A friend of mine was struggling recently with what he was seeing around him. He saw his fellow seminary class mates not seeing or believing the truth about what the Bible says about a key issue of our day. It’s never talked about. It’s portrayed as if there are two sides to the issue. But there is only one side to the issue, and the other “side” is simply a lie.
But there is a lot of confusion about this issue in the body of Christ. It’s the issue of biblical marriage.
And my friend was deeply concerned with seeing so many of his fellows not believing the truth. And so many of his teachers unwilling to speak up and simply say the basic truth about what biblical marriage is and what it isn’t.
He was frustrated and concerned. And I had the opportunity to minister to him. And I told him, keep speaking up, even if you are the only one who does. Keep speaking up. Because you can make a difference. Keep speaking, speak kindly, speak with love, but speak the truth. And at the same time pray and pray and pray. Be a prayer warrior for your friends and your teachers and all those who in your sphere of influence.
And you can watch the entire group’s minds change as you speak and as you pray, the Holy Spirit comes, and moves, and peoples hearts are changed. And I told him this: The reason it’s so firm on your heart and your so concerned is because it’s on the Holy Spirit’s mind and heart. And he’s giving you that passion for a reason.
That my brothers and sisters is how you expose the deeds of darkness. And how you do what God is calling you to do, which is our topic for today.
Our scripture today from Ephesians five is going to show us a blueprint for living a daily life in opposition to darkness, and in building purity first within ourselves and then in the world around us.
This is how we will learn today how to go about exposing the darkness.
Let’s dive in, Ephesians 5, verses 1-2: “5 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us[a] and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”
Imitate God, two words, very powerful. We are God’s children, so we should want to imitate our God. How do we do that?
By living a life filled with love. Imitating God, means imitating Jesus. What did Jesus do? He loved people deeply.
Look for those opportunities in your own life.
Jesus our savior loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice, and that’s what love is, it’s a sacrifice. We give of ourselves to another person. We take an interest in someone else’s life. We listen. We give. And that genuine love changes the world.
If you want to begin to live a life filled with love, slowly begin to add things to your life that give you opportunities to love others. Mentor someone, volunteer somewhere, visit your nephew or niece, write a letter to someone in jail, do something to love, and you will be imitating Christ.
Next, verses 3-4: "Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.”
So we’re told to live a life of love, that’s adding good things to our lives. And we can only love if we’re letting God love us, but now we’re told we should also subtract certain things from our lives.
We’re told to remove sexual immorality. That sin can really drain you of your spiritual vitality, any sexual sin just leave you feeling empty and cut off from the light of God. Avoid those sins.
If you’re caught in sexuality immorality, or impurity of any kind, or greed, repent quickly, seek God’s help to find freedom.
We’re also told to avoid obscene stories, foolish talk and coarse jokes. They are not for you.
Many people I know like to tell obscene or vulgar stories, or gross jokes. Don’t do that, that’s not God’s will for you. I had a friend who did that, I rebuked him, I told him that’s not right for you to be saying.
Instead of those things, don’t leave a vacuum, replace it with thankfulness to God. Lord, thank you for my home. Lord, thank you for my furnace. Thank you for my fridge. Thank you for my family. Pray before every meal. Thankfulness produces an attitude of joy and peace.
Coarse joking and vulgar stories will leave you feeling yucky, leave you feeling empty, leave you feeling like I shouldn’t have said that. If you want to live the way of love, then ask yourself, is that loving? If it’s not, then we shouldn’t do it.
Next, verse 5: "You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.”
Notice that the Apostle Paul here is talking to believers. He’s not writing to non-believers. So what does he mean? What he means is, if we as believers continue to practice immorality, impurity, or greed, we will not inherit the Kingdom of God. On judgment day, when we give an account for our lives, we’ll be told, you practiced lawlessness, and so you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Please know that, even if you’re a believer today, you can still fall short if you make a practice of sin. We’re not just automatically going to heaven if we’re a Christian, we need to endure to the end, remain faithful, and reject sin in our lives.
Many in the church today attempt to excuse these sins, they say well you’re a Christian so it doesn’t matter, you're going to heaven anyway, even if you keep living in constant sins. Don’t be fooled by that talk!
It says in verses 6-7: “Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do.”
That I would say is the fundamental divide in the body of Christ today, Christians who take sin seriously because of God’s amazing grace, and Christians who excuse sin because they say they’re under grace.
Make sure you’re on the right side of the body of Christ, repent of sins daily, do not allow sin to have any hold in your life. Don’t make excuses for sin in your life, Paul reminds us, “Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse sin!” It’s so very common today, so many Christians think they can sin all they want because they’re under God’s grace, they are wrong, and they’re headed toward destruction. Repent quickly if you find a sin in your life, because God expects us to live holy as He is holy. We’re not adding anything to our salvation, Jesus paid it all, but we must repent quickly if we sin, and not dirty our garments.
When we talk about exposing darkness, we have to expose it in ourselves, and also in the body of Christ.
Next, verses 8-9: “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.”
We were once full of darkness, deceived, under the sway of the enemy, but now we are full of light. Therefore we should live as people of the light. For light produces in us good things, not bad things.
Next, verses 10-11: "Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them."
Here we find the central verses of our scripture for today. If we can learn these two statements and how to live them, we’ll be able to fulfill what God is calling us to today.
Carefully determine, figure out, what pleases God. Pay attention to what God is saying. Develop a daily heart communication with God. The Holy Spirit will speak to you, but if you aren’t tuned in and listening closely you can miss it. Listen, pray constantly, know His word, and it will pop into your heart at the right time.
That’s how you fight in spiritual warfare, you have such a close relationship with God, you hear from Him each day, and you know instinctively the next right thing to do. Then you're tuned in. We don’t always do what he says, no one does, but, more and more, we can hear and then know, and then obey.
How does this work practically? I’ll give you an example. The Lord brought an opportunity to setup a community garden at The Salvation Army. Why did that happen? We prayed and prayed for God to bring such opportunities and one by one he has.
Now, if you’re not praying already, well you’ve already lost, such opportunities probably won’t even show up. Or they won’t come very often.
So the opportunity came, community garden, but where do we put it, at Purdue or at The Salvation Army? I wasn’t sure. So I started praying about it. I talked to my wife. I talked to my staff. I prayed probably three different times. And then I listened for the Lord, and he kept nudging me, have it at the Salvation Army, so I emailed the contact and told them, here at the army.
Carefully. Determine. What. Pleases. God.
Second portion, take no part in the deeds of darkness, instead expose them. You will see friends, people you know, even Christians do things that are sinful and wrong.
Don’t follow their example. Don’t be led by the crowd. Don’t do it just because the TV says its cool. Be the one person at your school, the one person in your family, the one person in your group of friends who says no to sin.
Not only that, expose sin. The reason we know about many evil things that happen in the world, from Epstein island to the corruption in government, to even crimes that occur in our community, is because brave people to take a stand and they expose the evil. They expose the darkness. Then others hear about it and they take a stand too.
How do you take a stand? Two things, speak and pray. Speak up, keep speaking up, speak up with love, but speak up with truth, and then coat it all in pray, and you will see the truth rise up and spread everywhere. The truth is light, and the darkness will flee!
Here’s an example, William Wilberforce. He lived during the time when slavery was legal in the British empire. And he fought endlessly throughout his life to abolish slavery in England. He forced people to see the terrible conditions aboard slave ships, so many people simply pretended it wasn’t happening and turned a blind eye, he forced the parliament members to see what was happening, and eventually the slave trade was abolished. He was a Christian.
When we take no part in darkness, we shine brighter. We aren’t dirtied by the sin. And when we take a stand boldly, and persistently, others join in the battle against that evil stronghold, and then, by God’s grace, one day that evil stronghold is destroyed permanently. All because you stood up and refused to stop speaking. The power of Christ takes over and that darkness becomes light.
Next, verses 12-14a: "It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. 13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, 14 for the light makes everything visible.”
So many ungodly and evil things happen in hidden places, secret places, and these things are kept secret by a corrupt news media, and simply our human ability to hide things. But, God sees everything. There is no hiding from God. All evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them. Everything will be uncovered, and every evil deed will be judged.
Make sure your sins are washed in the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ, because otherwise, they will be judged.
Next, end of verse 14: “This is why it is said,
“Awake, O sleeper,
rise up from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.”
Many have wondered what this scripture means, including myself. I think it’s a call to those who are unsaved, who are still in darkness, to take this incredible opportunity to be set free. This opportunity will be gone one day soon. Jesus will return, the gates of salvation will close, and the books will be opened.
Take the opportunity now. Not later. Even if you’re in many sins, gross darkness, wake up, awake, sleeper! Rise from the dead, turn to Christ, give your heart to Jesus, and Jesus will give you light. You will become light, and all your darkness will be gone. He will forgive it all, a clean slate, just for you.
Next, verses 15-16: "So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days."
We keep getting this phrase “be careful.” “be cautious.” Give careful thought to your ways. Don’t live foolishly.
There are days when I admit I’ve lived foolishly. I just played videogames and watched movies all day. That’s foolish, it’s not wise. Now there are definitely days God gives us to rest and relax and have fun.
But live wisely. Know the word of God. Know the book of Proverbs. As you study the word, diligently read it, study it, highlight, underline, journal about it, you will begin to manifest something in your dealings in this world: The word is wisdom. As you know the Bible, you will live wisely, and the word of God will pop into your head when you need that particular verse.
Make that your goal, "I’m going to become wise in the things of God." Study the proverbs, learn the gospels, and you’ll develop wisdom.
Also notice verse 16, make the most of every opportunity. Major Chris was talking to me a few weeks back and he told me he was ministering to one of his staff and he said he pulled a Justin and said, “Let’s pray right now.”
That is something I do. I don’t want to say "Oh I’ll pray for you" and then forget. Let’s pray right now. Make the most of the opportunity. I try to share the gospel freely with the volunteers who come to the corps. They may never hear it again, take the opportunity.
Today, we are on the grand stage of history. Today the souls of humanity hang in the balance between heaven and hell. Use your opportunity. Shine a light.
The other day I met up with a ministry leader for Chicago for Jesus. I interviewed him to learn more about street ministry, and he actually took me out that day in front of a Wal mart, which we had no permission to be there, but we just set up and started talking to people in the parking lot, asking them if they wanted Bibles and praying with people. And it was amazing.
We gave away in just a half hour about 12 Bibles and prayed with several people.
Amazing what God can do! And why not? Souls hang in the balance, get out there and do something.
Verses 17-18: “Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit...”
Again we get this concept of understanding what God wants us to do next. Generally as we pray, God will put something on our heart. It will keep popping up, and we’ll know it’s from God. As we pray, then we want to do it. And sure enough, it’s his will and it brings a victory.
I’ll give you an example, for months it’s been on my heart to talk to the leader of Chicago for Jesus, and it kept popping up and finally I said you know what I’m gonna do it. We met up, and sure enough, next we’re going to visit the abortion clinic in Chicago and pray for people there. Praise the Lord.
Verse 18 also says, "Don’t be drunk with wine." It’s a good reminder, you can completely ruin your life with alcohol or drugs. Instead of that, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and let the Holy Spirit give you joy and excitement and the pleasure of being with God. Don’t see that pleasure in drugs or drink claim your heart.
Lastly, verses 19-20: "...singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Make music to the Lord in your hearts. Instead of looking to things like food, drink, booze, pills, sex, and so on to make your happy or give you pleasure, instead find pleasure in the Holy Spirit.
Find pleasure in singing worship songs to God. My wife and I will take our phones, pull up lyrics to a Christian song, and then sing it together in our living room. Worship is powerful in the spiritual realm.
If you want to turn back darkness and bright light into a community, worship God in your living room, worship God in your car, worship God with the Christian radio, and worship God with the YouTube video. Worship produces an atmosphere around you that sends demons flying away, and it brings spiritual light to whole communities. Worship is powerful.
Similarly, in all this give thanks to God the Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ. Just keep thanking God for all he’s done for you. Keep thanking God for who He is. Keep thanking God for His gift of salvation in Jesus' blood. That’s a form of praise too.
In conclusion, in all this, we will be someone who knows what God is saying to us, and we will be someone who exposes darkness to the light.
Review of Main Points:
1. Imitate God in love – follow Jesus’ example
2. Avoid sexual immorality, vulgar talk and coarse joking
3. If we practice immorality, we will not inherit the kingdom of God
4. Don’t make excuses for sin, we must repent actively
5. Darkness is deception, Light is truth
6. Determine carefully God’s will is and do it
7. Discover and expose darkness through speaking up and praying diligently
8. We can hide our sins from other people, but nothing is hidden from God
9. Now is the opportune time, give your life to Jesus today
10. Become wise through careful study of the word of God
11. Make the most of each opportunity to spread the word and help others
12. Let the Holy Spirit be your source of joy, not worldly pleasures
