I want two things for you. Two
things for every one of you. And for these two things, I pray
and labor day and night. I want you to be saved by the
free grace of God. I want you to be born again.
I pray that God will give you life and faith in his dear son. make you partaker with him of
all his grace and all his glory. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. God help you to trust his son. And I want you to live for Christ,
to live for the glory of God, And that which I seek for you,
I seek for myself. I want God's salvation. I want
to trust the Lord Jesus. And oh, how I want to live for
him who loved me and gave himself for me. You'll find my text this
evening in Ephesians chapter five and verse one. Ephesians
five and verse one. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children. Therefore, because God chose
you before the world was, because God adopted you before the world
began, because God called you by his grace, having redeemed
you by the precious blood of his darling son, Because God
has made you who were far off, nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. Because God has made you part
of his household, his family, his kingdom. Therefore, Paul
says, be you followers of God as dear children. Let me give
you another translation of this text. Be you therefore imitators
of God as beloved children. The word followers is the word
imitators. The amplified version translates
Paul's words like this. Therefore be imitators of God,
copy him, follow his example as well beloved children imitate
their father. Paul here urges us to be imitators
of God. To be copiers of God. That's
what I want to talk about. Imitating God. Imitating God. Oh God give us grace and teach
us in all things to imitate Him. We live in a day in which men
prize originality. If you want to show contempt
for a man, just say concerning him, he never had an original
thought in his life. That's about as contemptible
as you can express your, or about as most contemptible way you
can express your contempt of a man as far as his thinking
is concerned. I urge preachers, especially
young preachers, not to strive for originality. Don't do that. Don't do that. Striving for originality
so that men will applaud and praise you is nothing but pride
and is nowhere more out of place than in the pulpit. The proud
longing for originality is one reason the old, old gospel of
God's free grace is seldom heard in pulpits. It would be a good
thing for the Church of Christ if our preachers would learn
that the only thing about them that's original is sin. And that's
the only thing about you that's original. The only thing about
me that's original is original sin. We are full of sin and being
full of sin, full of pride and being full of pride. We love
to exalt ourselves above others, both in word and in the opinions
that men have of us. We ought to seek something better. We ought to seek to imitate God. to imitate God as he alone is
known in the person of his dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
for a heart to live for God. A heart from sin set free. A
heart constrained by Jesus' blood so freely shed for me. A heart
in every thought renewed and full of love for God. perfect,
upright, and pure, and good, the heart of Christ my God. Your nature, gracious Lord, impart. Come quickly from above. Write
your new name upon my heart. Reveal in me your love. The apostle urges us here to
give and forgive. If we're imitators of God, let
us give. for God is always giving. Give,
for if he didn't continually give, our lives would soon cease. Give, for he gives to all men
liberally and abrideth not. Give, for every good and perfect
gift comes down from the Father of lights, comes down from our
God with whom was no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Let
us then be imitators of God, the infinite, constant, generous
giver who spared not his own son, but delivered him up freely
for us all. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Then comes that which is much
harder, the much more difficult task, but that which is the joy
and delight of God's saints. If we are God's children, let
us give for the Lord God graciously gives, and let us forgive for
the Lord God graciously forgives, even as God for Christ's sake
hath forgiven you. Has he blotted out our transgressions?
Has he cast our sins into the depths of the sea? Has he removed
our iniquities from us as far as the East is from the West?
Has God buried our offenses in the tomb of forgetfulness? Then
let us freely forgive the offenses of others, so that when we bow
our knee in prayer, we may pray without hypocrisy, forgive us
our trespasses. as we forgive them that trespass
against us. May God give us these two things.
May they be prominent features of your life and mine as God's
dear children, giving and forgiving, giving to the needy and forgiving
the guilty. Doing these things, we walk in
love as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us. Oh Spirit
of God, give me grace to blend giving and forgiving into one
God-like life, imitating God. Let me live in this world giving
and forgiving. Giving and forgiving. That's
how we imitate God. All who are God's children by
faith in Christ Jesus are here called to be imitators of God
as dear children. Now let's look at four things
with regard to this admonition. First, consider the command itself.
Be ye therefore imitators of God to many. That command seems
to be something of little significance. They have weak, unscriptural,
irreverent ideas about God. And so they think little of God
and think it an easy thing to imitate God. Most people dare
proudly presume that they do a pretty good job of imitating
God. Most people proudly presume they
very much act like God. But for those who know God, This
is a tremendously weighty matter to consider. We've seen God in
his glory, in his glorious holiness, majesty, righteousness, and truth. How can we, mortal, sinful worms
of the earth, imitate the Almighty? We have much call from folks
these days to be practical in our preaching. Well, this is
a call that is most practical and useful. Many think the commands
of the Holy Word are impractical, but what we have before us here
couldn't be more practical. There's nothing mystical, nothing
sentimental, nothing speculative about this admonition. This is
an imminently practical exhortation. It points to action, continual
action of the best kind. Be ye imitators of God. Paul doesn't simply tell us to
meditate on God, but to imitate Him. Meditation is good. Spend much time meditating upon
God. Upon God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Spend much time meditating upon
God's grace, God's salvation, God's goodness, God's providence.
Shelby and I spend a lot of time when we're traveling talking
about the bounty of God's providence and his bounteous goodness upon
us. Oh, spend much time meditating
upon him. But meditation is not to be just
meditation for meditation's sake. We must turn that meditation
to imitation. Don't be satisfied to feed your
soul, but rather put to use that which you gain by feeding your
souls. How I thank God for his great mercy and grace that allows
me at times to sit with Mary at the Savior's feet and hear
his word. But I thank God for Martha's
too. Martha is looked upon with great
disdain, and she was errant in her complaining because Mary
had left her to serve the Lord alone. But thank God for serving
Martha's, Martha's who mow the grass and shovel the snow and
take care of the building, Martha's who entertain guests and entertain
preachers, and Martha's who provide for things needed. I thank God
for those who labor to do good, not just sit and meditate. Lots
of folks who, these days of electronic media, you can hear sermons,
you could download sermons, good sermons, listen to them 24 hours
a day. But I'm going to tell you something, that's not going
to profit your soul. God didn't intend that you sit
and listen to somebody preach all the time, or that you sit
and meditate all the time. But rather than hearing the Word,
go and put into practice that which is heard. Work hard. to imitate God. Strive to imitate
God, knowing full well that you can't do so except by His grace
and His mercy. We must not be satisfied simply
to admire God, but we're to imitate Him. The exhortation doesn't
even stop at adoring God, but to imitate him. In fact, you
cannot show more greatly admiration and adoration than by imitation. No son more highly honors his
father than by seeking to imitate his father. No daughter more
highly honors her mother than by wanting to pattern her life
after her mother. The exhortation then is that
we should be imitators of God as dear children. That's the
highest form of worship there is, imitating him. Truly, the
command given here is practical, but we've got something else
here. Paul's exhortation treats us
as we are, as God's dear children. Be ye therefore imitators of
God as dear children. This epistle begins with the
apostle telling us how we are made God's children. By God's
electing love and eternal adoption, by divine predestination, by
the gift of his grace. And here as he wraps it up, he
returns to this same thing. We're God's children. We're God's
children. We're God's dear children in
this world. So let us then imitate him. Being
God's children, we're simply to copy the example of God. Copy the example of God as God
reveals himself to us in his dear son. The spirit of God doesn't
require us to strike out like men and be original. He simply
requires that we copy Christ. I remember when I first started
in school, We only went to school from 8.30 to 12 o'clock in the
first grade in 1956, where I was raised. And I remember the first
time trying to learn to write. You remember how teachers taught
you to write? They had those green cards up on a blackboard. You could see them way back in
the back of the room. Large letters. And you were taught to just copy
the letters. Just copy the letters. That's
how you learn to write. How should I live in this world?
Just copy Christ. That's all. Just copy Christ. Just copy Christ. We can't possibly
imitate him if we don't know him. So first, ask God to reveal
Christ in you. And as he reveals Christ in you,
copy him as he is made known in the gospel to you. Love for
God our Savior compels us to imitate Him. But we can never
be compelled to imitate him by any other force. So this copying
of God is not a legal matter. It's not something that is done
by men and women being driven with the whip of the law to do
what's right. It is simply the love of Christ
constraining us. Copy him as dear children. It's not a matter of legalism.
And it's not something that we by which we gain approval or
acceptance with God or gain rank with God, nothing of the kind.
It is an act of love being constrained by the love of Christ. Being
constrained by the love of Christ. I have a man, he and I were once
close as brothers. I never had a brother, he was
the closest thing to a brother I'd ever had at the time, for
many years. And he married a good woman,
the family was very close to ours. And she made a lot of sacrifices,
gave him three children, followed him anywhere he went, lived just
barely surviving. I mean, just barely getting by. And that man ran off, left her
and those three children. And you look at you, what a horrible,
horrible, horrible response to the love of a good woman. So
you never lived with her. No, I didn't, but I knew him
pretty well. I knew him pretty well, but that's
nothing compared to the response of a cold indifferent heart to
the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. we ought
to be imitators of God our Savior. This is a matter of grace, pure
free grace. It comes only as God the Holy
Spirit gives us grace. And yet it obviously is something
that demands care on our part. Paul here doesn't say, you shall
be imitators. He says, be ye imitators of God
as dear children. This is a matter of responsibility.
We are to make it an effort on our part to imitate God. Nothing can make us more useful
to one another than imitating God. As we imitate God, our savior,
we benefit one another. As we imitate God, our savior,
we honor the gospel. As we imitate our God, we serve
his church and his kingdom well. Imitate him. How is that? Giving and forgiving. Giving
of yourself, giving generously, and forgiving offenses. Dealing
with one another graciously. Dealing with one another kindly. Dealing with one another as dear
children of the same household. Dear children of the same family.
Now second, carefully weigh the argument Paul uses to secure
our obedience. The precept is, be ye imitators
of God. The argument is this, as dear
children. As dear children. Here is the
greatest privilege, and the highest title a mere mortal can ever
have, God's dear child. The child of God's love, chosen
by Him, adopted by Him because He loved you. No other reason. Imitators of God as God's dear
children. We are God's children, but that's
not all. We're his dear children, beloved
of him. What a tender, irresistible argument
this is. Behold what manner of love the
father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. Behold what wondrous grace the
Father has bestowed on sinners of a mortal race to call us sons
of God. Imagine this. We are God's dear
children, the children of Jehovah's infinite love. He loved us freely. He loved us from eternity. He loved us in Christ and his
love never changes and never varies. It's never cold and then
hot. His heart is constantly turned
toward us in love. When we fell in our father Adam,
he loved us all the same. When we came forth from our mother's
womb speaking lies, he loved us still. And though he's called
us by his grace, and we're still full of sin, his love for us
never varies. He loves us protectively, providing
all our needs, preserving us from all our enemies, and watching
over us in all our cares. God loves his dear children with
a perfect love. Perfect love casteth out all
fear. Mark, just as we apprehend the
love of God for us, just to that degree, we live free of fear. Perfect love casteth out all
fear. Not our perfect love for God,
oh no, but the knowledge of His perfect love for us cast out
all fear. Am I so loved of God that I can't
resist this command? I'm altogether in debt to love. I must endeavor to be like him.
Oh God, give me grace to be like you. And there's yet another
jewel hidden in our text. Paul's words might be read this
way. Be ye imitators of God, for such children are beloved
children. Be imitators of God for such
children are beloved children. You who are parents know what
a delight it is to have a child that always wants to please you,
always strives to honor you, always seeks to do those things
that magnify your position as that child's mother or father.
Sometimes parents have one child just like that and another one
that's just a stubborn hell-bent rebel. And the parent loves both. But that child that seeks to
please mom or dad, that child that always wants to honor their
parents, that child has a special place in their affection. God's
children are all loved of him in Christ. But the scriptures
give something about a man named John. You remember how John's
described? He's described as no other disciple
was. The disciple whom Jesus loved. Now it's John who by divine
inspiration describes himself that way rather than using his
own name. But he does this by divine inspiration
because that child who seeks the Savior's honor, that child
who seeks to walk in the path of the Savior's steps, that child,
that child is the beloved child of God. And God's children are
all just such. They seek his honor. They seek
to walk in the steps of Christ the Lord and imitating him, they're
beloved of God, named by him as beloved of him. Let it be
our greatest sorrow to dishonor him and grieve him. Our greatest
joy to please him. our greatest goal to be like
it. Third, perhaps you're thinking this is a great thing, a great
subject, but it's too great for me. How am I to imitate God? Let's think about the encouragements
he gives us. Be ye imitators of God as dear
children. How on this earth can a man conscious
of his own sin, depravity, corruption of heart, corruption of nature. How could a man like me even
imagine following the steps of Christ and imitating him? First,
God has graciously made us his children. By the new birth, we're renewed
in the divine image. God has given us to be partakers
of the divine nature so that he has put in us the very nature
of his darling son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has made us
new creatures in Christ, given us a new heart, a new will, a
new nature. Yes, by all means, a new record. By all means, old things have
passed away, but he's put in us a new nature, a new heart,
One that walks with Him in uprightness and faith all the time. He says,
be imitators of God. Put on Christ. Put off the old
man. Put on the new man. That's our
business. Be imitators of God. If we're
truly born again, The Lord God has put this new nature in us
so that we may walk with him in newness of life. Christ in
you, the hope of glory. God's given us the divine nature
and has given us his spirit. Likewise, the spirit also helpeth
our infirmity. He helps Our infirmity. Thank God for the indwelling
spirit who helps us all the time. He is an advocate in our souls,
as Christ is our advocate on high. He is one called to our
aid from within, as Christ is one called to our aid from above. He dwells in us so that though
we're weak, He gives us strength. Though we're tempted, He holds
us by His grace. Though we're ignorant, He teaches
us. Though we fall and are always falling, He lifts us up. Though
we're languishing, He revives. Though we're nothing, He shows
us that God's grace is sufficient and says to us repeatedly, my
grace is sufficient for thee. The Lord God has graciously given
us our Savior's example. Turn back to John chapter 13.
Let me remind you of it one more time. John chapter 13, verse
15. The Lord's disciples came in
and he took a bowl of water and a towel and went to those disciples
one by one and gently, tenderly washed their feet. What an amazing thing. What an
amazing thing. What was so significant about
that? Well, washing their feet wasn't something that was really
necessary. Now, there are spiritual lessons
to be taught from it that are really necessary, but washing
their feet wasn't something that was really necessary. It was
just delightful. It was just delightful. Mark
often reminds us, fellas, of his wife sitting down and rubbing
his feet. Just rub his feet. It's a good
thing. Even better when rubbed with
cool water when they're hot or warm water when they're cold.
It's just comforting. That's all. Just comforting.
It's doing for someone what you can do for them, just because
you want to do it for them, just for their enjoyment, for their
pleasure, just to benefit them. Reaping nothing from it, just
to benefit them. And our Lord Jesus says in verse
13, I've given you an example that you should do as I have
done to you. I am the constant object of the
care of others, and I so much appreciate it. Wherever I go,
folks treat me like a king, and I so much appreciate it. But I pray God give me grace
that I might treat you like a king. and do for you that which simply
benefits you continually to relieve and comfort and rejoice you.
Christ was and is the embodiment of the eternal God. He's the
express image of his person, the brightness of God's glory.
In Christ, we see God. If we would be like God, we must
follow Christ, follow his example. And then God graciously gives
us sweet communion with himself that we might imitate him. If
we would be like God, we got to spend some time in his company.
And the more you see him and know him, the more likeness you
have of him as you live in this world. And then he's given us
his word. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
a light unto my path. If you would know God's will
about anything, go to the book. Just go to the book. You don't
have to ask me. Just go to the book. Just go
to the book. I have a very dear friend contacted me just recently
about a matter that was of concern to him. It's going to be costly
to him. It's going to be costly to him. And he asked me, what
should I do? And he was asking about following
the way of men and doing what he could get by with, and nobody
would blame him for doing it. And I responded to him by saying,
do what you know is right. You'll get along all right. No
matter what it costs you, just do what you know is right. You'll
get along all right, no matter what it costs you. Just go to
the book and see what God says. This book is a lamp to my feet. This book is the light to my
pathway by which I'm to walk in this world. If you would know
God's will, go here where he reveals himself. and follow what
he says. Then one more thing back here
in Ephesians 5. God give us grace to obey this
precept. Be ye therefore imitators of
God as dear children. The Holy Spirit dwells in us
to make us like Christ in all things. For to be like him is
to be like the Most High. Being like Christ is the fruit
of the Spirit. We don't go about to, like the
Pharisees and most religious folks, to set out independent
rules for holiness and godliness and righteousness, just to say,
do this and you're godly and holy and righteous. Don't do
what we do and you're not quite so godly and holy and righteous.
Oh, no, no, no, no. That's the way of the religious
world. Godliness. Godliness, the imitation
of God is nothing less and nothing more than following the example
of Christ. But this is the work of God in
us. It is the fruit of the spirit,
not the work of the flesh. The work of the flesh is always
ungodliness. The fruit of the spirit is not
something we produce, it is that which God works in us by his
grace. It's called love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
And it's not many things, it's not the fruits of the spirit,
but the fruit of the spirit. What is that? It is the outgrowth
of Christ in you. It is the outgrowth of Christ
in you. The fruit of the Spirit is a
Christ-likeness toward God and a Christ-likeness toward men,
making us long-suffering with the faults of others, causing
us to treat one another with gentleness, kindness, and tenderness. teaching us to show goodness
and mercy to one another. Be merciful as your father, which
is in heaven is merciful. The fruit of the spirit is being
like Christ. Not quick tempered with men,
but patient. Not quick tempered with God,
but submissive. exercising self-control and restraint
in all things by His grace. And never forget that the imitation
of God is just as I'm stressing, the fruit of the Spirit. Not
by the power of the flesh, but by the work of God's Spirit.
It's the Spirit who gives life, the Spirit who quickens the flesh,
profits nothing. And let me draw a few inferences
from this admonition. If God requires us to be imitators
of him by forgiving men of their wrongs for Christ's sake, then oh, how ready God must be
to forgive us our sins for Christ's sake. If God requires us to imitate
him by being truthful and honest with others, then God will surely
keep his word to us. From all that's written here,
I must conclude that God is a dear father to all believers. He treats
us with kindness, tenderness, and patience. He loves us dearly,
and he will never turn away his love from us. Let this be your
fervent prayer and your inmost desire and God make it mine. Oh God, my father, give me the
grace of Christ, the power of your spirit and such faith in
you that I may imitate you as a dear child. Father, I long
to live as one who knows your matchless love. as one who has
been heaven born who lives for things above. Savior, I want
to honor you and do the will of God in thought and word and
deed to live as one redeemed by blood. Oh, Holy Spirit, guide
my steps and guard my heart and tongue, subdue my sin, grant
grace to live as one that's heaven born. Is that your desire? You want to imitate him? Do you? Oh, to be like Christ. Oh, to be like Christ. Bill Raleigh,
if that's what you want, I've got good news for you. Soon. Soon. Mmm, soon. I believe we're
already conformed to his image. You know that, and I know that
if you know this book. He is our holiness, our righteousness,
our sanctification, our redemption. But soon, soon, soon, there's
something coming that's going to satisfy the cravings of our
hearts. This is what the psalmist said.
Then shall I be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. When we see him, we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is. Full of love, free
from sin, robed in glory, when we see him, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is. Until then, Until then,
God give me grace to imitate you in giving and forgiving. To imitate you, imitating your
son who's given all and forgives all for me. Amen.