Change of Clothes

I remember about 7 years ago I was a Freshman at Olivet Nazarene University and I was also a swimmer at the time.

And as a college freshman you get to campus early and you are having a blast

Classes haven’t started

You are meeting a ton of people

You are staying up late

You already start working on the freshman 15 by not eating very well.

And I remember it was awesome. But I also remember as classes were getting ready to start my swim coach called all the freshman in for a meeting.

And basically in this meeting her called us all together and said look I know you guys are having fun and living college life.

But as soon as classes start your life is going to look drastically different.

Because you are not staying up late anymore, You have practice at 6 and then again later.

You are not going to be hanging around all the time anymore because you are going to be studying for classes and getting good grades

And you are definitely not going to be eating junk food,

And really throughout this talk what He was saying is your life is not going to look like a regular college students life, but its going to be very different

but he also said when we make it to the National championship you will not regret for one moment, how you decided to spend your time

And really today the passage we are in talks about a similar concept because it talks about how if we are a Christian or we say yes I confess God as my lord and savior, then it means that our life should look extremely different.

And really Paul is going to tell us what that life should look like and really throughout the entire thing he is saying you will not regret living this way.

So we are in Ephesians 4:17-32 and as I mentioned we are continuing our series in the book of Ephesians where we have been looking at our identity and really how our identity plays out practically in our lives.

So once again we are in Ephesians 4:17-32 and we are just starting out in the first few verses which say this:

Ephesians 4:17–24 (NIV)

Instructions for Christian Living

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.

Basically Paul is talking to these people who are new followers of Christ and He is saying look the way you live now is drastically different then before.

And really what Paul says in this letter to the people he is writing to still true for us today.

Because Paul tells us that if we look back on the life you lived prior to Christ it was different.

And really he says that we were seperated from where God wanted us

And because of this our life was full of awful things.

Things that actually are not life giving, but can cause harm to our life.

And Paul actually says that a lot of us we did not even realize how bad our life was.

He actually says our heart was hardend, meaning the center of who we were was not what God desired.

But Paul tells us that when we accepted Christ our life changed.

And I love the analogy that Paul uses to get his point across, because in verses 22-24 Pauls language He uses basically says when you accepted Christ you changed your clothes

It is almost like He is saying its like if you were wearing an outfit and you thought it was a good looking outfit and so you wore it every day of your life.

and I have never done this so maybe I do not know, but if you where an outfit everyday of your life, can I just say that outfit would start to smell awful (spray on axe can only go so far).

and so you have this outfit and it just smells bad and looks bad,

and what Paul is saying is when you accepted Christ you got rid of that awful outfit you wore and guess what you got a new outfit and that outfit is not going to go bad.

But you know what the issue is that we have in our lives and in our churches?

Too often we like to keep our old clothes instead of throwing them away.

If you have a husband you know this is true (if you don’t talk to Arika, because she will try to sort through my clothes and clean out shirts and their will be shirts that are ripping or I have had them for 15 years and she will go “honey do you need this?”

And I look at her offended going “How dare you throw away that shirt. I love that shirt”

And because of that my closet is overflowing and disorganized.

But with all seriousness I really want to be a little blunt here.

Because a lot of times as christians we have a closest that needs cleaned out.

Because we will carry around these things that are holding us back from where God wants us and He wants us to let those things go.

And he wants us to look completely different where we live a life free from the things in our closet.

And so what Paul does with almost the rest of the passage is he tells us what this looks like in our life.

So look at verse 25 because the first thing Paul says

Ephesians 4:25 NIV

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Really Paul is saying we need to be truthful with each other

and he goes look we are all one body, and we cannot lie because if we lie to each other the body starts to have issues.

It would be like if my brain told my feet to move and my feet said okay we are walking and I am just standing still

chances are my brain is going to go something off here.

We shouldn’t lie in general but really this is true when we are talking about the body of Christ.

And look look at verse 26 and 27 because Paul moves from lying to anger and he says

Ephesians 4:26–27 NIV

26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

You know Paul actually does not tell us as Christians we can’t be angry, because truthfully there are things that are going to make us upset

But Paul gives us a strong caution about anger and he says first off don’t stay angry long

And I think this is a little self help for us, because if you get angry you know who feels the impact of your anger the most.

Ill give you a hint its probably not the person you are angry at

But the person who is going to feel your anger the most is you

and after you its going to be your family and possibly your friends.

And Paul also realizes that when we are angry it is a time when we can make bad choices

and he tells us when we are angry to make sure we do not even allow a place for satan in that anger.

because satan is a good climber and if we give him a foothold he will do everything he can to use.

Well look what Paul says next because he goes to stealing in verse 28. He says:

Ephesians 4:28 NIV

28 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.

You know probably read that and went well at least I am good on that one. I do not steal very often.

But it says you should actually be doing the opposite of stealing which is giving to those in need.

Basically instead of living a selfish lifestyle where I am concerned with getting as much as I can for myself, I should be living a generous life style where I am looking at the needs of others.

look at what Paul says next in verse 29 because He says this:

Ephesians 4:29 NIV

29 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.

This one is so important for us to get and just to be honest it is one that might be the worst among Christians.

and it is the way we speak.

Can I just tell you from my 25 years of life, our words can be one of the most destructive things in others lives.

And I know so many people who refuse to go to a church because of the words someone said to them.

But what Paul tells us here is that our words should be completely life giving!

They should build people up and he says thats it.

Meaning there should not have destructive words coming out of our mouth

Meaning we shouldn’t gossip

And our natural defense is to go well what about this…? Can I say this?

But Paul makes it so simple because He says well does it build someone up? Is it life giving?

if not then it probably doesn’t need to be said

Well look at verse 30 and these last couple really start to sum everything up for us and in verse 30 He says:

Ephesians 4:30 NIV

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Paul says do not Grieve the Holy Spirit.

and really if you are unformilure with what that is it basically means that we cannot be say I am a Christian, but then act another way.

Because the way we act needs to match our identity in Christ.

It would be like if I was wearing a Santa hat around town and you would probably go Brendan you realize its not Christmas time right?

And you would probably want to say some words that are not building me up (haha)

But the reason you feel like this is because my hat would not match the season.

And Paul is saying you need to have the way you act match your identity in Christ.

And look at these last couple verses because they say this:

Ephesians 4:31–32 NIV

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Basically get rid of these things in your life and it is time to live a life living into your identity which is found in Christ.

And Paul closes this section of the letter really by summarizing the entire thing.

Really what he says is that we should imitate Christ.

Our lives should look like his.

And what did His life look like. It was a life of loving others and forgiving the people who hurt Him most.

And this morning I realize we are all in different spots in life, but can I just say this morning Christ want’s us to take off this disgusting outfit we have been wearing and He wants us to put on a new one that is found in Him.

and really this morning we are ending on a song that really is our prayer this morning and that is