Month: September 2021

Wake Up Sleeper

How wise are our choices? -Ephesians 5:15

Are our lives distinctively Christ like in what we value, say and do?

Do we recognise the guidance of the Holy Spirit who is the seal of our salvation?

Have we let the values of the wider world compromise the church’s values?

Is Christ’s forgiving love the motivation for the way we live our lives?

Have we risen from slumber determined to make Godly wise choices?

Are we rejoicing in our inheritance in Christ Jesus?

How Great Thou Art / Oh The Glory – Jesus Image Worship

Wake Up Sleeper

Living as children of the light – Ephesians 5:8

Living as children of the light is living as God has now made us in Christ and not as we were prior to faith in him. Jesus made this promise when he spoke to people, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ ^{John 8:12} Isaiah called God’s people to walk in the light of the Lord. ‘Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.’ ^{Isaiah 2:5} We should expect Christ’s light to expose those aspects of our life that are the fruit of darkness and we need to accept the truth of what has been exposed. ^v11 Similarly Christ’s light will also show us what is good, righteous and true. ^v9 We should know that we cannot hide things from God, his Spirit within us will convict us of both goodness and sin. We then should set ourselves to shine in Christ’s light.

To do so we need to be wise in our choices. (Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit.) ^v18 We should avoid those things that will lead to sin and live our life as worship to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ^vv19-20

Wake Up Sleeper #3

Living in the kingdom – Ephesians 5:5

Paul speaks of idolaters not having any, ‘inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.’ ^v5 Believers receive an inheritance as they receive the Holy Spirit that as previous idolaters they had not received. ‘And you also were included in Christ Jesus when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.’ ^{Ephesians 1:13-14} Living in the kingdom is a positive experience with our minds focused on Christ’s rule. Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.’ ^{Colossians 3:1-3} The Holy Spirit, who is the seal of our inheritance is jealous for us and wants us to live in the victory over idolatry which has been granted to us.

Wake up sleeper! #2

Ephesians 5:1-18

What is idolatry in the church? – Ephesians 5:5

When we think of idolatry in the modern western church we can think it is an irrelevant or outdated thing referring to such things as Asherah poles (a tribute to the Caananite goddess) that were repeatedly condemned in the Old Testament or statues of Hindu gods in modern Hindu temples. Paul redefines idolatry in a way that reflects modern western culture. Idolatry is a matter of what we worship or place greater value on, above our love of Jesus. All those things Paul emphatically states we should put to death. ‘Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature; sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.’ ^{Colossians 3:5} In Ephesians Paul includes practicing obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking. ^v4 How often do we let such things slide, thinking it was not that bad? A casual attitude towards sin in the church was found in the early church and is still found today. We have a natural tendency to conform to the standards of the world and kingdom we left behind when we became Christians. But sin or idolatry in all its forms is not a small thing to be treated casually. It is because of such things that God’s wrath is coming. ^v6 Paul’s command is not, to not do it most of the time, but to put such things to death in our personal lives. Dead things do not carry on doing what they were doing before. If there are teachers who teach otherwise they are deceivers, ‘Do not partner with them.’ ^v7

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Wake up sleeper!

Ephesians 5:1-18

Shake up and wake up – Ephesians 5:14

In the first 18 verses of Ephesians 5 Paul issues a major wake up call. This passage is particularly apt following the publication last week of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) which found that religious organisations including all Christian denominations and independent churches are places where children have been abused and children remain at risk. This is despite now decades of revelations of incidents and the introduction of safeguarding practices and policies. Many in Christian churches still take a casual approach in their own church with frequently heard comments about it not being possible to happen here, it is political correctness gone mad, complaints about overbearing administration and people feeling offended that they are being included in safeguarding processes. Paul was not writing specifically about child abuse but he was addressing the reality and seriousness of sin within the church including, ‘sexual immorality and any kind of impurity.’ ^v3 His opening position is that we should be walking, ‘in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’ ^v2 All our behaviour, heart positions, church practices and policies should stem from a sacrificial love for Christ, returning to him the love he first had for us. This is then worked out in how we behave with and towards others. It is time for honest self-examination under the penetrating light of the Lord. ‘But everything exposed by the light becomes visible.’ ^v13