Walk as Children of God Pt 1

to the book of Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians chapter 5.

As we come to chapter 5, we continue on really with the same theme that we've been covering. And that is our walk with God in light of who we are in Christ. Our walk with God in light of who we are in Christ. God always has to start off with who we are in Christ because we can never operate from a situation of trying to achieve God's love. We operate from a situation

of already having been gifted God's love. That way we operate in confidence, not in fear. And so as we continue on in chapter 5, I really battled verses 1 through 21 carry three very heavy themes that it was hard to know how to put them into studies, put them into messages, package them, if you will. And so I titled it, I titled the entire thing simply Walk as Children of God because I hadn't decided how I was going to break them all down just yet.

So in that aspect of walking as children of God in the first 21 verses of chapter 5, there's three things that he's going to tell us to do. He's going to tell us to walk in love. He's going to tell us to walk in light. And he's going to tell us to walk in wisdom. We're going to cover the first of those today, walk in love. And so we pick up in chapter 5, verse 1,

and this is what it says. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love. Just as Christ also has loved you, gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints. And there must be no filthiness, silliness, silly talk or coarse jesting,

which are not fitting, but rather the giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an 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 the sons of disobedience. But do not be partakers with them. And so he tells us to walk in love. And as he tells us to walk in love, again, within this subheading, there will be three things he tells us to do. He's going to tell us to be imitators of God, to walk in love, and show us that walking in love means not walking in purity. So let's take the first of those

as we jump in here in verse one, that we are to be imitators of God. And that's exactly what verse one says. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children. Now, when we read the word therefore, we know it always links us to the word love. It always links us back to the previous verse. So let's quickly read the previous verse because it's important for us to understand

in the aspect of being imitators of God. Ephesians 4.32 says this, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you. And we said that that word for forgiveness there, that word to forgive, means to show grace to the undeserving, to show grace to the offending party, as God has done for us in Christ. Therefore, knowing that that's what we are to do, to show grace to those who offend us, just like God, therefore we are to be imitators of God as beloved children.

That word imitators is an interesting word. The Greek word that I can't pronounce for you is where we get our word mimic from. To mimic those that are around you. Now, those of us with kids, we've watched our kids over the years begin to mimic us in certain ways, right? One of the things I've always appreciated about working with young people is getting to know young people really well

and then meeting their parents. Because you go, ah, that makes sense. I see where they get that now. Because we tend to mimic the people that we're around. We tend to imitate the people that we are around. I always tell everybody that both of my girls can imitate me pretty well. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes they get in trouble. But they can really imitate me pretty well

because they're around me a lot and they tend to mimic me. But the best story that I can think of is a guy that I used to work with up in Johnson County at Lakeview Village at the old folks community. His name was Lou Holtz. Lou Holtz, not the coach from Notre Dame. Lou Holtz was a unique man. He had a strong personality. He had lots of quirky, unique sayings.

And he was a man that was very much set in his ways. And so you work around him all the time. He smoked like a chimney. He drank coffee in the middle of the afternoon. Even was 103 degrees outside. Just an interesting guy, right? Well, they used to have this thing called bring your child to work day. Do you guys remember when they used to do that? I think it started off as bring your daughter to work day.

And then the people with sons were like, that's not fair. We want to bring our sons to work too. So then they could bring your kids to work day. Well, I was in my early to mid 20s. So I didn't have any kids yet. I don't even know if I was married yet. And Lou started bringing his son on this bring your son to work day. And it was the most fascinating thing in the world

because this kid was a little bit older. He was a little bit older. And this kid would sit there and talk and he would work on something. And all of the things that he said, it was like looking at Lou. Only in a tiny little body. And every time he'd say something, all of the guys in the shop would just be like, that's Lou's son. I mean, you could be in the mall right now.

Lou could be nowhere around you. I would hear you talk and I would go, do you know Lou Holtz? Because everything he said was just like him. Because that's what kids do, right? They imitate their parents. They mimic what they hear. And so that's what we're to be like with God. We are to be imitators of God. Only I want you to think about something. Can you imitate something that you never see?

Can you mimic something that you never see? The answer, of course, to that is no. The reason why my girls can imitate me is because they spend time with me. And I'm a little bit flamboyant in the way that I talk, right? They can imitate me because they spend time with me. Well, if we are to be imitators of God, if we are to mimic the things that God does, I need you to understand

that you can't imitate that which you're not around. You can't imitate that which you never spend time with. You can't imitate that which you don't know. And so the only way that you can truly become an imitator of God as a dear child is to spend time with God just like you are His dear child. Just like you're one of His beloved children. And so I have a question for you.

What do you tend to imitate the most? What would people accuse you of being the most like? Would they accuse you of being most like the things of the world? Most like the people of the world? Or would they accuse you of imitating the things of the world? most like the things of the world? imitating God, acting like God. It's fascinating to know where the word Christian came from.

You see, believers in Jesus Christ were not always referred to as Christians. They were either called believers or people of the way. But at some point in time in the early church, they started becoming called Christians. You know what the word Christian means? It means Christ-like or little Christ, because they were trying to imitate Christ. You see, these believers in the early

church were starting to act so much like Jesus that they mocked them and said, oh, you're just a bunch of little Christs. Well, brothers and sisters, the reason why they could say that is because they spent time with Christ and they were acting like him. So I have a question for you. Who do you act the most like? Because if you want to start imitating God as a dear child, you're

probably going to want to start spending time with the God who purchased you with his own precious blood. Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. Now, I love that last phrase that he uses there, as dear children. I keep saying that because it's what it says in the New King James. I think it actually says, yes, in the New American Standard, beloved children. I appreciate that he says that because

it, first of all, gives us the illustration that kids imitate their parents, but it also reminds us of who we are. Do you know who first started using the phrase beloved children? Jesus did. And it was when he was with his disciples. He would say, dear children, beloved children. And he would speak to them that way because that's how he thought of them. Well, then Paul picked it

up and said, dear children, beloved children. And he said, dear children, beloved children. And I think that that's something for us to pay attention to because as we imitate God, we are reminded that we're his beloved children because he looks at us as his own loved kids. And as much as it's fun for me to see my girls imitate me, usually, it's also fun for him to see us imitate him. And I think that's

as beloved children. And so he starts off by saying, therefore, the imitators of God. The second thing he tells us to do is he tells us to walk in love. Notice what it says in verse two, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us in offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Now we've already defined the word walk, but just in case

you weren't here that week, let me tell you what it means. The word walk means to order your pattern of life. In other words, the way that you live your life on a daily basis. The way that we are to order our lives should be this. We should walk, order your life in love. In other words, love should be the path that you take in all aspects of your life. Now it's important for us to define this word love because in the Greek language,

there's actually multiple words for love. Three of them that are used most often. The first, the word that's used in the Greek language for love is the word eros. It's where we get our word erotic from, and it actually carries with it that idea of more of a self-satisfying physical aspect of love. That's not the word that's used here. The second word that's used of love in the Greek

language is the word phileo. It's where we get our term Philadelphia from, and it means brotherly love. It is a familial sort of love or a friendship kind of love. And while it's a more noble form of love, and oftentimes in the Greek language, it's a more noble form of love. And while it's a more one of the most noble that they would talk about, it's still not the word that's used here

because there's an even more noble word than that. And that's the third word that's used for love. And that is agape. And the word agape means a divine sacrificial love, a kind of love that always puts the needs of another above one's own. In other words, you are always, even to your own detriment, looking out for the needs of another. You've guessed it. That's the word that's used

here. He says, so walk in agape. Now, I suppose you're asking yourself, well, what does agape love look like? Well, I'm glad you asked yourself that. Let me answer that for you. Why don't you go with me one place in scripture. Why don't you go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, because Paul wrote extensively on this agape love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. As you look at 1 Corinthians 13, I want

you to look down at verse 4. Paul begins explaining this kind of love. He started off by saying, listen, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, in other words, I'm the most gifted person in the world, but I don't have love, I just sound like a whole bunch of noise. If I give all of my goods to feed the poor, but I don't have agape love, then I'm nothing. If I do all of these things,

but I don't have love, then I'm nothing. So what does this love look like? Well, look at verse 4. Allow these words to sink deeply into your hearts and minds. It says, love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not brag. It is not arrogant. Love does not act unbecomingly, in other words, rude. It does not seek its own. It is not provoked, and may I add, easily provoked to anger. Love does not take into account a wrong

suffered. Again, may I define that as it does not keep a record of past wrongs. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but it rejoices with truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, loves all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. So what does it look like to walk in love? Well, to walk in love, we need to start applying these things to our life. Am I walking in kindness? Am I walking in patience? Am I being jealous?

Am I bragging? Am I being arrogant? Am I rude? Am I constantly seeking my own? Am I constantly keeping a record of the wrongs that have been done to me? Or am I rejoicing in righteousness? Am I rejoicing in truth? Am I bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, and enduring all things? Because, brothers and sisters, love never fails. Now, I don't know about

you, but what I just read there is impossible. Amen? But what I just read there is something that I'm not good at, because I have a real big problem in life. As a matter of fact, you know what the biggest problem is? I have a real big problem in my life. I have a real big problem in my life. The biggest problem I have in life is me. We'll get to that in just a moment, because we're going

to have to lay some of those things aside. But that's what love is supposed to look like. Now, go back to Ephesians chapter 5. He says, to walk in love. Unless we have not created a difficult enough thing for us to achieve, let's look at the example that he sets. Just as Christ also loved you, gave himself up for us as an offering. And a sacrifice to God is a fragrant aroma. Now, I want to tell you something about this example of

Christ. There are some who have dumbed the gospel down to this point. They have simplified the cross to say, the cross is simply the example that Jesus set of sacrificial love. And if you want to be saved, you'll follow the example of sacrificial love that Jesus said. Look, that's called a gospel of works. That's not the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus said, I want to be saved. I want to be

saved. I want to be saved. I want to be saved. I want to be saved. I want to be saved. I want to be covered your sins with his blood, rose again to guarantee that it was true. So Jesus did not just die as an example. However, the life of Jesus is an example. And so we have to pay attention to that because Jesus set an example for us. I want you to notice the words that are used. He says, as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us as an

offering and a sacrifice as a fragrant aroma. Those three words, sacrifice and fragrant aroma, if you have studied Leviticus at all, you know that that's where those three words came from. Those are Levitical words, because they speak of the sacrifices that the children of Israel used to offer. You see, all of the first five chapters of the book of Leviticus talk about all of the sacrifices that they were supposed to offer. There were fellowship offerings,

there were consecration offerings, whole burnt offerings, sin offerings, meal offerings, lots of different ones, but all those three words were always used. They were an offering, they were a sacrifice, and when offered to God, they were a sweet-smelling aroma, which as a sidebar reminds us all that God loves barbecue, right? So they offered all of those things to God, and that's exactly what Jesus was, because he gave himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice and a sweet- smelling aroma, because he was the fulfillment of all of those sacrifices. And it's fascinating to pay attention to, because he gave us this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,

beautiful picture of what it means to love sacrificially. There were three things that Jesus did. Number one, Jesus laid aside his glory. That to me will always be one of the more miraculous things, is that he decided that he would lay aside all of his glory, and he would put on the clothes of a human being to endure all of the things that you and I have to endure on a daily basis because of the great love with which he loved us. He laid aside his glory. The second

is he served sacrificially. He served sacrificially. I want you to think about everything that Jesus did just in the short three-year span of the records that we have, because everything that he did was always sacrificial service. How many times did Jesus think, finally, I'm going to get to sit down and just stop for a few minutes? And when he sat down to stop for a few minutes, who

showed up? More people. More people showed up, and he laid aside his own desires, and he served sacrificially, because that was who was in front of him. And that was what he did. And that's what he did. And that's what he did. And that's what he did. And that's what he did. And that's what he did. What needed to be done. And he gave us the perfect picture of sacrificial service.

And the last act that he did for his disciples before he was crucified, when he took off the outer robe, and he girded himself like the lowest bond slave, and he went around and took the lowest form of a servant and washed all of the disciples' feet. He laid aside his glory. He served sacrificially. And number three, he gave his life. He gave everything for us. And you and I are now supposed to walk in love, just as Christ

loved you. So what does that look like for me? Number one, I have to lay aside my pride. I have to lay aside my pride. You know what the one thing that will keep me from loving anybody else is? It's pride. Because what is tied into pride? Self. What's the middle letter of pride? I. Right? It's because I want what I want. I take couples, when I do premarital counseling,

I take couples through this workbook called Before You Say I Do. And one of the very first times that I did it, I did every single bit of homework in that thing. It's been a long time ago. And I went through it. And on the little chapter on love, you go through the three words for love and all of those kinds of things. And it asks two questions. And I ask these questions of couples

every time I do this. The first question is, how will you make love to your partner? And the second question is, how will you make love a growing part of your relationship? And we can get some ideas. But the second question is, what are the three biggest hindrances to love growing in your marriage relationship? And I remember the first time I went through this, I was already married,

been married for two or three years by this point in time. I'm going through, I'm filling all these things out. And I sat there and thought, what are the three biggest hindrances that will keep me from loving Aaron the way that God has called me to? And I could only think of three words, me, myself. And I, because I know that I will always be the biggest enemy to love. I will always be the biggest

enemy to sacrificial love because I will always have a desire innately within me to put myself first. And it's that way in marriage. And it's that way in the body of Christ. We always have this sin nature that wants to put ourselves first. So what do we have to do? We have to lay aside our pride. And then the second thing that we have to do is we have to serve sacrificially. Now,

I'm really good with the first word there, serve. I could do that. I like to serve. I enjoy doing things for people, but you know how I usually like to do things for people on my own time. And I like to do it in my own way. And I like to make sure that they know that I did it for them so that they can reward me for it, right? That's the way that I like to serve. And I bet you're

not a whole lot different than me because that's who we are. We don't mind doing a little serving as long as we're not treated like a servant, as long as we can do it our own way. But that's not what that says. We are to serve. Sacrificially. Oh, now that one hurts. You know why? Because if I serve sacrificially, it means if I've made a commitment, I can't dine out on that because all of a sudden something

came up and I wanted to do more. I can't be like, oh, I don't want to do that anymore because I found something else I want to do. No, I said I was going to do it, so I'm going to do it. Oh, it's a sacrifice. That's right. That's exactly what it is. It's a sacrifice. That's what serving people is. You don't understand. They treat me like a servant. Good, because you are one.

Best definition of servant that I ever heard is if you can act like a servant, even when you're treated like a servant, you're really a servant. We're to serve sacrificially. Number three, I'm to give of myself. In other words, I have to have wholehearted commitment to love the people that are around me. And you know what? It really is giving of yourself. You know why? Because

sometimes people misinterpret what you did and they criticize you for it. Sometimes people don't like that you took time to do it. Sometimes people don't like that you took time to do it. Sometimes people don't like that you took time out of your day to help them because they could have done that themselves. And they criticize you for it. Or sometimes people just get angry with you because

you didn't do it the right way. And you know what? You have to do it anyway. You know why? Because you're giving of yourself. That's exactly what Jesus did. Jesus came down and did everything perfect. And what did they do to him? They criticized him, right? They said everything he did was wrong, even though everything he did was right. We give of ourselves.

And so he says, not only be imitators of God, but number two, walk in love with Christ as our example. Now, before I move on to the next one, I want to say one thing to us, because what I've just created for us, what I've just painted for us is an impossible picture, right? And you're probably sitting there going, I can't do that. That's good. It means you're in the right spot, because I want

you to remember something. Do you remember our study in Galatians? In Galatians, we said that the Holy Spirit produces fruit. It's not something that we try to do. We just hang out. He produces the fruit. We just bear it, right? Well, the very first fruit, which I think is actually the fruit of the Spirit that finds its outer working in all of the other fruits, well, the fruit of the Spirit is love, right? Same word, agape. Therefore, if I want this

kind of love in my life, if I want this to be a part of who I am, then all I have to do is surrender to the Spirit and say, Lord, I don't know how to love them. I don't know how to be the right person for them. And I know how I'm going to react. Lord, You produce the fruit of the Spirit. I know how I'm that love in me. As a matter of fact, I think one of the most beautiful things in the maturity of a

child is to watch them go from being a self-centered little kid to somebody who is willing to think outside of themselves and serve someone. To finally start giving of themselves to someone else, you go, sweet Jesus, there's hope for them after all. They are going to mature. But you know what's even more beautiful? When I see an adult who finally gave their heart to Jesus, who finally

has surrendered their life to Jesus, stopped doing everything just for themselves, and truly in love begin to serve the people that are around them. Because that's how you know it's a work of the Holy Spirit in their life. Because that fruit of the Spirit is love. But now we come to the third thing. The third thing is going to involve a little bit more. We're going to spend most of our time

talking about this. Because the third thing that I want to tell you is that walking in love means walking in purity. Walking in love means walking in purity. I want you to notice what it says in verse 3. It says,

The first thing I want to tell you about is the things that should not be named among us. If we are to walk in love, these things can no longer be a part of who we are. He tells us three things. Number one, immorality. Immorality. The word immorality, and I'm sure you've heard it before, we've gone over this before, but we're here, let's do it again. The word immorality in the Greek is

the word pornea, which is where we get our English word pornography from. And it is an all-encompassing word involving any form of sexual immorality. It means heterosexual sexual immorality. It means homosexual. It means pornography. It means anything of the like. It encompasses it all. And he says, Now, I want to spend just a few minutes talking about this without belaboring it too much.

But the world that Paul was writing to at this point in time did not look much different than the world that we live in right now. Homosexuality was on the rise. Heterosexual sin was on the rise. Bestiality was on the rise. Pedophilia was on the rise. It was also a part of their worship. The worship of the pagan gods involved all of these things. Therefore, when Paul wrote this to the culture of that time, he knew that just because they were

saved didn't mean that some people weren't still having some struggles because it was so much a part of their lives before they came to know Jesus. And so he needed to write to them to say that all of the filth that is a part of, that identifies the culture around you, it can't be a part of who you are anymore. And I'm here to tell us as a Western culture, I'm here to tell us as a Western culture, church, where all of the exact same things are going on, that's what the culture around us is identified by. And I don't just mean that theoretically, I mean that literally, which is why identity is one of the big issues we're dealing with right now. Because people want to be identified

by what their sexuality is. Therefore, immorality cannot be named among us. It can't be named in any way. And listen, I'm well aware of the fact that every time I stand in front of a group of people to speak, somebody's battling with sexual sin. Especially in the world that we live in today. Because not only is the cookie jar available, the cookie jar is on the lowest shelf and it's tipped over.

And the cookies are all over the floor. It's really hard to fight this temptation right now. It's really hard to fight these sins right now. But they have to be dealt with. They have to be dealt with in a harsh way because these sins, immorality is the one sin that will affect your soul unlike any other sin. And so I'm here to tell you, I'm here to tell you, I'm here to tell you,

anything else, it will affect the way you think. It will affect the way you view yourself. It will affect the way that you view other people. It will affect your relationship with God. That's why he says, immorality cannot be named among you. The second thing that he tells us that can't be named among us is impurity. The word impurity means uncleanness or filthiness. Literally, immoral

behavior. If he missed anything in the first word, he picks it up on the second word. But the third word that he uses is an interesting one. He says, and I want to read it to you in context. He says, but immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you. Now, the word greed can also be translated covetousness. And we know what that word means. It means a constant desire for

more. Now, typically, when we use this word, we apply it to two things. We apply it to money or material goods. And usually, I would say, that's the direct context we should use with the word covetousness or greed. But that's not the direct context that's being used here. The direct context that's being used here has to do with sexual sin. Therefore, immorality and impurity or greed are the issue. Because here's the problem

with sin, especially sexual sin. It's never enough. You always need something more. You always need something more. You always need something more. You always need something more. You always need that next level of it. And I hate to be that way. It's just the truth. We, as human beings, always crave a little bit more. And the lie that the enemy wants to tell

us is, listen, just satisfy the craving a little bit, and then you'll be good. It won't be a problem for you anymore. But you know what the problem with our cravings are? They don't really ever go away. Have you ever noticed that? I was telling first service, I read this article, it's a dieting article. And it was from this blog that I gave to a woman. And she said,

she had emails from called NC Fit. And it said, can you lose weight by starting the day with a donut? You know what? You throw a line like that at me, I am reading the article, okay? That is, I'm like, yep, I'm in. Put me in, coach. Give me 12, right? So like, okay, so let's see what this says. So they ran this test, right? So they started off giving everybody the exact same diet for like

six weeks or something like that. And everybody got to what they considered was their optimum weight at that point in time. And then they split the group into two. The first group, they said, eat whatever you want to. Within reason, within some moderation. The second group, allow yourself to have one donut, pastry, whatever you want to first thing in the morning, and then return to your regular diet

after that. And they found that some of the people ended up losing a little bit more weight that ate the donut first thing in the morning and then returned. And so I thought to myself, that's a great idea. I should do that. The idea is that you'll curb your craving by fulfilling it first thing in the morning, and then you won't have the craving the rest of the day. So I went to the

donut shop and I ordered myself some donuts. And I may have already violated it by not just eating one, but I ordered three because let's give ourselves an option, right? So we ordered two sprinkled donuts and a chocolate donut. Don't judge me. I know I'm five. I still like sprinkled donuts. Okay. They're the best. Amen. So I ordered my donuts and they ate the first two in the morning. And you know what I still wanted later

in the day? More donuts. I wanted more donuts the rest of the day. And then when I went to bed that night, you know, I still wanted to eat ice cream. It's almost like it didn't work. It's almost like fulfilling my craving. She created more cravings because that's what sin does. And my friends, we need to know that about sexual sin. Once you fulfill the craving, it doesn't end the craving. It just creates more

because sin is not satisfied until it has all of us. Now, it's interesting to me, and I want you to think about this. Why? Why did he link walking with not walking in impurity? Why did he link those two things together? Well, I want you to think about the biggest slogan that we have running around today, right? What's the big slogan that we have today that involves sexual sin? Love is love. You know why he links those two things

together? Because in our twisted minds, sexuality and love are the same thing when they're not. Love is what God gives us, and it's sacrificial putting the other person first. Sexual cravings are putting me first, right? And so he says, walk in love, therefore abandon the things that put you first. Abandon the immorality. Abandon the uncleanness with all the greedy

feelings that it has. And he goes on from there to say, as a matter of fact, don't just abandon them. These things should not even be named among you. You know what that phrase literally means? They shouldn't be discussed. They shouldn't be discussed among you. I say that because what do we all have a tendency to pay attention to? The sins of the culture, right? We just wait for that next headline to come out.

We wait for that next article to come out, and we just eat it up, right? Like, I've been waiting all week trying to figure out if Travis, Kelsey, and Taylor Swift are really dating, you know? Like, we just wait for that stuff. I really haven't. I don't care one way or the other on that. As long as he can play football, I don't care. But we really pay attention to those things, don't we?

We say, can you believe what's going on? Let me read more, right? And listen, just so that we know, usually I divide these things into men's and women's because men have an area where they struggle the most, right? And I would say those three things, that's a big struggle for men. We just need to know that right now. Impurity, immorality, it's a big struggle for men. But you

know what? It's also a big struggle for women. You know how I know that? Because Fifty Shades of Grey was one of the biggest sellers that's ever hit the New York Times bestseller list. And you know who was reading it? Wasn't dudes. You know that? Because these are things we deal with. Therefore, they should not be discussed among you. It should not be the thing that you talk about the most. You know why? Because when

you talk about something, what do you start doing? You start thinking about it. And where does all sin begin? In the mind. These things should not be discussed among you. And if that's not enough, he goes to talk about it again because he says, not only should these things not be named among you, but he deals with what I call unloving talk. And verse four, he says, first of all, there should be no filthiness. The word filthiness literally

means obscenity. Do you know what obscenity means? It means obscene. I wish I had a better definition for you than that, but that's what it means. I looked it up in the dictionary. I even looked it up in the Webster's dictionary. Same thing. That's what it means. And it speaks of the way that we talk. I want you to pay attention to something. This is the second time we've now

brought up our filthiness. Our speech, two weeks in a row. Not only that, this is the second time in less than 10 verses that Paul has dealt with our speech. The first one had to do with no unwholesome words coming out of our mouth. This one has to do with no filthy talk coming out of our mouth. You know why he has to do that? Because what is one of the biggest issues we have? Our mouth. What does James

call it? Like an unbridled horse, right? Who can bridle the tongue? We need to watch. We need to put a guard over our mouth. We need to put a guard over our mouth. We need to put a guard over our mouth with the things that come out. He says, and there must be no filthiness. The second thing he says is no silly talk. The word silly talk means foolish talk. Now, I want us to understand

something. This does not mean that we can't make jokes. But the Bible says laughter does good like medicine. And as a matter of fact, one of the best things that you can ever do if you're in a really bad way is, man, just laugh at stuff, right? Find something, find somebody that can make you laugh. Find somebody that can bring some joy into your life because that laughter is so good for you.

It releases endorphins that make you feel so much better when you laugh. It's physiologically proven. But you need to be aware of what you're laughing at. Let it be wholesome talk. He says no foolish talk. And of course, the third thing he says is no coarse jesting, no dirty jokes being told. Now, those things are not fitting. Instead, what should we do? Give thanks. Now, I love the

way that he puts this. He says instead of doing all of those things, instead of having your speech be filled with all of those things, it should be filled with giving of thanks. Let me give you another word for that so that you don't just walk around telling everybody thank you all the time. Let's use another word. Let's use the word praise, shall we? Giving of praise to God. I will promise you if you

struggle with a filthy mouth, and I guarantee there's somebody in here that struggles with a filthy mouth. You struggle with it because you think of the dirty jokes. You know all the double entendres. You've heard all of the jokes, and that's immediately what comes to your mind when somebody says something is you put a double meaning on everything. I want to tell you something. This is how you start to change. Start

to fill your mind, your heart, and your words with praise. You should put it all around you. You're like, Ryan, there's nothing wrong with secular music. You're right, there's not. But you should fill it with praise instead. Because praise is going to put your mind in the right place. Therefore, as you speak, praise words are what's coming out of your mouth, not the double meaning. Praise is

what's coming out of your mouth because innocent. I always remember Pastor Mark telling this story about him driving down the highway one time, and as he's driving down the highway, somebody shoots around. They're just driving crazy, and they shoot around him, and he's so mad, and he goes, all I wanted to do was say words Jesus didn't like, he said, but what I said instead was, God bless you. And I remember thinking, that's exactly what he's talking about right there. No filthy talk, no silly talk, no coarse

jesting, but instead, thanks. Right? You change what you do with these kinds of things. And so, he's told us that immorality and unloving talk need to not be who we are any longer. And then he tells us why. Verse five, for this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Why? Because the people whose lives match that don't have an inheritance in the kingdom. Do you notice he uses those exact same things? He says, you know with certainty that no immoral, that's what we talked about, no impure person, and no covetous person, who I would like to point out that he puts an addendum on covetous there, who is an idolater. We don't always take that sin of

covetousness very seriously, but it's idolatry. He says, they have no place in the kingdom. They have no place in the kingdom. Now, as I read that, I want to bring out two things. Because number one, it's a word of warning. It's a word of warning to all of us as believers in Jesus Christ. A word of warning to us to say, if that's what's been encapsulating your life,

then it's time to change. If that's an area of sin in your life that you've never given up, an area of sin that you're still holding on to, it needs to change. Because these things need dealt with. I deal with it, over and over and over again, couples that want to get married that are already living together. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I need us to know something. If you're a young person,

you're not married in here this morning, I need you to understand something. Don't live with them until you say, I do. Don't live with them until the commitment has been made. Don't do things with them until the commitment says, I do. Because God intends for that relationship to take place between a man and a woman. And I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you,

I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you. And if you're here this morning and you're living with somebody that's not your spouse, today's the last day that you do that. Today's the day that you say, one of us is finding an apartment. One of us is finding a rental house. One of us is going to live somewhere else until

we get married, because that's what God has intended. If you're here this morning and you're flirting with sexual sin in your life, whether it be pornography, whether it be an be an affair, whether it just be the fact that you let thoughts run a little bit too long in your life, then today needs to be the day that you abandon that. Because people whose lives are only marked by this, they don't have a place in the kingdom. If you're here this morning, it's a word of warning for you if you've never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Because

if you're here this morning and you've never come to Christ, I promise this is probably what encapsulates your life. But Jesus loves you so much that he's allowing you to hear this message so that you can see what's wrong, so that you can go to him so that he can make it right. Because he loves you way too much to see you continue on in a sin that's destroying your soul. He loves you too much to see you continue on in a sin that has long-term repercussions.

Because God has something so much better for you than that. Because God has something so much more pure for you than that. And today is the day that you need to confess your sins to the Lord, and you need to come to him and say, Lord, forgive me of my sins. And you know, it tells us he's so faithful to do, he is so faithful to forgive us and to make us brand new again. But I want you to understand something. I don't want this to be a word of condemnation to

believers in Jesus Christ, because I'm well aware of the fact that there are believers in here today, right now, watching online, whatever, that are struggling with sexual sin. And I don't want you walking away from this saying, I can't be saved. There's no hope for me. The whole reason I'm telling you this is because there's no hope for me. There's no hope for me. There's no hope for me.

There's hope. And Jesus wants to set you free. And he wants to see you be the man or woman of God that he has created for you to be. But it all starts with confession. I don't need you to come confess it to me, but I do need you to confess it to Jesus. Because these things have no place in the kingdom. The second reason that he tells us is this. He says in verse six,

let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the people of Israel. And he says, let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of the sons of disobedience. The second reason, because the wrath of God is coming, starts off with a warning. Let no one deceive you. Now I want you to know something about the time that Paul was

writing to. There would have been two groups of people deceiving true believers at this point in time. The first group of people would have been the heathens living in the world around them. And we all know the deception that they'll use because it's the deception that's used today. It's really not that big of a deal, right? You're using such provincial things. This is really

antiquated. You don't need to worry. You don't need to worry about that. It's not that big of a deal. This is actually freedom to live in this. And that deception is what the world was using at that point in time to try to pull Christians back into sinful lifestyles. But do you know that there was a second deception and it didn't take place outside the church. It took place inside the church. You see, there was a group of

people at that point in time called the Gnostics. And the Gnostics felt like they had superior knowledge. That's exactly what the word Gnostic means, to know. And they said, listen, we've come to understand something. We've come to understand that our bodies, these physical bodies, all material things are evil. They can never be sanctified. Give your soul to Jesus.

Let your body satisfy its physical needs. In other words, it doesn't matter how you live. It doesn't matter how you handle things with this area of your life, as long as your soul belongs to Jesus. And isn't it kind of fascinating that those two similar groups are trying to deceive the church today? The world on the outside is saying, it's not that big of a deal. Why are you making

such a big deal out of this? Why are you being so judgmental? And yet there's groups within the church who want to say, you know, really, we've learned a lot more now. We know that they didn't really understand what they were talking about. I actually heard somebody say that the whole reason that the purity movement in the early church was started is because they needed to produce more babies. And I'm going, what? That's the craziest thing

I've ever heard in my life. And so the people within the church were changing things. And that's what's going on today. We know more than they did back then. We know more than they did at that point in time. We've learned to have expanded tables. We've learned to broaden our tents. And we know that love is now love, as long as you're a pretty good person, as long as you feed the poor,

take care of the hungry. You can live how you want to. Those two deceptions still going on in the world today. And so he says, let no one deceive you. Because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. We need to understand something. The wrath of God came upon the world in Noah's time because of these things. The wrath of God came against Sodom and Gomorrah because of these

things. The wrath of God came against the Roman empire because of these things. Because when these sins begin to be what marks a culture, it's the final step in the downfall of a culture. And if God judged the world with a flood, if God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, and if God judged the Roman empire, if God judged the world with a flood, if God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, Messiah, what do you think's next for us? What do you think's next for us? He says,

because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, verse 7, do not be partakers with them. Therefore, don't let that be a part of who you are. I know this was a heavy one this morning, and I'd love to say this message isn't necessary. Unfortunately, this is one of the most necessary messages that needs to be brought to the church

today. It's one of the most necessary things that we can do, because brothers and sisters, this area of sin is destroying churches. It's destroying pulpits, it destroys marriages, and it destroys lives. But praise be to God. Praise God for his incredible, incredible, incredible, incredible, incredible, incredible, incredible, indescribable love. Praise God for the blood of Jesus Christ that is enough to cleanse us from

all of our sins. So my friends, I would tell you, be imitators of God. Walk in love and walk in purity. And if you're struggling with that purity thing today, then as Jared comes up and sings this last song, I just want you to pour out your heart to the Lord. I just want you to pour out your heart to him and allow him to bring the cleansing into your life. And only he can bring. As a matter of fact, I feel led to do this today. I'm just going to be down

front here. If anybody needs to come forward for any reason to pray, then I'm going to be down here to pray with you, because I care about you. Jesus loves you. And I want to see restoration take place in the lives of people. Would you please stand? And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come before you. And Lord, I thank you for the time that we've had in your word.

Lord, I thank you for the great love that you've given us. And I thank you for the great love that you've given us. I thank you for the great love with which you've loved us. I thank you for the example that you set for us. And I pray now, God, that you would draw us near to you. Lord, do the work in our hearts that only your Holy Spirit can do. And Lord, may people be set free, set free

from sin, and set free to walk in love. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

This peace that outlasts darkness, that's in the blood, this future grace that's mine today. That Jesus Christ has won. So I can face tomorrow. Oh, send your hand. You will provide. Just like you are.

Cause I'm fighting a battle. I come. Don't know what to do.

Cause I'm fighting a battle. For anyone. There's mercy in the waiting. Enough for today. It's gone. Oh, you're not.

The sea is raging. It is my hell. I'll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ. I'll say that it is. Oh, I know that it is where. I'm fighting a battle. No matter what comes my way. I know what you'll do.

You've done a battle. Oh, you've already won. We'll be with you again. You're my savior, my defense. No more fear in life or death. Oh, we will be with you again. Oh, you're my savior, my defense. No more fear in life or death. No more fear in life or death. No more fear in life or death. And I know how this story ends. I'm fighting a battle. For anyone. No matter what comes.

I will know what you'll do. But I know what you've done. I'm fighting a battle. Cause I'm fighting a battle. You've already won. Lord God, I just thank you for the day. Lord, I just thank you for your word. God, it is sharp and powerful, Lord God. And I just thank you, Lord, that you have won the battle. No matter what it is that we are struggling with here this morning, God.

Whether it's a sin issue or something else, Lord God. We know that in the end, you win. In the end, the battle is already won. So Lord, just help us to rest in your victory. Over sin and death and pain and sorrow and depression and whatever, Lord God. Help us to rest in your victory. And help us to know that there is a victory, God, in you. I pray that if there are any here today, Lord.

God, that have never placed their trust in you, God. And claim the victory that's in you. I pray that today will be the day of salvation. God, and as we leave here today, I pray that your Holy Spirit go with us and continue, Lord, just to minister to our hearts. Father, we love you, God. And we pray for you. And we praise you. And we thank you. And all God's people said?

Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. And God bless you.