Be Different
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17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned
21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Well Tomorrow is a Big day in Trinidad and Tobago.
In fact it’s not just tomorrow but Tuesday as well
These 2 days are probably the most anticipated events for Trinis both here an abroad
As they say - It is going to be the Mother of all Carnivals
Some people were calling for it to be cancelled due to the Covid but according to our leaders it will continue
But for most people - this is a time that they look forward to
How are we the church supposed to respond to these 2 days
What are we supposed to do ?
Should we join in or should we stay out of these events ?
Today I would like to speak to us on BEING DIFFERENT
In spite of the culture around us - God is calling his people to be different
We were born to stand out
The famous motivational speaker Earl Nightingale said The opposite is not cowardice, the opposite of courage is conformity- people behaving like everyone else.
These 2 days ahead of us is one of great temptation for a lot of Christians
Are we going to conform or live as transformed individuals
Now I was listening to Sister Susan on Thursday and she was speaking about Christian people and she try to distance herself from that Christian name because of the way how a lot of Christians are today
You cannot tell the difference between them and the World
Christians today are conforming to the culture.
God is calling us to live as transformed individuals.
We cannot be calling ourselves Christians and living like the culture around us which is under the influence of the Devil.
COME OUT FROM AMONG them - says the Lord.
We in this world but we are not of this world.
God is calling us to be different.
Throughout the Bible for Genesis straight unto Revelation God always reminds his people that they are different and are to be distinct from those around them
Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Today I want to remind you that God wants you different because he has made a difference.
I am sure that all of you can testify today that God made a difference in your life
He saved you, he sanctified you
Paul knew that he couldn’t walk away from God after his experience on that Damascus Road
It would be an insult to walk away from him and go back to his own way of life of killing Christians
You cannot go back to your own way of life after God delivered you
Some of you listening to me can remember the days when you used to drink rum and get drunk and then get in a lot of trouble
Some of you remember when you were such a selfish person and couldn’t care about anyone else but then gave you a new heart of love and care
Some of you can remember when you were addicted to pornography and was doing a lot of wrong things in previous relationships but God set you free
Some of you used to do terrible things in your school days that if mommy and daddy find out about it will bring great shame
But here’s the thing
God deliverd you from those things and he set you free
You can’t go back there because you are a different person, you are a changed person
God made a difference in your life
There is a popular song that we sing in church and maybe after the sermon we can sing it
It’s called I know who I am
We are a chosen generation
We've been called forth to show His excellence
All I require for life, God has given me
And I know who I am
We are a chosen generation
We've been called forth to show His excellence
All I require for life, God has given me
For I know who I am
I know who God says I am, what He says I am
Where He says I'm at, I know who I am
I know who God says I am, what He says I am
Where He says I'm at, I know who I am
I'm working in power, I'm working miracles
I live a life of favour, for I know who I am
We have been singing that song in this church for years
Christian people all over have been singing that song for years but the key question is
Do we really know who we are?
Do Christian people really know who they are?
During these coming days you will see that for a lot of people in the church today
They don’t know who they are serving
They don’t know who they are
They want the best of both worlds
They want God and they want Bacchus - the God of wine and revelry
That cannot work
Thats like a bf telling his girlfriend you are not the only girl I like. It have other girls who I like
It have plenty fellas nowadays liming more than 1 girl at the same time
Guess what - That can’t work
You can’t be in love with God and Bacchus at the same time
They represent 2 different kingdoms
They are enemies of each other
You can’t go in the voting booth and put your x by the pnm and the UNC
it will be void
God is calling his people to wake up during this time of carnival
Be different
Be set apart,
Don’t follow the ways and the custims of this world
We follow the Word not the World
Our lives are under the authority of Scripture
Background
Background
When we read the Book of Ephesians we see Paul is basically telling the church of Ephesus about how they ought to live as Believers
He gives practical guidelines of what they ought to do and what they ought not to do
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
We see 2 major Characteristics in this simple verse about how we ought to be described by people
We need to be a Holy people and we need to be blameless.
We live in a pagan world and culture that is unholy and they are not blameless but we his people ought to be holy and blameless.
We ought to be different because he has made a difference in our lives
From verse 17 he gives us Instructions for Christian living or showing us what the New life looks like as a Believer
Firstly we need to
Take Off The Old Man
Take Off The Old Man
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
We have heard the saying, “Clothes make the man.” Of course that is not true physically, but it is true spiritually. When you become a Christian, you get a new set of clothes. You are clothed in Christ, and these clothes make the man (or woman).
Believers are called to live out their new identity in Christ with a lifestyle that is different from the world and different from their past.
Paul was very strong in his message to these Ephesians
He didnt want them living the way they used to live
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
You see there was a time when they followed the ways of the world and the Devil’s Kingdom.
But it’s only disobedient people who are under that spirit of the World
What we are seeing today in Trinidad that is rampant is a Spirit that is not the Holy Spirit
The kinds of things that are happening in these fetes and these parties are not of God
I know many people may not like to hear these things but it is the truth
We need to put off that old way of living.
If you call yourself a Christian but cant stand the worship music on Sunday but love the Music on Machel Monday then you need to check yourself
Some people consider Machel the God of Modern Soca - Machel have a song called The Spirit - Machel in the song say when the spirit tell you raise your hand you have to raise your hand - What Spirit is Machel Montano talking about....
Are we in God’s Kingdom or the Soca Kingdom
We need to shine as line in the midst of all this darkness that is around us
While most people holding up a beer these days - you hold up a Bible and say thus saieth the Lord
I was doing some reading recently from the Book of Kings and 1 thing that stands out throughout that Book is
Whenever the kings or priests led the people into sin, God sent faithful prophets to warn them and to call them back to God.
Jehu was such a prophet; he was not afraid to give God’s message of judgment to evil King Baasha.
Are we today willing to take our stand against evil, or do we just drift with the crowd?
Are we willing to go against this Carnival Crowd over these 2 days or are we going to flow in the Spirit of Carnival.
We need more people like Jehu who will stand up and call sin sin!!!
Today people get vex if you preach a sermon on repentance but that was the kind of sermons that Jesus preached.
We need to take a stand because we are different from the rest of this world.
You know years ago if a Christian wanted to go a fete they will hide and do it because they don’t want the church to know.
Nowadays I seeing people who are identified with the church - posting it boldly how they went to this fete and this party.
It seems they do it without any form of guilt of going to these kinds of fetes.
Have you heard of the names of some of these fetes.
It have a famous fete called Stink and Dutty.
Another one is called Jam Naked
The sad thing is I am hearing that it have Christian people who want to go to those ones
I mean those names alone should be a big turn off
I realized something recently and that is names people choose can have great meaning behind it
Don’t take names lightly
Last year we went to play a cricket match against a team called Out and Bad
Well to tell you the truth the team lived up to its name
When they out they get on bad
Names are important
If you are not turned off but turned on by names such as Stink and Dutty and Jam Naked then you need to check yourself.
We are called to be different
Characteristics of Gentile Lifestyle
Characteristics of Gentile Lifestyle
18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
1. WRONG THINKING
When God has to change a man he needs to deal with his thinking. Before we found Christ we had stinking thinking.
People say Christians are brain washed but what they dont realise is that they need their brains to be washed
It is our thinking that drives our behaviour
Talk about a man who thinking about a married woman
When I started to go youth group for the first time there was a theme verse at the time
It was Php 4:8
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
They know that our thoughts shaped our lifestyle. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he
Salvation begins with repentance which is a change of mind.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Nine: Take off the Graveclothes! (Ephesians 4:17–32)
The whole outlook of a person changes when he trusts Christ
If someone says they are a Christian and there is not a little change in their lifestyle then I would say no conversion took place
Nobody is saying that you will be perfect but we should see someone changing or making attempts to change their pattern of life
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Nine: Take off the Graveclothes! (Ephesians 4:17–32)
The unsaved man’s thinking is futile because it is darkened. He thinks he is enlightened because he rejects the Bible and believes the latest philosophies, when in reality he is in the dark
Their thinking of the Bible is that it is foolish.
Only foolish people will read the Bible
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
People God wants us different because he has made a difference
19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
2. SPIRITUALLY DEAD
Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Chapter 4
After Dr. Donald Barnhouse, the classic preacher from a generation ago, shared a message about the repercussions of sin, a young man approached him and said, “I sin, but it doesn’t seem to matter at all. I’m not haunted by it. I don’t get depressed about it. It doesn’t bother me a bit.”
Dr. Barnhouse looked at him and said, “Tell me, son, what would happen if I dropped an eight-hundred-pound weight on the body of a dead man? Would he feel it? Would he be in pain? Would it bother him?”
“Of course not,” said the young man.
“That’s the point,” said Dr. Barnhouse. “If you don’t feel the weight of sin, if it’s not heavy upon you, if it’s not having an impact on you, it’s because you’re spiritually dead.”
Sorry to say this but even among Church people we have a lot of Spiritually Dead people in our congregations
They can live in sin, pratice the worst of things and still not care
Any time we reach the stage where our conscience no longer bothers us we in deep trouble spiritually
They have lost all sensitivity
It seems they don’t feel any sort of conviction from the Holy Spirit any more
I not perfect at all but when I do wrong my conscience does bother me
It should you as well
The Bible says they have lost all sensitivity.
Then it says such people have given themselves over to sensuality
This is what Carnival is about
Sensuality is all about these lewd behavior, lowest morals possible
This wine and jam thing that taking place these days
It is sensuality
The Bible also mentions they indulging in every kind of impurity
Doing all these wrong things - that are disgusting
Men with men, women with women, women with a horse .
All these kinds of things that happening right now
It is sin, it is wrong,
If we engaging in these kinds of acts we are spirtually dead
These are the things that were happening in Ephesus
It might sound like Paul being very dramatic but we need to understand the culture that surrounded the believers in Ephesus.
When you do a little research on the background of Ephesians you learn
Ephesians Living as a New Person / 4:17–5:5
The temple to the goddess Artemis (the Roman name was Diana) stood in Ephesus
Ephesians Living as a New Person / 4:17–5:5
Artemis was the goddess of fertility in women, animals, and nature. On occasion, human sacrifices were given to Artemis. She was believed to be a moon goddess who helped women in childbirth
Ephesians Living as a New Person / 4:17–5:5
One month every year was devoted to ceremonies honoring Artemis. A carnival atmosphere that included concerts, feasts, athletic games, and plays created opportunities for immorality, drunkenness, and sensuality. To the Jews, worship at the temple of Artemis was extremely corrupt. Christians, as well, were not to take part in its practices.
In Trinidad we have similar things happening tomorrow and Tuesday
We have Bacchus right now. People throwing waist like dust bin tomorrow.
Covid going to be skyrocketing soon.
Talk about Camp and Sports
Sister Susan say Don’t let people have to say that’s a Christian ?? Need to wake up!!!
This is not the lifestyle we were taught
This is not the lifestyle we were taught
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned
21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
Ephesians (Living as a New Person / 4:17–5:5)
To know Christ is the greatest knowledge that anyone can have. That knowledge is the truth; that knowledge opposes what the evil world teaches and celebrates. Therefore, what the Ephesians and the other believers were taught should make all the difference in their lifestyles.
I am saying the same to us in Gospel Lighthouse -
We who coming into this church years now
The Sunday School teachers, the youth leaders, the Pastors of our church
They never taught us to live that kind of lifestyle
Growing up In Sunday School - Bro Ray and Sister Eterlyn didnt teach us to live like pagans
Neisha and Danny in youth group didnt teach us to go wining on a woman
Pastor Mario and Sister Hannipha never taught us to live lives contrary to what the Bible says
It is not what we were taught
They taught us about knowing God and living for him
But you see knowing something is more than just head knowledge. It is not known until we are obedient to it.
Every person who reads scripture or preaches the Word of God in this church will give you good advice on living a godly lifestyle
But at the end of the day - you have to choose for yourself
Whether you will follow the path of Christ or the path of Carnival
Nobody but you can make that decision
There is a saying that God only has children not grand children
Just because your dad is a pastor doesnt mean you get a free ticket to heaven
it doesnt work so
Every man have to make that choice for themselves
Parent’s the greatest thing you can teach your kids is not Physics, Chemistry and Biology - the greatest knowledge is to teach them God’s Word.
We were taught to put away that old way of living - to put of that old self
There is this song that goes
The things I used to do I do them no more,
place i used to go i go them no more
Things I used to say, I say them no more
Cause im born again
We put off that old self
Ephesians Living as a New Person / 4:17–5:5
The “old self” (literally, “old man,” also translated “old nature”) describes each person before he or she comes to know Christ. The person was enslaved to sin, bound to the world, and without hope
A lot of people in the church today still live like their old selves. Their thoughts and behaviors havent changed.
They full of jealousy and anger and gossip which used to be their former way of living.
They want to cause division and tear down people.
Leave that lifestyle for those who still have the old nature.
Be different because he has made a difference
Put on the new man
Put on the new man
23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
We saw a good illustration of this new man and putting on the new man in our pantomime
Where the girl no longer wore black but she wore white instead
You see as Believers we have put on the new man
There is a big difference
You see we need to put of and then we can put on
I might go to bed with a pajamas but when I wake up to go work I will take off my pajamas and put on a shirt and pants
Believers must “put off the old self” (4:22), but then they should follow with two specific actions: (1) to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and (2) to clothe yourselves with the new self.
We need our minds to be renewed
Ephesians Living as a New Person / 4:17–5:5
“to be renewed,” describes a continuous activity. The “self” has been exchanged, but the process of renewal, of becoming like Christ, is a continual daily process
Our minds can be renewed when we learn to spend time in the Word of God
When we learn to discipline ourselves on a daily basis
We also need to clothe ourselves with the new self
This new self is the new relationshio we have with Christ that gives us a new direction in life
When we have this new self we will see a change in behavior
This new self is not a split personality but it is one where we see people with new direction, new attitudes and a different mindset
In a nutshell you see someone who is different because God has made a difference
Application
Application
Some closing remarks
God wants us to live differently from this pagan world
Don’t be influence by the Spirit of Bacchus during these couple of days
Choose to put on the new man and not keep on that old man
Also, let us not be holier than thou and point fingers at those who may be living like the Gentiles
Take these 2 days and pray for those who may have fallen, ask God to show them grace,
God showed you grace and deliverd you from the old man
let us be loving and gracious to those and encourage them to come back on the straight and narrow path
When we read the Bible those Israelites used to do some of the worst things but God would be gracious to them even though he felt at times to wipe them out
God never wiped you out so neither should we wipe anyone else out
May we set proper examples so that others will follow the example as well
Conc: How are you doing in this business of being different? Can you honestly say that you are living a life that is different from the world around you? Can you honestly say that your life displays Jesus Christ to the world?
• If you are like me and you need help with your mind, the place to find help is in the Lord.
• If you are like me and you need help putting off the old man and putting on the new man, the place to find help is in the Lord.
There is not a person in this room who does not need to talk to the Lord about the truth contained in this passage of Scripture.
imagine
imagine
Imagine wat it would look like in our church
in our schools
in our community
End with girl on offering
Be different because God has made a difference