The Choice Is Yours

Psalm 23 | Ephesians 5:15-21

You choose

Classic positive / negative contrast

Deuteronomy 30:15–18 ““See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.”

1 Kings 18:20–21 “So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.”

The subject of every verb in vv15-21 is the understood you

v15: (you) look v16 (you) make v17 (you) do not / (you) understand v18: (you) do not / (you) be filled

v19: (you) address, sing, make v20: (you) give v21: (you) submit

Ephesians 2:2 “in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—”

Galatians 1:4 “who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,”

VII. Of Grace in Regeneration

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or born again; that

regeneration consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind; that it is effected in a

manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with

divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; and that its proper

evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life

Biblical Imperatives flow from indicatives

If you are born again, you have been set free of bondage to sin that you might live a life of holiness. The choice to obey the instructions in our text is both the path to blessing AND evidence of your regeneration.

This is exactly HOW we make our calling and election sure, but make no mistake about it; this text and this message put the ball squarely in your court. It is a call to action; a call to choice and prioritization.

2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

The Days of Debauchery

2 Corinthians 4:4 “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

1 Peter 4:3–4 “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;”

Ephesians 5:6 “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these [sinful patterns of living] the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

The days are evil because all of creation is under the curse of sin, and God has given limited dominion to the Devil who distracts and clouds minds, enticing them to debauchery.

Debauchery = ἀσωτία / asOtia

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 88.96 ἀσωτία, ας

88.96 ἀσωτία, ας f: behavior which shows lack of concern or thought for the consequences of an action—‘senseless deeds, reckless deeds, recklessness.’ μὴ

profligacy / prodigality: if you want a picture of debauchery, it is the manner of living that saw the prodigal son squander all he had and wind up eating slop with pigs.

THAT is why Paul uses words like UNWISE; It’s not just wrong. It is foolish.

To borrow a term from the military and apply it to believers, it is conduct unbecoming.

1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

Our problem in this age, and more importantly for Paul in the text, and our purpose today is that Born Again Believers too often have not and do not put away these childish ways. THAT is the truth of debauchery.

How often will you halt between two opinions? Either be swept up in the current of the downward spiral of this world, or use the fight that the God of this universe put in your heart and soul when he saved you to stand against it the best you can.

All you have to do to look just like this cursed world and wind up with it in damnation is to put forth no effort; have no concern, don’t think about consequences to self or others.

I’m praying that God will move in a mighty way; not just in our age, but in the hearts and minds of the people in this room to save the lost among us, and cause those of us who have been saved to remember what He has done for us that we might wake up and act like it.

To rescue us from ourselves and these evil days of debauchery.

Spirit Filled Living

v18: Be FILLED with the Spirit

filled = PASSIVE verb, so… how do we obey this command?

Psalm 23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

You choose to place the cup of your heart and mind : The common means of Grace: Prayer & The Word

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs

Give Thanks

Submit = Local Church participation, and prioritization… and teaser

Every Day: Pray, Read, Listen

Every Week: Reach out to a church member you don’t live with Make an effort to be in Sunday School and/or Wed PM

Church Family, Like Moses I have set before you today life and good, death and evil By the enabling of God’s Holy Spirit, I pray we all Choose Wisely.