Walk As Children of Light

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This week, I came across an interesting piece of information. If I were to ask you what is the brightest light in the universe, what would you say? Maybe your first guess would be some huge star in some distant galaxy. Maybe your guess would be a quasar or a supernova. Perhaps it's something buried away in some huge galaxy on the other side of the universe. The truth is, the brightest light in the universe isn't there, it's in Austin, Texas - at the University of Texas in Austin. It's the Texas Petawatt Laser. It's the world's most powerful laser and it generates bursts of energy that surpass those in stars. In an article on the university's website, Todd Ditmire, the director of the Center for High-Intensity Laser Science, reports "that for a small area, for a small instance, we have the brightest light in the universe." A petawatt – a petawatt is one quadrillion watts. That means that that laser at the University of Texas down several floors beneath one of the buildings there, that laser has more power output than two thousand times greater than that of the output of all power plants in the U.S. combined. It's brighter than sunlight on the surface of the sun, but it's very, very brief. The pulse that they generate lasts only a tenth of a trillionth of a second.

As powerful and as bright as that light is, however, Ditmire's wrong. It's not the brightest light in the universe. We're told about the brightest light in the universe in 1 Timothy 6:15: "[Speaking of God]He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and [He] dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen." God is, as we sang together this morning, that light which cannot be approached. His presence is blazing, glorious light.

And this morning, Paul tells us that in Ephesians 5 that every one of us who is now in Christ has not only come to know that light, has not only come to reflect that light but has actually come to be light itself. Turn with me to Ephesians 5 and let me read for you again this wonderful section we're studying together where Paul tells us that we must walk in sexual purity. Ephesians 5:3:

But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an 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 be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,

"Awake, sleeper,

and arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you."

Paul tells us in this section that if we are going to walk worthy of our calling in Jesus Christ that he outlined for us in the first three chapters of this book, then we must walk in sexual purity. In this passage, our Lord provides us with several very practical strategies to accomplish that, to win in the daily battle for sexual purity. We've looked at two of those and completed our study of two of those practical strategies.

The first one, we discovered, was we must adopt God's standard of sexual purity. The second, we learned together, was we must use the biblical means to pursue sexual purity. The rest of the paragraph, beginning in verse 5 down through verse 14, provides us with a third practical strategy for pursuing sexual purity. We began to look at it last week. The third practical strategy for pursuing sexual purity is this: we must understand the proper motivation to purity. If we're going to grow in purity, in likeness to Jesus Christ in this area, then we must understand why it's so important. We must understand the compelling motivations. Last week, we look at two of the motivations that Paul gives us.

The first one's in verse 5 - a life of sexual sin excludes from God's kingdom. That should motivate us to purity because those who live a life of sexual sin, a life of an unbroken pattern, an unrepentant pattern of sexual sin, are not in God's kingdom and, apart from God's grace and apart from true repentance, they will not be ever in God's kingdom.

A second motivation we saw last week is in verse 6 - a life of sexual sin guarantees God's judgment. You and I should want to stay far away from sexual sin because it is the reason, one of the reasons, God's wrath will be unleashed on the world on unbelievers and, as we saw last week, it's even a reason God's wrath and righteous punishment and correction and discipline is unleashed on even sinning believers.

Today I want us to consider a third motivation for pursuing sexual purity. Not only because a life of sin excludes from God's kingdom, not only because a life of sexual sin guarantees God's judgment but, thirdly, sexual sin conflicts with our new nature.

Sexual sin conflicts with our new nature. We see this in verses 7 through 10 and I want us to look at these verses together this morning. Sexual sin conflicts with our new nature – that is, the new person we have become in Christ. Look at verse 7: "Therefore [Paul writes] do not be partakers with them." Now verse 7 is a kind of hinge verse. We could've attached it to verses 5 and 6 or we could attach it to verses 8 through 10. It's a hinge. It is a conclusion or practical application of verses 5 through 6. Notice he begins "Therefore." Verse 5 because sexual sin excludes from God's kingdom. Verse 6 because sexual sin guarantees God's wrath. "Therefore [verse 7] do not be partakers with them."

This does not mean, by the way, that you should have no association with unbelievers who are involved in sexual sin. Paul makes this very clear in 1 Corinthians 5, a passage we've looked at often, where he says, "You know when I wrote to you not to associate with immoral people, I didn't mean unbelievers because then you'd have to go out of the world. I meant if somebody claims to be a Christian and is living in unrepentant sexual sin, don't have anything to do with them. Don't even eat with them – that is, don't have fellowship with them as if everything is fine." In fact, the truth is if we isolate ourselves from unbelievers, even unbelievers who are involved in sexual sin, and don't try to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are sinning.

So then what does it mean when he says, "don't be partakers with them"? Well, the Greek word that's translated partakers in verse 7 literally means to become a partner with. It describes those who share in a possession or share in a relationship. In classical Greek, it was even used of an accomplice in a crime or in a plot. Paul's saying "don't become a partner."

This word partaker is used only twice in the New Testament – here and back in chapter 3 of Ephesians. Look back in chapter 3 of Ephesians, verse 6. There Paul says that this mystery that I have been allowed to reveal, that God has revealed through me, is this, verse 6: "that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and [here's our word] fellow partakers [same word] of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." They are partners in the promise we have received in the gospel. Here in verse 7 of chapter 5, we're talking about being partners in sexual sin.

By the way, when in verse 7 of chapter 5 he says, "partakers with them", he doesn't refer to sins there but to people. The antecedent of the pronoun them is sons of disobedience back in verse 6. Here's what Paul is saying, "In the end, it comes down to this: You can either be partners with unbelievers in a life of sexual sin here in chapter 5, verse 7 or back in chapter 3, verse 6, you can be partners with other Christians in the promise held out in the gospel, but you can't be partners with both." And here Paul pleads with the Ephesians because sexual sin will exclude you from God's kingdom because it guarantees you will be the recipient of God's wrath. Don't become partners along with unbelievers in sexual sin.

Verse 7 not only looks back though; it also looks forward. It introduces the next three verses, verses 8 through 10. Notice again verse 7:

Do not be partakers with them [verse 8] for [because Paul is about to give us the third motivation for sexual purity and it is that sexual sin conflicts with our new nature. He begins to develop this idea in verse 8 by describing the change that has happened in our nature. He says don't live a life partaking of sexual sin as partners with those outside of God's kingdom, those under God's wrath for, because, here's the reason] for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord.

He says, "Listen. There's been a radical change in the person that you are - not merely a change in your lifestyle, but a change in your nature." Look at our past nature. You were darkness.

You know, in other places in the New Testament, we're reminded of our relationship to darkness. At times, we're told that we were surrounded by darkness. At other times, we're told that darkness was in us. Back in chapter 4, verse 18, we're told that we were "darkened in [our] . . . understanding." But Ephesians 5 doesn't say that we were surrounded by darkness or that darkness was in us. Notice what Paul says, "you were . . . darkness." The best way to describe our former nature, the person we were before Christ, Paul says, is darkness – the absolute absence of all light. That's who we were.

But by God's grace, it's not who we still are. Notice how Paul describes the change that happened to us, how he describes our new nature; verse 8: "but now [now that you've come to Christ] you are Light in the Lord." Now, what does Paul mean that our nature, who we are, changed from darkness to light?

Well, I want to take a moment because I want you to understand this. Scripture uses this metaphor of light and darkness primarily in two ways and I want you to see this, this metaphor of light and darkness. First of all, Scripture uses the metaphor of light and darkness when it uses light to describe truth and darkness to describe ignorance and error. Light is truth and darkness is ignorance and error. For example, in Psalm 36:9, the psalmist writes to God: "In Your light we see light." That is, we comprehend the truth, we understand the truth. Our dark minds are enlightened with the truth. The error and ignorance that we had is dispelled.

In Psalm 119:130, we read: "The unfolding of Your words [I love that expression, the unfolding. Literally in the Hebrew, it's the opening. The opening of Your word] gives light." You know that's what's happening here this morning? As you and I open the Word of God together, as we unfold its meaning, as we unpack its meaning, the Holy Spirit of God is taking His Word and is bringing light where there is darkness. That is, He is bringing truth and understanding where there is ignorance and error. He does that for all of us.

But I think the definitive passage where this concept of light as truth and darkness as ignorance and error is in 2 Corinthians 4. Turn there with me. I want you to see this. This is one of the ways this image of light and darkness is used in Scripture; 2 Corinthians 4. As Paul talks about his ministry to the Corinthians, his ministry of the gospel, he says in verse 3:

If our gospel is veiled [again, this is 2 Corinthians 4, if our gospel is veiled], it is veiled to those who are perishing [and here's why, verse 4], in whose case the god of this world [that is, Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving [they have spiritual darkness] so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [So he pictures their ignorance of the truth of the gospel as darkness and the gospel truth as the light. He goes on to say, verse 5] For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.

By the way, notice the essence of Paul's mission, his gospel message, is to preach the Messiah Jesus as Lord, as Master. Verse 6: "For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness…'" Here he's talking about the original creation. You go back to Genesis 1, what happens? There's darkness, remember? And God says, "Let there be [what?] light and there was light." Paul says just like that happened back in creation, that same God "is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

In other words, he's saying, "It took the same divine act, the same divine act of creation, the same divine theot 'Let there be light' in every human heart." The fact that you this morning understand the truth, have comprehended the truth, that the ignorance and error of whatever it was you embraced before you came to Christ has been dispelled is because God says, 'Let there be light.' And here, he juxtaposes the darkness of our previous ignorance and error, our misunderstanding of the gospel, our thinking we could justify ourselves, thinking we were good enough to get into heaven – whatever it was you believed. That darkness has been dispelled with the light of the truth of the gospel. That's one way the Bible uses this metaphor of light and darkness – truth against error and ignorance.

But a second way this metaphor is used in Scripture is light is holiness or moral purity and it dispels the darkness of evil and sin. So in one case, it's truth versus error or ignorance; in this second case, it is purity and holiness versus sin. Turn to John 3. John 3, of course, has the most famous verse in all the Scripture in verse 16, but just a couple of verses later our Lord makes a profound point; verse 19 – in fact, let's start at verse 18:

He who believes in Him [that is, in Christ] is not judged; but he who does not believe has been judged already, [in other words, he's already been found guilty and he's just waiting for the sentence to fall. Why?] because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [What a crime it is for God to have sent His Son to rescue sinners and for us as sinners to sit on the sidelines and say, "Well I don't know. I'm still thinking about that" or "I don't think so. I want to live my own way." God says, "If that's your verdict, you've already been judged and you're just waiting for the sentence." Verse 19.] This is the judgment, that the Light [this is now, notice, capital L. This is Christ as Light, the Light] has come into the world [this is about Christ in His incarnation], and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. [The reason they wanted to stay in the darkness is because darkness represents evil. It represents sin and their love of it. Verse 20] For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. [Everyone who does evil truly hates the Light; that is, Christ, the manifestation of the light. And he doesn't come to the Light that is Christ for fear that his deeds will be exposed. So here you see the juxtaposition then; verse 21 continues] But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

So here's the juxtaposition of these two issues. On the one hand, you have the light of holiness and purity that is Christ and describes those as well that come to Him. And on the other side, you have the darkness – sin and evil and those who love it.

Now it's this second sense of the metaphor that is the primary emphasis back in Ephesians 5. Turn back there. Paul's primary point in Ephesians 5:8 is this - if you are in Christ, you have experienced a radical change in your nature: "You were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord." You are no longer dominated by the darkness of a life of sin, but you now live in an increasing pattern of holiness. That's Paul's primary point in verse 8. You're different. Live like it. You are not the person you used to be. You were darkness. You were sin and evil incarnate. And now you are light. You are purity. You are holiness. You are set apart to God.

You say, 'How did this radical change happen? I don't necessarily feel like this always so why and how did it happen?' Well, notice verse 8, the key phrase in verse 8: ". . . in the Lord." We have become light because of our union with Jesus Christ because we are in Him; that is, because He is our representative and because He is Light, we get the benefit of His light, and because it's as if there were a divine umbilical cord from Christ to us through which all of the blessings of God flow to us. So we are light because He is Light.

You know, it's not surprising that this would come to us through Christ. Zacharias, you remember, the father of John the Baptist? When he heard he was going to give birth to the forerunner of the Messiah, you remember how he referred to the Messiah in Luke 1? He prophesied that the Messiah would:

"To SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS

AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH,

To guide our feet into the way of peace."

Jesus came to give light so it's not surprising then that we have become light in Him. This radical change in our nature happens at the moment of our conversion. When we were placed into Christ, we stopped being darkness and our nature became light. Isn't that what Colossians 1:13 says? "For He [God] rescued us [speaking of our salvation, God rescued us] from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son [the kingdom of light]."

In 1 Peter 2:9, we're called "A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him [listen] who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." That day when you heard the gospel and you really heard it for the first time, when the Holy Spirit was in the truth, the Father was calling you through that truth irresistibly to Himself. He was calling you out of darkness into marvelous light.

So that's the change in our nature. And in the rest of verse 8, Paul gives us a command to live consistent with that new nature. Look at verse 8 again: "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light." As we've already seen in the book of Ephesians, walk is a common metaphor for a pattern of life, patterns of behavior. And here it's, it's in the present imperative. It's a present-tense command: "be continually walking as children of Light." This should be your habit of life. You are light – live like it. As one translation puts it, "Live like those who are at home in the daylight." Don't go back to the deeds of darkness. Paul is in context here saying that our sexual behavior must conform to our new identity in Christ. How we conduct ourselves with the gift of human sexuality given to us by God should be like those who live in the daylight and not like those who love the dark. It should match the light we have become.

In fact, folks, this is a test. This is a test of whether we have truly come to know God. Turn over to 1 John, 1 John chapter 1. John brings this test up immediately in his letter as he presents tests of eternal life; verse 5, 1 John 1:

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light [He is complete and total purity, holiness], and in Him there is no darkness [no, none] at all. [Verse 6] If we say that we have fellowship with Him [that is, we've really come to know Him, that we know God through His Son, Jesus Christ] and yet walk [as a pattern of life] in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Here's a test. Where are you walking? Is your life characterized by the deeds of darkness? Is that how you could best be described? Then don't claim that you have fellowship with God; that is, don't claim that you know God. Don't claim you're a Christian. It can't happen. John says you might say that you have fellowship with Him. You might say, "Well, look, you know. I had an experience when I was young. I prayed a prayer. I felt a good feeling. I know that something happened. I had some sort of vision." Whatever. You might say that, but if you say it and walk in the darkness, then he says you are lying and you are not practicing the truth. "But [verse 7] if we walk in the Light [that is, as a pattern of life, we are walking in deeds characterized by the daylight, then] as He Himself is in the Light [that is, Christ], we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." We have fellowship with the Father, fellowship with the Son if as a pattern of life, we are walking consistently with the Light.

Now go back to Ephesians 5. What exactly does it look like to live a life characterized by light in the context of Ephesians 5? Well, notice in verse 9 Paul explains in a little parenthesis. He explains the character of a life of light: "(for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth)," You see, when we truly walk in the Light, we will not live a life of sexual sin because that is completely contrary to our new nature, the new person we've become.

So how does a child of the Light live? Well, it produces fruit in our lives. Notice what he says in verse 9. By the way, compare that with verse 11: ". . .the unfruitful (works or) deeds of darkness." When we're in Christ, when we're truly now light, that light produces fruit. When the Spirit is present - Galatians 5 - He produces fruit. When the Light characterizes our lives here in Ephesians 5, that Light produces fruit in us. That shouldn't surprise us. That's what happens with any plant. If you have a garden or you have flowers in your yard, you have potted plants inside your apartment, whatever it might be, you have to expose those plants to the light. Only when they're exposed to adequate light are they going to produce the fruit that they were intended to produce, whether it's flowers or some kind of fruit that you can eat. The same thing is true for believers. Where there is Light, there will be fruit.

Now, what is the fruit that the Light produces in our lives? Notice Paul lists three qualities that are the fruit or product of our now being Light in the Lord. It will mean, if we are truly Light in the Lord, it will mean a life - notice verse 9 - a life full of all that is good and all that is right and all that is true.

First of all, ". . . all goodness." This refers to moral and spiritual goodness. It's the opposite of malice or evil. Rather than doing people evil, if you're truly changed, you will do them good. Romans 15:14; Paul says, ". . . I am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness." Third John 11: "The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God." So there's goodness. Where there's true Light, where a person's been changed, there will be a concern for other people, a desire to do them good.

"And [all] righteousness", verse 9 says - the word righteous literally means to conform to a standard. Here it means doing what is right in how we treat others. And then he adds ". . . and [all] truth." This probably refers to truthfulness instead of lying and deception.

Now, why would Paul put those three qualities in the context of sexual sin? How do those three qualities contrast with a life of sexual sin? Well, think about it for a moment. Goodness is a generous concern for others. Sexual sin is a selfish concern only for myself and my own gratification. Righteousness treats others as God requires. Sexual sin mistreats others solely as objects of sexual desire and fulfillment. Truth is truthfulness or honesty in my relationship with others. Sexual sin is always accompanied by lying and deception. Paul's point is very clear. If a person's nature has been changed from darkness to light, he or she cannot live a life of darkness. Where there is light, darkness cannot exist. The two are mutually exclusive.

I often get up early. And prior to this morning's time change, you know, it was dark for some time after I got up. And so I would get up, get dressed and I would go to my office on the other end of the house and I'd be careful not to turn on too many lights because I didn't want to disturb everyone and wake others up. Even though it's dark, and I'm sure you have the same experience in your own home - even though it's dark, I know basically how many steps to get to the next wall before I hit it and when to turn. And when I get to my office, I know about how many steps across my office until I get to the desk lamp and I know where to reach and turn it on. And then I turn on the light. One moment, there is pitch-black darkness. And the next moment, there is light. When the light comes, it immediately displaces the darkness. Once the character or nature of that room has changed from darkness to light, it is impossible for it to be completely characterized by darkness again as long as there's light. There may be corners of the room that aren't as bright, but the room is either dark or light. It can't be both at the same time. Light and darkness are mutually exclusive. They cannot coexist.

Paul is saying, "Listen. It is impossible for us who are now Light in the Lord to continue to live a life of darkness." There can't be a light heart that's characterized by darkness. It's completely inconsistent with our new nature. As we read in 1 John 1:6: "If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness [are walking in the darkness], we lie and do not practice the truth." Paul says we are not to be partakers of sexual sin because our nature has changed. We are not the people we used to be.

In fact, notice Paul says, instead of living to please ourselves, now that we are children of light, we live for the pursuit of pleasing God. Notice that verse 9 is really a parenthesis. To capture the flow of Paul's argument, you need to read verses 8 and 10 without verse 9:

For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light . . . trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

Grammatically, the word trying is a participle. It modifies the verb walk. It tells us how to walk as children of Light. Walk trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Trying to learn is one Greek word. It's a word that can describe either the act of testing or examining something or the results of that examination. Here it's the act of testing or examining. Paul is saying, "Listen. As believers, if we're going to walk as children of Light, we are to examine, to test, to evaluate our circumstances in our hearts to determine the course of action that will be most pleasing to our Lord." You can't continue to walk in darkness because now that you've been changed. Children of Light walk and their goal in life is trying to please the Lord, the One who gave them life and light. This word appears in Romans 12:2 where we're told that by giving ourselves as a living sacrifice ". . . by the renewing our minds, so that you may prove [that is, we can test or examine] what the will of God is." This is the great goal of our lives; 2 Corinthians 5:9, Paul says, "Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home [that is, in the body] or absent [that is, with the Lord], to be pleasing to Him."

Now in the context of Ephesians 5, Paul here is talking about learning how to pursue a life of sexual purity that will please the Lord. That's how we're to walk. By the way, he makes exactly this same point over in 1 Thessalonians. Turn over to 1 Thessalonians 4. Paul makes exactly this same point – that we should pursue sexual purity as a way of pleasing God, pleasing our Lord; 1 Thessalonians 4:

Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more [now how do we walk and please God? Well] . . . you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus [and here's the main point he wants to make]. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; [Here's how you can please God. Pursue holiness. Abstain from sexual immorality. Verse 4] that each of you know how to possess his own vessel [here, probably a reference to our own bodies, each of you know how to possess his own body] in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no [Christian person] man transgress and [watch this] defraud his brother in this matter [that is, in sexual issues. Why? The end of verse 6 is chilling.] because the Lord is the avenger in all these things [that is, when you defraud someone sexually when you're involved in sexual sin, the Lord is the avenger in all these things], just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. [And if you're wondering whether you should take this seriously, read verse 8.] So he who rejects this [all that I'm telling you here about sexual purity] is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

Learn how to please God by walking in sexual purity. That's what it means to walk in the Light. Pursue sexual purity. Pursue holiness in this area of life. Possess your own vessel in sanctification and honor. This pleases God. And if you defraud someone in this way, if you take advantage of someone sexually, in sexual sin, God says, "He's the avenger." And if you disregard this all together, understand that you are rejecting not me, not Paul; you're rejecting God Himself. This is His will. This is what pleases Him.

Maybe you're here this morning and you find yourself in the darkness. I mean, you genuinely have to admit that you are ignorant of God's Word and God's ways or that your life is characterized by sin, perhaps sexual sin or perhaps some other sin – that you are living, as Scripture would describe it, in the darkness. What do you do? Well, there's hope for you. There's good news. Alfred Edersheim was a great historian of the times of Christ, a man who converted to Christ and wrote a number of books. And he describes in one of his books an amazing ceremony that was part of the annual Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, Sukkot as it's called today. It was a ceremony called the Illumination of the Temple.

Edersheim writes that at the close of the first day of that great feast, the worshipers all gathered in the Court of the Women, just outside the place where the altar was. And there were four huge golden candelabras that were set in that area. Each of them, eyewitnesses tell us, were as tall possibly as the tallest walls of the temple, maybe as high as seventy-five feet, twice the height of this room, the ceiling in this room. Each candelabrum had four golden bowls on it and each bowl held seventeen gallons of oil. That evening at the feast, four young priests would carry oil up to those bowls and they would fill each of those bowls with oil. And then they would light huge wicks that were made of carefully soaked and twisted clothes of the priests - old worn-out clothes of the priests – making these huge wicks going up out of these huge bowls of oil. And then they would light them. Those who witnessed the lighting said there wasn't a single house in Jerusalem that wasn't lit by the huge flames that leaped up in the night air from those massive lamps. And then the Mishnah records that men of piety and good works danced before the people with flaming torches in their hands and they sang hymns and songs of praise, the Levites with harps and lutes and cymbals and trumpets and instruments of music without number - a great celebration as those four huge candelabras each with four great lamps was lit. This ceremony was to remember when God's presence, like a great pillar of fire, had led the Israelites through the wilderness.

It was the morning after that great celebration that Jesus stood in that very spot with those great candelabras all around Him and He said this: "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." Your only hope this morning is, your only hope to leave the darkness, your only hope to have the darkness in your soul dispelled, to leave a life characterized by darkness is to follow the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. Then you will not walk in darkness, but you will have the Light of life. Let's pray together.

Father, thank You for this compelling passage of Scripture, for the reminder that we are not what we used to be. By Your grace, we are now light because we follow the One who is Light, who has given us life and light and all things. Father, help us to walk as children of Light. Help us to remember when we're tempted to sin that we are radically different than we used to be, that we are no longer children of the dark, children of the shadows, but that we are now children of the Light.

Father, I pray for the person here this morning who still lives in darkness, in the shadow of death. Father, this morning, may they respond to the invitation Christ offered at that great feast. May they see Him as their only hope of light and life, that He is the Light that lights the world, and that if they will commit to follow Him, they will no longer walk in darkness, but You will make them new, You will make them light. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.