Imitators of God

Imitators of God

(No. 1725)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 10, 1883,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Be you therefore followers of God, as dear children." Ephesians 5:1.

WE shall read the text as it should more properly be translated–"Be
you therefore imitators of God, as beloved children." Upon the word,
"imitate," our discourse will hinge. The division into chapters is
often most unfortunate and, in this case, it causes a break in a
passage which, in its sense, is one and indivisible. The Apostle had
said, "Be you kind, one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Be you
therefore imitators of God, as dear children." He has forgiven you,
therefore imitate Him. It is a pity to have divided the argument from
the conclusion.

Here, while your minds are fresh, let me remind you that this is
Hospital Sunday. And let me add that my text is an argument, and a
powerful one, for helping those houses of mercy. Your Lord would have
you be kind, one to another, and tenderhearted–but how can we be kind
and tenderhearted if the sick poor are not cared for? When all the
machinery and all the medical skill are waiting to relieve the
suffering poor, it is a crying shame that beds in hospitals should be
unused because of lack of funds. Yet this is sadly the case and several
of those grand institutions are running into debt. We may, ourselves,
have no surgical skill, or nursing art, but we can each give of our
substance to aid those whose lives are consecrated to the Christ-like
work of healing.

We cannot be kind and tenderhearted unless we give according to our
ability to such noble institutions as our hospitals. Preachers
generally put the application at the end of a discourse, but on these
warm days you are apt to grow tired and, therefore, I put the
application at the beginning, that you may not give faintly and
scantily when the sermon is over! All sorts of religionists are
contributing to the common fund and we must not be lacking. When the
box comes round, "be you imitators of God, as dear children," in the
largeness of your liberality and the freeness of your gifts! The
Apostle urges us to give and forgive. If you are imitators of God,
give, for He is always giving. Give, for if He were not to give, our
lives would end! Give, for He gives unto all men liberally and upbraids
not, and every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Be you
imitators of God, the constant, generous Giver, who spared not His own
Son! Thanks be to His name for that unspeakable Gift!

Then comes that which, to most men, is a harder task, but which to a
Christian man is a delight–I mean to forgive. God, for Christ's sake,
has forgiven us. He has blotted out our transgressions like a cloud and
cast our sins into the depth of the sea, plunging them into oblivion!
Therefore, let us forgive most freely all who have done us wrong, so
that when we bow our knees, we may say without hypocrisy, "Forgive us
our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us." Let
giving and forgiving be two prominent features of our lives as
Christians–giving to the needy and forgiving the guilty. Giving to
such as ask of us and forgiving such as offend us. By these two things
let us show that we walk in love as Christ also has loved us. He has
given Himself for us and through His precious blood we are forgiven our
iniquities. Let us, therefore, blend giving and forgiving into one
God-like life, imitating our God. This is our Father's Commandment–let
it be our delight!

I. With this as a preface, let us now come closely to the text, and let
us CONSIDER THE PRECEPT here laid down–"Be you imitators of God, as
dear children." I note upon this precept, first, that it calls us to
practical duty. Many precepts of the Word of God are thought by men of
the world to be unpractical, but even in those instances, they are in
error, for the result and outcome of such precepts produce the
practical holiness which all profess to desire. In this instance there
can be no argument at the too spiritual, sentimental, or speculative
character of the text–there can be no question as to the eminently
practical character of the exhortation–"Be you imitators of God, as
dear children," for it points to action, continued action of the best
kind.

"Be you imitators"–that is, do not only meditate upon God and think
that you have done enough, but go on to copy what you study. Meditation
is a happy, holy, profitable engagement. It will instruct you,
strengthen you, comfort you, inspire your heart and make your soul
steadfast. But you may not stop at meditation–you must go on to
imitation of the Character of God! Let your spiritual life not only bud
and blossom in devout thought, but let it bring forth fruit in holy
action. Be not satisfied with feeding the soul by meditation, but rise
up from the banquet and use the strength which you have gained! Sitting
at the feet of Jesus must be succeeded by following in the footsteps of
Jesus!

Neither does the text say to us, "Be you admirers of God." This we
ought to be and shall be if we are true Christians. The pure in heart,
who, alone, can truly see God, are filled with a reverent admiration of
Him. With the angels, every gracious heart exclaims, "Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God of Hosts." "There is none holy as the Lord" (Sam. 2:2). When
the best of men are compared with the Lord, their holiness is not to be
mentioned. "Who is like unto You, O God, glorious in holiness?" But we
cannot rest satisfied with rendering such admiration–we must prove
that we really admire by closely imitating. The world's proverb is that
"imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." I shall alter it and
adapt it to a higher use. "Imitation of God is the sincerest form of
admiring Him!" Neither can we believe that you know God and are at all
charmed with His holiness unless you endeavor, as He shall help you, to
imitate Him as dear children.

Neither does the text stop at adoration, though that is a sublime
height. Adoration springs out of meditation and admiration and is a
very high and noble exercise of the mind. Perhaps we rise to the
highest possible service of God on earth when we are adoring Him–this
is the engagement of saints and angels before His Throne and never are
we nearer Heaven than when we follow the same occupation here below.
Beloved, let your whole lives be adoration to God! Not only on Sundays
and at certain hours, or in your assemblies, but everywhere adore, by
good works–a manner of worship which is as real and acceptable as the
most reverent public service! Remember, "to obey is better than
sacrifice"–holy living outshines all other solemnities.

To love is to adore! To obey is to praise! To act is to worship! If you
are imitators of God as dear children, your adoration will be proved to
be sincere. Worship unattended by imitation is fake–true adoration
dwells not in words only–as it comes from the heart, so it affects the
entire nature and shows itself in the daily behavior. Let us spread our
adoration over all the day till, from the moment when we open our eyes
till we close them again at night, we shall be practically worshipping
the Lord by reverencing His law, delighting in His Commandments and
imitating His Character! It is clear that the precept before us is
eminently practical. You who boast in being such practical men, give
heed to this!

Next, this precept treats us as children–it treats us as what we are!
And if we are lowly in heart, we shall be thankful that it is worded as
it is. Some men are very high and mighty. Measured by their own rod,
they are great men and, therefore, they must be original and strike out
a path for themselves. You are not commanded to do anything of the
kind–the path is laid down for you–"Be you imitators." This is a
similar doctrine to that which we teach the children at school. You, my
boy, are not to invent a system of writing–yours is a much easier
task, keep to your copy, imitate every letter–yes, every turn and
twist of your master's hand! Scholars can only learn by imitation and
we are all scholars.

It may be something to aspire to be the head of a school of painting,
but the first thing for the young artist to do is to copy. He who
cannot copy cannot originate–depend upon that! I have heard great
outcries about young preachers imitating, but I would suggest that, in
their early efforts, this is not blameworthy. What more natural than
that Timothy should, at first, be much influenced by Paul's manner of
speech? How could a man become an artist if he did not attach himself
to some school of painting and sit under a certain master?

He may be of the French school, or the Italian school, or the Flemish
school, but he must begin as a follower even if he grows up to be a
leader. When he has been well trained and has done much work, he may
outgrow his master and become an original, but he must begin as a
careful copyist. Here you are invited to become imitators–but the
Master is such that you will never be able to learn all that He can
teach and so strike out a better path. Though you are immortal, yet
throughout eternity you will never advance beyond your Model, for it is
written, "Be you imitators of God." Listen to me, you aspiring
minds–if you must be original, the most wonderful originality in this
world would be for a man's character to be a precise copy of the
Character of God! In you there would be novelty, indeed, for you would
be like He whose name is s called, "Wonderful!"

When our Lord Jesus exhibited on earth the Character of God, His life
was so original that the world knew Him not! They were puzzled and
amazed at the sight of One who was so like unto the Father. His life
struck men as being the most singular thing they had ever seen! And if
we are close copyists of God, our characters will also stand out in
relief and we shall, each one, be "a wonder unto many." You see it is a
humbling exhortation which only men of childlike spirit are likely to
regard. Wisely does the Scripture address it only to such–"Be you
therefore imitators of God, as dear chil-dren"–if you are not His
children you cannot imitate Him and you will not even desire to do so!

Observe, next, that while it thus humbles us, this precept ennobles us,
for what a grand thing it is to be imitators of God! It is an honor to
be the lowliest follower of such a Leader. Time has been when men
gloried in studying Homer and their lives were trained to heroism by
his martial verse. Alexander carried a great warrior's head about with
him in a casket studded with jewels, and his military life greatly
sprung out of his imitation of the warriors of Greece and Troy. Ours is
a nobler ambition, by far, than that which delights in battles. We
desire to imitate the God of Peace, whose name is Love. In later ages,
when men began to be a less savage race and contests of thought were
carried on by the more educated class of minds, thousands of men
gloried in being disciples of the mighty Stagyrite, the renowned
Aristotle.

He reigned supreme over the thoughts of men for centuries and students
slavishly followed him till a greater arose and set free the human mind
by a more true philosophy. To this day, however, our cultured men
remain copyists and you can see a fashion in philosophy as well as in
clothes. Some of these imitations are so childish as to be deplorable.
It is no honor to imitate a poor example! But, oh, Beloved, he who
seeks to imitate God has a noble enterprise before him–he shall rise
as on eagle's wings! We are copying infinite goodness! We seek after
moral perfection. We are to be "blameless and harmless, the sons of God
without rebuke!"

But as God is infinitely more than that, so are we to rise above mere
innocence into actual holiness. To refrain from evil is not enough–we
must be filled with all goodness by the Spirit of God. Is not this a
mark worth aiming at? Judge you what that Grace must be which is to
raise us to this height! O angels, what happier task could be laid
before you? What higher ambition can you know? God's only-begotten Son,
who is this day Lord of All, wears His Father's s image in His Glory,
even as on earth He was such a copy of God that He could truly say, "He
that has seen Me has seen the Father." "I do always," said He, "the
things that please Him." The perfect Son of God is as His Father in
holiness. You see your calling, Brothers and Sisters, to a high place
in the rank of intelligences. You are bid to ascend, by God Himself! In
this respect take your seats in the highest room. Imitate, but note
well that you do not select an imperfect example–"Be you imitators of
God, as dear children."

While it ennobles us, this precept tests us–tests us in many points.
"Be you imitators of God." This tests our knowledge. A man cannot
imitate that which he has never seen. He who does not know God cannot
possibly imitate Him. Do you know God, my Hearer? Have you turned unto
Him with repentance? Have you ever spoken with Him in prayer? Have you
had fellowship with Him in Christ? Can you say, "I have set the Lord
always before me"? You cannot possibly follow a copy unless you fix
your eyes upon that copy and have some intelligent knowledge of what it
is. We must have a spiritual idea of God or we cannot imitate Him–and,
therefore, the need of the Holy Spirit! How can we know the Lord unless
the Spirit reveals Him in us?

What is more, this precept tests our love. If we love God, love will
impel us to imitate Him. But we shall not do so from any other force.
We readily grow somewhat like that which we love. In married life,
persons who have truly loved, though they may begin with great
dissimilarity, will gradually be conformed to one another in the
process of years. Likeness is the natural product of love and so, if we
truly love God, we shall by very force of that love through His blessed
Spirit grow more and more like He is. If we do not love the Lord, we
shall not follow Him; but if we truly love Him, we shall say with
David, "My soul follows hard after You; Your right hand upholds me."

Our text does even more than this–it tests our sincerity. If a man is
not really a Christian, he will take no care about his life. But in the
matter of close copying, a man must be careful–a watchful care is
implied in the idea of imitation. You cannot copy a document without
being intent to read and mark each word. If I sit down to write an
article out of my own mind, I have nothing to do but to make my own
tracks and there is my work, such as it is. But if I have to copy from
a book, them I must necessarily look to each line, and I must read it
over attentively, for otherwise I may misrepresent the writer whose
language I transcribe.

In copying from Nature, how careful the artist has to be at every
touch, or he will fail in his picture. If a sculptor is producing a
replica of an ancient statue, he must keep his eyes open and follow
every line and mark. My Friend, you cannot imitate God if you are one
of that sort of Christians who are habitually in a condition between
sleeping and wak-ing–with one eye a little open and the other closed!
Such men live a slovenly life and attempt a sort of happy-go-lucky
religion which may be right or which may be wrong–but its character
they cannot tell–for they run with their neighbors and never examine
for themselves! Such people live at random and never take a day's life
at night and examine it to see its faults. Thus sin grows upon them
like weeds in a sluggard's garden. Such persons, playing at hit or miss
with holiness, are sure to come short of it! But he that is in earnest
will give his prayerful thought and anxious desire to it, that he may
become, in very deed, a successful imitator of God. He will also call
in the aid of the Holy Spirit and thus be led into holiness.

Moreover, the precept tests us as to our spirit whether it is of the
Law or of the Gospel. "Be you imitators of God, as dear children" not
as slaves might imitate their master–unwillingly, dreading the crack
of his whip–but loving, willing imitators, such as children are. You
do not urge your children to imitate you! They do this even in their
games. See how the boy rides his wooden horse and the girl imitates her
nurse. You see the minister's little boy trying to preach like his
father–and you all remember the picture of the young girl with a Bible
in front of her and an ancient pair of spectacles upon her nose,
saying, "Now I'm Grandmamma!" They copy us by force of nature–they
cannot help it. Such will be the holiness of the genuine Christian! He
is born from above and, therefore, he lives above! His imitation of God
springs out of his relationship to God.

Holiness must be spontaneous, or it is spurious. We cannot be driven to
holiness like a bullock to his plowing–we must delight in the Law of
God after the inward man. "Be you imitators of God, as dear children,"
because you do not wish for anything better than to be like your
Father. You have no ambition in the world that approaches your
aspiration to be holy even as God is holy, according to that Word of
God, "Be you perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is
perfect." Have you that filial spirit? Have you a burning love to
holiness? Or is sin your delight and God's service a weariness? Where
your pleasure is–there is your heart. If you love evil you are not the
children of God at all and cannot imitate Him nor render to Him any
acceptable service whatever! The Lord make us to be imitators of Him,
even as children, from a natural bent, copy their parents.

While it tests us, this precept greatly aids us. It is a fine thing for
a man to know what he has to do, for then he is led in a plain path
because of his enemies. What a help it is to have a clear chart and a
true compass! We have only to ask– "What would our heavenly Father do
in such a case?"–and our course is clear. As far as we are capable of
imitating the Lord, our pathway is plain. We cannot imitate God in His
power, or Omnipresence, or Omniscience–certain of His attributes are
incommunicable–and of them we may say they are high and we cannot
attain to them. But these are not intended in the precept! Creatures
cannot imitate their Creator in His Divine attributes, but children may
copy their Father in His moral attributes.

By the aid of His Divine Spirit we can copy our God in His justice,
righteousness, holiness, purity, truth and faithfulness. We can be
tenderhearted, kind, forbearing, merciful, forgiving. In a word, we may
walk in love as Christ, also, has loved us. To know what to do is a
great aid to a holy life. This puts us into the light, while the poor
heathen gropes in darkness, for his false gods are monsters of vice
which he may not dream of imitating. Another blessing is that it backs
us up in our position, for if we do a thing because we are imitating
God. If any raise an objection, it does not trouble us, much less are
we confounded. We did not expect, when we commenced a holy life, that
everybody would applaud us, but we reckoned that they would criticize
us. And so, when their censure comes, we are supported by the
consideration that those who blame the imitation find fault with the
copy–if, indeed, the imitation is well done. He who follows God minds
not what the godless think of his way of life. A clear conscience is
our portion when we have, in all things, endeavored to please God.

I will leave my first head when I have made one more observation. This
precept is greatly for our usefulness–"Be you imitators of God, as
dear children." I do not know of anything which would make us so useful
to our fellow men as this would do. What are we sent into the world
for? Is it not that we may keep men in mind of God, whom they are most
anxious to forget? If we are imitators of God, as dear children, they
will be compelled to remember that there is a God, for they will see
His Character reflected in ours. I have heard of an atheist who said he
could get over every argument ex-

cept the example of his godly mother–he could never answer that! A
genuinely holy Christian is a beam of God's Glory and a testimony to
the Being and the goodness of God. Men cannot forget that there is a
God so long as they see His servants among them, dressed in the livery
of holiness.

We ought not only to be reminders for the careless, but teachers of the
ignorant by our walk and conversation. When they look us up and down,
and see how we live, they ought to be learning something of God. Holy
men are the world's Bibles–the world reads not the Testament, but they
read our testimony. Brothers and Sisters, a close imitation of God
would make our religion honorable. The ungodly might still hate it, but
they could not sneer at it! No, the more candid among unbelievers,
perceiving our holiness to be the result of our faith, could say
nothing against it. The name of Christ would not be so evil spoken of
if our lives were not so faulty. Holiness is true preaching and
preaching of the most successful kind.

What a support it is to the preacher when he has a people around him
who are daily witnessing for God at home and in business. If the pastor
can turn to his Church and say, "See, here, what the doctrines of Grace
can do! See in the lives of our Church members what the Spirit of God
can produce"–then he will have an unanswerable argument with which to
silence gainsayers. Does not the Lord say, "You are My witnesses?" Are
we not detained in this world on purpose that we may bear testimony to
our Lord? How can we bear forcible witness for Him unless our lives are
pure? An unclean professor is a fountain of skepticism and a hindrance
to the Gospel. To be useful we must be holy! If we would bless men as
God blesses them, we must live as God lives! Therefore, "Be you
imitators of God, as dear children."

Thus much upon the precept.

II. Secondly, I invite you, dear Friends, as we are helped of God's
Spirit, to WEIGH THE ARGUMENT. The argument is this, "Be you imitators
of God, as dear children." First, as children. It is the natural
tendency of children to imitate their parents, yet there are
exceptions, for some children are the opposite of their fathers,
perhaps displaying the vices of a remote ancestor. Absalom did not
imitate David, nor was Rehoboam a repetition of Solomon. In the case of
God's children, it is a necessity that they should be like their
Father, for it is a rule in spirituals that like begets its like. Those
who live wickedly are the children of the Wicked One–no proof is
needed, you may take it for granted–life is the evidence of Nature.

Those who live godly and righteously in Christ Jesus, believing in Him,
are God's children, and though the godly sin, yet they do not love sin,
nor remain without repenting of it. Holiness of life is the proof of
regeneration, neither can we accept any other. "By their fruits you
shall know them," is a rule of universal application. God's children
must be like He. With all their faults and failings, there must be
about their lives, as a whole, a likeness to God. The copy may be
blurred, but it is a copy. I say to any man here who bears the name of
Christian and professes to be a child of God, either be like your
Father or give up your name!

You remember the old classic story of a soldier in Alexander's army
whose name was Alexander, but when the battle was raging he trembled?
Then Alexander said to him, "How can you bear the name of Alexander?
Drop your cowardice, or drop your name." So I say to those who are
unholy, unclean, impure, unkind, ungracious–be like God, or cease to
bear the name of a child of God! What need is there that you should
aggravate your sin by pretending to a character which you do not
possess! Be like Christ, or be not called a Christian! Do not play the
Judas unless you have a mind to be a second "son of perdition." The
argument, then, is that if we are children we should imitate our
Father.

But it is also said, "as dear children." Read it as, "children
beloved." Is not this a tender but mighty argument? How greatly has God
loved us in that He permits us to be His children! "Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
children of God." A, "behold," is placed there, as if it were a thing
of wonder. Do you not wonder at it in your own case, that you should be
called a child of God? Behold the love which chose you when you were
dead in trespasses and sins and quickened you into the life of God! Do
you not remember the text–"As many as received Him, to them gave He
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His
name"? What love was that which revealed itself in your new birth and
your adoption, giving you the nature and the status of a child of God!

Furthermore, since you have been a child, was there ever such kindness
received by a child from a father as you have received? Behold, He
deals with you as with children! You could not wish for God to improve
upon His dealings with you, since He acts towards you as He use to do
unto those that love His name. Behold how He has borne with you in
manners! How He has put up with your mistakes and your forgetting! How
He has cared for you in all your cares, helped

you in all your difficulties and pardoned you in all your sins! I do
not know what you have to say, my Brothers and Sisters, but this I can
say–I am filled with admiration at the love of God for me! I have been
a child greatly beloved of his Father. His love to me is wonderful! I
am a deep debtor to His Grace. Are you not the same? Then imitate your
Father, for the more the love of a child to his Father, the more his
admiration of his Father and the stronger his desire to be like He in
all things. Let it be so with you.

However, this word, "as dear children," bears yet another meaning.
Children differ. A father loves all his children, but he cannot be
said, in all respects, to love them all alike, for some force him to
love them beyond the rest. You have one dear son who lies nearest your
heart. What a sweet child he is! You have got another boy–he is your
child and you love him and do your best with him–but he is an awkward
bit of stuff. He gives you little pleasure and you are not particularly
anxious to have him around you all day long. The first child loves you
with all his heart and strives to please you. How obedient he is! How
content and happy! In all things he is a comfort in the house. Your
heart binds its tendrils about your Joseph more closely than about the
wayward boy–you do not make a favorite of him–and so excite the
jealousy of the others.

You must admit to a nearer and dearer love than usual when you think of
him. You cannot help your heart clinging to him–his behavior is such
that he is the son of your right hand and he has a tender place in your
soul–in a word, he is one of those whom the text calls, "dear
children." Just so, the Lord has certain dear children. Master Trapp
says, "God has but a few such children." I am afraid that the quaint
old commentator is correct and that few imitate the Lord as they
should. Yet some of the Lord's children give themselves up wholly to
Him, are watchful and tenderly obedient, and walk in such closeness
with Him that they deserve the title of "dear children." Brothers and
Sisters, aim at this! Here happiness lies! Here Heaven lies this side
of Heaven! To be not only children, but dear children, is to antedate
eternal bliss!

Our Lord Jesus had disciples, but of some He said, "Then are you My
disciples, indeed." Be such! May the Holy Spirit make you such! Around
us there are troops of third-rate Christians–oh, for more first-class
Believers! We have many who appear to come into the Father's House at
mealtimes to get a bit of bread, and then they are off, again, into the
world. I counsel you in one thing to be like the elder brother, to whom
his father said, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is
yours." "Blessed are they that dwell in Your house."

Oh, to be of David's mind–"I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever." Be you imitators of God, then, in so high a sense that you
become dear children, whose one thought is how to please their father,
whose sorrow it is to grieve Him, whose beauty it is to be like He!

III. In the third place, I desire, dear Friends, to SUGGEST
ENCOURAGEMENTS. Did I hear one cry, "Oh, Sir,

this imitation of God is beyond us! How are we to be copyists of God?"
I will encourage you by giving hints which you can work out for
yourselves. First, God has already made you His children! I speak to
you that are Believers–you are God's sons and daughters! The greater
work is done! If you are to be imitators of God, as dear children, you
must first be His children–that is already accomplished! You could not
have made yourselves children of God, but He has done that for you.
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God." It must be a much easier thing
to imitate the Father than to become a

child.

You might adopt a child and call it your own, but you could not really
make it your offspring, do what you might. But the Lord has "begotten
us, again, unto a lively hope." We are "born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." And by this new
birth we are renewed in His image! Hence the greater part of the task,
the insurmountable hill of difficulty, is over and that which remains
is but our reasonable service. Should not the child imitate his father?
Will he not do so naturally?

Next, remember that God has given you His Nature already. Does not
Peter speak of our being "partakers of the Divine Nature, having
escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust"? It remains
for you to let the new nature act after its own manner. A well of
living water is within you, sing you unto it, "Spring up, O well." Let
the holy thing that has been born in you now occupy the throne and
subdue the body of this death! Pray God it may. It seems to me a small
thing to let the new nature have scope and freedom compared with the
giving of that nature! A clean heart and a right spirit have been
bestowed–let these show themselves in clean lives and right feelings.
The living and incorruptible seed will produce a harvest of good
works–water it with your prayer and watchfulness. If anything hinders
it, repent and do your first works.

Next, the Lord has given you His blessed Spirit to help you. "Likewise,
also, the Spirit helps our infirmity." Never forget that! Things
impossible with men are possible enough to the Spirit of God. We have
the Spirit abiding in us, vitalizing our whole nature! The most
beautiful harp you ever saw has no music in itself, but must be struck
by the fingers of a musician–but the Holy Spirit makes us into living
harps, which, from themselves, pour forth a natural and spontaneous
melody. Is not this marvelous? We have not to look abroad for power to
be holy, for the Spirit of God abides in us and works in us, creating
in us "the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind." Oh, to be
filled with the Spirit of God! Meanwhile, it is no small help in the
imitation of God to have the anointing of the Holy One and to be
instructed by Him. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and, therefore,
He can teach us to imitate God. He is also the Spirit of Holiness and
none can better promote our holiness. Be of good cheer! With such a
Helper you cannot be defeated!

Again, remember, dear Friend, that the Lord allows you to commune with
Himself. If we had to imitate a man and yet could not see him, we
should find it hard work. But in this case we can draw near to
God–some of us can shut the closet door and be alone with God when we
will–we can even walk with God all day. What better conditions could
we be under for imitating our God? Nearness to God brings likeness to
God. The more you see God, the more of God will be seen in you. You
remember the Persian story of the scented clay? One said to it, "Clay,
where did you get your delicious perfume?" It answered, "I was nothing
but a piece of common clay, but I lay long in the sweet society of a
rose till I drank in its fragrance and became perfumed, myself."

Oh, if you dwell much with God in seasons of retirement and abide with
Him in all the affairs of life, you will be changed into His image! As
surely as the type will make its impression upon the paper and the seal
will stamp itself upon the wax, so will the Lord impress Himself upon
you and stamp His image upon you if you dwell in Him! This ought, also,
to inspire you with ardor to remember that you have to imitate God or
you cannot go to Heaven, for this is one of the main delights of
Heaven–to be like Christ because we shall see Him as He is. "They are
without fault before the Throne of God." His name shall be on their
foreheads–that is to say, the Character of God shall be most
conspicuous in them. Surely that which is to be our eternal destiny
should be our desire today! We should strive after holiness according
to His working who works in us mightily. We must become close copyists
of God that we may enjoy everlasting communion with Him. May His Spirit
work us to that end.

IV. Now, by turning our subject a little, we shall close WITH CERTAIN
INFERENCES. I have, up to now, spoken only to saints, but here is an
inference for seekers. "Be you imitators of God, as dear children."
What do I infer from this? I infer that God is ready to forgive those
who you offended Him! O you that have never been pardoned, listen to
this– the Lord must be ready to forgive! We are to make God our
pattern, but if God were unwilling to forgive, He could not be a
pattern to us! We are to be ready to pass by the offenses of others
and, therefore, if God is set forth as our example, He must certainly
be more ready to forgive than any of us can be!

O you that are covered with sin, I would urge you to catch at this
fact! Suppose I were to bid you imitate your earthly father in frankly
and freely forgiving all who vexed him? Then you might reply, "Do you
know my father?" If I answered, "Yes," you would say, "Is he really a
good example of patience and forgiveness? I offended him some time ago
and I have always been afraid to go to him, lest he should refuse to
receive me." If I could answer, "Yes, your father is an example that
you may safely follow in that respect," then you would reply, "I will
go home to him and tell him that I desire his forgiveness and am sorry
to have caused him pain."

O poor Sinners, you do not know what a forgiving spirit the heavenly
Father has! He gave His Son, Jesus, that He might be able to pass by
our sins and yet be the righteous Judge of men. There have been good
men in the world who have delighted to pass by offenses. Some here
present have been taught of the Lord till it has become easy and
pleasurable to overlook injuries and forget wrongs. But our heavenly
Father is much more kind–and with far more delight blots out the
sinner's iniquities! They said of Cramer that he was more than ready to
forgive, for he always returned good for evil. It was a common saying,
"Do my lord of Canterbury an ill turn and he will be your friend as
long as you live." That was fine, but my lord of Canterbury was nothing
in gentleness compared with the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ!

The holy Leighton, also, was of such a gentle spirit that one day when
he went out for a walk and came back, he could not get into his own
house, for it was locked up and his servant had gone away for a day's
fishing without leave or notice. All the good man said was, "John, next
time you go fishing, please to let me know, or at least leave me the
key, so that I may open the door." That was all. If even men have come
up to such a degree of patience, much more will you find

long-suffering in God! Oh, Trembler, believe that our Father in Heaven
is willing to forgive you! You backsliders, you great sinners, have
right thoughts of God and come to Him at once for reconciliation! There
is forgiveness with Him! "He delights in mercy." "The Lord is good and
ready to forgive."

Christian Friends, is there one among you who thinks God will not keep
His promise to you? Now listen. God is an example to us, therefore He
will surely keep His Word. He must be faithful and true, for you are
bid to copy Him. If God could be false to His Word, we could not be
exhorted to imitate Him and, therefore, we are sure that He is faithful
and true because we are bid to imitate Him closely. You may be sure
that every Word of His will stand fast, for He would have us righteous
and upright in all our ways. "God is not unrighteous to forget your
work and labor of love which you have showed towards His name."

Another inference–only a hint at it–is, if you are told to be
"imitators of God, as dear children," then you may depend upon it, the
Lord is a dear Father! The dear children of God have a dear Father! We
may rest assured that He will be kind and tender to us, since He would
have us loving towards Himself. I know you are heavy in spirit at this
time. I know you are depressed and troubled, but your Father is kind
and good. Believe it if you cannot see it. If reason says that He deals
somewhat harshly with you, for He chastens you, remember that this is
His way with His beloved. Has He not said, "As many as I love I rebuke
and chasten"? Those stripes are seals of love! Chastisement is a high
proof of wise affection! Your heavenly Father is much better to you
than you are to Him. He is dearer, kinder and more loving as a Father
than you have been as a child to Him. Rejoice in your Father though you
cannot rejoice in yourself!

Lastly, when the text says, "Be you imitators of God," it bids us keep
on imitating Him as long as we live! Therefore I conclude that God will
always be to us what He is. He will continue in His love since He makes
that love the example of ours! God will persevere in bringing us home
to Heaven, for He teaches us to persevere and make this a part of our
likeness to Himself. The Lord will not turn His heart away from us. He
will not fail nor be discouraged–having begun to make us meet for
Heaven, He will never stay His hand till that work is done! Rest upon
the immutable goodness of your Father and pray for Grace to always
imitate Him until you come to see His face. May His Presence be with
you and may He give you rest. Amen.