Ephesians chapter 5, as we continue in this grand book, beginning in verse 1, hear the words of the living God. Therefore, meaning because of all that's gone before this, particularly therefore because of God's grace, therefore be imitators of God as dear children. Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us. as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man who is an idolater has any 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. Therefore, do not be partakers. Do not be partakers with them. These are the words of God. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 2 says, walk in love. Walk in love. If you're one who likes to jot down notes and fill in blanks, here's your one and only chance in this message. You can jot down notes, but you can't fill in any other blanks because I didn't give you any this week. Too many. I don't know what you'd want to write, so. But here, this one is for reals. In the Bible, the word walk is often synonymous with the word life. Life. It's synonymous with the word life. How we walk, when the Bible uses that word in this context, how we walk is how we live our lives. Now, Ephesians chapter one, excuse me, chapter five, verses one through 25, give us four statements of how we are to walk or to what? Live. How we are to walk or how we are to live. If you look at your Bible in verse two, walk in love. Look in your Bible in verse 8, walk in the light. In other words, as children of the light. Verse 15, walk in wisdom, as it says, carefully or circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. And verse 18, walk in the spirit. And in verse 18, it doesn't specifically use the word walk, but it describes walking or living in the spirit. So for the next four weeks, God willing, we plan to take each of these four in turn, beginning this morning with walk in love. So we'll talk about verses one through seven under the heading of walk in love. The first thing to notice is in verse one and two, there's a question, what has love to do with being imitators of God? And what does it mean to imitate God? Why do we ask that question? Because verse 1 says, therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. Walk in love, verse 2. And then it tells us how, as Christ has also loved us and given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Speaking about idols and idolatry and those who worship idols, Psalm 115 verse 5 through 8 describes what idols really are, and it also tells us what those who worship idols become. Let me read it to you. It says, speaking of idolatry and idols, Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak. Speaking of idols. They have eyes, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk. Nor do they mutter through their throat. That's a little bit about what idols are about. Now watch verse 8. Here's what the psalmist says about idolaters. Verse 8, those who make them are like them. So is everyone who trusts in them. Similarly, evangelist Robert Coleman wrote these words. Listen carefully. Show me your gods and I will show you your people. Show me your gods and I will show you your people because we become like those we worship, he goes on. Worship a god of war and I will show you a warring people. Worship a god of licentiousness or just wild debauchery, so to speak, and you will live a life of license. But, he says, worship a holy god and you will become holy. What's the point? The point is we become like who or what we worship. We become like who or what we worship. Now, because God has loved us and because He has graciously saved us, based on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, and even before the cross, by living for us, then on the cross by dying for us, and then on Easter morning, resurrection morning, by rising again for us, because of what He has done, those of us who understand this, and who have embraced Christ, and who have trusted Him, we love Him, do we not? We love Him. Don't forget the question, what is love to do with being imitators of Christ? We love Him because of what He did for us, and we worship Him because of who He is and what He's done for us, and we are to become like Him. We are to become like Him. Now, becoming like Him, listen very carefully. I know everybody in this room knows this, but this needs to be said. Becoming like Him does not mean we become gods. Deity is exclusively God's. It's not ours. It never will be. The idea that men can become gods, as some religions purport, where did that idea come from? Satan. Satan? Yes, because in the garden, what did Satan tell Eve? Disobey God and you will become like gods. He's promising something that is flatly wrong. The idea that human beings can ever become gods is blasphemy. We never become God. We never even become lesser gods. Deity, as they said, is God's alone. But we are to become like Him. We're told, be imitators of Him. We are to become like Him, even as the scripture says that the Christian life is one of being transformed from glory to glory into the image and likeness of Christ. This is what's happening with us. We're sanctification. When we're justified, we're declared righteous, and then for the rest of our lives as Christians, we're growing. in righteousness, growing in holiness, growing to look more and more like Jesus Christ. Now in one sense this happens almost involuntarily, in one sense. Because we are loving Him and worshiping Him. We will become like Him sometimes almost involuntarily without even realizing that it's happening. One of the ladies in the church, who shall remain nameless because we love her, gave my wife a gift as many years ago. It's a little pillow. And it says, mirror, mirror on the wall, I have become my mother after all. You know, ladies, look at your mom, because that's where you're headed. It's true. In some ways, it's just, why? Because you're her child, and are you God's child? then the more you worship Him as a believer, the more you offer Him true worship, you become like Him. But in this passage, Paul is not talking about that sort of involuntary, we become more and more like Christ as we worship Him in spirit and truth, although that's true. But what he's talking about in this passage, it's a command, imitate Christ, imitate God, intentionally. We don't wanna just sit back and say, well, you know, God will fix me up and change me. No, no, he will and he is, but he expects us, he demands of us during this process of sanctification that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. We have responsibilities. Otherwise, why are all these things in the Bible telling us what to do? As Christians, we can do them because we're born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. And as Christians, we must do them because we're commanded. We are to be intentional, listen to me, we are to be intentional about imitating God so that we will make progress in becoming like Him. You know, I mentioned, you know, ladies and their moms, you know, I mean, every time I look at myself in the mirror, I say, that's my dad. Yeah? And I mean, there's, you know, a few years difference in our ages. Although most of you probably couldn't tell the difference because I look like this. But the fact is we're becoming like our father, but we are supposed to be intentional about becoming like our heavenly father. We need to do that. We want to do that. In a general way, we are to become like Jesus by loving Him as He loved us. As we imitate that love, as we work out that love, as we obey the command not only to love God, but in part of loving God is loving our neighbor, including even our enemies. Even as Christ gave Himself for those He loved when we were, what? His enemies. Those who were pledged against Him. And how did He demonstrate this love? I mean, again, it shows that it's not just something that just kind of happens willy-nilly on its own. Jesus was intentional about this. He loved us and He gave Himself for us, not merely by leaving heaven. Not merely by leaving heaven to come to this sin-stained world to rescue us. That He did. And for heaven's sake, why are we ever thankful? But He did it all the way to the cross. He emptied himself of the prerogatives of his deity, never becoming any less than God, but he took the form of a man, coming in the likeness of man, taking the form of a servant. He subjected himself all the way to the cross, became obedient even to death, even the death of a cross. That's why Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 through 8, let this mind, he's speaking to us Christians, let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus. In other words, think like Jesus. Adopt his mindset. He showed us, he did it, his word teaches it. Now we are to be intentional about trying to make progress in that love. See, and this again, what's the question? What has love to do with being imitators of God? We become like God the more we love. And as I've said and others have said, I'm sure we are never more like God than when we are forgiving. Because that's what He's done for us. Let this mind be in you, Paul says in Philippians 2, which was also in Christ Jesus. But he doesn't stop there. He describes that mind of Jesus in Philippians 2, verse 6, who, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who, in other words, Jesus, who being in the form of God, he was of all glory in heaven for eternity past, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. It wasn't something that he had to steal to have. It was his, by nature of who he is, And being very God of very God, what did he do? He made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself. That's what the word means. Taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. He didn't just stop there. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even what? The death of a cross. He went all the way. He went all out. And even as Christ and His sacrifice was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father, as we become like Him, listen to me, saints, as we become like Him, as we become loving, as we become more forgiving, as we become more like Christ, our lives are increasingly a sweet-smelling aroma to God. Isn't that why the Apostle Paul tells us that we're to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice? not offer our bodies as a dying sacrifice as Jesus did for us, then of course he took his life up again. But he says now that we're born again, we're to offer ourselves, our bodies, our lives, our very being as a living sacrifice that is a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father. Beyond becoming like Christ generally, Secondly, if you're looking at your outline, verses three and four give us a short list of what imitating God based on loving God looks like. He says in verse three, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness. I love the way he says this next phrase, let it not even be named among you. In other words, it should be so far away from what we are, it wouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence with a Christian. Let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints. You're children of God. You should never even think of these things in relationship to who you are in Christ. Verse 4, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting. It wouldn't be fitting. It's not fitting. But rather, instead of those things, I love this, and it's just, you know, the providence of God on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, what does He say? Instead of that, give thanks. Nobody could have planned this to show up on this Sunday. Except for God. In verse 3, Paul tells us three things. Three things that are to be so foreign, are you listening? They should be so foreign to the way we live that they're not even to be named among the redeemed. Wow. The first one is fornication, all sexual sin. I don't need to go into any further detail, you know exactly what we're talking about. All sexual sin, not even to be named. Uncleanness, which just means impurity, not so much physically, although I do suggest bathing, but we're talking about spiritually, all uncleanness. Remember, to the Jewish mind, especially in Jesus' day, but long before that, if a person was defiled spiritually, they were called what? Unclean. Don't be unclean. Now, of course, Jewish people in the Old Testament, it was a matter of going through washings and ceremonies and what have you, and you could become defiled in ways that we wouldn't even think of today. But spiritually, it's the same. We've been made clean by Christ. What did Jesus say to the disciples? You're all clean. You need only to have your feet washed, which we do through the Word of God. But uncleanness, it's not even to be a part of who we are as those who are unclean because we're in Christ. The third one is covetousness, greediness. And as we'll see in a moment, there's more aspects of covetousness than merely greediness. It also encompasses complaining and grumbling, a lack of contentment. God's Word says these things must not even be named among His saints, not even named among His children. Let me just ask you this, look at that list of those three things, fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness, and try to picture those words applying to Jesus. You can't! Why? You can't even put those in the same sentence with Jesus! And it's all he's saying is if we're imitating Christ, that's the goal to which we're headed. That those things wouldn't even be named among us either. Wouldn't even be thought of in the same sentence. They need to be so far out of them. Why? We need to get serious about purging these things from our lives. Why? Because we love Him. Amen? Walk in love. And if we love Him, we want to be these things because we want to be like Him. Love Him. Worship Him. Folks, don't underestimate the power of God's Spirit working in the hearts of those who truly worship Him. The more we give ourselves to worship, the more we become like who we worship, God and His Son Jesus Christ. Why should we do these things? Because we love Him, because we worship Him, and because we want to be like Him. I'm going to get ahead of myself to say this, but you know there's too many people that think becoming a Christian just means getting a ticket to heaven in your hot little hand. That's all that it's about. No, no, no. People that are born again, people who receive Christ, people who want to follow Christ, people who are believers, people who are disciples, we love Him, we worship Him, and we want to be like Him, including moving further and further away from sin and closer and closer to sanctification. That's it. Verse 4, Paul tells us three things that are simply not fitting. Not fitting for those who would be like God in Christ. The first one, filthiness. Just means, it means anything that's obscene. Filthiness, obscenity. Foolish talking. Literally it means silly talk, although sometimes silly talk is fun, especially when you're playing with children or grandchildren. You got to be a little silly with them, otherwise you're not a fun grandparent. Let me just tell you that. But silly talk, what is he talking about here? Jesus said we will give an account for every idle word. Folks, if that doesn't scare you just a wee bit, you think Jesus was kidding? You know, if we have to give an account for every idle word, what else are we going to give an account for? Let's see, everything else. Everything else. Interesting. The third one he gives is coarse jesting. I like the ESV there. It's more accurately translated. It's crude talk. Crude talk. How we as a culture have sunk into just plain crude, lewd people. When what makes a comedian famous is that he can use filthy language and everybody pays money and roars at how funny that is. Really? Is that the best we can do? And that's just one example. Crude talk. Crude talk. Again, can you imagine filthiness, obscenity, foolish talking, or, of course, jesting, crude? Can you imagine Jesus being associated with anything? No. Why? It's not fitting. It's not who He is. And because we're in Him, it's not to be who we are. We need to get serious about purging these things from our lives, saints. Why? Because we love Him. Because we worship Him. And because if we're truly His, we want to become like Him. And folks, isn't it true, our desire to want to be like Him is also seen in, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, when you sin, because you do, and so do I, when you sin, that troubles you. That troubles you, doesn't it? I hope it does. That's kind of an aspect of saying, no, I want to be more like Him, and I don't like who I am when I'm not like Him. That's what it means to be an imitator of Christ in love. The end of verse four, Paul instructs us what our lives ought rather to be characterized rather than these six things that shouldn't be named or that are not fitting. And it's very simple, giving thanks. What if Christians were distinctively thankful people? What if every place we go, everybody who knew we were a Christian knew something beyond, oh, they go to church and are no fun. Okay? What happens with it? All of the Christians I know, they're just such thankful people. They're never grumbling. They're never complaining. Even about politics. Even about those nasty astros. That's for all you Dodger fans. What would happen if, instead of being greedy, we were thankful? What would happen if as Christians, we were known, not just in our own lives, but so intentional that when people looked at our lives, they would say, that person's not greedy, that person's thankful. That person's not covetous, that person is thankful. That person isn't grumbling, that person is thankful. Saints of God, do you have anything to be thankful for? Listen, I don't care whether your life is at the pinnacle and things just couldn't be going better or the entire world is pushing you down. If you're a Christian, listen to me, your sins are forgiven. You have reason to be thankful. You have reason to be thankful because your sins are forgiven. We never read of Jesus complaining. We never read of Jesus being cast down by circumstances. Not even when Judas betrayed Him. Not even that same night when all the disciples forsook Him. Not even that night a little while longer when Peter denied Him, not once, not twice, but three times, with swearing. You know, he didn't grumble, he didn't get cast down in those things. And which of us have ever endured that? And yet, look at the things we grumble about. Maybe not you, but I sometimes I listen to myself, I say, what in the world is there? So what if I drop stuff all the time? And I do. I didn't used to be this way. And every time I drop something, it falls and breaks three other things. You know, you drop the toast, butter side down, the jelly's on the floor. It just always happens that way. Listen, we grumble, I can't believe this. Really? You can't believe this? You're a fallen person living in a fallen world and you can't believe everything isn't perfect as though you're God in heaven? And yet Jesus knows to be God in heaven, and He came down here, and He endured everything, including just as example, those three things, being denied by Judas, forsaken by the disciples, and denied by Peter. And He didn't complain. He didn't grumble. I say these two verses are a short list of what imitating God based on loving God looks like. I say a short list because if we considered everything, listen to me, if we considered everything there is about Jesus that we should be like, it would be a very long list. This is what we say in scripture where there's a list given. And some people make a mistake when they see lists and they think, oh, that's an all-inclusive, exhaustive list. No, it's an illustrative list. It's like we would put at the end of this, et cetera. We would say it's these things as references to others. But this short list does give us an idea, doesn't it? Does it not? It does give us an idea. And it is more than enough, at least for me to work on. I don't need a longer list. I need to work on the short list. You know, when you say, I'm going to change everything about my life on Monday. A, you're not going to. And B, you can't. Sometimes it helps to take it a step at a time. Like for instance, if you're gonna start a diet tomorrow, don't put a cherry on top of your ice cream. Baby steps. Kidding. Kidding. We need to recognize that we got plenty to work on, even if we were to just take these six things. But these six things are a list. It's an illustrative, not an exhaustive list. And again, why be like Jesus in these ways? Because we love Him. Walk in love. And this is what it means to walk in love. Deal with these things. And why do we love Him? Because He first loved us. And don't forget that loving God requires us not only to love our neighbors, and our family, and our friends who like us, and we like them. It also requires we love even our enemies. Why? Because that's what Jesus did when He loved us. even when we were His enemies. He loved His own, even to the end. Hallelujah. Roman numeral 3, thinking about verse 5, here's an even shorter list. This is for the people who say, that list was too long. There's a shorter list of what those who do not walk in love as imitators of God look like, and a sober warning of the consequences of not walking in love as imitators of Christ. Let me read verse 5 for you again. For this you know, no fornicator, no unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has, listen to this, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let me tell you what that means. It means that no fornicator, it means that no unclean person, it means that no covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. It means exactly what it says. It's easy to look at these kind of verses and sort of read them through rose-colored gospel glasses and say, well, you know, that only applies to lost people. Well, ultimately that's true, but think of how many people who are not lost, excuse me, who are not saved, who are lost, but they think they're saved. Their lives are characterized by these things, and yet they live in a deception that somehow they're okay with God. Paul begins by saying, for this you know. For this, you know. It can mean either this, this is self-evident, or it can mean, make sure you know this. I'm going with both. I think both of those are okay. Again, giving an illustrative list rather than an exhaustive list. Paul mentions not, now I want you to notice this here, in this verse 5. He doesn't notice, he doesn't list behaviors or actions He lists persons, are you listening carefully? He lists persons who are defined by these actions and behaviors. This is an all-important distinction. An all-important distinction. He mentions kinds of persons who have no inheritance of God. In other words, who are not saved, they will not be in heaven. He doesn't speak about the actions of fornication, the actions of uncleanness, the actions of covetousness, or idolatry. He did that early. Now he's talking of people who are identified by these sins. Do you see the significance? Do you see the difference? Well, maybe this will help. Christians, people saved by the blood of Jesus, are capable of committing all sorts of sins. That's not good news, but it's reality. We're still capable, Christians are capable of committing any and every sin, it seems like, other than obviously the unpardonable sin of blasphemy in the Spirit. But we're still capable of committing sins. Paul is not talking about Christians who struggle with sin. He's talking about people whose lives are so given over to sin that they are identified by their sin. And I would also go so far as to say, be careful, Christian, do not identify yourself by your sin. Identify yourself by your Savior. You got a problem with alcohol? If you're born again, Christian, you are not an alcoholic. If you're a born-again Christian, truly walking with the Lord, you are a saint who struggles with alcohol. That's totally different than saying, well, I am this. Do not identify or define yourself by sins that Jesus Christ died to set you free from, even though you're still struggling with them. Very important distinction. Well then, who is Paul talking about? He's talking about people whose lives are so given over to these things that they're identified by these sins. Christians who struggle with sin are still headed for heaven. Aren't you glad? Because if the only entrance to heaven is by somehow reaching some perfect sanctification, heaven will be a very lonely place. None of us will be there for sure. people whose lives are characterized by certain sins, that they are known by those sins, they are identified by those sins. Those people are in trouble, listen to me, whether they profess faith in Christ or not. Are you known at work as the person who always has the best dirty jokes, Christian? Are you known at work by being the one who loves and engages in crude talk, Christian? I'm just picking on those because those are easy. We need to say, If they're putting a capture under my life, what is it? Is it any of these things? Now, I'm not saying this to minimize sin, but Scripture warns us that if our lives are characterized by sins, if we are known for our sins, if we are identified by our sins, we need to take this warning very seriously. What sins does Paul put on the list? And remember, Remember, these are not the only ones that qualify. This is an illustrative list. Fornicators. He's not talking about fornication, the act of fornication, or being involved with sexual immorality. He's talking about people whose lives are held captive by sexual sin. Is your life held captive by sexual sin? Be careful. Be scared. What happens if it's sexual sin that nobody knows about but God? Who else needs to know? God's knowledge is, I think, sufficient to make the determination. The second one is unclean persons, which can be further referenced to sexual immorality or can simply refer to crude people with foul mouths and worldly or immoral lifestyles. Unclean. Third one, he says, covetous people. Not limited to people who merely want what they do not have, but also people who are ungrateful complainers about what they do have. Again, what would happen if Christians were just known in society as being thankful people who never complain? Even about politics. This can be this business of being covetous The opposite of covetous is not having everything you want. The opposite of covetous is being content with whatever you have. Knowing that your father is giving you everything you need. Assuming you're doing your part to work hard. If you're sitting at home doing nothing and you have nothing, then guess what? You got nothing. But if you're doing the best you can, if you're pushing ahead with life, and God has assigned you a place that is a little bit lower on the socioeconomic scale, don't worry about it. God knows exactly where you should be and what you should be doing. Then he gives a fourth one, idolaters. Now we, I'm not going to go into detail on this, I know this won't help too many of you, but we went into a great deal of detail in a recent study of the Ten Commandments on a Thursday night. Idolatry, my friends, is putting anything ahead of or even alongside of God as a rival object of affection. Would it help if I say that again? Okay, I will. Idolatry is putting anything ahead of or even alongside God as a rival object of our affections. If you strap that definition on, we're all a whole lot more idolatrous than we realize. Because every time we sin, you know what we're saying? I love this sin more than I love God's Son. The sad reality, as I said, Oh, and by the way, those things that we may be obsessing, they may be unlawful things, which is clearly sin, but they may be lawful things we're just overly obsessed with. And that's just as dangerous. You can make an idol something that is a gift of God when the gift eclipses the giver. The sad reality is that we all commit idolatry, but if it is what characterizes our lives, and by the way, if you want to find out what characterizes your lives in these things, carry a tape recorder with you for 24 hours and play it back and listen to what you talked about. I know nobody's going to do that, but you got the idea. Because what comes out of our mouths is what? It's a picture of what's inside of our hearts. Jesus said so. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If this is what characterizes our lives, we need to examine ourselves to see whether we're in the faith. Again, while believers struggle with these and other sins, we must be aware of our lives are characterized by any sin. Are we saints, listen to me carefully, are we saints who struggle with sin and long to be shed of it, or are we sinners who have some fleeting times of religious affection or interest? You see the difference? See the difference? Those who walk living their lives, characterized by loving God, longing not only to be with Him in heaven one day, but to be like Him here and now, are not mentioned in verse 5. Those people, that's not who he's talking about. Well, the last point, which is in verse 6 and 7, this is a scary part here. This is what really brings this thing home. These two verses issue a warning, warning us not to be deceived in these matters, lest we incur the wrath of God as a result. Again, look at verse 6 and 7, let no one deceive you with empty words. You might say, which words is he talking about? Put it back in context, I think it makes it pretty evident. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore he says in verse 7 do not be partakers with them the warnings in verse 5 and then in verse 6 and 7 Are important because there are so many people my friends. This is one of the tragedies of the visible Church of Christ There are so many people who think they are Christians because they were born into a Christian home Born into a Christian nation They have Christian family I love those odd times when you mention something about the Lord. Oh yeah, my grandmother teaches Sunday school. Well, good for her. What about you? Nobody gets in on the sheer tales of relatives. So many people think they're Christians because they responded to an invitation to quote-unquote accept Christ, whatever that means. But, in spite of these things, in spite of thinking they're a Christian because they're born in a Christian home, born in a Christian nation, have Christian family, they went forward maybe every single week at a crusade, I mean, whatever. But if you have no heart for God, if you have no desire for God, if you have no interest in God, you are deceived. And I believe that's the deception that he's talking about in this passage. It's the deception of saying, oh, performance doesn't matter in the life of a Christian. Not for salvation. Jesus took care of that. But if you're born again, it's more than having someone slap a ticket to heaven in your hand. Born again means I'm born with new heart, new affections, new desires. which are going to begin taking me on a trajectory towards Christ. So many people are given a false assurance. There may be false insurance, too, but that's not what we're talking about. That false assurance sometimes sounds like this, well, because you prayed the prayer, you're going to heaven. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Listen, false evangelism, based on what many have called easy-believism, is a deception communicated with, as it says here in the text, empty words. Empty words. This deception deceives who knows how many. Paul says it, and I'm saying it, don't be deceived. Don't be deceived by this kind of thinking. Remember Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 16.22, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. That verse should scare a lot of people who call themselves Christians, because they say, yeah, I believe in Jesus. Do you love him? Well, not so much. Paul says anathema. That's damnation. And here, Paul's talking about the wrath of God is going to be delivered on those who may be listening to a deception about their own standing with God. And again, I want you to understand, I don't bring these things up to be anyone's judge, but it's in the text, and I want to warn the deceived not to live in a false hope of heaven if you have no heart or love for the Lord of heaven. If you do not love Him and desire to be like Him in the here and now, what makes you think you'd even like heaven? Because it's all about Him. Heaven isn't about, I'm going to get to eat all the food I want and not get fat. Heaven is not simply, although this is in part true, heaven is not merely being reunited and getting to see loved ones who are Christian, who have died before us. That is true, but what makes heaven heaven is not the streets of gold, What makes heaven heaven is that God is there, and sin is not. Why do you want to go there if you love sin more than God's Son? Now, as I said, every time we sin, in that moment, we are saying, I love my sin more than God's Son. But if that's what characterizes our lives, saints, well, maybe self-deceived saints, don't be fooled. You can go to church every single week, the chairs are here every week and they're not saved. Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? Does your sin trouble you? Note Paul's words in verse 6, because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of men. Because of what things? Because of some deception. But I would say this, people have a hard time with the concept of the wrath of God. Even a lot of Christians, but for sure a lot of non-Christians. After all, so the conventional wisdom goes, isn't He just a great big mush ball of love? Doesn't He just forgive everybody of everything? Answer to both questions? No, He doesn't. God is love, but He's also holy. So holy that anyone less than holy is a candidate for His wrath. God is love, but he's also righteous. That means he's just. Think of how much we hate injustice. You know, you read the news and it's just rife with injustice. This person getting away with things, this person not. It goes all back and forth, and we even stoop to the level where we think guilty people shouldn't be found guilty because someone else who did it wasn't. I mean, do you see what I'm saying? We hate injustice. We hate injustice. I got news for you. As much as an unjust judge in our courts makes us angry, God is a perfectly just judge, incapable of injustice, incapable of anything less than perfect righteousness. As a just judge, God cannot, not just will not, but He cannot look the other way regarding sin. Justice must be served. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that Jesus willingly took our wrath for us. He took the wrath we deserved so that those who were in Him will never taste it. Why? Because He drained the entire cup. He took all of the wrath that was due us. He took all of it. There's not one drop left. God could no more send a Christian to hell than He could send His only begotten Son to hell. Can't happen. It can't happen. Jesus Christ willingly took the wrath His people deserve for their sins and then He gives His people the reward of righteousness that He alone deserves. That's the gospel. The question is, are you one of His people? No one becomes one of His people by turning from sin. Those who are His people are the ones He grants not only the desire to escape hell and enter heaven, but the desire for Him. A love for Him. A desire to worship Him. A longing to be like Him. If you have that desire, cry out to Him daily. Cry out to God. Cry out to Christ. Trust in Christ. Love Christ. Worship Christ. Be an imitator of Him walking in love. Why? Because He first loved you. There are deceivers who peddle a false gospel. There's a couple extremes of false gospel. Some peddle a false gospel of works. saying, you've got to do this, this, and this, and then you've earned your way to heaven, and if that was true, then those who get there could boast and say, hey, here I am. I did it. And yet, the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, tells us that's not true. Others, the ones who are in view in this passage, these deceivers, others peddle a false gospel of cheap grace, a gospel of easy believism. Just say you believe in Jesus. That's good enough. Just say you believe in Jesus. Pray the Spirit. Okay, you're in. These encourage people to give a nod to God, however insincere it might be. Give a nod to a God who makes no demands of His children. These say, believe in Jesus and you can live like hell until you die and go to heaven because you've been forgiven. These are lies. These are lies. Nobody's saved. Nobody's going to heaven because they're good. We're going because God is good. But if we're saved and we're going to heaven, we long to be good. We long to be like Him. Because we love Him. Because He first loved us. Verse 7 flatly tells us, it's just, do not be partakers with them. It doesn't say do not be partakers of them, referring to sins. In this last part, he says, do not be partakers with them, meaning those who peddle these lies. Father in heaven, thank you for the truth of your word and for those who have told us the truth, beginning with your apostles all the way up to This day, as your servants faithfully preach your word, Father, grant us wisdom and discernment not to follow deceivers. And Father, we not only thank you, those of us who are in Christ, we thank you for regenerating us. giving us faith to believe, giving us the gift of repentance. But we pray, Father, in desperation for the many, including family and friends, those we love, who embrace false gospels and follow deceivers. Father, deliver them, even as you have graciously delivered us into the truth of your glorious gospel of grace, in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.