Changed | Ephesians 4:17-32 | May 6, 2018

[Music] if you need a Bible tonight raise your hand we're in the book of Ephesians chapter 4 get your hand up high if you need a Bible ladies I want to encourage you that this Friday night doors open at 6:30 we have a night of worship just for the ladies in the church and so one encourage you to come and be a part of that bring your daughters with you if you have daughters bring your friends with you if you have friends that are female and it's gonna be an awesome time gals yeah you know just as we're thinking about as we're thinking about Mother's Day guys I want to encourage you to free your wives up to be here on Friday night it's gonna be a great time of refreshing so I hope that you're here to be a part of that verse 17 shop for for book of Ephesians let's all stand together a little ringy up here Thanks all right Bible says this beginning in verse 17 this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk and if utility of their mind 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 who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness but you have not so learned Christ if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows not talking about your husbands but the other the old man you're like a Bible says I can put off the old man the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created according to God and true righteousness and holiness I'm just gonna read the rest these verses there for putting away lying let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor for we are members of one another be angry and do not sin do not let the Sun go down on your wrath nor give place to the devil let him who stole steal no longer but rather let him labor working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give him who has need let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouths but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption let all bitterness wrath anger clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind to one another somebody say Amen on that tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you father thank you for these verses god they're just so powerful and so clear God it's not ambiguous it's not fuzzy we don't ever have to look at the Christian life as it's as if it's something that's too difficult to understand you've laid it out it is absolutely clear and and God thank you for the transforming work of your Holy Spirit God these things that we read can only happen by your power working in our lives but but God you you work that power when when we confess to you that we want it when we're willing to surrender and yield to it so God would you do it convict our hearts encourage our hearts strengthen our hearts feed our spirits wash us with the water of the word tonight in Jesus name Amen you can have a seat this morning's message was titled character matters and character does matter character matters to God who we are how we live our lives is important to the Lord and look you don't have to be a theologian to get this I mean if just a cursory reading of the New Testament makes it clear that God is very interested in how we live out our lives you know the word for that in the book of Ephesians is the word walk that just simply means our lifestyle how we conduct our life the decisions that we make who we are on the inside and you know certainly you know you seed in the Gospels and you see it laid out in the epistles God is very interested in fact you know the work of Christ on the cross was not just so that you would be saved but it was also so that you would be transformed that you would be changed this is what he's doing he's creating for himself his own special community and you know the first three chapters of this epistle are just rich in theology you think about all of the blessings and and that's that's really how he begins that we have all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus like we are radically blessed people super wealthy in a spiritual sense but all of that theology all of that wealth is supposed to be converted into real action and a lifestyle that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and and really that's what chapter 4 in chapter 5 of the book of Ephesians is all about we talked about unity last week that certainly was the emphasis that he began with when as he begins this section on the walk of the Christian remember three real different categories that this book can be broken into the wealth of the Christian the walk of the Christian and the warfare of the Christian as we began this the section on the walk or the lifestyle of the Christian he laid out the importance of unity tonight he's going to talk about the importance of purity and I'm just gonna use the word change or transformation this is what God does in our lives Titus chapter 2 verse 12 says this you don't have to turn there but just to punctuate the point Paul says this to Titus he says for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us so God's anybody happy here tonight for the grace of God just carry us well it is it's great to receive but it instructs us teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in the present age looking for the Blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ yeah who gave himself for us why that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works we're a community of believers you know we are unique and distinct we are in a sense of their worldly we are sanctified and set apart certainly we are to be in this world but we're not to be of this world because part of the work of Christ on the cross was to bring transformation to our lives we've been changed by God and I'm thankful for that aren't you grateful you know you may say something like this you know I may not be who I want to be but thank God I'm not who I used to be there's real real evidential change in your life and you know that comes God changes your heart these things that we read tonight you can't do these things in the flesh you can't create a law that demands and by the way there are some even in Christian circles who take these verses and apply them like the law like a new law to our lives you can't do that this is the fruit of the Holy Spirit we're talking about a heart that has been changed by God and God changes our it's not just about changing our behavior it's about changing our heart and God changes our hearts when we change our minds when we when we repent and turn away from our sins and we turn our our heart to God this is what the Bible says God does he places a new heart within us and he changes actually the desires of our heart this is important because I think that we need to be reminded that all of the theology in the world without change means absolutely nothing at all all right all of the theology were we're a Bible studying Church we're in the word all the time it's good to be in the word all the time but all of that knowledge as you increase in a day-by-day week-by-week all of it means nothing if it is not accompanied by real change and so he lays that out tonight these verses are really broken into two different sections and the first section verses 17 to 24 deals with two reasons for change and then in verses 25 to 32 he identifies six specific changes that should be taking place in the life of the believer in Jesus Christ so the Bible says in verse 17 this I say therefore and testifying the Lord he's just talking talking to the church big Church by the way Ephesus was a third largest city in the Roman Empire this even though they did not have a church building a physical edifice that was built this church had many home churches that were meeting together there was a General Assembly for the church in Ephesus and it was a very large Church at the time so he's instructing them this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk or conduct your lives as the rest of the Gentiles walk and the futility of their mind 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 who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness and then he says but you have not so learned Christ so so he says to the church listen your lives ought to be different and all of this all of the see ology should be should be working in your lives producing radical change number one because you're not like the unbelieving person you used to be you're not like the unbelieving pagan community godless pagan community around you and Paul just he he identifies some distinguishing characteristics of the unbelieving community around them why should there be real change Why should there be real transformation because we're not who we used to be the unbelieving person he just kind of lines this out beginning in verse 17 the unbelieving person walks in the futility of their mind in in other words um the word futility means vanity or meaningly meaninglessness it doesn't mean that the unbelieving person has nothing upstairs it doesn't mean the unbelieving person cannot be an intellectual it means that the unbelieving person is pursuing things that at the end of the day are temporary and have no eternal value like this was what our lives used to be characterized by the unbelieving person operates in the futility of their mind in this their whole lives are centred predominantly around themselves Paul says you're not like that anymore the unbelieving individual is not only operating in the futility of their mind but their understanding has been darkened in other words there's there's something that's missing there's an absence of the light of God's truth that navigates their lives there's no moral compass there's no understanding of God when you talk to a non-christian and you begin to lay expectations on them to get spiritual things remember you're talking to somebody whose mind is spiritually darkened it takes spiritual revelation in other words you can't expect the non-christian to understand spiritual things like you understand spiritual things and you know you get frustrated sometimes don't act like you don't you're like why don't you get this pastor you know what I've got these I got these unsaved coworkers and I'm telling you man I talked to them about God all the time and they just don't seem to get it that's because it's because they're not saved it's because there's an absence of the light of God's truth working in their mind certainly there's some revelation there's a general revelation there's the revelation of the moral conscience but you can't just expect a non-christian to get it like you get it these things the Bible says as Paul is speaking to the church at Corinth are spiritually discerned in fact these the the non-believing person is alienated this is the next thing we see in verse 18 is alienated from the life of God the word life there there's two Greek words that we translate in the English life one is physical life that's BIOS and when is spiritual life that's Zoe the word here is Zoe the unbelieving person is alienated separated from this spiritual life that God has given to you and to me because of ignorance because of the blindness of their heart because they don't they haven't responded yet to the revelation of God's Holy Spirit the word blindness is very interesting it means to willfully harden your heart against something to the place where calluses are being built up so you literally is gonna say this in just a minute so you literally cannot feel anymore their heart has been blinded because of an absence of trust and faith in Jesus Christ hey by the way let me just say this I know some of you guys love Disney but you know the message that can I just can I just harp on Disney for a second and this is not just a Disney issue but almost every Disney movie almost every Disney kids movie encourages young kids to follow their heart okay sorry I hate I hate to I hate to burst your bubble tonight the Bible says the heart is deceitful and wicked above all things who can know it I the Lord test the heart I know the mind the Bible says here of the unbelieving person that there is blindness in their heart so if you want to follow your heart guess what you're gonna end up in a ditch that's where your heart is gonna leave you what you need to do is you need to follow the truth of God's Word the heart is deceitful and wicked above all things and then the final thing is this and remember this is argument number one it's like hey listen you know you live to the spirit now because because this is who you used to be and you're not this person anymore kind of ties it up and he says in verse 19 who being past feeling have given themselves over to luden to work all uncleanness with greediness and so capping it off he simply says the calluses let me just put it a different way the calluses have been built up on their how their heart so much so that they are literally past feeling and they've given themselves over to lewdness maybe your Bible says lasciviousness to uncleanness this is expressing all types of immorality and the root of it the purpose of it is greediness just a desire for more being in a place where you're so driven by the flash that each experience that you have isn't really meeting that need anymore and so you hunger for more of the flesh which never satisfies you in the first place and becoming so hardened even against the moral conscious that God has given all of us that you're in a place this is the this is the place this person is in you're in a place where you've thrown off all restraint where you don't even care anymore you are willing to flaunt your sin in fact you take pride in your sin against God you know and this is this is why you and I do not flirt with sin this is why you and I don't walk down the road where we think in some way sin is gonna satisfy us we did that before and guess what did it satisfy you did it meet that need you know you know what happened it was unsatisfying in the moment it was pleasurable and then you and then it was like well you know what I need to I need to experience that again but you do the same thing again and it doesn't satisfy so you've got to go a little further and every step you take further hardens your heart more so against God and you know maybe for you this was exactly what humbled you and brought you to a place as your life you know the fruit of that is death this is what James says we're drawn away we're enticed by the desires of our flesh and when we give into sin sin produces death just like God said right in the day you eat of it you will surely die not just because the fruit was poisoned but because it was sin against God and that single transgression brought death physical death and spiritual death and this is what sin will always do this is not what the devil says to you the devil says hey this is gonna satisfy you the devil lies did you know that the devil is a liar the devil is a deceiver the depth the devil promises you things that he will never be able to deliver you know you think that at the end of the road of sin is some sort of satisfaction when in reality at the end of the road of sin is nothing but death and destruction do you think hey you know what this marriage really isn't working for me anymore and so so you know there's this new person at work that you've been talking to or this new person online that you've been engaging in a conversation with and you know this is the deception hey this relationships really going to do it like that your spouse had the opportunity didn't meet the opportunity so you have every right you're so justified in moving on and you think I'll be so much more satisfied I'll be so much happier my kids are resilient they'll get over it no they won't and no you won't you walk down that road it will lead to destruction even while the devil is promising you something else I'm telling you at the end of the day you will regret it Paul says this is the way reason number one for you and I to walk and change Paul says this is the way you used to be but you're not that person anymore and then in verse 20 verse 20 he says this but you've not so learned Christ if indeed you have heard him and had been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus somebody say amen to that that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to this the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on so we're talking about putting things off and putting things on and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness so the second reason not not as if all has got to convince these people but it's a legitimate argument the second reason for you and for me to to live a godly life is because it's exactly what Jesus Christ has spoken to us he says let me just pay for it paraphrase that or say it differently he says you know this ought to be the way that you live because this is exactly what he spoke to you he says if in fact or if indeed you have heard him and had been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus so he doesn't say I think it's interesting he doesn't say if indeed you have heard of him because the Christian isn't somebody who has just heard of Jesus a Christian is somebody who has heard Jesus has heard his voice has responded to his voice has submitted to his truth if indeed you have heard him and had been taught by him these are exactly the things that he instructed to the disciples in the New Testament the way that we ought to live our lives because everything that he spoke is true the truth is in Jesus you know there's a lot of people seeking truth today and they're seeking it in all of the wrong places whereas truth found the Bible says truth is found exclusively in the person of Jesus Christ it's not found in the infrastructure of the church is not found in a spiritual leader is not found in a religious philosophy it is found in the person of Christ you know when when he was ministering to the Samaritan woman you know he's just so gentle he handles Nicodemus it was a religious man in one way with religious terminology pulling from the Old Testament and then he handles this Samaritan woman in a completely different way a woman who was living in sin who had had five husbands and the guy she was with presently was not her husband she was living in adultery and fornication and you know he just ministers so uniquely just considering the person asks her for a drink and then begins a dialogue how is it that you being a Jew asked me a Samaritan woman for a drink if you knew who it was who asked you or who said to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water you know there's so many things that are significant about that but Jesus doesn't point to a religious system he points to himself real true genuine satisfaction comes from a person in his name is Jesus real truth listen there's so much falsehood in the world today so much deception and so many lies and you can become so cynical and you know you come to a place where it's like then where can I find truth answer Jesus Jesus is the truth and Paul says this was exactly what was laid out when you gave your life to Christ and when you heard his voice and when you were initially instructed you know that you were never taught hey you can just get saved and continue to live like hell and everything will be okay that was not the message that you heard that is not the message that Jesus spoke you say pastor you know like why do you even need to say that we know that that's the case Jesus never said that you know there are many churches today that while they may convey a message of salvation they do not convey a message of transformation in fact they would say that because you're saved by the grace of God you can just continue living any way that you want to because ultimately your sins are forgiven so if you want to continue to live in adultery you can continue to live in adultery if you want to continue to smoke pot and get drunk you can continue to smoke pot and get drunk you want to continue living the lifestyle of a homosexual doesn't matter God loves everybody and your sins are forgiven anyway and most of those people wouldn't even qualify any of those things as sin but that is not the New Testament view of Christianity that is certainly not what Jesus Christ taught so the second reason is because of what Jesus laid out he said this I'm the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me he says exclusively that he's the truth and he said in John 8:32 if you abide in my word you my you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free so so because of that Paul says this is what we ought to do we put off concerning the former conduct the old man or that old nature which grows corrupt according to the deceitful law so that that old nature that was that was driven to sin that was predisposed to sin Paul says in Romans chapter 6 that we were once slaves to sin we couldn't say no we may have said no for a moment but at the end of the day we were just driven to sin we were slaves to unrighteousness and that was a hard issue it wasn't just a behavior issue it was a nature issue and Paul says put that old man away and put on the new man put on the new nature when he uses the phrase put on and put off the idea that the idea behind that is this is a Greek phrase that that was used when somebody would come into their home and take off their arter outer gone garment I don't even know how to say that take off their outer clothes and you know they would fold it up they would take out off that outer garment you try saying it after a whole day of preaching they would take off the outer garment they would fold it up and they would set it to the side and Paul says that old nature that's so predisposed to sin you need to do the same thing you take it off you fold it up you set it on the Shelf and you never go back to it and you choose to live you put on the new nature you know you've been given a brand new nature God has given you not only a new heart but you've been given the nature of Christ you hunger and thirst for spiritual things because God placed it within you don't you know that that's the case like there are so many things that annoyed me about it about Christians before I got saved and I love to just give my Christian friends a hard time you guys dress weird you're lame you know like your church gatherings are stupid you're you're you're studying a book that's just anachronistic it's out of time I don't even know why you like it your music I mean do I even need to go there about your music and I just had this list of stuff that I thought man these are the reasons why I'll never be a Christian then I got saved and I loved all those things - - the clothing part but but I loved all those things I loved the music that they were singing I loved the book that they were studying I loved the fellowship that they were having because God transformed and changed my life you know I was studying I was studying environmental law and a lot of what I was studying was pre-med and so it was heavy on the evolutionary sciences I mean this was what we were being indoctrinated with at UC Irvine and I remember the night I got saved I came home to my friends that I partied with we lived in Newport Beach right on em Street which by the way was a great place to live and and I remember my friend looked at me you know he was he was studying the same thing he was preparing to be a doctor and and you said so you're telling me now that you don't believe in evolution and and I'm like yeah I'm telling you now that I don't believe in evolution I can't even explain it I can't even explain to you the reasons why but I know without a shadow of a doubt that God created the heavens in the earth and you know this is what God does when he transforms and changes you he does a whole new work within your being and you put off the old and you put on the new you know it's kind of like this you know if you've been if you've been in prison for 25 years you've been wearing the same gear right and you don't have the opportunity to put on some different threads or try a different color or get a different fabric like you're stuck you're stuck with the orange most likely and when you are released from prison you absolutely are not wearing the same clothes that you wore in prison out on the day of your release you're not gonna be like hey you know what I've really grown accustom of these clothes and and they've got like special things that have memories connected to them and so I'm just wondering is it cool if I just roll out in my gear with my number you know stitched right here what you're thinking that's not what you're thinking you're like man I can't I can't wait to disrobe myself to fold this garment up to set it aside and to never wear it again because it identified me it identified me for my sin it had identified me for my transgression it identif identified me for my injustice is and I have been set free I've been liberated and I'm not going back to that and I'm not gonna be identified by it so so it's the same thing for you and for me that all nature that all nature identified our proclivity towards sin our predisposition our sinfulness the injustice is that we committed and we lay it off and we put on these new beautiful robes that have been prepared for us by God the very righteousness of Jesus Christ he says be renewed in the spirit of your mind in other words change the way you think change the way you think hey if our thinking today is the same as it was before we gave our lives to Christ there's a problem there's a problem I'm not saying for any of us that all of our thinking is absolutely perfect you know we're all in process we're all being sanctified but if the way that we are thinking today hasn't remotely changed there's a problem Romans 12 verse 1 says this I beseech you this is a great verse I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God and then he says which is your reasonable service like this is not above and beyond this is not for the super Christian this is not for those who are really born again as opposed to those who are just kind of born again this is just the way it is and do not be conformed to this world don't allow the world to put its image upon you but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God like we surrender ourselves to this when we're in the word when we're in times of prayer when we're worshiping God this is what the Holy Spirit is doing he's renewing our mind the way that we think you know we're learning to love those things that God loves and we're learning to hate those things that God hates so two solid reasons for us to walk in this change number one because we are not any longer the unbelieving person and because this is exactly what Jesus taught his disciples so six specific changes notice this verse 25 it's dogís services over 701 therefore putting away lying let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor for we are members of one another now this is what he's gonna do he's gonna drill down on these on the specifics this is not a comprehensive list but maybe you're thinking well what does it look like what is the transformation from the old to the new look like there are six things if you're taking notes tonight there are six things that he lays out here in these verses that identify some of the change that should have happened in our lives by the way when I say change I don't just mean no longer doing the wrong thing I mean choosing to do the right thing instead of the wrong thing some of us when we look at holiness this is what we think well their holiness simply means that there are things that I have to stop doing that is half the message a better way of looking at it is this holiness practical holiness is choosing to do the right thing instead of the wrong thing and this is exactly what he says number one number one change in our life verse 25 the old nature lied the new nature tells the truth the old nature manipulated the old nature relied on the flesh to get the job done the new nature chooses to speak the truth the old nature shapes the truth and shapes reality ultimately to get what it wants accomplished the new nature trusts in the Lord the new nature values truth and understands that when when truth is spoken at the end of the day God will honor it look you're never in a place you are never in a place where you have no other option but to lie you're never in that spot you're never in that spot relationally you're never in that spot in your employment that is never a position that God is gonna put you in I mean if that was the case what you'd be saying is something like this well God you put me in this spot and I had no other option but to absolutely not true God will never do that he simply says this put away the longing put away the line this morning I talked about how sometimes you know we justify we justify our lies and we have these little categories like there's the bold-faced lie which is just out-and-out straight-up lie then the little white lie which isn't as bad you know it's it's it's small and it's white like I don't even get it right it's not gray it's not black it's white like the whole the whole thinking is just absolutely bizarre and the purpose of it at the end of the day is to give ourselves the freedom with a license to still manipulate the truth and you and I never have the option to do that I tell my kids listen there's one thing I hate there's one thing I hate I hate being lied to I hate it it will always be better for you to tell me the truth and to take the consequences then to compound your problems by lying to me I hate it why do I hate it because at the core of lying is the breakdown of the relationship at the at the core the fruit of lying is this it breaks down trust in relationships and if you don't have trust you don't have a relationship do you guys understand what I'm talking about this is why it's so important for us to speak truth to one another the Bible says this proverbs 6 16 six things the Lord hates yes seven are an abomination to him a proud a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood a heart that devises wicked plans feet that are Swift and running to evil in fact like you're planning it you can't wait to do it a false witness who speaks lies so he says it twice and one who sews discord among the brethren so so what does his change look like well the old nature was a lying nature the new nature chooses to tell the truth the second thing is this the old nature was predisposed to anger the new nature and dwelling and anger the new nature addresses anger quickly verse 26 says be angry and do not sin do not let the Sun go down on your wrath nor give place to the devil so the Bible accommodates in some sense types of anger all right there is a righteous anger there is an anger that is a response to unrighteousness to the victimization of people things that are done that are wrong you know you don't think you think about the life of Christ and you know the man with the withered hand was brought to Jesus and you remember they did it on purpose because it was a Sabbath and they were looking to catch him and put him in a trap because they knew what he was gonna do like they could count on the fact that if there was somebody in need of mercy Jesus was gonna give that mercy he was gonna bring the healing and and the Pharisees were like we're like so focused on catching him in a trap and their whole desire was to see him undermined before the people and he was angered he was angered at their hypocrisy you know while they're steaming Allah higher than the very mercy of God there are times where it's not necessarily wrong to be angry in fact there are things that we see in this world that if they don't anger us there is a problem the victimization of children like if you can look at the victimization of children and and not have that make you angry you got a problem right but the Bible doesn't want us to be in a place where we are chronically angry just mad all the time I know Christians like I just mad at everything you know everything is kind of provoking them to anger and not only that but not dealing with that anger in a godly way but letting it stew letting it build within them ultimately that becomes a cancer so the old nature was predisposed to anger and to dwelling and anger the new nature addresses anger quickly identifies whether this is justified or unjustified he's visit like this be angry yet do not sin do not let the Sun go down on your wrath you know I think it's just healthy for you at the end of the day to make sure that there is not unresolved anger in your relationships with your husband with your wife with your kids you know to deal with that why should we deal with it well he says and do not give place to the devil because the devil will leverage that against you when when you accommodate anger when it goes unresolved in your life this is what Satan does he leverages it so that it becomes a cancer and so that it very it becomes a hindrance in your relationship with God it leads to broken relationships that need to be ultimately reconciled and Jesus said before you bring your gift to the altar if you've got a brother that needs to be reconciled with leave the guilt gift and go be reconciled and then come back and offer your gift so the old nature is predisposed to anger the new nature addresses it quickly maybe tonight there's a relationship that in your heart has been stirring you to anger and that person's name as I say that just pops into your mind I would say to you that's the Holy Spirit and so deal with that relationship issue as quickly as you possibly can the old nature stole the new nature gives the old nature takes feel the new nature gives and so he says in verse 28 let him who stole steal no longer but rather let him labor working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give him who has meat and so look I read this and I think you know obviously for many of us stealing was not the issue but that's really not the point that he's making there's a whole transformation and change that God affects by His Holy Spirit where when we were driven by the old nature we were just people who were out to get we were people who are out to take and I'm not talking just about stealing physical things or money or cars or things like that but stealing from people things that they can never get back their virtue their virginity I mean think about that when you weren't saved everything was oriented around you and what you could get but now that you're a believer in Christ you're not just a taker because you are emulating God you desire to be a generous giver in fact he turns the whole thing around he says instead of stealing work with your hands what is good so that when the opportunity arises you have the privilege of giving to a person isn't in need is that your view of Christian generosity is that the way that you live your life you know we live in a very self oriented culture it is all about what we can get all the time climbing up the ladder of success upward mobility doesn't matter who you step on in the process take from whoever you can take because you've always got to look out for number one and the Bible says for the Christian it is the exact opposite for the Christian our heart is a predisposed to giving not taking the old nature the fourth thing is this the old nature tears down in relationships the new nature builds up the Bible says in verse 29 let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for it for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearer so God cares about our words God cares about the words we speak God cares about the words that we type in an email on a text God cares about the words that we post the old nature spoke corrupt words that had the tendency of tearing people down the new nature speaks encouraging words that build people up and edify those people who are being spoken to so you know how this works right I mean I think for myself as I look to the past I had a really nasty mouth and and you know I had the tendency some of you can identify with us anybody just so I'm not alone here tonight anybody had a mouth that God had to clean up anybody okay thank you very much you know God had to clean my mouth up and God had had to clean up my attitude towards other people because sometimes I could have I could be really harsh with my words God cleaned up my mouth when he cleaned up my heart and we need to remember the words that we speak especially in the relationships that mean the most in our lives the goal is this never to tear down never to bring hurt never to bring unnecessary pain but the goal always is to build people up in their faith and impart grace to those who are on the receiving in the fifth thing in verse 30 and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption you know this this is a little out of the list because there's not really this is who you used to be this is who you are this is just a reminder that God Himself is dwelling in this tent let me give you a good reason why you should walk in holiness because God is with you you are cohabitating the physical body with the holy spirit everything that you do you are dragging God along with you and you know he is a person the Holy Spirit is a person who can be grieved in other words when you and I are doing things that are displeasing to God it grieves you know it's not the same as being annoyed but it is displeasing to the Spirit of God who dwells within you and and I'll just say this you know you want to cohabitate in harmony with God's Holy Spirit you know you can sense you can sense it when you have grieved the holy spirit you know it's not just that your conscience is tricking you it's not just that the Spirit of God you know is showing you that you've deviated from the scripture you know that the third person of the triune Godhead who is dwelling within you is not pleased and that's not replaced that you and I want to be so he says do not grieve the Holy Spirit the sixth and final thing tonight that would be a specific change for us is that the old nature had harmful attitudes towards others and the new nature has a godly attitude towards others verse 31 says let all bitterness wrath anger clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you so that the sixth and final thing is this you know it gives a list of harmful attitudes the Bible says in Hebrews chapter thirteen or excuse me Hebrews chapter 12 the exhortation is look carefully lest any one of you fall short of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled so bitterness wrath unrestrained anger clamor that that means speaking divisive Lee gathering people into a group to undermine other people gossip slanderous speech lying about others with all malice or malicious intent literally like evening Paul do you really need to be exhorting the church and this like who in the church is going to handle a brother or sister like this let me tell you something let me tell you something this exhortation is absolutely necessary because unfortunately this happens all too often in the Church of the Living God where people the people literally with malicious intent seek to tear down other people are unrestrained in their slanderous gossip and gather people onto themselves creating divisions within the church sowing discord which is exactly what God says he hates in proverbs chapter 6 you know this we all want to see the world reached with the gospel do we not and and yet the very thing that probably hinders the progress of the gospel the most is division and discord within the church you know if you don't like something or you don't like someone and it's not sitting well with you you know resolve it if you can and if not go away peaceably but don't leave a mess on your way out you know what I'm talking about don't stick around and just cause a problem to cause a problem because the unbelieving world is looking on the outside and when they see that in the church listen it justifies their unwillingness to believe I'm not saying at the end of the day when they stand before God ultimately they'll be justified but we will bear the responsibility in some sense of that unity is an absolute necessity for the people of God and at the core of it this is what is at the core of it at the core of it as a Christian our attitudes towards others have changed so we go through a process you know you're tempted you're tempted to gossip or you're tempted to slander and and right at the moment of temptation you have to think is this a brother or sister in Christ and and look whether the answer is yes or no obviously slander and gossip is never justified but in that process this is what you're thinking this is my brother this is my sister this is a child of God we're gonna be together forever in heaven how can I do this right this is the transformation of the attitude how can I do this to this person this is not just the issue of an action this is the issue of an attitude and instead of those things what we ought to be number one is kind it's not complicated is it kindness in the in the church is so important it's so simple but sometimes it's so missing you know and if you don't believe it come to church during the week when when people are dropping their kids off for school like I'm telling you man I see some of the craziest stuff and a lot of people you know don't know I'm the pastor of the church so they just like you know they not that that makes a difference but you know when they're when they're flipping me the bird or something like that it's like really like let me get that license plate and find out who your kids are in our school like I'm telling you sometimes you just see the craziest thing wouldn't it just be nice if we were kind to each other wouldn't it be nice if we were just kind in in the world to the non-believers can you guys pray for me I struggle with impatience can you pray for me like when I Drive I need your prayers when I travel like I travel so much the smallest things annoy me now it is it's so bad it's just so bad like you're on the airplane and you've got a 10-hour flight back home and you're about to land in Las Vegas the way I see it is you've had 10 hours to prepare to get off the plane do you know what I'm talking about so when when I'm standing there and I'm waiting to get off because I'm excited to see my my family and the person in front of me is like oh the plane landed you know and and then it's the process of their digging in the pocket and and they're there folding up their their ear ear buds and and they're talking to the person next to them I'm like are you kidding me like you had 10 hours to get ready for this moment what are you doing get out of my way you know I'm not kidding as pastor Tony like I've got issues you guys have got to pray for me you have to pray and and I know there's times where the Lord's just like I'm I'm gonna make you wait I'm gonna make you wait and inevitably there's some issue and I'm like really god this hurts so bad but kindness just just being kind to one another I know you rolled in and you have the seat that you normally sit in and somebody has had the audacity to sit in your seat like don't you know you idiot I'm here every week for the last 10 years on Sunday night this is my seat I shouldn't have to put my name on it who do you think you are you know you know I mean be kind to one another tender-hearted tender heart Ted look the church is full of weird people I'm the weirdest okay I'm the weirdest I love the church at philippi it's just a crazy Church you know you've got a wealthy woman named Lydia she gets saved you got a demon-possessed girl that her demons exorcise she gets saved you get a Roman soldier and his family that can save this is the most eclectic Church is just like Calvary Chapel Las Vegas you know we're a bunch of weirdos we're a bunch of weirdos and we're diverse you know we're not all the same and we've got to embrace the diversity we've got to be tender hearted towards one another look I don't know all of your stories but I know you help story I don't know what you've been through but I know you've been through it I know you've been through something I know there's difficulty in your life I know that you come with stuff I know there's there's baggage that you want God to release you from I know every time we gotta there are people that are coming in that are thirsty for God and they're struggling and they're in the middle of life god help us to not be the people that are watching those who are coming through and evaluating and assessing well I can see this person's dealing with this and they've got this problem and they belong to this subculture and what are they doing here in the first place excuse me they have every right to be here just as much as you do regardless of their color or their creed or their background or their struggle whatever it may be like let's be tender towards people because God loves people and if God loves people you and I should love people too I want to be that type of church he says the final thing is is simple forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you so what is our forgiveness supposed to look like well well how is God forgiving you I mean he's he's been there's two Greek words that that we translate into forgiveness and the root of one word is Grace and the other one Afiya my means to send away so together it's God's grace and sending away your sins okay you don't deserve it you've not earned it we sang that you know what an amazing love he's had for us and you rejoice in it you receive at you're blessed by it you praise him for it that's same forgiveness he wants you to extend to other people be forgiving to one another we are going to sin against each other you guys I'm not justifying it but we're gonna have bad days we're gonna have bad days I have bad days surprise surprise I know when I'm having a bad day when I'm having a bad day I'm like I need to stay away from everybody okay I'm just I just got a bad attitude and I need to get it right but we're gonna have bad days we're gonna struggle we're gonna say things that we shouldn't say and we should be leaning always leaning towards forgiveness not bitterness and unforgiveness and keeping a record of wrongs and who are you and don't you know who I am and how could you do this against me if you want to live your life like that how about it it's going to be miserable you are going to have a miserable life and you know what you are gonna stop up the very forgiveness of God for your own sins forgive one another he said because if you don't forgive one another neither will your Father and heaven forgive you we give freely to others what God has given to us and it is the best way to live it is the best way to live just to give grace and to send it away so tonight you know if if there are issues and I know there's issues in as much as it is possible with you live at peace with all people we are not who we used to be we are all together changed because of the cross of Jesus Christ and the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives let's pray father thank you God I know I know these words are challenging but we're all right with that God we want to be challenged father we don't want to be we do not want to be consoled in the flesh we do not want to be accommodated in unrighteousness we don't want to be pandered to or deceived God we want your truth it's good god it not only feels good but it produces what is good fruit that glorifies you and that's what we want father bless this church bless your people bless our relationships help us God we struggle we do father's sometimes we have bad attitudes sometimes we say the wrong thing sometimes we operate in the flesh the God may we be quick to repent may we be quick to humble ourselves father help us to be careful with our words not believing that we have the freedom just to say whatever we want whenever we want about whoever we want God teach us to to close our mouths to pray more and to talk less tonight as their eyes are closed as their heads are bowed listen maybe tonight you've never put your trust in faith in Jesus Christ Christianity is not about following a set of rules it's about believing in a person his name is Jesus he is the source of truth he is the source of life he is the way to the Father in fact you can't have a relationship with God the Father without going through the son he died on the cross for you and he rose again so that you could receive what you don't deserve forgiveness grace and mercy the plan of God everlasting life you say man is it really that simple could it be that good the answer is yes and yes God is has made it this simple because he knows that that we cannot produce in our flesh but only he can do in the spirit and so tonight as her eyes are closes our heads are bowed maybe tonight you need Jesus maybe like I said you'd come in with all your stuff with all your baggage your burdens your struggles your suffering you are hoping that there's a God and that he will be predisposed to kindness to you and I want to tell you there is a God and not only is he kind he loves you he loves you with the relentless love he's been pursuing you he has a plan for you will you change your mind about unbelief and sin and will you believe in Jesus Christ tonight will you take that step of faith God is beckoning you to come tonight as our eyes are closed as our heads are bowed if this is you you'd say Jarek I've walked out I want to believe tonight I want to take a step of faith I want to pray for you right where you're sitting would you raise your hand tonight cause tugging on your heart want to trust in Christ I see your hand over here in the back on my right thank you sir anybody else I see um back here on my left god bless you too awesome anybody else right here knock on my right thank you so much for raising your hand and he loves you guys are fearfully and wonderfully made by God see your hand right here am i right thank you for raising your hand he knows every burden you're bearing he knows every struggle that you have and he's big enough to deal with it anybody else would you raise your hand tonight can put your hands down if you're a Christian tonight and you need to rededicate your life to Christ you know you need you need your own spiritual renewal it's not that you're not saved it's not that you've not believed in the gospel but you need a fresh work you need God to do a new thing I'm giving you the the differences between the old nature and the new nature and the truth is this look there's there's maybe a little more old in your life then you would like and you know that needs to change and you want to change your mind so that God can refresh your heart tonight if this is you would you raise your hand just stretch it up hike up bless you awesome you're in the front the back on my left just take a step of faith let God do something in your life tonight anybody else all right father thank you so much God for these precious souls that you loved so deeply and dearly we pray that you just bless them tonight as they take this step of faith in Jesus name Amen tonight please no movement in the chapel for all of you have raised your hands you know God's doing something in your life he's bringing you to this intersection of faith for you to make a decision I prayed for you but now you need to pray God wants a personal relationship with you and tonight I want to lead you in a very simple prayer a prayer of repentance this is changing your mind about unbelief and sin a prayer of faith you're looking to Jesus to be your deliverer your Savior you want to receive the promises of God through the son Jesus when he called his disciples he called all of them publicly he invited them to come and to make a public demonstration of faith and tonight if you raised your hand either to receive Christ for the first time or for spiritual renewal as a Christian I want to invite you to come publicly as well and so today if you raise your hand listen I want you just to stand up come on forward to the front step of the chapel this shouldn't be awkward for you God's doing a work in your life so I'm gonna step down a step don't leave me hanging here halfway if this is you stand on up come on forward [Applause] I heard wrong oh by the way to say Jesus is cold have you come to the end of this yeah do you drink Jesus is cool [Music] oh come to the altar [Music] I was born with the crash [Music] Jesus cross there's anybody else tonight look I just I want to encourage you God loves you and God will accept you he'll receive you tonight I know sometimes there is a hang-up that people have and they you know you might be thinking this man Who am I Who am I to to look to God and to ask God for anything and I would say you're his creation your beloved by him you're fearfully and wonderfully made he's made you for this purpose he has a plan for you he knows every issue every struggle that you have it's not about your righteousness is about his righteousness it's not about what you can do for him it's about what he has done for you it's not you about you changing your life it's about him changing your life and I'm just saying you can come just as you are I came over 20 years ago to Christ I came with a life that was a total mess and God took me as I wasn't changed me and so this evening you know my heart goes out to you if you're sitting there this is just for you as an individual God's focused on you he's speaking to you and he's calling you to come Tony's gonna lead us for one more moment and if this is you stand up right now come forward let me lead you in prayer [Music] leave behind regrets a come today [Music] Brits are [Music] leaves you guys in prayer this prayer is not to me it's not to the church just to God through his son and God's promised to here so let's bow our heads together and I want you to make this your prayer to him repeat it out loud after me God tonight I give you my life god I've sinned against you I've been living in unbelief but tonight I believe in Christ your son yet you sent him for me to forgive me of my sins I receive your forgiveness I receive your Holy Spirit I received the gift of everlasting life in Jesus name I pray [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Calvary Chapel Las Vegas, Nevada

Views: 2,145

Rating: 4.6923075 out of 5

Keywords: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, truth, salvation, Bible, church, Ephesians, Christianity, Calvary, Calvary Chapel Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, Pastor Derek Neider, Change, Gospel, peace, joy, love

Id: 5OgKEq7Bs3k

Length: 65min 13sec (3913 seconds)

Published: Mon May 07 2018