Open your Bibles please to Ephesians chapter 5, the 5th chapter of the book of Ephesians. I'm going to read three verses from Ephesians chapter 5 beginning at verse 8. If you'll follow along please as I read Ephesians chapter 5, verse 8. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord." The theme for the message is walking as children of light. Father in heaven, stamp with Thine own divine approval this reading of Thy Word. Put your blessing upon this whole Missions Conference emphasis that we've had these last few days. And I pray that hearts and lives will be changed in this assembly and that you will raise up out of this church others to pick up the banner of light and begin a walk as a child of light wherever that walk may take them. Bless, I pray, our time together. In Jesus' name, Amen. The year was 1970, 47 years ago. The first March of Dimes walk-a-thon was held. It's been an annual event since then. Its purpose was to stamp out, at that time, infantile paralysis, sometimes known as polio. It began back in the late 30s with President Roosevelt, who, as many of you know, was stricken with polio. And so there sprang up in this country a desire to do what they could to stamp out polio, and it's been eradicated, thank God. I remember well when Jonas Salk came up with the Salk vaccine and Judy and I and all of our children took a little sugar cube with a drop of the vaccine on it and it's pretty much gone. Polio is essentially no longer a problem here in the United States. Well, the idea took hold and it took off. And so they've had a walk-a-thon every year since then. It is now the Walk America and it is the March for Babies since polio has been eradicated. And it became the premier walking event that matched the widespread popularity of the original March of Dimes fundraisers of the 1940s. Getting people to walk To raise money for charity by walking is popular and it is widespread. Here are some of the better known walk-a-thons that go on annually. The Walk to End Alzheimer's. The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The American Heart Association Heart Walk. Walk to Stop Diabetes, St. Jude Heroes for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Buddy Walk for National Down Syndrome Society. Here in Hendersonville back in September we had a walk-a-thon to end hunger and there was also an end Alzheimer's march back in September of this year. The walk-a-thon had its genesis in the Greek marathon. A marathon is a race of about 26 plus miles. You all know about the Boston Marathon. The word marathon comes from the legend of a Greek runner by the name of Philippides or Pheidippides, depending on who you consult. The legend says that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon, 26 miles away from Athens, to report that the Athenians had won. That took place in September or August of the year 490 BC. And it's said that he ran the entire distance and he burst into the assembly and said, we have won. And he collapsed and died there on the spot. Now, the walk-a-thon mentioned in our text admonishes Christians to walk as children of light. We might call it the send the light walk-a-thon. The Greek text literally reads, as children of light walk. Now that's simple, isn't it? That's easy to understand. The verb is a plural present tense active imperative. And the Greek scholars among us know exactly what that means. Christians are to be always walking the walk. Not just you, all of you. We're to be active, not passive. And it is a command from God. It is an imperative It's in the present tense. Our Christian walk is not 26 miles. Our Christian walk is not an annual thing, but it's a daily thing. It's every day we are to be walking as children of light. And the goal in walking as children of light is to be a beacon of light in a very dark world. Ephesus was a dark place. The world around us is a dark place. Paul tells the Christians in Ephesus that at one time they were dead. in trespasses and in sins. Ephesians 2, verses 1 and 5. They formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the children of disobedience. Ephesians 2 and verse 2. The environment in which we lived is characterized by the word darkness. Our present state Our new situation, our standing in the sight of God, is that of light. Inexpressible light. Our Savior said, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Lord Jesus, who said that He was the light of the world, also said, ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Matthew 5 and verse 14. In verse 16, the Lord said, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. The apostle Paul teaches us this, Ye are all children of light, children of the day. We're not of the night, nor of darkness. Peter also, ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him that called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now, planet Earth is populated by just two groups. There are two people groups, alive and well, on planet Earth today. Saved and unsaved. Two families. Either God is your father or ye are children of the devil. You're either a child of disobedience, characterized by obstinance, rebellion, Disobedience, known as children of disobedience in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2. Or you're a child of the light, Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 8. A follower of God as described in verse 1. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. We humans live in one of two dominions. The dominion of Satan, also known as the kingdom of darkness. described by Paul as people walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, or, or we have a new place to live, a kingdom of perpetual light, the dominion of our Savior and King Jesus, who is our sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as children of light, we're to be characterized by a walk that is the polar opposite of the way the world is going. They're going one direction and you're going another direction. You are in a distinct minority. The world Heading down that broad road that leads to destruction. But also there is a narrow road that leads to life everlasting. And few there be that find it, Scripture says. I've identified 15 different ways we're to be walking. We're to walk in newness of life. Romans chapter 6 and verse 4. We are to walk honestly, Romans 13 and verse 13. We are to walk charitably, Romans 14 and verse 15. We're to walk by faith, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. We are to walk in the Spirit, Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16. We are to walk worthy of our vocation, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1. We're not to walk as other Gentiles walk, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 17. We are to walk in love, Ephesians 5, verse 2. We are to walk as children of light, Ephesians 5, verse 8. We are to walk circumspectly, Ephesians 5, verse 15. And we are to walk in wisdom, Colossians 4, verse 5. We are to walk in the light, 1 John 1, verse 7. We are to walk as He walked. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 6. We're to walk in truth. 2 John and verse 4. We're to walk after His commandments. 2 John verse 6. So you see, the Bible has a lot to say about how we are to be walking, doesn't it? I found it interesting that of these 15 different ways we're supposed to be walking, fully five of them, one third, are found in the book of Ephesians. This was a place that was an ungodly place. They worshipped Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians. And all that went into that temple worship and then idolatry was something that really doesn't need to be discussed in a mixed audience. It was just a dreadful place, a dark place. And so Paul tells these Christians who are living in this dark place, here is how you are to be walking. You're to walk worthy of your vocation. You're not to walk as other Gentiles walk. You're to walk in love. You're to walk as children of light. And you are to walk circumspectly. So a lot is said in Scripture about how we are to be walking. Ephesus was a place given over to idolatry and wickedness, much like the country in which we live today. Now look at the verse, verse 8. The text says, For ye were sometimes darkness. Not just in darkness, you were darkness. We live in a dark place. Isaiah 60 and verse 2, Behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. Romans chapter 1 and verse 21, describing the people of Paul's day. When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. That was a description of Paul's day. What about us? Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11 and 12. Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, which are called uncircumcision, by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. Listen to this description folks. This is you. This is us before we got saved. B.C. Before Christ. At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Having the understanding darkened, Ephesians 4 and verse 18, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their John Eady, a 19th century Scottish theologian, explains, quote, darkness is the emblem and region of ignorance and depravity and in such a miserable condition they were once, end of quote. For ye were sometimes darkness... Charles Hodge comments on this. He says darkness stands for ignorance. Such ignorance as inevitably produces sin. And sin produces misery. Therefore the expression, ye were darkness, means that ye, that is we, were ignorant, polluted, and wretched, Hodge says. Men loved darkness. John chapter 3 and verse 19, this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Paul says in verse 11, we're to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but we are rather to reprove them. And that's easy for you to do if you'll just make it a point to stay on that narrow road going up against the great mob of people that are coming this way. The world who is in darkness and here you are a little beacon of light heading in the opposite direction. In chapter 6 and verse 12, Paul said, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Jude has an apt description of the apostates of his day. He called them raging waves of the sea. foaming out their own shame, wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. The blackness of darkness, not the darkness of blackness. What do you mean? There were a couple of Presbyterian pastors in the 16th century. One was named John Welsh, and another was John Forbes. By the way, you can read a biography of John Welsh on Google Play. It's free. I like the books that are free. Is it my Scottish heritage? I don't know. But, you know, free is good. Most of the books that I want to read are free or 99 cents. So I'm thankful for the technology that's available today. Well, Welsh and Forbes were in prison with some fellow prisoners in Blackness Castle. You can Google Blackness Castle, it'll come up, a beautiful site on the shore of the Firth of Forth in Scotland. They were waiting to appear before the court in Linlithgow, and they received a letter from a godly woman. Lady Melville of Culross. You might want to Google her sometime. A well-known poet. And she wrote to them and bade them to be thankful that they were only in the darkness of blackness and not in the blackness of darkness. You see, they were in a dungeon and it was dark. There was a little hole that was 4 inches by 14 inches that allowed light at certain times of the day when the sun would shine just right to come into their cell. It was dark. That's where Welsh and Forbes were imprisoned for daring to speak out against James VI, the King of Scotland. The darkness of blackness, not the blackness of darkness. That's what the verse says. Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Now look at the verse again. Look carefully. Verse 8. For ye were sometimes darkness. You see those second two words in the verse come just after the word for? Say them together with me. Ye were. One more time. Ye were. Wake up everybody. One more time. Ye were. They come, pastor, they come emphatically forward in the Greek text. That's the verb right there, at the beginning of the verse. Ye were! Not ye are. Ye were. That was then. This is now. Ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord. But now, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Romans 6 22, but now being made free from sin and become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and everlasting life. 1 Peter chapter 2, in verse 10, which in time past were not a people, but now are the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now had obtained mercy. That's shouting ground, Brother Leroy. I know you're best, doing your best trying to hold it back, right? Ye were, not ye are. Look at, go back to chapter 2, drop down to verse 11. Wherefore, remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, which are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." I'm reading the verses again on purpose. See the second word in that verse 11? Remember, sometimes folks, it's a good exercise to do as the founder at Bob Jones University used to say to the preacher boys class. Get alone. Get yourself a chair. Sit yourself down in the chair and just take a good look at yourself. Remember what you were. Now if you'll do that little exercise, Now some of you have been saved from an early age. That's not true of the person you're looking at this afternoon. I was 17 when I got saved. I was growing up in Southern California, life in the fast lane. On my way to hell. One of my very best friends, before they were popular, my very best friend went down to Tijuana and he picked up a whole bag full of Spanzels, Dexedrine and Benzedrine, and smuggled them back across the border into California. That was the lifestyle that I was living. You would not recognize me if you saw me as I was then. I had seven-inch ducks, and you don't even know what those are. Leroy does. Okay, now get this. Pomade, you don't even know what that is. You get some pomade, you rub it in your hair, and the hair on the side here was seven inches long. And you comb it back in the back like a duck tail. And right here in the front, you comb this point up to a little point like this so it kind of sticks out like that in front of your face. Unbelievable. But that's what I was. I went back to my 25th high school reunion. And the attitude of all of my friends was, who are you? And what have you done with Dayton Walker? You see, I'd gotten saved. And that's what I was. And that's all they remembered. Because I didn't get saved until after I was out of high school. They just knew me then. But now, What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. Oh, my friend, sometimes it's a good exercise just to remember. Take a few minutes and remember what you once were. The text says ye were, sometimes darkness, but now your children of light. John Calvin says this, you ought to be very different persons from what you formerly were, for out of darkness God hath made you light. End of quote. That's from Calvin's commentary on Ephesians. Now, I am, I love audio books. I have an account with audible.com. Judy and I are listening now to Pilgrim's Progress and we're listening to the second part. Most people stop with the first part and they don't ever read the second part about Christiana and her four sons, James and Matthew and whatever their other names were, the four boys who all got saved and now they're on pilgrimage to the celestial city having left the city of destruction. And they're accompanied by their guide. A man called Great Heart. By the way, we have a guide here at Grace Baptist Church sitting right over here, Mr. Great Heart. And it is his job, just like Great Heart in the allegory, to provide guidance for the people of God as we're on our way to the celestial city. And where does he do it? He does it in the house called Beautiful. And that's this building right here. So in the valley of humiliation in the first part, Christian was hard put to it. He'd gone but a little way when he saw a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him, whose name was Apollyon. And Apollyon said, Whence come you, and whither are you bound? I am come from the city of destruction, which is the place of all evil, and I am going to the city of Zion. Apollyon said, By this I perceive that thou art one of my subjects, for all that country is mine, and I am the prince and god of it. How is it then that thou hast run away from thy king? Were it not that I hoped thou mayest do me more service, I would strike thee now down to the ground. The Christian said, I was indeed born in your dominion, but your service was hard. and your wages, such as a man could not live on. For the wages of sin is death. Therefore, when I was come to years, I did as other prudent persons do. I looked out, if perhaps I might mend myself. And then Christian said, I have given him my faith, sworn my allegiance to him. How then can I go back from this and be hanged as a traitor? What I promised thee was before I came of age, and besides, I count that prince under whose banner now I stand is able to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee. And then Christians said this, Besides, O destroying Apollyon, to speak truth, I like his service, his wages, His servants, His government, His company, and His country better than thine. And then they went to it. And the battle was fierce. And Christian was wearing the armor that God had given him through the house beautiful. But he was still about to be bested but then he remembered he had the sword of truth in his hand and he smoked the devil with such a blow that he was defeated for a time. Folks, that's what we were and now that's what we are. We were children of darkness but now we are children of light. We are to be walking as children of light. Listen to these words from a former slave trader, a slave of slaves, who found himself in a South Seas island as a slave. His name was John Newton. He says, I'm not what I ought to be. I'm not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be. in another world. But still, I am not what I once used to be." Is that true of you, my friend? I am not what I once used to be. And by the grace of God, Newton said, I am what I am. And we sing a song by him just all the time. It's such a popular song. We all know it by heart, Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. was blind, but now I see. Sing that first stanza, will you? Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, But now am found, was blind, but now I see. You were once darkness, but now children of light. And the Apostle makes the application for us in verse 10. Look at the text again. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth." And here's the application, verse 10. Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. Putting it to the test. The Lord said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Here's the goal of the Christians' Send the Light walk-a-thon. all that is good, all that is right, all that is true. In his commentary on Ephesians, Kent Hughes says this, how beautiful, impeccable character is. First, goodness, which speaks something like generosity. Then, righteousness, which means integrity. in all dealings with God and man. And finally, truth, the absence of falsehood and deception. These are the ethics of light. When the light of Jesus is refracted through the prisms of our lives, there will be sanctifying shades of life for others to see. Walk as children of light. Now let me give you a good clue on how to do that, okay? Psalm 119, verse 130. The entrance of thy words giveth light. The entrance of thy word giveth light. Easy enough. Hughes said this. We need to open our Bibles and allow God's truth to illumine our eager faces with goodness and righteousness and truth. If you want to shine in the night, keep in the light with Christ. interesting illustration that Hughes gives in his book. He told this story about a man returning from a journey and he had brought his wife a matchbox that would glow in the dark. After giving it to her, she turned out all the lights, but the matchbox could not be seen. It was nowhere to be found. Both of them said, we've been ripped off. We've been cheated. But there was something written on the box in French that neither of them knew. So they found somebody who speaks French and can read French and to translate the little statement that was written on the matchbox. And translated, it said this. If you want me to shine in the night, keep me in the light. So they put the matchbox out in the light of the sun, and then they brought it back in, turned out all the lights, and there it was glowing in the dark. He said, we need to spend time alone with Jesus, the light in prayer, exposing our lives like photographic plates to his presence so that his image, his character is burnt into ours. Now most of you have never heard of Harry Dixon Lowe's. I'm guessing nobody in this room has. Not very well known. His birth name was Harry Lowe's. He added Dixon later. He was a student at Moody Bible Institute, and the pastor of Moody Church was Dr. A.C. Dixon. Dr. A.C. Dixon was born not far from here in 1854 in Shelby, North Carolina, and he lived to the age of, until he died in 1925. He was a contemporary with Bob Jones, Sr., and they were fellow evangelists together fighting the fight back in the 20s of the last century. And the old dining common at Bob Jones University was known as the Dixon-McKenzie Dining Common, named for A.C. Dixon, the pastor of the Moody Church. So Harry Lowe's was a student there and he was going to church there and he just got a blessing from hearing this man preach and so he just adopted his name and took it as his middle name, Harry Dixon Lowe's. He was a student at Moody, also the American Conservatory of Music, the Metropolitan School of Music, Chicago Musical College. And I learned this from 1927 to 1939, he served in churches in Oklahoma in the town where I was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. From 1939 to his retirement, he served on the music faculty at the Moody Bible Institute. Now we have one song in our hymnal where he wrote the music. But all of you, everybody in this room, you know a song written by Harry Dixon Lowe's. You've all committed it to memory. You people taught it to your children. I never learned it as a child. I didn't get saved until I was 17. But we taught it to our children. And the version that you have is not the version that he wrote. We've made up a lot of stanzas to this song that we teach our children. But let me give it to you the way it was written originally. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Now we all know that stanza. Second stanza, everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine. Third stanza, Jesus gave it to me. I'm gonna let it shine. Now do you know the song? You taught it to your kids, right? Joshua could come up here and sing it if he would, but I don't think he will. But we'll sing it together, Joshua, okay? With everybody else. You ready? This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, everywhere I go. Everywhere I go. I'm gonna let it shine everywhere I go. I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Jesus gave it to me. Jesus gave it to me. I'm gonna let it shine. Jesus gave it to me. I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.