Dissipation is defined by Dictionary.com as "the state of being dissipated; dispersion; disintegration." From this definition, out of the three interpretations above, the most telling illustration of the "state of dissipation" is that of "disintegration". And when it comes to man's appetite and aptitude for disintegration, the LORD draws our attention to this exhortation on dissipation:

     "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the LORD is.

      And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, "

      - EPHESIANS 5:17-18

     Two verses. Four parts. Both verses, a symphony of two parts each. And of these two parts, they go together, like inseparable siblings. Two individuals in their own right, but as a family, also as one. Whilst each part is individually deserving of an entire dissertation on their own, when coupled together, the sum total is greater than the sum of the parts. Together, they emphasise each other by framing each other with the brush stroke of strong contrast.

     In the first part of verse 18 above, God refers to the consequence of "being drunk with wine" as an occupational pastime that produces a condition He refers to as "dissipation". To dissipate is to "scatter in various directions; disperse; dispel". And then of course, there is the matter of "disintegration". To disintegrate is to "separate into parts" or to "lose intactness or solidness; to break up; deteriorate". All of which are pertinent in explaining the effects of dissipation that come upon man from being drunk with wine. So the first question then is, when it comes to man "losing intactness", what specifically is then "separated into parts"? And, secondly, what then is also "deteriorated"? And without having ventured much further, before we begin to answer these questions, what is immediately obvious is that on the merit alone of producing a condition of "deterioration", the net effect of being drunk with wine is a move for man towards an end state of "less" rather than "more".

     In the assembly of what makes up man, man is a tripartite composite of "three parts", namely body, soul and spirit, a constitution validated and verified by 1 THESSALONIANS 5:23. A singular entity made up of three parts, just like God is a single God made up of three. And as a single God, the only God, the King eternal, immortal, invisible (being once again three), God's will is also described as having "three parts", being a singular will that is measured or proven in three distinct ways. When it comes to demonstrating God's will in these three ways, it is "to man" specifically that God directs His exhortation "to prove" His will. "And be not conformed to this world: but be YE transformed by the renewing of your mind, that YE may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (ROMANS 12:2). When it comes to man proving the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, God specifically tells us that we are to do this by firstly not being "conformed" to this world. So when it comes to what He means by being "conformed", God is effectively saying two things. On the one hand, He is "explicitly" telling us "WHAT" we are not to be confirmed to, namely to "this world". And at the same time, He is "implicitly" also telling us, by implication, that we are to then be conformed to "something else" rather instead. And that something else is to be conformed instead to "His good and acceptable and perfect will".

     What all of this tells us, first and foremost, is that His "good and acceptable and perfect will", importantly, does not conform to this world. And without stopping there, God then tells us exactly "how" we are to not conform to this world. We do this by being transformed by the "daily renewing of OUR MINDS". The lifestyle practice of "renewing our minds" daily is important because God tells us through Solomon, the wisest man on earth, that "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (PROVERBS 23:7). In other words, what we "think" today, determines also how we "behave" today. So it's a daily exhortation. And when it comes to how we think and behave, God says clearly that our "ways" are not His ways, and our "thoughts" are not His thoughts (ISAIAH 55:8). So unless we learn how to think differently, and therefore behave differently, which we accomplish by renewing our minds in order to then think like Him and, therefore, behave like Him, as opposed to thinking and behaving according to the thoughts and ways of man and the world, we will forever remain conformed "to this world". And as long as we remain conformed to this world, we will ultimately also never prove His good and acceptable and perfect will either. Which is the precise thing God urges us all to do, and the exact thing He categorically says is unwise not to do.

     With this in mind, by being conformed to the thinking and the ways of this world, what exactly are we then being conformed to? To answer that, we go back to the first verse of EPHESIANS 5:17-18. Which is "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but (be) understanding what the will of the LORD is." By being conformed to the world, we are not wisely conforming to the will of God, but rather to the anthropocentric will of man instead. Which is the value system of regarding the human being as the central fact of the universe, or assuming man to be the final aim and end of the universe. And we KNOW this is unwise, for God has just said, be not unwise, but understand what the will of God is. In other words, placing man's will as central to our thoughts and ways by viewing and interpreting everything in terms of human experience and values, is not wisdom, but is instead, in fact, great folly. It is definitively "unwise". Which is exactly what our forefather Adam was doing when he chose not to eat from the tree of life. He placed his own will and knowledge and value as sovereign to his Father.

     So to the first question then. When man becomes dissipated through drinking wine, what exactly is then "separated into parts"? To answer this question, for anyone who has ever partaken of alcohol, as I have, and for all who have ever observed those who do, the effects of alcohol on the body, the soul (mind, emotions, will) and the spirit, are evident for all to see, for both participants and observers alike. For those being drunk from wine, the dissipation that follows is the separation of the tight coupling and hierarchy that exists between the parts of man that are his spirit, soul and body. Instead of remaining cohesive, they effectively become dispersed, disentangled and disintegrated. This condition is easily evident from the sudden release of all inhibitions and the thorough absconding of all self-restraint. Which is a condition common to all who are drunk with wine, and a condition that without variation demonstrates the separation between the "conscience" of man (part of man's spirit), and the voice of man's soul (being the combined voice of his mind, emotions and will). And depending on the level of inebriation, the body ultimately also separates from mind and soul in the process too. And with that separating into parts, all restraint and judgment flies collectively out of the proverbial window, and with that, without any conscience at all either too, whilst drunk with wine. Coincidental? Me thinks most definitely not.

     Which brings us to the second question. Through the dissipation of drinking of wine, what then is "deteriorated"? Since "the spirit" of man is the part of man to which God most commonly speaks unto, dulling or sedating man's ability to hear from his conscience also dulls the ability for man's spirit to hear from the voice of God's Spirit too. And even if the spirit of man could somehow still hear the voice of God, man would be able to do nothing about it, because for all intents and purposes, his mind, emotions and will are thoroughly separated from his spirit whilst drunk from wine. Wine is a narcotic that can narcotize a nation of men. Dictionary.com defines a narcotic as "any class of substances that blunt the senses, as opium, morphine, belladonna, and alcohol". Dictionary.com also defines narcotize as "to make dull, stupefy, deaden the awareness of." Which still begs the specific question of what is thus "deteriorated"? And the answer lies in the Word of God. In the second part of verse 18, God says, "be not drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, BUT be filled with the Spirit." Therein lies the answer. We can only be filled with one thing at any point in time. As man fills himself with wine, man simultaneously dissipates his fill of the Holy Spirit. And it’s this fullness of the Holy Spirit that then "deteriorates". As we empty ourselves of the fill of the Holy Spirit, we also effectively re-establish the effect of the veil that Jesus laboured at great pains and self-sacrifice to remove between the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle made not of bricks and mortar, but of man. For "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body" (1 CORINTHIANS 16:9). Honouring God with our bodies is the explicit will of God. And in doing so, we PROVE the good, and the acceptable, and perfect will of God. Because it's a "good thing" to honour the temple of the Holy Spirit. It's our "acceptable service" to do so by not conforming to the world. And it's a "perfect work" to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.

     For those who want to abide in the "fullness of the Spirit" at all times, thereby abiding in the fullness of "His Presence" always, by seeking to never be disintegrated or separated from the Holy Spirit in the inner man, we prove this "perfect will of God" by abstaining from ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that would either dilute or empty the Spirit from the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is the body of man. Which is the precise petition made unto all believers (brethren) in the verse just before ROMANS 12:2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be YE transformed by the renewing of your mind, that YE may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (ROMANS 12:1-2).

     Only by renewing our minds daily with the thoughts and the ways of our Father, will we learn how to put aside the thoughts and ways of man. And only when we die to the will of the fallen nature of man, forsaking the anthropocentric ways and thoughts of the world, will we take on the divine nature of our Father in heaven and then understand His will. "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the LORD is." (EPHESIANS 5:17). I myself have been guilty of this. Of putting my will before the will of my Father. Of not honouring the temple of the Holy Spirit. I have committed the sin of dissipation. But what is now a greater treasure than the loss of all restraint and the release of all inhibitions is the abiding intimacy that integration with the Holy Spirit brings. This treasure, that is the presence of the LORD, is to be safeguarded above any treasure that the world may offer. For Moses and David both knew this also, and treasured this one thing above all things. David said, "Do not cast me from Your Presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me." (PSALM 51:11). "Then Moses said to Him, 'If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." (EXODUS 35:15).

     History is replete with evidence of the devil spending inordinate amounts of His enterprising malice devising counterfeits for everything Jesus holds dear. Jesus says “drink this wine in remembrance of Me”. So what does the devil do? The devil creates the counterfeit of this with all kinds of alcoholic beverages and spirits (also no coincidence) so that in drinking these, we not only forget Jesus through the dissipation that ensues, and in doing so, dishonour the temple of the Holy Spirit, but we glorify and honour the ways of the world, which are ultimately glorifying the devil. In this way, as with his original mutiny with his fallen angels in heaven, the devil achieves a second mutiny with fallen man on earth through his insatiable lust to rob the glory and honour that belongs entirely to Jesus for Himself through man's rebellion of being drunk with wine. Through this counterfeit, the devil is effectively saying, "drink this wine in remembrance OF ME."

     "All glory TO HIM WHO ALONE is God, our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.”

     JUDE 1:25

     There are some teachers of the Word who appeal to abstinence on the basis of what wine was by composition in Biblical times, asserting that the wine then is not the same as the wine now. This appeal is therefore limited, and less likely to convict and convince, as there will always be room for human argument, since there is an element of conjecture. Instead of human argument, the highest authority, being the Word of God itself, appeals to a different motivation to the academic deconstruction of what constituted wine then versus wine now. The Word appeals to favouring the choice wine of the Holy Spirit versus the lessor wine of the bottle. "But be FILLED with the Spirit" (EPHESIANS 5:18). It appeals to the honour of glorifying Jesus and the ways and will of the Father, versus the dishonour of glorifying the devil and the ways and will of man. The Word of God neutralises any debate on what to do based on man's argument of what is or isn't actually wine.

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen." (1 TIMOTHY 1:17).

God's richest blessings, now and for always.

Wayne Biehn