Walking in Wisdom

WALKING IN WISDOM Spring Valley Mennonite; July 11, 2021; Ephesians 5:15-21 Our topic today is "Walking in Wisdom." As a young man, I thought knowledge and wisdom were the same. A wise person simply knows more than other people. Therefore, the pathway to wisdom is education. And carried to its logical conclusion, all the problems we face can be solved by collecting the correct information. I have come to realize that idea is truly bogus, proven by the fact that even though we have access to worlds of information, problems still defy solutions. Rather, true wisdom is defined as living life from God's perspective. A wise person is one who lives life from that outlook. The great English preacher Charles Hadden Spurgeon said this about wisdom: "To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom." I was raised in a church much like this one, and as a result I knew a lot about the Bible. I had all the answers-IF the questions were about people and places and events in the Old and New Testaments. I even knew some of the principles the Bible teaches, like "Love God and love your neighbor" and "Treat others as you would like to be treated." I knew that Jesus died for my sins and that I needed to accept Him as my Savior. Armed with a head full of information, I headed off to college to gain more knowledge. Two and a half years later, I had taken many classes, written many papers, and passed multitudes of tests-but I wasn't much wiser. My life was filled with inner turmoil, caused by the conflict between the lifestyle of those around me, and the lifestyle taught in the Bible. I found myself conforming to the ways of the world. And although I wasn't, by God's grace, rejecting my faith, I was filled with great frustration and guilt. In March of my Junior year at the University, God graciously brought some Christians across my path who demonstrated a reality of faith which truly resonated with my inner need. I was attracted to the vitality of their lives. They spoke openly and boldly about Jesus Christ being their Savior and Lord; I knew about the Savior part of their message. I had invited Jesus into my heart when I was ten years old. I never seriously doubted that He was in my life. But I was confused about how to live as Christ desired and how to overcome the inner frustration I was experiencing. I was very interested in what they had to say about power for living the Christian life. It was in the Student Union of the University of Missouri in March of 1970 that I listened for the first time (although I had probably heard if before) about what God's Word said about the filling of the Holy Spirit. It was an odd sort of comfort to realize there was a classification of Christians like myself; I fit into the category of the Carnal Christian, spoken of in 1 Corinthians chapter 3:1-3: "And I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? I realized that I had been in control of my life, and God was only a minor interest. He wanted to be the Lord-LORD of everything. I was ready to hear the truth, and right there in front of God and the world, I confessed my sin of self-control and asked God to fill me with His Holy Spirit. And I can genuinely say that decision began a transformation of my life which has continued for over 40 years. God took a self-centered, proud, worldly 21-year-old and began to change him. This truth is what I want to share with you today. Turn to Ephesians 5:15, and follow along as I read through verse 21. Allow me to first point out: I. WISE MEN WALK IN THE LIGHT "Therefore, be careful how you walk..." Let me "clue you in" on life: Christians are aliens in this world. 1 Peter 2:11: Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lists, which wage war against the soul. Because of sin this world system is utterly and absolutely broken, and dark forces rule over planet earth. I heard a story which came out of the events of 9/11, the World Trade Center destruction: Engine company #6 was trapped when building 2 collapsed. After the dust cleared, a shaft of sunlight reached into the stairwell which was giving them refuge. Only after the darkness passed could they begin to move. They had to climb out over a strange landscape consisting of mountains of jagged metal and debris, all covered with fine dust which made everything slippery. The going was extremely slow and dangerous. That is an excellent example of how we Christians must walk wisely in this broken and twisted culture. Danger is all around us, and we must take great care to walk wisely rather than living as fools. Often, as did Engine company #6, we must sit patiently until the dust settles and the light of God's guiding presence shines through. What does walking in wisdom mean? Well, one area is seen in the previous verses where Paul has spoken of the particularly dangerous area of immoral behavior, walking in the light rather than darkness. He also told us that the road of wisdom involves walking in love, following the example of Jesus. He adds in verse 16 the need for "making the most of our time" or "redeeming the time" as another translation puts it. The word used here for time is not the word for "hours and minutes" or for the passing of time. Paul is not telling us to get better organized in how we use our time, or to be better managers. That is not bad advice, but here he speaks of the larger concept of taking advantage of opportunities. The same word is used in Colossians 4:5: "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity." The context clearly is speaking of how we relate toward the non-believer. The reason we are to take advantage of opportunities is that "the days are evil." The foolish Christian lives with himself at the center of his universe. Decisions are made from the perspective of his own self-interest and what is good for him, and perhaps for his family. He sees only the surface of life and people. He may try to isolate himself from contact with others, never realizing that by doing so he is only expressing his selfish nature. He meanders through life with little recognition that God has a purpose for his life. He looks forward to heaven, ONLY BECAUSE IT WILL BE PARADISE, FILLED WITH MORE PLEASURE AND PERSONAL BENEFITS FOR HIMSELF! He eats, sleeps, recreates, raises a family, and saves for his retirement never realizing that God's purpose for his life is to make the use of every opportunity to bring glory to God and to share God's love with others. He wastes his life living as a fool. By contrast, the wise Christian, as verse 17 states, "understand what the will of the Lord is." "Understanding" means to live thoughtfully and reflectively. It is examining what we do, seeking to find God's will in all things. Like verse 10 says, we are constantly to be "testing and evaluating what we do to see if it is pleasing to the Lord." As I reflect on those years before I allowed Christ to control my life, I see now that I had little interest in God's will for my life. I remember intentionally pushing from my mind such thoughts like "I wonder what God would like me to do with my life," refusing to consider His will. A wise Christian understands that God's will is an extension of His boundless and unconditional love. Paul continues in verse 18 to illustrate a cornerstone of God's will for us: II. THE WISEST CHOICE WE CAN MAKE IS TO ALL0W THE HOLY SPIRIT TO CONTROL OUR LIFE, IN OTHER WORDS, TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT Verse 18 (READ). In this verse there is a contrast, a comparison made between the way alcohol controls a person who is intoxicated and a believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't overlook the idea that intoxication is foolish and not acceptable behavior for a Christian; the idea of "dissipation" or excess is that such behavior is totally without any positive value. Such behavior is destructive and worthless. But in contrast, the filling of the Holy Spirit is of ultimate positive value and worth. Earlier in this letter, Paul taught that all believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit, signifying possession, authority, and security. We all receive the indwelling Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to us in John 16:7: "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." 1 Corinthians 6:19: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have from God, and that you are not your own...?" The Holy Spirit permanently resides within each believer. But if you are like me, I knew that much about the Holy Spirit; what I didn't know was that I had to choose to allow Him to have control of my life. THE ISSUE IS CONTROL! There are several reasons who the average Christian is not filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit: III. WHY THE AVERAGE CHRISTIAN IS NOT FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT * It simply may because of lack of knowledge. Perhaps you have never been taught that the Holy Spirit desires to direct and empower your life. We are in the process of fixing that right now! * It may be because of unbelief caused by fear. You may be afraid of what God may want you to do with your life once He gets ahold of it! This was my own situation in College, mixed with my ignorance on the issue of filling with the Spirit. I just knew that God had terrible plans for me, contrary to my own plans-He might want me to be a preacher! I had my life all planned out and had no intention on changing it. I was going to work in the woods and hunt and fish the rest of my life. * Another reason one might not be filled with the Spirit is that he might have sin in his life that he doesn't want to deal with. It might be pride, or unforgiveness, or immorality or a love of the world and what it offers. Anything which stands between you and God is an idol, and we know what God says about idolatry! Some or all of these reasons may be standing between you and God's best. But how does the believer turn over the control of his life to the Holy Spirit? IV. HOW CAN WE BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT? We are to be reminded that the Holy Spirit is a Person, fully God. Guard against the idea that we have a reservoir in our being which the Spirit fills like water filling a jar. We are speaking of the Spirit controlling our mind, emotions, and will. To be filled with the Holy Spirit, understand these things: * There must be proper heart preparation, for we have the choice to allow the Spirit control. Although it is clearly God's will that we be filled, and although it is the normal Christian life to be controlled by the Spirit, we still retain the ability to reject His control. I would refer to Jesus' words in Matthew 5:6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." We are speaking of attitude and desire here; the Spirit's filling and control begins with a sincere desire. * Another prerequisite for filling is the confession of all known sin. The Spirit is quenched and grieved by our sin, and while we are continuing to hang on to that sin, refusing to confess and repent of it, the Spirit cannot and will not fill us. Contemplate the meaning of Him being the HOLY Spirit. Either our sinful self or the Spirit is in control. One or the other; it is our choice but realize that rejecting the Spirit's control leads to continued turmoil, conflict, and frustration. * A third step is found in Romans 12:1-2: "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing or your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." We must surrender our life to the Leadership and Lordship of Christ, through the filling of the Spirit. Having a hunger and desire for God's best; having confessed all known sin; having surrendered the control of our life to the Lordship of Christ, we can claim the fullness of the Holy Spirit by faith. We simply need to request the filling, truly more for our benefit that for God's. He reads the attitude of our heart but praying makes it concrete in our minds. We have here in Ephesians 5:18 the command to be filled: "be filled" is an imperative, a command. We have an incredible promise by God in 1 John 5:14-15: "And this is the confidence we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from him." Is it His will that we be filled with the Spirit? Yes! Then by faith we can believe it is true. God grants us the filling of the Holy Spirit, not on the basis of our own merit, but by His grace. One cannot earn the filling; we don't have to beg for it; it may or may not result in particular emotions or feelings. I will add for clarification, speaking in tongues is NOT a result of the filling of the Holy Spirit. "Speaking in Tongues" is a gift of the Spirit, one of many gifts. The filling of the Spirit is a much more profound principle and infinitely more practical and important. Understand this very important fact: there is one point-in-time indwelling of the Spirit at conversion; there are many, many fillings. The tense of the verb "be filled" tells us that it is constantly to be happening: "be being filled" is the sense. So, what are the results of being filled? Our passage goes on to point out: V. THE RESULTS OF THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT Verse 19: "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord..." See the picture of joy and harmony in this verse? The filling of the Spirit brings joy both personally and with our relationships with others. Our voices express the joy present in our hearts, and we desire to let it overflow in conversation and in actions. Music is a natural outlet for this joy, and its part in worship is affirmed by this verse. If you are not musical, note it says, "speaking to one another." It is the words of songs that matter. The results of being filled remind me of John 7:38: "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. V. 39 adds: But this He spoke of the Spirit, who those who believe in Him were to receive..." There are many other wonderful results such as those fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5: the "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." I think we mistakenly think we can express this fruit without the Spirit being in control. I also think they are a "package deal" progressively developed in us when the Spirit is in control. Verse 20 gives us another result: an attitude of thankfulness: "Always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God..." When you have the fullness of the Spirit, you will find that you are filled with contentment. You realize that God is in control, and He is looking out for you, giving you everything you need. We do not need to worry or fret or be concerned about material things. We are able to understand better God's perspective of life, which brings us back to the subject of wisdom. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him control of our lives is the ultimate in wise behavior. A final result given here of the filling is that it brings about submission to one another. The Spirit is the source of Christian unity. We realize that with the Spirit in control of me and the Spirit in control of you that there is no basis for conflict between us. We can take joy in putting the interests of others before our own. This is especially true in marriage, which is our topic for next week. Application: As you look in the mirror of Scripture, do you see a Spirit controlled person, or a self-controlled one? It is simple to be filled with the Spirit: it can also be very difficult to yield the reigns to Christ, to trust Him fully with our lives. But this principle I learned over 40 years ago as a Junior in College completely changed my life, as it can yours. "Be filled with the Spirit." 2