8.
Ephesians 5, verse 8,
For at one time you were darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light.
Paul often, as he wrote,
he did so by way of contrasts.
Very often he would say,
reminding Christians,
this is what you once were,
but this is now what you are.
You find that, in fact,
as you go through in Ephesians,
it went back to chapter 2,
we find that you were dead
in trespasses and sins.
You once walked according
to the course of the world.
You were children of wrath,
even us others.
But now, that's what he says in verse 4,
but God being rich in mercy,
where God comes into your life
and changes and transforms it.
Again, in verse 13 of chapter 2,
we have the same idea.
He says,
But now in Christ Jesus,
you who once were far off
have been brought near
by the blood of Christ.
So Paul often works
by these sort of contrasting pictures
of what once we were
and what now we have become.
And it's important for us
to remember that we,
just as it tells us
in this particular verse,
you were,
that's what he says,
for at one time
you were darkness,
but now are light in the Lord.
Not just you were in darkness.
We were in darkness.
But it's deeper than that.
We actually were darkness.
And when you think about it,
that's an awful picture.
And that's how everybody is
without Christ.
That's how we once were.
Darkness.
Not just in darkness,
but darkness.
Darkness.
So before we come to look
at positively,
let us look at first
what we were.
We were in darkness.
And this is, of course,
the darkness of sin.
That's what happened
whenever sin entered into this world.
And it's our,
what we use the expression,
a default position.
It's what we are.
And sadly,
it's what by nature we love.
Because we're told in scripture
that men love darkness
rather than light.
And whether we accepted it or not,
that was our preferred position.
Before we became Christians,
we preferred the darkness.
Yes, there might have been
leanings towards the light.
There might have been
drawings towards the light.
But the bottom line was
darkness was what ruled us
because we were darkness.
And it's not until we come to the light
that we realized just
how dark we actually were.
And this darkness is an awful thing.
Because in that darkness,
there is also
a sense of despondency
and a sense of despair.
People aren't aware of it.
But that's exactly how it is.
And I've seen,
I can still remember,
a couple of occasions
where this was brought
so forcibly home to me.
Where I was visiting people.
And there are two in particular
that come to my mind.
In the last week of their life,
it was not at the same time.
And I was trying to
say a little about Jesus
and didn't want to hear anything.
And I asked,
can I pray with you?
No, don't want prayer.
And what I found so extraordinary is
that there seemed to be just,
there was almost a darkness
you could feel.
And a sense of despair
and despondency.
That didn't want the light
in any shape or form.
And this is part almost
of the mystery of iniquity
where this darkness
wants to go deeper and deeper.
Doesn't want the light
in any shape or form.
And even when you're holding out light,
don't want it.
And it's,
it had a,
it had a real impact upon me,
this sense of
the hopelessness
and the despair
that is in that darkness.
But that's exactly,
these were sort of
where the,
where it was being displayed
in a very clear way.
And what I was thinking was,
just as a Christian
gets little glimpses
of glory along the way,
we get little,
little tears,
we,
we snippets,
as it were,
little touches.
and as we get closer to glory,
our hearts seem to be going there
more and more
to reverse us through
for those out of Christ.
That darkness is beginning
to envelop them
more and more.
The,
the lostness,
the despondency,
the darkness,
because that's what hell
ultimately is,
is outer darkness.
darkness.
And it's an incredibly
solemn thought,
but that,
that is the nature,
that's how we were
before the light.
And it's also a darkness
of ignorance,
because light,
light speaks to us
of knowledge,
of understanding.
And chapter four,
verse 18 tells us,
they are darkened
in their understanding,
alienated from the life
of God,
because of the ignorance
that is in them
due to the hardness
of their heart.
And you know,
it's an awful thing
to have our understanding
darkened by sin.
This ignorance
that is spoken of here
is not the ignorance
of intellect,
because there are many
intellectual giants
in this world
who,
as far as spiritual
understanding is concerned,
have none.
They are in darkness.
In fact,
I'm sure it's the same
with you.
I've had very clever people
tell me when I became
a Christian
to get rid of that nonsense.
That's what,
that was the actual word used.
Clever people,
far smarter
than I ever would be.
But that's because
of this word ignorance,
which is a spiritual blindness
that envelops the mind.
And they actually think,
genuinely think,
that the whole Christian,
that it's foolishness.
But the Bible tells us
that that's exactly
what they think.
Remember how Paul writing elsewhere,
he talks about
the preaching of the gospel,
that for some,
it's a stumbling block,
for others,
it's foolishness.
There are people tonight
who actually would look at you
coming to the prayer meeting
and think,
how foolish is that?
And the reason is
because of the ignorance,
the spiritual ignorance
that is brought about
by the darkness
that has enveloped
their heart
and their mind.
And you know,
it's an incredibly
solemn thing.
And then there's also
the darkness
of the curse.
You see,
there's the curse and sin.
And you remember
how God's judgment
came on Israel.
Remember how the plagues,
and one of the plagues
was darkness.
An incredible darkness
enveloped the land,
the whole land of Egypt
with an exception,
the land of Goshen.
The part of Egypt,
Goshen,
was in light.
That's where God's people were.
The rest of Egypt
was plunged
into the most
extraordinary darkness.
darkness.
And so,
that's where we once were,
under the curse,
because of sin,
ignorant
to the things of God.
But thankfully,
that has changed
because we're told here,
for at one time
you were darkness,
but now
you are light
in the Lord.
And that light
in the Lord,
it brings various things.
The first thing it does,
it brings reconciliation.
When the light
comes into your experience,
and as we know
that the dawning
of the light
can be so different
for different people,
not everybody
is a Saul of Tarshish,
not everybody
has a clear moment
when they know
they've passed
from death to life.
Many people,
as we've often said,
it's like the dawn
of the day.
And if you've ever
been out through the night
and experienced
coming in
from the darkness
and see just that
I've done so
on two or three occasions,
you've been out
through the night
and you just,
you can't say
at any particular moment
now it's light.
There is a particular time
when everything
is dark and black
and then gradually
it moves into
a world of shadows
and then growing shapes
and things,
there's a growing clarity
and eventually
everything becomes clear.
And that's how it is
sometimes
in the spiritual journey
for people.
They can't put
a particular day
or time,
but they do know
that they're on
a spiritual journey
where they were darkness
and now they are light.
And so there is,
this is a great thing
is there is reconciliation
because now
we are at one
with the Lord
and we feel at home
with the Lord.
that's why in Romans
we're saying
now we call him
Abba, Father.
We can go straight
maybe as children
we recited the Lord's Prayer
our Father
which art in heaven
repeated it
knew it of by heart.
But when you become
a Christian
you can say
our Father,
my Father.
Because
you feel this acceptance.
How?
Have you made that
in yourself?
No.
It is the ministry
of the Spirit
assuring us
the Spirit
ministered
to our spirit
that we are
children of God.
And it's one of the
most liberating
experiences
that we have
where we've come
from the darkness
and now we have
this sense of belonging.
We know who we are.
We're family.
We belong to one another.
You remember that
when you became
a Christian?
All of a sudden
there was
you felt one
with your brothers
and sisters.
People you used to see
over there
you didn't really
know them
but all of a sudden
there's this bond
this link
and this is all
through the Spirit
ministering within us
that we are all
children
all family.
We all belong
to the Lord.
And so
this is a wonderful
time
where we're
brought into the light.
You know
you could be out
on a really cold
windy night.
It's really dark.
the wind is howling.
You're going to visit
someone.
It's a good friend
and you're struggling
with the wind.
It's pouring rain.
Everything is dark.
Everything is black.
You reach the door.
The door's locked.
You ring the bell
and knock the door
and they come to the door
and they,
oh, come on in.
And if that's happened
to you
you remember
the warmth,
the light,
the friendship.
And it's so good
to get out
of the pouring rain
and the wind.
And in a sense
that's how it was
in our journey
in salvation.
This sense
of the warmth,
the love,
the friendship.
Just the,
I'm home.
This is where I belong.
Can you remember it?
The sense of belonging,
the sense of realization.
This is me.
I'm now at home.
And also
it's a state of knowledge
because light
brings knowledge.
Light opens
our understanding.
We have now
come to see
while we were dark,
when we were in darkness
and dark,
yes,
we may have
grasped certain things
and understood
certain things,
but our understanding
was so limited.
But now,
and I'm sure
like me,
you lament
and say,
I wish I knew more.
Well,
be encouraged.
You know a lot more
than you used to know.
Because when you become
a Christian,
you grow
in grace
and in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus.
Both these things
take part.
Grace and knowledge
are working together
and we need to seek
to grow more and more
in grace
and in knowledge.
And as we grow
in knowledge,
we do so with the word
and we do so
married to the experiences
that we go through.
You know,
as a Christian,
the experiences
that you go through
today,
you're able to
understand them
far more.
Yes,
because you've been
on the journey
longer,
but your knowledge
of the word
is greater.
And the word
tied and married
to the experiences
you go through
help your knowledge
to grow
so that you have
a greater understanding
of God's ways,
God's purposes,
of who God is.
And so there's
this great sense
of knowledge.
You know who you
belong to.
You know why you're here.
You know where you're going.
You have an understanding
of God's love to you.
You have a knowledge
of God's peace
in your heart.
There's an understanding
of the cross.
There's an understanding
of the resurrection.
All these things,
darkness,
is gone.
It's now light.
Now I know
there'll always be days
when we're not so conscious
of the light.
And sometimes we say,
I am in darkness.
But you won't be left there.
Micah said,
Micah says,
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord shall be a light
to me.
And you know the Lord will.
Even if there are times
we're struggling,
the Lord will reveal
himself again to us.
And so the fault
is never with the Lord.
It's never that his light
has ever dimmed.
But so often,
the clouds of our own sin
and all the other things
come in and block the way.
And just finally,
it tells us there
that we are to walk
as children of light.
And it tells us very simply
of three things there.
For the fruit of light
is found in all that is good
and right and true.
That idea of good
is goodness.
That should be our life
where we are seeking
the good of other people.
If God's goodness
is part of our lives,
if the Lord's light
is within us,
then it is only natural
that we are seeking
the well-being,
seeking the good.
So we're wanting
to encourage
and to edify
and to strengthen
and to build up
and to do good
at whatever opportunity
we have.
Right or righteousness.
In other words,
we are to be right
before God
and before one another.
A right man.
We talk,
we talk of a right,
well,
that's what the Christian
should be,
a right person
and a true person.
No deceit,
no dishonesty,
no deception,
but seeking to deal honestly
and to deal well
with everybody.
There shouldn't be
any hidden things.
Our lives
shouldn't have any hidden things.
Not that we can hide from God,
but our lives
should be open.
Paul so often
throughout says
that we are to live
in this sincerity,
which is meaning,
there's various meanings
that he gives,
but one of them
is we're searched
like under the spotlight,
under the sunlight.
And if our lives
are lived in a right way,
then we can live
comfortably
with one another.
You know if you're
at the airport
and you're going away
and you're
you know your baggage
goes through a scanner.
If you had something
that's in the
forbidden category
in your case,
you'd be kind of sweating
a wee bit
saying,
I wonder if they'll find that.
But if everything's all right,
then you're okay,
you're not worried at all.
Well that's the kind of idea
we should be,
that our lives
are going through
this scanner
so that
before God
and before one another.
Now of course
that convicts us
because so often
as we look at our lives
we say,
oh,
because we all sin.
We all,
as we face up
to what it is saying here,
we all do wrong.
But we should walk
as a light.
Our lives should be
a living testimony.
Jesus said,
you are the lights
of the world.
The light of the Lord
should shine through us.
I read of a diamond
somewhere,
you probably read of that,
that if it's exposed
to the sunlight
for a while
and then you put it
into a darkened room,
it continues to shine.
In a sense,
that's how we should be
as we come from
the presence of the Lord.
Like Moses,
remember when he was
up on the mountain,
up with the Lord.
When he came back down,
his face so shone
that the Israelites
couldn't look at him.
He had to put a veil
over his face.
They said,
we can't look at you
as he came from
the presence of the Lord.
So our lives
ought to be a light
that shines.
And you sometimes
say to yourself,
why are people so,
why is the world
so opposed to Christianity?
For that very reason.
That the world
can't handle
the light of the Christian.
The world
would want
the Christian removed.
That's why they want
the Bible removed.
Because the Bible
is a light
that bothers them.
the Christian
is often a light
that bothers them.
But the other side
to it is
that the Christian
as a light
is a huge influence
for good.
And I'm sure
as you and I
look back
over our lives,
we can remember
Christians
who shone.
Christians
whose lives
influenced us.
Not just
by what they said,
but by what they were.
there.
So Paul
is saying here,
here's the acid test,
threefold acid test
for our life.
In order to live right,
ask yourself this,
is it good?
If it is,
it's right.
Is it good?
Is it right?
Is it true?
These are the three principles.
If it's good,
if it's right,
is it true?
May the Lord
help us then
to have this
governing our lives
in order that
we may walk
in the light,
displaying the light
as we have been
now delivered
from the darkness.
Let us pray.
Lord,
we give thanks
for our time together.
And as we
reflect on your word
and what it tells us,
so often we feel
we come so far short.
But we give thanks
for your patience
how you deal with us.
And we give thanks
for the desire
within our heart
to walk in the light
and to be reflectors
of your light
so that the image
of Christ
may shine in us
more and more.
We pray then
to bless us
as a congregation.
Bless every home
and every family.
Again,
we pray your blessing
upon our young people
and the holiday club
that's taking place.
And we give thanks
for the huge input
of Scott and Fiona.
And we pray for them,
for Scott and Fiona
and for Katie Bell
and Lily May
as they will be moving
down to North Harris.
We pray that
their time there
will be a time
of blessing
as it has been
with us here.
And watch over them,
we pray.
And we ask, Lord,
that you will watch
over all of us.
Do us good,
we pray.
Guide us
and keep us
and guard us
at every time.
Take away our sin
in Jesus' name.
Amen.