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Walk in Unity - Don't be like the world Daniel Patz, Lead Pastor Grace Church, Sunday Worship Ephesians 4:17-24 September 6th, 2009
Ephesians 4:17-24 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk 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 sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. (20) But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- (21) assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, (22) to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, (23) and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, (24) and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. INTRODUCTION Blind Test – Mahaney (Worldliness, p. 24) Imagine I take a blind test in which my task is to identify the genuine follower of Jesus Christ. My choices are an unregenerate individual and you. I'm given two reports detailing conversations, Internet activity, manner of dress, iPod playlists, television habits, hobbies, leisure time, financial transactions, thoughts, passions, and dreams. The question is: Would I be able to tell you apart? Would I discern a difference between you and your unconverted neighbor, coworker, classmate, or friend? Have the lines between Christian and worldly conduct in your life become so indistinguishable that there really is no difference at all? Charles Spurgeon wrote: "I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church. Are We Like Demas? Its not just that the world is this force that works against our will attacking us. We are seduced by the world to the point that we love it. Are we like Demas Philemon 1:23-24 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, (24) and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. Colossians 4:14 Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. 2 Timothy 4:9-10 Do your best to come to me soon. (10) For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Paul, John and James all Address Worldliness Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. James 4:4-5 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (5) Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. (17) And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1. The Warning Against Worldliness Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. The Gentiles are those who are of the world. They are those who are not of God (inwardly). They are of themselves and for themselves. He is echoing the truth that Jesus spoke of true disciples: John 17:14-16 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (15) I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (16) They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Paul is emphatic in making this point – “Don’t be like unbelievers!” Don’t Be worldly. Don’t be of this world. Do not love this world. What is Worldliness?
Worldliness is departing from God.
It is a man-centered way of thinking; it proposes objectives which
demand no radical breach with man's fallen nature; it judges the
importance of things by the present and material results; it weighs
success by numbers; it covets human esteem and wants no
unpopularity; it knows no truth for which it is worth suffering; it
declines to be a 'fool for Christ's sake'. Warnings Christians must not look at God’s warnings as “don’t play in my playground it’s mind” BUT “Don’t go there because the surface is deceptive and deadly quicksand and I have a playground waiting for you.” We must look at this warning as a prohibition to eat chocolate covered poison not a mean-spirited God wanting to keep us from enjoy the Brachs candy display. Worldliness creeps into our lives and is seen in the following areas: § Our parenting/family views § Our finances § Church views § Ambitions § Use of Time 2. The Description of the Worldly Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk 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 sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. Futile Living (Dumb) - aimless and foolish in their thinking “Idolatry” associated with this word – Grasping at the gods that look good but leave you short. A good thing becomes an evil thing when it becomes a god thing. Darkness – they are darkened in their thinking – they can not see and are blind to the truth. Death - alienation from God – Chapter 2 – dead in their sins – without the spiritual life and blessings of God Desensitivity to Danger – Full of impurity, sensuality, greed and having no clue of its suicidal nature. (leading to enslavement) Deception - Verse 22 – “deceitful desires” 3. The Antidote to Worldliness (probably next week) (20) But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- (21) assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, (22) to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, (23) and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, (24) and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Christ Repentance – “Taking Off the Old Clothes” New Birth Sanctification – “Putting on the New Clothes CONCLUSION Put your finger on any prosperous page in the Church's history, and I will find a little marginal note reading thus: "In this age men could readily see where the Church began and where the world ended." Never were there good times when the Church and the world were joined in marriage with one another. The more the Church is distinct from the world in her acts and in her maxims, the more true is her testimony for Christ, and the more potent is her witness against sin. (Spurgeon) |
