Arise! Christ Will Give You Light! (Ephesians 5:6-14)

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Well, this morning we're going to continue our series in the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, and we'll be looking at verses 6 through 14. Ephesians chapter 5, you can find that on page 1040 of your provided pew bibles. Ephesians chapter 5, beginning at verse 8.

Hear now God's holy and perfect word. 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 the light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

And 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. Well, in the reading of God's word there, the grass withers and the flower fades, but brothers and sisters, the word of our God endures forever.

Well, corporations pay big money. Corporations, businesses, entities will pay big dollars for people who are able to convince, persuade, to talk you into stuff. Whether it's buying their stuff, buying their ideology, or just getting into their group. Corporations spend big money to convince you about doing something. But it's interesting, corporations will also pay big money for people to be trained to spot liars. Corporations will spend big money to send people to training for here are the 15 telltale signs that somebody is lying to their manager.

Are they shifting in their chair? Are they repeating the question back to you? Are they not looking you in the eyes? Are they saying, I would never, you can trust my integrity and little telltale signs like that, that somebody is lying to you. And here, Paul is telling us, There's a deceit. There's a lie that we need to be careful for. There's a lie today that is alive and well that was the same lie back then. The lie of carnal Christianity. The lie that we can sin that grace might abound. The lie that because Jesus has washed us in his blood, we don't need to worry about our sin. We can just keep going on in the deeds of darkness.

And Paul says, hold on, press the brakes, slow down here. Something's wrong with that. You can sniff that out and smell that that's not coming from the right end. So we need to be careful today and we need to take heed of what Paul is saying here, how we live as children of the light. How we live as children of the light. So first, you need to be alert. You need to be alert. Look with me at verses 6 and 10. Verse 6 says, Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things a wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

And then verse 10, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. That word they're finding out is dakemadzo. It's the idea of testing, proving. It's the idea of making sure that something is what it really says it is. So we are to test what is acceptable to the Lord.

People were coming to the Ephesians and they had smooth words for them. People were coming to the church in Ephesus and they had nice things to say. They could spin their words to make it seem like they were holy people while their lives screamed unholy, unholy, unholy. They were able to convince people with words that this was the truth, that somehow you could live an unrighteous life even though you were called to righteousness.

And Paul is saying it's empty words. They don't actually have substance. Have you ever met that? Have you ever had this happen before when you've been talking to a child who's disobedient, and you know they've just done something disobedient, and they will try their hardest to explain to you and to justify why what they did was not disobedient or not wrong, and they will come up with a million excuses in the world. Well, that's what Paul is saying here, that there are people who do this theologically. They'll come up with every reason.

Let me just encourage you, brothers and sisters, people will say things like, well, I know the Bible says that, but I've prayed about it and I have peace. No, no, if the Bible said no, you're not to divorce your spouse for that reason. It doesn't matter if your heart feels like this is okay. God's word has given us a pure standard. And people say this stuff with, oh, well, I know that I'm not supposed to be unyoked with unbelievers, but I really love him and I've prayed about this and I just have a sense of peace about it. No, no, hold on, you just talked yourself into something that God's word has explicitly told you. That's not being an imitator of God, that's following our hearts.

And this world will try to tell you all the time, oh, if you don't think that the world is trying to sell you their philosophy, go turn on a Disney movie for 10 minutes. Go turn on a TV and hear what the world is trying to sell you. Go watch, just go watch some television and you'll see that there's all sorts of appealing words that they'll try to give you. And I'm gonna warn you, these are appealing things.

But remember the context of this, verses one through five. Remember the context of this. There's a whole list of sins that Paul has given. I felt so good leaving on vacation after preaching verses 1 through 5. I thought, wow, that's a really dour way to leave, give you guys all these lists of sins.

But yet, this is exactly the context of this. These are things that are naturally appealing to us. We naturally go after the sensational feelings of the things of this world as we look down and we see the things we want and the gratification we desire and they're appealing to our physical fleshly nature. And yet, as people are trying to say you can do these things and still be a Christian, Paul is saying, watch out.

Hold on, that's not from God. Those are vain and empty words. And indeed, indeed that's what Romans chapter one says. Because of these things, the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience. The children of this world, because of these very acts, this is why God is angry.

Now I gotta say, you know I love grace. You know I love grace. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not a result of works, lest anyone should boast. That is the heart of the Christian gospel.

And yet, I wish Jordan and Molly were here. I only got on Facebook a few times while we were on vacation, and one of the times I got on was to be called a heretic by someone. Because they were trying to say, well, I don't sin anymore. And I said, oh, come on, you've read the book of 1 John. You know what that says about you if you say you don't sin? You deceive yourself and you make God a liar. And they said, well, well, well, hold on. But my issue is that you guys who love grace, what you do is you want to say that people can keep on sinning. And I'm sitting there going, no, hold on. Hold on.

It's like you've never read the book of Romans before. When Paul spends the whole thing the whole seven chapters of talking about the grace of God. And then he asked the question, so should we just keep on sinning that grace might abound? May it never be. We spent the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians looking at the gift of God's grace, of his electing salvation, of the joy he has in bringing children into his light.

Second Point

But yet there is a outflowing of righteousness that happens from our new nature. So we need to be careful as a church. That's our second point. We need to be careful as a church. Because if Paul knew that people would come to this conclusion that they can just keep sinning because grace is always there, it's going to be a problem in our church. It's going to be a problem in every church in every age.

Look with me at verses seven and 11. Therefore do not be partakers with them, and then verse 11, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Do not be, verse seven, partakers with them. Do not have, verse 11, fellowship with them.

What's this talking about? Is this saying that anything and everybody who is sinful in the world, we just need to stay completely away from them? No, that's not actually what this is talking about. I want you to turn over just for a second to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. This is a very important passage. This is why we're not separatists from the world. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people, yet I certainly did not mean the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters.

Why? Why isn't he talking about everybody in the world? Since then you would need to get out of the world. Paul isn't saying you need to be a separatist from everybody in the world and everything that is stained in the world because if that was the case, you would have to leave this world.

But now I have written to you to not keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater or a viler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not to even eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those who are outside? Did you not judge those who are inside, but those who are outside God judges? Therefore, put away from yourselves the evil person."

We need to be careful as a church. I'm telling you, I warn you week after week after week that you're going to walk into a world that you breathe noxious, sinful air. You live in an atmosphere polluted by sin. Every breath you take, every person you interact with, you are going to be affected and be tempted by the sin that is around you. But that's not what this is talking about.

What we're dealing with in chapter 5 in Ephesians is right here. What we're dealing with in Ephesians chapter 5 is the church. We went all through chapter four where God was telling us about the blessings of the church and the gifts of unity and how we're to build one another up.

But here Paul is saying, hold on, if there's people who call themselves brothers in the church and they look like verses three through five, something's wrong. If we come into the church and we see people who are engaged in fornication and uncleanness, covetousness, things that aren't even to be named amongst the saints, something is wrong.

But it still happens in the church. It happened in the church in Corinth. It happened in the church of Galatia. It happened in the church of Ephesus. It happened in the churches all throughout the world. This is why when someone says, oh, when you become a Christian, there's no more sin, hold on. Hold on, that's not what the scriptures are saying. The scriptures are saying when we have that issue, what are we supposed to do? What are we supposed to do? Well, we expose it. We expose it.

Hold on, things just got a little bit uncomfortable in here. I mean, if there's like one cardinal rule of American Christianity, it's don't butt into my business. Don't make me uncomfortable. It's okay if you're talking to me in the pew. No, no, no. Consumer Christianity, come in, get your coffee, hang out, see your friends, leave the door, don't deal with actually any sin issues in each other's lives, but that's not what the church is.

That's actually one of the things I'm really concerned about the church today. I mean, we have a number of our congregation who, for good reasons, aren't here in the midst of us. But if we aren't sharing our lives with each other, We can't expose those deeds of darkness. We can't exhort one another. We can't encourage one another. We can't challenge one another when we just see each other virtually, because it's too easy to log off. Look with me at verses 11 and 13.

I don't want you to just take my word for it for this exposing of the darkness, but this is what God says. And have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. We expose those deeds of darkness.

Why'd you come here? That's an honest question. In your mind, what made you come to church? What made you come and sit through a guy who has a broken watch and can't keep track of time? What made you come and sit here this morning? Was it to worship a holy God? Was it that you might become more holy as He is holy?

We come as a church gathered together as those declared saints. We have a declarative righteousness. We have a declarative holiness. God has said we are his holy ones. And yet he is conforming us more and more to the image of Jesus as well. And that happens in the church as we expose those deeds of darkness.

You don't come to Jesus Christ when you have a baby infant faith, when you first trust in Jesus Christ, and then all of a sudden, boom, no more sin, no worries, no issue, everything is easy. No, that's not the case. I think a lot of people come to Christianity and they think it's kind of like how people come to gardening. Have you ever met someone who just starts gardening for the first time? Oh man, they think this is going to be so easy. They get these little starter plants from the store and they put it in the ground and they just think it's going to, you know, and they're going to have all this food and not any work and it's just going to be wonderful and they're going to get to sit down and just eat the fruits of their laziness.

But that's not how it works, is it? No, fruit takes cultivation, fruit takes work, fruit takes paying attention, watering, and feeding, and trimming, and pruning, and there are things in our lives that need pruned. And so when we get around each other, we're able to challenge each other that way. Now there's some clear ways that God tells us this, and it's not that like, you know, Oh, I'm so thankful it's not this.

I'm so thankful it's not, if I have any sin, Olivia should get up here and every Sunday tell you every single one of my sins. Now that would be exposing some deeds of darkness, because she would tell you all about some selfishness and anger and stuff and gluttony, which I've already told you, but feel free to keep me accountable. But what does Matthew chapter 18 tell us? Matthew chapter 18, beginning at verse 20, says that if we see our brother sinning against us, what do we do?

Well, you don't need to run to pastor first. You don't need to go run and tell your best friend in the other pew either. You go and you talk to that person. You go and you confront that person as light confronting darkness. Not that that person is so far away from the gospel that they can't repent. The whole goal here is for restoration and for holiness, that they might be imitators of God as dear children.

But the point is that you go to that brother or sister individually, and you say, hey, look, I saw this, and I'm concerned. I saw this, and I don't think this is right. Maybe you were having a bad day. Maybe it was just a bad decision, but something's wrong.

Do you need help? Can I hold you accountable? Do you need me to call you? What's up? And if they still won't listen, if this is a persistent sin and you've talked to them about it, and it may be multiple times you've talked to them about it, what do you need to do then? Well, if somebody else has witnessed it, you need to bring in a second person. And together you can take two or three witnesses and you can go and you can talk to that brother, invite them over, invite that sister over for a meal and say, hey, we got something hard to talk to you about. But see, there's a difference here, isn't there?

People see the church as judgmental. And if there's anything our culture hates, it's judgmental. Unless you disagree with their opinion, then they'll judge you all they want. But no, there's a difference between gracious judgment because you desire someone to grow in Christ and judgmentalism, which is just nitpicky. Which is, I'm going to find every single thing wrong with you, and I'm going to pick you apart. I just don't like the way you do that. And that's not actually sin, but you just shouldn't do it that way. Now, that's a type of foolishness that you're able to say, give me a break. It's OK. I do it my way. You do it your way. That's all right.

But when we're dealing with real sin, we need to. But sadly, sadly, there are people are like, who are like that seed thrown upon the bad soil. And the deceitfulness of wealth and the cares of this life choke out that seed. And though it seemed like they were a true plant, though it seemed like they were on healthy soil, they come into our midst. They might even join our membership.

And they live, they might have even taught a Sunday school class, but they find themselves in a sin that has so ensnared their hearts, so it's become a habitual pattern of who they are that they refuse to see how serious this is. It's at that point at which we expose it to the church. That's the very last step that Jesus himself says in Matthew chapter 18. After you've gone to them with two or three witnesses and they still won't repent, Bring it to the church.

Talk about uncomfortable. Let me ask you, does uncomfortable mean wrong? No. No. No, the desire is to see someone repent of sin and to take holiness seriously. And this, by the way, You know, there was a church discipline case a while ago and a man came up and he talked to me and he was like, well, you know, does that mean like we expose every sin or what? And so I was trying to give him different examples.

And I was just like, you know, if you're dealing with gluttony, that's a sin. And you got to deal with that sin. And by all means, your wife can or your husband can confront you about that sin. But it's probably not something, unless you're getting to a weight that is, you're killing yourself, it's probably not something that needs to be brought before the whole congregation. But we as brothers and sisters can go and talk with that person and try to encourage them.

But, but if somebody is writing bad checks, If somebody is writing bad checks all throughout the community and it's starting to steal from people even outside the church and it's starting to defame the name of Jesus Christ, yeah, there's an issue. You see, if there's someone in the church and they've come here and they've taken vows to their spouse to love them and to uphold the bonds of Christian marriage as God has ordained, And then they go out and they have an affair, and they're not willing to repent of that affair, then yeah, that's something that needs to be exposed. If there's somebody who's being greedy and stealing from people, that's what Paul said in chapter 5 verses 3 through 6, which is idolatry. It's very common amongst men, but most obnoxious to God.

That's something that needs to be dealt with. And so this is where you need to be praying for the elders as they think about how to handle this. Because there's a whole subsurface level of church discipline that happens that thank the Lord none of y'all know about. Sin that's confronted on a one to one, two to one, three to one basis before it ever gets here. And when somebody, when John or Jim or I have to come up here and read an official position exposing that light, it means that there has been months, months of prayer and counseling and talking and reaching out to and desiring to care for that person again and again and again. By the way, this is not some type of announcement that something's gonna happen.

Closing Prayer

This is just saying this is what God's word says. Let's pray that this doesn't happen. But you pray for your elders that they would have wisdom with this. To expose the deeds of darkness. I'm not sure if that clock is right or not, so I'm just gonna keep going. If I'm wrong, somebody just give me a. But there's a reality, why do we do this? Why does God tell us to expose these deeds of darkness?

Because you were once darkness, but God has made you light in Christ. See what Ephesians chapter two verses one through nine said is that you were dead in your sin and transgressions in which you once walked. You once walked as children of disobedience. You once walked in the darkness, but you are no longer children of the darkness. You are no longer sons of disobedience, but you are children of God.

That's why we imitate God. You are now children of the light. And so you need to know who you are, Christian. You need to know who you are. Look with me at verse eight. For you were once darkness. Now isn't that interesting? It doesn't say you were once walking in the darkness. It doesn't say you were once surrounded by the darkness. It doesn't say you were once in the darkness. It said you were once darkness. Your heart was dark. Your mind was dark. Your reasoning was dark. Your affections were dark. You desire in your inner man the detestable things that would be done in secret dark places. You were once darkness.

But now you are light in the Lord, in Jesus Christ. If you are in Jesus Christ, if you have been raised up with his resurrection, if he has given you new life, you are light in the Lord. This is exactly what Jesus tells us, doesn't he? In the Sermon on the Mount, what does he say? You are to be what?

Salt and light. No one lights a candle to put it under a bushel, but no, you let it shine that it might fill the whole room. Nobody hides a light, but you put it upon a hill that everybody might see. You are children of the light, but if your life is surrounded by deeds of darkness, that light seemed dim and gray, tinny and wrong. who are children of the light.

This is why chapter five, verse one says imitate God as dear children. We are holy children of the light. This is why we do not toy around with sin because we hate the deeds of darkness. This is why in our own lives we have to be self-critical. This is why as God's word shines light into our hearts and into our lives, we realize that there are things we gotta get rid of. There are sins we need to put to death. There are things in our lives, attitudes, affections, desires, emotions, attitudes that need to be done away with because they're deeds of darkness and not deeds of the light.

You are, now this is very important, I've been telling you this since chapter two, and I'm gonna keep saying it to chapter six. You are children of the light. God has done this, God has saved you, God has loved you, God has poured out the spirit of Jesus Christ upon your heart and in your life, and out of that new nature comes holiness. You do not become a child of God by being holy, but because you are a child of God, you become more and more holy. Do you see the difference? One is saying, I am good enough that I can reach up to God and I can be His child.

But the gospel is, no, no, no. You were dead and I made you alive. You were a son of disobedience and I made you a daughter of grace. You were one who deserved wrath and condemnation, the anger of God, and I have made you my beloved child. Now imitate me, child.

Do you see the difference of the grace of God here that we don't play around with sin, we don't toy with sin because we know the depths of God's grace. We don't toy around with sin, we don't mess around with the deeds of darkness because we want to imitate our Father, because we love Him, because He has poured out His love for us. This is what the children of the light do, and that's what God calls us to do is to walk as children of the light. Look with me at verses eight and nine.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the world. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Brothers and sisters, because Jesus Christ has given you new life, you can walk in the light. Jesus is the light of the world and you as children of that light get to walk as your older brother walked. You as children of the light by God's grace now get to live in response by walking in the light. The pattern of your life is not in darkness, but in light. If you find areas in your life that are darkness, God says, repent, turn away from that darkness and walk in the light.

It's gonna be hard. Oh brothers and sisters, walking in the light is hard. This is why we come each Sunday to be reminded of the light of Jesus Christ. This is why we need to be in God's word each day, right? What does God say in Psalm 119? Your word is a lamp unto my feet. We come to God's Word that we might see the light of the path, that we might go in righteousness, that we might see Christ and be more and more like Him.

Brothers and sisters, walk in the light because you are children of the light. His Spirit is in you and you get to do righteousness. You who were once children of wrath can now do righteousness. Those who once loved the deeds of darkness and of unrighteousness, of things done in secret, not even to be named in the light, are now to walk in the light. You who once might have deceived others and walked in deception can now do truth. Truth, righteousness, goodness, the fruit of the Spirit. the fruit of the light that God has poured out in your life.

God wants you, God is working in you, that you might do the good works which he prepared in advance for you to walk in them. God has prepared good work for you to do. God has prepared sin for you to repent of. God has prepared a path of light for you to walk. God has prepared a way of holiness for you to tread. God has prepared a way. of brilliancy to walk in his marvelous light.

So Christian, awake, oh sleeper. You who have been so dull to your sin, arise and live in the light. You who once walked in the deeds of darkness and have become complacent even with your acceptable or respectable sins, you arise for the light of Jesus Christ is shining upon you. Walk in the light as children of the light because God has shown his light upon you. Do not be satisfied with this world. Do not be satisfied with the deeds of darkness, but long, long, long for the light of God and dwell in it all your life.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you so much for the light of Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, for illuminating our souls. We pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit would use a torch of your light, that you might seek out those corners of darkness in our hearts, that we would repent of them, that we would flee from them, and that we would be more and more like Jesus. Father, we pray that you would not leave us dull to our sin, complacent in our disobedience, but Father, you would make us long in thirst and hunger for righteousness. God, please, please, Lord, you have told us that we are your children. Let us look more and more like it.

In Jesus' name, amen. And thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.