The Walk. Therefore ~ There is so much to go back to with this Therefore, but let s narrow it down to v.32 of the previous chapter

Transcription

1 The Walk Ephesians 5:1-17 Sunday, January 31, 2016 Ephesians 5:1 2 (NKJV) 1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 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. Therefore ~ There is so much to go back to with this Therefore, but let s narrow it down to v.32 of the previous chapter Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. We are to Mimētēs - mimic, imitate our Heavenly Father when it comes to loving others. Here Paul characterizes the Christian lifestyle, which he calls our walk, as one that is so opposite the walk of the Gentiles, or the unsaved, that it must be called love. The walk of the believer is a key matter to Paul. He has introduced the fact that ours is to be a worthy walk ~ Ephesians 4:1 - I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, and a walk different from the world s ~ Ephesians 4:17 - This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind. He will also call for a walk in light ~ Ephesians 5:8 - For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light and a walk in wisdom ~ Ephesians 5:15 - See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. But in the opening two verses of this chapter, the apostle pleads with believers to walk in such a way that daily life is characterized by love. In reality, a supernatural love. Growing in love is a continuing need for every believer since love fulfills all of God s law. Please turn in your Bible briefly and let s look at Romans 13:8 10 together. 1

2 Romans 13:8 10 (NKJV) 8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Did you see that? LOVE does not commit adultery. Lust will, but not love. Love will prevent murder, not new gun laws - love. Love won t cause someone to take something that doesn t belong to them. Love doesn t lie, nor covet. If we would love others as the Bible commands, no harm would come to anyone. So, back to our text... Imitate your Heavenly Father and let your life be characterized by love, and if the church will do that... v.3 Ephesians 5:3 7 (NKJV) 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 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. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. According to Proverbs 6:32, he who is involved in fornication or adultery destroys his soul, his inner person. The world doesn t understand this. The world thinks fornication is nothing more than two bodies coming together in a moment of personal gratification. But the Bible says it s actually two souls being joined rather than two bodies. Thus, a person who engages in fornication or lives in adultery will become only a shell of a person, as layer after layer of his inner person is stripped off with each encounter. That s the tragedy of sexual sin. The issue is not S.T.D. (sexually transmitted disease), or unwanted pregnancy. The Biblical issue is that of losing part of one s soul. The filthiness, foolish talking, and jesting in verse 4 are related to the fornication, uncleanness, and coveting of verse 3. Things that were banned on public networks a few years ago, are found in many sitcoms on the major channels and networks today. 2

3 The way of the Gentiles, to use Paul s phrase, calls it entertainment. The way of those who imitate their Heavenly Father calls it the pathway to destruction. Don t let anyone deceive you with empty words (v.6). It s not entertainment, that is if you don t want to entertain eternal damnation. Another deception is - No, it s not ok, there is no excuse, no justification for those who practice such things. God s wrath will be executed against all who practice such things. For those who do, they have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Quick cross reference here - take a look at Galatians 5:19: Galatians 5:19 21 (NKJV) 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Even those who practice such things, but carry a Bible and go to church on Sundays. Here the point is obvious. Repent. Quit such practice. Imitate your Heavenly Father and walk in love. Next, walk in light... Ephesians 5:8 14 (NKJV) 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says: Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light. Once you are truly saved when you become born again when you have the Spirit of God, dwelling within you - you find out v.10, ~ you learn, the Holy Spirit teaches you, what is acceptable to the Lord. That s why, as we learned last Sunday, we are not to grieve nor quench the Holy Spirit, so that we can learn from Him what is acceptable to the Lord. The sad commentary on the Christian Church today is that its members are downright afraid to walk in the light. Why? Because it means that we are not only not to participate in the dirty joke session at the work place, we are to expose it for what it is. 3

4 This means that we are to lovingly rebuke a coworker or a friend or neighbor, and say something like You know that I m a Christian Let me interject here - we re not asking them not to drop the F-bomb in our presence because we have delicate ears. What we say, one on one, is that You know that I am a Christian, and I truly want God s best for you. And it simply isn t going to happen when you consistently talk like that. Maybe paraphrase Ephesians 4:29 to them - Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Some Christians can t seem to wait until a Brother or Sister in Christ blows it in this regard so that they can EXPOSE them; blow the whistle on them; tell others what they saw and heard. The code of conduct is simple Don t join in on the coarse jesting fest 2. Later - one on one, lovingly rebuke the person It s not a job well done, if it s a job half done. If you re walking in the light, occasionally you will be called to expose the unfruitful works of darkness. Ephesians 5:15 21 (NKJV) 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God. So, let me round-up these three paragraphs in the following manner and we will go from there. The Christian life is to be characterized by the following... A lifestyle distinguished by a supernatural source of love for others. A behavior depicted as one that continually learns God s will and follows it A conduct that can only be categorized as one of wisdom. The word circumspectly comes from two Latin words which mean looking around. The Greek word carries the idea of precision and accuracy. The meaning is, see that you walk carefully, with exactness. 4

5 The opposite would be walking carelessly and without proper guidance and forethought. We cannot leave the Christian life to chance. We must make wise decisions and seek to do the will of God, says Wiersbe. He goes on to say - Paul appeared to be saying, Don t walk in your sleep! Wake up! Open your eyes! Make the most of the day! It is sad to see many professed Christians drift through life, like sleepwalkers, who never really make the most of opportunities to live for Christ and serve Him. Paul gives us 5 Reasons, in this portion of scripture, for his call to us to walk circumspectly. 1 - It s a mark of wisdom (v.15): A fool blows with the wind or drifts with the tide. Suzie and I spent a couple of days down at the beach, where a lot of drifters-with-the-tide sort were hanging out. All day long they would set up makeshift camps around a fire ring in the sand; they would ask for handouts; they all knew each other. The total opposite is described here. The true Christian life is depicted as a man who marks out his course, sets his sails, and guides the rudder of life until he reaches his God designated destination. 2 - Life is short (v.16): An old Chinese adage says, Opportunity has a forelock so you can seize it when you meet it. Once it is past, you cannot seize it again. I remember a little plaque that my parents had. Perhaps you ve seen one like it. It read The Hurrier I Go, The Behinder I Get I don t think you realize the truth of that until several years have already gone under the bridge. The brevity of life is a strong argument for making the best use of the opportunities God gives us. 3 - The days are evil (v.16): In Paul s day, Roman persecution of the church was thundering down on them like Pharaoh s chariots did against Moses and the children of Israel. It didn t make much sense putting off sharing the Gospel when there might not be another chance soon. If the days were evil in Paul s day, what do we call them today? 4 - God has given us a mind (v.17): The key word here is understanding. How many have heard/said God has given me a mind and He expects me to use it. Well, that s usually expressed in something other than a Biblical context. Learning His will involves gathering facts, examining them, weighing them, and praying for His wisdom (James 1:5). God does not want us simply to know His will; He wants us to understand His will. 5 - God has a plan for our lives (v.17): Inferred in v.17. Understanding His will for My Life in particular, but let me take you back to Ephesians 2:10 for the foundation of this reason

6 v.10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We should discover that purpose and then guide our life accordingly. He reveals His plan through His Word (Col. 1:9 10), His Spirit in our hearts (Col. 3:15), and the working of circumstances (Rom. 8:28). The Christian can walk carefully and accurately because he knows what God wants him to do. Like the builder following the blueprint, he accomplishes what the architect planned. We will pick up the next couple of verses as we enter into the subject of The Christian Marriage. 6