For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them …
Isaiah 51:1-53:12
Ephesians 5:1-33
Psalm 69:19-36
Proverbs 24:7
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New Testament: Ephesians 5:1-33
Summary: Walk in Love, Wives and Husbands
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
~ Ephesians 5:2-12
Be not ye therefore partakers with them. In their sins, and acts of disobedience; by keeping needless company with them; by abetting and encouraging sinful practices; by conniving at them, and not reproving for them; or by committing the same things. ~ John Gill
Never, ever forget: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
~ Matthew 7:13-14
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
~ Ephesians 5:5-6
However, some other people in the churches were talking about such things for very wicked reasons. For example, Revelation 2:20 refers to a woman called Jezebel who was encouraging Christians to carry out wrong sex acts. Other references to similar behaviour by church leaders are in 2 Timothy 3:1-7 and 2 Peter chapter 2. In Acts 20:29-31, Paul warned the church at Ephesus about such people.
Those evil leaders were telling Christians that they (the Christians) were free to follow their own desires. So they encouraged Christians to talk about whatever things attracted their interest. They wanted Christians to feel free to discuss even their wrong and evil desires. They tried to convince the Christians that these things were simply their natural desires. They told Christians that their natural desires (even desires to do wrong and selfish acts) were always good.
Paul told Ephesus’s Christians that these arguments had no value whatever. In fact, these arguments were dangerous, because they could persuade Christians to believe something false. Evil acts, and acts that are against God’s law, are never good. Such behaviour brings God’s judgement against people.
From: usefulbible.com – by Keith Simons
It is God’s desire to forgive people (Exodus 34:6-7). Ezekiel 18:23 states that he does not want even wicked people to suffer the punishment they deserve for their evil acts. Christ died for that reason. In order for God to forgive us, he died to take the punishment for our sins (Romans 5:6-8). We cannot be forgiven by God unless we turn away from our evil deeds and invite Christ into our lives (John 1:11-12; Romans 10:13; Revelation 3:20).
A call to slumbering souls – The character of those addressed.
1. If you allow yourself in the practice of known wickedness, your conscience is asleep.
2. If you live in the customary neglect of self-examination, you are in a state of slumber.
3. If you have never been in any degree affected with a sense of your guilt, and of your dependence on the mercy of God in Christ, you are among those who are asleep.
4. If you have no conflicts with sin and temptation, you are in a state of slumber.
5. The prevalence of a sensual and carnal disposition is a sign of spiritual death.
6. Stupidity under the warnings of God’s word and providence, indicates such a state of soul as the Scripture compares to sleep.
Overview: Ephesians – Click Here
And now we have come to walking in light, just another way to perceive the life of the believer. You were darkness; you were darkness formerly, verse 8 says, “but now you are Light.” This is a stark contrast. They are mutually exclusive; and that is why the Lord has chosen, by His Spirit, this particular analogy. It is the best figure to show the complete separation of the non-Christian from the Christian, the complete separation of the child of Satan from the child of God. One is darkness, the other is light; and the contrast is extreme to show the difference and the distinction and the opposite nature between Christians and non-Christians.
The darkness of this world is deep. It is a profound darkness. It is an ever-increasing darkness. It is a deep blackness. It is a spiritual black hole engulfing the world, and into which the world plunges deeper and deeper all the time.
Now darkness represents, I think, four things. If you understand these four, you’ll sort of understand the range of the expression of this term “darkness.” It represents depravity; it describes the human condition in sin. Not only does it represent depravity, but it represents deception; it speaks of the darkness of the mind, “darkened in their understanding,” as it says back in chapter 4, verse 18, or blinded in their soul, as it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. So darkness is associated with depravity, and it is associated also with deception.
Thirdly, it is clearly associated with death; the profound darkness of death defines the spiritual condition of nonbelieving people, people outside the kingdom of God. And finally, darkness is used to describe the destruction of hell, which is a place of blackness, a place of outer darkness, in which people are bound in chains of darkness and blackness forever.
From ~ John MacArthur – Click Here to listen to this message.
“Let No One Deceive You”
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
~ Ephesians 5:5-6
What he’s referencing here are the lives of men and women that are, if you like, settled in this way. It’s the life of an idolator. It’s the life of the person who, in these terms, has become sexually greedy. He does not respond or she does not respond with thanksgiving to the precious gifts of God in the realm of human sexuality but instead has made a lifestyle out of engaging in all kinds of things that take that individual and those in contact with him or her beyond the bounds of that which God has established for the well-being of his people.
With that said, it is not uncommon to hear people say, “Well, as far as I understand it all, once you are declared righteous in Jesus, because of what Jesus has done, then in actual fact, your lifestyle is pretty much your own deal. Because, after all, if I understand ‘justification,’ then you are forgiven past, present, and future, and so,” the person says, as in Romans 6, “why don’t I just go out and sin so ‘that grace may abound’[12] and prove that I really understand the doctrine of justification?”
“God does not justify those whom he does not sanctify.”
The answer is “You clearly don’t understand the doctrine of justification.” Because, to put it in a nutshell, God does not justify those whom he does not sanctify. “Those who were predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified”—Romans 8:30, around—“and those whom he justified he also glorified.”[13] So you can’t take one piece of the puzzle and separate it from the unfolding drama of God in salvation. So the justified person is the being-sanctified person, and the person who is not being sanctified or is not giving any evidence of it either has never been justified or doesn’t understand what it means to live within the framework of God’s great salvific purpose.
~ Alistair Begg – Click Here to listen to this message.
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