Series: Action [#178]
A CHRISTIAN’S CHECKBOOK- AN OFFERING
Ephesians 5:1-7
Introduction:
As I was reading through today’s text, I struggled with a Sermon Title and direction of this Sermon. Thursday night, I was reading the text again and it hit me- Jesus was a fragrant offering to God; and I am supposed to be like Jesus. This caused me to remember a story that happened to me over 30 years ago. Although, I talked about this several weeks ago on Wednesday; it is worth telling again.
I remembered this song that I had used in a Kid’s Christmas musical when I was the Worship Minister at Mountain View Baptist Church in Albuquerque, NM. I had a Kid’s Choir of 16 kids, 12 of which were all from 1 family. Those were the 12 meanest kids from the worst home life that I had ever encountered. Those little kids had lice, dirty clothes, a terrible odor, nasty mouths, etc… This simple kid’s song started ringing in my ears- “What Can I Give Him?” I remember those little kids singing this song at Hoffmantown Baptist Church in a concert. In the largest Church in Albuquerque, amongst some of the richest people in town; these poor little kids sang this song from their hearts while I cried. As a 20 year old man, those little children taught me about giving that night.
“What Can I Give Him?”
What can I give Him poor as I am
If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb
If I were a wise man I would do my part
Yet what can I give Him
Give Him my heart
People can be fickle. As Christians, we are supposed to live like Christ; but often we live the opposite of Him. We live like Jesus 1 moment and the next, we act like we don’t even know who Jesus is. So, what do you give as an acceptable offering to God? During this series about our riches in Christ, I want us to not do things that hinder our riches in Christ.
Ephesians 5:1-2
You keep from hindering your riches in Christ by…
1. Patterning your life after Jesus.
A popular saying amongst Christians from the 1990’s was “WWJD”- What would Jesus do. It is a great question. As our text tells us, Jesus is love and was willing to give Himself completely to the will of the Father. He offered Himself “as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”. As a Christian, you are to do the same. Is how you live your life a pleasing smell to God, or do you stink?
Ephesians 5:3-4
You keep from hindering your riches in Christ by…
2. Putting off sin.
Not only are you to get rid of sin in your life; but you are to not have “even a hint” of sin in your life. Paul lists some of the enemies of living a godly life. Notice, each of these are the total opposite of who Jesus is.
An enemy of doing good is...
* Sexual immorality.
Paul starts his list with all sexual sins. We could spend an entire sermon on this subject because it covers everything from pre-marital sex to extra-marital sex to homosexuality to pornography, etc…
An enemy of doing good is...
* Impurity.
An impurity is something that ruins the uncontaminated nature of something. If someone accuses you of impurity, they think you or your nature has been spoiled in some way by sin.
An enemy of doing good is...
* Greed.
Greed occurs when you are being selfish. Greed wants and is willing to do whatever to get its way. There should not be even a hint of greed in a Christian’s life. That means that even our intentions matter.
An enemy of doing good is...
* Obscenity.
To be obscene is to be offensive or disgusting by accepted standards of morality and decency. This is the dictionary definition of obscene. What I would add to this definition is God’s standards of morality and decency.
An enemy of doing good is...
* Foolish talking.
Some things just don’t need to be said. Often times, we talk about things that are stupid and don’t matter. We often are guilty of just wasting the usefulness of words.
An enemy of doing good is...
* Coarse joking.
Simply put, dirty jokes. It is unnecessary to tell or listen to jokes that degrade people or bring attention to perversions.
Ephesians 5:5-7
You keep from hindering your riches in Christ by…
3. Preparing for eternity.
These verses make many people very nervous. For many, rightfully so. This tells us that no one can inherit the Kingdom of God. You may be thinking, “That is not what that says”; but actually it is. All sin is immoral, impure, and greedy; and the wages of sin is eternal death. The Good News is, through the blood of Jesus Christ; you can be saved. When a person is saved, (born again); they are a new creation. When God looks upon His children, He sees perfection because He sees the blood of Jesus. Jesus is your only avenue to Heaven.
Conclusion:
As we have looked at not hindering your riches in Christ; don’t forget that God sees and knows everything you think and do. Not getting caught is not the point of this Sermon. The point of this Sermon is that you need to imitate Jesus in all you think, say, and do. I pray that we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.
Romans 12:1
