Bulumko: Walk In Wisdom

Preacher: Thobezweni Sithole

Text: Ephesians 5:16-21

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. This is God's word.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

So basically, as I've said, we've been walking through the book of Ephesians and uh mainly paying attention to uh in this second half of the letter from chapter four, this uh big, big, big word, which is walk. Wow. So this big word walk, this imperative word walk is what we've been uh looking at and tracing. So I'll I'll quickly share where this word pops up. In uh chapter four, verse one, specifically, we we are called to walk in unity. In other words, you you're called to walk in unity. In chapter 4, verse 17, uh it says, no longer walk like the world. No longer walk like the world. Number three, we see this uh in five, verse two, walk in love. Walk in love. Uh in Ephesians 5, verse 8, then uh walk as children of the light. And then lastly, in um 515, which is where we are today, is walk in wisdom. So walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. What does uh Paul mean by that? Basically, this word walk is basically saying this is how you ought to live. This is how you ought to live. In other words, friends, um, as we were geeking off in Bible study this past uh Friday, looking at the the images of the the church in Ephesians, we looked at the church being the household of God, the church being the the the the last big deaf what did an amazing job explaining to us this profound mystery of of Christ and the the the church being the what the bride of Christ and uh also we looked at in Ephesians specifically um chapter 2 verse 20 there's a picture there of the church being a temple. Uh the picture there is a people of God's dwelling. That's that's who you are. That's that's not Radicine building, that's not the building we're praying for. That's just the people of God together. They are God's holy temple, a people of God's presence. In other words, wherever God's people are, there is God's presence. This this temple built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone. In other words, the foundation of this church is built on God's word pointing to Jesus Christ. The measure of the church and its health is not so much about big or small personalities, it's mainly about Jesus. Is this church pointing me to Jesus? Is this church encouraging me to be like Christ? Is this church encouraging me to live and actually walk? Or they're just entertaining, entertaining me on a Sunday morning. Um, but anyway, the idea here is that before uh Paul calls us to walk, he gives us a picture of a cosmic reality. Wow, like I'm like the word cosmic is like wow, there's something that happened pertaining to my life, your life, that's that is far beyond time. Before the foundations of the world, there's uh an election that happens, there's a predestination that happens, there's a predetermination of uh a saving work that will take place in history. The big theological word there is there's this idea of a covenant of redemption between the Godhead, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, make this covenant to save God's people. That's that's a cosmic reality that says uh that sees itself play out in the sense of um what uh would not commonly be seen is that this church, these messy people are a display of God's wisdom, manifold, multifaceted wisdom. That's chapter three. And as we gather together, Zulus, Tossas, Songas, O Bulumko, Otandiwe, O Nandi, Oyanfan, whoever, all of them are people who would unlikely gather together as one, as God's humanity. God is doing that, God is displaying his wisdom to angelic beings. That's a cosmic reality, right? Now, now, Paul does not leave us there. He does not leave us at this cosmic big theology. He brings it home, he brings it to your bedroom. It brings it to, I don't want to say bathroom, it brings it home. It brings it to your boardroom. Yeah, bathroom, bedroom, boardroom. He brings it home. This amazing theology is not just to puff us up, it's it's it's actually affecting us. The idea of that Paul is like the first three chapters is this is who you are. There's a cosmic reality that defines you, that has nothing to do with what you do. But but but in light of that, this is how you are called then to walk. Paul, friends, never grounds your identity in your working. Let me say that again. Paul never grounds one's identity in their work, he grounds your walking in your identity. Your walking is is energized, as it were, by your identity. It's as if you have already arrived. Therefore, walk. You are not accepted because you walk well. You you walk differently because you are in Christ Jesus. And so when Paul says, friends, look carefully then in verse 15, look carefully then. My goodness, look carefully then how you walk. He's not placing a burden on you, he's calling you to live out what it what is already true of you. So so if if that is that is who you are in Christ, if if you have been chosen and uh if God has chosen you for himself, how do you then actually live? That's that's the background. Uh that's like a mustata if we're having a meal. But but let we're gonna be diving into it, but I I have a couple of things to kind of dissect, to draw you into the sermon today, to for you to say, okay, maybe I need to listen a bit closely. The first point I want to uh kind of highlight is this picture of our society. Uh Luba said it. I was like, wow, you she's like, aren't you happy tomorrow? We are not waking up. The point there, friends, that there's a kind of exhaust exhaustion that that has nothing to do with how much you have done. You have a long weekend, but you are still exhausted. So so there's a there's an exhaustion that we experience as people that has nothing to do with with what we've actually done, how much work we've we've done. It's it's an exhaustion of a life without direction. It's it's an exhaustion of you have this full diary but an empty life. It's it's this idea of kind of like this Josie life moving fast but but going nowhere. You you know the feeling, it it it it it's involved in the every stuff of of life, the every stuff of work, this idea of man, you are so present in your 9 to 5, but you feel so absent, just not only from yourself, but from home. You you manage in relationships you are not actually in. Showing up to what matters least, but drifting from what matters most. That's that's that's that's the that's the plague of of I don't want to say Josie life, but city life. That um there's a danger, and and we we try to explain it away. I man, I gotta eat. Uh I I have to provide. I uh I'm busy. I have to secure the bag. We we we have so many things that that we we explain this exhaustion away, pointing to them. But Paul friends is pressing here deeper. He says, he doesn't say the problem is that you are busy, he says the problem is that you are not walking wisely. That's his point here. Possibly the idea here is that it is it is possible to be active but not be aligned. It is it is it is possible to be um, as it were, productive and yet not without or without a purpose. Kind of production but without a purpose. Moving and still missing the life that God has called you to live. And and here, friends, this is the idea that becomes spiritual for Paul that at the heart of this text is that this is not just a a time management issue that we're gonna see here. It's a direction issue. Philosophers call it the telos of life. We we are not just busy, we are often self-directed. We we live on our own terms rather than being filled and led by the Spirit of God to live in line with his purpose, the purpose that is placed for your life. That's why I look at verse 15, it says, Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as what? As wise. That word, ubulum, ko wisdom. And and before you you even go further, I want to define that word for you quickly. Um, there's a quote there by Thomas Watson. He says, Wisdom is the right ordering of all things to the right end. Wisdom is the what? The right ordering of all things to the what? The right end. The wise man knows where he is going and what he is doing it for. That's the that's the word that Ubulumko explains, friends, that it's not an intelligence, it's not it's not talent, it's not hustle, it's the right ordering of all things to the right end. They are true end, friends. And dare say that true end is God Himself. We were created for His pleasure. We we exist to enjoy God and know Him forever. God Himself, friends, is the meaning, the good of life that tell us that everything that life points to, whether you are single, married, uh, having a job, navigating different circumstances, the walking that you live in is meant to point you to God. Perhaps, friends, that's the reason so many of us feel lost. It's not because we are doing nothing, it's because we are doing everything disorderly, with no clear end, no governing purpose, lots of movement, no destination. And and even, I mean, a journalist by the name of Malcolm Gladwell, uh, who wrote the tipping point, says this was the the trick to finding ideas is to convince yourself that everyone and everything has a story to tell, but you have to know what you are looking for. Cladwell is talking about direction, friends. Knowing what you are looking for before you enter the room. And and Paul is saying the same thing, but spiritually so. He's saying, you cannot walk wisely if you do not know where you are going, why you are going there, and who is leading you. Wisdom, friends, and Paul's hands is never merely a skill set, it's a spiritual condition, it's the fruit of life oriented toward God. It's not the wisdom of better routines. Sunday morning, some people have skin routines. It's my skin routine day on Sunday morning. It's not, it's not, it's not the wisdom of trying harder. But the kind of wisdom that comes from one place, being filled by the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit, the spirit of the living God. And not letting and not letting life, kind of the feelings of life shape you, in other words. We'll talk about feeling, we're not gonna be talking about Johnny Walker, unfortunately. I saw you, I'm chamber, you saw that. Do not be drunk with wine. We're not gonna be talking about pinotage and melot and all of that. We we're gonna be talking about a life that is shaped by the spirit, being filled with the spirit. Which which then will shape how you live, how you how you love, how you lead in every room that you walk into in your life. Now, friends, let us look at point one. Walk wisely. Basically, that's verse 15 all the way to verse 17. It says again, I love this word. Look carefully, then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are what? Are evil. The call here is is to when it says look, it's a call to say, Man, look carefully then how you walk. The the word carefully here is a word that that speaks about I like the the word how it sounds. Sorry guys, if you don't understand Zula, I apologize. I'm kicking off here. The word is oppelera. Like the anyway, uh, anyway. It gives a sense of precision. It's it's giving a sense of of carefulness, careful precision. It's giving a sense of being exact, it's giving a sense of being alert. Look then carefully how you walk. Hey, cool. Again, there's a sense of shokomela. Yeah, is is is to look not with anxiety, but with a sense of being deliberate. The opposite of this, friends, is is only but to drift. The opposite of this is only it's only just vibes. I'm just vibing. We're just talking, we're just hanging out, we're just it's just vibes. I wanna like I'm just going with the flow. It's a sense of ease and and neglect. There's no ocomeling there. The unwise person is not someone who who decided, friends, to wreck their life. They simply never decided anything at all. They let the current carry them, and then they look back and like, oh man, what happened? There was no precision. There was no loco mehla. C.S. Lewis makes this point. He says, the safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, a a soft underfoot without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. In other words, friends, this unwise living is kind of like there's no drama there. It's just drifting. It's just like, yeah, we're vibing. One small displacement at a time until you look up one day and realize you are nowhere near where you were meant to be. You you you kind of miss the tellos of your existence. There are people, friends, who are extraordinary careful about rival, I mean trivial things. And extraordinary careless about eternal ones. You you're very precise about your finances, about your nails. You're very we are copele, girl, you are copele, my guy with with your reps, how many reps you do at the gym. You are very precise. But you are careless about your soul. Oh man, what are you doing? He's actually saying, Cry away, bro. We got you. And Paul is saying here, friends, we need to be precise. I'm uh I don't know these words, you know, like uh there's mansplaining, there's uh what's the other word? Like um let's not gaslight Paul. Paul is there's a sense of urgency in what Paul is saying here. I hope I use that word right because my wife is gonna be like, that's not how you use gaslight, but anyway, let's let's not gaslight Paul. And here's why because friends, Paul gives a diagnosis. Look at it quickly. He said, For making the best use of the time because the days are what? Are evil. Don't don't gaslight Paul. Paul is saying, look carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. Why is he saying that? He, in fact, he's saying, making this is how you do it, making the best use of your time. Why? Because the days are evil. There's a big word, like uh the word is eschatology or eschatological statement here. In other words, it's a statement of last things. Jesus inaugurated the last days. We talk about a president, president coming to be inaugurated. In other words, he's stating what the time is, but the president is being said, okay, this is the position he is in. Right? But but where too, we're scared of the evil days. Jesus Jesus, in his uh language of of this age, this inaugurated age, in other words, his his resurrection has has broken the power of darkness, yes, friends. But the fullness of the kingdom has not yet come. I want to say that again. In his resurrection, in fact, in fact, even in Mark 1, verse 15, the kingdom of God is at hand. He's inaugurating a time of his reign. But there's a there's a sense in which, even so much so that yes, the resurrection has has broken the power of darkness, of evil. But friends, the fullness of the kingdom is yet to come. In other words, it's inaugurated, but it needs to be consummated. In other words, we we live in the not yet. And how this not yet, it's he the kingdom, yes, he is it's been inaugurated, but it's not realized. Because when you live as if the kingdom is realized, you're gonna tell us that we cannot be sick. You're gonna tell us you cannot be depressed. You're gonna tell us that we cannot be broke as Christians. Friends, that is uh overrealized. You wanna bring the things that Jesus has promised in the not yet, in the right now. I I I don't know if you get me. But but the point here is this friends, the fullness of the kingdom is yet to come. A kingdom without tears, a kingdom without disease, that's yet to come. But what happens in the not yet? Live with wisdom. Live with Uguele. And in this in-between, in this not yet, friends, every moment of your life is contested. Every moment of your life is contested. Not because, friends, God is absent, but because your life is being formed. I don't want to say anything stupid, but uh let's look at the front. If if we are in playing irregular, just make room for our visitors and show them some gospel love. Amen. Yeah. Keep looking at the front, yeah. Every moment of your life is contested. Not because God is absent, friends, but because your life is being what? Formed. I know I know some guys are itching, uh, some are not even here because I'm itching to wear my yellow jersey as well. Like uh in the afternoon, uh it's Chiefs and uh the other team. Um in the afternoon, there's there's gonna be a football match that is gonna capture a lot of the uh imaginations of old and young people. Some are gonna go to bed uh hungry because their team lost. Uh I don't know why people do that to themselves, but the point is there's gonna be a football match. And if you want to be watching, I want you to watch out for this that the game is not only won in the obvious moments. The the game is not uh just a goal. Bye, bye, bye, bye. I I won't mention a name, but the game is not won just by that final pass into the net. It is won in uh football geeks and nerds would say in the half spaces. It is worn in the jewels, the small decisions. It is won in between the areas where quiet decisions shape the whole game. That's where the game is won, friends. In the half spaces, in the in-betweens, in the small decision making, in the choosing to mark this player or neglecting them and through passes past, and the goal is got by uh uh Simpiwa Shawalala, who um, I mean, I'm I'm still living back then, I'm still delusional. The case achieves that of today. I don't know, but the point is the soccer game is not won. The soccer game is not won, friends, by the big moments. It's the small moments. That's your life, friends. No, uh your life is not worn in those big moments, but in those small moments, either your life is being aligned with the wisdom of God or it's slowly being pulled out of line. Friends, it's that's it's it's it's the it's the small moments. Paul uses uh a phrase here you need to be redeeming the small moments, you need to be redeeming the what? The times. He says, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Making best use of the time, literally, friends, is a word that speaks about buying up the time, buying back the time, redeeming the time. It's it's a language of the marketplace like like a merchant who sees an opportunity and and seizes it, seizes the opportunity even to his personal cost. It's it's making the best use of the moments, friends. So Paul is not calling you to a better calendar here. He's calling you to intentionally live your life. Are you intentional about how you live your life? To see every hour, every conversation, every relationship as a moment to be stewarded before God. Every scent, everything that is you. Are you intentional about your life? Are you redeeming the time? Friends, he goes on to say, therefore, um uh do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Understand what the will of the Lord is. This is not a mystical thing, you know. Like uh you meet a person and they're like, I know what the Lord's will for your life is. No, that's that's sometimes that's hogwash, you know. Like it's it's not speaking about that. Understanding the the will of the Lord is is not a mystical blueprint, as it were. That you you you are waiting for what is that one thing the Lord wants me to do? Who is that one person God wants me to marry? And like you you see them, and when you see them, their hair turns blue. It's it's not that. What is he talking about? This is friends, the revealed will of God. Who to be, how to love, how to walk, given in Christ, written in scripture, applied by the Spirit. The problem, friends, is not that we do not know this will, the problem is that, friends, we are not living by it or we are ignoring it altogether. The will of God is is plainly revealed, friends. The compass is there to align us, to help us live intentionally, to live with precision. Would you invest in that? Invest in in being immersed in God's word, be being intentional about understanding his will in his word. Second point, friends, is that you need to be filled. Look at verse 18 to 21. The power of the wisdom. Again, I said I'm not gonna talk about Johnny Walker and uh Sprite and Red Bull and whatever or whatever. He says, and do not get drunk on wine. You could say, do not get drunk of beer, do not get drunk of please don't be like eh. He said wine, he didn't say hennessy. Do not get drunk of wine, right? But be filled by the spirit. Friends, Paul here is showing us two ways of being filled, two ways of being under an influence, under whatever fills you, under whatever fills you, in other words, whatever shapes you, whatever controls you, whatever speaks through you. So the question is not whether you are under the influence. The question is not whether you're under the influence. Paul is not asking whether there's a need for a spiritual prethalizer. Friends, the the point here is that uh Paul knows something is influencing you. The question is what? What is influencing you? Dave Chappelle. Uh I know I'm quoting Jave Chappelle, forgive me. Dave Chappelle, in one of his interviews, uh, in fact, this was there was a podcast that where he speaks about walking away from 50 million dollars. He said these words, the show was making me hurtful. I was becoming something I didn't want to be. Money and fame had gotten inside me in ways I hadn't noticed. I had to leave before I became that person permanently. Friends, what is feeling you? What what what is what is intoxicating you? Is it success? Is it is it success that that has made you careless about every everything else that success cannot buy? Some of you are drunk on approval, performing your life rather than actually living it. Some of you are drunk under the influence of the of this drunkenness called control, and the people closest to you cannot breathe. And let's be clear, friends. Yes, Paul does not soften the wine. Some of you is literally drunkenness. And the kind of feeling does not, friends, lift you. It actually drowns you. You know, people say they're drowning their sorrows, but they're drowning their sorrows along with themselves. What you think is helping you cope, maybe the very thing that is slowly undoing you. And it continues, friends, it says, be filled with what? The the spirit. Do you see it, friends? I mean, I mean, we we preach from the word. Look at it in verse 18. It says, but be filled with the what? The spirit. So he's he spoke about these influences that I've just mentioned. It says, actually, rather than being influenced by these things, be filled by the spirit. What is he saying? We're gonna do some nerd nerdiness just for uh two minutes. Number one, the the the word be filled or the instruction be filled is imperative. It's it's it's it's it actually there's no up, it's not optional. Hey, I clapped too hard. It's not optional. The word be filled, friends, it's it's communal, it's plural. We all need to be filled. Not just the preacher, not just the person who comes to church at half past nine, no, not just the person who has an online Bible study. If you are a child of God, you need to be filled with who? The Holy Spirit. And friends, it's passive. The be filled is is passive. So it's an imperative, there's no option. It's it's plural, it's it's the whole community being filled, but also it's it's passive. Meaning, friends, you do not feel yourself. You yield. I think of Black Panther. Yield when a man, yield, you, you, you, you, you. It's passive. But also it's present, friends. The present tense here, the word be filled means, friends, it's a never-ending or you continually being filled. There's never a moment in your life where you never yield. There's never a moment in your life where you you don't need to be filled by the spirit. The the filling of the spirit is not for Sunday morning. Hey, some of us friends come from church backgrounds, we grew up in church, and the the spirit is very active for two hours in your life on a Sunday morning. Man, God is so powerful, God is so sovereign. You need the spirit for that interview. You know, you need the spirit in the small spaces. You need to be continually yielding to the spirit. Friends, this is not a one-time experience, this is a way of life. The the the one of the confessions, the confession we hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith, kind of reminds us that uh the big word there is sanctification, meaning being made holy, being transformed into the likeness of Christ. In other words, the idea of being made pure, no one has arrived. It's progressive. So if you are here at this church and you think they are perfect people because we look all nice and clean this morning, friends, we are a mess. All of us, and God is continually sanctifying us. The word sanctification prince in the Westminster standards is it's it's a it's a progressive reality. Believers are more and more renewed and strengthened over time, not in one dramatic moment. Remember, it's the small spaces. Are we together, guys? So if you are a visitor and you are here like, hey, why is this guy shouting? I'm not shouting at people. We are going through God's word, and God is forming us through his word and shaping us. And friends, what I'm saying by this is that even at this moment, we still need the spirit. Even at this moment, friends, God is filling us with his word. So this is not a one-time experience, it's a continual thing. You are not binging on the spirit. Do you get the picture? You are filled the the the way a cup is is filled, not by effort, but by by being held under the the right source. Hold yourself under the word, under prayer, under community of the saints, under this, and the spirit will do what only he can do. That's why it's passive. It is the spirit working in our lives. And friends, the spirit is not detached from the word. In Ephesians 5.18, it says, Be filled with the spirit. In Colossians 3.16, it says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Friends, the the same logic in both passages is what flows from it, friends, that the spirit-filled life, a word-filled life, it produces the same life. Look at that life that it produces. The life that it produces, it says addressing one another in what? In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. The word, the spirit produces gladness. One more theologian, I I was like, as I was preparing, I'm like, yo, uh I want to bombard these people with some interesting people to read and follow on, some resources to look to. Herman Pavink makes this point. He says, Christ has accomplished everything. He does not rest until after pronouncing his acquittal in our conscience, he has also imparted full holiness and glory to us. The holiness that must completely become ours fully awaits us in Christ. Let me read that again, friends. Or maybe let me explain it. The holiness you long for is not something you manufacture, it is something Christ is committed to completing in you. That's the thought that Bavink is giving here. The holiness that that that that that we need to see in our lives, Christ is committed to it. We need to yield. Yield to community, yield to the word, reading God's word. I mean, it won't you won't yield and the word will read itself. You you need to pick it up and read. Pick up and and read, as Augustine said. You need to be immersed in community, you need to be hanging out with some some believers. I'm not saying uh lose your and and and uh ghost your your non-Christian friends. I'm saying come and and learn from some some some other person who's taken a longer journey. He he won't say, Oh, okay, you are a drunkard. Welcome. No, we're living together, we're walking this life together. He might take you for a beer, but it's just you won't get drunk when it takes you for that beer. But the point here, friends, is this that you need community, you need the word, you need to yield to prayer, you need to yield with you need to yield, man. Yield, man. Lastly, friends, in verse 19 to 21, we see the fruit of yielding. Look at it, it says addressing one another in Psalms. I've said I've read that hymn, spiritual songs, singing, making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. These are five uh fruits, fruits of like this command of speaking, singing, giving thanks, submitting. These are the fruits, they are not the means. Maybe you are sour-faced all the days, you lack gladness. Maybe it's time to yield. Maybe then there'll be a melody in your heart. Friends, this this this leap this list ends in in a beautiful picture of a mutual submission. It's God doing that work of forming a people who think about this. Perhaps you are a CEO of a big company, a big five company uh out there, and you are here this morning, and you are submitting to someone who's a cleaner. Friends, the view we have on people is not societal standards. We are yielding to the spirit and we are submitting to one another, not out of a social basis. The ground before the cross is what, friends? I need a book. The ground before the cross is level, and we are yielding to God, walking together in love, singing together, melodies, harmonies, because God is working in our hearts, producing gladness and thankfulness to God. And perhaps you hear this morning, you're like, yo, okay. I haven't been living with precision. I've been I've been vibing a lot. I've I've been I've been doing my thing. Perhaps you hear this morning, we're like, yo, this sounds like a lot of work. Sounds sounds like a lot. Yes, friends, the call is to walk wisely. We we have heard that the about the power of being filled that produces this fruit, but friends, who has ever actually walked wisely? Who has actually walked wisely? Who has ever truly redeemed every moment? Who who has walked deliberately with intention, moktopel, without drift? Who has who has walked with with with a sense of man without a sense of self-direction? Who was like, my will is to the my my my my food and my drink is to do the will of the father. Who who has walked perfectly, friends? Who has been so filled that he overflows, his overflow was always worship, always gratitude, always submission. Not you, not me, but Jesus Christ. Jesus walked through this world with perfect wisdom, him being wisdom. Not a single moment was wasted, not a single step misaligned. He understood, friends, the will of the father. I like how John uses the language of time. It is not yet time, mom. You're asking me to turn water into wine. It is not yet time. The Telos of His life was pointing to redeem us. He redeemed the time to redeem us. He understood the will of the Father fully, completely, without drift. He redeemed every moment, every conversation was purposeful, every act of service was deliberate, every step was orientated toward one end: the glory of God and the redemption of his people. And guess who are those people? You and me. On that cross, there was intentionality, it was not a random sacrifice for random people, it was for God's elect. For you and me. On that cross, he did not drift to the cross, friends. He was not vibing to the cross, he he set his face toward Jerusalem. He walked deliberately into darkness to buy us back from it. He did not just redeem time, he redeemed you and myself from wasting it. And friends, that's the one of the gospel. He did not just walk wisely for his own glory, he walked wisely for your redemption. Every perfectly redeemed moment was for you. Every wise decision credited to your account. Every step toward Jerusalem, purchasing your freedom from the foolishness that has defined your life. In the simplest ways I can put it, another phrase I like saying, Jesus lived the perfect life you could never live. He lived a fully wise life that you were meant to live. And he bore your foolishness and my foolishness on that cross. And he was punished. And he gives us his perfect life so that we walk, yes, wisely in light of whose we are. As I close, friends. Two points that were made today. You need to walk carefully because the days are evil. You need to be filled because the Spirit has been given to you by Jesus Christ. But above all, of what I've said, you need to continually look to Jesus Christ. It says, submitting to one another out of what, friends? Reverence for Christ. Your life is meant to be pointing to Christ. Your motives, your agenda is meant to be, it's meant to be for Christ, not yourself. The one who worked perfectly where you could not, the one who died for every wasted moment, the one who rose and now fills his people because you are already being filled by by something. The question is whether by whom, friends. So today, friends, I'm not asking you to try harder. I'm not even asking you to fix yourself. This is not a quick fix service. But I'm asking you to we yield when a man. I'm asking you to be filled by looking to Jesus Christ, putting your trust in Christ. Perhaps you're here and you're not a Christian. You've known Christianity to be a thing of people walking their best lives. I'm here to tell you, friends, that we are limping. We try to walk, but we are we are limping. Remember, sanctification is progressive. It's those small moments, that that yielding every day in your life. And we do it by faith in Jesus Christ, who empowers us, friends, to walk. Let me pray for us. Father, thank you for your kindness and grace. Thank you, Lord, that all glory belongs to you, Lord. Babu Nguele, we pray that whatever happens on Sunday, Lord, it is of you. Would it shape us for Monday? Would it shape us, Lord, for the every moment in our lives? As one of your sons wrote, Every moment holy, Lord, would you help us see, Lord, that you are calling us to live every moment holy? Submitting, Lord, not only to each other but to you, O Jesus Christ. Would you shape our relationships? Would you help us, Lord, to live intentional lives by the power of your Holy Spirit? Dare I say, Lord, boldly say, Lord, you call us to ask of you that you fill us with your spirit, to fill us with yourself. And you say, Oh Jesus in John 15, apart from you, we cannot do anything. Indeed, Lord, it is true that we can't live holy lives apart from you. But with you, all things are possible. Lives submitted to you are possible. So, Lord, would you help us to lean, to yield ourselves to you? And may you be glorified. And Babu Ngwell, I pray for those who don't know you this morning. Perhaps they are broken, they are hurting, they are tired of yielding. Would you, Lord, renew their strength? Would you, Lord, give them the joy they had before? Would you help them return to you their first love? Would you help them taste and see your goodness, Lord? And Lord, would you help us embrace them? Not ask where they're coming from, just embrace them with a hug, with a prayer, with a word of encouragement. And would you help us, Lord, to look to you together as a church? I ask all these things in the precious name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.