He remains, however, paralyzed from his chest
down. He has been moved to a quieter room. Hopefully
he'll be able to get better rest there, and we
might see some improvement. The doctor's not
hopeful, but with God there is hope, isn't there?
I wonder if you would just take about 30 seconds,
those of you who know him, to write him a note
on the back of your visitor's registration form
and tear that off, and then if you would pass
that in to the end of the aisles, and if we could
have an usher. if there's one listening, who
would pick those up from you in just about 30
seconds, 45 seconds. I know that many of you
do not know Kurt. In fact, even if you don't
know him, you may just want to drop him a note
and just tell him that you're praying for him.
That would be an encouragement to him, I know.
We'll give you a few seconds to do that. This
last week we appreciated KTIS having a cup of
cold water feature. for mark which resulted in
probably two dozen or three dozen cards being
sent from folks all over the upper midwest and
that was a real encouragement to both mark and
debbie this would be an opportunity for us as
a church family to do something too we'll just
wait a few seconds while you finish those All
right, now perhaps the ushers could begin picking
them up, and if you didn't get a chance to say
everything you wanted to, feel free to leave
it out there at the information desk after the
service. I know that both of them will appreciate
so much your thoughts shared this morning. Now
let's open our Bibles together to Ephesians chapter
4. We're going to begin with our text in verse
17 in just a moment. It's popular to be positive,
and it's a no -no to be negative. We live in
a day when that which is positive is promoted,
and that which is negative is condemned or ignored.
This is true in the religious world, as in many
other parts of our society. Never has so much
media attention been focused on evangelicals
as in the past three months. since the PTL scandal
broke. I suppose that nearly every televangelist
who's anybody has been interviewed on some talk
program in the media. I heard one interview in
which a television preacher who is famous for
always speaking in the positive mode was asked
whether or not he believed in the devil. Now
he was in a real spot at this point, and you
could tell by the smile he got on his face, because
he didn't want to answer that negatively. Did
he believe in the devil? And so he tripped all
over himself trying to get an answer out that
was positive. Frankly, I'm not sure yet whether
he believes in the devil from his answer, but
it was interesting to see him try to feel the
question. Why is it that the positive is promoted
and the negative is ignored? Well, that's the
way of thinking in our day. There is positive
living, positive preaching, positive psychology,
positive counseling, positive theology, positive
thinking. You know there really needs to be a
balance between the positive and the negative
if there's going to be health. That is certainly
true when it comes to the teaching of the Bible,
what God has revealed to us. For God has built
into his word both the positive and the negative.
If we take out only the positive and talk about
those things, then we are in danger of an unhealthy
theology at best and heresy at worst. For example,
in Genesis chapter 2, the Lord says to Adam and
Eve, you may eat freely of all the trees of the
garden. That's positive. But it was followed
up by a negative. He said, don't eat of that
tree. When God made his covenant with Israel,
he told them what the blessings would be by keeping
this covenant. But then he also warned them what
the curses would be if they did not keep the
covenant. We see the same thing in the New Testament.
For example, in John 3 .36, it says, he who believes
in the Son has eternal life. That's positive.
But the verse goes on to say, He who does not
obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abides on him. That's negative, but it's
part of the truth. God tells us about righteousness,
but he tells us about sin as well. God declares
the truth of heaven, but he also warns of the
fact of hell. Our text today in Ephesians chapter
4 continues the theme of a worthy walk. which
was begun in the first three verses of the chapter.
Those verses are positive. He says, Walk in a
manner worthy of the calling with which you've
been called, with all humility, gentleness, patience,
forbearance, and love, being diligent to preserve
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Those are very positive words. But now, in verse
17, he continues the theme. He goes to the other
side. He goes to the negative. He says, This
I say, therefore, and affirm together with the
Lord, that you walk no longer, just as the Gentiles
also walk in the futility of their mind, being
darkened in their understanding, excluded from
the life of God 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. Our instruction
here, in verse 17 in particular, is given to
us from a negative viewpoint. It is the negative
side of the positive which he said earlier. And
what he says to us is this. no longer live like
the pagan society out from which you have been
called. Now, if we were to say that in the positive,
we would say something like this, do live in
a new way which represents the new you. And we
get to that in a few more verses. But for today,
we want to focus on those verses we have read,
verses 17 through 20. We find the Apostle here
focusing on two thoughts as he explains to us
the command from the Lord, live no longer like
the pagan society around you. His first focus
of thought is the pagan society itself. His second
focus of thought is the plea for purity. First,
let's look at the pagan society which is exposed
to us in these verses. It is a graphic and ugly
picture of any society that is without God. It
is not dressed up in its cultured fineries, but
here that society is stripped of its masquerade
in order to expose the shameful wickedness of
mankind minus his creator. Notice that he talks
first about the character. of pagan society.
That is the nature of it. He goes to the inward
problem first. And there are a series of related
phrases in verses 17 and 18 and overlapping into
verse 19. First he speaks about the futility
of their mind. The mind here is that reasoning
capacity that all of us have to some extent.
It is our faculty to be rational, to consider
things. And he speaks here of the pagan mind
as being futile. The word means aimless or dead
end. The idea is that the pagan mindset goes
around in circles. That pagan thinking can make
no progress. It cannot come. to any firm conclusions.
The New English Bible puts it this way. It speaks
about their good -for -nothing notions. Futility
is that which is good for nothing. Their empty
illusion is that sin brings satisfaction. And
because that is in their mind, what they think
is futile. Sin does not bring satisfaction. One
cannot convince a person who is a pagan of that
truth. William Hendrickson, a fine Bible commentator
now with the Lord, says, The Apostle emphasizes
a very important point, namely that all those
endeavors which the Gentiles put forth in order
to attain happiness end in disappointment. Their
life is one long series of mocked expectations.
It is a pursuing and not achieving, a blossoming
and not bearing fruit. All the rivers run into
the sea, but the sea is never filled. The eye
is never satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with
hearing. All this chasing after riches, honor,
mirth, etc., is nothing but a striving after
wind. Their mind or intellect is fruitless. It
produces not that can satisfy. And that, my friend,
is the nature of the mind of the pagan. Now why
is the pagan mind one of futility? He answers
it in the very next phrase. He says, being darkened
in their understanding. The understanding has
to do with their moral perception. their ability
to make value judgments. And what he says here
is that the pagan is futile in his thinking because
he is darkened in his moral perceptions. The
cause of his mental confusion and aimlessness
is his moral, I should say, his immoral judgments.
He describes here a continuing condition of moral
depravity in which the pagan lives. His futility
of thinking arises from the moral darkness and
blindness that is within him. But then we ask
the question, why is the pagan such as this?
And again, the answer is found in the next phrase.
He is morally darkened. Because he is excluded
from the life of God, the God who gives life.
That is, he is cut off, he is alienated, he is
estranged from God. This, like the previous phrase,
is an abiding condition of life. He is continuously
cut off from God. He abides that way. He abides
in death. and that is true of all mankind without
Christ. It is due to the sin and death inherited
from our father, Adam. Romans 5 .12 makes it
clear that as that one man sinned, so sin and
death passed upon all men, because all have sinned.
Adam was our representative. And when he sinned,
he died, and he passed on to us his descendants,
his sin and death. There are some who do not
like to think of that. They do not like to go
back to Adam and say that we sinned in Adam,
but the fact is that we did, and it was God's
plan that we should, because, you see, that made
it possible for God to send one man, the last
Adam, who would also represent us. and go to
the cross and die for our sins and be raised
from the dead. Of course, that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Just as Adam represented us in the beginning,
and through him we sinned and we became sinners
so that we deserve our death, so in the Lord
Jesus Christ we have forgiveness and eternal
life. The pagans are excluded from that life
of God, cut off without it. That's one reason
I was so fascinated by the Taliabu people in
Indonesia last fall. Because here is a tribe
that has been cut off in isolation in darkness
for who knows how many generations. And yet passed
down from their ancient ancestors comes this
story, now twisted and perverted, of the fact
that one time... Their fathers disobeyed their
God, whom they called Yo, which is very similar
to the Hebrew name Yah or Yahweh for God. And
because their ancestors disobeyed Yo, their traditions
say, he cut off the way of life to them. And
their traditions say that from that time until
this very day in the 1980s. Their main purpose
in living is to discover again the way of life.
They have tried everything they know to do to
get through the barrier that Yo put in the way,
and they have been unable. Until now, we have
some missionaries who are there, the Linettis
and our friends the Palmers, and they are preparing
within the next month. to present the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ to them. Since February,
they've been laying a foundation, going all the
way back to the early chapters of Genesis, showing
who the true God is. You need to be in much prayer
for them as they prepare to present the gospel,
because this is the time when Satan is going
to attack in fury against them. You see, the
devil wants to keep these people in darkness.
He wants to keep them excluded from the life
of God. But the truth of the gospel is about
to be shared, and they're going to learn how
God has provided the way across death through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so that we can
have eternal life here and now. You pray for
that missionary group on the island of Taliabu.
Pagans are excluded from the life of God, whether
they be on Taliabu or they be in St. Paul, Minnesota.
That is the natural condition of all men. Now
he doesn't leave us at that point, but he tells
us further why they are cut off. And it is because
they are ignorant. He talks about the ignorance
that is in them. Ignorance that leaves them unable
to comprehend or to see the light. ignorance
that is described in other places in the New
Testament. For example, 1 Peter 1 .14, Peter
speaks about our former ignorance. That is, when
we did not have knowledge of God. This is the
root word for our word agnostic here, this word
ignorance. He says that the reason that the pagans
are excluded from the life of God is because
of the ignorance that is in them. The fact is
that the pagans, and I am including here the
pagans in Taliabu, the pagan ancestors at one
time had knowledge of the truth, but they left
that truth. They forsook it and went into darkness
and idolatry and polytheism, from which by God's
grace they may now be delivered through the preaching
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they are ignorant
at this point. of the truth. And why are they
ignorant? Because of what is said next. Because
of their hardness of their heart. The heart is
the innermost center of a person, the essential
being of an individual, from which the moral
and the spiritual and the intellectual issues
of life come. Now what the Apostle says here
is that that part of man is hard. It is hard.
That term here is a medical term from the New
Testament day which speaks of a callus that is
built up where a bone has been fractured and
then has nipped together. That bit of callus
right there at the point of the fracture was
a hardness that was harder than the bone itself.
It is that word for callus that is used here
of the hardness. of the heart of the pagan. It
might be paraphrased this way, because of the
petrification of their hearts. Their hearts are
petrified. You see, here we get to the very root
of the problem. Why is it that the mind of the
pagan is futile? Why is his moral understanding
darkened? Why is he excluded from the life of
God? Why is he ignorant? The answer is because
of the callousness. of his heart toward the things
of God. Turn back to Romans chapter 1 where we
see a similar idea. And here we go all the way
back to the beginning of paganism in our world.
God says in verse 20 that he has revealed in
nature certain attributes of himself, and it
says in verse 21, for even though they knew God,
These are the ancient pagans, the forefathers
of the Taliabu people, of the pagans in St. Paul
and in other places in the world. They knew God,
but they did not honor him as God or give thanks.
These are our ancestors. But they became futile
in their speculations, and their foolish heart
was darkened. Notice some of the same terms?
professing to be wise, they became fools and
exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God
for an image in the form of corruptible man of
birds and four -footed animals and crawling creatures.
Have you ever seen any of those images? They're
not common in our society. A few weeks ago when
I was in Chicago, I went down to the Oriental
Museum at the University of Chicago, a fascinating
place. If you ever get the opportunity to go
there and you're interested, in some artifacts
from ancient Assyria and Babylon, the Medes and
the Persians, and all the way back to the time
of Moses, you might want to try the Oriental
Museum in Chicago. One of the things that they
have plenty of is the idol. Idols pictured like
people with the heads of birds, as in Egypt.
Idols pictured after various other kinds of animals
and reptiles. That's exactly what... Romans chapter
1 is talking about. Our forefathers left the
knowledge of the true God and went after that
sort of thing. Their heart was darkened. Their
speculations were futile, dead end. Now what
caused that? The hardness of heart toward the
things that God revealed to them. They would
not accept what they saw in nature as revealing
the true God. They turned from that, exchanged
it for the worship of images. leading to their
darkness, their paganism, their lostness. Now
in verse 19 of our text we have another little
phrase that kind of ties this all together. He
says, "...and they having become callous." In
other words, the conscience of the pagan has
become insensitive to sin. It has gotten to the
point of being past feeling. It ceases to care
regarding its own iniquity. If you ask me, I
think that these phrases that we read describe
almost perfectly the character of the society
in which you and I live today, which is a pagan,
for the most part, a pagan society. Now, after
discussing the character, he goes to the conduct.
of the pagan society, the outward results. And
if you think we've had society pinned up to this
point, listen to it now. They have given themselves
over to sensuality. This word sensuality is licentiousness.
It is unrestrained living or lewdness. It says
the pagan society inevitably will give itself
over to this sort of thing because it leaves
any moral root. It has no truth of God to give
it morality. And so inevitably pagan society
slides and slips until it comes to the point
of giving itself over or handing itself over,
delivering itself over to sensuality. Now once
more I'd like you to go back to Romans chapter
1, where we have this amazing chapter regarding
the degeneration of pagan society or human society
without God. Now having already talked about
its character in these earlier verses, now he
says in verse 24, God gave them over. Notice
in Ephesians it says they delivered themselves
over. In response to that, God judges the pagan
society, and he himself gives them over, as it
says here, in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,
that their bodies might be dishonored among them.
Notice that the inevitable result of paganism
is sexual immorality. He says they exchanged
the truth of God for the lie and worshipped and
served the creature rather than the creator,
who is blessed forever. Amen. The creature here
referring to these ones mentioned in verse 23,
but just as well to the philosophical ideas of
our day which put man at the center. worshiping
and serving man in secularism and humanism. He
says in verse 26, For this reason God gave them
over, notice again that phrase, to degrading
passions. For their women exchanged the natural
function for that which is unnatural. And in
the same way also the man abandoned the natural
function of the woman. and burned in their desire
toward one another. Men with men committing indecent
acts. Does this read like the newspaper? Is this
what you've been reading about this last week
and hearing about on television, the radio, and
the news? Our airwaves are full of this very
thing. And notice it says in verse 27, and receiving
in their own persons. the due penalty of their
error. Do you know what that phrase suggests?
It is that God has built into this kind of perversion
and sin its own penalty in the body. It bears
its own fruit causing the destruction of that
person. Today we are faced in the world with
an epidemic of AIDS. People say, well, is AIDS
the judgment of God? I believe that AIDS, like
other sexually generated diseases, is the fulfillment
of what God simply set into motion when he created
us. You say, but yes, there are innocent people
who are suffering from AIDS. That is correct.
And it's tragic that that is the case. But that
is the penalty to a society that allows this
kind of sin to go on, my friend. Our society
is about to pay the price for the last several
decades of sexual promiscuity. There is a high
price for giving oneself over to sensuality.
as is described in our text. I want to go on
here and read verse 28. And it says, And just
as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any
longer. Is that not the attitude of people today
in our world, in our pagan society? He says,
God gave them over to a depraved mind. to do
those things which are not proper, being filled
with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed,
and evil. And he goes on to name those sins that
flow from a pagan society in addition to the
sexual sins. What we see in Romans chapter 1
is the judicial action of God in which he gives
over. a society, a pagan society, to be consumed
of its own lusts. And that, my friend, is where
we are today. You and I have been called out
of a society that is self -destructing. That's
why he says to us, no longer live that way. It
is a society that is very similar to the one
that was in the Roman Empire in the day when
the Apostle Paul penned these words to the Ephesians.
Now I've got to get back to my text. He says,
And having become callous, they have given themselves
over to sensuality. And now he explains the reason.
He says, For the practice of every kind of impurity
with greediness. The result of a society giving
itself over to sensuality is that its whole mindset
begins to go in that direction. The practice
of every kind, every conceivable imagination
of filthy and perverted acts become the goal
of that kind of society. And notice that it's
with greediness. The NIV puts it this way, with
a continual lust for more. There is no satisfaction
for sensuality. There is a temporal, a temporary
satisfaction. But once one has burned himself
out at that level, there is no satisfaction without
going to a more perverted level. And on it goes,
downward and downward and downward. I was in
a conversation not too long ago with some gentlemen
in a Christian organization, and one of them
shared some of the things happening in the world
of sodomy today. In order for some of those who
have been involved in that sin for a length of
time to gain satisfaction, I would not begin
to repeat that publicly. The conduct is every
imagination being fulfilled. The practice of
every sort of filthy, perverted act. an immoderate
desire and lust. It is a determination to gratify
oneself at all costs, regardless of the rights
or the life of others. When I think of child
pornography, I get so angry I can hardly stand
it. These greedy, immoral people who abuse young
children, and leave them scarred, if not dead,
there is no punishment on this earth that is
good enough for them, as far as I'm concerned.
It is absolute sin in its most debased and wicked
form. No consideration of the victim. And we
hear that pornography is a victimless crime.
What a laugh. What a joke. And we hear that it's
guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution.
There has been no decision given by the Supreme
Court at any time that gave pornographers the
right to do what they do. Not one decision. That
is a lie which they tell to go on practicing
their trade. Our society has given itself over
to this sort of thing. And I tell you there is
no hope for a society that is without God. A
society that leaves God will inevitably degenerate
to its base lusts and will collapse under the
weight of its own sin and judgment. And my friend,
that is exactly where we are today. Unless there
is an awakening in this nation, which I do not
believe at this point is on the horizon. But
God knows, unless there is an awakening, I see
no future for your children and mine in a free
America. We are becoming a nation which cannot
govern itself in democracy. And the horrible
result of that is going to be some kind of a
change of government which God will allow to
come upon this society in order that its wickedness
may be corrected and restrained. I am not a prophet
or the son of a prophet, but I do not see light
and sunshine. and bright days ahead for the United
States of America, just as there weren't those
kinds of visions for the future of the Roman
Empire in Paul's day. It is a terrible exposure
to pagan society that we're given here. But in
the midst of it, Paul delivers a plea for purity,
and he explains it. Notice that That plea is
intended to change their present action. He says
in verse 17, Walk no longer like the Gentiles.
The implication seems to be that some of them
at least were living like pagans. And he says,
No longer, no longer. Just as he commanded his
Jewish converts, to forsake the legalism of their
Judaism. So here he commands Gentile converts
to forsake the licentiousness of their paganism.
I believe that there is a need for this kind
of a plea among Christian people today. That
we no longer live like the sensual society around
us. Our contemporary society is beginning to
choke on its own lusts and drown in its own corruption,
its own cesspool of filth and sexual promiscuity.
It may well be too late for our society. We hear
a lot today about preventative measures for AIDS.
We hear about education that's needed in the
school. for this. I say to you, it's too late
for that. There was a Christian leader who had
breakfast a few months ago with one of our national
health leaders. And this Christian leader was
told very bluntly by this man, whom if I named
you would all know him. He said, we have a public
line when we talk about AIDS, and then there's
the private line. What is he saying? He is saying
just what Gene Antonio has been saying more publicly,
and that is there are facts about AIDS that have
not been told the general public in our nation.
I at least suggest to you that the situation
is far worse than we have been led to believe
to this point. There will inevitably be many
people innocent. of sodomy or of drug addiction
that will die with aids there are those who are
predicting it will be the black plague of the
1990s the fact is that this is the seeds for
societal destruction have already been sown it's
too late to prevent it's too late to educate
What we need to do is to change behavior now.
And a pagan society is not going to want to do
that. Already hundreds of thousands have been
contaminated by the AIDS virus, and many of them
will end up dying, even if there was a vaccine
discovered today and we're years off from some
kind of a vaccine. You say, what in the world
am I to do? Just what the Apostle Paul says to
do right here. What has been true in every pagan
society since these words were written, you no
longer walk like the pagan society around you.
Let there be a clear -cut difference between
God's society and pagan society. Separate yourself
from the sensualism. No longer allow that in
your life. I am not talking about a self -righteous
separation. I'm talking about a loving, compassionate,
gentle, but definite separation from the sinful
lifestyle of the society in which you and I have
been chosen by God to live. Now the plea that
the apostle makes in verse 17 is based upon what
he says in verse 20. He says, you did not learn
Christ in this way. He says, you did not learn
to be disciples of Jesus Christ and to live like
the pagan society. Therefore, no longer live
that way. Indeed, he says, you are no longer
Gentiles. You are a new classification. You are
a new society of people. He says live like that.
Now why does God insist on this? Is it because
God is being mean to us? Is God telling us to
stay away from these things because he's trying
to keep us from enjoying the pleasures that are
available? Well, let me say first of all that
God created you and me to enjoy sensual pleasure.
He gave us that capacity. Indeed, He gave us
that need. But He gave that ability to enjoy
sensual pleasure to us that we might enjoy it
righteously and not in a perverted and sinful
way as in our world. God wants us to experience
pleasure, but pure pleasure, not perverted pleasure.
Why has God told us to stay away from that which
is characteristic of the pagan society around
us? For several reasons. First of all, he wants
to protect us from the dissipation, yes, and
even the diseases that go with that sort of thing.
And then he wants to protect us likewise from
the emotional and mental anguish and guilt that
come with that sort of lifestyle. Further, he
wants us to testify of his holiness in this calloused
and sin -hardened society. And finally, he's
told us to live this way because he wants to
preserve his rights as our Redeemer. For we are
no longer our own. We have been bought with a
price. Therefore, he says, glorify God in your
body. There is no doubt that all of us have to
some extent been affected by the pagan society
around us. We have been. We have been conditioned
by its constant presentation to us. We have learned.
in sad and subtle ways, to accommodate the spirit
of our age. Beloved, what we need today is to
say in our hearts, no longer. Wherever this kind
of sin, this sensual sin, this impurity, wherever
it has crept into our thought lives, our actions,
our entertainment, our lifestyle, wherever there
has been a beachhead made by Satan, we need to
say, no longer will I give myself to that. J.
Edwin Orr was a man who studied revival across
the world and just a few weeks ago dr orr went
home to be with the lord he left behind a number
of writings which bless us but one of them is
found in our hymnal and we're going to sing that
in closing i'd like for you to open your hymnal
and turn with me to 317. It says, Search me,
O God, and know my heart today. Try me, O Savior,
and know my thoughts, I pray. See if there be
some wicked way in me. Cleanse me from every
sin and set me free. Please remain seated as
we sing through this without accompaniment. Search
me, O God, and know my heart today. Try me, O
Savior, know my thoughts, I pray. See if there
be some wicked way in me. Cleanse me from every
sin and set me free. Would you bow your head
with me? I wonder as the Spirit of God does indeed
answer that prayer and search us and try us,
what is that area of life that needs to be brought
freshly under the control of the Holy Spirit?
Is it your reading material? Is it the movies
you watch? The kind of entertainment you allow
in your home? Is it thought patterns or habits
of life? My friend, all of us must respond to
what God has said to us today. We have orders
from him, live no longer like the Gentiles around
you. If you are a child of God, I plead with
you today to take that step that the Spirit of
God is speaking to you about right now. Make
that new commitment. It may be that a number
of us will need someone to help us. Would you
seek out someone to be your partner in the spiritual
battle you will enter into? Because I will guarantee
you that if you take back that ground you've
given to Satan, he will not give it up easily.
But will you now take it back and renounce the
enemy and yield yourself afresh to God's Spirit?
Father in heaven, these are difficult days in
which to live as your people in the world. But
now are we the children of God. And you have
told us to walk or to conduct ourselves in a
manner worthy of the calling we have. I pray
that you will... enlighten and enable each of
us to know what areas of life we need to reclaim
to the Lordship of Jesus Christ today. And may
the result of our having heard this message and
been together for these minutes in worship, that
we will walk a more holy walk, a walk worthy.
Would you all stand with me, please, as we close
in prayer? Father, as we go out from here, as
we must do, as we return to our homes and then
this week to our routine of life, I pray that
this verse will be burned upon our hearts. Walk
no longer as the Gentiles walk. You did not learn
Christ in this way. remind us wherewithal shall
a young man, a young woman cleanse his or her
way by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
And so may your word purify us and your spirit
enable us to live as you've called us to be,
the children of God in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation. We pray this in Jesus'
name. Amen. Thank you.