Sermon Notes, May 29, 2016 AM
Changing
the Course of Your Life
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. The
story is told of a ship sailing off of the east coast one stormy evening.
The
commander was told that they were
approaching another ship. He took the radio
microphone and demanded the other vessel to
change its course. Immediately the
terse reply said, “You change your course.”
The infuriated commander said, “What is
your rank?” The voice replied, “Petty
officer, third class.” “I’m a commander, and I am
ordering you to change your course.” The
Petty officer replied, “You must change
your course.” By now the commander was red
faced. “I’m a battleship. Change your
course.” The other voice said, “Sir, I’m a
lighthouse. You change your course.”
1. Many people are resistant to any type of
change. Sometimes we must change.
2. There are times when our lives are not
on a proper course and we need to change
directions.
3. There are times when our attitudes need
to change. There are occasions when we
need to abandon certain behavior and
initiate new behavior.
B.
Ephesians 4 is filled with practical instruction for charting a new course in your
life.
1. Paul begins this chapter by urging
Christians to walk in a manner worthy of our
calling. He explains that this means
having an attitude of humility, gentleness and
maintaining the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace.
2. He issues a challenge for every
Christian to recognize their giftedness and their
calling to ministry. Ministry is not
limited to a few while everyone else watches.
3. In verses 17-23 the Holy Spirit uses
Paul’s pen with the accuracy of a laser to
reveal the change of course that must
occur in our lives as Christians.
So I
tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as
the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are
darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of
the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19
Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so
as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
20 That,
however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about
Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your
old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
C.
What does Paul say about “changing the course of your life?”
I. WALKING DOWN THE WRONG PATH
A. Paul instructs these Christians that
they are to no longer live as the Gentiles do, in
the futility of their thinking.
1. Being a disciple of Jesus means there
must be a change in our conduct.
2. We are not to live like people who do
not know God. Their lives are futile. The
definition of “futile” is,
“incapable of producing any useful result.” The greek word,
“mataioteti” means ‘vanity” or
“futility.”
B. What are the characteristics of this
futility? Paul gives us a four part description
in the following verses.
1. Ignorance. Verse 18 says, “They are
darkened in their understanding and
separated from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them due to
the hardening of their hearts.” This
ignorance is the result of three things.
a. Darkened understanding. As I look
over the religious landscape of our nation I
see a lot of darkened
understanding. Most Americans will readily tell you they
believe in God or some “higher
power.” What people believe about God varies
widely and demonstrates a great
deal of darkened understanding.
b. Separated from the life of
God. What is this life?
1.) John 1:4 – “In him was life,
and that life was the light of all mankind.”
2.) John 14:6 – “Jesus answered,
‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father
except through me.’”
3.) Ephesians 2:11-12 –
“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are
Gentiles by birth and
called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves
“the circumcision” (which
is done in the body by human hands)—
12 remember that at that
time you were separate from Christ, excluded
from citizenship in Israel
and foreigners to the covenants of the promise,
without hope and without God in
the world.”
c. Hardened hearts. The longer a
person lives in rebellion to God the harder their
heart becomes.
2. A loss of sensitivity. In verse 19
Paul said, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have
given themselves over to sensuality
so as to indulge in every kind of impurity,
and they are full of greed.”
a. Paul spoke of those whose
consciences have been seared with a hot iron in
1 Timothy 4:2.
b. Some years ago I heard of a man
who was paralyzed and had no feeling from
the waist down. He was in his
kitchen one day talking on the phone when he
realized a casserole was burning
in the oven. Without thinking he rolled over
to the oven, took the hot
casserole out and placed it in his lap. He felt no pain
but received serious burns.
Millions of people have allowed their hearts to
become hard and have suppressed their hunger
for God. Are you one of
them?
3. Giving themselves over to
sensuality. Since they have lost their
sensitivity Paul
goes on to say in verse 19 “they
have given themselves over to sensuality so as
to indulge in every kind of
impurity, and they are full of greed.”
a. The people of whom Paul was
speaking were engaged in pagan religious
practices filled with immoral
behavior.
b. Ephesus was a center of worship for
the fertility goddess Artemis or Diana (the
Latin name). The temple of
Artemis was said to be one of 7 wonders of the
ancient world.
c. Dr. Everett Ferguson, long time
professor of Bible at Abilene Christian
University wrote, “All kinds of
immoralities were associated with the [Greco-
Roman] gods. Not only was
prostitution a recognized institution, but through
the influence of the fertility
cults of Asia Minor, Syria, and Phoenicia it became
a part of the religious rites at
certain temples.” (Dr. Everett Ferguson,
Backgrounds of Early
Christianity, Wm. B. Eerdmans, p. 70).
4. Full of Greed – vs. 19. They were
only concerned with fulfilling their own lusts
and desires.
C. One of the greatest challenges we face
as Christians is getting away from this
path that leads to destruction. It is
not an easy thing to do. Jesus said, “wide is the
gate and broad is the road that leads to
destruction, and many enter through it.”
1. Too many people who have said Jesus
is Lord are still living like the Devil.
2. We have been captured by our culture.
Instead of cutting across the grain we are
going with the flow. Instead of
swimming upstream towards a higher calling we
are allowing the current to carry us
along.
II. CHARTING A NEW COURSE
A. God has a new course charted for us.
Notice verses 20.-21. “That, however, is not
the way of life you learned 21
when you heard about Christ and were taught in him
in accordance with the truth that is in
Jesus.”
B. Have you ever needed a new wardrobe?
Perhaps you have bought new clothes as
we moved from winter to spring? Perhaps
you’ve lost weight and have had to
change your wardrobe. Paul used this
idea of taking off the old and putting on the
new to illustrate the new course God
intends for us to have.
1. In verse 22 he said, “You were
taught, with regard to your former way of life, to
put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires.”
a. Following his teaching on baptism
Paul wrote in Romans 6:6 – “For we know
that our old self was crucified
with him so that the body ruled by sin might be
done away with, that we should
no longer be slaves to sin.”
b. In Romans 12:2 Paul continued,
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind.”
c. Using the same, “Put off / put
on” language as he does in Ephesians 4 Paul
says in Colossians 3:8-10, “But
now you must also rid yourselves of all such
things as these: anger, rage,
malice, slander, and filthy language from your
lips. 9 Do not lie to
each other, since you have taken off your old self with its
practices 10 and have
put on the new self, which is being renewed in
knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
C. The imagery of changing clothes to
signify a new course is also found in the Old
Testament book of Zachariah.
1. Zachariah (6the century B.C.) had a
vision of the High Priest, Joshua, clothed in
filthy garments standing before the
angel of the Lord. Satan is also in this vision
hurling accusations at Joshua. Then
the angel of the Lord commanded that
Joshua’s dirty clothes be taken off
and he be given new, clean clothes and a
clean turban for his head.
2. When you become a Christian this is
what happens. God takes your dirty
clothes, your righteousness that is
like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) and gives you an
entirely new wardrobe of
righteousness that comes through Christ.
3. Just as your mother would tell you
when you put on your new best clothes, “Don’t
go out and get dirty,” God says, “I
want you to change the course of your life.” He
promises to help us but we must
exercise our free will and make that decision.
CONCLUSION:
A.
Tolstoy said, “Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of
changing Himself.”
1. It is much easier to demand that others
change their course than to admit we need
to change ours.
2. Until we change we cannot expect the
world to change.
B. If
it is time to change the course of your life we hope you will come to Christ
today.
