back to indexEphesians Bible Study Lesson 19
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We're gonna be studying this passage of Ephesians 00:00:15.840 |
paragraph is called, or the title of this study 00:00:21.880 |
And before we begin, I just have a quick couple 00:00:26.440 |
I provide about four or five inductive study questions 00:00:32.880 |
Please try your best to answer those questions, 00:00:40.400 |
it's actually better for you to just sit down, 00:00:49.840 |
and just trying to outline the passage for yourself. 00:00:52.680 |
Potentially you might gain a lot more than that. 00:01:00.040 |
I do always recommend working from your Bible. 00:01:02.800 |
That way you have your affinity towards the text 00:01:08.640 |
it's proven to really help in terms of that arena. 00:01:28.800 |
What's more Father God, we thank you for your call 00:01:41.800 |
We pray that you would help us to both understand 00:01:55.640 |
And it's from Ephesians chapter five, verses 15 through 21. 00:01:59.080 |
And it says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, 00:02:04.720 |
making the most of your time because the days are evil. 00:02:14.760 |
And do not get drunk with wine for that is dissipation, 00:02:23.560 |
singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. 00:02:26.880 |
Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord, 00:02:32.400 |
and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." 00:02:41.120 |
that we have been receiving lots of instructions to walk 00:02:58.200 |
walking in love, walking in care, and walking in unity. 00:03:04.440 |
the scriptures called us to imitate God as children, 00:03:14.400 |
we were challenged to walk as children of light, 00:03:28.600 |
And here we're being called to walk carefully in wisdom. 00:04:02.880 |
And it's essentially saying you need to be careful 00:04:07.680 |
This sentence here, making the most of your time, 00:04:26.960 |
and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ, okay? 00:04:33.840 |
essentially I would take those major commands 00:04:36.520 |
and summarize it and say, walk carefully and wisely. 00:04:47.380 |
In these many ways, we are to exercise a careful walk, 00:04:52.380 |
but more so than anything, exercise the will of God 00:05:12.980 |
The passage says, therefore be careful how you walk, 00:05:18.420 |
making the most of your time because the days are evil. 00:05:32.600 |
And what's interesting is within this paragraph, 00:05:53.960 |
If you were to take literal translation of each word, 00:05:59.060 |
See then accurately how you walk around, okay? 00:06:05.040 |
And the challenge for us then is to be not haphazard, 00:06:08.420 |
is to not just be on autopilot or cruise control, 00:06:12.240 |
but to make sure that we're giving special attention 00:06:15.740 |
And therefore, by immediate just kind of reflection 00:06:19.180 |
we need to be asking ourselves and meditating, 00:06:23.460 |
And do I have the humility to examine what I'm doing 00:06:31.380 |
are we doing anything that's actually like wasteful? 00:06:35.040 |
Are we doing anything that's actually hurtful? 00:06:41.600 |
if the challenges don't be unwise, but be wise, 00:06:53.720 |
What's the stuff that happens when you're not careful 00:07:06.040 |
Think about even just putting together furniture. 00:07:08.620 |
Think about trying to fix something in your house. 00:07:10.880 |
Think about a project that you're involved with. 00:07:22.340 |
Typically, when the scripture describes a fool 00:07:28.760 |
You're walking, you're not careful, you stub your toe, 00:07:31.760 |
You're working, you're not careful, you cut your own hand. 00:07:35.080 |
And that's what the scripture calls you fool. 00:07:38.520 |
You do these things, you pursue these, you know, ends, 00:07:46.920 |
But worse than that, you end up hurting others, right? 00:07:50.760 |
If you're not careful, you're swinging your ax, 00:07:53.160 |
you're swinging your hammer, you're doing the cut, 00:07:55.000 |
whatever it may be, what project that you're doing, 00:07:59.760 |
What's more, scriptures many times calls the fool, 00:08:14.320 |
and what do you actually produce through that? 00:08:23.440 |
is a call for us to not simply waste our time 00:08:27.680 |
As a matter of fact, I mean, you think about even again, 00:08:33.160 |
So you just think, you know what, I'm just gonna do it. 00:08:41.520 |
to make sure that peg's in there and make it strong. 00:08:58.320 |
the scripture says you just run with the world. 00:09:00.280 |
You run with the masses, you pursue worldly desires, 00:09:06.320 |
you're not even about God's business anymore. 00:09:17.600 |
And for me personally, I feel like in recent days, 00:09:26.040 |
this personal interaction, I've been really challenged. 00:09:28.120 |
Like, am I paying attention to what I'm doing? 00:09:31.320 |
For example, sometimes you, and we all get busy. 00:09:36.320 |
and we have this desire to make sure everything gets done. 00:09:40.040 |
But in busyness, the danger is you want to get things done 00:09:47.940 |
You're not even desiring in the specific task, 00:09:52.320 |
am I actually filling the need of the people? 00:10:04.400 |
which means there's an intentional love in there. 00:10:07.120 |
And what's more, it should meet the needs of the hour. 00:10:10.720 |
Like, you don't just flippantly throw out careless words. 00:10:14.120 |
And I got to confess sometimes like in a means to just, 00:10:17.360 |
and there was a time where I was just actually 00:10:18.800 |
taking metrics, like I know some of you guys, 00:10:23.880 |
How long does it take me to respond to a message 00:10:29.040 |
oh man, somebody holds the record at our church 00:10:42.640 |
at the end of the day, my inbox should be empty 00:10:53.920 |
if we're serving together, that everything actually, 00:10:58.080 |
that they're feeling a sense of being fulfilled, 00:11:05.160 |
And so I got to confess, sometimes realize just like 00:11:08.320 |
there is a carelessness and in the end, again, what happens? 00:11:14.280 |
And I think one of the greatest things that happens 00:11:16.200 |
when we're not careful is that the priorities of God 00:11:26.480 |
People talk about like, oh, I don't have enough time, 00:11:29.640 |
And actually, scripture is saying, no, no, no. 00:11:36.360 |
You just, if you had three more hours, four more hours, 00:11:42.880 |
What's four more hours if your heart is all over the place 00:11:47.860 |
What you need is focus because instilled in the reality 00:12:01.600 |
to exercise wisdom, it's precisely talking about the fact 00:12:05.200 |
that we need to watch our life and our doctrine 00:12:17.840 |
but I just want to talk about the general wisdom. 00:12:20.120 |
Scripture says that this world has its own wisdom 00:12:23.120 |
or what it thinks is valuable, what it thinks is priority. 00:12:32.120 |
And so therefore, everything that we're participating in, 00:12:35.080 |
everything that we're doing is actually spiritually appraised. 00:12:49.640 |
That's the main exhortation as a propositional statement 00:12:52.960 |
at the beginning of the paragraph, you need to be careful. 00:12:56.480 |
Secondly, the commandment is to redeem the time. 00:13:03.840 |
"Making the most of your time because the days are evil." 00:13:11.000 |
What does it mean to make the most of your time? 00:13:18.120 |
So essentially we remember when we were in school, 00:13:23.680 |
prioritize and make sure you're using your time wisely. 00:13:30.000 |
That's the kind of maybe exhortation we may feel. 00:13:34.960 |
The term to maximize, or I guess make the most, 00:13:38.440 |
actually means more literally to buy it all out. 00:13:46.080 |
of what a word means, a lot of times they're comparing 00:13:48.580 |
how is this word used in other Greek literature? 00:14:00.120 |
Or it's also used of Christ when he's purchased us. 00:14:07.420 |
there's more to it than, "Yeah, just use your time wisely." 00:14:18.400 |
Now all of a sudden your heart is into wanting to buy 00:14:26.480 |
let's say you're building a piece of furniture like a chair, 00:14:29.120 |
you wanna make sure you have all the paint brushes 00:14:34.520 |
including the nails, including like all of that, right? 00:14:38.360 |
And in that sense, whenever your heart is into something, 00:14:41.080 |
you want to make sure you have all the pieces. 00:14:43.960 |
And for those of you guys who are into like tools, 00:14:46.440 |
you want all the tools for every scenario, right? 00:14:49.360 |
You know what that feels like, buy it all, right? 00:14:54.520 |
Here is the heart behind wanting to make the most 00:15:01.140 |
What's more, other passages of scripture really tell us 00:15:08.480 |
"Conduct yourselves with wisdom towards outsiders, 00:15:16.580 |
so that you will know how you should respond to each person." 00:15:21.240 |
Galatians six, "So then while we have opportunity, 00:15:26.360 |
and especially to those who are of the household 00:15:44.720 |
and we should take a moment to meditate on that, right? 00:15:48.160 |
The timeframe, the days that we have are evil. 00:15:55.720 |
Does that mean like the generation that we're in, 00:15:59.080 |
just like Jesus said, what a wicked generation, 00:16:07.600 |
Well, what's really interesting is another thing to notice 00:16:21.800 |
and every single moment needs to have some kind of 00:16:27.080 |
It'd be great if we could read and pray and evangelize 00:16:31.720 |
there are so many other things and responsibilities 00:16:35.040 |
You gotta take care of your family, you have to work, right? 00:16:45.380 |
And that's the word used, the Greek word used, 00:16:51.360 |
but it's more specific to the time that you have 00:16:59.120 |
and we have to be careful then with those limitations. 00:17:28.680 |
but that's also true, I'm master of nothing, okay? 00:17:33.760 |
as I look upon that and look upon, let's say my life, 00:17:38.160 |
truthfully speaking, there's so much vanity and waste. 00:17:45.500 |
I have pretty much every equipment that you could need. 00:17:48.640 |
I have a badminton set I haven't touched in two years. 00:17:51.260 |
I have tennis rackets, I have like three of them, 00:17:53.720 |
including Bia's, like both of us played tennis 00:17:59.200 |
I have a basketball, football, volleyball, soccer ball. 00:18:01.560 |
I mean, you could just go down the list, right? 00:18:03.840 |
You have pretty much everything related to sports. 00:18:10.680 |
So for their birthday, there's a ukulele we got, 00:18:14.400 |
we got a hand-me-down piano, they have a guitar at home, 00:18:17.840 |
they have an old violin, like I want them to do everything. 00:18:21.600 |
I mean, talk about like, let's say fixing stuff. 00:18:24.160 |
I mean, I have car parts I have yet to install. 00:18:29.640 |
And when you think about that, we are such so privileged 00:18:46.420 |
There's a warning because that could be vanity. 00:18:52.000 |
He said, I planted vineyards, I have gardens, 00:19:08.280 |
who has your hand in everything and have hobbies all around. 00:19:19.320 |
So what if you're like the master of carpentry? 00:19:25.160 |
Let's say you were the number one prospect of a sport. 00:19:47.000 |
I'm gonna preach that Christ crucified and he resurrected 00:19:52.120 |
But even right now, what I think is really encouraging 00:19:56.120 |
their stuff that they have and their services 00:20:06.320 |
and you realize, yes, you have the responsibility 00:20:10.960 |
but if it stops there, that too could be vanity, right? 00:20:19.360 |
So again, we realize what a command and challenge for us 00:20:24.360 |
in this first two verses for us to be careful, 00:20:29.640 |
to be wise and to maximize the opportunity that we have. 00:20:35.200 |
The other commandments we're gonna go through 00:20:49.400 |
And we already talked a lot about what foolishness means. 00:21:00.360 |
You're hurting people, you're hurting yourself, right? 00:21:04.360 |
understand what is the will of the Lord, right? 00:21:10.480 |
And I just wanna make a mention that the command, 00:21:20.800 |
No, it means to understand so you can do, right? 00:21:23.440 |
It means to understand so you can implement it. 00:21:29.280 |
your growing wisdom is your growing understanding 00:21:36.760 |
you have to have a mental picture in your mind. 00:21:46.280 |
Is what I'm doing in line with what God is pleased by? 00:22:02.280 |
That to you is your wisdom as a child of God. 00:22:07.760 |
And if you're thinking about what should I get my dad? 00:22:17.240 |
Listen, you have a bigger problem than finding a gift. 00:22:20.800 |
You need to get to know your father better, right? 00:22:24.200 |
If you can't think of anything your father likes, 00:22:31.640 |
and sometimes you don't know whether they already have it 00:22:41.880 |
then you really need to grow in your understanding of God. 00:22:45.880 |
I think an arena where this applies a lot too, 00:22:57.840 |
Understanding God's will makes you good in marriage, 00:23:04.080 |
You know, some people say a key to a happy marriage 00:23:07.200 |
And when communication is bad, marriage is bad. 00:23:15.840 |
If you're sitting there and you don't have the maturity 00:23:17.640 |
to say certain things with calm, with control, 00:23:25.360 |
you know, men are from Mars and women are from Venus 00:23:39.720 |
It's just, we're not used to it, all that kind of stuff. 00:23:47.280 |
sometimes it could be with a kind of complaint 00:23:55.480 |
Sometimes we're more verbose, sometimes we're not. 00:24:01.880 |
that's not to me the best key to the relationship. 00:24:05.480 |
I have seen people speak two different languages 00:24:09.840 |
I have seen people who, yes, they need to grow 00:24:16.960 |
I think the key key is when a husband understands 00:24:27.480 |
Because what's incredibly frustrating on any team, 00:24:49.560 |
What's worse than a person who perhaps doesn't even know 00:24:53.600 |
is a person who in their selfishness, laziness, rebellion, 00:25:21.400 |
but if they don't know what God is pleased by 00:25:25.480 |
then yeah, that relationship is already on the rocks. 00:25:31.440 |
what's wise when we see the Lord is to abide in him. 00:25:35.720 |
What's wise is the desire to know what he is pleased by. 00:25:40.440 |
Next, commandment number four, be filled with the spirit. 00:25:48.520 |
and do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, 00:25:57.320 |
singing, making melody with your heart to the Lord, 00:26:00.960 |
always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord, 00:26:09.160 |
that could even like require an hour of study on its own. 00:26:15.920 |
So we're just gonna make some major observations 00:26:24.160 |
Before it said, don't be fool, be wise, right? 00:26:28.720 |
Don't be a fool, understand what the will of the Lord is. 00:26:30.760 |
Here it says, don't get drunk, for that is dissipation. 00:26:35.280 |
So when you have this kind of comparing contrast, 00:26:42.520 |
you gotta really appreciate the contrast, okay? 00:26:49.280 |
And what's interesting is the passage describes drunkenness 00:27:00.640 |
that some people would actually desire drunkenness 00:27:18.000 |
People have their birthdays, woo-hoo, drinks. 00:27:20.360 |
It's St. Patrick's Day, woo-hoo, let's drink, right? 00:27:22.880 |
People, you know, when they go to sporting events 00:27:25.960 |
let's just shower each other with champagne, right? 00:27:39.760 |
It's to them the expression of joy and happiness. 00:27:44.200 |
But on the flip side, you know what's also interesting? 00:27:50.800 |
and they want to drink away their worries and sorrows. 00:27:58.320 |
They're pissed off 'cause they got laid off at work? 00:28:10.560 |
What's very interesting is this term for dissipation. 00:28:23.640 |
The literal term is to extravagantly squander, right? 00:28:37.920 |
in one of the theological dictionaries of this term, 00:28:41.200 |
the term is astos, they liken it to the prodigal son, 00:28:48.320 |
he slides easily into fatal influences of flattery, 00:28:54.400 |
spending freely to his own lusts and appetites. 00:29:02.160 |
to spend his cash would be more happier and joyous 00:29:10.240 |
that that would be to him his greater freedom. 00:29:12.560 |
His wanton manner of living would be to him more satisfying. 00:29:20.440 |
when the scripture says, "Be filled with spirit," 00:29:26.520 |
Let's be filled with greater capacity to do stuff. 00:29:30.280 |
Well, potentially, yes, the spirit does empower us. 00:29:34.000 |
But here and now, the contrast is here being drunken on wine, 00:29:41.520 |
and squandering and waste, thinking you're satisfied. 00:29:48.680 |
then in contrast, actually is to be filled with great joy 00:30:11.120 |
and taking to full advantage is the presence of God himself. 00:30:21.160 |
And it's all consistent with the theme of Ephesians, 00:30:25.240 |
with every spiritual blessings in Christ in the heavens." 00:30:29.400 |
We've been given everything and we need to be filled with it. 00:30:50.160 |
singing with making melody and giving thanks. 00:30:53.120 |
So when you're speaking and singing and giving, 00:31:01.920 |
is command number five is overflow with joy and thanksgiving. 00:31:06.760 |
To be filled with the spirit is descriptive of, 00:31:31.360 |
I have the spirit of God in dwelling in my heart, 00:31:38.360 |
And what that comes out in is an incredible confidence 00:31:45.280 |
when a rich child, that rich child is spending his money. 00:31:50.920 |
not only at a snapshot of that child spending his money, 00:31:53.880 |
you also see children of rich people killing themselves, 00:32:00.680 |
we've seen it as a pattern amongst rich people, 00:32:06.200 |
And you almost realize like there is a foolishness there. 00:32:15.120 |
You rage over stuff and then you get destructive. 00:32:23.080 |
There is a wisdom marked in seeing the gospel, 00:32:28.600 |
being filled with this truth and overflowing with gratitude. 00:32:38.000 |
and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. 00:32:41.800 |
And so the commandment that we're to recognize 00:32:44.320 |
is that in the wisdom of God, we need to humble ourselves. 00:32:49.320 |
If we are walking carefully, if you're walking in sight, 00:32:58.600 |
Scripture tells us that if you know the will of God, 00:33:03.040 |
sorry, the fear of God, if you know the fear of God, 00:33:08.480 |
you understand God's power, you understand who he is to us, 00:33:14.320 |
because then we know how to humble ourselves, 00:33:36.360 |
that means they haven't seen much, they're blind. 00:33:47.360 |
Given that sometimes we can make an appropriate judgment, 00:33:50.640 |
you may be better than somebody in your work. 00:34:03.320 |
and that singular individual you think you're better than. 00:34:09.040 |
You know, lately Michael Jordan has been in the media a lot 00:34:27.920 |
So you're just like, "Man, look at you, dude. 00:34:31.120 |
You saying that means you're just looking at that person 00:34:35.600 |
but you don't recognize Michael Jordan's in the room. 00:34:37.680 |
He's gonna sit there and be like, "Oh, you're talking big. 00:34:49.240 |
Do you understand saying that kind of stuff in front of me? 00:34:52.920 |
And if you've ever seen this, like if you're an adult 00:34:54.520 |
and you see kids like fighting each other in front of them 00:35:07.080 |
understanding and knowing that God is ever present, 00:35:10.360 |
that before God, yes, I may be slightly better 00:35:13.320 |
than another individual at something very specific. 00:35:16.840 |
To say that in his presence, it's just silly. 00:35:26.200 |
Obviously this passage is not challenging us like, 00:35:29.880 |
It actually challenged us to submit to one another. 00:35:35.880 |
for you to subject yourself underneath somebody else? 00:35:41.480 |
If you know the gospel and you know what Christ has done 00:35:47.840 |
for you to say like, "I can't, not that guy." 00:35:59.720 |
You've seen the Lord of all, master, authority, 00:36:12.600 |
of that other individual is just a logical connection. 00:36:21.960 |
If you, though being such a sinner, have been forgiven 00:36:32.400 |
and subject yourself to serve that other individual, 00:36:41.600 |
That must be that you don't see the realities. 00:36:44.680 |
And so as we take a look at these commandments, 00:36:52.240 |
to be very careful in paying attention to what we're doing. 00:36:55.640 |
And we realize being filled with the knowledge of God to us 00:37:07.000 |
but that to us actually is our greatest reality. 00:37:14.400 |
but fools in terms of the context of all of eternity. 00:37:18.640 |
And so I pray that we would've been challenged 00:37:23.400 |
and to be all the more wise in our daily living. 00:37:37.320 |
I pray, Lord, that you give us eyes to see the difference 00:37:40.000 |
between what is the wisdom of man and the world 00:37:47.680 |
we're better able to assess and evaluate what is valuable, 00:37:55.320 |
that all of this would translate into expressing 00:37:58.840 |
and living in accordance to the wisdom of Christ. 00:38:02.200 |
I pray, Lord, that we would exhibit greater humility, 00:38:05.700 |
that God, we would rely all the more on your wisdom 00:38:10.720 |
And I pray that in doing so, we would exalt you. 00:38:13.420 |
We thank you in some Christ name we pray, amen.