Living in the Spirit's Fullness...Continued from page 3

So put all that together, and this verb is saying, "Allow yourselves continually to be being filled with the Holy Spirit."  That's not a suggestion, it's an order!  That's the key!  So we put all that together and we come to one conclusion: that the Spirit's fullness is the key to healthy relationships, and it is normative for all Christians, whether husbands or wives or children or parents.  It is not for a spiritual 'elite'.  It is not for the piously inclined.  This is a fundamental principle, a fundamental instruction that is normative for all believers.  If we want to live healthy relationships, according to biblical standards, it is done in the fullness of the Spirit.

Now the question we have to ask is:  What does this thing mean, this idea of being filled with the Spirit?  Well, we've already pointed out to you the rather unusual juxtaposition in this verse:  "Do not be drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit."  Why would Paul put these two very different ideas together?  It would seem to me the only reason would be by way of contrast, and by way of analogy.  Analogies are similes; they are examples that we use.  When there is something we don't understand, we put it alongside something that has similarities that we do understand.  So Paul assumes that the Ephesians know what it's like to be drunk, and what happens when you're drunk. 

I have to confess to you I have never been drunk, so it would be very difficult for me to use this analogy.  I have never been drunk, but I lived part of my life in very close contact with drunks!  I served in the Royal Marine Commandos, and in the Royal Marine Commandos there are many people who spend a lot of their time drunk.  In fact, you might say that you either need to be stupid or drunk to be in the Marine Commandos. Maybe I need to retract that?  I was stupid, I was young and foolish!  Anyway, it was wonderful theological training, and wonderful preparation for the pastorate. 

My friends would say, "Lofty, are you coming ashore with us?"  Lofty, because I was over six feet.  I would say, "What are you going to do?"  "Gonna have a couple of drinks!"  I knew their mathematics were suspect!  I'd say, "No thanks!"  They'd say, "Come on, be a man!"  I'd say, "No, thank you!  I'll be whatever the alternative is this evening."

So off they would go to be men, and early the next morning they would come back barely recognizable as men. Some of them came back behaving like children, some in a terrible state, some of them literally crawling on their hands and knees, trying to find the door. So I would put them in the shower, clean them up, lift them into their beds, and tie them in, so they wouldn't fall off the top bunk onto the concrete floor -- not that they would feel it.  Generally, I’d nursemaid them.