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Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions, Ephesians chapter 5, our first day
looking at that chapter. Hi, this is Pastor Tom Holliday and I'd have to say if
you've been with us all through this study of the book of Ephesians, you might
be feeling just about now like this waterfall of truth has been coming at you.
There are powerful truths in this book and they just keep coming and coming and
coming.

I just want to remind you as we begin our look at Ephesians 5 of the big
picture. Ephesians 1 through 3 is about our wealth in Christ, all that He's
given us. And Ephesians chapter 4 through 6 is about our walk in Christ, what we
are to do because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

Our walk, your walk in Christ grows out of your wealth in Christ, all that He's
given you. And your wealth in Christ should always result in a new walk in
Christ. When you get that big picture it helps you to see the beauty of the
waterfall and how all of this truth fits together.

Ephesians chapters 4 to 6 are all about our walk in Christ. Last week we talked
about how we walk in unity. This week we're going to talk about how we walk in
purity and we walk in harmony.

Next week we're going to talk about how we walk in victory, how you and I live
the Christian life. As we talk about the truth of Ephesians chapter 5 this week,
we're going to be talking about three ways that you and I can be like God in our
everyday life. We're going to be talking about two major enemies of a Christian
lifestyle through this week.

We're going to be talking about how to know if you're filled by the Holy Spirit.
And we're going to be talking about how our needs are met in relationships. You
might remember last week we talked about walking in unity and we began this look
at walking in purity.

The first half of chapter 5 talks about the purity of our life in Christ. Now
purity, I have to admit, it's a word that's gotten some bad press lately. It
sounds to some of us almost boring, old fashioned, sort of restricting.

Sadly, purity of person or purity of personality isn't much of a compliment
sometimes anymore. Oh, you're just too pure. Well, don't let the bad press keep
you from God's will.

When you hear the word purity, think of a crystal clear mountain lake, of a
blinding white beautiful snowy mountain. And let those examples from nature
elevate the idea of purity to what God talks about. The truth is God wants us to
be pure.

We began our look at that this last week to put off the old, to be renewed from
within in the spirit of our minds and to put on the new. And he wants us to walk
in purity. Look at how chapter 5 starts, Ephesians 5, 1 and 2.

Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children, and live a life of
love. Just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering
and a sacrifice to God. You want to live a life of purity?

There's no better expression of that in the beginning of verse 1. Be an imitator
of God. Now, my first question is probably your first question.

How in the world am I supposed to pull that one off? How am I supposed to be an
imitator of God? Well, this isn't saying that you're to become a God.

You can't do that. We're human and God is God. But I can learn from God's
example.

The idea of the word imitate here is I model my actions after what I see in God
and who he is. One of the most powerful ways that we learn is by imitation, by
modeling after someone else, especially as children. And what does God want me,
as his child, what does he want me to learn from him as my heavenly father?

Well, we see several things at the beginning of Ephesians chapter 5. First of
all, we see that God is love, so we're to live a life of love. As dearly loved
children live a life of love.

How do I learn to love like God? How do I imitate the way that God loves? Well,
there's a few clues even in these verses.

First, you have to have the right foundation. Notice he says as dearly loved
children live a life of love. The foundation is you know that you're loved.

You know that you're loved by him. You will not be able to love others without
the foundation of knowing that you're loved by God, of being reminded of that
love through his word and through his people, through his church, through his
work in your life on a daily basis. You love others as a dearly loved child of
God.

That's the foundation. And out of that foundation comes a commitment. As a
dearly loved child, you live a life of love.

That's the commitment. You see, being loved by the Lord isn't enough. You also
have to make a conscious decision, a commitment to let his love be translated
into your life and through your life to other people.

And that is a commitment. It doesn't come automatically. Lord, thank you for
loving me.

Lord, help me to love other people today. That's the commitment. You live a life
of love.

And what's the example that empowers this? Well notice how these verses end,
verses 1 and 2. Just as Christ loved us, he came and showed us the way.

Jesus blazed the trail. And how did Jesus love us? He gave himself up for us as
a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.

That's a beautiful picture that the sacrifice on the cross was a fragrant
offering to God. Jesus giving himself brought joy to God because he knew what it
would mean in our lives. And if you and I are to live a life of love, I look to
his example, but it's even more than that.

I draw upon his example. I ask for Jesus' strength in my life. Jesus, you know
what it means to sacrifice.

I don't. So help me to understand the little sacrifices I can make today to live
a life of love. You want to imitate God?

God is love. You want to imitate God? God is holy.

So be holy. That's what verses 3 to 5 talk about. Let me read those verses.

"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.
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse jesting, which are out of
place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can die, but of this you can
live.

" "For of this you can be sure. No immoral, impure, or greedy person, such a man
as an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. " You
want to imitate God, then be holy in the way that you act.

And Paul just goes through a list here. Don't be immoral. And he's talking about
sexual immorality here, which is rampant in our society.

That's not how God's people act, because we're imitators of God, and God is
holy. Don't be impure, he says, actions that are tainted by sin, impurity.
Impurity has the idea of being tainted by something.

You feel like, well, I've got some good in me, but I know that this is wrong,
but at least I've got some good in me. Anything in your life where you know it
is tainted by sin, Paul is saying, get rid of it. Don't let impurity into your
life.

In fact, he says, don't be greedy. A lot of people think, where did that one
come from? And we're talking about immorality and impurity and greed?

What's wrong with a little all-American greed? Well, it taints your life. It's
not holy.

In fact, Paul, make sure we understand exactly what he means by that. Such a man
is an idolater. The problem with greed is you're worshiping something other than
God.

You're worshiping money. And so Paul says here, renew your mind. You are a holy
person.

These are improper for God's holy people. Now, you may look at yourself and
think, the last thing in the world I am is holy. God is holy.

I am not. That's not what God says about you. That's not what the New Testament
says about you.

Holy means that you are set apart by God. And the minute you were saved, God set
you apart to do the things that he wants you to do. So even though you may not
feel holy or look at yourself as holy, God says you are a holy And you renew
your mind by seeing yourself as God sees you and not as you see you.

We look at these things that Paul talks about here. He says there shouldn't be
any obscenity or foolish talk or coarse jesting. He just gets right down to the
nitty gritty of life.

And he says, don't let these things be a part of your life. Because holy people
don't live in that kind of a way. No filthiness.

That's all too common in our society. You can hear it at school. You can hear it
at work.

Dirtying the heart. Dirtying the mind. Don't be like that as a believer.

No silly talk. He's saying here, not small talk, but meaningless talk. Not talk
where you're just being funny and laughing with each other.

But it's talking about idle talk here. It means nothing. It does no good for
anyone.

There's the idea of gossip in this kind of talk. And no coarse jesting. Orin
Wiersbie has said there's two signs of character in a person.

What makes a person laugh and what makes a person cry. There are some jokes that
you just don't tell them as believers. They may be funny to some, but you and I
realize that they are also demeaning.

That's where the laughter comes from. So we refuse to tell those kinds of jokes
because there's a lot of other things that you and I can take joy in as
believers. In fact, as we walk through these verses, Paul says, you want to
renew your mind.

You want to think differently than these ways of communication. He says, here's
what you do. You realize that your mouth was created for thanksgiving, but
rather giving of thanks.

This is convicting. It's convicting to me and I would guess it is for some of
you. We spend a lot more time with silly talk.

We spend a lot more time with the kind of thing coming out of our mouths that
we'd never want to come out of our mouths and not nearly enough time saying
thank you. Thank you, God. That's how you and I communicate as believers.

That's who we are to be as believers. That's what it means to be pure. Now he
says in these verses, he talks about people who are immoral and impure, that
such a person will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Some people read that and think, well, if I've ever done any of that, that means
I can't get to heaven. Well, then none of us would get to heaven because we've
all sinned in these kinds of ways. What Paul is saying here is that through
immorality or impurity, no one's ever going to get to heaven.

So why would we allow those kinds of things in our lives? Do the things that are
not meant for or fit for heaven. Do the things that are fit for heaven now
because that's where we're headed.

In verses 6 and 7, as we end our study today, Paul talks about some of the
things that keep us from growing in purity, two great enemies of a Christian
lifestyle. Verse 6 and 7, "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because
of such things, God's wrath comes upon those who are disobedient, and therefore
do not be partners with them. " We want to live holy lives.

If you're a believer in Christ, you want to live this kind of life. There's a
desire in your heart from God's Spirit. What keeps you from it?

Well, here's the warning, listening to empty words and partnership with evil
people. You listen to the wrong kinds of words, you hang around the wrong kinds
of people, you're going to be drawn into the wrong kinds of things. We tell our
kids that all the time, or if you're a kid listening to this, your parents tell
you that all the time, but it's true for all of us.

To choose to be holy means I choose to listen to good, healthy words, God's
words, building words. And to choose to be holy means I choose to hang around
good people. If I'm in partnership with somebody, that doesn't mean just meeting
with someone.

The idea of partnership with evil people means that I'm agreeing with them. I'm
in deep partnership with them. We need to influence evil people by being around
them, but we don't need to be in partnership with evil people, because it'll
draw us into it.

You just recognize your weakness and you spend your time listening to that which
is right and spending time with those who want to do what's right, and then
you're able to live the kind of life that God wants us to live. You walk in love
and you walk in holiness. Let's talk to him about it right now.

In Jesus we ask you, we ask you for strength today that we don't have in
ourselves. Help us to walk in love, to love the people that come across our
path, in our prayers, in our actions, in our words. And Lord, help us to walk in
holiness.

When Satan tempts us to go the wrong way, we pray that your word and
encouragement of the people in our lives and what you're doing in our hearts
through your spirit would encourage us to realize we don't have to follow that
temptation. We can follow you. Lord, you set us apart.

Help me today, just say this to Jesus, Jesus help me today to live as a set
apart person, set apart for your goodness, your glory. I pray this in your name,
amen. Well join us tomorrow.

We're going to talk about how you and I can walk in the light, verses 8 to 20.
We're going to be talking about how you and I are to be filled with God's
Spirit.