Imitators Wanted

Reading Ephesians chapter 5 verses 1 through 14. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become a saint's, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving thanks.

For this ye know that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

For ye were once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.

For whatever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore, he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. May we walk as the Lord would have us to walk, as his beloved children.

Children are great imitators. All of us who are parents have found that out sometimes to our embarrassment. The fact that children are imitators is a great opportunity.

If you and I are setting the right kind of an example, they'll learn. It also involves a great danger. If we're setting the wrong kind of example, they will learn the wrong things.

And the word that Paul uses in Ephesians 5.1 is the word imitators. Be ye therefore imitators of God as dear children or as beloved children. Now, if I'm going to imitate God, I can't do it with my own strength.

It's impossible for human nature to imitate divine nature. But he tells us that we can imitate God because we are God's children. When you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, there was implanted within you a divine nature.

It's a miracle. It's the kind of thing that Jesus tried to explain to Nicodemus when he said, You must be born again. Peter talks about it when he says, Being born again, becoming partakers of the divine nature.

This is a remarkable thing that you and I, who are nothing but vessels of clay, deserving of judgment, should receive within us God's very nature. We've passed from death unto life. We've passed out of the graveyard into the family of God.

We've been lifted to be seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenlies. And we don't look like it, and we don't always act like it. But to the glory of God, we have become partakers of God's divine nature.

That's what a Christian is. Someone who, through faith in Christ, has received that new nature down inside. Now, because we have a divine nature down inside, there's something within us that corresponds to what God is.

God's not asking me to turn clay into deity. God has put this treasure within this earthen vessel that we have. And now something in us can respond to who he is and what he is.

And so he has every right to say to us, I want you to imitate me. I am your father. You are my children.

And I want you to imitate me. Now, this raises the interesting question, what am I supposed to imitate? I certainly can't imitate God's creative power. I'd make a fool of myself standing somewhere and saying, let there be light.

Because it's just liable not to happen. I'm not going to try to walk on water. I'm not going to try to turn water into wine.

If God wanted me to do these miracles, he could so enable me. But usually he doesn't. No, he's not talking about miraculous conduct.

He's talking about character. When you read John's first letter, you find that John makes two marvelous declarations about God. He says in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 8, God is love.

And then he says in 1 John chapter 1 and verse 5, God is light. These are the two great theological definitions of God. What is God? God is love.

What is God? God is light, holiness. And Paul picks these up here in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 1 to 14. Because in verse 2, he says walk in love.

Why? Because God is love. In verse 8, walk as children of light. Why? Because God is light.

Be imitators of God. God is love. Walk in love.

God is light. Walk in light. That means walk in holiness.

And so from this passage of scripture, God gives to us two tremendous responsibilities. As God's child, I am responsible to imitate him in love and walk in love. And as God's child, I am responsible to imitate him in holiness and walk in light.

Now, these two go together. There are some people who are always talking about love, but they never talk about holiness. You see, God's love is a holy love.

And God's holiness and God's love go together. If you have love without holiness, it could degenerate into lust. You'll just love anything and everything.

If you have holiness without love, it could be something very brittle and very cold. Some people have this kind of Christianity. I call it piety.

It's very brittle and cold and selfish, and there's no warmth to it. The Lord Jesus Christ was holy and harmless and undefiled, and he walked in love. And so God wants me in my character to have love and holiness, to walk in love and to walk in holiness.

These are our responsibilities. Let's take them one by one now. Verses 1 through 7, Paul talks about walking in love.

Verses 8 through 14, Paul talks about walking in the light. Walk in love. Now, that's not a very easy thing for me to do.

You say, but pastor, you've had theological training and you study and you pray. Yes, but I have the same human nature that you have. And my human nature was born selfish.

I came into this world crying and grasping. By nature, you're the same way. By nature, we are out to get, to grasp.

We're selfish. And when God implants that new nature down inside, a struggle begins. Because my old nature says, get everything you can and step on everybody you can.

And the new nature says, no, that's not the way Jesus did it. That's not the way God wants it. And so there's a struggle.

Now, Paul knows this. And so he gives to me in this section, verses 1 through 7, some encouragements to help me grow in my love. I need this.

Now, perhaps you don't, but I do. In verses 1 and 2, Paul says, if ever you feel your love getting cold, look back. Then in verses 3 and 4, he says, if ever you find your love getting cold, look around.

And then in the next section, verses 5 through 7, he says, if ever you find your love getting cold, look ahead. Let's take those three looks just now to encourage us in our walk of love. He says, if you find your love getting cold, look back.

Look back to what? Look back to Calvary. Walk in love as Christ hath loved us. Now, let's talk about the love of Jesus Christ.

Today, as a church family, we'll be gathering around the Lord's table. Most of us try to forget the death of a loved one. We want to remember a loved one in life.

Jesus said, I want you to remember my death. I'm going to give you an ordinance with broken bread and the fruit of the vine. My body and my blood.

I want you to remember that I died. Now, he doesn't want us to remember that he died so that we might get choked up with sympathy. The way you might do at a funeral.

No, he wants us to remember that he died, that we might be filled with love. Because the death of Jesus Christ is the greatest expression of love the world has ever seen. Notice, please, he loved us.

You say, well, why wouldn't somebody love me? I'm such a nice person. No, there's nothing in us that he would love. I'm afraid even since we've been saved, there's not much in us that he would love.

But he loved us while we were enemies. He loved us. He said to his disciples, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

I could understand a man laying down his life for his friends. He laid down his life for his enemies. In fact, the very thing in me that he hates, sin, he took upon his own body and he became the sacrifice for my sin.

And Paul is saying very clearly to us, you'll have no problem walking in love if you'll just look back and remember that Jesus loved you, that Jesus died in your place, that he arose again from the dead. He became that sacrifice of a sweet smelling savor. He was the burnt offering, offering himself wholly to God.

He was also the sin offering and the peace offering and the trespass offering. But basically, he offered himself to God in my place. And that's love.

Now, he also takes us back into chapter four in verse 32, because he uses the word therefore, be therefore imitators of God. Therefore, because of what? Verse 32, be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. He says, if your love is getting cold, look back and remember Calvary and look back and remember that God's forgiven you.

I don't know what the forgiveness of God does to your heart. I know what it does to my heart. It breaks my heart.

When I realize how much he has forgiven me, and he didn't do it for my sake. He didn't even do it for my family's sake. He did it for Jesus' sake.

It breaks my heart. It makes me realize that my heart can get so cold and I can easily leave my first love and not be walking in love as I should. You can write it down and remember it, that when Christians are not getting along with each other and they're not walking in love, somebody has forgotten Calvary.

Somebody has forgotten forgiveness. Somebody has forgotten that Jesus died. Now, in the next section, verses three and four, he says, if your love is getting a little bit cold, look around and see the way other people are living.

Look around there in Ephesus. Wouldn't be hard in Ephesus to find fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, dirty speaking, low humor. Wouldn't be hard to find that.

The whole city was filled with it. There was the great temple of Diana. And that temple was actually a home for religious prostitution.

That temple was also a bank where people came and brought their wealth. And the city of Ephesus was wrapped up in acquiring wealth and enjoying pleasure. Let's not condemn the city of Ephesus.

We have the same thing in our cities today. Paul uses an interesting word in verse three. He says, look, don't even let these things be named among you because you're saints.

A saint is one who is separated, one who is set apart, one who's been called out. And so he says, if your heart starts getting cold and you're losing that love, just look around and realize you could be doing those things. There was a time when this was a part of your life.

You thought nothing of fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, dirty speech, grasping. Oh, but then the grace of God came along and saved you. And once you were a sinner and now you are a saint.

He says, if that doesn't warm your heart, nothing will. This doesn't mean we look at other people and we get holier than thou. I'm sure that Paul would have our hearts to be broken because of the sins of the city.

But it does mean that we look at other people and then look up to God and say, oh, thank you for saving me. That's what he means here. But rather giving thanks.

May I point out to you a rather important thing about sin? You'll notice in verse three, he names actions fornication, uncleanness, covetousness. When you get down to verse five, these actions become people. No fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man.

Did you notice that? You see, actions create character. And in verse three, people are committing these sins. By the time you get to verse five, they have become those sinners.

They are not just people who commit fornication. They are fornicators. Sin takes a hold of you.

How did this happen? Verse four. They joked about it. When a person is able to commit sin and joke about it, before long, it becomes a part of his character.

He doesn't take it seriously. He's not afraid of sin. He's not alarmed by sin.

He jokes about it. He laughs about it. And before long, his actions create character.

And he becomes that sin. And Paul says, now, we don't want any of this among the saints. Are such things as this found among the saints? Yes.

Sad to say. Sometimes it gets into the headlines. Now, in verse four, he's not talking about clean, godly humor.

I was reading Dr. Ironside's marvelous exposition of Ephesians called In the Heavenlies. And Dr. Ironside, who himself, as you know, had a marvelous sense of humor, went out of his way to say God is not condemning here the innocent laughter and humor of the Christian. In fact, I'd be very suspicious of a person who doesn't know how to laugh.

Noah Lyons, who was the great leader of the greater Europe mission for many years, a dear friend to me and to Dr. Filken, one day told me, he said, I will never send anybody to the mission field who doesn't have a sense of humor. They'll never make it. No, Paul's not condemning innocent humor and laughter.

He's condemning dirty humor. The kind of humor that is low and comes from the garbage can and the sewer. Are these things found among saints? They must be here.

Paul would not have mentioned them. If your love is getting cold, says Paul, look back and remember Calvary. Look around and give thanks to God.

You've been delivered from sin. Then he says, look ahead. He's talking in verses five through seven about the future kingdom.

He said, you can be sure of this. Anybody who lives in these sins is not a saved person. Anyone who deliberately, habitually, repeatedly lives in these sins has no inheritance in God's kingdom.

David was an adulterer, but he didn't live in adultery. God forgave him and restored him after he spanked him. God's people do sometimes sin, but he's talking here about people who live in these sins.

And he warns us in verse seven, look, you're one day going to enter into that glorious inheritance, that inheritance purchased for you at Calvary. Now, look, don't become partakers with this kind of life. Prepare yourself for that kind of life.

If you forget and grow cold and your love starts getting cold, just look ahead and say, I'm going to heaven. One of these days, I'm going to be in glory. And if that doesn't bring within your heart a depth of love, there's something wrong.

Walk in love. My friend, sin is the most selfish thing in all the world. The very basis of sin is self.

Ye shall be as gods. The old ego down inside says, sin, sin, you can get away with it. Paul says to us, don't live a life of selfish sin.

Walk in love. And if you walk in love, you won't be able to indulge in such things as fornication and uncleanness and covetousness, because that's the wrong kind of love. Covetousness is love for things, and you'll have a love for God.

And fornication is a love for pleasure and lust, and it's ungodly. But if you're walking in love, you just can't do those things because you're in love with one who has made you into a saint and who one day is going to take you to heaven. Then he moves into the second responsibility, verses 8 through 14.

Walk as children of light. Here he's telling us about a miracle that takes place in our lives. Verse 8, for ye were once darkness, not in the darkness, but darkness.

Back in Isaiah chapter 9, God says the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. By the time you quote this in Matthew chapter 4, it says the people that sat in darkness have seen a great light. How about that? In 700 years, they went from walking in the darkness to sitting in the darkness.

Paul says we are darkness. The unsaved man is not just in the dark. He is dark.

He is very darkness. His mind is darkened and his heart is darkened, and he is darkness. But a miracle takes place.

Ye were once darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord. Ye are the light of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ came in.

The darkness has been dispelled. The light has moved in. The darkness is gone.

And now we are not just in the light. We are the light. In other words, whatever you do, you are.

If you commit deeds of darkness, you are darkness. If you commit deeds of light and love, you are light and you are love. Notice the contrast here between the old life and the new life.

Now, do you have a problem walking as a child of light? Do you sometimes want to sneak off into the shadows? Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. Neither cometh to the light, lest his deed should be reproved. Are we tempted sometimes to get off into the dark corners where nobody sees except God? Paul says don't do it.

The next time you're tempted to get into the darkness, just remember what you were. And he contrasts the old life and the new life. He says the old life was so unfruitful.

Verse 11, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Now connect that with verse 9. For the fruit of the spirit or the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. The old life of darkness was unfruitful.

Peter asks the question and says, what good did you have from the life you used to live? What have you got that you're proud of? Nothing. What is there about that old life that you can flash on the screen and show to other people? Nothing. Well, he says, then why go back into that? Why walk in the darkness when it's so unfruitful? You cannot grow fruit in the darkness.

You have to grow fruit in the light. And the fruit comes out of our lives as we walk in the light. The unfruitful works of darkness kill.

Now, you know what I'm talking about. There is the fruit of darkness and you reach out and you pluck that fruit. My, it looks so delicious.

And the first couple of bites are really delicious. Say, oh, this is marvelous. But there's poison in there.

And before you know it, you've been poisoned by the unfruitful works of darkness. And this is why it leads to sin and death. But the fruitfulness of the Christian who walks in the light is a beautiful thing.

If you're tempted to sneak into the shadows, remember there's no fruit there, just poison and death. Stay in the light. Walk as a child of light.

It produces goodness and righteousness and truthfulness. He goes on to say in verses 12 and 13, don't go back into the shadows because that old life was not only unfruitful, but it was secret and hidden. Do you ever turn over a stone out in a prairie? Sure you have.

When I was a kid, I used to go out and play in the vacant lots. They had vacant lots in those days. And I used to enjoy kicking over the stones or getting a board and lifting up those great big slabs of concrete.

And all the vermin came running out. You know why? They don't like the light. Same thing is true down in the cellar.

You go down to a cellar and turn the light on. Everything starts to run away. They don't like the light.

That's what Jesus meant when he said, everyone that doeth evil, hateth the light. You know, the life of the unsaved person always has to be covered over. Isn't it a marvelous thing to be in the light, to have a clean conscience, to be able to look people right straight in the face and right in the eye and not have to flinch to hear the telephone ring and not say, who knows? You'd be surprised how many people in the city of Chicago get nervous when the phone rings.

It's a marvelous thing to be in the light and to live an open life, just an open life where the light can shine in. They came to Spurgeon and said, we want to write the story of your life. And Spurgeon said, you may write my life in the clouds.

I have nothing to hide. That's a marvelous thing. You see, the old life was an unfruitful life and the old life was a secret hidden life.

But the new life is a fruitful life in the light, and the new life is an open life. There's liberty, there's freedom, there's joy. And the old life was a life of being asleep.

In fact, he says in verse 14, Awake thou that sleepest and rise from the dead. Doctors tell us that when we are really sleeping, that's the closest to death until we die. When you're sleeping, that's the closest physically you get to death, because your body kind of slows down and the major things are functioning, but you're, to all intents and purposes, dead to this world.

This apparently in verse 14 is a quotation from a baptismal hymn of the early church. The candidate would go down into the water and be placed under the water. And as the candidate was brought up from the water, they would sing, Awake thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

You know, when you were unsaved, when you were a lost person, you were dead to everything good. You were asleep. You're just living on dreams.

The unsaved people I meet here in the city of Chicago are living on dreams. You feel like shaking them and saying, wake up. That's what happens when you're saved.

When the light of God dawns upon you and Jesus Christ says, arise from the dead, wake up, you awaken to a brand new life. In fact, I like to apply verse 14 to every morning of the week. Every morning of the week, God says to me, now wake up.

I've got a wonderful life for you today. Don't face this life like a galley slave saying, oh boy, one more day. Wake up and look life square in the face because I have something wonderful for you today.

You see how foolish it is for the believer to walk in the darkness. The darkness means you're unfruitful. That means nothing good comes out of your life.

And the darkness means you have to hide. And then you're using all your energy to cover up and there's no energy left for living. And the darkness means that you're asleep and you're missing so much.

You're just missing so much. But oh, when we're walking in the light, then we are awake and alive and alert. And then we have a life that's open and honest.

And then God begins to produce fruit through our lives. And people can come along and pluck that fruit and be satisfied. And we can share love and joy and peace and all the beautiful fruit of the Holy Spirit of God.

And so the Lord is saying to me today, you are my child. You're my child because you've been born into my family through faith. Now, imitate me.

I am love. I want you to walk in love. That's hard to do.

But he wants us to do it. He says, I am light. I want you to walk in the light.

It's hard to do. Getting harder every day. But he wants us to do it.

He gives us the provision to do it. He put the Holy Spirit of God down inside. And the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that he gave to us.

And so as we yield to the Holy Spirit, we walk in love. And as we yield to the Holy Spirit, we walk in the light. As we read the word of God and meditate on it, as we worship and fellowship with him, the light radiates from us and the love flows out of us.

Really, all we become are God's marvelous channels to share what he is with the world. Peter calls this growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We Christians have a tendency to imitate each other.

God doesn't want us to imitate each other. God wants us to imitate him. Be ye therefore imitators of God as beloved children, walking in love, walking in the light to the glory of Christ.

Gracious Father, we confess our failure. We receive your forgiveness. We dedicate ourselves, O Lord, to be faithful.

Help us to be imitators. Oh, by your Holy Spirit, incarnate within us this love and this light. Make us to be more like the Lord Jesus.

I pray, Father, for those still in the darkness, still outside the family, that they might come to trust Christ, to be born into the family, and to enjoy this marvelous life of fruitfulness. Lord, to that end, bless this word to our hearts. And reclaim, O God, for yourself that one who has wandered off into the shadows, that one whose life is being possessed by selfishness and bitterness and criticism.

Oh, Savior, you showed such marvelous love for us, undeserving as we are. Help us not to look for people who deserve our love, for we certainly deserve none. Help us simply to radiate your love in your way for your glory.

For we ask, Father, in Jesus' name, amen.