Ephesians 5:15–21

CORNERSTONE BIBLE CHURCH June 17, 2012 DON’T WASTE YOUR SUMMER Ephesians 5:15–21 Introduction: Jonathan Edwards’ 70 Resolutions • It was the summer of 1722 and a young 18-year-old by the name of John was in a major transition of his life. Two years before he had graduated first in his class at Yale University; now he was about to finish his master’s degree from that same institution. All he had left to do was to complete his master’s thesis, but he decided to take about 10 months to go to NYC to pastor a small struggling church. It was the perfect oasis for him to think about his life. • It was during that summer that this young man began to write out 70 little statements that he would use to govern his life. These were his commitments to bring his life under the total submission to the Lordship of Christ. These 70 resolutions, as they have come to be known, from an 18-year-old stand as a witness of someone who wanted Christ to be his life. • This man, who is better known as Jonathan Edwards, will become one of the greatest pastors or theologians that our country has ever known. But also, make no mistake about this: that while he was a very gifted individual, these resolutions shaped him. He worked hard to get the most out of who he was in Christ. And as he stood looking at the rest of his life, he simply wanted to give it all to Christ. And so he began by writing these words: Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake. 1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory and to my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how ever so many and how ever so great. Yes, he was brilliant, but his brilliance was cultivated because of his discipline. He worked hard and redeemed his time. His discipline and the redemption of his time is seen all throughout these resolutions. 5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can. 7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life. 1 41. Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month, and year, wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better. 52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. This is an 18-year old saying this. And the list goes on and on. He was used greatly for the Kingdom of God because he cared deeply about making the most of his time. Now fast forward to our lives today. How do most of us handle the time that we have been given? How many days do we find our kids wasting away on the couch playing video games? And I say that fully acknowledging that there is nothing wrong with playing video games. But how many nights do we find ourselves drifting into oblivion watching TV? I say that fully understanding there is nothing inherently wrong sitting on the couch watching TV. But I also know how easy it can be to become very unproductive in life. Don’t you? And so, I wanted to come this morning and share some thoughts with you about redeeming our time. Specifically, I am concerned for myself and I fear for you as well. I fear for our church that the end of August will roll around and we will say, “I can’t believe school is starting again,” and we will wonder what did we really accomplish? I just hope in a few months we don’t look back and think, “I really wasted my summer.” What do I mean by wasting the summer. Well, there was a Seinfeld episode one time called “The Summer of George” where George Costanza gets a 3- month paid leave from his job and he says that he is going to do something serious with that time. He says that this summer is going to be about George. My main point this morning can be summarized like this: IF THIS SUMMER IS PRIMARILY ABOUT YOU, IT HAS BEEN WASTED! I guess what I am going to be calling you to in this sermon, just so that we are clear at the beginning, is that any life focused only on self is a wasted life. It will be a wasted summer. Now, I think we have a very helpful word in Ephesians 5 that will teach us to think through these thoughts of redeeming our time this summer so that it is not just about us. I trust this will be helpful to everyone this morning. Vs. 15–16 The overall context of this passage is very important. If you noticed in your particular translation, there is either a “therefore” or a “then” which means that Paul is picking up on something he has already said. Because of his previous instructions, he wants us to do something specific. Well, what was the previous instruction? 2 I think we find it all the way back in vs. 1 where Paul says that we are to be imitators of God and walk in love as Christ loved us. Then throughout the rest of the chapter, he is going to make the argument that our imitating God should be the result that positionally, in standing before God, we are different than we were before Christ. We are not children of the darkness any longer, but are children of the light (vs. 9). And then in vs. 14, he says that we should act like we have risen from the dead and Christ shines on us. His point is that the Christian responds to life and situations in life differently than the Non-Christian. Why? Because they have been changed. And because you have been changed, Christian, you should be careful how you walk in your life. Consider every step that you take, making sure that your steps reflect the change that has taken place inside of you. If you have been saved, then the walk of your life should be towards wisdom, not foolishness. And this is something that is so serious for the Christian; Paul says that we should be very cautious—that we should look carefully. Illustration: Framing & Roofing • I have had the privilege in my life to work a few different trade jobs. At one point, I worked for a roofer. At another point, I worked for a custom framer. Both jobs required extreme caution and care as I would be walking on rafters or roofs. Carelessness would bring tragic results. In the same way, the Christian is called to carefully watch their steps to make sure that it results in a wise life, not unwise carelessness that brings tragic results. And for Paul, apparently, one of the ways that the wise walk is seen in the life of the Christian is in making the most of the time that God has given them on this earth. I want you to really consider this thought: Could it be that one of the most foolish things a Christian can do is to waste time and opportunities that God has given? I do not want to get too technical at this point, but there is something to be learned by the use of the word that Paul uses for “time.” He doesn’t use the normal word that would refer to hour, minute, or seconds. He uses a word that refers to a fixed period of time. What Paul is saying is that we should be using all of our time, until it comes to an end, in the most profitable way. And listen, God knows our beginning and our end. And some of us are closer to the end than others. Some of us have lots of time left. Some have much less time. But here’s the deal, none of us knows which side of that equation we might fall in. Some of us think we have lots of time, in fact, most people think they have lots of time left to live. Nobody thinks they could die this week. And so, since we know that it is a reality that this could be our last summer ever, how do we want to spend it? How do we want to use it? This will be the only summer of 2012 that you will ever have. There are no options of jumping into the Delorean and going back in time. This is it. Will you make the most 3 of every opportunity you have this summer? Think about what you would wish at the end of this summer that you had accomplished for Christ, and make plans of doing it.

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