WHAT IS PROPER AMONG SAINTS? (Eph 5:3-4)

Welcome, Church Gathered for Worship

Let's all try to move in closer towards the middle so we have extra seats on the outside. As we are getting seated, I just want to thank you all for being here. I just want to remind you that we have our first Wednesday night Bible studies starting this Wednesday.

Are there any youth out there? It's hard to see you all the lights. We will be meeting at Shadrach's. Are y 'all pumped for that or what? I know some of the older students are jealous of us so. More the merrier so if you want to swing by and see the youth on Wednesday.

It'll be a Shadrach's just up the road and the adults will be in here and all that will start at 630. And so we do have a children's ministry, so if you are a guest or If you have kids the age we will be able to facilitate that as well and so.

Once again, we just want to welcome everybody here, especially the members of 12 five you are loved and we appreciate your service. Utilizing your gifts to the body. And so we also may are just being obedient to what we've been Called to do.

The writer of Hebrew says that we are not to neglect the gathering together of the Saints. So thank you so much members that are in covenant fellowship with one another and if you are a guest or regular attender.

You are loved too, and we want to thank you so much for being here. And if you get a chance, please fill out one of our connect cards. We'd love to get to know you more and pray for you and so with that being said.

Our prayer this morning is that all of us would grow in the grace and knowledge and love of the triune God. Amen. And so as we do every Lord's Day, we lift up a local church in prayer. And so this morning, we're going to be praying for Mount Zion Baptist Church.

So if you would please join me and pray Heavenly Father we wish to lift up Mount Zion Baptist Church Lord. We pray for their leadership. God that you would give them wisdom. God that you would bless Men in the church to be able to rally around you King Jesus and that you would impress upon their hearts.

To serve you well. God and also the women. God and all the people that you bring there. God we pray that you would give their people a heart of service. God to just be a beacon of light in this community in Walcott.

Lord, we love you. We pray for your blessing on Mount Zion Baptist Church in your name Jesus. We pray All right, if you would please stand for our call to worship. We will be looking at Psalm chapter 1 together.

The King David says blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. His delight is in the law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.

The wicked are not so. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment for the Lord knows the way of the righteous.

Let's pray again this morning.

Heavenly Father we adore you and all that you are God. We lift up your your name. That is holy Lord, I pray that this morning that we would not be distracted. But that we would rest in your grace and your provision in our lives.

Lord, please give us ears to hear and a heart. To listen to your word. God, please impress upon us to worship you in spirit and in truth. We love you Jesus. We pray this in your name.

You bring us out so we are children yet Generation C. You're strong in my gracious hand. Gracious hand provides for all. First of a wicked man new Christ. Our scripture reading this morning comes from Romans chapter 8.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

And for sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous Requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. But to set the mind on the flesh is death. But to set the mind on the Spirit is life in peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God's law.

Indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

He's here, He's here, He's all, sing with me, He's all, in time, of all names, sing it out, for the name, you are, word, how great, one more time, how great is our God, just our voices, sing it out, and how great, how great, is our God, amen, amen, you can be seated.

All right, this is our time for giving and offering what God has blessed us with in our life to be able to reflect and prayerfully Contemplate about what he would have us give back to to him. So if you would please join me in prayer.

Heavenly Father, I just want to lift up this time of giving. God I pray that no one here God would give under compulsion or of necessity. God I pray that we'd give from a place of cheerfulness got a heart of love.

God as we've been singing about your name is above all names. God you own everything. God your word tells us you own a cattle on a thousand hills and everything else. God I pray that we would give out of an abundance of a heart of joy and thankfulness to you Jesus Lord.

We love you. Pray these things in your name.

The Call to Live as Beloved Children

Go ahead and open up your copy of God's Word to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5 and We are going to be looking primarily at verses 3 and 4 today. But we're gonna start reading in verse 1 so we can understand the context and read on through.

I think we are in week 44 of Of our study through Ephesians if I'm not mistaken, and so this has been a blessed time for our church. I was speaking with someone the other day and we were talking about The spiritual maturity that we are seeing being worked out in our church and We're seeing in individual lives growing in the faith growing in spiritual maturity we even see it in ourselves, hopefully a little bits at a time and and That is not due to us that is not due to our circumstances that is not due to a building that is not due to each other.

Necessarily that is primarily due to the fact that God's Word never returns void it always does what it sets out to do and We have been walking through this book that has shown us what it means to be part of the body.

And so we are trusting in God's providential work in our lives to work through and in us in his word. So let's let's start reading there in verse 1 of chapter 5 where Paul says therefore be imitators of God as beloved children.

And walk in love as as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Of a sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must must not even be named among you as is proper among saints.

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place, but instead let there be Thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous.

That is an idolater has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. But no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them.

This is the reading of God's Holy Word. Let's let's once again stop and pray. Let's let's ask the the the Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts and minds to this wonderful truth. Lord we bow our heads before you in humility acknowledging that We are but the creature.

You are the creator you have given us your word and it is clear. It is good. It is right and in our Flesh.

We.

Struggle understanding it and we most certainly struggle obeying it so we ask this morning that you work in our hearts and minds as You renew our thoughts and our minds that that you mold us together as a people.

Mold us into obedience to your word. Guard my lips from error. Guard their ears from hearing anything that is not true from this word. In Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Well in the last half of chapter 4 Paul begins this process of calling us to live in light of this great.

This great inheritance the great inheritance that you and I have in Christ. The one that that he has spoken extensively on in chapters 1 through 3 the full first half of Ephesians was just about Doctrine and who you are in Christ and how Christ has brought you into this.

And he does so by by telling us there in chapter 4 to no longer walk as Unbelievers to no longer walk as as those who live in the futility of their minds but for us to put off that old self the futility of mind and to actively Put on the new self.

To actively pursue living in the power of the Holy Spirit that is within you now. Here's the thing because when we walk in the old self we walk in the flesh that that old futility. We grieve the Holy Spirit that is within us.

Don't we so Paul says and In the process we do harm to ourselves and we do harm to each other in the body. We do harm to the church. We do harm to the very body of Christ that he is building. And we got to the beginning of chapter 5 last week and we saw that putting on this new is essentially Imitating God, isn't it?

Pursuing actively putting on the new self is imitating God and Imitating God is walking in love as Paul said there and I believe verse 2. And we can only define love how? We can only define the love of God.

Because God is love and God is what defines love and It is only seen in the person and work of Jesus Christ, isn't it? Right. No one has seen the Father except through Christ. He has shown us that tremendous love in Christ and here as as we make it to verse 3 I believe that Paul is contrasting that walk in love with the Perversion of love with the earthly sinful distortion of that love.

One that the world not only walks in but the world is enslaved to you and I were once enslaved to it. We were trapped by it. We did nothing but the perversion of love. That's all we had. That's all we had to offer.

That you and I even though we've been made anew we often default To live in that old self, don't we and it's when we are not actively putting on the new self. And it is obvious even at first glance that that walking in love imitating God is self sacrifice.

But we we saw that perfectly exemplified in the life of Christ, that's what we talked about last week. However what we see Paul listing here and starting in verse 3 it screams self-indulgence. So let's take a closer.

Look at it. Look at it with me with there at verse 3 in chapter 5. What does he say? He says but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness Must not even be named among you as is proper among Saints.

Well, the first thing that Paul lists here in contrast to walking in love Is sexual immorality. We see this phrase all through the New Testament. New Testament speaks quite a bit about this. You see that phrase all throughout the New Testament and sometimes I'll be honest I read it and I know you do too.

We read a phrase like that sexual immorality and our self-righteousness or self-excusing. Self-preserving. Justification kicks in doesn't it? We read something like that. No, I think well after all I don't cheat on my spouse.

You might not have a have a spouse it but you might be thinking well I'm not out there just hooking up like the hookup culture out there in the world. I'm not doing all of that. And we think whoo boy.

I'm glad I'm not guilty of at least that one and we just kind of skim over it. Don't we? Well, maybe we should take a closer look. Maybe we should stop for a second set aside our own self-righteousness and think in the Greek.

The word that we translate into sexual immorality is porneia. You can hear it. It's where we get our word pornography. So does this phrase? Refer to adultery and promiscuity. Well, yeah, of course it does.

Of course it does yet it encompasses Much it takes on a whole another level of meaning when you understand what Paul's saying here. As a matter of fact if you remember in the Sermon on the Mount and we went through that just a few months ago as we're Walking through in chapter 5 and Matthew chapter 5 starting in verse 27.

What did Jesus say Jesus says? Hey, hey, you've heard it said and then he quotes the Old Testament law that they were using right? You shall not commit adultery. They they were proud of themselves. I'm not out there committing adultery.

I'm not committing the act of adultery and Jesus goes but I say to you everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent He's already committed adultery in his heart. And if you were with us, then you will remember Jesus is not adding to the law here as some might think they think well man Jesus comes and he just adds more on top of the law.

He takes the you shall not commit adultery and you just hold another level. No Jesus came to define the law. Jesus came in and said you think you're able to adhere to the law by just not Participating in the physical act what I'm saying is what's in your heart is already adultery.

Hmm.

We think we're okay because we've somehow restrained ourselves from the physical act of that sexual immorality. Yet have wondering eyes and thoughts. You see sexual immorality is absolutely anything. Absolutely.

Hear me out anything that goes against God's prescribed created order of intimacy between a husband and a wife and Yes, that includes thoughts and intents and Paul places this in contrast to walking in love.

Hey, you're supposed to walk in love. You're supposed to be imitating God who is love and Here this this has no place. Paul says in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 he says for this is the will of God. Hey, I get that question a lot people come to me and they say well pastor.

What's the will of God for my life? What's the will of God for my life? I'm like, well actually come on. Let me show you I can show you it tells us that's what Paul said. He said this is the will of God.

You want to know what the will of God is? He says your sanctification. Your sanctification you're walking in the new self, that's the will of God. And he goes on he says What is sanctification? What does sanctification look like that you abstain from?

Pornea sexual immorality. That you abstain this is one of the first things Paul says. This is sanctification that's being worked out in our hearts and our minds. We're participating in that now that we've been brought into faith and we're walking in this and God is saying walk put on the new Self no longer walk in the old self.

The new self is Sanctification. This is the will of God to abstain from this. And it's interesting that he says abstain from sexual immorality. Because it's almost as if Paul's implying that we all have a propensity towards it.

I'm sure there are very few of you out there that might have the gift of singleness and don't have the problem. But for them for the vast majority of us This is an issue and to grow in that sanctification is to flee from it to abstain from it to run from it to stay Away from it to kill it at every turn when it pops into our minds and our hearts.

Well, look at what Paul mentions next. He just keeps diving it deeper here. Look at back at verse 3 the sexual immorality and.

All.

Impurity this term that Paul uses it adds here. It's it's it's a more general term than pornea. You see this impurity this refers to anything anything that is unclean or filthy. Anything that is unclean or filthy.

As a matter of fact you Jesus used this very word to describe the rottenness of a decaying body in a tomb. When over and I think it's Matthew 23 when he compared the Pharisees to the whitewashed tombs.

He uses the same phrase. So it's decay. It's rottenness. It's it's death. After all, what is sin? Sin is death right it leads to death. He he takes this further. Right. Paul doesn't just point to sexual sin.

He he takes it to the next step. He doubles down. He says he says all impurity not just your thoughts and actions in in in that other way, but now all filthiness again anything and everything that falls short of holiness and Righteousness because that's what we're to walk in right.

This includes and I'm gonna get very practical here for a second. I don't do this very often. You know that I usually try and just stick to the text and say, okay. Let's say the Holy Spirit's gonna do the work.

But there's just some obvious things that stick out in the text sometimes you can bring out the practical. So that's what I'm gonna do right now. And so if I hit a little too close to home, I'm not aiming at you specifically.

I'm probably aiming at myself more. This includes what we watch. This includes what we listen to. This includes what we read. It includes what we think about. It includes who we spend time with. No impurity all.

Impurity is off the table for us. Now I have to be careful I'm not talking about some type of legalism. But here's the thing all of us know whatever you consume it's in you, isn't it? Whatever you take in to these eyes and these ears and this thought it's in you it becomes part of you.

It's inside of you a steady diet of impurity will certainly lead to spiritual heart disease. It will always corrupt from the inside. Is he spirit. The scripture never promotes some type of off-the-grid Amish lifestyle because that's our flesh.

When I say that I know exactly what you're thinking the same thing. Man if I follow this to its logical conclusion that I just I have to live out in the woods and detach from electricity and phones and TV and detach from everything and I have to I have to remove myself from every Temptation of the world, but that's not what scripture promotes.

But it does certainly say something about consuming entertainment that glorifies sin. It most certainly says something about that. I want you to look at what he says next though. Look back at verse 3.

It says but sexual immorality and all impurity or Covetousness, I think there's some confusion as to why this is in here scholars as you read through you're like man. He's dealing with like sexual morality and something that's really tied to sexual morality impurity.

And then all of a sudden he throws it like covetousness like why not another sin like covetousness. I think it's as if Paul is starting with the lesser to the greater sin to the bigger sin. He specifies a specific sin and sexual immorality.

Then he he zooms out a little bit and he says he says oh and guess what any and all impurity and then he zooms out even more and I and now I think Paul cuts right to the heart to the core of what leads us to any of these Things and it's covetousness.

Essentially greed. All of us carry this in our hearts we know it's sin and we justify it so often. Well, he actually defines what he means let's let's clarify what he means. Paul clarifies it for us. As a matter of fact look down at verse 5.

He lists those same things off again in verse 5 later on. He says for you may be sure of this that everyone who is there sexually immoral or impure or who is? Covetous and then you see in parentheses a definition of what he means that is an idolater.

Somebody that is covetous is an idolater is what Paul is saying. Right, what is covetous idolatry. As a matter of fact turn with me over to the book of James keep your hand there in our passage in Ephesians.

But I want you to look at James chapter 4. Where Paul is speaking in verses 1 and 2 he's warning against worldliness here in James chapter 4. Starting in verse 1. He asked the question. He says hey, what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?

What what causes this in you. Is it not this? That your passions are at war within you. You see the you see the connection here to what we're saying. Paul said and Ephesians put off the old self and put on the new.

Well your passions that are a war within you. That's the old self still fighting still warring against you. He says you desire and you do not have so what do you do? You murder. Why does anyone murder they desire and do not have where the wars come from they desire and do not have their covetous.

Look at the next part. He says you covet and Cannot obtain there's that word you covet and cannot obtain. So what do you do you fight and quarrel? It's greed. It's me. It's my desires, it's what I want.

It's what I think is rightfully mine. And it leads me to all types of sin. The moral law of God that in the Ten Commandments says we were to have no other God before him. Have no other God before him.

What does that mean? What does it mean to have no other God before him? You see it's anything that you and I desire. Seek comfort in. Rely on chase after can't live without. Anything and everything that pulls us away from total reliance on his Providence rest in his sovereign control and obedience to his commands is Idolatry when we covet.

You and I are desiring something other than him. When I covet I'm desiring something other than God and it's for my own gratification. It's for myself. Leading us to to all types of debauchery, doesn't it?

Why do you fall prey to sexual sin? Why do we fall prey to it? Well, the world would say well, you're just wired for that. Just it's only natural. But why are we drawn to it? Because we long to gratify our own flesh.

Leading us to treat other image bearers other human beings made in the image of God as nothing more than an object. To be used to fulfill my desire. Covetousness leads me to this. What I long for. Why do we fall prey to all types of impurity things that dishonor God because he is not our hearts desire.

We have an idol. Maybe self. Whatever it is. It's not God on the throne of what you most desire.

Look to.

We desire something else we covet that other thing that idol. All of this is the opposite of love. It is self indulgence every bit of it. And. What does Paul say about these things. Look back at the verse in verse 3 in chapter 5.

The sexual morality and all impurity or covetousness must not even Be named among you. What does Paul mean by this? What is he saying it these three things? Shouldn't even be named among us. Is he saying that we can't even speak of these things in any way.

Is he saying don't even bring them up don't bring them up in front of everybody. Don't even bring them to the table because the problem with that that idea is in this case Paul's broken his own rule. He's brought him up here.

After all, we must preach and teach against these sins, right? They're present in our world. They're obvious. They're here. Are we not to name them? Well, I think we can gain a better understanding of what Paul means here in the next phrase.

Look at it. He says these things these three things must not even be named among you as.

Is.

Proper among Saints. I think one way to maybe translate this that might be helpful for you to think of. Is that these three things must not even be named among you in such a way as is improper. These things should not be named among you in such a way as is improper.

It must not be present. See if you and I are in Christ, what are we? What's the phrase for us that are in Christ? What are we at this moment? Paul's been talking about it in the letter so far. Saints right.

Saints we are Saints. We've been set apart. We you and I have been made a people unto himself and our actions and our lifestyle should represent that. To act like to be like the world like the old self has no place in our lives.

It has no place in our midst. It has no place amongst us as believers. We are something altogether different a dwelling place for the Lord God has made his dwelling place amongst us and then we bring the corruption of the world into his very temple.

It has no place amongst us does it? Let me give you an example, you know all earthly examples fall short of a spiritual reality. I said it all the time, so don't read too much into it. But I think this may be give us a visual here have you ever seen an older man like like up in his up in age who He tries to keep up with the times a little much and he dresses hip.

He dresses like a 20 year old. Very fashionably, right? It just looks unnatural, doesn't it? It's not it's it doesn't look good. It's like the guys the older guys over 40 wearing skinny jeans. They look like a pug standing up on their back two legs.

You know what I'm talking about here's a man up there in his age who should have an aura of wisdom and maturity about him at this time in his life who has experienced enough of life to realize the futility and vanity of dressing stylishly and Just given up on all of that stuff for more important things, but his foolishness is paraded all over him.

His ignorance is paraded all over him and his outfits and his lifestyle. It's not proper for the stage of life that this man is in it stands out like a sore thumb, doesn't it? It's it's uncomfortable to be around it.

You see this is the same masquerading as the world. Living in the old self. It's the 70 year old guy trying to dress like he's 20. It's something completely different and it's unnatural. This has no place.

The old self is not fitting for the new self. It has no place there. They they're as Paul will say in verse 4 later on out of place. This is out of place. This is this has no place here amongst the Saints.

It is out of order. So what is proper among the Saints? What is proper for us as believers within the body of Christ?

Well.

Paul goes on to tell us and he starts with a negative what it's not. Leading us to a positive of what is proper look at verse 4. He says let there be no filthiness Nor foolish talk Nor crude joking Which are out of place.

How can we tell? When sexual morality and purity and covetousness are being named among us. How can we tell when they're in our midst? How can we tell when they're in our own hearts and lives? What's in the heart?

Comes out the mouth. It's pretty obvious, isn't it? You spend time with anyone you want to get to know somebody. You want to know who they really are. Just stand back and let them talk. Just let them talk.

You'll find out who they are real quick because what's in here will always come out here. They can only restrain it for so long. You see Paul has already addressed this back in chapter 4. Remember in verse 29.

He says let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths.

No.

Perverted distorted. Corrupting talk come out of your mouths because of the harm that it does to the listener. Because of the harm that it does to those around hearing the corrupting talk come out. But Paul is taking a different angle here in chapter 5.

And shows us how it is unseemly and out of place for us as Believers who are saints? Well first he says look at the beginning there. Let there be no filthiness. Some of your translations may say Obscenity and in the context that Paul uses it here.

It is equivalent to a filthy language. Filthy language the root of the same word is used by Paul over in Colossians chapter 3 when he says. But now. You must put them all away. Now when you see in Scripture a command like that I mean you need to stop in your tracks, right?

You must put them all away. He's saying again. He's saying put off the old put on the new. Be active in this put these away. And he goes off to list anger. Put it away wrath. Put it away malice. Put it away slander.

Put it away and Obscene talk it's the same root word here Obscene talk. And he says from the mouth Put it away. Get rid of it. Look at what he says next actually in verse 4 let there be no filthiness.

Nor.

Foolish talk and the word that Paul uses here means stupid babble or foolish speech. This as Paul says is out of place for a saint because it has no purpose. Foolish talk has no purpose. Its only goal is tearing down.

There's no neutrality in speech. There's no neutrality in intentions.

None.

You are actively building up or you are actively tearing down. We're told as Christians to grow up in every way to no longer be children. I think of this in this way if you ever have you ever been around a group of middle school boys and Heard their conversation.

It's maddening, isn't it? It's it's pure chaos. It's it's totally nonsensical. It is riddled with utter foolishness. Understandably so though. They've yet to grow and into mature manhood. They've yet to grow up.

They're still children. But have you ever been around a group of adult men who Maybe aren't directly speaking of foul things. Maybe they're not telling dirty jokes and using foul language, but their conversations are foolish and lacking substance.

Just foolishness. That's the world. The world has no substance to offer. It has nothing there and darkness and utter darkness. And we once were but sometimes we bring this foolish talk to the table. This foolishness comes to the table here.

I'm not talking about goofing around and having fun. There's a difference. I've met guys that their conscience is so pricked on this when they're around a group of guys and the group of guys aren't talking About theology.

They're like I feel like we're in sin. That's not the way it works here, but there's a fine line here. I'm talking about the type of speech that has no purpose. It has no meaning has no substance. No goal of edification.

It's incoherent and thoughtless. That's not what we're called to as believers and Here's the problem. What's the problem with foolish talk? Childish talk immature talk. What's the problem with it? Just just nonchalant.

Just goofing around and being stupid like the world. What's the issue with it? Because It usually leads to what Paul says next. Look back at verse 4. Let there be no fool it filthiness nor foolish talk.

I'm no crude joking. Now just as I mentioned earlier about sexual impurity we can we can read this phrase and think oh, man I'm so I. I'm good pastor. I don't ever tell dirty jokes. I'm totally covered here.

That's okay. But the word that Paul uses here, it's difficult to translate. Is he depending on its its derivation? It can be quite innocent. This word could be quite innocent here that Paul uses its literal meaning is that which turns easily or simply versatile.

That which turns easy can flip very easily. It's in reference to a person that can hop from subject to subject. Essentially a very sharp individual somebody that can in conversation. You want to start talking about this topic over here.

They're able to make that switch back and forth and they they're very versatile in their ability to speak. However, depending on the the context this same phrase can be used when speaking about someone who is quick to turn any Subject and topic into something crude and inappropriate using things such as like a double entendre, I Think I'm pronouncing that right?

That sounds good. Thank you. Yeah taking something that is seemingly benign and innocent and Making it something filthy. I think that's why it's translated crude joking here. Not I'm gonna be honest. This is This used to be me.

This used to be me. I used to struggle this I I have personally had to mortify the flesh over the years on this feeling the weight and convicting power from God's Word because Because it's so easy even someone that has grown up in the church grown up in a healthy church around godly men.