Sunday Morning Service

Ephesians 4:17-32

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“Principle And Practice” • 9.1.13 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Last week, we began the second half of Ephesians, dealing now with the behavior of the blessed church on Earth.

- The Apostle reminds us that being sovereignly placed together as an expression of His artistry still requires a great deal of patience with one another!

- While we seek to grow into fully mature believers, it will take patient endurance and love.

- In the section before us, Paul again lays out principle and then moves toward specific practices that are consistent with the life that God intends us to lead. Take a look at verse 17.  

Text

• Ephesians 4:17 : "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind," : Chapter 4 begins with an exhortation to walk worthy of their calling. In verse 17, he augments that by citing what a Christian walk does not look like.

- Paul testifies in the Lord, affirming this as God's will for their lives! You should no longer walk, act or conduct yourself, as the rest of the Gentiles or unbelieving nations do.

- How do they walk? In the futility of their mind.  The KJV has the word "vanity," the NLT uses the phrase "hopeless confusion." The word speaks to perversity.

- Their mind is not straight or devoted to appropriately rendering the truth about life and God. Consequently, their way goes crookedly, perversely through life.

- The thinking of the world is vain and thoughtless toward the ultimate end of their actions.

- Paul does not refer to their intelligence, but their moral and spiritual ignorance of God's purpose for their life! Paul says, "Don't walk that way any longer!" Listen to that phrase.

- There had been a time when the people of the church had been walking that way.

- The Holy Spirit speaks through Paul to the Ephesians and speaks through the page to us: Your life must be different than the world!

- Christianity is not living like you did and adding a little Jesus in. Christianity is Jesus and nothing else! There is no life to be found in the walk of the Gentiles. Paul continues in verse 18.

• Ephesians 4:18 : "having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;" : The unbeliever thinks in the dark or covered in darkness. When Christ is not the center of your life, the lights are out spiritually!

- This is why they think that salvation is "good for you" and why anything else seems to be an equally valid basis of truth toward God.

- The unbelieving are being alienated from the life of God. They are shut out from an intimate relationship from the Lord.

- Being near to God is a profound pleasure and privilege. The unbeliever knows nothing of it!

- Why are they alienated? Because of the ignorance in them and the blindness of their heart.

- Their ignorance is their lack of a moral compass and their blindness is better considered a callous, unfeeling heart, hardened by the pleasure of sin and the ignoring of God's voice to repent.

- There is much more than a simple failure to believe going on here. There are complex layers that cover over the spiritual eyes of the unregenerate.

• Ephesians 4:19 : "who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." : The unbeliever acts the way that they do because they are insensate, unable to feel pain or grief over their own actions.

- The NLT translates it this way: "They have no sense of shame!" They can't feel regret over their actions so they repeatedly deliver themselves over to lewdness.

- Shame is a natural pain reactor, inhibiting us from continuing down a given path. When that is suppressed, there is no limit to how a person can act.

- Lewdness is described as "outrageous," "shameless," "unbridled lust!" There is no bottom rung. What's the result? They work, they profit by or produce all uncleanness with greediness!

- Lewdness is their business! They imagine a foul predicament, write a story, produce a program and live off of the lowest common denominator.

- When that has happened, they are not satisfied. They have to find a lower rung. In fact, they are desperate to find new ways to be unclean.

• Ephesians 4:20,21 : "But you have not so learned Christ,  if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:" : You will not end up living the life that Paul has just been describing by following Jesus Christ!

- If you have heard, or perceived His voice and been taught by Him, you know that the world has none of Him! These actions are the world's lies, but the truth about life is in Jesus Christ!

- The Lord, through His Word and His Holy Spirit, will never contradict Himself and lead you to live a life that is marked by unholiness! What is the truth that Paul speaks of? Look at verse 22.

• Ephesians 4:22-24 : "that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." : Christians have put off, laid aside that which represents the old life.

- If there is nothing "former" about your life, what does that say about your life in Christ? Coming to Christ means leaving things behind! There is no exception!

- The behavior that you lived in before Christ, your conduct must be considered a thing of the past and the person that were, considered an old man!

- The person that you were is worn out, worse for wear. Don't be fooled! He's still around and he still grows corrupt, being seduced by deceitful lusts which promise pleasure but bring more pain!

- You'd think that with such a description, all would run from any activity that would include the old man! We'd stop looking at forbidden things and stop putting ourselves in positions to compromise!

- No, we have to be told over and over again! Put off these patterns from your past and be renewed in the spirit of your mind!

- "Renewed" speaks to a rejuvenating spiritual awakening. It's the exact opposite of what happens with the old corrupt man, who is diving deeper into depravity and paying the price.

- The renewed person is daily refreshed, living in an awe of what God is revealing about life.

- As a non-Christian, you and I were living solely for the appetites of the body, turning our mind's away from the consequences of instinctual living.

- In Christ, it is our mind governed by the Holy Spirit that now governs our body and commands it to conform to Christ! But this too is an action once decided and daily renewed!

- We are to put on, to clothe ourselves with the new man! This new man is entirely unlike the old man, which was fashioned after a fallen man, Adam.

- This new man is fashioned after Jesus Christ, brought into being by God Himself!

- This new man, this new person that we are in Christ, yearns for righteousness and holiness!

- The Holy Spirit within us, the breath of the new man, wants what our old person could never have wanted: To please God!

- You might wish to consider this a litmus test: Do you yearn for holiness and righteousness or do you desire filthiness and rottenness? This is the difference between the new and the old man!

- The new man is saved, the old man is corrupting! There is no middle ground!

• Ephesians 4:25 : "Therefore, putting away lying, 'Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,' for we are members of one another." : Paul has given us the principle. Now for the practice! Since you are a new man, put away lying!

- Stop leaving out details. Stop shading the truth. Stop fudging the numbers!

- Paul intends to speak of lies that are told, but in a broad sense, may also have the sense of lying about who you are and how you live!

- Paul quotes here from Zechariah 8:16, a passage that is millenial in nature. God promises to come and bless them, commanding them first to speak truth with his neighbor.

- The body of Christ is often crippled by those who are living lies. Your sin affects others.

- Our body suffers when you refuse to truthfully submit yourself to Christ!

- Stop saying that you are a Christian when you are choosing to live like hell! Recognize your responsibility to the body that God has placed you in! Speak the truth!

• Ephesians 4:26,27 : "'Be angry, and do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil." : Listen to those words again: Be angry, and do not sin!" There is a time when anger is the proper response for a believer.

- Jesus was angry at those who sought to make it hard for people to come to God's temple. He was angry at religious hypocrites, saving His most harsh words for the Pharisees and Sadducees.

- These things are angering, as are the other injustices that we read about in the news or see with our own eyes. Be angry about these things, but do not sin!

- There is a line that can be crossed with our anger, usually, when we decide to take an action while we are angry. This is missing the mark!

- You'll note that Paul is again quoting from scripture, this time from the book of Psalms, 4:4. In that Psalm, David wonders aloud about the current success of the wicked.

- He wonders "how long" just as we do. He sees it and realizes the frustration, then resolves that frustration with this very phrase.

- What does it go on to say? "Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still." How many of you did this with your anger this week?

- Paul comments on how our anger turns to sin by writing, "do not let the sun go down on your wrath." What does he mean? What if we get angry AFTER the sun has already gone down!?

- We are not meant to follow this literally, but rather analogically. In these ancient days, the sun was their cue to work and their cue to be done with their work.

- Paul is telling them that anger must always be resolved. Give your anger a proper time table. Don't let it control you and don't live with it unresolved. That would be sin and giving the devil room.

- Letting anger go on unresolved and unaddressed is akin to preparing a works space for the devil. You are courdenoning off an area, restricting it for his use in your life!

- Just think about what this means! Imagine that you are angry with a person and you have let that anger fester. It won't be long before you are accusing them in your prayers to God just like Satan!

- As time goes on, the initial offense has grown from "not too bad" to "I can't believe they are that insensitive!" Before long, they have not accidently crossed a line. They ran roughshod over it!

- The enemy is working overtime to trip you up! Don't give the devil a staging area to work!

• Ephesians 4:28 : "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need." : Let the one who is a kleptomaniac stop being one! The NLT says, "If you are a thief, quit stealing!" It's that simple!

- Instead of thinking about himself, let him work, doing what is good, so that he can contribute to others with need.

- This person goes from thinking only of themselves to thinking about how they can personally contribute to the rest of the body! That's the new man!

• Ephesians 4:29 : "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." : You'd be horrified to look at something rotten or putrefied emanating from your own mouth.

- That is the concept here! Don't let rotten words or communication escape your mouth! Does this refer to cursing? Sure. Does it refer to words that tear others down. Definitely.

- James, the half brother of the Lord, tells us that the tongue is a fire, capable of burning down a whole forest! Our words, whether spoken or written, are deadly rotten at times.

- But that doesn't mean the mouth itself is evil, because we can speak what is good and right in order to build someone up! Our words can burn down or build up! Which would you choose?

- Here's a good question: Is what I am about to say gracious to the one listening? Is this going to minister grace to them? This is a good test of whether or not something should be said!

• Ephesians 4:30-32 : "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." Paul tells us finally, "not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God." Do not offend the Holy Spirit of God.

- When Paul employs the word "grieve," it speaks of the response of a family to the loss of a loved one! It is a very intense word.

- The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force. The Holy Spirit can be offended and deeply hurt by Christian people when their actions, attitudes and words are contrary to His work in their life!

- You were sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption! He has come to dwell in you, to prove through you that you belong to Christ!

- Our Christian faith today will eventually be fully experienced when we are with Christ! So don't grieve Him today! How do we grieve Him? By holding onto these attitudes.

- Let them all be put away! There is nothing that he is about to list that is worth keeping!

- Bitterness or bitter hatred. Wrath refers to a slow boiling anger towards others, while anger refers to an impulsive explosion.

- Clamor refers to speaking loudly and harshly and evil speaking is better considered slander. Put them all away with all malice or any other thing which carries a desire to do evil toward another.

- Instead, be kind to one another. Be pleasant and benevolent toward each other. Feel in your gut for each other! Be compassionate!

- And here friends is one of the greatest verses for relationships in the Bible: Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you!

- Notice the tense of that verb: Forgiving! You will never stop forgiving those that you love! You will never stop forgiving God's people that He surrounds you with.

- Your love for them demands that you forgive them because they will offend you! That is a guarantee! But how are we to forgive them? Even as or just as God in Christ forgave you!

- What a statement! Our example is God, who had no reason other than Christ to forgive you, but He has forgiven you in Christ! How then can we withold forgiveness from another?

- Let's say for a second that you have been horribly offended and have been for life. What has happened in your relationship has caused endless grief.

- Did God forgive you for more than that? What you did deserved eternal punishment and He forgave you! Can't you forgive those who have hurt you for a part of your life time?

- You might think that I mean to trivialize what has been done. Wrong! You can forgive and must forgive not because it makes something right, but because it makes you right!

Conclusion
- There is much to process here. Are you a liar or a thief? Are you holding on to bitterness and unforgiveness? These things grieve the Lord. Are they worth that price?

- Today, you will be best served if you take these next moments and examine your own hearts before the Lord. What actions do you need to take immediately?

- If you've spoken a lie, go tell the truth. If you've been sinfully angry, go and confess it. If you've stolen, go restore it.

- A pleasing life with Christ is worth living to the "smallest detail" because it matters to Him.