Put on the New
Notes
Transcript
With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.
Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.
They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.
Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him,
throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,
for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.
Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.
Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
We've watched the video of that Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came...
That was an historical reality - an event that actually took place that has GREAT importance for us today!
The question is WHY is it important for us today?
Why do we celebrate this historical reality every year?
Is Pentecost ONLY a reminder of the past, or can we use Pentecost to celebrate a current reality and promise?
1st to understand that we should understand why it was important then...
Celebration of Law given at Mt. Sinai
Culmination if God's redeeming work to not only call a ppl, but to work IN them so they become what He wants them to be...
God did not simply deliver the people and expect them to figure out how to live as a free, redeemed, people. God delivered them and redeemed them, But then he gave them the LAW to be in their hearts to enable them to live as HIS people in their world.
That is the same with Pentecost
This fulfilled God's promise that He would do this, yes. But, it is important to understand that the Spirit came on the same day that the people remembered the giving of the Law. The Law was provided to enable people to live the Holy, set apart, godly life. So it is with the Spirit. The Spirit enables us to live the redeemed, transformed, holy, set apart, godly life.
The Spirit enables us to Imitate God (5:1)
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.
This is what we were CREATED TO DO!
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
We were created to imitate God. We were created to be God's image. We were created to be LIKE CHRIST!
The spirit makes this POSSIBLE!
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
In the Ephesians passage, Paul gives specific examples of holy living (v. 25-5:2)
Stop telling lies
Don’t sin by letting anger control you
Quit steeling and work
Give generously to those in need
Watch your language
Encourage one another with your words
Don’t be bitter
Don’t have rage
Forgive one another
Be kind
And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
Live according to the Name you wear/bear
These examples show the evidence of the Holy Spirit
But, they are only outward signs of an inner transformation.
Without an inner transformation they are just acts - facades of purity, but not an actual change of who we are in our inner being.
They are like Ms. Doubtfire - they look on the outside to be something completely different on the inside.
They are external signs of a transformation that begins somewhere else.
The transformation starts in our heart and mind.
With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.
Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
Rufus Jones, in The Double Search, states “You cannot command or compel people into holiness, you cannot increase their spiritual stature one cubit by any kind of force or compulsion. You can do it only by sharing your life with them, by making them feel your goodness, by your love and sacrifice for them.”
To be holy is to have an inward change of our minds and hearts. That change flows outward into our actions. Then, when others see Christ working in us and through us in that way THEY WILL DESIRE HOLINESS FOR THEMSELVES.
HOLINESS IS NOT A LIST OF RULES! HOLINESS IS A RELATIONSHIP!!!
Paul encourages us to PUT OFF the OLD and PUT ON the NEW!
Example of oil stained clothes...
So, why do we need PENTECOST today?
Pentecost is the day when God sent His Spirit to cleanse, transform, and complete the redemptive work on the Disciples.
We need that same transformation in our lives and in our world today!
We need Pentecost EVERYDAY so the Holy Spirit can fill us and transform us
Lloyd Ogilvie in Radian of the Inner Splendor shares of a time when he had intense physical therapy. He shares how his body underwent remarkable changes under a skilled therapist. Tight tendons were stretched and released. Poor posture that caused a hump in his back was removed. Constricted muscles in his stomach that caused him to have a stooped posture were loosened so he could stand up straight. He writes, “Forty-nine years of self-conditioning of my body are being reversed. Over the months of therapy I have grown and inch! I do not have to be the physical person I was for the rest of my life. The body is like plastic and under the skilled hands of the therapist, I have been liberated to stand, walk, and sit differently.”
Ogilvie continues, “ I have shared this personal experience as an illustration that none of us needs to remain the person we are. What that series of treatments did to my body, Christ has done and continues to do with my personality. I am not the personality I was; nor am I the person I will be. Seldom a day goes by without the Lord’s impact.
The Spirit is like a great Therapist who gives us exercises, disciplines, and stretches us to become the people God created us to be - but not by our own power, but by the Power of God Himself working in us through the Spirit, the great Therapist.
We need the Spirit to seal us, mark us, identify us that we are truly God's people. It's a stamp of approval...
And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
The Spirit needs to change us, transform us, and compel us to get rid if the old way of thinking and doing and accept the new way-they way God planned for us to live originally
How are you at accepting the Spirit's power to change and transform?
BENEDICTION
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
