WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.679 Our passage for the day, and that is Ephesians 4, 17 through 32. 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:15.039 Now I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:24.160 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of heart. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:31.359 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:56.000 But that is not the way you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:04.959 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.120 Be angry and do not sin. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:11.840 Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:21.760 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:32.480 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:38.480 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:45.280 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:53.120 Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:54.719 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:56.319 Please be seated. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:13.919 Friday, August 6th is a family picnic at Berkeley. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:14.479 Berkeley? 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:15.280 Berkeley. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:15.919 Berkeley. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:16.560 First one? 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:16.960 Yeah. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:18.159 I'm from Denver. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:21.120 Is uh Berkeley Park 5 to 7. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.800 Uh there'll be games, lots of good stuff for the families and singles. 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:29.599 And uh there's gonna be tons of Berkeleyans uh to connect with. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:39.120 It's kind of a neighborhood thing going on, so a wonderful opportunity for us to get embedded in the community and uh reach out and uh let people know that we're here and we're here for them. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:47.599 Uh RCD kids uh also on Friday, this Friday at 10 a.m., uh will be meeting up at the zoo. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.479 Uh so if you want to go ahead and show up, please do. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.280 They're just gonna meet at the entrance at 10 a.m. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:01.120 And uh August 4th, last one, uh continuing the second discussion on the book Gentle and Lowly. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:02.639 Uh that's at 6 p.m. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:04.319 here at RCD. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.439 Uh if you've not read it, highly recommend it. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:10.879 I'm working my way through it very slowly, but I'm working my way through it. 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:12.400 So that's at 6 p.m. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:13.840 All right. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:19.840 Uh let's go ahead and uh pray, and uh we'll dive into our text. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:25.599 Uh Father, we thank you for the opportunity uh to gather here as your body, as your people. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:38.560 And I just ask today, uh, as I share your word, uh, that you give me a spirit of humility and wisdom, that I may convey your words and your thoughts correctly from this text uh to your people here today. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:52.960 I pray for all of our hearts that as we receive this message, we receive it as well with humility, uh, understanding that these are your words to us to help us change and to grow together as a body. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:54.319 In your name we pray. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:55.280 Amen. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:57.599 All right. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:01.599 Again, my name's Jacob. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:02.639 Uh, very happy to be here. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:06.879 As Zach said, we've been here for I don't know, maybe seven or eight months. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:09.759 Uh, so super excited to share this passage with you this morning. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:11.199 So let's go ahead and get going. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:17.839 Um, I remember uh when my wife and I uh lived in England, uh my wife's English. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.519 If you want to hear an English accent this morning, uh you can go speak to her. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:24.639 Um she's not she's not faking it, I swear. 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:30.800 Um but when my wife and I lived in England, we were a part of this little church plant, and there was a guy named Ryan. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:34.879 And Ryan started to come along and uh, you know, just really get involved. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:37.439 He came from a completely non-Christian background. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:39.920 Uh, he reached out to us and we just got to know him. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.399 And it was a months-long process, but eventually Ryan decided uh to become a Christian. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:46.240 And uh super exciting stuff. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:50.720 Again, young 20-year-old guy, had no purpose in life, had no idea what he was doing. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:55.279 And uh after he became a Christian, we started to meet up on a weekly basis. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:02.399 Well, probably about two months into meeting up uh with Ryan, he started skipping out on me uh quite a bit. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:09.439 Uh, you know, like I said, we'd meet for coffee regularly, and he he just stopped showing up, started coming up with excuses. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:14.079 And uh one thing about Ryan is he had the worst poker face. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:15.439 Oh my, oh man. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:20.720 So when I saw him on Sundays when he would show up, the guy was miserable. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:21.839 You could just tell. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.920 He wouldn't make eye contact with anybody. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:29.279 He kept looking at his feet, and uh, I was like, okay, something's really, really wrong with Ryan. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:33.839 So next home group night, uh, he was hard to pin down, but I finally got him. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:39.120 I cornered him and I was like, hey Ryan, you know, you look you look miserable. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:40.959 I say that in a nice way. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:45.199 Um, what is going on right now? 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.800 And uh he kind of broke down a little bit. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:55.920 And um he he just opened up and he said, Jacob, said, Ever since I've become a Christian, I've been miserable. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:58.720 It's like, oh, unintended consequences, Ryan. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.120 Let's what I was like, tell me, tell me what's happening. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:09.439 He's like, Well, I just don't understand it, but all the things that I used to do before I was a Christian, I hate doing now. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.319 And he said, I'm just miserable whenever I do it. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:14.160 I'm always miserable. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:17.120 And I was like, okay, Ryan, back up a little bit. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:19.120 What what what are you what are you doing? 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:20.879 He's like, I'm too embarrassed to tell you. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:26.000 I was like, no, hey man, brothers right here, sinners right here. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:27.360 You can be honest with me. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:28.879 What's going on? 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:30.399 So we went through this list. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:31.439 He's like, I do this. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:34.639 And I was like, yeah, yeah, they probably shouldn't do that, Ryan. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:35.920 He's like, and I do this. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:40.079 And I was like, yeah, Ryan, I understand why that's causing some pain in your life. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:41.920 That's absolutely destructive. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:43.120 He's like, can I do this? 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:44.399 I was like, ew, you do that. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:46.160 No, I'm just kidding, I didn't do that. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:47.680 Uh I did not do that. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:57.920 Um, but we had a great talk at that point about God's grace and forgiveness, but we also had a great conversation on how we change as Christians. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:05.360 And that's the conversation Paul is having with us today is how do we change as Christians? 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:14.079 And if we remember in the previous chapters, uh Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus that they are to maintain unity in the church through love. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.519 Love is what binds us together in the body of Christ. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:24.639 Well, Paul continues to move forward with unity at the forefront of his mind in verses 17 through 32. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:35.360 And he begins to narrow down how each of us as Christians are to deal with our sins so that it maintains unity within the body of Christ. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:37.279 That's his point today. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.120 That's what he's trying to tell us. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:43.600 A lot of times, as the church, we think the enemy is out there, that's what's going to destroy the church. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:45.360 Paul is saying, no, no, no, no. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:54.800 The thing that destroys the church, unity with the body of Christ, it all resides in us and it's in your heart, and it's sin. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.639 Sin is the thing that tears us apart. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:05.759 So Paul here walks us through how we begin this process of change as individuals for the sake of the church. 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:10.560 And in verses 17 through 19, Paul tells us that we are no longer to walk or to live as the world lives. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:12.240 That's what he means by Gentiles. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:20.560 Verses 20 through 24, Paul changes and he says, This is how Christians can take off our old selves, living the way of the world, and put on our new selves. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.079 And that's through learning Christ, renewing our minds in him. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:36.879 And then verses 25 through 32, Paul gives us some real practical applications of how we are to take off the actions that were like the world and put on our new selves when we're living together. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:40.320 So uh let's start with verses 17 through 19. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:43.919 And that's how we as Christians are to no longer walk as the world does. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:47.360 I'll reread uh 17 through 19. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:53.360 Now I say in testifying the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:58.960 Remember, Gentiles, we'll replace that with world, in the futility of their minds. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:08.799 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:17.360 They have become callous and given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:23.039 Paul begins this section by appealing to his authority as an apostle. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:26.960 That's what he means when he says, I testify in the Lord. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:33.759 And he's commanding us, the Ephesian Church, the body of Christ, to no longer walk as the world does. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:48.240 Now, as Americans in a cultural climate that we are in, the word authority and command is not really popular, especially when it comes to telling us how to live our lives. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.720 But it shouldn't be. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:57.919 Because when authority is exercised in a godly way, it actually leads to our human flourishing. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:02.480 Good, godly authority is something we should all crave and desire. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:11.519 Yes, authority can be abused and cause suffering, but godly authority exercised in humility and love leads to abundance in life. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:18.000 And Paul, in this instance, is exercising his good, godly authority for our benefit. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:20.960 And we'd be fools not to listen to him. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:31.360 And he's using his authority to say to the church in Ephesus and us here today at Redemption that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:39.360 And Paul gives us five reasons, depending on how you cut it, is to why we don't walk as the world does anymore. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:43.679 The first is the world walks in the futility of their minds. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:45.919 You know, futile means pointless. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:49.440 So if you're going somewhere or doing something, it's futile. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:50.960 It means it doesn't mean anything. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:52.720 You're you're running in circles. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.480 And walking here describes deliberate decisions, okay? 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:01.279 A lot of the times uh we we don't like to own up to the mistakes that we make. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:05.360 So we have excuses like, oh, this is, you know, this wasn't my fault. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:11.039 I didn't know uh my parents did this, Satan made me do it, whatever. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:12.879 You you you can cut it whatever way you want. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:18.639 But but Paul here is saying, actually, the the way that the world lives is deliberate. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:22.799 It's a choice, and they're making it, and it's futile. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:34.720 The second reason is a lot like the first, with the futility of their mind, but it Paul says the darkness, uh, and he's speaking here of an internal spiritual darkness. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:37.679 One theologian puts it way better than I could. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:43.279 Sometimes when you read a theologian, you're like, wow, that's like, how did you think of that sentence? 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.159 That's like straight out of a Star Wars movie or something. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:12:00.480 Um, but he says here, this darkness is the finished and unchangeable result of a mind incapable of seeing and determining moral and spiritual truth. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:06.159 The third reason Paul says is alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:09.279 Again, this ignorance is a willful and stubborn ignorance. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:10.720 It's not, I didn't know. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:14.080 It's a choosing to be ignorant. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:24.080 This ignorance is one where life and truth, Paul says, are dangling in front of them, but they refuse to see it or even give it a thought. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:31.440 This is reminiscent of chapter two, uh, where Paul describes our lives before we were saved, and it's it's death. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:32.399 It's dead. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:34.720 You can't see it, you can't understand it. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:36.639 You're you're you're apart from God. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.879 And God is life, and where there is no God, there's only death. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:46.639 Paul says here that they are heart of heart, four and five, and become callous. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:49.039 Uh they they allude to the same idea here. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:58.720 It's a spiral, spiritual and moral digression, where something that was once alive has now become dead, or something that was once soft has become calloused. 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:03.600 Remember the first time you lied as a little kid, you were devastated. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:07.440 Now, when you lie, sometimes you don't even know when you do it. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:08.960 That's callous. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:10.720 That's what Paul's speaking of. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:12.879 First time you sin, oh, hurts. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:13.840 Why did I do that? 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.720 And then you continue to do it, and then you do it, and you do it. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:21.919 It gets easier and easier and easier, and then it becomes accepted, and then it becomes encouraged. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:27.120 That's what Paul is describing here with this callousness and this hardness of heart. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:38.879 All this futility, darkness, hardness, callousness in the world in verse 19, uh, Paul says at that point they abandon themselves to sensuality and become greedy to practice every kind of deed. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:40.639 They just stop trying. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:44.000 And Paul says they just do whatever feels good to them. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:53.840 So, to summarize it, what Paul sees here is a direct connection between our minds and our understanding and the lives that we live. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:55.440 Let me summarize it this way. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:00.879 Paul isn't saying here that we can't look to the world and not find knowledge, right? 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.240 If you want to learn to be a mathematician, you go study math. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.519 If you want to learn to be an engineer, you go study engineer stuff. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:09.679 Not an engineer, I don't know what that is. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.480 But but that's not that's not what Paul is talking about. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:14.799 He's not talking about a darkness in that sense. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:21.120 Um, when Paul speaks of our minds here, he's not saying they're purely intellectual, which is how we like to think of them in the West. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:30.320 Rather, the mind is a place where moral and spiritual truths are understood and determined. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.559 That's what Paul is saying here with our mind. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.759 Your mind is a moral factory, okay? 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:42.000 It is just coming out with decisions on right and wrong every day, every minute, every hour. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.559 It's right to say this, it's wrong to do that. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:46.960 I should have done this, I won't do that. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:53.360 These are all moral decisions that you're making on a daily basis, dozens, if not hundreds of times a day. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:56.399 That's the mind that Paul is speaking of here. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:05.600 So Paul is saying we are not to look to the world to determine moral and spiritual truths and our understanding. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:13.279 When God made us, the greatest purpose of our mind was to receive his revelation. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:21.200 Our minds were made by God to understand God and his creation. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.039 Have you ever thought of that before? 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.960 God made your mind in such a way to understand him. 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:29.519 That's what the purpose is. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:36.799 But when they're not used for that purpose, they become futile and dark and separated. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:43.919 So we are to no longer walk in the way of the world with our minds, is what Paul is saying. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:45.519 So what do we do? 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:49.679 How do we break out of the hamster wheel of futility? 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:58.159 Verses 20 through 24, Paul gives us the answer that we are to learn Christ and put away our sinful deeds and put on new life. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.679 You know, before I do that, let me let me just go back to the mind thing. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.399 The world rebrands stuff, right? 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:13.279 So when the world says progress, Paul says futility. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:18.320 When the world says enlightenment, Paul says darkness. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:24.399 When the world says freedom, Paul says death. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:26.159 Do we understand this? 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:33.840 The importance of having a change in our minds and having a different source of truth for ourselves. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:35.360 And that's what Paul gets at here. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.200 Verse 20, I'll read it. 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:40.720 But that is not the way you learned Christ. 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:59.039 Assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:07.279 Alluding back to Ryan at the beginning of what I was speaking is Ryan in our story desperately wants to change, right? 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:08.640 That was our conversation. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:14.880 Ryan understood the futility and the darkness and the hardness that he was, that he was living in and that he was in. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:18.799 And Paul says here, this is how Ryan gets out. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.359 This is how this is how we begin to change. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:30.079 And that is, um Paul tells us the way we change is through the renewing of our minds by learning Christ and looking to Jesus the man. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:38.000 In verses uh 20 through 21, uh he says of the church in Ephesus that they learned Christ and have heard about him. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:40.480 That's the first nuance he speaks of. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:44.319 He chooses Christ specifically here because it's a title. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:47.680 Christ is a title meaning like anointed one, anointed king. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:55.440 And when Paul says, but you learned Christ, he's bringing to bear the first three chapters of Ephesians. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:18:02.160 Jesus is Christ the King who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:10.160 Specifically in verse 1 through 10, this spiritual blessing is to bring us all in unity with him. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:14.240 That's the purpose of creation, to unite all things under Christ. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:22.880 So if you want to understand not only the purpose of your life, but actually the entire purpose of the universe, we're getting real meta here. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:28.079 Um it is to bring all things under the headship of Christ, is what Paul says. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:34.240 And that that's the grand plan that God is beginning to unfold through his church. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:36.720 And Paul is saying, you've learned that. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:37.599 You know that. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.480 That is the new purpose of your life. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:46.240 You've learned Christ and the implications of the entire universe in you as an individual. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:48.720 In 118, Paul says he's praying for the church. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:59.680 And what he says here is, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance and his holy people. 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:01.440 Paul's saying, You've been told all this. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:05.759 Now I'm praying and I want you to understand that this is no longer your purpose. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:16.319 Your purpose is to begin to understand the glorious inheritance that Christ is preparing for you in all of eternity, and that is to be united with him. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:19.839 That's the implications of learning Christ. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:22.000 We are united with him. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.920 The second thing is he says that we are taught in him. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:28.319 We are taught in him. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:33.680 And the way that we are taught in, the way that we learn Christ is not in a vacuum. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:35.839 It's not learning just facts. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:36.960 You're taught in him. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:38.720 Let's let's talk about that. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:41.519 So to be in Christ means you are in him. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:43.359 You in Christ are one. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:47.920 So much so that we are called his body. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.759 Remember when Saul is persecuting the church? 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:53.279 What does Jesus say to him? 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:55.759 Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting my people? 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:57.680 No, he says, Why are you persecuting me? 00:19:58.400 --> 00:19:58.720 Me. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:08.400 So you're not just learning facts, you are actually in him and you're being taught in him. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.240 So you and Christ are one. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:18.720 So when we learn Christ, it is as if Christ is teaching his body how to behave. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:19.279 Okay? 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.039 Let's use an example here. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:24.640 Uh riding a bike can be really tricky for your first time. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:30.480 Uh, when you're riding a bike, um, you're learning a lot of different coordination, right? 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:36.160 Your feet are learning to go up and down, which isn't like a supernatural movement from walking. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.680 You're learning to have your hands on the handlebars, right? 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:43.359 And you're learning that whatever way you turn your hands is how you're turning. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:47.920 By the way, I still can't ride my bike without my hands on the handlebars. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:55.440 So when I see like little kids riding around, like with their hands down here and they're just balancing, I'm like, hmm, that could have been me. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:57.519 Could have been me. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.519 And every time when nobody's watching, I'm riding a bike, I'm like, I'm gonna try real fast. 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:05.119 I'm like, nope, nope, nope, my deductible's too high for that. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:06.400 Not doing it. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:13.680 But when you're learning your bike, your whole body is learning how to be in coordination. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:21.440 And as you're learning, you know, your your heart and all your body starts working together. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.000 Your heart is sending blood to your limbs. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:27.599 You start breathing more so oxygen can get to the muscles. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:33.359 Um, your brain is doing stuff with nerves and teaching your muscles how to move and behave. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.200 You can tell I'm not a doctor. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:37.759 Um, but you you get the point. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:41.359 Your your mind is teaching your body. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:47.359 And that's the same type of learning we do when we are united in him. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:55.119 As part of his body, Christ is instructing us and showing us how to walk in him. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.519 He's leading and guiding you and teaching you as if you were his hand. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.759 And he's teaching you how to move. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.480 This type of learning, I mean, I mean, I don't know if you've ever thought of this before. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:11.039 This there's no learning like this anywhere else in all of creation. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:18.960 This type of learning where Christ is instructing us is intensely deep and personal and unique. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:28.319 We do not learn as if Jesus was a math teacher in math class standing at the front, telling us to memorize facts. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:32.799 We learn as he teaches us, as we are his body. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:39.119 The second thing Paul means in Christ is that he has equipped certain members of the body to teach and guide you. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:52.400 Paul tells us in four, uh chapter four, verse 11 and 12, just prior to this, that he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, building up the body of Christ. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:58.880 So not only is Christ teaching you, but he has given us each other, his body, to teach each other. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:04.720 So not only are we nourished by him, but the context in which we learn is Christ's body. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:07.200 That's what it means to be taught in him. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:09.279 We learn as a community. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:13.039 God has gifted specific members of the body to teach one another. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:22.000 You know, a lot of the times our culture, we we still love this kind of lone wolf, John Wayne mentality where we think, you know what, I need to change. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:30.160 So I'm gonna buy a van and I'm gonna put a bed in it, and I'm gonna drive around America for 10 years, and that's how I'm gonna change. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:31.359 I'm just gonna go be alone. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:35.680 Paul's saying that that's not actually how how we should change. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:39.759 Paul's saying the context in which we change is the church. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:44.480 Because Christ has equipped us to teach one another. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:47.119 That is the context in which we do it. 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:52.559 Uh the third thing he says is that all spiritual truth is in Jesus. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:54.400 Now, let's pause here. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:55.759 This is really interesting. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:00.960 Uh, this is the only time in the book of Ephesians where Paul just simply refers to him as Jesus. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:02.559 Just Jesus. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:08.160 He says, I nerded out and counted all the times. 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:12.240 So if my count's off, you can count and let me know if I'm mistaken. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:31.519 He says Christ Jesus 11 times, he says Christ 24 times, he says, Lord Jesus Christ seven times, he says Lord one time, uh no, excuse me, he says Lord Jesus one time, he says Lord eleven times, but here is the only place in the entire book of Ephesians he just says Jesus. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:34.880 Doesn't qualify him with a title. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:52.559 And what Paul is doing by mentioning just the name of Jesus and stripping him of his titles is he's saying that his life, the life of Jesus, the historical Jesus who walked the earth, is the only life in which we can find the complete embodiment of truth. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:55.440 He says, Jesus is truth. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:07.920 In Jesus, we can see what it looks like to live completely with the understanding of who you are and who God has created you to be. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:27.920 Well, Paul is saying if we want to learn what it looks like to live your new life, look no further than Jesus. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:32.240 If you want to know what to say, how to act, look how Jesus lived. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:35.200 Paul is drawing us to the man of Jesus. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:40.319 He is our example and our standard for living our new lives. 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:49.920 And as we learn Christ in Christ, and as we look to Jesus, Paul says a wonderful thing starts to happen, our minds become renewed. 00:25:50.240 --> 00:26:01.680 The way we used to think, the way we used to determine right and wrong, the way we used to live our lives with deliberate choices that were made in futile and darkened minds. 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:04.160 It changes. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:06.720 Just like a light shining in a dark room. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:07.920 Have you ever been in complete darkness? 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:09.200 It's really dark. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:22.400 Just as like a light shining in a dark room, Christ comes into our minds, Paul is saying, and shines light so that we can begin to understand and determine truth and meaning. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:28.720 We can see what we did before in a new light, in a new way, and we can see the futility and darkness of it. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:39.039 We realize that our hearts before were hard and calloused, and then we can begin to know and how to live in the life for which he has called us. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:44.880 The hope of a new life, the hope of change and joy and peace that we've never had before. 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:49.599 This is where Ryan was at at the beginning of the sermon when our conversation. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:58.079 Ryan was at the point of, I now know that what I was doing was wrong, and Christ had shown. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:00.799 James, you have to do this every week. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:02.160 That is hard. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:08.559 I remember when I was like, okay, if the motorcycle happens, I'm just gonna power through it and act like it's not happening. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:10.559 I was like, I can't even hear myself talk. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:12.559 So that's not gonna happen. 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:17.839 Um, so that's where Ryan was at in the story. 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:26.079 He'd become a Christian, the truth of Christ, he's learning Christ, he's seen Jesus, and he's come to the realization of the life that he lived beforehand. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:35.680 And as our minds begin to become renewed, we begin to learn how to change because we now understand the truth. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:43.759 We learn how to put away our old lives and live our new lives as if we were taking off old clothes and putting on new clothes. 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:47.440 That's the illustration that Paul gives here. 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:57.839 Is that what we are taking off in verse 22 is our old and corrupt, deceitful desires, and we're putting on our new humanity, created in the likeness of God for holiness and righteousness. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:06.960 So we're we're taking off sinful habits, sinful thoughts, and sinful actions, and putting on new ways of thinking and behaving. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:12.720 So, what does all this mean? 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:14.480 I'm gonna try and summarize the section. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:22.160 I mean, I I could live in those four verses for for weeks, um, but I'm gonna try and do my best and summarize things. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:33.200 Uh what this means is um if you are new and in Christ and a new creation, you can change. 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:34.880 That's what Paul is saying here. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:36.079 You can change. 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:39.839 The world tells us uh that maybe you can't change. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:40.640 You were born this way. 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.319 This is your genetics, this is just who you are, this is your personality, right? 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:45.759 I've heard that a lot. 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.160 I'm impatient because it's my personality. 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:51.440 You're impatient for a different reason. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:58.000 The world tells us we can't change, but Paul tells us we can change. 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:04.960 And we don't change through new habits, we don't change through new routines, new mantras to repeat to ourselves. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:11.279 Uh we find that we, as we learn in him, we can begin to have lasting change. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:20.319 The addictions that hold us, the sin that enslaves us, can be taken away and renewed as you learn Christ. 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:25.599 Change is continual. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:27.200 That's what Paul tells us here. 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:34.079 Uh, you won't be, it's not a one-and-done kind of thing, uh, at least while we have our bodies here. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:42.480 And uh many times as you you're you're walking with Christ and you're changing, you think like, oh man, I used to have a huge problem with like lying. 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:44.799 And you know what, had a great moment. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:45.519 I'm good. 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:46.240 I'm good. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:48.000 I don't have to worry about this anymore. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:49.680 It's gone, it's done. 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:52.000 I'm never gonna have to experience that again. 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:53.680 No, I'm sorry. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:57.440 I'm not trying to discourage you, but it that's not how it works. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:05.519 It's a continual renewal, it's a daily renewal that we have to put on Christ and take off our old sinful desires. 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:09.200 This doesn't mean it's easy. 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.400 I don't want you to hear me wrong here at all. 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:14.799 Uh, change is not easy. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:28.799 Uh in Ryan's situation that I spoke about, he'd reached a point where, like I said, he was wearing rags and it was causing a tremendous amount of turmoil and guilt in his life. 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:41.680 Um, but the change was long and it required lots of prayer and studying, and it required the body of Christ around him to help him live his new life. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:43.680 So it's not easy. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:53.200 Sometimes when you're changing, sometimes it can be like taking off a pair of socks, and other times it's like you're taking off a straitjacket. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:55.440 Change can be hard. 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:04.000 But I want you to know that you are his body, Jesus' body. 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:10.720 And he does not leave parts of his body to die and wallow in darkness. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:17.359 He cares for you and loves for you just as you care and love for your own body. 00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:21.519 And he sacrificed everything so that you could join him. 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:27.200 So despite the difficulties, despite the long road, he's not gonna leave you. 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:28.880 He's not going to abandon you. 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:31.039 He's with you every step of the way. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:34.000 And it's the same faith that saved us, isn't that awesome? 00:31:34.160 --> 00:31:39.279 The same grace that we realize when we came to him, the same thing that gave us salvation. 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:41.920 It's that same grace that continues to carry us on. 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:43.119 It doesn't change. 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:49.839 Also, this means we need each other to change. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:54.000 Earlier, Paul references teachers and apostles and evangelists. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:56.799 This means you can't do it on your own. 00:31:57.440 --> 00:31:58.400 We need one another. 00:31:58.559 --> 00:31:59.519 We really do. 00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:06.480 Find a community of people who are committed to Christ, a church. 00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:09.920 This is how God designed it. 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:14.799 Didn't design it for you to just go alone, do your own thing. 00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:20.160 SOSA means change looks different for all of us. 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:24.960 Um, we all have different pieces of old clothing that need to be taken off. 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:26.640 There's no just one way to do it. 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:34.640