SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 41

TITLE: MAKE THE MOST OF TIME

TEXT: EPHESIANS 5:15-17

INTRODUCTION: (1) OFTEN I HEAR WORDS LIKE THESE: “I WISH I HAD MORE TIME, I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY, IF ONLY THERE WERE 26 HOURS IN A DAY, MY TIME IS LIMITED AND I’VE RUN OUT OF TIME AGAIN.”

* NOW MOST OF US IDENTIFY WITH THOSE WORDS. IT SEEMS LIKE WE NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TIME, WE OFTEN WISH THAT WE COULD HAVE MORE TIME.

** WE ARE BUSY, BUSY, BUSY PEOPLE. AT LEAST MOST PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE.

*** AND THERE DEFINITELY ARE GREAT DEMANDS ON OUR TIME. BUSINESSES AND COMPANIES ARE DEMANDING MORE AND MORE TIME FROM THEIR EMPLOYEES IN OUR WORLD ECONOMY. (AND MY HEART GOES OUT TO MANY OF OUR PEOPLE WITH THE HOURS THEY ARE ASKED TO WORK.)

**** BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, EVEN AS BUSY AS MANY OF US ARE, WE ALL HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME EACH WEEK.

(2) I HAVE AS MUCH TIME AS OUR PRESIDENT, OR AS MUCH TIME AS THE PERSON WHO WOULD BE CONSIDERED THE BUSIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD.

* WE ALL HAVE 168 HOURS A WEEK. AND IF WE ARE CHRISTIANS, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE TO OUR LORD IN HOW WE USE THOSE HOURS. TIME IS A STEWARDSHIP AND IS THE MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY WE HAVE.

** TIME IS A GIFT FROM GOD.

*** IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT “THERE IS A GIFT WHICH COMES TO US FROM A ROYAL SOURCE (OUR KING WHICH IS OUR GREAT GOD) EACH DAY OF OUR LIVES, BRIGHT AND SPARKLING, ABSOLUTELY UNTOUCHED, UNSPOILED.”

**** WHAT IS THIS GIFT?

***** THE PRICELESS GIFT OF TIME.

(3) EACH DAY WE RECEIVE A FRESH NEW SUPPLY – 24 HOURS, 1,440 MINUTES, 86,400 SECONDS.

* 24 HOURS WE HAVE NEVER LIVED BEFORE – 24 HOURS WE SHALL NEVER LIVE AGAIN.

** SO WE ARE STEWARDS OF OUR TIME AND MANY OF US WOULD LIKE TO USE OUR TIME MORE WISELY.

*** BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SAID: “DOST THOU LOVE LIFE? THEN DO NOT SQUANDER TIME, FOR THAT’S THE STUFF LIFE IS MADE OF.”

**** AND FOR SOME OF US OUR RESPONSE IS, I NEED A COURSE ON TIME MANAGEMENT, OR I NEED A FRANKLIN PLANNER, A DAYTIMER, OR A P.D.A., TAKE BETTER ADVANTAGE OF MY OUTLOOK PROGRAM ON MY LAPTOP OR DESKTOP COMPUTER.

(4) BUT IN REALITY, FOR MOST OF US, IT’S NOT A MATTER OF MANAGING OUR TIME BUT MANAGING OURSELVES.

* TIME GOES ON NO MATTER WHAT WE DO.

** WE MUST FIRST MANAGE OURSELVES TO MAKE BETTER USE OF OUR TIME, WE MUST MANAGE OURSELVES TO MAKE THE MOST OF OUR TIME, LIT. TO REDEEM THE TIME BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL.

*** AND FROM A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE, WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT GOD HAS SOVEREIGNLY GIVEN EACH OF US A SPECIFIC PERIOD OF TIME, A SPAN OF TIME AND OUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED.

**** AND WE ARE CALLED TO ACCOUNT TO USE THAT TIME WISELY. LISTEN TO THE WORD OF GOD AS IT ADDRESSES THIS SUBJECT CLEARLY. READ PSALM 39:4, PSALM 89:47, PSALM 90:12, ROMANS 13:11,

I PETER 1:17, JAMES 4:14&15, HEBREWS 9:27.

(5) NOW BEYOND THOSE VERSES, JOB 14:1-5 IN THE NIV SAYS THIS:

V. 1 – MAN BORN OF WOMAN IS OF FEW DAYS AND FULL OF TROUBLE.

V. 2 – HE SPRINGS UP LIKE A FLOWER AND WITHERS AWAY; LIKE A FLEETING SHADOW, HE DOES NOT ENDURE.

V. 3 – DO YOU FIX YOUR EYE ON SUCH A ONE? WILL YOU BRING HIM BEFORE YOU FOR JUDGMENT?

V. 4 – WHO CAN BRING WHAT IS PURE FROM THE IMPURE? NO ONE!

V. 5 – MAN’S DAYS ARE DETERMINED; YOU HAVE DECREED THE NUMBER OF HIS MONTHS AND HAVE SET LIMITS HE CANNOT EXCEED.

* NOW OUR DAYS ARE DETERMINED, HE HAS DECREED OUR TIMES ON EACH FOR HE HAS SET THE LIMITS OF OUR TIME THAT WE WILL NOT GO BEYOND THAT.

** SO I HAVE AN APPOINTED SPAN OF LIFE, AND IF I LIVE MY 3 SCORE AND TEN TALKED ABOUT IN PSALM 90:10, I HAVE LESS THAN 20 YEARS LEFT AND THAT’S NOT A LOT OF TIME, SO I SHOULD WANT TO BE ABLE TO SAY LIKE JESUS IN JOHN 9:4 (READ IT). ALSO READ JOHN 17:4 AND I CORINTHIANS 15:58.

*** AND BELOVED I LIVE TODAY BECAUSE GOD HAS ORDAINED IT AND ONLY BECAUSE GOD HAS ORDAINED IT.

**** AND MY PURPOSE STATEMENT AS A CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE “I LIVE TO PLEASE HIM, I LIVE TO GLORIFY HIM BECAUSE THAT IS WHY I AM ALIVE!”

(6) SO IN FULFILLING THAT PURPOSE STATEMENT, MY DESIRE SHOULD BE TO MAKE THE MOST OF MY TIME.

* AND THAT’S THE TITLE THE MESSAGE TODAY, “MAKING THE MOST OF TIME”.

** AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS, NO. 1 THE WALK OF WISDOM; V. 15; NO. 2 THE WAY OF WALKING IN WISDOM, REDEEMING THE TIME, V. 16; AND NO. 3 THE WILL OF THE LORD, UNDERSTANDING IT AND DOING IT.

*** SO WE’LL LOOK AT THE WALK, THE WAY AND THE WILL UNDER MAKING THE MOST OF TIME.

(7) AND WITH THAT THEME AND OUTLINE TO WORK FROM, LET’S MOVE TO OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE WALK. LOOK AT V. 15 PLEASE.

I. THE WALK, (READ V. 15)

A. NOW FIRST OF ALL, THE WORD “THEREFORE” TAKES US BACK TO THE ADMONITION AT THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 4 TO WALK IN A WORTHY WAY, AND THEN IN CHAPTER 5 TO WALK IN LOVE AND TO WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT.

* AND TO DO THAT WE MUST BE CAREFUL HOW WE WALK, TO WALK WISELY, TO WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY, TO WALK IN WISDOM AS A MANNER OF LIFE.

** AND THE WORD TRANSLATED “BE” OR “SEE” DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE LIT. MEANS LOOK, OBSERVE, TO DISCERN, AND THIS VERB IS IN THE IMPERATIVE MOOD WHICH MAKES IT A COMMAND.

*** AND THE COMMAND IS TO BE DISCERNING, TO LOOK AT THINGS AND TO OBSERVE WITH DISCERNING EYES WHICH LEADS US TO THE NEXT WORD “CAREFUL” OR “CIRCUMSPECTLY” IF YOU HAVE A KJV OR NKJV.

**** AND THIS WORD HAS THE BASIC MEANING OF ACCURATE AND EXACT, AND CARRIES THE ASSOCIATED IDEA WITH THE COMMAND TO BE DISCERNING OF LOOKING, EXAMINING AND INVESTIGATING SOMETHING WITH GREAT CARE.

1. IT ALSO CARRIES THE IDEA OF ALERTNESS. THAYER DEFINES THIS WORD AS EXACTLY, ACCURATELY, DILIGENTLY.

* VINE SUGGESTS: THE WORD EXPRESSES THAT ACCURACY WHICH IS THE OUTCOME OF CAREFULNESS.

** SO WE ARE TO BE VERY CAREFUL HOW WE WALK OR LIVE. WE MUST LIVE WITH EYES OF DISCERNMENT, CONSTANTLY ALERT TO SPIRITUAL DANGER AS WE WALK THROUGH THE MINE FIELD OF THE WORLD.

*** AND AS WE CONNECT THIS TO THE END OF V. 15, WE ARE TO WALK WITH DISCERNING WISDOM, WE ARE TO WALK IN WISDOM IN CONTRAST TO WALKING AS UNWISE PEOPLE.

**** WE NEED TO WALK AND LIVE IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD FOR THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WHAT ACCORDING TO PROVERBS 9:10 (READ IT). ALSO READ PROVERBS 2:6.

2. AND THE WALK OF WISDOM IS TO WALK ON THE EXACT PATH THAT GOD HAS PRESCRIBED IN HIS WORD, THE WORD BEING THE LIGHT THAT LIGHTS UP OUR PATH WITH WHAT WE SHOULD DO IN WALKING CAREFULLY, CIRCUMSPECTLY, WISELY IN OUR DARK WORLD.

* FOR YOU SEE A WISE PERSON IS ONE WHO BUILDS HIS HOUSE UPON THE ROCK, JESUS CHRIST, READ MATTHEW 7:24.

** SO WHEN WE HEAR AND STUDY THE WORD OF GOD, THE WISDOM OF GOD, WE APPLY IT, WE DO IT AND ARE WISE RATHER THAN UNWISE.

*** AND WHEN WE SIN AND FALL INTO THE WORLD’S TRIPS AND OUR ADVERSARIES TRAPS, AND THE TRAPS OF THE FLESH, WE DO SO BECAUSE WE LIVE AS UNWISE PEOPLE, UNWISE MEN, RATHER THAN AS WISE.

**** WE REVERT TO THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD WHICH IS FOOLISHNESS TO GOD.

3. SO HOW ARE WE TO LIVE? WE ARE TO WALK IN WISDOM, WITH GREAT DISCERNMENT, RUNNING EVERYTHING THAT COMES OUR WAY THROUGH THE GRID OF SCRIPTURE, EVEN WHAT IS CALLED CHRISTIAN.

* FOR MAN THINGS THAT ARE PROMOTED IN POP CHRISTIANITY TODAY ARE VERY DANGEROUS, SO WE NEED WISDOM AND DISCERNMENT TO LOOK AT THINGS ACCURATELY, EXACTLY, EXAMINING AND INVESTIGATING THINGS WITH GREAT CARE.

** AND THAT SHOULD BE THE WAY WE WALK.

*** AND ONE OF THE WAYS WE DO THIS IS TO MAKE THE MOST OF OUR TIME, LOOK AT V. 16 PLEASE, OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE WAY.

II. THE WAY, (READ V. 16)

A. NOW THOSE WHO WALK IN WISDOM WILL HAVE A RIGHT ATTITUDE OF TIME.

* IN OTHER WORDS, THE WAY TO WALK CAREFULLY AND CIRCUMSPECTLY IS TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME, TO REDEEM THE TIME.

** AND THE GREEK VERB TRANSLATED “MAKING THE MOST” OR “REDEEM” LIT. MEANS “TO BUY IN THE MARKET” OR “TO BUY UP”.

*** THIS WORD WAS USED FOR REDEEMING OR RANSOMING SLAVES TO SET THEM FREE, AND USED IN THE MIDDLE VOICE IN OUR TEXT MEANING TO BUY UP FOR ONESELF.

**** NOW WHAT ARE WE TO BUY UP FOR OURSELVES IN THE LORD’S SERVICE? THE ANSWER IS TIME.

1. AND IT’S INTERESTING THAT THE WORD TRANSLATED TIME IS NOT CHRONOS, THE TERM FOR CLOCK TIME, THE CONTINUOUS TIME THAT IS MEASURED IN HOURS, MINUTES AND SECONDS.

* THE WORD PAUL USES HERE IS KAIROS (KAHER-ROS) WHICH DENOTES A MEASURED, ALLOCATED, FIXED SEASON OR EPOCH.

** IT HAS TO DO WITH OPPORTUNITY OR APPOINTED TIME, THEREFORE THE TRANSLATION, MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY IS A GOOD TRANSLATION HERE.

*** BUT ALSO NOTE THAT A DEFINITE ARTICLE IS USED IN THE GREEK TEXT, WHICH REFERS TO “THE” TIME.

**** SUGGESTING TO US A PREDETERMINED TIME, THAT GOD HAS SET BOUNDARIES TO OUR LIVES AS I TALKED ABOUT IN MY INTRODUCTION TODAY. (WRITERS OF SCRIPTURE USE EXPRESSIONS LIKE MY COURSE, THE RACE, THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT A DEFINITE TIME).

2. MEANING: THAT GOD HAS SET BOUNDARIES TO OUR LIVES, AND OUR OPPORTUNITY FOR SERVICE EXISTS ONLY WITHIN THOSE BOUNDARIES.

* SO WE NEED TO MAKE THE MOST OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES. WHY? THE LAST PART OF V. 16, “BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL”.

*** AND THIS COULD HAVE A GENERAL MEANING, THE DAYS WE LIVE IN ARE FULL OF EVIL AND THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS ARE FEW.

*** SO WHEN THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GOODNESS DO COME, WE SHOULD GRAB THEM.

**** WHEN GOD GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO GLORIFY HIM AND BE LIGHTS FOR HIM, WE MUST TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR HIS NAME SAKE, WE MUST GRAB IT IN THE MIDST OF OUR EVIL DAY.

3. THE OTHER POSSIBLE MEANING IS THE EVIL DAYS REFERRED TO IN V. 16 MAY BE MORE OF A DIRECT STATEMENT TO THE CHRISTIANS IN EPHESUS WHO WERE READING THIS RATHER THAN A GENERAL MEANING, A SPECIFIC MEANING.

* THEIR SOCIETY WAS VERY EVIL. AND OF COURSE SO IS OURS.

** SO WHETHER THIS IS A GENERAL OR A SPECIFIC MEANING, THERE NEEDS TO BE A SENSE OF URGENCY TO MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE TO BE SALT AND LIGHT.

*** AND BELOVED, EVERY DAY BRINGS NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO BE SEIZED FOR GOD – FOR GOOD, FOR RIGHT, FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR HOLINESS, FOR PURPOSE.

**** GALATIANS 6:10 SAYS: (READ IT).

4. AND THE TRUTH I WANT TO REINFORCE IS WE MUST MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY, TO REDEEM THE TIME WE HAVE. I MUST MAXIMIZE TIME AND OPPORTUNITIES.

* AND IN VV. 15&16 I’VE TALKED ABOUT THE WALK AND THE WAY AND THEY ARE LINKED, THEY ARE CONNECTED, THEY ARE LINKED.

** WALKING WISELY IN V. 15 AND REDEEMING OPPORTUNITIES IN V. 16. NOW WHY DOES PAUL CONNECT THESE TWO THOUGHTS?

*** WELL, THE ANSWER IS BECAUSE PEOPLE PLAY THE FOOL WITH TIME AND OPPORTUNITIES MORE THAN THEY PLAY THE FOOL WITH ANY OTHER THING.

**** TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, ONE OF THE GREATEST CATEGORIES OF FOOLISHNESS IS THE MISUSE OF TIME AND OPPORTUNITY, SO WE MUST LEARN TO MANAGE OURSELVES SPIRITUALLY, SO WE MANAGE OUR TIME AND MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY.

5. AND THE WAY WE DO THIS IS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS, LOOK AT V. 17 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR THIRD POINT, THE WILL.

III. THE WILL, (READ V. 17)

A. NOW THE COMMAND HERE NOT TO BE FOOLISH REPEATS AND REINFORCES PAUL’S PLEA FOR BELIEVERS NOT TO BE UNWISE.

* IN OTHER WORDS, THE EXHORTATION OF V. 15, WHICH URGES CHRISTIANS TO BE VERY CAREFUL HOW THEY LIVE IS FURTHER EXPLAINED BY THIS COMMAND, DON’T BE FOOLISH, DON’T BE UNWISE.

** AND THEN THE NEXT PHRASE IN V. 17 TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS EXPANDS AND MAKE EVEN CLEARER HIS PLEA TO WALK WISELY.

*** LET ME TRY TO BREAK THIS DOWN AND UNPACK THIS.

**** THE COMMAND NOT TO BE FOOLISH IS CONNECTED TO THE VERSES WE’VE ALREADY STUDIED WITH THE PHRASE “SO THEN” OR THE WORD “WHEREFORE” OR “THEREFORE”.

***** AND IN THIS CONTEXT IT APPEARS TO ME TO BE FOOLISH WOULD BE TO PANIC BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL.

1. LET ME EXPLAIN, WE MUST HAVE A SENSE OF URGENCY, BUT NOT SO MUCH THAT WE PANIC OR BECOME ANXIOUS.

* THEREFORE, WHEREFORE, SINCE THEN YOU ARE TO REDEEM THE TIME, DON’T PANIC AND RUN AROUND FRANTICALLY AND THINK I’VE GOT TO GET IT ALL DONE!

** I MEAN WHEN WE LOOK AROUND AT THE INFLUENCE AND PERVASIVENESS OF EVIL AND THE UNENDING NEEDS FOR EVANGELISM AND SERVICE TO OTHERS IN CHRIST’S NAME, IT’S EASY TO BE OVERWHELMED, EVEN DISCOURAGED.

*** WE WILL BE TEMPTED EITHER TO GIVE UP AND QUIT OR BECOME HYPERACTIVE, LOSING PRECISION, PURPOSE AND EFFECTIVENESS IN A PANIC OF ACTIVITY.

**** SO THE NEED TO BALANCE ALL OF THIS OUT IS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS.

2. OUR URGENCY MUST BE CHANNELED INTO GOD’S WILL FOR OUR LIVES.

* PEOPLE IN A MAD HURRY DON’T GET ANYTHING DONE, BUT PEOPLE WITH A RESOLUTE DETERMINATION TO FOLLOW GOD’S WILL WILL GET A LOT DONE, THEY WILL FULFILL THEIR STEWARDSHIP OF TIME ON THE EARTH.

** BELOVED, A FOOL FUNCTIONS APART FROM GOD’S WILL AND RUNS OFF TO DO HIS OWN THING. IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW GOD’S WILL AND FULFILL IT.

*** LET ME ILLUSTRATE FROM A PRINCIPLE FOUND IN A COUPLE OF VERSES, READ COLOSSIANS 4:17 AND

II TIMOTHY 4:6-8.

**** NOW EACH BELIEVER IS GIVEN GIFTS, TALENTS, TIME AND MONEY AND WE ARE STEWARDS, MANAGERS OF THOSE THINGS.

3. AND EACH ONE OF US HAS A FUNCTION, MINISTRY TO FULFILL THROUGH THE CHURCH GATHERED AND SCATTERED.

* SO EACH OF US HAS A COURSE OF LIFE, A MINISTRY TO FULFILL AND THE KEY TO FULFILL IT. I CAN’T WIN THE WORLD, I CAN’T EQUIP EVERYBODY, BUT I CAN FULFILL THE MINISTRY THAT GOD HAS FOR ME, AND TO FULFILL THAT MINISTRY I MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS FOR ME AND BE OBEDIENT.

** AND GOD’S WILL IS I MUST MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY AND WALK IN WISDOM.

*** AND AS I WRAP UP OUR TEXT TODAY, I WANT TO MAKE A COUPLE OF APPLICATIONS. (1) NO. 1 GOD’S BASIC WILL IS FOUND IN SCRIPTURE.

* AND FOR US TO KNOW THE SPECIFIC WILL OF GOD IN WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO WE MUST BE OBEDIENT TO THE REVEALED WILL OF GOD OR WE WILL GET SIDETRACKED AND NOT MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY.

** AND WHAT IS THE REVEALED WILL OF GOD FOR US? WELL, TO GIVE THANKS IN ALL THINGS WHICH TAKES TRUST IN HIS SOVEREIGN AND HIS HIGHER WAYS,

I THESSALONIANS 5:18, READ IT.

*** GOD’S WILL IS THAT WE BE MORALLY PURE,

I THESSALONIANS 4:3 SAYS (READ IT).

**** GOD’S WILL IS THAT WE OBEY THE AUTHORITIES OVER US, IN THIS CONTEXT, POLITICAL LEADERS. READ I PETER 2:13&14.

- V.15A – FOR SO IS THE WILL OF GOD.

(2) BEYOND THAT IT IS GOD’S WILL FOR US TO SUFFER FOR WELL-DOING, FOR DOING WHAT’S RIGHT, I PETER 3:17 READ IT.

* NOW WHEN YOU ARE SUBMITTING TO THE REVEALED WILL OF GOD AND DELIGHT IN IT, GOD MAKES HIS DESIRES, YOUR DESIRES, READ PSALM 37:4 (EXPLAIN).

** AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST, WE WILL UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF THE LORD AS WE DELIGHT IN HIM AND SUBMIT TO GOD’S WILL.

*** FOR HE DOESN’T WANT HIS WILL TO BE A MYSTERY IF HE WANTS US TO DO IT. SUBMIT TO HIM AND DELIGHT IN HIM AND YOU WILL KNOW IT.

**** AND IT’S NOT A MATTER OF FINDING GOD’S WILL AT THAT TIME FOR IT’S NOT LOST, BUT KNOWING IT AND DOING IT.

(3) NOW ONE FINAL APPLICATION AND WE’LL BE THROUGH.

* AND THAT IS MOST OF US MUST DO A BETTER JOB OF REDEEMING THE TIME, BUYING UP OPPORTUNITIES, MAKING THE MOST OF OUR TIME.

** WE MUST BE CONSCIOUS OF THE WILL OF THE LORD AND CHOOSE FOR US AND OUR FAMILIES BEST OVER GOOD.

*** WE MUST WORK ON ELIMINATING AND CONTROLLING TIME WASTERS. AND MOST OF YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, YOU JUST NEED TO BE WISE AND WALK IN WISDOM.

**** MAY WE MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY AND PRAY WHAT THE PSALMIST PRAYED IN PSALM 90:12.