Phil spoke on living in the light.
The meeting this morning was not recorded. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
Introduction
• We have been looking at how we live
• Knowing who we are and living in the good of that truth
• Dealing with Sin
This morning I want to look at living in the light
Last time I put on the screen a quote about a man which read:-
"He lived his life in such a way that he made it easy for others to believe in Jesus"
I guess that's the challenge for us, could that be said of me or you.
Read
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. 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. 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.” (Ephesians 5:8-14)
1. How can we live in the light while we also live in this dark world?
At the beginning of Eph 5 Paul is continuing his encouragement to imitate God that began in Ephesians 5:1-7. He called the believers to imitate God by living a life of love, and by getting rid of sexual immorality of every sort, including activities, thoughts, and words. Here the believers are called to imitate God by walking as children of light.
1. In Scripture the use of light has two aspects, the intellectual and the moral. Intellectually it represents truth,
2. And morally it represents holiness.
To live in light therefore means to live in truth and in holiness.
As also the use of the word darkness has the same two aspects.
○ Intellectually it represents ignorance and falsehood,
○ And morally it is to do evil or have low morals or no moral boundaries and decline
Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path,” In this reference, “light” refers to intellectual truth as found in God’s Word.
In Romans 13:12-14, “light” refers to moral deeds and “darkness” to immoral deeds.
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
In Isaiah 5:20, these words refer to both the intellectual and the moral. It says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
We the believers are in the light because we have been changed intellectually and morally.
How can believers continually imitate God by living in the light?
How can believers live in the light, as Paul writes in Ephesians 5:8-14?
To Live in the Light, Believers Must Remember that Light, Not Darkness, Is Their Nature
Remember who you are - You are a new creation in God
We have changed camps once we were darkness now we have been transformed into his glorious light
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (Ephesians 5:8)
Paul reminds believers that they were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord.
Note - Paul does not say believers were “in” darkness, but they “were” darkness.
This was our character our very nature and is true of every believer before coming to Christ.
There has been a definite character change in the life of every true believer. By using the term “children of light,” Paul reminds us that we NOW have our Father’s nature!
In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
In Psalm 27:1
