Summary: Paul begins a detailed discussion of the Christian life-style

Introduction:

Several years ago the "Christian Life and Faith" magazine presented some unusual facts about two families. In 1677 an immoral man married a very licentious woman. Nineteen hundred descendants came from the generations begun by that union. Of these, 771 were criminals, 250 were arrested for various

offenses, 60 were thieves, and 39 were convicted for murder. Forty of the women were known to have venereal disease. These people spent a combined total of 1300 years behind bars and cost the State of New York nearly 3 million dollars.

The other family was the Edwards family. The third generation included Jonathan Edwards who was the great New England revival preacher and who became president of Princeton University. Of the 1,344 descendants, many were college presidents and professors. One hundred eighty-six became ministers of the gospel, and many others were active in their churches. Eighty-

six were state senators, three were Congressmen, 30 judges, and one became Vice President of the United States. No reference was made of anyone spending time in jail or in the poorhouse.

Not all children of good parents become useful citizens, nor do all the offspring of wicked people turn out bad. Parental example is extremely powerful - either for good or for evil.

The apostle Paul saw a parallel in the Christian life. Because we are children of our Heavenly Father, we are to reflect His character. In chapter 5 of Ephesians, Paul begins a detailed discussion of the Christian life-style.

I/ LIVING IN LOVE - Ephesians 5:1-2

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; {2} And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.

Notice two key phrases "Followers of God" - "Walk in love".

Whatever our pretensions to enlightenment, he who lacks love is living in the dark, moving around in darkness, stumbling, lost, and blinded.

There is no darkness deeper than hate, and no hatred darker than religious hate. Of all the bitter lessons of the twentieth century,none is more plain than this:

that victory is not enough, that revenge solves no problems.

National hostility, racial rivalry, class hatred, ideological bitterness, family quarrels and personal feuds, all mend nothing. He who hates his brother is in darkness, he does not see where he is going, what lies ahead, or where his attitudes will come out; the darkness of an unloving heart gets into the mind, the conscience, the eyes and the very soul.

Hate blinds men to facts, to people, to reality,

and to all good sense. It is because self-seeking governs men that life becomes so entangled.

As Christians we are to hate the Sin, but love the sinner. The quickest way to stumble as a Christian is to hate those who believe differently than we. The Bible says; "Love covers a multitude of sin".

The light of God is love and those who are blinded with the false doctrines of the world, will never see the truth without love. That means we are to love the members of other Christian faiths, and even love the lost! That doesn’t mean we have to agree with them, or do what they do, or believe what they believe, but we must not hate them or we will surely stumble.

II/ LIVING IN PURITY - Ephesians 5:3-6

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; {4} Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. {5} For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. {6} Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

There are three key vices mentioned here SEX, COVETOUSNESS, AND IDOLATARY, we will deal with them one at a time, however, they are inter-related:

FIRST - SEX Whats wrong with it! DIDN’T GOD DESIGN IT:

Dr Henry Brandt, a Christian psychologist, reminds us, "God created all parts of the human body. He did not create some parts good and some bad: He created them all good, for when He had finished His creation, He looked at it and said, "It is all very good" (Gen 1:31). This occurred before sin marred the perfection of Paradise. The idea that God designed our sex organs for our enjoyment comes almost as a surprise to some people. All three members of the Holy Trinity are on record in the Bible as endorsing the relationship of marriage.

1. God the Father - Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

2. God the Son - Matthew 19:5

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

3. God the Holy Spirit inspired the writer - Hebrews 13:4

Marriage honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. The Greek word "koite" in Heb 13:4 translated "bed" is the same root as the latin word "coitus" which is sort of a medical term for sex. At the risk of shocking some people, the Bible doesn’t mince any words on the subject. The Song of Soloman is notoriously frank in this respect(SS 2:3-17 & 4:1-7). Why God endorses marriage is a

topic for lengthy discussion, however, consider the following:

1 Corinthians 7:9

But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for [it is better to marry than to burn]. "burn" means to burn in their lust for each

other. The sex drive is so powerful in a young person that sex often seems uppermost in their mind. Shortly after a person becomes a Christian, they are convicted by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to change their thought patterns.

Our Lord, of course, knew this universal problem, when He said "whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt 5:28) I expect the reverse is true for ladies who lust after men. Such mental adultery has probably brought more sincere Christians to spiritual defeat than any other single sin.

Many young Christian’s fail to understand this problem. A loving, sexually responsive mate can be a great asset to the partner in keeping their thought life pleasing to God. This is not to suggest that their victory in Christ is dependent upon their partner’s behavior, but then God gave woman to man for a help-mate and man to the woman to protect her. God is in the business of reclaiming sinners and freeing Christians from their sinfull natures.

1 Corinthians 6:11-13

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. {12} All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. {13} Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

SECOND - COVETOUSNESS OR GREED

That sexual sin and greed are mentioned in the same context surprises many readers. Yet greed, or covetousness in the KJV, can sometimes play an important role in immorrality. Adultery, for example, is greed because it is the self-centered gratification of one’s desires without due regard for others or for God’s moral law.

We are not requied, however, to limit greed to such a narrow definition as in this passage. In some circles today greed has become so respectable it is nearly a virtue. Some people are preaching that if you are Godly and spiritually blessed, you will be rich. In the quest to get rich at all costs, many lose sight of the horrifying nature of this sin. Immorality and greed are so heinous they shouldn’t even be mentioned amoung Christians.

THIRD - IDOLATRY

The linking of idolatry with greed is not accidental. Focusing our lives on money is essentally idolatry, for it puts an object of affection and worship before God.

III/ LIVING IN LIGHT - Ephesians 5:7-14

Be not ye therefore partakers with them. {8} For ye were sometimes darkness, but now light in the Lord: walk as children of light: {9} (For the fruit of the Spirit in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) {10} Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. {11} And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove . {12} For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. {13} But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. {14} Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

It is because of light that men can see to walk without stumbling,and to perceive where they are going. In the "New Jerusalem" in Revelation 21:23 the bible says "the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof".

Many near-death experiances today tell of a tunnel of light which people saw just before being revived. In heavan, we don’t need the light of the sun to "see".

In this life, God gives us the eyes of faith to see "things hoped for" (Heb 11:1). In this verse, John states categorically "God is light,and in him is no darkness at all".

God is the source of light and experience tells us that light overcomes darkness, but darkness cannot overcome light. In Genesis 1:2,3 the bible says: "the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Notice that first there was God’s Spirit, then there was God’s Light and as the bible unfolds, there is God’s Love.

In contrast to God’s light, Paul says "the God of this world(Satan)has blinded the minds of them which believe not". Morally, only men who are "in the light" see the real nature of their sins, while other men choose darkness to avoid this self-exposure.

Regarding fellowship with other Christians, alienation from God always underlies alienation from one another. John states that he who hates his brother is in darkness, but he who loves, lives in the light. In that great 3rd chapter of the Gospel of John it says; "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3:19-20).

"Walk as children of light" immediately spells God’s absolute ethical demand "If we--walk in darkness, we lie". When Adam and Eve sinned their first step was to begin to "hide" from the "light". So we see God in the Garden crying "Adam, where art thou ?" It is sin that has hidden men from the truth and the light of God.

It is quite impossible to have fellowship with the Light and walk, deliberately or carelessly, in darkness. To profess to "know" Jesus and to continually walk in darkness is a moral lie. It is not enough to say this inconsistency ought not to be,it cannot be. Only the pure in heart see God; without holiness no man can see the Lord, and only they whose faces are toward the light can know the fellowship of the Father. To fall occasionally and painfully into sin is not the same as to walk deliberately and

persistently in self-chosen and self-justifying darkness.

IV/ LIVING IN WISDOM

Ephesians 5:15-18

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, {16} Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. {17} Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord . {18} And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

"Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise" Christians walk carefully, they take the long long look! What is the beginning of

wisdom? Who is wise ?

"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" You may never come this way again, you may never have this opportunity again to affect men for our Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t miss your opportuity!

Drunkenness is one example of foolish living, of not doing God’s will. On the other hand, being filled with the Spirit, is an example of wisdom; only by the direction of the Spirit can we do the will of God.

Ephesians 5:19-20

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; {20} Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;