Redeeming the Time – Ephesians 5:15-17

GCSP – 5/15/2005

The world is full of things that are unfinished. There have been unfinished symphonies, unfinished sculptures, unfinished literature – dreams that have never become reality, hopes that have never become fact – we are surrounded by the unfinished. What would you say are some reasons things go unfinished?

Ephesians 5:15-17

The Amplified Version reads this way: “Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as unwise and witless, but as wise – sensible, intelligent people. Making the very most of the time – buying up each opportunity – because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.”

Look carefully then how you walk – When Scripture talks about your walk it doesn’t mean how you literally walk. It speaks of how you live your life. We are to be ever so careful about how we live our lives. As Christians we have freedom in Christ but we are not to abuse that freedom. We have the freedom to do all sorts of things but we must scrutinize every step we take so as to not cause another to stumble.

Let me give you an example – The Bible does not forbid us to drink alcoholic beverages, it simply says we should not get drunk. So we have the freedom to drink. But…what might be the consequences of our drinking in front of others when it comes to our influence for Christ? From a freedom standpoint I have every right to have a glass of wine or a beer in my hand – but what might someone who is not a Christian think about a pastor drinking? So if I am going to drink occasionally (and I don’t) I had better do it in private instead of public. And is it any different for a Christian who is not a pastor?

Another example – I have the freedom to read the latest Tom Clancy novel for my own entertainment. And most of us only read when we are alone, so I don’t think my reading Tom Clancy will have an effect on my testimony in front of others. But Tom Clancy has a strong tendency to use very colorful language in his novels and he at times will be descriptive about a romantic encounter. Does that have any effect on my life? Probably minimal, but it does have an effect – everything has an effect. The same could be said of the movies and television programs I watch and the music I listen to. I have the freedom to watch and listen but I cannot be careless about it - Look carefully then how you walk.

Verse 15

Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as unwise and witless, but as wise – sensible, intelligent people – I think too many Christians have lost their purpose. Some may have never even known they had one. We must live our lives with purpose – the single purpose of honoring and glorifying our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have no other purpose. I cannot say that my purpose in life is to be the best salesman in my company – although that is a noble goal. I cannot say that my purpose in this world is to be a godly husband – although I should be. I cannot even say my purpose is to be the best pastor I can possibly be – although I must. My single purpose must be to honor and glorify my Lord. If I do that all these other things will follow.

Another aspect of purposeful living is to live worthily. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you carry the name Christian – the name of Christ. We must live up to that name. There was a soldier in the army of Alexander the Great who was weak and lazy and frightened. His name was also Alexander. The king called him into his presence one day and said, “Soldier, you either change your ways or change your name.” If you are a Christian – live like it. Don’t bring shame to the name of Christ because of your lifestyle.

Another aspect of living purposefully is to live accurately. Don’t live your life haphazardly. Yes we must be ready to go when the Spirit says go. And, yes we must be prepared to change directions, or to be ready in season and out of season as the Scriptures say, but we also need to be precise and accurate in the way we live. You don’t accidentally learn what this Book has to say. Living accurately means you have set aside the time to learn and are consistent in your reading.

As a side note let me say this concerning our reading. There are many good Christian books on the market and I encourage you to read them. But if you are spending more time reading books instead of The Book, then you are missing the point. Don’t spend more time reading about this Book then you do reading this Book. All the other Christian books are simply to supplement your reading and understanding of the Bible.

Then the verse says, “not as unwise and witless, but as wise – sensible, intelligent people.” When we live our Christian lives with purpose, and we live them worthily and accurately, we are living as wise, sensible, intelligent people. Or, you can choose to be unwise and witless – the choice is yours.

Verse 16

Making the very most of the time – buying up each opportunity – because the days are evil – Some translations say, “Making the most of every opportunity.” And while that is good and important, it does not do justice to the original Greek phrase. Literally it says, “Making the most of the time.” It is implying a set, specific amount of time that we are to make the most of. I like the KJV rendition – “Redeem the time.”

1 Peter 1:17, says, “And if you call upon Him as your Father, who judges each one impartially according to what he does, then you should conduct yourselves with true reverence throughout the time of your temporary residence on the earth, whether long or short.”

Most of us do not value time, as we should. God has given us two dimensions to live in – time and space. Space, meaning where you are at any given moment and time, meaning the amount of hours, days, months and years we have to live on this earth. And God ordains and determines both of these dimensions.

Let’s look at some Scriptures – Job 14:5; 14:14; 21:21; Luke 12:20; Acts 17:26; 20:24 (“finish my course” literally means, “finish the course of me”). In 2 Timothy 4:7 – Paul tells us he did indeed finish the course of his life.

James 4:13-14 – Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow. We do not know the number of our days. For our oldest son, the number of his days was a few months short of his 13th birthday. For my mom, the number of her days was around 64 years. For some it will be into your 90’s and beyond, and for others it will be much, much less.

Since none of us know how much time we have, we are to make the most of the time we do have. Don’t waste your life on frivolous pursuits. Take advantage of every opportunity presented to you. We all have a physical need to relax now and again, but some have made a career out of it. Be about the Master’s business.

The ancient Greeks had a statue called Opportunity, sculpted by a man named Lysipus. The statue had winged feet, a great lock of hair coming from his forehead and was completely bald in the back of his head. The inscription at the base reads like this:

Who made thee? – Lysipus made me.

            What is thy name? – My name is Opportunity.

            Why dost thou have wings on thy feet? – Because I fly away swiftly.

            Why hast thou a forelock? – So anyone can seize me when I come.

            Why art thou bald in back? – When I am gone by, none can lay hold of me.

This is a good reminder for all of us to make the most of our opportunities. 

Did you notice the progression? Verse 15 – Walk in wisdom, followed by verse 16 – redeem the time. Why? The world, including Christians, plays the fool in our use of time and opportunity more than anything else.

Psalm 90:12

Why should we redeem the time? “Because the days are evil.” When opportunity comes to do good in these evil days we must grab it with all we have! In the beginning God created – and it was good. Since then evil abounds and He gives us opportunity after opportunity to do good, and…

In Ephesians 4 & 5 we get a glimpse of the evil that abounded in Paul’s day – not much different than what we face. They were told to redeem the time. 35 years later we read another warning to the church at Ephesus – Revelation 2:1-6. Today, not only does the church not exist, but the city is gone as well.

Where has our sense of urgency gone? (African mission – Idi Amin)

Maybe the most evil days of all are those of ease. Maybe the comfort of our lives here in America is the most evil. We live in evil days – we must redeem the time! Our time is short and we need urgency in our lives!

As most of you know, besides being a pastor I sell insurance. According to the actuarial tables at my age of 46, I have less than 30 years left on this earth.

Redeem the time – buy it up! Use it for God.

We have opportunity every day.

            I’m going to pray more

            I’m going to study my Bible

            I’m going to tell my neighbor about Christ

            I’m going to invite people to Grace Church and give God opportunity to build our church

            I’m going to spend more time with my family

            I’m going to get involved in ministry

            I’m going to discover my Spiritual gifts and use them

            I’m going to…

Sadly, for most of us, the time is never redeemed. The world steps in and fills our time with other things – and the opportunity is gone.

Noah preached to his contemporaries for 120 years – the door was open and when the opportunity was gone – the door was shut.

In Matthew’s gospel we have the story of the 10 virgins. 5 were prepared and grabbed hold of the opportunity – 5 missed the opportunity and the door was shut.

Judas walked with Jesus for three years – yet squandered his opportunity.

Romans 13:11-14

The late Keith Green wrote a song based on this passage called “Asleep in the Light” – One of the lyrics goes like this: “Jesus rose from the dead, and you can’t even get out of bed.”

Fools throw away jewels and money – and worse still, fools throw away time and opportunity.

Verse 17

Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is – Since we now know that we are to live wisely and purposefully, and we are to redeem the time we have, the obvious result is to live according to the will of the Father. And to do that we must know what His will is. How many of you would like to know what that is?

There are several passages in Scripture that specifically say what God’s will is. Are you ready? God’s will is for you to be saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering for the Lord’s sake, and to be thankful in everything. If you can follow these specifics that God has given us in His Word – then everything else you do will be God’s will for your life.

We are embarking upon a new ministry. We do not have time for fooling around and for “playing church.” We must redeem the time we have and glorify our Lord by being obedient to His call.

Our mission statement says, "We will diligently strive to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, in order that we can help them grow spiritually, in order that we can make disciples of Jesus Christ, in order that we can fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord by reaching the world for Christ."

We will accomplish this mission by obeying the Great Command and the Great Commission.

The Great Command says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)

The Great Commission says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Can we commit to this? If we can’t, we may as well call this gathering the Sunday morning social club. We have no right to call ourselves a church unless we are committed to following what this Bible says.

Prayer