Ephesians 5:14-21 Bible Teaching

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Okay we left of last week with Paul telling the believers in that day to walk as children of the Light – among other things.

And we ended with him saying some things that could be taken wrongly, remember? He said:

Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (and I said that reprove better means shine a light or expose them by your light than words of condemnation) and then Paul added:
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

This leads us to verse 13 where he says:

Ephesians 5.14-
Milk
November 24th 2019

13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

Anything and everything that is exposed, Paul says, is exposed by the LIGHT and then he adds:

For whatever makes something clear, or observable, or exposes it – reveals it for what it is, is LIGHT with the sense being that “Light is the means of seeing what things are.” By it we can discern the form, nature, and the very characteristics of a person, place or thing. Without Light in or near the presence of such things its much more difficult to understand what we are dealing with.

That’s why police, and firfighters, and mechanics, and plumbers and the like carry flashlights – they enable them to clearly assess a person, place or thing in order to then fix, manipulate or understand it.

The nature of Christ – a light that had come into the world – exposes the nature of dark things in the world – by his very presence, which is in us by faith. And by that light – HIM – we are able to see the true nature of the people, places and things of this world. He manifests them to us and they are revealed in plain sight (so to speak).

So, Paul adds,

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

So, jump back with me to verse 14

“For whatsoever doth make manifest is light.”

We are speaking of the spiritual realm here but we know from the material world the principle remains true.

Anytime we are faced with trying to discern or understand something in the dark we automatically desire physical light to reveal it.

Since Christ is the Light of the World (especially in the spiritual sense) in order to understand the spiritual essence of anything we do it by Christ who reveals.

And if we call whatever makes manifest or whatever exposes something in the physical world light, the same can be said of whatever reveals things in the spiritual world – it is light. And this brings us full circle to Paul admonishing his reader to walk as Children of Light – children of God – who scripture clearly calls Light, Fire and Love.

At this point and in light of all he has said Paul gives us a “Wherefore,” saying at verse 14

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

Okay. Troublesome passage as it is yet another example of Paul appearing (and I emphasize appearing) to be citing or quoting something that God or scripture has God saying – but we really have to concrete evidence to support this and it leaves us to
conjecture.

Passages assigned to Paul include Isaiah 60:1-4, which says

1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

But truth be told, what Paul says here:

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

Has little actual direct relation to these Old Testament passages.

Look to the scholars and you will get as many ideas about what Paul means as the scholars you consult.

Some say that it is a rendering of Isaiah
26:19, which says

“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”

But again, the reality is that what Paul says is truly far afield from that passage as well.

Other suggest that Paul is paraphrasing from others in the Old Testament as some believe that he cites the words from a Hebrew book long lost. Epiphanius assigned these words to a prophecy of Elijah; Syncellus believed it came from Jeremiah and Hippolytus from the writing of some unknown prophet.

Jerome believed that it was taken from some apocryphal writings. Others have suggested that it is a reference is to a song or hymn that was sung by the early Christians and many suggest that it refers to the Jews focus on the blowing of the trumpet on the first day of the month (or the feast of the new moon) which was a call to repentance.

But guess what? All conjecture.

Paul has been telling the believers to be separate from those that work darkness, that they ought to walk as children of Light and whatever he is referring to here will in all probability remain a mystery but we do see the context he uses the words, and therefore understand his meaning fairly well.

“Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

The idea here is that if they will use all the powers with which God has endowed them and arouse themselves (again, the two-way street) from their spiritual slumber, like a person rises from the death, then they could expect Christ to shine upon and from them, and bless them in attempts.

We cannot escape the response-ability Paul places on the believers here to choose to act, and the fact that he straight-up tells them that if they do THEN Christ will respond accordingly.

Listen to what Paul puts on the believers themselves in this short selection of verses:

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, (one way) and Christ shall give thee light.(Two way street)
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

It’s all admonitions to the individual believers to choose to do such things. Collectively they create a theme which I believe was central to that day and age and the Church-Bride to which he was addressing.

I say this for a couple of reasons. First, some of the phrases he uses assign his words specifically to that setting and age.

Secondly, some of the terms and phrases he uses are heavy – I mean actually burdensome. And I have to wonder about them and their assignment to people today. If they have application then I am really off on what it means to be a Christian today AND what is required to enter into the Kingdom of God and Christ. So we have to take them and test all things, holding fast to what is good.

As we work through them we will touch on these ideas. So, go back with me to verse 15 where he says:

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise . . .

Paul’s whole purpose in these instructions is to keep the Saints in Asia minor from going back into their old ways. He gives his reasons for this as we move through the passages. Anyway, he says:

“See then that YOU walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise.”

The term AKRIBOS, which is translated to circumspectly is a heavy term and it really means the opposite of liberty or freedom in Christ. It mean walk “diligently, carefully, anxiously and even perfectly” and is really a demanding term. In my estimation, burdensome (to tell you the truth).

I do NOT want to be guilty of twisting the scripture NOR its application and so we have to understand the application of this advice of Paul to them/then because in the spirit of honesty we CANNOT get away from the fact that this is the command from Paul in scripture, to them.

If the words have direct application to us now, then we had better walk circumspectly – “anxiously, deliberately and even perfectly.” And frankly, this takes me personally back to a place of religion, of prison, because Paul does place the onus of this approach to Christian living directly on the individual.

Paul was giving this advice to help them guard themselves against the temptation to reassume the lifestyles they had before among the heathen. Nevertheless, it is biblical and the meaning is plain.

He goes on and adds, “not as fools, but as wise.”

The idea of wise living and foolish was introduced to us by Jesus when he taught toward the end of His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7. Note the indirect connections Jesus makes to the end of the age here. He has just finished teaching the Sermon on the Mount and he adds as a wrap up:

Matthew 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Paul has also entered into “fool/wise” admonitions here for Christians living in that day and age. They are in my opinion tied to what was surrounding them then, and what was headed their way – rains, floods, winds – and if they were not firmly established on the Rock and His will for them, they could – some did – fall.

So he is admonishing them to not embrace a style or standard of living that was relaxed and not on high alert. He was telling them to watch, be anxious, and to deliberately and circumspectly act out their Christian living. And after telling them such he adds (at verse 16)

16 Redeeming the time (and tells them why), because the days are evil.

Is this advice applicable to all believers of every age? I think so – and I personally take it seriously in my own life. But we cannot get around the specific setting that Paul was in and addressing here – the wrapping up of that age with destruction and salvation headed their way.

When Paul admonishes them to redeem the time, he seems to mean purchasing or buying back up, repossessing time that was lost in the wicked past with time spend in doing good.

I consider this an important principle – at least in my life as so much wrong was done by me in my younger years there seems to be an opportunity to buy those years back somehow with goodness – not as a means to create a mountain of good works, but more as a means to level my life’s playing field.

In my mind it only makes sense if the first thirty years were spent thieving the next thirty years ought to be spent giving.

And if the first thirty years were spent arrogantly the second forty ought to be spent in some sort of contrition.

Paul is telling these former heathens the same – but the reason he gives for the advice is “because the days are evil – redeem the time because the time in which you live is evil.”

To me the reason Paul prescribes them the act of redeeming the time is because all around them were allurements and temptations that would or could lead them away from the faith which would be utterly detrimental to their being part of the Bride.

Don’t waste these short months and years on the things you once did – use the short time ahead to redeem those years of your former lives not adding to them. And so he adds (verse 17)

17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but (be) understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Don’t build your house upon sand – the wind and rains and floods are coming. Show wisdom in your walk with the Lord and in the time remaining. And then he taps on a subject very applicable to that day and age and the way most people lived, saying:

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

Drunkedness was a vice to which many in that day were addicted.

So much so that it was part of the pagan festivals in the celebration of Bacchus.

For those who have seen the movie classic, “A Christmas Story” the narrator paradoxically says amidst scenes of a busy city:

“Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas – around which the entire kid-year revolved. Downtown Hohman was prepared for its yearly bacchanalia of peace on earth and good will toward men.”

That word, Bacchanalia originates from the Greek God Bacchas who was pretty much a carbon copy of Dionysus. Except Bacchus was the god of argriculture and vineyards who wandered the earth showing people how to grow vineyards.

Well tied to growing grapes is drinking wine, and Bacchas was the Greek God for festivals that included getting drunk on wine, running wild through the streets and fields, singing crazy songs and participating in community orgies – all in the honor of Bacchus.

Plato wrote, that during the abominable ceremonies in the worship of Bacchus were going on it was difficult to find in all Attica a single sober man. Plato says, that while those abominable ceremonies in the worship of Bacchus continued, it was difficult to find in all of Attica a single sober man.

It is probable that Paul is speaking directly to actions he recommends Christians of that day to take in opposition to these Bacchanalian activities.

So, he tells them

18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but (or this is what a Christian should drunk on) be filled with the Spirit;
And he adds
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

Again, it seems to me that this is a direct replacement-advice that Paul proposed in the face of the festivals of Bacchus and is NOT a directive on what Christians today are to be doing day in (and day out) with their lives.

Now hear me clearly – there is nothing wrong with these directives, and if a person is led to doing them daily – fine – may the Spirit lead. But Paul’s instructions – like his instruction to be like him and not marrying – were to them then and I would assign these passages to the same thinking.

This is not to say that getting drunk on wine is recommended nor to reject the singing of Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs, which are far better modes of devotion to the true and living God than ribald songs of drunken merriment.

But it is to say let the spirit guide and do not let these words in ink be used as a trap to burden you with undue laws.

Now, because we are here and on this topic we have to address drinking wine, then all alcohol, then getting drunk and what the Bible says about it all.

There are A LOT of passages that talk about drinking and drunkenness in scripture. There are many that speak against being intoxicated and/or allowing wine or strong drink to consume your person. But there are a number of passages that extol the benefits of alcohol consumption within reason.

I am not going to make this a major deal because everyone of us know when something is beneficial to our lives and when it slips over to the realm of detrimental.

I stand greatly opposed to making rules for anyone, and do not believe that there is anything evil in alcohol itself nor consuming it.

There are however three parameters that the scripture appeal to when it comes to drinking alcoholic beverages.

I want to first point out that if you are a biblical literalist you get yourself into some trouble when it comes to this topic. For instance here in Ephesians, if you are a biblical literalist, and you read:

18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess”

Then you can only say that getting drunk on wine is prohibited – and we know why Paul mentions this specific beverage here. So, there is that.

Secondly, what, when, if and how much a person drink’s is in my estimation between them and their maker. Again, there are good principles made about drinking in scripture but let the spirit guide, remembering that God wants what is best for His children and not something that will harm them.

Finally, and unlike our LDS friends, it is not a sin – according to the Bible – to drink alcohol.

Psalm 104:15 says to “go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.”

Additionally, the Bible makes three provisions for the consumption of alcohol for believers.

The first one, however, is advice given by Jesus that is directly related to His return. It is mentioned in Luke where Jesus says to four of His apostles:

Luke 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting (that’s a headache from a hangover), and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole land.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

That is the context of Jesus words against getting drunk and having hangovers – don’t do it because you will not be ready, and therefore accounted worthy to escape all the things that were going to come to pass that Jesus just described to them.

To us, if you think Jesus is coming soon, you ought to take this advice to heart and be on the lookout. However, the advice no matter what the eschatology is sound.

We want to be alive and alert toward life around us. And nobody – Christian or not – want to have a substance in control of their life.

So this seems to be the first general rule about drinking in our life as Christians – can you consume and not loose the liberty Christ gave His life for you to have.

I doubt anyone starts out drinking and saying to themselves:

“I want to lose my health, respect, job family and spouse by doing this.”

But for some alcohol can be a trap that will remove you out of functioning at your highest capacity. To me, that is when it becomes unwise. Because we were made to be free in Him and to love others with that freedom. When alcohol causes us to love it or ourselves more, there’s a problem.

Hand in hand with being free to love God and others more than self, Galatians 5:13 provides us with another biblical guideline, saying,

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

So yes, we have freedom – total freedom to do as we wish in life, but that freedom is always gauged by the dictates of love for God and love for others FIRST.

Therefore, a follower of Christ would refrain from using their liberty in a way that would or could harm others or cause them to stumble.

Paul spoke about this principle at length when it came to eating meat sacrificed to idols because some could do it without a care but others in partaking of such could cause them remorse, or even lead them back to idolatry.

Put the other first when you are deciding to drink – and you have a great guideline from the Spirit whose fruit is love.

This liberty and the balance of it is so beautifully expressed in Romans 14:21-22 where Paul says

“It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.”

You want to drink alcohol? Have at it – but be cognizant of those who cannot handle it and out of love avoid consuming it in front of them. Pretty basic Agape Love 101.

The last one is tough – but its biblical and so we have to discuss it, and it’s the idea that Christians are not at liberty to get drunk.

To me, this advice is sound, and reasonable but it is always taken in light of the other two factors:

ONE: Does the presence of alcohol take over you or your life, and TWO has it done this in the presence of others who would be affected by this effect?

But then we enter into what is drunk? Do we use each state to define drunk for us or do we know ourselves? Does it mean tipsy? Buzzed? Feeling good so as to not be able to drive? Or totally slop-faced?

I think we all know what drunk looks and feels like, and we are responsible for what we will allow or reject.

What does the Bible certainly warn against?

Alcohol taking over the life of believers, believers consuming alcohol in a way that causes others to stumble, and bottom line:

Drunkedness.

I tend to think of biblical drunkenness as a way of life, and one that causes unloving attitudes and behaviors toward others, especially those in our care, those who are young, and or those believers who could be stumbled by it.

To the Bride in that day, the scriptures are replete with warnings against such:

Paul wrote in Romans 13:13 “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.”

In Galatians 5:21 “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do (“practice”) such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

1st Corinthians 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

In my estimation, the use of these terms are all in harmony with the three items discussed contextually:

First, alcohol use should not infringe upon our ability to love God and others selflessly and sacrificially. Second, it shouldn’t stumble others (which is another expression of selfless love) and third,

it ought to be used in a way that does not lead to failure of the first two, which is how I define drunkenness – as a lifestyle rather than a temporary state of being that is arbitrarily debated by law and individuals.

To the saints in that day Paul in place of drunkenness says:

“But be filled with the Spirit.”

It is an interesting concept in relation to drinking – to get drunk you have to fill yourself with alcohol. Instead, Paul says to be filled with the Spirit – which some charismatics have taken to even mean get “drunk in the Spirit.”

Which by the way is a man-made idea – and rather embarrassing one at that.

19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
(which I believe was in reference to the Bacchanalian activities of the heathens but remains good advice to believers today) and then

20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

It is thought that this line, “giving thanks always,” is connected to the singing of spiritual songs and making melody in your heart which is a form of always giving thanks. But nevertheless, a heart of gratitude toward God and the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is a wonderful state of mind to be in as a believer.

At this point Paul adds a final line at verse 21 which will springboard us into another subtle direction, saying:

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

And here we enter into another concept that will take up some time next week – submission.

The word means allowing or maintaining respectful willing subordination of the self to various people in life.

We will see next week that Paul will take this general principle and build on it in the remainder of the chapter as he will speak in verses 22-24 of wives submitting to husbands and then in chapter 6 to children submitting to parents and finally servants submitting to masters.

We will see that while speaking of a willingness to submit to others Paul will emphasize the import of those bestowed with authority to refrain from any abuse of power.

He does this with husbands toward wives, fathers toward children, and masters toward servants.

But the general advice which he starts of saying is:

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

We are talking about an attitude here that springs from the heart. It is presented in

Philippians 2:3 where Paul says:

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

The idea of forced submission is truly repugnant to the real meaning here that Paul is trying to convey here in Ephesians 5:21.

Instead he is hoping for voluntary humility, that “with lowliness of mind” each person would look upon others as being worthy of their subjection.

The general attitude is echoed in Romans 12:10-11 where he says

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.”

It seems the one word to describe the opposite of submission or subjection is vainglory, and Paul uses this terms frequently in his epistles.

So, we read in Galatians 5:26 “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

And Peter adds in 1st Peter 5:5

“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

This is the point of all of this about submitting and/or subjecting – it leads to an environment of kind humility, willingness, and opposite of vainglorious pride.

No matter who we are talking about, submission or subjection is never ever in the Spirit of authoritarianism or the raining down of demands from a superior upon another.

We remember what Jesus told his apostles:

Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

We remember He also said:

“And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.”

Finally, Peter adds insights that also help set the stage and mindset for those who are putting themselves in subjection to others AND those who are being submitted to, saying:

1st Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

We will get into the specifics of submission that Paul details here next week!

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