Take a Bible and turn to Ephesians chapter 4, the last few verses, this kind of a continuation of last Sunday sermon where we talked about something all of us struggle with and that is anger and what anger often ends up becoming in our lives bitterness. So let's pick up again with Ephesians 4, I'm going to begin with verse 30 and read through chapter 5 and the second verse and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice, be kind and compassionate to one another for giving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Let's pray, first I just want you to pray silently about what we've just read, this is the word of God. So let's pray, Father in heaven we bow before you and we bow before your word and we thank you that in your word we find life as our own sins are exposed we find life in Jesus. And so I pray today that you would speak to us from your word that the power of this service might be in the work of the Holy Spirit in each and every heart and thank you for the Lord's table that we come to today. We pray all this in Jesus name, Amen. This particular part of the Ephesians is when some people would say the Apostle Paul is quick preaching and gone to meddling and after all he says, get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, get rid of every form of malice those are some of my best gifts. Paul says be kind and compassionate to one another for giving each other just as God in Christ forgave you. Well, last week we focused on the words be angry but do not sin and we said that all of us get angry. We live in a fallen world, things are going to go wrong. We live in a fallen world with fallen people who are going to disappoint us. And so there's always something that's going to happen that tends to make us angry and resentful. Eight years ago my son Tyler had a serious automobile accident right down here on Thompson Bridge Road. He had broken his arm the week before skateboarding with brown Dunlap and I mean broke it really seriously and he's got a six inch plate now in his arm and he was still kind of recovering but he was off the pain meds and Denmark called him and said man come on where are you we need you. And it's not dance fault but Tyler wanted to go and I didn't have the heart to say no he was off his pain meds he'd been through a tough week or week and a half and so I said yeah you can go and so he took the car my son-in-law had bought him and drove down Thompson Bridge Road. Training the roads were slick a car pulled out there by McDonald's T-bone accident was his fault nobody was seriously injured we got sued out of that wreck I felt like it was partly my fault for agreeing that he could go to this youth function but underneath it all the truth were truth be known I was angry and underneath it all to a certain extent I really blamed God and my attitude was God come on will you give my boy a break will you give his parents a break why would you allow this to happen I mean after all God is providentially involved in our every aspect of our lives that wreck was under the sovereignty of God God will you give my son a break how do you handle it when things like that happen and God doesn't just give a clear answer and not only when things happen like that how about when somebody sins against you everybody here you've had people sin against you you've had other Christians who have double crossed you who have lied about you or lied to your face or both you have a close friend who betrays you or betrays your confidence how does that make you feel how do you how do you respond you have a right to be angry and as Paul said last week where it says in your anger don't sin literally in Greek it's it's command be angry but don't sin there are times when anything else other than that anger is inappropriate Paul says be angry but don't sin you have a right to be angry but don't sin in your anger in other words deal with your anger he's saying so that it doesn't become bitterness so that doesn't turn into wrath so it doesn't turn into gossip so it doesn't turn into clamor or slander don't let it accumulate Paul says practice forgiveness imitate God if you're a parent remember when your child first put on your shoes and clomped around in the house might have clomped around in dead shoes or mom shoes he or she felt really grown up and it just kind of stirs something in your heart as a parent you just feel really really proud why is that well you know the old saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattering you you feel kind of flattered that your child is clomping around in your shoes but imitating you is not just a way of their feeling older it's their attempt to feel close to you to be like you to imitate you I can remember the first time when Tyler put on my shoes it was after we'd moved here and he said with a smile these almost fit me these almost fit me he enjoyed that or I remember several years ago when Chandler at a family function said something clever and witty and Stacey's sister Kim said that sounded like your dad and he might not want to admit it now but he grinned at the at the thought of that that's the challenge in life the challenge in life is to exhibit the family likeness it is to develop the character of Christ in each of us not just a clomped around in somebody's shoes but to develop the character of Christ in each of us now how are you going to develop the character of Christ is that something you can do it's not it's not something you can do it's not something you can accomplish with an act of your will it's not something you just grit your teeth you know dedicate yourself to and churned it out no it's not like that at all Paul says here in these in these two verses imitate God imitate God so I want us to focus on those words so I want you to recognize first of all this morning the height of that call the height of this call to imitate God the the call to imitate God is actually common in scripture Matthew 5 verse 43 it doesn't say the words imitate God but that is the implication you've heard that it was said love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your father in heaven he causes his son to rise on the evil in the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous doesn't actually use the words imitate God but that's the implication love your enemies pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your father in heaven or second Corinthians 8 just as you excel in everything in faith and speech and knowledge and complete earnestness in your love for us then he says see that you also excel in this grace of giving and then it goes on to say for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ although he was rich yet for your sex he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich again it doesn't use the words imitate God but that's the implication see that you excel in this grace of giving for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ said he was rich yet for your sex became poor that you through his poverty might become rich or John 13 verse 12 when he Jesus had finished washing their feet he put on his clothes and returned to his place do you understand what I've done for you he asked them do you understand what I've done for you and then says a new command I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another by this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another what's Jesus saying to him you know you know what I've done to you done for you imitate me love one another chapter 4 in Ephesians verse 1 and 2 and 13 as a prisoner in the Lord then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling that you've received be completely humble and gentle be patient bearing with with one another in love and then in verse 13 until we all reach unity in the faith in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ again it doesn't use the words imitate God or imitate Christ but that is the implication here so let me ask you how do you imitate God you clump around and God shoes what does it look like to imitate God God is transcendent that refers to his loftiness his holiness his his omnipotence and so forth his eternality is part of his transcendence imitate God imitate his eternity how you do that imitate God's omnipresence God is present everywhere can anybody do that imitate his omniscience his omnipotence now sometimes parents want their kids to believe that they're omnipresent I remember Tyler saying when he was 4 or 5 how did you know that to Stacey and she said I have eyes in the back of my head well it's not really true parents sometimes want their kids to believe that they're omnipresent or they have eyes in the back of their head but we're finite and so when it says imitate God obviously we cannot imitate God's transcendent attributes but then there are gods they're also called his incomunicable attributes but there are his communicable attributes there are things that we share with him his justice mercy compassion tenderness his goodness his forgiveness so Paul says imitate God now if I tell you to try and imitate God's transcendence you're at a loss to do that we can't imitate his omnipotence his omnipresence his omniscience his eternality but suppose I say imitate God's imminence imitate God's love his tenderness his compassion his justice and mercy every one of us ought to be equally overwhelmed at the thought imitate God's love and mercy and justice and compassion now think about the first temptation in the Garden of Eden it was Satan speaking to them and said eat of this tree for you shall what you shall be his God you eat of this tree you'll be able to imitate God it was a lie it's a complete lie what Satan wanted was for them to be independent of God he wanted Adam and Eve to be a law unto themselves that's not what Paul's talking about here he's saying imitate God it's the opposite not not by being a law under yourselves are independent of him he's saying imitate God become like him by drawing close or near to him and so that is the that's the height of this call it's it's an incredible command imitate God
imitate God we should be overwhelmed by that but I want you a second to understand the heart of this call and notice the words in Ephesians 5 as beloved children now how do you become a child of God how do you become my child if one of you put on Chandler or Tyler or Ashley's clothes or Lauren's clothes our children and try to imitate them would that make you my child no we're not you can put the clothing of my children and not and not be my child to be my child you have to be born of me to be God's child it's not a matter of putting on certain clothes or putting on certain attributes or trying to be more patient more loving to be God's child you have to be born of God you have to be born of God one of my favorite memories in Pensacola was a little three-year-old girl named Chloe and Chloe was at our house one day playing with her older sister Paige and they she was keeping them for the day and they were playing and they were playing pretend and little Chloe who was three said these words I'm not Chloe somebody said who are you she said I'm not Chloe I'm pastor Chuck and either Ashley or her sister Paige said are you really and she said yes and pulling her sister who was three years older over closer she said come here Paige give me all your sugar she imitated me that's really sweet that's one of my favorite memories of that little girl she's now 15 16 but even though she imitated me give me all your sugar that didn't really make her my child and so when it says imitate God first of all to imitate God you must have become his child this is not turnover new leaf this is not try and live better this is not a code of conduct this isn't acting out a role this is why Jesus said to Nicodemus listen you must be born again you must have a new heart to imitate take God you must first become his child by being united to Jesus confessing your sins in your need of a savior but also to imitate God it means you must spend time with him remember the bracelets people wore eight ten years ago WWJD what would Jesus do that was the rage what would Jesus do and people thought you know I'm gonna try and be like Jesus you can't become more like Jesus without spending time with him we live in a day when church discipleship reading your Bible praying keep in a journal we live in a time when that's kind of frowned on you know well that's that's legalism I don't have to do that listen you will never ever ever imitate God unless you spend time with him it just doesn't happen to imitate God you're also going to have to learn what it means to love and that's what Paul's talking about here in Ephesians 4 and Ephesians 5 he's talking about people from dissimilar backgrounds dissimilar cultures he's talking about them learning what it means to love now if you're like me and you probably are according to my sin nature I don't want to love anybody I'd rather be angry people have sinned against me I'd rather be bitter I'd rather take revenge and I bet that's true of you too if we're all honest that's really what naturally wants to proceed from my mouth and from my heart and I want to say something as your pastor and your friend mom observation after living in Gainesville for 10 years is that this church has a lot of old grudges I want you to examine your own heart and your own life my experience has been that a lot of people in this church have had grudges for a long time and there probably are people who have sinned against you greatly and something just kind of wants to cry out in outrage you know I've got a right to be good and angry and you do Paul says here in your anger don't sin get a right to be angry but in your anger don't sin don't let it turn into bitterness don't let it turn into rage don't let it turn into brawling and slander and gossip and ostracizing other people maybe repeat Paul's words be kind compassionate to one another forgiving each other just as God is in Christ forgave you be imitators of God as dearly loved children live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself upwards as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God and last to imitate God you're going to have to believe that God has in control of your circumstances and that's really tough that's really tough to forgive someone else you're going to have to wrestle with the fact that their sin was underneath the umbrella of the sovereignty of God and was something that God allowed in your life in order to develop the character of Christ and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in you and that's tough wait a minute wait a minute you're saying pastor that this person's sin against me was part of God's sovereign plan that's what the Bible says it's what the Bible says and so the at the heart of this call is it yeah you got to become his child you have to spend time with him you have to learn what it means to love when people have sinned against you because that's what God did God had a right to be good and angry and yet he poured it all out on Jesus so to develop the character of Christ and to imitate God you're going to have to believe the gospel
under God's sovereignty God stepping on my toes and pulling me up by the hair at the same time and saying grow boy grow girl believe the gospel repent of your bitterness it wants to get it even so there's the the height of this call and there's the heart of this call and then really importantly there's the how of this call all right God wants me to imitate him I understand the high calling of this how do I do how do I do this how do I imitate God today's communion Sunday we're coming to the communion table you need to understand this imitating God doesn't come by your own will power because your will has no power you prove that you just look at your life the past week the past 24 hours your will has no power of its own to imitate God you must come close to him how do you do that well the Lord's table is part of that this morning it means that if you're going to imitate God and you're going to come to the Lord's table you're saying by coming to the communion table you need something from God himself today you need something from God himself you need God to do something in your heart that you can't do yourself you need for God to come close to you I bet everybody here at some point has seen the movie The Wizard of Oz for some reason they show it October and November every year we love The Wizard of Oz story because to some extent we all identify with it I mean everybody at some point has felt like a stranger or an alien or you're living in a new place and you feel like an outsider that's how Dorothy felt or Dorothy is not the only person in the world who has ever felt like she was surrounded by brainless, spineless, heartless people we can identify with that and so they go to us some people say that The Wizard of Oz shows how each of us needs to come to God and the scarecrow needed a brain and so we need to come to God for that the cowardly lion needed courage the ten man needed a heart Dorothy needed to get back to Kansas and so they come into the presence of the great and the powerful Oz trembling in his presence he hears their plight he promises to help if you remember in the movie he promises to help them after they demonstrate their worthiness and it's in the second trip back to The Wizard of Oz when they find out when the curtain is pulled back and they find out that The Wizard of Oz is a fraud he's not omnipotent he's not terrifying he's not the great and powerful Oz he's a little short balding old man who put on a good show he said he pretended to have all the power but then he says but I can give you help and it says to the scarecrow didn't you didn't you always already show your wisdom you came to me wanting a brain but haven't you already shown your wisdom ten man haven't you already shown your compassion lion haven't you already used your courage Dorothy don't you know you already have the ability to go home you just need to you just need to wake up to it and the moral of The Wizard of Oz is everything that you really need you already have scarecrow you've already got the wisdom ten men you've already got the heart line you've already got the courage Dorothy you already know how to get back to the Kansas you just don't know that you just don't know it the Wizard of Oz it's a neat story but it's the opposite of the gospel it's the opposite of the gospel it makes Jesus into a hero you need to just become a hero too and imitate God you have it in you no it's not true notice what Paul says here in Ephesians 2 notice the words as Christ gave himself up for us an offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma now think back with me to the Old Testament Genesis 27 where Isaac is pretty much on his deathbed and Jacob disguises himself as Esau to go in and to get the blessing the birthright it's his mom's idea but he agrees with it and they they kill a goat and they take the goat skin and put his arms and so forth remember what Isaac said this is Genesis 27 the voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Esau and then the scripture say when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes he blessing ah the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that Jehovah has blessed now consider this when you come to the Lord's table this morning and take communion you are putting on Christ you are hidden in Jesus you are received at the Lord's table and before God's throne because you have the aroma of Jesus Christ but what's really fabulous about the story is that the God of the Bible is not a blind death senile old man who is fooled he's the omnipotent one he's the sovereign one he's the holy one who receives you because you are dressed in the righteousness of his own son and so to him as you come in Jesus to the Lord's table you smell like Jesus and when you are deeply conscious of that of having put on Christ and having and and being in Christ you are so filled with joy and the thought of that that your desire is therefore as Paul says here to offer yourself as a fragrant aroma and then I say you're ready to release your bitterness and forgive someone said to me recently tell us more about what to do
I could tell you that to imitate God today you need to go out and walk five miles that'd be good wouldn't it if we could just imitate God by doing something like that or find a panhandler and give him two dollars you know some of you would like for me to tell you something to do like that
so here's what you need to do you need to recognize who you're still angry at and who you're bitter with
and how badly you've handled that with gossip with rage with resentment with just separation isolation I know this is hard you need to recognize that anger and that bitterness and you need to confess it before holy God and you need to come to Jesus for grace and the ability to forgive and to come to Jesus for your unforgiveness and I'm talking to you husbands and you wives and you parents grandparents children friends former friends we really want to take the scriptures seriously and imitate God it's a high calling it's a holy calling it's a calling that has added it's at its heart that we've become a child of the king and want to clump around in our father's shoes you want to clump around in God shoes come and be forgiven come and forgive
imitating God a solemn holy high glorious calling that's what it means when we say oh yeah I I believe in grace because bless you're needed will I do you then that's great
father in heaven we acknowledge we carry around the past we pull it behind us like an old gunny sack and we confess we're much more prone to gossip to engage in clamor to isolate to resent we don't like the thought of forgiving because our hearts cry out for justice but we thank you that though our hearts cry out for justice you didn't give us justice we'd already be condemned you gave us mercy because of Christ and so challenges today with the call to imitate you father challenges with our need for Jesus challenges with our need for the Holy Spirit we can't do any of this apart from your power and grace so will you do something mighty in us today will you break down barriers and walls between friends and husbands and wives and parents and children and church members and Jesus will you begin with each of us we pray in your mighty name amen