Turn over to Ephesians chapter 5.
We've been talking about the reigning society and so I'm
going to kind of conclude it tonight, although we will not
jump over into chapter 6. I think chapter 6 we'll come
back to and just do a stand alone with the armor of God in
general that that deserves its own series really.
But I the 1st 24242421 verses let's say it that way.
Ephesians 5 is really powerful because Paul again is talking to
the church. The church is not the same as
the world. I'm going to say that again the.
Church is not the same as the world.
So you understand, God goes after the world.
The church goes after God. I'm going to say that again.
The God goes after the world. No man comes to God unless he
draws them all right. But once you're born again, then
the Bible says draw near to God and heal.
Now he's giving you a right to come into the throne room, to
come into the holies of holies, to step into the course with
Thanksgiving. He's giving you the right
through sonship are a birthright, sons and daughters
of God that you can approach him.
Amen. This is why it's so important to
not to have no condemnation, but the Bible tells us there is.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are
in Christ. Now, those who are not in
Christ, there's condemnation. So if you feel condemned, get in
Christ, meaning get under the blood, ask God to forgive what's
you're feeling guilty about or whatever.
And then once that's done, there's no condemnation.
And it says therefore now, now is immediate present, which
means right now, right now, right now, right now, right now,
right now, right now.
That means you can't none of that stuff, anything the enemy
would try to come and bring back on you of your past.
You're not condemned. You have been pardoned.
You are free, you have been liberated, Hallelujah.
And you can boldly come before the throne of.
Grace. So God goes after the world
away, but then he walks with the church a different way.
Amen. So we should never have the
mentality of how I lived outside the church is acceptable to live
that inside the church. And let me say it this way, you
do not win more to get in the church if you are looking like
the world. I'm going to say that again.
Many people have said, well, you know, I don't want to do things
that would be in such a way they wouldn't want to come to God.
So we compromise ours to try to be relatable to them.
They don't need you to be relatable.
They need you to be holy. They need you to give them the
hope that what they're in you can come out of, not get over
and say, well, I'm forgiven, but I'm still in bondage.
No liberty comes once you get in the church, you're in Christ and
you're in the body of Christ and you're walking with the Lord.
So Paul, obviously we've dealt with the 1st 4 chapters.
We've come into the 5th chapter and he's just launches this
thing after he's communicated a few things.
You'd have to go back on our Wednesday nights to to catch up
with us. I'm not going to take time to do
that tonight. But he starts right out in verse
one. Therefore meaning everything
that I just said in the 1st 4 chapters.
Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children.
Now that one verse I could preach probably for the next 6
months. That verse right there because
if you talk to even a person outside the church that is still
lost, they'll give you a definition of God.
A lot of times they're going to define God as perfect, holy,
without mistakes, certain elements and it says therefore
be be what? Be imitators of God.
Now who can be an imitator of God as beloved children?
So the only ones who have the ability to imitate.
In essence, Paul is reciting to the to the church or what we
call the age of grace, OK, or the church age or we're in the
last days time now where the Spirit of God has come back to
live in man. In essence, Paul is saying in
Ephesians 51 be imitators of God, which sounds a lot like an
Old Testament verse that says this let us make man in our
image according to our likeness. So now because we can be born
again, our nature can start to reflect what the first Adam had.
Now not in its totality, because the first Adam, his body did not
have sin it, it was glorified, His soul had no sin in it, and
then his spirit was perfect in the image of God.
He fell from that position. We, when we're born again, do
not go back to that particular position because our bodies are
not yet redeemed. We'd have to renew our mind.
But our spirit man is now in the image of God, which means now
the dominion that Adam had. In Genesis 1, Paul was saying
imitate God, you have his nature again, Hallelujah.
And listen, Paul was not writing this just to inspire them to a
level. He is writing this to them
because he's a lot. He's letting them know who they
are. This is who you are.
This is the and and and he's also writing this not of his own
interpretation, but the Holy Spirit said tell them this.
So if the Holy Spirit says therefore be imitators of God,
can we be imitators of God? Yes, we can.
So this word imitators here real
quick, just means this. It means follow, emulate, mimic.
It means strive to resemble. Are you striving to resemble
God's nature? In your everyday walk.
That's a good thing for us to look into now.
The world cannot do this, but as a child of God you can aspire to
a standard that God set. I got a leadership lesson coming
down that I'm going to throw down.
I actually saw a clip from. I'll probably just preach it as
a sermon, so I'll give you a little nugget and then we'll
come back. But Nick Saban, when he was
coaching, he said, he said high standard people hate mediocre
people and mediocre people hate high standard people.
There's a conflict. Achievers, high achievers, OK,
high achievers, he says. When the standards high,
everyone has to come. Well, how?
How high you think this standard is and who said it?
Not only does he said it, but then He gives you the nature to
accomplish it. So why would you ever settle for
mediocre? You said how does the Lord not
like mediocrity? Well, he sure doesn't like
lukewarm. And I'll leave it there.
Because I'll prove that out later.
Are you ready? Amen.
No, there is a standard of godliness, holiness, that is not
I earned it. God made me this way.
So he's telling me, listen, I have a standard for you that's
achievable, that no matter what situation you come in in life,
no matter how old you are, how young you are, you can if you
give yourself over to the. Kingdom.
That you can obtain a lifestyle that imitates or resembles God
in essence is of the testimony of Smith Wigglesworth, a
particular gentleman who had the.
Power of God function in his life over in England and he was
so devout towards the Lord that there was one time it was
testified that he was on a bus in England.
He was being transported somewhere and a guy got to a
either his stop or he just chose to get off at to stop.
He stood up and he says man, your mere presence convicts me
of my sin and he got off the bus.
Does your imitation 'cause people around you to feel out
there in the presence of the Lord?
Now you're not God, I'm not saying that.
But what I am saying is you are his child and you should reflect
his nature. And it's going to do one or two
things. It's going to draw people
because God draws the lost. The lost can't be saved unless
the Lord and you understand he doesn't draw them by living
worldly. God doesn't reduce his standard
in his drawing. I mean when when he when the
Holy Spirit is drawing someone. He is saying there's a there's a
better way to live. It's a mess that you're in,
right? I can get you out.
In fact, I've paid the price for
it. I mean, I know what you've
there's nothing you've gone through that I don't know what
you're dealing with. Are you hearing me?
But he doesn't change his standard to do that.
You know, we may see a larger flood of people.
Coming in if we were imitating more anyway, let's go on.
Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children verse 2 and
walk in love. I'm going to finish reading this
first 7 verses. Just as Christ also loved you
and gave himself up for us as an offering, a sacrifice to God is
a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity
or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among
the Saints, and there must be no filthy filthiness and silly talk
or course jesting which are not fitting, but rather giving of
thanks for this. You know with certainty that no
immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater,
has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
Let no one deceive. You with empty words, for
because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons
of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers
with. Them.
All right now verse 2 says walk in love.
This word walk means again, we defined this already in a
earlier chapter. It means to regulate one's life.
It means to conduct oneself. So when he says walk in love, he
says allow the love of God to regulate your life.
OK. And the and and in one sense,
Jesus said this, if you love me, you'll keep my word.
So the love of God is the is best demonstrated when you are
due handling any situation according to how God has said
because again, Jesus was in many situations that he says father,
how do I deal with that? He gave him the answer he did it
and that was him walking in love.
He also the Bible says that Christ loved us while we were
yet why? Because he died, which tells me
in the garden when Jesus is demonstrating his love towards
us, he's doing it that Lord, he said Father, if there's.
Any other way, let this cup pass but not and he dealt with that
statement often it just sounded this way at other times.
I do nothing on my own initiative, but whatever the
Father says that I do, what I speak is what I So he's
demonstrating his love towards us by always keeping the word
that the Father said concerning him and his assignment and how
to handle. Situations, right?
Because he had options. OK, come on.
It's not like Jesus didn't vocalize options again in the
garden. He said Lord, if there's any
other way but not my will, your will be done.
And since he was convinced because the father said this is
the way sons, he's OK, I'm going to the cross in obedience.
I will fulfill the law of love. I will keep your word.
So when he comes out Peter obviously in defense.
What's he do? Cuts the man's ear off.
Jesus. Like, dude, I like that dude,
put your sword up. They're coming for me, not you.
So he picks the man's ear up, puts it back on, heals the guy.
That would have been enough for that guy to say he's the
Messiah. I'm out of here.
If it wasn't enough already that when he said I am, they fell,
blew down on the ground. That's pretty powerful as well.
But what did Jesus say? Jesus said don't you know I
could call a legion of Angel? He had options but instead of
him being angry in his flesh that y'all are all falsely
accusing me right now. This right here is not God, and
He knew it. But he did not enact the angels,
because the Father said Son, this is the way, and he
demonstrated his love towards us.
Are you hearing me? So we need to regulate our lives
by walking in love because again, Christ loved you and gave
himself up for us. I mean, how many times did
Christ? Give up his personal right to do
the father's will in the situation or gave up his
personal right? To satisfy his flesh every time,
which why we get over into verse three, he said now.
But immorality and any impurity or greed must not even be named
among you. It's not proper meaning.
That type of lifestyle is a former lifestyle.
It shouldn't be named now. It doesn't mean that it can't be
because again, Jesus is falsely accused of all kinds of things
and people could have walked and say, you know, he did this and
he did that and he did that, and that's all false because he
didn't do any of the stuff they said.
So it doesn't mean no one could never say you did something.
But what Paul is saying that it shouldn't be named among you
because it shouldn't be. So with you, are you hearing
what I'm saying now? How do you pull away from this
to a degree? Well, you flee even the
appearance of evil. That's why that scripture is
there, because it's not about how close I can get to my old
life without falling, right? It's not how, how, how, how
close we can satisfy the flesh without falling in and, you
know, into the temptation. It's like, man, I'm not even
getting close to the edge because it's not like I'm more
powerful because I get to the edge and don't fall.
That doesn't make you more powerful.
What makes you more powerful is that you can keep yourself at a
distance from stuff that you don't even get it.
You're so far amused from it because you're a new creature.
Come on, isn't that amazing? So then he goes on and says,
look, there's needs to be no filthy or silly talk course
gesturing. These are things, the way we're
speaking, talking, communicating with that should be put away
because we're. Putting on the new man, right
and but we rather should give thanks and then he reminds us
the individuals that have this kind of lifestyle, they do not
inherit the Kingdom of God. I said they do not inherit the
Kingdom of God. But then he goes on in verse 6
and tells us, do not let someone deceive you.
Meaning do not let someone say by the grace of God you can do
whatever. Don't let someone deceive you
because he's like I'm telling you if you think that the blood
that was shed for you now gives you the right to be able to
still participate. And God is like, I don't see it
cause of the blood. Like he's got blood in his eyes
and he can't see all the new things you're doing.
He said, make no mistake about it, the wrath of God.
Comes upon the sons of disobedience.
In essence, he's saying someone who would do.
This is acting like someone not in my household.
Because a child of God is not a, is not a son of disobedience.
What would they be then? A son of, of obedience?
And again, the obedience we do is not in our own strength.
It's by the power and grace of God that he's given us.
Hallelujah. So therefore it says do not
partake with them, be partakers with them.
Now, this doesn't mean that we are to never get around anyone
who lives like this. I mean, they need the light that
you shine. You need to go into their
darkness. There's no issue there.
There's no reason, no, no issue that if you you know, how do I
want to say this, you can converse, engage, have
conversations, even develop relationships, as long as they
are not so close that you become corrupted by them because bad
company will correct, will corrupt so well, you know why I
just I'm hanging out when I'm going to the club with them.
I'm doing this with them. I'm going to these shows.
I'm going to go down to bike week with all these guys.
Not just a bad idea. I'm not even going to bike week
before and I ain't just got to the edge.
I got to the edge of bike week once.
I don't remember where we were going, but got to the edge is
like, what are all these? Oh, it's bike week, right?
And all of a sudden some girl walked out with chaps on.
No, you're right. No, Christopher, I'm like, bro,
what is happening here? Now I understand some people go
down in Evangeline. I have no problem.
I get it. But you better make sure you're
a light because I'm going to be honest with you.
There's a lot of carnal Christians going down there
acting like they're being light, but they're they're partaking.
I said they're partaking. OK, that's just say Amen.
Anyway, Hallelujah. All right, we are not partakers.
Your your lifestyle is not my lifestyle.
I said your lifestyle is not my lifestyle.
OK, So because I regulate my wife wait up my life, I mean we
might regulate a little bit when necessary and say it so say it
so I mean say it so she knows there may be a time that I have
to regulate because I have that position as a husband.
Let me tell you, in my house is not happy wife, happy life.
It's do the word happy life that's in my house 'cause my
wife doesn't intimidate me and I don't intimidate her, 'cause we
have holiness. I don't have that ungodly
principle. Now we laugh about that, you
know, But the reality is I do regulate.
Cause at the end of the day, when the final say has to
happen, God gave me that position.
And she doesn't kick against the goats.
She offers her opinion and sometimes passionately, and
that's OK. There's no.
Problem with that. But at the end of the day, she
says whatever you're saying, because at the end of the day,
here we go. And I'm and I'm humble enough if
I do it wrong and she was right that I'll come back and say,
honey, you were right. We should have done it that way.
No issue here because we we are side by side working this thing.
Together. All right.
I got out of that pretty good. Just kidding. 1st Corinthians
1614, First Corinthians, I'm serious about that, but that was
a fun joke. All right.
First Corinthians 1614 says let all that you do be done.
How in love. Now you need to know what love
is in order to do that. That is not acceptance.
The God kind of love is not acceptance.
God is not accepting sin at all. He died for it.
Sin is so bad and it requires payment that God had to send his
son to pay the price. And it was a horrific, not just
physical death, the emotional and spiritual because we the
Bible says he was beaten so bad you couldn't tell he was a man.
It wasn't the physical beatings that caused him not to look like
a man. It was when he took on the sins
of all the world that it distorted him.
The sin on his body deformed him that to look at him, he didn't
even look like a person. You've never seen a movie show
what Jesus really looked like because we all see that he's a
human being. But it says he was so deformed
you could not tell he was a man. Sins a big deal.
It is a big deal and we should. It's worse than cancer.
Christians treat cancer more serious than sin and sin is
worse. I said sin is worse.
So let all be done in love, though.
So again, the love of God. One way you could say this that
you know you're walking in love because Jesus says if you love
me, keep my word. So you know that if you're like
father, what, how do you want me to do this?
What am I supposed to say? And and it's not just
situational with. Outside or your life it's you
know personal things you know that you may be believing for or
that you are going through and when you get that word for God
and you stand on it and faith man, you are operating in the
love of God. OK, you're doing that first
Peter chapter 4 verse 8 says above all say above all, keep.
Fervent in your. Love for one another because
love covers a multitude of sin. Aren't you glad that God covers
it up? God is not having a conversation
with others about what's going on in your life.
He, he wants it dealt with as privately as possible.
Are you hearing what I'm saying? And we need to keep fervent in
love with one another because if you happen to engage in
relationship with someone and you find out that there's some
things they need to adjust or fix.
That doesn't give you a right to go tell everybody about it,
because love doesn't do that. And let me just say this, it's
not lying. It's not lying.
God is not obligated to tell everyone what's going on.
And if you ask him and he's quiet, he's not lying.
Or he may say something that is truth, but it's not all that you
need to hear. And when someone said, well, if
it's not all the truth and it's a lie, that's not true either.
It's not true, especially if you're reading the Bible reading
plan right now. You know, Jeremiah got called in
by the king, and the king said, what's God saying?
Come on, talk to me. He said, now listen, you won't
die if you tell me, right? So he said, Jerusalem's going
down, bro. I mean, that's what I've been
saying. It's going to happen.
But this is what can happen if you'll do, do, do, do, do, do,
do, right? And then he says, OK, don't tell
nobody. You just tell them this.
Now this is the prophet of God. You think the prophet of God is
going to go out and just lie? So the prophet of God goes out
and they say, what? What did you and the king talk
about? And he said, well, I was just
inquiring about exactly what the king.
Said did not let them know what was going on in the
conversation. Does that make Jeremiah a liar?
No, it means he's the godly man that kept a conversation between
him and the king. Say Amen.
So we got to keep fervent in love for one another.
In fact, Love's so important that Jesus knew that it would be
a difficult task. So he didn't make it as a
suggestion. He said, I command you to love
one another. Amen.
So if you're not walking in the God kind of love towards one
another, you are in sin. All right, First John 4. 20 to
21 says this. If someone says I love God and
hates his brother, he who's a liar, God, no, he is for who?
For the one who does not love his brother, whom he sees cannot
love God, whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have
from him, that the one who loves God should love his brother
also. Now notice says should because
he recognized not everyone does this and it's a challenge in the
church. I get it.
And only a challenge in the church because of of carnalities
1. Immaturity obviously is another,
offenses can become another, you know, unrenewed mind is another.
There are things that can take place, you know, that would put
a person in that position. And so that's why God said, now
listen, you just got to keep renewing your mind till you get
this thing together, all right. And so it's very important
because again, as believers, Paul saying we are to walk in
love. So all the actions that we read
here in this first 7 verses that were outside of God's Kingdom,
he's like, don't do that stuff, right?
Because a person who's walking in love is going to be obeying
God's word. And there's different attitude,
actions, constant, trying to be in unity, restoration, restore,
forgiveness, all those types of things are going to be in play
when you are walking in true love.
All right, the Ephesians chapter 5, let's go to verses 8 through
12 now because there's another way to walk, because we're
walking the walk, right? We're going to walk the walk.
He says, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light
in the Lord. Walk as children of the Light,
for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and
righteousness and truth. Trying to learn what is pleasing
to the Lord. Do not participate in the
unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.
For it is disgraceful, say disgraceful even, to speak of
the things which are done by them in secret.
OK, so again, now notice in these two passage of Scripture
already Paul talking about the reigning society because we are
the reigning church. And if you're the reigning
church, then that is a body of believers, which means it's
people. And because it's people, right,
you are the church that has members.
So if I say church, I'm mentioning people without saying
people. That's how that works.
So if I say the church, the church, the church, and you
think all I'm talking about is a building within, you don't know
the Bible. Because really what I'm saying
is people, people, people, people, people, people, people,
people, people because the church is members that are
collected upon the same place with a vision from God to
accomplish what he's asked. And again, you have to have a
vision because the Bible is very clear.
To not have a vision is horrible because the Bible says write the
vision down, make it so that those who can can run with it.
So if there's no vision, the people perish.
So you have to communicate oneness under the umbrella of
vision and church because what it does, it doesn't make it you.
You know, what I've noticed, and I'm going to preach on this
soon, is that our modern day churches have, have, have
modeled them so much that it's about your experience and we
even say it, your church experience more and more.
I'm like so much. I'm like, if we have, we have.
Do we have this 'cause when did church become about you?
I thought this was about glorifying.
So why am I trying to make sure you're comfortable?
Why am I trying to make sure I said hello to you?
Why is it so important that I make sure you are taken care of
from the parking lot all the way into the sanctuary?
Well, you know, they just didn't treat.
Come on, I thought you came to church because the head of the
church is who we're supposed to be glorifying.
Man, I left that church. They made me feel so welcome.
They made me. No, I'm not against you feeling
something. I have no problem as walking in
love. You're good.
We're going to be nice to you. We're going to love you.
We're going to be friendly. We're going to do all those
things if you allow us to. I mean, there's plenty of people
that come and stand on the wall, Trevor Trevor's in position.
But again, there's plenty of people that come in a little
late, they get on the wall and then they leave and then they
put a Google thing and say, well, OK, that's your opinion.
That's right at the end of the day.
But again, it's, I thought church was about Jesus, right?
Well, I, you know, I, the, the songs just didn't connect with
me. I thought the songs were to
connect to him. I thought we were praising him,
not making you feel good in worship.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, right. We're like, oh, I felt the Holy
Spirit. Well, I'm glad you feel the Holy
Spirit, but it's not about you feeling the Holy Spirit as much
as it is about you glorifying God by the Spirit.
Because I mean, if we just take one small little paradigm shift
and make everything about man, you're going to experience God.
I mean, I'm going to probably come back and train the the
greeters. Make sure you say you've come
into the House of the Lord. He's going to be here today and
he wants he, he wants you to know him, Paul said.
I want to know him. And the power of his
resurrection. But many are coming to church so
that you can know them and their talents well.
They don't see my gifts, that your gifts have made room for
you. If you'll glorify Him and you
make him the apple of your eye, Your pursuit.
Come on, let's just glorify Jesus right now.
Father, we love you, we honor you, we thank you for Jesus.
Jesus, we thank you that you're seated on the throne that you've
been given the name above every name that you are seated by the
your Father and you've given, you've given us the privilege to
have access into your throne room.
We want to come and experience you.
We want to know you. We want to, to, to fellowship
with you. Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to God, glory to God. I mean, we are building churches
about how do we win the laws and how do we make this person feel
good and how do we make that person how we and there's
nothing wrong with with with a pursuit as long as they don't
become our object. He does.
You would think that God thinks man's worth worshipping.
I'll stop there. Hallelujah.
Yeah, the Lord's good. Let's let's make him first.
Let's come Sunday and say I'm coming to meet the King.
Hallelujah. I'm coming to see Jesus and his.
I'm coming to see the Spirit of God.
I'm coming to hear from the throne room.
Not what? Does anyone say something to me
today? Somebody going to say something
to you? But if that's making you man,
you missing it because the minute someone doesn't and God
was there the whole time but there can't be two.
Gods, oh, y'all want to hear that?
Because he's going to be glorified and if you're trying
to take it, he'd be like you in the wrong house.
I thought I delivered you out of the house.
Hallelujah. So we were in darkness, but now
we're children of light. The implication is we have to
choose to walk because again, he says walk in love, which means
you could not walk in love, walk in light, which means you could
walk back in darkness. And we don't want to do that,
he's admonishing. Us to not do that and then if it
tells us in verse 10 that we are to try to learn what is pleasing
to the Lord. Well, there's only one way to
please God. Let's just say in Hebrews
Chapter 11. Without faith it's impossible to
to please him. OK Lord, should I say that now
or hold that for later. So faith comes by and hearing
from the word of God and not just here only but being firmly
persuaded and acting on it that brings pleasure to God.
Now I did not come up with this. I heard it in a service and I
have no problem letting you know that I'm growing and learning.
Another minister said this and when I heard this I was like,
wow, I'm changing, he said. The Lord is never proud of you,
but He is pleased. Amen.
That's that's because if the Lord was proud of you, that
moves him into pride. The greatest compliment as a
parent could give to their. Children is not man.
I'm so proud of you, son. It should be, son.
I'm so pleased. Because pleasing means you
obeyed. Oh, that's good, I'm telling
you. It changed things.
I'm like, you know what? I'm setting people up for
failure when I'm like, I'm proud of you, I'm proud of you.
I'm proud of you cuz you know what you're gonna be like.
Oh, he's proud. I with the mere word could be
making you look at yourself in a way that God never wanted you to
look at. But again, this is how
traditions happen. They sound godly and we have
good intentions. But the reality is, when the
Lord says, Son, I am pleased, well, you're pleased.
Why? Because.
You did what I said He said. This is my beloved son in whom I
am well, I'm proud of. He didn't say it, did he?
I mean, here's the Father announced into the world Jesus,
who just came out of the door. This is my beloved son.
Woo, I sure AM. No, he said, I am.
Well, now listen, if you said it, don't be, don't, don't get
yourself all beat up. I mean, we all have said it.
You're like, oh, I'll stop saying that.
I see. There's a better way, A clearer
way. A way that's that really helps
the ones I'm talking to, whether it's our leadership team, staff,
children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, whatever the case
may be, I can say it in a way so that they can understand that
man, there's nothing greater than walking in obedience.
And that's why cuz what did Jesus say just before the father
announced that? He said, John, I need you to
baptize me. He said bro, bro you.
Should be baptizing me, he said. Permit it so that all
righteousness can be fulfilled. Dad said this was going to
happen and I'm going to obey. So he dunks him, pulls him up,
heaven opens up, the Holy Spirit descends upon him without
measure, and the announcement comes.
The Holy Spirit descends upon him without measure because he
receives the King's anointing for the earth.
He said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well, well pleased.
Verse 11 do not participate in unfruitful deeds of darkness,
but instead even expose them. Now I want us to read out the
amplified classic here because many times when people read
this, they take it and like, you know, you're calling out
everything that's not right. It's really a little different
here. The amplified does a really good
part of saying this. He says take no part, just verse
11. Take no part in or have no
fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of
darkness. But instead here it is.
Let your lives be so in contrast as to expose.
And reprove and convict them. Meaning your lifestyle and light
is so different than darkness that it's your lifestyle that
brings the exposure. It's not you saying, hey, you're
in sin. You need to quit that now.
I'm not saying there's not a time for that.
I'm just saying it. That's not what he's saying
here. He's saying when you walk in the
light again, if we kill the lights in here and I turn the
light, a flashlight on, it will expose it pushes back darkness.
So again, what was in darkness, You know, say this row of
chairs, it was completely the men.
I hit the light, it exposes it. I didn't call it out.
I just turned the light on. And your life should shine so
bright that people who are not living right should if they want
to be in darkness. This is why they run from you at
work, right? I mean, you walk in, they're
like, right, Because not because you said anything, but because
your light just exposed them. And again, they're convicted by
your mere presence. Hallelujah.
Because most of the time the exposure comes through the
relationship where you end up saying.
You know, because you've been talking, you know, I understand
why you're having problems. And then you begin to talk it
through because, again, no one's going to get treatment for
cancer if they do not know they have it.
I'm not feeling good. Well, what is it?
I don't know. Are you going to go to the
doctor? No.
Well, how can you treat something you don't know you
have? That's right.
And you get around them. They just feel uncomfortable.
Issues are like, I don't know why.
I don't know why. Every time I get around you, I
just don't so don't seem right, OK, You won't talk about it
because I can help you. And then you start talking to
them about what's being exposed in them and hopefully they'll
repent. So walk in the light.
What can we learn from this? Galatians 525 says this.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit, right?
Because we are to walk by the Spirit or walk according to the
light. Let's go on over to 1st John 1/7
because your light is not a natural, it comes from the
Spirit. So if you live by the Spirit
when the Spirit is light, OK, then you should walk by that
Spirit or the illumination that comes from the Spirit.
Even though that verse doesn't say a light, that's the
implication. Now here in first John 17, it
says, but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of
Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
So the reason why we have fellowship with one another is
because both of us are walking in the light.
We're not having felt. If you're not having fellowship
with someone, someone is in darkness.
Someone's in darkness. Now, as a person in the light,
there's some people you're not going to be in fellowship with.
In fact, the Bible says how can a believer have a believer have
fellowship with be ill or you know, Satan.
Basically how can light have fellowship?
With with darkness says come out from among them, meaning, you
know, we're not buddying around because we have conflicting
lifestyles. But as believers, we are to walk
in the light, and if we are walking in the light, then we
can have fellowship. If we're not having fellowship,
someone's not walking in it. Now, that can be hard to
determine, but that's the truth nonetheless.
OK, John 812 says this when Jesus again spoke to them,
saying I am the light of the world.
He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life. Aren't you glad that you do not
have to walk in darkness? Which means.
If you are walking in darkness again, you are not following Him
now again. Come here Will.
Help me out here, Will's Jesus. So just start walking, OK, I'm
following him right now. We say to follow Jesus.
I mean, this is such an easy example for us to be able to see
clearly. Go wherever you want to go.
OK, I'll just follow you. And so you're following him,
right? And, and, and typically in our
minds, we say we follow Jesus. I, I think most of us get this
kind of context of Jesus walking and we're behind him.
But you understand the Bible says in the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word.
Was God right? So again, if you are following
Jesus today when he is not physically on the planet, He is
seated at the right hand of the Father.
If you are following Him, then you're really following His
Word, which means whatever His word is saying concerning a
situation. So I'm in a trial tribulation or
whatever the case may be, you know, attack whatever, and I'm
supposed to follow the word in that situation.
Well, if I don't follow the word.
And I follow my own opinion. My emotions, my feelings.
Now where's the light? It's not here.
I'm going to have to come to the
light. Are you hearing me?
And This is why a lot of times God can seem stay where you're
at. God can seem far off from you.
And it's not because he left. You did.
Now here's the thing about God. And here's the thing about the
light. When you're out in darkness and
a light shines, I don't care how far you can.
I mean, you see light for a long way.
I mean, have you seen stars? How many, how many miles are
they a couple? I mean, they talk.
They talk like billions of miles and yet you see it.
I mean this is like and yet God light is brighter than the star,
which means he doesn't have to move.
The minute you're like, I'm not following the Lord, wherever he
is, you can see it, and he's waiting for you to come back to
where you last left him all. Right where you going to take me
now? I'm following bro.
So here we're back on track now, right?
Because I'm following this situation.
Hallelujah. I'm walking in the light of the
Word of God. Glory to God, this is what I'm
doing. And as long as I stay with the
light, no darkness is in me. And I'm not craving the flesh or
any of that stuff. Because the minute I just decide
to not follow Him again, I've decided to peel off and go do my
own thing, right Then I find myself somewhere I wasn't
supposed to be. Because wherever he is, there's
light. He don't have to come to me,
He's light. All I have to do is turn my
attention back to him. And it don't take me long to
find him. Now here's the thing.
It feels like a gap sometimes, doesn't it?
Cuz when you've blown it, made mistakes, you know, because the
process from where you left off and I don't know how far you got
off, the enemy's going to talk to you.
The whole time you're watching him, you'll be screaming in your
ear. Oh man, you blew it.
You got off course. How can you go back to him?
You have made way too many mistakes, bro.
You might have just go all back down the road.
See that's what happens when we blow it or get over in the
darkness. We get walking in light.
We feel that guilt, shame and all that stuff because he's
talking. Even though we can say, Lord
forgive me, I got off here I am, I see you.
I'm coming back. I'm following.
You, I know what you said last. I'm coming.
But all the while, the enemy, because the further away from
the light, it still seems dark, though you can see it, the
closer you get to it, everything gets more illuminating.
It says hard for the enemy. He doesn't get in the presence
of God. So the closer you are to him,
the harder it is for him to attack you.
I mean, because darkness does show when you're in the room
that's full of light. I mean, you got to find it.
There's a little shadow here. It's a little darker there.
OK, keep going. I got to get back to the
platform. Hopefully the Lord will lead me
back to finish this message right.
This is just. A simple illustration, but you
cannot be following him and not be in his word if you're going
to, if you're going to walk with God.
All right, so let's finish out then the latter part of this
real quick. Ephesians 515 to 21, it says.
This therefore be careful how you won't Now I want to deal
with this word how real quick how means in what way, in what
manner or another term is by what means.
And when we say by what means, we mean an inquiry inquiry
phrase that seeks to understand how something is accomplished or
the method or perceived process used to achieve a result.
So he says, therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men,
but as wise. We're going to be wise, which
means when we are walking, we have to take in consideration,
Lord, how do you want this? And you know what, God is too
creative to have a formula for you that when you get it right,
once you don't need him anymore. You just work a formula.
So why God did not heal every blind eye of the same, every
deaf ear the same, cast out every demon the same.
He didn't do things exactly the same.
Why? Because there's a relationship
with him. He wants you to know him.
He wants you to commune with him.
He wants you to talk with him. He wants you to gain his wisdom
and man, His wisdom are well exceeding.
In fact, he tells us, he said. Now listen, do not lean on your
own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge me and
I'll make your paths straight. I'll make your paths straight.
And every path you're on doesn't get straightened out, does not
become straightened out the same way because he's a lamp into
your feet and a light into your path.
So we got to be careful how so when the situation comes, we
cannot just say, well, that's how I did it last.
I'm going to do it this way. I'll give you a case in point
that'll mess you up. King Saul lost the anointing
because he did the situation that was authorized by God
before the Lord, says King Saul, your anointed go in here to this
particular nation, conquer it, take the best sacrifice to me
and then do. This with the rest.
Next nation, same thing. Next nation, same thing.
Then he gets to the Amorites.
Is that right? The Amorites.
He gets to that nation. He says get rid of everything,
keep nothing, nothing. He gets up in there and the
guy's like, whoa, what are you doing, King Saul?
We've always kept the best stuff.
Yeah, but the man of God, the prophet of God heard from God
and said we're supposed to get rid of it all.
What is wrong with you, man? God has always said, and this
stuff is better than any nation we've ever conquered.
And. Because of the pressure of the
people, he disobeyed the word of God.
And Samuel comes in after the Lord said, I have I regret that
I have made King Saul king of Israel.
And so he walks in, and what does King Saul say?
I've done the word of the Lord. Well, you did the last word of
the Lord, but you haven't done the present word of the Lord.
This is why faith comes by, not having heard.
This is why most believers are in trouble, because they are
living off. A few times they have been in
church. Oh y'all don't hear it?
You don't have this problem because you're here.
So you should applaud yourself, right?
When I make these statements, I'm not here to make, you know,
because sometimes people say, well, you're preaching to the
choir. Yes, I mean, you're here.
This is who I preach to. And I do have a message for
those who are not here. That's why we record.
However, that message is not just a recording, it's through
your voice because you get the confidence.
Say praise God, I'm here. I am the one who's doing it.
I'm the one who's committed. I'm the one who's submitted.
I'm the one who's here. I'm not condemning you.
I'm celebrating you because you're the one doing the do.
But when you get around someone, you're like, bro, you need to do
to do. You need to do it, man.
This is why you're having these challenges because when's the
last time you've been in service, man?
I mean, go ahead. Why?
Why don't we get even wiser when it comes to our own brother and
say, you know what I've been, but I'm reading the word.
But then tell me what you've been reading.
Let's just go ahead and get personal about it.
Well, what? You don't even know.
You don't even know what chapter you're in now.
How's that? Seek first the Kingdom, then
what usually happens is don't judge me.
I'm not judging you. You're telling me what you're
not doing and I'm trying to inspire you to do more because
it's in you because God loves you, because God cares for you,
because the last time I checked he said you are to love the Lord
your God with not half or American way.
It's not the American gospel, it's the Kingdom, and I make no
demands on no one. I just preached the word, he
said. Love the Lord thy God with all
your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your
strength. I've never seen a parent whose
child has a job ground them from going to work.
Or if they're playing on a team, ground them so they cannot play
on the team until the season's over or ground them from school.
But I have seen them ground them from church.
Yeah. I mean, we'll say we're so busy
and church is the first thing we drop and then blame the pastor
again. How many hours are you here?
I mean, I'm just trying to help us all out.
How do you know you're first? Because if something's got to
drop, this is not it. This is not it.
And if you're like complaining because you're at church all the
time, then I'm asking what's your priority Now, again, that's
between you and God. I'm just reading Scripture.
Seek when it's convenient. Doesn't say that.
That's not. I'm not putting this stuff in
here. Well, the pastor's always here
because it's his job. No, it's not.
I'm in the body just like you. Hallelujah.
OK, so the how is very important.
So we are to walk as wise people.
Let's read real fast and we'll close.
Making the most of our time. Because the days are evil or the
days evil. Man guys, the days are evil.
I mean really just coming to church and being on the word and
growing and and being in it as often as you can and seeking God
and putting him, it just keeps you from the evil stuff.
It's a safeguard to you. OK, so then do not be foolish,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Do not get drunk with wine, for that would be this.
Word, but be filled with the Spirit.
Speaking to one another at home, homes, in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melly with your heart to
the Lord. I just want to tell you this,
none of you have come to me with a song, so I have no problem if
the next time you come. Pastor Earl, I just want to tell
you, hello. No.
One's ever done that to me, right?
So we're going to be scriptural. So Sunday, I expect y'all to be
singing to one another, right? Has someone done that?
Me. Long time ago.
OK. No one in the last week for
sure. Right, Rolando, I'll probably do
a Mexican spin when I sing to you, right?
Oh, yeah, it would be that way. Come on.
We'd get some little castanets going.
Be good. I need a little mariachi band.
That would be good Hallelujah. All right, anyway, singing
towards always giving thanks for all things in the name of the
Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, even the Father and be subject
to one another in the fear of Christ.
And Pastor Marcy will pick up the fear of Christ again.
Many of you, that message resonated and it's something
that we do need because when you're in the fear of the Lord,
I'm telling you, you're going to keep yourself holy.
If you're not walking in holiness and and passionate
about God, you're waning in your awe of the Lord.
And again, I don't. I love victorious messages
because I'm victorious. I love the messages that tell me
that I'm the head, not the tail. I love them, but I also know
that's only one side. And those messages will not keep
me in those positions without me understanding the wrath of God.
The awe of God. The sovereignty of God.
The majesty of God. The effects of sin.
This is why we stay on balanced. So we need to Walt, Walt wise
First Corinthians 1420 says this, brethren, do not be
children in your thinking yet and evil be infants, but in your
thinking be mature. So if we're going to be wise,
you're going to have to grow up spiritually.
All of us can obtain to maturity.
Just because the King James said be perfect as I am perfect, that
that is not a good translation. It literally just means mature
and God expects all of us to mature.
Excuse me to mature. So let's mature in our thinking.
When it comes to evil, we should become infants.
Like we don't understand it, right?
We're like, I don't even know what that is.
You're so far removed from it that you're like an infant to
it. But when it comes to the things
of God, you should have great maturity there.
Colossians 4-5 says this. Conduct yourself with wisdom
towards outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.
You know, we need to demonstrate the wisdom of God towards those
that are outside the church. Which means we.
Do not need to respond in the world like the world.
They should see our response and say wow, what made you think of
that? How in the world did you do
that? Because we're walking wise.
And the last Scripture is this James 313.
Who among you is wise in understanding?
Let him show by his good behavior, his deeds in the
gentleness of wisdom. So Paul again in the reigning
society or the reigning church, is saying, listen, you've been
delivered out of something into something.
And there's a way we talk and converse with the world, but
it's so that they can come into the church.
And when you're into the church, then it's not like the world as
this. Talking about being wise.
Do not be drunk. I we went to the Christian
concert, which was what's the name?
Forrest Frank, Forrest Frank and great guy seemed very genuine.
I don't know him personally. OK, so but songs are really
upbeat, you know, positive, you know, super sweet guy.
And this is not his building. He was at a venue.
OK, yet the venue still sell alcohol and I saw people in
line. Now one or two things.
Either somebody brought a lost friend hoping that, and I have
problem with that. I have problem with that.
But unfortunately there's a lot of believers today that they
drink just like the world and they have no problem.
And they say this, well, you know, the Bible just says do not
be drunk. Yep.
Well, that's your conviction. I get it, whatever, but I'm so
far removed from that. I'm just so far removed from
that because I don't, I do not believe that the Bible supports
that position at all. And if you, we wanted to take
time to have a conversation, I would have a conversation.
I would have a conversation, right?
Because again, I don't want to look nothing like the world
because I have something that is better than natural spirits.
And that's interesting. They call them that, right?
Because when you know, when your mind's not together, then
anything can enter in. Just say Amen anyway,
Hallelujah. So I don't partake at all,
period. And then I even flee it because
I'm not going to give someone an opportunity to have that
conversation. Hallelujah, Amen.
So there is a road to go because I can tell you when I first
drank, because I've drank one beer as a young person, I was
feeling it. With the one, I acquired the
ability to not feel it till six or seven were in, which means I
had developed a alcohol content in my body that before I was
already. Feeling it in my head.
So I've created a tolerance. I didn't become less, I became
more. I said I became more.
I remember the first time I found out I was addicted to tick
tobacco, right? I'll never forget it.
I was at 34. I know where I was at 34th and
Archer Rd. in Gainesville, FL. It was 720 in the morning
because I was going to work at the University of Florida Police
Department and I was sitting at the turn lane.
There were two turn lanes to go left and I look over and I see a
car pull up beside me and they were smoking a cigarette as I
had pulled out my dip can. I opened it up and I said, you
know, you got to be addicted to smoking if you nicotine, if you
were smoking this early in the morning.
And right then I'm like. So did you quit?
No, not then. But I was aware.
And then later on I did quit until I took up that crazy,
stupid thought that I had a friend that I was, me and my
wife following God, We're going to church.
And then I ended up going and working with my mother-in-law
out of Camp Blanding and came across a friend of mine that I
used to run with. And we did not do godly things
together. But now I want to be an example.
And so I want to be relatable. And he was still dipping, so I
took one so he wouldn't feel intimidated by my new life.
How silly. But that's what an unrenewed
mind will do. That's what infancy does.
I, I didn't think how to be wise because he needed to get out of
something. Not me.
Act like I'm still in something and I knew it was wrong because
I cleaned my mouth out, brush my teeth, didn't want it to smell
or taste when I kissed my wife the minute I got home.
Well, you know God ain't thinking.
That's awesome, right? But we'll make.
Stuff up to act like we're godly instead of just staying with the
word. Let's stay with the word.
Be a rainy society. Amen.
Let's pray.