Get Smart
Ephesians 5:13-20
Great Expectations
Matthew Sullivan
Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” We have been looking at the expectations that the Lord has for us as individuals and as a Church. We have learned we need to Grow up, Be Distinctive, to Keep Pure, and today we find that we need to Get Smart.
The way we do that is by changing our mind. Romans 12 tells us this:
Also, we need to understand that our wisdom, when compared to God’s, is stupid. That’s why we have to pray for God to help us. James 1: “IF any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
In the text for today, we will find four different challenges that are given to the believer if we want to Get Smart, if we want to grow in wisdom.
The first challenge is that we…
Be Perceptive
Ephesians 5:13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”
Wisdom helps our perception. That is why Paul used the analogy of light. Light allows us to see clearly. Light clears up what we are looking at.
Paul uses the analogy of light. “13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible.” Light allows us to see clearly. Light allows us to be perceptive. It helps us to understand what we are looking at.
If you were to walk into an operating room in a hospital, you would find huge, powerful lights on the ceiling that help the surgeons see the tiny tissues as clearly as possible.
Have you ever thought about how different the events are that take place in during daylight are from events that take place in the dark? You will never walk into a bar and see lights like an operating room has. You will never find drug deals taking place under the lights of a stadium. They usually take place in a dark alley. Darkness hides while light illuminates.
When did Judas betray Jesus? In Luke 22:52 – 53 Jesus said, “Am I leading a rebellion that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.” Judas and the other leaders did something in the dark that they would never do in the daylight.
Darkness hides while light illuminates. We need to be perceptive and live in the light. Jesus taught that He was the light of the world. Then Jesus also called His followers to be the light of the world. Therefore, we must reflect Jesus’ standard to the world.
We must be perceptive to know the Lord’s will, to live in the light, and then reflect that light to others. If the church does not reflect the light, then the world will be in the dark! Maybe that explains some of the decline our culture is experiencing.
George Barna is a Christian pollster. He took a survey in which he found only 44% of people who claimed to be Christians believe in absolute truth. The survey also showed that only 9% of teens who claimed to be Christians believe in absolute truth. We have a culture that believes there is no absolute truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth…” If Christians do not reflect the light of Christ to the world, the world will continue to become a darker place.
That’s why it is so important that we be perceptive.
Our second challenge is found in verses 14 – 15. Paul writes, “This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
Our second challenge is to…
Be Awake
Have you ever told someone who was missing the obvious to wake up?
Most everyone agrees that we are living at a turning point in history.
The world today very different from the world even one generation ago.
If you’re 35 years old, you’re living in a different world from what you grew up in.
In the U.S. from 1960 to 1991, while the population was increasing by 41%, violent crime increased 500%. From 1965 to 1990, the number of cases of juvenile violence each year tripled. In 1972 12.9% of all pregnancies in the US were aborted. In 1996 31% of all pregnancies were aborted.
Today, suicide is one of the top 4 causes of death
for every age group between 10-44 years old.
In 1969, 10% of homes had a single parent. Today almost 30% of all homes have a single parent.
This is a different world, and the changes keep coming.
Surveys indicate that the culture in America is redefining itself every five years.
How do we deal with this?
In the 12th chapter of 1 Chronicles, It tells about when David was becoming king of Israel, and people from the 12 tribes of Israel came to ally themselves with David, to make him their King.
Listen to what it says about some of them:
It says there were:
men of Simeon, warriors ready for battle- men of Ephraim, brave warriors, men of Zebulun, experienced soldiers, men of Dan, ready for battle-
men of Asher, experienced soldiers – but in vs. 32, "...men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do."
It helps to have a strong army,
but it helps even more to understand the times,
and know the right thing to do.
The church is to be an army ready to attack the Gates of Hell but it better know how to do it. We cannot do it like we used to.
Do our leaders really understand the times?
Its pretty important.
If you don’t understand the times, you can’t live wisely, and you’re not going to have a clue how to deal with the changes in life that are happening all around us, constantly.
King David was successful, and at least part of that success, was because he had people around him who understood the times and knew what to do.
There are times when we just have to wake up. Paul is saying wake up and realize that Christ has given you victory but this is a dark world so take this hope to the dark world.
What is your attitude when you wake up in the morning?
What is your attitude when you wake up? There are some who just get out of bed singing, “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” But there are others who just keep hitting the snooze button each morning.
I am a morning person. Since Seminary I have pretty much been able to be any kid of person morning or night. A lot of my friends are not however. I like Mark Lowry’s advice and renamed my bed “the Word.” That way if someone called me real early in the morning I could say, “I can’t talk right now, I’m in the Word.”
Paul challenges each of us as God’s children to be awake! We are challenged to rise each morning with hope! When we look around at the world and see that the days are evil, does that serve as a wake-up call for you? People desperately need for the church to wake up and let the light of Christ shine.
That’s why Paul says, “15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
There is something that each of us possesses that is more valuable than money, and that is time. We are all entrusted with 168 hours each week. No one on the planet gets an hour more than anyone else. But can I ask each of us, “Are we in the habit of making the most of our time?” It breaks my heart to see Christians just “drift” through life, like sleepwalkers, who never figure out how to make the most of opportunities to live for Christ and serve Him.
Chuck Swindoll offered this illustration of it’s importance. He said, "Let’s play ’Let’s Pretend.’ Let’s pretend that your banker phoned you late Friday night and said he had some very good news. He told you that an anonymous donor who loves you very much has decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your account each morning, starting Monday morning. That’s $864 a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
He adds, "But there’s one stipulation... you must spend all that money that same day. No balance will be carried over to the next day. Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum you failed to use."
With a big smile, you thank your banker and hang up. Over that weekend you have time to plan. You grab a pencil and start figuring; $864 times 7 equals over $6,000 a week... times 52. That’s almost $315,000 a year that you have available to you if you work hard to spend it all each day. Remember, whatever you don’t spend is forfeited.
So much for ’Let’s Pretend’. Now let’s play ’Let’s Get Serious.’ Every morning Someone who loves you very much deposits into your bank of time 86,400 seconds of time ---which represent 1,440 minutes ---which, of course, equal 24 hours each day.
Now you’ve got to remember the same stipulation applies, because God gives you this amount of time for you to use each day. Nothing is ever carried over on credit to the next day. There is no such thing as a twenty-six hour day. (Though some of us wish there were).
From today’s dawn until tomorrow’s dawn, you have a precisely determined amount of time. As someone has put it, "Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want to, but you can spend it only once."
Church needs to look at how it uses her time.
It is said that a church is considered evangelistically effective if just 1 person in 20 in that church leads a person to Christ in a year. This would mean that a church of 100 people would see five people come to Christ in their ministry in a year’s time. Based on this theory, only 3.5% of U.S. churches are evangelistically effective.
Don’t you think there is something wrong with that? When I read that, I was overwhelmed with the reality that the Body of Christ is NOT making the most of every opportunity. We’re seriously blowing it in this area!
It is apparent that most Christians don’t see time as important but it is. Christianity is the only religion that make time important. In the OT all the surrounding religions were nature religions. The highest god was identified with something in nature…wind, sun, air, etc. The flow of these religions were cyclical. Greek religion in the NT was the same. Compare that to the OT and NT which are rooted in history. God a promise to Abraham in history that was to be fulfilled in history.
Genesis 12:1-3
What a great challenge the apostle Paul gives us… Be awake!
But then he moves on to another challenge for us. As God’s children we are to…
Be Spirit-filled
Listen to verse 18, “18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
This can be a controversial verse. Too many people get nervous when we start talking about being filled with the Spirit of God. Yet friends, we do not need to be afraid of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is God’s gift to us at baptism.
I believe that verse 18 has a simple meaning. Paul challenges us to let our bodies be controlled by God. Instead of letting your body be controlled by what you drink, let the Spirit of God control you. Let the Spirit influence you, not wine. Be filled with the Spirit.
If we are serious about “getting smart” and growing in wisdom, then it just makes sense for us to want to make wise decisions. And it is very difficult to make wise decisions if you are putting substances into your body that weakens your inhibitions and exaggerates your weaknesses.
We should pray thankfully every day that “Lord, I’m so glad that I don’t have to have alcohol or drugs in my body to live a fulfilled life.” Paul has suggested a better alternative for us. Don’t be drunk on wine, which leads to sin. Instead, be filled with the Spirit!
What a great solution. What a great answer. There are incredible benefits that come with the Holy Spirit in our lives. John 16 describes the Spirit as a Comforter. The Spirit is also one who convicts us. The Spirit can help us ask those tough questions, “Should I watch this TV show? Should I confront this person in love? Should I ask forgiveness from someone over the way I handled a situation?” The Spirit convicts us and encourages us. Through the Spirit we have the peace that passes understanding. The Spirit of Christ allows us to be different.
In the 1800’s there was a preacher named Dwight L. Moody. He was a famous preacher, known for his evangelistic crusades that attracted thousands of people. Mood was to have a preaching campaign overseas in England. One minister in England protested, "Why do we need this ’Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?" Another preacher quietly responded, "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody."
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is for the Spirit to have a monopoly on us. This doesn’t happen overnight. It happens only when we continually to seek the Lord, His will, and serve as best we can.
This 18th verse in the original Greek is written in the present tense. So it literally means to keep on being filled with the Spirit. As Christians we need to keep letting God control our lives. We need to keep growing as Christians.
When we are filled with the Spirit, we will naturally express that through worship. Verse 19 says, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.”
This leads us to our last challenge this morning, and that is to…
Be Thankful
Look at verse 20 with me, “19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a constant attitude of gratitude in our lives.
It would be wonderful if every one of us would begin our morning simply by letting God know we are thankful for a new day. As we drive to work, we can thank God for our families, our jobs, our friends, our church family. Throughout the day we can lift the people we come into contact with up in prayer. As we drive home we can be thankful for the blessings we enjoy as one of God’s kids.
This type of constant appreciation is a sign to God that you have wisdom. Through our prayers of thanksgiving, we are actually letting God know that we realize we would be nothing without Him! We are letting God know that we need Him! And that is very wise and healthy.
Now, maybe you are thinking, “That sounds nice, but I really don’t feel like being thankful for everything in my life. I’m going through some pretty rotten stuff.”
Let me share two things with you that you can always be thankful for, even in the bad times. First of all, be thankful for the cross. There’s a song that says, “And the old rugged cross made the difference, in a life bound for heartache and defeat. I will praise Him forever and ever, for the cross made the difference for me.”
Calvary was the place where man was at his worst, but God was at His best. The cross was a Roman instrument of death, but God transformed it into a symbol of life and hope. Calvary, the point in time where the love of God collided with the hatred of man, and God won! We need to be thankful for the cross.
Second, be thankful for an empty tomb. Take the resurrection of Jesus away and there is no hope! But because we know that on the other side of the world there is a grave that couldn’t hold Jesus back, we have hope! Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Do we want to grow in wisdom? Then we need to be thankful. We need to be perceptive. We need to be awake. We need to be Spirit-filled.
If you are wise, you won’t put off making Jesus Lord of your life. Jesus said if you confess Him before men, He will confess your name before His Father in Heaven. Jesus said whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. This morning, let’s all be wise and make sure Jesus is Lord of our lives.
