And now we continue with our studies in the Epistle to the Ephesians. And you know the title of this particular series is Lessons from the Church at Ephesus. Now we have come to the point where we are dealing with the conduct of the Christian. And in this particular section it's the social conduct of the Christian. Let me read a key verse to you, first of all. Chapter five of the Epistle to the Ephesians, verse seventeen. Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Let us bow for a moment of prayer. Our Father, we come to thee now as children, coming to a father. We need thy help at all times. Will thou, in thy mercy, look down upon all thy children even now? Thou knowest their needs. Will thou supply their needs? Strengthen those who need to be strengthened. Very specially look after those who need to be comforted. Bless those who seem to be stumbling at this time. Give them the correct directions. May thy blessing be the portion of all thy people now. For the Lord Jesus' sake, we ask it. Amen. Now, as I have indicated, we are dealing with the conduct of the Christian. And since the Christian has got to live a social life, he must have a social conduct that's becoming to his Christian profession. I have introduced to you what I believe to be the key verse. Wherefore be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Now the main lesson here is this, that in wisdom the Christian shall conduct his life in a becoming manner, displaying love and light, with all sobriety. Now we'll divide our portion up today into three little sections. The first section will be the first seven verses of the chapter and then the second section verses eight through fifteen and the final section fifteen through twenty one. Now the first little portion then, the first seven verses of the chapter There we have to walk in love. Here is the power for correct social conduct. Now look at these first seven verses. How beautiful. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and have given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. But fornication, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becomeeth saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things come as the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not you therefore partakers with them. Now let us look a little in detail at these verses. First of all, in verse one we have the lofty ideal. Note the model and the motive that is set before us in that verse. Be ye there for followers of God as dear children. You know, God's example of forgiveness, as set before us in chapter four, verse thirty-two, forms the basis of Paul's exhortation here. The connection is this. God in Christ has forgiven you. Now, be imitators of God in forgiving one another. and a very special motive is appended to the words as beloved children. Now, in natural life, children bear the family likeness and should seek to uphold the family name. Likewise now, in the spiritual life, we should manifest our father to the world and seek to walk worthy of our dignity as his beloved children. It's a great ideal, it's a lofty ideal, that as the children of God, therefore we should be followers of God. But now when you come to verse two, there is the noble incentive. It is devotedness to the will of God that leads us on to sacrifice, walk in love, as Christ has also loved us. See, another way in which we should resemble the Lord is by walking in love. The rest of the verse explains that to walk in love means to give ourselves for others. This is what Christ, the perfect example did. It's an amazing fact. He loved us. The proof of his love is that he gave himself for us in death at Calvary. His gift is described as an offering. and a sacrifice to God. An offering is anything given to God. A sacrifice here includes the additional element of death. He was the true burnt offering, the one who was completely devoted to do the will of God, even to the death of the cross. His act of unspeakable devotion is eulogized as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. in love so measureless, so reckless of cost, for those who were naturally so unworthy of it, there was a spectacle which filled heaven with fragrance and God's heart with joy. So said that great Bible teacher, Ebby Meyer. The Lord Jesus pleased his Father by giving himself for others. The moral is that we too can bring joy to God by giving ourselves for others. Then again he goes on to other things. In verse three, if we are to walk in love, there will be separation from immorality. Christians must not indulge in the immoral deeds of the unbelievers. After all, there is a difference between a man who says he's a Christian and a man who makes no profession of this whatsoever. The world today delights in these sins. The world today thinks it's living it up if they indulge in fornication and in unclean things and their covetous. But the Christian is different. If the Christian is walking in love, he will not be indulging in immorality. He'll not be going in for the things that are unclean. Let it not be once named among you as becomeeth saints. If God has set us apart... and we are holy people, God has made us holy, then we should live as such. What God has made us, He expects us to be. Our social conduct then should be in separation from immorality. Then in verse four there is separation from improper behavior, such as filthiness, foul mouth abuse, and jesting. You know, the world today thinks it's a great joke to roll sin under the tongue as a sweet muscle. But the Christian is different. There's to be nothing filthy about the Christian. No foolish talking nor jesting. It says these things are not convenient. We should rather be engaged in the giving of thanks. So there is separation from improper behavior. That is if we're walking in love. Now when we come to verses five and six, we have to understand the inflexible standards of God. God will never lower his standards of holiness and righteousness, for he distinctly says, for this you know. that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Now let me remind you that we have lowered the standards. It almost seems to me that every year or every generation you find the standards going lower and lower. You're counted as being a wise person today if you disparage the standards of a past generation. You can speak about them as those puritanical ideas or the Queen Victorian age, so on. My friend, we have been lowering the standards of holiness and the standards of righteousness for a long time. And these standards are getting too low. But remember, God never lowers his standards. God's standards are inflexible and God will maintain them at all times. So let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things come as the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Wherever man has violated God's standards of holiness, remember this, God's judgment comes upon them. Go back over history. God brought judgment upon the world in the days of Noah. At that time all flesh was corrupted and the earth was filled with violence. and God came in and acted in judgment. In the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, God allowed the nation and the people who lived down there to go to their extreme. There was nothing else for it. God's judgment came upon them. Nations have arisen and nations have fallen. Nations have become great when they honor God and upheld the standards of God's righteousness. But When a nation turns away from God and rejects the word of God, then you'll find that nation goes down and God's judgment comes upon that nation. Likewise with individuals, so let no man deceive you, says verse six. God has set the standard for the social conduct of the Christian, so that in wisdom the Christian shall conduct his life in a becoming manner displaying love and light with all sobriety. But notice verse seven. We have to obey the imperative exhortation. God expects obedience from all his children. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. Why, the children of God, have got to be in separation from the things of this world. We have not to be acting like the man along the street. If people don't want to obey God's standards, that's no reason why the Christian should be dragged down into the mud. Believers are solemnly warned to have no part in such ungodly behavior. To do so is to dishonor the name of Christ. It means to wreck other lives, to ruin one's own testimony, and to invite a torrent of retribution. So therefore, according to verse seven, he distinctly says, Be not ye therefore partakers with them. Here is the power then for correct social conduct. Walk in love. But verses eight through fifteen would suggest to us the purity of correct social conduct. You can note here the contrast between light and darkness. We have to walk in light. For ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship with them fruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever does make manifest is light. Wherefore he says, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Now you see from the reading of these verses then, great emphasis is laid on the idea of light in contrast to darkness. Therefore we are to walk in light. It's the Christian's prerogative. Walk as children of the light. This will mean one step at a time in the paths of righteousness. To enforce his urgent imperative, as he has laid down in verse seven, the apostle now gives a pithy discourse on light and darkness. Now the Ephesians were once darkness, but now they are light in the Lord. Paul does not say that they were in the darkness, but that they themselves were the personification of darkness. Now to union with the Lord, they have become light. He is light. They are in him. So they are now light in the Lord. Their state should henceforth correspond with the standing. They should walk as children of the light. But verse nine explains the type of fruit that is produced by those who walk in the light. After all, Here not only do we have the Christian's prerogative in verse eight, but we have the Christian's fruitful production in verse nine. Here is the fruit of the light, is goodness, righteousness and truth. These are the things that should be manifested in the life of all true Christian. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Then he goes on from there into verse ten and shows us the essential proving. Every area of life must be searched by the divine searchlight. Those who walk in the light not only produce the type of fruit listed in verse nine, but also prove what is well pleasing to the Lord. They put every thought, word and action to the test. What does the Lord think about this? How does it appear in His presence? Every area of life comes under the searchlight. Conversation. Standard of living. How we look. What we read. Business deals. Pleasures. Everything else. It all comes under what does God think about this. Proving what is acceptable. unto the Lord. Now may I ask each listener today, is this the standard by which we all test ourselves? Are we prepared to stop and ask this question, would such a thing, would such an action, would this be acceptable unto the Lord? That is the standard for Christian living, for a correct social conduct. That's to be marked by purity. Then we go further than that. There's to be, as it were, the refusal of certain partnership. No participation with evil and no conversation about evil deeds. It distinctly says, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. This sometimes becomes a very difficult thing with some Christians, for they want to have fellowship with Christians on a Sunday, but they want to have fellowship with many other things and many other associations during the week. But Christianity is something that's to be lived out seven days a week, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather we have to reprove them. No participation with evil. Then you go a little further. And he sets before us the spiritual principle. Light will make manifest, and he who comes to the light will be manifested. For that's exactly what it says. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever does make manifest is light. Wherefore he said, Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead in Christ shall give thee light. So believers should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. The believer is called not only to abstain from the unfruitful works of darkness, but positively he is called to reprove and expose them. He does this in two ways. First by a life of holiness, and second by words of correction spoken under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Now the apostle explains why the Christians must have no complicity with moral corruption and must rebuke it. The vile sins which men commit in secret are so debased that it is a shame even to mention them, let alone to commit them. The unnatural forms of sin which man has invented are so bad that even to describe them would defile the minds of those who listen. So the Christian is taught to refrain from even talking about them. Light makes manifest whatever is in the darkness. So a holy Christian life reveals by contrast the sinfulness of unregenerate lives. An appropriate word of rebuke reveals sin in its true character also. As for instance when our Lord reproved the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, their practices had not seemed to the disciples very evil before, but when Christ threw on them the pure light of truth They were made manifest in the true character. They appeared and they still appear odious. Now the latter part of verse thirteen might read, For everything that is made manifest is light, which simply means that when Christians exercise their ministry as light, others are brought to the light. Wicked men are transformed into children of light through the reproving ministry of light. Now let us look. at the verses sixteen through twenty-one, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is, and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God. and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Here we have what we might call the perception for correct social conduct. That is, walk. in wisdom. I gave you that is the key verse in the beginning of our lesson today, that in wisdom the Christian shall conduct his life in a becoming manner, displaying love and light with all sobriety, based upon verse seventeen. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Now in verse fourteen then, there is deportment to be met by wisdom. And in verse sixteen there's the duty of buying up the opportunities, redeeming the time because the days are evil. The idea of redeeming there is buying up the opportunities. Verse seventeen then is based upon the thought of discerning the will of the Lord. What is the will of the Lord? And you learn these through studying the word of the Lord. Verse eighteen has to do with directed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Are we directed by Him? So in verse fifteen does the deportment marked by wisdom. Verse sixteen does the duty of buying up the opportunities. Verse seventeen discerning the will of the Lord. Verse eighteen directed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The result will be four things. Speaking to one another, verse nineteen. singing praises unto the Lord, thanking the Lord for all things, subjecting yourselves in humility. And so therefore, we will enjoy the peace of God when these things are done. If we're walking circumspectly, and if we're walking as wise men, understanding the will of the Lord, we will be experiencing something of the peace of God. Then there will be that praising spirit, speaking to yourselves with sounds and hymns and spiritual songs, praising the Lord. Then there will be that sort of thanksgiving, giving thanks always, then submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.