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Off with the Old and On with the New
14 Plays12 days ago
Eph. 4:17-32
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Transcript
Introduction: 'Walk Like an Egyptian' Theme
00:00:06
Speaker
Walk like an Egyptian. Walk like an Egyptian. Oh, it's gonna be one of those kind of sermons today.
00:00:20
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Who remembers that catchy beat from the 80s? Walk like an Egyptian by the bangles. What does that mean? Walk like an Egyptian?
00:00:34
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What comes to mind? Is it one of these things right here? I can do that?
Polytheism and Christian Walk
00:00:43
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If you think about it, the Egyptian people were pagans.
00:00:51
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They were polytheistic, meaning they prayed to many gods. They believed that they could go to these many gods and convince them to either bless them or curse their enemies.
00:01:05
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They carved out little handheld wooden idols that they kept with them in their pockets wherever they went. They could whip them out, start praying to them.
00:01:18
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What does it mean to walk like an Egyptian? For some of you, I'm ruining that 80s song for you right now. And I hope to a certain degree I do, that the next time you hear that song and it's catchy beat, you'll think to yourself, wait a second.
00:01:34
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I know what it means to walk like an Egyptian. It's the same question that I can ask you this morning, what does it look like to walk like a Christian?
Evaluating Christian Lifestyle
00:01:45
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If we are indeed Christians here today, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, if we've placed our faith in the finished work on the cross, if we were purchased by the blood if we were purchased for a price, if we are not our own, if we've been given a new status, we've been adopted into God's family, and we have this new relationship with Christ, and therefore we said last week we have a new responsibility to live in a certain way.
00:02:23
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I ask you this morning, what does it look like to walk like a Christian? Are you walking like a Christian? Friends, this is what we're going to look at this morning as we close out chapter 4, Ephesians.
00:02:39
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I rightly put in chapter 4 in my study Bible at the very top of verse 17, crucial in big capital letters.
00:02:50
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Crucial that we get it right.
00:02:54
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Crucial that you understand it properly. Crucial that I teach it to you today because if you understand it incorrectly friends it has a negative effect on your Christian walk.
00:03:13
Speaker
Many Christians get this passage wrong I just want to let you know. We aren't going to be that group today. We're going to get it right. As we look at what it means to walk like a Christian I simply want you to start by flipping your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4
00:03:31
Speaker
Normally I would set up what we talked about last week. I'm not even going to do that this week. It's that important that we simply jump right in. Paul is explaining to the Ephesian church two lifestyles, two ways that you can walk, two ways that you can live.
Old vs New Lifestyle in Ephesians
00:03:49
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The first is the unbeliever, and we're going to see this phrase, the old person. I'm to explain what that means. The second is the lifestyle of believer.
00:04:00
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Those of you who have placed your faith in Christ. This is the new person. This is what Paul will refer to as the new person. Two styles, two lifestyles, one old, one new, one unbeliever, one believer.
00:04:15
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Let's look at the unbeliever first. Verse 17 through 19. New Living Translation reads this way. This is Paul saying, with the Lord's authority I say this.
00:04:28
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Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness, and they wander far from the life God gives, because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him.
00:04:44
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They have no sense of shame.
00:04:48
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Let that sink in for just a second.
00:04:52
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They live for lustful pleasure and are eagerly practice every kind of impurity. This is a solemn, serious urging of Paul to this group of people.
00:05:08
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He says, with the Lord's authority I urge you, I say to you, This is not some advice to take lightly. This is not a take it or leave it situation. He says you must understand what I'm telling you is critical instruction to the walk of a Christian.
Warnings Against Gentile Living
00:05:28
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He says live no longer like the Gentiles. Live no longer like the unbeliever. And he goes on to give four descriptors of what the unbeliever's walk looks like.
00:05:40
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It starts with the futility of the mind. They are darkened in their understanding. They are ignorant. They are hardened of heart.
00:05:51
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He says in verse 18, having been hardened or having been excluded, both of these are the sphere in which the unbeliever walks. um I ah want you to know this. This is not a one-time incursion.
00:06:04
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This is not I slipped up and I had a little sexual impurity. This is a lifestyle of debauchery that we're going to see. It's a lifestyle, a repeated pattern.
00:06:17
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It's a past action that has ongoing results. It's not a temporary blindness. It's a lifestyle alienated from God. It's better to almost read it this way. if you read this in reverse, it might make a little bit more sense.
00:06:34
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let me Let me give it a shot here.
00:06:37
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Something like the hardness of their hearts, the unbelievers, renders them ignorant, and their ignorance keeps them excluded from God.
00:06:50
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That exclusion from God prevents them from understanding the things of God, and the lack of understanding brings them to a mindset that is futile.
Idolatry in Modern Context
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R.C. Sproul puts it this way.
00:07:05
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It's a degenerative lifestyle. He says it's a lifestyle of moral apathy, callousness, insensitive to moral issues.
00:07:16
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And I like this. He says it is their incapacity for shame.
00:07:23
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And ultimately they are given over to this uncontrolled living behavior. Licentious is this word, right? It is this living for the self, living for the flesh.
00:07:36
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As I read this this past week again, often get to, and I've talked about this when Brother Mike taught on on this past Wednesday, when we get to lists in the Bible, right, we want to be real careful. we When we get to a list that talks about sexual immorality and this long list,
00:07:56
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list of what the unbeliever is about. We want to be real careful not to just focus on each one individually, but holistically this list tells us here this is a lifestyle of the unbeliever. This is what they are known for.
00:08:13
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It's a life where there is no shame for their lifestyle. Brothers and sisters, you simply need to turn on the TV and see the world that we live around.
00:08:27
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Some of you work with these people. They have no shame.
00:08:33
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There's no shame in their game. That's what I put here as a note to myself. And they're ultimately given over. right This reminds us, ah and I chuckled a little bit, Brother Tim, in Bible study this this morning, mentioned Romans 1.
00:08:47
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When you hear this reading today, this should bring to mind Romans 1, 21 to 23. Listen to how close these line up. This is Paul telling the Roman church, he says, for although they knew of God, right, they knew something about God. They knew there is a God.
00:09:04
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It says they did not honor him as God, nor did they give him thanks. But they became futile in their mind. They became futile in their thinking. And their foolish hearts were darkened.
00:09:16
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Claiming to be wise, they became fools. And they exchanged the glory of mortal God for the images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
00:09:27
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Friends, he's telling this church, the Romans, as well as Paul's telling the Ephesians here, Just like the Egyptians, they didn't worship God the creator.
00:09:40
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Instead, they went and they carved a little idol, a handheld idol made in their likeness. And that's what they worshiped.
00:09:51
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Thank goodness we don't do anything like that these days. Thank goodness we don't have handheld idols that we worship today.
00:10:03
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Honey, you can take that phone back now. I don't need this I worry about things like that
00:10:19
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that. He's speaking here to this group of people, these unbelievers. That's why if you have your outline, I made it a real big point. This this first part, we're simply talking about unbelievers. But I put a question in here that I think you and I need to address. We need to think through today.
00:10:36
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is it possible for believers who are in Christ to regress or the old Baptist term backslide is it possible if you're in Christ to live in such a way of this degenerative lifestyle
00:10:58
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how we answer this question can potentially alter the way you do your Christian walk How we understand theologically, how we answer this question will vastly depend on how you view yourself walking your Christian walk.
00:11:21
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not going answer that for us just a second. I'll get there at the end. That's the unbeliever. Let's look at the
Transformation in Christ
00:11:28
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believer. Verse 20 and following.
00:11:33
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I like the New Living Translation here. Verse 20. He says, but... But that isn't what you learned about Christ. He's talking to the believers. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your formal way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
00:11:54
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Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and your attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.
00:12:07
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He's saying here, friends, literally, you did not learn it this way as believers. You are not like the unbeliever.
00:12:19
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You are not somebody who is darkened in your knowledge. You are enlightened by the truth. Matter of fact, he goes on and says you are in the truth because you are in Christ.
00:12:32
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We preached Christ to You learned and you heard Christ. Paul is telling him here in 421. The gospel is preached. Christ is heard. You have learned and your life is starting to be transformed. It's this ongoing process.
00:12:47
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You're being transformed into the likeness of Christ. You are not like the unbeliever.
00:12:56
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Now, if you're somebody who underlines or highlights, this this part is what's the crucial part that you have to get. Matter of fact, I won't let you leave here today unless you understand this.
00:13:10
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Two times, 22 and 24, he tells a past tense verb he uses here. Past tense saying, put off the old person and put on the new.
00:13:24
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He's saying the moment, brothers and sisters, you place your faith in Christ, the moment you place your faith in the finished work that Christ had on the cross, that's what we call saving faith, you were justified, meaning you were made right with God.
00:13:42
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You were made right with God through your faith in Jesus, and the moment you did that, listen to me, the old person, the old self, is gone.
00:13:54
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It's off. He's saying the moment you placed your faith in Christ, this great exchange has happened. right Christ has taken your sinful nature and he's given you his righteousness.
00:14:08
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And in this same exchange, he's saying take off the old self and put on the new. It's a one-time event.
00:14:20
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We know that because Paul is real specific in how he writes this.
00:14:25
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He's saying there's no reason to go back to the old person, the old self. It's rotted. It's corrupted. It's dead. Instead, your present status is that you are this new creature.
00:14:39
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You are this new creation. You are now in Christ. And you are being, verse 23 says, sanctified. This is the present tense.
00:14:51
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It's present tense action with future implications. means although you were made right with God the moment you you placed your faith with Jesus, right you were you were justified, but now the ongoing process is you are sanctified, meaning you are being made holy.
00:15:10
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why is that so Why do I stress that so much? Well, because we don't get this right, theologically, we'll have a tendency to think every day I need to take off the old self and put on the new self.
00:15:28
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Matter of fact, I've heard well-intentioned preachers say this before. Friends, you need to wake up every day and put on your new self. No, if that was the case, Paul would have said keep putting on the new self.
00:15:44
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He said, the moment you were justified, the old is off, the new is on, now go out and live that way. Constantly being renewed in the mind.
00:15:55
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That's what verse 24 says. Therefore, because believers are renewed, this is what the ongoing future lifestyle believer should look like.
Reflecting Faith in Speech and Actions
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Five exhortations he gives us here at the end.
00:16:07
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Five things that we are to look at. Five reminders. One negative, one positive, and one motivation why we should choose the positive. Look here at verse 25 and follow him. He says, because friends, you have been made right by Christ, that you are now living out this new person, he says, because that's your new self,
00:16:33
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This should now be transparent. This should be apparent to everybody who sees you. Verse 25. Stop lying.
00:16:41
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Let us tell our neighbors the truth. For we are all parts of the same body. And don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry. For anger gives a foothold to the devil.
00:16:53
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If you're a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good work. Then give generously to others in need. Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful so that the words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
00:17:09
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Do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness.
00:17:22
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Here's a list, by the way. Bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander, and all types of evil behaviors. Instead, be known as somebody who is kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
00:17:41
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Brothers sisters, if you are a Christ follower, if you are in Christ, this is what your walk should look like. You want to walk like a Christian? Well, he starts off right here telling us,
00:17:56
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oh Take off all lying, all falsehoods.
00:18:03
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Doesn't mean never lie. <unk>s not it's not That's not what he's saying. can't You can't perfectly never lie. But he's saying in totality, when somebody sees you in your Christian walk, are you known as somebody who's a truth teller?
00:18:18
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Or you somebody who tells some lies? And he gives the motivation of why we should be true tellers. He says because we're all part of the same body. We're all part of the same people in Christ.
00:18:32
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There can be no room for anything but the truth, especially here in the church.
00:18:38
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This is why quite often as your pastor, what I do is I'm listening to the congregation. I'm listening to how y'all are speaking to one another.
00:18:51
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I'm listening to hear... with a keen ear, is there words of dissension? Is there words being sowed that would lead to division?
00:19:05
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And when I hear that on a repeated basis, I feel like I have to address it. And thankfully, I've only had to do it a couple of times since I've been here. He says if you are in Christ and your Christian walk should be one of telling the truth, he says that also looks like putting away all foul language and abusive words.
00:19:27
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This is all unwholesome speech. This is not simply curse words like you would think as a kid, as your parents say. Don't go out cursing. It does include that, by the way, if if you're somebody who's in Christ,
00:19:41
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you should have a vocabulary that reflects Christ. You'll notice Christ did not go out and use abusive language.
00:19:51
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Our words matter. Not just the curse words here, but he's casting Paul a much wider net. He's saying all the words that come out of your mouth should be helpful, not foul.
00:20:04
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They should build up, not tear down. And I put here, he's talking about the gossiper. You. He's talking about you. You know who you are.
00:20:17
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He's talking about you. Take off that harmful gossiping and put on encouragement. The old maxim you grew up with and your parents used to tell you is this. If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all.
00:20:33
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Friends, that couldn't be further from the truth of what Paul's teaching here. He's saying that's the first half of the command. Not only you not supposed to say anything hurtful, you're supposed to go above and beyond to say something encouraging.
00:20:51
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Because if we're not encouraging, we're tearing down.
00:20:56
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Abusive words divide the church, that's what I put here. It's the opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants for the church, and that's unity.
Actions Reflecting Christian Values
00:21:06
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He says not only must we watch the words that come out of our mouth, he says in verse 28 here, we have to watch what we do, our deeds, our actions. Because we are in Christ and we reflect Christ in our actions, the prohibition here might not make a lot of sense until i explain it.
00:21:25
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He says stop stealing those of you who are thieves. And when many of us hear that, because we're not thieves, we go, oh, that doesn't apply to me. Well, let me educate you on what Paul is saying here.
00:21:38
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He's saying in the family of God, there are takers and there are givers. In any family, for that matter. But especially in the church family.
00:21:49
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When we come together and we're all in Christ we we're all members of this body, we are to be givers and takers. You simply can't be a thief, a taker.
00:22:00
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You can't come in without contributing. Paul's saying that's not what a Christian walk looks like. Somebody who's a Christian walk, who who walks, there is no free ride, he's saying.
00:22:14
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Matter of fact, just like you have to go above and beyond in your speech and say encouraging things, he said you have to give generously to others in need. It's not just enough to be a taker.
00:22:27
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You have to be a generous giver.
00:22:31
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We have to be careful with our words. We have to be careful with what we do, with our actions. We have to be careful with our thoughts. Verse 31 and 32. If we are in Christ, brothers and sisters, and we are, and we reflect Him in our words and our deeds, we also have to do the same in our thoughts.
00:22:50
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We see this list. Bitterness and rage and anger all start in the heart. All start with the mind. It's the same thing that Paul tells the Corinthian church. He says, take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.
00:23:06
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Because those thoughts, what they end up doing is just churning over and over in your head. And that that little bit of anger starts festering in you if you don't hold it captive.
00:23:19
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That anger then grows into wrath. And when it pours out, it pours out into slander because then you just go out and start saying mean, hurtful things to people. He says we've got to be real careful with what we say. we have to be real careful with what we do.
00:23:32
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We have to be real careful with our thoughts.
Living Intentionally as a Christian
00:23:35
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And if we don't, brothers and sisters, I can't even accentuate the seriousness of this enough. Look, he says, verse 30, If we're not careful, your version may say you grieve the Holy Spirit.
00:23:51
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Simply by the way you are doing your Christian walk, you can grieve the Holy Spirit.
00:23:59
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What do we do with this today? If we are in Christ and we are, and if we don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit and we don't want to, And we want to bring delight to the Holy Spirit.
00:24:10
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And we want to reflect Christ in our words, our deeds, and our thoughts. How do we do that? I just ah just picked one today. You're lucky. I know we have Lord's Supper. I know we have some things going on today.
00:24:23
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ah just want one thing. i want you to just consider one thing when you leave here today. It's just the words that come out of your mouth.
00:24:32
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How do we delight the spirit by speaking words of encouragement to somebody this week? Well, it simply starts this way. As you're going about your week and somebody comes to your mind, somebody who's doing work around the church, somebody who's helping in the children's area, somebody who's working with the youth, somebody who took the time to blow the leaves off the parking lot,
00:24:58
Speaker
Somebody who put up the metal barrier that goes around our AC units. By the way, those are your brothers and sisters who are doing all that. When you think about that person this week, pick up the phone.
00:25:13
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but Boy, I wish I had my phone with me right now.
00:25:17
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Call them. Don't wait. Pick up the phone and call or text them if that's your flavor of communication. Don't wait.
00:25:28
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Just pick it up. pick it up Call them. Hey, I just want you to know, brothers and sisters, i I was thinking about you this week. I saw you doing fill in the blank.
00:25:39
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Boy, that that encourages me when you are serving in that capacity at the church. Thanks for getting up and singing. Thanks for helping with the youth. Thanks for helping with the children.
00:25:50
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Thanks for cooking the meals.
00:25:55
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It's lot of moving parts, brothers and sisters. And we can be encouraging with our words. We can be uplifting with our words. But we have to be intentional about doing that. So when that person comes to your mind this week, and it and I will tell you it happens every week for me.
00:26:10
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As I pray for each one of you in your different scenarios, I'm thinking about you. Oh yeah, Monty's still recovering from knee surgery. I don't need to pray for Monty. need to pray for Vicki.
00:26:25
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for patience.
00:26:29
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I think about each one of you in that capacity all week long and what I could do and I might do better this week is just to pick up a phone and call you. Hey, thanks for helping out.
00:26:40
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Imagine, brothers and sisters, if we all did that this week. If we all got a call from somebody this week, a text from somebody this week and they thought, oh my goodness, they were listening to the sermon and they took action.
00:26:56
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May we be a people who walk like a Christian. In our words, our deeds, and our thoughts. And all God's people said.