Ephesians; 1:5 – The adopted sons are sons of light consisting of goodness, righteousness, and truth, part 4.Friday April 26, 2019
Having the truth, we have nothing to hide. We are of the day, not the night.
Having the truth within, we have nothing to hide. The water of the word washes us.
With the truth in us, we do not have to conceal anything. If we are harboring unrighteousness in our hearts, the secret compartments of the night, then we do have something to hide and we have not allowed the truth to do its work.
The water of the word washes us.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her;
Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Eph 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
[back to] Eph 5:7 Therefore do not be partakers with them [unbelievers];
Eph 5:8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light
Eph 5:9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
Goodness, righteousness, and truth – the music of life and thought harmonize into one sound, good, Christlike man.
Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” He was truth incarnate. Those who are of the truth don’t have their own truth that they market as great wisdom, which is only self-idolatry, but they hear the truth from the source, the living Word.
One more thing to say about these three, united as the Trinity. We must continually seek all three. As in all other things, we tend become specialists and we can do so in virtue, which is a grave error and will lead to having no virtue. Let us not seek the word of God to the exclusion of righteousness and goodness, or any one of the three with the neglect of the others. Sometimes, knowing a deep deficiency in one thing, we overcompensate by throwing ourselves into and enlarging another thing. When we do this, we grow out of shape.
Let’s seek them each fully and passionately and not fearing any one. Let us constantly refresh them within ourselves with Bible study, prayer, and application to living.
There is a want of balance and of finish about a multitude of Christian lives, even of those who have long and steadily pursued the way of faith. We have sweetness without strength, and strength without gentleness, and truth spoken without love, and words of passionate zeal without accuracy and heedfulness.
People will tell us in charity about the areas of excellence in our lives. It is unusual that they would ask us if we are compensating for some other defect. We must not imagine that our defects in one area will be atoned for by excellence in another area. It is disastrous to us to come to that conclusion.
1Th 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th 5:24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
Eph 5:7 Therefore do not be partakers with them [unbelievers];
Eph 5:8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light
Eph 5:9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
Eph 5:10 trying to learn [proving] what is pleasing to the Lord.
The same verb [dokimazo = proving] and noun [euarestos = well pleasing] are used in:
Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable [well pleasing] and perfect.
Eph 5:11 And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
Eph 5:12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
Eph 5:13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.
Eph 5:14 For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you."
The Christian is never told to become a spiritual detective and pry into the lives of others looking for sins. God will expose the motives of men’s hearts. It is for us to not even speak of unfruitful deeds, but expose them. That doesn’t mean to lift up the shades of someone’s life, but to live, speak, and walk in the light. Our way and our virtue will expose the unfruitful deeds of darkness as weak, ridiculous, and shameful. It may be at times we are to say so verbally, but I would venture that far more often it is our own deeds of light (goodness, righteousness, and truth) that expose them.
The fruit of the light convicts the unfruitful works of darkness. The daily life of a Christian man amongst men of the world is a perpetual reproof, that tells against secret sins of which no word is spoken, of which the reprover never guesses, as well as against open and unblushing vices.
Eph 5:15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise,
Eph 5:16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Back to: 1Th 5:1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord [the beginning of the Tribulation] will come just like a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief;
1Th 5:7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
1Th 5:8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10 who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
1Th 5:11 Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
The children of God must be careful not to hide iniquity under the cover of darkness. That is the way of enemy who sows his pernicious seed. The sons are always prepared for the day.
Yet the enemy never rests from evil, nor does he ever question its results. He has nothing in him to consider another way or restrict his evil.
Mat 13:24 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
Mat 13:25 "But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.
Mat 13:26 "But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.
Mat 13:27 "And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'
So the slaves ask the Lord:
Mat 13:28 "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' And the slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'
Mat 13:29 "But he said, 'No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'
We are always looking for prompt measures while God is exceedingly patient. Should we route out the tares now? Would we get along better and be more fruitful if they were all gone?
Christ said, let them both grow together until the harvest.
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