DONT WALK AS THE GENTILE YOU ONCE WERE
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 13 viewsNotes
Transcript
We are teaching through Paul’s Holy Spirit inspired letter to the church at Ephesus and we’re in the 4th chapter this morning.
The title of my sermon is: DON’T WALK AS THE GENTILE YOU ONCE WERE
Text Ephesians 4:17-24
As we come to this 4th chapter, and as James has pointed out, we’ve transitioned into the more practical section of the book. Chapters 1 and 2 as we have seen are more doctrinal in nature. In these chapters we are given doctrinal truths that we would never understand on our own; truths that show us the love that God has for us and what He has done to save us; which is really the basis of our testimony; its not what we have done, but what God has done to save us, as lowly Gentiles, he chose us in Christ before the foundations of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. He predestined us for adoption as His children. He has redeemed us through death of his son, and has forgiven us by his blood that was shed on the cross for us. And when we believed on Jesus, when God opened up our eyes and gave us the gift of faith that we might believe on Him, and having believed, He sealed us with His Holy Spirit as a guarantee of the inheritance that we have in Christ. He has done all of that for us And even more than that. Because as Gentiles we were strangers, to covenants of promise, that were given to the Jews the descendants of Abraham, but not to us. We were without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ we have been brought as near to God as the apostle Paul was to God or any one of the OT or NT saints. We are been built together as a holy temple in the Lord. A dwelling place for the living God. And all of that comes to us from God not as a result of any works that we have, but because of what Christ has done to save us and to create within us a new man, a new creation, zealous of good works.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
This is what God has done for us, and Paul wants us to know this, and the love of God that God has f, or us, and He prays for this at the end of chapter 3, so that as we come to chapter 4: 1, without apology he can say, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
In other words, if God has done all of this for you, then you should live the Christian life in a manner worthy of this great salvation that you have from God. If that doesn’t motivate you to live for Christ, then nothing will.
When I first become a Christian, I attended a church in which the people were motivated in some different ways that this. On one occasion, one of the pastors of the church said he would swallow a gold fish if a certain number of people show up for church that Sunday. Well they did. And everyone cheered or squirmed as swallowed the gold fish. Paul doesn’t provide us with that kind of motivation.
We are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called. In the verses that follow Paul emphasizes the importance of unity (and spiritual maturity) within the church. He tells us we are to maintain (not make) but maintain the unity of the Spirit. He tells us that God has not only given spiritual gifts to the church, but he has gifted the church with apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers v 11 to equip the saints, and to build up of the body of Christ
Which brings us to verses 17-24 our text for today.
Ephesians 4:17-24 read
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
My sermon has three simple points that come from text.
I. YOU MUST NO LONGER WALK AS THE GENTILES DO (vs. 17-19)
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
The word now which begins verse 17 begins translates a Greek word that is most often translated therefore in the NT. The word connects what Paul is about to say which what he has just said. And the obvious connection is that we’ll never grow in spiritual maturity or have unity among us if we’re living like unbelieving gentiles we once were. That would be totally counterproductive. We’ve got to live a different kind of life.
Notice also that Paul’s appeal to no longer walk as an non- Christian is not presented as something optional, or as personal whim of the apostle Paul.
He's not touting his own ideas, or pushing his own agenda; those who reinterpret the bible today, are often heard to say, well that’s just Paul, well it is Paul, but more than Paul, he does say, this I say, and he was an apostle, but he says I testify in the Lord.
The word for testify that Paul uses is strong word which says something must happen. This particular word was used in the courts of that day where a person would give solemn testimony or witness in a court of law.
Notice that Paul testifies, in the Lord, which could be taken to mean as coming from the Lord, Jesus Christ himself; who was speaking in and through him.
Now, the context there in Ephesus is quite remarkable. Ephesus was a city in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and it had one of the seven wonders of the ancient world there, a magnificent temple to Artemis. People came from all over that part of the world to worship there, if we can call it that. Because it was nothing more than a place where people indulged in sexual immorality under the guise of worship.
Some of the believers in the church of Ephesus, perhaps many of them had once part of that.
The city of Ephesus like other cities of that day did not have a good reputation.
I n fact some historians list Ephesus as one of the most licentious cities in Asia Minor
Fifth century Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, referred to Ephesus as the “darkness of vileness,” and said, "The morals there were lower than animals and the inhabitants of Ephesus were only fit to be drowned."
And yet, to this very city that the gospel came as a light shining in a dark place.
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
This is a straight forward command from God through the Apostle Paul not only them but to us.
Peter puts it this way in 1 Peter 4:3-4
For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;
Which is what Paul is telling the believers in Ephesus. He’s telling them that’s its over. The days of visiting the temple of Artemis were over. The days of lying, stealing, slander and gossip and sexual immorality must forever come to an end. You must not live that way anymore. You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. Is it not an option for you as a believer in Jesus.
There is a sense of urgency here. Paul says it that way in
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
“if you live according to the flesh you will die…and in the context that means you will die and go to hell, die forever, eternal death. That’s the life that leads to death. If you live according to the flesh you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live, go to heaven. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God”, these are the children of God, how do we know that they are… because they are being led by the Spirit of God, and how are they being led. They are being led into holiness, they are being led to put sin to death in their life…and in the words of our text, to longer walk as the Gentiles do.
Now to help us understand how we can walk away from this kind of life, and into a life that is worthy of our calling, Paul describes what lies underneath the Gentiles way of life in verses 17-19, and he begins with their minds v17
TEXT Ephesians 4:17
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
1. They walk in the futility of their minds v 17
Notice he does not start with their actions, that will come later. He starts with their thought life, he zeroes in on their minds because if your thinking is off, it will affect everything else. Paul also knows that there’s more to living the Christian life than doing or not doing certain things, because we can do them for the wrong reasons. And so he starts with their minds and the futility of them.
The word for futile in the original Greek means empty and void of purpose, unproductive and unable to accomplish its God’s given purpose,
Theologians refer to the noetic effects sin, which are the effects of Adam’s sin upon our minds, so that our thinking is clouded. We cannot comprehend spiritual truth on our own. We forget things, we believe things that are not true. Our ability to reason has been affected, we rationalize and justify things with our minds. We set our minds on earthly things rather than on heavenly things that matter.
Later in our text we will see that as Christians, we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. The unsaved gentile on the other hand walks in the futility of his mind.
This person may be very intelligent, may be very creative, may be able to solve mathematical equations, but their thinking is futile, that doesn’t mean they’re always wrong or incapable of great achievements, but because they do not have God in their thoughts, they chase after that which is ultimately futile. They’re looking for purpose in life; they’re looking for meaning in life and they continually come up empty. Why is that?
The answer is in verse 18 – Read the verse.
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
Paul is tracing a chain of cause and effect here, which ultimately brings him to the heart of the problem, which is a problem of the heart.
The are darkened in their understanding. A literal reading of the text is is “being darkened in the understanding” and this darkness as is pervasive, so pervasive that a person may even call something good evil, and something evil as good. And you can’t convince them other wise because their understanding is darkened. And their understanding is darkened because they are alienated form the life of God. They have no life in them, because God is not in them. The life of God is missing in them. When God is not in the picture, when He is not taken into account what’s left is impenetrable darkness, in their understanding that only the Spirit of God can get through.
Notice that the reason alienation from God is because of the ignorance that is in them. To put it simply, they don’t know God. They are ignorant of him. Why are they ignorant of him. Is it because no one has ever shared the gospel with them? It’s true that the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us the lest the light of the gospel should shine unto them but there’s more to their ignorance than that they have never heard the gospel, this ignorance is due to the hardness of their hearts.
That’s where the problem lies.
Their hearts are in the wrong place, and because they have a hard heart, there is an ignorance about them, they don’t know God, they are spiritually dead living in a state of alienation from God with a pervasive darkness in their understanding which explains why they walk in the futility of their minds. But fundamentally, the problem lies within the heart. This is what lies underneath the life of the person outside of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:19 they have become calloused, hardened over time by sin and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
I read this past week about the marathon runner from Ethiopia who won the 1960 Olympic Marathon, running on the burning streets of Rome barefoot. He had been running his entire life without shoes and so his feet were completely calloused and he ran better that way. His feet couldn’t feel the heat of the hot pavement because of the callous that had built up on his feet. There is such a thing as a calloused heart. A heart that is insensitive and unresponsive towards God and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. How does callousness set in. By the giving of themselves up to sensuality , greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
We see something similar to what Paul says here in Ephesians 4 with what he says in Romans chapter 1:18—31 NOT ON PPT
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
This is the Gentile way of life. Do you see it? Do you see it for what it is? Is it any wonder that Paul would say… You (as a believer in Jesus) must no longer walk as the Gentiles do . He has saved you from a futile, worthless way of living.
Even if you were saved as a child, all of us began life that way. And would have continued down that pathway were not for the grace of God in in our life and the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by which we have learned of Him and of the truth that is in Him.
In all world where lying and deception are commonplace, where you can even decide for yourself who you are and what you want to be, in a world where even churches are waving the pride flag and are saying holiness doesn’t matter, Paul would tell us in verse 20
But that is not the way you learned Christ!—
Read Verses 20-21
II. (BUT) THAT IS NOT THE WAY YOU LEARNED CHRIST (vs. 20-21)
assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,
They had come to know him. The language is personal. Learned Christ; which doesn’t mean they knew everything there is to know about him, but they had learned of him, which is more than head knowledge, you can know many things about Jesus, all of which may be true, and yet never know him, in a saving way. There is a difference between knowing Him and knowing about him.
The text says they had learned Christ, and were taught in him, it doesn’t say they were taught by him and yet in a sense they were through those who brought the word of God to them and preached Jesus to them.
In Acts 19:24-25 Apollos a Jewish believer who was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He was instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus to them.
Now its interesting that it says he was instructed in the way of the Lord. It wasn’t long after Apollos left Ephesus that Paul arrived on the scene preaching the gospel after him, for almost 3 years Paul ministered in Ephesus and were told in Acts 20:20 that the word of God continued to increase and prevailed mightily. Miracles of healing, evil spirits were coming out of people, lives were being changed, those who sold shrines of Artemis were upset their sales were down and they were losing money.
Acts 20:23 says, there arose no little disturbance concerning the way of the Lord. So when Paul writes to the church of Ephesus this letter, they knew what he was talking about, when he says you did not learn Christ in a way that said it was ok to continue living as you did before you came to Christ.
A gospel that tells you that you can have Jesus and stay in your sin, is a false gospel and is really no gospel at all.
III. GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO A NEW WAY OF LIVING (vs. 22-24)
Which involves three directives or steps, we’ll call them.
v 21… assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Some in church history have taught of kind of a passive holiness. "Let go, and let God" is the slogan they would use. Now there are times in the Christian life There are some times that that slogan may actually capture some of what God calls us to do. But that's not the way holiness is taught in the New Testament. There was a movement called the Keswick movement, Keswick holiness.
And they're saying that basically, if there's any striving, if there's any effort made, you've missed the Christian life, the power of the Christian life. And you need to just kind of let go and let God. It sounds spiritual enough, and there is a place for surrendering something to God and trusting him with the outcome. But let me say this, God will not do for us, what He tells us to do ourselves.
And in this passage God is telling us to be actively involved in the putting off of our old self, are to put on the new self created to be like God . Sandwiched in between is the being renewed in the spirit of our mind.
v. 22 we’re told to put off of our old self ( the person we were before Jesus saved us, and could include anything we brought with us in to the Christian life that needs to put off.
We all brought some stuff with us, some sinful habits, addictions, wrong thinking, regrets, unforgiveness, shame, guilt feelings, debilitating memories, anxiety that can overwhelm us, insecurity, a desire for the approval of others, we bring these things with that were part of our old self that we brought with us in to the Christian life. That need to be put off as well.
I believe Romans 6:6 can be helpful here.
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
This old self was crucified with Christ, It was put on the cross with him. It died with him. Crucified. …in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing.
The body of sin as it is called is the residue of our old sin nature) what which is called the flesh in other places in the bible. We have this flesh, this unredeemed part of us that we still have with us, which has been brought to noting.
The KJV says destroyed. However, the Greek word means to make useless, powerless over us which is the idea here. We can put off that which belongs to our old self because, our old self was on the cross of Jesus with him. And therefore we can have victory over the flesh and sinful tendencies that may reside in us.
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
In verse 23 it says, be renewed in the spirit of your minds.
How do we renew our minds, by the word of God.
Romans 12:2 (ESV) NOT ON PPT
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
And in verse 24 it says we are to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Travis will flesh this out this out for us next week.
But I want to close by saying 1) if you’re here and you would say, I want to know more about Christ. I’m struggling with my sin, I not even sure if I’m a Christian, my mind is confused, sin has taken its toll on me. And I’m not sure what to do about it. We would love to talk with you about that.
For those of us who know Christ has saved us,