding and your heart against all spirits, whether of the visible or the invisible world. The Spirit is our only safe inspiration. There is, moreover, not only a calmer power, but a greater variety in the one Spirit of God, than in all the spirits which lead captive the human soul. God is not sparing in the ministration of wholesome excitement. Every new morning is a genial, delightful excitement. The seasons are an ever-changing round of excitement. Lore and marriage are joy from heaven, in earthly cups. Family life is Gods wine of fellowship all the year round. Every meal is a pleasurable excitement. Birthdays and feasts are special indulgences and celebrations of the excitement of home life. The verdant glory of the earth, the tranquil heavens, and the works of our divine poets and musicians, are excitements worthy of heaven. The gospel of our eternal hopes is the feast which crowns all; and the congregation in church, made up equally of friends and strangers, is a wonder of fellowship and a most pure joy of love. What a depth of sweetness, what serene gladness, what a variety of inspiration there must be in that One Spirit, whence all our innocent and noble excitements spring. The martyrs found an intensity of spirit quickening on the boundary between life on earth and life in heaven; not only proving that death is abolished, but that all the joys of our earthly life are but poor shadows going before our eternal human delights. Drop your burdens, forget your labours and sorrows, and soar above the dull plains of mortality, in a Divine exhilaration. (J. Pulsford.)

Christians must be filled with the Spirit

I. The reasons why Christians are so strictly bound to be filled with the Spirit.

1. That we may answer the great and rich preparations of grace which the infinite love of God hath made for us by the merit of Christ and the promises of the gospel.

2. Because of their necessity.

(1) If it be those that only profess Christianity, but are not yet really converted to God, they are in danger to be filled with a worse spirit, if not filled with the Spirit of God.

(2) For those that are regenerated, and have received the spirit of the gospel and not of the world, there needeth a further supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Php_1:19).

3. That the glory and excellency of our religion may appear.

II. The means how we come to be filled with the Spirit. Certainly--

1. It is from God, who is the author of all grace: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ (2Co_5:18).

2. That God doth it through Christ the Scripture also witnesseth: Which He hath shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour (Tit_3:6).

3. That this frame of heart is wrought in us by the Spirit or Holy Ghost that came down from heaven, is evident also in Scripture. 4, It is given us by the gospel, for that is called the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom_8:2).

5. The gospel worketh two ways--

(1) Morally;

(2) Powerfully.

6. If any have this power and Spirit of the Lord Jesus, it is the mere favour of God: if any want it, it is long of themselves.

7. One of the means is prayer. Christ hath taught us to pray for the Spirit (Luk_11:1-13). None so fatherly as God; no gift so necessary as the Spirit. (T. Manton, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph 5:18-21. And be not drunk with wine — As the heathen are when they celebrate the feasts of Bacchus, their god of wine; wherein is excess — Which is the source of all manner of extravagance, and leads to debauchery of every kind. The original word ασωτια, here rendered excess, signifies entire dissoluteness of mind and manners, and such a course of life as is void of counsel and prudent intention, like the behaviour of persons who are continually drunk. While the above-mentioned Bacchanalia continued, men and women made it a point of religion to intoxicate themselves, and ran about the streets, fields, and vineyards, singing and shouting in a wild and tumultuous manner; in opposition to which extravagant vociferations, singing praises to God is with great propriety recommended. Plato tells us, that there was hardly a sober person to be found in the whole Attican territories during the continuance of these detestable feasts. But be ye filled with the Spirit — In all his graces, which gives a joy unspeakably more delightful, exhilarating, and permanent, than that which is produced by the fumes of wine. The antithesis is beautiful. The lewd votaries of Bacchus fill themselves with wine; but be ye filled with the Spirit. In which precept there is this remarkable propriety, that our Lord had represented the influences of the Spirit, (which he invited all who thirsted for them, to come to him and receive,) under the emblem of rivers of living water, which he commanded believers to drink plentifully, Joh 7:37-39. Speaking to yourselves — That is, to one another, by the Spirit, for your mutual edification; in psalms — Of David, and hymns — Of praise; and spiritual songs — On any divine subject; of this latter kind were the songs of Elisabeth, of Mary, and of Zecharias, recorded by Luk 1:42; Luk 1:46; Luk 1:67. By there being no inspired songs, peculiarly adapted to the Christian dispensation, as there were to the Jewish. it is evident that the promise of the Holy Ghost to believers in the last days, was, by his larger effusion, to supply this want. Singing and making melody — Which will be as acceptable and pleasing to God as music is to us; in your heart — As well as your voice, your affections going along with your words, without which no external melody, be it ever so exact and harmonious, can be pleasing to his ear; to the Lord — Jesus, who searcheth the heart; giving thanks always — At all times and places; for all things — Prosperous or adverse, for all things work together for good to them that love God; in the name — Or through the mediation; of our Lord Jesus Christ — By whom we receive all good things. Submitting yourselves — Υποτασσομενοι, being subject, one to another — Performing those mutual duties to each other, which belong to you according to your several places and stations. As if he had said, While you are careful, as above directed, in the duties of praise and piety to God, be not negligent in those which you owe to your fellow-creatures, but perform them punctually in all the various relations in which you stand to each other; in the fear of God — Properly influenced thereby, and evidencing to all around you that you truly fear and obey him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

c. Against Gentile drunkenness and revelry be filled with the Holy Spirit, and joyous with holy hymns, Eph_5:18-21.

The anti-Church of Gentilism is filled with wine, and riotous with drunken song and clamour; St. Paul substitutes the holy Church of Christ as filled with the Holy Spirit and rapturous with psalm and hymn and melody of heart.

18. And—Not (as Eadie and others) marking “transition from general to particular,” but from one form of fleshly sin, sensuality, to another, inebriety, with its consequent riot.

Be not drunk—Drunkened, or made drunk with or by wine, the particular drink for the genial.

Wherein—In which. Our translation, referring the wherein to wine, and adding wherein is excess, conveys a true and striking meaning. In wine is the power to create and intensify the appetite for itself, and the consequent excess. But critics are agreed that the wherein refers not to wine, but to the being made drunk by it. Alford avails himself of this to add, “The crime is not in God’s gift, but in the abuse of it; and the very arrangement of the sentence, besides the spirit of it, implies the lawful use of it. See 1Ti_5:23.” The advice to Timothy indicates that “God’s gift” is bestowed as a medicine; its “abuse” is as a beverage. No one who habitually uses wine as a beverage has any assurance that he will never be drunk with it. At any rate it is no sin, in view of such danger, for any man to abstain entirely from it, and it may be a part of prudential morality earnestly to urge others to so abstain. Nor does it seem to be a very necessary duty for commentator or preacher very carefully to maintain the right to use it as a gratification of appetite. Let those who desire to indulge at the risk of downfall perform that work.

Excess—The exact parallel of the Greek word would be unsavedness, or unsavingness; and Theophylact well defines its victim as “one who does not save, but destroys both soul and body.”

Hence profligacy, self-abandonment to ruin.

Filled with the Spirit—A most striking antithesis! While Gentilism is drunk with wine let the holy Church be filled with the Spirit.

“There’s a spirit above, and a spirit below;

A spirit of joy, and a spirit of woe:

The spirit above is a Spirit Divine;

The spirit below is the spirit of wine.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:18 The Holy Spirit, not wine, should dominate believers’ lives (see Prov 23:29-35; cp. Acts 2:15-18). • be filled: The grammar here suggests that believers’ lives are to be continuously filled with and governed by the Holy Spirit.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Eph 5:18. Μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ, be not drunk with wine) So the LXX. plainly, Pro 23:31 (30). Appropriately to the exhortation against impurity, he subjoins the exhortation against drunkenness.—ἐν ᾧ) in which, viz. wine, so far as it is drunk without moderation.—ἀσωτία) Ἄσωτος is used for ἀσωστος: hence ἀσωτία denotes every luxury inconsistent with frugality. See its opposite, Eph 5:19, concerning the effect of spiritual fulness.—ἀλλὰ) So generally the LXX. in Prov. quoted above: ἀλλὰ ὁμιλεῖτε ἀνθρώποις δικαίοις, but associate with righteous men.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_5:18. Καί] and in particular, to mention a single vice, which would belong to ἀφροσύνη.

μὴ μεθύσκ. οἴνῳ] become not drunken through wine, which stands opposed to the allowable use of wine, without our having on that account to seek here a reference to Montanism (Schwegler). To conclude, however, from Eph_5:19 that excess at the Agapae is meant (1Co_11:21), as Koppe and Holzhausen maintain (comp. also de Wette), is quite arbitrary; inasmuch as neither in the preceding nor following context is there any mention made of the Agapae, and this special abuse, the traces of which in the N.T. are, moreover, only to be found in Corinth, would have called for a special censure.

ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀσωτία] deterring remark. ἐν ᾧ does not apply to οἴνῳ alone, as Schoettgen holds (whose Rabbinical passages therefore, as Bammidb. rabba, f. 206, Ephesians 3 : ubicunque est vinum, ibi est immunditia, are not to the point here), but to the μεθύσκεσθαι οἴνῳ: wherein is contained debauchery, dissolute behaviour. A vivid description of the grosser and more refined ἀσωτία may be seen in Cicero, de Fin. ii. 8. On the word itself (in its literal sense unsaveableness), see Tittmann, Synon. p. 152; Lobeck, Paralip. I. p. 559. A more precise limitation of the sense (Jerome understands lascivious excess, as also Hammond, who thinks of the Bacchanalia) is without warrant in the text.

ἀλλὰ πληροῦσθε ἐν πνεύματι] but become full by the Spirit. The imperative passive finds its explanation in the possibility of resistance to the Holy Spirit and of the opposite fleshly endeavour; and ἐν is instrumental, as at Eph_1:23; Php_4:19. The contrast lies not in οἶνος and πνεῦμα (Grotius, Harless, Olshausen, and others), because otherwise the text must have run μὴ οἴνῳ μεθύσκ., ἀλλʼ ἐν πνεύματι πληρ., but in the two statesthat of intoxication and that of inspiration. This opposition is only in appearance strange (in opposition to de Wette), and has its sufficient ground in the excitement of the person inspired and its utterances (comp. Act_2:13).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph 5:18 . καὶ μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ : and be not made drunk with wine . A particular case of the ἀφροσύνη to be avoided is now mentioned. The καί is used here, as, e.g. , also in Mar 1:5 , to add a special designation to a general, inclusive statement; Win.-Moult., p. 546. The case is the abuse of wine. But there is nothing to suggest any reference to excess at the Agapae (1Co 11:21 ) in especial. ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀσωτία : wherein is dissoluteness . Or, with the RV, “wherein is riot”. The AV, Tynd., Cov., Cran., Gen., Bish., all give “excess”; Wicl. has lechery , and the Rhem. riotousness . ἀσωτία ( cf. Pro 28:7 ) expresses the idea of an abandoned, debauched life; literally, the condition of one who is past salvation. The ἐν ᾧ refers not to the οἶνος alone (which might infer a Gnostic view of matter or Montanistic, ascetic ideas of life), but to the whole phrase μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ the becoming drunk with wine. ἀλλὰ πληροῦσθε ἐν Πνεύματι : but be filled with the Spirit . The verb πληροῦν is construed with the gen. of the thing that fills ( e.g. , Act 2:28 ; Act 5:28 ; Act 13:52 , pass. , etc.); or with the Hebraistic acc. (Col 1:9 ); or with the dat. (Rom 1:29 ; 2Co 7:4 , etc.). The construction with ἐν here is exceptional. Hence some prefer to understand πνεύματι of man’s spirit, and render it (as RV margin) “be filled in spirit”. The contrast would then be between being filled in one’s physical or carnal nature and filled in one’s spiritual nature (so Braune, and in effect Abb.). In NT Greek, however, verbs that are followed by the simple dat. sometimes vary it by a prepositional form, e.g. , βαπτίζεσθαι ὕδατι (Luk 3:16 ) and ἐν ὕδατι (Mat 3:11 ), παντὶ τρόπῳ (Phi 1:18 ) and ἐνπαντὶ τρόπῳ (2Th 2:16 ), etc.; and the formula πληροῦν or πληροῦσθαι ἐν is not wholly without analogy; cf. τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν πληρουμένου , Eph 1:23 above; and Col 4:12 , πεπληροφορημένοι ἐν παντὶ θελήματι τοῦ Θεοῦ , where indeed the πεπληρωένοι of the TR must give place to another verb, yet one with the same idea, the sense being probably “filled with everything willed by God” ( cf. Win.-Moult., p. 272; Blass, Gram. of N. T. Greek , p. 117). The ἐν may be taken, therefore, as the instrum. ἐν , and the sense will be “filled with or by the Spirit”. Some ( e.g. , Ell., Alf.) would combine the ideas of in and by , supposing the unusual phrase to be chosen with a view to convey the fact that the Holy Spirit is not only the instrument by which the Christian man is filled, but that also in which he is so filled. But this is a needless refinement. The contrast, as most commentators recognise, is not merely between the οἴνῳ and the πνεύματι , but between the μεθύσκεσθε and the πληροῦσθε . Otherwise the order would have been μὴ οἴνῳ μεθύσκεσθε , ἀλλʼ ἐν πνεύματι πληροῦσθε (Mey.). The contrast is not between the instruments but between the states between two elevated states, one due to the excitement of wine, the other to the inspiration and enlightenment of the Spirit.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_5:18

And (especially) be not drunk with wine. This is an ἀφόσθνη, a want of sense, especially inconsistent with the intelligence of the true believer. The man who has a right discernment will not seek refreshment or excitement from wine, but from the Holy Spirit. Therefore the apostle adds, but be filled with the Spirit. In drunkenness, he says, there is ἀσωτία, revelry, debauchery, riot, whatever tends to destruction; for the word is derived from ἄσωτος, which means, what cannot be saved, one given up to a destructive course of life. Compare Tit_1:6; 1Pe_4:4. Men are said to be filled with wine when completely under its influence; so they are said to be filled with the Spirit, when he controls all their thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. The expression is a common one in Scripture. Of our Lord himself it was said, He was full of the Holy Ghost, Luk_4:1; so of Stephen that he was full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, Act_6:5; and of Barnabas, Act_11:24, etc. To the Christian, therefore, the source of strength and joy is not wine, but the blessed Spirit of God. And as drunkenness produces rioting and debauchery, so the Holy Spirit produces a joy which expresses itself in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. Quid gignit ebrietas? dissolutam proterviam, ut quasi excusso freno indecenter homines exultent. Quid spiritualis laetitia, quum ea perfusi sumus? hymnos, psalmos, laudes Dei, gratiarum actiones. Hi sunt vere jucundi fructus et delectabiles. Calvin.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He setteth the sober and holy assemblies of the faithful, against the dissolute bankers of the unfaithful, in which the praises of the only Lord must ring, be it in prosperity or adversity.

All kind of riot, joined with all manner of filthiness and shamefulness.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

excess--worthless, ruinous, reckless prodigality.

wherein--not in the wine itself when used aright (Ti1 5:23), but in the "excess" as to it.

but be filled with the Spirit--The effect in inspiration was that the person was "filled" with an ecstatic exhilaration, like that caused by wine; hence the two are here connected (compare Act 2:13-18). Hence arose the abstinence from wine of many of the prophets, for example, John the Baptist, namely, in order to keep distinct before the world the ecstasy caused by the Spirit, from that caused by wine. So also in ordinary Christians the Spirit dwells not in the mind that seeks the disturbing influences of excitement, but in the well-balanced prayerful mind. Such a one expresses his joy, not in drunken or worldly songs, but in Christian hymns of thankfulness.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess] This is a farther allusion to the Bacchanalian mysteries; in them his votaries got drunk, and ran into all manner of excesses. Plato, though he forbade drunkenness in general, yet allowed that the people should get drunk in the solemnities of that god who invented wine. And indeed this was their common custom; when they had offered their sacrifices they indulged themselves in drunkenness, and ran into all kinds of extravagance. Hence it is probable that μεθυω, to get drunk, is derived from μετα, after, and θυω, to sacrifice; for, having completed their sacrifices, they indulged themselves in wine. The word ασωτια, which we translate excess, means profligacy and debauchery of every kind; such as are the general concomitants of drunkenness, and especially among the votaries of Bacchus in Greece and Italy.

But be filled with the Spirit] The heathen priests pretended to be filled with the influence of the god they worshipped; and it was in these circumstances that they gave out their oracles. See a remarkable instance of this quoted in the note on "Lu 9:39", where the case of a Bacchanalian is described. The apostle exhorts the Ephesians not to resemble these, but, instead of being filled with wine, to be filled with the Spirit of God; in consequence of which, instead of those discoveries of the Divine will to which in their drunken worship the votaries of Bacchus pretended, they should be wise indeed, and should understand what the will of the Lord is.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. And be not drunk with wine. When he enjoins them not to be drunk, he forbids excessive and immoderate drinking of every description. “Be not intemperate in drinking.”

In which is lasciviousness. The Greek word ἀσωτία, which is translated “lasciviousness,” points out the evils which arise from drunkenness. I understand by it all that is implied in a wanton and dissolute life; for to translate it luxury, would quite enfeeble the sense. The meaning therefore is, that drunkards throw off quickly every restraint of modesty or shame; that where wine reigns, profligacy naturally follows; and consequently, that all who have any regard to moderation or decency ought to avoid and abhor drunkenness.

The children of this world are accustomed to indulge in deep drinking as an excitement to mirth. Such carnal excitement is contrasted with that holy joy of which the Spirit of God is the Author, and which produces entirely opposite effects. To what does drunkenness lead? To unbounded licentiousness, — to unbridled, indecent merriment. And to what does spiritual joy lead, when it is most strongly excited?

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(18) Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.—From the general idea of reckless levity, St. Paul passes on to the special sin of drunkenness, as not (like gluttony) primarily a gratification of the appetite, but as a reckless pursuit of excitement at all costs—glorified as an excitement of emotion, and even of wit and intellect, in such contemporary writers as Horace, and actually confused, as in the Dionysiac or Bacchanalian frenzy, with a divine inspiration. How necessary the admonition was we see by the directions as to the choice of clergy in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim. 3:28; Tit_1:7; Tit_2:3); the more necessary, because (as 1Ti_5:23 shows) the right use of wine was recognised. Hence St. Paul emphatically brands drunkenness as “excess,” a word properly signifying “recklessness”—“incapable of saving,” or denying itself anything, and naturally passing through this want of self-restraint into profligacy—rightly translated “riot” in Tit_1:6, 1Pe_4:4, as the corresponding adverb is rendered “riotous living” in Luk_15:13. For drunkenness is at once the effect and cause of utter recklessness. It is the effect of a self-abandonment, by which the sensual or passionate elements of the nature are stimulated to frenzy, while the self-controlling judgment is drugged to sleep. It is the cause of yet greater recklessness: for as these passions and appetites become jaded, they need stronger and stronger stimulants, till the whole nature, bodily and mental, is lost in delirium or stupor.

But be filled with the Spirit.—The antithesis is startling, but profoundly instructive. To the artificial and degrading excitement of drunkenness St. Paul boldly opposes the divine enthusiasm of the Spirit, one form of which was scoffingly compared to it on the Day of Pentecost (Act_2:13). He is not content with warning us of its ruinous excess, or urging the strictness of stern self-restraint. Drunkenness comes from an unnatural craving for excitement, stimulated by unwholesome conditions of life, physical and mental. He would satisfy the craving, so far as it is natural, by a divine enthusiasm, brighter and stronger than even duty to God and man, breaking out in thanksgiving, adoration, and love.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. drunk with wine] Cp. for similar cautions, Pro_20:1; Pro_23:30-31; Luk_21:34; Rom_13:13; 1Co_5:11; 1Co_6:10; Gal_5:21; 1Ti_3:3. “He fitly follows up a warning against impurity with a warning against drunkenness” (Bengel).

wherein] In “being drunken with wine;” in the act and habit of intemperance.

excess] R.V., riot. The word recurs Tit_1:6; 1Pe_4:4; and its adverb, Luk_15:13. By derivation it nearly answers the idea of that which is “dissolute,” i.e. unbound, unrestrained. The miserable exaltation of strong drink annuls the holy bonds of conscience with fatal ease and certainty.

but be filled] As if to say, “Avoid such false elevation; yet seek instead not a dead level of feeling, but the sacred heights of spiritual joy and power, in that Divine Love which (Son_1:2) ‘is better than wine’.”

filled with the Spirit] Lit., “in spirit,” and so margin R.V. But the text R.V., and the A.V., are assuredly right. The definite article may well be omitted here (see on Eph_1:17, and Eph_2:22), without obscuring the ref. to the Divine Spirit, if context favours it. And surely the context does so, in the words “in which” just above. The two “in” (in which,” “in Spirit,”) are parallel. And as the first “in” points to an objective cause of “riot,” so surely the second “in” points to the objective cause, not subjective sphere, of joy; to the Spirit, not to our spirit.—On the phrase “in (the) Spirit” cp. Mat_22:43; Rom_8:9; Col_1:8; 1Ti_3:16; Rev_1:10. The phrase “in the Spirit” (def. article expressed) occurs only Luk_2:27. “In (the) Holy Spirit” occurs frequently, and in many places where A.V. has “by &c.”; e.g., 1Co_12:3; 1Co_12:9. The parallel phrase “in an unclean spirit” occurs Mar_5:2. On the whole, the idea conveyed appears to be that the possessing Power, Divine or evil, which from one point of view inhabits the man, from another surrounds him, as with an atmosphere.—“If the Spirit be in you, you are in It” (Jer. Taylor, Sermon for Whitsunday).

Thus, “be ye filled in (the) Spirit,” may be lawfully paraphrased, “Let in the holy atmosphere to your inmost self, to your whole will and soul. Let the Divine Spirit, in Whom you, believing, are, pervade your being, as water fills the sponge.” And the context gives the special thought that this “filling” will tend to that sacred exhilaration, “the Spirit’s calm excess[39]”, of which wine-drinking could produce only a horrible parody. See next verse.

[39] St Ambrose (“Splendor paternæ gloriæ” tr. by Chandler).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Giving thanks always for all things,.... For things temporal, for our beings, and the preservation of them, and for all the mercies of life; for things spiritual, for Christ, and for all spiritual blessings in him; for electing, redeeming, sanctifying, adopting, pardoning, and justifying grace; for a meetness for heaven, and for eternal life itself; for the Gospel, promises, truths, ordinances, and ministry; and this is to be done always, at all times, in times of adversity, desertion, temptation, affliction, and persecution, as well as in prosperity:

unto God, and the Father; to God who is, and as he is the Father of mercies, and of all creatures; and as he is the Father of Christ, and of all the elect in him:

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; for all the mercies of God's people, both temporal and spiritual, come through him, and for his sake; and thanksgivings for them are only acceptable to God as they are offered up by him; nor is there any other way of bringing them to God, but through him: this duty, as it stands connected with the former, shows that praise and thanksgiving are the principal subject matter of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, to be sung; and that the manner of singing is with thanksgiving; and that the end of it is to give thanks to God.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Ver. 18. And be not drunk with wine] Nothing so opposite to an accurate life as drunkenness; which therefore is not specially prohibited in any one of the Ten Commandments (saith a divine) because it is not the single breach of any one, but in effect the violation of all and every one; it is no one, but all sins, the inlet and sluice to all other sins, and by them to the devil. Behemoth lieth in the fens, Job 40:21, he finds no rest in dry places, sober souls, Luk 11:24. Oh that our carousers were persuaded (as Mahomet told his followers) that in every grape there dwelt a devil.

Wherein is excess] Excessive drinking then is drunkenness; when as swine do their bellies, so men break their heads with filthy quaffing; and are besotted in their very parts, as a snuff of a candle in the socket, drowned in the tallow; a stench, but little or no light remains. Such a deep drunkard was Diotimus, surnamed Tundish, and young Cicero, surnamed Tricongius; and such are not a few in this day among us, to the great shame of our nation.

But be filled with the Spirit] Call for flagons of this holy wine, Son 2:5, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak, Son 7:9. This is called by Luther, Crapula sacra, a spiritual surquedry {a} or surfeit.

{a} Arrogance, haughty pride, presumption. ŒD

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And be not drunk with wine - A danger to which they were exposed and a vice to which those around them were much addicted. Compare notes on Luk 21:34. It is not improbable that in this verse there is an allusion to the orgies of Bacchus, or to the festivals celebrated in honor of that pagan god. He was “the god of wine,” and during those festivals, men and women regarded it as an acceptable act of worship to become intoxicated, and with wild songs and cries to run through streets, and fields, and vineyards. To these things the apostle opposes psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, as much more appropriate modes of devotion, and would have the Christian worship stand out in strong contrast with the wild and dissolute habits of the pagan. Plato says, that while those abominable ceremonies in the worship of Bacchus continued, it was difficult to find in all Attica a single sober man. Rosenmuller, Alt. u. neu. Morgenland, in loc. On the subject of wine, and the wines used by the ancients, see the notes on Joh 2:10-11. We may learn from this verse:

(1) That it was not uncommon in those times to become intoxicated on wine; and,

(2) That it was positively forbidden. All intoxication is prohibited in the Scriptures - no matter by what means it is produced. There is, in fact, but one thing that produces intoxication. It is “alcohol” - the poisonous substance produced by fermentation. This substance is neither created nor changed, increased nor diminished, by distillation. It exists in the cider, the beer, and the wine, after they are fermented, and the whole process of distillation consists in driving it off by heat, and collecting it in a concentrated form, and so that it may be preserved. But distilling does not “make” it, nor change it. Alcohol is precisely the same thing in the wine that it is in the brandy after it is distilled; in the cider or the beer that it is in the whisky or the rum; and why is it right to become intoxicated on it in one form rather than in another? Since therefore there is danger of intoxication in the use of wine, as well as in the use of ardent spirits, why should we not abstain from one as well as the other? How can a man prove that it is right for him to drink alcohol in the form of wine, and that it is wrong for me to drink it in the form of brandy or rum?

Wherein is excess - There has been much difference of opinion about the word rendered here as excess - ἀσωτία asōtia. It occurs only in two other places in the New Testament, where it is rendered “riot;” Tit 1:6; 1Pe 4:4. The “adjective” occurs once Luk 15:13, where it is rendered riotous. The word (derived, according to Passow, from α a, the alpha privative (not), and σώζω sōzō - to save, deliver) means that which is unsafe, not to be recovered; lost beyond recovery; then that which is abandoned to sensuality and lust; dissoluteness, debauchery, revelry. The meaning here is, that all this follows the use of wine. Is it proper then for Christians to be in the habit of drinking it? “Wine is so frequently the cause of this, by the ungrateful abuse of the bounty of providence in giving it, that the enormity is represented by a very strong and beautiful “figure” as contained in the very liquor.” Doddridge.

But be filled with the Spirit - The Holy Spirit. How much more appropriate to Christians than to be filled with the spirit of intoxication and revelry! Let Christians, when about to indulge in a glass of wine, think of this admonition. Let them remember that their bodies should be the temple of the Holy Spirit, rather than a receptacle for intoxicating drinks. Was any man ever made a better Christian by the use of wine? Was any minister ever better suited to counsel an anxious sinner, or to pray, or to preach the gospel, by the use of intoxicating drinks? Let the history of wine-drinking and intemperate clergymen answer.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Wherein, in which drunkenness,

is excess; profuseness, lasciviousness, and all manner of lewdness, as the effects of drunkenness, Pro 23:29, &c.

But be filled with the Spirit; the Holy Spirit, often compared to water; or the joy of the Spirit, in opposition to being filled with wine, Act 2:13, and that carnal mirth which is caused by it: q.d. Be not satisfied with a little of the Spirit, but seek for a greater measure, so as to be filled with the Spirit. See Psa 36:8; Joh 3:34; Joh 4:14.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And be not intoxicated with wine, wherein is dissoluteness. Drunkenness is suggested because it is a work of darkness; it is the foe to vigilance and earnestness, and it leads all who yield to it to act unwisely. It is the social aspect of drunkenness the apostle has in view the exhilarating influence of wine in company, giving a rush of high spirits. Aswtia, from a and swzw, the opposite of savingness, wastefulness, dissoluteness, or the process of being dissolved, involving perdition. Spoken of the prodigal son, "riotous living;" the habit which sends everything to wreck and ruin. But be filled with the Spirit. Instead of resorting to wine to cheer and animate you, throw your hearts open the Holy Spirit, so that he may come and fill them; seek the joy that the Spirit inspires when he makes you to sit with Christ in heavenly places, so that, instead of pouring out your joyous feelings in bacchanalian songs, you may do so in Christian hymns.

Warning against drunkenness.

The tremendous sin of intemperance must have had a great hold upon a commercial city like Ephesus. It was necessary that Christians should beware of such an insidious vice.

I IT DISHONOURS THE LAW OF GOD. (Rom_13:13)

II IT DISTURBS THE REASON OF MAN.

III IT ENDANGERS THE HEALTH OF THE BODY.

IV IT INJURES THE SOUL. (Hos_4:11)

V IT WASTES THE SUBSTANCE AND TENDS TO BEGGARY. (Pro_23:21)

VI IT CONSUMES PRECIOUS TIME AND DETERIORATES THE CHARACTER OF WORK.

VII IT IS THE CAUSE OF OTHER SINS. Such as swearing, strife, licentiousness. (Pro_23:19)

VIII IT UNFITS FOR RELIGIOUS DUTIES.

IX IT KEEPS SOULS OUT OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (1Co_6:9) Therefore Christians ought to avoid it, abstaining altogether from intoxicating drinks on the grounds of Christian expediency, and using their influence to rescue others from its ruinous fascination. T.C.

Vers. 18-21.

The true antidote to drunkenness.

There is a real contrast here exhibited between fullness of wine and fullness of the Spirit. There is an intensity of feeling produced in both cases. "There is one intensity of feeling produced by stimulating the senses; another, by vivifying the spiritual life within. The one commences with impulses from without, the other is guarded by forces from within." The one tends to ruin, the other to salvation. The Spirit-fullness "will keep the soul holy, the body chaste, and render the Christian fit for the service of God on earth and meet for the fruition and enjoyment of God in heaven." The exhilaration caused by the Spirit finds a threefold expression.

I IN PSALMS, HYMNS, AND SPIRITUAL SONGS.

1. The heathen festivals were remarkable for songs of drunken revelry. The excitement of the worshippers found vent in singing. Christians are likewise to express their exhilaration in songs. "The hearts and spirits of good men are full of spiritual mirth and joy; they are as merry in the Lord as sinners in their lust; it is, therefore, lawful and laudable for them to express their mirth and give vent to their spiritual joy by singing.

2. There is a happy variety in such songs adapted to the various moods of the singers. We have the Psalms of David; we have the hymns composed by pious men like Zacharias and Simeon; and we have the compositions, for public assemblies, of those inspired by the Holy Spirit. (1Co 14)

3. There must be a harmony in these songs between the artistic service of the voice and the inner melody of the heart. Otherwise the spirit and meaning of the exercise will disappear.

4. Singing has always been a powerful instrument of promoting the spread of true religion (Reformation, periods of revival).

5. The singing here enjoined was for social intercourse as well as for the public assemblies of worship. Christians ought to exercise their gifts of song to spiritual ends.

II IN GIVING OF THANKS. The heart which is filled with the Spirit brims over with thankfulness.

1. To whom thanks are to be given. "To God, even the Father." To God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore our Father in him.

(1) Because it is only from him we have anything that is good; (Jam_1:17)

(2) because it is only by him we are preserved from evil; (Psa_121:7)

(3) because he only is good in himself. (Luk_18:19)

2. How should we give thanks to him?

(1) By humble confession of our unworthiness (Gen_32:10; Eph_3:8)

(2) by humble acknowledgment of his mercies (Pro_3:6; Psa_145:1-9)

(3) by improving everything to his glory; (Pro_3:9)

(4) by walking before him in all well-pleasing.

3. What must we thank him for? "For all things.

(1) For our mercies for sparing mercy, for recovering mercy, for mercies both received and expected. You cannot expect a blessing in them unless you are thankful for them; and the more thankful you are for mercies received the more reason is there for your expecting more.

(2) For all providences for prosperity or adversity, for health or sickness. The afflictions may be mixed with mercies, and may be the means of quickening our graces. (Psa_119:67)

1. How often must we thank him? Always." It must be continuous. The heart must be kept in a constantly thankful frame, and not expend itself at mere intervals in acts of devout thanksgiving.

2. Through whom are our thanksgivings to be made acceptable to God?

the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ." We are authorized to use this Name as our warrant for expecting the acceptance of our services as well as the fullest enjoyment of all spiritual mercies.

III MUTUAL SUBMISSION. The effect of the Spirit"s full enjoyment is to produce a humble and loving spirit among Christian people.

1. The duty of mutual submission. This principle, which is inconsistent with a reverse egotism or a self-opinionated superiority, has great and happy effects. It reduces the friction of human life, and contributes greatly to its comfort and peace. It has nothing in common with the servile and obsequious temper which is such a dishonor to manhood. Let us mutually condescend to each other. In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves". (Php_2:3) All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility". (1Pe_5:5) We are not isolated units in society. "The essential equality of men and their mutual dependence lay the foundation for the obligation of mutual subjection.

2. The element or sphere in which this duty is to be maintained. "In the fear of Christ." This is not terror, but the solemn reverence with which we bow to the authority of our Divine Lord. Our submission is grounded in our reverence for him, in our fear of offending him by our airs of assumption or authority, in our supreme regard for his holy will. Thus Christianity lifts the commonest duties and civilities and amenities of social life into the highest sphere, by connecting them with the supreme lordship of Christ over his saints. T.C.

Drunkenness and its antidote.

I THE SIN. It was the mistake of some of the earlier advocates of temperance to dwell too much on the economic arguments against drunkenness, to the neglect of those which are supplied by religion. That dissipation wrecks a man"s position in the world is plain and sad enough. But it is not worldly self-interest that is chiefly outraged thereby. The sin of drunkenness is its great condemnation. It is a sin against God and man.

1. It desecrates the temple of the Holy Ghost.

2. It unfits a man for his mission in the world.

3. It occasions brutal unkindness to others, robbing the family of daily bread for the sake of gross self-indulgence, bringing poverty and gloom, wretchedness and terror on the home, and giving to children a hideous inheritance of disease and constitutional tendencies to the same vice.

4. It opens the door for other vices. Instead of pleading intoxication as an excuse for a crime committed in the madness of drink, a man should be made to feel that the wickedness of putting himself into such a condition was aggravated by the terrible results.

II THE TEMPTATION. In order to remedy the fearful evil we must consider how it arises.

1. From customs of sociability. Drinking has been regarded as an almost necessary accompaniment of friendly intercourse.

2. From lack of mental occupation. Men spending hours together of a winter"s night without any education to supply food for the mind resort to the glass as the one available relief from the tedium of doing nothing.

3. The craving or nervous stimulation. This is the real thirst of the excessive drinker. What is called "low spirits," resulting from general ill health, or nervous debility, or trouble, or as the natural consequence of previous indulgence, creates the craving for stimulants. Early in the present century, Lord Jeffrey quoted a statement of a physician of Liverpool, respecting some of the most prosperous merchants of that town. "He informs me," said the lord advocate, "that few of the richer sort live to be fifty, but die of a sort of atrophy. They eat too much, take little exercise, and, above all, have no nervous excitement." This condition tempts to indulgence in nerve-stimulants.

III THE ANTIDOTE. We must have an antidote if we would remedy the evil. Mere negative abstinence without anything to support and encourage it is impossible on a large scale and in the worst cases. St. Paul, by a flash of inspiration reveals the cure. "Be filled with the Spirit." These are old words. Yet they read strangely in the present connection so little have they been heeded by zealous but unimaginative and unspiritual social reformers. We are to pray for the Spirit of God which Christ assures us will be given to all who ask for it. (Luk_11:13) How is this to counteract drunkenness?

1. It counteracts the craving for nervous stimulation. It is itself a pure and vitalizing spiritual stimulus, infusing at once restfulness and energy.

2. It supplies interest and occupation. For the Spirit of God is the inspiration of thought and power.

3. It purifies and elevates social intercourse. They who are filled with the Spirit will find that "singing and making melody in their hearts" is a more congenial accompaniment of social intercourse than drinking strong drinks. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherein is excess - That is, which leads to debauchery of every kind. But be ye filled with the Spirit - In all his graces, who gives a more noble pleasure than wine can do.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. Our apostle’s seasonable dehortation: Be not drunk with wine. Drunkenness, as well as uncleanness, and drunkenness with uncleanness, for they commonly go together, were sins which the Ephesians and unconverted pagans were generally guilty of. St. Paul therefore cautions these new converts against this old sin, which transports men to insolent and outrageous practices, as the words next intimate, For therein is excess. The original word may be rendered lewdness and lust, to denote, that when persons are inflamed with wine, they are liable to all manner of excessive wickedness, and particularly to the sin of uncleanness.

Observe, 2. The duty exhorted to, in order to the prevention of this sin; and that is, to labour and endeavour, instead of being filled with wine, to be full of the Holy Spirit of God, to be filled with the sanctifying graces of the Holy Spirit.

Blessed be God, he allows us to seek after the greatest and fullest measures of the Holy Spirit; and injurious we are to ourselves, if we content ourselves with small measures and degrees of it.

The sense of the word seems to be this: Let no Christian allow himself in any sinful excesses; let him never fill himself with wine or strong drink, or with meat and drink to the full, for that fulness will breed all manner of sensual lusts in him: but let his desires and endeavours be carried out after the grace and Spirit of God, let him be filled therewith; for that fulness will keep the soul holy, the body chaste, and render the Christian fit for the fruitation and enjoyment of God in heaven. Take your fill of the Spirit; you can never be overfilled.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. “Be not drunk with wine, in which there is riot, but be ye filled with the Spirit.” This verse is beautifully and lucidly expository of the preceding, warning us not to be “foolish,” but to understand the will of the Lord. Now, what is the will of the Lord? The eighteenth verse answers, “Be ye filled with the Spirit.” Hence, we see that the will of the Lord is that we all “be filled with the Spirit,” and in case ofdelinquency we are denominated “foolish.” O how few people in this ‘world are “filled with the Spirit” The virgins in the parable were called “foolish,” because they were not “filled with the Spirit.” We can well afford to let the people call us “foolish,” for that is no evidence that it is true. But we can not afford to have the Holy Ghost pronounce us “foolish,” for in that case we are fools to an absolute Certainty. Then let us all get “filled with the Spirit,” and keep full, as only in this way we can escape the imputation of folly by the Infallible One. Bear in mind, you must be completely emptied of sin before you can be “filled with the Holy Ghost.” Then expeditiously get under the blood, and trust for a radical emptying of your spirit from all evil. Then trust your Savior to fill you with the Holy Ghost, and there abide forever.

19,20. These verses establish the fact that the Holy Ghost not only fills the heart, but he opens the mouth and makes us sing, testify, and speak fluently and indefatigably for God. It is simply awful to spend an hour in a fashionable city church listening to Satan’s giggling choir squeal out a few operatic songs, utterly unintelligible to the congregation sitting dumb as tombstones. These graveyard Churches are the devil’s counterfeits. God’s Churches are like a graveyard on the resurrection morn, when the awful excitement of the archangel’s trump is bursting every tomb. Bishop FitzGerald well says, that “when the singing is confined to the choir, it is very inappropriate to sing anything except ‘Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound!’ as it is a funeral occasion; the Church is dead.” Rest assured the Holy Ghost always makes people sing. So when a congregation quits singing, they have already become a good missionary field.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18–21. Be not drunk with wine. Wine was at that time the usual intoxicating drink. The passage forbids intoxication, which was a common vice of the time. Excess. “Riot,” in the Revision. How true! Enjoyment is not to be sought, as the world seeks it, in wine, but rather be filled with the Spirit. Then your songs will not be bacchanalian.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Paul ends his instructions on how all believers should live.

And do not get drunk with wine

"You should not get drunk from drinking wine"

Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit

"Instead, you should be controlled with the Holy Spirit"

psalms and hymns and spiritual songs

Possible meanings are that 1) Paul is using these words as a merism for "all sorts of songs to praise God" or 2) Paul is listing specific forms of music. (See: Merism)

psalms

These are probably songs from the Old Testament book of Psalms that Christians sang.

hymns

These are songs of praise and worship that may have been written specifically for Christians to sing.

spiritual songs

Possible meanings are 1) these are songs that Holy Spirit inspires a person to sing right at that moment or 2) "spiritual songs" and "hymns" are doublets and mean basically the same thing. (See: Doublet)

with all your heart

Here "heart" is a metonym for a person's thoughts or inner being. The phrase "with all your heart" means to do something with enthusiasm. AT: "with all of your being" or "enthusiastically" (See: Metonymy)

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

"because you belong to our Lord Jesus Christ" or "as people who belong to our Lord Jesus Christ"

translationWords

wine

Holy Spirit

psalm

spirit

praise

heart

lord

Jesus

God the Father

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

18. καὶ μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ. From LXX. of Pro 23:31. Drunkenness was one of the chief dangers threatening Christian life in heathen surroundings. Warnings against it are not prominent in the Gospels (Luk 21:34; of. Mat 24:49 only, not in Mar 7:21 f. nor in Rev 21:8). In St Paul references appear in every group, 1Th 5:7; 1Co 6:10; Gal 5:21; Rom 13:13; cf. 1Pe 4:3. Even in Christian circles its presence was not unknown. Cf. 1Co 11:21; 1Ti 3:2; 1Ti 3:8; 1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:2 f.

ἐν ᾦ ἐστὶν ἀσωτία. Tit 1:6; 1Pe 4:4; of. Luk 15:13; 2Ma 6:4. A term clearly implying the gravest moral censure. Cf. Arist. Eth. Nic. IV. 1 τοὺς ἀκρατεῖς καὶ εἰς ἀκολασίαν δαπανηροὺς ἀσώτους καλοῦμεν.

ἀλλὰ πληροῦσθε ἐν πνεύματι. Cf. Eph 3:19. See Additional Note on πλήρωμα. Here the antithesis to drunkenness is supplied not by sobriety, which in itself is by no means a merely negative conception (cf. 1Pe 1:13; 1Pe 4:7), but by a condition of spiritual, not necessarily emotional, exaltation, all the faculties of our nature being raised to their highest power by the power of the Spirit—as they are artificially and for a time by wine. ἐν πνεύματι. On the ‘dynamic’ force of this phrase, see on Eph 2:18.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18.] The connexion seems to be: after the general antithesis in ver. 17, μὴ ἄφρονες, ἀλλὰ συνίετε κ.τ.λ., he proceeds to give one prominent instance, in the same antithetical shape. And (καί is subordinate, introducing a particular after a general: so Herod. i. 73, τῶνδε εἵνεκα καὶ γῆς ἱμέρῳ … see Hartung i. 145) be not intoxicated with wine, in which practice (not, ἐν οἴνῳ, but ἐν τῷ μεθύσκεσθαι οἴνῳ—the crime is not in God’s gift, but in the abuse of it: and the very arrangement of the sentence, besides the spirit of it, implies the lawful use of wine—see 1Ti 5:23) is profligacy (ἀσωτία, not from ἀ—σώζεσθαι,—as Clem. Alex. Pædag. ii. 1, p. 167 P. (ἀσώτους αὐτοὺς οἱ καλέσαντες πρῶτον εὖ μοι δοκοῦσιν αἰνίττεσθαι τὸ τέλος αὐτῶν, ἀσώστους αὐτοὺς κατὰ ἔκθλιψιν τοῦ σ στοιχείου νενοηκότες), al., but from ἀ—σώζειν: ἀσωτία ἐστὶν ὑπερβολὴ περὶ χρήματα, Aristot. Eth. Nic. iv. 1. 3. But as spendthrifts are almost of necessity self-indulgent and reckless, the word comes to have the meaning of ‘dissoluteness,’ ‘debauchery,’ ‘profligacy,’—see Eth. Nic. iv. 1. 36, Tittmann, p. 152, and Trench, N. T. Syn. § 16. Theodotion renders Isa 28:7 by ἐν τῇ μέθῃ ἠσωτεύθησαν ὑπερόγκως): but (contrast, see above) be filled (antith. to μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ;—not to μεθύσκεσθε alone, so that ἐν πνεύματι should be opposed to οἴνῳ: see below) with (ἐν, as ch. 1:23, but also ‘in:’ let this be the region in, and the ingredient with which you are filled) the Spirit (the ambiguity in the preposition is owing to the peculiar meaning of πνεῦμα as applied to the Christian:—viz. his own spirit, dwelt in and informed by the Holy Spirit of God, see note on ch. 4:23. If this is so, if you are full of the Spirit, full in Spirit, there will be a joy indeed, but not that of ἀσωτία: one which will find its expression not in drunken songs, but in Christian hymns, and continual thankfulness), speaking to one another (ch. 4:32; see also the , Col 3:16. It is perhaps too much to find in this the practice of antiphonal chanting: but it is interesting to remember that in Pliny’s letter the Christians are described as ‘soliti stato die ante lucem convenire, carmenque Christo quasi Deo dicere secum invicem:’ and that Nicephorus, Hist. xiii. 8 (cited by Eadie), says τὴν τῶν ἀντιφώνων συνήθειαν ἄνωθεν ἀποστόλων ἡ ἐκκλησία παρέλαβε. Conyb. places a full stop at ἑαυτοῖς: but surely both style and sense are thus marred) in (this must be the rendering, whether the preposition is inserted or not) psalms (not to be confined, as Olsh. and Stier, to O. T. hymns; see 1Co 14:26; Jas 5:13. The word properly signified those sacred songs which were performed with musical accompaniment (so Basil, Hom. in Psa 29:1, vol. i. p. 124, ὁ ψαλμὸς λόγος ἐστὶ μουσικός, ὅταν εὐρύθμως κατὰ τοὺς ἁρμονικοὺς λόγους πρὸς τὸ ὄργανον κρούηται—and Greg. Nyss. in Psal. lib. ii. 3, vol. i. p. 493, Migne, ψαλμός ἐστιν ἡ διὰ τοῦ ὀργάνου τοῦ μουσικοῦ μελῳδία,—as ὕμνοι without it: but the two must evidently here not be confined strictly to their proper meaning) and hymns (see above) and [spiritual] songs (ᾠδή being the general name for all lyrical poetry, and applying especially to such effusions as persons used in the state of drunkenness, the Christian’s ᾠδή is to be spiritual (Chr. opposes αἱ σατανικαὶ ᾠδαί), inspired by that fulness of the Spirit which is in him), singing and playing (as well as λαλοῦντες, not explanatory of it: ᾄδοντες and ψάλλοντες corresponding to ὕμνοις and ψαλμοῖς above) in your hearts (Harl. remarks that ἐν καρδίᾳ cannot, being joined with ὑμῶν, represent the abstract ‘heartily,’ as Chr., Thdrt., Pelag., &c.; but must be rendered as Bullinger, ‘canentes intus in animis et cordibus vestris’) to the Lord (i.e. Christ—cf. Pliny’s letter above),—giving thanks (another additional, not explanatory, clause) always for all things (see Php 4:6: not only for blessings, but for every dispensation of God: Ellic. quotes from Thl.,—οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀγαθῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν λυπηρῶν, κ. ὧν ἴσμεν, κ. ὧν οὐκ ἴσμεν· καὶ γὰρ διὰ πάντων εὐεργετούμεθα κἂν ἀγνοῶμεν) in the name (the element in which the εὐχαριστοῦντες must take place. “The name of the Lord is there, where He is named. How He is named, depends on the particular circumstances: it is one thing to be reproached (1Pe 4:14), another to be saved (Act 4:12), another to be baptized (Act 10:48), another to command (2Th 3:6), another to pray (Joh 14:13), another to give thanks (cf. Col 3:17) in the name of the Lord.… The Apostle says, that all the Christian would do, he must do in the name of Christ (Col 3:17).” Harl.: the rest of the note is well worth consulting) of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and the Father (see on ch. 1:3),—being subject to one another (a fourth additional, not subordinate clause. λαλοῦντες,—ᾄδοντες κ. ψάλλοντες,—εὐχαριστοῦντες,—ὑποτασσόμενοι ἀλλήλοις: and then out of this last general injunction are unfolded all the particular applications to the relations of life, ver. 22—ch. 6:9. It is not so easy to assign precisely its connexion with those which have preceded. It is hardly enough to say that as the first three name three special duties in regard to God, so this last a comprehensive moral duty in regard to man (Ellic.): for the question of the connexion is still unanswered. I would rather regard it (as I see Eadie also does), as a thought suggested by the μὴ μεθ. κ.τ.λ. with which the sentence began—that as we are otherwise to be filled, otherwise to sing and rejoice, so also we are otherwise to behave—not blustering nor letting our voices rise in selfish vaunting, as such men do,—but subject to one another, &c.) in the fear of Christ (‘rara phrasis,’ Beng.: of Him, whose members we all are, so that any displacement in the Body is a forgetfulness of the reverence due to Him).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. καὶ μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ. καί marks a transition from the general to the particular, as in εἴπατε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ Πέτρῳ, Mar 16:7; πᾶσα ἡ Ἰουδαία χώρα, καὶ οἱ Ἱεροσολυμῖται, Mar 1:5. Fritzsche, in the latter place, remarks that καί in these instances is not = “imprimis,” but “scriptores rem singularem jam comprehensam communiori propterea insuper adjiciunt copulae adjumento, quod illam tanquam gravem impensius inculcatam volunt lectori.”

It is out of the question to suppose any reference here to such abuses as are mentioned in 1 Cor. 11., which would have called for a more explicit censure.

ἐν ᾦ ἐστιν ἀσωτία. ἐν ᾧ not οἴνῳ, but μεθύσκεσθαι οἴνῳ. ἀσωτία, “a word in which heathen ethics said much more than they intended or knew,” Trench. It is the character of the ἄσωτος “perditus,” thus defined by Aristotle: τοὺς ἀκρατεῖς καὶ εἰς ἀκολασίαν δαπανηροὺς ἀσώτους καλοῦμεν (Eth. Nic. iv. 1). In classical authors the adjective varies in sense between “lost” and “prodigal,” the latter, “qui servare nequit,” being the more common. The substantive occurs also Tit 1:6; 1Pe 4:4; and the adverb Luk 15:13, where see note. The Vulg. renders by “luxuria, luxuriose,” words which in later Latin acquired the sense of profligate living. In mediæval Latin “luxuria” = “lasciviousness.” But the meaning in the N.T. is clearly “dissoluteness.” The remark of Clem. Alex., τὸ ἄσωστον τῆς μέθης διὰ τῆς ἀσωτίας αἰνιξάμενος, was natural to a Christian writer accustomed to the technical use of σῴζειν, but no such idea seems implied in the use of the word in N.T. ἄσωτος is not derived from σώζω, but from σόω (Hom. Il. ix. 393, 424, 681).

ἀλλὰ πληροῦσθε ἐν πνεύματι. The antithesis is not directly between οἶνος and πνεῦμα, as the order of the words shows, but between the two states. Meyer remarks that the imperative passive is explained by the possibility of resistance; but what other form could be employed? The signification is middle, for they must co-operate. The present tense cannot very well be expressed in the English rendering; “be filled” is after all better than “become filled,” which would suggest that the filling had yet to begin. ἐν πνεύματι is usually understood of the Holy Spirit, ἐν being instrumental (Meyer), or both instrumental and expressing the content of the filling (Ellicott, Macpherson, al.). But the use of ἐν with πληρόω to express the content with which a thing is filled would be quite unexampled. Php 4:19 is not parallel (Ellicott admits it to be doubtful); still less Col 2:10, Col 4:12 (where, moreover, the true reading is πεπληροφορημένοι). Plutarch’s ἐπεπλήρωτο ἐν μακαριότητι (Plac. Phil. i. 7. 9) is not parallel; the words there (which are used of the Deity) mean “is complete in blessedness,” the alternative being “something is wanting to Him.” Meyer, indeed, says that as St. Paul uses genitive, dative, and accusative in (Col 1:9) with πληρόω, we cannot be surprised at his using ἐν,—a singular argument. The genitive and dative are both classical; the accusative in Col 1:9 is not accusative of material. But such variety in no way justifies the use of ἐν, the meaning of which is wholly unsuitable to the idea “filled with.” The nearest approach to this would be the instrumental sense (adopted by Meyer, al., in i. 23). Where the material is only regarded as the means of making full, it may conceivably be spoken of as an instrument; but this would require the agent to be expressed, and, besides, would be quite inappropriate to the Holy Spirit. For these reasons the rendering mentioned in the margin RV. (Braune’s also) is not to be hastily rejected. “Be filled in spirit,” not in your carnal part, but in your spiritual. Alford attempts to combine both ideas, “let this be the region in, and the ingredient with which you are filled,” πνεῦμα being the Christian’s “own spirit dwelt in and informed by the Holy Spirit of God.” This seems an impossible combination, or rather confusion of two distinct ideas. Macpherson, in order to secure a contrast between the “stimulation of much wine and the stimulation of a large measure of the Spirit,” represents the apostle as saying, “conduct yourselves like those that are possessed, but see to it that the influence constraining you is that of the Holy Spirit.” It is hardly too much to say that this is a reductio ad absurdum of the supposed antithesis. There is nothing about excitement, nor does St. Paul anywhere sanction such conduct.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Be not drunk [μη μεθυσκεσθε] . See on Joh 2:10.

Wherein. In drunkenness, not in wine.

Excess [ασωτια] . Rev., riot. Lit., unsavingness. See on riotous living, Luk 14:13.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.