Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. NET
In the ancient world, an experiential way to get closer to God was by drinking too much. (Note the prohibition isn’t against drinking wine but being drunk with wine). This relates back to the day of Pentecost when to the outside eye it appeared that the people were drunk rather than filled with the Holy Spirit. We are to live as someone who is wise and rather than being filled with spirits, be filled with the Spirit, i.e., don’t be under the influence of something else that can have control over you.
The Old Testament points toward a new era (or covenant) between God and His people that will occur when the Messiah comes. Once this happens, their sins will be forgiven and they will receive the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 36, for example, talks about God cleansing us, replacing our heart of stone with a heart of flesh and that putting His Spirit within us. Jeremiah 31 also talks of this new covenant in terms of God forgiving our sins and writing His law on our hearts. Once we get to this point, there will be no further need to teach because we will all know God. This all comes to fruition on Pentecost after the Ascension of Jesus.
John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and 38 let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.) NET
Jesus makes this statement during the Jewish Feast of Pentecost which was originally a harvest celebration where the people brought the first fruits of their labor to God. It has also become a time to remember God giving the Jews the Torah on Mt. Sinai. During this celebration, great amounts of water were poured over the altar to wash the blood from the sacrifices. The ceremony expresses hope not only for rain but also for the coming new age of the Messiah. As the people in the Temple have water running all around them, suddenly Jesus stands up and makes His announcement.
When Pentecost happens, Peter tells the people that this pouring out of the Holy Spirit is what was promised. It is no small matter. The gift of the Holy Spirit is vital because you cannot be a Christian without it. Acts 2 notwithstanding, most people don’t experience the Holy Spirit immediately after baptism even in the early church. The church’s answer is that the Holy Spirit is in a seed form at baptism – it is planted in our hearts at baptism and has to grow. This isn’t a Biblical answer but the church’s answer may be helpful to those newly baptized who then don’t immediately have an Acts 2 experience. There is also a pre-conversion work of the Holy Spirit as we can’t invite Jesus into our hearts if the Holy Spirit doesn’t lead the way first.
There is no question that we have the Holy Spirit at conversion – it is really a matter of when and how the Spirit manifests itself in our lives. The five participles in verses 19-21 (speaking, singing, making music, giving thanks and submitting) are things we do that are evidence of the fullness of the Spirit within us.
Philippians 2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy, 2complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. 3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 4 Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. NET
Although this is important theology from Paul, the concepts are practical. We need to be of one mind, like our Lord is and we need to stop putting our own interests ahead of others. We don’t need to worry about ourselves because we have others who are doing that for us (just like we are looking out for other people). An old parable, attributed to many, describes the difference between Heaven and Hell in terms of eating. In both locations, the people have long arms shaped as forks (or spoons). Their arms are so long that while it is possible for them to reach the food, it is impossible for them to feed themselves. The difference is that in Heaven, the people feed each other whereas in Hell, there is great anger and conflict (not to mention hunger) as the people endlessly struggle to feed themselves and fail.
Luke 22:24 A dispute also started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 So Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. NET
This controversy that Luke is describing occurs just after Jesus has just broken bread and poured the wine with the instructions that the bread is His body given for them and the wine is the new covenant in His blood. As they argue about who is the most important, Jesus turns it around on them with His instruction that the one who serves is the greatest. (Not unlike the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican where Jesus points out that it is the miserable sinner who is justified rather than the rather the self-important and pompously boastful Pharisee). In John, we don’t get this same detail on this part of the Last Supper but John tells us about Jesus subjecting Himself to others by washing the feet of the disciples.
The children of God have been taught contrary doctrines from the same texts, warned, threatened and intimidated until they instinctively recoil from every from every mention of the Bible teaching concerning the Holy Spirit. This confusion has not come by accident. An enemy has done this. Satan knows that Spiritless evangelicalism is as deadly as Modernism or heresy, and he has done everything in his power to prevent us from enjoying our true Christian heritage. (How to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit by A.W. Tozer). He writes that in order to be filled with the Spirit, we must first believe that it can happen and then we must desire (and ask) for it to happen. This desire to be filled leads to surrender as “before God can fill us with Himself we must first be emptied of ourselves”.