OPEN LEADING CONGREGATION IN THIS CHILDREN’S SONG
Oh, be careful little eyes, what you see, (repeat)
For the Father up above, is looking down in love,
Oh be careful little eyes what you see.
Oh, be careful little mouth, what you say, (repeat),
For the Father up above, is looking down in love,
Oh be careful little mouth what you say.
Oh, be careful little hands, what you do (repeat),
For the Father up above, is looking down in love,
Oh be careful little hands what you do
Oh, be careful little mind what you think (repeat)
For the Father up above, is looking down in love,
Oh be careful little mind, what you think.
ILLUS: In the 1950s, the conventional wisdom of the day was that crime was caused by a person’s environment (how they were raised, where they were raised, how poor they were, if they were mistreated, etc.)
A psychologist by the name of Stanton Samenow, and a psychiatrist named Samuel Yochelson, believed that very philosophy but there had never been a scientific study to confirm it, so they began a 17-year study involving thousands of hours of clinical testing of 250 inmates in Washington D.C. to prove it.
To their astonishment, they discovered that:
· the cause of crime cannot be traced to environment, poverty, or oppression of criminals
· Instead crime is the result of individuals making, as they put it, wrong moral choices.
In 1977 they wrote a book where they documented their research (The Criminal Personality), and they concluded that the answer to crime is a “conversion of the wrong-doer to a more responsible lifestyle.” (Christianity Today, August 16, 1993, p. 30)
So, in other words, the solution to crime is:
· be careful little eyes what you see
· be careful little mouth what you say
· be careful little hands what you do
· and be careful little mind what you think.
Be careful.
That’s essentially what Paul is telling us here in Ephesians 5.
“Be careful.”
“Be VERY careful… how you live” (Ephesians 5:15)
Be careful what you see… what you say… what you do… what you think. Don’t live as unwise people but as wise. Make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Paul goes on to say that:
“…God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.” (Ephesians 5:6-7)
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness….” (Ephesians 5:11)
IN FACT “… it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. (Eph. 5:12)
Well, what are these folks doing, that we ought not to do?
Let’s look first at Ephesians 5:4 “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”
Be careful little mouth what you say.
ILLUS: Gregg Nydegger (the preacher over at "Christ’s Church" in Monticello, IN) tells the story of when he was a child, he and his brother Scott walked into the local barber shop. It was crowded, so, they took seats sort of behind the door where they walked in, sat down, and started reading comic books.
A few minutes later, a guy walked in and just started cussing and swearing. To Gregg’s surprise, it was one of the guys from his church.
Initially the man never saw Gregg or his bother, and he soon sat down on the other side of the room. And he proceeded to tell one dirty story after another using curse words and the Lord’s name in vain; and Gregg & his brother were just flabbergasted as they listened.
Now this man wasn’t an elder or deacon, but he had been someone Gregg and his brother looked up to and respected. This very same man had also gone up front before the church just the previous Sunday to sing a very touching special.
He had a beautiful voice… but a corrupt mouth.
When he finally realized Gregg and Scott were there, he apologized; but, wrote Gregg “I never thought the same of him ever again after that.”
ILLUS: I’m told that Billy Graham was once traveling in an airplane, and found himself seated next to a fairly rude salesman. The man used curse words on a fairly regular basis.
Graham finally turned to him and asked "Are you paid anything for all the swearing you do?"
The salesman was startled but he finally replied "No, I do it for nothing."
"Nothing?" cried the Graham. "You certainly work cheap! You throw aside your character as a gentleman, inflict pain on your friends, break the Lord’s commandments, and endanger your own soul – and you do all that for nothing! You certainly work cheap -- too cheap!”
Jesus said, in Matthew 12:35-36, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every CARELESS WORD they have spoken.”
Now, folks, you may think that a few curse words and couple of dirty jokes don’t mean anything… but they do. Whether you tell them at the barber shop, on a trip, in an e-mail to friends…
You really don’t want to do that sort of thing.
Next, look at Ephesians 5:3
“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”
Be careful little hands what you do.
ILLUS: A couple of years ago, the Barna Research organization did a survey. They interviewed young adults between the ages of 20 and 40 and found that
· More than 2/3’s of those interviewed said “living together” was morally acceptable
· Most of these young adults contended engaging in sex outside of marriage and viewing porn were NOT morally wrong.
· Almost half of those interviewed believed sexual relationships between people of the same sex were acceptable.
· Over ½ of these young adults said they did NOT follow a set of principles or guidelines when making moral and ethical choices.
· And nearly half of them believed ethics and morals are based on “what is right for the person” (Barna Update 10.31.06)
Paul tells us – as Christians - we can’t live that way. We are called to be a holy people. Living like that would be improper for us.
In fact, it would be dangerous for us.
People who live the way a lot of those people interviewed by Barna live make God angry. They make Him mad. Ephesians 5:6 says “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things GOD’S WRATH comes on those who are disobedient.”
Folks who live like this will suffer in this world… and they’ll not see heaven in the next.
Now, before we get all high and mighty about that, Ephesians 2:3 tells “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”
The only thing that separates us from the judgment God will bring on others is the blood of Jesus Christ. It’s God’s mercy, not our noble righteous or personal purity that will save us. As someone so aptly put it long ago: “But for the grace of God, there goes you and I.”
But now that we have received salvation by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross - now God expects us to live differently than others do. We’ve been bought with a price and we are not our own.
God wants us to be careful – very careful – how we live.
How are we going to do that? How can we live our lives “carefully.”
Well, by being careful – little minds – what you think.
In verse of one (Eph. 5:1) Paul says we should “Be imitators of God…”
We not only want to live our lives a certain way, we need to think like God thinks. We need to “… find out what pleases the Lord.” Ephesians 5:10
Well, we know what DOESN’T please Him.
Things like cursing, and foul jokes and such.
And things like living together, and viewing pornography, and being greedy.
Those things – we know God doesn’t like.
But thinking like God… there’s got to be more to it than what we don’t do, isn’t there?
(pause) Well, yes there is.
Look again at Ephesians 5:17-18
Therefore (because we need to be careful) do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is (this is where the thinking comes in).”
Then Paul says the oddest thing:
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
That doesn’t make any sense does it?
Well, yes it does.
Have you ever seen a drunk?
How can you tell they’re drunk? (Talk, walk, think, act)
Why do they walk… and talk… and do… the things they do?
They do that because they are controlled by the alcohol. The alcohol dictates how they behave and think.
In the same way we - who have been saved by the blood of Jesus - should be so controlled by the Spirit of God that every aspect of our lives is under God’s control. The spirit of God should control how we think, talk, walk, act.
How can I make sure God’s Spirit controls me like that?
Well, some people will tell me that you’ll know God’s Spirit is in control… you have no control. You begin to speak uncontrollably in languages you’ve never learned. Or you lose control of yourself and begin to act in ways you wouldn’t ordinarily act.
There are a lot of people who believe in Jesus who teach that, but that’s not what Ephesians 5 is telling us.
But before we explore that, we need to backtrack a little and revisit some Bible truths about your relationship with God’s Spirit.
1st - As a Christian you already have God’s Spirit residing in you. Peter told the crowd at Pentecost: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
So, if you have believed in Jesus, repented of your sins and been baptized for the forgiveness of you sins… God’s Spirit is inside of you.
In fact, you can’t be a Christian unless you have the Holy Spirit living in you. Romans 8:9 says “…if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”
So YOU CAN’T EVEN be a Christian without God’s Spirit inside of you.
But Ephesians 5 teaches us that God’s Spirit should do more than live inside of us - He should also control us. He should fill our every fiber, every nook and cranny of our heart and mind.
How can we get Him to do that? How do we get God’s Spirit to control our lives?
Look at Ephesians 19-21
“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
In other words:
1. Surround yourself with Christian music. It doesn’t matter if it’s songs from the hymnal, or contemporary songs on the radio. It makes no difference if it’s bluegrass, heavy metal or rap. If you want God’s Spirit to dwell in you richly, you need to be surrounded with songs that glorify God and put you in His presence.
2. Learn to be thankful for everything you have. I have watched in amazement as Christians have allowed themselves to be entombed in despair and depression because they’ve failed to honor this command from God. They should be people filled with thanksgiving for all that God has done for them, but instead they spend their time reviewing a list of all the things they don’t have or should have but couldn’t have because of the unfairness of this world. God doesn’t want His people dwelling in that list. Everybody has one, but God’s people need to put that list away and replace it thanksgiving for the things they DO have.
3. Learn to submit yourself to others around you. Someone once spoke of another man as being so wrapped up in himself that he made a small package. God doesn’t want His people being small packages. He doesn’t want us wrapped up in ourselves. He wants us focused on ministering to others and striving to change the lives of people around us.
If we do these three things – we will be filled with God’s Spirit.
Now, you might say – that’s too simplistic.
And yes, it is.
God never intended it to be complicated.
He didn’t want the power of His Spirit to be out of anyone’s reach.
He wants ALL of His people to have access to the full range of His Spirit’s strength. He wanted it accessible to the simple and young in the faith, as well as the mature and highly spiritual.
So, God made it simple.
As simple as a little child’s Sunday School song.
If you want God’s Spirit to dwell in richly then you have to make your heart a comfortable place for Him to inhabit.
If He’s not comfortable, you won’t be either, because when the Spirit dwells comfortably within us – He makes us comfortable. In fact, He’s called the comforter.
Jesus said: “But THE COMFORTER, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26 KJV
CLOSE: Part of the reason God’s Spirit dwells within us is to bring us God’s comfort… because God love you.
You remember the song we started with?
Be careful little eyes what you see
Be careful little mouth what you say
Be careful little hands what you do
Be careful little mind what you think
Why?
Why does the song say we need to be careful?
“Because the Father up above is looking down in love.”
The Bible is filled with instructions about what we should do and should not do in our lives. It tells us repeatedly to be careful what see, say, do and think.
Why?
Because God cares about us.
W.A. Tozer once said: “God is holy and holiness (is) the moral condition necessary to the health of his universe… Whatever is holy is healthy… the holiness of God, the wrath of God, and the health of creation are inseparably united. God’s wrath is His utter intolerance of whatever degrades and destroys. He hates iniquity as a mother hated the polio that would take the life of the child.”
Ben Franklin once observed: “Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, it is forbidden because it is hurtful.”
God hates sin… but He loves us.
In fact, He loves us so much, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
