Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians
chapter 5 and reading verses 8 to 14. For ye were sometimes
darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children
of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and
righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. and have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather approve them. For
it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of
them in secret. But all things that are approved
are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever doth make manifest
is light, Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." How very
relevant, how very important it is that we have a knowledge
of the great and blessed spiritual light, because by nature we were
born into this world in spiritual darkness and there we remain
until the lord sees fit to graciously bring us into the light and then
what a different complexion there is on things naturally in the
darkness we see virtually nothing sometimes in a room which is
pitch dark we see nothing at all but when a small light shines
into a dark room, it gives a great light. And how much greater it
is when the Blessed Lord comes and shines spiritual light into
our hearts, and it is the light indeed of the Lord. How true
these words are. For ye were sometimes darkness,
but now are ye light in the Lord. And he goes on to say walk as
children of light, because by the grace of God we are no longer
in that place of darkness where we see nothing. We're blessed
with that spiritual light. And of course we read together
in that 8th chapter of John, these wonderful verses, the 12th
verse, the Lord says, Then spake Jesus again unto them saying,
I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Well, what
a blessing for us if we have the light of life. And that light
only shines into our heart through the gracious blessed aid of the
Holy Spirit. Will these few verses that we
read together really speak about light and darkness? And as there
is such a vast difference between those two situations, the apostle
really brings to our attention something of the difference between
that light and darkness. He goes on to say in the ninth
verse, For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth. This is the evidence of the light
shining into our hearts. and bringing us to this knowledge
of goodness and righteousness and truth. And all these three
things are really to be found in the glorious life and example
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So this is the fruit of the Spirit
as Christ is revealed to us, his goodness, his righteousness
and his truth, and how different that is from being left in darkness. When we don't observe these things,
we carry on in this sinful dark world without appreciating, without
enjoying, without partaking of this blessed fruit of the Spirit,
goodness, righteousness and truth. I won't expand this anymore,
but just to move on. Then he says, proving what is
acceptable unto the Lord. What is acceptable unto the Lord?
Those things that bring glory unto his name. And what is it
that brings glory unto his name? It's when the light shines into
the soul of a sinner, and the sinner rejoices in the evidence
of the glory of Christ who came into the world to save sinners. Christ means nothing until the
glorious light shines. And of course what a wonder it
is when the light shines into our heart and reveals to us the
blessing of the incarnation, the blessing of Jesus being born
in those humble situations, the blessing of his life and all
that he did went on this earth and of course the glorious end
of his life when he gave his life for the salvation of his
church when he suffered on that cross at Calvary. What a wonderful
thing it is when the light shines into our heart and reveals to
us the glory of the gospel which was completed and finished when
the Lord Jesus said it is finished. The great work he was given to
do was complete, and we today can rejoice in it. And what a
mercy, therefore, if the light shines into our heart and we
are so thankful for it. And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Very
simply, that means everything which does not go along and reveal
Christ. where Christ is not, it is really
an unfruitful work of darkness. There are very simple ways in
defining whether it is light or darkness. It really means
whether Christ is there, whether Christ is revealed, or whether
he is not there, or whether he is not revealed. And therefore
the apostle says, but rather reprove them, not to be found
in these unfruitful works of darkness which will perish without
using. What a mercy then to have the
light of the gospel shining into our hearts. And he says, for
it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of
them in secret. You see men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds are evil. those things done in
secret are evil, and it's a shame even to speak of such things,
because they don't bring honour and glory to God, but they indeed
are a wonderful mercy and favour, and therefore we should be very
thankful that we have this blessed word before us. It is a shame,
we need to be conscious of it, even to speak of those things
which are done of them in secret. but all things that are reproved
are made manifest by the light. The light shines and indicates
to us clearly whether it is something which is rioting, God honoring,
or whether it is something which is in the darkness and God dishonoring. For whatsoever doth make manifest
is light. Well, may we be concerned then
to have those things which are manifest to us. and which show
to us the light of the glorious gospel, which so wonderfully
shines forth in the face of Jesus Christ. And then finally, wherefore
he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise in the day, and Christ
shall give thee light. Naturally speaking, we live amongst
those who are spiritually dead. We are not to remain amongst
them. We are not to be found there
with them about what a mercy it is when God gives us grace
to arise from amongst those who are dead. We may have been asleep
now, we may not have heard the glorious gospel, but what a blessing
it is when the trumpet sounds and it comes to us and we hear
the joyful news, the good news of the gospel. What a mercy then
that awakes us No longer do we continue in that condition of
sleep, but we are spiritually awake, and we arise from the
dead, and then the wonderful blessing, and Christ shall give
thee life. And this is a light that never
goes out. It's a light which God gives.
The Lord Jesus Christ is always there. He is the eternal Son
of God. He is the eternal Savior. And
what a mercy for us tonight, to have the evidence in our souls
that it is Christ, none other than the great and glorious God
who has shown to us and has given us this light so that we may
rejoice in it indeed and go on our way rejoicing in the mercy
and love and favor of Almighty God. Well tonight we haven't
just touched on these things but there's a lot to meditate
on and may you be able to go home perhaps and think on these
things for the edification and blessing of your soul.