A Different Walk

A DIFFERENT WALK

EPHESIANS 4: 17-24

INTRO:

This week, I was working in Atlanta and spent a little time in an area that is called little five points. Some of you may know the area. It’s the intersections of Moreland Ave, Euclid Ave, and McClendon Ave. This little area is quite unique in that it draws many different and peculiar people. I stopped at a store there and as I was standing in line for the register, I looked at the guy in front of me and kind of took a step back. He had chains and piercing all over his face. Now I’m not one to say much about how people dress and look because if I didn’t have Pam, God only knows what I would dress like but my disease took over. You know, that foot in mouth disease that I told you I had. Well before I could put the parking brake on my mouth, it engaged and I looked at the guy and said DOESN”T THAT HURT? The guy just stared at me for a minute and paid for his stuff and walked off, never saying a word. In hindsight, I’m glad he had better sense than me. There was another guy in line behind me though and he and the guy with all the piercing were friends. He started telling me that no this stuff didn’t hurt. We got to talking and I asked him why they dressed and did these things to their body that they did and he told me something interesting. He said that they just wanted to be different from everybody else. They wanted to be unique. Basically they want to be different from the world. That’s what our message is about this morning. Being different from the World. This is another message in our Walk Worthy series. This walking worthy of our citizenship in Heaven. This walking worthy of being called or calling ourselves Christians.

. In our passage this morning, Paul is telling us that we are to WALK DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD.

. Eph 4: 17-24

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of[c] the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

The first thing we must do if we are to be different from the world is that we must TRUST IN THE TRUTH OF JESUS.

. In verse 20-21 Paul writes that the new man, a man different from the “Heathens” as one translation puts it, a person who does not walk like the rest of the world must believe in the truth of Jesus.

. 20-21 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:

. There is truth in Jesus

. They say that a way to a mans heart is through his stomach.

. Paul says that the way to become different from the lost is through Jesus Christ.

. verse 17,18 19, talks about the futility of the unsaved mind.

. being alienated from God.

. Their mind being darkened by their unbelief of god and who Jesus is.

. In john chapter 18, the story of Jesus before Pilate is told.

The Jewish council and the high priest had questioned Jesus and had struck Him and spat on Him and the high priest sent Him to Pilate saying that Jesus should be put to death but that because of roman law , they could not put anyone to death so Pilate needed to do this. Pilate spoke with Jesus and Jesus told him that …” He had come into the world to bear witness to the truth …”

. Pilate then uttered those famous words “ What Is Truth”

. Folks, let me tell you what the truth of Jesus Christ is.

. There is a God who exists and loves you.

. There is a God who created you.

. There is a God who wants a relationship with you.