Riches of Walking Wise
Sufficiency of Christ - A Walk Through Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsBe careful how you walk!
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Paul has challenged, reminded the church to be imitators of God (5:1); how to do it, by our walk like Jesus (5:2); and like a good parent gave some good words of wisdom and warnings (vv.3-13) and challenges the church to wake up, it is vital to be alert, to watch out and why, so Christ will shine on us (v.14)
In our passage today Paul is going to reference walking again, not in walking itself, but in how we walk, he will incorporate how we talk and how we sing too on a personal level and interpersonal level and will give us a few reasons why.
We live in a world where there is much evil, we don’t even have to go looking for it, it is before us all the time. There are many dangers out there that want to take the Christian out or make his witness ineffective.
I. Walking Wise: Be filled with Spirit
I. Walking Wise: Be filled with Spirit
15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
Instructions: Paul has given much instruction in chapters 4-5 of Ephesians and here he is calling for the application of the instructions. Notice he uses therefore. it is a link between what he is about to say and what he has previously said. You can find a few others in the preceeding passages.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
Eph5:7
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
Eph4:
25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
EP
1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
Each of these he calls for actions, do not partake but be imitators, lay aside these things and walk in a worthy manner.
In some versions of 5:15 it says to walk circumspectly. That idea is to be circular, to look around, to know what is going on around you. We don’t want to be blindsided by the evil in this world, we cannot hide from but we can overcome evil. To walk carefully is to walk wisely for any other walk would be foolish and can lead to destruction. The world can try to trip us up, sometimes we know it, sometimes it is sneaky and unless we are careful we can get tripped up. We need to be rooted in wisdom for anything less than that would be foolish.
Rooted, rooted in what? glad you asked.
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
Eph3:17
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Or how about
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
And in writing to the church at Colossi he gives the same type of warning
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
Why do we need to be wise, why do we need to be careful how and where we walk?
16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Because the days are evil and we need to make the most of our time (expand on making the most of our time)
This leads is to another contrast
Understanding vs. being foolish
17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
God wants us to understand His will.
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
With knowledge comes understanding from understanding comes wisdom, wisdom is the application that helps you to mature in Christ and building up and maturing of the body of Christ too. (Expand on God’s redemptive plan through Christ; and carried out by the church)
Leading us to another contrast in our walking wise.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
Don’t be drunk, but be filled with the Spirit.
The Ephesians along with goddess Diana we have talked about before that lead to sexual immorality as a form of worship, they also worshipped the god of wine and drunken orgies Baccus. They believed that in order to understand the will of God they needed to be in a drunken state where they would have the will and the way of God revealed to them. This is very much contrary to what God says’ isn’t it?
(Slide) We are to be filled with the Spirit and not spirits
So what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?
No where can we find in the N.T. where it says we are to be baptized by the Spirit outside of conversion.
In this verse “be filled” is (G) plarao and is not the same as the work used in Acts Pimplemi nor are the consequences the same. In Acts it was a manifestation
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
By the
It is a once for all experience, on Pentecost they were baptized by the Spirit and the church was born, and they were filled with the spirit.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
that gave them the power needed to accomplish God’s task for them.
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This being filled for us today is not for the select but for the elect. Not a few, but all who are God’s elect
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, 4 knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;
1 For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2 but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Eph1
the elect, those who by faith, labor in love, are holy and blameless all according to the kind intentions of His will. This being filled with the Spirit helps to us talk in harmony in this world in all our relationships which Paul will address in the following passages we will be looking at. This filling is a command “be filled” and it is one we should obey, not just a few but the whole body of Christ. It is written in the present tense so we know it is a continuous action, to keep on being filled. It is a passive verb, we don’t fill ourselves, the Spirit fills us and fills us with a purpose to accomplish the task before us.
Think of it this way:
The baptism of the Spirit means that I belong to Christ’s body: The filling of the Spirit means that my body belongs to Christ!
Paul uses several terms of application that cannot be put into place if we are drunk with wine.
II. Wise Walking’s Evidence
II. Wise Walking’s Evidence
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Eph5:19-2
(Slide) Speaking
(Slide) Singing
(Slide) Thanking
(Slide) Subjecting
Speaking- we are to speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Why speak to each other this way? It brings unity, it brings maturity, it brings joy to the spirit filled Christian. Remember we are going to walk wise and the is one of the proof’s evidences of us walking wise.
The Spirit filled Christian who is walking in wisdom and is obeying the commands will sing and make melody with his heart. - (why? expand on this)
Singing is evidence of being filled, we make a melody with our heart to the Lord. why? Again, because we know what we have in Him and what He commands us to do. This is a command, but let’s make it a pleasure from our heart to God’s This is part of our joy in the Lord being expressed. Joy and thankfulness go hand in hand for the Spirit filled Christian. He is not controlled by circumstances but by the Spirit who leads Him.
20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
How often is the Spirit filled Christian to give thanks? ALWAYS for what things ALL THINGS and how to do it, in the name of the Lord, giving thanks to the Father through the Son. Why? Because we know what we have in the Son and through the Son we have the relationship with the Father knowing we can cry out “Abba Father”
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
We give thanks with our speaking, we give thanks in our singing, we give thanks in our doing.
17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
In our working
23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Col3:
We give thanks, count it a joy even in the hard times.
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
and that leads to our last proof, or evidence of being filled with Spirit.
21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Eph5:2
Subjecting or submitting to one another, this is a link with all believers looking backwards in the passage and in all relationships in looking forward in what is to come.
Submitting, let me give a scripture picture of it, Paul will give illustrations of in from 5:21-6:9, but in the interim think of this.
1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
Php2:1
2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
Php2:
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Php
Submitting to one another is to think of others and their interests.
Submitting is like Christ submitted, the one who has authority submitted to the needs of those He came to serve. And in submission we submit to His authority over us.
(Slide) Submitting to needs will result in submitting to authority
(Lead to invitation)
Christ’s submission for us
Our submission to Him
Results are sins forgiven, spirit filled and we will then be careful to walk wise and in walking wise there will be proofs we looked at today, but it starts with submission to Him (Invitation)