Sermon manuscript, preached December 9, 2018 by Daniel Howell
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Again, our anchor for this morning's study goes all the way back to chapter four. Paul is further explaining how we live a life worthy of the calling to which we've been called (4:1). He's laying out the steps we need to take to live in the "new self," created in the image of God's righteousness and holiness (4:24). Last week we talked about that in terms of light and darkness. This week we'll study it in terms of living wisely or unwisely.
The three verses we are going to look at this morning are very practical. In fact, they can transform a person's life if they will simply put them into practice. So let's take a look at our text for this morning: Ephesians 5:15-17.
“(15) 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.” (Ephesians 5:15–17, ESV)
We want to look at each verse separately, and there are three related thoughts I want to share with you from them. So let's start with the first in verse fifteen.
1) Walk in an Attentive Way (v. 15)
Have you ever walked, or maybe climbed over the rocks along one of the creeks in the mountains? I've actually done that a lot. Of course I did as a kid when we would visit for vacations. But in recent years I've climbed them a lot to take pictures of people. Lots of couples around here want to have their pictures taken in the mountains. And of course if there's water, they want to have their picture taken sitting on a big rock out in the middle of a stream. I guess it seems romantic. So there's nothing quite like carrying a few thousand dollars worth of camera gear across wet rocks jutting out of a swift moving stream that will make you give extreme care to every single step you take.
With that thought in mind let's look at what Paul has to say here in verse 15:
“(15) Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,” (Ephesians 5:15, ESV)
This is only the first half of a sentence, but it contains the command that Paul wants us to carry out. The command is to "look." He wants us to see, to watch, to have our eyes open for something. He then describes how he wants us to look: "carefully." The word translated as "carefully" has a range of meaning from "accurately" to "precisely" to "exactly." Put together with "look," Paul is saying to give your full attention to something—in this case, "how you walk."
We've already seen that the way Paul uses the word "walk" in Ephesians has to do with the manner of a person's life. So here's what Paul is saying: Give great care and attention to how you are living your life. Be sure your "steps" are planted firmly and accurately. At the end of the verse he's comparing living carefully to living wisely. As a contrast, living carelessly would be foolish.
I think this is a very timely command for us. Even a life changing one for some folks. Many people wander through their life without a purpose. They never really have a goal. They survive from day to day. Life just happens to them, and they never really make anything happen for themselves. They are aimless. They may seem lost. We can see this clearly when it comes to a person's work life, and even their personal life. Of course Paul's focus here is going to be the spiritual.
So let me ask you some personal questions you can answer to yourself. Are you fulfilling the spiritual purpose God has for your life? Do you have spiritual goals and aspirations? Are you carefully placing your steps in this life so as to live a life that glorifies God? To walk in a spiritually attentive way means to make each step with purpose. Again, Paul has already pointed out that you are to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called (Eph. 4:1). To walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us (Eph. 5:2). In Galatians 5:16 Paul tells the church to "walk by the Spirit," and in verse 25 to "keep in step with the Spirit." So what about your steps? Are you planting your feet where you should?
Solomon's discovery of God's purpose for his steps is as true now as it was nearly 3,000 years ago when he wrote the following words in Ecclesiastes:
“(13) The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (14) For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14, ESV)
So are you looking carefully, making sure your steps are accurately placed in alignment with God's will? Are you walking with God-given, God-glorifying purpose? In the last half of the sentence that starts here in verse fifteen Paul expands on this idea as to how we "walk" carefully and accurately.
2) Walk in an Opportune Way (v. 16)
One of the great struggles of our day is properly managing the time that has been given to us. There always seems to be so much to do, and not enough time to do it all. There are some things that are non-negotiable. Work is non-negotiable. Sleep is also non-negotiable (at least if you want to live a healthy life). There's a certain amount of time we have to spend on personal care and hygiene. There's a certain amount of time we need to spend eating, or preparing to eat. Then there are all the chores we have to do. And if you have kids the amount of time spend on many of those things gets multiplied. And we've yet to get to any recreational things... or spiritual things. So with that anxiety in mind, let's look at verse sixteen now:
“(16) making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16, ESV)
A characteristic of a person who lives wisely is that they make the best use of their time. Some translations say, "redeeming the time." That's a literal translation of the figure of speech Paul is using here.
Commentator Peter O'Brien writes the following about this statement:
"The verb ‘redeem’ is drawn from the commercial language of the marketplace, and its prefix denotes an intensive activity, a buying which exhausts the possibilities available. It seems better, then, to understand the expression as metaphorical, signifying to ‘make the most of the time’. Believers will act wisely by snapping up every opportunity that comes."1
Some authors also point to what Nebuchadnezzar says to the Chaldeans who fail to be able to interpret his dream. In Daniel 2:8 he accuses them of trying to "gain time." For their purposes, they were stalling, trying to "buy time" as we might put it, where they had none. Of course that's a somewhat negative use. But here the use is for good.
He gives the reason as being that, "the days are evil." Of course the "age," or the time in which we live is evil (cf. Gal. 1:4). Instead of allowing that time to be used for evil, or to remain evil, we are to "redeem" it—buy it back for the purposes of doing good, just as Christ redeemed us and brought us from darkness to light. This is more than just sitting around waiting for opportunities to do good and bring God glory. This is actively seeking them, even creating them out of the present evil age in which we live.
And this comes back to what we talked about in verse fifteen. To look carefully as to how you live means to plant your feet with purpose. And here, to live in an opportune way, means to make decisions about how you use your time according to that very same purpose. There's no better use of time than spiritual things! Consider a few verses with me:
“(7) Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; (8) for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7–8, ESV)
“(58) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58, ESV)
“(9) And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (10) So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:9–10, ESV)
“(2) Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2, ESV)
Our time should be spent training ourselves for godliness through study and prayer. Our time should be spent abounding in the work of the Lord in the opportunities we have to serve. Our time should be spent doing good, and taking every opportunity to do so that we are afforded. Our time should be spent with our minds set on the things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. The wise person redeems time—makes time—for these things. So is that true of you? Because that's God's will for your life. Which brings us to our final verse of study for this morning...
3) Walk in an Understanding Way (v. 17)
I realize I'm guilty of using my children as illustrations fairly often, so forgive me since I'm doing it again. In our house we have rules. Mommy and Daddy have a "will." We have desires for how our children are to behave, and we teach and discipline our children accordingly. While I may not always explain why we have certain rules to the smallest children, one of the things I try to do with the older ones now is explain the purposes behind the rules we have put in place. I want them to understand that our rules are not arbitrary. They are there to keep kids from getting hurt, or from suffering other serious consequences. We have them for their good. And the better they understand the rules, the better they will apply them in their behavior.
I think God deals with his children in a similar way. He has a will for us. And while the youngest "babe" in Christ needs to at least know the "what" of God's will, they should also seek to understand the "why." Paul writes:
“(17) Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:17, ESV)
"Do not be foolish" is a command. Seems like a pretty clear one. But Paul makes a statement of contrast here that is also a command, and it tells us how we go about being wise. "Understand what the will of the Lord is." The word I want you to focus in on is the word "understand." It means more than knowing of something. It also means comprehending it, having a deeper knowledge or awareness. In practice, it means understanding how it applies to you personally.
Now some people may try to use this verse in an overly personal sense. What I mean by that, is thinking there's some mystical direction God is going to whisper to them in a dream, directing their life—God's personal will for them—Whether they need to accept a job, or sell their house, or homeschool their kids, or go on a mission trip, or enter ministry. O'Brien also wrote this about this passage:
"The contemporary preoccupation with personal guidance is wrongly directed if it is not understood first of all within this framework of God’s gracious saving purposes for his world. Personalized concerns about ‘guidance’ may, in fact, be evidence of a folly which stands in contrast to, and needs to be corrected by, a true understanding of the Lord’s will."
In other words, what he (and Paul) are trying to say is that we need to understand the will of the Lord as presented in Scripture. God has a will for each of us—and it's laid out plainly in his Word! We need to understand that will first! And understanding it can help guide us in all the other things. Know the "why" for God's "what." Don't be foolish, unreasoning. Understand it. And you'll gain limitless benefit from it.
The Wise Man
You can live life wisely. It requires being attentive to your steps, and not walking aimlessly. It requires using the time given to you wisely, and making opportunities to do good. And it requires understanding God's plan, God's will for you better by knowing what Scripture teaches.
I really think the best summary statement for all this is found in the "Sermon on the Mount." It's so foundational we teach it to our kids when they are babies. Look at Matthew 7:24-27 with me for just a moment:
“(24) “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (26) And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”” (Matthew 7:24–27, ESV)
Are you hearing and doing Jesus words, his will, like the wise man? If not you can start. And that's what I invite you to do.
Works Cited:
O’Brien, Peter Thomas. The Letter to the Ephesians. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999. Print. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. ↩︎