Text Titus:11-14: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (vs12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (vs13) Looking for that blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (vs14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works".
St. Luke 21: 33-36 : "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. (vs34) And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting,( grossly excessively amount of something) and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.(vs35) For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.(vs36) Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man".
Eph.5:15-21 "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,(vs16) Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (vs17)Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (vs18) And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; (vs19)Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; (vs20)Giving thanks alway for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; (vs21)Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."
Premise
The Pulpit Commentary; Vol.22, Page 229, a comment on Eph.5:18-19 "1. THE NEED OF SOME STIMULUS FROM BEYOND OURSELVES. (vs17-18.) This is apparent from the fact that everyone needs excitement, as it is called, to keep him moving--- something to "interrupt our quiet and ordinary state of mind with some more lively feeling, which makes us live more consciously and in a manner quicker than we do in common." We all feel this. Now, this goes to show that we are not self-contained, no matter how much we desire to be so, but we need a helping hand from outside our own personalities. Withhold food, and we perish. Withhold all stimulus from us, and we go of necessity to pieces. The whole question comes to be, therefore, where we shall get our required stimulus.
2. THE STIMULUS OF WINE IS ATTENDED WITH DANGER.(vs18) This is an inspiration which come through sense. Now, all of us need a stimulus through our senses. Food is a stimulus. A well-digested meal makes life move faster and quicker than fasting would. But this effect caused by drinking wine inspires a "riot"(Revised Version) which is inconsistent with that unity of the Church for which the gospel calls. We should abstain from such a dangerous stimulus as this, for its effect has been hostile to the unity of spirit. But we might extend the precaution here to all those excitements of a sensual nature which exhaust and retard the spirit. As A.T Roberson says "Wine is but a specimen of a class of stimulants. All that begins from without belongs to the same class. The stimulus may be afforded by almost any enjoyment of the senses. Drunkenness may come from anything wherein is excess--- from over-indulgence in society, in pleasure, in music, and in the delight of listening to someone who has skill in public speaking, nay, even from the excitement of sermons and religious meetings. The prophet tells us of those who are drunken , and not with wine, (Isa.29:9-10, Jer.23:9-10)." Commentator Arnold, in the same way, bases upon this passage warnings against excess of bodily exercise, excess of intellectual exercise, excess even in our hours of work, excess, in a word, so far as it operates against Christian sober-mindedness.