Ephesians 5: 15. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16. making the most 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 all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
SEIZING THE DAY
Text: Ephesians 5:15-20
When we think about time, how do we spend it?
1.Someone (John R. Mott) once said "Time is the only possession that we have that we cannot replace. Wealth can be replaced. Even our health in may instances can be regained. But lost time can never be recalled."
2.To those (Mott's) comments someone else (Ernest A. Fitzgerald) replied, "That isn't altogether true, but it is true enough to merit attention. Our days are linked together, and the harvests of tomorrow are dependent upon the seeds sown today". (Ernest A. Fitzgerald. Keeping Pace: Inspirations In The Air. Greensboro: Pace Communications, 1986, p. 55).
Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart” (NRSV).
So how do we honestly number our days (Psalm 90:12)? Consider
Ephesians 5:15-16: "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil" (RSV). When the Apostle Paul penned those words, he was exhorting the urgency and the necessity of "seizing the day!" with every passing day. Paul was and is talking about seeking to do God's will, striving to be filled with the Holy Spirit, praising God together and thanking God for everything. How well do we heed this urgent call to seize the day?
TIME IS PRICELESS
Brothers and sisters do we think that time is pricelss? "Three things come not back----the spoken word, the spent arrow, and the lost opportunity." (The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel Of Matthew. Volume 1. Revised Edition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 371). Life does not always give us rain checks for missed opportunities. The definition of a rain check is this: "the stub of a ticket to a ball game or other outdoor event, entitling the holder to be admitted at a future date if the original event is rained out". (Webster's New World Dictionary. Second College Edition. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982, p. 1173). How often have you received a “rain-check” for a missed opportunity?
Do we squander the time that we have been given or do we seize the day and invest the talent of time? The harvest that will be reaped in the future as someone has noted depends upon the seeds that are sown today. Consider this thought: “Sign over college classroom clock: "Time will pass; will you?" (Timeless Treasures). Are we squandering our time or are we considering the future with the seeds that we are sowing today?
Are we spending our time wisely?
Martha Stewart sleeps with a light on all night, so if she wakes up she can immediately start reading. It must work, because she finds time to have her own TV show, put out a magazine, write books, and be in American Express commercials. (McHenry).
“… Douglas MacArthur graduated from West Point at the top of his class, he continued to prepare himself for service to his country. He studied every military textbook he could get his hands on. He visited battlefields and personally reviewed the tactics which the victors and the losers used. While other young officers were playing cards or practicing their golf swing, MacArthur ignored the social whirl to make himself better prepared as a future leader. He even insisted on having his appendix removed just in case it would ever cause him to be incapacitated with an attack of appendicitis at a crucial time later in his career. Douglas MacArthur's preparedness proved wise. As the key military leader in the Pacific theatre of operations during World War II, he had personally responded to his country's call to duty years before the actual crisis of war by preparing himself to be a top general. Each Christian can have that kind of commitment to Christ's rule and prepare himself or herself for service. Are you preparing yourself to serve Christ? Are you responding to His call by being ready to lead?" (William P. Barker ed. Tarbell's Teacher's Guide. 86th Annual Volume. Elgin: David C. Cook Publishing Co. 1990, p. 123). Obviously, God does not want us to be obsessed people like Stewart and MacArthur, but God does want us to use our time wisely and responsibly with the future in mind. God does want us to realize how well or poor we spend today makes or fails to make a difference tomorrow!
I once did a Memorial service for the brother of a church member whose name was John David Thomas. Mr. Thomas loved living near the beach where golf courses are plenty. It was just another day as Mr. Thomas set out to play golf. However, this day was different. Why? It was different because it was Mr. Thomas’s last game. You see he never got to finish the eighteenth hole as he had a heart attack on the seventeenth hole. They took him to the hospital and he died not long after that. When we had his Memorial service at King’s Mountain Chapel United Methodist Church in York, SC we had a miniature flag on it with the number 17. What was the point of that flag? The same point that Paul was making in Ephesians 5:15 -20 which was to “Seize the day”.
As we mentioned earlier, Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart” (NRSV). So how do we honestly number our days (Psalm 90:12)?
DO WE INVEST OUR TIME WELL ?
We can only do God’s will when we are walking with His Spirit (Galatians 5:16).
1) The Holy Spirit is with us and abides in us (John 14:17).
2) We are strengthened because of how the Holy Spirit is with us, helps us, and abides in us guiding us into all truth and reminding us of what Jesus taught us. When we are being guided by the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth, then we are better able to discern what the Lord’s will is.
3) That is why Jesus told us that apart from Him we could do nothing. (John 15:5).
Alcohol is often spoken of as spirits and its consumption is a poor witness when it causes others to stumble (cf. Romans 14:21). “A Methodist minister had a secret vice—he loved to drink cherry brandy. Of course, it was impossible for him to admit his weakness to a congregation who were strictly teetotalers, and some wicked friends decided to exploit his dilemma. They offered him a whole crate of cherry brandy on the condition that the gift was publicly acknowledged in the church paper. To their amazement the minister gladly accepted. Next Sunday the notice appeared: “the minister would like to thank his friends for the generous gift of the fruit and the spirit in which it was given.” (Roy B. Zuck. ED. The Speaker’s Sourcebook. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publication, 1977, p. 122.).
1) Drinking can be something that will cause some to stumble both physically and spiritually.
2) Drinking is a bad thing to do if it causes a impressionable brother or a sister in Christ to stumble (Romans 14:21).
3) Drinking to the point of excess resulting in drunkenness can hinder one’s senses as well as one’s spiritual sensibility as well as one’s spiritual responsibility (Romans 14:22-23).
God wants us to be Spirit Sealed and Spirit filled. Back in the days of John Wesley, the people who were called enthusiasts were thought of as those who were pretenders. Wesley spoke about pretenders and their dangerous delusions. Wesley once wrote about this topic in one of his sermons:
1) “... if a man causes a mistake in this [area] he may run on in endless error and delusion.
2) “And how am I assured that this not my case; and that I do not mistake the voice of the Spirit?
3) Even by the “testimony of your own spirit’: by the’ answer of a good conscience toward God’. By the fruits he hath wrought in your spirit you shall know the “testimony of the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:16).
4) Hereby you shall know that you’re not in any delusion; that you have deceived your own soul. The immediate fruits of the Spirit ruling in the heart are ‘love, joy, peace, ‘bowels of mercies, humbleness of mind, meekness, and gentleness, long-suffering’ [Galatians 5:22-23].
5) And the outward fruits are the doing good to all men, the doing no evil to any, and the walking in the light—a zealous, uniform obedience to all of the commandments of God…” (Sermons, The Witness. Of the Spirit, I., Volume 1, p. 283.). It seems obvious that Wesley was talking about being both Spirit filled and sealed. What they called enthusiasm in Wesley’s day is what we call fanaticism in our day.
The word enthusiasm comes from two Greek words which are the prefix en (meaning in) and suffix to which it is attached which Theos (meaning God). It therefore becomes obvious that this word literally means “ GOD in us.” (A. Naismith. 1200 Notes, Quotes, and Anecdotes. Great Britain: Pickering Paperbacks, 1988 p.60). “The enthusiastic man is the one who speaks as if he were possessed by God.” (Naismith, p.60)
When we are Spirit Sealed and Spirit Filled, then our lives will show it. Someone (Herb Miller) tells the story about a man whose godly character was well known and respected. One day at the courthouse, they could not find a bible by which people swore to tell the truth. The judge therefore told the bailiff to go get ED…”The judge said, “Ed, you have communicated more of the Bible to most of the people in this town. You mill make a good substitute for the one we can’t find.” “Thus, the first witness placed his hand on Ed’s head, swore the oath, and trial began.” (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, pp.116-117).
Is our example of righteousness that strong? When we live like that, others cannot help but to see it--- “always and for everything giving thanks in the name our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father” (Ephesians 5:20 RSV).
