Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 KJV

Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 NASB

The above verse has been subject to abuse from many people with an agenda to keep. There are those who relate this to an ecstatic experience, perhaps equating it with Pentecostal tongues and similar sign gifts. The Spirit of God, as always, balances the imperative with a clear explanation of how this “being filled with the Spirit” is evidenced. He points to four things that are clear indications of a person who is “filled with the Spirit.”

• Speaking to yourself in Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs
• Singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord
• Giving thanks always for all things
• Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God

Rather than a practical meditation on what should mark us, I want to draw attention to the one Man Who was always “full” of the Spirit of God. He never needed to be filled (a process at times) as we do. He was constantly, from the time of His conception on, full of the Spirit of God. As the true Meal Offering, He was mingled with oil (birth) and anointed with oil (His service). As such, we would expect to see the same evidence of the Spirit of God in His life.

Did He meditate on the Psalms and the Word of God? As the Living, Incarnate Word, there was never a moment when the Word of God was not filling and flooding Him. He did not have to remember a Scripture when faced by the Adversary in the wilderness. He did not have to recall from His data bank of memorized Scriptures what would be appropriate for a particular audience. When He entered the synagogue in Nazareth, He knew exactly what to read and what not to read.

Did He sing? It is only recorded on one occasion that He sang. That was in the upper room when they sang a Psalm (Ps 118?) and went out to the Garden. Though it is recorded on only one occasion, yet it was a most significant one.

He gave thanks always for all things. He never descended to self-pity or ingratitude. Many and varied were the circumstances under which He “gave thanks.” He lifted His heart in thanksgiving when He broke the bread to the 5,000; when He stood by the tomb of Lazarus, and when He was faced with the negative response from every quarter (Matt 11:25). And poignantly, when He took the bread and the cup in the upper room, He was thanking God for Calvary! He was thankful for the “privilege” of glorifying God and saving you and me by dying!

What of submission? Come to the Garden and hear words which rose as a fragrance to God in heaven: “Not My will, but thine be done.” He did not submit Himself to others as to be under their control. He did, however, consider the need of others, you and me, before His own. The will of His Father was never an onerous task to be completed but His joy and His meat – the very purpose for which He lived and for which He came.

Here was a Spirit-filled life, from the moment of His conception to the ascension to God’s right hand.

Consider

Trace different times the Lord Jesus gave thanks.