170205 Don’t be Foolish

Ephesians 5:15-21 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

The Psalmist said, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1 & 53:1). In our passage from Ephesians Paul tells us that we should walk as wise not as unwise. The opposite of “wise” is “fool”! Since Paul is writing to Christians we need to ask ourselves how can we avoid foolishness?  Part of the answer is found in the rest of our passage.

First of all we are to…

Use time wisely. Let’s look at Colossians 4:5-6. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. ⁶ Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Time, for the Christian, has real significance. We can never go back not even a second. We can never “unsay” anything hurtful or foolish. The time God gives us is a treasure entrusted to us. We must make better use of the time that we have. We live in a time where social media and the Internet eat into our time. We need to use time to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). As we do this we will bring glory to God as well as good to our lives. It is so easy to simply drift through each day. In effect we often “waste” time rather than “redeem” the time. Redeeming the time means that we actually choose how we will use the time we have. I am not saying we never do anything that’s not super serious. What I am saying is that when we choose to rest or relax to read or go on the Internet it should be a matter of choice and should be helpful to us and not wasteful.

Paul goes on dealing with the problems of his day and his problems seem to parallel the conditions of our day. Paul calls on the Ephesians…

Do not get drunk. Let’s look at Proverbs 20:1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

I’m not saying that none of us should ever take an alcoholic drink. I am saying the misuse of alcohol is very common and usually starts out pretty early in life. It seems to me that most people drink for the effects rather than as a part of the meal or a simple choice for relaxation. I remember one day when we were shopping and a young man came in to the place of business. One of the employees at the business knew the young man. Her question to him was, “Did you have a good time over the weekend?” His reply really disturbed me. He said, “I must have, I can’t remember any of it.” Alcohol, or drugs, or a combination of both destroyed his weekend and he thought that was an evidence of a “good time”!

“Do not get drunk” in our day and time definitely includes all kinds of mind altering substances. Alcohol is very common but so are over-the-counter drugs as well as designer drugs being sold on the streets of our villages and cities.

If we’re going to have revival in the nation one of the “wicked ways” we must turn from is the use of drugs for a thrill. God’s promise to Jeremiah was, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Paul’s admonition goes on in a positive manner with…

Be filled with the Spirit. Let’s turn to Acts 4:31. Here we find the early church celebrating the release of Peter and John from arrest. They had been detained because of the healing of a man. Listen to what happened! And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

When we think of being filled with the Holy Spirit there are lots of different images that come to mind. For some who have a Pentecostal background there is an expectation of speaking in an unknown tongue. But the New Testament has many examples that do not include the gift of tongues.

When John the Baptist was to be born it was promised that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. (Luke 1:15) As his mother, Elizabeth, was waiting the delivery of her baby Mary came to visit her. Elizabeth felt her baby leap inside her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41). Later when John the Baptist was born and acknowledged by his father, Zechariah, his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied (Luke 1:67).

On the day of Pentecost they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Later Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he had to answer his accusers (Acts 4:8). Then we have the example given in Acts 4:31.

Among the many other examples Paul prayed for the Roman church , “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)

So we see that there are many examples of believers being filled with the Holy Spirit. We should avoid being under the influence of mind altering substances. We must seek to be filled with the Spirit. When we do, it will become very easy to…

Sing to the Lord. Let’s look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

Here we are given the opportunity to cooperate with God by rejoicing in song. It would seem from both these passages of Scripture that being filled with the Holy Spirit includes songs. I think we should make an effort to rejoice in song.

Not only are we to avoid drunkenness and seek, instead, to be filled with the Spirit we should always…

Live a life of thankfulness. Let’s look at the next verse Colossians 3:17. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Many of the things that come into our life really create a challenge when it comes to giving thanks! How can we give thanks for bad things that might come into our life? Remember Romans 8:28 tells us that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Since that is true, (it is presented in the Bible as truth) if we will just remember it, we can follow the biblical instruction to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Therefore nothing can come into our life that we cannot thank God for! Lately the word “vetted” has been kicked around a lot. Well I can assure you, as I often have to assure myself, that God has “vetted” everything that comes into our life. And if he has examined it before we get it we can be sure he has a way of making good out of it and we should therefore live a life of thankfulness. Because whatever we do we can do…

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s look at Hebrews 13:15. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

As we give thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we can continually offer up a sacrifice of praise. Praise to God that grows out of our acknowledging his name.

We are given time on earth to practice praising our God. None of it will ever be as glorious as we are going to face when we get to heaven. You see there is going to come a time when “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).

Remember, we are able to rejoice in everything because our heavenly Father has already examined everything that comes into our life and has a way of turning it to our good and his glory. We should live a life of rejoicing. Our life will not always be a life of a series of “happy” events. But it can always be filled with events over which we rejoice. Such a life will lead to “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” (Philippians 4:7). Actually, the unbelievers around us should be a little bit amazed — no, a lot amazed — at how we confront what, for them, is difficult circumstances.

Elizabeth Cheney, in Streams in the Desert gave us a poem that confronts the problem.

Said the Robin to the Sparrow:
“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”

Said the Sparrow to the Robin:
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.”

Jesus instructed us, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” And then he asks, “Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26)

We might sometimes wonder about Jesus’ question when we consider the protective actions of our government toward endangered species. Sometimes they do seem to be more valuable than humans! Oops I try to avoid political entanglements in my sermons. Excuse my lapse.

As we give thanks in all things to God the Father we can learn how to…

Be mutually submissive. Let’s look at Matthew 20:25-28. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸ even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Despite the close proximity to “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” Paul’s teaching in verse 21 is about something else altogether. God willing, next week we will get into the role of wives and husbands but for now let’s stick to the passage we have.

This passage refers to submission to authority. It’s the same word used when Luke tells us that Jesus was submissive to his parents (Luke 2:51). It is the same word used when demons were subject to the disciples (Luke 10:17). It is the same word that is used when speaking of our submission to government authority

How do we avoid foolishness? By recognizing the existence of God! A world without God is a world without hope of a future. We would be simply a collection of atoms waiting for the end of our life. If there is no God our faith is meaningless. Some have said that even if there were no God our life is better because we have imagined him. What a foolish idea! If there is no God the Bible says that we are of all people most to be pitied! In fact God does exist and there is abundant evidence of his existence. That evidence includes the fact that Jesus took our sins in his own body and nailed it to the cross. So that, if we will repent of our sin and put our faith in him he will give us eternal life! Have you trusted him? Today can be your day of salvation!

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society