The Will Of The Lord

Ephesians 5:15-21 KJV See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not UNWISE, but UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Those who are lost, enslaved to sin and self, do not care about “The will of the Lord”. They care about what they want. These are the people that God calls “UNWISE”, the Greek aphrōn which means “senseless, foolish, stupid, without reflection or intelligence”. The wise want to seek “UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS”. I believe the saved are those who love God, pursue God, and seek His will. Friends,

I don’t want just enough Jesus to get to Heaven. I want to know all I can of God, so I, like Enoch, can ‘walk with God till I am not’ (Genesis 5:24). I want Heaven NOW, not THEN.

We need Jesus in this valley called “life”. If you are saved,

Consider Your Walk

Our text starts with:

Ephesians 5:15 KJV See then that ye WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY (akribōs), NOT AS FOOLS, BUT AS WISE

Word Study: The Bible uses the word “WALK” to describe your way of life. When Paul says “WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY (akribōs)”, that Greek word means to carefully examine where you place yourself before you place yourself. I’ve noticed way too many people today that are walking or driving distracted, not paying attention to where they are or to what is going on around them. When I walk, In always carefully consider where I am placing my feet. When I cross the road, my eyes are scanning to make sure a car doesn’t run over me. There is an awareness. People walking and staring are smart phones are none too smart. It’s dangerous. Do not walk foolishly.

It’s easy to misstep. I was watching a video by Dennis Prager, a conservative Christian man, the other day when I noticed he was stiff as a board, and talking almost as if he is straining. I found out that Dennis was in the tub at home, stepped out with wet feet on hardwood floor, slipped, and fell over backward. The back of his neck hit the tub, and he broke his spine. Dennis is now paralyzed from the neck down from just one horrible misstep. It wasn’t a sin that caused his injury, but it was a lack of walking without careful prior examination.

NOT AS FOOLS, BUT AS WISE

The lost are, according the scripture, fools. The Bible says:

Psalm 14:1 … The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are CORRUPT, they have DONE ABOMINABLE WORKS, there is none that doeth good.

The foolish lost person walks without considering where they are going. Since they believe their heart that there is no God, they have no governor. They do what they want to. Their mantra is “It’s MY body, and I’ll do what I want with it”. I have seen so many beautiful women and handsome men that have disfigured themselves with metal and tattoos – even on their faces. I saw a video of a young woman who was college educated, but could not get a job in the field she was educated for. Every employer turned her down. Why? Because her face was heavily tattooed, and rings were hanging from every place you could put a ring. She never pre-considered her walk, how it would effect the rest of her life. And even on the video she is asking, “Why won’t they hire me? Is it prejudice?”. No darling. It is because you did not “WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY (akribōs)”. You acted without looking ahead.

The Christian “WALKS CIRCUMSPECTLY (akribōs)” by considering our actions prior to taking them based on what God has told us in Scripture. We are to think ahead. When we walk into the situation, Who is leading us there? Is it GOD, or is it US? The Bible says:

Micah 6:8 ESV He has told you, O man, what is good; and WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD?

The lost person tries to be God. The saved person “WALKS HUMBLY WITH GOD”. I often see bumper stickers that well meaning people put on their cars saying:

“God is my Co-Pilot”

If God is the Co-Pilot, then that makes YOU the Pilot. That is what the lost person does. God is to be the Leader, and we the followers. Regardless as to where God allows us to be in life, the Bible says:

Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us RUN WITH PATIENCE THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US, 2 LOOKING UNTO JESUS the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

A Run is a Walk – just a lot faster. Where do we keep our eyes when we walk or run? On Jesus. He is in front of us – always. And we follow Him. We don’t lead Him, but follow Him.

Realize That Time Is Short

Ephesians 5:16 KJV REDEEMING {exagorazō} the time, because the days are evil.

Word Study: The word “REDEEMING {exagorazō}” doesn’t mean to get back time that has passed. That’s impossible. Whatever mistakes or missteps you have made in the past cannot be fixed. But the word means to “make the most of any opportunity that God puts before you”. We live in evil days. Jesus compared our days to the days of Noah. He said:

Matthew 24:37-42 NKJV But AS THE DAYS OF NOAH WERE, so ALSO WILL THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT HOUR YOUR LORD IS COMING.

When God came to Noah and told him to build an Ark, Noah “Redeemed the time”. He didn’t waste time arguing with God, debating what rain was, or telling God how impossible the task was going to be. He just listened to God, and did what God said one step at a time. In time, God sent the animals to the Ark, told Noah to get on the Ark with his family, and then God Himself closed the Ark.

Those who would not listen were drowned in judgment.
They brought it on themselves.

Christians need to stop WASTING time, and start REDEEMING the time. We need to ask God to open our eyes to the opportunities that are around us, and then we need to move on them. Judgment is coming. We don’t know when Jesus is returning – it could be any day. The most important thing you have in life is your walk with Jesus. Our Lord said:

Luke 12:15 … Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Your stuff is just not that important. What is most important? Your life. Where is life? It is in following Jesus.

Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Be Filled Not With Yourself, But With The Spirit

Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT;

When you are “FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT”, you are empowered to do the work of God. Our Lord Jesus – though God in the flesh – did His earthly ministry not from Himself, but from the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was first tested in the wilderness we read:

Luke 4:1-2 NKJV Jesus, BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, returned from the Jordan and was LED BY THE SPIRIT into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

Jesus’ preaching came through the power of the Spirit. Following His temptation in the wilderness, Jesus went to the Synagogue at Nazareth and preached. We read:

Luke 4:16-21 NKJV So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, Because HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL to the poor; HE HAS SENT ME to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING.”

Jesus told those who would listen:

Matthew 12:28 But if IT IS BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD I DRIVE OUT DEMONS, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Though Jesus Christ is the Word Who was with God, and was God (John 1:1-3), He did the works of God being filled with the Spirit of God. We who are saved by faith in Christ are called to do the work of God as Jesus did. Not in our power, but surrendered to the Holy Spirit of God. When Jesus offered Himself on the Cross, He endured that agony through the Holy Spirit:

Hebrews 9:14 NKJV how much more shall the blood of Christ, WHO THROUGH THE ETERNAL SPIRIT OFFERED HIMSELF without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

When Jesus rose from the grave, His resurrection was accomplished by the Holy Spirit:

Romans 8:11 NKJV But if the SPIRIT OF HIM WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD DWELLS IN YOU, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies THROUGH HIS SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN YOU.

The same Spirit Who empowered Christ is the Holy Spirit Who lives in every believer. We do the works of God not through our own power, but through the power of Him, the Holy Spirit, who enabled Jesus and the Apostles to do the work of God.

Jesus told the Apostles following His resurrection:

Acts 1:4-5, 8 NKJV And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to WAIT FOR THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 “for John truly baptized with water, but YOU SHALL BE BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT not many days from now.” … 8 “But YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU; and YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The two biggest dangers to the Church today are fake “Christians” and Christians trying to do a supernatural work with human strength. You must be filled with the Spirit do do the work of God.

Prime The Pump!

Ephesians 5:19-21 KJV Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody IN YOUR HEART TO THE LORD; 20 GIVING THANKS ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS UNTO GOD and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 SUBMITTING YOURSELVES TO ONE ANOTHER in the fear of God.

Before the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit we are told that “they were ALL WITH ONE ACCORD in ONE PLACE” (Acts 2:1). They were loving one another. They were “SINGING and MAKING MELODY”, but it wasn’t coming as much from their mouths as it was “from THEIR HEARTS to the Lord”.

They were singing to God from the heart.
They were looking to Jesus.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit, you must put away yourself. Thank God for what He has given you.

GIVING THANKS ALWAYS FOR ALL
THINGS UNTO GOD

Thank God for the good. Thank Him for the bad. If “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), then thank God for the pain, the struggle, the suffering. The Holy Spirit indwells you, but He cannot control you if you hold the reigns. Give yourself to Him.

SUBMITTING YOURSELVES TO ONE
ANOTHER in the fear of God

And work together for the glory of God. The Bible tells us that on the Day of Pentecost:

Acts 2:4 NKJV And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The early believers went out and did an impossible thing. They evangelized people in their own earthly language (Acts 2:7-11), “speaking in our tongues the wonderful works of God”. God will do the impossible with the few who will let His Spirit fill and lead them. Let us be that Church.