2. Their deeds expose them to the Divine wrath.—“Because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (ver. 6). The wrath of God is already upon them (Rom. i. 18), and shall remain so long as they are disobedient. Deeds such as theirs carry their own punishment; but there is also the righteous vengeance of God to reckon with. For sin God can have nothing but wrath; but yet that is mercifully restrained to afford every opportunity for repentance. The Roman magistrates, when they gave sentence upon any one to be scourged, had a bundle of rods tied hard with many knots laid before them. The reason was this: whilst the beadle was untying the knots, which he was to do by order and not in any other or sudden way, the magistrates might see the deportment and carriage of the delinquent, whether he was sorry for his fault and showed any hope of amendment, that then they might recall his sentence or mitigate his punishment; otherwise he was corrected so much the more severely. Thus God in the punishment of sinners. How patient is He! How loth to strike! How slow to anger!
II. The children of light are Divinely illumined.—1. They were once in darkness. “Ye were sometimes darkness” (ver. 8). Their present condition as children of the light should remind them by contrast of their former state, and should excite their gratitude to God for the change He had wrought in them. They were not to be deceived by specious arguments (ver. 6) that they could return to their old sins and yet retain their new inheritance. To go back to the old life is to go back to darkness.
2. Their possession of Divine light is evident.—“But now are ye light in the Lord. . . . For the fruit of the Spirit [the fruit of light] is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (vers. 8, 9). True virtue is of the light and cannot be hid. Genuine religion manifests itself in goodness of heart, in righteousness of life, and in truthfulness of character and speech—in a holy reality that is both experienced and expressed. On Herder’s grave at Weimar there was placed by royal authority a cast-iron tablet with the words, “Light, Love, Life.” The life illumined by the Spirit is its own bright witness.
3. Their conduct aims at discovering what is acceptable to God.—“Walk as children of the light, . . . proving what is acceptable unto the Lord” (vers. 8, 10). Their outward life must be in harmony with the new nature they have received. They were adopted as children of the light, and they must think, speak, and act in the light and with the light they had received. The light will show what it is that God approves; and striving in all things to please Him our light will increase. We may sometimes be mistaken, but we shall get light from our mistakes, as well as from our success, as to the will of God. Life is a trial, and our conduct will be the test as to how we are using the light God has given us. The light we shed will be a help and guide to others. There is a kind of diamond which, if exposed for some minutes to the light of the sun and then taken into a dark room, will emit light for some time. The marvellous property of retaining light and thereby becoming the source of light on a small scale shows how analogous to light its very nature must be. Those who touched the Saviour became sources of virtue to others. As Moses’ face shown when he came from the mount, so converse with spiritual things makes Christians the light which shines in the dark places of the earth. “Let your light so shine before men” (Matt. v. 16).
III. The children of light cannot participate in deeds of darkness.—1. They are to shun them. “Be not partakers with them . . . Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (vers. 7, 11). We may not actually commit certain sins; but if we tolerate or encourage them, we are partakers with the transgressors. The safest place is that which is farthest from evil. It is a perilous experiment to try how near we can approach and how far daily with sin without committing ourselves. The easiest way to resist temptation is to run away. It is beneath the dignity of the children of light to patronise or trifle with sin.
2. They were not even to speak of them.—“It is a shame even to speak of those things” (ver. 12). There are some subjects about which silence is not only the highest prudence but a sacred duty. The foolish talking and jesting of ver. 4 belonged to the period when they were the children of darkness. Sparkling humour refreshes; the ribald jest pollutes. The best way to forget sayings that suggest evil is never to speak of them.
3. They are to expose them by bringing the light of truth to bear upon them.—“But rather reprove them. . . . All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light,” etc. (vers. 11, 13, 14). Silent absence or abstinence is not enough. Where sin is open to rebuke it should at all hazards be rebuked. On the other hand, St. Paul does not warrant Christians in prying into the hidden sins of the world around them and playing the moral detective. Publicity is not a remedy for all evils, but a great aggravation of some, and the surest means of disseminating them. It is a shame—a disgrace to our common nature, and a grievous peril to the young and innocent—to fill the public prints with the nauseous details of crime, and to taint the air with its putridities. The fruit of the light convicts the unfruitful works of darkness. The light of the Gospel disclosed and then dispelled the darkness of the former time. So will it be with the night of sin that is spread over the world. The light which shines upon sin-laden and sorrowful hearts shines on them to change them into its own nature. The manifested is light; in other words, if men can be made to see the true nature of their sin, they will forsake it. If the light can but penetrate their conscience, it will save them. “Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest.” With this song on her lips the Church went forth, clad in the armour of light, strong in the joy of salvation; and darkness and the works of darkness fled before her (Findlay).
Lessons.—The Children of darkness and of light differ—1. In their conduct. 2. In their spirit and aims. 3. In the way in which they are Divinely regarded.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Vers. 3–6. Christian Sobriety inculcated.