Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Paul the Apostle is exhorting them to walk carefully or, as the English word "circumspectly" suggests, looking around. When you walk, look around at the situations. Look around at the circumstances. Look around at the opportunities that God is giving to you—opportunities that you will never ever have again in your life. That's why he says redeem the time. Buy back the time because what you did today will never be done ever again. You'll never see this day again.

Guest (Male): Welcome to "Somebody Loves You" radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Well, we are continuing our series focused on living according to the Lord's wisdom rather than relying on our own ideas. Today, Raul will urge us to keep an eye on eternity and maintain a heavenly perspective as we make God-honoring decisions.

We'll get assurance today that when we ask God for wisdom, He will always give it, and our obedience will reap great rewards. Today's lesson is titled "Walking in God's Wisdom." In Ephesians chapter five, beginning in verse fifteen, here's Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: He says, "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." Let me read it to you now in the NIV. That was the New King James.

He says, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." And then of course, in verse 18, he says, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."

So Paul the Apostle now is bringing us to that place where he says that wisdom is a very important thing in the life of the believer. It's amazing that we do need the wisdom of God. I know that I need the wisdom of God every day of my life. I need it. This is why Solomon, the son of David, in the Book of Proverbs, gave us over 3,000 proverbs.

And especially when you read chapters three and four of the Book of Proverbs, he speaks about wisdom—what wisdom is and who wisdom is. And of course, in the proverb there, reference to wisdom is in reference to Jesus Christ, for He is all-wise God. He's the one that gives us the wisdom. But I find it interesting that this wisdom comes from God alone. It is not the wisdom or the knowledge of this world.

The wisdom of God is pure. The wisdom of God is right from the throne of grace of God. And the wisdom of God, it is given first of all by Jesus Christ Himself. Listen to what He says in Luke 21:15: "For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist." Wisdom comes from God—the wisdom that the world cannot resist, not even lawyers.

Secondly, the wisdom of God is the gift of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12:8, he says, "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Holy Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit." So it's important that we understand the different kinds of wisdom that we cannot only see in this life, but the wisdom that comes directly from God.

The wisdom that we receive is given by God, not by man. Ephesians 1:17 says "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." It comes directly from God. The wisdom of God is to be prayed for. We need to ask God in prayer that we need His wisdom.

In Colossians 1:9, he says, "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask God that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." We need to pray for the wisdom of God and all understanding that comes from God, that is spiritual understanding.

Wisdom also gives us instruction and instructs us. In Colossians 1:28, he says, "Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect or complete in Jesus Christ." This is why it's so important to study the word of God, for that is where you'll find the wisdom of God.

So many people say, "What is the will of God for my life?" The first thing that God wants you to do is to know Him and the power of His resurrection. That can only happen as I study the word of God. The wisdom of God also is to be asked through God or through Jesus Christ. In James 1:5, he says this: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." It's a promise of God that He'll never let you down.

But how sweet it is when you're reading the scriptures and God speaks to you directly, and you know it's the Lord speaking to you. Why? Because I've been asking Him to give me wisdom in certain situations and things in my life. As we seek for the will of God, it is very easy to know it. And how is that? Listen. The best way to know the will of God again is to study His word. 2 Timothy 2:15: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the word of truth."

There are so many young people and even older people that never read the Bible. So whenever you don't read the Bible, then you don't really have any wisdom or knowledge. Remember one thing: the only things that the Holy Spirit can bring to your remembrance at any time are those things that you've read and that you've studied and put into your heart.

If you've never read the Old Testament, then nothing from the Old Testament will ever be brought up. If you only read one book in the New Testament or a few books in the New Testament, that is all you're going to be bringing up or that's all the Holy Spirit can bring to your mind. That's why it's important to read from Genesis to Revelation and to read daily the word of God as we feed upon God's word so that we can grow spiritually in wisdom and in knowledge, and we can come to maturity—to true maturity in Jesus Christ.

The key thought that Paul the Apostle is bringing here, as he says in verse 15—if you notice there, he says "be careful," but literally in the New King James, he says, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise." The key thought here is walking circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. The word "circumspectly" is an interesting word. Literally it means exactly or by rule, that is, according to a set of established norms.

In effect, Paul the Apostle is exhorting them to walk carefully or, as the English word "circumspectly" suggests, looking around. When you walk, look around at the situations. Look around at the circumstances. Look around at the opportunities that God is giving to you—opportunities that you will never ever have again in your life.

That's why he says "redeem the time." Buy back the time because what you did today will never be done ever again. You'll never see this day again. That's why it's so important to redeem the time, to know what time it is. The word that he uses "carefully" here, in the Greek word it carries the idea of precision and accuracy—precision and accuracy.

The opposite would be walking carelessly without proper guidance and forethought. But we must make wise decisions and seek to do the will of God as long as we are living here. The unbeliever will not do that, but we as believers must do that all of our lives, to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added unto us.

This is why here in verse 15 of chapter five of Ephesians, he gives us the exhortation that we need to be walking carefully. Why? Because life is dangerous. The Bible first of all tells us that there's a devil, and this devil—this angelic being that was cast out of heaven—he has come to rob and steal and to kill you. He wants to destroy your life. And you and I have to be very careful how we walk circumspectly or carefully, not as fools but as wise.

We are to be wise concerning our days on this earth. How long will you live? I don't know. I don't even know how long I'll live. But let's just say that we're going to live 70 years. And think how it would be, and I've seen it happen—I visit some of these convalescent homes and I always think, I wonder what these old people as they're not only abandoned and they're sitting there by themselves, I wonder what's going through their minds. I wonder if some of them are saying, "Man, I surely wasted my life." Think about that. Are you wasting your life tonight?

Or are you making something out of your life, something that God is going to benefit from your life? I'm not talking about building your kingdom. Is your life God's life? Does God possess you? Does He own you? Or do you have your own agenda? Redeeming the time. Why? Because the days are getting evil.

This particular time when Paul wrote, Roman oppression was really deep on the Christians. Rome was killing a lot of Christians, and Paul says, "Man, you know what, the Lord should be coming back pretty soon." And they thought in their time that the Lord was going to come back. As a matter of fact, we should be not only buying up opportunities that God has given to us, but taking advantage before it's too late. It might be that you're not always going to be healthy.

Take opportunity right now that you're healthy, that you have energy, that you're young or you're in middle age or you're older. Because there are times in our lives which we are going to suffer. Some of us might get cancer, some of us leukemia, some of us may get a heart attack, some of us might be killed on the freeway in an accident.

And we really don't know how long we'll be here, but let's just say we're going to be here for the next 20, and some of you for the next 40 or 50 years. I mean, what's 50 or 100 years compared to eternity? Because one day when you die, you're going to stand before the Lord, and the Lord is going to stand there and you're going to have to give an answer to the Lord for all your time.

He's going to ask you, "Did you redeem your time? What did you do with your time?" God keeps track of that. God keeps track of everything we say, everything we do. The only thing that God doesn't keep track of is our sins. He takes care of them by His precious blood on Calvary on the cross. When we confess them and we repent of them, He wipes them out.

But God keeps a book, and one day that book's going to be opened. And the reason it will be opened is because that will determine what you're going to do in heaven and in the kingdom to come. That's what it's going to be for. Whether you're going to reign with Christ or not. What you do now here in this life is what you'll do greater in the life to come. It's an investment eternally.

That's why, man, you need to really put everything you can, energy and time and everything you have, into eternity with God. That's the only thing that is going to count is what you did for Jesus Christ, period. And that's going to be tested by the fire to see what kind of a precious metal it is: wood, hay, silver or gold or whatever, brass. And it's going to be put into the fire, and whatever comes out of the fire, that will be your reward. So we need to get moving toward eternity.

The third point, verse 17: we need to walk in the will of God. If we know the days are evil, then we need to know the will of God and we need to walk in the will of God. Look what Paul says in verse 17: "Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." We are to be wise concerning truth. God has given us a mind to put His truth in us.

In Romans 12:1 and 2, Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

The word that is used here "to understand"—understanding—is suggesting the using of our minds to discover to do the will of God, to have an understanding by reading the scriptures to know how to do the will of God. Too many Christians have the idea that discovering God's will is a mystical experience that rules out clear thinking.

But this idea is wrong and it's dangerous. Because we discover the will of God as He transforms the mind, and this transformation is the result of the word of God, prayer, meditation, and worship. The more you come to church, the more you read the Bible, the more you worship, the more you're going to know the will of God in your life. The more you're going to know Him and His power.

This means that we need to learn. Learning His will involves gathering the facts and then examining them, weighing them out, and then praying for His wisdom to come into my life. That's why James 1:5 said, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to you." God does not want us simply to know His will; He wants us to understand His will. He doesn't want us to be confused, but He wants us to know His will.

God has given us a plan for our lives—a total plan. Every one of us has a plan in the life of God He's given to each one of us. All we have to do is just align our lives with Him and then He'll bless you. Paul alluded to this plan that God gave to us in Ephesians 2:10. He said, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

We are His *poiēma*; we are His poem in English. If God saved me, then He has a purpose for my life, and I should discover that purpose that then guides my life accordingly to His will. And then this plan of God is revealed through His word. Colossians 1:9–10, he says, "For this reason we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every work and increasing," there it is, "in the knowledge of God." That's the only way you're going to do that, is to know Him through His word.

And then He reveals His plan through the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Colossians 3:15 says, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be you thankful." And then He reveals His plan through the working of circumstances. Romans 8:28 says, "For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purposes." I love that.

And then He reveals His wisdom to show us the value that it can have in our lives—the value of wisdom. First of all, it gives us happiness. Proverbs 3:13 says, "Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding." Secondly, this wisdom benefits many. Proverbs 4:5 through 10 says, "Get wisdom, get understanding. Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you. Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and in all your getting get understanding too. Exalt her, and she will promote you. She will bring honor when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory she will deliver to you. Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many." That is, if you take God's wisdom, your days will be long.

Thirdly, wisdom keeps us from evil. Proverbs 5:1 through 5 says, "My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion, that your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman drip like honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil, but the end in the end shall be bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death and her steps lay hold of hell, lest you ponder her path of life and her ways are unstable and you do not know them." So get wisdom, and wisdom says what? Stay away from her. Don't walk near the door of her house.

And in my conclusion, the Christian can walk carefully and accurately because we know what God wants him to do. We know what God wants us to do, just like the builder that is actually building a house following the blueprint and accomplishes what he has in the blueprint as an architect planned. He can't do his own thing; he has to follow the blueprint.

So with God, we can see now the believer's relationship to the will of God. Number one, the calling of God in our lives to the wisdom of God. God called you to His wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:1 says, "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God." I love that—through the will of God.

Secondly, the will of God is by me submitting to God. Acts 21:14 says, "So then he would not be persuaded, we ceased saying, 'The will of the Lord be done.'" As I submit my life to Him, then He can work in me and through my life. And thirdly and lastly, through suffering is the will of God that I get to know the will of God that is good. 1 Peter 3:17 says, "For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil in this life." So everything that we do, it is to redeem the time. Why? Because the days are evil. We need to walk with God.

Guest (Male): Well, it's important to remember that the choices we make in the here and now can have a positive ripple effect all the way into eternity. You're listening to "Somebody Loves You" radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like to hear today's lesson in its complete form, we'll be happy to send you a copy for a donation of five dollars or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165 and ask for today's study titled "Walking in God's Wisdom."

Now, as you think about how you can better honor the Lord with any upcoming decisions in your life, we'd like to tell you about Raul's four-part series simply titled "Wisdom." It's available on both CD and flash drive. Every lesson in this study will point you to heaven while challenging you to seek God's counsel in the word and in prayer. You'll find that when you drown out all other voices to listen for the Lord, He'll direct you along righteous, abundant paths.

To purchase Raul's four-message wisdom series, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send you the CD set for eighteen dollars or the thumb drive for ten dollars. That's 800-634-9165. Or write to "Somebody Loves You" Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California, 91765. This ministry is fully listener-supported and we are grateful for your partnership. Every gift you give enables us to keep sharing the good news of the Lord Jesus. Next time on "Somebody Loves You" radio, you'll see how the Holy Spirit can direct you to model godly habits and infuse scripture into your home life as you guide your children into their own relationship with the Lord. This program is sponsored by "Somebody Loves You" radio in Diamond Bar, California.