49-32 Walk In the Light
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Ephesians 5:8-14
Ephesians 5:8-14
In Luke 15 Jesus teaches 3 parables in response to the grumbling Pharisees who criticized Jesus for “receiving sinners and eating with them.” The 3 stories of the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son explain why Jesus would receive sinners and eat with them. This was actually a regular feature of the Lord’s earthly ministry.
At the beginning when He was calling the 12 disciples to follow Him:
After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
I want to ask you this question: “what does it mean to be lost?” We often describe the condition of those who have yet to repent, receive the great salvation of God as being lost. What does it mean? or to ask another way “how dark is man’s soul?”
In Eph “you were formerly darkness.” Not “in darkness” but “were darkness.” That is the unrelenting condition of every nonbeliever. They don’t simply live in a realm of darkness but their very lives were characterized by darkness…they were under the dreadful sway of darkness (the presence and power of sin; subjected to Satan) b/c they had not the Lord of light.
Paul’s writings solidify for us the contrast b/t light and darkness, especially as it relates to the intellect and to morality.
Scripture’s Contrast
But this is a theme that runs thruout all Scripture. From the beginning light becomes the symbol of God’s presence as the light He creates becomes the boundary for darkness.
Light symbolizes God’s presence & activity:
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
God is light…now, light is not God (so many become worshipers of bodies of light—sun, moon, stars).
which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
Light represents God’s presence and activity while darkness becomes the symbol of all that opposes God.
Unequal Dualism
There is a moral and intellectual duality that develops in the Bible but absolutely critical to understand it is not an equal duality. Light and Darkness (representing good and evil) are not locked in an eternal struggle. Victor Hamilton says “God is unquestionably sovereign over the opposition.” Light as the symbol of all that is good and righteous and true, representing the very nature of the Creator God is infinitely greater than the realm of darkness over which victory has been assured.
Intellectually
This dualism is carried over into the intellectual realm: light is the symbol of truth (and Xns having been enlightened thru HS are being transformed by the light and stand in the condition of light) while darkness is the condition of ignorance—that which governs the mind, thinking of every nonbeliever.
For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Morally, light refers to holy & righteous deeds while darkness describes deeds of evil.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Where there is intellectual and moral darkness there is no light/no life/no salvation. This is the unequal dualism that develops in God’s Word—again stressing the unequal nature that God conquers the darkness. So the Xn can say with absolute confidence:
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
The Xn is taken from the realm of darkness and moved into the kingdom of the Son…which is the kingdom of light. Until that transfer takes place, that person remains in darkness, and in a “lost” condition.
Man’s Condition
So what does that (lostness) look like? How does that happen and just how dark is the “darkness”?
We need to go back to Adam & Eve (Gen 3). Both were the perfect creation of God and placed in the perfect environment where they encountered the all sufficiency of taking direction for their lives from the commandment of God.
The Serpent
Then the serpent (Satan—Rev 12:9) who was already fallen having swelled with pride in his own heart against God, suggested to them:
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The insinuation was 1) man has life in himself; 2) God would not judge disobedience; 3) God had no control over the consequences of disobedience.
Up until now they had experienced no darkness but when Adam disobeyed—he choose self-sufficiency and independence from God, stepping out of the light into the fullness of his darkened understanding.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
Their eyes were opened to the discovery of the darkness that enveloped them and they immediately knew shame and their next act was to avoid God.
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
This wasn’t playful hide and seek…but man, having chosen the realm of self-sufficiency and independence from God, he wilfully rejected the all-sufficiency of the infinite wisdom of God. That choice has led to the spiritual ruin of all their posterity—having moved from light to darkness.
The Severity
Every individual is brought into the world in a condition where there is 1) an unrelenting aversion to God…unwilling to submit to Him; 2) a superimposed tyranny…having come under the power and operation of Satan which dictates every aspect of his life’s activities; 3) has worked out for himself a “wisdom” of life—entirely worldly-minded and adapted to the darkness of his soul.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
(Follow digression Rom 1:28-32)
L. Paul Moore (was a
missionary in Cameroun W. Africa) “Lost! Lost! Lost! Man is lost, hopelessly, inextricably and forever lost. For him in this life is only slavery, and in the life to come only eternal darkness.”
This is what it means for the unbeliever to be lost. The term Jesus uses in those parables means “to experience destruction, ruin, destroy; to perish.”
Left to himself man is completely, hopelessly lost being confined to the realm of darkness. and as such, he has no ability and no desire (b/c of his aversion to God) to come to the light.
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
This is why every person needs a Savior…(develop the imagery of person floating down river)
Picture a person floating down a river on an inner tube. On the sides are massive walls of a canyon and down the river is the deadly danger of waterfall. The person on the tube is completely unaware of danger b/c he is blindfolded—enjoying the experience.
For some reason he suddenly becomes aware of the danger he’s in and begins to cry out for help. Someone happens to hear the cries and tosses a line to the tuber. Al he has to do is grab hold of the line before he goes over the waterfall and he’ll be pulled to safety.
The problem is that he cannot grab the line b/c his hands have been tied to the tube—he is shackled to it. He can do nothing about his condition and is fully dependent on someone else to rescue him. He needs to be plucked out of the river.
This is illustrates the peril that every person faces…and each one is unaware that they are facing the eternal wrath of God. But God so loved the world…Here is the gospel and the grace of God—sending LJC.
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
Jesus is teaching that He alone is the one who knows God and has made God known (Jn 1:18). Light is a universal illustration of that which brings illumination. Physically, light dispels darkness. Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light.
In a dark room, one little source of light (LED) will cause the darkness to flee.
In John’s gospel darkness is a positive evil (not just absence of light/righteousness). And it is not equal to the light as “darkness” did not comprehend it” (Jn 1:5). John says the darkness could not overcome/prevail against the light. The word John uses in the Greek (aorist) shows that in one single moment, the battle between light and darkness was settled. This was the cross when light and darkness came into bitter and decisive conflict and the darkness did not overcome and light prevailed.
Paul says “you were formerly darkness.” You had an aversion to God, had no ability or desire to submit to Him who is light—the reason is for fear that evil (darkness) would be exposed—referring to the shame of having your life open to the world. You were formerly darkness b/c Satan was the Tyrant who held you captive in his realm of darkness.
Satan is the power of darkness (Lk 22:53)
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
You’ll hear the unbeliever’s excuse for not coming to Christ/light b/c they’ll have to give up their freedom. Satan really has a grip on that individual—to reject the light of the gospel is not keeping your freedom—its foolishness! They’re bound and imprisoned by Satan and compelled to do his works (the unfruitful deeds of darkness—Eph 5:11).
This is the realm in which every unbeliever exists and Paul to Xns that was you too. But now you are light in the Lord.
What a transformation! Once I lived in self-sufficiency and independence from God. Once I lived in the lust of the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind (darkened). Once I walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Once I hated God, hated the light, loved the lust of the eyes, the flesh and pride of life.
How dark is the soul of man? Is it partially darkened so that all it needs is a little bit of illumination so that man thru his own ingenuity, thru his own wisdom and logic find the true knowledge of God from his own consciousness?
Or is man hopelessly, inextricably lost? So much that JC is the Light of the world and without Him man would never have found his way back to God—he’s the person on the inner tube that can only recognize his condition in the light of the gospel and must be plucked out of danger by putting faith in JC.
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
And those of you who have been rescued from that condition have been radically transformed—now you are light in the Lord.
Note the use of the present tense (are) to explain an on-going condition which stands in contrast to what you were before (darkness). you are light…why?
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
You are not what you were. Again there is no modifier (in or of). You are light b/c you share the nature of Christ. And just as darkness and light cannot co-exist physically, they cannot in the spiritual realm either. This is the reason for the prescript: Walk as children of light (that’s the introduction)
I. The Prescript to Walk In Light
I. The Prescript to Walk In Light
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
Remember, “walk” is referring to your lifestyle, conduct. As you are called to holiness, there must be an active avoidance of deeds of darkness b/c of the incompatibility of darkness and light. Know then that there are several hindrances that will keep you from walking in the light:
Your own flesh: the unredeemed part of your humanity—the part that is awaiting redemption and perfection (dif from old self). The flesh will draw you away from holiness, from the light of God’s commandment—the truth in order to fulfill its desires:
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
B/c of the HS who raised JC from the dead dwells in you...
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
John Owen “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Your flesh will hinder you from walking in the light.
Rom 7:14ff
Consume yourself with the light of God’s truth:
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
Like Jeremiah, make a plan to consume God’s Word daily:
DL Moody wrote on the inside of his Bible: “This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book.”
Satan (2nd hindrance):
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Martin Luther refers to Satan as “the prince of darkness grim (fierce, savage)”. Even though you are no longer under his tyranny, he still remains an active hindrance to walking in the light since he:
1 Peter 5:8 (NASB95)
Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
The World
2 Cor 6:14ff
Perhaps you’re sitting here this morning and seeing for the 1st time the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.
So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
Come to the light—to JC by repenting of your sins and trusting in the One who gave Himself to death that your sin would be forgiven, having taken the wrath of God upon Himself. God promises an absolute transformation—transferring you from the domain of darkness tot he kingdom of His beloved Son. Do this today and begin to walk in the light as a child of the light.