All right, I'm going to call for a show of hands.
Raise your hand if you have a family member,
whether immediate or extended,
if you have friends, neighbors, co-workers
who are presently outside the kingdom of God,
who are not Christians, who are living for themselves,
they're under God's wrath, show of hands.
That's everybody.
So let me ask you this.
We've got people whom we love that don't know Christ,
and I'm guessing that we regularly interact with them.
So how are we as Christians who are called to be holy,
how are we to live among those who are blinded and living for themselves?
How are we to do that?
Would you open up your Bible quickly,
just to Ephesians chapter 5, verse 7?
It reads this.
Therefore, do not be partners with them,
them being non-Christians.
Therefore, do not be partners,
an older ESV version reads,
therefore, do not associate with them.
What does that mean?
Are we as Christians to steer clear of all interactions with non-Christians?
I'm not sure if you're going to a Super Bowl party tonight.
That might be out of the question now with all this snow.
But let's say you go to a Super Bowl party,
and you see a non-Christian walk into the door.
Is Paul saying here that if you're a Christian,
you need to go out the back door?
At family get-togethers, non-Christian family,
whether it's Easter or Thanksgiving, Christmas,
you know, the family get-together group,
birthday gatherings, you know what I mean?
You see a non-Christian family member walk in.
Does that mean you split?
Is that what Paul is saying?
We're not to associate with them?
We're not to partner with them?
You've been assigned to serve on a team at work.
And you have non-Christians on that team.
Does that mean you've got to say,
I can't serve on this team.
They're Christians.
I can't do this.
I'm prohibited.
What happens if you have non-Christian children?
What happens if you have non-Christian parents?
What happens if you have a non-Christian spouse?
What is Paul saying here?
What does he mean do not become partners with them in verse 7?
Well, verse 11 sheds light on it.
What Paul is saying is we are not to do something.
What he's not saying is we're to cut off all relationships with non-Christians.
In fact, what we'll see is Jesus actually wants us in relationship with non-Christians.
What he doesn't want us doing is participating in sin with non-Christians.
What he does want us doing in these relationships is exposing the sin of non-Christians.
We are in the book of Ephesians.
First half of Ephesians is all these truths of who we are.
The second half of Ephesians are exhortations of how we are to live.
Last week we are in Ephesians 5.
Remember, you are a child of God.
You're an imitator of God.
You are to walk in love as Christ loved.
Upward and outward kind of love.
We love people to the glory of God.
And then in verses 3 and 4, Paul says,
Because you're this, sexual immorality, impurity, greed cannot be named among you now.
You're the holy ones of God.
Why would you participate in something in which people who don't know Christ live for?
Don't you know that these are the reasons why God's wrath is coming?
That's his rationale.
And then in verse 7, he says this,
Therefore, therefore, do not become partners with them.
So here's what I believe God is saying to us this morning.
Our God is essentially saying to us, my children,
Light in the Lord.
Don't join the sons of disobedience in the deeds of darkness.
Be with them to expose the deeds of darkness.
There's no question we've been called out of a lifestyle.
But it's more than that.
We've been called out of sin in order to shine light onto sin.
We are light in the world.
We're to be separate from darkness.
And we're to shine into the darkness.
God has a holy, redemptive purpose for us in our relationships with non-Christians.
This call to live holy has more to it than living a squeaky clean life.
You're going to see that come out at the end.
What I want you to know right now is we are not to partner in sin with non-Christians.
We are to expose the sin of non-Christians.
And so here's the command.
Therefore, do not become partners with them.
And what we see in Ephesians 8, 9, and 10 is one reason why we are not to be partners with them.
And then what we read in 11, 12, 13, and 14 is another reason why we are not to partner with them.
The first one is essentially this.
We are not to partner with them in sin.
Remember who you are.
We don't partner with them, darkness, because we are no longer darkness.
We are light.
That's his rationale.
And then the second reason he gives gets at purpose.
We are not to partner with them because we are not of them anymore.
We don't practice these things with them.
We expose these things.
And what you're going to see is God has a glorious redemptive purpose in that.
So two reasons this morning of why we're not to partner with non-Christians.
So let's look at this first one in greater detail.
You are not to partner with them because you are not darkness anymore.
Would you look with me at verse 8?
Let me start in 7.
Therefore, do not partner with them.
For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Paul is making a case here.
His reason is don't partner with them.
It's not who you are.
Don't participate with them in the deeds of darkness.
It's not who you are anymore.
You're light in the Lord.
Did you notice the then now language of verse 8?
At one time, formerly, you were once darkness.
Paul doesn't say here, you were living in darkness.
Paul says, you were darkness.
This is who we were before we became a Christian.
Paul has conversion on his mind.
This is who you were then.
Spiritually blind.
Spiritually dead.
Spiritually ignorant.
Spiritually hardened of heart.
Ephesians 4.18
We had no inheritance in the kingdom of God.
We were sons and daughters of disobedience.
We were under God's wrath.
That's who we were.
We were darkness.
What were we living for?
What?
Well, we were living for ourselves.
And it showed up in things like sexual immorality.
All kinds of impurity.
Greed.
Trash talk.
That's what characterized our lives.
We definitely weren't living for God.
We weren't imitating God.
We weren't living like Christ.
Upward and outward.
That was far from our minds.
And what Paul does here, he summarizes it all up with one word.
You were once darkness.
Spiritually dead.
Engaging in the deeds of darkness.
But then we read in verse 8 those great words, but now.
You were darkness.
But now.
I love that.
But now.
In that but now is God's grace manifest through the gospel
to us.
Radically changed.
We're no longer darkness.
But now.
You are light.
In the Lord.
We've been transformed by the grace of God.
We went from being darkness.
To being light.
And Paul uses that darkness light language very intentionally.
It draws a sharp contrast.
We were not that anymore.
We are light in the Lord.
Light is distinct from darkness.
Light is separate from darkness.
It's one way or the other.
This maybe a year and a half ago.
Two years ago.
My son Mark and I.
We got in the car.
And we traveled to Cave of the Mounds.
Outside of Madison.
And it was on a Monday.
And so all the kids were.
Everybody was in school.
So just Mark and me.
And we got this tour of the Cave of the Mounds.
Just he and I.
And this lady tour lady guy.
Lady person.
And she brought us back all the way to the end of the cave.
And you know what she did?
She turned off the lights.
And so I was like.
I cannot see my hand.
I can feel the wind my hand is making.
But it was pitch black.
Couldn't see anything.
And then she flipped the switch.
Lights on.
I knew how to get out.
I was so grateful that she flipped the switch.
And the lights were on.
It was no longer darkness.
It was now light.
And I was overjoyed.
Paul has conversion on his mind here.
We were darkness.
And God flipped the switch.
In Christ we are now in the light.
Which brings me to another thing I want you to see.
Not only is it this but now language.
Then now language.
I want you to see the source of light.
We were darkness.
But now you are light in the Lord.
Light in the Lord.
You see the difference of being in darkness and being in the light is whether you are in Christ.
That's the difference.
So if you are in the darkness you are outside of Christ.
But if you are in the light you are in Christ.
His light shines through us.
The moment you believed in Christ.
The moment you were united to Him.
You were placed into Christ.
Now this is where I want to help you make some connections.
In John chapter 1.
John talks about Jesus this way.
In Him Christ was life.
And the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness.
And the darkness has not overcome it.
Jesus is the light.
At your conversion.
The moment you became a Christian.
You were formerly darkness.
Darkness no more.
You were placed into Christ.
The light of life.
Or He radically changed you.
John 8.12
Jesus says this.
I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me.
Whoever is placed into me.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.
But will have the light of life.
When you first became a Christian.
You were placed into Christ.
And He lit you up.
With His light of life.
So Christian.
You are now light in the Lord.
Here's what that means.
Having been made alive with Christ.
Christ is going to radiate His holy life through you.
Anybody here of Thomas Kincaid?
He's a famous painter.
And He has painted these pictures of little houses.
With these warm lights shining through the window.
It's very inviting.
Light shining through.
The moment you believed in Jesus.
He lit you up.
Lights went on.
You were made alive in Christ.
To shine in the darkness.
On a cloudy day.
You know the kind of cloud.
Patchy clouds.
Sometimes you can see beams of sunlight coming through.
And it's like you can see the actual beam of sunlight.
You know what I'm talking about?
I want to take a picture of it.
Christ in us.
Shines through us.
In the radiant beams of holiness.
We are light in the Lord.
And so when we read that.
We are light in the Lord.
And then when we read in the second part of verse 8.
That we are to walk as children of light.
We realize that it's a call to holiness.
It's called a Christ likeness.
Now when you read that.
Walk as children of light in verse 8.
It can be a little confusing.
Because it seems like Paul might be mixing his metaphors a little bit.
But he's not.
What he's saying is this.
We've been born of the light of life.
We are of God now.
Born of him.
Which means this.
You've got to let your little light shine.
We are to live out the light in us.
Christ in us.
We're to walk in holiness.
If darkness is death and sin.
The light that Paul is talking about.
Is life and holiness.
Holiness.
So Jesus has given us new life.
In which we are to walk out in holiness.
And in verse 9 we see what that looks like.
Instead of sexual immorality.
All kinds of impurity and greed.
Verse 3.
What we read here is the fruit of life.
The produce of holiness.
Goodness.
Righteousness.
Truthfulness.
We see that other places in Ephesians.
Ephesians 2.10.
We are created in Christ Jesus.
Made alive.
For good works.
Ephesians 4.15.
That we were made.
Created in the likeness of God.
For true righteousness.
And holiness.
In Ephesians 4.15.
We have been made.
Built in together.
Knit together.
As part of this living body of Christ.
Under the head of Jesus.
Our life.
And we are to speak the truth.
In love to one another.
Our life is to be marked by the fruit of holiness.
Goodness.
Righteousness.
And truth.
We live in the light.
We've got nothing to hide.
That marks us now.
As children of light.
We walk in the light.
And in verse 10.
We see the hallmark.
Of walking as a child of the light.
You know what your heart's desire is?
Your heart's desire is to please the Lord.
Look at verse 10 with me.
And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
Walk as children of light.
And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
I love that verse 10.
It is in my Bible.
Try to find out what pleases the Lord, Michael.
Try to discern.
That word try to discern.
It comes from a Greek word that means to approve.
It actually comes from a word that was used of testing of metals.
To see what a metal was worth.
Value.
Substance.
And what Paul is saying here is,
Hey, you prove my will.
Walk in it.
Demonstrate it.
Feel.
Taste.
Experience the goodness of it.
We are always having to ask a question as children of light.
And it goes something like this.
Is what I'm about to do pleasing to the Lord?
I'm a child of light.
Is this walking in the light?
Is this pleasing to the Lord?
Is this TV show I'm about to watch pleasing to the Lord?
Is this song I'm about to listen to pleasing to the Lord?
Are these words I'm about to say pleasing to the Lord?
Is this internet page I'm about to click on pleasing to the Lord?
Is this purchase I'm about to make pleasing to the Lord?
Is the way I am conducting myself in this relationship pleasing to the Lord?
Is it upward and outward?
Is it walking in the light?
That question reveals who you are.
Child of light.
You are light in the Lord.
Let your light shine.
The first reason that Paul gives for us not partnering with the sons of disobedience
in the deeds of darkness is you're not darkness anymore.
You are light in the Lord.
He has lit you up to be shining holy among darkened sinners.
So it's a call to remember who you are.
The second reason we see here is verses 11 through 14.
And it gets that purpose.
As light in the Lord, this is who you are now, determines what you do.
We don't participate in the deeds of darkness, verse 11.
We expose the deeds of darkness.
We leverage our relationships with non-Christians.
We love them.
We love our God.
We walk in holiness and we love them.
We realize that our lives will expose them.
Paul is saying here, don't join them in sin.
Let your life expose their sin.
He assumes relationships.
He assumes proximity.
He assumes that you're going to be in relationship with non-Christians.
And he's saying, live like you are.
A light in the Lord.
And it's going to expose the sin in our non-Christian family and friends and co-workers.
Would you turn in your Bibles to John 17?
John 17.
John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Jesus.
In which Jesus prays for his disciples and all who will believe through his disciples' witness.
Us.
And so in John 17, Jesus says this.
This is verses 15 through 18.
He says, he prays,
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them in truth.
Your word is truth.
Cause them to shine.
Then he goes on to say,
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
Jesus wants us in relationships with non-Christians.
And he wants us in relationship with non-Christians so that our lights can shine on them.
How?
How do we expose the sinfulness of their sin?
Do we need to be the self-righteous police?
Blowing whistles?
Slapping hands?
Not like that.
That's not what Paul is getting at here.
What he's getting at is this.
Your changed life will be a light of holiness that exposes the deeds of darkness.
By contrast.
It will bring it out.
And non-Christians know.
They experience it.
Walking as children of light,
Your life will shine into the darkness.
In verse 12.
And it will make the shameful things done in secret visible.
In other words,
Our lives,
God will use our lives
To bring non-Christians face to face
With their own sin.
They will realize something.
We live lives of holiness.
And it has a witnessing effect.
It has a convicting effect.
That word expose
Means to confront.
It means to convict.
It's challenging.
Our lives are to be challenging
To non-Christians.
Let me give you some examples of this.
How this works out.
And maybe you've already experienced this.
And so,
I just want to help you see what it is.
I have three examples.
If I can get to the third,
I will.
That's going to take the most time.
First example of how
Our holy lives
Expose
The deeds of darkness.
Have you ever been somewhere
And
Someone swears
In your presence
Or takes the Lord's name in vain
And they're like,
Oh, oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't know you were there.
I'm sorry.
Do you know what's going on there?
Do you know what's happening?
They're aware of you.
They're aware that you
Stand for something.
And they're aware
Of their own speech.
That's,
It's inconsistent
With who you are.
Do you know what that is?
Exposing the deeds of darkness.
And some people will apologize for it.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
If you weren't here,
I would just be cussing
All over the place.
Other people take issue with it.
Man, you're holier than thou.
What's your problem?
Man, can you lighten up a little bit?
There's one example.
Speech.
Our speech will confront
Evil speech patterns.
By contrast.
Work.
Remember we were talking about
The fruit of the light
Is goodness,
Rightness,
And truth.
Let's say that you are
A type of worker
That you do good work.
It's quality work.
And that you do it rightly.
You do it along the lines
That have been told to you.
And you do it truthfully.
Honestly.
Have you ever experienced
Anything like this?
Hey man,
Would you just slow down?
You're making the rest of us
Look bad.
You know what's going on there?
Your life is having effect.
It's exposing something
On other people.
They think it's making them
Look bad.
You're just trying to live
For Jesus.
You're not trying to make
Them look bad.
But your light is shining.
Some people will rise to it.
You might get promoted for it.
Some people like that.
Other people don't.
Our lives are to expose things
Because we are light in the Lord.
He has us there for a reason.
The third area that I want to bring up
Is something that I wanted to bring up
Last week.
Last week I was explaining
The differences between
Sexual immorality, impurity, and greed
In verse 3.
And when I was talking about
Sexual immorality
I listed out several different kinds
Of sexual immorality.
And one I didn't say
Was pornography.
Last week I tried to make the case
That to understand
What is sexually immoral
We need to know
What is sexually pleasing to God.
And that is this.
This good gift of sex
That God has given us
Is to be experienced
In one place
In one place alone
And that is marriage.
The exclusive
Lifelong covenant
Between one man
And one woman.
That is where
And only where
We would experience
This good gift of God.
He has got purposes for it.
And so anything
Outside of that
Falls into this category
Of pornea
Sexual immorality.
Do you know what pornography is?
It is in the name.
Porn
Sexual immorality
Graphic
On display.
That is what it means.
Sexual immorality
On display.
That is what pornography is.
And you know what?
God hates it.
Do you know why?
It is a distortion
Of his good gift of sex.
His design.
He hates it.
Our lives
Are to be lived
In such a way
That we expose
This evil deed
Of darkness.
We don't participate in it.
We're not to even have
A hint of this.
Ephesians 5.3
We live in a
Porn
Saturated
Culture.
Listen to this.
Pornography is
Is widely available.
It's easily accessible.
It's affordable.
It's alluring.
And
Often times
Most of the time
It's anonymous.
It's like the perfect storm.
In our lives
God is calling us to here
As light in the Lord
Is to
Have a sharp contrast
To living
For pornography.
We are not just
Called out of it.
We're called to
Expose it.
Now this is where
At the risk of
Extending this too far
I wanted to give you
Reasons why
You've got to give up porn.
In a book
By Tim Chester
It's called
Closing the Window
Very helpful book.
In chapter one
He gives 12
Reasons to give up porn.
Here's why I'm going
To tell you this.
I want to expose it
For what it is.
And so
Out of a heart
For that
I'm going to list you
About these reasons.
They're not graphic
Because
Even the shameful
Things done in darkness
We're not going to utter.
But here are the effects.
Porn will wreck
Your view of sex.
Porn wrecks
Your view
Men of women.
You will objectify
A woman.
She becomes a thing
Not an image bearer
Of God.
Porn wrecks
Women's view
Of themselves.
The porn industry
Abuses women.
It's
Sex trafficking.
Porn is sin
Against your wife
Husbands.
It's a kind
Of heart infidelity.
Porn wrecks marriages.
Instead of
A father
Being a shield
To his family
This becomes
A conduit of sin
Into his family.
Do you see?
Porn is enslaving.
It makes
A horrible taskmaster.
It just sucks
Joy out of
Christians' lives.
Out of anybody's life.
Porn erodes
Character.
It makes people
Liars.
Porn
Wastes
Time
Energy
And money.
Porn
Weakens
Your relationship
With God.
If you are
Worshipping
At the altar
Of porn
You are not
Worshipping
The living God.
Porn
Weakens
Your service
In the church.
You know
That
You are struggling
And it
Undermines
Your integrity.
Weakens
Your service
In the church.
Porn
Provokes
God's wrath.
This is
Kind of
Ephesians 5
6
Do you not
Realize
That the
Wrath of God
Is coming
Because of
Porn
He hates
It
This is
Nasty
Stuff
And what
We're called
As Christians
Is we're called
To separate
Ourselves
From the
Darkness
It's not
Who we are
Anymore
And then
We're to
Expose
The deeds
Of darkness
With holiness
And so
Instead of
Wrecking
Our view
Of sex
As light
In the
Lord
We hold
To a
Biblical
View
Of sex
Instead of
Wrecking
Our view
Of women
We uphold
A biblical
View of women
That they are
Made like men
In the image
Of God
And intrinsically
Valuable
Instead of
Embracing
Something that
Wrecks a
Woman's
View of
Herself
We hold
To something
That
Breathes
Life
Into a
Woman
She sees
Herself
As God
Sees her
You see
You know
What happens
When you
Start living
That way
You start
Believing
These things
Your life
Takes a
Turn
It looks
Different
Instead of
Being enslaved
By sin
You've been
Freed from
It
There's
Joy
Instead of
A weakened
Relationship
With God
There is
A vibrant
Strong
Relationship
With God
Instead of
Weakening
Your service
In the
Truth
You are
Strengthened
In your
Service
Of the
Church
It is
A sharp
Contrast
This is
An area
In our
Culture
In which
We stand
Out
We are
Not to
Participate
In the
Deeds of
Darkness
Rather
We are
To expose
That
It's not
Who you
Are
It's
Not
Who you
Are
Can I
Just say
This
If you're
In the
Room
Right now
And you're
Struggling
With
Pornography
Do you
Know what
Porn
Isn't
Stronger
Than
God's
Grace
God
If you're
God's
God
Can get
You
Out
Of
It
And if
There's
A way
That I
Can help
You
Just see
Me
Afterwards
There are
Men
In this
Room
Right now
Who've
Been
Delivered
From
It
Our
Sexuality
Our
Holy
Lives
Will
Expose
The
Sexually
Perverse
Deeds
Of
Darkness
All
Around
Us
We
Are
Light
In
The
Lord
And
God
Wants
Our
Holiness
To
Make
A
Difference
Which
Leads
Me
To
My
Closing
Thoughts
Here
Why
Does
God
Who
Has
Made
Us
Light
In
The
Lord
Why
Does
He
Want
Us
To
Use
Our
Lives
To
Expose
The
Sin
Of
Others
Why
Is
He
Kind
Of
Pushing
Us
Into
Conflict
Why
Is
He
Kind
Of
Pushing
Us
Into
Confrontation
Why
Is
He
Doing
That
Do
You
Know
Why
God
Has
A
Redemptive
Purpose
God
Wants
To
Use
Your
Life
In
Order
To
Bring
Sinners
Face
To
Face
With
Their
Sin
So
That
They
Can
Turn
To
Christ
That's
What
He
Did
In
Our
Lives
We
Are
In
Darkness
Our
Sin
Got
Exposed
We
Recognized
Our
Need
For
A
Savior
And
He
Lit
Us
Up
He
Went
From
Darkness
To
Light
We
See
That
Played
Out
In
Actually
Verses
13
To
14
And
It's
Kind
It's
Kind of a
Little
Complicated
And
Difficult
To
Read
So
Let me
Just
Summarize
What Paul
Is
When
Those
In
Darkness
Are
Exposed
By
The
Light
Of
Our
Holy
Lives
Those
In
Darkness
Are
Made
Aware
Of
Their
Darkness
They
Are
Confronted
With
Their
Deeds
Of
Darkness
Sinners
Are
Confronted
With
Their
Own
Sinfulness
Through
Our
Lives
And
When
Sinners
Are
Brought
Into
The
Holy
Light
Of
Christ
Some
Of
Them
Will
Actually
Repent
Of
Their
Sin
And
Turn
In
Faith
To
Christ
And
Christ
Will
Light
Them
Up
He
Will
Save
them
They
Will
Move
From
Death
To
Life
Darkness
To
Light
The
Quote
At
The
End
Of
Verse
14
Do
You
Read
It
There
It's
A
Really
Interesting
Quote
A
Waco
Sleeper
And
Arise
From
The
Dead
And
Christ
Will
Shine
On
You
That's
Actually
Taken
From
A
Couple
Different
Spots
In
The
Book
Of
Isaiah
And
It
Functioned
In
The
Early
Church
As
A
Corporate
Response
at
A
Baptism
Service
So
You
Know
What
Would
Happen
A
New
Convert
Would
And
Those
Christians
Surrounding
Them
Do
Know
What
They
Would
Say
This
A
Waco
Sleeper
And
Arise
From
The
Dead
And
Christ
Will
Shine
On
You
Do
Know
What
They're
Saying
You
You've
Gone
From
Darkness
To
Light
You've
Gone
From
Death
To
Life
You
Are
In
Christ
Is
Shining
On
You
You've
Been
Lit
Up
Paul
Has
Conversion
On
His
Mind
Our
Lives
Because
We're
The
Light
Exposing
Effect
A
Transformational
Effect
God
Wants
To
Use
Us
In
The
Lives
Of
Non
Christians
To
Save
Them
To
Cause
His
Light
To
Shine
Upon
Them
To
Rescue
Them
From
The
Deeds
Of
Darkness
God
Has
A
Redemptive
Purpose
For
Our
Holiness
Let
Let me
Let
Let me
Just close by
Saying this
How are we to live among non-Christians?
We're not to run from them.
We're not to participate in sin with them.
We're to expose sin in them by living holy lives with the hope that God is going to
awaken them.
Cause the light of Christ to shine upon them and save them.
So brothers and sisters, you are light in the Lord.
Let your little light shine.