THE WAYS OF THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH

Eph. 5:15-16 ... "Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."

      Throughout the Bible there is the division of people into two categories, those who are wise and those who are fools. A "wise man" is defined in Pro. 1:5 as a person who "will hear and increase in learning."  A "fool" is then defined in v.7 as one who "despise(s) wisdom and instruction." Although the wise listen to instruction from any source and devote themselves to learning its message, first and foremost they devote their attention to "the fear of the Lord" which is "the beginning of knowledge" (v.7). And though fools usually disregard instruction of any kind, their greatest folly is to ignore God's revelation. Throughout the Old Testament, but especially in the book of Proverbs, attention is focused upon the differences between the wise and the foolish, counseling us to be wise in order to benefit from its results and to avoid being foolish in order to escape its tragic consequences. In the lead text above, the apostle Paul projects his exhortation against that great expanse of inspired counsel from the past.

      It is characteristic of the wise to walk carefully, which means to choose your path of life with great care. The King James translation here reads to "walk circumspectly." There is perspective expressed in the term "circumspectly," which is formed from the Latin circum (around) and spectare (to look). The idea is that as a person moves forward in life, he should be carefully looking at the scene about him. He looks forward to what he can perceive is about to confront him. He looks left and right to the actions of others, and even occasionally looks backward to remember lessons that past experience has taught.

      No one can actually see into the future, but the wise man will be so astute an observer of current trends and probabilities that he can fairly predict where he is headed and takes action appropriately. The fool is so preoccupied with the frivolities of the moment that he takes no thought of where he is going and suffers greatly from the consequences. We are told in Pro. 22:3 that "the prudent man sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on and are punished for it." The wise man studies the behavior of other people to see whether it conforms to or departs from the canons of righteousness. If it conforms, then he associates himself with those people and participates in their activities, but if it varies from that norm, he avoids those transgressors and disapproves of their ways. The wise are urged in Pro. 1:10, 15-16, "If sinners entice you, do not consent. ... Do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, for their feet run to evil and they hasten to shed blood." The wise apply their memory to hold on to lessons learned in the school of experience and those learned from godly teachers, so that they may be able to put them to good use in the present. Christians are urged in Heb. 2:1 to "pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it."

      Finally, Eph. 5:15-16 counsels us to "mak(e) the most of your time." This may be translated as "redeem the time." In the literal sense, past time cannot be redeemed (recovered), for past time is with God and cannot be purchased with the wealth of nations or extracted from Him with the power of the universe. But it is well within our power to make the best use of present opportunities to improve our lives, minister to others, and produce fruit for our Master. A wise person will fine-tune his perception to see opportunities, shake off the common tendency toward inertia, and press forward to exploit them.  Our prayer should always be: "Lord, open my eyes to see the good that I can do today; and give me the boldness to undertake it, and the resolve to see it through to completion and success."

PUTTING ON A NEW SELF

Eph. 4:22-24 ... "In reference to your former manner of life, ... lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit ... and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

      The greatest change that can occur in a person's life is being converted into a Christian. The pre-conversion state is here called "the old self," while the post-conversion state is called "the new self." In other words, the individual leaves one identity behind and acquires a wholly new one. It is as though yesterday you were one person, but today you have become someone quite different. You may look the same, talk in the same voice, and express the same mannerisms, but there is something very different about you.  In the latter fourth century in the city of Hippo in North Africa, there was a young man named Augustine. He was a playboy, given to the immediate gratification of any lust that swelled up within him. He was intimate with the prostitutes of the city and loved their company. He went to Milan, Italy, to advance his education and there met Ambrose, a devout Christian scholar. He was able to penetrate the mind of Augustine and influence him to become a Christian. Augustine's life was then totally changed. When he finished school, he returned to Hippo. One day, as he walked down a street, a former friend and harlot saw him and called to him. Augustine did not respond, but hurried on his way. The woman ran after him, calling repeatedly. Finally, she yelled, "Augustine, it is I!" Without looking back, he answered loudly, "Indeed, but it is no longer I!" He was not the same inner self as she last knew him.

      So radical is the transformation in becoming a Christian that it may be compared to death and resurrection. In Rom. 6:3-5 we read, "All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection."  Being converted to Christ involves death to your former manner of life and the attitudes that supported it, and rebirth to a different manner of life directed by new attitudes adopted from the mind of Christ. In fact, this conversion can even be described as miraculous, for it produces a "new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." Only God has the power to create, and so only God can create the "righteousness and holiness" that come to characterize the Christian. In the act of conversion, which according to Rom. 6:4 (and other passages) occurs in baptism, God works to destroy "the old self which is ... corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit" and then to create "the new self" by being "renewed in the spirit of [his] mind."

      These fundamental changes that take place with a person's mind and soul are invisible to human sight, but the resulting changes in his behavior are soon apparent to others, as Augustine's were to the harlot. In Eph. 4:25-32, this transformation in conduct is described in several particulars. First, a lying tongue is exchanged for truth, which is the only basis upon which fellowship can be built and then maintained (v.25). Second, one gains control of his anger and cancels it before the day is out, thus denying the devil the opportunity to tempt him (vs. 26-27). Third, rather than take advantage of others to dispossess them, one strives to earn his own living and even have something extra to share with the needy (v.28). Fourth, the convert to Christ cleanses his mouth of corrupt speech, replacing it with words that are good, edifying and graceful (v.29). One day I was talking with a man about a mutual friend who had been converted one Sunday. He worked beside this man in a factory and had noticed quickly  "a remarkable difference even before he told me he had given his life to Christ." It was this man's habit to use foul speech constantly as he worked, but that Monday he did not use a single wicked word. Fifth, the "new self" in Christ dispenses with his former disposition to be bitter, wrathful, angry, loud, and verbally abusive. Rather, he builds a new disposition to be kind, tenderhearted. and forgiving. He is so overwhelmed that God for Christ's sake has fogiven him of his sins that he finds it not difficult to forgive others when they irritate him.

      The goal of the one who has been created anew as a Christian is to please God who granted him this delightful condition of life. Sin grieves the "Holy Spirit of God," and in the vast debt of appreciation he owes this Spirit, who has "sealed [him] for the day of redemption," he devotes himself to avoiding sin (v.30). Pleasing his Savior is now this greatest satisfaction, and unto that purpose he gladly devotes the remainder of his life.

A MAN OF HUMILITY

Eph. 3:8 ... "To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ." 

      In this statement Paul takes a liberty that he cautioned against in II Cor. 10:12, where he urged Christians not to "measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves." In that context he was warning against the tendency to compare oneself with someone who seemed to be inferior in order to exalt oneself and boast. Paul resorts to the comparison in this context, but the result is neither self-exaltation nor boasting. Much to the contrary, after putting his life up against "all saints," he declares himself to be "the very least." He recalled the time when he scorned the name of Christ and vigorously persecuted the church. He could not raise himself above those who had never tried to inflict harm upon the Divine Cause, not even when, before they became Christians, they were not supporters of it. Although an apostle by the will of God and not man (Gal. 1:1), Paul felt himself inferior to fellow Christians who were not apostles, but who had never been overt, avowed enemies of the Lord.

      What we see in this remarkable statement by a man of superior capacities, (many have called him a genius), is profound humility. Here was a preacher who applied his own teaching to himself in earnest, for it was he who wrote in Php. 2:3-4, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Paul had much to boast about. He had seen the risen Lord in the zenith of the sky (Acts 9). He had received revelations of surpassing greatness and had even been "caught up into Paradise," the "third heaven" (II Cor. 12:7, 2, 4). But he did not permit these extraordinary distinctions lead him to pride and arrogance, for he knew well that God hates the "proud look" (Pro. 6:17 KJV). Furthermore, Paul had learned Christian love and had clothed his heart with its beautiful mantle. Such love "does not brag and is not arrogant" (I Cor. 13:4). In the effort to be loved by God and then be able to share that love with others through his ministry, he  humbled himself before God and man. With respect to other Christians, even those of the least ability and lowest standing, he considered it his privilege and joy to sacrifice his life in order to promote their faith.

      We need people in the church today who possess the humility of Paul. Perhaps this need is most acute among those who minister publicly like Paul did. Each one who serves in such a capacity should search his heart to determine whether he covets the attention and praise of the church to promote his career, or whether he performs his work to please God and best use the talents God has given him. Those whose motive is, in reality, self-exaltation exhaust their reward as that attention, praise, and a "following" of brethren come to them (Mat. 6:2, 5, 16). Once there was a meeting of preachers and leaders from a wide area to honor an elderly preacher who had served the Lord for above sixty years. The purpose of the gathering, however, had been kept secret from him. Several men were asked to come to the platform, among whom was this white-haired and somewhat stooped gentleman. As he started up the steps, the whole assembly, by prearrangement, rose and began a great ovation. But the elderly man instinctively stepped aside to usher the man behind him up to the platform. The thought did not occur to him that the honor was for himself. How touching his humility! How powerful his quiet, unassuming example! How much had he absorbed the mind of Christ, instead of just preaching it from the pulpit with the ulterior motive of eliciting the attention, praise, and awe of a multitude. The Lord proclaims in Isa. 66:2, "To this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word." We all would do well to pay heed to this exhortation.

      

CREATED IN CHRIST FOR GOOD WORKS

Eph. 2:10 ... "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

      A Christian is the "workmanship of God" in a double sense. First, he is biologically the creation of God, for Gen 2:7 reports that "the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Second, he is a special creation of God, for Eph. 4:24 states that "in the likeness of God [he] has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." Both of these acts are works of God that only God can do. The apostles of Jesus once asked Him, "Who can be saved?" His answer was, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God," (Mrk. 10:26-27). To be "saved" in the sense meant by these disciples is equivalent to being made a Christian. Therefore, the power required is not with human capacity, either with repect to the person himself or to another. It is the work of God alone!

      A question that is both intriguing and very important is, "Why did God create man biologically and spiritually?" The answer to the biological purpose is given in Gen. 1:28.  Just after God had created man, he commanded him to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (This, it may be noted, is the only command given by God that man has generally consistently obeyed.) The answer to the spiritual purpose is given in the lead text above:  God creates a Christian "in Christ Jesus for good works." There is a type of work that only Christians can do to His satisfaction, so God creates Christians from people of the world to do that work.  This work has been "prepared beforehand" by God; that is, He determined its nature and scope "before the foundation of the world," (Eph. 1:4). With His infinite foresight, God planned out the scheme of His eternal kingdom and its operation to the smallest details before He laid the foundation of the earth and brought forth man to inhabit it.

      It is especially important that Christians notice the force of the word for in the phrase "for good works." It denotes that it is unto this purpose that God honors us to become Christians, which means we are His children, members of His kingdom, and prospective residents of heaven. Christianity is not only a religion of BEING but also a religion of DOING. Jesus said in Jno. 9:4, "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work." Jesus is our "example" (model) according to I Pet. 2:21. He was commissioned by His Father to perform certain works in His earthly life, and He acutely felt the urgency of doing them while He had time and opportunity. He emphasized it with the imperative, "must work!" If we follow His example, which is the only way to eternal life (Jno. 14:6), we must become Christians and then devote our attention to performing the works God has ordained us to do. There seems to be a prevailing attitude that just to become a Christian is enough to secure your soul for both this life and eternity following. The feeling is that it suffices to be baptized into Christ, to be identified as a member of a certain congregation, and then to go on with your life as you wish. Regular attendance at church to explore the Scriptures, to worship God, and to fellowship with other Christians is not deemed essential. To try to convert those who aren't Christians, to perform acts of mercy in Jesus' name for people who are suffering, and to try to develop a Christlike mind and mode of behavior are also thought to be optional. This phrase, "created in Christ Jesus for good works," however, shows just how wrong this prevalent view is. In Mat. 22:14 Jesus said, "Many are called, but few are chosen." The "few" who "are chosen" are those who activate themselves to do those good works. (See Mat. 25:31-46)