'Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery (extreme indulgence in bodily pleasures). Instead, be filled with the Spirit.' (Ephesians 5:18) People get drunk to forget their problems but the real solution to all our problems is to get drunk in the Spirit. Instead some religious zealots ( fanatics) have touted (attempt to promote by persistent approach) the 'baptism in water' as the solution to all our problems and as a result many have become disappointed in God because their problems still remain! Instead, if they had emphasized the need for the 'baptism in the Spirit', many would not have turned their backs on God ! What makes us covet (eagerly desire or yearn to possess) the 'baptism in the Spirit' is also the fact that the Spirit can fix all our spiritual, emotional, physical and financial problems. You may call it the 'single medicine therapy' because this can cure all our ills (problems) Where medicines fail, the Spirit prevails (prove more powerful or superior)! The infilling in the substance of the Spirit is the single most important thing (there may be more than one important thing, but this is the most important thing) we need. There's nothing else that's as important as the indwelling of the Spirit as it is the token (a thing serving as a visible or tangible representation of a fact) of our salvation. Thereafter, a constant infilling in the substance of the Spirit is deemed essential for effective and productive service and victorious living.
Jesus had made an analogy between the Spirit with water ( Acts 1:5), because the Spirit has certain characteristics of water. Just as water can be poured out from one vessel to another, even so the Spirit can flow from one person to another at the laying on of hands. ( Acts 8:18) Just as water can cleanse our bodies from dirt, even so the Spirit can cleanse our bodies from the sinful nature. Just as water can quench our physical thirst, even so the Spirit can quench our spiritual thirst. We live in a age where we have to pay for plain drinking water but Jesus has offered us the 'Living waters' for free, because he has paid the price in full. "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."( John 7:37) The invitation to come and drink the living waters; the new wine, was made much before the day of Pentecost. "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; you who have no money ... Come, buy wine without money and without cost." ( Isaiah 55:1) The infilling in the Spirit is given as a complement (a thing that contributes something extra, to further add to the experience) to those who have received Jesus as their personal Saviour. Our salvation is not complete without receiving the Spirit because it is the Spirit that complements our faith. Faith without the Spirit is dead just as Scripture says that 'faith without works is dead.' ( James 2:17) It's the Spirit that makes our faith alive and kicking (powerful and very active.) It was the infilling in the Spirit that made the early church so powerful and dynamic! 'And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit ... With great power the Apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and much grace was upon them all.' ( Acts 4:31-33) What is the 'evidence of the grace of God' that Barnabas saw when he arrived in Antioch? ( Acts 11:23) He perceived that they were filled with the Spirit because he heard it in their speech. Just as alcohol affects the speech of a person, so does the Spirit affect our speech. Those who are drunk in the Spirit, will begin to 'speak to one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs'. They will begin to 'sing and make music in their heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.' (Ephesians 5:19-20) Amen.
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