Sermon Outline:
I Walk in love
A Paul encourages them to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1).
B Paul motivates them to walk in love by reminding them of the greatest sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2).
C To become an imitator of God, the Ephesians must put away the things of the flesh (Ephesians 5:3-6).
1 Ephesus was the home of the temple to the Greek god, Diana (See Acts 19:23-31).
2 The wrath of God would come upon the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6).
II Walk as children of light
A Paul discourages the Christians from being partakers, joining in with them (Ephesians 5:7).
B Since their lives have been changed (Ephesians 2:1-6), they are to walk as children of light.
C The Christians were to expose the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11).
1 The works of darkness are to shameful to even mention (Ephesians 5:12).
D The light, Christian’s life, will make manifest the darkness contained within the unfruitful (Ephesians 5:13, 14).
III Walk circumspectly
A To walk circumspectly means to walk carefully.
1 Paul wants them to avoid the error he previously mentioned.
B Paul wants them to walk carefully in wisdom making the most of their time (Ephesians 5:15, 16).
1 Wisdom is the principle thing (Proverbs 4:7).
2 Wisdom is more valuable than gold (Proverbs 16:16).
C Their walk of wisdom will bring them into a entirely different life.
1 Not drunk, but filled with the Spirit; speaking to one another through song; giving thanks to God always through Christ; submitting to one another (Ephesians 5:18-21).
