INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• The efficiency expert concluded his lecture with a note of caution: "You do not want to try these techniques at home!"
• "Why not?" asked a man from the audience.
• "After years of not paying attention, I suddenly noticed my wife's routine at breakfast," the expert explained. "She made lots of trips to the refrigerator, stove, table and cabinets; often she carried just a single item at a time. So I asked her, 'Hon, why don't you try carrying several things at once? It'd be much more efficient.'"
• "Well, did your suggestions save much time?" the attendee asked.
• "Actually, yes," the efficiency expert responded. "It used to take her twenty minutes to get breakfast ready. Now I do it in seven." (MIKES FUNNIES)
• Today as we continue in our Turning Over a New Leaf series, we are going to examine a New Pattern for Life to consider.
• When we build things, we usually follow some pattern, plan or blueprint.
• How would we feel if we were going to have someone come in and install new counter tops in our home and they did it all on the phone?
• They never came by your home to look at your existing cabinets, they never took one measurement, and they never made a pattern to follow so they could cut your new tops to fit.
• Would that make you feel confident in what you would get from them?
• We follow patterns life, many of us build our life on a pattern that was instilled within us when we were children, some decided they did not like the pattern for life they were offered and decided to construct their own pattern.
• For some their pattern is no pattern, they just make it up as they aimlessly wander through life. They can never seem to figure out why they never get anywhere.
• Today we are going to examine two different patterns for life.
• The pattern of life we chose to mold our life from will determine what type of person will become.
• Let’s turn to Ephesians 5, we will be in verses 1-5 and we will open with verses 1-2.
• SLIDE #2
• Ephesians 5:1–2 (HCSB) — 1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. 2 And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. A flawless pattern for life.
• One of the challenges of living our new life in Christ, is getting away from our old way of life.
• In order to do that, we need to follow a new pattern of life, a pattern that is not flawed, but one that is flawless.
• Paul starts this chapter with the word, THEREFORE! Since Christians are a new creation in Christ, since God has forgiven us when we are immersed into Christ, our new self should begin to bear a resemblance to the family of God.
• Then we are told to be imitators of God as dearly loved children.
• In our society, when we think of an imitation, we think of something that is fake or counterfeit.
• Do you want a diamond ring or a DIAMELLE ring? Do you want a pair of Oakley sunglasses or a fake pair?
• DO you want an original Van Gough or one Joe down the street painted?
• Do you want the ORIGINAL DOGS PLAYING POKER Velvet painting or a knock-off of the fine piece of art.
• We see a lot of what we call knock-off products and we tend to look down on them.
• During the time of the writing of this letter, in the ethical sphere of the Greek language and in the fine arts the word has a positive connotation.
• In the New Testament, the word is always used in a positive sense. Paul uses the word most frequently of all the New Testament writers.
• Imitating in the original language was more than trying to look like someone, it also meant to be like someone, to act as they would act, to think as they would think.
• Another way to put it is to follow His example.
• Notice that Paul adds the phrase AS DEARLY BELOVED CHILDREN.
• A child who is loved by their family will often want to be like their parent, and many times will grow up to be like them.
• As they spend time with their father or mother, their respect for them grows as they see the consistency of their life.
• The Life Application Commentary shares this interesting tidbit.
• Behavioral scientists have discovered an interesting phenomenon called “imprinting” in the early development of some animals.
• At certain critical stages, whatever other animal, object, or person the young animal is exposed to is taken to be its “parent.”
• If a young goose is “imprinted” with a dog, the gosling will see the dog as its mother.
• Paul says that such imprinting should happen in Christian growth.
• We should walk so closely with Jesus that he imprints on us his nature: loving, serving, sacrificing, pleasing to God the Father.
• Stay close to him through Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and evangelism so that you are always in a position to be transformed into his image.
• We cannot be imprinted with God if we do not spend time with Him.
• The perfect pattern was shown to us by Jesus. Verse 2 explains: 2 And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
• Jesus was God in the flesh, Jesus loved us so much that He gave Himself up for us.
• To walk in love means that the pattern of life is to be controlled and guided by love.
• Jesus showed us the way, be offers us a new pattern of life.
• Is the pattern of your life built on love? When you are able to allow God to help you get there, life is so much better than being bitter all of the time over some of the terrible things have happened to you in life. Being bitter does not make for a good life!
• When we follow the pattern that God laid out to us through Jesus, our life becomes a fragrant offering to the Lord!
• Let turn to verse 3-4.
• SLIDE #4
• Ephesians 5:3–4 (HCSB) — 3 But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. 4 Coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.
• SLIDE #5
II. A flawed pattern for life.
• This is where it gets tough.
• When you explore the world around you, it is loaded with the things that can take us off-track.
• This is another one of those lists of things we need to avoid in our life.
• These three items in verse 3 are the root of many of the other sins we get ourselves entangled.
• The word for sexual immorality is porneia, from which we get our word pornography. It includes any sexual intimacy outside of marriage.
• Impurity covers pretty much all of the sexual sins not covered by the porneia. It is a broader range of defilement which includes anything what would make one unfit to come before the presence of God.
• Greed in many instances is translated covetousness, or literally HAVE-MORE-NESS.
• In the sexual context, it is unrestrained sexual greed whereby a person assumes that others exist for their own gratification.
• Our society promotes cherishing things and using people for our own gratification.
• On the extreme we see human trafficking, where women from Mexico and other parts of the world are brought to this country and others to be used.
• We watched a very tastefully done true story concerning this subject called Priceless. Do not watch it with your young children.
• When we allow this issues to take hold of us, they will cause is to follow a flawed pattern for life, that is that life is about me, myself and I.
• When ones lives by this pattern, it will destroy them. The pleasures they crave will eventually leave them empty and frustrated.
• This items are so destructive that Paul said that they should not even be heard of among you.
• That pattern is a pattern that the lost follow, we should stay as far from them as possible.
• If you have ever owned a large animal, such as a German Shepherd, Doberman, Pit bull, or a horse, one of the things you MUST do is to make sure they know who you are the master.
• Out of control a dog can be dangerous, a horse can throw you off whenever they feel like it.
• Now if you have an out of control Chihuahua, they do not present as much of a danger.
• The sins mentioned by Paul are so powerful and hard to control that once they get a foot hold in your life, they will hurt you!
• This is why there can be no HINT of these things in your life.
• This is a hard message today because even Christian have become calloused to the effects of them in one’s life.
• In verse 4 Paul hits the subject of our speech, by the way which flow from what we think.
• Course talk deals with language that is shameful, and indecent, obscene. I LOVE comedians. Back in the day when Star Search was on, I loved the comic segment; however, I do not appreciate crude, and course “HUMOR”.
• It takes no talent and brains to drop F-bombs and use crude, vile suggestive “HUMOR” to get a laugh.
• If a 5th grade boy can write your material, you are not talented, just crude.
• Foolish talking is the talk of a fool.
• Coarse joking” (e?t?ape??a, eutrapelia) is witty talk that is corrupted by a smutty intention, a nasty insinuation which raises a laugh at the expense of someone’s good name. Aristotle called this term “cultured insolence.” (College Press NIV Commentary)
• These things are not suitable. We need to watch our language, I do not care where you work, or if you are in the military, God EXPECTS you to clean up what you say, because what you say comes from what is in your heart. LUKE 6:45
• SLIDE #6
• Luke 6:45 (HCSB) A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
• Christians, we need to rid ourselves of the flawed pattern for life and embrace the flawless!
• SLIDE #7
• Ephesians 5:5 (HCSB) For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God.
• SLIDE #8
III. A word of caution concerning the flawed pattern for life.
• Each of us has a choice to make, we have to decide which pattern of life we will choose to follow.
• You can ignore what I have shared with you, you can ignore God’s word and continue to justify why it is OK for you to do what you are doing or you can realize that God has called you to something better.
• Folks will tell you to live however you want to, and you can, folks will tell you that there is no god or if there is he does not care what you do.
• Listen carefully what verse 5 says again.
• SLIDE #9
• Ephesians 5:5 (HCSB) For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God.
• God is not going to take away your freedom to do whatever you want to do; however, what we do DOES have consequences.
• When I DECIDE to habitually pattern my life after the flawed pattern of the world, I will NOT have an inheritance in God’s Kingdom, no matter how many years I occupy seat in a church building.
CONCLUSION
• Ok, this passage has some harsh realities we need to understand.
• We need to make sure that we are striving to pattern our lives after the FLAWLESS pattern that Jesus laid before us.
• We will NEVER be sinless perfect; however, in Christ we receive His grace that makes up the difference.
• We have to be careful not to use that as an excuse to sin at will (ROMANS 6:1).
• We cannot win a world to Jesus if we are follow the same pattern of life as the world.
• As Christians, we have to believe in Jesus enough to live for Him minute by minute, hour by hour.
