INTRODUCTION

I know this will not be a shock to any of you - but I was born with a birth defect. That's right, I have had to live my life with a certain handicap that at times is the bane of my life. The handicap is that I was born with a "type A" personality.

Let me share with you some of the self imposed stressors of a Type A person, they:

• Rush there speech
• Hurry other people's speech
• Hate to wait in line
• Schedule more activities than time will allow
• Thinks that everyone on the road is driving too slow
• Often try to do several things at once
• Become impatient if others are too slow etc

Not only am I a Type A person, but I've chosen to breed a line of dogs with type A personalities - that's right, Border Collie's have type A personalities. They're not like Andrew's pig dogs who only get excited when they are fed or if they smell a pig in the distance - my Border Collie's get excited at anything and everything. A car goes past and they have to run as fast as a speeding bullet to bight the tire. A bird flies past and they think they can jump tall buildings in a single bound to catch it. And if a locomotive went past they would want to muster it up to the nearest railway station. They insist on doing things all the time, and if there is nothing to do, then they dig up Julie-Ann's garden - they are Type A dogs.

It seems to me, that our society today has a high sense of achievement. We have to be active and "do" in order to achieve.

;I think the NIKE add sums it up by saying "Just do it". That's my personality type - don’t beat around the bush "Just do it".

In the passage we are looking at today Paul invokes us to "Just do it". Live up to the truth of the gospel. The impact here is for the individual Christian, the local church, and the Church worldwide. Remember, Paul has given us the purpose of the church, who we are to be, what we are to do. Well, Paul continues on here with what we were speaking of last week. That is, Put off the old self and put on the new person in Christ. You know, that's easy to say in words but hard to do in action. Here Paul gives us a few practical how to's. That is, how are we to live? How are we to act? How are we to be genuine? How are we to relate to God? How do we just do it?

Well, I've turned the focus of this around a little bit from how do we do these things to what God desires.

And so what I sense this passage is saying is God Desires:

• A Light Giving Church
• A Spirit-Filled Church
• An Uplifting Church

Let's have a look at Eph. 5:3-20

1. A LIGHT GIVING CHURCH (vv 3-14)

Light is to give light to a dark room. It is used to highlight something such as trees, a statue, decorations etc. and it is used to find our way in the dark.

Samuel has a torch that he uses to be able to find his way in the dark, without tripping over anything, if he needs to go the toilet in the middle of the night. When we drive our cars at night we turn on the lights so that we can see the road we are travelling on. This not only helps us to see the way the road goes, but also illuminates any hazards we may need to avoid on that road.

So the uses for light are:

• Illumination - to see the road - a guide
• Illumination - to highlight something beautiful
• Illumination - to warn of danger

1. So then turn on the Light in Your Life.

In verses 8-10 Paul speaks of darkness and light. He days we once lived in darkness but are now to live in the light. He says:

• Everything is exposed by the light
• You are now light in the Lord
• That the fruit of the light consist of goodness, righteousness and truth

This is similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16

So these verses are telling us to do something with this light. One is let it eradicate the darkness, and the other is to let the light fulfill its task - which is to illuminate.

1. Get Rid of any muck God doesn't want

I read an article this week that I think illustrates the danger of leaving things of our old life lying around the place. The article describes a parable a pastor told about a man who tried to sell his house for $2, 000. It goes like this:

"The perspective buyer could not afford the house at that price, so after haggling with the owner, the owner decided to let the house go for $1,000 with one stipulation. The owner would retain ownership of a small nail that protruded from just over the door. The buyer took possession of the house, but after several years the original owner decided he wanted it back. The new owner refused to sell. The old owner found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail that was still his. Finally, the stench rendered the house uninhabitable, and the residents were forced to sell it back".

This Haitian pastor concluded, "If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotten garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation."

Verses 3-7 gives us a whole list of the carnage and traps that are in the darkness of the world - the very things we are not to live by. They include:

• No sexual immorality or impurity
• No greed
• No unwholesome talking whether that be jokes or talking about others.
• Don't side up with people who live in these ways.

The fact is that a Christian cannot remain neutral on the issue of sin. You see, the nature of the light is to expose what the darkness hides - it serves to reveal the hazards that will draw us away from our relationship with God.

Back in 1977, there was a blackout in New York City. During the hours that the city was without power, mobs of people burned buildings, looted stores, and injured people. Many so-called "normal, law-abiding citizens" joined in the effort, indulging their sinful desires. Perhaps they thought that under the cover of darkness no one would know. But God knows. He knows what we do in the midst of the darkness. We are only fooling ourselves to think that God doesn't see. His light exposes what is in the darkness.

So the other side of this is to put on the fruit of the light.

1. And Put on the Fruit of Light

We looked at three things the light does. One we have just looked at which is to reveal the hazards that may trip us up. The other two are positive things in that the light serves to guide us and to illuminate beauty.

Verse 14 says, "Wake up O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

You see, it is Christ Himself who illumines our steps as guide, but also shines out from our lives revealing a beautiful person created and shaped by God Himself. Verse 14 demonstrates how it is totally conceivable that it is possible to sleep in the light - that is, not ever realize the strength and power of God's purposes and His own ministry by the Holy Spirit in our own lives.

I think Paul is probably yelling out here, "Wake up church." I think Keith Green lamented accurately in one of his songs, "the world is lost in the darkness, while the church is asleep in the light."

Why are there so many glum looking, joyless filled, Christians walking around - simply this - they are asleep to the light. They are so caught up with themselves that they cannot see Christ and His working power of love and grace.

David Hoke said this and I agree with his words, "It is time to allow the light of Christ to shine on us. It is time to let the light of Christ to shine through us. We are children of light. We don't need to simply belong to the church, we need to be the church --to let our light shine and radiate the glorious character of Jesus Christ."

Can we all say Amen to that?

I remind you of Jesus' words in Matthew 5 to let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven."

God desires us to be a Light Giving Church, and to be Light Giving People - He also desires us to be a Spirit-Filled Church and Spirit-Filled people.

1. Letting Go of Control, and

Now, we have all heard of nervous drivers, but you don't hear much about nervous passengers. Well folks, this is another foible of mine - I confess I am a nervous passenger. When I get into a car and someone else has the controls of the car - I get nervous. When they drive 5 meter's behind the car in front of them - I'm sure it's 1 meter. When a person drives too fast approaching traffic lights I put my foot to the floor to slam on the brakes only to find that I have plunged my foot through the fire wall and am now playing footsies with the spark plug leads. So I confess, I am not a good passenger because I like to have control.

Now, we can have a laugh at this, but the truth is, many Christians struggle with this very thing in terms of their relationship with God. We find it hard to let God have control, because we want to make our own choices. If we don’t hold the control of our lives then we fear the direction God is going to drive us.

BUT WE DON"T NEED TO FEAR. Listen to Jeremiah 29:11. God Himself says:

" For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to grow you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

So we find here that our Lord's desire is to develop us, build us up, see that we mature in Him. He has plans for our future in which we can have hope.

You know, many Christians ask me, "What is it that God wants me to do?" My answer is always the same. "You tell me what God is saying to you." You see, as we let God have control, He then reveals His plans in our lives.

2. Letting God have Control

You know, before we can know the will of God for our life, we must be willing to do the will of God in our life. That is, we trust Him to drive the vehicle of our lives.

God wants us to be ready and willing to do anything He should ask. In the military, when the commanding officer issues a command he expects immediate obedience. There is no room for discussion or arguments.

The purpose of recruit training with the Australian Army is to shape and train young men to obey orders immediately. On the battlefield hesitation to obey could result in disaster.

In the same way, we are in a battle! Our enemy is real! When we balk or hesitate in our obedience to our Master, we open ourselves up for disaster in our lives. So, we must be ready and willing to obey our Lord.

The thing is, as a first priority, God wants us ready and willing to obey and serve Him.

The fact is, God will never reveal to us His will for our future if we aren't obedient to His will for our present. Have you ever thought about the direction of your prayers. There are many times that our prayers are not to find the will of God but to see if God will let us do what we want instead of what He has said.

The Lord must reveals His will to His child who is yielded to Him!

Romans 12:1-2, says, "...present your bodies a living sacrifice...that you may prove what is the...perfect will of God."

As we yield our lives to Christ, then God will direct and guide us. John 6:13, says "...He will guide you into all truth..."

1 Peter 3:12 sys, "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous..."

So, we must keep our eyes upon the God if we are to be led and directed into His will

Personal ministries and corporate missions in the town, area and world.

So, thinking back to the beginning of this message - To "DO" church means we intentionally seek to follow God's desires not our own. So:

4. We meet the World with the Word and Power of God

By Scott Douglas, Pastor, Burdekin Baptist Church, 28 February 1999

Extracts for this sermon taken from David Hoke, Pastor of New Horizons Community Church, Voorhees, NJ, http://www.horizonsnet.org/sermons/sermons.html; and, Robert Crouch, Pastor, 1^st Baptist Church, Wheeling, West Virginia. http://www.hgo.net/~1stbapt/