Welcome to The Encouraging Word, featuring the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton, and today, part two of his message, Imitating God. As we open God's Word together, know that we're available connecting on our website right now as well. As a matter of fact, many are taking a look at the book called, Saturdays with Billy, that Dr. Don Wilton wrote just a few weeks ago.
It's online at www.tewonline.org. Now friends, I want to invite you to turn in your Bibles to Paul's letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 5. We are in a remarkable exercise of incredible proportions at the moment here in Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, and our subject for these weeks is Imitating God. We're going to be building up toward a climactic experience when we get to Chapter 20, Verse 22 of Chapter 5, where I'm going to, God willing, be preaching a mini-series on marriage and the family and children, and all the things related to our family values today.
That's going to come up when we get to Verse 22, and we will probably be there for two or three or how many weeks the Lord allows us to be there. When we get over into Chapter 6, down to Verse 10, we're going to discover there that there is a climactic crescendo that God's Word takes us to when Paul says finally, be strong in the Lord. And it is at this juncture that the Apostle Paul will begin to tell us how we can be better equipped to face the world that we live in by putting on the whole armor of God.
Now I might repeat this to you a couple of times over the next weeks, because I think it's very important to understand this. That is why my dear friends, ladies and gentlemen this morning, it is very important that as Christian believers, that we preach and teach systematically through the Word of God. That's what we try to do here Sunday mornings and Sunday nights, is to present the depth and the extent, the height of God's grace and the riches of His glory. And what we endeavor to do is to try and dig into the Word of God and ask ourselves, what is it that God wants us to know?
And how is it that we are to live in the world in which we find ourselves considering our own human condition and predicament? Imitating God, there is a sense in which what we discuss today is impossible, because there is not one of us here today who is capable of imitating God. God is righteous and He is holy.
He is completely perfect. And knowing ourselves, we fall so far short of the glory of God that there is a real sense in which we might not even concern ourselves with these directives, because we understand that we cannot match up to what God is teaching us. But Paul tells us very explicitly and in great detail that we ought to know the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. We ought to endeavor as believers to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
We ought to strive to be like Him. And here the Apostle Paul in verse one of chapter five gives us a two point rationale. He gives us two reasons why we ought to imitate God. Number one, because of who we are. We are children of God. We are His dearly loved children.
And secondly, because of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who according to the Word gave Himself up for us. Now let's read together Ephesians chapter five. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure, no immoral, impure, or greedy person, for such a man is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of such things, God's wrath comes upon those who are disobedient, therefore, do not be partners with them. For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live, therefore, as children of the light. For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. And find out what pleases the Lord, have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. That is why it is said, Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful then how you live. May the Lord write His word upon our hearts this morning.
We're looking at a multitude of instruction here. There are so many things that God's word tries to teach us, and so many improbabilities and impossibilities, but it seems to me that somewhere in God's word I have read repeatedly that with man things may be impossible, but with God nothing is impossible. God enables us to be able to do what God wants us to do. God strengthens us when we find ourselves weak. God makes us capable when we are convinced how incapable we are.
God builds us up when at times we are so broken down, we wonder whether or not we can ever put our lives back together again. And what Paul is saying here, Paul is saying that if we want to live a life that is full and meaningful, and that is in line with the steps of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to do what God wants us to do. We need to speak in a manner that God wants us to speak. We need to behave in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. So how can we imitate God? Number one, by living a life of love.
We looked at that last week, and Paul divides this up into three equal portions here in verse one and two. How do we live a life of love? Number one, by loving. Number two, by giving.
Number three, by sacrificing. And the word here that Paul has for us is if we are the children of God, and if we are those who emulate and copy the Lord Jesus Christ, are we loving? Are we giving? Are we sacrificing? Are we emulating, copying?
Are we imitating what God has set before us? Number two, by avoiding immorality. By avoiding immorality. That's what Paul talks about in verse three. He says if you're going to imitate God, you need to avoid immorality. He says, but among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity or of greed because these are improper for God's holy people.
And again, Paul divides this immorality up into three components, sexual immorality, impurity, and greed or lust. And it seems to me, beloved friends, that what the Apostle Paul is saying here, the Apostle Paul is saying that there is no room in the life of a believer to stand outside of the parameters that God has set before us under any circumstances whatsoever. Paul is saying, my friends, you do not have an option just to walk out on your wife because you don't love her anymore. I had one man say to me some months ago, when he began to walk out on his wife, he said to me, preacher, I want you to know I just don't love her anymore. Sir, I want to say to you on the authority of God's word that as a believer, you do not have an option to just walk out on your wife or your family or vice versa.
We do not have an option to play towards the standards that the world has set before us. And some of you might say to me tonight, well, preacher, you've forgotten me. You're back in a First Baptist church. I want to tell you, friend, the thing that makes it most difficult for me to stand in one place behind this pulpit is the grace of God. The one thing that makes it most difficult for me to not get up here and be about the business of articulate snoring is the grace of God. The thing that makes it most likely for me to want to get up here and burst a blood vessel is the grace of God. Can you imagine a group of 54 men and women whose average age is 75 years of age going on buses and going into prisons and being up all hours of the night or day?
What in the world would make these people do that rather than just go gallivanting over the country, having a good time for themselves? It's the grace of God. It's the grace of God. I had one man walk up to me, but I forget who it was.
God did so many things for us. And he walked up to me and he was a tall man, about six foot seven. I felt like I was addressing his navel. I wanted to stand up there and give him a navel salute.
And not only was he tall, but I tell you, he was a powerful looking fellow. And I looked up at him like that and he looked at me, he said, Reverend, and in broken English, he said, me name Abdul. I said, hello, Abdul. He said, he said, 16 years ago in broken English, he said, I'm from Libya. He said, I'm Muslim. 16 years ago, I came to America to find the American dream.
And he said, I've never seen the American dream. He said, because 16 years ago, the first day in America, I killed three people. And he said, I've been in prison for 16 years and I've got two life sentences. And he said, I don't understand all this, but I heard what you said about this Jesus and I take him in. I take him in. And we had a young man come up to, and he walked up to us in one of the prisons and he had a walker with him.
And he told me, and it nearly broke our hearts, 16 years of age. And he has a life sentence without option of parole. And yet he had prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and savior. And Paul says, listen, if you want to imitate God, you must have nothing to do with immorality. And the Bible says, my friends, that you and I as born again believers, we must flee away from these things.
We must have nothing to do with them. But if you've already failed, I've got good news for you. The grace of God. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message. Imitating God with Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment. But we also want to remind you that many friends are getting connected keyboard to keyboard to sign up for the daily encouraging word email.
It's a special devotion from Dr. Wilton. You can sign up on our website right now. Pops into your email box about six o'clock every morning. That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. Just sign up for the daily encouraging word devotion from Dr. Don.
Sign up today and you'll have it within 24 to 48 hours. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. But friend, don't mess around with God. Don't play games with God because God will not be mocked. If you walked out on your wife, if you walked out on your husband, if you have committed adultery or fornication, if you are guilty as charged, I want you to know the Bible says that God's love and His grace is absolute and He will forgive you based upon the repentance of your sin.
He will take your sin and cast it as East as far as the East is from the West and remember it no more. But don't mess around with God. Don't think that you can go out there and do it again and again and again and God's gonna sit there and smile at you. The problem in America my friends is that people say well if God's grace is absolute I'm going to rest my case on God's grace. People say well then I'm just going to go out and do a little sinning because God's gonna forgive me.
Paul says shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid. You don't stretch God. God's not a grandfather that you pull out of the closet on Sunday morning. You don't climb into some box and ask God to forgive you whenever it's convenient. Not according to the God of the Scriptures. But God is a gracious and a loving God.
He is long suffering and what an incredible thing to know about His grace. Young people, ladies and gentlemen, I would say to you make sure that you put into your life the parameters that are going to enable you to practice the imitation of God in your life. We could parade in front of us today the stories of broken lives left right and center. People who would get up here and say please don't do it. Don't do it.
Don't do it. It is possible to have a happy family. It is possible to have a happy marriage.
It is possible to have a wonderful full and meaningful life according to God's standards. I'm so glad that you're here today. I'm so glad because friend I'm convinced that there's someone here this morning you're sitting right on the brink of self-destruction. You're playing with fire.
And when you play with fire you're going to get burned. And you can go to all the counseling in the world. And I believe in counseling my friend but we need to do a whole lot less of counseling and a whole lot more of listening to what God tells us.
You don't need to run to a counselor. You need to listen to God's Word. This is what the Bible says. How do we imitate God? Number one by living a life of love. Number two by avoiding immorality. Number three by guarding the tongue.
Guarding the tongue. Look at verse four. The Bible says, Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place but rather thanksgiving. Here Paul again he breaks it into three components when he talks about the tongue. Number one he talks about obscenity. Number two he talks about foolish talk.
Number three he talks about coarse joking. What does that mean? When he talks about obscenity he's talking about filthiness. He's talking about filthiness.
There's no other apology for that. He's talking about obscene thinking. He's talking about the focus of your mind. When he moves on and he begins to shift gears and he talks about foolish talk, he's using a word there, monologio, which means the words of a moron.
The word foolish there is the same word for silliness. It means nonsensical chatter. It means idle talk. Idle talk is the fountainhead for all rumors. All rumors, did you know that? All churches are subject to rumors. All institutions are subject to rumors. I've heard some incredible rumors even in this church. You wouldn't believe them even if I told you about them. But some people believe them. The Bible says these things are foolish talk. They are silliness. They are not imitations of the godliness of God's standards.
They are without any form of spiritual substance. Be very careful what you do on the telephone. Be very careful about how you talk to your neighbor. Be very careful about the content of your conversation.
Be very careful about the chatter that goes on behind the doors. The Bible tells us that the tongue is a weapon that can destroy and assassinate just in one move. It can burn down forests. And folks, there are people in this world who claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ, who are giving themselves to a contradiction of the mimicking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul here says obscenity and foolish talk and then he goes on to course joking. And what we like to think is that that means it's kind of rough speech.
He's not just talking about that. The word in the Greek texture for course joking literally means someone who like a chameleon is willing to change his or her spots or color in order to suit the occasion or the crowd they find themselves in. Have you ever met someone who comes to church on Sunday morning and when they get to the country club on Wednesday afternoon the content of their conversation changes. They'll come to church on Sunday morning and sing holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty and when they get onto the golf course or the tennis court or in their boat or catching fish or climbing a mountain or sitting at home and the TV goes on the blimp, all of a sudden the content of their language changes. Have you ever met a man who sits next to his wife in church and has the epitome of sweetness?
But as soon as he gets home and the dinner's not cooked right, the content of his conversation changes. That's what Paul talks about course joking, beloved friends. It literally means someone who is easily turned is easily turned from one group to another. It's almost as if that person is looking for a crowd by which to appropriate suitable language. What does Paul say?
He's saying some pretty direct stuff here, isn't he? He's saying imitate God, be like God. Now some of you are saying, wait a pastor, if I could just get out of here. Man, I'm feeling so uncomfortable when you talk about this because my wife has already looked at me twice. We're all guilty folks. All of us stand guilty as charged. The Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's why I'm so glad that you're here today. And some of you are saying to me, but pastor, I'm not in prison. You've just forgotten. You're not on prison choir tour anymore. You need to come back down to earth. This is the First Baptist Church.
We don't need to hear all of this stuff. Do you know something beloved friends, you and I are as much bondage as an inmate in a federal penitentiary when we're living outside of Jesus Christ. You don't have to have literal chains on your hands. Sin has chained you. Sin has you bound.
The Bible says that beware because the devil is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. But there's a fourth understanding here about imitating God. Paul says if we're going to imitate God, number one, we need to live a life of love.
I hope you're writing these down. Number two, we need to avoid immorality. Number three, we need to guard the tongue. Number four, we need to have a clear understanding of God's standards.
Well, what does he tell us about his standards? Look at verse five. For of this you can be sure. Now that's an emphatic statement. As someone said, the emphasis is on the correct syllable.
The emphasis is put on the right syllable at this juncture. What Paul is saying here is listen folks, let's just cut all the junk. Let's just peel back all the outer garments. Let's take the masks from upon our faces. Let's get down to the real thing.
Let's get on the same level. And what Paul is saying here in verse five, he says for of this you can be absolutely certain. And what can we be certain of? That no immoral, impure, greedy person for such a person is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Now, ironically, writing to the church at Galatia in chapter five, Paul's letter to the church at Galatia chapter five, Paul says, listen, he says, if any of you do these things, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. He talks about in his letter to the church at Corinth. He says, if you are guilty as charged, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. But verse 23 and verse 24 of Galatians chapter five is the very heartbeat and the nucleus of the grace of God because the Bible says that we have been crucified with Christ. I love that, don't you?
Isn't that incredible? If we're going to imitate God, we've got to have a clear understanding of God's standards. Beloved, look at me, more and more in America today, in more and more pulpits, through more and more mouths of more and more preachers and more and more Christian people, there is a less and less willingness to understand the clarity of the standards that God sets before us. We're living in a day and age of compromise.
You've got to compromise everything. As long as you can drink, but just do it in moderation. You can smoke, but just do it in moderation. You can be immoral as long as your wife doesn't find out, just do it in moderation. You can cuss a little bit, just a little bit, you know, just as long as you do it in moderation. Teenagers can go berserk as long as they do it in moderation. You can do this just in moderation. The Bible says, the Bible says you and I need to have a clear understanding of God's standards.
Beloved, it's becoming less and less popular. I'm going to tell you something that the lines are being drawn in America today more and more. God is calling upon God's people to stand up and make and take a stand for righteousness and for godliness. Number five, you can imitate God by appreciating the change that has taken place in your life.
By an appreciation of the change that has taken place in your life. Look at verse eight, you were once darkness. Note there's no preposition there. This is a metaphorical expression.
It is a direct application. You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. What does that mean? It means that Paul is saying here, if you want to imitate God, you need to have an appreciation of the change that has taken place in your life. You need to be a living example of the transformation of Christ. Wherever you're listening, whatever time, morning, evening, afternoon, middle of the night. Perhaps God has stirred your heart through the teaching of Dr. Don Wilton from the pulpit.
Now he steps in the studio to ask you this next question. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.
This is exciting news. If you've just given your life to Jesus, welcome to the family of God or welcome back if you've rededicated your life. We have free resources we want to put in your hands. It's 866-899-WORD to call and ask for your free resources. That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to spend some time encouraging you and worshipping the Lord together about your great decision. Again, we just love connecting with you. You can call right now and connect with me at 866-899-9673. Call and connect with me right now. The number again is 866-899-WORD or online at TEWOnline.org.
