Follow the Steps of Our Savior Jesus Christ
Ephesians 5:1-14
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Series: The Book of Ephesians
(Prepared May 22, 2024)
BACKGROUND:
*We are studying the Apostle Paul's letter to the Church in Ephesus. J. Vernon McGee gave this background: "Around the year 60 A.D. four men left Rome bound for the province of Asia. Each man carried a Holy Spirit inspired letter written by the Apostle Paul. The Roman authorities never realized the significance of these letters from one of their little known prisoners. But if the empire had any idea of the power in those Heaven sent words, those four men would have been arrested and the documents seized.
*When the men said goodbye to the Apostle Paul, each was given a letter to carry to his particular church. These four letters are forever part of God's Word. And they are designated the 'Prison Epistles of Paul,' since he wrote them while he was a prisoner in Rome. Paul was there waiting for a hearing before Caesar Nero who was then the emperor of the Empire. As a Roman citizen, Paul had appealed his case to the emperor, and he was waiting to be heard." (1)
*Author John Phillips added that "Ephesus was a large and important city in Paul’s day, with a population of around 350,000 people. It was on the western coast of modern day Turkey, midway between two continents. There east met west. Crowds of government officials, Roman soldiers, and Jewish businessmen rubbed shoulders with Eastern pilgrims flocking into Ephesus to worship at the pagan temple of Diana. That temple was famous as one of the wonders of the ancient world, but it was also a shrine to a false goddess who was "worshiped" through sinful sexual ways.
*Ephesus had been Paul’s headquarters during his third missionary journey. He stayed in the city for nearly three years and established a large, influential church. His fellow workers, and the new Christians fanned out from Ephesus to the surrounding territory. There they planted new churches in city after city." Later, the church in Ephesus was blessed to be led by the Apostle John. (2)
*With this background in mind, let's begin today by reading Ephesians 5:1-14. And as we read, please think about following the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
MESSAGE:
*Here are some good spiritual questions to ask from time to time:
-Which spiritual direction am I heading these days?
-How is my Christian walk going?
-Am I stuck in a rut?
-Have I made any progress lately?
-Am I getting closer to God or pulling farther away?
*Guy McGraw saw a description of how we might walk if we walked the way some people drive: "Some of us would suddenly race one another down the sidewalk. If someone stepped out in front of us, we might start walking two inches behind them. We’d make faces or yell at people who didn't walk the way we wanted them to. We might even talk to the red light as we waited for it to change." (3)
*Christian: How has your spiritual walk been going? We are supposed to be headed in a different direction from unbelievers. God wants us to have a different walk, because we are a different people. We are part of the Family of God, and we can follow the footsteps of our Savior.
1. TODAY'S SCRIPTURE HELPS US SEE HOW, AND FIRST WE MUST MIMIC OUR MASTER.
*We see this truth in vs. 1 where Paul tells us to "be followers of God as dear children." That word "follower" means to be an imitator of Christ. The original word is where we get our word "mimic," so we are to do the things we see Jesus do. When we look at the life of Jesus Christ, there is no doubt that we’ve got somebody worth following. Jesus is somebody worth imitating, so "be followers of God" vs. 1 tells us.
*I mentioned Richard Wurmbrand last time, and he certainly followed God. Richard served the Lord during the dark days of Communist oppression in Romania. He was put into prison by the Communists simply because he was a follower of Christ. He was released from his first imprisonment in 1956, after eight and a half years.
*Although he was warned not to preach, Richard resumed work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959 and sentenced to 25 years. During this imprisonment, he was beaten, tortured, and Richard never fully recovered from that torture.
*At some point in prison, Wurmbrand shared a cell with a young Communist. At first, that young atheist wanted nothing to do with Christianity. But food rations were very low in the prison, and Richard began to share his bread with that young man. One day Richard was telling his cellmate about a Christian man who was like Jesus. Then the young man turned to Richard and said, "If Jesus is like you, -- I would like to know Him." (4)
2. HOW CAN WE FOLLOW THE STEPS OF OUR SAVIOR? WE MUST MIMIC OUR MASTER. BUT ALSO LEARN HOW MUCH WE ARE LOVED BY GOD.
*This is crucially important in our Christian lives, and we see it at the end of vs. 1. Paul said, "Therefore be followers of God as dear children." The NIV calls us "dearly loved" children, and that is a good way to put it. I say this because the original word for "dearly loved" here is very close to the most famous New Testament word for love: "Agape". Christians: We are dearly loved children of God. And God loves us with His special kind of love that we could never deserve. What a difference that makes!
*Fanny Crosby is one of the greatest hymn writers of all time. One source I saw said that Fanny wrote almost 9,000 hymns! One of our favorites says, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior, all the day long." Another verse of that great hymn says: "Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture now burst on my sight."
*The amazing thing is that Fanny Crosby was blind when she wrote about those "visions of rapture." Fanny was accidentally blinded after getting an eye infection when she was only 6 weeks old. But listen to something else Fanny wrote when she was 8 years old:
"Oh, what a happy child I am, although I cannot see.
I am resolved that in this world, contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don't.
To weep and sigh because I'm blind -- I cannot, and I won't." (5)
*Wow. -- Fanny Crosby could write like that, because she knew that she was a dearly loved child of God. But does God love us too? We know for sure, because the Bible tells us so. Nave's Topical Bible has 46 different Scripture references on the love of God. It also has 116 Scripture references on the love of God exemplified.
*For example, 1 John 4:8-10 says:
8. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
*That last verse points us back to the greatest demonstration of God's love, and that is the cross of Jesus Christ. God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross in our place. But three days later, Jesus rose again forever victorious over sin and death! Now anyone can be a child of God by opening their hearts to receive God's love by receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
3. THAT'S HOW TO FOLLOW THE STEPS OF OUR SAVIOR. LEARN HOW MUCH WE ARE LOVED BY GOD. THEN LOVE LIKE WE ARE LOVED BY GOD.
*That's why in vs. 2, Paul tells us to "walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."
*"Walk in love," Paul tells us. And I am glad that God describes the Christian life as a walk. Back in Ephesians 2:10, He has already told Christians that "we are (God's) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Then in Ephesians 4:1-2, Paul said, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love."
*1 Peter 2:2 tells Christians, "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." All new Christians then are born again as spiritual babies. And just like we all had to learn to walk when we were babies, God wants His born again babies to learn how to spiritually walk. Jesus Christ wants us to learn to walk with Him every day. This means going in the same direction, heading to the same place, following Him, and enjoying His company along the way.
*Here in vs. 2, it also means that we should "walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." This means we are to love like the Lord loves us, living our lives, and giving our lives as a daily offering to God.
4. THAT'S HOW TO FOLLOW THE STEPS OF OUR SAVIOR: LOVE LIKE WE ARE LOVED BY GOD, AND LIVE WITH GODLY HOLINESS.
*This is God's message for us in vs. 3-7, where Paul said:
3. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4. neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7. Therefore do not be partakers with them.
*The NIV puts it this way:
3. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
4. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
5. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
7. Therefore do not be partners with them.
*God wants us to have a holy lifestyle, living a life of obedience to God. So as we look into these verses, we see a holy body, a holy heart, and a holy tongue.
[1] WE KNOW THAT GOD WANTS US TO HAVE HOLY BODIES.
*We know this, because in vs. 3, Paul tells us to avoid fornication. That's any kind of sexual immorality, and our purity is important to God. It was hard in Paul’s day, because he lived in an "anything goes" society. Prostitutes were even part of the idolatrous religions in the Roman Empire.
*Sadly, we also live in an "anything goes" society today. Right is wrong and wrong is right. That's the message all the way from the White House to Hollywood, and most places in between. So, over the last 50 years, it has gotten much harder, especially for young people. But God wants us to have holy bodies.
[2] CHRISTIANS, HE ALSO WANTS US TO HAVE HOLY HEARTS.
*We know this because in vs. 3, God's Word tells us to avoid "all uncleanness." That is what the NIV simply calls "impurity." In Matthew 23:27, Jesus used this same original word to describe the rottenness of decaying bodies in a tomb. But this biblical word more often focuses on the mind and inner corruption.
*God also tells us to avoid "covetousness" or "greed." That's the attitude and appetite to have more and more. Ted Turner is a very, very rich man. Today his net worth is estimated to be $2.5 billion. And when I checked in 2019, that included about 2 million acres of land in the United States, 45,000 bison, plus ranches in Argentina.
*But years ago in a television interview, Barbara Walters asked Ted Turner, "What does it feel like to be so wealthy?" And Ted replied, "It's like a paper bag. Everyone sees the bag. Everyone wants it. (But) once you get the bag, you discover that the bag is empty." I also heard a quote from Ted Turner where he said something like this, "I don't want to own all the ranches, just the ranches that are next to mine." Of course, that's a never-ending trap. Money is a heartless master that never says, "Enough."
*And we can't put our trust in money. One person said, "Money talks. -- It says 'bye-bye.'" And one day it will. Proverbs 23:4-5 puts it this way, "Do not overwork to be rich; because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven." (6)
*God doesn't want us to be greedy. He wants us to have holy hearts.
[3] CHURCH, HE ALSO WANTS US TO HAVE HOLY TONGUES.
*That's why in vs. 4, He tells us to avoid "filthiness." That’s obscene language. Also avoid "foolish talking," and "jesting," which means crude and course jokes. That would probably include 80 to 90% of all the comedy on TV today.
*This command to avoid jesting doesn’t mean that God has no sense of humor. Anyone who created giraffes and kangaroos has got to have a sense of humor. When Jesus walked on the water, Mark's Gospel tells us something that I think also shows the Lord's sense of humor.
*There the Apostles were in the boat on the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the night. The waves were rocking the boat, and the wind was whipping them in the wrong direction. Then in the middle of that dangerous situation, along came Jesus, walking on the water. And Mark 6:48 says, "Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by."
*Can you picture that? Jesus walking on the water, and waving to them as He passed by. -- "Hey guys!" Now, that’s a sense of humor! But they cried out to Him and Jesus went over to the boat. Then Jesus calmed that storm with less effort than it takes us to turn off the water in our house.
*Now, by God's grace, we can be funny without being crude, without being vulgar, without hurting other people. God wants us to walk in a holy lifestyle, with holy bodies, holy hearts, and holy tongues. So Ephesians 4:22 in the New Living Translation tells Christians to "throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception."
*God says just take it off and throw it away like a dirty, rotten piece of clothing. But sometimes we get discouraged, because we are trying to get it off, and it doesn’t seem to want to go. I want to encourage you today: Don’t give up! Don't give up, because God will help us get those old clothes off. The Lord will certainly help us change from the inside out.
*Ray Stedman explained, "When God's life becomes your life, you can expect many changes. It may take a while. There is growth involved. You are like a new baby at first, but watch: you cannot be the same person. You cannot go on the way you were. If you do, you have never been born again. When you get in touch with the life of God, things are going to be different." If God is truly our Heavenly Father, then we will begin to think and feel and act the way He does. (7)
5. AND THAT'S HOW TO FOLLOW THE STEPS OF OUR SAVIOR: LIVE WITH GODLY HOLINESS, BUT ALSO WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT.
*Christians: This means shining with godly goodness in our lives. We can see this truth in vs. 8-10 where Paul said, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), proving what is acceptable to the Lord."
*Living as children of light also means avoiding dark deeds, and standing against sin every way that we can. As vs. 11-13 say: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light."
*Walking as children of light means all of these things: Shining with godly goodness, avoiding dark deeds, and standing against sin. But above all, walking as children of light means trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ to be our light, because Jesus Christ is the Light of the world! And He will give us all of the spiritual light we will ever need in life.
*There is no way that we can shine on our own! We must have the light of the Lord shining in our hearts. So in vs. 14 Paul wrote, "Therefore He says: 'Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.'''
*God gave the physical sun to give physical light and life to our planet. Infinitely more important: God gave His only begotten Son to give spiritual light and life to people. Spiritual darkness is all over the world, and it is destroying people everywhere. But Jesus Christ is the Light of the world! As the Lord said in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'' And John 1:9 tells us that Jesus is "the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world."
CONCLUSION:
*Annie Chapman told about a Christmas present she got one year from her 4-year-old daughter, Heidi. It was just a little trinket, but it was priceless to that mother. Heidi kept jumping for joy as her mom opened the package that her daughter had wrapped. It was a huge ball of wrapping paper and tape. And inside all that paper was a tiny, plastic, glow-in-the-dark manger scene with Joseph, Mary, and the Baby Jesus.
*The whole time Mom unwrapped, little Heidi kept saying over and over, "Mommy, Jesus glows in the dark! Jesus glows in the dark!" And He did, and He still does. In our lost, hurt and dying world, Jesus Christ really does glow in the dark. (8)
*And if we belong to Him, if we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have the true Light of the world. And He will give us all of the spiritual light we will ever need! Jesus will give us all the light we need to follow Him here on earth, and to follow Him home to Heaven.
*So put your trust in our crucified and risen Savior today! Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You can call on the Lord to save you right now, as we go back to God in prayer. Then start following the steps of our Savior Jesus Christ.
(1) Adapted from THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH J. VERNON MCGEE by J. Vernon McGee - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville - Copyright 1981 - "Ephesians Introduction" - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(2) Adapted from EXPLORING EPHESIANS & PHILIPPIANS by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "Exploring Ephesians - Introduction" - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
(3) SermonCentral sermon "Walking Like God Walks" by Guy McGraw - Ephesians 5:1-7
(4) SermonCentral sermon "Abide in Me" by Martin Dale - John 15:1-17 - 05/18/2003
(5) Sources:
-Adapted from Don Stephens - Copyright "Evangelicals Now" - January 1998
-John Yates II, "The Man Born Blind," Preaching Today, Tape No. 46. - Source: Bible Illustrator for windows - Topic: Joy - Subtopic: Spiritual - Index: 1930 - Date: 6/1998.1208 - Title: "The Joy of a Blind Child"
(6) Sources:
-https://www.forbes.com/profile/ted-turner/?sh=762caaeb50db
-Stephen Arterburn, Winning at Work Without Losing at Love - Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994, p. 141 - Source: "Dynamic Preaching" - 5th Sunday in September 2001)
-Original source unknown for Ted Turner quotation
-Online sermon "Where's Your Heart" by David Hoke - Matthew 6:19-24 - 09/17/1995
(7) Online sermon: "Born of the Spirit" by Ray C. Stedman - Series: The Gospel of John - John 3:1-16 - Message No: 8 - Catalog No: 3838 - Date: May 15, 1983 - http://www.pbc.org/system/message_files/4182/3838.html
(8) "Decision" - December 1993
