Amen.
This is a good moment. Do you know that?
When the pastor takes off his watch, it's a good moment.
Amen.
When God's people open their Bibles, that's a good moment.
I want you to turn in the Scriptures this morning to Ephesians chapter 5
and follow in your own copy as I read the text that we are going to study together this morning,
dependent upon the Spirit of God.
Ephesians chapter 5, verse 11.
Wise, but wise.
Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Let's pray together.
Father, as we have often said, for us, prayer is not a habit or something that is woven into the routine of our service,
but it really is an expression of our dependence and our confidence in you.
We pray because you know.
We know that you exist.
And we know that you hear and answer the prayer of those who come with a contrite and humble heart
and ask that you would open our eyes that we might see glorious things in your Word.
It's a great thing to be saved.
It's a great thing to have been taken out of darkness and put into light.
In fact, to be the light, as the Scripture says.
And this morning we ask that the Spirit of God would work in us,
that as we hear the preaching of the Word,
your Spirit would weigh upon our hearts and our consciences,
that when we leave this place,
we would leave with resolve that we would spend our days with a passion for Christ
and a concern and a burden for those who do not know the Lord Jesus.
And we're going to trust you for what you do in your people,
who you have saved and redeemed for your namesake.
And we pray this because of Jesus.
Amen.
Well, one of the things that I reminded you of last week
is that when we take up the book of Ephesians,
we recognize a book that deals with the reality of Christian life, first of all,
by explaining how it is that we come to faith.
And as I was sitting over here on that pew,
kind of reviewing in my mind the broad flow of the book,
I couldn't help but think about that passage in Ephesians 1, verse 3,
where it says,
I love that.
Do I deserve what I have in the Lord Jesus?
Oh, no, no, no, no.
But I have it because of Him.
And this morning, as we come together,
we have the first half of Ephesians behind us.
And we have been reminded by the apostle
and encouraged by the Spirit of God to understand
that salvation is of the Lord,
and He who is our Savior took us out of darkness into His light,
and He has done that for His glory.
Ephesians chapter 3 closes off with that just absolutely spectacular statement,
321,
unto Him be,
who knows it,
glory in the church.
At various points in my life,
I've had all kinds of life verses.
How many of you like that?
Some people lock in on one,
and it's good to go.
But for me,
I've had more than I know what to do with.
But that's probably one of the ones.
It's in my office.
It's somewhere just central in my thinking is,
unto Him be glory,
unto Him be glory.
Then Paul opens up,
and in the remaining part of the book
that we are continuing to study,
Lord willing,
he deals with what believers are to be.
We're saved.
We're His creation.
We're His children.
And he explains in chapter 4, 5, and 6
how we're to live.
And he begins there in Ephesians chapter 4.
He says,
listen, you're to walk worthy of the calling
to which you've been called.
Once you become a believer,
you don't live your life anymore for yourself.
Do you understand that?
You live it for Christ.
That's why you were saved,
for His glory,
for His purposes.
Chapter 4 explains a little bit
of how the church fits and works together
and how it's been designed by God
to be a manifestation of His glory
to the unbelieving world.
But then in chapter 5,
we saw there at the very beginning of the chapter,
it says, listen,
you are to be imitators of God.
In other words, act like God.
Whew.
That's a pretty sobering statement.
And then what Paul does,
as a good teacher would do,
is having made that very strong pronouncement
that believers are to act like God,
and we said, you know,
he goes on and explains it in practical terms.
And that's what we've been doing
as we've been working our way
through Ephesians chapter 5.
We're recognizing that acting like God
means that there are certain kind of behaviors
that may have been part of our past
that have no part to do with how we are now.
We're to be different.
Paul then goes on,
and as we saw last week,
he says,
hey, you were darkness.
You were darkness.
Now you're light.
And as a result of being light,
there are some very particular things
that we as believers are to be engaged in,
and yet it becomes a little frustrating,
a little challenging,
because it says we're not to be dark.
We're to be light.
But as I pointed out last week in the sermon,
guess what?
If you are a light,
guess where you get put?
Does anybody remember?
You get put in dark places.
Do you realize that?
I mean, the only reason you light a candle is what?
Because you don't like the dark.
And Jesus came into the world
to be the light of the world,
and he has made us to be light.
And I can tell you this,
if you're his child,
you are going to find yourself in dark places.
And God intends for you to shine in those corners
and those places where he's put you.
He intends for you to make a difference.
What we're going to be looking at today
is a very practical explanation
of how to be light in dark corners
and not be overwhelmed by the darkness.
So I guess we could say
that what we're dealing with this morning
is facing and accepting the reality of who we are
and dealing with the dark place that we are.
So let's look at the passage here
and pick up there in verse 11
and recognize the first bit of counsel and instruction
that the apostle gives to us is this,
don't partner with the dark.
Don't partner with the dark.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness.
Do you realize that a lot of the Christian life
is kind of a balancing act a little bit?
And in fact, there are a number of different theological truths
that are challenging
because our tendency is to be either or.
And sometimes there are both ands.
And when we are told that we are to be lights in a dark place,
we recognize that being in dark places
has some complications
and some challenges in that circumstance.
And the church over the generations
and throughout history
has kind of struggled a little bit
with how can you be light in a dark place?
Well, one of the ways that some have done
is that they've just kind of been their little light
in their little corner,
us four no more.
Let me give you a couple illustrations of it.
How many of you,
when you drive up to Millersburg and places like that,
notice that there are houses
that don't have electric lines running to them?
Do you know what that is?
When you have a house that has no electricity,
it's probably an Amish person,
and they have largely withdrawn from culture.
They don't have much effect on...
When was the last time
you had an Amish missionary knocking on your door?
Okay, it doesn't happen.
They've withdrawn for the large part,
and I'm not being disrespectful of them as a people,
but I want you to understand
that they've withdrawn from the culture
and community around them.
They really make no bones
about the fact that they're detached,
and evangelism and impact
on other people with the gospel of Christ
is not something that they're hardwired for.
Now, the Pharisees were really top off on that.
That was where they specialized.
They were great at pointing out the sins in other people.
Remember the Pharisees,
kind of walking around real stiff,
and everything was just all right,
and I've been reading through the book of John,
and I was struck by the fact
that here are the Pharisees.
They come to bring accusation against Jesus,
but because they didn't want to pollute themselves,
they wouldn't even get near Pilate.
He had to come out to them.
And the Pharisees were all about
spotting sin in other people,
and they stood away from it.
They were isolated from the heartaches
and the hardships
and the difficulties that sin creates,
and I think we recognize here
that sin makes messes.
Do you recognize that?
Do you understand that?
It's no surprise.
When you look at what sin does in people's lives,
it causes terrible difficulties,
and recognizing it is not really
all that God has called us to do.
Others have gone to the complete opposite,
the extreme,
and they've accommodated the world
to the point that
they join in every fad
and every debauchery
that is practiced today.
There are many professing Christians
whose lifestyles,
their moral conduct,
their vocabulary at work,
the things that they're interested in,
the way in which they want to spend
their time someday,
really is substantially no different at all
from the way the unbelieving world is.
I remember several years ago
talking with a young man
who had kind of come for a period of time
and then moved away,
and this young man was talking to me
about his interest in finding a wife,
and so one of the things that he had done
is he had visited all the singles ministries
in our proximity,
in our community.
You know what he shared with me?
He says the thing that really frustrated him
was that in one singles ministry after another,
he bumped into gross immorality
that was known by people
who were in leadership
that did absolutely nothing about it.
I talked with another man
who was a pastor,
large church,
very successful,
and he was complaining a little bit to me,
and I was curious
as I listened to his complaint.
He says,
you know,
one of the problems I have
is that we go all out
to bring people in.
We are accommodating.
We're ready to meet people
wherever they are,
but then as we begin discipling them,
we find that having met them
exactly where they are
and being actually as accommodating
as we are,
it's very, very difficult
to say to them,
hey, listen,
you need to stop living
with your girlfriend
or having premarital intercourse
is inappropriate.
I am so thankful
that I can tell you this morning
that the new president
of Cedarville University,
one of the early things
that he did
when he came to Cedarville,
this is Dr. White,
he just took over this fall.
When he came,
he found out
that they were going to have
what they call
a critical concerns weekend
where they had people come in
and speak on a number
of different critical concerns.
And the previous administration
had secured a contract
with someone to come
from Boston College,
ostensibly,
to minister to believers
with this message.
Here's the message.
It is unrealistic for Christians
in the 21st century
to expect single people
to abstain from premarital intercourse.
And the college,
the university,
had secured a speaker
to come in
to talk about that theme.
Do you follow that?
And her premise was,
listen,
you have really done due diligence
if you encourage
good Christian boys and girls
to at least wait
until they really believe
that this is the right one.
What Dr. John White did
was said,
look,
we would be very glad
to pay you the speaking engagement fee
that we have agreed,
but goodbye.
We're not going to accept that.
And as I look at the passage,
it says,
take no part
with the unfruitful works
of darkness.
Understand this,
believers are not called
to be partners
or approving of darkness and sin.
That's not hard to recognize
in the passage, is it?
Being light in a dark place
means being an exception.
When others are leering
at pictures
that are immoral
and inappropriate,
and all you have to do
is turn away from that
and guess what happens?
How many of you have already
figured out what happens?
They immediately recognize
you didn't have to say anything,
you just stepped away
and what's your problem?
Or there is some crude humor
that is going around
and everybody else
is snickering
and you're not joining in
laughing at what's going on.
They come in
and they talk the next day
about some of the shows
that are on TV
and some of the ribald humor
that is foisted off
and you're sitting there saying,
hey man,
that's not me.
I'm not,
didn't you watch that?
No,
really not into that.
I don't spend my night
waiting up for Saturday Night Live
and then talk about it
the next morning in the office.
Beloved,
I want you to understand
what it says right here
in this passage
is God's Word.
It's His explicit instruction
to His children.
He says,
don't partner with them.
We're not to be entertained
or occupied
with the sinfulness of our world.
You know,
you walk through
the grocery store
and right there
on eye level
are what kind of magazines?
Informative things
about how to do your taxes
and, you know,
no,
what's out there?
It's all the salacious gossip
from an unbelieving world
right there at eye level.
I got to tell you,
I go into doctor's offices
and I would prefer
that there were magazines
like, you know,
Peterson's Hunting
or something like that.
And guess what's always there?
People magazine.
I don't pick it up.
Do you know why
I don't pick it up?
I don't need to know
who is shacking up
with so-and-so currently.
I don't need to see
all the slinky stuff
and pay attention.
That is not
what God called me to do.
And I want to encourage you
this morning,
if you're sitting here
and you're part of the kingdom,
you're part of the family of God,
you don't have to go
out of your way
to be different.
Just don't join in.
Second,
the passage makes
a very interesting statement.
It says,
do be light
in dark places.
Now,
look at that.
It says,
but instead
expose them.
When Paul instructed
the Ephesians
to reprove
and expose
the unfruitful works
of darkness,
he was not really
calling believers
to be the hateful critics
of the darkness.
How many of you
are aware
of Westboro Baptist Church?
Raise your hand
if you know
what I'm speaking about
when I say
Westboro Baptist Church.
Okay?
They have taken it
upon themselves
in a very ungodly fashion
to end up
demonstrating
at funerals,
et cetera,
and just saying
some horrible
ungodly things.
That's not what
God has called us to do.
When it says
that we are
to expose
or reprove them,
he's not talking
about kind of being
like Jonah
and stomping
through the city
necessarily.
You guys are toast.
God hates you.
You know,
that's not what
we were called to do.
I remember
hearing a story
of a Bible college student
in North Carolina.
Judith and I
lived there
many years ago.
And this Bible college
student was deeply
convicted about his
need to share the gospel.
And so what he decided
he would do
is he would go down
to the local drag race site
and he hired a sound truck.
This was in the old days.
Okay?
These were sound trucks
with the big megaphones
out the side,
you know,
and he parked it
on a little knoll
above the drag strip.
And he was just
letting people have it
with the sound system.
I mean,
y'all down there
are going to hell!
And he was really
getting after them.
Well, guess what
drag sounds are like?
Does anybody know?
I don't,
having ever been there,
but Dwayne,
are they pretty loud?
I mean,
what these people did
was they just
absolutely drownded him out.
They never went up the hill
to talk to him.
They just,
you know,
they let the,
probably burned a lot
of nitrous
and whatever else,
but they were just
blasting their engines
and eventually he gave up.
Now,
is that what God's
called us to do?
The answer is,
no,
no.
Okay.
So,
what is being said?
The Greek word
carries the idea
of exposing
the darkness.
And,
in essence,
what we are to do
is turn on the light
so the darkness
can be seen
for what it is.
Turn on the light
so the darkness
can be seen
for what it is.
It actually
involves the idea
of not only
drawing attention
to the problem
but working
to convince
the person
to change.
That's what
this Greek word
carries.
Probably a good
illustration of that
would be over
in Matthew
chapter 18
verse 15.
So,
keep your finger
in Ephesians
and turn back
a little bit.
Go to Matthew
chapter 18
verse 15.
Classic use
of the word
and a good
illustration
of what you
and I
are called
to do.
Matthew
chapter 18
written
primarily
in relationship
to our
dealing
with one
another
within the
family of
God
but applicable
in that
it gives
us an idea
of how we
are to go
about
correcting
dealing with
sin
in the world
around us.
Verse 15
If your brother
sins against
you
go and tell
him his fault
between you
and him alone
if he listens
to you
you have
gained
your brother.
What is the
objective
of that passage?
It is not
to do a
drive-by
shooting
and identify
the sinful
problem
in the
person's
life.
Hey
you're a
jerk
bye
no that's
not it
it's
you know
it seems
you're having
problems
with relationships
have you ever
stopped to
wonder why
that is?
Click
well yeah
I am having
problems
with relationships
relationships
well let me
talk to you
about the
person who
made a
radical
difference
in my
life
in the
area of
relationships
and brought
me into
relationship
with the
Lord
there's a
way to
do it
this
verse
is talking
about
turning the
light on
so people
can see
the mess
they're in
let me
let me have
you also
go back
if you
would
to the
passage
in Matthew
chapter 5
you're there
in Matthew
18 so
turn back
just a little
bit more
to the
passage
that we
looked at
last week
Matthew
chapter 5
verse 14
through 16
we're
saved
to be
lights
and lights
get put
in dark
places
Matthew
chapter 5
verse 14
you are
the light
of the
world
a city
set on
a hill
cannot
be hidden
hey
everybody
around you
where you
work
should know
that you
are
different
not because
of haircut
but because
of life
transforming
power of
the gospel
that has
turned you
from being
dark
into light
when everybody
else is
grumbling
about the
boss
you're not
in that
when people
brag about
the fact
that they're
stealing
from the
company
you're not
in that
when people
are incessantly
critical about
everything going
on
and by the
way
that's easy
to do
you're not
in that
you're a
person whose
heart is
focused
on the
only thing
that brings
redemption
and hope
to an
unbelieving
world
and it's
not
Washington
it's the
gospel of
the Lord
Jesus
Christ
it is
the fact
that Jesus
came into
the world
to save
sinners
and change
their hearts
and Jesus
says you
are the
light
you are
the light
and he
says hey
people don't
light lamps
without a
reason
and then
he goes
on and
says this
in verse
16
in the
same way
let your
light shine
before others
so that
they
and who
is the
they
it's the
people
that are
in the
dark
so that
they
can see
your good
works
and as it
says there
and give
glory to
your father
who is in
heaven
so let me
give you
some illustrations
of how
the light
exposes
the darkness
have you
turn if you
would now
to Luke
chapter 13
Luke chapter
13
and I want
to kind of
have you
have a little
bit of a
picture of
what takes
place in
this passage
Luke chapter
13
verse 10
through 17
is talking
about where
Jesus is
going to
heal a
woman who
is in a
mess
I was
driving
yeah I'll
say this
I was
driving
out towards
Plain City
not too
long ago
and I saw
a place
that said
healing room
and then
a little
subtext
said walk
ins
welcome
what would
ever happen
I won't
go there
walk ins
welcome
I mean
that's better
than urgent
care
wouldn't you
agree with
that
do you
need the
address
you know
I thought
to myself
so
every time
Jesus did
a miracle
guess what
it was the
real thing
it wasn't
like take
two and see
me in the
morning
it was like
you need
to help
with that
bang
it's done
and anyway
here we are
Luke chapter
13
now he was
teaching in
one of the
synagogues
on the
Sabbath
and there
was a
woman who
had a
disabling
spirit of
18 years
she was
bent over
and could
not fully
straighten
herself
and when
Jesus saw
her he
called her
over and
said woman
you have
been freed
from your
disability
and he
laid his
hands on
her and
immediately
she was
made straight
and she
glorified
God
guess what
that must
have looked
like
Jesus
wow
I mean
she was
fired up
how many
of you
have been
sick
longer than
four days
in a row
does anybody
know that
sick is not
fun
it's not
fun
and when
this lady
got lit
by the touch
of Jesus
and her
life was
changed
she
she was
enthusiastic
okay
she was
just beside
herself
oh
how did
that go
well
here we go
verse 14
the ruler
of the
synagogue
indignant
because Jesus
he healed
on the
Sabbath
said
there are
six days
in which
work ought
to be
done
come on
these days
see me
in my
office
tomorrow
you got a
problem
I'll take
care of
it
then
what did
Jesus do
he healed
her publicly
right
in front
of everybody
on the
Sabbath
now
we're getting
forward to
the part
I want
you to
see
look if
you will
okay
as he
said these
things
all his
adversaries
were put
to shame
and all
the people
rejoiced
at all
the glorious
things that
were done
by him
do you get
that
here's
the point
God
does put
us in
dark
places
and he
puts us
in dark
places
so that
the
adversary
may be
put to
shame
you
understand
that
and the
adversary
of the
gospel
hates
the
testimony
of Christ
and the
power
of the
cross
and so
here's
the
question
in the
place
where he
has
put
you
is
Christ
consistently
getting
credit
for the
fact
that you're
different
than the
rest of
the
unbelieving
world
and what's
the answer
it ought to
be that
way
isn't that
right
shouldn't
we be
different
what's
the answer
oh yes
yes
and as
Paul makes
that argument
he says
listen
be different
now I want
you to look
at something
else in
relationship
to this
we see
Jesus
dealing with
a problem
there
but I want
you to look
at another
passage
in relationship
to this
business
of what
we are
all about
1st Peter
chapter 2
verse 13
through 17
in 13
it says
be subject
for the
Lord's sake
to every
human
institution
whether
to the
emperor
as supreme
stop
just for a
second
do you
know
does anybody
know who
the emperor
was at
this time
by the way
this was
before
Facebook
does anybody
know who
the emperor
was at
this time
can anybody
tell me
Nero
folks
there is
no president
that we've
ever had
or in
all probability
we'll ever
have that
will top
out who
Nero was
and how
Nero behaved
and if you
have any
question about
that
google it
you'll find
out
Nero is
an absolute
despicable
wretch
and here is
what the
spirit of
God says
is to be
the attitude
of believers
towards those
who he has
placed in
authority
over us
it says
be subject
for the
Lord's sake
to every
institution
what am I
subject to
I'm not
subject to
the constitution
of the
United States
of America
at the end
of the day
I am
subject
to the
word of
God
and I
want to
be sensitive
to the
fact that
that is
my supreme
authority
and it
calls me
to have
a tender
heart
in the
community
and place
where he
has put
me
or to
governors
as sent
by him
to punish
those who
do evil
and to
praise
those who
do good
for this
is the
will of
God
that by
doing
what's
the next
word
what's
the next
word
by doing
good
by doing
good
by doing
good
you should
put to
silence
the
ignorance
of foolish
men
that's a pretty
powerful argument
isn't it
the most
powerful
arguments
against
abortion
today
are not
made
in the
halls of
congress
by
senators
do you know
where the
most powerful
arguments
are made
they're made
by willing
believers
who are
willing to
sacrifice
their own
resources
to help
those who
are unwed
mothers
I tell
you the
thing that
has changed
the conversation
about the
matter of
pro-life
in our
community
in our
culture
and I
see a
positive
change
happening
are there
abortions
that take
place
is our
government
doing
everything
they can
to enhance
and encourage
abortion
yes
but what
is turning
the tide
is believers
who are
willing
to be
sacrificed
and inconvenienced
to minister
to those
who have
children
out of
wedlock
you stop
and think
about it
if you
were to
kind of
survey
the history
of the
world
you would
discover
that
hospitals
schools
do you
know why
we have
such an
outstanding
educational
system
in America
do you
know why
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
came into
being
they came
into being
because
Bible
believing
people
understood
that
God's
people
need
to know
the word
will
teach
it
will
teach
it
I
do
like
to
say
that
liberals
are
generous
with
other
people's
money
and
Christians
are
generous
with
their
own
I
briefly
picked
up
I am
probably
not as
news savvy
as some
of the
rest of
you are
but I
briefly
picked
up
that
there
has
been
a
horrible
storm
tsunami
in the
Philippines
and I
got to
tell you
as soon
as we
have
information
on what
we can
do
as
believers
we're
going to
step
in
and we're
going to
help
we're
going to
fill
that
basket
but we're
going to
help
other
people
too
why
because
we've
been
called
to be
light
in
dark
places
well
there's
a
third
thing
that
I
want
you
to
see
going
back
to
Ephesians
chapter
5
it
says
there
and
I
just
can't
when
anything
is
exposed
by
the
light
it
becomes
visible
for
anything
that
becomes
visible
is
light
let me
kind
of
press
this
together
because
of
time
what
remains
in
our
study
as
we
look
at
this
part
is
that
we
as
believers
are
to
think
as
short
timers
now
what
does
it
mean
to
be
a
short
timer
huh
it
means
we're
checking
out
pretty
soon
okay
we're
not
going
to
be
here
long
and
since
we
don't
have
a
lot
of
time
what
we
ought
to
be
doing
is
focusing
on
the
things
that
really
count
I
take
this
passage
ultimately
to be
an appeal
to us
as
believers
that we
are
to be
engaged
in
the
sweetness
of
the
gospel
and
bringing
light
to
people
whose
lives
are
dark
and
hopeless
our
calling
is
to be
active
in
pleading
with
unbelievers
to come
to
Christ
are
we
to
be
involved
in
doing
good
works
so
that
God
is
glorified
and
the
answer
is
absolutely
but
good
works
must
be
connected
with
a
good
word
and
you
know
what
the
word
is
that
Christ
Jesus
came
into
the
world
to
save
sinners
of
whom
I
am
chief
and
as
you
are
doing
good
things
and
you
ought
to
be
doing
those
you
have
to
be
sharing
the
thing
that
makes
a
difference
for
all
of
eternity
can
you
improve
the
health
and
have
people
go
to
hell
and
what's
the
answer
yes
particularly
if you
don't
share
the
gospel
can
you
drill
tube
wells
can
you
run
electricity
can
you
provide
all
kinds
of
physical
cares
and
I
think
we
should
but
beloved
woven
into
the
absolutely
desperate
need
of
the
world
is
the
truth
of
the
fact
that
men
are
sinners
before
a
holy
God
and
they
have
no
hope
apart
from
Christ
I
loved
listening
to
Billy
Graham
on
Thursday
night
and
I
got
to
tell
you
if
you
missed
an
opportunity
all
you
have
to
do
is
go
to
his
website
and
you
can
download
it
and
watch
it
on
YouTube
you
can
watch
it
all
different
kinds
of
places
the
latter
part
of
that
it
says
that
we
are
to
be
careful
how
we
walk
not
as
unwise
but
as
wise
we're
expected
to be
wise
in
our
calling
turn
over
if
you
would
just
for
a
moment
to
Colossians
chapter
4
verse
5
Colossians
chapter
4
verse
5
it
says
this
walk
in
wisdom
toward
outsiders
making
the
best
use
of
time
what's
that
mean
what's
that
mean
I
have
a
friend
time
in
pastoral
ministry
who
earlier
this
fall
had
some
flu
like
symptoms
and
he
went
into
the
doctor
after
three
or
four
days
of
this
and
said
you
know
I'm
just
having
trouble
shake
this
and
the
doctor
said
okay
well
listen
to him
a
little
bit
more
and
said
well
let
me
run
some
tests
and
he
ran
some
blood
tests
and
one
thing
led
to
another
and
eventually
and fatal leukemia.
I've known my friend
and his faithfulness to the gospel,
the affection that he has for the Lord Jesus Christ,
and this dear friend said to me,
you know what?
I really don't know how long I'm going to live,
but I want to live it for Jesus.
And he said, it's been one thing for me to preach,
not really thinking about the fact that I'm a short timer,
and now I recognize I don't have much time.
Look at the passage.
Making the best use of the time
because the days are evil.
We're light.
You got that?
In dark places.
And people all around us
are stepping off
into the darkness of an eternity
without Christ in hell forever.
So when was the last time
that you were light enough
that people ask you a reason for the hope that's in you?
When was the last time that a neighbor said to you,
you know,
why are you different?
Well, I'm a vegetarian.
No.
Why are you different?
Well, it's because, you know,
there was a time in my life where I was an absolute mess.
I was dark.
And the Spirit of God convinced me of my darkness and brought me to Christ.
And I am different not because of me,
but because of Him.
And I would like to talk to you about Him and let you know that there's hope.
A week and a half ago,
I shared this already,
but it's a great reminder.
I've been in the neighborhood where I am for,
my wife would tell you,
I don't know.
It's a long time,
five or six years.
And I have ministered over and over again.
It took about six months for everybody in my neighborhood
to figure out that I was a Baptist pastor, right?
Once they figured out that I was a Baptist pastor,
it was like, you know,
they backed off a little bit.
But eventually they found out that I'm a pretty ordinary guy.
I would help them with projects.
And you can use my leaf blower.
I have every tool imaginable.
You know, share, share, share.
Those kind of things.
And the other day,
my neighbor said to me,
my aunt died.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
Yeah, and I'm wondering where she went.
This is a lady who has told me over and over again,
and I've shared the gospel with them about two or three times.
Don't want to go there.
Had a bad experience when I was, you know,
young person, blah, blah.
Don't want to have anything to do with church.
Here she is saying to me,
Baptist pastor, that she knows.
I don't know where she went.
I jumped on that.
And here's what I said.
I said, you know,
that is an important thing to think about.
It's pretty,
that's a good question.
Where did she go?
I don't know.
I've never met her,
so I have no idea.
I said,
but evidently,
you think about that,
don't you?
Every day.
So what am I going to do?
I'm sitting there,
and she says,
the next thing she says is,
and by the way,
would you do my funeral?
Out of the clear blue.
I said,
oh,
I would be honored to.
I said,
but can I tell you what I would say,
so you know ahead of time?
What do you think I did?
There was a day when I was dark,
and you were dark.
You understand that?
And Christ Jesus came into my life
and saved me.
And here is his marching orders
for Tim Knoyer.
You're a short timer here.
Use it wisely.
Let's close in prayer.
Precious Father in God,
this morning,
as we listen to the Word of God,
we want to hear
and understand
and have our lives
affected by the truth.
Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners.
And every one of us here
can remember,
those who are saved,
can remember the time
that we were dark,
and you,
by your grace,
drew us out of that condition
and have given us
everlasting life.
And we want to use our lives
in the time that remains
for the testimony of Christ.
Now, Lord,
it's our privilege
to enjoy
the faithfulness
of individuals
who have chosen
to be baptized in obedience.
Let their testimonies
resonate
in the hearts
of those that are here
that don't know Christ.
And that's our prayer.
Amen.