Ephesians 5:1-14

second half of the book, and we're looking at chapter 5, verses 1 to 14. Let me read these

verses for us. Paul's words to the Ephesians and God's words to us.

Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us

and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and

all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints.

Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place,

but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually

immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of

Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of

God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them. For at one time

you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of

light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the

Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them, for it is shameful

even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes

visible. For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, awake, O sleeper, and arise from

the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Let's pray. God of love and light, we thank you that you have

shown your love to us in your son Jesus Christ in his death on the cross, and you've shined your light

upon us through his resurrection. We pray that you would help us as we look into this passage tonight.

Teach us. Lord, speak to each one of our hearts as with what you alone know that we need. Remind us of

who you are. Pray that you would, I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our

hearts would be pleasing in your sight. For you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

So a couple of weeks ago, we talked about the theme of transformation.

And I started with three examples, and I'm going to start with them again tonight.

So the first example of transformation is, I want you to think of an ugly gray caterpillar

crawling on the ground, slowly moving forward with its, I don't know how many legs. And then it

crawls into this gray cocoon that doesn't really look like anything worth noticing. And then it emerges

as a beautiful butterfly soaring through the air, spreading its wings.

Second example, think of a child who's alone and hungry and afraid because they have no family to care for them.

They've been left all alone in the world to fend for themselves.

And then that child is brought into a loving and stable home where all their needs are met.

Or think about an athlete.

Traded from a losing team where everyone's miserable and everyone's arguing with each other

and everyone's lazy and blaming each other all the time. Traded to a team that's unified and hardworking

and everyone has each other's back. And because of that, they're a winning team.

Now here's a problem, right? When a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, it's a pretty clean transformation.

It's once and done. Right? The butterfly doesn't fly around with a caterpillar's cocoon on its back.

Doesn't pretend to be a caterpillar again. Right? It's transformed. And that's, it's a new creature.

But when we human beings experience transformation, it's never quite so clean and simple. Right?

We carry our past with us. We carry those cocoons and that caterpillar skin on our shoulders.

Right? We carry our memories, our habits, our fears, our burdens, guilt and shame.

Sometimes we go back. Often very quickly we go back to our old mindsets and our old habits and our old attitudes.

Now what the apostle Paul has been saying in this book of Ephesians is that spiritual transformation is possible

and it's a reality for everyone who has put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Paul says you become a new person like a caterpillar that's been transformed into a butterfly.

You become a new creature. You have a new self, a new identity.

You're also part of a new family.

You're a child in the family of God.

Jesus Christ is your brother.

You can call God Father and know that you have a heavenly Father who is looking out for you,

who loves you and who will never leave you.

And finally, you're on a new team.

Right? Like the athlete.

You're on a mission to the world.

And Paul says this transformation that Christ can give is as real and complete and deep and life-changing.

It's almost as if you've been reborn.

But it takes time for us to grow up into that transformation, right?

To live out and live into that transformation that God has given us in Christ.

Just like it takes time for a newborn child to develop into a full-grown adult.

I mean, think about a newborn child for a minute.

What can a newborn child do?

It can lay down and maybe flail, right?

Do a little bit of this.

It can't even sit up, right?

If you try to put the newborn child and just sit them up right next to you,

I wouldn't do that, right?

They're going to fall over.

Right?

But eventually, after a few months,

the child learns to sit up.

And sit up without just tumbling over.

And then they start to sort of move around and crawl around and pull themselves up.

And one day, they take their first step.

You know, my wife and I had a friend come visit us in town this weekend.

And we remembered that it was at her house that our daughter took her first step, right?

It's something that you notice and you remember as a parent when that happened.

When your child took their first step.

And after that, they learned to stand firm on their own two feet and grow up into an adult.

Right?

Now, that's the progression that you see in the book of Ephesians.

Okay?

The Apostle Paul is using this as an image for how God has made us new creatures in Christ.

He says, first we learn to sit.

Then we learn to walk.

And finally, we learn to stand.

So chapter 2 of Ephesians says,

We are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

God has raised us up with Christ.

He's given us new life.

He's welcomed us into his family.

He's called us not just temporary guests or visitors, but beloved children.

Who belong to him forever.

And that's what chapters 1 to 3 of Ephesians are all about.

It's about being seated in your identity in Christ.

Learning to rest in what Christ has done for you.

And know that you have a solid foundation to rest on.

And you can praise God for all that he's done for you.

You can pray to him with confidence.

Then Paul goes on.

He doesn't just talk about being seated in Christ.

He also talks about learning to walk in Christ.

And that word walk appears five times in chapters 4 and 5.

Chapter 4 verse 1 says,

Walk according to the calling you have received.

Chapter 4 verse 17, he says,

You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.

That is, as people who don't know God.

And then in our passage today, verse 2,

Walk in love as Christ loved us.

And verse 8, walk as children of light.

And finally verse 15, which we'll get to next week,

Walk not as unwise but as wise.

Right?

So what Paul's doing is he's taught us what it means to sit,

to rest in our identity in Christ.

Now he's teaching us to walk.

And finally, he's going to get us in chapter 6,

he's going to say stand.

And that doesn't just mean sort of stand there.

But stand firm and fight the spiritual battle

that is waging in and around us every day

and fight it with spiritual weapons,

the armor of God.

The resources that God has given us

to fight the spiritual battles and stand firm.

So sit, walk, stand.

That's the book of Ephesians in three words.

I didn't make it up.

It was a Chinese Christian pastor who pointed that out.

So I'm just stealing his outline of Ephesians.

Right?

But today we're talking about the Christian walk.

How to walk as people who have been made new in Christ.

And Paul is a bit like a proud parent.

Right?

Teaching your children to walk.

And wanting to guard them from dangers.

And wanting to point them in the right direction.

Now, before we jump into this passage,

what it means to walk in Christ,

let me just point out,

Paul's speaking to people who have been made alive in Christ,

who would say,

I believe in Jesus as my Savior and Lord,

and I belong to him.

Now, some of you,

some of you might say,

you know,

honestly, I'm not quite sure about that.

I'm not quite sure.

You know,

maybe you're skeptical.

Maybe you have a lot of questions.

Is God real?

Why should I trust the Bible?

Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?

Maybe there's questions.

And those questions,

you'd say,

you know,

I don't know about trusting Jesus.

I have a lot of questions.

I need to deal with those.

Maybe you're curious.

You just want to learn more.

Maybe you're seeking.

Maybe you feel like,

I really need some spiritual change,

some spiritual transformation in my life.

And that's why I've come here.

But I don't even quite know how to get it.

Right?

I'm not quite there yet.

But I want it.

And so if that's you,

if you're in any of those categories,

what we'll see tonight in this passage

is really a picture of what your life could become

through faith in Jesus Christ.

And we'll talk about how you can make that first step

towards faith in Christ.

But wherever you are,

yeah, wherever you are,

we're glad you're here tonight.

So two main points in this passage.

How we are to walk.

All right, first of all,

in verse one to seven,

we'll see we're to walk in love

because Christ loved us

and laid down his life for us on the cross.

And second, verse eight to 14,

we're to walk in the light,

the light that Christ has shined on us

through his resurrection.

So if you notice,

this passage begins with the cross of Christ.

Christ gave himself up for us

and it ends with the resurrection.

And really that's the heart of

how we experience that transformation

is by looking to Jesus

and seeing what he did when he died on the cross

and saying,

I believe in you that you died on the cross for my sins

and believing that he rose again

and that he's alive today.

And so that's the heart of it all.

So walk in love and walk in the light.

We're gonna look at those points tonight.

That's what we're gonna focus on.

So first, verse one and two,

therefore be imitators of God as beloved children.

Walk in love as Christ loved us

and gave himself up for us.

A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

All right, so we see both the love of God the Father

and the love of God the Son

here just in these two verses.

It is, but Paul has already prayed in Ephesians

that we would know the love of Christ.

That we'd know how high and how wide

and how deep and how long is his love.

He prayed that in chapter three.

You know, knowing the love of Christ

makes all the difference.

All right, I mean, doesn't it make all the difference

if you know that there is one person in the world

who loves you

and who would even give up their life for you?

It makes all the difference in the world,

whether that person's a parent

or a close friend

or a spouse

or whoever they might be.

It makes all the difference in the world

to know that you are loved

securely and completely.

And Paul says,

ultimately, Jesus Christ

is the one that you can be secure

in his love for you.

And we can see Christ's love in a lot of ways.

You can read the Gospels

and see Christ's love

in his healing ministry

and how he interacted with people

on the margins of society

and how he treated little children

who were sort of despised and ignored in his day.

How he treated lepers, tax collectors,

all kinds of people.

You can see his love in his relationships

and his interactions with them.

You can see his love in his humble service,

how he washed his disciples' feet.

He did the thing that nobody wanted to do.

He did the task that was a servant's job,

to get out a bucket of water and a towel

and wash some people's feet

who had been walking through streets

where horses and cows

and whatever other animals

just left their stuff

in the middle of the street, right?

It wasn't pleasant to wash people's feet back then.

There could be all kinds of stuff on them.

They weren't protected by sneakers.

It was sandals, right?

You can see Christ's love in all these ways,

that he gets down and dirty

to love and serve his disciples,

but the ultimate way we see Christ's love

is in his death on the cross,

that he gave his life for us,

that he was willing to go to that extent

to show the fullness of his love.

And thinking about where he came from,

that he came from heaven and glory

and honor and freedom,

and he chose to limit himself,

to come down and take on a human body

and be crucified in a place of,

and receive shame and pain and rejection,

and to do all that as a sacrifice for us

so that we could be reconciled to God

and so that we could be accepted

into God's family forever.

So knowing the love of Christ,

knowing that it's for you,

Paul says it's for us.

In Galatians he says,

Christ loved me and gave himself for me.

You can say both, right?

To know the love of Christ is for you,

personally, individually,

and to know that it's for all of us,

for the whole family of God.

Knowing the love of Christ

makes all the difference.

And so Paul says, walk in love.

The cross of Christ defines true love.

It's self-giving for the good of another.

And then Paul goes on,

in verse three to seven,

to give some very strong warnings.

Verse three, he warns against sexual immorality,

impurity, and covetousness.

That just means greed.

Verse four, he warns against filthiness,

foolish talk, and crude joking.

All right, so we see outward actions,

inward desires, and speech.

All those different categories.

And Paul says,

these things must not even be named among you.

Another translation says,

there must be not even a hint of these things.

And the reason that Paul would give,

is Paul would say,

none of these behaviors reflect Christ's self-giving love.

Instead, they're self-gratifying

and self-indulgent ways of life.

Living at the expense of others,

instead of for the good of another.

So Paul warns,

so we need to,

let's look at,

we need to look at these warnings.

Paul warns against sexual immorality

and all impurity.

Now, the Christian teaching

is that in God's design,

sexual intimacy

is exclusively reserved for married couples.

Now,

when I say that sentence,

you might think,

or most people,

right, most people today would think,

right,

maybe some of you,

and especially anybody who's,

who's not in church today,

would think,

what?

Right?

80 to,

you know,

what is it?

Like 80 to 90% of college students

have sex before they graduate.

You know,

I won't go into statistics,

right?

The question today is,

do you go for a one-night stand?

Do you do the more respectable thing

and practice serial monogamy?

Or do you have an open relationship

by mutual agreement?

Okay,

so,

and many people assume to be a,

especially to be a young,

healthy adult,

and to choose not to have sex,

because you're not married

means you're repressive

or afraid

or really socially awkward.

Right?

So,

I just want to acknowledge up front,

this teaching sounds crazy

to many people.

But here's the reason

for the Christian teaching

about sex.

Christian teaching is basically this,

that sex is not just a form

of mutual entertainment.

Sex is when you give your body

completely

and without reservation

to someone else

in the most intimate

and vulnerable way.

And sexual intercourse

bonds two people together.

And that's exactly what you do

when you make a vow,

a promise

to someone else in marriage.

For better,

for worse,

for richer,

for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

till death do us part,

I pledge to you

my faithfulness.

That's what you're doing.

You're giving yourself

to someone else

without reservations,

without holding anything back,

in the moment,

you're being,

you're saying,

here I am,

all of me,

for you.

And that is self-giving love.

And in that context,

sex makes sense.

It means I would marry you

all over again tonight.

It's a good and joyful thing.

It's pleasing to God.

In fact,

God commands married couples

to take delight in one another,

including one another's bodies.

You can read Song of Solomon

or read Proverbs chapter five.

But if you haven't made

that marriage promise,

I promise to be with you

and for you,

for better,

for worse,

for richer,

for poorer,

then having sex with someone else

is telling them a lie.

Because you're saying

one thing with your body,

I'm giving you everything I have.

I'm not holding anything back.

But actually,

you haven't done that.

Because you're holding back

your independence,

your freedom,

to break up anytime you want.

You're probably holding back

your money.

Probably haven't merged

your bank accounts.

And so Paul says,

sex outside that bond of marriage

is not really self-giving

for the good of another.

It's self-gratifying.

It's taking

when you haven't fully given

to someone else.

It's looking at someone

and wanting them,

but not fully giving yourself

to them.

It may be exciting.

It may feel life-giving.

But Paul says,

that is not God's design.

And so Paul warns about that.

Paul says,

there must not be even a hint.

So whether it's adultery,

or fornication,

pornography,

lusting,

self-gratifying,

none of these practices,

Paul says,

express the self-giving

love of Christ.

And so Paul warns against them.

Paul also warns against greed,

covetousness.

Now some people think

Christians are only concerned

about sex.

Right?

And occasionally,

right,

you can find some Christian

who gets quoted

by some person in the media

who seems like

all they care about

is sexual morality

in America.

And that's the cause

of our nation's decline.

And it's the only thing

we need to change.

But the Bible is not

myopic like that.

The Bible is equally

concerned about money.

Now greed,

it's a little harder

to define

than sexual immorality,

but it's just as pervasive.

A couple of examples,

or some statistics.

American Christians

who attend church

at least

twice a month

give on average

6%

of their after-tax

income

away.

More generally,

just people who call

themselves Christians

generally,

regardless of church attendance,

give an average of 3%.

The non-religious

give away even less.

But,

so Christians do

give a little bit more

than average,

it seems like,

especially if you say

your faith is important to you

when you go to church.

But still,

the Bibles

in the Old Testament,

the standard for giving

was give away 10%

as a sign of

thankfulness to God,

recognizing everything

you have comes from God

and saying,

God,

I'm going to give you

the first fruits

of what you have given me.

And it's interesting

because this study

is of American Christians,

right?

One of the wealthiest nations

in the history of the world.

And yet we give less

percentage-wise

than people

in many other times

and periods of history.

I think the percentage

of giving was higher

in the Great Depression

than it is today.

And more broadly,

not just about

what percentage

of your income

you give away,

don't we all tend

to compare ourselves

to the people

around us?

Right?

Most of us tend

to hang out with people,

at least some people,

who are sort of

in the roughly

the same income bracket

as us.

And you can easily think,

oh, well,

I don't spend

as much as they do.

I mean,

they've got to,

you know,

their car

is two levels

more expensive

than mine.

You know,

surely,

surely I'm not greedy

because look at them.

Most,

so,

along these lines,

most Americans

think of themselves

as middle class.

Only 2% of Americans

call themselves

upper class.

Now,

if there's lower,

middle,

and upper,

a third,

a third,

a third,

right,

then it doesn't make sense

that only 2% of Americans

would say,

I'm in the upper third.

Right?

We can easily deceive

ourselves about money

in all kinds of ways,

how we think about ourselves,

how we compare ourselves

to other people,

how we justify ourselves.

And so,

Tim Keller writes

in his book,

Counterfeit Gods,

he says,

we should all begin

with a working hypothesis.

This could easily

be a problem for me.

Jesus warned people

far more often

about greed

than about sex,

yet almost no one

thinks they're guilty of it.

If greed hides itself

so deeply,

no one should be confident

that this is not

a problem for them.

So,

Paul warns us.

He says,

beware of greed.

Jesus said,

your life doesn't consist

in the abundance

of your possessions.

Don't measure your life

by how much stuff you have

or don't have.

That's not ultimately

what makes you truly rich.

Finally,

Paul warns against

certain kinds of speech

in verse 4.

Filthiness,

foolish talk,

and crude joking.

Right?

Some types of conversation

are just not profitable

to engage in.

Paul says,

just don't go there.

That kind of speech

is not edifying.

It doesn't build anyone up.

You're just tearing people down.

Again,

it doesn't show

the self-giving love of Christ

for the good of others.

It's tearing people down.

So,

we should exercise discernment

in how we speak

and also what we listen to.

Say,

what movies you watch?

What TV shows you watch?

Now,

I don't think there's

a hard and fast rule.

Some people are like,

Christians should not watch

R-rated movies.

Well,

there's a lot of R-rated movies

that actually

have a lot of good,

have a lot of very

thought-provoking messages.

And in fact,

if you put the Old Testament

to a movie,

there are some episodes

that would give it

an R-rating.

But I think we have to ask,

is there a,

what is the redeeming value

to this TV show

or this movie?

Or is it just

filthiness,

foolish talk,

and crude joking?

And is that what I want

to be filling my head with?

Right?

Paul says,

try to discern

what pleases the Lord.

Right?

You've been loved,

Paul says.

That's where he starts.

You've been loved.

You are loved by Christ.

He gave his life for you.

And so walk in that love.

You know,

he gives us one thing.

He says,

you know,

avoid all these things.

Avoid all these dangers,

these traps.

But instead,

let there be thanksgiving.

You know,

Paul says,

start there.

Because gratitude

fosters contentment.

And gratitude

helps us become wise.

And gratitude

helps us notice

other people

outside ourselves.

Paul says,

start with thanksgiving.

Think about what

you can be thankful for.

That's how Paul started

the book of Ephesians.

Right?

The first half of chapter one

is just thanking God

for all the blessings,

all the spiritual blessings

we have in Christ.

And Paul says,

think about that

and thank God.

And that'll change

your attitude.

And it'll make you

not feel like

I need all this stuff

that I don't have.

And that maybe

isn't mine to take.

Paul says,

start with thankfulness.

Because you are loved.

So that's the first thing.

Walk in love

because of the cross

of Christ.

Second,

Paul calls us

to walk in the light

because of the resurrection

of Christ.

Paul warns,

again,

in verse five to seven,

I'll just go through

these very briefly.

He warns that people

whose life is defined

or governed by

those habitual practices

have no inheritance

in God's kingdom

and the wrath of God

is coming.

Now,

that doesn't mean

that if you're a believer

in Christ

and you struggle

with some of these sins

or you fall into

some of these sins,

that doesn't mean

that you're excluded

from God's kingdom forever.

Right?

The Bible says,

if we confess our sins,

God is faithful

and just to forgive

our sins

and purify us

from all unrighteousness.

But Paul calls us

to walk in the light.

And part of walking

in the light

is just being open

and honest

and being truthful.

So let's look at

walking in the light,

verse eight to 14.

Paul begins by saying,

at one time you were darkness,

but now you're light

in the Lord.

Right?

He reminds us

of the transformation

that we've already experienced.

You know,

it's sort of like

he's saying

to the athlete

who's been traded

to this new team,

he's like,

remember,

remember the team

you used to be on

and remember

the habits you developed

while you were on that team.

And he's like,

that's not you anymore.

You're on a new team now.

Think about

the fear

that you had.

Right?

As a,

think about the child

and think about

how you were afraid

and alone

and hungry

and you didn't know.

You couldn't rely on anyone.

And now,

you're loved

and you're accepted

and you're wanted.

Paul says,

remember who you were

before you came

to know Christ.

All right?

Even,

remember,

remember

that at one time

you were living

in the darkness

but now

you're light

in the Lord.

Right?

We were all born

in the darkness of sin.

Right?

Whether you grew up

in the church,

if there's never,

maybe there's never a time

that you didn't know Christ

that you can remember.

But we all have

a sinful nature

inside us.

Right?

So we're,

there's,

this is true for all of us,

not just people

who have sort of

a dramatic experience

at one point in their life.

So he says,

remember what you were.

You were darkness,

now you're light.

So walk as children

of the light.

He talks about

exposing

the unfruitful words

of darkness,

bringing them

into the light.

You know,

sometimes transformation

doesn't look

as dazzling

as a caterpillar

turning into a butterfly.

Right?

If you take the example

of a child,

a newborn child,

it takes time

for a child

to grow up.

It takes time

for a child

to learn to sit up

and to walk

and then to stand firm.

And you know,

it takes time

for us to grow

as Christians.

Right?

Paul's,

Paul's saying,

you know,

this isn't all

going to happen

all at once.

It's a process.

But we're together

in that process.

And Paul

ends

with this

verse

which is

adapted from

the book of Isaiah

where he says,

Awake,

O sleeper,

rise from the dead

and Christ

will shine

on you.

The verse is

from Isaiah.

Isaiah 60

says,

Arise and shine

for your light

has come

and the glory

of the Lord

rises upon you.

See,

darkness covers

the earth

and thick darkness

is over the peoples

but the Lord

rises upon you.

His glory

appears

over you.

If you look

from verse 11

to verse 14,

it starts

with the unfruful

words of darkness

and then being

exposed by the light

and then verse 14

becoming light.

So it's a picture.

Paul says,

remember what you were.

You were darkness

and now you're light

in the Lord.

And then he says,

you know what?

If you walk

in the light

and if you walk

in the love of Christ,

other people

may see.

The transformation

that God is doing

in you

and they may also

come into that light.

Some who are now

in the darkness

might be attracted

to the light

and might enter

the kingdom of God.

I mean,

think about it.

If all you saw

every day

was caterpillars

walking around

on the ground

and you'd never seen

a butterfly in your life,

you would never believe

that that caterpillar

could turn into

a butterfly.

but Paul says,

as we walk

in the light,

right,

as God continues

his work in us,

even though it's slow

and takes time

like a child

growing up

and learning to sit

and learning to stand

and learning to walk

and learning to run

and learning

and finally growing up

to be an adult.

Paul says,

as we grow in Christ

and gradually grow

into the full-grown people

that he's called us to be,

our prayer is that,

our prayer can be

that others would see

the light of Christ

shining upon us

and shining out

through us

and see his love

and see his light.

So walk in love

because of the cross

of Christ,

walk in the light

because of the resurrection

of Christ.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we thank you

for these foundational truths,

Lord,

that you have loved us

and given yourself

up for us.

Lord,

that in you

we are loved.

In you we are known.

In you we are accepted.

Lord,

you see everything

including our,

Lord,

our deepest secrets

and yet you know us

and you love us.

And Lord,

you have shined

your light upon us

through your resurrection

from the dead.

Lord,

in your resurrection

from the dead

we see that

you are alive

and you will reign

forevermore

and you have the power

Lord,

to take us

from death to life,

from darkness to light,

from despair to hope.

Lord,

from being self-focused

and self-gratifying

to being self-giving

and loving.

Lord,

we pray that you

would continue your work

in each of us.

We pray that we would

be rooted in the cross

and the resurrection

of Christ.

Lord,

that your love

and your light

would dwell in us

and shine through us

and Lord,

that we would extend

those mercies

to others.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well,

now we're going to

celebrate the Lord's Supper

and share the bread

and the cup

that Jesus gave to us

to remember.

To remember his death

until he comes.

To remember that he

loved us

and gave his life

for us on the cross.