You notice, as we sing these
hymns, the various authors, I believe that hymn, Hallelujah, What a
Savior, was written by P.P. Bliss. He was a traveling evangelist,
I guess you would call him, in our country in the 1800s. And
there's a number, a great number of the hymns that we sing, he
wrote. He wrote his horse. from place
to place. That seems like that's been so
long now, doesn't it? Since you hear about someone
riding their horse from town to town and village to village
and evangelistic services. Now, if you will, let's turn
back to Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five and we
will read and look at the first seven verses tonight. 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 savor. But fornication
and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not be once named among
you as becometh saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish
talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving
of thanks. For this you know, that no whoremonger,
nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no
man deceive you with vain words, For because of these things cometh
the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore
partakers with them. Tonight we begin a new chapter,
but the subject hasn't changed. The subject is the same as we
looked at in chapter four, and the subject is the believer's
conduct, the believer's walk in this world. If you look back
to chapter 4 and verse 1, the apostle began, I therefore the
prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk, walk. These, the subject of these verses,
these last three chapters, is that believers walk. Now, in
chapter 5 and verse 2, he says, and walk in love. walk in love. So we're looking
at what some people would call the practical part of this letter,
this letter of Ephesians. And tonight, as we look at these
seven verses, I want us to consider three subjects, three subjects
that we see in these verses. First, in verse one, God's dear
children. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children, God's dear children. Most people, I think
everyone would agree with this, most people in this day and at
this time, they assume or infer that all men are children of
God. That just seems to be an assumption
that most people have, that all men are children of God. And we know that in one sense
of the word that is true, that all men are creatures of God. If you look back to Acts chapter
17 and Paul's message in Athens when he was preaching to to a
city that was wholly given to idolatry. In chapter 17, verses
28 and 29, he said this concerning the true God, different from
the gods which they worshiped there in Athens, the true God,
for in Him we live and move and have our being, as certain also
of your poets have said. For we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. Seeing that man, the creature
man, is as we are, certainly no one should think that God
is like something made of stone or gold or silver, some inanimate
material, and worship that as God. Because even man has intellect
and has purpose. And no one should worship and
think of God in the sense of something that is dead and lifeless. No, God is the God he says that
we live in and move in. He's not far from any of us.
He's here tonight. He's here in this building, and
He's outside this building. And all of Him is inside this
building, and all of Him is outside this building. He's omnipresent. There's no place that man can
go and flee from the presence of God. The Scripture reveals
that about our God. We are His offspring. That means
that we are His creatures. The Lord God is the creator of
all men. And in Adam, who is the common
father of you and of me and everyone else, Adam, the common father
of all men, we were all created in Adam in the image of God. As the scripture says, the image
of God. But we know that image consisted
in righteousness and true holiness. He was holy. He was righteous. That moral image in which he
was created, the image of God. But just as soon as Adam disobeyed
God, that image was marred. It was marred. And when men come
into this world and the scripture says we go astray from the womb,
speaking lies, certainly no one would believe that that creature
is still in the image of God as we were at first created.
But all men we recognize are the offspring of God, the sons
of God, as creatures of God. With the Lord Jesus Christ, turn
with me to John chapter 8. The Lord Jesus Christ was addressing
some men and these were religious men, no question about it, no
doubt about it. They were the religious people,
the who's who of religion of that day, the Pharisees. And
in John chapter 8 and verse 44, he said unto them, you are of
your father the devil, and the lust of your father you will
do. Now, as I said at the beginning,
most people assume that all men are the children of God. But we know that is not so. This letter and these words are
written to God's dear children. They are God's dear children.
They are God's children by adoption. If you turn back to Ephesians,
and I hope you will, look back in chapter 1. and verses three
through six. God's Dear Children. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 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, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will. We should always be aware that
the scriptures, these epistles were written to believers, to
men and women who had experienced a new birth, who were the dear
children of God. both by adoption and by regeneration,
made the children of God. We live in a time when people
talk about the Word of God and things in the Word of God and
try to apply the same principles and the same teaching to lost
men and women. And they not only will not comply,
they cannot understand. You see that at this present
time concerning the woman's place according to the Word of God
in the home and the man's place. And you hear the world talking
about a cult, being a member of a cult that actually teaches
that the man is the head of the home and the wife is to be in
subjection to her husband. People don't understand that.
And one reason people make fun of it is they do not see what
Paul admonishes, and the Lord willing, we will get to that
in this chapter, what he admonishes the husband to do, to love his
wife even as Christ loved the church. Now, when a husband does
that, tries to do that, A wife who
loves Christ, who's been saved by the grace of God, will joyfully
practice and submit to her husband. Now, the world doesn't understand
that. They think that's, you know,
against the women's rights today. It's amazing to me, but it shouldn't
be because We cannot expect the world to accept the principles
and the teachings that were given to God's people, to those who've
been saved by the grace of God, those who desire to live for
the glory of God. But my point is, those to whom
Paul is writing here, we see in our text are God's dear children,
and they are children by adoption. I want you to look to another
place with me in John chapter 20. Turn back, if you will, to
the Gospel of John chapter 20. Read this verse of the Lord Jesus
Christ when He appeared unto Mary Magdalene the day of His
resurrection. In John chapter 20 and verse
17, Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, for I'm not yet ascended
to my father. Now watch this, but go to my
brethren, my brethren, they're all of this household of faith,
right? They're my brethren, they're
children of God. Go to my brethren and say unto
them, I ascend unto my father and your father. to my God and
your God. Now, when you understand that
verse of scripture, you understand the gospel. When you understand
that verse of scripture, what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying
here, tell my brethren, I send unto my Father and your
Father. Now, as the eternal Son of God,
God the Father has always been His Father. We know that, don't
we? He is the Father, the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit. I ascend unto my Father. He's
always been my Father as a member of the Trinity, but unto my God. Now, how did He, who is equal
with the Father, call God His God? By His incarnation. By Him coming into this world
as a man, as a servant of Jehovah, to save the people that God had
given Him from eternity. You tell my brethren, I send
unto my God, and now He's your God. and my father, and now he's
your father through my work of redemption. Now, back in our
text here in Ephesians 5, I want us to think for just a minute
about this word dear, D-E-A-R, God's dear children. Now, I looked the word up in
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary to get these definitions. Very
simple. And I did so because there's
one that I heard when I was growing up, and you don't hear so much
anymore, people use dear in this sense. But here are the five
definitions. First of all, the word means
precious. Precious. God's dear children. God's children are precious in
His sight. Not in the sight of the world,
but in His sight, they are His jewels. They are His jewels. God's dear children, His precious
children. Number two, affectionate. The
word dear means affectionate. And God has set His love upon
His children from all eternity. He has loved us with an everlasting
love. The third definition is the word
expensive. That's the definition I was thinking
of because my mother used that word. When she would talk about
something being expensive, she would say, that's very dear.
But that is one of the meanings of the word dear, expensive. expensive. And when we think
about God's dear children, the expense, the expense that God
gave to purchase us the precious blood of his son, God's dear
children. And number four is the word heartfelt,
heartfelt, and God's dear children or those whom the Lord has set
his heart upon, they are the apple of his eye. And number
five, noble, noble. You know, you've probably heard
someone described as, well, they are of noble birth. They were
born a king's son or the queen's children of noble birth. That's
true of every one of God's children. noble birth. We've been born
again by the Spirit of the living God. Now the second subject in
these verses I want us to look at is Christ's great sacrifice. Notice in verse 2. 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. There are three
truths here that I want to point out to us about his great sacrifice. Number one, Christ gave himself. He gave himself. He didn't just
give his time, he did give his time, didn't just give his reputation,
he didn't just give up all the comforts of life and live in
this world as a poor person, no, he gave himself. He gave his life, a ransom for
many. Number two, Christ gave himself
for us. For us, that means that He gave
Himself as a substitute, doesn't He? He gave Himself in the stead
and in the place of His people. You see, the wrath of God that
our sins deserved fell upon Him. He gave Himself for us as our
substitute. Look with me in Romans, keep
your place here, but turn back to Romans chapter 5 just a moment. It's always good to remind us
for whom Christ gave himself. In Romans chapter five, you know, I memorized this passage
of scripture when I was in the Air Force. I remember being out
on a flight line and those jet planes, they make a lot of noise.
They didn't give us earplugs back then. But I was memorizing
this passage of scripture and it stayed with me. I encourage
you, memorize the scripture, commit it to memory. But notice
here in verses six through eight. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Notice these three things about
those for whom Christ died. We were without strength. Strengthless. That describes
every lost person. Strengthless. We have no strength. No ability to make ourselves
right with God. We are strengthless. And the
second thing is ungodly. Now to be ungodly means to be
unlike God, doesn't it? To be unlike God. And that describes
us. We were not like God. God's holy. We're unholy. God's righteous. We're unrighteous. God's love. We love ourselves. No, we were
ungodly. And third, sinners. Sinners. And that word, of course, means
that we fell short of the mark. I always like to think of this
as high jumping, you know, in gym. And when we were kids, we would
jump and we'd mark how high we could jump. Well, here's the
bar way up here. Sinless, holy, righteous. And here we are, we miss the
mark. We come short. No matter how
hard we try, we have a sinful nature, and we always come short
of the glory of God. That's the way we were, and those
are the ones for whom Christ died. Now, I know you can say,
well, he died for his elect. That's true. But his elect are
here described as without strength, ungodly, sinners as we come into
this world. And yet he loved us and gave
himself for us. The third thing about this great
sacrifice here, He gave himself for us to God. It was God whom
we had offended. It was God's justice that we
had trampled upon. He gave himself to God. It was God who was propitiated
by that one sacrifice. It was God against whom we had
sinned and His justice must be satisfied. That verse in Isaiah
that speaks to us about God as a just God and, aren't you thankful
for that and? A just God and a Savior. A Savior. going to be just. He is just
and he's going to be just. If no sinner was ever saved,
God is going to be just. If we confess our sins in 1 John
1, the scripture says, if we confess our sins, what? He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. He is a just God and sin deserves
punishment. His justice demands it. The Lord
Jesus Christ gave himself for us to God, to propitiate God. What does this mean, a sweet
smelling savor here? Notice the verse again. and walk
in love as Christ also has loved us and has given himself for
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. This word takes us all the way
back to the book of Genesis. Look with me back in Genesis
chapter 8. When God Put Noah in the ark. Remember, there were clean animals
that were put in there. There was more clean animals
than unclean animals. Unclean animals, it was just
a pair. But clean animals, there was
more. And here in chapter eight, and
verse 20, when Noah comes out of the ark, a new world, man,
woman, boy, and girl had been destroyed except those who were
inside that ark. When he came out, one of the
first things he did, verse 20, Noah builded an altar unto the
Lord and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl
and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Now notice, and the
Lord smelled a sweet savor. The Lord smelled a sweet savor. And the Lord said in his heart,
I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake. For the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither
will I again smite anymore every living thing as I have done. The word, a sweet smelling savor,
it is defined as a savor of rest, a savor of rest. The sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied God's justice. It satisfied his
justice. It appeased his wrath. And let me say this before we
move on to the third subject here. That one sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ never needs repeating. It never needs repeating. Why? Because by that one sacrifice,
as the apostle says in Hebrews chapter 10, this man, that is
the God man, the Lord Jesus Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Work is
finished. Work is complete. Father, I have
finished the work which thou gavest me to do. He sat down.
Now the third subject in these verses tonight is the wrath of
God. The wrath of God. Let's read
verses three through seven again. But fornication and all uncleanness
or covetousness, let it not once Let it not be once named among
you as become as saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking,
nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks.
For this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words, For because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience." You know, the wrath of God is
something that many deny. They say, well, that cannot be
compatible with a God of love, that He is also a God of wrath.
When men, and I've noticed this, when men, denominations and so-called
churches, when they began to question the inspiration of the
Word of God, then they are free to read anything into it that
they want to. And that's the reason so many
now deny that God is anything other than a God of love. He is a God of love. but he is
also light, a holy God. And men want to lay aside the
teaching concerning the wrath of God, but you and I know from
the word of God, God's wrath is a very, very real thing. When we look back there just
a moment ago to Noah, God's wrath. Think about it. He destroyed
every person outside that ark. Why? Because of their sin. Because of sin. And yes, the
Bible reveals to us that the wrath of God is going to come
upon all, it says here, who are disobedient. What does it mean
to be disobedient? Who do not believe God. who do
not trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who do not look to Him and Him
alone. The wrath of God is reserved
and it's going to fall. It's going to come. Remember
that sermon that Jonathan Edwards preached that I think in college
the freshmen still have to read that sermon, Sinners in the Hands
of an Angry God. And his text was, their foot
shall slide in due time. Everything looks good now. Everything
looks fine now. But in due time, their foot shall
slide, and it shall slide into everlasting destruction. Let me point us to two passages
of scripture. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and 2
Thessalonians chapter 1 and I'll be almost finished. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and
beginning with verse 2. We give thanks to God always
for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father,
knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. And you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake, and you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were examples or in
samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia, for from
you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and
Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread
abroad, so that we need not to speak anything, for they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you. And now notice,
and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and
true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised
from the dead, even Jesus Christ, which delivered us from the wrath
to come." Salvation is deliverance. That's what the word salvation
means, isn't it? Deliverance. And when a person
is saved, he's delivered from his sin, from the power of sin,
from the penalty of sin, and one day, yes, even from the very
presence of sin. Now look in 2 Thessalonians,
but you see, which delivered us from the wrath to come. It's
coming. It's coming when the Lord Jesus
comes again. Here it is in 2 Thessalonians
1, verses 7, 8, and 9. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. God's children, this passage
here in Ephesians, we are in this world, but we are not to
be of the world. The sins which Paul names, the
world of lost men practice and think nothing of, but that's
not to be true of God's dear children. He lists sins that
we would call sexual sins, sexual immorality as fornication and
all uncleanness. And John Gill made this comment.
He said the reason, I quote, the reason why it is so often
taken notice of, why the apostle in these epistles, when he lists
the works of the flesh, the sins that believers are not to be
engaged in, almost always includes adultery, fornication, uncleanness. The reason why it is so often
taken notice of is because it was very frequent among the Gentiles
and not thought criminal. Dear children of God, do not
partake with the loss. It is unbecoming a child of God. I don't think the world has improved
a whole lot, do you? I think we talk about the Puritan
age Sexual immorality was no doubt looked down upon much more
so than it is today and the day we live in. But the word of God
doesn't change. God doesn't change. And the wrath
of God is going to come upon those who practice such things. God's children, these things
should not even be named among us. I pray the Lord would bless
the message to all of us here tonight. Brother Bill.