Walk in Wisdom

Introduction:

Illustration of walking wisely-

This morning we continue on in our study in Ephesians. We have been looking at the practical application of what it looks like to walk Worthy of the calling by which Christ has called us as His church.

READ THE TEXT:Turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 verses 15-17

Listen along as I read our text for this morning.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. [ESV}”

BIG IDEA; CHRISTIANS Are Called to WALK IN WISDOM

3 Ways that we as Believers walks in Wisdom

trans: lets begin in verse 15

READ TEXT: v.. 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise”

Paul begins our passage this morning by saying pay attention to how you are walking, to “see that we walk circumspectly.

The first way that we can walk in wisdom is to Watch our step

1. Watch Your Step- “Not as unwise but as wise” (v.15)

Paul begins our passage this morning to pay attention to how we are walking, to “see that we walk circumspectly.

TEXT: v.. 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise”

Many older translations us the word Circumspectly to describe this type of walking.

to walk circumspectly means to walk gingerly- to pay careful attention to where you are stepping.

Illustration. (trying to avoid dog poop)

Showing houses in Dm-

there were some houses that had back yards like a WWII mine field.

You could always tell those houses by how big the water bowl was for the dog.

The bigger the bowl the bigger the land mines in the back yard were going to be.

there were times that I had to walk Circumspectly through the yard to look at the house.

Every step I took had great potential to be deadly for my shoes.

I had to pay attention to every step I took so that I could avoid stepping into something that would drastically change my shoes life- and the smell of my care.

To walk circumspectly as a believer means that we pay careful attention so that we are not even coming close to the temporal pleasures of this world that want to ruin our lives as believers.

Paul is telling the church “Pay attention to where your stepping in your spiritual life- Don’t step in foolishness but walk circumspectly in wisdom.

Why? because How you live matters when it comes to walking worthy of your calling as a believer in Jesus.

The Word Wisdom is mentioned 222 times in the original Hebrew text of the old testament, and another 145 times in the greek New Testament.

God’s Word describes what It means to walk in Wisdom 367 times in the Bible.

:) Do you think that it might be important to God that we as His followers WALK IN WISDOM?

Not only does the Bible instruct on walking in wisdom but it often speaks of the contrast between walking in wisdom and walking as the unwise.

There is no greater writing in history than the Book of Proverbs.

It was written by the wisest man to ever live - through the inspiration of the sovereign God Himself.

Listen to how Salomon describes what it means to be walking in wisdom compared to walking as the unwise.

Prov. 1:5 “(Let the wise also hear and gain instruction, and let the discerning acquire guidance!)”

Prov. 1:7 “Fearing the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Prov. 2:6 “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.”

Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.”

Prov. 4:6-7 “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will guard you. Wisdom is supreme—so acquire wisdom, and whatever you acquire, acquire understanding!”

Prov. 10:8 “The wise person accepts instructions, but the one who speaks foolishness will come to ruin.”

Prov.11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

Prov. 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is like a tree producing life, and the one who wins souls is wise.”

Prov. 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own opinion, but the one who listens to advice is wise.”

Prov. 13:1 “A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”

Prov. 13:10 “With pride comes only contention, but wisdom is with the well-advised.”

Prov. 14:16 “A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool throws off restraint and is overconfident.”

Prov. 15:12 “The scorner does not love one who corrects him; he will not go to the wise.”

Prov. 16:9 “A person plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps.”

Prov. 19:20 “Listen to advice and receive discipline, that you may become wise by the end of your life.”

Prov. 28:26 “The one who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but the one who walks in wisdom will escape.”

Prov. 29:7 “The righteous person cares for the legal rights of the poor; the wicked does not understand such knowledge.”

Prov. 29:11 “A fool lets his temper fly, but a wise man quietly holds it back.”

The Bible seems to be very clear about the contrast of the wise and the foolish.

The unwise seek temporary pleasure in place of eternal treasure

The wise man seeks eternal treasure no mater the earthly cost.

To Walk in wisdom means that we avoid the foolishness of the world and that we no longer let it influence our life . and in its place we seek the Lord, we listen to Biblical counsel, we follow Gods instructions. and we serve Christ with our life.

The first way that we walk in wisdom is to “Watch Our Steps. “ Pay attention to where we are stepping -avoiding the foolishness of this world. Don’t ruin your life by stepping in a pile of foolishness.

Transition- Paul goes on in verse 16 and he says.... ”making the best use of the time because the days are evil.”

The 2nd characteristic of one who walks in Wisdom is to Redeem the time.

2. Redeem the time (v.16)

NET translationSAYS Eph. 5:16 “take advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

2nd way that we can walk in Wisdom is to Redeem the time.

Paul is telling us as the church. “Don’t waste your life”

Redeeming the time means that we take every opportunity to serve others in this life.

When we understand that the greatest purpose we have in life is to bring God glory, and the way that we can bring him the most glory is by loving God, and the way that we love God is by keeping his commands. . and greatest command that we can obey is to love one another.

To Redeem the time means that we take every opportunity to share Christ love with others.

So the question we need to consider this morning as the church is “How do we love one another?”

God has called his church to love 2 groups of people - the lost and the redeemed

Those who are are foreigners of Heaven and those who are citizens- those who are in darkness and those who are in the light. The unregenerate and the redeemed.

Loving the The lost

Loving the lost does not mean loving like the world, but loving the world like God loves the world,

The world’s definition of love is “an intense feeling of deep affection for someone else based on the benefits they bring me.

Think about it -

I love Donuts- I love them because they bring me happiness and contentment when I eat them.

I love my Apple computer- Because it brings me security knowing that It will run well and and that I don’t have to fix it or to make it better.

I love my shoes- because they make my feet feel good and they make me a half inch taller.

I love all of these things- but my love for each of them is completely based on my affection for them and the benefit i receive from having them in my life-

This is worldly love.

When I taste a bad donut - I throw it away

If my Macbook seems to act more like a pc and stops working than I will throw it away.

When my shoes wear out or start to stink I get rid of them.

Why would I get rid of the things I love- because the benefit that i was getting is gone and so my love for them is gone also.

This is what worldly love looks like - Its based on emotions, feeling and what benefit we get from having it in our lives

God’s definition of love is found in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Understand that it was God’s love for us that led Him to the cross where He save us even though we were His enemy.

the definition of Gods Love is an unconditional act of service for the spiritual benefit of someone else.

God sent His son Jesus for our spritutal benefti

Christ died for Our Sins

Christ arose from the grave and conquored our death penalty.

To love like Christ loved us is the idea of serving one another for whole purpose of spiritual benefit.

To love the lost means that you love them the way that Christ Loved you. That you share His redemptive story of love with the world

To Redeem the time means that you understand that the most important thing you can do for lost sinners is to share Christ.

Don’t miss an opportunity to Share Christ with people who are lost in their sins.

The greatest form of love that we could ever have for this world is to share the truth that jesus loves them and that He died to save them, and that Belief in Him alone can bring forgiveness of sin and reconciliation back to the perfect God. This message of Love is the only thing that can bring hope to the worlds hopeless.

Jesus didnt just love the lost but he also loves His Church.

We redeem the time by loving The Church the way that Christ loves his church.

How do we love the church the way that Christ loves Her?

By giving of our selves sacrificially for the spiritual benefit of others

We use the same love of Christ that we have for the lost sinner to love the redeemed church of Jesus.

there is no greater illustration of what loving one another in Christ should look like than than what we find in 1 Corinthians 13 “ Love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious. Love does not brag, love is not puffed up. love is not rude, love is not self-serving, love is not easily angered or resentful. love is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, Love believes all things ,loves hopes all things, love endures all things. Love never ends.

To love the church means that each one of us needs to lay aside our preferences and sacrificially serve one another for their spiritual good and not for our own gain.

to redeem the time means that we dont waste any opportunity to love others.

James 4:13-14 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.”

Our life on earth is uncertain- it could be gone at any moment.

The question is this “ what are you going to do with Christ before its to late?

Are you going to love others like Christ or are you going to just waste the time away.

Don’t waste your life - Redeem the time- because these days are evil and they want to rob you of serving Christ and others.

Roy Laurin - an old time baptist Preacher said it this way....

If you have work to do—do it now. If you have a witness to give—give it now. If you have souls to win—win them now. If you have an obligation to discharge—discharge it now. If you have a debt to pay—pay it now. If you have a wrong to right—right it now. If you have a confession to make—make it now. If you have a preparation to do--do it now. If you have children to train—train them now. Remember, time is passing and you are passing out of time. We are a procrastinating lot. It is always what we are going to do tomorrow that entices us, but it is only what we do today that counts. (published in the Reg. Bapt. Call)

to walk in wisdom means that we redeem the time

Live your life in such a way that you don’t miss an opportunity to share christ with the lost, and choose now to give spiritual good to one another in the church.

take every opportunity to be like Christ and love others in this world..

Transition: the 3rd way the Paul tells us to walk in wisdom is in vs 17

3. Understand what the Lord’s will is (v.17)

“17 For this reason do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

‘FOR THIS REASON “ (BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL AND TIME IS SHORT) Do not be foolish”

Why - Because everything we do has an impact on eternity.

Don’t be foolish and waste your life but instead ......

- Understand the will of the Lord. (17b)

Many times when we talk about Gods will we want to know where to go to college, whether or not we should buy a new car, what house to live in, who should I marry.

We want to know Gods will for the major decisions in our lives, but understand this is not what Paul is talking about in this passage.

The Will of God is revealed to us in scripture.

If we are to understand and follow what God has called us to pursue and also run from what God has called us to avoid then we must be in Gods word.

Paul is telling the church “ to walk in wisdom requires us to be in God’s word so that we can live by God’s commands in our life.

God has revealed His will for us through His word. There is nothing new that we need from God in order to walk in wisdom.

I do not need divine revelation from God for me to know what God desires from my life.

God’s Word - the Bible gvery clearly reveals Gods will for our lives as believers.

For example: in 1 Tim. 2:3-4 we see God’s will for all mankind

` 1 Tim. 2:3-4 “Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

What is Gods will for all mankind? That they would be saved and come to a knowledge of His truth-

Gods will for believers is that we live our lives as reflections of Jesus in the way that we love one another and the lost. 1 Thes. 4:3-“For this is God’s will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality,”

Put simple to understand the will of God means that you pattern your life after jesus.

and the only way you can pattern your life after Jesus is to be in is Word. To get to know Him personally and thus to love others like He loves them.

Bring it Home

Have you ever met someone you just know is a christian by the way they talk , and the actions of their life?

When I lost my voice- I went to the ENT and met with the doctor- After I left the first appointment I just had this deep feeling that The doctor knew Jesus.

It was the words he spoke, and the way he cared for other people that caused me to believe He was a christian.

The next time I went in I asked him about his faith and He told me all about it.

a Christian should walk in such a way that people around him know that he is a child of God without even having to ask.

The one who walk in wisdom

watches his step so that he does not step in the foolishness of the world and taint the testimony of the gospel in his life

redeems the time- taking every opportunity to share Christ with others.

studies Gods word so that he can become like Jesus in His life- and love others the way that Christ loves Him..

If you are in Christ - You are called to walk in wisdom-

when we walk in wisdom the world will see Christ through us and this is how we make disciples of Jesus.

when we walk in wisdom we serve the church for their spiritual gain, and this is how we equip disciples of Jesus.

in order for each of us to make and equip followers of Jesus we must be walking in Wisdom.

Don’t miss an opportunity to invest spiritual good to someone today choose to walk in wisdom.