Ephesians chapter 5, we'll look or read verses 1 through 14. And we'll be focusing on verses 8 through 14. So Ephesians 5 verses 1 through 14, let's hear the word of the Lord. Therefore be imitators of God. as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness or foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving, For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not become partners with them. And then I'll text for this morning. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you again for the wonderful privilege that we have of hearing your word opened up. We thank you, Lord, for speaking to us, for giving us a word from you, for not leaving us to ourselves. We thank you for the abundance of grace that you've given us in Christ, and that your word, while it is a word of judgment and condemnation for those who remain in their sin, is a wonderful, gracious word that is calling us into the light and the gospel and grace of Christ. And we ask now, Father, that you would grant us your Holy Spirit to hear from you, from your word, help us again to apply these truths into our lives, Give us listening ears and attentive hearts, we pray, Father. And we ask that you would be gracious to us and forgive us for our sins, Father, and do the work that only you can do in each and every one of us. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. We live in a dark, fallen world. And this world is in desperate need of the light of Christ. What a terrible thing it is to walk in darkness, especially when you deceive yourself into believing that your darkness is light. It is our responsibility as children of light to expose the darkness and to rescue those who are perishing. Jesus spoke of Himself in John's Gospel as the light of the world, stating that all who come to Him would come out of that darkness and enjoy the freedom that comes with embracing the light of life. But profoundly, as he prepared to bodily leave this world to ascend to the Father, he also told his disciples that you are the light of the world. And as such, that light ought not to be hidden in a basket or tucked away in a corner somewhere as if it were to be a ministry unto itself. No, it is to be set in that place in the home that would shine the most light throughout the whole house, providing light for all who enter. Jesus has deposited his glorious, life-saving, darkness-shattering truth in us. And as such, we are called to be lights, lights that reflect His light all throughout this dark world. Last time, we considered Paul's stern warning to put off every form of sexual immorality, which we were told is actually idolatry and which permeates the very heart and atmosphere of this world, which is presently under the judgment of God and heading for certain destruction. God's wrath is set upon this world for such wicked atrocities as sexual immorality, because at the root of such sins, of such filthiness, is the gross reality of idolatry. And Christians, rather than partaking in the very darkness that covers this world like a thick blanket, ought to be lights that actually expose the darkness rather than contribute to it. They're to expose the darkness so that lost souls may be brought to the life-saving truth of Jesus Christ. And this is the theme now of the passage that we're considering for this morning. bridging into his charge to walk as children of light. Last time, we recall Paul concluded verse 7 with these words. He said, therefore, do not become partakers with them. Therefore, do not become partakers with those of the outside culture, with those of the heathen world, which has plummeted into the depths of all manner of sexual immorality. living a life of perpetual filthiness and uncleanness in the sight of God, and which has incurred the full measure of God's wrath because of their debauchery. And then verse 8, he says, for, don't become partakers with them, remembering, he says, for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Now, brother, notice for a moment the very specific identification of sexual immorality with darkness here. He says, for at one time you were darkness, even as they are presently in darkness. But that is no longer the case for the Christian. Now you are light in the Lord. Now look carefully as well at the way Paul has worded these statements. If you don't look at this carefully, you can miss something important here. Notice he does not say, for at one time you were in darkness, but now you are in the light of the Lord. Now that's a true statement. To say it that way would not be wrong, but that's not what Paul is saying here. He says, for at one time you were darkness. Not simply in darkness, you yourself were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Now what does he mean by this statement? What is the implication of Paul referring to us as those who were darkness and not just in darkness, as we see in the text? Paul means that in your fall in nature and Adam, your entire life was a declaration of pure darkness. That was what your life emitted at all times. You yourself were darkness, even by your best deeds, even by the good works that you've done, because we've done good things, even when we were not in Christ. But because those things were done outside of Christ, and not unto the motive of pleasing the God who created and designed us for His glory, because we were in a perpetual state of alienation from God, even the good things that we've done were actually darkness. They served no profitable purpose whatsoever to benefit the eternal good of a single soul or to bring glory to God. There are people in the world today who are philanthropists. They donate millions to all kinds of good causes. Some people just tend to be very good moral people on the outside. They tend to be clean from the standpoint of the world. But because of their separation from God and that their motivation is not unto the glory of God, they emit darkness. And in some ways, their darkness can be greater than those who are outwardly immoral in all kinds of ways because of their self-righteousness. We once contributed to the great eclipse of all true light. By your thoughts and words and actions, you left an aura of darkness everywhere you slept and sat and walked and moved. We were part of the depraved, eternally condemned package which is at war with God and destined for eternal judgment in hell. We were children of wrath, the Bible says, just like the rest. We were. darkness. And the unbelieving world which continues to drown itself in every form of immorality and idolatry is representative of that state within which you once had your soul planted. What we see today is very, it represents very clearly what we once, where we once were. We see our past in some ways and what we see continuing to happen around us in the present. But the Apostle Paul says, but now you were, but now you are light in the Lord. See, there's a change that took place. Having been rescued from your sin, having been brought into union with Christ, having been washed by the perfect and pure blood of Christ, you no longer emit that aura of darkness, but you now emit an aura of light. You now bear the marks of the redeemed, leaving an aroma of the glory of Christ wherever you go. You once left a stench of immorality and wickedness, but now you leave an aroma, a soothing aroma of the glory of Christ. You display the glory of redemption and of fellowship with God. And that travels through and actually now serves to expose the darkness. It shines a bright light in the darkness so that those who yet remain in darkness, those who yet remain in the state that we were once bound to, can behold the wonder of God's glory with the hope that they might turn and likewise be delivered out of their darkness as we were ours. You were darkness, but now you are light. And so by way of implications, Paul is saying, don't become partners with them. Because to do so would be to convey an aura of darkness rather than light, which is contrary to the glorious transformation that has taken place in you by virtue of your union with Christ, if indeed you have been united to Christ. If we're united to Christ, we have a new nature. And so we don't walk according to the dictates and demands of the old nature. That nature has died. And that's why Paul adds, therefore, walk, we talked about what walk means a few weeks ago, walk as children of light. walk as children of light. Now there are two assumptions given by this command, brethren. There are two things that come out of us when we hear that command from Paul when he says, therefore, as it were, he says, in light of that, where you are now, where you once were, but who you are in Christ, walk as children of light. The fact that he commands us to do that assumes two things. First, Paul uses the term children of light to remind us of our new birth in Christ, which ought to compel us to walk in keeping with our new family identity in the light. We have been recreated in Christ. We've been born again in Christ. We've been made new in Christ. We've been raised from the dead in Christ. All terms that express the reality of a new birth, of having been regenerated, and now being children of light. But then secondly, there's a second direct assumption here that Paul makes as well by giving us the command to walk then as children of light. The fact that Paul has to command us to walk in keeping with our new nature assumes that we can still walk contrary to that nature, doesn't it? In other words, even though we have the new nature, even though we've died with Christ, the fact that he commands us to walk in the light assumes that there must be the possibility that we can walk contrary to the light, even in the present. While it is unbecoming of us to do so, we can still exhibit darkness by walking according to the dictates of our former nature and not in keeping with the light of our new nature. In other words, brethren, We have the responsibility of doing all that is necessary to make use of the means of grace and the critical guidance of the Holy Spirit to continue to put to death the deeds of the body and to consistently walk in keeping with our new nature. This implies responsibility. You were this, you're now this, therefore walk like this. Why does Paul have to say walk like this? Unless the assumption is that we have a responsibility to walk like this and we can still walk in the ways that would reflect the dictates of our own nature. By way of illustration, we might think of a homeless orphan who has been rescued and adopted by a multimillionaire, maybe think of Little Orphan Annie, adopted by Daddy Warbucks. Now that little orphan can continue to wear rags and conduct himself or herself like a pauper, even after adoption, but to do so would be completely contrary to the identity that he has taken on in his new family. He has even taken his adoptive family's name. He's been giving access to every resource that belongs to the children of his new family. Now that's an illustration, but it's weak in some ways because for the Christian, the connection actually runs much deeper than that. We have been united to Christ. We're told that our old man has died with Christ. We have been raised up a new man in Christ, and the old nature is left behind, buried, and in the tomb. That's even more than that kind of an example that I sought to give you of the orphan. We owe No allegiance to the old man. And brethren, we are given everything in Christ to live as children of light and no longer of the darkness that wants to find us. We cannot use the old nature or struggle with temptation and sin, because we know we're not perfected, as excuses for walking in darkness. I'm not saying any of us will be perfect in this life. We won't. But I'm saying we cannot use the excuse because of the old man that we still walk in this kind of way. We can't use it. And so Paul commands, walk therefore as children of light. Walk in keeping with your new nature, taking full advantage of the privileges that you have been given as children of God and Christ. You have all the privileges of adopted children of God. Make use of them. Don't walk in darkness. You're already there. You know the misery. You know the emptiness. You know the hopelessness. You know the futility of those things that once ruled you. We know what those things bring about. We know the end result. We know they don't satisfy. Don't go back, Paul says, to that filthy vat of vomit when you have full access to freely enjoy all of the sweet fruits that come in Christ, who is our tree of life. On verse nine. Paul then provides a parenthesis, a parenthetical statement, defining those fruits in general terms, which unlike sexual immorality, right, he's in the context of sexual immorality here still, which he's relating to darkness, but there are fruits that are consistent then with walking in the light. And so he adds, in parentheses we see it here, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. Some good general categories there. All that is good and right and true would be a summation of all that is God honoring in accordance with the scriptures. That's why Paul, following the parenthesis, says, he adds, and tried to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Try to discern, try to understand, to unlock, to discover, to meditate upon, to gain wisdom in what the scriptures teach about what is pleasing to God. Walking as children of light, therefore, entails not simply putting off what is wicked and evil. We've seen this throughout our put off. Furthermore, it implies replacing all vices with God-honoring virtues that are good and right and true. And we are called to identify, then, all that is good and right and true by seeking to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. We should be spending our lives as we live life, we should also be spending our lives seeking to understand more and more and grow more and more in understanding what is pleasing to the Lord. Now, we've already considered some such things over the last several weeks as godly replacements for the vices that we've considered. All the put-ons we've considered would be under these categories. But all in all, brethren, we yet have the responsibility. Every child of God has the responsibility of mining God's Word. Thinking of a coal miner going in the mine looking for the coal. looking for those gems or the coal. We have the responsibility of mining God's Word daily so as to further grasp what is pleasing to the Lord with the intention of applying what we find practically in the outworking of our walk with the Lord. So we want to search the word of God, discern what is pleasing to the Lord through prayer, and we want to apply those things, and that's our walk of sanctification and growth, applying those things that are pleasing to the Lord. And as we do this, as we do this, Our light will shine brighter in the darkness, enabling those who are presently in darkness to behold the glory of Christ in us. It is part of our ministry of evangelism as we do this. The evangelism is not just proclaiming the gospel. It is. And there are there are the extremists who would say, well, don't say the gospel, just live the gospel. No, you need to say the gospel. But the other extreme is just say the gospel and it doesn't matter how you live. No, how you live will be a light that will help authenticate or empower the message that you preach as people see the power of that message being fulfilled in your life as you don't walk the way they walk and as you walk in the light. In short, the word of God reveals the glory of God. The Word of God is the only objective truth that can expose and overcome the darkness that is inherently in our fallen nature. It is God's means of exposing what is wrong with us and teaching us what is necessary. It is God's objective truth. And as the people of God apply the Word of God, they become a living billboard for the word, displaying that word by their words and their actions to others. We then reflect and live out of this word as the spirit works and people others that light shines in the lives of others. They themselves take on that light. We take on that light as children of light, and we shine forth all throughout the surrounding darkness. By our very lives, we display the outworking of all that is good and right and true in keeping with the good and holy will of God. All that is good and right and true, sown in the hearts of God's people by the Spirit through the Word of God, contradicts and exposes and confronts all that is bad and wrong and false, which has been sown in the hearts of fallen mankind through Adam. through the nature of Adam and through the deceptive sway of the devil. And so our mission, brethren, is to put off all evil while consistently striving to mind the Word of God, seeking to discover and to understand and apply all that pleases God in accordance with what we find revealed in the Word of God. But moving on, Paul then adds these words. He says, take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Don't partake in what's going on out there, but instead expose them. And so again, here he is reiterating his command. that he gave back in verse 7. Remember in verse 7, where we ended off last time, he stated, therefore do not become partakers with them. Same idea. Don't take part in the unfruitful works of darkness. Don't become partakers with them. You see, there is nothing beneficial or profitable that is found in doing the things that are commonplace among the unregenerate. There is nothing that is lasting or in any way fulfills a good long-term purpose. Yes, they will receive and welcome you when you walk in the ways of darkness. The world will welcome you. They will make you feel respected and accepted. But that is because they are darkness. So you have to begin to think and say, well, if the world is really happy with me, and I'm appealing to the world in so many ways, as I'm allegedly living the life of a Christian, if they're approving of everything, when they're darkness, then something must be wrong. If they're not in any way convicted by me, because I am presenting, or should be presenting, an aura of light. And so Paul reiterates. Take no part. Have nothing to do with the unfruitful, unfruitful works of darkness. There's no fruit that comes from doing the sinful things that are done in the world. In all of their temporal sexual enjoyment, they sow no seeds that will bring about anything that is productive in any eternal sense or praiseworthy. And in fact, it will wreak havoc even in their lives in the present oftentimes. There's nothing fruitful in that. They live in the moment, don't they? Constantly chasing down cheap thrills and momentary fulfillments because brethren, that is all they know. They are darkness, we're told. They have no investment in an eternal kingdom. They are bound to a cursed existence of plunging themselves into quick fix enjoyments, into God replacements that ultimately do nothing but add to their thirst. That's all they have. They're never satisfied. They're never content. Their idols leave them dry and empty and starving and thirsty with an ever-increasing weight of condemnation looming right above their heads at every moment. They look like they're satisfied. There is a temporary joy that comes from the things they do. We're not denying that. But it brings no lasting fruit. It does nothing to produce any kind of lasting fulfillment. And they need it again and again. It's like the heroin addict just needs to keep shooting it. again and again and again until they die. They're in darkness. In fact, we're told they are our darkness. have no part in their vain, empty, and fruitless ways. Invest, Paul says, in doing that which brings true and lasting fruit. Invest in a golden crop of eternal glory by doing that which serves a glorious purpose. Invest in doing those things which please your Creator. We have to see life more as an investment. We're investing in a bigger picture, in something long term, in matters that concern eternity. And so we have to turn away from this mindset of looking for the quick fix, looking for these quick fix fulfillments. We have to sow seed. We have to harvest that seed and water that seed and trust that God will give the increase. And in doing so, brethren, here we're told it will expose the works of darkness, exposes the works of darkness. Shine your light upon them, Paul says. We don't do that to arrogantly shame them. We're not walking around with our noses up at people. We're not showing ourselves as more naturally self-righteous than others. Well, I don't do those things. Look at me. That's not the point that he's making. But rather, we want to present them with the hope of a lasting, eternal weight of glory. We want to show the world, not arrogance, but that it's a place of fulfillment in Christ. It's like those leprous in the Old Testament. Remember when the city of Jerusalem was barren, and it was arid, and they had no food. There was a great drought upon the nation, and you had these lepers outside, and the enemy was about to come into Jerusalem, and God just dispelled the enemy, and they were all scared, and the lepers went out. And here in Jerusalem, there are people even eating their own children. It's so bad. And these lepers go out, and they find all these goods and food and supplies all over the place. These outcasts find this stuff, and as they're eating and enjoying themselves, they stop and say, How can we do this when we know what's going on back with our people in Jerusalem? And so they go back and send word and say, come, God has provided through the enemy. We need to shine that kind of light, not arrogantly, but in love. We don't cater to the majority, but we expose the damnable error of the majority with the hope that some might see and come out of the darkness. We show them, brethren, that we have something that is of eternal value, something much better than these things that don't last. We have no interest in these things because we have an eternal glory and an eternal savior. It's like the Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, let your light so shine among men that they might see your good deeds, that they might see Christ in you, your good deeds, and bring glory to your heavenly Father as they see that light. Cast your light into their darkness rather than partaking in the darkness. That's the message that Paul has for us. Verse 12. Verse 12, for it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. The things that they do The wicked, filthy, unclean acts that they commit behind closed doors are not even proper for a general discussion with the lips. There are certain kinds of immorality and sins that even when we communicate with one another, encourage one another, we limit the details. It's not even appropriate to get into the actual details of what goes on. We know it. We shudder. We say, no, that's not appropriate. We can be more general. We get the picture. They are grossly offensive and laden with immorality. The very description of what they do is itself inappropriate for proper discussion. But, verse 13, Paul says, but when anything, there is a way of exposing it without directly getting into those details. He says, but when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes visible, is light. And so while we're not even to speak descriptively about the details of the immoral actions of the unregenerate, by walking in the light ourselves, By being obedient to ourselves and by not being partakers with them in the evil things that they do, we can actually expose that darkness with the hope of rescuing them from that which is carrying their souls straight to hell. And in that way, brethren, our lives, as it were, are a law unto them. such that by our actions, and our inactions for that matter, we can lovingly expose the magnitude of that evil, their evil, bringing Holy Spirit conviction to their souls, without even directly speaking about the atrocious things that they are doing. We can bring light full blown to them, without even speaking about the things that they are doing. And this will open up then, a wonderful Gospel door, a wonderful door for the Gospel to be presented. In this sense, their darkness is exposed and they themselves are brought into the light. Their deceptive reality is made bare before them. And they can have dealings with God about those things that we cannot even talk to them about. And they can repent and flee from the wrath of God by fleeing to Christ. And that's why the Apostle, then states in the last portion of the section that we're looking out this morning. He quotes this quote. He says, Therefore, it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. The unregenerate, who are darkness, are also referred to as being asleep, as it were. As if they were unconscious, in some sense, in their sin. Not that they're without guilt. They're very guilty. But they're owned by it. They're unconscious to the truth. They're set on a course for ultimate and utter destruction. But brethren, by our faithfulness, by us standing out as lights, unwilling to partake in their wicked ways, their common wicked ways, those things that are common and popular in the world. We don't partake in them. Wicked ways which once controlled many of us in our past. And then by presenting what is good and right and true in accordance with the will of God, we can actually serve as a God-ordained means of bringing them out of their slumber and into the light of Christ see our lives loudly and lovingly declared to the unregenerate as it were. Awake, O sleeper, your faithfulness with not necessarily a verbal word spoken in this case. Your faithfulness to Christ and your unwilling to partake in the wicked things that they do will shout aloud, awake, oh sleeper, arise from the dead, come out of your grave and your present course which leads to eternal destruction and Christ will shine on you. Now, brethren, we don't always see those results, do we? And that can be discouraging sometimes for us. But you have to believe that your life sends a message. Again, you don't get rid of the actual proclamation of the gospel and say, well, my life itself is my gospel. No, the gospel is necessary. But your life will open up a door of conviction. It will shine light in the darkness so that you can present the gospel to them effectively. The power and light of Christ will come upon you and deliver you from your destructive ways. That's what you'll be saying to them. You see, again, in our faithfulness, we are as a law unto them, a visible and tangible witness unto the truth of the whole matter. We present the truth of God, his law and his determination to punish the wicked. and the truth of a sincere and powerful hope of finding redemption, forgiveness, and change, leading the unbeliever to the respite in Christ that he so desperately needs. They see the power of the gospel in your life. As children of light, we lead them to the ultimate light of the world, who can and will deliver them out of their slumber and darkness. It is as John the Apostle states in his gospel in John 8, 12, where the Lord himself declared, I am the light of the world, he says. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. We are called to shine our light. on the light of life by how we live and by presenting the gospel. Well, brethren, let me conclude then for this morning. Let me conclude our message with just some final thoughts before we take the supper. Brethren, are not our hearts grieved by what we see going on in Ukraine right now? All of us were grieved, aren't we? We see the pictures. We see a nation that in its own natural sense, right? We're not talking about what God can do. We know what God can do, but it's completely unmatched by this greater power. All of us are praying. for God to intervene in some way and to pull the Russians back while preserving the independence of Ukraine. And we're not saying that Ukraine is an angelic nation. There are a lot of Christians there. We're not saying that it's not corrupt and doesn't have its own issues, but we want to see Ukraine spared from Russian domination. But what is the general demeanor of our country as a whole right now? What burden do we feel? What is our general interpretation of the situation when you look at the news and how people are viewing the situation? Isn't it that we find ourselves as a nation saying those horrible evil Russians with their tyrannical leader and while there is much evil wrapped up in all that is happening and while Putin is a tyrannical ungodly leader What standing before God do we have as a country to cast such aspersions on other countries? What standing do we have? Is their darkness a little more dark than ours? Can a country that has virtually abandoned all light speak out against such darkness justifiably? Can we speak with a sense of divine justice in our corner when we murder millions of our own children? each year in horrific ways in our own backyards? Can we speak with a sense of divine justice in our corner when we promote every form of ungodliness and immorality denying the very existence of God in our education system? Can we speak when even our so-called churches are embracing sexual immorality, homosexuality, transgenderism, wokeism, and every other form of gospel compromise to try to look more like the world, to appeal to the world in a way that would flush out the light and bring darkness into the church? Can we speak when we are so consumed with all forms of idolatry, materialism, corruption, and celebrity sports star worship? What righteous standing do we have to look upon any other nation when we stand in a deep fog of our own utter darkness and rebellion? But brethren, here's what I'm getting at for us. We, in this church, need to stand out as lights in the midst of a terribly dark and wicked nation within which we reside. We need to stand out as lights. If we're given over to immorality ourselves, if we are stunted by the very idols that are incurring the judgment of God throughout the world, then what hope is there for those who are around us? If we're toying with the very darkness that has overcome our own country, what hope is there for the country itself? If the light itself is dull and flickering, who will penetrate the darkness with the glorious light of Christ? If the salt loses its flavor, what good is it to a world that has lost all taste for the truth if we have no salt to offer? And so brethren, we can't play games. We're dealing with eternal matters of life and death. And God has entrusted us. He has entrusted you and I with the only light that can expose and penetrate the darkness. We cannot dig our heels in this world. We cannot live comfortably here and expect to sow seeds unto eternity. We cannot embrace the best of both worlds. We don't know what to expect in the times ahead, but it may all come crashing down for us right here in this country because we have no standing before God to assume that we are a righteous nation looking upon the wicked acts of others. And so brethren, we have to ask ourselves, as those who are part of the Church of Christ, what am I holding on to? Who will I serve? When the rubber meets the road, how real is your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ? Will we be able to say, When the pressure comes upon us in very strong and powerful ways such that our lives are even at stake, will we be able to say, choose for this day who you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the living God. Are you ready to lose everything and maybe your very life for the sake of Christ and the gospel? Walk. as children of light now. Eternity is just around the corner. Make it count. We only have one life to live in this world. Invest it by sowing to the spirit and not the flesh. You ever think about that? We have an eternal glory if you're in Christ. When we get to heaven, we're part of the church triumphant. We've crossed the line. That's our retirement. That's the end of all battles and warfare. But this is the time for war. And we're only able to enter this war once. In a one lifetime. We don't come back. There's no reincarnation or anything like that. One time. What will we invest in? Will we walk this walk in this life? Will we sow to eternal matters? Or will we sow to the flesh? If you're not a Christian, understand very clearly, if you're not in Christ, understand very clearly that your days are numbered. Your heart only has so many beats before it stops. And God determines the last beat even as he's determined the first. Sometimes we forget. You ever stop and think about the fact that you're breathing, right? It's so second nature to us, but we're breathing constantly to survive. We need to continue to breathe so that we're bringing oxygen in it. And our heart pumps that through our blood to our body so that our body is fed and so that we live. We're dependent creatures and our hearts are constantly doing this. But it's only going to last so long. Life is short and there's a last beat that God knows that your heart is going to reach and it's going to end at that point. And you need to ask yourself now, are you ready for that day? Are you ready to die? Well, if your sins are still held to your account, you're not ready to die. What a frightening thing to know that you might leave this building today and you might drive out of here and veer off the road or have a sudden stroke that you're not even aware of or get hit by another car or a stray bullet and to stand immediately in the presence of God in that moment to give an account, having not been washed. in the blood of Christ. What a terrifying reality we hear. There's so many stories I hear of people who have died. We see them in scripture. Sometimes you stop and think and say, that's the last thing that person saw before they went into the presence of God. Goliath, the last thing Goliath saw was a stone coming at him very quickly. And that was it. He's in the presence of God. Brethren, we don't know what that last act is for us. We don't know if we're going to have a long, drawn out death. We don't know. what a day is gonna bring. But you need, what we do know is we need Christ today. We need salvation. If you're not in Christ, you are still darkness. Not just living in darkness, you are darkness. And you need to be brought into the light and to have your sins forgiven by believing in Christ and calling upon his name. May God give you the grace to do that today, even as we take up the supper right now. Do it now. Pray, have dealings with God. As the people of God take this supper, pray and seek Christ now. Let's pray. Father, we do give you thanks again for your word. We thank you that you have penetrated this world of darkness with your light and have not left us in the darkness. Otherwise, we all would have become as Sodom and Gomorrah. We all would have become like the world that was judged outside of the ark during the time of Noah. Father, we thank you that you sent light into this world and that that light was perfectly embodied in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank you, Lord, that we benefit from his great offering to you by faith. We pray, Father, that you would help us to live as lights in this world, forgive us for our sins, how many times we can look at our lives and see how we've blown it. And yet we thank you that as we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that we still can have light in spite of the times that we've emitted darkness, even as children of light. Oh Lord, we ask that you would give us grace to strive, to be in the battle, to seek what is pleasing to you in your word. and to continually rest in Christ, to abide in Christ. And Lord, would it be that even now you would save those who do not know you, that they would seek you in prayer. And we ask that you bless the supper now in Christ's name. Amen.