Walking Wisely - In the New Year

Well, let's take our Bibles. Let's turn back to Ephesians chapter five. Throughout the message, we're gonna be in verses 15 to 18. So you can just leave your copy of God's Word open there. And I'll mention some other verses along the way, like I normally do. Now, if we look at our calendar, we can see that today's date is December the 31st. We have Christmas and the Christmas season right behind us. And we have the New Year right in front of us. Our Christmas trees and our Christmas decorations have been taken down. At least they have at my house. And tomorrow is the first day of the year, New Year's Day.

And I think that most of us will celebrate New Year's Day in some way. I know that I'm gonna celebrate New Year's Day by doing what my wife wants me to do. She has some chores around the house that she wants me to be attentive to. And we're going to watch a little football together, just whatever she wants to do. But look how confused we are. The Christmas decorations are still up here at the church. Angel usually takes care of that, but it's Angel and Scott's anniversary and they're out of town. Pray for Angel and Scott. I'm thankful that they are gone out of town. But think about how confused we can be.

We have Christmas behind us and we have a New Year right before us. But some of us carry the Christmas bills all into the New Year, do we not? We wanna have a show of hands. I see some people raising their eyebrows. Some of us will date our checks, 2023 on end of the summer. If you still write checks, I still write a few. But on a more serious note, I wanna ask us a question this morning. How should we start off the New Year? It's right in front of us. How should we start off a new year?

No doubt most of you have at least entertained the idea of a New Year's resolution, maybe relating to physical things, maybe relating to spiritual things, maybe you have made a vow to eat better in the exercise. That's probably very common. Some of you may have determined to start and to finish the Bible reading plan that you start each year. Some of you may be determined to truly repent of some kind of a nagging sin that haunts you. Now there's nothing wrong with resolutions like that. I do not believe there's anything wrong with those kind of things unless they're unhealthy or sinful.

But this morning I want us to start off the New Year by looking at what it means to live wisely as compared to living foolishly or unwisely. And then I want us to move into three areas of our lives that I believe can be our God to living wisely in every area of our lives throughout the New Year. Now here in the verses before us, we read them earlier, Paul calls Christians to live wisely in contrast to living foolishly. And then he addresses three areas of our lives, our time, God's will, and being spirit filled.

Now I know I said this earlier, but I believe that if we live wisely and live wisely in these three areas of our lives, that will enable us to live wisely in every area of life throughout the New Year. And that is what we need in the New Year. Isn't that right? Wise Christian living. You might say, "Pastor, I wouldn't mind losing "a little weight." Well, do that. But on top of everything, what we really need is wise Christian living. Now the verses before us should be familiar to us. When we were in our study through the book of Ephesians, we covered these verses back on November the 6th, 2022.

I called this message, "Walking as the Wise." I'm sure that some of you can remember everything that I taught. (laughs) I know my preaching isn't that good. But let's read these verses again, and then we'll just cover them all throughout the message. Let's look at verse 15 to 18. Paul says, "Look carefully then how you walk, "not as unwise, but as wise, "making the best use of the time "because the days are evil. "Therefore do not be foolish, "but understand what the will of the Lord is. "And do not get drunk with wine, "for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." Now our approach to these verses will be simple.

I'm just gonna take them one at a time, and it will be easy for us to see that Paul calls us to do four things in these verses. So number one, Paul calls us to live carefully. Paul calls us to live carefully. Verse 15 says, "Look carefully then how you walk, "not as unwise, but as wise." Now when we look at the verse, it's easy for us to see right there in the middle, the word walk. And we see walk in every English translation, and even in the original Greek translation as well. But we need to understand that Paul was not talking about physical walking, like walking down a sidewalk, or walking out to the mailbox. This is figurative language.

Paul is using the word walk to speak figuratively about how one lives or conducts themselves in life, whether it be in a good way or a bad way. The verse actually could read, "Look carefully how you live your life, "not as the unwise, but as the wise." That would be my translation for whatever it's worth. So here Paul is calling Christians to live carefully, and he tells them to do three things to call them to live carefully. First, to be aware of how you live. Now the English standard says, look carefully. And this comes from a word in the original that means to see, to be aware of, or to look on.

And listen to how this same word is used or translated and other places in the King James Version in the New Testament. 90 times this word is translated take heed. 12 times this word is translated behold. 10 times this word is translated beware. Four times this word is translated look on. And three times this word is translated be aware of. So Paul is saying look, look carefully how you live, see how you live, take note of how you live, be aware of how you live. And then second he says to be careful how you live. Now notice the King James reads, see them that you walk circumspectly. It's kind of an odd word.

And the word circumspectly comes from a word in the original that means accurately, it means diligently, it means exactly. We see this same word in Matthew 2.8, when the Magi or the wise men came to Bethlehem looking for the Christ child, King Herod sent them to Bethlehem saying go and search diligently. There's that word, go and search diligently, search accurately, search exactly for the child. And when you have found him bring me word that I too may come and worship him. So Paul is saying to be diligent. He's saying to be exact. He's saying to be precise in how you live. He is saying to be careful or to be accurate in how you live.

And then third he is saying to be determinative in how you live. Notice how Paul makes a contrasting statement here. He says make sure you look carefully just how you live. Make sure you look how you live so as to be careful, so as to be diligent, so as to even be exact. Do this so as to live like the wise and not like the unwise. But a question. How do the wise live? And how do the unwise live? The unwise live with no regard for sin. In fact they permit and even enjoy sin. They live as the world lives and they live as other sinners do. The unwise they do not live according to God's ways, God's word and instead with God's people.

But the wise are completely different. The wise they have an aversion to sin. They do not allow sin to stay in their lives and they do not enjoy sin. They do not live like the world nor do they live in step with sinners and lost people. They live according to God's ways which come from God's word and they live in harmony with or in touch with God's people. So Paul is saying to make a specific determination as to how you live, he is saying to determine the live as the wise not as the unwise. So here Paul calls us to see and to take notice of how we live. And he calls us to live carefully, diligently with a precision, with exactness.

Well in what way? How? Which direction? As the wise, not as the unwise. And for us today, we must see that there are only two ways to live and we must know these two ways. If we could put it in this kind of language, there are two roads, there are two paths, there are two directions. The path of the direction of the wise, the path of the direction of the unwise. I like what John Gill pointed out. He mentioned the fact that this can take place in a person's life in the inward man and the outward man. Notice that, let that sink in. Sometimes someone can outwardly appear to live as the wise but yet in the inward man, they live as the unwise.

So in our inward man, and also in how we behave externally, we must live as the wise, not as the unwise. John Gill goes on to describe this type of living and listen because he unpacks this in a wonderful way. And I'm quoting, "This," this would be this kind of life, "This supposes life, "requires strength and prudence, "denotes continuance and progression "with patience and courage. "This walk should be seen to and watched over.

"A man should see to it that he does walk "and to the way in which he walks and how he walks, "that he walks circumspectly with his eyes about him, "that he walks with diligence, caution, accuracy, "and exactness to the uttermost of his strength and power "and with wisdom and prudence, "looking well to his going." But notice, this can only happen if one is born again. John Gill says that here, Paul is supposing life and he's right, this supposes spiritual life. And so if you're here this morning and you're not born again, you cannot live like this internally and externally. But look at how this applies to us for the new year.

I as your pastor, I'm calling us all to look and to take notice of how we're living, even if we don't like what we discover. And I'm calling us all to be diligent and careful in how we live. And I'm calling us to determine to live, not as the unwise, but as the wise. Now think about it. The alcoholic lives according to the bottle. The athlete, he lives according to the exercise and the discipline in the athletic event. The businessman, what does he do? He lives according to his business and his trade. The teacher, the school teacher lives according to their trade.

The stay at home mom lives according to the children in the home, in the home life. We could go on and on and on. But my call for all of us in the new year is this. Let's look at how we live. Let's look to live diligently, purposely, as the wise, as a wise man, a wise woman, as a wise young person for God. So Paul calls us to live carefully. And then number two, Paul calls us to redeem the time. He calls us to redeem the time. Verse 16 says, and I'm reading in the English Standard version, make the best use of the time because the days are evil.

But if we look at the King James of the Legacy Standard Bible, some of you have that translation, we see a different word redeeming. The King James and the Legacy Standard Bible say the same thing, redeeming the time because the days are evil. And this leads us to ask two questions. Which translation is right? And can we actually redeem or buy time? Because that's what the word redeem means, to buy or to buy back. Well, if we go back to the original, we see that Paul actually uses a word which clearly means to redeem. He uses a word that clearly means to purchase or to buy or even to buy back. But again, can we actually buy time?

Although we may need to buy some time, and although we may use that kind of term, we know that we cannot actually buy time. But the key to understanding what Paul is saying here is not found in the idea of redeeming or buying time. Now it's a part of it. But the key to understanding what Paul is saying here is finding out what he means by time. This word that Paul uses for time does not speak of time like we see in a clock or a calendar. He is not speaking of minutes, hours, days, months, and years. Paul uses a word for time which speaks of a measure of time, whether it is a small or a large measure of time.

He is speaking of a measured out amount of time, a fixed amount of time that is given. And the fact that this is a given and fixed amount of time is seen in the use of the definite article in the original which is translated thee. The verse reads thee time. So what Paul is saying is this. Make the very best use of thee time that has been given to you. It was given. And there's a certain amount of time, only a certain amount of time which is given. He's saying make the best use of thee time. The amplified really helps.

It says making the very most of your time on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence because the days are filled with evil. But two questions to kind of take this a little further. Is Paul saying that believers should make the most of every opportunity or is Paul saying that believers should make the use of the time that they are given? Well, it's really both, all of the above. Paul is calling believers to make the most of the time that they are given. And he is calling believers to make the most of the opportunities that they have within the time that they are given. So it's both.

But notice something. If we move too far away from translating this verse, redeeming the time, we can miss something that Paul is saying to me. Paul is calling believers to redeem or to purchase or even buy back the time and the opportunities within the framework of time that they have been given. Why? Because the days are evil. And because the days are evil, the time, the opportunities that they have been given can be stolen away if one is not careful.

If the believer does not look very carefully and diligently in how they live, making sure to live as the wise and not as the foolish, the time and the opportunities that they have will be stolen away. The Bible scholar Leon Morris says, "Buy up is not often associated with time, "but it brings out the point that the opportunity "to do good is valuable. "It reinforces the thought that any opportunity "is available for no more than a limited amount of time.

"So it is important that the servant of God "make use of each opportunity while it is there." So here Paul is calling believers to make sure, to make the best use of the time and the opportunities that have been given to them. He is calling believers to make sure that they redeem the time and the opportunities that have been given to them like making a purchase. Why? Because the days are evil and those things can be stolen away. Now in application, I wanna ask a few probing questions and hopefully the Holy Spirit takes these questions and turns them into convicting life-changing questions for all of us in the new year to come.

How much of our time and opportunities have been wasted by our sin? Some have what I call clear cut sin in their lives. They have sin in their life, lingering sin in their life and that sin causes them to waste time and opportunities. Sometimes people have laziness and apathy in their life. How many of you, how many of us have laziness and apathy? They can rob us of time and opportunity. How many of us can have a half-hearted commitment to God and to God's word and to God's work? And that half-hearted commitment robs us of time and opportunity. What about our procrastination?

I heard it said that procrastination is the day marked on the calendar of a fool. But how much of our time and opportunity has been robbed from us because we allow the sin of procrastination? And I have known so many men who are in the ministry, they have been robbed because they have allowed worldly pursuits to come into their life. So time and opportunity have been robbed. And look at how these things can actually rob us of the time and the opportunities that have been given to us. And this is my call for us here, to make the most of the time and the opportunities that are before us.

I am calling us all to redeem the time and our opportunities from our sin and from the world and from the sin that lingers in our lives and the world that can rob us of those things. How much time does Facebook rob us of? How much time does social media rob us of? Right now some people are saying, yes pastor keep on preaching. But how much time does television rob you of? How much time do our hobbies rob us of? Are there anything wrong with these things? These things can be used in a good way, but these things can also be used to rob us. What are the time wasters in our life? So Paul calls us to redeem or to make the best use of the time.

And then number three, Paul calls us to know and to do the will of God. Paul calls us to know and to do the will of God. Verse 17 says, therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. Now here in verse 17, Paul says almost the same thing that he said in verse 15. Notice in verse 15, Paul makes a contrasting statement. He says live as the wise, not as the unwise. But here in verse 17, Paul makes another contrasting statement. He says, do not be foolish but know and do the will of God. But here Paul is a little more bold.

This word translated foolish is a different and much stronger word than the word translated unwise in verse 15. This word translated foolish literally means mindless, stupid, ignorant or senseless. Right now is when your kids are looking up and saying the pastor just said the word stupid. That's what it means. That's what it means. So Paul is calling believers not to be senseless and to be stupid. He is calling them not to be ignorant about one thing, knowing and doing the will of God. But one more thing before we get into the will of God. Here Paul calls believers to understand the will of God.

This word for understand speaks of perceiving something. It speaks of putting things together, comprehending certain things. And in the language there is the implication of working to gain that understanding. There is the implication of working so as to perceive and to comprehend something. And here it is working to comprehend and understand what the will of God is. But a question, what is the will of God? And what is Paul talking about here? Well, the will of God can be seen in several ways. I will briefly explain three ways where we see the will of God. First, there is what is called the secret will of God.

We know that God rules people, peoples and nations. And we do not understand how all those things work out in the future, but God does. This is the part of the secret will of God. In many ways, we may never know what his will and purposes are for people, peoples and nations. Also in relation to his second coming, we do not know when that time will be. Jesus is coming, but that is a part of his secret will. So there are certain things that are considered to be God's will that we can never know. Second, there is what is called the revealed will of God. There are certain things that we know to be God's will.

And those things are revealed to us from God's word. I'll name just a few. We know it is God's will that lost sinners come to faith in Christ. So we should be very busy praying for the lost, witnessing to the lost and expecting God to save the lost. We know it is God's will for the church to grow. In Matthew 16, Jesus said, "I will build my church." So we should expect Jesus through us to reach the lost, to grow the saints and to take the gospel to the nations. A growing church is a part of God's will. We know it is God's will for us to read our Bibles and to pray and to be imitators of God and to walk or live as children of the light.

We know it is God's will for us to be faithful to attend the local church that God has for us. And we know that it is God's will for us to be a part of that local church and to pour our lives into that local church. Now there's more that I could say here. But there are certain things that are seen as God's revealed will. We find these things in his word and we can know them for sure. And then third, there is what I call the personal will of God. The personal will of God. God has a will for our life. Now there are certain things that we know to be God's will for us, all of us.

Reading the scriptures, praying, walking with God daily, being obedient, being faithful to our local church, using our spiritual gifts in the life of the church, those things are common for all of us. But also God has a will for other things in our life and this could be different for you than it is for me. We must work hard to understand God's will for our life. We must work hard to know and understand God's will and to live that out. I'll give you an example, your job. God has a will for your job, for your career. Yours could look different than mine and we must work hard to understand and know that. Also your lifestyle.

God may lead you to live a different kind of lifestyle than he leads me. How we organize our home, it could look different for you than it looks for me. How we save and spend our money, that could be different for you than it is for me. How we raise our children, again, it could be different for you as it is for me. And this is a very incomplete list. And these things may be one way for you but slightly different for other people even in the life of the church. But God has a personal will for our lives. So there is what I see as God's will for our lives. The personal will of God for each of us.

Some things are the same while other things can be much different. So here Paul calls us not to be senseless and not to be stupid. He calls us to work hard to know and to understand and to obey God's will for our lives. To help us in applying this to our lives. Listen to what one commentator said. And I'm quoting, "Paul recognizes the divine will." This would be the will of God. "Paul recognizes the divine will as the regulative principle of the Christian life." I like that. I like that. He's right. God's will should be a regulating principle for our everyday life. God's will should be what guides us. God's will should be what anchors us.

God's will should be what dictates who we are, what we do, what we don't do, and how we live. And for those who would argue and say that something called a personal will of God is just too experiential, I will give them one verse. Ephesians 2.10. Paul says, "For we," we meaning believers, "we are his or God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand." What did he prepare beforehand? The good works. "That we should walk or live in them." So God has prepared beforehand. That would be before time and before human history, before we were ever born. He has created good works in Christ Jesus for us.

And he says, "We should walk or live in those good works." You see? And I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like a personal will of God for our lives. And for us in this new year, I'm calling us to work, to understand, and to live God's will for our lives, his revealed will, his personal will for our lives. Now a few probing questions here. What would your life look like if you worked to discover God's will for your life and you lived that out? What would your life look like if you discovered God's will for your life and you looked carefully at how you lived as a wise man or a wise woman in God's will for your life?

You might say, "Pastor, we can't do that. I can't do that." Yes, you can. Don't be what I call the ignorant person, the one who does not understand God's will for your life. Ignorance should not be our plea. Don't be ignorant here. Know and understand work to know God's will for your life. Paul says we should. Also, don't be the lazy person. There are some that are just lazy here. They're lazy. They don't wanna do the work. They don't wanna do the due diligence to pray and to fast and to seek God to know God's will for their life. And also, don't be opportunistic. This is what I call green light people, open door people.

Sometimes people say, "Well, I have an open door. I'm going, Pastor. There's a green light. I'm going, Pastor." That can get you in a world of trouble. Just 'cause it's an opportunity does not mean it's God's will. You see? Don't be opportunistic. If you do that, you'll live your Christian life by the seat of your pants. And you'll never know God's will. You'll be confused and heard. And you'll never know God's will. And also, don't be neglectful. Don't be neglectful. I've known people who knew God's will, but yet they were neglectful. They neglected God's will when it was put out before them. So we cannot be ignorant here.

We can't be lazy here. We cannot be opportunistic here. We cannot be neglectful here. We must work hard to understand God's will for our lives. And then we are to live God's will for our lives. That should regulate our lives throughout the year. So Paul calls us to know and to do God's will for our lives. Now, right here, you might be saying, "Pastor, you've got one more point to make. Look, church, for four messages, I have been under 40 minutes. You do realize that. The last four messages I have preached under 40 minutes. A pastor friend of mine called me and said I was getting soft.

So I owe you a little more." Number four, Paul calls us to be filled with the spirit. Paul calls us to be filled with the spirit. Verse 18 says, "And do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit." Now, when we look at this verse, we can see some things that can make us nervous or even cause us to ask a few questions. What is Paul talking about when he says, "Do not get drunk with wine." What does it mean to be filled with the spirit? And if we're filled with the spirit, does that mean that we're charismatic? Now, I have preached several sermons on the topic of being filled with the spirit.

And I would call us all to go back and listen to those messages to get our notes. I answered all of those questions and then some. I'm not gonna go quite that deep here this morning. So if I do not answer all your questions, go get the material. But I want us to look at this verse and two things in this verse, the context and the command. First, the context. When Paul calls these Ephesian believers not to get drunk with wine, he was addressing some of their cultural sins and temptations. And he was also addressing their past lives and their past religious lives. In their day in culture, the use and abuse of alcohol was common.

The use and abuse of alcohol was even a part of their pagan religious practices. They worshiped many gods. They were polytheistic people. And drunkenness was even at the center of much of their worship when they worship these pagan deities. They even had a God of wine and agriculture and fertility and wine making in Paul's day. So Paul was simply pointing to their past use and abuse of alcohol from their life and from their religious past. He was alluding to how drunkenness led them to sin and even led them into more sinfulness. And it always does. So he was commanding them not to get drunk with wine.

And he was also reminding them that drunkenness leads to sin and more sin in different kinds of sin and sinfulness. But then second, the command. The command. Now the key to understanding this command is understanding the language. Here Paul calls believers to be filled with the spirit. And Paul uses a word that simply means to be filled to make full. Literally, this means literally to cram, like cramming a fishing net full of fish. So Paul is calling believers to be filled or full of the spirit. But to fully understand the command, we need to know more of the language here. First, this command to be filled is a present passive command.

This simply means that this command has within it an ongoing work, which means this verse can truly be translated, keep on being filled and kept filled with the spirit. The amplified gets at this by saying ever be filled. And understanding this fact helps us to see that this is not leaning on the past or some one time event. This filling is for today. This filling is for now. This filling is also for the future. But then second, this is a passive voice command. This simply means that this cannot come from within or from another person. This filling cannot be produced from our selves or from another man.

This means this verse can truly be translated, let yourselves keep on being filled and be kept filled by the spirit. And understanding this fact helps us to see that this is not leaning on ourself or our own experience or leaning on another. And then third, this command to be filled is an imperative command. This simply means that this is not a suggestion. This is a command and it must be seen as a command for all believers. This means this verse can be translated all of you who are believers, let yourselves keep on being filled and keep being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

And understanding this fact helps us see that God expects us to be filled and to keep on being filled, He commands it, He expects it. And then we need to see more of the meaning of this word, this word translated field. When we think of this word field, we automatically think of filling something up, like filling up a cup of coffee or a glass of water. Now that is part of the meaning, but that's not all that Paul was saying. This word was used to speak of the wind filling the cell of the ship. The ship could set sail and be on its way when it was filled, the sail was filled.

This word was also used as something being saturated or soaked for meat to be preserved in that day. It was saturated, it was permeated with salt. It was also used to speak of being in total control. If someone was filled with anger, if they were filled with rage, well, they were filled with those emotions. Now look at how the construction of language and the meaning of the word all comes together to show us the meaning of the command. When a believer is filled with the Spirit, there is a sense in which they are filled. But when one is filled with the Spirit, they are filled like the wind fills the cell of a ship.

Therefore, they can be carried along. They can be guided by the Spirit. When one is filled with the Spirit, they are also saturated with the Spirit. Therefore, everything in their life is affected by the Spirit. When one is filled with the Spirit, they are also controlled by the Spirit, a lot like when someone is filled with or controlled by rage or anger. So here Paul calls believers to be filled with, to be saturated with, to be controlled by the Spirit, who is the Holy Spirit of God. He calls believers not to be filled or controlled by sin and sinfulness, but to be controlled and filled by the Spirit of God.

And for us this morning, we must see that we cannot allow ourselves to be controlled by any sin or sinfulness. Some of you know what it means when someone is filled with and controlled by alcohol. We might call them an alcoholic or a drunkard. One cannot be filled with or controlled by alcohol, but sometimes we fail to see when someone is filled with or controlled by pornography. We cannot allow ourselves to be filled with or controlled by any sexual sin. We cannot allow ourselves to be filled with or controlled by gossip or lying, things like that. We cannot allow ourselves to be filled with or controlled by the sin of laziness.

You see, there are many things we can add to that list and there are many things we could be controlled by and filled with that are sinful. But for us today, for the new year, we must be Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled people. Again, a few probing questions. What would your life look like in this new year if you were filled with and controlled by the Spirit? What would your marriage look like? What would your home life look like? What would your work life look like? What would your church life look like if you were controlled by the Spirit and filled with the Spirit throughout the new year? And this is my call for all of us this morning.

We must make sure that we are a Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled people throughout the new year. So Paul calls us to be filled with, controlled by the Spirit. Now, as we close, I wanna repeat what I said earlier in the introduction of our message. I said it twice. I believe that if we live wisely, if we are careful and diligent to live as the wise, redeeming the time and the opportunities that are given to us, knowing and living God's will for our lives, being filled with and controlled by the Spirit, that will enable us to live wisely in every area of our life throughout the year. Think about that.

Your home life, your work life, your service in the church, any trial or difficulty that you may be going through, you may be having marriage problems and troubles, you may be having difficulties with your family and your extended family. I believe if you name any part of your life, good or bad, if you are careful and diligent to live as the wise, if you're taking advantage and redeeming time and opportunities that have been given to you, if you know and live God's will in your Spirit-controlled, well, guess what? You'll walk wisely. You'll live wisely throughout the year. And again, that is my call, that we may walk and live wisely.

And throughout January, the rest of the month, we're gonna look at three more messages and we're gonna look at how we should live wisely in three other areas of our life. So the title of the message is rather simple, Walking Wisely, Walking Wisely. But because I'm applying this to the new year, I will add to that title by calling this Walking Wisely in the new year. Let's pray and let's commit these things to the Spirit of God and let's ask the Spirit of God to apply these things to our life, not just this morning, but in the days and weeks to come and in the month of January and really throughout the year.