Ephesians 5 (Part 1)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on

the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, ìBut we did not yield in subjection to them for

even an hour ,î so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isnít for

you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial.

Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as weíre called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and

glory of her King.

Hereís our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

There was a man named Leroy Imes, and he discipled lots of men, wrote books on discipleship.

And he had a cousin who was in an iron lung, and when youíre in an iron lung, you canít

do much, your arms and your legs waste away.

This was before we had polio vaccines, and this man was in this iron lung.

He could not feed himself, he could not turn a book page.

And a friend of Leroy Imes asked the man in the iron lung, ìWhatís your severest hardship every

day ?î.

And the man in the iron lung looked at them and said, ìThe temptations of the lust of

the flesh .î.

Please open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5, and letís talk about this very issue, sexual purity and sexual

sin, found in the book of Ephesians.

As you know, we live in a sex -saturated culture, weíre suffocated with all kinds of sexual sin.

Obviously, God designed sex, itís good between a man and a woman in marriage, itís right, itís holy, itís upright,

it is to be commended, it is to be thanked, God is to be thanked for it.

But on the flip side, what God makes is good, we as people just torque and destroy.

And our society, really, I think, is acting like Judah in Jeremiah 5, vivid words.

ÌWhy should I pardon you?

Your sons have forsaken me and sworn by those who are not gods.

When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the harlotís house.

They were well -fed, lusty horses.

Each one naying after his neighborís wife.

Shall I not punish these people, declares the Lord?

And on such a nation as this, shall I not avenge myself ?î.

And Paul knew that he was writing to Christians at Ephesus, and that

they were in the same kind of gross culture, all kinds of ritual prostitution,

sexual sin everywhere.

So how is a Christian supposed to think about sexual purity in a sex -saturated age?

And thatís where we come to Ephesians chapter 5.

If youíre new here to the church, this is your first time here, I probably went too slow working through the book of

Hebrews verse by verse, and Iím probably going too fast with the book of Ephesians, but itís on purpose.

Two sermons per chapter, so six total chapters with twelve sermons, and today weíre going to look at the

first half of Ephesians chapter 5.

Next week weíll look at the second half, Lord willing.

If weíre here, Iím here, if weíre not all nuked to smithereens, right?

This could be our last day on earth.

For some of us, for all of us, we want to make sure we think rightly about the Lord Jesus.

Paul is writing this letter, and itís meant to be read at one sitting.

If somebody was going to read it publicly, which was very often the case, you would listen to the whole thing.

So we donít want to just parachute into chapter 5 and say, well, we want to morally and ethically

abstain from sexual sin and enjoy sexual morality, although thatís true, weíre different than other

people, because thereís a reason for us to do it, weíre children of God.

Thereís power for us to say no, because the Spirit of God dwells in us.

When you begin to rehearse everything that God has done for you in Ephesians 1, you think, He chose me and eternity passed.

The Son died for me.

The Spirit sealed me.

Jesus now has made peace between Jew and Gentile.

There are mysteries in the universe that no one ever knew until God said through Paul, I will tell you about these.

We are on the inside track for these.

We understand, and because weíre children of God, and because God has already put off the old Adam and

put on the new Adam, because weíre new in Christ, God is sanctifying us, and now weíre able by a

sanctifying grace to say no to sin, we kill it, mortification, and

yes to righteousness.

Whatís the Spanish word for live?

I wanted to say live.

Viva, yeah, so vivification for living, living to righteousness.

Godís sanctifying grace allows us to say no to sin and yes to righteousness, and now we come to

chapter 5.

So one of the things I never want to do is just kind of parachute down and say, well, itís just a to -do list, and it almost kind of

sounds like a TED talk.

Well, itís not a TED talk, itís a talk from an apostle whoís acting like a shepherd and a pastor and a father,

and he says this, if you want whatís best for you, this is what youíre to do.

If you want to glorify the Father, this is what you should do.

Now weíre going to look at chapter 5, verses 1 through, oh, about 16, and

you can really summarize it simply if you like to take notes.

The first half is walking in love.

The second half is walking in light.

Youíre going to see a lot of love words early on, agape, self -sacrificial, and youíre going to see a lot of words where we get the

word ìphotography ,î or ìphoton beam ,î or ìphoton ,î what do they use in

Star Trek?

Photon what?

Laser?

A what?

Oh, photon torpedo, of course.

Star Trek, not Trek.

So the first section, we respond to Godís saving grace, how?

With love, sacrificial love, and in light.

So love and light, thatís the way weíre going to work on it.

And it starts off with this kind of almost absurd verse.

If thereís an absurd verse in the Bible, could it be chapter 5, verse 1?

Of course Iím just playing off words, thereís nothing absurd in Godís word.

But it strikes you kind of funny when you first read it, Ephesians 5, verse 1, ìTherefore be imitators of God

as beloved children .î Youíd like to know the key to sanctification?

On your mark, get set, go.

Imitate God.

Now letís just close in prayer.

I mean, imitate God?

This is kind of a crazy thing to say.

I donít see any other scriptures that say imitate God.

I see when Paul says, ìImitate me ,î I see where Paul says, ìImitate me

as I imitate Christ .î But here is this standard of imitating God.

Lloyd -Jones says, ìIs this possible?

Is this not gross exaggeration?

Has not the apostle run away with himself and allowed his eloquence to dazzle him?

Is he seriously asking men and women like you, living in a world like this,

harassed by the devil, surrounded by temptations, to be imitators of God ?î

And I love the word ìimitateî there, because itís where we get our word ìmime .î And I know weíve got a lot of kind of computer nerdy people

here.

Weíre not talking about multipurpose internet mail extensions.

Weíre talking about mimics.

Okay, I threw that in for the WÖ I threw that in for you, to

imitate, to mime.

We have Xerox copy machines, and when they first came out, I remember in the mid -70s, early

70s, my buddy, his dad was a pharmacist and he had one, and we had the best time Xeroxing

our faces.

And, you know, youíre first getting a beard, you think youíre kind of manly, and you Xerox your face, and you could see it, and nothing would result from it except a bunch of

oil on top of that nice glass.

Thatís the word here.

Itís kind of where we get the word ìmimicî or ìmimeographî or ìpantomime .î It means to copy.

And he makes it clear here, do you see, in verse 1, ìas beloved children .î Oh, oh, that makes a little more

sense.

Right?

The apple doesnít fall too far from the tree when it comes to ìlike father, like son, like mother, like daughter

.î Oh, Iím supposed to imitate God because Iím His child.

It would be normal and natural and right for a child to mimic his parents.

They want to grow up and be like their parents.

And theyíre not just children, theyíre beloved children.

Children are natural mimics.

I remember when my kids were younger, my children, rather, and they would say, ìYep, yep .î

Youíre supposed to say ìyes .î How did they learn ìyepî and ìyap ?î I donít know about the ìyapî part, that was the dog, but

the ìyapî part was I say ìyupî instead of ìyes .î And they just mimic that.

What in the world does it mean to imitate God?

Weíre told the answer, verse 2, and this is the section for love.

ÌAnd walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us

as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God .î Hereís the message

ahead of time.

Godís love gives, and you think about Jesus at Calvary, the ultimate love gift.

God loved at His own cost for the betterment of the loved ones.

Love gives, love gives, sexual sin takes.

Thatís going to be the play here.

Godís love gives, thatís how we imitate God, because sexual sin, and thatís all sex

outside of marriage, sexual sin takes.

God is self -sacrificial, and sexual sin is self -gratifying.

Thatís going to be the play here.

Thatís why He says in verse 2, ìWalk in love ,î this agape love.

What kind of love is that?

Emotional love, a romantic love?

No, no.

So, as Christ, the Messiah, how does the Messiah love us and give Himself up for us?

Heís talking about, of course, His suffering in life and in death, and so weíre to walk

in this Christ -like love.

Jesus is, of course, a substitute for our sins, but in many areas, Heís an example.

The old days, they wore bracelets, right, and it said some letters on there, four letters.

What did those letters say?

WWJD, sometimes it was bad advice, right, you donít want to go to the wilderness and not eat for 40 days,

so it doesnít always work.

But here, it works, in the sense that Heís to be an example, 1 Peter 2, Heís an example of

suffering.

Here, Heís self -sacrificial, and thatís the way weíre supposed to love.

He gave Himself up.

The ultimate, the supreme giving up is the Lord Jesus, John 15, ìGreater love has no

man, excuse me, ìGreater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends

.î A verse that you know very well, Galatians 2, verse 20, ìWho loved Me and gave Himself

for Me .î 1 John 3, 16, ìWe know love by this.

He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren

.î Romans 8, ìHe who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not

also freely give us all things with Him ?î So, God loves, gives.

Society says sex, takes, lust, takes.

Love gives, lust takes.

Voluntarily, at His own expense, He gives Himself.

And then itís got even more wonderful language.

Do you see it?

A fragrant, at the end of verse 2, offering and sacrifice to God.

Right out of Jewish Levitical sacrifice language, He talks about Jesus as a sacrifice.

And so, what does love do?

It gives, and itís pleasing to God.

What does lust or sexual sin do?

It takes, and God is not pleased.

That word sacrifice, I draw your attention to, again, itís a quick sermon today, so I canít look at every word, but I love the word

sacrifice, because thatís what love is.

Itís a sacrifice, itís a fragrant offering, itís a sweet -smelling offering.

Do you know fragrant offering, in the Old Testament Leviticus, it literally means, ìItís an odor of rest

.î Think about some of the odors in your life, good odors.

Youíre waking up from camping, somebody got up earlier and put the fire on, and you can smell the coffee,

or you can smell the bacon.

Glad I slept in, theyíre doing the work.

Just a pleasing odor.

There used to be a place called Midwest Express, and it was an airline out of Omaha, Nebraska, in Milwaukee, and they

would cook, they would bake cookies on the flight, while you were flying.

And you could smell the waft of that just sweet -smelling aroma, and then they would come and give you cookies.

Sound like Delta to you?

Itís just a joke.

It was an odor of rest in the Hebrew.

What do you mean, ìItís an odor of rest ?î Whatís the sweet -smelling, fragrant offering In the Old Testament, ìItís an odor of rest .î

Well, the odor of rest was this.

They have sinned, my people have sinned, and now Iím going to be, you think about

anthropomorphically, just language of accommodation, I have to do something about it.

The wages of sin is death, and now I need to be actively punishing people, but when I smell the sacrifice,

I donít punish the people, because the sacrifice has been done on behalf of the people, and now itís an odor of rest.

God doesnít need to do anything or execute judgment, Heís resting.

Thatís the language here.

Itís a language of giving and pleasing God the Father.

Well, if love gives, lust takes, do you see it in verse 3?

If love is sacrificial and sexual sin is selfish, what do you

think God would say to His children?

But sexual immorality, thatís where we get the word pornography, porné, itís all kinds of sexual sin, including

pornography, and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you,

as is proper among the saints.

This kind of gross taking, this uncleanness, itís not like God.

Itís not being an imitator of God who is pleasing, who is sacrificial, no, no, itís

taking, itís getting, itís self -indulgence, itís self -centered, doesnít have a good aroma, it has a

putrid aroma, think about the worst thing youíve smelled, thatís what sexual sin is like.

Once again, Heís not talking about sexual activity in marriage, the Bible celebrates sexual activity in marriage,

so you can look at the Song of Solomon, you can look at Proverbs 5, He designed bodies, He designed pleasure.

But when it comes to anything outside of a marriage, between a man and a woman, He says I donít want you to do it,

and I donít even want it to be named among you.

Immorality, look at verse 3, general sexual sin, adultery, premarital, fornication,

homosexuality, lust, pornography, itís all covered there.

And if that wasnít enough, He says any impurity, catharizo,

thatís where we get our word cathartic, just get rid of all that uncleanness too, itís

filthy, itís unclean, from a Facebook fantasy to watching pornography on your

phone, itís the deeds of the flesh.

And you know what it ends up being, and this is kind of odd too, He says itís

like greed or covetousness, you want something thatís not

yours.

In marriage your wife or your husband is yours, 1 Corinthians chapter 7 says, actually itís a

command, if youíre able to regularly be together, but here when theyíre

not yours, itís like greed, wanting

more and more and more and more and more, insatiability because youíre consumed with yourself

and you just need somebody to be with.

And by the way, sexual sin like this, do you see the text, it should not even be named among you.

This language of sexual sin should be weird to us, itís out of place, we donít talk like this, we shouldnít talk like this,

we shouldnít approve it or tolerate it.

Herodotus said one may not speak about what one may not do.

Back in the Psalms and in Exodus, did you know Godís people were not even allowed to say the names of their false

gods?

Because it would be blasphemous, thatís the kind of idea here, the new God of America, the new God of this world is sex,

swipe right, that is not to be named among us.

In this church, if youíre struggling or youíre involved in sexual sin, fornication, adultery,

homosexuality, pornography, flirting around on Facebook, itís not even to be named among us, weíre

children, weíve been saved, weíve been redeemed, weíve been elect, youíre a child of the living God, this

is a taking thing and weíre supposed to be the giving people.

See, but the whole world is doing it, thatís true, but 1 Corinthians 6, it says, ìFlee

immorality, every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body .î

Now he alluded to it, but now he makes it clear in verse 4, weíre not supposed to do it, but weíre not supposed to talk

about it either, abstain from practice and abstain from talking about it.

Verse 4, ìLet there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk ,î

this is all in the sexual realm, ìnor crude joking ,î itís out of

place, ìbut instead let there be thanksgiving .î

Paul has, he not already said in verse 29 of the previous chapter, ìLet no corrupting talk

come from your mouths ,î and now he repeats it in this chapter.

When it comes to sex talk, and Iím not talking about a husband and wife in bed, somehow in a wonderful way,

talking about that, thatís not what Iím talking about, Iím talking about sexual sin talk, talking about

sex, making it a joke, right, what do you do when you tell a joke about your mother -in -law, you demean

your mother -in -law, and now you tell a joke about sex, you end up demeaning sex.

When it comes to obscenity, of course donít talk about it, but shameful, filthy, impure things,

weíre not to talk about.

He even says here, itís called silly talk, or foolish talk, thatís where we get the word moron

and talk, donít talk like a moron talks, some people are listening,

the fool has said in his heart, thereís no God, and he talks like it, just this incessant talk,

you know some of the comedians are perfect at this, maybe even youíre good at it, where any little thing can be turned in to

talk about sex, innuendos are easily just turned.

Sinclair Ferguson writes a very interesting two sentences, ìChrist -like love banishes

the salacious, smut should be suffocated in the holy atmosphere of our fellowship .î

Even joking about it, coarse jesting, no, double

entendres, no, sexual gossip, no,

itís not fitting, verse 4, itís not fitting, human sexuality week, itís not fitting,

ignorance is bliss when it comes to sexual sin.

Whatís the opposite?

Well before I answer that question, remember what Paul did in the previous chapter, itís one thing to say no to sin,

but then you replace it with something, right, God has made us new creations in Christ Jesus, weíre able to say no to sin,

and we now want to honor God with our obedience as fruit and evidence of His work in

us, the ground of our salvation is never our fruit, itís always Christís work, but we would like to live holy lives and faithful lives

as God is sanctifying us.

And he says, donít steal, but what, work.

He says, donít be angry and let the sun go down in your anger.

What else does he say?

Donít lie or tell falsehoods, tell the truth, itís this put on, put off, remember?

This is the same thing, all these talks about sexual sin, put off, whatís the put on?

Thereís one put on for all those put offs, while weíre not supposed to be talking about sexual

sin at school, itís not fitting, at work itís not fitting, on the computer itís not fitting, at church itís not fitting,

itís not fitting at counseling, what do we do instead?

Whatís the put on?

Itís one thing to say no, no, no, no, no, whatís the put off?

Well, all these sexual sin, whatís the put on?

Wow, itís give thanks, thatís weird, isnít it?

Now Thanksgiving comes around, weíre ready for the turkey, and weíre ready for, do they play college football anymore, turkey,

Thanksgiving, and we all know, arenít we glad we have someone to be thankful to?

Everybody else is thankful to be thankful, and thankful for, I donít know, turkeys will probably be

$900 in November, and weíll all be thankful we have turkey,

we say we have somebody to thank, this Thanksgiving here, has someone to

thank, instead of saying, take, take, take, take, sexual sin, talk about

sexual sin, take, take, take, we give, love gives, remember Jesus gives himself,

and what do we give?

We give thanks, instead of demeaning sex, we thank God for it,

itís like the couple on their honeymoon night, and they kneel down to the bed, and they say, Lord, thank you for bringing us

together, weíre both Christian people, youíve brought us together in holy matrimony, thank you for everything

youíve given us, forgiven us, including even down to this, where we can be in the married marriage bed, because Hebrews

13 says, the marriage bed is undefiled, and may we enjoy our time together, thank you for

this time together, thatís what the replacement is, giving thanks,

it doesnít seem so obvious that instead of being a gutter mouth, we give thanks, but thatís exactly what Paul is

after, to give thanks to God, he could have said, but thanksgiving unto God, he says in

verse 20, later in the chapter, giving thanks always and everything to God the Father, in the name of our Lord

Jesus, the antidote for sexual sin is to talk rightly about Godís

purpose in sex, and Godís generosity in sex,

1 Thessalonians 5, and everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you and Christ Jesus, including

for the gift of your wife, in marriage, husbands, and your husband, wives,

God said sex is very good, God says sex is for enjoyment, in marriage, in marriage,

say itís not that big a deal, verse 5, for you may be sure of this, you can

put this down in bold, you can mark this down, you can be sure of this,

that everyone who is sexually in war are impure, this is a lifestyle, this is not a one off, anything like

that, this is a lifestyle, this is 1 Corinthians 6 language, donít be deceived, or who is covetous,

that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God,

Paul says I want you to be very clear, for those who are practicing sexual sin, they ought not to call themselves

Christians, fascinatingly he calls sexual

immorality here an equivalent to idolatry, because thatís all you think about as your idol, thatís all you want to talk about as your

idol, thatís what you want to spend your money on as your idol, thatís what happens with unbelievers when it comes to sex,

he is not saying if you look at a woman with lust as a Christian, you lose your salvation, has he not only

already given assurance for real Christians, Ephesians 1 .14, who is given, the spirit of God is

given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to redemption of Godís own possession to the praise of his glory,

of course, heís giving gospel assurance, but heís saying thereís some listening to this, maybe thereís someone here

listening, you say well, I donít know if I really need a savior,

well does not your sexual sins show you that this judging God is going to judge you one

day, and donít you need a savior,

if you also notice for those of you that want to understand that Jesus is the eternal son, and Jesus

is God, look at the text, no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God, they

are co -equal in nature and essence,

Hebrews 13, let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled for fornicators and

adulterers God will judge, Revelation 21, but the cowardly and unbelieving and

abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their

part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, that is the second death,

and so Paul says, you can say youíre a Christian, but what you do in the darkness,

God sees, this is the will of God, first Thessalonians 4, your

sanctification, that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality,

and remember what Paul says to the church of Corinth, donít be caught up in all this, remember, you were

some of those people, and such were some of you, but you were washed, why do you want to go back to the

dirt sex sin, you were sanctified, set apart for God, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

and the Spirit of God, Paul saying the same thing that he did to the church of Corinth, he just says

it with different words, this is who you are in Christ, why go back to that old life, you

say, yeah, but a lot of people tell me otherwise, verse 6, let no one deceive

you, I donít care if theyíre a priest, a prophet, a so -called apostle, a pastor, a school teacher,

donít let anyone deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath

of God comes upon the sons of disobedience,

a loving God would never punish, hey, I have a desire to eat and I go have lunch, nobody

thinks itís a moral problem, I have a desire for sexual activity outside of my marriage, nobody thinks thatís a problem,

Iím just an addict, the list goes on and on and on, friends, let no one deceive you with empty words,

those are empty words, arenít you beloved children, of course, dear Christian, you are,

so donít fall for people that just say, you know what, I can market something well enough and you probably

believe it, come on, you have a right to be happy, two consenting adults,

those are empty words, I donít want anybody to call me some kind of prude or a puritan or a

Victorian or something like that, well, nobody likes to be called that, but let me

call you by your name first and that is, youíre a child of God, yeah, but Iím

born this way, empty words, because of these things the wrath of God comes upon

the sons of disobedience, God punishes sin, maybe not

always in this world but He will punish sin, no inheritance for evil doers, Satan

disguised himself as the angel of light, therefore 2 Corinthians 11, itís not surprising if His

servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness,

so dear Christian, for your good and for Godís glory and because you

can, you say no to sexual sin and you enjoy your spouse if youíre married and if you say, Iím not married,

but Iíd like to be married, well, young men especially, let me talk to you, he who finds a wife,

finds a good thing, start to look, right, I actually know ladies of this church

who are waiting for it to be approached because theyíve been taught by their parents, we canít be the aggressors

and also dear Christians in this church who are married, 1 Corinthians 7 is in the Bible for a reason because sexual sin

is a, I mean sexual temptation is true and husbands and wives are commanded to be

together in the bedroom, well, this is the love section of Ephesians

5, in summary, Godís love gives, Godís love is pleasing,

our ideas about sex need to be right, giving and pleasing, not taking,

now we come to the section about light, so you walk in love and now we walk in light, I know what youíre

saying, you said you spent 30 minutes, youíre saying you spent 30 minutes on that first one, that means itís going to be fast -paced on the

second, you are correct, thatís the way we roll around here,

see how many times you can see the word light here in verses 7 through 10, ìTherefore do not become partners with them, for at one time you

were darkness ,î didnít say you were in darkness, you were darkness, I mean that was our life, ìbut now you are light in the

Lord, walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is

found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord

.î Dear Christian, remember we were dead in trespasses and sins, Ephesians chapter 2, now

weíre in light, we were darkness, weíre not that anymore, Colossians 1,

ìHe delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption,

the forgiveness of sins .î 2 Corinthians 5, ìTherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new ,î what?

ÌCreature, the old things passed away, behold new has come .î We have been

transformed, and instead of children of darkness, we are children of light, Colossians 1 verse 8, there it is, ìchildren

of light .î So, walk in that manner, weíre different people because the grace of God

made us different, Jesus has not only died for us and we get justification, but Jesus dwells in us,

the Holy Spirit dwells in us so we can say no to sin and yes to righteousness, and not just yes to

righteousness, but the fruit of light consists of righteousness, thatís true, but goodness,

thatís far from sexual sin, righteousness, doing the right thing, thatís far from it, and truth,

because of the Spirit of God dwelling in you, you produce fruit, you produce evidence, God is working in

you, that happens, ìHe has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but

to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God ,î Micah chapter

6, and so thereís this

light that exposes, and this light that has transformed us, and so weíre different people,

so what does he say in verse 11, ìTake no part in the unfruitful works of darkness

.î Uh -oh, so far so good, but this next part is going to make me uncomfortable maybe,

but instead expose them, this is expository ministry,

expository ministry, I proclaim it, and also with my life and words behind the scenes, not only in the pulpit,

but Iím exposing, sometimes you talk when you expose, and other times you just show up, how many times, I donít think

itís happened to you, some of you maybe, but Iíll show up, and I try not to just walk in the room with a backward

collar saying Iím High Holy Father, Reverend, Right Reverend, I just try to walk in, and try to,

sorry to use this word, but try to just be cool, just try to be normal, some try to be cool,

some just are, Iím trying, and every, there are

people running their mouths and all kinds of words and everything, and it finally gets to me, and they say, ìWell what do you do

for work ?î I tell them Iím a politician, no, I

say Iím a Bible teaching pastor, the air is sucked out of the room,

now see with my title I can even expose what theyíre doing, but heís not saying it to pastors here, heís

saying, and you can see the put on put off stuff here, ìTake no part in these unfruitful works of darkness, but

instead expose them .î I donít think you probably liked it the

first time somebody exposed your sin, but arenít you glad they did?

I remember sitting in the car on Sunset Boulevard, everybodyís given their testimonies, my testimony was,

I go to church to assuage God or something, I donít know, and they looked at me and they said, ìWell Mike, tell us a little bit about you ,î and

I said, ìWell Iím a Christian ,î and the guy looked at me and he goes, ìHow can you call yourself a Christian ?î

And I wanted to punch the guy, but remember we have something in California called ìchipsî and they probably

would have come after me, I wish I knew his name, I wish I knew his number,

I sat there thinking, how can this guy say, ìDonít you dare call yourself a Christian, because I know what you do

.î I would have never thought about verse 12, see it,

for itís shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

Itís not enough to abstain from sexual sin, itís not enough to thank God for sexual morality,

but thereís this exposing, we are salt and what?

Light, thatís what we do, our options are not ignore,

compromise, live and let live, join in, be nice, be neutral, we donít judge, weíre

known for what weíre for and not what weíre against, weíre to be tolerant, weíve got ostrich mentality, we donít think it

exists, no, when thereís cancer in someone, youíve got to deal with it,

we donít participate and we expose,

they do things in secret, we donít talk about it.

Verse 13, weíre almost done, ìBut when anything is exposed by the light

,î this is an obvious statement, but true, ìit becomes visible,

for anything that becomes visible is light, therefore it says, ìAwake, O sleeper,

and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you .î What does

that mean?

Well, I remember when I was a kid, my mom would try to wake me up, but what would your mom say when she tried to wake you up when you were little?

Rise and shine, right?

My mom would say, ìUp and at ëem .î My mom would say, ìSnooze can only be used

20 times .î I remember I couldnít get up sometimes and I would have my one alarm and I started going to work

early, one alarm here and the other alarm I would put across the room, really loud, obnoxious one, the kind that you would like

wind up, and sometimes my leg would fall asleep when I would sleep, whole leg would fall asleep, and I remember

just jumping up to get that alarm because itís just that worst sound ever, and then I was like

slain in the spirit because down I go.

Itís like a tire iron in the swimming pool, down you go.

I mean, Paul is talking about all this, and you know, if youíre involved in these kind of sins, donít be deceived.

Donít you think it would be natural for Paul, do you think it would be normal for Paul, after heís addressed Christians and he warns them and

he loves them and youíre a child of God and walk in love, donít you think it would be normal and natural for him to say to

people that were reading the letter or to hear the letter or hear it preached from the pastor, to talk to people who

are unbelievers and say, ìDo you know what, if youíre sleeping in your sin and youíre not a Christian, itís

time to wake up .î Do you think that would be normal and natural for Paul to do?

Of course.

Now when you talk about salvation, thatís something that God does, and God alone does.

The gospel is what God does, specifically in the personal work of the Lord Jesus,

sent by the Father, empowered by the Spirit.

When I say gospel, itís good news, that means Iím not involved in any of the good news, because you look at my life and yours, itís

bad news, and so the gospel is about Jesus, period.

But when weíre given the gospel of Jesus, how He died, lived, how

He lived and died and was buried and raised, ascended and is praying, when we talk about Him, thereís a

response for the unbeliever, right?

Sometimes we say ìbelieveî, sometimes we say ìtrustî, sometimes we

say ìrepentî.

Thereís a response to the good news.

Well thatís exactly what this is.

This is conversion language, this is the responsibility of the unbeliever to respond

to the truth about who God is, and it could say all kinds of things about Jesusí death and life and all that,

but thatís been talked about, and now He says in the middle of light and exposure, ìIf youíre here, if youíre

here today and youíre not a Christian, this is like a little triplet of commands.

ÌAwake, O sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you .î

You say, ìWhere did that come from in the Bible, because itís kind of indented in my Bible .î Well itís probably an amalgamation, itís a

combining of Isaiah 60, Isaiah 26 and Isaiah

9, and itís a little hymn, itís a good

little hymn.

You can even sing this hymn to your kids when they wake up, and you can say, ìI mean it for you to literally wake up and also one day to

believe on the Lord Jesus Christ .î Isaiah 9, ìThe people who are in darkness have seen a great light

.î Isaiah 60, ìArise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the

Lord has risen upon you .î When you see someone sleeping, theyíre not responsive.

You know, weíve done all kinds of tricks to our brothers and sisters, have we not, when they were sleeping and taking naps and you

do things to them and sprinkle water on their faces or put their hands in water, you do all kinds of weird things, donít you?

And theyíre just like they donít do anything, theyíre irresponsive.

Youíre dead, youíre irresponsive, and now itís like Jesus walks up to the tomb of

Lazarus and he says, ìWhat ?î ìArise .î

And Lazarus arises.

And similarly, you hear this call, this gospel call.

I could say, ìBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ .î I could say, ìConfess with your mouth .î I could say, ìTrust in God .î Or I

could say to you, dear unbeliever, ìItís time to wake up from your slumber .î Awake,

rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Thatís what Paulís after.

He says, ìAwake, sleeper .î Look at the first little triplet there, ìAwake, sleeper .î This reminds me

of Augustine when he read this in the Bible in Romans 13, ìKnowing the time that is already for you to be awakened

from sleep, for now salvation is nearer to us than we had already believed.

Night is almost gone, day is at hand .î Then he says the second one, ìArise from the dead

.î Weíre spiritually dead, Ephesians 2, and so arise.

Doesnít mean you can of your own working, but this is God working behind the scenes, and your response, Godís grace

in your life, and you respond with belief, or in this case, you are awakened.

We use that language, the great awakenings, and Christ will shine on

you.

You notice what it says?

People think, ìYou know what?

My sins are so bad I could never come to Christ because how could a God ever forgive me for what Iíve done

?î You know whatís so good about the grace of God?

Does the text say youíre going to be exposed?

Well, of course you are going to be exposed, but whatís the focus here?

Yes, youíre exposed, but you are now what?

Enlightened.

God shines on you, Christ shines on you.

I think if I recall rightly, John, the great gospel, talks about Jesus is the bread

of life, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Jesus is the true vine.

Jesus is the door to the sheep.

Jesus is the gate to the sheep.

Jesus is the great shepherd.

I think somewhere it says in John 8, 12, does it not?

ÌI am theî what?

ÌLight of the world .î Thatís exactly right.

He doesnít just expose, he shines.

You know what shining talks about?

Approval.

The Lord bless you, the Lord keep you, the Lord make His face what?

Frown on you.

To shine on you.

Youíve probably done it 50 times here at this church, but you know when you die youíre going to have this look on your face?

When youíre angry with people you look like this?

And when you have that little one -year -old in the crib, you wake up in the morning, you lean over the crib and

you say, ìThatís a shining face !î Itís a

face of approval.

Can you imagine, dear unbeliever, you take all your sins and you say, ìGod, these are against

you.

Itís a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.

I deserve to go to hell.

Iíve earned hell.

Iíve merited hell.

What was done to Jesus should have been done for me, but your word says that I come to you and

Iím like the man that said, ìWould you have mercy on me ?î Guess what?

The Lord Jesus forgives people.

He shines on them.

Horatius Bonar, ìI heard the voice of Jesus say, ìI am this dark worldís light.

Look unto me, thy mourn shall arise, and all thy day be bright .î ìI looked at Jesus, and I found in

him my star, my sun.

And in that light of life Iíll walk till traveling days are done .î

ìI deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried

and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures .î And if your response to that is to

believe and to rest and receive and accept and to be rising from the dead, Christ will

shine on you.

Isnít that good news?

Itís good news.

Well, how does he end?

Verse 15 and 16.

ÌLook carefully, then, how you walk .î Thereís that language of walk that we started with.

ÌNot as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days were evil .î

It doesnít say best use of time, does it?

It doesnít mean you got 168 hours in a week or 24 hours in a day and make sure you

redeem time.

No, it says the time.

What time is that?

When thereís an opportunity before you, sovereignly ordained, you use it.

Thatís all that means.

Itís more about that next week.

Walk in love, walk in light.

Bow with me, please.

Thank you, Father, for your Word.

Thank you that we have it.

For most of us here as Christians, weíre thankful that you graced us enough to be

no longer sleeping, but awake.

Christ has shone his love on us.

Heís demonstrated his own love for us.

While we were sinners, he died for us, and he still demonstrates it.

Thank you for that.

I pray for Bethlehem Bible Church.

Pray for me, that we as your children might be far

removed from sexual sin.

May it not even be named here.

For those that are here that are in sexual sin now, I pray that youíd give them no rest of their conscience

until they repent and forsake it.

Weíre thankful that when we look to the Lord Jesus, itís all been covered.

He never, even though tempted, never sexually sinned, never did anything untoward, no filthy

talk, no idolatry, no bad language, nothing.

He was the great Savior.

So we look to Him.

And I pray for people that are here today that are not Christians, and maybe whatís exposed in their life is

their own sexual sin and lust.

Would you grant them salvation like you did for us?

In Jesusí name, Amen.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West

Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of

Godís Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us.

Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6.

Weíre right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by

phone at 508 -835 -3400.