Walk in Holiness Pt 1

Good morning. Welcome to Calvary Chapel this morning. And those of you who are joining us online, we welcome you. Would you all stand and join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity this morning to gather to worship in song and to study your word. Father, would you order our service, Lord? Would you be glorified this morning as we worship in song and as we study your word together,

as we fellowship together in you and with one another, Lord? Lord, please be glorified. As we come this morning, just as we are, Lord, whatever we're facing, I think it's joyful, but the joy is there, but maybe things cause the joy to be felt a little differently because the assurance and the hope we have in you, it's a comfort for your son, Jesus Christ, who sins. He appeared to some 500 people up to your right hand, and he's up there now making intercession for you.

You are so faithful. You are so faithful, Lord.

And he said, we are his friends.

My song and me too. We tweet too. It's our prayer to abide in you. You tell us that in John 15, Lord, the husband, the father, you desire that we produce fruits. The only way we can do that is through you, the source, Lord.

And so we ask for your strength, Lord, that we may remember, as Paul said, and you're made strong, Lord. We have things and those weaknesses that makes us think we can't do anything. But, Father, as we look to you, our strength, and as we abide, trust you, give you praise now. And now, as Pastor Ryan comes up to teach, let you have anointing by the power of your Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name.

Amen. God bless you all. Let's have a little fellowship.

Good morning.

If you could begin to locate your seat. Grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you can be with us this morning. A few things to take note of in your bulletin, as always, over on the left side are the things going on throughout the week. In the middle section, just a reminder, fellas, this coming Saturday is men's breakfast. 8 a.m. in the agape room, so join us for that. And those are pretty much the things that are going on.

So, kind of a quiet week here at Calvary Chapel. So, for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 130. Psalm 130. Looking at the New American Standard, if you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 130, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word, if you are able to.

Psalm 130. I will read the odd verses, if you will follow along with Pastor Allen, and the even verses. A song of ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord, more than the watchman for the morning. Indeed, more than the watchman for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is lovingkindness. And with him is abundant redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Lord, thank you so much that there is forgiveness with you.

And Lord, that we can put our hope in your word. So Lord, that's what we want to do this morning, Lord. We want to hope in you, hope in your word, and see the glorious work of redemption as it's played out in our lives. And so Lord, I just ask that you would speak to our hearts this morning through what your word has to say. Through the power of your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles, excuse me, to the book of Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. We'll be looking at verses 17 through 24 this morning. We're continuing on with the more practical section of Ephesians. He has laid out the doctrine, and now he's talking to us about how we respond to our, our position in Christ.

And the first thing that we said that we needed to do is to walk worthy. We said that walking worthy meant two things. Walking worthy meant that you will have a heart of unity, but a goal of maturity. Well, we come now to the second part of walking, and we talk about walking in holiness. Walk in holiness. Now, the word holy is one that's used often throughout Scripture.

In the Greek, it's the word. That word literally in its Greek usage means dedicated to the gods. However, in the New Testament, that was turned into a word that was used for a more positive connotation than dedicated to the gods, and it means dedicated to God. It has the idea of being dedicated or set apart. Oftentimes, we may use the word sanctified or set apart in that same vein.

The idea is that it is the condition that God desires. It is the condition that God desires for us, that our lives be set apart from the things of the world, set apart from the world around us for God's specific use. And so, as we approach the last half of chapter four, that really is the theme, is that idea of being set apart and walking set apart unto God. And so, with that theme in the last half of the chapter, it's going to divide into two parts.

We're going to see the principle, and we'll see the practice. This morning, in part one of walking in holiness, we will look at the principle. And so, let's start in verse 17 of chapter four. It says, So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God.

Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart. And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way. If indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus,

that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness, or excuse me, in righteousness and holiness of truth. So, with this principle, he's given us three things that we need to do. Number one, we need to change the way that you walk. Number two, you need to remember what you've learned.

And number three, out with the old, in with the new. And so, we start off with the first one, change the way that you walk. It says, so this I say and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer as the Gentiles walk. That you walk no longer as the Gentiles walk. Now, once you were born again, a change probably took place in your life. You began to understand what sin really looked like, and you started to desire the things of

God and stop desiring the things of sin. However, as you walked a little bit longer in your life, the flesh, this sinful nature that we still wear, started warring against you. And this is what happens to all of us as believers in Jesus Christ. There's usually two things, sometimes one of each, sometimes both. At the same time, two things that tend to happen to us.

Number one, is we want as much of the world as we can while still being saved. Because after all, we know it's wrong, but gosh, some of those previous sins were awfully fun, weren't they? And we want just as much of the world as we can and still hold on to our salvation. We call that compromise. The second thing that happens to us is we want to look just like the world.

So that we will not be rejected by the world. We want to look just like the world so that we won't be rejected just like the world. When I was a preteen, there was a word that started being used a lot. Perhaps it was used before that, but this is when I first started hearing it. Perhaps you've heard the word before, it's called peer pressure, right? And I remember as a preteen, everybody talking to all the teenage kids about peer pressure.

You're going to deal with a lot of peer pressure when you get into high school. And then you get into high school and everybody tells you, yeah, you're going to get into high school. And then you get into high school and everybody tells you, yeah, you're going to get into high school. And then you get into high school and everybody tells you, yeah, you're going to get into high school.

to deal with all this peer pressure. And everybody seems to resign that phrase to kids. Because kids are the only ones that deal with peer pressure, right? They're the only ones who want to fit in with the world around them. You know what? That's a lie. And if that's what you're telling yourself, you're lying to yourself. Because everybody, I don't care how old you are, everybody deals with

some form of peer pressure. And we want to look just like the world around us so that we will not be rejected by the world that's around us. Because even though the world around us is dying, they're still the world around us. And we want to be accepted by them. It's been a problem since the beginning of time. It's been a problem since the beginning of the nation of Israel. After all,

do you remember what happened when the nation of Israel wanted a king? They said, we want a king just like the nations around us. But that's not God's plan for us. He has called us to be holy. Set apart from the world around us. That means the question should not be, how much of the world can I have and still be saved? The question should be, how far can I get from the world? Because that

means I'm getting closer to Jesus. It should not be, how much can I look like the world so that I can be accepted by them? It should be, how different can I be from the world so that they know that there's a difference? So that they understand that being set apart from God means that I will live a different life now. After all, we are called to be holy. We are called a peculiar people. Isn't that kind of interesting? That God calls us a peculiar

people. And it's not just because he thinks we're weird. It's because the world is going to think that we're weird. And as he tells us this, he reminds us why we need to be set apart from the world. Because I don't know about you, but sometimes all the things in the world do sometimes look appealing, right? I think if we did not say that, we would be dishonest as Christians. We

would be dishonest as human beings. If some of the things of the world didn't come to us, we would be kind of look appealing to us, which is why we have to keep in mind what the world really looks like and what really is going on in the world. Because sometimes on the outside, it looks perfect. And we've forgotten that on the inside, it's full of death. And so he describes the Gentiles around

us or the pagan world around us so that we understand why we should no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk. And he told us five things. Number one, it's given to us in verse 17. It says that you should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, in the futility of their mind. That word futility means vain, aimless, or without result. It doesn't mean that the whole world around us is stupid,

although every now and then. It doesn't mean that they lack the ability to understand or know things. It doesn't mean that they lack the ability to understand or know things. It doesn't mean that they lack the ability to understand or know things. It's that they're pursuing meaningless things. The things that the world pursues ultimately are aimless, and they are without result.

Paul in 2 Corinthians will go on to say that the things which are seen are temporary. The things which are not seen are eternal, which is why we are to set our minds on the things which are not seen. That futility of mind. That futility of mind is what encapsulates the world around us. The words of Jesus, and I think I had to put this one up here. The words of Jesus in Matthew 6, verse 31 are this. The world around

us, the Gentiles seek after these things, what they will eat, what they will drink, and what they will wear. You see, those are the meaningless things of the world around us. The material things, the hedonistic things, the things that when all is, said and done, are simply empty. Every now and then my youngest daughter will come to me and she'll say, Dad, I'm really hungry. And I'll say, okay, well, what do you want? You want a snack or

something? Yeah, I need something that'll really fill me up. Okay, well, tell them I'm expecting like a cheese stick or, you know, some yogurt or something that's really good. She goes, I want popcorn. Like, you know, popcorn's just buttery air, right? Like I said, that's all popcorn is. Does it taste good? Yes. It's buttery air. And she goes, no, Dad, that's what I'm hungry for. The futility of mind. Why

should we no longer walk as the Gentiles walk? Because they walk in the futility of their minds. Number two, verse 18, being darkened in their understanding. Their understanding is darkened. What does that mean? Again, does this mean that they're stupid? No, it means that they have no vision beyond this earth. That their minds are blinded to spiritual truth. Their minds are blinded to spiritual truth.

The world around us doesn't understand the bigger picture. The world around us doesn't understand the bigger meaning, the bigger message of life. Therefore, they pursue meaningless things and they fail to understand spiritual things. Which is why when you talk to them about eternity, when you talk to the world about the deep, meaningful things of life, they can't get it because their understanding is darkened.

As we go through these five things, I want to point something out to you. And now feels like a really good time to point it out to you. You'll notice a spiral that takes place here. You'll notice a downward spiral. It starts off with a vanity of mind. But if your mind is vain and it only pursues worthless things, it only pursues meaningless things, then your understanding

becomes darkened. You only pursue the things of this earth. Therefore, you cannot see beyond the things of this earth. And that brings us to number three. They are therefore alienated from the life of God. In verse 18, it says excluded from the life of God. But the indication there is alienated from the life of God. Let me tell you what that specifically means.

They are estranged from God. Therefore, they are, estranged from real life. Those of us that are believers in Jesus Christ remember the fact that the day that we came to faith in Christ was the day that real life actually began. Do you remember that? Do you remember that that's all of a sudden when life began to make sense and everything that you were doing before that point in time was meaningless and purposeless and all of a sudden

everything began to make sense and you truly had life and you began to experience it more abundantly? Well, because the world is living in vanity and because the world, is living in the spiritually darkened, darkened in their understanding, they have no life in God. They are estranged from what real life looks like. Not only life eternally, but eternal life today.

And why are they alienated from it? It goes on under the same point to say because of the ignorance that is in them. They are darkened in their understanding and excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. They are darkened in their understanding and the ignorance that is in them. The ignorance that's given there is not an ignorance of

intellect. It is the ignorance of divine things. The ignorance of divine things. As you reject the light, you become unable to take in the light. And your ignorance causes you to be estranged from the life of God. Number four, as the spiral continues, it says they have become calloused. They have become calloused. Now, I don't do much manual labor anymore. That was very much made clear

to me this weekend. I had to help put a fence back up for my parents because it got taken down by a tree. And so I went and I rented the post hole digger. And do you know we haven't had rain in a month? I realized that the other day. I realized that the other day. I realized that the other day. As I legit, at some point in time, I'm sitting on this post hole digger. The neighbors had to be

like, what is that guy doing? Because I'm putting every bit of my 180 pounds on that thing, trying to get it to go into the ground. And finally, I had to keep wetting. I just kept giving the hose out and wetting the ground down. And eventually, it popped through there, right? So I did that for about a half a day. And then I spent a half a day setting posts, putting stringers up, putting all

the pickets up. And you know what I have on my hands now? I have sores. You know why? Because, I don't have calluses anymore, right? When I worked in manual labor all the time, I had calluses on my hands. So I could do work like that all the time. Never bothered me because my hands were calloused to it. I was used to it, right? Because through wear and usage, my hands began to lose

the feeling and the tenderness that they used to have because they developed calluses. You see, my hands are sensitive now. And they notice everything because I no longer have calluses. That's the point that Paul is making. When he talks about those who walk like the Gentiles. You see, because they have lived in the futility of their mind and their understanding is darkened, they've been alienated from the life

of God. Over time, as they have rejected the light, they have become calloused. The word calloused can also mean shameless. In other words, they no longer feel the sensitivity. But I think my absolute favorite, and I don't remember the commentator that said it, but I have it in quotation so you know, it wasn't me. It's the word calloused. It's the word calloused. It's the word

calloused. It says the word calloused means having gotten over the pain. Oh, what a graphic description of what happens to us when we suppress the truth. When we suppress conviction. When the world continues over and over again to suppress the conviction. Eventually they have forgotten about the pain. Because they've gotten over the pain. It doesn't hurt anymore.

It doesn't hurt anymore to sin. There's something that happens to everybody, saved or unsaved, the first time that you give in to sin. The first time you give in, you're a little bit shocked with yourself. As a matter of fact, you have to kind of sit back and take in exactly what took place. But the next time that you make that decision, it's a little bit easier. And the shock

is just a little bit less. And the next time it's a little bit easier. And the shock is just a little bit less. And pretty soon, not only is it easy, and not only is the shock a little bit easier, but you don't even think about it, and there's no shock at all. Because you have gotten over the pain. And brothers and sisters, it can happen to an individual, and it can happen to a culture.

It's been happening to individuals. It has happened to our culture. Which is why, by and large, the world is no longer shocked by sin. Instead, they are shocked by sin. Instead, they are shocked by righteousness. Why should we walk no longer as the Gentiles walk? Well, because the Gentiles are walking in the futility of their mind. It's emptiness. The world around us is emptiness. And their understanding is

darkened. They don't have any clue about anything spiritual that's going on in life. Not only that, but they have no real life in and of themselves because they are estranged from God. Therefore, they are estranged from the life of God. And then once that has happened, they've become calloused. They don't feel the things of sin. They don't feel the shock of conviction anymore. And it leads to this last thing, number five.

And they have given themselves over to sensuality. Notice what it says in verse 19. And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. That phrase, given over, means to give into the hands of another. Picture, if you will, you carrying something and you hand it to someone else. Only what has the world around us handed themselves over to? Sensuality. The practice

of impurity. We'll just be really base about it. Sexual sin. Because where does every culture ultimately find itself? Where does every sin ultimately find its final and most gratifying pleasure in sexual sin? Because that's what always happens. Because that's the very base of humanity. The very base desire of humanity. Therefore, they have given themselves over

to that sensuality. It's interesting to pay attention to the fact that he finishes this up with a descriptive word. He says, for the practice, excuse me, of every kind of impurity with, should you take note of that last word of that verse? With greediness. What does he mean with greediness? Well, what are greedy people? Greedy people are never satisfied. Therefore, as the world

around us has given themselves over to sensuality, to practice every kind of impurity, it's with greediness. In other words, they can never be satisfied. And brothers and sisters, that's the problem with every aspect of sin. And that's the problem with not changing the way that you walk. Is if you don't change the way that you walk, then you will start walking like the rest of the Gentiles. Then you will start walking like the rest of the

world. And where that ends, where that ends is you giving yourself over to sensuality and never being satisfied. Never being satisfied. The world around us is always looking for the next high. The world around us is always looking for the next new thing. The world around us is always looking for the next new hobby, the next new movie, the next new place of sensuality, the next new sin, the next new thing, because everybody always needs one more thing.

I don't know how many of you that perhaps this was the first year you'd ever heard that there was such a thing called the Burning Man Festival. I had heard about it a year or so ago, and only the Burning Man Festival got put out. Did you notice that? I thought that was the most fascinating thing in the world. See, God's like Burning Man, huh? Well, I'll put that out right now. Send you enough rain to flood

the whole world, right? Which is probably what he's ready to do right now. But that's basically what the Burning Man Festival is all about. Giving yourself over to sensuality to practice every kind of impurity with greediness. And that's the world. That's the world that we live in. That's why Paul says, so this I say and affirm together with the Lord. In other words, it's not just Paul,

it's Paul's idea. He said, I have the Lord standing witness with me that you need to do this. Don't walk like the rest of the world walks. Don't think how much sin can I get away with and still belong to Jesus. How much of the world can I have and still be saved? Don't think how can I look as much like the world as possible so that I can be accepted by the world, because the world that

oftentimes we want to be accepted by has given themselves over to every form of sensuality. And it's never enough. Rather than walking like the world, we should walk separate from the world because you are the light of the world. He says, number one, change the way that you walk. Number two, he tells us to remember what you learned. Notice what he says. He says,

but you did not learn Christ. In this way, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. Before I get into the three points I want to make here, I just want you to notice what it says, but you didn't learn Christ in this way. That's not what you learned. And I think that that's a really important thing. When, when you see a young person

who's raised in all of the right things, who's been taught in the right way, who's been taught all of the right things and you watch them grow up and you watch them turn into an adult. And when they turn into an adult, they walk away from the things of Jesus Christ. You know what the first question I always think to myself is, but that's not what you learned, but, but that's not how you were taught, but that's not how you were raised. So what, what has happened? That's not the things

that you learned from Jesus. And may I say, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, if you have found yourself walking, just like the rest of the Gentiles, the first thing you need to ask is, is that what I learned? Is that the way that I was taught? Are those the things that I know? I had to come to that, that place in my own life where I had to sit down and say, but that's not

the way that I was raised. That's not the way that I was taught. Those aren't the things that I learned and I need to stop acting that way. Anyway, he says, remember what you learned. And he tells us three things. He tells us the subject. He tells us the teacher and he tells us the truth. The subject is Christ. Notice what it says, but you did not learn Christ in this way. You did not learn Christ

in this way. I love this because what he's going to remind us of is the very subject that we learned when we came to Jesus Christ, because the subject that we learned when we came to Jesus Christ is Christ. And may I say the subject of every gospel message should be Christ. The subject of every biblical message should be Christ. The subject of every discipleship message,

should be Christ. The subject of everything that we do as a church should always be Christ. Because if Christ isn't the subject, then we don't remember what we learned. Because if you come to Christ, then Christ is the subject. And he says, you did not learn Christ in this way. I want to point out what he did not say. And I didn't come up with this myself. I read it, but I thought it was a fantastic point. He did not say you have learned about Christ

in this way. You know why? Because a lot of people learn about Christ. Satan knows about Christ. False teachers know about Christ. He didn't say you have learned about Christ. You have not learned about Christ in that way because there's too many people in the world today that sit in pews and own Bibles and they know a lot about Christ, but they don't know Christ. It's the same imagery I've used

before. It's the same imagery I've used before. It's the same imagery I've used before. It's the same imagery I've used before. I'm a big sports fan, but if I came up to any of my favorite sports characters, any of my favorite athletes who I knew all of the stats about, perhaps I knew all of the bio about, all of those different kinds of things, and I went up to the door and I knocked on the

door and then just walked in because it felt like the right thing to do. After all, I know all about them. They're going to call security and throw me out. You know why? Because I know a lot about them but I don't know them. I don't have a personal relationship with them. And when I think back on the things that I have learned, I have to remember that what I learned was not about Christ, but what

I learned is Christ, the subject, the sum of the preaching, the content, the relationship with the Savior that I started the day that I got saved. I love that song that we sang this morning, that song, Abide, because if there is anything that has become more real to me in my walk, it is that subject. That the one thing I am made to do is to abide in Christ. Because abiding in Him means an active and living relationship with Him. And the one thing sin ruins is that. The one

thing that walking like the rest of the Gentiles ruins is that, that abiding relationship. Because that's not what I learned. What I learned is the subject, Christ. The second thing that we see is the teacher. Notice what he says. He says, uh, hold on, I lost my place here. Verse 21, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him. Who's the teacher? Well, the teacher is Jesus. Notice what it says, if you've

heard Him. He was the one reaching out to us with the message of Him. He was the one reaching out to all of us. With that message of who He really is. And not only is He the one that we have heard, He is the one who has taught us. He was the one teaching us the message of Him. And showing us exactly what He looks like. The best picture of that was Him living on earth. His incarnation was Him preaching and

teaching the message of Himself. You see, He is the teacher, the one who has been teaching me. And may I say there is no better teacher. Than Jesus Christ Himself. Which is why if there's ever anything that you need to know about God's word, the best thing to do is to get with the author. If there's anything that you need to know about Christ, the best thing that you can do is spend

time with, with Christ. Remember the things that you've learned. The subject was Jesus. The teacher is Jesus. And what has He been teaching us? The truth. Because notice what He says. Verse 21. Just as the truth is in Jesus. Just as the truth is in Jesus. Because Jesus is truth. As a matter of fact, if you want to know a foundation for truth, it always starts with Jesus.

The foundation for everything that's true in the world always starts with Jesus. I know what a lot of people say about this. Ryan, there is truth in the world that supersedes God's word. Because it's not mentioned in God's word. Listen. Without God, there would be no world. Therefore, all of the truth finds its foundation in Jesus. Because all truth flows from Him.

He is the author of truth. As a matter of fact, in John chapter 14, verse 6. As a matter of fact, turn there with me real quick. Go over to John 14. Jesus is speaking with His disciples.

Let's start in verse 1. You know my being a sucker. In Jesus, in speaking to His disciples, in John chapter 14, verse 1, says this. Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places, if it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going. And so Thomas says to Him, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How do we know the way? And Jesus says to him, this is where I really want you to pay attention. I am the way. What's that second phrase? The truth and the life. No one comes to the Father

but through Me. You see, Jesus is that foundation of truth. He is the subject of what we learned. He is the teacher of what we learned. And that's the truth is the foundation of what we learned. So why are we not going to walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk? Why do we walk in holiness? Because the Gentiles are walking in a way that leads unto death and that's not what we learned.

We learned Christ, who is true life. Go back to Ephesians. And that takes us to the third thing. Out with the old and in with the new.

He says in verse 22 that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit. And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. So, what does He mean? What do I mean when I say out with the old and in with the new?

Well, again, He tells us three things. He tells us is to lay aside the old. Lay aside the old in reference to your former manner of life. I want you to take note of the word that's used there that's really important to pay attention to and that's the word former. Why is that word so important? Because it sets the stage for this entire first point that I want to make.

Because it is your former manner of life. In reference to your former manner of life. In other words, who you were before you came to Christ. Who you were before you came to Christ. That in reference to that, I point that out because of this. And I've said it before and I'll continue to say it, too many people live like it's not their former manner of life, but like it's their present

manner of life. And we do it by either living in the guilt of the past or refusing to let go of the sins. Of the past. And I have a question for you. Is it your former manner of life? Is it who you were before? Because if it's who you were before then you need to do what he says to do here. And we must recognize that aspect that it is the former manner of life. Who you were

before Christ. And what he tells us to do with that is that you are to lay aside the old self. Lay aside the old self that has become corrupt. That is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit. Now, the first question you should ask if you're to lay aside the old self is you should ask yourself, what is the old self? Well, that's that former manner of life. The old self

is the unsaved person dominated by the sin nature. The unsaved person dominated by the sin nature. Who you were before you came to Christ. Now, we're to do something specific with that. We're to do something specific with that old nature. The one that finds itself related to all of the things that we learned about in the first few verses. Those first five things.

That futility of mind. That darkened spiritual understanding. Alienated from the life of God. Calloused. Given over to sensuality. We're to lay that old self aside. So, what does he mean when he says lay aside? Well, I love this because it says that phrase lay aside literally means to put off like an old garment. To put off like an old garment. Again, on Saturday,

nope, not Saturday, on Friday when I was digging holes with the post hole digger. By the time I was done, I was covered with two things. Mud and sweat. And just absolutely covered. I walked in the door. It's been a long time since I've walked through the door like that. I don't come in like that very much anymore. It used to be that my wife would not let me

enter the home until I first laid aside the old garments. Right? Like I kept a hamper in the garage and so I'd walk in, I'd close the garage door, I would take off the old garments, step into the shower because she knew it was not going to smell pretty when I came walking through the house. So the first thing I did is I walked through the house and let her know how much I love her and then I laid aside the old garments and I got clean, right?

That's the basic idea of what he's saying here. The old you is covered with all of the things of sin. The old you is covered with all of the garbage, all of the nastiness and quite frankly, even though you didn't realize it when you were living in it, you stunk. And so what you have to do is you have to lay aside the old garments. Put them off like an old set of clothes. I want you to go

a couple of different places in Scripture with me. I want you to go over to Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6.

And I want you to look at, oh man, where do you even start in this? Okay. Start in verse 1. We'll just do a little reading. Hang with me, kids. It says this, Romans chapter 6. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be. How shall we who died to sin live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been

baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, surely we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self, same phrase, old self was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have

died with Christ, we shall also believe that we live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer is master over Him, for the death that He died, He died once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God. We did all of that to get to this verse. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. If we

have died with Him, and we are living with Him, then how should we consider ourselves right now as dead to sin? Laying aside what is dead so that I can live in what is alive. Laying aside that which is old so that I can live in that which is new. Go with me one more place. Go over to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. Hebrews 12, 1 and 2. It says therefore, since we have

so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside same word, every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, and the perfecter of our faith. Now, if we are to lay aside the old self because it is becoming corrupt through the deceitfulness of sin, what does that mean for us? Well, it's interesting because in the Greek, this is a present perfect, meaning that it says it is something that is done once for all. You have once for all laid aside that which is dead. You have put off

the old self. Now, I don't know about you, but in my practice, I find that I may have done it that one time, but I might have to do it again. Which is what's true. Because in position, you laid it aside the day that you came to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but in practice, it's something that you have to do every day. It's something that you have to do every day.

And this is where the power of the Holy Spirit is so amazing. Because the power of the Holy Spirit will allow some of those rotten clothes that you're still wearing to start to stink. You see, I find that the reason why most people that have worked for a really long time outside, why they don't realize that they're as repugnant smelling as they are is because, well, they've become nose blind. Until they get around somebody who's no longer nose blind that says, whoa!

Those clothes gotta go. Right? And that's the way it is with us. We've worn our old clothes for so long. Our old clothes are so much a part of who we are that we don't always recognize the smell. And it is that power of the Holy Spirit, that conviction of the Holy Spirit, that clues us in to the things on us that stink. That's why, positionally speaking, we may have

taken off those old clothes and now we have put on Christ. But every day, I need the Holy Spirit to reveal to me another part of my old self that I need to lay aside. And then when He reveals it to me, by His power, I lay it aside. You know, it's not the easiest thing in the world to do either. Because especially we as men, we know this. You find that favorite t-shirt, right?

The one that fits you just right. The one that has your favorite little saying on it. The favorite t-shirt that you bought when you were a teenager. The only one that still fits you from when you were a teenager. And you're like, man, I don't want to get rid of that. Because I've had it forever. It fits me just right. It feels so soft. It's comfortable. And so it's not easy to do.

Because that's the way we are with our old self. Because often times it's still very comfortable. And yet, if we are to not walk like the rest of the Gentiles walk, then we have to lay aside the old self. The second thing that He tells us that we need to do is to be renewed. In the spirit of your mind. Renewed in the spirit of your mind. I think it was the Amplified

Bible that translated like this. It said and be being renewed in the spirit of your mind. Which creates in our understanding that what we need over and over and over again is a continual process of being renewed in the spirit of our mind. That our minds need a constant renewal process. Why? Why do they need that constant renewal process? Well, because they used to walk in vain futility.

They used to walk in the futility of our minds. They used to be calloused. They used to be given over to sensuality. They used to be given to all of the things of sin. They were darkened in their spiritual understanding. And so what I need now is a constant renewal of my mind. How does that take place? I only know of one way. And that's with God's Word. That God's Word continues

renews the way that we think. To continually renew our understanding. To be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Not to quote the exact same verses over and over again constantly, but Psalm 1 puts it best when it says that we are to find our pleasure in the law of the Lord. And in His law we are to meditate day and night. To meditate day and night. Why? Because that's

the only way that our minds can be renewed. Man, this just keeps coming up over and over again. That importance of the renewing of our mind because the garbage that we take in all the time. I'm starting to be much more sensitive to some of the things that I hear and see. More than I used to be. Perhaps I'm growing in my walk just a little bit. And I become sensitive not only to the

bad words that are said on TV shows and things like that, but I've even become a little bit sensitive to the attitudes that I see on some of the worldly TV shows. When I say the worldly TV shows, I mean all of them. Because you start going, man, isn't it crazy that that's the attitude that they present? And that that's the attitude that the whole rest of the world has?

And that that attitude is the problem that we have in the world today? And that oftentimes watching that programs that attitude into us? Oh Lord, I need renewed. I need my mind renewed. Not only from the things that are so blatantly sinful because everybody knows that they're wrong, that sometimes they even get censored because they're wrong, but even those deep-seated attitudes

that the world has that are wrong that we've bought into for years. We need renewed in the spirit of our minds. And again, the only way I know to do that is for you to be in God's Word. For you to take what God's Word has to say, allow it to marinate in your mind, and then allow it to be what you live out in your life. Because the Word of God is powerful. It's sharper than

any two-edged sword, able to pierce between bone and marrow. And it divides the thoughts and the intents of the heart. And so he says, be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And then we come to the third thing that he tells us to do. You see, we don't want to walk around naked. If we're going to take something off, we better put something on. Notice what it says in verse 24.

And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. That word new doesn't mean new in time. It means new in quality or nature. New in quality or nature. The idea is that while we take off the person who was dominated by the sin nature, what we're to put on is the person who is dominated by the new nature.

You see, I don't just reckon my old self as dead to sin. I reckon myself as alive to Christ. I don't just reckon myself as no longer a slave to sin. I now decide that I am a slave of Christ. And I put on the new self. The new self that is created in the likeness of God. The new self that is created in righteousness and holiness. And truth. How do I do this? You see, I don't like to just look at something

and go, okay, time to put on the new self. How do we do this? Well, we put it on the same way we put on all of the virtues. We make it a part of who we are. As we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, we begin to take all of the truth of Christ and make it a part of our life. You see, when it says to love my neighbor, I begin the process of praying, Lord, teach me how to love my

neighbor. Lord, teach me how to love them in the way that you've called for me to love them. And then I'll take the step that God calls me to take as He teaches me and then I will see the results that God produces as He is the one who has convicted me, as He is the one who has taught me, and as He is the one who has empowered me, He is the one who will bring the results from that. You see, it's the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. And I say, Lord,

I want all of you to be a part of who I am. Therefore, I will put on love. Therefore, I will put on kindness. Therefore, I will put on gentleness. Therefore, I will put on peace. These will now be the garments that identify the way that I live my life as you show me the way to live, as you empower me in the way to live. And I begin to put on the truth of who God is.

But I find that there is a key, both to the first thing, laying aside the old, and the third thing, putting on the new, it comes with the second, the renewing of the mind. Because how does the Holy Spirit begin to speak these truths to us? We see He speaks it through God's Word. He speaks to us what the old self looks like through God's Word. He speaks to us what

the new self looks like through God's Word. And not just the New Testament. Have you noticed that? God speaks to us throughout all of Scripture about the things that we should not do and the things that we should do. He renews us in the spirit of our mind. And as He does so, He gives us everything that we need to lay aside the old and put on the new. And so, brothers and sisters,

as we wrap up here this morning, let's put a sweet little bow on it. Send it on its way. Number one, change the way you walk. Change the way you walk. I'm just going to reiterate these same three points. You don't necessarily need to write them down. We need to change the way that we walk. Have you been finding yourself walking just like the rest of the Gentiles walk? It happens to us

easily. And just because you've walked with Jesus for a long time, doesn't mean you're not still susceptible to it. Have you been walking like the rest of the Gentiles walk? Number two, remember what you've learned. Remember the subject. Remember the teacher and remember the truth. Because Christ should be at the heart of everything. Through Christ, we didn't learn

to follow the things of the world. Through Christ, we learned to live a brand new life in Him. And then number three, out with the old, in with the new. What old garments are you still wearing around? What old garments have you become so content with? What old t-shirt has so many holes in it and is so falling apart and you refuse to let it go because it's comfortable?

What old garments do you need to lay aside? And what is it time to put on? What new wardrobe has God been showing you to say, it's time to start wearing a lot more love. It's time to start wearing a lot more peace, a lot more gentleness, a lot more kindness, a lot more patience. It's time to start wearing this. Brothers and sisters, we were called to holiness.

Therefore, let us walk in holiness. Amen? Let's all stand.

I don't know if you've been paying attention to the things going on in the world. And even more, I hope you've been paying attention to the things that are going on in our community. Because the world is a very heavy place right now. There's a great deal of reason to lose hope in the world right now. But we don't lose hope. Because even though everything around us feels hopeless, we still serve a

living God who is very powerful. And who is bigger than all of the things that we're dealing with. But I do hope that you're paying attention to the things that are going on around us. Because as we see more things unfold, what our community needs is believers in Jesus Christ who are walking in holiness and pointing them to the hope that is found in Jesus Christ. So,

open your eyes, open your hearts, and let God do that work inside of you. Father, we come to you now and we praise you for who you are. We praise you that you are good. And Lord, we ask that you would do the work that only your Holy Spirit can do in our hearts and lives. Strengthen us in you and draw us near to you, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Lord bless y'all.