Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life - Children of the Light

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

Christianity is not just a vitamin supplement. It doesn’t just come into your life and give you a little boost to live a better form of the life you’re living. It’s a sweeping revolution that affects every part of you. In Ephesians 5, we have a long passage on what it means to live the Christian life. And it’s not that we live in a certain way and, therefore, become Christians. It’s that we become Christians and, therefore, live in a certain way—because we’re saved not by what we do but by what Christ has done. In this passage, there are three important keys to understanding what it means to live the Christian life. It entails 1) knowing sin and walking in obedience, 2) knowing the time and walking in wisdom, and 3) knowing the Lord and walking in joy. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 8, 2012. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 5:5–21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Welcome to Gospel in Life. How hopeful are you about the future of the Christian Church? The book of Ephesians gives us an incredibly inspiring vision for the Church, showing how it has the capacity to be a new humanity and a community of astonishing beauty. Join us today as Tim Keller preaches from the book of Ephesians. Our scripture reading this morning is from Ephesians chapter 5 verses 5 through 21. For of this you can be sure. No immoral, impure, or greedy person, such a man is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things, God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

Therefore, do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. And find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible. For it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said, wake up, oh sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful then how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the

days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with p Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. Always giving thanks to God, the Father for everything. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. This is the word of the Lord. So we are continuing to move through the book of Ephesians. We started several months ago. We continue to go through it section by section. And we have here a long passage on what it

means to live the Christian life, because that's actually what the second half of Ephesians is about. Let's remind ourselves of the outline, the framework. Ephesians 1, 2, and 3, the first part of the letter is about what happens to us when we receive Christ by faith. What we become, what we receive when we receive Christ by faith. But now in chapters four, five, and six, Paul moves on to say, well, what does it mean to live the Christian life? How do we live as Christians? And that is the right order.

It's the right order because it's not that we live in a certain way and therefore become Christians. It's that we become Christians and therefore we live in a certain way and therefore become Christians. It's that we become Christians and therefore we live in a certain way. If by living in a certain way we become Christians, then we would be saving ourselves by what we do. But if we become Christians and then as a result live in a certain way, that's because we're saved not by what we do

but by what Christ has done. So Paul has begun in these three chapters to lay groundwork for helping us understand what does it mean to live in accord with what we are. And in chapter 417, there's a little, almost an aside that shows how sweeping this is, because in Ephesians 417, Paul says to his readers, I do not want you to walk. I do not want you to lit want you to live as the Gentiles live But they were Gentiles

In other words what he's saying is Christianity is not just a kind of a vitamin supplement It doesn't just come into your life and give you a little boost to live a better form of the kind of life you're living It's a sweeping revolution that affects every part of your life. Now, in this passage, there are actually three extremely important keys to understanding what it means to live the Christian life. And we're gonna move through the passage.

The first one is the longest. It's five to 14, where it talks about living in obedience. Verses 15 to 17, it talks about living in wisdom, and verses 18 to 21, it talks about living in joy. To be a Christian entails knowing sin and walking in obedience, knowing the time and walking in wisdom, knowing the Lord and walking in joy. And actually we're going to take as much time, we're going to take a commensurate amount of time matching the length of the points. So the first one will be longest, second will be shortest and the third one will be a little longer than that. So, just a heads up. The first passage, part of the passage from

verses 5 to 14, to be a Christian, to live as a Christian, you have to know sin, know what it is, and walk in obedience. In this whole passage, Paul is trying to give us a sense or Paul is saying that Christians, to live as Christians, must have a sense of the horror of the evil of the danger of sin. He gets that across by saying that there's gotta be four things you know about sin, if you're gonna live a Christian life. The first one is here in verse 11,

where he says, basically he defines sin, when he says, have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness. Okay, that's one way to understand sin. He's defining sin by saying, they're the deeds of darkness. Well, what does that mean? It means externally, it means to disobey the law of God, to disobey the things that God says

in his words he wants us to do. And there's an example of it up here in the very first verse, for of God, to disobey the things that God says in his words he wants us to do. And there's an example of it up here in the very first verse, for of this you can be sure no immoral, impure, or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ or God. Now there's actually two case studies there of disobedience. Immoral and pure, and the word immoral there is the Greek word pornea, from which we got

our word pornography, and it's a word that means sexual immorality. And then the second case is greed. Now, why would Paul choose just those two examples of ways of disobeying the law of God? I think they get across the comprehensiveness of the law of God. There are many churches in this country that actually say that what the Bible says about sex is obsolete, but what it says about greed, materialism, and injustice, and oppression

is absolutely right and should be heeded. And there's other churches in this country that put a lot of emphasis on denouncing sexual morality and making a pretty big show of it, but at the same time essentially ignoring what the Bible says about greed and the importance of involvement with the poor and not spending too much of your money on yourself. The law of God is so comprehensive, it's very difficult for people of particular temperaments to hold it all together. We have a tendency to either nullify or ignore part of it and lift up other parts.

The law of God, though, is very comprehensive. All those things are wrong. Sin is disobedience in your behavior to the law of God. But it's not just a matter of external behavior. Sin is also, has to do with internal motive. And Paul brings that out in the very same verse. He says in verse five, no immoral and pure or greedy person, such a man as an idolater

can inherit the kingdom of God. There Paul is talking about the fact that it's possible to not be doing something externally wrong. That is, it may not be, you may be doing a behavior that is externally in compliance with the law of God, but internally for a motive that makes it sinful anyway. Because idolatry is the first of the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt have no other God before me.

And that means, in brief, that God is saying, if there's anything that is more important to you than me, anything that gives you more meaning in life than I do, anything that is a greater foundation for your sense of value and worth and significance than me, if there's anything that you love more than me, if there's anything you center your life on more than me, that is a false, that's a God, it's a religion. And even if it's a good thing,

even if you, even if your children are more important than God, or your career is more important than God, or some very noble political social cause is more important than God, it will eat you alive. Because anything you put in the place of God will fail to give you what only the true God can give you. And you'll be driven into the ground by it. You'll be paralyzed by fears if something goes wrong with it. You'll be despondent. So you see how comprehensive the definition is.

Paul says if you're gonna live as a Christian, you have to understand what sin is. And he gives you this comprehensive understanding of sin being external disobedience to the law of God and internal idolatry. But he doesn't stop there. He also wants you to see the power of sin in the human heart.

Because he doesn't just say, in verse 11, have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness. He doesn't just say that, because those are sinful behaviors and activities. He then says in verse eight, for once you were darkness. Now here he's talking about human nature. And he's saying something that I think most people today would say is just too strong. He says human beings do not just do deeds

of darkness. They don't just do bad things. They are darkness in their inmost being. That's human nature. They are darkness. And some people say, well, that's just too negative, that's one of the things I don't like about the Bible, it's just too negative about human nature. Really. Some years ago, I will not forget, I've been trying to find a clip of it somewhere on the Internet, I can't find it. Some years ago, Mike Wallace interviewed a concentration camp survivor named Yehiel Denour. The reason why he interviewed him was this. Some of you know that one of the architects of the Nazi Holocaust, the slaughter of Jews

in Nazi Germany, one of the architects of the Holocaust was a man named Adolf Eichmann. And Adolf Eichmann disappeared right after World War II and went into hiding but he was caught and in 1961 he was put on public trial and and in the trial I witnessed survivors who had seen him doing the things he did who were still alive were brought in to witness against him and to testify and Yehiel Danor was one of them. When Yehiel Danur was one of them. When Yehiel Danur went into the courtroom, and this was caught on film, when he saw Eichmann, he started to sob uncontrollably and he collapsed.

And the judge had to pound the gavel because there was this great disorder in the court and it was very, very dramatic. Mike Wallace showed Yehiel Danur the clip of how he just collapsed and he just melted down. And he said to him, what happened? What were you feeling at that point? Was it post-traumatic stress? Was it that you were just filled with rage to see this man?

And Yehiel Danur said something that I just think absolutely startled and flummoxed Mike Wallace because he said this quote when I walked in and I saw him I suddenly realized he was no demon he was no Superman he was an ordinary human being exactly like me and suddenly I became terrified about myself I saw that I am capable of the same things. And that's why he collapsed. I think Mike Wallace was saying what. He looked into his own heart and he saw darkness.

And you know, Hannah Arendt, who was covering the trial as a journalist and then wrote her well-known essay, The Banality of Evil, was making the same point. She was saying, you know, what we want to do in order to defend ourselves is to say about the Nazis, these must have been monsters. These must have been sub-people. They weren't like us.

They were monsters to be able to do that. That way we can say, see, we would never do that. She says, but you know what? By saying that they're sub-people, that's exactly what they did to the that. That way we can say, see, we would never do that. She says, but you know what? By saying that they're sub-people, that's exactly what they did to the Jews. Oh no, they're just people, just like us. And we do not want to admit what we're capable of, that the seeds in our heart are there.

If they were properly watered and properly fertilized, you could do all the same things that they did. There's a darkness in the middle of the human heart. Paul says, Christians are not living in denial about that. Many other people are. If you're gonna live a Christian life, you've gotta see not just the definition of sin, but the power of sin in the human heart.

But thirdly, not just that. If you're gonna live a Christian life, you also have to see the guilt of sin. Because Paul does the no-no here, at least in New York, not that he ever was here, but even these words are very much a no-no in New York. In verse six he says, for let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things,

meaning sin, God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore, do not participate with them. sin, God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not participate with them. God's wrath comes on sin. And all we don't like that idea of a wrathful God, partly because we misunderstand the term wrath there, we immediately think of, we're thinking of somebody who's losing his temper, can't control his emotions. But the word wrath in the Bible,

and in fact the word wrath in ancient literature, is talking about subtle judicial condemnation. God's wrath lies on sin because sin deserves punishment. That's the idea. Because sin incurs guilt. And if you sin, you are guilty. You're not just messed up You're guilty and it deserves punishment and that's what it means to say God's wrath is upon all sin now people really

push back on this a lot and I've had talked to people over the years who said something like this. They said, you know the Bible's teaching on this just doesn't make sense To me. I have people say, there are some people who deserve God's wrath. There are nasty people. There are bad people out there. Yeah, the Nazis, the Holocaust, you know. And they deserve God's wrath. But most people are good people. I'm a good person, they might say.

I'm not religious. I'm not religious. But I'm a good person, and isn't that what's important? Well, think about this illustration. Imagine an old widow woman. She has got one child. And as she raises him, she teaches him, always tell the truth, always work hard,

always care for the poor, okay? Honesty, industry, charity. She teaches him, this is how I want you to live. Always tell the truth, always work hard, always care for the poor. And he listens to her. And then when he comes of age, she's a very poor woman, but she scrapes together her meager savings

and what income she can, and she puts him through college. And he graduates. And now imagine that after he graduates, he never talks to her again. Oh, he sends her a Christmas card, but he doesn't answer her emails, he doesn't answer her phone, he doesn't answer her letters,

he doesn't talk to her. But he's good. He does everything she wants. He tells the truth, he works hard, and he cares for the poor. And he says, hey, okay, I'm doing what she wants, isn't that good enough? And what would you say to him if you knew him? You'd say, no!

It is not acceptable simply to live a good life and ignore a relationship with the one person to whom you owe everything. Now, if there is a God and you say, well, I'm not religious but I'm living a good life, isn't that what's important? The answer is no. It's condemnable, it's culpable as that young man would be. If there is a God to whom you owe everything, just to live a good life in general and not live for God, and not make your relationship with him the central thing

because you owe him everything, you're guilty. It's condemnable, and a Christian understands that. So now all this stuff here, here's what's so interesting. I said there's four things Paul tells you about sin. One is Christians cannot live the appropriate life if they don't understand the definition of it, how comprehensive it is. They don't understand the power of it still in human nature.

If they don't understand the guilt of it. But then lastly, look what he says, verse eight. Go back to there. For you were once darkness, he's talking to Christians, but now you are light in the Lord. You are light. It's easy to assume that if we understand the gospel and preach it faithfully, we will be shaped by it. But this is not always true. How can we make sure that our lives, churches, and ministries are being shaped by, centered on, and empowered with the gospel?

Tim Keller's book, Shaped by the Gospel, is meant to help congregants, lay leaders, and pastors understand how to make the gospel the center of all ministry. In Shaped by the Gospel, Dr. Keller shows how gospel-centered ministry is more theologically driven than program-driven. As you read, you'll discover how reflecting on the essence, the truths, and the patterns of the gospel lead to renewal in your churches and ministries. This month when you give to Gospel in Life, we'll send you Dr. Keller's book, Shaped by the Gospel, as our thanks for your gift.

Just visit gospelonlife.com slash give. That's gospelonlife.com slash give. And thank you for your generosity, which helps us reach more people with Christ's love. Well now what's that metaphor mean? Well, it's not that hard to tell. What does the word light mean in the Bible? Paul actually tells you in the next verse. It represents goodness, righteousness, and truthfulness. Now what in the world, after everything he's just said, how could any Christian, knowing all the other things that Paul just taught them, say, look at me.

Look at me. Look at all my goodness. Look at all my truthfulness. Am I not so brilliant and beautiful in my moral excellence that you need to almost wear sunglasses to look at me? Why would any Christian say, I am light? Well, the answer is you can say it if you're careful about the prepositional phrase.

It means everything. It links us back to the first part of the book of Ephesians. It says, you once were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. And in the first part of Ephesians, God says that the moment you receive Christ, the moment you believe in him as your savior, you are united to him, you are put in him.

And in a sense, you're put in him so that though in yourself you are still darkness, you're still flawed, in Christ, God sees you as brilliant, as beautiful, as acceptable, as goodness and righteousness and truth. Isn't that astounding? You say, how can that be? Well, that's what we were spending a lot of time on in the first part of this series. But, you know, one more. Imagine this. Imagine a girl and she's poor and she's plain. She doesn't have a penny and she's not very attractive.

But the great prince falls in love with her and he puts his love upon her and he takes her to be his wife. And in the great wedding ceremony he brings her to himself and makes a vow. And you know what happens in that ceremony? They're united. You know what that means?

The minute before they are united legally by vow, she's poor and immediately she's rich. She's got money, she's got money to burn. And not only that, he has decked her in the most beautiful jewels and the finest garments in the world that money can buy. And though in herself she's plain, she's a vision of loveliness.

See, in herself, she's poor and she's plain, but in the love of her prince, she's light. She's beautiful, she's wealthy. That's just a dim hint of what it means to be a Christian. And Paul says you gotta keep these things all in balance. I mean, I told you this is a long, the three points, this is the long one, but I want you to see why it's long

and why it's so important. If you live a life only filled with guilt, I'm so dark, I'm so awful, I've just got all this bad stuff in my life, and I'm a mess, you know, and everything I do makes me guilty, you're not gonna live the Christian life you shouldn't. Weirdly enough, if you hate yourself,

if you go around feeling self-loathing, you will not live an obedient life. You'll just give in to temptation. On the other hand, if you say, well, I'm fine. You know, I'm accepted, God has forgiven me, so it really doesn't matter how I live. No, you see, this whole passage is Paul saying, sin, avoid it, flee it, have nothing to do with it,

it's awful, expose it, he says. Call it what it is. There's a balance here of knowing your light in the Lord and because your light in the Lord, you want nothing to do with sin. It's that there's a balance and the balance perfectly comes out in one sentence in our Westminster Confession,

which is the Presbyterian's historic summary of what they believe, what they believe the Bible teaches. It's the Westminster Confession, it's chapter 15, it's part four and is one sentence. And it goes like this. Just as there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation, so there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation on those who truly repent. Sin is that bad and terrible and grace is that free and available. Just as there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation, condemnation. So there is no sin so great that it can bring condemnation on those who truly repent. And if you live your life in the light of those two

balancing truths, you will have an incentive to live in a godly way. You will be able to pick yourself up when you fail without just destroying yourself and hating yourself for 10 years. You will, by knowing sin, walk in obedience. Secondly, okay, briefly, secondly, because it's brief. In verse 15, 16, and 17, Paul adds something

that is so important. There, he's evoking everything that the Bible in the Old Testament particularly says about wisdom. He says, be very careful then how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. So don't be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is. Be very careful how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.

It's really brief and frankly I think most English, people who are reading this in English go right by it and hardly notice it. But it is a point all by itself and it's saying this, living the Christian life is not just a matter of obeying the moral rules. God's given you a lot of them. We just talked about how comprehensive they are. But living a Christian life, it's not enough just to obey the moral rules.

It's also knowing the right way to live in the 80% of life situations to which the moral rules. It's also knowing the right way to live in the 80% of life situations to which the moral rules don't apply. Look, for example, here's two jobs. One job is a job in which a product is being produced that's based on slave labor in Madagascar. And here it's just a sort of conventional job is being produced that's based on slave labor in Madagascar. And here it's just a sort of conventional job

without any ethical challenges or anything like that, just a conventional job, retail at some place. Okay, one of these jobs, according to the moral law of God, you can't take. You cannot participate in the exploitation of slave labor in Africa, you can't do that. And over here, there's really no ethical reason why you can't take that job.

However, they say, oh see, that's how I can decide. I use the law of God to decide right or wrong. But you all know, most jobs are morally permissible. There's all kinds of people you could marry, and they're all, none of them are ruled out by the law of God. There's all kinds of jobs you could take, and none of them are ruled out by the law of God.

There's all kinds of choices you can make. You have all these options, and none of them are ruled out by the law of God. There's all kinds of jobs you could take and none of them are ruled out by the law of God. There's all kinds of choices you can make. You have all these options and none of them are ruled out. You have some of them are wise and some of them are stupid. And that's what Paul is saying. Now, being wise is not less than being moral. Because he says in the second verse, don't be foolish but understand the Lord's will. So the more you understand, Lord's will is always

scripture, what the Bible says. But the first part says, be careful how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. I'll just take a second to unpack that just a bit. How can you make some decisions when the law of God doesn't directly say this is right, this is wrong? How do you decide which thing is the wise thing to do?

First of all, the word literally that Paul uses there is not live but walk. He literally says, look carefully at how you're walking. Now the reason the English translators translated it as live is because in the Bible walking is a metaphor for life. When it says walk with the Lord it means live for the Lord. When it says walk in this way it means live in this way.

Okay, it's fine. Yet the metaphor of thinking of living as a walk is actually helpful. Why? Because when you walk you're going somewhere. There's always a direction. And what this means is let's just say you're making money. Let's just say direction. Okay? And what this means is, let's just say you're making money. Let's just say you're making a lot of money. You're trying to make a lot of

money. Is there anything wrong with that? No, look at Job, look at Abraham, that's fine. But for what purpose? What are you making your money for? What are you doing your job for? Why you're going up that you're trying to get up the career ladder? Fine. What are you trying your money for? What are you doing your job for? Why you're going up, you're trying to get up the career ladder, fine. What are you trying to go up the career ladder for? What is your real purpose? What are the motives of your heart?

Is it to gain power? Is it to gain approval so people will like you? Is it to gain control over your environment? You feel like, that's how I get my security. Or is it to serve God? Or is it to serve the people around you? See, there's nothing wrong with the activity, but be careful how you walk.

Look at the motives of your heart. Find out what you're doing it for. Because that will determine the impact of that activity on your soul and on the souls and the lives of the people around you. And if you don't do due diligence to try to find out what your motives are, and if you don't expect a great amount of self-deception

on your way to finding out where your heart really is, then you're a fool, that's what he's saying. Do you know how to do that? And then the second part of the passage, verse 16, says making the most of every opportunity is literally, Paul says there, redeeming the time. And what he means is, if you know your heart, and you know the word of God,

then when you see the options in front of you, which is the most strategic, which is the best use of your time, which one will bring the most good, which is the best for you and your gifts, which is the best for the people around you. Wisdom is a matter, for example, if you have too high a view of your own ability

or too low a view of your own abilities, you're gonna make foolish decisions. Wisdom is a matter of understanding human nature. If you're always disillusioned and amazed that people are doing this to you, whether you don't understand human nature, and you're gonna make foolish decisions. So this is an extremely important part

of what it means to be a Christian. Do not think being a Christian is a nice mechanical thing. You get the rule book and you follow it. You do have to follow the rule book, but you'll find the rule book doesn't apply to all kinds of things that you have to do in life. And therefore the growth in wisdom that comes from knowing the word of God,

knowing your own motives, knowing human nature, knowing times and seasons so that comes from knowing the word of God, knowing your own motives, knowing human nature, knowing times and seasons so that you can redeem the time and you can make strategic decisions. And you can, it's a critical part of being a Christian. Now lastly, the last section is very well known. It's verses 18 to 21. It's what it means to be filled with the Spirit.

We've often in our teaching ministry at Redeemer looked at this passage at length. I'm not gonna do that right now. That's one of the reasons why I tacked it on here. I wanted you to see how it fits in the whole context. August 10th, 2010, not that long ago, I just preached a whole sermon on this passage. And there's other ones too. So there's no reason for us to break it all down.

Here's the bottom line, or maybe I should say, here's the big picture. At the heart of what it means to live the Christian life is joy. Do not get drunk on wine, but be filled with the Spirit. Why would Paul contrast those two things? Only for this reason. He's saying being filled with the spirit is to get the thing that people get drunk to get. He's saying you don't have to get drunk to get the joy, the roaring joy that the spirit gives. And besides that, we all know, I guess,

that alcohol makes you happy because it's a depressant. And you know, that doesn't mean it makes you depressed. It means it's a chemical that depresses part of the brain. The reason you get happy, you know, you have trouble, so you get drunk, and why do you feel happier? Because your brain is less aware of your problems. The spirit operates on the exact opposite principle. The spirit does not make you less aware of your problems. The spirit operates on the exact opposite principle. The spirit does not make you less aware of your problems, it makes you more aware of your

resources. The spirit takes the work of Jesus Christ, it takes the person of Christ, the work of Christ, what he's done, what you might know with your head, makes it so real to your heart that you begin to say, so what were the problems? In other words, the reason we fail to be obedient and the reason we tend to make foolish choices in life is because we're not happy enough in Christ. Why do you make stupid decisions? So often it's because you're so empty and unhappy inside, you make stupid decisions. Why do you disobey?

Why do you give in to temptation? Why do you blow up and then wish you hadn't blown up? Why do you do these things and say, why did I do that? Because you weren't happy enough to be obedient. See, this is, I know it sounds strange to hear Presbyterians say this. There has to be a fountain of joy in the middle of your life.

It comes because the spirit fills you. That doesn't mean so much you get more of the spirit. The trouble with this metaphor, fill with the spirit sounds like, well you only have a pint of the spirit, you need two pints. But actually, if I had the time to show you what the grammar and the language means,

it means to be dominated by what the Spirit thinks and does. It means to be dominated by the Spirit. And what does the Spirit do? Jesus tells you in his upper room discourse, in John chapter 16, he says, when the Comforter comes, that's the Holy Spirit. When the Counselor comes, when the Advocate comes, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will glorify me.

Look, I know that Jesus Christ was the only obedient person who ever lived, but then he died on the cross to take the curse from my disobedience. And when I am moved by that and amazed by that, that makes me want to be obedient. I see Jesus Christ living a wise life, and not a foolish life. And I see his consummate wisdom on the cross, where somehow, beyond what anybody else would have ever been able to come up, but only God's divine wisdom was able to do it,

the law of God and the love of God were both fulfilled at once, because on the cross, the law of God was satisfied, and that way, he doesn't have to punish us, but the love of God, we're both fulfilled at once, because on the cross, the law of God was satisfied, and that way, he doesn't have to punish us, but the love of God was satisfied, and now he can save us. And now we can be light in the Lord. To the degree that the Holy Spirit takes those things

that you might know with your head, and just captures your heart with them, to that degree, you'll be happy enough to be obedient, and to be wise. It's making Jesus as glorious as he really is in your eyes. It dominates you. That's what it means to be filled with the spirit. And if you are filled with the spirit, what happens?

You go around always singing in your heart. Isn't that an amazing thing? Paul says, here's the mark that you're filled with the spirit. You live a life of gratitude toward God. You live a life of service to other people, 20 and 21, but you walk around inside your heart, always making music, always making music. You don't just go walk around thinking about God. You walk around singing.

There's an internal music. Jonathan Edwards wrote his future wife, Sarah Pierpont, a love letter when he was 20 and she was almost 14. Her name was Sarah Pierpont. You can read this whole letter. It's not very long. I'm only gonna read you the beginning and the end. It was a mash note, we used to call it.

It was a love letter to her and you can find it online. It's Jonathan Edwards' Sarah Pierpont and I realized the other day that what he was actually doing was he was seeing the fullness of the Spirit exactly as Paul describes it in this young woman and he was falling in love with it and this is what he says. This is the beginning and the end. By the way, this was written like 1720s or something like that. He says, they say there is a young lady in New Haven who is beloved of that almighty being

who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this great being, in some way or other, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight, and that she hardly cares for anything then except to meditate on him. So she will sometimes go about singing sweetly from place to place and seems to be always full of joy

and pleasure and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone and to wander in the fields and on the mountains and seems to have someone invisible always conversing with her. Don't you want a life like that? Who knows, maybe Jonathan Edwards was exaggerating, maybe he was infatuated and she wasn't anywhere near as happy as this as happy in Christ as this She will sometimes go about singing sweetly from place to place and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure And no one knows for what she loves to be alone and to wander in the fields and on the mountains and seems to always Have someone invisible conversing with her

Maybe she was like that maybe she wasn, but Paul says you can be like that. I don't know what kind, you may not be a Christian, or you may be a Christian and not living anything like this, but all I can say to you is wake up, oh sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for this kind of helicopter ride over this passage

in which we see how much there is involved with living a Christian life, but how revolutionary it would be if we understood sin, understood wisdom, and knew the joy that the Spirit can give us, so that we were also walking about, always sweetly singing to ourselves, full of joy and no one knowing quite for what,

always having somebody invisible conversing with us. Oh Lord, we really do long for that kind of joyful life, and we ask that you would make it more a reality in our lives as we take up the bread and the cup, for there you so often meet with your people over your table. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thanks for listening to Tim Keller on the Gospel in Life podcast. If you found today's teaching helpful and something you'd like more people to hear, we invite you to consider becoming a Gospel in Life monthly partner. Your partnership helps more people discover the hope and joy of Christ's love. Just visit gospelinlife.com slash partner to learn more. Today's sermon was recorded in 2012. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel in Life podcast were preached from 1989 to 2017 while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at

Redeemer Presbyterian Church.