Sermon Tone Analysis

Ephesians 5:1-7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell ©1999

Long Walk, Much Love

 

The African boy listened carefully as the teacher explained why it is that Christians give presents to each other on Christmas Day.

"The gift is an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our friendship for each other," she said.

When Christmas Day came, the boy brought the teacher a sea shell of lustrous beauty.

"Where did you ever find such a beautiful shell?" the teacher asked.

The youth told her that there was only one spot where such extraordinary shells could be found--a certain bay several miles away.

"Why--why, it's gorgeous," said the teacher.

"But you shouldn't have gone all that way to get a gift for me."

/His eyes brightening, the boy answered, *"Long walk part of gift."

*/

 

Introduction

 

Last Sunday we looked at how Christians are to walk in holiness.

They aren't to live in their past like the Gentiles around them.

But as new creations of Jesus Christ they are to put on the garments of holiness.

In chapter five Paul commands them /to walk /or/ live/ in a certain manner.

Christians must walk like Jesus.

The emphasis in this passage is on works.*/

Paul commands us to/*

 

I.

Walk In Love /- Be imitators/

 

*Ephesians 5:1-2* /Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

And 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./

/ /

/a.

Christ Showed Us /

/ /

Inspired By The Best

 

Leonardo da Vinci had started work on a large canvas in his studio.

For awhile he worked at it--choosing the subject, planning the perspective, sketching the outline, applying the colors, with his own inimitable genius.

Then suddenly he ceased, the painting still unfinished, and, summoning one of his students, invited him to complete the work.

The student protested that he was both unworthy and unable to complete the great painting which his master had begun.

But da Vinci silenced him.

"Will not what I have done inspire you to do your best?"

Our Master began two thousand years ago--by what he said, by what he did, and supremely by what he suffered.

He illustrated his message and he has left us to finish the picture.

/ /

The/ first command/ is that believers /should imitate God as dear children/.

This continues the theme of forgiveness mentioned in the previous verse as indicated by the word */therefore/*.

God forgave us in Jesus Christ.

We are to imitate this by forgiving one another.

Children like to copy their parents.

They watch us and mimic our behavior.

Since Christians are God's children they should imitate their heavenly Father.

*/God loves us like His beloved Son./* [Matt 3:17] /But how do we imitate Him if we can't see Him?/ By following His perfect Son.

*/The Lord Jesus Christ showed us how to live./*

Therefore we should walk as He walked.

Example

 

Ÿ  You preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.

Ÿ  It doesn't matter how a person dies, but how he lives.

Ÿ  Every Christian should be a walking sermon.

Ÿ  Nothing is more confusing than the fellow who gives good advice and sets a bad example.

Ÿ  Your words may hide your thoughts, but your actions will reveal them.

/b.

Christ Served Us/

 

The /second command/ Paul gave was /to walk in love./

But He didn't leave this unexplained.

Jesus walked in love and we are to follow His example.

The Lord Jesus demonstrated His love by serving mankind.

He healed the sick, provided for the hungry, touched the leper and ministered to the needy.

Jesus put God first, others second and Himself last.

He walked weary miles to serve lost people.

We are to walk the same way.

*1 John 2:6* /He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

/We are to serve one another through love.

/ /

Teacher's Credentials

 

Sometime ago there was a teacher who celebrated her eightieth birthday.

It proved to be a marvelous occasion, highlighted by the presence of a great number of her former students.

It seemed that she taught school in one of the worst sections of Baltimore.

Before she came to that school to teach there had been repeated instances of juvenile crime and delinquency.

When she began her work there came a change.

The change in time became noticeable with so many of her students turning out to be good citizens, men and women of good character.

Some became doctors, others lawyers, educators, ministers, honorable craftsmen, and skilled technicians.

It was no accident, therefore, that on important anniversaries like her eightieth birthday she was remembered with gratitude and love from a great number of her students.

A newspaper got wind of this celebration and sent a reporter to interview her.

He asked, among other things, what was her secret that made her teaching so rewarding?

She said, "Oh, I don't know.

When I look at the young teachers in our schools today, so well-equipped with training and learning, I realize that I was ill-prepared to teach.

*/I had nothing to give but love/*."

/ /

/c.

Christ Sacrificed For Us/

/ /

His greatest service was giving Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Greater love has no man than this that He lay down His life for His friends.

But Jesus Christ died for us when we were His enemies.

*1 John 3:16* /By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

/Love gives to meet another's needs and is not concerned with the cost.

CT Studd said this before sailing to China as a missionary.

/If Jesus Christ be God and died for me then no sacrifice that I can  make is to great./

God has given His best for us.

/How can we not give our best to Him? /

/ /

 

The Proof of Love

 

In the French revolution, a young man was condemned to the guillotine and shut up in one of the prisons.

He was greatly loved by many, but there was someone who loved him more than all the others put together.

That one was his own father, and the love he bore his son was proved in this way: when the lists were called, the father--whose name was exactly the same as the son's--answered to the name, and the father rode in the gloomy tumbrel out to the place of execution, and his head rolled beneath the axe instead of his son's, a victim to mighty love.

See here an image of the love of Christ to sinners.

For thus Jesus died for the ungodly.

Application

/ /

/Are you imitating God as beloved children?/ Do you only tell them about God's love or do you show them as well.

A good example speaks louder than any sermon!

/Are you walking in love?

/Agape love, God's love has the good of the person loved at heart.

Loving service should be our response to God's love for us.