SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 33

TITLE: WALK NOT!

TEXT: EPHESIANS 4:17-19

INTRODUCTION: (1) WHEN YOU RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR AND ARE SAVED, YOU BECOME A TOTALLY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUAL, SALVATION BRINGS ABOUT A SUPERNATURAL CHANGE.

* IN FACT, THE CHANGE THAT OCCURS WHEN YOU ARE SAVED IS MORE DRAMATIC THAN THE CHANGE THAT WILL OCCUR WHEN YOU DIE.

** THE REASON BEING: BY THE TIME YOU DIE YOU ALREADY HAVE A NEW NATURE AND YOU ALREADY ARE A CITIZEN OF GOD’S KINGDOM. THAT HAPPENS AT SALVATION, THOSE ARE PRESENT TENSE POSSESSIONS.

*** SO ALL DEATH DOES IS ENABLE YOU TO ENTER GOD’S PRESENCE. IT FINISHES WHAT WAS STARTED AT SALVATION, REDEMPTION IS COMPLETED.

(2) AND WHEN A TRUE BELIEVER DIES, HE SIMPLY BEGINS TO PERFECTLY EXPERIENCE THE DIVINE NATURE HE HAS HAD SINCE HIS SPIRITUAL BIRTH, BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME HE IS FREE FROM THE UNREDEEMED FLESH, HIS CORRUPTIBLE BODY.

* SO THE FUTURE RECEIVING OF HIS GLORIFIED BODY WILL NOT MAKE HIM BETTER, SINCE HE IS ALREADY PERFECTED POSITIONALLY, BUT PRACTICALLY IT WILL GIVE HIM THE FULL CAPACITY FOR ALL THAT ETERNAL LIFE INVOLVES.

** NOW I’VE SAID ALL OF THAT TO SAY THIS, SALVATION IS NOT A MATTER OF IMPROVEMENT OR PERFECTION OF WHAT HAS PREVIOUSLY EXISTED. IT IS TOTAL TRANSFORMATION!

(3) TO SHOW YOU WHAT I MEAN THE N.T. SPEAKS OF BELIEVERS HAVING THE FOLLOWING: A NEW MIND, THE MIND OF CHRIST, A NEW WILL, A NEW HEART, A NEW INHERITANCE, A NEW RELATIONSHIP, WE ARE SONS OF GOD.

* ON TOP OF THAT WE HAVE NEW POWER, NEW KNOWLEDGE, NEW WISDOM, NEW PERCEPTION, NEW UNDERSTANDING, NEW RIGHTEOUSNESS, NEW LOVE, NEW DESIRE, NEW CITIZENSHIP AND MANY OTHER NEW THINGS, ALL OF WHICH ARE SUMMED UP IN NEWNESS OF LIFE, ROMANS 6:4.

** ROMANS 6:4 – “THEREFORE WE HAVE BEEN BURIED WITH HIM THROUGH BAPTISM INTO DEATH, SO THAT AS CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD THROUGH THE GLORY OF THE FATHER, SO WE TOO MIGHT WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.”

*** AND BELIEVER, BECAUSE OF THE NEW BIRTH, WE BECOME NEW CREATURES, NEW CREATIONS, WE BECOME SOMEONE NEW IN CHRIST, II CORINTHIANS 5:17 (READ IT).

(4) SO ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD, WE ARE NEW, WE ARE RAISED TO WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.

* HOWEVER, THAT RAISES THIS QUESTION. “IF I’M SUCH A NEW CREATION, WHY DO I STILL SIN?”

** WELL, THE ANSWER IS, CHRISTIANS CONTINUE TO SIN BECAUSE THEIR NEW NATURE IS ENCASED IN A SMELLY OLD COAT KNOWN AS THE FLESH.

*** IN ROMANS 7:17&18 PAUL SAYS: “IT IS NO MORE I THAT DO IT, BUT SIN THAT DWELLETH IN ME, THAT IS IN MY FLESH.” READ V. 18.

(5) AND PAUL WAS SAYING, WHEN I SIN IT IS NOT MY NEW NATURE THAT SINS BUT THE SIN THAT DWELLETH IN ME.

* AND SIN DWELLS IN OUR HUMANNESS, THE SMELLY COAT THAT MY NEW NATURE HAS TO ENDURE UNTIL I GO TO BE WITH THE LORD.

** AND THE BELIEVER AS A TOTAL PERSON IS TRANSFORMED BUT NOT YET WHOLLY PERFECT. HE HAS RESIDING SIN BUT NO LONGER REIGNING SIN.

*** WE ARE NO LONGER THE OLD MAN CORRUPTED BUT ARE NOW THE NEW MAN CREATED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS, AWAITING FULL SALVATION, THE COMPLETION OF WHAT WAS STARTED AT SALVATION. READ ROMANS 13:11.

(6) NOW THOSE TRUTHS LEAD US TO EPHESIANS 4. FOR IN EPHESIANS PAUL MAKES TWO APPEALS BASED ON THE FACT THAT BELIEVERS ARE NEW CREATIONS.

* NO. 1 IN EPHESIANS 4:1 WE SEE THE FIRST APPEAL: (READ EPHESIANS 4:1).

** SO WE HAVE A HIGH CALLING, SO WE NEED TO LIVE OUT WHAT WE ARE.

*** NOW THE SECOND APPEAL IS IN V. 17, OUR TEXT TODAY, IN WHICH PAUL CONTRASTS THE WALK OF THE WICKED UNBELIEVER WITH THE WALK OF A CHRISTIAN.

**** AND, PAUL FOLLOWS THAT CONTRAST WITH SOME “THEREFORES” IN V. 25, 5:1, 5:7 AND 5:15, SHOWING THE CHRISTIAN’S PROPER RESPONSE TO BEING A NEW CREATION.

- THEREFORE, SINCE YOU ARE A NEW CREATION, YOU SHOULD WALK THIS WAY.

(7) AND ALL OF THIS POINTS TO THE FACT THAT A CHANGED NATURE DEMANDS CHANGED BEHAVIOR.

* BELOVED, THE FIRST 3 CHAPTERS OF EPHESIANS DISCUSS THE NEW NATURE OF THE NEW MAN.

** AND FROM EPHESIANS 4:1 TO THE END OF THE EPISTLE, PAUL INSTRUCTS US TO WALK THE WORTHY WALK, TO LIVE OUT OUR NEW LIVES. WE ARE TO BEHAVE IN ACCORD WITH WHO WE ARE.

*** THINK OF IT THIS WAY: IT IS AS IF PAUL IS SAYING:

**** SINCE GOD CREATED A MARVELOUS NEW ENTITY IN THE WORLD CALLED THE CHURCH, AND BECAUSE OF THIS UNIQUE NEW CREATION, WITH IT’S UNIQUE CHARACTER OF HUMILITY, IT’S UNIQUE EMPOWERMENT WITH SPIRITUAL GIFTS, IT’S UNIQUE UNITY AS THE BODY OF CHRIST, AND IT’S NEED TO BE BUILT UP IN LOVE, HERE IS HOW EVERY BELIEVER SHOULD LIVE AS A MEMBER OF THAT CHURCH.

(8) AND SPECIFICALLY IN VV. 17-19, PAUL GIVES US SOME NEGATIVES ON HOW WE SHOULD NOT WALK, WE SHOULD NOT LIVE LIKE UNSAVED PEOPLE DO.

* AND BECAUSE OF THAT I’VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE THIS MORNING, “WALK NOT!”

** AND UNDER THAT TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS, NO. 1 THE ADMONITION FROM PAUL NOT TO WALK AS THE GENTILES, V. 17; NO. 2 THE ALIENATION THAT UNSAVED PEOPLE HAVE FROM GOD, V. 18; AND NO. 3 THE ABANDONMENT OF UNSAVED PEOPLE, THE FORSAKING OF GOD’S STANDARDS OF MORALITY, V. 19.

*** SO WE’LL LOOK AT THE ADMONITION, THE ALIENATION, AND THE ABANDONMENT UNDER THE THEME OF WALK NOT THIS MORNING.

- AND WITH THAT IN MIND, LOOK AT V. 17 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL BEGIN BY SEEING PAUL’S ADMONITION TO THE EPHESIAN BELIEVERS.

I. THE ADMONITION, (READ V. 17)

A. NOW IN V. 17 THE WORD THEREFORE REFERS BACK TO WHAT PAUL HAS BEEN SAYING IN VV. 1-16 ABOUT THE WORTHY WALK, SPECIFICALLY ABOUT UNITY, SPIRITUAL MATURITY, AND THE GROWTH OF CHRIST’S CHURCH.

* AND PAUL’S POINT BY USING THE WORD THEREFORE IS, BECAUSE WE ARE CALLED TO SALVATION, UNIFIED IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, GIFTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND BUILT UP BY GIFTED MEN, AGAIN VV. 1-16, BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS, THEREFORE, WE SHOULD WALK NO LONGER AS THE GENTILES ALSO WALK.

** IN OTHER WORDS, WE CANNOT ACCOMPLISH THE GLORIOUS WORK OF CHRIST BY CONTINUING TO LIVE THE WAY THE WORLD LIVES. WE ARE NOT TO LIVE LIKE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, SO WE ARE UNIQUE.

1. AND PAUL IS NOT FOOLING AROUND HERE, HE’S BEING VERY AUTHORITATIVE, HE’S TESTIFYING OR AFFIRMING WHAT HE SAYS AS IF THE LORD IS SAYING IT HIMSELF, FOR IN REALITY HE IS BECAUSE HE’S INSPIRED, HE IS SPEAKING FOR THE LORD.

* AND HE PLACES SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON WHAT HE SAYS BY USING THE WORD AFFIRM, TESTIFY OR INSIST, DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE, AND THE PHRASE, TOGETHER WITH THE LORD, V. 17A.

** FOR THE WORD AFFIRM HERE LIT. MEANS TO INSIST OR IMPLORE, IT IS A STRONG WORD OF SOLEMN APPEAL, A PROTEST OR INJUNCTION.

*** AND THE PHRASE TOGETHER WITH THE LORD SUGGESTS THAT PAUL IS CONSCIOUS OF SUCH A CONNECTION WITH THE LORD THAT HE SPEAKS IN THE LORD’S NAME AND FEELS THAT HIS WORDS ARE CLOTHED WITH DIVINE AUTHORITY.

- THIS IS AN ADMONITION IN A SENSE MADE BY CHRIST HIMSELF, THIS IS WHAT THE LORD WOULD SAY.

- NOW WHAT IS THE ADMONITION?

2. THAT WE SHOULD NOT WALK AS THE GENTILES WALK. AND THE WORD WALK HAS TO DO WITH HOW WE LIVE, HOW WE REGULATE OUR LIVES, HOW WE CONDUCT OURSELVES, OUR MANNER OF LIFE.

* SO WE ARE NOT TO LIVE AS THE GENTILES LIVE. AND IT’S INTERESTING THAT THE WORD GENTILES IS THE GREEK WORD ETH-NOS FROM WHICH WE GET OUR WORD ETHNIC.

** AND THE JEWS USED THIS TERM IN TWO DIFFERENT WAYS, FIRST TO DISTINGUISH ALL OTHER PEOPLE FROM JEWS AND SECOND TO DISTINGUISH ALL RELIGIONS FROM JUDAISM.

*** GENTILES THEREFORE REFERRED RACIALLY AND ETHNICALLY TO ALL NON-JEWS AND RELIGIOUSLY TO ALL PAGANS, PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW GOD.

3. SO PAUL’S POINT IN V. 17 IS THIS, WE ARE NOT TO LIVE LIKE PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW GOD. GENTILES HERE REPRESENTS ALL UNGODLY, UNREGENERATE, UNSAVED PEOPLE.

* PAUL IS SAYING, “DON’T LIVE LIKE UNSAVED PEOPLE, DON’T ACT LIKE THE WORLD, BE DIFFERENT, YOU ARE UNIQUE, WALK IN A MANNER WORTHY OF YOUR CALLING, V. 1, ACT LIKE CHRISTIANS.

** NOW UNDERSTAND THIS, AS IN OUR DAY, THE BELIEVERS IN PAUL’S DAY FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO LIVE DIFFERENTLY THAN THE UNBELIEVERS SURROUNDING THEM. THEY WERE CONSTANTLY SUBJECT TO THE VILE HABITS AND DEEDS OF UNSAVED PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY AT EPHESUS, IT WAS A CESSPOOL OF IMMORALITY.

*** AND THE EPHESIANS' PROBLEM, AND OUR PROBLEM TODAY ISN’T GETTING PEOPLE IN THE WORLD TO LIVE LIKE CHRISTIANS, WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO THAT, THAT’S NOT THEIR NATURE. BUT GETTING CHRISTIANS TO STOP LIVING LIKE THE WORLD.

4. WE ARE TO BE SALT AND LIGHT. THIS WORLD IS NOT OUR HOME, WE ARE ALIENS IN A SENSE.

* OUR MORALS SHOULD BE DIFFERENT, OUR TALK SHOULD BE DIFFERENT, OUR LIFESTYLE SHOULD BE DIFFERENT, OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS DIFFERENT, EVEN THE WAY WE DRESS SHOULD BE DIFFERENT, NOT WEIRD, BUT IN MODESTY, WHEREAS THE WORLD EXPOSES ITSELF IN IMMODEST APPAREL.

** BELOVED WE SHOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY AND IN TURN ACT DIFFERENTLY. WE SHOULD NOT LOVE THIS WORLD SYSTEM. WE DON’T FIT IN FOR THE WORLD IS GOING DOWNSTREAM AND WE ARE GOING UPSTREAM. WE ARE SPIRITUAL SALMON FIGHTING THE CURRENT.

*** UNSAVED PEOPLE ARE GOING WITH THE GRAIN AND WE ARE GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN. THAT’S WHY LIFE IS DIFFICULT FOR US MANY TIMES, WE ARE ALIENS, STRANGERS IN A FOREIGN LAND, PHILIPPIANS 2:14&15 (READ THEM). ALSO READ I PETER 2:11.

**** HEBREWS 11:13 – “ALL THESE DIED IN FAITH, WITHOUT RECEIVING THE PROMISES, BUT HAVING SEEN THEM AND HAVING WELCOMED THEM FROM A DISTANCE, AND HAVING CONFESSED THAT THEY WERE STRANGERS AND EXILES ON THE EARTH.”

***** AND BELOVED, WE ARE TO BE DIFFERENT, WE ARE STRANGERS, PILGRIMS, EXILES AND WE ARE NOT TO ACT LIKE UNSAVED PEOPLE AND SOMETIMES WE MAY SEEM DOWN-RIGHT WEIRD TO SOME UNSAVED PEOPLE.

- LET ME ILLUSTRATE WHAT I MEAN, SOMEONE SAYS, “YOU MEAN YOU DON’T PARTY, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU? YOU MEAN YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN HAVING SEX UNTIL YOUR MARRIED, WHAT ARE YOU, A NUN?”

- “YOU MEAN YOU DON’T LIE TO YOUR PARENTS. YOU MEAN YOU BELIEVE IN WORKING HARD FOR YOUR EMPLOYER. YOU MEAN YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN CHEATING THE GOVERNMENT?”

- “YOU MEAN YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN ABORTION. YOU MEAN YOU DON’T BELIEVE THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS AN ALTERNATE LIFESTYLE, WHAT ARE YOU A BIGOT? YOU MEAN YOU DON’T DATE NON-CHRISTIANS. BOY YOU’RE WEIRD!”

5. AND TRAGICALLY TODAY, WE WANT TO BE SO ACCEPTED, WE WANT TO FIT IN, WE WANT TO BE POPULAR WHEN GOD SAYS IN JAMES 4:4 (READ IT). ALSO II CORINTHIANS 5:14-17, I JOHN 2:15-17, EPHESIANS 5:11, PSALM 119:63, II TIMOTHY 3:12.

* AND YOU KNOW WHY WE ARE NOT PERSECUTED, WE ARE TOO MUCH LIKE THE WORLD. BUT PAUL SAYS, DON’T ACT LIKE UNSAVED PEOPLE!! WALK NOT!

** AND BEGINNING IN THE LAST PART OF V. 17, THROUGH V. 19 PAUL TALKS ABOUT HOW UNSAVED PEOPLE WALK, HOW THEY LIVE.

*** AND IN THE END OF V. 17, IT SAYS: “THEY WALK IN THE FUTILITY, THE VANITY OF THEIR MIND.”

6. NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WELL, THE WORD FUTILITY OR VANITY LIT. MEANS EMPTINESS, PURPOSELESSNESS, AIMLESS, FUTILE AND RESULTLESS.

* AND THE THOUGHT IS NOT THAT UNSAVED PEOPLE’S MINDS ARE EMPTY, IT IS THAT THEY ARE FILLED WITH THINGS THAT LEAD TO NOTHING, LIFE WITH NO MEANING, NO ULTIMATE PURPOSE, GOOD FOR NOTHING NOTIONS.

** IT IS THINKING THAT LEADS TO NO ETERNAL RESULTS, GIVEN OVER TO THINGS DEVOID OF WORTH OR REALITY.

7. BELOVED, THE LIFE OF AN UNBELIEVER IS BOUND UP IN THINKING AND ACTING IN AN ARENA OF ULTIMATE TRIVIA.

* HE CONSUMES HIMSELF IN THE PURSUIT OF GOALS THAT ARE PURELY SELFISH, IN THE ACCUMULATION OF THAT WHICH IS TEMPORARY, AND IN LOOKING FOR SATISFACTION IN THINGS THAT WILL NOT SATISFY.

** SO UNSAVED PEOPLE WALK IN THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MIND, THEIR MINDS ARE DEPRAVED, THEY THINK WRONG, SO THEY ACT WRONG.

*** WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY IN V. 18, THE ALIENATION, FOR PAUL CONTINUES TO TALK ABOUT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE UNSAVED. LOOK AT V. 18.

II. THE ALIENATION, (READ V. 18)

A. NOW IN V. 18, THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED DARKENED MEANS TO MAKE BLIND, TO DARKEN OR BLIND THE MIND.

* AND UNSAVED PEOPLE’S UNDERSTANDING, THEIR MINDS, HAVE BEEN BLINDED BY SIN. FOR THE WORD UNDERSTANDING LIT. MEANS THE MIND AS THE FACULTY OF UNDERSTANDING, FEELING, DESIRING.

** SO AGAIN UNSAVED PEOPLE’S MINDS ARE BLINDED BY SIN AND AS A RESULT ARE EXCLUDED FROM THE LIFE OF GOD, BECAUSE OF THE IGNORANCE THAT IS IN THEM.

1. AND I LIKE THE KING JAMES TRANSLATION OF THE WORD EXCLUDED HERE, IT IS ALIENATED. UNSAVED PEOPLE ARE ALIENATED FROM GOD BY THEIR SIN, AND ARE ALIENS BY BIRTH.

* THEY DO NOT SHARE IN THE LIFE OF GOD BECAUSE THEY ARE DEAD SPIRITUALLY, THEY ARE EXCLUDED FROM GOD BECAUSE OF THEIR SIN.

** THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY IGNORANT BECAUSE OF THE HARDNESS OF THEIR HEARTS. AND THE IDEA OF V. 18 IS THE UNSAVED PERSON IS DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS, EPHESIANS 2:1.

*** AND JUST AS A CORPSE CANNOT HEAR A CONVERSATION IN A FUNERAL HOME, THE PERSON WHO IS SPIRITUALLY DEAD IN HIS TRESPASSES AND SINS CANNOT HEAR OR UNDERSTAND THE THINGS OF GOD, NOR DOES HE DESIRE THEM, ONLY THE BENEFITS, THE BLESSINGS.

2. AND UNDERSTAND THAT THE WORD HARDNESS IN V. 18 CARRIES THE IDEA OF BEING ROCK-HARD. IT WAS USED BY PHYSICIANS TO DESCRIBE THE CALCIFICATION THAT FORMS AROUND BROKEN BONES AND BECOMES HARDER THAN THE BONE ITSELF.

* BUT ALSO THIS WORD WAS USED TO TALK ABOUT THE HARD FORMATIONS THAT SOMETIMES OCCUR IN JOINTS AND CAUSE PEOPLE TO BECOME IMMOBILE. IT COULD THEREFORE COMMUNICATE THE IDEA OF PARALYSIS AS WELL AS OF HARDNESS.

** AND THE POINT IS SIN HAS A PETRIFYING EFFECT ON THE HEART OF UNSAVED PEOPLE AND THEIR MINDS ARE BLIND TO THE TRUTH, AND ARE UTTERLY INSENSITIVE TO THE THINGS OF GOD.

*** AND SALVATION BY GOD’S GRACE THROUGH FAITH, RAISES THAT PERSON FROM THE DEAD SPIRITUALLY, IT HEALS THEIR EYES THAT ARE BLIND TO THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL, IT IS A QUICKENING FROM GOD.

**** IT COMES FROM THE CALL OF V. 1.

3. AND OF COURSE THAT IS GOD’S WORK IN SALVATION, HE OPENS THE HEART, HE DOES WHAT WE CANNOT DO FOR OURSELVES. BUT OUR RESPONSIBILITY AND PRIVILEGE IS TO DECLARE THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, TO SOW THE SEED, SO THE SPIRIT CAN CONVICT AND DRAW.

* WE PLANT, OTHERS WATER, ONLY GOD GIVES THE INCREASE, I COR. 3:6.

** SO LET’S FAITHFULLY AND PASSIONATELY SOW AND WATER SO THAT GOD MAY GRANT REPENTANCE TO THE ACKNOWLEDGING OF THE TRUTH AS HE DID IN OUR LIVES WHEN WE WERE ALIENATED FROM HIM, BEING BLIND AND IGNORANT BECAUSE OF THE HARDNESS OF OUR HEARTS.

** BELOVED, GOD’S WORK OF MERCY AND GRACE IN OUR LIVES SHOULD MOVE US TO PRAISE AND TO TELLING OTHERS ABOUT HIM. LET’S BE FAITHFUL IN REACHING OUT WITH THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE ALIENATED AS WE WERE MIGHT BE SAVED.

- SO IN V. 18 WE SEE THE ALIENATION. NOW MOVING ON LOOK AT V. 19 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE ABANDONMENT, AS PAUL CONTINUES TO TALK ABOUT THE CHARACTERISTICS, THE WALK OF THE UNSAVED. LOOK AT V. 19 PLEASE.

III. THE ABANDONMENT, (READ V. 19)

A. NOW IN V. 19 THE PHRASE HAVING BECOME CALLOUS IN THE NASB, HAVING LOST SENSITIVITY IN THE NIV, AND WHO BEING PAST FEELING IN THE KJV AND NKJV, CONTINUES THE IDEA SUGGESTED BY THE HARDNESS OF HEART IN V. 18.

* AND THIS PHRASE, “HAVING BECOME CALLOUS” PRIMARILY MEANS “TO CEASE TO FEEL PAIN”, THEN TO CEASE TO CARE.

** AND IN THIS PASSAGE IT DESCRIBES RECKLESS ABANDON, A STATE OF MORAL INSENSIBILITY WHEREIN ONE NO LONGER FEELS THE PRICKING OF THE CONSCIENCE, THEY LOSE ALL FEELING OF SHAME.

** FOLKS, THE TRUTH IS WHEN UNBELIEVERS CONTINUE IN SIN AND TURN THEMSELVES AWAY FROM THE LIFE OF GOD, THEY WILL BECOME SHAMELESS – PAST ANY FEELING.

*** THEY BECOME INSENSITIVE AND APATHETIC ABOUT MORAL AND SPIRITUAL THINGS AND CONTINUE DOWN THE ROAD OF ROMANS 1, THEY ARE DESENSITIZED, HAVING THEIR CONSCIENCE SEARED WITH A HOT IRON.

1. AND THAT KIND OF CALLOUSNESS LEADS TO SENSUALITY, FOR THE PRACTICE OF EVERY KIND OF IMPURITY WITH GREEDINESS, V. 19B.

* AND NOTE THAT THE WORD SENSUALITY HERE IN THE NASB AND NIV, TRANSLATED LASCIVIOUSNESS IN THE KJV AND LEWDNESS IN THE NKJV REFERS TO TOTAL LICENTIOUSNESS, THE ABSENCE OF ALL MORAL RESTRAINT, ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF SEXUAL SINS.

** THE IDEA IS THAT OF UNBRIDLED SELF-INDULGENCE AND UNDISCIPLINED OBSCENITY. AND THIS IS THE PROGRESSION DOWNWARD OF SIN.

*** FOR AT FIRST, PEOPLE FEEL GUILTY ABOUT THEIR IMMORALITY AND SIN BECAUSE THE LAW OF GOD IS WRITTEN IN THEIR HEARTS. AND AT FIRST PEOPLE WILL TRY TO HIDE THEIR SIN OR AT LEAST TO COVER IT UP.

2. BUT AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME, HAVING REJECTED GOD’S LAW AND GOD’S GUIDELINES, THEY BECOME SO CALLOUSED OVER THEIR SIN THAT THEY PRACTICE EVERY KIND OF IMPURITY. THEY MAKE THAT THEIR BUSINESS.

* IT DOESN’T MATTER TO THAT PERSON WHO SEES HIS SHAME, SO LONG AS HE CAN GRATIFY HIS DESIRES, THERE IS THE PRACTICE OF ALL KINDS OF IMPURITY.

** AND BOY DO WE SEE THAT TODAY. HOMOSEXUALS AND LESBIANS ARE PROUD OF THEIR PERVERSION, ADULTERERS BRAG ABOUT THEIR CONQUESTS AND AFFAIRS, AND T.V. GLAMORIZES IMMORAL BEHAVIOR, AND THEY DON’T CARE WHO HEARS OR WHO IS WATCHING.

*** AND THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL CONTINUES WITH THE PRACTICE OF EVERY KIND OF IMPURITY WITH GREEDINESS.

3. AND THE WORD GREEDINESS HERE DOES NOT MEAN COVETOUSNESS OR THE LOVE OF THINGS OR MONEY, IT LIT. MEANS TO HAVE MORE, AND IN THIS CONTEXT, MORE SEXUAL INDULGENCE. IT IS IMMORAL CRAVING, IT IS IMMORAL COVETOUSNESS.

* IT CARRIES THE IDEA OF SEXUAL INDULGENCE AT OTHER’S EXPENSE. IT IS GREED FOR WHAT IS NOT RIGHT, LUST FOR MORE, INDULGING IN SELF-GRATIFICATION WITHOUT REGARD FOR OTHERS.

** AND THIS KIND OF GREED, THIS KIND OF IMPURITY LEADS TO THE TRAGEDY OF NOT ONLY IMMORAL BEHAVIOR AMONG CONSENTING ADULTS, BUT RAPE, SEXUALLY ABUSING CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS, MOLESTATION, INCEST, AND OTHER PERVERTED THINGS. AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SCARRED, I’M SURE SOME HERE TODAY.

*** AND COUNT ON IT. AS OUR SOCIETY CONTINUES TO PULL AWAY FROM GOD, AND HIS WORD, THE MORE WE’LL CONTINUE TO SEE THIS BEHAVIOR INCREASE. GOD HELP US. WE MUST BE ZEALOUS IN COMMUNICATING THE ANTIDOTE, THE MEDICINE THAT CAN CURE THIS BEHAVIOR AND THE SIN DISEASE OVERALL, THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY: (1) IN EPHESIANS 4, PAUL LOOKED AT THE EVIL PAGAN WORLD AND CONCLUDED THAT IT’S SELF-CENTERED, USELESS THINKING LEADS TO DARKENED UNDERSTANDING AND HARD-HEARTEDNESS.

* AND THAT IN TURN LEADS TO INSENSITIVITY TO SIN AND SHAMELESS BEHAVIOR, WHICH LEADS TO UNBLUSHING OBSCENITY.

** BUT IN EPHESIANS 4:20, WHICH WE’LL LOOK AT, LORD WILLING NEXT SUNDAY, PAUL SAYS TO BELIEVERS, “BUT YOU DID NOT LEARN CHRIST IN THIS WAY.”

(2) AND BELOVED, WE’RE NOT TO HAVE ANY PART OF THAT OLD LIFE-STYLE. INSTEAD WE’RE TO PUT OFF THE FORMER MANNER OF LIFE AND PUT ON THE NEW MAN, WHICH AFTER GOD IS CREATED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUE HOLINESS, V. 24.

* BELIEVER, WE ARE LIGHT AND SALT, LIGHT ON A HILL, SEPARATE FROM THE EVIL AROUND US. WE MUST STAND AS SALT AND LIGHT.

** FOR OUR BLESSED LORD JESUS CHRIST PURCHASED US AT THE COST OF HIS OWN LIFE. HE GAVE US A NEW NATURE THAT IS HOLY AND UNDEFILED, AND SANCTIFIED FOREVER.

*** AND WE MUST LIVE OUT WHAT WE ARE, AND NOT ACT LIKE UNSAVED PEOPLE, BUT AS HIS HOLY PEOPLE. WALK NOT LIKE THE UNSAVED, BUT WALK IN HOLINESS. I CLOSE WITH II CORINTHIANS 7:1 AND MATTHEW 5:13-16.

V. 13 – YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH; BUT IF THE SALT HAS BECOME TASTELESS, HOW WILL IT BE MADE SALTY AGAIN? IT IS GOOD FOR NOTHING ANYMORE, EXCEPT TO BE THROWN OUT AND TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT BY MAN. (READ VV. 14-16 AND PRAY).