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Number 267.
Nsnoise.
I don't know.
If I don't know.
Something together.
Where's your mother?
'S phone number.
B&H, Wisconsin.
Blah blah blah.
Compass City both divorces and Sanchez and a service done unto him. Alas, my master, how shall we do?
And he answered, Hear not for they to be with us, or more than they that you invest, and only shall pray that Lord, I pray thee open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord open the eyes of the young man that he saw. And behold, the mountain was behold a horses and Chariots of fire round about Elijah training.
Father.
We would pray this afternoon for help and we would ask that our eyes would be open.
And we may see the the truth that we find in the scriptures. The things that we talked about this afternoon would be a reality in our heart, not only here but around these meetings, but in our everyday life. Open our eyes and see the Lawrence of this Christ and draw our hearts. After dinner we look for a classic and we pray for it. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Ephesians chapter 5, starting with verse 5. For this you know that no *********** nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God LED. No man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
00:05:13
Be not ye therefore partakers with them, for you 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 reprove 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 does make manifest is light.
Wherefore he saith.
Awake now that sleepeth, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
And be not and be not drunk with wine, whereas in excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting yourselves 1 to another in the fear of God.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body.
Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands, and everything husbands, love your wives. Even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it to Himself. A glorious Church, not having fought or wrinkled, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish, so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.
He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord, the Church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, let everyone of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Before we continue, umm, don't really want to go back as on uh, what we talked about in the previous meeting, but I was wondering if someone might be able to give a quick explanation as to what foolish talking and jesting means from verse 4.
Aurelia is the children of God, the privilege of inner communication reflecting something of the communication of the Lord Jesus himself. He was an example to us and it says never man spake like this man. And so we often times are let down our guard, we might say and speak out of character and instead of speaking in the dignity of those that are the sons of God.
We take up the same character speech that the world has and that's really not living in the character that we are the sons of God. And so we might even talk, umm, in connection with Justin, I would just say this that we should never speak irreverently of any little passage of scripture, not to make umm, scriptural jokes about a little bit of passage of scripture and, and kind of chuckle about a little bit about it. I know that that's a tendency with each one of us is to umm.
Try to share a little bit of a joke and so on, but.
The word of God is, commands our respect and has a dignity and ought to be taken with reverence. And so we should not be speaking with, uh, irreverence as characterizing our speech. We know that someone mentioned a little bit earlier that, uh, maybe didn't mention lot specifically, but it cost a lot the lives of his, what is his daughter and, uh, couple of daughters because.
As he gave a warning. I think it's uh.
Genesis chapter 19, verse 14. Lot went out and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. So his mocking, his jesting and foolish talk cost him the lives of his daughters perhaps and his sons in law. So we need to be careful that we speak with dignity, with honor, and that we treat the word of God with utmost reverence and respect.
00:10:34
In connection with Lot, the problem was that.
His advice and his talk were not in alignment.
And.
That is a problem and has been a problem for a good number of years, and still will be a problem if we do not subject ourselves to the Word of God.
It was a striking statement made some years ago by Mahatma Gandhi, and I think we're all familiar with Gandhi.
And his role in the independence movement in India.
Revered by many today, he made a striking statement.
You said if it was not for Christians, I would be a Christian. So he had a he had the opportunity to listen to Christians and he had an opportunity to watch Christians.
And because.
What he heard from Christians did not match what he saw from them.
He rejected Christianity outright and so that's what we have to be on guard from, that our talk matches our walk.
It would be worth Scott taking time, not now, but on your own that anybody else that's interested look at Darby's notes on the translation of those two words. But the one thing I've observed in my life that when I tell a joke or if I use any language that's questionable, the people around me take it as permission to tell a worst joke or use worst language. And, uh, just that thing I've observed.
In the context of the passage that we have here, the apostle is really bringing before the Saints in Ephesus those that are unbelievers and what characterizes an unbeliever. And So what characterizes an unbeliever is foolish, talking, jesting.
He says, Warmongers, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ of God.
So he's not saying that we can lose our salvation, is he? He's saying that those that are characterized by these different sins are expressing publicly that they do not know the Lord Jesus and their living as those that are without God, without hope in this world. And so in connection with the Kingdom of Christ, we have an end of God. Really what the was characteristic of a believer who is.
Really, walking consistently with the Lord is going to live in practical Christianity, what we would call practical Christian. I just point out in Romans chapter 20.
Or Acts chapter 20, I should say the apostle Paul spoke of the three parts of his work, of his preaching.
In verse 24.
Just part way through verse 24. Acts chapter 20.
He says the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God, that's to all men. That's the salvation of our souls. And he was preaching the gospel to as many as he could. And then verse 25, he preaches really to the gathered Saints. And now behold, I know that ye all. That's the assembly and emphasis.
Among whom I have gone preaching, the Kingdom of God shall see my face no more. So that's the moral side of Christianity. They were saved out of hedonism and they needed to know how to live. And so he taught them what it was to be consistent with the life of a believer, how to live practically in righteousness and holiness and be therefore holy even as I am holy. Peter says. And then the third part of his.
00:15:16
Ministry, he says, uh, verse 26 wherefore I take you to record this day that I am cured from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. And so now he's really speaking to the Ephesian elders, specifically those that umm, had been, he'd spoken to and, uh, the dispensational truth that he had given them and Christ and the church and, uh, the great mystery. And we know that, uh.
He delighted to just ex, uh, expound upon that, uh, ministry and to have them living in a heavenly way upon this earth because they were heavenly citizens. And so it's for us, if we live in character to those that are believers, we will magnify the Lord and will be characterized by righteousness, not by unrighteousness.
Verses three and four are the sins.
And verse five are the persons who commit the sins, but in particular, as our brothers saying, it's the ones who continue in those sins. It's what they do. Verses three and four are what any believer may do. We ought not to do even any of these things even one time. That's what we're told here. But it's possible for a believer to fall into these sins, uh, but not to continue in them.
Whereas an unbeliever is characterized by them and that's the difference. Uh, it's a warning to us. What are we characterized? What do we do? If you're a believer, I say you're not gonna continue in it. And we know this, the scriptures plain on this, uh, one of the places we often get this place, this question in Africa, people questioning your salvation based on these verses. But in Hebrews chapter 12, we have.
The reason why a believer will not continue in this?
And there it says in Hebrews 12 verse six, Whom the Lord?
Maybe I'll start in verse five. You have forgotten the invitation which speaketh unto you as children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor fate, when thou art rebuked of him whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. And then he goes on to speak more about that, and say in verse 8, if you, for instance, if you are without chastisement, where of all our partakers, and are you ******** and not sons?
And so a true child of God cannot get away with continuing on in these stands. We have a Father who loves us too much, and he won't allow that to continue. And so the warning comes as you have, say, for instance, in first Corinthians 11, another good verse on this subject.
Speaking about those who had come to the Lord's Supper and take of the Supper with on judge sin not having judged themselves, at the end of that chapter he says.
In verse 31, if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. That's what a loving father does who can't allow his children to go on in that way. And it says in verse 32, But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not.
Be condemned of the world.
That's what's going to happen to the unbeliever. That's what will happen to the person that this, uh, fifth verse is talking about. And the sixth verse goes on to say the same thing. Because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Putting these scriptures together, we know that as believers, we do not have to worry about losing our salvation as many other verses that go along with that.
However, if there is someone here who's going on in these sins habitually in your life.
Then you do well to fear. Have you ever trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?
If you don't have the Father's hand of discipline on you, and yet you're going on these things that we've read in the chapter, then you need to get down on your face before the Lord and repent of what you are and ask Him to come in and save you. Because this verse says very plainly here that the ones who do this do not have any inheritance in the Kingdom of God and of Christ.
00:20:13
Ephesians chapter five were given many choices that we can make, good ones and bad ones. And so every one of us makes hundreds and some might say thousands of decisions every day or every week, and we reap the benefits or the consequences of those. We were to go over to the table and we were thirsty. We could choose a iced tea or water or lemonade or a coffee and our cup would be full. At least mine would. Others might only take a half a cup if they want, but we fill our cups every day. There's a words to the hymn.
Fill my cupboard, I lift it up. Lord, come and quench the thirsting of my soul.
We have choices, and we find here in Ephesians 5 it says in verse six, let no man deceive you with vain word from verse nine, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.
So if our hearts are filled with goodness and righteousness and truth, then vain words will not have the appeal says in the book of Proverbs. A full soul loatheth and honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. And so the children of Israel, if they gather the man every day, they were full. But then they wanted the birds that God sent them, and they were so full they were sick. And so that we have choices that we can make in in the previous meeting and in our.
Our brothers talked. There were some allusions to these. I'd like to read them in Psalm One. And in Proverbs 4 and Psalm one it says, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
And then in Proverbs chapter 4 it says.
In Proverbs 4 and verse 10 Hear, O my son, and receive my things, and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom. I have led thee in right path. When thou goest, thy step shall not be straight, and when thou run it, thou shalt not stumble. Take past hold of instruction. Let it not go. Keep her, for she is thy life. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it past not by it.
Turn from it and pass away. So here there were choices that are made in Psalm One and in Proverbs 4. To walk in the council the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful, or to enter into the path of the wicked. To go in the way of evil men, to avoid it. Past not by it. Turn from it or pass away. But there is a remedy. And what is that remedy? But his delight is in the law of the Lord. Or take fast hold of instruction. Let her not go. Keep her, for she is thy life.
And every one of us, there are things in our house. If our house would burn down, what would be the first things you would take out of your house? Some people, maybe it's a photo album, some people would, some antique keepsake. We have things that are precious to us that are valuable. And if we take hold of things.
With fervency, and with passion and with zeal. Then when the foolish talking and when the vain words come, we'll cast them aside. So we're given hundreds, thousands of choices, and God has given us His peer. Precious word as silvery as Psalm 12/6. I'd like to read it in verse six. The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified 7 times. Thou shall keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation.
Forever the grass Withers, the flower fades, and the word of our God stands forever. So God has given us the precious resource to guard us. It's been said it's better to have a fence at the top of the hill than an ambulance at the bottom of the hill. And God has given us many guardrails. Many. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light into our path. And if we take hold of the precious things.
Now to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet, but a full soul loathe and honey bones. So God has given us things to fill our souls. To the things that would harm us, that would destroy us, we will cast them aside, and we won't be deceived by the vain world which are so much about us.
I wonder if I could just, uh, make a quick comment. I'll stand up here so I can be heard. Umm.
00:25:01
Why are verse five and six brought in?
I if I could just summarize it is to say that God cares about sins.
Umm And uh, just to reiterate what Brother Kim said, these verses are not brought in to make us doubt our salvation, but the keywords are the middle of verse six. These things. Umm, So what the Apostle Paul is doing is he's saying don't be confused about why unbelievers are punished forever in the lake of fire. Don't be confused about it. It's not just because they refuse the gospel. It's not just because they reject Christ.
Rejecting Christ is what ends them up in a lost eternity, but they're actually punished for the things they do. And So what he's saying is, don't you know that it's because of what they do that they're punished? And knowing that God is going to punish them forever for the things they do should make you realize how much he cares about these sins and how important this really is to him. And so he concludes in verse 7, be not therefore partakers with them.
Verse six, Perhaps we might say there this, these vain words, let no man deceive you with vain words. We might make excuse for things. And God is not going to accept an excuse. There are not going to be exceptions, so to speak. And the word of God is pure. Everything that he has said He will stand by. Man is going to be judged by the word that God has spoken. He's not going to make exceptions.
But there may be that thought in, umm, some individuals that there are some circumstances where we might be able to get away with some of this, uh, under special circumstances. No, he says, that's empty, that's vain. Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of the sons of disobedient. Be ye therefore be not ye. Therefore it should say, fellow partakers with them have no fellowship.
With that kind of activity, it's not consistent with a child of God.
Verse seven is one of those patterns Brother Paul was talking about this morning. But it starts with a reason why we shouldn't participate. It looks at what we were. We were the same as what they were.
We were in verse 8 here sometimes darkness, but what are we now We're light in the Lord and when you get hold of that and what it means what I was Christ died for me, made in me a a new creation.
Now I'm light in the Lord. That is incredible.
And that's the reason, the reason why we shouldn't partake with them.
In the second chapter of Ephesians we have the same thoughts brought out in verse two, wherein time passed. He walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the power of the air.
The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
And then it goes on in verse 11.
And I believe what we have between verses 11 and verse 13.
Brings up distance and nearness.
Says Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh.
For cold uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flash made by hands that at that time.
Ye were without Christ, being aliens from the common world, worth Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But we're thankful for verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus.
Ye who, who sometimes were far off, are made nigh or near.
By the blood of Christ.
It is important to see that this is our standing before God. We always are in the light as to our standing.
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Alas, sometimes our practice, our state, our spiritual condition is not up to that standing that God has given us in Christ. We are children of God. We have a.
We're accepted in the beloved even if we fail, still we are in the light. That's brought out in first John chapter one, that's why.
Sin in a believer's life is more serious than sin in an unconverted person because a believer sins in the light, so the relationship is not broken. If I sin, I'm still in the light as to my standing before God. However, the enjoyment of that position is interrupted. The Spirit of God grieved, and therefore I do not enjoy.
My position and my portion that I have in Christ.
In verse eight he mentions light and darkness, and God always divides between the light and the darkness, doesn't he? We find in uh, Second Corinthians chapter 6 that the apostle, uh, speaks of separation there practically in verse 14 to the Corinthians he says be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial, Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God has said. I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, And touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.
It will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my son and daughter, saith the Lord Almighty. Now we know, as our brother has said, our standing is, uh, sure and certain. It's based on the finished work of the Lord Jesus. We're cleansed with the precious blood of Christ, but our state can vary. But we're exhorted in our responsibility before the Lord to walk in the light and to make sure that we do not try to mix ourselves with the works of darkness that are characteristic of those that are lost.
So it's a privilege, isn't it, to walk in the light and to know the Lord Jesus in that character of light. He's not only love, but he's light and and no wonderful just to be able to walk in a dark scene and to have fellowship with the Lord. That's the basis of our fellowship is walking in the light. That's John's ministry might turn to that first John chapter one just to get that connection first three.
That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship or communion with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things right we unto you, that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard of Him. And declare unto you that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
Well, in verse seven, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. So I say the blessing, the position that we have, the enjoyment of that position that we have, the joy, the communion that we have with the Lord is based on walking in the light and in communion with the Lord. You know the word here, fellowship.
There's one word that's used in the King James that's translated communion or translated fellowship, and I think it's around 15 or 16 times that it's used. It's the same word. And so to walk in communion with the Lord, we need to walk in light so that the apostle is giving this.
Exhortation to the ephesian Saints that they might desire to.
Uh, judge any attachment whatsoever that they had with the works of darkness. And you and I become very insensitive to how dark, how satanic the world is that we're living in. It's more satanic and it's more controlled by Satan than we think. And we see it in the, on the corner when you drive down and you see something that says, uh, you know, palm reader or something like that, you see something.
00:35:22
A tattoo parlor. It's all satanic in its character, and the believer ought to be as far away from those things as you can possibly get.
Yes, we saw it in first John that says that we walk in the light and here it's actually a little different, he says you are light.
And both of these things are unchangeable. That's simply our position, what we are and where we walk. And all believers are there. But the verse also speaks here and gives the exhortation. Walk as children of light. And it wouldn't say that.
If we couldn't walk otherwise, that's the problem. Even though positionally we are taking care of by the work of Christ and believing on Him. We are simply children of light. Yet we can walk as these children of disobedience. We can walk as if in darkness even though we're not. And so the exhortation is is so important and we need it.
Umm.
You know, there's various things that can come in and change it, and you go to 1St Thessalonians chapter 5 and you find out there they were falling down and sleeping like others who slept in the night. It's a similar exhortation there. We can fall asleep in this world. Umm, just carelessness and indifference like their brother was mentioning in the last meeting. Another thing is to take up with the things that we had earlier in the chapter, and the Lord speaks of this in connection with light in Matthew chapter 5.
Just like, look at that for a moment.
I think it's it's really important.
There, there's something that we can't do.
If we're going to stay walking as children of light, that is.
We can't be divided, and so in Matthew.
I think I have the wrong chapter here. Matthew chapter 6 sorry. And verse 22. He says the light of the body is the eye, therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. Now this is what we take in.
And then he's talking about morally what's formed within us, not what we are positionally, but what is the result. And so he says, if thine eye be evil, verse 23, and thy whole body shall be full of darkness, if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? And so he's talking about a an evil eye and an eye that's not evil. And what is the eye that's not evil? It's the one that's single.
The single eye is the one that's fixed on Christ. It's not divided.
And I is evil, and without exception it brings in darkness and a darkness so great that it can be greater than that of the one who's got the single life of the world, who's the children of disobedience, the ones who are children of darkness. It's important that we understand that we cannot, as the next verse tells us, we cannot serve 2 masters. So moral impossibility.
We are either going to have an IA single eye for Christ, or we're going to have a divided eye and the result is going to be gross moral darkness and we'll walk not as children of light.
I often wish that it was otherwise.
But it's not otherwise. The Lord has said this and we need to recognize it. And this isn't some great trial to overcome either. You go and try this in your life, to have a single life for Christ and realize the joy that is there and say why waste the time for the other. These are actually precious things. To have these warnings and then to take the warning, take heed to it, and then to fix the eye on Christ and enjoy Him and His fellowship in His company, and then walk this way.
In communion with him.
That single I will help us to walk circumspectly too, as we have in verse 15, won't it?
I was just noticing some of the verbs that are used from verses 10 on proving reproving.
00:40:08
Awakening.
Arising and walking.
And I don't wanna get on, uh, much, uh, beyond the verses that we're looking at right now. But in verse 15, I was just noticing that word circumspectly.
We sometimes hear of someone that's circumnavigated the world.
In terms of a maritime venture or circumvent?
Uh, which means to step away around or walk around something that has some danger connected with it.
Not too long ago, I was reading an account that occurred during the American Revolution.
The colonial army was trying to prevent the British from coming up the Hudson River.
And under the Colonial General Putnam, they had installed barricades in the river, and they were of an irregular nature, so that.
Under normal conditions, a ship could not sail through it.
But somehow a copy of Putnams instructions was smuggled out of the colonial camp and it reached the British Admiral who was in charge of the fleet. And the colonial army was on the bluff thinking that the British ships would be prevented from coming, and as they saw the ships coming up the river.
They would slow down, they would tack, they would change direction and they would go up a little further. They would do the same thing and within a short period of time they had.
Clear the whole barrier that had been set up to prevent their passage. Now what was necessary on the part of those British seamen? They had to consult the chart, they had to look at the map, they had to see where the dangers were and they had to take action to avoid those wrong steps that would have impeded their progress.
So I'm sure that that's some of the thought that we have expressed here in verse 15.
It's also in verse 10, isn't it? Proving what is that acceptable or proving what is acceptable or agreeable unto the Lord?
So if we want to walk as children of light, then we need to spend that time talking to the Lord and seeking to know from Him. Is this thing agreeable?
Very clear about some of these things that are wrong and for the general guidance is quite clear too. We had a parenthesis in verse 9 says for the fruit of the I think it should be light, not spirit. For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. And so it's quite apparent that the the light is the opposite of the things that we've been looking at. But specifically, what should I do as a believer? Well, I need to take that to the Lord. I need to ask him proving what is the is agreeable unto the Lord. What does he want me to do?
What does he want from me? It isn't what is so often asked, is this OK? Is this something I can do? No, the question is what is agreeable to him? What does he want from me? And that's really how to walk his children of life.
It's interesting to notice that the apostle uses that same word agreeable in different places. I might mention a couple of them. One is we've already referred to in Romans chapter 12. He says there in the end of verse two that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now how much can you improve on that the perfect will of God and so we often think that.
We can do something and it's going to be acceptable to our brethren or be acceptable to.
Our peers, but really what we need to be concerned about is it acceptable is our conduct is our objective acceptable to the Lord and according to the wisdom of the word of God. Another one is in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 28. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace or a thankful spirit whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence.
00:45:27
And godly fear. So that would bring the forest the fact that it's possible to serve the Lord, but not to serve them acceptably. And so we need to be careful that we yet as a man not crowned except he strive lawfully. And so the Lord is the one that gives us the instruction as to how we might serve him in the day that we live in and serve him acceptably according to his instructions given in his word.
So it takes spiritual exercise, doesn't it, brother? In verse 10, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord?
Question I'd like to ask myself and others who decide how much light can be shined.
Uh, this place is quite laid out, very brightly.
Changed the walls here, including 40 Watt bulbs. We'd all be squinting to try and see what we're reading.
The same thing with their Christian life is the Lord that we read the word of God, the more light we have within ourselves and we project to others.
If we wear as bright as these lights are, you can't even look at them for two minutes and you'll have to look down because they're so bright. My brother, it's it's a challenge to my argument. How bright are we?
A shining forth, uh, in this uh.
In this world is amongst our assembly with our friends.
Perhaps, uh, we, we're all in the light right now because we have fellowship with each other and especially with the Lord. So we have.
All the brightness of the light that he can handle and and experience, but by far is that we might see this conference the shining brighter for the world.
Might be good to point out in verse 9 the proper rendering of the verse, and I'll read it in Mr. Darby's translation. The between the brackets there. For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. So the Lord is light, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And so if we walk in the light, there is fruit, and it's going to be in the righteousness that we want.
Verse seven is tells us that we are not to be partakers of the person to do these things.
But then in verse 11, it's not just to not have fellowship with them, but not have fellowship with anything that they do either. It's the deeds themselves. In verse 11, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
And when we look at what is said in these verses.
Brother Bruce is mentioning about walking circumspectly in verse 15 and fell on it. Looks like they were proving it's primarily in the way that we walk. Walking as children of light, we might have an opportunity to say no, that's not right.
If you like John the Baptist, but primarily it's by living.
The light doesn't make sound, as it's often mentioned, doesn't make noise. It shines, and that shine reproves. And so we're to live out these things in our lives, and the very fact of doing that will reprove the darkness around us. Now we live in a day when the darkness is growing, and perhaps it seems like it's just becoming overwhelming, but we can still do this. And if the darkness gets greater, if we're going to walk through the Lord, the light should shine even more in contrast to it.
So it's not that we should be overwhelmed by it. We've got an inexhaustible source of it and the Lord himself and his in his word.
We need to go on doing this and having a single eye on Him so that those things don't have any effect on us. And who knows, the Lord may use us to be a blessing to someone else as a result. I guess we have brought in here to the thought of the self judgment because we need to bring our ways under the authority and light of the Word of God and if there is that which is contrary to the light, contrary to the holiness of God.
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We should judge it, we should put it away. That's the, the condition of communion with God because we do have this, uh, this evil nature and, uh, we must keep it in the place of death as we were, as we've often been reminded, we need to, uh, have the word of God cleanse our ways when we bring, uh, things into the light of the word of God and have God's mind about these things. Often it calls for self judgment in our lives. So.
We have a little example in the Old Testament. I'd like to turn to the First Kings chapter 13.
Those that walk in an unrighteous path oftentimes want you to draw alongside so that it eases their conscience. And so if they feel like they can convince you to come along with them, it kind of eases their conscience and things that seem to be a little better for them. So first Kings chapter 13 and verse 7, the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me and refresh thyself, and I will give the reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me.
Half thine house I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place, for so it was charged with. Charge me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou came is. So he came another way. He went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel. Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel. And then a little further on he said.
In verse 18, this old prophet deceived the man of God, who said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art, And an Angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. Well, we know that it cost this man of God his life. It was a serious thing to set aside the word of God, and it in Israel's economy, if they received a message from an Angel, it was a serious message.
But this man of God, he was deceived, there was a lie told, and it cost him his life. And so it can cost us our testimony to have fellowship. And that's really what it is, to go and to eat bread, to drink. And that sort of thing was really viewed as having full and free fellowship, but in a wrong position. And so here we're given this admonition and it says all things in verse 13 that are reproved are made manifest by the light.
For whatsoever does make manifest as light, wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, or from among the dead in Christ, shall give thee light, or shall shine on thee. You know there's the Lord. You're going to have the privilege. Every one of us has the privilege of walking in fellowship with the Lord, walking in the light of His countenance, and in sweet communion with Himself. Or we can be lower our guard and walk in fellowship with this world. That's not a very happy path.
And that man of God in First Kings chapter 13, as I say, he lost his testimony, he lost his life. And the Lord gives us these little indications in the scriptures to how serious it is to mix ourselves with those works of darkness.
The 1St 14 is a verse of great hope, isn't it?
Because it's talking to a believer. This is one who is a child of light, but he's fallen down and he's sleeping. It's really arise from among the dead. I think is is the translation. And he's like one of the dead, and yet he's not. It's a child of light. And that's the word. There's recovery here.
We can still come to the Lord, he says. Christ will give thee light.
He's always there ready to give that which is wanting again. We don't have to stay in that darkness. Yes, there might be terrible failure, the loss of testimony, but there's that offer from the Lord Himself, and it's something that we need to take. But I just want to go back for a moment. And verse 11 speaks about again the unfruitful works of darkness and not having fellowship with them.
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And he says, rather reprove them.
This is something goes back to what we had this morning.
These works of darkness are put out as entertainment.
Rampantly with us, we can't take it any other way. You can't go and get a movie and just go into the quiet of your room and watch that thing and not be completely defiled by it. You're doing exactly what it says here.
You're actually having fellowship with that work of darkness, and it says here that it's a shame even to speak of those things which are done with them in secret.
That was the condition in those days, the things were done in secret. Today it's not. Tells us that too at the end of the end of Romans chapter one that.
They not only I'm not going to quote it right. Let me look at read that first because it tells us exactly where we are today.
Chapter one and verse 32. Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death.
Not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. That's the character of the world today. There's no shame in sin. It's a grand thing and if you disagree with it then the wrong is on your side and you can get put in a very bad place at work if you open your mouth.
Or in many other places too.
We're in a world that is no longer got shame. Have things done in secret.
So given that that is so, how can anyone of us as a child of God go and take those things of the world and go ourselves?
Perhaps in secret and enjoy it.
Is it possible?
Of course it is. I've done it.
It's serious, though. It's very serious.
And for any of us who have done that, it's something that grieves the heart of the Lord like.
We can't even imagine, and it has a terrible effect on ourselves. And yet there's recovery. If you're doing that, if you're going and taking those things and you're the one spoken of, I'm the one spoken of, if I'm doing that in verse 14, the one who's among the dead.
He says wake up Christ, they'll give you light. There's still an opportunity. You don't have to stay there.
That's the hope for every one of us today. We're in this condition.
Daniel chapter one gives us an encouraging.
Story and encouraging account.
We have Daniel.
We have Hananiah, Michelle and Azariah mentioned in verse 11.
And it says, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, 10 days, and let them give us holes to eat and water to drink.
Sounds like fairly Spartan diet if we could refer to it that way.
But what is? What is it in contrast to?
We see in verse 13 it speaks of the portion of the King's meat.
We see that the king consents to their desire. Verse 14. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them 10 days. And at the end of 10 days their countenance appeared fairer and fatter and flash than all the children which did eat the portion of the King's meat.
Thus Malzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill and all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
So the Lord blesses them for the stand that they took and for their faithfulness.
And may that same desire that was.
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Manifested in their lives being manifested in ours today.
The author of the book of Epistle to the Ephesians was Hall and Paula had some experience with light. We find that the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Well, there's three times I recall an act where he recounted his experience with the light. And I'll just briefly read them if you want to turn to them or know them. And Acts Chapter 9 and verse three it says. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly there shined round about.
Him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth. Suddenly there shine round about him a light from heaven, and he fell to earth. And then in Acts chapter 22.
Telling the story.
Acts chapter 22 and verse 6. Then it came to pass it as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon. Suddenly they're shone from heaven a great light round about one. So there's a mention of the light from heaven, and it was a great light. There's a sense of the intensity of it round about him, the same phrase round about him as from Acts Chapter 9. But then it's instructive in Acts chapter 26. He refers to it again when he's speaking to Agrippa.
Acts chapter 26 and verse 13 at midday, O king, I saw the way alight from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining round about me and them journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, when it first happened, it's it's recounted as it were in third person. The second time we recounted and he realized that it was a great light. And the third time he noticed it was above the brightness of the sun shining around about him.
The first two times he mentions that he fell to the earth. The third time he noted that they all fell to the earth. And so in the light of God pierces our souls or the sense of humility, there's repentance. Where was the place of blessing in the gospel? It was at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was the place of blessing. At his feet. Paul fell to the earth, those around him fell to the earth. And Paul's desire for those dear Saints and Ephesus was that they.
Receive the light, and that they fall to the earth, as it were, and be at the feet of Jesus to have that conduct that was consistent with the character of that perfect one. So Paul had much experience in the shining of light, and much that he could share with these dear Saints.
And just a a further word on this fourteenth verse.
If we turn to Revelation, we don't do that. But there's a word to Sardis.
And the work to start us was, Thou hast the name that thou liveth.
And are dead.
And I, you know, in my own soul, I don't know if I'm unique in this way, but there's sometimes in my life I just, it just seems to be a deadness there.
Just doesn't seem to be much like.
And.
I appreciate what it says here. Wherefore you stay up, awake, out, asleep.
And arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. You know, what we've had in these verses is in contrast to the earlier verses. And I think I just make a comment particularly to those who are younger. And it's not just those who are younger, but those of us are older too. The reason we dabble in things in the earlier verses is because we just don't get it.
That's, that's why we, we, we spoke earlier about umm, about serving some masters. You know, we, we can't physically take a basketball and, and put it into that basket and put it into that basket at the same time. We just can't do that.
And, and to try to, to dabble in these things in the earlier verses, it brings the deadness into our soul. And what it does is, you know, brother Robert, you, you brought before us just at the start of your, your address, that, that concept in, umm, in Luke's gospel chapter 8, right after that verse, it speaks about the candle. What do we do with a candle? Umm, do we put under a bed? Do we put it, do we put it under a vessel? Is it hidden? You know, one of the, one of the things that, uh.
That, uh, is part of our testimony. I, I is the light shining and, and, and, and I think I just made a comment that sometimes we just don't get, uh, the, the concept of, of, of dabbling in two things. It just doesn't work. And what it does is, umm, it spoils our testimony. And you know what we hear people, uh, looking at a believer and saying about them, I've had this happen where a person says, you know, I want to have what you have. And what is it that they want? It's the light that they see. Yes, the light approves the, the darkness that reproves some of the things that they do, but it's not just that it's attractive.
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And when the light shines, what does it do? It eclipses everything else. It eclipses everything else in my own life so that nothing else matters but but that which is of the light. But it also eclipses everything else so that it's attractive to people when they see the light. And you know, that's a marvelous thing because that's that's one of our, our greatest testimonies is simply walking in the light. And when there's a lack of that, as we had in Revelation, there's just a deadness there. There's a name.
There's a name that there's life.
But there's deadness and it's just it, it, it's, it's of no value whatsoever. What a marvelous thing. What an encouragement for us to to walk in the light that which is real. The apostle brings that to Timothy. The things that are really life, those those things that are life. Oh, what a wonderful thing to walk in those very things. Even the creatures of the night are attracted to the light.
Our God is light, and though we go across a trackless wild, our Jesus footsteps ever show the past for every child in 275.
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