Sermon - Ephesians 5:15-21 - Littleby Baptist Church - November 18, 2018

This is the tenth message in our walk-through Ephesians and Paul has had a lot to say so far. He spent the first half of the letter talking to us about who God is and what He did. Emphasizing things like forgiveness, cleansing of sins, redemption, unity in all believers, and that He believes that we are so important that He has marked us as His own.

While we cannot earn our way into heaven, as followers of Christ we have been called to live our lives worthy of the calling that God has placed on us. Living with humility, love, gentleness, patience, and unity. We are to turn away from our old sinful ways and live the life that we were truly created to live. If our thoughts and actions are based on what Jesus has done for us, it should show. People should see His love as we are kind, compassionate, and forgiving.

As we saw last week that we need to imitate God as a child imitates their older siblings, parents, grandparents, and teachers. If Jesus loves, we need to love. If He gave of himself, we need to give of ourselves. We truly need to be different than others. As we live differently than those in the world, the light in us shines. As the light shines, people see the difference. As people see the difference the Holy Spirit uses it to help others become more like Christ.

Being an imitator of God changes your life but impacts others way more than you will ever know. Which is why Paul said we need to live worthy of our calling.

Ephesians 5:15-16

“¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you live—not as unwise people but as wise—¹⁶ making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”

Life is short, so live it to the fullest!

Now, while I truly mean what I just said, we may have very different understandings to what it means. Hollywood will tell you that living your life to the fullest has a lot to do with fancy cars, huge homes, big parties, and travel budgets larger than most of us make in a year. While I like sitting down and enjoying a good movie, that is about all I want from Hollywood.

If we look at Paul’s life we are going to see someone who understand that life is short and how to live it to the fullest. He understood that it was not about the things, but about people. He had no problem being a tent maker, so he could support himself and share God’s love with others. When he was in prison, everything he did was to help others. He prayed for others, wrote letters to encourage and admonish churches he had planted, and taught anyone who would listen.

If you pay attention to Paul’s letters you will notice that people were very loyal to him. They opened their homes, helped him escape from being killed, provided for him, and Luke spent an extended period of time with him in prison. People tend to be loyal to those who treat them well. Paul’s friends and supporters were loyal, because Paul valued them.

When Paul tells us that we need to live life to its fullest, I see him telling us that there are two things that we need to do. We need to value and take joy in the people in our lives and we need to go about God’s business. If we are making the most of our time, we are pouring ourselves into our family and friends and reaching the lost.

When you live through a major accident, go through a medical scare, loose a loved one, or any other experience that causes you to reflect on life and you tend to develop a new perspective. After my surgery back in 2010, I was reminded that there are two things that are really important in life.

The first I needed to remember was that we need to stop and smell the roses. Life can be so crazy at times that we do not take the time to have dinner with our families, go to a movie, take a vacation, or simply enjoy life. This life is not meant to be all work and no play, even God rested on the seventh day. We need to rest and enjoy our family and friends.

The second thing I that came out of my experience was that life is short and there are a lot of lost people out there. God created me, and everyone here for a reason and part of that reason is to be witnesses to our communities and to the world.

As a Follower of Christ, we need to not only take time to enjoy life, but we need to be true to our calling. We need to be reaching out to the lost. We need to make sure we are making wise use of our time praying to our God, loving others, being a witness, and making disciples. We do not know how much time we have left, or more importantly how much time that lost person in our lives has. We need to make every effort to live our life worthy of the calling God has placed on it. We need to be loving others and reaching the lost.

Ephesians 5:17

“¹⁷ So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

Have you heard the saying, “It’s not how you start but how you finish that counts?”

Paul started out badly. He had made it his purpose to persecute Christians, and then one day everything changed for him. You could say that Paul finished much better than he started.

2 Timothy 4:6-8

“⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.”

After his Damascus road experience Paul understood what he was supposed to do and spent his life doing exactly what God created him to do. You could say that he ran the race, kept the faith, and lived a life worthy of the calling he had received.

How about you? Do you know what God created you to do? Is there something that gets that fire burning that you know you need to do? Is there something that you go stir-crazy when you are not doing it?

Find that thing that God wants you to do and go after it. Follow His will and watch what He can accomplish through you.

Ephesians 5:18

“¹⁸ And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:”

Getting drunk is an issue, but here it is used to make a point. Behaviors the world embraces are reckless and need to be replaced with being with God.

Instead of going out with your buddies and getting drunk and in to who knows what kind of trouble, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

Don’t waste your life on the foolish things in this world, instead devote yourself to God.

Don’t live worldly lives, but let Jesus live deeply rooted in you. Guiding your thoughts and actions.

Turn from your old sinful ways and become the new creation that you truly are.

Galatians 5:16-26

“¹⁶ I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. ²⁴ Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

As one filled with the Holy Spirit, we need to let the Spirit guide us. Our flesh, the world, our past sins, will try to drive us back to our old ways. The Holy Spirit will wipe away our old behaviors and replace them with the Fruit of the Spirit. We need to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us, guide us, and protect us every day.

If Jesus is your Savior, the Holy Spirit is already in you so that is not the challenge. The real challenge is how do we give Him more control of our thoughts, actions, and ultimately our lives? I think it has a lot to do with how much time you spend with God. If we are out drinking, focusing on our own selfish desires, chasing the almighty dollar, keeping up with the Jones, we are not focused on the things of God. We would not be living a life that allows us to shine in the darkness, not living worthy of our calling.

Instead we need to spend more time with God. We need to be talking to our God constantly. We need to be studying His words and learning how they impact our lives. We need to grow in our faith and depend on the Holy Spirit. Then things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will become more obvious to those around us. That is living life to its fullest.

Ephesians 5:19-21

“¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.”

Instead of being worldly, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 3:16

“Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Let Christ dwell in you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray constantly, ¹⁸ give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Living your life to the fullest is not about achieving some grand goal or amassing some huge fortune. It is not about running your own company, owning your own plane, traveling around the world, or staring in a movie.  

Living your life to the fullest is all about letting the Holy Spirit dwell in you, guide you, mold you, shape you, and help you to become the person that God wants you to be. You are a work in progress and you are still under construction. As a believer you have been cleansed, saved, and redeemed. You have been filled by the Holy Spirit and claimed by God as His beloved Child.

Live your life to the fullest! Love those around you! Live worthy of the calling that God has placed on your life! Let the Holy Spirit guide you every step of the way.

Live your life to the fullest by faithfully letting your light shine.


Blessings,

Robert