Redeem Your Days
Ephesians 5:15-21 is a summary and conclusion for the instructions that began at the beginning of Chapter 4. Verse 21 also acts as a springboard for what follows. There’s still more guidance to come! In the same way, there is still much for us to learn and practice. At the beginning of this chapter, we saw six behaviors that need to be removed from our lives and fellowship—and one behavior that should replace them. Next we saw how we have been made light to shine, exposing our own evil deeds, as well as those of our brothers and sisters—and of the world around us! That we all might repent and grow in the ways of Christ. For each other’s good, not condemnation. Here, Paul gives us several key summary points, both words of warning and words of clarification and instruction. From Ephesians 5:15-21.
Understand the Times
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
The responsibility for how we live is on us. And we are called to be wise. The word “wise” here has the idea of being well-trained, experienced, skilled. Skilled in the ways of God. We need to understand and practice the things we’ve been talking about over the course of these two chapters. Our faith and obedience need to be founded on the truths of the first three chapters! We need to be very careful how we live! It is our responsibility to recognize both what God has called us to do and be, and to recognize the days we live in.
But we are so easily lulled into a false sense of security. Jesus has yet to return. The world goes on as it has since at least the time of Paul. Generation comes and generation goes. Everyone adopts a career and works at it all their days, until old age and death overtake them. That becomes all we know of life and reality. So what does it matter how we live? We just need to get the most out of life. The most of whatever it is we want most. For some, that’s money. For others, that’s exotic experiences. For others, it’s family. For still others, it’s just doing your job.
The world is a wonderful place, why shouldn’t we enjoy it? It has so much to offer!
But Paul says, “Be careful how you live—live as those who are wise.” If you’ve ever read Solomon’s book, Ecclesiastes, you can come to the mistaken conclusion that this is all there is, so enjoy your life while you can. That seems to be Solomon’s conclusion, but not really. He hammers home his final conclusion in the last chapter and a half of that book. It is this: God will judge all men, so be careful how you live. Enjoy life, sure, but be sure to do so in a way that does not incur God’s wrath, but His reward.
The Scriptures, taken together, give a much fuller picture of life and God than Solomon alone could grasp. He’s absolutely right, but we need the rest of Scripture to teach us what God deems righteous and what He calls wicked.
Contrary to popular opinion, these days are not wonderful. Of course, Paul wrote these words almost 2,000 years ago. His days were evil. Our days are equally evil or more so. We have had the influence of Christ and His teachings on our society, and now we are casting off those restraints and that wisdom. We’re deliberately going against God’s teachings, turning our backs on the One who actually made this nation great. Look at how marriage and family have broken down. We live with such social chaos that we no longer recognize what is the right and wrong way to live with one another!
We have as much or more today to make us complacent, to dull us to the righteousness of God, to distract us with wealth and all kinds of comfort and pleasure. We have more than in Paul’s day. Do you understand what the root of Rome’s sin was? The root of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. (Ezekiel 16:48-50, NIV)
They were arrogant. They were overfed. They were unconcerned for the needs of the poor and needy. They were consumed with satisfying their own appetites and cravings. And when the normal ways and means of satisfying God-given desires and appetites became boring, they sought out new ways. As we saw in 4:19 (NIV), “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” Their arrogance because of their great material prosperity led them to give themselves over to sexual immorality and perversion—the kind of immorality and perversion we are beginning to celebrate in our own land today!
Yes, our days are very evil, and we who know Jesus Christ and who read His Word need also to be careful to do what it says, to return to His morals and standards, to conform our lives to His instruction. And to call out the sin we see in ourselves and around us, out of mercy and compassion on all, in hope that all might come to repentance and be saved from this “wicked and adulterous generation” (Matthew 12:39, NIV).
We need to redeem and rescue our days—instead of doing what everyone else does, we need to do what God calls us to do. Everyone else wastes their days, their strength on merely worldly, temporal, fleshly activities and goals. We need to live for Christ’s kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
We can and should use our days to learn more of God’s ways and practice them at every opportunity. We can redeem our days by shining the Light of God’s truth upon the evil behaviors of lost people. We can shine the light of the Gospel, exalting Jesus Christ and calling everyone we meet to repent of their evil ways, believe in Him for forgiveness, and walk in step with the Holy Spirit of God!
It should be so easy to stand out against such a backdrop of evil! If even our little light does not shine blindingly in this dark world, we need to ask ourselves if we understand how evil these days truly are? Have we been deceived by the “goodness” of the world without recognizing it for the wickedness God sees? We need to steep ourselves in the Word of God and step back from the propaganda of this world so we can begin to see how far off even the “nice” or “noble” people of this world are, people who do not know or love Jesus Christ.
Read of the seven churches of Revelation in chapters two and three of that book. Those words were written less than half a lifetime after Paul wrote these words. See how quickly and how completely a body of believers can fall into worldly blindness. Five of those seven churches needed to repent! How much more do our churches today need to repent of the worldly and outright wicked behaviors we don’t just tolerate but now excuse and explain and teach!
In speaking about the last days, Jesus warned us, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:12-13, NIV). And He asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth” (Luke 18:8b, NIV)?
Paul foretold these days in his second letter to Timothy. Let me read this slowly and as I do, ask yourself, how many of these behaviors do we consider a normal part of life? How many are so common we barely notice them?
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NIV)
How many of these behaviors have you and I engaged in—as Christians!—and didn’t think much of it? The wise understand these days are evil—and recognize the threat of this world. As those who would be wise, we must not allow our love for Jesus and His ways to grow cold or become deadened to His righteousness. We must not walk in or fall into behaviors that lead others astray and lend approval to the wicked.
Understand God’s Will
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Paul goes on to urge us to “not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” To be foolish is to remain ignorant, to ignore the truth, to think more highly of our own wisdom and refuse to believe God and His wisdom. It carries the idea of being short-sighted, of refusing to accept the bigger picture, of failing to restrain one’s own behavior because they refuse to believe there might be any consequences.
The believer in Jesus Christ must acknowledge eternity and all its implications. We cannot be foolish. We cannot deny that how we live in these days will both determine and affect our eternity, whether in Hell or in Christ’s eternal kingdom. The wise man recognizes the potential consequences of wrong behavior and expunges them from his life. The wise man recognizes the potential rewards God offers for faith and trust and obedience to His Word, and chooses to walk in God’s ways.
The foolish believer chooses to live in the first part of Ecclesiastes—“enjoy your days under the sun”—and feign ignorance of the ways of God and His impending judgment. Remember the wise and foolish virgins of Jesus’ parable (Matthew 25:1-13)? Five understood that the bridegroom could be delayed and so made preparation—they were characterized as wise. Five trusted that whether the bridegroom was early or late, they’d be just fine—they were characterized as foolish. And they paid the price of rejection when they missed the bridegroom’s arrival.
So it is with us. If we choose to ignore what God has been telling us in this book of Ephesians, we will be ignored when Jesus returns. If instead, we understand that all Jesus has commanded us here we must do, and we appropriate the power of the Spirit and make correction, then we will be welcomed into God’s eternal kingdom.
The wise man understands that the Lord’s will is discernible and doable. It’s right here in front of us! It is not hidden or beyond our grasp. That’s the view of fools, of those who do not want to repent, but think they can force God to accept their will.
Filled with the Spirit
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
And now, having been speaking of wisdom and folly, Paul brings up another instruction: “Do not get drunk on wine,” but “be filled with the Spirit.”
Alcohol has never been forbidden in Scripture. Drunkenness, however, is frequently rebuked. If you had any doubts, Paul makes it clear: The believer should never be drunk. The believer should never be out of control of his own behavior. It’s not a limit just on wine, but on any alcohol or any other drug that impairs judgment and frees the sinful flesh from the control of the Spirit’s wisdom. Self-control is a characteristic of the Spirit and Spirit-led people. Anything that removes our ability to guide our behavior with God’s wisdom is to be rejected.
Alcohol is often called “liquid courage.” It and all other wisdom-inhibitors more often lead to feats of debauchery, as Paul points out, than to genuine feats of heroism. Again, you don’t have to look far to find examples of the power of alcohol or other drugs to break down a person’s moral inhibitions. Of course, anyone willing to drink a little too much is already morally compromised, so it’s no surprise that drunkenness leads so easily to all kinds of sexual immorality and impurity and other evil behaviors.
The believer’s courage and strength should come from the Spirit of God, and we need to be “crammed full of” Him, as the Greek word here suggests. We need to be so filled by Him that there is no room for anything else!
Notice, this command is not a passive one, but an imperative. “Be filled!” Not “let the Spirit fill you,” which leaves it up to the Spirit and your hopes and wishes. Wine doesn’t leap up from the shelf and shove itself down your throat! You grasp it, you lift it to your lips, you pour it in your mouth. You fill your belly with it! Paul is telling you and me to fill ourselves with the Sprit, in the same way we might otherwise fill ourselves with wine. It doesn’t just happen; we make it happen. But how?
There are some who would say you just need to pray for it, pray for God to fill you, and when He does, you’ll know it by the uncontrollable tongues pouring out of your mouth. Or tears. Or laughter. Or falling on the ground and thrashing about. Or some other bizarre behavior. Well, one of those appears in Scripture, but not in the excess that some speak of today. The others usually only appear when a demon takes possession of you! So be careful what you ask for!
Tongues are one expression of the Spirit moving in you, but it is not the only one. And neither is it uncontrollable. Paul writes, “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32, NIV). The Spirit does not remove all control from you, like alcohol and drugs do. The Spirit fills you and directs you in the way you should go, but you always have a choice and control in the matter.
So pray, yes. Ask for the Spirit to fill you to overflowing. But consider something we saw last chapter: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30, NIV). If you want to be filled with the Spirit but overlook all His instructions, do you think He’ll be pleased to grant your request? The only surefire way to be filled with the Spirit is to walk in obedience to His commands. Don’t look for shortcuts. Don’t avoid the obvious. If you are so completely teachable to His leading, you can be sure He will delight to be with you and fill you and empower you to do even greater things! But if you have some “manifestation of the Spirit” yet do not take pains—are not very careful—to do what He commands, you can be sure that’s not God’s Spirit filling you. Maybe it’s just you working yourself up into a frenzy. Maybe it’s something much worse.
Music and Gratitude
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Next Paul has some specific instructions for how our fellowship with one another should look. And music is to be a key part of that—not just in the formal service, but also in our regular conversation! We’re to speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Almost like our lives should be some kind of Christian musical! Well, he’s not saying that’s the only way we should communicate with each other. It should, however, play a significant part.
And not just any songs. Psalms, as in the Book of Psalms—150 options! Some are very long—how about 119? 176 verses!—and some are quite short—Psalm 117, only two verses. Neither are they all “peace and light.” As you read through the whole book, you realize that the psalms give very specific instruction and example for how to walk pleasing to the Lord and love Him above all else. It also has very definite warnings for the rebellious. Paul is not saying we should always speak sunshine to one another, but rather follow the example of this letter: Encourage each other with the promises and amazing love of God for us, but also rebuke and exhort each other to live God-pleasing lives—and love the unbelievers around us enough to warn them of their need to repent!
“Hymns” refers to more formal songs: formal in structure and in performance, including the Psalms. “Spiritual songs” has the idea of a spontaneous or impromptu, perhaps even unrehearsed, song. These would definitely be more of the kind to be interspersed in our conversation. Snippets of songs, perhaps sung, perhaps recited. You’ll notice a couple in Paul’s writings. How about, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” We saw that in verse 14. He’s not quoting Scripture, so it must be a well-known song or poem in the church. Or the trustworthy saying he shares with Timothy in his second letter to him (2 Timothy 2:11-13).
Notice, they don’t have to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore lifted from Scripture in order to be of use to the believer. They must, however, be true to the teaching of Scripture. We don’t want to encourage each other with a catchy tune that leads us into error! They should be songs of praise to God and about God, for God and for exhorting, testifying to others about our God. All are good and acceptable to God if they speak God’s truth to you and me and God! One is not better than the other, though of course only the Psalms themselves were inspired by God, so all other hymns and spiritual songs should take their cue from the Psalms—and all the rest of Scripture. Not just praise, but instruction and admonition and guidance. Musicians and song-writers help us express the thoughts and meaning of our own hearts. They can also teach us how to praise God and exhort one another.
Not only should we sing to one another, but also to God! We should sing in our hearts to God. We should sing out loud to God! We can make up the tune or use an established one. Singing to God will probably mostly be praise and worship and gratitude, but you’ll also find psalms that plead with the Lord to judge the wicked! So our singing doesn’t have to be praise and gratitude alone.
Think of David dancing before the ark as he brought it into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:14-15). That’s how delighted and excited and overflowing with joy and gratitude and worship we should be. Though maybe some of us should keep the singing and dancing mostly in our hearts….
Notice Paul also tells us that we should always be giving thanks to God—for everything! The good and the bad. Like Job (Job 1:21). “In all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28, NIV), right? Do you believe that? Then there is nothing you cannot thank God for! We may not see the good in the suffering, in the midst of the suffering, but God has given it for our good. Perhaps for our instruction. Perhaps for our correction. Perhaps to provide us with comfort that we can then share with others. Perhaps just so He can display His miraculous power. So we can praise Him both in and for the bad circumstances in our lives.
Submit in Reverence
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
And finally, one last command for us to consider this morning, both to tie up all that has gone before and to lay a foundation for what comes next.
This command is for the whole body of Christ, the fellowship of believers. Whether we’re meeting together formally or running into each other on the street, we should all have an attitude of humility and submission to one another. This does not overthrow any other commands toward leaders to lead, rather this is why no leader or authority in the body of Christ should ever have to “lord it over” another member of Christ’s body.
Please note, this is not a command that makes all members equal to one another. We saw back in chapter 4 that God has appointed some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers (4:11). God’s purpose for them is to train all the rest of the body of believers in Christ’s ways, until we all reach maturity and we’re all fulfilling the role God created us to do in service of His mission.
Some serve by teaching and leading. Consider the original apostles. Remember the complaints that arose in the early days of the church, that certain widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:2-4, NIV)
Notice what the Twelve said: “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables.” They didn’t say, “Oh, yeah, you’re right, we’ll get to work and take care of this ourselves, because we’re all equal and we shouldn’t remain aloof from such menial tasks.” Rather, they say such a thing wouldn’t be right! Not in God’s eyes. Instead, they appointed seven godly men to oversee this task, including men like Stephen and Philip, who went on to have their own powerful preaching and evangelistic ministries. But part of their early ministry was to distribute food to the widows.
So the idea that Paul’s command here means that no one is above menial tasks and everyone is able to teach is a wrong interpretation. Rather, Paul’s meaning is that each one should be doing their part, based on their gifting and experience and training and appointment, and all the others should receive what God intends through them.
Looking even nearer in context, we’ve seen over the last few weeks that we are to be knowing and understanding each others needs, and speaking in such a way that brings benefit to those who listen (Ephesians 4:29). We need to rid ourselves and our fellowship of sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, obscenity, foolish conversation and coarse joking. That requires cleansing ourselves, but also receiving encouragement and exhortation from others in the body. Last week we talked specifically about the light we are to one another, to help each member grow.
For the body of Christ to grow as God intends, each one of us must have an attitude of humility, to receive the encouragement and exhortation that comes from brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the same thing Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3-7 (NIV):
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
“In humility consider others better than yourselves.” It is possible for God to speak a valuable word to you through any member of this fellowship. If I am truly seeking to do and know and teach His will, then He is certainly speaking to you through me. But you don’t have to know God as well as I do in order to be used by God to help another grow—not if you also are eagerly seeking to know and do the will of God!
Now, you and I may have lots of ideas about how people are supposed to be, and we may be very forthright in expressing our opinions. We may even express them as authoritative wisdom rather than personal preference. That doesn’t make us right! As we just noted with the Apostles and we’ve previously seen with Jesus, we ultimately submit to God, not to every person’s opinion among us. However, if one in authority expresses his personal opinion as a command, well, we’ve seen that Jesus requires us to obey—as long as it doesn’t violate God’s commands (Matthew 23:1-3).
We’re not required to submit to each other’s every whim, but we should be humble enough to take time to evaluate whether God might be teaching us something through even the lowliest person’s off-hand remarks.
So Paul’s command to submit to one another does not eliminate authority in the church or outside. That’s a great way to go entirely off the rails as a church and as a believer. We must recognize that not all members know God to the same depth and degree. Those who know God best, who meet the Scriptural requirements given us should be the leaders, and the rest should follow. Anyone who says this command eliminates differences between leader and follower is simply sowing discord in order to deceive you into following them and take advantage of you (Titus 1:10-11; Jude 4-10, 12, 16, 19).
Paul commands this mutual submission out of reverence for Christ. So if you claim to love Jesus, to honor and revere Him, you must also walk in humility before every member of this fellowship, and receive from them whatever the Spirit encourages them to say. Be very careful not to miss the ministry of the Spirit because you look down on the one He chooses to speak through!
Each one has a gift, has greater maturity here or there, and so has something to contribute. One of us may be more sensitive to one kind of sin; another to a different kind. Whenever a brother or sister, after carefully making clear the heart and will of God, comes to exhort or plead with us, we should take that under careful consideration. The one bringing the concern should also remain humble in their exhorting, because perhaps they’ve misunderstood and will receive much needed guidance instead! We are called to shine the light of Christ on one another, which means we each need to be ready to receive it, even if it is painful and humiliating to hear! Whether the one who brings the correction has the right attitude and purpose or not, we still need to evaluate whether what they say is indeed from God.
We belong to one another and need to remember that. We safeguard each other. We need each other’s safeguarding! We do not live for ourselves, individually, but we live for our fellowship, our body, this body of Christ. And we must all play our part. If you’re concerned something you or another is doing is wrong, ask! Ask them. Ask another brother or sister—it’s always best to ask a more mature brother or sister. Not as gossip, but as seeking instruction, for yourself to learn better what is and what is not God’s will. What is and what is not God’s purpose.
Conclusion
- Be very careful to live as God’s well-trained servants
- Fill yourself with God’s Spirit by His Word and your obedience
- Sing to each other and to God, in praise, in thanks, in exhortation
- Receive the help of each and every brother and sister in Christ, out of honor for Jesus
We each need to be very careful how we live, taking pains and making it our highest purpose to conform our lives to the likeness taught us in Scripture. We’ve received quite a few commands in these few pages, and we need to apply all diligence to rid ourselves of the things condemned and practice the things commanded. We need each other and we need to be speaking to one another and alongside one another, encouraging, comforting and urging each other to live godly lives. We need to apply ourselves to knowing and following the Spirit of God, being filled with Him and His wisdom, so that when we see another brother or sister in need, we know what words to speak. And so we recognize when another brother or sister speaks to us words we need to hear.
We can and should speak to one another with the Word of God. And with God-glorifying and truth-teaching songs. We especially need to be overflowing with gratitude to God, praising Him for all His wonderful works on our behalf and in revelation of His majesty and glory!
Fill yourself with the wisdom and Word of God so that you will be filled with the Spirit of God and know exactly what He says, what He does and what He wants you to say and do.