Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. This is the Lamp and Light broadcast coming to you from Central Baptist Church in beautiful Ocala, Florida. Lamp and Light is a ministry that takes a book of the Bible, verse by verse, teaching it as it is to men as they are, without compromise or apologies, while at the same time speaking the truth in love, giving the lamp and light you all. Yesterday in our study on Ephesians, we finished chapter 4. Let's listen as Dr. Bloom starts a new study in chapter 5 today. And now, here is our teacher and radio pastor, Dr. Andy Bloom. This is your radio pastor, Dr. Andy Bloom, welcoming you to another Lamp and Light broadcast. I trust you'll have your Bibles ready today. We are starting in Ephesians chapter 5 with verse 1 today. And I want you to be right there with us as we go into this great chapter of the Bible. I also hope that you ask your friends to listen to our Lamp and Light broadcast. We do not pay for advertising for our ministry. We simply trust that our listeners will tell others about us. And so we depend upon you. The Lamp and Light broadcast takes you through a book of the Bible, verse by verse, using the old King James Bible, sticking to the fundamentals of literal instead of allegorical interpretation of scripture, speaking the truth in love. Ephesians 4.15 is where we take that from and that is our program's motto. It is my intention to teach the Word of God as it is to men as they are without compromise or apology. We started this ministry in April of 2000 and God has been blessing it abundantly. And we thank you for those of you who pray for us. And that's our request of you is that you pray for the lamp and light ministry on a daily basis. And thank God for the radio station who will be airing this broadcast. There are many stations that they will only have music. Then there are stations that have about half preaching and half music. And then there are those that are all talk radio or speaking, preaching, and things of that matter. And of course, my first desire is to get the Word of God out. And wherever we can go and do that, we try to do so. We do spend quite a bit of money each month to get this across the airwaves. We don't ever ask for money on this broadcast. I've made it my practice to try to enlist businessmen to help pay for this broadcast. However, we do try to make wise use of those monies that we solicit from the businessmen in our community. And so let me say this, is that we depend upon hearing from you, the listener, to let us know if our ministry, the teaching of the Word of God, is having an effect in your community. We recently just received an email from one of our listeners who was listening to us by way of the internet, but it was nonetheless our radio broadcast. And they were thankful for the help that was not only to them individually, but to the people in their church. And that email came from around the world in the United Kingdom. So my friend, This gospel goes around the world, and there are people hungry for the word. Some of our emails say, we have never heard this before. People are not used to verse-by-verse teaching in many places. So we ask for your prayers for this ministry, and we also covet, in addition to your prayers, we covet your letters to let us know that you appreciate the ministry. Again, we have not asked for funds we do not ask for funds as a matter of fact I do not nor do those who give their time and our engineer brother Vought gives much more time to this than I do but these people are people who volunteer their time freely so we praise God for them and we ask that you take the time to pray for us and to write us now as we go to Ephesians chapter 5 I need to make some comments here. Chapter 4 ended with a list of imperative commands from verses 25 through 32. These commands show the difference between light and darkness or saved and unsaved. Chapter divisions are of men, although chapter divisions are quite helpful. Can you imagine? for an example, saying John 3.16, and instead of just being able to say that, we'd have to say, well, in the book of John. And we couldn't tell them where to go in the book of John, except to say, well, you know what, it's in an earlier part of John. No, it's so good that we do have chapter and verse divisions, but nonetheless, please understand, they are of men. So let's not make the mistake of divorcing the context of chapter 4, verses 25-32, from chapter 5. Chapter 5 contains three paragraphs, and, as a matter of fact, they will serve as our major divisions in our outline. The major points of our outline of chapter 5 are as follows. Warnings for followers of Christ, verses 1-14. walking in wisdom as followers of Christ, verses 15 through 21, and the final point of chapter 3, watching the home and local church as followers of Christ, verses 22 through 33. And so since these are three paragraphs in this one chapter, that's how we have outlined it. Now it would be good to write down the letters, if you take notes, and you should, Write down the letters P-I-M. Write those letters down by some verses with a note in your Bible to yourself that P-I-M means present imperative. You say, what does that mean? A present imperative is a command to do something, if it's positive, and to continue to do something. If it has a negative with it, it is a command to stop doing something and don't ever allow it to happen again. And in either case, whether it's positive or negative, it's imperative, which means that we'll be called into an account, since it is an imperative command of God's Word. So with that thought in mind and that backdrop, We go to our text and look at warnings for followers of Christ in verses 1 through 14. Let's look at first at imitators of Christ in verses 1 and 2. There we read, Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Savor. Now you are to be a follower of God as dear children and that is actually the very first present imperative. So this is a command to do something, to start doing something and to keep on doing it. And what are you to start doing and keep on doing? Being a follower of God as a dear child. Now as a dear child kind of looks at that little child, maybe three or four years old, and goes out with daddy for a walk down the sidewalk and going in strange territory. He's nervous. He may hear a dog barking. And that little child is right there with daddy. His hand is in daddy's hand. He's not trying to get away because it's a fearful time. It may be dark. And he's going to be a follower of daddy. Well, that's the attitude of being a follower of God as dear children. A young lady becomes engaged and begins to prepare for her wedding. She doesn't have time, nor should she have time nor desire for her old boyfriends. She's not going to go out with Bill tonight, Jack tomorrow night, and Sam the following night. She is engaged, and she has no interest in them anymore. Well, we are betrothed to Christ, and that's actually stronger than our engagement. And we are betrothed to Christ from the moment we receive Him as our Lord and Savior. The wedding feast hasn't taken place yet, but as a follower, as a betrothed one of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a list of things here that are things that a betrothed one should do in preparation for that special day of the marriage feast. How can we, who are betrothed to Christ, live as the world lives? Living as the world lives is the same as an engaged young lady cheating on her fiancé. The word translated followers has the sense of an imitator or mimicker. The greater thought is, even as God has forgiven us, we ought also to follow in this example as dear children. Now, notice again, it is an imperative, but the motive is love. The motive rests on the relationship that the believer has with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as a follower or imitator of God, you need to remember something. You need to remember first, God is holy. An objective of the Old Testament law was to show man how holy our God is. The objective of the new is also to make men like God, that is, to be holy. As 1 Peter chapter 1 tells us in verse 15 and 16, Be ye holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Now God commands us to be holy. That is impossible for us to produce holiness. So we can be certain that He is ready to minister the needed grace and strength to be holy because He knows We can't do it in and of ourselves. It's only through Christ we can do all things. God hath not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness, 1 Thessalonians 4, 7 states. He hath saved us and called us within holy calling, 2 Timothy 1, 9 tells us. Therefore, 1 Peter 1, 14 says not to fashion yourselves according to the former lusts. That word fashion means to pattern your life after or practice in any way after the former lust. When we received Christ, we were not merely brought into a relationship with him. We were also brought into a participation in his holiness. And what a blessing that is. This is your radio pastor, Pastor Andy Bloom saying, may the word of God be a lamp unto your feet. and a light into your pathway today. 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34471 We also welcome your comments on the broadcast and Bible questions. Again you may write us at the same address which is 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34471 You may also visit us on the web at www.centralbaptistocalla.org. No breaks. Click to the Lamp and Light. Again, that web address is www.centralbaptistocalla.org. This is your announcer, Jerry Banks, saying, May God's peace be with all that are in Christ Jesus.