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Off And On

Ephesians 4:22 “That ye kput off lconcerning the former mconversation nthe old man…”  [1]

24 “And that ye put on qthe new man…” [2]

I.   Old Man

          A. Lasciviousness

          B. Lust

     II. New Spirit

          A. Thoughts

          B. Ways

     III. New Man

          A. Righteousness

          B. Holiness

Introduction:  Last Sunday morning as Russell taught Sunday school, he spoke of receiving a new spiritual body when a person truly becomes a Christian.  So what are we to do with this new spiritual body?  Do all people who say that they believe in Jesus receive a new spiritual body or is this a sign after the fact that they have really met the Lord Jesus Christ?

We believe that Jesus came from the tomb after His resurrection in a body that was not like the one he had prior to the cross.  He was seen in places by some and was seemingly whisked off without the people even knowing that he had left them.  They remembered that He had been there but couldn’t explain when He left.

What about Philip and the Eunuch?  In Acts 8:26-39 Philip explained the scriptures of Isaiah and then in verse forty he was whisked away to Caesarea.  Did Philip have a spiritual body at that point?  What did Philip have?  Why do you suppose Philip went through that experience? 

Remember in John 14 when Philip questioned Jesus about going to The Father?  John 14:8, “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” [3]After the episode of being whisked away from with the Eunuch I expect Philip had a better understanding of going when God calls.  Jesus allowed Philip to see for himself what The Spirit will do.

Jesus went on to say in John 14:16 that God the Father would send The Comforter that He may abide with us forever.  Having a spiritual body means that the Holy Spirit is living within you.  Without The Holy Spirit there is no evidence of Jesus in you.  There is no spiritual body.

So back to the first question; do all people have a spiritual body who simply say that they believe Jesus is whom He says He is or do a vast many people only have a head knowledge?  Second question; if you truly do have a spiritual body and you really do have a saving knowledge of Jesus, what are you supposed to do differently now that you could not do before?

This morning we are going to talk about question two.  There is a course of study that some ministers specialize in called Christian Counseling.  Christian Counseling should never be confused with secular counseling and a minister of the gospel of Christ who does not differentiate will be sued in court for calling himself or herself a counselor unless they have a higher degree of learning and a license to practice mental counseling in the secular world.

In secular counseling the patient undergoes many sessions to find where to place the blame for them being where they are.  In Christian Counseling the Christian undergoes listening sessions to allow the minister to find where God is taking them.  Biblical study follows and then as a Christian you then understand how much God loves you and how much God expects back from the investment that He has made in the lessons that He has allowed in your life.

Scripture:  The scripture today is Ephesians 4:17-24.  Please stand if you can for the reading of God’s Word.

Prayer:  Please be seated.

Message:  The title for today’s message and the theme of the courses that I took in Christian Counseling are within the verses that we just heard.  The professor that taught used the idea from this scripture to bring home what Jesus said in Matthew 12:43-45, “43 hWhen the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through idry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and jgarnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and kthe last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.” [4]

That is the difference in the Christian who truly trusts God with all he/she is and another who has decided to take matters in their own hands by getting rid of a thing that is plaguing them.  If you have a thing that is bothering you and controlling you so that you decide to quit the thing, unless you allow God to put into you that which He has for you, you are doomed to have something come into you that is worse than the thing you had before.  Put off and then put on!  Actually you put off and then let God put on!

The secular counselor helps you to look for the thing in your past that caused the problem so that you can accept that someone introduced you to evil.  Now that you know the guilty party, which is certainly never you, now you can blame the thing or person knowing that you are never the source of blame.

First off, starting at Romans 3:23, “For eall have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified pfreely qby his grace rthrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath ||sset forth tto be a propitiation through faith uin his blood, wto declare his righteousness for the ||remission of xsins that are past, through the yforbearance of God; 26 wTo declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” [5]

This is what I believe!  The blame is on me.  What about you?  How can you change?  Do you have the Holy Spirit within you?  Do you have a spiritual body?  If you do then you are a new creation.  Here in Ephesians Paul uses the terms old and new man but it applies to us all men and women.

The term lasciviousness is used by Paul here.  In Galatians and Romans Paul describes acts of sexual perversion which go along with this idea.  He also mentions greediness that may or may not have anything to do with sex but is a lustful want for that which someone else has without being willing to correctly acquire what they have acquired.  In the old man, people are given over to these things and they refuse that they are wrong.  To move from this requires a new life.

If you have actually heard and have been taught by Christ, who is the only source of all truth, then you are ready to put off the conversation or passing of ideas that you had as the old man.  Keep in mind that when you become a Christian God is not willing to make you a better version of who you were before.  I once thought God would make me a better Jim Brady.  It didn’t work ya’ll!  It won’t work ya’ll!  You must be born again.  That is what Jesus told Nicodemus over in John 3!  You remember that John 3:16 verse?  Well step back to verse seven, “7 kkMarvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born ||again.” [6]

So you have put off the old stuff and now everything is OK, right?  Remember the idea of the evil spirits coming into a clean place?  In verse twenty – three we see a verse closely related to Romans 12:1-2, I abeseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye bpresent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, cacceptable unto God, which is your dreasonable eservice. 2 And fbe not conformed gto this world: but hbe ye transformed by ithe renewing jof your mind, that ye may kprove what is that good, and cacceptable, and perfect, lwill of God.[7]

New spirit; The Holy Spirit is within you and He is ready and able to change your ideas if you don’t greave Him.  Allow Him to renew you mind with his thoughts and His ways and then you will be ready for the new man / woman that God made you to be.

Now you are ready once and for all and finally to be the new person that can live for the Lord Jesus without reservation.  Righteousness or being right with God is only possible if you accept what Jesus died for you to accept.  Do you want really that?

Holiness, true holiness, what does that mean?  God the Father is Holy.  That means that He cannot stand to be around sin.  Giving way to a little here and a little there will not cut it any more.  If you make the statement that you are OK with the way that you are and you are not going to change then you will never be holy.  Put off the old and allow the Spirit to enter in and then accept the truth that you are the new creation that God intended you to be.

Prayer:

Invitation:  The invitation today is to look inward and see if there is anything within you that God cannot handle.  If you find something that you feel that only you can take care of, you have not truly walked with God yet.  He is Sovereign God and He loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you.  Now if you have truly accepted Jesus, He has left the only One for you who will be able to take care of this life’s struggles once and for all.  Accept His Holy Spirit and then you will become that new creation which He intended.

There is no other way to handle the difficulties of this life without Him.  Those who insist on having their own way are doomed to continue doing that which they have no control over and they don’t even know that they are stuck.  Take on the “New Man” today as the Spirit allows.

k Col. 3:8. So ver. 25. Heb. 12:1. James 1:21. 1 Pet. 2:1 in the Gk. So Col. 2:11. & 3:9.
l See ver. 17.
m See Gal. 1:13.
n Rom. 6:6. Col. 3:9.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Eph 4:22). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
q See ch. 2:15. So ch. 6:11. Col. 3:10.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Eph 4:24). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 14:8). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
h To ver. 45, Luke 11:24–26.
i 2 Pet. 2:17. Jude 12 in the Gk. Comp. Ps. 63:1 marg. Jer. 2:6.
j See ch. 23:29.
k 2 Pet. 2:20. So John 5:14. Heb. 6:4–6. & 10:26, 29. 2 Pet. 2:21, 22.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mt 12:43–45). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
e See ver. 9.
p See Matt. 10:8.
q Acts 15:11. ch. 4:16. Eph. 2:5, 8. 2 Tim. 1:9. Tit. 2:11. & 3:7. See John 1:17.
r Eph. 1:7. Col. 1:14. Heb. 9:12. So 1 Pet. 1:18, 19.
|| Or, foreordained. Eph. 1:9 (Gk.).
s So 2 Macc. 1:8 (Gk.). See ch. 4:25.
t Lev. 16:15 (Gk.). So 1 John 2:2. & 4:10.
u ch. 5:9. So Eph. 2:13. Col. 1:20. See Acts 20:28.
w So Ps. 98:2.
|| Or, passing over. Comp. Acts 17:30. Gk. not as in Acts 10:43.
x So Heb. 9:15.
y ch. 2:4.
w So Ps. 98:2.
[5] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ro 3:23–26). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
kk So ch. 5:28.
|| Or, from above. See ver. 3.
[6] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 3:7). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
a 1 Cor. 1:10. Ephes. 4:1. Philem. 9. 1 Pet. 2:11. So 2 Cor. 6:1. & 10:1.
b Ps. 50:13, 14, 23. ch. 6:13, 16, 19 (Gk.). So 1 Cor. 6:20.
c ver. 2. So 1 Pet. 2:5. See ch. 14:18.
d 1 Pet. 2:2 (Gk.).
e See ch. 9:4.
f 1 Pet. 1:14.
g So 1 John 2:15.
h See Matt. 17:2.
i Titus 3:5. So 2 Cor. 4:16. Eph. 4:23. Col. 3:10.
j So Eph. 1:18. Col. 1:21, 22.
k Eph. 5:10, 17.
c ver. 2. So 1 Pet. 2:5. See ch. 14:18.
l See 1 Thess. 4:3.
[7] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ro 12:1–2). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.