Faithful with Time

Ephesians 5:1-21

How Christ's finished work changes my life

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Good morning, church family! (Welcome guests, introduce self, remind them of communion later in the service)

In our sermon series this November, we are focusing on A Faithful Life. Last week, we discussed being faithful with finances from 1 Timothy 6. Today, we turn our attention to another important aspect of our lives. To help you remember what it might be, I have a couple of riddles for you. If you think you know the answer, wait until I ask for you to reveal it.

What is the answer? The answer is time. Time is arguably our most precious resource, because, unlike finances, we cannot gain more of it and we each have a finite amount of it! We also do not know how much time we have, so that adds an element of seriousness to this matter. Today, as we study God’s Word, we are looking at being faithful with time.

When we talk about being faithful with time, we’re really talking about what you give your life towards. How do you live? And whom or what are you worshiping in how you use time? If time is your most precious resource, then, I hope you would agree, how you use it reveals A LOT about what you value and live for.

For example, if you know someone who spends 80+ hours a week at their job, then you have a pretty good idea that they value their career. But it’s not always necessarily about quantity of time, it can also be a matter of how you use your most valuable time – your “free” time. Many of us must work to provide for ourselves and our families, but what do you do when you’re off work? How is your time spent? If you’re consistently turning to one specific thing, like watching TV or playing video games or, more positively, playing with your kids, then it also reveals a lot about what you value and live for.

Much of our discussion around this topic is going to be related to our identity in Christ and how that drives how we use our time.

If you were here last week, hopefully you recall how we looked briefly at Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5 about Christians being salt and light in the earth, as well as the plan of God from Genesis 1 that we would be visible representatives of the invisible God. The premise behind this sermon series is that God has made us to accurately represent and reflect his majesty as we live righteous and godly lives in this present age. Which leads us back to this conclusion… A faithful life is the expectation, not the exception.

You were created to live faithfully (to be a wise steward) and God, as the Creator and Designer of all things, has told you the way to a faithful life.

So, as we approach this topic, our desire is to seek out what God has to say in His Word. As the source of truth, we are wise and make the most of the time when we seek out his wisdom/ways and live according to them. Conversely, we are fools and waste time when we deviate from his wisdom/ways to live according to other desires. So, let’s learn more about the beauty of his ways in Ephesians 5.

If you’re not familiar with the letter to the Ephesians, it was written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus. This six-chapter letter is broken into two main sections. The first three chapters focus heavily on their new identity in Christ, while chapters 4-6 emphasize putting on or living out this new identity. The Ephesians were previously an idolatrous group of people, living in worship of all kinds of false gods and personal pleasures, until they heard the preaching of Apollos and Paul about Jesus Christ. Paul spent three years sharing the truth about Jesus with these people and many turned from their sin to believe in Christ. Now Paul is writing to them from his prison cell in Rome ~6-7 years later, seeking to encourage them to continue to live out their new identity in Christ. Three times in this passage we just read you heard him call them to “walk” in a particular manner. This is a call to live differently because of what Jesus has done in your life. And that is our emphasis as we study this passage for our own lives today.

This assumes that your life has been changed by Christ’s finished work. Has it? Paul was writing to people who knew they were sinners who had fallen short of God’s perfect standard. They understood that God was perfectly holy, but they were not. This is why they needed a Savior! And they believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Anointed One sent by God, who lived a perfectly sinless life and then died a sacrificial death in their place on the Cross. They believed he rose from the dead 3 days later signifying his victory over sin and death and solidifying their hope of the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life with him! That’s what they believed, but is it what you believe? Without faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, in his death, burial, and resurrection, there can be no changed life such as we’re witnessing in this passage and studying about today. You cannot live a faithful life without faith in Christ and a commitment to following him! If you’re not sure where you stand on these matters, I want to encourage you to keep listening closely. If you know for certain that your faith is in Jesus Christ and he has changed your life, then I want you to consider how this reality must continue to change your life. Starting with our commitment that comes from the first two verses:

These verses come after a long section that begins in 4:17 speaking about the new life that we have in Christ. Paul is holding out to the Ephesians the beauty of who they are in Christ. Because of their faith in Jesus, they are no longer dead in sin, unable to understand spiritual truths, cut off from God by a hard heart. No, instead they have been made alive in Christ and they are now able to live in a manner consistent with godliness. They have been called to put off the old ways of life that were consistent with who they used to be, dead in sin and corrupted with deceitful desires, and instead to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness!

To put this another way, in line with our sermon title, Paul is holding out for them positive uses of their time. He is showing them the path of wise stewardship in how they live. And what does he say?

What does it look like to be an imitator of God, as beloved children? First, don’t miss the beauty of what is implied here. If your faith is in Jesus Christ, then you are a beloved child of God. You relate to your Creator as a Heavenly Father who loves you. What a beautiful reality!

Imitating him is elaborated upon in verse 2 when it speaks of walking in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. The Christian life is imitating what we’ve seen and experienced from our God! And he has loved us extravagantly in a very sacrificial manner. We are talking about sacrificial love for the good of others and glory of God. For Christians, there is no better example to imitate than Jesus Christ. He laid down his life for those who were his enemies, so that they might taste and see the salvation of God. He dedicated his life to bringing salvation to needy sinners like us! So, we imitate him when we love others in a manner that costs us something in order to do good to them. This is a wise use of time/your life.

It is pleasing to God when you spend your time serving others. It is pleasing to God when you build others up with your speech. It is pleasing to God when you put off sinful anger and replace it with kindness and compassion and a willingness to forgive. I know this because these are the examples that come from Ephesians 4. (Main Point Slide)

As you live consistent with the example of Jesus, who laid down his life for us, you will make the most of the time. You will be redeeming the finite, fleeting moments of your life for eternally significant things. Imagine for a moment the beauty of your life and testimony if you committed to:

That would be a beautiful life that testifies to the power of the gospel to change lives!

These again are examples from Ephesians 4. This is what God tells us wise stewardship of our time/life looks like. Yet this kind of radical life change is only possible for those who have been transformed by the grace of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what Ephesians 2:1-10 is all about! You must first be convicted that you are dead in sin and in need of a Savior. Then you must believe in Jesus Christ as the only Savior, the One who can make you spiritually alive. And, in believing, you must then embrace this new life of walking by faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. If that has not happened in your life, then trying to live this way will be impossible for you. It will feel like a burden or obligation that you cannot bear. But if you confess your sins and ask Jesus Christ to save you, then you have the promise of forgiveness and new life in Him! And, by his grace, he will daily empower you to put on imitating God by walking in love. Do you believe? And if the answer is yes, then…. Will you put on imitating God by walking in love?

From this point forward, I am going to speak to Christians, as that is who Paul is addressing in his letter. For those whose faith is in Christ alone for salvation, then Ephesians 5 has some powerful truths about how Christ’s finished work changes our lives… Let’s start by discussing what we put off from verses 3-8.

Anything to do with darkness or sin is known as “the old man”. It’s the way we used to live before believing in Christ. But now that we’ve been forgiven and redeemed, these are not how we are to live any longer.

Putting it in terms of our emphasis today, these are "negative" uses of my time. Or you could say “wastes of time”.  They flow from worship of self rather than worship of God. Did you catch the difference? We spoke about ruling desires last week. Whatever desire rules your heart will rule your life. And for someone still dead in sin, they are ultimately ruled by the desire to serve/worship self. But that is not to be true for a Christian! Someone who has been rescued and redeemed from worship of self is now called to serve/worship the Lord!

So, Christian brother/sister, you are to put off anything to do with darkness/sin, which includes:

The standard Paul upholds here is incredible. It removes any opportunity to indulge in lustful thinking or desires. It demands that sexual relations be kept in the wonderful confines of monogamous, Christian marriage. It requires absolute purity as we seek to steer far clear of anything that would make us unclean, such as pornography or racy social media photos or erotic literature. It confronts consumerism that excuses envy/greed and a constant thirst for more in life. It denies us the opportunity to engage in worldly conversations about ungodly topics. It prohibits swearing and sexually charged jokes. Frankly, though those seem stringent enough, it also puts the standard of no “foolish talk” which is a broad category that captures any speech contrary to God’s Word!

I don’t know that we grasp just how all-encompassing Ephesians 5:3-4 are for the type of world they lived in and that we still inhabit to this day! We are immersed in a world that seeks to justify these kinds of desires and the thoughts/speech/behavior they lead towards… Exposure to sexual immorality is through the roof with the creation of the internet and the smartphone. Worldly speech has always been prevalent, but it continues to be celebrated in our public square, especially on popular TV shows and social media.

I will be the first to confess that I spend far too much time on YouTube and the stuff I am exposed to there is the definition of what Paul calls out in these verses. I know a personal takeaway for me is to stop using YouTube unless it is for a specific reason that has redemptive value. I also know that making that change will require war with my flesh. It is far too easy to excuse wasting time. In part because we don’t view it as synonymous with unrighteousness. Lord, help me/help us to think differently and live righteously!

Putting off YouTube is a step of obedience for me, what might a next step be for you? *pause*

Christians are to walk in the light, not in darkness. When you are rescued and redeemed, you make a break from the old ways of life. You should not want to live in them anymore and you must take concrete steps to put them out of your life. I am speaking to myself as much as anyone else here this morning. This is an ongoing opportunity in each of our lives.

But what we must NOT do is remain unrepentant (unchanging)! The warning of verse 5 is severe. Those who are unrepentant in these matters should not expect to have any place in the kingdom of Christ and God. Christians are not perfect, but Christians repent and flee from sin when it is revealed in their lives. We must not make peace with sin, for that will lead to destruction!

Paul even warns the Ephesians not to be deceived about these matters. There were some amongst them trying to convince them that dabbling in these matters was not really that big of a deal. It might have sounded like this:

These are all lies! Paul’s warning ought to ring loudly in our ears, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” (v6) Living in unrepentant sin is no small thing, it invites God’s wrath upon you as one who is not in Christ. Unfortunately, in our day and age, we not only have individuals who believe these lies, but we have entire churches/denominations who are perpetuating them!

We must heed Paul’s warning in verse 7 to not become partners with them. There is no place for those who have been rescued and redeemed by Christ into his kingdom of light to re-enter the kingdom of darkness! That is not who you are anymore! Make a break with darkness and sin and walk as children of light!

I can’t possibly know how each of us needs to apply this particular message today. But I hope you are listening closely and considering how it needs to be lived out in your life. Christ’s finished work MUST change how you live. Either you need to confess and turn from your sin for the very first time as you believe in Jesus Christ, or perhaps you need to confess and turn from an area of sin that you’ve allowed to continue in your life after faith in Christ. Perhaps you’ve been walking with Christ for quite some time, but you’ve allowed some form of darkness to creep back into your life as of late. I imagine these categories hit most of us here. What will your next step be in putting off anything to do with darkness/sin? Write it out on your notes and commit to sharing it with a trusted brother/sister in Christ this week. We need to walk in the light and there is no better way than to bring things into the light with others. Sin likes to hide. Sin wants us to keep secrets so it’s easy to go back into darkness. Don’t fall for that! Don’t give your flesh what it wants! Walk in the light and experience the freedom that follows. Consider the wise words of the Apostle John:

There is freedom in confession and repentance. Living a changed life in the light is the very definition of being faithful with our time. (repeat) Jesus bled and died for us so that we could live this way, so why would we choose any other way?!

This brings us to our final commitment as we consider how Jesus’ finished work changes our lives…

In verses 8-21 there is an emphasis on the desire to please God. This is the best use of our time! Children of light ought to have a heart that is set on God and they are to put effort into discerning what pleases Him. This is stated in verse 10 as “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” and in verse 15 as “look carefully then how you walk”. Both convey the idea that it will take effort to learn and obey God’s will and ways.

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you know this to be true. God’s Word is wonderful and full of treasures to understand, but they take concentrated time and effort to grasp! The beauty of the Scriptures is that they are understandable for a child to know the essentials of the faith and to receive salvation, yet deep and rich enough for even the most learned scholar to not exhaust them after a lifetime of study.

As a child of light, you must put effort into walking or living out your new identity. This starts with the effort you put into KNOWING what pleases God through the study of His Word. But it then continues in the effort that you put into OBEYING what you’ve learned. We all know that it is one thing to know the truth and a whole other thing to live by it. So, I ask you…

This looks like exposing darkness to the light as we see in v11-14. Which means you’re not partaking in the sinful acts you used to but instead sharing the truth you’ve learned in Jesus. There was a time in my life where I was known for pushing jokes further than they should go, often crossing the line of what was appropriate to get a laugh. Then I was lovingly confronted about how that did not please God. By God’s grace, my desire to please Him was greater than my desire to get a laugh and I confessed that sin and have sought to turn from it ever since. I am eternally grateful for the brother in Christ who was willing to bring me into the light on that matter.

Perhaps you have a group of friends who love to push the limits with jokes. Will you bring light into that situation? Perhaps you or someone you know is stuck in pornography. Will you bring light into that situation? Maybe you’ve been cultivating a lustful heart. Will you bring light into that situation? We don’t have time to throw out every possible sinful use of our desires/words/actions… but whatever it is for you… Will you bring light into that situation?

It is redemptive to bring light into the darkness. That is the entire idea behind Jesus giving instructions to the church about how to handle sin. It is found in Matthew 18:15-20 and it is the process for confronting sin for the sake of restoration of a wandering brother/sister. This is Ephesians 5 lived out! It is loving to shine the light on people who are trying to wander away into darkness! This is what we are called to do as Christians and as the church. Don’t believe a lie otherwise.

When it comes to being faithful with time, I hope one of your key takeaways today is that you will look carefully into how you walk or live out your faith. Verses 15-21 are so important in this. We are speaking about the difference of living in wisdom or folly. Of making the best use of the time (lit. redeeming the time) or wasting it. The reality is that our time in this life is finite and we are living in a broken world full of sinful uses of time. It is of the utmost importance that we not be foolish with our time but instead seek to understand the Lord’s will for our lives.

Can anyone tell me – where do we find the truth about God’s will for our lives? In His Word. His general will for our lives is revealed in the pages of Scripture. He has told you everything you need to know about life and godliness in here. Study it regularly!

But what about when you start getting into the specifics of your life – “Should I take this job or that one? Should I move or not? Should I marry this person?” I would argue that answering those types of questions wisely requires even more effort in looking carefully into God’s Word and will. You need to know biblical principles that apply in those scenarios to make the best decision. “Is either job going to hinder your walk with God? Will one help your walk?” “What is your reason for moving? Will it take you away from a healthy church or to a healthy church? Will it put you further in debt or help you get out of debt?” “Is this person of godly character or not? Do they have a proven track record of living for the Lord or not?” These are examples of wisdom that only come through exerting effort to understand the will of the Lord as revealed in his Word!

And while some things take more effort to understand and live out, there are others that are stated plainly. Like the teachings of v18-21. Do not get drunk with wine. That’s a pretty clear command. Drunkenness is sinful and not to be indulged in by Christians. Instead, we are to be filled with the Spirit – meaning God the Holy Spirit guides/directs/controls our lives rather than alcohol. As we seek to be faithful with time, we live our lives in step with the Holy Spirit and good fruit will be produced in us.

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh… But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

What a beautiful picture of the Christian life – a life where a man/woman seeks to be faithful with time and live in the light and bears good fruit for the glory of God. Going back to Ephesians 5, we are told that someone who is living this way will have significant changes in their interactions with others – fellowshipping with other believers in worship and edifying speech as well as submitting to one another’s preferences as worship of Christ. They will also interact with the Lord from a posture of worship in their inner man/woman – “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart”. And they will be full of gratitude – “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I don’t know how you personally process that, but it sounds pretty amazing to me! I would love to be a part of a church community where people functioned this way. Can you imagine how much glory God would receive from Christians who are faithful with their time to live out their new identity? Or how enjoyable and sweet it would be to be a part of that community? I believe we do get glimpses and tastes of that here at Harvest. I believe many of you are seeking to live this way. I also know that each of us still has plenty of room for growth in living out our new identity. I pray that you would not grow weary of doing good and continuing to be sanctified in your time here. While we are sanctified saints, we are still struggling sinners. We are going to need to confess and ask forgiveness for wrongs we have done. We are going to have to expose darkness and bring it into the light. And that’s ok. It’s all part of God’s plan to prepare His Son’s bride, the church, for eternity with Him. These are wise uses of time.

Let me end with this before we turn our attention to celebrating the Lord’s Table. It is important for each of us to evaluate if we are using time wisely. It is our most precious resource, and we have been entrusted with it to do good to others and bring God glory. Please take time this week to ask yourself, “Are there any areas of my life where I am investing time unwisely? Am I disobeying God’s call to live out my new identity in the ways I am living?” For some of us, that may mean we need to cut some things out of our lives. For others, it may mean we need to add some things into our lives. For example, if you are not making time for the basic needs of life – such as your relationship with God, rest for your body and soul, and fulfilling your God-given roles (such as mom/dad, husband/wife, etc.,) – then you need to make changes. If you need help figuring that out, I want to encourage you to ask someone in your SG who seems to be further along in this area than you. We are in this together. Let others in to bear your burdens and be willing to do the same for them. In so doing, we will be sanctified, and God will be glorified! *pause*

We are going to close out our services by worshiping the Lord through the celebration of communion or the Lord’s table. Communion is an opportunity for Christians to be unified as we come together to remember all that the Lord has done for us through his death, burial, and resurrection. This is an opportunity for Christians to remember that we have embraced the promised hope of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and salvation of our souls!

We will celebrate by partaking of both the bread and the cup as a symbol and reminder of Jesus’ body broken in our place and his blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Communion is an opportunity to remember how great a price was paid so that we could be saved from our sin. It is a sobering, yet joyful celebration for Christians. Sobering that the Son of God would give himself for us as a ransom. Joyful that he did, and the result is a living hope that cannot be taken from us! Jesus is victorious; therefore, we have the hope of heaven with Him!

At this time, I’d like to invite the ushers forward with the elements.

Before we pass them, I want to share the biblical requirements for joining in this celebration.

This celebration was given by Jesus to his followers. We invite anyone who has trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation to join us in this celebration today. If your faith is not in Jesus Christ alone, then we would encourage you to let the elements pass by you and simply consider what you’ve heard so far during the service this morning and reflect on what is keeping you from trusting him.

The second requirement we see in Scripture is a call to examine ourselves. This is the idea of making sure that you’ve confessed any known sins and sought to turn away from it. It would not be wise to partake of the table if you have sin in your life for which you are not repentant. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 that taking the table while living in sin is eating and drinking judgment on yourself. I would ask you not to do that, for your sake and the sake of God’s glory. Instead, I would encourage you to use this time to confess that sin and make a plan to address it right away. If you know you need to be reconciled to someone else in this church, please take care of that during this time. The table is time to protect the unity of the church.

The ushers are going to pass the elements now as we have a time of silent reflection and prayer to prepare for the table. Please use this time to reflect on all that we’ve talked about today and to prepare yourself to take communion by confessing and repenting of any known sin. After the elements have been passed, I’ll lead us in prayer and taking communion together.

Ushers pass elements

Silent prayer. Corporate prayer.

Take bread.

Take cup

Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus!