June 2020 Update: I wrote and shared this blog post 3 years ago. But it is so incredibly relevant to our lives today in 2020 that I want to reshare it. We are living in evil days. There is the coronavirus crisis, and there are riots. I have also seen heartbreaking tragedies in my own community over the last couple of weeks. We are indeed living in evil days. Paul was inspired to write the mighty book of Ephesian for times like this!
“The days are evil.”
The Apostle Paul wrote those words almost 2,000 years ago
to a church in Ephesus. But his words
ring true to us in 2017. Last week’s terror
attack in New York and Sunday’s massacre at a church in Texas press home to us
the truth that the “days are evil.”
It does not take great wisdom or insight to know that the
days are evil. But it does take wisdom,
godly wisdom from above, to know how we should live in these evil days.
When we see the evil all around us, our flesh is likely
to react the wrong way. We are tempted
to give in to fear. A part of us wants
to withdraw and try to hide from the world.
We feel the pull of discouragement and a part of us wants to give up. But as Christians there is another part of us,
a deeper part of us, which has better desires.
Paul sees evil days not as a reason to give up in our
service to God and others, but precisely as a motivation to “make the best use
of the time”. What does Paul mean by
“the best use of the time”? We don’t
have to guess. Paul tells us in the rest
of the letter of Ephesians. Since we, too, are living in evil times, it will
help us to review Paul’s Holy Spirit inspired counsel. It will remind us how to
live when “the days are evil”.
Remembering the
Big Truths about God and His Work
Paul does not begin Ephesians with what we normally think
of as “practical advice”. He begins with
something much more fundamental. In a
glorious burst of praise, prayer, and thanksgiving, Paul reminds us of how
great God is and how wonderful His work is in our lives. God is blessing us with every spiritual
blessing (Ephesians 1:3). He made plans
for our salvation before the world began (Ephesians 1:4). He has adopted us into His family (Ephesians
1:5). He forgives our sins and He lavishes grace on us (Ephesians 1:6-7). We
heard His Good News, and now those who believed are guaranteed a glorious
inheritance, and God gives us His own Holy Spirit to ensure that His plan is
completed (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Paul then prays for us that God will help us to understand
these mind blowing truths (Ephesians 1:17-21).
He also reminds us that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is way above every
power, force, and authority that exists (Ephesians 1:21) and that Jesus is
using His great power and authority on behalf of His Church (Ephesians 1:22).
We need to remember these great truths when we hear the
news of another terrorist attack, or when we get personal news of a problem or
trial affecting us or someone we love.
Paul goes on in chapter two to remind us of how we were
all doomed to die because of our sins, but God intervened with amazing grace. We
are saved by faith, and then God gives us good work to do that is meaningful,
important, and rewarding:
NIV
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's
handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10 NIV)
God has called us to be part of His people. We were far away from God, but through the
blood of Christ we have been brought near (Ephesians 2:13). Before moving on to
the “practical” second half of his inspired letter, Paul again prays for
us. And what a mighty prayer he prays
(Ephesians 3:14-21)! He prays that we
will be given strength in our inner being, and that we will know God’s incredible,
unfathomable love. These are things we
need when living in “evil days”, and we should be praying these things for each
other.
Advice from a
Prisoner
As Paul continues into the second half of Ephesians, he
reminds us that he himself is currently a chained prisoner because of the
gospel (Ephesians 4:1, 6:20). Paul has been imprisoned not for doing anything
evil, but for faithfully proclaiming God’s truth. Such a man understands the meaning of “evil
days”!
Guided by God’s Spirit, Paul gives us the following
advice for living in evil days:
* Guard and work
to keep unity with other Christians, because it is as we serve together that
His Church grows (Ephesians 4:1-16).
* Don’t live like
the godless people around us (Ephesians 4:17-25).
* Follow the
example of Jesus and live a life of love (Ephesians 5:1-2).
* Be pure and
holy, having nothing to do with evil, but exposing it with God’s light
(Ephesians 5:3-16).
* Don’t get
drunk. Instead, be filled with the Holy
Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-20).
* Submit to others
as appropriate in various relationships:
wives submit to husbands, children to parents, and slaves to masters
(which may be applied to employees submitting to their employers). Those in authority must use their authority
in loving ways which please God and benefit those whom they have authority over
(Ephesians 5:21-6:9).
* Finally, be
strong in the Lord and be equipped for the constant spiritual warfare we
face. This involves being well-armed
with truth, righteousness, the gospel message, faith in God, salvation, and the
Word of God. This also involves constantly praying for Christians everywhere
(Ephesians 6:10-18).
* Paul, who has
prayed for other Christians in this letter, then asks for prayer for
himself. He asks for prayer for courage
to keep proclaiming God’s Word even though he is in difficult and dangerous
circumstances (Ephesians 6:19-20).
We, like Paul,
should be seeking to share God’s truth during these “evil days”
Paul makes a similar prayer request in Colossians, but
here he makes it explicitly clear that we should also be making the most of
opportunities to share God’s truth:
Colossians 4:3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a
door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which
I am in chains.
4 Pray that I may
proclaim it clearly, as I should.
5 Be wise in the
way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
6 Let your
conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know
how to answer everyone.
Conclusion
Yes, our days are evil.
We have been relentlessly reminded of this hard fact in the last few
months. But this is not a reason to retreat, to hide, or to be silent. This is a time to remember the great truths
and promises of God. A time to pray for
ourselves and for other Christians to have inner strength and courage to keep
shining the light of Jesus and keep telling the gospel. It is a time to guard ourselves so that we do
not give in to temptation or give up in our service. It is a time to keep working in unity with
other Christians to build up God’s church.
Don’t take it from me.
Reread the powerful letter of Ephesians. It was written for people like
you living in times like ours. It can be read in less than thirty minutes,
which is half the time spent watching an hour of TV. Read Ephesians out loud. Let Paul’s counsel, prayer, and encouragement
sink into your hearts. Read it again
tomorrow. And by God’s grace live it out!
May God bless you and encourage you as you serve Him!
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment