The Way of the Wise
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Automaker Henry Ford asked electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairmen couldn’t find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then threw the switch.
The generators whirred to life–but Ford got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted car maker inquired why the bill was so high. Steinmetz’s reply: For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where to tinker, $9,990.
Ford paid the bill.
Wisdom, knowledge and understanding are priceless commodities.
God tells us in...
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
God wants us to be wise, and the only way we will be wise, is by following the instructions laid out in His Word...
There are four important lessons from Ephesians 5:15-18 that we need to consider if we are going to be wise...
I-Watch how you walk.
I-Watch how you walk.
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
See then that ye walk...
This is a simple truth that we often have trouble fulfilling. Before you can watch how you walk, you must be walking...
Many need to get off of their seat of complacency and unconcern and walk!
How are we to walk? Circumspectly...
Circumspectly comes from two Latin words which mean “looking around.” The Greek word carries the idea of precision and accuracy. “See that you walk carefully, with exactness” is the meaning.
Those who walk carefully do not walk foolishly like an unwise person. They are polar opposites…Scripture says, walk circumspectly, not as fools, but wise,...
The fool lives recklessly. He flaunts folly, hangs with fools, and despises wisdom. The wise man, in contrast, values wisdom and pursues it diligently…
The book of Proverbs sheds much light on the contrast of a wise man and a fool…I’ll not quote everything due to time, but here’s a few of my favorites:
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge:
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes:
But he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise:
But a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:
But whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
If there ever was a time to be on the lookout, to be careful, diligent, and to be accurate in what we believe, it is now.
Temptations abound in our society that can bring us down and ruin our testimonies if we yield to them. Deception is rampant as people lie, cheat, steal, and trick others into sin or out of their possessions or their identity.
We need to watch how we walk!
II-Make the most of every opportunity.
II-Make the most of every opportunity.
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
We are instructed to redeem the time. This is an interesting phrase. The word redeeming in our text means “to buy up, to ransom, to pay the price to recover.”
You might wonder how that applies to our lives today. How can we buy up time; how can we ransom our days? It is really quite simple; we are to make the most of every day and every opportunity that the Lord gives us. We are not instructed to literally buy time; we can’t do that, but make the most of the time we are given.
Jesus said that Satan is a robber and a thief, and one of the things he tries to rob from us is our time.
Listen to me church...There is a work to be done and it has fallen our lot to fulfill that work. The lost around us are not guaranteed another day or another opportunity. We are not promised another day to labor for the Lord. Are we doing all that we can with the time we’ve been given? How much of our time during the course of a week is actually spent for the Lord?
The Bible tells us there is a sense of urgency here...Why do we need to labor right now, redeeming the time; Because the days are evil. This refers to the evil that we face on a daily basis. We must be aware and alert to the snares and temptations that come our way.
You would have to agree that we are living in the presence of increasing evil. We used to enjoy an atmosphere that respected and even promoted the Christian faith, but that day has long passed. We now live in a society that is increasingly intolerant of our faith and the Christian voice. Many of our elected officials are weary of the conservative Christian. They would like nothing more than the church to be silenced and all Christian influence removed from our society.
We are to redeem the time because the days are evil. As the world becomes more corrupt, its efforts to hinder God’s work and oppose Christianity will increase.
One century after Paul wrote the letter to Ephesus, Rome was persecuting Christians with cruelty. Christians were buried alive, boiled in oil, burned alive, butchered in half, and fed to wild dogs and lions. Opportunities today may be gone tomorrow.
Warren Wiersbe said, “Our English word “opportunity” comes from the Latin and means “toward the port.” It suggests a ship taking advantage of the wind and tide to arrive safely in the harbor. The brevity of life is a strong argument for making the best use of the opportunities God gives us. Buy up time while you can. Take advantage and make the most of your opportunities to live for the Lord. One day, you will not be able to do so.
III-Understand what the Lord’s will is.
III-Understand what the Lord’s will is.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
What do you think God’s will is for you?
Usually when Christians talk about God’s will, they are referring to God’s will regarding major decisions about things like their careers. But I do not think that is what Paul has in mind here. He is referring to God’s already revealed will, and for us today that means three things:
A. Read the Word
B. Pray
C. Obey
You might say, well, there’s more to it than that, well, I would say to you, if you do those three, the rest falls in line...
Believers need to understand what God has called every believer to pursue and what He has called every believer to avoid. In short, understanding the Lord’s will means to pattern our lives after Jesus...
Voddie Baucham said “In most of our churches, if you have a young man who's 16, 17, 18 years old and this young man is reading church history, and he's reading theology, he knows his Bible, he's studying his Bible, he has a passion for the Word of God, has a passion for the things of God, and a passion for the people of God, you know what happens in the average American church? They look at that 16, 17, 18 year old young man and they say, 'God must be calling you to preach.' Really? Why? Because you love the Bible, you love theology, you love church history, you're passionate about the things of God? Now, what we ought to say is, 'That just means you're a Christian.'"
God’s will is found within His Word. If you want to be wise concerning the will of God, seek His will within His Word. It will teach us how to live and maintain our lives. It provides instruction for our faith and Christian practice.
IV-Be Filled with the Spirit.
IV-Be Filled with the Spirit.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Here is another fundamental truth and obligation in the life of believers. Now, often this verse is used to make the argument concerning strong drink and clearly there is application for that, but the focus of this verse is the filling of the Spirit.
The wise person (v. 17) is not intoxicated by alcohol or anything else but is filled with the Spirit (v. 18). Grammatically, Paul gives two commands: “Don’t get drunk with wine … be filled by the Spirit” (v. 18).
Paul’s concern about wine was not only a moral concern, but also a religious concern.
To the Ephesians, whom he is writing, drunkenness was closely associated with the idolatrous rites and practices in the pagan temples. In the mystery religions of ancient Babylon, the ultimate height of the pagan worship of false gods was to reach an emotional high and frenzy. They would get to this high by hypnosis, getting drunk, and other things.
This is not how the wise person acts…The wise person instead is filled, not with wine, but with the spirit of God.
Let me be clear on this...At the moment of salvation, all believers are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. We are now the temple of God and His Spirit dwells within us. The initial indwelling of the Spirit is not in view here. This is a command to continually be filled with the Spirit. The word filled means “to make full; to cause to abound; to fill to the brim so that nothing else is wanting.” It carries the idea of being constantly filled; literally to keep on being filled. It is the will of God for all believers to be filled with the Spirit on a continual basis.
The filling of the Holy Spirit is yielding to His control. This is not an option for us. This is a command to be obeyed, “Be filled with the Spirit.”
You have all of the Holy Spirit when you get saved. The problem, however, is He does not have all of you.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In these verses, we have seen that if you will...
Watch how you walk.
Make the most of every opportunity.
Understand what the Lord’s will is.
And
Be filled with the Spirit.
Then you will be wise...
We can walk in wisdom, if we will follow the clear guidelines given to us in the Word of God. If we will simply take His Word and make it the rudder of our lives, we will sail a straight course through this world. We will live a life that honors God and gives light to the world around us.
I will close with a couple of questions:
• How is your walk with the Lord? Are you walking in wisdom, or are your walking in foolishness?
• How is your relationship with the Word of God? Do you read it? Do you live it?
