Do you hear that, ‘having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word’, which means that water (Word) and blood both serves as cleansing and washing items for our Lord God Almighty unto humanity! No wonder we always sing the song ‘sacha mu Nna, sacha mu oh, were mmiri na obara sacha mu oh! Now we come to the real heart of this matter of sanctification and I ask is sanctification instantaneous or is it a process, a gradual process? There are those who say God sanctifies in a single act, and those who say that sanctification is a process that goes on in our lives day by day. In many ways both views are correct. Day by day, as we open our lives to the gentle, convicting power of the Holy Spirit, He points out our wrong attitudes/characters or wrong behavior, our wrong lifestyle and, as we respond by making positive amends, He applies His cleansing and sanctifying power to our hearts to enable us. This is the process of sanctification and this is where hearing the Word is very essential/important. Sanctification is a very theological-sounding word, yet it’s one of the defining pursuits of the Christian faith. It is the act of being made or becoming holy. It isn’t a one-time or static event but an ongoing experience of God’s grace. Sanctification is the action of making or declaring something holy, "the sanctification of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ". Sanctification is the action or process of being freed from sin or purified, "the process of sanctification takes deliberate action on our part". It is also the action of causing something to be or seem morally right or acceptable. Without laying aside the necessity of a daily sanctifying process, it is also true that sanctification can be linked, for some, to a definite moment in time. Commissioner S.I. Brengle of the Salvation Army, speaking of the great experience when, as he put it, ‘God sanctified my soul’, said, ‘On January 9th, 1895, at about nine o’ clock in the morning, God sanctified me He gave me such a blessing as I never dreamed a man could have this side of heaven.’ As one reads the biographies of great Christian men and women one finds that many, such as John Wesley, Hudson Taylor and Frances Ridley Havergal, testified to receiving sanctification as a gift from Him, God. However we view the matter, one thing is sure: God wants us to be clean, pure, and holy being transformed to keep conforming to His Christ. Christ is waiting to deliver us from inbred evil, inbred is something existing from birth, the stubbornness of self-will, and the self-centred attitudes and wickedness that leave a dark stain upon our spirits/our conscience. Let us invite Him to cleanse our inner being from every sin and stain of wrong living. ‘God paints in many colors,’ says Gilbert Chesterton, ‘but He never paints so gorgeously as when He paints in white.’ And we all knows what white stands for!

Now let us read Ephesians 5:15-27; 5 Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), 16 Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit. 19 Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [[e]and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord, 20 At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. 21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). 22 Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body. 24 As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, 27 That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].

If you’ve ever done any boating, you know that it is essential to have a means of steering and a source of power. You need both. If you are cruising off the coast and lose your ability to steer, all the power in the world won’t do you any good. You’re at the mercy of the wind and the currents. Or, if you can steer, but you have no power, again you’re in big trouble. You may drift into rocks or hidden reefs. Both, steering and power must be active at the same time to be safe. These two necessities become even more essential if you are navigating through dangerous seas. You would also need an accurate navigational chart and a means of determining your own location, so that you know exactly where the obstacles are and can avoid them in good time. Without these necessities, disaster is almost certain in anything that has to do with boating. The Christian life is much the same. The enemy has planted traps and mines to wipe you out. There are dangerous rocks and reefs in life itself that can cause you to shipwreck your faith. Therefore to navigate safely through, you must be very careful in whatever you do in life. Just like in boating, in life you must have a means of direction, a source of power, and you must pay close attention to the chart. It is important to know that in life it is the Holy Spirit in connection with your personal spirit that gives you direction, that is your source of power, and you must be attentive and close with an intimacy that is found in Christ because it is your chart that leads the way and the environment for you so that you keep avoiding dangers as you proceed in life! That is Paul’s subject in our text: walking carefully as children of light in an evil day. “Therefore” points back to the preceding context, where we saw that as Christians, we are now children of light (5:8). Yet we are walking in a world that is morally and spiritually dark, wicked and evil. We are not to cover our light and blend in with the darkness, No! Rather are to expose the unfruitful deeds of darkness as sin and dispel the darkness by leading sinners to Christ. Therefore, because of these dangerous waters through which we are navigating called the world and its people; Paul now says in other to alert us, “Look carefully how you walk!” Look carefully means to consider with exactness and precision. It was an accounting term and it is very important for us to know that it is lack of exactness and precision that often lands us in dangers and troubles of life. If you’re keeping the books for an organization or just balancing your checkbook, it is vital to be exact. You can’t say, “It’s like a 10 or 100? Oh, well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s call it 100.” You must be precise. Otherwise things could go wrong in life! Or, if you’re a soldier on patrol in a minefield, you must know or have a means of knowing where the mines are placed and be careful to avoid them. Paul is saying that we must walk that way as believers. We must choose our steps carefully, because the enemy has strewn the path with dangerous obstacles that will cause us serious harm if we are careless and inconsiderate. The days are evil and we must know it and be prepared and alert all the time in Christ! And yet, too many Christians just saunter (walk in a slow, relaxed manner) through this minefield called our world with no awareness of the grave danger that they face. They are flirting/romancing with serious danger, and yet they aren’t paying attention because worldliness has poisoned/weakened their Christ. Paul gives us three essentials if we want to walk carefully in this evil day, to avoid spiritual disaster. Today I am giving an overview of these verses, which open a section that runs through 6:9, “9You masters, do the same [showing goodwill] toward them, and give up threatening and abusive words, knowing that [He who is] both their true Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with Him [regardless of one's earthly status]. Then in five subsequent messages, I plan to go back through them in more detail. If there is any repetition, hopefully it will serve to cement these vital truths in your mind and in your thinking. Paul is saying, To walk carefully in this evil day, you must use your time wisely, understand the will of the Lord, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The infilling of the Holy Spirit does it all and that is why for Satan and his cohorts to hold sway on humans, they first rid them off the Holy Spirit by making them develop a misdirected love for the world and the fullness there of, failing to realize that the earth (world) is the Lord’s and the fullness there of! 1. To walk carefully in this evil day, you must use your time wisely (5:15-16): 15 Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), 16 Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Paul writes (5:15-16, literal translation), “Therefore, look carefully how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.” Note three things: A. TO WALK CAREFULLY, YOU MUST THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT HOW YOU WILL SPEND YOUR LIFE IN THIS EVIL DAY; whether to spend in/with God or not! This is Paul’s final use of the word “walk” in Ephesians (cf. 2:2, 10; 4:1, 17; 5:1, 8). “Walk” pictures our way of life, worked out in a daily, step-by-step process. In Paul’s day, people didn’t just walk for exercise. They walked to get to a destination. So to walk spiritually pictures steady progress toward a definite goal or destination. “Look carefully” implies that if you are careless about how you walk, how you spend your time each day and even your resources, you will not get through life without serious mishap/lack. You will step on a mine or be attacked by the enemy or wander around hopelessly and aimlessly lost being totally wrecked in life and you begin to look for who to blame. The Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, giving themselves over to sensuality and greed as seen in Eph. 4:17-19. But true Christians are not to walk in this manner. We must walk carefully, because the days are evil. Without deliberate carefulness, the evil that surrounds us will overwhelm and swallow us. This is one reason that I urge you prayerfully to write out a one-sentence purpose statement for your life. It should describe what you think God wants you to be if you live to be 80. You should base it on biblically determined criteria. Then, underneath that purpose statement, write out some short-term goals that will move you toward your life purpose in each area (spiritual, relational, intellectual, moral, physical, financial, and vocational). Do you know that for those of us that are apples of God’s eye, that God makes our life follow up these patterns even without our being conscious of it? Look at it often and read just as necessary. If you just drift through life without thinking carefully about how to spend your time, you will not end up where God wants you to be. This is why we are required to trust and rely on God because He is the only one that can lead you a right! B. TO WALK WISELY, YOU MUST SKILLFULLY APPLY GOD’S WORD TO YOUR LIFE; Paul draws the first of several contrasts, “not as unwise men, but as wise.” Wisdom is a huge theme in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, where in Job, many of the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are called, “wisdom literature.” The basic meaning of the Hebrew word for “wisdom” was “skill.” Do you see where the emphasis on ‘Skill’ comes from? The wise man had the skill to live properly but today, the unwise lives life any which way and still wanting to gain the benefits of living good life when he/she didn’t live life the good way. At the root of wise living is the fear of the Lord: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” as seen in Prov. 9:10. Thus the wise person lives in a godly, skillful (godly fear) manner, thus producing a beautiful finished product (good life attainments) that brings glory to the Lord and even to the individual. The only way to accomplish this is to follow the divine plan, given to us in Scripture. Just as God gave Moses the plan for the tabernacle, and skillful men crafted the beautiful final product, so we must follow God’s directions if we want our lives to be beautiful for Him. The Bible tells us the godly character qualities that we need to develop. It warns us about the many temptations to sin that will harm or destroy us. It tells us how to determine/arrange our life-priorities so that we will make the best use of the years the Lord gives us without wasting them. As Moses prayed in Ps. 90:12, saying, “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Today people are not divinely wise, rather they are wise in their own way! C. TO USE YOUR TIME WISELY, YOU MUST USE EVERY OPPORTUNITY FOR THE WILL OF GOD; “Making the most of your time” (5:16a) is literally, “redeeming the time.” To redeem means to buy back. The implication is that time is in bondage and that a price must be paid to buy it back. The Greek word here for “time” does not view time as extended, but rather time as opportunities. The idea is that God gives us choice moments to seize for His purposes. We must be alert to His purposes and ready to grab those opportunities, like a shrewd merchant sees an opportunity for a profit and grabs it in use while it last, because once it is over it is past. Redeeming the time has special reference (both here and in Col. 4:5) to Christian witness in the world because as God’s witness, you have got to work in enlightening people, in converting and initiating people in Christ while age allows you time (F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians [Eerdmans], pp. 378-379). For the unbeliever, life is in bondage to futility, misuse and meaninglessness (4:17-19), “17 So this I say and solemnly testify in [the name of] the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the heathen (the Gentiles) do in their perverseness [in the folly, vanity, and emptiness of their souls and the futility] of their minds. 18 Their [a]moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the willful blindness) that is [b]deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart [to the insensitiveness of their moral nature]. 19 In their spiritual apathy they have become callous and past feeling and reckless and have abandoned themselves [a prey] to unbridled sensuality, eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity [that their depraved desires may suggest and demand].” He goes through school, gets a job, starts a family, raises the family, retires from his job, and hopes that his health lasts long enough to cruise through all the national parks and take videos, or to catch a lot of fish, eat as much, drink as much. Then he dies, there is nothing to remember him about. Throughout the process, he spends ten years of his life watching mindless TV shows. What’s the point? His time was in bondage to futility. He was just living to himself, O no nga ya eri! But the Christian can buy back those otherwise wasted hours and use the opportunities for eternal significance. He grabs every opportunity to grow to know Christ and be transformed to conform to His image, divine character building different to worldly character. He rears his children to know and follow Christ. He works to bring others to know Christ and grow in Him. He is a steward of his resources for God’s kingdom purposes, investing wisely in opportunities to further the gospel around the globe. By walking carefully in this evil world, he buys back opportunities for God’s kingdom purposes. This is the way God wants us to live on earth! But, the word “redeem” implies that there is a cost, economics call it opportunity cost. You must say no to certain secondary things in order to say yes to the crucial. You must say no to hours of TV or computer games in order to say yes to reading and studying God’s Word and meditating accordingly on divine issues of life. You must say no to selfish activities that pull you away from God’s kingdom purposes especially on Sundays. You must say no to certain ways of squandering your money on worldly pursuits in order to say yes to eternal riches. To walk carefully, you must use your time wisely. It is these numerous saying of No that some religious denominations like deeper life people begin to forbid certain things thinking that is the way to do it!

Paul continues with another contrast, “So then [because the days are evil] do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is because that is the only thing that can guide you.” The will of the Lord is the divine navigation chart that tells us where we’re going and how to get there. Just as it would be foolish beyond imagination to put out to sea with no idea of where you’re going or how to get there, the same is true in life in this world, you must map out for yourself what you want to achieve in life based on your true knowledge and application of the Scripture and the Gospel. When I was in the Coast Guard said a narrator, there was one crucial question you asked when you took over the helm: “What course are you steering?” The captain determined the course. If he said, “Steer at 280, I wasn’t free to steer at 180!” My job was to keep the boat headed at 280, against the wind and currents that would have pulled us off course, if I do otherwise, I endangers the whole situation; and so it is with life, God has already give the instructions on how life is to be lived on earth in words and He even came down to demonstrate it with His own life, yet people fail to follow instructions! The Lord wants you to understand His will so that you can keep your life on course. Verse 17 isn’t talking primarily about whether you go to this or that school or take this or that job. Rather, in the context of Ephesians the Will of the Lord refers to something much bigger. A. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF THE LORD, WHICH INVOLVES HIS ULTIMATE PURPOSE FOR CREATION; To understand means to grasp with the mind, which implies some effort on your part. The Lord’s will is revealed in His Word and Paul has mentioned it several times in Ephesians. He began the book (1:1) by referring to himself as “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” He goes on to say (1:5) that God “predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” He said (1:9) that God “made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.” And, he said (1:11) that “we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” In short, God’s will relates to His eternal purpose to be glorified by summing up all things in Christ; so if you do not have an active indwelling of the Holy Spirit in connection with your personal spirit, you have a serious deficiency that needs to be seriously addressed because you will/can never be well guided in life on earth and Satan plunges people into this state of Christ deficiency by making them develop worldliness in their character, attitude, behavior and lifestyle. But God does His Will and He does this by saving His elect (Jews and Gentiles) and bringing both groups together as one in His dwelling place, the Church, which manifests His wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (3:10). You must work to grasp that purpose with your mind so that you can live your life in line with it. Do you hear that, you must be an embodiment of God’s Word in other to be able to be guided by it to live your life accordingly! B. YOU MUST APPLY THE WILL OF THE LORD TO YOUR LIFE; In other words, you must live daily in light of God’s purpose to be glorified in Christ through His Church as that Church grows in holiness to become His pure and spotless bride (5:27). This entails several things: *You must submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ over all your life. You will not glorify Him if you reserve certain areas of your life to do as you please. Rather, you must learn what is pleasing to Him (5:10) and live accordingly, seeking to glorify Him in every thought, attitude, word, and deed. *You must be committed to Christ’s Church. If God is working out His eternal purpose through the Church, then His people must be committed to the Church. To be casual in your connection to the Church is not to be committed to what God is committed to. *You must be committed to harmony with other believers in the Church and in your home. God’s will involves bringing these two formerly diverse, hostile groups, Jew and Gentile, together as one in the Church under Christ’s headship (2:11-22). Through this means, He displays His glory to the angelic hosts (3:10). Therefore, we must labor to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (4:3). And, we must live in harmony as husbands and wives, because marriage ultimately concerns Christ and the Church (5:32). *You must be committed to God’s glory in the world. The will of the Lord through His Church includes bringing the gospel to the lost so that they may be saved and incorporated into the Church. In that way, His glory is manifested all over the earth, as former rebels are reconciled to God and to one another through the cross. If you’re just living to get a good job, pay the bills, and enjoy selfish pursuits, with an occasional trip to Church when it doesn’t interfere with any of your entertainment program, Paul calls you foolish. To walk carefully in this evil world, you must not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is and apply it to how you live each day. Thus, to walk carefully in this evil day, you must use your time wisely and understand the will of the Lord. Thirdly, 3. To walk carefully, you must be filled with the Holy Spirit (5:18-21): 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit. 19 Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [[e]and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord, 20 At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. 21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Paul gives another contrast (5:18), “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” Grammatically, this is followed by five participles that show the results of being filled with the Spirit: speaking, singing, making melody, giving thanks, and being subject to one another. The first and the last relate to our behavior towards one another. The second, third, and fourth relate to our behavior towards the Lord. The last participle also serves to introduce and govern the section on relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, and slaves and masters (5:22-6:9). I will go into more detail in future messages, but for now I can only skim over things. A. TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT MEANS TO BE CONTROLLED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT (5:18); Why does Paul somewhat abruptly interject the subject of drunkenness at this point? There are probably two main reasons (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in the Spirit [Baker], p. 12): First, drunkenness and debauchery were characteristic of the futile, sensual lives from which the Ephesians had been saved and in which their contemporaries still lived. Paul is drawing a marked contrast between the old way of life and the new. Second, he uses the analogy of wine and drunkenness to show that while there is a great contrast between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Holy Spirit, there are also many similarities. Even as one filled with wine is under its influence, so the Christian should be under the control or influence of the Holy Spirit. Briefly, note two things about being filled with the Spirit: (1). BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT IS ONGOING AND REPEATED; The verb tense indicates, “Be continually filled.” As you study the examples in the New Testament, you learn that godly men were filled on more than one occasion (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9, 52). The filling of the Spirit must be distinguished from the baptism of the Spirit. After the Day of Pentecost, the baptism of the Spirit is a one-time action that takes place at the moment you are saved, when you receive the Holy Spirit and are placed into the body of Christ (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:2, 5). Contrary to what many say, the baptism of the Spirit is not an experience subsequent to salvation that you are to seek. It is not an experience; it is a fact. But the filling of the Spirit is a repeated experience that empowers us for godliness and service. It is essentially the same thing as walking by means of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), which gives us victory over the flesh and produces the fruit of the Spirit in us. It should be the normative daily experience of every true Christian who has really become truly born a new in Christ, meaning that the formerly passive Christ in the individual has now being activated and is now making meaningful effects in the heart/mind/body of the individual’s life, he or she now understands the things of God and His word and how to live life in accordance with the Scripture and the Gospel. (2). BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT IS COMMANDED; We are never commanded to be baptized with the Spirit, but we are commanded to be filled. We should take the positive command to be filled with the Spirit just as seriously as we take the negative command not to be drunk. If you are not being filled with the Spirit as an ongoing experience, you are disobeying God! You ask, “How do I get filled with the Spirit?” To be filled with wine, you give yourself over to the wine and keep drinking, is it not. So to be filled with the Spirit, yield yourself completely to Him the Holy Spirit and keep doing it or keep giving your mind/heart to Him to indwell you by thinking all the time about Christ! If being filled means being controlled, you must continually yield the control of your life to the Holy Spirit. When you realize that you’ve taken control again, confess that sin to God and yield again to the Spirit because definitely your mind/heart must be going Off and On in Christ until you are used to keeping your mind/heart steadily in Him. If the Spirit reveals an area where you’re not yielding to Him, yield it instantly and ask Him to fill you. And, keep walking that way. You may wonder, “How do you know if you’re filled with the Spirit?” Are you aware of some sin that you’re harboring in your heart? No. Are you consciously yielding control of your life to the Holy Spirit? Yes. Are you seeking His fullness by drinking in His Word and asking Him to conform you to the image of Christ? Yes. Then you must trust that He is filling you. But, don’t be complacent about it. Keep seeking Him for a greater manifestation of His fullness in your life. Paul here gives three results of being filled: B. TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT RESULTS IN SINGING, THANKFULNESS, AND PROPER SUBMISSION IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS (5:19-21); I only have time to list these now, so we will come back to them in future messages. The participles here indicate the results of being filled by the Spirit. These may not be what we would have expected. We might have expected bold witness or speaking in tongues or miracles or something more dramatic. But Paul lists singing, thankfulness, and mutual submission. The singing is two-dimensional: we instruct one another (Col. 3:16) and we make melody in our hearts to the Lord. The three different terms for songs indicate variety. Singing with our hearts to the Lord infers at least a measure of exuberance and joy. Thankfulness is the opposite of grumbling and complaining. A thankful heart bows before God’s sovereign goodness in all things, even when we may not be able to understand His immediate purpose (Rom. 8:28; Gen. 50:20). So you see Paul dealt with the inner side of the signs of being filled with the Spirit whereas the ones that many people wants is the outer signs like bold witness or speaking in tongues or miracles or something more dramatic. Paul is telling us to first get the inward signs because it will help put your inner self right and make you more qualified for Christ use! “Being subject to one another in the fear of Christ” raises all sorts of issues in this day of “evangelical feminism,” which maintains that this does away with all gender distinctions in the Church and home; please be very careful with this notion, somehow it can mislead! But for now I will say that it clearly does not mean that, since verse 24 instructs wives to be subject to their husbands, just as the Church is to Christ (and Heb. 13:17 tells the Church to obey its leaders and submit to them). Rather, while not doing away with proper spheres of authority, “being subject to one another in the fear of Christ” means that we all must set aside our rights and serve one another in love. Christ had a right to remain in glory in heaven, but He willingly laid aside that right, took on the form of a servant, and was obedient even to death on the cross (Phil. 2:5-8). Even so, out of reverence for Him, we should have that same attitude, submitting ourselves to one another as we outdo one another in love not minding offences from one another.

Are you walking carefully in this evil world by using your time wisely for eternity, by understanding God’s will for the ages, and by being filled with the Holy Spirit? Do you see the results of the Spirit’s filling in joyous singing, a thankful heart, and in submitting yourself to serve others in love without minding whatever/offences they have meted out to you? If you’re not walking carefully, you’re living dangerously! You’re adrift without rudder or power in dangerous waters! You’re wandering aimlessly in a minefield! Confess to the Lord your carelessness and coldness of heart. Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit. Commit to get into His Word regularly. Otherwise, you risk spiritual shipwreck in life!