Ephesians 5:18

“And be not drunk with wine, in which is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Paul wrote those words to his Christian friends in Ephesus, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18. How strange that Paul would use drunkenness to teach us a lesson about living in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. But remember he’s talking in contrast. “And be not drunk with wine, in which is excess; but [that’s a contrast word “but”] be filled with the Spirit.” You see He wants us to have joy not shallow amusement or exhilaration. When somebody gets drunk, that drunkenness may look like joy but it’s not. It’s a shallow kind of deteriorating amusement. Ah, but with the Holy Spirit within, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we have a true abounding joy. The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy.

When a person gets drunk, he’s out of control, but when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, there is self-control. It’s not indulgence. It’s self-control. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. You see alcohol causes a person to bypass his mind and his will. He’s under the control of something else that he cannot control. Not so with the Holy Spirit! When the Holy Spirit has control of your life, you are more in control than ever before because the Holy Spirit of God uses your mind and your heart and your will to control your life.

He’s talking here about freedom not slavery. Drunkenness is slavery. We say that he’s a slave to drink. Ah, but the Holy Spirit of God gives us a freedom in the will of God. More than that, when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, not only do you have joy and control and freedom, but you have reality. A drunk is living in fantasy, illusion. He thinks he has power. He only has weakness. He thinks he’s happy. He’s only miserable. But when you have the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God, you are in touch with reality. Oh, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. This is true living in the power of the Holy Spirit.