Imitate Jesus with Your Life - Ephesians: Born for War

Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the senior pastor of the Road at Chapel Hills.

This is the Road Podcast.

Thanks for joining us.

My heart is to empower you to change the world.

I hope this message impacts you.

So we're in Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

So if you turn to Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

And we are in the book of Ephesians.

We're calling it Born for War because you were born for war.

You're not born for peace.

We love peace.

Peace is great.

I dig peace.

I want peace.

But most things in life are not peaceful.

And most things where you change in a radical way, it's usually not through peace.

It's usually you have to fight for it.

You have to battle for it.

You want good kids, you've got to battle for it.

If you want a good marriage, you've got to fight for it.

If you want to stay single and pure and walk in the light as a single person because God hasn't brought that person into your life, or maybe he's even called you to singleness, you've got to fight for that.

If you are called to get married and have a family, you've got to fight for that.

If you start a new church, you've got to fight for that.

If you're a doctor, if you're an engineer, if you're a mechanic and you start a company, you've got to fight for that.

So you're born for war.

You have what it takes.

Don't let other people tell you, oh, you don't have it, or you're missing that.

You say, yeah, that's all true.

But with God's strength, greater is he that is in you than he does in the world.

And so don't give up.

And so Ephesians is about that.

And really chapters 5 and 6 is how to battle, how to fight.

And so he starts off in Ephesians 5, 1 by saying, imitate God.

Imitate God.

That's a pretty good mandate, right?

Imitate, we all imitate someone.

Remember, I was a kid, I had my heroes, you have your heroes.

Some of us imitate our dads, some of us imitate our moms.

But we all imitate people, we imitate our heroes.

And Paul is saying, imitate Jesus.

Because that's the only form of God that we have that we can literally see and touch and feel, and in our case that we read about was Jesus.

Wouldn't it be amazing in El Paso County if the Christians of El Paso County just did that?

If just everywhere when we imitated Jesus.

Wouldn't that be phenomenal?

I mean, that'd be a revival, right?

Wouldn't your wife like your husband be more like Jesus?

Wouldn't you husbands like your wives be a little bit more like Jesus?

Wouldn't your girlfriend be more like Jesus?

And none of us do this perfectly, but that's why you're here.

That's the purpose of the local church is to empower and equip us to be like Jesus.

And to work on that and grow in that.

And that's why you come to this church.

Because we're all trying.

Sometiming, sometimes victorious, but we're trying.

And it's and it sometimes it feels like it's one step forward and two steps back, right?

And then sometimes it's two steps forward and one step back.

But we're we're working toward this goal in our lives to be more and more like Jesus.

And so chapter five is really, and the reason they, you know, you know, later, because Paul didn't write his letters with chapter titles.

Um, that came later, but they chose to make this break from verse 32 to chapter 5, verse 1, because there is there's this therefore.

There's this therefore.

So in other words, the there is for something.

The there is for something.

And he's talking about walking.

He's talking about walking in the light, walking as a Jesus disciple.

And he makes this transition imitate God as dear children, and walk in love.

That's kind of the first, that's the first step of imitating Jesus is that we walk in love.

Some of us are walking in hate.

Some of us are walking in unforgiveness.

Matter of fact, everybody in this room, to a certain degree, probably has some unforgiveness somewhere.

But as we walk in love, we start breaking through our unforgiveness.

As we start to walk in love, we start breaking through our jealousies.

As we start walking in love, we break through our strife and our envy.

Because as we fear God more and we love God more, there's a new security.

There's a new inner security that comes in you in which you know God's got this.

Isn't that nice?

Isn't that exciting to know?

I mean, that's a nice thought, right?

It actually happens.

That God starts to open doors for our lives when we walk in love.

And so his first thing he says, imitating me, imitating Christ, means you walk in love.

So that's the number one attribute of God.

So when I talk about a kingdom of God revolution, which you guys hear me talk about that a lot.

This vision of our church, kingdom of God, revolution.

What I mean is loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbors yourself.

So to walk in love is to become a whole-hearted disciple.

It's learning to walk with a whole-hearted devotion to the Lord.

And that's a process.

That's a process.

Then, in this, the next few verses, he contrasts that by saying, okay, that's walking in love.

Let me show you what not walking in love looks like.

He makes a compares it in contrast to, because the Christian life is selflessness.

The Christian life is learning to be more and more selfless.

But what he's about to say next is here's what it looks like to be selfish.

Verses 3 through 5 is a pretty good practical definition of selfishness.

Verse 3.

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for the saints.

Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

For this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ in God.

So here's some definitions.

What does he mean with fornication?

Fornication is any sexual relationship outside, listen, of a God-ordained marriage.

So I have to say God ordained marriage because there's a lot of different, you can now get married in some different situations.

Okay.

I'm talking about a God-ordained marriage, any sexual relationship outside of a God-ordained marriage, that would include premarital sex, that would include adultery, that would include homosexuality.

Those are fornication.

That's what we call fornication.

That's selfishness.

So we call it making love.

No, you're making a mess.

You're not on the love boat, you're on the lust boat.

So you want to not make a mess, follow the kingdom.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And what does he say?

All these things will be added unto you.

You see, when you guys, listen, young people, when you start seeking God's kingdom, even at an early age, things will line up for you.

I mean, if you start taking care of your body in a kingdom way, you won't get sick as much.

So a person comes up, they need prayer, and they got they've got some liver disease and they're an alcoholic, okay, I can pray.

Holy Spirit falls on them, they drop to the floor, they're miraculously healed, and then they go back to drinking, and it's seven times worse.

Alright?

But they don't even need to come forward.

I can just say, why don't you kind of quit being drunk?

Because if you'll quit drinking and then you'll start doing some of the things that will help your liver and you'll strengthen yourself, you'll actually start having the miracle of health because you're lining up with the kingdom.

Because see, you don't break kingdom laws, kingdom laws break you.

So if you're sleeping around, there's a chance you're gonna get sexually transmitted diseases.

Does that make sense?

You don't want to get STD?

Don't sleep around.

This is not hard math, folks.

This is not hard.

And so the reality is you start following the kingdom, doors of health start to open up for you.

Doors of joy start to open.

You don't have to worry about stuff.

You know, you don't have to wake up during.

Now, what did I say to her about Saturday night that she said to him, and then what did I say, what did I say to her about Thursday night?

Because you're lying all the time.

You're a liar.

And God's saying, why don't you just tell the truth?

Why don't you be a truth teller?

You have a clear conscience.

Because your number one cause of physical, mental, emotional disease in our life is stress.

And stress comes from an unclean conscience.

Isn't that great?

That we can start having a clear conscience.

We tell the truth as much as possible.

Nobody does this perfectly, but you're starting to tell the truth all the time.

And you start to take care of yourself, and the kingdom laws start to strengthen you.

You start to get stronger in your spirit.

You start to get stronger in your inner woman.

You start to get stronger in your inner man.

You start to have a new kind of confidence in God.

Not confidence in you, but confidence in God in you.

Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

And you start to have that kind of confidence.

So he mentions uncleanness.

Well, what's uncleanness?

Well, uncleanness means that there's areas of our lives that are not pure.

Well, I'm in this dating relationship, and no, we don't, you know, we don't have sex, but we do other things.

Well, if you're dating and you're messing around with another Christian, that's called incest.

Because she's a sister.

He's a brother.

So we walk in cleanliness.

Good thing.

Filthiness.

That'd be like dirty jokes making fun of people.

He says it's not fitting for the saints.

In other words, it doesn't match up with who you are.

Because you're a new person.

You think different, you act different, you speak different of other people.

This you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, covetousness would be taking what's not yours from something, someone else or wanting it, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

It's kind of obvious here that Paul is warning us that when we start to follow in the family of God and in his kingdom ways, that we have this guarantee of the kingdom way in our lives.

But if you're not, there's no guarantees.

And so it's a warning to us that if you're in that realm where you're into fornication, uncleanliness, and covetousness, be careful.

Maybe you're not in the kingdom.

And so the reality is back even in the time of the Romans, they had this saying.

The Romans had this saying.

Every man should have a concubine for pleasure, a wife for procreation, and a mistress for adventure.

And the family began to fall apart in Rome.

And that's what's happening in America.

We got to fight for the family.

We got to battle for the family.

This is spiritual warfare.

So two years ago we started having the marriage conference.

Remember?

Thanks.

Valentine's weekends.

We're going to do that again.

Valentine's weekend in February.

And it's going to be on spiritual warfare in marriage.

Spiritual warfare in the family.

Demons are out to destroy your marriage.

How do you fight that?

How do you battle that?

That's what we're going to talk about in February.

Verse 6.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

We can be deceived.

Partakers has the idea of lapsing into.

Don't lapse into the values of this world.

The church, the evangelical church for the last 25 years has been trying so hard to fit into the culture.

There's all these pastors' conferences you can go to.

There's all these church goals conferences you can go to so that you can fit more into the culture.

The Bible is saying that the church is counter-cultural.

That we're supposed to be a light in the darkness that's different from the culture, making an impact upon the culture, not flowing in the river of the culture, but changing the culture by standing in the river of the culture and actually standing against it, contramundum, and then moving toward it to change it.

That's what we're called to do.

So don't become, he's saying, don't become a partaker of this.

Don't lapse into the cultural ways and identity of this world, of the American culture.

Because if you do, you'll be counter to the kingdom.

Don't be deceived.

Verse 8, for you are once darkness.

So we've all been in the darkness.

We were once darkness, but now you're light in the Lord.

Walk as children of the light.

So jot this down.

A lot of people are taking notes.

Write this down.

To imitate Jesus means to walk in love and be the light.

To imitate Jesus means walk in love and be the light.

Now, some of you that get up early in the morning, you've noticed this.

For me, as an outdoorsman, I'm up early many times during a year, whether it's hunting or fishing, something like that.

And so I'll be in the woods, and if it's a full moon, it can be so bright at times that you could literally walk through the woods and see it like almost like it's midday.

It's so bright.

But the moon has no light of its own.

It's a reflection of the light of the sun, right?

So we know how the tilt of the gloves.

So the moon's here and it's reflecting down to us with this light.

It's amazing sometimes how bright it can be, right?

Well, here's what's amazing.

Here's what's more amazing.

You're not just a reflection of the light of Jesus, you are the light.

Isaiah 60 says, you are the light.

Because every person, whether they're a Christian or not, is created in the image of God.

That's why we treat every person with dignity.

That's the reason we treat any person, even that opposes us, we treat them with respect and dignity.

That's the Christian way.

So some of you in this room do not know Jesus yet.

You're not a Christian.

You grew up in a Christian home.

You may have gone to church, you may have been baptized, you may have been confirmed.

All that stuff.

But you don't know Jesus yet.

You still have the light.

Because you're created in the image of God.

You're an image bearer.

But then when you come to know the light and the light comes in, whoa! There's so much more light that you provide that you don't even realize you're in the darkness until the light starts to shine on you from Christ, and you just move to a whole nother level of understanding the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ matching up with the light that you already had to be a new person in Christ.

It's exciting.

So then when you do that, you start seeing that is darkness.

You didn't see it before.

Because in that area, you were in the darkness.

So you are in the closet with this thing, and then the door opens, the light shines in, his name is Jesus, and you go, I've been in a closet.

So you come out of the closet.

You come out of the closet in your finances, you come out of your closet in your marriage, you come out of the closet in your sexual intimacy life, you come out of the closet in your physical health.

And so what happens is that light, you look back, you go, I can't believe I was that long in that closet in the darkness.

And maybe someone came along and said, you know what?

If you'll give your heart to Christ, if you'll start getting involved in a small group or a church and start growing and get into the word, that closet door is gonna open up and we're gonna just, we're gonna tear the door off.

And guess what?

You're now gonna shine light into that darkness so other people can get out of their closet and into the light.

That's the adventure.

That's why we hate religion around here, but we love a relationship with Christ because that's the adventure of the kingdom of God in our lives.

So that's what Paul's saying.

And then he shows us, so in contrast to verses 4, 5, and 6, look at verse 9.

For the fruit of the Spirit, so you could say verses 3, 4, and 5, and 6, 2, 3 through 6 are sort of the fruit of selfishness.

Verse 9 is the fruit of the spirit.

Goodness, righteousness, and truth.

Now here's what's amazing about these parenthetical, this parenthetical statement here is that that's what we actually want in other people, but sometimes we don't want to be that person.

Does that make sense?

So we we see when we when we criticize people, it's usually because they're not good or they're not righteous or they're not telling the truth.

Well, there's nothing wrong with being critical of that, but the most important value of our lives is am I that?

Am I becoming this?

Am I becoming a person of goodness, righteousness, and truth?

And that's why this Christian life is like a lifelong journey.

It's a road less trouble.

It's continuing to grow in those things.

We don't have to stay where we've been.

You don't have to do your engineering job the same way you've always done it.

You don't have to be married the same way you've been married before.

You do not have to be a student the way you were a student before.

You can change.

You have the capacity to change through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And that'll keep you young.

Even as you're older thinking, I'm going to change that.

I'm going to change that area of my life.

Here's what's cool about this is that, and I can't wait to share at the health conference, is that when you start living that way and you've got goals that are righteous goals, it strengthens your immune system.

It strengthens your immune system.

Scientifically, they know this to be true.

That if you start having good goals for your life, it strengthens your physical immune system.

You actually start having positive thoughts with a vision for your life, it releases the endorphins, it releases and strengthens your immune system, and you fight off disease better.

Selfishness, selfish living, only thinking about yourself is the best sign that you're headed toward cancer.

Beginning to live, to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, your neighbor yourself, and living selfless lives, guess what happens?

You start getting physically stronger, too.

I mean, isn't it amazing?

When you I I watched the Alabama game, which was a beautiful, beautiful experience last night.

All of you that know what I'm talking about.

They were number one in the nation.

And I got home at 9 o'clock from a gathering that I was at, and I saw it was 31 to 30 Texas AM.

So I said, Josh, get the computer out, you know.

So you flipped it up instead of watching the game.

But if you saw that game, you may remember the quarterback, I don't remember his name, for Texas AM, gets rolled up on a play.

So the guy he gets rolled up, you see his knee hyperextend, makes a touchdown pass, goes down, and then they got this third string quarterback that's gonna come in that's had zero snaps in the season, he's a walk-on, not looking good.

Okay?

But they put, you know how they have the tent there where they go in and they do a quick check of everything?

And I was telling Josh about how many hyperextensions that I've had in athletics through the year.

He's gotta keep it moving.

Unless it's a full break or or or he actually tore something, he should keep moving.

He shouldn't stay on the sideline, it's gonna lock up.

So sure enough, five minutes later, he comes out of the tent and he leads them down the field to win the game.

But one of the things that was crucial was he did a like an 11-yard run.

He's under pressure, he sees an opening, and he makes the run, he gets the first down, which was very, very crucial in the game.

But he just got his knee rolled up.

Well, what's going on in that quarterback's mind that he's able to block out the pain, because he's got to be in pain, and to make that run.

That's what I'm talking about.

When you have goals, when you have purpose to your life, it's amazing what you can do.

It's amazing the obstacles because you've got a greater vision than just yourself.

That guy was altruistically living for the moment for his team, not for him.

Does that make sense?

So that's what Paul's talking about.

He's saying the fruit of the Spirit is goodness and righteous and true.

And when we start living that way, you just feel better.

You look better.

The best looking women in the city are right here in this church.

The best looking men in the city are right here in this church.

They're not these bars over here.

Those are all models and stuff on those beer commercials.

You've been to the bars.

Woo! You're hurting if you're trying to find them there.

Let me just tell you.

If you want to find the best-looking men and the best-looking women, come to church.

Come to this church.

I can't speak for other churches.

We got good-looking men and women here because they're trying to live for Jesus.

Finding out what is acceptable, the Lord, verse 11.

Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

Expose them.

So Liz is going to lead a prayer gathering right after the service at 1215.

It's going to be about one hour, and the prayers are going to be expose the darkness, Lord.

Expose the darkness in government, expose the darkness in our school system.

Expose the darkness in our health care.

God, we need you to move.

It's not just a three-dimensional fight, gang.

It's a fourth-dimensional fight, too.

And where we make our mistake is thinking it's all right here what we can see.

No.

Ephesians, the whole chapter six is all about there's principalities and powers waging war against us.

Expose them.

And so Daniel, in his great prophecy, Daniel 2.22, he says, God reveals the deep and secret things.

He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him.

So listen carefully, church.

When you start to have the light and you start to utilize the light, you start to see darkness in dark places that are exposed by the light that you couldn't see before.

So it gives you not just a vision for your life, but a vision for what's happening out there.

You start to see stuff that you wouldn't see before.

Because God knows the secrets of darkness.

God knows what Satan is up to.

And listen now, it's important.

Satan is the stooge of God.

Remember the three stooges?

Okay.

Before we make Satan so big and so mighty, Satan is a stooge of God.

God's actually using Satan to create a scenario of his purposes to strengthen the people of God so that we'll learn to battle and we'll learn to fight and we'll learn to take ground from the enemy.

For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done in secret.

But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light.

For whatever makes manifest is the light.

So I have this tool kit.

You open the toolkit, you got all the tools, they're all in slots.

I hate when they do that because you're always trying to figure out which slot did that one come in, and you spend like 45 minutes just trying to put everything back.

But there's a flashlight in there.

About this big, little blue thing.

That thing's useless.

I mean, seriously, it shines about that far, right?

But then I've got another flashlight that I got at Ace Hardware that I charge up.

And I mean, this thing has got some major lumens, man.

And it and it could, if we had this, if this whole sanctuary were dark, I could see, you know, into that corner over there, that corner, because it's so powerful.

It's small, though.

It's small like the other one, but it's got a different system.

And it really shines the light.

And I feel like when I saw that today, because we were working on, we're putting in a new garbage disposals and things this weekend.

And um I was looking at the two lights, and I thought, you know, that's kind of like when you're a new believer.

When you're a new believer, your light's not really that strong, you know?

But then as you start to grow in Christ, you're spending time in the Word, you're hanging out with other believers, you're involved in church, you start to grow.

And your light gets brighter.

And as it gets brighter, I can expose stuff way over there.

But in the beginning, it was just right here.

This is all I could take care of, was this right here.

But then as I took care of that, God strengthens me more, and then I could take care of the you guys on the front row.

You know?

You don't look like you need any help, by the way.

You look actually great.

But then the next, and you see what I'm saying?

So don't you want your light to get brighter?

Well, keep growing.

Don't be satisfied.

Have a holy dissatisfaction about your Christian life.

Have a holy dissatisfaction about your Christian life.

I don't want to stay here.

I want to be at a new place a year from now in my life.

But here's what you got to do.

Verse 14.

Awake.

Wake up.

There's that, therefore, again.

It's therefore.

Therefore, he says, awake, you sleep.

Arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

So wake up.

How many of you have had a love-hate relationship with your alarm clocks?

Well, the last two weeks I've been attacked from the right and from the left.

I guess you're doing something sort of right if some people on the right don't like you and some people on the left don't like you.

Kind of alarm clocks.

I don't like it, but it's the world I live in.

Well, if you think of the terms of a wake-up call from God because of an adventure that he has for you, then the awakening of the Lord is a good thing.

So, you know, I'm going to be hunting elk this week.

Saturday is opening day, and that alarm clock, I really dig that alarm clock.

Because when that thing goes off at 3 a.m., I'm like, let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go make it happen, right?

So I think that's because I'm excited about the adventure.

And men and women, God's got an adventure for you.

And he's waking you up today, and he's waking you up each week because he's got a great adventure.

And you say, well, I don't know, it's not gone so well for me, and all that.

Well, that's because you haven't gone to the dragon yet.

You guys know the stories of the dragon?

The tales of the dragon?

The dragon is this prehistoric terrestrial figure that never dies.

Throws out, you know, like a flame.

Usually lives in a cave, but what's else in the cave?

Gold.

Silver.

Treasures, right?

Sometimes you have to go into the dragon to get the gold.

Knights of the round table.

King Arthur and it was called the Round Table because the mythology of that is that they were all equal.

And they went to search for the Holy Grail.

What's the first place they go?

The first place they go is into the forest that nobody had been to.

The darkest forest is where the Holy Grail might be because nobody's gone there.

So what you haven't experienced is because you haven't been there yet.

So maybe the thing you fear most is the thing you should face the quickest so that you can get to the adventure in the most powerful way possible.

So what are you afraid of?

Well, what you're afraid of is you're afraid of the unknown.

We all are that way.

But that's where the gold is.

But that's also where the dragon is.

So pick up your sword.

Pick up your shield.

Get some blood saint allies and start walking into that cave.

And don't let people bully you around.

There's a lot of Christian bullies out there.

Face the bully.

Don't respond or waste your time talking back to the bully, but just don't run from him.

And just walk into it.

Walk into your fears because behind that dragon is a pot of gold.

In those dark woods is the Holy Grail for all of our lives.

So face our fear and watch what God will do.

That's the adventure.

See then that you walk circumspectly.

So this word is where, this word in the Greek is a word we get for acrobat.

So acrobas in Greek.

So you're gonna have to circumspectly means walk carefully.

Walk carefully, watch your step.

Not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

So he's speaking here of use your time wisely.

So if when I was speaking today, you knew in your heart, that's what I'm afraid of.

I've always been afraid of that.

And I want my light to shine into that darkness.

I'm gonna go after that dragon.

So now start making steps to do that.

Don't just let this be in one ear and out the other.

Actually, go home today and write down maybe three action steps to face your fears.

That your light will become stronger.

To power up that battery of the Holy Spirit within you, to shine that light in a new way.

And then nothing's gonna happen at first.

Nothing's gonna happen at first.

But you're taking steps because you're the change.

You guys, you're the change.

Because if you change, circumstances begin to change because you're a new person.

So you may not see the circumstances.

Don't look at the outcome.

Look at the work of the Spirit in you that you're becoming confident in Christ, and that light is shining through you, and watch what'll happen.

You'll see evil topple before your very eyes, but God's going to change you first.

See, God always does his work in us before he does his work through us.

Hey, thanks for listening to the Road Podcast.

It's been my joy to be a part of your life today.

And you know, that's part of what we do here at The Road, and this is what I do in having this Road Podcast is to empower people to change their world.

My passion and desire is that you would take God's word through the power of the Holy Spirit and make that relevant for your life.

You know, the reality is that God has placed your life here on this earth to make a difference.

And if you'd like more information about how to grow in Christ, if you need prayer, if you want more equipping in different areas of your life, go to theroad.org.

God bless you.