Looking Carefully at the Christian Life
Notes
Transcript
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Introduction
Introduction
PARTS
The story of Samson is one of the most exciting stories in the Bible. When we think about the story, we tend to remember its climax with Delilah and the cutting of Samson’s hair and him losing his strength. What we often give little thought to is that Samson’s entire life was one of recklessness. He saw a Philistine woman—the very people who were enemies and oppressors of God’s people—and married her. He disregarded his Nazarite vow in every conceivable way. The cutting of the hair was simply the last straw. He gave into every passion—lust, anger, indifference, laziness until the day of his death. The only thing that could match Samson’s strength was his own foolishness.
Solomon writes of a young man a lot like Samson in Proverbs 7. He sees him walking down the street and purposefully wanders to a particular corner in which he finds a particular woman—dressed like a prostitute—who is also wandering the streets. Of course, she ends up seducing the young man with her cunning ways.
I find it interesting that in 7:7, Solomon tells us that this young man was in want of heart. That’s what he literally says about the young man. In verse 10, he tells us that the woman was wily of heart. This lad was simple minded, but the woman was slick minded.
At first glance, this chapter in Proverbs might look like a warning against sexual immorality, but in reality, it’s a warning against foolishness.
Throughout the book of Proverbs, we find two women: Lady Wisdom who must be purposefully sought after and held tightly, lest she get away, and Woman Folly, as we’ve seen, can be found everywhere, seducing the wanderer into reckless living.
Church family, there are many in churches today that are wandering—sometimes naive, and sometimes willfully blind, but either way, they are following into the arms of Folly.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians that this must not define the life a believer lives. Instead, he gave two characteristics that ought to exude from every believer. The first characteristic is wisdom—careful and understanding. The second is fullness—a life filled by the Holy Spirit.
Christians are called to:
Live a Life of Wisdom
Live a Life of Fullness
Live a Life of Wisdom
Live a Life of Wisdom
The first characteristic of a Christian ought to be that of wisdom; Paul is calling us to live a life of wisdom.
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Paul’s command here is to look carefully how we walk. Remember that walk indicates all of life—how we think, speak, and act. And that life is to be one characterized by wisdom. We aren’t like the young man of Proverbs 7 who was simple-minded—naive and wanting of heart, susceptible to the wily heart of Folly.
And he explains what he means. Once again, we have a participle that tells us how to walk wisely—making the best use of our time. I cannot tell you how many times I have read those words and skipped over the reason behind them. Notice that reason: “because the days are evil.”
Did you know that more than 40% of Americans are nearsighted—medically called myopia? Only about 5-10% of Americans are farsighted (hyperopia). Just as we tend to be nearsighted physically, most Christians tend to be myopic, except this time we’re talking historically and spiritually. Most of us don’t tend to see history outside of our own lifetimes. We forget that there was a world before our own and forget that there will be one (most likely) when we’re gone. We look at our world today and we would certainly agree with Paul—this world is evil. There is so much wickedness! Yet Paul said the same thing about the world he lived in. It too was filled with wickedness.
At the same time, as evil as this world looks to us, we are not even close to seeing how evil it truly is. As much crime as we hear about, and as much immorality as we can see, we don’t really know how much of it is restrained by laws and mores that are thrust upon the people with whom we come into contact. We cannot even see how evil our own hearts would be if not for the constraints of the Holy Spirit.
And so, if we are not walking carefully, and by that he means making the best use of our time, we will inevitably be influenced by the evil that is all around us or is already in our own hearts to do! If we are not actively taking steps to find Lady Wisdom, we will inevitably stumble into Woman Folly.
The greatest difference between the evil in our day and the evil in Paul’s day is the speed at which it travels and influences. The fastest evil traveled in Paul’s day was measured by how fast a person’s donkey was able to take him from one place to the next. Today, we measure it in gigabytes per second.
The next greatest difference is probably in the privacy of the evil. While there is plenty of public evil, most of the evil is done in the privacy of one’s own home, office, and phone. No more does Woman Folly simply roam the markets; she roams the internet.
Paul says, “therefore, we need to not be foolish,” meaning we ought not be foolish with our time. Fools don’t occupy their time wisely; they occupy it passively. As we saw last week, as Christians we cannot be passive or else we will be deceived by empty words, and ignore substantive words. Fools, on the other hand, will ignore substantive words like St. Jerome’s proverb that “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” They believe that they can fill their time any old way they want and their walk will turn out fine. Such is not the case.
Beloved, let me ask you how your walk is going. Back in the day there was a saying, “if you want to see what someone really cares about, look at the their checkbook.” Today, we’d replace “checkbook” with “screen time.” How much of our lives are spent “doom scrolling”—probably the most passive act people can involve themselves in. After one or two searches, social media’s algorithms take over and send video after video to the user to which one sociologist made the point abundantly clear by stating that the only people who refer to their consumers as users are big tech and drug dealers.
Understand that leisure is not the problem. It’s using our time unwisely. Making the most of our time doesn’t mean we can’t watch a game on television or read a good novel or go to the movies. What it does mean is that we need to ask if this is the best use of our time at this moment. Is this going to lead us, even in some small way, to be tempted or passive toward evil? There are certainly times when we need to rest our minds or hands and it would be best to enjoy a good book or a good movie. There are times though when we know we are struggling with temptation, apathy, or a pull to be passive. In essence, we are more susceptible to the evils of our days and the best use of our time then is to be in prayer, God’s Word, or even fasting.
Live a Life of Fullness
Live a Life of Fullness
Which takes us to the next characteristic for Christians. We live a life of fullness as opposed to emptiness and recklessness.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Paul actually pulled this little saying—do not get drunk with wine—out of Proverbs 23:31. In the Greek version of Old Testament, these are the exact words that are written. The word to get drunk is in the passive voice, but in this case it isn’t as if someone is holding you down and sticks a funnel in your mouth kind of passive. Instead it’s a participatory passive voice. A person is drinking the wine, but they’re not careful about how much they’ve had. Remember that Paul says that we must look carefully at our walk—how we live. We can never afford to live passively, including how much we have to drink.
However, the getting drunk is the main prohibition here—living a debauched life is. Why should one not get himself drunk? Because that is debauchery. Drunkenness is one type of debauchery, but it’s not the only kind. And Paul wrote that it must not be done because it is debauchery. Paul was only giving an example to point out that debauchery has no business among believers.
The problem is that most people—including Christians—don’t really know what debauchery even means. If you were to ask average Christians what debauchery means, they would probably either shrug or associate it with promiscuous living. In fact, debauchery actually means reckless living—giving no thought to one’s own life, the life of those around them, the life of the church, or the glory of God. It is a life that is in rebellion against one’s own good, the good of others, and the good of God.
Thus, you can see how drunkenness would be counted as debauched living. The same goes with promiscuity. But are there not other ways people can live in debauchery? In Paul’s day, the word was actually used to speak of extravagant living. The ultra-wealthy with all their parties and possessions, giving no thought to the future or to those around them. The Prodigal Son is one who lived in debauchery spending all his father’s inheritance on parties and extravagance.
Debauchery is exactly opposite of what Paul commanded in verse 15–Look carefully how you walk. The debauched person is spiritually myopic and has fallen in love with Woman Folly.
With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.
All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast
till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.
And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths,
for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng.
Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
If we don’t want to live in debauchery, then we must be filled with the Spirit. Not filled in content with the Spirit like one would be filled with wine; rather, we are to be filled by the Spirit. Remember that Paul wrote that we, as the body of Christ, are the fullness of Christ who fills all in all. Then he says that as we grow in our knowledge of Christ’s love, we are filled with the fullness of God. Again, as we grow in maturity, we are going into the fullness of Christ. How does this happen? Not by a reckless life of emptiness, but by a life filled with Christ’s love, strength, and maturity by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And the results will be evident!
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
A life filled by/with the Holy Spirit is a life that is not focused on me, but on others. It’s not about recklessness but connectedness. It’s not a life that abandons the good of oneself, others, and God, but one that embraces all three!
We speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Yes, he says speak. Songs stick into our minds a lot more easily than verses. A person could memorize a verse yesterday and try to recite it today and find it impossible, but turn a song on the radio she learned thirty years ago and hasn’t head since, and all the words come flooding out!
So long as those songs are sourced by the Word of God, use them to encourage and build up your brothers and sisters.
Now, I’m about to get on a tangent here, but hear me out. There are lots of songs that I do not like. Most of you know that I’m not a fan of “Victory in Jesus.” It’s not because of the words, but because of the melody. But do you know what, when we sing “Victory in Jesus” I’m singing it just the same. Why? Because it proclaims the truth of God’s Word no matter what the music may sound like to me.
I find it quite sad when people in the church refuse to sing songs they don’t like—I’m not talking about singing quietly because we don’t know the song well and have to still learn it. I’m talking about refusal to sing a song because it’s not their type of music. That’s sad. And I would say it is disobedience to what Paul writes here. So long as a song proclaims the truth of God, we ought to sing and make melody with our hearts, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s a sign that the Holy Spirit is filling the soul. A begrudging soul is not a filled soul. A thankful, singing soul is.
Finally, evidence of a Spirit-filled life is submission to one another. How is that evidence of a Spirit-filled life? Do you remember what a debauched life is? It is living without thought of others. A Spirit-filled life does and when others seek to correct us or lead us or focus us, we listen—out of reverence for Christ! Submitting to our brothers and sisters is not a sign that we respect them so much as it is that we respect Jesus that much. A person who thinks he does not need the guidance of his brothers or sisters is not a person who is filled with the Spirit.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we finish this portion of Ephesians, we cannot miss the fact that this continues the thought-process of unity. A member of the church who is allowed to live in debauchery will bring disunity to the fellowship. After call, debauchery is a recklessness that disregards everyone else. It’s a life of emptiness when we are to be the fullness of Christ in a broken world.
This is why Paul calls us to live a life of wisdom, understanding what the will of the Lord is. This is Paul’s restating of versed 8-10.
Walk as children of light
(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
Look carefully at how you walk—walk as children of light, discerning what is pleasing to the Lord—understanding the will of the Lord. How? The Spirit will fill you with the fullness of Christ—love, joy, purity, thanksgiving. Those acts of goodness and righteousness and truth will begin to show themselves more readily and easily so that we produce fruit that is good, right, and true, of which some are songs that we repeat to one another and sing to God with all our hearts. They will pour forth in thanksgiving to God in and for everything in the name of Christ.
But brother and sisters, many of us are not yet there. We are living in in the gutter rather than goodness, recklessness rather than righteousness, or the trivial rather than the truth. That is not how we learned Christ! He died and rose to save us—not simply to deliver from the wrath of God against us for our sins, but to deliver us from the sins themselves.
Christ has given us each other to help us walk as children of light—to walk as wise and not as unwise—to help us against the beguiling seductions of Woman Folly and chase after Lady Wisdom. As brothers and sisters we have an obligation to expose the darkness to light and to call on those who are in the arms of Folly to seek Wisdom. So, beloved, we must love one another enough to expose each others’ darkness, call each other to the light, and submit to one another when we are living against the will of God.
We are called to live in wisdom and fullness by the Spirit so that we can be light in a day of evil.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Let us not be spiritually myopic, but let us see the evil of our days that we may take an active stance against it. May we—by your grace—look carefully at our lives and determine if we are rushing to the arms of Woman Folly or diligently searching for Lady Wisdom. Plant in our hearts a thankfulness for our brothers and sisters who are willing to expose our darkness and bring us to light—who call on us to submit out of reverence for Christ our Lord. Fill us by your Holy Spirit so that we can walk in a manner worthy of our calling—walking as your beloved children. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen.
