Walking in the Light (2)
Lo3si me] Kalynk
(God's Magnificent Work through Christ)
Ephesians 5:3-14
In the Armenian
sermon we were discussing about immorality and sexual behaviors that destroy
our lives.
I found an
interesting quotation from Ray Stedman about sexuality.
“As I reflect
upon the year, I wonder if there was not some way to eliminate, or at least cut
back, all this evil. I thought of one thing which would certainly reduce crime,
bring an end to the divorce scandal, eliminate teenage pregnancies, reduce the prison population, stop the sale of
pornography, and decrease poverty. If we could come up with a drug that would
remove pleasure from the act of sex (because that is why everybody indulges in
sexual misbehavior), we could change the whole moral climate of our country.
But I realized we also would lose much color from life. We would forfeit the
companionship and fellowship which the sexes have in one another. Life would
become very drab and dreary indeed. Since we obviously cannot make that drastic
change, the only thing left to us is to learn how to handle our sexuality
properly.”1
God created us.
We need to learn how to handle our sexuality properly.
We move on to the
next section.
-No Inheritance in the kingdom (5:5)
“For of this you
can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (5)
The immoral, impure, greedy person- Paul is
mentioning the three vices that were mentioned before. He wants to reveal that
these vices not only destroy your life, but they also destroy your relationship
with God. Continued immoral behavior will lead you to a life without God, and this
means you are not in God’s kingdom.
This does not mean everyone
who falls into sexual sin and then repents loses their salvation.
What
it means that sexuality and idolatry are connected.
What do we
worship?
Whom do we
please?
Where is the
focus of our life?
-I was listening
to a person who was addicted to drugs. He told me how one can start with a simple
smoke, then more, and more. You eventually reach a condition where “it” becomes your god; “it” dictates
you.
-False Teachers and the judgment of God
(5:6-7)
“6Let no one deceive you with empty words,
for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7Therefore
do not be partners with them.” (5:6-7)
Let me quote from
the NIV commentary:
“WE LIVE IN a society that is
in a moral tailspin. In the 1950s our society feared communism and built
massive weapons of destruction and bomb shelters to protect our way of life. No attention was paid to defending the
moral fabric of society. But an “enemy”
has infiltrated our institutions and our pastimes and damaged — or maybe
destroyed — our moral
framework. We do not need to overstate the problem, for much morality
still exists, but it also is under attack. Too many people have lost all
motivation for ethics.
… Television shows set
for the family hours are now filled with adultery, promiscuity, and
homosexuality. Violence is presented as something fun to watch. We have made
rock stars, actors, and talk show hosts our ethicists and philosophers, but few
of these people merit being heard.” (NIV Com. p 279)
Who are those new “false teachers?”
With due respect to our
media, I often observe that our Christian values are ridiculed, or presented as
old-fashioned. The worse is when some
pastors who preach about morality, end up having affairs. That worsens the
situation.…….
Yet, as the commentary said, much
morality still exists. There are more people and churches that are
careful in their walk with God, and they try to implement what the gospel
teaches. Yet, the media does not cover this
news. The world does not see the reality.
Abstaining from premarital sex is ridiculed these days.
Millions of young men and
women wear purity or chastity rings that pledge to keep sex in marriage. The
world often ridicules them instead of appreciating their commitment.
In public schools, we hear
about “safe sex” (through condoms). Do
you know that “safe sex” is a myth.
Physically, “safe sex” has a failure rate of 16%. But no one talks about
the emotional failure of pre-marital sex.
The
failure rate there is 100%. Do
we hear anything about the problems that these couples face? No talk about the
shame and emotional damage done to our youth.
Paul is saying, all these
will lead us to judgment. God
will judge us.
Please read history, and find
out how immoral societies were destroyed one by one. Please read the Bible and find
out how immorality destroyed nation after nation.
Did you know that Ephesus was
destroyed in year AD 263?
-Christ’s light TRANSFORM us and TRANSFORMS our
surrounding THROUGH us (5:8-14)
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness,
righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do
with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is
shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything
exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything
visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
Again Paul
mentions, before and after, the old life and the new life, the old clothes and the
new ones.
Walking in the light means walking in
goodness, righteousness and truth. Ask these questions:
“Am I in God’s will?
Am I pleasing my creator?
Do my
relationships glorify God?
What does the Bible
say about this or that issue?”
Walking in the
light means nothing is hidden.
Adam and Eve tried to hide. Is there any place we can hide?
-My friend who
was telling me about his addiction, he said he came to a level that he realized
that he needs something higher than all these drugs and sexually immoral life. He
was introduced to the light of God.
What does light do to us?
First, it exposes
us. Then, it gives us heat. Heat turns to flames, it purifies whatever is not
pure, and eventually it turns us to light.
(This is our main
motto of the year: A renewing mind in Christ)
We need to be
very careful to not present ourselves as self-righteous
individuals who judge others. Let us approach our youth and our hurting society
as Christ would. He was personal, intimate, understanding, and, remember from
the sermon of last week, compassionate.
People do not need lectures about ethics. People need to learn about Christ,
who can transform lives. People need to see the church “grieving” for them,
with them. We need to pray that God will
help us to show the importance of knowing Christ in their life. We should not
leave the impression that we Christians hate them and their ethical life is
offending us, instead we grieve for them because they are not experiencing the life
that God designed for them.
Here is how Isaiah describes
how we should walk in the light:
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4
"Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.
5
Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy; (Isaiah
60:1-5a)
We are called
to be light. That light we can receive only from Jesus. He was the only light.
There are a lot of “dirty clothe, old life, old habits, immorality, needs to be
cleaned and be in light.
May God help
us all to take decisions.
Amen
1. Ray C. Stedman, Handling
Your Sex Drive