The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: Remember Lot And His Wife

Walking With God - 11

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Family Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2016-05-08

Synopsis: John Weaver continues the 'Walking with the Lord' series by expounding Ephesians 5:15-21, emphasizing the command to walk circumspectly (accurately) as wise, not as fools. He explains that walking accurately involves redeeming the time, understanding God's will, being filled with the Spirit, singing psalms and spiritual songs, giving thanks always, submitting to one another in proper biblical order, and putting on the whole armor of God. The sermon calls believers to examine every area of life for conformity to Scripture and to live in godly submission and wisdom.

[John Weaver] to the book of Ephesians chapter 5 Ephesians chapter 5 this is going to be the 11th part in our series walking with the Lord hopefully I'm going to be able to get just one more message to finish this one or this series and Think you could see as we read Ephesians chapter 5 there could be a multitude of messages But I'm going to try to do this very concisely for us. So let's begin reading in Ephesians 5 in verse 15 The Bible says see them that you walk circumspectly Not as fools, but as wise Redeeming the time because the days are evil wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is and And be not drunk with wine wherein

[John Weaver] is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.

[John Weaver] He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are the members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this call shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular So love his wife even as himself and the wife see that she reverence the husband So today we're going to begin another truth in walking with the Lord. We've seen what it means to walk before the Lord What it means to walk in faith what it means to walk and worthily what it means to walk differently What it means to walk in love what it means to walk in light and now today where God commends us to walk Accurately when

[John Weaver] he says in verse 15 see then that you walk circumspectly Not as fools, but as wise the word see is the Greek word bleppo Which literally is a verb and simply means I see however It is translated in our Bibles as take heed 12 times It can also mean beware or beware of. So actually, the apostle is saying in verse 15, take heed then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Now, the Greek word for circumspectly is the word akribos. It means literally to walk diligently, to walk exactly, to walk accurately, and to walk circumspectly.

[John Weaver] Now, our English word, circumspectly, actually is from the Latin word, circumstitio, and it literally signifies to look around, to be aware of your surroundings, to use caution, to avoid danger, And to make sure that your enemies do not surprise you or come to nigh, and that you use every possible means to secure your interests by lawful means. So, the word circumspect then, of course, has that significance. So, what the apostle is telling us, literally in verse 15, is that we who have received the truth, must be careful of our conduct. We must walk by the rule which God has given to us in every situation, in every circumstance, and we're to make sure that we exemplify biblical principles in our lives.

[John Weaver] So for the child of God, it is not sufficient for you and I just simply to claim the promises of God. We must live by the precepts and the principles in the Word of God as well. And so, the Apostle is telling us that we have to live our lives in such a way that our enemies may never say that our doctrines and our lives are unholy and empty.

[John Weaver] So, when you look at verse 15, actually it is a warning, it is a take heed verse. And so the apostle is telling us that we must take heed that we walk accurately. Now there's no need to take heed in heaven because everything is perfect there. But while we're on earth, there is a great deal that we must take heed and beware of. And so the Apostle is telling us that we have to beware of every situation. You have to remember the truth that the Apostle Paul enunciated in Galatians 6 and verse 16 when he said this, and as many as walk according to this rule, Peace be upon them and mercy upon the Israel of God. And remember I told you in times past that the word rule there is the Greek word canon. It's where we get our English word canon, C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N.

[John Weaver] That's the kind that shoots. But we talk about the Old Testament canon or the New Testament canon or the canon of Scripture. And so the word canon in the Greek literally means a measuring stick measuring rod or what you and I would call our yardstick or just simply the measuring stick so the Apostle is saying then peace be upon those and he tells you the Israel of God is and that is those who walk according to this rule that is the scripture because the scripture is indeed our rule for faith now interestingly if you look at verse 15 and When he tells you to take heed, he gives you a negative and he gives you a positive. He says, take heed then or see then that you walk circumspectly or accurately. Here's the negative, not as fools, but as wise. So he tells us that we're not to walk as fools. Fools do not walk accurately. Now, I could multiply scriptures when it comes to the subject of fools, but let me just quote some just to show you when he is telling us not to walk as fools.

[John Weaver] For instance, in Proverbs 1 in verse 7, the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and knowledge. So, what's a fool? He's someone who will not listen, someone who will not hear, someone who will not heed. When you get to Proverbs 1 in verse 22, How long then, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge. So again, fools hate knowledge. In Proverbs 13 and verse 19, the Bible says that a desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil. So a fool, then, is someone who will not listen, he will not learn, he will not depart from evil. He's going to do what he wants to do regardless. Proverbs 13 and verse 20, the Bible said, He that walketh with wise men shall be wise. But a companion of fools shall be destroyed. So if we want to be wise, we need to walk with wise men. If we want to be destroyed, we need to walk with fools.

[John Weaver] Proverbs 14 in verse 8, the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his ways, but the folly of fools is deceit. And then when you get to Proverbs 14 in verse 9, the Bible says fools make a mock at sin. But among the righteous there is favor. So fools make a mockery even of sin. Now, interestingly, when he tells us in verse 15, see then that you walk circumspectly or accurately, not as fools, but as wise. The word for fools is the simple Greek word, asophos, asophos.

[John Weaver] And it just simply means foolish or unwise. Now if you will look at the word wise and the Greek word there is sophos. I hope you understand a-sophos and sophos. They sound alike and they are exactly alike except the word for fool has an alpha in front of it or an a that always negates the word. So You have then someone who is a fool, someone who is unwise, and you have someone who is wise. Now, let me point out, the word wise refers to someone who is skilled, someone who is an expert in knowledge. I want you to hold Ephesians 5, but look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 5, Let me show you how the Apostle in verses 13 and 14 Describes a wise man without even using the word wise So Hebrews chapter 5 verse 13 The scripture says for everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe notice that word unskillful Now look at verse 14.

[John Weaver] But strong meat belong to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So a foolish man is unskillful. He's unwise. He does not have his senses exercised to discern good and evil. Obviously, the Word of God is telling us that we are not to walk as fools, but as wise.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 16 and look in verse 19. Romans 16 and verse 19. You're going to see the word wise again. Look what the Apostle says. Romans 16 verse 19. He says, For your obedience has come abroad unto all men. I'm glad therefore on your behalf. Now look what the Apostle says. But yet I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple but concerning evil. So he wants us wise to that which is good and simple or naive concerning evil.

[John Weaver] Just stop and think about that. How many of us had much rather have lived our lives without hearing some things and knowing some things? You know, we can still be simple or naive in that sense of the word. Well, the point I'm trying to make is this, when Paul says in Romans 16 verse 19, but I would have you wise Concerning that which is good the word wise in Romans 16 in verse 19 is exactly the same word that you find in Ephesians 5 and verse 15 so God wants us to be wise and not foolish now Before I leave this thought I want to point out the fact that there are many Greek words that are brought directly from the Greek language into our English language and For instance our English word deacon It's straight from the Greek word deacon. It's spelled just a little differently, but the word is Transliterated and not translated because the word deacon just simply means a servant Okay Every hospital just about has a cardiac unit Cardia is the Greek word for heart and A lot of our medical terms are straight from the Greek as well.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you one. Everyone has heard the word sophomore. You have it in high school. You have it in college. The word sophomore is made up of two Greek words. Sophos, which means wise, and moros, Which means foolish or moron. So a sophomore is nothing more than a wise fool or a wise moron. I mean, it's just that simple. So when our Lord says, watch this, see that you walk circumspectly, not as morons, but as wise. In other words, our Lord does not want us to be stupid. He does not want us to be foolish. He wants us to be wise now in order to do that. We have to walk accurately now How do we do this? We'll look in verse 16 He says see them that you walk circumspectly not as fools, but as wise redeeming the time Because the days are evil Well, how in the world do we redeem the time now the Greek word for the word redeem?

[John Weaver] Here's X our garage Oh Now that word is translated redeemed four times in the New Testament, and it is used in reference to the redemption of Jesus Christ. But the word actually means to redeem by payment of a price, to recover from the power of another, to ransom, to buy off, or to buy up for oneself. So he tells us then that we must redeem the time. What does that mean? It means that we are to make wise and sacred use of our time, of every opportunity for doing well, and the zeal that we have in doing that is actually what you and I would call the payment price or the purchase money that we would exercise in redeeming the time. Now, let me talk about the word time. The Greek word, of course, is kairos, and it refers to a time. But it also refers to what you and I would call a season or an opportunity. We've said it's an opportune time or the time is seasonal. It means it's right. We all also understand this.

[John Weaver] There are seasons of opportunities. For instance, a farmer understands he harvests his crops in the fall. That's the harvest season. That's it. We don't harvest usually any time else, except maybe a garden in the spring, but as far as crops, it's usually in the fall.

[John Weaver] Now, although we can talk about the seasons in that sense of the word, we also have to understand that each of us have a limited time on this earth. Our life is seasonal. We can use this in reference to our lifespan. And I was raised on the farm and many of you were or at least were around farmers. And we all use this illustration. Let's make hay while the sun shines. Understanding, of course, that you can't make hay when it's raining.

[John Weaver] Well, that's exactly what our Lord is talking about here. In fact, he used another illustration in John chapter 9 in verse 4 when he said, I must work the work of him who has fit me while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work. So in this context, day is life and night is death. So we cannot go beyond our lifespan Everyone of us sitting here Wishes we could go back and relive our lives Knowing what we know now, but we can't So, we understand that there has to be a redeeming of the time.

[John Weaver] Now, he tells us why. He says, because the days are evil. Now, let me explain the word evil. The Greek word there is poneros. The word poneros is translated evil in our Bibles 51 times. It's translated wicked 10 times. It's translated wicked 1, 6 times, and evil things 2 times. So when he says redeeming time because the days are evil the word evil in one sense of the word Could refer to what you and I would call trials and tribulations perils pains Annoyances troubles, but in an ethical sense it refers to always that which is bad and evil You remember our Lord

[John Weaver] taught us to pray in Matthew 6 in verse 13 and lead us not into temptation But what? deliver us from evil Provide us the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen So how do we redeem the time because the days are evil? Well, I want you to turn to Psalm 90 whole Ephesians 5 Because Moses the man of God answers that question for us in Psalm 90. Let's begin reading there with verse 10 Psalm 90 and verse 10 watch what he says Psalm 90 verse 10 In this passage he says, the days of our years are three score years and ten, seventy, and if by reason of strength they be four score years, that's eighty, yet is their strength labor

[John Weaver] and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away. So, some die before seventy, the average is seventy, some lives beyond seventy, they'll make it in the eighties, some into their nineties. And a few hearty souls make it past a hundred. I showed Alice a little black lady that was on the internet. She just set a new world record in the hundred yard dash for her age group.

[John Weaver] And she was 100 years old. And from 80 to 100, and she set a new world record, and there she was doing push-ups and doing sit-ups, 100 years old! I thought, my goodness, she can outdo me. And I'm 30 years younger, but I mean, I just simply said, some make it. I never will forget, I was talking to a fellow who was in his 80s, years ago, and he was a very wealthy man, and he said to me, and I've never forgotten it, he said, it's too sad that when you're old enough to have it, there's not enough strength to enjoy it.

[John Weaver] And that's basically true, you know? So, you know, look at all the wisdom we have. The things that we know how to do, but we just can't do them anymore. So that's what Moses is talking about. Now, notice verse 11. I haven't finished. He says, Who knoweth the power of thine anger, even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. Now, in light of this fact, he says in verse 12, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Now when Moses says teach us the number of days, he's not saying give me a mathematical calculation as to how long you think we're going to live. He just told us we're going to make it 70 or 80 by God's grace if we live a normal average life. So I don't have to say how old you think I'm going to be before I die. I'm 70s, 80s. Who knows, you know. But, if he's not telling us a mathematical calculation, what in the world is he saying? He is saying, we need to make the most of each day that we have.

[John Weaver] You do not have yesterday. You cannot go back and undo anything that has been done except the repentance. That's all. You do not have tomorrow. Tomorrow has not yet come. The only day that you have is right now. So you make Use of this day you redeem this time by living godly by living obediently By living whole that by living a holy life by walking accurately by bringing your life into conformity To the rule and principle and precept of Scripture That's how you redeem the time now go back to a thesis chapter 5.

[John Weaver] I want you to watch this. I I want you to see how he reiterates everything that he just said. Watch. Verse 15. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Now watch. Wherefore be ye not unwise? But understanding what the will of the Lord is. Be ye not unwise. In other words, do not be moronic.

[John Weaver] Do not be a fool. If you're going to be wise, you must understand what the will of the Lord is. So my question would be this. Where do we understand God's will? And the answer is from this book. You remember what David said in Psalm 119, verses 9-11? He asked a question. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? Here's the answer. By taking heed thereto according to thy word, with my whole heart have I sought thee. Oh, let me not wander from thy commandment. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. So obviously, if we're going to redeem the time, if we're going to walk accurately and not as a fool, then we must walk according to God's Word by hiding His Word in our hearts.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you something. Literally, verse 17, Paul is given a command and he's literally saying, stop being unwise. But, You understand what the will of the Lord is. Ignorance of our duty and neglect of our souls are evidences of the greatest folly.

[John Weaver] On the other hand, knowing God and His will is the best and truest wisdom. Now let me tell you what Paul does. In the rest of this book, the book of Ephesians, Paul gives us some basic fundamentals. He does not give us a detailed, exhaustive list of what it means to be wise and what it means to redeem the time. But what he does is he hits the most basic and fundamental foundations and probably hits the areas in which you and I need this the absolute most.

[John Weaver] And I could spend a multitude of messages explaining these verses, and I've already done that in times past. Even when I dealt with the family, so but let me just show you I'm gonna try to make it very concise for you So the question you have to ask yourself is this how to walk accurately so far into walking accurately Means I'm not walking as a fool. I'm redeeming the time I'm understanding what the will of the Lord is.

[John Weaver] Well, how do we do this? well, first of all in verse 18, I He said, Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Now, notice if you would, be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. There is an analogy here that indicates a comparison and a contrast. There are stated similarities between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit, and yet at the same time there are extreme differences. So this could be an entire message showing how being drunk and being filled with the Spirit are synonymous, and then showing how that they could be absolutely different. But interestingly, and I hope you remember this, on the day of Pentecost, when Peter and all of those men were filled with the Spirit and began to preach and teach, They were accused of being drunk with new wine look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 2 Acts chapter 2 and Notice if you would beginning there with verse 12 Acts 2 and verse 12 So they've been filled with the Spirit and they're up preaching and teaching Acts 2 in verse 12 The Bible says, And they were all amazed, that is, all the people that heard them, and were in doubt, saying one to

[John Weaver] another, What meaneth this? And others mocking, saying, These men are full of new wine. In other words, they're drunk. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, You men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken as you suppose, seeing it but the third hour of the day, that is, nine in the morning.

[John Weaver] But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I'll pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and all my servants and all my handmaids I'll pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, fire, and vapor of smoke." So, they said, the problem with these men, they're just drunk. No. Peter said, they're not drunk.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to give you two quotes. One from Albert Barnes, and then one from John Gill. Both of these men are giving comments on, Be not drunk with wine, where it is excess, but be ye filled with the Spirit. Okay? Barnes is going to give you a negative, and Gill is going to give you a positive. So here's what Albert Barnes says. It is not improbable that in this verse there's an allusion to the origins of Bacchus or to the festivals celebrated in honor of that heathen god. He was the god of wine and during those festivals men and women regarded it as an acceptable act of worship to become intoxicated And with wild songs and cries to run through streets and fields and vineyards. So Bacchus is the god of wine.

[John Weaver] Bacchanalia was the festival and he was honored with extreme drunkenness and rivalry and fornication and everything else. Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, and he's saying it could refer to Bacchus, It could refer just to being drunk as well, but he said be filled with the Spirit. And here's what John Gill said about being filled with the Spirit. Believers may be said to be filled with the Spirit as with wine, or instead of it, or in opposition to it, when the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the Spirit, which is compared to wine for its antiquity, purity, and refreshing nature. And they are filled with it, talking about the Holy Spirit, who have a comfortable sense of it, and a firm persuasion of interest in it, and are delighted with the views of it, and are, as it were, inebriated with it. And they are filled with the Spirit, in whom His grace is a well of living water, and out of whose belly flow rivers of it, and who have a large measure of spiritual peace and joy expressed in the following manner, that is, walking in the Spirit."

[John Weaver] Now, here's what the Apostle is teaching us. If we're going to walk accurately, if we're going to be redeeming the time, we must learn to walk in the Spirit. Now, Lord willing, next Sunday, that is going to be the final message, what it means to walk in the Spirit. There's a lot of confusion. about that today, even being led by the Spirit. But obviously, he is saying that if we're going to be walking accurately, we're going to be walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, which I'll deal with next week.

[John Weaver] Now, notice if you would, verse 19. Here's another thing about walking accurately. He says, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

[John Weaver] Secondly, if we walk accurately, our music, our individually and corporately will be biblical and scriptural. Now, I want to point something out. In verse 19, when he says, speaking to yourself in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, that is the division of the book of Psalms. There are some psalms that are called psalms, some that are called hymns, and some that are called spiritual psalms. So actually what he's talking about here is singing scripture. So he says you speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

[John Weaver] In fact, we have psalters at the house and we've used those psalters over and over. Alice plays a lot of songs and has played a lot of songs and you look at Some of the Psalms are very easy great is the Lord and greatly be praised in the city of our God There's a song about him that's what he's talking about singing but notice what else he says He said in verse 19 singing making melody in your heart to the Lord hmm In other words, we're not singing the world's songs, we're singing the Lord's songs. In other words, we're not listening to the junk of the world. And that's exactly what most of it is, is junk.

[John Weaver] I stopped yesterday to fill the car up with gas. And Alice went in to pay so I could pump the gas. And here's this car, right next on the other side. was rap music blaring blasting I didn't even have my hearing aids in and I was trying to do this to Alice let her know the pump was not on not working and she kept coming closer and closer and closer and finally she got from here to Gary and I said she said is it on yet I said I can't hear a word you're saying because of that filthy wicked music next to me you know finally the girl shut the door you know it cut it down some until she got in and drove off But I'm not interested in hearing that stuff. Now, the point I'm trying to make is very simple. God's people don't sing that stuff. We don't sing those worldly songs. We sing to the Lord.

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. Have you ever sung to the Lord?

[John Weaver] Now, everyone in this room knows, that knows me, I can't sing. I can't carry a tune in a bucket. But a lot of times when I'm alone, I do sing, and I sing to the Lord. If I'm off key, wonderful, I don't care. He doesn't care. Because the Bible doesn't say make a joyful noise to the Lord. It may be noise, but that's okay. Sometimes I sing in the car, and Alice sits there and groans and bears it. I mean, you know. But that's alright too. I'm just saying, That's what he is talking about singing making melody in your heart to the Lord now I want you to listen to this Albert Barnes gives this quote on verse 19 speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Singing you make a melody in your heart to the Lord I want you to think about this listen what he says in praise of the Lord or address to him Singing is here meant is a direct and solemn act of worship.

[John Weaver] I and should be considered such as really as prayer. In singing we should regard ourselves as speaking directly to God and the words therefore should be spoken with a solemnity and all becoming such a direct address to the great Jehovah. Isn't that amazing? Have you ever stopped to think of singing as worship? And I'm not just talking about corporate singing. I'm talking about your individual songs that you sing to the Lord. It is worship. So if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to walk in the Spirit, and we're going to learn to sing the Psalms individually, and sing them unto the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, look if you would please at verse 20. Here's the third thing. If we're going to walk accurately, Then we will be continually giving thanks to our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ. He says, giving thanks always for all things unto God in the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we fail to give thanks, which we often do, it demonstrates the fact that we're truly ungrateful. It is our duty. It is our obligation. to be thankful to each other as well as to the Lord, particularly unto the Lord. I tell people I'm thankful for every gift that I've ever received. I am thankful. And if I have the opportunity, I thank the individual who gave me the gift. But look how many times we take gifts from God and never thank Him.

[John Weaver] Our life, our health, our protection, our provision, our preservation. He said in everything, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I've had people ask me, but how can I give thanks when I've just lost my husband? How can I give thanks when I just lost my wife or my child? And the answer is very simple. You can give thanks unto God for the time that God allowed you to have them and enjoy them. Brother McCurry lost his wife Evelyn after 67 years. Don't you know? That was very difficult and still is difficult. Gene and Norma have been married 60 years. Y'all been married how long? 59. 59.

[John Weaver] You see what I'm saying? There's so much to be thankful for. Even a child. Even a child that's taken at a young age, we can still be thankful the Lord allowed us to have the child. So, in everything give thanks, he says, for this is the will of God. Christ Jesus now I Want you to understand something that giving thanks Is also an act of worship And that amazing I want to read some scriptures to you listen carefully 2nd Samuel 22 verse 50 I Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name." Now watch, here giving of thanks and singing of praises are joined together. Both are worship. 1st Chronicles 16 and verse 8, Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds unto the people. Give thanks unto the Lord.

[John Weaver] And you're doing so publicly. First Chronicles 16 verses 34 and 35 Oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth forever and say ye Save us Oh God of our salvation and gather us together and deliver us from the heathen that we may give thanks to my holy name and glory in thy praise so here You have thanks and prayer going together, petition, begging God for salvation.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to notice, if you would please, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 18. The Bible says, In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In everything. Wow. That's exactly what he tells us and then in Hebrews 13 verse 15 by him that is by Jesus Christ Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is a fruit of our lips giving. Thanks to his name and once again, the book of Psalms is full of praise and thanksgiving unto God for his grace and mercy so we should only sing the Psalms and We should use them to excite us to thank and praise the Lord.

[John Weaver] So if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to walk in the Spirit. We're going to sing unto the Lord. We're going to give thanks unto the Lord. And then if you look in verse 21, fourthly, if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to be walking in submission. He said, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Let me emphasize that. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Do you understand there is no one that can walk independently. There is no one that can walk unsubmissively. The general principle is set down in verse 21, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

[John Weaver] I can say, Steve would have to submit to me when it comes to my teaching the scripture. But I would have to submit to him when it came to anything mechanical, because I don't know anything mechanical. You follow me? Listen to what John Calvin wrote. This is important. Listen carefully. He says, God has bound us so strongly to each other that no man ought to endeavor to avoid subjection.

[John Weaver] And where love reigns, mutual services will be rendered. I do not accept even kings and governors whose very authority is held for the service of the community. It is highly proper that all should be exhorted to be subject to each other in their turn." What's he saying? There is a proper submission for everyone.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11, in this passage, God gives us his established order. There is an orderly way that God has ordained for us to live. And that orderly way is based upon submission. So you will find this in 1 Corinthians 11, and look if you would please at verse 3. Here God says it like this, But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ. And the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.

[John Weaver] Now, so let me draw it out for you. Here it is. Here is God, who is the absolute head, God the Father, under Him is God the Son, under Him is man, and under Him is the woman. You say, I don't like that. Well, I'm sorry. That's the way God ordained it. That's the way God set it up. The woman is to be in submission to the man, but I've got news for you. When you read also in 1 Corinthians 11, you'll find that the man is nothing without the woman. Now, I might be the head of my house, but I'm going to tell you there are times I submit to Alice. I submit to her and her cooking. I submit to her and her house cleaning. I submit to her when she tells me what needs to be done around certain... because that's not my field. I'm just saying, you know, there is a proper submission to each one. Now, God has this established order. Someone says, well, I think it's bad that the woman should be in submission to the man.

[John Weaver] I got news for you, it's not bad, it's good. Because the man is to be in submission to Jesus Christ. Everyone is to be in submission. Jesus Christ himself was not only in submission to his Heavenly Father, but listen to this, as a child, Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, and Jesus Christ was just as much God when He was born of that virgin and in that stable, in that manger, He was just as much God then as He was when He got grown.

[John Weaver] And do you realize, in Luke chapter 2, when He was 12, The family sought him, and they found him in the temple, hearing and answering questions from all those scribes. And his mother said, Son, we've sought thee sorrowing. And he said, Wist you not that I must be about my father's business? And then verse 51 tells us this, And he went down with them, that is Mary and Joseph, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. And his mother kept all these things in her heart.

[John Weaver] Jesus Christ who is God was in submission to his creatures whom he created. They were his mother and father and he submitted to them. So there's nothing wrong with submission. It's God's orderly way.

[John Weaver] Now in order to walk accurately submission in every relation of life. One of the greatest tragedies in our day is that rebellion is evidenced in our daily lives. Our personal lives are wrecked, our families are devastated, our churches are hotbeds of antinomianism, and our government is an open defiance and rebellion to God, covenants, and men. It's everywhere you look. Nobody wants to be in submission. Well, Paul, if you look in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul goes on and he says in verses 22 through 24, tells the wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord. And then he tells you why. He says, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Verse 24. Therefore the church is subject unto Christ, so that the wives be their husbands in everything. In other words, the wife is required to be in submission to her husband. Why? Because the husband has been constituted the head. Why? Because the husband represents Jesus Christ, and the wife represents the church.

[John Weaver] And just like the church is to be in submission to Jesus Christ and everything, so is the wife to be in submission to her husband. In other words, God has ordained the marital picture to be a picture of the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ. You say, well, what about the husbands? Well, skip down to verse 25. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.

[John Weaver] And then he tells you why. The husband is to be in submission to Jesus Christ. It's easy for a wife to be in submission to a husband who loves her the way Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. It's just that simple. You can go right on down and you can see how God requires The husbands to be in submission as well. Then when you look at chapter 6 verses 1 through 3. Children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right.

[John Weaver] Honor thy father and thy mother which is the first commandment of the promise. That it may be well with thee that thou mayest live long on the earth. God requires children to be in submission to their parents. Isn't that amazing? No one escapes submission. Each man Has its own sphere of submission now Let me point something else out skip down to verse 5 let's go and begin their servants and You might as well When you see the word servants here go ahead and say it slaves slaves Be obedient to them that are your masters, according to

[John Weaver] the flesh, with fear and trembling, and singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. Not would I service as men pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And you masters, Do the same thing unto them. Forbearing threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is a respective person with him." So I want you to note in this passage God is no abolitionist. God demands that slaves be in subjection to their masters and to serve them not as a man pleaser but as pleasing unto the Lord and doing the will of God. But He also at the same time enjoins the masters To be in submission to Him. And He reminds the masters, look, you have slaves? You have servants? Wonderful.

[John Weaver] You're my slave and you're my servant. You mistreat yours, I'll take care of you. Isn't that interesting? So God is here saying, they have a master as well, And he will regard them as they regard their servants. So the general meaning of this passage is simply this. Christianity does not break up the relations of life. It does not produce disorder, lawlessness, and insubordination. But rather it conforms and confirms proper authority, and it really and truly lightens every just and proper yoke. So, it lightens the yoke of the child in submission, the wife in submission, the husband in submission, and even lightens the yoke of the slaves that are to be in submission.

[John Weaver] So, infidelity is that which destroys and disorganizes. Christianity does not do that. The only workable, sensible, and rational order is God's order. Everything else devolves into chaos. You remember that passage in Proverbs 18 verse 36 where our Lord said, all they that hate me love death. Do you want to know what's wrong with individual lives? They love death. What's wrong with the families? They love death. What's wrong with the church? They love death. What's wrong with the government, societies? They love death. If we love life, we would follow God's orderly way.

[John Weaver] And fifthly, very quickly, if we walk accurately, we walk in the whole armor of God. Look in verse 10. He says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, wherefore taking you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, and therefore having your loins girded out with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fire darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword

[John Weaver] of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying with all ways, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Now, the thing is this, if we're going to walk accurately, we must walk with the armor of God. We can't live without it. We have enemies. We have enemies who wish to destroy our souls, our spirituality. He says, arm yourselves with the armor that I've provided for you. And since we only have a day, we're to do this daily. It's a daily thing. Sixthly, very quickly, if we walk accurately, We learn to pray for each other and for God's preachers as well.

[John Weaver] Now go back to verse 18, the latter part. He says in watching there into all perseverance and supplication for all what? Saints. Now watch verse 19. And as for me, Paul says you generally pray for everybody but specifically pray for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I'm an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. So he says if we're going to walk accurately we learn to pray for each other and specifically for God's preachers.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you, I always tell people I appreciate all prayers. But do you realize there are times that I appreciate prayers more than others? I really appreciate prayers when I'm in the den of lions. There are times that are far more dangerous than others. There are preaching situations that are far more difficult than others. And this is what Paul is talking about. Paul says, I want boldness to preach and declare the Word of God. Pray for me. Remember that. And then he says, if you want to know anything about me, I'm going to send Titius to you. He can tell you everything that you need to know.

[John Weaver] So he tells us that we've got to walk accurately. Now, my question is this. How do we apply this? Well, stop and think about this. As Christians, we're not talking about unbelievers now, but as Christians, We may either walk as fools or we may walk as wise. We can be morons or we can be wise men. If we choose to walk as morons, we're going to bring the chastisement and the judgment of God upon us, as well as bringing shame in our lives. If we choose to walk as wise men, then we know what the will of God is. We walk accurately in that will. We do that will submitting to God and God alone.

[John Weaver] The second application is akin to this. We must examine every area of our lives and each relationship to determine whether or not we're wise and foolish in that relationship. As Christians, we cannot say, well, we're wrong in every area. No, we're not wrong in every area. There are some areas that we're right in, but there are some areas that may be questionable. Well, examine those areas. Say, what can I do more to be more biblical, more godly, more holy, more obedient, more submissive, more conformed to the Word of God? I tell people, and I do not mind telling you this, there are certain requests, certain petitions that I usually pray every day. And that is one of my petitions. I ask the Lord to make me more holy, more godly, more obedient, more submissive, and more conformed to His Word.

[John Weaver] You can't walk accurately without that. And the more conformed you are, the more accurately you can walk according to His Word. So, when the apostle says, see them that you walk circumspectly, see them that you walk accurately, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore he said, be you not unwise, but be wise, understanding what the will of the Lord is. Walk accurately. And the only way you're going to walk accurately is walking according to the scripture.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word, your truth, your grace, your mercy. We do pray, Lord, that you would help us to be accurate in our walking, that you'd make us more holy and more godly and more obedient, more submissive and more conformed to your word. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

Walking With God - 11

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	1123161324481
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: Remember Lot And His Wife
Genre	Sermon
Date	2016-05-08
Dictation Name
Book	Book 146: Walking With God — Chapter 11
Source Timed Segments	71

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Reading of Ephesians 5

Weaver introduces the 11th part of the series and reads Ephesians 5:15-33, setting the stage for the command to walk circumspectly.

To the book of Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, this is going to be the 11th part in our series "Walking with the Lord." Hopefully I'm going to be able to get just one more message to finish this series. And I think you could see as we read Ephesians chapter 5 there could be a multitude of messages, but I'm going to try to do this very concisely for us. So let's begin reading in Ephesians 5 in verse 15. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Ephesians 5:15-33

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are the members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence the husband."

So today we're going to begin another truth in walking with the Lord. We've seen what it means to walk before the Lord, what it means to walk in faith, what it means to walk worthily, what it means to walk differently, what it means to walk in love, what it means to walk in light, and now today where God commends us to walk accurately when

The Meaning of Walking Circumspectly

Explains the Greek words 'blepō' (take heed) and 'akribōs' (accurately, diligently), and the Latin root of 'circumspectly' meaning to look around and avoid danger.

He says in verse 15, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." The word "see" is the Greek word blepō, which literally is a verb and simply means "I see." However, it is translated in our Bibles as "take heed" 12 times. It can also mean "beware" or "beware of." So actually, the apostle is saying in verse 15, "Take heed then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." Now, the Greek word for "circumspectly" is the word akribōs. It means literally to walk diligently, to walk exactly, to walk accurately, and to walk circumspectly. Now, our English word "circumspectly" actually is from the Latin word circumspectio, and it literally signifies to look around, to be aware of your surroundings, to use caution, to avoid danger, and to make sure that your enemies do not surprise you or come too nigh, and that you use every possible means to secure your interests by lawful means. So, the word "circumspect" then, of course, has that significance. So, what the apostle is telling us, literally in verse 15, is that we who have received the truth must be careful of our conduct. We must walk by the rule which God has given to us in every situation, in every circumstance, and we're to make sure that we exemplify biblical principles in our lives.

So for the child of God, it is not sufficient for you and I just simply to claim the promises of God. We must live by the precepts and the principles in the Word of God as well. And so, the apostle is telling us that we have to live our lives in such a way that our enemies may never say that our doctrines and our lives are unholy and empty.

Not as Fools, but as Wise

Contrasts the fool (asophos) who despises wisdom with the wise (sophos) who are skilled in knowledge, using Proverbs and Hebrews 5:13-14.

So, when you look at verse 15, actually it is a warning, it is a "take heed" verse. And so the apostle is telling us that we must take heed that we walk accurately. Now there's no need to take heed in heaven because everything is perfect there. But while we're on earth, there is a great deal that we must take heed and beware of. And so the apostle is telling us that we have to beware of every situation. You have to remember the truth that the apostle Paul enunciated in Galatians 6 and verse 16 when he said this,

Scripture Reading — Galatians 6:16

"And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be upon them and mercy upon the Israel of God." And

remember I told you in times past that the word "rule" there is the Greek word kanōn. It's where we get our English word "canon," C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N.

That's the kind that shoots. But we talk about the Old Testament canon or the New Testament canon or the canon of Scripture. And so the word kanōn in the Greek literally means a measuring stick, measuring rod, or what you and I would call our yardstick or just simply the measuring stick. So the apostle is saying then peace be upon those—and he tells you the Israel of God is—and that is those who walk according to this rule, that is the Scripture, because the Scripture is indeed our rule for faith. Now interestingly, if you look at verse 15, when he tells you to take heed, he gives you a negative and he gives you a positive. He says, "Take heed then" or "See then that you walk circumspectly" or accurately. Here's the negative: "not as fools, but as wise." So he tells us that we're not to walk as fools. Fools do not walk accurately. Now, I could multiply scriptures when it comes to the subject of fools, but let me just quote some just to show you when he is telling us not to walk as fools.

For instance, in Proverbs 1 in verse 7, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and knowledge."

So, what's a fool? He's someone who will not listen, someone who will not hear, someone who will not heed. When you get to Proverbs 1 in verse 22, "How long then, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge." So again, fools hate knowledge. In Proverbs 13 and verse 19, the Bible says that "a desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil." So a fool, then, is someone who will not listen, he will not learn, he will not depart from evil. He's going to do what he wants to do regardless. Proverbs 13 and verse 20, the Bible said, "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." So if we want to be wise, we need to walk with wise men. If we want to be destroyed, we need to walk with fools.

Proverbs 14 in verse 8, "The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his ways, but the folly of fools is deceit." And then when you get to Proverbs 14 in verse 9, the Bible says, "Fools make a mock at sin, but among the righteous there is favor." So fools make a mockery even of sin. Now, interestingly, when he tells us in verse 15, "See then that you walk circumspectly" or accurately, "not as fools, but as wise," the word for "fools" is the simple Greek word asophos. And it just simply means foolish or unwise. Now if you will look at the word "wise," the Greek word there is sophos. I hope you understand asophos and sophos. They sound alike and they are exactly alike except the word for fool has an alpha in front of it or an "a" that always negates the word. So you have then someone who is a fool, someone who is unwise, and you have someone who is wise. Now, let me point out, the word "wise" refers to someone who is skilled, someone who is an expert in knowledge. I want you to hold Ephesians 5, but look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 5. Let me show you how the apostle in verses 13 and 14 describes a wise man without even using the word "wise." So Hebrews chapter 5 verse 13, the Scripture says, "For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe." Notice that word "unskillful." Now look at verse 14.

"But strong meat belong to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." So a foolish man is unskillful. He's unwise. He does not have his senses exercised to discern good and evil. Obviously, the Word of God is telling us that we are not to walk as fools, but as wise.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 16 and look in verse 19. Romans 16 and verse 19. You're going to see the word "wise" again. Look what the apostle says. Romans 16 verse 19. He says, "For your obedience has come abroad unto all men. I'm glad therefore on your behalf." Now look what the apostle says. "But yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:19

" So he wants us wise to that which is good and simple or naive concerning evil.

Redeeming the Time

Defines 'redeeming' (exagorazō) as buying up opportunities, and 'time' (kairos) as season or opportunity, urging wise use of limited days because the days are evil.

Just stop and think about that. How many of us had much rather have lived our lives without hearing some things and knowing some things? You know, we can still be simple or naive in that sense of the word. Well, the point I'm trying to make is this: when Paul says in Romans 16 verse 19,

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:19

"but I would have you wise concerning that which is good,"

the word "wise" in Romans 16 in verse 19 is exactly the same word that you find in Ephesians 5 and verse 15. So God wants us to be wise and not foolish. Now, before I leave this thought, I want to point out the fact that there are many Greek words that are brought directly from the Greek language into our English language. For instance, our English word "deacon"—it's straight from the Greek word diakonos. It's spelled just a little differently, but the word is transliterated and not translated because the word "deacon" just simply means a servant. Okay. Every hospital just about has a cardiac unit. Kardia is the Greek word for heart. And a lot of our medical terms are straight from the Greek as well.

Now, let me give you one. Everyone has heard the word "sophomore." You have it in high school. You have it in college. The word "sophomore" is made up of two Greek words: sophos, which means wise, and mōros, which means foolish or moron. So a sophomore is nothing more than a wise fool or a wise moron. I mean, it's just that simple. So when our Lord says—watch this—"See that you walk circumspectly, not as morons, but as wise." In other words, our Lord does not want us to be stupid. He does not want us to be foolish. He wants us to be wise. Now in order to do that, we have to walk accurately. Now how do we do this? We'll look in verse 16. He says, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Well, how in the world do we redeem the time? Now the Greek word for the word "redeem"

here is exagorazō. Now that word is translated "redeemed" four times in the New Testament, and it is used in reference to the redemption of Jesus Christ. But the word actually means to redeem by payment of a price, to recover from the power of another, to ransom, to buy off, or to buy up for oneself. So he tells us then that we must redeem the time. What does that mean? It means that we are to make wise and sacred use of our time, of every opportunity for doing well, and the zeal that we have in doing that is actually what you and I would call the payment price or the purchase money that we would exercise in redeeming the time. Now, let me talk about the word "time." The Greek word, of course, is kairos, and it refers to a time. But it also refers to what you and I would call a season or an opportunity. We've said it's an opportune time or the time is seasonal. It means it's right. We all also understand this.

There are seasons of opportunities. For instance, a farmer understands he harvests his crops in the fall. That's the harvest season. That's it. We don't harvest usually any time else, except maybe a garden in the spring, but as far as crops, it's usually in the fall.

Now, although we can talk about the seasons in that sense of the word, we also have to understand that each of us have a limited time on this earth. Our life is seasonal. We can use this in reference to our lifespan. And I was raised on the farm and many of you were or at least were around farmers. And we all use this illustration: "Let's make hay while the sun shines." Understanding, of course, that you can't make hay when it's raining. Well, that's exactly what our Lord is talking about here. In fact, He used another illustration in John chapter 9 in verse 4 when He said,

Scripture Reading — John 9:4

"I must work the work of Him who has sent Me while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work."

So in this context, day is life and night is death. So we cannot go beyond our lifespan. Everyone of us sitting here wishes we could go back and relive our lives knowing what we know now, but we can't. So, we understand that there has to be a redeeming of the time.

Now, he tells us why. He says, "because the days are evil." Now, let me explain the word "evil." The Greek word there is ponēros. The word ponēros is translated "evil" in our Bibles 51 times. It's translated "wicked" 10 times. It's translated "wicked one" 6 times, and "evil things" 2 times. So when he says "redeeming time because the days are evil," the word "evil" in one sense of the word could refer to what you and I would call trials and tribulations, perils, pains, annoyances, troubles, but in an ethical sense it refers to always that which is bad and evil. You remember our Lord

taught us to pray in Matthew 6 in verse 13,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 6:13

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

So how do we redeem the time because the days are evil? Well, I want you to turn to Psalm 90 while holding Ephesians 5, because Moses the man of God answers that question for us in Psalm 90. Let's begin reading there with verse 10. Psalm 90 and verse 10, watch what he says. Psalm 90 verse 10. In this passage he says, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten," seventy, "and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years," that's eighty, "yet is their strength labor

and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away." So, some die before seventy, the average is seventy, some live beyond seventy, they'll make it in the eighties, some into their nineties. And a few hearty souls make it past a hundred. I showed Alice a little black lady that was on the internet. She just set a new world record in the hundred yard dash for her age group. And she was 100 years old. And from 80 to 100, and she set a new world record, and there she was doing push-ups and doing sit-ups, 100 years old! I thought, my goodness, she can outdo me. And I'm 30 years younger, but I mean, I just simply said, some make it. I never will forget, I was talking to a fellow who was in his 80s, years ago, and he was a very wealthy man, and he said to me, and I've never forgotten it, he said, "It's too sad that when you're old enough to have it, there's not enough strength to enjoy it."

And that's basically true, you know? So, you know, look at all the wisdom we have. The things that we know how to do, but we just can't do them anymore. So that's what Moses is talking about. Now, notice verse 11. I haven't finished. He says, "Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath." Now, in light of this fact, he says in verse 12, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Now when Moses says "teach us to number our days," he's not saying give me a mathematical calculation as to how long you think we're going to live. He just told us we're going to make it 70 or 80 by God's grace if we live a normal average life. So I don't have to say how old you think I'm going to be before I die. I'm 70s, 80s. Who knows, you know. But, if he's not telling us a mathematical calculation, what in the world is he saying? He is saying, we need to make the most of each day that we have.

You do not have yesterday. You cannot go back and undo anything that has been done except the repentance. That's all. You do not have tomorrow. Tomorrow has not yet come. The only day that you have is right now. So you make use of this day. You redeem this time by living godly, by living obediently, by living holy, by living a holy life, by walking accurately, by bringing your life into conformity to the rule and principle and precept of Scripture. That's how you redeem the time. Now go back to Ephesians chapter 5.

Understanding the Will of the Lord

Commands to stop being unwise and to understand God's will through Scripture, referencing Psalm 119:9-11.

I want you to watch this. I want you to see how he reiterates everything that he just said. Watch. Verse 15: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Now watch. "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." "Be ye not unwise." In other words, do not be moronic. Do not be a fool. If you're going to be wise, you must understand what the will of the Lord is. So my question would be this: Where do we understand God's will? And the answer is from this book. You remember what David said in Psalm 119, verses 9-11? He asked a question:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 119:9-11

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" Here's the answer: "By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandment. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee."

So obviously, if we're going to redeem the time, if we're going to walk accurately and not as a fool, then we must walk according to God's Word by hiding His Word in our hearts.

Now, I want to show you something. Literally, verse 17, Paul is giving a command and he's literally saying, "Stop being unwise. But, you understand what the will of the Lord is." Ignorance of our duty and neglect of our souls are evidences of the greatest folly. On the other hand, knowing God and His will is the best and truest wisdom. Now let me tell you what Paul does. In the rest of this book, the book of Ephesians, Paul gives us some basic fundamentals. He does not give us a detailed, exhaustive list of what it means to be wise and what it means to redeem the time. But what he does is he hits the most basic and fundamental foundations and probably hits the areas in which you and I need this the absolute most.

Walking in the Spirit vs. Drunkenness

Compares being filled with the Spirit to being drunk with wine, noting similarities and differences, and cites Acts 2 and commentators Barnes and Gill.

And I could spend a multitude of messages explaining these verses, and I've already done that in times past, even when I dealt with the family. So but let me just show you, I'm gonna try to make it very concise for you. So the question you have to ask yourself is this: how to walk accurately. So far into walking accurately means I'm not walking as a fool. I'm redeeming the time. I'm understanding what the will of the Lord is. Well, how do we do this? Well, first of all in verse 18, he said, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit." Now, notice if you would, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit." There is an analogy here that indicates a comparison and a contrast. There are stated similarities between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit, and yet at the same time there are extreme differences. So this could be an entire message showing how being drunk and being filled with the Spirit are synonymous, and then showing how that they could be absolutely different. But interestingly, and I hope you remember this, on the day of Pentecost, when Peter and all of those men were filled with the Spirit and began to preach and teach, they were accused of being drunk with new wine. Look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. And notice if you would beginning there with verse 12. Acts 2 and verse 12. So they've been filled with the Spirit and they're up preaching and teaching. Acts 2 in verse 12. The Bible says, "And they were all amazed," that is, all the people that heard them, "and were in doubt, saying one to

another, 'What meaneth this?' And others mocking, saying, 'These men are full of new wine.'" In other words, they're drunk. "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, 'You men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken as you suppose, seeing it but the third hour of the day,'" that is, nine in the morning. "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I'll pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants and on my handmaids I'll pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, fire, and vapor of smoke.'" So, they said, "The problem with these men, they're just drunk." No. Peter said, "They're not drunk."

Now, I want to give you two quotes. One from Albert Barnes, and then one from John Gill. Both of these men are giving comments on, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be ye filled with the Spirit." Okay? Barnes is going to give you a negative, and Gill is going to give you a positive. So here's what Albert Barnes says: "It is not improbable that in this verse there's an allusion to the origins of Bacchus or to the festivals celebrated in honor of that heathen god. He was the god of wine and during those festivals men and women regarded it as an acceptable act of worship to become intoxicated and with wild songs and cries to run through streets and fields and vineyards." So Bacchus is the god of wine.

Bacchanalia was the festival and he was honored with extreme drunkenness and revelry and fornication and everything else. "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess," and he's saying it could refer to Bacchus. It could refer just to being drunk as well, but he said "be filled with the Spirit." And here's what John Gill said about being filled with the Spirit: "Believers may be said to be filled with the Spirit as with wine, or instead of it, or in opposition to it, when the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the Spirit, which is compared to wine for its antiquity, purity, and refreshing nature. And they are filled with it," talking about the Holy Spirit, "who have a comfortable sense of it, and a firm persuasion of interest in it, and are delighted with the views of it, and are, as it were, inebriated with it. And they are filled with the Spirit, in whom His grace is a well of living water, and out of whose belly flow rivers of it, and who have a large measure of spiritual peace and joy expressed in the following manner," that is, walking in the Spirit.

Now, here's what the apostle is teaching us. If we're going to walk accurately, if we're going to be redeeming the time, we must learn to walk in the Spirit. Now, Lord willing, next Sunday, that is going to be the final message, what it means to walk in the Spirit. There's a lot of confusion about that today, even being led by the Spirit. But obviously, he is saying that if we're going to be walking accurately, we're going to be walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, which I'll deal with next week.

Now, notice if you would, verse 19. Here's another thing about walking accurately. He says, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."

Singing Psalms and Giving Thanks

Walking accurately involves singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs as worship, and giving thanks always for all things.

Secondly, if we walk accurately, our music, individually and corporately, will be biblical and scriptural. Now, I want to point something out. In verse 19, when he says, "speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs," that is the division of the book of Psalms. There are some psalms that are called psalms, some that are called hymns, and some that are called spiritual songs. So actually what he's talking about here is singing Scripture. So he says you speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. In fact, we have psalters at the house and we've used those psalters over and over. Alice plays a lot of songs and has played a lot of songs and you look at some of the Psalms are very easy. "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God." There's a song about Him. That's what he's talking about singing. But notice what else he says. He said in verse 19, "singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Hmm. In other words, we're not singing the world's songs, we're singing the Lord's songs. In other words, we're not listening to the junk of the world. And that's exactly what most of it is, is junk.

I stopped yesterday to fill the car up with gas. And Alice went in to pay so I could pump the gas. And here's this car, right next on the other side, was rap music blaring, blasting. I didn't even have my hearing aids in and I was trying to do this to Alice to let her know the pump was not on, not working, and she kept coming closer and closer and closer and finally she got from here to Gary and I said—she said, "Is it on yet?" I said, "I can't hear a word you're saying because of that filthy wicked music next to me." You know, finally the girl shut the door, you know, it cut it down some until she got in and drove off. But I'm not interested in hearing that stuff. Now, the point I'm trying to make is very simple. God's people don't sing that stuff. We don't sing those worldly songs. We sing to the Lord.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever sung to the Lord? Now, everyone in this room knows, that knows me, I can't sing. I can't carry a tune in a bucket. But a lot of times when I'm alone, I do sing, and I sing to the Lord. If I'm off key, wonderful, I don't care. He doesn't care. Because the Bible doesn't say "make a joyful noise to the Lord." It may be noise, but that's okay. Sometimes I sing in the car, and Alice sits there and groans and bears it. I mean, you know. But that's alright too. I'm just saying, that's what he is talking about: singing, making melody in your heart to the Lord. Now I want you to listen to this. Albert Barnes gives this quote on verse 19: "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." I want you to think about this. Listen what he says: "In praise of the Lord or address to Him, singing is here meant as a direct and solemn act of worship.

And should be considered such as really as prayer. In singing we should regard ourselves as speaking directly to God and the words therefore should be spoken with a solemnity and all becoming such a direct address to the great Jehovah." Isn't that amazing? Have you ever stopped to think of singing as worship? And I'm not just talking about corporate singing. I'm talking about your individual songs that you sing to the Lord. It is worship. So if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to walk in the Spirit, and we're going to learn to sing the Psalms individually, and sing them unto the Lord.

Now, look if you would please at verse 20. Here's the third thing. If we're going to walk accurately, then we will be continually giving thanks to our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ. He says, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." When we fail to give thanks, which we often do, it demonstrates the fact that we're truly ungrateful. It is our duty. It is our obligation to be thankful to each other as well as to the Lord, particularly unto the Lord. I tell people I'm thankful for every gift that I've ever received. I am thankful. And if I have the opportunity, I thank the individual who gave me the gift. But look how many times we take gifts from God and never thank Him.

Our life, our health, our protection, our provision, our preservation. He said in everything, "giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." I've had people ask me, "But how can I give thanks when I've just lost my husband? How can I give thanks when I just lost my wife or my child?" And the answer is very simple. You can give thanks unto God for the time that God allowed you to have them and enjoy them. Brother McCurry lost his wife Evelyn after 67 years. Don't you know that was very difficult and still is difficult. Gene and Norma have been married 60 years. Y'all been married how long? 59. 59.

You see what I'm saying? There's so much to be thankful for. Even a child. Even a child that's taken at a young age, we can still be thankful the Lord allowed us to have the child. So, "in everything give thanks," he says, "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus." Now I want you to understand something: that giving thanks is also an act of worship. And that's amazing. I want to read some scriptures to you. Listen carefully. 2 Samuel 22 verse 50: "Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name." Now watch, here giving of thanks and singing of praises are joined together. Both are worship. 1 Chronicles 16 and verse 8: "Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds unto the people." Give thanks unto the Lord.

And you're doing so publicly. 1 Chronicles 16 verses 34 and 35: "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever. And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise." So here you have thanks and prayer going together, petition, begging God for salvation. Now I want you to notice, if you would please, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 18. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 5:18

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

In everything. Wow. That's exactly what he tells us. And then in Hebrews 13 verse 15: "By him"—that is by Jesus Christ—"therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." And once again, the book of Psalms is full of praise and thanksgiving unto God for his grace and mercy. So we should only sing the Psalms and we should use them to excite us to thank and praise the Lord.

Submitting to One Another

Explains the general principle of mutual submission in the fear of God, and the specific biblical order: God, Christ, man, woman, with applications to wives, husbands, children, and servants.

So if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to walk in the Spirit. We're going to sing unto the Lord. We're going to give thanks unto the Lord. And then if you look in verse 21, fourthly, if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to be walking in submission. He said, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Let me emphasize that. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Do you understand there is no one that can walk independently? There is no one that can walk unsubmissively. The general principle is set down in verse 21: "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

I can say, Steve would have to submit to me when it comes to my teaching the Scripture. But I would have to submit to him when it came to anything mechanical, because I don't know anything mechanical. You follow me? Listen to what John Calvin wrote. This is important. Listen carefully. He says, "God has bound us so strongly to each other that no man ought to endeavor to avoid subjection.

And where love reigns, mutual services will be rendered. I do not accept even kings and governors whose very authority is held for the service of the community. It is highly proper that all should be exhorted to be subject to each other in their turn." What's he saying? There is a proper submission for everyone.

Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11, in this passage, God gives us His established order. There is an orderly way that God has ordained for us to live. And that orderly way is based upon submission. So you will find this in 1 Corinthians 11, and look if you would please at verse 3. Here God says it like this:

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 11:3

"But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God."

Now, so let me draw it out for you. Here it is. Here is God, who is the absolute head, God the Father. Under Him is God the Son. Under Him is man. And under Him is the woman. You say, "I don't like that." Well, I'm sorry. That's the way God ordained it. That's the way God set it up. The woman is to be in submission to the man, but I've got news for you. When you read also in 1 Corinthians 11, you'll find that the man is nothing without the woman. Now, I might be the head of my house, but I'm going to tell you there are times I submit to Alice. I submit to her and her cooking. I submit to her and her house cleaning. I submit to her when she tells me what needs to be done around certain... because that's not my field. I'm just saying, you know, there is a proper submission to each one. Now, God has this established order. Someone says, "Well, I think it's bad that the woman should be in submission to the man."

I got news for you, it's not bad, it's good. Because the man is to be in submission to Jesus Christ. Everyone is to be in submission. Jesus Christ Himself was not only in submission to His Heavenly Father, but listen to this: as a child, Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, and Jesus Christ was just as much God when He was born of that virgin and in that stable, in that manger, He was just as much God then as He was when He got grown. And do you realize, in Luke chapter 2, when He was 12, the family sought Him, and they found Him in the temple, hearing and answering questions from all those scribes. And His mother said, "Son, we've sought thee sorrowing." And He said, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" And then verse 51 tells us this:

Scripture Reading — Luke 2:51

"And He went down with them,"

that is Mary and Joseph,

Scripture Reading — Luke 2:51

"and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. And His mother kept all these things in her heart."

Jesus Christ who is God was in submission to His creatures whom He created. They were His mother and father and He submitted to them. So there's nothing wrong with submission. It's God's orderly way.

Now in order to walk accurately, submission in every relation of life. One of the greatest tragedies in our day is that rebellion is evidenced in our daily lives. Our personal lives are wrecked, our families are devastated, our churches are hotbeds of antinomianism, and our government is in open defiance and rebellion to God, covenants, and men. It's everywhere you look. Nobody wants to be in submission. Well, Paul, if you look in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul goes on and he says in verses 22 through 24, tells the wives, "Submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord." And then he tells you why. He says, "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body." Verse 24: "Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." In other words, the wife is required to be in submission to her husband. Why? Because the husband has been constituted the head. Why? Because the husband represents Jesus Christ, and the wife represents the church.

And just like the church is to be in submission to Jesus Christ in everything, so is the wife to be in submission to her husband. In other words, God has ordained the marital picture to be a picture of the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ. You say, "Well, what about the husbands?" Well, skip down to verse 25. "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it." And then he tells you why. The husband is to be in submission to Jesus Christ. It's easy for a wife to be in submission to a husband who loves her the way Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. It's just that simple. You can go right on down and you can see how God requires the husbands to be in submission as well. Then when you look at chapter 6 verses 1 through 3: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." God requires children to be in submission to their parents. Isn't that amazing? No one escapes submission. Each man has its own sphere of submission. Now let me point something else out. Skip down to verse 5. Let's go and begin there: "Servants," and you might as well when you see the word "servants" here go ahead and say it, "slaves." "Slaves, be obedient to them that are your masters, according to

the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And you masters, do the same thing unto them, forbearing threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with Him." So I want you to note in this passage God is no abolitionist. God demands that slaves be in subjection to their masters and to serve them not as a man-pleaser but as pleasing unto the Lord and doing the will of God. But He also at the same time enjoins the masters to be in submission to Him. And He reminds the masters, "Look, you have slaves? You have servants? Wonderful.

You're My slave and you're My servant. You mistreat yours, I'll take care of you." Isn't that interesting? So God is here saying, they have a Master as well, and He will regard them as they regard their servants. So the general meaning of this passage is simply this: Christianity does not break up the relations of life. It does not produce disorder, lawlessness, and insubordination. But rather it conforms and confirms proper authority, and it really and truly lightens every just and proper yoke. So, it lightens the yoke of the child in submission, the wife in submission, the husband in submission, and even lightens the yoke of the slaves that are to be in submission.

So, infidelity is that which destroys and disorganizes. Christianity does not do that. The only workable, sensible, and rational order is God's order. Everything else devolves into chaos. You remember that passage in Proverbs 8:36 where our Lord said, "All they that hate Me love death." Do you want to know what's wrong with individual lives? They love death. What's wrong with the families? They love death. What's wrong with the church? They love death. What's wrong with the government, societies? They love death. If we love life, we would follow God's orderly way.

The Whole Armor of God and Prayer

Walking accurately requires putting on the whole armor of God daily and praying for all saints, especially preachers.

And fifthly, very quickly, if we walk accurately, we walk in the whole armor of God. Look in verse 10. He says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword

of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Now, the thing is this: if we're going to walk accurately, we must walk with the armor of God. We can't live without it. We have enemies. We have enemies who wish to destroy our souls, our spirituality. He says, "Arm yourselves with the armor that I've provided for you." And since we only have a day, we're to do this daily. It's a daily thing. Sixthly, very quickly, if we walk accurately, we learn to pray for each other and for God's preachers as well.

Now go back to verse 18, the latter part. He says, "and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all" what? "Saints." Now watch verse 19. "And as for me," Paul says, "you generally pray for everybody but specifically pray for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I'm an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." So he says if we're going to walk accurately we learn to pray for each other and specifically for God's preachers.

Now, let me tell you, I always tell people I appreciate all prayers. But do you realize there are times that I appreciate prayers more than others? I really appreciate prayers when I'm in the den of lions. There are times that are far more dangerous than others. There are preaching situations that are far more difficult than others. And this is what Paul is talking about. Paul says, "I want boldness to preach and declare the Word of God. Pray for me." Remember that. And then he says, "If you want to know anything about me, I'm going to send Tychicus to you. He can tell you everything that you need to know."

Application and Conclusion

Calls believers to examine every area of life for wisdom or folly, to seek greater conformity to God's Word, and to walk accurately by Scripture.

So he tells us that we've got to walk accurately. Now, my question is this: How do we apply this? Well, stop and think about this. As Christians, we're not talking about unbelievers now, but as Christians, we may either walk as fools or we may walk as wise. We can be morons or we can be wise men. If we choose to walk as morons, we're going to bring the chastisement and the judgment of God upon us, as well as bringing shame in our lives. If we choose to walk as wise men, then we know what the will of God is. We walk accurately in that will. We do that will submitting to God and God alone.

The second application is akin to this. We must examine every area of our lives and each relationship to determine whether or not we're wise or foolish in that relationship. As Christians, we cannot say, "Well, we're wrong in every area." No, we're not wrong in every area. There are some areas that we're right in, but there are some areas that may be questionable. Well, examine those areas. Say, "What can I do more to be more biblical, more godly, more holy, more obedient, more submissive, more conformed to the Word of God?" I tell people, and I do not mind telling you this, there are certain requests, certain petitions that I usually pray every day. And that is one of my petitions. I ask the Lord to make me more holy, more godly, more obedient, more submissive, and more conformed to His Word.

You can't walk accurately without that. And the more conformed you are, the more accurately you can walk according to His Word. So, when the apostle says, "See then that you walk circumspectly," see then that you walk accurately, "not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Walk accurately. And the only way you're going to walk accurately is walking according to the Scripture. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word, Your truth, Your grace, Your mercy. We do pray, Lord, that You would help us to be accurate in our walking, that You'd make us more holy and more godly and more obedient, more submissive and more conformed to Your Word. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Walking Circumspectly (Accurately)

Summary: Believers must live carefully, according to God's rule, avoiding danger and exemplifying biblical principles.

Evidence: Weaver explains 'akribōs' and 'circumspectly' as walking diligently, exactly, and with caution (225.1-312.6).

Wisdom vs. Foolishness

Summary: God commands believers to be wise (sophos), skilled in knowledge, not fools (asophos) who despise wisdom and make a mock at sin.

Evidence: Weaver contrasts the fool and the wise using Proverbs and Hebrews 5:13-14 (446.2-667.2).

Redeeming the Time

Summary: Because days are evil, believers must buy up every opportunity, making wise and sacred use of limited time.

Evidence: Weaver defines 'exagorazō' and 'kairos' and cites Psalm 90:10-12 (881.4-1365.5).

Being Filled with the Spirit

Summary: Walking accurately involves being filled with the Spirit, contrasted with drunkenness, leading to spiritual joy and worship.

Evidence: Weaver compares being drunk with wine and filled with the Spirit, citing Acts 2 and commentators (1523.7-1868.8).

Biblical Submission

Summary: God has established an orderly chain of submission: God, Christ, man, woman, with specific duties for wives, husbands, children, and servants.

Evidence: Weaver explains 1 Corinthians 11:3 and Ephesians 5:22-6:9, emphasizing mutual submission in proper spheres (2415.4-3071.2).

Spiritual Warfare and Prayer

Summary: Walking accurately requires the whole armor of God and persistent prayer for all saints, especially preachers.

Evidence: Weaver cites Ephesians 6:10-20, stressing daily armor and prayer for boldness (3072.9-3245.3).

Key Arguments

Walking accurately is a command to take heed and live by God's rule.

Summary: The apostle warns believers to walk circumspectly, meaning to live diligently and exactly according to Scripture, not just claim promises.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Take heed then that you walk circumspectly... we must live by the precepts and the principles in the Word of God' (171.7-312.6).

Fools reject wisdom; the wise are skilled in discerning good and evil.

Summary: The fool (asophos) hates knowledge and makes a mock at sin, while the wise (sophos) have senses exercised to discern good and evil.

Evidence: Weaver cites Proverbs 1:7, 13:19-20, 14:8-9 and Hebrews 5:13-14 (446.2-667.2).

Redeeming the time means buying up opportunities because life is short and days are evil.

Summary: Believers must make the most of each day, living godly and obediently, as Moses taught in Psalm 90:12.

Evidence: Weaver explains 'exagorazō' and 'kairos' and says, 'You make use of this day... by living godly, by living obediently' (881.4-1365.5).

Being filled with the Spirit is essential for accurate walking, not drunkenness.

Summary: There is an analogy between being drunk and being filled with the Spirit, but the Spirit produces love, joy, and worship, not excess.

Evidence: Weaver quotes John Gill: 'Believers may be said to be filled with the Spirit as with wine... when the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts' (1746.8-1854.7).

Singing psalms and giving thanks are acts of worship required for accurate walking.

Summary: Believers should sing Scripture and give thanks always, as both are direct worship to God.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'In singing we should regard ourselves as speaking directly to God' and cites 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (1869.5-2414.7).

God's established order requires submission in all relationships.

Summary: From the Godhead to the family to society, God has ordained a chain of submission that brings order and lightens yokes.

Evidence: Weaver explains 1 Corinthians 11:3 and Ephesians 5:22-6:9, stating, 'Christianity does not break up the relations of life... it conforms and confirms proper authority' (2415.4-3071.2).

The whole armor of God is necessary to withstand spiritual enemies.

Summary: Believers wrestle against spiritual wickedness and must daily put on God's armor to stand.

Evidence: Weaver cites Ephesians 6:10-18 and says, 'If we're going to walk accurately, we must walk with the armor of God' (3072.9-3166.3).

Prayer for all saints and preachers is part of accurate walking.

Summary: Paul specifically requests prayer for boldness in preaching, and believers should pray for one another.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If we're going to walk accurately we learn to pray for each other and specifically for God's preachers' (3166.6-3245.3).

Scripture References

Ephesians 5:15-33

Context: The primary text read at the beginning, commanding circumspect walking, being filled with the Spirit, and household duties.

Galatians 6:16

Context: Cited to show that peace is upon those who walk according to the rule (kanōn) of Scripture.

Proverbs 1:7

Context: Used to define a fool as one who despises wisdom and knowledge.

Proverbs 1:22

Context: Shows that fools hate knowledge.

Proverbs 13:19

Context: Indicates it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil.

Proverbs 13:20

Context: Warns that a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Proverbs 14:8-9

Context: States that the folly of fools is deceit and fools make a mock at sin.

Hebrews 5:13-14

Context: Describes the unskillful (foolish) versus those of full age who discern good and evil.

Romans 16:19

Context: Paul desires believers to be wise unto good and simple concerning evil, using the same Greek word for wise.

John 9:4

Context: Jesus' illustration of working while it is day, applied to redeeming time before death.

Matthew 6:13

Context: The Lord's Prayer asking deliverance from evil, connected to the evil days.

Psalm 90:10-12

Context: Moses' prayer to number our days and apply hearts to wisdom, teaching wise use of time.

Psalm 119:9-11

Context: David's answer that cleansing comes by taking heed to God's Word, hiding it in the heart.

Acts 2:12-18

Context: The apostles accused of drunkenness at Pentecost, but Peter explains they are filled with the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 11:3

Context: Establishes the divine order: God, Christ, man, woman, as the basis for submission.

Luke 2:51

Context: Jesus as a child submitted to Mary and Joseph, exemplifying submission.

Ephesians 5:22-6:9

Context: Specific commands for wives, husbands, children, and servants to submit in their roles.

Ephesians 6:10-20

Context: The whole armor of God and prayer for boldness, essential for accurate walking.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Context: Command to give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God.

Hebrews 13:15

Context: Offering the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips giving thanks to His name.

Historical References

Albert Barnes' commentary on Ephesians 5:18

Context: Barnes suggests an allusion to the festivals of Bacchus, the heathen god of wine, where intoxication was considered worship.

John Gill's commentary on being filled with the Spirit

Context: Gill describes believers filled with the Spirit as having love shed abroad, compared to wine for its refreshing nature.

John Calvin's commentary on submission

Context: Calvin states that God has bound us so strongly to each other that no one should avoid subjection, and even kings serve the community.

Bacchus and Bacchanalia

Context: Mentioned by Barnes as the heathen god of wine and his festivals marked by drunkenness and revelry.

Important Quotes

Take heed then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.

Significance: Weaver's translation of the command, emphasizing the warning to walk accurately.

For the child of God, it is not sufficient for you and I just simply to claim the promises of God. We must live by the precepts and the principles in the Word of God as well.

Significance: Highlights the necessity of obedience, not just faith in promises.

So a sophomore is nothing more than a wise fool or a wise moron.

Significance: Illustrates the Greek roots of 'sophomore' to explain the contrast between wise and foolish.

You do not have yesterday. You cannot go back and undo anything that has been done except the repentance. That's all. You do not have tomorrow. Tomorrow has not yet come. The only day that you have is right now.

Significance: Emphasizes the urgency of redeeming the present time.

Ignorance of our duty and neglect of our souls are evidences of the greatest folly.

Significance: Defines folly in terms of spiritual neglect.

In singing we should regard ourselves as speaking directly to God and the words therefore should be spoken with a solemnity and all becoming such a direct address to the great Jehovah.

Significance: Quoting Albert Barnes to elevate singing as solemn worship.

God has bound us so strongly to each other that no man ought to endeavor to avoid subjection.

Significance: Quoting John Calvin on the inescapability of mutual submission.

Christianity does not break up the relations of life. It does not produce disorder, lawlessness, and insubordination. But rather it conforms and confirms proper authority, and it really and truly lightens every just and proper yoke.

Significance: Summarizes the biblical view of submission as orderly and liberating.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to walk circumspectly in your daily life, and how can you practice greater caution and accuracy according to Scripture?

Context: Based on the explanation of 'akribōs' and the command to take heed (171.7-312.6).

In what areas of your life might you be walking as a fool (asophos) rather than as wise (sophos), and what steps can you take to change?

Context: From the contrast between fools and the wise using Proverbs and Hebrews (446.2-667.2).

How can you practically 'redeem the time' in your current season of life, especially in light of the evil days?

Context: From the discussion of exagorazō and Psalm 90:12 (881.4-1365.5).

What is the difference between being filled with the Spirit and being drunk with wine, and how can you cultivate a Spirit-filled life?

Context: From the analogy and contrast in Ephesians 5:18 and Acts 2 (1523.7-1868.8).

How does singing psalms and giving thanks function as worship in your personal and corporate life?

Context: From the emphasis on singing and thanksgiving as direct address to God (1869.5-2414.7).

In what relationships do you struggle with submission, and how does understanding God's order (1 Corinthians 11:3) help you submit?

Context: From the teaching on submission in family, church, and society (2415.4-3071.2).

Which piece of the whole armor of God do you most need to 'put on' daily, and why?

Context: From the call to take up the armor to withstand spiritual enemies (3072.9-3166.3).

How can you be more intentional in praying for your church leaders and fellow believers, especially for boldness in proclaiming the gospel?

Context: From Paul's request for prayer in Ephesians 6:19-20 (3166.6-3245.3).

Applications

Examine every area of life for wisdom or folly

Summary: Believers must evaluate each relationship and area of life to determine if they are walking wisely or foolishly, and seek greater conformity to Scripture.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We must examine every area of our lives and each relationship to determine whether or not we're wise or foolish in that relationship' (3298.0-3361.6).

Pray for increased holiness and conformity to God's Word

Summary: Weaver shares his personal petition to be made more holy, godly, obedient, submissive, and conformed to God's Word as a daily practice.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'I ask the Lord to make me more holy, more godly, more obedient, more submissive, and more conformed to His Word' (3362.6-3408.0).

Walk accurately by living according to Scripture

Summary: The only way to walk accurately is to walk according to the rule and precept of Scripture, not just claiming promises.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'the only way you're going to walk accurately is walking according to the Scripture' (3409.2-3433.2).

Redeem the time by living godly each day

Summary: Since we only have today, we must make use of this day by living godly, obediently, and holy.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'You make use of this day. You redeem this time by living godly, by living obediently, by living holy' (1327.1-1365.5).

Submit in your proper sphere

Summary: Every person has a sphere of submission; wives to husbands, husbands to Christ, children to parents, servants to masters, all in the fear of God.

Evidence: Weaver explains the chain of submission and says, 'No one escapes submission. Each man has its own sphere of submission' (2807.1-2901.4).

Sing and give thanks as worship

Summary: Believers should individually and corporately sing psalms and give thanks always, regarding these as direct acts of worship to God.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Have you ever sung to the Lord? ... It is worship' (2027.0-2138.4).

Put on the whole armor of God daily

Summary: Because of spiritual enemies, believers must daily arm themselves with truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, and the Word.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If we're going to walk accurately, we must walk with the armor of God. We can't live without it' (3072.9-3166.3).

Pray for boldness in proclaiming the gospel

Summary: Believers should pray for preachers and one another to have boldness to speak the mystery of the gospel.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Paul says, I want boldness to preach and declare the Word of God. Pray for me' (3204.5-3245.3).

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:39:52Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:32:52Z

Clean Transcript

Walking With God - 11

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

To the book of Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, this is going to be the 11th part in our series "Walking with the Lord." Hopefully I'm going to be able to get just one more message to finish this series. And I think you could see as we read Ephesians chapter 5 there could be a multitude of messages, but I'm going to try to do this very concisely for us. So let's begin reading in Ephesians 5 in verse 15. The Bible says, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein
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is excess, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.
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He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are the members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence the husband." So today we're going to begin another truth in walking with the Lord. We've seen what it means to walk before the Lord, what it means to walk in faith, what it means to walk worthily, what it means to walk differently, what it means to walk in love, what it means to walk in light, and now today where God commends us to walk accurately when
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He says in verse 15, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." The word "see" is the Greek word blepō, which literally is a verb and simply means "I see." However, it is translated in our Bibles as "take heed" 12 times. It can also mean "beware" or "beware of." So actually, the apostle is saying in verse 15, "Take heed then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." Now, the Greek word for "circumspectly" is the word akribōs. It means literally to walk diligently, to walk exactly, to walk accurately, and to walk circumspectly.
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Now, our English word "circumspectly" actually is from the Latin word circumspectio, and it literally signifies to look around, to be aware of your surroundings, to use caution, to avoid danger, and to make sure that your enemies do not surprise you or come too nigh, and that you use every possible means to secure your interests by lawful means. So, the word "circumspect" then, of course, has that significance. So, what the apostle is telling us, literally in verse 15, is that we who have received the truth must be careful of our conduct. We must walk by the rule which God has given to us in every situation, in every circumstance, and we're to make sure that we exemplify biblical principles in our lives.
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So for the child of God, it is not sufficient for you and I just simply to claim the promises of God. We must live by the precepts and the principles in the Word of God as well. And so, the apostle is telling us that we have to live our lives in such a way that our enemies may never say that our doctrines and our lives are unholy and empty.
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So, when you look at verse 15, actually it is a warning, it is a "take heed" verse. And so the apostle is telling us that we must take heed that we walk accurately. Now there's no need to take heed in heaven because everything is perfect there. But while we're on earth, there is a great deal that we must take heed and beware of. And so the apostle is telling us that we have to beware of every situation. You have to remember the truth that the apostle Paul enunciated in Galatians 6 and verse 16 when he said this, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be upon them and mercy upon the Israel of God." And remember I told you in times past that the word "rule" there is the Greek word kanōn. It's where we get our English word "canon," C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N.
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That's the kind that shoots. But we talk about the Old Testament canon or the New Testament canon or the canon of Scripture. And so the word kanōn in the Greek literally means a measuring stick, measuring rod, or what you and I would call our yardstick or just simply the measuring stick. So the apostle is saying then peace be upon those—and he tells you the Israel of God is—and that is those who walk according to this rule, that is the Scripture, because the Scripture is indeed our rule for faith. Now interestingly, if you look at verse 15, when he tells you to take heed, he gives you a negative and he gives you a positive. He says, "Take heed then" or "See then that you walk circumspectly" or accurately. Here's the negative: "not as fools, but as wise." So he tells us that we're not to walk as fools. Fools do not walk accurately. Now, I could multiply scriptures when it comes to the subject of fools, but let me just quote some just to show you when he is telling us not to walk as fools.
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For instance, in Proverbs 1 in verse 7, the Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and knowledge." So, what's a fool? He's someone who will not listen, someone who will not hear, someone who will not heed. When you get to Proverbs 1 in verse 22, "How long then, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge." So again, fools hate knowledge. In Proverbs 13 and verse 19, the Bible says that "a desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil." So a fool, then, is someone who will not listen, he will not learn, he will not depart from evil. He's going to do what he wants to do regardless. Proverbs 13 and verse 20, the Bible said, "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." So if we want to be wise, we need to walk with wise men. If we want to be destroyed, we need to walk with fools.
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Proverbs 14 in verse 8, "The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his ways, but the folly of fools is deceit." And then when you get to Proverbs 14 in verse 9, the Bible says, "Fools make a mock at sin, but among the righteous there is favor." So fools make a mockery even of sin. Now, interestingly, when he tells us in verse 15, "See then that you walk circumspectly" or accurately, "not as fools, but as wise," the word for "fools" is the simple Greek word asophos.
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And it just simply means foolish or unwise. Now if you will look at the word "wise," the Greek word there is sophos. I hope you understand asophos and sophos. They sound alike and they are exactly alike except the word for fool has an alpha in front of it or an "a" that always negates the word. So you have then someone who is a fool, someone who is unwise, and you have someone who is wise. Now, let me point out, the word "wise" refers to someone who is skilled, someone who is an expert in knowledge. I want you to hold Ephesians 5, but look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 5. Let me show you how the apostle in verses 13 and 14 describes a wise man without even using the word "wise." So Hebrews chapter 5 verse 13, the Scripture says, "For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe." Notice that word "unskillful." Now look at verse 14.
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"But strong meat belong to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." So a foolish man is unskillful. He's unwise. He does not have his senses exercised to discern good and evil. Obviously, the Word of God is telling us that we are not to walk as fools, but as wise.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 16 and look in verse 19. Romans 16 and verse 19. You're going to see the word "wise" again. Look what the apostle says. Romans 16 verse 19. He says, "For your obedience has come abroad unto all men. I'm glad therefore on your behalf." Now look what the apostle says. "But yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil." So he wants us wise to that which is good and simple or naive concerning evil.
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Just stop and think about that. How many of us had much rather have lived our lives without hearing some things and knowing some things? You know, we can still be simple or naive in that sense of the word. Well, the point I'm trying to make is this: when Paul says in Romans 16 verse 19, "but I would have you wise concerning that which is good," the word "wise" in Romans 16 in verse 19 is exactly the same word that you find in Ephesians 5 and verse 15. So God wants us to be wise and not foolish. Now, before I leave this thought, I want to point out the fact that there are many Greek words that are brought directly from the Greek language into our English language. For instance, our English word "deacon"—it's straight from the Greek word diakonos. It's spelled just a little differently, but the word is transliterated and not translated because the word "deacon" just simply means a servant. Okay. Every hospital just about has a cardiac unit. Kardia is the Greek word for heart. And a lot of our medical terms are straight from the Greek as well.
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Now, let me give you one. Everyone has heard the word "sophomore." You have it in high school. You have it in college. The word "sophomore" is made up of two Greek words: sophos, which means wise, and mōros, which means foolish or moron. So a sophomore is nothing more than a wise fool or a wise moron. I mean, it's just that simple. So when our Lord says—watch this—"See that you walk circumspectly, not as morons, but as wise." In other words, our Lord does not want us to be stupid. He does not want us to be foolish. He wants us to be wise. Now in order to do that, we have to walk accurately. Now how do we do this? We'll look in verse 16. He says, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Well, how in the world do we redeem the time? Now the Greek word for the word "redeem"
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here is exagorazō. Now that word is translated "redeemed" four times in the New Testament, and it is used in reference to the redemption of Jesus Christ. But the word actually means to redeem by payment of a price, to recover from the power of another, to ransom, to buy off, or to buy up for oneself. So he tells us then that we must redeem the time. What does that mean? It means that we are to make wise and sacred use of our time, of every opportunity for doing well, and the zeal that we have in doing that is actually what you and I would call the payment price or the purchase money that we would exercise in redeeming the time. Now, let me talk about the word "time." The Greek word, of course, is kairos, and it refers to a time. But it also refers to what you and I would call a season or an opportunity. We've said it's an opportune time or the time is seasonal. It means it's right. We all also understand this.
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There are seasons of opportunities. For instance, a farmer understands he harvests his crops in the fall. That's the harvest season. That's it. We don't harvest usually any time else, except maybe a garden in the spring, but as far as crops, it's usually in the fall.
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Now, although we can talk about the seasons in that sense of the word, we also have to understand that each of us have a limited time on this earth. Our life is seasonal. We can use this in reference to our lifespan. And I was raised on the farm and many of you were or at least were around farmers. And we all use this illustration: "Let's make hay while the sun shines." Understanding, of course, that you can't make hay when it's raining.
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Well, that's exactly what our Lord is talking about here. In fact, He used another illustration in John chapter 9 in verse 4 when He said, "I must work the work of Him who has sent Me while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work." So in this context, day is life and night is death. So we cannot go beyond our lifespan. Everyone of us sitting here wishes we could go back and relive our lives knowing what we know now, but we can't. So, we understand that there has to be a redeeming of the time.
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Now, he tells us why. He says, "because the days are evil." Now, let me explain the word "evil." The Greek word there is ponēros. The word ponēros is translated "evil" in our Bibles 51 times. It's translated "wicked" 10 times. It's translated "wicked one" 6 times, and "evil things" 2 times. So when he says "redeeming time because the days are evil," the word "evil" in one sense of the word could refer to what you and I would call trials and tribulations, perils, pains, annoyances, troubles, but in an ethical sense it refers to always that which is bad and evil. You remember our Lord
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taught us to pray in Matthew 6 in verse 13, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." So how do we redeem the time because the days are evil? Well, I want you to turn to Psalm 90 while holding Ephesians 5, because Moses the man of God answers that question for us in Psalm 90. Let's begin reading there with verse 10. Psalm 90 and verse 10, watch what he says. Psalm 90 verse 10. In this passage he says, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten," seventy, "and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years," that's eighty, "yet is their strength labor
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and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away." So, some die before seventy, the average is seventy, some live beyond seventy, they'll make it in the eighties, some into their nineties. And a few hearty souls make it past a hundred. I showed Alice a little black lady that was on the internet. She just set a new world record in the hundred yard dash for her age group.
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And she was 100 years old. And from 80 to 100, and she set a new world record, and there she was doing push-ups and doing sit-ups, 100 years old! I thought, my goodness, she can outdo me. And I'm 30 years younger, but I mean, I just simply said, some make it. I never will forget, I was talking to a fellow who was in his 80s, years ago, and he was a very wealthy man, and he said to me, and I've never forgotten it, he said, "It's too sad that when you're old enough to have it, there's not enough strength to enjoy it."
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And that's basically true, you know? So, you know, look at all the wisdom we have. The things that we know how to do, but we just can't do them anymore. So that's what Moses is talking about. Now, notice verse 11. I haven't finished. He says, "Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath." Now, in light of this fact, he says in verse 12, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Now when Moses says "teach us to number our days," he's not saying give me a mathematical calculation as to how long you think we're going to live. He just told us we're going to make it 70 or 80 by God's grace if we live a normal average life. So I don't have to say how old you think I'm going to be before I die. I'm 70s, 80s. Who knows, you know. But, if he's not telling us a mathematical calculation, what in the world is he saying? He is saying, we need to make the most of each day that we have.
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You do not have yesterday. You cannot go back and undo anything that has been done except the repentance. That's all. You do not have tomorrow. Tomorrow has not yet come. The only day that you have is right now. So you make use of this day. You redeem this time by living godly, by living obediently, by living holy, by living a holy life, by walking accurately, by bringing your life into conformity to the rule and principle and precept of Scripture. That's how you redeem the time. Now go back to Ephesians chapter 5.
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I want you to watch this. I want you to see how he reiterates everything that he just said. Watch. Verse 15: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Now watch. "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." "Be ye not unwise." In other words, do not be moronic.
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Do not be a fool. If you're going to be wise, you must understand what the will of the Lord is. So my question would be this: Where do we understand God's will? And the answer is from this book. You remember what David said in Psalm 119, verses 9-11? He asked a question: "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" Here's the answer: "By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandment. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." So obviously, if we're going to redeem the time, if we're going to walk accurately and not as a fool, then we must walk according to God's Word by hiding His Word in our hearts.
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Now, I want to show you something. Literally, verse 17, Paul is giving a command and he's literally saying, "Stop being unwise. But, you understand what the will of the Lord is." Ignorance of our duty and neglect of our souls are evidences of the greatest folly.
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On the other hand, knowing God and His will is the best and truest wisdom. Now let me tell you what Paul does. In the rest of this book, the book of Ephesians, Paul gives us some basic fundamentals. He does not give us a detailed, exhaustive list of what it means to be wise and what it means to redeem the time. But what he does is he hits the most basic and fundamental foundations and probably hits the areas in which you and I need this the absolute most.
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And I could spend a multitude of messages explaining these verses, and I've already done that in times past, even when I dealt with the family. So but let me just show you, I'm gonna try to make it very concise for you. So the question you have to ask yourself is this: how to walk accurately. So far into walking accurately means I'm not walking as a fool. I'm redeeming the time. I'm understanding what the will of the Lord is.
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Well, how do we do this? Well, first of all in verse 18, he said, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit." Now, notice if you would, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit." There is an analogy here that indicates a comparison and a contrast. There are stated similarities between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit, and yet at the same time there are extreme differences. So this could be an entire message showing how being drunk and being filled with the Spirit are synonymous, and then showing how that they could be absolutely different. But interestingly, and I hope you remember this, on the day of Pentecost, when Peter and all of those men were filled with the Spirit and began to preach and teach, they were accused of being drunk with new wine. Look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. And notice if you would beginning there with verse 12. Acts 2 and verse 12. So they've been filled with the Spirit and they're up preaching and teaching. Acts 2 in verse 12. The Bible says, "And they were all amazed," that is, all the people that heard them, "and were in doubt, saying one to
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another, 'What meaneth this?' And others mocking, saying, 'These men are full of new wine.'" In other words, they're drunk. "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, 'You men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken as you suppose, seeing it but the third hour of the day,'" that is, nine in the morning.
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"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I'll pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants and on my handmaids I'll pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, fire, and vapor of smoke.'" So, they said, "The problem with these men, they're just drunk." No. Peter said, "They're not drunk."
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Now, I want to give you two quotes. One from Albert Barnes, and then one from John Gill. Both of these men are giving comments on, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be ye filled with the Spirit." Okay? Barnes is going to give you a negative, and Gill is going to give you a positive. So here's what Albert Barnes says: "It is not improbable that in this verse there's an allusion to the origins of Bacchus or to the festivals celebrated in honor of that heathen god. He was the god of wine and during those festivals men and women regarded it as an acceptable act of worship to become intoxicated and with wild songs and cries to run through streets and fields and vineyards." So Bacchus is the god of wine.
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Bacchanalia was the festival and he was honored with extreme drunkenness and revelry and fornication and everything else. "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess," and he's saying it could refer to Bacchus. It could refer just to being drunk as well, but he said "be filled with the Spirit." And here's what John Gill said about being filled with the Spirit: "Believers may be said to be filled with the Spirit as with wine, or instead of it, or in opposition to it, when the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the Spirit, which is compared to wine for its antiquity, purity, and refreshing nature. And they are filled with it," talking about the Holy Spirit, "who have a comfortable sense of it, and a firm persuasion of interest in it, and are delighted with the views of it, and are, as it were, inebriated with it. And they are filled with the Spirit, in whom His grace is a well of living water, and out of whose belly flow rivers of it, and who have a large measure of spiritual peace and joy expressed in the following manner," that is, walking in the Spirit.
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Now, here's what the apostle is teaching us. If we're going to walk accurately, if we're going to be redeeming the time, we must learn to walk in the Spirit. Now, Lord willing, next Sunday, that is going to be the final message, what it means to walk in the Spirit. There's a lot of confusion about that today, even being led by the Spirit. But obviously, he is saying that if we're going to be walking accurately, we're going to be walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, which I'll deal with next week.
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Now, notice if you would, verse 19. Here's another thing about walking accurately. He says, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
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Secondly, if we walk accurately, our music, individually and corporately, will be biblical and scriptural. Now, I want to point something out. In verse 19, when he says, "speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs," that is the division of the book of Psalms. There are some psalms that are called psalms, some that are called hymns, and some that are called spiritual songs. So actually what he's talking about here is singing Scripture. So he says you speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
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In fact, we have psalters at the house and we've used those psalters over and over. Alice plays a lot of songs and has played a lot of songs and you look at some of the Psalms are very easy. "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God." There's a song about Him. That's what he's talking about singing. But notice what else he says. He said in verse 19, "singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Hmm. In other words, we're not singing the world's songs, we're singing the Lord's songs. In other words, we're not listening to the junk of the world. And that's exactly what most of it is, is junk.
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I stopped yesterday to fill the car up with gas. And Alice went in to pay so I could pump the gas. And here's this car, right next on the other side, was rap music blaring, blasting. I didn't even have my hearing aids in and I was trying to do this to Alice to let her know the pump was not on, not working, and she kept coming closer and closer and closer and finally she got from here to Gary and I said—she said, "Is it on yet?" I said, "I can't hear a word you're saying because of that filthy wicked music next to me." You know, finally the girl shut the door, you know, it cut it down some until she got in and drove off. But I'm not interested in hearing that stuff. Now, the point I'm trying to make is very simple. God's people don't sing that stuff. We don't sing those worldly songs. We sing to the Lord.
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Let me ask you a question. Have you ever sung to the Lord?
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Now, everyone in this room knows, that knows me, I can't sing. I can't carry a tune in a bucket. But a lot of times when I'm alone, I do sing, and I sing to the Lord. If I'm off key, wonderful, I don't care. He doesn't care. Because the Bible doesn't say "make a joyful noise to the Lord." It may be noise, but that's okay. Sometimes I sing in the car, and Alice sits there and groans and bears it. I mean, you know. But that's alright too. I'm just saying, that's what he is talking about: singing, making melody in your heart to the Lord. Now I want you to listen to this. Albert Barnes gives this quote on verse 19: "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." I want you to think about this. Listen what he says: "In praise of the Lord or address to Him, singing is here meant as a direct and solemn act of worship.
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And should be considered such as really as prayer. In singing we should regard ourselves as speaking directly to God and the words therefore should be spoken with a solemnity and all becoming such a direct address to the great Jehovah." Isn't that amazing? Have you ever stopped to think of singing as worship? And I'm not just talking about corporate singing. I'm talking about your individual songs that you sing to the Lord. It is worship. So if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to walk in the Spirit, and we're going to learn to sing the Psalms individually, and sing them unto the Lord.
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Now, look if you would please at verse 20. Here's the third thing. If we're going to walk accurately, then we will be continually giving thanks to our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ. He says, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." When we fail to give thanks, which we often do, it demonstrates the fact that we're truly ungrateful. It is our duty. It is our obligation to be thankful to each other as well as to the Lord, particularly unto the Lord. I tell people I'm thankful for every gift that I've ever received. I am thankful. And if I have the opportunity, I thank the individual who gave me the gift. But look how many times we take gifts from God and never thank Him.
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Our life, our health, our protection, our provision, our preservation. He said in everything, "giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." I've had people ask me, "But how can I give thanks when I've just lost my husband? How can I give thanks when I just lost my wife or my child?" And the answer is very simple. You can give thanks unto God for the time that God allowed you to have them and enjoy them. Brother McCurry lost his wife Evelyn after 67 years. Don't you know that was very difficult and still is difficult. Gene and Norma have been married 60 years. Y'all been married how long? 59. 59.
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You see what I'm saying? There's so much to be thankful for. Even a child. Even a child that's taken at a young age, we can still be thankful the Lord allowed us to have the child. So, "in everything give thanks," he says, "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus." Now I want you to understand something: that giving thanks is also an act of worship. And that's amazing. I want to read some scriptures to you. Listen carefully. 2 Samuel 22 verse 50: "Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name." Now watch, here giving of thanks and singing of praises are joined together. Both are worship. 1 Chronicles 16 and verse 8: "Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds unto the people." Give thanks unto the Lord.
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And you're doing so publicly. 1 Chronicles 16 verses 34 and 35: "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever. And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise." So here you have thanks and prayer going together, petition, begging God for salvation.
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Now I want you to notice, if you would please, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 18. The Bible says, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." In everything. Wow. That's exactly what he tells us. And then in Hebrews 13 verse 15: "By him"—that is by Jesus Christ—"therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." And once again, the book of Psalms is full of praise and thanksgiving unto God for his grace and mercy. So we should only sing the Psalms and we should use them to excite us to thank and praise the Lord.
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So if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to walk in the Spirit. We're going to sing unto the Lord. We're going to give thanks unto the Lord. And then if you look in verse 21, fourthly, if we're going to walk accurately, we're going to be walking in submission. He said, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Let me emphasize that. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Do you understand there is no one that can walk independently? There is no one that can walk unsubmissively. The general principle is set down in verse 21: "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."
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I can say, Steve would have to submit to me when it comes to my teaching the Scripture. But I would have to submit to him when it came to anything mechanical, because I don't know anything mechanical. You follow me? Listen to what John Calvin wrote. This is important. Listen carefully. He says, "God has bound us so strongly to each other that no man ought to endeavor to avoid subjection.
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And where love reigns, mutual services will be rendered. I do not accept even kings and governors whose very authority is held for the service of the community. It is highly proper that all should be exhorted to be subject to each other in their turn." What's he saying? There is a proper submission for everyone.
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Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11, in this passage, God gives us His established order. There is an orderly way that God has ordained for us to live. And that orderly way is based upon submission. So you will find this in 1 Corinthians 11, and look if you would please at verse 3. Here God says it like this: "But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God."
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Now, so let me draw it out for you. Here it is. Here is God, who is the absolute head, God the Father. Under Him is God the Son. Under Him is man. And under Him is the woman. You say, "I don't like that." Well, I'm sorry. That's the way God ordained it. That's the way God set it up. The woman is to be in submission to the man, but I've got news for you. When you read also in 1 Corinthians 11, you'll find that the man is nothing without the woman. Now, I might be the head of my house, but I'm going to tell you there are times I submit to Alice. I submit to her and her cooking. I submit to her and her house cleaning. I submit to her when she tells me what needs to be done around certain... because that's not my field. I'm just saying, you know, there is a proper submission to each one. Now, God has this established order. Someone says, "Well, I think it's bad that the woman should be in submission to the man."
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I got news for you, it's not bad, it's good. Because the man is to be in submission to Jesus Christ. Everyone is to be in submission. Jesus Christ Himself was not only in submission to His Heavenly Father, but listen to this: as a child, Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, and Jesus Christ was just as much God when He was born of that virgin and in that stable, in that manger, He was just as much God then as He was when He got grown.
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And do you realize, in Luke chapter 2, when He was 12, the family sought Him, and they found Him in the temple, hearing and answering questions from all those scribes. And His mother said, "Son, we've sought thee sorrowing." And He said, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" And then verse 51 tells us this: "And He went down with them," that is Mary and Joseph, "and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. And His mother kept all these things in her heart."
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Jesus Christ who is God was in submission to His creatures whom He created. They were His mother and father and He submitted to them. So there's nothing wrong with submission. It's God's orderly way.
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Now in order to walk accurately, submission in every relation of life. One of the greatest tragedies in our day is that rebellion is evidenced in our daily lives. Our personal lives are wrecked, our families are devastated, our churches are hotbeds of antinomianism, and our government is in open defiance and rebellion to God, covenants, and men. It's everywhere you look. Nobody wants to be in submission. Well, Paul, if you look in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul goes on and he says in verses 22 through 24, tells the wives, "Submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord." And then he tells you why. He says, "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body." Verse 24: "Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." In other words, the wife is required to be in submission to her husband. Why? Because the husband has been constituted the head. Why? Because the husband represents Jesus Christ, and the wife represents the church.
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And just like the church is to be in submission to Jesus Christ in everything, so is the wife to be in submission to her husband. In other words, God has ordained the marital picture to be a picture of the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ. You say, "Well, what about the husbands?" Well, skip down to verse 25. "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it."
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And then he tells you why. The husband is to be in submission to Jesus Christ. It's easy for a wife to be in submission to a husband who loves her the way Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. It's just that simple. You can go right on down and you can see how God requires the husbands to be in submission as well. Then when you look at chapter 6 verses 1 through 3: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
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Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." God requires children to be in submission to their parents. Isn't that amazing? No one escapes submission. Each man has its own sphere of submission. Now let me point something else out. Skip down to verse 5. Let's go and begin there: "Servants," and you might as well when you see the word "servants" here go ahead and say it, "slaves." "Slaves, be obedient to them that are your masters, according to
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the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And you masters, do the same thing unto them, forbearing threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with Him." So I want you to note in this passage God is no abolitionist. God demands that slaves be in subjection to their masters and to serve them not as a man-pleaser but as pleasing unto the Lord and doing the will of God. But He also at the same time enjoins the masters to be in submission to Him. And He reminds the masters, "Look, you have slaves? You have servants? Wonderful.
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You're My slave and you're My servant. You mistreat yours, I'll take care of you." Isn't that interesting? So God is here saying, they have a Master as well, and He will regard them as they regard their servants. So the general meaning of this passage is simply this: Christianity does not break up the relations of life. It does not produce disorder, lawlessness, and insubordination. But rather it conforms and confirms proper authority, and it really and truly lightens every just and proper yoke. So, it lightens the yoke of the child in submission, the wife in submission, the husband in submission, and even lightens the yoke of the slaves that are to be in submission.
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So, infidelity is that which destroys and disorganizes. Christianity does not do that. The only workable, sensible, and rational order is God's order. Everything else devolves into chaos. You remember that passage in Proverbs 8:36 where our Lord said, "All they that hate Me love death." Do you want to know what's wrong with individual lives? They love death. What's wrong with the families? They love death. What's wrong with the church? They love death. What's wrong with the government, societies? They love death. If we love life, we would follow God's orderly way.
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And fifthly, very quickly, if we walk accurately, we walk in the whole armor of God. Look in verse 10. He says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword
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of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Now, the thing is this: if we're going to walk accurately, we must walk with the armor of God. We can't live without it. We have enemies. We have enemies who wish to destroy our souls, our spirituality. He says, "Arm yourselves with the armor that I've provided for you." And since we only have a day, we're to do this daily. It's a daily thing. Sixthly, very quickly, if we walk accurately, we learn to pray for each other and for God's preachers as well.
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Now go back to verse 18, the latter part. He says, "and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all" what? "Saints." Now watch verse 19. "And as for me," Paul says, "you generally pray for everybody but specifically pray for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I'm an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." So he says if we're going to walk accurately we learn to pray for each other and specifically for God's preachers.
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Now, let me tell you, I always tell people I appreciate all prayers. But do you realize there are times that I appreciate prayers more than others? I really appreciate prayers when I'm in the den of lions. There are times that are far more dangerous than others. There are preaching situations that are far more difficult than others. And this is what Paul is talking about. Paul says, "I want boldness to preach and declare the Word of God. Pray for me." Remember that. And then he says, "If you want to know anything about me, I'm going to send Tychicus to you. He can tell you everything that you need to know."
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So he tells us that we've got to walk accurately. Now, my question is this: How do we apply this? Well, stop and think about this. As Christians, we're not talking about unbelievers now, but as Christians, we may either walk as fools or we may walk as wise. We can be morons or we can be wise men. If we choose to walk as morons, we're going to bring the chastisement and the judgment of God upon us, as well as bringing shame in our lives. If we choose to walk as wise men, then we know what the will of God is. We walk accurately in that will. We do that will submitting to God and God alone.
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The second application is akin to this. We must examine every area of our lives and each relationship to determine whether or not we're wise or foolish in that relationship. As Christians, we cannot say, "Well, we're wrong in every area." No, we're not wrong in every area. There are some areas that we're right in, but there are some areas that may be questionable. Well, examine those areas. Say, "What can I do more to be more biblical, more godly, more holy, more obedient, more submissive, more conformed to the Word of God?" I tell people, and I do not mind telling you this, there are certain requests, certain petitions that I usually pray every day. And that is one of my petitions. I ask the Lord to make me more holy, more godly, more obedient, more submissive, and more conformed to His Word.
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You can't walk accurately without that. And the more conformed you are, the more accurately you can walk according to His Word. So, when the apostle says, "See then that you walk circumspectly," see then that you walk accurately, "not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Walk accurately. And the only way you're going to walk accurately is walking according to the Scripture.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word, Your truth, Your grace, Your mercy. We do pray, Lord, that You would help us to be accurate in our walking, that You'd make us more holy and more godly and more obedient, more submissive and more conformed to Your Word. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:39:52Z

Walking With God - 11

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver continues the 'Walking with the Lord' series by expounding Ephesians 5:15-21, emphasizing the command to walk circumspectly (accurately) as wise, not as fools. He explains that walking accurately involves redeeming the time, understanding God's will, being filled with the Spirit, singing psalms and spiritual songs, giving thanks always, submitting to one another in proper biblical order, and putting on the whole armor of God. The sermon calls believers to examine every area of life for conformity to Scripture and to live in godly submission and wisdom.

Introduction and Reading of Ephesians 5

Weaver introduces the 11th part of the series and reads Ephesians 5:15-33, setting the stage for the command to walk circumspectly.

Scripture Reading — Ephesians 5:15-33

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are the members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence the husband."

The Meaning of Walking Circumspectly

Explains the Greek words 'blepō' (take heed) and 'akribōs' (accurately, diligently), and the Latin root of 'circumspectly' meaning to look around and avoid danger.

Not as Fools, but as Wise

Contrasts the fool (asophos) who despises wisdom with the wise (sophos) who are skilled in knowledge, using Proverbs and Hebrews 5:13-14.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 6:16

"And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be upon them and mercy upon the Israel of God." And

remember I told you in times past that the word "rule" there is the Greek word kanōn. It's where we get our English word "canon," C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N.

For instance, in Proverbs 1 in verse 7, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and knowledge."

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:19

" So he wants us wise to that which is good and simple or naive concerning evil.

Redeeming the Time

Defines 'redeeming' (exagorazō) as buying up opportunities, and 'time' (kairos) as season or opportunity, urging wise use of limited days because the days are evil.

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:19

"but I would have you wise concerning that which is good,"

Scripture Reading — John 9:4

"I must work the work of Him who has sent Me while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work."

taught us to pray in Matthew 6 in verse 13,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 6:13

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

Understanding the Will of the Lord

Commands to stop being unwise and to understand God's will through Scripture, referencing Psalm 119:9-11.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 119:9-11

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" Here's the answer: "By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandment. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee."

So obviously, if we're going to redeem the time, if we're going to walk accurately and not as a fool, then we must walk according to God's Word by hiding His Word in our hearts.

Walking in the Spirit vs. Drunkenness

Compares being filled with the Spirit to being drunk with wine, noting similarities and differences, and cites Acts 2 and commentators Barnes and Gill.

Singing Psalms and Giving Thanks

Walking accurately involves singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs as worship, and giving thanks always for all things.

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 5:18

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Submitting to One Another

Explains the general principle of mutual submission in the fear of God, and the specific biblical order: God, Christ, man, woman, with applications to wives, husbands, children, and servants.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 11:3

"But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God."

Scripture Reading — Luke 2:51

"And He went down with them,"

that is Mary and Joseph,

Scripture Reading — Luke 2:51

"and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. And His mother kept all these things in her heart."

Jesus Christ who is God was in submission to His creatures whom He created. They were His mother and father and He submitted to them. So there's nothing wrong with submission. It's God's orderly way.

The Whole Armor of God and Prayer

Walking accurately requires putting on the whole armor of God daily and praying for all saints, especially preachers.

Application and Conclusion

Calls believers to examine every area of life for wisdom or folly, to seek greater conformity to God's Word, and to walk accurately by Scripture.

Walking With God - 11

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	1123161324481
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: Remember Lot And His Wife
Genre	Sermon
Date	2016-05-08
Dictation Name
Book	Book 146: Walking With God — Chapter 11
Source Timed Segments	71

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Reading of Ephesians 5: Weaver introduces the 11th part of the series and reads Ephesians 5:15-33, setting the stage for the command to walk circumspectly.
The Meaning of Walking Circumspectly: Explains the Greek words 'blepō' (take heed) and 'akribōs' (accurately, diligently), and the Latin root of 'circumspectly' meaning to look around and avoid danger.
Not as Fools, but as Wise: Contrasts the fool (asophos) who despises wisdom with the wise (sophos) who are skilled in knowledge, using Proverbs and Hebrews 5:13-14.
Redeeming the Time: Defines 'redeeming' (exagorazō) as buying up opportunities, and 'time' (kairos) as season or opportunity, urging wise use of limited days because the days are evil.
Understanding the Will of the Lord: Commands to stop being unwise and to understand God's will through Scripture, referencing Psalm 119:9-11.
Walking in the Spirit vs. Drunkenness: Compares being filled with the Spirit to being drunk with wine, noting similarities and differences, and cites Acts 2 and commentators Barnes and Gill.
Singing Psalms and Giving Thanks: Walking accurately involves singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs as worship, and giving thanks always for all things.
Submitting to One Another: Explains the general principle of mutual submission in the fear of God, and the specific biblical order: God, Christ, man, woman, with applications to wives, husbands, children, and servants.
The Whole Armor of God and Prayer: Walking accurately requires putting on the whole armor of God daily and praying for all saints, especially preachers.
Application and Conclusion: Calls believers to examine every area of life for wisdom or folly, to seek greater conformity to God's Word, and to walk accurately by Scripture.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Walking accurately is a command to take heed and live by God's rule.

The apostle warns believers to walk circumspectly, meaning to live diligently and exactly according to Scripture, not just claim promises.

Weaver says, 'Take heed then that you walk circumspectly... we must live by the precepts and the principles in the Word of God' (171.7-312.6).

Fools reject wisdom; the wise are skilled in discerning good and evil.

The fool (asophos) hates knowledge and makes a mock at sin, while the wise (sophos) have senses exercised to discern good and evil.

Weaver cites Proverbs 1:7, 13:19-20, 14:8-9 and Hebrews 5:13-14 (446.2-667.2).

Redeeming the time means buying up opportunities because life is short and days are evil.

Believers must make the most of each day, living godly and obediently, as Moses taught in Psalm 90:12.

Weaver explains 'exagorazō' and 'kairos' and says, 'You make use of this day... by living godly, by living obediently' (881.4-1365.5).

Being filled with the Spirit is essential for accurate walking, not drunkenness.

There is an analogy between being drunk and being filled with the Spirit, but the Spirit produces love, joy, and worship, not excess.

Weaver quotes John Gill: 'Believers may be said to be filled with the Spirit as with wine... when the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts' (1746.8-1854.7).

Singing psalms and giving thanks are acts of worship required for accurate walking.

Believers should sing Scripture and give thanks always, as both are direct worship to God.

Weaver says, 'In singing we should regard ourselves as speaking directly to God' and cites 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (1869.5-2414.7).

God's established order requires submission in all relationships.

From the Godhead to the family to society, God has ordained a chain of submission that brings order and lightens yokes.

Weaver explains 1 Corinthians 11:3 and Ephesians 5:22-6:9, stating, 'Christianity does not break up the relations of life... it conforms and confirms proper authority' (2415.4-3071.2).

The whole armor of God is necessary to withstand spiritual enemies.

Believers wrestle against spiritual wickedness and must daily put on God's armor to stand.

Weaver cites Ephesians 6:10-18 and says, 'If we're going to walk accurately, we must walk with the armor of God' (3072.9-3166.3).

Prayer for all saints and preachers is part of accurate walking.

Paul specifically requests prayer for boldness in preaching, and believers should pray for one another.

Weaver says, 'If we're going to walk accurately we learn to pray for each other and specifically for God's preachers' (3166.6-3245.3).

Scripture References

Ephesians 5:15-33: The primary text read at the beginning, commanding circumspect walking, being filled with the Spirit, and household duties.
Galatians 6:16: Cited to show that peace is upon those who walk according to the rule (kanōn) of Scripture.
Proverbs 1:7: Used to define a fool as one who despises wisdom and knowledge.
Proverbs 1:22: Shows that fools hate knowledge.
Proverbs 13:19: Indicates it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil.
Proverbs 13:20: Warns that a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Proverbs 14:8-9: States that the folly of fools is deceit and fools make a mock at sin.
Hebrews 5:13-14: Describes the unskillful (foolish) versus those of full age who discern good and evil.
Romans 16:19: Paul desires believers to be wise unto good and simple concerning evil, using the same Greek word for wise.
John 9:4: Jesus' illustration of working while it is day, applied to redeeming time before death.
Matthew 6:13: The Lord's Prayer asking deliverance from evil, connected to the evil days.
Psalm 90:10-12: Moses' prayer to number our days and apply hearts to wisdom, teaching wise use of time.
Psalm 119:9-11: David's answer that cleansing comes by taking heed to God's Word, hiding it in the heart.
Acts 2:12-18: The apostles accused of drunkenness at Pentecost, but Peter explains they are filled with the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 11:3: Establishes the divine order: God, Christ, man, woman, as the basis for submission.
Luke 2:51: Jesus as a child submitted to Mary and Joseph, exemplifying submission.
Ephesians 5:22-6:9: Specific commands for wives, husbands, children, and servants to submit in their roles.
Ephesians 6:10-20: The whole armor of God and prayer for boldness, essential for accurate walking.
1 Thessalonians 5:18: Command to give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God.
Hebrews 13:15: Offering the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips giving thanks to His name.

Historical References

Albert Barnes' commentary on Ephesians 5:18: Barnes suggests an allusion to the festivals of Bacchus, the heathen god of wine, where intoxication was considered worship.
John Gill's commentary on being filled with the Spirit: Gill describes believers filled with the Spirit as having love shed abroad, compared to wine for its refreshing nature.
John Calvin's commentary on submission: Calvin states that God has bound us so strongly to each other that no one should avoid subjection, and even kings serve the community.
Bacchus and Bacchanalia: Mentioned by Barnes as the heathen god of wine and his festivals marked by drunkenness and revelry.

Important Quotes

Take heed then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.

Weaver's translation of the command, emphasizing the warning to walk accurately.

For the child of God, it is not sufficient for you and I just simply to claim the promises of God. We must live by the precepts and the principles in the Word of God as well.

Highlights the necessity of obedience, not just faith in promises.

So a sophomore is nothing more than a wise fool or a wise moron.

Illustrates the Greek roots of 'sophomore' to explain the contrast between wise and foolish.

You do not have yesterday. You cannot go back and undo anything that has been done except the repentance. That's all. You do not have tomorrow. Tomorrow has not yet come. The only day that you have is right now.

Emphasizes the urgency of redeeming the present time.

Ignorance of our duty and neglect of our souls are evidences of the greatest folly.

Defines folly in terms of spiritual neglect.

In singing we should regard ourselves as speaking directly to God and the words therefore should be spoken with a solemnity and all becoming such a direct address to the great Jehovah.

Quoting Albert Barnes to elevate singing as solemn worship.

God has bound us so strongly to each other that no man ought to endeavor to avoid subjection.

Quoting John Calvin on the inescapability of mutual submission.

Christianity does not break up the relations of life. It does not produce disorder, lawlessness, and insubordination. But rather it conforms and confirms proper authority, and it really and truly lightens every just and proper yoke.

Summarizes the biblical view of submission as orderly and liberating.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to walk circumspectly in your daily life, and how can you practice greater caution and accuracy according to Scripture?

[Context]

Based on the explanation of 'akribōs' and the command to take heed (171.7-312.6).

[Question]

In what areas of your life might you be walking as a fool (asophos) rather than as wise (sophos), and what steps can you take to change?

[Context]

From the contrast between fools and the wise using Proverbs and Hebrews (446.2-667.2).

[Question]

How can you practically 'redeem the time' in your current season of life, especially in light of the evil days?

[Context]

From the discussion of exagorazō and Psalm 90:12 (881.4-1365.5).

[Question]

What is the difference between being filled with the Spirit and being drunk with wine, and how can you cultivate a Spirit-filled life?

[Context]

From the analogy and contrast in Ephesians 5:18 and Acts 2 (1523.7-1868.8).

[Question]

How does singing psalms and giving thanks function as worship in your personal and corporate life?

[Context]

From the emphasis on singing and thanksgiving as direct address to God (1869.5-2414.7).

[Question]

In what relationships do you struggle with submission, and how does understanding God's order (1 Corinthians 11:3) help you submit?

[Context]

From the teaching on submission in family, church, and society (2415.4-3071.2).

[Question]

Which piece of the whole armor of God do you most need to 'put on' daily, and why?

[Context]

From the call to take up the armor to withstand spiritual enemies (3072.9-3166.3).

[Question]

How can you be more intentional in praying for your church leaders and fellow believers, especially for boldness in proclaiming the gospel?

[Context]

From Paul's request for prayer in Ephesians 6:19-20 (3166.6-3245.3).

Applications

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