Sometime this morning, you decided you were going to go to church. And so, you decided what to wear to church and you put on the clothes you are wearing now. We do this daily don’t we? We decide what clothes to put on for the day! Of course, some of you took a little longer than others to decide what to wear, but eventually you put on something different for the day.
If you are a Believer of Jesus Christ, you have 2 natures, the new creation through Christ and the old nature dead to God. Our Bible passage today tells us that just like deciding on a daily basis what clothes to put on, Christians are to decide daily which nature to put on.
Please open your Bibles to Ephesians Chapter 4…..
This letter is from God. Let us stand and read together this love letter to each one of us. Ephesians 4:17-24……..
What is God telling us specifically?
V17-19 tell us, Christians are not to live as the Gentiles do.
You know, this statement tells us that Christians can live like non-christians; and many do! God tells us specifically what’s wrong with living like a Gentile. God says, Christians are not to have futile thinking like non-christians. Look again at v18....
Futile thinking has no real purpose because it is fantasy thinking. Real thinking is having the reality of God and God’s explanations. And what leads people to futile, fantasy thinking? Ignorance of the reality of God is due to the hardening of heart! Christians are not to have futile thinking, which is fantasy thinking, which is not the reality of God, and it begins in the heart! Christians are to always check their hearts!
And Christians are not to give in to selfish lust of the flesh.
A non-Christian Gentile, although created in the image of God, does not have the Holy Spirit within them; and so they allow themselves numb to God; they just give in to what they know from their sinful flesh.
Christians are alive to God with the presence of the Holy Sprit within them, BUT a Christian still has the sinful selfish nature, even though it is dead to God. Christians are to be sensitive to the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit! If you profess to be a Christian, you carry God with you wherever you go! Wherever we go, whatever we are doing, how sensitive are we with God living inside us?
Now looking at v20-24, apparently the Ephesians have been taught previously about being sanctified, being transformed by God as they live on earth. They were actually reminded of this at the beginning of Ephesians 4….
Christians are to live on earth by faith by saying yes to God the Holy Spirit and saying no to sin.
Christians are to put off and put on!
Christians are to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.
Christians are to put on the new self created to be like God! And how are Christians to do this?
Christians must have the attitude that God is at work for them to be righteous and holy! No matter what we’ve done or will do in the future, in Christ, God will make us righteous and holy! If we profess to be Christians, we must set our minds to being righteous and holy! We must want what God wants! Shouldn’t we agree with God everyday?
Make it a practice everyday to say, “I agree with You, God!”
Let us summarize the message for us today.
Just like deciding on a daily basis what clothes to put off and what to put on, Christians are to decide daily which spiritual nature to put off and put on. Agree with God everyday!
On a daily basis, A Christian must:
1. Put off any other ruler in the heart except for Jesus Christ. Remember this picture of our hearts? Who is seating in the throne of your heart? Have we truly allowed Jesus Christ to solely reign in our hearts? Let us always picture and experience Jesus Christ seating in the throne of our hearts. On a daily basis, put off any other ruler in the heart except for Jesus Christ.
Say everyday, “I agree God, Jesus Christ is my only Lord!”
2. Put off the lust of the flesh and yield to the Holy Spirit. God has given each one of us Christians the power to say no to sin and say yes to God! Each one of us has to decide. Sin leads to bad consequences. Yielding to the Holy Spirit brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Which will you and I choose on a daily basis? Don’t lead yourself to bad consequences!
Say everyday, “I agree God, I yield to the Holy Spirit within me!”
3. Put off evil out of our minds and focus on righteousness and holiness. You’ve heard that saying, “garbage in, garbage out”. What are we putting in our minds? Watch out! The kind of movies you watch, the reading you do, what you look at on the Internet, what whatever you put in your mind will come out of you! Are the people around you seeing the reality of God or do they see you like everyone else in society?
Say everyday, “I agree God, no garbage in my brain today!”
This is a hard one isn’t it? Let’s commit to it and experience the presence and power of God!
Let us memorize and live out Philippians 4:8;
T N R P L A – E P
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.
