Ephesians 5:8-14

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:  “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

• The believer is to walk as a child of Light

1 Thessalonians 5:4-6 – “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.  You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober (self controlled).” 

• Light bears the things of life – the Fruit of the Spirit.  Just as plant life requires the light to produce, so when we have the light of Jesus Christ in our heart, we should bear fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

• Light changes things – Even a small light in a dark room will brighten the room, will allow you to see.  When we allow the light of God into our lives, we can see the areas in our own life where we need to change.  We can show the world what it means to be a child of God.

Psalm 119:105 – Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Matthew 5:14-16 – You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

• Light always chases away darkness.  

John 1:5 – And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

• Light comes from a source – that source is Jesus.  Just as our light comes from the sun, so we will find our source of light in Jesus.

John 8:12 –  Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

In order to obtain that light from Christ, we need to be awake.

Luke 21:34 – But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

1 Thessalonians 5:4-7 – But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

James 1:22-25 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.