Ephesians 5:1-7, The Ordinary Christian

tonight we're going to be looking at Ephesians chapter 5 in verses 1 through 7 in what I'm calling the ordinary Christian Ephesians chapter 5 verses 1 through 7 I was attempted to do only the two first two verses and then realized that I do have to move it along just a little bit but do want to warn you that by the time we get to chapter 6 we are going to pause in chapter 6 as we are going to be talking about not only the spirit filled life in our families but the warfare of spirit filled believers which i think is going to be so very very important for all of our future but tonight the ordinary Christian Ephesians chapter 5 verses 1 through 7 Happy Thanksgiving I hope that you can find something in your heart to be thankful for I'm gonna tell you three things that I'm thankful for my salvation therefore my Savior my family and the ministry that God has entrusted to me those are three things that I I'm thankful for this evening I'm hoping that when you are discouraged that you find some things to be thankful for let's pray Heavenly Father I do thank you for our salvation that you sent your son Jesus to die a death that we deserve to bear punishment that rightly belongs to our sin and Lord thank you for our families and thank you for the family of God Lord we praise you and thank you that to each and every one of us you've given us a ministry an opportunity to serve in some capacity and so Lord again I pray that you will strengthen the men and women for the service that you've entrusted to them lord I pray that you will fill our hearts with love and that Lord we would desire to walk in love and thus fulfill the Royal law of Christ Lord we pray for our country as it gathers from coast to coast as families gather lord I pray that by your Holy Spirit you will awaken in their hearts a deep desire to know you and to love you and to serve you and so Lord again we commit this time to you and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen Ephesians chapter 5 beginning in verse 1 Paul writes therefore be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not even be named among you as is fitting for Saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking or coarse jesting which are not fitting but rather giving of thanks for this you know that no fornicator unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God let 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 be partakers of them Paul writes that were to walk worthy in Christ in chapter 4 verses versus one and then all through chapter 6 through 90s looking at the worthy walk remember where to live in unity and purity and integrity and now love later on Paul is going to say I want you to walk in love but I also want you to walk in the light in chapter 5 verses 7 through 14 walk carefully in chapter 5 verses 15 through 70 walk in harmony in chapter 5 verses 8 18 through chapter 6 verse 9 in chapter 4 verses 17 through 19 Paul argues that the unbeliever or the unsaved are confused in their thinking in verse 17 harden their hearts in verse 18 closed in their minds in verse 18 filled with impure and greedy thoughts in verse 19 so in contrast believers are to adopt a lifestyle of telling the truth in verse 25 honest labor in verse 28 helping those in need in verse 28 exercising encouragement in verse 29 exercising kindness compassion forgiveness in verse 42 that's why the therefore is therefore remember in the New Testament when Paul uses the term walk he's not talking about putting one step in front of the other he's talking about the manner in which you live the manner in which I live he's in effect begging a question a question that we're forced to ask and the question of course is what does it mean to be a Christian and of course you live in a culture and you live in a society where that term has become clearly confused for many people being a Christian means while I'm not a Buddhist I'm not a Muslim I'm not a Jew for many people they think it's some sort of cultural religious badge that you're born into for other people they're not quite sure what it means there clearly at least some conversation that being a Christian meet is something different than being an unbeliever and yet how are we different from the unbeliever I have a friend who has brought to my attention that because we live in this culture that's so confused about what it means to be a Christian when we're asked that question well how should we respond and his very simple answer is I respond with I'm a Christ follower I am a and he goes one step further and says I'm a current Christ follower this isn't something that I used to be or something that I hope to be but it's something that I am and so in Chapter five Paul is going to give the reader clear direction on how to walk we follow Jesus in love and verses 1 & 2 we avoid immorality in verse 3 we're supposed to refrain from obscene language in verses 4 and 5 we refuse to allow others to deceive us concerning these important issues in verses 6 through 7 so the big question do Christians really think and act differently from their unbelieving counterparts I read some disturbing statistics from the Barna research which which basically told that born-again Christians are slightly more likely to get a divorce than their non-christian counterparts this 27 percent of Christians versus 23 percent Christians are less likely to give to charity or some benevolence according to the survey born-again Christians are likely to get the 7 percent non-christians 24 percent watch a pornographic movie born-again Christians 9 percent non-christians 16 percent purchase a lottery ticket 23 percent born-again Christians 27 percent non-christians satisfied or complete in their life born-again Christians responded 58% said I'm satisfied with my life non-christians 49% since that I'm satisfied with my life born-again Christians when asked the question do you wonder about your purpose in life born-again Christians responded yes 36% non-christians 39% described themselves satisfied with their life born-again Christian said 69% said I'm satisfied with my life 68% of non-christians said I'm satisfied with my life express the sentiment or belief that it's impossible to get ahead because of financial debt born-again Christian says yes 33 percent non-christians 39 percent what's disturbing about this survey is that statistically self-described Christians weren't significantly more moral weren't significantly more successful weren't significantly more self satisfied does that surprise you does it shock you probably not you have family and friends you have people that you know and care about what's interesting to me is that tragically only 9% of those who described themselves as Christians actually had a biblical worldview err or a Christian worldview to determine according to Barr and if a person had a biblical worldview he asked the respondents to affirm the following do you believe in absolute morals do you believe in truth is defined in the Bible do you believe that Jesus lived a sinless life do you believe that God is all-knowing all-powerful and still rules today do you believe that salvation is a gift of God and that it can't be earned do you believe that Christians have a responsibility to share their faith in Christ you believe that Satan is real do you believe that the Bible is accurate in everything that it teaches the fact is that 90% of all so-called confessing Christians felt comfortable denying two or more of the things that I just said so are we to pattern our lives after the world's perception of what it means to be a Christian or are we to pattern our lives after what the Bible says in other words do we ask and answer the question well what does God think about this or what does the Bible say about this we're to pattern our lives after God's character we're to follow after Jesus this means that we're to live a life that's marked by unity harmony purity love forgiveness were to put off sin and most notably the sins of essential and sexual nature were to put off greed and self-indulgence and put on love and personal sacrifice we're supposed to give up filthiness and foolish talking and dirty jokes were supposed to prepare for eternity because heaven is real and because hell should be avoided at all costs but what if you live in a world where you don't really believe that that's true that heaven may be real and if it is real it's probably not the way that it's described in the Bible it's probably the way that's portrayed on TV and hell can't be real because how could a God of love make a place of eternal punishment I understand that people struggle with these questions but the Bible gives answers so our goal we're or Nerys Saints were ordinary Christians who are made extraordinary by God's power by God's Spirit by God's Word by God's love the ordinary Christian believes in an extraordinary God and an extraordinary Savior who gives you an extraordinary power to live an ordinary life in Christ so when we pattern our lives after Jesus look what Paul says in Ephesians chapter five verse one in chapter five verse when he says therefore be imitators of God as dear children children imitate their parents I know that I imitated my father my children sometimes imitate me most often mock me but they do it in public children imitate their parents so follow God's example and everything you do because you're his dear children that's the New Living Translation says follow God's example and everything the new birth provides you with a new family were to imitate that means model God is love we express that love to the family of faith and then those outside of the faith so he says therefore be imitators of God as Dyl CH dear children now what you've got to do is pause at this very moment in the text and remind yourself what is our amazing standard it's the Lord the Lord is our standard this is the standard not for the super st. it isn't for the extraordinary person it isn't for the long-term missionary it isn't for the full-time minister it isn't for the person who's gone to seminary it isn't the person who's read the Bible from cover to cover this is something for everyone the believer in God follows in order to follow there has to be some sense of attachment devotion allegiance attention to the things of God have you ever asked the question what does God want from me Lord what do you want from me what do you want me to do whatever else it means it means to act or behave like his child did you ever say that to your mother and father do you want me to do I want you to behave I want you to act like you're a part of our family I want you to embrace who you are you I've given you a name and I've given you you have a first name and a middle name and a last name we'll some of you do and that means something she wants you to act and behave in a way that is consistent and connected with the character of Christ or the fruit of the Spirit the Lord wants you to act like him in what sense not in the theological sense remember in theology there's two kinds of attributes of God the in communicable attributes and the communicable attributes I don't want to get too heavy here but I do want to just remind you of something the in communicable attributes of God is he's all-knowing all-seeing all-powerful all understanding he's the self-existent being God doesn't expect you to be a self existent being he doesn't expect you to act all-knowing or all powerful isn't that funny we want to act like God in his in communicable attributes I know everything no you don't I understand everything probably not I understand everything from a complete biblical perspective probably not so well how does he want to Apple you to act in his communicable act what is that God is a person you're a person God can communicate you can communicate goddess has the capacity to love and care you have the capacity to love and care in other words all of the things that God gave you he's made you in his own image so that you could walk with Him so that's the idea we are given permission to act like Jesus in a walk of love and a sacrifice of love we're given permission to love like Jesus and there is no higher calling there is no deeper doctrine there is no more noble goal years ago there was published a book entitled in his steps some of you may remember the book was based on following Jesus and it gave birth to the phenomenon of the WWJD what would Jesus do what would Jesus do and very seldom do I hear people well you know what would Jesus do in this this circumstance well you know what he would sacrifice himself died and died for you well what else would he do in other words when we ask and we answer the question it means to follow him the word imitator is sometimes translated follower but oddly enough in the Greek language that's not what's spoken of here when it says imitators it's the Greek word me meet AI you know that word we get the word mimic from that word our own word is borrowed from its Greek ancestor me mas which means to imitate or act me mas was a word that was used to describe the actor's art so when an actor was asked to portray a particular character he would take on the mannerisms of that character or the voice of that character many of you know that Billy Graham just had his 99th birthday and the Pew Research poll just released gave the hundred most respected Christians in America at the top of the list still number one and number - were Billy Graham and Franklin Graham isn't that interesting even though he hasn't been heard from in a very long time he has this effect on the American people so if I'm going to act like Billy does that mean I'm gonna talk like Billy does that mean I'm gonna walk like Billy does that mean I'm gonna preach like Billy you know so when you're a pastor a preacher you want to adopt the mannerisms but again oddly enough this isn't really what the the text is talking about well if we're gonna be like God err so are we gonna dress like God nobody knows how he dresses are we gonna have a hairstyle like God he's invisible spirit being aren't you glad so it doesn't mean mock or or mimic in the sense of make fun of but it does mean that you are to love like he loves were to mimic God's character but most of all is love and how is that even possible Paul says it in Romans chapter 5 verse 5 that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us so when Paul says the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us so when the Bible says imitate him imitated in his love and his sacrificing you go do I have that capacity for love and sacrifice the answer is yes Jesus said Matthew 5:48 be ye therefore perfect even as your father who is in heaven is perfect well and you go but I'm not perfect no the standard that God has given is completion and what's really interesting to me is that in and of ourselves we are not perfect but we are perfect complete in Christ in Christ we don't experience perfection of behavior but rather perfection in the eyes of God Peter wrote in first Peter chapter 1 verse 15 as he who has called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of life because it is written be ye holy for I am holy and so when you hear these words about holiness again there are images of great big hair and long dresses and no makeup and no fun but that's not what the Bible means by holy what the Bible means by holy is a radical detachment from sin and a radical attachment to Christ it isn't just a turning away from sin it's a turning to the Lord I was thinking when I was preparing this of an example when Alexander the Great discovered a coward in his army the great general said what is your name and the soldier replied like you my name is Alexander the general said renounce your cowardice or renounce your name he's basically saying you have my name you share my name well guess what you're not able to hold on to both of these things you have the name Christian it's not a name that you have to be ashamed of or afraid of it's because you are a Christ follower so to know God is to two to be like him and his character and so how do you know his character you have to study his word so to know what God is like you have to look at Jesus carefully this is why the Bible says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the Word was God in first John it talks about that which we knew from the beginning which we've handled which we've touched concerning the word of life John makes the incredible statement if you want to truly understand and know what God is like just simply look at Jesus if you want to know how God thinks about things or feels about things or responds in any given fashion when the Bible says Jesus is the word made flesh though the word la gossip is a word that means the express communication it is a it's a word that means it's supposed to reflect the content of the thing it describes and so when the Bible says and the word became flesh and dwelt among us that Jesus is the very expression of what God is like in Colossians 1:15 it says he is the image of the invisible God the firstborn over all creation so the Bible invites us to consider that the invisible unknowable intangible God is made visible and knowable and graspable by what the Bible says about Jesus just like children learn from imitating their parents we learn by imitating Jesus and this is why we spend so much time opening up our Bible looking at Matthew Mark Luke and John so the second thing is we purpose to love and self sacrificing and verse 2 look what it says and walk in love as Christ also loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour verse 1 and 2 are connected be an imitator of God in what way walk and love in what way as Christ in what way he walked in love and sack you've heard the statement that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery well sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't sometimes we'll talk like a person or in order to mock them not to extol them Paul writes walk in love and the construction in the original language is what the Greek scholars call the present imperative the emphasis is on the action walk keep on walking so it's a continuous action the idea when he says walk and love the idea is start walking continue walking and continue walking until the walk is complete keep going remember walk as a metaphor for a lifestyle a manner of living a way in which you live start in love continue in love finish in love Jesus loved us he sacrificed for us and so when it says an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma this is an idiomatic expression which means the sacrifice is accepted it's it's almost like if somebody gave you a bouquet of flowers and the girl smells it and she goes mmm this smells lovely or a present is given and someone goes this is wonderful this is beautiful this is exactly what I want here in this circumstance it means that the idiom of the the fragrance or the sweet-smelling aroma it means that the love is acceptable and the sacrifice is acceptable the best way that we can imitate God and so prove that we're his beloved children is to walk in love but it's a kind of love that is sacrificial that is not self-serving but other serving and so again it begs the question are you a child of God and so when Paul is writing this and he's he's basically saying if you're a child of God then it makes perfect sense that you would walk in love it makes perfect sense that it would be a sacrificial kind of love and what doesn't make sense is to be sour and bitter and selfish and cranky are you a Christian yes then how do you explain your hyper criticism and unkindness I'm trying to be discernment and I'm trying to be this and I'm trying to be that don't get me wrong the Bible want you to be discerning don't get me wrong the Bible wants you later because he's gonna actually say so in the text he's gonna he's gonna basically say walk away from the things that are wrong and walk towards the things that are right he's actually going to say not only do what's right but expose what's wrong it's not wrong for us to exercise discernment and it's not wrong for us to be concerned about things that have gone wrong but it is a problem when hyper criticism and grumpiness becomes so flagrant that people wonder whether or not it's a good idea to be a Christian when they look at my life are they look at your life I'm gonna tell you the secret of how to fill every chair in this auditorium I'm going to tell you the secret of how to have a church that's the best church that you've ever been to or the best church that you've ever belonged to the secret of a church that's the best church that you could possibly ever go to is for you to be in love with Jesus and live your life as if you really do love Jesus because guess what once Christians start acting in loving fashion can you imagine going to church where you love everyone who is there and they love you it becomes the kind of church that you want to go to it's the kind of church where again it isn't a hypercritical Church now don't get me wrong again we're talking about what it means to know God and love God and serve God we want to be that kind of a church we have no right to claim Jesus unless we're also wanting to be filled with the Holy Spirit unless we're wanting to walk in love unless we're wanting to walk in humility and again we disgrace our family when we fail to walk in love john macarthur hinted that perhaps the greatest evidence of love is undeserved forgiveness i was reading today of a quote by walt whitman and he Walt Whitman basically said I think I deserve all the enemies that I have and he said and I think that I don't deserve all the friends that I have what an interesting things has say we don't deserve to have Jesus as our friend and our Savior we don't deserve to be loved but we are we don't deserve to be forgiven but we have been can you think of a greater evidence of a hard heart a loveless heart than the presence of unforgiveness in your heart I was challenged when I was preparing this message to ask the question how far will love go and of course the right answer is love will go as far as forgiveness can reach how far can forgiveness reach it can reach into your heart and into your circumstances and into your sin by the power of Jesus the Jesus who saves you and cleanses you and changes you because this is the proposition of Christianity in Christ that Jesus is a big enough Savior to really save me and to save you and so real love will almost always manifest itself at some point in personal sacrifice this is again why it says in verse 2 walk in love how can I do that like Jesus did how did he do that sacrificially and what does that mean it was accepted by God you have to understand something real love will almost always manifest itself at the point of personal sacrifice how far is love willing to go it will at least go as far as you saying I'm willing to do without so that you can have and so sacrifice is a word that was heavy-laden now again I want you to just think for just a moment I want you to go back in time and you're now back in Ephesus and you grew up in a pagan world where they worshiped that the at the Temple of Artemis or Diana or you were involved in some other Greek worship or some other pagan idolatry and you were involved in some sort of sacrificial system you had an understanding that goats were killed and an ant man bulls were killed and other sacrifices were made because sacrifice was a word that was heavy laden with injury and pain and deprivation and death and Paul isn't a person who's careless with words so in verse 2 when he says and walk and love as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us he uses two words an offering and a sacrifice the word offering in the original language is Pras fora it's a compound word process forward fora is that something which is brought forward and so here the word offering literally means that which is brought forward whether it's oil or grain or an animal or a drink offering and so the offering might be something like that the word that Paul uses again for sacrifice this iya is the ancient root word Theo which has a lot of different meanings sometimes it meant slain sometimes it meant killed sometimes it meant slaughtered but in this instance when he says an offering that which is brought forward and a sacrifice that thing with is killed when you combine these thoughts together Jesus is that which was offered for us and Jesus is that which is slain for us and so Paul is issuing an invitation that you're to bring yourself forward for the purposes of sacrifice it takes all the offerings described in the Book of Leviticus to capture the many-sided or the multi-faceted meaning of the sacrifice of Jesus remember in the Old Testament in the Book of Leviticus he's the burnt offering and he's the grain offering and he's the peace offering and he's the trespass offering and again the Bible describes when these offerings are accepted as being fragrant and so now let's put all the concepts together that when you love and sacrifice you're revealing your paternity that your children of God then we put off look what it says but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not even be named among you as is fitting for Saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking or coarse jesting which are not fitting but rather the giving of thanks it's interesting again when he says but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not even be named among you as is fitting for Saints it's interesting to me how many people when they're confronted with their sin they'll respond by saying I'm no saint and you go no no no timeout you are you are a saint are you a Christian you know I'm a Christian but I'm no saint no no no no you have a misunderstand what's your understanding of st. well I grew up in a religious tradition where a saint was a very holy person who knew ever did anything wrong That's not me no no that's not what a saint is a saint as a person who's been set apart by God through Christ it is the proper name of everyone who calls themself Christian it's the ordinary word that's used for an extraordinary group of people who have been changed by a powerful Savior Paul lists the enemies of love this is so before we begin our talk about this stuff look at the lists fornication uncleanness covetousness it shouldn't even be named that these are the enemies of love these are the things that wart love that hurt love that make love difficult or even impossible in the early days of the FBI j.edgar hoover believe it or not came up with a gimmick the gimmick was called the ten most wanted list what he would do is he would take men and women who were guilty of egregious crimes and he would put them on this list and often these were people who were enemies of freedom dangerous to the public they were talked about as being public enemy number one number two number three number four or five six seven eight nine ten they were put on the list and when they were removed from the list then something else was put on the list Paul is going to single out these certain offenses that were to be banned excluded from the life of the saint because they're enemies of love we are Christ's followers we're Christians and so Paul begins with sexual sin fornication pornea it's translated fornication but it actually means a potpourri of everything sexual and everything improper in other words this is a great word which incorporates everything that is inconsistent with what the Bible says about appropriate sexual behavior so again if you ask a different question well why does Paul begin here why does he start with that word is it because it's the worst sin of all I don't think Paul begins here because it's the worst sin I think he begins here because it's the bisetta ng sin that is prevalent in Ephesus the its Ephesus is sort of like the Las Vegas of the ancient world this is a place that is sexually soaked sexually saturated Ephesus is sexual Disneyland and because Ephesus served as the center of the cult of Diana or Artemis Artemis is the goddess of fertility the way people worshipped in Ephesus was by engaging in sexual acts in the ancient theatres of Ephesus sex masqueraded as love it pretended to be something different but it was heartbreaking and cheapening of real love and real intimacy so imagine you grow up in a world that is sexually saturated you go I don't have to imagine it I'm living in that world and you're exactly right you're exactly right so again can you imagine this list would it have been appropriate when is this the first problem in Jonathan Edwards Puritan England probably not was this the the biggest problem in in 1650 no was this the biggest problem in this particular place or that particular place not really is it the biggest problem now in a way it is because we live in a culture in a society that has already made the decision that sexual expression is more important than any other freedom but they're kind of walking it back right now even in our culture and society they're wondering is there anything that is too far is there anything that's so gross and immoral and inappropriate that we have to say no you can't do that and so the Christian the Christ follower the person who knows Jesus who loves Jesus who is known by Jesus and loved by Jesus will begin to ask and answer the question well again what's God's plan and what's God's design sexual perversion does not promote God's love it pretends to a type of love and so in your culture and your society you will hear people say stuff like how can you deny anyone the right to love each other and you go let me be clear here are you saying that sexual expression is how you define love and remember their definition of love is different from your definition of love remember love in the Bible isn't sexual expression exclusively love in the Bible is that emotion or drive which motivates you to do what's right towards that other person and so fornication doesn't promote God's love for an occasion perverts God's love for negation destroys intimacy and marriage and family and souls and every single day I experience this because people come to our church and they say my marriage is over with because my spouse was unfaithful or this person is addicted to pornography or this person is addicted to this kind of sexual expression and what it does instead of helping it hurts Satan is in the business of cheap superficial reproduction Satan says you want love I'll give you love I'll give you unrestricted guilt-free sexual expression you've heard it said you can only have sex in god-given husband or god-given wife well guess what I'll change the law of the land so that you can marry your husband or your wife and it doesn't matter if it's a male or a female or your next-door neighbor or everyone who lives with them and pretty soon it could be your pet you might wonder is there any limit where a person who wants to express themselves will say the government has no right to in any way restrict my sexual freedom for the Christian the Christian is saying no sexual freedom isn't the highest freedom and sexual freedom can't be exercised disconnected from the character of God disconnected from the Word of God disconnected from the design of God and so when you're having this argument with people you need to be able to ask and answer the question did God make you did God design you was it a mistake no God understands the nature and the character of how we can act or not act years ago a boulder high school assembly school official said these words I'm quoting them we know you're going to have sex we know that you're going to experiment and explore your sexuality we know you're going to take drugs let's figure out a way so that you can do these things and not kill yourself in the process unquote can you imagine that that's the culture in which we live that's the school that you send your children to Satan will provide a counterfeit lost people apart from Christ they want hope and they want love and they want fulfillment and they want satisfaction and so we need to be able to have the conversation and say I get that you want love and I get that you want fulfillment and I get that you want satisfaction I'm wondering if you might consider what God has to say and what Christ is willing to give in order for you to have exactly what God desires not the cheap fantasy of lust that fills most people's lives on this planet for the Christian who abandons Christ and who embraces lust admits that what God wants and what God expects and what Jesus models is a hopeless fantasy you Christians say you can't live that way people mock and make fun of Tim Tebow what you're a virgin I I follow Jesus and I want to honor him and according to the Bible this is how I'm supposed to honor him you are so hopelessly naive and so hopelessly out of touch but what happens when the ordinary Christian basically embraces what is said in the Bible about how were to conduct ourselves how many men and women have left the church and left the gospel and left Christ to embrace lust how many broken marriages how many ruined lives how many teenage pregnancies how many ministers leave the pulpit how much damage is done and people will say that love is blind but it's not true love has its eyes wide open and look at Jesus I'll tell you what's blind lust is blind lust is the thing that closes its eyes to the nature of God and the character of God and the will of God and the Word of God and lust is either unwilling or unable to see the tragic consequences of sin even the church will sometimes peddle the lie that lust is love that homosexual behavior isn't really sinful behavior that marital unfaithfulness is really not that big of a deal our Kent Hughes calls this the cookie jar syndrome he writes a little boys mother had just baked a fresh batch of cookies she gave the usual instruction no one was to eat cookies until after dinner but it was not long after that she heard the lid of the jar move and she called out son what are you doing to which a meek voice replied my hand is in the cookie jar resisting temptation you laugh for good reason too late the fact is no one can resist temptation when your hand is already in the cookie jar and there are cookie jars all around us aren't there instant access to porn every single one of you who has a smartphone all you have to do is hit Google and you are just one step away from unbelievable things we live in a sexually saturated Society how does the Christian keep his or her hand out of the cookie jar there's only one way to do it it's to put on biblical love that's why he said what he said earlier you you if you're gonna imitate God if you are gonna put on love if you're gonna walk as Jesus so what's on Paul's enemies list fornication what else all uncleanness what is that what is uncleanness you didn't take a bath no it could be translated impurities it's the word that Jesus used to describe the rotting bones of the religious leaders inside of their whitewashed tombs you remember when he says on the outside you are like whitewashed Sepulcher but inside you're full of uncleanness this is that word dead men's bones the other ten times the word appears in the New Testament it's always in relationship to sexual sin it can mean immoral thoughts it can mean fantasy passions perverse ideas every form of corruption these are the selfish and counterfeits of true love this is the self-centered love this is this is the person who says to you I will love you if and then you fill in the blank that's not that's what this is lust isn't interested in commitment lust isn't interested in anything other than satisfaction lust is way more interested in getting what it wants and then he writes all covetousness the word might seem out of place especially since he's been talking about sensual and sexual sin but covetousness is a word that means greedy all three sins have at least this in common they're linked to an uncontrollable appetite that's part of the point of the passage each is linked to something that is out of control the fornicator and the covetous person each desire to satisfy the appetite by taking what does not belong to them and that's why it makes perfect sense that it would be here maybe the best illustration i've ever heard to describe greed involves the way Eskimos catch wolves do you know how they catch wolves they'll take a knife and they'll coat it with blood and then they'll coat it with another coat of blood and another coat of blood until they make this almost knife popsicle and then in the cold arctic freeze the wolf will approach the blood lollipop and begin licking it but because it is frozen his tongue becomes insensate until he Nick's his his own tongue and then he as he's in his feverish pitch he begins to swallow his own blood until he is dead it's interesting I wrote they place it where the wolf can find it attracted by the smell of the blood they lick until they lacerate their tongue since the nerves are frozen the wolf begins to swallow its own blood what a stark picture of the person who's trapped in their own sensual circumstances where all of a sudden they are out of control let it not be named among you look what it says let it not be named among you as is fitting Saints but it is named among us Christians aren't to dwell on these things let alone participate in these things so what else is on the Christians enemy list of love filthiness foolishness foolish talking coarse jesting immorality and vulgarity go hand-in-hand he says but fornication and all uncleanness covetous let it not even be named among you as is fitting for Saints neither filthiness or foolish talking or coarse jesting which are not fitting but rather the giving of thanks Paul is warning again about the sins of the tongue but think about this for a moment he's talking about things that come out of our mouth but he's really talking about the things that lie deep in our heart isn't he because it can't come out of your mouth unless it's first found in your heart so people who engage in sexual activity will also engage in fogger speech those who enjoy cultivating sensual lives enjoy sensual speech they're really two good indicators of a person's character if you really want to know what a person's like find out what they will laugh at or find out what they cry about both of those things will will give you a peek into how they really are filthiness has to do with general obscenity filthiness is any talk that is degrading and disgraceful foolish talking is silly talk it's actually derived from two Greek words more AHS and law Geass we get words like and talk from that so the idea is that this is talk that is empty this is talk that has no value this is the kind of talk if you've ever heard anybody say don't talk like an idiot that's this that's what's being said we could translate at that this is conversation that has no point this is brainless nasaan burger parade coarse jesting oral filth it's the translation of a word that means to turn something easily in what sense this is the person who can take something that's innocent that's relatively harmless and then turn it into something crass or rude you'll remember in the Bible it says to the pure all things are pure so imagine a person takes something that's a pure comment that's just an offhanded comment and then they turn it into something gross they turn it into an innuendo and so in light of the the teaching of the word of God the whole point becomes we have to think about what we're saying and while we're thinking about what we're saying we have to think about what's inside of our heart this is an innocent humor this is senseless conversation that cheapens people this is the kind of conversation that doesn't result in the edification of the individual that you're talking to but is actually harmful and hurtful I think it was warned whereas we who said the gift of wit is a great blessing but when it's attached to a filthy mind or a base motive it becomes a curse and the moment I read that I thought of almost every late-night television show where people who are smart and people who are funny and people who are clever they take this smartness and this funniness and then they attach it to a heart that is wicked and they wind up hurting someone once a comedian was involved with some coarse jesting and his his throat got a little bit dry and he asked for a glass of water and someone shouted hey while you're at it why don't you ask for some soap and water and a toothbrush took a lot of nerve to tell a person you know what maybe there's a line that goes too far but here's what I know for certain cleaning the mouth with soap and water doesn't change the heart if you don't believe me ask my mother yeah I grew up in that world did you I'm gonna I'm gonna clean your mouth out with soap okay let's give it a shot let's see if that will work it didn't change my heart that's why dirty language is bad it isn't just because of what's been said it's because of where it came from it reveals a dirty heart and it makes us vulnerable to moral change in what sense course language desensitizes the soul and then it opens us up to things that we wouldn't normally allow and that's why we we have to watch what we say and we prepare for eternity look what it says in verses 5 through 7 for this you know that no fornicator or unclean person or covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God let 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 be partakers with them pause when he says for this you know one translation says you should know one translation says know this or as if clearly you do know the believer follows God by preparing for eternity in what way we follow God because we hear God's Word we heed God's warning we prepare for eternity by doing three significant things Paul's going to point out three facts God has nothing to do with uncleanness the profession of a person doesn't matter when a person says I'm a Christian I love God I believe the Bible God knows I'm not perfect God knows that I'm struggling or I'm dealing with this or dealing with that God knows that I have a reason to continue in this unclean behavior here's part of the point is it true that we struggle yes is it true that we all have problems of course is it true that none of us are perfect clearly but Paul is going to make it abundantly clear that a Christian can and will turn from their sin by the power of the Holy Spirit the difference between a Christian and a pig is that when a pig falls into the mud the pig stays in the mud the Christian has to get up out of the mud and say I don't belong here this isn't Who I am this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing if you continue to practice a lifestyle of sexual immorality don't fool yourself into thinking that you have an inheritance in the kingdom of God in Christ the the TEC series has any inheritance who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God the idea here is no inheritance the person may have plenty of things here but they don't have anything there remember on Sunday I said you can hold on to hope or you can hold on to sin but you can't hold on to both if you want to hold on to sin you have to let go of hope and if you want to hold on to hope you have to let go of sin and so the Bible is basically telling us that there is plenty of opportunity for us to do exactly what God wants us to do the person who doesn't walk with God rejects everything worth having and so the word again fornicator here it has been translated whoremonger it's the it's a different word it's the word pornos again it means every illicit form of sexual intercourse prostitute immoral behavior so when he says for this you know that no fornicator pornos this is the person who lives a lifestyle of sexual immorality of sexual expression who basically comforts themselves with their idea that their sexual behavior isn't hurting anyone or hardly anyone but remember Paul has already made the argument were members of one another we're members of one another the person who doesn't walk with God rejects everything worth having and so again the word unclean is a catharsis it means immoral it has with it the idea of those things that begin dirty in the mind and then result in dirty and behavior a covetous person is a greedy person an idolaters a person who sets up anything before God an idolatry is a person who sets anything before God the so again I'm gonna suggest to you that the reason why this was a problem in Ephesus is because it's a problem in the human heart and it's a problem in every every single generation there were those primarily in the church who felt like their sins were irrelevant that their sins didn't really matter that God loved them and that he forgave them no matter what no matter how wrong they were no matter how selfish they were no matter how rebellious they were so think about this for a moment they're the for the person who says God's gonna love me and he's gonna care about me he doesn't care what I think about he doesn't care what I say he doesn't care how I live and Paulo saying that's not true God cares about what you're thinking and about what you're saying and how you're living Paul remember remember in the book of Romans he says sure we sin more so that grace will abound and he says god forbid or may it not be so Paul says don't come up with the wrong idea that grace gives you permission to live your life as if the gospel is not true and so that's why he says in verse 6 let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience when he says let no one deceive you with empty words because there will be people who will try to persuade you that what you think in your head or say with your mouth or feel in your heart or act out doesn't matter they'll say well God forgives all of your sins past present and future is that true yes it is does that give you a license to sin no do we sin yes the missing component in the conversation is the power that God gives us by His Holy Spirit to live lives that are pleasing to him the wrath of God is decisive anger this is the deliberate anger that arises from his holy nature it's the anger that is righteous and just and and good you may think that God overlooks the whoremonger who destroys people's family the greedy person who neglects the the needy but in Romans 1:18 it says for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness and so that's why Paul writes therefore do not be partakers with them he's basically saying don't go there don't do that the follower of Jesus the follower of Jesus separates himself or herself from sin believers aren't to partake in the sin that's discussed in those those verses now think about this for a moment he says don't do them don't participate with them later he's even gonna say don't even have fellowship with him in 1st Corinthians 5:9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people and again he gets into an argument because in 2nd Corinthians he when they read well you told us not to be involved with sexually immoral people my mom my dad you know they work at the Temple of Artemis you know what my brother's my sisters we come from a long line of prostitutes everyone in my family is involved in prostitution and basically Paul says I didn't mean the unbelievers he said in order to not keep company with the unbelievers you would literally have to say goodbye to the planet Earth who's he talking about he's talking about the person who looks you in the eye and says I love Jesus and I followed Jesus and I believe that the Bible is true well then how do you explain this Bible's asking you to stop doing it I don't I don't want to stop well then I don't think I want to have fellowship with you because not just because it's wrong it's because there is a desensitization that takes place in second Thessalonians 3:6 it says but we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us that divisiveness and that that disconnection that he's talking about is the instructions that have been given to us by Paul and by Timothy we're ordinary Saints made extraordinary by God's power by God's Spirit by God's Word by God's love and if you'd like to help me make our church the most exciting place in the whole wide world it's as if you just simply embrace what Paul is saying imitate the Lord walk and love demonstrate it to one another and the moment you do that will become an extraordinary place filled with ordinary people who've received an extraordinary power from on high don't fool yourself into thinking that you can live this life by willpower what kind of going to be different tomorrow I'm gonna wake up and I'm gonna be different you'll never be different until you're willing to put the one thing aside and put on the other thing that will give you the ability to walk in simplicity and humility and purity and power it's when you put on Christ its Jesus it's Jesus it's it's the Lord Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit that will give you the privilege of loving God and loving each other Heavenly Father these words are hard words Paul was no stranger to living in a world that was deep and dark and sin where people lived a lifestyle of sin that had been entrenched over generations it's interesting to me that the Bible speaks to these issues with such poignancy and power but somehow we think we're living in a unique time with unique challenges and unique sins but Lord we know that the only thing that is really unique is the Savior Jesus Christ the Lord the only begotten who's able to wash us and cleanse us and change us and give us the power to be men and women who love the you and who love each other so lord I pray that we would reread this text think about it for a very long time especially when we get into trouble especially when we lose our way especially when just for a moment we forget what we read and so again father I pray for these men and women I pray that you'd fill them with the spirit I pray that you'd fill them with them with your love I pray that they'll have so much fun tomorrow as they celebrate with Thanksgiving in Jesus name Amen let's stand you

Channel: Calvary South Denver

Views: 3,488

Rating: 4.647059 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gino Geraci, Christianity, Bible Study, Ephesians

Id: k9Rr4JkLB9M

Length: 74min 58sec (4498 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 23 2017