Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning and welcome to Mission Church.

If I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you ....my name is John Lee and I serve Mission Church as the lead pastor.

I am humbled and honored to be with you this morning…especially as we continue our journey through Paul’s amazing letter to the Ephesians.....

A journey that we’ve entitled, “God’s Plan for God’s people.”

If you would, please grab your copy of God’s Word and open it to Ephesians 5.

A couple of weeks ago we discussed Paul’s instruction to believers to stop living like those who don’t know Jesus ....and instead.....we are to pursue a life that matches the righteousness and purity of Christ.

And…in our text this morning... Paul continues his train of thought as he further details how we are to live and walk as followers of Jesus.

In fact I have titled this morning’s sermon: Walk This Way.

Now...

If you are able to …I would like to invite you to stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Ephesians 5:1–14(CSB)

1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, 2 and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. 3 But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints.

4 Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.

5 For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.

7 Therefore, do not become their partners.

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 light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth—10 testing what is pleasing to the Lord.

11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.

12 For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret.

13 Everything exposed by the light is made visible, 14 for what makes everything visible is light.

Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Let’s pray.

You may be seated.

For better or for worse one of the primary ways we learn is through imitation.

This is especially true of children.

I remember watching with delight and amusement as my then-two-and-a-half-year-old son observed me shaving my face one morning.

He closely observed my every move…and even began to imitate me.

He grabbed the can of shaving cream squirting a mountain of cream into his hand…he applied the cream covering his entire face....he then took his finger and mimicked shaving his face…copying every stroke of my razor.

We both finished the job with a splash of aftershave.

He was proud and I was proud…after all....imitation is the greatest form of flattery!

Ultimately children learn how to act and behave through observation and imitation.

Children learn to push buttons and turn knobs and even scold the dog just like their parents.

You see....It’s through imitation, that children learn to be respectful, caring, and honest—and it is also through imitation that children learn to be disrespectful, uncaring, and dishonest.

As I said…for better or for worse!

Now....in the same way ....Christians learn to live holy and righteous lives as we intentionally pursue a life that loves and lives like Jesus.

But let’s be honest…we live in a time and space....we live in a society and a culture that is best defined as dark, foolish, and loveless.

We live in a city that provides a plethora of influences that are in direct opposition to the holy and righteous life we have been called to pursue.

So what do we do?!? How can we pursue a life of holiness when we are surrounded by an influence of wickedness?

How can we pursue a life of light in the midst of darkness?

How can we imitate our loving and wise God in a loveless, dark, and foolish world?

Well…in our text today we are going to see that..... because God has forgiven us and adopted us as His dearly loved children..... we are able to avoid deception and we are empowered to imitate God.

In fact... Paul gives us two paths we are to be walking as Christians.

We are to walk in love and we are to walk in light.

Look back to v.1

Ephesians 5:1 (CSB)

1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,

Underline or make note of this word, “imitators”.... this word speaks to someone who copies or mimics specific characteristics of another person.... and Paul says, “Brothers and Sisters you are to copy…you are to mimic …you are to imitate God as dearly loved children.”

Now you might be thinking....how did we become His children?

Well consider...

Ephesians 1:5 (CSB)

5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

God has adopted us as His sons and daughters through Jesus Christ.

And friends…this is our fundamental status and identity as Christians.

You see…you were once dead in your sin…you were once a child of God’s wrath, but in Christ you have been saved from the wrath of God and you have been adopted as a newborn child.

You see....God made us His sons and daughters....He sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts…who then gave us life and enabled us to cry out, “Abba Father!!” “Therefore,” Paul says.....when you grasp what God has done for you in Christ..when you understand that God has forgiven you and has adopted you as His dearly loved child.

…it is only then that you will understand that you are to etch the very likeness of God into your life.

But tell me....what does it mean to imitate God? Well....the first way we imitate God is to walk in love because God is love.

1. Walk in Love.

(Eph.

5:1-2)

Ephesians 5:2 (CSB)

2 and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

Now.....for us to be able to walk in love…we first have to understand how God loves.....you see…God loves differently than the world does… the love of the world can be defined as flippant, sensual, and selfish....but God’s love is undeserved and sacrificial.

And the love of God is seen most clearly when we look at Jesus who is the ultimate imitator of the Father.

How did Jesus love?

Well consider Romans 5:8 which says,

Romans 5:8 (CSB)

8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In other words.... Loving like Jesus involves us giving ourselves away for the good of someone else.

You see…love is not merely sentimentalism....Love is not feeling sorry for someone..but love involves sacrifice and love involves action!

Consider 1 John 3:18

1 John 3:18 (CSB)

18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.

But....What does it look like to love others in action and truth?

Well ....it includes forgiving others (Eph 4:32), giving financially and aiding those who are in need (2 Cor 8:9; Eph 4:29)…it includes being faithful to share the gospel (2 Cor 5:14–21), being patient with others (1 Cor 13:4; Eph 4:2)…it even includes loving those who annoy you (Eph 4:26),and repenting of hatred and displaying love to those who are different than you are! (Eph 2:11–22)

But let’s be honest.....although it sounds good from me to say....Go and Love others like Jesus loves......the reality is that everyone of us have failed at this....We have all failed to love God as we should…and we have all failed to love others as we should.

So what do we do?

How can we grow in our love for others?

Well....we have to look to Jesus and meditate upon His love for us.

We have to keep the gospel at the forefront of our hearts and minds.

I am reminded of Paul’s proclamation in Galatians 2:20

Galatians 2:20 (CSB)

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

You see....In light of Christ’s love for him...... Paul lived a life to the glory of God and for the good of others.

And as we also spend time meditating on the fact that Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect....sinless life.....As we remember how Jesus died the death we deserved, as our substitute and then rose on our behalf....when you mediate and remember that Christ saved you and that the Spirit of God has indwelled you and is empowering you to love sacrificially…you will be compelled to love others just as your Savior has loved you.I pray that God would make us a people that love others as Christ loves us.

Now…we are not just to walk in love but we are to also walk in light.

2. Walk in Light (Eph.

5:3-14)

This phrase, “walk in light”…speaks to the reality that as Christians we should be living differently than those who have not been adopted as God’s dearly loved children.

Non-Christians imitate the darkness of the world and as a result they walk in darkness…and as followers of Jesus we are to imitate Jesus as we walk in the light.

Look at v. 8

Ephesians 5:8–9 (CSB)

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 light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth—

Paul is saying… Remember....You were not just in darkness but you were darkness.

Spiritual and moral decay not only invaded your life but defined your life.

Remember what Paul said back in chapter 2 …He said that all of us ... at one time ....

Ephesians 2:2 (CSB)

2 …walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

However, Jesus saved you and through the gospel you have become the “light of the world!”