Night and Day

Sermon from CCM Ladybarn
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LISTEN

This sermon was preached by Rebecca Whittlesea at the Ladybarn site of Christ Church Manchester on Sunday 17th March 2019.

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SERIES

This message was part of the ‘SERIES NAME’ series, preached at Christ Church Manchester’s church in Withington in EARLY/MID/LATE YEAR. The full series included the following sermons:

BIBLE VERSES

This sermon was based on Ephesians 5:8-21.

Live in Love

8for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

KEY POINTS

Dark and Light

  • You WERE darkness; now you ARE light not in yourselves, but in the Lord. So…live/walk as though that is the case.

  • What results from the light? ALL goodness, righteousness and truth. In contrast to the deeds of darkness which are unfruitful and even shameful to mention. We must be careful not to so participate in the deeds of darkness which are not fitting for children of light.

  • Don’t confuse this with shaming or shunning sinners, because as Paul reminds us in 1 Cor 6 we were all once such. Paul talks of exposing deeds of darkness. What he means here is to show these things for what they are. To bring light to bear, so that no one is fooled. Don’t be tempted to blur the lines. Light and dark are opposites.

Foolish and Wise

  • Two more opposites. Written to believers. Be wise. The other option is being foolish. V 15 instructs us to be careful, to give close attention to how you walk/live. It’s not a flippant thing, or something easily attained without effort.

  • In his first letter to Corinth, Paul says do not be children in your thinking. Learn. Grow up. Attend to wisdom.

  • By knowing God’s will and ways. That is wisdom. Again it will be counter to what the world around us says is wisdom. How will we know the will of God? By paying close attention to what is written in the Bible, and by being those who are filled with his Spirit.

Drunk and Filled

  • .Paul takes this opportunity to contrast two other ways of life. Drunkenness was prevalent in society as it is now! It seems Paul uses this command to make a comparison with being filled with the Spirit.

  • So often, people think Christianity is about DON’Ts but for every DON’T in our passage, there’s a DO. Life in Christ is full of DOs. It’s positive, not negative. DO be filled with the Spirit. DO be under the influence of God in the way you conduct yourself.

  • DON’T be someone who comes to church and sings songs of praise and adoration to God, and then goes out into the rest of the week under the influence of drink, or drugs, or pornography or attitudes of strife. Paul uses the contrast because there are some similarities.

  • DO be people whose lives are full of the signs of the Spirit, which are:

speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, 
singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, 
always giving thanks to God the Father for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

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    MORE SERMONS

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