Don't Be a Fool!
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Don’t be a fool!
Don’t be a fool!
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
1. It is totally up to you; this is not a measure of intelligence or unreachable education
1. It is totally up to you; this is not a measure of intelligence or unreachable education
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Eph 5:15
Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
She has sent out her young women to call
from the highest places in the town,
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks sense she says,
“Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”
Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
prov 9:1-6
2. The invitation continues to go out
2. The invitation continues to go out
She has sent out her young women to call
from the highest places in the town,
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks sense she says,
“Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”
3. The answer is to be found in God’s Will / God’s Word
3. The answer is to be found in God’s Will / God’s Word
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
:!0
Prov 111:10
Prov 111:10
God is a God who has reveals Himself! In nature, but especially In Christ, and in His Word
This is one great purpose of the local church; to teach and discuss the Word of God
Therefore if you are a fool it is largely because you foolishly choose to be. Stop it!
Read your Bible, Attend worship and Bible study with your church family, ask questions, apply what you learn, and cease being foolish!
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
How can you be wise like Paul? How did he? He learned and applied God’s Word and there by stopped being a fool and became filled with godly wisdom.
Be Spirit-filled!
Be Spirit-filled!
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Eph 5:
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Do Not Get Drunk
Do Not Get Drunk
Debauchery = excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures.
John Gill (19th ce):
whereby the mind is disturbed, and deprived of the use of reason: though wine is only here mentioned, that being the usual liquor drank in the eastern countries, yet the same holds good of any other strong liquor
Drunk = Inebriated = Stoned = High = baked = blazed = blitzed = cooked = lit = fried = wrecked = tore up = or any other term that means to be under such influence regardless the substance used or method
…but says that God gave wine to make men’s hearts glad
but drunkeness is NOT a glad heart, it is the loss of faculty of the brain, a dulling of the intellect, and a confusion of the heart.
There is a moderate and circumspect use that does not begin to approach drunkeness
There is a moderate and circumspect use that does not begin to approach drunkeness
There is a moderate and circumspect use that does not begin to approach drunkeness
There is a moderate and circumspect use that does not begin to approach drunkeness
This includes, but is not strictly limited to Holy Communion. No one is in danger of breaking God’s commandments regarding drunkenness in the manner we take the Lord’s Supper. The church at Corinth was corrected because they were abusing the Holy Supper and breaking this commandment
When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.
Note the harsh repercussions:
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
There is a proper use such as medicinal for which we are thankful, especially in severe pain and surgical procedures, but given the rise of addictions and deaths with opioids and other such drugs even this should not be taken for granted without caution.
There is a proper use such as medicinal for which we are thankful, especially in severe pain and surgical procedures, but given the rise of addictions and deaths with opioids and other such drugs even this should not be taken for granted without caution.
Without denigrating the medical profession as a whole, given that there are known places and persons who will prescribe on demand, merely having a prescription is an insufficient standard. It can become as valid as blaming a bartender for serving you too many drinks at your request, or a dealer selling you drugs stronger than you realized.
The burden is on you to take the legitimate medicines that you need in accordance with wise counsel from trusted medical professionals and not more; to ensure that any consumption or use of any intoxicating or altering substance is within the bounds of right and holy use, in moderation and circumspection, and can honestly be said to be done to the glory of God. after all,
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Any substance ingested to the glory of God will not be intemperance for recreational drunkeness.
Ambrose (4th ce):
New Testament VIII: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians Spirit-Filled, Not Wine-Filled
One drunk with wine sways and stumbles. But one who is filled with the Spirit has solid footing in Christ.
So what does Paul place as the polar opposite of drunkeness?
Be Filled with The Spirit
Be Filled with The Spirit
Necessitates being saved
Necessitates being saved
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
The Holy Spirit abides in the hearts of believers and in the congregation of the righteous, but NOT in the heart of the unregenerate
Normative Expression
Normative Expression
quoting from Joel 2:
“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
But this was NEVER to be expected as the ongoing norm
Galatians 5:22-23 does not say:
But the fruit of the Spirit is shouting, jumping, laughing, crying, clapping, slapping, running, and loss of self-control.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
While there may be occasional and special out-pourings resulting in a more exuberant and emotional experience, the ongoing expression of being spiritual is to live a disciplined, obedient life loving God supremely and people genuinely.
Making Melody to the Lord - cause AND effect
Making Melody to the Lord - cause AND effect
Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual songs = all referring to the Psalms
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
col 3:!6
6
This is one text that informed, motivated, and keeps me opening Sunday services with a Psalm reading; reclaiming a long standing historical practice of Christian churches. The Psalms were prominently read since the earliest days of songthe church.
This is one text that informed, motivated, and keeps me opening Sunday services with a Psalm reading; reclaiming a long standing historical practice of Christian churches. The Psalms were prominently read since the earliest days of songthe church.
I say making melody to the Lord is both cause and effect.
1. Born again believers have a love for God’s Word
2. Nobody ever robbed a bank singing Amazing Grace
Focus upon scripture and themes of scripture then, is both evidence OF having The Spirit, and also helpful in inviting a constant and increasing flow of Spirit filling in your life.
It’s all about Jesus!
It’s all about Jesus!
It’s all about Jesus!
It’s all about Jesus!
The fear of God, being the beginning of wisdom, is first truly manifest in repentance and faith unto salvation, then continuing on to follow the Lord in baptism and His design and command by being to serve and grow and be supported and support others in a local church.
To reject the gospel call to trust in Jesus and be saved, or then to ignore the clear mandate of Holy Scripture regarding baptism and the local church is at best dangerous ignorance and at worst foolish disbelief:
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
Are you trying to scare me with this strong language? Yes, fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; we already covered that. Note that extends beyond being saved and continues to submitting to church membership.
Eph 5:20-21
giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Even the call for mutual submission - which is a call for rightly ordered membership and participation in a local church.
Even the call for mutual submission - which is a call for rightly ordered membership and participation in a local church.
The fear of God, being the beginning of wisdom, is first truly manifest in repentance and faith unto salvation, then continuing on to follow the Lord in baptism and His design and command by being to serve and grow and be supported and support others in a local church.
To reject the gospel call to trust in Jesus and be saved, or then to ignore the clear mandate of Holy Scripture regarding baptism and the local church is at best dangerous ignorance and at worst foolish disbelief:
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
Are you trying to scare me with this strong language? Yes, fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; we already covered that. Note that extends beyond being saved and continues to submitting to church membership.
If the gospel of Jesus is not at the center of the ‘why’ of all that we teach, especially to the reasoning, then we are not teaching Christian doctrine at all.
If the gospel of Jesus is not at the center of the ‘why’ of all that we teach, especially to the reasoning, then we are not teaching Christian doctrine at all.
This is a continuation of the same thought:
making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks
Thanksgiving ought to be
Making melody with your heart, a heart of thankfulness...
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
It all begins by with our own
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
That doesn’t mean that we don’t also thank God for additional things; here Paul says give thanks for ALL things, but rather that we never lose sight of the amazing grace of God shown to us in the gospel of Jesus, bringing about our soul salvation, from which all other blessings flow.
Why be thankful to God? Because of the gospel of Jesus by which I was gloriously saved.
Why should I reverence and conform to the standards and precepts of Holy Scripture? Because they are where we find the glorious gospel of Jesus
and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Why must I shun drunkeness and other sinful patterns as defined by God in Holy Scripture? Because when I meditate on the gospel of Jesus I begin to see that these are the very thing that Jesus gave His life to rescue me from. They are not so glorious as they seem, but rather impediments, keeping me from a richer and deeper fellowship with my creator and savior.
Believers are both enabled and commanded to live our lives intentionally; conformed to the will of God. To do otherwise is dangerously foolish. Therefore, in the name of Christ, in light of His glorious gospel, in the fear of God I say with Paul the Apostle, seek and conform to the will of God for your lives; stop being a fool.