Untitled Sermon (3)

The Everyday War: The Old and New Man

daniel barta / General

Introduction

My Aim

That we would be a people who more consistently put off the old man and put on the new.

Scripture

Ephesians 4:17–32 ESV

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. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Prayer

Three Promised Outcomes

There are three promised outcomes to us that are conditioned on our consistently, putting to death the old man and walking in the new.

1) Joy-Filled Fellowship

The first outcome we see in the text is the experience of joy filled fellowship which we see in Ephesians 4:17-25. A community that knows kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, unity rather than division, love, and joy is a community formed by individuals who put to death the old man, and determine to walk in the new. If we fail to lay aside, the old man we will never achieve or experience the sweet fellowship made possible by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The old man sets us against one another while the new man aligns us with each other, and with our head Jesus Christ.

2) Glory of Jesus Christ

The second outcome we see in the text is the glory of Jesus Christ. The old man knows not the glory of God. The old man does not desire t he glory of God, and the old man will always fail to reflect the glory of God. On the other hand, the new man sees the glory of God, delights in the glory of God, and takes pleasure in reflecting the glory of God. Our enemies see the glory of God as we forgive them as Christ has forgiven us. How will our children know the patience of God? They will see the patience of God as we walking in the new men are patient with them. How will those in your Missional Community come to know the heart of Jesus Christ is gentle and lowly? They will know as they see and experience your kindness and gentleness and lowly service towards them.

3) True Liberation

The third outcome we see in the text for those who lay aside the old man and walk in the new is true liberation. the old man is bound and held captive by deceitful desires, a hostility in the heart towards God. The old man is like a caged eagle with clipped wings. To put off the old man and put on the new man is to discover renewed wings to burst forth from the cage, and just soar with freedom as Eagles were designed to do. We see this towards the end of verse 24. The new man is created after the image of Jesus Christ. To walk in the new man is to walk in God’s image. It is to walk in our original design. God made man in his image. Sin has led to our fall from our original glory, but God by the power of his spirit, living inside of us, frees us from the bondage of the old man, and gives us power to walk in the glory For which we were created.

Christ Fellowship Northwest for these reasons I’ll aim for your regularly, putting aside the old man and picking up or putting on the new. I desire, and pray that your home would be a pleasant oasis where love and joy and peace and unity and intimacy and oneness are experienced. I pray that your neighbors will encounter the hands and feet and heart of Christ as they encounter you, dead to self, but alive in Christ. I long with great passion, and I toil with great sweat and I pray with great tears that you, Christ Fellowship Northwest would know the freedom of living in the glory for which you were created that you would soar above the sin, muck and mire of this world, and that you would not settle for the brokenness of darkness, and that you would walk in the blessed freedom of truth and light.

These outcomes are great promises but they are conditioned on your walking in the new man and putting off the old.

To help us do so, I must show you several truths about this struggle.

The Truth about the War

1) The Struggle Takes Place on a Battle Field

The difference between the church and the world is not that the old self has completely gone away but that the new man has come. There is in us a real battle that rages between the old man of the flesh and the new man of the Spirit. Notice how Paul describes this war which rages inside each one of us.

Galatians 5:16–17 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

If you are a believer this morning there is a war going on inside your very own person. On one side the Spirit dwells and by His grace you know a desire for God’s glory, you know a desire for righteousness, a longing for loving joy-filled fellowship, an appetite for communion with God, and a wanting to act and do justly. On the other side, the desires of your flesh run in the opposite direction. Your fleshly passions flee from the glory of God. They pull you in rebellion toward self-interest and fleeting pleasures that are sweet in the mouth but bitter in the stomach.

What you and I must understand is that the conflict we know as Christians between the flesh and the Spirit is less a kin to two friends with differing opinions about what is right and good And more akin to bitter rivals who will not rest until the other is defeated. This conflict is less akin to colleagues who choose alternative lifestyles outside of the office and it is more akin the hatred and hostility driving Hamas to brutally and mercilessly seek the end of the Israeli nation-state.

Our church we have a clear and well articulated purpose - to make disciples, leaders, and church from the upstate of SC to the ends of the earth so that Jesus is known and worshipped. We value and desire to know Christ, we want to see our neighbors loved well, we pursue the increase of God’s glory as we share the good news of Christ death, burial, and resurrection, and we make great sacrifice while seeking to live connected to each other in relationships full of joy and love. But, we must recognize here today that standing in the way of all of these aims is the raging flesh that each one of us battle to this day. We have an enemy that sits lurking in the shadows, ready to exercise dominion over us. This enemy hates the glory of God, and it rages against the Spirit. That enemy is not outside of us, it is within. It must be put to death. It must be put off. If the flesh is allowed to remain, if we will walk in the flesh, the glory of God will not be seen, the love of God will not be known, and the glory of the church will not be realized.

2) The Struggle Takes Place in the Ordinary and the Extraordinary

We can all imagine moments of great weight when the battle between our flesh and the spirit rages with a great intensity, and the consequences, determined by which side wins out are of great ramifications. I think of moments such as the one Joseph faced back in the book of Genesis. I imagine for Joseph, that running from Potiphar's wife was not an easy thing to do. Joseph was an unmarried man with desires just as any one of us. I imagine she was attractive and had worked her seductive plan to draw him into her bed. I imagine Joseph experienced an intense battle inside of him. I imagine he fled leaving his coat not because he was unfazed or unaffected by her advancements but because he knew well how weak his flesh was.

I also think of David, the king after God’s own heart, whose fleshly desires were aroused at the site of Bathsheba bathing on a roof top. Unlike in Joseph, the desires of David’s flesh won out. His desires gave birth to sin and his sin let to the death of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah, the death of David’s child, and the death of many soldiers in David’s army.

I also think of Jesus. There in the wilderness with the type of hunger pains you experience after not eating for 40 days. Surely the sounds of warm homemade bread appealed to his desires. Surely his appetite was stirred up as Satan pushed a stone toward Him and invited Him to turn the stone into bread. But, Jesus did not. Thankfully He stood strong. He passed the test unlike Adam. But if He had not, much would have been lost.

Often we think of the battle raging in us in moments of great desire and great consequences such as this. And be sure that each one of us will encounter great temptations. Moments in which our desires are intense and much hangs in balance. But, we must also remember that this battle rages on not only in the extraordinary but also in the ordinary moments.

It is to this ordinary moments, that Paul calls our attention. Eph. 4:25-32

Ephesians 4:25–32 ESV

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Truth or Lie

The first battle site he calls us to is the battle to speak the truth. Each one of us knows the real struggle to speak and deal honestly especially when it might cost us. Each one of us knows the temptation to call in to work claiming a sick day when in reality, we just want an extra day of vacation. Is not each one of us guilty of fabricating a reason for our failure which paints us in a better light or preserves our preferred reputation in the eyes of others.

I remember as a young husband driving home to see Jessie for the first time in awhile. I had been away and it had been a really long week. She was working in those days and so we just had barely seen each other. Finally, we were going to get to have dinner and spend time together, and on the way home we were talking on the phone and she asked me about a couple of things that I said I would do. In that moment, I had a decision to make. I could tell the truth and run the risk of making her upset and worse yet ruin our date night or I could ignore her and pretend I didn’t hear her.

Like a terrible husband I pretended not to hear her and just brought up another subject. It was not long after though she asked again. So I had to respond. I was either going to tell the truth, that I had forgotten and got busy doing important things like playing golf and watching sports or I could fabricate a reason, I could blame my failure on this or the other thing, present a pitiful excuse and hope she bought it. Telling the truth, being forthright, and honest ran the risk of derailing our evening. We encounter moments like this daily.

Anger

Ephesians 4:26 ESV

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Have you ever been angry. I do not think Paul has in mind righteous anger or evil anger. I think he points us to that emotion we experience when we feel attacked, opposed, threatened, and offended. This is that desire in us that rises up to stand our ground, defend ours, to go on offense, and Bow up against another who we perceive have postured themselves against us. Anger tempts us in all different directions. How often do we sin with our tongues out of anger? Do we not often justify or own acts of injustice by focussing on the offense committed against us.

Is it not true that anger stirs in extraordinary moments and also in the ordinary. I have sat with spouses filled with anger after learning their spouse committed adultery. The battle raging internally at these moments knows an intensity perhaps only those in this situation may understand. The instruction to refrain from sin while knowing and experiencing such intense anger is not for the weak.

At the same time we all know the real struggle between the flesh and the spirit in every day ordinary moments. The sometimes knows anger at the simple discovery that her husband dish washer the proper way. Those of you in managerial positions might experience anger after the repeated tardiness or careless mistake of an employee. If you are like me you get angry every time Chris Justus lies about the weather forecast and you along with your family are all huddled inside the safest room in the house for no apparent reason.

Covetousness

Ephesians 4:28 ESV

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

What drives a thief? Is it not covetousness ? To covet is to want for yourself what another has. The thieve looks out and takes note of what he does not have. Then he takes action to obtain it. Sometimes the coveting one steals. This is seen in extraordinary examples such as the robbery of a bank or the intricate plot of criminals to take a prized diamond from a well guarded vault. It is also seen in the elementary aged child who see the candy so intentionally displayed at eye level in the check out line. The flesh covets what the eye sees and so the child reaches out takes the candy and slips it into her pocket.

Covetousness does not only show up in thievery, it may also lead to dishonest work, laziness, and inactivity. Covetousness has a way of paralyzing and defeating us. We covet our neighbors instagram worthy home, but we arrive at the conclusion we will never obtain such simple cleanliness and put togetherness. We covet another’s physical fitness, another’s career path, another’s financial freedom, another’s giftedness, and another’s place of influence and esteem among our peers. Rather than stirring us to labor well, to get up and make our home better places, to go to the gym and make better choices around food, to develop better habits and choice withe money we do have, to cultivate our own talents and gifts, covetousness often paralyzes us. We waste so much time sitting around peering into the covet worthy lives of others as we scroll through social media leaving us crushed by a sense of despair and unwilling to get up and do the hard work in front of us.

Covetousness tempts us in another way and that is in the labor of self interest. Notice what Paul said. Don’t steal but work hard so that you can serve others. It is possible that those who labor hard are the best employees, the most faithful church members the instagram celebrated moms and wives and the ideals dads are individuals driven by covetousness. The want what the don’t have and so the work. They labor and toil and they meet needs and perfect their skills. They have zero % body fat, they journal their prayers and have a note filled bible, they show up early for work, they don’t cut corners and they are disciplined in their spending. They spend all day meeting the needs of their children and then somehow find away to serve the oldest child soccer team and then give attention to their husbands. they wear themselves out being awesome all to obtain and maintain what they covet. Do we know not this battle every day . Is Covetousness not crouching always at the door ready to master us in almost every conversation?

The Struggle Shows Itself in Our Words

Ephesians 4:29 ESV

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Our mouths reveal our hearts.

Luke 6:45 (ESV)

45 out of the abundance of the heart [your] mouth speaks.

Notice the contrast Paul makes. The old man utters corrupting words. Words that sour others. Words that demoralize, belittle, discourage, wound, offend, and destroy. Paul here is getting at one of the basic realities of our sinfulness. Our flesh experiences desires. Our desires compete with the desires of others. Our desires run into obstacles and often those obstacles are people. The corrupt and deceitful desires of our flesh have a way of turning our closest friends into hostile enemies within a moments time.

The anger in our hearts, the coveting lusts within our bodies, quickly identifies our perceived enemies. Soon after, our mouths lock in on the target, and from our tongues comes missiles calculated to land with precision. We with our tongues deceive, manipulate, abuse, control, and beat into submission. If these are not enough to get compliance from others with our desires, we turn to slander. We falsely accuse. We paint the other in the worst possible light so that we come out on top.

For some who are more emotive, this might include harsh words, a raised voice, a red face, threats of retaliation or aggressive action, for others who are more calculated this might mean bringing up an old wound that was supposedly forgiven years ago, a pointed remark about the others own shortcomings or insecurities, or even a long period of the manipulative tactic known as the silent treatment. For some who “don’t like confrontation” it may mean intentionally turning the opinions of others against the perceived opponent - to strategically recruit others to your side by controlling the narrative of the ongoing conflict.

Pauls says to you and me, “Do you want to know who is winning the battle at any given moment? Do you want to step back and evaluate which man - the old or the new - you are walking in? Stop and consider your words.” How have you spoken about or to your husband this morning? What have you said about those volunteers who showed up late this morning? What words did your children hear this morning when they disrupted your quiet time? What did you say about those parents whose kids almost knocked you over in the hallway?

Did you control your tongue? Did you recognize the flesh when it was stirred and irritated? Did you put it to death and lay it aside? Did you speak only what fit the occasion to build up. Did what you say serve as grace to the hearer? Did your mouth help or hinder? Were your words the overflow of a kind, gentle, and tender hearted new man made after the image of Christ? Or were they the product of a heart full of bitterness, wrath, anger, covetousness, and deceitfulness.

The Struggle Is Fought within Community

The fact that this struggle between the old man and the new man exist within each one of us who are bound together into one body - that we belong to this community in which this war rages, several implications must be made.

You Must Take Responsibility for Yourself.

First, Paul would say to us that you and I responsible for our sin. You and I, we have agency. We make real choices to act on our desires and to speak from our our evil hearts. And, we are responsible for such works and their effects in the world. We have a tendency in our culture to clear men including ourselves of our guilt and responsibility by denying our agency. We blame evil actions such as mass shootings on “mental illness.” How do we explain such evil? Mental illness is to blame. We have those in high positions of power and influence who see the great evil done in Israel on Oct. 7, and rather than condemning Hamas’ actions and supporting ISrael in holding them accountable, they excuse the brutality by blaming the plight of the Palestinian. What can we expect from Palestinians? We cannot expect them to do any differently than what they did because of what has in the past been done against them.

Unlike the culture, the Bible leaves agency with man. It requires men to discern the thoughts and desires of their hearts, to discern what is of the Spirit and what is of the flesh and then to put to death what is evil and to walk in what is good. Your fearfulness does not excuse your telling a lie. Your return to the filfth of pornography cannot be blamed on addiction. Your adultery cannot be excused by your spouses neglect of your emotional and physical needs. Your thievery cannot be blamed on an unjust system of government. Your unhealthy eating relationship with food cannot be blamed on genetics or addictive ingredients. You cannot blame your failure to care for, nurture, and pursue your bride on the overbearing demands of your boss.

Paul here removes all grounds form blameshifting. He puts responsibility on the individual. He says to you and I, pay attention to the war inside of you. DIscern what is right and what is wrong and the cut out all that is ungodly.

This is my responsibility. THis is your responsibility. In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, we must walk in righteousness and to do so we must make war on the flesh.

We Must Take Responsibility for Others

We now have over 100 members at CFNW, and in each one of them the flesh rages a war against the Spirit. As I look out, I cannot see now the exact struggle going on in each of your hearts, but I know it is there. I also know that eternity is at stake. Sin is seeking to rule over each one this morning just as it crouched at the door ready to master and enslave Cain back in Genesis 4. The enemy is deceptive and near and ready to take the one sitting next to you.

To sit idly by while your neighbor lives in such present danger is both disobedient and callous. If you were to here our home was being invaded and me and my family were in danger and you were near enough you would do everything you could to help us, to preserve us, to protect us and to sustain us. How much more eager should you be to take care of the souls in this room. The invader in our home might take the life out of this body, but the sin your your neighbor may suck the life out of his soul. Church, we must wake up, look around, acknowledge the threat and then actively come alongside others for the sake of make war against the sin which sits with us at every moment.

We Must Make War with the Weapon God Has Provided - The Gospel of Jesus

Ephesians 4:20–21 ESV

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,

In the midst of this battle which rages, Paul returns our minds to Christ. He says look at Christ. Behold Christ.

You were once ignorant and in darkness; But Christ has given you sight. He Has opened your eyes. You have seen the glory of God. Don’t go back to the darkness remain in the light. Remember the pleasures of Christ before you return to the pleasures of this world.

You were once alienated from God. Excluded from His table. Isolated from the joyful love and fellowship of the divine. BUt Christ has brought you near. He has given you a room in God’s house and a seat at God’s table. You have acces to the king of the universe don’t go to the pig slop. Don’t exchange the glory of Jesus for the glory of creaturely thing any longer. Remember Christ!

You were once hard and hostile in your heart toward God and man. You knew division and rivalry and war. But now you know Christ! You have tasted his sweetness. You know the joy of loving community with the saints. You have rejoiced with the psalmist, “How sweet it is for brothers to dwell in unity!” Don’t listen again to your flesh. Don’t enter into conflict again. Remember Christ and put to death the decietful desires along with all their unrighteous deeds!

Dear friends, brothers and sisters the way we are to make war against sin is not a recycled list of do’s and don’ts. The struggle will not be won by accumulation of theological knowledge and doctrinal precision. The battle is fought and won by seeking, seeing, and behold Christ in all his glory. This is why we must withdraw from other to be alone with Christ and His Word. This is why we must speak of Christ in public, this is why we must write about Christ, preach about Christ, commune with Christ, and gather together and sing about Christ, search for Christ, exalt Christ. We must learn to turn our eyes upon Jesus and then we must love our fellow brothers and sister well by lifting their eyes upward away from the things of this world and onto the glories of Christ!

The Struggle Has an Expiration Date

we have been sealed. Glory is coming

therefore , get up and fight church

rejoice with Paul

Romans 7:21–25 ESV

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Invite unbelievers.