INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• As a public service today, I would like to offer up a few home remedies today. Please do not attempt these unless you are a professional.
o If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic. Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat and presto! The blockage will be almost instantly removed.
o Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.
o Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by simply using the sink.
o High blood pressure sufferers: Simply cut yourself and bleed for awhile, thus reducing the pressure in your veins.
o A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep when you hit the snooze button.
o If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough.
o Have a bad tooth ache? Hit your thumb with a hammer, then you will forget about the tooth ache. Mikey’s Funnies. http://www.mikeysfunnies.com/
• These TIPS are rather foolish, aren’t they?
• Next week we will conclude our Turning Over a New Leaf series, today as we continue in this series, we will examine the contrast of our old thinking versus a new understanding we are to have as we face life and the tough questions concerning life and eternity.
• One of the important lessons of life we need to understand is that the battle we fight as we seek to live for Jesus is a battle not against people, but rather against the forces of darkness.
• We also need to understand that battleground is the mind. Satan has known this from the beginning, Christians need to wise up and understand this though also so that we can protect ourselves from the minute by minute attacks we face from the enemy.
• Once one realizes where the real battle takes place, one can mount a defense and can achieve victory in life in the name of Jesus!
• Today we will examine Ephesians 5:17 together as we unfold the concept of a new understanding.
• SLIDE #2
• Ephesians 5:17 (HCSB) — 17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. An old way of thinking.
• The first part of verse 17 is the focus of this thought. “SO DON’T BE FOOLISH.”
• Throughout the chapters four and five, Paul has been offering a contrast between the life we used to live versus the life we are called to live in Christ!
• VERSE 17 begins with the word SO, which means what Paul shares ties back to what he has written in the previous verses.
• Don’t be foolish emphasizes the absurdity of conduct that is contrary to the will of God.
• The foolish ways we used to follow flowed from our lack of understanding concerning the will of God.
• It all ties back to Ephesians 4:1
• SLIDE #4
• Ephesians 4:1 (HCSB) Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,
• We see examples throughout chapters four and five of things that are foolish. I need not go through the list.
• The word translated FOOLISH is a word that means; TO BE DEVOID OF WISDOM OR GOOD SENSE OR SOUND JUDGMENT. It points to not have good judgment or not to exercise it when the time comes.
• What we need to realize all those FOOLISH actions spring forth from a mind that is set in the world. Put another way, a foolish life springs from a foolish mind.
• A foolish person is one who does not know God’s purpose for oneself in this world, so they blissfully and foolishly squander their opportunities for Jesus in this life.
• The old way of thinking was to rely on and depend on human advise of wisdom.
• When you think of the way we lived outside of Christ, think about the endgame.
• The way I used to live, where would that path lead me?
• The world thinks it knows more than God. Our society thinks we are the foolish ones for believing in and following Jesus.
• SLIDE #5
• 1 Corinthians 2:14 (HCSB) But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.
• Why do you think we get ridiculed? A blindness to the truth.
• Those who would think we are the fools are the same ones who think we came from nothing by accident.
• They are the same ones who will fight tooth and nail to save an eagle egg, but will turn a blind eye to the extinguishing of a human baby, claiming it is just a blob of tissue.
• Because the time is short, we do not have the luxury of time. We have a job to do, and our lives must reflect the God we serve so that we can be a light to a lost world!
• The old way of thinking, the old understanding we had was that we were to think and to act the way the world told us.
• The old understanding was that we only served ourselves, and that all our hope was in this life only.
• Paul wants us to understand something, he offers us something better!
• SLIDE #6
II. A new understanding.
• Let’s look at verse 17 again.
• SLIDE #7
• Ephesians 5:17 (HCSB) — 17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
• The new understanding that we are called to seek is to UNDERSTAND what the Lord’s will is!
• WE are encouraged to stop relying on our own wisdom, we are encouraged to stop regarding the advice of other people as the ultimate source of truth.
• This is a call to gain an understanding what the will of the Lord is and to allow that to guide your life!
• We have something better than Google Maps to guide us, we have the will of God to guide us!
• Understanding God’s will is more than just an accumulation of knowledge, it is taking that knowledge and putting it into practice.
• Understanding God’s will is more than even BELIEVING WHAT God says. James 2:19 reminds us that demons also believe and shudder.
• As Christians, we must quit relying on pop psychology, worldly wisdom, and people who have no insights into the will of whatsoever.
• This is hard to do because sometimes God’s will doesn’t always make sense.
• SLIDE #8
• 1 Corinthians 1:18 (HCSB) For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.
• One of the challenges we have as we follow Christ is not so much KNOWING God’s will, but rather the challenge is FOLLOWING God’s will.
• To UNDERSTAND something means more than KNOWING it, it includes being able to CT upon it.
• It is like when I shared with you about some of my Tech school class in Electronics Technology.
• Some would test well, but they did not understand comprehend the principles enough to put their knowledge to the test when working on a piece of equipment.
• Paul’s readers are not lacking in instruction; their lack is in the area of personal understanding and obedience.
• We have not only intellectually comprehended God’s will, as taught in his Word, but we are also continually learning and growing in our understanding as we walk with him. (Life Application Commentary)
• So how do we do this? How do we come to understand the will of God when we are in Christ?
• We discover the come to understand the will of God as we allow our minds to be transformed!
• SLIDE #9
• Romans 12:1–2 (HCSB) Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
• Our mind is transformed as spend time in God’s Word, in prayer, meditation and worship.
• As we allow ourselves to be more connected with God, we come to understand His will in a deeper way, AND as we are being transformed, we become more life Jesus, 1 Corinthians 13:12 and 2 Corinthians 3:18.
• Since God gave us a mind, His desire is for us to use it and to connect it with Him. This means that learning His will involves gathering facts, examining them, weighing them, and praying for His wisdom (James 1:5). God does not want us simply to know His will; He wants us to understand His will.
• This leads us to our final thought.
• SLIDE #10
III. A new realization.
• If one is not careful we will miss the context of this verse and therefore, miss what we need to see.
• In the context of chapters 4-5, as we discussed in the beginning of this message, Paul is encouraging us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
• This, along with the call to UNDERSTAND God’s will implies that God has a plan for your life. That UNDERSTANDING His will brings us to this realization.
• The Jews of Jesus’ day and in earlier times were really good at the religious aspects of Judaism; however, they missed the main point, their personal holiness and connection with God.
• SLIDE #11
• Matthew 23:23 (HCSB) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.
• Sometimes we can focus on religious practice so much that we forget that God has a plan for us. Other times we get so fixated on the big items of life, such a who to marry, what to do for a living that we miss the obvious.
• We need to focus on being obedient to the things in God’s will for all of us, such as what we find in 1 Thessalonians 4:3
• SLIDE #12
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (HCSB) For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality,
• We are called to love one another, to forgive one another, to be an active part of God’s church (Hebrews 10:24-25). We are called to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
• These are just a few things that are called to do.
• Once we get things like this down, then we can focus on what we consider the weightier things of life.
CONCLUSION
• We have a choice, we can cling to the foolish understanding of life, or we can seek to understand the will of God for our lives!
• God has a plan for our lives (v. 17b). Paul alluded to this plan (Eph. 2:10). If God saved me, He has a purpose for my life, and I should discover that purpose and then guide my life accordingly. He reveals His plan through His Word (Col. 1:9–10), His Spirit in our hearts (Col. 3:15), and the working of circumstances (Rom. 8:28).
• How will you choose to live the life you have?
