We finished singing these words together in worship to the Lord. I wonder, maybe you sang them without thinking. Maybe you sang them just going along with the melody, reading along with the screen and not really recognizing that which you were saying. We sang, with every breath, I long to follow Jesus. For He has said that He will bring me home, and day by day I know He will renew me, until I stand with joy before the throne." That is something that if the world were to hear us say together, sing together, they would say, that sounds really radical. Every single day you're going to use to live for Jesus? And what about vacation? What about just your job? So on and so on. And what they miss is the fact that every aspect of a believer's life ought to be worship to God. Your job, your rest, Sundays, each day of your life is following after Jesus. What we talk about this morning in this text is a verse that many of us would be able to quote. As soon as I start saying it, you're gonna be able to say the rest. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Many of us know that phrase. But probably, or I know every single person in this room, myself included, does not live it as well as we ought. Ephesians chapter five, we have been working through how we ought to walk as believers. And we have reached verse 15 and it says 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. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. That's it, we're just going to be looking at verses 15 through 17 this morning. But as I have studied this text, it has made an impact on my heart and my life, and it is my prayer that it would make an impact on your heart. That we would come away with a better understanding of this verse that we all probably know quite well. We've heard it said numerous times throughout our life, but not lived it out. Let's pray. Father, would you work in our hearts this morning? Your word does not return void. Your word is sharper than any two-edged sword. Your word is powerful. Your word is what brought us to spiritual life from the beginning, and we ask now that you would use your word to make us more like Christ, to change us, to perform heart surgery on us where we are still holding onto the past. Would we let go of our former life? clinging to that which is new. Old things have passed away, all things have become new. Would we look at this world around us and recognize the day and age which we live is wicked and evil and we have been drawn into it at times. So would you help us this morning as we consider your word to be pulled out back to following after Christ, that we would be walking worthy of the calling with which we've been called, that we would no longer be walking as we once walked as Gentiles, that we would be walking in love, that we would be walking in light, and now that we would be walking in wisdom, making the best use of our time. I pray as we spend this time opening your word that we would benefit. by the work of your spirit in our lives. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We have a quote from Charles Spurgeon. See, wisdom is this ambiguous word that we hear, right? And I bet if we took a poll, if we had handed everybody a piece of paper and we told you to write down the definition of wisdom, we'd get many drastically different definitions. Right? Here's a definition from Charles Spurgeon. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal. And are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great as a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. It's pretty wordy, all right? So we're in quite some time ago, but do you think that gives a pretty good idea of what wisdom is? It's not a trick question. You feel like that gives a pretty good idea? So not putting knowledge to good use, using your knowledge in a right way, would we consider that wisdom? Yeah, that's one definition, right? And I would say that's more of the world's definition of wisdom. And what I'm not doing is taking Spurgeon and saying, oh, he had it wrong. He's defining the world's understanding of wisdom. But in this text, when we see the command that we are to walk in wisdom, I'll submit to you that I don't believe it's talking about this type of wisdom, this definition of wisdom, as we look at God's Word. There's a different type of wisdom that I think is in the scriptures. And we're going to pull that out for us this morning together. John MacArthur says it like this. They are to live like the people they are. In other words, this is what this text is saying. We are to live like the people that we are. In Christ, we are one. The beginning of chapter four of Ephesians. We are separated from who we used to be. We are love. We are light. And we are wise. And what we do should correspond to what we are. In other words, young person, if you're sitting out there and you think, I don't know how to live my life yet. I have so much to learn. I can't be wise. You're wrong. Older person, maybe you've lived your life, and up until this point, you've lived what you would consider an unwise life. Or you never went to college, or you never graduated high school, or so on and so on, and you have all these things that you would consider yourself, I am not wise. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, according to scripture, let me submit to you that you are wise. The question is, do you live out your wisdom? And that's what this text addresses this morning. Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise. Scripture is far from silent on wisdom, even early on, right? We understand Psalm 1, it says, How blessed or how happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. And whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they're like chaff, which the wind dries away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment or sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." In other words, a wise man walks in the counsel of the Lord. not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. His delight is in the law of the Lord. Proverbs 2, my son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom. Incline your heart to understand. For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasure, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God, for the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and he preserves the way of his godly ones. According to that, what is wisdom? It is knowing who? Knowing the Lord. What is our previous state that we are in? We just looked at some Old Testament passages that define for us a little bit wisdom, and it's in tight correlation with knowing God. But from birth, we all understand this, we have a great problem, don't we? We have a great, great problem, and that is our sin, and that actually we are, in God's eyes, foolish. Titus chapter three, verse three, says this. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. In other words, the definition of a fool, you could really say, is living as if there is no what? There is no God. Living for the here and now. In other words, every person from birth is what? Is foolish. Including each one of us. We were foolish from birth, and maybe it's been a long time since you've come to know Christ, and what can easily happen for us is to forget where we once came from. But let me tell you, each one of us in this room, whether you were saved at three years old or 93 years old, we were once foolish ourselves. We were disobedient, we were deceived, we were enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. but praise the Lord by the grace of God. If you're in this room and you've trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are no longer this way. We have been awoken and Christ has shone on us. We have received light no longer in the darkness of foolishness, but come to the light of the wisdom of Christ. Therefore, because you are wise, In Christ, be careful how you walk. This word be, it could be better translated, look, be attentive. Look carefully. In other words, we could really translate this, therefore look carefully. Look, examining and investigating. Have you ever met a person that doesn't think a tad about what they say or do, right? It's like in their path of life, they just leave a train wreck of people they've offended behind them because they never think about what they say or do. And it seems like at never, no point in their life do they recognize the mistakes they've made. It's like, do you see that person you cut off and they just drove into a ditch and crashed and they just drove right on not even realizing it, right? But then you also meet people who they sit at home, crippled, not doing anything because they're so self-examining that they fear, they recognize they have hurt people and they don't even want to talk to anybody because they're so crippled by their fear and self-examination. Neither one of those states are healthy, are they? All right? We understand that. But here the scriptures do command us to carefully look, carefully consider, investigate, How we walk. We're all familiar with this word walk. We've been talking about it, right? How you conduct your life. Walk worthily of the calling with which you've been called. Walk in light. Walk in love. Conduct your life in wisdom. Look carefully how you walk. Pay careful heed to your behavior. There's the translation that a well-respected commentator named Bruce gives, pay careful heed to your behavior. How are we to give careful heed to our behavior? The text says what? Not as unwise men. In other words, look at your life, look at your footprints, where you are headed, and consider, are the footprints that I've left and the path that I'm on a path of foolishness or a path of wisdom? Investigate. Psalm 141, what is a life that would be marked by foolishness? Well, Psalm 14 verse 1 says this, the fool has said in his heart that there is no God. They are corrupt. They have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And maybe you're sitting here thinking, great, I'm all set. I recognize there's a God. Well, let me tell you, the demons also believe in tremble. So the question is, what do you do with that knowledge that there is a God? Maybe the Spirit of God has come into your life and turned you to wisdom to know Christ as your Lord and Savior. But if somebody were to look at your life, they would have to say you look no different than somebody who doesn't believe there is a God. You continue on in unrepentant sin. You live for the temporary things of this world. You live for the American dream. You live for your job, and your house, and your money, and your relationships, and so on, and so on. And what's clear to those around you, if they were to look at your life as if it were a movie, if they were to read your life as a biography, they would say, they live as though there is no God. And according to God's word, that is foolish. So take a moment and look at your life, look carefully upon how you walk and ask yourself the question, have I been walking as a wise man or as a foolish man? Have I been walking as a wise woman or a foolish woman? Have I been walking as a wise young adult or a foolish young adult? Does my life show a belief that there is God and an eternity? Does my life reflect the truth that I've come to know Jesus Christ? Or would people be forced to look at your life and say, in his actions, he is saying there is no God. Do not go on in your life living as though there is no God. Do not go on with your life living as though you are still lost and foolish and living for the things of this earth, living a godless life, worshiping the creation rather than the creator. The creation will never fulfill that which the creator is for. We talked about this a little, I don't know if it was this past Wednesday night or a couple Wednesday nights ago, about God being all about himself. God is all about his glory. And we asked the question, does that mean God is egotistical? if God is all about himself. And what we explained and discussed is this, not at all, because God is the ultimate good for mankind. So if God is all about himself and mankind coming to know him, he's actually in being all for himself, all for what? Man's good. If he wasn't all about himself, we would all miss his goodness. If he wasn't all about his glory, we would miss the purpose of our creation, that God created us for his glory, that the chief end of our life is to bring honor and glory to him, and that our ultimate good is found in bringing honor and glory to him. So look carefully and do not continue on living as though there is no God, not as an unwise man. Of course, the clear difference is not, if you're not walking as unwise, you should be walking as what? As wise. What is wise? This is how someone wise lives. It tells us this, to be careful as we walk, consider this, understanding God's will, or I'm sorry, I skipped, my bad. So I missed a slide. Therefore be careful how you walk, and it is to be made by making the most of your time. And get your text there with me, but as wise, verse 16, making the most of your time. All of us have been alive at least a few years in this room, right? All of us have come in and out of interests. Maybe at a time before you was learning an instrument. Maybe for some of us in this room, we had high dreams of becoming a professional athlete. All right, maybe at times it was becoming a master at a hobby, learning how to be the best fisherman on the planet or so on and so on. And what very quickly happens, we learn typically life after life, these people get, we get these interests and we start devoting time to them. And after a year or two or even a week, all of a sudden what happens? We've begun wasting our time on other things and that passion that we once had has been thrown to the wayside. Maybe some of you made New Year's resolutions in 2019. We're in the beginning of March. How are you doing with them? What happened? While all of a sudden, slowly, day after day, hour after hour, you begin wasting your time on unnecessary, unimportant things, and those important resolutions that you once held dear, and in front, and even wrote down, and asked other people to help you keep accountable with them, have drifted off to the wayside. Because we are not good at using our time wisely. It's just a fact. I wish I was an incredible mathematician. I meant to do this before I preach this morning, but I forgot. You know, how many seconds are in a minute? We know that. How many seconds are in a minute? 60. Good. How many seconds then, or how many minutes in an hour? 60. So 60 times 60 is? What's that? 36,000, right? I believe. Am I there? 36,000 or 3,600. So 3,600 seconds in an hour. And then you times that by 24. And you times that by seven. You go on and you go on. And what we would quickly realize is what? God has given us time. How often do you hear somebody say, oh, I just don't have time. Oh, I just don't have time. And in reality, what they're saying is I don't want to prioritize. I don't want to be wise with my time. You have 24 hours in a day, seven days a week. You have time for the things that are important to you. So if somebody were to look at the way you use your time, would your life be a life that is marked by foolishness or wisdom? Stop giving your time to television. Stop giving your time to endless hours of browsing Facebook or Snapchat. Stop giving your time to foolish controversies and things outside of Scripture that don't really matter. Stop giving your time to the pursuit of money and wealth. Stop giving your time to empty, vain things. Take heed to King Solomon's words, the wealthiest, wisest man who had anything and everything at his disposal, and at the end of his life, he said, all these things are vain. They're empty. They're pointless. Start making the most of your time. I think our translation falls a little short with this text here of making the most of your time. Really, it can be translated redeeming the time. Why is that important? Why is that an important distinction? Well, it gives us this idea of redemption, all right? Buying out of slavery to free for good. It's exactly what Christ did for us in our salvation. We were bound in our sins and he came along and he paid the price and he purchased us out of slavery to sin and freed us unto good deeds for the glory of God the Father. So come along, and because the days are evil, in other words, this day and age in which we live is consumed and overtaken by sin and evil. Buy from that evil age time. Purchase it. Take it out from the wickedness and put it into good use. To the glory of God the Father. Consider how you walk. Investigate how you have been walking in the path that you're headed on and consider are you walking foolishly or wisely? One of the ways to know is if you are using your time for God. Using your time for things that last for eternity. Or using your time and spending your time on a bunch of stuff that does not matter. So maybe you're wondering, okay, Pastor Kevin, is it ever okay then to play a video game? Yes, young men, all right, it's okay to play a video game. But are you spending 72 hours a week on a video game and 20 minutes reading your Bible? That's a problem. That is foolish. Adults, you're spending 80 hours a week working and 15 minutes a day on your Bible reading? You're spending spare moments of your time browsing Facebook or Snapchat, all these other things, or watching TV. And people say, oh, I don't have time, but you know how many hours a week an average American watches TV? It's a lot. And I bet if we were to take a similar poll, how many hours a week do Christians spend watching TV compared to reading their Bible and praying and meeting with other believers for edification and serving and sharing the gospel, it would be incredibly embarrassing. And I think the answer that would clearly come to mind is that we are foolish. The way we spend our time is foolish. We're not walking as wise men and women. We're not making the most of our time. Galatians 6.10, so then while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people. And especially to those who are of the household of faith. It's a point there, the beginning of it is saying while we have what? Opportunity. It recognizes that at some point we won't have an opportunity. Our lives, James says, is but a vapor. We must passionately shine our light in this dark world while we have breath. When we see the King, we will not regret having spent our lives wisely. As a young man, went to a nursing home. We sang as a group, like a homeschool group, we sang. Then we would go and meet people afterwards and talk with them. And I was talking with this elderly lady. I'm guessing I was like eight, maybe nine. I shared the gospel with her and she had, she wasn't completely all there mentally. She kept forgetting, but I shared the gospel with her. There's no sign that she believed. But I found out from my neighbor the next day that that very lady that I was sharing the gospel with died two hours after I was talking with her. She went back to her room and she died. Just last week, I was on the train, shared the gospel with this man named Rob, a conductor taking tickets. And that very afternoon, the Long Island Railroad crashed and three people died. Wasn't him, it wasn't his train. It could have been. We don't know how long we have. You don't know how long you have. And if each one of us were to go to the doctor today and our doctor were to say, listen, I give you 48 hours to live, would that impact how you live the next 48 hours? My guess is that your life for the next 48 hours would look much drastically, very, very drastically different than it would if that doctor did not say anything. Why? Because you would recognize the importance of your time. What scripture is calling us to do here is consider the days are evil, so don't let your time go to waste. Live as though you've been given 48 hours to live. Go about making the most of your time, buying it from the wicked age and redeeming it to the glory of God. Use it to be sharing the gospel. Use it to be making an impact in people's lives. Use it for the edification of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Use it for the building up of your church. Use it for the growth of your family in Christ. Use your time wisely. Because the days are evil. And he goes back to the same idea, verse 17, though. So then do not be foolish. Do not be as an unwise person. Do not be a foolish person. Do not be foolish. Foolishness, again, another description for us is 2 Timothy 3 verse 7, always learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. It's focused on the world's wisdom instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You had these people early on that they were seeking to learn anything and everything and incredibly smart, but what they did was they rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ. And second, Timothy tells us in chapter three, these people are always learning and yet they're never able to come to the knowledge of truth. So do not be foolish. Do not be as these people who live as though there is no God. Do not be as these people who live as though there is no gospel that can change them. Christ to make them new. But understand this, what the will of the Lord is. In other words, you want the opposite of foolishness according to this text? It's understanding what God's will is. That would be the opposite. Understanding what the will of the Lord is, is wisdom. Seek to have wisdom and pursue God's will in your life. Number one, we're commanded to do this. 2 Peter 3, verse 18 says this, says this, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. So it's telling us to do what? To grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord. To grow in wisdom. Romans 16 verse 9b, I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. In other words, you have these texts that are commanding you to what? To be knowledgeable and to put that good knowledge to use to be wise. You have a text like this that says, walk in wisdom. It's a command. But it's a command that comes out of an already there truth. It's this. Where is grace found? Who is it found in and where? Well, 2 Timothy 3.15, that from childhood, you have known the sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Where is wisdom found? In the scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 1.30, but by his doing you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So who is wisdom in? Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Colossians 2.3, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, that whom, guess who it is? Jesus Christ. So let me ask you, if you're sitting out there today and you've trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then are you wise? Yes. You have come to understand what wisdom is. And that what seems as though it's foolishness to the rest of the world, This man who came and was crucified, hung upon a tree naked, scarred and beaten and scorned, slapped, spit upon, is our Savior. And that there's nothing we can do to be saved but trust in Him through faith alone. The world looks at that and they say, that is foolishness. Yet, what we understand is we've come to wisdom by the grace of God. That wisdom is found in Jesus Christ and his gospel. So if you've come to know Christ as your Lord and Savior, are you wise? And the answer is what? Yes. Just as last week we looked at and it says, you are no longer darkness. You once were darkness, but now you are what? Light. Therefore, walk as children of light. Here, the text is saying, listen, you once were foolish. Now in Christ, you are wise. Therefore, live your life as someone who is wise. Put on display on the outside that which is on the inside. How can we pursue it? Well, James 1.5 tells us, if any of you lacks wisdom, ask of God. and he will liberally give it to you. I always remember growing up hearing that word liberal and always understanding that liberal was bad, right? Liberal is bad. So how does it mean God gives liberally? Well, kids, let me clarify that for you. Maybe some of you adults, too. Liberally, in other words, he gives it generously, freely. Come to God and he's ready to give out his wisdom freely and generously to you. All you need to do is ask. You say, I'm too young. Maybe you say, I'm too old and have too bad of a track record. Come to God. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally, generously, and without reproach. God never has one of his children come seeking wisdom and says, listen, I've given it to you. You're not getting it. A 15th time this week you're coming to me? Know what scripture says? It says He gives it generously without reproach. There's no shame in coming to God for the thousandth time, seeking His wisdom. He is waiting and ready with open arms, ready to freely give out His wisdom. How can we pursue it? We come to God. Also recognizing this by the grace of God, 1 John chapter 2, 20 and 21, but you have an anointing from the Holy One and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie is of the truth. In other words, by God's grace, he's given you the Holy Spirit to be working inside of you a knowledge of wisdom according to his word. Is there a time and a definite importance of instruction? Yes. And is there wisdom in a multitude of counselors are going and seeking wisdom? Yes. And should we be reading good books? Yes. But don't forget the fact that if you have been saved, you have the Holy Spirit working inside of you according to his word, according to God's word, and he can make you use wisdom in your life. so that we can know what the will of God is. Understand what the will of the Lord is, the end of verse 17. This is another area kind of like wisdom, as we started off. What exactly is the definition of wisdom? Well, let's close that off. Definition of wisdom is living in light of eternity. That's what wisdom is. The opposite of wisdom is living as though there is no God. So living a life of wisdom would be looking carefully how you walk and using your time as for eternity, laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, living for the Lord. It also calls us though to understand what the will of God is. There are a lot of vague understandings of this. Right? Maybe you've been talking to somebody before and they're trying to decide what house to buy. And they'll say something along these lines of, you know, when we walked into that second house, there was just this, like this voice that spoke to me. And I'm convinced that that second house is God's will for us to buy. What would you say to that? Is that a proper understanding of God's will? Is that a way God shows us his will, is by speaking through some mystical voice to help you understand what house to buy? What about, well, I remember 15 years ago, my wife walked into the room, I had never met her, and I saw her, and God spoke to me, that's the woman you're gonna marry. Is that how God's will works? what show to watch, how to spend your money, what cereal to eat for breakfast. How do all those things work? Number one, we understand there are two aspects of God's will, all right? Number one, you have God's revealed will, and God's revealed will for us is where? Hint, the Bible. God has spoken to us through his word. So when we read verses such as this, walk as a wise person, we know very clearly it is God's will for us to walk in what? In wisdom, making the most of our time. All right? But there's also another aspect of God's will. It's God's sovereign will, right? His sovereign will. So in understanding that this, everything that happens is part of God's overarching sovereign plan of wisdom. So for example, the Bible has revealed will tells us to walk in wisdom. Now, do we always walk in wisdom? Have you always walked in wisdom? No. And it's not an excuse for us to not walk in wisdom, but every time you sinned and messed up and learn from it, God was working in his sovereign will over your sin to bring about his glory. to bring you to a remembrance that you're dependent upon Christ, to help you to learn to continue to turn away from your sin, that you still struggle with sin, that you're not perfect, that you're only saved by Jesus Christ. And therefore, he works through these things, which are a contradiction to his revealed will in his sovereign ordained will. So, okay, where are we going with this? I'm gonna use a shocking illustration just to get the point across, all right? I've heard it used before in a Bible class for high schoolers. And say you're a young man and you're looking to get married and you have two girls and they both love Jesus, they're both believers. Well, we'll start off with, you have one that's not a believer and one that's a believer and you like both of them and you were to go to God's word and you were to say, well, who should I marry? And very clearly from God's word, who should that boy marry? that young man marry? The believer. Because you're not to be unequally yoked with a non-believer, right? Okay. We get past that. Now you have a young man who's interested in two different girls. And they both love Jesus with all their heart. And he gets along really well with both of them. And so on and so on. Now which one is he to marry? Now he can spend the next 10 years praying that God will somehow magically speak to him to tell him which girl to marry. Will that ever happen? No. If he marries either one of them, is he going against God's will if they're both believers and love Jesus? I would say no. So how does he decide? The Bible teacher said, well, he picks the prettier one. And maybe you sit there, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, what? No, but really, there is no right or wrong answer. And it's not like he's gonna marry one of them and 10 days down the road go, I think I married the wrong one. No, if you married that individual, you know what? You were in according to, that is part of God's plan. Now that it's happened, we understand it was part of God's sovereign plan. Now, if he married the unbeliever in scenario A. And he goes down the road and says, man, I'm having some difficulties and I don't think this was God's will for my life. I would say you're right. It wasn't according to God's sovereign or God's revealed will. You shouldn't have joined yourself to an unbeliever, but you know what? You did. And therefore it's part of God's sovereign plan and you need to continue on in it. Does that make sense? So on with your house. If you're looking at your house, God's not going to magically, mystically speak to you audibly and verbally. This is the house thou shalt buy. God has already spoken to us in his word. So when you're considering what house to buy, consider which one is a better use of your money. We know from scripture that we're called to be good stewards. Which one allows you to be closer to your church family and more involved in church? Because we know from scripture you're to be pouring yourself into your brothers and sisters in Christ. Which one allows you to be better hospitality? Use hospitality. So on and so on. And what you can do is you can go to God's word, understanding the principles of God's will as they're revealed in the Bible. And what that will do is allow you to live a life that's in accordance with God's sovereign will. Even though you can't know for sure God's sovereign will until it happens. So how do you know as a wise follower of Jesus Christ what the will of God is? Know His what? Know His Word. And unfortunately what we have running around all of America and all over the world are people who have turned to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and they neglect their Bibles and they don't make the best of their time and they're running about ignoring God's will because they don't know what His revealed will is. And maybe in our church we have a bunch of people doing the same. And what we need by God's grace is God to work in us, knowing his will. You want to know God's will? Know his word. And allow the biblical truths of God's word to help govern choices of life. Titus 2, verse 11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus. who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds. I think as we've studied scripture this morning and understood what godly wisdom is, we could say Titus 2 gives us a pretty good summation. Jesus has brought salvation. He's instructing us to do what as we've come to know Christ deny ungodliness and worldly desires. Those are foolish Live righteously and godly in this day and age this evil wicked age redeeming the time How do we do it by looking to the blessed hope that Jesus Christ is coming again? In other words looking to what eternity Looking towards the finish line. Living for things that last. You want to be a wise person? Live for the things of eternity. Spend your time focused on the things of God. Look carefully how you walk. Consider, have you been walking foolishly or wisely? And begin to walk wisely. Father, would you help us by your grace? We come to you casting ourselves at the throne of mercy and grace to receive mercy and grace in our time of need. Each one of us falls short. Each one of us struggles with wasting our time. Living as if you do not exist, would you help us that every moment of our lives would be in conscious understanding that you are there? That Christ has redeemed us. So therefore, we would take the time that you have given to us and redeem it using it for your honor and glory. Would we fill ourselves with your word so that we can know what your will is in our lives? Would you mold us and use us for your honor and glory? In Jesus' name, amen.