Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. And today's going to be a little bit different than normal. So if you want to grab your Bibles and go to Ephesians, we are jumping right into studying the Scriptures together.

If this is your first time hanging out with us, this is not what we usually do. But we have a reason why we are going about it this way. And if you're part of our church family and this is the first time you ever showed up on time, this is not what we usually do. But we're going about it different for a reason today. We do want to take a second just to welcome you and to tell you that if this is your first time that we gather on Sundays here, we study the Scriptures together, we sing songs, which is a good bit of what we'll talk about today. And we scatter throughout the week into community groups where we try to walk in everyday life as Christians in relationship with one another.

Seeing what it looks like to follow Jesus with all of our normal everyday life. What it looks like to be a Christian at work. What it looks like to be a Christian in your neighborhood association. What it looks like to be a Christian who coaches t-ball. That we walk in life together. And so we do that because we believe that Jesus is better than everything else.

And that he's commissioned his church, sent his church into the world to display that to the world. And so we try to walk actively in repentance and in openness and in sharing the gospel with others so that they might see that Jesus is better than everything else. With our hope being that your neighbor that is not a Christian right now will one day be a Christian. That you'll be a part in baptizing them. That we'll get to lay hands on them and commission them as group leaders. That our hope being that your husband or wife that currently wants nothing to do with Jesus will one day co-lead a group with you.

Or will one day be baptized by you as they place faith in Jesus. And so that's why we go out of our way to do all the things that we're doing. A couple of bonuses for today that are just going to be fun is that since it's daylight saving time, we're just really throwing everybody off. Because people are going to be showing up late anyway and really confused about what time it is. And so we'll be in the middle of a sermon early. And that'll be fun.

Luckily for y'all, I will see them come in and I'm not easily distracted. So here's what we're going to do. If you've got your Bibles, be in Ephesians 5. Today's going to look different. This is why. We're going to study the passage first.

We're going to study the text first. And then we're going to sing second. So usually we sing first. And then we study the Word. And the reason why we do that is it's practical and it's theological. That there's history behind why we, when we gather, we're going to sing first.

We're going to pray first. We're going to kind of prepare our hearts for studying God's Word. That we believe that He speaks to us and that we respond to what He says. And that's why if you go to any church, 95, 98% of the time, they're going to follow a similar approach. There's going to be some songs. There's going to be some liturgy.

Some Bible reading. Some churches will light candles. But there's this kind of a buildup to the proclamation of the Word. And then there's a response through song or through communion. And today we flip that because what we're studying is some of the reason behind and some of the power behind singing. Some of the reason behind and some of the power behind us reading the Scriptures together.

And so we want to begin here and then go into actively practicing singing together, reading together, and doing some of the things that we normally do. So what will happen is we'll study through this a little bit. The band will come back up. I will walk down. We'll sing a little bit. Then I'll walk back up and explain something else.

Then we'll sing some more. Then I'll go and it'll be back and forth for a little while for the rest of the day. So if you've got your Bibles, Ephesians 5, starting in verse 15. Picking up where we left off last week. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. But be filled with the Spirit. Addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Let's pray. God, we ask that as we study your word today and as we respond to your word in singing, in reading scripture aloud together, that your spirit would fill us. And that we would know what it feels like to walk in the spirit and that we would grow collectively together as a church to do that. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, verse 15.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. So Paul says, look carefully how you walk. And multiple times throughout Ephesians he said, walk this way. Walk in unity, walk in holiness, walk in a life that displays the gospel. He's called us to walk and he just said, walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

And now he says, look carefully how you walk. And I like that he uses the term walk because it's helpful in thinking about how life works. Because when you're walking, you don't really feel like you're getting anywhere. There's a children's book I read with my son who's three and it talks about these little animals. It's a Dr. Seuss book and I don't remember what they're called because they're all called made up things.

And it's like these things go from left to right. Day and night they go from left to right. And then it says something like, they walk from near to far. I would never walk. I would take a car. And like I resonate with that part of the children's book.

Because it's like, yes, why would you walk anywhere when you have access to a car? But that's kind of our attitude which is like I have places to be, stuff to do. I want to get there quickly. And the truth is walking is a good example of life. That's even why we'll talk about people from all walks of life. But there's this idea that you don't really seem like you're moving.

But over time you absolutely get somewhere. There was a documentary filmmaker named Arthur Hitchcock who in 2011 walked from Long Beach, California to Augusta, Maine. And it took him 175 days. Now you can fly that distance in a handful of hours. But he walked it in 175 days.

And the truth is that's how life works. You won't look that much different tomorrow than you do today. You won't look that much different in a week. Your attitudes, your relationships. But a year from now, you will.

Two years from now, you will. Three years from now, four years from now. That we're always moving in some form, some direction. We're always changing in some way. And some of you even think like, no, there were times where I didn't change at all. It's like, okay, sure.

You in middle school didn't grow from sixth grade to eighth grade. But by eighth grade you were shorter. Because everyone else grew. That's kind of how it works. That we have this idea that I can stay the same. But the truth is we can't.

That we actually, there's no way to, we're always moving in some direction or other. And that's why he says, look carefully how you walk. Pay attention to your life, is what he's saying. Pay attention to what you're doing with your time. He says, look carefully then how you walk. Not as unwise, but as wise.

Making the best use of the time. Because the days are evil. I read an article a while back. And I couldn't find it this morning to actually tell you what the name of the article is. But it talked about if you knew the real cost of a click.

So when someone sends you a link to like a YouTube video. And they're like, check this out. If you knew right before you press the button to watch a two minute video. That you would then watch YouTube videos for 45 minutes. Like if there was a thing that popped up and said. Because you're like, oh yeah, I got two minutes.

And if it popped up and said, are you willing to donate 45 minutes to YouTube? You'd be like, no. But we do this all the time. That if you and you went to check just one thing on Facebook. If right before you clicked it just popped up and said, are you willing to spend the next hour and a half on Facebook? He'd be like, I'm not going to know.

Why would I do that? And he said, if you just knew when you clicked on an article. When you clicked into something. How long it would take. And the truth is life's like that. It's not just our time on the internet.

Although that's a good example. But that for so much of our time. So much of our energy is spent in unwise endeavors. Where we've just wasted time. And the older we get. The more we pay attention to that.

And the more you begin to ask questions like. What am I going to do with the rest of my time? What's the rest of my life going to look like? As people go into retirement. A lot of times they start asking this question of like. What have I done?

Who am I? And then as they get older and older. They start asking. What kind of legacy have I left? What's going to be remembered of how I spent my time? The only time you think about time like that.

Is when you're young. And it's the end of summer. And you're like. Where did it go? I wasted my whole summer. But the older you get.

The more you start looking at your whole life that way. And sometimes it feels like we've just clicked. And clicked. And clicked. Until we've wasted our time. And poured our time into things that don't matter.

And Paul says. Look carefully. Pay attention. To how you're walking. Making the best use of the time. Because the days are evil.

And I like that he says. Because the days are evil. And I think we're helped today. Because we started daylight saving time. And y'all all agree. Today felt evil.

Like it fought you this morning. You woke up. And the day was like. Back in bed son. Like you. It was just a hard.

Like it felt like that. And it's a good example of what life is like. Because the truth is. You don't accidentally do healthy things. Very. Very.

Rarely. Have you ever just been eating. And been like. Wait. This is kale. I like kale.

That's never happened. You've accidentally eaten four quesadillas from Taco Bell. But you've never accidentally had kale chips. Like you. There's no. We don't accidentally exercise.

We don't accidentally set our schedule well. We don't. We can only really accidentally fall into unhealthiness. We can only really accidentally fall into wasting our time. You never are like. You know what.

I wasn't paying attention. But this year. I read four theology books. It's like. No. You watched through all the seasons of Parks and Rec twice.

That's what you accidentally did. Like. So. Our schedules fight us. The days are evil. And we have to work hard to walk in wisdom.

We have to actually pay attention to what we're doing. And so Paul's going to give us two direct ways to do this. He's going to give us two ways to think about this. To be helpful in this command. In walking wisely. And paying attention to your schedule.

Seventeen. Therefore. Do not be foolish. So he's just said. Don't be unwise. Be wise.

And so the opposite of wisdom is. Is foolishness. And so he says. Don't be foolish. But. Understand.

What the will of the Lord. Is. So the first step. To walking in wisdom. Is walking with. The Lord.

First step. To walking in wisdom. To paying careful attention to our time. To making the best use of our time. Is knowing the Lord. And knowing his will.

That's the only way you know his will. Is you know him. He's revealed himself in his scriptures. And in his son. Christ. And Christ is revealed to us.

Through the scriptures. And so we. Learn his will. Through his word. And it takes time. And it takes effort.

And it takes energy. But that's the first step. To walking in wisdom. To ceasing to be a fool. Is to knowing. And learning.

God's will. It's not what we would think his will would be. That makes us God. But it's actually what his will is. We allow it. To come in.

As an outside force. And change our lives. I've. Been married. For going on. We've been nine years.

This May. We dated for a while. We met in high school. Started dating. Dated through college. And got married.

And I know. My wife. Took me a while. But I know things about her. I know her will. I know the things she likes.

And doesn't like. It takes a lot of time though. There are some times. Where like. We'll be in a situation. And someone will say something.

And I know my wife will think it's funny. So I don't even pay. I just look at my wife. To watch her react. Even more fun. Is when they say something.

That I know she'll think is absolutely crazy. And I just kind of cut my eyes at her. Like. You going to make a face? You going to keep it together? Like I just.

But it takes a while. It takes. That's what walking with the Lord is like. Like. It took. Up until last year.

Last year. I stopped asking my wife. If she wants ketchup. The answer is no. She does not want ketchup. I like ketchup.

She does not like ketchup. Now to throw her off. I started doing it more blatantly. Loudly and sarcastically. To make it seem like. Maybe that's what I've been doing the whole time.

That it didn't actually take me nine years. To figure out she didn't like ketchup. So I would start getting up from the table. And I'd go. Ketchup. Just to try to throw off on.

I had just now learned this. But now. I don't. I don't need to ask. I know. Her will.

When it comes to ketchup. I know her will. When it comes to other things. I know that sometimes. When I start talking to my son. I have to cut my eyes to her real quick.

Which just means. Let me do this. Don't charge in. Like a mother bear protecting her cub. He needs to be disciplined. Like I know what's happening in her heart.

That we've walked together. And we understand. Each other. And that's what we're supposed to do with the Lord. That we're supposed to understand him. In order to live a life.

Making wise decisions. And using our time. Well. I had a. A man I knew. We were.

We were friendly. I wouldn't necessarily say we were friends. We. We got along well. His. His name was Steve Von Fang.

He was a. Very well. Organized. Man. He was in his late. Sixties.

He passed away last year. Um. And he was very intentional. He spent his time. Wisely. Now I know some people think.

Oh I know people who spend their time wisely. Because they're always busy. And the. The truth is. Most people who spend their time wisely. Aren't.

Always that busy. People who spend their time wisely. Life seems like it moves. Kind of smoothly for them. They have seasons of busyness. But they're not always chaotic.

He. Um. He loves spreadsheets. He's a very organized person. He's very intentional with his time. And he.

He was very intentional with his time. So that he could be very intentional with people. Um. My wife and I were in a community group with him. When we were. Or a life group over at Midtown.

When we were. Over there doing some training. And kind of being an apprentice. As a church planter. And. Uh.

Every time you got in a conversation with him. You just felt like he was working it towards a goal. He was just so intentional. And so every once in a while. You get in this conversation. And it was like.

He was just walking you through a maze of conversation. To get to this conclusion. We'd get in the car. And one of us would look at the other one. And go. I got Von Fanged again.

But he was so gracious. And he made so much time for people. That I remember being. In an auditorium that held. 750 to a thousand people. And it just being packed.

Out. At his funeral last year. With people lined around the walls. And people getting up. Person after person. Getting up and just saying.

Here's how much time he took. To talk to me. To speak to me. To spend time with me. To answer my questions. And the truth is.

When we know the will of the Lord. Two of the things that we learn first. That Jesus says. Are primary in God's will. Is to love God. And to love others.

We talk in the office. Our leadership team. Often talk about our best spent time. And what we usually mean by that. Is there's certain things. That Matt Freeman can do.

That I can't do. There's certain things. That Spencer Carey can do. That I can't do. That Raz can do. That Spencer can't do.

And so we just sometimes. Will talk about like. Where's your best spent time? What's the thing you need to be working on? That if any of the other of us. Tried to do that.

It would just be bad. And we usually mean that. And when you read like. Leadership books. Or business books. They usually mean that in like.

What's your core competency? What's the thing you're best at? What's your. What's your skill level here? What's your skill level here? And I think actually.

If we look at Jesus. Some of our best spent time. Is relational time. That if we're not wasting time. We have a lot of time for people. That's why when I sit at home.

And I'm a couch away from my wife. And I'm reading things on my phone. I'm wasting time. Rather than engaging her. As only I can. Because I'm her husband.

Doing the same with my kids. And my community group. The same for you. And your roommate. Your co-worker. That we've been designed.

To use our time wisely. And that begins. By knowing the will of the Lord. Which begins. By understanding Christ. And understanding his word.

Secondly. So. First thing he says. Is to know the will of the Lord. Don't be foolish. But understand what the will of the Lord is.

Which means study. And read. And soak in it. And make time for it. So that you know what he's like.

And what he appreciates. And calls us to. Verse 18. And. This is going to feel a little bit like. It's out.

From out of nowhere. And I think it's. Helpfully jarring. So he says. Therefore do not be foolish. But understand what the will of the Lord is.

And do not get drunk with wine. For that is debauchery. But be filled with the spirit. It doesn't really fit in the rest of this. The next thing he starts talking about. Is singing.

And it just feels like. You just really don't like wine. Like you're just taking a shot here. What are we doing? Is that like the major issue. That you would just stick it in the middle of.

Walking wisely. And I think. What's helpful to see. Is that he's contrasting it. With walking in the spirit. That being drunk with wine.

Is somehow in contrast to. Being filled with the spirit. That we. Are. When we drink. We give ourselves over.

To. We allow alcohol to have more control. Than it ought to. So. For the record. Just because we're here.

And this is helpful for us to discuss. The Bible does not say. It is wrong to drink wine. Or to drink alcoholic beverages. It does say. Here and other places.

Not to get drunk. For them to not have control. And it's not just wine. Some of y'all are like. Oh I don't get drunk on wine. I'm a Bud Light man.

That's not. That's not how that works. Wine was the primary one. The Bible does also mention. Beer and strong drink. And mixed drinks.

So. All of it. And this would also include. Like narcotics. And anything that we're giving control over. Anything that we're submitting ourselves to.

That it. It has control over. That's. That's what he's. What's in mind here. So he says.

Don't give yourself over to that. And the truth is. When we drink. When someone's drink. We give a lot of credit. To the alcohol.

We give a lot of credit. When it comes to actions. Like we lose. And this is why. Subfilled sobriety tests work. You lose the ability to control your body.

You lose the ability to control. Like we. So suddenly. We lose. Self. Control.

And self. Awareness. It's one of the things that alcohol does. That's why. Karaoke. Is done in bars.

Because you lose. This. Self. Inhibition. Like you lose this. Concern.

For yourself. And you lose this control. Of yourself. And the alcohol gets a lot of credit. For what happens. Some of you have had to go around.

The day after things. Some of you maybe got in a program. And had to go around. Years after things. And apologize. For your actions.

While under the influence. Of something else. To apologize for your actions. Your words. While out of control. And see.

He distinctly. Lines that up. In contrast. To the spirit. Because I think in some ways. The spirit.

Does the same thing. It's just the good version. That the spirit. Gets credit. For things that we would not have done. On our own.

That the spirit. Helps us with a self. Forgetfulness. That is unparalleled. Outside of. Being inhibited.

By something. That we're not to get. Drunk here. We're not to be filled up here. We're to be filled up. Here.

In the spirit. That we're to be. Cut loose. And set free. In the spirit. That as we walk in the spirit.

You should. You know. People go to a bar. And they need a few drinks. Before they become friendly. We ought to rock up friendly.

On Sundays. Walking in the spirit. Going out of our way. To meet people. Now. Maybe you shouldn't say.

Hey. Come here often. But there should be like. A way to greet each other. That's like. Helpful and good.

Like. That we should. Be freed. By the spirit. And that the spirit. Should get control.

This is actually why. The first time. That we see the holy spirit. Fall on. And fill people. In the book.

Of Acts. What's the first thing. Peter has to start. His sermon with. His opening line is. These men are not drunk.

As you suppose. We're filled with the spirit. Because people hadn't seen. People act that way. Have that freedom. Have that tone.

Carry themselves that way. Outside of. Of something coming in. And messing them up. And the only thing they had. Was the whole.

Was wine. Was alcohol. They were actually. Also. It was Pentecost. So it was like.

A wheat and barley festival. So that made sense. That people would be drinking. That early in the morning. But. He says no.

And Peter even says. We're not drunk. It's nine in the morning. We don't wake up that early. This is the holy spirit. And honestly.

Y'all need. We need to be listening. To this as a church. Because we need to grow here. Because nobody's ever. Showing up on a Sunday.

And left and thought. I think some of those people. Were drunk. Hadn't happened. Y'all. I stand right here.

And sing. And this is my. Super into worship singing. I might close my eyes. If I know the words. I stick my hands.

In my pockets a lot. You won't see this. For a couple of reasons. First one is. That this makes me. Insanely uncomfortable.

Now. If I drink a little bit. Before I show up. Maybe. But actually.

The holy spirit. Should set me free. From thinking about that. From feeling this. I can't. I can't.

I got. A group in a church. Where they. I was told recently. That somebody went in. Raised their hands.

And someone after. Went over to them. And said. Hey. We don't do that here. Yeah.

And the truth is. We wouldn't say that. But hey. We don't do that here. We're not correcting you. But you'll figure it out.

We're not going to call you on it. But you'll learn. Show up 15 minutes late. Like we just. That's our thing. Like we got some stuff.

That we do. And so. It's like. No. That we would be filled. With the spirit.

That we would be set free. That we would walk in a way. That has an unparalleled freedom. And then. It makes sense. Where he goes next.

Oh. I do want to point this out. Because I think it's helpful for us. This is a command. Be filled. With the spirit.

There are other things. That the Holy Spirit does. That you have no control over. That when he. Regenerates you. When you place faith.

That he seals you. That he did earlier. In Ephesians. Where he talks about. That we were sealed. That we're sealed.

For our inheritance. There are things. That the Holy Spirit does. That you have no control over. This one. You do.

It's a command. Meaning that we can disregard it. That you can fight it. That you cannot walk in the spirit. The Holy Spirit can call you to do something. And you can say not today.

And so we need to. In the same way. That you would actively go out of your way. To give yourself over to alcohol. We need to actively go out of our way. To give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit.

To pray that he would fill us. To pray that we would have the courage. And boldness to do what he asked us to. And to get into some situations. That we never would have gotten into. And to do and say some things.

That we never would have done or said. Outside of the Holy Spirit being at work in us. And that way the Holy Spirit gets a whole lot of credit. That's what makes so much sense. About where he goes next. So he says.

Addressing one another. In Psalms and hymns. And spiritual songs. Singing. And making melody to the Lord. With your heart.

Alcohol and singing have gone together. They're friends. They've been going steady for a while. That there's something about alcohol. That makes a merry heart. That makes people sing.

That causes. Like if you've ever been in a situation. Where you just sang with strangers. You were either at a concert. Or you had been drinking. Or both.

But usually this isn't a thing that we do. We don't just sing. This doesn't just bubble out of us. To the point that even if someone came in singing. And you saw them singing. If they just walked in singing.

Like you would have questions. Like if you just came walking into the office. And you were like. I believe in miracles. People would be like. I don't know.

My first thing would be like. What? Like what happened? Like what? What's the cool thing that's going on? And if you were just like.

I'm a happy person. I'd be like. We're not going to be friends. Like. Like you're making me uncomfortable. Like I don't.

Like that's. Like that's how this works. Like you don't just do this. You don't just sing. You don't just like. It's stuck in a certain category.

And what he says is. Be so filled with the spirit. Be so free. That this is how we respond. This is what we do together. That there's freedom.

Self forgetfulness. And joy. That's found. As we come together. So I want to point a few things out.

And then. We're going to actively practice. Some of this. You see. What happens. When we drink.

And that's why he holds this up. What happens when we drink. As we reach a level of joy and freedom. That sometimes people say. Well I can't find it elsewhere. That's one of the things.

That you'll talk to people. Like I need this to feel good. I need this to feel normal. And people will put anything here. Narcotics. Marijuana.

Whatever. Just like I need this to feel okay. And he's saying. No the Holy Spirit should be. Pouring that joy into our hearts. That's why he says.

Singing. Making melody to the Lord. With your heart. That there'd be a song. In you. So what do you use.

To set you free. And what do you use. To bring you joy. What do you use. To make you feel good. And if you're a Christian.

Do you realize. The Holy Spirit. Does a much better Job. Than that. So. I want to point a few things out.

That he says here. He says. We're addressing one another. In Psalms. And hymns. And spiritual songs.

And when the Holy Spirit. Fills us. And we do spirit filled. That's kind of what it says. When it says. Be filled with the spirit.

Comma. And then he says. Addressing. Singing. Making melody. Like all of that's in the spirit.

They follow being in the spirit. And being filled by the spirit. So we address one another. So that when the Holy Spirit. Is filling us. We're communal.

We're relational. That when we gather on Sundays. And we sing together. Or we read Psalms together. Or we do some of these things together. That it's not.

Just you. Singing with voices to God. But it's you. Singing to everybody else in the room. You're addressing them. You're reminding them.

You're telling them. You're agreeing with them. You're pointing them back. To the truth. And then he says. At the end.

He says. Making melody to the Lord with your heart. Meaning that it's not only relational. But it's also real. It's not only communal. But it's personal.

That in your singing. You are. Your heart. Is singing to God. While your voice. Sings to everybody else.

And it also gives us. A better content. For how we address one another. That when we're walking in the spirit. The way we address one another. Is filled with depth.

And richness. That it doesn't have otherwise. Okay. I want us to take just a second. Where we are. I think for many of us.

I know this is true for me. I think I've spent a lot of time. Actively. Fighting against the Holy Spirit's. Leading in my life. There's some things.

Where I yield. And there are other places. Where I just kind of say. Makes me feel uncomfortable. I'm not going to do that. So I want to.

Just take a second. If you're a believer. And just ask. Holy Spirit. Fill me. Help me know what that feels like.

Help me walk in that. Because we're about to practice. Some of the things that he says. Addressing one another. In Psalms. And hymns.

And spiritual songs. And we want. The Holy Spirit's help. So that's beautiful. And glorious. And it's what it's meant.

To be. So just take a second. Where you are. And just ask for the Holy Spirit's. Help. For the Holy Spirit's.

Filling. Amen. Matt and Bianca are going to come up here. Here's what we're going to do first. In just a second. We're going to stand.

And we're going to read. A Psalm together. We started doing this more on Sundays. It was really weird for me. But it's helpful.

And it's biblical. That we would read. Collectively together. That's one of the things. When it says. Addressing one another in Psalms.

That's what we're doing. So that when we read collectively. When we do a responsive reading. Where we have it up here. And there's a part. That someone up here reads.

And there's a part. That we all read. That's underlined. That some of what we're doing. Is we're collectively. Joining voices.

And we're collectively. Speaking to each other. And saying. We all believe this. This is real. One of the favorite things.

That we do. Is for me. Is when we've started doing this. And we stand. And we all just say. I'm a terrible sinner.

That's my favorite thing. Because I'm just like. I know. I know you're the worst. So am I.

Jesus is good. Like when we collectively. Stand up and say. I hate. I hate the light. I love the darkness.

I need Jesus. It's like. Yes. That's right. That's right and good. For us to remind ourselves.

That without him. We're in trouble. And so we. We stand. And we repeat these things. Because we're called to.

So just a second. We're going to do a responsive reading. And then. We're going to sing. And this is our first step. In this morning.

Practicing. Being spirit filled. Addressing one another. With Psalms. We're just going to take Psalms. From the Old Testament.

And we're going to. Address one another. And hopefully. As the day goes on. Our hearts will start making melody. To the Lord.

They'll start singing along. With our voices. So in verse 19. Paul says. Addressing one another. In Psalms.

And hymns. And spiritual songs. Now. Those are all connected. The ideas are all connected. That we would be singing.

And that's one of the things. That we do collectively. As the Holy Spirit. Fills us. But Psalms.

Are specific to the Old Testament. They are. The book of Psalms. Is something that we have. Handed to us. From.

David. And from other Psalm writers. And then. Hymns. Become a thing. Mostly.

In the New Testament. Where they began. To take truths about Jesus. And they would make. Theological poems. That were easily memorized.

And they would. Say them together. They would recite them together. They would say them out loud. They would sing them to a tune. They would repeat them.

Over and. And over. We have a few examples. Of kind of where those show up. In the text. There's other places.

That we think are hymns. Or at least have their root in hymns. Where Paul's kind of drawing from them. To say. Like you know this. And.

Repeating it. But there are a few. That it seems. Very clearly are. First Timothy 3 16. He says.

Great indeed. We confess. Is the mystery of godliness. And then he kind of quotes this. He was manifested in the flesh. Vindicated by the spirit.

Seen by angels. Proclaimed among the nations. Believed on in the world. Taken up in glory. So it's this short bit.

Of theological truth. That they would get together. And repeat. And say to one another. Second Timothy. Eleven through thirteen.

He does a similar thing. Where he says. If we have died with him. We will also live with him. If we endure. We will also reign with him.

If we deny him. He will also deny us. If we are faithless. He remains faithful. For he cannot deny himself. And so there's these.

Phrases and verses. That they would kind of repeat together. They would say together. There's actually. We have. A letter.

That was written from. Pliny the younger. To the emperor Trajan. At about 112 AD. So. Sixty.

Seventy years. Removed from the death of Jesus. And the beginnings of the church. And this is an area. In modern day Turkey. Up above Galatia.

And he's writing. Saying. Hey we've got all these Christians. And I don't really know what to do with them. His letter starts off by saying. Most of the ones I found and talked to.

I went ahead and killed. But I just wanted to know. Like. Is that what I should be doing? Should I be actively trying to round them up? He said.

All the ones that just kind of rejected Jesus. When I brought it up. I let them go. But if they kept saying. They were going to worship Jesus. And not the emperor.

That seemed bad. So I killed those. But I thought I'd write to you. Emperor. And find out. He said.

I did talk to one. And found out. That really all they were doing. Was on a certain day of the week. They would get together. Right around sunrise.

And they would say a hymn together. To Christ. And then they would take a pledge. Not to do anything bad. But to not steal.

And to not cheat. And to pay people back. That they owed. And to love one another. And then they would go to work. And he was like.

So I just kind of wanted to see. What you've been doing with them. But he says. Even at that point. That this was a normal thing. That Christians would gather together.

And say hymns. And sing hymns. Together. And so. Some of the ones that we do on Sundays. That fit kind of in this category.

Songs like. Come thou fount. It is well. How deep the father's love. Where it's like a. A more dense.

Kind of theological thing. That we say. Sing together. Repeat. I also think that you see this a lot. In gospel music.

Black gospel music. Not white gospel music. But black gospel music. Where they repeat. The same phrases over and over again. It's this.

This kind of a theological point. That they're just going to say. Over and over again. Until you soak. In it. White gospel music.

With like the four quartet thing. They sing all kinds of stuff. About like. A man was walking. And he met a dude in Tennessee. And they do all kinds of stuff.

And it's not this bad. But that's not what I'm talking about. And so. We. We collectively. Right now.

Are going to do that. We're going to sing. A hymn together. Where we're going to. Stand again. And remind one another.

And speak to one another. Hopefully. As the Holy Spirit leads us. Speaking in our hearts. To God. Making melody to him.

As we sing together. So he says. Psalms. Hymns. And spiritual songs. And spiritual songs.

Just kind of is a. Is a. Catch all at the end. That just. Grabs it all together. And says.

Really. Kind of. Brings in the idea of. If you're singing. In the spirit. To the Lord.

And even about. Those types of things. That subject matter. Then. Then go for it.

Then this is something. That we would do. That we would sing together. That we would make melody. In our hearts. To God.

And that we would sing. Spiritual songs. So this includes. And it kind of gives us. A lot of freedom on. What type of music.

Do you like? What kind of things. Help you. Trust Jesus. What type of things. Help you.

Grow in him. So this is. So for some of you. That may be Striper. Or Lecrae. Or Toby Mac.

Or everything on K-Love. Like it's this. It's spiritual. It's singing about God. We're not quoting scripture. It's not super deep.

Theologically. But it helps me remember. That he loves me. That it helps me remember. That this is true. And we sing these type of songs.

On Sundays as well. And it opens a lot of room. The Bible doesn't give us. Direct. Here's the type of music. Here's the tempo.

Or here are the instruments to use. We've come along. A lot. And said. These things are okay. These things aren't okay.

I remember my brother started going to Bob Jones University. And I think they're. They have a lot of things. That they do really well. But one of the rules they had.

Was you weren't allowed to up strum a guitar. That's a real rule. At least it was. And that had. That controlled tempo. Because if you can only down strum.

You can only go like this so fast. But up strumming. Chika chika chika chika. Like that's. That's not real. And it's like.

No. That's not. We have a lot of freedom. So like when I went to Liberty University. And the first time I went to a chapel service. And it was two.

Really thin. Gelled haired. Super tight pants guys. With acoustic guitars. And I sat down. I was like.

Okay. And then in a little bit. I was singing. I was like. Oh. I had to repent.

I was like. Lord. This is good. I shouldn't have paid attention to their pants. I should have just cared about the fact that. Like.

I'm sorry. This is when I went. While I was also at Liberty. Went with a friend to his church. It was a predominantly African American church. And they actually.

A guy led. From a drum set. Now. It was great. We wouldn't know what to do with that. Yeah.

You see your response right now. You don't. We don't even respond to things. We couldn't handle a drum set. You guys. They just started playing a drum set.

And singing. And it was. It was really good. And then we had brought. A little. Jared.

Gelled haired white guy. Who played an acoustic guitar. And he was playing by himself. And they all started. Keeping a beat for him. And it was.

Great. But it also is like. You get the. The room. To say. What helps my spirit.

Follow Jesus. What helps me. Sing to him. And make melody to him. And we have a lot of space. In Christianity.

For. If it helps. And if it's godly. And if it's God fearing. If the holy spirit's at work in it. Let's do that.

Let's make room for that. One of the things we want to grow. Collectively in as a church. Is having more room. For that. More room.

And openness for. Not all the music that's played. Is something you agree with. That actually helps us grow. And being. Culturally sensitive.

And culturally inclusive. So that. There are some songs. That you're like. Man I was. I was in that one.

And then the next one. I just had to think about the words. And I had to think about Jesus. Because that's not my. My normal tempo. And the normal type.

Of volume. Or music. That I like. But we have a lot of room. To gather together. And to make.

To sing. In the spirit. Songs to the Lord. And so we're going to sing. A few. Together now.

That kind of fit. In that category. Verse 20. And 21. Last ones. We'll look at today.

As he talks about. The Holy Spirit. And how he. Fills us. And the appropriate response. And what it looks like.

As we walk. In the spirit. He goes into. That we would sing. That we would address. One another.

That we would have a song. In our heart. Could you imagine. If that's how people. Described you. This melody.

In her heart. There's melody. In his heart. That there's. There's a deep. Resounding.

Uncontrollable. Unreachable joy. That's given. By the spirit. Then he says this.

Giving thanks. Always. And for everything. To God the father. In the name. Of our Lord.

Jesus Christ. Submitting. To one another. Out of reverence. For Christ. I want to talk.

A second about. The thankfulness. That we get. I want to talk. A second about. What submitting.

To one another. Looks like. And then I want to look at. Why he says. It's in the name. Of our Lord.

Jesus Christ. And it's out of reverence. To Christ. He says. Giving thanks. Always.

And for everything. We. Are bad at this. We live in a very. Cynical time. In the 50s.

If you go back. And actually look at. Some of the advertisements. They used to have. There was just so much. Hope.

About the future. How beautiful. It was going to be. Like all the future things. When they would talk about. Any movies.

From a while back. When they would. Show the future. It was bright. And clean. And people were happy.

They would have these advertisements. About like in the future. When your house gets dirty. There will be a drain in the bottom. And you will just. Spray your whole house.

And it will just be clean. And they had all this crazy stuff. That makes zero sense. But they thought. Somehow in the future. This will be beautiful.

And good. And we don't have that anymore. You don't go to a movie. And watch. A beautiful future. It's grungy.

It's dark. Everyone hates everyone. The government comes out. And says. That's the future we get. Zombies.

And like a world. Where the rich people. Made their own little planet. Above people. And the only way to get up there. Is if you wear a robot.

And attack them. I didn't see that movie. But that's what I got. From the preview. Like there's this. This idea.

That everything's going to be worse. And we're good at cynicism. We're good at sarcasm. We're good at bitterness. And what he says. Is no.

When the Holy Spirit comes in. There's always thanks. And there's thanks. For everything. Do you know. How much joy.

And peace. Are found. If that's true for us. As the Holy Spirit's at work in us. That we're just grateful. Genuinely.

Grateful. Not. I'm an adult. And I know I should be thankful. Not. I can think about the fact.

That I live in the United States. And that makes me better off than other people. And I should be thankful. But genuine. Gratefulness. I have a.

A son who's about to turn three. And currently. He still has genuine thankfulness. On a really regular basis. For super simple things. Every once in a while.

He'll just go. Dad. Who painted my truck? And I'll say. I think the people at the. The.

You know. The store did. And he'll go. That was so nice of them. I'm like. It was nice.

Wait. His birthday party. When he turned two. Somebody gave him a card. It was just a birthday card. And he opened it up.

And I thought for a second. Like. Oh. It's just a card. Like. I'm.

You know. You're always worried. Your kids are just going to do super embarrassing things. And I'm like. Let's see how he reacts.

And he goes. You got me a book. And he just opened it. And then he hugged it. And I was just like. That's awesome.

I'm going to enjoy that right now. Because I don't think. A five year old getting the card. Is going to respond the same way. Like. I just.

I'm glad that he has this genuine. Gratefulness. And that's actually what the Holy Spirit. Authors in us. Is a genuine thankfulness. And I.

I'm not like that. I don't reach that. That often. Recently. I did. And it gave me a peek.

Into what it looks like. If the Holy Spirit. If you're walking with the Holy Spirit. How you actually get some. Deep. Genuine.

Thankfulness. And if this could be my pattern of life. That I was always thankful. And I was thankful for everything. But. Recently.

My wife. About a month ago. Gave birth to our. Our second son. And. It took.

You know. Twenty something hours. It was a long time. And we finally. We were getting to sleep. That next morning.

At like six in the morning. And I just remember that next day. Holding this baby. And being. You know. He's healthy.

She's healthy. That doesn't. That doesn't always happen. That's not how it always works out. And. Far too often.

That's not how it works out. And I just was sitting there. And I just. Was looking at him. And just thinking. Like.

I don't deserve this. And this doesn't make any sense. And the Lord's just good. And like. I'm sitting there thinking that. And I just start crying.

And my wife. Looks at me. She's like. You alright? And I'm like. I'm fine.

Like. I'm just. I'm too tired to be thinking. The things I'm thinking. Like. I had to quit.

Like. Every time at the hospital. I just would get thankful. I just was. And I was just like. I'm too.

This is too tired. Too tired to be grateful. Because I'm gonna cry. And that makes me really uncomfortable. But there's this.

Gen. Like. I had this genuine sense. And it was so. Freeing. And the truth is.

As the spirit is at work in us. That's us. Thankful always. For everything. You see. The world can make you thankful.

For cheap tricks. For. We could. The world can make you thankful. For chocolate and roller coasters. But the Holy Spirit can make you thankful.

For bread. And a conversation. Like. The Holy Spirit goes to work in us. To. To create a deep well.

Of gratefulness. I think that's actually one of the best indicators. For are we walking in the spirit. Is. How thankful are you? How critical are you?

How cynical are you? How grateful are you? See. The Holy Spirit offers thankfulness. Always. For everything.

And then it says. Submitting to one another. Out of reverence. For Christ. That this is the ambiance. This is the flavor.

Of God's people. Is that they're thankful. And they're submissive. Submissive. Submissive. Just.

Sounds like a bad word. We've just been taught. That that's a bad idea. You don't want to submit. You don't want to back down. You don't want to like.

I don't care if you. Like if you talk about. Submission. Submission in marriage. Or take it all the way over to like. The octagon.

We don't use it in a good context. The idea of submission. Submission. Comes across as bad. Or weakness. Or outdated.

Or evil. And what he says is no. The Christians submit to one another. Through the Spirit. Now he's specifically talking about.

Some of the stuff. He's going to go in. And say some of the relationships. Where that's how that works. He's about to talk about marriage. And children.

Parents to children. He's going to talk about. Bond servants. And masters. So he talks about that.

But it's also just the. The tone of God's people. And here's why. And here's why that's spirit filled. And spirit led. As I walk.

In this church family. In the Spirit. I begin to trust. The Holy Spirit. In you. And so that it makes sense.

That when you correct. I submit. When you call me out on something. I submit. That I would submit things. To my community group.

For their evaluation. For their looking at it. And trying to help me think through it. That that's. How we would work together. That we actually get a group of people in life.

Let me. Let me explain. Just so you know. Outside looking in. You're in a community group. And you bring to them.

I've been offered a job somewhere else. And I want y'all to weigh in on this. And they actually have some say. Outside looking in. That's one of two things. That's a cult.

It's what we're told to think. Or. That is extremely beautiful. And unparalleled. In what other people have in real relationships. Because you would actually trust.

That the Holy Spirit is at work. And a group of people. That know you. And know your family. And know your walk with Jesus. And know your sin.

Well enough. To actually be able to have some say. One of the. The greatest things that happens. In our elder meetings. Is when one of us disagrees.

Everything just shuts down. And we spend way too much time. Arguing. And talking through. And it's like. No.

But this is actually how this is supposed to work. Because we trust. If you don't feel right with this. Then the Spirit's not. We're not in unity yet. We can't move forward.

That's a terrible way to run a business. But it's how the church is supposed to look. That we're supposed to at times. You're supposed to bring to your group. And say. Hey.

I want to take this job. And they're supposed to say. Well what we know about your idolatry. What we know about your sin history. We got a lot of questions. That's beautiful and gracious.

As the Holy Spirit works in us. And it only happens. As the Holy Spirit empowers it. But that that becomes. What we look like. That we're going out of our way.

To see other people get their way. That we're going out of our way. To serve and love one another. And here's how this happens. And here's how all of this happens. And we just sing about it.

A bunch. He says. Giving thanks always and for everything. To God the Father. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And submitting to one another.

Out of reverence for Christ. That all of this is based in Christ. And what he has done for us. That we don't have any of it without Christ. That you don't have a song in your heart. You don't have melody.

You don't have Psalms to sing. You don't have joy. You don't have the ability to submit. And the freedom to walk in that. You don't have thankfulness at all times. If there is no Christ.

That what Jesus did. Was that he sacrificed himself for us. That we might be free. And then he fills us with his spirit. That we might live like we're free. Someone who can submit freely.

Someone who can walk in thankfulness and joy. And have a song in their heart. They're free. And they're in a place of trust and comfort. That's unparalleled. And he says for everything.

There are places in the Bible that says. Count it all joy when you suffer. That's what he's talking about. It includes when everything's terrible. He's not saying everything's going to work out perfectly. He's not saying everything's going to be beautiful.

He's saying that Christians sing in jail. And we see that in the book of Acts. Now either they're tapping into something. That we haven't seen before. That we don't know about. That the world can't copy.

Or they've been drinking before they got arrested. Those are the people who sing in jail. And what he's saying is that we walk in the spirit. As empowered and gifted to us. By a Christ who died for us. And so that all of this empowerment by the spirit.

And all of this freedom given to us by the spirit. Is through the sacrifice of Christ. And it's in his name. That it is something that we have to. It is a command that we fall into. But it's not something we can earn.

And it's not something we can accomplish. It's something that we can surrender to. Asking Jesus to lead us. And to fill us. And to give us all that he offers to the cross. That we'd be free from our sin.

And therefore free from ourselves. That our self-consciousness would fall away. As our Christ consciousness is exalted. And that it would be about him. And it would be about our fellow brothers and sisters. Getting more of him.

So I pray that we'd be a church. That wouldn't waste our time. And that we'd be a people. Who'd pay attention to what our day looks like. So that we can pay attention to what our week looks like.

So that we can pay attention to what our month looks like. So that we can pay attention to what our years look like. So that one day when we close our eyes. And take our last breath. And our eyes open. And we see the glory of Christ.

We spend a whole lot of time pouring it out. In love for him. In love for others. We've walked in wisdom. We've known what he's want. And the spirit's filled us.

And led us the whole time. So I ask that we'd cease to be foolish. And that we'd learn God's. Understand his will. And the spirit would fill us. And that we'd walk with him.

So that he might be glorified. And that we might be free. We might be a thankful, joyous people. With a song in our hearts. And some joy and some freedom. That's unmatched.

Unparalleled. Unfound in the world. The band's going to come back up. We're going to sing some songs. And just be thankful. That we're collectively as Christians today.

We're just going to be thankful to God. For what he's done. And how he's saved. And who he is. And his gloriousness. And his redemption.

And his love. And I want you to know. If you're not a Christian. If this is new to you. Or if it's not new to you. But you know you don't have this.

You can. In the name of Jesus. That you can say. I want him to cover me. I want his death to pay for my sin. I want the freedom and the life.

That's given by the spirit. And you can ask right now. God save me. Save me from myself. Save me from my self-consciousness. Save me from my self-awareness.

And give me Christ. And if you have questions on that. I'd love to speak with you about it. But collectively as a church. Let's sing.

Let's sing.

Wake Up

Wake Up

Chet Phillips

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Transcript

Good morning. Grab your Bibles. Go to Ephesians chapter 5. It's on page 569, if you have one of the blue Bibles in the row. We are walking verse by verse through the book of Ephesians. My name is Chet.

I'm one of the pastors here. And one of the primary complaints, I want us to think about this as we get started this morning, but one of the primary complaints that people levy against Christianity is that it takes everything beautiful and joyful and fun in the world, and then it says, don't do that. Don't enjoy that. It's like people believe that Christians believe that God created the world, and then he looked and he was talking to his angels and he said, it seems like humans really like that. And the angels are like, oh, they love it. It's one of their favorites.

And he's like, huh. And they enjoy this too. Yeah. Oh, they love that. Let's make a book and none of that can happen anymore.

Like, let's get rid of all the fun and all the joy and all the things that people chase after and like. We're just going to tell them none of that. That's kind of this idea that people have that this old, prideful, angry church lady picture of God where it's like this. Well, if you were smiling, if you were having fun, it's evil and God hates it. And that's that's this this picture that we have. And and honestly, what it what it comes from is that a deeply held belief that Christians actually have.

We do believe that God created the world, that he designed it, that it has purpose. And so there are ways to get it wrong and there are ways to get it right. Like there there's a design to your vehicle. My wife, when she first started driving, the first time she ever completely went from E to full on her car, she put diesel fuel in it. She made it across the street and it quit working. And they were like, are you out of gas?

She's like, no, I just filled it up. And they took took a while before they were like, where'd you fill it up? She's like right there. They were like right there. Where? And she's like right there at that green tank.

They were like, yeah, the green one's not the good one. And then later she went to a BP and all of them were green. And she got out and was like, no, like she had just taught herself, don't put green. It's like then she had to look and was like, oh, OK, I figured it out. Gas is fine. But there's rules.

There's certain things you can do and can't do. And we believe that that's how the world works. We actually think there's great evidence for this in the world. Like if you and I were walking through the woods and we found a wristwatch. And I picked it up and went, look at what nature made. And started looking at the trees.

You'd be like, fool, that's a wristwatch. A human made that. Trees don't make those. And we actually believe that there's great reason to look at creation, to look at the world and go, no, there's a whole lot of design here. There are a lot of things that are just rules that this is just how it works, that chaos didn't create this. That's what we're told to believe that swirling chaos just boom, exploded into order.

That's a cute story, but we've never actually seen that happen. Like there's never been a hurricane that just rolled through and built a city. It just doesn't happen. And I don't care if you do the infinite amount of hurricanes and infinite amount of universes. It's like, it's just that that's not how that works. It's not just like, boom, Sears Tower.

Like it just. They sold it. I don't know if it's called that anymore. But there's a. K-Mart Tower. It's just not how it works.

And so like they're one of the two of the bigger pictures of this, I think, that we can look at is math. Math is just math. It has rules. You can't be like, well, I mean, that math is for you, but this is what my math looks like. It's not how like when someone you're studying in class and they correct you and they say, no, that answer is wrong. You don't get to go, well, I don't see who you are to tell me I'm wrong with my math.

It's like they didn't even compute. It's like. Oh, you think you're like the in charge of math? You think you can just take your math and come over and tell my math what's right? It's like. Math is just the thing.

It's objective. Like it really matters. It really exists in the world. There was a ship that was made and it was this nation's and I can't remember somewhere in Europe. It was this nation's probably like it was going to be the chief ship of their armada. Like it was going to be.

It had more cannons, more like it was. It was beautiful. And they they sent it out and everybody stood and watched it make it about a half mile and then capsize and sink. And it was because they had used two different types of ruler, one on one side and one on the other side. They'd used an 11 inch ruler and a 12 inch ruler for what a foot was. And so it turns out that one side was heavier than the other and that doesn't work well in boats.

Because math exists. The ship sank. We believe math has a definitive design and we think that melody does that that music does it. There's an actual like if I was up here with Matt and Matt said, OK, I'm going to sing this part and I want you to sing the harmony. And I just started singing because I don't know what harmony is. And then he said, hey, stop.

That wasn't harmony. And I said, well, it was harmony to me. He'd be like, man, that's cute. Go sit down. I'm like, you just don't get to. That's not how this works.

Because music actually works like there's there's actual unless you're listening to jazz. There's like actual sounds that work together. And there's one music person that thought that was great. It all works together. The same sheet of music. Same thing with math.

And we actually believe that it's not just math and it's not just music, but it's also morality. That God designed the world. And so that there are actual things that it's like this is how the world is supposed to work. This is right. This is wrong. This is OK.

This isn't. And that it works and functions the same way because there is a good design behind it. And so that when people say Christianity takes all the fun things and says no, we actually say, well, maybe some of the things you would define as fun. Yeah. But that's not actually how Christianity works.

And that's not actually why God says no. And we're going to get to look at some of that this morning as we go to Ephesians chapter five. The reason we started that way this morning is because there are going to be some things that the world that the U.S. says this is the point. This is where joy is found. This is where love is found. This is where greatness is found.

This is where purpose is found. And the Bible just says no. Not not in that context. Not used in that way. Because there's a real, true design to God's world. Let's pray together.

And then we'll start reading in chapter five, verse one. God, we thank you for this time we have together this morning. And we pray that it would be fruitful, beneficial for our eternal souls. That you would go to work on our insides, on our hearts with your truth. That we might look more like you. And that we might more fully find the joy and the good that's in the world.

In Jesus name. Amen. Chapter five, verse one and two. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children. This is where we ended last week. As beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

A fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. So Paul in Ephesians is used a couple of times to say walk. He kind of it's a big transitionary statement. So he says walk and live a life in manner worthy of the gospel. He says walk in love. He's saying this is how we ought to look.

This is how life ought to look for us. So he says walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. A fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. So that's the gospel. That's that Jesus Christ came and lived on earth. And that he died in our place for our sins.

That he was our sacrifice. That he atoned for us and that he loved us so much that he gave himself up for us. And that actually is Christian love. That's the concept of Christian love. That it's self-sacrifice for the sake of another. Or self-sacrifice for the sake of others.

And you've got to realize it's not just sacrifice. But it's actually for others' sake or for another's sake. Christians don't believe just in asceticism. That you would just say no to everything. That you would just sacrifice all the good things from your life. And that that somehow would make you holy.

That you should wear uncomfortable clothes and eat bland tasting food. And that makes you good. No. Maybe you should eat bland tasting food for the sake of generosity to another. Maybe you should say no to alcohol because somebody else struggles with it. Maybe you should give up meat so that you can give more money away.

There's a reason behind it. It's for others. It's not just for the sake of sacrifice. And so that's what we're told is that he gave himself up for us. That he loved us and gave himself up for us. And that's Christian love.

Self-sacrifice for the sake of others. For the sake of grace and generosity. Verse 3. But. And so now he's pivoting off. He's saying this is how we're supposed to walk.

But. And he's telling us the contrast. The difference. The opposite. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you.

As is proper among saints. I'm going to read that again. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you. As is proper among saints. What he's saying is that there shouldn't even be a hint of it. There shouldn't even be a whiff of it.

It shouldn't even show up anywhere. This has no place with Christians. That's what the word saints means. It's those who were sinners who were made saints by Jesus. It means all Christians. It's not the Catholic understanding.

So what he's saying is all Christians. This shouldn't have a place among any of us. And so what I want us to do. We need to take a second to understand what those three words mean. Because we're not supposed to even have a hint of them. They're not supposed to be around anywhere.

Like our tolerance level for it should be zero. So we need to understand what they are if we're going to have that amount of intensity towards it. Sexual immorality. We'll spend a little more time here this morning. Just because I think we have more pushback. And maybe it's a little harder to see.

And we have a little more questions. This is one of the areas. This word sexual morality in the Bible makes a lot of people want to become a Bible scholar. We should be talking to someone and they'll go, yeah, but what does that word really mean? And it's like, that's actually great. We should do that.

We should ask that of the text. If we only ever ask it of this one though, maybe we're already indicating where our heart is. But here's, before we get into sexual morality, you have to understand the biblical picture of sex. And some people think that Christians' position is that sex is dirty and gross and evil and disgusting. Save it for your spouse. That's the understanding of sex that Christians have.

And that's not the understanding that the Bible has. That's not what is taught about sex. That is actually good and beautiful and by God's design that it would be enjoyable and delightful. And then save it for your spouse. That's the biblical Christian understanding. So we see in Genesis 2.24 where it says a man will leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife or cleave to his wife.

And the two will become one flesh. Now that is specifically speaking of a distinct union. And it is a sexual union. They will become one flesh. And immediately, if you just kind of think about that picture, you're going, okay. Like I get the physical picture of two people becoming one flesh sexually.

But it actually means more than that. It has greater weight than that. And here's one of the ways that we know that clearly. It's taught throughout the Old Testament that you would have one husband, one wife, one man, one woman. And that that's the only avenue for sex and sexual activity is that category. And it was not held that you could do any other form of anything throughout the Old Testament.

In 1 Corinthians 6.16, Paul says, Do you not know that when you are united with a prostitute? Now, prostitute means the word prostitute. It's the same that we have now. But they did not have the song All the Single Ladies would not have been a hit in first century Rome. And because they didn't have All the Single Ladies. You lived with your dad.

And then you lived with your husband. There wasn't this category of adult single females. The category for adult single female was prostitute. So if you slept around, it was either someone's wife or was a prostitute. There wasn't this category of females who had their own house, had their own Job, unless they were widowed. Okay?

So when he says prostitute, he means prostitute because that was the category it was. But it also would mean more now because we have a different category of how life can work. You know, y'all get to go to college and have jobs and rent. You can sign stuff. You can own a house, you guys. Like all this stuff that a lot of it came out of Christianity where Christians started saying, I think women are people.

You don't know that, but that's what we said. So he says, Don't you know that whoever is united with a prostitute becomes one flesh with her? Now, if one flesh just meant is physically united, if it just meant the physical act, then what Paul would have said very profoundly was, Do you not know that anyone who is physically united with a prostitute is physically united with a prostitute? That's not what he's saying. He's saying, Don't you know that whoever is physically united with a prostitute is one fleshing, is becoming united in a deep spiritual way, is doing what ought to happen only in the confines of marriage.

Because God designed sex to be an all-giving, all-sacrificing activity. That it is a covenant ceremony. That it is a commitment ceremony. Tim Keller calls it a radical self-donation. That it is to say, All of me, and all that I have, and all that belongs to me, and everything I own, and everything that I have is to belong to you. And I'm donating it.

That that's what it's designed to be. That it is a union. So Paul says, Don't you know the weight of this? And then in Ephesians 5, which we're going to read here as soon as Easter is over, in 5.31, he says, Paul says that, I'll read it since it's right here, I don't have to flip to it. Because we are members of his body. Verse 31, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

So he quotes Genesis. And then he says, This mystery is profound, and I'm saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Okay, so Paul goes another more explosive layer on this, where he says that the original intent behind sexual union and marriage, this covenanting, was a picture of Christ and his people. That he was going to become one with us. That he was going to join us in flesh, and that he was going to make us his. That this delight in sexual activity is meant to be a small picture of the delight that the church will enjoy with Christ for eternity.

So when people, whole religions will picture heaven, there's a few, I've seen two clear pictures of heaven when it comes to sex and sexuality. There's probably other ones, these are the ones I've seen. There's whole religions that say, when you get to heaven, all the sex. Like that's what it's about. There's just tons of ladies there for your sexing. Like that's it.

Like that's a talk. Like that's heaven. And it's like, okay, I think we've elevated sex to a weird spot, but all right. And then Christians come along and you're like, I mean, I remember being in like, uh, you know, an adolescent, non-married person who was trying not to have sex. And we would ask questions like, Hey, is there sex in heaven? And they'd be like, no, there's not.

And then we'd be like, okay. I remember distinctly having someone look at me and go, you know, like, I'm really excited for Jesus to come back, but I hope he comes back after I've had sex. Cause I just don't want to go to heaven and have that not have happened. And we just understand like our picture is that's either the point or it's not there. And we'll all be sad. Um, that actually is such a warped view of how delightful Jesus is and what the picture was supposed to be.

Anyway, sex is good. It is delightful. It's meant to image something that is far greater and far more beautiful and far more lovely. And that's why we've said multiple times and we'll say it again, but I'll go ahead and say today that you can live your entire life and never have sex and be a fully complete adult human. Jesus did. Like you can, you're fine because the ultimate picture of what it's supposed to point to is way better and we won't miss it.

So say all that to say the word sexual immorality means not that good picture. So if I asked you what is counterfeit money, you would respond something that looks like money, but isn't money. Like we just, we know what money is. And so anything else that's pretending isn't that. And so the picture of sex in the Bible is inside of a relationship between a man and a wife, husband and wife, man and woman in a covenant relationship with a self donating, uh, self covenanting sexuality. And everything outside of that is outside of that.

And it's sexual morality. The Greek word is pornea. It's used all over the place. It's used to describe prostitutes, both male and female. It's used multiple times to understand this word sexual immorality. It's used to describe someone as an illegitimate child.

They just call them a pornea, which just means, uh, they came from sex. That wasn't this. What that's really helpful for us, by the way, because if God just gave us a big list, that'd be a really long section of the Bible. It was just like, don't do this. Don't do this. Don't do this.

Don't do this. Don't do this. And then we'd find something that wasn't on the list and be like, home free. We can do this. And then, and what it says is, no, this is what it's supposed to look like. So everything outside of that is not that.

And it's sexual immorality. This also includes, Paul says the betrothed. So in first Corinthians seven, Paul keeps going from his, where he says in six 16, he also says, if you're betrothed and you're burning with desire, get married. He does not say, well, if you've made promises, that's fine. You don't have to burn with desire. You're free.

No, he says, if you're betrothed, get married. So this idea of, well, we're going to get married or it's like we're married or we're he, Paul actually comes in right in that little spot and says, no, sex is okay. Once you've made the full commitment, because it's a self donating, self-sacrifice on behalf of another. First Corinthians seven, two says, because of sexual, because of the temptation to sexual morality, as Paul using the same word, each man should have his own wife and each woman, her own husband. So what he says is, because you're tempted to do this, get married and it won't be that.

So he just says what we just said, which is sex is okay here. Sex is not okay there. I did that. And we took the time there this morning out of this list, because that's the one where we most go, um, but doesn't it mean, but wouldn't it be okay if, Hey, I was thinking my uncle told me like, no, Jesus actually draws the line at lust. So he says, don't look at a woman lustfully.

So he takes it just to your mind. So if you're like, how far is too far? Jesus is like, well, what were you thinking about? Oh, hold on a second. I just meant like, is it bad if we moved to the backseat? And you were saying, what were you like?

What did you think? What were you looking at? Jesus says, just turn around and go the other ways. This is the acceptable zone. And then if you're married, this is the acceptable zone. Now we'll do a little more of understanding why Christianity teaches that.

Cause the next response to, okay, if that's what the word says, fine, but I don't like that. Or I don't understand why God would say that. And here's part of one of the arguments people make is, well, sex is so natural. It's just an appetite. It's just a desire. It's, it's normal and natural and healthy.

Christianity's not saying that it's not. Yeah, it's natural. Yeah, it's normal. Yeah, it's healthy. You, John Piper says, you put a fence around a garden, not around weeds. Like you, you protect what's important.

Like if you broke in someone's house and you were a professional cat burglar and you went and moved a fancy painting and there was a safe and you put your little thing on and you started cracking it because you know you're awesome. And you pop it open. You would not find that that safe was their dirty clothes hamper. It wouldn't just be like old socks. Why? Because we don't protect what isn't important.

And so the reason the Bible draws a fence around this is because it's potent, powerful, meaningful, not because it's less. The Bible thinks more about sex than we do. Maybe not more often, but it thinks more highly of it. I didn't want you to get confused with what I was saying there. Some of you are like, I'm going to read my Bible more. Alright, let's regain our focus here.

Sexual morality and all impurity. So what he does with all impurity, that word just means, a lot of times when he talks about impurity, it means specifically sexual impurity, but when he says sexual morality and all impurity, he's just zooming out. He's just pinching it and widening it out. What he's saying is like, not just sexual morality, but all the impurity, all the things that we chase after and throw off, all of the, it's when we say there's no inhibitions, there's no rules, there's no, we can just chase after everything we want, and they usually go hand in hand. That's why they're put together a lot.

But what he's saying is, it's not just sexual morality, but it's all of the times that we just say, there are no rules, everything's free, I can do what I want, I can pursue decadence, and debauchery, and everything that makes me feel good. It's this pursuit of personal pleasure. And they do go together. So, I saw an article recently, it's in Newsweek, it's in Vanity Fair, talking about the same thing, where this person kind of started interviewing people in the Silicon Valley, kind of the cutting edge of technology, and what they found out was, this cutting edge, progressive people, who are kind of expanding our horizons when it comes to technology, have these drug induced sexual orgy parties, where everybody shows up, and it's just this kind of rampant thing, and when you, they were talking and interviewing some of these people, and they were like, yeah, we're progressive everywhere, including our sexuality.

And the person writing the article was like, um, this actually isn't progressive, this has been happening forever. This happened in the 1970s at the Playboy Mansion, this happened in the 1960s at Woodstock, this happened at Bacchus and Dionysus festivals in the first century AD, to sit and say, we're going to chase all of this pleasure, and we're going to include sexuality in it, isn't progressive. It's the same thing. I was reading some of this article, and I was like, I agree with the writer of Vanity Fair. That's not progressive at all. You're right.

It's sin, and it's the same thing. And so that's what Paul says, it's not just this, but it's when we suddenly say, well, you know what makes sex better is Molly. And ecstasy, and drug use, and celebration, and party, and whatever that ends up looking like, he's saying the pursuit of, and the throwing off of, restraint. One of the ways that we say this now is, what's right for you is right for you, does it hurt anybody? Those are our kind of two moral rules. Are you hurting someone?

And we just say, well, if it doesn't directly hurt them, then you're fine, do what you want. And Paul says no. Covetousness. All impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you. Covetousness can also be translated greediness. Later he says covetousness, which is idolatry, meaning that we've so focused in on something that it's become our life pursuit, that it means more to God, that it's what we worship, it's what we have to have.

To covet means to want something that's not yours. Maybe specifically to want something that's someone else's. But it's this devotion to things. That my life will be better if I could just have. That all I'm really working for is this. And now all of my time and all of my energy goes towards this.

So Paul says, sexual morality, all impurity or covetousness don't have a place among you. Now this is hard for us as Americans because we don't live in a prudish society that's anti-sex. We live in a place that has completely sold out to the idea that more and better sex will fix you. That there is no real rules as long as you're not hurting someone. And our whole consumer system is based off of covetousness. That you see something that someone else has and then you get one.

That's how that works. For us. See, it's the throwing off restraint in selfish pursuit of personal pleasure. Has no place among Christians. Throwing off restraint in the selfish pursuit of personal pleasure. I'm going to chase after my own desires and I'm going to be filled up.

Verse 4. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. No filthiness, no foolish talk, nor crude joking. That crude joking term means crude joking. It can mean vulgar jokes. It can also mean like biting sarcasm.

Jokes that hurt people that have gone too far. So filthiness. So filthiness. Just being dirty, being vulgar, trying to find the crudest terms. Trying to be like, well, I'm an adult so I can use all these words. And it's like, yeah, this isn't helpful.

Is it edifying? Foolish talk. I think, honestly, a lot of times our foolish talk comes in is certainly whenever we're sinfully talking, when we're harming people, when we're being sarcastic in a biting harmful way, when we're talking poorly about people. It's all the stuff we talked about a few weeks ago where Paul says that let our words be building people up and not tearing them down. I think it's also when we get too focused on things that aren't that important. That's foolish.

So if I said, I really like Oreos, I'd be like, yeah, it's America's favorite cookie or milk's favorite cookie or both. I don't remember the slogan. And it's like, yeah, but if I said no, but I have to have a thing of Oreos in my house at all times, so I always have two just because sometimes I run out. You'd be like, okay. That sounds excessive, but Oreos are good. And if I said, I'm going to devote my whole life to Oreos and I'm going to start a podcast where we just talk about Oreos, you'd be like, that sounds dumb because it'd be foolish to take something that was fine and then make it so important.

Okay, so foolish talk. Go on Facebook. Find the thing that someone that was fine, but then they made it the category for how you know if you're an okay human. This is good. It's a good thing to do this with your spouse or your children or your money. Everyone who doesn't is a complete idiot and is probably going to Hades.

It's like, oh, it's probably foolish. Like, let's tone it down. It's good. You can't devote your whole life to it. This is sports are good, but now, I'm going to devote my whole life to knowing every single thing about 18 to 20 year olds. Or 18 to 24 year olds and who's getting recruited and where they're coming from and what their high school is like and who their mom is.

It's like, ah, I think we've moved. I think we've moved from an okay thing to a foolish thing. Then he says, filthy, crude joking. And here's, I have a problem with this. I have a problem with this. I never liked this verse because I think I understood what it meant and I didn't want.

You ever read a Bible verse and you're like, I think that's correcting me and so then you go, well, I don't really know what that means. Nobody else has done that? Just me? Where it's like, that seems obvious. Probably isn't what I thought it was because then I'd have to change. Or you just think, you know, there's other stuff in the Bible that I'm not really doing.

I should focus on those because this is the one you don't really want to mess with. That was that for me because I had in my mind wrapped up the idea that crude joking was part of manliness. That was a part of how men talked and how masculinity worked and how you spoke about things and how you talked and it was like, you know, boys can't say these words, men can. And so I didn't like the idea that I wasn't supposed to because it was like, yeah, but I don't want to sound like a boy. I talk like a man. It's like, well, my version of masculinity is really messed up because that's not godly maybe it is manliness if you mean by man sinfulness.

Sure. It's great manliness but it's not godliness. I also think when it comes to some of this, some of you who are practicing filthiness and foolish talk and crude joking made all of those decisions in middle school. Right around the time you were 12, 13 is when you decided this is cool and this is how you were going to talk and I would just suggest that you wouldn't let middle school you make any other lifelong decisions for you and you might want to reconsider. And if that's not when that happened, still reconsider because we're told to. Here's why this matters.

It's about to get really serious. So if it hadn't been so far, verse 5, 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. Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Paul said, you may be sure of this. The sexually immoral, the impure or the covetousness, that is an idolater, have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Now, does that mean has ever done this?

I don't think so. It's an identity thing. So he says, those who are actively practicing identified by sexual immorality, I mean, a murderer, a career thief can do a nice thing, but that's not the thing that categorizes them. It's not the thing that they've set their life around. So it's a category of practicing active sexual immorality, pursuing impurity, pursuing covetousness, living a life of greed.

He says, you can be sure of this. They have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Now, the way he's using inheritance is he says it in the earlier chapters of Ephesians that we've been given an inheritance by Christ's work on our behalf, that the Holy Spirit has sealed us, that keeps us for our inheritance. And so what he's saying is that if someone's actively practicing these things, they are not a Christian. You can be certain of it. If this is how they categorize their life, they don't belong to Jesus.

And then he says, let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. That those who would step in and say, well, it's really not that bad, no, this is okay. This is alright. Their words are empty and deceptive and they are not your friend. Now, why is this carrying this weight? Why does Paul say this is a clear indication that this is not a lifestyle change, that they don't belong to Jesus?

Let me tell you who will not be in the kingdom. That's what he says. Let me tell you who you won't meet in heaven. The sexually immoral, the impure, and the covetous. They don't belong to him. He started this chapter by saying, let's imitate God, be imitators of God, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

Sexual immorality, pursuit of impurity, and covetousness are antithetical to the gospel. They're headed in the opposite direction because the gospel is this. Christ loved us and he gave himself up for us. So we trust in him and we believe that he is where everything good and holy and right is found. That he's where joy and pleasure are found. And then because we believe that he is all that is good and everything pleasurable and enjoyable is in him, then we belong to him, then we sacrifice for the sake of others.

That Christianity at its heart, at its root, is this self-sacrifice of Jesus that works its way into love and self-sacrifice on behalf of those who belong to Jesus. And sexual immorality is not self-sacrifice, it is selfishness. And a pursuit of impurity and personal pleasure is not self-sacrifice, it is selfishness. And covetousness and greed is not self-sacrifice, it is selfishness. And therefore, it stands in stark contrast with the gospel. I want to give two specific reasons why that's true.

One, it's not walking in love and giving ourself up for others. It's easier to see, I think, in covetousness and greed, like we can all rally around at times and at different points in society like we have where people had the robber barons and then you had the fat cats on Wall Street and now you've got the 1% who are greedy. You've got Kim Jong-un who's greedy, who for his own sake and for his own benefit he harms those around him. And everybody will stand around and say, it's so evil, it's so greedy to take from others and to hoard for yourself and to just worry about your own enjoyment and benefit.

And then at the same time, we'll step in and say, but the free sex movement and what I do in the privacy of my home and what happens in our relationship is different. And the Bible says, no, they're in the same category. And here's why. Sex was meant to be self-donation and self-sacrifice and without the commitment and without the covenant, it's selfish. It's self-enjoyment and self-pleasure. And you might respond, whoa, hold on a second.

It's mutual. Okay. You're both sinful. These people can respond. If they didn't want to get paid this wage, they can work somewhere else. If you really didn't want me to be this wealthy, you can buy other products.

If women wanted to get paid as much as men, fill in the sentence. And if you say, well, this is... And it's like, yeah, maybe the whole system's off. Maybe they think that's the way that relationships work or how they have to stay in this relationship or it was the only time you ever told them you loved them or the only time they ever felt love like this. It's the same thing. That actually, the Harvey Weinsteins and the Matt Lowers are just carrying this out to its logical conclusion because it is, at its root, selfishness.

It's not self-sacrifice on behalf of another. It's not giving ourselves up. Honestly, if you are ignorant, to the fact that sexual morality is sin and you're actively practicing it, you're harmful, but you're not malicious. But if you're not ignorant to what the Bible says about it, that because of it, wrath is coming on the sons of disobedience, you're cruel. It's actually cruelty to be in a relationship where you pressure and participate in sexual immorality at the sake of the other who's joining you in sin and headed for wrath. He says, sexual morality, impurity, and covetousness.

To say that my whole life is built around and pursuit of and this is what fills me up and this is what is good and I'm unwilling to repent. He says that, be certain. You don't belong to Jesus. The throwing off restraint and selfish pursuit of personal pleasure is antithetical to the gospel. The second reason is that it preaches a false gospel about where the good life is found. That we're supposed to be pictures of Christ who proclaim that He is all that is good and He is all that is holy and He is all that is right, but then if we say, well, when He says that I shouldn't have sex outside of marriage, I don't really listen to that one.

I've actually had people before say, okay, I may become a Christian but I'm not going to do the no sex thing and I've just said that's not how it works. That it actually, we proclaim with our lives that we think this is better, that this is more enjoyable, that this is good. That we proclaim with our lives when we spend our whole time, all of our money goes to ourselves and it all goes to our personal pleasure and it all goes to our personal satisfaction that we're telling the world this is where joy is found, this is where life is found, this is where good is found. That's a false gospel. Joy and good are found in Jesus.

So that's why the Christian response to covetousness is hard work and generosity because that's what Jesus did. That's why Paul earlier says, let thieves no longer steal but let them work hard and share. We respond by looking like the gospel. Hard work and generosity is a small picture of the gospel in the midst of covetousness. It's saying, no, we believe our good things are found elsewhere and that part of my labor is supposed to be self-sacrifice on behalf of others. And that's why the Christian response to sexual morality is chastity.

And that's a word we don't use. Abstinence is another one but chastity is a better one because chastity is like a good picture of a thing and abstinence just means don't. chastity means do this. Abstain for a good purpose because it displays God that it's sacrifice on behalf of another. You may be certain, do not be deceived. It's not winked at, it's not excused, and anyone who tells you it's okay is not your friend. God.

Now I pray to God that if those of us in here who would say, no, this is, this is a full part of my life, the practice of sexual morality or this is a full part of my life, the pursuit of impurity that I'm just saying in this area, Jesus isn't involved because I just want to pursue this thing that feels good. I don't know what that is. I don't know if that's alcohol or marijuana or your approach to food. I don't know. I don't know where, I don't know where we're saying, this is the thing, I just don't want him to tell me no. And I don't know if there's people in here saying no, my whole life right now is just I want stuff.

My devotion to it and I don't really have set aside to share and I just, all I think about is how I could move up and how my house could be bigger and how my land could be bigger and how my car could be nicer. I see someone dressed well and I just have to get that. And I pray that for us there's this moment of saying, okay, what do I do? Verse 7. Therefore, because this is true and because it's antithetical to the gospel and because it has no place among Christians, therefore, do not become partners with them for at one time you were darkness. So he's talking to Christians, you were darkness but now you are light in the world.

So what he said is be certain that those who practice these things don't belong to Jesus and then he goes right back to saying, but you do. So don't participate. You were darkness but now you're light in the world. 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. The Christians would know that everything good and right and true belongs to us and that we would decide what pleases God not just what pleases me and that we would not participate. So I would just ask who are you partnered with and who are you imitating?

Does your approach to money look way more like the American approach to money or the Jesus approach to money? God's approach to money. Does your approach to impurity and sexuality look way more like the American approach? Are you partnered with Americans? Are you imitating Americans and therefore excusing well I look like everybody else it can't be that big a deal and I don't even care if you're just saying well other people in the church do this. You can be certain they don't belong to Jesus if that's their active practice in life.

So don't look at someone in your group and say they do it. God help them that they do that. And may He lead them to repentance. And may they find Jesus. 11. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them.

Here's our answer. and it's a glorious answer. Here's God's beautiful response in the midst of a coming wrath. Take no part expose it for it's shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible. For anything that becomes visible is light. Now that's not a true statement but it is here.

I can't say hey will you shine your flashlight at my shoe I want my shoe to become a flashlight. This is not how it works. My shoe shines it reflects light so we get a little bit of a picture of that but that's what He says though is everything that is exposed and brought into the light becomes light. That we would take no part in unfruitful works of darkness and that we would expose them. That's in ourselves that some of you have something that needs to be exposed. that needs to be brought out and laid out. And some of you have something that you need to go to someone else and say hey this is an unfruitful work of darkness and I need to help shine some light on it for you because you're walking in and I don't think it's going to help.

I don't think it leads to health or good or joy. I actually believe that there's a good God and there's a coming wrath. But I also believe back half of 14 therefore it says awake oh sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. I believe that there's a coming wrath and I believe that there's a Christ who took that wrath. I believe that there's a coming wrath on the sons of disobedience and I believe that there was an obedient son who became disobedience for us so that that wrath doesn't have to get us. I believe that wrath is coming on sons of disobedience but I also believe in an obedient son.

And I believe that he took God's wrath on our behalf and I believe that we get to wake up and not just wake up arise from the dead. Maybe some of you have felt so guilty and I hope so. But I hope you don't walk out those doors feeling guilty. I hope you walk out those doors feeling free because sometimes we want to say I think I'm so far gone I think I'm already too deep in it I think it's gone too far I think this is too much a mode of my heart and he says he raises the dead we believe in a God of resurrection. There's nothing more far gone than dead and our God says not even that is beyond my reach.

That Jesus Christ died as an obedient son so that we might not face the wrath that is coming for us that we absolutely deserve but that we can be those who arise with Christ and here's what he says that whatever you confess whatever you expose becomes light. that it actually Christ shines in it. Do you know who the most glorious person in heaven is? Do you know who displays Christ most beautifully is the person who least deserved to be there. Some people are like of course they're in heaven they're a good person and there are other people who are like no way that person got in. It's like but if they believed in Christ he shines in them.

Do you know the most beautiful part of Christ in your life is the part that looked the most far gone? It's Ali and Foreman where he's just getting pummeled round after round after round after round and then he just pops off the side of the ropes and wears Foreman out. The best game I was ever a part of as a football player we were down 24-0 at halftime. I played a lot of games where we just beat people. Those were fun. They weren't the ones I get to point back to and say that one was great.

And there are places in your life that are dark and hideous and filthy and disgusting and immoral and those are the places where when Christ shines when you expose them in confession Jesus displays his greatness in an unparalleled manner because morality and good behavior is what we're told save you in so many other religions and Christians say no. Jesus saves in the midst of everything that was dark and broken and hideous about me. and let me tell you all that was dark and broken and hideous so that you can see a good and glorious obedient son who's a savior and who took the wrath I deserved. Wake up. bring it into the light and have Jesus raise you from the dead so that Christ may shine. Bring it into the light expose it so that Christ will shine that he'll shine in the midst of our confession of our sin he'll shine as we confess our savior. the band's gonna come back up we're Christians we believe in resurrection we believe that we repent of sin and that we walk with Jesus and that in the midst of our repentance and our brokenness and our sinfulness that he is his glory is displayed because there is no religion that saves sinners like Jesus saves sinners that what qualifies you for salvation is your sin not your goodness and it's in the midst of our darkest worst most hideous evil that he most displays his goodness and grace on our behalf that his grace is bigger that his salvation is sufficient I'm gonna read a quote from a song and then we'll sing together this is called Felix Culpa it's by the band King's Kaleidoscope Felix Culpa is a Latin phrase that means a fortunate fall and it's talking about this idea that it's at our worst that he is the most glorified it says turn the lights on and look at what I have see the twisted trophies of a dead man countless stories tell of sin and pain but they sing the sweetness of my savior's grace I'm a torn man spirit fighting flesh there's a battle raging deep in my chest but all that haunts me and all that leaves a stain only sings the sweetness of my savior's grace a fortunate fall my sins are stories of grace to recall a fortunate fall I glory in my sins forgiven Jesus bought me and now I am his and dying with him in his death I now lived all my vices to which I was chained only speak the sweetness of my savior's grace if you need to expose sin do it if you need to repent do it so that Christ may shine on you and you can rise from the dead and you can be counted with the living who belong to Jesus only because he dies to sin and raises again in new life through it you of my and my and and I will and I will and and

Time to Change

Time to Change

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. How y'all doing? All right. I'm going to say a quiet prayer for all of y'all. Grab your Bibles and go to Ephesians chapter 4. We're walking through the book of Ephesians.

As Spencer said, we're kind of in this section right now where Paul has shifted from the first three chapters where he was giving some big theological truths. And now he's shifting into what it actually looks like in life as we obey, as we follow Jesus and what he does among a group of people. How they begin to change, how they begin to look. And so that's kind of what we're spending some time on. And so we'll be in Ephesians chapter 4. We'll be in verses 25 through chapter 5, verse 2.

And we've said this a couple of times, but the chapters and verses were added later. So this was just one big letter that Paul wrote. And then later on, chapters were added. And after that, sometime verse Numbers were added to try to help you be able to quickly reference things. It was to help the church, but those are just in there to be helpful. So it's not some of y'all, maybe it stresses you out that we would roll from chapter 4 into chapter 5.

But if it helps you to know that those were added later and we can do whatever we want as we read through this text. There you go. Have you ever tried to change something about yourself? You ever given any effort towards that? You ever tried to change your sleep pattern? Or tried to change an exercise pattern?

It's February. How are your New Year's resolutions going? You didn't think those would be brought up, did you? Shame. Shame on all of you and pride for like one of you who's like, I crushed it. Everybody else.

No, but like that's, have you ever tried to change a thing? Like the only people who ever think dieting is easy are people who've never really dieted. They never, they're like, well just change how you eat. And it's like, just shut up. There's, changing something's hard. And one of the things I notice is like, for ourselves, we've got a lot of room, a lot of grace.

There's a lot of space for like, change is difficult. You know, I'm, I'm introverted. That's just what I'm like. Or I'm extroverted. I'm just loud and in your face. And that's just who I am.

And if that scares you, well I'm sorry. Like that, you know, like, you know what I'm talking about? Like I'm introverted, so I don't actually have to know anyone or leave my house. It's like, well, um, okay. Like, you know, we have these, I'm, I'm Italian, so I yell and throw things when I get mad. It's like, well, um, but like we have a lot of space for, a lot of grace for when our own ability to change and the amount of time it takes to change.

I noticed this a lot in, um, we have very little space or time for when it, for someone else. And I noticed this a lot in young married couples in our church family where they'll sit us down. They've been married for like a year, six months. And they're like, if this doesn't change, I just don't even know. And we've talked about it twice. It's been seven days.

And I just don't even know if we're going to, it's like, slow, slow your roll a little bit. Like I brought it up and, and then it happened again four days later. What do you want me to do? Bring it up again? And it's like, just, but I, I, I see, I always, I, you know, I feel for him, but I'm also entertained every time I get to have that conversation. Cause I get to see me in that where it's like, I want to look at my wife and be like, I already told you this was a problem.

I don't know why you fixed it. We've been married going on nine years. Now there are still things that she'll bring up that she's been talking to me about for nine years. And I'm like, Hey, I'm trying. I'm working, baby, I'm working on it. And it's like, I'm doing a terrible Job working on it, but I'm working on it.

Like let's, let's give some. And so change is hard. And that's the text that we're in today where Paul is just writing to the church. And here's what he says, change, be different. He's, we, we spent time last week as, as Spencer was reading through where he says, put off the old self and put on the new self. He says, this is a, he talks about your former life and how you chased sin and how you lived pursuing your desires.

And he says, that's not how you learned Christ. As you've been taught in him, put off the old self, put on the new self. And so what we get to look at today in this text is him walking through and giving us pictures of old self, new self. He's giving us pictures. He's given us, um, categories for put this off, put this on. And so here's what I want us to do today.

I want you to see that. Let's say you started here, old self, then you became a Christian. You placed your faith in Jesus. You realized I'm a sinner. I've got problems. I've got things that I've done that I shouldn't have done.

I've got heart issues. I need Christ to save me. And now he's saved you. He's coming to your life and you've got some things to get rid of. You've got some growing to do. You've got to put off some things and put on some things and you've got to move this direction.

You've got to have a trajectory of growth, a trajectory of change. So that when it comes to anger and how you respond to situations, you've got to go over time from this spot down there. When it comes to work ethic, when it comes to how you treat people and respond to people, and when it comes to your ability to forgive and to love and to be gracious, you've got to work yourself from here to there. That when we become Christians, we are now on a trajectory to change. And so what I want us to do today is as we read through this, I want you to prayerfully, if you're a Christian, if you believe in Christ, I want you to just start asking, have I put that off and have I put on the new action?

So when we talk about anger, just kind of gauge yourself, where am I? Have I put away anger? Have I put on the new action? Kind of where do I fall in this? And so we're going to spend some time just kind of evaluating, kind of investigating our own hearts. And then we're going to try to understand why Paul approaches it the way he does and why he has the confidence that he has.

So let's pray and then we'll read the entire text together and then we'll walk through it. God, we ask for your grace today that we might see ourselves rightly. That you might be good enough to us that we would accurately begin to see where we need to change. What about us needs to be different, where we need to grow. And we ask for your help as we do this this morning in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Verse 25, chapter 4, verse 25 through 5 to therefore, having put away, put it, put away falsehood. Let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. 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.

Let the devil's hear with anyone in need. 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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

I think you're going to have to wrestle with yourself a little bit as we go through this text today, because we are tempted culturally to just kind of lean into identity. That's who I am. That's just what I'm like. We have a whole lot of like if people don't like you for you, just get rid of them. And Paul steps in and says, maybe you need to change. Maybe you need to grow.

Maybe there needs to be something different about you. And he steps in and begins to say, this has got to go. This has got to come. You've got to get rid of this. You've got to put this on. And so that's what we're going to walk through and look at.

Let's start in verse 25. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. So he begins by saying, OK, if you if you're in Christ, put away falsehood. Have having done this, he's just assuming that falsehood has left, that when you became a Christian, that when you place your faith in Christ, one of the first things to get rid of was your falseness. You're faking your pretense. You're lying that you came to God and were open and honest with.

I'm a sinner. I'm in need of help. I'm admitting the worst about me and I'm getting rid of all my falsehood. And the reason he gives, he says, get rid of falsehood. Let each of you speak the truth with his neighbor. And this is kind of the pattern that he'll follow.

He'll say, get rid of this. Start doing this. Here's why. That's kind of the pattern he's going to follow. There's a few times where he he doesn't follow that, but mostly that's what he says. So he says, get having put away falsehood, speak the truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another.

And the way Paul uses the word member, it's not like a member of a club that he uses to to kind of illustrations to explain member. And he uses member throughout his letters. He means body member and family member. He does not mean member of an organization. So if you said of your A.V. club in high school, yeah, last year we had 10 members and this year we have eight.

OK, if you said that same sentence about your family last year, we had 10 members and this year we have eight. That's a completely different sentence. Body members, family members is a different. It's an intensely connected. So the reason why he says to be honest is that we are intensely connected with one another.

The same way that your body parts are members of your body are connected to one another. This past weekend, if I had been working with a saw and cut my hand off and you saw me and said, how are you doing? I wouldn't say, well, you know, 90 percent of me is doing great. I think I mostly focus on the hand issue that I had. And that's the point he's talking about is is that we're deeply entrenched, intensely connected with one another. And therefore, honesty, falsehood is gone and honesty is here.

And I want to tell you what that means. That means that when you hang out with your community group. You don't fake. You don't pretend. When you're hanging out with your church family, you're not trying to make it look like you've got yourself more put together than you do. You're not trying to act like, oh, I've got everything in order and I'm fine and everything's good.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. When that's not what's going on. That we've put away falsehood and that we're honest with one another. We speak the truth. It also means that when someone in your group is sinning or they have an issue or they ask you a question, you respond honestly.

Hey, do you think this is a problem? Do you think I was wrong there? No. No, you're not wrong. I bet they just had a bad attitude. And then later, because you're Southern, you say no.

And then later you go to the other person and go, can you believe that person over there? And it's like, no, you were supposed to speak the truth, which was, yes, I think that is an issue. I think that is a problem. I'm glad you brought it up because I was going to have to. That we're honest. I want to give a quick caveat to this for two particular individuals.

If you don't fit in one of these categories, just zone out for 30 seconds. But if you fit in this category, I need to help you out. There's a person in here. Not a specific person. I know y'all, so don't be like, oh, he's talking about me. Calm down.

A type of person in here who will overthink some of this stuff and will be like, okay, I have to put away falsehood. Okay. Okay. And then you'll go to the DMV and they'll be like, how are you doing? And you'll say, fine. And then you'll get in your car and go, I'm not fine.

I didn't put away falsehood. And then you'll walk back in the DMV and go, I have problems. Yes, you need to be transparent. You need to be honest. But with a specific group of people, a certain group of people in a certain setting at a certain time.

It's okay to say I'm doing well. It's okay to say I'm not doing great. When you come hang out on Sunday and someone says, I'm not doing great. But I got some people I'm talking to about that. I got some people I'm walking in life with. Just be praying for me if you get a chance.

You don't have to paint a smile on, but you also don't have to go every time someone says, how are you doing? Go, let me reconfess my sins. So you don't have to do that. Jesus, I'm going to give you a quick example of this. Jesus is with his disciples. He feeds 5,000 people.

He sends his disciples off in a boat. And then later, he dismisses the crowds. And he walks on water across the lake to where they're going. People look for him the next day where they know he was. And they also know all the boats left. They then circle around the lake.

They find him. And the first question they ask, which is an intelligent, reasonable question, how did you get over here? Now, the answer to that question is, I walked on water. Do you know how he responds to that question? The only reason y'all were looking for me is because I fed y'all last time. He does not answer their question.

You don't have to answer every question to every person. You do have to answer questions to certain people. And so the second group of person I just need to address real quick is the person who said, put away falsehood. Put down pretense. Quit faking. Not happening.

Be transparent. No, sir. No, you have to. You have to with some people. You have to with your community group. You have some people in your life that you've got to tell how you're doing.

And it can't be, I talk to my cousin in Tulsa on the phone once a month and tell them how I'm doing. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You've got to have some people around you that know how you're doing, that know your sin, that are walking deeply with you so that you can repent, be open. With the members of your family, with the members of your church family who you belong to, we put away falsehood. 26. Be angry.

Oh, before we move on to 26, you can keep it up on the screen. How you doing? When it comes to putting away falsehood, how you doing? When it comes to being honest, how often are you finding in yourself that you're only given half truth? How often when it's time for your group to confess, are you only confessing this thing but keeping this back? How often are you finding when it's time to pray about something, you come to the moment of, I really should talk about this, and then you just back up?

Because you just can't stand to have people know really how you're doing and what's really going on. He says, put away falsehood. Start speaking the truth. 26. Be angry and do not sin. Now some of y'all, right when we started reading verse 26, you got excited.

Paul said, be angry. You were like, amen, close the book, let's head home. I got it. I'm done. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.

There's some freedom in this verse because he does say be angry. It's okay to be angry. It's not a Christian virtue to be just stoic all the time and to always just be perfectly calm. No, there was, Jesus was calm in the middle of situations. There were also times that Jesus, you know, flipped over some tables and had a whip and was very angry. Startling.

It would have made little church people freak out. He was angry. It's okay to be angry. You just can't sin when you're angry, in your anger. It says, be angry and do not sin. So you can get angry.

You can get frustrated. There are times that you should be angry. It's at sin at work in the world. There are times that you should be angry, but then you have to process it. Well, you have to not sin in your anger. And he covers more anger issues later, but he says, do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give up, give no opportunity to the devil.

Here's what that means. Anger does not get a resting place with you. It has a place, but it doesn't get to stay. It can visit, but it doesn't get to dwell with you. It doesn't get to live with you. It doesn't get to stay overnight.

Anger is like your boyfriend or girlfriend. When it gets dark, they've got to go home. All right. Don't let the sun go down on your anger. Give no opportunity to the devil. So anger, you don't get to let it fester.

You don't get to let it dwell. It doesn't get to keep hanging out. Anger is a, so here me explain what happens. Something happens and you're angry, rightfully angry. What they did was wrong. What they did was messed up.

What they did was busted. That's one of the things that we have all the time. People go, they really did this. It's like, I know. Yeah, it's a real thing. They sinned.

They harmed you. That shouldn't have happened. But then you got to keep a short account. You got to go address it with people. You got to go talk to them. You got to go say, hey, this really bothered me.

This hurt me. Let me explain how this goes to work. And I want to show you all the reason he gives should terrify us a little bit. Should startle us a little bit. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Okay, we're Christians.

We believe that there is a good, holy, righteous being that exists in the world and is at work for our good. That God is good and holy and righteous and he's at work for our good. And we also believe that there is evil in the world. Spiritual evil that we can't see that is at work for our destruction. And he says that if you have untended anger, that you're allowing it to stay with you, you are giving an opportunity to Satan. Now, I don't know about y'all, but if there's people, if there's someone on earth you didn't want to give opportunity to, it's Satan.

We recently had a lot of car break-ins in my neighborhood. And people just go through and just pull on car doors. That's the extent of their effort. If your car door is unlocked, opportunity. If your car door is locked, next house. And what he's saying is if you allow anger to hang out, to dwell with you, you unlock the doors for Satan to come join.

You allow him to hop in. You allow him to begin to mess with things. Let me explain how this works because I get to see this a good bit. You're hanging out with your group and you're talking through something and someone in your group says something. And it's like, okay, that felt like that was aimed at me. They know me well enough.

I feel like that little comment was a shot. Well, then you start thinking about all the terrible things you know about that person because you know them well enough. You start working on your own little shot you might take and then you're like, no, I'm better than that. No, I'm a good person. I'm not going to do that. So now you're a little frustrated with him, but you think, I'm going to let it go.

You don't, but you think that. You tell yourself that. And then you go home. You go to sleep. The sun sets. You unlock your doors.

So here's what happens. It starts to hang around. The next time you're hanging out with your group, you go, you know what? They did that last time. Let me listen. Let me see if they're going to keep that up.

Now you're looking for it. So you'll find something that just kind of fits. That was it. If you can't find one that fits you, you'll go, that was aimed at them. This is just something they do. Now you've got a little lens you're working on with this person.

Slowly you start growing cold towards them. Slowly stuff begins to grow up between you and them. Slowly when they're now talking, you have a hard time even listening to the word they say because you've got this anger growing. You've got this bitterness that's working towards them. And here's what happens. The enemy comes along, puts his arm around you and says, you are so right.

They're doing it on purpose. You start hanging out on a Sunday. You show up. You see them. You look at them. They look at you.

They made a little face. I think they made a face. They look right past you. They wave at the person behind you. That was on purpose. And you don't think that maybe that unfortunately due to genetics, this is just what their face looks like when they're thinking.

And they can't help it. You also don't realize that maybe they just look past you. You also don't realize the fact that you did not wave to them. You did not say hey to them. And the enemy's coming along. At this point, he's rubbing your back.

Yeah. They're doing it on purpose. And suddenly, you have someone in your community group that you have a hard time even hanging out because they're being so fake when the truth is, that's you. You're pretending. You're lying. You're faking.

And we don't even know what's going on with them. And so here's what happens. You have to keep a short account. Something makes you angry? Fine. Go talk to them.

Hey, were you trying to take a shot at me? Here's now you have a couple options. You started the conversation. That's a little scary, but it's good. Were you trying to take a shot at me? Was that aimed at me on purpose?

A couple options. It was. They lie. No. Okay, well, they're sinning. You can't help that.

Maybe the Lord will bring them to repentance at some point. But you're doing what you're supposed to. Other option. Yes. It was passive aggressive, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that.

But I do need to talk to you about this issue. Cool. Now y'all are growing. This is healthy. Third option. No.

But I see how you took it that way. And I just wanted you to know I'm not malicious. I'm just dumb. I absolutely shouldn't have said that. Because I do know your story. But I'm so sorry.

And then guess what? You get to go home. The sun sets, but not on your anger. Americans are really bad at that, so get over it, and you just got to work on it. We're really good at being like, well, I'll just see, and if this gets weird enough, I'll go somewhere else. And we just don't have to be friends.

And no, that's not a biblical concept. So talk to them. Work it out. If you don't know how to go about that, we will help. We will help set the stage for that. Help work that out with your group, with your group leader, whoever.

28. 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. So Paul says, if you've been getting your financial stability unlawfully, stop it. If you've been shoplifting, if you've been stealing, if you've been cheating, if you've been lying, stop it. Let the person who went out of his way to send emails to trick people and to get their social security, stop it. Let him no longer steal.

Now, he's talking about thieves. I would say, I think this probably also applies to lazy people. Just inserting that. Thief seems further down the line than just lazy. What he says is, stop stealing, start working. That Christians are to do honest labor with their hands.

They're to labor. They're to do hard work. To get effort in. That's what Christians do. They work. And then he gives the reason why.

He says, let the thief no longer steal. Let him get a job. And let me tell you something. If you've been stealing, jobs are the worst. If you've been selling weed, a nine to five at Best Buy. Oh, it feels like murder.

I'm just being honest. It's good for you. It's what Christians are supposed to do. If you've just been being lazy and just hanging out because you can get assistance from your family or from some kind of other source and you just haven't been working. Get a job. It's good for you.

It's what we're supposed to do. It's godly. But he says, go to work, start laboring. And then he says, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. So, you stealing? You're getting your provision in an unhonest way?

Are you pretending to be unhealthy to get medical assistance? Are you pretending to be mentally unstable to get medical? Are you doing something that's getting by on the system? Stop. Start working. The question now is, are you working hard?

Are you laboring? When you go to work, when you go home, would Jesus look and go, that was labor? Or was it only labor when somebody was watching? Third question. Is a portion of your income intended for sharing? Is a portion of your income intended for sharing?

When someone in your group says, hey, guys, I really have a need, do you immediately go, yeah, ready? Now, how beautiful is that? If every person who is a Christian just had a whole set aside. He doesn't say give it all away. He says share. Had a share.

Had a set aside portion that was ready for needs. Isn't that beautiful? When Jesus comes along, thieves get jobs and begin to share. They do the exact opposite of what they had been doing. 29. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths.

29. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths. But only such as is good for building up. 30. 30. 30.

30. 30. 30. 30. That it may give grace to those who hear and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. So the Holy Spirit has sealed you.

He's talked about that in Ephesians already, that the Holy Spirit has sealed you. He's claimed you. He's made you his. And that when we speak in a corrupting way, in a way that corrodes, in a way that destroys, in a way that harms, the Holy Spirit is grieved. It hurts him. The Holy Spirit is a person.

He's not a force. He's hurt. It's harmful. It's almost as if, have you ever been in an argument where these two people are arguing, but their mom's there, or their grandma's there, and that's the person who cries? Do you know what I'm talking about? Like these people are saying the most harmful things, but they're so angry, and there's another person at the table who just is so hurt.

Because that's not what that's supposed to look like. That's the Holy Spirit in you when you're tearing somebody down. That he's just hurt. Because that's not what that's supposed to look like. That's not how Christians are supposed to speak. So he says, let no corrupting talk, which means that anything that works to harm, to corrode, to destroy, to rust.

Sometimes I think about it like the tin man. He was out working, doing his thing, and then it started raining, and then he turned into, he locked all up. I've seen this movie. You know what I'm talking about. And somebody had to come back along, and put oil on him, to try to get him working again. Some of us, you're like that.

You know that. You know things that someone said to you, that worked its way into your joints, and there's a whole part of your life, that just doesn't work right anymore. It just doesn't move like it should. You had somebody speak something into you, and you know, sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will harm me forever. That's really how that ought to work. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will crawl into my soul, and destroy me.

That's how it works. You have stuff that somebody said to you, that your father said to you, that your uncle said to you, that mean girls in middle school said to you, that still sticks with you. You can't curl your hair to this day, because of some random thing somebody said to you. There's this whole part of your life, that just doesn't work right. And that's not how Christians, are supposed to talk to each other. We give grace.

We give oil. We free people up to move. And so we fan the flame. We put wind in people's sails. That's how we talk to each other. Now he says, as fits the occasion, which means that sometimes it is gracious, fitting words to correct someone.

That's what Proverbs says, that profuse are the kisses of an enemy, and beautiful are the blows of a friend. That sometimes correction comes from those who love us, and cherish us, and that's gracious. That's good. That's what Jesus does. He corrects us in our sin. So sometimes you could say something really nice.

It doesn't fit the occasion. It didn't help. But Christians come along, and they say words of encouragement. They spur people on. They challenge people to do better, to work harder, to follow Jesus, to have more faith. And one of the ways I know that we need this, is if you ever take the time to just go up to somebody, most of us are thinking nice things all the time, by the way.

You think nice things about people. Man, it was so nice that they did that. And then what you say out loud is, your friend walks over, he's wearing pink striped shorts. He says, hey man. And you say, I'm sorry I couldn't hear you, your shorts are too loud. That's what you say out loud.

You don't think, I just want to let you know how good of a friend you are, and how much I appreciate that you're here. And here's one of the reasons I know that we need this, is that if you'll take the time to actually go over to someone and just say something encouraging, you will make grown adults cry. If you just grab someone and say, I just want to let you know, I see Jesus at work in you. And when you called our group to this the other day, I was so proud. And I just want to let you know, you make our community group better. You'll see people's eyes just glisten up, and they'll go, well, thank you.

Sometimes they just go, and it's like, oh man, we so need this. The leadership of our church gets to take a couple days during the summer usually to pray and just kind of to work on some stuff. And we did competitive encouragement, which Romans 12 says to outdo one another in showing honor. And so we just went in a circle, and it was this person's turn, and everybody in the room just said nice things. It was the weirdest thing for us, you guys. It was terrible.

And by the end of it, we were all like, okay, well, that was lame. Because we need this, and this is how we're supposed to talk to one another. We're supposed to give words that build up, that encourage, that move people forward. That's how the church talks. And that's when the Holy Spirit in you is going, that's exactly what I wanted to say. That's exactly what I would have told them if I could have pulled them aside.

So many of us are right now working our whole lives against a negative internal self-talk. about what we can't do, how ugly we are, how dumb we are, how much we ruin everything, and we have been filled by a Holy Spirit, and we've been surrounded by other people filled by a Holy Spirit who needs to come along and grab you up and say, let me tell you how great you are and how much I see Jesus at work in you and how much I believe in you and how much potential you have. 31, on that, on that, some of y'all need to repent for some things you said to some people. You need to go talk to them. And some of y'all need to repent for some things you didn't say to people and you need to go say some encouraging stuff that you've thought.

31, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Okay, so earlier he said be angry, now he says put it away. And here's the thing, it's like as a pattern of life, wrath and bitterness and anger and clamor and slander don't have a place with us. They don't belong in the church, they don't belong among God's people. Bitterness is where we slowly just grow this frustration, hatred towards somebody, this anger towards somebody. Who in your group begins to talk and you start to roll your eyes?

Who in your group starts to talk and you go, here we go again. Who is it they can't even get a word out, they just go, well, and you go, oh my gosh. Who is it that you have malice towards? I hope, I hope they see what happens in their life. I hope, I hope that this finally catches up towards them. You just have ill will towards them.

How many of you when you get angry have clamor, which means loudness? Shouting. saying harmful words. How many of you as a posture of life just have wrath? Anger is what drives you, it's what motivates you, it's how you go to work. Slander is speaking, speaking unhelpful, wrong, evil things about somebody to somebody else. That's why as a posture of our church, one of the things we say is that when you come to me and say, this person did this, my response is, what did they say when you told them?

Because we don't practice slander. Then he says, be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you. this one messes with me a little bit because tender hearted is a cut down in my family. He might as well have said, be kind to one another, be a sissy, forgive one another. Like that's really, that's the way it hits me, like it just, it's kind of, and he just says, be it. Like the most tender hearted member of my family is my brother Vince and I sometimes, like I'll do it at some point, like tell him I'm sorry for all the stuff we did to him. That's a joke, I need to refer to him.

But like he's not like a super tender hearted person, he was just the most in my family and so we were really, really hard on him. I remember one time I had read the book of Mice and Men so I knew how it worked and then I rented the movie and he was watching with me and I knew what was going to happen at the end of Mice and Men. If you don't know what's going to happen at the end of Mice and Men, the guy that you like the most is going to die. So you should check it out sometime. And the way he's going to die is that his friend is going to shoot him to be gracious to him because he's mentally handicapped, he causes some harm that he didn't mean to cause, he's going to spend the rest of his time in prison and so his friend thinks it's nicer to just kill him than to let him live and so I, this is when we have VCRs and so rewinding was easier.

You know, like rewinding was just easier with VCR, it wasn't as quick but you could get where you wanted to go way better than you can get where you want to go with this other stuff. You're like, oh let me see who that person was and then you're 30 minutes behind now, it's all messed up. Anyway, I had a VCR and it was easy to rewind and so I sat and I knew it was about to happen and right when he got shot and fell over, I just went, and you know, still like for just a second and then he was right back up and I did it like seven times. My brother, who was in middle school, was sitting in his little chair and I just looked at him and he was like, and little tears were rolling down his face and I was going, and then Paul says, if you're in Christ, be tender hearted, care, love, when someone's hurting, that should hurt you too.

And he just comes to me and says, do it. Change. Be kind to one another that we as Christians would care about what was happening with each other. when someone in your group ran against the same wall over and over and over and over again, when other people would grow bitter, when other people would grow frustrated, when other people, you would care more almost every single time because not only are they still hitting that wall, but they don't know how to stop hitting it. And we would be kind and we would be tender hearted and we would come to him and say, this is the fourth time you've blown past your budget and you're making your life hard and I'm sorry, but how do we help?

How do I feel what you feel rather than just being frustrated with you? Forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you. That's one of the, I love that, that that is there. If you haven't been around for a while, I want to give you a promise. If you stay as a part of our church family for long enough, we will hurt you. We'll sin against you.

We'll do something so messed up that you'll think Christians should have never done that and you're right, we shouldn't have. And that's why Paul follows this list up with forgive. Forgive. People, I sit with people sometimes and I'm like, I just don't know how to be in that group anymore. And it's like, yeah, I know how you can be in that group. You forgive.

You confront, you get them to repent. They confess their sin and you forgive. You hug them, you tell them you love them. And how do you do that? Because Christ forgave you. That's what we're supposed to look like.

That's who we're supposed to be and he just says, do it. Imagine this for a second. Let's just think about this list that we just walked through. If you were hanging out with a community group, maybe it's the first time you ever went and got around a community group, but if they were actually practicing this, let me tell you what would happen. You'd show up and they would say nice things to each other. And that would be weird because we're just not used to that.

But they would just be going out of their way. You'd start realizing like, man, this is a weird like complimentary, like, is this a cult? Like, you just would start being like, they're just too, there's a little bit too much caring about each other. They'd come in and ask about life things. Hey, you said this last week. How's that going?

How's work going? You still having the issue with your boss? Man, I'm so sorry. You'd have people saying, I just want to tell you how much you blessed our group last week when this happened. They'd get angry with each other and then they would just address it. Some of you, the first time you ever go hang out with a group is going to be the night they're just addressing how mad they are at each other.

Those happen. Let me tell you, those are actually good nights for you to see because it's really healthy for you to see someone say, hey, I need to talk to how, how I don't even want to be here and I'm mad at everybody in this group. And you're like, whoa. And then they talk it out. And they're like, hug and pray and it's weird and sometimes they're like, okay, well, we're still mad. Well, we're going to see each other again.

Like, this is how we deal with it. We got to keep being around each other. You start seeing them forgive one another. You start seeing them say encouraging things. You start seeing them correct one another. In love, you'll start seeing them.

Someone will say, hey guys, I really need something. And everybody in the room hand will just like reach for their wallet. What do you need? It's not weird for you to have a need and it's not weird for you to ask for it. It's beautiful when this starts to work its way around among a group of people as Jesus works in their hearts. Here's what I want to point out as we finish up.

I watched a sketch on MADtv one time where they were doing a thing where, yeah, I've watched MADtv. It used to come on Comedy Central. Don't judge me. Where they were doing a thing where a guy was being a counselor and so somebody would come in and they would tell him his problems and he would sit with his little pen and his legs crossed and then when they finished talking he would go, okay, stop it. And they would just look and he would say, stop it. And he would just yell at them, stop it.

And then he would send them out and charge them and then somebody else would come in and he would do the same thing. And that's ridiculous to us. That's crazy. That's the worst way to counsel ever because we all know that doesn't work and then the Apostle Paul just said, stop it. That's what he said. Put this away.

Pick that up. I want to point this out in this last verse but he's been doing it the whole time. He says, be put away from you. He says, just let that be put away from you. Throw it away. Get rid of it.

And then he just says, be. Stop it. Start. You're welcome. Counseling session over. That's what he does.

It's just like, of course, don't be angry. Like all of us are like, I already knew all these things. Don't steal. But then I'm somewhere and it just feels like, oh, no, no, no, and life's hard and I really gotta, oh, and I don't know what I'd do if I'd quit getting this benefit if I was honest about the fact that I can go back to work. Like, he just says, stop. Start.

Stop. Looking at someone who's bitter and they sit down and say, I'm just so bitter. I just go, oh, let me help you out. Paul says, don't be. You just got pastored. It's a good thing I don't charge for that kind of thing, right?

Like you would just be like, what? That's what he says. Guys, I want to help you see why. Chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. See, he's gotta have this confidence coming from somewhere. Either he's just saying it and he's assuming that we won't really be able to do it, but from what I've read of the Apostle Paul, that doesn't seem right.

Seems like he pretty much believes this is gonna happen. He says, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. Be imitators of God as beloved children. Some of us know all you've got is the imitate God part. You've got the what would Jesus do? And you think the role, the job of a Christian is to work really hard to be good.

And we are. You are supposed to. You're supposed to obey. You're supposed to repent. You're supposed to work really hard to be good. But you're supposed to do it, comma, as beloved children.

You're supposed to imitate God, which means you need to be reading your Bible to see what he's like. Not just winging it on what you think God should be like. Yeah, you need to imitate him. You need to know what he's like. You need to know what he does. You need to know how he responds to sin.

But you do it as a beloved child, which is so helpful. I've got two boys now, which I'm pretty excited about. The one's three weeks old. And yesterday, somebody was over at our house. I was in our community group and she'd been watching them so that we could go get a date. And then we came home.

We were just hanging out a little bit and talking. And my little boy was crying and my three-year-old was sitting there and she looked at him and said to my three-year-old son Archer, she said, tell Ellis to stop crying. Tell him to calm down. And he looked at her and said, he doesn't speak English. I thought, that's my boy. And it's true.

My son Ellis does not speak English. But one day he will and he has no chance of speaking any other language growing up in our house. He's not going to pick up Spanish. One day he's not going to pop out with Portuguese. That cat is going to speak English. He doesn't yet.

My son was right. Telling him things doesn't help yet. But he's going to. That we're going to, because we are God's children, we're going to be formed into the image of God. That we're told in Romans that we're predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. It is going to happen.

If you belong to Jesus, if he has claimed your soul and you have been adopted by the Father, guess what? You're going to look like him. I have a buddy of mine that I went to middle school and high school with. He's a good friend of mine. I liked him. We had a lot of fun together.

And I doubt he listens to this. But he was just kind of goofy. He's real thin. He's funny. But he wasn't super coordinated.

And one day he said, I'm going to join the Marines. And I was like, hmm. Okay. You got any other things you're thinking about or just that one? He said, I'm going to go be a Marine. And I was like, okay.

Now, if you saw him, you would not think, I'm a Marine. If you knew him, really got to know him, you would not think, I'm a Marine. Like you just wouldn't. And this cat, went to camp with June. And then later, I see pictures of him. And he's a Marine.

He's wearing the uniform. Cat's got a sword. People don't get to carry swords. Marines do. Like if I just went and got a sword. Nah, man.

Put it up. But how cool is it to get a sword? And it'd be like an acceptable, yeah, you know, you can carry a sword. Like we've looked at certain people in our society and like carry it around. You got it. He became one.

And here's how the Marines work. You go to basic. You sign. It's over. You are like, it's going to happen. You're in.

Deal with it. And here's what happens. They recycle you. So if you don't get the physical portion down, you don't get to go home. They just start you back over. Everybody else gets to move on.

If you finally get that and you don't get the gun portion down, guess what? You don't go home. They just recycle you. Now eventually that breaks down. But guess what?

With Jesus, it doesn't. If you're down here on anger, guess what? Eventually you're going to look like Jesus. If you're down here when it comes to hard work and sharing, guess what? Eventually you're going to look like Jesus. And that's why Paul just says, stop it and pick it up because he believes that the Holy Spirit is going to work in you, that you are a beloved child of God and that you're going to imitate Him because you belong to Him and eventually you're going to make it.

Now that is extremely encouraging because some of you are in here today thinking, will I ever stop? Will this always win? Will I ever accomplish this? And guess what? At one point, you get a uniform and a sword. You get to look like Jesus.

It's going to happen. And that's why we all aggressively work this direction and expect this out of each other. You don't get to peg a person in your group and say they're just like that. No, they are now. But they're not going to be.

You don't get to peg yourself and say that's just who I am. No, it is who you are now but you're not going to be. I have a son who cannot speak English who every time you wake him up poops on himself. He's like that now. He's not going to be. And that's us in Christ.

And here's why. Walk in love, verse 2, as Christ loved us. And gave himself up for us. A fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.

Put on the New Self

Put on the New Self

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Spencer Carey. I'm a pastor in training here with Mill City Church. We're going to be in Ephesians 4, verses 17 through 24 today. So you can go ahead and turn there in your blue Bibles.

It should be on page 569. If you don't have a blue Bible, please take that home. That is our gift to you. So growing up, I grew up in the lake, and one of the things my brother and I love to do is we love to go to this bridge. It's called Jake Knott's Bridge. It's on 378 going towards Saluda from Lexington.

And we love to go to that bridge and jump off of it. It was one of the best bridges on the lake to do it. It was like 35, 40 feet, but once the water went down, because they repaired the dam for like seven years, it was a 55-foot jump. And it was a lot of fun. You'd go, and you'd get there, and you'd climb the rocks. You'd come up the side of the bridge, and then you'd look over the edge.

It's a highway. It's 378, so cars are going 55, 60, 70 miles an hour. You had to wait until you found a solid gap of cars, and then you'd jump the fence. You'd run straight in the middle of the bridge, jump up on the ledge, look down, and jump. I mean, it was a thrill. And we probably jumped off that bridge, no doubt, like 200-plus times.

And you'd go, and you'd get as many jumps in as you could, because at some point somebody was going to call the cops or DNR, and it was over. So you had to get a bunch of jumps in really quickly and then hit the road. The last time that I jumped, I was getting ready to go to college, and we got one of our friends. Her name is Sarah, and she never did anything wrong. She followed all the rules, and we somehow convinced her to do it with us. So we take her out there, and we look over the ledge.

We see the gap, and we jump over, help her get over that fence, run to the center of the bridge. It took a little longer to get to the center of the bridge, and all of a sudden, the car is getting closer and closer and closer, and that car has lights on it. We step up on the ledge. I'm like, Sarah, that's a cop. We've got to jump. And I did the honorable thing.

I jumped and left her behind. And she wouldn't jump, so the police officer pulled over. He was really kind and let us off and said, just go home. But we had so much fun doing that as kids. And it wasn't until years later that I realized something. We did all those jumps, and not once did we ever have a spotter.

We never had anybody looking at below the bridge because this is how the bridge looked. It's a four-lane bridge, the open lake, and there was a cove behind it. And in this cove, there were boats, and there were docks, and there were people that lived there. And it was also a big fishing cove. So there are boats coming underneath that bridge all the time.

Not once did we think about, maybe we should put somebody at the bottom of the bridge to give us the go-ahead. We never thought about that, not realizing that one of those days, we're going to time it horribly, jump off the bridge as a boat comes underneath and crash into the boat. Did not think about that one time in our entire time of jumping. And you don't think about that kind of stuff when you're kids. You don't. You don't think about the consequences for your actions.

You just live in the moment, and you do what feels right. The foolishness and ignorance of that is a picture of all of us outside of the grace of God. Just looking for momentary fun, not realizing the consequences for our actions. And today, in our text, we're going to see a clear picture that Paul paints of the old self and the new self. The old self outside of life with God and the new self that has been transformed with Christ. And as we walk through this, I want us to be honest.

I want us to sit back. I don't care if you've been walking with the Lord for 30 plus years or if you're just now starting to explore Christianity. I want us to approach today and just be honest and ask ourselves, where are we in light of these two pictures? Where do we fall? So as we walk through this, verse 17 through 24.

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 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. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ, assuming that you've heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus. To put off your old self, which belongs to your form and manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful practices, 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 and true righteousness and holiness. Let's pray and we'll dive in. God, thank you for your word. I pray that we would be present this morning. You would show us who we are in light of this text and you would let the word pierce our hearts. We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen. Alright, so this passage bridges the beginning of chapter 4. So we started off Ephesians 4 and we talked about how the call is God wants to unify his church. And then out of that, last week, Raph talked about how he has raised up leaders in the church to equip the saints, to equip the church for the work of ministry, for the building up the body, to grow into maturity. This comes right after that. And what Paul's doing, he's giving a clear picture of the old and new before he starts issuing commands.

What follows after this is going to be clear commands for the church and how to live this out. And he starts by giving a vivid picture of the old self. He says, verse 17, Now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as Gentiles do in the futility of their minds. 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. Now, we're to understand what Paul's doing here. You have to work through his logic.

And to do that, you have to work backwards. You have to get to the end here where he says the hardness of heart. All right, so what he's saying there, hardness is a hardened heart is a dead heart. It is cold. It is unable to love God. And out of that, out of a hardened heart, flows those descriptions he gives when he says ignorant, alienated, darkened in understanding, futile in mind.

So out of a hardness of heart flows those descriptions. And that's true for anything. If you are hardened towards anything, there's going to be a lot of baggage that comes with it. Like if you are hardened towards trying new, really good foods. Like my toddler, Ellie, she, the first time that she, that I ever put bacon in front of her. I was like, you, I was like, Ellie, you need to try this.

And she says, mm-mm. I was like, no, no, no, no. That's for me and my household. We eat bacon. So I did the most PETA-approved thing in the world.

And I forced it into her mouth. And she tasted it. And her eyes just lit up. And it's one of her favorite foods. And she would have never known. I had to push a little bit.

But as a toddler, she's growing. And hopefully one day she's going to continue to try new foods and expand her understanding of the food universe and what is so great out there. Some people never grow out of that. One of my wife's friends, her husband doesn't eat hardly anything. He's a grown man with two kids. I think he eats steak, chicken, french fries.

And that's about it. Like we went to a Mexican restaurant one time. And you could tell he was nervous. He didn't want to eat it. I think he might have even ordered chicken figures. And I was like, what, what's going on there?

He just, I don't eat anything. He has a hardened attitude towards food. And if you have a hardened attitude towards trying new food, you are ignorant of all the amazing flavors that you're missing out. You are alienated yourself. You alienate yourself from all the different categories of food, from Mexican food. And I know in Colombia, that's the only Latin food we have that we know about.

But there's more. There's Cuban and there's Ecuadorian. There's Peruvian. There's all kinds of flavors out there. You've alienated yourself from Chinese food and Thai food and all these other things that you could experience. And you live in the dark, not knowing what else is out there.

And your palate is futile. It's futile. It's worthless. And the same way, hardened hearts are ignorant to what is good, alienated from God, walking in darkness with no purpose in mind. That is the logic that Paul works through. So now that we have the logic, let's work through the top going down.

He says that you no longer walk as Gentiles do. So Gentiles being anyone who's not Jewish. And for this context, that's many people. And the way that New Testament uses Gentile even broadens it out to say that anyone who's outside of Christ. So that picture for those who are hearing this letter read is going to bring up all the memories of who they used to be when they were formerly outside of the family of God.

And that's a helpful picture for us because for many of us, we can remember what it was like to not know Christ and how we used to live before them. Some of you became Christians at a young age. My wife, she became a Christian at seven. She doesn't really remember a whole lot beforehand. But she's been walking in obedience and growing ever since.

And that's the kind of testimony we want for our kids. But others of you, if you're like me, you remember clearly what the old life used to look like. Like I can clearly remember some of the most fallen moments before I became a Christian when I was 17. I remember in high school, my brother called me. And he called me and he said, hey man, I need you to come home. I just left for school.

And I was like, why? He said, I need you to come pee in a cup. And I was like, what? He's like, I'm getting drug tested this morning. Mom and Norm, my stepdad, Mom and Norm are taking me to get drug tested. I need you to come home.

I said, Mikey, that will not do you any good because you and I both know we would both fail that test. So I was like, I did see on TV that if you put bleach in it, like you just take a little bottle of bleach, it'll kill the test. You'll pass it. You'll be good. He said, all right. All day, I'm waiting.

I get home. I can tell the mood is not well. My mom sits me down and she says, I have something to tell you. We took your brother to get drug tested. And he failed. I mean, he failed after like four attempts.

He kept putting, what we found out was bleach in it. I don't know where he got that idea. But he ran out of bleach and he finally failed the last test. And I don't know what we're going to do with you boys. I thought we knew what was going on. I feel like I need to get you drug tested too.

And I said, Mom, I understand. I understand. Like if you feel like you need to do that, then we can do that. I mean, it's going to mess with our trust. But if you want me to do this, just name the place.

I'll go and do it. So my first thing was manipulate. Manipulate lie. Get through the situation. The next day, I went to GNC. I got a drink that's supposed to cleanse out all the toxins.

Drank it. Puked my guts out. Ended up the lie worked. I got through it all. And then years later when I became a Christian, I was trying to explain to my mom, no, clearly there was an old life and I was explaining it to her. And I used that example and she was floored.

And I was like, yeah, I used to enjoy the world. I would lie and manipulate to get out of things. That's who I was. And some of you, you can clearly remember pictures of your old self. Maybe you were like me and there were weekends of heavy drinking. The next drink and the next drink and the next drink to drown out the world.

Maybe your story is before being changed by the gospel, sex in and of itself was just a means to an end. It was just meant to be enjoyed. It wasn't how God had created in the confines of marriage to be joy between man and woman. No, like it was just a means to an end. And it was the next person, the next person, and the next person. Maybe you were also like me and you didn't just tell lies.

You were a liar and you manipulated. Ephesians 5.25. We're going to get to that next week. He's going to address that. Maybe you didn't just struggle with anger now and then. You were an angry person.

Like a wrath-filled, angry, maybe even violent person. And that's who you were. And Paul's going to address that next week as well. Fill in the blank with whatever that picture is. He's trying to draw out an image of who you used to be as Gentiles. It's who you were outside the family of God.

And then he gives the picture. And then he kind of goes behind the picture explaining what's going on. In the same way that every year my wife and I, we do a Christmas photo with our kids. In the past few years, we've crushed it. We've like nailed the Christmas photo. Partly because my sister-in-law is a professional photographer.

She's really good. But the other part of it is, is that we do a lot of work to get that one photo that we send out. Because my daughter, while she is cute as a button, she's not photogenic. Because when you tell her to smile, she sneers. She's like, nobody tells me what to do. I'm like, we're working on that obedience stuff later.

But for right now, we've got to get this picture done. And we run around being silly, going around in circles, and then finally crash together for the one moment of a good snapshot. There's a whole lot that goes in behind the picture. And that's what Paul is explaining as he keeps going. When he says, in the futility of their minds. Futility means without purpose.

Without meaning. That your mind is not grounded in purpose. It's not grounded in meaning. And this comes off the heels of last week. When the call was for the church to grow into maturity. That we might stand firm.

Not being driven to and fro. Not being driven to and fro by the winds of false doctrine. Know that we'd stand firm, rooted in the gospel. Because our minds are rooted in purpose and meaning. And man, the futility of our minds. Like that is the picture of America right now.

Like I feel like America is like the kids. We're like the kids from Ricky Bobby and Talladega Nights. Like running around the house screaming, anarchy, anarchy. And the other kid goes, what's that? I don't know. We're just screaming stuff and jumping on the bandwagon of whatever trend comes up.

Like there's been a lot of protests that have happened over the past six, seven years. I remember back to the Occupy Wall Street protests. And not making a statement on protests. I'm for them when they're what they're supposed to be. But just interviewing the people at protests has been hilarious.

They interviewed people at the Occupy Wall Street protests years ago. And it's like some of them had no idea what was going on. They were clueless. They just jumped on board because that was the next trend. There's a guy who lectures around the country. He's Jewish.

He's an intellectual. And he lectures at different colleges. And people will protest his stuff because he can be inflammatory at times. And people will literally show up these protests and they will scream Nazi at him. And I'm like, aside from the fact that, no, none of what he's saying is actually Nazism. He's Jewish.

Like what? And it's like we jump on every single trend, jump on the bandwagon. And it's kind of humorous and sad when it's stuff like that. But it's so much less humorous when our culture is jumping on the bandwagon of completely redefining entire categories of gender. And making gender so fluid that we don't even know what it is by having so many different categories of sexuality. It's a whole lot less humor when that kind of utility shows up.

And we as the church are called to stay grounded and rooted in the gospel. Rooted our minds. Rooted in his word. So that when those trends come, we don't jump on the bandwagon. And we might get called every name in the book. You might be called backward and bigots and archaic and old or whatever.

But no, we stand firm because we're rooted in purpose. Rooted in truth. And it also means that we think through stuff. We actually use our minds. We don't mindlessly, here's one, we don't mindlessly share things on Facebook. Like sometimes I see Christians and they share things on Facebook that are blatantly not true.

It's either from a fake website or whatever. And it's like, no, that kills your testimony when you share things. It's actually lying when you're sharing things that are false. Like we are called to be rooted in truth. Rooted in the gospel. Having minds that are rooted in purpose.

Because hardened hearts are ignorant to what is good. Alienated from God. Walking in darkness with no purpose in mind. So then Paul, he makes the shift to the next picture. He says darkened and understanding. Now this is similar to the futility of the mind.

It's just a little more descriptive in the reasoning process. And how the understanding process is darkened by sin. On a large scale level, what does that look like? One of the biggest pictures we have of this is the Holocaust. Like historians will ask consistently. Like they'll ask how did the Holocaust happen?

How did six million Jews get murdered in an attempt to exterminate an entire race of people? Well it started because darkened minds began to reason together. If you look at German history leading up to the rise of Hitler. There were philosophers. There were political people. There were even some theologians.

That were stained by the prejudice against Jewish people. And that grew and it grew and it grew. And until finally someone came along. And when Hitler came along with his rise. The spread of Nazism spread throughout Europe. Which I didn't.

I thought honestly. I thought that Nazism was just a German thing. I didn't realize how far it had spread. But my wife and I were watching The Crown recently. The Crown is a Netflix series on Queen Elizabeth and the monarchy. And I didn't realize that her uncle.

The former king of the British Empire. That he was a Nazi sympathizer. There are pictures of him at concentration camps. With Hitler. And there are statements of him saying all kinds of stuff about Jewish people. And that sentiment grew and darkened minds began to justify themselves and reason more and reason more.

To where Jewish businesses started getting destroyed. And people started getting shipped off to Auschwitz. Darkened minds justify every step along the way. Anything from yeah I think it's reasonable that the Jews caused our problems. To I was just following my orders when I put them in the gas chamber. Darkened minds will reason every step along the way.

The Holocaust and anti-Semitism. That's a large scale picture of that. Well how does that happen on a practical level? On an everyday level? How do darkened minds justify anything else? It looks like when you worship success.

Like if you worship success. And you idolize and you make it a false God. You will do anything to get it. You will backstab. You will manipulate. You will lie.

There are entire TV shows and movies and books dedicated to this. When success is God. You will do anything. You will justify every step along the way. Same thing happens with our kids. I love my kids.

Kids are awesome. Kids are terrible gods. They are terrible idols. And when you worship your kid. You will do anything and everything for their comfort. For their peace.

For their happiness. For their joy. And it shows up at football games. Like I told my wife. We will not be that family. I will not be that dad.

That verbally and physically assaults coaches and referees. Like I'm fairly athletic. There's a lot of the rest of my family that's not. There's probably a good chance that our kids are just not going to be that great. And when the coach puts them on second string. They put them on second string.

And I'll try to support them as much as I can. But I'm not going to go punch a coach out. I'm not going to go scream at a referee. When you elevate your kids to the level of worship. They are terrible idols. And you will justify every step along the way.

It looks like when God has given us gifts. Like common gifts. Like beer and wine. Alcohol is a gift that he's given to creation. I know that some of you are going to push back on that. And try to point to the Bible.

You're going to have a really tough time. Explaining that from the scriptures. But God has given us a good gift. And what happens is we take that good gift and we want to abuse it. With the next drink. And the next weekend.

And the next party. And the next sip. All the way down the line. We will justify ourselves to drunkenness. That's how loneliness makes its way all the way down to pornography. And every click along the way can get darker and darker.

And every justification. Every step of justification will lead you down that path. That's how the pursuit of power has resulted in a sexual harassment and assault epidemic. I mean not every single story that has come out of the Me Too movement has been legit. I recognize that. But it has shown us a ton.

A ton of destruction in women's lives. In some men's lives. Because people worship power. And when you worship power. One of the darkest ways that shows up. Is I will use you for my sexual benefit.

And I will show my power and dominance over you. All of this and so much more happens. Because hardened hearts are ignorant to what is good. Alienated from God. Walking in darkness. With no purpose in mind.

And Paul he keeps moving. He gives two more pictures. He says alienated from the life of God. Because of the ignorance that is in them. So this first picture.

Alienated from the life of God. That is those who are outside of the family of God. They are outsiders. They are foreigners. Which honestly I feel like is one of the sadder pictures that we have here. Because of what you are missing out on.

Outside of Christ. You are missing out on a relationship. With a good heavenly father. We are like the kids in Home Alone. In the very beginning of Home Alone. Kevin.

Played by Macaulay Cogan. He is at the window. And his brother comes in with a friend. And he says. See that old man. Remember this?

See that old man. He goes. That is the South Bend Shovel Slayer. And he makes up this whole back story. For this old man. He is like.

Yeah. He murdered his whole family. With a shovel. And he buried them in salt. And he goes around. Shoveling the sidewalks.

Remembering. As a kid. When I watched it. It is terrifying. The whole movie. As Kevin is dodging this old man.

His neighbor. You are terrified too. And then. At the end of the movie. Kevin is at a Christmas Eve. Church service.

And the old man shows up. And there is that moment of tension. And then he sits down beside him. And what you quickly realize. Is that all those stories. Are a lie.

He is actually. A really sweet old man. Who loves his family. He can kill his family. His granddaughter is on stage. Singing in the choir.

And he loves his family. And he is a good man. At the end of the movie. The South Bend Shovel Slayer. Comes in. And he knocks out the wet bandits.

And saves the day. Right? In the same way. In the same way. When you are alienated from the world. You believe lies about who God is.

Because the world makes God to be. An angry. Violent. Old man. When in fact. We know through belief in Jesus.

Our God is not. Angry and violent. In the picture. That is so negatively. Pam. By the world.

That while he does. Have justice. He also is a God. Who cares deeply for us. And defends us. From evil.

And many. Miss out on that relationship. Because of the ignorance. That is in them. When you are ignorant. You don't know any better.

You don't know. What you are missing out on. Recently. My wife and I. We got. My brother.

My brother got us a reservation. At the private opening. Of Allo Diaz. I don't know if you know. Allo Diaz. It is a restaurant.

In Ballantyne. It is an Italian restaurant. It is a finer Italian restaurant. They just open up a location. In Lexington. And they do private openings.

So that you can. Basically go. And you eat for free. And they get to work out. All the kinks. Before they actually open.

The restaurant. So we got to go. And we. I mean. We. We enjoyed it man.

We ordered. Appetizer. We got two of the more expensive. Entrees. We got two. Really good desserts.

And man. We. Enjoyed. This great Italian meal. Ignorance. Would be like.

If I had a table for four. And I got to invite. Some of you. And I said. Listen. We got a table for four.

A free meal. Whatever you want. At Allodias. It's going to be amazing. And you come back and say. Allodias.

No. No. Allodias. It's Italian. Oh. I don't like Italian.

Oh. Did you have like a bad experience? Like. There's always. What's going on? No.

I had a hot pocket. I had Italian sausage. And I hated it. So I hate Italian food. And I'm like. No.

No. No. No. No. No. No.

This is not the same. The hot pocket is not Allodias. They're completely different. And you are just standing firm. Saying. No.

No. No. I'm not having it. It's like you're ignorant to what you're missing out on. You're missing out on a free feast. That is amazing.

And the same way you are missing out. On a free life with God. That begins right now. through belief in Him and extends into eternity and gets better because at the end we're in the presence of a holy and perfect and good God. What's worse is that you are also ignorant of some of the pitfalls that come with that and some of the dangers that lie in that when you're missing out on. And the picture is that you're like ignorant teenagers jumping off a bridge not realizing that one day you will not land safely in the water. Eventually sin is going to catch up to you it will destroy you and you will miss out on what God has to offer because hardened hearts are ignorant to what is good alienated from God walking in darkness with no purpose in mind.

And Paul he keeps going he shows the hardened hearts towards God and then he moves through that and he gives another picture of heart and he says callous callous which is also hardness and when you are callous you're given into sensuality greedy to practice every kind of impurity. Now the way that Paul uses sensuality and greedy to practice every kind of impurity in other texts one of the pictures it brings up for this culture specifically is sexuality and how that it can be greedy to practice every type of that and that's the first image that comes up when these words are being used but it's also broadened out to mean every other kind of impurity every other type of sin that a callous and hardened heart will try to fill that void with whatever you can you will pursue every type of impurity to bring fleeting happiness that will never actually satisfy. So that's the picture that Paul gives us on the front end and you might be wondering like why does he go so descriptive on the negative? Like why does he use such strong descriptive turns?

The reason he does this I think the reason he does this is because we need to feel the weight of hopelessness that comes with our former life.

Equip the Saints

Equip the Saints

Raz Bradley

Transcript

G'day guys, my name is Raz. It's good to be with you this morning. Excuse me, I'm sorry, I was singing so loud that my throat is super parched. I want to begin this morning with a simple, pretty easy question. What does a mature church look like? That's really the question.

What does the mature church look like? What are the marks of a mature church? What kind of things do they do? What is it that qualifies them to be called a mature church? Typically, when you talk about maturity, a good starting place is age. Typically, youngers, kids are not so mature.

You could say, oh, he's mature for a nine-year-old, but really you're saying he Acts 10. But otherwise, age plays a factor. And our church is just about to turn five. We started about five years ago in March. Are we, by nature, an immature church because we're only five years old? Is a more established church, maybe 50, 100, 150 years old, are they inherently more mature because of their age as an establishment?

Maybe not. Maybe it's more to do with the age of the people in the church, right? Not the establishment, but the people who make up the church. Maybe their age plays some kind of a part in it. If you look at our church with the current rate of reproduction, our average age is going down month to month as kids are added over there. But if you exclude Kid City and just kind of ballpark this room, my guess is somewhere in the mid-30s would be where our kind of spectrum meets, somewhere in the mid-30s.

So because we're a church with an average age of mid-30s, are we inherently immature because of that when there's other churches out there where everyone's in their mid-70s? Are they inherently more mature? Maybe age has nothing to do with it. Maybe it's to do with tenure. Tenure would refer to how long the people in the church have been Christians. So if this church, the average tenure is eight years, and that church, the average tenure is 30 years, are they inherently more mature as a church based off of the amount of time people in there have been Christians?

Maybe. Maybe it has nothing to do with age or years or tenure or anything like that. Maybe it's more to do with how is this church structured versus how is that church structured? What is their position on this doctrine? How strict are they when it comes to that thing or that thing? Maybe it's how good is this church at engaging the culture where they're at?

How good is this church at bringing new people in? Maybe all of these different things factor into what it is that makes a church mature. How do we measure that? When we see it, how do we know? What is the metric? That's kind of the question that I want to open with today.

Um, we're in this middle of this Ephesians series. Last week, we kind of turned the page. We moved from the first half of Ephesians into the second half. So Ephesians is a six chapter book, six chapter letter, really. The first three chapters really cover a lot of theological ground. They cover a lot of these things are true about Jesus.

These things about true about the gospel. These things are true about who you are as Christians. And then in the second half, it kind of says, because of all these true things, this is what life looks like. Because of all these true things, here's how you go and do marriage, how you go and do life together. This is how you go and do work. This is how you go and do submission to leadership, that kind of stuff.

That's all true. This is how we live. And we turned that page last week and entered into chapter four. And we talked a lot about unity, how unity in the church is one of the big goals. And we had that recurring theme of one, one, one, one God, one faith, one baptism, one Holy Spirit. And this week, we're going to move pretty quickly from that idea of unity to the idea of diversity and how those go hand in hand in the life of the church so that we can have one kind of vision, one kind of goal for the church.

But it actually takes a pretty diverse crowd to make that goal happen. I'm going to pray for us as we as we open up the word and then we're going to get into Ephesians four. Father, we thank you for the opportunity to learn from your word this morning. I pray that it can be foundational for us as a church, as we understand who we are, how we factor into your big picture and what we can contribute. I pray that as we look at Paul's words to the Ephesian church, that that can be mirrored, that their strengths can be mirrored in our church and in our lives. It's in Jesus name we pray.

Amen. If you've got a Bible, open up to Ephesians four. If you've got one of these blue guys on one of the chairs in front of you, it's going to be on page 568, but only for a little bit. Then it's going to go into 569. So kind of a deceiving slide up there.

It's a bit of both. We're going to be reading starting in verse seven. It says, but grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. And saying he ascended, what does it mean? But that he had also descended to the lower regions, the earth.

He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. Now, in this, we're going to keep reading. But in this first little section, there's a little quotey bit there that's indented and quoted and that kind of thing. That's a little chunk out of Psalm 68. And what Paul is doing is he's referring to some Old Testament history, a little bit of Old Testament foresight and prophecy, and also a little bit of Old Testament, old fashioned imagery of what kind of happened back in the day. So these words were actually written by David, King David, a thousand years before Jesus was even a part of the picture, really.

I mean, Jesus has been a part of the picture forever. But before Jesus was born as a baby into the world, this happened a thousand years before then. And back then, what would happen is when the kings would go to war, there's all these different nations, everyone's vying for power. The kings would go to war, and when they would conquer a particular area or a city or a village or whatever, they'd beat the other army, and then they'd loot all of the villages and that kind of stuff, and all of the valuable things they would collect. And they would bring it all back before the king, and the king would give portions of those as gifts to the people who were pivotal in the military conquest.

And so the commanders or the guys who fought bravely or whoever trained the horses, I don't really know who got the gifts. The king would say, you were important, here's your share in the loot, basically. And so what Paul is doing in this little section here is he's laying the groundwork to say, Jesus also does that for us. When Jesus conquers death, conquers sin, he is also a king who destroys all of his enemies, and he gives gifts to the church just as a king used to do back in the day. So that little brackety part and the quotey part, that's what's going on there, is Paul saying, just as David talked about this back in the day, Jesus both fulfills that and does that for the church today.

We're going to talk a little bit today about what those gifts are and how that plays out. Now, before we keep reading, before we get into the next chunk, I want to kind of illustrate like ahead of the game so that I can refer back to the picture that I'm about to paint for you. And I thought, what better way to appeal to my audience is to speak in American isms. And I would normally, you know, kind of lean into my foreignness and come up with some interesting foreign thing to explain. But I actually think this is going to be helpful.

I get the opportunity now to explain American football to you. And I'm obviously going to crush it because you guys have no idea and I know everything about it. And so bear with me as I struggle my way through this. And it's relevant because I just watched a game for the first time last week. I'm kidding. I've seen more than one game.

But I did watch the Super Bowl last week. So it's fresh in my mind. I'm going to crush this. It's going to be great. In football, I'm just, I only know half the game. So I'm just going to refer to the offensive team.

Because in America, you have multiple teams on your team. And that gets confusing. So I'm just going to, let's pretend we're only on offense. Okay, we're only on offense. Now, the offensive team has one goal. That one goal is get the ball that way, like down the field.

It doesn't matter. I mean, it's got to get a certain distance. You've got to get to the line that the TV magic's on there. And then you've got to get beyond there. And you've got to just keep going until you get to the logo, right? That's called the end zone.

See, guys, I know some stuff. Your goal, get the ball to the end zone, make the touchdowns, get the Ws, that kind of stuff. As a team, all of our team is united in our effort to move that direction. As a team, we want the first down. As a team, we want the end zone. As a team, we're working together to just go that way.

And when somebody doesn't go that way, everyone goes, no, go that way. Because that way is the goal, right? But within the team, there's all these different people who have different jobs. And I am about to crush this as I explain all the different jobs on the offensive team. You have the catchy dudes on the side. Their job is to catch.

They line up with everybody else. They stand on the side. They run forward. And they go that way. And then that guy throws the ball. And they catch it.

And sometimes they do the flip. Sometimes they do the thing where they jump over the other guy. They're the nimbly, bimbly dudes who spin around and keep running. They're quick. You can't catch them if they take off. They're the catchy dudes.

They stand on the sides on either end. They're called receivers, guys. I looked it up. Don't worry. Then you have the running guys.

They're called running backs. I don't really know the difference except that these guys aren't expected to catch the ball. So you give it to them. I guess they can't catch. So rather than standing on the side and running that way, they have to run across, grab the ball in the middle, then keep running.

And they either run straight into all the people and stop or they run around and they go all the way. That's the running dudes. So you've got catching dudes. You've got running dudes. You've got big dudes. They form the line.

I don't really know what their job is except weigh 600 pounds and start here and go to here. That's their job. And then there's one special big dude. He's in the middle. I don't know if he's called the snapper, but that's what I call him. He gets the ball and he goes like that.

And then he goes like that. Two jobs. Gets the ball. One Job. Second Job. Two jobs.

Snappy dude. And if he does any of those jobs badly, he gets in a lot of trouble. Two jobs. Then there's the tight end. He thought I was going to skip the tight end, but I'll look this one up too. I didn't look up what he does.

I just looked up the name. So I might not get this bit right. The tight end, I think, is probably the most multi-talented person on the offensive team. I don't know for sure, but he seems like he's got a lot going on because he's expected to be able to do this. But if there's nobody to do this to, he's expected to run and then catch the ball as well.

And if somebody else catches the ball, it's his job to stop the other people from stopping the guy who catches the ball. And then sometimes he's expected to come this way. And if that guy doesn't get the ball, he's got to get the ball and run all the way around. So the tight end, he's got a lot going on. But he's bigger than most of the other people.

So he's not that fast. So he normally gets stopped. He's a little bulldozer-y. He can kind of plow his way through some people. But anyway, that's the tight end.

Then there's that guy. He stands back here. This is the stud muffin of the team. The quarterback, I think, if my movies have taught me well, he's the prom king. He dates the head cheerleader. He gets paid like $300 billion a year.

And his jobs are to catch the ball and throw the ball and not get injured. I think prom king paid lots of money. Don't get injured. That's pretty much what he's... That's his job. And it's actually pretty cool.

Like, I've been... When I first moved here, I thought, you know, the quarterback does absolutely nothing. But then, you know, when they play the highlights, it's pretty awesome. When he throws... Like, he does math in his head. Like, that guy's running that way.

That guy's running that way. I know he's going to turn. So I'm just going to throw it there. And he's going to... Like, that's pretty cool when that happens. Like, it doesn't happen all the time, especially when you're watching college football.

But when you're watching NFL, it happens all the time. And it's really cool. All of that is to say, everybody on the team working together, one goal. Move the ball that way. Everybody on the team, diverse in their skill sets. They're not all expected to do all the things.

They're all expected to do one thing pretty well. And if you mess up your one thing, like, everyone gets real mad at you. You've got to be able to do your one thing. You've got to be able to do your one thing super well. The point is, unity in the mission, strength as a team, only when everybody's doing their part, right? So that's the goal of the illustration.

Now, it's not perfect, but it is going to help explain what's about to come next. Because just as a strong football team needs that diverse set of skills, so also a mature church is going to need a variety of strengths, too. We're going to look at verse 11. Verse 11 through 14, actually. And it says, So when it says, and he gave, it's talking about when we talked about earlier the conquering king giving gifts. This is Jesus, our conquering king, giving gifts to the church.

It says, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Paul is saying this. He's saying, The church is gifted with different kinds of complementary leadership, whose Job it is to equip the saints for ministry, so that we will attain unity of the faith, become mature, and reach the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That's what he's saying.

Now, that's a complicated sentence, so we'll break it down. Now, to be clear, those five categories that he lists, apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, it says that those five categories are given to equip the saints, to equip the church. That gives us an indication that these five people are leaders in the church, and what Christ is doing is he's giving these forms of leadership to the church to equip the church. Now, I don't think that list of leaders is exhaustive. I think there's other ways you can lead the church as well. But I do think that they give a good picture of what it looks like, at least as far as a team that is functional, what kind of five categories of strength are needed in order for the church to be strong.

Paul is saying that these five types of leadership are present in the church to equip the saints for ministry. Now, a mature church, a strong team that can get the ball to the end zone, a good team, a good church that can move the ball down the field, needs to show signs of these five different types of leadership. They need to show signs that all five of them are present and working together at the same time. We're only going to really scratch the surface on this, but in order to explain the strengths of each one of those, I'm going to do a little bit of defining those strengths. And I say that deliberately as defining strengths, because when I was talking about the football team, I was really trying to distinguish different players from each other and say, this is how they're different.

And I don't so much want to make you think of these leadership characters, these leadership positions as distinct from each other, so much as each one has a particular strength, a particular leaning that they're better at. So it's not to the exclusion of all others, so much as this one is stronger over here, that kind of thing. So we'll walk through them. They're apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, and teachers. Apostle literally, when translated from Greek, it means sent one, a person who is sent. Apostles lend themselves towards entrepreneurship.

They're really leaders. They're pioneers in their field. In the church, they have a vision for the gospel moving forward, and they rally people together to do that mission. And they're church planters. They're missionaries. They're the people who train future leaders because their vision for the future of the church is specific, and they want to move people towards that area.

That's kind of how an apostle leans in its strength. Prophets is the next one. Prophets are mostly concerned with maintaining faithfulness to God. That's true in the Old Testament when we think of the word prophet. Israel would stray from God's path, or Judah would do something that's in conflict with what God has instructed them to do, and he would send a prophet, and that prophet would just be the person who's supposed to correct the direction that the church or the nation at the time was headed. And they function, you know, we don't have this title of prophet today, but the leadership function is pretty similar.

These guys are concerned with holiness in the church. They're concerned with calling out sin. They're concerned with pointing people back to the truth. And it's not just in the church. It's in society as a whole. People who show that prophet leadership style are fairly politically engaged.

They stay up to date on the controversial issues of the time, and they're not really afraid to hold their ground in those situations. The next one is evangelist. Evangelists proclaim the gospel. The gift of evangelism is really the ability to speak to people about Jesus in a way that is easily received. So these guys are typically pretty convincing, pretty lovable.

They're good storytellers. They're naturally infectious. That kind of personality that draws you in and is easily able to explain to you why something is better than something else. And the next one is shepherds. Shepherds are mainly concerned with relationship. They're mainly concerned with community.

They're mainly concerned with family. They want to make sure that the relationships are working the way that they're supposed to. And so when they see conflict, they help other people solve conflict. When they see weakness because of, you know, this area of the church or this area of this group of people are fighting about something, it's the shepherds who want to maintain that unity in the family. Teachers are mainly concerned with the transfer of knowledge and wisdom from one generation to the next. So for millennia, we have relied on the Bible for all of our source of truth.

It is the teachers in the church who really take that to heart. This is what we have believed forever. This is the truth. This book is foundational for us. We must make sure that the next generation believes that about this book as well. That's essentially the function and the role of the teacher.

So you can see even with a basic overview, apostles being the leaders and the pioneers, the prophets being the ones who maintain faithfulness, encourage others to maintain faithfulness to God, the evangelists who are proclaiming the gospel, the shepherds who are concerned with maintaining unity in the church, and the teachers who want to make sure that the next generation is equipped as well. With all of those playing at the same time, you can see how that would contribute positively to the life of the church, at least to make that team strong so that as we're moving towards Christ-likeness as our end zone, we stand a chance because we've got those five different categories leading well. So we have these five categories of leadership in the church. The question becomes, what do they do?

Now we're going to pick it up in verse 12. It says, They equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. I think that this verse in particular, verse 12 in particular, it raises an important question because we've just discussed that it is the leader's Job to equip. The question in this verse becomes, whose Job is it to do the work of the ministry? And it says that the leaders equip the saints for the work of the ministry, right?

So whose Job is it to do the work? Typically, I think the cultural understanding, the normal social understanding of whose Job is it to do ministry would be ministers, pastors, church staff, employees kind of deal. That's certainly what, when you would ask that question without any context, whose Job is it? To do ministry, people would typically fall back on minister or pastor. Maybe a little, but that's certainly not how Ephesians 4 reads, right? Now, for definition's sake, there's a word in there that might trip us up.

That's the word saint. Saint, certainly if you look in a dictionary or just general life, typically brings with it this idea of the person who's super holy, has a little halo that buzzes around their head. In the Catholic Church, it has a lot to do with how well a person lives their life so that they can be sainted in the next life and intercede on behalf of us in different ways, the patron saint of this and the patron saint of that. Most of that seems arbitrary and outside of the authority of Scripture, certainly outside of the context of the book of Ephesians. So in Ephesians, a saint is basically any Christian in the church.

If you are in the room and you are a Christian, you are a saint. Welcome to the club. It's great. You can pick up your halos on the way out. The saints, actually in verse 1 of Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 1, this book is addressed, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus. He's talking to all of them.

He's talking to the church. He's talking to everyone who is a Christian, who is a believer in the church. So when it says, when we read this passage and it says that the leaders equip the saints for the work of the ministry, what he's saying is the leadership, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, their job is to equip the church. It is then the church's Job, the church's responsibility to do the work of the ministry. That's not exactly what we expect. So what does it look like?

What happens when the everyday missionary, the everyday pew sitter or ugly green chair sitter in our case, what happens when that person takes ownership of their responsibility to do the work of the ministry? Well, this passage says a couple of things. It says they attain the unity of the faith, that they grow in their understanding of the knowledge of Jesus, that they mature, and that they move towards the fullness of Christ. As a church, that sounds like our end zone to me. That sounds like the direction that our team is moving towards. That's what happens first.

And as a result, this is in verse 14. As a result, we see that the church is strengthened. It says, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness, and deceitful schemes. That's what the church looks like. So at the beginning, when I said, what does a mature church look like?

That's a pretty good answer. The mature church looks like this, moving towards that goal, and unshakable. Unmovable, not tossed about, not easily deceived. They're strong, they're capable, and they're unified. The church, I think, starts to look a lot more like Jesus. The church starts to exhibit some of those qualities that we talked about in the leadership.

So the leadership who is equipping the church, the church starts to look a little bit more like that leadership. The church is strengthened based on its ability to be like Christ. Now you might be wondering what that toss to and fro about by the waves would look like. In 2003, I was 14 at the time, so glorious middle school years, a little known author called Dan Brown released a book called The Da Vinci Code. Now it didn't blow up immediately, but it blew up pretty quick after that.

It became a movie, it became all sorts of like conspiracy theories and everything. Now this book, to be clear, is a fictional book. It is on the same bookshelf in the stores as Harry Potter, as Lord of the Rings. It is in the fiction section. This is not a real book. Well, it's a real book, but the content is not genuine history.

But, because it refers to some historical characters, people lost their minds. And so at its core, this fictional book, I'm emphasizing fictional. This fictional book is really just a quest for the Holy Grail novel. There's a bunch of them out there. This book in particular, quest for the Holy Grail novel. And it really, the whole conspiracy about it rests on the fact that back in the day, the symbol for cup is the same as the symbol for woman.

Right? Obviously, guys, woman and cup, same thing. So whenever back in the day, this cryptographer or whatever in the movie says that that mistake was made back in the day and the Holy Grail became this big thing. And so he even bases his argument on Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper. You've all seen the Last Supper, the big painting. It's got people eating around.

It's a picture of Jesus and that kind of stuff. It was painted in the 15th century, guys. That's 1,480 something years after Jesus walked the earth. This painting was way after Jesus. And this whole movie, this whole story, based on the fact that they couldn't count 12 disciples in that photo and it looked like one of them might have been a girl. And because cup and girl and woman are the same thing, it must mean that the Holy Grail is actually a woman.

And it must have been the woman in that painting that was painted 1,400 years after Jesus. And you know what? I bet Jesus was married to her. And when Jesus was married to her, that girl must have been Mary Magdalene. And so if Mary Magdalene is the Holy Grail and Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had kids, then those kids are still in the world today. And those kids in the world today have part of the blood of the Holy Grail in them.

You guys, I might be the Holy Grail. That was the point of that book. And in 2003, 4 and 5, the church lost its mind. And the church went, what if Jesus did get married? What if it was to Mary Magdalene? What if I have the blood of Jesus in my veins?

And it just went, and all the pastors all across the world were going, guys, what are you doing? Wrong book. And it's because the church was deceived. And the crazy part is, the crazy part is, when Dan Brown wrote the book, it was not his goal to try and screw up the church. His goal was to write an entertaining novel that would be interesting for people to read and I assume make lots of money doing it. And yet the church, for some reason, was deceived anyway.

That's what it looks like. That is like the furthest it can get for the church to look like to be weak, for the church to look like immaturity, for the church to be deceived and thrown about by the waves. And so for us, it probably won't, look, I hope it won't be that again. But it might come in the form of the next book that talks about how everybody is going to get into heaven. or the next book that, you know, somebody has a dream or a vision and they have a conversation with Jesus and they write it down to try and convince the church that the new thing is this other thing that we've been wrong all this time and we now have to do this other thing.

The next time one of those books comes out, the mature church says, this book over that other book. That's what it looks like for the church to not be tossed about to and fro by the waves. So it continues in verse 15 and he concludes with this. He says, rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. And I think that really seals the deal, right? This whole idea of the team needs to work together for the team to advance is really summed up in that.

They grow up in every way into him who is the head Christ when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. When everyone is playing their part on the team, the team gets stronger. The team looks more unified and the team has less weaknesses. And on our team, on the church's team, that team is growing towards Christ. That is our end zone, the fullness, the stature of the fullness of Christ. So I think that what we get to say is the mature church looks like Jesus.

And I think a good way to think about it is back in the day when the Truman Show came out, I remember this distinctly for some reason, the Truman Show came out and the movie poster for the Truman Show was like a million little snapshots from his life. And you know, there was the one little, when you look up close, there's a little photo of him walking his dog and riding his bike and eating food and at the store and at his job and all these little photos of him. And when you stand back, it's actually a collage and you see his face, right? And I think that's the same for the church because we have some people who are really good at conversations with married couples who are struggling.

We have some people who are really good with their finances and coaching other people how to make a budget and be generous with their finances. We have other people who are really good and compassionate with how do we reach out to the homeless and how do we reach out to the people who don't feel loved? And we have all these different people who make up this bigger picture that when we step back and we see the church, hopefully it looks like Jesus. That's kind of how I pictured that, right? So a mature church has all kinds of people with all kinds of talents in every walk of life, all with unity in the spirit, working together to do the work of the ministry, building each other up to grow more like Christ.

So the question becomes, what does that mean for us? How do we become more mature? What steps do I have to take in that direction? I don't think it's too much of a stretch. It's a little bit of a stretch, but it's not too much of a stretch for us to say that the church, us Christians in the room, we should start looking more like Jesus and we should start looking more like those five, at least corporately as a church, our church should start showing signs of those five different strengths, those five different areas, prophet, apostle, evangelist, shepherd, teacher. I think that corporately, if we lack any of those, if we start leaning too much towards, you know, our church is very leadership oriented, our church is very groundbreaking, we're very apostolate, but we're really not shepherdy or teachery or we're really not evangelistic, then we start to topple this direction and be really, show a lot of weaknesses over here in that direction as well.

And so we see that the mature church, not just in the leadership, but in the people as well, is really going to show all five of those different areas. To explain a little how that works, I'll talk a bit about us as a church. And some of this is going to be a little critical, it might hurt a little, I'm not sure how you guys are going to feel sensitivity wise to this. But I'll talk about strengths first. I think as a church, we're pretty strong on that, on the prophety side. I think we're pretty strong on, you know, we believe this book and we don't really move from it.

And so society can come up with a new definition of marriage, society can come up with a new definition of gender, society can tell us when people are allowed to sleep with each other and we say, no, we land here. And I think as a church, that is a strength of ours. Now we don't go out and pick fights. There's some people out there who, you know, just inject themselves into politics for the purpose of ramming the book down people's throats. But as, as those issues come up, I think our church stays, stays pretty true to the word, pretty true to the Bible.

And we don't really have any intention on believing anything that's outside of this anyway. So I think that's a strength for us. I also think that we're pretty good at shepherding and teaching. I don't know if you know this, maybe you haven't been around long enough, maybe you're super new here, in which case, this might just be good information for you about our church. We, we are really into this idea of building up leadership from within. Anytime there's an area in our church that we, we want to see growth, we will do what we can to empower the people that we've got with the, the equipment, with the equipment that they need, with the stuff that they need, with the training that they need to be able to go and do that job so that when Kid City blows up, we take the people we've got and we, we help them lead that well.

When the next thing comes up that we're going to want to corporately sponsor or corporately get behind, we're going to get the people that we've got and we're going to equip them to be able to go and do that. What we don't do is something that's pretty common in every other church is that when a vacancy appears, they form a committee and they hire someone from Texas, Nebraska, someone who Skyped in for an interview and they get someone else to come in and fix the problems that are here. That is a pretty normal thing in the church these days and I think for us as a church, we're pretty strong in that category, it's pretty strong in that area. We take training the next generation pretty seriously and we build up from within and I think that's good for us.

Some areas, one particular area that I think we're not as strong in. When it comes to those five areas, I think we're not the most evangelistic church ever. This is where I get a little bit self-critical of us. I think we're not the most evangelistic church ever. I mentioned earlier that we're coming up on five years old. When we started five years ago, there was eight people in a living room.

Obviously, we have grown since then. But anyone who's been around for a while knows this because we've talked about it some, is that somewhere about probably just over a year ago, we hit the ceiling. We've created our own ceiling. It's somewhere around 100 people so that every time our church grows a little bit, we hit 100 and then we bounce back down. Then we hit 100 again and then we bounce back down.

And something's going on there where as a church, we've just kind of lost our hustle on growth, on expansion. And I think that plays against our evangelistic ability. And so that's why as a leadership, we've come up with this idea for the, you've heard it the last couple weeks and we're doing an everyday missionary training thing. It starts in a couple weeks where we really want to be doing exactly what we're supposed to, equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. And if equipping the saints means identifying that we've got a weakness here in evangelism, we've got a weakness here in this evangelistic category, how do we help our people see that weakness and want to overcome it?

See, identify the issues there that are preventing us from being successful in that area, being strong here and overcome it. So we see the weakness and we're doing what we can starting in a couple weeks trying to raise awareness for this to try and get stronger in that particular area. Because as an organization, we're kind of leaning this way and that area over there, the evangelism category is a weakness for us. Now, I don't think that's a deal breaker. I don't think that makes us a bad church or an immature church, but we need to address that so that we can be mature and continue to grow as a church.

Because if you've got a weakness on your team, you need to fix that weakness or the whole team is going to struggle to move forward. Does that make sense? So, I think that we will see our church mature as we continue to identify our weaknesses and make them grow. So I want to help you out here because maybe you've also seen some weaknesses or maybe you've, it's not necessarily that you've seen a weakness, but you've seen an area where maybe we're just not strong. Maybe it's not necessarily that we're bad or that we're weak at it, we're just not strong there. Um, maybe you've, uh, some examples might be that maybe you've, you've, you've been around for a while and you think, man, I just wish that our church did more for the homeless.

I just wish that our church got behind helping the poor, helping the poor. Sorry. Uh, maybe you, maybe you're thinking, uh, our church doesn't have a very good system for helping people who are struggling with anxiety or depression. Maybe, maybe you think, uh, maybe you think our church, uh, could, could use some help in, in working out how to help new believers take that next step, how to, how to help new believers understand where to start when they want to study the Bible. people. And chances are, if you're asking or, or thinking any of those things, uh, you may not think immediately that you're gifted or strong in that area, but you're certainly passionate about it where perhaps not enough other people are.

And so I think your role in that situation is, is to be the one who identifies that weakness for us, uh, and helps us take, take steps towards, you know, what, what is it going to look like to equip the saints to, to handle that issue? And let me tell you this, if this starts happening, it'll probably happen first at a groups level for us. Uh, you spend enough time around us, you're just going to feel like we're ringing a gong for groups. And we are, and we will, and we will continue to, until the gong breaks. Because we believe in our community groups, and we believe that that is the best way for, um, for people in our church and people in general to relate in such a way that they can grow, uh, on the back of the, the word of the, of truth that comes out of scripture.

So every week we'll, we'll have a sermon, we'll, we'll have a, um, something going on on Sundays. And then throughout the week, we'll have opportunities to live out that truth in community groups. Uh, and I think, especially when we're talking about teamwork and what it looks like to have different strengths in the team and move that team forward, that becomes most obvious in groups because you know each other well and you know what you want to achieve as a group. So a couple things on that. If you're not in a group, that would be a great first step for you because, uh, that would really be you getting on a team in order to play a team sport.

And if you're not in a team, it's really tough to play a team sport. Um, church is a team sport. Uh, if you're already in a community group, uh, first thing would be to be fully invested in that group. Uh, and that means, that means a couple things, but, but first it means be there. That's it. Be there because we, we kind of, there's a trend.

I don't know if it's a trend so much as it's just human nature is we, we, we make poor excuses for why we don't have to be there. Things like, I'm kind of tired or I'm kind of hungry or I have an exam in a week. All these kinds of things, uh, they, they just come up and they get in the way and, and when you're not there because you were tired or when you're not there because you had an exam, the team feels it because it's a team sport. And if you're not there, the team misses you and you also don't get the benefit of the team. It's, it's a two-way street. You need to be there for the team and you also need the team in your life.

And so when the quarterback is missing, somebody else has to play quarterback and the ball doesn't move down the field. When there's no receivers, the quarterback has nobody to throw it to and we've got to let the running dudes do all the work. That's how it works in community groups. So if you're in a community group, be invested and be there. Unless you have the flu, stay home. If you're already a group, in a group and you're already there and you're already invested, help that group get stronger.

Your role in the group is to play your position well, play to your strengths well, help the group identify weaknesses and grow in those areas. Find its weaknesses and this is what Spencer was talking about last week, what it means to be unified in this effort. With humility, gentleness and patience, speak the truth in love so that your group can find those weaknesses and instead of hating you for pointing the finger at the weakness, they want to be on your side so that your group can grow up to the stature of the fullness of Christ. That's your role if you're already in a group and you're already there all the time.

Help that group get stronger. The band's going to make its way back up and this is where we're going to land the plane and this is what I'm going to leave you with. There is no sitting on the bench on this team. We have a much higher calling than coasting. This is not a spectator sport where in American football you get to say I'm an Eagles fan and therefore I celebrate because the Eagles won. That doesn't work in the church.

You're either on the team or you are not. There is no bench warming. We have been given the responsibility of doing the work of the ministry. That is not a spectator sport. And until we all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, we haven't done that yet. This is what the mature church looks like.

It looks like Jesus. It looks like a team that needs each other, that complements each other, that each person is doing their part on the team so that the ball can move forward. That's what a mature team looks like. And when that's happening, that team is impenetrable. It does not show weakness. It can't be moved.

And when each person is doing their part, working together, the team grows, the church grows up into Christ and is built up in love. That's what a mature church looks like. And that's the kind of church that we get to be. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the opportunity that you have given us to learn from your word. And I just pray that we can show those five signs.

I show that our team can be united in our effort to grow into the fullness of Christ and that we can take seriously our responsibility to contribute to that. I pray that that will rest with us not just for this week but for the rest of the year, the rest of our lives. That we can contribute something valuable to the church that the church may grow. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Unity

Unity

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm a pastor in training here with Mill City Church. We are in Ephesians 4. We've been in like Ephesians 3 for four months. I know that's not completely accurate because we had a couple series in between them, but we have finally made the shift into four, which in Ephesians, the first three chapters are doctrine and theology for the church as an encouragement.

The next three chapters from four to six are the application of that, how we actually live that out. So we finally made it. We're in Ephesians 4, verses 1 through 6 today, which is going to be on page 568 in your blue Bible that is near you. If you don't have a Bible, please take that home. That is our gift to you. In high school, I played two sports.

I played football and I played baseball. Now, I realize when I say that some of you just died inside because you heard a sports reference. It's the Super Bowl, so it's a little bit appropriate today. But I can't give you a whole lot of musical ones. I love music, but I was not good at music and still not. I was in orchestra in the fifth and sixth grade, and I was last chair of the cello section.

I might as well have been last chair for the entire orchestra because I was terrible at it. So I've got sports to work with. And in football and baseball, I had two vastly different experiences. My football team was a unified bunch of guys. We loved one another. It started at the top.

We had a coach that loved us, that invested in us, that spent time with us, that built the identity of family that we were supposed to play with. And we did. We loved playing together. We had each other's back. My sophomore and junior year, it doesn't matter how much you love one another. If you don't have the talent, you don't win games.

So we didn't win a whole lot of games. But my senior year, we finally had the talent to compete, and we won a lot of games because we were a team. One of my favorite experiences from that senior year was the last summer practice before the school year started. We had a guy that missed practice, a senior that missed practice. And he got there for the last five minutes, and he explained the situation, and it was a difficult one. He was working a job.

That job helped support his family, and he could not miss that shift. But we had rules. We had rules on the team, and if he wanted to be on the team still, he was going to have to run for it. And what we did, because we were a family, is a dude, you know you're in a tough spot. We're going to run with you. So we ran all the sprints together, and that kind of set the tone for the whole season.

We ended up losing the semifinals, but it was a great season. My senior year of baseball, or just my baseball team in general in high school, was a completely different experience. It was different for a lot of reasons. We had a strong tradition of winning. Won a lot of titles over the years. Our coach had a great baseball mind, but we were not a team.

We just weren't. We weren't a unified bunch. From the top down, our coach, he knew baseball, but he didn't really show a lot of investment in us. He didn't really care for us off the field. It just was a different feel altogether. So we won a lot of games until my junior year, when the talent ran out, which is when I also started playing.

And the talent ran out. We weren't a team. And man, for two years, we didn't win as many games as we had in the past. There was a lot of finger pointing, a lot of clicks on the team. It was just weird. Some of the same guys I played football with were on the baseball team.

And it was just weird. One of the worst moments I remember was there was a game where I was in second base, and I ran out to catch a ball between me and right field. And the ball dropped right between us. It was my fault. When I got back to the dugout, my coach laid in to me, which is fine in sports. But then he got two former players from our freshman state title team who were in the stands to come around to the dugout and to shame me in front of all the other players.

And it was the most embarrassing moment I've had in sports. And on top of that, none of my teammates backed me up. It just was that that was us. We just weren't a unified bunch of players at all. Unity is vital for the health of any organization, for the growth of any organization. I mean, companies get this.

They spend millions of dollars every year investing in team building. There's entire team building recreational centers that are designed for this, that you might grow in being a unified organization. There are tons of books. There's tons of thought on it. I think if you boil down unity in a team, unity in an organization into three things, there are three things that rise to the surface. There's a culture, firstly, of team over individual.

A culture of team over individual. There's usually a leader or a set of leaders that everyone can get behind, that everyone will rally behind. And then lastly, there is a cause that everyone's bought into. Those three elements show up in unified teams. And the reason that this is true is because God has designed us this way. We have been designed to function and to flourish as a unified team when these three things are present.

And they show up in our text today. We're in Ephesians 4, verses 1 through 6. And in this text, we're going to see a culture of unity, a culture of team over individual, a culture of whole church over individual Christian. We're going to see the leader that we rally behind. And then we're going to see the cause that we're bought into. So I'm going to read the text.

We will pray. And then we will dive in. Verse 1. Verse 1. Let's pray.

God, I'm thankful for this word. I pray that we would receive it. I pray that we'd be able to be present. And I pray that you would go to work on our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so he starts out, verse 1.

He says, I therefore. So that therefore is the big shift. From the first three chapters to the next three chapters as he closes out. I love it because it builds off of what was preached last week, Chet. Preached on the love of Christ. It was a summary of the first three chapters.

And the depth of the love. The height of the love of Christ. The greatness of the love of Christ. So everything in those first three chapters. All the force of that gets pulled in to these first few verses. And he says, I therefore a prisoner for the Lord.

So that little insertion there is him saying, I'm in prison for you. He's writing this letter from prison to this church. And he's letting them know, I'm in prison so that you would believe the gospel. I'm in prison so that you would get this. So that you would walk in a manner worthy of the calling.

So he's heightening it up. Showing the importance of what he's getting ready to say. He says, I therefore a prisoner for the Lord. Urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. And this is when the shift happens. All the theology and doctrine of the first three chapters.

Everything that he says from chapter one. That you were chosen. That you were adopted. That you were sealed by the Holy Spirit. That you were dead in sin. That you received grace that you could not earn.

All of that that went into your redemption. You were called to walk in a manner worthy of that. So he's continuing to heighten it up. And at this point, the Ephesian church imagined when they originally heard this. They kind of saw what was coming. These letters, like the Ephesians and Galatians and 1st and 2nd Corinthians.

These letters circulated throughout all the churches. So they're probably familiar with how Paul writes. And they're probably wondering what's coming up. That he's getting ready to address some things that are going on in this church. So they're nervously awaiting.

And then he shifts into the next verse. He says, with all humility and gentleness. With patience. Bearing with one another in love. Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit. In the bond of peace.

And when they get to that. At that point, they see it coming. I mean, he kind of tipped his hand a little bit in chapter two. When he mentioned that the wall of hostility. That was between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Those who were not Jewish.

That there is disunity in this church. And he is going to address it. And he starts by addressing it with the first principle. A culture of team over individual. It is not about you. It's about the church as a whole.

Disunity was a major problem in the Ephesian church. And many other churches in the New Testament. Because of these differences between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. And he starts by addressing it. Addressing the pride that is dividing them. By mentioning with humility.

With humility. Alright, so that word humility. In the Greek. In the original language that this was written in. Was not a word that Greco-Romans across the Roman Empire were familiar with. It's not a word that they used.

In fact, we don't really even see it show up. Until the New Testament starts using it. They basically had to invent this word. Because in Greco-Roman culture. Humility was not a quality. Being proud.

Being confident. That was a quality. That they upheld. But they didn't. Humility wasn't a thing for them. So they had to invent a word.

And a concept. For a culture that didn't understand it. Which I think. Is actually really cool. That they got to invent something. We actually don't see this word used.

In contemporary non-Christian sources. Until after the early churches begun. I think that's pretty cool. They got to invent a word. And a concept. For a culture.

That didn't really understand humility. And the English language. We don't get to do that. I mean. We don't get to invent cool things. The words that we get.

Introduced in our language now. Are words like yellow. Which somebody should punch Drake in the face. Forever mentioning that word. We get words like squad goals. And phrases like that.

We get words like clap back. Right? I was in the office the other day. And I was talking to Matt. I was talking to Chet. And I used clap back.

It just came out of my mouth. And they said. What? What did you say? I said. You know.

I clapped back. And I could look into their eyes. And I could tell. What they were thinking. Like we had so much hope for you. Like when you came here.

We had so much hope for you. And you just crushed it. Because you used the word clap back in the sentence. And I was like. It's like. You know.

You say something to somebody. And you insult them. And they clap back. And they insult you back. Like I saw it on Twitter. I won't use it again.

Like we. We even had the dumbest things. We even had things like triggered. And microaggressions. Which are my two favorite awful ones now. That you.

Someone could say something to you. That would so offend you. It would trigger you. And cause microaggressions. Small aggressions. Like that.

That blows my mind. That we invent stupid things like that. We don't get to invent cool words. And cool concepts. Like humility. But they did.

They got to bring that into their language. To show them. The value of humility. And Paul. He goes after their pride with it. He goes after their pride.

To show. How these Jews and these Gentiles. Have been divided. Because both of these groups. Jews and Gentiles. Both thought that their backgrounds were better.

They both thought that their culture was more superior. So you can imagine. How their early community groups were. How they were. I mean. You had.

If there was ever a problem in them. You had Jews on one side. That were like. Listen. We're the chosen ones. We've been here.

For like 2,000 years. You guys just got brought into this. Like. The problem must be with you guys. We certainly can't be the problem. On the other side.

You got Romans. And Greeks. And Africans. Who are like. What are you talking about? Like.

We're Roman citizens. We're dignified. We've. Guess what. We just got a copy of the Old Testament. And we've seen your history.

You guys fight all the time. It has to be on you. And these two sides. Are. Are completely. Divided.

In a lot of ways. Because of their cultural backgrounds. Because they both. Are prideful. And they think. That they're better than one another.

Because here's the deal. Pride. It kills humility. Because if you think you're better than someone else. If you think that you're always right. That you've always got the right answers.

You've always got the right ideas. You can't actually ever be truly unified. I mean. Many of us. We've been in community groups. In churches.

With people. That are just like this. They always think that they're right. The church that I came from previously. Was in a. A seminary.

A city. With a big seminary. And there's a lot of groups. That had seminary people in it. And man. Sometimes seminary people are the worst.

I was one of them. But man. They. They would argue over the smallest of things. And they always. Always.

Always had to be right. Always had to get the last word in. And it's like. Then arguments can come out of that. And people can get upset. And then you might go to reconcile with someone.

Who always thinks they're right. You might go and say. Man. I'm sorry. I got. I got heated.

And then they'll come back with. Oh. I'm sorry. You got upset. That's a non-apology. That's.

I mean. That's not. An apology is. I'm sorry. I sinned against you. Will you forgive me?

It's not. I'm sorry. You got upset. And. And. And you see this happen.

In community groups. And if you're like. Man. I've never seen this. I've never actually. I don't think I've ever come across people like that.

There may be people in your group. That are thinking it's you. Pride shows up in a lot of different ways. It shows up when. Maybe you have someone in your group. That you were just annoyed by.

Like man. Because. Because sometimes you get in groups of people that have. Completely different personalities. And you're like. Man.

That person annoys the crap out of me. And I know. That. I know I can't just like dip out. I know that we're supposed to stay in this together. But man.

I can. I can avoid them. I can not return their texts. If they want to hang out. I don't have to return their phone calls. You know what?

I think it's time for us to launch a new group. We need to be more missional. You know what we'll do? We'll launch a new group. And when we launch this new group. We're going to send them out.

And then I'm good. I don't have to hang out with them anymore. Listen. If that is your mindset. You need to know. This is free.

That our God is a God of irony. He just is. And if that's your mindset. Get ready. You will be with that person. For the next three group cycles.

Like it's just. That. Because. If we just get to hang out with people. That are just like us. If we just hang out with people.

That have the same interests. And that don't bug us. How are we ever going to grow. In actually loving people? How are we ever going to grow. And actually be able to.

To endure different personalities. No. We have to grow in this. The last way I see pride. There's many ways. But the last one I'll mention.

As far as that I see pride. Sometimes. Some of us. Will listen to sermons. Or will read the Bible. And will think.

This is good for somebody else. Now. Encouraging someone with. A word. Encouraging somebody with. Something you heard in a sermon.

Is fine. But here's the deal. If you're listening to a sermon. Or you're reading the Bible. And you're not letting it impact. Your own heart first.

And at the overflow of that. Encouraging others. It comes from a place of pride. Pride. Destroys. Unity.

And that's why Paul addresses it. On the front end. And then he goes into the next part of the approach. He goes into. Gentleness. He calls them to gentleness.

Now. If you're like me. This is a struggle. Gentleness for me. Is a struggle. Because.

I go hard after everything. I will bring a sledgehammer. To take out a tiny nail. That's just my MO. Like I just get excited about things. And Matt and Chet first realized this.

Really early on. When I got here. That I would get excited about the smallest of things. And would get all intense about the smallest of things. That is why you've heard so many jokes about Chipotle over the last year. It's brilliant.

Because the Chipotle MO's debate. It illustrates two things. It illustrates the differences that are there. Petting one against the other. But underneath it all.

It's Chet just giving a small dig. Because he knows. That gets me stirred up. Because I'm like. Listen. Chipotle's obviously better.

Mo's has rice pellets. You can't call that a burrito. Just because you have queso. That's not how that works. And I get all excited about this kind of stuff. And it's.

And it's fun. Right? But gentle. The lack of gentleness is not fun when it's my daughter. It's not fun when I'm raising my daughter. And my wife reminds me of this consistently.

She's like. You can't have the same tone. For every misstep that she has. You can't be that way. And I just come hard after every little thing. Like when she.

Is spazzing out. And swings at my wife. That ain't gonna fly in our house. The tone needs to be sharp. But that is not the same.

As when she smells juice on the couch. Or when she does something small. And the wife says. You can't. You can't blow up over every little thing. You can't get intense about every little thing.

You have to have a tone difference. You have to learn. Gentleness. So my wife comes. In a spirit of gentleness. To correct me in this.

And to help me see. And I am. I am trying to grow. In gentleness. But I am thankful.

That she comes alongside. In a spirit of gentleness. As Galatians 6 says. To help me on this. And the same way. That is what we are called to do.

With other people in our group. With other Christians. That we are walking alongside of. We are called to. When. Maybe someone gets offended.

Maybe you get offended. By what someone says. Or someone says something mean to you. Or your wife. Or your friend. Man.

You don't respond with a sledgehammer. You don't come hard. We come with a spirit of gentleness. How. How much more unified. Would the church be.

If we address one another. Like surgeons. With a scalpel. As opposed to coming out. With some brute force. We are called.

To gentleness. To strive for it. And then Paul keeps going. He says. With. Patience.

With patience. Patience. Patience is not putting up. With somebody. For. For a few different.

Community group meeting times. That's not patience. We have a warped. Sense of time. Because of our culture. Because in our culture.

Everything happens. Instantly. I can pull out my phone. Order food. It comes in less than 30 minutes. I can look at news.

That is happening. In remote parts of the world. All the way across the globe. Everything is happening. Like that. And we have this.

Warped sense of time. That we bring into the church. That we think. Relationships. Should happen. Just like that.

And it messes with the fact. That relationships. Take time. Life together. Takes time. It is walking with someone.

For a year. For two years. For five years. As they learn to walk. In the grace. That Jesus provides.

That's why Jesus says. You don't forgive seven times. No. You forgive. 77 times. I mean.

Think about how long. That kind of relationship is. You need to forgive someone. 77 times. Some of you are like. Man.

You didn't see in our group. That's like a week. Maybe. For most of us. That is a long period of time. Of enduring.

It takes. Patience. As we walk with one another. Which means. That you don't get to run. At the first sign of trouble.

At the first sign of trouble. You don't get to dip out. And switch groups. And leave churches. That's not how this works. Like you don't get to do that.

With your own family. Most of the time. Like with my daughter. When she wakes up from a nap. Sometimes she just wakes up angry. Like I always walk in.

I'm like. How's it going to be? Is she going to be happy? Or is she going to be ticked? And then sometimes she wakes up. And she's ticked.

I'm like. You were too. What possibly. Could you be angry about? I don't get to just shut the door. And say.

You're in here all day. Deuces. And walk out. That's. You don't get to do that with your own family. You don't get to do that with church family.

You don't get to just dip out. The first sign of trouble. Leave group. Leave the church. Nah. It's patience.

We're called to walk in patience. And then Paul. He keeps going. He says bearing with one another in love. Bearing with one another in love. Man.

I'm thankful for the sermon last week. I encourage you to go listen to it if you were not here. We need to grow in reclaiming the depth and the height and the beauty of the love of Christ. Because here's what happened in the American church. In the American church throughout the 60s and the 70s the hippie movement happened. And then like the hippie movement got attached to.

That free love and everything else got attached to Jesus. And the picture of Jesus in the 70s was. He was a hippie. And he. He was like. I love everyone.

Doesn't matter how you live. It's just. It's all. You just love everybody. It's all good. And then.

In the American church. There was a response. Because we saw that. And it's cheap in love. And we said. No.

No. No. No. I like the picture of Jesus. When he's making a whip. And he's beating people out of the temple.

Because our Jesus is about truth. And then a lot of us just bang the truth drum. Man. We bang the heck out of it. We're about truth. And theology.

It's not about this cheap version of love. It's about truth. And doctrine. And theology. And we go all hyped up. And excited.

And we listen to pastors online. And what we did. Was we pitted truth against love. We create a false dichotomy. Which is two different truths. They can go together.

But we say that they don't. We love on one side. And truth on the other. And it's like. That's. Maturity is realizing that those two go together.

I mean. Jesus sums up the entire Old Testament law. All the theology in two ways. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love your neighbor.

So we. We. We fail to. To grow into this. If we don't realize that those. Go together.

If we don't deepen our understanding. Of love. Loving. And bearing with one another in love. Looks like. It looks like.

When you're a mom. And another mom in our church. Or in our community group. This happened a lot in the church that I was at previously. Some mom posts. The most ridiculous.

Over the top. Judgmental. Opinionated mom blog. And it's like. If you don't rub essential oils. On your child's eyes.

Before they go to bed. You hate them. And they will grow up awful. It's like. What. What is this?

Like there are so many. Terrible mom blogs. They're the worst. And someone would post something. That was so outrageous. And so over the top.

And it would make other moms. Like man. I'm a bad mom. I'm a. And then. And then.

What happens out of that. Is. I'm done with her. I don't want to hang out with her. I'm unfriending her on Facebook. I don't want to be in community group with her.

I don't want to deal with her. I was like. No. That's not the response of a Christian. That's not what we're called to. We're called to bear with one another in love.

Now there may be a conversation. That comes out of that. That is. That is reconciled. That said. This isn't helpful.

This is actually hurtful. But you don't get to just block people out. Because. Of stuff like this. We're called to bear with one another in love. This looks like when.

Again. If you've got someone who's just got a different personality than you. It's like. No. You don't get to block them out. This looks when.

When someone hurts you. When someone offends you. When someone sins against you. You don't get to just say. I'm done. We're called to bear with one another.

In love. So Paul. He's driving this home. For the Ephesian church. And for us. He starts to.

To show us. The culture of team. And one another. Over individual. And then he starts to transition. Into the leader that we rallied behind.

He says in verse 3. Eager to maintain. The unity of the spirit. In the bond. Of peace. And what we see here.

To start out with. Is that our leader. Is our God. Spoiler alert. I bet you didn't see that coming. Like our leader.

Is our God. And he focuses on the Holy Spirit. And he's getting ready to unpack the Trinity. That's showing up in verses 4 through 6. But he starts with the Holy Spirit here.

And it's a good reminder for us. Because the Holy Spirit. Is inside each of us. Those who believe the gospel. He reigns inside of us. The understanding is.

Is that the church. Is the new temple of God. The Old Testament. There was the temple. And that's where God's presence was. And that's where he ruled and reigned from.

In the New Testament. We are the church. We are the temple. And God resides in us. And his Holy Spirit. Is inside of us.

And why that's important here. Is because we are all bound together. By the spirit. We are all bound together. By peace. Which means.

We're not meant to be divided. Because God doesn't want his spirit. Divided against one another. So he says the bond of peace here. And the word for bond here. Conveys a couple ideas.

It's used in the bonding together of a building. Into a sturdy structure. This word bond is also used. Into the binding together of individual threads. That make up an entire garment. Paul in Colossians.

He uses it. As how ligaments. Bind a body together. And hold a body together. And out of that. He says there's no individual here.

There's no Jew. There's no Greek. There's one body. Bound by one spirit. Which means there's no more hostility. There's no more hostility.

Because of the peace of Christ. Because individualism. Crushes unity. And that individualism. It took a hard turn in the 16th century. When the enlightenment happened.

And the enlightenment happened. And we took the focus off of God. And creation. And we turned it on ourselves. And we thought about how great we were. And then modernism happened.

And then recently. We're in the age of post-modernism. And we're on the back end of post-modernism. The narcissistic. Inwardly focused version of it. That means it's all about you.

Our culture says it's all about you. Your thoughts. Your ideas. Your feelings. Your truth. You have to live your truth.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard some version of that. Now we in the church understand there's absolute truth. And that that is a ridiculous statement. A ridiculous thought. But here's how that kind of individualism seeps into the church on a practical level.

It shows up when somebody is. Maybe they're sleeping with their boyfriend or their girlfriend. Or maybe they're doing something they're not supposed to do. Or maybe they're choosing something that is just not good for them. And someone else in their community group. Or a group of people in their community group are saying.

I don't know if you should be doing. I'm looking at the Bible. And we're praying. We love you. We don't think that you should be. We don't think this isn't good for you.

And the hyper-spiritualized version of individualism. A person says, no, no, no, no. This is. It's about. God wants me to be happy. Or the even hyper-spiritual version is.

Is that. No, God told me. The Holy Spirit told me. And everyone else who loves them. Who has the same Holy Spirit inside them. Is praying to the same God.

And looking at the same Bible. Saying, no, no, no. I think you're an heir. And we make it about ourselves. And that kind of individualism. It crushes unity.

So he starts in this. And he kind of completes the thought here. Of team over individual. And he introduces leader. And then the leader that we follow really shows up. In verses 4 through 6.

He says, there is one body. And one spirit. Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord. One faith. One baptism.

One God and Father of all. Who is over all and through all. And in all. So Paul, he attaches that culture of unity that he's been building. To the leader that we follow. And the cause that unites us.

And he drives home that unity idea. By using the same word seven times. And when you hear it. You're supposed to feel the force of it. He says one. One.

One. One. One. One. One. One.

One. It is supposed to be that forceful. That you would understand. The oneness. That he is striving for here. The oneness.

That is in the Trinity. He introduces Father, Son, and Holy Spirit here. And we are called to reflect. The God that we're made in his image. We're called to reflect. The unity.

Of our God. That there's one spirit. That unifies us. That we belong to one Lord. Jesus. That there's one God.

And Father of all. And in order to understand that. We need to have a better understanding. Of the oneness that is within the Trinity. That our trinean God. Is one.

He's eternally. Existed. As three. And as one. Before time was created. God has perfectly been unified.

In himself. Now there's a lot of attempts. There has been a lot of attempts. To oversimplify. Our understanding of the Trinity. I've heard people say.

It's kind of like water. It's when it's frozen. It's ice. But when it melts. It's water. And then when you heat it up.

It's gas. It's like our God is one. He's got three forms. Or I hear people say. No. It's like a man who's.

He has one role as a father. He has another role as a son. And he has another role as a brother. Any explanation like that. Is actually a heretical understanding of the Trinity. That goes back to the third, fourth, and fifth century.

It's not one God, three modes. We don't try to oversimplify who our God is. He is three. And he is one. I had a professor once tell me. That when you think of his threeness.

And you thought of his threeness too long. You shift back to his oneness. And when you thought of his oneness too long. You think of his threeness. And the beauty of this. Is that our God is in perfect relationship with himself.

He is perfectly unified. And we are made in his image. Which is why. When our community groups. Are great. Like we are loving one another.

We're serving one another. We're unified. We love it. We love our community group. We love when we meet. It's awesome.

But man. When somebody is mad at someone else. When there's bitterness. When there's sin. That's breaking people up. Man.

How fun is our community group then? How fun is meeting together once a week then? Man. It can be brutal. Because we are not imaging our God. We're not flourishing in the way that we're supposed to.

And being made in his image. God wants us to be unified. As he is unified. God. And he wants us to buy into the cause that unites us. Which is what we see in these final verses.

He says. Just as you were called. To the one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord. One faith. One baptism.

One God and Father of all. Who is over all. And through all. And in all. And the cause is this. The cause is the gospel.

That's what we talk about all the time. And it shows up here. And the one hope. That binds us together. The one hope. That is actualized.

That is real. That Peter. And first Peter calls a living hope. It is alive. We get to see it. In part now.

And we get to fully take part in it. In the future. That right now. God. The hope we have. Is he has made us new.

And that one day. Down the line. There's a day coming. When everything is going to be made new. When everyone is going to be made new. There will be no more sin.

There will be no more pain. We will forever be in the presence. Of our God. That is the hope. That we get to see in part now. We're united by the one faith.

That he mentions here. The one faith. That we could not earn. The one faith. That was given to us. The one faith.

That was secured. By the life. Death. And resurrection. Of our Savior. And we're bound together.

By the sign of the one baptism. Now that's the internal baptism. The changing of our hearts. That is also. What we get to celebrate. Here.

Coming up on this Easter Sunday. That we're going to have some people. In a heated tub. Right in front of us. They're going to step into the waters. And they're going to say.

Jesus is Lord. And they're going to be dunked in the water. Which is a sign that you were dead in sin. And they're going to be brought back up. That you are alive. In Christ.

We are bound together. By that sign. We are bound together. And unified. By the gospel. So the hope coming out of this.

Is that if you've not fully bought into this. If you've been trusting in anything else. Other than the finished work. Of Jesus on the cross. If you thought that your good works can save you. If you thought that your church attendance could save you.

If you thought that anything else. Could stand in your place. And the hope and the appeal is this. That you would believe this. That you would be fully bought in. That you would trust in Jesus as your only hope.

And that you would see that Jesus is better. Than everything else. And that out of that. We would continue to apply the gospel. That's why we talk so much about. Gospel fluency in our church.

That we would apply the gospel. In every aspect of our life. Because that is the cause that unites us. That is the cause that keeps us together. The beauty of it is. Is that we have a father.

Who sent his son. To purchase us his bride. And that as Ephesians says. He has sent the Holy Spirit. As our guarantee. As our down payment.

That we have a triune God. Who is the leader of our church. And we have a cause. The cause of the gospel. That unites us. And that out of that.

We strive. For a culture of unity. We strive. For it to be more about ourselves. More than about ourselves. But about the church.

About one another. Another. So that's what we're going to. Practice this morning.

The Love of Christ

The Love of Christ

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab your Bibles. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 3.

So we are back in our Ephesians series. We spent a good bit of time in the fall walking verse by verse through the book of Ephesians. And we are going to spend a good bit of time in the spring doing the exact same thing. So we took a little break for our Give series. We started this year off talking about Jesus is better than everything else. And now we are back in Ephesians.

How familiar are y'all with the pole vault? Moderately, like I'm a pole vault tier. If that's not what they're called, that's what they should be called. Like I'm not that familiar with the pole vault, so I'm going to explain it to y'all. So the pole vault is an athlete, a track athlete, a pole vault tier, dresses up in like a track outfit or looks kind of like a wrestling singlet.

Don't call it a onesie. They get upset. It's a singlet. And they have a big stick. It's a pole is the technical term. And it is bendy, the stick is.

So it's not like a super rigid stick. It's like a long bendy stick. And they run quickly holding their stick as fast as they can. And then there's like a football goal post thing set up here with another stick across it. I don't think that one's as bendy as the one they're holding. It could be the same type of stick.

I don't know. But it's running across here. And the goal is to take this stick, stick it in the ground. That's why it's called that. And then run. It bends.

And then they jump. And they fly through the air holding on to their stick. At some point they let go. And the goal is to get their feet and then the rest of their body over the... I don't know which one's the pole. This is the pole or that's the pole.

Maybe they're both the pole. But maybe they're vaulting with a pole or over a pole. But they've got to get over. Over... This is the vault part. They get over that.

And then on the other side there's like a big... Like a big mat or air mattress. Like the air mattress you sleep on at your grandma's house. But like... Like also like a gym mat. Like if they had a really big baby.

Like that's what's on the other side. And they fall on top of that. And they do a good job if they get over the goal post. That's like... That was like a win. And then they raise it.

And it's like the opposite of the limbo. They keep raising it. And then eventually they hit the stick. And I think everybody laughs. And then it's over with. And so...

That's what Paul's doing in this letter. And we've reached the moment in the letter where he sticks the stick in the ground. That's where we are today. So the fall... We spent him building momentum. We looked at all the theology behind his letter.

So he... In the fall is building up. He's running towards the goal. He's running towards what he's going to eventually vault us into. And so the fall has been him saying in chapter 1 that all this truth about who God is and what he's like and what he's done. And so he's...

He says that we've been blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. That he chose us before... Chose us in him before the foundation of the world. That he predestined us for the adoption of sons. That he loves us. That he redeems us.

That he gives us an inheritance. That he sealed us with the Holy Spirit. And then he kind of says, so... Because that's true, I pray that you would know this. So the back half of chapter 1 is he just saying, I pray that you would know all that he's done for you in Christ.

All of this rich and deep theology, I pray that you would know it. Then he goes into chapter 2 saying... That you've been saved by grace. You didn't earn this. You weren't good. You weren't special.

You weren't holy. You weren't moral. You weren't smarter. He says, you were dead. You were useless. You were trapped in your sin.

And then by grace, Jesus Christ swapped places with you. That he died for you. That you were saved by grace. And then he says, and you've been now saved by grace. Equipped for works. And then he goes into saying, because we've been saved by grace, we actually get to relate to one another.

And so we spent some time talking about racism. Because that's what he begins to address. Is that both Jewish and Gentile believers need to get along and grow together. And then today, the back half of chapter 3, we're going to pick up in verse 14. He says, for this reason. And so he begins this.

He's saying, because of all this stuff back here. For this reason. For all the stuff I've already said. And then at the end of this, he's going to say, amen. And the next verse is going to be, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. And so what he does is, he takes all of this theology.

All of this dense, rich. I'm going to be careful what I'm saying here. Dense, rich truth about Christ and his work and his goodness for us. And he uses it to build momentum. That's him sprinting. You don't get over that by just sticking it in the ground and trying to build momentum.

Today, he sticks the pole in the ground. And again, I'm not a pole vaulter. Father, I'm assuming where you put the end of that stick matters. I'm assuming that if you do it too soon or too late or at a different wrong angle. I'm assuming that this really matters. That you get it right in the exact spot.

So that with all the momentum that you've built. You can propel yourself towards the work you're supposed to do. And that's what's happening in this letter. That Paul's running full speed with all of this truth. And all this momentum of the truth of the gospel for us in Christ. And his love for us.

And his adoption of us. And his salvation for us. And then today he sticks. That truth. Anchors it. And uses it for the rest of the letter.

He's going to say, now here's how we live that. Here's what we look like to live that. And so today is actually a really important day for us. As we get to see, what is he anchoring in? What was all of that building to put us in? And then the rest of the letter he's going to say, here's how to live.

Here's how to relate to each other. Here's how to love one another. Here's how to get along with one another. And so we're going to pick up verse 14. This is where Paul anchors this to propel us into everything else that we're going to look at. And we'll pray before we read this whole passage together.

God, I pray that you would give us grace today. That as Paul says this prayer and as he transitions this letter from all the true things about you into all the things that we're supposed to do, how we're supposed to respond and live in light of that. God, I pray that you would help us to see this clearly, to feel it deep inside of our hearts, that your Holy Spirit would empower it in us and that you would help us to know your love and walk in a manner worthy of you. In Jesus' name, amen. Chapter 3, starting in verse 14. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

So he begins by saying, because of all this truth about Jesus and what he's accomplished for us in the gospel, here's what I pray. That's what he means by I bow my knee. I submit myself in prayer to the Father. And then when he says, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, what he means is he's the father of everybody. He's in charge of everybody. There's nobody outside of his scope that he's the God of everything.

I like the movie, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? And throughout that movie, he's going to try to find his family after he escapes from prison. And he keeps saying, I'm the paterfamilias, which means I'm the daddy. I'm the father of this family. Like nobody can replace me. And that's what he's saying here is that God is the paterfamilias.

He's the father of the family of everybody. He's in charge of everybody. And then he says, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. So he's built all of this momentum. And this is where he's sticking his pole in the ground and saying, this is what we land in in order for us to move forward. And so his prayer, his request is, and we're going to highlight this, that he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being.

So he prays, his request, the thing he gets down and asks the father for this church in Ephesus. And as we read this for all Christians, is that the Holy Spirit would strengthen us, strengthen them in their inner being. And this is one of the beautiful things about Christianity, is that you can be weak physically, and you can be weak mentally, and you can have a ferocious spirit. That you can have an inner strength beyond compare, and be built in by the Holy Spirit, with a power and a strength that is unapproachable. And that's what he says, is that I pray that he would strengthen you by the power of his spirit, strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being.

And then he says, so that. And so these words are important when you're reading your Bible, so that. So now he's giving us what will happen if that happens. So he's saying, so that. Yeah, I want him to do this, so that. Here's the result.

Here's what will happen. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. So he's saying, I pray that the Holy Spirit would come in your heart, and give you the ability to contain Christ, to have Christ dwell in you through faith. That you would believe in Christ, that's faith. That you would trust in him, and that he would dwell, live in your heart. And I pray that the Holy Spirit would give you strength to handle that, strength so that this will happen.

That's the result. And so look at the rest of verse 17. It says, That you being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. And so he says, I pray that you would be strengthened in your heart, so that Christ would dwell in you. And he says, that you, so now we're seeing, he's making another point. And then it says, comma, being rooted and grounded in love.

And so we're going to highlight that. That is, that's just kind of inserted into the sentence. So the sentence is going to keep going here in a second, but that's just inserted in there. And I just want to pause for a second, because Paul just inserts that in the middle of his sentence. So what he's saying is, I pray that he'd give you strength, so that Christ will dwell in your heart.

That you, and he's about to say the reason, but then he just inserts in the middle, now being rooted and grounded in love, it'd be a little bit like, if you had a commanding officer in the military, and he said, okay, you went to boot camp, we trained you, we made you mean, we didn't make you ugly, you were ugly when you came here, but we made you mean. And now, we did that, so that you, and then he just stopped and said, with all the equipment we've given you, can go win the battle. Like he just pauses in the middle. That's not the reason they did it, but he's just saying, with all this. And so I just want to pause, because I think this is a beautiful picture that he gives.

So he says, that you, and he just kind of pauses and says, being rooted and grounded in love. And he gives two pictures here. I want to take a second for us to picture this. And I got really kind of increasingly encouraged as I thought about this. So the first picture is rooted.

That we're rooted in love. So that we would be planted in, and begin to dig roots in, and grow in love. Now, as he's used love in this letter so far, that's the love of God for us. That's our love for God. And that's our love for each other. And other people's love for us.

The church's love for us. And so he means love. Like all the love between the church, between each other. The love between him and you. And so that we would dig roots in love. Now, the reason this encouraged me was, I have before seen a small, we'll say sapling.

A thin tree. And wanted it to not be there. And so I've just grabbed it with my hands, and tried to just pull it out of the ground. Because this weak little tree can't hang with me. And guess what? Yeah, it could.

Because it had a whole lot of roots. I couldn't see. It had been there for, I don't know how long, and it had big roots, that grew into smaller roots, that went and touched everything, and were just, it held on with a strength, that was beyond mine. That I grabbed it, and went to pull it, and I could twist it, and I could get it down, and I could, but I couldn't get it out of the ground. I couldn't just snatch it up. And what's beautiful, is he's saying, that's us, that's the church.

And we've dug roots in, the love of Christ, our love for Christ, our love for each other, their love for us, and it makes it hard for us to move. That we can't be taken down. The other thing, I got encouraged thinking about roots in a tree, was that I had a tree in my backyard, that was crooked, and so I took an axe, and I cut it down. And then, I looked out in my yard one day, and it had sprouted, like 15 little sticks out the top of it, with leaves growing on it. That tree said, you can cut down this one, I'll grow 15 trees. It's like, I'm re-treeing right now.

So here's what he's saying. Life, your circumstances, difficulty, can come through, and mow you down. Where are your roots? And the love that Christ has for you, and the love that you have for Christ, and the love that you have for his church, and the love that church has for you, and guess what? You're coming back. You're not going anywhere.

Life can try to manhandle you, but you have an inner strength, that's beyond what they can see in you, because Christ dwells in your heart, and the Holy Spirit has given you power, and through faith he dwells in you, and you're not going anywhere. The second one he says is grounded, which means have a foundation in, that we would be rooted in love, and then he just gives another picture, that we'd be grounded on it. That's what we'd be built off of. That's where we would anchor in. I remember getting to go, on a mission service trip, to Louisiana, and we were working with a church, that had just been completely devastated, by one of the hurricanes, that came through right around Katrina.

It wasn't Katrina, but one had come through, and just hit this different part of Louisiana, and just wiped it out. And I remember standing with them, on a very flat piece of concrete, and they were telling me, what used to be there. Because there used to be a building, on top of this foundation, and the hurricane said, not anymore. And you know what they were telling me then? Here's what we're about to build here. And they were laying it out, and saying here's what's going to come in here, and they were actually kind of excited, because they were like, we've actually been able to raise some support, so people gave us some money, we're actually going to get to do something, a little different than what this was.

That's what he's saying. Life can just completely, just knock you over, but it can't take away, the love that you're built on. And guess what? We're going to rebuild. That's not his main point here, but it was important enough, for him to just insert it, in the middle of a sentence, and so I wanted us to take a second, just to think about it. It keeps going.

So we're going to take that away, because we're not, so he says, that you may have strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. So can we highlight that? That's not a real complete thought, because he just says, what's the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and you're going, and then he just says comma, and it confused me for a while, but it's the love of Christ, the next thing he's going to mention. So we're going to highlight that. So he says, I pray, his request is that God would give you strength, in your inner being, so that the result would be, that Christ would dwell in your hearts, and then he says his reason, that you may comprehend, the length, and breadth, and height, and depth, of the love of Christ.

That by Christ dwelling in us, we might begin to see, how massive, how beautiful, how uncomparable, is the love of Christ. Now, this is his point. This is what he was getting at. This is where he drove, his momentum into the ground. The love of Christ. I'm going to read a poem, because I think it helps us begin to see this, imagine a little bit, the length, and breadth, and height, and depth.

It says, Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth, a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll, contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. So he says, if, you filled up the ocean with ink, you turned the sky into paper, you made everything that was pointy, into a writing utensil, and you made every person on earth, fully just devote all of their time to writing, we couldn't write out the love of God. Before we drained the ocean, we wouldn't fill the sky, we would be done. We would not be able to finish the work.

We would run out of sky. We'd run out of ocean. We wouldn't run out of the love of Christ. That you, being rooted, and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. I love that it says breadth, so that's width, length, and then he says height, and depth. Most things don't have height, and depth, unless they are both above ground, and below ground.

Like they don't usually have height, and depth. Like if you're, if you're looking at a building, and you go, how deep is it? Your friend's going to say, you mean tall? And if you were with them later, and you looked at a swimming pool, and you said, how, what's the height? How tall is it? Your friend's going to say, you mean deep?

And then they're going to think to themselves, I don't need to be your friend anymore. Like you, I either got to help you out, or I got to be done with this. But what he's saying is that God's love has both. That it's in the sky, and it's in the ground, that it's wide, and long, that it's all around. And he's saying, I pray that the Holy Spirit of God, would let Christ dwell in your heart, so that you might comprehend. That this love might start getting into your head.

And you might begin to wrap your mind around it. And, to know, oh, can we take some of that green away? We're going to take some of that green away, so that's just, he may have strength to comprehend, because otherwise, this is going to get way too colorful, and look kind of crazy. So he says, I pray that you may have strength to comprehend. That's the, that's the, the reason he wants us to have Christ in us. And then he says, to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.

That's the, the reason why he wants us to have the strength to comprehend. So he's saying, I want you to begin to wrap your mind around this. And then he says, so that, not just so that we would all go, hmm, yes, I see now. He's saying, no, so that you would know it. So that it would go from your head to your heart, so that it would, that it would become part, you would become intimate with it.

That Christ would dwell in your heart, so that you would comprehend it, and you would know it. That it would become real to you. That you would know the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge. And I love, that our goal, is to comprehend something, that is incomprehensible. He says, I want you to know, something that surpasses knowledge. I want you to know the unknowable.

That's why he's praying about this, and asking the Holy Spirit to do it. And then he says, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. So that, that you again, is just kind of giving you the transition, it may be filled with all the fullness of God. So he wants us to know the love of Christ, so that all the fullness of God, can be in us. So that we'd be filled with the fullness of God.

Now, sorry, let's show a recap, kind of give us what he just prayed here. His request, that God would, through his riches of his mercy, would grant you to be strengthened. The result would be, that Christ would dwell in our hearts. The reason was, so that we may comprehend, the length and height, and breadth and width, so that we would know the love of Christ, for the reason that we'd be filled with the fullness of God. That's his prayer. So he says, all of this deep, rich theology, he's building all this momentum, and then he says, I want, I get on my face before God, and I pray that you'd begin to see how big his love is, and I pray that you'd begin to know it.

Now, I'm willing to bet, that if we had to guess, if we just at the beginning of this, passed out a little sheet, and said, Paul's big prayer here. Halfway through the letter, his big transition thing, what's he going to pray for us, before he starts telling us how to live, and how to walk, and how to act, and how to treat each other, and how to be married, and how to work, and how to raise kids, and like, he's going to do all of that in the back half of this letter, but before he does that, what's the big thing he wants us to know? What's his big prayer? When he gets to beg God for something, what's he going to beg?

And I don't think all of us would go, oh, to know the love of Christ. Maybe you would, and we're proud of you. I wouldn't. If I just had to guess, I'd have been like, ah, that we would stay far away from sin, that we would do what we're supposed to, that we would look the way, like, that we would be effective for mission, that we'd see people come to know Jesus, and what he says is, no, I pray, I pray, I beg, that you'd begin to see how big his love is, and that you would know it. Now, I'm also willing to bet that most of us go, oh yeah, Jesus loves me. Good.

How much longer is this sermon going to be? Because I got that. I got that Jesus loves me. I want to read a few quotes, because I disagree with you. I think you don't got that. I'm going to read a few quotes, and then I'm going to try to illustrate this, and then we're going to spend the rest of our time trying to get it a little bit.

So he says, I pray that you would know the love, so that you'd have the fullness of Christ, that we'd be full, that we'd be complete, that we'd be whole. 1 John 4.8 says, Perfect love drives out fear. Are we fearful? We anxious? We're plagued by doubt, unsteadiness? Maybe we hadn't comprehended the length and breadth and depth and height of the love of Christ.

A Protestant Puritan pastor says this about the love of Christ. He says, How often has God loved his haters? How often has he loved his mortal enemies with an everlasting love? There is such love and such grace in the heart of God that if you understood the length and breadth and height and depth of it, you would never be discouraged. Are we discouraged? Hard to wake up sometimes?

Hard to do what we're supposed to? Hard to follow? Hard to pray? Maybe we don't know the love of Christ. Augustine, the early church father, says the essence of sin is disordered love. Meaning that we love something too much.

Over and above God that we've gotten our loves out of order. Are we fighting sin? Are we losing? Maybe we don't fully know the love of Christ. Maybe we don't fully grasp it. If we're discouraged and fearful and weak and filled with doubts, maybe we hadn't fully gazed into the length and height and breadth and depth.

Maybe we don't understand it yet. I looked this up because I was trying to think like what's big and what also is something that we might feel like we kind of know. So I looked it up. I went with the ocean. So y'all know the ocean, right?

Familiar with it? Heard about it? Okay. Maybe you've seen it. How much of the ocean and this isn't just the United States, it's not like the World Series where we, you know, we do, we play and then we say we're the champions of the world which is fine. I'm cool with that.

I live in America. It's not like that. This is all of humanity together. How much of the ocean do y'all think is unexplored? Because you've heard that there are parts of the ocean we still haven't explored, right? You've heard that.

You know that stat. Like Bill Nye the science guy probably said it. How much do you think we haven't explored? Okay. Who would say 10%? 10% of the ocean we just don't know anything about.

Who'd say that? Do you mind raising your hand? Can we do that? Can this, can y'all participate? Nobody says 10%? That's too high?

No, you're going to keep our hands up. We're going to keep moving. So it's 10%, at least 10. How about that? Who would say at least 10% we don't know anything about? All right.

Who would say at least 20%? Like we just haven't explored at least 20%. Who would say 30%? Who would say 50%? We just don't, half the ocean we just don't know anything about. 60%?

Some of you are saying, no, we got, we got, okay. Who would say 75%? 75% of the ocean we hadn't seen, we don't know anything about. 85? It's 95. So some of y'all are on track with that.

It's 95% of the ocean hasn't been explored. So people can tell you mermaids don't exist. They don't know. 95% of the ocean. The ocean floor, 99% of the ocean floor. Unexplored.

We haven't even seen it. We don't even know what it looks like. It may not even be there, you guys. At this point, it's a theory. We know about 5% of the ocean, about 1% of the ocean floor. Now, I would have thought more.

I did think more. I looked this up and then I looked it up a couple of times because I was like, that's probably, come on. And now that's what it is. And this is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is their job, y'all. 5%.

Like we mapped out the moon, what y'all been doing? The ocean is very deep. I don't know if, did I tell you something y'all didn't know? You could stick Mount Everest in it and it would be a mile and a half from the surface at the deepest part. So if you just sunk Mount Everest, mile and a half.

It's 36,000 feet. So if you, if, if, if God took you out over it, the deepest part and then he just removed the water and let you go, you would fall for 136 seconds. And we assume you would hit a floor. We don't really know. 136 seconds, you would just free fall. And we're all going to stand here silently for 136 seconds and picture falling.

No, we're not actually going to do that, but. So here's what, here's what happens. When we say, I know the love of God, like I know it, I got it, I got it. When somebody starts saying, we're going to talk about the love of God, when Paul says, this is my big prayer and we go, let's get to the good stuff in Ephesians. I think it's kind of like being like, yeah, I know everything there is to know about the ocean. I've been to Myrtle Beach.

I think it's kind of like that. Like, you know, some stuff, like, I mean, when you stand on the edge of the sand and you look and you're like, whoa, it's really big. Look, it's as far as you go. Just whoa. And what Paul's saying is, yeah, you've gotten a taste of it. You're rooted and grounded in it.

Yeah, you're not going anywhere because of the love of Christ, but I'm praying that he'll pick you up by the scruff of your neck and just start flying you around. I'm praying that he'll walk to the edges of it. I'm praying that he'll take you and just dip you to the depths of it. I'm praying that he'll get to see the length, the height, the breadth, the depth. I'm praying that through his Holy Spirit, he'll begin to let you see how massive it is. And so let's just assume because of our doubt and our fear and our sin and our discouragement and let's just assume we've got a Myrtle Beach understanding of God's love.

Now, here's what we're going to do with the rest of our time today. We're going to look at a couple of pictures that the Bible gives us of his love. And then we're going to spend time singing about his love. But if we're going to know his love, we've got to do what Paul did. We've got to start getting on our face and asking the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to handle it. We've got to have Christ dwelling in our hearts so that we might begin to comprehend.

So we're going to take a shot at it today to know something that is unknowable to hopefully just pique our interest. to as much as you're going to go home and Google our mermaid's real to hopefully have us go do that as well with God's love that we might begin to realize I don't fully know this. So I want to give three quick pictures that the Bible gives and all we're going to do is just talk through some of the pictures the Bible gives. We're going to try to imagine this type of love and then we're just going to say okay, if we know that type of love God has that type of love for us but bigger. That's all we're going to do.

If you know that type of love it's that but bigger. The first one is friend. The God in the Bible calls humans friends. This is crazy because Abraham is friend. John 15, 15 Jesus tells the disciples he says I don't call you servants anymore I call you friends. Psalm 25 says that God treats us like friends that he loves us like friends.

There's a Jesus actually tells his disciples no greater love has a man than this that he lay down his life for his friends. So I just want us to for a second because we can't fully see the height and length and depth of the love of Christ I want us just for a second to picture the love of a friend and what that's like and to think about the fact that God would love you like that. So a good friend enjoys you and you enjoy them. You want to be around each other. You want to talk to each other. You want to know each other.

You want to serve each other. Good friends are the people that you want when everything is terrible it's fine for them to be there. When everything's just falling apart you just walk over the door you open it for them they come in they sit next to you. Good friends are the people that you want there when everything is great. You want to celebrate with that you want to walk through life with. As I was thinking about this when I was in college there was a couple of us were friends and we lived near each other in a dorm room there was a guy that used to come by and just bust up in our rooms because we always had our doors open and he would he would overstay his welcome.

Granted his welcome was relatively short so it wasn't hard for him to overstay it. I'd like to think I've grown some since then but we just didn't like this cap. Hopefully it would be more gracious now but I'm just telling you about I'm just a story you guys about a thing in the past. Actually I probably I would just I would know I had to be more gracious now. Is that fair? Like I might not actually feel more gracious but I would be like no Jesus help me.

At this point we were just like we ain't trying to so what we started to do was lock our doors and you would just hear boom and he would just smack his head into the thing and you just kind of knew okay and so then he learned to start knocking but we also we would knock on each other's doors or whatever but it just got to where like you know knocking doesn't always work because it could still be him when you open the door so we just came up with a secret knock. Matt Freeman still knocks on my door this way when he shows up at my house. Like you'll hear a knock at your house and I don't know if y'all are like me you're like why is this in my house? Like why is there a person here?

Because we don't visit each other anymore. Every time I'm knocking on one of my neighbor's doors they come to the door like what? Like they're ready to fight me or whatever. if they come at all sometimes you just hear noise and you're like they're not coming. He'll knock on the door and I'll hear the knock and I'll be like hey Matt's here. Like I just why are you busting up at my house? But it's fine.

I know who it is. And I just got to think about the fact that if God loves us that's my love for a friend. You guys it's not great. But if God loves us even just like that that he wants to see you wants to spend time with you wants to be around you enjoys you looks forward to it goes out of his way to be around you when he doesn't have to. That's the thing about friends. You don't have to be around them.

That's a love we know and his love is unknowable. Myrtle Beach Ocean of God's love so that everything that is true about true friendship and true love within friendship is true about God's love for you. So every good and true thing you can think about about love for a friend is true about God's love for you in Christ. The second picture that is given to us throughout the Bible and given to us often is the image of a father. The Ephesians begins by saying he adopted us to himself and I love that he says to himself that he actually wanted us to belong to him. Have you ever seen any of those videos online of people being adopted like they finally sign the papers or they give it as a gift and they open it up and the person's like 18 or 17 and they see that they've finally been adopted and they just start weeping?

That's what Christ has done that God the Father has adopted us through Christ. Proverbs 3.12 says that he corrects us like a father. Hebrews is going to say the same thing that he disciplines us because he cares about us. Psalm 103 says that he pities those who fear him like a father does his son. It's cool with as many children being born in our church family when we're hanging out sometimes and you'll hear a cry and everybody listens for a second and then people go not mine because you've learned. you've learned what your kid sounds like and you'll go okay hold on a second guys like this one's me.

You know this one's me. Tomorrow morning at 9.30 my wife will go in for a C-section we'll have our second our second son we're very excited about. Yeah. Woo! Y'all have had to stay up with a kid before you know what's up. You're like woo!

Woo! No but I'm excited tomorrow I'll get to I'll get to meet him. My wife's kind of gotten to know him a little bit more than I have you know because he's been like hanging out with her this whole time and so I'll get to meet him tomorrow and what's cool is I'll get to hold him and he doesn't know it yet but he has no choice I'm on his team. For better or worse I'm on his team and here's what that means and it's what the Bible just said about God as a father is that he disciplines us because he cares about us. You know whose kids I don't discipline? The ones that aren't mine.

Does that make sense? You know the kids I don't discipline? The ones that aren't mine. Like I've never just spanked a child in Walmart that didn't belong to me. I have spanked a child in Walmart but just the one that belonged to me. Like I am bent on making him grow into what he's supposed to grow into and he has no choice I belong to him but guess what?

I'm for him for his discipline for his training for his good and I'm for him against everything else. I remember in high school this is just a picture of what a father can be like. You maybe don't have to be like this as a father. Maybe you can. I'm not trying to say whether or not this is good. I'm just trying to tell you a story.

I get corrected sometimes after the stories I tell so I'm giving a caveat. So I remember in high school my brother had a couple of guys that said they were going to maybe they were going to fight him. This had gotten out that he was going to have a couple of guys fight him. It's possible it was something I had done. That doesn't really affect the story. So they were going to fight him and so he went home he had a block a class and he went home and got a t-ball bat because he just thought me versus three guys t-ball bat will help.

So my dad saw him come home walk in and get a t-ball bat and my dad said hold on hold on what are you doing? And he said well there's a couple guys that might jump me and I thought if there's three of them maybe a t-ball bat would help. My dad went you want me to hide in the back of your truck? That way when they show up I can jump out. My older brother Logan sat there and thought for a second and was like um and I really think he was thinking if I do this by myself there's a chance that we don't all go to the penitentiary but if you're there there's a chance that we all do. So he just said I think I got this one and I was like just let me know if you need help.

And tomorrow I have a son who gets me on his team. And for better or for worse from now on and that's what that's messed up sinful human fatherly love. Some of y'all had terrible fathers and I'm sorry because they were meant to be a small picture and a stand in of what the good glorious father you have is like. But that God says he loves us like a father which means that we belong to him he is for us and he's not going anywhere. That he's for our discipline he's for our health he's for our training and he's against all that would come against us. This is what we read earlier which is if he's for us what can stand against us?

C.S. Lewis has a quote where he says that when it comes to the love of God we don't have a senile benevolence that drowsily wishes you to be happy in your own way. And we don't it's not the cold philanthropy of a conscientious magistrate. Nor is it the care of a host that feels responsible for the comfort of his guests. But we have the consuming fire himself the love that made the worlds.

But we have the consuming fire himself the love that made the worlds. And when we picture the best father the most loving the most gracious the kindest and gracious and stern and disciplined with love like when we picture the best father that would go to the ends of the world for his children what we've pictured is a Myrtle Beach version of the love that God has

For us. The third one he gives is husband so he friend father and whatever's true about true fatherly love is also true about God but further and greater and bigger and he says husband it's another picture that the Bible gives it Isaiah 62 5 says as the bridegroom

Rejoices over the bride so shall your God rejoice over you Ephesians 5 which we're going to get to in a little bit says that husbands are to love their wives like Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her so that the story of the Bible is that God has this love and that Christ comes and rescues his bride that he makes

Her spotless and clean and holy that he draws her to himself this is why we love love stories because it all flows downhill from a good and loving God this is why people love a good father and get to see it and it's joy filled and this is why people love a good romance story this is why we love these stories because it comes from him

I was thinking about this morning Sleeping Beauty Sleeping good gosh I was thinking about this this morning Sleeping Beauty the Disney version not the version I said the Disney version is this story of this wickedness that has come over this girl that she's completely helpless and people get mad about this story now that she's helpless and he has to come

Rescue her but this is our story we're Sleeping Beauty we're helpless that's what Ephesians chapter 2 said that we were dead in our trespasses and sins that we had nothing we could offer that we were helpless and then what happens in the story is this guy Prince Charming his name's Prince Philip rides in he has the sword of truth and the wickedness that was pretty turns into a dragon and he kills her

That's the story of the Bible and then he claims his bride that Jesus Christ rides in with the sword of truth and destroys the dragon and sin and wakes us up from our sleep that would have been dead and claims us the song the song of Solomon stands in the middle of the Bible and throughout years centuries

It has been people have understood it as just a picture of the love that Christ has for the church which I'm going to tell you if you've ever read the Song of Solomon it makes me uncomfortable people now are just saying no it's a really good picture of a husband's love for his wife and it is but most of these theologians will say but secondarily first it is a picture of the love that Christ has for the church and you guys it's like gushy and poetic

And like and I'm bad I'm bad at that kind of stuff like when I want to say something nice to my wife I just go girl I got it that's it I don't have I don't have good words so I have read the Song of Solomon and they use like weird pick up lines so everyone's all text her and be like your teeth are like two sheep that have just come down from the shearing she's like what does that mean I was like

I don't know but it worked for Solomon so the love that Christ has for the church the marriage that he has when he claims his bride and destroys Satan and sin is not a marriage of convenience but it is one enraptured with love that he desires his bride that he longs for his bride that he rejoices in his bride that he celebrates his bride and the most beautiful

Captivating love story we've ever told is Myrtle Beach compared to the love that Christ has for the church the overwhelming overcoming love that he has for his bride so that everything that is true about the love of a husband for a wife in the truest most beautiful sense is true in Christ but exponentially more those are just three small pictures that if you can take the best friend

You've ever had and you can apply the truths of the love that they've shared with you Christ is like that but better if you can take the best father you've ever known God is like that but better his love is greater it's deeper if you can take the greatest husband the greatest love story that you've ever seen that God in Christ is like that but bigger and greater and more and we need

The Holy Spirit in us giving us faith in Christ so that he can dwell in our hearts so that we might begin to comprehend this so that we can know it and here's the thing all of the truth of the gospel has built up to this moment that you might know the love of Christ he wants you engulfed in his love then as Paul says now we get to walk in that but we walk in that as people who are loved people who are cherished people who are cared for

That he delights in us that he desires us that he prefers us that's the love of Christ and I recoil from it because I know I don't deserve it and that's what he said in chapter 2 you don't but he loves you anyway because he's loving and gracious and good not because we were the most beautiful or the most lovely but because he is the most loving and that he rescued and claimed us those are three pictures I want to give us proof the proof is simple

As the Bible tells this story 1 John 3 16 says for we know by this we know love that he laid down his life for us Ephesians 2 4 says but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ that the love that God has for us is known in the cross that that's where we see it that's where we that's where he proves it that when we look and say well how do I know

That he loves us how do I know this is for me we look to the cross I have one more C.S. Lewis quote he says God who needs nothing loves into existence holy unnecessary creatures in order that he may love and perfect them he creates the universe already for seeing he said or should we say seeing because there are no tenses in God so he's not seeing in the future he just sees it because everything exists before God already seeing

The buzzing cloud of flies about the cross the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake the nails driven through the messial nerves the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time for breath's sake hitched up if I may dare the biological image God is a host who deliberately creates his own parasites causes us to be that we may exploit and take advantage

Of him here in his love this is the diagram of love itself the inventor of all loves that when God created humanity he did it so that he might love us and he did it knowing full well the cost to himself to claim his bride that the proof of God's love is in the cross that we might know how loved we are how fully loved we are last two verses as Paul

Ends this section of the text and begins to move into the next part of Ephesians he says now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than we ask or think according to the power at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever amen so he says now who now to him

Who is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think to him be all the glory forever and ever and so what we're going to do the way we're going to finish today is we're just going to sing about the love of Christ that we might begin to comprehend it we're going to sing and proclaim and give glory to God that he loves

Us in a way that we don't understand and hopefully in the singing we'll begin to absorb some of this truth so we're going to stand we're going to give glory to God and we're going to sing about this love that's incomprehensible and we're going to ask as we sing and I would encourage you if you are a Christian and if you're not to begin to ask

That the Holy Spirit would empower you to see this that he would give you faith in your heart as Christ would dwell in your heart that you might know this type of love that throws out fear that throws out discouragement that wraps us up that makes us his and that loves us beyond anything we can imagine that our world is so caught up in beautiful love stories and the reason is because we have a beautiful loving God who created the world

That he might share his love with us so y'all stand we're going to sing