How many of you folks know that children’s song, “This Little Light Of Mine?” There’s a great deal of truth in that kids’ song, and I’d like for us to stand and sing it this morning. Let’s all stand up. Are you too mature and sophisticated to sing this children’s song? Good. Let’s all sing this song with some gusto.

Sing

Now that we have sung that wonderful song, it’s time to read from God’s Word. Turn to Ephesians 5.14. This is Paul’s wake-up call that ended Ephesians 5.8-14. Rather than read that entire passage, let’s begin with verse 14, and include verses 15-17:

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Assuming his readers are responding to his clarion call to wake up, stand up, and let their lights shine, we now begin to examine a series of exhortations that will take us all the way to Ephesians 6.10. But we can’t do all that today, so we’ll stick to verses 15-17. In this passage, Paul declares to his readers important details about the walk of the Christian and the will of the Lord.

The walk of the Christian, as viewed by Paul in this contextual setting, can be explained in two ways:

First, in verse 15, we see the pattern of the Christian’s walk:

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.”

Are you a person who is open to the Lord’s call to wake up, stand up, and let His light shine upon you? If you are that kind of a person, then you will live a patterned kind of life. Take note of the word “circumspectly,” in verse 15. To walk “circumspectly” means to walk accurately, carefully, and precisely.[1] Imagine a man walking through a minefield or through a cow pasture. If a man walks “circumspectly,” his lifestyle is compared to a wise man’s. But if that man is not walking “circumspectly,” is not walking carefully through the minefields of life, is not walking cautiously through the cow pasture of life, then his lifestyle is compared to that of a fool.

What is the pattern of your life, Christian? Do you foolishly traipse along, oblivious to the objects encountered in your path, which can either defile your walk or severely damage you? Or have you gained the wisdom of experience as a Christian to realize that there is danger and defilement out there, and you must carefully choose where you place your feet?

This is where God’s marvelous Word so wonderfully comes into play in the life of the maturing and well-instructed saint of God. Psalm 119.105 acknowledges to God that

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Try as you may to walk “circumspectly” on your own, you will fail without the lamp and light of Scripture to show you where on the hazardous path of life to carefully and cautiously place your feet.

By the way. That instruction is found here in Church, Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, Wednesday nights, and when you are being discipled. And who is to provide that instruction when you gather is your pastor-teacher, according to Ephesians 4.12, and those equipped by him.

So, the walk of a Christian’s life is supposed to display a pattern pleasing to God. It will not be a random life. It will not be a careless life. It will not be an erratic life. And it certainly will not be a life that is lived without regard for the clear dictates of Scripture. Not if it’s a wise life.

It’s the fool who walks through a minefield without regard for the placement of his feet. A fool walks through a cow pasture, taking no heed of where he places his feet. And it’s a greater fool who tries to walk through life without regard for what the Bible says about the proper placement of his steps.

So, verse 15 has to do with the pattern of the Christian’s life. And you’ll notice that Paul’s words seem to draw attention to where you are to place your feet. Verse 16, on the other hand, deals with the purpose of the Christian’s walk, and seems to draw attention to the timing of the events of life:

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

“Redeeming the time” refers to the opportunities you have to live for Christ. The one asset you have but constantly use up and can never get a resupply of is time. How long do you know you will live? You don’t know. And how many opportunities do you know you will have to reach the lost, to love on your kids, to set a good example for them of how to live before you lose your life, before you lose your health, before you lose your opportunities?

You don’t know any more than I do, do you? What you must do is make the best use of each and every opportunity that God gives you to live for Him and to serve Him. That’s why the child of God can hardly justify spending all his spare time in front of a computer screen or staring at a smartphone, out in the yard pulling weeds, messing around with the boys after work, standing around with the girls talking.

God’s people are supposed to be industrious, using their time wisely to live for Christ. Not that you shouldn’t rest and relax and recreate. But there’s a difference between those necessary activities and simply wasting time. Christian? You don’t have time to waste!

The Industrial Revolution in Northern Europe and the British Idles was no accident, but the consequence of the religious revival known as the Protestant Reformation, when a whole host of European and British subjects’ Christian converts’ minds were renewed with historic consequences.

Why should we make such prudent use of our opportunities? Because of our observations. We redeem the time “because the days are evil.” We live in an age of apostasy and spiritual darkness. As bad and as evil as humanity has always been, society is obviously on a downhill slide into the spiritual abyss. So, we need to live for Christ and serve Him as diligently, effectively, and fervently as we can while there is time.

This, then, is Paul’s characterization of the Christian walk, the pattern and purpose of our lives. In verse 17, he refers to the will of the Lord.

“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

In verse 15, Paul contrasts living wisely with living foolishly. In this verse, the contrast is between understanding and being unwise. Presumably, wisdom is virtually the same thing as “understanding” the will of the Lord, and a person is “unwise” when he does not know the will of the Lord.

Let’s read a passage in which the word “unwise” is found; only in this passage the Greek word is translated as “fool.” In Luke 12.15-31, we see what being “unwise” is, and we know what the will of the Lord is:

15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.

24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?

26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?

27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.

30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The will of the Lord is for you to strive to accomplish His goals and objectives. One who devotes himself to the pursuit of his personal goals and the fulfillment of his own pleasures is a man or woman who is unwise and who does not understand the will of the Lord. Are you committed to the Lord’s will for your life? How can your behavior and life’s choices see that? That is a question you would do well to answer.

The will of the Lord. In the context in which Paul is writing to the Ephesian Church, the will of the Lord is the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, not precisely the will of God. Although there is no difference or disagreement between the will of God the Father and the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, though they are always in harmonious agreement, they are not the same.

Remember the Savior’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane:

“O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

So, though the Lord Jesus always did the will of His Father, it is important to note that Paul is making reference to the Lord Jesus Christ’s will here.

I am not sure people take note of the Lord Jesus Christ’s will very often. I am not sure folks take note of the Lord Jesus Christ’s will. And tragically, the same is true of God’s will for people’s lives. I say that because of another aspect of evangelical theology that has overtaken our culture. Many people don’t really want God to get His way. And they don’t really want the Lord Jesus to get His way. Instead, everyone wants to get his way, even if that means the Lord Jesus doesn’t get His way. Reflect with me on First Corinthians 4.2:

“Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

Does this verse not bear directly on God’s will as it is revealed in Hebrews 10.25:

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

What if you do forsake the assembly? What if you forsake the assembly by staying home when it is time for us to gather? And what if you forsake the assembly where you are a member of an assembly that isn’t a New Testament Church?

What is the determining factor in deciding whether you are faithful in attending your Church? It should be, “What is the Savior’s will for my life?” Do not reasonable people correctly conclude, at least in the abstract if not in the practical realities of everyday life, that what is truly important is not your will, or my will, but His will for your life?

One of the governing principles that distinguishes the genuinely saved person from the individual who isn’t really a child of God, who isn’t really a disciple of Jesus Christ, is his commitment to the Lord’s will as it is revealed in the Bible. To recite a famous line, “He is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.” The tragic reality is that many who profess Christ simply do not care to know or to do His will.

What about the Lord’s will for those who are not saved? Do you know what the Lord’s will is for your life? This Sunday morning, just over two weeks after celebrating the birth of the Lord of glory, I want to tell you what His will is for your life. It is the Lord’s will that you be saved.

Four questions should be asked in connection with the Lord’s will that you be saved. These questions are of vital importance to you, so please pay careful attention to them and to the answers to the questions I will ask you.

QUESTION #1: WHY DO I NEED TO BE SAVED?

Most people think they need to be saved so they can go to heaven when they die. But that is a childish, immature, and very self-centered approach to a person’s need to be saved. Very simply, there are two better reasons why you need to be saved:

First, you need to be saved because of the immediate consequences of sin. Because you are a sinner, because you were conceived a sinner and are a sinner by nature, you are estranged from God, who is holy and pure and undefiled by sin. Indeed, the Bible tells us that God is so holy and pure that He cannot even look upon sin.[2] But God is the One from Whom all blessings flow. Except He builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.[3] Thus, all is futility for the person separated from God by his sinfulness. As a sinner separated from God, you are blind to spiritual truth, cut off from spiritual life, and destitute of spiritual blessings. And so long as you remain in this state you find yourself in, you will be unfulfilled, incomplete, and without real direction. You need to be saved, delivered, and rescued because you need to be reconciled to the God you have sinned against and continually sin against as an evil person. What you do is wrong. What you are is wrong. The rift between you and your Creator is irreparable apart from you being saved. Alienation from God is the immediate problem for everyone who is lost. And an inability to pray to the God you are alienated from is just one of the immediate consequences.

The second reason is that your need to be saved has to do with the eventual consequence of sin. There is a place called Hell. It is hot and real, and people who die without being saved go to that place. But people who are saved do not go to that place. Instead, we go to heaven. By the way, people who go to Hell need to consider the second question.

QUESTION #2: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED?

The word “saved” simply refers to being delivered from something. If a lifeguard rescues a drowning victim, he effected that person’s salvation from drowning. Different from someone drowning in water, however, you who need Jesus Christ’s salvation are already dead.[4] When God led the children of Israel out of Egypt by great signs and miracles and wonders, He effected the physical deliverance of His people from Egyptian slavery and bondage. That was roughly parallel to the salvation of one’s eternal and undying soul.

In the New Testament, a different kind of deliverance is considered when the word “saved” is used. It is a spiritual salvation, providing deliverance from spiritual slavery and bondage rather than purely physical deliverance. Thus, there are two parts to the answer to the question, “What does it mean to be saved?”

First, when you are saved, some things are done for you. Here is one thing: Remember, being saved refers to being delivered from the consequences of being a sinner immediately and eventually. And the effects of your sinfulness are beyond your reach to try and remedy. Since sins are transgressions committed against God, He records the sins committed against Him by you in a book.[5] Every single wrong deed you have ever thought or done is recorded in that book. And that book is in heaven. So, as long as that book contains your sins, you will be held personally responsible for them, and rightly so. But the Bible indicates that the shedding of blood can remit or wash away sins. Indeed, without the shedding of blood, sins cannot be remitted or washed away, Hebrews 9.22. But when Jesus Christ saves a sinner, His blood washes the sinner’s sins from God’s record book in heaven. When that happens, God no longer remembers that sinner’s sins and iniquities, Hebrews 8.12 and 10.17. When a sinner is saved, that is done for him. And I say it’s done for him because it is not experienced. It is not felt. There is no awareness of this occurring except by the testimony of God’s Word.

Then, when you are saved, some things are done to you. Here is one thing. Ephesians 1.13 records a wonderful event that occurs whenever a sinner is saved. He is sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. Hypothetically, what would happen if someone was saved and something happened and he wasn’t saved anymore? That’s a concern many people have. But God anticipated that concern. When a sinner is saved, he is sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, acting as a security seal, keeps that person and guarantees his safe delivery all the way to heaven. Sealing by the Holy Spirit, then, is just one thing that is done to the person who is saved. Since sin is what separates a sinner from God, getting sins washed clean in blood makes union with God a reality. And since getting to heaven instead of Hell is the ultimate desire of every saved person, the sealing of the Holy Spirit is the wonderful Guarantor of that. So, being saved remedies both the immediate consequence of being a sinner and the ultimate consequence of being a sinner. You have fellowship with God now and are delivered to heaven then.

QUESTION #3: WHO SHOULD I LOOK TO FOR SALVATION?

This is a question that new evangelicals, because of their many heresies, are not equipped to answer properly. This is also a question that Roman Catholicism, with its Satanic deception of pointing sinners to Mary for salvation, cannot properly answer, either. To answer this question, let’s turn to God’s Word.

When Mary was carrying the Christ child she visited her cousin Elizabeth, then pregnant with John the Baptist. Upon arriving at her cousin’s home, Mary sang a song of praise that included these words,

“My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior,”

Luke 1.46-47. But remember, Mary lived before God had fully revealed Himself to be a Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Old Testament Scripture, God was establishing Himself to be the one, true, and living God, waiting until after the coming of Christ to more fully unfold the truth of His Tri-unity, that He is three persons in the one Godhead. This being the case, which person of the Trinity, since God is the Savior, according to Mary, should you look to for salvation?

Should you look to God for salvation? Many people testify that they think they are saved because they believe in God, presumably the Father. Should you do that? No. Let me give you a couple of reasons why you should not look to God the Father for salvation from your sins.

First, because the Bible declares that God is a consuming fire. How can a sinful being approach a holy God without being consumed?
Second, where in the New Testament does God urge sinners to come to Him for salvation?
Third, what would God do to purge the sinner’s sins? God’s Own Word declares that without shedding of blood, there is no remission. God the Father has no blood. Only Jesus Christ shed His blood for sins.
Fourth, where does it say believing in God will save anyone? He will not save you.

So, for these and many other reasons, do not turn to God the Father for salvation.

Neither should you look to the Holy Spirit for salvation. Where in the Bible does it say that a sinner should look to the Holy Spirit for salvation? Nowhere. Where does it say that the Holy Spirit has blood to wash sins away? Nowhere. Where in the Bible is the Spirit of God called the Savior? Nowhere. If you look to the Holy Spirit to save you from your sins, you will remain lost because the Holy Spirit will not save you from your sins. That is not His ministry.

But the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of sinful men. Did He not say,

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden?”[6]

Yes, He did. And did He not say,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me?”[7]

Yes, He did. Did He not say,

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved?”[8]

Yes, He did. Did He not also say,

“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live?”[9]

Yes, He did.

But that’s not all. What did Paul say, the man who penned two-thirds of the New Testament, when asked how a man is to be saved? In Acts 16.31 he said,

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

And what about Simon Peter, the most prominent of the apostles in the early days of the Christian era? He said these words about the Savior he lived for and loved, Acts 4.12:

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

The Word of God does not point sinners to God the Father. The Word of God does not point sinners to the Holy Spirit. The Word of God points sinners to Jesus Christ. The men of God did not point sinners to God. The Spirit-led men did not point sinners to the Holy Spirit. Without exception or hesitation, they all pointed men to Jesus Christ for salvation. He is the One you must look to for salvation. Look to another in your ignorant sincerity, and you will perish. Look to Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

FINAL QUESTION: HOW DO I LOOK TO JESUS CHRIST FOR SALVATION?

Consider a pointed passage. John 3.14-15:

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

This refers to a time when the children of Israel sinned against God. Let me read the passage that this refers to, Numbers 21.5-9:

5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Two things to notice from this passage: First, the people knew that they had sinned against God. Second, for them to be saved they could do nothing to help themselves except look the look of faith to where God told them to look, which was not to Him but to Another. Those who looked to where God told them to look were spared. Those who did not were not spared.

The Lord Jesus likened Himself to that brass serpent on the pole in this respect; if someone recognizes himself to have sinned against God, and to be in dire need of salvation, that sinner, you, can look to Christ, the One God directs you as a sinner to look upon by faith, and be saved.

Are you a sinner in need of salvation? The Bible says you are. In your heart, you know you are. Then, look to Jesus Christ by faith, for there is no other Who will, Who can, save you.

__________

[1] Rogers, Jr., Cleon L. and Rogers III, Cleon L., The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key To The Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1998), page 444.

[2] Habakkuk 1.13

[3] Psalm 127.1

[4] Ephesians 2.1

[5] Revelation 20.12

[6] Matthew 11.28

[7] John 14.6

[8] John 10. 7, 9

[9] John 11.25

The Will Of The Lord