Ephesians: Who You are in Christ, You're a Child of Light [Part 1]

The Holy Spirit and he's going to be your answer for everything.

But if you're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning you surrender more and more yourself to God so that he may soak you in infusion in his own life, his own spirit.

There has to be a way in which absolutely not afraid of God than you dare to approach God in the very, very closest of ways, pastor, author and Bible teacher Alan Wright. Welcome to shearing the light of program of healing and hope shearing. The good news of what God is done for us in Jesus Christ.

We are also to hear Allen's message in a series called Ephesians if you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program. I will make sure that you know how to get our special resource right now to be yours for your donation this month to shearing the life as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today special offer. Contact us@shearingthelight.org or call 877-544-4860.

More on this later in the program but now it started today's teaching here is Alan Wright brothers and sisters in Christ, God as a manager is true that he hates sand is good, and therefore he hates all that is evil. But what is done in Jesus Christ is so thorough and so complete that God himself has become instead of being angry with you is become at every point hundred percent favorable torture. Ephesians chapter 5 today and we been coming through this remarkable epistle of Paul's that's been called the divine is composition of man that has been called the very pinnacle of New Testament writings. It is powerful, beautiful, cosmic, and its implications everything in chapters 1, two and three. Not one single mention of anything except for just the power of the gospel who you are in Christ what God is done for you and then you come to chapters 4, five, six instead and you start receiving some practical implications of what all this means.

So at the beginning of chapter 4, it turns into a therefore because of everything that he said in chapter 1, two and three.

Therefore, in a begins to urge us to live lives that are in keeping with who we are in Christ. So this is what we been learning here so you are in Christ and therefore this is then how we should live.

And so we get the chapter 5 today we come into some appointed discussion about the wrath of God against the sons of disobedience and will get a real long text here that ends with an invitation to the infilling of the Holy Spirit. So the whole lot here and the let's jump right in Ephesians 5, verse one therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints B. No filthiness nor foolish talk, accrue joking, which are out of place. Mr. B. Thanksgiving free may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous that is. An idolater is no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them for it.

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. They no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them to shameful even to speak of things that they do in secret own anything is exposed by the light becomes visible for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, says away cosleeper 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 time because the days of the art evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is and 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 on the preacher of grace and the preacher of the gospel of grace because I don't think there is another gospel except the gospel of the incredible grace of Jesus Christ. It's the announcement the Gospels and announcements announcement of what God has done for us much more than it is an announcement of what you're supposed to do for God.

That said, now where we are with Paul and he is talking about all the ramifications implications of this powerful gospel and therefore how we should we should live. But because the focus of all my preaching and what appears were privileged to be on the radio all around the patient is a message of grace. Sometimes people misunderstand and think that by announcing grace that I wear were not given the complete picture of who God is and is just wonderful privilege to build a radio because you get all kinds, encouraging notes, but also you get sometimes the other, and so this week I got a couple of presence in the mail last week and one was a beautiful leather bound by King James Bible and is beautiful's lathers nice enough but also had a three page letter in their describing why I should be using the King James version rather than the English standard version. I read from NAR track one of those nice Christian tracks that had like some firing stuff on the on the front cover of the track and the track went on to I think it was telling me I was going to hell for not read the King James version it was. But anyway, but worse than that was leading other people.

Now if you if you love the King James version.

Gratis is a beautiful old old version of the Bible and but anyway might go there and ask but that is not going to hell if you don't read the King James version. I'm pretty sure that to present I got this week was a book on not basically how it was emphasizing more of works righteousness and how you you know need to do more of your part in your salvation. So these gifts were meant to send me a message I'll actually say that that one of the number-one things that people ask me all the time to preach about grace so much as a man, that the people will get will bit mad at me for not talking about God being mad and and so I want to address that today I will talk about that today and also on more importantly own address the fact that so many, many Christians have a sense that when I know that Jesus has died for them, but just don't know what to do with the fact that they still stumble in sin and how does God feel about that doesn't have to be mad about that and this leaves some confusion and uncertainty about whether you can really have peace in the presence of the Lord and the bottom line of this long text that we read today is that in the end, Paul is saying here is your invitation I be filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't go for any substitutes, just be filled with the Holy Spirit and he is gonna be your answer for everything. But if you're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning you surrender more and more yourself to God so that he may soak you and infuse you and his own life, his own spirit, then there has to be a way in which your you're absolutely not afraid of God that you dare to approach God in the very, very closest of ways and that's really what I want to talk about today is a very long text is a lot to cover here so you are probably auditors choose out of a few things to try to cover soak today all and then do just as all us all wonder is I just want talk about how to actually read your Bible rightly and I want talk about the nature and theology of the wrath of God. And then I went on about how wonderful the gospel is going talk about the theological idea, propitiation, and then I just want to talk about the difference between fear and wisdom, and then excellent talk about the infilling of the Holy Spirit. So that's all want to do okay we just do those do those things.

So I need you to listen real quick today. Let's talk first about when you get to a text like this, which I would say this is among the top tech strike and what makes this text. When I was a kind of tough, especially if you love grace the way I do is that you come to to verses that say things like this, verse five, you may be sure that everyone is sexually immoral or impure who is covetous that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

And if you're a lover of of grace and your your learning to draw near to God and you go.

Wait a minute, I've had some sexual immorality or I have impure thoughts or I've been covetous.

Does that mean I've lost my inheritance in a crescent you look at some verses like that and what happens with this in my estimation is that people outside of the gospel looking in. If they just see a verse like that on they go I don't really want everything to do with that. That just looks like a bunch of of of of rules and and and hate and bigotry in and in all that judgment and I know and and I give up on all that.

So out of my own spirituality, or people inside the gospel will be in the church will look about lovers of grace will go all know that makes me worried that maybe everything else that I believe about grace maybe is subject had not been tricked so, how to read your Bible correctly is absolutely essential first place. It just read it accurately as to what is actually saying assembled this week, across from quotes from kids about the Bible little children will be in asked different questions about the Bible and very interesting. Some of their responses on some some questions this must been question.

The kid got about about Sabbath and what it is and this child said in the first book of the Bible, God got tired of creating the world's we took the Sabbath off not exactly right. Nuisance more and that in and one child said. Noah's wife was called Joan of arc appears at this child got a couple stories confused in the Old Testament is have lots wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night. That one child said the Egyptians were all drowned in the desert afterwards.

Moses went up on Mount cyanide to get the 10 amendments, one child said that the first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple. Well, not not exactly one child got hooked. The seventh commandment confuses that the seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.

One child of the greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him, not not what that story was one child, said Solomon, one of David's sons, Solomon king Solomon had 300 wives and 700 porcupines with the Lord's equivalent of said Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption and one of them said that St. Matthew was one of the opossums but my favorite is what one child was taught about marriage, said a Christian should have only one spouse and this is called monotony so is read the Bible right to verify that you understand what text does actually say so that's part of our study of Scripture does understand what is actually safe, but the second really important things.

My own point of emphasis is to read whatever it is you're reading a Bible reading context you're listening to shearing the line will have more teaching from today's important series you think Eli really think about how you see yourself as you see yourself as my first time. You might as well do nothing worthwhile in your investor suffered joy to become free determines how to get to listen to Allen's messages from job with your digital Dharma solutions drinking discover who you are, according to God differently. Find out who you really are wearing the final days of this special offer being made available to you at 877-544-4860 come to my website sharing the right like you're listening to shearing the today's teaching now continues once again is Alan Wright if you only read chapter 5 of Ephesians.

If you only read Ephesians 5 verse five and that's what you read, you will totally totally misunderstand if you don't read Ephesians 1, two and three herein don't have a right to read Ephesians 5 and will make sense to because Ephesians 5 only makes sense. Following what's been said in Ephesians 1 to 3, but more than that you read the book of Ephesians.

In light of the whole big story of the Bible to the Bible, most people tend to think of anything that they think the Bible is like a rulebook or set of instructions were like the owners manual that you keep in your and your glove compartment for the car.

That's how the Bible is all the Bible instead miraculously by the supervision of the Holy Spirit is all different eras of of time and different pins been put down under the divine inspiration, put down the word of God in many different centuries, and there are many different genres of literature in the Bible, and yet all together as one is one canon of Scripture.

What you have here.

Whether it be in poetic literature, whether it be in prophetic literature with the historical narrative whether it be in an eight unit pistol like Ephesians, what, whatever it is it's part of the big points and the big point of the Bible is one overarching story of God, who reveals himself to be the lover of all people, and had a plan where and by the greatest sacrifice manageable and beyond our imagination. He would send his only son to come and do a redeeming work. It would be so thorough, we would absolutely save us both from the consequences of our sins and to save us from the dominion of our sands so that we can have our fellowship with God restored forever, and reign with him for all eternity is one big story to every single thing in the Bible is pointing to that story in all points in one way or another if you're reading Leviticus is part of that story is not the whole story as part of the story of your reading the book of Genesis chapter 3 it part of the story. It will prefigure so much of the story but it's not the whole story is what you have. The Bible really is a progressive revelation of who God is and then he comes in the full revelation of himself in the person of Jesus.

So in other words, all of the Bible is pointing to Jesus when Jesus was walking with the disciples on the Emmaus Road after the resurrection, and he began to explain the Scriptures to them. It says he explained all the Scriptures and how the concern himself sick.

What a real Bible study is discovering of this is where this story. This is where this exhortation.

This is where this ethical implications. This is where this fits in to the whole big story, so when you read Ephesians 5 verse five, or any of this stuff. You go man itself, tough on my not have an inheritance you have to look at in the context of Ephesians itself and everything that Paul's been saying and what he's been saying is who you are in Christ. This means that because of what Christ is done for you. In chapter 1 he starts is that you been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ and then he contrasts in chapter 2. He contrasts the sons of disobedience, who are those that walk in darkness is used to be like that everything you're not like that anymore. That's not who you are now and what he saying here again in Ephesians 5 saying you're not children of darkness. Those are in Christ. Children of light soaked when he is speaking of those who have no inheritance. He's referring here as he was in chapter 2 to the sons of disobedience, which are those that are apart from Christ, but you understand Ephesians itself. In light of the whole big story of the redemption of God limits if I go straight this white imagine he was reading the story like Cinderella. How silly it would be to choose out one part of the story and sample study.

This part and then you're gonna decide what the stories about based on like if you agree, Cinderella, and all you did was just read and study the part, Cinderella is dressed in rags and scrubbing the floors and she is persecuted by her stepsisters and stepmother. And if you are somewhat Cinderella all about.

If that's what if that's the story you read that's only part you saw is it with this is a story about how rough life is about how unfair treatment people received and she had a good attitude and remain a hard worker.

Even during such difficult times of persecution and the motto, therefore, are the moral of the story must be that you two should just keep a good attitude even when people are being cruel to you that you would say that's what Cinderella is about what Cinderella is about a huge mistake and you said that's with the story of Cinderella is about. Or you could just read towards the end of the store. You can read where the clock strikes midnight and he has to flee from the royal ball and her beautiful gown turns back to rags and the beautiful carriage chariot turns back to pumpkin and and and you'd say all what this story is about is you better watch out because the clock will strike and at some point it's all can be taken away from you and so you better be ready because that day is coming in and the stories about you miss the whole story.

If you only focused on that if you so what's let Cinderella about Cinderella is a romance. Cinderella is a love story.

Cinderella is about a prince who loves a woman, and it is about destiny and it's about happily ever after that, therefore, make sense of all the other adversities right it's it's that kind of story is a redemption story it's it's a is Cinderella so each part of the story is important to it right so the part of the story of the gospel.

That is all about the law in the Old Testament is very important because the law was a good Jeff.

But the law is some of the people never could cheat. So as part of the stories very important part of the story because what the law Pro and the law still proves this is that we need a Savior snowboarding people to read the Bible in context of the whole story and that's what you want to do with Ephesians chapter 5 Georgia what is Paul referring to here because the whole nature of God is that God is a God who is merciful and slow to anger, and yet here he speaks of the wrath of God against the sons of disobedience.

And so you have to first start with the whole gospel is a story about the links that God went to in order to save people if you don't read that and keep that at the heart of everything that you know to be true, then you can miss read other texts. So the first thing you want not do is don't miss read this Texas I will. God must be anger know God is love right and find the Bible says that God is slow to anger, so God is he slow to anger the other.

Hate all evil.

These slow to anger, and only by the slow to anger.

I got a father-in-law is slow to anger. I follow Graham Lynch and he been in the family over 30 years in Boise and get angry. One time, and it was going however still get angry. It was a town that is why tell stories like this and up by those that Rosario is. I was like two weeks before our wedding and out to be such a joyful top euro wedding start getting really stressful and there was something going on in the ladies were all talking about some nitpicking, but a flower arrangement was go look like a son like that. There was stress in the house and I saw for one of its own, 30 years, I saw my father go dead, let's just get along about this or something like that.

That was it allows about 10 seconds. In other words, he is slow to anger. If somebody slow to anger, you know, that means you gotta do something really really bad for a long time before he gets angry was Olympia protest nicer without God be angry that he's got he's God and and and and our sins. They seem so small, how can there be such a thing as is people being separated from God for all eternity. It seems like punishment is way too big for the smallness of our crime again must understand this in the context of the whole big story guy is perfect love and perfect holiness made this world out of the overflow of his goodness you're listening to.

Hearing the light in today's teaching you're a child of the light from the series on Ephesians we stay with this.

Alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life, and a final word you think Eli really think about how you see yourself as wife SM you might as well do nothing worthwhile in your investor stuff with joy to become free seems determined to get to listen to pastor Karen's message is USB thumb drive with your digital Dharma is our way of saying things like nations drinking the gospel and discover according to God.

Time to find out who you really are wearing the final days of this special offer being made available to you, 877-544-4860 or come to my website sharing the right leg. Alan that we live in a world that we can clearly see there's darkness all around. There's morality and there's a battle talked about even the series before of good and evil, where ChildLine while this is a tough text because Paul is not holding back here that I think about the severity of the sin of the world and how dark it is.

As I was chuckling an introduction to think we will cover your five things in one message, how to read your Bible, the nature of the wrath of God, how wonderful God is the difference in wisdom versus beer and the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

So just like me.

They'll try to get all that in one message but will have three radio days covered, but it is to say that you begin with this understanding the Bible and the whole big context of a story of God's redemptive power and we mustn't come to text like this and read them out of their context because some people lift this text out Daniel say all is a list of people that won't get into heaven. Let diminish is obviously the thoroughness of the cross of Jesus Christ. So there's a lot of reassurance here, but also there's no dancing around that we must understand God is a God of justice, Jesus would have if we didn't have a God of justice as he took justice for us as much reassurance here to be reminded of the God who is full of love and slow to anger, and is not a text that leads us into thinking over God is primarily angry at us were susceptible to that.

I think but there's richness in this text. We look forward to more incoming.

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