The Epistle to the Ephesians

1. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 We pick up in the middle of a passage contrasting darkness and light. Pivotal verse 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light • The walk of one who is light will be much different than the walk of one who is darkness. They will differ as much as darkness differs from light. • Paul reminds us that our position in Christ has a completely different outcome than our position in Adam. • God's desire is that we be aware of what our walk as saints should look like. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

2. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; • Verse 7 says that believers should not be “partakers” with the sons of disobedience. • We “partake” with them when we “participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness.” What possible reason could we, who are the light, have for living like those who are darkness? • Paul is not prescribing isolation here. We must note the distinction between “deed” and “doer.” • We can (and ought) to interact with non-believers without partaking of their lifestyle. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

3. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; • This passage is very similar to Galatians 5. • In Galatians, Paul speaks of the deeds/works of the flesh. In Ephesians he describes them as deeds/works of darkness. • In Galatians, Paul speaks of the fruit of the spirit. In Ephesians he describes them as fruit of the light. • Both passages deal with the same issues. • In both passages it is the source of the lifestyle that is the priority. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

4. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; • Paul describes the deeds of darkness as “unfruitful.” • In light of eternity, nothing worthwhile can come from darkness. • As saints, we have “every spiritual blessing.” The infinite value of this will never diminish. Why would a believer seek those things which can result in nothing, when he already has everything? • Rather than participle in the deeds, we are to “expose” them. • The word “expose” means to bring to light, to convince someone of something. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

5. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; • The word “expose” is an imperative. Are we to be constantly pointing out the sin in others? How do we go about “exposing” the darkness? 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. • Now Paul is getting crazy. We are to bring deeds to light without even mentioning them. What is it we are supposed to do? J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

6. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. • Not surprisingly, Paul does give us a solution. • The key is not to focus on the darkness, but rather to focus on the light. • As saints, we grow in Christ not as we ponder and bemoan our sin, but as we behold Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

7. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. Is there such a thing as an “anti-war” film? Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. • We believers should not be constantly focused on sin. • In reality, it does us little good to be thinking about and speaking about sin and sinfulness much of the time. • Chester McCalley: It is the function of light to make visible. Purity exposes pornography; purity, however, is not learned by examining pornography. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

8. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 14 For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you." What is “it”? • This quote most likely comes from an old first century hymn. It is not a quote from scripture. • To put Paul's words in the vernacular, he is saying: “Get with the program!” • This is not directed to the unbeliever. It is directed to the lethargic believer, like the ones in Sardis (Revelation 3: 1-6). • These are believers who are not walking in light of the Light. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

9. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, • “Therefore” returns us to the thought of verse 8. • To “walk in the light” is not automatic for a believer. He must be careful (pay close attention). • The word translated “be” might also be translated “look” or “see to it”. • Hoehner translates the first part of the verse as “Therefore, look how carefully you are walking.” • The priority in this verse is that we pay attention to our walk. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

10. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 If Vern was teaching this . . . • Therefore be careful how you walk, • Not as unwise men but as wise, • Making the most of your time, because the days are evil. • Because the days are evil. • So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is Behold! A chiasm! J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

11. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, What is an “unwise” guy and a “wise” guy? • Wisdom means that one has “true insight into known facts.” (Hoehner) • Wisdom is further explained in verse 17. One who is wise knows what God's will is. • One who is unwise does not possess this knowledge or insight. • God's desire is that we know who He is, and what He has done for us. That is the basis of a solid walk. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

12. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. • The KJV translates the first part of the verse: “Redeeming the time.” • The phrase literally means to buy back, as from a marketplace. • We ought to be as cautious with our time as we are with our money. Our time is even more valuable. • “Time” is literally “the time.” It refers to the right opportunity. We carefully purchase each opportunity. How often does God give us opportunities to exercise wise walking each day? J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

13. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. • The days that we live in are certainly evil. They are even more evil than Paul's days since mankind is adept at creating new kinds of evil. • The phrase “the days are evil” means that they are filled with suffering and calamity. • The end times are getting endier each day. The return of the Lord is not far away. • Part of wisdom is making good eternal use of the time we have now. • We will soon be in heaven, which is indescribable. Until then, we can live in the Light here on this moldy globe. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009

14. The Epistle to the Ephesians Watch your step—Ephesians 5:11-17 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. • Paul, being Paul, repeats himself here. This time, though, he uses a stronger word. • “Foolish” is much worse than “unwise.” • An unwise person doesn't know the thing. A foolish person knows the thing, and ignores it. • God's will is clearly available to us. He desires that we know and understand it, so that by it we might make good decisions. • Effective walking begins by knowing who Christ is, and what He has done for us. J. Doan—Holly Hills—June 28, 2009