Introduction
Brian Warner once said: “Initially I was drawn into the darker side of life. But it’s really just human nature. I started to learn that everything that’s considered a sin is what makes you a human being. All the seven deadly sins are man’s true nature—to be greedy, to be hateful, to have lust. Of course you have to control them; but if you’re made to feel guilty for being human, then you’re going to be trapped in a never-ending sin-and-repent cycle that you can’t escape from, and you’re going to be miserable. Ultimately you’ll be living in your own hell. So there’s no need to worry about going to hell, because hell will be on earth.” (Brian McLaren, "Sin 101: Why Sin Matters," Preaching Today #243)
Now, I’m not usually a guy who agrees with much of what Brian Warner says—you might not recognize him by the name Brian Warner, but I bet you know him as Marilyn Manson. Marilyn Manson’s widely known for doing strange things, but he also is capable of saying some interesting things as well. He says there’s a certain naturalness to sin. He then tells us that feeling guilty for being human can lead to misery and he observes a cycle of sin and shame many of us know a great deal about.
Now I won’t start many sermons by telling you how I agree with Marilyn Manson, but I do agree with him when he says you have to learn to control sin even though it feels so natural. But Brian’s way off base in his view of hell on earth, because there are many ways to experience hell on earth. One is to be plagued by guilt and shame for sin, to live in what he called a “never-ending cycle of sin and shame”, but the other way to experience hell on earth is to live a life controlled by sin. Now I can’t think of a more miserable thing on this earth than to let sin take over my life.
Last time we talked about the kind of love that Marilyn Manson advocates, but discovered that it isn’t really true love but rather the opposite…it is false love. And we, as followers of Christ, can’t live a life characterized by false love - - conduct that is sexually immoral, or impure or sexually greedy. And false love can fill more than our conduct - - it can affect our conversation which shouldn’t be dominated by obscenity, foolish talk or course joking. And keep in mind that Paul doesn’t want us to cut back on these sins - - he’s not advocating a “lust diet.” No, Paul says that there must not even be a hint of these sins in our lives. And so we get a sense for how serious this is, in Ephesians 5:5 we read that we can be sure of this: That no immoral, impure or greedy person will have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. So the consequences are real serious for those who are fooled by false love.
Now, in our passage for today - - Ephesians 5:8-14 - - Paul is going to give us an additional reason for not getting involved in the evil conduct of immoral people.
We live out in the country - - sort of, we live in a lightless neighborhood in Damascus, MD. It took us awhile as a family to get used to the pitch black of our nightly surroundings. One thing that I had to get into the habit of doing is leaving the porch light on so that upon our return home we could find our way to the door (that’s before we installed those wonderful gadgets called motion detectors). And I guess because I’d forgotten to do this on a number of occasions, Lisa would call me on her way home to make sure I left the porch light on for her. So I became the residential Tom Bodet who in the Motel 6 advertisements says, "We’ll leave the light on for you."
I think that in Ephesians 5:8-14, if we listen real carefully, we’ll hear the Lord say, “I want you to leave your lights on.” Listen as the Spirit describes…
1. The Contrast Between Darkness And Light (8-10)
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.
This passage continues the emphasis on believer’s being “imitators of God, as beloved children” (5:1). The first way we are to imitate God is in His love. Now we learn that the second way to imitate God is in His light.
Scripture speaks of God as our “light and . . . salvation” (Ps. 27:1) and as “an everlasting light” (Isa. 60:19). His Word is called “a lamp to (our) feet and a light to (our) path (Ps. 119:105). Christ is called “a light to the nations” (Isa. 49:6), “the true light which … enlightens every man (Jn. 1:9), and “the light of the world” (John 8:12). For a believer to imitate God, therefore, he obviously must share in and reflect God’s light.
But for those who do not know God, the Bible says that they live in darkness. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don’t understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God (4:4).”
But everyone who belongs to God walks in light. 1John 1:5-7 reads, “This is the message he has given us to announce 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 living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.”
Paul contrasts what every believer’s life was like before salvation with what God intends it to be like after salvation. In doing so he simply states the obvious: A person who has been saved from sin should be through with sin and should live as a holy child of God.
As we see the contrast between darkness and light, Ephesians 5:8 calls you to…
A. Remember Who You Were (8a)
For you were once darkness . . .
That word, were reveals two important truths:
~ Notice first that it’s in the past tense - - “You were once darkness.” That past tense indicates a condition that no longer exists. Earlier in the letter Paul says that we “were dead in our trespasses and sins,” that we “formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,’ and that “we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (2:1-3). For Christians darkness is a thing of the past (cf.. 4:17-20).
~ Also, note that v.8 doesn’t say, “You were in darkness.” No, it says, “You were darkness. Now, in other places Scripture speaks of people being “in” or “of” darkness, but here it says we were … darkness. Before we came to Christ our total existence – our being as well as our behavior – was characterized by darkness. We were children of darkness and “sons of disobedience” (5:6). We were not simply victims of Satan’s system but were contributors to it. We were not merely in sin; our very nature was characterized by sin. This does not mean that we were just part of a dark culture. Paul is telling us that our salvation wasn’t just a change in our surroundings. No, the darkness enveloped and penetrated our whole lives, inwardly as well as outwardly; we were identified with it, not just surrounded by it.
Transition: So, that’s who you were, if you are a Christian. But here’s the good news: That’s not who you are. Now you must…
B. Remember Who You Are (8b-10)
. . . but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.
1. The Certainty: You Are Light! – (8b)
. . . but now you are light in the Lord. Don’t miss that key word are because it points out two important truths:
~ It indicates our new spiritual condition in contrast to who we were before we trusted Christ. Col.1:13 tells us that Christ “rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son” and Peter tells us that he has “called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
~ And notice that it doesn’t say, “You are in the light” It says, “You are light.” The Scriptures sometimes speak of believers being “in” and “of” the light, but here we are said to be light. “You are the light of the world,” Jesus said in Matt. 5:14. Because we now share Christ’s own nature; we share in his light. Just as he is the “light of the world” (Jn. 8:12), his people are also “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). Because we are in the Lord, we who were once children of darkness are now children of light, and it is as such children that we should walk. And what we learn from that powerful phrase in the Lord is that people who are in darkness are on their own, or are there by their own doing. But that’s not true with the children of light because we are in the Lord we are light in the Lord. So the certainty is that we are children of light. Now are you ready for the challenge:
2.The Challenge: Now Live Like It! – (9-10)
Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. ~ This verse is another clear example of the blend of the indicative and the imperative. The indicative statement virtually always comes first on a basis for the imperative. Therefore, the imperative is not wishful thinking, but a call to live out what the gospel says is true. The Christian life is always a call to be who God says we are. A life of faith is a life that takes God at his word. Bottom line: Be who you already are! But who are we? We are Children of light
But what does it mean to live as children of light? Since light is a productive power that produces fruit, Paul then tells us in verse 9 that children of light will produce goodness, righteousness and truth.
~ Goodness belongs to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 and it’s usage here means something like “generosity”; but its range of meaning is as wide as that of the adjective “good.” One may think of the good works for which, according to Ephesians 2:10, God has created his people in Christ Jesus; similarly, Paul prays that the Colossians may “bear fruit in every good work” (1:10).
~ Righteousness ~ Paul prays that his Philippian friends may be “filled with the fruit of righteousness” (1:11), and the writer to the Hebrews speaks of discipline as yielding “the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained in it” (Hebrews 12:11).
~ Truth is the opposite of falsehood, which the readers have already been urged to “get rid of” already in Eph. 4:25. In this context “truth” has the idea of right action or living, as opposed to false living.
We are to…Live as children of light…and find out what pleases the Lord. – The phrase find out has the meaning of testing or finding out in everyday situations what is the right thing to do. You see, although part of the process of becoming a Christian is the acceptance of truth as it is found in the gospel, the other part is learning by careful thought and experience what it means to be a Christian. Paul carefully chooses a word from his vocabulary which means to “examine” and is telling his readers that the Christian life is not just a simple acceptance of doctrines and rules; we must exercise intelligent judgment as we relate what we believe to specific situations. The Bible is not a divinely given answer book that attempts to provide precise rules to cover every possible situation that may arise in life. The essence of the Christian life is not in the keeping of rules, but in obedience to the living presence of Christ and the development of an intuitive sense in each changing situation of what pleases God.
But Paul says over in Rom 12:2 that in order to find out what pleases the Lord, we can’t…“conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of (our) mind. Then (we) will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Transition: So there you have the contrast between darkness and light. Now look at vv.11-14 at...
2. The Call To Expose The Darkness and Express The Light (11-14)
First of all, we are commanded to…
A.Expose The Darkness (11-12)
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
The command in verse 7 not to partner with the disobedient is expanded in verse 11 with the command not to participate in their actions either. It is completely inappropriate for those of who are light and live in the light to adopt a lifestyle of those who are still in darkness. Why? Well, since darkness spreads only darkness, the deeds of darkness are fruitless . . . they are useless in producing what God desires. They fit the darkness; they do not fit with Christ. If Christians are light, they should not participate in such acts. And there’s more to this than just not participating. In reality, Paul says that it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. Since the evil deeds are so shameful it is wrong even to talk about them.
Granted, there are a lot of ways our culture tends to mention rather proudly the shameful deeds of darkness.
But one place that comes to mind is what is so often done in Television and Movies. I think that the daily viewing of sexual immorality, impurity, obscenity and coarse joking makes it impossible for us as Christians to effectively maintain a clean heart.
A while ago those who visit Christianity Today’s website were asked to specify their favorite TV program and the overwhelmingly preferred choice of younger viewers was Friends. Friends is a show that portrays the everyday lives of a group of singles in a world of sex and clever double entendre. Now, if you’ve watched the show - - at least in its glory days - - you’ll probably find it wickedly funny, and that is just how damaging and deep the evil of a show like that can be.
I think Malcolm Muggeridge, a British writer, TV host and editor of a popular magazine puts it well when he points out that when we are enticed to laugh about immorality, our resistance is weakened. And if we laugh enough, we become susceptible to those sins. (In, “Set Apart” by Kent Hughes, p.57).
A steady diet of immorality and violence in the media has the effect of, if nothing else, desensitizing us to that which there is not to be even a hint of in our lives. Let me ask you, what is your reaction when you see stuff like that in the media? I remember as a child my parents being so sensitive to what we watched on television. I can vividly remember at times watching a TV show or a really good movie on TV and praying to God that they wouldn’t curse. Sure enough, you’d be in the middle of this show and they’d start using profanity and my dad would say, “Turn that stuff off.” It really bothered both of them. And well it should.
Philosopher and theologian Mark R. Talbot, writing on the subject of “Godly Emotions,” describes it this way, “Strong negative emotions are important indicators of who – and whose – we are. To claim to be Christian and yet not to feel emotional aversion when Christian moral standards are violated is, at best, to exhibit a kind of mental schizophrenia between our heads and hearts.” (In, “Set Apart” by Kent Hughes, p.59).
But what are we to do with these shameful deeds of darkness? Should we just walk away? No, Paul says, “take it to the next level, believer.” Paul is calling for separation here, but observe that the separation he calls for is not so much a withdrawal as a confrontation. These shameful…deeds done in secret are to be exposed. That word expose often carries the sense of correcting or convincing someone. This confrontation is, from what I can tell by studying the original wording here, confronting people or their thoughts, words or actions with the aim of showing them to be not in accordance with the truth of God’s Word.
Now, here’s the big question: Whose thoughts, words or actions need to be exposed? Does God want us to call up NBC and threaten to boycott all the sponsors of the Friends show, or Will and Grace? I think you’re going to be surprised by this one.
I believe that Paul is saying we need to expose others within the Church who are living in sin. These are believers who are participating in unfruitful works of darkness. I think this is true because (1) the context is speaking about believers and (2) Paul urges believers not to participate in the works of darkness but rather to do the works of the light. What seems to be happening is that some people in these churches were living in sin and in need of the light to be shed upon their dark deeds. And in keeping with this theme in Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 we know we need to verbally rebuke those who are living in sin.
So, expose the darkness in the life of those who are supposed to be walking in the light. But we aren’t just supposed to expose the darkness, we are called to do something real positive. We are called to…
B.Express The Light (13-14)
But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Paul’s original readers would have gotten the word picture here because most shops in the Middle East had no windows and were built side-by-side on narrow streets. They were therefore quite dark inside. To get a good look at what he is buying a customer had to take the merchandise out into the sunshine. In that bright light the article could be seen for what it really was, and any flaws and imperfections would be obvious.
So it is with sin: Darkness hides the ugly realities of sin, but light - - the light of God’s truth - - makes those sins visible. But this light doesn’t just have a negative effect (exposing people’s sins) but it has a positive effect as well, so that people are both exposed and transformed. The person who is exposed and convinced by the light is transformed. And that’s what God’s after, friends - - transformation.
There really seems to be three stages of the work of grace in verses 13-14:
1.The sin of believers is exposed.
2.The believer allows his sin to be revealed.
3.They then abandon the darkness of their sin and respond to the light so that they become light themselves.
And now, notice in verse 14 that Paul uses a phrase to let us know he’s going to cite an OT passage: This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." – This was most likely a hymn of repentance and encouragement sung regularly by early believers reminding them of their former condition and it’s graphically described in terms of a movement from sleep into the light of life and this is in response to the divine call of God upon our lives. For believers participating in dark deeds, they are a lot like the disciples sleeping in the Garden of Gethsemane. You’ll recall Christ asking his closest followers to watch and pray, only to find them sleeping later. What did he say to them? Wake up. Now, was he most concerned that they stay awake physically? He essentially was saying to them, “Wake up from your spiritual laziness.” Here Paul seems to say that as sleepers some believers caught in a life of sin may not even recognize their spiritual indifference. Can it be true that you and I are sometimes guilty of sleeping in the unfruitful works of darkness? Yes.
Conclusion
Some of you today are like a person lost in an abandoned mine. The more you try to find your way out, the farther you go into that mine. Every tunnel you take leads either to a dead end or another tunnel. And you have no idea where you are or which way to go. Now, your eyes are wide open but all you can see is oppressive blackness. Now imagine that after you were stuck in that mine for a week of groping about the cold, dirty tunnels and shafts you noticed a faint light. What would you do? I think that with all your remaining energy you would make your way toward that light and eventually find your way to the outside. But would you stay there? I hope you would embrace the light.
But what would say if that person - - because the light was so bright that it hurts their eyes - - began to wonder if they were really better off being in the light? Maybe they remembered a few things in the mine that gave them temporary enjoyment by distracting their attention from their predicament. How sad would it be if that person decided to go back into that mine to live for the rest of their life?
Don’t miss this: That story, strange and unlikely as it is, is repeated countless times every day in an infinitely more tragic way – as people see the light of God’s truth and turn back to the old way of darkness and death.
The basic point of Ephesians, as I continue my study of it is this, “Start living according to who you already are in Christ.” You have what it takes to live godly, holy, lives of light, now start doing it. Stop making excuses and stop being spiritually lazy.
There are men in this room today who need to stop goofing around and leave the light on in their homes. Your family is just floundering because you are finding every excuse on the planet not to live for God today. You keep talking about living for God like I talk about cleaning out some of my office desk drawers . . . someday. What are you waiting for men? Stop being a fickle, flickering candle and start expressing the bright light of Jesus Christ.
There are some women in this room who need to leave the light on by living lives of gentle beauty. You may be waiting for the man or children in your life to be the light they can be, but if you’re not careful you’re going to be bitterly waiting to serve God until they get their acts together. You live as you should. Why not try being light, gently exposing their sin and invite them to serve God passionately like you do?
There are some young people who think that this living for God thing sounds like a good idea, but you’ll wait till your fun days are over and then you’ll get more serious about God. Leave the light on and watch what will happen as you develop early patterns of holiness and invite others to walk in the light as well.
And lastly, there might be some people here today who can’t be light because you have never allowed the glorious Light of the World, Jesus Christ to fill your life in salvation. Don’t wait another minute. Don’t waste another day. Follow Jesus today and let your light so shine before men that they will be drawn to serve Jesus as well.
We can only be light when we live the truth of our own relation with Christ. Leave the light on.
