I would have you open your Bibles this morning to the letter of Paul to the Ephesians, chapter 5. That's on page 871 in the Pew Bible. Ephesians chapter 5. We'll be picking up our consideration of this letter in verse 15. And considering verses 15 through 21. Our text today is the beginning of the end of Paul's exposition of God's agenda for Christian living. Paul has set forth this agenda, beginning in chapter 4, verse 1, by charging Christians to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. And his final installment on this theme runs from chapter 5, verse 15, through chapter 6, verse 9. In our text today, Paul sums up, if you will, before specifically applying verse 21 and the verses that follow. The NIV translates the text as a series of six commands. I believe the New American Standard does a better job of clearly showing that there are indeed only three, each with a negative and positive qualification. The first command is in verse 15, Be careful, then, how you live. And this general command is then clarified by two other commands, two more specific commands. The first in verse 17, Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. And then the second in verse 18, Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. So bear that in mind, that there are, in the Greek text, there's really three commands here. I will read it from the NIV as it is written, verses 15 through 21. Hear the word of God. Be very careful, then, how you live, Not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Here ends the reading of God's Word this morning. Paul begins our text for today in verse 15 with the command, Be very careful then how you live. Look carefully how you walk. Walk circumspectly, as the King James would say, or we could say walk prudently. Prudence, we don't use that word much anymore, but it's a good word. It speaks of good judgment in practical matters, especially in how we conduct ourselves. Now, prudence includes being very careful of our conduct, as to be sure, but it's more than simply being well-behaved. To live a life of prudence, according to verse 15, means to live not as unwise, but as wise. Now, Scripture reveals that every human being belongs to either of two groups, either unwise, the foolish, or the wise. On the one hand, the fool who says in his heart, there is no God, and he lives as if there is no God, and he's bound by his own sins so that he cannot and will not obey God. That's the fool. On the other hand, the wise who fears the Lord. And therefore he lives in subjection to his creator and his sustainer, his savior. He's freed from sin to do what the Lord wants him to do. You see, it's not the unwise, but it's the wise who will be found to live a life of prudence that is marked by obedience and that is controlled by the Spirit. The first thing we note in verses 15 through 17 is that a life of prudence is marked by obedience. Now, the main thought in these verses is found in verses 15 and 17. The verse 16 is a qualifier that we'll deal with in a few moments. But 15 to 17, if you look at it together, it reads like this. Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise, but as wise. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Now, the NIV highlights the unity of these two verses by choosing to translate the word in verse 17 as foolish. But this translation serves to connect, but it also blunts a contrast that Paul has set forth in verse 17 that we must be mindful of. Just as Paul contrasts the unwise with the wise in verse 15, here in verse 17 he contrasts ignorance with understanding. So we might look at it this way. Therefore, he says, because you are to live a life of prudence, do not be ignorant, but be understanding, but rather understand. Well, what are we to understand? The text tells us what the Lord's will is. You're to understand what the Lord's will is. And so, what are we not to be ignorant of? The Lord's will. That's the contrast Paul wants to make. Be understanding of the will of the Lord. You see, prudence requires understanding, and not just of anything, and certainly not of everything, but of something very specific. The Lord's will. And there's two main ways the Scripture speaks of the Lord's will, and we need to be mindful of both as we consider this text today. And both are referred to in Deuteronomy chapter 29, verse 29, which says, The secret things belong to the Lord, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow in all the words of His law. The secret things are the sovereign plan of God, sometimes called God's hidden will, or God's will of decree, that which he has determined from before the foundation of the world to accomplish in the course of history. And according to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, no one knows the thoughts of God. No one knows the decree of God, but the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God has revealed through his prophets and his apostles all that we need to know about it. If it's not been revealed, it's not ours to speculate. And the first half of this letter that Paul has written to the Ephesians majors and emphasizes revelations that God has given to the Apostle about the secret things, about his decree of election, about his decree of redemption, about his decree of sending the Spirit. All those things were determined before the foundation of the world and they have been revealed to us for our comfort. The things revealed include not only these glimpses into the secret things of God, but also the fullness of His law, the moral will of God, His will for all men about how they are to live. And we are all required to obey. The substance of the law is found in the Ten Commandments, as we read this morning together from our own mouth. We read God's moral will. And as measured by this moral will of God, Paul says in Romans 3, We all have sin and fall short of the glory of God. We are all condemned by it. And yet, we find in the second half of this letter, Paul emphasizes the moral will of God for his people. He sets forth the things that we're to obey as we pursue this life that is in keeping with our calling, as we pursue this life of prudence. You see, to live a life of prudence, we must not be ignorant of what God has revealed. We need to know. And we are responsible to grow in our knowledge of the Word of God in order that we will better understand what His will is. We don't find His will by sitting under a tree meditating. We don't find His will in a novel. We don't find His will in music. We find His will here. And we are responsible to seize every opportunity to sit under the preaching of the Word. We are responsible to be diligent to read and to study the Word of God alone. By ourselves and with others as we work together to understand, to know the will of God for our lives. See, by the work of the Holy Spirit, the saints have been given the mind of Christ so that when they open this book, they can understand the things of God. And therefore, if you open this book and you can understand what the Lord's will is, By the power of the Holy Spirit, then according to Philippians 2, that same Holy Spirit is working in you to make you willing and able to obey. As the Holy Spirit enables you and motivates you, you will more and more be willing and able to obey the Word of God. That's the Christian life. Obedience to the law is the Christian life. Now, obedience to the law, apart from being justified through faith in Christ, is in vain, for we cannot save ourselves by what we do. So don't misunderstand me. And obedience to the law in cooperation with the saving work of Christ, doing our part, if you will, is a false gospel. For Christ alone could merit our salvation by His obedience. There's nothing that we can do or that we need to do to add to it. Obedience to the law contributes nothing to our salvation, but it is a necessary consequence of having heard and believed the gospel. And we are responsible to pursue it. We have a text today that is nearly all law. What God would have us do. But even in this text, Paul does not leave us without the gospel. We need to know the gospel if we're going to live a life of obedience. And we find it buried in verse 15. The very smallest mention that refers back to verse 14, which was considered last time. But again, verse 14, which reads, Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. And as we considered last time, this is a Christian hymn of three parallel pictures. Three pictures that tell us all the same thing. That the saving work that is accomplished in our lives is the work of God alone. God alone awakens the sleeper. God alone raises the dead. and God alone determines who Christ will shine upon. Salvation is by the grace of God alone. And in verse 15, Paul refers back to the gospel with a single word, then. Be very careful then, he says. The force of this word is so then or therefore. So in other words, what Paul is saying here is Christ is shown on you. Therefore live a life of prudence. You've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. You've been redeemed through Christ's blood. You've been made alive in Christ even when you were dead in your transgressions and sin. You've been saved by grace through faith. Therefore, be very careful how you live. And here is a mystery before which we must yield. Our understanding of what the Lord's will is, our desire to obey it, and our actual but imperfect obedience to it is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit. Entirely. And yet we are responsible to strive for this understanding more than for silver or for gold, and we are responsible to obey what we understand. Now Paul puts a point on this command by reminding the saints in Ephesus and the saints of all ages of the circumstances within which we are to do this, within which we are to live this life of prudence. He says in verse 16, the days are evil. Now we certainly need to be mindful that our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, are working overtime to undermine our assurance of the gospel, our assurance of salvation, by frustrating our efforts to live this life. We must count on it. And we need to be on guard against the temptations that would distract us from the straight and narrow path and take us off into side channels that would not be pleasing to our God. But Paul is not simply warning against the evils of this world in that way. He is reminding us that the days of evil that he's referring to here are numbered. We need to understand this in order to understand this text and if we understand it properly it will motivate us to respond as Paul and as the Holy Spirit wants us to respond. Listen again to verses 15 and 16. Be very careful then, because you are redeemed, be very careful how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. And let's just consider that in reverse, the way we would speak it. Because the days are evil, a life of prudence marked by obedience to the will of God is to be lived by making the most of every opportunity. That's how this life looks, by making the most of every opportunity. It is to be lived by redeeming the time, as King James preserves it, redeeming the time. The Greek word translated in the NIV as opportunity is a word for time. And it's not just any kind of time, it refers to a special time, a special time appointed for a certain thing. It's an appointment, if you will. And Paul's not referring to our personal time, of which, of course, we are to be good stewards. And he's not speaking in general about taking advantage of all the opportunities that we have to do good work in this world. For they are many, and we are responsible to do that. But that's not what he's talking about here. He's speaking of what the scriptures refer to as the acceptable time. The appointed time. The day of salvation that began with the coming of Christ and will come to an end. when He returns. And it is this time, this period, that we are to redeem because it's coming to an end. God came with the flood and judgment against the evil age that was in the time of Noah. Children, you all know that story. And in the same way, Christ will come with fire in judgment against this present evil age when He comes. Two weeks ago, we watched the devastation of the wildfires that ravaged Southern California. Some of us from afar, from our television sets. Some of us far too close. And when that fire was raging and advancing, government agencies and individuals alike were motivated by that advancing fire to warn people and to get out of harm's way. In these fires, we can see a picture of the judgment that is coming. That's the return of Christ. Everything in this path will be consumed and there will be no escape for anyone unless they are in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Church of Christ is to be motivated by that fact, by the fact of this coming judgment that God has warned against and has issued the call, the gospel call. We are to be about the business of warning people about the end. It's coming and there's no escape apart from Christ. and we're to cling to Christ ourselves, for He is our only salvation. See, today is the day of salvation, but it will not last forever. And since we do not know the time when Christ will return in judgment, let us be about His business, His business of redeeming the time, living a life of prudence marked by obedience to His will, and may we be found doing His work when He comes. the second thing we want to note about living a life of prudence is found in verses 18 through 21 and that is that a life of prudence is to be controlled by the spirit Paul commands in verse 18 do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery instead be filled with the spirit Paul's main concern here is not with wine in particular or with drinking in general he prohibits the giving over of control to alcohol in drunkenness which in turn leads to debauchery and he does this for a purpose if you remember the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 you will remember he squandered his entire inheritance in debauchery living without restraint Living large, we might say, left him competing with the pigs for something to eat. See, it's in contrast to the drunkard who was filled with his booze, that Paul commands the saints to be filled with the Spirit. To be filled with something is to be under its control, and it is to show evidence that we are under such control. We speak about being filled with grief. And we know someone who's filled with grief. They cry and they lament. And we know those who are filled with joy because they laugh and they sing. And when Scripture speaks of someone being full of the Spirit, it is saying that they are living, at least at that particular moment, in a manner which is consistent and demonstrates the controlling influence of the Spirit. That's what it means to be filled with the Spirit, under His control. And that control reveals itself to those around us. And here again, we must bow before a mystery. Because certainly, as believers, our regenerate lives are motivated and enabled by the Holy Spirit within us. It all comes from within by the work of the Spirit. And yet, we are responsible to be receptive. We are commanded to be filled. We are to be continually filled. That is, continually controlled by the Holy Spirit of God and by nothing else. there is nothing else we should serve. According to chapter 2, verse 22, as believers, we're being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. We are His household. He dwells in us as the church of God. And we are not, as Paul points out in chapter 4, we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit. It's all His work. And yet we're responsible. The command to be filled by the Spirit is to individual Christians who are to display this filling in the life of His church. In verses 19 through 21, we find the evidence of a congregation that is filled with the Spirit. These are not commands as the NIV suggests. Rather, Paul's language makes it clear that these activities will characterize a congregation and her members who are filled with the Spirit of God. Beginning again at verse 18. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. You see, a life of prudence that is controlled by the Spirit is a life characterized by singing. And what the exact difference here is between psalms and hymns and spiritual songs is a matter of much debate among theologians, a debate that we will not consider today because I don't think it's Paul's purpose here to tell us. What we need to consider is how verse 19 holds together. First of all, we see that there's two phrases here. Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord. In fact, the NIV, I believe, divides it into two separate sentences. They are one sentence. And rather than indicating two different kinds of singing, singing out loud to one another and singing in our hearts to the Lord, these two phrases are set together. They inform one another so that when we consider them together, we see that, in fact, the Spirit-filled church serves two purposes in its singing because it addresses two audiences. There is to be speaking to one another in song, that's for sure. Reminding and instructing each other about who God is and what He's done. The song we sang before our sermon today was a song that we sang to each other. Did you pay attention? We were telling each other about the work of our Lord on our behalf. Reminding ourselves of His grace to us. And then there are songs that we sing and make music to the Lord. Praising God and the Lord Jesus Christ for who He is and what He's done. So our singing has two audiences, even today. The NIV suggests that our singing is in your hearts, it says. And some take this to mean, this is where some people get the meaning that we sing to the Lord in silence because it's in our hearts. Others take it to mean that our singing must be emotionally charged and really full of feeling. That's true to say that we may sing to the Lord in the quietness of our heart. We don't have to sing aloud. And it's true to say that we may experience great emotion when we do sing. But that's not Paul's point here. The issue here is the integrity with which we sing. Spirit-filled singing is done with the heart. That is, it's from the center of our being and it's done with understanding and it's done with conviction. We don't feel time here in the church when we sing. It's an important part of a spiritual life. And we have a great tradition of wonderful singing and faithful songs. And the text today challenges us that when we sing together, to be mindful, to be convicted about what it is we sing to one another and to our God. A life of prudence that is controlled by the Spirit is a life characterized by thanksgiving. Always and for everything. It doesn't get much broader than that. Always and for everything. You see, if we've heard the gospel, and we've understood it, and we've believed it, and we truly understand what God has revealed to us about our sin and our misery, and we've truly understood and believed that we are saved by the grace of God alone through faith in Christ alone, then by the work of the Spirit, which is ours, we will desire and be enabled to express true gratitude to our God. And when we have that, by the power of God working in us, no matter our circumstance, whether it's rosy or grim, we will remain grateful to God as we set our hope fully on the grace to be revealed at the return of Christ. It will be given to us. Our focus is shifted from our circumstance to glory. The circumstances of this life will wax and they will wane. But they are all from the hand of our Heavenly Father who has promised that in all things He works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose. That's a promise that we have. And if we understand it, our gratitude will flow. See, a life of prudence is lived according to promise rather than circumstance. It's walked by faith and not by sight. And therefore, spirit-filled saints earnestly desire to say with Paul from Philippians chapter 4, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, Paul says, and I know what it is to have plenty. But I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. I can do any, everything through Christ who gives me strength. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. That's the secret. That's the gospel. In Christ we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. What more could we ask for? And finally, a life of prudence that is controlled by the Spirit is a life characterized by submitting to one another as members of the body of Christ out of reverence for Christ. Verse 21 concludes the sentence begun in verse 18. It truly belongs to what it means to live a spirit-filled life. But it also introduces what Paul will discuss beginning in verse 22 about how submission looks, in particular relationships. Therefore, you see in your NIV that the verse 21 kind of stands out all by itself. They know it goes both ways, but it's really a subset of our text today. So the question is then, what does it mean for one to submit? without exception we study this word for submission throughout the Greek Bible it always has to do with subordination with taking a subordinate position to be under authority to be subject to another and in the life of the church each and every Christian is to submit to one another there's no exception there's no King's Acts there's no exclusion to this clause we are all to submit one to another. And why is this so? Because submission to others is a hallmark of the Christian life. It was modeled for us by our Savior and it was commanded of us by Him as well. According to Philippians chapter 2, out of selfless and self-giving love, the Son of God made Himself nothing and He humbled Himself and He became obedient to death, even death on the cross. And for whom? For those who deserve it? Not at all. He did it for the likes of me. And he did it for the likes of you. And he taught on this earth in Matthew 23 that the greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. And Paul applies that teaching in Philippians chapter 2 after explaining what Christ has done for us. Paul calls upon the church to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. And why do we do this? Why do we submit to one another? Is it because all of us are so worthy to be submitted to? Is it because we've all earned the right to have someone bend their knee to us? Not at all. If it was about us, there would be no submission. We find the answer in the text today that we're to do it out of reverence for Christ. If Christ is our Savior and Christ is our Lord and He tells us to submit out of reverence for Christ, we will submit. In fact, the language is stronger. We are to submit in the fear of Christ. the all-powerful and holy God-man who is the Lord of all and the coming judge at the end of this age, were to fear Him. And to fear Him as His children is to praise Him. And to fear Him as His children is to love Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. And to fear Him is to obey Him. People of God, do you better understand God's will that we are to live a life of prudence that is marked by obedience to His will and that is to be controlled by His Spirit? If you do, you have the Spirit. And if you have the Spirit, you're able to obey. So as we wait for His return and we look for it with anxiousness and apprehension, Lord, as we wait for His return, may the Lord fill us with His Spirit and may the evidence of His filling be evident to all, to the glory of His name and to the perfection of His church. Amen? Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are reminded again today, but from Your Word, the responsibilities that are incumbent upon us as Your children. That there is a way that You would have us walk. a way that is prudent that is wise a way that is marked by obedience to your will that we discover and understand from your word and that by the work of your spirit you apply in our lives and as we practice what you have us to do Lord we become wise we know how to apply the word of God in new situations and Father we thank you that as we pursue this life that we are responsible to walk that you enable us and empower us by your Holy Spirit we pray Lord that you would fill us ever with your spirit that we would ever be under his control and not our own and not those things in this world that we give ourselves over to we thank you Father we're humbled by our responsibility but we are grateful that all that you demand of us You provide for us by Your Spirit for the sake of Christ our Lord who lived and died for us that we might live before You. Thank You, Father, for Your provision for us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.