Clean Transcript

Walking With The Lord - Part 11 - Walking Accurately

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• 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."

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• "And be not drunk with wine, wherein it is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Speak unto 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."

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• "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."

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• So today we are 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 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 "to see."

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• 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."

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• Now the Greek word for "circumspectly" is the word "akribōs." And 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 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 are 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. 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 are 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 is where we get our English word "canon," C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N that is the kind that shoots. But we talk about the Old Testament canon, or the New Testament canon, or the canon of Scripture.

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• And so the word "kanōn" in the Greek literally means a measuring stick, measuring rod, or what you and I would call a yardstick, or just simply the measuring stick. So, the Apostle is saying then, peace be upon those, and he tells you who 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.

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• 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.

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• 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, "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, would you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge." Again, fools hate knowledge. In Proverbs 13 and verse 19 the Bible says, "The 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.

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• He is 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."

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• "But among the righteous there is favor." So fools make a mockery even of sin.

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• 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," 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

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• 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 belongs to them that are 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 at verse 19. Romans 16 and verse 19. You're gonna 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 am 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. Just stop and think about that. How many of

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• 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 and 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.

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• 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 then 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.

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• Now, how do we do this? Well, 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?

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• Now, the Greek word for the word "redeeming" is "exagorazō." Now that word is translated "redeem" 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.

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• 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.

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• 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 you 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 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.

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• So, we cannot go beyond our life span. And every one 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" 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.

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• You remember our Lord taught us to pray in Matthew 6 in verse 13, "And lead us not into temptation, but what? Deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen." So how do we redeem the time because the days are evil? Well, I want you to turn to Psalm 90, hold 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 10, 70. And if by reason of strength they be four score years, that's 80, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away."

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• So, some die before 70, the average is 70. Some live beyond 70, they'll make it in the 80s. Some into their 90s. And a few hardy 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. Oh my. 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.

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• I thought, my goodness, she can outdo me. And I'm 30 years younger, but I mean, you know, 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, 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.

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• 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 to 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, 70s, 80s. Who knows? But if he's not telling us a mathematical calculation, what in the world then 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, 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 are 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?

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• And the answer is from this book. You remember what David said in Psalm 119 verses 9 through 11? He asked a question. "Wherewithal shall the 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 mine 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

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• being unwise, but 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 when I dealt with the family. So, but let me just show you, I'm going to try to make it very concise for you. So, the question you have to ask yourself is this, how do I walk accurately? So far I know 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 are 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 will 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 will 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 is they are 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 Barnes says. "It is not improbable that in this verse

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• there's an allusion to the orgies of Bacchus or to the festival 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, could refer just to being drunk as well, but he said "be filled with the Spirit." And here is 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, "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.

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• 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, joy, expressed in the following manner." That is walking in the Spirit.

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• Now, here is what the Apostle is teaching us. 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 today, even being led by the Spirit. But obviously He is saying that if we are going to be walking accurately we are going to be walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, which I will deal with next week.

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• Now, notice if you would verse 19. Here is 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 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.

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• In fact, we have psalters at the house, and we've used those psalters over and over. He plays a lot of Psalms and has played a lot of Psalms. 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 is a song about it that is what he is 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 is this car right

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• 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. 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 does 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 all right too. I'm just saying that's what he is talking about, singing and 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 to what he says, "In praise of the Lord or addressed 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 are going to walk accurately we are going to walk in the Spirit and we are 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 is the third thing, if we are 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 the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." I've had people ask me, "Well how can I give thanks when I've just lost my husband? Or how can I give thanks when I've 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 had been married 60 years. Y'all been married how long? 59. 59.

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• You see what I'm saying? There is so much to be thankful for. Even a child. Even a child that is 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."

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• Now I want you to understand something, that giving thanks is also an act of worship. Isn't that amazing? I want to read some scriptures to you. Listen carefully. 2 Samuel 22 verse 50. "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. 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 are doing so publicly. 1 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 O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks unto 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 "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." In everything. Well, that's exactly what he tells us then in Hebrews 13 and 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 not only sing the Psalms we should use them to excite us to

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• thank and praise the Lord. So if we are going to walk accurately we are going to walk in the Spirit, we are going to sing unto the Lord, we are going to give thanks unto the Lord. And then if you look in verse 21, fourthly if we are going to walk accurately we are 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 could 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. Do 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.

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• 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 1st Corinthians chapter 11, you'll find that the man is nothing without the woman. Now I might be the head of my house, but I'm gonna tell

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• you there are times I submit to Alice. I submit to her and her cooking and I submit to her and her housecleaning. 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.

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• 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?

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• 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 in 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 a wreck. 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 is everywhere you look. Nobody wants to be in submission.

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• 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's the savior of the body." Verse 24, "Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to 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. 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.

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• "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 in chapter 6 verses 1-3, "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 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 his own sphere of submission.

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• 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 and singleness of your heart as under Christ. Not with eye-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.

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• "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. 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 as will regard them as they regard their servants.

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• 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. It 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. Remember that passage in Proverbs 8 verse 36 where our Lord said, "All they that hate me love death." 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 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. Stand therefore, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.

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• 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 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."

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• Now the thing is this, if we are 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 provided for you. And since we only have a day where 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 of it. 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." And so he says if we're gonna 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?

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• I really appreciate prayers when I'm in the den of lions. Huh. 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 kin 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, 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 gonna 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 and that you'd make us more holy and more godly and more obedient and 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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• you you

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:01:25Z