A Different Way of Living

Intro:

Good Evening. I hope things are going well for everyone. I encourage each of us to hope. I know things over the past several weeks have been difficult. For some that may be putting it lightly. Whatever your situation might be I encourage you to have hope and place your trust in Jesus. A number of weeks ago we started a Wednesday Night Series titled “A Biblical Perspective During Trying Times.” We have been looking at God’s Word to help us navigate these very difficult times. Tonight we will continue looking at God’s Word, the message tonight is titled “A Different Way of Living.” Over the past several years there have been numerous reality T.V. shows that have gained popularity. To be honest I’m not a fan of reality shows. However, some of these shows capture every moment of the lives of the contestants, I can’t imagine being the person watching all of the film and then determining what gets aired on T.V. and what doesn’t. I wonder if someone who didn’t know me would be able to watch a film of my life for a week and then be able to determine whether or not I am who I say I am. Ponder that for a moment, if someone was able to watch film of you for a week would they be able to determine that you are who you say you are. My hope would be that afterwards this person would want to know more of who Jesus is. Open your Bibles to Ephesians 4:17-32.

Let’s Pray.

Ephesians 4:17–32 NIV

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Be Diligent (Vs. 17-19)

The Bible has a perspective about the way we live our lives. We are called to live differently. In verses 17-19 God’s Word gives us an example of folks that are living separated from God. During these tough times we must be diligent to guard ourselves from hardening our hearts. We must be diligent to know Jesus. Again in these first two verses of our scripture the Bible tells us that understanding, ignorance, and the hardening of heart separates us from the life of God. It is critical that we are people who read and study God’s Word. We might be tempted to think that it’s someone else’s job to help me know Jesus and help me understand. It’s Not. Just as much as someone else’s relationship can not save you. The only way to salvation is Jesus. The Bible is clear that we should not give up meeting together and that iron sharpens iron. But the responsibility of cultivating a relationship with Jesus is that of the individual. It’s not the responsibility of anyone else to cultivate a relationship between Jesus and me, no it’s my responsibility to cultivate that relationship. Being lazy in getting to know Jesus will cause separation between us and God. It’s like this: If something bad happens to me and ask why God did this happen and then immediately start blaming God or someone or something else, this kind of behavior will cause separation between myself and God and eventually my heart begins to harden towards God. Now if I ask God why did this happen and seek Him then I start living differently. When I diligently seek Him by reading and studying His Word, praying, and seeking wise counsel from mature believers then I am living differently. I encourage you, be diligent in your relationship with Jesus.

Put On The New Self (Vs. 22-24)

When you asked Jesus for forgiveness and were given the gift of salvation, at that moment you became a new creation. Paul charges us to put on the new self in verse 24. If it were an easy thing to just wake up in the morning and say to yourself that you’re going to put on the new self and forget the former way of living then there would be no need for Paul to charge us to put on the new self. Think about it for a moment, for most of us we lived waywardly for a long time before we came to Jesus. It can be very easy for us to go back to former way of living. Just last night, this may be comical but it’s very revealing, we were getting ready to turn in for the night. At our house it’s like programmed responses. Krista will take care of a few things and I will take care of a few while trying to sneak in our room without waking up baby Deklan. One of things I do since I’m last is I turn off the lights and the T.V. if we had been watching the news which was the case last night. For Christmas my brother in-law got us a smart light bulb system that works through our Google home devices. Last night I must have been a little more exhausted than normal. Also the Google home device listens better to Krista than me, I know this because we have literally said the same thing to the device and it listened to her and not me. Anyway I hadn’t gotten around to shutting the T.V. off yet, by the way the Google home device sets underneath the T.V., and I said Hey Google turn off the lights, and it responded what time do you want the alarm set. I said back to it I don’t want an alarm and it said back I don’t understand, what time do you want an alarm. This kept going back and forth and I kept getting more and more irritated because this simple little device would not listen to me and kept saying it didn’t understand and kept asking me the same question. Finally I realized it couldn’t understand because the T.V. was still on and it was hearing both myself and the T.V. So here I was for last couple of minutes arguing with Google. And I came to realize what most people understand is that Google is always right. I thought it had ended there until I heard my wife laughing.

I share that story with you because it shows you how easily it is to put the old self back on. The Bible charges us to put on the new self. Our new self is much different than our old self. So how do we put on the new self? This portion of Scripture says to renew the spirit of our minds. How do we do that? We do that by seeking God. We do that by praying. I challenge you to ask God to help you renew your mind. Read and study the Bible. We do that by realizing that we are not always right. We do that by taking responsibility. I realize that frustration is not part of my new self. I realize that when I’m frustrated I act foolishly. The Bible warns us about folly and where it leads. When I intentionally put on the new self I begin living differently. When you put on the new self, you are putting on love, forgiveness, life, wisdom, strength, patience, and gentleness just to name a few. I encourage you to put off your old self and put on the new life Jesus has given you.

Make The Exchange (Vs. 25-32)

Finally make the exchange permanent. There are some things that just don’t belong in our lives. Falsehood has to go. Even if it’s just a little white lie. Someone might say well it’s just to protect someone I love. So the moment you have to defend a lie should also be the moment where you have a come to Jesus moment. To really love someone is to be truthful with them. Jesus is our example. Jesus was truthful to the rich young ruler. Jesus told him he would have to sell all of his possessions to follow Jesus. That honesty caused the rich young ruler to be sad and ultimately turned away from Jesus. If Jesus is truthful while loving this man more than we can imagine, knowing he was going to walk away. If Jesus can be truthful knowing that the man would choose to walk away based on the truth Jesus shared we can be truthful with each other. Corrupt talk has to go. This can be challenging, it’s especially challenging during hard times. Corrupt talk would include slander and gossip. Our new life with Jesus compels us to encourage, edify, and build each other up. If what we say about others doesn’t encourage, build up, or edify it shouldn’t be said. Again during this time, this can be very challenging. This has been difficult for me personally. Media has had a huge impact on this area of my life. Just because something is impacting our ability to abstain from corrupt talk doesn’t mean that we get a pass. It’s important we are diligent take the steps to rid ourselves of corrupt talk. Billy Graham said “It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to love.” Let’s exchange our old self for our new self. I encourage you to take a look on the inside. Ask yourself what needs to go? Seek God for help in walking in the new life He has given you. What an awesome opportunity we have to live differently.

Conclusion

Be diligent in cultivating your relationship with Jesus. Put on your new self and make the exchange permanent. I believe God is doing a work in you and I. If we will seek Him wholeheartedly and live according to His Word we will see a change not only in ourselves but in the world around us. I encourage you if you need prayer, you can submit a prayer request through our website at parksideassembly.com. You can also call the church office. If you just need someone to chat with you can call the church office as well. The number to the church is [phone]. You can also reach us on our Parkside Facebook page as well.

Let’s Pray.

I hope you are encouraged. I pray that you are doing well. God Bless you and have a great night.