Walk as Children of God Pt 3

The blessing of Christ. Through the gift boxes, we are going places that no church will be allowed. Places like Calvary. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. Would you stand with me? With us? Would you join me in prayer? First of all, we want to welcome you to Calvary and those watching online. Father, we thank you for this opportunity this Sunday morning to come and gather to worship and song and to study your word.

Father, we lift our hearts to you. We come just as we are, Lord. Strengthen us with your might. Encourage us in our walking with us for you. We give you praise, Lord.

Falling down, O the darkness, high and sky and sea, merciful and mercies, blessed Trinity, blessed Trinity. Oh, thank you, Lord. You are holy. You are worthy of our praise this morning. You may be seated. Father, give us a heart of worship this morning, Lord. Not based on how we feel, but Lord, because we want to. We want to be obedient to give you your worth, Lord, because you're worthy of it, Lord.

I pray you'd move in this place this morning, that you would touch hearts, that you would melt us before you, that we'd be open to be spoken to and used by you, Lord, by your Holy Spirit. You're worthy of our praise, Lord. Calm our hearts. Give us hearts of praise, we ask. By faith in you. Not by how we feel, but Lord, because we want to. Keeper of the stars, Lord, of time and space,

bring up your name.

You came to say, thank you for the cross.

Life, you gave us, is your name.

Sinful man, Jesus, you praise your Lord.

Take these hands and lift them up. See, I have. I have nothing.

Take my voice. Pour it out.

Nothing is over. Give me our time, too.

On this earth. So all will see that I'm. And what we realize, that without you, we aren't anything, Lord. But as the Lord said in the Sermon on the Mount, Bless us for the poor in spirit. Realizing our really. Nothingness, Lord. The wretch that we really are. And yet you love us, Lord. You gave your son for us, Father God. We thank you, Jesus. And oh Lord, you are our strength.

You're our redeemer, Lord. You're our help. You're everything we need, Lord. We thank you. Where does my help comes from? Maker of you are my hope. You're my hope. You're my hope. You're my hope. You're my hope. You're my hope. You're my hope. You're my hope. You're my hope. Jesus, who I worship on earth, would you bless me with the strength, the love, and grace of your Lord?

When you ask to make your own actions in this place, you will know how your Lord love you. Come down on your knees, on your knees. Come down on your knees. Israelites would recite that psalm as they took the ascent there to Jerusalem for feasts or whatever. They had many things to face. It could be robberies. It could be anything. The rough terrain. They look to you.

And Father, we, in this world in which we're living too, have various things to face. The good, the bad, the ugly. The concerns. The broken heart. The blessings. Whatever it may be, Lord. We look to you. Thank you so much. Would you all stand?

And all the lost and lonely.

All the thieves will come confess.

Holy.

We'll know that you are holy. Yes, Lord. We'll sing.

We'll cry out. How worthy.

And all who hurt. With nothing left. We'll know that you are holy.

We'll sing.

We'll sing out.

And scream it from the mountain to the masses.

That he is God.

Oh, shout.

I said. Lord, hallelujah. Oh, shout it.

Lord, master.

That he is God.

We will sing out. Hallelujah. We will cry out. Amen.

We'll sing out.

We will sing out.

We'll sing and scream it. Blessed be. He is God and screaming, He is God. Sing now, Lord Jesus, we, we will sing.

Yes, Lord. You're worthy, Lord, of all of our prayers. We give you thanks. Just continue now to bless our service. Pastor Ryan will teach your word. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's have some fellowship. Good morning. If you could begin the process of locating your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you've joined us this morning. In your bulletin, a few things to take note of. First of all, as always, on the left-hand side, you know what's going on over there. Get plugged in. Over in the middle section, a few things to remember. Great Pumpkin Chase is coming up in a couple of weeks. See Tristan for some jokes. Details on that.

Operation Christmas Child is coming soon, but we'll wait just a second on that. Our ministry spotlight for the week is Chosen People Ministries. The ministry of Chosen People exists to pray for, evangelize, disciple, and serve Jewish people everywhere. To help fellow believers do the same. So, that's our ministry spotlight for the week. One of the ones that we support here at Calvary Chapel.

And, okay, as I said, Operation Christmas Child boxes. That's coming. It's almost time. We've got a couple of things that we're going to do this morning. First of all, we have a video, and then we have a guest. Or are we having the guest first? Video first. Video first, then guest. Hit it. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

I want every child to know that there's a God. I want every child to know that God loves them. That God sent his son from heaven to this earth to take our sins.

We've got a charge to go into the world to make disciples of all nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God, here I am. Take me and send me and use me. God laid it on my heart. The Himbas need someone to give them the word of God. My vision for the summer contract is that we will share the gospel. And to establish a whole church here, so that they also can receive the blessing of Christ.

Through the gift boxes, we are going places that no church will be allowed. Places like Ganvi, that floating village. We are reaching those that have never heard the gospel. We find them having not even a Bible in their own language. Areas of the world where people need to know that God loves them, and cares for them, and sent his son from heaven to this earth for them.

Operation Christmas Child opened doors to evangelism, discipleship, and multiplication. When a child receives a shoebox, it shows them who God really is and how much he cares for them. We bring gifts to the children, also the mothers and the fathers, and their brothers and sisters also accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. Churches are using these shoeboxes, the Greatest Journey Discipleship Program, to reach out to the ends of the earth with the gospel.

God sent his son to this earth on a rescue mission. Jesus Christ died and shed his blood on the cross for our sins. And then on the third day, God in heaven said, it's enough, and he raised his son to life. This is the good news, and we've got a responsibility to take this message to the ends of the earth.

Okay, so I've got a buddy with me here this morning, Phil. Phil A. Box.

Can you make it? Phil a little stiffer than he used to be. Good morning everybody. This box is getting older, it's got to wear glasses. I'm Phil. Phil A. Box. Hey, it's this time again already, right? I can't believe it's already here, but we've got to get ready to start packing shoeboxes. So we've got shoeboxes for everybody, and we've got a bunch of them in the back, and they're putting them together right now.

And if you don't have a box and you want to use your own, you can do that. Today we're just going to talk about a couple of things. Joe, could you come up too, please? What we want to do is talk about the following thing. This is, as you just saw, a real tangible expression of God's love. It's a great gospel opportunity for so many kids. And like I think we talked about before, like 10 million people get touched by these shoeboxes in just a short period of time.

And it's a great tool for evangelism. We will be going to Dallas, let's see, Saturday, December 9th. So if you can join us, it will be working from 5 p.m. till 10 p.m. So we'll leave here Saturday morning, drive down, eat some dinner, and then go work until we can't stand up anymore. And then we'll come home Sunday. But we also, Joe and his family are working on a plan for packing some boxes.

Good morning, I'm Danielle Palmer. Our family, this ministry is really near and dear to my heart. I've been packing shoeboxes for as long as I can remember since I was smaller than these guys. And so it's so valuable to me to get to continue this ministry with my children. And so this year, we wanted to do something special with our kids and for our kids. So we are going to host a special event for packing shoeboxes.

We are going to be having an Operation Christmas Child Mission Day. And we're going to be packing shoeboxes. It is going to be October 22nd, 1-30-4. We would like to invite all middle school through grade school to come pack shoeboxes with us, with parents. We are going to be doing jumping. We are going to be doing jump ropes with old t-shirts. We are going to be painting yo-yos.

And then we're going to be doing bead bracelets. We're going to be, to include with our boxes. And then we're going to be taking pictures. And then we're going to be packing our boxes. And then we are going to write letters. And then we're going to pray for our boxes.

Good job, guys. So we will have all the supplies needed to, our goal is, I mean, depending on, you know, who all wants to be involved with this. We have the supplies to do about 100 shoeboxes. All that will be supplied. What we are asking is that if you're a family with kids of that age that you would sign up on our sign-up sheet that's going to be out in the foyer there.

Just so we can get an idea of how many are going to be joining us. And we're asking for a donation of $20 per family just to help out with the shipping costs of the shoeboxes. Which, as you guys know, it's like a $10 donation to do a shoebox. We're not saying you can only pack two boxes, but just $20 to help out with that shipping cost. And if you are somebody who would like to be involved with this family mission day and just want to help out,

if you have kids of that age, go ahead and put your name on the list out there. We've got some other ideas if other people want to be involved, we'd love to visit with you. Just put down your name and contact details and we'll reach out to you. Okay, thank you very much. Isn't it great to have these young ones working on this too? So, yeah, there is going to be a $10 donation per box this year.

So you can do it online or in the box. I think it's preferred to do it online. But there will be an envelope. These boxes have the stickers and the stuff you need them to get them done. So we're getting ready to roll. Thank you.

I don't want to fall off the truck. Come on, let's go. We got this. You got it?

I love Phil. I don't want anything to happen to him. Do we have a goal that we're shooting for this year? Of number of boxes?

200 is our goal? Okay. 164 last year, so we're shooting for 200. 200 this year. Perfect. Okay. Those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 121.

Psalm 121. Looking at the New American Standard for the responsive reading part so we sound the same. Need a copy? There should be one around you. And as has already been taking place, if you are able, please stand. In honor of reading of God's word. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 121, a song of ascents.

I will lift my eyes up to the mountains. From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is the shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day nor the moon by night.

The Lord will protect you from all evil. He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. And Father, we do thank you for who you are. Lord, that you are the faithful God. And so Lord, as we spend time in your word this morning, may we see your faithfulness more clearly. And may we respond to that faithfulness with wholehearted devotion.

In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. I have found it to be somewhat fascinating the theme that has ended up happening this morning without meaning for it to. I had messaged Lauren first thing yesterday morning. She's the one that does the bulletins. I messaged her first thing yesterday morning with all of the information and I put chosen people in there

before I knew any of the stuff that had happened yesterday morning had happened. I thought that that was kind of fortuitous on the part of God. And then Dad had already chosen that song, I Lift My Eyes Up Unto the Mountains, Where Does My Help Come From, before any of this happened. I was listening to Ryan Karp, or not Ryan Karp, I was listening to Amir Sirfati last night give a very short, it cut out, I didn't get to hear a lot of what he had to say, a really short update on what's going on over in Israel right now.

And that was the verse that he said was that he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. And so Psalm 121 was kind of heavy on my heart ever since I heard that. But as most of you know, and if you don't, I don't know what rock you're living under, as most of you know, Israel was attacked yesterday morning. From what I understand, over 5,000 rockets were launched at Israel.

Somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 found their mark. It's a bad situation. Well anyway, all that to say, I sent out what Ryan Karp sent out for his mailing list yesterday. Ryan Karp is our Chosen People Ministries missionary that we support. He's not in Israel right now, but he has family in Israel right now. So this morning, right before first service, Ryan texted me and this is what he says.

He says, Ryan, please take a moment today in your service and pray for Israel. My people and my little brother, I know this is hard for him to write, so. My little brother Sam, who's an Israeli soldier, is fighting right now at the Gaza border. 500 are dead, 2,000 are wounded, at least 100 have been taken hostage. This is unprecedented in the last 50 years.

All the passage you can think of that Christians normally use to take hope in the Lord apply directly to the Jewish people. He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. The headlines you're seeing on the mainstream news sites pale in comparison to what's really going on. The videos and images that you have not seen are truly horrific. With senior citizens, women, and children killed and being taken hostage.

Please pray. So, with that being said, that's exactly what we're going to do this morning. And actually, I'm going to ask you to do something real quick. I want you to stand up. Israel is to the east of us. So I want you to stand up and to the best of your ability, if your row has room, I just want you to turn to the east. I want you to put your hand out. And we're going to pray for our brothers and sisters in Israel right now.

Father, we come to you. And Lord, we lift up our Jewish family, Lord. Lord, those that are fighting for their lives, those that are fighting for their homes, those that are fighting for their property, for their families, Lord. And we just want to pray your strength and your encouragement and your blessing on them. Father, as we turn towards Jerusalem, Lord, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem

as your word commands us to. And Lord, we thank you for what your word promises, that you who keep Israel neither slumber nor sleep. And Lord, we know that you are sovereignly in control, even in this. Lord, you are using this to bring about a future and an end. Lord, we know that you're coming soon. And Lord, we await that coming. And we know that all the things that are happening right now are not an accident, Lord.

They are playing into your sovereign plan for the end of times. And so, Lord, we trust in you and we rest in you. But in the meantime, Lord, there are real people that are really struggling. Lord, we lift up Ryan's little brother, Sam. Father, we lift up all the other Israeli soldiers that are fighting right now. We lift up the ones that have been called back home, Lord, that are reserves.

And pray that they would be able to find their way. Lord, I lift up Amir Serfati. I know he has been speaking in the United States and wants to get back home to his family. And I know that's going to be hard to do. And so, Father, we just pray for Israel right now. We pray for Israel. We pray for their peace. We pray for their freedom, those that have been taken.

Father, we just pray for those that have been so heavily affected by this. Lord, move by the power of your Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. I will continue to send out any of the updates that I get from Ryan Karp as best as I can when I receive them. But those are the real things that are happening right now. And listen, we know that God is in control.

I don't want to sit here and speculate and be like, oh, well, this is probably not going to happen next. And this is what's going to happen next because I don't know what's going to happen next. But God does. And all of the players are in place. All of the things are in place. And God's plan will be fulfilled in the way that it says it's going to be in Scripture.

I'm going to tell you that there are two things that we have to continue to do before we get into our study. Two things that we have to do no matter what is happening in the world. Number one, keep praying for Israel. Number two, be ready. Because if there is a message of all of prophecy that is an overarching theme in all of prophecy, it's this. Be ready. Because we don't know the day or the hour when Jesus will return.

We don't know when he's going to call us home. But, boy, it sure seems like the angel is putting the trumpet to his lips. Amen. So we have to be ready. So, all right, Ephesians, so that we can be ready. Ephesians, chapter 5, if you would turn there. Ephesians, chapter 5. We've been looking at a series in Ephesians, chapter 5, called Walk as Children of God.

Today brings us to the last of our series, part 3, which is to walk in wisdom. We first looked at walking in love. Last week we looked at walking in light. Today it's walk in wisdom. By way of introduction, before we get into what God's word has to say, I want to talk for just a moment about wisdom. We live in an information age. I think that's actually what they refer to this as, is the information age.

I don't know, maybe that was the early 2000s. Maybe this is the stupid age now. But anyway, we have a lot of information. As a matter of fact, we were sitting at dinner last night, and we were having a conversation, and somebody asked a question. Of course, three of us pull out our phones to do what? Same thing you do, to Google the answer, right? And we just always believe what Google tells us.

I'm just saying, if I worked for Google, I would throw random information out there. We call that Wikipedia. But anyway, I would just throw random information out there and see who believes it, right? But we live in this information age, and we are inundated with information all the time. We're inundated with definitions and meanings and how old this person is

and what year they were born and all the different things. We can look up so much information. But in the information age that we live in, we don't have very much wisdom. Information is defined as facts provided or learned about something or someone. But wisdom is defined as the ability or the result of an ability to think and act utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight.

Knowledge is information. Wisdom tells you how to use it. Wisdom tells you how to use that information properly. Of course, James 1, verse 5 says this, But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. So, wisdom comes as its source from God. As a matter of fact, we're told in the Psalms, or in the Proverbs,

that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And so, as we think about this as a backdrop, with all of the information in the world today, with all of the knowledge in the world today, what the world is lacking is wisdom. Therefore, if we are to be a light, if we are to walk as children of God, who is the very author of wisdom, then we, as believers in Jesus Christ, should walk in wisdom. And so, we pick up in verse 15 of chapter 5, and this is what it says, Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.

making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for this is dissipation. But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart, to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

And so, with this theme of walking in wisdom, in verses 15 through 21, there are five things that he tells us that we need to do, or perhaps not do, in order to walk in wisdom. Number one, be careful how you walk. Be careful how you walk. The word careful in this context means constantly taking heed to how accurately you are conducting yourselves. To constantly take heed

to how accurately you are conducting yourselves. Let me give you an illustration in a sentence. You have to be careful the way you speak to some people. You have to make sure that you do it accurately, right? That you conduct yourself in an accurate sort of way. Now, why is it so important that we are careful how we conduct ourselves? Well, I think there's two main reasons.

First of all, because my walk with God is the most important thing in my life. My walk with God is the most important aspect of who I am, because it's what I was created for. Therefore, if my walk with God is important, then I should be careful, I should be constantly taking heed to the accuracy of the way I handle myself in my walk, because it's important to my own personal life. But there's a second reason that I think more accurately fits the context of where he's speaking here as children of God, and that's that we are to be careful how we walk, because I am God's witness to the world.

You are God's witness to the world. Therefore, we should be careful how we walk. We should pay attention to, take careful heed to, take constant heed to the accuracy of the way that we walk. In other words, you should know that the way that you're walking lines up with what God is actually wanting in your life, because I would tell you that too many people are walking around as unwise men.

The word unwise literally means foolish. I'll define foolish for you in just a moment. I don't want to give too much a point to a way just yet. But there are too many people walking around as unwise men, not paying attention to anything else going on around them. After all, I'm just really happy that I'm saved, right? No, we are to be careful how we walk on a consistent basis.

But that brings up another question. How can we live our lives in a careful way? What does it look like to be careful how you walk? Well, again, I think it requires two things. Number one, it requires careful examination of the Word. It requires careful examination of the Word, a constant taking heed to what the Word has to say. That's why if you're not in the Word

for yourself, you will never be able to walk carefully. You will constantly be living according to your own devices, following your heart. Oh, sweet Jesus, help us if we all just start following our hearts, right? Because our heart will lead us down the wrong path. Following your heart has destroyed more marriages. Following your heart has destroyed more marriages.

Following your heart has led to more bad habits. Following your heart has led to more shipwrecked lives than anything that I can imagine. We're not to just simply follow our hearts, nor are we to follow the rest of the world. Everybody else is doing it. They all don't think it's really all that big of a deal. So what does it matter how I live? Because you're a representative

of Jesus Christ to the world. Therefore, you should be careful how you walk. Therefore, you should carefully pay attention to what God's Word has to say. The second thing that it requires is a careful self-examination. It requires a careful self-examination. See, I think one of the best things that we can do as believers is to, on a consistent basis, take a little self-examination.

Perhaps make yourself a checklist based on what God's Word has to say. Does my life line up with these things? Does my life line up with the things that I'm doing? That's why one of the best things that you can do if you have devotions every day, if you have some form of devotional Bible reading every day, one of the best things that you can do is stop and think.

As you read, stop and think. Underline something. Write something down. And think to yourself, okay, if I was to line myself up against that standard that God's Word just put out, how am I doing? How is my life lining up with this? How is my life lining up with these things? I'm reading in the book of Acts right now in the New Testament. I'm reading in the book of Judges

in the Old Testament. And I'm telling you, if there's anything that will cause you to reflect a little bit in your life, it's reading the book of Judges. Because when you see the things that people do, you're kind of like, whoa, those guys are idiots. Why would they find themselves doing that? Why do they find themselves in that cycle of sin, in a six-cycle carousel of sin

where they just keep doing the exact same thing over and over again? Morons living in those days where they had very little revelation of what God had to say. But you see, if I examine myself, I go, son of a gun, I do the same thing. Because careful examination of my life will cause me to go, gosh, I end up falling in the exact same traps all the time. I end up going back to the same sin.

Why is it that I tend to sin, deal with judgment, repent, repeat? It's because I'm not taking time to carefully examine. My life up against God's word. And so we are to be careful how we walk. It requires examination of the word, but it requires examination of myself. But why do we do this? Notice what it says, or what does it look like to do this? Verse 16, making the most of your time

because the days are evil. Making the most of your time because the days are evil. That phrase making the most of can also be translated to redeem. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. I'm hard pressed on which one I like better because let me read to you some of these definitions. So some of the definitions of making the most of your time. To redeem or to buy back.

Kenneth Weiss says, buying up for yourself the most opportune time. The Amplified Bible says this, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with truth and diligence. It's almost like both of those translations are really good. We redeem the time because we buy it back for the proper purposes. But we also make the most of the time so that we make the most of

every opportunity that we have. The passing of time will never not be fascinating to me. It's the dumbest, deepest thing that I can ever think of to say. Because to think that last year at this time we were sitting in this exact same place, maybe doing the exact same thing, and yet one year has gone by. Time is one of the most precious commodities that we own.

Some will say it's money. I say it's time. Because time is the one thing that once it's spent, you can't get it back. You can lose all of your money and eventually make it back. Donald Trump has shown us that. But once you've spent time, it's gone. And as believers in Jesus Christ, if we truly walk carefully, accurately, then we will begin to understand that time is precious.

And that time is short. And that the time that I have on this earth is nothing in comparison with eternity. And so I should use the time that I have in the most wise way possible. I should redeem it. I should make the most use of it. Therefore, I start to think differently about how I use my time. Now I'm not saying that you can't ever have recreation time.

You can't ever have rest time. I think that those things are incredibly important. But how are you using your time? How are you spending this greatest commodity that you have? Because I would venture to say that many of us waste it. You say, Ryan, I work 16 hours a day. But are you in those 16 hours a day that you're working making the most of the opportunity?

You don't understand. I'm working during all those hours. That's not what I said. Are you making the most of the opportunity? Because even the busiest times that you have in your life are still times that you can buy back for the use of the Lord. You say, I need my vacation. I agree. But are you using that time to refresh yourself in the Lord? You see, there's no aspect

of our life now that should not be wrapped up in the things of God. And our time is the same. We are to make the most of our time. Why? Because the days are evil. And can we all agree that the days are evil? If anything that's taken place in Israel in the last 24 hours has taught us, it's that the days are evil. If anything about what's taken place in the last three years

in our world has taught us, it's that the days are evil because evil continues to grow. And if evil is fighting as hard as it's fighting right now, then by God, we'd better fight pretty hard too and make the most of our time. Because you know who else knows his time is short? Satan. And you know what he's doing right now? He's making the most of his time because he wants to spread evil.

Well, as believers in Jesus Christ, how much more should we not realize that the time is short and the days are evil? There's a wonderful plaque right on the front of the church right as you walk in. It says, one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Brothers and sisters, be careful how you walk. Number two, do not, do not be foolish.

I love this because it's the most basic thing you could say to somebody that you want to be wise. Don't be foolish. Good call. He says in verse 17, so then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Let me define the word foolish for you. The word foolish is defined like this. One who is without reflection or intelligence. One who is without reflection

or intelligence. Let me put it in Ryan's language. One who is foolish is one who never takes the time to think or consider. One who never takes the time to think or consider. Someone who never takes time to think about the situation that's taking place in our world right now and what that means and its implications with end times events and how that then means

that I should be even more careful, even more ready, even more prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ. Because as I see the things take place in the world, I'm well aware that it's absolutely lining up with what Scripture has to say. But too many people are living foolishly and they don't think about that because they do not take the time to reflect. They do not take the time to think or consider about what's going on.

They don't take the time to think and consider about their own lives and the way that they used to live and the way that they're living now and how the way that they're living now has an impact on eternity. And they don't take the time to think or consider that. Foolish people don't take the time to think or consider that. Foolish people also don't ever take the time to think or consider how their words may hurt someone else.

Because they never take the time to reflect or think on those things. They don't take the time to reflect or think about the things that they take into their eye gates or their ear gates or you name the thing will affect their spiritual life because the things of the world affect us spiritually if we allow them. But foolish people never take the time to think about that. Foolish people take the time to think about one thing and one thing only.

Foolish people never take the time to think about that. And that is how they take good care of themselves. How will one later take the time to be grateful for the things that may or may not happen for one another? How will I enjoy myself today? How will I enjoy myself today? Right? There's that wonderful line from Gone with the Wind where Scarlett O'Hara says,

Well I just can't think about that today. I'll think about that tomorrow. If I think about that today I shall surely die. Right? And too many people live their life eternity is what we're looking to but foolish people are living like today is it like today is their only day eat drink and be married because tomorrow yeah who cares he says don't be foolish instead we are to understand what the will of the lord is we are to understand what the will

of the lord is the word understand is exactly what it sounds like to be able to know or discern what the will of the lord is you know one of the greatest questions i answer for people on an almost consistent basis is the the greatest question that people want to have i don't care what age they are what's god's will for my life i used to always say it was just a young people question i've learned that's not true it's not just a young people question that's a young people question it's an old people question it's a people in the middle question it's an everybody question because everybody wants to know what the will of the lord is and perhaps you're sitting there

right now going i don't want to be foolish but i don't understand what the will of the lord is but you see how do you know the will of the lord well you know the lord right it i can tell you right now what my wife would want to do if i were to offer her a choice right i would know what my wife's will is let's let's say it's it's after church right the chiefs are playing today i don't know if t swift is going to be there or not i kind of hope not but but the chiefs are playing today and if i were this afternoon to say hey aaron would you rather watch the chiefs game or go shopping i can tell you what the will of my wife is i can tell you she will choose shopping now that's not just because she's a woman that's because she's my

wife and i know what the will is that's a basic example but there's a lot of other things i could tell you that if i were to be asked the question what's aaron gonna want i can tell you what she's gonna want you know how i can tell you what she's gonna want because i know her and because i know her i can tell you what her will is in certain situations right like one time i went down into the basement and the basement was an absolute wreck and i got my girls and i said girls listen you do not want your mom to have to see what's going on down here because i know what's going to happen the moment that she sees this basement none of us are going to like it especially you guys and i'm throwing you guys under the bus

this is 100 you i will get out of the way and watch it happen and clap in the background so you guys should go now because i know what the will of my wife is in this certain situation she wants you to clap in the background and i'm going to clap in the background right so how do we understand what the will of the lord is we have to know the lord and as we know the lord we can discern his will because his will first of all always involves sanctification it's always going to involve me being fashioned into the image of christ number two it's always going to line up with god's word i love when people say i think i know what god's will is and they tell me i'm like that's not in the bible that is not god's

will for your life that's dumb right and i think we should tell people that okay every now and then we just got to be harsh and be like you know what that's stupid because that is not god's will it does not say that in the bible we also know that god's will will always bring glory to god how do i know god's will well is he going to bring him glory then of course the last part about knowing god's will is that will always be ultimately for my best the fascinating thing about understanding god's will is in the beginning you may go it doesn't seem like my best but the more god's will unfolds you go that was absolutely for my best and so brothers and sisters if we are to walk in wisdom not only are we to be careful

how we are to walk and redeem the time but number two we are to not be foolish instead be understanding of what god's will is number three do not be drunk with wine do not be drunk with wine boy alcohol has become a really hot button issue uh in the church today i was reading a commentary on this and he goes well this doesn't apply to most churches because most churches teach complete abstinence from alcohol and i thought well that's not true anymore matter of fact i i sat at a youth pastors conference about 10 years ago where there was open debate about whether or not youth pastors should be able to drink alcohol if they have freedom to so alcohol has become kind of an issue in our culture today um i give you other numbers

i'm not going to uh but he tells us a little something about alcohol he says if we want to be wise if we want to walk in wisdom you will not walk in drunkenness the word uh drunk here means to be intoxicated literally it means to be fully saturated that's what the word uh drunk actually means to be fully saturated and why are we not to be drunk because drunkenness is as it says here uh in verse 18 it says and do not get drunk with wine for that is dissipation that's another one of those words that i never walk around and go i can't do that because i'm not because that's dissipation so let me tell you what that word means the word dissipation means wickedness corruption and here's my favorite part stupidity that's right not my definition

the bible's definition but that's what dissipation is in other words to walk in drunkenness is to walk in wickedness and corruption and stupidity because those of us that have ever walked in it know but at some point in time everybody makes fun of you for the way that you acted why because you acted stupid you acted stupid but you know the parts that aren't funny are when you act wickedly or corruptly because a whole lot of stories of people drinking end up with and then i ended up going home with this girl or i ended up going home with this guy off with this one time we were drinking and i don't care what party you go to a fight's going to break out guys they become idiots and they start talking about their their disrespect

because we're not to be drunk with wine now i want to spend just a moment talking about alcohol because again this is an issue within the church it's an issue within the church today and i have strong feelings on it that i have to temper with the freedom that we have in christ the one thing that everybody will start to say when you start to talk about it but i have freedom in christ well that's that's true you you do have freedom in christ and i'm not saying that you don't but i do want to tell you what the bible says about alcohol well i mean i only wrote down like like four things okay for me to really say everything that the bible has to say about alcohol would take us two or three more sermons because it has a lot to say about it there's

entire proverbs that are written about wine being a mocker and strongholds and all that kind of stuff and how unwise it is to do it these are the things that we know for sure that if you are to have the freedom to partake in alcohol you need to remember these things number one is what we were just told you're not to be drunk in other words you better know where your limit is because once drunkenness occurs it becomes sin number two we are not to stumble others with our freedom who have come out of alcoholism and they can get stumbled pretty easily we are not to stumble others with our freedom number three you are not to ruin your witness in other words if somebody

sees you carrying a 12-pack they may go i thought he was wait we've all heard it i thought he was a christian and it ruins and it can ruin your witness not not to mention the fact that if you do get drunk as a christian it does it does ruin your witness and number four is the last one that i put there it's just and it's more of a question is it profitable it's just something that you have to ask yourself about alcohol is it profitable in your life is it is it helping you grow closer to jesus i have friends from bible college that i know absolutely love jesus with all of their heart they drink beer all the time they don't ever get drunk but they drink beer all the time i have a really hard time seeing myself sitting around with a

case of beer talking about jesus but that's me i grew up a little bit differently i grew up around some people that that never used to drink beer i grew up around some people that never used to alcohol in a proper way it was always abused there was always drunkenness involved the time that i walked away from the lord involved abusing alcohol and so to me the two always go hand in hand sin and alcohol always go hand in hand that's me that's me personally i know that's not a very popular statement but it's the way that it is you have to be settled in your heart between you and the lord on what god would have you do with alcohol but we are told do not be drunk with wine in which is uh for that is dissipation but be filled with the spirit

but be filled with the spirit now we have to be careful about something right now because there are some who would draw a direct correlation drunkenness filled with the spirit drunk in the spirit right that's a thing not a real thing but it's a thing people try to say oh he's just he's just drunk in the spirit i don't mean drunk on alcohol i mean out of control in the spirit we have to understand something that direct correlation does not exist what he's saying is rather than allowing your body to be controlled by alcohol you should instead allow yourself to be controlled by the holy spirit let me give some uh some other translation of this to be filled with constantly guided by and controlled by the holy spirit

that is a combination of translations from both the weist and the amplified that's the idea of being filled with the spirit is that that filling is something that fills us guides us and controls us because all of the things that the holy spirit produces in our lives are what people often try to produce with alcohol after all what seemed to go hand in hand with people alcohol and but who where does our freedom come from where does our joy come from well joy is a fruit of the holy spirit right and so we have to be careful about right and so he tells us we are to be filled it's interesting because in the greek language here this is a passive imperative it is passive indicating that it's not something that we

can manufacture but it is an imperative in that it is a command we are told to be filled with the holy spirit and as a matter of fact the direct greek reading would to be being filled with the holy spirit it creates a an understanding of a constant filling with the holy spirit it should be something we are constantly seeking now i hope that you're asking the right question right now and that's not when is he going to stop talking the right question is how are we filled with the holy spirit well i think that there's a two-fold aspect here if it's not something that we can manufacture but it is something that we are commanded to do then i feel like on our part

the first thing that we can do is empty ourselves because the only way that i can be filled with something is i have is if i have first of all emptied myself so what do i mean by empty myself i have to empty myself of pride i have to empty myself of my self-seeking my self-righteousness i have to empty myself of those fleshly things that i've been filling myself with the only way i know to empty myself is through confession pour all those things out to jesus and give them to him and as i empty myself i then seek that filling that comes only from the holy spirit right it if i want the filling of the holy spirit then i need to ask for that filling of the holy spirit and since it's not something that just happens once

it's something that we are to do on a continual basis then i should be continually filled with the holy spirit you know what i've noticed in in the book of acts in my reading in the book of acts is how many times something that peter or one of the other apostles does starts off by saying peter filled with the holy spirit went and did this meaning that for everything that i have to do i need a fresh filling of the holy spirit right i have to ask for a fresh filling of the holy spirit when i get ready on a sunday morning it's the first thing my sleepy little heart starts praying as i roll out of bed on sunday morning lord please fill me afresh with your holy spirit and it's the last thing that i ask for

right before we leave that room and get ready to come up here as i pray lord please fill me afresh with your holy spirit because i need the filling of the holy spirit to do what i do up here me. But you know what else I need the fresh filling of the Holy Spirit to do? I need the fresh filling of the Holy Spirit to know how to love my daughters and how to teach my daughters. I need the fresh filling of the Holy Spirit to know how to love and lead my wife. I need a fresh filling of the

Holy Spirit to speak to the people that I speak to on a consistent basis. For that matter, I need a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit to go to Walmart, right? I need a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit for everything that I do in my life every day and every moment of the day because the holy spirit is the only one that can produce all of these things in my life it's the only one he is the only one who can produce the fruit in my life that i'm seeking therefore i am continually filled with the holy spirit because that's walking in wisdom and so to walk in wisdom number one we're going to be careful how we walk number two do not be foolish number three do not be drunk with wine but number four speak with wisdom notice what it says in

verse 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody with your heart to the lord always giving thanks for all things in the name of our lord jesus christ to god even the father this is the third third third time now that we've talked about what comes out of our mouth. The first time it was no unwholesome word. The second time it was no coarse jesting. This time he starts telling us what should come out of our mouth. Because if I am to be wise, then I am to speak with wisdom. And as I am filled

with the Holy Spirit, part of what takes place is I start speaking with wisdom. What does that look like? Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Now I want to tell you what this does not mean. This does not mean that every time you see someone, you have to sing to them. Praise Jesus, right? Like all of you would avoid me. You'd be like, oh, there's Ryan. Walk the

other way. That's what my girls would do if I had to sing to them all the time. It's what they do now when I sing to them, right? It doesn't mean we have to sing to each other all the time, but it does mean that we speak to each other in that spiritual way. He points out three things. He says psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Now, rather than getting caught up,

what each of those three things mean, let's take the heart of the message. Those are three different types of praise that they would have used in the early church. They would have sung psalms, which are the actual psalms. They would have sung hymns, which were hymns that had been written by people and spiritual songs that were written by people. Those are three aspects of praise. So what is he telling us to do? He tells us that we are

to speak with a heart of praise. In other words, the things that come out of my mouth should be praising to God and should be uplifting to each other. It's that same governor that we're to put on the things that we say. It should be praised towards God and uplifting to each other. So what does that look like? What I do think that looks like is you should be telling each other scripture

a lot, right? I think in our world today, we don't do that enough. We don't just send each other scriptures enough. We don't just speak scripture to each other enough. I would say that the last thing that we talk about after church on a Sunday is what we heard at church on a Sunday, right? Instead, maybe what we should do is just start talking more about what scripture has to

say. Spend time fellowshipping about what scripture has, speaking uplifting words of scripture than what I'm talking to you about my favorite football team, right? Because scripture is always uplifting in the things that it does. And so he says, speak to each other in a variety of songs and hymns and spiritual songs. They're in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

singing and making melody where with your heart to the Lord. That tells me that where does good speaking come from? Where does wise speaking come from? Where does a mouthful of praise come from? Well, it comes from a heart that's full of praise, a heart that is full of the Holy Spirit. That's where it comes from. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit fills me, he will get me more into scripture and

more into the songs of scripture, more into the things that will lead me to scripture, which will naturally mean what comes out of my mouth all the time. All of the things of God. We speak with wisdom. But not only does he say to speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, but notice what he says in verse 20, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Always giving thanks for all things to God. You know,

I usually hear when people talk about giving thanks, in all things, they say we're to give thanks in all things, not for all things.

Always giving thanks, wait for it, for all things. Wait a second. That goes against what I've always thought. Okay, this is my genuine thought process this week. I just want you to know that. Because I've always heard people say, well, you don't have to give thanks for all things. You have to give thanks in all things. You don't have to give thanks to God for the bad things that happen.

But you know what? What if we did? What if we did thank God for the bad things that have happened? I remember when I was a kid, my parents ran the school down here, and there was a young man, I won't tell you his name. It was a young man that tended to talk a lot, and he didn't always use wisdom in the way that he spoke. That's neither here nor there. But he talked a lot. And this is when you could

still do things, like write kids' names on the board and stuff. I'm sure you get canceled for that now or kicked out of school, whatever. My mom wrote his name on the board. My mom was the teacher. She wrote his name on the board. He said, Mrs. Nichols, why did you write my name on the board? She said, well, you were talking when you weren't supposed to. So now every time that you look at

your name on the board, you're going to remember, that got me in trouble, and it'll keep you from talking when you're not supposed to. He sat and he thought about it for a minute, and he said, well then, thank you, Mrs. Nichols, for writing my name on the board. That's exactly what he's talking about here. What do you do when something really bad happens in your life? In the moment, you're like, why? Why is this happening? But you know what always

happens? You write your name on the board. You write your name on the board. You write your name on because God causes all things to work together for the good, to those who love him and to those who are called according to his purpose. We can give thanks for all things. I share this little story at funerals that I do a lot, but I think it's really good in this aspect. When I was a kid,

about 15 years old, we took a trip down to Florida. My parents went to a teachers and principals conference for the ABECA school that we did down there. And on our way down, we drove south and everything. We drove through Oklahoma, and it was the time of the year when they were burning all of the pasture land off. And I actually remember thinking, and so we drove by

the little fizzling of smoke in some places, and everything just looked black and dead. And I remember thinking, that is so sad. That was a flowing pasture just a week ago, and now it's just nothing. Now it's just dead. So we went on down to Florida, had our time down there. It had rained in Oklahoma. We went down to Florida, had our time down there. It had rained in Oklahoma,

because it used to do that. It had rained while we were gone. And on our way back, I noticed that where there was black death, you know what was coming up? Green grass. You know why? That pasture land being burned off prepared the soil for new growth. Giving thanks to God for all things. Giving thanks to God for all things. It's hard to do sometimes. But isn't it amazing that if we will begin speaking to each other

with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and always giving thanks to God, how much that we think. And where does it start? With the filling of the Holy Spirit. With the filling of the Holy Spirit. Number five, be subject to one another. To walk in wisdom means to be subject to one another. The NAS translates its subject, but let me use the word that everybody hates that is used in the

New King James and the Old King James, and submit to one another in the fear of Christ. Oh, nobody likes the word submit, do they? It's a terrible, terrible swear word in our world today. What an important word it is. You know what the word subject or submit yourself means? It means to be under and rank. Let me put it to you in the positive. I'm going to put it in the positive.

Which is what he does in the book of Philippians. Let each one of you not think of himself more highly than he ought to, but think of another as better. That's kind of the idea. You see, I'm willing to put myself under and rank. Now, I'm not going to go too deeply into this, because that's going to segue directly into several relationships that involve mutual

submission. Mutual submission in marriage, mutual submission in child training, and in our workplace. That we'll get into in the future weeks. But we are to humble ourselves before each other. So brothers and sisters, we're to walk in wisdom. Be careful how you walk. Don't be foolish. Don't be drunk with wine. Speak with wisdom and be subject to one another. Because friends, you're a child of

God, and you're a witness to the world. And the world is full of information. What they need is wisdom. And you know the source of true wisdom. So walk in wisdom. Amen? Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you, and we praise you for who you are. Lord, we praise you for being God. Lord, the God who loves us, the God who is patient with us. And Father, I want to pray for each person

that's here this morning. And Lord, I pray that we would walk in your wisdom. Father, walking in wisdom often means we have to put to death the foolish things that our flesh loves so much. Lord, we love to live for today. But Lord, you're calling us deeper. And you're calling us to an even greater understanding of who you are. To walk as your children. And so Lord, do that work in our hearts that only you can do.

We rest in you, and we trust in your Holy Spirit. Lord, fill us afresh today. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Lord, bless y'all. Have a good week.