Ephesians 5:15-17 Making the best us of our time.
Youve all heard the scenario: if you knew you only had a certain amount of time to live, what would you do with it? Say you had one year left. For some reason, you knew you had exactly one year left to live. You had until the 25th July 2011 and then the Lord would take you home. What would you do? A few years ago there was a movie called The Bucket List. It was about a bloke with terminal cancer who had less than a year to live. He writes a list, a bucket list, that is, things he wants to do before he kicks the bucket. A rich billionaire friend tells him hell fund the list and off they go to tick off the items. They only have a short time left. They do things like, drive a Shelby Mustang, go skydiving, visit Stonehenge, the pyramids, Hong Kong, and go on safari. If you knew you had exactly a year to live, what would you do? Would you do those things in the movie, or other things? Visit Antarctica? Represent Australia in the Wallabies? Run for PM and win? Fly a fighter jet? Whatever it is, what would you do?
Today we are going to look at a passage in the Bible that tells us we only have limited time on this planet and it tells us to make that most of that time. It tells us to be wise about what we do in that time.
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Today well be looking at three things this passage tells us.
1. Make the most of our limited time.
2. Live wisely, not unwisely.
3. Understand the will of God.
And as we shall see, they are all connected. We make the most of our limited time here by living wisely, not unwisely. And to be able to do that to live wisely - we need to understand the will of God.
Firstly - make the most of our time. verse 16 says Eph 516 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil (English Standard Version). For those with the New International Version, it says, opportunity instead of time. Eph 5 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (NIV). The word is literally, time, but it is not the normal word for time. In Greek there are two words for time. The normal one is chronos χρονος is the more usual word for time. Its the word we get chronology from. As in, whats the time? Its time for dinner. But thats not the word here. The word here is kairos καιρος. This word has the meaning of appointed time. As in a specific moment of time or specific period of time. And in the Christian context, it means a God ordained time. Notice it doesnt say, make the best use of time, but make the best use of the time. A specific time, that God has ordained. Now what is this specific time?
Well there are two specific time periods we cannot alter, and both are set by God and no-one else. One is the time of this eon this age. One day Jesus Christ will return, but as He Himself said, we dont know the day or the hour. MT 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. MT 24:42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. We know Jesus is coming back, but we dont know when and it is useless to speculate when, because the Bible says we dont know. Ive heard some say, yes we dont know the day, but we can pick the year. The history of Christianity is littered with those who have predicted the year, and yet the world has gone on. Ive even heard some say we cant predict which year, but we can predict which day of the year! But the Bible says that we dont know. So there is absolutely no point in speculating when it will be, its actually a waste of the limited time we have been given, because the Bible doesnt tell us to speculate about the timing of Jesus return. But as we shall see it tells us to watch and to be ready for Jesus return, whenever it may be, and to use the time that we have for His purposes.
For you see, even though we dont know when Jesus will come back, the Father does. Even though we dont know the extent of the time we have in this age, God knows. And it has been ordained long ago. It is a set time, a God-ordained time. How are we using it? Now we dont know when Jesus will come back. Maybe it will be tomorrow, maybe in 1000 years time. But even if it is a long time in the future, each of here has a limited lifespan. Like the day of Jesus return, we dont know how long it will be. We dont know if we have one day left or 70 years left. And because we dont know exactly how long we have left, we tend to not value that time. If we knew exactly how much time we had left, we might be a bit more pro-active about using it better. Like the bloke in the Bucket List movie, he knew that he had less than a year, so he went off to do all these things. But we dont know how long weve got. We can guess based on average life expectancy, which in Australia is 79 for males, and 84 for females, and deduct your age from that. And if youre already more than that, youve got a bonus! But the fact is, some live longer than others. The fact is, we dont know how long weve got. But God does He has appointed it, and it is finite, it will not go on forever. It is limited a limited resource. What are you doing with this limited resource of your lifespan that God has given you? It is important we make the most of it.
Why? Our verse tells us: ESV Eph 5 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. The days are evil. You know there has been a lot of talk lately. Ive received a number of circular emails as no doubt many of you have, about our new Prime Minister. A lot of doom and gloom from Christians because she is an atheist. And not only that, if she wins the election, I believe the first time a de-facto partner will be living in the Lodge, rather than a legally married spouse. Yes, our Prime Minister lives in a de-facto relationship. Christians are worried - what will happen if she wins the election? What will happen to chaplaincy funding? To abortion laws? To marriage as only between a man and a woman? To the proposed internet filter? And some Christians are forecasting doom and gloom and the end of Australia as we know it. Just like what it says in this scripture passage - the days are evil. But guess what? This Bible passage wasnt written on the 24th June 2010 when Julia Gillard became Prime Minister. It was written nearly 2000 years ago. Why? Because the days were evil back then too. And I want to tell you, the days were evil under Kevin Rudd too, and under John Howard and under all the Prime Ministers Australia has had. And the days will be evil whether Julia Gillard or Tony Abbot wins the election in 4 weeks time. In fact the days have been evil since the days of Cain and will be evil until the return of Jesus Christ.
How do I know this? Because the Bible says it - the days are evil. History also tells us. The governments early Christians lived under - Nero for example - were far worse than Julia Gillard. To live under Hitler or Stalin was far worse. And even today most governments of the world are worse. For example, where we used to live, the government there was far worse than Gillard. You wouldnt believe some of the stories I could tell you about them. Im not telling you to vote for Julia Gillard or not too - you should make up your own mind, and you should vote for the candidate who will be best for the Good News of Jesus Christ in this country. But no matter who wins, dont worry, because the Bible has already told us that the days are evil no matter who wins, and will be evil until Jesus returns. But there is something we can do about it. That is make the most of the time or as the New International Version says it : 16 making the most of every opportunity. So how do we do that? Our passage tells us - to live wisely, knowing the will of the Lord.
That leads us to the second point:
2. Live wisely, not unwisely.
Verse 15 says 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise. As in English, the phrase, how you walk is an idiom for how you live, which is why the NIV translates the phrase as 15 Be very careful, then, how you live. We need to be very careful how we live. The word here careful - well the Greek word means exactly that, but a very careful form of careful, even to the point of meaning, exactly, accurately. We need to walk our lives very exactly, very accurately. Life is bit like driving on a road going alongside a cliff. I remember driving on this road along the side of a cliff. Actually we were passengers and I was quite keen on the driver being committed to driving carefully, to driving accurately, driving exactly, because if he wasnt, if he took the attitude that care, accurateness, exactness didnt really matter, then perhaps I wouldnt be talking to you today. We need to be careful how we walk. We need to make wise use of the time God has given us and not be unwise about how we use this precious resource, this non-renewable resource of time that God has entrusted with us to use wisely in these evil days. But how do we use our time wisely? What is wise? And what is unwise? Well, our passage also answers that question!
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
We need to understand what the will of the Lord is, which brings us to our 3rd point:
3. Understand the will of God.
And as soon as you mention the phrase the will of God, you mention something that for many Christians, something that just seems to be a big mystery. How often Christians ask, What is the will of God for my life? If God would tell me what His will for my life is, then Ill do it. Weve made out the will of God to be such a mystery. This elusive, hard to find thing. Who shall I marry? What job shall I do?
Where should I live? And we seek to hear from God for Him to tell us what to do. You know, weve made the will of God such a mystery, yet in the Bible it is never a mystery. Im going today to tell you where you can find the will of God. You find it in this book the Bible. If you do a search in the Bible for where it talks about the will of God, it doesnt anywhere tell us that it is something elusive, hard to find. In fact, when we look through the New Testament, you may be surprised. Here are some passages that talk directly about the will of God:
1TH 4:3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.
Its interesting that this passage tells us that the will of God is to avoid sexual immorality, exactly the same as the context of our passage today - remember last week back in verse 3, we were told to avoid sexual immorality. Later on in 1 Thessalonians: 1TH 5:16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. It couldnt be clearer - Gods will is for us to be joyful, praying and giving thanks. And guess what? The next few verse (which well cover next time), say in verse 20 that we are to always give thanks to God for everything!
So there we have it! Is that all there is to Gods will? No of course not. But you will find Gods will for your life in the Bible, because the Bible tells us how to live the way God wants, the way to live wisely and not unwisely. But you might ask what about things the Bible doesnt talk about? Who to marry? What job to do? Where to live? Should I follow Rugby League or AFL? The answer to the last one is obvious of course.
Firstly, if the Bible doesnt say directly, you actually have a lot of freedom. And some areas there are restrictions, for instance who should I marry? The Bible is very clear
2CO 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. You should only marry another believer. Perhaps the clearest instruction is when in 1 Corinthians Paul gives instructions to widows that is, those whose husbands have died. Although it is for widows, it makes sense that it applies to everyone. It says: 1CO 7:39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. Theres a lot of freedom in that marry whoever you like provided they are also Christian. And its like that with a lot of things in life: where to live, what job to do. Provided it is ethical, moral, then we have a lot of freedom.
However, within that freedom we do need to remember what it says in our passage in Ephesians. In verse 16 it says to making the best use of the time! We have a lot of freedom in our choices, but some choices will make better use of that time - whatever the lifespan God has given each one of us. Some choices will use that limited time better than other choices. And in making the best choice, to make the best use of the time, we also need to look at Gods will - not just His moral will of dont do this, dont do that, which of course is important - but Gods overarching will and purpose throughout the ages. That is, what has God put us here to do? What has God given us as the church to do?
Weve already looked at that earlier in on in Ephesians: Eph 3:10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Yes God has given us, as His church a task a mission, and that is to make His wisdom known that is the, Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul even saw this task as a gift: 38 Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace [or gift] was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul didnt see it as a burden but a gift. And its not just a gift, or task, for Paul only, but for the whole church, which includes you and me if we are believers. In fact, this is the purpose of God in this age, for the Gospel to be preached to all whove never heard about Jesus. How do we know that? Because the Bible says it clearly. In 2 Peter 3, it talks about why the Lord is taking to long to come back, why the second coming is taking so long, and 2000 years after Jesus first coming, thats a good question to ask. Peters response: 2 Peter 39 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. The Lord is patient, wanting people to come to repentance. There are still millions actually not millions but billions - an estimated 2 billion people on the planet whove never heard about Jesus.
Jesus Himself talked about this. MT 24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" His disciples wanted to know the signs of Jesus second coming and the end of the age, so Jesus told them. You know, those who watch for the signs of the end of the age, usually look for things like wars, earthquakes and so on, and when there are lots of wars an earthquakes tell us the end will be soon. But what does Jesus say about wars and earthquakes? Matt 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. What does Jesus say? You will hear of wars but the end is still to come! Even things like earthquakes are only the beginning of birth pains. But later on, Jesus gives the decisive sign of when the end will come: Matt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The Gospel the Good News of Jesus - must be preached in the whole world, and then and only then will the end of this age come.
And whose job is it to do this, this preaching? A few chapters later, right at the end of the Gospel, Jesus tells us in the Great Commission whose job it is to preach the Gospel of the kingdom to the whole world. Matt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." He uses the same concepts preaching to the nations, the end of the age - but this time He is commanding us, His disciples, with this task.
So how are we going as a church, the worldwide church? Still, 2000 years after Jesus came, 2 billion people out of 7 billion havent heard. We are sending missionaries, but not nearly enough, and often not to the most spiritually neediest places. A lot of our mission efforts is actually directed at countries that already have an established church and that is at the expense of the 2 billion whove never heard.
And even in our own country its quite obvious that most young people today are growing up today without any knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of salvation through Him. And for some the only opportunity to hear is through chaplaincy and Religious Education in schools.
So going back to our passage in Ephesians, vs 17 tell us about understanding the will of the Lord, both in the moral sense - and last week we looked at that in the area of sexual morality. And of course, thats not the only area we need to moral in. But theres more than that to Gods will. Theres also His will for us in proclaiming the Gospel and discipling people and doing what we can to support that, both here in Gympie, because thats where God has placed us so we have responsibility for our own area, but also to those areas in other parts of the world, where there is no Gospel witness or very little. Not just sending missionaries willy nilly to anywhere where the people look different to us, speak a different language or might be physically poor - because they arent always the most spiritually needy, but sending people to those parts of the planet, such as Muslim North Africa, the Middle East, Continental Europe, Central Asia, Northern India and some parts of Asia, where Christians and the witness of the Good News of Jesus Christ is very thin on the ground.
Thats Gods will too. And as a church, we want to focus on these things. At home chaplaincy, Religious Education in schools are a priority and I encourage you to get involved in these areas you will hear more about how to get involved there soon. Also there is something called Introducing God, which is an evangelistic course of several weeks we are using at someones workplace at the moment and hope to use in the whole church later this year or next year. And overseas mission to be really strategic and support those reaching out to the most spiritually needy. See me if you are interested in being part of the missions team.
And individually, we need to make the best use our time, our limited, God ordained time, being wise in the choices we make, the choices of whom to marry, what job to do, where to live, what to do with our money, and what causes to donate to, where we put our spare time and energy, using the specific gifts and talents God has given each one of us, so that we are wise in understanding the will of God, in making the best use of our time, our life here on earth.
So that when we near the end of our earthly life, we can look back on it and know we used the time wisely. And no matter how far you are through life, and no matter how youve used your life so far, whether you are at the beginning or end of your life, I urge you now, decide to use the rest of your time wisely, no matter how long or short t is and
Eph 515 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
