I invite you this morning to
turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5. The book of Ephesians is a
wonderful book. I don't know of any book in the
Bible where the doctrine of Christ is more clearly stated than it
is in the book of Ephesians. The doctrine of election. My
soul, I've had people ask me questions things about election,
and why do you believe in election, and what is election, and all
these various things, and try to deny it, and try to... I said,
well, let's go over here and read this in Ephesians chapter
1. God hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
clearly stated the doctrine of election, the doctrine of predestination. We have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. The doctrine
of redemption to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein
he hath made us accepted in the beloved. The depravity of man. We are by nature, we were by
nature, the children of wrath even as others. The preaching
of the gospel. Paul said, unto me who am less
than the least of all the saints is this grace given that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. And the mystery of the Gentiles.
He said that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same
body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel. We're talking about how clear
these doctrines are set forth in this book of Ephesians. Faith. Faith. There's no end to the
tapes and sermons I've heard on faith, but I've never heard
one stated more clearly than this. By grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And these doctrines
and more are clearly stated and applied to the believer in this
wonderful book of Ephesians. But this morning, I want to deal
with the believer's walk. The believer's walk. What takes
place in the life of a man or a woman who's called of God? Do they just go on as they did
before? Is there no change in this man
or this woman at all? Is there no noticeable change?
Does he just go on like he was going before? Did he just stop
off and pick something off the shelf, put it in his pocket and
go down the road? What happens? What is this thing
of the believer's walk? What does he do? How should he
act? Is his purpose in life changed? Is his goal in life changed?
Is the believer left alone to devise a new lifestyle or customize
the old one? What happens in the heart of
a believer when God calls him out of darkness? What happens?
And that's what we want to talk about. Are we given any instruction
in this area? We are, and it's stated in all
of the New Testament epistles, every last one of them. But in
Ephesians chapter 5, Paul outlines the believer's life and his work
in his walk in this world. Now watch this, Ephesians 5 verses
1 and 2. Be ye 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 I've got four very simple, yet profound
things, glorious things to show you in these two verses, and
I hope that this morning you'll give me an honest hearing. Here's
the first thing. The basis of the command. The basis of the command. Be
ye therefore. What the apostle is about to
say is based on everything that he's already said. He doesn't
just quit talking about this and then start talking about
something else. He builds, he builds, he builds. All through the epistle, he builds. And brethren, gospel truth has
a basis. It has a basis. People say to
me all the time, that's your interpretation. I'll be preaching
the gospel and after the meeting some visitor will come up and
he'll be all frowned and arms crossed and mad and angry because
I crossed his path. And he'll say, that's just your
interpretation. That's your opinion. Well, no
sir, it's not. I have the Word of God for a
basis for what I had to say. I have the Word of God. What
I have to say is not worth anything if it's not written and based
in the Word of God. And I can show you in the Word
of God the basis for election. the basis for predestination,
the basis for substitution, the basis for particular redemption,
and on and on. I can give you the basis. I can
take you to the foundation. I can take you to where it says
it in plain words that need no interpretation. Now, can you
show me in the Scripture the basis for universal redemption? You can't do it. You can't do
it. Can you show me the basis in
the Word of God for man's free will? You can't even find the
words in the New Testament, let alone the doctrine. Can you show me the basis for
providence being left to chance and circumstance? Can you show
me the basis for God to be subject to man's decisions? You have
no basis for it. The Bible is the foundation of
faith. He tells us in Ephesians 2.20,
he states this so clearly, that we are built, we are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone. And if you are built into the
Kingdom of God, if you have true saving faith in the Kingdom of
God, it is based on the apostles and prophets. Folks get upset
with me because I point out the poison of false religion. Well,
my friend, what they're preaching has no basis in the Scriptures.
That's why I'm pointing it out to you. It has no basis. There's no basis for believing
that man's anything but dead in trespasses and sins. And he
always starts off on the basis that he's alive. He ain't alive. He's dead in trespasses and sins. He's a sinner. He's a sinner
by nature. He's a sinner by choice. He's
a sinner by practice. When the Scripture says there's
none righteous, that doesn't leave any exceptions, does it? I'm not a lawyer. We got one
here this morning. But that word there, none, that
means none, if I understand the English language right. There's
none. When He says there's none good, He means none. No exceptions. When He says there's none that
understand it, that means none of us understand. There's no
basis for believing that God loves all men universally and
their sins and decisions cause Him to change His mind. Isn't
that what men say? He loves everybody, but because
you didn't choose the right path, because you did this or you did
that, God's changed His mind. He don't love you anymore. My
soul, you don't treat your kids that way, do you? Huh? One of them does wrong, so now
you don't love him anymore? Why would we think God does?
God's infinitely above all. God, who is the source of every
good and perfect gift, never changes. Isn't that what James
said? People like go to James because
they think James teaches work salvation. James didn't teach
work salvation. He teaches what true faith is.
It's justified by your work. He's not talking about justification
by faith. James is talking about justifying
your faith. That's what he's talking about.
Telling the difference between false faith and real faith. And
he goes right up front, right in the beginning of the book.
James says, now listen. Every good and perfect gift cometh
down from above, cometh down from the Father of lights, with
whom is what? No variableness, neither shadow
of turning." They don't change. You cannot take a man or a woman
off the street, talk them into a profession of faith, and teach
them how to walk with God. This walk is the result of something
that has already taken place. And this is what Paul does in
his epistles. He takes you from the beginning
all the way to the end. And that's what he's doing here
in chapter 5. He's applying all these things that he's already
talked about. The Ephesian church. Let's start here. The Ephesian
church was a Gentile church. It tells us that back in chapter
2, verse 11, if you want to look back there. He tells them to
remember that in time past you were Gentiles in the flesh. What's that mean? That don't
have a lot of significance to us in this day, does it? What's
he telling them? He's telling them, you remember,
you were heathen idolaters. You were morally unsound, spiritually
unfit, doctrinally heretics, historically aliens from the
Commonwealth of Israel. You had no covenant of promise,
you had no legitimate hope, and you were without God in the world. Brethren, you and I, this might
come as a surprise to you, you and I are Gentiles. Huh? That's who Paul's talking about
here. Gentiles. Gentiles. You can't be any further from
God than a Gentile. Gentiles weren't even considered
when God gave up that land. They went in and slayed them,
took the land from them, gave it to the promised children of
Israel. They weren't even considered. Gentiles. Gentiles, I want you
to listen to me. You make this application too.
I'm not afraid to say it. Gentiles wrote their own Bibles. And those of you who have read
some of the modern translations know what I'm talking about.
They write their own Bibles. Gentiles carved out their own
deities. Where did they come up with this
idea? Imagination. Imagination. The Gentiles walked, Paul said,
in the vanity of their minds, having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance
that is in them. Gentiles lived under a perverted
government that allowed them to practice moral perversions
without restriction. Are you getting this? Any of
this getting through to you? That's exactly where we're at.
We're Gentiles. We live under such a government. Gentiles were left to themselves
to do whatever seemed right in their defrayed minds. Now listen to me. But God purposed
to have a people out of every nation, tribe, kindred, and tongue
under heaven. Didn't He? Yes, He did. God purposed, Ephesians 3, verse
6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same
body and partakers of the promise in Christ. Are you listening? by the Gospel. By the Gospel. They're not just going to be
out there on the lake one day, soaking up the sun, and suddenly
the truth just bursts into their mind. No. That's not how it's
going to work. They're not just going to stumble
on a Bible one day and say, well, look at that. That's Grandpa's
old Bible. And open that thing up at random and look at something
and say, there it is. There it is. I get it. No. They became partakers of
God's promise in Christ by the gospel. The Jews had Bibles,
and our Lord said, you've got them and you search them, but
you won't come unto me that you might have lost. That Gentile eunuch become a
student of religion. He studied the Jewish religion. He knew it probably better than
they did. He studied it. He traveled halfway across the
world to go over there during their feast days and observe
their feast days and their worship. He wanted to know something about
their religion. He was a student of religion.
And this Gentile eunuch finally came to this conclusion. How
can I understand this book except some man guide me? And that's exactly where God
brings his elect. He brings them to that point,
this book don't make any sense to me at all. It just don't make
any sense. How can I understand this book
except some man should guide me? Now, I want you to hear me. There is a humbling and a humiliation
that takes place when a man undergoes Holy Spirit conviction of sin,
and he's made to realize his spiritual ignorance. He's brought
to see that everything he thought he knew, he don't really know. It's just ignorance. It's just
darkness. Ephesians 3, verse 6. Paul said,
whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his
power. Now, my friend, this is why the
church is established in this world, that ungodly men might,
by the church, come to know the manifold wisdom of God. That's
what Paul teaches here. according to His eternal purpose
in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's in Ephesians 3, 10 and
11. This church was established by
gospel preaching and men were called out of darkness and idolatry
and rank paganism and they were given the right and privilege
to become sons of God. You hath equipped them who were
dead in trespasses and sins. You walked according to the course
of this world. You walked according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit who now worketh in the
children of disobedience. That's where you were. Where
are you now? Now you're in Christ. Now you're
in light. Now you're in harmony with the
children of God and with the Word of God. This church was established by
gospel preaching, and men were called out of darkness and idolatry
and rank paganism, and were given the right and privilege to become
sons of God, given an understanding to know God. Now, Paul describes
their past lives in Ephesians 4.19, who being past feeling,
no active conscience is what that's talking about. conscience
as though it were seared with a hot iron, doing wicked things
and having no conscience. Who, being past feeling, have
given themselves over unto lasciviousness, lewd and sensual desires, wantonness,
things that excite or promote sexual desire, to work all uncleanness,
sexual perversions. But, verse 20, you have not so
learned Christ if so be that you have heard him, and have
been taught by him, as the truth is in him." Ephesians 4.22, that
you put off concerning the former conversation the old man which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. And here again is that word spirit,
which indicates the work or breath of the Holy Spirit in conjunction
with the preaching of the gospel. When God saves a man and brings
him to faith in Christ, he's a new creature, he's a new man.
Something's in him that was never in him before. He has light where
there was darkness. Old things are passed away, old
ideas and concepts, old motives and emotions, old goals and directions. And then in verses 25 through
31, he gives us a long list of things we used to do that
we need to stop doing, and a long list of things that are produced
by the Spirit of God in us and are called the fruit of the Spirit.
Ephesians 4.32, Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
That man tell me one time, he said, it's hard for me to forgive
some people because of something they did or something they said.
Well, it shouldn't be if you consider what God has forgiven
you for, for Christ's sake. If you consider that, it won't
be all that hard. It won't be all that hard. Now
then, I said all that to say this. Be ye therefore. Therefore, followers of God. This is the basis of our walk.
My soul, if you have no experience of grace, how are you going to
walk with God? If you don't have a new heart
and a new mind, if the Spirit of God has not regenerated you
and called you out of darkness, how are you going to walk with
God? The heavens are not pure in His sight. The stars, they
are not pure in His sight. How much more man that drinks
iniquity like water? How are you going to walk with
God? Paul says something about being made meat, meat to actually
enjoy this inheritance of saints in life, that is, enlightened
saints. You see what I'm saying? Therefore,
based on this work, God may not have done the work. If He didn't,
you can't walk with Him. You can't walk with Him. It requires
an inward work of grace. It requires. It requires an understanding. This is the basis of our walk.
Be ye therefore followers of God. Secondly, let's talk about
the commandment a little bit. Be ye followers of God. This
is not a suggestion. God doesn't make suggestions.
This is a commandment. Be ye followers of God. It's
not some recommended option. This is the commandment of God.
Be ye followers of God. Well, how can we be followers
of God who have never seen God? That's why men argue about things
that I say sometimes. And some of these other preachers
say they argue and argue and argue and argue and argue. They
don't know God. They don't know God. How can
we be followers of God who've never seen God? God's invisible.
He said no man has seen God at any time. How then can we follow Him? Well,
listen to what the Lord says over here in the book of John.
The Lord told His disciples, He said, whither I go you know,
and the way you know. And Thomas said, we don't know
where you're going, and how can we know the way? Christ said,
I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Now, I'm going to say something
here, and I hope you'll take it to heart. All you're ever
going to know about God is revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ. Everything you're ever going
to know about God is revealed in Him. Jesus Christ has come
and given to us an understanding, John said, that we may know Him
that is true. That's the only way you're going
to know Him. To follow God is... hear me,
to follow God is to imitate the character of Christ. Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus our Lord. We imitate Him in His acts of
love toward the Father, in His love for His people, in acts
of mercy and kindness, acts of self-sacrifice and giving, in
His patience and in His concern for His people, in His faithfulness
to His calling and His stations, and in His temperament. Be ye
followers of God. Be ye followers of Christ in
His forgiveness and mercifulness. Be ye therefore followers of
God in Christ, distributing to the necessity of the saints and
having compassion on the ignorant. Show me a man who lives for himself,
and I'll show you a man who don't know God. Be ye therefore followers of
God. God's people are commanded to follow Him, and they do. Thirdly,
let's examine the motive here. Be ye therefore followers of
God." Now listen, as dear children, as dear children. God's children
became his children by adopting grace. How did you get to be
a child? By the grace of God, I am what
I am. By the grace of God. He chose
us in Christ and predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will.
To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made
us accepted in the blood. And He tells us over in Galatians
chapter 4 verse 6, because your sons Because your son, because
I predestinated you unto the adoption of son, because your
son, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your heart, crying,
Abba, father. Man can't call on God as his
father, our father, which art in heaven. Well, I don't know
if he is or not. But you can't call him father
but by the spirit of God. The Spirit of God reveals in
a man that he is a son. And as a son, he cries. He doesn't
have to be poked to do it. He cries. Abba Father, wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ. Now listen to this scripture.
Romans chapter 8, verse 14. being followers of God. Now listen
to this. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. They are the sons of God. How does the Spirit of God lead
us? He leads us by revealing our
standing before God by way of the person and work of Christ.
And He does that through the preaching of the gospel. God's
people are dear children, loved with an everlasting love, chosen
in His Son, redeemed by the suffering and death of His Son, called
out of darkness, separated, consecrated, sanctified by the Spirit of God.
They're dear children for whom He will spare nothing. Dear children who are the apple
of His eye, dear children to whom He makes known, He is their
Father. Dear children, treated with a
particular mercy and grace. Dear children, of whom He is
not willing that any should perish, but that all should be brought
to repentance. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children. Dear children. Let me ask you
something. What if God wasn't your Father? What if God was not your father?
The Jews said to Christ, we'd be not born of fornication. We
have one father, even God. And Jesus said unto them, if
God were your father, you'd love me, for I proceeded forth and
came from God. You are of your father the devil.
God wasn't their father. And the works of your father
you'll do. What if God were not your father?
Then you'd father your real father, the devil. That's right. And
that's what's going on out here in the world. You don't believe in satanic... I don't? You better read your
Bible again. You are of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father you will do. He that is of God, heareth
God's words. You therefore hear him not, because
you are not of God. Be you therefore followers of
God as dear children. And then lastly, here's the character
in which we are to walk, verse 2. Walk in love. You can't walk in anything else
if you've experienced this work of grace in your heart. This
is the only thing you know. It's not like you suddenly figured
it out. It's not like you went down the
road and talked to a counselor somewhere and he finally convinced
you of this. This is the result of the work
of grace in a man's heart. He comes to see the love of God
in Christ. And he loves Him. All those born of God love Him.
And that's what Scripture said. They love Him. We walk in love. There's no other
way to walk for a believer. And now listen to this. Walk
in love as Christ also hath loved us. Don't walk in love, your
puny little love. Walk in this love as Christ has
loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling Savior. Did you know the whole law hinged
on two things? The whole law, all of its precepts
hinged on two things, our Lord said. Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your
neighbor as yourself. If you could keep those two laws,
you wouldn't have a bit of problem with the rest of it. Not a bit. And if you break any of these
transgressions down here, It's because you couldn't fulfill
the first two. And in the light of that, he
said, he that hath committed any kind of a transgression of
the law, he guilty of the whole law. Why? Because he didn't love
the Lord thy God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Walk in love as Christ also hath
loved us. Now, this following of Christ,
which the believers commanded to do, is not to win God's favor,
but in gratitude for His favor and His grace. Believers love
Christ. Paul said, the love of Christ
constraineth us. Now, what does he say? It constraineth
us, because we thus judge, that is, we thus understand, that
if one died for all, then all were dead. All believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ are under the sweetest and strongest constraint
to follow Him. We are motivated by love, and
His love for us and our love for Him. The strongest, strongest
motivation. His love for us is the supreme
motivation for our service. And His love is understood by
His death. And now what did He say? You read Romans chapter 5. God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We understand that the fact of
His death is the strongest evidence of our being dead. If we were
not dead in trespasses and sins, there would be no need for Him
to die. And then secondly, that if one died for all, then all
were dead. We died in Him and we live in
Him. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
3 and I'll wrap this up. Colossians chapter 3 and verse
1. If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." So
throw away all these needless, senseless things. Just lay them
aside. Verse 10, "...and put on the
new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children, and walk in love. Therefore.