Be Imitators of God

Well, Beloved, if you are able, please turn to Ephesians chapter 4,

actually chapter 5.

We are making progress in the book of Ephesians.

We're going to be in chapter 5, verses 1 through 5, and so when you do have that, please do stand for the reading of

God's Word.

Ephesians, the fifth chapter, starting in verse 1, Hear ye this morning the word of the Lord.

Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as

Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and

sacrifice to God.

But sexual morality and all impurity or covetousness must not be even named among you, as is

proper among saints, that there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor true 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.

You may be seated.

Father, before us this morning is your text of Scripture

that admonishes us to be imitators of you.

Lord, how high and lofty that call is.

May you strengthen us and enable us to see that high and lofty call, to determine how it is

that we can best serve you and follow you as imitators and as followers of Christ.

Lord, may you give us strength from on high, power from thy Holy Spirit to do all these things and more,

as you've called us into your eternal purpose and glory in Christ Jesus in his name we do pray, amen.

Well, beloved, as we just sang, take time to be holy.

The sermon that I'm about to preach has much to say about the topic of

holiness and what God requires of you and I as his children.

We see and recognize, beginning in verse 1, when Paul gives his word to the church in Ephesus, after he

had just described the newness of life that is in Christ Jesus, describing the call to

living wholly, a call to a new way of life, he then begins by saying

this in chapter 5, verse 1, therefore, anytime you see that word therefore,

think in your mind as a result of what we just read, as a result of what was just proclaimed

to you, be imitators of God as

beloved children.

Paul calls us to be imitators of God in the sense that we must be

eager to extend something.

What might that be?

In what way is Paul calling us to be imitators of God?

What I want you to notice in chapter 4, verse 32, what we read last week, notice what it says, be

kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as

God in Christ forgave you.

In what way can we follow, can we imitate God?

Well, in the context here, it's clear.

We become imitators of God as we continue to be

tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

We become imitators of God richly in the way that we love, in

the way that we forgive.

If we love and forgive the way that he loves and forgives, then in that way we become imitators

of God as Paul eagerly tells and proclaims us to do.

And so we become imitators of God in the sense that we must be eager to extend forgiveness and mercy.

But how can anyone perfectly imitate God?

Is that even possible for a human?

And the answer is yes and no.

Because can a human being perfectly imitate the Father above?

Can anyone be perfect, holy, blameless?

And again, the answer is no, you can't.

You can't be holy, perfect, and blameless.

But there was one man who was and who did perfectly

imitate God the Father.

And it is his son, Jesus Christ.

The Bible says of Jesus that he is the image of the invisible God, that in

him all things consist and hold together and were created.

And all things are created for him and by him.

Jesus is the perfect one who perfectly imitated his Father, who never

sinned, never lied, never broke any of the commandments.

He was holy, perfect, blameless in every way.

He lived the life that you cannot live.

And what I mean by that, I say that to you often, I say it to you weekly even, reminding you of the precious gospel in our possession.

We in ourselves cannot perfectly obey, but Jesus is the righteous one

who perfectly obeyed the Father's commands, so far as going to even

death, death on a cross.

Therefore, the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2, God therefore exalted this Jesus and gave him a

name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that

he is Lord, even to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is the perfect imitator of God.

You and I cannot be perfect imitators.

But there's another thing that we can take consolation in, and that as we follow

the God -man, Jesus Christ, the perfect image of the Father, who does all that the Father does,

we in turn, through the power of the Spirit working in us, become more and

more like Jesus.

And this, my friends, is called sanctification.

And this, my friends, is what the Lord Jesus is calling us to.

And this is what the Apostle Paul is admonishing the believers in Ephesus to remember to be

imitators of God as beloved children.

If you're following along in today's teaching, I want you to write this in the insert.

We are to imitate God as children, as children, following

in his example of forgiveness.

Now again, how can we imitate such a perfect being?

We imitate God as beloved children.

When children imitate their parents, do they do so perfectly?

Obviously not.

When a child begins to imitate his father or his mother, they don't do so perfectly.

But as they continue to observe and learn and grow,

they begin to imitate even more closely and perfectly.

And the same is true as us, beloved.

We are children of God.

And as children, we want to imitate the good qualities of our father.

We want to imitate the way that he does his business and conducts life.

And one of the calls that he's given us, according to Ephesians 4 through 2, is to be kind to one another.

So let me ask you this question.

Are you kind?

Are you tenderhearted?

Are you quick to forgive one another as God in Christ

forgives you?

Are these qualities that are abounding in us and indeed increasing to the

glory of God?

My hope and prayer is that you'd examine your life today under the scrutiny of Holy Scripture and

examine your heart to see, am I one who harbors hatred, one who harbors

malice towards my brothers or sisters or even towards my enemies?

Or do I extend grace, mercy, love, kindness, forgiveness?

These are the qualities that are ours in Christ Jesus as

imitators and as beloved children of the Most High God.

Now, of course, no one can perfectly imitate these qualities perfectly.

But as I mentioned already, we are being changed from image to image, from glory to glory.

As Christians, we are becoming more and more like Jesus through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy

Trinity.

And so, in fact, we can, to some degree, as image

bearers of God, are created with the capacity and, in fact, for the purpose

of reflecting the qualities and glory of our God and Father.

God is especially glorified in this, when we extend

sincere forgiveness to others, since God is most glorified in His work of salvation

through Jesus Christ.

And so, how much glory does He receive when we are not only

confessing the gospel, when we're living it out practically day to day by being

forgiving, by being merciful?

If you remember the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us these lists of things to consider,

to be merciful, to mourn of those who mourn, that the meek shall inherit the earth, all these

wonderful, beautiful qualities.

And He says, be ye perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Now, can we be perfect?

We already answered that.

Yes and no.

Know that you can't do it, but Jesus has done it for you.

He is the perfect one.

And He then attributes His righteousness.

He imputes it to you through faith in His shed blood, by repenting of your sin.

And He imputes His righteousness to you and I, so that we, in the eyes of the Father, can be

perfect.

I want you to know the beauty of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement this morning, that on

the cross, Jesus paid your debt and mine totally,

totally.

So on that cross, when we stand before God on the day of judgment, and we've confessed our sins,

we've repented of our sins, we've trusted in Jesus, we've walked and grown in holiness, we can

confess this, I have no righteousness of my own to confess, but only the

righteousness of Christ in me.

That is all about, for, and through Jesus.

And that through His shed blood, I now have the merit of His perfectly lived life.

What amazing grace.

How can it be that my God should die for me?

Indeed, truly, as children of the Most High God, we must follow in this

example of forgiveness and love.

For if God, in His infinite kindness and mercy, died for you and for me,

the least we can do is extend mercy, love, and kindness to others who are

created in His image.

Chapter 5, verse 2, the apostle Paul goes on to say, walk in

love.

As Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant

offering and sacrifice to God.

If you're following along in the teaching, I want you to write this in, we are to walk in what?

Say it again?

Love.

We are to walk in love.

That's the beauty of the Christian life, is that ours is not one devoid of love, but in fact, we have come to

see, taste, and receive true love.

Love that comes from the Father.

Love that is undefiled and that is pure and good and righteous and holy, that changes us because that's

the beautiful thing about love, isn't it?

When you meet someone and you fall in love, it changes you.

You begin to think differently.

You behave differently.

That's what love does to us.

It is a great motivator and there is no greater motivator for change and for

holiness than the love of God, our Father, and how He's extended us

that love in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

And so again, we are to walk in love since Christ showed us

what love is by being an offering, I want you to write that in there, and

sacrifice to God.

If you can, turn to your Bibles in John 15 and notice what the Lord

Jesus Christ says on this great topic of love.

In John 15, verse 12 and 13, notice what the Lord says,

This is my commandment that you love

one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life

for his friends.

Isn't that a beautiful truth that we've come to realize in the gospel, that we've been

called to be friends of God, friends to the extent that He would even

come and die for me?

This is also the beauty of the doctrine of the God -man, that our

God, the Lord Jesus Christ, second person of the triune God, came down to fullness of time,

born of the virgin, died the death that we deserved, was raised again to glory, and is ascended

forevermore with the name that is above every name, so that His name every knee shall bow and every tongue

confess unto the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is indeed God come in human flesh.

He died for you and for me.

The Jehovah's Witnesses can't say that God died for them.

The Muslim cannot say that God died for them.

The Hindu cannot say that God died for them.

No religion can claim that their God has shown and

demonstrated the greatest act of love of dying even for His friends.

But our God is the God who came and died for us.

Isn't that marvelous?

Isn't this good news?

This is good news that should be shouted from the rooftops, that Jesus Christ is Lord

and He has died for you and for me.

These will be the words that will echo throughout human history and throughout the cosmos that

God died for sinners.

Marvelous and amazing grace.

We cannot even comprehend.

And therefore, we are to walk in such love.

Since Christ has showed us, He has demonstrated, He has shown us the way of what true love looks like.

And true love is an offering.

It's a commitment to sacrifice first and foremost to God and also to

one another.

Isn't that what, for instance, marriage is all about?

When we forsake all others and are in covenant with one person for all of life and we

forsake all things and all others in the pursuit of loving this one person,

of being in covenant relationship with this one person.

That is what God has called us into as Christians, to forsake all other things, to

forsake everything and to love Him and to enjoy Him forever.

This is the call of discipleship.

To be a Christian is no easy feat.

It's not easy to be a Christian because it's one of self -abandonment.

It's one where, as the scripture says in John chapter 3, that I must decrease so that He

may increase.

That's the Christian life.

It's that you become ever more small and He becomes ever so

grand in your life as you pursue Him, as you walk in Him, as you walk in love.

Because love, what it also does is that it takes the focus off of you and it puts it on another.

And that's the love that God has shown towards us and the love that we ought to have towards God.

That the attention, the affection is not necessarily on us anymore, but now there is one to whom we

now look to as the object of affection and who is all -consuming and

all -good and all -merciful and all -worthy.

This is what God has called us to as a life of love, offering and sacrifice to God.

And beloved, let it not be lost on you that you too are called to be a living sacrifice, holy

and acceptable to God.

So how we live and how we do life, it matters.

The life that we live in the flesh towards God has significant impact and it is

indeed important, which is why now Paul in chapter 5 verse 3 of Ephesians, he turns

his attention now from being imitators of God and he begins to give us a list of things that

are a danger to the imitator of God.

These are dangers to the beloved children of God.

And notice what these things are.

Verse 3 says, but sexual morality and all impurity or covetousness must not be

even named among you as is proper among saints.

I want you to write this in here.

Sins of impurity and idolatry

must be avoided as is proper for saints.

You see, we must be imitators of God by what we not only by what we do, but by what we

also avoid in doing.

Being an imitator of God doesn't simply mean that we do certain things, but it also entails that we

that we not do other things.

And so in order to be a perfect or to be an imitator of God as a child, it means that we must walk away from the

things that even our Lord walked away from, namely

sexual morality and impurity, covetousness, which should not even be named among you as is

proper among saints, as is proper among saints.

We must flee then from sins that would corrupt and be unbecoming of the

Christian character.

Fornication and sexual perversion of almost any kind might be or is

likely included under the Greek word pornea, which is translated in many translations as immorality.

It's where we get the word pornography from.

It's from the Greek word pornea, and it encompasses a lot of sexual perversions and acts that are

outside of God's designed outlet for sexuality, which is namely marriage between a man and

a woman.

And so the Greek word pornea encompasses all sexual impurity.

Matter of fact, Mittens of the New Century Bible says this concerning the word pornea, that

it involves any sexual indulgence outside the permanent relationship of marriage

in circumstances where the sexual appetites are used merely as a means of

pleasure without any sense of responsibility or care for the partner.

Notice what the Greek word pornea entails.

It's sexual indulgence, sexual pleasure that has you as the

center of it.

Is that love?

By no means.

So when you see that Paul makes this natural progression talking about as children, we must walk in love and then

begins to list out these impurities, these sins, namely sexual morality, pornea in the Greek.

He is showing that the way of love is not where one is the center of attention,

whether it is sexually or it is in any other setting where the

attention and the glory goes to oneself rather than to God.

Remember that sexuality was created by God.

It is for God.

God delights in human sexuality.

He made us so.

But he has given us the proper way and outlet to express such a beautiful thing, and it is

in sacred marriage.

Therefore, anything outside of that parameter is an indulgence,

and it is a thing in which we have our sexual appetites as merely a

means to pleasure without any sense of responsibility or care, and that's the world that we live in

today.

As a church, some of us go to abortion clinics, and on Tuesdays a couple of

weeks ago, I interacted with a young lady there who was there for some of their

services, and she was railing against us because we were, how dare we be out there advocating for life?

And when we tried sharing the gospel with her, she was very plain and very clear that

she just wants to be able to be free in her promiscuity, that why would we even

care?

And the reality is, brothers and sisters, is that sexuality comes with responsibility.

You see, we've divorced in our culture sex and responsibility, where sex just equals

pleasure, and there's no responsibility whatsoever.

And friends, this is why the culture that we live in upholds a culture of death, a

culture of narcissism, where it's all about me, and I'm the center of the universe, and everything revolves around me.

But friends, we could even carry this sick infection of sin into our own marriage bed, which is why

the Bible says in Hebrews 13 that we must keep the marriage bed undefiled and pure before God, because if we

become the center of sexual desire, and that sexual desire is just to fulfill my

gratification, my wants, my needs, without any interest of the other person involved, then we

have failed to demonstrate the love and kindness of God.

Sexuality is a beautiful thing that God created in holiness, and anything that goes

outside that parameter, whether it be pornography, masturbation, whether it be adultery,

whether it be sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, they're all perversions of God's

perfectly sanctioned gift of sexuality.

So therefore, brothers, we must flee from impurity, and because at the heart

of sexual morality, it's idolatry.

At the heart of it, it's idolatry.

And oftentimes, we live in a culture where there are many people who are addicted to pornography and sex, and these

are things that are corrupting and unbecoming of the Christian character.

Now, if you're a Christian and you're struggling with these things, it doesn't mean that God doesn't love you.

It doesn't mean that God has given up on you.

It doesn't mean that there's not hope for you.

There is hope, and there is freedom in Jesus.

But beloved, be imitators of God.

Be imitators by walking as he walked, forsaking what he forsook.

And that means that he's calling us to a life of forsaking pornography, forsaking sexual

morality of all kinds, and to follow and trust in him and him alone.

Because on the other side of obedience is blessing, and if you obey him, he will surely

bless you richly.

Such immorality, however, may be regarded either as impurity or as covetousness.

Now, this word covetousness means ruthless greed.

It means a self -centeredness, which again is at the heart of idolatry.

This is why it says again in verse 3 that these sins must not even be named among you as is

proper among saints.

Notice how Paul ends that.

He says, he refers to us as what?

Saints.

Saints.

Now, what is a saint?

A saint is one who's been sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ.

To be sanctified means to be made holy, to be made right, and to have a right standing before God.

So God has called us to be saints, to be holy.

Even if we struggle with sin, but if we be found in Christ, you know you're still a saint.

You're still a child.

And at times in life when we are wayward and we fail to be a perfect imitator of

God, know this, that there is grace for you, that there's a power still available for you to

turn, to repent, to trust in Jesus.

Therefore, brothers, do what is proper and live properly as a saint

of the Most High God.

Verse 4 says, let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude

joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Now, friends, I'll be honest, there's one in here that I struggle with.

I have a pretty sick sense of humor sometimes, and I find certain things funny that I probably shouldn't

find funny.

And in my younger days, I'd watch certain movies that would make me laugh, but I knew I

shouldn't be laughing at these things, right?

And that's where I fall short.

And as I'm reading this scripture, I can't play the hypocrite and tell you I've got this all down, because the truth is, is I don't.

God is still working in me as He's working in you.

And yet the call is clear to let no filthiness,

nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be

thanksgiving.

I recently talked to a Christian who I met online who was swearing left and right.

And on his banner, it says, Yeshua is Lord.

And yet he was just, like, cursing left and right like a sailor.

And I said, I said, brother, don't you find this problematic that you're, one,

putting the name of Jesus, you know, promptly and yet with the same breath

cursing and saying all types of profanity and foul speech?

Like, don't you see the disconnect here?

He said, oh, there's no word in the Bible where it says this is a bad word.

I said, really?

Because what makes a word bad?

And he asked that question.

I thought that was a fair question.

What makes a word bad?

And here's what ultimately makes a word bad is the motive of the heart.

For out of the mouth and out of the heart, one speaks.

And out of the mouth comes all manners of speech that derive from the heart.

Therefore, when we say something in anger, this is why blasphemy is such a dangerous sin when we

use God's name in vain and we use God's name in a way to express something that we hate or detest, why this is

a serious sin in Scripture, is because of what we're doing with that word in our hearts.

We're using it to express disdain, disgust, anger,

hatred, vitriol.

And so, these are things that we must put away as new creatures, as new creations in Jesus.

Let there be no foolishness, no crude joking, which, again, Paul says are out of place.

Out of place for who?

Not for the world, not for the workplace, but for saints.

For saints.

Because I worked at a I used to unload trucks for a living, and the guys

who there's a certain type of guy that has to work back there, kind of tough,

crude, and there's always a lot of crude joking and a lot of crude comments and comments

about women and all these things happening in that context.

And when I started working in that context, pretty quickly, they found out I was a Christian because I told them I was such, and they

were curious as to why I wasn't participating in the crudeness that they were participating in.

And I would explain it to them, and then the first thing, what they do is they tease you, start making fun of you.

You're a Christian.

Oh, you can't say this word.

Oh, don't say this word around him.

But you know what that actually ends up becoming after several months?

I noticed that they were having these crude conversations less and less and less in my presence

because my presence was changing them.

The conversations I was having with them was changing them.

We had a similar experience once in Connecticut when I went preaching, and we served

evangelizing this adult baseball team, and these guys, after a game, were drinking

beers, smoking cigarettes, and they began crushing the beers and throwing them at our feet as they were kind of mocking

us.

But the more we got into that conversation, you know what ended up happening?

They put away the cigarette butts, they picked up the beer cans, and when someone would curse, they'd say, hey, hey, don't curse.

Holiness changes the atmosphere.

Christ changes.

When Christ steps into the room, things change.

And when Christ lives in you, things change.

And when Christ is living in you and you step into a context like that, things can change.

And so, friends, we encourage you not to be changed by the world, but

rather change the world through Jesus.

Let there be no deceptive, no deceit, no foolish talk, no crude joking coming from your mouth

as is out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Let there be opportunity for you to share the marvelous deeds of God in your life.

This is an encouragement for Christian witnessing.

As Christians, we don't want to just let people know that we're Christians.

We want to share the hope that lies within us and do so with gentleness and with great love and

concern for the other.

And so, beloved, if you're following along in the teaching, the new man must guard his tongue,

or you can put speech, and he must do all things

for God's glory.

I want to read to you from 1 Peter chapter 4.

You don't have to turn there, but notice what it says in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 11.

It says,

So, if we're to speak, if we're to use our tongue, let it be for the oracles and the words of God.

If we are to serve, let it be through the strength that God supplies so that in everything,

in speech and in deed, everything that the Christian does ought to be for the

glory of God through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and

ever.

Amen.

And so, beloved, this is why the new man must guard his tongue, his speech, and do all things for God's glory.

It's all for the glory of God.

This is why the call to holiness, the call to sanctification is so important because

God is glorified when you are growing in holiness and are becoming

more and more like him.

I take solace in this truth that at the end of human history, at the end of the book of Revelation, do

you know what we see?

The book of Revelation really is a tale of two women.

There's a harlot who rides on the beast, and then there is a perfect,

spotless, blameless woman who is joined to Jesus Christ.

And at the end of human history, that woman, the church, is going to be

perfect.

No stain on that beautiful white dress that she shall wear.

And instead, she will stand before the beloved, even the Lord Jesus Christ,

with no spot or stain from this world or from sin.

So that's good news for us because though today in our lives, we

probably don't have a perfect and spotless record.

We probably have much sin that still needs to be dealt with.

But at the end of human history, when it's all said and done, what's presented to Christ by the Father at that great marriage

supper of the Lamb, it's going to be an undefiled bride, which includes you and me.

We shall be changed.

And His glory and His gospel should be changing us even now, from being one of

a harlot to being a spotless, beautiful bride adorned for her husband.

And that is a new Jerusalem that we see coming down out of heaven at the end of human history.

And so, the Word of God, again, encourages us and admonishes us, in fact, in the text of

Scripture, in verse 4, that we should, instead of allowing and using our mouths for

crudeness or filthiness or foolishness, it should be used for thanksgiving.

So you make use of the time that you have to glorify God in this life,

in your body.

Now, I mentioned this last week that the tongue is probably the most important part of the body.

It's a powerful, powerful tool.

The book of James says that with it, we can glorify our God and Father, and with it, we can curse man made in God's image.

That we can set forth a blaze with our tongue, because words matter, and

words are powerful.

You can speak a good word of cheer and bring someone's countenance up, or you can speak a word of

damnation and condemnation and make them feel as if they are dirt.

Words are powerful, beloved.

Therefore, watch your speech.

Watch your manner of life.

May it be in accordance with God's word.

May it be in accordance with the will and purpose of Jesus Christ for your life.

Protect and guard your speech, and guard your heart, as it says in Proverbs 4 .23,

for it's the wellspring of life, and from it flows all words and all deeds.

I'm going to close this time of preaching in verse 5 of Ephesians 5, where he

says the following, for you may be sure of this, that everyone who

is sexually immoral or impure, who is covetous, that is an idolater,

has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

There are consequences for not being an imitator of God.

One of the clear consequences is that you shall have no inheritance

in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

This is why the Scripture oftentimes tells us these words, let no man deceive you.

Be not deceived.

Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33, do not be deceived.

Bad company spoils good character.

He has to, he can't just say bad company spoils good character.

He needs to give us that caveat.

He needs to give us that warning beforehand, and it says don't be deceived.

Why?

Because it's so easy to be deceived.

It's so easy to keep the wrong company.

It's so easy to stand in the midst of the wicked congregation and be changed by them,

rather than you being the one who changes them.

It's so easy for that to happen.

The Bible says in 1 John 2, verse 15, do not love the world or the things in

the world.

For the love of the world, desires of the flesh, and the showy displays of one's life, these are all things

that originate not with the Father, but in the world.

And the world and its desires are passing away, but he who does the will of God shall abide forever.

And so friends, guard your life and your conduct.

These things matter, not onto salvation, because the Bible says there's no way that you can earn your salvation.

There's no works you can do to get saved.

But once you are saved by grace through faith, he changes you, and he empowers you and

enables you to walk in good works, where she prepared beforehand that we should walk in.

And so friends, we must put away the old man, the old practices,

trust in Jesus, walk in the newness of life.

And beware of sexual immorality, or sins of impurity, or

an especially idolatry.

I would say this, that every sin that is committed by man stems from

the human heart and its proclivity to idolatry, to

idolatry.

All sin is idolatry, and all sins ultimately lead to even more

and more idolatry.

Therefore, be an imitator of God, and not of the world, not of the

flesh, not of the old man, but of the new man.

You see, all of humanity are indeed children or offspring of someone.

And all humanity imitates someone or something.

The Bible puts it this way in 1 John chapter 3.

In 1 John chapter 3, we see the following statement from the apostle John to the people of God, who

he calls beloved children.

He says in chapter 3, verse 8 through 10, he says, whoever makes a

practice of sinning is of the devil.

For the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

And the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he

cannot keep on sinning.

Because he was born, he has been born of God.

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not

love his brother.

These are very difficult words to read and truths that must be

grasped and wrestled with.

Why?

Because the truth of the human condition is this.

Everyone has a father, but not everyone has the same father.

Everyone in the world would like to say that we're all children of our father in heaven.

But that is not the spiritual case, that we are all his offspring, that we are all his creation, God created us in

his image.

Yet there are those as sons and daughters of Adam, who are indeed

sons and daughters of the wicked one, even Satan the devil.

And there are those who've been born of God, who have put their faith in the Son of God, who has come to destroy the

works of the devil.

And those are the ones who are practicing righteousness.

So what is the difference between he who is a son of God and the son of the devil?

The son of the devil is the one who loves and practices sin.

So if you're following along the last part of the sermon, the one who loves and practices sin

will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the one who puts their faith in Jesus, the one who has given himself over to

the lordship and kingship of Christ, is the one in whom God abides in, has been born of

God, been born again.

And he is the one who practices not sin, but righteousness.

Now, what do we say to the Christian who still struggles with sin?

Who still struggles with pornography?

Who still struggles with sexual immorality?

Who still struggles with crude joking?

What do we say to that person?

Well, the Bible is clear.

There is hope.

There is power over the works of the devil.

And that's in the Son of God.

It's in Jesus, who has come to break up the works of the devil, that there was power and rescue from our

sins.

But also be aware of this, that whoever does love and makes a practice

of sin, you must examine yourself to see if you're in the faith.

Examine yourself and instead pursue and practice

righteousness and holiness.

For without holiness, the scripture says, no one can see God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we see the clear call to be imitators of God,

not to be imitators of the flesh, nor of the devil, nor of this world in this wicked age, but instead that we would follow

Christ.

I'll close this sermon with reading one more scripture from Colossians chapter 3, as we see a parallel to what we just read.

In Colossians chapter 3, Paul puts it to the church in Colossae a little bit differently, but very similar.

He says in verse 5, put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity,

passion, evil desire, covetedness, which is idolatry.

So he's calling us to put to death these things, which means that the Christian will

struggle with these things.

These are not things that just vanish and disappear when you accept Jesus into your heart.

These are things that need to be mortified, that have to be warred against.

Therefore, Paul has to write to them, put to death therefore what is earthly in you, because it's there.

It lives in us.

It still abides in us.

We still have the vestige of the old man that we have to contend with.

Yet, put it to death.

Verse 6 says, on account of these things, the wrath of God is coming.

In these two you once walked when you were living in them, but now

you must put them all away.

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self of its practices, and you have put on the new self, which is

being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.

Here then there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free,

but Christ is all and in all.

Christ is sufficient to overcome your sins and to break up the

works of the devil, because he is the one who has conquered.

He's the God -man, and he is coming again in glory.

May you know him today.

Again, we are either sons and imitators of our God and Father, or we are sons and imitators of the devil.

The clear path is before you today.

The Bible says, choose ye this day whom you shall serve.

And before you there are two paths.

There's one of sonship under King Jesus and being a follower of Christ, where he will

transform you and give you a new life, empower you through his spirit to be holy.

Or there's the path that leads to destruction.

And broad and spacious is that path.

And the majority of human civilization and all humans who've ever existed shall follow in that path.

Yet the call is clear.

Come to Christ.

Come to Christ.

He's the one who died for you and for me.

Lived the life that you could not live, holy, perfect, blameless, died the death that you deserved,

was raised again on the third day, demonstrating that he has authority over life and death.

And because of his perfect obedience and his perfect imitation of the Father's will, God exalted him and gave

him the place, name, and position above all names.

And he beckons you today to repent and to trust in him, in him alone for eternal

security and salvation.

May you do so today.

Let me pray.

Benevolent, merciful Father, we know,

Lord, that while we are in this flesh, we are in this side of eternity, in this world in which we contend,

we still have much, much sin that must be taken care of.

But we thank you because it has been taken care of in the person and work of Jesus Christ,

who has freed us from the bondage of sin, the bondage of slavery, and has transferred us

into new life, even new life in Christ.

Lord, I'm impressed by the words that you gave the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3, verse 11, that

in Christ, there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, free

or slave, but that in fact, Christ is all, that Jesus

is sufficient for all things, for life and godliness, that Jesus is indeed

the citadel of human civilization.

He's a citadel of human history.

He's a citadel of human salvation that you have purchased and made for us.

We thank you, Lord, for all that you have done.

Forgive us where we fall short.

Help us to continue to put off the old man, to put on the new man, just being renewed after the image of its creator.

We pray, Lord, that you'd help us to that end, to put away the old man and his practices, to

put away the practice of sin, and to practice righteousness and life,

purity and the gospel, even for the glory of Christ, who is all and in all, and to whom

belongs all the glory, even Jesus.

Amen.