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Skip Heitzig: 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. "It is not a big deal. Everybody's 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 writes to the Corinthians and says, "Look, I wrote you a previous letter not to keep company with sexually immoral people." Now he explains it. This is 1 Corinthians 5 verse 10. "Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters. These are unbelievers who exhibit these properties. 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 who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, not even to eat with such a person." So 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, for 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. Because it exposes potential problems, obstacles, pedestrians, and vehicles that may not put their lights on on their car because it's an older car, it's going to keep you from harm. You don't need headlights during the day; the sun offers that. It exposes any potential darkness. 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, for whatever makes manifest is light.

Here's an example of this on a moral level. The Pharisees, everybody thought they were the good guys. They were the exemplars of Judaism, of righteous living, of religious living, until Jesus came along. He exposed them. He exposed their motives and said in what must have been a jaw-dropping exposé, "Woe unto you, Pharisees, hypocrites! You are whitewashed tombs. You look good on the outside; you're full of corruption and death on the inside." He tore the mask 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 chapter 60 verse 1.

But this is believed to be an early Christian hymn that Paul is quoting, 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. I love the fact, if that's true, that the early Christian worship leaders were calling unbelievers through evangelism. It was like an evangelistic hymn. 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." 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 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. "Awake, you who 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 word, 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," and "Watch where you're going." All that kind of stuff has the idea of this. Walk circumspectly; walk carefully. Precisely put your foot. 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. 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, I believe my dad was driving me, we saw the kids all gathered. We were by the fence. Cows were out in the field. Instead of going all the way around, my dad just stopped and said, "Just get out, climb through the fence, and go join your group."

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 foolishly.

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 the lost time before you were saved. I've had people tell me that all the time. "I came to Christ late in life. I bemoan all the years wasted." 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 kairos.

The idea isn't 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 are evil. And I think we'll all agree, are the days in which we live evil? 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.

Guest (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Your support helps reach people every day with biblical truth that speaks into real life, bringing clarity, purpose, and hope. And this month, we'd love to thank you with two resources designed to help you grow in your faith and understand God's plan for your life and relationships. When you give today, you'll receive the Expound Ephesians 9-CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's book, Beyond the Summer of Love. These resources will help you discover your identity in Christ and experience the lasting hope found in God's design for life and relationships. Your gift helps extend the reach of Connect with Skip Heitzig, connecting more people to God's word. Request your resources when you give $50 or more at connectwithskip.com/offer or by calling 800-922-1888. Now, here's more from Pastor Skip.

Skip Heitzig: I love the question, "How can I discover the will of God?" because it shows me a heart that is wanting to know the will of God. You wouldn't ask that question unless you wanted to know His will. 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.

"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 need a formula. "If I line up these three things..." Just move, just walk. You'll stumble into it. You'll run into it. You'll look back and go, "That was cool. That was the will of God. I didn't expect meeting that person at this time for that thing." All of that will happen.

Just don't be unwise; understand what the will of the Lord is. And I've always found this interesting: "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." I find it interesting because at first it seems like a strange corollary 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 lead them to Christ, and I remember getting so excited at first when I used to go street witnessing and lead drunks to Christ. I would tell my elders, "I led this guy to Christ." They just went, "Hmm," because they knew. When I saw the guy a week later, he had no recollection that he'd ever met me. Don't be controlled by wine or 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 could 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 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 corollary, this "don't be drunk with wine, but filled with the Holy Spirit." People will often turn to alcohol for a number of reasons. They do it for what they think they're going to get, but they never get it. They do it for relief. It doesn't bring them relief, only temporary relief. "I've got to get a drink. I've had a hard day." Or they lack peace and they're trying to get peace. Or 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 manufactured thing; you'll never get the filling and fulfillment that you want like when your life is controlled by God.

So don't be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, 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 afresh." 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, "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 the Spirit? 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. I bought this car a week ago and it's out of gas. Doesn't work." Well, you've got to keep filling it up. So be being filled with the Spirit, and as a result of that, speaking 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, "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. It's why the worship team loves it, and they'll remark on that. "I love to hear your voices." I love to hear your voices. More than that, God loves to hear your voices. "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 neighbor's going, "It's not too joyful for you." But for God, it is. It is.

Speaking to one another in these psalms. In any endeavor in life, if you want to keep up your interest in 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 collecting things. You can find other collectors 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 enrich yourself and keep up your interest. If it's motorcycles, you get magazines or join a club, a riding club. Or bicycle or running, whatever. If you want to keep your interest up in whatever interests 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." What happened? You need—we need—one another. Speaking to one another in these psalms.

Psalms are psalms from the Old Testament. Hymns were written by church leaders. The psalms are the 150 psalms in the Bible. Hymns were written by early church leaders. Do you know that we have preserved—they have discovered—the hymnbook of the church at Antioch? 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, husbands 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 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."

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, 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 5.

Guest (Male): We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, here's a reminder. When you give $50 or more this month, we'll send you the Expound Ephesians series along with Pastor Skip's book, Beyond the Summer of Love, as our thanks. These resources offer biblical insight and encouragement to help you grow in your faith and experience God's design for your life and relationships. Your gift helps keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air, connecting more people to God's word. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time.