Eph #5

Northside Church

Eph #5

6/19/22

Jamey Mills

Good morning,

My name is Jamey and I’m the lead pastor here at Northside. I look forward to this opportunity to hang out with you all… all week long…

Happy fathers day… gift at the welcome table in the hallway…

What says we love you to a dude more than rootbeer and a beef stick.

If you are new or newer to Northside… and want to grab coffee sometime… let's do that! I’d love the opportunity to connect with you… We don’t even have to talk about church stuff.

We took a break from our sermon series last week to hear from Kurt and Beth Powell about their upcoming mission opportunity in PNG… it was awesome.

And I started to think about all the stories they’ll have… things that they’ll see and experiences they’ll have. Some wonderful and some no doubt that will be hard.

I can’t wait to hear them.

Sometimes I think I have a bad memory…

I love to tell stories… to reminisce or whatever they call it. And I am fortunate, I've got a ton of them. Most of them I think are super funny… I’ve found that not everyone does…

But I absolutely love them… they bring back memories… and oftentimes I find myself leaning into them… wishing I could go back…

And this week I started thinking about how one-sided those stories are… Those stories do little to speak of the hurt, trouble and rejection… that I am sure was present in those days too…

And I find myself sometimes… sort of unwittingly hanging on those things… leaning in, wishing I could go back when the truth is… going back in so many ways just wouldn’t be good… in fact in a lot of ways it would be incredibly destructive.

And to a degree… that is exactly what Paul is talking about with this Church filled with fairly new Gentile Christians…

Ephesians 4:17–19 NLT

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.

(NLT)

17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 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. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

Such an interesting passage… Paul tells these Gentile believers… to no longer live the way that gentiles do…

Remember, they were living in an incredibly secular culture… Second largest city in the known world… it was known for its idols, temples, immorality and paganism…

Heraclitus, a 5th century BC Philosopher referred to Ephesus as the darkest and most vile. The morals were lower than that of animals and its inhabitants or only fit to be drowned.

Paul sort of points back again and says… Because

You have been called to salvation,

unified in the body,

giften by the spirit, and

built up by gifted men…

we cannot go on living the way the world around us does… the way we did.

The truth is… So many of these Gentile Christians were at one time… living that life too. Everywhere they went… they’d run into those friends… face those temptations to look back and long for those old days and old ways…

And Paul is saying… It has to be different. It was intended to be different…

By God’s design and by His authority it's supposed to be different.

That

What God has for you and has for you to do will never happen if we continue to hold on to the way things were before Jesus.

… In a sense I think Paul is telling them that part of taking hold of all that God has… which is life, hope, grace, forgiveness, freedom and purpose…Involves not just loosening your grip on, but completely letting go of our old nature…

And Paul knew the battle of it…

Romans 7:15–20 NLT

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

(NLT)

15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

Paul wrestled with this… I do what I don't want to do…

Paul fought that battle because he knew that the world's standards, morals, motives and ways are broken, sinful… and near sighted… they promise and sometimes even deliver on pleasure for the moment… but in the long run rob you of every good and God glorifying thing…

One author said it's “pursuing things that are purely selfish, accumulating things that are at best temporary, and looking for satisfaction in things that are deceptive and ultimately disappointing.”

And Paul gives

4 characteristics of the kind of life they and we are to leave behind…

And Paul talks about this as a battle of our mind…

Hopelessly confused

The actual word is vanity or futility; and it sounds a lot like a dog chasing its tail…despite all the effort, in the end, it goes nowhere. It’s aimless.

Paul is saying we have to become open to God changing the way we think…

Proverbs 3:5 NLT

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NLT

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Don’t lean on your own understanding. In ALL of your ways… acknowledge God and he will make your paths straight… He will provide direction.

Realizing the error of our own thinking and where it's taken us… and acknowledging or giving way to God in everything… Man that's hard…

Paul says it’s a battle worth fighting.

Their minds are full of darkness.

Wander from the life God gives… the idea is being ignorant of God’s truth… which leads to life.

That word for darkness… shows the continuing condition of decay… meaning without attention it continues to get worse… our mind become more and more closed and our hearts become harder and harder before the Lord… that word for hard, can also mean paralysis… refusing to step away from our old nature… leads to spiritual paralysis…

I’ve found it to be true… if we refuse to throw off our sinful nature, earlier Paul used the phrase… die to our sinful nature, the worse that condition becomes…

And I do think one of the biggest issues the world has with God, is that they know they’re wrong… their heart is hard… they have no intention of changing anything… and they hate it. Literally… when the love of me or the protection of what I want or think is greater than our wisdom to submit to God and our desire to honor God, things get rough.

Ancient Greek story of a boy who stole the fox.

No sense of shame

This has to do with being spiritual or morally calloused… rejecting any idea of moral rightness… and any sense of shame or concern for consequence.

Literally this has to do with complete loss of identify and sexual brokeness or rebellion.

Unflinching…

Live for lustful pleasure

No sense of moral restraint… unbridled self indulgence.

Rejecting discipline, despising authority… it has the idea of being a full blown enemy of God. Fighting for things… in the name of choice and freedom… that grieve the heart of God and come with heavy cultural consequences.

One author said it like this… Man was created to be in relationship with God… and when we reject that… we destroy our conscience and our minds in the process and most authors agree that Paul is describing this pattern that continually gets worse

Ephesians 4:20–24 NLT

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.

20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.

23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. (Rom 12) 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Paul talks about how it’s not just believing that Jesus exists… but knowing that truth comes from Him…

Paul over and over in this passage talks about the role our minds play in this… coming to this place of thinking differently… in 3 major ways.

Throwing off the old nature v 22

Paul makes it clear that these two worlds aren’t intended to co-exist. It’s not the addition of a new nature to the old nature…

We literally throw off our old nature… and step into new life…

Be renewed in our mind and attitude v23

Prayer and His word… more and more gaining the mind of Christ.

Put on our new nature v24

Not renovated… entirely new.

Galatians 2:20 NLT

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

(NLT)

20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Baptism… picture of laying down of the old life and putting on the new… July 10th… outdoor church… same time… under the awning… two baptisms already… If you are interested, let us know.

Repentance…

Ephesians 4:25–32 NLT

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.

25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29 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.

30 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.

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Paul makes it clear that these two natures can’t co-exist…. The Bible illustrates that by saying fresh after can’t come from a salty spring or thorny bushes can’t produce figs….

These two natures oppose each other… James 4 says that friendship with the World makes us out to be an enemy of God…

Paul's point is… that there is a letting go that is required in order to take hold…

The old is self-centered and futile, the new is Christ-centered and purposeful..

The image he gives is taking off the old self… and putting on your new nature which is created to be like Christ…

There is intended to be… a difference.

This new life… in Christ…

Know God’s truth

Throwing off the old self

Renewing our thoughts and attitudes

Spirit renew your thoughts

And conversely… christians who become self righteous… Their biggest problem with the world is that they are wrong… but lack the compassion of Christ to do anything about it. That results in an us vs. them mentality that reallys tems from those who have lost sight of their own need for Jesus. Paul… the apostle… the missionary… church planter… never lost sight of his own need for Jesus.

and I feel like the proof is in the attitude it has toward God… Being “against” God… is not a sign of disbelief. Apathy… is a sign of disbelief.

And

One author suggested that down that line, there may be more disbelief among the modern church than in all of those who stand in opposition to God.

And Paul gives characteristics of what he means by not living like the Gentiles…

Paul is making it clear that these aren’t two natures that co-exist… there isn’t Sunday morning nature and Friday night nature