Ephesians 4 New Man in the New Covenant

Ephesians 4:17-32

Way back in the Old Testament, we see something coming down the line. We see God doing a New Thing for His people.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 - God says that He is going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel and of Judah… That God is going to put His law in their hearts… That they will know their God and they will be His people...

From the greatest to the least… they will know the Lord… And God will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.

Moses sees and points to this day. Jeremiah and Ezekiel see and point to this day… The day would come when God will give them a new heart and a new spirit… There is a day coming, when the Spirit will be poured out… The day when all the nations of the world will be blessed, and light would come to the Gentiles… and that those who are not God’s people… will become God’s people...

And in and through Christ’s work, the Spirit of God comes and makes us new creatures. The Spirit is given to indwell us and to fill us, so that we will know God and glorify Him in all we do.

And now… here we stand in the New Covenant with God. Here we are as new creatures, created in Christ Jesus, for good works. Here we live, in grace, living by God’s mercies...

How shall we live? Yes we get this part: We shall live Out of who we are and where we are as Children of God… How shall we live? Not for salvation, but out of salvation…

Verse 17 - No longer like Gentiles, or unbelievers… right? We shall live no longer in ignorance… Right? Because we know Someone now, and we know the Way, the Truth and the Life… Right?

We shall no longer live in the dark, but in the Light. We shall no longer live like unbelievers, but as we truly are: Children of Light… Children of God.

Romans 1 - There are those who are living to worship creation rather than the Creator. There are those who are exchanging the truth for the lie and are living to please their own selfish desires and pleasures...

There are those who make up their own reality, morality, and they will live to and for themselves...

That is what they are wearing… every day.

Verse 20 - But not us… We have learned from Christ. We have the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, and we know who God is, and we know what is right and what is wrong… We know what pleases Him...

We know what we believe… and we know what to do. We know what to wear… We know how to act...

It is just doing it… that is the trick. That is the challenge.

Why is this challenging?

Romans 7:13-25 - There is the Spirit of God at work in me, and there is sin in me. There is a sinful nature and the Holy Spirit that are warring within us, that causes us to struggle.

We have Christ. We have the New Covenant. We have the Spirit of God and the promises of God. We have the teachings of Christ, and the power of God within us...

And we can… and we will make progress in the Christian walk.

So before you say… “Well, no body is perfect so therefore I am not even going to try… Or you say, Well this is just the way that I am...”

We see here in verses 22-24, that we have a command and responsibility to put off the “old man” and to put on the “new man.”

Well, what does this mean?

We are in this world but we are not called to be of this world. We are to live in this world but wear Christ, act like Christ, act like the new man… in this world.

Church, we have a responsibility to witness to the world with our lives, with our words, actions, attitudes, and overall character...

But we cannot do that by looking like the “old self,” that reflects the world.

We are called to walk out purity and holiness, reflecting who we are in Christ Jesus.

You were once a homeless beggar, living in poverty… But now you have billions and trillions of dollars… Why would we wear smelly clothes, clothes with rot, worms, and all the rest...

Because… that is all we have known… right? That is what we are used to. But now we have stepped out of the grave. Now we have come out of the slums and the pits of darkness. Now we have passed form death to life, into an eternal inheritance from God the Father...

And we still want to dress like… we are dead, and homeless???

No, we take off these clothes, take off the grave clothes… Can you imagine Lazarus coming back for his grave clothes after he became alive and they were taken away… He is said, “I like the way they smell and feel...” Crazy!

No! Living people don’t wear grave clothes that smell like death.

And those who are alive, who walk in the newness of life… We are to wear that on the outside, what we are on the inside… That which reflects Christ.

There is clothing that looks like Christ, that smells like Christ… that when people see you wearing it… They go, “Well, that’s different...”

We are to put away… to take off these… (Point to the dark clothing)

And we are to Put on these… (Point to the Beautiful Clothing)

Put on that which characterize our lives and lifestyles as new creatures in Christ… lifestyles that reflect true righteousness and holiness...

And now we move into some specific behaviors, that are Old Man Clothing… Take these off and leave them off!

Put away lying. Speak the truth to one another. Satan is the father of lies, not Jesus. To wear lies is to look like you came from Satan’s wardrobe/closet. James, the half-brother of Jesus… in the closing of his letter, he says, “Above all, let your yes be yes and your no be no.”

The garment of lies does not come from God. And those who live lifestyles of lying without repentance, they will never into the kingdom of heaven.

Are you a liar? You dress for the devil and are being used by him.

2. Be angry and do not sin. Anger is not sin, in and of itself. God gets angry. Jesus gets angry. But do you wear anger? Does your life reflect a lot of anger, and wrath, outbursts of anger?

You don’t take it off… You wear it wherever you go, and you show it off on a regular basis.

Verse 26 - Do not let the sun go down on your anger.

What does this mean? I can wear anger and stay angry with my spouse or neighbor… up until bed time and then I need to forgive?

No. I have also heard it said that husbands and wives who practice this, do not go to sleep for days...

No, so, what does this mean? James 1:20 - Anger does not produce the righteousness of God… So what must we do? Get rid of it as fast as possible. Throw it off, take it off as soon as possible.

Or else… Or else what?

Verse 27 - Or the devil is going to get a foothold… in my live… in our lives.

If you will dress for the devil… You will get his company.

Verse 31 - Where does bitterness, wrath, anger, loud quarreling, slander, and malice (deliberate intent to cause harm to others, attitude to cause harm) lead us?

It leads you to the devils playground. It will get you into his party. You are being dressed, and you are wearing that which reflects Satan, and his household, and he will use these to steal, kill and destroy… You, your family, your church...

In your Christian inheritance closet… You have a selection to choose from: (Go to the clothes) You have love, grace, mercy, patience, tenderheartedness, forgiveness… all kinds of clothes that reflect the Christ brands of righteousness and holiness...

And these will dress you and keep you from the evil one. These will build you up, these will build up others; these will glorify God and do much good wherever you go and whatever you do.

Satan does not have a foothold, he will not have a place, or an opportunity when you wear these...

When you dress to please God...

So what do we do? We look at what we are wearing… And we make some clothing decisions… We take off and put on, as soon as possible. Everyday, as soon as possible.

We identify what we are to wear, by by going to Christ and His Word. We identity what clothes Christ, and what we should be clothed with… and then...

We Turn from these as throw them off as soon as possible… (point to the clothes of darkness). But its not like we can just burn the closet and remove it forever...

It is a closet that remains in the house (inside us)… But it is a closet that we must turn away from.

Who are you dressing to please?

Are we giving Satan opportunities today? Are we dressing for him?

Are you giving him opportunities with your mouth, your attitude, your lying, your anger, your laziness and apathy?

Are you wearing Satan’s best or God’s best?

Question: Do you ever cringe, or are you ever grieved when men put on dresses and act like women. DO you ever cringe and are ever grieved when women dress and act like men?

Do you ever cringe when children/youth are dressed in inappropriate clothing?

Have you ever been to Walmart, looked around at people were wearing… and you are now scarred for life… and you even hate to take your kids in there??? Because you just don’t know what you will see...

We look at these people, these image bearers of God… and we are grieved over what they chose to do and what they choose to wear...

Listen: When we wear… when we put on and act the old man out… When we put on lying, anger, laziness, hate, bitterness, evil speaking, slander, gossip, with all form of malice...

You grieve the Holy Spirit… Why? You are not dressing for Him in those moments… and this grieves Him...

When you put on that darkness, and His job is to produce greater light… You grieve Him… You quench Him… We hinder His holy working...

And you reap the fruits of His grieving, as you fall into misery… as your family and church falls into misery. You lose the peace… And the Christian life doesn’t feel very good anymore...

And we may not be growing and enjoying the Life of Christ...

When have you ever wore (practiced) lying, anger, laziness, hate, bitterness, evil speaking, slander, gossip, with all form of malice… and your life prospered… and your family, and your relationships, prospered…?

Is that me? Is that you? Who am I dressing to please?

What do we may need to do?

Turn, repent… Throw these things off today! Ask for forgiveness and put on the new man today.

Put on kindness today. Put on forgiveness today. Put on grace and mercy today. Put on love. Put on your work clothes. Put on an attitude of building others up and servanthood.

Run to Christ and His closet and dress to please Him… and see what happens...

Take away the devil’s foothold. Take away his opportunities. And you will find him under your feet as you do so.

But why would we do this? Just to feel better?

What is our motivation? Why dress in this way? Why do we wear the new man and live in this way?

Verse 32 - We do it for Christ. We do it because He wants us to. We do it because we belong to Him and He gets to tells us how to dress. We do it because it honors and glorifies God, and it points others to God. We do it, because we will benefit from the life that comes from the Holy Spirit, and if we quench Him, we will not experience an abundant life...

We do it because… Of what Christ has done for us, and He wore/bore my sin, my shame, guilt and condemnation, and was killed for my sins...

We do it, because we know what He did in order to take away our old man. We know what it took to take away our grave clothes...

And we dare not go back… We dare not go back to that closet that Christ came to take away… So that we can be clothed in His righteousness...

No… I will not wear Satan’s best anymore!

I will put on Christ’s best, and show off His wardrobe wherever I go.

Because He is worthy.

Put off the Old Man and Put On the New Man.

Invitation.

Communion.

Prayer.

Song.

Prayer.