Let's then turn in God's Word to Ephesians chapter 5 as we continue in Ephesians. I moved my sheets of paper, mine are in Thessalonians for some reason. There we go. Ephesians 5, we'll be looking at the first 21 verses. Historically, we might say, we'll see how far we get. But this is, I think, again, all the same idea. And so I feel like we should treat it as a whole, even if perhaps we do or don't get through it all in one shot. Because there is so much connected together here in how do we live as those whom God has saved, and how do we not live? Because looking back to the previous chapter, we were reminded of how we live not grieving the Spirit in those things which God has taught us through Christ. So then, let us read the first 21 verses of Ephesians 5. Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice of God or to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for 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 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 be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, he says, awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, 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. and do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. Thus far the reading of God's Word, may He add His blessing to our consideration of it this morning. Brothers and sisters, in our Lord Jesus Christ, as we look at God's Word, we are cautioned that we are not to live in partnership with the world. That we are not, verse 7, partakers with them. And we're told, as we continue in the passage, that we are, verse 15, to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. We are called to walk circumspectly, or to be aware of what's going on. We're not to walk as the foolish world around us walks in wickedness, in sin, but rather we are to redeem the time. To use the time God has given us on this earth for important things. We live in a world that worships itself. Individuals worship themselves. What do I get out of it? And brothers and sisters, the question we need to ask is, what does God get out of it? Not what do I get out of it? What does God get out of it? And so as we look at this world, God paints a very dark picture. Because we need to understand how dark this world really is. I think too often we, in our church, don't look outside because it's a pretty bad picture. We don't put pictures up on the wall of devastation and things like that, do we? Because we don't want to look at that sort of thing. And the same is true as we dig into this world. We see devastation. We see horrors. And brothers and sisters, this is where the brokenness of sin leads. As human beings, as we consider God's ten commandments and God's boundary lines for us, we like to stick our feet over the edge. Because that seems fun over here, that seems cool and important over there. And if we truly saw where these things led, we would hate them. They would disgust us. Because they truly are disgusting. So as we look at God's Word, God calls His people to walk as children of light, imitating Him in love, rather than imitating the darkness of the world. That's the theme as we look at God's Word this morning. God calls His people to walk as children of the light, imitating Him in love, rather than imitating the darkness of this world. Why would we want to imitate darkness? And yet when we try to fit in, that's what we're doing. We're imitating the world. In v. 1-2, we're called to imitate God's love for us. In v. 3-13, we're called to walk as children of the light, not partaking with the sons of disobedience. In v. 14-21, we are called to walk and admonish fellow Christians to walk in the Spirit. So first of all, God calls His people to walk as children of the light to imitate Him in love. We're called to imitate God's love for us. To walk as imitators of God. Reading there right in verse 1, Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. That we imitate. Now if we think of children, children are very good at imitation, aren't they? Sometimes they embarrass us even, don't they? because they'll imitate the things we don't do so very well. We're to imitate God. Now, what does that mean? To imitate God? I can't create from nothing. I cannot exist on my own. I am not all powerful. How do I imitate God? We imitate God. As we read in the next verse, one of the big ways is in love. We live in a world that talks about love a lot, but has no idea what it means. Love, love, love. If it's love, it's got to be good, right? God is love. Now brothers and sisters, what does it mean to love? What does it say here? Walk in love? As Christ also loved us and has given himself for us. Self-sacrificial love. We are called to be self-sacrificial in our love. especially for one another as the church, but also to those outside of the church. We're talking about this in our family Bible study as we consider what it means to be a Christian, to be a sinner in need of change, and helping sinners in need of change. Because we're sinners. And so we're called to help one another, to love one another, We've been seeing love again and again in the book of Ephesians. God loved the unlovable. That's everybody around, right? No. It's me. God loved us. And remember again the context of what's going on. That there was a division within the church because there were those of the Gentile background, there were those of the Jewish background, and they had very little to do with each other. They indeed had great problems with one another. And God calls them again and again to love one another. Here's the old story. The guy comes to the pastor. I've got problems. I think I need a divorce from my wife. Really? What's going on? Well, I don't love her. He says, well, the Bible calls you to love the one you marry. He doesn't say marry the one you love. I can't. Well, God calls you to love your neighbor. She lives with you. You've got to love her. Well, I can't. She's that bad. The pastor says, well, God calls you to love your enemy. You don't have any way out here. And again, we are called to love. God loved us. God loved those who had joined Satan in rebellion against Him. And we're called to love. Love doesn't always mean give stuff and hugs and all sorts of things. Sometimes love is correction. Sometimes love is the hard things. Indeed, sometimes love is saying, no, I can't. Because you're just going to dig a hole deeper with it. Love. Walk in love. God loves us perfectly. And as we think about our lives, God doesn't just dump on us anything and everything we ever want. Does He? We never get out from underneath it, at least that's what my wife tells me. But beyond that, we don't need all the things we think we need. That God gives us those things which are necessary to walk in love. And God gives us hard things, right? God doesn't just send us on the easy path to heaven. God sends us through things like cancer, and heartache, and brokenness. And those are in God's love. And so we are to imitate love, not because we're going to send people through cancer and heartache and those things, but brothers and sisters, to love in reality. We talked about this in men's Bible study last Sunday night. That we're to love in deed, not just in word. To walk in love. Using our lives sacrificially. There's another aspect that we need to be reminded of. So it's easy on a surface level to say, oh, I really appreciate, I love my fellow church member. What about when it gets hard? What about when they need a shoulder to cry on? What about when they need someone to pick them up when they're broken? No, we don't get broken in this church. We're all good, right? No. Those are the times when we need to sacrifice. And again, we've been talking about this in our family Bible study time. That we need to not just say, how are you doing? Good. Okay. That's our cultural contract, right? I say, how are you doing? You say, good. We've cared for one another. Is that caring? What if I'm not good? Can I say that? Do I care enough as the person saying, how are you doing, to sacrifice more than the two nanoseconds it takes for you to say good? Because brothers and sisters, we live in a broken world. And there are people in our congregation that are hurting. And we need to love them in deed. Not just in word. to self-sacrificially love. We like to be the one giving. But brothers and sisters, and I had that opportunity a number of times in my ministry to say to people, I know you want to be the one giving the love. Sometimes God places us in a place where we need to accept the love of our fellow congregation. Not just the strong one, I'm doing good. I'm the one who can give. But to be willing and ready to say, no, I need someone to enfold me in love. To point me to Christ. Because I'm broken. As I've been saying, the church is not the gathering of perfect people. The church is the gathering of sinners. It's a hospital for souls. And there's not just one doctor. We're all used by God to care for one another. To lift one another up. To love one another. And so we walk as children of the light. Not walking as the world around us does. Notice where he immediately goes after this. But fornication, all uncleanness and covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for the saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking, coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. As we deal with the brokenness of this world, and God's gifts in this world, there's really two ways that we go. We get into coarse jesting, we follow the world in filthiness, or we can give thanks to God, knowing that He gives us perfect gifts. And even those times when He gives us hard things, it's okay. Indeed, it is in His blessing. He talks about right away fornication and uncleanness and covetousness. Notice the context of covetousness, which is, He says later, idolatry. The sexual sins that go on in our culture. The uncleanness. which is so broad and speaks to all of God's commandments. And the covetousness which takes God's commands and applies them not only to what we do with our hands and our feet, but what we do with our minds, are all involved. We as Christians ought to be running away from these things. That we should not be involved in them. And yet, they put it right in front of you, don't they? Brothers and sisters, we need to be able to, in the midst of those times where we are tempted by them, to walk away. To close the pop-up on the websites, or whatever it happens to be. Brothers and sisters, let them not even be named among you. We don't want to talk about these things, but brothers and sisters, We need to talk about them and we need to deal with them, not that we want to dig into the grossness and the sickness of the world around us, but rather to be ready to care for people who are involved in these things. And all the foolish talking and filthiness, the coarse jesting, the dirty jokes, which are not fitting. But rather we should be spending our time in giving God thanks. By the way, opportunity as we think about struggling with sin. How do we struggle with sin? I'm being tempted over here. Whatever it happens to be. Sing a hymn. Guess what? It's pretty hard for you to be tempted in your mind to sin when you're singing Amazing Grace. When you're singing, how sweet and awesome is the place with Christ within the walls. It's a plan of attack. Because we're going to be tempted. Don't think that our old man is not fighting. You've got to understand that. The old man is fighting. And it is only by the grace of God, by His Spirit, that we are called to fight against that. And we have the desire and we have the ability. Do not be partakers with the sons of disobedience. For this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man who is in idolatry has any inheritance in the kingdom of God. We have to understand, if we follow the ways of the world, and what does he say? Verse 6, let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience. People are going to say, oh, I can live in the rottenness of this world. I can deal with it. Baloney. I'm sorry, but baloney. Now we're going to fail. Don't get me wrong. We're all going to fall. But falling and repenting is one thing. Continuing to wallow in sin is quite another. If these things are the rule of your life, you are in eternal danger. If you are spending time in pornography and fornication and all of these things, God says, no one of these people will have an inheritance in the kingdom of God. That's a dangerous place. Unclean people. Those who are involved in the dirtiness of disobedience to God's commandments and covetousness Look at our culture. It glorifies covetousness. I need to have anything you possibly have. No. We don't. God, by the way, distributes to each according to His will and according to our abilities. Let no one deceive you with those empty words. They are empty words. Saying, oh, you can handle this too. Or, it's okay, you can live in these rotten things of living with your girlfriend, or all of these other ideas, breaking God's commandments, anger, hatred, anger, the desire of revenge, lying all the time. Oh, you can live in that stuff and still be a Christian. They're empty words. Because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the world around us, the sons of disobedience. Therefore, verse 7, do not be partakers with them. Don't spend your time in them. They will eat you alive. They will lead to eternal judgment. And so rather we are to walk as children of light in that which is acceptable to God. Verse 8, for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the world. Lord, walk as children of light. Now all of us have a history and God does not hide from that fact. Too often we hide from that fact. Oh, I never did anything wrong. My brothers and sisters, we have all failed miserably in many ways. And we do not need to hide that fact. In fact, the fact that we hide that from those around us, is a big problem for witnessing to the world. And witnessing and caring for one another. Because as people look at the church, and as we look at one another within the church, nobody else has ever struggled with things. Well, yes we have. And we need to bear one another's burdens. To care for one another. to build one another up, to lift one another before the throne of God in prayer. You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. We are washed from our sins. We don't live any longer in sin. And certainly, yes, we struggle with it. Don't get me wrong. But we are different. God has changed our hearts. We are the light of the world. Therefore, let the light of the Gospel shine through us in this broken world. Live, walk as children of light. And He reminds us of the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. So instead of going into the fornication, the messing with sex outside of marriage, no matter how that is, with the filthiness of the world and the covetousness of the world, we are called to be those who are in goodness, in righteousness, and in light. Remember, just throwing in there for a reminder, the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faith. And by the way, remember the fruit of the Spirit is not something that we produce in ourselves so that I can be proud of what I do. No, it is God's Spirit working out within us. That we would find out, verse 10, what is acceptable to the Lord. Seeking from God's Word. Seeking from what we know of God. What is acceptable. What is glorifying to Him. Instead of imitating the world around us. Not fellowshipping with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather exposing them. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Don't live in the brokenness of the world thinking, oh, that's okay. I can live the way the world does. It'll be okay. Rather expose those unfruitful works of darkness. Shine the light of the gospel into them. Throwing in a little apologetics quick. Reading from Proverbs 26, 4 and 5, Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest ye be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest ye be wise in his own eyes. Now what's going on? That we would expose, that we would shine the light of the truth on, so that we don't answer a fool according to his folly. So that we show them how the truth of the gospel is better than their ideas. And that we answer a fool according to his folly, so that they can see the brokenness of their lives. Show them where their life goes. And don't answer a fool according to his folly. Show how the gospel is better. Not fellowshipping with the unfruitful works of darkness. It's shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. Now our culture, but think about the Greco-Roman culture too, by the way, because there's nothing new under the sun. Our culture does some pretty abominable things in the wide open daylight, don't they? But brothers and sisters, there are worse and nastier things going on behind the scenes. It's shameful, I would argue, to talk about the things that go on in the light. But brothers and sisters, God reminds us of how shameful, how dirty, how filthy things are that go on. And by the way, as I said, this is not new. This was very in vogue at the time of the writing of this in the Greco-Roman culture as well. So don't think that the horror of the mess that goes on around us is anything worse or new. Our culture is in the same sort of decline and brokenness and paganism of the Greco-Roman culture at the time of Christ. It's shameful to talk about the things. And we might say, well, we're better than to be ignorant of them. I would argue we do not want to get deep into what they are doing, but I would say we do need to know, because we need to be able to minister God's Gospel to them. Because of the brokenness of the culture in which we live. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by light, for whatever it makes manifest is light. That we expose evil by the Word of God, by the light of God's Word. And then we might question, what does it mean, whatever makes manifest is light? Now, as he's talking to these Christians in Ephesus, he said earlier that you are light. Walk as children of light. So what's making, what the question that would be in their heart is, is am I gonna be able to be a light in this world? If we are making manifest, if we are making clear the brokenness and pointing to Christ in it, yes, we are being used by God as light. We have to understand that. We say, well, can I do anything? Yes, God can use me. God can use you to make manifest the brokenness. But sadly, too often, We think, oh, I don't want to stick my nose in it because they're going to get angry at me and they're not going to listen to me anyway, right? We can do it. And God can use us, and He does use us, even if we don't think He is. We are to walk and admonish fellow Christians to walk by the Spirit. Therefore, he says, verse 14, Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. Notice again, awake, arise from the dead. Christ will give you light. If we are pointing to Christ, He will be the light. But come back a second with me in that verse. Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead. I'm not absolutely certain. I did some study. I can't find exactly where this is referencing in the Old Testament. But take it on its face value for a moment. Awake you who sleep. Arise from the dead. If we remember the context of what's going on in Ephesians, the message of Ephesians, that God has raised the spiritually dead to new life. God is calling us to faith. God is calling us to trust in Him, arise from the dead, awake from sleep. God will use us if we focus on Him, if we glorify Him. The gospel will go out through us. That which is impossible for us, God can do, and guess what? It's impossible for us of ourselves to be light. God will give us that light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools. Circumspectly, with awareness. Circumspectly is the idea of looking everywhere. We're too easily in a rush. and not considering what we're doing. But God calls us to walk circumspectly. To consider what we're doing for the purpose of Christ's Kingdom. Walk not as fools, not as the world does as we've been demonstrating, but as wise. By the power of God. By the power of God's Spirit within us. In wisdom. We're too often like the proverbial bull in a china shop. Rushing in, in foolishness. God calls us to use His wisdom from His Word, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Redeeming the time. I want to read that, think about that last section first. The days are evil. We live in a very, very broken time. But brothers and sisters, I don't care if we lived in the best time in the world history, we have to understand that man of ourselves will only go toward evil. And so we have to realize how do we live in this world? We need to redeem the time. We need to think about how am I gonna use this time? To be circumspect about it, to look at the last verse. To have that in our consideration instead of just walking forward blindly. To say, what am I gonna do with the time that I have at work with this person who bothers the living life out of me? It happens. How can I be a witness to them? Or how can I be a witness to this person over here, who has never heard the gospel? Or what is probably honestly more common, who has heard what they thought was the gospel, but it isn't. It was some sort of works religion, or some sort of way in which they needed to be perfect to be saved, so they gave up. Instead of the true awesome gospel of Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And then we live in thanksgiving to Him. And do not be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but filled with the Spirit. Now, why are these two connected? Again, there's two directions we can easily go. We live in a world. One of the things I learned about moving to Wisconsin is it's the drunkest state in the nation. Okay. He says, do not be drunk with wine. Why do people get drunk? Because they don't want to think about their problems. People tell them it's fun, and they don't feel like their life is fun. Why do we get drunk with wine? And he says that goes to dissipation. What does that mean? Everything falls apart. What happens when you spend your time drunk all the time? Everything falls apart, right? He says, don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the spirit. Being filled with the spirit answers the same problem that we have, that we would try to plug up with alcohol. We can deal with this broken world by the power of the Holy Spirit. Do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. We can live in this broken world. We present ourselves to God in thanksgiving and praise to be used by Him. We know this world is broken, but God is doing His perfect work in it. And God can and will use me and us for that purpose. We can face the truth, even the hard truth, by the Spirit of God. Instead of hiding from reality as so many people do, we can face it and we can honor God in it. And then, speaking to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. So notice a number of things. Speaking to one another. Notice it can be inward oriented to have a Christian song in our hearts. But notice that the passage actually points it out that we are to use music. Speaking to one another in Psalms. That we would use God's Word, and specifically the Psalter is God's Word. In which, as we look at the Psalter, as we look at the Psalms, they touch every part of the human Christian existence. And as I think about that, as I love our hymnal, But I had impressed upon me one time, I was doing things in a nursing home, and they had a very diminutive hymnal. And in that hymnal, there was very little breadth for what you could sing. And I said, you know, there's so many things that I can't, when I'm working with the nursing home, I can't even get out of this hymnal. It's just not there. And since then, I've looked at our beautiful Hymnals, and I love them, don't get me wrong, but there's a lot of breadth in the human Christian experience that's not there. Who wants to sing about Psalm 88 and the depression and the hardship in that? But how many of us have been there? To be able to say, God, I don't know what you're doing here, I can't see where you're going here. I trust in You. That's it. That's all I got, God. How many of us have been there and to be able to read that from God's Word? I love the hymns. And so he says, speaking to one another in Psalms, and the Psalms can be set to music, and that is a beautiful thing. And hymns, So songs are God's divinely inspired prayers and music. Then we have the hymns, which are biblically based and of high value. And so we use them in church. But guess what? He also speaks to spiritual songs. And I would argue that that is a very low bar. Perhaps some of the more modern Christian music, plus or minus, of course. Perhaps we wouldn't want to use it in worship, but it can point us to Christ. It can remind us of Christ's love for us, of God, and of His mercy for us. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord instead of just grunting and groaning in it, we can sing and make melody to the Lord. As I said, when we are in sorrow, when we are in hardship, one of the best things we can do is to be singing the Word of God, the glory of God, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That we spend our time in thanksgiving. Singing in thanksgiving, thanksgiving for everything God gives us, as we've been saying throughout this worship service, God doesn't just give in love the easy times, He gives us the hard times too to point us to Him. Singing in thanksgiving in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we think about it, go back to the first verses. How did Christ love us? That He gave Himself for us. We're reminded that we can sing, we can be thankful to God. And the Bible commands this, by the way, in all things. Not just the easy stuff. Not just the times when of ourselves we want to. in the hard times. And verse 21, submitting to one another in the fear of God. We need one another. Too much as the church, we come together, Sunday morning a few times during the week, and the rest of the week, we don't see each other, we don't fellowship. We need one another as the church. And notice that idea of submitting. We need one another as Christians to help us to point out our sins and our errors. To point us all the more to Christ. In the fear of God. That idea, the fear of God, is something that we often overlook in our culture, in the church culture today. Why should I fear God? Because brothers and sisters, if we think that we can do whatever we want before God, church today says, God's my buddy. We're talking about the God of the universe, whom I owe everything, from whom I deserve eternal judgment. You don't go before God without a righteous understanding of fear of that relationship. Not because God does not love us, but because we love God. And because God has every right to judge me. It is only by His grace, His undeserved favor that He saves me. So how do we live in this world? There's really again two pathways, isn't there? We try to stuff our difficulties We try to live and fit in with the world, or we try, by the grace of God, to live in thanksgiving and praise to Him. Not like the world, but rather led by the Spirit. And indeed then, God gives us not only the way we live, but how do we do that? Spending time in singing, building one another up with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and spending our time in thanksgiving to the God who saved us. Amen. Let us rise, let us bow before our God in prayer, and we'll close this prayer together with the Lord's Prayer. Almighty, gracious, heavenly Father, we pray, Lord, that we would love as you have loved us. That we would love one another with true love, with true care. That we would love self-sacrificially in a way the world can't even begin to imagine. We pray Lord, knowing that from time to time we're even going to be taken advantage of by loving in that manner. but far rather in that situation to be taken advantage of than to deny the love that You have had toward us. You have loved us so perfectly, so awesomely. We pray, Lord, that we would walk as children of the light. That we would walk in the light. Lord, use us to be light within this world, even to focus the light of Your gospel into the dark corners. that are shameful even to look into. We pray, Lord, use us to that end. We pray, Lord, as we walk as children of the light, we pray, help us to be those who walk and build one another up, and strengthen one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with the things of God. And help us, Lord, even as we consider That this is a different life than the world around us wants. Help us, Lord, to be all the more thankful as we consider the awesome salvation which you have given to us. That is beyond our imagination, is so perfect that our minds can't even get around it. That you have saved miserable sinners to be your people. For we pray these things, not because we are worthy, but we pray these things for the glory and for the honor of your holy name. For we pray them even as our Savior, who was the example that we saw at the beginning of this passage, that He taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.