Dakota Community Church
Ephesians 48, Grace at Work 18
April 14, 2013
Purity 1
Ephesians 4:17-5:21
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
We are continuing on now into the next element of the “Grace at Work” sub-series of Ephesians.
In light of the gospel, in light of the message of grace, how do we then live?
What does the gospel look like - at work - so to speak.
In part one we saw that the Church is called to be “one” people and so we are to grow in unity.
Now we discover that the Church is called to be a “holy” people and so we are to grow in purity.
The first thing we need to establish if we are “to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” is what is the clear biblical meaning of the word holy?
Leviticus 11:44-45
I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
Isaiah 6:1-5
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
We typically think of “holiness” as being moral, as in; “Those goody two shoes holy rollers”. Sometimes we think of it a little more accurately as being set apart or separated but it is really much more than these common definitions can ascribe.
Are the angels around the throne saying, “Moral, moral, moral, is the Lord of hosts”?
Are they declaring “Separate, separate, separate, is He?
Each of these ideas carry a partial picture of what is meant by holiness; but on a deeper level the word holy is almost exclusively descriptive of God, it is the adjective that goes with the noun “GOD”. God is holy, He is unique in this - only God is god.
Those things and/or people which belong exclusively to Him are also deemed holy.
In my daily reading I have been going through the book of Leviticus. The oil is holy, the containers are holy, the sacrifices are holy, the priestly garments are holy, these things are not moral or divine in origin, they are for the exclusive use of God in His purposes and they are forbidden from use in any common manner.
Notice how the gospel and the directives to holiness tie together:
1 Peter 1:13-25
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
We belong to God, He has actually purchased us for Himself.
We do not behave in certain moral ways in order to be holy for God - we are holy because we belong to God and therefore we behave in certain moral ways.
Not only that but it is the Holy Spirit - God Himself who is doing the work.
Philippians 2:13
...for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Back to today’s text:
Ephesians 4:17-19
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
Once again Paul returns to the main problem - the condition of the fallen human heart.
The solution only makes sense when the problem is correctly understood.
If the problem is ignorance - the solution is education.
If the problem is poverty - the solution is social action.
If the problem is sinful man under the wrath of a holy God - the solution is a sinless sacrifice.
Most of us have heard of (and many have tried) positive thinking or confessions however if we want to escape from futility/impurity in our daily lives, we have to look for the true cause of that futility, and not settle for quick fixes or superficial attitude changes.
Until we see clearly and admit that by nature we are not mostly good or even “born neutral” as far as holiness goes, we will continue to try our best and always wonder why our external clean up operations so consistently fail.
We don't see the real problem so we never sever the root of that futility; in fact we cannot.
Five characteristics of fallen man that are not to be true of those who are in Christ:
1. Hardness of heart
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous...
Fallen man is hard hearted.
I remember how excited I was when at 17 my family became “born again” Christians.
Nearly every revelation of truth is met with resistance.
Truth about forgiving others - how did you respond?
Truth about giving - how did that bitter little pill go down?
Truth about human sexuality and marriage - I was 19 years old so... hot-diggity-dog?
Truth about humility (it’s not about you) - that still stings at times.
Do you ever not feel like doing your devotions? Ever not want to pray? Ever want to skip church or not enter into worship? Do you ever see the wicked prospering in their way and wish you didn’t know what you know? - That is the remnant of the old man and his hard heartedness toward God and all things holy.
In Christ these things must not be because God has done this:
Ezekiel 36:26-27
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my just decrees.
And yet we still need to hear this:
Hebrews 3:12-15
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
My deepest problem in life is that apart from the grace of God my heart is hardened against Him. I am like a stone toward all that is spiritual.
It does not move me, attract me, or delight me.
I am always susceptible to the deceitfulness of sin and its hardening effect.
2. Love of darkness
They are darkened in their understanding...
John 3:16-21
“For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
Men love darkness rather than light because their works are evil.
I find in me a deep darkness which at times the Holy Spirit brings into the light to drive me to my need of Christ.
Do not just flippantly dismiss this thought with a, “Not me Pastor Dan, I love the Lord.”
To love the Lord is not the same as to love pizza or your favorite old sweat shirt.
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
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