Walk Wisely
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Walk How?
Walk How?
Walk Worthy of your calling Eph 4:1
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
Don’t Walk like the Gentiles Eph 4:17-18
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
Walk in Love Eph 5:1
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
Walk as Children of Light Eph 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Wise wisely Eph 5:15
Therefore . . .
Therefore . . .
Be imitators of God = be godly
Walk in Love - The Twin Commands - Love God and Love People as Jesus did
Put away sexual immorality
Walk as Children of Light
Because You have become light
Test what is pleasing to the Lord
Expose the unfruitful works of darkness
I. Watch How you Live
I. Watch How you Live
How is this different from legalism? The Legalist would surely say that’s just exactly what he does. But it’s not examining your deeds that makes you a legalist; it’s why. The Christian does very much examine their behavior, to see if anything displeases the Lord, but they aren’t trying to earn their position with God. Rather, they do so because that’s what faithful children of God do, and because they are grateful for what God has done for them. A thoroughgoing legalist practices salvation by works. He thinks that he can earn heaven by being good enough. Note that it’s possible to be a legalist and have a rotten lifestyle at the same time. But it’s also possible to be a legalist not for salvation but for Christian living Gal 3:5. So what does that look like? Now we tend to call legalists those who are very strict especially in things that don’t matter. This might indeed be legalism, but that’s not what makes him a legalist. No, a legalist is someone who tries to legislate behavior by multiplying rules rather than by changing the mind and heart.
Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
So watch how you live. The Christian life should be one of self-examination. It’s difficult sometimes to get an honest perspective of yourself, after all, you like yourself. But it’s vitally important to strive to see yourself as nearly as possible as God sees you. That is, if there’s something sinful in your own life, you should want to know about it. Of course, the admission that you’ve been wrong is quite unpleasant, the pain proportional to how wrong you’ve been. But there’s no Christian growth without an honest appraisal of your words, thoughts, and deeds.
II. Redeem the Time
II. Redeem the Time
Lit. buying back the time; ESV Making the Best Use of the Time. The idea is that we strive to use every minute as it ought to be used.
Because the days are evil.
He means more than that life is sometimes hard. He’s not talking about your subjective experience of your present life.
He does mean that the present age is dominated by the unholy trinity of evil
The World
the Flesh
The Devil
Now at first glance, this might seem to be a demotivator, rather than a reason to redeem the time. The idea is that the present age is hostile to living as a Christian. We might have expected Paul to instead give as a reason that the time is short 1 Cor 7:29. But how can the realization that the present age is evil motivate us to maximize the amount of time we spend serving God? Think of it this way
But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none,
The present age is a wartime economy. The old theologians called the church on earth “the Church Militant” as we are still fighting the battles of the Lord. In wartime, things don’t operate as they do in peacetime. Every effort must be spent battling the enemy, for we are in a deadly struggle for the souls of men
You can’t get a Medal of Honor in a time of peace. There are rewards for serving Jesus, and while we can still serve him in the Kingdom of God, when Jesus returns the program of God on earth will switch, for the first time in history, from a wartime economy to a peacetime one. So the only Medals of Service in the Army of King you can earn, must be earned in the present time.
III. Understand God’s Will
III. Understand God’s Will
We often understand “knowing God’s Will” in terms of making major life decisions - Who should I marry; what Job should I take; Where should I move to; What church should I go to. Now in all these things God does have a plan for your life. And you can and should know what it is. However, God’s Will is always moral - The Bible is full of principles, all of which should be balanced and understood together. You apply these principles to the situations you meet. If you rightly understand how they work, then you’ll know how to do the right thing; if you misapply a Biblical principle, or ignore relevant Biblical principles, then you might think you’re doing right, but you’re not.
But there’s another dimension to understanding God’s Will - he wants us to be wise. Notice that here understanding God’s will is opposite being foolish. Now in the Bible, being foolish isn’t quite the same as being stupid. It’s not about your IQ. It’s about your Moral IQ, your ability to discern the right course of action. It’s about knowing the correct thing to do in every situation.
IV. Be Filled with the Spirit
IV. Be Filled with the Spirit
the Contrast is with being drunk. Now drunkenness is a sin, because it leads to debauchery. The drunkard cannot control himself, but he knows that before he takes a drink, so he’s responsible for putting himself into a position where he can’t make wise decisions.
however, when you’re filled with drink, you’re controlled by drink. Your behavior changes, and you act in ways you would not act if you were sober. Similarly, when you’re filled with the Spirit, you’re controlled by the Spirit. Your behavior changes compared to when you were acting from the flesh, so you act in ways you did not act when you were being fleshly. However, when you’re drunk, the results are negative - you do stupid things that you later regret. If you can remember them. But the results of being controlled by the Spirit is positive - you act in godly ways that amaze a watching world. You act righteously and wisely, and it benefits you and everyone around you.
A. Demonstrated by Singing
A. Demonstrated by Singing
The first act that being filled with the spirit produces is singing. Now this doesn’t mean that you are given a good voice, but rather that you have a new song. Christians songs come in two varieties
Psalms - this is the Scripture set to music
Hymns and Spiritual Songs - Not sure if Paul sees a clear distinction here. A hymn, therefore, according to the Bible, is not inspired but is composed by Christians to reflect the truth of God’s Word. Some Biblical hymns include: v.14; Phil 2:5-11; 1 Cor 15:3-4; 1 Tim 3:16. Spiritual songs would be therefore songs about the matters that the Spirit teaches - i.e. not secular songs but Christian ones.
1 Tim 3:16
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
Christian songs have three audiences -
To your heart - that is, your singing should impact your own mind. Don’t sing mindlessly, but contemplate the reality of what you are singing.
To one another. We sing to remind each other of Christian truths, not merely for ourselves.
To God.
B. Demonstrated by Thanksgiving
B. Demonstrated by Thanksgiving
A Spirit-filled life is seen by the attitude of gratitude to God in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Other people can be grateful for good things in their lives; only the Christian can be thankful to God in Jesus’ Name.
A Spirit filled attitude of gratitude isn’t just in good times for good things; it’s always and for everything. that is, we thank God no matter what happens, because God is always good and always has a good plan to bring good out of everything, no matter how difficult it may be. The more extreme instances of this kind of thing completely confuses the world.
C. Demonstrated by Submission
C. Demonstrated by Submission
In many ways, this verse is the summary statement of the next section, the household lists. There are three pairs of relationships, in each case there’s one follower and one leader; Wives and Husbands; Children and Parents; Slaves and Masters. It is clear that by telling us to submit to each other, Paul isn’t trying to eliminate traditional leadership roles, so what does he mean by this mutual submission?
It’s clear enough what he means for each of the followers - he means obey; follow the leader. But even this must be qualified - we submit because we fear Christ, therefore, if the leader demands we do something that displeases Christ, we cannot obey.
For the leaders, however, there are also instructions. Husbands aren’t supposed to boss around their wives, they must love them as Christ loved the church; Fathers don’t just do anything they like to their kids, they must raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; Masters should merely use whatever force gets them what they want, but treat their slaves well. In other words, we will probably all find ourselves in some kind of leadership role to someone at some time. God wants you to use your authority to serve them, not to please yourself. Mark 10:42-45
But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
The motive of this submission/servant leadership is that we respect Jesus Christ. All of us will someday stand before Jesus and give account of how we treated others. He wants to see that you faithfully served others in whatever role he assigned you. Christians will be judged according to their works, and will be rewarded for faithfully doing as Jesus wants. These are the greatest benefits of doing right that anyone can ever have, so why wouldn’t you want to please the one who died for you?