If you turn back to Ephesians
chapter five, be ye therefore, and that means
we're going to have to look at the previous verse to see why
he says therefore, what's therefore, therefore, be ye therefore followers. And the word is where we get
the English word mime from. You know what a mime is? It's
an imitator. Be ye therefore imitators of
God as dear children. I hope that this message will
be used by the Lord to create in us a thirst to be imitators
of God. Now, if someone says to me, imitate
God, my initial response is, yeah, right. How? He's God. But Paul does say to every believer,
be ye, therefore, imitators of God. It's what dear children
do. They imitate their heavenly father,
like father, like son. In order to imitate God, I first
have to know him and know what he's like. We can't even begin
until we're there. To imitate God, I first have
to know him and know what he is like. You cannot know him
and not know what he's like. And you cannot truly know what
he's like without truly knowing him. And you cannot know him
and not imitate him. This is what all of his dear
children do. Some are more mature in grace
than others and therefore better imitators. But all of his children
imitate him. And if I'm not imitating him,
I'm not one of his dear children. Now, what does it mean to imitate
him? Well, there's obviously some
things we cannot imitate him in because he's got attributes
that are non communicable. What do I mean by that? I sure
can't imitate his sovereignty. He only is sovereign. He's the only sovereign. I cannot
imitate him in his omnipotence. He's all powerful. I'm weakness. I cannot imitate him in his omniscience. He's all wise. I know for sure
that's not me. I cannot imitate him in his immutability. He doesn't change. I change constantly,
up here, down there, somewhere in between. But we cannot imitate
him in that. We cannot imitate him in his
omnipresence. I can't be two places at once.
He's everywhere at all times. You can't go anywhere where he's
not. You see, he's got attributes that are absolutely impossible
for us. I'm sure there's many other things
I could name. I'm just trying to show you there's
some ways in which we cannot possibly imitate him. Only he
is so many things. That being said, we can imitate. He says, be ye therefore imitators,
minds of God. Now notice the word therefore,
he's building this statement on what he had previously said.
He said in verse 32, be ye kind one to another. Tenderhearted,
compassionate, sympathetic, empathetic, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Be 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 savor. Now in the context, remember
this chapter vision is man-made and this is not a very good chapter
division because it shouldn't have been there, but it is. But
in the context, he's talking about forgiving. Forgive one
another as God for Christ's sake forgave you. And then he says,
walk in love. as Christ also hath loved us
and has given himself for us. And here's three things that
every believer can imitate their heavenly father in. He forgives,
he loves, and he gives. And you imitate your heavenly
father. He forgives. He forgives for
Christ's sake. And you think about the way he
forgives. And any sin that someone has committed against you, your
sin against God is much greater. You believe that? It's so. You
forgive one another as God, for Christ's sake, forgave you. He
didn't have to find any other reason. He did it for Christ's
sake. God is love. I love the scripture,
John 3, 16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. God loves sinners. And his love
is a love that gives. Christ gave himself for us. An offering and a sacrifice to
God for a sweet smelling savor. Now here, three ways that by
grace, I can imitate God. I want to be a forgiving person,
quick to forgive, quick to love, and quick to give. It's more blessed to give than
it is to receive. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1. 1
Peter 1. verse 15, but as he which hath called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation. Now this is very important for
us to understand this. You don't do something to become
holy. The only way you can be holy
is if you already are holy. You can't do something to become
holy. You can't perform some kind of
work that'll make you holy or holier. The only way you could
be holy is if you are holy. And that's what happens in a
new birth when God gives a new nature. He gives a holy nature,
a nature that comes from Him, partakers of the divine nature,
begotten of God. begotten of the Holy Spirit.
He's the Holy Spirit and whatever comes from him is holy. If he
gives, if he imparts life to you, it's a holy life, isn't
it? It's the life of God in the soul. You can only be holy if
you are holy. And every believer is holy. Now
listen to me. This is important. I'm not going
to be any holier in heaven than I am right now while I'm talking
to you. You see, holier in the first
place is not so. There's not degrees of holiness.
You're either holy or you're not holy. Now, if you're holy,
he says, be holy in all manner of conversation. Every believer
has a holy nature given to them in the new birth. And that holy
nature is to have effect on all manner of conversation. Every
part of my life as a spouse, As a parent, as a child, as an
employer, as an employee, how I treat you, how I treat others. My public life, what others see,
my private life, what nobody else sees. The fruit of the Spirit
is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Every believer possesses the
fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. But remember
this, it's a holy love. The fruit of the Holy Spirit.
It's a holy peace. Oh, like nothing the world has,
my peace I give you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. It's a holy joy. It's a holy long-suffering. It
comes from being a child of God. It's a holy gentleness. It's
a holy goodness. It's a holy faith. It's a holy
meekness. We just read about it in Isaiah.
It's a holy temperance. It's the fruit of God, the Holy
Spirit. Be ye holy in all manner of conversation. There's nothing that can be separated
from that. I think of the Beatitudes. You want to talk about the imitation
of God or the imitation of Christ? Who embodied the Beatitudes like
the Lord Jesus Christ? Whoever was as poor as he was,
he became poor that you through his poverty might be rich. Whoever
mourned over sin like he did. You know, we mourn over sin when
we're caught, when we're embarrassed, but he mourned before God when
the sin became his sin. He said, I'll be sorry for my
sins. There's no one who mourned over sin the way the Lord Jesus
Christ did. And what about his meekness before
his father? What about the way he never questioned
his father? He said, though he slayed me,
yet will I trust him. I think of Him hungering and
thirsting after righteousness, when He was hanging on Calvary's
tree, He said, I thirst. And that's talking about much
infinitely more than His physical thirst. Who is merciful as He
is merciful? Who is pure in heart as He is? Who's a peacemaker like Him?
He made peace for us, didn't He? who was persecuted for righteousness
sake like he was. He embodies the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are what a believer
is. Imitate him, oh, I want to be
poor, don't you? I want to be meek before God.
I want to mourn over sin. I want to hunger and thirst after
his righteousness. I want to be merciful. I want
to be pure in heart. I wanna be a peacemaker, imitate
him. Be followers, be imitators of
God. Look at Matthew chapter five. Verse 48. Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Now, sometimes that word perfect
means mature, determined in the context, but here it doesn't
mean mature. Be ye perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven which is in heaven is perfect. Now let's
look at what he says that leads up to this statement. Verse 43. You've heard that it has been
said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I say
unto you. I love the way the Lord says
that. I think it's glorious the way he never said, thus saith
the Lord. I with absolute utter authority, as God the Son, I
say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you. Our imitation of him is seen
in our attitude toward our enemies. Your enemy is the one who is
hostile toward you, wishes you ill, treat you with disrespect
and contempt. That's your enemy. And what does
the Lord say to do to your enemies? Love your enemies. He does. If when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his son, he does. We love them when we wish the
same thing for them that we wish for ourselves, salvation. mercy,
grace, the forgiveness of sins, the revelation of Christ. He
says, bless them that curse you, that speak ill of you, that speak
evil of you. Ask for God's blessing on them.
This is likeness to your father. This is the imitation of your
father. Do good to them that hate you. Do good to their bodies.
Do good to their souls. Be kind and merciful toward them
and pray for them, which despitefully use you and persecute you. They insult you. They abuse you.
They revile you. They lie against you. They persecute
you. Pray for them. Pray for God's
blessing. Pray for God's grace. Pray that
the Lord would reveal himself to them. Verse 45, that you may
be the children of your father. which is in heaven. You see,
his children imitate him. He's not saying that you will
become a child of God by doing this, but this is what God's
children do. For he maketh his son to rise
on the evil and on the good, and he sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust. Don't miss that. You say, well,
that's simple enough. I know it's simple enough, but it's
profound. All the Lord's blessings that you have, that unbeliever
has. Not salvation, but as far as
he sends his rain on the evil and the good. That fellow that's
growing that puppy seed thing to distribute heroin, God sends
his rain on that. The guy that's growing crops
to feed the poor, God sends his rain on that too. Look in verse
46, for if you love them that love you, what reward have you?
Do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your
brethren only, what do you more than others? Now listen to me,
me and you ought to be doing more than others. We're children
of God. We're children of the highest.
Well, I love my brethren. Big deal. Big deal. Publicans
do the same. Evil men do the same. If you salute your brethren only,
what do ye more than others? Do not even the public and so
be ye therefore perfect, even as your father, which is in heaven
is perfect. Look at Luke chapter six. Verse 36, here's another call
to imitation of our Heavenly Father. Be ye therefore merciful,
as your Father also is merciful. Look in verse 27. He's saying
much the same things here, but it's good for us to look at this.
But I say unto you which hear, do not everybody hears. Believers do. Believers, they've
been given hearing ears. They hear something that the
rest of the world does not hear. It just goes over their head.
He says, I say unto you which hear, oh, what a precious gift
to be able to hear the gospel. I say unto you which hear, love
your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. Bless them that curse you and
pray for them which despitefully use you. Unto him that smithe
thee on the one cheek, retaliate. No, offer also the other. And to him that taketh away thy
cloak, he doesn't have any right to do that. Forbid not to take
thy coat also. Give to every man that asks of
thee, and to him that taketh away thy goods, turn him not
away. And as you would, verse 31, as
you would that men should do unto you, do also to them likewise."
Now, this is also given in the Sermon on the Mount. It's what
people call the Golden Rule. How do you want people to treat
you? That's all I'm asking. How do
you want people to treat you? Well, you want them to treat
you with respect. When someone treats you in a
disrespectful manner, it gets to you, doesn't it? You want
them to be nonjudgmental of you, treat you graciously. You want
the people to give you the benefit of the doubt, not hold your feet
to the fire. You don't want people to do that
with you. You don't want people to have a different standard
for themselves and a higher standard for you. Well, a lot of folks
do that. I know I've done it. I'm a lot
easier on myself than I am other people. How do you want to be
treated? Now, the Bible does not tell
other people how to treat me. It tells me how to treat other
people. Never forget that. I'm looking
at this passage of scripture and thinking, so-and-so needs
to hear that. You missed it. You missed it
all together. As you would, this is so beautiful,
it's so glorious, it's so simple. As you would that men should
do unto you, do ye also unto them. Verse 32, for if you love
them which love you, what think have ye? I think that is bad
is the same one that's generally translated grace. If you love them which love you
what grace have you for sinners love those that love them. And
if you do good to them which do good to you. What thing have
ye? Where's the grace there? For
sinners also do even the same. If somebody's nice to me, I'm
gonna be nice to them. I mean, that's just life. That's the
way people are. I always like people who like
me. I do. If somebody doesn't like me,
I don't like them. I like people who like me. And he's saying,
what grace is there in this? And if you lend then of whom
you hope to receive, What grace have you for sinners also lend
to sinners to receive as much again, but love your enemies
and do good and lend hoping for nothing again. And your reward
should be great. And you should be the children
of the highest for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the
evil. That's our heavenly father. Be
ye therefore merciful. as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, you shall not be judged.
Condemn not, you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall
be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given unto
you, good measure. Press down and shaken together
and running over, shall men give into your bosom? For with the
same measure that you meet, it shall be measured to you again.
With the measuring basket you bring to mete out your blessings,
it's gonna be measured to you again. Now that's the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Be merciful. Look in Luke chapter
10. verse 25, and behold, a certain
lawyer stood up and tempted him saying, master, what shall I
do to inherit eternal life? That was a wrong question. And
I love the way the Lord comes to him where he's coming
from. Okay. You want to know what you need
to do to inherit eternal life? What are you, what's written
in the law? How readest thou? And he answered and said, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy
neighbor as thyself. And I can just feel him feeling
pretty proud about his answer. I gave the right answer. And he said unto him, Thou hast
answered right, this do. and thou shalt live. If you wanna
come in on that angle, okay, go for it. This do and thou shalt
live. But he willing to justify himself. Now there's where we get stuck. When we wanna justify and vindicate
ourself. He didn't like the way the Lord
answered this because he was willing to justify himself And he said unto Jesus, and who's
my neighbor? And Jesus answering said, a certain
man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves,
which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed,
leaving him half dead. And by chance there come down
a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed on
the other side. He couldn't do anything for him,
didn't want to do anything for him. And likewise, a Levite, when he was
at that place, he came and looked on him and passed by on the other
side, but a certain Samaritan. As he journeyed, came where he
was. Now this is a picture of Christ
is the good Samaritan, but we're called upon to be good Samaritan
as well. So let's read this. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. I'm so thankful
the Lord came to me where I was, not where I should be, but where
I was. That's the way he always, you don't need to reach a certain
level and then he'll get to you. No, he comes where we are. And when he saw him, he had compassion
on him. He went to him and bound up his
wounds, poured again oil and wine and set him on his own beast
and brought him to an end and took care of him. And on the
morrow, when he departed, he took out two pens and gave them
to the host and said, take care of him. And whatsoever thou spendest
more when I come again, I'll repay thee. Which now of these
three thinkest thou as a neighbor unto him that fell among the
thieves? And he said, he that showed mercy on him. Then said
Jesus, go and do thou likewise. Our father. Is to be imitated
in every attribute he can be imitated in. Merciful. Gracious. Long suffering. Patient. Faithful. Now, I want to look at this in
closing and in another angle. And I hope that this has created
in us a desire to imitate our heavenly father. But I want us
to think about this. And I think this in, in some
ways, uh, enters more into something that I can get hold of. Turn
with me to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one. Verse 12, that we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Now who's the first
one to trust the Lord Jesus Christ? God the Father. When he gave the elect to his
son to be their surety and to guarantee their salvation, he
trusted Christ completely to save them. And he, everything,
everything, everything he requires of the believer, he looks to
his son for. He's the one who first trusted
Christ. How much of our salvation did
the Father entrust to the Son? All of it. You imitate Him in
that. You trust the Son the same way
the Father trusted Him. You trust Him for everything.
Everything God requires of you, you look to the Son for. Imitate
your Father in that. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Imitate Him in that. Oh, aren't
you well pleased to be saved by Christ? Aren't you well pleased
with who He is and what He accomplished? You see, He's the Father's beloved
Son, and you're pleased by that. Aren't you pleased that the father
is pleased with him? The father has determined that
all the glory of salvation is going to his son. You imitate
him in that. You look at all and understand
and believe and rejoice in all the glory of salvation going
to his son. And listen, this is personal.
I've said this several times in the last few weeks. I want
it to be that way because if it's not all that way, that means
something's required from me that I got to come up with. And
I, and that's, that's a place I don't, I don't want to go there.
I want him to have all the glory in salvation. It pleased the
father that in him should all fullness dwell. Imitate him in that. You be pleased
that it's pleased the father that in him should all fullness
dwell. The father loveth the son and
hath given all things into his hand. He that hath the Son hath
life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. The Father
loveth the Son. Imitate Him in that. Be pleased
that the Father loves the Son. You love the Son. You can't love
Him as much as you ought to. I realize that. Nobody in here
thinks that their love is even worth mentioning. I love the
way You know, when people describe people, would they really love
the Lord? You know, that's probably not a good way to speak. I think
it would be better to speak, the Lord really loves them. That's
how John described himself, that disciple that Jesus loved. But
you imitate your heavenly father in love to Christ. The father
loves his word. imitate him in that. You love
his word. Love his love for his word, but
you love his word as well. The father is completely satisfied
with the work of his son. I wish I could describe that
as it ought to be, but the Father is so pleased with the work of
Christ. Complete satisfaction. He doesn't
want anything else. Imitate Him in that. Imitate
Him in you being pleased with the satisfaction that Christ
accomplished on Calvary's tree. You're not looking for anything
else. You don't want to hear anything else. The father knows Christ
is all in salvation, doesn't he? You reckon the father knows
that? You imitate him in that. You know that Christ is all in
salvation. The father delights in the presence
of his son. in communion with his son, in
beholding the glory and the excellency of his son. Oh, he delights in
his son. I love to think of the communion
between the father and the son, the joy. The father loves the
presence of his son. You imitate him in that. You
love the presence of his son. be ye therefore imitators, followers
of God as dear children. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we would be given grace to be imitators of thyself. Lord, we desire to imitate our
Heavenly Father. Lord, give us the grace to love
our enemies. Pray for them which hate us and
despitefully use us. And Lord, how we thank you that
that's how you are. Bless this message for your glory
and our good, and as we face this coming week, we ask that
you would open up doors for us to preach your gospel to others
according to your will. In Christ's name we pray, amen.