Dealing with the Dark Side

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

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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.

Ephesians 5:11

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.

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,

Ephesians 1:3

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,

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

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.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

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.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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.

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,

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

Matthew 18:15

chapter 18

verse 15.

So,

keep your finger

in Ephesians

and turn back

a little bit.

Go to Matthew

Matthew 18:15

chapter 18

verse 15.

Classic use

of the word

and a good

illustration

of what you

and I

are called

to do.

Matthew

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

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

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

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

Matthew 5:14–16

chapter 5

verse 14

through 16

we're

saved

to be

lights

and lights

get put

in dark

places

Matthew

Matthew 5:14

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

Luke 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13

Luke chapter

Luke 13 · chapter mention

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

Luke 13:10–17

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

Luke 13 · chapter mention

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

she was

enthusiastic

okay

she was

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

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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

really

really

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

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