Light Changes Everything

8.

Ephesians 5, verse 8,

Ephesians 5:8

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,

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.