Put on The New Self
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
If you have your Bibles please turn to
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. 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.
As we started looking at last week, this week we are going to dive into more traits of a Christian life. One thing that I have really been praying and thinking about is the notion of belief in Jesus versus following Jesus. There are many people in the world that believe in Jesus but do not actually follow Jesus. I know that this sounds harsh but it is the truth. Last week when I talked about the importance of unity in the Church. When we are looking at the big church, this is probably the number 1 problem. It isn’t about perfection in following but in following Jesus. We must make every effort to do this.
So we go to verse 17 first. We must not live like the gentiles do. The futility means that their thinking is void of useful aim or goal. Paul is telling us that if we are not following Jesus then we have failed to understand the true purpose of our minds. The true purpose of our minds is to receive God’s revelation. Our minds is what separates us from God’s other creations. Now here is the important part of using our minds to receive God’s revelations. When we do that then we have the guidance that we need to live a life that God wants us to live.
There are always two paths in life, and only two paths.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
This is exactly what Paul is talking about. When we are not actively seeking God’s guidance in our lives then we are on the road to destruction. Our hearts will become hardened and we will be separated from God.
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.
Now as we look at the verse. Is this not where we are as a culture right now? The internet has give us the ability to indulge in every thing and to do it to the extreme. When Paul says they are full of greed, he isn’t just referring to money. When we give into sin and when we give into the way that we have as a society. It starts to move into extremes because we can never have enough. It takes over our lives and we go deeper and deeper into it. People must go deeper into sin and impurity. This is why Jesus said that the broad road leads to destruction. That first indulgence is never enough. If you look over the course of history , one of the prevailing charactertics of a falling empire is the indulgence of these hedonestic tendencies. This always leads to the downfall of the family.
That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
This is when following Jesus becomes the most important thing in your life. As I have said before it is the only transformational power that this world knows. If you truly want to change your life then you must give up that life to Jesus. But here is when thought exercises and philosophy, theological debates all go out the window. You must put what you have learned into practice. You must take the truth that you learn from the Bible and do it.
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; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
This is why Jesus is the most counter-cultural person to ever walk the Earth because His kingdom isn’t of this Earth. His is the Kingdom of God. That is where we are called to live in. That is why you are a new creation , Jesus has wiped your slate clean. So many people want a second chance at life and that second chance is right there all the time and people do not take it. Jesus gives you that chance and more than just one chance. All we have to do is follow. Now how we do we that life of Jesus into practice
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
At VMI, they have an honor code, I will not lie, cheat , steal nor tolerate those who do. They will kick people out of the school if someone breaks it. It terrified me for four years. Put off the falsehoods and speak truthfully to people. People use to live by honor, we used to have integrity. What are the core values that you have in your life? That you can fall back on. This is why have our minds fixed on Jesus is so important. We have to be able to that guides us through life, for us to fall back on when we do find ourselves on that broad road.
Now later in Ephesians we are going to talk about the enemy in much greater detail. There are a lot of places that do not want to talk about the devil or demons. They are in the Bible, and they are very real. They want a foothold in your life. This is why our conduct is so important. yes we should be a living testament for Jesus, but also it is to protect ourselves. In your anger do not sin. I have said before, we aren’t to run from our feelings, we aren’t to numb them out with worldly things. We are to confront those feelings and take them to God. If it is anger, He will help. If it is sadness , He will heal it. This is when the rubber hits the road for your faith. When you are angry, what do you do? Do you run back to sinful ways or do you run to the Lord ?Do you run to prayer or do you run to something that is going to cause more problems. When we run to cause more problems the devil is waiting for you, to whisper in your ear.
Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
This isn’t just about stealing items. What do you also do with your time? Do you do something useful with your life? God has given us this one chance to move through this life. The best thing you can do in this life is follow Jesus and help people in need. Help the spiritually broken people, help people find a purpose in their lives. You will be amazed at how your own faith grows when you do this and you will be amazed when you see God working in someone else’s life up and close and personal.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
I’ll be honest, this one drives me crazy. We have love to tear each other down. Even in the church we do it. People invented social media which gives us the ability to talk to anyone, anywhere. What did we do with it? We have to start following this command better. We need to be encouraging each other, challenging each other and building other people up. That is what Jesus did and still does. He builds people up so that they can live the life that God has laid out for them. We need to follow this example more, This is what it means when we looked at speaking truth in love last week. I want what is best for you and what is best for all of us is what God’s says is good.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit is there guiding us until that day when Jesus calls us home. Some people call it a conscience or some even call it their gut. I got a gut feeling about this. It is the Holy Spirit guiding us all day, each and every day. We need to listen to Him. He is there to help us, please do not ignore Him. Listen to Him. He will prevent that foothold that the devil is searching for.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
These are vices that are told to get out of our lives. Then main one that I want to focus on is bitterness. Bitterness is a disease that unless we take it out of our lives it will spread to every part of our lives.
Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it.
Bitterness paralyzes life; love empowers it.
Bitterness sickens life; love heals it.
Bitterness blinds life; love anoints its eyes.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
Bitterness will stop your life in place and it will cloud your judgement in all areas of your life. You have to take that bitterness to God. You have to deal with it and have God heal it.
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
I want to be a person that practices this verse and not the person that is part of the bitterness and rage. Removing sinful behaviors is not easy, it is a battle each and every day. However it is about doing the things that Jesus wants to us to do. If you are moving closer to Jesus then you will be removing those sins along the way.
So as we move into our time for house of prayer. If there is some kind of foothold in your life or bitterness in your life. I would encourage you to come forward and we can pray together as we lay hands.
Let us pray.
