LIVE THE WISE LIFE
Ephesians 5:15-20 - August 21 2005 - Pentecost 14
Dear Fellow-Redeemed & Saints in the Lord:
In our society many people want to live the good life. They want to have a full life. The fact is as you cross into Nebraska, the state declares: "Nebraska -- the good life." Today the Lord reminds us there is more to this life on earth than just a good life or a full life. There is the wise life. We are privileged once again to gather together to look at God’s how to manual, how to live the wise life. In our day and age and society there are lots of how to manuals: how to eat the right food, how to stay healthy, how to fix and repair just about anything. Today we turn to the Bible, our Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth, the only perfect how to manual on how to live wisely.
When Jesus was speaking to his disciples, in the gospel of John he told them how he was the Good Shepherd: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). When we honestly look at our lives, we suddenly realize the thief today is really this world, isn’t it? The world around us comes to steal our time. It comes to destroy eternal pleasures of many well-meaning people. Satan certainly comes to snuff out eternal life. So we want to live the wise life.
We LIVE THE WISE LIFE when we are
I. Filled with God’s Spirit
II. Filled with thankfulness.
I. FILLED WITH GOD’S SPIRIT
This week take the time and read a chapter of Ephesians each day; and when you get done, start over. There is a lot of advice for Christian living in this little book of Ephesians. The reason for that was Ephesus was a very large metropolitan area. Ephesus was a well-known trade route. Ephesus was a city that was filled with all kinds of sin. Because of that, these believers were just staring out on their journey of a new lift of Christianity. Christianity was the new religion at this time. These believers had to face all of these challenges, all of these sins that surrounded them. The hardest part was that for the longest time they too once lived in those sins. When they committed them, they thought nothing about them. Paul came and told them, Christ died for you. Your new lives are now different. These new believers were not to walk in their former way of life in which they had grown up. They were now to live a wise life.
Paul writes in the middle of our text: "Instead be filled with the Spirit,” This spirit is the Spirit of God they had received by God’s grace. It was not the spirit of the world, not the spirit of sin. Paul describes one of those sins, doesn’t he? He says, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery." We don’t hear that word debauchery very often. Debauchery means wickedness, immorality. This wickedness fueled by drunkenness leads to a living that does not care about anything else. Wine can dull the senses. These people had often spent their lives doing this. They didn’t know any better. Now Paul reminds these believers to now be filled with the Spirit, not with wine that dulls the senses, but the Spirit, which shows them the wise way of eternal life.
That is why this section began by saying: Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise. All around them there were people destined for destruction, and they were living as unwise. They were living for the here and now and not concerned about eternity. So their eternity would not be eternal life but would be eternal death. Paul writes: Live as wise making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Two thousand years almost Paul wrote these words.
Two thousand years ago almost, Paul wrote these words. He had spent a long time with the people of Ephesus. He lived in that city and saw the evil that was there. He says, "The days are evil." Have they gotten better or worse? Some would say they have gotten better. The Lord tells us in Scripture tells us the days will become increasingly worse until the day he returns. Our Lord says that the love of most will grow cold. The love for God will grow cold. God says the love for one another will grow cold. Instead, people are not concerned about anyone else but themselves. Paul wrote to Timothy: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy..." (2 Timothy 3:1,2). The list goes on. As I read these words, they don’t seem to have been written 2,000 years ago. That describes us and our society today, doesn’t it? It is easy for us to look around and think, "We know people who love money more than anything else. That they love themselves more than anything else, they are boastful, proud." We think of athletes today--boastful and proud. We know of the Hollywood elite who are boastful and proud and think the world should follow everything they want to do.
Yet, we don’t want to point fingers just at them. We know we too are part of this society. Sometimes our thoughts are occupied with money. Sometimes our thoughts are occupied with looking out only for ourselves. We want to live the good life, the full life. Our sinful nature does. Our Christian nature given to us by God moves us to look to Christ, and wants us to live the wise life. The wise love to follow the path of Jesus. It is not in agreement with the full and good life philosophy of this world. The world does not want to waste its time on Sunday morning worshipping God. The world does not want to waste its time during the week attending Bible study or reading Scripture for themselves. The worldly think, "Well, what profit is religion for the good life, the full life?" We know different. By God’s grace we know that God gives us the wise life through his instructions. Proverbs says: "Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still, teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:9,10). As we begin to know more about the Lord, we begin to become wise. As we begin to understand more about the Holy One, then we will understand that eternal life is the wise life.
How are you and I to live a wise life? How are we to be filled with that Spirit of God? We never short-change ourselves when we gather to hear God’s word. We never short-change ourselves when we come together to study God’s word. And we never short-change ourselves when we read God’s word on our own. In that way the word of God, which is living and active, is planted in our hearts and springs up to bear abundant fruit. Peter writes: "The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:7,8). Again, that is how we are filled with the Holy Spirit. We look to God for guidance. We pray to God for understanding. We pray to God for wisdom. We pray to God to be able to love one another deeply. That is the wise life. The wise life does not fit the saying concerning the good or full life where the world advises, "Watch out for yourself. Watch out for number one."
Another thought from Galatians: "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."(Galatians 6:8). God says we are to live the wise life. Be filled with the Spirit of God, which is the wisdom of God, the knowledge of God. Our text continues: Let your wise life be filled with thankfulness.
II. FILLED WITH THANKFULNESS
The Apostle Paul, who we know quite a bit about because of his letters in the New Testament, could never repay back to God for what God had done to him and for him. We know that the Apostle Paul thought it was his mission in life to put to death those who were followers of the Way. But on his way to Damascus, the Lord called him out of that darkness into his divine light. No longer would Paul be a persecutor of Christians, but a proclaimer of Christianity. From that moment on the Apostle Paul lived his life with a zeal and fervor of spreading the message of Christianity. Paul is filled with the Spirit, and he led a life of thankfulness. Paul realized that God had saved him from eternal destruction in hell.
Verse 20 says: "always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." This was something the congregation at Ephesus had to be reminded of and had to remember from time to time. They faced lots of doctrinal problems. They were a young church. We have to remember that in their study in God’s Word there was only one scroll--in the temple--a scroll that was read to them. There was one scroll; and, if they were fortunate enough they could come to study it with others. They did not have Bibles at home to study. They did not have God’s word written down in inexpensive Bibles as we have access to today.
So from time to time it was easier for false teachings to become major problems. Paul says we even should give thanks for those times of difficulties. The difficult times would make them stronger, listen harder and study more to know the truths of God’s word. These believers would study harder. The fact is, Paul spent the longest time in his life there as a missionary in Ephesus, because there were those doctrinal problems. We are also told in Acts that the whole region of Asia Minor came to Ephesus at one time or another during that time and heard the word of God. Therefore Paul gave thanks that the Lord had made him stay there in the time of difficulties because of doctrinal false teachings. God was there with Paul to strengthen the people and proclaim the message. They, too, would always give thanks.
Then Paul gives them two ways for thankfulness--outward and inward. He says: "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." We can sense the joy Paul wants these believers to have as they gather together with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We can picture their worship in the temple. This is outward, but where does this joy and thankfulness come from? Paul adds: "Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord." Now, that truly is wise living.
When Jesus spoke to the scribes and Pharisees, he had to remind them matters of the heart were more important than mere traditions. The scribes and Pharisees always made sure that they were washed and cleaned before eating. Jesus reminded them that out of the heart comes murders, adulteries, thefts, and the list goes on. Paul writes here that out of the heart comes music, singing to the Lord. It is true that we might not have a good voice or follow the notes as much as we would like. But in our hearts the Lord knows the song that is there. The Lord knows the thankfulness that is ours each and every day, not just because he has blessed us with abundant earthly blessings, but because he has also given us a wise life. God gives us more than the good life. God has given us more than a full life. God has given us a life that is wise. In the light of wise living believers easily see that everything we have comes from the hand of the Lord, both earthly but especially spiritual. Hebrews says: "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe" (Hebrews 12:28). God has given us eternal life in his wise providence.
Paul realized that and that maybe we need to remind ourselves of that fact day after day. Yes, this life can deal out what some would think are tough things, things that we don’t enjoy. There is also eternal life that God has guaranteed to us, that God has said is ours. We are children of God and are going to inherit eternal life. There is music in our hearts. There is thankfulness in our wise living. The Psalm writer says: "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song" (Psalm 28:7). Hopefully, every day you can say that. Maybe you do not feel that way all day long. Maybe you need to leap for joy in the morning before we face life’s troubles, before you are reminded of the sinfulness of this world. That’s a good thing that the song of the Lord leaps from your heart in lives of thankfulness. That is the wise life.
Satan constantly and consistently tries to rob us of thankfulness and joyful living. The world does the same thing, tries to rob us of thankfulness and joyful living. The world takes so much and gives so little in return. The treasures of this world are corrupted and destroyed. Our own sinful flesh can lead us astray. So the Lord has to remind us over and over again in his holy word to be thankful. There are many passages. One in 1 Thessalonians: "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Remember that God’s will first of all is that all would be saved. In Thessalonians he says: "God’s will is that you be joyful and be thankful in all circumstances." Sometimes or quite often we have to pray to see God’s will, pray to realize that yes, we can be thankful. Yes, we can rejoice in times of trouble, hardship, sickness and sorrow. The Lord works them for our good. That is God’s eternal promise. God’s eternal, gracious promises makes our life in this world more than just a good life, more than just a full life. God’s promises and divine will make our life a wise life, not wise according to human standards, not wise according to profitability in the standards of the world; but it is a wise life in the eyes of God.
The walk of a believer’s life is a wise life because by God’s grace he has opened our eyes to see, our hearts to believe that eternal life is ours. So then from here and now until we reach eternity and we see Jesus face to face, God says we can enjoy a good life here on earth. That is part of God’s blessings. We can enjoy a full life here on earth. That is part of God’s blessings. Today our Lord also reminds us we want to live a wise life by following in the footsteps of Jesus. A wise life realizes that without Christ we are lost. A wise life realizes that without God we are condemned to eternal death. A wise life is filled with the Spirit of God, which is divine knowledge, wisdom and understanding. A wise life is the Christian’s life that shows joy and thanksgiving. We are truly, eternally thankful, thankful that God has saved us from sin, death and the devil.
Paul writes in Colossians: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). Today and then Monday and the next day and then every day be thankful, be filled with the Spirit. Live the wise life and you will enjoy the good life. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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Readings, Pentecost 14(ILCW-A): EXODUS 6:2-8; ROMANS 11:33-36; MATTHEW 16:13-20
