Part 4: {Ephesians 5:15-16}

Transcription

1 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 1 Fri., Oct. 21 st, 2005 UNO Milo Bail Student Center Read Eph. 5:1-16 Part 4: REDEEMING THE TIME {Ephesians 5:15-16} ESV Ephesians 5: 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. Intro Series overview worldly wisdom and sexual sin. One of the most important things that we cannot get more of is time. We each have 24- hours in a day and a limited number of days in our lives. Time is an important commodity. But living within time is a burden. Oscar Wilde: Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace. No deadlines, no hurry, no schedules to keep To live under the pressure of time, seems to me, to be a pressure upon us and upon all Christians. The cause of the pressure for the Christian is the Bible s insistence that the Christian life is a life of urgency. Purpose: God calls Christian to diligent watchfulness over their schedules because the era in which we live is tempting and because we have high pursuits.

2 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 2 We will talk more about what it means to redeem the time. But for now just a few introductory remarks The college life provides innumerable opportunities for squandering valuable time. If there were a college professor here I would ask them if there has ever been a week in which he has not had to deal with late papers. Dead computer time, video games, worldly conversations, all types of entertainment, etc. all combine to corrode a college student s time away. C.H. Spurgeon: It is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls. 1 We are called as Christians to be careful with the time we have that leads me into our topic tonight. 1. Time Redemption and the Gospel Life (5:15) 5:15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, a. The later chapters of Ephesians build off the earlier chapters. There the concern was with the sovereignty of God in the salvation of the elect. Now, the concern is over practicing the sovereign Gospel in real life. b. Peter T. O Brien (1999): wisdom and mystery go together. 2 i. Gospel is central here. ii. Early chapters of Ephesians are concerned with the Gospel! c. Ethics of ch Eph. 1: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. i. We are to walk according to the will of God, not in drunkenness, or idolatry, filthiness, or crude joking, but in Christian fellowship, thanksgiving and submissive to the authorities around us. 1 Morning and Evening, November, 24, PM. 2 The Letter to the Ephesians, 381.

3 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 3 ii. Thus, living in wisdom is living a life concerned with the mystery of the Gospel revealed in the earlier chapters. iii. Wisdom and mystery come together! To live wisely is to live in light of mystery the mystery revealed in the Gospel. 1. Thus there is a Cross-Centered wisdom which says I will concern myself with my schedule. How I spend my time is important. And that ties itself to the Gospel. 2. Time Redemption and Current History (5:16) 5:16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. a. Making the best use of the time Redeeming the time i. KJV: Redeeming the time ii. To purchase, an intense activity of buying which exhausts the possibilities available. 3 Rapid purchasing. 1. ILL: When I was younger there would be prizes like getting 5 minutes to run through a store and put as much as you could into a cart and that was your keep. Every child s dream. 2. Awkward analogy here, but buy up all the time you could get your hands on 3. Make the best use of your time, getting the most for your minute. iii. Richard Baxter (1673): 1. To redeem time is to see that we cast none of it away in vain; but use every minute of it as a most precious thing, and spend it wholly in the way of duty. 2. That we be not only doing good, but doing the best and greatest good which we are able and have a call to do. 3. That we do not only the best things, but do them in the best manner and in the greatest measure, and do as much good as possibly we can. 4. That we watch for special opportunities. 5. That we presently take them then they fall, and improve them when we take them. 6. That we part with all that is to be parted with, to save our time This is the true redeeming of our time. 4 b. Why? A. Days are evil and B. Time is short. i. because the days are evil 1. The period of human history in which we live is called the last days because eternity is upon us. 3 O Brien, A Christian Directory Pages is concerned with redeeming the time.

4 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p The return of Christ is imminent and that means things are going from bad to worse. 3. Time concludes in this period where the days are evil. a. This era provides us far more opportunities than ever before. These are the days of evil. b. Thus, the bible calls us into account for every moment we have available. ii. Time is short (not in Ephesians text) i. To live the college life with a loose schedule, is to make our lives open and prone to sinfulness. 1. ESV Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready 2. ESV Romans 13:11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 3. Shortness of time impacts wedding planning... a. ESV 1 Corinthians 7:29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. 4. We need a constant reminder of the shortness of time! Maybe its because we are not in contact with death on a regular basis or because we don t know what its like to personally cross over the threshold of this world to the next. We need to continually be reminded of life s shortness. 5. Q: What if you were to die at age 30, would you have everything done you need to have done in ministry, evangelism? a. One Man who knew life was short was M Cheyne, who died at age 30. b. Robert Murray M Cheyne ( ): As I was walking in the fields, the thought came over me with almost overwhelming power, that every one of my flock must soon be in heaven or hell. Oh, how I wished that I had a tongue like thunder, that I might make all

5 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 5 hear; of that I had a frame like iron, that I might visit every one, and say, Escape for thy life! 5 c. Richard Baxter (1673): my soul is frequently amazed with admiration, that the sluggish world can so insensibly and impenitently go on in wasting precious time, so near eternity, and in so needy and dangerous a case yet I wonder at myself that such overpowering motives compel me not to make continual haste, and to be still at work with all my might, in a case of everlasting consequence. 6 i. Everyone in your life is on the brink of heaven or hell. ii. Make the best use of your time. 3. Time Redemption and the Love of Christ (3:14-19) a. One of the reasons we must take care of our time is because the Christian life is a call to serious contemplation of eternal things and communion with God. i. C.S. Lewis (1965): if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like and ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased As sinners, we continue to think that our joy is going to come in the things of the world. What we need is a bigger appetite one not content in the offerings of the world. 2. Then we will not waste our time on the temporary. We need bigger appetites for spiritual satisfaction! b. ESV Ephesians 3: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the 5 Andrew Bonar, Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M Cheyne, A Christian Directory, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, 1-2.

6 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 6 love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. i. Here is why time is important we have been called to grasp the immeasurable love of Christ and to live in its contemplation. ii. The love of Christ is real. 1. We are not talking theory or guesswork. iii. The love of Christ is tangible. 1. It has measurement. 2. When we are confident of the reality of Christ s love then we begin communion with Christ and enjoying the fellowship intended for all believers. iv. The love of Christ floods our sinfulness! 1. None are unsavable! v. Divine help needed to comprehend this ocean! 1. verse 18 prayer that believers would be strong enough to seize, or take hold of, the immense love of Jesus Christ. vi. Spend your time here contemplating the love of Christ! 1. This is the high calling of those who have experienced the love of Christ: To grasp just how unfathomably deep and wide and tall and grand is the love of Christ. This is our calling! 2. Unquenchable love! a. John Owen (1657): If [the Savior] could be conceived as separated from the Deity, surely so many thirsty, guilty souls, as every day drink deep and large draughts of grace and mercy from him, would sink him to the very bottom [of the divine Savior] if all the world should set themselves to drink free grace, mercy, and pardon, drawing water continually from the wells of salvation they would not be able to sink the grace of the promise one hair s breadth. There is enough for millions of worlds, if they were; because it flows into it from an infinite, bottomless fountain. 8 b. We are like bottles full of the love of Christ, thrown out into the ocean of Christ s love being both the full recipients of the love of Christ but not comprehending just how wide and far and grand His love stretches in all directions, greater than when we can hold in our hearts or see with our eyes! 8 2:61-62.

7 c. When my son gives me a hug c. We are called to Watch our Time! Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 7 i. We have been commissioned to pursue the infinite depths to try and swim to the other side of the ocean, to climb the mountaintop of Christ s love. To measure His affections. ii. Don t waste your time, meditate upon Christ! 1. C.H. Spurgeon (1866): it will be too small profit that we shall talk to you about the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, of the love of Christ unless there be in your soul a devout longing ambition to set the Lord Jesus always before you, as the frequent, if not, the constant subject of your meditation. 2. Use your time for eternal things. a. ESV Colossians 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is d. One day we will live where time does not burden us, and we will not have to live under the earth in a grave, but in glory, struggling eternally to get our arms around the love of Christ for us. e. Let us pursue this now!.

8 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 8 Bibliography Primary Sources {See footnotes} Secondary Sources a Brakel, Wilhumus. (1700, trans ) The Christian s Reasonable Service. 4 volumes. Grand Rapids, MI; Reformation Heritage. Recent translation of very useful volumes formerly only available in Dutch. Baxter, Richard. (1673) A Christian Directory. Soli Deo Gloria; Morgan, PA. Though Baxter is not a reliable writer on the doctrine of justification, his massive book on Christian living has many benefits on the subject of sanctification. Beeke, Joel R. (2005). Overcoming the World. P&R: Phillipsburg, NJ Puritan Reformed Spirituality. (2004). Grand Rapids, MI; Reformation Heritage. Excellent introduction to Puritans and various works. Bennett, Arthur. (1975). The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh. Bonar, Horatius. (1864, 1999). God s Way of Holiness: Finding True Holiness Through True Peace. Christian Focus; Great Britain. A very helpful introduction to living the godly, Christian life by one of the churches great hymn writers. Bunyan, John. (1854, 1991) Works of John Bunyan, 3 volumes. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh. Burgess, Anthony. (1654). Spiritual Refining: Part II, or, A Treatise of Sin with its Causes, Differences, Mitigations and Aggravations. Printed in London. Durham, James. (1682). Christ Crucify d: or, The Marrow of the Gospel, Evidently set forth in LXXII sermons on the whole 53 d chapter of Isaiah. Printed in London. Edwards, Jonathan. (1834). The Works of Jonathan Edwards. 2 vols. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh , (1997). The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 14: Sermons and Discourses Yale University: New Haven and London , (2003). The Blessing of God: Previously Unpublished Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. Broadman & Holman: Nashville , (2004). The Glory and Honor of God: Previously Unpublished Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. Broadman & Holman: Nashville. Gurnall, William, edited by Jay P. Green. (1655, 1990). The Christian in Complete Armor. Sovereign Grace: Lafayette, IN. Harris, Joshua. (2003). Not Even a Hint. Multnomah: Sisters, OR. Lundgaard, Kris. (1998). The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin. P&R: Phillipsburg, NJ. Manton, Thomas. (1650s-70s). The Complete Works of Thomas Manton in 22 volumes. James Nisbet; London. Owen, John, and William H. Goold, ed. The Works of John Owen, vol , Banner of Truth: Edinburgh The Works of John Owen, vol , Banner of Truth: Edinburgh. Piper, John. (2003) Don t Waste Your Life. Crossways: Wheaton, IL. Reynolds, Edward. (1826, 1996). The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Edward Reynolds, D.D., vol. 1. Soli Deo Gloria; Morgan, PA. Rogers, Cleon L. Jr., and Cleon L. Rogers III. (1998). The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. Ryle, J.C. Holiness. (1879). Evangelical Press: Great Britain (1878). Old Paths. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh (1878). Practical Religion. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh. Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. ( ). The New Park Street Pulpit, volumes. Pilgrim: Pasadena, TX. Teellinck, Willem. (1636, 2003). The Path of True Godliness. Baker; Grand Rapids, MI. Another Dutch Puritan work recently translated into English for the first time. Tozer, A.W. (1982). The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine. Christian: Camp Hill, PA. Wallace, Daniel B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. Wheaton, David. (2005). University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus. Bethany House: Bloomington, MN. Winslow, Octavius. (1860, 1994). The Precious Things of God. Soli Deo Gloria; Morgan, PA. One of the greatest of Christian books a superb treasure! It has recently become by favorite book second only to Scripture Help Heavenward: Guidance and Strength for the Christian s Life-Journey. (1869, 2000). Banner of Truth; Edinburgh The Spiritual Life. (1874, 1998). Tentmaker: Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire.