How to Live Wisely

Outline

Ephesians 2:2 - …formerly walked according to the course of this world…

Ephesians 2:10 - …so that we would walk in them…

Ephesians 4:1 - …walk in a manner worthy of the calling…

Ephesians 4:17 - …you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do…

Ephesians 5:2 - …walk in love…

Ephesians 5:8 - …walk as children of the light…

Ephesians 5:15 - …Therefore be careful how you walk…

3 ways to live wisely

I. Consider Carefully How You Are Living (v.15-16)

A. Not as unwise

Ephesians 4:17-18 - So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind. being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.

Psalm 14:1 - The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.”

Proverbs 12:15 - The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.

Proverbs 14:9 - Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is good will.

B. But as wise, by making the most of your time

Galatians 6:10 - So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

C. Because the days are evil

Ephesians 2:1-3 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Galatians 1:4 – …who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…

II. Understand the Will of the Lord for Your Life (v. 17)

A. Know God’s overarching plan

Ephesians 1:9-11 - He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

B. Consider your personal responsibility in God’s plan

Ephesians 1:1 - Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…

Ephesians 3:1-2 - For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you.

III. Be Filled With the Spirit (v.18-21)

Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

A. Do not get drunk

Ephesians 5:18 - And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation…

B. Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs

C. Singing and making music from your heart to the Lord

D. Always giving thanks to God for everything

Ephesians 1:15-16 - For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - …in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:28-29 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.

E. Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ

Can you think of a time or place where you were very, very careful with every single step you made?

• What was the reason you were so careful with every single step you took?

I’m guessing the times that you were extremely carefully about the steps you took were when you were in situations where one wrong step would lead to serious consequences.

• For example, if you have ever been on a really tall ladder you probably were very careful to make sure that your foot landed squarely on each rung.

• Like I’m sure this guy is being [insert picture]...or maybe not being all that careful...

Or perhaps you recall being on a mountain hike where one misstep might lead to falling off a cliff...something like this hiking trail in China...

Here’s the point, when you know the stakes are really, really high for every single step you take you are on high alert to make sure each step lands squarely where it needs to.

For many of you, you’re probably thinking, “I’m careful enough to never end up in situations like those!”

Well as we’ve been studying through the book of Ephesians this year, we’ve been thinking about the theme of Building on our Heritage. And we’re continuing that theme this morning as we look at Ephesians 5:15–21.

A key word that shows up in our text today is going to help us think about How to Live Wisely. And this is a word that has come up the past couple weeks in our study of Ephesians but also a number of times before.

8 times in 7 verses Paul tells the Ephesians to either WALK a certain way or to NOT WALK a certain way.

So in Ephesians 2:2 Paul said we...

Eph 2:2: …formerly walked according to the course of this world

But now that we are saved and created anew in Christ as his workmanship for good works:

Eph 2:10: …so that we would walk in them.

Paul continues in chapter 4 telling believers how they should WALK...

Eph 4:1 walk in a manner worthy of the calling

Eph 4:17 you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do [walk]

Eph 5:2 walk in love

Eph 5:8 walk as children of the light

Eph 5:15 Therefore be careful how you walk

So although Paul isn’t giving the Ephesians pointers on how to hike dangerous mountains or climb tall ladders, he is very concerned with how the Ephesians are WALKING...in other words, he is very concerned with how they are living their lives.

You see, he believes that something really significant is at stake...he believes way we live either puts us in the camp of we’ve been genuinely saved by grace and are getting nearer and nearer to the day of redemption when we’ll see Jesus face to face in the Kingdom of God, or he believes that the way we live puts us in the camp of being dead in our trespasses and getting nearer and nearer to the day of judgment and eternal punishment in hell.

And so with eternity at stake...Paul urges his readers to LIVE WISELY, which has to do with how we WALK...or how we live our lives...

Please follow along with me as I read Ephesians 5:15-21 [READ TEXT]

I. Consider carefully how you are living (v.15–16)

I’m guessing if we were to take a poll of key words that would characterize American culture, and turn that into a family feud question...I’m guessing “Careful” would not be one of the top words to characterize our nation.

Sadly, I think careless, or carefree might be higher up the list than careful.

In 2010 Nicholas Carr wrote a book called The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.

• And in that book he hypothesized that the internet and the access to information that computers and brand new smart phone devices were providing wasn’t actually going to help us.

• His hypothesis came from his own experience that he then researched and wrote about in the book...but he hypothesized that his declining ability to focus and think deeply...or we could say “carefully”, was as a result of what the internet age was doing to his brain.

In 2020 he updated his book with more research and statistics. In the Introduction to the Second Edition he began with this:

Welcome to The Shallows. When I wrote this book ten years ago, the prevailing view of the Internet was sunny, often ecstatically so. We reveled in the seemingly infinite bounties of the online world. We admired the wizards of Silicon Valley and trusted them to act in our best interest. We took it on faith that computer hardware and software would make our lives better, our minds sharper. In a 2010 Pew Research survey of some 400 prominent thinkers, more than eighty percent agreed that “by 2020, people’s use of the Internet [will have] enhanced human intelligence; as people are allowed unprecedented access to more information, they become smarter and make better choices.”

The year 2020 has arrived. We’re not smarter. We’re not making better choices. The Shallows explains why we were mistaken about the Net. When it comes to the quality of our thoughts and judgments, the amount of information a communication medium supplies is less important than the way the medium presents the information and the way, in turn, our minds take it in. The brain’s capacity is not unlimited. The passageway from perception to understanding is narrow. It takes patience and concentration to evaluate new information—to gauge its accuracy, to weigh its relevance and worth, to put it into context—and the Internet, by design, subverts patience and concentration. When the brain is overloaded by stimuli, as it usually is when we’re peering into a network-connected computer screen, attention splinters, thinking becomes superficial, and memory suffers. We become less reflective and more impulsive. Far from enhancing human intelligence, I argue, the Internet degrades it. [Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (pp. ix-x). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.]

Now my point isn’t to talk about the internet or devices...simply to make the point that this writer—who is writing from a secular perspective—is very concerned with the impulsive, careless thinking that is so prevalent in America today.

Paul is just as concerned about it in the Ephesian church 2000 years ago. So regardless of the internet or not, if we are going to follow Christ, then we must live carefully.

Living carefully means...not as unwise...

Not as unwise.

Or another way to say that is not foolishly. God doesn’t want us to live foolishly which why so much of the Bible is filled with what not to do! It’s filled with warnings and consequences for what will happen if we live foolishly!

Just a chapter earlier Paul warned the Ephesians...

Eph 4:17–18 – “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind. being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart”

Now each of those descriptions of how we’re not to walk is really important...

First he not to walk or live as the Gentiles...which is to say, don’t live like an unbeliever who doesn’t know God, in the futility of their mind.

• So the way an unbeliever thinks is fruitless...it’s futile.

Then Paul tells us why they have futile minds...it’s because their understanding is darkened.

Why is their understanding darkened? Because he says they are ignorant...

And then finally, why are they ignorant? Because they have hard hearts.

I think the way that Paul writes those 4 things, is that at the bottom of the foolishness and the way that unbelievers live, is a hardness of heart and refusal to believe the Lord, listen to God or turn to him.

Here’s my point...living foolishly isn’t just a matter of innocent poor choices. It’s a matter of a hard heart.

Psalm 14:1 – “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.”

It’s really important to understand that when Psalms was written, there weren’t any atheists like you might know today. Everyone believed in a spiritual world. The weird thing in Bible times was to believe in just one God like the Jews and Christians did!

• So the fool that says in his heart there is no God is not a person who claims to believe that there isn’t a god...this is the person that functionally lives their life like there isn’t a God.

In other words, they live their life as if God isn’t actually a rewarder of those who live righteously and a punisher of those who live wickedly.

They are the ones who live their life like there are no laws and there is no right and wrong and that they will never have to stand before God and give an account for how they lived.

Prov. 12:15 – “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.”

The point is, fools do not seek help or wisdom from others, and especially not the Lord because they already know what is right!

Not only do fools believe wrongly they know what is right, but they also mock and make fun of what God calls sin.

Prov. 14:9 – “Fools mock at sin,
But among the upright there is good will.”

The point is, fools make a joke out of what God says is very serious!

For example, Paul said earlier in Eph. 5:5 that we should know with certainty that the sexual immoral person has no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God...in other words the sexual immoral person will not be saved!

• Instead of heeding the warning, fools make coarse jokes, and make light of sexual immorality.

• I remember when I told my engineering co-workers at Great Dane Trailers that while Erika and I dated and were engaged that we were not going kiss or have sex, instead of any of them thinking that was noble or wise they mocked and made fun thinking that I was crazy to not in their words, “take a test drive” to see if you like it.

And the list is endless of what fools mock that God takes very seriously. For followers of Christ, we shouldn’t partake in any of that mocking!

• And as we’ll get to next week when we turn to the topic of marriage, which we’re going to spend a few weeks on...there are all kinds of mocking ways to talk about marriage that I hope as believers we purge from our minds and tongues.

Instead of all that we should desire to be

But as wise, by making the most of your time.

I want to pause briefly and just consider the significance of the words “walk”, “wise” and “unwise” or “foolish.”

One of the most significant points that the Lord is trying to make through all of Scripture is that there really are only 2 paths to choose from.

As we’ve seen in Ephesians already you can either take the path of an unbeliever and a Gentile or you can choose the path of a Christian.

• You can choose the path of death and disobedience or you can choose the path of life and good works in Christ Jesus

• As Pastor Viars talked about last week, you can take the path of darkness or you take the path of light.

In our passage this morning you can either take the path of foolishness, or you can take the path of wisdom.

There are only 2 paths...there isn’t a third option.

And not only are their ONLY two paths, but they are two very distinct paths that are going to very different destinations.

Sadly, I think a lot of people who claim to follow the Lord think that the diagram in figure one represents how life works...meaning, there are a bunch of wise choices on the right side of the road that I should take, and a bunch of foolish choices on the left side of the road that I shouldn’t take. But while I make wise choices sometimes and foolish choices other times, overall I’m on the right path going towards the destination that I want.

But I think the overall argument of Scripture says that a more accurate depiction of life would be something like figure 2... you are either on the path WALKING more and more towards wisdom or your are on the path WALKING more and more towards foolishness.

Now, you may be thinking, why is this such a big deal to understand there are only 2 paths and you’re on one of them that’s either going more and more towards wisdom and the Lord or more and more towards foolishness and destruction...

• The reason I believe this is such a big deal is because if we think of life more along the lines of diagram 1, then we’ll probably think of our life in terms of a bunch of independent, and unrelated decisions.

• So it would kind of be like seeing your life has a just a huge sack of decisions and you’re hoping to make more wise one than foolish ones.

• In that kind of estimation of life...really, really foolish decisions like breaking your marriage vows, getting caught in a life of addiction, stealing money from your company, taking on crushing debt, falling for stupid get quick rich scams and so many other really dumb, foolish decisions are just unconnected, independent mistakes. And when we see them that way, rather than seeing them as the result of a bunch of related and connected decisions and steps in a direction, we fail to see the depth of the foolishness and sinfulness and as a result fail to truly repent and change.

But the way that Scripture speaks of our life, is that our decisions are connected...it’s like WALKING A PATH...when you take 2500 steps in the same direction, you’re a mile in that direction. Those individual steps are connected and adding together to move you further and further down a path.

The Lord and Paul want us to be careful to make sure that every step, every decision, every day, every week is being added together to move us more and more towards our goal of glorifying the Lord and progressively growing to imitate him as Eph. 5:2 says.

I do I hope I’ve convinced of the truthfulness of diagram 2, but I’d encourage you to read the Bible seeing if that is indeed how Scripture would have you think...

Now, Paul says he wants us to walk wisely...and he says that walking wisely means redeeming the time.

• The word for redeeming is a word that means to buy.

• You’ve probably heard something like time is the only finite resource that you cannot save and that you must be spent completely and that you can never regain.

• The point is, wise people spend their time on what matters most...they don’t waste time.

Galatians 6:10 – “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith”

Key words in that verse are while we have opportunity.

• How often do we think once this season is over then I’ll do blank...

• I’ll serve more once my kids are older...

• I’ll give more once I’ve saved such and such amount...

• I’ll be more evangelistic or bold with my faith with my co-workers once I’m more established...

• I’ll get more involved with church once life gets less busy...or when school starts, or when this sports season ends, and so forth...

Friends, I’m not saying that we can do everything...we cannot do everything. But I want to encourage you to really examine your life and see if you are redeeming the time you have and using it to love God and love others WHILE YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY.

Because the days are evil.

Paul adds a pretty sobering reason for why we should wisely making the most of the time.

• He says because the days are evil...

I’m guessing that for the most part, it wouldn’t take much convincing to demonstrate that the days that we are living in are evil.

• But how often is the fact that the culture we are living in being evil used as an excuse for why someone isn’t going to live their own life wisely!

• For example, when it comes to wisely killing sexual sin and temptation, how often have you heard people say, “Well it’s everywhere, and so easy to access.” And that’s their excuse for why living a life of purity is futile.

• Or how often is the lament the how hard it is to raise children in the culture an excuse for not diligently bringing our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

• Or here’s a good one...how often is the busyness and frantic speed of life an excuse to not redeem the time and really be purposeful with it?

Here’s the point, if you see that the days are evil, then the Lord is commanding you to be more careful and more diligent to wisely use your time!

Now, one of the things that I do want to be sure that I have mentioned is how thankful I am for the many, many people that are really seeking to make the most use of their time.

• I’m thankful for the people that are serving in the counseling ministry as counselors, or helping as data entry folks, or serving in Vision of Hope or Restoration. It takes an army of people help in those ministries.

• I’m thankful for the people that are serving at our community centers, helping clean, helping with the sports leagues and with special community outreach events.

• I’m thankful for the folks that are diligently working on constructing the new living nativity sets.

• I’m thankful for the servants that are helping with the afterschool programs at the Hartford Hub.

• I’m thankful for the folks serving in Children’s Ministries, and Youth Ministries and the nursery and greeters and ushers, and on and on it goes.

The days are evil...let’s strengthen the hands of one another and not grow weary in doing good. Satan wants to wear down the efforts of God’s children.

• The Lord wants to perfect his power in our weakness.

• If you haven’t really joined in with us, either because you haven’t joined the church or you’ve just been coming but haven’t really committed yourself to helping with the mission of our church.

We want you, and we need you because the days are evil.

Eph 2:1–3 – “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

Galatians 1:4 – who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

So if you are going to live wisely you need to be careful how you live. Second, instead of being foolish you need to understand the will of the Lord for your life.

II. Understand the will of the Lord for your life. (v. 17)

As a pastor, this is probably one of the most common questions that people have. “What is the will of God for my life?” Or “How do I know what God’s will is for my life?”

• Typically, what people are wanting to know when they are asking a question like that is,

• How do I know who I’m supposed to marry?

• Or how do I know what major I should choose in college or even what school to go to?

• How do I know what career to pick?

• How do I know where I should live?

So they are asking for the “specific will of God for their life.” And while that is important to ask, often people get really focused on the specific aspect of God’s will that they don’t know and can neglect the clear and obvious revealed will of God for their life.

So for example...if we are going to understand God’s will for our life, then we need to know God’s overarching plan.

Know God’s overarching plan.

God has not been secretive or unclear in the big picture, overarching plan that he has for your life.

Ephesians 1:9–11 – “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

What that passage tells us, is that everything that God has done in the past and everything that he will do in the future is so that all things will be summed up in Christ!

• A simple way of understanding that phrase is that everything God is doing in all of history is to bring glory of Jesus!

Then at the end of v.11 he says, “we who were the first to hope in Christ [are] to the praise of His glory.”

• So your life is about bringing glory to God!

• Who you marry matters. What job you have matters. The specifics of your life matter.

But often we get so caught up in our individual desires and plan that we lose sight of what God is actually up to in the everything!

• And so when we get caught up in just our own tiny lives, we start to neglect what God has clearly revealed in His word about what his will is for our life.

So an important step for many of you might be to study Scripture more fully so that you can grasp more clearly what God’s overarching plan is from the creation of the world, to present day and onto eternity.

That’s why this fall we are starting Bible Knowledge Certificate courses in the Old Testament and New Testament in Faith Community Institute.

The goal is to help people grow in their understanding of the Bible and God’s overarching plan, because the more you grasp that and know it and trust in what God is doing, the better you’ll be able to make decisions on day-to-day basis.

Consider your personal responsibility in God’s plan.

In light of God’s overarching plan, we need to understand our personal responsibility in God’s plan.

Paul understood his personal responsibility and place in God’s plan as an apostle.

Eph 1:1 – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

He was making the most of his personal responsibility as an apostle to do good toward the churches in Ephesus and redeeming the time while in prison to encourage, speak the truth in love, and build up congregations like those in Ephesus and Philippi.

Eph 3:1–2 – For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you.

Because Paul took his calling seriously, we are not only able to see what God’s will was for the Ephesian church, but we are also able to understand what God’s will is for us and our church.

So understanding God’s will for your life begins with, have you trusted in Jesus Christ?

• Has there been a point in your life where God opened your eyes to the wickedness of your sin, and in brokenness and repentance you went to Jesus and asked his forgiveness knowing that Christ died on the cross in your place and for your sin?

• If you haven’t truly trusted in Christ as your Lord and Savior and turned away from your sin, I want to implore you to do that today.

If you have trusted in Christ, then as we’ve studied in Ephesians,

• He wants you to put off sin, and put on righteousness.

• He wants you to put of lying and put on speaking the truth.

• He wants you to put of stealing and put on hard work and giving generously to meet the needs of others.

• He wants you speak to others in such a way that it’s for building up rather than speaking in such a way that it grieves the Holy Spirit.

• He wants you to put off anger, slander, malice, and instead put on forgiveness and kindness.

• He wants you to imitate Christ by walking in love.

• He wants you to live in purity rather than sexual immorality.

• He wants you to live with contentment and thanksgiving rather than covetousness.

• He wants you to walk in the light rather than the darkness.

And as we’ll see in the next few verses he wants you to engaged in the worship of the church.

So when you’re wondering what is God’s will for my life. Make sure you start with what is very, very clear. Are you diligently and actively living out what you know God’s will is for your life? If the answer is no, then I believe God would have you prioritize doing the clear will of God for your life before he gives you clarity on the specific will of God for your life.

The last point in living wisely from our passage this morning is to be filled with the Spirit.

III. Be filled with the Spirit. (v.18–21)

Depending on the church background you’ve had, you may have heard this command to be filled with the Holy Spirit to mean something like, being baptized in the Holy Spirit, or being indwelt with Holy Spirit again.

• So the implication is that the Holy Spirit may come and go.

But this command doesn’t mean a second baptism in the Holy Spirit, or a further indwelling, as if when we trusted in Christ we only got part of the Holy Spirit.

Eph. 1:13 tells us that when a person is saved, they are sealed with the Holy Spirit. So at the time a person trusts in Jesus they are indwelt with the Holy Spirit and sealed. The Spirit doesn’t come and go, and you don’t get a partial indwelling at the start with further filling to come later.

In a very close parallel passage to Eph. 5:18-21 Paul says in Colossians 3...

Colossians 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Because of the how close these passages are, this would lead us to believe that letting the word of Christ richly dwell within you is very close if not synonymous with be filled with the Holy Spirit.

But beyond the parallel passage in Colossians 3, “I think we get a clued to what “be filled with the Spirit” means by Paul contrasting being drunk with wine.

Do not get drunk.

• Is Paul saying, anyone who is sober is filled with the Spirit? That obviously cannot be what he is saying.

• So in what sense is being drunk a contrast to being filled with the Spirit?

I think what he contrasting is what are you yielding yourself to, to be controlled by or influenced by?

• As believers, the indwelling presence of Holy Spirit is the hallmark gift of the New Covenant! Paul is commanding believers to yield themselves to the powerful influence of the indwelling Spirit inside of them. If they do that there will be clear effects of that influence that we’ll look at in just a moment.

But if someone chooses rather to fill themselves with alcohol, they are choosing to yield themselves to the influence of alcohol and Paul calls that “dissipation.”

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation” (v.18)

The basic idea behind the word dissipation is “wastefulness”. Paul condemns drunkenness because its an utter waste.

• In the prior verses we have been urged to walk carefully and wisely, redeeming the time—as opposed to WASTING the time.

• Yielding oneself to drunkenness leads to all sorts of wastes...

• it wastes the health that God gave us to use for the benefit of others...

• it wastes the money and resources God has given for us to meet the needs of others...

• it wastes relationships that I have, and so much more...

Paul’s point is definitely condemning getting drunk. That point is very clear.

• But as I’ve tried to show, being drunk is also a vivid parable for how a person is controlled or influenced by alcohol which leads to all kinds of foolish and senseless, and just wasteful living.

The Greek word that is translated dissipation is “ἀσωτία”. Which the root of that word “σωζω” is where the word for salvation comes from.

• It’s not hard to see how salvation is tied to “saving” and the idea of “anti-saving” is tied to WASTING and LOSING.

So again...being drunk isn’t the pinnacle of all sins, and simply being sober and not drinking alcohol doesn’t make you full of the Spirit. But being drunk gives you a powerful visual and parable of the destruction, and wastefulness of foolish, careless living.

• And I want to pause and urge you, that if you’re struggling with alcohol or any other substance, please reach out to your service pastor for help.

• I had someone just this week tell me, “Alcohol is so easy to get. It’s everywhere!”

• He’s right, but that doesn’t mean that Spirit is powerless to help you. But it does mean that you probably can’t fight that alone by keeping it in the dark.

Eph. 5:13 says, “But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”

• I’m pleading with you to trust the Lord by exposing it and coming into the light.

• So rather than “anti-salvation”, wastefulness through drunkenness, believers should be yielding themselves to the Spirit which should be producing very clear and obvious indications of wise godly living which are laid in 5 present participles.

These 5 are not exhaustive of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but they are presented as crucially important.

Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs.

The first is speaking. Someone who is filled by the Holy Spirit is going to be speaking to others with psalms, hymns and songs.

Singing and making music from your heart to the Lord.

Second, you’ll be singing AND making music from your heart to the Lord...so that’s participle 2 and 3 right there.

These first 3 participles obviously involve music. The first participle of “speaking” may seem weird when it refers to songs and music, but that kind of language isn’t foreign to the Bible.

Deuteronomy 31:30 (ESV) Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:

Or 2 Samuel 22:1 (ESV) And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

And there are plenty of others.

So, 2 things: 1) when do you get the opportunity to regularly minister to one another with music? With psalms, hymns and songs?

• That would definitely be church.

This is may be hard for us to wrap our minds around, but centuries ago, one of the marks of a church that was so distinct and obvious of a Christian church was the church bells...no surprise but a bell is an instrument...and then singing!

• The Christian church was uniquely known and identified by singing!

Because of the promise of the New Covenant, and the complete forgiveness of sins, and the indwelling Holy Spirit, God has done what he promised throughout the Old Testament, “He’ll put a new song in your mouth!”

• Why would the hope of salvation and the coming new covenant be associated with a new song?

• It’s because the salvation that God has worked for us is so incredible, so gracious, so loving, that is there any way to truly be saved and not be moved to sing to the Lord?

So I really want to encourage you about the importance of being physically in church, so that you can minister to one another through singing to one another.

• Brothers and sisters...please, I beg you, do not underestimate the power of your singing and the making of music from your heart to the Lord to impact your own soul and also to really minister to the souls of your brothers and sisters around you!

This is not to say that everyone will be a great singer...trust me. I lament that some songs are hard to sing and that I’m not a great singer...that will change in heaven!

• But if God has rescued your soul from damnation and hell, if he’s brought you from death to life, do you think that merits any level of being willing to maybe sound or look foolish for the sake praising the Lord?

Something to consider, if you’re struggling with sin and it just seems like anything you do to try and overcome it isn’t working, I would ask you to really consider if singing in church, and making a melody to the Lord in the congregation is something that you have taken seriously...if it’s not I truly believe that you may be ignoring a key ministry of the Spirit...do you want to be filled with the Spirit?

• Then sing!

Always giving thanks to God for everything.

The fourth participle is giving thanks.

We don’t have hardly anytime, but please chew and meditate on the words, “ALWAYS”...

• And then not just “ALWAYS”, but giving thanks to God, “FOR WHAT???” For EVERYTHING!!

Eph 1:15–16 – “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers”

In other places Paul mentions give thanks “in everything”

1 Timothy 5:18 – “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

This passage is different...Paul says give thanks, not IN everything, but FOR EVERYTHING.

I wish we had time to read the full excerpt but if you’re familiar with the Book Hiding Place about Corrie Tenboom, you may remember Corrie’s sister when they got arrested and taken to a Barracks in the concentration camp, that they were trying to encourage each other by giving thanks for things...

• As they were going back and forth sharing things they were thankful for, Corrie’s sister said, “And Lord, thank you for the fleas!”

Corrie thought that was ridiculous...but later on, she commented on how the fleas were so bad that the German soldiers didn’t want to go in the Barracks where they worked and so they were left alone to freely communicate and talk and also sabotage the things they were making for the German army.

My point is this, if you’re going to give thanks FOR EVERYTHING, you’re really going to have to believe in and trust in God’s sovereignty, and wisdom...

Romans 8:28–29 – ^“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”

If God’s doing that in your life, I might take a look at the things that are currently at the top of your list of complaints and start thanking God for them! He’s probably using them in ways that are unbelievable wise that you can’t even conceive of right now.

Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

And then finally, submitting to one another...

In the weeks to come where we focus on family relationships we’re going to see the beauty of submission.

But in general, there is an attitude of humility for people that are filled with the Holy Spirit such that I’m more than willing and even excited to submit to many, many people for the sake of pleasing the Lord and loving others!

If we’re going to live wisely, then submitting to one another is certainly going to be part of it...

• Fools are right in their own eyes...they don’t listen to anyone and therefore they don’t submit to anyone.

People that are filled with the Spirit will be a community that happily submits to one another.

I’ll close with this example...I do not have a decorative eye whatsoever. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have opinions about what I think looks good...that’s a dangerous combo by the way.

• My wife, Erika on the other hand does have a very good decorative eye, as well as opinions on what looks good and what doesn’t.

Sadly, I used to fight her on interior decorating decisions...I wouldn’t submit to her vision. I couldn’t see her vision and would be a real stick in the mud rather than helping and submitting.

• Once I began to change that and trust, and submit to her in that area our relationship definitely got sweeter and our house got much more cohesive and beautiful.

That’s a small example, but there should be tons and tons of mutual submission like that in so many ways for people that are filled with the Holy Spirit!

So I hope that you want to live wisely. If so, be careful how you live, understand God’s clear and revealed will for your life, and be filled with the Spirit.