Walking in Light, Eliminating Shadows
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Walking in Light is Our Priority - v. 6-10
Walking in Light is Our Priority - v. 6-10
God’s first priority also - LET THERE BE LIGHT!
It ought to be our goal to separate the Light from Darkness.
Wherever we go, it should be an insertion of light!
Because verse 8 says, “you WERE ONCE darkness, BUT NOW you are LIght in the Lord.
LIGHT IS NEEDED in Philosophy and Doctrine!
LIGHT IS NEEDED in Philosophy and Doctrine!
Don’t Fill Our Heads with Empty useless Philosophy and Deception, v. 5-7
Don’t Fill Our Heads with Empty useless Philosophy and Deception, v. 5-7
WORDS
WORDS
This is the word - LOGOS - which means words, or by implication statements, subjects of discourse, reasoning —> What are you reasoning about?
The Enemy seeks to turn us astray by the subjects, the reasoning, the doctrine we are considering?
Reading material
Internet
Streaming Content - Americans are averaging 8 hrs a day of streaming content during this quarantine.
https://disrn.com/news/americans-spending-13-of-every-day-streaming-content-during-lockdown
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
Don’t think for a moment that every movie or TV show we watch doesn’t have presuppositions as they plan and create plots.
v.7 - If you discover that they are evil - don’t hang out with them! Our influences can eliminate the shadows or create shadows.
Here we are called to live in the light - be People of the Light.
Examine the content of our intakes - Eye Gate and Ears.
We are the Light, Live as Children of Light
walk = live
how do we walk/live - fruit of all GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, TRUTH
Trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord = walk of a disciple.
Goodness
Righteousness
Truth
Hard to find entertainment that is driven with these three things...
If we were to put these boundaries around what we watch, listen to, speak of - think of what it would do to our content - our input and output.
Children of Light Expose the Shadows.
Children of Light Expose the Shadows.
LIGHT RELAXES US, there are times when we are scared or anxious and we need LIGHT Shed on the Situation.
LIGHT RELAXES US, there are times when we are scared or anxious and we need LIGHT Shed on the Situation.
Darkness closes in on us, it produces fear.”
Strater, Floyd. Sermon Outlines on Ephesians. Edited by Sam E. Stone. Standard Sermon Starters. Cincinnati, OH: Standard, 1996.
Sermon Outlines on Ephesians You Light up My Life (Ephesians 5:8–21)
Think how dark and drab the world would be without the light of Christian influence.
1. We can feel the darkness. It closes in on us. It produces fear.
2. Light relaxes us. Takes away fear and lights up the unknown.
D. Jesus says to us as His disciples: “You are the light of the world.”
E. We are in the light business. “God, light up my life.”
We are in the light business. We rely on Him and everyday our prayer should be “God, light up my life.” SO THAT i can produce LIGHT where I go!
Do not participate in the shadows but shed light on them, means a willingness to walk into a shadowy place for the Gospel’s sake.
Do not participate in the shadows but shed light on them, means a willingness to walk into a shadowy place for the Gospel’s sake.
This may mean being a bit of a SHEEPDOG! Protecting and giving reassurance to the flock!
Serving as an under-shepherd to the Great Shepherd.
When something shadowy is about, and a presence of LIGHT is needed - a sheepdog is one of the first ones to go - watch this.... We go into the shadows BEARING THE LIGHT!
And not just the light of Clan Whittaker, or Light of FBC, but the LIGHT OF CHRIST!!
Higher standards when we are truly holding the light of Christ.
Less agenda, and more
GOODNESS, (v. 9).
1. Goodness shows true kindness.
2. Also demonstrates caring, benevolence.
Floyd Strater, Sermon Outlines on Ephesians, 43.
RIGHTEOUSNESS,
1. Purity.
2. Can be trusted.
3. A Godly nature.
Floyd Strater, Sermon Outlines on Ephesians, 43.
TRUTH!
1. This is moral truth, not just something to be known but it is something to be done.
2. The truth of Christ makes us useful and helpful citizens of the world.
3. Today’s society has put at the top two desires for their leaders: excellence and integrity or truth.
4. Even a tree will be fruitless unless the sunlight can get to it. It can even die in the dark.
Floyd Strater, Sermon Outlines on Ephesians, 43–44.
Here is a real world example.
Monkeys - See No Evil, Hear No Evil,
https://www.richardcassaro.com/the-secret-occult-meaning-of-the-three-wise-monkeys-hidden-by-the-elite-2/
Formerly these three guys were of Japanese descent and they mean
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.
This was a Japanese principle of purity that little Japanese boys learned as a simple way to keep them pure and accountable to a higher standard when parents were not with them. It’s not Biblical, in fact it was popularized by Confucious.
But here we intersect with the Bible - We are told to walk into the shadows and flip on the light of Christ! TO EXPOSE What is in the shadowy world of evil.
I want to suggest to you that this principle has been flipped in the world today.
These three little monkeys are being used as a principle of “Don’t tattle”
“What’s done in Vegas, stays in Vegas...”
Today, the world says, If you see something, hear something, don’t say anything. and you won’t get in trouble!
2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.
8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
Light Wakes Us Up! v. 13-14
Light Wakes Us Up! v. 13-14
Romans 12:2 (NASB95)
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
There’s a call to not just light our light and set it on the hill, but to LIGHT The Lamp and shake others awake.
Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Chapter 5
“Wake up!” says Paul. “Look what’s happening in your lives.”
I know of young men who could have turned this world upside down for the Lord. I know of young guys who could have really made a mark for the kingdom. But because they weren’t awake to what the Word of God says concerning filthiness, coarse jesting, uncleanness, fornication, and pornography, they’re ineffective to this day.
“Wake up!” says Paul. “Look what’s happening in your lives.”
I know of young men who could have turned this world upside down for the Lord. I know of young guys who could have really made a mark for the kingdom. But because they weren’t awake to what the Word of God says concerning filthiness, coarse jesting, uncleanness, fornication, and pornography, they’re ineffective to this day.