Sermon on 22 March 2020 by Pastor Gaius Lee
Ephesians 5:18-21 - “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
Every time I follow my wife to the supermarket, I notice that whenever she wants to purchase something, she will look for the product with the furthest expiry date - the freshest. We desire to have a fresh anointing with the Lord. How many still remember the first moment you knew Christ? In our daily lives, sometimes God isn’t present at all. This series is an important reminder in our lives, especially when we are going through dry seasons. Let’s go back to God and listen to His words. God is always watching over us but we take it for granted. When we go back to God, He will always want to take us in as His children.
Ephesians 5:18 - “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.“
In weddings and celebrations, it is a culture to toast. Or in some ladies who have went through pregnancy, they will turn to alcohol to nourish the body. In this verse, it seems like God doesn’t want us to drink wine. God is not against wine. In the first miracle Jesus did, He turned water into wine. Usually people serve the guests the best wine then when they get drunk, they serve inferior wine. The keyword is not wine, but drunk. In our society, we learn to live healthily. We eat food less in sugar and salt and eat in moderation. I have some friends that need sugar if not they will faint. It doesn’t mean that you should have a meal without sugar at all. Don’t do things in excess. After you drink a few sips, you feel good enough for the celebration and that’s it. Don’t go beyond that. In fact, there was a character in the Bible that wasn’t in a right state of mind due to over drinking. He was Noah. God saved his family of 8 but he also had a drinking problem. We start to behave ridiculously. In NLT, it says that getting drunk with wine will ruin your life. The problem with us is that we don’t know when we will get drunk. We are not conscious the moment we are already in that situation.
What is debauchery? It means indulgence of alcohol, sex and drugs. When we are drunk in wine, we tend to go back to our bad habits. Debauchery does not only apply to drinking. Again in our lives, many things can cause debauchery. There may be other types of addictions that take over your life. They will destroy your lives. When Paul said don’t be drunk with wine, it applies to every other addictions. In excess, we cannot control ourselves. As we search ourselves, is there anything that take over God in our lives? Is God really our number one? Or sometimes, is God not even in our priorities? How many of us talk to our Heavenly Father when we wake up? However, doing that isn’t good enough as the Pharisees can do it well too. We need to walk His word out and love our enemy. By saying this, I’m not condemning anyone as we all struggle with this. There are moments when we neglected God. All is not lost and we are not going to Hell because we did all those. We repent and go back to God and He accepts us. We need to control those temptations.
Ephesians 5:3 - “Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you.”
God is very general in saying what sins we should not commit. When He says this, it means that many people commit those sins. The Bible says that if you look at another person with lust, you have already committed adultery. You can take a look when someone attractive walk pasts you, it is natural. We are bound to see it but the key thing is whether the image stays in you. Get on with your actions and life is usual after seeing them. If you still think about them after seeing them, you have indulged yourself. And that is sexual immorality. God’s standards are very high. We have to be very careful of that. You can see but don’t let it stay in your mind.
Pastor Justin said that we are just like a white piece of cloth. Put a drop of stain on it and we will be focused on it. We are supposed to be pure but if we have a drop of sin, God will notice it. We need Jesus’ blood to cleanse us but we also need to maintain ourselves to be worthy. No matter how small the sin is, it is still a sin.
I took one business module before. This course taught on how to sell a product. The teacher taught me to come up with a product to make your neighbours jealous of. When we see our friends having something, and when we decide not to be content with what we have, that is greed. We start to compare and have complaints and that will be the sin of greed. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. We need money and it is innocent. But how we use it is important. We are it’s master and it will serve us. But if they are our master and we are the slave, it will destroy us. Jealousy is something very real in our lives. During the time of Saint Paul, He wrote letters to the Romans and the Corinthians. The hearts of people were terrible. He described them as jealous. They were successful Churches but were jealous of each other. They will not talk to each other and are always in competition. Today, there are still such people around. We pray that God will always reveal to us when we are wrong. We should go back to God and repent and let Him control. The Bible says we can be angry but sin not. Don’t let the anger be with you till the sun sets. We have to make sure it is short and fast and if there is heart of jealous and anger, pray for mercy and let it go.
Ephesians 5:4 - neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting,which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
Filthiness are dirty jokes. Foolish talk are things that are not true and cause divisions. Crude joking is like vulgar language. All these are impure. If I make a joke in a funeral, that is out of place. If our friend said something and everyone is uncomfortable, that is out of place and is a form of impurity. Let none of these come out of our mouth. We use this mouth to God so we shouldn’t use it to curse others. Our tongue is such a small organ but holds so much power. Watch our tongue and let it be not out of place.
Ephesians 5:5 - You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
Revelation 22:15 - Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
If we are like this, we have no place in the Kingdom. We cannot enter heaven. God doesn’t like witchcraft as you are praying to other gods. If you are greedy, you are an idol worshiper. Those who love to tell lies to make themselves better are outside of the city. This message is not to scare us or condemn us. There are people in this world that like to read revelation. Some people have their own understanding of it. It is a book of prophecy but it is also a book of hope.
Revelation 22:14 - Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.
Revelation is a book of warning but more importantly a book of hope. What is said in the Bible are all coming true in our generation. But we shouldn’t stop there and be afraid and neglect God. We can enter His Kingdom as long as we keep our robes clean. We hope that Jesus will bring us through.
Ephesians 5:3 - Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.
When we come before God, we need to search ourselves and see if we have all of those. Jesus’ first message was to repent.
Improper for God’s Holy People: Immorality, Impurity, Idolatry
What can we replace debauchery with?
We can ask God to remove our sins but we have to replace it with something. We cannot leave it empty as we will fill ourselves with things of the world. Then we can walk in victorious living.
Ephesians 5:18 - Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit
There is a difference between being spiritually gifted and filled spiritually as seen in 1 Corinthians 12,14.
Galatians 5:22-23 - But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
In school, we learn mathematics. It is a tough topic for many children but it is also a very useful tool. Without mathematics, we can survive too. Many hawkers did not have opportunities to do so but they are still successful. However, they live a life of difficulties. They have to wake up early to get the freshest ingredients and wash up and do the accounting. With mathematics, it makes my life easier. If you have a gift of prophecy, you can help someone else to make their lives easier. To have spiritual gifts is always to help others. It is to build others up. We are not shunning them but we shouldn’t use it to glorify ourselves. By being spiritually filled, we will have the 9 traits. Without education, you can be filled too. I have a cousin that is closer to God in a period in my life. I made mistakes and he came to advise me. He did not receive higher education and in fact did not finish his ‘N’ Levels. He told me that I am very blessed as I can use many more verses to share God to others as I graduated from university. He only could use John 3:16 to do so. If God has given you the gift, use it to bless one another. If you have coffee in your cup but you want tea. To get tea, you have to overfill it with tea so that the coffee overflows. Keep filling yourself with the Spirit. Meditate on His words then you will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:19 - singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
Let’s not only sing on Sundays but everyday. When Paul wrote this, people like to drink alcohol and when they get drunk, they will sing secular songs. Be filled with the Spirit and sing hymns. Let’s sing songs to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:20 - And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is easy to give thanks when you are treated right. When things don’t go your way, can you still give thanks? We continue to sing praises to God and He will give us the breakthrough. He shows us solutions but He doesn’t show us the end. He shows us one step at a time. This is called faith. If I can see the end, I will use my own methods to get there.
Ephesians 5:4 - neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting,which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
Ephesians 5:21 - And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
In Ephesians 5:22, the word "submit" doesn’t mean a master and slave relationship. The husband makes a decision but the wife manages the decision. When we love our wives more than we love ourselves, they will automatically submit to you. When Paul says wives submit to their husbands, He is telling the wives to submit because their husband will love them. Everybody submits to one another as everyone serves one another. Others are more important than yourself.
A Fresh Anointing Daily Be Filled with the Spirit. Sing spiritual songs, Say thanks to God, Submit to one another.
Ephesians 5:6-9 - Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
Ephesians 5:10-12 - Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.
Ephesians 5:13-14 - But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
Ephesians 5:15-17 - So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Ephesians 5:18-21 - Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Amen.
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