WEBVTT 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:10.000 All right, well listen, we are in the middle of a sermon series, actually the back half of a sermon series that we call In Christ. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.400 And we began it in the fall of last year. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:13.919 I hope you guys have been enjoying this. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:15.839 It's been a great, great series. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:19.760 And the book of Ephesians really naturally breaks up into two pieces. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:30.239 The first three verses, excuse me, the first three chapters really talk about what it means to be in Christ, what it means to be a child of God, what it means to be transformed inside. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:35.840 And by the way, a lot of you are newer, if you've missed any of these sermons, you can go back and you can listen to them. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.079 Just go to tccnox.com. 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:46.240 You can click on the connect option, and there's an option to click on sermons, and you can go in there and you can listen to all the ones that you've missed. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:51.039 Because really, those sermons really lay a great foundation for what we're talking about now. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:52.719 So uh you can definitely do that. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:01:05.760 But we're in the second part now where we picked up with chapter four, and we began that in the new year, and it's been really good because now we're talking about what the lives of Christians who have been truly transformed should look like. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:10.319 What should it look like now that we've been transformed by grace? 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.079 What should those lives look like? 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:25.120 And you can't get these swapped because if you don't understand that you've been changed by grace and transformed, and you just look at it about, look at this whole thing about how what do I need to do to be righteous? 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:30.000 Then you've stepped into legalism, and it's a hard place to get out of. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:36.319 So the text for today's scripture, uh, for today's sermon is Ephesians 5, verses 3 through 10. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:37.599 So we're going to read that. 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:46.239 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not be even named among you, as is proper among the saints. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:54.799 Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 00:01:54.799 --> 00:02:08.560 For you may be sure of this that everyone who's a sexual immoral or impure, or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:16.319 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:25.439 Therefore, do not become partners with them, for at one time you were darkness, and now you are light in the Lord. 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:34.240 Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:35.520 Let's go before the Lord. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:37.840 Father, we thank you for this scripture. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:42.240 We do believe, God, that all scripture is God breathed. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:48.240 And so we believe that this scripture written so many years ago is for us today. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:57.759 And so as we unpack this, as we look at this, Father, I pray that you would speak to all of us and that you would teach us through this and convict us, Father, where we need to be convicted. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.960 And we pray this in the powerful name of Jesus. 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:01.919 Amen. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:08.400 Well, in this passage of Scripture, Paul is using the literary style of contrast. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:16.960 He's helping the Ephesian believers see the difference between living in darkness and living in light, meaning who they actually were. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:21.039 And he's specifically talking about sexual sin and crude talk. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:23.840 And so today we're gonna really look at these three things. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:27.759 We're gonna look at a con the contrast he's making in three specific areas. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:31.759 First, we're gonna define these four primary sins that he's talking about. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:39.360 And then we're gonna understand the warnings Paul gives against justifying these behaviors, sins. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:43.680 And then we're gonna examine what Paul says our reaction should be to these sins. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:45.039 So we're gonna do those three things. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:49.120 Now, before we dive into the passage, I want to make sure we have the context well in hand. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:50.400 A lot of you weren't here. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:59.439 You know, normally when we start a sermon series on a book, uh, and we typically are we're expository here at Trinity, we teach through a book. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:05.599 So we gave Mark, I think it was Mark that gave a great background into Ephesians way back in the fall, right? 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:11.439 So if if you didn't weren't here for that, I'm not gonna go through that whole sermon, but there's two things I want to point out. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:15.039 The first is audience participation. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:16.800 Who is Paul writing to? 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:17.680 Someone tell me. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.319 The church. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:23.120 Yeah, Ephesus, the church believers. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.000 So that means who's he not talking to? 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:30.959 He's not right talking to the people in Ephesus that weren't a part of the church. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:34.959 Now you might say, duh, Scott, that's we understand that. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:36.720 Why you bring that up? 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:42.800 Well, I bring it up because sometimes when we read scriptures like this, we want to deflect. 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:49.920 We want to find a King James Bible with a hard cover, and we want to beat a non-believer with it. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:51.600 You see what Paul's saying? 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:52.959 You shouldn't do this. 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:55.680 And they're like, why? 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:02.399 Why you why do we get so surprised when sinners sin? 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:04.399 You ever figure that out? 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:10.000 If you can get that through your head, then you're gonna stop judging people that aren't following Christ. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.480 So he's talking to us, he's talking to the church, he's talking to us. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:16.319 Get that clear in your mind. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:17.360 That's important. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:22.639 So if you were looking for a, if you'd picked up some stones or whatever, you can drop them and just walk away. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:24.560 We're not gonna talk about that. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:30.000 The second thing you need to understand is the Ephesian church was primarily Gentile believers. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.680 Now it had Jewish believers in there. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:40.319 We know that because he does talk about some of the Jewish uh traditions and beliefs that were coming in, such as circumcision and things like that. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.639 But it was primarily written to Gentile believers. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:51.199 And the the city of Ephesus, just so you know, Ephesus was a city of about 300,000 people at the time that Paul wrote that. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:52.959 300,000 people. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:55.439 And they didn't even have public transit. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:59.199 Huge city, right on the port, bustling. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:05.360 And it was also the center of worship for the Greek goddess Artemis. 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:14.480 In fact, we got a picture here of um the uh actual, this is what they think the temple rendering is or of the actual temple of Artemis. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:25.199 And if you know anything about pagan religions, and it's written all through scripture, um, most pagan religions included a lot of sexual promiscuity. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:26.240 A lot of that. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:31.439 So if we understand these people came out of this culture, right? 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:38.639 Now they're in Christ, it's not a surprise that he's talking about these things, right? 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:44.720 It's not a surprise because he's probably dealing with something that's happened in the church. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:56.240 Now, one last thing I want to do before we talk about this, uh go into this, is you have to understand and remember that Scripture wasn't always broken into chapter and verse, right? 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:56.959 We know that. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:00.800 This was a letter that was written by Paul to the church in Ephesus. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:05.120 And by the way, these were spread and shared around all of the churches, right? 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:07.519 But this was specifically to Ephesus. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:16.079 So the first two verses of this section cannot be ignored when we look at this scripture. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:20.000 And Tyler gave a great sermon on this a couple weeks ago. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:21.680 Uh, but these are the first two verses. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:31.839 Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:41.759 Now, that sermon that Tyler gave was so good because what he did is he focused on how we are to live as loved children, as loved children. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:52.399 And I love, by the way, you went to 1 John, and he really pulled in this concept of unity and what that looks like to walk together in love and unity in the body of Christ. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:58.000 There's something else he touched on that I think is really important, and it's the very first verse. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:02.959 He says, Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:07.040 If we miss this, we're gonna miss our text today. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:10.240 Children imitate their parents. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.519 I bet you all have seen that. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:22.079 I know when I was uh when we first had our daughter Brandy, she was our oldest, she was about three or four, and my wife took a video. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:26.879 I was in the backyard, I just cut down a tree, and I was moving all the limbs over to a pile. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:28.959 I was gonna pile them up and burn them, right? 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:30.480 And she was helping me. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:41.200 And so I'd give a big old, I'd get two branches and she'd get this little thing like this, and she'd walk behind me and we'd throw it on the pile, and she'd walk back doing this. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:42.879 It was the cutest thing. 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:46.480 And my wife was laughing as she was videotaping it, right? 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:52.000 She was imitating me because I did this to get the get the sawdust and stuff off my hands. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:58.799 It's so cute to watch your children imitate you until they imitate something you don't like. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:05.360 Have you ever seen your children in the mirror of you? 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:07.919 It can be a little humbling, isn't it? 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:19.279 And one of the greatest uh compliments I ever get is when someone who knew my father says, Oh, Scott, you talk just like your dad, or you you you you you laugh just like your dad. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:21.679 I mean, that was a huge compliment to me. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.799 But I'll tell you something else I got from my father. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:27.840 I got what we call the German temper. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.000 The German temper. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:36.240 In fact, I act the same way my dad acts when he would get mad. 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:38.480 And I inherited this from him. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:42.080 By the way, just so you know, I'm not blaming him, I own it. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:46.879 And by the way, through this 25, 21 days of fasting, thank you very much, Tyler. 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:52.559 God's been really convicting me on this, and it's been really humbling. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.360 And thank goodness it's changing in me. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.879 He's doing some really good work in me, but I have that temper. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:02.960 And I and I got that quite honestly from my dad. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:08.240 But there's a truth about imitation is that we reflect the things that we look at the most. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:14.399 We reflect the things we look at the most. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:20.159 That's why when my dad would get mad, I'm like, oh, that's with the way you react to that. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:24.639 You throw things or whatever, and I have punched holes in walls before. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:26.320 Not often, but I have. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:31.279 Only time I ever broke a bone is I broke a knuckle, punching the wrong thing. 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:34.320 And it wasn't a person, I've never punched a person. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:38.559 We reflect the things that we look at the most. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:41.679 If we look to God and put his relationship first, guess what? 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:42.960 We're gonna look more like him. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:51.039 However, if we place others above God, meaning we look at that more. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:52.399 Guess what? 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:53.759 We reflect that. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:02.000 And so it's really important when we put this passage of scripture in context of that, that we understand. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:03.039 Guess what? 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:05.759 He's saying, don't do these things. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:14.320 And if you're finding yourself doing things, you're looking at the wrong place and you're reflecting the wrong thing. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:16.320 And this is true. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:17.440 This is true. 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:22.000 And I experienced this in my life, I'm sure you've experienced it in yours. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:30.000 So if we're what we're doing is reflecting the wrong thing, then we got to ask ourselves, where am I looking? 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:31.919 What's my focus been? 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.799 Okay, that's the background. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:38.240 Let's jump into the first one, which is the four sins Paul addresses. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:47.519 So in Ephesians 5, 3, it starts, but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not be named among you as is proper among the saints. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.519 I want you to notice the word but. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:55.039 The word but is grammatically, it's what's called a coordinating conjunction. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.200 It just makes me sound smart when I say that. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:59.360 It's a coordinating conjunction. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:02.799 What is a coordinating conjunction, you might ask? 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:04.000 Well, I'll tell you. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:10.960 It connects contrasting ideas, contrasting ideas. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:14.399 So he's saying, be imitators of God, right? 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:15.600 Do all this. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:20.080 But sexual immorality, and he goes on. 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:22.559 So we need to understand that's the first thing he's doing. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.000 That's why we can't go through this sermon without at least touching on verse one and two. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.279 So the first that he mentions is sexual immorality. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:31.519 Pornea is the Greek word for that. 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:32.720 A lot of you know that word. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.080 You've heard it before. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:43.679 Uh, the strong says it's to engage in sexual immorality of any kind, often with the implication of prostitution, to engage in illicit sex, to commit fornication. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:54.080 And in the context of this, he's talking to Ephesians, you know, if the people from the church in Ephesus who came out of that culture, is undoubtedly that's what he was referencing, right? 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:57.919 A lot of it was temple prostitution, but other things as well. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:05.759 But basically, pornay is any type of sexual activity that is a perversion of the original design for sex. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:08.879 And we know what that original design for sex is. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:13.840 It was between one man and one woman in a marriage covenant in covenant with God. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.039 That's simple. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:15.919 That's what it is. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.480 Anything else is a deviation from that. 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:29.519 So that would include adultery, fornication, which is basically sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, or any other type of sexual activity outside of church. 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:42.720 Now, I want you guys to understand really clearly, because I realize some of you have been kicking around the kingdom for a while, and we get really up in arms about things like homosexuality, but we kind of just kind of don't look at things like fornication, right? 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:46.000 We uh it's not as bad. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:47.759 They're all sins. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:49.679 And what does sin do? 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.080 Sin separates you from God. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:57.519 They're all sins, and we can't put more emphasis on one the other. 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:01.600 And by the way, sin porny is a sin that Paul has mentioned before. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:06.720 In fact, he says something really interesting to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 6 18. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:08.960 He says, flee immorality. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:12.639 No, that's not the smallest sin in the Bible, by the way. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:15.279 Some people flee immorality. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:16.399 Whatever, okay. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.879 All right, that's one of the jokes you learn in youth. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:20.159 Didn't you guys know that one? 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:21.360 Okay, they don't? 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:22.480 Now you do. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:23.840 Sorry about that. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:24.320 Okay. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:27.039 He says, flee immorality. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:38.000 Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immortal, immoral man sins against his own body. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:43.039 Wait, he's actually drawing a difference between other sins and this. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:51.519 Well, I can almost tell you and guarantee that Paul was addressing a mindset that was in the culture at the time. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:56.320 And you've heard of Gnosticism before, and I won't go through a long discourse on it. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:04.320 But in essence, part of Gnosticism was believing that the physical body was sinful, but it was separate from your mind. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:05.600 You could separate it. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:10.159 So you could do all these bad things, but with your mind, you could be, quote, right. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.759 And it was a twisting of reality. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:23.440 And it's sad, but a lot of people bought into that because it allowed them to just give into their fleshly desires. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:31.679 And that belief, by the way, has just been been disproven by many secular psychologists and in psychiatry. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:38.799 It's been proven you can't separate the two sex, the physical act, and your mind, they are connected. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.960 And our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, aren't they? 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:49.679 We're not to join ourselves with anyone other than our spouse in a married scenario. 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:51.600 That's what that's the design. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:53.279 That's the design. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:56.879 But our culture kind of propagates this belief. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:02.639 You know, if you think about it, how many movies do you watch where people are having sex outside of marriage? 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:04.159 By the way, it's okay. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.159 I mean, I understand they're not called, they're not saved. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:11.519 Whenever I'm not gonna get the King James Bible and beat them, but that seeps into our belief system. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:19.840 And even the young people in the church think, well, I know Joe, he's got a happy marriage, but he had sex before they got married. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.720 So therefore, it must be right. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.200 It must be okay. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.559 Really? 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.080 Really? 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:37.200 I'll tell you, I've talked to people who uh were more sexually promiscuous when they were younger, and they will tell you they wish they hadn't. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:39.279 They wish they hadn't. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:44.559 I remember one time I played in a band uh with a bunch of guys in Texas. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:48.960 They were, I was young, I was like 30, and everybody else there was in their 50s and above. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:57.200 And we went, we did a really rare uh uh uh out of town gig where we had to stay the night. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:04.480 And so the the bass player, myself, and the steel guitar player were staying in this same room in this junky hotel. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:06.640 It was a memory I'll never forget. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:16.960 At the end of the first night, Friday night, we're in the room, it's like one in the morning, we're getting ready to go to bed, and the bass player said something. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:23.200 And he said, Man, Scott, guy like you, I bet you he wasn't saved, obviously. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:28.240 He said, I bet you you have your you've been pretty lucky over your lifetime. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:34.240 I he said, No, because man, I tell you what, I've I've slept with hundreds of women. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.839 And I looked at him and I said, Nope. 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.359 I've been with one woman my whole life. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:44.160 And he looked at me. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:51.519 And at first I thought he was gonna call me some like uh, you know, he looked at me, he said, Wow. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:54.480 I wish I could say that. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:59.039 Because he knew he couldn't find happiness in that. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:02.319 He didn't have, he couldn't find happiness in that. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:05.519 And by the way, I'm not tooting my own horn, by the way, for that. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:06.480 Please, please me. 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:10.880 There was lots of times I would have, but I just didn't, the opportunity wasn't there. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:14.400 I had the bounds of a very legalistic, rigid church to hold me. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:22.799 So I'm very grateful that didn't happen, but I'm telling you, it wasn't because I was this holy guy, but I was so thankful afterwards. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.359 Someone says, You want to know why God makes a law? 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:30.799 Try obeying it for a while and see what He why he put it in place. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.880 And I'll never forget his face. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:35.359 To this day, I never forget his face. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.440 And it convicted me. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:40.559 The second sin he talks about is impurity. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:42.319 Impurity. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:58.480 And this is uh a nice Greek word called acatharia, acatharea, and it's a state of moral impurity, especially in the relationship of sexual sin, immortality, immortality, immorality. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:04.720 Immortality is a different sermon, and filthiness. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:11.440 Now, what's interesting is why does Paul link this together with sexual immorality? 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:22.000 Because he's saying that sexual immorality and impurity are emphasized because the sexual sin is related and comes from the person's mind. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.000 Again, he's drawing that connection. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:27.440 He's attacking the Gnostic belief at the time. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:47.119 And there's no place that this is more poignant, and most of you have heard this before than Romans 1:24, where Paul is saying to the Roman church, he said, Therefore God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:54.640 Impurity and I keep saying immortality, immorality, sexual immorality, they're linked. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:00.079 They're linked because we know the body will act out what's already going on in the heart, right? 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.240 It will it will happen. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:14.400 And it further identifies that the sexual sin of impurity uh really is when people just cast off all restraint and they celebrate sexual immorality. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.680 And you see that. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:17.119 We all have YouTube. 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:19.119 If you want to, you can see it. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.119 The people just don't care. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:23.599 But again, they're not called. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:25.359 We need to pray for this world. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.680 The third sin Paul mentions here with the first two is covetousness. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:32.799 Now, impurity and covetousness are coupled together as well. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:35.519 I mean, Paul chose these words very specifically. 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:51.519 Now, the word covetousness is plexinia, and it's interesting because it's the strong concordance will tell you it's a strong desire to acquire more and more material possessions or to possess more things than other people have, all irrespective of need. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:58.079 In other words, a lot of times if you read through the New Testament, that same word will be interpreted as greed. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:20:59.599 Greed. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:00.960 I want more. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:12.799 I've talked about this before, but there's a study done, they talked to millionaires, and they said to each millionaire, there were like people who had like $10 million, people that had $50 million, people that had $100 million. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:15.519 They said, How much would be enough? 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.839 And each one said, twice as much as I have. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:23.599 You see that person that's now $100 million? 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:28.160 At one time they had $50 million, but it wasn't enough, right? 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:29.680 That's greed. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:33.119 That's that's the that's what he's talking about here, this covetousness. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:38.400 And the reality is, why is he why is he joining this with sexual immorality? 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:44.400 And it's basically because the impurity of the mind of a sexually immoral person is literally committing idolatry. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:47.200 They are coveting something other than God. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:49.680 That's what it is. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:51.839 Colossians 3, verse 5. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:59.759 Again, Paul talking, he says, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:05.119 And covetousness, which is idolatry. 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:18.880 The mind that is completely enraptured in sexual immorality is basically worshiping that. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:28.160 Their sexual lust has become their God or their God replacement, as I've heard it said before. 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:37.599 Now, the second part of verse three is kind of interesting because he, after he talks about these three specific sins, listen to what he says. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:44.880 But sexual immorality and all impurity and covetous must not be even named among you as is proper with the saints. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.839 Must not even be named above you, among you. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:49.279 What's that mean? 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:52.400 Well, I think the connotation is pretty clear. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:57.440 He's telling the Ephesians that they should be above reproach regarding all of this stuff. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.920 It shouldn't even be a hint of it. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:05.359 You know, you have to be so careful because people can read things in. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:12.160 They can see any kind of behavior you have and say, oh, wait a second, that's that might he might be up to something wrong. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:17.359 When pastors counsel uh women, the door is always open. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:20.559 Never you have to be above reproach. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:21.920 And that's just one example. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.799 You don't have to be a pastor to be above reproach. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:30.400 You shouldn't be going to certain places where that activity maybe goes on. 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:32.079 You have to be above reproach. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:34.160 He said it shouldn't even be named among you. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:40.240 And unfortunately, though, a lot of times as believers, we live on that edge. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:42.240 We're just right on that edge. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:45.039 Well, I'm not technically sinning, am I? 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:49.359 Yeah, I just want to tell you something. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:54.319 If you're trying to live on the edge, you're already sinning. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:56.720 You get it? 00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:57.200 Yeah. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:00.480 Because your heart wants to live on the edge. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:02.319 Your heart is driving you there. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:03.680 I just want to live on the edge. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:05.519 I just want to live on the edge. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:09.119 I want to watch this movie, and my wife's going to be okay with it. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:11.599 I'm going to watch this movie, even though it's got some nudity. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.440 It's a great movie, but I really want to watch it because I want to see the nudity. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:21.359 See, we can excuse anything and say, well, it's really not sin. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:23.200 Yeah, it is. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:29.839 If you're toying with it, if you're toying with that edge, you're already in sin. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:35.519 We're not mirroring Christ. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:41.759 But it's important that you understand when he says this to them, look what he calls them. 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:46.880 As is proper among you bunch of heathen sinners. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:48.880 No, he says saints. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:53.039 Ephesians 1 through 3. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:55.039 We're saints. 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:57.519 And by the way, it doesn't mean we're so good. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.000 It means God's done a great thing in us. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.240 We should act like children of God. 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:04.160 That's why we have to be imitators, right? 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:06.480 He's saying we can't fall in that line. 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:07.759 We can't fall there. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:14.960 And it's because it's not about just complying to some religious activity, it's about being transformed in our heart. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:16.400 And that's really important. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:21.519 Mirroring and reflecting the character of Christ. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:22.720 That's Christ in us. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:25.440 That's why we called this sermon in Christ. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:29.039 Because we have to be reminded all the way through what that looks like. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:34.559 Now, Paul brings up three other behaviors that I've grouped together as one because they're all really closely related. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:42.640 And in verse four, this is what he says Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which you're out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:45.279 Now, Mark's sermon a few weeks ago. 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:47.759 How many of you were here for Mark's sermon on this? 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:48.720 Yeah. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:50.720 It was a great sermon. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:53.119 And if you missed that one, you should. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:56.240 You should watch it or listen to it. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:57.839 You can watch it online too. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:02.240 You should listen to that because it was really, really powerful. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:09.759 The three specific Aries that are obviously things that were common in the culture at their time, just like they're common in ours. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:11.680 Filthiness is the first one. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:17.680 Well, that basically is to act in defiance of social and moral standards, bringing shame on you and your family, right? 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:19.920 Out of the heart, the mouse speaks, right? 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:22.720 So obscene talk, things like that. 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:24.319 Foolish talk. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:34.400 I don't know if you notice this, but some of these videos that might, you know, that uh you see on these reels and things, they're just foolishness. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:36.799 They're silly, they're foolishness. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:38.559 They're not even entertaining. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.759 They're they're only entertaining because they're so stupid. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:46.000 You wonder, have you ever wondered what do these people do for a living? 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.079 Where do they get their money from? 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:53.119 How do they because they they put these silly things together, they have no meaning. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:57.599 And then crude joking, vulgar expressions, and decent talk. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:08.640 Now, Paul contrasts these three things again with that coordinating conjunction, but he says, but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:11.200 Okay, hold on. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:13.839 Why thanksgiving? 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:24.160 Don't you think if he was contrasting that, he said, but instead you should speak good, wonderful things, and you should not, but no, he says thanksgiving. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:27.599 Well, we need to go back to verse one again. 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:45.759 You see, if we remind ourselves daily of the magnificent gift of grace and redemption that was given to us by God freely, if we're constantly looking at that, then our primary response can only be thanksgiving. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:51.680 That's gotta be our primary response. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:59.119 And what I have found in my life, in my prayer life, every morning when I pray, I start by thanking God. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:15.759 And I got lots to be thankful for, but there's one thing primarily, and that is the fact that he took the wretched man that I was, and he opened my heart and my mind to see who he is and gave me this gift so I could be reconciled to him. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:18.640 I thank God for that every morning. 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:20.559 Every morning. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:26.079 And it doesn't make me pompous or feel better, it really just humbles me. 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:28.000 Why me, God? 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:34.000 Literally, in scripture says, before the foundations of the earth, God called you. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:38.400 God called you, he called me. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:39.680 Wow. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:44.319 So it wasn't based on how good you were because he already had a plan for you. 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:48.079 No, he pulled so much of so many of us out of the gutter. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:54.480 He pulled so many of us out of lives that didn't really have any meaning. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:29:03.279 And he gave us hope and a future and a right standing with God. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:06.480 How can we not be thankful for that? 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:08.240 How could we not? 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:19.759 Paul was showing them that the true disciple of Jesus would be constantly focused on Jesus and therefore filthiness, crude joking, and all that stuff, you don't even want to do that. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:26.000 And I find this the more I focus on God, the more those things in me start to wane and go away. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:30.720 But you might say, that ain't kind of cool, Scott. 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:33.680 You don't, you're not really cool if you don't do that stuff. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:46.480 Um, you maybe as a young person, and I I went through this in high school, I was worried about being labeled the goody two shoes, you know, the the uh the church kid, right? 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:50.960 Or maybe you won't fit in in your your work culture. 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:54.000 I had a guy one time say this, and I'm I'm I'm not kidding. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:30:02.640 This person said to me, and they were a believer, they said, you know, when I work with my crews, I cuss because that's the only language they understand. 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:09.359 And you know, I dug into scripture and I looked and I looked and I looked, and you know what I found? 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:17.759 Nowhere in Scripture did they allow for working with crews that were crude. 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:20.880 There was no allowance for it. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:25.119 No scripture tells us that the end justifies the beans. 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:28.799 So we have to think about that and be convicted of that. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:31.200 Now let's move to verse 5. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:41.200 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:43.359 I love the fact he said of Christ and God. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:44.640