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Good morning, everyone. We will continue our studies from the book of Ephesians. I thought I’ll do till verse 14, but it looks like I’ll stop at verse 7. Let’s look to the Lord for his grace. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning. We thank you, Lord, for your precious word. We thank you, Lord, for these, Lord, these reminders. And we pray, God, that your truth, O Lord, would sink deep into our hearts. We pray that these truths would become convictions in our hearts, which would govern our lives, which would lead our lives. Oh Father, we pray that you would give us grace to obey your word, to submit to the teaching of your word and to live in the light of your word, Father.
We commit our time now in your hands, Lord. We pray that we all would be attentive and also, Lord, give us grace to be humble, to acknowledge our shortcomings and seek your grace earnestly, Father Lord. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. We'll continue our studies on the series Christians Walk Christ's Way and the theme under this is walking as the children of light. Walking as the children of light. Let's turn our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 and we'll read verses 3 to 7. 7 Ephesians 5, verses 3-7.
“But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. And there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an 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 with them.”
Again, the big picture, the big theme is as Christians, we need to walk worthy of a calling, which began in chapter 4 verse 1. And Paul gives a series of exhortations in that context and Paul continues his exhortations in this section as well. In the previous passage, Paul focused on the differences between the old and the new life. We need to put off, lay off the old self and put on the new self. And he covered the themes of, you know, the characteristics of the old self and the characteristics of the new self. And the earlier exhortations, he focused on also the relations within the community of God’s people. And in the present paragraph that begins from verse 3 and goes on till verse 22, he focuses
on church interactions with the world, right? Especially from verses three till 14. In the previous passage, he focused on our interactions with one another. In this passage, he focuses on the church’s interaction with the world. And he presents this theme through the imagery of light and darkness, where from verses 8 till 14 it’s a continuation, which we will study in the following Sunday, right? And yeah, the theme for these two Sundays is walking as the children of light. And this is the basic outline that I’ve put here, that we need to abstain from the deeds of darkness, that which put away immorality, greed and filthy talk. And he also gives the reasons to avoid the deeds of darkness, and then he speaks on how we can live as children of light, right? So today we’ll focus on the first point, abstain
from the deeds of darkness. Ephesians, you know, as I mentioned, Ephesus was the center of worship, you know, for the pagan goddess Artemis. And she’s also called as Diana, and was known for, and Ephesus is known for occult or magic practices. The temple dedicated to Artemis was considered one of the seven wonders of that ancient times. And the Greco-Roman world, as I mentioned in one of the studies, that was a sexually promiscuous society. And its religion was immoral. It had ritual worship, sacred worship. They had temple prostitution, both male and female. And union with them was considered as sacred.
And you see here that Paul vehemently wants Christians to shun any conduct or demeanor that goes against the principles of being part of God’s people. And Paul is not giving us here an exhaustive list of do’s and don’ts, you know, but he deals with some deep-rooted issues that characterize, you know, any people of any time, any people group of any time, all time, right? So Paul uses one verb here in verse three, one verb here in verse three, and that is must not even be named among you. This is the verb. This is the action item. This is the imperative.
This is what we are called to do. Now, whatever Paul mentioned in this context, Paul says those things must not even be named among you. What are those things? Paul mentions six forbidden things in this list. And the six vices are immorality, impurity, greed, filthiness, silly talk and coarse jesting. And all these vices, you know, have sexual overtones here in this context. And the verb here, you know, that must not even be named among you, is kind of juxtaposed between these three, between the three, you know, vices before the verb and three vices after the verb, right? And this section begins with a contrast, but, right, but immorality, it starts with a contrast to the positive command of imitating God in verse one and walking in love. And Paul gives as an imperative that these vices that follow the positive command to
imitate God should not even be mentioned among God’s people. And the list, and he lists three vices first, and the first word is sexual immorality. Now this comes from called porneia, from which we get our English word porn, right? But the very, the word is very flexible word. In the original context it gives us a wide range of implications: adultery, that is sex out of marriage, outside of marriage, prostitution, fornication, that is sex without marriage, incest, homosexuality, etc.
Broadly, in the Christian context, sexual immorality is any sexual act outside the institution of marriage. It is also the sins that we commit in our mind. If you remember the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, looking at others with a lustful intention or even visualizing someone sexually in our minds is also immorality. Right. And as I mentioned earlier, Roman society was a sex infested society. There were these sexual murals. Murals are the paintings, you know, were prominent in the Roman homes. And in a few excavations of Roman homes, archaeologists found murals or paintings depicting pornographic scenes.
And sex was a severe problem for Christians in the first century. And the problem was not restricted to those early times. And we know that. We are aware that it is also a big problem today. It is very much there today. And we hear of failed marriages because of illicit relationships. Pastors were fired because of illegal relationships and there is immorality everywhere, right? And we live in a sex-saturated, sin-saturated world. There is no safe place on earth. Think of pornography or even soft porn. How many Christians are addicted to soft porn?
How many Christians give themselves to watch these reels simply? And you’ll be surprised that it is filled with soft porn. And these are easily accessible to all people. It’s there in the hands of people. And we can get exposed to these images so easily.
Smartphones, right, are even in the hands of young children today. And it is even more heartbreaking to see young kids scrolling over these reels. I’ve seen young kids scrolling the reels. And that was really heartbreaking. And you are making them, and it’s a warning to all kids, or not kids, parents, worrying that you are making them to be used to these gadgets and you do not know how difficult it will be for your kids to overcome that addiction as they grow.
It’s all to the parents who are giving smartphones to your kids. We did that with Naomi, me, and it was a difficult task for us to break that, and finally she is free. She is hiding her face. But you know, this is, you know, this is a dangerous thing, brothers and sisters. You’re thinking that they’ll be distracted, brothers and sisters, that you’re sending them into to all together a different world.
And it will be a difficult task for you and for them also to overcome that. And some parents, I spoke to one father that about the use of gadgets, and I was talking to him. And he said that my children are very innocent. Isn’t.
Brother, may I tell you that there is sin in them. Their heart is easily attracted to sin. One wrong image is enough. You do not say that my child is not like that. No, no, he said that my child is not like that.
Do not forget, my friend, that your child is born in the same lineage of Adam. What makes them different? Your child is from Adam. He has the same, you or she has the same sinful nature as we do. You know, despite the porn ban in India, India is the third largest porn watch up and 30% female users after pandemic.
India today says that post pandemic India reports a 95% rise in viewing porn. And the Christian group, this is the American statistics. So imagine put together the entire world. You know, the Barna group provides some data. 41% of Christian males age between 30 to 24 watch porn. 23% of Christians 25 years and older watch porn. Christian females ages 13 to 24 watch porn. 13% watch porn. And 5% of Christian females from age 25 and up watch porn. One in five youth pastors use porn monthly, and one in seven senior pastors use porn monthly.
This is data that they have gathered, but it could be more. Brothers and sisters, sexual sin is an epidemic in the church and the world today. We are living in a culture which is increasingly cheering sexual promiscuity. Scripture condemns sexual immorality in any form. Wrong. The world tries to redefine sin.
You know they say that the content that you’re about to watch is for the mature audience. What’s the difference? You mean that can adults girls watch that stuff, that filth. Do not be deceived by the propaganda of this world. Sexual immorality in any form is a sin.
It dishonors God. And Paul says it should not be even named among us. Forget about this question. Can I watch this movie? I’m not saying all movies are bad, but you know, what’s there in most of the movies today? Should we tolerate that?
Paul elsewhere teaches us that we should flee from all sexual immorality. The second word is impurity. The original word means any substance that is filthy or dirty. This word was also used for sexual sins in Galatians chapter 5 and 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. and the in the uh in this context it talks about no a sexual sin it says in the sexual context this word was used for sexually deviant behavior as we see in first thessalonians chapter 4 verse 7. if we are given no to any form of impurity then we are rejecting god who has given us the Holy Spirit.
And we must be careful about these sins because these are powerful and destructive sins that defile our minds. No, Bryan Chapell says, “these lusts are like a flame on a gas stove that grows more intense the more it is fed fuel.” And the third word is greed.
It generally refers to acquiring and holding wealth, a strong desire to acquire and keep for themselves more and more money and possessions because they love, trust and obey, you know, love, trust and trust the wealth more than God. Right? And this word can be translated as covetousness as well. It refers to the desire of that which rightly belongs to others. It is a desire.
Someone else’s property. And the word can also have a sexual overtone. It is in the Ten Commandments when covetousness is mentioned, God commands His people not to covet their neighbor’s wife. In any context, greed is an unquenchable desire to have more. How would think your neighbor’s wife?
Men, women, do you look at other women, other men and think that I wish I had a woman like that. I wish I had a man like that. That’s grieving the Holy Spirit. That’s sinning against God. Coveting others’ property or others’ wife or spouses.
Sexual immorality and impurity are about both deeds and thoughts. Whereas greed speaks of desire. It desires something that is not yours. It is a desire to have more than one’s due. We must realize that when sinful, lustful habits are formed, they are difficult to overcome.
The problem with this kind of sin is we are created as sexual beings, right? And we will have such desires. And we must understand that those desires should only be fulfilled in the bond of marriage, not outside of marriage. So we must not fuel this improper lust. And if you’re not married, then there is a, there is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and it gives us the fruit of the Holy Spirit, that is, what, self-control. Whether you’re, whether you have a satisfied sex life in your marriage, do not look for sex outside of marriage. Because it is sin to even think about it.
And if you struggle, run to God, not to your computer or your smartphone or something outside of your marriage. Do not entertain any immoral thought. Run to God, run to the Holy Spirit, seek His grace, seek His power and His self-control is powerful.
We must earnestly long for the self-control because in Christ, brothers and sisters, this fruit is ours. This is ours in Christ Jesus. The easy way is to go to sin. The easy way is to have these fantasies in our mind. An easy way to satisfy our desires. But there’s God’s way. It’s powerful way. It’s a holy way as a self-control. You will experience that only when you run to Him, when you depend on it, on Him.
This fruit is ours. Instead of trying to fulfill your sexual desires sinfully, we need to exercise self-control. And following this list, Paul commands that these vices practices must not even be named among you. Which means believers have absolutely nothing to do with such practices.
What is immoral is not even to be mentioned among us. It means that a God glorifying a sin-hating culture should prevail within the people of God. Such culture should prevail in churches, in Christian homes. That culture is utterly different from the rest of this world.
And such behavior, that godly culture, God-glorifying culture, sin-hating culture is proper among the saints. And Paul addressed the Christians here as saints. In Ephesians chapter 1, verse 1, he wrote this epistle to the saints who are at Ephesus. And the word for saints is nothing but holy, God’s holy people who are set apart for him and his purposes.
And they are chosen from the world to be holy and blameless before him. As God’s people, we are called to live in a particular manner that is in a holy manner, in a manner that is pleasing in the sight of God. Our behavior must be consistent with our identity as God’s people. We must walk worthy of our calling. And according to the language of Peter, he says in 1 Peter 1 verses 14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.”
These desires were part of our lives when we are ignorant, that means when we didn’t know the gospel. But now as we have come to know Christ, as we are set apart for him. This should not be even be mentioned among you.
But he says, “But as the one who called you is holy, you also ought to be holy in all your conduct. For it is written, ‘Be holy because I am holy.’” The reason for us to be holy is because he is holy. The one who called us is holy. So we need to be holy. So these things, whatever that were part of our former life, should not be even mentioned in our lives. Movies.
Which means we should not ask this question, can I watch this thing? Is it okay to watch porn? Is it wrong to watch this thing? There is this content in this movie, can I watch this movie? No, those things should not be even mentioned among us. What is more important, watching that movie is important or your holiness? Do you think that you won’t be affected by watching a kissing scene? Brother, you do not know your heart. You do not know your mind.
How pollution enters, how you're fueling your desires. We need to be careful. We need to guard what God has given us. We need to grow in that holiness. Our holiness is a serious business do not play with it do not play with sin do not allow filth into our lives in verse 4 Paul continues to warn against sins he now focuses on sins of speech he says there must know there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting. As I mentioned earlier, these speech sins may also have sexual overtones. The term for filthiness is something, you know, it does not necessarily refer to speech, but the context here is concerned with speech.
So it can mean filthy, obscene or indecent speech. This means there should not be any talk or discussions on filthiness, indecent sexual conversations. New Testament commentator Frank Thielman says “verbal descriptions of it were often present at the banquets of the wealthy in ancient Greco-Roman society.”
What verbal descriptions? Sexual conversations. Do you have friends, a group of friends where you had such conversations in your college days? Now you’re working, how about your colleagues? Kids, be careful what kind of conversations that you’ll have with your friends at school, in colleges.
There'll be all these kinds of conversations. These kinds of speeches are frequent among our office colleagues, college and school cool friends. Be careful what kind of friends you have, what kind of conversations you are into and what kind of movies you watch. Avoid all sexual or obscene things.
The second term is silly talk or foolish talk. The original word is Morologia. If you divide the word, it is Moro and Logia. Moro is a basis for the word Moron, right? And the Moron means stupid or someone lacking judgment and is simply chatter, nonsensical chatter, idiotic talk, right?
Did we ever involve, indulge in nonsensical talk? That's not edifying. Fine. So be away, avoid all nonsensical talk. And the next word is coarse jesting. Or crude joking in other translations, the word is eutrapelia. And the Greek, this is described as the clever wit that was consistently recognized as an admirable talent and that endeared others, right? And when people with eutrapelia are present in our gatherings, right, you know, there will be fun and the gathering will be very lively, and this is a positive side, it side of it, but Paul used it in a negative sense. No, but this eutrapelia abused, and the negative side of it is that these are the people who have clever wit and aim at making fun of others. This is making buffoonery of others. Thielman says this humor is employed in malicious or sexually
vulgar ways. Also in the ancient times, such wit as degrading humor that has a double meaning, you know, double meaning jokes. Such humor can pinpoint an opponent's weakness and effectively mark it, resulting in laughter, or turn an innocent phrase into a sexual allusion.
The words can pack a punch and leave a lasting impact on those who hear them. Avoid all such conversations. This can be prevalent. This is prevalent also among Christians. And Paul says this should not even be named among us. We should have edifying conversations.
There is room for clever wit, but without making fun at others. All three terms refer to a dirty mind expressing itself in vulgar conversations. This kind of language must we must be avoided as it is utterly inappropriate among those whom God has set apart for himself, for his own glory. Remember what James said in James 1:26: “If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself.”
The mark of a godly person is that we control our tongue. There's a mark that we are growing in our sanctification. A loose tongue means we are not growing in our sanctification. Lord Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, “I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they
speak.” Therefore we must avoid all such ungodly speech and our speech reveals the condition of our hearts. The Lord says in the same context in Matthew 12 verse 34 that “brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”
Matthew 15:18, “But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person.” And Paul says which are not fitting but rather giving thanks. We must avoid all filthy conversations, ungodly conversations, unedifying conversations, but he says, rather give yourself to giving thanks.
This kind of talk is unfitting for people who are redeemed by the blood of Christ and are set apart for God's purposes. Remember what Paul mentioned earlier in chapter 2. God is now building us into a holy temple. In chapter 2 verse 22, he said that he is building it into a dwelling place of God where God himself dwells.
Therefore Paul encourages thanksgiving instead. You may ask, how is thanksgiving a corrective speech? It sounds like a misfit here in this context, but I think Paul may be suggesting that the vulgar and filthy speech indicates a self-indulgent attitude. On the other hand, thanksgiving is the exact opposite of such speech because it signifies our gratitude for God’s mercies towards us.
God in his mercies, he has saved us from sinful state and has redeemed us for himself, and we must be thankful and not indulge in acts that would grieve the Holy Spirit of God and bring defilement into our bodies, because our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Avoiding sin is an expression of thankfulness to our merciful God. Avoiding sin is an expression of our thankfulness, our gratefulness to God. So as an act of thankfulness, as an act of gratitude, we must avoid sin, all kinds of sin, in mind, in speech, in thoughts, in actions. Next, in verses 5 to 7, Paul gives us the reasons to avoid this sinful acts, thoughts and deeds.
Verse 5, “For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Paul says that all Christians should know with certainty. We must know these things. It’s an imperative here. It’s a command that we should know.
Ignorance is for the former life according to Peter. We must know. Ignorance is now not accounted for here. As a believer, you must know how you must live in this world. You must know what you should love and what you should not love.
What is the subject of the matter that we ought to know with certainty? That no immoral person, impure person or a covetous person who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Know this for sure. I do not know what you believe. You may say that “I believe in Christ Jesus. I prayed a prayer.” But if you, if your life is persistently immoral, impure, if your heart is greedy, may I tell you that you have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. It doesn’t mean that we don’t struggle with sin. It doesn’t mean that we have, we get impure thoughts, we don’t struggle with
those feelings. The point is that a lifestyle, if that is your lifestyle, and the word of God says, not beyond, the word of God says that you do not have inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, no matter what your theology is. We need to ask a question here for clarity. Do Christians fall into these sins? Of course, we will fall, we will fail, we all will struggle with these things, but true believers will not have these desires as a settled disposition.
We’ll fight, we fall, we rise, we fight, we seek his grace, we seek his mercies, we cry out to him, we confess, we forgive. True Christians will not persist in an unrepentant, sexually immoral, licentious, impure, and covetous lifestyle. Why? Because such a settled lifestyle of sin shows to whom we are devoted.
If you are devoted to immorality, impurity, that means your God is sex. Here covetousness is an unquenchable desire for more. It could be material possessions for money, property, whatever, or even for sexual lust. Such an insatiable obsession, Paul says, is idolatry, because it puts self-gratification at the center of one’s existence.
And if you pursue lust for persons or things, we profess that God’s supply is insufficient and deny his lordship over that. Whether you are married or not married, God supplies us with His grace. Marriage is a beautiful institution where this gift can be enjoyed.
Do not seek for these things out of marriage, outside of marriage, because it grieves God. If you are yet to get married, live with self-control. Live with self-control. So do Christians fall into these sins? Yes, but that is not a lifestyle for them. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
“Such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God.” Know what Paul says here? You were like that. Some of you were like that. But now what? You are washed, you are justified, and you are being sanctified.
and we must observe a notable difference between the two passages here first corinthians chapter 6 verse 9 and ephesians chapter 5 verse 5 first corinthians uses the future tense will not inherit the kingdom of god whereas the our passage Ephesians 5 uses the present tense has inheritance has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God whereas Ephesians also affirms the future element of inheritance in chapter 1 but we will inherit but here in chapter 5 he says that he has no inheritance.
Now, if and here the focus is on the inheritance that in some sense presently exists. And from which the sexually immoral and greedy persons are excluded. In some sense, believers are, are, have inherited the kingdom of Christ. See, this emphasis on the present inheritance is evident in the expression, “in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Now, this is a very unique expression in the New Testament because if you read, the New Testament writers speak generally of the kingdom of God. But the authors wrote of the kingdom of Christ only in a few places.
Here, Paul mentioned the kingdom which is of Christ and of God. These are not two separate kingdoms, but they are one kingdom, the same kingdom. Peter T. O’Brien gives some clarity here. He says, “There is a tendency in Paul’s letters to distinguish two phases of heavenly kingdom, reserving the expression, the kingdom of God, for its future and eternal aspect.
While the kingdom of Christ denotes the present phase of God’s rule.” Later you can refer this verses if you want. You’ll get the clarity. which is destined to merge with the future. So in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 24, Christ, after reigning until all things are put under his feet, delivers up the kingdom of God to the Father.
Right? So we are delivered from the kingdom of darkness and are translated into where? into the kingdom of his son. There's a double formulation of the kingdom of Christ and God signifies a divine kingdom in both its present and the future aspects from which those who have given themselves over to immorality, impurity and greed are excluded.
But the mention of Christ here emphasizes the reign of Christ. Paul has already said that after God raised Christ from the dead, he seated him at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavenly places. Here the right hand is an allusion to what is said in Psalm 110 verse 1, “The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” In the Psalm the Messiah is promised victory over his enemies. If you look at Ephesians chapter 1 verse 22, all things are already under Christ’s subjection.
He is victorious. So this means that at present, because of Christ’s finished work, and his exaltation at the right hand of Christ, which is called as a session of Christ, Christ is seated as the eternal king. This means that it signifies that both Messiah and God the Father reign victorious over their enemies.
Although the full benefit of this reign is eschatological, is future, it nevertheless has present implications. According to Ephesians 1, verses 22 and 23, Christ is the head of the church. We are his body and he fills us with his fullness. So we share in Christ and his victory over sin and his enemies. That victory is ours.
And according to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6, I think. Yeah, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6, God raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are already seated in Christ. We are in Christ. So Christ’s reign, we are under Christ’s reign, which means he is victorious over sin and his enemies.
He is victorious over sin, which means that we need not be enslaved to any sin. We need not be addicted to any kind of sin. In Christ, that victory is ours. The blessed Holy Spirit is in us. He helps us bear the fruit of the Spirit.
And Paul says that has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God is emphasizing believers' position, present position of victory in Christ. And therefore, it matters how we live here. Because we are positioned in Christ. We are seated with Christ. It matters how we live.
It is a sign of whether we are indeed part of God's kingdom or not, Christ's kingdom or not. It is a sign. The way we live is a sign. There is no middle ground. It is important to note that the act of abstaining from sins is not a requirement for salvation.
But it is an indication. Of us being saved. If we continue to abstain from sins. It is an indication that we have received the saving grace. The Holy Spirit dwells us. He gives us grace to overcome those sins. Faith alone is enough for salvation, but true faith is never alone. It always leads to a desire for a holy life. The quality of faith is a key factor here. We are not saved by the combination of faith and works, but by faith that works. Faith that works. People who are obsessed with sexual immorality, impurity and greed are slaves to these vices and are indeed excluded from the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Look at verse 6, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” Brothers and sisters, we live in a post-modern world. What is the philosophy of the post-modern world? Relativism is a belief that there is no absolute truth. People who hold on to this view, you know, there are many, there are many people who hold on to this view, there are many in this world today. They believe that different people can have different views about God and different, they can have different morality, they can have different morals. We live in a world which is more and more moving towards atheism, and there are very loose morals, and this society and in this prevailing culture, marriage is
no longer a sacred institution. Living relationships are more acceptable norm. Gay relationships are becoming more acceptable. And there is also a kind of Christianity which says, what is wrong with little sin? God is not so serious if we commit sin. He forgives. He gives grace.
The movies that are out now, they hardly honor the institution of marriage. Sex before marriage is a norm in the movies. Be careful what movies you watch. Look at this girlfriend-boyfriend culture. Where did we get this? From movies. We learn from movies. So don't tell me that movies don't teach us.
If movies are promoting that sex before marriage is okay, that is teaching us. Then tomorrow, if you find people around you who are living in relationships before marriage, you think it's common, it's okay. These movies are going further and further degrading. It's all too easy for believers to be influenced by the surrounding world and to succumb to its ways of thinking and behaving. The result is that what is acceptable to the popular culture will be acceptable by the church.
What should govern us? It is a word of God. It is the absolute truth. This is the absolute truth. It's not, it is not good for you and not good for me. It is good for all of us. It is the only way by which we live.
And what should characterize a believer's life? Obedience. No, disobedience is a characteristic of the unbelievers on whom the wrath of God is coming. So what should be the distinguishing mark of believers? That is obedience. And Paul doesn't stop at first warning in verse 5, the sinners will have will not have an in the kingdom of Christ and God. Paul goes further. He gives an imperative here. And what is the imperative here? “Let no one deceive you with empty words.” We should actively not let the world and the false philosophies, false theology influence us. If anyone is teaching against the a certain doctrine, we must
shun it. That means we must actively know the word. For that we must be grounded in the correct theology. Why is it important? For because these things, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. Pay attention. Even kids here. Acts of immorality, talk about sexual immorality is not fun.
It’s not fun. Your friends will talk about it in schools, in colleges. It’s not fun. Don’t laugh with them when they make dirty jokes. Don’t laugh with them because God hates it. Because all sin attracts God’s wrath, God’s anger. Paul says God’s wrath is coming because of these things.
What is wrath of God? It is God’s reaction towards evil and sin. That’s the only reaction. Sin — it is God’s only response to its evil and sin. He cannot tolerate sin. If you want to live, if you want to have a picture of God’s wrath, we don’t know, we haven’t tasted it. We have tasted God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s kindness, God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, but can we really tell what, how God’s wrath looks like? No, because we haven’t tasted it. And if you want to have a picture of it, look at the cross of Jesus Christ. Except for our Lord Jesus Christ, till now no one has faced the wrath of God, but it is coming in the future on all those
who are disobedient. But our Lord Jesus Christ, on his people, he had already suffered on the cross. He went to the cross because of our sins, with our sins. He hung there with our sins. So because of our sins, it attracted what? God’s wrath upon Jesus. He bore them on the cross and he took the punishment for our sin. God put out his anger against us on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus satisfied God justice by suffering in our place. God crushed him for us. And Jesus knew while he was on this earth what was coming on him. That’s the reason he prayed in the Garden
of Gethsemane, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus indeed drank the cup, and it pleased the Father in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 10 to crush his son. That means God let loose his full wrath upon his son, where he crushed under his severe wrath against our sins.
Jesus Christ suffered and died in our place to save us from sins and to set us apart for God’s holy purposes. Not that we freely commit sins and take his grace for granted but we would see the seriousness of sin and repent of it. Turn to him whenever we fail, cry to him for his mercies because this grace is available for us.
Paul says that the disobedient are the object of God’s wrath. But as believers, we must be, we must be partakers with the disobedient in the deeds of darkness no more, no more. As believers we are the recipients of God’s grace. God’s grace saves us from sin. It justifies us, sanctifies us, and it enables us to live obedient lives unto God and also it enables us to hate sin. May I tell you that this sanctification is a corporate endeavor. God gives us, gives the church — sorry, God gave the church as one of the means to help each other in our sanctification.
Church is not the place to show that I am holier than you, I’m better person, look at me, our holy life, what a holy life I live. No, it’s a place where we come to each other, help each other, build each other, push each other, encourage each other, confront each other, love each other. Therefore as believers there is a line ourselves to the biblical teaching on everything. Let us avoid everything that is ungodly. Few implications: have nothing to do with anything that is immoral or impure. Flee from all sexual immorality. Avoid movies and images that are improper. Do not give any room for filthy, silly, idiotic, coarse talk.
So, such talk is not fitting for the saints. Instead be thankful to God that there is a provision for us to be saved from all this filth. Thirdly, know with certainty that an immoral and impure greedy person is excluded from the kingdom of the kingdom of his son. Kingdom of Christ is excluded. So decide where you want to be. Don’t be deceived by the empty philosophies of this world. “No, everyone is doing it. What’s wrong in it?” It’s wrong. Because God said it is wrong.
The wrath of God is coming on all disobedient. If you see any such sinful practices or habits in you, please put an end to it. Repent of your sins. Yield to the control of the Holy Spirit. Take help from other brothers and sisters who will pray for you, pray with you, help you.
Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. Thank you Lord for these precious truths. Please God, help us to live holy lives. Save us from sin and the contaminated influences of our sinful nature and the vices in this world. Give us grace that we all would come under the control of the Holy Spirit and live a self-controlled, fruitful Christian life for your glory. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.