STAND STRONG
STAND STRONG
8.13 - Walking with Care
Continuing in Ephesians 5, join us in studying the concept of walking "circumspectly" and how we can demonstrate wisdom in our walk.
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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/
Well, welcome back to those who are joining us a lot. Join us on Monday mornings, and so if it's a Monday for you, happy Monday. If it's not, well, a blessed day for you, wherever you are. We are in our journey through the book of Ephesians in this stand strong podcast. Noah, we have made our way to chapter five. We were in chapter five last week and we were talking about. How to walk in love. We were thinking about how to walk as children of light. I mean, that takes us all the way back to some things that we saw early in Chapter four, walk worthy of the calling. Do not walk like the Gentiles walk. You didn't come to know Christ that way, and so you just let the thought continue to flow naturally. We need to walk in love as God in Christ has first love. We need to walk as children of light, which says something about goodness and righteousness and what is true. We just want to verse 10 of Ephesians chapter five. We just want to try to discern or find out what is pleasing the Lord. So this idea of our walk as it connects to pleasing the Lord is not gonna change, but we're bringing ourselves up to about, I think verse 15, in Ephesians chapter five.
Noah:Yeah. Yeah. We've, we titled the season Calling and conduct because of some of the natural division in the letter, right between the first three chapters and the second three chapters. But I want us to notice here in verse 14 as we've been talking since the beginning of chapter four, about the different walks that we're, that we're being or different ways that Paul talks about the walk, that we have walk worthy of the calling at the beginning of chapter four. We've already seen walk a couple of times here in chapter five to describe the way that we live. But notice that in verse 14 that we touched on briefly at the end of last episode. There's a call, it's the call of of the light that exposes the light, that makes things visible. It says, Waco sleep, we're gonna rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. There's there's a very real sense in which as children of light, we are extending the call that we've received to those who are spiritually dead to those who are spiritually asleep In saying. Awake. Mm-hmm. Rise. Christ is shining. So we kind of have the ideas combined here of our call and then our conduct, because in verse 15 he says, look carefully then how you walk. There's our conduct, there's our life again. Now, I know you mentioned. You like the word circumspectly, which I think is a new King James. Yes. Correct, correct one, right. I just read from the esv look carefully then how you walk. I put a couple other translations I wrote down the NET says, be very careful then how you live or walk, depending on, depending on the translation you have. CSB says, pay careful attention to how you live how you walk. The idea is there in all of them.
Paul:Mm-hmm.
Noah:But I, I will admit that I prefer translations that specifically refer to. Looking, the observation, not just the idea of being careful, right. But whether it's circumspectly, which again is a fancy word, but it, it's talking about looking, being aware and looking. Right. Cpec circum around. Spect. Look, look around. Yes. Right. Same thing with the ESV. Look carefully as to how you're walking, how you're living. That's a really good. Set up for the rest of what Paul's gonna talk about. We have to not just be careful how we live. We have to be careful to observe how we live.
Paul:Yeah. I, I love that you're being specific there with the concept of that circumspect kind of walk. The reason I really like that, appreciate that the looking around on all sides, you know, just very, very. Aware and alert attention to every area of our life so that we can be as discerning as possible. That's, that's part of the pleasing the Lord. Mm-hmm. There's, there's a discernment that's going on, so I'm just gonna read it again for the new King James version, because if you notice, and I know you have Noah 15 and 16 there, there's. There's thoughts that are flowing together because you don't have a period until the end of verse 16. So when he tells us to walk circumspectly, he just makes a point. Now, don't be like the fools, be like the wise, and then he says this, verse 16, redeeming the time because the days are evil. So I think what Paul is doing is he's connecting this concept of. The redeeming of time to a circumspect book. Mm-hmm. If I'm not looking around on all sides, I'm gonna miss something. I'm gonna miss somebody wise. People walk this way.
Noah:Mm-hmm. They're
Paul:very discerning and a and attentive to things in life, and he's telling us in that context, you need to be redeeming the time. Why? Because the days are evil.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:So that this, it's just that important And, and so maybe this is where we unpack the redeeming the time.
Noah:Yeah. Well, and you already hit on the connection to what that, that has with being wise. Wisdom or foolishness will be shown in how we, how we observe our walk, how we evaluate our lives. And in how we use our time. Yes. Or do not use our time. So ultimately this idea of not being wi unwise or foolish, but being wise, it's going to play out in how closely we examine our own life. And how closely we examine our use of time. So yeah, redeeming the time or in ESV making the best use of the time because the days are evil. I've heard a lot of different interpretations of that. And I, I am, I gotta say there are several that, that can seem pretty convincing. Some take this in a similar way to. How Ecclesiastes talks about time and vanity, that when it says the days are evil, it's just a way of saying that essentially life is short. Mm-hmm. And so you gotta make use of your time. Some see it as more regarding the world around us that, you know, we lights, for instance, in a wicked generation and an evil generation, I would say both of those certainly are scriptural concepts. Mm-hmm. They're certainly valid things to teach. But it's a, it's not, I, I would say it's not definitive in this context necessarily, which way Paul would've cut them, cut that cake, or if he would've taken either of those slices precisely. But I think what we'll see is we get. Into verses 17 and following, is that the idea of redeeming the time is going to be both in in conscientiousness of our own short life and conscientious of the fact that we are children of light in a dark world, and those are both gonna be applicable. Yeah,
Paul:I would agree with you. This is where I like that new international version.
Noah:Yeah,
Paul:so because the new King James has time, the ESB has time. A lot of the translations that I think are trustworthy have time. The NIV does not have time. It has opportunity. Hmm. Nvac is making the most of every opportunity. Lemme tell you why I like that, because again, I'm a word study guy. It doesn't mean I understand Greek. I'm not by any means a Greek scholar, but I love words. If you look at that word time as it's translated into Greek coin, a Greek, so it it, the first century, this is what they would be hearing. They would be hearing the concept of a season and opportunity.
Noah:Hmm.
Paul:Not time. Like we look at our watch, right? You know, it's, it's past time. You know, the time is short. No. The Ephesians, or Galatians six rather, is a good place to go where that word is translated. Same Greek word, but it's translated in Galatians six as seasoned an opportunity. Hmm. You know, induce season or as you have opportunity, Galatians six 10 do good. So what he's present I think is listen, people who are walking circumspectly as wise will be making the most of every opportunity. Mm-hmm. You'll be seizing opportunities. And again, why is it so wise to seize opportunities? He just gives us a language because the days plural are evil. I'll put my cards on the table. I, I think probably what's going on when we get to chapter six of Ephesians, he's gonna talk about the armor and put on the whole armor that you can be able to withstand. Ephesians six, verse 13, in the evil day. Mm-hmm. I think there was a reference to what. These Christians would, would see as a reality in the first century that was, look, this is a season. This is a time where evil is surrounding us, and it is getting worse and worse and worse. We know that that was a real thing pre a D 70.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:You. You can see the Hebrew writer when the Hebrew writer is talking about in Hebrews three, the importance of encouraging one another daily while it is still called today, there's a season of opportunity. And he's saying, whether it's the Hebrew writer or Apostle Paul here in Ephesians, you need to be seizing these opportunities because evil is all around you and it's going to get worse. It's going to intensify on some level, which is gonna make it harder for you to be circumspect, which is gonna make it more easy for others to. Succumb to the temptation. Yeah, you need to watch out. And I, so I think that's what he's pressing here. So don't be unwise. What is the will of the Lord walk this way, be this discerning and make the best use of your seasons in life and opportunities to present themselves.
Noah:Right? And while you have this opportunity, while you are in this season, what is it? That God wants of you? Yes. What does he want you to do? And that's where he goes moving forward. Therefore, he says, again, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. So he's, he's saying, if this is the opportunity that you have and you need to be using this time. The, not even implication, but the, the just explicit command here is you need to be concerned with what God wants you to do here, what you want him, how he wants, excuse me, how he wants you to use this opportunity.
Paul:Oh, so you have just set it up on a tee for me. Here's a question I had. What are, what are we, what am I, what are you? If you're listening, waiting until later to do.
Noah:Mm.
Paul:So he's telling us about a walk of circumspectly, a walk in wisdom that relates to us and our surroundings, other people, seasons and opportunities. What are you, what am I waiting until later to do? Am I waiting for another season to share Christ in the Gospel with someone that, that I've known for months or years, and I've never shared Christ? Mm. And what, what are you waiting on to give up that bad habit that may be causing you to live with an uneasy conscience or develop better bible study habits to work on improving your life, to improve your prayer life? What are you waiting on to begin working on you and your marriage? Specifically? What are you waiting on to begin some kind of training program to where you can invest more of yourself in the development spiritually of your children? You know, what is that? Walk circumspectly that redeems the time.
Noah:Hmm. There's a lot of, a lot of applications that we could make if we're willing to ask ourselves the questions of the kinds of questions that you're talking about, that these self-evaluative, these kind of brutally honest, introspective questions that only we can give the answers for, right? Mm-hmm. You know, I, I can only answer for me and Paul, you can only answer for you. What's interesting is in the context. Paul, the Apostle Paul, not this Paul. He makes some specific applications correct for the people that he's writing to. You know, what does it mean to seek God's will in this opportunity, in this season that you have? What effect is that gonna have on. Well, I, I see primarily three things that he calls out, and we can kind of dig into these a little bit more. First, he, he says, are you gonna get absorbed in carnal things or are you gonna pursue spiritual things?
Paul:Yes.
Noah:The second, are you gonna live in gratitude or are you gonna live selfishly? And third, are you gonna live in Christ and acknowledging Christ? In all of your relationships, or are you going to not acknowledge Christ in your relationships? Those are kind of the three areas that I see as we move through the next several verses, but really the one that usually takes the bulk of attention, because I think it's the most explicit one here in this context, is are we gonna get absorbed in carnal things? Or are we going to pursue spiritual things? That's where we see here this. Do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. And then he goes on to elaborate on, on that concept of being filled with the spirit in how we address one another in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. But though often we spend time in this text because of how it can elucidate our understanding of worship. And being filled with the spirit. We can't miss that. The real distinction that he's making here is between pursuing carnal things and pursuing spiritual things.
Paul:Ooh, I I love that breakdown. Absolutely love it. Not just'cause it's three, but it, it's a, it's a very good high level. Look at where Paul has been going and where he's gonna keep going in this letter. I absolutely love it. You know, if, if someone is under the influence of wine
Noah:mm-hmm.
Paul:They're controlled by the wine and we know that's gonna produce unrestrained living, that's gonna create a lot of problems in life, rather being, rather than being influenced and controlled by wine. Be influenced. He uses filled with the spirit. What does being filled with the spirit look like? Mm-hmm. And again, Paul doesn't, you know, he just gives us one look at this, but I love the way you broke it down. I mean, it's, it's a parallel to Romans eight.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:When he's talking about a contrast between flesh and spirit. And I think he brings in Holy Spirit in the conversation in Romans chapter eight in a beautiful way to make sure that people understand that those who are. Walking according to the spirit, set their minds. Romans A in verse five, on the things of the spirit, am I setting my mind on the things of the spirit? Ephesians five, am I filled with the spirit? I put this in the margin of one of my bibles, you know, about two weeks ago.
Noah:Hmm.
Paul:And it wasn't because I was thinking about where we were moving in the podcast and, and it wasn't in so much in the context of Ephesians five. It was just a general statement as I've been looking more into the Holy Spirit and this, this idea of being filled with spirit.'cause I think that's misunderstood, but I also think it's not talked about as it should.
Noah:Hmm.
Paul:And this is what I wrote in the margin of one of my Bibles, where the Holy Spirit does not fail, man's spirit will fail. Hmm. And I'm just tossing that out for people to chew on. I, I'm not saying we walk away from that and just fill our minds with any and every idea of what we think biblically fits with being filled with the spirit. But if I'm filled with me and I, if I'm filled with the flesh, if my mind is set on carnal things, yeah. I cannot be in line with the spirit. Yeah. I cannot say I'm being influenced by a spirit and some people, and I think that's. Fair, Noah, to take that Colossians three passage, let the word of Christ dwell in you. How richly mm-hmm. How am I walking in the spirit filled with the spirit? Yes. In some measure. Absolutely. I'm influenced by the word and I'm following what the word says.
Noah:Yeah. Yeah.
Paul:And that's, that's important.
Noah:Absolutely. I, when I was reading this, I, I came from a slightly different. Angle as I was, as I was reading it, because one of the things that sticks out to me is, I mean, he says, do not get drunk with wine. So if we were to ask somebody, well, how do you get drunk? Well, you, you drink enough wine? Mm-hmm. Okay. He says, that's debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. Okay, well, how, how are you supposed to be filled with the spirit? Now there's a lot of answers that we could give to that, and we could point to different passages. That support you know, some maybe nuanced interpretations of that. But something that I think is, is important here is not just that okay, if we're filled with the spirit, we will do these things. We'll address one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Mm-hmm. But rather, if we want the spirit to fill us, then we should be pursuing the things of the spirit. This kind of goes along with what you're talking about, that if, if we're filling our, our minds and our hearts with things that are contrary to God and his ca character and to the spirit and the nature of who God is, we cannot expect to be filled with the spirit. We're, we're too busy filling ourselves with junk. I mean, this kind of goes back to a sermon that I preached not too long ago. Garbage in, garbage out. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. So if we want to be filled with the spirit, there is a very, I think there's a very real element here in Ephesians chapter five of. We need to be filling ourselves with things that, that are in line with the spirit. And that includes this ex explicit example that Paul pulls out here of singing Psalms addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual PS songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. And he goes on to say, giving thanks always and everything. There's so many layers here of what's going on. There's the idea of being together. We're addressing one another. Mm-hmm. And teaching one another. There's the idea of singing praise and, and and worshiping and glorifying God not just teaching one another, but bringing glory to God. There's the idea of giving thanks. All of these things are things that when we fill ourselves with them, we are aligning ourselves with the character of who God is and the spirit. And yeah. If we wanna be filled with the spirit, we need to make sure that we're filling ourselves with things that can, for lack of a better for lack of a better term, coexist with the spirit. Mm-hmm.
Paul:Yeah. I love it. I, I want, I wanna say this about this being filled with the spirit, and then Paul brings up the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in your heart.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:To the Lord. This passage in the first century was not intended by the Holy Spirit through the pen of the Apostle Paul to refute instruments in worship. It just was not
Noah:sure.
Paul:What's its point? I think to your point, to some of the things you said, so I'm offering this for thought people that are filled with the spirit. I, my position is when someone. Puts on Christ in baptism, they are filled with the Spirit. Acts two in verse 38.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:But there's a difference between someone having the spirit dwelling in them because the father and the son dwell in us. But so can sin dwell in me? Mm-hmm If I let it So who in what is dominating my heart and my mind, who is in control of my life? And so the point here as it connects to the Psalms and hymns and the spiritual songs, this making melody in the heart, when people are filled with the spirit, they have a heart to worship. And that's not just a Sunday thing. And so because they have a heart to worship when Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs are being sung. This heart is in a place that it can be both taught and touched by both the message and the music.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:I intentionally worded that that way because I, I don't want, and God does not want people to get to a point where the heart is touched by the music. And look, I think God created us. You're a music guy.
Noah:Yeah. Yeah.
Paul:Music moves us. It moves me. My word does music move me.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:There's a difference between me being moved by music versus me being moved by music to a point that I get. Also the message.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:So song leaders, when you pick out your songs, don't just focus on the melody. Yeah. Look at the message of the hymn, because the heart that's being touched and where we're making music, people feel with the spirit. Both are moved by what is the message and the music.
Noah:Yeah. Well, I, I see that we're, we're running up on the end of our time. I think that it's appropriate to bounce off of what you were just saying and try to. Bring these few verses kind of to a close and wrap'em up here. You asked just a moment ago when it comes to the idea of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and God and Jesus dwelling in us there's a question of who is ruling. Our hearts, right, who is ruling in our lives, and that is where, where Paul ends up in this kind of long, drawn out sentence that we've been working through in this episode when he, when he finishes up the idea of addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And then he says in verse 20, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So there's this idea of gratitude that we briefly touched on earlier in the verse 21, submitting to one another, which really leads into where Paul's going and what we'll talk about in next week's episode. But notice he says, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Mm-hmm. That's where all of this comes back to. That, that is what determines our walk. That is the metric by which when we are circumspect, when we're looking at every area of our lives, we're asking the question of what shows reverence to Christ. That's why walking wisely. Is walking in a way that seeks to understand the will of the Lord, or seeks to know what is pleasing to the Lord because we're doing it out of reverence for Christ. So there's the answer to the question. Who's ruling?
Paul:Mm-hmm.
Noah:In our minds, who's ruling in our hearts? Well, Paul says it needs to be Christ. He needs to be, the motivation and reverence for him needs to be the purpose and the motivation for what we do.
Paul:Amen. Amen. I can't add to that. That's, that's, that's spot on. I, I love how you set that up to naturally lead us into where we're going, Lord willingly, world willing next week when we get into the various relationships that usually talk about marriage. Right. But there's, there's a lot there.
Noah:There's a whole household there that we'll get to touch on. Next week. Hopefully we'll make our way through part or all of that. But again, it's, Paul tells us from the get go where it's gonna be rooted. Yes, our submission to one another, whether in whatever relationship it is, it's gonna be done out of reverence for Christ as all things in our life should be. So thank you for joining us today as we've been discussing Ephesians chapter five. We're. We're very purposefully taking our time, working through this rich text. And our prayer is that it, it helps you to grow and helps you to, to come to a clearer understanding of what pleases the Lord and what our walk with Jesus needs to, needs to look like. And. And how we can best serve God. And so our prayer for you is that as you go about this week, you'll be able to, you'll be able to find strength in the word of God to continue to show reverence for Christ and to stand strong.
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