Sermon - Ephesians 4:17-32 - Littleby Baptist Church - October 28, 2018

Last week we started the second half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This part of the letter is where Paul takes all the theology of the first half and guides us on how to apply it to our lives.

Paul’s first point in the second half of the letter is for us to live our lives worthy of the calling God has placed on us. Living our lives with humility, gentleness, and patience. He went on to remind us that we are united in Love as one body of believers and serving one amazing God. Paul also pointed out that we ourselves are gifts that have been given to the Church for a reason. We are all uniquely equipped to meet a need as we Love God here at Littleby and Love Others throughout the world. A united church, here at Littleby and in the ‘C’ church, all with different jobs to blanket the world with God’s Love.

As we continue in chapter 4, we will see Paul giving us more direction on how to and how not to live our lives.

Ephesians 4:17-19

“¹⁷ Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their thoughts. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹ They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more. “

As I read this section I wondered how Paul sounded when he dictated it. I wonder was he being encouraging, ‘come on guys you know you should not be doing this anymore’ or did he come across a lot stronger, ‘what do you think you are doing, that is not how you are supposed to act’.

Either way the message is clear, do not live how you used to live. Live according to your calling, not your past.

Knowing who Jesus is and what He did for you is not enough. You need to confess that He is your Lord and choose to follow Him. You don’t have to straighten out your life before God wants you. He loves you so much that you can be the chief of sinners and He still wants to be with you. His grace is more than sufficient for anything and everything you have done.

But as a follower of Jesus, we need to repent and turn from our old ways. When you accepted Jesus, your sins died on that cross with Him and you became a New Creation when He rose from the dead. You are not who you used to be.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

“²⁵ I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.”

Put another way, Jesus has washed us clean with His blood! He has taken every ounce of sin we had and given us Hope! He gave us a New Heart! Made us a New Creation! Filled us with the Holy Spirit, and we are to live our lives as Children of the Father not as children of the world.

Colossians 3:8-10

“⁸ But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.”

We need to get rid of the garbage and Live for Jesus. Honor God in our thoughts and actions.

Ephesians 4:20-24

“²⁰ But that is not how you came to know Christ, ²¹ assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, ²³ to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.”

As we choose to Live for Jesus we begin to change. It is not some miraculous instantaneous thing, it comes from being open to be led by God and others. We need to learn what it means to follow Jesus. We learn from studying God’s Word, Listening to the Holy Spirit, and be around fellow believers. It takes time. Learning to live our lives for Jesus is a life long journey.

I used to have a t-shirt that had printed on it ‘God at work’ on the front and ‘still under construction’ on the back. God is at work in our lives and guess what, contrary to popular belief just because we are saved does not mean we are not perfect. We are going to make mistakes. We are going to have days it feels like we are losing more than we are winning. We are going to have those down in the dumps days where nothing seems to go right. That is because we are under construction, but God is still at work in us.

Colossians 3:1-2

“3 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Instead of focusing on the things we struggle with, focus on Godly things. Instead of focusing on developing a plan to turn away from a sin you seem to be struggling with, focus on God’s Word and living it. If you feel you are to help out at a food pantry, get out there and do it. If you feel led to go talk to your neighbor about Jesus… do it. If you hear of a prayer need or you feel the Holy Spirit telling you to pray for someone… stop and pray.

Focus on the things that God wants you to do, not the things you are struggling with. Go to church instead of sitting at home. Get together with friends for a Bible study instead going to the bar. Read your Bible instead of looking at porn.

Set your mind on the things God wants you to focus on and those earthly things will be less attractive and less of a struggle. If you are busy Living your life for Jesus there is less time for you to be tempted by other things.

Remember if Christ is dwelling in your hearts, He is front and center of your thoughts and your actions.

It truly is a choice that you need to make. Accepting Jesus and saying that initial prayer is the first step. Changing your life from that of a sinner to that of a servant requires you to make a choice. A decision needs to be made every day to serve God, not the world. A choice needs to be made to Honor God in EVERY aspect of your lives, not just the church parts. A choice needs to be made Love God above all things. A choice needs to be made to Love Others so much that you are going to be a witness. A choice needs to be made that you will be different from others, as you choose to live a Holy life.

It can be challenging to choose the Godly things over the earthly things. It is easy to go to the bar with your coworkers after work, it can be hard to not be included. It is easy to watch TV or play video games, it can be hard to set aside time to read your Bible. It is easier to mind your own business, than to open up and connect with someone in need. It is safer to keep your relationship with Jesus to yourself, it is hard to share God’s Word and risk rejection.

Choose to follow Jesus, even when it is hard.

When Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:22 ‘to take off your former way of life’, he is telling us that we need to make the choice between our old lives and the life that Christ has offered us. We can’t dabble in Christianity and keep one foot in the world.

We are going to make mistakes as we walk the path with Jesus. We are going to stumble, we are going to fall, sin is going to creep in, and we are going to take our eyes off the prize. Taking off our former way of life does not mean we are going to be perfect.

It means we are making the choice to follow Jesus, with our thoughts and actions.

Ephesians 4:25-32

“²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and don’t give the devil an opportunity. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹ No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. ³² And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”

In these verses Paul is giving us some basic instructions on how we are to live.

Verse 25 – ‘speak the truth’ – this one is obvious, don’t lie to or about others. Always speak the truth.

Verse 26 – ‘be angry and do not sin’ – When we get angry we tend to not think clearly, which can lead to bad choices and sin. If you get angry do not let it control you.

Verse 27 – ‘don’t give the devil an opportunity’ – Building off verse 26, people can get angry for the right reasons, for example being angry over abortions being legal. The anger is good, but the devil has used it to drive people to hateful acts, causing them to sin. Abortions break God’s heart, it should break our hearts, but don’t let the devil use it to drive you to sin.

Verse 28 – ‘let the thief no longer steal’ Greed to generosity. A thief steals for his own good, as a follower Christ you work and give to others.  

Verse 29 – ‘no foul language should come from your mouth’ People need to be able to hear that we are different by how we talk. Starting with the actual words but also that we lift people up, we encourage them, we point them to Hope.

Verse 30 – We are sealed by God through the Holy Spirit living in us, and we need to live accordingly. We need to be acting in ways that honors God and what He did for us, not acting in ways that show we do not value the Gift of Grace we have been given.

Verse 31 – If we are living for Jesus, Bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander, and malice are things that should not be in our lives.

Paul ends with an encouragement.

Ephesians 4:32

“³² And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”

Kind, Compassionate, Forgiving – that is how we should strive to live. Jesus was all those things. We are to emulate Him as we Love God and Love Others… people should see these things in our lives.

We are going to mess up and God’s grace is more than enough to wipe our sins away.

But Living for Jesus is a choice we make every day. With every thought, every step, every action we are making the choice to Follow Christ.

Choose to talk to God, choose to read your Bible, choose to be different, choose to love others, choose to be generous, choose to risk it all, choose to live your life worthy of your calling.

Here are two questions for you to ponder.

Are you different today than when you first accepted Christ? Are you choosing to live your life worthy of your calling?

Thanks for Reading,

Robert