Walk in Light Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Without Christ, we were in a dark prison cell of self-preeminence. But the work of Christ has the power to penetrate that darkness, drawing us into His marvelous light.

Everything is transformed. In this message titled, Walk in Light, we will look at what Ephesians 5, 8-14 says about living in the light. We're listening to the second part of the message, which was first preached on November 12, 2017. Look at verse 8, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Now you are light in the Lord. Notice something, it doesn't say you are in the light, does it?

What does it say? You are light. Here's the point of that. It is not the environment that has changed, but the person has changed. God has not changed your environment to make everything better and therefore now you can live the life you ought to.

No, He has changed where? Inside the individual. You are light. You are light. So therefore, walk as children of light. The word children means one, child means one born of. So it's speaking of a nature, a new nature that exists within the child of God, the committed follower of Jesus Christ. I've mentioned this verse several times before, but it describes it very well.

2 Corinthians 4, 6. For God who said, let the light shine out of darkness. This is speaking of Him as Creator. He said, let there be light and there was light. The Creator, the same Creator with the same power has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

He has shown that in our hearts. So what is the point of what Paul is saying here? It is this, the light is in you and me.

Now, it doesn't originate there. But for those of us who are in Christ, it is there. So we don't go looking outward for the light is in here because I am in Christ and God dwells in me. Now, we have to understand what that light is.

So let's do that right now. Let's unpack that. What is this light? When he says you are light with the understanding that the light is in you, it is first and foremost, it is God's revelation. It is God's self-disclosure of His character, what He is like, His perfections, His attributes. And it is also His self-disclosure about His purpose.

What is He all about? That gives definition to the very purpose and meaning of life. That is the light that now exists within the believer, the one who is in Christ.

As the promise of the New Covenant says, I will put my law in their hearts and they will follow me. See, those are all the truths of Ephesians 1 through 3. Those things upon which we ought to occupy our minds and fill our minds with these truths, because they are the truth about God, His character, His purpose, about what He is like, what He has done and about who I am in Christ. These things are to occupy my mind.

That is the light of God in me. Not only is it His revelation, but it is a fact, again, as He promised in the New Covenant, that He has given me a new heart. A new heart and mind.

To what end? To be sensitive and responsive to His revelation. So, He has given me that revelation and now He has given me a new heart that is sensitive and responsive to His revelation.

That is within me. And then thirdly, it is His presence. That light, He says you are light, the fact that the light is in you, it is His revelation, it is the new heart and mind and it is His presence. The Holy Spirit exists within the child of God. He resides within the child of God to illuminate the truth of God, to help you understand it, to bring it to your remembrance. You can inner witness that you are a child of God. You are heirs of God, joint heir with Christ. And His presence in you is His very ability to do what is written in His revelation. These are powerful truths, folks.

Once again, you see, Paul is mixing in here these tremendous indicative truths that you and I must know. This is the light that exists within the child of God, the one who is in Christ. If you are not in Christ here this morning, you don't have this. You remain in darkness, but Christians listen to me. As children of God in Christ, this is what you have. Know it.

Walk in it. This is what we're called to. This is what he means when he says, walk as children of light. Light is known by its effect. It's what he says in verse 9, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.

Now, some of you might be scratching your heads right now and saying, wait a minute. My Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is found in all that is good and right and true. There is a bit of disagreement here in terms of which group of texts you pull from for your translation of the Scriptures. In the majority text, it says Spirit, fruit of the Spirit. And that is probably an assimilation of the scribes over the centuries and assimilation of Galatians chapter 5, verse 22. Because Galatians was written before Ephesians.

Galatians is one of the earlier epistles of the apostle. And it's probably an assimilation of 522 and speaks of the fruit of. But in this context, he is speaking of light. And so it makes sense that he says that the fruit of light, because the light is the very presence of the Holy Spirit within me. Illuminating the revelation of God to my receptive and sensitive heart and responsive heart to the light.

So the meaning is the same. But the fruit of it, light is known by its effect. Four things. Look what it says, all that is good and right and true. Number one, the word good is the word generosity. Generosity, light is known by its effect.

Remember, the light that exists within you, his revelation, the new heart in mind, his spirit present in you. The effect of that is generosity. The word that is written good here is the sense of that is generosity, kindness, as opposed to self-indulgence. That's what someone does who's living in darkness and self-preeminence.

Their life is about self-indulgence. But the fruit of the light that is in the believer is generosity, because God is good. God is generous.

He is a giving God. But then the second word, right, is the word goodness. Goodness, the sense of goodness. It is justice, it is virtue, it is how one ought to be, assuming a moral, an objective standard there. And goodness as opposed to that which is corrupting. Light is known by its effect. Thirdly, the word true is the word genuineness. So light is known by its effects of generosity, goodness, and genuineness versus pretense. Because God is true. God is the real thing. There's not a pretense there. It's not trying to get you to think something about him when actually he's this over here. And that's the propensity that we have as human beings as we want to control what other people think of us. But no, the fruit of light is genuineness. Why is it genuineness? Because as John says, 1 John 1 5, God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

No darkness at all. Now he says here in verse 10, look what he says here, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Again, this is one place where I don't think the ESV did the best job here of the translations. Because that word try is a word that means to prove, i.e. Romans 12. That you may prove what is a good and acceptable will of God. So it's not try to do what is pleasing to the Lord. Okay, I'm going to try to figure out what God likes and I'm going to try to do it.

That's not what he's saying here. He's saying God has revealed to you his loving parameters and what is good for you according to his character and his purpose. That is revealed to you, that light exists in you, now prove it. Live it out and see that God's ways are indeed the best way, the highest way.

That's what he's saying. And so give pleasure to the Lord. Generosity, the fruit of light is generosity, goodness, genuineness. And fourthly, give pleasure to the Lord. Give pleasure to the Lord. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 9, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.

According to what standard? How is it that I prove what is pleasing to God? Because he has revealed it to me and it has been written. I prove what is good and pleasing to him according to what he has revealed and has been written.

So it's not left up to my imagination. And what pleases God is not a mystery to me. It is revealed and it is written and I need to know it. So know it, read the scriptures, consume them, study them. But it is also made known to me through the internal witness of the Spirit who also resides in me. His truth is in me, his Spirit is in me. That is his light in me. Therefore, I am to walk with the Spirit. I am to continually be filled with the Spirit. Light is known by its effect. Generosity, goodness, genuineness and that which gives pleasure to the Lord. Now the truth that he brings us to here is why we need to walk in the light.

Is because, first of all, light is known by its effect. Secondly, light overcomes darkness. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace. The teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, 7 Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. 7 Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.