Wlaking as the Wise - part 2

Well, if you would take your Bible and turn back to Ephesians chapter 5, I did say that we would be in verse 15 to 18, but we're going to spend quite a bit of time in that first portion of verse 18. Now, I will turn to some other scripture. I will note some other scripture. It'll be a little difficult for you to follow me in all of those places. I would encourage you to write them down, note them, and go back and study them. I'm going to call you to quite a bit of homework. Sometimes I do that. We need to be good students of all that we're studying together, so we need to go home and do our homework.

Now, a few weeks ago, we started a new section of teaching, and it starts here in verse 15, and I did say earlier it goes all the way to verse 21. We are seeing that in this teaching, Paul is highlighting he is exalting wise living. We see that right there at the beginning of verse 15. We're seeing that Paul is exalting wise living by contrasting wise living up against unwise living. You could call it accurately foolish living. Now, remember the analogy that I used back the last time we were in these verses. If you're like me, analogies and pictures help you. I said that all of these positive commands, they can be called admonitions.

In chapter 4, 5, and 6 are closely connected. They're linked together like a chain. We are to be imitators of God. That is one link. We saw that in chapter 5, verse 1. We are to walk or live our lives as children of the light. We saw that in chapter 5, verse 8, and we are to live or walk wisely, and we see this starting in verse 15. And look, we must get and understand and apprehend and work for Christian living, practical Christian living, every day in our lives. Question, what are we if we do not practically live the Christian life in our everyday lives? Well, we are hypocrites. Well, we would be liars. We would be frauds.

Now, don't look around the room or don't call any names, but I think you know people like that. And I think we should all, all of us, I think we should go back through our notes and study these scriptures. We should study these positive commands, these negative commands. They flow starting in chapter 4 when we get into the practical portion of the book. And I think we should link all of these commands together and we should pray over them and make sure one by one we are living these things, not perfectly known. Now remember what we studied the last time we were in these verses.

We looked at what I titled "Walking as the Wise." In verses 15 to 17 we saw that Paul singled out certain parts of their daily lives and he called them to carefully examine to see if they were living foolishly or wisely, if they were living as the unwise or the wise in certain areas of their lives. This morning we're going to simply continue with that message. There are a few more things that Paul singled out here that we did not cover the last time we were in the verses. We just didn't have the time. So this morning we will look at what I call "Walk as the Wise" part 2. This is just a part 1 and a part 2.

Now let me show you my approach with the verses and the message. I want to quickly review what we studied before and then I want to continue into verse 18. I want to go back and review like this because I want to get, I want us to get all of these things in our minds and in our hearts. All of these things go together and we should keep them together. But remember we had one major truth in the message. We looked at number 1, a call to carefully examine daily living. That's right there at the beginning of verse 15. Paul gives us a call to carefully examine daily living.

Now we know that in using this word "walk" Paul was speaking of daily living. He was speaking of everything that pertained to everyday life. And we have seen that Paul purposely addressed right daily living and wrong daily living all throughout the letter. I mentioned these examples before but 7 different times in the book Paul used this way of speaking to describe daily living. He used it dealing with the bad in chapter 2 verse 2 and in chapter 4 verse 17. And then he used this language in dealing with the good or a positive command. Chapter 2 verse 10, chapter 4 verse 1, chapter 5 verse 8, verse 2 verse 8 and then starting here in verse 15.

Now why do I take the time to call your attention back to these verses? It's because Paul was very very concerned about everyday Christian living for all of these who were reading this letter. And reportedly God is concerned about everyday living. And making sure that we see this will hopefully move us to be more and more concerned about our everyday living. But here in verse 15 we saw that Paul was calling us to a particular work. I like to think about it like this. Paul is, God is calling us to take some action. He is calling us to carefully examine how we live.

Now this term look carefully is two words in the original that is putting together two ideas to form a particular action. First Paul is saying look or take note of, make some observations. And second he is saying not casually, not haphazardly. He is saying look carefully. He is issuing a call to carefully examine, diligently examine and God through Paul is calling us to diligently examine and to take note of how we live in our everyday lives not just on Sundays. Now the text doesn't say this. I know. Sometimes I'll use my imagination a little. But I believe we can say something like this.

It is as if Paul is calling us to carefully examine our daily lives and to write those things down. It's as if Paul is calling us to meet with brothers, you know brothers with brothers and sisters with sisters. It is as if he is calling us to meet with brothers and sisters so as to have help here. It is as if Paul is calling us to take some time to pray and examine and to note things and to pray over those things and to get some help maybe with a mature believer, a small group leader, an older, a wiser Christian in our lives, even a pastor if you need that kind of help. Now why do I take the time to make this kind of application?

It's because we must be able to determine how we are truly living in our lives. Now I gave us a couple of warnings that we do need to take note of. We can't be loose here. We can't be too liberal here. Some take a very liberal approach. Now I'm not talking about politically. They just approach their lives and their Christian daily living liberally. But then some become more legalistic. They want to tighten down. We need to have the word balance in our lives. We approach these things with balance and that's where an older Christian, a wiser brother and sister can help us here when we are sifting through these things.

We saw that Paul continued in this call to action. In verse 15 to 17 we saw that Paul addressed four particular areas. In this call to walk as the wise we covered those four particular areas of life thoroughly. But there's one more area that Paul addresses and this morning we will cover the fifth area and this is likely to start up a few questions. This will probably start up some discussion and you know discussion is good and you know in my preaching sometimes I try to start up questions and I'm not going to answer them all. Now I'm going to quickly zoom through the three that we covered and then we'll spend some time on the fourth area.

We saw that Paul called us to carefully examine how we live first so as to walk wisely. We see that at the second part of verse 15. Here we saw a clear contrast. Paul is contrasting wise living against unwise living. Paul is contrasting the wise one up against the unwise one. But we must remember the walk or the path of the wise and we must remember the walk or the path of the unwise and it's very simple to see. Simply the wise think, the wise one talks, the wise one lives in the ways of God's word every day, the wise one thinks and talks and lives in the ways of God every day and they know that they find that way in God's word.

But the unwise are the foolish. They talk and they live their lives not in the ways of God's word. Their path, their way in life, their morals, their values come from the ways of sin and the flesh and the culture, the sinful culture around them. And we learn that Paul called us to diligently examine how we live second so as to make the best use of the time. We see this in verse 16. Now I pointed out that we see an odd phrase here. It depends on the translation that you use. The King James reads redeeming the time but the English standard says making the best use of the time.

And here we learn that Paul was not saying that we can somehow buy time. That's impossible. Paul was calling these Ephesians to make the best use of the time that had been given to them. Paul knew that all men were given a certain amount of time in life and that time was given by God. And Paul was calling them to make the best use of the time that God had given them. And he was also reminding them that the days were evil because he knew that the world was full of sin and they had their own sinful desires and all of those things could rob them of their time.

And he knew that frivolous and sinful living was really at their doorstep and it was calling them. It was beckoning them and the world and sin would rob them of their time. And for us we need to have two facts strongly impressed in our minds. We need to have two realities on the forefront of our thinking. First the fact that time is very short. Time is very short. One verse that shows us that fact, Psalm 144 verse 4 says, "Man is like a breath. His days are like a passing shadow." And James 4, 14 says, "What is your life?

For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then it vanishes." And then second, the fact that time which man possesses has been given by God. We see this in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 1-8. Those verses tell us that time in the seasons of time are given by God and they are unchangeable. And Hebrews 9, 27 says that the end of man's time on earth is appointed by God, meaning his day of death is determined. And then we saw that Paul called us to examine carefully how we live. Third, so as to understand the will of God. We see this in verse 17. Here we saw that Paul used similar language that he used in verse 15.

But here in verse 17, Paul uses much stronger language. He was calling them not to be foolish. This literally means not to be senseless, which can be translated, don't be stupid. But remember that he calls them not to be foolish or senseless in one particular area of life. That is understanding the will of God. And look, Paul was telling them that if they did not understand God's will for their lives and live obedient to God's will for their lives, they were literally being senseless or stupid. And remember that we asked and we answered the all-important question, what is the will of God?

First we saw that there is what's called the secret will of God. There are things that no man knows other than God. We understand that. And then second, the revealed will of God. These are things pertaining to the will of God that are revealed to us. And those things are revealed to us from his word. But third, this personal will of God. We saw that God has a personal will for our lives. There are certain things that are the same for all believers. It is the will of God for all of us to pray. It is the will of God for all of us to read our Bibles, to witness, and to plug our lives into the life of a local church.

It is the will of God for all of us to use our spiritual gifts in the life of the church. It is the will of God for all the members of the church to be faithful to the local church and to serve in the local church. But God has a will and a plan for our lives that is unique to us. Paul was calling them not to be foolish, but to seek to understand God's will for their lives. He was calling them to understand God's will and to live God's will. One commentator said it like this, "Understanding and living God's will for our lives should be our regulative principle." Oh, you need to have that in your minds.

God's will for our lives should be what regulates our lives. Now, look, folks, this is extremely important. And I'm telling you, if you'll pray and do the hard work to find God's will for every area of your life, I'm telling you, your spiritual journey and your spiritual life will shift into overdrive. So we see from verses 15 to 17 that Paul is calling us to carefully examine how we live in our daily lives. But I want to ask you to use your imagination here. Imagine going to the doctor for a full examination. You know, some of you like to do that and some of you do not. But imagine going to the doctor for a full examination.

And when the doctor is through and the doctor gives you a full report of your health, you just throw it away and ignore what the doctor says. You ever known someone like that? Well, we cannot do that spiritually. Paul is calling us to carefully examine how we live. So as to live wisely. So as to make the best use of the time that God has given us. So as to understand and obey God's will for our lives. You see? And now this fourth area. Let's go back and read the verses. The fourth area is found the beginning of verse 18.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as the foolish, the unwise, but as the 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. So we see that Paul calls us to examine carefully how we live fourth. So as to stay away from drunken debauchery. Now if we look at different translations, most of you know that I will mention the English Standard version, the New American and the King James. We can see some different wording here.

The English Standard says, and do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery. I've read that a couple of times. The New American is a little different. It reads do not get drunk with wine for that is dissipation. And the King James uses this word excess instead of debauchery or dissipation. Now to me, we need to do two things here. First we need to see what Paul is saying specifically to the Ephesians in these verses. We need to understand what Paul is teaching here in verse 18. And then second, we need to see what God's word says about drunkenness and alcohol and other places in the scripture, both old and New Testaments.

Now let's be honest. When a passage like this comes up, there are a lot of things that go on in our minds. People begin to ask questions, discussions come up, different positions are taken. In some instances verses like this and in dealing with verses like this can lead to divisions and fights in the life of the church. But you know, we don't act like that here. We don't allow these types of things to bring about divisions in the life of the church. And I'll tell you, we had a day in the life of our church where there was one who tried to cause division and fight and even create factions over verses like this.

So first I want us to look at what Paul is saying here by looking at what it means to be drunk and what this word debauchery or dissipation is. Now question, what is drunkenness? What does it mean to be drunk with wine? I think that most of you know without me explaining what this means. To be drunk is to be under the influence of alcohol. It means to be intoxicated from the consumption of alcohol, whether it be wine or any other alcoholic beverage. And to be drunk means to be physically impaired, means to have one's faculties impaired from the effects of alcohol. If you're like me, examples will help.

The first time drunkenness is mentioned in the scriptures is just after the flood. In Genesis chapter 9 we see that Noah, right after the flood, he planted a vineyard, he made some wine, and he got drunk. And in great shame he passed out and he exposed himself. But another question, what is this debauchery? The New American uses dissipation. Now there is a little debate here about the meaning of the word. This word is only used in two other places in the New Testament. We see this in Titus 1, 6 and 1 Peter 4, 4. But the meaning is rather simple. This speaks of living in excess. This is excessive living, even riotous living.

This speaks of living excessively in sin and in sinfulness, and living in excess in sin and in sinfulness in a variety of ways. And an example will help here. One of the greatest examples of debauchery or dissipation is seen in the prodigal son. See this in Luke chapter 15. We know that the young son really became drunk on many things. He became drunk on his freedom from his father. He became drunk on his inheritance that he demanded. He became drunk on wild living. Simply he was living a debauch life.

He was living a life that was consumed with wild living, sinful living, more and more sinful and wild living, ultimately until it destroyed him. One commentator pointed out that in extra biblical Greek writing in this day, this spoke of extravagant squandering of both money and physical appetites. And that's true. That's accurate. So notice what Paul was saying here. Paul says, "Do not get drunk with alcohol because that leads to excessive or debauched living." Paul warns these Ephesians and he warns us that drunkenness leads to more sinful and more sinful living. It leads to wasteful living.

And look, this was exactly where these Ephesians had come from. So many in the Ephesian church had come from a pagan background where drunkenness, which led to debauchery and wild living and excessive living, it was just a norm. Drunkenness, excessive living was a common way of life for many of these in the church before they came to Christ. So simply Paul was calling them to examine their lives to see if drunkenness had remained in their lives. And he was calling them to get drunkenness out of their lives and to keep away from drunkenness. He was showing them and reminding them that drunkenness leads to excess.

It leads to excessive sinful living and more and more sinful living. And this verse here applies to us today, just like it applied to those who first read and heard the verse. A couple of questions for us to ponder. How many people do we know that live in excessive sinfulness or debauchery and it all comes from the abuse of alcohol, it can be traced back to alcohol. How many people do we know like that? How many situations have we seen in our lives where drunkenness has led to all sorts of excessive and sinful living? Ultimately, it's ruined marriages, it's ruined homes, it's ruined lives.

Here's a challenge for those of you who are adults, make a list, not to gloat over. You know when you make lists, it becomes very concrete. Make a list, you and your spouse, y'all discuss these things and look at how these things have played out. If you've lived very long, you've seen it. You know. Sadly, this has been a part of some of your families, but a more personal question. Are you here this morning? Are you prone to drunkenness? Is drinking to the point of drunkenness a part of your life? Well if that is two things you need to hear. First you need to see that you're in sin. Drunkenness is a sin.

I will say more about that when we look in other places in the scripture, but drunkenness is a sin. And then second, you need to see that if you allow drunkenness to come into your life and stay into your life, it will lead to more sin and more sin. If you allow drunkenness into your life, it will lead to excessive living, sinful living. It always does. And there may be one here this morning, you have allowed this to come into your life and it's produced more and more sin in your life. It's just spread. This has become excessive and that's led you to excessive sinfulness. And listen, if that's you, you need spiritual help.

You just may need Christ in salvation. Now a Christian can struggle with this, I have to believe, but what I'm trying to show you is this. You do need spiritual help because these things are dangerous. But I did say that we would look at other places in scripture about drunkenness. I want us to look at some other places in the scripture and then I want us to ask a question. As a Christian today, how should we approach the use of alcohol? And look, because of this question and more, again, this is going to stir up some questions. And I'm not going to answer all of your questions.

I want to stir them up and I want you to go to the scriptures and seek out the answers. But we need to see that the scriptures always condemn drunkenness. Let me repeat that. The Old Testament and the New Testament, all of the scriptures always condemn drunkenness. Now I already mentioned the first example of drunkenness in the Old Testament and that was Noah. But the next great example, the next awful example is Lot. In Genesis 19, we see that after God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and after Lot lost his wife and he lost his sons in loss, his daughters did an unspeakable thing to preserve their family line.

The scriptures say that Lot's daughters got their father drunk so as to have incestuous relations with him, so as to preserve their family line. Yes, the Bible says that's what happened. Go read Genesis 19. But besides examples of drunkenness and the awful things that can come about because of drunkenness, the Old Testament scriptures outright condemn drunkenness is sinful. The book of Proverbs is full of passages that condemn drunkenness. Proverbs 20 verse 1 tells us that wine is a mocker and strong drink, a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by those things, they are not wise.

Proverbs 23, we see the command not to be with drinkers of wine and gluttons. Proverbs says that those things lead to poverty. Later on in the chapter, the writer of Proverbs says, "The one who lingers over wine and those who go to the cup of mixed wine have great woe and sorrow and contention and complaining and even wounds in the life that come from these things." Not only does the Old Testament condemn drunkenness is sinful, the New Testament does as well.

In 1 Peter 4 verses 2 and 3, we see that Christians are commanded to turn from the ways of the Gentiles who pursue living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. Corinthians chapter 5, Paul commanded the Corinthian Christians not to even associate with anyone who bears the name of a brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard, or a swindler. Paul says, "Do not even eat with such a person." Paul takes one step further in verses 9 to 10.

He says, and I'm quoting the verse, "Do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolatrous nor adulterous nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." Now that is a very quick glance at just a few scriptures from the Old and the New Testament. But what am I trying to show us? Only the Old and the New Testaments always condemn drunkenness in every circumstance. Now here's your homework. You go study Proverbs and you tell me what the Proverbs say. You go study all of the Old and the New Testaments and you tell me what they say about drunkenness.

You will see that all of the scriptures condemn drunkenness. And look, there are very, very, very strong warnings about alcohol and drinking alcohol. But even though the scriptures clearly declare that drunkenness is a sin, and even though the scriptures give many, many warnings about the use of alcohol, the scriptures do not forbid Christians from drinking alcohol. And as a matter of fact, this might surprise some of you. In certain circumstances, the scriptures recommend the use of alcohol or the use of wine. A couple examples.

In Proverbs 31 verse 6, that verse, "Vises, giving strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to the one whose life is bitter." This would be an unusual or a difficult circumstance when one is in great pain, such as in sickness or in injury or maybe even the case of a terminal illness. I think about this verse applying before the days of modern medicine. You know, we have modern medicine today that helps us with sickness and pain and dealing with end-of-life circumstances. But what about the days before the advent of modern medicine?

I think about circumstances in the world, maybe in third world circumstances where they do not have modern medicine at their fingertips like we do. The second circumstance, in 1 Timothy 5.23, we see that Paul advised Timothy not to drink only water, but to take some wine for the sake of his stomach. Obviously, this was for medicinal reasons. Timothy had stomach issues, health issues. We see another example like this in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In that parable, oil and wine, they were used for medical reasons to care for the wounds of the one who had been beaten and left for dead.

Again, I think about a third world circumstance where good water is hard to find. As a matter of fact, I've been in a situation like that. I traveled a lot of places in India back in 2014, and I realized quickly that you could not get good water. As a matter of fact, I could see a situation where if someone was in a situation like that, they would need to use wine or alcohol for medical reasons. So that leads me to a question that I think we need to ask, and we need to keep on asking this question.

We need to study, and we need to pray, and we need to seek out wise counsel, and we need to ask, as a Christian today, how should we approach the use of alcohol? Now I want to show us four different points of instruction and teaching that clearly show us when the use of alcohol becomes sinful. This is clear teaching, and this requires some wisdom. This requires maturity and maybe some help so as to apply these things to our lives. But number one, drinking alcohol becomes a sin when it becomes habit forming. Drinking alcohol becomes a sin when it becomes habit forming.

First Corinthians 1, 12, Paul says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful." He says, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated or mastered by anything." Now notice what he's saying, by stating, "I will not be dominated by anything," Paul was saying that he would not be a slave to any habit or custom no matter what that may be. He was saying that even those things that might be right or good, he would not become a slave to those things. How many people do you know have allowed alcohol to become a habit, a destructive habit? They become a slave to the bottle. They become a slave to the drink.

Paul says he would not allow anything to cause him to be a slave. And then number two, drinking alcohol becomes a sin when it leads to drinking in excess, when it leads to drinking in excess. Now here I'm going to turn to a larger portion of scripture. I mentioned some of this earlier. This is one you definitely need to go study on your own, but Proverbs 23, verse 29 on down to verse 35. Listen to what the verses say. It's a series of questions. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine. Those who go to try mixed wine.

Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent. That would be a poisonous snake. It stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things and your heart utter perverse things. You will be like the one who lies down in the midst of the sea. Like the one who lies on the top of a mast. That would be a ship's mast. They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another dream. Here in these verses we see a clear and a strong warning against drunkenness.

In the riddle that is found in verse 29, we see that those who allow alcohol to become excessive, they have great, great trouble in life. The verses go on to describe the lure of alcohol and the great, great destruction that comes into the life when someone allows alcohol to lure them to what? To excess. And again, how many people do you know that have allowed alcohol to become habit forming and then it led to excess and really and truly their lives are a picture of those verses that we read in Proverbs. And then number three, drinking alcohol becomes a sin when it offends the conscience of another Christian. I need to repeat that.

Drinking alcohol becomes a sin when it offends the conscience of another Christian. Two verses here, Romans 14 verse 13, Paul says, "Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or a hindrance in the way of a brother." Paul says almost the same thing in 1 Corinthians 8-9.

He says, "But take care that this right of yours," in other words, of freedom in the Christian life, "does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak." In both passages, Paul is saying that a believer must take care not to allow his or her freedom to partake in certain things to become a stumbling block or a hindrance for another, especially a weaker brother or a weaker sister. He is saying that Christians must take into account if their use of food or drink could cause another believer to stumble in any way. And what is he saying? If it does, it is sin.

And then fourth, number four, drinking alcohol becomes a sin when there is any doubt in the Christian's mind about its use. Let me state that one again. Number four, drinking alcohol becomes a sin when there is any doubt in the Christian's mind about its use. Paul says in Romans 14-23, "But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats because the eating is not from faith." Now, what is he dealing with? Food sacrificed to idols. And he says, "Anyone that has a doubt, they are condemned if they eat because they are not eating in faith. That is led of the Spirit.

Or whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." Here Paul calls the believer to look into their conscience, and he calls the believer to see if they have any doubt what they are eating or drinking if that can be done by faith. And he is saying if it cannot be done in faith and by faith, well, it is sin. And here we need to see this requires much prayer, much meditation on these types of verses, a work of the Spirit getting into other Scriptures. And we come to a place where we understand what that doubt, that doubt that violates our conscience, what it really means. And look, there are many other things we could study here.

I'll give you a list. Few questions. I mean, are the alcoholic beverages that we have today the same that they had in their day? Is drinking alcohol really necessary? Is it the best choice for us in our lives? What are the future consequences for us and for our families and our children and our witness if we do choose to drink? Those are real and legitimate questions. And I challenge you to maybe add to that list. But again, here's where your homework is. You study the Scriptures. You discuss these things with a mature believer. Maybe discuss these things with your small group leader.

If you need to sit down with me, I'll be glad to sit down with you and walk you through the Scriptures here. You must get into the Scriptures and you must allow these Scriptures to govern you and guide you and form you here. But as we finish up these verses, what are we examining? What are we looking into? Here before us, we have the call of God to carefully examine how we live in our everyday lives in all of these particular areas of life. God is calling us to action. God is calling us to a word. He is calling us to roll up our sleeves, folks.

He is calling us to examine how we are living in these areas of life so as to live wisely, not living foolishly. And may all of us, oh, especially those of us who are members of Grace Life Church of Brookhaven, may we wholeheartedly submit to this work and get into this work so as to do what? To boast? To brag? No. To be so as to walk as the wise, not as the unwise. So let's pray as we always do. Let's commit these things to the Lord as we always do and let's submit ourselves to this work. So let's pray.