Ephesians 5:11-14 “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Pastor Herk continued in his Sunday Sermon series through the Pauline Epistle of Ephesians, stating that God sometimes gives us a “wake-up call”, to pay attention where Christian life-focus is faded or obstructed. This passage (above) is a wake-up call for Christians to be light in a world walking in darkness. Sometimes, distracted Believers do not pay attention to the subtle ways that the Lord nudges and calls our attention. At times, the children of God need to get our minds off the problems, temptations, distractions and busyness which we are fixated on, wake up and concentrate our focus on their heavenly Father, who really is in control of all things. Christ-followers view what is going on around us in this world through the view of God’s holy Word, Will and Way.
The Lord God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth, is in the resurrection business. In Isaiah 26:19the Prophet pronounces, “But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise—let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy—your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.” Isaiah 60:1-2 declares, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.” Jesus proclaimed in John 5:24, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” In Romans 6:13 the Apostle instructs Christians, “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.”
In John 8:12 Jesus asserts, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” is a WAKE-UP call. How little the fallen world with its sinful desires has changed over time, so the same wakeup call is applicable today. The Apostle writes in Romans 13:11-12, “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
Revelation 1:8,17-18, 3:1-3 affirms, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.”
This is a common wake-up call to all followers of Jesus Christ, as they all have the same flesh issue on this side of eternity. Galatians 5:16-17, 24-25 says, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Remember the light!
Let's continue Pastor Herk's wake-up message in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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