Shinning Bright In Christ
Text: Eph. 5:8-14
Introduction
1. Illustration: There is a story from one of Max Lucado’s books of a lady who had a small house on the seashore of Ireland at the turn of the century was quite wealthy but also quite frugal. The people were surprised, then, when she decided to be among the first to have electricity in her home. Several weeks after the installation, a meter reader appeared at her door. He asked if her electricity was working well, and she assured him it was. "I’m wondering if you can explain something to me," he said. "Your meter shows scarcely any usage. Are you using your power?" "Certainly," she answered. "Each evening when the sun sets, I turn on my lights just long enough to light my candles; then I turn them off." She tapped into the power but did not use it. Her house is connected but not altered. Don’t we make the same mistake? We, too-with our souls saved but our hearts unchanged - are connected but not altered. Trusting Christ for salvation but resisting transformation. We occasionally flip the switch, but most of the time we settle for shadows.
2. However, we don’t have to settle for second best. Paul challenges us to:
a. Live in the light
b. Expose the darkness
c. Shine our light
3. Read Eph. 5:8-14
Proposition: We are called be lighthouses in a dark and stormy world.
Transition: First, if we are going to be the light we need to...
I. Live In the Light (8-9)
A. But Now You Have Light
1. Paul tells the Ephesians, and us, "For once you were full of darkness..."
a. Two things literally jump off the page at us.
b. First, since he is using the past tense form of the verb, he is taking about something that has changed drastically.
c. He is talking about something that used to be, but no longer exists.
d. Second, he insists that they were not only living in the darkness, but they epitomized darkness. They were darkness itself.
e. John 8:44 (NLT)
For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.
f. Before we come to Christ, we are contolled, and in affect, owned by the Devil. We do not belong to God, and we certainly are one of His children.
g. We are slaves to the one we obey.
2. However, Paul illustrates this wonderful before and after picture by continuing "...but now you have light from the Lord."
a. We have gone from being darkness to being light. We are the exact opposite from what we used to be.
b. We used to be darkness, but now we are the light.
c. However, we must also notice that the light originates from the Lord, because the light comes "from the Lord."
3. The term light in the Scripture can mean a number of things based on its context. It can be a physical light, like the sun or moon, or it can be a spiritual light, as it does here.
a. It is the "Light that illuminates a person’s darkened soul" (Practical Word Studies in The New Testament).
b. The word is used in connection with joy, blessing and *LIFE in contrast to sorrow, adversity and death
c. This word encompasses not only what the gospel is, but what the gospel does in the life a believer.
4. With that light from the Lord comes a responsibility. Paul says, "So live as people of light!"
a. We have become the light, and have the light living inside of us.
b. But now we have to live like it.
c. We cannot say that we are in the light and live like we are in darkness.
d. 1 John 1:5-7 (NLT)
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
5. Paul confirms this when he said, "For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true."
a. Light cannot produce darkness anymore than an apple tree can produce lemons.
b. Light cannot produce lies, deception, and hatred.
c. Light can only produce what is characteristic of God himself; good, right, and true.
d. So we must produce what is good, right, and true.
B. That Was Then This Is Now
1. Illustration: One of the greatest tragedies for people would be to live in darkness when they could live in the light… Rose Crawford had been blind for 50 years. Then she had an operation in an Ontario hospital. She said, “I just can’t believe it,” as the doctor lifted the bandages from her eyes. She wept - when for the 1st time in her life she saw a dazzling and beautiful world of form and color greeted her eyes and she could now see. The amazing thing about her story, however, was that 20 years of her blindness was unnecessary. She didn’t know that surgical techniques had been developed, and that an operation could have restored her vision at the age of 30. The Dr. said, “She just figured there was nothing that could be done for her condition. Much of her life could have been different.”
2. Some of us are like Rose Crawford: once we were blind but now we can see.
a. Once we lived in the darkness, but now we are living in the light of Christ.
b. Once we groped around in the darkness, but His word has become a lamp to our feet and light to our path.
c. Once we didn’t know where we were headed, but now because of the light of Christ we have a hope and a future.
3. Some of us are like Rose Crawford: we could have come to the light years earlier but at least we came.
a. We could have saved ourselves years of grief, but at least we came.
b. We could have saved ourselves years of frustration, but at least we came.
c. We could have had a much better life earlier, but at least we have abundant life now.
4. Some of us are different from Rose Crawford: we have seen the light but have chosen to return to the darkness.
a. Once we have seen the light we need to stay in the light.
b. You cannot live in two worlds at the same time.
c. You cannot be in the light and still dabble in the darkness.
d. 2 Corinthians 6:17 (NLT)
Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
e. He did not call you out of the darkness so you could stay blind.
f. If you are in the light live in it.
Transition: The responsibility of walking in the light is to...
II. Expose the Darkness (10-12)
A. Worthless Deeds of Darkness
1. According to Paul, of we live in the light we need to "Carefully determine what pleases the Lord."
a. The phrase translated "carefully determine" carries the idea of proving or testing (The - MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Ephesians).
b. The question is how do we do that? What is our measuring stick? The answer is the Word of God.
c. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
d. If there is something in our lives that is contrary to the Word of God we need to get rid of it.
e. We need to take it off like a dirty, smelly, suit of clothes and get rid of it.
2. That’s why Paul says "Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness..."
a. Illustration: Last week when we moved our daughter Melissa into her dorm room at college, it was hot and muggy, and as a result, we got hot, sweaty, and sticky. When we got to our hotel room, Tina handed me a big Dollar General bag and said "here, put your dirty clothes in here. We don’t want to put them back in the suitcase with the clean clothes.
b. The Greek word akropois, that the NLT translates as "worthless," means, "pertaining to not producing seed, fruit, or harvest" (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
c. What else would you call a seed that isn’t going to bear fruit except worthless?
d. Why would you spend the energy, money, or time in planting a seed that won’t grow?
e. Paul says not to take part in the worthless deeds of darkness in any way shape or form in the worthless deeds of darkness because they are unproductive.
3. Before too long, the stores will be shoving Halloween down our throats.
a. Let me tell you something parents and grand parents, if you allow your children or grand children to dress up like witches, demons, and monsters you are teaching them to participate in the worthless deeds of darkness.
b. It is not healthy for them emotionally and is detrimental for them spiritually.
c. I don’t care how cute you think it is, you are teaching them to fear and that the darkness is more powerful than the light.
d. Halloween is a satanic festival and Christians have no business participating in it.
4. Paul takes it one-step further when he says "Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them."
a. When you expose something, you let it be seen for what it’s really like.
b. We are not only not supposed to participate in darkness, we are supposed to point it out to others.
c. "Expose" often carries a nuance of correcting or convincing someone. Whether the confrontation is only by conduct or also verbal is debated, though to suggest this passage has nothing to do with spoken confrontation is overly narrow (Snodgrass, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Ephesians, 272).
d. Bad things happen when good people see wrong in the world, but stand by and do nothing.
e. In a few weeks, when we start to look at spiritual warfare, you will notice that in the full armor of God there is nothing to protect the back. Why? Because we are not supposed to run from the devil, but meet him head on.
5. In verse 12, Paul takes it even further when he says "It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret."
a. Some things are so vile that they should be discussed in as little detail as possible, because even describing them is morally and spiritually dangerous (The - MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Ephesians).
b. We are not to make the latest form of perversion and idolatry a topic of conversation.
c. We are not to waste out breath discussing the latest new sin to come down the pike.
d. Philippians 4:8 (NLT)
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
e. If it is not good, honest, honorable, admirable, or true don’t waste your time talking about it.
B. Stand Up For Truth
1. Illustration: Have you ever turned on a light in the middle of the night? If you have, you probably noticed two things: 1) going from the darkness into the light can be painful, 2) the light chases away the darkness.
2. Jude 1:3 (NLT)
Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.
3. Being in Christ requires standing up for the truth.
a. We live in a world that does not want to hear the truth.
b. We live in a world that does not believer there is such a thing as truth.
c. We live in a world that thinks that truth is relative.
d. However, the word of God instructs us to speak the truth in love.
4. Being in Christ requires confronting evil.
a. A part of defending the faith is standing up to the devil.
b. The devil is our enemy, and for far too long the Church has run from him.
c. But God is calling us to take up the full armor of God and stand up to Satan.
d. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (ESV)
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
e. He is defeated and all we have to do is stand in the victory that Christ has already won for us on Calvary.
f. We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us, and its time we stop running and start fighting.
5. Being in Christ requires being a part of God’s army.
a. We are all soldiers in the army of the Living God.
b. We are all soldiers in heaven’s army.
c. We are all soldiers under the authority of our commander King Jesus.
d. He has promised that He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it.
Transition: Oh, victory in Jesus my savior forever!
III. Shine Your Light (13-14)
A. Light Makes Everything Visible
1. Verses 13 and 14 show why it is so important for us to allow the light of Christ to shine through us.
2. Paul says these people’s "evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them."
a. Paul appeals to the effect of light in the natural world. It penetrates wherever it shines, so that everything is lit up by it.
b. In the same way, whenever the light of Christ appears, it shows up sin for what it is. Evil can no longer masquerade as anything else (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM: Ephesians/Exposition of Ephesians/III).
3. The reason that Paul gives for this is that "the light makes everything visible.”
a. The light of the gospel shines on the darkness and reveals it for what it is - evil.
b. This is the reason that people react so objectively against the message of the gospel; it reveals their sin.
c. John 3:20-21 (NLT)
All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
4. Paul concludes this section by quoting a hymn that was very familiar to the Ephesians: “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
a. This quotation is not a direct quote from Scripture but may have been taken from a hymn well known to the Ephesians.
b. The hymn could have been part of a baptismal hymn that was sung by the congregation for a new convert when he or she emerged from the baptismal waters (Life Application New Testament Commentary).
c. We are called to wake up from our sleep and be light that Christ has called us to be.
B. I’ve Got To Shine This Light
1. Illustration: Christian songwriter, Phil Madeira, years ago wrote a song called "Shine This Light." The words to the chorus are, "I’ve got to shine this light like I’m the only thing burning on a silent night. I’ve got to shine this light."
2. Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."
3. We are the light of the world.
a. It is high time that Church begins to shine its light to the world.
b. It is high time that the Church begins to be a reflection of the light of Jesus.
c. It is high time that Church begins to reflect the Father’s glory.
4. We are not to hide our light.
a. People who say that they faith is personal and they just want to keep it to themselves has never truly understood the whole counsel of God’s word.
b. Yes, faith is personal because Jesus is a personal savior, but He has also called us to a light and a witness in this world.
c. Philippians 2:14-15 (NLT)
Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
d. We are to shine the light of Christ in a world full of darkness.
5. We are to let our good deeds be seen.
a. When we act as Jesus would act we are preaching the word of God.
b. One of the reasons that I love are Angel Food Ministry so much is that we get the chance to let our light shine for all to see.
c. I agree with the words of Francis of Assisi, "Preach the gospel everywhere you go; and if you have to use words."
d. People need to hear the word of God, but they also need to see the word of God in the lives of His people.
Conclusion
1. In a dark world we are to:
a. Live In the Light
b. Expose the Darkness
c. Shine Our Light
2. Where are you at this morning?
a. Are you living in the light of Christ?
b. Are you confronting and exposing the works of Satan?
c. Are you shinning your light for all to see?
3. Let us remember what Jesus said, "When you did it to the least of these, you did to me."
