3/22/26 Dark & Light

Congrats to Luke and Hanna in the birth of Jeremiah Edwin Huertas

Born 3/20 at 6:57pm

6lbs 14.9 oz 20 inches

I had an incredible time this past week in Washington DC

Our team was able to share over 100 times with the South Asian community there

We also spent some incredible time in training.

Part of that training was to help us

Not to defend our faith

But to counter the arguments of another faith.

There have been many times in my life

where I believe something

And have to examine how I came to believe what I believe.

Did I learn it from some preacher?

Did I learn it from my parents?

Did I hear it on YouTube?

The issue is that unless I can ground my beliefs

within God’s Word

And be able to answer someone’s questions

By using God’s Word alone

I don’t really have a definitive answer.

I trusted the people that told me what I know.

But where did they get their information from?

Did they get their information from God’s Word?

Or did they get their answer from another preacher?

Another human source?

You can tell when your answers are from something other that God’s Word

when you get defensive about answering a question.

Because once you’ve hit the end of your resources

In your own head and heart

I know I can get defensive and irritated with answering.

Or if we are confronted with someone else’s beliefs

That we may not agree with,

Instead of searching for the truth

We get defensive.

Paul is going to give us a warning this morning.

HE has been sharing with this church in Ephesus

About how we are to renew our minds

Put on the new self that was given, bought, and paid for

Through the redemption of Jesus.

How we should imitate God

walking in love,

Avoiding things that represent the old flesh

And all this is to help ourselves to mature and grow.

And to help others see Jesus in us.

The next verses help us to renew our minds.

and focus on preparing for what comes in the world.

The next verses help us to be prepared for

The arguments that may come up

And for as James would say

The things that causes us to doubt and

Can drive us like the sea, being driven and wind tossed around.

I don’t know if anyone has ever been on a boat during a storm.

Shannon and I have been on a cruise before

And have had a storm blow through and this ginormous boat

will sway a little bit.

The bigger the boat, the less you feel, but you still feel it.

The smaller the boat, the more every little wave tends to rock it.

it’s like being at the inlet at Wrightsville Beach.

I’ve been there and where the ocean hits the Intercoastal

It can get pretty rough.

I’ve been in a 26 foot boat and it wasn’t pretty rough

And I’ve been a kayak and could barely hold on.

So I would anchor brakes to the jetty

So I wouldn’t constantly be thrown around

The waves constantly come,

and the wind constantly blows

That’s the point the Paul is trying to make.

We need to anchor ourselves to the Rock of God’s Word

So that when the wind blows

And the waves come

We are ready.

The Original Argument

Ephesians 5:6 CSB

6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.

This goes all the way back to Ephesians 4:17

Ephesians 4:1 CSB

1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,

After Paul had so eloquently put together the theology part

He got to the practical matters

and the very first practical matter to discuss was

walk worthy of the calling you received.

He then brings up how we shouldn’t walk

Ephesians 4:17–18 CSB

17 Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.

Here, Paul lists all the ways we can improve our life

Ephesians 4:22–24 CSB

22 to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Then Paul goes through the practical things we are to put away

as part of our old life in darkness

and lists seven things we should avoid

underlying the things we should do.

Then Paul bounces back to how we should act.

Ephesians 5:1 CSB

1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,

Paul gives us some of the same things to avoid,

as a repeat from the previous verses

because if your like me

we need some things repeated from time to time.

Now Paul is going to bounce back for a moment

in the other direction so drive the point home.

OK. All caught up

back to Ephesians 5:6

Ephesians 5:6 CSB

6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.

Paul is saying here that

no one gets a free pass with this lifestyle.

and don’t let anyone tell you differently

But Art, how many bad people are achieving success?

why do bad things happen to good people

but good things happen to bad people?

Have you seen the successful people of the world?

They are living in the lap of luxury

while we struggle to make ends meet.

These are what Paul calls

Empty Arguments

Empty arguments, fallacy, maybe even a logical fallacy

Here Paul is going to teach us how to critically think for ourselves

and I thought we should take a moment and talk about logic.

This is math. These are laws and there are rules to arguments.

When countries go to war

there are rules to engagement

Meaning there are things that are acceptable

And things that are international humanitarian law

When those humanitarian laws are broken

They become trials, and litigation done by the UN and other entities

Following the war.

There are the same rules for arguments whether we realize them or not.

These help people to think critically

So that when someone shares their argument

We have ways of seeing whether the argument is true or not.

I’m not talking about arguing like

Verbally sparring with someone else

Although that could be the case.

Sometimes when we hear the word argument

We think of two people yelling at each other.

An argument is simply two opposing views trying to get to the truth.

One person persuading another person to see their point.

Yesterday coming back from DC

We were in a Wendy’s and having lunch.

I was freshly trained and had been sharing the gospel

All over the DC metro area

And I saw two lovely boys dressed in the white shirts

Wearing the name tags for elder so-and-so.

They were speaking to an African

and this man was sharing about his homeland.

As with most Africans, they aren’t very quiet when they speak

And I had the opportunity to hear him mention some places

That I have been in my travels.

I waited for the Mormons to finish their argument

and after they left

I went to share my side of the argument for the gospel.

There weren’t any loud voices

Just me sharing to this man named Mitch from Liberia

And giving Him a digital copy of the BIble to read

So he can make up his own mind.

So pray for Mitch.

That’s how arguments should be handled

without screaming and yelling

Just two opposing sides

Trying to discover the truth.

However, on occasion, we will face

some folks who just want to argue

And have no truth to their argument

So let me define some things to get us started

Critical thinking is not teaching someone to be critical of other people.

Critical thinking means we think carefully.

So when we talk about logical fallacies

Logical means the way we think

fallacy is an error.

A logical fallacy is a thinking error.

Another term to look at is a cognitive bias

Cognitive means again, thinking

a bias is the ability to see things

objectively or not objectively

Now everyone believes they aren’t biased

and that would be a logical fallacy because we all are biased

because that’s how our brain sees the world.

It’s how we organize information.

So we need to recognize the biases

so we can slow our thinking down a bit

to be able to think through something logically.

Example would be

I am a man. I am a father, a husband, a son.

I have natural biases because I am a man

a husband, a father, a son.

So let me slow my thinking down

and when I come across something

I try to look at it from a different perspective.

I am a northerner, a Yankee

and I am biased because that was where I was raised.

So when I preach, I have to slow my thinking down

to try to understand what a redneck southerner might hear

and cut out the regular sarcasm that northerners normally include

because Southerners think sarcasm is of the devil

unless they are using it against you

bless your heart.

So when you slow your role a little bit

And you believe you have the truth

But also understand that everyone has a bias

you are now able to view an argument from

a different angle,

preferably from the other persons.

OK. When Paul talks about empty arguments

here are just five examples of empty arguments

or what we know as logical fallacies.

I realize these may be a little deep this morning

but I challenge you when you go on social media

Or listen to the news

To remember your bias

And see how many of these logical fallacies you can detect.

#1 The Strawman Fallacy

That’s the oddest title in the world for a logical fallacy.

Every seen a scarecrow?

Why is the scarecrow there?

It’s there to scare the crows away.

Why don’t we put a human out there?

Because what human in their right mind

would stand out in the heat and the rain

just to scare crows away.

Instead we put a human like form

made usually of straw

that is there to scare the crows away.

If the crows knew that this straw being

Wasn’t real, they would ignore the scarecrow

And eat the corn or whatever was in the field.

Instead the crows are scared away

Because what they see looks like a human

But is actually just an imitation.

The Strawman Fallacy is titled as such

for the imagery of constructing a fake, weak,

or exaggerated version of an opponent’s argument (a "man of straw")

—like a scarecrow—only to easily knock it down

This is when someone will change, exaggerate, or misrepresent

the other persons argument in order to diminish it

or to make it easier to attack.

Or they’ll take one small part of the argument and

and make it seem like that one small part of the argument

is the whole thing.

Here’s an argument

When I was teaching students

one of the things I would refer my wife to deal with

was when someone would dress inappropriately

to an event or to camp.

The typical response was

“well, that’s just all about looks.”

That’s a straw man argument

because that’s not the whole argument

there are other parts and pieces to why we would ask someone to

dress modestly because there is a certain respect

that people expect during certain situations.

Keeping with Ephesians 4-5

Paul has been contending that we as Christian believers

should maintain a different form of living

that is different from the old way we used to live.

One of those things he mentions is about anger.

Ephesians 4:26–27 CSB

26 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the devil an opportunity.

A strawman argument might be

You mean I can’t be angry about anything?

or “what really happens if you let the sun go down on being angry at someone

are we going to explode?”

“are we not going to be able to resolve our differences later on?”

“I mean, what does 24 hours really have to do

with doing away with anger?”

Notice the logical fallacy focused on the anger

and left out the part of do not sin.

That’s a straw man argument.

It takes one part of the argument

and makes it seem like it’s the whole argument.

#2 The Ad Hominem Fallacy

Ad Hominem is a Latin phrase

It means “to the man”

so the Ad hominem fallacy or the

Ad Hominem attack is when

a person attacks someone’s character

or their personal traits or motives

to try to undermine the argument

rather than trying to disprove the argument.

It would be like calling our current President President Cheeto or Orange man

or calling the former president Sleepy Joe or Mr. Potato Head

This is nothing more than glorified name calling.

It would be like calling someone a Demoncrat

or calling someone else a Deplorable.

This gets no where and avoids the argument altogether

and would be part of Ephesians where Paul says

Ephesians 4:29 CSB

29 No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

The problems with these fallacies is

when it comes across the twitter feed

or rolls across our social media page

or gets presented in a soundbyte of a speech

it goes so fast

we don’t ever slow down enough to ask

is this true? Is this actually what they believe?

Or are they just calling each other names.

Why do we even fall into this trap?

let’s continue

Because the next fallacy is what feels a lot of people in trouble.

#3 Emotionalism

If someone can get you emotional

it is so easy to get your logical thinking to go offline

and now you are wrapped up in your emotion

and people who are wrapped up in their emotions

are very easy to control.

Remember emotional are neutral

it’s how we respond to those emotions that can be sinful.

Be angry and do not sin.

Emotions are warning lights to the soul

To show us where we need to mature

This doesn’t mean that all emotions are bad.

to love isn’t a bad thing

Unless we are loving something greater than God.

In that case we could say

Be loving but do not sin.

Usually emotions crop up

because we are passionate about something.

That’s when we need to examine why we are passionate about

Whatever we are passionate about.

Passions are deep convictions that are either placed in us by God

Or rooted in us by something that we have heard.

We get passionate when we try to defend what we believe is the truth.

My brother and fellow pastor Luke

made a statement about his beliefs a few Sundays ago.

He mentioned that he believed in Calvinism.

The word Calvinism can be an emotionally charged word to some.

and from the moment he said it

it caused some in the congregation

to lose become … passionate.

Next week in the evening we are going to logically discuss the topic

so if you want to some and be part of the discussion

and can logically think through what is being presented

I invite you to come.

put your emotions behind you,

let me repeat Ephesians 4:14

Ephesians 4:13–14 CSB

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.

There is a another fallacy

#4 Relativism

Relativism is when we believe

that anything we want to believe is true must be true.

In other words there is no absolute truth.

Morality, knowledge, and standards of reasoning

are not absolute

but relative to cultural, individual, or situational contexts.

Because I grew up as a Yankee

my cultural way of thinking is my truth and therefore the truth

which means you all should conform to my way of thinking

and what I do and how I behave

is true for me

and you can all just get over it.

That’s relativism.

To which most people would respond,

“move back To New Jersey.”

Because your relativism won’t allow you to think rationally.

Relativism also means

there are no questions allowed to be asked

because whatever is true to you

may not be true to me

so why bother asking any questions.

#5 Groupthink and Tribalism

These mean “I’m part of this group and

this is what we think and believe

so if you don’t think and believe or vote this way

you must not be part of the same group I’m in.”

We have divided the body of Christ this way

because we believe that all Christians have to be Republican

Or all Christians have to be Baptist

Or all Christians have to be white

And if your aren’t, you must not be a Christian.

That is absolutely incorrect and tribalism groupthink mentality.

These are just a few of many fallacies, empty arguments

that Paul is talking about

Here’s the bottom line.

We should always go into an argument willing to be convinced.

That means we go into an argument

Seeking the truth

And submit to the fact

We may not have the truth.

When we go into a discussion putting up walls and

Not willing to hear the other side

We have dehumanized the other person in the discussion.

We should always be willing to hear the argument

and go into an argument willing to be convinced

But Art, There are some religions that I will never believe

there are some things like Calvinism that I will never believe.

When you go into a discussion with that attitude

you are more part of the groupthink and tibalism than you realize.

If I have a belief, let’s say that Jesus is the Son of God.

and I go to Morrisville or Washington DC

and get into a discussion about Hinduism or Islam

many many gods or one God, Allah

I want them to convince me that what they are teaching is right

First, because it is respectful to listen

And second, because My goal is always to get to the truth.

When the two opposing sides are questioning truth

pushing against each other

never be afraid to press it

because the goal of pressing it

is to buckle towards the truth.

So we should never be afraid to question or dig in for truth

because if what we really believe is true

it will always come back to the truth

and if it’s not, do we really want to know?

And these are just a few

so as not to bore you with logical thinking and

philosophy this morning.

and not to use these things as weapons when we

engage with other humans either.

Remember Paul said we walk in love.

So here are some of the Empty Arguments

logical fallacies that Paul is referring to.

How is it we won’t let anyone deceive us

according to Ephesians 5:6

Ephesians 5:6 CSB

6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.

Because the consequences of being deceived by an empty argument

here is the end of the line that is told to us by the Word of God

God’s wrath is coming for the disobedient.

So how important is it to know the truth now

so that we don’t get deceived by empty arguments.

moving on, we’ll talk more about this tonight.

Ephesians 5:7 CSB

7 Therefore, do not become their partners.

why?

Ephesians 5:8–14 CSB

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth— 10 testing what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. 13 Everything exposed by the light is made visible, 14 for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Light in the Darkness

So we are light in the world of darkness

or as Paul put it

we are now light in the Lord.

The Lord’s light shines through us as believers.

John 1:4–5 CSB

4 In him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

Jesus has a lot to say about light in the world.

Matthew 5:14–16 CSB

14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

God reminds us that we were once in darkness

Paul has said this multiple times and in

multiple ways throughout this letter.

We should always remember what we were and

more importantly what we deserved.

All humans deserve hell.

The purpose of the gospel, the good news

is that even though we deserve hell

God made a way for us to regain a relationship with Him

Romans 5:8 CSB

8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus had to die to be the sacrificial payment for our sin

and by placing our trust in His redemption

and following Him as Lord

we are saved from our sin

That doesn’t mean we get rid of the sin in our life

but it does mean we are saved from it in the end

and given the gift of the Holy Spirit to

guide us and direct us away from sin.

When we walk in the way of Jesus

following Him, scripture says there will be fruit

Ephesians 5:9 CSB

9 for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth—

These are telltale signs of someone walking with and in Christ.

want to see someone who is a true follower of Jesus

they are walking in goodness

They are walking in righteousness

they are walking confidently in the truth.

Ephesians 5:10 CSB

10 testing what is pleasing to the Lord.

They are testing what is pleasing to the Lord.

that means when they come up against an argument

they can press in to the truth

because they know that the truth will come out.

Not so sure about that?

Jesus had a conversation with Pontius Pilate right before he was going to be executed.

Pilate was looking for an excuse not to have to kill Jesus

The issue was that Jesus needed to be killed

to fulfill the promise that God made in the Old Testament.

So they had this conversation

John 18:33–38 CSB

33 Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?” 35 “I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 “My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 “What is truth?” said Pilate. After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him.

Here is the governor of the Roman province of Judea

you would think if someone knew what the truth was

he would be the guy.

Instead, he was standing face to face with the truth

and came up with the phrase, “what is truth?”

Here’s the thing

Pilate knew what the truth was

He gave in to emotionalism and tribalism

in order to save his own skin.

He listened to the empty arguments

and feared his own job.

He knew it too.

Ephesians 5:11–14 CSB

11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. 13 Everything exposed by the light is made visible, 14 for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Don’t tell me that Pilate didn’t know the truth.

Don’t tell me that the pharisees didn’t know the truth.

Don’t tell me that, because according to the Bible

that’s a logical fallacy.

That’s also why it is uber important for us to

Ephesians 4:22–24 CSB

22 to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Now you know how to listen for empty arguments

and not get caught into the logical fallacies of the world.

Here’s a logical fallacy

that if we work and do good

and we strive to be the best that we can be

we will be in heaven one day.

Can I tell you based upon the truth of scripture

and with all the love in my heart

that is wrong.

We were once created that way

which is why we may think that way

But because the very first man and woman disobeyed God

and passed that bloodline to every human being

God punished them and in turn us

out of paradise, out the perfect garden

into a broken world

No matter what we try to do

whether we strive for education

strive for position and success

strive to collect the most toys at the end of our life

live a good life and try to do nothing wrong

Whether we go to the mosque, synagogue, cathedral or temple every week

count rosary beads, prayer beads, pray five times a day

attend church regularly, get baptized, become a deacon or a teacher

our way to God is blocked.

The fallacy is that we can do all these things and get to heaven

and the enemy wants us to believe all that

so that we won’t go to heaven.

Here’s the truth from scripture

God knew all that and sent His Son Jesus

to come to the broken world

to die on a cross to pay for our brokenness

and rise again from the dead

so that we can have a renewed mind

and a new body

and that we can be back with God again.

Now God sends us back to the broken world

but this time we have Jesus

and it’s out job to let everyone know this story.

HAve you heard this before?

Have you made the decision to follow Jesus?

Don’t you want to be anchored to the Rock of Jesus

so you won’t be driven and tossed by the wind?

Here’s your opportunity.