all right great all right so hello<\/p>\n
everybody hope you all are doing well<\/p>\n
today we are in our last week of our<\/p>\n
brief study in the book of Ephesians so<\/p>\n
this is our last week over the past two<\/p>\n
weeks we've been we started looking at<\/p>\n
the second half of Ephesian<\/p>\n
which is about how to live the Christian<\/p>\n
Life the first three chapters of<\/p>\n
Ephesians is about what we<\/p>\n
receive what happens to us when we place<\/p>\n
our faith and our trust in Christ and<\/p>\n
now in the final three chapters chapters<\/p>\n
to6 Paul starts addressing the issue of<\/p>\n
how do we live as Christians in other<\/p>\n
words how does the gospel affect the way<\/p>\n
we<\/p>\n
live last week we talked about the means<\/p>\n
of growth to put off the old self to be<\/p>\n
renewed in the attitude of your minds<\/p>\n
and to put on the new self and then in<\/p>\n
light of this we see how Paul applied it<\/p>\n
to what it applies what it means to put<\/p>\n
off the old self and what it means to<\/p>\n
put on the new self in the different<\/p>\n
aspects of our life terms of honesty<\/p>\n
communication stealing working kindness<\/p>\n
bitterness<\/p>\n
forgiveness and what we had said last<\/p>\n
week was that before our behavior is<\/p>\n
changed our hearts must be changed first<\/p>\n
in other words the Christian life<\/p>\n
doesn't start by what we do but by who<\/p>\n
we are we have a new self- understanding<\/p>\n
we become new people you think of<\/p>\n
yourself in a new way how does that work<\/p>\n
how do you do that by what the Bible<\/p>\n
says you are a forgiven person a child<\/p>\n
of God a new person who has been made<\/p>\n
alive as we just read just now as<\/p>\n
beloved and we said to the degree that<\/p>\n
we live out of this new identity of who<\/p>\n
the Bible says we are to that degree Our<\/p>\n
Lives can be<\/p>\n
changed and in our passage for today<\/p>\n
we'll see even more clearly about how to<\/p>\n
live the Christian life so if you have<\/p>\n
your Bibles turn to Ephesians chapter<\/p>\n
5 verses 1 to<\/p>\n
20 next slide<\/p>\n
please follow God's example therefore as<\/p>\n
dearly beloved dearly loved children and<\/p>\n
walk in the way of love just as Christ<\/p>\n
loved us and gave himself up for us as a<\/p>\n
frag fragrant offering and sacrifice to<\/p>\n
God but among you there must not be even<\/p>\n
a hint of sexual immorality or of any<\/p>\n
kind of impurity or of greed because<\/p>\n
these are improper for God's holy people<\/p>\n
nor should there be obscenity foolish<\/p>\n
talk or course joking which are out of<\/p>\n
place but rather<\/p>\n
Thanksgiving for of this you can be sure<\/p>\n
no immoral impure or greedy person such<\/p>\n
a person is an idolator has any<\/p>\n
inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and<\/p>\n
of God let no one deceive you with empty<\/p>\n
words for because of such things God's<\/p>\n
Wrath comes on those who are disobedient<\/p>\n
therefore do not be partners with them<\/p>\n
for you were once Darkness but now you<\/p>\n
are light in the Lord live as children<\/p>\n
of light for the fruit of the light<\/p>\n
consists in all goodness righteousness<\/p>\n
and truth and find out what pleases the<\/p>\n
Lord have nothing to do with the<\/p>\n
fruitless Deeds of Darkness but rather<\/p>\n
expose them it is shameful even to<\/p>\n
mention what the disobedient do in<\/p>\n
secret but everything exposed By the<\/p>\n
Light becomes visible and everything<\/p>\n
that is illuminated becomes a light this<\/p>\n
is why it is said wake up sleeper rise<\/p>\n
from the dead and Christ will shine on<\/p>\n
you be very careful then how you live<\/p>\n
not as unwise but as wise making the<\/p>\n
most of every opportunity because the<\/p>\n
days are evil therefore do not be<\/p>\n
foolish but understand what the Lord's<\/p>\n
will is do not get drunk on wine which<\/p>\n
leads to debauchery instead be filled<\/p>\n
with the spirit speaking to one another<\/p>\n
with Psalms hymns and songs from the<\/p>\n
spirit sing and make music from your<\/p>\n
heart to the Lord and always giving<\/p>\n
thanks to God the Father for everything<\/p>\n
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ<\/p>\n
this is God's<\/p>\n
word so this passage what we just read<\/p>\n
is a continuation of chapter 4 it's all<\/p>\n
part of one main idea the Christian<\/p>\n
lifestyle In this passage we see three<\/p>\n
important keys in understanding how the<\/p>\n
gospel affects how we live actually no<\/p>\n
we see four four important keys in<\/p>\n
understanding how the gospel affects how<\/p>\n
we live in verse 17 of chapter 4 Paul<\/p>\n
says You must no longer live as the<\/p>\n
Gentiles do in the futility of their<\/p>\n
thinking and what that means is becoming<\/p>\n
a Christian isn't like getting some<\/p>\n
spiritual help in order for you to keep<\/p>\n
living the life you want to live but<\/p>\n
rather it's a complete change it's a<\/p>\n
whole new life you become a whole new<\/p>\n
person and what that means<\/p>\n
is we can't live the way we used<\/p>\n
to so the four important keys that we<\/p>\n
see in this chapter are number one our<\/p>\n
identity number two what sin is and what<\/p>\n
obedience is number three living in<\/p>\n
wisdom and number four<\/p>\n
Joy so in verse 1 to2 Paul says follow<\/p>\n
God's example therefore as what as<\/p>\n
dearly loved children and walk in the<\/p>\n
way of love just as Christ loved us and<\/p>\n
gave himself up for us as a fragrant<\/p>\n
offering and sacrifice to<\/p>\n
God when we hear this we may tend to<\/p>\n
think that yes I have to be obedient my<\/p>\n
life has to line up to the Bible<\/p>\n
otherwise I'm not a good Christian and<\/p>\n
very very often we focus too much on the<\/p>\n
first half follow God's example so much<\/p>\n
to the fact that we forget the second<\/p>\n
half as dearly loved children we forget<\/p>\n
the fact that we are dearly loved<\/p>\n
children and instead we focus on just<\/p>\n
the<\/p>\n
behavior and if we do that we are<\/p>\n
severely hurting ourselves Paul doesn't<\/p>\n
do that he tells us to imitate God yes<\/p>\n
why does he tell us to do that<\/p>\n
because we because you are dearly loved<\/p>\n
children Paul starts by telling us who<\/p>\n
we are he's saying that we will be able<\/p>\n
to imitate God to the degree that we<\/p>\n
think of recognize and really are<\/p>\n
adopted into his family in other words<\/p>\n
we have to think of ourselves as a<\/p>\n
dearly loved child of God or else we're<\/p>\n
not even living the Christian life at<\/p>\n
all<\/p>\n
unless we are governed by the idea<\/p>\n
unless you are governed by the idea that<\/p>\n
you are a dearly loved child of God you<\/p>\n
cannot live we cannot live we can't<\/p>\n
imitate God the Bible says we're made in<\/p>\n
in God's image that's what we see in<\/p>\n
what's what we saw last week in verse 24<\/p>\n
of chapter 4 We're made in God's image<\/p>\n
and unless unless we see that we have<\/p>\n
been built to have a loving father a<\/p>\n
loving parent unless we see that we<\/p>\n
can't live the Christian<\/p>\n
Life and the doctrine that Paul is<\/p>\n
getting at here is the biblical doctrine<\/p>\n
of<\/p>\n
adoption and we have a lot to cover<\/p>\n
today but this is so amazing that we<\/p>\n
just have to stop for a bit and focus on<\/p>\n
this Doctrine because even though the<\/p>\n
Bible gives us many many different<\/p>\n
images of our relationship to God he's<\/p>\n
our Shepherd he's our captain he's our<\/p>\n
Rock he's our refuge there's so many<\/p>\n
different different images the most<\/p>\n
fundamental way we need to think of<\/p>\n
ourselves in our relationship with God<\/p>\n
is is what our father that's how Jesus<\/p>\n
taught his disciples to pray Our Father<\/p>\n
what does it mean to be a Christian to<\/p>\n
believe the Bible yeah that's great to<\/p>\n
be forgiven yes that's amazing to be<\/p>\n
born again yes but all of of these<\/p>\n
things being forgiven being born again<\/p>\n
is for what to be his children<\/p>\n
adoption dearly loved<\/p>\n
children you know many many people many<\/p>\n
of us tend to think of Salvation is just<\/p>\n
I believe in Jesus and I'm forgiven and<\/p>\n
my sins are erased Jesus died for me and<\/p>\n
his blood wiped away my sins and now I<\/p>\n
can start again now I can finally start<\/p>\n
again that's that's great but that's<\/p>\n
only half of it because what adoption<\/p>\n
means is not only that the past is wiped<\/p>\n
away but that we have so much more we<\/p>\n
are God's children we're not only<\/p>\n
forgiven we are<\/p>\n
accepted the last person to give up on<\/p>\n
somebody is who their parents a boss can<\/p>\n
fire an employee but a parent can never<\/p>\n
fire a child you can never be fired<\/p>\n
fired from being a child to be a son or<\/p>\n
daughter of God means you're accepted<\/p>\n
you can't be fired you're<\/p>\n
loved and the way to know if you believe<\/p>\n
this is are we living in<\/p>\n
Freedom or does our self-esteem do our<\/p>\n
emotions go up and down depending on how<\/p>\n
successful we are at being<\/p>\n
Christians do you tend to think oh I<\/p>\n
messed up again God is angry at me he's<\/p>\n
going to give up on me when you fail do<\/p>\n
we think like that when we fail and do<\/p>\n
we think okay I'm doing better today I'm<\/p>\n
being a good Christian I can face God<\/p>\n
today I can pray I can worship today if<\/p>\n
we think like that really we're living<\/p>\n
like orphans we're not living like God's<\/p>\n
children Paul says imitate God follow<\/p>\n
God's example as dearly loved<\/p>\n
children in other words be who you are a<\/p>\n
dearly loved child this is our identity<\/p>\n
this is the reason why we are able to<\/p>\n
imitate God in the first place not in<\/p>\n
order for him to accept us but because<\/p>\n
we are already his dearly loved<\/p>\n
children so now in verses 5 to<\/p>\n
14 we see that to live as Christians we<\/p>\n
must be able to see sin for what it is<\/p>\n
firstly in verse 11 what does Paul call<\/p>\n
Sin he calls it Deeds of Darkness<\/p>\n
Deeds of Darkness anything that is<\/p>\n
Disobedience to what God has said in his<\/p>\n
word so for example in verse 5<\/p>\n
says no immoral impure or greedy person<\/p>\n
such a person is an idolor has any<\/p>\n
of God I think this is a definition of<\/p>\n
sin that we're all familiar with<\/p>\n
external behaviors of<\/p>\n
Disobedience but it isn't just that<\/p>\n
because if you notice Paul<\/p>\n
says such a person is an<\/p>\n
idolator which shows us that sin also is<\/p>\n
to do with the internal motives of the<\/p>\n
heart we talked a lot about this last<\/p>\n
week but what this means briefly what it<\/p>\n
means is it's possible to do something<\/p>\n
that externally isn't<\/p>\n
wrong but internally for a motive that<\/p>\n
makes it sinful<\/p>\n
repeat that again it's possible to do<\/p>\n
something that externally isn't wrong<\/p>\n
but<\/p>\n
internally for a motive that makes it<\/p>\n
sinful we see idolatry being the first<\/p>\n
commandment you shall have no other gods<\/p>\n
before me and and Tim Keller he sums it<\/p>\n
up this way that God is basically saying<\/p>\n
if there is anything more important to<\/p>\n
you than me anything that gives you more<\/p>\n
meaning in life than I do anything that<\/p>\n
that is a greater foundation for your<\/p>\n
sense of worth and value and<\/p>\n
significance than me if there is<\/p>\n
anything you love more than me anything<\/p>\n
you Center your life on more than me<\/p>\n
that is a god that is a religion and<\/p>\n
even even if it's a good thing even if<\/p>\n
it's your children that are more<\/p>\n
important than God or a career that is<\/p>\n
more important than God those things<\/p>\n
will eat you alive because he continues<\/p>\n
anything you put in the place of God<\/p>\n
will fail to give you what only the true<\/p>\n
God can give you what he's saying and<\/p>\n
what Paul is saying is that there are<\/p>\n
things externally that look fine but<\/p>\n
because of our hearts motives actually<\/p>\n
mean it to be sin so for example you can<\/p>\n
come to church for many reasons you can<\/p>\n
come because you're curious and you're<\/p>\n
interested in learning more about<\/p>\n
Christianity learning more about God<\/p>\n
you can also come because you want to<\/p>\n
worship God you want to serve God you<\/p>\n
want to serve other people but there's<\/p>\n
another way that we can come to church<\/p>\n
we can also come because we feel like<\/p>\n
coming to church is a way to get God<\/p>\n
into our debt we won't say that we won't<\/p>\n
think that but the way to know if we're<\/p>\n
doing that is when things don't go the<\/p>\n
way we want when life doesn't go the way<\/p>\n
we want it to go do we find ourselves<\/p>\n
saying forget you God look at all the<\/p>\n
things I'm doing for you you can't do<\/p>\n
this for me if we find ourselves saying<\/p>\n
that if we find ourselves thinking that<\/p>\n
then something else has become more<\/p>\n
important than God see it's all it's all<\/p>\n
the same behavior going to church but<\/p>\n
different motivations of the heart and<\/p>\n
so we see here Paul shows us that sin is<\/p>\n
both external Deeds of darkness and<\/p>\n
internal idolatry<\/p>\n
the question that follows is where does<\/p>\n
sin come from Paul gives us the answer<\/p>\n
to that when he<\/p>\n
says for once for once you were Darkness<\/p>\n
but now you are light in the<\/p>\n
Lord notice what he's saying not only<\/p>\n
does he say sin is sin is Deeds of<\/p>\n
Darkness but he says human beings are<\/p>\n
Darkness human<\/p>\n
beings that's pretty<\/p>\n
offensive Paul is what he's saying here<\/p>\n
is he's talking about the state of our<\/p>\n
hearts now to some of us this may sound<\/p>\n
too negative we may we may think ah I<\/p>\n
know I'm not perfect but I'm definitely<\/p>\n
better than Hitler right I haven't<\/p>\n
killed anyone I know I'm not perfect but<\/p>\n
there's a murderer down the road a lot<\/p>\n
worse than me well during World War II<\/p>\n
one of the engineers of the Nazi<\/p>\n
Holocaust was a man named Adolf ikan<\/p>\n
after World War II he was caught and he<\/p>\n
was put on trial in the trial there were<\/p>\n
eyewitness survivors that were brought<\/p>\n
in to the court to testify against him<\/p>\n
there was one man who went into the room<\/p>\n
he was an eyewitness he was a Jew he<\/p>\n
went into the room he saw Adolf ikan and<\/p>\n
he started sobbing uncontrollably and he<\/p>\n
collapsed on the ground there was chaos<\/p>\n
in the<\/p>\n
courtroom later he was interviewed and<\/p>\n
he was asked why did you collapse when<\/p>\n
you saw him did did all the terrible<\/p>\n
images and memories of what he did to<\/p>\n
you what he did to your people did all<\/p>\n
that flash before your eyes you know<\/p>\n
what he said he said when I walked in<\/p>\n
when I walked in and saw him I suddenly<\/p>\n
realized that he was an ordinary human<\/p>\n
being just like me and suddenly I became<\/p>\n
terrified about myself I saw that I am<\/p>\n
capable of the same things and he<\/p>\n
collapsed what happened he looked into<\/p>\n
his own heart and he saw<\/p>\n
Darkness we may think that we would<\/p>\n
never be capable of doing certain things<\/p>\n
but if we were to just look back over<\/p>\n
the past 5 years 10 years of Our Lives<\/p>\n
how many of us have done things how many<\/p>\n
of us have said things thought things<\/p>\n
that we never would have thought we<\/p>\n
would have done things that have<\/p>\n
horrified us things that we thought oh<\/p>\n
I'm too good to do that and then we<\/p>\n
actually end up doing that<\/p>\n
the Bible says our hearts in our natural<\/p>\n
sinful State our hearts are<\/p>\n
darkness and Paul what Paul says as<\/p>\n
Christians are not deceived about this<\/p>\n
we don't deny it we know that this is<\/p>\n
true and Paul shows us that because of<\/p>\n
sin the external and internal nature of<\/p>\n
sin our ability and potential to sin in<\/p>\n
both heart and deed the consequence of<\/p>\n
this is Wrath<\/p>\n
verse<\/p>\n
six for because of such things God's<\/p>\n
Wrath comes on those who are<\/p>\n
disobedient we tend to not like wrath<\/p>\n
and often times that's because we really<\/p>\n
misunderstand God's Wrath we tend to<\/p>\n
think of we may tend to think of God's<\/p>\n
Wrath as God losing his temper getting<\/p>\n
uncontrollably angry wanting to punish<\/p>\n
us just for the sake of it but in the<\/p>\n
Bible that's not what wrath means<\/p>\n
wrath is actually a settled opposition<\/p>\n
in other words God is opposed he's<\/p>\n
against sin God's Wrath is upon<\/p>\n
sin and now we may we may say and think<\/p>\n
to ourselves again yes some people some<\/p>\n
people deserve God's Wrath Hitler<\/p>\n
deserves God's Wrath the Nazis deserve<\/p>\n
God's Wrath me I may lie a little bit I<\/p>\n
may get angry every now and then but<\/p>\n
overall my life isn't nearly as bad as<\/p>\n
other people's surely I don't deserve<\/p>\n
God's Wrath I'm just trying my best to<\/p>\n
be a good<\/p>\n
person I've used a similar illustration<\/p>\n
before some of us may remember but think<\/p>\n
of a mother think of a mother she's<\/p>\n
working three jobs she starts her day<\/p>\n
early in the morning finishes work late<\/p>\n
into the night why does she do this in<\/p>\n
order to provide for her one child she<\/p>\n
teaches the child always tell the truth<\/p>\n
always help people don't don't hurt<\/p>\n
people work hard do your<\/p>\n
best so this is what she teaches the<\/p>\n
child she's teaching the child good<\/p>\n
things always tell the truth always help<\/p>\n
people the mother Works incredibly hard<\/p>\n
and she's finally able to send her son<\/p>\n
to<\/p>\n
college and it's really hard but it<\/p>\n
works out when he graduates College he<\/p>\n
moves to a different city he never<\/p>\n
contacts his mom again she calls him he<\/p>\n
never calls back every<\/p>\n
San she doesn't see him she doesn't hear<\/p>\n
from him what would we say what would we<\/p>\n
say to that well he may say well I'm<\/p>\n
living a good life I'm being a good<\/p>\n
person I'm listening to how she told me<\/p>\n
she wants me to live isn't that enough<\/p>\n
isn't that enough what would you say no<\/p>\n
of course not why because you are<\/p>\n
ignoring the one person who has given<\/p>\n
you everything you are ignoring the one<\/p>\n
person to whom you owe<\/p>\n
everything now that's that's what we do<\/p>\n
to God if we say I'm living a good life<\/p>\n
isn't that enough no it's not if God is<\/p>\n
real if God created<\/p>\n
us and we owe God everything it is not<\/p>\n
enough to just live a good life<\/p>\n
according to how we want it's not it's<\/p>\n
not enough to just live a good life and<\/p>\n
not live for God that's sin and we are<\/p>\n
guilty and Paul is showing us here what<\/p>\n
what sin is what sin<\/p>\n
deserves he says you were once Darkness<\/p>\n
because of that we're<\/p>\n
guilty but what Paul is also showing<\/p>\n
us is that we are now light you were<\/p>\n
once Darkness but now you are light in<\/p>\n
Lord live as children of light what does<\/p>\n
this<\/p>\n
mean well we see in the next verse in<\/p>\n
verse n that<\/p>\n
it represents goodness rightfulness<\/p>\n
truthfulness but what does it mean to be<\/p>\n
light because what Paul is not saying<\/p>\n
Paul is not saying you now do actions of<\/p>\n
light but now he's saying you are now<\/p>\n
you are light in the<\/p>\n
Lord we aren't just light we are light<\/p>\n
in the Lord which what he's doing is<\/p>\n
he's speaking about us being in Christ<\/p>\n
that's what the first half of Ephesians<\/p>\n
is just full<\/p>\n
of that when we are in Christ we have<\/p>\n
every spiritual blessing when we are in<\/p>\n
Christ we are rescued from Death to life<\/p>\n
we have been raised up in Christ when we<\/p>\n
are in Christ we are united with him so<\/p>\n
that everything that is true about him<\/p>\n
is true about us now you see we see here<\/p>\n
we are we are light in<\/p>\n
Christ what that means is the the moment<\/p>\n
we believe in Christ and put our faith<\/p>\n
in Jesus in that moment we are united to<\/p>\n
him and we are put in him remember from<\/p>\n
last week we become new even though in<\/p>\n
ourselves we are still Darkness we are<\/p>\n
still flawed but in Christ God sees us<\/p>\n
as brilliant as beautiful as acceptable<\/p>\n
as goodness righteousness and Truth is<\/p>\n
isn't that<\/p>\n
wonderful if we live life of guilt we<\/p>\n
think to ourselves oh I'm so bad I have<\/p>\n
all these bad things in my life if we if<\/p>\n
we just hate ourselves we will not live<\/p>\n
an obedient life we will give into<\/p>\n
temptation but if we just say well I'm<\/p>\n
fine we're fine God's forgiven me so now<\/p>\n
it doesn't matter how I live that's not<\/p>\n
true either this whole passage Paul is<\/p>\n
saying sin flee from it expose it he's<\/p>\n
saying you are different now have<\/p>\n
nothing to do with the fruitless Deeds<\/p>\n
of Darkness rather expose them we see a<\/p>\n
balance here knowing that we are light<\/p>\n
in the Lord and because we are light in<\/p>\n
the Lord we want nothing to do with<\/p>\n
sin because of who we are because of who<\/p>\n
God has made us to be if we have this<\/p>\n
balance we will have the motivation to<\/p>\n
live in a Godly way we will be able to<\/p>\n
pick ourselves up when we fail<\/p>\n
and we will by knowing what sin is we<\/p>\n
will actually be able to walk in<\/p>\n
obedience next the third thing that we<\/p>\n
see is that since we are children of of<\/p>\n
light in the Lord one implication one<\/p>\n
application is that we live with wisdom<\/p>\n
we live in wisdom like Paul says in<\/p>\n
verses 15 to<\/p>\n
17 what does it mean to live in<\/p>\n
wisdom what does it mean to live in<\/p>\n
wisdom<\/p>\n
well it means at the very least that<\/p>\n
living the Christian life is more than<\/p>\n
just obeying the moral rules it's more<\/p>\n
than just looking in the Bible saying<\/p>\n
these are things I can do these are are<\/p>\n
the things I can't do and just sticking<\/p>\n
to that why is it more than that because<\/p>\n
most of life's decisions don't involve<\/p>\n
the moral<\/p>\n
rules we know that there are certain<\/p>\n
jobs that we can take we know that there<\/p>\n
are certain jobs that we can't take we<\/p>\n
know for example that it is never going<\/p>\n
to be God's will for us it's not God's<\/p>\n
will for us to be hit men to kill people<\/p>\n
to be murderers since why it's very<\/p>\n
clear in God's word do not kill but<\/p>\n
there's a lot of things we don't know<\/p>\n
either we don't know who we should marry<\/p>\n
since there all there are all kinds of<\/p>\n
people that we could marry as long as<\/p>\n
they have they also have faith in Jesus<\/p>\n
there are also all kinds of jobs that we<\/p>\n
could take that are morally<\/p>\n
permissible so many options yet some are<\/p>\n
wise some are unwise how do we tell the<\/p>\n
difference that's a matter of wisdom<\/p>\n
being wise is being moral because it<\/p>\n
says understand what the Lord's will is<\/p>\n
in verse<\/p>\n
17 that refers to God's<\/p>\n
word what Paul is saying in verse 15 is<\/p>\n
to be very careful about how you live be<\/p>\n
very careful about how you live how are<\/p>\n
we living what are the motives of our<\/p>\n
heart for example say we are making a<\/p>\n
lot of money what are we doing it for<\/p>\n
are we doing it to be rich to have<\/p>\n
comfort is it so that we can have power<\/p>\n
is it so that we can be liked and<\/p>\n
accepted and<\/p>\n
respected or is it to serve God is it to<\/p>\n
serve other people because like we've<\/p>\n
been talking about for the past few<\/p>\n
weeks we can do the very same outward<\/p>\n
action with very different motives and<\/p>\n
that really will impact our lives and it<\/p>\n
will impact the people around us in a<\/p>\n
very tangible way to be wise means Paul<\/p>\n
says here to be wise means to be careful<\/p>\n
about how we live to look at the motives<\/p>\n
of our heart find out what we're doing<\/p>\n
it for and if we don't if we just go<\/p>\n
Through the Motions not trying to figure<\/p>\n
out why we do what we do we're just<\/p>\n
being unwise we will be tossed around<\/p>\n
like waves ultimately we will be<\/p>\n
enslaved to what we really want what<\/p>\n
what we really want without knowing<\/p>\n
it wisdom is a matter of knowing human<\/p>\n
nature it's a matter of knowing our<\/p>\n
motives knowing God's will knowing the<\/p>\n
times so that we can make decision<\/p>\n
decisions that are strategic and<\/p>\n
wise and finally in verses 18 to 20 Paul<\/p>\n
speaks about not getting drunk on wine<\/p>\n
but rather being filled with the spirit<\/p>\n
so to recap so far he's talked about one<\/p>\n
our identity as beloved children he<\/p>\n
talked about the importance of<\/p>\n
understanding sin obedience to God he's<\/p>\n
talked about how from that flow a life<\/p>\n
of wisdom but then all of a sudden he's<\/p>\n
talk he starts talking about being<\/p>\n
filled with the spirit what's the<\/p>\n
connection<\/p>\n
here one way to sum it up is that at the<\/p>\n
heart of what it<\/p>\n
means to be in Christ at the heart of<\/p>\n
what it means to be a Christian to be in<\/p>\n
Christ is<\/p>\n
Joy there is a joy that comes with being<\/p>\n
filled by the Holy Spirit a joy that<\/p>\n
nothing else can<\/p>\n
replace why does he compare being drunk<\/p>\n
to being filled on by the<\/p>\n
Spirit when people are drunk you lose<\/p>\n
self-control you are under the influence<\/p>\n
alcohol and we tend to think that<\/p>\n
alcohol makes you<\/p>\n
happy but scientists will tell you that<\/p>\n
alcohol is a depressant which means it<\/p>\n
depresses parts of your brain it stops<\/p>\n
certain parts of your brain<\/p>\n
functioning so Dr Martin Lloyd Jones<\/p>\n
he's a he's a pastor he's also a doctor<\/p>\n
he says that alcohol depresses<\/p>\n
everything that makes a person behave at<\/p>\n
their very best and<\/p>\n
highest and another commentator another<\/p>\n
Pastor named John stot he says that the<\/p>\n
results of being filled with the spirit<\/p>\n
is very different the fullness of the<\/p>\n
spirit makes us more human it makes us<\/p>\n
more aware of our resources it makes us<\/p>\n
more aware of what we<\/p>\n
have it makes us more aware<\/p>\n
of who we are we talked about us being<\/p>\n
beloved children right this the spirit<\/p>\n
that's what the spirit does in livens<\/p>\n
our mind our<\/p>\n
heart and our Wills basically in one<\/p>\n
sentence what the spirit does is the<\/p>\n
spirit makes us like<\/p>\n
Christ the spirit takes the work of<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ what he has done things<\/p>\n
that we may know with our head things<\/p>\n
that we may know with our head and he<\/p>\n
makes it real to our heart heart he<\/p>\n
makes it so real to our heart that we<\/p>\n
begin to say so what about these<\/p>\n
problems you know Tim killer he says the<\/p>\n
reason we fail to be obedient the reason<\/p>\n
we fail to<\/p>\n
make good choices the reason we make<\/p>\n
foolish<\/p>\n
choices is because we are not happy<\/p>\n
enough in<\/p>\n
Christ it's because we are not happy<\/p>\n
enough in Christ why do we make stupid<\/p>\n
decisions often times it's because we<\/p>\n
are so unhappy and empty inside why do<\/p>\n
we disobey why do we give into<\/p>\n
temptation why do we blow up and say why<\/p>\n
did I do that because we aren't happy<\/p>\n
enough to be obedient there has to be a<\/p>\n
fountain of joy in the middle of our<\/p>\n
life and that comes because the spirit<\/p>\n
fills us what that means is to be<\/p>\n
overcome to be compelled with what the<\/p>\n
spirit thinks and what the spirit<\/p>\n
does and what does the Holy Spirit do in<\/p>\n
John chapter 16 Jesus said says when the<\/p>\n
Holy Spirit comes he will glorify<\/p>\n
me Jesus Christ the only obedient person<\/p>\n
who ever lived died on the cross to take<\/p>\n
the curse for my for our Disobedience<\/p>\n
and when we are moved by this when we<\/p>\n
are amazed by this it will make us want<\/p>\n
to be<\/p>\n
obedient on the cross the law of God and<\/p>\n
the love of God were satisfied at once<\/p>\n
why on the cross the law of God was<\/p>\n
satisfied and that way God doesn't have<\/p>\n
to punish us for our sins cuz like we<\/p>\n
said we are guilty but on the cross the<\/p>\n
love of God was satisfied too and that<\/p>\n
means he can save us now we can be light<\/p>\n
in the Lord and to the degree that the<\/p>\n
Holy Spirit takes what we know in our<\/p>\n
heads and applies it to our hearts to<\/p>\n
the degree that we see what Jesus has<\/p>\n
done for us and that we are moved by<\/p>\n
that to that degree we will be wise this<\/p>\n
is what it means to be filled with the<\/p>\n
spirit and if we are filled with the<\/p>\n
spirit what happens we live a life of<\/p>\n
gratitude giving thanks to God for<\/p>\n
everything we live a life of service to<\/p>\n
other people see it's right there on the<\/p>\n
screen we make music in our hearts isn't<\/p>\n
that wonderful isn't that Joyful We Walk<\/p>\n
around singing the holy spirit gives us<\/p>\n
an inward joy we have a song of joy in<\/p>\n
our hearts and Spirit-filled public<\/p>\n
worship<\/p>\n
is a joyful celebration of God's Mighty<\/p>\n
acts a celebration of what Jesus has<\/p>\n
done don't we want a life like this to<\/p>\n
be happy in Christ like this to be full<\/p>\n
joy Paul says you can be like this how<\/p>\n
is what Jesus has done is that is it<\/p>\n
real to you are you overcome with the<\/p>\n
thought that God is your father that you<\/p>\n
are his<\/p>\n
child you know the Great parable of the<\/p>\n
prodigal<\/p>\n
son in Luke<\/p>\n
15 this is why we can be God's children<\/p>\n
this is why we can be filled with the<\/p>\n
spirit so to recap there were two<\/p>\n
brothers right in the story and we had a<\/p>\n
a younger brother and an older brother<\/p>\n
and the younger brother asked his father<\/p>\n
for some of his share of The Inheritance<\/p>\n
before his father died he says father I<\/p>\n
want part of what I am going to get when<\/p>\n
you die I want that<\/p>\n
now so the father gives it to the<\/p>\n
younger son the younger son takes the<\/p>\n
money goes off squanders all the money<\/p>\n
lives lavishly he comes back<\/p>\n
empty-handed with nothing to his<\/p>\n
name what does the father do he comes<\/p>\n
back like any father he accepts he<\/p>\n
protects he bestows his love and riches<\/p>\n
on the child the younger brother is on<\/p>\n
his way back to confess what he's done<\/p>\n
the father won't even let him do it he<\/p>\n
sees him coming he runs towards him he<\/p>\n
jumps on him he hugs him he kisses him<\/p>\n
the son tries to confess the father says<\/p>\n
stop it he tells his servants put my<\/p>\n
robe on his back put my ring on his<\/p>\n
finger kill the fattened calf we're<\/p>\n
going to have a party my younger son I<\/p>\n
thought was dead but now he's<\/p>\n
alive this is the love of God it's not<\/p>\n
conditioned on our Perfection but on his<\/p>\n
Perfection but there's more to the story<\/p>\n
right when they get back into the house<\/p>\n
the older brother is really angry<\/p>\n
angry why is he<\/p>\n
angry because here's the interesting<\/p>\n
part since the younger brother has<\/p>\n
squandered all of his wealth everything<\/p>\n
the father is now giving to the younger<\/p>\n
brother actually belongs to the older<\/p>\n
brother so the older brother is angry<\/p>\n
he's like I've worked hard for all of<\/p>\n
this and you're just going to give it to<\/p>\n
him he doesn't deserve it look at what<\/p>\n
he's done with his<\/p>\n
money and when Jesus tells this parable<\/p>\n
what he's saying is I am the true older<\/p>\n
brother how does this work well what<\/p>\n
would a real older brother have done he<\/p>\n
would have gone out there he would have<\/p>\n
found the younger brother in the pigy<\/p>\n
lifted him up lifted him up brought him<\/p>\n
home and said little brother here is my<\/p>\n
robe here is my ring I freely give it to<\/p>\n
you enter back into the joy of the<\/p>\n
father let's have a party the true older<\/p>\n
brother is Jesus the reason we can be<\/p>\n
adopted and to God's family the reason<\/p>\n
we can be children of light in the Lord<\/p>\n
is because Jesus Christ brothered us<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ treated us as a brother<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ spent his love on<\/p>\n
us because Jesus Christ brothered you<\/p>\n
God is now your father we were built for<\/p>\n
family<\/p>\n
love but no human family could possibly<\/p>\n
meet the needs of our heart this is the<\/p>\n
family that we were we were meant to to<\/p>\n
have Jesus Christ has brothered you so<\/p>\n
that God could father you come home to<\/p>\n
him say to him father I've sinned I need<\/p>\n
your fatherly love and you will get it<\/p>\n
because you have the love of Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ let this melt your heart you can<\/p>\n
have this Joy live as a dear child for<\/p>\n
that is what you are let's<\/p>\n
pray father we thank you is for the<\/p>\n
blessing of being your children Lord and<\/p>\n
for all of what that<\/p>\n
entails we pray God that Holy Spirit<\/p>\n
would make these truths real to us<\/p>\n
that Lord that we would see Jesus we<\/p>\n
would see him and we would just be moved<\/p>\n
Lord that you would help us to live in<\/p>\n
Freedom Lord that you would help us to<\/p>\n
make wise decisions that you'd help us<\/p>\n
to remember our<\/p>\n
identity Lord ultimately to glorify you<\/p>\n
Lord help us to have this deep unending<\/p>\n
joy and we thank you that we can in<\/p>\n
Jesus name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20240625","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ASSSzc8u6ro","video_id":"ASSSzc8u6ro","video_duration":"37:11","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":404,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}