Walk in Purity, pt. 2
Ephesians 4:21-25
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/130710.mp3
Put off, put on, and put away.
Put off the grave clothes, put on the grace clothes, and put away things that don't belong.
In John 11, Lazarus had been dead for 4 days when Jesus finally arrived and raised him from the dead. Jesus said, loose him and let him go...get him out of those grave clothes! He had been completely bound, just like we were before we were saved, by alcohol, lust, hatred, bitterness, and all sorts of habits.
Some have truly been saved, but find themselves again entangled. Paul says to put off the grave clothes that bind you up!
v. 22 The old man is everything you were apart from Christ. This is your former life. These are your old dirty clothes. You walked into God's house, and need to strip at the door like momma used to make you do.
Romans 6:6
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Positional righteousness--God's part is crucifying our old man...but...
Practical righteousness--this is our reckoning of the above and putting off the old man on a daily basis. "I die daily!"
The old nature is not eradicated...rather, a new power/new man comes to live inside as well, and the old man fights with him.
I no longer sin because I have to. I sin because I want to.
Because anytime I am tempted to sin, I can reckon myself dead to that sin, look to God, and claim victory. So, why don't I?
ill.--boys played cowboys and indians [Lone Ranger and Tonto]. One boy pulled out his toy 6 shooter and shot the other boy, who fell to the ground, wiggling around. His friend walked over and said, are you dead. He replied, yeah. "Then why don't you act like it!"
Our old man is dead, crucified with Christ, but sometimes we don't act like it!
v. 24 The new man is everything you are in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Are you saved? Dress accordingly! Put on the grace clothes. Here, garments are a picture of our lifestyle.
ill.--a nun's clothing is called her 'habit'. It's time to form some new habits.
joke: a nun couldn't get across a busy street. There she stood with her black and white high hat thingy, as traffic whizzed by. A big burly football player saw her struggle, approached, and put her over his shoulder and carried her to the other side. "Thank you!" "Think nothin' of it...any friend of Batman is a friend of mine!"
v. 23 Physically you are what you eat, and spiritually, you are what you think.
Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Colossians 3:10
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
There is a constant battle going on...a battle for your mind. We are constantly bombarded with messages which compete with the truth. And every battle we will fight as Christians begins as a battle in the mind. The first grenades are thrown at our brains. Fire in the hole! And if we lose that battle, we take the physical battlefield of action, where thought becomes material. On this battlefield of action we spend so much time, that it becomes a battlefield of habit.
If you are bound by the graveclothes of a sinful habit, know this: It started in the mind!
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
"Transformed" means constantly changing from what I am to what Jesus made me to be. And this happens in the mind as the child of God looks into the Word of God and seeks the Son of God, and is transformed by the Spirit of God in the glory of God!
Daily in the Word - in church every time the doors are open and online when you can't be.
Some Christians remain spiritual babies for decades.
ill.--what if our nursery was based on spirituality rather than age? It could make for some awkward moments at the changing table!
v. 25 We have put off, put on, and now we must put some things away which don't belong.
A lie in Bible terms is a statement, contrary to the facts, spoken with the intent to deceive.
If you asked me what time it is and I misread my watch and give you the wrong time, that's not the truth, but it's not a lie. But if I do it on purpose, so you'll listen to me preach longer, that's different!
Satan is the father [originator] of all lies. Notice that this verse is in the context of the church body--the eye wouldn't lie to the hand, because they are members of the same body!
Lying was one of the first sins ever judged in the early church [Acts 5--Ananias and Sapphira]
Revelation 22:15
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Revelation 21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Christians should take off the grave clothes of lying and put on the grace clothes!
v. 26 Also put away anger. Anger is not categorically condemned...it becomes sin when the object of the anger is misplaced, and when it exceeds due bounds. Anger becomes sin when you cease to control it and it controls you!
ill.--"I just blow up now and then to let off steam and then I feel better!" Another replied, "Sounds like a shotgun blast...but look at the damage left behind."
Christians should take off the grave clothes of anger and put on the grace clothes!
In Mt. 21 Jesus got angry, not at people, but at their sin. Are you angry with our President and politicians, or at their foolishness? [children/spouse/coworker/church member]
v. 28 Satan is not only a liar, but a thief.
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
Satan turned Judas into a thief, but that started when he turned Eve into a thief in Eden, who turned her husband into a thief, who passed it onto his kids all the way to us!
v. 29 There's a direct connection between the mouth and the heart! Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
"Corrupt" is a word picture of rotten fruit. What is the fruit of your mouth?
Proverbs 25:11
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
If we continue in the grave clothes, look at the effect it has on God:
v. 30 I don't wanna break God's heart.
v. 31 sums it up.
v. 32 BYKOTA.
