I WILL WALK WISELY Ephesians 5:1-20

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1 I WILL WALK WISELY Ephesians 5:1-20 Dr JD Harless Tri-County Christian Church November 6, 2016 Resources: Expositors & Commentaries Most all of us know what a DUI is and it is something that we really don t want accredited to our lives right? BUT what about a WUI? Anybody have a clue what that is good or bad? I would like to suggest that maybe a WUI is a good thing or at least can be. A WUI is walking under the influence. But understand that it is the issue of what the influence is that makes it either good or bad. I would like to suggest that if you are walking under the influence of the Holy Spirit that that is a good thing. And I would also like to suggest that walking under the influence of the Holy Spirit will automatically lead to walking wisely! This morning we are going to examine EPHESIANS 5:1-20 and the main thought is that we need to walk wisely. So turn with me to our passage and let s see what the Apostle Paul has for us to learn! Paul sets up what he is about to tell us by what he says in VERSES 1-2 READ His whole premise here is to WALK LIKE JESUS WALKED. or imitate God. We mentioned that last week the way to put on the new life is to imitate Christ. Paul tells us that again this morning. The fact is people imitate the people they worship! Boys imitate the sports players they worship. Remember when Michal Jordon was so popular? Boys would drive to the basket with their tongues hanging out because that is the way MJ did it. Girls might imitate Kim Kardashian (God forbid) by wearing their clothes or make-up the way she does. When preachers are preaching they might hold their Bibles like this (*) because that is the way Charles Stanley does it. We imitate the people that we worship. And Paul is telling us in these 2 verses to imitate God because he is the one we are to worship! And obviously since God is love we need to walk and worship in love. So how do we do that? JAMES HARLESS 1

2 1 I WILL NOT WALK FOOLISHLY READ VERSES 3-6 The culture of Ephesus at the time of Paul was not much different than our culture in America today. It was completely saturated with Sex. Ephesus was the capital of the worship of Diana or Artemis. She was the goddess of nature and fertility. Prostitution was practiced as part of the worship in the Temple of Diana. Each morning the prostitutes would march through the streets of Ephesus making their way to the Temple. Sex was literally paraded before the eyes of the Ephesian community. Sound familiar? I know the prostitutes might not literally march down the streets of our cities but sensuality certainly saturates our culture. There was a poster in an American college gateway that had one large word in the middle of it: SEX. Underneath, in small print, it said, Now you re interested, how about joining the College Rowing Team? Nothing seems to attract the American mind like Sex right? Did you know Every second nearly 30,000 internet users are viewing pornography. Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is created in the US. The pornography business has larger revenues than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, ebay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix combined. (White, The Church in an Age of Crises, chapter 12) The word Paul uses for sexual immorality in VERSE 3 is pornea. This word means to have any sexual activity outside the covenant of marriage. That means Living together Hooking up at a party Viewing porn on your smart phone Paul s point here is that walking under the influence of Sex or sensuality is foolish walking. And when we walk that path the we certainly are not worshipping God. Paul goes on to say that you are not to walk in the way of greed. We need to clarify what he is saying here. He is connecting the word greed here with the sensuality he has been talking about in these same verses. The Greek word for JAMES HARLESS 2

3 greed here literally means to want more. Those in the field of psychology tell us that this is a natural progression. Many of those who are walking in the way of pornography get to the point that porn is not enough then need more. And rape and molestation can be the natural digression of such behavior. You certainly cannot be walking under the influence of this sensuality and greed and be walking in worship of Yahweh at the same time. But Paul is not done yet. In VERSE 4 he says Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. The list that Paul mentions here is connected to a dirty mind. You cannot walk a pure life when you have a dirty mind. Does that mean that God is anti-sex? Absolutely not! Listen to this God is the one that created the whole idea of sex. But he had restrictions to it it must be enjoyed with the bounds of marriage. When a person walks under the influence of sensuality then sex is what they worship. Paul is telling us that now that we are Christians Christ s followers we do not walk under the influence of sexuality but under the influence of God! 2 I WILL WALK IN THE LIGHT READ VERSES 8-14 There was a book written in 2011that became so popular that it had sold 125 million copies worldwide by June It was translated into 52 languages, and set a record in the United Kingdom as the fastest-selling paperback of all time.it was popular enough that it became a movie fairly quickly. You have heard of it it is called 50 Shades of Grey. The word often used to describe the book is erotic. Why do I tell you that? It is certainly not because I want you to run out and get the book nor do I want you to rent the movie and watch it. I tell you that because it is descriptive of our environment. It is an environment of darkness. Paul is very straight forward here See it in VERSE 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. JAMES HARLESS 3

4 The color grey is a mixture of two colors black and white. Technically black is not a color it is the absence of color. And white is a combination of the visible colors of the electromagnetic spectrum. BUT as far as we are concerned Grey is a mixture of white and black. Also in our minds black represents darkness man, it sure is black out tonight and White represents light man that light sure is a bright white. God does not want us to be living our lives in the grey areas. He wants us to be children of the light! He wants the darkness of this world completely removed from our lives. Paul goes on to say in VERSE 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Not only should we not live in the darkness or the grey areas of life but we should expose that darkness as well. One of my preacher buddies was telling me a few years back that he went into the basement of a house flipped on the light and the floor exploded. It was absolutely covered with cockroaches and they were scurrying to get out of the light. Why? Because they are creatures of darkness. He said that he ran down the steps and grabbed as many cockroaches as he could catch and sit right down on that floor and played with them. (I made that part up) BUT When I said that what went through your mind? He is crazy right? There is something wrong with him! He needs help. That is the way that God wants us to view the darkness of this world as well! Something not to play with but to stay away from. We are not to be people that live our lives in 50 shades of grey! He wants us to be as white as snow. Listen to how the Apostle John says it in REVELATION 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm neither hot nor cold I am about to spit you out of my mouth. How do we live like we are children of the light? I think there are two things we enact in our lives Live transparently before God JAMES HARLESS 4

5 We need to let God shine his light in every crevice of our lives! We need to let him expose the grey and black areas of our lives so that we can see them and repent! There could just be those areas in your lives and in mine that has been there so long that we do not every realize they are there. As children of the light we let God expose those so we can eliminate them! Shine the light for others to see But not only do we let God expose the darkness that we might have in our lives but we are also to share the Light of Christ with those who are living in darkness. Remember this old gospel song? Send the light, the blessed Gospel light; Let it shine from shore to shore! Send the light, and let its radiant beams Light the world forevermore! As children of the light that is how we are to walk in the light 3 I WILL WALK WISELY READ VERSE 15 The Apostle Paul tells us that we should not only walk in the light but we are also to live wisely. How? What makes our walk a wise walk? Paul gives us three avenues to take Seize the Moment READ VERSE 16 We have no idea how long we are going to live! We might not even make it through the day. That means that there are two things that we need to do now not wait for 1 We live our lives for Christ now! We need to live in the light! That is the wise thing to do. Because we do not know how long we will live it is insane to think we can sow our wild oats now and then walk with Jesus later. There may be no later. We need to seize this very moment to live in the light JAMES HARLESS 5

6 2 We share Christ now! In the same way that we do not know how long we will live we have no idea how long those who are living in darkness will live. Their souls are at stake. To wait might make it too late. We need to seize the moment now to share Christ. Walk in the Spirit READ VERSES I mentioned at the first of the sermon that it would be a good thing if we walked under the influence. But what the influence is is the key we need to walk under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That is the will of God! He wants his us not to walk under the influence of the things of this world the things of darkness but to walk in the Spirit. I know that seems like a no-brainer but that is exactly what his will is. Walk in Worship READ VERSES The third way to walk wisely is to walk in worship! Let me share Seven quick things that will help you walk in worship through an acrostic I am talking about personal worship not necessarily corporate worship W Walk Slowly One of the biggest hindrances of our worship is the pace of life we live. We move too fast! GENESIS tells us that God walked with Adam and Eve through the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day. Can you imagine Adam telling God God we have to make this walk a fast one today we have a meeting with a snake and we have some fruit to pick. True worship demands that we slow down. O Observe Your Surroundings One of my favorite places of worship in this area is Mounds Park. There is a trail that meanders along beside the river that has a bench tucked in the middle of the woods. It is a great place to sit and observe God s handiwork. ROMANS 1:19-20 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God s invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. You can meet God in his nature if you just take time to observe JAMES HARLESS 6

7 R Remove Distractions The walk through the woods at Mound s has some distractions. The biggest one is mosquitoes. Prepare for worship take some mosquito dope. But there is more you can do to remove distractions. Turn off your cell phone! Remove anything that might turn your focus away from God. S Sing Songs of Praise I am the first to tell you that my singing will scare away any wildlife in Mound s Park. In fact it makes for a good mosquito repellent. The mosquitoes even run away. BUT God has a way of taking some horrendous noise and make it into a beautiful melody. A reason singing is a good method of worship is because it comes from the heart. Some of older people might remember the country singer Mel Tillis. Tillis had a horrible stuttering problem when he talked but could sing flawlessly. Why? Because songs come from the heart not the head. H Hear From God s Word The best way to hear from God which is part of worship is to get into his word. He speaks to us that way! I Inspect Your Heart Nothing gratifies God more than when his children desire to be pure before him. We need to inspect our hearts and see what needs to be removed and what needs to be added so that we might be holy children. P Pray Prayer is always a part of worship. We need to talk to the One we are worshipping. Prayer opens us to a close fellowship with the Father which is a major purpose of worship in the first place. CONCLUSION So let me ask you are you walking under the influence. Are you staying away from the foolish walk? Are you walking in the light and are you walking wisely? JAMES HARLESS 7