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Episodes
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
“A Story of God’s Transforming Power”
Easter Sunday April 4, 2021
I. Introduction:
A. Have any of you ever been thirsty before? I am not talking about a physical
thirst, but rather a soul thirst! A soul that craves to be satisfied?
1. A thirsty soul is the best way to describe my life before I knew Jesus
Christ.
2. All I know is that my life was driven by the need to satisfy this
unidentified nagging thirst.
a) I found myself doing all sorts of things trying to quench this thirst,
but everything came up empty, it only gave temporary satisfaction at
best, but the thirst kept coming back even stronger.
b) Jesus said in John 4:13-14
B. Today I want to tell you my story about how Jesus Christ quenched the thirst
of my soul with his living water. I shared this on Easter Sunday 24 years ago
and it is time to do it again.
II. Life before Jesus Christ
A. As a young boy I thought that I would go to heaven because I was a Catholic
and if I lived somewhat of a good life. The problem though was that I was
not a very good Catholic nor did I live a good life!
B. The real trouble started when I went away to college and all of the parental
restraints were off of me! I broke loose. I partied hardy.
1. Beer, wine, whisky, along with marijuana, hash and acid became what I
used to quench the thirst of my soul at that time!
2. I would go out and party almost every night, then sleep during the day.
Since I missed most of my classes I became a mini expert at cheating my
way through the first 3 years of college.
C. I remember one night being at a party and I was high on acid. I was walking
down the hallway and I ran into another man who I never met before who
was also high on drugs.
1. We began a conversation with one another and I discovered that we both
felt the same way. We were searching for something and we did not know
what it was.
2. We shared the common feeling that if we were at a party on the south
side something inside of us felt like we should have been at the one on the
north side. If I was with one person, something inside of me felt like I
should have been with someone else. I felt like I was always at the wrong
place, with the wrong people at the wrong time doing the wrong thing:
and to quench the thirst of my soul something had to be different.
D. In my junior year of college I transferred to Western IL Univ. A friend of
mine there was named Greg. He was the star of the baseball team, was good
looking and had a gorgeous girl friend who was a quality woman.
1. I thought “if I could just have a girl like Greg does then I know that I
would be satisfied - the thirst of my soul would be quenched.”
2. One night Greg and I went out to drink and talk.
3. As we talked, Greg told me that he had broken up with his girlfriend that
day. I was stunned! This guy had something that I thought would make
me happy and he was letting it go.
4. I said Greg, “Why did you break up with her?” He said “Pat, I had to
do it so that I could have peace of mind.” I said “peace of mind, what is
that?” He said “peace of mind is knowing that you are in the right
place, with the right people at the right time doing the right thing!
5. That hit my heart like a sledge hammer. That is what I had been looking
for, ‘peace of mind.’ This unidentified nagging thirst in my soul was a
thirst for peace, contentment and satisfaction deep down on the inside.
E. A few months later at what we called a kegger, I got seriously drunk and got
in the car and hit a tree on the way home! The car did a complete twirl
around in the air and amazingly with 6 of us in the car no one was seriously
hurt, just a few bumps and bruises.
F. This accident not only sobered me up physically but also in my soul as I
became deeply aware something was wrong inside of me and I was trying to
fix it in all the wrong ways!
1. First thing I did was go to church and try to be a better person – back to
where I started when I was growing up - religion and trying to live a good
life.
a) The problem was the same this time around – not only was I not good
at either of them but I quit my efforts with them within 6 weeks!
2. Then I went to group counseling after that but did not find the peace I
needed and still sensed something was wrong deep inside.
G. The rest of that year was a downward spin as I could not find peace of mind
and heart in anything that I pursued. So I dropped out of college at the end
of my junior year.
H. That summer I had no idea of what I was going to do with my life. I would go
up on many of the weekends to visit my friends in a town in Michigan where I
had worked the 2 previous summers.
1. One weekend I found myself sitting in this bar drinking at the counter
with a man I did not know next to me who was in his fifties.
2. He was telling me dirty jokes. Sitting in some booths across from us
were some people I knew, they were about 10 years older than me, 2 men
and 2 women. All of them were married but not to each other as they
were trying to pick one another up. Then the 4 of them left together in a
car!
3. I think that the 1st time the Spirit of God ever spoke to me was while I
was sitting in that bar. It was like someone deep inside of me spoke
to my soul to take a look around. Is this what you want of your life? I
thought to myself “this is not where I want to go with my life.”
a) I do not want to be sitting at a bar at the age of 50 telling some kid
the same dirty jokes that have been told for years.
b) And I certainly do not want a marriage where my wife or I was out
messing around with others.
c) It’s like God opened up the eyes of my heart to see where my life was
heading, and it was not what I wanted. I was deeply shaken on the
inside.
I. I had to do something drastic and I only knew of one other option to fix me
and that was enlist in the Marine Corps. If anybody could do it, it would be
the marines. So the next morning I left town immediately and came back
home to Chicago to enlist!
III. How I came to Christ
A. During boot camp I did great since I was removed from all my old friends and
substances and had a drill instructor watching over me 24/7 for 3 months.
B. After boot camp, when all the external controls of the drill sergeants were
removed, I began drinking again in a heavy fashion. Then I started having
flashbacks of a bad trip.
1. My days were full of fear and my nights were full of horrifying night
mares.
2. Internally I was a mess. I went and talked to a counselor and he put me
on tranquilizers.
C. A few weeks later, a Chaplain came in to speak to us men. He said if we ever
needed help that he was available.
1. I immediately went and talked to the man. He told me how he could help
me and that he would be available to me at any time. I left with a sense of
security knowing someone could and would help me.
2. A week later I was having a very difficult time so I went over to the
Chaplain’s office. He was not in. They called him at his home but he
could not come in. My last hope was dashed.
3. I asked the woman in the office to please call the base drug rehab center
to come and get me. She called and they said they would send a jeep for
me.
D. As I was waiting a different Chaplain came in and asked the secretary what I
was doing there. He said that he would talk to me if I wanted. I wanted.
1. Rather than offering himself to me as able to help and always available he
told me that Jesus Christ could help me and would be always available to
me.
2. He told me of story after story of how Jesus Christ had changed the life of
other men and women on the base who had struggled with drugs and
alcohol.
3. He told me it was not dependent upon what denomination I was with nor
how good I had lived my life nor anything I could do for God. Rather it
depended on how good Jesus is and what he did for me.
4. He told me how my sin separated me from God and that Jesus died to pay
for my sins.
5. Then he shared this verse with me. Rev 3:20
6. He told me that Jesus wants to come into my life and walk with me and
help me with my problems! Then he asked me if I wanted to invite Jesus
into my life?
a) I asked for time to think about all of this. It was all so new to me.
b) Went into the next room and prayed to God. For the first time I did
not come to him with some recited prayer that I learned as a child
but rather I spoke to him from my heart. I said “God, I do not know
if this is some weird religion or what, all I know is that I need your
help.”
c) And guess what, that same inner voice in my heart that spoke to me
about 6 months before in the bar was back. He said “Pat it is ok, this
is the right thing to do.”
7. I just knew it was right. I got off of my knees and I went back into the
room and told the Chaplain that I wanted to trust Jesus Christ.
E. He led me in a prayer that was in essence something like this “God, I
know that I am a sinner, thank you that Jesus Christ paid the price for my sin
and offers me a brand new life. Right now I transfer my trust from anything
I can do and put it all in what Jesus did for me! Right now I invite Jesus
Christ to come into my life.”
IV. What Jesus has done since trusting Him:
A. Instantly my heart was filled with peace. That which I had for so long
searched for was now deep down inside my soul like I never knew before.
1. For the 1st time in my life I felt like I was in the right place with the right
people, at the right time doing the right thing! For the 1st time I
experienced what Greg was telling me about.
a) For the 1st time my thirsty soul found the drink that it was craving
for, the drink that could satisfy it.
b) Jesus said in John 7:37…
2. For the 1st time I felt clean inside. This heart that felt dirty because of
the way that I had lived all of a sudden felt clean and filled with joy!
3. The best way I can describe it is that I felt like I had a 2,000 pound back
pack on me and someone had cut the strings and I was free of it.
4. My soul felt light and free and clean and joyful and above all full of
peace!
B. Those were some of the things that God did instantly. Other things God has
worked in over a period of time to change, things like attitudes, motives, and
mindsets. Many things He is still working to change in my life.
V. Conclusion
A. Maybe you are here today and you have a thirsty soul. Maybe you find
yourself in circumstances that are bigger than you are strong and smarter
than you are smart. Maybe you are at the place where you are tired of trying
to find the road to peace, or satisfaction or freedom from habits, hurts or
hang-ups. Maybe it is something else.
B. This is the very hope of the Resurrection. Not only do we celebrate on Easter
the historical fact that Jesus rose from the dead, but also the implications of
that Resurrection.
1. Without the Resurrection all we would know of Jesus is that He was a
man who was executed for claiming to be God himself! Listen to Acts
2:22-24 impossible
2. When Jesus was raised from the dead He proved in the most powerful
way to not only be God but also the Lord and our Savior and the Judge of
all!
3. The Resurrection also shows us Jesus is the Author of Life and He offers
to you and me a brand-new life.
a) 1 Pet 1:3
b) John 3:16
C. Today may be the day you are hearing that same voice speaking to your heart
that I first heard in the bar and then in the Chaplain’s office telling you “this
is the way, walk in it!”
D. Pray my prayer “God I know that I am a sinner, thank you that Jesus
Christ paid the price for my sin and rose from the dead to offer me a brand
new life. Right now I transfer my trust from anything I can do and put it all
in what Jesus did for me! Right now I welcome Jesus Christ into my life.”
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Walking by the Spirit
Various Passages March 28, 2021
I. Introduction:
A. I have a concern that too many Christians are trying real hard to live for Jesus
and too many preachers are calling people to commit more and give their all for
Jesus.
1. Now those are not bad things but they are not the basis for the Christian life,
but actually they are outcomes when someone lives from the right starting
point.
2. It is the difference between me living for Jesus and Jesus living for me! It is
the difference between trying and trusting! It is the difference between the
power for the Christian life coming from me or coming from the one who
lives in me!
3. Listen to 2 Cor 4:6-7
a) Treasure of the glory of God in the face of Jesus dwelling inside our
bodies, our clay pots
b) The power for the Christian life is supposed to come from God and
not from ourselves.
4. Simply to walk by the Spirit means I am trusting the One who lives in me
and not trusting myself so that the surpassing power in my life
might be from God and not from myself!
B. All Christians trust in the substitutionary death of Jesus for their salvation, but
few are trusting in the substitutionary life of Jesus for their walk.
1. So for many of us, we get saved by trusting Jesus Christ’s death for us but
then we move on to our own working hard for spiritual growth.
a) The North American culture has engrained into us that we are self-made
people! The American dream has convinced us that if we work hard
enough we can achieve anything we want!
b) So there is always a feeling that there is more for me to do, even if I do
not know what that more to do is!
2. We are saved by faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross and we are to
walk by faith in what Jesus is and will do in my heart
3. I love the way Bob George says “Jesus gave His life for us; so He could give
His life to us; so that He could live His life through us.”
• Let’s start with the:
II. Series of slides regarding walking by the Spirit!
A. The truck will be dumped on you today but I am putting these slides with the
verses on the website along with my notes by the end of this coming Wednesday.
It will take time for these truths to sink in and it will be worth the review and
study on your own and even re-watching this message a few times on YouTube.
B. Slides
1. Humans/creation– original design (Adam and Eve)
a) This slide speaks to the way we were created as 3 part beings and how
each part is connected to that around them!
b) Turn and read Gen 2:7
c) I Thess 5:23
d) Body – relates to the environment; soul – relates to others and our
unique personality. Spirit part of us that relates to God
2. Lost/fall - this is what happened to mankind at the fall and the state we were
in before we were saved. This shows our depravity
a) At the fall man was depraved, that means he was corrupted from
his original design. Man has been totally depraved!
(1) Total depravity does not mean that man is as rotten as he can be.
(2) Total depravity means that every part of man’s being (his body,
soul and spirit) has been touched by corruption.
b) Turn and read Gen 2:16-17 – something died that day and it was not
their bodies or souls but rather their spirits.
(1) Death does not mean the cessation of life but rather separation
from life!
(2) Listen to Eccl 9 description of the dead, read 9:5-6
(a) Simply they no longer share or participate in what is taking
place here on earth.
(b) We know physically when a person dies their body stops
functioning but their life (soul and spirit) does not cease but
continues on either in heaven or hell.
(c) And the same way when Adam died spiritually and we were
born spiritually dead, that meant we are separated from
God and unable to share and participate in the things of
God.
c) Turn and read Gen 5:1,3 – since Adam, everyone that has been born has
been born in Adam’s image – that is the image of God but corrupted in
every part of his being.
(1) Sin entered into man’s body and began the process of death in his
body. Rom 6 teaches us that the body is the place where sin
operates and dwells. Rom 7 teaches us that this body is dead when
it comes to doing God’s will – unable to obey God.
(2) Sin impacted his soul so that man’s mind, will and emotions have
been corrupted. Note on slide
(3) Man’s spirit is dead and is at heart a sinner.
(a) Read Rom 5:12 - because of Adam - all died
(b) Rom 5:19a - because of Adam - all became sinners
(4) The Bible calls that our old self/man and who we are in Adam
d) Remember we just learned in Eph 4:17 that the lost have a futile mind
that operates apart from God and His Word.
3. Saved
a) This slide speaks to the way we are as a new creation in Christ. Read 2
Cor 5:17
b) To be saved, a person’s spirit must be born again – read John 3:3.
Gospel opportunity
c) Rom 5:19b -because of Jesus - all believers became righteous!
d) Now our spirit is made holy and righteous - read Eph 4:24
e) Eph 4, Rom 6 and Col 3 calls this our new self
f) You are no longer just a sinner saved by grace but rather a saint
transformed by grace.
g) But as saved people, our bodies and souls stay the same.
h) And this defines our core problem – we are saved people living in an
unsaved body! We are brand new creatures at the core of our being who
are separately linked to a fallen flesh!
4. The ministry of the Spirit is simply to make me holy – that is called
sanctification. Listen to Gal 5:16
a) Dismantle sin in me, that is in my body, that is my flesh! Turn and read
Rom 8:13 - keep open because we will come back
b) Fill us with resurrected life to overcome the deadness of our bodies and
give us the ability to obey God. Turn and read Rom 8:10-11
c) The Spirit also is the one who defeats Satan in our lives. Read 1 Jn 4:4
d) And the Spirit of Jesus is the Guardian and Shepherd of our souls! Read
1 Pet 2:25
5. Walk by the Spirit
a) Read definitions on left side of slide
b) We already learned that we do not have the ability to do God’s will.
Death is the ultimate weakness, impotence, inability, emptiness,
powerlessness!
c) So when I depend upon everything that I inherited from Adam – body
and soul to overcome sin or do God’s will I am walking in the flesh and
I fail every time.
d) But when I depend upon the indwelling Spirit of Jesus He overcomes
sin and can do God’s will in and through me! Turn and read Rom
8:2-4.
e) I need to transfer my trust from myself to the One who lives in me! My
dependence is not upon myself but the One who lives in me. Read Gal
2:20
f) But to be clear I am not talking about being passive.
(1) We should not consider the engagement of my soul and
body as in opposition to walking by the Spirit but rather as
complementary!
(2) We tend to go to extremes in either depending upon Spirit
and not engaging our soul and bodies or depending upon our souls
and bodies but not engaging the Spirit.
(3) This is depending upon the Spirit as the source and I
engage my soul and body as the resource to dismantle sin
and empower me to do God’s will!
g) If we are to trust Christ will work in us, why are there so many
commands in the Bible telling us how we should live? When I read
command verses, I take it that is my responsibility to obey.
(1) Yes it is my responsibility to obey those verses but the way I do it
is by turning to and trusting the Spirit of Jesus to enable me to
obey in a manner that is pleasing to Him.
(2) Phil 2:12-13
(3) Heb 13:20-21
• Now let me close by just directly quoting some of the things
III. Watchman Nee says about these things!
A. Love the way he starts the book where he lays out his premise for the normal
Christian life:
1. What is the normal Christian life?
2. We learn it is something very different from the life of the average Christian.
3. Indeed a consideration of the Word of God – of the Sermon on the Mount for
example – should lead us to ask whether such a life has ever in fact been
lived upon earth, save only by the Son of God Himself! But in the last saving
clause lies the answer to our question.
4. The Apostle Paul gives us his own definition of the Christian life in Gal 2:20.
It is “no longer I, but Christ” I live no longer, but Christ lives His life in me.
a) In all of God’s dealing with us, He works by taking us out of the way
and substituting Christ in our place. The Son of God died instead of
us for our forgiveness and He lives instead of us for our
deliverance.
b) So we can speak of 2 substitutions – a substitute on the cross who
secures our forgiveness and a substitute within us who secures our
victory!
B. Listen to just a few more key quotes from his chapter on the Spirit!
1. To live in the flesh is to do something “out from” myself as in Adam. It
is to derive strength from the old natural sources of life that I inherited from
him. Living in the Spirit means that I trust the Holy Spirit to do in me what I
could not do myself!
a) It is not a matter of trying but of trusting!
2. We think of the Christian life as a “changed life” but it is not that. What God
offers us is an “exchanged life” a “substituted life” and Christ is our
substitute within!
3. Now what is the law of sin and death?
a) If someone passes an unkind remark about me, at once something goes
wrong inside of me. That is not the law of sin, that is sin. But if when
different people pass unkind remarks, the same “something” goes wrong
inside, then I discern a law within – law of sin! Like the law of gravity,
it is something that is constant and always works the same.
b) Now as to the law of death – death as we have said, is weakness
produced to its limit. Weakness is “I cannot.” Now if when I try to
please God in this particular matter I find I cannot, and if when I try to
please Him in that other thing I again find I cannot, then I discern a law
at work.
c) There is not only sin in me, but a law of sin! And there is not only death
in me but a law of death! How can I be delivered from the constant
repetition of weakness and failure?
d) The law is there, but another law superior to it is operating to overcome
it, namely the law of life.
e) God delivers us from one law by introducing another law. The law of sin
and death is there all the time, but God has put another law into
operation – the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, and that law is strong
enough to deliver us from the law of sin and death!
f) The law of life in Christ – the resurrection life that is in Him has met
death in all its forms and triumphed over it!
4. Let me close with this one – why do men use willpower to try to please God?
a) They may be born again and the life is there, but they have not learned to
trust in that life!
b) It is no longer a question of our will but of His life!
C. This is me now and not Watchman - you have heard me say this before – the way
we are saved is the same way we walk with Christ! We are saved by transferring
our trust from ourselves to what Jesus did for us on the cross. We walk by
transferring our trust from ourselves to what Jesus will do in my heart.
1. Whether we walk by the Spirit or walk by the flesh is all the difference
between: joy and frustration, fruitfulness or bareness, praise or
discouragement! Between rivers of living water flowing out of your heart and
just a drip of the Spirit, experiencing the surpassing greatness of the power of
God or constant defeat!
Thursday Mar 25, 2021
Thursday Mar 25, 2021
Living Under the Influence
Eph. 5:18-21 March 21, 2021
I. Introduction:
A. At the recent No Regrets men’s’ conference, the speaker Chris Brown gave a
powerful message about the life of Samson. He made this powerful statement
“the scariest verse in the whole story was when Sampson woke up after having his
hair cut but he did not know that the Spirit of God had left him!” Did you catch
that – let me repeat that.
1. Then he asked this very convicting question: “If the Holy Spirit left your
life/ministry, how long would it take you to figure that out?” Wow!
2. I had a similar question asked of me many years ago when I first came into
the ministry from an older friend of mine named Bob Block! His question
was this: Pat, if the Holy Spirit was removed from your life and ministry
would anything be different? Did you catch that – let me repeat that.
3. As we discussed these questions the following week at the men’s breakfast, it
led us to this: before we know that He left us, we need to know what it looks
like when He is here!
B. This morning I want to answer this question– “What does it look like when the
Holy Spirit is in control of our lives?”
• Turn in your Bibles to Eph 5 where it talks about…
II. Being filled with the Holy Spirit
A. Read v18
B. The first thing I want you to note is that there is a contrast in this verse and that is
being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit. The point he is making is
simply this:
1. When a person is drunk they are under the control of alcohol so that their
behavior, attitudes and talk are all influenced by alcohol.
a) By the way when it says “for that is dissipation” it is simply saying in
this context that it is a reckless and mindless waste of time and
opportunity!
2. When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit they are under the control of the
Holy Spirit so that their behavior, attitudes and talk are all influenced by the
Holy Spirit.
3. Just as everything is different about you when you are drunk so everything
will be different about you when you are under the influence of, filled with
the Holy Spirit.
C. And by the way, this is an imperative, a present imperative. It is a command that
indicates the way we should always and habitually be living our lives, filled with,
under the control and influence by the Holy Spirit.
• So the question now is “What would be different in my life when my life is controlled
by the Holy Spirit?” That is what we see in the following verses…
III. The results of being filled with the Holy Spirit:
A. We see this in verses 19-21.
1. It is clearly laid out for us with 4 participles which describe for us what it
looks like to be filled with the Spirit. These participles are: speaking,
singing, thanks, be subject
2. Watch for these as I read this section, and more importantly as we read be
radically honest with yourself and ask if this describes your life!
3. Read v19-21
B. Let me describe each one briefly:
1. Speaking: read 19a
a) This is one that takes place during worship times with other believers as
we speak to each other, that is teach one another truths about God and
the spiritual life as we sing together
b) So let me ask you are you just one of those who stands quietly either
disengaged or critiquing while we sing or are you participating with all
your heart?
2. Singing: read 19b
a) This not only takes place on Sundays during worship but all week long as
you are walking through life
b) So let me ask you 2 questions:
(1) Sunday mornings-are you just singing songs or are you directing
your singing as a love song to God?
(2) And also, as you sing is it from the core of your being, your heart
or are you just singing words and hitting the right notes?
(3) And finally during the week, when you are not even trying do you
find a song ringing in your heart? Do you have a singing heart that
is singing to the lord?
3. Thanks: read v20
a) Simply, are you a grateful person or more of a critical and complaining
person?
b) Are you grateful both for the big gifts and the small gifts that God gives
us, and both for the good things and the painful things that He uses to do
good things in us?
4. Subject: read v21
a) Do you submit to others in the body of Christ? Do you joyfully abide
under the authority and opinions of other believers that they have for
your life?
b) Or do you not take serious what others bring to you about you, blow
them off, or even shut them out and even refuse to listen to them?
C. The way you answer all these questions will indicate if you are under the control
and influence of the Holy Spirit or not!
D. There is another passage that we can look at to see if the Holy Spirit is actively
working in our lives. It is Gal 5:22-23 where we learn what the fruit of the Spirit
is.
1. Fruit is what a tree or plant produces. So the fruit of the Spirit is what the
Holy Spirit produces in our life when we are walking with Him in control of
our lives
2. Read gal 5:22-23
3. How are you doing there? Are these evident on a regular basis in your life?
Or is your life more characterized by selfishness, complaining and
criticalness, uneasiness and anxiety, impatience, unkindness, evil, doubt,
harshness and undisciplined?
a) These are the things that are just the opposite of these fruits!
b) The way you answer that will tell you if the Spirit is in control or not?
4. And note: this is a single fruit, not fruits as if there are 9 separate fruits. It is
one fruit that has 9 different aspects to its DNA.
5. Let me try to illustrate it like this with just one aspect of this fruit:
a) It is a patience right in the middle of very difficult, discouraging
or stressful times that is full of love, a joyful patience, a
patience that is full of peace and not anxiety, it is a
patience that is kind and good, it is a patience that if full of
faith rather than doubt, a patience that is characterized by
gentleness rather than short and sharp with those around you, and it is a
patience that is in control of your thoughts and desires!
b) You see every one of these qualities is intertwined with all the other
ones!
E. So now we know what it looks like for the Holy Spirit to be in control of your life,
and if these things we talked about in Ephesians 5 and Gal 5 are not what
characterize your life and heart then we need to be honest with ourselves and not
be like Sampson that had no idea that the Holy Spirit had left him!
• Let me close by briefly speaking about 4 ways we get filled with the Holy Spirit. So
let’s look at:
IV. 4 ways we get filled with the Spirit:
A. First, be radically honest with God and yourself if you do not see the evidence of
the filling of the Spirit in your life. Confess to God that you are walking by
means of the flesh rather than the Spirit.
B. Second, ask God to fill you with the Spirit. We see in this context that it is
directly connected to God’s will.
1. Read 1 John 5:14-15
2. Start by asking the Father to fill your life with the Holy Spirit.
C. Third, I practice being where the Holy Spirit is!
1. If the Holy Spirit produces a worshipping, grateful and submissive heart then
I am intentional to practice whole hearted worship, be intentional to practice
daily gratitude and submit to and welcome those who come to you and speak
into your life.
2. I find that as I intentionally and daily practice those things the Holy Spirit
takes over and what started as a practice has become a new manifestation of
the Holy Spirit in my life that comes naturally.
D. Fourthly, it is interesting to note that in Col 3:16 it talks about God’s word richly
dwells within you, that does not mean you getting in the word but the word
getting in you deep enough that it becomes a part of who you are and the way you
think.
1. Then v17 tells us when that happens, when we are filled with the word, the
same results happen to us that happen when we are filled with the Spirit.
2. Listen to Col 3:16-17
3. This is no surprise as Jesus said that His words are Spirit and life!
4. When we meet with God in his word on a regular basis in a way that it is not
just you getting your time in the word but in a way that the word gets in you,
those very words fill you with the Spirit and life!
E. Finally, come next week as we spend a whole message talking more about how
we walk filled with the Spirit moment by moment!
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Be Wise – Know the Will of God
Ephesians 515-18 March 14, 2021
I. Introduction:
A. Pastor’s kids have a unique life style and have to endure a lot, especially if you
were one of Pastor Pat Peglow’s kids! One thing I made them endure was that
every time as a family we were with a man or a woman I considered a godly
person I would ask them, “What advice would you give to my kids about life?”
1. One I remember in particular sums that up the heart of this passage and I
would have to say in hindsight was great wisdom. His answer was “know
God’s will and do it!”
B. That is the heart of today’s passage so please turn to Ephesians 5:15!
1. We are in the section of the book of Ephesians that talks about our walk as
new creatures who have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ!
2. Today we see that we are to walk as wise men!
C. The structure of the passage we will look at today is simple and will guide our
preaching both this week and next week. There are two things in particular that a
wise man/woman does in their walk.
1. 15 – call to walk wise
2. 16 – how to walk wise (general)
3. 17-18 - how to walk wise (two specifics)
D. Read v15-18
E. We are to be wise by making the most of our time, the most of the opportunities
we have during these evil ungodly days.
1. I love the word wise because it means to be skillful! To be an expert at
something, to be masterful!
2. I like to describe it this way – wisdom is being an expert artist at living life!
- PBP
a) I say living life because wisdom is not about head or classroom
knowledge but it is about the ability to live life well on the streets of real
life
b) I say an expert artist because wisdom is an art rather than a science that
just follows all the rules
c) This expert artist in living life knows just the right time and the right way
to apply the right truth of God to the right situation!
F. So bottom line, we learn in this passage that a wise person, the expert artist at
living life is going to make the most of their time as they live in this ungodly
world!
1. The first way we see in v17, we do that by understanding God’s will is for us
– we will deal with that this morning.
2. The second way we see in v18, it is by being filled with the Spirit - we will
deal with that the next two weeks.
• Let’s start by looking at
II. God’s will
A. Read v17
1. It appears that a foolish person is one who does not know what God’s will is
for their lives.
2. But the wise person, the one who is an expert artist at living life in this
ungodly world is one who understands what God’s will is.
B. To understand God’s will we need to understand that the Bible speaks of God’s
will from two perspectives and I think there are two aspects to each perspective.
1. The two areas of God’s will we will call His decreed will and His directed
will.
C. By God’s “decreed will” I mean that which God has ordained is going to happen
and they will happen because he decreed them! His sovereign or supreme will!
That comes in two different aspects.
1. First His revealed will – these are the things God has already revealed to us in
His Word that He has ordained
2. I believe that is primarily found in the covenants that he bound himself to!
Those were the covenant promises he made with Abraham, David, and in the
new covenant.
3. Second, His secret will – I believe these are the things in life that God has
ordained that He has not specifically revealed to us in His Word.
a) Example – turn and read Ephesians 1:11
b) Read Daniel 4:35
D. By God’s “directed will” I mean those things which God wants or desires for us
to do. This also comes in two different aspects
1. First, His revealed will – simply these are commands in God’s Word that He
has called us to do and they may happen because we can either obey Him or
disobey Him.
a) Every command to believers in the Scripture is an example of this:
b) Actually the verses we are dealing with today and next week are
examples of this – to understand God’s will and be filled with the Spirit
are commands – these are things God wants us to do!
c) They have to do with our thinking, attitudes, actions, talking, practices
etc.
2. Secondly, His secret will – those are the things God’s wants and desires for
us to do that are not specifically revealed in His Word.
a) This has to do with things like where do I go to school, who do I marry,
which job should I take, where should I live, etc.
b) Acts 16:9-10
E. So which of these wills is he referring to here in this passage so we can be expert
artist in living life in this evil world? I think it is both His decreed will and His
directed will.
1. I think His revealed decreed will because we can find great future hope in
what God has revealed about the future. In these evil days we need a hope to
keep us going
2. I think also it is His secret decreed will to be able to live wisely in this world
there will be so many things I do not understand. I need to fall back upon the
assurance that God is working all things both in this world and in my life
after the counsel of His will!
3. I think it is His revealed directed will in the commands that are revealed in
Scripture as we can only live like experts in this world if we follow God’s
commands – to not do so is only to our own hurt.
a) As Romans 12:2 says God’s will is good, acceptable (well pleasing) and
perfect!
4. Finally, His secret directed will; in the details of my life, God’s wisdom and
direction are necessary for me to live well in these ungodly days.
F. Summarize these very simply in a chart
decreed ordained will happen
revealed covenants/prophecies hope
secret details of life assurance
directed wants may happen
revealed commands perfect
secret details of life wise
• So let me close by addressing how I can know God’s will so I can walk wisely in
these few days I have on earth.
III. Knowing God’s will
A. Turn to Romans 12:1-2
1. Read NASB then read in NLT
2. Note that the ultimate end of this passage is discerning God’s will. “so that”
3. Three key principles from this passage
a) Make your life a blank check by handing it entirely over to God
(1) Your bodies represent your entire life here on earth and we are to
present our entire life to God as sacrifice, by making it fully
available to Him to do whatever He wants with our lives.
(2) Problem is this: God, tell me first what you want me to do then I
will consider if I like that or not and if I will say yes or no to it
(3) God is saying: say yes to me first, and then I will tell you what my
will is!
b) Reject the world’s ways and wisdom
(1) This simply means that I do not allow the world and its ways and
thinking to shape my ways and thinking, literally it means to not
let the world squeeze the way I think and live into its mold!
(2) Thus when I consider what God wants me to do my thinking is
driven by the world rather than God
c) Know God’s Word
(1) Our way of thinking needs to be totally transformed by God’s
Word.
(2) Thus when I consider what God wants me to do my thinking is
driven by God and His Word, then I can discern what God wants
me to do, that which is good, acceptable and perfect!
(3) The problem here is that so few Christians know God’s Word well
enough to discern the difference between that which comes from
God and that which comes from the world
(4) The more God’s Word has shaped our hearts and minds the better
we will be able to discern God’s thoughts, desires and voice
speaking to our hearts!
B. Leave you with two other things you can do to know God’s will
1. Pray – Colossians 1:9-10
2. Counsel with a few godly, biblically informed Christians
a) Read Proverbs 11:14
C. You want to walk wisely in these ungodly days? Know God’s will and do it!
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
Do not Grieve the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 4:30 February 28, 2021
I. Introduction:
A. Listen to what Jesus said in John 7:38-39 about the Holy Spirit.
1. Let me ask you a few questions and I want you to answer very honestly to
yourself –
a) Does the Holy Spirit feel like a mighty river flowing within you and out
of you or does He feel more like a drip coming out of a faucet? Think
about that for a few moments!
b) An older friend of mine many years ago asked me essentially the same
question like this – if the Holy Spirit were removed from your
life/ministry would anything be different? Repeat! Think about that for
a few moments!
2. We have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit living in us to
be our helper and comforter, the one who transforms us, dismantles the
power of sin in our lives and enables us to live for God! The same God lives
in us who:
a) Spoke the universe into existence
b) Split the Red Sea for Israel to cross and on the back hand destroyed the
whole Egyptian army with the whole sea
c) Who sent food from heaven to Israel when they were in the wilderness
d) Who caused a young virgin girl to conceive a child
e) Who turned water into wine
f) Who fed over 5000 people with just a few fish and loaves and had
basketsful of food left over.
g) Who raised Jesus from the dead
B. If you are a believer and you are not seeing evidence in your life of His powerful
work in and through you, this is very serious and should be addressed
immediately.
1. This picture helps explain the problem. Do you see it?
2. The water faucet is on full blast but something is blocking the flow of it so it
only comes out as a trickle!
3. The problem is that the elephant himself is standing on the hose and blocking
the flow!
C. We as believers do the exact same thing when we let sin continue in our lives and
we do not address it! We are the problem and thus we move from rivers of living
water coming out of our hearts to trickles of the Spirit’s work in our lives!
D. My point this morning is simple –a lifestyle of sin grieves the Spirit resulting in
quenching His work in our lives!
• Let’s see this in the Bible. Let’s start with
II. A lifestyle of sin
A. Turn to Ephesians 4 in your Bibles.
B. This whole section in Ephesians, from chapter 4:1 to Ephesians 6:9, is about our
walk as Christians, our habitual way of life, and e lifestyle!
C. In chapter 4 we learn
1. From verses, 17-19 that we are not to walk like the Gentiles whose lives are
driven by a way of thinking that excludes God and His Word.
2. Then we saw in verses 20-24 that we are to put off the old lifestyle because
we have already put off the old self and put on the new self.
3. Then in v25, he begins a series of specific applications and commands that
flow from the new man you now are!
a) In verse 25 – no lying but telling the truth
b) Verses 26-27 having a righteous anger and not hanging onto anger
c) Verse 28 – rather than stealing, work hard so you can share with others
d) In verse 29, we saw not speaking hurtful words but rather helpful words.
• Now we move to my second point which helps us see that a lifestyle of sin
III. Grieving the Holy Spirit
A. Listen as I read v30
B. Now we do not see it in the New American Standard but almost every other
translation rightfully starts the verse with the word “and.” This makes it a specific
link with the verse before it about harmful words and in general a link to all the
sins above: lying, anger, stealing, and hurtful words and even to all the sins listed
after it.
1. Read v31-32
2. Simply stated, when we have a way of living that reflects the world rather
than Christ, a lifestyle of sin or stuck in a habitual sin; we grieve the Holy
Spirit.
C. To grieve the Holy Spirit means to make Him sad and sorrowful.
1. This word is taken from a word that denotes a pain, a grief that can only be
experienced between two people who love each other deeply.
2. It is a word that was often used to picture what a husband or wife feels when
they discovered their mate has been unfaithful to them.
3. One scholar translates it like this: stop deeply wounding and causing such
extreme emotional pain to the Spirit of God!
4. We must remember the Holy Spirit is not an it but a person with real
emotions! Actually, He is not like us but we are like Him in that we have
been made in His image!
D. So bottom line when we act like the world, or talk like the world, and respond the
same way the world does, we cause the Holy Spirit to feel deep hurt and grief!
1. Note this also in this passage – most of these sins have to do with hurting
other people in the body of Christ.
2. So when we hurt other believers or treat them no differently than someone in
the world would treat them, we grieve the Holy Spirit!
• I believe that …
IV. Resulting in quenching His work in our lives!
A. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 5. Listen as I read v16-20.
B. In Ephesians 4, we grieve the Spirit when we sin against God and other believers.
Here in 1 Thessalonians 5 we quench the Spirit when we do not give Him the fuel
to keep the fire going in our hearts. The fuel is rejoicing, praying, being grateful
and receiving His word.
C. To quench means to extinguish a fire. This is how we cause the fervent activity
of the Spirit to stop in our hearts.
D. So my point today is when we sin against God by doing what we should not do –
sins of commission; or sin against God by not doing what we should do – sins of
omission it not only grieves the Spirit of God but it throws a wet blanket over His
working in our life!
E. I believe that grieving the Spirit and quenching the Spirit are two sides of the
same coin. See that displayed for us in Isaiah 63
1. In v7-9, we see God’s lovingkindness, goodness, compassion, His love and
mercy being poured upon Israel. Read
2. V10 starts with but – something happened that changed all of this.
a) Read 10a-b.
b) They sinned and it grieved God’s heart!
3. Then something changed and their sin that grieved God’s heart resulted in the
quenching of His work in their nation.
a) Read 10c-11
b) This reminds me of Psalm 30:6-7
(1) When God’s favor or face was shining upon them they felt strong
and unmovable
(2) But when God removed His favor and hid His face from them,
they were dismayed!
F. While in our time of the new covenant, God does not turn against His people or
withdraw His Spirit from them when they grieve Him by sinning. But it does
quench the work of the Spirit in our lives so what once felt like rivers of living
water flowing through us has become a drip from the faucet.
• So what do we do if we realize this is going on in our lives?
V. Application
A. So let’s look back at our original picture and see if we can find the answer.
1. Do you see it?
2. Get off the hose. – that is called repentance – change the way you think about
the way you are living in such a deep way that it changes the way you are
living.
3. When we go to God and deeply own our sins and open our hearts for the
Holy Spirit once again to burn brightly within us, He will burn away the sin
that is blocking the flow of the Holy Spirit.
B. So when we consider all the sins we have seen today, remember we are not
talking about a mess up here and there but rather a lifestyle that traffics in these
things.
1. We saw in Ephesians 4 earlier lying, unrighteous anger, stealing, and
especially our tongue are directly linked to grieving the Spirit
2. Add to those the ones in 1 Thessalonians 5 not rejoicing, not praying, not
being grateful and not receiving His word with an open heart
3. We must then add the rest of Ephesians 4 after the passage about grieving the
Spirit – read Ephesians 4:30-32
C. If this is true of you this morning then open your heart to the ministry of the
refiner’s fire!
D. Pray
Wednesday Feb 24, 2021
Wednesday Feb 24, 2021
Our Words – Harmful or Helpful
Ephesians 4:29 February 21, 2021 MVC
I. Introduction:
A. When I was growing up, I spent close to ten years playing baseball in various
different level leagues. All those years I played the same position – catcher. I
loved catching for two reasons:
1. First, in many ways, you were at the center of the game as every pitch you
called determined the speed, location and curvature of the ball.
2. Secondly, if you know anything about catchers there other job was to get into
the head of the batter by trash talking and confusing them to throw them off.
3. Unfortunately, some of that trash talking has carried over into my Christian
life and those who know me best know it all too well!
B. The section of Ephesians we are in right now is talking about our lifestyle, that
our walk and yes even our talk is to be consistent with who we are in Christ as
those who have laid aside the old man and put on a new man, so lay aside the
former manner of living as well.
• Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 4:29. Last week we looked at the area of anger,
today we are going to look at
II. Our words
A. Read to Ephesians 4:29
B. Words are extremely powerful! Words are like a double-edged sword! They can
either build up or tear down, help or hurt, give life or take life from people.
Proverbs makes this very clear:
1. Proverbs 12:18 – either the thrust of a sword into someone’s soul or healing
2. Proverbs 15:4 – can be a tree of life or crush the spirit
3. Proverbs 16:24 – pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and
healing to the bones. A few verses later, it says a worthless man’s words are
like scorching fire.
4. Proverbs 18:21 that tells us “death and life are in the power of the tongue…”
5. Bottom line, every time we speak there is great potential in what we say as
we will either build people up and help them or tear them down and hurt
them.
C. Do you realize how many opportunities we have each day to be a blessing to
someone else – whether it be our mates, children, grandchildren, fellow believers
in Christ, the lost, neighbors, co-workers, schoolmates, and strangers.
1. Research indicates the following statistics about the number of words women
and men speak. The average woman speaks 20,000 words a day. The average
man speaks 7,000 words a day. Whether you speak more or less than the
average the point is we use a lot of words so there are a lot of opportunities
to either help or hurt those around us
2. Many of us are looking for opportunities to minister to others. This may be
our greatest ministry opportunity that we have day in and day out – our words
to those around us!
3. Every word we speak matters because every word we speak can become a
gift to those we are around, every word can literally become a ministry to the
people God puts in our paths!
• So let’s look at bit closer at
III. Ephesians 4:29
A. Ephesians 4 teaches us that not even one unwholesome word should come out of
our mouths!
1. Read Ephesians 4:29a
2. Unwholesome means -it is harmful and corrupting
3. Unwholesome words add no value to someone’s life, they are death
producing – they take life rather than give it
B. On the other hand, it teaches us that the only words we are to speak – are words
that are good for edification
1. Read 4:29b
2. Edify means – increase or build some one up. Words that will strengthen
others and make someone more able to handle what they are going through!
C. According to the need of the moment –
1. Read 4:29c
2. That means we need to be sensitive to what is going on in that person’s life at
that very moment.
3. We must realize that people have different needs and they are at different
places in their spiritual journey.
a) The specific need of one person is different from the specific need of
another so that means the specific word of grace and truth that a one
person needs may be different from what another person needs!
b) Side bar – best way to know someone’s need is by listening to them.
Listening is the way we take an MRI of someone else’s soul.
4. Listen to these proverbs that talk about the value of a right word being
spoken at the right time or circumstances
a) Proverbs 25:11– apples of gold in settings of silver, earring of gold
b) Proverbs 15:23 – gives joy and delight when timely
c) Proverbs 24:26 – when the right word is said to the right person it is like
giving them a kiss
D. Finally, we learn that these kinds of words through us become God’s gift to other
people.
1. Read v29d
2. Grace is basically God’s gift to us
3. Brothers and sisters, as believers in Christ that have put off the old way of
talking and put on the new, we should be focusing upon how we can use our
words to give the people that are around us the gift of a kiss from God with a
right word spoken in a timely fashion!
• So what do we do with all of this?
II. Application
A. Know God’s word well especially the gospel! Why?
1. Because there are no words we can speak that are more powerful and life
giving than God’s Word itself or words that have been shaped by God’s
Word! That is true both for a believer and non-believer
2. But do not be a believer who is like the person who walks in the room and
just shoots off his Bible verse machine gun thinking he is serving God and
helping others.
3. Instead, be a sharp shooter who knows the perfect moment to bring the
perfect word that will build someone up and help them endure what they are
going through.
4. Let me say it again – to do this well we need to learn first to listen well. if
you are not a good listener then you will never be a sharp shooter in God’s
army
B. Prayerfully depend upon the Spirit of God to give you the words to speak rather
than your own best ideas of what you should speak.
1. Jesus said He did not speak a word unless the Father told him to speak it
John 12:49
2. Listen to the Old Testament foretelling of Jesus heart regarding His words.
Read Isaiah 50:4a
C. We in North America we take pride in being radically honest about what is going
on in our hearts with no concern how it impacts others.
1. However, I think Ephesians 4:29 would tell me to be honest but sensitive!
Have understanding of that person, their situation and needs and how your
words would impact them.
2. Paul would call it speaking the truth in love; Jesus would call it being full of
grace and truth!
3. Read Proverbs 18:2 – the only thing a fool considers is speaking their own
mind!
D. Next, we need to think before we speak, about both our words and that person’s
situation! We need to understand the impact my words will have on them.
1. Listen to Proverbs 15:28
2. Proverbs 16:23
E. Key to changing your words is changing your heart – read Luke 6:45
1. Remember James 3:8 “no one” “no one” can tame the tongue
2. It is beyond human ability to control this sword in our mouths. This is not a
self-help message about the use of the tongue. This is a message that
demands that we turn to Jesus! The only one bigger than our tongue!
3. If you do not know Jesus – He is offering you a brand new heart and His
Spirit to live inside of that heart to empower and direct your whole life as
well as your tongue.
F. When you consider Ephesians 4:29 what grade would you give yourself regarding
your living out this verse over the last week? Which part of this verse and
today’s sermon do you need to give attention to this week to get a higher score
next week?
G. Pray
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Be Angry But Do Not Sin
Ephesians 4 February 14, 2021
Introduction:
A. Is there anybody here who has never been angry? I have been angry and I
personally know that anger is very deceptive and very destructive to ourselves and
those around us!
1. Yes, there is a righteous anger but very few of us deal with that. Most of us
deal with an outburst of anger now and then. But some deal with anger as
one of their repeated and natural responses to things or people. Still others
you can just classify as angry people because anger has sat in their hearts so
long that it has become deeply rooted in them!
B. So let’s jump right into our text this morning. Turn to Ephesians 4:26-27.
• This morning we are going to deal with anger, I want to deal with the deceptive side
of anger and the destructive part of anger. Let’s start with
I. The deceptive side of anger
A. Read v26a.
1. Anger can often be deceptive for two reasons: first, sometimes we think that
all anger is sin, but it is not – there is a righteous anger. Jesus displayed as he
cleansed the temple!
a) Righteous anger is directed at sin, things like child abuse, pornography,
racism, abortion or even like Jesus, religious people misrepresenting
God. It is primarily an offense against God and His Word.
b) Even anger can be righteous when someone deeply sinned against you or
betrayed you or was unfaithful to you. Anger is the normal human
response to that.
B. The other way anger can be deceptive is what I call self-righteous anger where
you hang onto your anger because you feel you have a right to be angry. You are
justified in your anger because someone really did hurt/wrong you.
1. We saw that with Jonah when God asked him if he has a right to be angry and
he said I sure do! God went on to show Jonah that he really does not have a
right to be angry.
2. The problem with self-righteous anger is that we never deal with it because of
the feeling that I have a right to be angry. We defend our right rather than
confront our anger!
3. Here is the reality of these kind of people, other people around them can see
it and have to deal with the effects of it, but often they are blinded to it by
their own justifications or by Satan himself!
C. I think the rest of this verse balances out this whole topic of anger. Read v26b
1. Yes, we do have a right to be angry when someone hurts us but we do not
have the right to hang onto it. Righteous anger is short lived.
2. Now this is not saying that if you find out at 5 pm that someone has deeply
hurt or betrayed you, and the sun goes down at 7pm that you have to have it
all resolved by then.
3. The point is that righteous anger is short lived and the sooner we deal with it
the better for others and us!
• The second thing we see in this verse is that anger can be very …
II. Destructive.
A. We need to understand that the thought of v27 is connected with verse 26 and
completes the thought for us. Read v27
1. This specifically applies to those who have a habitual response of anger and
those who have had anger so long that they are now just an angry person!
Satan especially uses the tool of self-righteous anger to get us here.
2. Satan wants us to get this anger thing wrong so he can work his destruction
through us and in us.
B. The word opportunity literally means place.
1. In this verse that means anger becomes a place where Satan can work from in
my life. It gives him an opportunity to work; it is a base of operation where
he can work his destruction through us and in us!
2. Let me try to illustrate this with the war in Kuwait many years ago.
a) Iraq invaded Kuwait City and took the whole world by surprise.
b) They came in and looted stores, raped women and worked all kinds of
destruction.
c) Then over the next number of months they brought in more troops, more
ammunition and built bunkers to fight from. Kuwait became the base of
operation for Iraq to work from as they took more and more control and
worked more and more destruction.
3. That is what Satan does with us when we hang onto and defend our anger, he
finds a place in our lives, his base of operation he can work his destruction
through us and in us!
C. Some people with this kind of anger normally have two problems! Yes, they have
a problem with the sin of anger but they also have a demonic problem as Satan
has been deceiving them and working destruction through them.
D. So often people like this do not find deliverance until they both resist the Satan
and confess their sin.
1. Some have been working on it and counseling about it for years but have
seen no progress.
2. The reason is you must first bind the strong man – Satan then you can go in
and take back to parts of your life he has stolen from you!
E. There was a person at Moraine that dealt with this kind of anger and God
impressed upon me to pray daily for one year resisting the Devil’s work in their
life in the area of anger.
• I will let them tell you their own story …
III.Testimony
IV.Closing
A. Maybe you are here today and you recognize that Satan has deceived you about
your anger and has used it to destroy both you and others around you.
1. Can I encourage you to not put it off one more hour!
2. Go to God – confess your sin and resist the Devil and keep resisting him day
in and day out while you trust Jesus to breathe a fresh breath of His Spirit
into your life!
Wednesday Feb 10, 2021
Wednesday Feb 10, 2021
Live Consistent With Who You Are
Ephesians 4:20ff February 7, 2021
Introduction:
A. For some when they came to Christ they were unaware of any changes at that
moment but changes came gradually over time.
1. For me my world was turned upside down and everything changed in the
moment. I changed instantly from a beer drinker who swore constantly and
lived for no one but myself to a person who in the 48 years since then has
sworn only one time and has not had a one drink since then. The whole
direction of my life changed from living for myself to living to help others!
2. None of this came because I tried hard to stop or I knew I should not do it,
but God did something deep within me and just took those things away!
B. But I had no idea what happened. Now I know what happened to me and we find
the answer in Ephesians 4. Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 4.
1. We learned last week that we are to stop walking just like those who do not
know Jesus because their lifestyle is driven by a mind that lacks the
knowledge of God and His Word.
2. Today we pick up in v20 where we see a second reason we should not walk
just like those who do not know Jesus.
C. One thing we see in this whole section of Scripture is that truth is the foundation,
at the center of and the driver of our lifestyle, walk and behavior. The truth we
learned from Jesus and His Word should drive our lifestyles!
1. The structure of this text is simple:
a) Remember that this whole section is talking about our lifestyle from v 17
to end of chapter. This section v22 on is talking about the lifestyle we
learned and were taught when we came to Jesus
b) V22-24 – what we learned in Christ about our former manner of life
(content, truth, facts, knowledge)
c) V25 - 32 – “therefore” the “so what’s” the practical outcomes from what
we learned. (commands, exhortations, specific applications of the truths
we learned)
2. What we learn in v22-24 is that our old self has died and we have put on a
brand new self
3. When you put the two sections together we see this:
a) Stated negatively – we put away our old lifestyle because our old self has
been put away
b) Stated positively – we put on a new lifestyle because we have put on a
new self
c) Summarized - live consistent with who you are
D. Watch for all of this as I read this whole section v20-32
• Today we will look at what we learned from Jesus and in the next three weeks we
will look at three of these specifics: anger, our words and the Holy Spirit. Let’s start
with
I. What we learned in Jesus
A. Again simply what we learned in Jesus is that our old self, our old man has been
laid aside and we have put on a new self, new man. Read v22, 23
B. Wait a minute, that sounds like a command rather than the stating of a fact! That
is a very important distinction because
1. Either we are being told to put off the old self, old man or we are being told
he has already been put off!
2. One says it is a work I need to do now, the other says it is a work Jesus has
already done.
3. One causes me to strive harder, the other to praise Jesus
4. All of this is important because as we saw already – truth drives the way we
live!
5. So today, we are going to be diving into the deep end of the Word. I try not
to sound like a classroom at Moody Bible Institute too often but today is one
of the days it is necessary to know just what is the truth.
C. I am going to tell you why I believe this is a fact already done rather than
something you need to do. By the way, I do not stand alone in my interpretation
of this being this way. John MacArthur agrees, Lewis Sperry Chafer – the
founder of Dallas Seminary agrees. A Greek scholar Charles Moule agrees, and
so does David Needham, the author of Birthright. So here we go
1. The words lay aside and put on are both aorist infinitives.
a) Aorist means it is something that happened in the past
b) Being an infinitive, it has two possible interpretations – either a
command or a result.
c) Obviously I take it as a result for the following reasons
2. First context –
a) We learn from the verses before 20-21 he is talking about something that
we learned in the past not something we are supposed to do.
b) We see in verses following starting in v25 the therefore – the specific
applications of what we do with what we learned, is followed by
numerous straight out imperatives. That is when the commands start!
c) V22 tells us the old self was already laid aside and v25 says “therefore”
laying aside falsehood, speak truth…
(1) It perfectly illustrates we put away our old lifestyle because our old
self has been put away
3. Secondly, this interpretation is consistent with and in harmony with the rest
of Scripture about the old and new self/man.
a) Read Colossians 3:8-10 – already done – live consistent with who you
are – do not live that way because you already have laid aside the old
self and already have put on the new self/man!
b) Turn to Romans 6:6. Read
(1) Our old self was crucified with Jesus!
(2) Why – so this body where sin dwells and operates might be
rendered powerless over me. I am no longer sin’s slave.
(3) Read v7
D. Many are saying wait a minute when did I die, this old man this old self?
1. Remember our chart as three part people
2. We are talking now at the level of our spirits – the old man I was at the core
of my being, that part of me that relates to God has died,
3. God included me in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Listen as I read and
note again it starts with the inconsistency of living like the Gentiles – living
in sin!
a) Before I read, you need to know the word baptized means to be
immersed into something, placed into something or someone. Read
Romans 6:1-5
E. Bottom line, when Jesus died He not only died for you to forgive your sins, but
you died with Him, the old self, that spiritual part of you, to provide for you the
deliverance from your sins. According to the cross, you – the old self died with
Jesus!
F. In the resurrection, you were included in that as well so you now share in the
newness of life that He has. Read Romans 6:8-12
G. So bottom line – Ephesians 4, Colossians 3 and Romans 6 all teach us it is
inconsistent to live life in sin because that is not who we are now. The old self
who was at its heart a sinner (Romans 5) is dead and you are a brand new creature
in Christ created in the righteousness and holiness of the truth
II. Communion
A. So consider and reflect during this communion time. How consistent is your
lifestyle with the new creature you are?
1. Are you still living in sin or are you walking in the newness of life?
2. Consider – confess – realign your mind and your lifestyle with the truth!
Monday Feb 08, 2021
Monday Feb 08, 2021
Stop Walking Like Those Who Do Not Know Jesus or His Word!
Ephesians 4:17-19 January 31, 2021
I. Introduction:
A. This last year and the beginning of this year was mind-blowing for many of us as
we watched people respond in ways that shocked us all! This was true of the
Covid pandemic, as well as the racial and political issues.
1. We saw in the streets, in the media and among politicians - selfishness, anger,
hypocrisy, divisiveness, the violence, lawlessness and in my opinion, at times
some very, very foolish ideas about what we should do on the part of leaders!
2. The first response of my heart was these people are bad, out of control. They
should be locked up forever. I looked down upon and really want nothing to
do with these kinds of people!
B. Then I heard the question that Roy Patterson asked – do you see the looters as
uncaged animals that need to be locked in a cage or as sheep without a shepherd?
1. That was as if God hit me with a sledgehammer as I realized I was not
thinking at all biblically or like Jesus would about these people!
2. They are lost and they are acting just like angry lost people who have been
locked up in their houses for months, who do not know Jesus or His Word
would act! What should I expect!
3. We know that anger normally puts our worst behaviors on steroids!
C. So this morning I want to take you to a passage of Scripture that can help us better
understand those who do not know Jesus, why they think the way they do and
why they act the way they do!
1. Evidently in the Ephesian church, there were believers who were acting like
those who do not know Jesus
2. He is not just teaching them a principle to live by but actually telling them to
stop doing it, no longer walk like this!
D. I believe the main thrust of this passage is calling believers to - stop walking like
those who do not know Jesus or His Word! Stop acting like them! Walk this way
no longer.
1. In telling them to stop walking this way, he spends most of his time telling
them “why the lost act the way they do?”
2. Watch for all of this as I read 4:17-21
• Let’s start by looking at
II. Why the lost act the way they do?
A. The answer is straight forward here “the way they act is driven by the way they
think!”
1. Reread v17
2. The last phrase in this verse explains how the Gentiles walk – in the futility
of their minds.
3. The mind is the place where all our knowledge and information goes, and it is
the place where we process all that knowledge and information.
4. He says here they walk in the futility of their minds. That means their minds
are empty and useless on the basis that they are lacking the content they
need!
a) Now that does not mean that the lost are not intelligent or have no
content in their minds!
b) Listen to what 2 Timothy 3:7 says
5. It is not that they have no knowledge at all or that they are not intelligent
reasoning people but it is the knowledge of the ultimate truth that they do not
have!
B. What they are lacking is the spiritual knowledge that comes from God and His
Word, which is not just another truth but is the truth!
1. 4:18 further develops the futility of their minds Read
2. Their ability to think through, to grasp, to reason, to understand has been
darkened
3. They are unable to reason well because they are excluded from the life of
God and are ignorant (that means they are unaware and do not have the
information) of the things of God and Word of God because their hearts are
hardened against Him
C. On top of that, they have become callous – that means they have lost the capacity
to feel shame or embarrassment about what they are doing.
1. Then look at what they practice. Read the rest of v19
2. Obviously, this passage goes way beyond politics and race but touches upon
the growing direction of the morality of our whole culture now!
D. So when you put all this together their actions are driven by a way of thinking that
has excluded God and His Word!
• Bottom line I have two takeaways from this, the first directly from this passage the
other from the implications of this passage in light of the rest of Scripture!
III. Applications
A. If you are a believer and you are buying into the ways of the world or doing
things just as everyone else in the world does them, you need to know their ways
are driven by a knowledge that excludes God and His Word.
1. The way of thinking by man today in North America can be described as selfautonomous!
2. That means that each person governs himself and sets his own morals of what
is right and wrong! He is his own boss and determines for himself what is
right or wrong
3. We just learned a few weeks ago that as a church we have one lord, one boss
and that is Jesus and one faith and that is the Word of God which tells us
what is right or wrong!
4. Believer – stop taking your lead on behavior, thinking, sexuality, marriage,
morality, raising children, finances, character building, leadership, solutions
to the core problems in our country from those who exclude God and His
Word from their thinking which drives them to act the way they do!
B. Secondly, do we recognize the lost are sheep that need a shepherd? These are the
people Jesus came to save and sent us to bring the gospel to! You and I are the
greatest hope in their lives right now, not a Republican agenda or Democratic
agenda since we bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
C. But listen further to the state of the lost:
1. Read 1 Corinthians 2:14
a) The lost man: does not accept … cannot understand because they are
spiritually discerned and understood
b) A person who is spiritually dead does not have the spiritual equipment to
understand the things of God. It is like the things of God are on a “FM”
frequency and the lost’s receivers are only built to receive “AM” waves.
c) Some say simplify the language in translations or sermons or gospel
presentations or give better and clearer illustrations then lost people
would get it.
d) According to this verse, I could simplify the language and even give
better illustrations, but it would be like me speaking in Chinese using a
third grader’s words and illustrations but they only understand English.
e) By the way, I do believe we should do everything to be clear and simple
but we need to know that is not going to cause a lost person to come to
Christ!
f) Our confidence needs to be somewhere else!
2. Read 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. We see two big problems for the lost
a) They are blind in their minds
(1) It does not say they are blindfolded and if we just give them the
right answers, thus pulling away the blindfold, then they would
see. But they are actually blind so if you pull away the blindfold
they still would not see because they are incapable of sight
b) Satan is the source of this blindness
(1) That means human reasoning and human resources cannot
overcome this problem.
(2) Human weapons and reasoning can never overcome Satan!
3. We need to realize that it will take a miracle the size of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ for a lost person to be saved, not our best presentations,
illustrations or arguments and reasoning about the gospel.
D. We need to use the weapons that God has given us that are divinely powerful for
the destruction of fortresses in the mind rather than human weapons and means. I
will give you three:
1. Romans 1 says the gospel is the power of God for salvation
a) Read Romans 1:16
b) There is a power right inside the gospel message that can break the
power of Satan and give light to blind minds!
2. John 16 says the Holy Spirit is the one who convinces the lost world
concerning their sin, what righteousness really is and the fact that some day
they will stand before God and be held accountable in judgment
a) Read John 16:7-11
b) My hope is not in how well I share it, even though I do everything I can
to be true to the gospel clear and simple. My dependence is not in how
well I present it but for the Holy Spirit to work inside of them to
convince them of the truthfulness of the gospel and their need for it!
3. Through prayer God opens up to us opportunities to share, opens our mouths
with words He puts in them and opens up peoples heart to see and respond to
the good news of Jesus Christ!
E. So believers fill your heart with grace and mercy for the lost, arm yourself with
the gospel both in word and deed, and prayerfully depend upon the Holy Spirit to
open doors of opportunity, to open your mouth with the exact words and
illustrations they need to hear and open their hearts to respond as He convinces
them of the truthfulness of their need for the gospel!