Ephesians 5:1-21 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] Calvary Church is dedicated to Doctrine and we want you to experience the life change that comes from knowing God's word and applying it to your life so we explain the Bible verse by verse every chapter every book this is expound well turning your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 Ephesians chapter 5 is what we want to cover tonight this fifth chapter of this incredible book we just sang uh several songs one of the songs that we sang together the lyrics are the old made new when I met you the old made knew when I met

you I think that song that little phrase in that song must be based on 2 Corinthians 5:17 If any man is in Christ he is a new creation old things are passed away behold All Things become new the old made new when I met you I love that well that's a good introduction to chapter 5 because Ephesians is all about God's new Society we call it the church but it was a revolutionary concept back then especially among Jewish people that God would take Jews and and non-jews and place them in the same group tear down

the barriers Tear Down the Walls of division and make one new Society now Ephesus was an ancient city it was an ancient Greek city before it was taken over by the Romans Alexander the Great way back when liberated the city of Ephesus later on it was given over to the Romans it's an ancient city and so Paul writes to Believers in an ancient city telling them they're a new Society new Society a new group of people new uh way of life new relationships new standards new values and a new family a new family a couple

weeks ago after church we were talking with a small group and this one young gal said I love coming to church I love coming here and I say well we share that in common so do I I've been here a long time and I still love being here and one thing I noticed when I first became a Believer I had this sentiment that this was my new family I love the family I grew up with but there was tension growing up in my family on in in a spiritual level and when I got around fellow

Believers we just tracked at a whole new level and I felt more at home among my spiritual family at that time than even my physical family Mom and Dad and brothers and so Paul is painting this beautiful picture he calls it the body of Christ uh in some of these chapters but we're a new Society God's new family God's forever family but first we have to know who we are our identity our spiritual identity we are in Christ a phrase Paul uses some 240 times in the New Testament about 40 or 50 times in the

book of Ephesians alone we are in Christ that's our identity we need to know who we are we need to know what we have and so the wealth of the believer as we've told you before is the first couple of chapters first few chapters so we need to know who we are what we have and then based on that what we are to do with what we have and who we are so we have Doctrine and Duty that's how the book is divided we've told you the wealth the walk and the Warfare of the believer

neatly divides the book of Ephesians or doctrine Duty and difficulty Doctrine who we are what we have duty what we do with what we have and who we are difficulty the Warfare of the believer you need to learn how to fight and how to win spiritually victoriously uh in The Spirit Well chapter four brought us to that second division if you remember the Walk of the believer so chapter 1 be uh chapter 4 verse one begins with the idea that we should walk worthy of the calling with which we are called and we told you

last time and the time before that walk worthy means to weigh as much that one side of the scale will equal the other side of the scale so on one side of the scale the name Christian followers of Christ that's a lofty calling on the other side of the scales our walk our be Behavior our lifestyle though it will never be perfect no though it will never match up on our best day to that of Christ he is our example we should be following him we should be as we'll see in a moment imitating him

and when we do that by God's grace our lifestyle is worthy of our calling so the theme of chapter 4 and the theme of chapter five is our walk he says you should walk worthy then he describes what a worthy walk is a worthy walk is a walk in humility remember verse two of chapter 4 with all loneliness and gentleness Etc also it's a walk in unity verse three endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace there's one body one Spirit etc etc so it's a walk in humility a walk

in unity it's also a walk in variety or you could call it diversity or individuality that we all have individual callings and gifts that when put together in the large pot of the body of Christ the church it builds one another up so he begins in verse seven of chapter four to each one Grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift and he lists different gifts that are used in the body of Christ so a worthy walk is a walk in humility it is a walk in unity it is a walk in variety

also it's a walk in Purity we discovered last week beginning in verse 17 of chapter 4 this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the unbelievers the Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds Etc don't live like that you've been transformed live like this now he continues the thought of the worthy walk and in chapter five the theme is at least in the first few verses a worthy walk is a walk in charity or a walk in love and chapter 5 verse one is

a beautiful I would even call it a sun verse of all of the different kinds of descriptions of the Walk humility impurity etc etc it all sums up very nicely in verse one of chapter 5 therefore be imitators of God as dear children you want to know how to walk walk like Jesus walked I could never do that okay I get that but let him be your model imitate him copy him you remember when um your son or daughter was quite young I hope when they did this um would copy everything that you would do

sometimes they they do that just for a joke you know you lift your hand they lift their hand you turn this way they turn this way you say something they say something it can be irritating but you know they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery imit at God and that theme that kind of that's sort of a principal theme throughout the scripture we have even seen it in our last Study last Wednesday night look at the very last verse of chapter 4 and be kind to one another tenderhearted forgiving one another here

it is even as God in Christ forgave you he did it now you do it you imitate what he has done be like him be imitators of God as dear children this idea of imitation as I said runs throughout the scripture all the way back in Leviticus God said be holy because I am Holy like father like son like father like daughter imitate what you see what you know to be be true of God therefore and that sums up the walk be imitators of God as dear children and now is the walk in Charity Walk

In Love verse two walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling Aroma walk in love love is a mega theme in our culture has been for a long time books are written about love poems written about love songs written about love movies have the theme of love and yet though it is a common refrain in our culture and has been for some time what I see it as is a longing to experience the true love that the world

wants but still can't find because as I look at the movies that describe love stories uh I see a perversion of true love and uh something they would love to experience but they haven't quite so they reduce pure love down to more of a base lust I want you and even um uh the the phrase making love doesn't have any idea of sacrifice and reciprocation of value as much as uh just the the basic sexual act Hollywood has done that I remember years ago Josh McDow telling me that most of the people he meets and

has met in his life have two basic fears fear number one is they'll never be loved completely for who they are and fear number two that they'll never be able to give authentic love to another person and he said what happens is with those fears people will replace that with a very um subservient very uh subpar um suboptimal uh replacement for true love so the world will CL cry out and clamor for love but when you come to Christ and you realize I don't deserve his love but he loves me anyway he values me he

makes me his son he makes me his daughter he forgives my past he is gracious to me I don't deserve it but he lavishes benefits on me it's a whole man I remember that when I discovered that it set me free to be able to love people unconditionally sacrificially the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts the Bible tells us so walk in love as Christ has loved us and given himself for us an offering a sacrifice to God for a sweet uh smelling Aroma now here is Paul writing to the Ephesians about

the wealth the walk and the the Warfare of the believer and when he comes to the walk and he describes the worthy walk in terms of humility in terms of unity in terms of variety and Purity and now charity I find it interesting that after Paul pastored founded and pastored the church and went on he was of course finally executed he was 58 years old when he had his uh head chopped off of his body uh in Rome or outside the city of Rome and the City of Ephesus had several different pastors one of whom

was the Apostle John and John became the pastor of Ephesus he was then taken away to Patmos when he was about 95 years of age he was still alive he survived Patmos was history says brought back to Ephesus where he spent his final years and he was known as the Apostle of love because the older he got um he of course the older you get the more limited you are in your faculties and abilities to do anything and everything in life and uh so John would often just be taken into the congregation and sort of

propped up and even lifted up above the people so that they could hear his now soft elderly voice and he would be lifted up and people would be listening to this aged venerable legendary Apostle and he would simply say little children love one another that was it that's all he could get out little children love one another next week they bring him into church and they'd have their service they'd lift John up again and John would say little children love one another and they they did this for a while until somebody did said you know

you keep saying the same thing over and over again you got anything else for us and he said here's why it is the Lord's command and if this only be done it is enough if all you ever manag to do is to love one another everything else will take care of itself love one another so I find it interesting not John but Paul says walk in love just as Christ loved now speaking of John listen to the words of the pastor of Ephesus John the Apostle in 1 John chapter 4 and they'll tie it neatly

together this is John beloved let us love one another for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God he who does not love doesn't know God for God is love in this the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him same thought as Paul in this is love not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins beloved if God so loved us

we ought also to love one another so this lucky not lucky blessed Church of Ephesus getting as their pastoral lineup how's this the Apostle Paul Timothy John then polycarp if you know your church history also a heavyweight boy they had it made go over to Ephesus today though you'll never your it's just ruins it's completely taken over by Islam good luck finding a church so Jesus will later on write a little postcard in the Book of Revelation written by John but it's inspired by God to the Church of Ephesus saying you've left your first love

you don't love me as much as you did at the first and so when we truly love him we'll love one another and God will preserve that Fellowship so they eventually did go orry but for the time being uh he writes walk in love as Christ has loved us and given himself but now he pivots a bit and he gives us a a list of activities a list of sins that will stop the flow of true love these will bottleneck the flow of love in any group in any relationship but fornication sex before marriage outside

of marriage all uncleanness perverse sensuality or covetousness wanting what you don't have and uncleanness or covetousness let it not even be named among you as is fitting for Saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking interesting word it's the word moros we get the word from it and the idea is stupid talking foolish talking is probably a little more palatable for most of our ears nor coarse jesting means double on Tandra taking something simple that you hear and making it have an overtone of something something sensual course jesting which are not fitting but rather this is what

is fitting the giving of thanks if you have something to say Let It Be Good Let It Be Thankful let it be pleasant Let It Be edifying not coarse not Blasphemous not idolatrous not Covetous but the giving of thanks now there are in the new Testament three different lists like this uh lists of uh sins uh that go against the spirit that bottleneck the flow of love one is found in the book of Galatians uh chapter 5 uh one is found in the book of um or Galatians 6 um here and in First Corinthian Galatians

5 1 Corinthians 6 and here those are the three lists they're very very similar for this you know verse 5 that no fornicator unclean person or Covetous man notice this who is an idolator he puts covetousness in the same category as idolatry why because you are elevating materialism over God no fornicate or unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolator has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God those are some those are some tough words now be careful because what I read just described a lot of our past lives but that's the

key word past lives not our present life Paul wrote to the Corinthians and such were were some of you not are some of you this isn't something you continually practice so the idea here is this an unrepentant continual Behavior lifestyle of disobedience in these areas um don't be deceived he says in verse 6 let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of Disobedience don't let somebody come and say oh well you know a lot of people do it it's normal in culture normal

in society don't let anybody deceive you God's standard is God's standard hasn't changed therefore do not be partakers with them so we're to walk in humility walk in unity walk in variety walk in Purity walk in charity now in verse 8 we're to walk in the light as we are told we might you know to sort of keep the fancy little name thing going on uh we are to walk in incorruptibility that's sort of the idea of Walking In The Light rather than in darkness verse four for you were once Darkness but now you are

light in the Lord walk live order your behavior your steps walk as children of the light for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness righteousness and Truth finding out what is acceptable to the Lord when you were saved whatever day whatever evening whatever moment that was whatever church service or prayer you said that was a prayer of faith the moment you took that step of faith you in effect Walked Out Of The Realm of Darkness and you stepped into the light and so the idea of walking in the light incorruptibility now in 2

Corinthians chapter 4 let me read this to you I'm finding parallel passages to all these Paul writes this 2 Corinthians 4:3 even if our gospel is veiled it's veiled to those who are perishing whose Minds the God of this age has blinded who do not believe lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God should shine on them for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your bonder servants for jesus' sake for it is the god who commanded light to shine out of

Darkness who has Shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ we're to walk in the light what does it mean to walk in the light what is light in the Bible Well it's a metaphor it physically speaks of the glory of God in the Old Testament when God showed up there was some display of luminescence in the beginning when God created the heavens and the Earth Darkness was over the face of the deep and God's first words let there be light and

light was when the people of Israel were leaving Egypt God's presence was visible in a pillar of Fire by night and A luminescent Cloud by day so physically light speaks of the glory of God take that thought all the way to the Future the New Jerusalem is described as saying there's no need for the Sun or the moon to shine in it for the glory of God is the luminescence of it and this and the the son Jesus Christ will his love light will radiate it so physically light speaks of the glory of God morally

light speaks of the Holiness of God God is Flawless God has no flaws he is perfect he is unique he um uh he alone is Immortal Paul wrote to Timothy who dwells in un approachable light so morally it speaks of his Holiness I remember a few well several years ago many years ago um a book became very famous book written by a Jewish rabbi Rabbi Harold Kushner was called when bad things happen to good people some of you are nodding you're familiar with that book it's an interesting read when bad things happen to good people

but it's based on the rabbis belief in something called finite theism finite theism basically means this yes God created the world and yes God is a good god and a loving God but there's evil in the world because God can't fix it he's incapable to do anything about it it's sort of gotten out of his control he'd like to be able to control the madness but bad things happened to good people so the rabbi for us to cope with the bad things that happen to good people encourages us to forgive God poor God he'd like

to do better he'd like to be a better God he'd like to be able to manage the world that he created but he's unable to manage it so now it's incumbent upon you as his good little creature to forgive him there's nothing to forgive he's perfect he's Flawless yes bad things happen to good people there's reasons for evil in the world that can be explained maybe not satisfactorily to the person who is at that moment suffering but there are good solid reasons why evil and suffering exist and it's certainly not because God has flawed to

any degree so physically light speaks of the glory of God morally light speaks of the Holiness of God in intellectually light speaks of the knowledge of God God knows everything nothing is hidden the Bible says from his sight in the Book of Proverbs the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and He Ponders all of his goings so he sees and he knows everything everything you do everything you say everything nobody else knows about only you know about it Lewis Barry Schaefer used to say secret sin is open scandal in heaven God

knows it all so to live in the light to walk in the light is to walk in light of God's knowledge of God's holiness and of God's glory so you've left Darkness walk verse 8 chapter 5 of Ephesians walk as the children of light verse n as a parenthetical statement for he continues the thought for the fruit of the spirit other manuscripts and I believe this is correctly translated instead of saying the fruit of the spirit there's a marginal note in some of your Bibles that say the fruit of the light that's a better rendition

so God is light walk as children of the light for the fruit or the result of the light is in goodness righteousness and Truth in other words these three Supreme characteristics will be evident of somebody who is walking in the light this will be the result these are the tests of a person having true Faith or not do they exhibit these things goodness righteousness truth and then concluding that thought finding out what is acceptable to the Lord let me give you a verse of scripture that I think sort of Segways or fits dovet Tales nicely

with this and that's Romans chapter 12 the first couple of verses I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies of a Living Sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service continues don't be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God so as you present your body you give yourself on a daily basis Lord I want to walk before you I want to obey you I'm yours today

and you live that out you find out verse 10 what is acceptable to the Lord that's walking in light that's walking in the spirit and as a counterpart have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them how could you have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness either by participating in them or by tolerating them n not a big deal now everybody's sort of into that have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them reveal them now let me give you another little scripture that fits nicely with

this and that is 1 Corinthians chapter 5 where Paul um writes to the Corinthians and says look I wrote you a previous letter the letter we don't have not to keep company with sexually immoral people now he explains it this is 1 Corinthians 5:10 yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world or with the covet or extortioners or idolators these are unbelievers who exhibit these properties I I didn't mean them because then you would have to go out of the world we'd have to put you on a spaceship and

take you out of the earth if I said you can't ever hang out with anybody who lives that way because everybody lives that way in the world as unbelievers but he clarifies now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother brother who is sexually immoral or Covetous or an idolator or reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner not even to eat with such a person so uh he clarifies that and now he says don't even have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them for it is

a shame even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret but all things that are exposed are made manifest By the Light but whatever makes manifest is light tonight when you go home and get in your car to drive home you're going to turn on your headlights you're not going to drive home without them because the headlight of your car will expose what is in front of the vehicle and because it exposes potential problems obstacles pedestrians vehicles that may not put their lights on in their car because it's an older car

new ones automatically do that um it's going to keep you from harm you don't need headlights during the day the sun offers that it exposes uh any potential Darkness so in exposing Darkness it helps you navigate through life it's shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret but all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light or whatever makes manifest is light here's an example of this on a moral level the Pharisees everybody thought they were like the good guys they were the they were the exemplars right

of Jud ISM of righteous living religious living until Jesus came along and he exposed them exposed their motives and said in in in what have must have been just a jaw-dropping expose wo unto you Pharisees Hypocrites you are whitewashed tombs you look good on the outside you're full of corruption and Death on the inside and he tore the MK off of them he turned the headlights on them he turned on the sunlight and exposed the Deeds of Darkness therefore he says awake you who sleep arise from the dead and Christ will give you light now

we don't exactly know what this is a reference to it says therefore he says and you would think he must be God because it's capitalized in your Bible and my Bible there are four different Old Testament texts in the book of Isaiah that have nuances of what I just read of verse 14 in them but none of them are a direct quote the closest one would be Isaiah 60 verse one but this is believed to be an early Christian hymn that Paul is quoting uh an Easter hymn that calls unbelievers out of their lifestyle of

Darkness into Christ's Gospel Light that's what Scholars the consensus of most Scholars it's an early hymn that certainly encapsulates scripture scriptural truth but he's quoting a hymn so I love the fact if that's true that the early Christian worship leaders uh were calling unbelievers through evangelism it was like an Evangelistic hym they were writing evangelism in their songs calling people to Faith saying awake you who sleep arise from the dead and Christ will give you light and let me give a little challenge to our worship team we don't have the original tune to this maybe

you could come up with one and we could sing the uh the words to this maybe in a new kind of a translation that you would prefer but something that would be catchy and write a whole song around that that's just that's my challenge to the worship team based on this awake you sleep arise from the dead and Christ will give you light so we are to walk in humility Unity variety Purity charity incorruptibility and there's another one we are to walk carefully we are to walk in Paul's words circumspectly look at verse 15 see

then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise Redeeming the time because the days are evil therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is to walk circumspectly has the idea of walking with Precision placing your step precisely on the right place in the path when we were kids our parents gave us instructions like look both ways before you cross the street watch where you're going all that kind of stuff has the idea of this walk circumspectly walk carefully uh precisely put your foot you know take time before

you just run into something and do something impulsively give pause walk carefully of course my mind goes back to an incident of my youth when I was in grade school we did a class field trip to a local Dairy and we were all to meet at a certain place at a certain time and go in the front entrance of the dairy together and see the cows and the milk and get the whole little tour I ended up being slightly late and as we were pulling up my dad was I believe driving me uh we saw

the kids all gathered we were by the fence cows were sort of out in the field and instead of going all the way around my dad just stopped said just get out climb through the fence and go join your group right so you're you're getting the picture that required circumspect walking because of what was left in those fields that would pollute any other place I would visit that day what would cling to my shoes I had to walk circumspectly as wise and not as foolish so see that you do that walk circumspectly carefully with Precision

not as a fool but as a wise person Redeeming the time because the days are evil redeeming is a word that means buy back buy back the time you've lost time all all the lost time before you were saved I I've had people tell me that all the time you know I came to Christ late in life oh i' be moan all the years wasted okay good I'm glad you recognize that now buy back the time redeem the time make the most of every opportunity and the word here for time is not the typical word

Chronos but the word chyos the idea isn't isn't C counting how much time you have left or counting time the idea is making time count whatever time you have left make that count do something that counts for eternity only one life will soon be past only What's Done For Christ will last when you think that way you are Redeeming the time because the days and I think we'll all agree are the days in which we live evil oh yes they are and getting darker and darker so redeem the time make the most of the opportunities

you're doing it right now you're Redeeming the time by filling your mind with the instruction from the word of God therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is one of the most common questions I have ever received as a pastor is how can I discover the will of God the short answer without doing a whole study on it is the will of God is found in the word of God when you are doing what you're doing what we're doing when you are giving yourself to a study of the word

of God you discover what the will of God is because the will of God is disclosed in the word of God I love the question how can I discover the will of God because it shows me um a heart that is wanting to know the will of God you wouldn't ask that question unless you wanted to know his will and you might be confused about it I don't mind if you're confused about it I love the fact that you want to know his will 90% of life's difficulties will be solved when your heart is just

ready to do the will of God and when it is wanting and ready God will show you well how how can I discover it I don't know I could give you a few suggestions to look for but in the long run I know if your heart is willing God will direct you the steps of a righteous man the psalmist said are ordered by the Lord and He Delights in his way God will direct you just have an open heart you don't you don't need a formula well if I line up these three things and that'll

just move just walk you'll stumble into it you'll run into it and you look back go that was cool that's that the will of God I didn't expect meeting that person at this time for that thing all of that will happen so just don't be unwise understand what the will of the Lord is and is an always found this interesting do not be drunk with wine but in which is dissipation but be filled with the spirit I find it interesting because at first it seems like a strange coraly to compare getting drunk with being filled

with the spirit how on Earth does that mean if you're filled with the Holy Spirit you'll act like a you'll be running into things and slurring your speech and saying stupid things some people think so I'm not one of them I think the idea is simple it's one of control when you are drunk you are under the control of alcohol I've had many people who are just so stoned weep and pray and repent and you know I lead for Christ and I remember getting so excited at first when I used to go Street witnessing and

Lead drunks to Christ and I would tell my elders hey I let this guy to Christ they just H cuz they knew when I saw the guy a week later had no recollection that he ever met me don't be controlled by wine be contr or with alcohol be filled with the spirit be controlled by the spirit being filled with the spirit is like a glove a glove is meant to hold a hand when the hand fills the glove the glove can do what the glove was meant to do the glove let's say a work glove

in my garage it's sitting there right now I can tell you what shelf it's on it's not doing anything right now it has no capacity to do anything right now it can't do any work it couldn't do any task I couldn't say glove I'm going to be gone I have a Bible study tonight I'd like you to manage these tasks for me it has no power it can only work it can only operate when a hand is filling it now I can control that glove when the whole Holy Spirit fills your life and controls your

life God can do his work through you in you and through you something else in this coraly this kind of don't be drunk with wine but filled with the Holy Spirit people will often turn to alcohol for a number of reasons and they do it but what they think they're going to get they never get uh they they do it for relief doesn't bring them relief only temporary relief man I got to get a drink I just I've had an art day or they lack peace and they're trying to get peace or um they they

they want joy and so they think that the drink will give them Joy so they're getting fake relief fake peace fake Joy when you're filled with the spirit you get real peace real relief real Joy one is a fake it's a manufacturer you'll never get the filling and fulfilling that you want like when your life is controlled by God so don't be drunk with wine which is disspation but be filled with the spirit by the way it's in the present tense be being filled with the spirit be continually constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit

how about this when you wake up tomorrow father Lord fill me with your spirit aresh before you go into work father as I go into work today fill me with your spirit as you're about to do a task father fill me with your spirit you say well you know I came to Christ and I was baptized in the body of Christ yes one baptism many fillings you say why is it in the present tense be being filled with this spair why do I have to continually be filled because we leak it's the same reason you

fill your car up with gas you don't buy a new car take it back and say or call your dealership and say I can't believe it you buy but this car a week ago and it's out of gas doesn't work well you got to keep filling it up so be being filled with the spirit and as a result of that speaking to to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord now in that verse you have a good reason to go to church if people

ask well you know why do I have to go to church I am the church God's with me everywhere I go God is always present I don't have to be with other people you can't do this alone you can't get alone and speak to one another in Psalms and hymns you can sing those psalms and hymns and spiritual songs you can make Melody out loud and in your heart but nobody's with you to be encouraged by it there is a value that you get in coming together for corporate worship and one of the great things

is hearing one another sing these songs that's why the worship team loves it when and they'll remark on that I love I love to hear your voices I love to hear your voices more than that God loves to hear your voices well I don't sing very well it's a sweet song to him not to your neighbor perhaps but Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord I know your neighbors going it's not too joyful for you but for God it is it is speaking to one another in these Psalms you know um in any Endeavor in

life if you want to keep up your interest in any anything you're into it's best if you find other people who are also interested in that so let's say you're interested in um uh collecting things you can find other collectors on in an online community or even in a club where you get together and you share what you collect and you learn more stuff about it every time you meet together you you enrich yourself and keep up your interest if it's motorcycles you get magazines or join a club a writing club or bicycle or running

whatever if you want to keep your interest up in whatever interest you get around other people who are also interested in it if you want to keep your interest up in spiritual things get around other people who are interested in spiritual things if you isolate yourself it's easy to fall off the wagon I haven't been to church in months yeah what happened you need we need one another speaking to one another in these Psalms Psalms are Psalms from the Old Testament hymns um the Psalms are the 150 Psalms in the Bible hymns were written by

church leaders early church leaders do you know that we have preserved they have discovered the hym book of the church at Antioch and they don't have of course the music but they have the lyrics of many of the songs believed to be from the antiochian church which is really after the Jerusalem Church in the early book of Acts the central sending Church in the book of Acts and I had a friend who was the head of worship leader magazine who helped in the dissemination of these and did a whole music Project based on the lyrics

of the songs they found at Antioch those are the hymns that they found so Psalms hymns spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord giving thanks always for all things to God the father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ look at verse 21 it's a transitional verse submitting to one another in the fear of God now you will notice if you know your Bible you know that he's going to now talk about the home life wives submit to your husbands husband love your wives children obey your parents etc etc

he's talking about the Walk of the believer and he talks about Unity and variety and humility and Purity and all that stuff that we talked about now he's going into the home as if to say what one Christian leader said Howard Hendricks in fact is the Christian leader who said this if your Christianity doesn't work at home it doesn't work don't export it if your Christianity doesn't work at home it doesn't work don't export it Paul goes into the most basic parts of life the marriage the raising of children and then into the workplace the

very basic parts of the relationship now here's what I have noticed about most series teachings books even uh from a Christian Vantage Point using the New Testament to talk about marriage relationships most of them begin their series on marriage relationships in verse 22 where it says wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church he is the savior of the body therefore just as the church is subject to Christ so let the wives be to their own

husbands in everything that's where they begin followed by the role of the husbands husbands love your wives Etc that is not where the text begins when Paul launches into this transitional portion of walking the Christian walk at home the thought begins in verse 21 not verse 22 and the thought is this submitting to one another in the fear of God what does it mean to submit to one another in the fear of God in a marriage relationship well that's such an important question I'm going to leave it till next week to answer that question and

we'll finish out chapter five thank you Father for an opportunity to gather together as your people Sons and Daughters of the Living God not Jew not Gentile but all one in your body the church help us Lord to walk in humility in unity exercising the variety of spiritual gifts always walking in Purity and in love in the light and carefully circumspectly watching our step in a way that will bring you the most Glory thank you Lord for a good soaking in the word of God in the scripture tonight in jesus' name amen for more resources

from Calvary Church church and Skip height visit Calvary nm. Church thank you for joining us from this teaching and our series expound [Music]