Life in the Spirit

Written by Ed Allen
 Saturday, 02 June 2001 19:00

Ephesians: Christianity for Dummies

An important part of the foundation on which we are building this church is our belief that the Bible is God-breathed and that it is the primary and final authority for our life and faith. That's why a central part of our time together is spent breaking open a particular passage of the Bible and seeing how it applies to our lives. So, for example, 2 weeks ago we looked at "how to manage communication and conflict well" by breaking open Ephesians 4:29 - 5:2. Last week we examined the radical sexual orientation called purity taking our cues from Ephesians 5:3-14.

Today, we're going to look at "Life in the Spirit." There's a whole lot of talk about spiritual living these days. You read about it in newspaper and magazine articles. You hear about it from Peter Jennings and Oprah Winfrey. The bookshelves of local book stores are full of books on spirituality. And many of those sources disagree with one another. So we need to hear something reliable today. We need to hear something true. In Ephesians 5:15-21, the Apostle Paul gives us a penetrating look at spirit-filled living. Let's hear this timeless and timely truth and see how it applies to our lives.

Ephesians 5:15-21

(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. (17) Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. (18) Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (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. (21) Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

In almost any kind of project I need a hook. I need something to organize my work and my thinking. Ephesians 5:15-21 gives us not one but 2 helpful hooks. In fact, we could even call these 2 life-hooks. These 6 short verses offer nothing less than 2 powerful, plenary principles that, if practiced, can give order, meaning and connection to our whole lives.

Hook #1: Live with vigilance.

In other words, live with activity, alertness, assiduous application, carefulness, considered care, caution, circumspection, heed, and watchfulness. "Be very careful," "watch circumspectly," "watch carefully," "consider with the greatest care," literally "how you walk."

Life is a journey which is undertaken one step at a time. Take each step carefully. Measure it. Watch it. And three qualifiers are offered to explain this carefulness.

!. Exercise Wisdom (v. 15)

  • Biblical writers often used this word as a synonym for having a character and living your life in such a way that it reflects God's character. So it is here.

  • Take your steps in a way that is consistent with God's character.

2. Use your time well (v. 16)

  • Seize opportunities that are set before you. Take advantage of your time - you don't have much of it.

  • For those of you who have read Steven Covey's 7 Habits, these two qualifies taken together are close to what Covey means by his first habit. He calls it "be proactive." Use your time wisely. Don't just let life happen to you. Don't be in a position of constantly reacting. Be proactive. And let your actions be based on your values. This is what Covey calls principle-centered living. What the Bible calls wisdom. "The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person," Covey says.

  • The key here is not to be busy - the key is to say "no" well. (the ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person.")

3. Understand God's will (v. 17)

  • This is the value, which drives our proactivity.

  • "Therefore" means "in other words."

  • UNDERSTAND GOD'S WILL?

    • It never means to know the whole blueprint.

    • Romans 12:1-2 We don't really know in advance the what and when of God's plan so much as we are enabled to live our way constantly into the center of His will.

  • The three qualifiers provide the old army be/know/do.

    • We must be wise.

    • We must know God's will.

    • We must do the most that we can with every moment.

2 Assumptions underneath this principle.

1) There is ultimate meaning and truth. Furthermore, the benediction at the end of verse 20 suggests that this ultimate meaning and truth are not abstract ideas or forces but essentially personal.

2) You must choose to live in a way that is in concert with ultimate meaning and truth. This is not automatic. "The days are evil." Our lives tend toward disarray if left to themselves. As one author put it, what Paul says here "suggests a purpose and direction to life. Life is not aimless, nor is it a series of frenetic activities followed by down time."

SO WHAT? What does this look like?

  • Some of you are thinking, "I'm not everything I'm supposed to be." Be careful! This is a trap!

    • This thinking is self-centered in a way that what Paul says here is not. Be vigilant. Don't try to be everything that you think you're supposed to be. Be careful to reflect what God is in every opportunity given you.

  • Que sera sera - No be vigilant

  • Super-control - No. be vigilant.

  • There is a corporate nature to this passage. In Home Fellowship we watch one another's lives.

Hook #2: Be filled with the Spirit.

Interesting that this comes to us like a command. Certainly we cannot control when and where God's Spirit fills us, but like everything else in our spiritual lives, we are participants. God fills us, but we must be filled. We are not like a car being filled with gas. We are like little birds being filled with worms from its mothers beak.

  • This is contrasted with being drunk with wine. Being drunk with wine offers three benefits:

  1. It is a motivator. More specifically, it is a disinhibitor. It numbs our fear so that it counterfeits motivation.

  2. It is pleasure-giver. Although the after effects and long-range prospects are negative, so that it is a short term pleasure at best.

  3. It is a comfort. Our troubles disappear, although again this is short term. It does not really comfort so much as it anesthetizes so that the problems don't matter. Again, in this sense it mimics comfort without really offering it.

    • Don't choose the counterfeit - choose the real thing!

    • Then with a series of dependent phrases Paul gives us a look at what this being filled with the Spirit looks like.

1) Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

  • Singing is the noise of worship. Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs are its language. Put worship at the center of your relationships.

2) Singing and making music in your heart to the Lord.

  • Soak your whole life in worship. Make it your heart's cry.

  • Sing in the shower.

  • Meditate on Scripture

3) Giving thanks always

  • Life comes to us as a gift from God.

4) Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

  • We usually think that spiritual living looks like being in control of our lives, having it all together. It turns out that spiritual living looks like submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

  • In fact, this whole business of spiritual living begins with understanding who Jesus really is and entering a relationship with him. Ephesians 1:13

  • And it doesn't look like living with power, or getting all of your to-do list done. It looks like worship and thanks and submission.

  • Spiritual living doesn't mean feel better about myself. Watch Oprah if you want that. Spiritual living means feel better about God ? and ironically, that makes us feel better about ourselves.

 

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