But what he’s saying here is this: if you’re really walking as a child of light, there is going to be some fruit there. There will be goodness, righteousness, and truth. And this will verify your life. Look at verse 10 – really great: “Proving,” or verifying, “what is acceptable to the Lord.” What is he saying here? You shouldn’t just teach what is acceptable to God, you ought to live it; you ought to verify it in your life. This is the joy of the Christian, to be a living example of God’s truth, to be a living verification of what is pleasing to God. People say, “Well, how do I know I’m a Christian? Or how do I know this person’s a Christian?” It’s verified in the fruit. It’s verified in the fruit. And, beloved, he says, “Look, if you are walking as children of light, there is to be the fruit of light”– toward others, toward God, even within your own self. You ought to be able to examine your own life to see if you’re really in the light. Now, there are people, as I said, who claim to be in the light, but there’s one good way to tell. In Matthew, chapter 7, and verse 15, Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them”– watch this one –“by their”– what –“fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?” In other words, if they’re a thorn and a thistle, nothing will grow on them.“Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit.” Agathos - you know what it means? It means overall, moral excellence, and one lexicon says especially active in behalf of others. It isn’t just free from defects, it isn’t just useful for certain things, it’s just good, and it touches everybody in that same way, with a very positive, moral, excellent effect. And that’s the word he uses here. This is what Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians5:15, when he said, “Just do good to everybody.” And I think this is the first element of the fruit of light, and that is that it touches other people with goodness. Look at yourself. If you’re a child of light you’re going to walk in light, and you’re going to walk as a child of light, then the first thing should be goodness in terms of others. Scripture quotations marked KJV or AKJV are from the King James Version or Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible. Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.

So be careful how you live. Don't live like ignorant people, but like wise people. 16 ( B)Make good use of every opportunity you have, because these are evil days. 17 Don't be fools, then, but try to find out what the Lord wants you to do. Secondly, and this kind of builds on that, they are ruled by Satan - they are ruled by the prince of darkness, they are literally dominated by him. It isn’t just that they do his deeds, being his children – and by the way, that’s the whole point in the text here, if you’re the child of Satan, you will do the deeds of Satan; if you’re the child of God, you’ll do the deeds of God. They not only do the thing he wants, but they literally are ruled and dominated by Satan. It is hard for people to realize that. But you remember that in Colossians1 it says that you were taken out of the kingdom of darkness? It’s a kingdom. It has a hierarchy, and it has a ruler, and it’s Satan. And he is the one calling the shots. The Word of God, every word is “inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for reproof.” We need to reprove. That means to expose the evil. You know, you can’t just say, “Well, I don’t like to say anything about what they’re doing.” You’d better say something – that’s your commission – by your life and your words. You know, sometimes just the way you live can expose people. Have you ever walked into a conversation that was really filthy, and they know you’re a Christian, and all of a sudden it gets real nice and clean, and “how’s church going? I know you go to church a lot. How’s church?” Yeah. I mean I remember playing golf with people, and about the fifth hole, they’d find out I’m a minister, and it changes their whole game. They can’t cuss, they can’t hit, you know. It’s amazing. remain an objective observer of your thoughts, but listen to the voice that tells you to rest, eat, etc. for optimal functioning When we consistently suppress our intuitive knowingness, looking instead for approval from others, we give our personal power away.The same hell will be occupied by people who were Satan-energized in gray flannel suits as it will be by witchdoctors from Bula-Bula land. You see, it’s only a matter of expression. And so they do the works of Satan. And people who are darkness function in the deeds of darkness, the unfruitful works of darkness, the works of Satan. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you can test and approve what is that good and perfect will of God.” If a believer is conforming to the world in thought or action, it will inhibit his ability to hear and discern God’s guidance. 4. Believers test and discern God’s will by considering both their heart desires and whether they have peace in their hearts. Certainly, finding out what pleases the Lord also applies to knowing God’s will in specific circumstances. But we must not only expose the darkness by calling it darkness, we must also expose the darkness with the gospel. One cannot preach the gospel without exposing sin. Sadly, this is often neglected in gospel presentations. The gospel says that all men are sinners under the judgment of a holy God (Rom 3:23, 6:23). It calls men to repent of their lifestyles of sin and turn to Jesus to save them. Yes, we must expose the darkness by teaching the gospel to a world under God’s wrath. Second Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The world is blinded to the light of the gospel. First Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Though the world rejects the gospel, to the believer, it is the power and wisdom of God.

If you have the attitude that life is something that happens to you and that all you can do is make the best of it, living in the light will change that for good.

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For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (Ephesians 5:8) A great facet in conclusion of each chapter are the exercises and meditations provided that work to instil and integrate the insights. These have positively benefited me and I look forward to exploring and incorporating them further into my spiritual practice. Paul is continuing his exhortation to imitate God that began in Ephesians 5:1-7. He called the believers to imitate God by living a life of love, and by getting rid of sexual immorality of every sort, including activities, thoughts, and words. Here the believers are called to imitate God by walking as children of light. Wives, yield to your husbands, as you do to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body, which is the church. 24 As the church yields to Christ, so you wives should yield to your husbands in everything.

the rebel is no more free than the one oppressed and obeying an authoritarian since it reacts to authority by doing the reverse no matter what her true desire is Philippians 2:13 says he works in us “to will and to do according to his good pleasure.” This means that God is always working in our hearts to help us discern and do his will. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” When I am walking with God—abiding in his Word, prayer, and the fellowship of the saints—many times the desires in my heart are of the Lord. In discerning what is pleasing to God, we must discern what God is doing in our hearts. Not only must believers produce the fruit of light, but they also must continually find out what pleases the Lord. “Find out” can also be translated “to test, discern, and approve.” 5 It was used of testing a metal to see if it was genuine. 6 Four – verse 13 – watch this: “For all things that are reproved”– now watch this, this is fabulous –“are made manifest by the light.” In other words, listen, if the light doesn’t get on, they’ll never be made manifest. Do you see what he’s saying? Anything that is manifest will be manifest by light, for whatever makes manifest is light, and if you’re the light and you don’t make it manifest, then it won’ be made manifest. Do you see? This is your commission, people. Get out there, and reprove sin, and expose sin, because you’re the light, and if you don’t do it, it’ll never be exposed, because it is the light that manifests. Light is that which manifests. And whatever makes manifest is light. Application Question: How have you seen or experienced light converting darkness in your life or the lives of others? To Live in the Light, Believers Must Preach to the Sleeping

And so the invitation comes to you as it does throughout history: “Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” And you have in that one little tiny verse, a whole picture of the gospel, a whole little Bible. First the sinner is described as one who sleeps, and then the summons is offered to awake and arise, and the Savior is presented –“Christ shall give thee light.” It shows the dilemma of sinfulness, it gives the invitation to the sinner, and shows who the Savior is. Like Rip Van Winkle, men are going to sleep through an age, only it won’t be an age of history, it will be an age of grace. And they’ll wake up and it will be too late, and so he says, “Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Some things are so vile that they should be discussed in as little detail as possible, because even describing them is morally and spiritually dangerous. So he says, “The things that they do in secret are shameful to even talk about.” It shouldn’t even be talked about. You know, I read a book on the homosexual problem written by a Christian this week that talked about the problem of homosexuality in such lurid terms that it was like pornography. Now, that isn’t right. You don’t need to do that. You can give God’s solution without portraying every evil thing that could possibly go on in that relationship. That’s no necessary. These are wretched things that the world does. And they are to be reproved. They are things too shameful to even speak of, let alone to tolerate. And so he says, “Look, you are commissioned in this world. You ought to be beyond struggling yourself. Grow up, so that you can not only get beyond that hang-up, but that you can be a reprover of others, and you can be one who exposes evil.” In the same way, the light of a believer’s life often changes a work environment as sin is exposed and righteousness replaces it. It changes people’s lives as they repent and give their lives to Christ. Light is by nature more powerful than darkness. It changes environments and lives. Where there is intellectual darkness, there will be the works of that darkness. The next verse says: “Wild parties, drunkenness, immorality, shamelessness, strife, and envy.” So on the one hand, you have the intellectual side of darkness, not knowing God or His truth, which results in a moral darkness, doing the deeds of that darkness. On the other hand, light is knowing the truth, and it results in living it out. Now, as Christians, people, we walk in the light. Now, let me make it clear. If you’re a Christian you walk in the light. Let me tell you why. Look at 1 John, chapter 1, verse 5, it says this: “This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you”– here it comes –“that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”

You are God’s children whom he loves, so try to be like him. 2 Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God. Either way, Paul clearly calls for Christians to preach to those who are asleep. The actions and words of Christians should speak to unbelievers—encouraging them to repent and follow Christ. But, they also speak to believers, as is probably the focus in this context. There are many believers living a lifestyle of darkness who need to repent. Now, as you know, we are studying the walk of the new man. The book of Ephesians presents to us the pattern for Christian living. The first three chapters - who the Christian is; the last three, how he lives, how he acts, how he functions. And Paul here, in chapters 4, 5 and 6, gives us a clear, concise, and careful outline of how we are to behave as new creatures. How Christians are to live in the world. And if we were to sum the thing up, we could probably sum it up in two great statements that are made. Chapter 4, verse 1, is the first one, where he says: “Walk worthy.” In other words, that we told you the word worthy means to balance it off; let your living balance off with your identity. If you’re a new creature in Christ, then walk that way. This book is searching in its analysis, searing in its challenge, and yet wonderfully invigorating in its encouragement. When the glory of God is at the center, money, sex and power can be instruments for Christ's name and our good. This book is urgently needed.And so he says, “The prophet says, ‘Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.’” He puts Christ in Isaiah’s words, because Christ is the fulfillment. May I add this? Most Bible commentators believe that this is a line from an Easter hymn sung by the early church – a line from an Easter hymn. It’s an invitation. Somebody may be sitting in our congregation right now and saying, “Well, I guess I’m in the darkness. I look at my life and I don’t see goodness and righteousness and truth. I don’t see Jesus Christ alive in my life. I’ve never known God. I’m in the dark intellectually, and I see moral evil on every hand.” In this groundbreaking new work, international bestselling author Deepak Chopra and his coauthor Sarah Platt-Finger, yoga director at Chopra Global and co-founder of ISHTA Yoga, offer an illuminating program for self-realization, bliss, and wholeness. Combining a practical thirty-day program that will help you break limiting habits and belief systems with an in-depth exploration of fifty stimulating and restorative yoga poses, Deepak and Sarah provide a thorough and inspiring way to unite the mind, body, and soul.