Introduction
Have you ever been given instructions on how to do something, but you were pretty sure that you could figure it out, so you threw out the instructions? I did that one time with a brand new entertainment center. I had put all kinds of furniture together before and I just knew that this would be a piece of cake. I took the big bag of nuts, bolts, and washers that came with it and dumped them out on the floor and went to work. About an hour and a half later I was finished, and I was really proud of myself. So I moved the entertainment center to the wall where I was going to leave it, and stepped back to admire my handy work. I was not happy when I noticed that the unfinished side of the shelves was facing up and out, so that they were seen instead of the finished side. After two more hours I had it all straight, but taking it all apart caused a little damage to the unit. God has clearly given us instructions to live by, so in order to save a lot of time and possibly some permanent damage let’s look at some instructions for living life wisely.
Open your Bibles to Ephesians Chapter 5 we will be looking at verses 15-21. While you are tuning I would like to share with you a couple of verses that come just before are text. (Read verses 13 & 14 aloud) In these verses Paul tells the Ephesians that it is time to wake up because Christians are to be alert and ready to serve. He says we must rise from the dead. The Christian life is to pass from death to life not from life to death. We are to die to our old self who was condemned already and become alive in Christ our light.
Let’s read verses 15-21. (Read Aloud) Let’s pray. Dear God thank you for allowing us to gather together as one body in Christ. We love you, and we thank you for who you are. As we look into your word help us to be open to the teachings of the Holy Spirit. I pray that we will all be more equipped to serve you because of this time of instruction that you have prepared us for today. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
First, we are instructed to walk carefully. Your version may say circumspectly. The definition of this word is exactly, accurately, or diligently. We are to walk carefully not as fools. The Christians at Ephesus were mostly gentiles and there were many who were being lead away by false teachers. Paul is saying walk exactly as you have been taught. He spent the first part of this book reemphasizing the basics of Christianity. (Read aloud Chapter 2 verses 1-3.) Paul wants them to realize that they are no longer under the spirit who works in the sons if disobedience. Do you remember the day that you were drawn by the Holy Spirit and you gave your life to Jesus Christ? I remember it clearly. It is the day that my eyes were open to sin and the day that I was set free from its bonds. It is because of that realization that I can identify with what Paul is saying to us in this verse. You see before I was saved I really did not think there was anything wrong with the way that I was living, and once I could see that my life was full of sinful habits I was forced to make a decision. I could either go one living in sin as the foolish do, or I could repent, change my mind, about the way I was living. We are all given this choice. The day we realize that sin no longer has any control over us is the very day we must choose who are master will be.
Therefore we must walk wisely. Listen to the definition of this word; 1 wise. 1a skilled, expert: of artificers. 1b wise, skilled in letters, cultivated, learned. 1b1 of the Greek philosophers and orators. 1b2 of Jewish theologians. 1b3 of Christian teachers. 1c forming the best plans and using the best means for their execution. What high expectations Paul had of the Christians at Ephesus. What high expectations God has of us. (Read Chapter 4:16 aloud) “…according to the effective working by which every part does its share…” We all have a job to do in the ministry of Christ, and we need to do it by the best plan and the best means that we can. I watched a movie called “The Last Season” this week. It‘s about the final season of the Norway, Iowa baseball team before the school board shut down the school. This was a very small high school that had won nineteen state championships in twenty four years. In an attempt to get peoples mind off of the baseball team the school board would not allow the coach, who had won most of those championships, to return for the last season. One of the pitchers for the team became very discouraged and stopped trying to win games, but the team wound up in the championship game anyway. This pitcher had been struck out the two times he went up to bat in this final championship game of the school’s history. He had actually jumped back out of the batter’s box several times because he was afraid of the ninety four mile an hour fast ball that the opposing team’s pitcher was throwing. On his third up to bat with two strikes he crowded the plate and held his ground. He watched as a ninety four mile an hour fast ball came straight at him and hit him in the back. Now I would not call this a wise move, but he was willing to do whatever it took to help out his team. Sometimes doing the thing that is best for the body will not be what is best for us personally.
You know, I have to imagine that when that young man took that hit he was considering the fact that this was the team’s last chance to shine. He understood that time was short and he had to do something. Paul instructs us to redeem the time because the days are evil. The word redeem actually means to buy back. When sailors use to bring their ships into port they would have to “redeem” them in order to load or unload them. We are to use are time as if we were using our own money to buy it back. When I wanted my first car my dad made me work and save up money to help buy it. Even though I didn’t think so at the time this was a great lesson in life. If you put your own money into something you will tend to take better care of it. Paul says that these days are evil and we need to work in such a way as to attempt to regain lost time and wasted energies. We need to be personally vested in overcoming the evil that is in the world through the spread of the gospel message to the world.
Paul not only instructs us to walk carefully through this world, but he also instructs us in specific ways that we can avoid being unwise. He says that we must understand what the will of the Lord is. This is a question that if I had the answer I could sell a million copies of the book if I could answer it in such a way as to make one fill as if they could truly know what the will of God is in their life. Well I assure you that is not going to happen because my answer is much too simple. But I will throw this in for free, C.S. Lewis once wrote; “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way." I would say that the second group of people that Lewis refers t o would be a foolish group of people. Who would chose their way over God’s way, certainly not any of us highly intelligent and dedicated Christians. I mean we would have to be crazy wouldn’t we? Do you want to be in God’s will? Then do not be like the unwise. Don’t be foolish. Do not put your hope, your trust, your soul, or any other part of you in anything other than Christ and Him crucified. That’s it. That is all I have.
Another way to be unwise is to be drunk. (Read Psalm 20:1) Allowing anything to have control over you is foolish! We are new creatures. What possible excuse could we have for getting drunk or high on anything? We must not live like the world. Christians are just as apt if not more so to have bad things happen in their life as non Christians are. Family members pass away, friends move, our jobs lay us off, girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives leave and never come back. Yet we still have hope. Through the grace of God we can find peace and joy that surpasses all understanding. Christians do not turn your back on the truths of God’s word so that you can settle for the lies of Satan. Lean on Jesus. He has suffered so He is able to help those who are suffering. To pick up the bottle instead of the Bible would be like slapping the hand of your mother as she tries to comfort you and heal your wounds.
In the next few verses Paul instructs the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit. Now while I believe there is, as I have explained, obvious application for not being drunk with wine there is also an obvious comparison being made here. We are to be filled with the Spirit as appose to being filled with wine. One is a waste of life and the other is the source of life. A drunken man is likely to tell off his best friend where Paul says that being filled with the Spirit will help us to always speak to each other in an uplifting manner. A woman form my last Church once told a story about getting upset with a store clerk who did not turn on the gas pump fast enough for her when she was in a hurry. She said that she was very short with the woman because she was a frequent customer and there was no point in her having to walk in and pre pay. When she got to work she was so convicted that she looked up the number to the gas station and called to apologize to the woman whom she had gotten so angry with. If we are in a right relationship with God, filled with the Spirit, we may say something that we shouldn’t but we will not be able to live with it until we make it right. I think that this illustration does point to what Paul is saying here, but there is also a bigger issue that is so often ignored. We must encourage one another by speaking about God and His glory. If you want a conversation to end quickly then start praising God. Christians we must be filled with the Spirit so that we are always uplifting and encouraging each other in the faith.
We are also instructed to praise the Lord through the power of the Spirit. So many people today are involved in arguments about which style of music to use in Church. The Bible says to praise God in song. The Bible however does not point out one specific style of song that is to be used. The point Paul is making here is that the worship of God is a top priority in the life of every Spirit filled Christian. What every type of praise and worship we choose it must be focused around thankfulness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No matter where I am it always amazes me when I look around a church and see people standing with their arms folded and mouths shut while others are truly singing out of thankfulness to their Lord. Never allow Satan to still your zeal for worshiping our Savior.
Paul also instructs us to “submit ourselves to one another in the fear of God.” Why in the fear of God? Paul has already instructed us to be filled with the Spirit so why does he go even further in this instruction to tell us that we should do this in the fear of God? I think that most of us already know the answer. It is the same reason a police officer carries more than just a badge around with Him. Some of us are more stubborn than others. I would dare say if I was to ask everyone in this room to come up with ten things that a Christian should do this would not make any of your lists. Paul knows that people sometimes have a hard time submitting to God much less each other. If we are filled with the Spirit then we will know that Paul intends to make it clear that God takes the sin of pride seriously. Saying “in the fear of God” here is like when our mothers use to say; ‘Just wait until your dad gets home!’ for those of us who’s mom’s really meant it.
Conclusion
The importance of following these instructions is far greater than those that tell us how to put together an entertainment center. So many people today have chosen to believe the lie that they know a better way. We see the results of this belief every night in the news. God wants us to enjoy the life that he has given us to the fullest. In His wisdom He has given us an instruction manual for every circumstance in life. Have you been living your life by the instruction book that we call the Bible? Maybe you have been purposefully ignoring God’s instructions in areas other than those we have mentioned today. If that is the case then began following God’s instructions by repenting of your sin. I can by a new entertainment center, but at the end of life when you step back and see your mistakes you will not have a chance to correct them the damage will be done.
