Ephesians 5:15-21
Six Steps to Wisdom.
A pastor was meeting with his staff and deacons. Suddenly an angel appears and says, “Pastor, because of your faithful sacrifice, you have been granted one of these three choices: Unlimited wisdom, or unlimited money, or unmatchable good looks. Which will you choose?”
The pastor immediately said, “Wisdom”, and the angel said it was done before he disappeared.
The staff and deacons look amazed at the pastor, who still had a slight halo glow to him. One of the said, “Say something wise.”
Suddenly he had a shocked look on his face and said, “I should have taken the money”
Eph 5:15-21 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. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
+ Introduction: (15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.)
We have mentioned that wisdom is seeing things from God’s perspective.
We have seen how wisdom gives us an understanding of things that appear to be similar, but are by nature very different.
Again, Paul encourages us to walk in wisdom.
Here he gives us six steps.
Later, we will see how he shows us how to live wise in the home.
I. Care in our occupation. spending time.
making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
The first step of wisdom is to value your time.
Let me illustrate the importance.
Many years ago, we took a youth group to the gulf coast for a camp.
The sixth graders had moved into the youth group, and we had a whole spectrum of youth ages, 200+ teens.
One of our sixth grade boys had never been away from home.
The only money they had to bring to camp was to eat on the way up and on the way back, plus and incidentals they needed for the week.
We had four school sized busses, plus a few ban and cars.
We stopped at a convenient store gas station, much like stripes.
This boy was given $25 for the whole week by his parents.
He went into the store and spent the entire amount on junk: candy, snacks and toys.
Now this boy was out of money. By the mercy of some adults, he got to eat on the 8 hour trip back.
The next year, the youth director took up the money from the Middle School kids and put each kid’s money in an envelope with his or her name on it.
He assigned a banker to keep it and to make sure every student had enough money to eat on the way home.
For those alive today, the average life expectancy is 75 years.
Some of you are already on borrowed time.
But whether we pass before or after our 75th birthday, God has numbered our days.
Job 14:5 says that the length of our life is determined.
Psalm 139:16 says that number is written in a book in heaven.
Psalm 90:12, the Psalmist ask God to teach us to number our days.
That means for us to value our days.
We have been given a set amount to spend.
To be wise, we must spend each one wisely.
Once a day is spent, we cannot get it back.
Do we buy junk food and toys? Or do we honor God with it?
II. Care in our Motivation. pursuit of God’s will.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
To be wise, to make the best use of every day, you need to know what the will of the Lord is.
Some believe you cannot know what the will of the Lord is.
Through the years, I have had people come to me asking me what the will of the Lord is for their lives.
I have stood in my driveway with a fairly new convert who wept to know God’s will for his life.
I had an older Church member tell me once that she had never successfully sought God’s will and found it.
Maybe that is where you are today, or you are face with a decision.
You feel the weight on your shoulder, you know God knows the answer, but are afraid you won’t hear it.
Let me give you a quick crash course on finding God’s will.
Know this first, that God does know what you need to do and longs for you to find it.
Also trust that God is big enough to deliver to you God’s will.
First, do what you know to do.
1. That means to draw near to God.
The closer your mind is to God, the clearer your heart will hear His call.
James 4:8 tells us to draw near to God and He will draw near to us.
2. Pray a lot.
Jesus told about a widow in Luke 18:1-8.
She came to the judge and pled her case.
She asked for justice from a judge that did not respect man or God.
He turned her down, time and time again.
Yet, she continued to come and plea for justice.
Luk 18:3-8 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" 6 And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Jesus said, “Seek, knock and ask. Keep seeking. Keep knocking, keep asking.”
Pray often, pray a lot.
3. Dig into God’s Word.
You cannot discern God’s voice from the static of the world if you do not know God’s Word.
Treasury agents have to be aware of all counterfeit bills in circulation.
They learn, and train others to recognize counterfeit bills in an unusual way.
They spend their time handling real currency, the authentic.
They are so familiar with the real thing when it comes to money, they recognize a counterfeit immediately.
The real thing in God’s will is found in His perfect Word.
• 4. Abide in Christ.
John 14 has become more and more special to me.
It was at a time when Christ Jesus was trying to prepare the disciples for His death.
He begins by telling them that He is the vine. We are the branches.
He was probably walking from the Lord’s Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane.
He was teaching them every step of the way. He would have passed by a vineyard.
He told them they had to remain attached to the vine to produce fruit.
You are not going to produce fruit outside of God’s will.
To produce fruit, Jesus said the key is allowing Him to flow through you.
His life pours through you like the life of a vine flows through the branches.
If that is the key to producing fruit, then abiding in Him must be the most important thing in the will of God.
Now, take those four things that we already know to be God’s will.
You seek to stay near God, you pray a lot, and dig into His word.
You trust for His life to flow through you, to the point that you die to your life and depend upon His life in you.
Now, what else would you need to know to find God’s specific will?
Think of those four things and listen to Proverbs 3:5-6.
Pro 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
There it is. Did you hear it?
He said, if you trust Him and acknowledge Him, He will direct your path.
What if you could simply do these four things and God would be totally responsible for placing you into the place where you do His will?
What if the rest of your responsibility was handled by God, and He directed your steps?
What if you did those four things, and God took care of the rest?
That is what I am hearing.
III. Care in our Foundation. filling.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit
Paul is telling us to focus on what influences us.
Being filled with something is to allow it to be the primary influence in our lives.
He is not so much concerned with a lesson on alcohol here.
He is showing us a comparison.
All of us know what alcohol does to a person who gets drunk.
Education is not their primary influence.
Culture is not their primary influence.
As a matter of fact, a drunk person will put aside all training and education and do things that they would never do otherwise.
Yes, being drunk causes one to be stupid.
In contrast, being filled with the Holy Spirit makes one wise.
It gives us wisdom above our culture, education, and reasonableness, like alcohol gives us stupidity below our culture, education and reasonableness.
Be influenced by the Holy Spirit, the life of Christ in you.
IV. Care in our Adulation. Worship.
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Another step in wisdom is our attendance and participation in public worship.
We are actually given a good list here of what should comprise public worship.
First of all, it says “addressing one another…”
A really good translation of this would be, “expressing with each other…”
Collectively lifting our voices in praise and worship.
Psalms – “songs of old, directly from the scriptures”. In early Christianity, much of the Psalms were used for their worship songs.
Hymns – “traditional songs indirectly from the scriptures, written by God followers.”
Spiritual Songs – “Other Christian songs, could be non-tradition, but written by God followers.”
Singing – Praising with your voice.
Making Melody – Playing instruments.
With your heart - in sincerity and focus on the one worthy of praise.
It is sad today that some people under appreciate faithfulness to public worship.
Public worship is not simply for what you get out of it.
It is an encouragement to other people to see you faithful.
But public worship is not mostly about encouraging others.
It is about honoring the God and Christ who are worthy of all worship.
You are unwise without it.
V. Care in our appreciation. Gratitude.
giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Gratitude to God is a sign of wisdom. It is a step of wisdom.
Let me show you something real quickly.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of the Lord concerning you.”
We quote that more than we quote Ephesians 5:20.
We often say, “It doesn’t say to give thanks for everything, but in everything.”
True, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 does not.
But Ephesians 5:20 does.
The sign of true gratitude to God with wisdom is to be able to give thanks to God for everything.
If Romans 8:28 is true, then everything works together for our good and God’s glory.
If everything is working for God’s glory and our good, then why would we not be thankful for it?
In a couple of weeks, my son will be with us.
He will sing for us and preach for us.
I assure you, you will be blessed.
I invite him with all confidence, that if you like him more than you like me, which is a strong possibility, he will not accept coming here to replace me. (I hope).
Over 40 surgeries, pushing 50 hospital stays in his first 18 years of his life.
At the times of crisis, it was difficult for me and his mother to thank God for the problems and issues.
Yet, we would not have rescued him from any of those if God had given us the power.
He has a heart for God, because God shaped his heart and life through every trial, every surgery, every emergency.
God called him to serve him, and meticulously prepared him to say yes.
We would not change a thing.
Now, I can say, “Thank you, Lord, for his tethered cord. Thank you for his spinal meningitis. Clubbed feet, the hydrocephalus, the failed shunt, and on and on….”
VI. Care in our mortification. humility.
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
To be wise, we have to die from having things our way.
We were called to submit to one another.
There is no one more important than anyone else.
We are called to be the servant of all of the congregation of God.
We don’t do this out of a sense of inferiority towards one another.
We do it out of a sense of fulfillment, completion.
We don’t meet our own needs of importance here.
Our importance is secure safe in Jesus Christ.
We do this out of security and reverence for Jesus Christ.
Paul told the Philippians….
Phil. 2”3-4 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Then he goes into the humility of Christ.
When I saw Sadhu Sundar Singh in Europe, he had completed a tour around the world. People asked him, Doesn't it do harm, your getting so much honor?" The Sadhu's answer was: "No. The donkey went into Jerusalem, and they put garments on the ground before him. He was not proud. He knew it was not done to honor him, but for Jesus, who was sitting on his back. When people honor me, I know it is not me, but the Lord, who does the job."
