Title Ephesians 05:8-16 Save the time
Contents
Save time (Ephesians 5:8-16)
Since it has been raining for the past few days, the air has become so clear and clean that I can see the clear night sky. I took my telescope and went outside, leaned against my car, looked up at the night sky and saw the crater of the bright moon clearly. The Orion Left, which looked like a small kite with a tail to the naked eye, caught my eye. One of them is a nebula of hundreds of millions of stars, but it's so far away that it looks like a single star.
If I were to look at the stars, the stars and the moons and stars I had seen in my hometown since I was a child, I thought that I had changed and became an adult. Human civilization and history have changed countless times, but it was amazing to see the moon and stars floating in the sky by the mysterious power of creation for countless years and shining unchangingly.
The ancients believed that each had its own star. One star, one star, two stars... That star is my star, that star is your star... I equated the fate of the stars with my own, and tried to find the future of Jishin by looking at the stars. Astronomers say that a star has a lifespan of hundreds of millions of years, and when it expires, it loses its light and is dragged into a place called the Black Hole to die. It is ridiculous to equate the lifespan of a star of hundreds of millions of years with a life of only 70-80 years, but their understanding of their life, who thought that they had a share of life that should be illuminated like a star, is very naive.
The text we read today calls new people, those who are born again in Christ, the light. In 5:8, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Jesus said, “You are light!” It's the same thing you said. This tells us who we are as a person of Christ after being born again, and what our place, duty, and appearance in life should be.
I once read an article called "Stones and Stars". If you look at the star, it will be made of stone. And although stones and stars have the same pronunciation, their appearance and roles are very different. Stones are visible during the day when light is not needed, but at night when light is needed, they are not only invisible, but rather become an obstacle. The brighter it gets. In this world, there are people who are like stones and there are people who are like stars.
Today, God teaches us the duty of life by saying, "You are the light of the world and the salt of the world." We are people to live by the light. So what does it mean to live by light?
First, to live by the light means to live a good, righteous, and truthful life.
Verse 9 says that the fruit of the light is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul speaks of the fruit of the light as the fruit of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. There is no law against these things."
If the light of the Holy Spirit shines in our hearts and we are born again and continue to live in fellowship with the Spirit of God, such goodness, goodness, and fruits of righteousness will bear fruit. When we are connected with God and have constant fellowship, such fruits are borne in us.
In the old days, when there was still no water or electricity in Africa, the king of Africa came at the invitation of the United States. There were so many strange things. When I touched the small tap on the wall, the light came on as bright as daylight, and when I went into the bathroom and turned on the handle, it was so strange to see clear water gushing out. Thinking of his poor people living in Africa, he got a light and a faucet, took it home, and hung it on the ceiling of the house, but the light didn't come on. It turned out that there had to be a power plant, and not only had to have a water bureau, but also had to be piped there.
The Lord says “I am the vine and you are the branch; if he is in me and I in him, this man bears much fruit, and unless the branch abides in the vine, it cannot bear fruit by itself” (John 15:-). To be attached means to become one body.
My arms are attached to my body, so when I eat, these arms get nourished and go wherever I go. I follow my will. Being attached to Jesus means eating the food of God's Word and moving and walking according to His will. When you eat, move, and walk with what the Lord wants, you will have goodness, righteousness, and a true life.
Second, a light life is a life that overcomes darkness (verse 11). When the sun rises at dawn, the darkness of the night disappears, and the greater the light, the deeper the darkness disappears one after another.
What are the darkness in our lives? Darkness is the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:9), evil works (Col 1:21), and the works of death (Heb 6:1).
Life overcoming darkness can be described in two ways. First of all, it is an inner defeat. Inner rejection is seeing yourself through the light of the Word, repenting and healing yourself.
2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be perfected for every good work." I say.
The chandelier on the dining table in my previous home was a bit dark, but I thought maybe the previous owner did it to bring out the atmosphere. But one day, one of the glass marbles from the chandelier fell and looked into it and found it was dirty with dust and other things. I wiped it off and saw how bright and beautiful it was. When I removed all the chandeliers and wiped them with soapy water and put them back on, a rainbow suddenly started fluttering all over the house. When you purify and purify yourself with the Word, the radiant light of goodness, kindness, and truthfulness that shines brightly around you will be revealed.
Next is the external defeat. It is rejecting and rejecting lies and evil in our external life. When believers are indifferent to the evil around them, they promote evil and eventually become victims of that evil.
A Christian magazine called "World" reported that the number of church members in Korea has been declining since 1988. The reason is that the church only emphasized personal salvation, is indifferent to society, and has a low contribution to the spiritual needs of young people. The lack of safeguards means that unless you fix it, people will turn their backs on you.
The Bible says that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because there were no 10 righteous people. The sins around us today have been elevated like leaven because believers do not condemn and reject sin as a sin. The white blood cells of the body should actively attack and block germs, but because they were not active, the germs prevailed and the body became ill and died. Because the light does not shine, the darkness has eaten us.
Therefore, as verse 14 says, “Now awake and rise from the dead.” Beyond the religious life of living only for self-satisfaction and self-stabilization, we must resolutely push ourselves and rise up for a good, righteous, and true life that obeys the Word even when it is difficult and overwhelming.
Third, to live by the light is to save time and live.
Verse 16 says, "Be like the wise, saving time, for the times are evil."
Our life is a journey toward physical death. People of all ages and genders do not go first just because they came first. Our lives go out of order. You never know when you will have to leave this world behind what you enjoyed. Moreover, because the world is evil, we do not know how many things try to bring us down.
The shooting at Santa Ana High School last week is also an escalating social evil. Two flowery youths died and 13 suffered serious injuries. Had his father not had a gun in the house, his son Andrew Williams, who suffered from the pain of a broken family and the pain and suffering of being bullied in school, would have expressed his frustration in other ways.
The culture around us does not provide a way to resolve anger and pain in a positive way, and rather than positive, violent, peripheral, and destructive culture casts a deep shadow of darkness. The evil we have accepted little by little is the result of a greater evil. We live in evil times and evil cultures. So you have to be wise. If we pay attention and do not do our best for righteous, good, and good works while we are given life today and have the energy of the flesh, evil will prevail and destroy us and devour righteousness, goodness, and goodness.
Today's Word commands us to save time and live today as if it were our last day. However, the devil says that we will do it later, tomorrow or next time... and put off good works and works of faith, and ultimately drives us to death.
In Cain's Mutiny, an artist named Herman Work portrays a man named Cain who is living his life as he pleases. One day, Cain receives a letter from his father, who is dying from an incurable disease. By the time he receives the letter, he gives some advice, saying that he may already be dead.
“First, since there is nothing as precious as time in the world, time spent in vain will surely ruin you.
Second is faith. You are not very interested in religion, but I will send you a copy of the Bible, so read it all the time.
One day, Cain receives a letter from his father, who is dying from an incurable disease. Sadly, by the time I received the letter, I didn't realize the preciousness of the Bible until it was too late.
Third, forgive me for not being of much help when you are at a crossroads. Seeing me not knowing the wrong path until late, you choose the right path and live like a ledger. To my dear son..." He passed away, regretting the life he had lived wrongly.
It is said that Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), who lived in the heyday of England, begged the doctor to give her a million dollars to live, just one more hour as her death approached. She boasted that Britain is a country where the sun never sets, and was not ready to go before God, spending all her life on increasing wealth, pleasure and power.
What sustains us as we leave our lives is the assurance of salvation that Jesus Christ has saved us and the fact that we have lived a good life, goodness and righteousness. With this assurance of salvation, a beautiful light will shine from those who are saving time and living their best life for the last time today.
I hope that your life, dear friends, will be filled with goodness, righteousness, and goodness in the true faith of Christ. When you stand before God, you will live a life free from shame, that is, a life with the conviction that "I have fought the good fight, ran the course, kept the faith, and from now on, the crown of righteousness has been prepared for me."
Today, we looked at what kind of life we, who have become light in the Lord, live as children of light.
1. A good, true and righteous life in Jesus.
2. A life that rejects the evil forces of darkness in the world.
3. A life of faith that saves time as if today were the last day