Ephesians 5:8-13 – Berris Patience – 2026 01 11

8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. (NASB 1995)

Transcript:

We are back in the book of Ephesians chapter five, and this week we’re gonna be looking at verses eight to 13. So Ephesians chapter five, verses eight to 13 speaking on the topic taken from the text, children of light, we observe sunlight and light every single day. Light is quantified in waves and the kind of light that is visible to us is just a fraction of all the different kinds or types of lights that exists. These are categorized within the electromagnetic spectrum and while human eyes can detect certain regions of this spectrum, many animals and insects are able to perceive other areas that we ourselves cannot. Light is a form of energy that travels in waves. It consists of tiny particles called photons coming from the Greek word foss, which is light each carrying a significant amount of energy. The brightness of the light depends on how much energy each photon has. Light travels in a perfect or perfectly straight line until it hits our encounters and objects object that causes it to bend. These straight moving rays are referred to as light waves. Light travels in a vacuum at 300,000 kilometers per second or 186,000 miles per second. Light slows down when passing through different mediums such as air, water, or glass. And this is due to refraction. Light travels from the earth to the moon in just 1.25, five of a second. And the sunlight that we are seeing and experiencing outside now takes about 10 minutes to reach us. And it’s ray, the ray of the sun can penetrate up to 262 feet or 80 meters in the ocean. Why am I giving you all this information about light? And I’m no expert on light. So these are obviously information that I gathered and gleaned. But what’s the point of all this information? It’s to show how powerful light is. It’s to show how effective the phenomenon of light is to everything and to everyone. It is to show why Paul in our text today and in other parts of scripture, and not just Paul but as we focus on Ephesian, Paul uses light to describe those who are in Christ. But as you saw in those, in that information that I gave, light can be limited depending on what it passes through. But at no point in time does it cease to be light. And at no point in time does it cease to give light regardless of it passing through air or water or some kind of glass or some kind of refraction. It still is light and still shines ’cause that is the purpose of light. Ephesians chapter five, verse eight, we’re reminded with these words. Paul says, for you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. In the Lord. Walk then as children of light, for the fruit of light consist in all goodness, righteousness, and truth as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead expose them for this disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by light. For everything that becomes visible is light. God, I pray that again you will use me as your mouthpiece to present your truth with clarity, with conviction, with authority to your people. And God may bee and serve as a constant reminder in the forefront of our minds, again of who you’ve called us to be and the responsibility we have within this community of believers, Lord and outside of this body of believers within the community that is outside these walls. So Lord, I pray your spirit will lead and direct and I pray that you’ll be honored and magnified at the end of this sermon for Christ’s sake. Amen. So as children of light then the first thing that we see from this text is that we need to remain in the light. We have to remain in the light in verses eight through to verse 10. Just read those again for you. Were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Then walk as children of light. I want you to note, and I hope you have noted already that Paul describes us as lights in the Lord. It’s light in the Lord, we’re not lights in and of ourselves and he’s gonna make this abundantly clear in the text. So it means then that Jesus Christ is the source of us being lights in this world being lights in our community, being lights in this church community. And in fact we are reminded in first John chapter one verse five, that God is light. He doesn’t possess this quality. He is light. God is light. That is who he is in his being. That’s what Paul our John is trying to highlight there and that’s what he’s emphasizing in that text. And he also said that there is no darkness in him at all. He’s perfectly pure. That is what John is saying. He’s without any mixture of sin. And John makes this emphatically clear by using a double negative in the text that there is no darkness is in none at all. And we are familiar with Jesus’s own word in saying that he is the light of the world. In John chapter eight, verse 12, like Jesus speaking, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. So Paul highlights for us here and is highlighting for us here in the beginning of verse eight, our past experience, our past reality, who we once were before we came to knowledge in Jesus Christ before we became a part of the community of God. But he’s also highlighting and pointing out to us our present reality. We were once darkness but now we are light in Christ. They us, the church in Ephesus and by default us we’re once darkness and now we’re light. Hope you note that Paul didn’t say they were in darkness. Paul didn’t say they were walking in darkness or that they were in darkness. Paul describes them here that they were darkness. If you notice that in your text you say you were darkness, not in darkness, the the the, that word is not used there. Say you were darkness, you are once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. So Paul again, as we’ve been seen and as we make our way through Ephesians is emphasizing their state outside of Jesus Christ, this is who they were before they came to Jesus Christ. So it wasn’t just that they were acting in this capacity, that’s who they were basically in their being. Their plight as it were was worse than they probably realized. Our plight before Jesus Christ was probably worse than we realized. There were not good people. In other words Paul. And if they didn’t get this from chapter two, verse one to three and chapter four and so many other parts in Ephesians, Paul is driving the nail on the head trying to for them to get the point that they were not, you and I were not good people. And this makes sense because there were dead trespasses and sin. Paul says there is none good know that one. There is no one that is righteous known that seeks after God in Romans. So Paul was reminding them of the persistent impact of evil in their being, in their lives. But Paul was saying, this is who you once were. And I love the incorporation of that word He, he wasn’t saying This is who you are still. He said, this is who you once were. That was who they were in the past. Their present reality is that now they’re in the light of Jesus Christ. They’re in the light of Christ. That’s the sharp contrast we see in this text with the sphere of darkness versus the sphere of light. This is God’s domain as opposed to darkness being the domain of Satan. This is God’s domain and this is characterized by goodness. This is characterized by righteousness. This is characterized by truth as we see in verse nine. So by implication, you are either under the domain or the dominion of God or you’re under the dominion of the devil. And there’s no in-between. And again, this is clear from not only this passage of scripture but others as well. For God who said two Corinthians four, six, for God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who has s shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. So when we consider that we were once under the dominion of darkness, which is Satan’s domain and God in his grace and God in his mercy as transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his light, this should cause us to rejoice. This should cause us to glorify and magnify our God and our savior. It also should serve as a motivation for us to witness. We talked about this in Sunday school and what that witnessing should look like, the mandate that is given and Jesus Christ left to us to go and proclaim the gospel, the good news, go and tell people about the light of the world. That is Jesus Christ. It should motivate us to tell them that there is light and they don’t have to be darkness anymore. They don’t have to live in that state of darkness anymore ’cause God has provided a way of light for them. So Paul never fails to remind his readers how this transfer was made possible. How did they go from being darkness to now being in light? And it is through Jesus Christ. He never fails to emphasize that. So how then can we know who are off the light? How can we know who are people of the light? It goes back of course to emulating the very nature of who God is. And in these verses verses nine and 10, Paul is telling us about the fruits or the fruit of light, which is the outworking of the life that we now have in Jesus Christ. This is what Paul is saying Once we’re those who are children of light, these are gonna be the things that they’re gonna be manifesting in their lives. This and of course there are others that we see in in Galatians chapter five, but here in the text process, these three things are gonna be completely and totally evident in the life of those who are living in the light and those who are light in Jesus Christ. He is of course the source of light. Fruit isn’t manufactured, it grows from a source. We’re reminded in John that Jesus said, I am the vine. I am the vine and it’s through me that you produce fruit. So Jesus Christ, he’s a source of the light and God’s illuminating presence that exposes and heals and transforms. These of course, are the byproduct of who we are in Jesus Christ. These aren’t prerequisites of what we need to do in acquiring our A stand before God is. These aren’t prerequisites because we can’t produce these three things that we’re gonna look at in and of ourselves. It’s a byproduct of who we are in Jesus Christ. It’s a result of God transferring us from darkness into the light, not us trying to work our way to find favor to to God because that cannot happen again. Paul mentions that your dead, dead people can’t do anything. The word all that Paul uses once in verse nine could relate and should rather be related to all the virtues, all three virtues that he lists. So it could read all goodness, all righteousness, all truth. And of course goodness is a trait that the Holy Spirit of God endeavors to produce in every single believer. We see this in Galatians five, verse 22, holy our goodness is a trait that he wants to produce in us and he’s endeavoring and he’s working in us. Why is this? Because God himself is good and if we’re gonna emulate him, that’s one of the traits that we’re gonna emulate is goodness. He is good and he’s good all the time. To his people and his goodness towards us should constrain us to be grateful to God. Psalm one 18 verse one, give thanks to the Lord why? For he is good, his loving kindness and endures forever. It propels and it compels us to be gracious and thankful to God. So this is not just moral niceness, but a generosity of of who a person is in his being and that’s who God is. So it’s a kind of moral abundance within us that is spilling outwards this goodness. It’s who we are and it’s again being demonstrated, it’s being outpoured out of us. Paul also said all righteousness, which is another attribute of God, hence why we should put this on. If we use that terminology, this attribute of God sets him apart from all other gods and there is no God apart from me, a righteous God, a savior. There is none but me. Isaiah 45, verse 21 reminds us his works are perfect. All his ways are just, he’s a faithful God who does and can do no wrong. He’s an upright God and he’s just Deuteronomy 32 verse four. This is one of the Es eschatological objectives for God that all his people to be righteous according to Isaiah chapter 60, verse 21. But this for us is a progressive way of life. As we go from day to day, day-to-day, we grow more and more into the righteousness and into the likeness of Christ. This is something that we should be displaying and demonstrating on a daily basis. All three traits in fact. And then Paul talks about truth. So in addition to the attribute of God, we should characterize our, our lives should be characterized. We’ve already talked about this, put away false and lying, our speech, our lifestyle. This is the everyday lifestyle or should be the everyday lifestyle of believer. This is understanding the understanding of God or understanding of God being monotheistic. There’s one God in the people of Israel, they worship the one true living God. Consequently, God expects his new covenant people that is the church to live in accordance with the truth, a truth that is displayed in their lives because they were created in the likeness of God. They were created like God in truth, in holiness. So how these traits are to be lived out in the lives or in our lives, in every single circumstances of our life is Paul’s next concern. In verse 10, he said, doing everything that is pleasing to the Lord. So not just living in righteousness and in goodness and in truth is everything of course that he pointed to that proprietor. Every one of those virtues that we have to put on every one of those vices that we need to get rid of says they are the things that are pleasing to the Lord. Paul uses a present participant meaning by discerning, depending dependent on the verb walk of course, to convey part of the process of understanding how we as believers need to live our lives. God oriented way in every single situation, not circumstantial, every single aspect of our life. Paul expects us to live good, live righteous, live holy, live in truth, emulate God, our father. And the verb that Paul uses here as a dual meaning of testing, as well as approving. And this was applied to a wide variety of scenarios or situation. It applied to testing and proving silver or gold. So you test it to ensure that yes, this actually is gold and you approve that it is gold. These things, of course could be tested in a crable way and then produce our our approve rather as being pure. Paul told the Romans that the renewal of their minds would enable them to test and to prove what the will of God is. Romans 12, two. So here it has a similar idea of testing and approving, but probably more in terms of practical wisdom. The readers already know that the, they exercise the goodness of God, the righteousness of God, the truth of God. And these things are the will of God. And these things are pleasing to him. What they do not know is that what they might look like in different scenarios, in different situation, in their family relationships and how they treat members of their entire household and of course a household of faith in the way they conduct themselves at work and how they choose to navigate living through society, a society that was very pagan to the core, a society that was very perversed, that was very, very immoral. Paul is saying now these attributes that you’ve learned about God and these virtues you have to navigate and make sure that the world is seen. And we’ve seen this, that the world that you’re living amongst are seeing these virtues. So in other words, Paul isn’t saying, when you gather on Sunday, put on goodness, put on righteousness, put on truth, put off the the immorality and all of these things and put on all these virtues. Only when you gather on Sunday mornings, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Paul say, no, this is your life. It is not just putting on a show, a stained gas masquerade as you were on Sundays. This is your life, whether public or private, whether you are at work or home or school, everywhere you are, this is your life and this ought to be your life. So it’s not a show, it’s who you are. It’s who you now are in Jesus Christ because you once were darkness and you lived in that capacity every single day of your life. There was no show, there was no facade. You didn’t just put on darkness when you were around the people who supported that kind of lifestyle. That’s just who you were. Apostle. That’s not you anymore. Your light. So live as light. Light always shines, live as light. Paul uses that verb that implies testing. And this carries the idea of holding something up to the light because we are the light where, and through Jesus Christ, we’re testing and approving every single aspect of our lives and see if these things are approved of God. See if these things match to who God is in his being. See if these things are pleasing as what Paul said in verse 10, pleasing to God because at the end of the day, everything that we do must be pleasing to God. So you can apply these verses towards your lives by asking these questions. Does this or these choices reflect the characteristics of Jesus Christ? Is, is this reaction shaped by the Holy Spirit of God or is it shaped by my impulse? Would this thing or these things bring joy and honor to God? Would these things or this thing glorify God? We can even go as far as saying, would this thing be edifying to the saint to build up the body of Jesus Christ? So invite the community to share in your discernment. That’s one way we can do this. And that’s why gathering together is so vital. And that’s why Paul goes on this and talks about this so much, the body of believer building each other up. And this is very commendable I can say. And this is just side note of this assembly coming alongside asking the community to be, to hold you responsible in being discerning. I get that every single week and I’m grateful to God that we’re like that. And I pray that that doesn’t change, that we hold each other accountable. Pastor, is this thing feasible? Should I be looking at this material? Should I hold truth to this material? Should I do this? Should I do that? And I’m sure you go to other people as well. That’s commendable folks. And that is what God expects of his, his people. That’s why we’re here to grow and spur each other for good works. That’s why we’re here. So I encourage you to continue doing this because that’s how we’re gonna grow and mature and that’s how we’re gonna live this life that we’re trying to showcase on Sundays and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. That’s how we’re gonna be allowed to live this life. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday as well. How can we know what things that are pleasing to God? And here are a few questions that will aid us in that are a few things that will supply us or enable us to understand this. Paul tells us in Ephesians five 10 here, that we have to live as children of light because we’re in the light that’s stating the obvious. Colossians chapter one verse 10. Paul says, we should walk worthy of the Lord that’s pleasing to God, walk in worthy of the Lord. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse six, we’re told that living by faith is pleasing to God, living by faith. And that’s tough, that’s very challenging. It’s hard to accept and to live by faith. We’re sight people, we, we like to approve things based on what we can see, what we can understand, what we can logically rationalize in our minds. But is that pleasing to God according to the Bible? No living by faith. And I must add, living by faith is not a blind leap into the dark. It’s a step into the light. Just so we’re reminded of that. Another thing that pleases God, offering our bodies, living sacrifices to him. Romans 12, one and two, Galatians 1 10, 1 Thessalonians two, four, seeking God’s approval pleases God. But we’ve gone and we’re going the opposite where we’re seeking approval of men. And Paul talks about this in Galatians, say, I never sought any approval from you guys because I didn’t need your approval. Basically God was the one who appointed me an apostle from the womb. I didn’t come to you, Peter and the other apostles to approve my apostleship. That was God. And he wasn’t being disrespectful to the other apostles. It was just stating a point and stating the obvious. So seeking God’s approval, pleases him, obeying God, be obedience to God, pleases him according to colo. Colossians three 20, praying for others, one Timothy two, one to three that pleases God and a broken and in contrite heart, According to Psalm 51, 16, 17 pleases God. And this in this context, David was saying, you’re not pleased with burnt offerings and sacrifices or else I would be offering them. And David was saying it would be ritualistic if my heart isn’t right. That’s what David is pointing at there in Psalm 51. He said, I could do all, I could sacrifice all the animals on this that is in my power and in my possession, but until my heart is right before you, these sacrifices would be meaningless. And that’s why I said what God is pleased with is a broken and a contrite heart. So we have to remain in the light because we are children of light. Second and final point, we have to reprove dark deeds. Verse 11 to 13, remain in the light, reprove dark deeds. Do not participate in useless deeds of darkness, but instead expose them for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by light. For everything that becomes visible is light. Being children of God or being children of light means we remain in the light, but it also means we need to reprove dark deeds. Paul urges the believer or the believers in these verses to expose the works of darkness rather than participate in them. And just so we know, sometimes we think we’re not doing anything about the works of darkness. And by implication we are participating. If we’re not doing anything about it, is what I’m saying as believers and we know it’s wrong, we know it’s contrary to light and we’re not doing anything about it. We are by default participating in them. The verb carries a layer of meaning, this verb that means expose. So it’s not just going and and and uh, confronting people saying, you’re doing this and you need to stop and it’s wrong. Or you’re doing this and I’m gonna showcase it to the entire community of believers. There’s grace and gentleness that is required with that and we’re gonna see that momentarily. But just to give an idea and a basic understanding of this word expose, it carries one idea that it carries is to uncover what is hidden. That obviously is, is in the, in the word itself exposed. It means to bring to light that which is harmful, so harmful to the individual, harmful to the body of believers, harmful to the body of Christ. But here’s the part that we don’t get from this word expose. It is to correct with the aim of restoration that is a part of the word. So it’s not just uncovering the harm, it’s not just exposing what is hidden and ungodly and immoral. It’s not just bringing to light these dark deeds, it’s to correct with the aim of restoration. It’s to awaken a moral sense of awareness in one another. That’s the idea behind this word. So it’s not about shaming, it’s not about shaming, it’s never about shaming anyone, but it’s about revealing a reality so that healing truth and transformation can become possible. That’s the purpose. I ought to be. The purpose and the goal behind this exposing that Paul is talking about here, and obviously given that restoration and truth, he’s embedded in this word. He’s talking obviously to the people of God. He’s talking to the church. Darkness thrives in secrecy. Sin grows in the shadows, but light God’s light creates a condition for repentance. God’s light creates a, a, a, a condition for clarity and renewal and restoration. And if we analyze our own lives, that’s what happened to us when Jesus Christ came and he showed us how sinful we are, we are going through acts and we’re gonna see that this week. Maybe I, I think we’re gonna see that this week depending on how fast I go. But we’re gonna see Peter give speech and he says, look, you are sinful people. You need to repent these. This is the lifestyle you are now living and you need to repent because of the light of Jesus Christ. And they were transformed. That was the purpose. Peter wasn’t trying to make them feel guilty that they killed the son of God. But it’s a, a, a, a message that should propel them and spur them to act upon what they heard and accept the grace and the mercy of God in their lives. It creates repentance, clarity, renewal, reproof then is an act of love or should I all have to use that word. It should be an act of love, reproof re correction, rebuke these ought to be actions of love. It shouldn’t be something that is done because I’m the superior one. So I’m gonna put you in your place. It’s the courage to say this, my brother or sister in Christ harming you and by default is harming me because we’re one body. We’re interconnected in Christ. This is harming you. Let’s bring it to the light. Into the light where we, where grace can work, where the grace of God can work. So the responsibility here we see for us is two folded based on verse 11. So we’re not supposed to participate in the deeds of darkness. We’re called to aid the brother and sister or sister in Christ who continues to engage in these activities by exposing their sin again for the purpose of restoration. And as we saw above, this exposing has more to do with than just showing the church, bringing to the church the brother and sister who is engaged in these activities. So Paul is making a contrast here in these verses between the fruit of light that we just saw and the fruit of darkness. And by doing so, he’s implying that since the fruit of light are pleasing to God, then by default and by application, the fruit of darkness are things that are displeasing to God. The Greek phrase that is used, things done by them in secret carries a sense of ongoing habitual actions and not just a misstep or one-off misstep. Paul is concerned about the patterns that thrive secretly are in secrecy because they cannot withstand the exposure of the light of Jesus Christ. And of course is referring to the unfruitful works of darkness. Whatever these unfruitful works, maybe this is not a call by the way, this is not a call for the church to expose the evil deeds of the world. And I alluded to this because we don’t need to expose it. It’s, it’s in our faces, it’s there. That’s who they are. It’s it’s for the church. The world isn’t doing their things in secrecy or else we wouldn’t know about these things. So it’s not a car for us to expose the evil deeds of the world because again those aren’t secretive. Secondly, this is and the the believer, there’s nothing to restore or the unbeliever rather there’s nothing to restore to if there wasn’t any restoration with God to begin with. This is for the church and Paul obviously does not specify what these shameful behaviors are. We can say for sure their untruthful works of darkness. They’re shameful because they’re contrary to the new life that the believer have in Christ. However, it seems that there may have been an illusion here to some practices that were done in secret like sorcery and necromancy and there magical the performing arts. And Paul talks about this in the book of Acts, acts 19 verse 19 and they, this was when he was at Ephesus and he, these men and women I would imagine burned their scrolls and their, their sorcery and their witchcraft. So I don’t know, it’s all speculation. He doesn’t specify and he tells you why he said it’s too shameful to even mention the things that they’re talking about. The desire that Paul has here is to expose these things and that is one purpose, that the light will overpower the darkness and expose these things that are hidden. And I must state again that Paul’s intent for the church was not to make these individuals feel ashamed or embarrassed about their practices in the dark, but rather to show them, to show them love and to show them that these practices are not in line with who they know are in Jesus Christ. It is a purpose for this community, for the community of the body of believer to strengthen each other, to encourage each other, to rebuke each other and to restore one another in love. To believer who is in engaged in these vices ensure to ensure that they no longer live like this. They no longer participate, they no longer act in this capacity. And when Paul tells us that we should expose them, this was alluded to in Sunday school, this is not a license for us to gossip. We can’t cover code and we’re going to these indi different individuals and say, oh this person is doing this and this person is doing that. And I have to tell you because Paul said we should expose them. It’s not a license for us to gossip among each other and we can’t and justify our gossiping in every form or in any fashion we want. Again, it’s restore. If you come to me and tell me something about someone, how is that gonna restore that individual When you’re telling me about it, go to the individual and tell them about it secretly address that secretly. So it’s not a license for us to gossip in the church, it’s not for us to gossip. The sole purpose is of the exposure, is to mature the believer who is clearly immature in their faith and to a degree to use them as an example to the community, both negatively and positively negatively. This is how you don’t live. If it reaches that stage that is and positively, this is how you denounce vices in the life of the believer, in the life of the church. And by the grace of God when restoration occurs, this is how we restore a brother and sister in Christ. That’s the purpose. So what I’m saying is this, these verses are not an indictment on the believer, on the individual in the church. It’s not an indictment and it should be seen as a way of the body aiding each other in our growth towards maturity in Christ Jesus. So again, we see the importance of the community of believers. Again, we see that this body and the building up of this body is not about you, it’s not about you, it’s about us. It’s about us. And once we get this ideology, once we get this message down path, we’ll have a different outlook. Our actions and how we react in church will be so different because we realize it’s not about me, it’s about my brother and sister in Christ and how I can aid him in their maturity and growth for Jesus Christ. When we take self out of the equation of coming to church, the church will function and operate so much differently and in the way that God intends and expects it to because we’re not coming here to hear a sermon that will make me feel better because I had a such a bad week and my coworkers or my classmates or whatever the case is, were on my last nerve that I didn’t know I have and I just need a good word. I need a good word. No, that’s not the mentality that you should have coming to church. It shouldn’t be. The mentality is how can I be of a to my brother and sister in Christ, whether it’s calling out advice or whether it’s encouraging them in whatever capacity it is. That’s the purpose of coming together folks. It’s about building each other up. It’s not about why I can get, it should be about what I can give, how can I give? And that has, that mentality has completely and is being eroded in the society and in the church in which we live. And that’s why you have so many seeker sensitive churches and people gravitating to these churches. Why? Because it’s what can I get from this? That’s not what we see here in God’s word. That is not what Paul has been talking about to us through this entire book of Ephesians thus far. It’s about a community aiding each other, building each other up. It’s about approaching an individual. This idea of exposing gentle and gentle rebuke again with the aim of them confessing. And by God’s grace, renouncing that sin and then being restored in right full fellowship in the body. This is not a text for spiritual measurement to scope out and see who is better in the church spiritually. Paul is not saying go measure yourself up to these people are continuing these in these vices. If their sin is in the category of shameful, not to be mentioned or not, that’s not what Paul is saying here. It’s not to measure yourself up. Say, you know what? I’m better than brother so-and-so over there ’cause I’m not engaging that kind of thing. The message is a message of grace and that’s God’s message that God has granted the church the ability to build each other up even when it seems difficult to do so, even when it seems difficult to do so. And this is a sign when we act like this as a body of believer, when this is how we portray ourselves not to for show, but this is how we live who we actually are. This is a sign of a church, a strong church that is striving and striving towards being a healthy congregation. That’s what this is showing. This is showing that here is a church that is thriving towards growth and maturity for the glory of God, for the building up of the kingdom, for the edification of the body of Jesus Christ. This is who we are or should be as a church. This is a church that is concerned with the spiritual wellbeing of each other. This is a church that is concerned with each and every single individual that is connected with this community of believers and a sign of the body of believers that is united and share the responsibilities to cultivate an environment where such an exposure can be done and such an exposure will indeed lead to full restoration, not humiliation and shame. This is the kind of atmosphere that I desire for Bowmanville Baptist Church. And if in Ephesians five, eight Paul says that we should walk, walk as children of light, he’s saying that we ought to be willing to live openly before God Because you can’t hide something that is in the light. If you’re going through your house, no matter how long you’ve lived there, you walk, I’m gonna use paw words from the King James Circumspectly. ’cause you don’t want to stub your toe. You’re not sure if something might be in the way that you forgot to move or furniture was not necessarily in the place. So you don’t want to stop your toe, you don’t want to fall over, but as soon as you turn the light on, you wa you just zoom and go on your merry way. Light exposes. We live our lives in a way that is open before God, open before believers. Confession isn’t about feeling ashamed. It’s entering into the brightness where true healing can actually take place. It’s using this as an opportunity to have other believers engage in your life and be a part of your growth and maturity in Christ Jesus. In the early church confession, focus less on the guilt and more on embracing what is real. Stepping into the light releases us from the tiring effort of hiding ourselves. That’s what it does. And Paul uses a metaphor that highlights this community or the community. When Christ light, the light of Christ changes us. We ought to reflect that light Not as a spotlight shining harshly on others, but as a lantern that is gently illuminating the way ahead. The church becomes a welcoming space and will become a welcoming space where people can confidently move into the light, trusting that it’s inviting and gentle rather than being overwhelming, judgmental, harsh and severe. That’s not the intent of the exposure that Paul is talking about here. That is not what Paul is talking about when he says reprove the deeds of darkness. Yes, there’s a aspect obviously of exposure, but that exposure has to be within the context of restoring that brother and sister in Christ to full relationships, to the point where they renounce whatever dark deeds their in, tangled in remain as children of light and reprove, dark deeds. Father, we’re so grateful, we’re so thankful to you for the reminder of these words. God forgive us when we have been eager to expose with no intent and desire to bring restoration, but we do it in our own impulse. We do it out of anger or resentment or whatever other emotion except for love. We do it without grace. The Lord, may we be reminded of how we approach each other and the responsibilities that we have for each other and for the body. This body of believers. God, I ask and I pray that you’ll continue to strengthen this community of believers, that Lord will continue and make every endeavor to make our light shine among each other. And again, not just for show Lord, but that this will be a way of life for us. That even after we go through the front door, Lord and our daily routines throughout the week, that people will see this difference, that people will see a transformation within us, even if they can’t understand or know what transformation has taken place, that they will see us differently from the society in which we live. God, you have enabled us through your spirit, through the word that you have given us. I pray that we will live in obedience and to the leading and the direction of your Holy Spirit to live this life that you’ve called us to live a life that is contrary to the darkness and the dark deeds that we once were in. So I pray, Lord, that your grace will strengthen us and give us the grace Lord to live this out. As Lord. It will not and is not easy for Christ’s sake. Amen.