SO THEN DO NOT BE FOOLISH: dia touto me ginesthe (2PPMM) aphrones.: (Ep 5:15; Colossians 4:5)

Note: All verbs in bold red indicate commands, not suggestions! Also hold mouse pointer over underlined links for pop up of Scripture which stays open and can be copied.

So then - Because we are called to walk wisely so as to maximize the use of the opportunities God gives us each day, Paul says first stop being foolish or showing lack of sense (the negative). Then he emphasizes (the positive) that we are to discern the will of God. In the next verse Paul explains one of the most important truths about the will of God, negatively not to be drunk with wine but positively to be "drunk" with the Spirit, letting Him control your life.

So then (1223) (dia) in this case is used in its causal sense - in consequence of, by, on the basis of, on account of the evil nature of the days, stop being foolish.

(Not) Be (1096) (ginomai) means to become. The present imperative with a negative commands them to stop an action already in progress - stop becoming foolish. Paul is saying stop acting as if you don’t have the ability to understand the situations that occur in your life and how God wants you to respond because you do have that ability now in Christ, in the New Self. Second Timothy tells us we are not like people who are lost but have minds that have been saved (see word study sophronismos). We can understand what God wants us to do.

Moule writes Paul is charging us...

do not "become" such (mindless, witless, as regards duty and its conditions), by a permitted habit of forgetfulness, deepening till it fixes. (Ephesian Studies: Expository Readings on the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians)

Charles Hodge writes that...

Therefore—i.e., either “because the days are evil” or “because you are bound to walk as wise people.” The latter is to be preferred, because the reference is to the main idea of verses 15–16 and not to a subordinate clause. “You must no longer live in the futility of their thinking.” Compare Luke 11:40, “You foolish people! [You unthinking ones!] Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?” Also see Luke 12:20; 1 Corinthians 15:36; 2 Corinthians 11:16; etc. In all these cases “fools” means people who do not make a right use of their understanding, who do not see things in their true light or estimate them according to their relative importance. Here it is contrasted with understand: “Do not be senseless, undiscriminating between what is true and false, right and wrong, important and unimportant, but understanding (i.e., discerning) what God’s will is.” That is, see things as God sees them, and make his will or judgment your standard and the rule of your conduct. (Ephesians 5:3-20)

Wuest translates it...

On this account stop becoming those who are without reflection or intelligence (Wuest)

Eadie says that...

The Ephesian Christians, in order to enable themselves to redeem the time, were not to be thoughtless, but to possess a perfect understanding of the Master's will. They would then form just conceptions of daily duty, and would not lose time through the perplexity of conflicting obligations.

Foolish (878)(aphron from a = without + + phren = understanding,  means originally meant diaphragm and was regarded as the seat of mental and spiritual activity, then mind or understanding -- see another study on aphron - click here) is literally a lack of sense, reflection, understanding or reason. Aphron is one who does not use his rational powers. Aphron describes one not employing his understanding especially as it relates to practical matters. It means lack of good judgment and can refer to folly in action. It can express a reckless and inconsiderate habit of one's mind. Related ideas inherent in aphron are not using common sense, mindless or unmindful of the consequence of a thought or action, acting rashly.

The aphron is not a dim-witted person or clown (as in ‘play the fool’), but in secular Greek was the person who had lost the correct measure of himself and the world around him. He was one who lacked prudence (= the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason and includes the idea of acting with or showing care and thought for the future)

In the present verse foolish describes one who does not know the will of the Lord. Only as one understands what pleases God can he carry it out in his life, and not to do otherwise is foolish! In Ephesians 5:15  Paul describes the unwise, those who simply lack wisdom, but in this verse, the foolish behave contrary to what they know to be right.

In the OT exalting human reason is folly (aphron). The aphron is the fool who denies God in the Psalms. In Proverbs aphron refers to the simple or inexperienced person. Josephus uses aphron to describe youthful folly or lack of restraint.

Vincent writes that aphron means...

Senseless. In Xenophon’s “Memorabilia,” Socrates, addressing Aristodemus, says, “Which do you take to be the more worthy of admiration, those who make images without sense (aphrona) or motion, or those who make intelligent and active creations?” (1, 4:4). Sometimes, (aphron is used) also, in the sense of crazed, frantic, but never in New Testament. (Vincent, M. R. . Word Studies in the New Testament 1:369)

NIDNTT writes that in classic Greek use...

aphron, senseless, foolish and aphrosune, lack of sense, foolishness (both words from Homer onwards) indicate by the use of the Alpha-privative that the term is essentially defined by a lack or a negation, i.e. lack of insight and reason. But the possible development of a diseased mind is not excluded here either (Homer, Od. 23, 10-14). aphron can thus mean infatuated (Homer, Od. 21, 102) and aphrosune can be referred back to mania (Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 7, 6, both times, incidentally, through active intervention of the gods). But the words chiefly describe deficient perception of value and truth. (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan)

Aphron is used 11 times in the NT (see below) and 111 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (2Sa 13:13; Job 2:10; 5:2, 3; 30:8; 34:36; Ps 14:1; 39:8; 49:10; 53:1; 74:18, 22; 92:6; 94:8; Pr 1:22; 6:12; 7:7; 9:4, 13, 16; 10:1, 4, 18, 21, 23; 11:29; 12:1, 15f, 23; 13:16, 20; 14:1, 3, 7, 8, 16, 18, 24, 29, 33; 15:2, 5, 7, 20; 16:22, 27; 17:2, 7, 10, 12, 16, 18, 21, 24, 25; 18:6, 7, 22; 19:10, 13, 25, 28, 29; 20:3; 21:20; 22:3; 23:9; 24:9, 30; 26:1, 4, 5, 6, 27:3, 12, 22; 28:26; 29:11, 20; 30:2, 22; Eccl. 2:14, 15, 16, 19; 4:5, 13; 5:1, 3, 4; 6:8; 7:4, 5, 6, 9; 10:2, 3, 6, 12, 14, 15f; Is 59:7; Je 4:22; 17:11)

Luke 11:40 "You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? (Comment: Jesus uses aphron to describe the Pharisees because they thought that their  external works based righteousness could gain favor with God.) Jesus called the Pharisees fools for their preoccupation with externals

Luke 12:20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' (Comment: The rich man was a fool because he had failed to prepare to meet God. A fool is the one whose plans end at the grave! In both this verse and the preceding, Luke 11:40, willful and culpable ignorance is involved warranting a strong reproach. The Pharisees and the farmer both refused to take into account what God had revealed to his OT people.)

Romans 2:20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, (Comment: In this context aphron is used by those who are "religious" to refer to those they classify as immature in moral and religious matters.)

1 Corinthians 15:36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;

2 Corinthians 11:16 Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, that I also may boast a little.

2 Corinthians 11:19 For you, being so wise, bear with the foolish gladly.

2 Corinthians 12:6 For if I do wish to boast I shall not be foolish, for I shall be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one may credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.

2 Corinthians 12:11 I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody.

Ephesians 5:17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

1 Peter 2:15 (note) For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. (Comment: Here foolish describes those obstinately set against the gospel.)

BUT UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS: alla suniete (2PPAM) ti to thelema tou kuriou.: (Deut 4:6; 1Ki 3:9, 10, 11, 12; Job 28:28; Ps 111:10; 119:27; Pr 2:5; 14:8; 23:23; Je 4:22; 1Th 4:1, 2)

Take a moment and do a survey of some Scriptural passages related to God's will (interrogate with the 5W'S & H [for many of the passages it will be important to check the context] and write down your observations/applications in your devotional notebook)  -  Mt 6:10, 7:21, 12:50, 26:42, Mark 3:35, Jn 4:34, 6:40, 7:17, Acts 13:22, 21:14, 22:14, Ro 12:2, Eph 5:17, 6:6, Col 1:9, 4:12, 1Th 4:3, 5:18, Heb 10:7, 10:36, 13:21, 1Pe 2:15, 4:2, 1Jn 2:17, Ps 40:8, 143:10

Even Jesus prayed...

"Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done." (Lk 22:42)

And He taught us to pray...

'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. (Mt 6:10 -note)

Paul described a similar idea when he wrote that believers walking as children of light should continually be

trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ep 5:10-note)

Understand (4920) (suniemi from sun/syn = with + hiemi = send) (Click study of related noun sunesis) literally means to send together or bring together. The idea is to put together "pieces of the puzzle" (so to speak) and to exhibit quick comprehension.  Suniemi is describes the  ability to understand concepts and see relationships between them. Suniemi means to put together, grasp or exhibit quick comprehension.  Suniemi is the manifestation of the  ability to understand concepts and see relationships between them and thus describes the exercise of the faculty of comprehension, intelligence, acuteness, shrewdness.

The noun sunesis was originally used by Homer in the Odyssey to describe the running together or a flowing together of two rivers.

The present imperative indicates this is a command to make this our continual practice to put grasp or comprehend the will of God.

BDAG says that suniemi means to...

to have an intelligent grasp of something that challenges one’s thinking or practice

There are 26 uses of suniemi in the NT - Mt 13:13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 51; 15:10; 16:12; 17:13; Mark 4:12; 6:52; 7:14; 8:17, 21; Lk. 2:50; 8:10; 18:34; 24:45; Acts 7:25; 28:26, 27; Ro 3:11; 15:21; 2Co 10:12; Ep 5:17.

There are 103 uses of suniemi in the Septuagint (LXX) - Ex 35:35; 36:1; Deut. 29:9; 32:7, 29; Joshua 1:7, 8; 1Sa 2:10; 18:14, 15; 2Sa 12:19; 1Ki 2:3; 3:9; 2Ki 18:7; 1Chr 25:7; 2Chr 20:17; 26:5; 30:22; 34:12; Ezra 8:15, 16; Neh. 8:2, 3, 8, 12; 10:28; 13:7; Job 15:9; 20:2; 31:1; 32:12; 36:4, 29; 38:31; Ps 2:10; 5:1; 14:2; 19:12; 28:5; 33:15; 36:3; 41:1; 49:12, 20; 50:22; 53:2; 58:9; 64:9; 73:17; 82:5; 92:6; 94:7, 8; 101:1; 106:7; 107:43; 119:95, 99, 100, 104; 139:2; Pr. 2:5, 9; 8:9; 21:11, 12, 29; 28:5; 29:7; Is 1:3; 6:9, 10; 7:9; 43:10; 52:13, 15; 59:15; Jer. 9:12, 24; 20:12; 23:5; Da 1:4, 17; 8:5, 17, 23, 27; 9:2, 13, 23, 25; 10:11, 12; 11:30, 33, 35, 37; 12:3, 8, 10; Ho 4:14; 14:9; Amos 5:13; Micah 4:12; Mt 13:13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 51; 15:10; 16:12; 17:13; Mark 4:12; 6:52; 7:14; 8:17, 21; Lk 2:50; 8:10; 18:34; 24:45; Acts 7:25; 28:26, 27; Ro 3:11; 15:21; 2 Co. 10:12; Ep 5:17.

Suniemi describes the comprehending activity of the mind denoted by suniemi entails the assembling of individual facts into an organized whole, as collecting the pieces of a puzzle and putting them together. The mind grasps concepts and sees the proper relationship between them. Such understanding includes the moral and religious awareness of man’s heart

Will (2307)(thelema from thélo = to will) means what one wishes or has determined shall be done or that which is desired or wished for. It refers to a desire which proceeds from one’s heart or emotions. This term expresses the result of one’s purpose or desire. Thelema has both an objective meaning (“what one wishes to happen”) and a subjective connotation (“the act of willing or desiring”). The word conveys the idea of desire, even a heart’s desire, for the word primarily expresses emotion instead of volition. Thus God’s will is not so much God’s intention, as it is His heart’s desire. It is His will not as a demand but as an inclination of pleasure towards that which is liked, which pleases and creates joy.

Understanding the will of the Lord, is virtually identical to Paul's earlier charge for believers to walk "trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord' (Eph 5:10-note) The subsequent verses explain God's will includes believers being filled with His Spirit, being thankful, submitting to one another, being loving husbands, being obedient children, being disciplining fathers, being obedient slaves and being non-threatening masters. The point is that God's will is best discerned from God's Word.

John explains the basic principle that "obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge" writing that...

"If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself. (John 7:17)

In Romans Paul explains one of the major ways to discern God's will writing...

And do not be conformed (present imperative with a negative means stop an action already in progress) to this world, but be transformed present imperative = be continually transformed = proceeding from and being truly representative of one’s inward character and nature) by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove (see word study on dokimazo) what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (See note Romans 12:2)

Comment: As we choose to be less and less poured into the mold of this world system which is opposed to God and allow God to change us from glory to glory as we take in and live out His sanctifying Word of truth, we are more and more enabled to put things to the test for the purpose of showing them to truly be God's will.

We can pray for God's will to fill us as Paul prayed for the Colossians writing...

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled (controlled by - the verb is pleroo, just as in Ephesians 5:18 "be filled with the Spirit") with the knowledge (not an mystical inner impression or feeling but a deep and thorough knowledge of the will of God) of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (See note Colossians 1:9) (Comment: Note that being filled with the knowledge of God's will results in the life or "walk" described in the following verses - we will be enabled to walk  - see Col 1:10, 11, 12- see notes Col 1:10;  11; 12)

Paul explains that a thankful attitude is God's will for believers writing that...

in everything give thanks; (present imperative) for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (NLT writes "No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus") (1Thes 5:18-note)

Comment: Notice that Paul does not say  give thanks for everything but in everything. And in the context of this Ephesians 5, we see that the way in which a believer can have a grateful attitude is by being continually filled with the Holy Spirit - cf Eph 5:20-notes "always giving thanks for all things"

MacDonald warns that doing God's will is crucial...

Because of the abounding evil and the shortness of the time, we might be tempted to spend our days in frantic and feverish activity of our own choosing. But this would amount to nothing but wasted energy. The important thing is to find out God’s will for us each day and do it. This is the only way to be efficient and effective. It is all too possible to carry on Christian work according to our own ideas and in our own strength, and be completely out of the will of the Lord. The path of wisdom is to discern God’s will for our individual lives, then to obey it to the hilt. (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)

Lord (2962) (kurios) signifies sovereign power and absolute authority. He is the One Who has absolute ownership and uncontested power and therefore the One Whose will is good and acceptable and perfect. As His loyal, loving subjects we do well to obey His will.

Wayne Barber sums on this section on knowing the will of the Lord stating that...

Generically, the will of the Lord is that we be strengthened in the inner man by the Spirit of God, that we obey Him, that we depend completely on Him, that we be surrendered in our attitude towards Him. Specifically because of that fear of God, God will give us wisdom in the specific areas of our life.

Charles Hodge writes that...

The will of the Lord is the will of Christ. That Lord here means Christ is plain not only from the general use of the New Testament, so often referred to, but also from the constant use of the word in this chapter as a designation of the Redeemer. Here again, therefore, the divinity of Christ is seen to be a practical doctrine, entering into the daily religious life of the believer. His will is the rule of truth and duty. (Ephesians 5:3-20)

John Stott writes that...

Nothing is more important in life than to discover and do the will of God. Moreover, in seeking to discover it, it is essential to distinguish between his ‘general’ and his ‘particular’ will. The former is so called because it relates to the generality of His people and is the same for all of us, e.g. to make us like Christ. His particular will, however, extending to the particularities of our life, is different for each of us, e.g. what career we shall follow, whether we should marry, and if so whom. Only after this distinction has been made can we consider how we may find out what the will of the Lord is. His ‘general’ will is found in Scripture; the will of God for the people of God has been revealed in the Word of God. But we shall not find His ‘particular’ will in Scripture. To be sure, we shall find general principles in Scripture to guide us, but detailed decisions have to be made after careful thought and prayer and the seeking of advice from mature and experienced believers. (Stott, J. R. W. God's New Society : The Message of Ephesians. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press) (Bolding added)

Harry Ironside remarking on do not be foolish writes that...

the only way that you and I can be delivered from our own natural foolishness, is by being divinely enlightened. We do not understand what the will of the Lord is excepting as we give ourselves to the careful, thoughtful study of His Word.

Years ago I used frequently to stop in the midst of a discourse and ask everyone in my audience who had read the Bible through once to raise his hand. The last time I did that I was so ashamed that I made up my mind never to do it again. I had an audience of five hundred people, all of whom professed to be Christians, and when I put that question to them, only two raised their hands, and I was ashamed to have the devil see it. I was so thankful that there were not a lot of sinners there to see it. They would certainly say, "Those Christians do not value their Bible very much."

I am reminded of something that occurred just recently in this city. There was an open religious forum down town. Clarence Darrow was there to represent the Atheists, another to represent Protestantism, another Roman Catholicism, and another, Judaism. The Catholic got up and told why he was a Catholic, and the Protestant got up and told why he was a Protestant, the Jew why he was a Jew, and then Clarence Darrow, the Atheist, got up to speak, and he said,

"Gentlemen, I have been very much interested in one thing. I notice neither Protestant, Catholic, nor Jew ever referred to the Bible. Evidently they no longer value that so-called Holy Book as they used to do."

And then he went on to declare that he was an Atheist because he had no use for the Book that they never even mentioned. What a pitiable thing that professed Christians should attempt to tell why they were Catholic or Protestant and never once refer to the Bible!

Oh, that you and I might be genuine Bible Christians! A friend of mine used to be designated as a walking Bible, and I thought, What a splendid description! If anybody ever came and said, "Mr. So-and-So, what do you think about such and such a thing?" he would say, "Let us see what God says about it," and out would come his Bible. "Why," the man would say, "I didn't know it was answered in the Book that way." I never knew this friend to say, "I think," but always, "God's Word says so and so."

If you and I would be wise with the wisdom that cometh from above, we need to search the Scriptures. I like that little chorus:

"In my heart, in my heart,
Send a great revival;
Teach me how to watch and pray,
And to read my Bible."
(cp Ps 119:25)

The pitiable thing is that the great majority of Christians, I dare say, are so busy with other things that they have very little time for their Bibles. Although engaged exclusively in Christian service now for forty-five years, I do not dare come into the pulpit, I do not dare undertake my day's work without first going to the Word of God to gather fresh manna from day to day (cp Mt 4:4, Lk 4:4, Deut 32:47). If sometimes I am so hurried in the morning because of being out very late the night before and oversleeping a little, or an urgent call comes and I rush out thoughtlessly without going to the Book, I find myself saying, "What is the matter with me today? I feel so dried up and half-starved spiritually. I am in no condition to try to minister to other people." And then the answer comes, "Why, you didn't have your spiritual breakfast this morning (cp 1Pe 2:2-note, Heb 5:14-note). You went off without a bit from God's Word," and I have to say, "Lord, forgive me for thinking that anything is more important than time spent with Thyself."

If you are not in the habit of reading your Bible methodically, prayerfully, let me beg of you, let me plead with you, go into the presence of God and confess to Him the sin of thus neglecting His Holy Word. He says, "Search the Scriptures," (cp Acts 17:11-note;) and if you disobey a command, it is sin. If you have been disobedient go to Him and confess it, and say, "Lord, henceforth teach me to say with Thy servant, 'Neither have I gone back267 from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food'" (Job 23:12-note  ; cp Ezra 7:9, 10-note).

Give God the first place in your life, give His Word the place it ought to have and then indeed you will understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians - Expository Commentary)

GEORGE MUELLER
ON FINDING THE WILL OF GOD

1. Surrender your own will.

I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.

2. Do not depend on feelings.

Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great elusions.

3. Seek, the Spirit's will through God's Word.

I seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusion also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

4. Note providential circumstances.

Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

5. Pray.

I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.

6. Wait.

1) The Scriptures declare He does have a definite will for my life. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” (Ps 37:23-Spurgeon). “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go” (Ps 32:8-Spurgeon). See also Eph 2:10-note; Heb 12:1-note.

2) God desires us to know this will for our lives. “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ep 5:17-note).

3) This will is continuous. It does not begin when I am thirty years of age. God has a will for children, young people, adults, and senior citizens. See Isa 58:11.

4) God’s will is specific. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’” (Isa 30:21). “But the way of the upright is a highway” (Pr 15:19).

5) God’s will is profitable (Jos 1:8-note; Ps 1:1, 2, 3-note).

What is the will of God for us? As we have already noted, it differs from believer to believer. But here are four aspects in the will of God which apply to every Christian:

It is His will that we learn more about God Col 1:9-note
It is His will that we grow in grace 1Th 4:3-note
It is His will that we study His Word 2Ti 3:14, 15, 16, 17- note
It is His will that we share our faith Acts 1:8; 1Ti 2:4 2Peter 3:9-note

F B Meyer (in his devotional on Mt 6:10) writes that...

(4) Beg grace and strength of God to do his will. ‘Teach me to do thy will:’ as if David had said, Lord, I need not be taught to do my own will, I can do it fast enough, but teach me to do thy will. Psalm 143:10 (Spurgeon). And that which may add wings to prayer, is God’s gracious promise, ‘I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.’ Ezekiel 36:27. If the lodestone draw the iron, it is not hard for the iron to move: if God’s Spirit enable, it will not be hard, but rather delightful to do God’s will.

AND DO NOT GET DRUNK WITH WINE: kai me methuskesthe (2PPPM) oino: (Genesis 9:21; 19:32, 33, 34, 35; Deuteronomy 21:20; Psalms 69:12; Proverbs 20:1; 23:20,21,29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35; Isaiah 5:11, 12, 13,22; Matthew 24:49; Luke 12:45; 21:34; Romans 13:13; 1Corinthians 5:11; 6:10; 1Corinthians 11:21; Galatians 5:21; 1Thessalonians 5:7)

And - It is sad that too often this great teaching is taken out of its context. The point is that the Greek connective "and" (kai) clearly links it with the preceding verses. The obvious implication is that being continually filled with the Spirit is intimately related to the will of God and also to making the most of one's time.

Moule writes...

And do not intoxicate yourselves with wine, in which, as if lying hidden in that dangerous vehicle, is riot, "dissoluteness" (asotia), the miserable license which bursts the bonds of conscience with dreadful ease, and breaks up the whole moral order. (Ephesian Studies: Expository Readings on the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians) (Bolding added)

Respected evangelical Pastor Ray Pritchard wrote that

the filling of the Spirit is the most important doctrine of the spiritual life. It is foundational to everything else. There is nothing we need more. Here is my definition of the filling of the Spirit: It is that state in which the Holy Spirit is free to do all that He came into my life to do. In a sense being filled with the Spirit is an impossibility-at least as far as it depends on us. Only God's Spirit can fill us. We need two things-emptiness and openness. You can't fill a jar that's already full, and you can't fill a jar that is not open. There must be a sense of need-"Lord, I'm empty and I need to be filled by Your Spirit." There must be a willingness-"Lord, I'm open to You..." The filling of the Spirit is really as simple as that. As long as we are conscious of our need and as long as we are willing to yield to the Lord, we can be filled with the Lord all day long. This power is available to us all day long. (Ephesians 5:18: Filled with the Holy Spirit?)

The NLT although a paraphrase presents an accurate sense of the meaning of the original Greek...

Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.

(Do not) Get drunk (3182) (methusko from methuo = drink to intoxication) means to get drunk or become intoxicated. Both wine and the Spirit do their work deep in the human psyche. They affect people below the level of consciousness, down at the foundations of personality. The Spirit is not merely with God's people but in them. The present imperative with a negative commands them to stop an action already in progress. (Forbidden as a habit and to stop it also if guilty)

Vincent writes that...

In the Septuagint the verb repeatedly occurs for watering (Ps. 65:9, 10), but always with the sense of drenching or soaking; of being drunken or surfeited with water. In Jer. 48 (Sept. 31) 26, it is found in the literal sense, to be drunken. The metaphorical use of the word has passed into common slang, as when a drunken man is said to be wetted or soaked (so Plato, above). The figurative use of the word in the Septuagint has a parallel in the use of potizo, to give to drink, to express the watering of ground. So Gen. 2:6, a mist watered the face of the earth, or gave it drink. Compare Gen. 13:10; Deut. 11:10. A curious use of the word occurs in Homer, where he is describing the stretching of a bull’s hide, which, in order to make it more elastic, is soaked (methuousan) with fat (“Iliad,” xvii., 390). (Vincent, M. R.  Word Studies in the New Testament 2:82)

There are 30 uses of methusko in the Septuagint (LXX) (Ge 9:21; 43:34; Deut. 32:42; 1Sa 1:14; 2Sa 11:13; Ps. 23:5; 36:8; 65:9, 10; Pr 4:17; 23:31; Song 5:1; Is 7:20; 34:5, 7; 49:26; 55:10; Je 25:27; 31:13, 25; 46:10; 48:26; 51:7, 39, 57; La 3:15; 4:21; Ho 14:7; Nah 3:11; Hab 2:15) and 5 in the NT...

Luke 12:45 "But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;

John 2:10 and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when men have drunk freely, then that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now."

Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

1 Thessalonians 5:7 (note) For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.

Revelation 17:2 (note) with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality."

Wuest has an interesting comment on methusko writing that...

A curious use of the word occurs in Homer, where he is describing the stretching of a bull’s hide, which in order to make it more elastic, is soaked (methusko) with fat.” The word, therefore, refers to the condition of a person in which he is soaked with wine. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans

Wine (3631) (oinos) (Dictionary Article on wine) is the fermented drink common in the Ancient near east. The wine most commonly drunk in Paul’s day was either nonalcoholic or had very low alcohol content. Fermented juice was mixed with water (as much as 8 or 10 parts water to 1 part wine) to lessen its power to intoxicate, particularly when the weather was hot and much fluid was consumed. Because water was frequently contaminated, as in many third world countries, the slight alcohol content of common wine acted as a disinfectant and had certain other health benefits.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote

Drink is not a stimulus, it is a depressant. It depresses first and foremost the highest centers of all in the brain. They are the very first to be influenced and affected by drink. They control everything that gives a man self-control, wisdom, understanding, discrimination, judgment, balance, the power to assess everything; in other words everything that makes a man behave at his very best and highest. The better a man’s control, the better man he is.… But drink is something which immediately gets rid of control; that indeed is the first thing it does.

Barnes writes that...

A danger to which they were exposed, and a vice to which those around them were much addicted. Luke 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 honour of that heathen 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 heathen. 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.

Barclay writes that Paul...

goes on to draw a contrast between a pagan gathering and a Christian gathering. The pagan gathering is apt to be a debauch. It is significant that we still use the word symposium for a discussion of a subject by a number of people; the Greek word sumposion literally means a drinking-party. Once A. C. Welch was preaching on this text: "Be filled with the Spirit." He began with one sudden sentence: "You've got to fill a man with something." The heathen found his happiness in filling himself with wine and with worldly pleasures; the Christian found his happiness in being filled with the Spirit. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos)

The Bible Background Commentary has an interesting note that...

Many people in the ancient world believed that drunkenness could produce a sort of inspiration or possession by Dionysus, god of wine. Dionysus’s most active worshipers yielded control of themselves to him and performed sexual acts or acts full of sexual symbolism (often to the distaste of conservative Romans). Here Paul may contrast this behavior with inspiration by God’s Spirit. People did not think of Dionysus every time someone became drunk, however; drunkenness was more commonly associated simply with loss of self-control. It was standard practice in both the late-night banquets of the rich and the taverns of the poor.

Wine
Nave's Topical Bible

Made from grapes, Gen. 40:11; 49:11; Isa. 25:6; Jer. 40:10, 12; from pomegranates, Song 8:2.
Kept in jars, Jer. 13:12; 48:12; in skins, Josh. 9:4, 13; Job 32:19; Matt. 9:17; Luke 5:37, 38; in bottles, Josh. 9:4, 13; Job 32:19; Jer. 13:12; 48:12; Matt. 9:17; Luke 5:37, 38.
Cellars for, 1 Chr. 27:27.
New, Hag. 1:11.
Old, Luke 5:39.
Medicinal use of, Prov. 31:6, 7; recommended by Paul to Timothy, 1 Tim. 5:23.
Used at meals, Matt. 26:27-29; Mark 14:23.
Made by Jesus at the marriage feast in Cana, John 2:9, 10.
Ceremonial use of, Matt. 26:27-29; Luke 22:17-20.
Forbidden to priests while on duty, Lev. 10:9; Ezek. 44:21; to Nazirites, Num. 6:2, 3; See: Nazirite.
Abstinence from, of Daniel, Dan. 1:5, 8, 16; 10:3; of courtiers of Ahasuerus, Esth. 1:8; of Timothy, 1 Tim. 5:23.
Samson's mother forbidden to drink, Judg. 13:4, 5.
Forbidden to kings, Prov. 31:4.
Denied to the Israelites in the wilderness, that they might know that the Lord was their God, Deut. 29:6.
Offered with sacrifices, Ex. 29:40; Lev. 23:13; Num. 15:5, 10; 28:7, 14.
Given by Melchizedek to Abraham, Gen. 14:18.
Fermented, Lev. 10:9; Num. 6:3; 28:7; Deut. 14:26; 29:6; Prov. 23:31, 32; Mark 2:22.
Refined, Isa. 25:6; Jer. 48:11.
Of staggering, Psa. 60:3.
Inflames the eyes, Gen. 49:12.
Commerce in, Rev. 18:13.
Banquets of, Esth. 5:6.
Given to Jesus at the crucifixion, Matt. 27:48; Mark 15:23; Luke 23:36; John 19:29.
Intoxication from the use of, Psa. 104:15; Prov. 4:17.
Instances of Intoxication from
Noah, Gen. 9:21; Lot, Gen. 19:32; Joseph and his brethren, Gen. 43:34; Nabal, 1 Sam. 25:36; Amnon, 2 Sam. 13:28, 29; Ahasuerus, Esth. 1:10; kings of Israel, Hos. 7:5; falsely charged against the disciples, Acts 2:13.
Figurative
Of the divine judgments, Psa. 60:3; 75:8; Jer. 51:7.
Of the joy of wisdom, Prov. 9:2, 5.
Of the joys of religion, Isa. 25:6; 55:1; Joel 2:19.
Of abominations, Rev. 14:8; 16:19.
Symbolical:
Of the blood of Jesus, Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:23, 24; Luke 22:20; John 6:53-56.
Unclassified Scriptures Relating to
Deut. 14:26; Deut. 33:28; 2 Kin. 18:32; 2 Chr. 32:28; Neh. 10:39; Psa. 4:7; Psa. 104:14, 15; Prov. 31:6, 7; Eccl. 2:3, 11; Isa. 56:12; Hos. 2:8, 22; Hos. 7:14; Joel 1:5; Joel 2:24; Joel 3:3; Amos 6:6; Hab. 2:5; Hag. 1:11; Zech. 9:17; Zech. 10:7; 1 Tim. 5:23 See: Vine; Vineyard.
Admonitions Against the Use of
Lev. 10:9; Num. 6:3; Jdg. 13:4; Prov. 20:1; Prov. 21:17; Prov. 23:29-32; Prov. 31:4, 5; Isa. 5:11, 22; Isa. 24:9; Isa. 28:1, 3, 7; Jer. 23:9; Jer. 35:2-10, 14, 18, 19; Ezek. 44:21; Hos. 4:11; Luke 1:15; Rom. 14:21; Eph. 5:18; Tit. 2:3

FOR THAT IS DISSIPATION: en o estin (3SPAI) asotia:  (Matthew 23:25; 1 Peter 4:3,4)

For that is dissipation - for that is debauchery and it will ruin your life. The 1828 Webster's Dictionary defines dissipation as "The act of scattering; dispersion; the state of being dispersed. Scattered attention; or that which diverts and calls off the mind from any subject. A dissolute, irregular course of life; a wandering from object to object in pursuit of pleasure; a course of life usually attended with careless and exorbitant expenditures of money, and indulgence in vices, which impair or ruin both health and fortune."

Lawrence Richards paraphrases it...

don't live under the influence of alcohol but under the influence of the Spirit. How important that we drink deep of Him, and let Him give direction to our lives. (Bible Reader's Companion)

Dissipation (810) (riot, KJV) (asotia related to ásotos which in turn is derived from a = negative + sozo  = save which describes something devoid of saving quality) literally means that which cannot be saved. Strictly speaking asotia refers to the disposition of an ásotos or prodigal. It is the picture of having no hope of safety, then describing the act of one who has abandoned himself to such reckless behavior. Asotia conveys the idea of waste that is irretrievable. There are only 3 uses in the NT - Ep 5:18; Titus 1:6; 1Pe 4:4

Luke uses the related word ásotos in his description of the prodigal son writing...

"And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose (ásotos) living." (Luke 15:13) (More literally it reads "living in a wild, abandoned manner and so living recklessly, riotously, loosely")

Asotia is one who cannot save and thus is one who extravagantly squanders his means. Then it chiefly denoted a dissolute, debauched, profligate manner of living. Vincent adds that asotia is literally "unsavingness" and describes the "the prodigal son who lived unsavingly [asotia]."

The excesses and flagrant, senseless activities connected with the religious celebrations of Dionysus were well-known in the ancient world. The worshipers felt that they were united, indwelt and controlled by Dionysus who gave them special powers and abilities. As discussed below under "be filled", the idea in that command is to be continually controlled by the indwelling Spirit of God, this picture standing in stark contrast to the worshipers of Dionysus!

Asotia is the characteristic of an abandoned man, denoting a dissolute life and carries the idea even of rioting (as translated in the KJV) and was commonly used to describe drunken revelry at pagan festivals.

Asotia carries ideas of prodigality, profligacy, and even of rioting (KJV). It was commonly used of drunken revelry at pagan festivals. Additional ideas inherent in asotia include wasteful expenditure, intemperate living, especially excessive drinking and acts of self-indulgence.

Aristotle who always described a virtue as the mean between two extremes, declares that on the one hand there is stinginess, on the other there is asotia, reckless and selfish extravagance, and the relevant virtue is liberality.

The person drunk with wine loses self-control, but the one "drunk" with the Spirit gives the believer self-control! (cf Gal 5:23)

Charles Hodge writes that to get drunk with wine...

is an example of folly, a lack of sense, especially inconsistent with the intelligence of the true believer. The person who has correct discernment will not seek refreshment or excitement from wine but from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the apostle adds, instead, be filled with the Spirit. In drunkenness, he says, there is debauchery—“revelry,” “riot,” whatever tends to destruction. The word is derived from a word which means “what cannot be saved,” one given up to a destructive course of life. (Ephesians 5:3-20 )

John Eadie writes that...

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. It is erroneous, therefore, on the part of Schoettgen, to restrict the term to lasciviousness...The connection between the two vices is notorious; but libidinous indulgence is only one element of the asotia. This tremendous sin of intemperance is all the more to be shunned as its hold is so great on its victims, for with periodical remorse there is periodical inebriety; 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 (See Bacchus the Roman god of wine & intoxication  = Dionysus = Greek god) was the rival of Diana. The women of Ephesus, as the priestesses of Bacchus, danced round Mark Antony's 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. The “excess” or dissoluteness attendant on drunkenness and the other vices referred to in the previous context, is also illustrated by many passages in the Miles Gloriosus of Plautus, the Latin version of an older Greek drama. The “braggart captain,” a citizen of Ephesus, is described in the prologue by his own servant as “a vain, impudent, foul fellow, brimful of lying and lasciviousness.” Another character of the piece thus boasts—“Either the merry banterer likewise, or the agreeable boon companion will I be; no interrupter of another am I at a feast. I bear in mind how properly to keep myself from proving disagreeable to my fellow-guest,” etc. . . . “In fine, at Ephesus was I born, not among the Apulians, not at Animula”—(there being in this last term a difference of reading). (John Eadie, D., LL.D. The Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians).

BUT BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT: alla plerousthe (2PPPM) en pneumati,:  (Ps 63:3, 4, 5; Song 1:4; 7:9; Is 25:6; 55:1; Zech 9:15, 16, 17; Lk 11:13; Acts 2:13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18; 11:24; Gal 5:22, 23, 24, 25)

Related Resources: Walking By the Spirit - Galatians 5:16

But (235) (alla) marks a contrast - In contrast to a state of intoxication with wine be intoxicated by the Spirit. Drunken and Spirit-filled people have one thing in common -- they are both controlled people. Their lives and their behavior are radically changed by that which fills them. Paul is saying stop living under the controlling influence of alcohol but instead be continually living under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit. How important it is for us to "drink" deeply of Him (cp Jn 7:37, 38, 39), yielding to Him, and letting Him give direction to our lives.

Ray Stedman calls being filled with the Spirit...

the great secret of real Christianity

Ray Pritchard writing about the contrast between wine and the Spirit considers this as...

the most basic point of the verse. There is a direct parallel drawn between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit. What precisely is the point of comparison between wine and the Holy Spirit? Doubtless the issue is influence or control. A person under the influence of wine experiences altered behavior. He may say or do things he would not ordinarily do. Emotions may be heightened for a brief period, causing the person to experience anger followed quickly by elation followed quickly by depression. If the person drinks enough wine, his mental processes will be affected and decision making ability radically altered-almost always with a negative result. Likewise, the filling of the Holy Spirit produces a change in behavior. In the Book of Acts, once timid disciples became flaming evangelists for Jesus Christ.

In Ephesians 5:19, 20, 21, Paul mentioned three practical results of the filling of the Spirit: Singing, a thankful heart, and an attitude of mutual submission. The last result is most significant because true submission always involves giving up your right to be in control in every situation. When we submit from the heart, we are saying, "I don't have to have my way all the time." Only a heart touched by the Holy Spirit can maintain such an attitude in every relationship of life.  (Ephesians 5:18: Filled with the Holy Spirit?)

Be filled with the Spirit - It is important to retain the standard of sound doctrine in regard to the Holy Spirit and with that thought one should be careful to avoid 3 common misconceptions regarding the filling with the Spirit.

First, it is not an emotional experience per se, although filling clearly does not preclude emotions of joy as indicated by Eph 5:19 (see note).

Secondly, filling with the Spirit is not reserved for a few special Christians, because this command applies to every believer.

Third, filling although associated with some controversial teaching, should not be dismissed on that account. Every believer is in desperate need of sound doctrine regarding filling with the Spirit. Remember that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and He is the One Who brings out Christ's presence in our lives.

G C Handley Moule writes...

Let the Holy One, your Sealer and Sanctifier, so surround and possess you that you shall be as it were vessels immersed in His pure flood; and then, yielding your hearts without reserve to Him, you shall be vessels not only immersed but open; "in Him," and "filled" in Him," as He, continually welcomed, continually occupies and hallows all parts of your nature, all departments of your life.

Let us remember well that this great clause is not a teaching merely but a precept. As distinctly as it is enjoined upon us not to be intoxicated with wine, so is it enjoined upon us to seek, in earnest, "fulness in the Spirit." May nothing blind us to the fact and the significance of that precept (Ed: In a general sense, any commandment or order intended as an authoritative rule of action; but applied particularly to commands respecting moral conduct. Webster's 1828 Dictionary ); no, not the unwise and perhaps even fanatical things which have been sometimes heard in the Church in connection with the sacred Fulness. We may be very sure that the command means nothing which shall "unhinge" the Christian's life, and cast it loose from the noblest sanity and the most steadfast order. As a fact, we find it here imbedded amongst precepts laying down the great laws of self-control, and it comes just before the special directions which the Apostle gives for the quiet sanctities of the Christian home. It must be a thing, whatever it is, full of all that is just, true, lovely, and of good report; full of virtue and of praise (Phil. 4:8-note).

But then, all the while, it is a thing supernatural. It is a state of man wholly unattainable by training, by reasoning, by human wish and will. It is nothing less than—God in command and control of man's whole life, flowing everywhere into it, that He may flow fully and freely out of it in effects around.

"O Thou from Whom all holy desires do proceed," give us the great gift of the desire, ever deeper, for "fulness in the Spirit"; that we may with joy lay claim to the mighty, benignant gift. For Thou hast promised "Thy Holy Spirit to them that ask Thee."

It is the unspeakably vital requisite to the full blessing of the soul. It is that which the Church needs with a need that cannot be uttered.

We must not forget meanwhile that the thought of this Fulness is here connected, in a special degree, with that of the joy of the Lord and its expression. As the miserable exhilaration of the drunkard comes out in the song of "riot," so the "calm excess" of the man "filled in the Spirit" will come out in song too. It will come out always in the song of the life, the melody and harmony of a character and conduct gladdened by the blessed Presence. But it will tend often too to come out in the song of the lips, and above all when Christians, thus "filled," meet together before their Lord.  (Ephesian Studies: Expository Readings on the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians)

Wayne Barber asks...

How do I live wisely in a dark, hostile world? I am constantly saying to the Lord, "Yes, Lord, whatever it is." By saying "yes" to Him, I am saying "no" to my flesh. I am being controlled moment by moment by moment. I am constantly aware of His presence in my life, moment by moment by moment, practicing the presence of Christ as I am willing to yield to whatever His will is in my life. (Sermon)

C H Spurgeon wrote that...

"The grand thing the church wants in this time is God's Holy Spirit."

Be filled (4137) (pleroo) (Click word study of pleroo) means literally to be filled to the brim (a net, Mt 13:48, a building, Jn 12:3, Acts 2:2, a city, Acts 5:28), and then figuratively to make complete in every particular, to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally, to diffuse throughout, to pervade, to take possession of and so to ultimately to control.

Pleroo here in Ephesians 5:18 does not mean to get more of the Spirit since the Spirit indwells us completely when we are born spiritually.

God commands us to be filled with the Spirit, and if we are not filled it is because we are living beneath our privileges.

Given that His filling is commanded by God, if you are not being continuously filled with the Spirit, then you are out of the Lord's will (see "the will of the Lord" Ephesians 5:18 - note)!

a believer, rather than controlling himself, is controlled by the Holy Spirit. It may be more accurate to say that the Holy Spirit is the “Agent” of the filling (cf. Gal 5:16-note) and Christ is the Content of the filling (Col 3:15-note). Thus in this relationship, as a believer is yielded to the Lord and controlled by Him, he increasingly manifests the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22, 23-note). The Spirit’s indwelling (John 7:37, 38, 39; 14:17; Ro 5:5-note; Ro 8:9-note; 1Co 2:12; 6:19, 19, 20; 1Jn 3:24; 4:13), sealing (2Co 1:22; Ep 1:13-note; Ep 4:30-note), and baptism (1Co 12:13; Gal 3:27) occur at the time of regeneration and thus are not commanded. However, believers are commanded to be filled constantly with the Holy Spirit. Each Christian has all the Spirit, but the command here is that the Spirit have all of him. The wise walk, then, is one that is characterized by the Holy Spirit’s control. (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985. Victor or Logos)

Let me give you a new term you've never heard before. The term is "fillability." It's what happens when you go to a full-service gas station and say, "Fill 'er up." The person pumping the gas knows that the statement "Fill 'er up" means two things: 1) I'm empty and 2) I want to be filled with gas. That's fillability. It's need plus desire. And when your need to be filled with the Spirit becomes your great desire, you will be filled. Over and over again. Instantly. Every time. (Ibid)

FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
CONTROLLED BY THE WORD

Colossians and Ephesians are parallel epistles in a number of respects and Ephesians 5:18, 19, 20 has an especially interesting parallel in Colossians 3:16, 17 as demonstrated in the table below.

Wuest writes that

Filled is pleroo, “to fill up, to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally, to flood, to diffuse throughout.” In Acts 6:15 we have Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit. Faith filled Stephen in the sense that it controlled him. The Holy Spirit filled Stephen in the sense that He controlled him. Therefore, the fullness of the Spirit has reference to His control over the believer yielded to Him. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans

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 Luke 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.

For completeness, note that pleroo indicates more than just pouring water in a glass up the brim and can have at least three shades of meaning in Scripture, all of which have some relationship to the meaning of pleroo here in Ephesians 5:18.

(3) Pleroo as alluded to earlier in this discussion can also convey the sense of one being dominated or controlled by that which fills them. Some examples were mentioned above, but let's look in more detail at some Scriptural illustrations of this third meaning in order to help understand what happens (or should happen) when a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit. Note that some of these examples use pletho which is a synonym of pleroo and thus which conveys exactly the same meaning. For example, in Acts 2:4 Luke used pletho instead of pleroo (as in Ephesians 5:18) when he records that "they were all filled (pletho) with the Holy Spirit".

With that point clarified let's look at several illustrations of filling and controlling...

“And all (all without exception!) in the synagogue were filled (pletho) with rage (thumos describes agitated, vehement anger that rushes along relentlessly)” (Luke 4:28)

Comment: The rage resulted from the teaching that the Jews did not occupy an exclusive place in the blessings of God, but that God's help was available to those who had faith, irrespective of whether Jew or Gentile.

What were these Jews controlled by? They were clearly controlled by what filled them and what filled them was rage! And what was the resultant action that emanated from their boiling agitation? Luke tells us that...

"They rose up and cast Him (Jesus) out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff."  (Luke 4:29)

The rage so controlled these Jews that they were driven to the point of seeking to murder Him! We've all experienced this type of controlling emotion, haven't we? When our anger boils over like that and controls us, we realize that we are capable of doing things we would otherwise never even remotely consider.

In Luke 6 we read the following interaction as Jesus healed a lame man's hand on the Sabbath...

And after looking around at them (scribes and Pharisees) all, He said to him, "Stretch out your hand!" And he did so; and his hand was restored. But they themselves were filled with rage, (anoia = irrational anger, fury, extreme rage) and discussed together what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:10-11)

Comment: Observe the causal relationship between filling and "feelings" that controlled them to the point of conspiring to put Jesus to death!

In Acts Peter confronts Ananias who failed to present the offering from the sale of his land, Luke recording that...

a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled (pleroo) your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? (Acts 5:1-3)

Comment: Observe the father of lies filled Ananias' with falsehood which  directly countered the Holy Spirit and resulted in holding some of the money back. What filled Ananias controlled him!

In Acts 13 when Paul and Barnabas arrived at Pisidian Antioch, Paul began proclaiming Jesus as Savior to the point that people were even begging for more of Paul's expository preaching and...

when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled (pletho) with jealousy (resentment), and (notice the actions that resulted from their being filled with jealousy) began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. (Acts 13:45)

What you observe is that when a person is filled with an emotion, that emotion can totally control and dominate the individual and result in actions or words reflective of that emotion.

Filling is Not Baptism
By the Spirit

People are said to be filled with wine when they are 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 that he was “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1), and of Stephen that he was “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5), and also of Barnabas (Acts 11:24), etc. To the Christians, therefore, the source of strength and joy is not wine, but the blessed Spirit of God. As drunkenness produces rioting and debauchery, so the Holy Spirit produces a joy which expresses itself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (Ephesians 5:3-20)

How do I live wisely in a dark, hostile world? I am constantly saying to the Lord, "Yes, Lord, whatever it is." By saying "yes" to Him, I am saying "no" to my flesh. I am being controlled moment by moment by moment. I am constantly aware of His presence in my life, moment by moment by moment, practicing the presence of Christ as I am willing to yield to whatever His will is in my life.

(3) submissive (Eph 5:21-33)

To be filled with the Spirit is to have one’s mind completely under His divine control. This requires allowing the Word to dwell richly in the believer (Col 3:16-note). When our minds marinated by and yielded to God’s Word and His control, the fruit will show in our behavior (including thoughts, words, actions, deeds). It is not a matter of available power (God's supplies are infinite) but of available will (our yielding is finite and often "flighty"). Too often we life our Christian lives as if we were yo-yo's on a string, sometimes up, sometimes down, but too often in a state of flux (and flesh)! By the Spirit’s power, all believers are able

“to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which [they] have been called” (see note Ephesians 4:1)

In his devotional Ray Stedman sums up this section writing that...

When you became a Christian, when you believed in Jesus Christ and received Him as your Lord, the Holy Spirit came to live in you. You have the Spirit, but the interesting paradox is that, though all Christians have the Holy Spirit, we constantly need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the momentary taking from Him of the resources you need for the situation in which you are. It has nothing to do with an experience or a feeling or a crisis; it is a quiet drinking again and again of an inner supply of strength.

This is a truth that many Christians seem to miss. They think that Christianity means coming to church, getting a blessing, and then going away to try to live in the light and warmth of the blessing until it leaks away, and then they must come back and get filled up again. But that is not Christianity. When Jesus said of the person who drinks of Him, "Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water," John says, "By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive" (John 7:39a). That is the strengthening that comes from within, and there is plenty there for any situation. (Ephesians 5:15-20 Live Overflowingly)

I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.

What is it in your life? I want to tell you, folks, when you start letting Him control you, the garment comes on, the strengthening starts and it is all the same thing. He said the same thing three different ways. You need nothing from the outside. Oh, no. That is dissipation. You already have it on the inside. Be strengthened from the inside out, not from the outside in. (Ephesians 5:18-21: Be Filled With the Spirit - 2)

Harry Ironside explains Ephesians 5:18 this way...

You will notice he puts two things in opposition, the one to the other—drunkenness with wine and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Why does he contrast these two things, these two conditions? You see, the man who has been over-imbibing, the man who is drunk with wine, is controlled by a spirit foreign to himself. Men, when they are under the influence of the spirit of alcohol, do and say things that they never would do in their normal condition. They make fools of themselves, they descend to all kinds of ribaldry and nonsense, and people say, excusing them, "Oh, well; you mustn't hold it against him; he is drunk, he is not himself." The apostle says that that condition should never be true of a Christian, but on the other hand the Christian should be dominated and controlled by a Spirit other than himself. He should be controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, and in the power of the Holy Spirit one is enabled to say and to do what he could not say and do in his merely natural condition. And so the filling of the Holy Spirit ought to be the normal experience of every believer—"Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." The word here is not really in the past tense but in the present—"Be habitually filled with the Holy Spirit."

What is the filling with the Holy Spirit? I think the thought that a great many people have is that it is some strange, ecstatic, emotional experience that comes to them at a given moment and then later passes away and has to be repeated again. But that is not it. This is the normal experience of the Christian life: "They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31). They were dominated, they were controlled by the blessed Holy Spirit of God, and this does not necessarily result in any special emotional breakdown, but rather preserves one in the path of orderliness and common sense. In the second Epistle to Timothy we read, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2Ti 1:7-note) I have been in some places where people talk a great deal about the fulness of the Spirit and where I have seen things that I never would have thought possible a few years ago outside of an insane asylum, people rolling upon the floor and raving like maniacs, and yet calling that the fulness of the Spirit. That is not the spirit of a sound mind. The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit does not go off into some wild, fanatical state, but walks thoughtfully and carefully with God, and his testimony has power with men.

Turn to the Epistle to the Colossians 3:16,

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (note)

Notice the effect there of the Word of Christ dwelling richly in the soul. Then turn back to Ephesians and read these verses again. Do you observe that you get the exactly the same results in Colossians when the Word of Christ dwells in you richly that you get in Ephesians when you are filled with the Spirit? What then is the inference?

There is an old rule in mathematics that "things equal to the same thing are equal to one another." If to be filled with the Word is equal in result to being filled with the Spirit, then it should be clear that the Word-filled Christian is the Spirit-filled Christian. As the Word of Christ dwells in us richly, controls all our ways, as we walk in obedience to the Word, the Spirit of God fills, dominates, and controls us to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, if you would be filled with the Spirit and you know of anything in your life which is contrary to the Word of God, if you are tolerating anything in your private life which is contrary to the Word of God, if there is anything in your outward associations, in your behavior before the world that is contrary to His Word, go into His presence, confess your sins, sins of omission, sins of commission, deal with it all before Him, and when everything has been uncovered and faced in His presence, dare to believe that He means what He says when He declares,

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1Jn 1:9).

And now, seek grace from Him to walk in obedience to His truth, cry out from the depths of your heart as the Psalmist did, "Order my steps in Thy Word" (Ps 119:133-Spurgeon's note), and as you walk on in obedience to the Word of God, you will be filled with the Spirit.

Do not get the idea that you must have some remarkable outward demonstration, some amazing sign that the Spirit of God has actually taken possession, but remember that He dwells in every believer, and as you give Him room, He cleanses out of you everything that hinders. As you let Him take full possession you are filled with the Spirit.

What will be the evidence of it? One will be fulness of joy (cp Gal 5:22 -note). The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of gladness, the Spirit of joy. Now do not misunderstand me, there is a difference between holy joy and mere natural merriment. Take the life of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Even though He was the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isa 53:3), as we read the records in the four Gospels we cannot help but be impressed with the fact that we are not reading the life of a sad Man but of a glad Man. "At that time Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, Father, I thank Thee." (Lk 10:21) That is characteristic of the blessed Lord. In spite of all the grief and sorrow that He bore He was joyful. But having said that, let me remind you that in these records you do not see depicted what the world calls a jolly man. His was no mere worldly jollity, no mere worldly merriment, but a deep-rooted gladness that was based upon unbroken communion with the Father, and that is the joy that you and I should possess.

The one who is filled with the Spirit will be a glad, joyous believer. (Ibid)

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Woodrow Kroll...

When we fail to yield ourselves completely to Him, we quench the Holy Spirit... Now, do you know what it means to quench the Spirit of God? It doesn't mean that we extinguish Him as you would quench or extinguish a fire. It means that we stifle Him. We stifle His influence in our lives. And it's very possible for us to be cleansed of every sin except unyieldedness. And if this is so, we cannot be filled with the Spirit of God. So, make sure that you unreservedly yield yourself to God for whatever He wants from you. Just be transparent and open before Him. (The Holy Spirit Fills You)

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Spurgeon writes that...

If you are filled with the Spirit of God, and wish to retain his gracious presence, speak about him. Note this, “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is riot; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking.” That is a curious word to follow so soon. The Holy Ghost is not a dumb Spirit; he sets us speaking. “Speaking to yourselves”; it is a poor audience; but still it is a choice audience if you speak to your brethren. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Beloved, when the Spirit of God fills you, you will not only speak, but sing. Let the holy power have free course: do not quench the Spirit. If you feel like singing all the while, sing all the while, and let others know that there is a joy in the possession of the Spirit of God which the world does not understand, but which you are feeling, and to which you wish to bear witness. Oh, that the Spirit of God would come upon this entire church, and fill you all to overflowing! May the members of other churches that are here to-night take home fire with them, and set their churches on flame! The Lord bless you, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen. (From his sermon FILLING WITH THE SPIRIT AND DRUNKENNESS WITH WINE)

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F. B. Meyer writes...

Devotional Commentary of Ephesians
"Filled"

IT IS said of Abraham that he died in a good old age, an old man, and full. It is a beautiful conception; as though all his nature had reached its complete satisfaction, and he could desire and receive nothing more. The Psalmist, too, sings of fulfilled desire; and Mary tells how God filled her hungry soul with good things. Can we speak with equal certainty of being "filled"?

CHRIST IS THE SOURCE OF FULNESS TO HIS CHURCH AND TO INDIVIDUAL SOULS. (Ephesians 1:23)

We have sought to be filled with earthly goods and human love. Away upon the mountains we have essayed to hew out for ourselves cisterns, to be fed by rushing brooks and falling showers, and be always brimming; but we have been greatly disappointed. In each case a flaw or crack has made our work abortive, and we have seen the water sinking inch after inch till only drops have remained to quench the fever-flush or our souls. Not more successful have been the attempts of those who have sought rest in systems of theology, in rites and ceremonies, or in the rush of unceasing engagements. In none of these can the nature of man find its completion or fruition.

All the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Him, that of that fulness we might all receive, and grace on grace; like repeated waves that follow one another up to the furthest reaches of the tide. In Him we have been made full in the purpose and intention of God (Col 2:9); and in Him we may be made full by the daily reception of his grace, through the operation of the Holy Spirit.

It is as if God stored the whole fulness of his nature in Jesus, that it might be readily accessible by us. The river of God, which is full of water, flows over the low threshold of his humanity, that it may be within the reach of the weakest and smallest in his kingdom. We might be afraid of the Great Spirit; but what little child, what timid woman, ever shrank from the gentle Lamb of God?

There is not one, who is in Jesus by a living faith, that may not reckon on being filled by Him. As the life-blood flows from the cistern-heart into each member and part of the body, so do the tides of life and love that emanate from the heart of Jesus pulse against the doors of all believing hearts. He fills all.

And He fills all in all. The heart, with its keen power of enjoyment or sorrow. The mind, with its marvellous ability of tracking the footsteps of the Creator. The sense of humour and the sense of reverence. The hours of recreation and the hours of meditation. The days of work and the days of worship. All in all.

He cannot do otherwise, without robbing or impoverishing Himself. For, as each part of the plant is needed to fill up the measure of its ideal, and as each member is required to fulfil the complete conception of a man; so each one of the members of Christ's mystical body, that Church, is essential to the manifestation of his fulness. He needs thee and me, or there will be some portion of his fulness which will never be able to manifest itself. But as sure as we present ourselves to Him, there will be an infilling of our nature with Himself, as the chill morning air, at dawn, becomes suddenly radiant with sunbeams.

CHRIST'S FULNESS IS MEASURELESS. (Ephesians 3:19)

There is no limit to the infinite nature of our Lord. The fulness of Deity is resident in Him. Only God the Father knows Him, and no other being, saint or seraph, beside. An angel with drooping wing might be imagined as reaching the furthest limit of space and be holding the last of the stars; but it is impossible to conceive of any limit whatsoever to the love, or power, or patience of Jesus. The ocean is shoreless. The height unsearchable.

The depth bottomless. Such is Jesus that there is no common standard by which to compare Him with the greatest and noblest and eldest created spirit in the universe of God. You might compare such a one with the aphid on a leaf, for they are alike finite; but you cannot compare the finite and the infinite.

All that fulness is for us. We are settlers on the continent of Christ's infinite nature, and we are at liberty to go on putting back the walls of our enclosure, so as to take in an ever-growing share of our inheritance. But we need never fear that we shall touch its furthest limit. When we have spent a million years exploring and appropriating, we shall know as little of its real contents as the Pilgrim Fathers knew of the America which has reared itself on the foundations they laid. Though our capacities to receive out of Christ's fulness were increased a thousandfold, all their need would be as regularly and constantly met as at this present hour; because the nature of God awaits to feed them, and we may count on being filled up to the measure of the fulness of God.

That measure will always be beyond us. We may therefore rest in perfect satisfaction that we cannot exhaust it; and yet we may ever strive in our poor measure to attain more nearly towards it. The Mediterranean is ever losing volume by evaporation; and yet is always full, because it can draw by the Straits of Gibraltar on the Atlantic. And its tidelessness may well become the emblem of the peace and restfulness of that soul which has learnt the secret of taking into itself the blessedness of Jesus.

THIS POWER TO FILL WAS WON BY CHRIST IN HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. (Ephesians 4:10)

He did not ascend till He had first descended. Always death before resurrection; stooping before rising; the garden and the cross before the Ascension Mount.

But as surely as these come first, the others follow. He who condescended to the fashion of a man, and thence to death, even the death of the cross, must ascend by the very laws of that spiritual world which He obeyed. He could not be holden by death. "Wherefore God highly exalted Him." "Thou art worthy, for Thou wast slain."

And being by the right hand of God exalted, He received of the Father the promised plentitude of the Spirit. It had been his before, as the second Person in the Holy Trinity; but it became his now as the Representative and High Priest of his people. It was entrusted to Him as their Trustee and Surety. As we receive the fulness of forgiveness from his death, so we may receive the fulness of the Spirit from his life.

There is no soul so low in its need, but He can touch it, because He has descended into the depths of Hades; and now from the zenith throne of his ascended glory He can reach the furthest and remotest points of spiritual need: as the sun can cover a wider area when it sits regnant in the sky at noon, than when pillowing its chin upon the western wave.

OUR GROWTH IN THE BODY IS TO BE WORTHY OF THE HEAD. (Ephesians 4:13)

In a caricature you will sometimes see a large head on a very diminutive and dwarfed body; but there will be no disparity between the Head and the Body when the Divine workmanship is complete. We are diminutive and dwarfed just now; but as we abide in Him we shall grow and expand until each member of the mystical Body shall fill out to its complete proportion, and the ideal man shall stand forth before the gaze of the universe, in the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

But this can only be when each joint shall supply to the whole its appropriate nutriment, and when we all give ourselves unweariedly to perfect one another in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

THIS FULNESS MUST BE RECEIVED. (Ephesians 5:18)

The fulness is in Jesus' but we must take it. It is not enough even to pray; we must reverently and humbly appropriate its stores. "Give me this water," must be the cry of each, "that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw."

There are three methods indicated here by which the filling process may be hastened:

1. Give yourself to holy song; if not with the lip, then in the heart, and with the music of a loving, trustful spirit, and the rhythm of a life attuned to the will of God.

2. Give thanks always for all things. Some of God's best gifts come in the roughest cases. When you see your Father's handwriting in the direction, kneel down and thank Him for the contents before you unpack them. All must be good that comes from Him.

3. Give submission and subjection to one another, except in matters that touch conscience and the demands of God.

But, above all, learn the secret of an appropriating faith, that goes to God with its need, and dip its empty pitcher down into the fulness of Jesus, and takes up at any moment of the day the supply of its thirst; not trying to feel any joy or exhilaration or emotion, but daring to believe where it cannot discern, and to act on its sure reckoning that it does receive that which it asks of God. Too often God's ships came laden to our wharves, but we are not there to discharge them. Too often his couriers bring love letters, but we are asleep and they pass our doors. Too often his showers pass over the hills, but we do not catch their blessed fulness to fertilize and enrich our fields.

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Who is in control of your life?
Either the Holy Spirit or something else.
Something else is a poor substitute!

A. J. Gordon said that...

Before Pentecost the disciples found it hard to do easy things; after Pentecost they found it easy to do hard things.