Ephesians 5:1-17 – Walk as Children of Light
If you remember before we left, before this whole thing happened, we were studying the book of Ephesians. And we actually ended right in Ephesians Chapter 4. And we’re going to just pick right back up where we left off starting up in Ephesians 5. We’re going to finish the book of Ephesians. Now Ephesians 5 has a lot of great content in it. So, we’re probably going to spend 3 weeks studying Chapter 5 in the book of Ephesians. But we’re going to start right up with verse 1 and we’re actually going to get through the first 17 verses tonight. Ephesians 5:1-17.
I want you to notice that there is a theme in this first part of Ephesians 5. Notice verse 1, the Bible says this “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;” And really that’s the theme of these 17 verses that we’re going to study tonight. Is how to be a follower of God. But it’s not just how to be a follower of God. It’s how to be a follower of God as dear children. And what the Apostle Paul is going to deal with and we’re going to look at tonight is what it means to follow God or what it looks like to follow God when you are walking as a child of God. Now hopefully you are a child of God, right. Hopefully you’ve put your faith in Jesus Christ, you’ve called upon Christ for salvation, you are a child of God.
But just because you are a child of God doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re walking as a child of God. And sometimes we might want to take a step back and ask ourselves, am I living as a child of God. Not am I a child of God. Because to be a child of God, all you have to do is just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But are you living as a child of God? Are you walking as a child of God? And that really is the key word. When it comes to being a follower of God, Paul emphasizes the walk of a child. The walk of a believer. How we ought to follow God as dear children. And I want you to notice there in verse 2, he says this, “2 And walk” Now if you don’t mind writing in your Bible, I’d encourage you to grab a pen and maybe underline that word or circle that word walk.
I’m going to show you tonight how we’ll find this theme in these 17 verses about how we ought to walk. The walk of a Christian when they choose or when we choose to walk as children. And I want you to notice that this is a new walk. This is a different walk. Now you’re there in Ephesians 5. Flip back to Ephesians 2 if you would. Ephesians 2:1. In Ephesians 2:1 he’s talking about how we got saved. And before salvation. Notice Ephesians 2:1 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” That’s referring to your salvation, right. You were dead in trespasses and sins but now you’ve been quickened. Notice verse 2 “2 Wherein in time past ye walked” He said you used to walk “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”.
He said before you got saved, before you got saved, and this is true of those of you that got saved as grownups, right. If you got saved as a kid then this might not be as true of you. But before you got saved, you used to walk in time past according to the course of this world. Whatever the world did, that’s just kind of what you did. Whatever the world’s philosophy was, that was your philosophy. But Paul is teaching us now that we are children of God. We have to walk in a new way. We have to walk in a different way. Go to Romans 6 so I can show you this as an introduction. Romans 6:4 “4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:” Notice “that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,” Notice these words “even so we also should walk in newness of life.”.
See, when you got saved, you say, salvation just changed my destination. That’s absolutely true. But God desires for it to also change your walk. To change your lifestyle. To change the way you live. The things you do. The way you conduct yourself. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world. Paul is going to teach us what the walk of a person, a believer, a Christian who is walking as a child of God, what does that look like? Let’s go back to Ephesians 5 and delve into the passage. And I’m going to give you 3 points and I encourage you to write them down. And you can write them in the margin of your Bible or write them on the back of the sheet that we handed you. Whatever you like.
#1 – He tells us that a follower of God that is walking as a dear child of God, someone who is walking as the children of God, he says first of all, notice in verse 2 “Eph 5:2 And walk in love,” Walk in love. What does it look like for a saved person to walk as a child of God? For a saved person to walk in such a way where they are living their lives like a child of God. He says that what that looks like is that you’re going to walk and your walk is going to be characterized by this word love. Let me show you how this word love really should be the word that is emphasized or the characterizing word of believers.
In the Bible you’ll find this theme if you study it out. That our lives, to be surrounded, and they should be expressed through this word, the word love. Matthew 22. The first book in the New Testament. It should be fairly easy to find. Matthew 22:35 “35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer,” And this of course was a religious lawyer for the children of Israel. “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,” And the him is referring to Jesus “tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”.
So, they ask Jesus this question. What’s the great commandment. Because there are lots of commandments in the Bible. What’s the big one. What’s the great one. What’s the best one. Is it thou shalt not kill? Is it thou shalt not steal? Is it thou shalt not commit adultery? I mean which one is the best one. And this is really a trick, trying to get Jesus to say, well I think the best one is X. And then they’ll say what about Y & Z. And how can you choose one over another. And they’re trying to get him to dissect scripture and say one portion of scripture is better than another. And notice how Jesus answers. “36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Verse 37 “37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love”.
He said you want to know what the greatest commandment is? The greatest commandment is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.” And then he says this. “39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt” Notice the word again. “love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”.
He says that if you can figure out how to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as thyself then you don’t have to worry about thou shalt not kill. You won’t kill your neighbor if you love him. You don’t have to worry about thou shalt not steal. You don’t have to worry about not coveting. You don’t have to worry about committing adultery. You don’t have to worry about these things if you learn to love. So, the Apostle Paul says, when it comes to being a child of God, when it comes to walking with God, our walk should be in love. Now go to John.
John 13:35. Notice what Jesus says. Now we’re talking about what it looks like to be a child of God. In John 13 Jesus is talking about what it looks like to be a disciple. Now I would submit to you that those things ought to be the same thing. Every child of God should be a disciple. Not every child is a disciple but every child should be a disciple. And your goal ought to be to be disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 13:35 “35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,”.
Now if you were going to finish that verse and if I were going to finish that verse, we might finish that verse differently than how Jesus finished it. You and I might say “35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,…” And if someone asks what is the “this” then we might say well that’s church attendance. And I’m all for church attendance, right. I’m all for you coming to church. In fact, we will hold 5 services just so you can come to church. I’m all for church attendance. But you and I would say, well it’s going to be your clothing. It’s going to be your clothing, how you dress. And I’m all for dress standards. And we’re going to talk about dress standards tonight and make those applications.
Or we might say it’s by how much you give. We might put all kinds of different things in there if we got to choose what the “this” is. But I want you to notice what Jesus says. “35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,” You say what is it Jesus? How are people going to know if I’m a disciple of Christ? He says “if ye have” Don’t miss it. He says “if ye have love one to another.”. So, you see in the Bible that the Christian life ought to be characterized by this word love. And Paul says look, you want to walk as a child of God? You want to be a follower as a dear child of God. He says walk in love. Now here’s the thing.
Everything I’ve said so far, nobody would disagree with. “Well of course we ought to love. OF course, the Bible teaches love. The Bible teaches charity and these things. Of course, we ought to love”. No one would disagree with that. But here’s the question and here’s what Paul does. He begins to kind of dissect, what does that look like? And what does that mean? And Paul tells us look, when it comes to love, you ought to walk in love but let me explain what that looks like. Are you there in Ephesians 5? Look at verse 2. He says “2 And walk in love,”.
And if he would have just ended there then we would have been like Amen, praise the Lord Paul. Thank you. But he goes on to say this. I want you to walk in love but here’s what that looks like “as Christ also hath loved us,” You say ok. Alright Paul. I’m going to walk in love as Christ also loved us. I can do that. That sounds ok. You say wait a minute. Notice “and hath given himself for us” Ok. Notice “an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”.
And this is what Paul is teaching, that if we are going to live a life of love, if we’re going to walk in love, then we need to realize that love does a couple things. First of all, love sacrifices. And when you study the concept of love in the Bible, in fact go with me if you would to 1 John 3. When you study the idea and concept in the Bible, you’ll find this. The word love is always connected to the idea of sacrifice. The word love is always connected to the idea of giving up something. I mean think about the most famous verse in the Bible. For God so loved the world. Right, this verse is going to teach us how much God loved the world. God is going to show us how much he loved the world.
“For God so loved the world” What are the next 3 words? “That he gave” And he sacrificed “That he gave his only begotten Son that whosever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”. Now that’s John 3:16, the most famous verse in the Bible. I want you to notice 1 John 3:16. Written by the same John. Different book. Very similar. 1 John 3:16, notice what the Bible says. 1 John 3:16 “16 Hereby perceive we the love of God,” What does the word perceive mean? It means that it can be seen. It says “16 Hereby perceive” What does the word perceive mean? It means that it can be seen. He says “Hereby perceive”.
Here’s how we see. Here’s how we identify the love of God. God tells you. Paul tells you that you need to walk in love if you are going to walk as a child of God. Meaning that people ought to be able to identify love in your life. Then 1 John says well here is how the love of God is perceived. “16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”.
What’s he saying? He’s saying this, love sacrifices. And if you want to ask yourself. If you want to identify. If you want to know, what does it look like to love? Am I properly loving my spouse? Am I loving my wife like she should be loved? Or am I loving my husband like he should be loved. Or am I loving my children like they should be loved. Or how about my neighbor. How about my fellow church member? How about my co-workers? How about other extended family? If you say, what does look like? Love looks like this, sacrifice. Love looks like this, let nothing be done through vain glory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Love looks like preferring one another, esteeming one another, exhorting one another.
See, love loses in order to make others win. Love gives in order to provide. Love is sacrifice. SO, if you’re living a life that is selfish, that’s not love. If you’re living a life that is selfless, that is love. Go back to Ephesians 5. While you go there, I’ll read to you Romans 12:10 “Be kindly affectioned one to another in brotherly love, in honour preferring one another”. See, love sacrifices. When Paul says, hey, I want you to walk as dear children of God. You say what does that look like Paul? You say I want you to walk in love. You say what does that mean Paul? He would say love sacrifices. Love gives. Love prefers. Love esteems others. Love puts others first. For God so loved that he gave….And we perceive the love of God when he laid down his life that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He says love sacrifices.
But I want you to notice a 2nd thing. Not only does love sacrifice, but love also separates. Are you there in Ephesians 5? Look at verse 3. And notice what he says, it kind of seems like he’s shifting gears but he’s not. He just got done in verse 2 telling us that we need to walk in love and that Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God as a sweet smelling savour.
Then he says this in verse 3, and I want you to notice the word “but” because that word connects the thoughts. He just got done saying Jesus was a sweet-smelling savour when he sacrificed himself for us in love. And we have to walk in love. Then in verse three he says this “3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;”.
You know there’s some things that Christians should not be known for. I mean he says look, there are some things you don’t want to be known for. He said there are some things that should not even be once named among you. It shouldn’t be something that you’re known for. It shouldn’t be something that is talked around you or talked about you. What are these things? He says “fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness”. He said let it not be once named among you as becometh saints”. Notice verse 4 “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking” What is the word foolish talking about? The Bible says that the thought of foolishness is sin.
So, he says here, hey nor foolish talking. You shouldn’t be talking about simple things. “nor jesting”. What is that? When people talk about bad things and say “I’m just kidding”. That’s jesting. And he says this is not something that we as believers ought to be doing. He says “neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting notice which are not convenient but rather giving of things” And here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying that if you walk in love, love is going to automatically separate you. So that there will be some things that would not be named among you. Now notice verse 5. Here in verses 3 and 4, he said, Christians should not be known for these things. These things should not be named among us.
And then in verses 5 and 6 it says, “5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon” Notice the words “the children of disobedience.” And I don’t know if you remember, because we were studying Ephesians a while ago, but when we started out, we talked about “the children of disobedience” Those are unsaved people. The children whose wrath is upon them.
And he says look, unsaved people are known for these things. They’re known for being a whoremonger, for being an unclean person, for being a covetous man, for being an idolater. And he says these things should not be things that identify us. Notice verse 7, Ephesians 5:7 “7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.”. Here’s what he’s saying, he’s saying love sacrifices and love separates. Go back to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew 6:24. Let me show this concept to you. In Matthew 16:24…
And many years ago, I preached a sermon called “Love Hates”. And when I preached the sermon love hates, I went through the Bible and showed a bunch of passages in scripture. What the Bible talks about “If you love the Lord, you’re going to hate evil. If you love justice, you’re going to hate robbery. If you love…”. And as we’re talking about this concept, we learn this idea that you can’t love everything. In fact, those who love everything really love nothing. Because if you love certain things, it’s going to automatically cause you to hate other things.
Look, if you love children, you’re going to hate pedophiles. If you love flowers, you’re going to hate weeds. There are things that are at odds with each other. And when you decide I love one thing, then that’s going to cause you to not love other things. And in the same idea, the Bible teaches that love not only causes you to hate certain things but love will even cause you to separate from things that are maybe not even sinful. I mean it will definitely cause you to separate from the things that are sinful. Because here’s the idea, and the concept is this, you cannot love everything. Matthew chapter 6 verse 24, notice what the Bible says, “24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” He says “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” And you just got to decide, are you going to love mammon? Are you going to love God? Because you can’t love both. Look, he says you really are going to love the one and hate the other. You’re going hold to the one and despise the other. He says your love will automatically separate you.
Go back to Ephesians, I use this as an illustration last night. I don’t think it’s a secret when it comes to sodas, when it comes to drinks, I love Coca Cola’s. If you don’t know that you should know that. Write that down, alright. I love glass bottled cokes. Those are my favorite. Honestly, I don’t have anything against Pepsi Cola. Alright. I mean it’s not like I write them angry emails or think bad things about them. I really don’t have an issue of Pepsi. I just love Coca Cola. And here’s the truth, I can’t tell you when is the last time I even purchased Pepsi. I mean I can’t think of any time in my life that I’ve walked into a gas station and just grabbed a Pepsi. I grab a coke. If they don’t have a coke, I grab a water, right. Because here’s the thing, my love for Coca-Cola has just separated me from Pepsi.
It’s just love not only sacrifices but love also separates automatically. And here’s what he says, when you love the Lord, when you love the Lord, it ought to separate you from those things which are different from the Lord. And Jesus would say it this way, he would say this, if you love me keep my Commandments. So, Paul says this, if you want to walk as a child of God, you to walk in love. If you’re going to be a follower of God, as a dear child of God, then you must learn to walk in love. And you say, well that’s great Paul. Walking in love sounds like a real great idea. What does that mean? He says love sacrifices and love separates.
But then there’s a second thought. Go back to Ephesians 5, if you look at verse 8, he says this, “8 For ye were” Now what you notice, the word “were” there is past tense. In the past, not presently. “For ye were” He says this. “But now”. He’s says “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:” Then he says this, and if you don’t mind writing in your Bible. I’d encourage you to underline this word or circle this word. He says “walk as children of light:”.
So, God says I want you to walk as a child of God. You say what does that look like? You say well I want you to walk in love. See, walking love, what does love look like? He says love sacrifices. Love separates. Love sacrifices. Love separates. By the way, when you get married, love causes you to sacrifice for your spouse. And it ought to separate you from every other potential spouse out there. Right? This is what love does. Love sacrifices. Love separates. Then he would say this, Paul would say, not only do you need to walk in love but he says you need to walk in light. He says you need to walk as children of light. Okay Paul. What does that mean? What does it mean to walk in light? Well notice what he says.
Look at verse 9, “9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)”. Notice verse 10 “10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” He says, when you walk in light, that light is going to prove what is acceptable unto the Lord. Because light proves what is acceptable and light reproves what is unacceptable. Notice verse 11, he says “11 And have no fellowship” Because remember, love separates you. Right. It says “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”.
He says if you’re going to walk in light, then you cannot have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Because love approves what is acceptable and it reproves what is unacceptable. Notice verse 12 “12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.”. And listen to me, there are some things that we as Christians should not even talk about. Especially matters of the bedroom and matters of physical relationship. But the Bible says look, there are some things that are done of them in secret. He says “12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.”. Notice verse 13, “13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.”.
“14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”. So, here’s what he’s saying. You need to walk in love. And then he says, you need to walk in light. And you say, well, what does that mean? And he says, here’s what it means. Light approves what is acceptable. It approves what is acceptable and it reproves what is unacceptable. Go to John chapter number three. Jesus kind of explains this as well in the book of John. John chapter 3. Look at verse nineteen. John 3:19, the Bible says “19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,” Notice this “and men loved darkness rather than light,” Why? “because their deeds were evil.”.
You ever notice that bad places are dark places…I mean walk into a casino. It’s dark. I’ve been told. Well you know, walk into a bar. It’s dark. I’ve been told. Okay. Walk into a rock concert. It’s dark. By the way, at Verity Baptist Church, we don’t try to have this worldly atmosphere. You say, how do I know if a church is worldly? Well when you walk in and it’s all dark, it’s worldly. Because men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Here’s the thing, the building itself might be dark but the preaching’s going to be dark too. If they’re not going to reprove, they’re not going to approve that which is good. They’re not going to shine the light upon sin because men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
Notice verse 20, “20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,” When people are doing wrong…Look, he’s talking here literally but metaphorically saying, when people do wrong, they don’t want to bring that out into the light. He says “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”. Why? Because light reproves. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God.
You know what I’ve learned over the last 10 years of ministry as a pastor, and my wife as a pastor’s wife, we’ve dealt with a lot of situations and problems and counseling. You know what we’ve learned? It’s pretty easy to figure out who’s the bad one in a situation or who’s the one that’s done wrong. Whenever something blows up and we walk into the situation and say “hey how about we just get everybody together. Let’s just put everything on the table. Let’s just talk about it openly.”. And someone’s like “oh no no. I don’t want to do that.”. It’s like well you’re the problem. Because look, if you have nothing to hide, right. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light.
That’s why we’ve had issues at our church where people are accusing someone to me or accusing someone to my wife of doing something or whatever. First thing we do is, let’s get everybody together. Let’s just get all the stories out on the table. Because we have nothing to hide. He that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest. And by the way, this is just a good way to live. You need to live this way. You ought to teach your kids to live this way. You need to live in such a way where you’re just in the light. You have nothing to hide.
Look, if you’ve got to sneak around, if you’ve got to whisper, if you go “Well don’t tell the boss or don’t tell Mom or don’t tell that or don’t tell my husband or don’t tell pastor or don’t tell pastor’s wife”…When you’re living your life that way, just mark it down, you’re wrong. Because men loved darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds are evil. This is what the Bible says, then Paul says this, you want to walk as a child of God, you want to walk in such a way that people would identify there goes the child of God. He says you should walk in love. And then he says this, you should walk in light. And light approves what is acceptable and light reproves what is unacceptable.
Go back to Ephesians. Paul is teaching us in these 17 verses what it looks like to walk as a child of God. Now hopefully you are a child of God. And you may be a child of God and not be walking like a child of God. And that’s fine. I mean that’s fine to the extent that you know at least you’re going to heaven. But God wants you to walk as his child. God wants you to walk as a child of God. And when we would ask the question, and Paul’s answering the question for us, he’s saying look, I want you to walk as a child of God.
What does that look like? He says well number one, you need to walk in love. And then he says number two, you need to walk in light. I want you to see as a third thing Ephesians 5:15, he says, “15 See then that ye walk” If you don’t mind writing in your Bible. I encourage you to underline that word or circle that word. “circumspectly,” What does that mean? It means with caution on purpose. Well considered. Thought out. He says see then that you walk circumspectly “not as fools, but as wise,” He says a wise person walks circumspectly. A wise person walks cautiously. A wise person walks well-considered.
Go to Colossians. Here’s point #3, walk in wisdom. He says you ought to walk in love. Then he says you ought to walk in light. Then he says this, you ought to walk in wisdom. “15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,”. Now he says walk in wisdom. And again, we would ask Paul and say, what does that mean? Because when Paul said walk in love, we said Paul what does that mean. And he it means that you’re going to sacrifice. It means that you’re going to separate. And then he says, I want you to walk in light. And we are like okay Paul. What does that mean? and he says, light approves what is right and reproves what is unacceptable. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Then he says, I want you to walk in wisdom. I want you to walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. So, we’re going ask the question, Paul what does that mean?
Colossians 4 and Ephesians 5 are kind of parallel passages. They deal with a lot of similar things. And in Colossians 4, in verse 5, he says this. “5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without,” What does that mean? Toward them that are outside. What is he referring to? It’s a reference to the unsaved people in our lives. When it comes to the qualifications of a Pastor, it says that we should that we should have a good testimony of them which are without. Unless we fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. So that without there’s talking about people without the church family. Outside of Christianity. The world he says. I want you to walk in wisdom toward them that are without.
Here’s what he’s saying, he says if you’re going to walk as a child of God, you’re going to walk in love. You’re going to walk in light. You’re going to walk in love because your motivation is going to be the fact that I love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul and I love my neighbor as myself. Then I’m going to walk in light. Meaning I’m not hiding anything. I have nothing to hide. I’m doing things openly. And we’re walking in light. Then he says I want you to walk in wisdom. And we say what do you mean Paul? And here’s what he says. He says regarding your testimony, you’ve got to walk in wisdom.
He says regarding your testimony, you’ve got to walk in wisdom. He says you ought to think carefully. He said you ought to be well considered. You’ve got to be very cautious and maybe purposeful about the way you live your life. Regarding your testimony, he says walk in wisdom toward them that are without. You know that you have a testimony as a Christian. And a good testimony the Bible says “a good name is rather to be chosen than silver”. The Bible says that a good name is more valuable than gold. It’s more valuable. He says I want you to walk in wisdom toward them that are without. He says look, the way you dress, the places you go, he said you ought to think about those things. You got to realize that you are setting a testimony for those around you. Go to Matthew chapter number five.
And this idea really kind of puts everything together in regards to walking in love and walking in light. Because here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying you ought to consider your testimony when it comes to everything which is outside. You know what we’re getting ready to go into in the summer months. It’s going to start getting hot. It’s already hot out there. And you ladies, I’m going to say you ladies because I hope you guys have more sense. But you ought to consider what you’re wearing when you’re getting dressed for the day. You say, oh it’s hot. So, you decide to maybe wear less clothes and you’re showing a lot of skin. You know ask yourself, is this the testimony that my heavenly father would want me to have? Is this how my heavenly father would want me to look? Clothing, that’s just an area that we can apply. But when it comes to our reactions, how we react, how we talk, the things we do, the stuff we listen to…He says look, you got to walk in love and you ought to walk in light. You say how do these things connect?
Notice Matthew 5:14 “14 Ye are the light of the world.” See, Jesus is the light but he’s saying that he is leaving us as the light here. “A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” Then he says in verse 16 “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”. See, he says I want you to walk in wisdom toward them. Because you’re supposed to be walking in light and your light should shine forth. And that may they might see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. Well how does that connect to love? Here’s how it connects to love. Because the way we live our lives should be motivated by love.
And this is where we make a lot of mistakes as fundamentalists. And I’m all for being an independent fundamental Baptist. King James only, soul-winning and all that. I claim it. I love it. But you know sometimes we make these mistakes where we begin to think that the Christian life is just following a checklist. Well your hair’s got to be a certain length. It’s got to be this short if you’re a man and this long if you’re a lady. And your skirt has to be a certain length and you make sure it’s not too tight, not too low. And you have to put a tie on.
And look, I’m all for all of that. I’m not mocking any of that. I think all that is proper. But what we have to consider is our motivation. Is your motivation, just “I better do right. I better live right. I might run into one of my brothers and sisters from the church at Target.”. You’re worried you are going to run into someone better dressed. Well look, there’s something to be said about that. But you should dress right because you love God. It’s not it’s not this checklist of “I got to do this and I got to do that. And I got to go there. And I got to shower. I better show up to the Thursday night service. What are they going to think.”? No, you ought to do it because the love of Christ constraineth you.
You say, “We’ve had this coronavirus thing and now soul-winning is kind of difficult now. I got to find my own park and find my own partner and find my own list and find my own…”. And look, I’m not trying to beat up on you. I’m just telling you this, if love was your motivation, you’d do it. It’s easy to do things to be seen of men. It’s easy to do things because we’re expected to. People are going to see us. And look, we ought to do things that men see, “let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven”. Yes, we have to walk in light but we need to be motivated by love. If you love me keep my Commandments.
So young lady, don’t dress modestly because dad tells me I have to. You ought to do it because you love the Lord. Is your motivation God? Because if God so loved you that he gave and sacrificed for you, then you’re willing to sacrifice for God. Jesus said, you got to walk in love. You got to walk in light. Then he says, you got to walk in wisdom, regarding your testimony, regarding what people think about”. You got to guard your testimony. Remember David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. Didn’t Nathan say to David “You have given occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme”. Because David’s testimony was important.
So, Paul says, you want to walk like a child of God? Paul would say I know you are a child of God but now I’m trying to teach you how to live like a child of God. He says, here’s what a child of God looks like. They walk in love. That means they sacrifice and they separate. Not because of some checklist but because of love for the Lord. And get up and read their Bible because they love the Lord. They spend time in prayer because they love the Lord. They show up at church because they love the Lord. They give because they love the Lord. They dress a certain way, they act a certain way, they separate from certain things and they turn towards other things that are righteous. Not because they have to. Not because of fundamentalism. Not because of manipulation from the pulpit. Not because of any of that. But just because they love God. Walking in wisdom toward them that are without.
Then he says this, “redeeming the time”. He says you ought to walk in wisdom. You say how Paul? Well, regarding your testimony. But it’s not just that you got to walk in wisdom regarding your testimony. You got to walk in wisdom redeeming the time. Go back to Ephesians 5:15. The Bible says this “15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,” Notice the words “16 Redeeming the time,” What does that mean? Not wasting time. I’m a type-a personality. If there’s one thing that irritates me, it is wasting time. And I realize that I’ve got to get better at it. And I’ve got to esteem others better than myself and all that. But he says redeeming the time. He says, you’ve got to live your life with a sense of urgency. You’ve got to live your life in a way that is pressing. Where you realize, I’ve got to redeem the time. Because the days are evil. He says “17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”.
And here’s what he’s saying. He says, you got to live. Walk in wisdom regarding your testimony. Walk in wisdom redeeming the time. You say why does it matter? Why do you have to redeem the time? He says here’s why. Because the days are evil. Go to Psalm 90. And look, isn’t it true over the last two months, we’ve learned that the days truly are evil. I mean Jesus said “34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”. He says look, the evil of tomorrow, it’s enough. You don’t have to worry about the evil tomorrow. There’ll be enough evil to worry about for tomorrow. You just got to worry about the evil for today. “34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”.
And then Paul says, you have to redeem the time because the days are evil. If there’s something that I learned over these last two months of dealing with this Coronavirus is how quickly your life can change. I mean how quickly the whole world can just be turned upside down. How quickly everything could be taken from you. And here’s one thing you say “Are you discouraged about it? Are you upset about it? Should we be up in arms?”. No, I’m telling you this, we have to redeem the time. Something that has been a theme in our home, my wife and myself with our family. And I hope it becomes a theme for you. We don’t have time to waste. We’ve got to redeem the time. The days are evil.
Notice Psalm 90:12 “12 So teach us to number our days,” Why? “that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”. See, when you walk wisely, you walk wisely regarding your testimony of them which are without. But you also walk wisely regarding redeeming the time because the days are evil. Psalm 39 the Bible says this “4 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am. 5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.”
Paul says, I know that you are a child of God. And I’m looking at this group here and I’m saying, I know you are a child of God. I at least hope you are. I know you’re saved. I know you’ve called upon Christ for salvation. You’ve put your faith in Jesus Christ. You’ve been born-again by the blood of Jesus Christ. And praise the Lord for it. But just because you are a child of God does not mean that you are conducting yourself as a child of God. Does not mean that you are living like a child of God. Does not mean that you are walking like a child of God. So, then the reasonable question would be, well how does a child of God walk? And Paul would say, I’m glad you asked. Because you’ve got to walk in love. But what does that mean? Sacrifice and separation. You’ve got to live separated from the world. Not to keep some sort of fundamentalist agenda. But just because you love the Lord. And you’ve got to walk in light, not hiding anything. Because light approves that which is right and light reproves that which is evil.
And you’ve got to walk in wisdom. Walk in wisdom regarding your testimony. And you ought to care about what your extended family thinks of you. You ought to care about what your neighbors think of you. You ought to care about what your coworkers think of you. I realize that there are the enemies of the Lord out there and there are reprobates out there and they’re going to hate us no matter what we do. I understand that. But generally speaking, you ought to care about your testimony. That’s why I think Christians ought to pay their bills on time. That’s why I think Christians ought to show up to work on time. That’s why I think Christians shouldn’t cut out of work early. Shouldn’t take extended breaks. It ought to matter to you what your co-workers think of you. Because you are supposed to represent a child of God.
And you know, in your job, your boss, the testimony that your boss ought to have of you is this, “That guy is a little weird. I mean that guy goes to church even during lockdowns. And he goes soul-winning. And he does these things. And he has some weird beliefs. But I’ll tell you what, I’d hire him all day every day. And I’ll hire all of his friends.”. Yeah that’s what they ought to think of Christians. People will think your beliefs are weird but your testimonies should be great. They walk in light and they walk in love and they walk in wisdom.
And here’s what Jesus would say, Jesus would say “if you love one another, they’ll know that you’re my disciple”. He says if you let your light so shine before men, they’ll see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. If you walk in wisdom, they’ll say there goes a child of God. So how are you doing? I don’t want you to answer that out loud but how are you doing on the checklist? Are you walking in love? Are you walking in light? Are you walking in wisdom? Are you walking as a child of God?
Let’s pray.