WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:01.760 Morning, everybody. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:03.680 Excellent. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:11.119 So this fall we've been preaching through the book of Ephesus, Paul's letter to the churches in Ephesus. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:19.280 And as Russ has already told us, we've been breaking down this letter, kind of starting off each of the sermons, that Ephesians is in the shape of the gospel. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:27.920 It begins with the imperatives, what God has done to us, for us, by grace, in love, through the Son and the power of the Spirit. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:33.520 And then in chapters four through six, the second half, it's how shall we now live in light of that? 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:37.840 The shape of the gospel is the shape of the book of Ephesians. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:45.280 And what it tells us in this second half is that the gospel takes our lives and it shapes us into the form of the cross. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:48.320 It instructs us to live cruciform lives. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:01:02.000 Just like the cross here, we begin with our vertical relationship with the Lord, and then it works itself out in the horizontal relationships with one another, our neighbors, our families, and even our enemies. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:15.840 But the question we come to this morning, as we're in that second half, is how do we know what it looks like to live the gospel, the implications of the gospel and the small decisions that we face every day? 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:17.439 That's what our passage is about. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:21.120 So let's jump in, let's begin again with verse 15. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:32.799 Paul writes, Look carefully then how you walk, not as wise, but as not as unwise, but as wise, making best use of the time because the days are evil. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:37.760 Therefore, don't be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:38.400 Point one. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:42.319 Living the Christian life is a call to wise living. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:46.640 This week, my wife and I, we were out on the Kennesaw Trails. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:54.239 Um, we're relatively new to Marietta, about three years, and one of the best things about living here is Kennesaw Mountain Park. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:55.120 Amen. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.640 I know some of you are out there almost daily, but we've a couple minute drive from our home. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:01.680 We have beautiful trails. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:06.159 We can go up a mountain, we can walk through the woods, uh, and we love it. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:13.759 We were out uh in a part that I am less familiar with, and we came to a fork in the path, and Stacy said, Which way should we go, left or right? 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:15.439 And I said, I have no idea. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.800 Um but thank God there's an app for that. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:21.919 And so there's, if you don't know, there's a national parks app. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:25.599 It has the maps of every national park in the in the US. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:30.960 Uh I was gonna say in the world, but there are not national US national parks outside the US. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:32.080 I don't know if you knew that. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:37.360 Anyway, uh pulled it up, map Kennesaw Trails, awesome. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:39.680 Oh, if we go left, it's a five-mile loop. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:40.960 We don't have that kind of time. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:42.080 Let's go right. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:43.680 And we kept going. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:46.319 This is how the Christian life is. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.840 We face daily forks in the road. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:59.840 Uh these are not choices between sin and death, or sin and righteousness, uh, but they're just decisions that that fall before us, discernment. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:04.639 And um we don't always know what to choose. 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:14.319 Figuring out how to live uh that discernment to learn how we ought to live our lives, the scriptures call wisdom. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:16.560 And that's what Paul is calling us to. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:21.280 He says here, pay attention to the way you live. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:23.759 Live a wise life. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:24.240 Why? 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:25.680 Because the days are evil. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:35.439 In the passage just before ours, Paul has gone through a litany of all the things we used to do prior to knowing Christ, or the Ephesians prior to knowing Christ. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:41.759 Sexual immorality, covetousness, um, uh, all sorts of things. 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:47.039 And he kind of lumps them all together in the unfruitful works of darkness. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:57.439 What he's saying is, if we're not careful, if we just drift through life, even as Christians, we will, like the pull of gravity, be drawn back into our old ways. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:02.159 The ways of the world that we live in are strong, they're all around us. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:06.000 And so Paul says, look carefully then. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:08.319 How do you live your life? 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:12.639 Calls us to the well-examined life. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.000 Again, and the scriptures call this wisdom. 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:26.480 And throughout the scriptures, this is something that we Protestants actually don't uh do a very good job on, which is that the whole of Scripture calls us to wisdom. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:32.879 There's a whole swath of biblical literature we call the wisdom books, the wisdom literature. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:43.680 We've got the whole book of Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiastes, Jesus Himself, he amazed the crowds, yes, with the authority he spoke with, but also with the wisdom that he had to give. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:45.759 So let's ask the question. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:47.920 What is wisdom? 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.959 Wisdom is living according to God's design. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:54.240 God created all things with an order. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:56.399 We see that in Genesis chapter 1. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:58.560 From chaos, God brought order. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:01.519 In that order, there's relationships. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.680 He creates the sun, the moon, and the stars to govern the skies. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:09.920 He creates the fish to rule over the seas, the birds to rule over the air. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:22.800 And then over all of creation, he creates man, male and female, and he charges us to rule over this creation in a way that reflects his character, his heart, his love, his authority. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:26.480 And that's why throughout the scriptures, there's kind of this comparison. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:32.720 When we give ourselves over to our passions and our pure instincts, we act like the animals. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:39.279 And when we act like the animals, we we disorder God's good ordered creation. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:41.360 And so there's an order for relationship. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:49.519 There's order for romantic relationships, for covenant relationships, for parents and children, for those who are in authority over us. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.720 And Paul's going to get into that actually in the very next section. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:04.240 One theologian says that God creates it, it's like God created this pattern that's on the ground. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:08.319 But because of sin, sand has covered that ground a little bit like a desert. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:12.720 And when the wind blows, the sand gathers in various places and it creates these little dunes. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:16.720 Like this is uh this is my first AI-generated piece of art. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:19.360 I just want to point that out to you. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.639 This is made with AI, and it was it was kind of fun. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:31.279 Um as the wind blows, you know, certain parts of that pattern are exposed, and and we actually get a glimpse into the wisdom of God. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:34.639 So, Christian or non-Christian, God's wisdom is all around us. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.560 Sometimes we see it and recognize it, but then the winds blow and it gets covered up. 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:40.560 We never have a complete picture. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.319 And so we live as dependent beings. 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:50.000 And this is one thing that's clear throughout Scripture is that wisdom does not reside in us. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:55.519 God did not create wisdom like a little box and give it to each and every one of us. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:00.079 He, we, whether Christian or not, we are dependent creatures. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:02.240 Wisdom comes from outside of us. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:06.800 And in fact, Scripture tells us explicitly that wisdom comes from God. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:12.319 Just a few verses from the book of Proverbs that I love and that I find very helpful in this conversation. 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:16.639 Chapter one says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.000 Fools despise wisdom and instruction. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:24.160 In chapter three, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:32.160 Do not lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:40.959 Finally, in chapter 14, there is a way that seems right unto man and woman, and it's but its end ends in death. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:56.720 And I would imagine, starting with myself, we could all get in a line and we could each share some incredibly brilliant plan that we came up with on ourselves that we thought was foolproof, and yet it ended in death. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:04.319 Left to our own devices, the way we choose tends toward death and destruction. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:11.279 And even as Christians, again, we are dependent on individuals who must rely on the Lord. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:20.240 And it so, in a way, we could sum up the whole of the second half of the book of Ephesians with a call to wise living. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:28.319 As one of my seminary professors put it, what does redemption look like in our everyday lives if not wise living? 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:41.519 If we've been redeemed in Christ, our desire, our heart's desire, is now to please the Lord, to walk in his ways, which is by definition walking in wisdom. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:46.480 Now, Paul goes on to explain how we are to live wisely in verse 18. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:54.000 He says, Do not get drunk on wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:55.360 Point 2. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:09:00.799 A life of wisdom is the spirit-filled life. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:06.399 So Paul is teaching us here how to walk in wisdom by way of contrast. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:08.159 Don't do this, but do this. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:09.840 Don't get drunk on wine. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.759 Now, this is not a general prohibition against alcohol. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.080 I'm a Presbyterian, and we were never teetotalers. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:21.600 That's a separate conversation. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:23.039 I'm happy to talk about that. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:24.159 Over a beer. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.080 What Paul is talking about here's what we said before. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:36.320 We know the phrase, right, being under the influence of alcohol or a DUI, driving under the influence, right? 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:37.120 It's right there. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:43.200 We understand that when we are intoxicated, we operate under the influence of this other power. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:49.440 So Paul says, don't give yourselves over to carnal pleasures or instincts. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:52.320 Rather, be filled with the spirit. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:10:04.240 Rather than living under the influence of alcohol or any other appetite, live in submission to the Lord, who is the Spirit. 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:17.600 So again, the contrast is between will we live like the animals or will we live like sons and daughters of the king who is endowed in us his image to live in a way that reflects his glory. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:19.440 John Stott says it well. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:26.399 He says, excessive alcohol dehumanizes, turning humans into a beast. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:33.679 But the fullness of the Spirit makes us more human, for he makes us like Christ. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:36.240 And that's the point. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:48.080 Starting in chapter 4 and now in chapter 5, Paul exhorts us to be imitators of God, to live like Christ has shown us. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.360 And he points us to Jesus as our model. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:55.440 But this raises the question: okay, we're to live wisely. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.080 To live wisely means to live filled by the Spirit. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:10:59.759 How are we to live? 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:01.919 How can we be filled with the Spirit? 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:05.519 Well, again, we've got to get the order correct. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:13.440 First, Ephesians teaches us that we are saved in Christ by grace through faith, not of ourselves, but it's a gift of God. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:14.879 It's given to us. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:21.759 And because of that gift in Christ, we have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:30.320 And that Holy Spirit seal is that guarantee, Paul says, to the inheritance that awaits us in the coming of the new heavens and the new earth. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.240 The Holy Spirit that indwells us as Christians is like a down payment. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:51.360 It's a surety that in the future, when we experience the resurrection, when all of creation experiences the resurrection and we go to live in the new heavens and the new earth, that we will be full inheritors with Christ as sons and daughters of God. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:53.679 Of course, what does that mean? 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:57.039 It means we didn't do anything to receive the Spirit. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.440 It was a gift of God. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:01.679 And notice too what Paul says in verse 18. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.720 He says, Don't get drunk on one, but be filled with the Spirit. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:07.519 He doesn't say fill yourselves with the Spirit. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:13.440 And so this is an interesting exhortation because it's in the passive. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:20.559 We don't actively fill ourselves, we allow ourselves to be filled, and that's point three. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:26.879 We're filled with the Holy Spirit when we open ourselves to Him. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.200 Now this might sound strange, right? 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:40.480 When we're we're in a Reformed church, we believe that we are born dead in our trespasses and sins, and God makes us alive by His grace through passages and the power of the Spirit. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:49.759 But what Paul says in this passage and in other passages is this that when we're dead in our trespasses and sins, we don't have the choice to obey God. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:57.440 But now, in this state with the Holy Spirit, and yet still connected to our body of death, we have a choice. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:01.679 We are tempted and we can choose to walk in the ways of the world. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:08.960 We can go back as a dog returns to its vomit, believing that it will give us what we long for. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:24.879 But we also now, in the freedom that Jesus has given us, we have the freedom to choose life, to listen to the voice of the Spirit, to follow in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.240 So again, the question is how are we filled with the Spirit? 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:30.480 Well, there's lots of different ways. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:32.159 There's lots of different practices. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:35.120 In fact, this is what it what spiritual practices are. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:45.360 Whether you call it a quiet time or meditation or prayer, it is sitting, it is slowing down. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:14:00.799 It is saying no to the voices and the temptations of the world that tell me ceaselessly, you don't measure up, you don't have what it takes, you better have what it takes, or you're gonna let people down, you're gonna be a failure. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:02.720 It's all on you. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:11.759 I can say no to those voices now because the Holy Spirit lives inside of me, and I can listen to the voice that says, You are beloved. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:14.720 You are mine. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:18.639 All the weight is off your shoulders. 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:20.879 Now walk in the fullness of life. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:31.919 And the love that you have received as a beloved child of God that has been poured into you without measure, now it can overflow from you to love those around you. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:41.360 Love your family, your spouse, your children, your co-workers, your neighbors, even your enemies. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:51.919 And so, beloved, really, what it means to be filled with the Spirit is to actively understand what Paul is saying: that the world, the earth, the day is evil. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:00.960 There are constant voices telling us to look away from the Lord, to look to our own resources, to look to other resources. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.080 That is the way that leads to death. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:11.600 So, a question to ponder today, and as you go throughout this week, what practices do you have in your life? 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:19.840 In the morning, perhaps throughout the day, at the end of the day, that bring your heart and mind back to this gospel of truth. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:23.200 This is the practice that brings peace. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:28.080 This is the practice that frees us and fills us with the spirit. 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:32.080 Finally, let's look at how he closes the passage. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:54.320 He says, Don't get drunk on wine, which is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit, addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:16:01.519 Point four, being spirit-filled manifests or shows itself, reveals itself in the fruit of light. 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:06.000 This is what Paul says back in verse 9 and the previous passage. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:13.919 He exhorts us, walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.000 I love that phrase. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:25.840 Here are the things you must do to walk as children of light. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.679 Even our flesh, it wants to know what to do right. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:31.759 It just wants a checklist. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:36.159 But Paul says, whatever is good, whatever is right. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.919 Well, how do I know what to do in this situation in this moment? 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.799 Aha! Discernment. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:48.159 Listen to the Spirit, seek the Spirit, he says. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:55.279 So Paul tells us, what does it look like when we are living as children of light, when we have submitted ourselves and opened our hearts? 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:00.480 The Holy Spirit, what this is saying is that the Holy Spirit is basically waiting. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:02.240 He's so excited. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.839 When you slow down and you open your heart to him, he's just, oh, let me, I just want to pour out my love. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:11.839 I want you to remember the truth. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:15.759 I want you to walk filled with me. 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.440 What does it look like when we're filled with the Spirit? 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:26.160 Paul, after saying, be filled with the Spirit, he has four participles, four continuous actions, saying, This is what it means. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:31.200 We address one another in songs, hymns, and spiritual songs. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:34.720 We sing songs and make melody in our hearts to the Lord. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:41.599 We give thanks to the Lord always and for everything, and finally, we submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:42.799 What do we learn from this? 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:50.799 These four, and this, these aren't the only four things, but Paul wants to emphasize these four things to the Ephesians and to us. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:53.759 First, we got to see that this is in the context of worship. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:56.559 These are God's people gathered together in worship. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:00.319 They're singing songs in one another's presence to the Lord. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:07.599 But notice the first thing Paul says about the singing is it's not addressed to the Lord, it's addressed to one another. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:13.759 God is not our only audience when we gather together and worship. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.119 We are the audience of one another. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:20.240 This is why corporate worship is so vital. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:29.039 It's vital for you and me to be here in corporate worship so that we can hear our brothers and sisters singing the truth over us. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:36.000 It reminds us of the truth when we doubt, it strengthens us when we need it. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.119 But you are needed. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:46.880 I need you to be here so that I hear your voice singing and reminding me of the truth. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:54.160 Second, when we're filled with the Spirit, we make melody in our hearts to the Lord. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:19:02.079 Um I'm uh I don't know if you can tell this when I'm standing up front, but I'm I'm actually kind of a um melancholy person. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:12.400 When I'm left to my own devices, I'm I'm typically frustrated and and um down on either myself or you, maybe. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.440 Um people are constantly letting me down. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:18.079 God is constantly letting me down. 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:23.759 Um in fact, yesterday uh just had an incredible day. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.359 Uh through the gift of a friend, I was able to take my son fishing. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:29.519 We went out on Lake Alato on a boat. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:30.799 I don't know how to fish. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.400 This was all thanks to this guide who took us out there. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.960 And um, we caught like 20 fish. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.200 Like I've shown people pictures this morning. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:41.599 I didn't, this is not a planned illustration. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:42.960 I would have a picture. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:44.640 Uh people like, that's not normal. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:45.519 Like, that's a big fish. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:46.960 I was like, oh yeah, it was awesome. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:51.440 Um, I have nothing to compare it to, but we brought some fish home. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.319 I gutted a fish for the first time in my life. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.000 Uh totally gross. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:58.559 It's a testament to how much I love my son. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.839 That um we I don't eat fish, I don't like it. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.240 He likes it, he likes to fish, I don't like it. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:06.880 Anyways, this is all about him loving him. 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:10.960 Um awesome day, incredible day. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:16.640 But as the as we were getting as I was getting close to bedtime, like you know, certain things like didn't happen. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:18.240 I was going to bed later than I would. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:25.440 And I just I found myself going to bed angry and frustrated. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:37.039 And as I kind of got into bed and I slowed down and I took a deep breath, I heard the Holy Spirit say, Why are you frustrated? 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:40.480 Remember the day. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:42.480 You see what I gave you? 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:46.319 This incredible time with your son, this incredible fishing experience. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:53.039 You know, you did something you've never done, you gutted this disgusting fish and you cooked it, and your son thought it was good. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:02.240 And after repentance, I was filled with joy. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:04.720 Gratitude. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:17.839 That's what it means to slow down and to be filled with the Spirit, to stop that incessant racing mind, that that frustration, that weight that's always on your shoulders. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:26.160 And to be reminded of who God has been in the past and who he is today, and what he has promised to your future. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:29.680 That is the life I want to live. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:32.240 I want to live a life of gratitude. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:35.519 Have you ever told yourself, be thankful? 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.839 Get a gratitude journal and just write down, that that I hate that. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.200 It doesn't work. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:53.119 But when I stop and rest in the Lord's presence and he reminds me of who he is and what he has done, my heart overflows. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:22:00.720 And finally, the last thing Paul tells us is that when we're filled with the Spirit, we submit to one another. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:17.680 Paul's gonna go on in the next verses to kind of unpack this and various relationships we have, but but again, Paul's simply returning to the beginning of chapter five, where he tells us to be imitators of Christ, who loved us and gave himself up for us. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:19.039 A fragrant offering. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:20.240 We'll never be Jesus. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.599 Jesus is our model, brothers and sisters, always. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:25.759 Now we will never be Jesus. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.799 We will never succeed in the way that he succeeded. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:34.240 We'll never obey perfectly, we will never love him or others or ourselves perfectly. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:45.839 And yet, just as he said to his disciples in the upper room, after he washed their feet, he says, I have given you an example that you might go and do likewise. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:49.680 And so to live wisely is to live in humility. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:23:06.079 If the king of the universe was willing to come down and become our slave, our servant, to give himself up for us, who are we not to submit ourselves, to pour ourselves out, to sacrifice ourselves for those around us? 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:10.240 Yes, those we love, but also our enemies. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:19.200 To live for Christ is not to live for ourselves, but to live out of his love for us that he has lavished on us. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:28.000 We bask in that love, we revel in it, and through the power of the Spirit and the freedom he gives us, then we go out. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:35.680 We allow that love to pour out from us to those around us, to the glory of his name. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:47.519 Beloved, this is our calling to walk in love, to walk in wisdom, not in our own strength, but only as we are filled with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of love. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:51.119 If you have any questions or need prayer, I'll be down front after the service. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:51.839 Come see me. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:52.559 Let's pray. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:56.400 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:23:58.559 Thank you for this word. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:00.160 Thank you for your grace. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:04.160 Thank you that you fill us, Spirit, and that you are eager to do so. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:08.559 May you give us wisdom to slow down and hear your voice. 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:10.319 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:10.960 Amen.