Walk As Children of Light (Eph 5:3-14)

Alright. Well, what a wonderful reminder in the singing of everything that we have in Christ, that he's the one who has accomplished the victory. He's released us from our sins are chains, are broken and the life. We now live we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself up for us. That's the heartbeat of that song out of Galatians. 2:20, we are over in a fusion5 this week and work. We are just plowing through the book of Ephesians rather quickly and we're keeping in line with that we're going to be in versus 3214. I'm actually going to read verses 1 to 14 and overlap the last two verses that we covered last week. So let's read this. I'll read it. I don't, when I say read this together, I don't mean all of us together. I'm going to read it and you can listen to Fusion's 5 verse 1. Therefore be imitate Church of God is beloved children and walk in love, as Christ, loved us and gave himself up for us. A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, but sexual immorality and all the impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk, nor crude joking with your out of place. But instead, let there be Thanksgiving for you may be sure of this that everyone who is sexually immoral or in pure who is covetrus that is an idolater has no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God let no man deceive you with empty words. For because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of Disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with him for it. One time you were Darkness but now your light in the Lord walk as children of light. For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right? And true and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord? Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. But instead expose them, pretty shameful, even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed By the Light, it becomes visible.

For anything that becomes visible is like therefore it says awake o sleeper and arise from the dead in Christ will shine on you.

We're going to stop right there, I was wanting to keep going, but we're going to stop right there. We're going to cover this section. Talking about walking as children of light. And we've seen in this second. Half of the book of Ephesians, that Paul uses a number of a phrases walking in wisdom. Walking in love, walking here in light, as children of light, he's using this imagery of walking as a metaphor for our life in Christ. And Jason reference did earlier Ephesians 2:10 that were his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. For good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so now what Paul is doing is he's taking the foundation. He built in the first three chapters of Ephesians and saying everything that that the father has done to love us to bring us to Jesus everything that he's given us. In Christ in chapter 1, every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ including the gift of the Holy Spirit which is the sign of the New Covenant and he's tore down the dividing wall of partition and he's made us one. And now we're able to draw near to the father and the father is prepared. Good works that we would walk in them that the second half of this book is simply what it looks like to walk in. These good works. and what we're to what we're doing here at this week, is looking at this idea of walking as the children of light and it brings up a question in my mind, what are we to do with our culture that we live in? Are we to retreat from it? Are we to engage it? How are we to be in the world and not of the world? Because the passage before us is pretty blunt. It's pretty down-to-earth isn't it?

And so we have this challenge of what it means to walk as children of light sand and and it's it's this challenge of being in the world and not other world. It's like telling a child to clean up the guard garbage, but don't touch the dirt. How do we not get messy in the process of being in the world? And In this passage, there's only one command in verse 11. In this section, have nothing to do with the fruitless Deeds of Darkness, but doesn't that seem a bit at odds with what we heard about? Exposing the Deeds of Darkness. So Paul help us out here. What are we to do with the the culture Retreat? Embrace the combination of the two. How do we reconcile this in? And isn't this the challenge growing up in a sinful world of Fallen world? And how to be Salt and Light in Witnesses, without getting consumed by the world drawn into the world, becoming like the world. And the reason I wanted to read the first two verses, we're only going to cover 3 to 14 cuz I placed verses 1 and 2 of chapter 5 with the sermon last week, but notice what he's saying? Be imitators of God, his beloved children, and walk in love. And he says, this Walking In Love, is a picture of rooted and grounded in how Christ loved us and gave himself up for us and that he was afraid. You weren't offering and sacrifice to God and that language of fragrant offering and sacrifice. Where the old tack at Testament, sacrifice the burnt offering. The smells would rise up like a, in a Roma to God and be pleasing. And that Old Testament sacrificial system seems foreign to us until you realize what they were sacrificing was animals. Beef lamb on a barbecue, that Aroma is pleasing not just a God. But to me, I want to go use my Traeger right after this and cook it up because it just makes the mouth water and soap. What it, what an idea about this this Joy, this pleasure of what a sacrifice represented that this this idea of Warship engaging what? Pleases God? And so Paul transitions from walking in love and everything Christ has done for us as a fragrant offering to then us doing the same and walking as children of light. And I would say, just right before we dig into versus 3 that we are engaged in a worship War right now. And I don't mean music Styler instruments, whether you like the Cajon or not, you know, we had the drums before. I'm not talking about that kind of worship War of the 1980s where we were arguing over instruments, and Melody, and all of that type of thing. Always picking on the drummers are not, Jack is always the drummers. So what, what am I talking about? I'm talking about a war of worship that is rooted in our affections and desires. What are we loving? What are we Desiring? What are we pursuing? Is it worship of God or worship of the world and the idols in it? And this is at the heart of Paul. He basically says in verse five, that all of these things amount idolatry and more on that in a moment. But these two sins that tall is going to mention In this passage lust, and greed. They characterize darkness that it's not a fragrant Aroma, but rather a stench. And these two sins can often become a perfume to God's people. Drowning them, not in a fragrant Aroma, but in the stench of Darkness, that's what Paul's concerned about for these at this Ephesian Church in by application to us, and so versus 327. Paul reminds them the fruit. Darkness is death verse 3, sexual immorality. All impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints. This opposite of Christ sacrifice in verse two is what we see in verse 3. This self-indulgent sensuality, a life completely opposed to imitating God and he uses three words sexual morality which is the Greek word. For Nia, any kind of sex, act outside of marriage impurity unrestrained, sexual behavior, and covetousness, or ruthless greed. This insatiable desire to have more and if there's a progression to Paul's words here, it's moving from the outward manifestation of sin in sexual immorality, to the n-word Cravings of the heart in greed. Paul is saying that all of these things are fuel to the flame in our lives of idolatry. That's what he's going to summarize in verse five that the sexually immoral the Imperial, those who were covetrus those who are greedy, that is an idolater. Those people who practice idolatry is a lifestyle, have no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ in God. Why are these two things linked? I think the reason why Paul is picking up on lust and greed is that the consequence of these two actions you're telling God, that what he's provided is not enough. So God created sex and he created it good in the context of marriage between a man and a woman anything else outside of that is not what God intended and so pursuing sexual immorality outside of the context of a marriage between a man and a woman is basically telling God what you provided is not enough to satisfy me. Likewise with greed much more broadly that if we're coveting what others have that we don't have if we want what they have and we want to pursue it to gain it by simple means and even the desire to want it to to to be greedy for it is saying God what you've given me in my life today is not enough. I'm not satisfied with what you've given me and what are both of these things say God, you're not actually for me. You're not giving me what's good for me your withholding. And so I have to pursue it another way.

Paul moves on to speak of sexually sinful speech in verse for no filthiness. No foolish talk. No crude. Joking there how to place instead. Let there be Thanksgiving.

Sometimes these obscenities these crude joking and foolish talk at the Greek word for foolish talk is more. Alagiya more on Morris and Lagos word the stupid speech. I mean, we don't even need to know Greek to know what those two words. All right, like we know what he's getting at here foolish speech. These are culturally acceptable. Look at the entertainment industry. Not only are the acceptable. They're meant to bring us entertainment. Enjoy

Sometimes even endorsed by fellow Christians and what we need to see are greedy and immoral addictions for what they are. They're worshipping in the temple of a foreign God. Whose promises are empty. Initial worship is an issue of idolatry and when you pursue greed, when you pursue sexual immorality, you're worshipping at the Temple of a foreign God. Whose promises are empty? Why? Because that God will never satisfy and never deliver and never bring you what you want. Instead he will bring you regret and sorrow. Only Christ, satisfies only at the father's, right-hand is their fullness of joy and Pleasures forevermore. It's why c.s. Lewis in that. Now, famous quotes, as. Why would you settle for mud pies in the slum? When a holiday at Sea is awaiting, you a banquet on the ocean is awaiting. You, why would you go eat mud pies in the slum that when you settle for the things of the world in these passions you're settling for second-best. They bring temporary pleasure but not Eternal lasting pleasure.

In contrast, the response of the Child of Light is to offer up to God. Thanksgiving and verse for I'm not using my Words As Weapons as means of tearing down or means of approving sand instead I'm reminding myself that God has given me everything in. So I'm thankful to him that he is giving me what's good and if I don't have something it's because he's deemed that's what's best for me. And so I'm going to thank him even in my poverty. I'm going to thank him. Even in the lack, I'm going to thank him because he's the one who is good and does good in the one who satisfies the soul. If you experienced God's grace in Christ, you know that your response is worship. It's the response of gratitude for who he is and what he's done. Particularly in our Saviour, Jesus, it's what we saying about. And to know that that I've been created Anew in Christ, not for sin but for Holiness to know that no sin will satisfy me and have ultimate power over me because of the Lord Jesus, then I'm filled with thing for worship.

Remind me in the Old Testament of those stones of remembrance, Ebenezer, Ebenezer Scrooge. He wasn't a very thoughtful remembrance person at first. Was he but Evan at Ser in Hebrew, is a stone of help. God is a stone of helping, and if you remember the Old Testament, the story is what Israel was told to do was they were to take those stones. The very first occasion was when they cross the River Jordan and they were to take those Ebenezer Stone. So Stone of helps and stick them in the river. And the reason they were to do it, it was in days to come when they brought their kids and walked by the river with her kids. And pointed to the stones, they would say, this is how far God has brought us. He's been faithful to us. He brought us through the Jordan River. He brought us to the walls of Jericho in the walls came down. He took us into the promised land. These stones of Remembrance in the Capstone, of course, is this Passover meal in the Old Testament where they were to every year. Remember what got it done, by delivering them out of Egypt and bringing them into the promised land. We have communion that we take every week as a remembrance of who Jesus is in, and what he's done for us to remind us. This is how far God has brought us and we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing. In the Heavenly places in Christ Ephesians 1:3 And what does that do? That reminds us that those Idols in the world they didn't save us, they didn't deliver us. What do they do? They captivated us, they enslaved us. They weighed us down with chains are gone because Christ died and was buried and rose again and set us free from the law of sin and death.

Think of those times in your own life where God has been faithful to, you like a stone of remembrance, I can think he saved me at nine years old. 40 years ago now, I can't believe it. I'm getting old, I feel like I know some of you would say I'm still young. Thank you. Limit 19. I have this very vivid memory of him, scourging me as a father. Would discipline his son and teaching me not to be ruled by my emotions.

Then he brought me a wife at 21. He drove me Kicking and Screaming into Ministry at 25 years old. He providentially worked out saving my youngest daughter's life, 14 years ago when she had to have heart surgery when she was a newborn and he brought me through Unemployment during covid hard time in my personal life and not as hard as some of experience. But for me it was like a stone of remembrance that he brought me through and delivered me. And I know you have those in your life and we we love to tell those stories and I want to hear them from you because this is how God is faithful. This is what reminds us that what we're believing is true. And yes, and amen in Jesus and he does deliveries people and he is satisfying and he is all sufficient and he's all we need and we don't need to give in to the lies of the world that the dis greeter. This lust is going to somehow satisfied and make us happy. And give us peace and joy.

And These Warnings they come from a loving father versus 527. He says the first five. Be sure this to everyone who sexually immoral and pure cabbages is an idolater has no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ in God. Let no man deceive you with empty words for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of Disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them now. He's been using this word Sons throughout Ephesians in a very specific way in Chapter 2. He had said those who are dead in their trespasses and sins are sons of Disobedience, but God who is rich in Mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead, made us alive together with Christ by Grace, you been saved. And now he says, we are sons of the Living. God were inheriting. Everything is with Jesus. We've been seated in the Heavenly Realms chapter 2 with Christ and we're going to inherit all things. He said in 52-51 be imitators of God as beloved children so he's not telling us Christians that we are sons of Darkness. He say no your beloved children verse 1. Don't act like the sons of Disobedience because they're headed to the grave and don't partner with him. Don't join in with them. They don't have the inheritance. Like, you do their ongoing, continuous sinful lifestyle of immorality, and impurity, and greet excludes them from the kingdom. It's an issue of worship now. Paul's smart here. He's wise here. He knows that Christians can and do struggle with these things. That's why he's warning them. This cannot be our lifestyle. Do not become partners with them verse 7. See we may think temporarily that we gain pleasure or possessions by pursuing our lust and greed. But the reality is we may lose everything. That's what Paul's warning. What an incredible thoughts. That if any one teachers otherwise is deceiving you their words are empty thinking that you could join in with lust and greed and give into this and think it's no problem because this is what God does. Is he forgets?

What does Paul mean by partnering with them in verse 7? Well, he doesn't mean we're to have no contact with them at all. That's not what he's getting at otherwise, he told the Corinthians 1st Corinthians 5:10. You have to leave the world.

When he says we're not to partner with them, we're not to share with them in their immorality. We cannot be partners in their sin. This is at the heart of what it means to be in the world and not of the world. And he's making this contrast from versus 3 to 7 because his main point in the command is inverse 11. But the, the main point is versus 8 to 14 that the fruit of Life Is Love, Light is life. That the fruits of darkness is death in the fruit of light is life, so he's really just contrasting. The old man, the new man putting off and putting on the same thing, he was doing in chapter 4 Paul gives a positive reason in verse 8, not to partner with them at one time you were Darkness, but now your light in the Lord. So walk as children of light because of the mighty change that occurred at Salvation, the new birth, you've been as he says in Colossians 1, delivered out of the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of his beloved Son here. He says, you were once Darkness. Now your lights, and this is taking place in the Lord, your light in the Lord. And because your light walk is Children of light and because your life and you're walking as children of light, there are three results in these following verses verses 9, light is going to be reflected in your life for the fruit of light is found in all that's good and right? And true goodness. We've been created for the purpose of Good Works. Ephesians 2:10 to walk in them. Is a good-hearted missed towards others contrasted with malice righteousness. The quality of God himself, honoring, God's standards and living a holy life and Truth. Speaking the truth in love 4:15, because truth is in Jesus Chapel 4 verse 21, displaying integrity and dealing honestly, and speaking truthfully, in this fruit Divine activity, in human responsibility, you're perfectly balanced. We are light in the Lord. Now walk as children of light, it reminds me what he commanded the Philippians to work out your salvation with fear and trembling why, because God is at work, in you to work in the well, according to his good pleasure.

First 10. We see that not only is the result that light is going to be reflected out of our Lives into the lives of others, through righteousness and truth and goodness. But also we discover or discern. What pleases the Lord verse 10. Try to discern discover what is pleasing to the Lord. The word documents do in the Greek? Is this idea of putting to the test examining, to see if it's if it's good, if it's true. It's parallel to the idea of Paul and Romans 12:2 be transformed by the renewing of their minds. They may be able to test and approve, the good pleasing and perfect will of God. In fact, this is what Paul had told them in chapter 4, you learned Christ a certain way. You heard him not just you heard about him. You heard him when you came to Christ. Took to put often to put on. The focus of the truth of the Gospel is the yardstick by which we discern and test, what is pleasing to the Lord. So even in your weakness in your Frailty you can have great hope that you can know that you can, please God as a Christian because your light in the Lord

Third he says we no longer participate in the fruitless Deeds of Darkness verse 11, but instead expose them. You see he's really just taking this metaphor of light and darkness and saying light produces goodness and righteousness and truth and darkness only produces works that are useless unproductive and sterile. And so in exposing the darkness we're exposing dark words Works rather dark works. Not dark people. I'm making a little Nuance here because sometimes we can think of these things as we're exposing, the darkness of people know, we're living in such a way to glorify God, that their works are being exposed as dark, but we're living in the world in that other world in such way. Hopefully, to through the gospel. Bring them to the light. Instead of exposing them. Where to live a Godly life style and show evil to be evil, but it doesn't mean withdrawing from the world completely and when he says, have nothing to do, means what he had said earlier partnering with them partaking together fellowshipping with them. So the warning is to look at the world and say, are we exposing it or enjoying it? Are we influencing or being influenced by the world? Are we pleasing? God or self? Are we worshipping our father or idols? That's an issue with a heart, isn't it? That's a challenge. We're called to remain here to be Salt and Light. I know I've said it too many times but we can do everything else better in heaven. The one thing we can't do, better is beyond Mission sharing the gospel being ambassador's in our community. And just by living life to the glory of God, we're going to by nature of being children of light. Expose the darkness but hopefully exposing the darkness brings healing to those. Yes, some will turn away and reject the gospel, but others will come because Jesus is the Good Shepherd in his sheep, hear his voice and they follow him. He says a 12 these Deeds of Darkness are too shameful even to speak of the things they do in secret.

The verse 13, anything is exposed By the Light. It becomes visible, the light, not only exposes it transforms verse 13, it becomes visible in anything that becomes visible is why I think this is the hope that Paul saying, is that the light is, so transformative that not only does it expose the darkness, but it transforms. Those practicing those deeds in the children of Light by sharing the gospel, why he told the Corinthians and 2nd Corinthians 4:6 God. Who said, let light shine out of Darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. But we have this treasure in Jars of Clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. A faithful marriage, a Pure Life, a Content, lifestyle, gracious speech that will do far more to expose the Deeds of Darkness than any partnership with a culture. That's what Paul is getting at. It doesn't take super Christians with a super platform. Having incredible influence to change the culture of faithful, marriage of Pure Life, a Content lifestyle, a gracious speech that's going to transform the culture because it will bring people out of darkness and into the light just as the gospel did with us. That's incredibly helpful. And what Paul does is he follows up this teaching with a him verse 14. Therefore it says awake o sleeper in a rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you now. This ham is a combination of two quotations from Isaiah in chapter 26, in chapter 60 and actually Paul has been reflecting on the book of Isaiah throughout if you turn back to 2:13 now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought nearby the blood of Christ in verse 17. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. That's Isaiah 57 verse 19 over in 4:30, when he said, do not grieve, the holy spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. That's an illusion to Isaiah, 63 10, 5:14 is we just heard, Isaiah 26, 19 and Isaiah, 60 verses 1 to 2. And he's going to have one more in chapter six when he says, in verses 14 to 17 stand there for having fastened on the belt of Truth having put on the breastplate of righteousness as yours and a shoes, for your feet pudding on the Readiness given by the gospel of peace. Isaiah, 59 17, Again, in fact turn over at turn over there, for a second to Isaiah 59.

He's been kind of in this section from 57 to 60 in his thinking. I almost wonder if those were the Scrolls he had in mind as he was writing the book of Ephesians because in 57 verse 16, I'm sorry. 59 I got that backwards 59-17 he says he put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of Vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself in Zeal as a cloak and according to their deed. So he will repay. This is talking about the father, Yahweh coming and bringing judgment. But then going into 60:1 and to arise Shine for the light, Is common. The glory of the Lord is risen upon you for behold Darkness shall cover the Earth and thick Darkness, the people's, but the Lord will arise upon you in his glory will be seen upon you and Nations shall come to your light and Kings to the brightness of your Rising. So this imagery of Darkness and Light is in Isaiah in the section and it's this great. Hope that though the world is covered in darkness and God's judgment is coming, God is bringing salvation along with his coming and the light is going to shine and it's going to reach the nation's.

He had had the servants songs throughout this section of Isaiah, the four servant songs talking about as Messiah, we know, Isaiah 53. The famous suffering servant in our place. Bruised wounded for our transgressions, right? He was bruised for our iniquities. This lamb who was silent before his shearers and Isaiah, the glory of the Lord rise is over, Zion like a son and brings about a transformation of the Lord's. People. In Paul, in Ephesians, he's singing about the conversion of God's people. Moving from Darkness to light. We heard it in our scripture. Reading a John and his gospel talks about it the same way that believing the gospel is moving from Darkness to light.

What a beautiful picture. See, Paul does not have a defeatist attitude towards Society in the culture Christ is the light who is summoned readers to wake up and rise from the dead. He's shown on them so that they become light in the Lord and his children of light there to shine as a beacon, exposing the darkness around ultimately, so that those who sit in darkness may be attracted to the light and even choose to enter it, that's Paul's of vision and picture that he's putting out here. And so when he tells the church don't participate in the darkness, be what you are in Christ live. As children of light, be a beacon, a city on a hill. Jesus use this imagery. Did me. No one hides their light under a bushel to use an old when I was a kid, King James phrase. We don't put a something over the top of the candle to hide it. No, the reason we have a light is so we can see in the dark. we are that light that City on a Hill that Beacon shining saying oh that you would come and find true joy and satisfaction The lusts of this world, the lust of your flesh, the boastful pride of life. The greed that doesn't bring joy and peace and satisfaction. That brings regret and sorrow. That brings shame. That's like ashes in the mouth. Instead come to Jesus. And find everything that you've been longing for in him. Seeing those of us who've tasted of the Lord, that he's good. Those of us who've experienced this, this reminder doesn't terrify us. It did we say? Yes, of course, we found that to be true. This is how we learned Christ chapter 4. We learn to put off sinen to put on Jesus. We learned him this way when we came to him, and of course, that kind of life is a life, that's full of joy. And maybe we do need the reminder to repent of sin to stop hiding. These sins of lust and greed. Those who practice that kind of Lifestyle proved to be in the darkness and will not inherit the kingdom of God process. Sobering.

But what a hope we have in this passage thinking of Trinity Church in the mission, we have in the community to be Salt and Light. Light always wins out over the Darkness. Darkness is just the absence of light. And so may we walk as children of light. Father, thank you for this time and your word What a reminder? This world. That's all it offers up. It offers up, empty promises.

promising to satisfy the lust and greed of the hearts of men. But it never delivers. instead, we have a gospel message, we have an offer that Has proven Faithful over and over and over again.

At your right hand is fullness of joy and Pleasures forevermore.

You've proven yourself faithful. To me for these past 40 years over and over and over again. May you encourage my brothers and sisters do not grow weary in well-doing?

To not give in to the desires of the flesh thinking that they will satisfy. But to be reminded of what's true in the gospel, what's true? Everything that they have in Christ, The Inheritance waiting for them, the the whole played up. The treasure laid up for them in heaven on perishable, undefiled thieves won't break in and steal moth and rust, won't wear it out and destroy it. it is certain and sure as our lord Jesus said,

Where are treasure. Is there are heart will be also.

Tune our hearts too long for the treasure. That is you. That is Christ by your spirit. Do this work? I pray in Jesus name. Amen.