(For link to audio & video recording on SermonAudio.com, click here )
(If you would like to receive Pastor Harris’ weekly sermons via e-mail, Click Here)
(If you would like to download the PowerPoint presentation for this sermon, Click here – Redeeming the Time)
(To see video of the worship service, click here to go to our youtube link
Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
August 16, 2026
Redeeming the Time
Ephesians 5:15-17 & Selected Scriptures
Introduction
Today is the eleventh sermon dealing with the subject of the purpose and nature of the church. *We have summarized the purpose of the church in our statement, Glorifying God by Making Disciples of Jesus Christ, which is based on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. The four major ways in which we seek to carry out that purpose are: *Communicating New life in Christ, which is evangelism and missions; *Caring for New Life in Christ which encompasses the practical aspects of true Christian fellowship as we fulfill the one another commands such as love, honor, edify, care, be kind, comfort, serve, be patient, forebear, admonish, pray for, etc.; *Cultivating New Life in Christ which encompasses all the means by which we help each other grow in the knowledge of God and spiritual maturity, so it has a primary focus on teaching and mentoring ministries but overlaps with caring for one another; *Celebrating New Life in Christ refers to worship both individually and corporately. Worship is both the underlying purpose and final goal of everything else for the worship of God is the purpose of our existence in the present time and for eternity. God receives greater glory as more people become Christians and Christians become more like Christ.
*Over the past several months we have covered all of these topics as well as Baptism, the necessity of obedience, and last week, the interconnection of spiritual gifts and ministry in the ultimate goal of making disciples of Jesus Christ. *God wants every Christian to serve Him, so He gives spiritual gifts, ministries and empowerment for those ministries. As the saints in a church mature they are better able to carry out all the means of making disciples of Jesus Christ – evangelism, fellowship, edification and worship. They will help one another carry out all of the one another commands as those who are gifted in a particular area help those who are not so gifted to function in that area. The church becomes more unified and better able to protect one another from false teachers and deceitful doctrine.
*If you are not sure what your spiritual gifts may be, there is a Spiritual Gifts Inventory in the back of the church. Pick up one and work through it. It is designed to indicate the areas in which you have an interest and are currently comfortable in doing. You can then meet with me and I can give you some ideas about ministries that would match those gifts. There is also an Opportunity Sheet in the back of the church that lists some of the specific ministry opportunities here and the contact person. If you did not pick one up already, please do so and give prayerful consideration to what God would have you do in serving Him. It may be in continuing what you are already doing or expanding in those areas, or perhaps trying something new to see how God will use you.
*What I want to focus on today comes from the commands in Ephesians 5:15-17, “15 Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 On account of this, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” We will examine this passage to make sure we understand what the Scriptures are commanding us to do. Along the way I want to be very practical in its application not only to you living the Christian life successfully as an individual, but also to its application to living successfully as part of the body of Christ in fulfilling its purpose. You do not want to get to the end of your life and find out you wasted it because instead of redeeming the time, you squandered it; instead of making the most of the precious life God has granted to you, you have wasted it.
*Context of Ephesians 5:15
Like many of Paul’s epistles – letters to churches – the first half of Ephesians deals with theological truth and the second half with the application of those truths. *Ephesians 1-3 declares the Christian’s Position in Christ of being chosen by God, sealed by the Spirit, saved by God’s grace through faith, united in one body – the church, which is a mystery revealed of Jews and Gentiles being fellow heirs and partakers together of the gospel of Jesus Christ. *Ephesians 4-6 gives direction based on these theological truths about Christian Practice of walking worthy of our calling in Christ, walking no longer as the Gentiles do, walking in love, walking as children of light, walking in wisdom, and standing firm in the strength of the Lord against the devil and his forces in spiritual warfare.
*Ephesians 5:15 is the fifth command concerning the Christian’s walk – Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise. This is the eighth time Paul has used the term, “therefore,” which indicates that what follows is the logical consequence of what had been stated previously. The Christian’s position in Christ should have practical effects in daily life. *The change that occurs when a person is saved from sin is radical. It is from death to life (2:5); from a futile mind to a renewed mind (4:17-23); from the old sinful man to new righteous man (4:22-24); from selfishness to selflessness / from self-centered to other-centered (5:25-32); from being a son of disobedience to a son of God (5:1-6); from being darkness to being light in the Lord (5:7-14), and in this verse (5:15) it is from being unwise – a fool – to being wise.
*Under this general heading of wisdom Paul will deal with a host of more specific issues including: use of time (5:16), understanding the will of the Lord (5:17), true spirituality (5:18-21), the roles of the husband and wife (5:22-33), the behavior of children and the duties of parents (6:1-4), and work ethics for both the employer and the employee (6:5-9). This morning we will look at the general characteristics of wisdom vs. foolishness and especially as that relates to setting priorities and making wise use of the time that God has given you.
*Walk as Wise – Ephesians 5:15
The command begins with “therefore” as already pointed out with the command itself being “Therefore be careful how you walk” (NAS),”Therefore look carefully how you walk” (LSB), “See then that you walk circumspectly” (NKJV). *The verb used here, blevpw / blepō, has a root meaning of “to see” in the physical sense, but it is also used figuratively to mean “to note something,” “to be intent on,” “to perceive,” and here the sense is “to notice carefully.” You cannot avoid walking as the unwise and walk as wise unless you are paying attention to how you are walking. That encompasses the manner and the path.
*If you are walking on a wide, smooth road you can be very casual in how you walk because there is little danger of stumbling or getting off the path. *But consider how you would walk if were on a narrow mountain trail with steep drop offs scrambling over stones and tree roots. You would be paying close and careful attention to where you are making your next step because the dangers are prevalent and obvious. *Life is full of danger but most people are not aware of or paying attention to those dangers and so they easily stumble and fall into foolishness and pay the consequences.
*In a similar manner you pay close attention to and follow a map if you want to arrive at the proper destination otherwise it is easy to make a wrong turn and end someplace you do not want to go. *Most people are not paying attention to where they are going because they are so distracted by where they are currently. They are merrily going along following the directions of the GPS assuming it is set for the proper final destination but they actually do not know.
*This is the first practical point I want to make to you. Do you know where you are going? Are you aware of the dangers around you? Jesus gave strong warnings throughout the Sermon on the Mount concerning being and living in true righteousness, and in Matthew 7:13-14 He gave the following command and warning. 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” So pay attention to make sure you know your destination and are taking notice to walk carefully in view of the dangers that are all around you. You are not walking as wise nor can you be making the most of your time nor can you understand the will of the Lord unless you are sure of your destination and being careful to avoid stumbling over the dangers along the way.
*Before I go on let me backtrack a bit and make sure you understand what wisdom is. The tendency in American society is to equate wisdom with intelligence, education and the person’s ability to accumulate knowledge. It is commonly assumed people with degrees are wise. While education and knowledge are certainly helpful to being wise, I can say without hesitation that some of the greatest fools have been highly educated with great intellect and knowledge of vast amounts of information. They are simply intelligent, schooled fools. Moliere said, “A learned fool is more foolish than an ignorant fool.” 2 Timothy 3:7 warns about those who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
*FOOLISHNESS can be defined as not living according to the reality of the truth. Some people are only a little foolish, some are very foolish. When a person drifts far enough away from reality we say they are crazy, loony, or to use a more politically correct term – reality challenged. The fool is someone who has been presented the truth, but rejects it for a lie. Such a person may get along well in our society, and many such people are held in high regard and have prestigious positions, but God says the are fools.
*Scripture defines foolishness in relationship to a person’s recognition of God for He is the ultimate reality, the final truth. Psalm 14:1 & 53:1 both state, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God.’” The avowed atheist is the ultimate fool because he claims to not believe in God and then spends his life arguing against His existence. I like what Warren Wiersbe said, “Nothing is so safe as an abstract idea that shelters me from reality, but nothing is so dangerous.” *Most foolish people do not claim to be atheists, but rather they live in a manner that basically ignores the reality of God and what He has revealed to mankind in both the creation and in the Scriptures. Paul expressed this in Romans 1:21-22 saying, 21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools. Fools reject the revelation God has given to them externally and internally.
*According to 1 Corinthians 2:14 foolishness is the natural state of man. “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually examined.” *According to Ephesians 4:17-18, apart from Christ mankind “walk in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.” *That is why you cannot argue someone into the kingdom of God, instead, it must be the work of the Holy Spirit. Until the Spirit of God starts His work of convicting them of sin, righteousness and judgement (John 16), they believe they are doing fine on their own, for “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,” Proverbs 12:15. Evangelism begins with prayer.
*Everyone here was at one time in that same state of foolishness, and those here who are not yet saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone as their savior are still such fools. Sin is missing the mark of God’s perfect will and the evidence of still being foolishness. To the degree you sin demonstrates your lack of understanding of God and living according to His will.
*WISDOM is in contrast to foolishness. In simple terms, wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge and understanding in the daily affairs of life with prudence and stay out of trouble. The wise live in accord with reality. Biblically, wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge and understanding in the daily affairs of life in accordance with God’s revelation. *In other words, wisdom takes knowledge and applies it in striving to do God’s will.
Salvation makes radical changes in us, but the changes that God makes in us must be followed up by continuing change, and wisdom is no exception. In the work of regeneration which occurs at salvation God gives your mind a new ability to think and understand. In contrast to the natural man who finds spiritual things foolish and cannot understand as mentioned earlier, *the person who is saved is given the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). Ephesians 4:20-23 also points the continued changes where Paul says, “you did not learn Christ in this way . . . be renewed in the spirit of your mind . . .put on the new self . . . created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
With the mind of Christ comes wisdom for in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians. 2:3). 1 Cor. 1:30 points out that it is by God’s doing that the believer is “in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption . . .”. In the same way that we are partakers of Christ’s righteousness and sanctification we are also partakers of His wisdom because we are in Him. When we stumble into sin is it partly because we are living as unwise rather than in the wisdom God has given to His people.
*The Bible points out that believers are to also grow in wisdom in the same way they grow in righteousness and sanctification. In one of the more amazing verses of Scripture, Luke 2:52, Jesus’ humanity is stressed for even He “kept increasing in wisdom” (Luke 2:52) though the treasure of wisdom is hidden in Him. We are to learn the lessons the Holy Spirit for He is the one that teaches us all things (1 John 2:27). He is the anointing that God has given so that we will know the truth (1 John 2:20-21). Christians are to continue to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord” (2 Peter 3:18).
*The book of Proverbs gives the clearest descriptions of wisdom and how to gain it, and if you will be wise, you will spend much time there. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (9:10) and it comes only to the humble (11:2). Wisdom comes from God (2:6) and yet it must be pursued (4:5). Those who have it are blessed (2:10-21; 3:13-18), while those who neglect it are cursed (2:22).
*The command here in Ephesians 5:15, “Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,” is necessary because we are still this side of glorification and so must still struggle against sin. If you are not careful you will play the part of the fool because it is very easy to return to old habits of foolishness, forget God’s involvement in your life and live by your own thoughts and desires. If you do not know God’s will or do not believe Him completely in what He has revealed of Himself, you will play the part of a fool.
*The source of wisdom is the Bible for only it explains the will of God and wisdom is built knowing and doing God’s will. To the extent that you do not know and do not follow the Scriptures you are foolish. In Luke 24:25 Jesus called the two disciples on the road to Emmaus “foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.” Paul admonished the Galatians for being so foolish as to turn away from the gospel of Christ to the heresies of a group that perverted the gospel (Gal. 3:1,3). Paul warned Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:9 about those who would take their eyes off of pursuing Christ and pursue the things of this world – “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”
*It is a great tragedy when even believers live as the unwise and do not believe and obey God in everything, and instead pursue after the futile things of this world. There is no good excuse to live in such foolishness when God’s wisdom is so freely available to anyone willing to seek it. Those that genuinely want to know God and truth can attain that knowledge and the wisdom that accompanies it.
*Redeeming the Time – Ephesians 5:16
Ephesians 5:16 is the first area Paul points to that will demonstrate walking carefully as wise and not unwise – “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” *The word used here, ejxagoravzw / exagorazō, has a root meaning going back to the manumission of a slave to freedom. In the New Testament it is used in similar sense of the price of Christ’s sacrifice to free the believer from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13; 4:5). *The word was also used in the sense of “intensive buying” or “buying which exhausts the possibilities available.” That is the sense here in regards to “the opportunities offered by time.” That is why some versions translate this as “making the most / best use of your time” (NASB / ESV). This is much more than just being a good manager of time.
*There are two Greek words for time. One is crovnoV / chronos from which we get “chronometer” as in a clock. It refers to time as measured in hours, minutes and seconds. If Paul was simply talking about time management he would have used that word. Instead Paul used kairovV / kairos which designates a measured, allocated or fixed season. It refers to the specific periods of time that are given to you to accomplish particular tasks. For example, discount coupons you use for shopping can only be used until a certain date; sales events only last until the date the sale is over; a class has a restriction on the time available to learn the material before the final examination.
*The same term is used in 1 Peter 1:17 where the apostle repeats the Old Testament command for God’s people to be holy for God is holy and then he adds this, “And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay (upon earth).” In other words, God only gives you a certain length of time to dwell on the earth and accomplish whatever it is you are going to accomplish with your life. That is the point of Psalm 90:12 in which Moses calls on God to “Teach us to number our days, That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.” That is the idea Paul is addressing here.
*Ecclesiastes 3 speaks to this issue well – “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven” – and then he lists them: birth, death; planting, harvesting; mourning, dancing; war, peace; etc. God has given you certain seasons in your life in which you can accomplish certain things. After that season is past, the opportunities are gone. You do not know how long the season will last nor the length of your life. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and then the judgement” (Heb 9:27). *Wisdom makes the most of the opportunities presented in life.
The Greeks had a good understanding of this. *Lysippus crafted it into a statue called “Opportunity.” It was the figure of a man with wings on its feet, a long lock of hair on his forehead, but the rest of his head was bald. The inscription explains, Why has thou wings on thy feet? That I may fly away swiftly. Why has thou a great forelock? That men may seize me when I come. Why are thou bald in back? That when I am gone by, none can lay hold of me. The sailors cliché for this is that “time and tide wait for no man.”
*The idea of making the most of your time is not an invitation to busyness but rather to ordering your life according to God’s priorities. Certainly God does not want to you to “rust out,” but there is no reward for “burning out” either. We need to follow the example of Jesus who never rushed, but He kept steadily moving forward. He kept His focus on God’s will and accomplished that rather than getting caught up in the tyranny of the urgent – which is really just the demands other people place upon you. Jesus had compassion on people, but He also knew the weaknesses of the human condition and the body’s need for rest and the mind’s need for some solitude. He would spend time in communion with the Father as well as ministering to the needs of people, but He always kept the balance by keeping His focus on the Father’s will.
*Our text says that the days are evil, and if you are not careful society can suck you into its evil ways. Life can be fast paced and that can quickly burn you out. You can be out and about every day and every evening and hardly scratch the surface of all the things there are to do. You can also fall into the leisure trap and easily squander your life away pursuing entertainment and things of little importance. There is a plethora of time wasters in our society in both number and variety. Many of these are designed to be addictive so that you do not even notice how many hours have gone by. Especially bad for this are computer games, video shorts, tic tok, you-tube, social media and such. What do you gain from the hours invested? The days are evil, don’t let your life be frittered away. The opportunities you have now for righteousness may not be available in the future.
*Time is precious, but it is not a commodity that can be stored or traded. Rather it is the marking of your life passing away. *Benjamin Franklin said, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.” And the seasons of your life pass too quickly.
When as a child I laughed and wept; Time crept
When as a youth, I dreamed and talked; Time walked
When I became a full-grown man; Time ran
And later, as I older grew; Time flew
Soon I shall find while traveling on; Time gone.
God has appointed for you seasons of opportunity in your short lives. The question is will you make the most of those opportunities and how will you know what is the right way to use your time. That is answered in verse 17.
*Understand the Will of the Lord – Ephesians 5:17
“So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” The foolish are self-centered and view life as revolving around themselves. They use their time to do whatever pleases them for the moment or whatever will help them achieve their selfish quests for *worldly success in pursuits such as wealth, fame, fortune, happiness, power, prestige, pleasure, etc. Solomon has told us in Ecclesiastes that these things turn out to be vanity and chasing after the wind. The foolish give little if any consideration to God’s eternal perspective and purposes. The result is wasted lives. How tragic that many Christians end up doing the same thing, hence Paul’s warning – “So then do not be foolish!” Do not live as if there is no God to whom you owe allegiance and the purpose of your existence.
*How can you keep everything in balance and know what to do? There is only one way – wisdom! And wisdom is based on knowing the will of God and following the priorities He has set for your life, and His priorities are often opposite of those of the world. Where do we know the will of God? We are back to the beginning of this morning’s sermon. *You have to know His Word and become sensitive to the Holy Spirit. How else would you know the following list are priorities He has set and commanded? How else will you know how to carry them out in practical terms?
*Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Mt. 6:33).
*Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul & mind (Mt. 22). *Love your neighbor as yourself (Mt. 22).
*Husbands, love your wife (Eph. 5).
*Wives, see to it that you respect your husband (Eph 5).
*Raise your children in the nurture & admonition of the Lord without provoking them to anger or causing them to lose heart (Eph. 6, Col. 4).
*Serve the Lord with gladness (Ps 100)
*Offer to God your sacrifices of praise (Heb 13).
*Use your spiritual gifts with love (1 Cor 12 & 13).
*Be wise in what is good and simple in what is evil (Rom. 16:19)
*Be holy and humble (1 Peter 1:16; 5:6).
*Fulfill the one another commands (many Scriptures)
*Conclusions
Are you being wise to make the most of the opportunities God gives you in life? Or are you demonstrating foolishness by squandering them? Those two questions will be evaluated according to what you believe is the purpose of your existence and where you want to end up. *Or to be very blunt about it – what do you want your epitaph to be – what do you want written in your obituary and on your tombstone? What you are pursuing in life at the present time is providing the material for it.
*Even more important than how you want to be remembered on earth is what do you want to hear when you stand before God after death? Some are only going to hear a list of their many sins written in the books at the Great White Throne judgment followed by the condemnation “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fires prepared for the devil and his angels” (Revelation 20:11-15; Matthew 25:41). Others will claim to have known and served the Lord, but He will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Those who squander instead of use what the Lord entrusts to them are in danger of hearing Him say, “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). * No one in their right mind would want to hear any of those things, yet the vast majority of humanity will be for there are few that enter the narrow gate and walk the narrow path that leads to eternal life (Matt. 7:3-14).
*What you should want to hear is “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21, 23).
*Your purpose and goals for your life will by and large determine the decisions you make about what you do with your time. What you do with your time will reveal what you believe is important regardless of claims to the contrary. Therefore make sure you have a clear understanding of the purpose of your life and set your goals to fulfill that purpose and pursue activities that will fulfill those goals. If you would like help in figuring that out, just let me know and I can work you through a fairly simple exercise that will help you do that.
I want to close with this. Time marks the passing of life. I first preached through this passage 30 years ago, *so I can look back to see how well I have done this myself. There are certainly many things I can identify that I recognize now as a waste of time. Some of that was caused by being lazy at that moment or in the pursuit of my own selfish desires. Other things seemed like wise usage at the time, but turned out not to be. If my foresight was as good as my hindsight there are a lot of things I would have avoided spending any time on. However, for the majority of the decades I have lived, my purpose in life and related goals have been clear to me so that overall I can say that I have walked wisely according to this passage making the most of my time in accordance with the will of the Lord. It is that clarity that enables me to look back and recognize the failures, learn from them, and press on to do better with the time that remains.
*That last point is important. Our God is a God of forgiveness and reconciliation and He wants us to learn from the past but look to the future. Paul stated this point well in Philippians 3:12–14, 12 “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
If you want to walk wisely redeeming the time in accordance with God’s will, then follow Paul’s example in this. Learn from the past and keep pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus in your life. *You will be blessed personally as you do so, and you will be the source of blessing for your Christian brothers and sisters in the church you will be helping to mature as you use your gifts properly in ministry in the church. The result will be that God is glorified in all.
Sermon Notes – 8/16/2026
Redeeming the Time – Ephesians 5:15-17 & Selected Scriptures
Introduction
Glorifying God by Making __________of Jesus Christ through evangelism, fellowship, edification, & worship
Every Christian is to __________God according to the gifts, ministry & empowerment He gives
The Spiritual Gifts Inventory & the Opportunity Sheet are available in the back of the church
Ephesians 5:15-17
Context
Eph. 1-3. The Christian’s ________ – Chosen, Sealed, Saved by grace, United in one body, Mystery revealed
Eph. 4-6. The Christian’s __________- Walk: worthy, not as Gentiles, in love, as children of light, in wisdom,
Eph. 5:15 – Fifth command concerning the Christian’s _________, the eighth use of “therefore”
Salvation brings radical ___________to the Christian
Walk in _______pertaining: Use of time, understanding will of God , true spirituality, family roles, work ethic
Walk as Wise – Ephesians 5:15
blevpw / blepō, Literal = “to see,” Figurative = “to notice carefully”
You can walk casually on a wide, smooth road for there is __________danger
A _______________road requires careful attention – Life is a road full of ____________
To arrive at the proper _____________you must pay close attention to and follow the map
Most people do not pay attention nor do they know _________they are going
Do you _________where you are going? Are you of the dangers along the way? – Matthew 7:13-14
Intelligence, education and knowledge do not guarantee wisdom for there are many such educated ________
FOOLISHNESS = not living according to the __________of truth
Psalm 14:1 & 53:1 – Includes the avowed atheist and those that live as __________atheists – Romans 1:21-22
1 Corinthians 2:14 – foolishness is the ___________state of man
Ephesians 4:17-18 – apart from Christ, mankind lives in the ___________of their mind
You cannot argue a fool into the kingdom of God, because they are right in their __________- Proverbs 12:15
_________was foolish and those who are not yet saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ still are foolish
WISDOM contrasts foolishness – the wise live in __________with reality. Christians according to God’s word
Wisdom takes knowledge and ____________it in striving to do God’s will
The Christian is radically _____________and continues to be changed including gaining the “mind of Christ”
Believers _____in grace, knowledge & wisdom learning from the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 3:18; 1 John 2:20-21, 27)
Proverbs gives many descriptions & characteristics of wisdom – which begins with the ________of the Lord
Until glorification we will still struggle against _______and so must “look carefully how you walk” to be wise
The ___________is the source of wisdom for it explains the will of God upon which wisdom is built
There is no good excuse to live in foolishness when God’s wisdom is ___________to anyone who will seek it
Redeeming the Time – Ephesians 5:16
Redeem, ejxagoravzw / exagorazō, as a root in manumission of a slave to ____________
Here it is used in the sense of “buying which exhausts the possibilities available” in regards to _________
Time here is not crovnoV / chronos, time measurement. It is kairovV / kairos, specified time periods / ________
1 Peter 1:17 – it refers to your time of dwelling on _______. Psalm 90:12 – consider it and use that time wisely
Ecclesiastes 3 – there is a _______/ season for everything – including an appointed time to die (Hebrews 9:27)
Wisdom makes the most of the _____________presented in life. The Greek statue, Opportunity, by Lysippus
Redeeming the time is not an invitation to __________, it is to follow Jesus’ example: unhurried, but steadfast
The days are evil – there are many traps to ___________your time: Busyness as well as leisure, selfish pursuits
Time is precious, but it is ____a commodity that can be stored or traded. Benjamin Franklin: time is _______
Understand the Will of the Lord – Ephesians 5:17
The foolish are _________________and view life as revolving around themselves
Success in worldly pursuits – wealth, fame, fortune, happiness, power, prestige, pleasure – is still _________
Only wisdom can keep you balanced, and wisdom is based on knowing ________& His will to follow it
Knowing God’s will requires knowing His word, the __________, for it gives His commands and priorities
Conclusions
Are you being ________to make the most of the opportunities God gives in life, or are you squandering them?
What do you want your ______________to be – written in your obituary and on your tombstone
What do you want to __________when you stand before God after death?
No one in their right mind wants to be rejected and condemned to Hell, but the vast ________of humanity will
You will want to __________, “Well done, good and faithful slave . . . enter into the joy of your master”
Your _____________& goals for life will by & large determine what you will do with your time
You can always look back & see better ways you could have used your time – _____from that to do better now
God is forgiving and wants us to learn from the past, but look to the _______as did Paul – Philippians 3:12-14
As you follow Paul’s example, you will be personally _________and bless others in helping them mature also
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Count how many times the words “wise” or “time” is said. 2) Discuss with your parents the wise use of your own time.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. Outline the book of Ephesians. What is the importance of “therefore” in Eph. 5:15? Why is it important to look carefully how you walk? Why it is important to know your destination? Define foolishness. Why can someone with a high IQ & an earned PhD still be a fool? Define wisdom. How can someone escape foolishness to become wise? What is the source of increasing wisdom? What kind of time is to be redeemed? What does it mean to “redeem” it? Why is this more than good time management? In what ways are the “days evil?” What are some ways time can be squandered? Which are you most susceptible to? Why is pursuit of worldly success vanity – chasing after the wind? How can you know God’s will? What can you learn from past squandered time? What does God want your focus to be? What will God say to you at judgment?
If you would like to receive Pastor Harris’ weekly sermons via e-mail, Click Here)