Our Heavenly Father is light (1 Jn. 1:5); the Father of lights (James 1:17).  As Christians, we are His children, children of light (Lk. 16:8; 1 Thess. 5:5).  Paul encouraged Christians to behave as children of light (Eph. 5:8), living in such a way that we recognize our deeds are manifest before an all-knowing God, instead of trying to hide our sins under the cover of darkness (Jn. 3:19-21).  We are surrounded by people of the world who love darkness (Eph. 6:12; 1 Jn. 5:19).  They do not see the light of the glorious gospel, because they have allowed the devil, the father of lies, to blind them (Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 4:4).  We, however, know better, and ought to behave accordingly.  When light enters a room, darkness flees.  The two are incompatible.  Christians are to behave as light, being separate from the world (Eph. 5:11; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; 1 Jn. 2:7-11).  How you behave ought to make you stand out from the world (Phil. 2:14-15).

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:5-8, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” Some people live their lives seemingly in a dream, not awake to the spiritual dangers that are around them, but mindlessly floating down the river of life going wherever outside influences take them.  Christians are not to live in such spiritual stupor, but should be awake and alert to the spiritual realities that are around them, proactively following Christ.

The normal time to sleep is at night, and being drunk during the day has often been considered scandalous by the public (Isa. 5:11; Ecc. 10:16-17; Acts 2:15; 2 Pet. 2:13).  As Christians, children of the light and of the day, we are to be the opposite: awake and sober.  Night is sometimes used in scripture to underscore moral darkness rather than prosaically marking the time (Mt. 26:34; Jn. 13:30).  Nighttime is when evil people do their deeds.  We are surprised today when people commit crimes in broad daylight.  These evil deeds of the darkness are on their way out, because an eternal day is coming (Rom. 13:12; cf. Rev. 21:23; 22:5).  The gospel age has let some of this light in, but the final coming of Christ is when it will fully break forth (1 Jn. 2:8).

Paul’s description of light and darkness in 1 Thessalonians 5 is really part of a larger context concerning the unexpectedness of Lord’s final coming and need to be prepared for it (1 Thess. 5:1-11).  God has chosen to not disclose when the return of His Son will be, and Jesus warned His disciples to watch so they are ready for His coming at any time (Mk. 13:32-37).  Jesus told His disciples that such vigilance is necessary to resist temptation of the flesh (Mt. 26:40-41; Mk. 14:37-38; Lk. 22:45-46).  God knows that if He did reveal when the final day would be that people would be tempted to live evil lives, indulging the flesh, and try to repent near the end before that day comes.  This would run contrary to His purposes; our Heavenly Father wants to foster in us a love for Him and patient desire for heaven. No man will see the light of heaven who has not already had it in his heart while he is living in this world of darkness.

-Mark Day

Christ prayed for unity among His followers (John 17:20-21); however, as with many other requests made to the Father, there is a part each Christian must play in order to make this unity a reality.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:3 that all Christians are to be “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Disunity has always been a problem to mankind since the very beginning.  Discord exists among individuals, couples, families, organizations, nations, and even churches.  This is because each man has his own opinions.  In the church we must be willing to sacrifice opinions and stick with matters of faith taught in God’s word to have unity.

The unity Paul told the Ephesians to endeavor to maintain is the unity of the Spirit.  Christians are led by teachings of the Holy Spirit, captured for us in the writings that comprise the New Testament, which serve as a basis for unity.  Consider how the seven ones of Ephesians 4:4-6 illustrate this singularity.  Christians would be just as willing to accept more than one God as to accept more than one faith or more than one baptism.  The charge to give effort to have and maintain unity among the called in Christ in the letter of Ephesians comes after Paul had mentioned the wall of partition that had existed between Jews and Gentiles, a barrier that had been broken down by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:11-19).  This uniting of Jews and Gentiles into one body was part of God’s plan from the foundation of the world (Eph. 2:16; 3:6, 11).  It is hard for us today to comprehend how different Jews and Gentiles were in the first century and the enmity that had festered among them for centuries.  Isaiah prophesied that bringing these two groups together to have peace in the church would be like getting wolves and sheep, leopards and goats, or lions and cows to dwell peacefully together (Isa. 11:6).  While this seemed impossible, God did this in the first-century church.  Jews and Gentiles were reconciled together to Him in the body of Christ (Eph. 2:16).

But this partnership did not just happen easily.  The endeavor for unity in Ephesians 4:3 follows the instruction of Ephesians 4:2; that Christians are to be characterized, “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.”  Pride is an enemy of unity.  Contrariwise, patience is so essential to peace.  When I recognize that others have to put up with me, then I can more easily put up with others.  The bottom line is that Christians must love each other.  This is not always easy, but the results are worth it.

Partiality based on how much money a person possesses is a temptation that must be avoided in the church (James 2:1-8).  The church, instead of being divided into different cliques, ought to be one harmonious community (Acts 2:46).  Even good men like Peter and Barnabas had trouble with showing partiality because of social pressures (Gal. 2:11-13).  Paul loved them enough to speak up before everyone, and they loved their brethren enough to repent and not hold a grudge against Paul (Gal. 2:14).  Individuals in the church cannot remain at odds if unity is to exist.  Even in private cases, unlike that of Peter’s partiality, confrontation is necessary to deal with a sin between two brothers or it will affect the entire church (Mt. 18:15-20; cf. Phil. 4:2).

Based on God’s word, the more unity exists in the Flatwoods church, the more blessings will follow.  Are you willing to work and pray to make it a reality?

-Mark Day