Exegesis
Watch out how you walk/live. The
word Paul uses here means to be exact. To walk strictly by the rule. Let us note that Paul expects us to take our
walk seriously. One of the great disasters of our age is how flippantly
important things are treated. We spend hours on football and minutes on God’s
Word. We spend hours on how we dress, but minutes on the shape of our
hearts. Ladies how much attention to
give to clothing this morning compared to how much time you spent preparing for
worship? The important things are rarely talked about and the unimportant
things dominate our time. Paul is telling us that we must think about how we
live. We must be careful how we walk. We are like men in a new country where
dangers await us around every corner. But instead we joke along the road. We are to
be serious about our Christian life.
This does not mean we are to be sour about our Christian life. It does not mean we are to live introspective
lives. A serious joy is what we are
aiming at.
Some of you are like that character
in the horror movies who makes a wrong turn and refuses to turn back. You are
looking at the screen screaming at the person to turn back, but they don’t.
They keep going and the end is bloody. Some of you need to stop and evaluate.
We must stop at points in our lives
and evaluate whether or not we are on the right path or not. Our life is filled with things, movies, phone
calls, emails, internet, etc. When is the last time you sat and thought about
your life for several hours? When is the
last time you paused long enough to evaluate your walk with Christ? Are your priorities right? How do you know?
What is most important to you? Does your life reflect your priorities? How much
prayer is spent on your walk with Christ?
Imagine a man trying to get to
Denver, CO, but never looking at map or never stopping to evaluate where he is
at. Some of you are like this. You are trying to get there, but you haven’t
looked a map in years. That is probably
because you are scared about how far off course you are.
Take an hour or two each week and
then try to take at least one day a year to evaluate your walk with Christ. Spend time in prayer and extra time in the
Word. Men do this with your wife if you can.
Pray specifically that the Lord
would show you where you have gotten off the road.
Paul gives us three specific ways we
can be careful how we walk. In each of these there is a contrast between the
way of the world and the way a Christian is supposed to live.
A Man Who
Walks Carefully will Redeem Every Moment
Do not be unwise, but be wise by
redeeming the time. It would seem that redeeming the time here means making the
most use of what time you have. Not wasting opportunities on foolishness. An unwise man is someone who wastes the
chances he is given. How do you redeem the time? Redeeming the time means to make the most of
every opportunity to do good. How many
of us will end our days having done nothing of significance? You will be dead sooner rather than later.
What will be left of you? What impact will you have had on those around you?
Psalm 90:12-Lord teach us to number
our days that we might have a heart of wisdom.
J. Edwards: Resolved: Never to lose
one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly
can.
Satan does not care if we lead
lives of debauchery. He doesn’t care if you spend your nights at strip clubs or
spend your days watching soap operas. He
only cares that you doing nothing of significance. Oh, the wasted time by Christians. Oh the lost
hours! Why do we squander so much of our
lives?
Do you have a list of important
things to do? Do you even know what is important?
Do you know what your sins are and
are you fighting them with specific weapons?
Do you look for opportunities to do
good?
Women, do you know what you want to
get done when you wake up? Does the day drive you or you drive it?
The internet is a terrible waste of
time for most of us.
Danger: God wants me to do
something spectacular. We must be biblical here. Israel feasted three times a
year for a week at a time. Was this a waste?
The woman poured hundreds of dollars of perfume on Jesus’ feet. Was this a waste? In a few verses Paul is going to tell us to
work hard at our jobs. Is this a waste?
God tells us to rest one day out of seven. Is this a waste? Redeeming the time
is to be defined biblically. Sometimes that means we eat and drink with one
another. Sometimes that means I get up at 1 am to help my sick child. Sometimes
that means I stop to help a co-worker change their tire or load their trunk.
Sometimes redeeming the time is getting to bed early.
Legalist-always pushing for more.
Lazy man-Happy to leave things as
they are.
A Man Who
Walks Carefully with Live Life in Light of Eternity and Redemption
Do not be foolish, but understand
what God’s will is. Here God’s will is not subjective. Paul is not telling us
to discern whether God wants us to buy a chainsaw or lawnmower with our tax
return. God’s will is revealed in the Scriptures. (I Thess 4:1-3, 5:19, I Peter
4:2) The foolish man does not understand what God’s will is. God’s will is our sanctification and our
redemption. How should you live based on these realities? Wisdom is the path
that lines up best with God’s redemptive purposes. (O’Brien) It is not just common sense. A fool lacks discernment in practical living.
A fool is someone who does not
understand the great realities of the world. Sin, redemption, God, Jesus
Christ, Hell, and death do not enter their minds. Their focus is temporal, the here and now
without any reference to the future.
This causes their decision making to be faulty. Let’s imagine we are part of a Kingdom, for
this is how Jesus describes us.
A servant who believes he is king.
A servant who knows there is a king,
but doesn’t care what he wants and doesn’t think he will ever return.
A servant who knows and loves the
king and greatly desires to please him.
As a servant of Jesus Christ and
heir of the Kingdom how should you live? Again, just like with redeeming the
time, our tendency
A Man Who
Walks Carefully Will Be Filled With/By Means of the Spirit
Do not be drunk with wine, but be
filled with the Spirit. Here is our third contrast. But Paul expands on this
for several verses. Let’s begin with this question: How is one filled with the
Spirit? Are we filled by some magic strike from Heaven? Are we filled by meditation or silence? Are we filled when we give ourselves over to
wild, uncontrolled laughter? Well, let me ask you this, where do we find the
Holy Spirit? What is his job? Many of you know verses about the Holy Spirit,
what does God tells us the Spirit will do for us and in us? In other words,
what tree is the Spirit tied to? Where do you find Him?
1.
The
Spirit is tied directly to the Word. That does not mean the Spirit does not
speak outside the word, but the only place you can be sure He is speaking is
the Scriptures.
2.
The
Spirit is here to glorify Christ and cause us to obey Christ.
3.
The
Spirit is found in the Body of Christ.
In this chapter being filled with
the Spirit comes from obeying the commands of Christ given in 4:1 and following.
As we obey God’s Word the Spirit gains more and more control over us.
The similarity between drunkenness
and being filled with the Spirit is that they both control you. But that is
where the similarities end. Drunkenness
causes us to lose control while one of the fruit of the Spirit is
self-control. Drunkenness causes our
speech to become incoherent while the Spirit gives us control over our
tongue. Drunkenness makes us into beasts
while the Holy Spirit makes us more human.
Being
filled with the Spirit results in… Paul gives us five different words
describing the results of being filled with the Spirit. Three of these are all about singing. Think about that for a moment. Paul is
telling us what happens when we are filled with the Spirit. We sing and make
music and speak to one another in spiritual songs. Christianity is never opposed to song and
mirth. She is opposed to godless song and mirth. She opposed to song and mirth
divorced from the redeeming work of Christ.
First, we will speak to one another
with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Paul is probably referring to worship here, but it has application to
all of life. Songs have a great impact
on our memory. When I was in high school, I played football. At every home game when ran onto the field
listening to “Eye of the Tiger.”
Whenever I hear that song I am transported back to cool, fall evenings
before the home crowd. Songs are powerful tools. Our culture is shaped by
songs. They matter.
Paul is telling us to make sure our
songs, those that shape the way we think and bring back memories are righteous
ones. But note the horizontal aspect of
our songs. Our songs are to be directed toward each other. In Colossians Paul
tells us to teach and admonish one another with these songs. When we are filled with the Spirit we use
God’s Word, particularly his songs to teach each other.
Second, Paul tells us to sing and
make music in/with your hearts to the Lord. He has not changed subjects here
however. Both singing and making music are the verb form of psalms and songs
from the previous line. Here though he
emphasizes two separate things. He tells us these songs and music are to be in
or with the heart. He is not talking about silent “music.” The concept is
absurd. He is telling us to sing with
our whole heart, with our whole being. We are not to pay Christ lip service. Chrysostom: The heart should not roam while
the mouth sings. Like all things in
the Christian life our whole body and mind are to be engaged as we sing. So first, Paul tells us to sing with our
whole being. But then adds that we are to sing the Lord. The Lord means Christ, not God the
Father. So we are to sing songs to
Christ. Pliny an early Christian wrote
that the saints got up early to sing songs antiphonally, like the way we do the
Creed, to Christ.
Paul is not talking about two
separate things in these phrases.
We are to sing to one another with
our whole hearts as we sing to Christ. Worship is primarily in view, but I do not
think Pau would have limited it to that.
Illustration: Fiddler on the
Roof-Sabbath Song
Illustration: Paul and Silas
singing in prison. Acts 16:25
Applications:
Singing is teaching. Parents remember
this. Husbands, wash your wife in the
word by teaching godly songs. Mothers, sing
“A Mighty Fortress” to your sons and daughters when you put them to bed. Men,
sing on your way to work. Ladies, sing in the garden or at the sink or cleaning
the toilet. It is my hope that one day
we will be known as the church that sings. Brothers, please add to
your regular pray requests this one: Lord, please bring us or raise up in our
midst a music pastor, a man who will preach to us in song. The Christian world needs this. We need this.
Remember the vital role singing has in our
worship service. Singing is not decoration. It is not preparation for the
sermon. It is the lifeblood of our worship. So sing loud with your whole being
to Christ your Savior. Do not hold back.
Sing to your Savior.
Make
singing a central part of your life at home. Sing in the shower. Sing around the table. Sing at bed time. Sing
as you drive to work. Song should rule and dominate our Christian lives.
Scripture
songs should have a central place in our lives. The Psalms are the center of
Christian worship. But there is a lot more. When is someone going to put Exodus
15 or Deuteronomy 33 to music? What
about Hannah’s song in I Samuel 2? Or
Isaiah 12 or 26? We need to learn the
songs in Revelation and Mary’s Magnificat.
And the list goes on and on.
Let’s us press on towards musical maturity. I love the hymns. But God’s Word must have a
priority in our lives and this includes in our songs.
Third, Paul tells us to give thanks. One result of being filled with the Spirit
will be a life of thanksgiving. This is the second time Paul has mentioned the
giving of thanks. Remember he spoke of it earlier in verse 4. Peter O Brien said that thanksgiving is a synonym
for the Christian life. To be a
Christian is to be a man who gives thanks for his Savior. To be a Christian is to be delighted in God’s
goodness. To be a Christian is to
realize that you always have it better than you deserve. Hell is what you deserve. And we must confess
we all have it better than that. A
Spirit filled people are a thankful people.
When: Always
For What: All things
By Whose Name: The Lord Jesus Christ
To Whom: Our God and Father
C. J. Maheny
Ingratitude is the mark of proud man.
Submitting
to one another in the fear of Christ.
We will look at this phrase more
closely in two weeks when we examine submission.
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