Sermon Tone Analysis

Ephesians 5:5-20

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Introduction

            There are numerous animals that have been created to conform to their surroundings.

There are two kinds of rabbits common in Manitoba, the Cottontail which we all have in our yard and the larger Jackrabbit.

Because they are often out in open fields, Jackrabbits turn white in winter to match the snow so that larger predators don't catch and eat them.

One of the most striking examples of animals which change their color to match their surroundings are some species of chameleon, which can actually change the color of their skin depending on the color of the surface around them.

When these animals change color, it is an important part of their survival.

If they don't blend in, they are much more susceptible to being eaten by their enemies.

In other words, if they don't change to match their surroundings they are in great danger.

The opposite is true for Christians.

If we do change to match our surroundings, we are in great danger.

Last week we talked about the change which has taken place in us by the power of Jesus.

In Ephesians 4:17-29 we learned that we must live the change that Jesus has made in us, or in other words we must live in holiness.

We talked about some of the practical things which must change: we must speak truth instead of lying, we must be generous instead of stealing, we must be holy instead of immoral and so on.

This week, we will look at Ephesians 5:5-20 and discover several more reasons why it is critical that we be holy and why it is so dangerous for us to blend in with the society that surrounds us.

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I.       To Avoid God's Wrath

            The first reason is found in Ephesians 5:5, 6, "Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient."

Whenever you get on an airplane you have to listen to the safety information which they give about seatbelts, oxygen masks and flotation devices.

It must be difficult for the flight attendant to stand in front and do the demonstration as most people deliberately ignore them.

Although most people have probably heard the drill many times, for some it is new information and so it must be repeated each time.

When an emergency happens, I suspect that there are some people who have ignored the important information many times and when they suddenly have to act on it they don't know what to do.

Scripture frequently calls us as disciples to live as holy people but I suspect that some people have ignored this information.

In Ephesians 5:5, 6, Paul makes a point of indicating that this is important information.

It cannot be ignored or dismissed, it must be listened to.

Notice that in the beginning of verse 5 he says, "Be sure of this" and in the beginning of verse 6 "Let no one deceive you with empty words."

In other words, look up!

Pay attention!

This is important and you need to know it.

There will be a test!

The test may come in the form of deception.

The Bible speaks about those who are false teachers.

Revelation 2:14, 15 mentions some of the false teachers of that day when it talks about Balaam and also about the Nicolaitans.

False teachers are still around and some have taught that, as a Christian, you can sin and not worry about the consequences because God is gracious.

Some people, by their example, have taught others to be careless about wickedness.

The NLT translates this verse, "Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins…" Penner writes, "Whether society argues that one can participate in immorality in the name of 'love,' or for the sake of so called Christian 'freedom' …believers must not be deceived."

So we are encouraged to realize that this is serious stuff and we need to take note and not ignore it, as we so often ignore the announcements on the airplane.

It is an axiom that God hates sin and anyone who lives in sin cannot be in His presence.

Those who sin will not receive an inheritance among those who will spend eternity with Him.

But we need to be careful that we do not dismiss this warning assuming it applies only to those who do not know Jesus and are outside the church.

This is written to people who are in the church, it is written to us.

So the warning is to everyone of us.

We need to be aware of the danger and we need to be aware of anyone who would deceive us that sinning has no serious consequences.

And so we are warned that anyone who lives in fornication, impurity or greed has no "inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

If we do not live holy lives, we are in danger of disinheriting ourselves.

Christianity is a gift of God given to us when we have faith in Jesus, it is a gift that involves a change of heart.

If our heart is not changed and if we continue in sin it shows that we may not have received the gift at all or we may lose the inheritance we thought was ours.

The further warning is that those who continue to live in such disobedience are under the wrath of God.

God hates sin.

That is why He sent Jesus to this earth.

That is why Jesus died on the cross.

God wanted to do away with sin and it's evil consequences.

If we continue in sin, especially after we have received the gift of God in Christ, what makes us think that God is suddenly OK with our sinful disobedience?

God still hates sin and so if we walk in sin, we are in great danger because the wrath of God will come on all sin, whether we have once given ourselves to Him or not.

We cannot blend in to the surrounding society because God's wrath comes on all who are unholy.

Therefore, we are called to live holy lives so that we will not come under God's wrath.

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II.

To Live as Children of Light

            When our children were in high school and when they participated in school functions we often asked them the question, "are you an influence or are you being influenced."

The other reasons to be holy is so that we will not be influenced, but rather that we will be an influence.

In verse 8 we are reminded, "once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.

Live as children of light."

This is the message we looked at last week when we were reminded that God has created a change in us and we must live in that change.

Yet we have just noticed that it is possible for us to be deceived.

There are those who would say things to make us think lightly about the matter of holy living.

They may say that it isn't all that bad if you sin a little or they may convince us that some action or other is not a sin, when Scripture is clear that it is disobedience to God.

Because of that danger, Paul says in verse 7, "Therefore do not be associated with them."

In other words, we are called to live in holiness so that we will not be influenced by darkness.

But this is a difficult thing to do.

There are two important questions that we need to ask about this statement.

One is, "who is 'them?'"

The other is, "What does "associate" mean?"

As Christians our relationship with people who are not Christians is often somewhat tentative.

It isn't very long after people become Christians that they begin to drift towards friendships only with Christian people.

Often our interpretation of who "them" is in this passage is that it refers to unbelievers.

The problem with that interpretation is, how are we going to tell people about Jesus if we don't know them?

How are we going to earn the right to be heard if unbelievers are not among our friends?

How are we going to imitate Jesus if we don't eat with "tax collectors and sinners" as He did?

That is why I believe that "them" refers to people who identify with the church and may even sit in the pews, but who influence us towards darkness.

These are the people we are not to associate with.

They are the ones who are really dangerous.

The reason they are dangerous is that, because they are in the church, we feel that they are safe.

This was my experience.

When I was in grade 7 and 8 I went to a public school.

I knew I was different and needed to live in a different way and so I was quite careful about how I lived my Christian life.

In grade 9 I went to MBCI.

I am not blaming MBCI and it was a combination of factors, but one of the things that happened was that I felt "safe" in the "Christian" environment.

As a result, I was no longer on guard and so I was influenced towards disobedience.

I am to blame, but I think it is an illustration of why it is those who are in the church, but are disobedient, whom we must not associate with rather than those who are not believers.

What does such non-association look like?

Some churches have made rules about this and they legislate that you cannot eat with anyone who is excommunicated.

I think we need to be very careful about our actions of non-association.

If we find that our association with those in the church who are living in disobedience is influencing us towards disobedience, we need to avoid associating with them.

If we find that there are ways of relating to them which help them and influence them and encourage them back to faith, then we should not avoid them.

We need to recognize the point that Paul is making here and that is that we are called to be careful.

Because of the danger of being influenced by disobedience, we are called to do anything we can to continue to walk in holiness.

As we think about these things, we need to hear what Paul says in Ephesians 5:10, "Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord."

We should never accept a list of rules so that we can stop thinking.

Holy living requires constant thought, reflection and decision making.

We will discover what is pleasing to the Lord if we hear what it says in verse 9. Holy living has to do with what is good and right and true.