Walk As Children Of Light

INTRODUCTION

In the previous verse we are told that we are to be imitators of God. How can we do that? WE must walk as He wants us to walk.

We live in a society much like Paul’s, full of immorality and sin. We have all have come from the kingdom of darkness to the light. Most of us had baggage that we brought with us when we came to know Jesus.

The thing that we need to do is to rid ourselves of that baggage and understand that we are free in Jesus, and that we can walk or live the way that He wants us to live.

In our passage we will look at the deeds that people who live in darkness perform, and we will see why Christians are not to do them.

Secondly we will look at the deeds that characterize those who live in the light.

The message of the text is powerful. It is convicting. It challenges us at the very core of our being to be what God wants us to be. And that is as it should be.

We should not be able to read the Word of God without being moved by it. Hopefully, we do not engage in a merely academic study of this Book. Our lives should be impacted as we read it. At times, however, we will come upon sections which speak very pointedly to where we live. That is why it is important to read the Bible in a systematic fashion. That is also why it is important to systematically preach through entire books of the Bible. In that way, you can avoid the temptation to skip the more convicting passages.

The key verse in the passage before us is verse 8: for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light. It seems like a nice verse. Taken by itself, it is not particularly challenging. But it cannot be taken by itself. It is defined by the verses surrounding it. And there is the challenge.

In these verses, the contrast between living in darkness and living in light will be clearly drawn. How we live will be challenged. And that is what is so convicting.

SERMON

DEEDS OF DARKNESS Verses 3-6

1. Attitudes and actions. Verse 3.

A. Immorality

1. Comes from the word porniea, from which we get pornography.

2. It deals with sexual promiscuity or and sexual relations outside of marriage.

B. Impurity

1. A more general term that deals with anything that would put us in a position where we could not be in God’s presence.

2. In Matthew 23:27, Jesus uses the some word to describe bodies that have rotted in the tombs. The other 10 times the word is used in the New Testament it deals with sexual immorality.

C. Greed The desire for more and more. The two things mentioned above are both a result of greed and selfishness. A desire to have what is not yours. A young man who is trying to talk you into participating in immorality with him does not love you, but he is greedy, you don’t belong to him.

2. Sins of the Tongue. Verse 4.

A. Filthiness and silly talk.

1. The word for filthiness only occurs here in the New Testament. It means shameful.

2. Silly talk comes from the words that we would get our word moron combined with the word to speak. Silly talk means moron talk.

a. God is not condemning humor, but foolishness. A fool according to the bible lacks wisdom and a knowledge of God.

B. Course jesting.

1. Jesting. A word that means easily turned. Double meanings statements. This word is only used here in the New Testament also.

2. Woman and PARTY ILLUSTRATION.

3. Why we are not to do the deeds of darkness.

A. It is not proper for saints. Verse 3.

1. We are not to even to give people grounds on which they can accuse us of the things mentioned above.

2. These sins are so bad that our minds should not dwell on them nor our tongues speak of them.

3. There are two indications of a man’s character according to Warren Wiersbe, what will make a man laugh and what will make him weep.

4. Living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ must make a difference in the everyday decisions of life. We must be willing to pay the price of discipleship.

5. A few years ago, Jack Eckerd, founder of the Eckerd drugstore chain, committed his life to Christ. Shortly afterward as he walked through one of his stores, he noticed the magazine racks with their glossy copies of Playboy and Penthouse. Although Eckerd was retired from active management, he called the president of the company and urged him to get rid of those pornographic magazines. The president protested because substantial profits were gained from their sales. Being the largest stockholder, Eckerd himself stood to lose a lot of money by such a decision. But he remained firm in his objection, and he prevailed. The offensive magazines were removed from all 1700 drugstores. When he was asked what motivated him to take this action, Eckerd replied, "God wouldn’t let me off the hook!"