17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. (NIV)
17: Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live 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 licentiousness, (RSV)
17. So this I say to you and attest to you in the Lord, do not go on living the empty-headed life that the gentiles live.
18. Intellectually they are in the dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance which is the consequence of closed minds.
19. Their sense of right and wrong once dulled, they have abandoned all self-control and pursue to excess every kind of uncleanness.
Intro. (i) Summarise last wk ÎParadise Lostâ ? consequences.
Question: Why spend so much time on this aspect etc?
Reply: Another question: Would you make a money gift to Bill Gates?!
Obviously not, he has no need.
Problem: when we consider Manâs eternal destiny, think about spiritual matters, issues of life and death etc appearances are deceptive ? no apparent needs.
(ii) Illust. (ii) Illust. DAâs encounter with young millionaire some years ago, he was happy and prosperous and very successful, but I was told he was 'open' spiritually and unhappy. Met with him, had lunch in nice restaurant, talked and discussed - he told me he had no material, or spiritual needs, he had 'everything'. AND he didn't even offer to pay for his lunch! Frustrating and (as far as one could see, fruitless).
(iii) Many people we know just like that - no sense of spiritual need etc.
Difficult to see them as lost etc. Motivation to evangelise/witness blunted.
(iv)Now imagine same person, one day driving his Rolls/Cadillac towards a precipice. True he is rich, happy and secure, no sense of need, no and disaster if he is not warned in time. Assuming you have the opportunity and the means to stop him or at least to warn him of the danger could you with a clear conscience just let him drive over the brink and plunge down to his death without making any effort save him?
(v) Again answer is: Of course not. Yet spiritually speaking that is exactly what the condition of Man without God is and often we do little or nothing about it.
Read Eph.4:17-19 + Eph.2:1-3 & 11/12 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath·..Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles·. 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
(vi) NB Vocab. underlined above That is why Michael Green (1974) said at close of his talk on Evangelism in the Early Church: "It was when I realised that men without God were lost now and would be lost forever - even nice folk, even my family and friends - that I vowed I would burn up my one life in telling others of the fabulous Good News that Jesus Christ has brought to our world."
So letâs look at what Paul says here (and in other similar passages) about ÎMan without God).
I The Condition described
Four words to characterize Man without God:
1. Emptiness, 2. Hopelessness. 3. Darkness 4. Deadness.
1.Emptiness/Futility - cf Paul in Ephesians 4:17-19
But let us see what Man without God thinks of himself. Do it by direct quotes - in for a surprise perhaps.
Somerset Maugham.(writer 1874-1965)
"If one puts aside the existence of God and the possibility of survival as too doubtful to have any effect on oneâs behaviour, one has to make up oneâs mind what is the meaning and use of life. If death ends all, if I have neither to hope for good to come nor to fear evil, I must ask myself what 1 am here for, and how in these circumstances I must conduct myself. Now the answer to one of these questions is plain, but so unpalatable that most men will not face it. There is no reason for life, and life has no meaning."
H. J. Blackham, who is an optimistic humanist, Starts from the position of Îrecognizing the pointlessness of it allâ:
"There is no end to hiding from the ultimate end of life, which is death. But it does not avail. On humanist assumptions, life leads to nothing, and every pretence that it does not is a deceit. If there is a bridge over a gorge which spans only half the distance and ends in mid-air, and if the bridge is crowded with human beings pressing on, one after another they fall into the abyss. The bridge leads to nowhere, and those who are pressing forward to cross it are going nowhere. It does not matter where they think they are going, what preparations for the journey they may have made, how much they may be enjoying it all. . . such a situation is a model of futility."
Francis Bacon (painter 1909-1992)
"Man now realises that he is an accident, that he is a completely futile being, that he has to play out the game without reason."
Eugene Ionesco (Roumanian born French dramatist - 1912-1994)
"Absurd is that which is devoid of purpose ··Cut off from his religious, metaphysical and transcendental roots, man is lost; all his actions become senseless, absurd, useless."
NB Note of meaninglessness, no purpose to life.
To that sense of absurdity & of pointlessness move on to another aspect:
2 Hopelessness cf Eph.3:12 '..without hope & without God in the world'
NB 'without God' = atheists (atheoi en to kosmo)
Nikos Kazantzakis, the Greek novelist, author of Zorba the Greek, writing to a friend in 1947:
"To conquer illusion and hope, without being overcome by terror: this has been the whole endeavour of my life these past twenty years; to look straight into the abyss without bursting into tears, without begging or threatening, calmly, serenely preserving the dignity of man; to see the abyss and work as though I were immortal ·"
Allen Ginsberg (beat poet, philosopher & Mystic, 1926-)
"I feel as if I am at a dead end
and so I am finished.
All spiritual facts I realize
are true but I never escape
the feeling of being closed in and the sordidness of self,
the futility of all that I have seen and done and said."
Arthur Adamov ( playwright)
. . . "Sometimes this great totality or life appears to me so dramatically beautiful that it plunges me into ecstasy. But more often it seems like a monstrous beast that penetrates and surpasses me and which is everywhere, within me and outside me And terror grips me and envelopes me more powerfully from moment to moment... "
NB Notes of hopelessness and fear
3.Darkness Eph 3:18 ÎThey are darkened in their understanding·â
(i)This intellectual or mental Îblackoutâ is mentioned several times by Paul:
cf Romans 1:21 ÎFor although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.â & 2 Cor.10:5 ÎWe demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.â
(ii) Quote: "sense of moral distinctions became blurred·inward signals which once warned against the approach of evil have ceased to operate. This loss of power to distinguish between good and evil is called Îdarknessâ because where there is no light at all even the difference between white and black is blotted out" (Leslie Mitton)
Added to this spiritual darkness = lack of understanding of truth about God, Paul says there is alienation or separation from life and presence of God, which leads to the climax or nadir (lowest point) in the final element of this description of Man without God i.e.
4. Deadness Eph 2:1 ÎAs for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sinsâ + 2:5 Îmade us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions·â
Spiritual deadness = no kinship with God, - separated by sin
no fellowship with God - no communion
no hope in God, \ nor in world
no fitness for God, cannot please Him
II The Cause defined Eph,4: Îbecause of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.â
(i) Quote Claude Tresmontant,,,,,, ÎSt Paulâ p 123 Î The failure to recognise God which characterized the pagan nations is not normal. It is not just the ignorance of humanity in its childhood which had no means of knowing God. It is the ignorance of humanity grown old, which has turned its back on God and His righteousness and humanity which has Îcorrupted its waysâ as the Bible states: cf Romans 1:18-20
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him·â
(ii) Paul suggests that ignorance is due to a progressive hardening of the heart
'The word which Paul uses for the petrifying of their hearts is grim and terrible. It is porosis Porosis comes from poros, which originally meant a stone that was harder than marble. It came to have certain medical uses. It was used for the chalk stone which can form in the joints and completely paralyse action. It was used of the callus that forms where a bone has been broken and re-set, a callus which is harder than the bone itself. Finally the word came to mean the loss of all power of sensation; it described something which had become so hardened, so petrified that it had no power to feel at all.' (W.Barclay)
Illust. ÎPetrified forestâ in Arizona ? tree trunks made of stone
. cf v19 RSV ÎThey have become callousâ
It points to consistent & obstinate rejection of Godâs revealed truth and so we come in Eph 4:19 to the:
III Consequences for Man without God cf Eph.4:19
(i)Illust. Insensitivity in parts of body is very dangerous e.g.leprosy victims lose fingers, toes etc because of loss of feeling - not aware of fire or sharp stones etc
(ii) Equally in moral & spiritual realm hardness of heart leads to hardened conscience symbol 232 \f "Wingdings" \s 11? callous, insensitive immorality and impurity of all kinds. cf Rom1:20ff for graphic description.
(iii) Many people think you can keep Christian morality without Christian beliefs Strangely enough existential atheistic philosophers have no such delusion:
ÎNietzsche , Friedrich Wilhelm 1844-1900
German philosopher who rejected the accepted absolute moral values and the `slave morality' of Christianity. He argued that `God is dead' and therefore people were free to create their own.
He pours scorn on those who reject Christian beliefs about God but at the same time want to hold on to Christian values:
They have got rid of the Christian God, and now feel obliged to cling all the more firmly to Christian morality: that is English consistency, let us not blame it on little blue-stockings
With us it is different. When one gives up Christian belief one thereby deprives oneself of the right to Christian morality. For the latter is absolutely not self-evident: one must make this point clear again and again, in spite of English shallowpates Christianity is a system, a consistently thought out and complete view ofâ things. If one breaks out of it a fundamental idea, the belief in God, one thereby breaks the whole thing to pieces: one has nothing of any consequence left in oneâs hands. Christian morality is a command: its origin is transcendental; it is beyond all criticism, all right to criticize; it possesses truth only if God is truth - it stands or falls with the belief in God·
Jean-Paul Sartre (French philosopher - 1905-1980
The existentialist ·finds it embarrassing that God does not exist, for there disappears with Him all possibility of finding values in an intelligible heaven·â
(iv) In other words what we believe ultimately affects our conduct. That is why Paul reminds Ephesian believers not to fall back into a way of life or adopt modes of conduct incompatible with their faith in God and in Jesus Christ.
(v) The condition of Man without God is truly desperate, for which there is no human remedy - the atheistic or agnostic thinkers quoted bear eloquent witness to that.
What then is the solution? Again a step in the right direction is suggested by Lord Bertrand Russell, (Mathematician & philosopher - 1872-1970)..
notorious for his hostility to Christianity, so listen to what he said, speaking of the obstacles which stand in the way of human progress:
"What stands in the way? Not physical or technical obstacles, but only the evil passions in human minds; suspicion, fear, lust for power, intolerance The root of the matter is a very simple and old-fashioned thing, a thing so simple that I am almost ashamed to mention it, for fear of the derisive smile with which wise cynics will greet my words. The thing I mean----please forgive me for mentioning it÷is love, Christian love, or compassion . ."
Conclusion: Ephesians 2:1-10 sums it up perfectly:
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
