Wednesday, January 17, 2024 PM

Then drill down in one particular portion of it so we can see what instructions were given by the Spirit about how we're to approach things in a very dark and perverse world. The world in which Paul did his ministry was not very different from our own.

The more you read and learn about the immorality in the ancient Roman Empire, the more it sounds like today. So all manner of sexual perversion and immorality had to be addressed in the churches, had to be preached about, had to be dealt with, and so what was the way that they were to approach it?

How were they to do that and do that well? So we come to Ephesians chapter 4. We have a very clear admonition at the beginning of the chapter about our unity in Christ, about how it is that we're to relate to one another in the light of who Christ is, and then an assurance in verses 7 through 16 that Christ, by his Spirit, equips and provides for the whole church and designs the growth of the church body in such a way that not only do we grow up into Christ, who is the standard of maturity, he's who we're aspiring to be more and more like, we're following Christ, but that every part of body is equipped to help the other parts.

So it's not one person trying to do CPR and trying to make something happen externally or artificially, but that there is life within the body and that each part nourishes the other parts and we are called to this in a variety of ways.

We've talked about this passage before, how we're to be encouraging one another and exhorting one another from our conversation, to our prayers, to the singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs, that we are taking account of one another's spiritual good as members of a church body.

We are saying, not like Cain, we are saying, I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper, and I want to build you up not into you be the best you you can be, but I want to help build you up into Christ.

And if every member is involved in that ministry, nobody is exempt. But we are assured that we're given all that we need in the supremacy of Christ, ascended to the right hand. And then, given that Christ applies all this, we are then instructed, verses 17 through 24, about the new man.

And the new man is that which is conformed to Christ by learning Christ, by being taught in Christ, by being conformed to Christ. We are being renewed into the image of God, our Creator. And, of course, you know that language comes from Genesis chapter 1.

Adam and Eve were made in the image of God. Sin greatly mars that image, to the where we are totally depraved, dead in trespasses and sins. But, made alive in Christ, who is the last Adam, we are renewed into the image of God who created us.

And the renewal of the new man involves, as we read, putting off the old man. And that's verses 25 through 32. There's a whole list of things in which Paul identifies characteristics, symptoms of the old man.

Things that just don't accord with the image of God. These things don't agree with loving God supremely, or loving each other rightly, or stewarding what God has entrusted to you in a righteous way. These things just don't agree at all.

And so, we see verse 25, therefore, putting away lying. Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Now, as we read through that portion, we hear echoes, maybe, of the Ten Commandments, but there's so much more there. It's more than, don't bear false witness against your neighbor. It's, tell the truth because we're members of one another.

It's more than, don't steal. It's, work hard so you can give. I mean, the echoes of the Ten Commandments are there, and why shouldn't they be, as they were shaped in the image of God? But this is so much more, because Christ is greater.

His glory is brighter. So, when we put off the old man and put on the new man, you can really tell the difference. Now, verse 29 says, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

So, this will be our first passage to weigh and think about in terms of how do we talk about corrupt things that need to be identified and addressed, to be dealt with biblically. Well, we do so, not with corrupt communication, but always thinking about what would be good for necessary edification.

Notice the aim of it. Notice what we're trying to achieve. We're looking to impart grace to the hearers. So, when we're going to have to, as the pillar and the support of the truth, that's the nature of the church, we are to be salt and light.

We are a city set on a hill. We're not meant to hide away in the corners, and to build monasteries, and hide out, and not make a fuss, and be as quiet as mice, and maybe that people will just forget we're here.

That's not what we're called to do. Christ has called us to be his witnesses, and to disciple the nations, and have something to say to everybody, everywhere, about everything. And we're given a sufficient and clear word to do that.

The Bible speaks to every aspect of the human existence. It doesn't tell you how to change the oil in your car, but it does tell you what kind of attitude you should have when you do it. It does tell you something about being prepared, and being wise.

It does say something about how you to teach your children to be responsible, and so on and so forth. And so, the Bible does speak to every aspect of the human existence. It's a sufficient word for all of our faith and practice.

And in this case, we are reminded that if we have to deal with something, let's make sure that no corrupt communication, nothing that is less than good for necessary edification would come out. Our aim is to impart grace to the hearers.

That's not the main verse I wanted to look at, but it was worth observing. Verse 30 says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, which means arguments, loud arguments, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. There are two things here. One, when we begin the chapter, and we're told there is one body, one spirit called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

Unity, unity, unity because of who Christ is, because of who God is. And then you end the chapter by saying, let all these attitudes, these affections, these emotions, these approaches, this kind of communication, let all of that be put away.

Why? That's the old man. That's the old man. But let all that be put away from you. Now, that may take some work, but look at the unity. Verse 32, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, notice, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

How is it that we have our unity? How is it that we are born again into the image of God and renewed and changed for the better? God in Christ has forgiven us. In light of that, in light of God forgiving us in Christ, what is our approach to others?

Keeping in mind, there's one faith, one Lord, one hope, one Savior. This should be our guiding light in how we relate to each other. You know, we end in my sermons with the benediction that the may the love of the Father and the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

We can see all those things right here. All right, the love of the Father, grace of the Son, fellowship of the Holy Spirit, that is my desire. That's not just a formal, nifty way to land the plane and dismiss everybody.

You know, that is our, that is our hope, coming and going, on the phone with each other, serving each other, bringing somebody a meal. That's, you know, who is God and who has saved us and who has brought us together.

And keeping this in mind, that we have this new man in Christ, therefore we put off the old man. There are three ways to walk there in chapter five. Three ways to walk. In the first, in verses one through seven, is to walk in love.

To walk in love. And these are, again, there is a putting off of some things and a putting on of other things, but who's our focus? Certainly, you know, the elders, we'd like to be examples for everybody here and we're called to do that.

And parents want to be good examples to their children. And we want, the elderly want to be good examples of faithfulness for those of younger generations and so on. I mean, we want to be good examples.

But the prime example that we're given is God himself. And the imitation that we're called to is not one of condemnation, but one of children. So, therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. Now, you've seen what it's like when there is a little child who is dearly loved.

And they are confident in that love. They are happy and joyful and it's just a good day in the home. And then you watch that little child look at an older sibling or a dad or mom and then they start imitating, don't they?

They just start imitating, right? And it's not like they end up doing something super productive, right? My two-year-old loves to grab the broom and dustpan. He may end up making a little bit more of a mess than what was there to begin with.

But he's imitating something that he sees and he's doing so as a dear child. So, we are to be imitators of God as dear children, those who are loved and those who love him. And thus, we are to walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us.

See, in the Old Covenant, we are told that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. In the New Covenant, the writer Revelation, to love one another as Christ has loved us. And there is something brighter and heavier and more glorious in that.

Remembering Christ. If we do anything else, let's remember Christ who has given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. You know, when you go back and you look at the sweet-smelling aroma, where do we see that in the Old Testament?

Okay, there was some sacrifices going on at the tabernacle and some of those were called a sweet-smelling sacrifice, weren't they? Can we go back a little farther? Yeah, Abraham certainly walked the length and the breadth of the promised land, made many altars, offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Sweet-smelling aroma. We could go back even further. Noah, that's right. Noah offered up his sacrifice to the Lord. Lord smelled the sweet-smelling aroma and he made covenant with Noah. Noah, who was named Comfort because in him there would be rest.

Lamech, his father, named him that. Noah, who started things off again and God gave him the creation mandate all over again. A fresh start and a promise that I will not destroy, but I will preserve and maintain.

And here's how I want you to live. And Christ is the beginning of the new creation. Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week. When did the old creation start? First day of the week. When did the new creation start?

First day of the week. Awful convenient. Christ is raised from the dead. He raises us from the dead and he is our peace with God, a sweet-smelling aroma. And notice that there are certain things that just do not accord with this peaceable fellowship.

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints, as those who are called and set apart as holy. Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

There should be a distinction in the way that Christians speak, the way that Christians act, the way that we talk and communicate versus those who are of the old man. For this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man who is an idolater has any 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. Therefore do not be partakers with them. In the days of Noah, the world was filled with sexual immorality and and covetous violence.

And upon these sons of disobedience, God rained down his wrath. But those who were with Noah in the ark were preserved and saved and were called to something different. And the same is for us in Christ.

There's got to be something different signifying what is fitting for saints. This being the case, being imitators of God as dear children, dear to him because of Christ, thus things are different in our lives, walking in love rather than walking in lust, walking in love rather than walking in falsehood with empty words saying, like the the Pope recently said, I like to think of hell as empty.

Let no one deceive you, let no one deceive you, there is judgment. Verse 8, not only should we walk in love, but also walk in light. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, walk as children of light.

For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. Notice where the emphasis is, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but, now here's I think the key passage for us to consider, but rather expose them.

And the word means reprove. It has the idea of pointing at something to reprove it, to reprove it. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret, but all things that are exposed, in other words reproved, are made manifest by the light.

For whatever makes manifest is light, therefore he says, awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. So I want us to think about this together and consider what the instruction is.

When we walk as children of the light, this means that we don't walk with those who are caught up in darkness. Now very often in the contrast between light and dark, we're obviously using, there's a metaphor here that we're being given that does have a moral connotation to it, but it also has a truth versus lie interaction.

Those who are in the darkness are those who are practicing deceit and lying. As 1st John says that those who say that they have no sin, they're in the darkness. Those who say that I have not sinned, they're in the darkness.

Why? Because they're not walking in the light as God is in the light, because they're not saying what God says about their sin. So we're encouraged in 1st John 1 .9 to confess our sins. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And that's where we're being encouraged to to walk in the light and to simply say what God has to say about our lives. To say the same word, that's what confession means, to say the same thing that God says about us.

And those who are in the unfruitful works of darkness are not only sinning, but they're lying about it. And they're saying that these things are acceptable, or they're saying that these things are not sin.

Now in this we agree that we should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Now the term here, not only do we need to understand what the term means, but also to look at how Paul uses it in the context.

If we just simply use the term expose in a very basic English dictionary sense, then the video that was shown last week would probably fit the bill. Just show a lot of horrid things in a very rapid montage, a startling juxtaposition of many different scenes, to hammer home the point, look how bad things are.

Indeed, that is indeed sin, that's bad. But the term is not simply expose and show, it's not a word that simply means to showcase, but it means essentially the act of the judge pointing at the one who has been convicted of the crime and saying, this is what you have done and that is wrong.

That's the meaning of this word expose. It is a pointing out and a reproof or rebuke at the same time. So there is context with the pointing out. It's not just a pointing out and a display, but it's a very careful pointing out.

Now, still then, the showing of the video was certainly not one in which it was showcased without some sort of comment. It was. Obviously, the idea was, this is wrong, this is sinful, look at how deep and widespread and rampant the problems are, and this is wrong, this is sin, this needs to be addressed.

But further, notice verse 12. This is where we have to fit all the puzzle pieces together. Verse 12 says, for it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. So how is it that you expose something if it's shameful to speak of those things?

Well, we could swing the pendulum from one side to the other, where we say, well, these things are so bad, we're never going to say that they exist at all. But the Bible doesn't do that. The Bible speaks to every part of the human experience and addresses sin and calls sin what it is and gives us, I think, very sufficient, effective, powerful, spirit-breathed terminology to talk about things the way they are.

So for instance, I'll just give an example. And I thought of this, you know, when we talk about particular issues, we can kind of get focused on the sexual chaos of the LGBTQ agenda. But you know what the Bible calls two young people of the opposite sex who love each other a whole lot and decide to live together before they get married?

You know what the Bible calls that? Fornication. Fornication, right? They call that true love. Doesn't call that all that sweet or that's cute. Bible calls it fornication, right? God's given us a word for it so that we know what it is and we're supposed to use that term.

Now we don't have to have a montage, a startling montage of videos of people not getting married but being affectionate towards one another in ways that only a husband and wife should. We don't need to have that montage to drive the point home.

We have biblical words that say this is what this is and we need to address it and expose it by using the terms that God has given to us. So it's shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret but notice how these things get reproved.

I want you to see how these things get exposed. Verse 13, but all things that are exposed, in other words reproved, pointed out as wrong, are made manifest by what? By the light. Well that makes sense, doesn't it?

If I want to know if under the bed is clean or not, my fourth born says, oh yes I've cleaned under the bed. I say to my fifth born, go give me a flashlight because we're gonna find out. We're gonna find out.

We're gonna shine some light onto the issue and we're gonna find out and so this is exposed or made manifest not by speaking of those things or showcasing those things that are done in secret but notice how these things are exposed.

Not showcasing the sin but they are made manifest. The rebuke is clarified by the light for whatever makes manifest is light. So how are these things made manifest? How are these things made clear and driven home that this is the wrong way to live?

Well Paul quotes some scripture. Okay so he quotes from Isaiah 26 and Isaiah 60. He says, awake you who sleep, awake you who sleep, arise from the dead and well look there is there's a lot of the world.

Christ will give you light. John chapter 1 says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things that were made were made through him and apart from him nothing was made that was made and in him was the life of men.

He was the light and in him is the life of men and John was not that light. He testified about that light but Jesus Christ is that light and coming into the world it says in John chapter 1 he enlightens every man.

Universalists will read that and say see everybody gets saved. Everybody goes to heaven. Everybody's enlightened. I'll put it in my own personal translation. Coming into the world he lights up every man.

He lights us all up. Big spotlight. Boom. This is who you really are. All these identity crises. Who am I or I want to be somebody else or I'm trying to find myself. Christ is the light of the world. He is the eternal Word of God.

The very truth of God. He is the last Adam. The exact expression of who we are to be made in God's image and he lights us all up and says this is so and thus is so. And so when it comes to dealing with topics that I think are full of perversity and difficulty it's hard to talk about these things yet we see it's not wrong.

It is not wrong for us to be repulsed by evil. We're told today that it's a sin if we're repulsed by sexual perversion. Well you're xenophobic or homophobic or transphobic. You're a sinner for being repulsed by a horrible sexual perversity.

But in fact that's good and proper. Would you be repulsed by a king cobra? Would you be repulsed by danger or venom? Something that brought danger with it? Yes. And so we are not to take the track that I think is sometimes the approach and I'm not getting into motivations at all just methods.

Sometimes the method is well the church has been far too silent about these things for far too long so we're just going to showcase it all and really deal with it. Take a really approach to it. Kind of a shock therapy kind of thing.

We don't have to do that. Scripture is sufficient. Scripture is sufficient. So we can read here how to approach these things. We're going to showcase not the sin but the Savior. Shine the light on the situation and use the biblical words we have described the problems but the main point is to shine the light of Christ on the matter and show the good that God brings in taking sinners.

First Corinthians chapter 6 talks about folks, not just those who are engaged in sexual perversion but those who are engaged in other sins, who identify themselves by their sins. They call themselves by their sins and own that as their identity and yet first Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 through 11 after given that list says such were some of you.

Past tense. Now you're justified, you're sanctified, now you bear the name of Christ. In this we totally agree. Stephen Black and we totally agree with that. We disagreed with the method approach and this is I think the biblical reason why and we're going to share that in love and patience and kindness with our dear brother and let the Lord do his work in his life and even if we disagreed with that method we can still partner together because we know that he is preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ as the hope for all kinds of sinners.

Any questions or thoughts about what we've studied tonight? So that's why if somebody tries to combat the LGBTQ plus agenda by touting traditional values or the need for a very broad political speak, Judeo if they speak of like a homogeneous culture or whatever, these are all half measures and it's not the light by which we're to address things.

Christ is the light. So people don't want to bring the authority of Christ to bear but he has all the authority. Yes and this is one of those cases where it's clear that a thousand pictures can't surpass one word that were given in the scripture.

That's going to deal with the whole situation with just a single word instead of a crafted message. All right well I appreciate you all tracking with that and listening to that. I hope it's been helpful to you.

Let's go ahead and close with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father we thank you so much for the time you've given us. We thank you for the sufficiency and clarity of your word and pray that you would help us to continue to to to grow up into Christ who is the measure of all that you want us to be and we thank you for giving us to him and giving him to us and we pray these things in his name.