I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. Today I'll be preaching from
the book of Ephesians chapter 5, and the title of the message
is Followers of God. Followers of God. Now, as I look
through this message, as we study these scriptures, ask yourself
this question, am I a follower of God? I'll tell you at the
outset that a person cannot be a follower of God unless that
person is a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we cannot
be accepted with God, we cannot be in fellowship with God, we
cannot have a knowledge of God, a saving knowledge of God, except
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Christ himself said that
in many different ways. He said it in the book of Matthew
chapter 11 when he spoke of the revelation of the Father and
the Son. He said, No man knoweth the Father
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. The
Bible teaches that in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. If we're going to know the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one God who subsists in three
distinct persons, We must know Christ. Christ said in John chapter
14 and verse 6, He said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am
the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. Access to God is through Christ
and based upon His finished work at Calvary alone. You cannot
come to God in any other way and those who seek to come to
God or follow God in any other way but through Christ and Him
crucified, are just fooling themselves. Now that's set forth in the opening
here of Ephesians chapter 5, when the Apostle Paul issues
forth the command and the encouragement for believers to be obedient
to God. He says, Be ye therefore followers
of God, and verse 1 says, as dear children. Now it's important
that we understand what it is to follow God and how we who
are believers, we who are sinners saved by the grace of God, who
know Christ and who rest in Christ, how we're to follow God. What
is it to follow God? How are we to follow God? What
he says here, as dear children, those who are children of God,
follow God. So you cannot follow God unless
you're a child of God. Now, men by nature are not in
their own minds and consciences and hearts children of God. They
may think they are. But as long, as I said, as long
as you don't know Christ, as long as you're not trusting and
resting in Him and all that He accomplished for salvation on
Calvary, you cannot be a child of God in your mind, in your
affections, and in your will. But how does one become a child
of God? The Bible teaches that the children of God are children
by divine, sovereign, electing grace. God chose a people before
the foundation of the world and gave them to Christ. And then
the Bible teaches that God's children are made children by
divine, redeeming grace. They are redeemed by the blood
of Christ, having been justified in Him. Based on His blood and
righteousness, they are redeemed by the purchase of His blood
on Calvary and therefore adopted into the family. It's by adopting
grace. The Holy Spirit of God is called
the Spirit of Adoption. Now God adopted those, redeemed
those, justified those, and elected those who did not deserve to
be so and did not earn their way into His favor. You see,
it's by grace The Bible teaches that God justifies the ungodly,
that Christ died for sinners, that God gave his Son to die
for our sins even when we were enemies. It's what the Scripture
teaches. So, therefore, when we consider
ourselves as children of God through Christ, we must understand
if we know God. if we know ourselves, if we know
the Lord Jesus Christ, that we did not earn our way into God's
family and we do not deserve by our works and efforts to be
there. It's only by the grace of God
in Christ. Now when he says, be ye followers
of God as dear children, that means this, it means this, you
follow God. Now to follow God, what is it
to follow God? It's to obey Him. It's to obey
His Word. Now, obedience to God's Word
begins with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God-given faith. We read back in Ephesians chapter
2, verses 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. So therefore, you don't become
a child of God by your works and your efforts. It's by grace.
And to follow God, is to begin by believing in the Lord Jesus
Christ. One time the Lord in preaching
the gospel to the multitudes, he was asked this question. They
asked in John chapter 6, what shall we do that we may work
the works of God? And the Lord said, this is the
work of God, that you believe on him whom God has sent. The
Bible teaches that the two main commands of the gospel is to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and love the brethren. Now, believing
in Him means to rest in Him. It means to trust Him for all
salvation, for all eternal life and righteousness. It is to see
Christ as my all in all. He is my wisdom, my righteousness,
my sanctification, and my redemption. What does that mean? That means
Christ is all the wisdom of God for me. All wisdom that God requires
of me, I find complete in Christ. I don't find any of it in myself.
find it in Him. All the righteousness that God
requires of me I find in Christ, not in myself, but in Him. All
the sanctification or holiness that God requires of me I find
in Christ, completely, not in me. And all the redemption that
God requires of me I find in Christ, full and complete, not
in me. It's to rest in Him. Now, to
follow God, how do we do it? As dear children. That means
not in order to become his children, but because you already are his
children. You see the difference? It's
like we talked about last week in obedience for Christ's sake. We who know Christ are to obey
God to seek to follow Him and fight the sins of the flesh,
not in order to be saved, but because we already are. Our motive
is to be grace, gratitude, and love to God. We serve Him, follow
Him, because we love Him. And all obedience in the Bible,
all acceptable obedience, begins with resting in Christ. Now back
under the Old Covenant, you have a beautiful picture of that.
in the Jewish feast days that were required under the Old Covenant. Every feast day pictured some
aspect of the believer's life as a child of God. And every
feast day began with a Sabbath. Now a Sabbath means rest. And
the Sabbath day under the Old Covenant was a picture of a spiritual,
eternal rest that a believer has in Christ, who is our Sabbath. The book of Hebrews chapter 4
speaks of that. That when a sinner is brought
by God to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that sinner enters into
God's rest. Now what is God's rest? It is
the rest that God, the pleasure, the satisfaction that God took
in the death of his son. Christ, when he was on the cross,
he had a work to do. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And when he finished his work
on the cross, he made that statement as recorded in John 19 and verse
30. He said, it is finished, completed. and then he sat down at the right
hand of the Father. Having died, was buried, he rose
again the third day, he ascended unto the Father, and he sat down
because he finished the work. He took his rest from his work. Now when we believe in Him, we
enter into His rest. He is our Sabbath. We don't keep
a Sabbath day under the New Covenant. Christ is our Sabbath. Now all
following of God as dear children, begins with resting in Christ.
And that ensures that whenever we seek to obey God, we know
that that's not what saves us. Christ saves us. Christ has saved
us, not our works. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. The following of God, the works
of a believer, are the work of God through us by His Spirit,
and they are the fruit of grace, not the cause. Now, he goes on
to give specifics. He begins in verse 2. He says,
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. Walk in love. Now, the love that
he speaks here is not the natural love that we have before salvation. It's the love that only the Holy
Spirit gives in the new birth when he sheds abroad in our heart
the love of God in Christ. It's divine love. It's a love
that respects and regards first and foremost the honor of God's
glory in Christ. It's a love that works out in
loyalty to brethren who know and love Christ, who believe
the truth. This is not love that believes a lie. It's love of
the truth. Scripture teaches. It's not love
that speaks peace where there is no peace. It's a love that
tells the truth. Paul had to tell the Galatian
church or ask this question. He said, am I your enemy because
I tell you the truth. Paul had to warn them of some
very dangerous things and he had to be very firm with them.
They could have interpreted it as being harsh, but Paul said
no. He said, I love you. This is
love of Christ to his people and his people to Christ. It's
love as Christ also has loved us. Christ loved his people unconditionally
and we're to love one another unconditionally. It's a self-sacrificing
love. It says as Christ himself has
given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice for God, a sweet
smelling savor. The Bible says herein is love.
Not that we love God. but that He loved us and gave
His Son, sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That's 1 John 4 and verse 10. What does it mean to be a propitiation?
That means a sin-bearing sacrifice who suffers unto death, shedding
His blood to pay for our sins. Satisfaction to God's justice. Now that sweet-smelling savor
means that God accepts it. God accepted Christ when He finished
His work upon the cross. And God accepts all of his people
in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
6 and 7 tells us that we're accepted in the beloved. So we're to walk
in love, not in hate, not in envy, not in jealousy, not in
vengeance, but in love. And then he mentions sins that
are common to the flesh. He mentions in verse 3, he says,
but fornication, that's sexual immorality. He says, in all uncleanness
or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh
saints. In other words, this kind of
behavior of the flesh, sexual immorality, uncleanness, that
is, anything that is filthy sexually, morally, covetousness, that is,
the unlawful desire of things, And he says, let not those sins
be once named among you as become a saint. In other words, don't
ever, in your speech or in your lifestyle or attitude, act as
if such behavior, sinful behavior, is appropriate for a child of
God. It is totally inappropriate.
Now, believers still have these sins within us. But we have to
fight. Remember last week we talked
about Paul talking about going to war against the flesh. We're
not to give in to the flesh. We're to walk after the Spirit,
minding the things of the Spirit, seeking to obey God, seeking
to obey for Christ's sake, seeking to be followers of God as dear
children. In other words, I claim to be
a Christian. I should act like it. Now, I
know people have some very confused views of what a Christian should
do and shouldn't do. I'm not talking about that. I'm
talking about what God's Word says. Because that's our issue. Fornication in any way is evil,
the Scripture says. This uncleanness, moral uncleanness
is evil in any situation. Covetousness in the sense of
an unlawful desire of things is totally inappropriate. These
are not sins that are right for a believer. And he calls them
saints. What is a saint? A saint is one
who is sanctified, set apart by God. How? Well, we've already
spoken of it, in sovereign, divine, electing grace, in justifying
grace, redeeming grace, adopting grace, and regenerating grace.
He's been born again by the Spirit of God. He's already fit and
entitled to the whole inheritance of grace and glory in Christ,
but while on this earth he must fight the sins of the flesh,
remaining sinfulness within himself. He must struggle and war against
the flesh, and he must never adopt an attitude or a talk or
a way of life that would indicate to anybody that such sins are
appropriate for a saint. Now he says in verse 4, he says,
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are
not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. Now what he's talking
about is our communication and our speech there. Filthy talk,
foolish talk, jesting. I've even heard some people say,
well that means that a believer is never to tell a joke, and
that's not so. The jesting that he has, that's
forbidden here, has to do with making light, an attitude, a
spirit of making light of the serious things of the Word. You
know, I know people, you can't talk to them seriously. You couldn't
have a serious conversation with them because they joke about
everything. They make light of everything. If you're talking
to them about the gospel, listen to me now, this is serious business.
Now this doesn't mean that we can't ever laugh or make merry. The Bible teaches that a merry
heart is something good that it does the spirit good. And
we know that we have to laugh, we have to be merry, we want
to be happy. But this is talking about those
who cannot be serious about anything. This gospel of serious business
is life and death. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter
9 that it's the saver of life unto life or the saver of death
unto death. When we go out and preach the
gospel, Christ said, he that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved, he that believeth not shall be what? Damned. Now that's
serious business. And what Paul is saying here
is don't get so taken up with jesting and what we call flippant
attitude towards everything that you can't be serious when you
need to be. There's a time for everything.
There's a time and a place for everything. But now here's what
he says that's appropriate for all time, every time, any time,
give him thanks. A believer is to be one who totally,
constantly, continually, in whatever situation, gives thanks to God
for salvation, for blessedness in Christ. Thank God that He
showed me my sins one day. Thank God that He drove me to
Christ on the cross for my whole salvation. Thank God that he
showed me his grace in forgiveness by the blood and righteousness
of Christ. And giving of thanks, now listen to me, giving of thanks
is a whole lot more than just saying thank you. Thanksgiving
is put forth and manifested in a life of obedience. Thank you
Lord, yes, but obedience to God. And he says in verse 5, now listen
to this very carefully. He says, for this you know, that
no whoremonger, that's exactly what it is, those who engage
themselves in whoredoms, whether it be the woman who is a prostitute
or the man who pays her the money and commits the act. He says,
for you know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, and again
he's talking about sexually immoral people, nor covetous man, those
who are engaged in the desire of unlawful things to the point
that they will not seek the Lord, who is an idolater." That is,
that's their God. To some people, materialism is
their God. The world is their God, the pursuit
of things, the ownership of things, that's their God. That's what
they engage their time in, that's what they worship. These such
people, you know that none of them had any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God. The people who live such lifestyles
with no worship, with no fear of God before their eyes, they
have no respect for God, no reverence for God, no interest in Christ
and what he accomplished at Calvary, no interest in the gospel, They
are totally consumed with the things of this world and they
don't even want to hear about God. They never want to take
the time to seek the Lord and to worship God. Such people have
no inheritance in the kingdom of God and of Christ. You see,
salvation and a position and an entitlement in the kingdom
of Christ and of God is an inheritance that only children of God have.
That's why he says followers of God are those who have inherited. They didn't earn salvation. They
didn't earn their way into the kingdom. They didn't earn their
place in the kingdom. And when the kingdom is finalized,
they will not have earned it. It is totally of grace. It's
an inheritance. Now, when you receive an inheritance,
it's because somebody before you, a relative or someone who
knew you, worked hard for, earned it, died, and bequeathed it to
you. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ
to his people. He's the one who earned all of
salvation for his people. He's the one who earned all spiritual
blessedness for his people. And when he died, it was bequeathed
to them. He says in verse 6 of Ephesians
5, he says, let no man deceive you with vain words. Now what
are vain words? Empty words. If I stand before
you on this television program or behind any pulpit and I tell
you lies on God, those are empty words. They'll do you no good.
It's vanity, worthless. The only thing that is worth
anything when it comes to the salvation of a sinner is the
preaching of Christ and Him crucified and all the truth of God. So
let no man deceive you with vain words. He says, for because of
these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. What he's simply saying here
is those who do not have Christ will be judged for their sins. The word disobedience here could
as well be translated unbelief. So who's he talking about? Those
who remain in unbelief all their lives and die in unbelief. He's talking about people here
who never come to a saving knowledge of Christ He's talking about
people who never seek the Lord. Now, we're all sinners. We all,
by nature, deserve wrath and condemnation. But God is pleased
to save His people from their sins through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And therefore, we who are in Christ, washed in His blood and
clothed in His righteousness, cannot be charged for our sins. We're not children of disobedience,
in other words, children of unbelief. We're sinners, but we're sinners
saved by the grace of God. We're sinners, but we're sinners
who are in Christ. And one day, we'll be delivered
from even the power and presence and influence of sin in our lives.
But now those who continue in unbelief, willful disobedience,
my friend, listen to me. If you're out there now and you
have no interest in the Lord, no interest in the truth, no
interest in Christ and the grace of God, I beg you to seek the
Lord. Don't go on in your disobedience,
you see, because the wrath of God will come upon you because
of disobedience. Your sins will be laid to your
account. You'll have to stand responsible
and accountable for your sins. Now, the only reason I won't
is because God put me in Christ. The only hope for any sinner
is to stand before God at judgment in Christ. Again, I've quoted
this verse so many times. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? And so he says in verse 7, talking
to the followers of God now, he says, Be not ye therefore
partakers with them, the children of disobedience. Now, if you're
in Christ, If you're resting in Him, you're a child of God.
You're a follower of God. You say your sins have been paid
for. You're righteous in Christ. You're
not a child of unbelief. You're still a sinner, but you've
got to fight sin. War against sin. Now don't partake
with the children of disobedience. Now that word partake or partaker
means to be a sharer or a fellowshipper. When God brings a sinner into
His family as dear children, they become fellowshippers with
other children of God. We have a new family. It's the
household and family of God in Christ. God is our Father. Christ is our Savior, our Redeemer. We are His disciples. We share
in an inheritance. We partake of an inheritance.
We're sharers in the inheritance of grace and glory in Christ. And our family now is the children
of God. We're not in the family of the
world. We're in the world, but we're not of the world. Therefore,
let's not act like the world. Let's not jump into the world
and become sharers with them in their evil deeds, whether
it be religious deeds or immoral deeds. We should never fellowship
with the world. Our fellowship is with God in
Christ and his children. And when he says, be ye followers
of God, that's what he's talking about. We become that by the
grace of God in Christ and we're to follow him as dear children. Not trying to become his children,
but because we already are. And therefore we separate ourselves
from the children of disobedience. We're children of life. children
of faith. That's the state and standing
of a child of God and therefore follow God. Now, we who know
Christ, we're children of God. Now follow Him. Act like children
of God. Well, I hope this message has
been helpful to your understanding of the Word of God. And if you'd
like to get a copy of this message, listen to the announcer and he'll
give you the details. The title of the message is Followers
of God. And I hope you'll join us next
week for another message from God's Word.