Walking Wisely

Introduction

Phillipe Petit was such a tightrope walker who planned a most memorable event in American history. In August of 1974, Phillipe set up his tightrope for a walk of 130 feet between the two towers at the World Trade Center, which at the time, were still under construction. At a height of 1,300 feet off the ground, Petite had to calculate the construction of the towers, the wind, the weather on that day. It took him 6 years to plan and he did it all secretly until on that August day, we took each controlled step in front of the other, crossing the expanse between the towers a total of 8 times in 45 minutes.

Today, we are going to start a new set of sermons in the section that starts in Ephesians 5 verse 15 and takes us all the way to Ephesians chapter 6 verse nine. The Focus of the sermons center on the Christian life as we walk wisely in the world. This connects with the previous verses from last week which taught us how to be people who belong to the kingdom of the light.

Now Paul will stress in our verses today that as these new citizens of the heavenly kingdom we are called to walk in this world in a wise manner. We have seen Paul use the term walk throughout this epistle to refer to the behavior and conduct of the Christian who lives in an evil world. Let’s reflect back to these commands and statements by Paul.

2:2 In chapter 2, Paul reminds the Ephesian Church that a person who has trusted in Christ and has been a maid alive by his resurrection power is a person who no longer walks following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

2:10 In chapter 2 verse 10, Paul tells us that we are a part of the workmanship of God who is fashioning and molding us in his son Jesus Christ for good works so that we would live or “walk in them.”

4:1 In chapter 4 verse one Paul again reminds the Ephesian church to walk according to the worthy manner by which they have been called into salvation And he follows that reminder with a list of spiritual fruits of a regenerated believer such as humility gentleness patients loving tolerance preserving the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. These are all aspects and qualities of the new life in Christ

4:17 Pauls exhorts s the same type of way again, reminding them they have left their former ways behind, so their walk in Christ should look differently than the world. Then he affirms that walk should be in love in 5:2

Finally, we come to Paul’s message in 5:8 to walk as children of the light, which reflects the holy qualities of God in a persons life.

This culminates to our message today to walk wisely in this world. Clearly, these words from Paul are repetitive for a reason. The Chrisitan struggle with sin demands this constant message which draws us back to how we live in this world.

With that being said, Paul is going to spend some time breaking down some areas of application where Christians can walk wisely in this world.

5: 15-17 is an introduction to walking wisely

v. 18-21 walking wisely as the church

v. 22-33walking wisely as husband and wife

6:1-4 walking wisely as a family

6:5-9 walking wisely in the workforce

Let’s begin with Paul’s introductory words in v15-17

Now before we begin I want you to notice the structure of these verses. In each of these verses 1516 and 17, Paul compares the wise and the foolish. He is drawing a sharp contrast as he did with the light in the darkness to show us the distinction is clear between those who follow Christ and those who do not. This Structure shows us that there is no such thing as riding the fence in the Christian life. There is no middle ground by which we can reside.

Paul has made clear that wisdom is found in God, the light belongs to God, salvation is in Christ, who is God in the flesh.

Sin is darkness, it is foolish and it leads to eternal destruction.

Now we move to Paul’s words in v 15 as we consider the call to walk wisely….

1. Careful Steps (15)

Ephesians 5:15 “15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,”

In this first point, we need to understand that to walk wisely we must take careful steps in the Christian life. Paul uses the word in verse 15 that signifies that believers are walking in the Christian life is one that requires great attention. He adds the word careful which also could be translated accurately or carefully looking in order to communicate the attention to detail that the Christian life requires. Paul uses the same Greek word translated careful in Luke chapter 1:3

Luke 1:3 “3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;”

As a historian the gospel writer Luke is telling his audience that he has recorded his gospel with accuracy and careful attention to the historical detail details that he has written about Jesus. This is what we should expect from good Historians.

Now most of us would probably agree that walking a tightrope across the expanse of teh WTC buildings was most unwise, regardless how entertaining it is. But Paul’s message to us today is that the Christian life requires a great attention to detail for we are called to walk in this world wisely and not unwisely.

When we consider the all the details of this event and the completion of the act itself, we must ask ourselves, how careful are we as believers in our walk with Christ?

In the same way, Paul tells us that our steps must be careful steps and he qualifies walking carefully by determining that which is wise versus unwise. This is a common question that Christian should ask in all the decisions that we make; is this wise or is it unwise?

When asking that question we must qualify that question with the understanding that wisdom comes from something greater than ourselves. From the standpoint of fixing a car, you talk to a mechanic. From a medical perspective, you talk to a doctor or nurse who has more experience and training than you. From a spiritual standpoint, you look to God for wisdom, over your own wisdom.

In Paul’s day there was a quest for wisdom and to be publically perceived as wise in all areas of life. These are the battles that Paul mentions in his letter to the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:20–21 “20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

Paul was in a culture in Corinth were man’s wisdom was prized and the wise teachers of that culture went around teaching their own wisdom. Paul’s evaluation is clear…”through the world’s wisdom, it did not come to know God…but through the foolishness of the message preached saved those who believe.

So we acknowledge then that any wise direction in our lives must be evaluated by asking …what the Lord would desire of me? What would honor him.

So consider Paul’s previous words to the church as we ask, how must be carefully walk through the Christian life?

A. Carefully walking is not fearfully retreating

Paul is not calling us to fear the world in which we live. If COVID taught us anything, it shows that the church cannot retreat and hide from the world. We must be vigilant to be present, reflecting the glory of Christ in the darkness. Remember Paul just told us to walk as children of light and he does not mean that reflecting the light of the gospel is a private, reclusive activity. It is public and proud of what the Lord Jesus accomplished.

John 17:14–18 “14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

B. Carefully walking is purposefully living as believers

Jesus states “I have sent them into the world” which means that our walk of the Christian life is mandated by the call of Christ to be his ambassadors. This means that are careful walk in the wisdom of Christ is full of purpose. God has made no mistake is bringing you into the light of salvation. He has saved you for a purpose- to serve and glorify his name on the earth. This means that His plan for us to make his name great should be our plan as we walk in this world.

Secondly, let us look at how walking wisely means that our steps are not only careful (purposeful) but also efficient.

2. Efficient Steps (16)

Ephesians 5:16 “16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”

Paul’s second statement helps us think about how to carry out the purpose to walk wisely. I don’t prefer the NASB translation here because the literally reading means “redeeming the time.” For one, it is not YOUR TIME. There is not pronoun wording in that sentence so lets be reminded that the time we are given in this world does not belong to us. If anything, it is God’s time that we steward in our individual lives. We can be good or bad stewards of God’s time.

Being a good steward of God’s time leads us to consider the word REDEEM. In its basic form it means to go to the market and purchase goods. When I was a kid, I watched my mom spend a great amount of time “clipping coupons.” She had this organizer that she had all her coupons in and there was this elongated check out process at the register where he would sift through her coupons for all the items she had purchased.

She did that because she wanted to use the financial resources that had been given and make the most of those by saving money on groceries. That is the idea of Paul’s use. We must use the time efficiently.

What does it mean to be efficient for Christ? Let me quote Tim Challies

Productivity is effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God.

Challies, Tim. Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity (Productivity's Great Purpose, Common Obstacles, the 3 Tools for Getting Things Done, Power of Daily & Weekly Routines, Plus Taming Email & 20 Tips) (p. 16). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Paul again will dive into the three main ares of our lives in the following verses: Marriage, Family and Work with instruction for walking wisely in each of these areas of life.

Notice also the contrast for using our time wisely and efficiently- the days are evil. Pauls’ contrast serves as a warning to the obstacles to efficiency in the church. Wasted and distracted time. The days are evil means that we are children of light surrounded by darkness. That darkness is intentionally seeking to war against the church to keep us ineffective for our kingdom pursuits. Therefore, we must be on alert and careful but not fearful and unproductive.

In our awareness of the evil days and world we live in, we must know the distractions and wastefulness we can engage in. What this means is that in all areas we are to use God’s time wisely in order to best serve his purposes for us.

I am the first to admit that I am easily distracted. I quoted earler from Tim Challies in his book DO MORE BETTER. I highly recommend this book to you all as it has served me well. I encourages the Christian that all of life can be shaped and honed to be more productive for the glory of God. From our famliy schedules to our unread emails, productivity for God’s glory is what Paul is talking about to us here.

Let me give you Challies

2 obstacles to productivity:

1 Laziness:

We all understand the sin of idleness. Paul told the Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 3:11–12 “11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.”

In the church at Thessalonica there seemed to be sluggards and freeloaders as we call them today. They were looking for handouts without doing hard work.

Laziness is also seen in our distractions. Challies writes

When you ought to be working on your computer, you are only ever one or two clicks away from checking out your friends on Facebook or welcoming a few minutes of mindless entertainment on YouTube. Text messages provide a welcome distraction from deep thinking, and binge watching the latest series on Netflix can set you back a week.

Challies, Tim. Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity (Productivity's Great Purpose, Common Obstacles, the 3 Tools for Getting Things Done, Power of Daily & Weekly Routines, Plus Taming Email & 20 Tips) (p. 20). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Remember in Jesus parable of the good soil, that some who heard the word of the gospel did not remain in their belief because the cares of the world choked them out. The worry over circumstances and the fleeting pleasures of life overwelmed them. These distractions keep us doing good works that God has called us to carry out.

2 Busyness:

Don’t get confused that being busy is being productive. I can do a thousand little things on my new property and without focus and intentionality, I wont accomplish much. Productivity requires us to set out lives before us and evaluate how is that God should be glorified in each of the areas of my life.

Have you heard of the professor teaching this truth to his class. He poured sand into a clear jar on his desk almost to top. Then he took some small rocks and poured them to the brim. He showed the class that there was no room for the big rocks that he brought along.

But then he reversed the process. he started with the big rocks in the jar first, then he poured the small rocks which filtered around the big ones. Then he poured the sand and all of it fit. The point is focus on the big rocks first in our lives. These areas of greatest importance. Our faith in Christ, our family, our church, our jobs. How might we carry out the most Christ-centered plans in each of those areas? let this be our greatest passion.

3. Guided Steps (17)

Ephesians 5:17 “17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Finally we come to the third step…guided steps. Paul commands the avoidance of foolishness with the recipe to “understand what the will of the Lord is”

What is the will of God? So many questions wrestle with a question like this. When asked then]y usually mean, what is God’s will for me.

As pastors and theologians wrestle with this questions, they have established two components to the will of God. These are two parts of the same whole. We are not teaching that God has two wills. Degrees:

Acts 2:22–23 NASB95

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

Precepts:

The precepts, statutes, and commandments that He delivers to His people make up the preceptive will. They express and reveal to us what is right and proper for us to do.- Sproul

Paul concludes with the truth that walking wisely means that we avoid foolishness by walking according to the will of the Lord. The word “will” or intentions, plans and desires belong to the Lord Jesus. To know the will of Christ is to understand his revealed will given to us in His word. The psalmist writes

Psalm 119:9 “9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.”

Colossians 1:9 “9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”

It is the word that does not just inform us but it directs us accordingly to the will of God. Now God’s will in the Scriptures does not give us a name of the person we are to marry, the address of the house we are supposed to purchase, the company name of the job we are to take. It does give principles to live by so that we can know that we are living according to God’s will.

Psalm 119:35 “35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.”

As we move forward in the Chrisitan life, we must always evaluate our lives according to the wisdom of God and not man. This wisdom from God will go against the grain of the culture so that you are often alienated and isolated from society. That is normal and the reason that the Lord has given us community in the church.

When we live obediently to the principles and commands of Scripture, then we will understand the will of the Lord and we will operating in our Christian lives according to God’s will. From there, we wonder about the specifics: Job, spouse, home, decisions. Ask: What does God want?

All we can answer that question with is what he has revealed to us while leaving that which is hidden in God’s purposes up to His sovereign control. We cannot always know all that the Lord is working on but he does not keep a secret what he desires from us. Let us always focus on what he desires from us, given to us in the Scriptures.

This will lead us to walk wisely and bring glory and honor to the name of Christ.