I wanted to look at some of the responsibilities associated with our adoption. This morning we considered some of the consequences or the privileges that are ours by virtue of our adoption in Christ. The Father's name has been placed upon us. We have been sealed by the Spirit.

We are Christ's brothers and co-heir with Him. We have an inheritance laid up for us in heaven and we are kept by the power of God. And there are, however, in addition to those privileges, there are responsibilities. And we're going to look at three of them tonight.

I might have mentioned five this morning. I did a bit of consolidation. And there are three that suggest themselves in the book of Ephesians in chapter 5. Ephesians deals with that doctrine of adoption, the fact that we have been brought in to the family of God.

So I'll just pick up reading in Ephesians 5, we'll read verses 1 to 21. Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And to

Exposing Darkness by Living Righteously

have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light. For whatever makes manifest is light.

Therefore he says, Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. 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. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. giving thanks always for all things to God the Father.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. Amen. We thank you. Amen.

Introduction

But as we come to this section in Ephesians chapter 5, we find ourselves in the practical application. Chapters 1 and 2 of Ephesians are more doctrinal in nature, which we find in the scriptures very often. The doctrine is established, and then the practice follows. The idea being, as we said this morning, that when we know the truth, we, God willing, will walk according to that truth.

Chapter 3 is a bit of a transition chapter, where Paul explains his role as a minister of the gospel, and expresses how he prays for the saints in Ephesus. And then the practical application begins specifically in chapter 4, verse 1. If you notice there in chapter 4, verse 1, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. and that then sets the stage for all that will follow in terms of practical application. There is a prohibition against walking as the Gentiles in chapter 4, verse 17.

This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind. He is speaking, of course, of spiritual Gentiles, non-Christians. Don't walk in that manner. And then he gives a positive exhortation in chapter 4, verses 20-24.

A positive exhortation for us to walk as new men and new women in the Lord Jesus Christ. That you, he says in verse 20, have not so learned Christ. And then he goes on to tell them that they are to put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. And then in chapter 4 and verse 25 he begins to set forth some very particular applications. concrete ways that we are to walk and conduct ourselves as new men and as new women in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are not to lie. We are not to steal. We are not to speak in a manner that is inconsistent with the truth of God. That summarizes verses 25 to 32.

And then in chapter 5, he gives three broad categories by which we are to walk.

Walk in Love

And the first is that we are to walk in love. This is one of the responsibilities that we have as adopted sons and daughters of the Lord God Most High. We are to walk in love. Chapter 5, verse 1, Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love. as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Love Defined by God's Law

Now, biblical love is never measured by our feeling. We don't have to feel something to walk the rock. Quite frankly, there might be times we don't feel a particular thing. We don't feel a particular warmth or a particular benefit.

But that does not change the responsibility that is ours. To walk in love according to the scriptures is to conduct ourselves toward one another in the fear of God and in respect and obedience to God's law. Love is not a feeling according to scripture. Love is action. directed by God's law.

And we see that fleshed out in Romans 13. You may turn there, just as we add some flesh and blood to the sinews that we find here in terms of walking in love. In Romans 13, we read in verse 8, Oh, no one anything except to, notice, love one another. For he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

You see, love there is not oriented toward our feelings. Love there is not defined by Hollywood. Love there is not defined by the most recent sappy Christian fiction novel. Love is defined by God.

It is defined by God's law. Paul fleshes this out in verse 9. For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. That is concrete. That is rock-solid. That is objective.

You and I can leave this place tonight and walk in love, biblically defined. We can avoid lying to one another. We can avoid coveting one another's goods. We can avoid lying with a brother's wife.

We can avoid having wicked thoughts or murderous thoughts or anything like that. That is to love our brothers and our sisters. It doesn't mean we just float in here and we just speak happy peppy things to one another. Now if that's your forte and that's the way God has so constructed you, to speak happy peppy things, well then praise the Lord.

But so long as you are not violating the decalogue, you are loving your brother. That, brethren, is biblical law. There is too much of an ill understanding about this very concept. We are to obey God.

That means to love our brethren. Romans 13, verses 8 to 10 are very instructive in this whole area of loving one another. In the very text, in Ephesians chapter 5, we see the very specific example, or the specific rule in the text. In Ephesians 5 too, it's defined for us, or it's fleshed out for us, or it's displayed how we are to love one another.

He says, walk in love as. Okay, that's the comparison, that's the way, that's the standard, okay? I am to love as Christ. I am to love just as Christ also has loved us, and notice, and given himself for us.

So my love for a brother or a sister is displayed in an attitude of giving. It is displayed in an attitude of self-sacrifice. It's a beautiful section of Holy Scripture. If you look down at chapter 5 in verse 21.

He says to submit to one another in the fear of God. This is the last mark of a spirit-filled person according to Paul in Ephesians 5. The filling of the Holy Spirit is not manifested here by tongues and by signs and wonders and miracles. No, it's a whole lot more basic and a lot more rich and a lot more thorough than that.

The filling of the Spirit looks like this. It looks like speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, and submitting to one another in the fear of God. And then after that, from chapter 5, verse 22, all the way to chapter 6 and verse 9, he gives concrete applications of what it looks like to submit to one another. And I guarantee you, one of the marks is self-sacrifice.

Put the others first. See, that's a primary difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. A non-Christian thinks only in terms of himself. A non-christian only looks out for himself.

A non-christian is only about his own pleasure, his own leisure, his own comfort, his own joy, his own whatever. Now, we all have remaining elements of that selfishness to be sure. But a mark of the godly, a mark of an adopted son or daughter of Jesus Christ is that they are others-oriented. That they are self-sacrificing.

That they do walk in law. They walk according to the scriptures with reference to their brothers and their sisters. They are marked by the disposition that marked Jesus Christ. Giving himself to others.

Becoming a sacrifice for others. That is how we are to walk in love. There are many, in the New Testament, there are many one another's. We're going to encourage you tonight in your Bible reading for 2009.

If you don't have a notepad, we've got boxes of them in here. It's going to tell you to go to Walmart and buy one. No, you don't need to. We can give you a notepad for every day of your devotional life.

Notepads are us. Actually, Paulina donated them from one of her old places of employment. Keep a pencil or a pen in your hand when you read your Bible in 2009. As I said this morning, we've got to stack it up.

We start applying more of the scripture. When you read through the New Testament in 2009, write down every time you come across those two words, one another. You will have a lot of references when you do your New Testament reading. You will find several passages that speak to loving one another.

That speak about being kindly affectionate to one another. to give preference to one another. to stir one another up to love and good deeds. There are a whole host of one another's in the pages of the New Testament Scriptures. As an exercise in your devotional time this year, write them down. Become familiar with them.

Become acquainted with them. I mean, there's some right in the very context of Ephesians 5. In Ephesians 4, verse 32, He says, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. You may find yourself holding grudges.

You may find yourself having a bitter edge. You may find yourself trying to avoid someone or some persons because of an unforgiving spirit in your heart. Lo and behold, you come across this passage, you write it down, you mull it over, you think through it, you meditate upon it, and you ask the question, am I genuinely expressing love for that person by avoiding them? No.

I need to reconcile. I need to forgive. I need to deal with this. Because Paul says that I am to walk in love.

And my standard is not any man-defined concept. My standard is Jesus Christ Himself. exemplified in his sacrificial death at Calvary. That's what it means to walk in love. That is a tall order.

So make a list of the one another's in the New Testament. And I guarantee you by 2010, you will be a lot smarter, biblically speaking. You will know a lot more in terms of relating to your brothers and your sisters. You will know a lot more what makes up biblical churchmanship, those one another's.

Walk in Light

The second major category in Ephesians 5 is we are to walk So we're to walk in love, verses 1 to 7, but we are to walk in the light, verses 8 to 11. For you were once darkness. That ought to humble you. That's what you were.

You weren't better than anyone else. You weren't smarter. You weren't more favorably disposed to the gospel. You were once darkness.

Robert Shuler simply does not grasp this whole concept. This esteem and this positivism about yourself. God doesn't share that. God tells us the hardcore facts.

The hard cold facts. God is more like Jack Webb from the old TV show Dragnet. Just the facts. You were darkness.

That was your orientation. You dwelt in it. You loved it. You didn't desire anything other.

That was everything you knew and loved and held dear. But as new men and women in Christ, as adopted sons and daughters of God Most High. God is light. There is no darkness in God whatsoever, according to 1 John 1 verse 5.

And therefore, His children are not to manifest darkness. We are to manifest light. This is what He says. But you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light. Walk as children of light. So we're to walk in love, and we're to walk as children of light.

The Fruit of Light: Goodness, Righteousness, Truth

He goes on to explain this. He says, for the fruit of the Spirit, or a variant reading is, for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. This is what makes up the light. This is what the light is all about.

It's not about lies, not about deception, not about perversion, not about ethical, you know, chaos. No, it's about goodness, it's about righteousness, it's about truth. And then notice he says in verse 10, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. You see, there's responsibility for us.

As children who are walking in the light, we need to find out what is acceptable to the Lord. What does that mean? Wait for it. It means read your Bible.

If you love the Bible, it keeps telling you to read it. Right? That's what God says. Just keep reading the Bible.

Find out what the will of the Lord is. Find out what's acceptable to Him. That does not mean you need to drive up to the back of Mount Shem and hike for two hours and sit at the top and hold your hands and begin to take deep breaths so that you can find out what's acceptable to the Lord. Now, if you're so inclined and you want to take your Bible up to the top of Mount Shem, more power to you.

But you can find out what is acceptable to the Lord in your kitchen or in your bedroom. You can find out what is acceptable to the Lord in this room. If you've got a Bible, you can find out what is acceptable to the Lord. That's what children of light do.

That's what it means to walk in the light. We take the light and the lamp of God's Word, and we seek by His grace to shine it upon our path. We don't try to wander through this world with a blindfold on. We don't wander through this world bumping into everything.

We find out what is acceptable to the Lord. We inform our minds. We inform our conscience. And then our practice follows.

We avoid those things that are darkness. And we pursue those things that are light. And he gives some concrete illustrations. Verse 11.

Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. but rather expose them. Does that mean we need to stand out on the street corner holding signs that say God hates homosexuals? We've got to expose them. Or does it mean that we are to live in such a manner, in such a way, to let our light so shine that men will see our good works and they'll be directed to give glory to God.

You know, any knucklehead can go stand on the street corner with a sign that says, God hates you. It takes a spirit-filled adopted son or daughter of God to live and walk in the light. It's the easy way out. We could all be the holiest people God ever made if holiness was about standing on the street corner with signs telling everybody and anybody that God hates them.

That's ungodly. That's unrighteous. That's not what he means by exposing them. If you think your calling in life is to wander around and personally expose every act of evil that is done in this world, you have missed the New Testament.

You have missed it by a long shot. In the sphere of influence that you operate in, when you are at work, when you are in your home, when you are with your unconverted wife, or your unconverted husband, or your unconverted family, you are to live in such a manner that your righteousness, your light exposes them. Jesus didn't walk around with a big billboard telling everybody God hated them. But he did know something of that light. that the darkness hates to come to.

Why? Because its evil is exposed. That's what Jesus did in His life and in His ministry. The Pharisees and the Sadducees, they hated Him.

They didn't want to get near Him. Not because He had a sign that says, My Father hates you. But because He had a life of consistent holiness. A life of consistent godliness.

A life of consistent goodness. One that was informed by finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. having no fellowship with that darkness and thus exposing their evil works. He goes on to say, it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret, that all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light. For whatever makes manifest is light.

Therefore, he says, awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

Walk in Wisdom

So we are to walk in love, we are to walk in light, and then thirdly, we are to walk in wisdom. We have rehearsed a bit of teaching on that in the book of Colossians. Paul prayed that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in our wisdom and spiritual understanding. We reflected back on Solomon, that wise king, or that godly king, who had the law of the Lord, and then asked for wisdom.

Because you see, we can have the law. We can have sound doctrine. We can have Calvin's Institutes. We can have our 1689.

We can have our Bibles. We can put them all in our heads. But if we don't have wisdom, if we are not applying that knowledge, then we are fools. And so we are told not only to walk in love, but to walk in light and to walk in wisdom.

Ephesians 5 verse 15. He says, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. There's a negative statement. Don't walk as a fool.

The Biblical Definition of a Fool

Now the Bible doesn't call people with a lower intellect fools. If you're not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, God's not calling you a fool. If your IQ is not at the genius level, God's not calling you a fool. A fool, according to the Bible, is ethical in nature.

Fool has the idea of being sinful. The difference between the righteous man or the wise man and the foolish man in the book of Proverbs is not a matter of the intellect, but a matter of the practice, a matter of the heart, a matter of his orientation. And so Paul is saying here that we are not to walk as fools. The Bible defines a fool as one who hears the word of God, who hears the word of Christ, but doesn't do what he says.

In fact, turn for just a moment to Matthew 7, just so we can make sure we're understanding of our categories of fools and wise men. Matthew chapter 7. Matthew 7, the very end of the Sermon on the Mount, in verse 24, Jesus says, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it fell, and great was its fall. What differentiates the wise man from the foolish man?

They both have the word of Christ, but only one of them does it. You see that? That's as clear as it can get. God doesn't call you a fool if you have a lower IQ point.

God calls you a fool if you know his word and you don't do it. God's not about name-calling. He's not like the kid on the playground that calls you a nasty name just for no reason. That is a theological identifier.

You are one that knows and you don't do. You're one that has the Word of God, and you don't do it. I think back, and I think it was the plague of hail. Moses announced the plague was coming, and it says those who believed the Word moved their cattle, moved all their goods, brought the men out of the open, and their stuff was spared.

That those who heard the Word but didn't believe, what happened? Their cattle got pummeled to death when the hail came. You see, it's not rocket science. It's all about hearing the word of Christ and doing it.

So

Wisdom, Diligence, and Our Greater Accountability

in this third element of how the Christian, the adopted son or daughter of God, is to walk, he is to walk in wisdom, not as a fool. The fool does not seek understanding through the study of scripture. The fool does not apply the Bible to his life. The fool is oftentimes lazy, indifferent, and careless with reference to his calling from God.

You know, I would submit, brethren, that our culpability or our responsibility is somewhat increased over what we have over the Ephesians in their day. I was talking this morning with someone, and I mentioned Christology, the doctrine of Christ, and to stray from what's called the definition of the Council of Chalcedon always lands men in heresy. Now the Council of Chalcedon was basically a council of godly men who came together to put down in writing a doctrinal statement on who Jesus Christ is. That council met, that council pronounced their creed in 451 A.D.

Now, we, unlike the Ephesians, when we hear that statement, the Council of Chalcedon can go home and type that into our Google search engine. And get, you know, probably hundreds of pages on the Council of Chalcedon. We can get Wikipedia to tell us what the Council of Chalcedon was. We can get the creed right there so we can read it for ourselves right now when we go home tonight.

I mean, you might think about it. I don't have a cup of coffee. It's the Council of Chalcedon. C-H-A-L-C-E-D-O-N or Chalcedon is another pronunciation.

You type that in, you get the creed. Wow, that's great. We have amazing resources at our fingertips. One of the brothers just sent an email saying that if you want to read or commit to reading Calvin's Institutes, it'll be emailed to your computer every day with the reading specified.

The Ephesians didn't have this. We have so much more! I mean, it's the same Bible, the same Word of God. I'm not saying we have more in terms of Revelation.

But we have more in terms of Ephesians 4. Jesus has given some as prophets, some as apostles, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers. Why? for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, so that we may all come to a mature man, not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We reap the benefits of a Calvin.

We reap the benefits of a Gil. You can download John Gil's commentaries for free. You have no excuse anymore to say, well, I can't afford John Gil. Oh yes, you can.

You see, so this prohibition is a bit more stinging even to us. Don't walk as fools. You have a wealth of resources. You probably have a Bible in every home in your room.

You probably have ten Bibles in your home. You're not like those in the former Soviet Union. You're not like those in North Korea that want a page of Leviticus and are prizing it. Don't walk as fools.

Don't say you're God's child and neglect His Word. Don't say you're God's child. Hear the word of Christ and then build your house on the sand. You see, Paul was serious here.

We just run through it. Don't walk, not as fools, but as wise. Just run right through that. Wait a minute.

What's it mean to walk as a fool? Well, it could possibly mean how I walk a whole lot of the time. In neglect of His Word. In neglect of Jesus Christ.

In neglect of His light and of His lamp for my path. Paul's caution is very real to each and every one of us.

Redeeming the Time

He tells us in this walking in wisdom, we are to redeem the time because the days are evil. We are to redeem the time. Walking in wisdom will be manifested through our making the most of every opportunity. We are to walk in love, we are to walk in light, and we are to walk in wisdom.

Buying up the time, that word redemption. We're to buy it up. We're to pay something. We're to sacrifice something.

We're to neglect ourselves for the right use of time. We are to redeem it. Jonathan Edwards said this, because a happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of time. Man, I don't think we think this way.

I really don't. We look at, wow, time, I got a lot of time. Do you have a lot of time? Do you really have a lot of time?

Are you properly using the time that has been allocated to you? Are you redeeming it? Are you buying it up? Are you seeking only, only freshly ends, or are you trafficking in spiritual truth?

We are to redeem the time. And then notice what he says, the implication here, verse 17. Therefore, do not be unwise. Boy, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

There it is again. Read the Bible. Isn't Christianity great? We don't have to shuffle a deck of cards and have some professional tell us what the cards say.

We don't have to go to a specific priest in order to tell us what the cards say. We don't have to go to a system, a cult, some guru to tell us what the will of the Lord is. Every single one in this room right now has access to the will of God. Has access to the very mind of God.

You never sit back and scratch your head and say, I wonder what makes God tick? Oh yeah, he's explained it to you in 66 books called the Bible. You see what Paul is saying here. You need to walk wisely.

Because the Bible information and the data that you possess must be put into practice. We must apply the knowledge of God. We must put it into action. We must demonstrate that we genuinely are the children of God.

By our fruits they will be able to identify us. And it's in this context that Paul then goes on to say that we are to be filled with the Spirit. You see, being filled with the Spirit is a legitimate outflow of the Christian life. When you walk in love, when you walk in light, when you walk in wisdom, there can be that general expectancy of filling by the Spirit.

And the filling by the Spirit, as we explained before, is not manifested through tongue speaking, it is manifested in corporate worship. It is manifested in a thankful disposition. It is manifested in the way that we speak to one another. It is manifested in the way that we submit to one another in the fear of the Lord.

You see, that, in a nutshell, is our responsibilities as adopted sons and daughters of God Most High. Walk in love, walk in light, walk in wisdom.

Why the Days Are Evil

And I want to end by observing one particular section of verse 16, when he says, redeeming the time because the days are evil. What does he mean, because the days are evil? Is that unique to the time of the Ephesian Christians? Or is there some special application of this in our time as well?

Should we be redeeming the time because the days are evil also? Well, how do we even understand the days are evil? I think there's two thoughts suggested by this phrase.

Lack of Christian Influence

The first is because there is a lack of Christian influence. You need to redeem the time, you need to walk in wisdom, walk in light, and walk in love, because the days are evil. There's not a lot of Christians, so it could be particularly fitting for the Ephesians in this time. Christianity was a relatively new movement.

It had not penetrated the entirety of the Roman Empire. there were not a lot of Christians. So therefore, you as God's people need to redeem the time and walk in the manner prescribed so that or because of the fact that the days are evil. In other words, these are great times to be a Christian. These are wonderful and opportunistic times to be Christ's.

You can make a great deal of impact when you live in a pagan society. And I think sometimes as Christians, when we see the paganism, we see the pluralism, and we see the competition, we shrink back and we say, oh man, what's going to happen? Forgetting the fact that we possess a nuclear arsenal. Right?

All those other people bring a pea shooter to the fight. We've got intercontinental ballistic missiles. And we're afraid? The days are evil, brethren, the prevalence of false doctrine, the prevalence of heresy, the prevalence of false religion, the fast increase of Islam.

All these things are opportunities for the Christian to walk in such a manner so as to make impact in this world. If we brought a peashooter to a gunfight, certainly we should be afraid. But we're bringing a gunfight to a peashooter fight. We're not charging hell with a squirt gun.

Hell has been defeated decisively by our Savior at Calvary's cross. And because the days are evil, we're to redeem the time. We're to buy up opportunities. We're to seek to make an impact.

We're to seek to witness and be a testimony. We're to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation, holding forth the Word of Truth, so that we can see the Kingdom of Jesus advance.

The Prevalence of Temptation

But a second thought, I believe, is suggested here, redeeming the time because the days are evil. What happens when the days are evil? What happens when there's not a lot of Christian influence? What happens when there is a lot of paganism?

When the media promotes sodomy? When abortion is wholesale? When godlessness is rampant? Now, we don't always exercise the type of influence upon our society that we ought.

Very often, society exercises an influence upon us. And because the days are evil, there's a lot of temptation out there. I mean, so much so, can you imagine Owen or Sturgeon or any of our brothers walking into the grocery store today? I mean, just the magazines at the newsstand show more flesh than those brothers probably saw in their entire lives.

What happens? The days are evil, the temptation is real, and if we're not buying up the opportunities to walk in wisdom, light, and love, we're going to get sucked in. If we are not exercising influence on our culture, we will be exercised upon by that culture. And you see, Paul's words are uniquely fitted for the Ephesian context, for the medieval dates, for the Reformation period, for the Puritan era, for Spurgeon's day, and for our day.

The prevalence of temptation is a reality. And we as Christians need to strategically march through this world, buying up opportunities so that we don't succumb to those things. That's what I think Paul is getting at. Those two things.

Lack of Christian influence. Go out and affect society. The prevalence of temptation. Go out and protect yourself.

Redeem the opportunities, buy them up, because as Edward says, a happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of time. May the Lord guide us and direct us as His sons and daughters in 2009, and may He grant us the grace to walk in love, to walk in light, and to walk in wisdom. Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we pray that You would help us to apply these things in our local church, help us to apply these things in our family situations, help us, Lord God, to apply these things in society at large. We pray for all of Your churches, God, that we would take these things seriously. Lord, I pray, forgive me that I don't always value these things as I ought. Forgive my brothers and sisters, and cleanse us all in the blood of Jesus Christ, and help us, Lord God, to order our lives according to Your Word. finding out what is acceptable to you, being students of the scripture, being those who memorize your word, who hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against you.

And I pray that you would go with each one of us now. We pray, Lord God, that you would do good to your people. Watch over and protect each one. And we pray through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Matthew 7:24-27
• Romans 13:8-10
• Ephesians 4:1; 4:17; 4:20-24; 4:25-32; 5:1-22; 6:9
• 1 John 1:5