A NEW WAY TO LIVE

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Ephesians 5:3-6

Good morning.

My name is Daniel Duce. I'm one of the pastors here. If you're new here, if you're new to this church thing, today is the first day of what we call advent. I did not grow up in a church that celebrated or even acknowledged advent. I did not know what advent was until I was an adult.

But as an adult, and especially as a parent. Now, I have found the season of advent to be a very helpful rhythm in the Christian life. What is advent? Advent includes the four Sundays before Christmas, right? So we have four Sundays left before Christmas. So this is the first Sunday of Advent. Then we do Christmas Eve, and it's meant to be a season of reflection and devotion for the Christian as we look toward Christmas, the word advent simply means coming or arrival.

The advent season is a preparation season for Jesus's birth at Christmas. While also we look toward Christmas, we're also looking toward the second coming of Jesus in his return. Each Sunday of Advent, we would traditionally spotlight a key theme hope, peace, joy, love. And in years past, we have devoted, all four Sundays, all four weeks, we've developed, sermon series and just focused on advent and done topical sermon series leading up to Christmas.

And there's nothing wrong with that. We might do it again next year. But this year I've decided that we're going to continue with the book of Ephesians. God in his sovereignty has us still in the book of Ephesians. And so we're going to prepare for Christmas by finishing, Lord willing, the book of Ephesians, because Scripture is sufficient.

It's the Bible, and it's going to be good. So as your pastor, just say, if you're new, let me just say I am. I am currently the pastor that is responsible for preaching. So I'm setting the expectation that the vast majority of Sundays we will preach expositionally through books of the Bible, through passages of Scripture.

This does not make us better than other churches that do it differently. Necessarily. This does not make us more right or necessarily more biblical. But I think I believe I've come to the conclusion that expositional preaching is just healthier and wiser, not only for you, but also for me as your pastor, as I will one day, stand before God and I will be held to a higher account for how I preach and how I teach his word.

And again, his word is sufficient. Speaking of God's Word, we are in the book of Ephesians. We have been in the book of Ephesians for a couple of months. What is the main message of Ephesians? If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be unity. Ephesians is about unity. And so with all this advent, no advent like I don't want to create division where there doesn't need to be division.

I don't, want to create like pro advent and anti Advent people. That's not what what we're trying to do. I want to acknowledge the season and then present to you that as we grow as a church, as we reach more people, especially once we move, there will be people here that are traditional and not traditional people that are really into holidays and people that are not so much into that stuff.

Celebrating advent is not a commandment. It is not in the Bible. In fact, Christmas is not in the Bible. For the Christian, every day is Christmas.

Every day is Christmas Eve. Every day is Easter. Every day is Good Friday, and every day is the day that Jesus could return.

So if you want to celebrate advent, join me and go for it. I have found it helpful and beneficial. If not, that's cool. Keep reading your Bible in a year plan. I do that too. And to be honest, it's really cool to read revelation at Christmas time. It's awesome. But if you are interested in advent, I'll say, I have a couple of new we do devotionals like every year and this is I'm just giving you examples of like cheap examples that my wife and I are using this year.

This is called Every Day Gospel Christmas Devotional. It starts tomorrow. It's eight books on Amazon. Okay. And if you miss a day, it's all good. It has, scripture reading. And just like a gospel devotional reminder every day leading up to Christmas for adults, for your own personal devotional, if you, have a family, if you have children.

I'm pretty excited. I've done a lot of kids devotionals. This is a new one I have not done. It's called a Jesus Christmas. What's cool about this is that it literally walks you and your family through the entire story of the Bible. Like the entire Metanarrative, it starts at creation and it walks through a lot of the big covenant pieces.

And it it's just it's cool. I'm looking forward to it. This one is seven books. Six books. Like, it's really cheap. So there's a couple resources for you. There are all kinds of great resources out there for advent. There's also Bible reading plans in the In the Bible app for Advent and Christmas, if you want to do that.

But let me just encourage you, let's slow down in this busy season of life for a second. Don't do these things to check a box. Don't do these things because God will be more pleased with you if you do more religious activity during this season.

Let us do these things because we want to know God more, because we want to taste and see that he is good. Because we want to love Jesus more. We want to have our affections stirred for Jesus more. We want to be more thankful for what God has done for us in Jesus. And we want to have more hope and more peace and more joy and more love.

Okay, let me like this candle and, read so we can get started in Ephesians. Y'all stand with me for the reading of God's Word.

Our advent reading for today comes from Psalm 33. Come on.

That's the Hope candle. Let's hope it stays lit.

May we be a people who possess a courageous hope, because our hope rests not in our circumstances, but our hope is rooted in who our God is and in his promises that never fail. Hear this the word of the Lord. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield, for our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Let me pray.

Lord, your word is sufficient. I ask that you come now and keep your promise to produce the result. Produce the fruit in us that you so desire from your word this morning. Your words are so much better than my words.

Come and do what only you can do with them. Speak to us as only you can. Speak to us. As you know, we need to hear from you today.

Every heart, every mind.

All the burdens that we're bearing. All the worries, all the fear. All the stress and anxiety. All the hard things.

That some of us are facing. You know them all.

I ask that you would reveal yourself today through your word. In Jesus name. Amen.

Please open your Bibles or mobile devices to Ephesians chapter five. And before we begin, I'll just say, I don't see that many kids, but I will just tell the parents. Today we will be talking about S-e-x. So if you are okay with that, cool. It's not going to get too hairy. I'm just going to read the Bible, but I'm letting you know in case, that's sensitive and you would like to take your little ones over to mission kids.

Just letting you know, giving you a heads up. Last Sunday, we covered chapter five, verses one and two. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. We discovered that to become imitators of God, we must know and believe that God has adopted us as his children, and that as his children, God loves us.

We have a loving father who loves us as his children. I don't imitate the love of God so that God will love me. I strive to imitate the love of God because he already loves me, because he already does. Friends, we love because he first loved us. Love is the command, and being loved by God is the power.

If you missed last week and want to catch up, the sermons, are always up on our website. And now what is the opposite? What is the opposite of walking in love? Verse three. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be Thanksgiving.

Paul is listing lifestyles, lifestyles that are characterized by these sins, lifestyles that are completely opposed to the Christian life. Verse three. You'll notice our sins of the flesh, our body and our heart. Verse four our sins of the tongue, the mouth conduct. Speech. Let's begin with verse three. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not be even named among you, as is proper among such saints.

Sexual immorality. All impurity or covetousness. What is sexual immorality? Adultery. Fornication. Prostitution. Incest. Homosexual acts. And for Jesus in, Matthew six, I believe Matthew nine. Lustful intent. If we even lust after another person in our heart, we might as well have committed adultery with them. He says most of the time in the Bible when this Greek word is used, it refers to fornication.

Fornication is when two people act like they're married. When they're not married, they are touching each other and sleeping with one another in a way that God designed only for a man and a woman who are married to each other.

God's word is clear. Fornication is any sexual relationship outside of the covenant of marriage. This close physical, intimate relationship is for married people only. Sexual immorality includes sexual relations before marriage and outside of marriage, but also wrong sexual relations as a married person or among married people. Friends, I understand how whacko and crazy and offensive this sounds. The Christian sexual ethic stands in stark contrast to the world's view on sexual freedom and on our expressive individualism.

But God's Word is clear. Impurity. The second term, all impurity or impurity of any kind, refers to moral impurity. Moral uncleanness is the word moral defilement. Any type of immoral behavior. Paul is broadening the scope of this sin, sexual immorality, and then any kind of impurity. He's broadening it to include any and all sins of our flesh. And then he moves to the intent.

Then he moves to our heart and he says covetousness, covetousness, greediness. Selfishness to the nth degree. Paul moves from external sins to internal sins. This is desiring what another person has. Friends, this is sin. This is idolatry.

Social media is excellent at stirring covetousness up. At least in me, that's been my experience with social media. I just want to be like these people. I don't have what these people have. My life is not like that. I got to have some of that. I want their house and I wish I had their car, and I wish I had their spouse or their kids, or because kids are so well-behaved and well dressed all the time.

They obey. I wish I had their family. I wish I had their body or their hair. I wish I had their job, or their lifestyle, or their personality, or their talents or their voice, or their success. Friends, I'll confess, sometimes when I see, I see other churches, they they they they're preaching false doctrine, and they're seeing all kinds of wacko stuff that is not found in the Bible.

And their church is blowing up, and they're drawing all these crowds and they're building buildings like it creeps up in me. The little covetous thought sneaks in.

But you know what? Thankfully, by the grace of God, after 25 years of following Jesus, the Holy Spirit reveals to me what that thought is, and he helps me to put it down because that's not of him.

And I have everything that I need. Ephesians five verse three. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as it's proper among saints. These are not actions of love. He just said, walk in love. These are not actions that imitate God. Verse two. These are not actions of a beloved child loved by God.

Verse two. Are they?

When I do any of these things, are they loving things? Are they considering others to be more important than myself? No. They are the opposite of that.

These are actions that should not even be named be mentioned among us. Paul is not saying they should not be spoken of or identified when they occur. He identifies sins such as these in Galatians and First Corinthians. He's not saying that, nor is he saying that we should not confess these sins or repent of such sins. He's saying that these sins should be absent from our lifestyles.

They should be so absent from our lifestyles as Christians that there shouldn't be any occasion for for our for anyone to associate with us these sins. Does that make sense? I thought this quote was helpful. Such unholy things should not be acceptable topics of conversation among people that God has called to be holy. Sexual immorality. Impurity. Covetousness. These are sins of self love, self gratification.

They are diametrically opposed to the selfless, sacrificial, self-giving, Self-emptying love of Jesus.

Verse four. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking which are out of place, but instead let there be Thanksgiving. Paul moves from sins of conduct to sins of speech, filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking, filthiness. This is what it sounds like. This type of talk causes shame. It is dishonoring. It is disgraceful and shameful. Foolish talk.

These are empty words. Empty speculation. Leading nowhere. Not edifying anyone. Not building anyone up.

Crew joking. This is joking. That has gone too far.

I don't know if you've been guilty of this. I know I have. The translation would be sarcastic. Ridicule is what this is. Sarcastic ridicule that cuts people down or embarrasses people.

Joking that has gone too far. Dirty jokes. This doesn't mean that as Christians, we should not use humor. On the contrary, I think we of all people should be a people marked by joy. I think that we should be a people that laugh a lot, especially at ourselves. I think that we are called to be people of good cheer.

But we should not misuse humor at the expense of someone else that's not loving. Our humor should be edifying and encouraging and build others up. And it should be under the power of the Holy Spirit. Self-controlled humor, filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking. These are out of place here amongst us as believers. They are not appropriate unfitting. Paul has spent, I would imagine, quite a lot of time around Gentiles.

He has planted churches all across the Gentile world. He was the apostle called to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. So he knows how they talk. He knows the things that they talk about. He knows that these Ephesian Christians used to talk like this. He knows that much of the language of the unbelieving world is not appropriate language for us as Christians.

So what is appropriate for Christians? Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Thankfulness. Gratitude. Instead of thoughtless, irreverent speech that dishonors God. We should speak thanksgiving unto God for all that he is, for who he is, for what he's done, for who we are, for who he's made us in Christ. And we should give thanks for one another instead of speech that tears down and and uses other people or embarrasses other people.

We should speak speech that builds others up, that encourages, that puts others first. Apostle Paul models this in many letters when he thanks God for other believers. Let me give you some examples. Philippians one I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. First Corinthians one I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.

Romans one. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. First Thessalonians one we give thanks to God always for all of you. Constantly mentioning you in our prayers. I'm trying to convince you of something. Do you thank God for the Christians in your life?

Are we a people marked by thanksgiving? It's not an American holiday. This is in the Bible. Do you thank God for people in your personal devotional time with God in your prayer life? This is what Paul is modeling.

Do you tell people that you're thankful for them?

This is what he he just did. He does it in almost every letter. We we we've got to take. I'm trying to convince you that this is who we should be as Christians.

Do you tell people that you're thankful for them? And do you tell them why?

What might happen if we became a people set apart and focused and intentional and obsessed with thanking one another, with encouraging one another with our words, with building one another up?

We should always give thanks for one another. Second Thessalonians one. We ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

I thank God for you. I'll just lead by example right now. I thank God for you. I thank God for this church, for the ways that many of you that I know encourage me constantly for the ways that you strengthen me when I need it, for the ways that I watch you endure suffering and hardship and trial and difficult circumstances.

And as you endure, you encourage me to endure in my own suffering and hardship and circumstances. Thank you. I thank God for you. I'm thankful for how you serve. For your generosity. For you. Showing up every Sunday. Friends, so much is accomplished when you're just here. When we see one another. When we sing together. When we sit under the word together.

When we walk down. When we take the elements together. This is a corporate activity, this Christian life. It is meant to be done together. We are encouraging one another. Just by being here. There's some weeks that all you can do is just show up.

Nothing's connecting because life is so hard and so dark. But you show up anyway.

When we show up. It says that you're still in the fight, and it encourages others to stay in the fight. Verse five, for you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Paul now exhorts these Ephesian Christians, put off the old man, put on the new man. He tells them that the new person does not live like the old person. He knows that they used to live in this way. He says the new person puts off the old person. Let's break it down, for you may be sure of this that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and God.

Paul is saying, you should not act like unbelievers because unbelievers will not inherit the kingdom of God. That is not to say that a Christian will not fall into one of these sins or struggle in one of these areas. Paul is speaking to the person who is characterized by these sins, who makes a habit of these sins. Their lifestyle is is centered in and confused by these sins.

They they sin to the extent that it just becomes who they are. It's just something that's always going to be there, and they've given up fighting and repenting and confessing these sins. Friends, the kingdom of God is not for saints who have never sinned. Though.

The kingdom of God is not for saints you know who don't struggle with sin.

The kingdom of God is for sinners who have been forgiven of their sins, who have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, who have been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus. As Paul says in chapter one of Ephesians, in Jesus we have redemption through his blood. The forgiveness of our trespasses. Paul is writing to Ephesian Christians. He rightly assumes that they have inherited the kingdom of God.

But he also warns them, don't live like that anymore. He's done this several times in the letter.

People who live their lives characterized by these sins rather than lives characterized by grace and forgiveness and the gospel. Those people have no inheritance in the kingdom.

Who are the ones? Let me ask you, who are the ones who get the inheritance of a father?

The children of a father. Sons and daughters of the father.

Verse six. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Friends, what we do with our bodies, what we say with our mouth, with our speech matters.

Do not be deceived. Do not believe the world's lies, that there is no hell, and there is no wrath of God, and there is no judgment. And God is all loving, and he forgives everybody. Friends, do not be deceived. The wrath of God is both present, and it is future. The wrath of God is present now. Romans one for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. This is the word. The wrath of God is present. People all know deep down that there is a God, because people have been made in the image of God. But humanity since the fall has been choosing to believe the lie. And as we pursue unrighteousness, it suppresses that truth.

It pushes it down until we are deceived by our sin and the present wrath of God, then is that he removes his hand. He removes his corrective hand, and he lets us do what we want to do.

He allows us to continue in our sin and our lawlessness. This is the present wrath of God. Verse 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever.

Amen. The wrath of God is present, and the wrath of God is future. It is coming. Romans chapter two. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself. On the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed, he will render to each one according to his works, to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality.

He will give them eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. So what are we to do then? Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I close with how we began verse one. Therefore be imitators of God.

As beloved children, and walk in love just like Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Friends, what are we to do? We are to live as beloved children. We are to live like sons and daughters of God, not like sons and daughters of disobedience. That that wouldn't even be right.

As sons and daughters, it doesn't feel right. We are to live like sons and daughters, loved by God, forgiven by God, sons and daughters that walk in love because we are captivated by the love with which we have been loved.

Walk in love. Put to death. Destructive conduct put to death. Destructive speech put to death. All covetousness. Are these loving?

Let our actions be loving. Let our words be loving. Encouraging. For the building up of others.

Let me ask you.

Do you expect to never struggle with sin? This is another twist of the truth. Do you expect to never struggle with sin as a Christian? I'll have made it. I'll be a good Christian finally. When I don't struggle with sin anymore.

We laugh. But this is what we think. Do you think that something's wrong with you because you struggle?

This is a lie. Many of us struggle with sexual sin and temptation. Some of us will endure certain sin struggles for the rest of our life. Many of us struggle with covetousness daily. Many of us struggle in our attitudes and in the way that we use our words. Things just come out of us, and we we don't even know what we're saying.

But you know what? If you can relate to this, you're in good company.

Paul knew the struggles of men and women. It's why he wrote these specific encouragements and these specific warnings. And he wrote it in Galatians, and he wrote in it in Philippians, and he wrote it in Colossians. He knew what we were to struggle with. You're not alone. Jesus didn't come to help all the people that don't struggle. He didn't come to tell all the people to have it all together, that they're doing a great job.

Read the Gospels. That's not what he came for. He came only to save sinners. Mark two Jesus said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Paul says in first Timothy the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

I am the biggest sinner. He says. Friend, if you struggle with sin. Jesus died for you. Jesus came for you. If you hate your sin, Jesus died for you. He came for you. If you wish, your sin would just be gone and you didn't have to struggle this way anymore. Jesus came for you. He he died for you.

This is why he came. Second Corinthians five for our sake. God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin. He never sinned. But God put all of our sin on him. He made him sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God as a free gift. Our sin for his righteousness. It's a mystery. I don't understand it, but this is the gospel.

There is hope. You are here. You are here listening to this. If you struggle, there is hope here. Hear this today that God is telling you there is hope. Don't stop crying out to God for help. Don't stop confessing and repenting. Don't stop putting your sin to death. Don't stop fighting. You are loved by God. Do you know that?

Be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love. Love is the command. Being loved by God is the power. I close with this. I was reminded of this hymn this week. Come, ye sinners, poor and needy. Weak and wounded. Sick and saw Jesus ready. Stands to save you. Full of pity, love and power. Let not conscience make you linger.

Nor of worthiness. Fondly dream. All the worthiness he requires is to feel your need of him. Come, ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better. You will never come at all. Jesus says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and

I will give you rest.