Ephesians 5:8-21 • Reflecting His Light
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(This transcript was prepared using software tools and has not been reviewed for complete accuracy.)
Let me ask that you look in your bibles this morning at Ephesians chapter 5.
In your Grace bibles, that's page 978.
It's a wonderful day to be at Grace Church as we are led in worship by young people as we see wonderful testimony of God's grace in people's lives.
And it's really responding to that grace that's the subject of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 5.
Just to remind you where we've been in the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul has said that God has loved us with an everlasting love, called His people from across all boundaries to actually be a temple whose walls are living stones, that's us, who by being filled with the Holy Spirit as in the Shekinah glory of old, we are being used by the Lord to fill the world with His glory, so that ultimately Christ becomes all in all, through the church, filling all creation with His glory, His praise and His dominion.
It's a great calling, sometimes intimidating.
Last week, we saw that if everyone is to do their part, one dimension of that is reflecting His glory through sexual purity.
Paul is continuing that theme of what it means to reflect the glory of God in the second half of Ephesians 5.
We'll start at verse 8.
Let me ask that you stand as we honor God's Word and consider again what it means not to walk with the sons of disobedience but to fulfill our calling before the Lord.
Verse 8, Paul says, "At one time you were darkness, but 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.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.
Therefore it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."
Let's pray together.
>>> Father, amazing to think that we could reflect Your light in lives sometimes broken and shattered, lives that have even walked in darkness, that You have said, "I'm going to use you as My mirrors to reflect light to others."
We're challenged by that.
We wonder how it could be.
Teach us this day, for we would know the joy of pleasing You and learning how You could use people like us to reflect the goodness that's in You.
Grant the blessing, we pray, as we ask it in Jesus' name.
Amen.
>>> Please be seated.
A friend of mine named John Dossier wrote some years ago of walking out of a cabin in Colorado, and as he went out into the darkness, trying to identify the goose that had suddenly honked in the dark over his head.
Wasn't hard to see.
Because of the snow and a full moon, as he looked up, he not only saw that goose: He saw dozens of flocks of geese, hundreds of geese, flying through the air.
And as he looked upward, the snow was so reflecting off their bellies that every goose was like a light forming the silhouettes of Christmas trees flying across the sky.
It was just a tremendous sight as, their looking toward the Rocky Mountains in the light of a full moon, he was seeing all those flying Christmas trees of birds going across the sky, and he paused just for a moment to say, "Thank You, God, for letting me see such beauty."
But he was in some months later reflecting on that moment and recognized there was something even more dramatic that had happened in that moment.
After all, the reason that he had seen every goose was because its breast was reflecting light off the snow, which was reflecting light off the full moon, which was reflecting light off the sun, which was reflecting the glory of the Creator who made it, which was now penetrating his heart in such a way that as he wrote about it, he was reflecting back glory to others as well.
It was light unto light, glory unto glory, that God was doing that work from beginning to end.
It was just a little reminder that every moment of life is an opportunity to reflect the glory and the goodness of God.
What that means, of course, is that every path we walk has the potential for being laid on holy ground.
Every occupation is a holy calling.
Every circumstance a holy opportunity to meet challenges for Christ's sake.
Every trial a temple in which we are actually demonstrating the glory of God to neighbor and friend and family and world.
We are reflectors of the glory of God as we walk in His light.
It's actually the message of the apostle Paul.
It's plain enough in verse 8 as the apostle Paul says, "At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light."
It's a rather simple instruction to being with, which is simply the apostle Paul saying, "Reflect the light of God with your life."
But with that order is a wonderful order in which the words appear that we have to study before we even take one step.
"Walk as children of light, because you are," he says, "light."
I want you just to remember what that means.
It means that we light before we walk in the light.
God is not saying to His people ever, "You straighten up; you get it all straight; you become pure; you become holy, and then you'll be Mine."
The expression of verse 8 is just so important to say, "You were darkness, but now you are light."
How?
In the Lord.
That same God who is immortal, invincible, God only wise, who lives in unapproachable light: We are in Him and in the radiance of His beauty, His holiness, His goodness, we now are light in Him.
And it's only as the gospel now surrounds us, cleanses us, irradiates us as we are in the light that we walk in the light.
We are responding always to His grace.
We are not earning it.
We are not deserving it.
We are not qualifying for it.
But, rather, what happens is God calls us to reflect His goodness because He has shed it upon us by His grace alone.
It's just the little rubric again, right?
That we have identity before we have activity.
Who we are becomes more important than what we do, because who establishes what we do.
And that means grace saves us and grace cleanses us and faith in what Jesus does, not what faith in what we do is our ultimate hope.
Didn't you love the way Clint and Jessica were saying things today?
As they were acknowledging again, "We thought we had things together.
It's only when we recognized that we didn't that we turned to the Lord."
Isn't that wonderful?
It's the acknowledgement of the need of Him, not that we've got it all straightened out, that actually begins to have us reflecting the glory and the goodness that's in Christ Jesus.
Now, having reflected that glory and that goodness, there are obligations that happen.
I mean, following the order of the words, "You are in the light," is the order.
So walk in the light.
What does that mean?
Verse 9 says it fairly clearly.
"For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true."
It's just a simple image that if you have a seed or a plant that is exposed to the sunlight that it begins to grow and to bear fruit.
And what is bearing fruit in the life of a Christian is the fruit of what is good and right and true.
Now, you may not recognize it, but what the apostle is doing is he's actually reflecting earlier sentiments that he's already expressed in this book.
What does it mean to bear fruit that is good?
In this particular place, it's what good hearted.
He's reflecting what he said earlier in chapter 4 in verses 31 and 32, that the believer is not bitter but kind and forgiving.
That is the way we have been dealt with by the Lord Jesus.
And so if we are reflecting that aspect of our Savior, then His goodness is reflected in us.
And not only what is good but what is right.
This is the reflection of chapter 5 in verse 3: that which is righteous according to God's standards, in that particular place saying that we are not depending on other bod--, other people's bodies or passions or our culture's priorities, but in purity we are seeking to reflect the holiness, the righteousness of our Father, that we walk in righteousness.
And we reflect what is true, reflecting chapter 4 and verse 25: that we do not participate in falsehood but reflecting the holiness and the righteous character of our God.
There is integrity in our speech, in our business dealings, that when people think of us, they think of people who are honest, whose word can be trusted.
They are reflecting with integrity what is right, even to their own hurt.
Remember?
The man who swears to his own hurt and changes not, because he recognizes it's not for his good he is living; he is seeking to reflect the righteousness and the holiness of God, even if it hurts him.
His word is good.
He lives with integrity, because he is reflecting that character of his own Lord.
I love verse 10 because of how honest it is.
Having simply said that we are to bear the fruit of what is good and right and true, the apostle says in verse 10, "And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord."
It's certainly the honest statement if it's not always easy to know.
We may have to work at discerning what is pleasing to the Lord.
The word for discernment in some of your bibles will be test or approve what is pleasing.
It's actually the image of a metallurgist, one who is testing the purity of metal, one who has to go through a process of discerning what is actually right and good and true.
And the apostle is saying to you and to me that if we are truly trying to reflect the Lord in our lives, it might take some study, some serious prayer, some work with other Christians to say, "What do I do here?
What am I needing to do that will please the Lord?"
And I love simply knowing it's not always just cut and dry, that God is requiring the serious discernment of His people.
And I'm not weird or strange or weak if I have to discern for a while what God is calling me to do and to be.
But the beauty is, verse 10 ends by saying, "Seek to discern what is pleasing to the Lord."
That even as we sometimes struggle and work through and try to discern, "What is right here?" that what is driving us is the knowledge that to discern what is right before God is actually pleasing to Him.
And for those of us who recognize that our sin has been washed away not by our work but by the great grace of Jesus Christ, we actually want to do what is pleasing to Him.
And it's actually our joy to know that when we discern, when we work hard, when we strive to find out what is right and good and true, that that actually pleases God.
As meager, as hard as it may be for us, our efforts actually do please Him.
Kathy and I have friends who have a grandchild that was left with them for a few months as a daughter went through a difficult period in her life.
And as the grandparents cared for that grandson, of course, there was a special bond that developed between grandparent and child as they cared so parentally for that child for those months.
But, ultimately, in God's goodness and grace, the daughter got back on her feet and kind of got her life put back together.
And part of getting back together in life was finding a job, but it was in California, which meant that she had to take that grandchild and go far away from the grandparents.
That was a sad thing.
They knew it was right.
They knew it was the right thing to do, and, yet, it was hard for them.
And sometime after the daughter and the grandchild had been in California, a neighbor of the couple, the grandparents, was actually out in California and met the daughter and the grandson at a Kmart in California.
And the neighbors, recognizing the daughter and the child, said to the child, "Would you like to give anything to us that we could take back to your grandma and grandpa?"
And the little boy kind of looked troubled for a minute.
And then began to reach into his jeans and dug deeply into his pocket.
And finally pulled out a little ball of lint.
"Would you give this to grandma and grandpa?"
Well, when the grandparents heard about that from the neighbors, they kind of held out their hands, "Could we have the lint?"
And the neighbors said, "Well, we didn't bring back the lint."
And grandma and grandpa said, "We wish you had, because he was giving all that he had, and we would have treasured that."
Sometimes don't you just think you're giving lint to God?
[Chuckles]
It's not much.
I struggle to know: Is it the right thing?
I'm trying to do my best.
I'm not sure, but to know that what we offer to God, seeking to reflect His character and glory in our lives, He is pleased to receive.
Isn't that a blessing?
In all of our weakness and all of our struggles, He is pleased to receive it from us.
And so He says to us, "Walk in the light as children of light.
I am pleased to receive your goodness and your righteousness and your truth offered in My name."
Walking in the light is not just about reflecting light.
This passage is also reminding us it's actually about exposing the darkness.
Verse 11, "Take no part in the unfruitful words of darkness, but instead expose them."
Now, this is kind of tough talk.
You need to identify what is contrary to the light and I want you to take no part in it.
In the writings of the apostle Paul, this notion of partnership does not mean have no contact with other people who are sinful or wrong or represent the darknet--, darkness.
It means don't be controlled by those relationships.
After all, if we had no contact with people who did not know the Lord, who are unaffected by His light in their life, there would be no mission in the life of the church.
But instead, the apostle talks to us about not being partnerships with the doc--, with those who are in darkness in such a way that their lives begin to control our lives.
Think how Paul says it in 2 Corinthians chapter 6.
"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, "to be in a relationship where they're pulling you around, "for what partnership does belief have with unbelief?"
It's the calling to Christians to be examining the various relationships of our lives and saying it's certainly right to be in contact with those who need to know and hear the Word of the Lord, to live in our own lives and our occupations and our paths and our relationships as those who are reflecting the light, but has the darkness begun to control us?
Then to have no part in that which is controlling you but rather to expose the darkness.
That means, of course, in our businesses.
It's one thing to be light in darkness: It's another thing to start being controlled by the darkness.
In school, it's one thing to have friends and peers who need the Word of the Lord: It's quite another thing to begin to partner with them in their lifestyle.
In our romantic relationships, it's one thing for sure to be a witness for Christ in another: It's quite different to actually have somebody else's faith or priorities to begin to control you.
When we were talking with the Y.A.M.'s the other night, I quoted my wife Kathy who said, you know, "If you're wondering who is God wanting you to unite with in life, run as hard as you can after God and if that person can keep up, marry them."
But if what's happening is you're running hard after the Lord and somebody's beginning to pull you back or take you a different direction, as much as our hearts may yearn out of loneliness and care for that person, that's not what God is calling us to do.
We are not to be partners with the darkness when the darkness is actually what's going to control.
And so we are cautioned to expose the darkness rather than partner with it.
Well, how do you expose the darkness?
Verse 12, "It is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret."
Now, do you recognize a problem here, kind of an apparent contradiction?
"It is shameful even to speak of the darkness."
In order to say that, what did the apostle just have to do?
He just had to speak of the darkness.
The apostle's actually reflecting something he said earlier in the chapter.
He said, "There should be no hint of sexual immorality among you."
It should not be in your conversation in the sense it should not be labeling you.
It should not be common among.
What is darkness?
That should not be characterizing your conversation.
It should not be present among you in such a way that it's just the accepted dialogue in conversation.
So if you're just speaking of it in such a way that it is dulling you to the reality of the darkness, that constant conversation, that characterizing speech of what is of darkness, should not be of you.
Well, what should you do instead?
Verse 13, "When anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible."
Now, again, the images are fairly simple but important.
How do you expose the darkness?
In our culture, in our ways, we say, "Well, I have to go into the darkness.
I need to experiment and find out does that work or does that not work?
Is that pleasant?
Is that not pleasant?"
And the sophistications of our culture say, "You goody two-shoe Christians, you people who just kind of don't go to the deep experiences of the world, who aren't sophisticated enough to find out what the world really offers: You're not really experiencing all that life can give you."
But what the apostle is saying is the way that you actually understand what darkness is is by living as a shining brand, as a torch, a light for God.
Let your holiness, if you will, counter or expose what is darkness.
It's hard for us, particularly at different stages of life, when people are saying, "You don't really know.
You need to find out."
And so all the tests of temptation, whether it's drugs or sexual experience or just even knowing more things, we're tempted to become sophisticated as though delving into the darkness is what God is calling us to do so that we can properly counter it.
And, yet, what the apostle is saying is what he reflects even more seriously in Romans 16: "I would have you wise concerning what is good but simple concerning what is evil."
I actually like a great deal another translation that says it this way: "I would have you wise concerning the simple things of evil."
That the goal of the Christian is not to simply find out, "I'm going to be so sophisticated that I know the ins and outs of every evil," but to recognize rather my holiness is disclosing the evil for what it truly is.
In the Roman world to which Paul is writing, you must understand that Roman sophisticated society had every perversion, had every kind of worldly pleasure that we know about in our culture, even more dominant, even more available and more regular.
And the apostle, surely knowing that there are people here who have been exposed to darkness, who are wondering, "Should I participate in that?" that they are feeling what the Roman sophisticates wrote.
"Those hayseed Christians, they are so unsophisticated.
They are so innocent.
They are so naive.
They don't understand what the real world is about."
But you know even the secular historians wrote that one of the reasons, perhaps the predominant reason that Christianity spread across the Roman empire, was not because of the sophistication of our arguments but because of the purity and the closeness and the love in Christian families.
As Roman sophisticated society pursued its perversions to find satisfaction, contentment and happiness, they observed in Christian families in chastity, in purity, in modesty, in husband and wife loving each other deeply, the actual joy for which they were longing.
And it was actually the Christian torchbearers, the ones who were reflecting the light of God in character and home, who were showing a society what it meant to actually find the sophistication of heaven rather than the sophistication of earth.
As that was done, God powerfully used people who recognized: My job is to be a light for the Lord.
Our society in so many ways recognizes that in ways that we have to grab onto at times.
I remember when the television show "Friends" was so popular in our culture, not so much anymore.
And even a secular critic wrote, "Isn't it interesting that a show that kind of makes itself popular by showing young people experiencing all kinds of new relationships and going from bed to bed that the actual actors in the show make news when they are actually getting married and then make more news when they are divorced?"
That what society itself is recognizing is the joy of being together and the sadness of coming apart.
That regardless of what the show showed, the actual people in real life knew the wonder and the goodness and what the Bible itself is reflecting about the goodness of purity in home and life.
We are to reflect the goodness of God in such a way that our lives become that honor to Him.
How do we do it?
Some pretty plain words in verse 14 and following.
I'll give you the words first, and then you can see them.
Basically what Paul is saying in verses 14 through 16 is if you are going to reflect this light, expose the darkness by reflecting the light, then you need to wake up, wise up, and mark your days.
Wake up, verse 14.
"Anything that becomes visible is light.
Therefore it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'"
Wake up.
Have you lived in the darkness for so long that it's not become obvious to you anymore that this is not fun?
This is not good, this is not satisfying.
What Clint said so beautifully earlier to mor--, this morning in his own testimony: "So much was going right, and then I recognized if it went away, my life was ruined; and what that meant was I was depending upon the ephemeral things of the world to bring me hope and satisfaction.
And that began to press upon me in itself.
What if it goes away?
I've lost everything then."
And what we recognize is God is saying, "Will you just wake up?
To recognize that the things you're counting on to make you happy and right, the relationships, the entertainments, the things that you are pursuing of home or income or career: If that's where your happiness is, there is so little to cling to there for long term."
And so he says not only "wake up," but verse 15: "wise up."
"Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but wise."
Have you counted the cost?
With everything that you're giving energy and effort and time at the cost of your own life, you're giving yourself to those things that if you will but think about it, if you'll wake up for a little while, are not the things that are satisfying that are providing eternally for you.
They're hard words, not only for unbelievers, but even believers at times.
And we can get caught on the paths of darkness and we can get caught on the paths of which the world is saying, "Man, are you on a good path."
And occasionally we need the Lord Himself to kind of shaken it: "Wake up.
Is the path that's actually providing for you?
Wise up.
Count the cost.
Is this really worth what you are giving to it before the Lord?"
So that ultimately the Lord is saying in very clear terms, verse 16, "Make the best use of the time, because the days are evil."
I know it may sound cliche, but one life to live.
Is this the way you want to spend your life?
Is the path you're on, is the darkness in which you're living: Is that really what you want your life to be?
So that if you recognize what God is calling me to do is to say, I love the way the older translations say, "Redeem the time," you have this much time, if you can use it to make a difference for the Lord of all eternity, to recognize not only your happiness but the joy of others can be influenced by marking the days and saying, "This is a time to live for Christ," then every day becomes an eternal calling.
Pastor Yohan mentioned it in his prayer.
It's appropriate to say again.
Do you recognize those twenty-one Coptic Christians out of Egypt who were last week beheaded, murdered in Libya, by Islamic extremists?
They were not soldiers.
They were just ordinary workers out of the oil fields who had been kidnapped, people like you and me, just going about their professions, taken.
And in those awful last moments of their lives, what did virtually every one of them say?
Did you hear it?
"Ya Rab Yasou," Jesus is Lord.
With my dying in breath in this last moment, I am redeeming the time, as dark as it is, as awful as it is.
I am becoming witness and radiance to the world to say: This is not all I hope in.
My life is not even my hope.
Jesus is my hope.
He provides eternity.
I will trust in Him.
Jesus is Lord, even of this moment.
I'm going to redeem this time too.
Because God gives us that great privilege to reflect His light in all the darkness of all the world, regardless of where we are.
And knowing that, we feel the wonderful call of His Spirit upon our life in every moment.
That is why verse 17 says, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of God is," what the will of the Lord is.
It's almost as thought the Lord is saying to us in our terms of today, "Listen, just do the will of the Lord and trust Him with the rest."
You don't know what all the outcomes will be.
You don't know what all the reverberations will be.
But do the will of the Lord.
That's wisdom.
He's the eternal sovereign God.
If He's the eternal sovereign God, do His will and let Him take care of the rest.
If that's what you're called to do, then ultimately what you're doing is you are being that reflection of God, the eternal one who lives in unapproachable light, to a world that is dark.
And that's why the apostle ultimately says to us not only should you reflect His light and expose the darkness, but our ultimate calling is to share the light.
What the apostle actually says in verse 18, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."
Now will you please not get hung up on being drunk with wine and go to the end of the verse and understand what this is saying?
To be drunk with wine, to be intoxicated, is to be controlled by that substance.
But the point of the apostle is he's saying, "I want you to be filled with the Spirit."
Throughout this book, the notion of being filled is the notion of being under the control of Christ for the glory of the Savior.
It's been said over and over again in the book already.
The apostle said in chapter 1 in verse 23, "The church," us, "is the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."
We are the ones who are to be filling the world with the knowledge and the glory of God.
Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 19, "May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
Chapter 4 in verse 10, "Jesus ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things."
If we are filled with the Spirit, the Spirit who is to testify of Jesus, that's the Spirit's job, then what we are doing as we are being filled with the Spirit is we are being controlled by the things of God.
The counter to that is being controlled by the things of the world.
And so the apostle uses the example of being intoxicated with wine, being drunk, to say, "Don't be controlled by the things of the world.
What you want to be controlling you are the things of the Spirit."
To be filled with what is ultimately going to fill the world with the glory and the power and the dominion of Christ.
Now, of course, the question for all of us is going to be, "Well, what does that mean, to be filled with the Spirit?"
Well, the apostle tells us directly.
It's in the following verses.
It's actually in four key words.
Look at verse 19.
"Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."
Four key words.
What does it mean to be being filled with the Spirit?
Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with melody in your heart, giving thanks to God, and submitting to one another.
They are the definition of what it means to be being filled with the Spirit.
What does that definition mean to us?
First, let's take the first one, verse 19, "Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."
Part of being filled with the Spirit is worshipping God rightly.
Do you remember the psalmist saying, "God inhabits the praise of his people"?
That to worship God rightly is actually to have the Spirit and the power of God present among us.
But one key thing you have to observe, at least as the apostle starts this portion of the word.
He is reminding us that worship is not just vertical.
I know it can sound very spiritual to say, "The audience of our worship is God alone."
It sounds noble; it's just not true.
Speak to one another, "Address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."
That music is mission.
Praise is not personal, not alone.
That God is saying to us in our praise of Him, even as in the baptism today, Clint and Jessica were reminding us: We are not just doing this for us; we are testifying to the world what our faith is.
And our worship is intended to do that, in all its dimensions, so that when we sing in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, what we are intending to do is, yes, bring glory to God but also to bring encouragement and instruction and correction to one another.
How?
In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
Now, do you mind my telling you that virtually no three words in scripture are debated more than these three?
What in the world are psalms and hymns and spiritual songs?
I mean, psalms is easy.
We got that one down, right?
I mean, that, those are the words of scripture that God has put in the Psalms in the Jewish Psalter that people sang, even in New Testament times.
Well, what are the hymns, though?
Well, one example may be verse 14.
It's right in front of you.
I mean, if you look at that little poem put together in verse 14 and try to find what scripture it's based on, you're actually going to find it's a variety of scriptures that are put together with some human words too.
As though the hymn that the early church was using, and we find similar hymns in Philippians and in Colossians, that the church was taking key words of scripture and putting it into its worship.
And that is at least one possible definition of what a hymn is.
You really want to know what the controversial one is?
It is: What is a spiritual song?
Is it, if it's not the words of scripture, is it our words that minister to our spirits that we are giving back to God in our singing.
What we recognize, of course, is however you define psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, they are different things.
They are a variety.
Varieties of people, varieties of occasion, different ways in which we approach God in worship, but all of them are being given credence and validity by the apostle.
Why do I say that?
Because we are a multi-generational, multi-demographic church.
And we are being given license here to sing to one another.
We cannot disregard one another.
We live in such a way that our worship is helping one another.
We consider one another, not just our needs.
Praise is not personal; it is horizontal.
Music is mission.
That God is calling us as we consider one another to actually be concerned for one another in our worship.
How might I encourage you, not just me?
How might I correct you, not just me?
How might I glorify God in a way that you can as well as a way that I can?
We are not allowed to disregard one another because our worship is horizontal.
It's not only horizontal, of course.
Do you remember the second?
Also halfway through verse 19, "Singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart."
Now, I'll tell you one kind of amazing observation.
I want you to remember that the singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart is by definition what it means to be filled with the Spirit.
Which means, of course, the Spirit is the one making melody.
God is not merely the audience of our worship: God is also the author of our worship.
Which means as we are singing and making melody to the Lord, we are God's instrument to bring glory to God.
Now, I know some of you when we sing in worship, you protect us by not singing.
[Laughter]
But the majority of us: It is our calling not to stifle the Spirit.
That to say, "God, You are welling up in me, You're giving me opportunity to witness You in the world, and I'm not going to do," that while we may have all kinds of reasons that are valid for a time, our background, our culture, we're trying to adapt to a new church, all kinds of ignet--, ultimately the concern for others and the concern for God is what compels God's people to say, "I need to find a place, a way, that I can worship God rightly, not just concerned for me, but for my Lord and for His people."
And when I am doing that, what then happens?
Verse 20, "I will be giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Why giving thanks?
Because thanksgiving is actually the fundamental antidote to sin and impurity.
Why do we sin?
Because we love it.
Because it appeals to us.
But if what I'm doing in my worship, I'm giving thanks to God, I'm remembering how great is His love for me, then love for God begins to fill my heart, to displace love for sin.
That the reason we are giving thanks to God: It's the power of the Spirit among us, driving out love for sin as we are in thanksgiving saying, "How much I love the Lord.
I want to walk with Him, live with Him, help other people to do the same."
In that way, music is mission.
And praise is not personal but rather is devoted to God's purposes and ultimately to driving out sin in our lives by being filled with adoration for the greatness and the goodness of our God, so much so that what we ultimately do is number 21, verse 21, "Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."
That what I'm doing is I'm not living by my preferences, not living by just what helps me feel right: I'm seeking to discern, as a reflector of the glory of Christ Jesus who gave Himself for me.
How can I give my heart, my life, my preferences, my privileges, my entertainment, for your sake?
I have to live for you and you have to live for me and we for each other.
It's what God is doing to bind the church together, so that if we can worship that way, something remarkable happens.
As a church, you know what we're trying to do.
We're trying to find, alright, which style of music, which songs, which this.
Do we not recognize that there is always in the life of the church a doxological evangelism?
That when the people of God from all their different backgrounds and preferences are united in a heart of worship that even the world is magnetized to that.
I want to be a part of those kind of people, that kind of worship, that kind of praise.
They come out of different backgrounds and circumstances and hard lives and darkness, and they come together and there's light in that place.
When that is happening, we become the people to whom the world itself begins to look for answers, to become the light in darkness because we are submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
What are His purposes?
As I live those, I find my greatest joy and His greatest glory by reflecting what He has done in my life.
I don't know how hard these words are for you.
I find them over and over again what I have to remind myself about.
I can remember dear words of my father once upon a time when he took me to college for the first time.
I've told you this, I know, before.
And he said to me, knowing my fear, "Bryan, I don't know if you'll do well or poorly.
I don't know if you'll succeed or fail.
But regardless of what happens, you are my son.
And there's a place in my house for you."
Many years after my father said that, my son, Jordan, was at school, diagnosed with a chronic illness that was incurable.
Soon after he learned that, one of his very dear friends in high school was killed in a freak accident in the mountains of Colorado.
In actually coming home for her funeral, he was broadsided by another car and his car was totaled.
Our son came home to be with us for a few days for that funeral, and living with the reality of an incurable disease, living with the reality of a car that was gone, living with the reality of a friend who was gone, how do I tell you: He was so low.
Some of you parents know what I'm about to say.
We got scared for him, I mean, just scared.
And the time came when he was ready to go back to school, you know, pack up the bags, put the things back in: We just hadn't had all the conversation we needed.
And so, finally, as he was going one trip out to the garage and coming back in, I went out into the garage to meet him.
And I just stopped him and said, "Jordan, listen to me.
I am your father.
And when you go back to school, I don't know if it will go well or poorly.
I don't know if you will fail or you will succeed.
But you are my son.
I am your father.
There will always be a place for you here."
I was reflecting the goodness of my father to my son.
And as I tell it to you, I want you to reflect it to your children and to the children after you.
Because what we have the privilege of doing is saying: How great is the love of God for us.
I'm going to reflect that.
It's going to be the hope of people around me, the hope of my own family.
And here is my privilege: I get to walk in the light and reflect it to others.
What a joy that God gives to us.