back to indexEphesians Bible Study Lesson 17
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Tonight we're going to be continuing our study of Ephesians. 00:00:14.760 |
And we're going to go through chapter 5 and 6 in this series. 00:00:18.760 |
Tonight we're going to be tackling the first paragraph of chapter 5. 00:00:22.740 |
Let's take a moment to go before the Lord as we engage the scriptures. 00:00:26.800 |
Our God, we thank you so much for your grace. 00:00:29.760 |
And God, we thank you over and over again that you are teaching us through your scripture. 00:00:34.720 |
God, we recognize that these truths you give to us are not things that we figure out on 00:00:39.800 |
Our Father God, these are revealed to us by your grace and mercies. 00:00:44.520 |
And you show us things, Father God, in the spiritual realities, things that, Father God, 00:00:52.120 |
And I pray that with gratitude and sincere appreciation, we would long for and we would 00:00:57.420 |
desire all the more to heed your commands, to listen to, Father God, your wisdom, and 00:01:04.880 |
We thank you so much for your grace and pray now that you would grant to us understanding 00:01:14.640 |
Well, since we did take just a short break, it's good to review. 00:01:19.680 |
And so if you recall, chapters 1 through 3 of Ephesians was a lot of the theology and 00:01:25.520 |
the groundwork of how God has blessed us and how in the gospel, God has elected. 00:01:36.680 |
And the contrast between what we were and who we are now was so evidently displayed 00:01:43.400 |
And then in chapter 4 is here began the application for us. 00:01:51.040 |
Here in chapter 4 verses 1, it says, "I implore you," and I gave you some blanks just to test 00:01:56.520 |
if you guys recall, "to blank in a blank blank." 00:02:04.180 |
And the command was for us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have 00:02:10.640 |
Now, within the beginning portions of chapter 4, there was a huge challenge for us to seek 00:02:17.900 |
So he says that we have to have humility, gentleness, patience, showing tolerance for 00:02:22.120 |
one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. 00:02:29.880 |
And then in the middle of chapter 4, Apostle Paul says, "So this I say and affirm together 00:02:33.960 |
with the Lord, that you no longer walk just as the blank." 00:02:44.640 |
He talks about how the, within this passage, he talks about how the Gentiles walk in the 00:02:52.400 |
And then he goes on in verse 23 and says, "But that you be renewed in the spirit of 00:03:01.240 |
That blank blank is a new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness 00:03:11.940 |
These commands are really again, broad pictures of what we're supposed to be doing. 00:03:16.960 |
We're supposed to be regularly putting a sign, the kind of ignorance, the kind of stubborn 00:03:21.960 |
callousness that we have, and to be regularly putting on the likeness of God, right? 00:03:27.440 |
That is something that we're regularly engaged with. 00:03:29.160 |
And so one of the challenges that I gave in the previous study was that we as believers, 00:03:33.240 |
we are always changing in that we're always maturing. 00:03:36.480 |
And the scripture's admonition to us was that we're supposed to be changing in every aspect 00:03:48.140 |
Tonight there's a continuation of the application. 00:03:51.100 |
The application that we are supposed to be seeing the ramifications of the gospel applied 00:03:58.500 |
And for that, we go to this passage, chapter five, verse one through six, which says, "Therefore 00:04:03.580 |
be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love just as Christ also loved you 00:04:09.060 |
and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 00:04:15.980 |
But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you as is proper among 00:04:22.460 |
And there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, 00:04:29.660 |
For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an 00:04:34.620 |
idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 00:04:39.040 |
Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things, the wrath of God 00:04:47.140 |
Now this passage, I think breaks down nicely into three sections and it's two verses each. 00:04:53.300 |
We're going to begin with the first section, which I like to call the commands. 00:04:57.700 |
So Paul clearly gives us two emphatic commands in this first portion of the passage. 00:05:03.940 |
Let's read it again and says, "Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children, and 00:05:08.420 |
walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and 00:05:18.840 |
When you look at that passage to be truthful, the commands aren't necessarily confusing. 00:05:29.420 |
I know sometimes when you think about Bible study, if you're doing everything about outlining, 00:05:33.780 |
observations, asking questions, then you do word studies. 00:05:37.660 |
And then you do X, Y, and Z, like the interpretation and then your own applications. 00:05:42.060 |
You don't have all the time in the world to do all of it. 00:05:46.700 |
So a lot of times what I do is I read the passage first, just run through and then start 00:05:50.780 |
kind of deciding, is this a passage where I have to do a lot of word studies because 00:05:54.620 |
there are unique words or words that aren't so commonly seen? 00:06:00.220 |
What's more, other times like this when there's clear commands, what I like to do is actually 00:06:09.540 |
For example, if I'm just simply doing my devotions, I would take the first top two verses as opposed 00:06:14.020 |
to all six, and then I would start asking immediately questions about what I understand 00:06:20.100 |
For example, in an interpretive way, you would ask the question, "Therefore be imitators," 00:06:24.140 |
and you would ask, "What does it mean to imitate?" 00:06:27.060 |
What's the Greek word for that or something like that? 00:06:29.540 |
But another way you can do it by meditation is asking, "Is this the way I'm thinking 00:06:35.180 |
A lot of times when we look at a life circumstance, let's say difficulty, stress, or hardship, 00:06:40.300 |
I'm more so asking the question, "How do I get out?" 00:06:43.980 |
Am I asking the question, "How do I be like God in this? 00:06:52.500 |
What difference does it make that I'm a child of God in this expectation to imitate God? 00:06:57.980 |
As opposed to saying, "Imitate God as a slave. 00:07:00.980 |
Imitate God as somebody who was once far and now close." 00:07:08.780 |
I have to ask myself, in my current concept of God's expectation for me to be loving, 00:07:18.740 |
What's more, I have to ask myself the question, "Am I walking in love according to all the 00:07:23.940 |
stuff that I've learned in Ephesians, or is my normal pattern of life marked by fear? 00:07:32.540 |
Maybe I'm even walking in self-righteousness or even hatred." 00:07:36.940 |
Another question, "Just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, it's very 00:07:40.980 |
clear really quickly that Jesus is the example and the model." 00:07:44.980 |
But what is a case example of a specific application of this? 00:07:50.020 |
Another one, "An offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 00:07:57.340 |
If my actions follow Christ's model, how is he seeing me?" 00:08:02.900 |
Those are all questions to be really reflected. 00:08:08.540 |
Now, for our purposes, we're going to tackle the main commandments and ask the question, 00:08:13.300 |
And the two of them I've already highlighted for you there. 00:08:16.500 |
Let's tackle the first about being imitators of God. 00:08:19.940 |
Now, in terms of the term, I'll identify that the Greek word is to essentially mimic. 00:08:27.180 |
And we are talking about, in the Greek, it's used sometimes of impersonating an individual. 00:08:32.820 |
So an actor who is not necessarily pretending, but behaving and mimicking another person. 00:08:39.460 |
So when you think about this, we have to ask the question, just simply, "Okay, I am supposed 00:08:44.580 |
to actually reflect God in many different ways." 00:08:48.900 |
And so by way of meditation, you should be thinking about, "Okay, if I am thinking about 00:08:55.900 |
being like God, do I have the categories in my head, whether it be stressful moments or 00:09:00.580 |
circumstances of my life, that I want to be walking according to his pattern? 00:09:06.100 |
That I'm walking according to the things that I already understand and know about him, his 00:09:11.580 |
You see, to us, we believe that God is an incredibly consistent individual. 00:09:24.940 |
He said, "If I go into that city of the Ninevites and I preach judgment and they repent, I know 00:09:31.460 |
I knew it," he said, "you're going to show mercy." 00:09:35.900 |
In that way, do we know enough about the patterns of God and his character that I can also be 00:09:43.500 |
I need to be like him in his pattern of faithfulness, his truthfulness, his love, and so on. 00:09:49.500 |
Now the emphatic commandment and expectation is there, but there's something also interesting 00:09:54.540 |
to observe, which is, he says, "As beloved children." 00:10:00.000 |
As I looked at it, I observed that this is an incredible motivation for us to be imitators 00:10:06.220 |
Now you could think of this and say, "No, our child relationship, that relationship 00:10:13.580 |
True, but when you think about what it is that children do, we realize it's an incredible 00:10:20.140 |
I want to show you a passage from 1 John 3 that talks so much about the connection between 00:10:25.700 |
our relationship as children and then also then our mimicking God's character. 00:10:30.820 |
So here, let me take a moment to read to us this passage. 00:10:33.500 |
"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet, oh sorry, not appeared as 00:10:40.940 |
We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we see him, we will see him just 00:10:46.980 |
And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. 00:10:53.260 |
Little children, make sure no one deceives you. 00:10:56.700 |
The one who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous. 00:11:01.640 |
The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 00:11:06.740 |
The Son of God appeared for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil. 00:11:10.800 |
No one who is born of God practices sin because his seed abides in him, and he cannot sin 00:11:18.940 |
By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. 00:11:22.700 |
Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love 00:11:28.680 |
For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one 00:11:35.000 |
That there is an incredible motivation for you to have this mentality, "I need to be 00:11:45.240 |
The identity that you are his, you reflect him. 00:12:03.960 |
So with that thinking, I want you to just to think about the connections there. 00:12:11.040 |
What a unique privilege to be called son of God. 00:12:14.680 |
So essentially, God has already established that foundation. 00:12:18.120 |
God has already given us that motivation, given us the entire context by which we're 00:12:22.840 |
supposed to be then walking according to his pattern, to his model, to everything that 00:12:30.320 |
And I just want to say that's something to us like a massive privilege. 00:12:35.480 |
For God to want us to be like him, to emulate him, that to us is a massive grace to us. 00:12:44.040 |
And we should have an attitude of thankfulness as we think about that. 00:12:48.520 |
But again, in way of meditation on that, is this the way you're thinking intentionally? 00:12:54.760 |
Meaning when was the last time you were specifically in a scenario and you intentionally thought, 00:13:06.320 |
And that's the challenge I want to give to you. 00:13:08.240 |
Again, within specific moments of stress, hardship, or difficulty, it is in our fleshly 00:13:20.280 |
That's just a typical rationale of somebody living in this world. 00:13:25.320 |
But for us who know the father, the passage in John tells us that we need to be thinking 00:13:30.560 |
What's more, the passage commands us to walk in love. 00:13:35.000 |
Essentially, a primary way by which we reflect God and show his character is by loving. 00:13:42.200 |
And so much so, remember the scriptures in 1 John teach us that if you're not loving, 00:13:49.080 |
You probably don't know God because he is love. 00:13:54.280 |
If we've seen him, if we've actually experienced him, then we would also then emulate. 00:14:00.080 |
But what's more, I want to challenge us by doing this. 00:14:03.340 |
In the book of Ephesians especially, we have seen so many aspects of God's love. 00:14:08.520 |
And if we're saying we're supposed to be walking in that, and we're supposed to be imitating 00:14:13.080 |
that, do you recall, are you able to put a picture to the kind of love we're supposed 00:14:20.800 |
Really briefly, you don't have to write all these down. 00:14:22.720 |
Maybe even just jot down the things that I've bolded for you here. 00:14:25.600 |
Number one, remember that in chapter one, Apostle Paul said, "God has blessed you with 00:14:31.380 |
every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ." 00:14:36.480 |
But what's more, in chapter one, Apostle Paul taught us that God's love is so purposeful. 00:14:47.720 |
God is not just generally saying, "I pray for you all. 00:14:56.640 |
It's so intentional and wanting our good, and wanting us also to experience his glory. 00:15:08.620 |
It's not just, "You know, I'm just going to give you, give you, give you, whether it hurts 00:15:11.240 |
you or not, whether you get fat or whatever it may be. 00:15:22.920 |
What's more, chapter two taught us that although we were dead in our transgressions and sins, 00:15:31.400 |
The chapter two in Ephesians is so beautiful in how it contrasts. 00:15:36.160 |
There was such darkness and you walked accordance to this, but he was so rich in his mercy. 00:15:45.960 |
You were separated from the commonwealth of Israel, but he has brought you near." 00:15:50.080 |
What's more, in chapter three, scripture says that he has shared his promise with us. 00:15:59.800 |
And this mystery, people did not understand, but it's being revealed that we, the Gentiles, 00:16:04.640 |
get to be fellow heirs, fellow partakers of the promise. 00:16:14.720 |
What's more, chapter four says that we ought to be humble. 00:16:20.840 |
Scripture commands us that we are designed to be a household of God and our love for 00:16:25.380 |
one another should pretty much draw us together in Christ. 00:16:30.660 |
And then chapter four ends by saying, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving 00:16:34.880 |
each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." 00:16:47.240 |
It shows us more in the expectation set by Christ's model, which also is to us the motivation. 00:16:56.460 |
That this love that Christ showed to us is incredibly sacrificial. 00:17:07.200 |
See, I think in our day, we, you know, just by force of habit, use the love, use the term 00:17:14.880 |
love very flippantly as things pertaining to the things that just make us happy. 00:17:20.360 |
And that's not bad because love has with it the thought of things that are satisfying, 00:17:27.760 |
And so the things that really bring joy to our heart, we say, "I love that." 00:17:31.920 |
But the thing is, we say stuff like, "I love food. 00:17:39.000 |
And all of those things are not wicked and sinful because there is within things that 00:17:46.960 |
But here, Christ's love transcends because his love leads him to bear cost, to bear a 00:17:55.040 |
burden all for our benefit, all for our good. 00:17:59.900 |
And so within that, scripture says he is challenging us to do a kind of love that is sacrificial 00:18:06.640 |
like his, which ultimately becomes an offering and a sacrifice to God as a flagrant Roma. 00:18:16.340 |
And one of the greatest motivations that we have for doing anything is that it pleases 00:18:23.320 |
Think about how illustrative and descriptive this is. 00:18:26.640 |
That when God sees us empowered by the sacrificial love of Christ, being strengthened to be able 00:18:33.440 |
to love beyond reason, beyond just logistics and practicalities and to sacrifice things, 00:18:39.280 |
time, energy, money, whatever it may be, to love other people. 00:18:48.480 |
Now I was thinking of like analogies for this, but I didn't know if it was appropriate because 00:18:53.560 |
I'm trying to picture God being pleased by his children loving one another, loving others. 00:19:01.760 |
I can't use just the analogy that I thought was of like coffee. 00:19:05.320 |
Like when I smell coffee, it's just, even the smell wakes me up. 00:19:14.280 |
Probably best way to think about it is when you're a parent and you see your siblings, 00:19:19.720 |
what frustrates you is not, "Oh, you didn't do your chores." 00:19:23.400 |
When the siblings fight, when brother and brother hurt each other, it's enraging. 00:19:30.840 |
But when they are taking care of each other, when a child is trying to actually help the 00:19:37.080 |
other person, maybe even say, "Oh, here, you take this first," right? 00:19:45.760 |
You're not like receiving the benefit of that, but it just brings you joy. 00:19:50.600 |
A father seeing the children love one another. 00:19:54.880 |
We spent some extra time on that and let's move to point number two. 00:19:58.820 |
Point number two, if the first two verses was the command, the next two verses, verses 00:20:06.480 |
And what he tells us is you need to behave that way because that's appropriate for you. 00:20:11.720 |
But the other things of the world, immorality, impurity, and greed, these, it is absolutely 00:20:18.320 |
And so I've entitled it, "It Doesn't Fit At All." 00:20:22.600 |
What he says is, "But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you 00:20:30.080 |
There must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, 00:20:37.320 |
What I'd like to highlight for you by way of observation first is not the contents of 00:20:43.080 |
the immoral stuff, but actually the strength of the prohibition. 00:20:48.120 |
What I mean by that is, look how emphatic this is. 00:20:50.760 |
He says, "Of these things, they must not even be named among you." 00:20:56.680 |
That's really strong, as is proper among saints. 00:20:59.680 |
So essentially saying this is not proper for the saints. 00:21:02.520 |
He says, "There must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which is not 00:21:09.000 |
I like the way NIV says, it says, "But among you, there must not even be a hint of sexual 00:21:18.320 |
"Your name and this stuff shouldn't even be in the same sentence. 00:21:22.640 |
It shouldn't be mentioned among you guys," essentially what it's saying. 00:21:26.280 |
And so when we look at this strong exhortation, the strong commandment, we have to appreciate 00:21:36.680 |
Because within our framework of mind, we have a gauge. 00:21:41.000 |
Every single one of us exercises a kind of bar, a standard. 00:21:47.000 |
Have you adopted this measure or have you set the bar wherever you're comfortable? 00:21:54.320 |
What is your comfortable, like a, sorry, what to do, what degree are you comfortable with 00:22:05.400 |
I think in this generation, people definitely, I mean, this is my opinion, but I think most 00:22:10.760 |
of you guys will probably agree with me that in this generation, we live in a very permissive, 00:22:20.000 |
And given that, the bar in terms of what is appropriate, what is fitting, constantly moves. 00:22:27.640 |
And if you talk to anybody in the previous generation, they're like, "Oh my goodness, 00:22:32.360 |
We would never even, that would have, people would have been ashamed of that kind of stuff," 00:22:37.600 |
And the thing about it is, in this generation, not only are we like that, but we're defensive 00:22:44.200 |
If someone says, "Hey, that's not right," it's like, "Who are you to tell me what's 00:22:47.360 |
"Hey, that's inappropriate," like, "Inappropriate? 00:22:51.280 |
That sounds like," and then they get all defensive like that. 00:22:55.040 |
But for us, we have to make sure we're not setting the bar by what you're comfortable 00:23:02.480 |
Our Father sets what we should be comfortable with. 00:23:06.320 |
And what he says here is a measure that says it should be way over here. 00:23:10.040 |
There must not even be a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity in you. 00:23:17.680 |
Now, this being said, I want to move to thinking about this with the categories that he says, 00:23:25.400 |
that there should be no immorality, impurity, or greed. 00:23:28.280 |
There shouldn't be any filthiness, silly talk, or coarse chesting. 00:23:31.760 |
If you even take a moment to think about these two categories, and these two categories I 00:23:37.680 |
Immorality, impurity, and greed, essentially it is talking about that kind of lustfulness, 00:23:46.160 |
And so essentially what you have is this self-oriented input. 00:23:50.120 |
And then with filthiness, silly talk, and coarse chesting, you have output, the stuff 00:23:58.980 |
But we are talking about the degree of purity, and I'm emphasizing that more because I want 00:24:04.680 |
To what degree and measure did Christ expect when he was teaching the disciples about our 00:24:10.880 |
He says, when you even look at that woman, and you sit in your heart, you have an adulterous 00:24:21.280 |
He wanted purity even in the fantasy lands of our mind. 00:24:25.880 |
He said, if you call your brother a fool, you're going to be condemned. 00:24:32.200 |
Now because you guys have done your own study, I'm going to leave this to you to discuss 00:24:37.240 |
to what degree we should be fighting these things. 00:24:40.040 |
How can we even raise our standards, especially personally for ourselves, to what measure 00:24:56.280 |
It should say point three versus five and six. 00:24:58.780 |
So if the first two verses was commands, the second two verses is going to be the rationale. 00:25:05.220 |
And this last section is called the sobering reality, verses five and six. 00:25:10.080 |
Let me read for us what the sobering reality is. 00:25:14.520 |
He says, for this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous 00:25:19.600 |
man who is an adulterer has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 00:25:24.240 |
Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things, the wrath of God 00:25:32.400 |
So notice how he says for this, you should know with certainty, you should already know 00:25:37.620 |
this stuff and you should already know this stuff. 00:25:42.440 |
Well, if we summarize those two sections, it can be summarized this way, which is first 00:25:48.520 |
that immoral, the immoral person who practices immorality, impurity, and greed, that kind 00:26:03.420 |
What's more, it says God's wrath is coming upon the disobedient, right? 00:26:11.400 |
I want to share this with you guys that it is so important for us to have the proper 00:26:17.300 |
worldview, not as how the rest of the world sees it, not as how some people, some pockets 00:26:24.220 |
of individuals sees it, but as God is teaching you, this is how you should see this generation. 00:26:34.700 |
And this perverse generation without Christ is going to go to hell. 00:26:39.640 |
And as we think about that, I want you to realize that where you stand versus where 00:26:43.720 |
a non-Christian stands, there is a massive line. 00:26:54.880 |
So this should completely inform us in terms of how we react to things in life, how we 00:27:00.400 |
see our decisions, and especially when we have the temptation to live according to the 00:27:04.840 |
world, to think like the world, these truths should affect us. 00:27:09.600 |
We know that this world is going to experience the wrath of God. 00:27:15.560 |
What I realize is as I'm thinking about this, sometimes you have individuals who just, they 00:27:22.360 |
And they say like, you know, I just can't help myself. 00:27:24.480 |
I just keep looking at this stuff on the internet and I want it. 00:27:30.520 |
You know, now I can sit there and instruct them, what you got to do is turn off the TV. 00:27:38.320 |
But it's not so much the specific instructions. 00:27:40.200 |
They have to have a correction on the whole world view. 00:27:45.560 |
What you think is so lovely is going to be judged by the wrath of God. 00:27:51.640 |
Even now, right now, there's so much turmoil, people fighting each other. 00:27:56.520 |
Now there are so many things in terms of injustice that we should care about. 00:28:01.120 |
And of injustice, there are things that we have to take actions for. 00:28:04.640 |
However, when Christians start saying, you know what, I hope for a world, I hope for 00:28:12.200 |
I wonder if they're buying into a vision of the world that's ungodly. 00:28:17.240 |
Ungodly, not because it's like vile and sinful, but ungodly because it's so limited. 00:28:26.920 |
The world view that is wrong for the individual within this first sentence, the immoral and 00:28:32.440 |
impure person or a covetous man, you know why his world view is wrong? 00:28:45.160 |
And typically when you practice idolatry, you're practicing an idolatry where you are 00:28:51.120 |
Your world view needs to be radically shifted. 00:29:04.000 |
Are words like, you got to do what makes you happy. 00:29:09.040 |
Now, I'm not saying you could never say that. 00:29:19.320 |
YOLO is used for, I know this is stupid, but I'm just going to do it because you only live 00:29:27.240 |
Because those words are rational when you live only this life. 00:29:32.760 |
And what Apostle Paul says, what King Solomon says is when your rationale is limited to 00:29:37.600 |
this generation, it is fleeting, it is temporary, and therefore it is empty. 00:29:48.640 |
We reason with Christ in mind, God with mind, eternity in mind, and heaven in mind. 00:29:56.120 |
This world, God is not going to salvage and make better. 00:30:06.840 |
You'll be persecuted and it's going to be difficult to live in this land. 00:30:11.280 |
And when it's ripe for judgment, God is going to bring this wrath and burn it. 00:30:16.720 |
Why are we talking like the rest of the world hoping just for better days here? 00:30:25.320 |
We've got to be thinking more in line with the gospel truths. 00:30:30.600 |
We're not just waiting for new policies, new governors, and new presidents. 00:30:37.840 |
For us, we're eagerly anticipating the return of our King. 00:30:42.040 |
And so our rationale and our words are waiting. 00:30:49.640 |
So as we take a moment to think about these things, to me, these things are sober realities 00:30:56.840 |
that not only dictate how we respond to current events and life situations, these things also 00:31:07.600 |
As I experience temptation, what should I be thinking? 00:31:12.600 |
I should be first thinking I should be more like my God, my Father. 00:31:17.040 |
I should be thinking I should be living and walking in love and not in selfishness. 00:31:22.080 |
I should not have impurities, lusts, and greeds. 00:31:24.320 |
I should not have gross things coming out of my mouth, but rather I should be a pure 00:31:28.520 |
light in this generation because I'm living with an unshakable hope in God. 00:31:37.280 |
And so by way of conclusion, I want to say we have received some really broad exhortations 00:31:43.040 |
and commandments today to imitate God and to walk in love. 00:31:47.800 |
But just remember, we have to make sure that we take these broad commandments that encapsulate 00:31:53.320 |
And you have to be the one that takes case examples and apply specifically. 00:32:01.640 |
How am I going to show up into this scenario and exercise the kind of sacrificial, giving, 00:32:11.800 |
This is to you the kind of intentional, purposeful living that we want to do before the Lord. 00:32:17.040 |
And that we know is going to be pleasing to God. 00:32:32.880 |
We want people to have hope in Christ, not to place hope in this world. 00:32:41.840 |
This world, Lord God, you say is getting filled. 00:32:47.880 |
And I pray, Father God, that we would then now have even a greater urgency to be lights, 00:32:53.480 |
placing our hope and our trust and our confidence in our God. 00:32:57.920 |
I do thank you so much, Lord, for your gospel truth that empowers us and shapes our thinking. 00:33:03.640 |
I do pray, Lord, that we would be all the more renewed. 00:33:07.600 |
And I also pray, God, for our church, that there would be such a sobriety then in realizing 00:33:15.560 |
that as we perhaps even are thinking more now about the end times. 00:33:20.720 |
It has been long and people have been waiting. 00:33:24.000 |
And Lord, we want to say, God, that we eagerly await your return.