Walk in Light
Eph 5:8-14
We
saw that the first three sections of Ephesians 5 deal with the metaphor of
walking; first in love, then in light, and finally in wisdom. We are at the
second of those sections this morning.
These
words come in the middle of a section of application to the Ephesian
Christians. They have come out of Paganism as Gentile believers. Paul is
establishing a strong foundation. There is no better threefold foundation that
to understand love, the light and wisdom that we may walk in their ways.
There
is an important contrast in these words. Back in 4:18, Paul wrote about their
condition back before they understood the gospel and realized its affects. Back
then, Paul reminded of life B.C. They had there understanding darkened and they
were alienated from the life of God. Not so since they were given that great
gift of faith that made them alive to God in Christ. Things changed and so did
those who believed. They are now children of light--and so are we, if we have
received the wondrous effects of the gospel.
These
words do not mean they did not understand anything, but are spiritual
words--they did not understand anything by faith. These are spiritual realities that make unbelievers very dark
and ignorant, as about the nature and perfections of God, his holiness and
righteousness; about sin and the consequences of it; about Christ, his person,
office, and work, and salvation by him; about the Spirit, and his work of grace
upon the soul; and about the Scripture, and the doctrines contained in it; and
so it came to be by sin: the understanding of man was at first filled both with
natural and divine knowledge; but man was not content with this, and being
ambitious of more, even of being as God, lost what he had; for on account of
his sin he was banished from the divine presence, which brought not only a
darkness upon him, but upon all his posterity; and which is increased by
personal iniquity, and oftentimes by Satan the god of this world, who blinds
the minds of men; and sometimes men are given up in just judgment by God, to a
judicial blindness and hardness of heart; and which issues in utter darkness,
in blackness of darkness for evermore….
Have you ever had a spiritual conversation with
someone only to see their face lose expression, their eyes any interest, their
ears to be suddenly closed and their level of engagement gone? It also happens
during preaching. People without spiritual understanding willfully remain in
the metaphorical darkness even while a floodlight of scriptural teaching is
aimed at their very heart. It has always amazed me.
Thank God, the sometimes, because he is at
work, the heart is stirred, the mind understands, and repentance and faith
follow. He illumines the understanding.
We need to know what this change in our status
really is. What is it that darkness represents? What is the light?
In Paul's defense before King Agrippa in Acts
26, we read these words: 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified
by faith in Me.'
To open eyes that had no spiritual
understanding.
To turn them from going in one direction so
they go in another more blessed one.
To turn them from the power of Satan to the or
by the power of God.
To receive forgiveness of their sins.
To receive an inheritance among the sanctified
by faith in Jesus.
This verse best epitomizes what it is to be
translated from the kingdom of darkness to that of God's own Son bthat they
might walk in light.
Let's turn to our passage: Eph 5:8-13
1. What you were
8 For you were once
darkness,
2. What you are
but now you are light in the Lord.
3. What you do
Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit[a] isin all goodness,
righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is
acceptable to the Lord.
4. Some Tangible Effects
11 And have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
5. The Shame of the Pagans
12 For it is shameful even
to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
6. The Power of the Light
13 But all things that are
exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
7. A Final Evangelistic Word:
14 Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
Let's look at the text:
1. What you were
8 For you were once
darkness,
Notice, Paul does not say, "You were
in darkness." Which is also true. But, there is a very real sense in which
they were a part of the personification of darkness in the world. It took the
power of God acting in their behalf to free them from what they were by nature.
This is the strongest statement in all of the passages where the darkness
metaphor is uses. They were in themselves whatever it was that the darkness
represented. This is more of their
background. Unless God had broken the hold of the world and Satan upon them,
they would not have been saved.
The world in the New Testament, the
cosmos, is the powers of darkness allied together either willingly or
unwittingly against God and his agenda. It takes the mighty working of God to
free any and all from that bondage in sin and of the power of sin.
The world is under the influence of the
Devil and his fallen angels. They know they are defeated, but want to take as
many human beings with them as possible. God on the other hand had a greater
purpose--to save some of those in sin. He loved the system allied against him
so much that he did what was needed to break into it and bring salvation to
some.
This is the message of John 3:16-17:
16 For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him
might be saved.
The
system allied together was already condemned by their sin. God's purpose in
giving his son is that all who believe in him would not perish as they were
going to, but have everlasting life--life of the ages. What a wonderful truth
it is. Jesus came that sinners might be saved from the hold of sin under the
dominion of Satan in the world.
It
continues: 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God.
That is what we see in
Ephesus: before they believed, they were condemned men and women under sin's
reign in or as darkness. God graciously brought the gospel to them that they
might believe on the name of Jesus. It is that gospel that brought the good
news of Jesus Christ, the light of the world.
John 3: 19 And this is the
condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
It
is not the lack of election that keeps men and women from believing, it is
their own darkness that they love. They love it because what they do is found
to be ultimately evil. Many people love evil and love to indulge in it,
especially in the dark, both metaphorically and really.
20 For
everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest
his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the
truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have
been done in God."
The light is a searchlight that exposes
what is in the depth of the mind and soul. That searchlight is the Word of God.
Once someone believes it becomes a light for their path.
The word "once" is the one that
gives us hope for the Ephesians. That is what you were; this…
2. What you are…now
but now you are light in the Lord.
The language is not that they are in the
light, but, that they are light in the Lord. BY virtue of God's work for them
in Christ and in them by the Holy Spirit, they are different than they were
throughout most of their lives. They were dead in trespasses and sins. There
were made alive. They were darkness, but not any longer--they are light in the
Lord and all that it means to be light.
The Church was to stand as a bright beacon of gospel hope in their city and to others. If you know the history in Ephesus, there were struggles. The people had to stand firm for the truth as it was in Jesus. Following Jesus shows they are in the light: John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
What
the Ephesians enjoy is entirely consistent with what Jesus promised to those
who follow him. Even to us….
3. What you do as a believer
Walk as children of light
Walking as the darkness or in the
metaphorical darkness of sin is inconsistent with the Christian life as Jesus
taught it would be. Those who will not walk as children of light has no basis
upon which to believe they are saved. If you do not know the power of God
working in you to follow in your ways, you are either backslidden or not a
believer. Walking in the dark is inconsistent with the Christian life.
Walking in the light produces its own
fruit--another important Christian metaphor. When someone looks at you, what do
they see?
The word Spirit is often footnoted.
NU--that is Nestle-Aland 27th edition and UBS 5th edition has a different
reading. That manuscript tradition reads light in the place of Spirit. Either
one of them leads us to the same place--the diving origin of these character
traits that allow us to imitate God.
Christians are made good by God.
They are covered with the righteousness of
Christ and have a new set of righteous principles within.
Christians should be concerned to know the
truth--no matter how uncomfortable is no matter where it leads. It is in the
context of the truth of God that what follows makes sense. Let me read it
Without the parenthetical statement:
walk as children of light 10 finding out what is
acceptable to the Lord.
How blessed would our lives be together
and apart if we applied ourselves to finding out what is acceptable to the Lord
and then doing it. I think some of our habits would change. Our interest in
spiritual things would be heightened even if we asked a few simple questions
with honest answers. Rather than invoking Christian liberty a lot of the time,
we would live by more pointed principles of the word: Can I do this while
glorifying God? Is this seeking first the kingdom of God? Then there are dozens
of questions to see if choices are wise.
The more light we shine within, the more
the darkness will be dispelled. That's a law of nature given special place by
their use in the word--even back to Job.
To be light, to walk in the light, give to
us a calling we might not like. It will be more difficult for some. But, being
the light has….
4. Some Tangible Effects
11 And have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
On the other hand, by comparison, don't
participate in the things others do in darkness. Don't have a part in them.
Don't give into them. They are not in line with goodness, righteousness and
truth. They are inconsistent with Christianity; they are Pagan.
Shine the
bright light on them and expose them. The
text doesn't say to tolerate them, but to expose them. Tell others about them
and their dangers. The works of darkness with send shadows into your mind and
soul, you will compromise those things God has worked in you. You will redefine
what is true, you will give into the relativist's error that truth is
person-relative, or what is good for me might not be good or truthful for you.
God defines what is true. We need to look at what he has said.
Some of us need
to think long and hard about how this is to be applied. There are some works
and some people who do them that we have to cut of our participation with them.
And, in order to expose them. Modern people don't like this reality: sometimes
to be faithful to God, we need to say no to our friends, acquaintances and even
family in order to be faithful to God. I can't give you a list because of the
shame of the Pagans. But, you know the sorts of things that go beyond what Paul
wrote in verses 1-7 and elsewhere.
5. The Shame of the Pagans
12 For it is shameful even
to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
In secret would have been in the temples,
bathouses, homes and the like. They engaged in numerous shameless acts
demonstrating they they had been given over to sin with the wrath of God upon
them. In other words, "They were in darkness without God in the
world." What is needed?
6. The Power of the Light
13 But all things that are
exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
What do you do when you lose something at
night? You get a flashlight and shine the beam near where you lost the item.
The brightness of the light contrasts with the darkness to expose what was
lost. If no light, one is left to groping around inn the dark with a slim hope
of finding the lost item.
What are people supposed to do if lost in
the woods or fields? Build a fire if you can. Searchers can see the smoke by
day and the light by night. When car dealers want to attract people to their
lots for a special deal, they get giant searchlights to illumine the night sky.
Light is used quite often as a tool to dispel the darkness. The greatest tool
to dispel spiritual darkness is the light of the world, Jesus. The good news
about his coming, his life and death is what people need to hear.
I believe that is where Paul ends this
section:
7. A Final Evangelistic Word:
14 Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
Doubtless, some in
Ephesus would have remained unchained by the light. So, the Apostle shines it
into their lives once again.
There is not one place
where we find these words in scripture. However, the sentiments are surely
found in many places, especially through Isaiah.
The Word of God is used
to call those is spiritual slumber to arise from the dead. It is a call to
spiritual resurrection and faith in Christ, the one who alone can give them
light--the truth of God that saves.
In the same way, I have
no comfort that all who are here this morning are saved people. So, I call to
you to wake up, believe in Jesus, take hold of the light, he will save your
soul.
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