Who do you imitate?
What's your worldview? • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction: Do you imitate someone? Should you? Just so you know what we are talking about, here is the definition.
Imitate - mimetes (to mimic) - Following the example or copying the action of another person.
Is imitating someone good? Here are some quotes about imitation:
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Oscar Wilde
“No man was ever great by imitation.” Samuel Johnson
“There is only one kind of love, but there are a thousand imitations.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” Herman Melville
Finally - “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, Which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” Confucius
Trans Sentence: According to this last quote imitation is the easiest way to learn wisdom and biblically speaking the best.
Imitation
Kids imitate - imitation is a easiest way of learning
Showing someone, especially a child how to do something is imitation.
Hammering a nail, driving, catch, fighting, hand to hand combat
Adults can do it to...
b. But there are Things not to imitate (Evil)
Can anyone think of something that shouldn’t be imitated?
How about Evil - Deuteronomy 18:9
9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.
Detestable - what are some detestable things?
This is what our passage for this morning says - Eph 5:3-5
3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
But Paul’s letter to the Galatians has a much better list - Gal 5:19-21
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
c. There are some things to imitate (Good) 3 John 11
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
What are the good things we should imitate? Gal 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
2. Imitate Someone - (Good not evil)
a. If you have to imitate someone imitate someone who is walking the path you wish to follow!
b. A Parent or other family member - of course don’t imitate evil ones.
c. Someone in the Church - Past or present (Find a mentor)
Here is a list of possibilities I found on the web site The gospel coalition.org:
Imitate those who do good works and who teach with integrity, dignity and sound speech (Titus 2:7-8)
Imitate those who lead pure lives (1 Timothy 4:12)
Imitate and follow what we are taught in Scripture (1 Corinthians 4:16-17)
Imitate those who receive the gospel with joy, even in the midst of suffering (1 Thessalonians 1:6)
Imitate those who work hard (2 Thessalonians 3:6-9)
Imitate those who suffer for the sake of the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:14)
Imitate those who advance the gospel (Philippians 2:22)
Imitate those who care for the welfare of others (Philippians 2:20)
Be sure that whoever you chose to imitate they are imitating Christ Jesus. We can imitate Jesus by imitating them. So imitate the people around you who are doing the work Christ Jesus set before. By imitating them you can imitate Christ Jesus.
3. Imitate God
Our passage for this morning tells us that God is the one we should imitate. Ephesians 5:1
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
But how do we do that? How can we imitate God?
One way is as a Beloved Child - Children imitate their parents all the time. The only issue here is that we need to be a child of God before we can imitate God. 1 John 4:7-8
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Love - if you love you will imitate God. Children learn to love by watching others around them. When we watch others love people we will learn to love others as well and then when we imitate them we will show love.
Another thing about loving as a beloved child - there are no strings attached. Unconditional love is tough. A lot of heartache teaches us to hold on to our hearts, the heartache teaches us not to trust. Most children don’t have that problem. They can love unconditionally because they don’t have a lack of trust yet.
b. Walk in Love (Share Christ Jesus with someone)
If you walk in love others will see Him in us. If they see Him in us they will know the truth about Him. The greatest thing we can do to walk in Love is to share Christ Jesus with someone. Only the love of Christ Jesus can save them from sin and death. If we walk in love we will share Him with others. Not just once but as often as possible.
c. If we are going to imitate God then we need to imitate Jesus 1 John 4:9-11
9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
But why imitate Jesus? (He is the exact image of God) Col 1:15
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
You cannot imitate someone you don’t know. You must know God to imitate Him. It can’t be an imitation from a stand point of knowledge or what you know in your head. It has to be an imitation of Him from the heart. You can’t imitate love through your smarts, you have to imitate love through your heart. You have to imitate God by truly loving others, for God is Love.
Exit: So remember, do not imitate evil or the detestable things of this world. Imitate Good! Imitate those around you who are following Christ Jesus.
Imitate those who do good works and who teach with integrity, dignity and sound speech (Titus 2:7-8)
Imitate those who lead pure lives (1 Timothy 4:12)
Imitate those who receive the gospel with joy, even in the midst of suffering (1 Thessalonians 1:6)
Imitate those who work hard (2 Thessalonians 3:6-9)
Imitate those who suffer for the sake of the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:14)
Imitate those who advance the gospel (Philippians 2:22)
Imitate those who care for the welfare of others (Philippians 2:20)
Remember this one quote: “There is only one kind of love, but there are a thousand imitations.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The love of Christ Jesus in us is the only one kind of love because we are born of God. We are beloved children of God and we have the right and a responsibility to imitate our Father as beloved children.
If you are not a beloved child of God then now is the time to become one. No is the time to accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. Now is the time to truly know His love and be reconciled to God.
He is waiting for you, He longs to be in a personal relationship with you. The alter is open if you wish to come forward and give your life to Him.
Pray!