Living as Children of Light: Exposing Darkness

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Paul has said don't share in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them show that they are wrong and then he gives an argument an argument that looks strange because the argument says because expose them because it is shameful even to speak of them the things that they do in secret. [00:00:37]

When you live the light they're manifest, I think that's the way it works, and what I think he means by the light is you are light, and when you as children of light bear the fruit of light it's goodness in your life and righteousness in your life and truth in your life and those are the light. [00:03:09]

Expose the works of darkness, we saw that those were immorality, I'm back at verse three now in chapter five, morality, impurity, covetousness, things like that, filthiness, foolish talk, crew joking, when you're done with those expose them because they're they're so evil they need to be exposed so evil you shouldn't talk about them. [00:04:08]

We were once darkness but are light that's the closest analogy to what is manifested is light you are light and so some interpreters take this all to mean not the unfruitful works of darkness but the Paul has shifted gears and is now talking about people and that when people are brought into the light they become light. [00:05:35]

Shame is a new idea that has come in to Paul here he hasn't mentioned that yet and I want to draw your attention to how many different arguments Paul uses because I don't want you to be swept away by anybody who focuses on one of these kinds of motivations and not the others so here they are. [00:08:12]

Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience therefore don't become partners so argument number three is you're gonna get wrath you don't just get excluded from the kingdom and you don't just act improperly you come under the wrath of God. [00:09:32]

Shame assumes an honor in the human soul it it assumes a kind of dignity it assumes a kind of integrity it assumes a kind of respectability and when you do something that is shameful which is what Paul says it is to even speak about these unfruitful works of darkness when that happens you lose honor you lose dignity. [00:12:23]

What's wrong is that they're defective in light this light has not penetrated deeply enough into their souls they're not saturated enough with the light of Christ to develop a kind of sensibility that they can tell when their appropriate honor and dignity integrity and respectability in Christ is being besmirched and trampled upon. [00:14:00]

Paul multiplies motivations for right living and we shouldn't limit him to just one and if we find that this one is alien to us and we don't quite know what it's like to be shamed by speaking of evil we've got some work to do on our souls. [00:14:35]

The opposite of shame is glory and the sickness of the human heart is that we consider it glorious I mean think of all the kinds of immoralities in which people boast the kind of immodesties in which they boast in movies and television we've lost our capacities to feel shame so shame assumes an honor in the human soul. [00:12:04]

If you're in a group discussing this right now turn it off and say let's talk about shame for a minute what is something that is shameful what does the word shame add to all these other motivations and I would suggest that shame let's just pick up over here in Philippians 3 19 to get an idea. [00:11:09]

I think a key to figuring out what Paul means when he argues for exposing by discouraging us from speaking about them is to notice this and which is part of the argument it's got two parts let's read them together see if it solves the problem for it's shameful even to speak of the things they do in secret. [00:01:53]

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