1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 The theme of the names of believers. What's in a name anyway? Well, there's a local organization 2 00:00:09,260 --> 00:00:15,940 here in the Twin Cities which is exercising quite a ministry, discovering the meaning 3 00:00:15,940 --> 00:00:22,940 of names. Perhaps some of you have their plaques in your home. Biblically, a name often tells 4 00:00:22,940 --> 00:00:29,940 something about a person or something that God is intending to happen. For example, we 5 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:40,120 looked this morning at the life of Abraham. The name Abraham means the father of a multitude, 6 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:46,360 doesn't it? The name that he had before that though was slightly different. It was 7 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:53,360 Abram and meant exalted father. Both are true of him. If you think of Moses, you're reminded 8 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:05,040 that his very name means what? Does anybody know? I think somebody said it, but I can't 9 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:11,960 hear very well because of a fan up here which I'm not about to turn off. Drawn out is what 10 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:18,960 the name means. He was drawn out of the bulrushes. His name was Moses. I think of the two sons 11 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:25,960 of Isaiah. Shiar Jeshu was his first son. His name means a remnant shall return. A real 12 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:36,140 encouragement because of the name of that boy. A remnant shall return was the promise 13 00:01:36,140 --> 00:01:43,020 of God regarding his people Israel. His second boy wasn't quite as pleasantly named. His 14 00:01:43,020 --> 00:01:50,020 name was Mahershalol Hashbez. That's one of my favorite Bible names. Mahershalol Hashbez 15 00:01:51,220 --> 00:01:58,220 means haste to the booty, haste to the prey. In that name is signified judgment. It was 16 00:01:58,220 --> 00:02:05,220 a warning that Assyria was going to conquer the northern kingdom of Israel or Samaria 17 00:02:07,660 --> 00:02:14,240 and would destroy as well Syria and Damascus and would come up to the neck of Judah. It 18 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:20,240 wouldn't overrun the nation and it didn't. Names mean something in the Bible. The very 19 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:27,240 name Jesus means Jehovah is savior or Jehovah saves. Likewise today, names and titles signify 20 00:02:28,340 --> 00:02:34,160 truths or positions. We speak of someone being president. It means he presides over something. 21 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:41,160 If he's a prisoner, it means he is incarcerated. If he's a supervisor, it means that he is 22 00:02:42,700 --> 00:02:49,700 supervising people. If he is an operator, it means he operates something. Names and 23 00:02:49,700 --> 00:02:55,240 titles have significance. That's why we're looking at some of the names and titles of 24 00:02:55,240 --> 00:03:02,240 believers. We have seen the names peculiar people, the called of Jesus Christ, priests 25 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:11,620 unto God. Tonight we want to look at one that may be a little more familiar to most of us 26 00:03:11,620 --> 00:03:18,620 and that is Children of God. For our key text to begin, let's turn to John chapter 1. If 27 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:31,000 you have read the Bible much, you know immediately where I'm turning to. John 1, verses 12 and 28 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:38,400 13. After speaking about the fact that Jesus Christ, the Word, the Light, has come into 29 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:45,400 the world and was rejected by his own people, he says in verse 12, but as many as received 30 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:54,680 him, to them he gave the right, the authority to become children of God, even to those who 31 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:04,800 believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of 32 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:11,800 the will of man, but of God. The Apostle John does not call believers sons of God. He chooses 33 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:23,800 to reserve that name son for the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, he chooses the name children 34 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:30,800 or technon. It means the born ones. He says as many as received Jesus Christ, to them 35 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:42,480 he gave the right to become the born ones of God. The name Children of God implies three 36 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:50,760 things. It implies first of all a birth. That we have this name, Children of God, implies 37 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:57,760 that we are offspring of God. And more than in a general sense, more than in the sense 38 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:07,120 of Acts 17 where it describes all men as being his offspring. There it has the idea that 39 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:14,480 he gives life to all and that is true in a physical sense. But in a special sense, we 40 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:21,480 are his offspring who are called the Children of God because we have received our life from 41 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:29,280 him. A child is one who is born to parents. Life has been generated. In the case of the 42 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:39,560 child of God, we have been regenerated. There has been a new birth, an impartation of both 43 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:46,560 life and nature by the Spirit of God. Both life and nature are part of children. How 44 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:59,120 well parents realize that. For they not only give birth to living beings, but to little 45 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:06,320 children who have something of the nature of mom and dad. Have you ever noticed that 46 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:13,320 once? Sadly sometimes. You know sometimes I think that in the raising of our children 47 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:19,960 we have the toughest time with the ones who are most like us. Have you ever noticed that? 48 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:26,960 The ones who have some of the same characteristics that we perhaps don't like in ourselves. 49 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:34,280 It's tough to see that in the other person. Both life and nature are imparted by physical 50 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:41,280 birth and by spiritual birth. We have the eternal life of God and we have the nature 51 00:06:42,580 --> 00:06:49,580 of God imparted to us so that we are new creatures in Jesus Christ. Here the apostle John equates 52 00:06:52,300 --> 00:06:59,300 believing with receiving. He says the two are the same. To receive is an act which demonstrates 53 00:06:59,300 --> 00:07:06,300 trust. It has to do with confidence in the thing that is offered. It means to appropriate 54 00:07:08,220 --> 00:07:15,220 it for one's own personal possession. So when we speak about receiving Jesus Christ, 55 00:07:14,660 --> 00:07:21,660 that's what it means. It means to take what is offered to be one's own possession. In 56 00:07:21,660 --> 00:07:28,660 other words, it is to believe on Jesus Christ. There are many people in our world today who 57 00:07:32,380 --> 00:07:39,020 believe in Jesus Christ with a superficial knowledge. That is, they know he lived, that 58 00:07:39,020 --> 00:07:45,180 he died, they hear that he rose again, they celebrate Christmas and Easter after all, 59 00:07:45,180 --> 00:07:50,660 but they have never actually believed on him in a saving sense because that means to receive 60 00:07:50,660 --> 00:07:57,660 him, to appropriate him. We find another word about this over in James 1 verse 18. He says 61 00:08:09,420 --> 00:08:16,420 in the exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the word of truth so that we might 62 00:08:16,420 --> 00:08:23,420 be, as it were, the first fruits among his creatures. Dare I point out to you the first 63 00:08:24,180 --> 00:08:30,100 phrase in that verse which follows up what we've said this morning? In the exercise 64 00:08:30,100 --> 00:08:37,100 of his will, he brought us forth. That word brought forth means to give birth to. It means 65 00:08:37,100 --> 00:08:44,100 that God, by the exercise of his will, sovereignly, decisively, creatively, has given birth to 66 00:08:47,820 --> 00:08:54,820 us. How has he done that? He says by the word of truth. Paul calls it the gospel of your 67 00:08:54,820 --> 00:09:01,820 salvation. That is the seed that is planted in the heart by which the Holy Spirit can 68 00:09:02,420 --> 00:09:09,420 bring forth life of regeneration in the sinner. Just turn back a couple of pages to Peter, 69 00:09:09,420 --> 00:09:26,420 I should say ahead to Peter, 1st chapter verse 23. By the way, Peter is the only one who 70 00:09:27,580 --> 00:09:33,020 actually uses the term born again. Did you know that? In John 3 it literally means born 71 00:09:33,020 --> 00:09:40,020 from above. But Peter talks about being born again and in verse 23 he says, for you have 72 00:09:40,740 --> 00:09:51,740 been born again, not of seed which is perishable. In other words, not of a human seed, but rather 73 00:09:52,180 --> 00:09:59,180 imperishable. That is, through the living and abiding word of God. When you and I share 74 00:09:59,180 --> 00:10:06,180 the gospel with another person, we are planting in that heart the living, abiding word of 75 00:10:07,100 --> 00:10:14,100 God. It is that seed which the Holy Spirit can use to create faith and new life in the 76 00:10:18,340 --> 00:10:25,340 person. That is why it is so important that as we witness to people, we tell them more 77 00:10:25,340 --> 00:10:32,340 than just how we got saved, but in the process of that, that we plant within them the word 78 00:10:32,900 --> 00:10:39,900 of God, the word of God, the word of God. They cannot escape the word of God. People 79 00:10:39,980 --> 00:10:45,780 can get away with what happened to you or my experience, but it is the word of God that 80 00:10:45,780 --> 00:10:52,220 remains. It is the word of God which is planted there, which the Holy Spirit uses to cause 81 00:10:52,220 --> 00:10:59,220 birth to take place. James says that God has done this so that we might be, as it were, 82 00:11:00,740 --> 00:11:07,380 the first fruits among His creatures. That is a great thought. We who are born again, 83 00:11:07,380 --> 00:11:13,820 who have been regenerated, who have been made the children of God, are the first promise 84 00:11:13,820 --> 00:11:20,820 of God's new order. The new order of creation that God is going to consummate in the new 85 00:11:20,820 --> 00:11:27,820 heavens and the new earth to be created after the millennial reign of Christ. We are a part. 86 00:11:28,900 --> 00:11:34,940 We are the first fruits, the first promise, the pledge that He is going to bring to pass 87 00:11:34,940 --> 00:11:41,260 that new order of things. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to that order. 88 00:11:41,260 --> 00:11:47,140 This order is so corrupt and wicked and miserable. It is an order that is degenerated because 89 00:11:47,140 --> 00:11:54,140 of the fall of man, because of sin. But God is going to bring about a new order of things, 90 00:11:54,980 --> 00:11:58,900 and that is the order that is going to last for all of eternity. We are a part of that. 91 00:11:58,900 --> 00:12:04,500 We are the very first part of it, the first fruits of it. 92 00:12:04,500 --> 00:12:11,500 The title child of God involves a birth. It also involves a likeness. In Matthew chapter 93 00:12:11,500 --> 00:12:18,500 5, Jesus says, Be therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. Does that mean 94 00:12:23,820 --> 00:12:30,820 that He expects us to be sinless? Actually, the word perfect there means full grown or 95 00:12:31,700 --> 00:12:38,700 complete in every detail. What He is saying is that God's will for us as His children 96 00:12:38,700 --> 00:12:45,700 is that we be full grown in our likeness, in our resemblance to the Father. In other 97 00:12:46,460 --> 00:12:53,460 words, when others see us, they should see the moral nature of God. They cannot know 98 00:12:55,660 --> 00:13:02,660 of God's omnipotence by looking at us or His omnipresence, but they can see something 99 00:13:02,660 --> 00:13:09,660 of His love, of His mercy, of His purity. You see, by looking at your life and my life, 100 00:13:12,580 --> 00:13:19,580 the world should be able to see the likeness of the family we belong to. As people look 101 00:13:19,980 --> 00:13:26,980 at your children, don't they often say, Oh, he looks just like you, Dad, and is probably 102 00:13:26,980 --> 00:13:33,980 as you look at the child, you say, It couldn't be further from the truth. That's my wife, 103 00:13:33,980 --> 00:13:38,980 if it's anybody. And yet people look and they say, Oh, there's a resemblance there. I see 104 00:13:38,980 --> 00:13:45,980 it. Well, as people look at us, there ought to be a resemblance to our spiritual family 105 00:13:45,980 --> 00:13:49,980 in the way that we live. For the key text in this, I'd like you to turn to Ephesians 106 00:13:49,980 --> 00:13:54,980 chapter 5. It's a very important text. It's a very important text. It's a very important 107 00:13:54,980 --> 00:14:01,980 text. We're going to look in detail here at some verses and probably spend most of 108 00:14:02,620 --> 00:14:09,620 the rest of our time right here. In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1, He says, Therefore be imitators 109 00:14:09,620 --> 00:14:16,620 of God as beloved children. We are children of God, and here He commands us to be mimes 110 00:14:16,620 --> 00:14:23,620 of God, to mimic God, to imitate God, so that when people see us, they see what God is like. 111 00:14:30,380 --> 00:14:37,380 Now we want to look at the broader context to see what all of this is about. To be imitators 112 00:14:37,380 --> 00:14:44,380 of God, there are at least 10 characteristics that should be present in our lives. If we 113 00:14:45,380 --> 00:14:52,380 are going to have the likeness of God's family, these 10 things are involved. Let's back 114 00:14:52,380 --> 00:14:59,380 up to where this paragraph really begins to verse 25, where He says, Therefore, laying 115 00:14:59,380 --> 00:15:06,380 aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members one 116 00:15:06,380 --> 00:15:13,380 of another. We're part of the same body, or can we say the same family? And therefore, 117 00:15:13,380 --> 00:15:20,380 He says, we should be characterized by truthfulness. Put away pretense and every form of hypocrisy. 118 00:15:20,380 --> 00:15:27,380 Don't lie to each other, but rather, He says, speak truth, for if we lie to another believer, 119 00:15:29,500 --> 00:15:36,500 we are lying to ourselves because we are members of each other. We're part of each other. 120 00:15:36,500 --> 00:15:43,500 We are so used to putting on shows, to having a certain front that most people don't get 121 00:15:46,500 --> 00:15:53,500 by, that this verse should strike to our hearts with some conviction. And so, we are not going 122 00:15:53,500 --> 00:16:04,500 to be characterized by the fact that we are members of the same body, but rather, we are 123 00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:10,500 part of the same family. There have been people who have come to our church, folks, who have 124 00:16:10,500 --> 00:16:17,500 gone away discouraged. You know why? They've gone away discouraged because as they've 125 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:23,500 looked around and as they've sat through the service and they've listened and they have 126 00:16:23,500 --> 00:16:34,500 watched, they have concluded, however incorrectly, that none of us have any problems. Now, can 127 00:16:34,500 --> 00:16:41,500 you imagine anything that's so ridiculous as that? But you know what? Most of us like 128 00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:50,500 to put on that front, that everything's fine with us. We have all things settled. There 129 00:16:51,500 --> 00:16:58,500 are no problems in our home. Our kids are perfectly behaved. We never have a rebellious 130 00:16:58,500 --> 00:17:06,500 problem with one of them. And my wife and I never have a misunderstanding. And I don't 131 00:17:06,500 --> 00:17:13,500 battle sinful impulses. They're all under control. Isn't that the way we like to come 132 00:17:13,500 --> 00:17:22,500 across? But there's not a one of us here tonight of whom that's true. Not one of us. 133 00:17:22,500 --> 00:17:29,500 That's why he says we should lay aside falsehood. That doesn't mean we have to go around hanging 134 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:36,500 our dirty laundry all the time either. That gets a little old. But what it means is let's 135 00:17:36,500 --> 00:17:45,500 not pretend. Let's put away pretense. And when there is an opportunity where we should 136 00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:53,500 be transparent and honest and we can share that with other people, let's do it. Because 137 00:17:53,500 --> 00:17:58,500 that will encourage them to know that we fight the same kinds of battles and we have the 138 00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:06,500 same kinds of problems. None of us have arrived. We're all working through our own sets of 139 00:18:06,500 --> 00:18:21,500 battles. Let's be truthful. And then he says in verse 26 and verse 27, be angry. He doesn't 140 00:18:21,500 --> 00:18:29,500 stop there though. He says, be angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon 141 00:18:29,500 --> 00:18:37,500 your wrath and do not give the devil an opportunity. Here he says, be characterized by self-control. 142 00:18:37,500 --> 00:18:43,500 Do not get the idea that Christians should never be angry because there are times when 143 00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:49,500 we, if we are not angry, are sinning. Because there are some things that should downright 144 00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:57,500 make us mad that take place. There are things that should make us righteously indignant 145 00:18:57,500 --> 00:19:07,500 and angry. Most of us have a different kind of anger we have to deal with though, don't 146 00:19:07,500 --> 00:19:17,500 we? He says, be angry but in your anger do not sin. Do not sin. What are you really angry 147 00:19:17,500 --> 00:19:23,500 about? Is it pride that's involved? What is the motive for your anger? Is it the glory 148 00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:31,500 of God? Is it the truth of God that is being defamed and that makes you angry? It should. 149 00:19:31,500 --> 00:19:37,500 When you sit in the barber chair and the barber is using every foul word under the sun to 150 00:19:37,500 --> 00:19:41,500 describe to you something that's taking place, that should make you very uncomfortable and 151 00:19:41,500 --> 00:19:49,500 even angry. And if you say something to him kindly and with self-control, that's fine. 152 00:19:49,500 --> 00:19:58,500 He needs to be rebuked for blaspheming God. If God's glory and God's truth is involved, 153 00:19:58,500 --> 00:20:08,500 then it's right to be angry. If, however, it is my pride, if somehow self is involved 154 00:20:08,500 --> 00:20:13,500 in it, then I had better look very closely to be sure that I'm righteously angry. I'm 155 00:20:13,500 --> 00:20:18,500 not to sin in my anger. He goes on to say, don't let the sun go down upon your wrath. 156 00:20:18,500 --> 00:20:23,500 He says, even when we are righteously angry, this is the principle we follow. Don't go 157 00:20:23,500 --> 00:20:30,500 to bed mad. Get it out of your system before you go to sleep. That will help you spiritually. 158 00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:37,500 It will also help you get a good night's rest. It will help you physically. And he 159 00:20:37,500 --> 00:20:43,500 says, if we don't do that, we may well give the devil an opportunity in our lives, a foothold 160 00:20:43,500 --> 00:20:51,500 that is. We don't want to do that. So deal with that anger. In the day that it occurs, 161 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:59,500 then put it away. Be self-controlled is his thought. Let's go on to verse 28. Let him 162 00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:05,500 who steals, steal no more. The way he phrases this, it seems as though there were some people 163 00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:13,500 might be stealing. But him who is stealing, steal no longer. But rather let him labor, 164 00:21:13,500 --> 00:21:18,500 performing with his own hands, what is good, in order that he may have something to share 165 00:21:18,500 --> 00:21:28,500 with him who has need. Here the characteristic is honesty. Apparently there were some freeloaders. 166 00:21:28,500 --> 00:21:35,500 He's talking about people who were in the family who apparently were taking it easy 167 00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:42,500 and living off of others. Actually what this verse is, is God's blessing upon the work 168 00:21:42,500 --> 00:21:52,500 ethic. God blesses work. And he says rather than mooching off of others, what we should 169 00:21:52,500 --> 00:21:57,500 be doing is working with our own hands to provide for our needs, to provide for what 170 00:21:57,500 --> 00:22:02,500 is good. But not then just so that we can accumulate wealth for ourselves either. He 171 00:22:02,500 --> 00:22:09,500 says so that we can have something to share with the one who has need. That's a good 172 00:22:09,500 --> 00:22:14,500 balance for us, isn't it? For some of us believe so strongly in the work ethic that 173 00:22:14,500 --> 00:22:20,500 we're working 70, 80, 90 hours a week literally and accumulating all these things, whose are 174 00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:28,500 they going to be someday? The reason God gives us strength and the ability to work is so 175 00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:35,500 that we can accumulate for our needs and then provide for the needs of others. Verses 29 176 00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:43,500 and 30 he talks about speech. One of the characteristics of a child of God should be edifying speech. 177 00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:50,500 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth. The word unwholesome literally means 178 00:22:50,500 --> 00:22:57,500 rotten. My brother-in-law came to visit us from Kentucky last weekend and brought us 179 00:22:57,500 --> 00:23:05,500 two bushels of peaches. And oh man are those peaches good. I love good peaches, don't 180 00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:11,500 you? As I went through them last Sunday night and laid them out on a piece of cardboard 181 00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:17,500 so they wouldn't be laying on one another, I found some of those peaches that had little 182 00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:24,500 fuzz on them, you know, a little mold or something growing. So I laid those aside and do you 183 00:23:24,500 --> 00:23:31,500 know by Monday morning some of those peaches were absolutely covered with that stuff? They 184 00:23:31,500 --> 00:23:39,500 had just become rotten overnight. Didn't eat those, I threw them in the garbage. I love 185 00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:45,500 peaches but there's a limit. Now he says here that it's possible for our speech to become 186 00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:59,500 rotten, corrupt. He says don't let it proceed out of your mouth. Keep it behind your teeth. 187 00:23:59,500 --> 00:24:05,500 But only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment that it 188 00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:12,500 may give grace to those who hear. Folks, how important these words are. How easy it is 189 00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:19,500 for us in conversations to become negative and to tear down people and things that are 190 00:24:19,500 --> 00:24:29,500 going on in ministries. And sometimes even do that in a so-called spiritual way. The 191 00:24:29,500 --> 00:24:35,500 favorite one is saying let me share this prayer request with you. Ha! It's just a juicy bit 192 00:24:35,500 --> 00:24:42,500 of gossip, that's all it is. Now don't misunderstand me, there are times to share prayer requests. 193 00:24:42,500 --> 00:24:47,500 It depends on the context of it. We just need to be careful that when we do that kind of 194 00:24:47,500 --> 00:24:53,500 thing we're not saying more than that needs to be said and we're saying accurately what 195 00:24:53,500 --> 00:25:02,500 we know to be true. When we are in conversations with members of the family, let's let our 196 00:25:02,500 --> 00:25:08,500 conversation be wholesome, be that which builds people up and does not tear down the work 197 00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:15,500 and the glory of God. He says and do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for 198 00:25:15,500 --> 00:25:23,500 the day of redemption. In other words, that kind of talking grieves the Spirit of God. 199 00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:28,500 There are some churches where this kind of thing is so prominent that the Spirit of God 200 00:25:28,500 --> 00:25:38,500 is grieved. He is not free to work in the church. The Spirit of God is sorrowful because 201 00:25:38,500 --> 00:25:47,500 of this kind of sin with the tongue. Verses 31 and 32, he talks about forgiveness. He 202 00:25:47,500 --> 00:25:53,500 says let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you 203 00:25:53,500 --> 00:26:00,500 along with all malice. Just like he said falsehood should be laid aside in verse 25, so here 204 00:26:00,500 --> 00:26:09,500 he tells us some other things should be put away. Bitterness, the word is piquriah and 205 00:26:09,500 --> 00:26:17,500 you get the idea from the very sound of the word. It means to cut or to pick. It is a 206 00:26:17,500 --> 00:26:26,500 sharp, stinging kind of disposition. No Christian should be characterized by bitterness or by 207 00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:36,500 wrath, which is a hot, passionate furor, or by anger, which is a settled indignation that 208 00:26:36,500 --> 00:26:46,500 looks for revenge. Like somebody says, I don't get mad, I just get even. That's anger. 209 00:26:46,500 --> 00:26:56,500 Clamor, a violent outburst. Do you know there are some people, not very many thank God, 210 00:26:56,500 --> 00:26:59,500 I don't know of anybody in this church, but there are some people I have avoided in my 211 00:26:59,500 --> 00:27:06,500 life because they were characterized by clamor. And if ever they had something that crossed 212 00:27:06,500 --> 00:27:16,500 them, Mount Vesuvius just exploded. There was this outburst and he just wanted to crawl 213 00:27:16,500 --> 00:27:21,500 away somewhere because you are embarrassed to be around them. No Christian should be 214 00:27:21,500 --> 00:27:28,500 characterized by that. Slander, the word literally blasphemy, not just against God but against 215 00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:36,500 others. He says, let that be put away with all malice. The word malice means a vicious 216 00:27:36,500 --> 00:27:42,500 inclination, a delight in injuring someone else. You say, oh my goodness, could anybody 217 00:27:42,500 --> 00:27:52,500 delight in injuring somebody else? There are times when every one of us can fall guilty 218 00:27:52,500 --> 00:28:02,500 of malice. These things should not characterize us, but on the positive side he says, be kind. 219 00:28:02,500 --> 00:28:11,500 Be kind. That is graciously useful to one another. Folks, be kind to the people you 220 00:28:11,500 --> 00:28:19,500 meet because every person you meet is fighting some kind of a battle. Be kind. Be kind to 221 00:28:19,500 --> 00:28:30,500 one another tender-hearted. A place for emotion, for tears even. Forgiving each other just 222 00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:37,500 as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Folks, the forgiveness that we give to other members 223 00:28:37,500 --> 00:28:42,500 of the family should be the same kind of forgiveness God has given us. What kind is that? Free 224 00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:50,500 forgiveness. Free forgiveness. Even if they do not ask our forgiveness, we should nonetheless 225 00:28:50,500 --> 00:28:57,500 extend it to them because if we don't, when we harbor a grudge, it's not hurting them 226 00:28:57,500 --> 00:29:06,500 anyway, is it? It's only hurting us. So it's for our benefit as much as theirs that we 227 00:29:06,500 --> 00:29:15,500 immediately forgive another who does something against us. Now he's not talking here about 228 00:29:15,500 --> 00:29:20,500 things that we imagine others do against us. He's talking about those things that really 229 00:29:20,500 --> 00:29:29,500 happen. Whether they're imaginary or actual, we ought to forgive. There are some of you 230 00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:33,500 tonight who may be carrying grudges. You may carry a grudge against your wife or you're 231 00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:43,500 bitter against your parents or some other member of the family of God. Will you tonight 232 00:29:43,500 --> 00:29:50,500 obey what is said here? Be kind and tender-hearted and forgiving. Forgive the same way God's 233 00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:59,500 forgiven you, for Christ's sake. A sixth characteristic is found in verse 2 of chapter 234 00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:07,500 5. It's love. Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us 235 00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:14,500 in offering a sacrifice to God. Here he tells us that in our love for other members of the 236 00:30:14,500 --> 00:30:25,500 family, we are to sacrificially give ourselves. We are to be willing to pay a price to sacrifice 237 00:30:25,500 --> 00:30:33,500 for the sake of others in the family. In so doing, we live like Jesus. Love is part of 238 00:30:33,500 --> 00:30:40,500 our likeness. Then he tells us in verses 3 through 6 that purity is involved. If we're 239 00:30:40,500 --> 00:30:44,500 going to have the likeness of the family of God, we must be a pure people. He says, 240 00:30:44,500 --> 00:30:55,500 do not let immorality, that word is pornea. It's the root for pornography. The Greek word 241 00:30:55,500 --> 00:31:04,500 means every kind of sexual immorality. But he goes then to thought as well. He says, 242 00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:15,500 for any impurity or greed, do not let these things be even named among you as it is proper 243 00:31:15,500 --> 00:31:28,500 among saints. He goes on to say, there must be no filthiness or silly talk or coarse jesting. 244 00:31:28,500 --> 00:31:33,500 There are some people who see how dirty they can get without crossing the line. You know 245 00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:42,500 what I'm saying? They want to see how suggestive their language can be without actually saying 246 00:31:42,500 --> 00:31:51,500 something that is rotten and filthy. That's what he means here, by coarse jesting. He 247 00:31:51,500 --> 00:31:58,500 says these things are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. He says, for you know with 248 00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:03,500 certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has any 249 00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:09,500 inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. In other words, the people who are characterized 250 00:32:09,500 --> 00:32:15,500 by these things are not a part of God's kingdom, his family. So don't you, as members of God's 251 00:32:15,500 --> 00:32:21,500 family, be characterized by them. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because 252 00:32:21,500 --> 00:32:25,500 of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience, not the sons of 253 00:32:25,500 --> 00:32:33,500 God. By the grace of God we are forgiven even when we fall into sins like this. But he says 254 00:32:33,500 --> 00:32:38,500 so bad, so rotten are these kinds of things that God's wrath is coming on those who are 255 00:32:38,500 --> 00:32:43,500 characterized by them habitually as a pattern of life. So don't even let those things be 256 00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:57,500 named among you. Purity. Then verses 7 through 14, it is separation. The Lord Jesus Christ 257 00:32:57,500 --> 00:33:05,500 was with sinners, but he never compromised righteousness. Now there were times he was 258 00:33:05,500 --> 00:33:11,500 accused of it. In fact, he was so willing to identify with sinners that he was accused 259 00:33:11,500 --> 00:33:23,500 of being drunkard. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ kept a separation from sin. And you 260 00:33:23,500 --> 00:33:29,500 and I need to do the same thing in our society. We need to befriend those who are lost. We 261 00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:35,500 need to share our faith with them. We need to build a trust with them so that we deserve 262 00:33:35,500 --> 00:33:47,500 or earn the right to share our faith with them. But we are not to live like they live. 263 00:33:47,500 --> 00:33:54,500 We do not have to do the same things they do in order to witness to them. He's talking 264 00:33:54,500 --> 00:34:03,500 here about personal separation from an ungodly lifestyle. He says, do not be partakers with 265 00:34:03,500 --> 00:34:10,500 them, that is fellow sharers. Don't share in the same things. He says, for you were 266 00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:17,500 formerly darkness, but you are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the 267 00:34:17,500 --> 00:34:22,500 fruit of the light consists in goodness, righteousness, and truth. Trying to learn what is pleasing 268 00:34:22,500 --> 00:34:31,500 to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness. Be separate from them in 269 00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:38,500 what they are doing. Instead, even expose them. That's a strong word. It means, if 270 00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:47,500 necessary, rebuke them openly for what they do. Not in a self-righteous way. Not saying 271 00:34:47,500 --> 00:34:55,500 I'm better than you are. But showing them what they are doing is not pleasing to God. 272 00:34:55,500 --> 00:35:02,500 He says, it's disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 273 00:35:02,500 --> 00:35:07,500 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light. Who's the light? We 274 00:35:07,500 --> 00:35:14,500 are. You see, as you live out there in that office, in that factory where you work, as 275 00:35:14,500 --> 00:35:22,500 you live for Jesus Christ, as you share your faith, you are a son of light. And the very 276 00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:30,500 purity of your lifestyle, the separation of it from the darkness of sin, serves to expose, 277 00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:38,500 to make visible the wickedness around. He says, for this reason, awake sleeper, and 278 00:35:38,500 --> 00:35:43,500 arise from the dead. Christ will shine upon you. Folks, as you are out there living for 279 00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:51,500 Jesus Christ, he is shining upon those around you. He's reflecting his purity, his holiness, 280 00:35:51,500 --> 00:36:00,500 his righteousness, his love off of you. Are you a good mirror? Are you a good reflector? 281 00:36:00,500 --> 00:36:07,500 A clean reflector? Have you ever picked up a mirror to try to look into it and it's 282 00:36:07,500 --> 00:36:20,500 covered with hairspray and other stuff? Some of you men can identify with that. 283 00:36:20,500 --> 00:36:28,500 What do you have to do? Well, you have to wash the thing off so you can see. I wonder 284 00:36:28,500 --> 00:36:34,500 as Jesus Christ picks us up and looks into our lives and desires that we be his reflector, 285 00:36:34,500 --> 00:36:45,500 I wonder if he sees some cleansing that needs to take place so that we can be good reflectors. 286 00:36:45,500 --> 00:36:52,500 In verses 15-17, he says, wisdom. Therefore, be careful how you walk, that is, how you 287 00:36:52,500 --> 00:36:59,500 conduct yourself, not as unwise men, the lost, but as wise, making the most of your time, 288 00:36:59,500 --> 00:37:03,500 because the days are evil. So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of 289 00:37:03,500 --> 00:37:09,500 the Lord is. As we conduct ourselves in the world, there ought to be the likeness of wisdom. 290 00:37:09,500 --> 00:37:15,500 Our God is the fullness of wisdom. People, by watching us, should see his wisdom. 291 00:37:15,500 --> 00:37:23,500 Finally, verses 18-21, he talks about the fullness of the Spirit. If we are going to 292 00:37:23,500 --> 00:37:28,500 live the way that we've talked about here and have the likeness of the family of God, 293 00:37:28,500 --> 00:37:33,500 then we cannot do that in ourselves. We must have the fullness of God's Spirit. 294 00:37:33,500 --> 00:37:40,500 And so he says, do not get drunk with wine, that's waste, it's dissipation, but be 295 00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:46,500 filled, that is, controlled, empowered with the Spirit, speaking to one another, Psalms, 296 00:37:46,500 --> 00:37:51,500 hymns, spiritual songs, singing, making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks for 297 00:37:51,500 --> 00:37:59,500 all things, and being subject to one another. If you and I are going to bear the likeness 298 00:37:59,500 --> 00:38:05,500 of God's family, it's going to be because the Holy Spirit is in control in our lives. 299 00:38:05,500 --> 00:38:11,500 Now, finally, let me just touch on this. To be a part of God's family, to be a child 300 00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:20,500 of God, thirdly means that we have an inheritance. Children share in what belongs to their father. 301 00:38:20,500 --> 00:38:27,500 Humanly speaking, that may not be very much, but spiritually speaking, it means we are 302 00:38:27,500 --> 00:38:34,500 fabulously wealthy. There is no way to calculate the riches that are ours as the children of 303 00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:41,500 God. And as we have seen in Romans chapter 8 verses 16 and 17, if we are his children, 304 00:38:41,500 --> 00:38:48,500 we are also his heirs. We are joint heirs with Christ. And we have said that that includes 305 00:38:48,500 --> 00:38:56,500 all things. He says in 1 Corinthians 3 verses 21 and 22 that all things are ours in Christ. 306 00:38:56,500 --> 00:39:02,500 Whether you talk about the Lord's servants, which is really the context, or even the future, 307 00:39:02,500 --> 00:39:10,500 do you know the future belongs to you? Not just today, the future is yours in Christ. 308 00:39:10,500 --> 00:39:15,500 You may not have tomorrow in this world, but my friend, you have a tomorrow. You have a 309 00:39:15,500 --> 00:39:23,500 future in Jesus Christ. It belongs to you. And what a future you have as a child of God. 310 00:39:23,500 --> 00:39:31,500 It embraces also the idea, this inheritance does, of the glory of a new body. He tells 311 00:39:31,500 --> 00:39:41,500 us in 1 John 2 verses 28 down through chapter 3 verse 3 that it does not yet appear what 312 00:39:41,500 --> 00:39:46,500 we shall be as the children of God, but when Jesus Christ appears, we shall be like him. 313 00:39:46,500 --> 00:39:54,500 We will see him as he is. We are going to have a new body, folks. Isn't that great? 314 00:39:54,500 --> 00:40:00,500 And we are going to have a new home. In fact, where we live now is not really home, is it? 315 00:40:00,500 --> 00:40:06,500 We are pilgrims here. This world is an alien place, not created to make us comfortable 316 00:40:06,500 --> 00:40:14,500 anyway. That is why we are a little uncomfortable here. Our home is in heaven. That is where 317 00:40:14,500 --> 00:40:21,500 our citizenship is. And we look for the Savior to come and to take us there. In John chapter 318 00:40:21,500 --> 00:40:27,500 20, Jesus said, well, you tell my brothers, Mary, that I am going to my Father and their 319 00:40:27,500 --> 00:40:35,500 Father. He calls us brothers. Part of the family. Isn't that great? Back in chapter 320 00:40:35,500 --> 00:40:41,500 14, he says, I am going away and if I go, I am going to prepare a place for you. And 321 00:40:41,500 --> 00:40:47,500 I will come and receive you to myself that we can be together. He is not talking about 322 00:40:47,500 --> 00:40:51,500 death, though we can apply it all right, I think, but he is talking primarily about his 323 00:40:51,500 --> 00:40:57,500 coming in the rapture. When he says, I am going to come and receive you to myself and 324 00:40:57,500 --> 00:41:03,500 we will be together forever, God's family. That is our inheritance. It is great. 325 00:41:03,500 --> 00:41:08,500 We have a home. He is preparing for us. And I have asked Marsch to come tonight and to 326 00:41:08,500 --> 00:41:16,500 just close our service before we sing a song together that is built around this theme of 327 00:41:16,500 --> 00:41:22,500 the fact that we are God's children. And someday we are going to hear our Father say 328 00:41:22,500 --> 00:41:39,500 those words, Welcome home, children, to the place I have prepared for you.