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>> Secondly, Paul says we need to walk in love. Verse 1 to verse 6 or chapter 5. Paul
gives the Ephesian believers a rather tall order. He urges them to imitate God. The reason
they need to do this is because they are his beloved children. As the old adage goes, like
father, like son. Under normal circumstance, children tend to imitate their parents. The
Ephesians are therefore asked to make God their role model, and as God's children, we
do have his nature in us and this will enable us to imitate him as we allow the nature of
Christ to be revealed and manifested through us. We need to be careful that we do not perpetuate
behaviors and mannerisms which are not befitting for the children of God.
And he quickly adds and points out to them that this kind of walk will desire or would
require that they live sacrificial lifestyles just like Christ lived a sacrificial lifestyle.
This is not cheap love but a very costly one. One has to be ready to pay the ultimate price
for it. Yet it is the road less traveled that Christ calls us also to walk.
I recently heard a comment that a Christian made in reference to their pastor. This believer
said, ‘Our pastor does not love us. He loves our money.’ What an indictment against a
minister of God. Unless we are willing to show the world a love that can be inconvenienced,
there is no way that we can touch the world and bring a transformation. With Christians
too busy competing with the Joneses, the Kamaus and the Patels, in the rat race for living,
sacrifice seems to be the last word in our vocabulary today. It is encouraging to know
that there are men and women of God who are laboring in very difficult circumstances.
Even here today, there are some of us who are making real sacrifice in the vineyard
where we have been called. God bless you, sir. God bless you, madam. Continue to do
the good work. May God help all of us not to reach out to the world with a long wooden
spoon that does not conduct but to feel their pain and to touch their lives where it really
matters.
As that early African church leader, Tertullian, once said, ‘The blood of the martyrs is
the seed of the church.’
It's interesting to note that immediately after a discussion on sacrificial love, Paul
quickly points out to counterfeit love. He draws the attention of the Ephesians to the
fact that they should abstain from every manner of *** immorality and impurity in a pagan
environment that was filled with fertility cults, where people were sometimes engaged
with temple prostitutes. Paul’s advice went strongly against the practice of the day.
For the world has always offered counterfeit love in the form of *** immorality. Our
days are not too different with the movie industry, churning out their versions of love
and the internet spewing out its own variety of erotomania. The believer who wants to walk
the straight and the narrow road finds themselves caught in a street in betwixt, whether to
be faithful or to compromise.
Statistics show that there is no significant difference in *** conduct between an average
college Christian student and their counterpart who is not a Christian. In some instances,
as high as 20% of those who regularly participate in Christian gatherings and activities are
also sexually active.
If what I know as a pastor to be true is actually true, of the number of people in illicit relationships,
some who struggle with internet ***, others who are deliberately living double
kind of lifestyle, some who are engaged in recreational sex, then the words of Paul are
not pronouncements from an itinerant scare-crow who means just to scare us, but should be
carefully attended to that these things must not even be named among us.
There may be some who are listening to the sound of my voice today who are actually ensnared
and are struggling. If you do not pay attention to the *** sin in your life, it will bring
you down. It is only a matter of time before you become a mere statistic of yet another
Christian leader who has been brought down by the greatest arsenal that the devil has
ever unleashed on the church. And none of us, including the man standing before you
here, is immune to this so don't deceive yourself. God in his grace is able to forgive and restore
those who sincerely turn back to him. So there is room for a second chance.
Thirdly, walk in the light. Chapter 5:7-14. As those who have been taught in Christ, they
should not participate in such immoral lifestyle. This is because they were once engulfed in
a kind of darkness, but now have been brought out into the light. As children of light,
therefore, they should walk in a manner that bears the fruit of light. He's urging them
not only to walk in a manner that is well informed but also in the way of holiness.
His readers are invited to come out of the shadowy ways of their former lifestyles and
be exposed to the life of Christ. Paul made a contrast between the fruit of light which
is pleasing to the Lord and the fruit of darkness which is too shameful even to mention. They
are to avoid the shameful ways as believers and embrace the pleasing ways of the Lord.
As a matter of fact, he brings out to their attention the fact that they should disclose
works of darkness. This is because cover-up will always lead to flare up, while disclosure
will always lead to healing and restoration.
Transparency is, therefore, not an option for the believer. It is mandatory. We need
to cultivate transparency in the way we handle relationships with members of the opposite
sex. Transparency in the ways that we handle our finances. Transparencies in the groups
that we actually associate and relate with. It is true that someone can prevent or rather,
present a public image while there are secret goings on in their lives that would bring
disrepute to the Gospel if they come to light. No one knows about them until one day there
is a leakage to the media. Then we're all surprised, the person we thought was someone
else is not actually who they said they were. Exposure is accountability. Exposure is repentance.
Like a stone that has been left lying for a long time, you turn it over and it's closer
to the light, then all kinds of creatures begin to crawl from underneath it and Christ
is able to shine on us and give life where there was no life at all when we expose ourselves
to his presence.
The East African revival popularized the phrase ‘walking in the light.’ The brethren,
as they called themselves, were known to use this phrase to refer to public confessions
and also to decisions that one was making in their lives. If you wanted to get married,
you would walk in the light by telling the brethren, ‘I actually intend to get married.’
Sometimes they would look for a wife for you. If you wanted to start a business, you would
walk in the light by telling them, ‘I want to start a business.’ If you're going on
a journey, you'll tell them, ‘I'm going on a journey,’ walk in the light.
But if you also fell in sin, you would also come and tell them openly I fell in sin. You
would walk in light. And sometimes there is a way of confronting a person who was not
walking in the light. Oftentimes a group of them would come together and be walking into
the bush to pray with one another. And because they would walk in the bush in a regular way
and at a particular point, there would be a well-marked pathway that would be leading
to the different prayer points where these friends would be meeting together to pray.
And if you missed your prayer point or prayer time for a long time, the brethren will approach
you and they will come to you and say, ‘Brother, we have noticed that there is grass growing
on your pathway.’
What that will mean, in essence, is telling you to return back to the familiar path. They
would be telling you to walk the road that you used to walk. They would be telling you
to walk the right path again. How about you? Friends, let us note that if there are issues
in your life where you have not been walking in the light, you are free to approach someone
even while we are in this Congress and share with them and tell them, please help me in
this area. I'm struggling with this issue.
Fourthly, Paul urges the Ephesians to walk in diligence. Chapter 5:15, all the way through
chapter 6:9. He advised the Ephesians to walk wisely and diligently or circumspectly. They
should also be redeeming the time, a language he uses in reference to buying the time or
seizing the opportunity. The picture given is that things will not remain the same all
the time. It's seasonal. Grab the opportunity that you have. The reason that Paul gives
is that we are living in evil days, where there is a need for us to understand the will
of God. And once we understand the will of God, we need to grab the opportunities that
come our way and let us not miss them.
The history of mission is marked by some great missed opportunities. At some point, the king
of Swaziland requested the churches to come together so that they would baptize him, an
activity that would change the whole nation. But the churches could not agree on who ought
to baptize the king, and they were not able to come together. Thus the king was not baptized,
the opportunity was gone.
In January next year we will have a referendum in the Sudan. We have three months left for
us and most likely Northern Sudan is going to become a fundamentalistic Islamic state
that will not allow Christianity to progress on, an opportunity that we’ve been watching
slowly passing by us.
Opportunities are not waiting. They are passing. Let us grasp them while there is still time.
But Paul brings out the idea that the Ephesians need to live the fullness of the Spirit. When
they live the fullness of the Spirit, it will have an impact in their Christian community.
It will also have an impact in their household.
First of all, an impact in the Christian community. Instead he recommends that they should not
be drunk with wine but rather, they should keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.
To be drunk with wine, actually Paul says, you are destroying yourself. When one is under
the influence of liquid spirits, it can lead to self destruction as opposed to one who
is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The latter will lead to joyous celebration.
In the fellowship, there should be making of melody and rejoicing in the Lord. Perhaps
this was written for Africans. That's why we like singing Jabulani Africa - Sing for
joy for Africa. We sing all the time. We sing when we're happy. We sing in funerals. We
sing at political rallies and we sing a lot in Christian gatherings.
But this is more than just normal singing. It is not cultural singing. It is singing
and celebration brought about by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart and in the
life of the individual. He urges us to celebrate the Holy Spirit, and Paul points out that
when we allow the Holy Spirit in our lives, then he will begin working in us and bring
transformation. And what a great, great need for the world today. Whatever version of the
fullness of the Spirit that you may subscribe to, it should produce inspiration, encouragement
and a manifestation of joy, especially in a time when there seems to be an exodus from
the church because it is viewed as boring. The fullness of the Spirit in the fellowship
might just glue some individuals to their seats. People are hungering for an encounter
with the supernatural and through the in-filling of the Holy Spirit, there will be a vibrancy
in the church that will draw even non-Christians into the church. Whatever version of the fullness
you ascribe to or subscribe to, get it. Get it with all your might.
[Applause] It will have impact in the household to the
extent that husbands will treat their wives aright. He uses a household code that is familiar
but it begins to make significant approach to what happens in the family. Husbands should,
therefore, show the sacrificial love that we talked about earlier on to their wives,
not just to their congregation and strangers. It is applied in detail in the case of the
husband-wife relationship compared to what exists between Christ and the church. Thus,
the marriage relationship ought to be a window through which people can look and they will
be able to see the relationship of Christ.
Even wives also need to respect their husband and in so doing, they will be able to honor
the Lord by respecting their husband. This is the call that we receive. A husband who
loves the wife can make them bloom like a flower. A wife who disrespects a husband can
make them begin to lose even respect in the community. You and I are called, therefore,
to manifest true life of the Spirit in our household.
As I conclude, the call, therefore, is to a journey into the heart of God, to walk the
newness of life. It is the call to walk in love. It is the call to walk in the light.
It is the call to walk in diligence. It is the call to distance ourselves from anything
that would mar our testimony and hinder our impact.
In a certain country, the law said you should not eat porcupines. An individual was found
hunting for a porcupine, and he was asked, ‘Don't you know what the law says?’ He
said, ‘I know what the law said. The law said don't eat porcupine. It does not say
don't hunt porcupine.’ He was found carrying a porcupine. He was asked, ‘Don't you know
what the law says?’ He said, ‘The law says you are not to eat a porcupine. It does
not say you should not carry a porcupine.’ He was found skinning a porcupine. He was
asked, ‘Don't you know what the law says?’ He said, ‘The law says don't eat a porcupine.
It does not say don't skin a porcupine.’ He was seen roasting a porcupine. He was asked,
‘Don’t you know what the law says?’ He said, ‘The law says don't eat a porcupine.
It does not say don't roast a porcupine.’ He was found tasting a porcupine. He was asked,
‘Don't you know what the law says?’ He said, ‘The law says don't eat a porcupine.
It does not say don't taste a porcupine.’ Unfortunately, he tasted the whole porcupine.
Might there are some of you who have tasted the whole porcupine. It started out as something
small, something little that you thought you could control. It has now taken over the whole
of your life and you need to bring it before the Lord.
Father, may you speak to our hearts and bring us before you, Lord, that you may be glorified
in us as you change and transform us into your image. In Jesus' name. Amen.