WWUTT 1872 Be Imitators of God (Part 2)

Ephesians 5 .5 tells us, know this with certainty, that no one sexually immoral or impure or greedy who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Being Imitators of God in Ephesians 5

Thank you, Becky. As I shared yesterday, I'm giving my voice a rest this week. So I'm playing a couple of sermons that I preached at the end of 2022 out of the book of Ephesians. We come back to part two of the sermon that I started yesterday from Ephesians 5, verses one through six about being imitators of God.

And so my friends, since we are to be imitators of God as his dearly beloved children, and since we are to walk in love as imitators of Christ, what are we not to do? Well, we're not to do anything that would be contrary to that, right?

We're not to do anything that would be contrary to the holiness of God or the love that Christ demonstrated for us. We should not have anything to do with those sins for which Christ gave his life. Amen?

So in light of these two commands and these two reasons that Paul has just given, he then tells the Ephesians in verse three, and the spirit of God says to us even now, but sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints.

That's verse three. So you understand that everyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ is a saint, right? As is proper among the saints, a saint is not someone who has been canonized into the Catholic church.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a saint right now, meaning that you are being sanctified. Christ has justified you. You were justified through faith in Jesus Christ, and now he is purifying you.

And as you are in that process of purification, you are being sanctified. And so therefore, that word that is just like that, associated with that is saint. You are a saint. And as one who is being purified, you must not have anything to do with those things that are impure.

You must not have anything to do with sexual immorality or greed, which is also to say covetousness. Some of your translations may say have nothing to do with covetousness there. Paul goes on to say, nor filthiness and foolish talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather what should we be doing?

Look there at the end of verse four, we should be giving thanks. There should be giving of thanks. That's much like the command we were just given in chapter four, verse 29. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word is as good for building up what is needed so that it will give grace to those who hear.

Paul just continues the same command here in chapter five. With our mouths, we speak not those things that tear one another down, but gracious words, giving thanks to God. Notice that again, Paul says, speak in such a way that gives grace.

And here in verse four, he says to speak in a way that gives thanks. Paul counters sinful desires by encouraging his readers to have hearts that are filled with thanksgiving. Every single time that you or I sin, sin comes from an ungrateful heart.

We're not thankful to God. We're not satisfied with Him or what He has given to us. It's as though to say to God, everything that you are and what you have given to me is not enough. I have to have this other thing, which you've told me not to have, but I'm gonna have it because it's what I think I need to be satisfied.

Was that not the attitude of Adam and Eve in the garden? They even had God to walk with in the cool of the day, but they did not, I just, I don't have it all unless I have this thing that God has told me not to eat.

And so we, in our own flesh, in our own bodies, we crave those things that flow from the ingratitude that is in our hearts. We go after what our flesh wants. Consider Romans 1 .21, which says, for even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thoughts and their foolish heart was darkened.

If you are not thankful to God, you are in sin and you will sin. What is the best deterrent against sin? Be thankful to God, draw near to Christ, give Him praise. Philippians 4, 5 through 7 says, let your considerate spirit be known to all men.

The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus so that we don't go after those things that are displeasing to God.

With a spirit of thanksgiving, we desire to honor Christ. So Paul says here, he goes on in verse five to say, or sorry, verse four, do not let filthiness and foolish talk or coarse jesting, which are fitting, which are not fitting, I'm sorry.

Don't do those things. Don't hear me say do those things. Don't do those things, but rather let there be giving of thanks. Notice that all three of these things have to do with what? What are we talking about here?

It's the words that we're saying, right? It's language. They all have to do with the language that a person uses, the kind of talk that they are known for. What would someone have to say about the way that you speak?

Would they know you as someone who gives grace to those who hear? Or do they know you as someone who has filthy talk and coarse jesting that comes from their mouths? What is filthiness as Paul describes it here?

Filthiness is obscene, indecent language. Foolish talking is chatter that is likened to worldly language rather than that which is suited to instruct or edify the church. Coarse jesting. Now we might think of coarse jesting as Paul saying, don't tell dirty jokes.

And yeah, there are certainly jokes that are on a level of filth that we should as Christians not be willing to tolerate. But Paul had already confronted the concept when he prohibited filthiness. Coarse jesting rather means to mislead and damage others and perhaps for one's own amusement.

Gossip and slander would fit into this category of coarse jesting, but also deception and false witness. Consider Proverbs 26 verses 18 and 19, which says, like a madman who shoots firebrands, arrows and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, I was only joking.

That's a pretty good example, I think, of coarse jesting. And all of these come from the mouth of a person whose heart is ungrateful before God. A person who complains about or curses their circumstances or other people rather than giving thanks to God.

Jesus said in Matthew 12, 34, the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. Or as some translations put it, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. These things are unbecoming of a Christian.

As Christians, even our language should sound different than the way the rest of the world talks. Just as you might be able to distinguish a Texan from a Yankee by the way they talk, or you might be able to tell the difference between an American and a Frenchman by the kind of language that he uses.

So we should be able to know a Christian from someone of the world by the very way they speak. Be imitators of God and speak the language of our Savior. Paul comes back to these sins that he's just listed in verses three and four.

He comes back to it again in verse five. Look at verse five, for this you know with certainty. I love the way he puts that. You know this with certainty. I've told you this before. You know this. As those who love God and his word, you have heard that no one sexually immoral or impure or greedy who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words. Same kind of foolish talk that we just read about. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Jump back up a moment. Consider again what Paul said in verse three.

But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints. Again, we have a command and we have a reason. Don't even let these things be named among you because those things are not proper for those who are being sanctified.

When Pastor Tom walked us through Ephesians 4 .25 -28, he showed us how Paul was referring to church discipline. And this statement in verse three comes back to that. These sins must not even be named among you.

That doesn't just mean don't do them. It also means that if there are those in your midst who are guilty of sexual immorality or greed or filthy talk, if they have been confronted and they refuse to repent, don't let them remain among you.

These things must not even be named among you. Purge the evil person from among you as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5 .13, a statement that comes straight from the law of God. And this is done with the hope that he or she will repent and they will be saved from death.

Let's be very, very clear about this. Let me take nothing for granted here. But let me ask you, what is sexual immorality? It is any kind of sex that is outside of marriage. God created sex to be enjoyed between a husband and a wife.

To be enjoyed. And by the way, if you want to know more about that, I am currently teaching through the Song of Solomon, better known as the Song of Songs, on the Thursday edition of my podcast. So you're welcome to listen to that there.

Where sex should happen is in marriage and nowhere else. Not at your computer, not in the movies or in the TV shows that you watch, not in the smutty books and articles that you read, and not with anyone else outside the marriage bed.

Hebrews 13 .4 says, marriage is to be held in honor among all and the marriage bed is to be undefiled for the sexually immoral and adulterers God will judge. You must understand how serious this is. Be cleansed of the toxic messages of the culture and hear the word of God.

Our society is one that has become so accepting of just about any kind of sexual behavior out there. America would make Sodom and Gomorrah blush and we are bombarded with images and language and propaganda so much of it that it is so very, very easy for us, even as Christians, even the most seasoned lifelong Christian to become desensitized because of how much we're surrounded by it.

And we begin to think flippantly about sex, and yada, yada, yada, to think that sexual immorality is no big deal, but it is a big deal. Paul wants the Ephesians to know that it's a big deal. The Holy Spirit wants us to know right now that this is a big deal.

So look again at verse five, for this you know with certainty that no one sexually immoral or impure or greedy, meaning one who covets or who lusts, who is an idolater, who worships these things and puts the desire for them above the desire for God.

No one who does these things has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. To further emphasize the point, Paul says in verse six, let no one deceive you with empty words. Let no one tell you otherwise.

For because of these things, because of these sins, Paul has listed, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. The wrath of God, hell, for all eternity, for those who would persist in and walk in and live in this darkness.

Colossians 3, five says, therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed, which is idolatry. It's idol worship. You don't have to have little statues in your house that you bow down to, to be an idol worshiper.

Whatever you are placing above God, whatever you are saying, I need this in order to be satisfied. Christ is not enough. I need this, makes you an idol worshiper. Colossians 3, six goes on to say, on account of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

Boy, that sounds familiar, doesn't it? Same thing Paul is saying here in Ephesians five. Remember that back in Ephesians two, one through three, we read the following. You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you formerly walked, following the course of the world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the less of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature, by our nature, children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

That's who we once were. We were all among the sons of disobedience upon whom the wrath of God will pour out. I heard somebody say just earlier this week that when God comes to judge sin, when He only judges sin, He doesn't judge the people who do sin.

Make no mistake, brothers and sisters, it says plainly here, we've read it in two letters, God will judge the sons of disobedience, not just the sins, but the ones who sin. We were all among them at one point.

We formerly conducted ourselves in the less of our flesh, but we have heard, as Ephesians 2 ,4 goes on to say, but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive together with Christ.

By grace, you have been saved. And if that is you, my friends, if you know that you have been saved, you must put all of these things away and no longer be living among the sons of disobedience walking in darkness.

Paul goes on in Ephesians 5 ,7 to say, here's the verse that we end with, Pastor Tom begins on this next week. Therefore, do not be partakers with them. What's another way of saying that? Don't imitate them.

Whom are we to imitate? We are to be imitators of God. Therefore be imitators of God as His beloved children, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints of light, who rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, Colossians 1 ,12 through 14.

And next week we will consider further what it means to walk as children of light. But as I have been reading here from God's word, as I've been quoting God's word to you this morning, if you've been convicted of the sins that Paul names and says, no longer be walking in those things.

You once were that, but now we are to be as children of God, imitators of our Father who is in heaven. If you have been convicted by the word of God today, brothers and sisters, I urge you, turn from sin and walk in it no longer.

But come find one of us pastors and talk to us about that. This isn't a confession. We cannot absolve you or forgive you of your sins. We can't do that, but we can point you to the Savior who does, cleansing us from all unrighteousness, that we may be pure children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which we shine as lights in the world.

Philippians 2 ,14. Please pray with me. Heavenly Father, you are our Father. What a wonderful, blessed thing that we as your children get to know you so intimately that we can call upon you as Father.

It is through the sacrifice of Christ and what he has done for us that we may know you in this way. And so I ask God that you would guide us and teach us as a Father who loves us and disciplines us, guides his children, teach us in what we've heard today.

And if we have to be disciplined because of some unchecked sin in our lives, may we not scowl at that or be angry because somebody has to correct us, but we receive it in love. For as we hear in Hebrews 12, God disciplines those he loves.

If we were not disciplined, then we would be illegitimate children. We would not be the sons and daughters of God. May we reflect all the more today on this wonderful sacrifice that Christ has made for us, a pleasing aroma unto God, so that we likewise, as imitators of God, may walk in love as a pleasing sacrifice unto you.

It is in the name of Jesus, our Savior, that we pray. And all God's people said, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.