Ephesians 5:21-33 God’s Plan for Marriage

Ephesians 5:21-33     God’s Plan for Marriage

• Main Theme.
• Ephesians 5 and 6 deal with relationships for life
• Submission
• Paul is writing about mutual submission in which we submit to one another in the fear of God.

• To submit to one another requires us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

• When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit they are humble, gentle, and are submitting.
• What does the ‘Fear of God’ mean?
• Living our life realizing that we live under the watchful eye of God.
• We live a life in a respect for God, a reverential awe.
• We live our life to make God happy and to please him.
• We bring joy and happiness to God.
• We seek direction and guidance from God.
• The worldview of ‘Fear’ has a negative meaning.  This is not the context of how Paul uses the word ‘Fear’.   The ‘Fear of God’ is what helps us to submit to others.
• Paul is writing about a biblical submission, not a submission that the world uses.  The world’s view of submission has a negative connotation.
• The current culture has a view of permissiveness and personal freedom.   This includes the thinking that ‘Some laws apply to me and some do not’ and ‘I do not need to be told how to live my life’.
• Submission is a role for everyone.
• Submission comes from the Greek word hupotasso.
• Hupo - means under
• Tasso - means to rank, to arrange
• Hupotasso is used 47 times in the New Testament.
• How is submission practiced?
• Submission is mutual in a relationship.   (Luke 10:17, Romans 8:20, Romans 13:1, I Corinthians 16:16, I Corinthians 15:27-28)
• The greatest act of submission is to die for someone.
• By being a servant hearted doer of the Word of God.
• Marriage - Mutuality in a submission relationship (I Corinthians 7:1-16)
• By keeping the traditions and examples set by Jesus. (I Corinthians 11:1-2)
• Submission in the roles of husband and wife.   Neither person is greater than the other person.  Function instead of superiority.
• Problems can be solved by submission.
• Christ became obedient to the Father, which eventually led to his death on a cross.   (Philippians 2:5-11)
• The key to submission is humility, placing others before yourself.
• Submission keeps things running right in a relationship.
• What submission is not:
• Slavery, superiority, tyranny, or treating someone in a mean way.  Instead it is a functionality and understanding the roles set forth in I Corinthians 11 (Tiers of Submission).  The Goal of submitting is to ‘Glorify God’.
• Overview.
• Verse 2 is a transitional verse, with the remaining verses being examples of submission.
• Paul’s Instruction for Wives.
• Paul asks wives to submit to their husbands.  He uses 3 verses to these instructions.   Paul is saying it is an honor to Jesus, an act of service to the LORD.  Submission requires an inspiring respect and Godly conduct.   (I Peter 3:1-6)
• Paul’s instructions to the Husbands.
• Paul instructs the husbands to love their wives.  Paul uses 9 verses to give these instructions.  A husband submits to his wife by loving her.   Paul repeats his command to ‘love your wife’ two times, which are in verses 25 and 28.  The love Paul uses here is ‘Agape’, which is unconditional love, the same love God’ has for us.
• The Greek word for “Husband” translates to ‘till the ground, till the soil’.   The husband’s role is to cultivate his wife and to nurture her.
• Paul is asking husbands not to rule over their wives.  Paul is asking for a balance of leader and lover, a balance between authority and affection.  Paul qualifies this by saying that love is to be met in the love of Christ.
• To love sacrificially - Jesus was spat upon, ridiculed, beaten, and gave his life on a cross.
• To love with sanctification - The attitude that Jesus loves me after I came to him so Jesus can help me grow.  ‘Let me help you, let me take you’.  This type of love requires quality time and priority in our lives.
• A secure love - An extension of me, to help your wife feel secure.   Just as a man may like his own body, to look and feel good, a husband needs to make the wife feel as if she is an extension of himself.
• A stable love - (Genesis 2:24) Like a fine art, making it last a life time.  Like dating, the great hunt and I got the prize of the hunt.   Severing your relationship with your parents to join in a relationship to become one flesh with your wife.
• Marriage
• Marriage is compared to a picture - as Christ is to the Church (his bride).
• Marriage is a symbol of Love.   
• Satan’s goal is to destroy this love relationship of a marriage and also to destroy the family.
• Casual sex, homosexuality, infidelity, self-righteous judgment, pornography, plastic surgery.
• Satan’s lie - Christian marriage is a hot bed of hypocrisy and infidelity.   Hollywood’s goal is to portray militant feminism, rampant immorality, and serial divorce.
• Satan’s lie - A Christian marriage is oppressive and that God’s blueprint for a marriage is oppressive towards a woman.
• Comments by militant feminist Susan Brownmiller - ‘Marriage is an outgrowth of primitive caveman cruelty.   Woman chose one rapist as a husband to protect herself from other rapists’.
• Satan’s lie - It is oppressive to a woman that God’s design for a husband to lovingly exercise spiritual leadership and for the wife to faithfully affirm him on that leadership.
• When marriage is rejected and leads to divorce, it leads to emotionally scarred children and it also leads to a social collapse.
• A recent survey taken of convicted men in prison that looks at the percentages of those who came from a fatherless home.
• 70% of the long time inmates.
• 72% of the adolescent murderers.
• 60% of the convicted rapists.
• Truth - The covenant of marriage is a powerful preventative of rape.
• Verse 5:21-24   Liberating not Oppressive.
• Jesus himself states the equality and liberation of woman.  Jesus treated woman with respect and he also elevated their status.   (Matthew 9 and 26, Mark 14, Luke 7, John 4 and 8, Galatians 3:28)
• Verse 21 equalizes both man and woman before God.
• When Paul wrote this letter, there were 3 distinct cultures during this time: Roman, Greek, and Jewish.   All 3 taught that women were regulated to 2nd class and to be subservient.
• Typical Jewish prayer - ‘Thankful that I am a Jew and not a Greek, I am free and not a slave, I am a man and not a woman’.
• Greek Culture - Keep out of sight in total obedience to the husband, ‘See as little as possible, hear as little as possible, and ask as little as possible’.
• Roman Culture - A woman had no rights and was considered the equivalent of a child.
• Paul’s message was radical to the Jews, that men and woman should submit to one another in reverence to Jesus Christ.   
• Men and women each have a unique role, each submits to each other, neither one is superior to the other.
• Verse 5:25-33.
• Mutual Submission.
• We need to be constantly filled by the Holy Spirit and read God’s word to live God’s blueprint for a marriage.   We must submit to the Holy Spirit to be able to submit in marriage as our human flesh struggles with the Holy Spirit when it comes to mutual forgiveness, mutual submission, and mutual sacrifice.
• Paul is not asking wives to ‘knuckle down’ and become ‘doormats’ to their husbands.   Christian marriage is a partnership with each partner having a different role.   The wife’s role is submission where the husband’s role is leadership, which is linked together.  Each is based upon the picture and relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church.   Just as Christ is the head of the Church, the Church submits to Christ.  Christ exercised his leadership by serving, sacrificing, and putting his Church ahead of his own interests by dying for his Church.   What wife would not be willing to submit to a husband who was Christ-like?
• Christian marriage is a mutual love, it is not a power struggle.  Failure occurs when the husband refuses to lead like the love of Christ or the wife does not submit as unto the LORD, or both.  God’s plan for marriage elevates and enables the roles of both men and woman.  (Depicting the unique love relationship between Christ and his bride, the Church).
• The Power of Love.
• Submitting by love (the husband’s role) is more challenging than submitting by following (the wife’s role).  Notice how Paul uses more words and verses for the men compared to the women.  It is possible you can submit without loving but it is impossible to love without submitting.
• Loving someone involves placing your beloved needs and welfare above your own.  It also involves placing others desires and comforts before your own.
• Paul repeats these principles 3 times.
• What did Christ do for his bride?   He left the glory of heaven.  He came to a world where many hated him.   He allowed the world to crucify him.   Finally Jesus saved and redeemed his bride, the church, by his death.
• Love does not stand idly by when the beloved suffers harm.
• Love is not passive when the beloved is in danger.
• Love never entices or coerces the beloved to do anything wrong or sinful.   Paul is suggesting ‘submit in every good thing’ just as Jesus would command us to not sin.
• Lies, stealing, cheating, etc.
• Every person has a duty to obey God.
• Paul asks husbands to sanctify their wives as Christ sanctifies the Church/Bride.
• God’s Blueprint for a Joyous Marriage.
• Christian marriage is based upon mutual submission.
• The essence of Jesus’s work on earth was submission.   Submission does not take away our worth or equality.   Submission does enable beautiful things to happen in our lives.
• A wife's submission is a submission of love, not oppression by a boss.  
• A husband’s headship is a matter of serving and not lording.  It is to be a servant and not a tyrant, keeping in mind Jesus’s love for his church.
• A husband’s love is demonstrated in action.  Love is not a feeling but is demonstrated by actions.  Giving, sanctifying, and to cleanse and wash her, and to make her holy before God.  To also nourish and cherish her as well.
• A wife’s submission is nothing but a natural and rational response to a husband’s extravagant, selfless, and self-sacrificing love.   It is not in fear.  A wife responds by lifting him up, encouraging and respecting him, and not to beat him down.
• We the church are Christ’s bride.   We need to look at Christ’s relationship to his church.  Once we understand that relationship we can find Joy in our marriage when we put it into action.   We need to lose ourselves and to submit to Christ.
• Submission is at the essence of a Christian life.  It is the ultimate for contentment and joy.   Trusting without fear, serving without reservation, and loving with the selfless love of Christ himself.
• Conclusion.
• If Jesus could submit to God the Father to die on a cross, how can we not submit our lives to Jesus and others?
• What areas in my life am I dragging gears in submission?
• Can you go to a fellow brother and say ‘I love you’?      (Agape Love)
• The criminal populations tend to come from fatherless/broken homes.  How much could crime be slashed if families stabilized and were built upon biblical foundation of marriage?
• We as Christians should take a stand and not be ashamed of the Gospel.   We should not be intimidated by the deceptions of Satan and compromise to the ways of the culture.
• Do we turn to other books because we do not like God’s design for marriage which is given to us in Ephesians 5?

Ephesians 5:18-20 Spiritual Intoxication

Ephesians 5:18-20     Spiritual Intoxication

• Main Theme.
• How to tell if someone is walking a Christian walk and living a spiritual life.
• They display a walk worthy of the calling of Jesus Christ.
• They display love in their daily living.
• The walk as Children of the Light and not of darkness.
• Their Christian life is a walk of a wise person, not as a fool.   (Proverbs 13:20)
• Stepping stones for walking in fellowship.

• Submitting to one another in the fear of God.
• Not losing interest in one another.  Your interest is kept up when you share the same interests.   As fellow Christians we all share the same interest.
• We all need fellowship with one another.  We should not be isolated but gather together often.
• Paul instructs us to be walking in the light and knowledge of God.   (I John 5:1-12, I John 1:5-10).
• Light is brilliant, it reveals, and light intimidates.   (Proverbs 4:18-19)
• The Creation Story (Genesis 1:3-5).
• God’s covenant to Abraham (Genesis 15:10-18).
• God guiding the Moses and the Israelites through the desert (Exodus 13:21).
• God will be our light in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:22-25).
• God is an unapproachable light (I Timothy 6:11-16).
• Our lives should be growing and shining brighter by exposing sin.
• 3 things it takes to be walking in the Light.
• Our goal in life should be to please God in his glory.   Life is about God and it should be centered around God as well.  We need to be reading God’s word to learn what God likes and dislikes.   By reading the bible we will learn about what the nature of God is and what is contrary to his nature.
• To live our lives in purity, moral character, and in integrity.  We need to refuse to be living a hidden life and come out of the shadows of darkness.
• We should live our lives as if God hears and sees everything we do.
• Paul warns about not having fellowship with those who live a life of darkness.
• Being cautious of churches who profess to be “seeker friendly”.   Typically these type of churches try not to offend the “seeker” with the true Bible message by appealing to their ears and not the Truth.
• We should feel comfortable among God’s people if we are walking in the light.
• Since Jesus was the light of the world, he revealed the truth about the religious leaders at that time to his Apostles.  The Pharisees and Scribes were considered the religious elite at that time.   There was a great reverence for the Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews.   (Matthew 23:13-33).
• Paul warns us to live as the wise instead of as the fool.   (Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1)
• Place our steps in life carefully because of the darkness that does exist.
• You can have a high IQ and be considered a fool as well as having a low IQ and be wise.   Wisdom comes from how you apply God’s word in your life.   Understanding the will of God also comes from knowing God’s word and applying it.
• Paul compares drunk in wine to being full of the Spirit.
• Both involve being controlled by the substance.
• How do you tell if a person is controlled by the Spirit?
• Compare this to finding out how a glass is full of water.  You can bump into it and see what comes out.
• To be drunk with the Holy Spirit means our life would be characterized by psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, and prayers of thanksgiving.
• Overview.
• Verse 5:18-20
• The Depressant versus the Stimulant.
• The lie of alcoholism is that a person cannot live without a drink.  The truth is God can give you victory over alcoholism.
• Alcohol can depress you but the Holy Spirit can make you feel elated.
• Alcohol can destroy your life where the Holy Spirit can strengthen your heart.
• Alcohol can cost you a fortune but the Holy Spirit can bring you blessings.
• Alcohol can multiply your pain where the Holy Spirit can heal your pain.
• Alcohol can deceive you into a false happiness where the Holy Spirit can bring you true joy.
• In the early times drunkenness was closely associated with idol worship.   The pagan world seeked fulfillment through drunkenness and sexual immorality.
• Alcohol is a depressant where the Holy Spirit is a stimulant to good judgment.   Drunkenness numbs judgments made by the brain where the Holy Spirit gives discernment, good judgment, and a balanced thinking.
• How to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
• The fullness of the Holy Spirit is not:

• Getting zapped and becoming a 1st Class Christian..
• To be filled by the Holy Spirit does not mean the same as being indwelled by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9).
• To be filled by the Holy Spirit is not the same as being baptized by the Holy Spirit.   We become baptized when we became a Christian.   The Holy Spirit continues to dwell inside of you whether you quench the Holy Spirit or grieve the Holy Spirit.
• Being filled by the Holy Spirit is not the same as being sealed.   We are sealed by the Holy Spirit again at the moment of our conversion.
• The filling of the Holy Spirit is not getting the Holy Spirit in installments.   We receive the complete Holy Spirit at our time of conversion.
• Paul gives the command to ‘be filled by the Holy Spirit’.   It is not a recommendation.
• To fulfill God’s will for our life we need to be filled by the Holy Spirit to obey the word of God.   We will also continually serve God after being filled.   To fight temptation we also need to be filled as well.
• To be able to submit to one another   (Philippians 2:1-5).
• To be filled means to be totally under control of the Holy Spirit.   Our human nature causes us to fail and sin no matter how sincere we are of our intentions to please God.   We can renew our commitment to be filled with the Holy Spirit.   We need to continuously surrender our life to the Holy Spirit.   When we fall prey to sin or when we are tempted, we can turn in prayer to God and submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s control.
• Our strength in a relationship with the Holy Spirit can be likened to the strength of a relationship in a marriage.   It is not what happened in the past or what will happen in the future that matters, it is what happens in the present.
• A person is moved, permeated, and immersed along by what fills him.
• Filled - to be totally dominated and controlled by the Spirit.
• Being conscious of Jesus’s presence at every moment.
• We include Jesus in every action we take and every decision we make.
• The Evidence of the Filling.
• Being filled with praise and thanksgiving.
• Paul mentions we should sing songs and offer Psalms together.   This includes not focusing on the technical aspects of the music as God wants to hear our sincere praise and God is not concerned about the style.
• We should pray when God puts things on our hearts and not pray after we see the outcome.   We need to be thankful in advance.   (John 11:38-44)
• Conclusion.
• The goal of this Bible Study is to conform to the image of Jesus Christ and to live in accordance to the truth of the Bible.   Seize the opportunities in life and get the most profit out of them in spiritually.
• We can have biblical knowledge but we need to apply it and practice it as well.
• Knowing the wealth we possess in Christ should prompt us to walk in the light.   (John 13:17)
• God knows our every thought and deed.   (Psalm 139:1-6)
• Fruits of the Light/Fruits of the Spirit.
• Check for goodness, integrity, righteousness, and truth.
• Testing actions versus words of a person.
• A change has taken place in the person’s life.
• To test ourselves by asking, ‘Is this something Jesus would do?’.
• Asking ourselves how we should live our life tomorrow as there are consequences to our walk and actions.   Because the days are short and the times are evil, we should be using our time wisely.   Every day should be precious.  A person who is 35 years old has approximately 500 days left to live if you subtract the amount of time spent sleeping, working, appointments, eating, and traveling.
• What are our prayers like?   Are there more petitions than gratitude?   Do we only pray when we are desperate?

Ephesians 5:1-17 From Darkness to Light

Ephesians 5:1-17     From Darkness to Light

• Main Theme.
• Walking in Love.
• According to a survey done by Josh McDowell, the 2 greatest fears people have are not feeling unconditional (Agape) love and not getting unconditional love.
• The first Bishop of Ephesus was Timothy and the second was John the Apostle.   John was the Bishop in his older years and his message to the Ephesian church was repeatedly ‘Little Children, love one another”.  The Elders of the church questioned John on why he kept repeating this.   John’s reply was “It is the LORD’s command, if you do this, this is enough”.
• There are 3 different ways to walk in love.

• Imitating our Father God.

• Love is the very nature and essence of our God.
• The Greek word used by Paul is “Mimetes” which means to mimic.
• Imitation can be the greatest form of flattery.
• God gave his chosen people in the Old Testament the command to “Be Holy because I am Holy”.   God was asking the Israelites to imitate him.
• Emulating our Savior Jesus.
• Jesus is the example of God’s love (the nature of God).
• By looking at the cross we should see that God’s love is unconditional, forgiving, and sacrificial.   (Romans 8:32)
• The world has a view on love, I love you because you are loveable.  This is a conditional love because it is based upon a relationship.
• There is a difference between like and love.  You may not like someone but you can still show love towards them.
• The greatest example of love is forgiveness.   (John 3:16)
• Influencing our brothers and sisters.
• Selfishness will bottleneck love.
• The list given by Paul is a list of a selfish living, which are common of the way we can live because of the desires of the flesh.
• What you say and do reveals who you are.
• Overview.
• As Christians we are role models to the world as we represent the very nature of Christ.   We are to set an example for the world as there are those who become Christian by seeing rather than words.   People can see the life of Christ being lived out through others.
• Christ like examples.
• Parents, Leaders, Role models for our youth.
• Jesus not only sends us out to preach the Gospel message but to follow him as well.   (Matthew 16:24, John 8:12)
• Verse 5:1-2   (Imitators of God).
• We all learn from role models.
• The Artist Vincent van Gough.
• Bellini strongly influenced his pupil Titian, who in turn influenced Peter Paul Rubins, who in turn influenced Delacroix, who later influenced van Gough.
• They each developed a unique and individual approach to art but they also were all influenced by the same model.
• Paul could be a perfect role model for us, with the ultimate role model being Jesus Christ.   Paul asks that we imitate our heavenly Father as a child imitates his parents.  We should likewise pattern our lives after God.
• God is a loving father, not a task master, slave driver, a tyrant, or an unknown in the heavenlies.
• If God shows love, mercy, and grace to sinners, then we should also do the same to others.
• Verse 5:3-7   (A Life of Love).
• The theme of the letter to the Ephesians it that Christ’s death and resurrection enable us to have access to the many riches of the Holy Spirit.   God allows us to enter his treasure house and all the riches we see are ours through Christ.
• The foundation of that treasure is Jesus Christ.   We have become heirs of everything that belongs to Jesus, his grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness.   We are to walk like Jesus Christ and imitate his life.
• Paul is asking for us to display unconditional love.
• Conditional love is based upon a relationship which includes a reciprocating love.
• Unconditional love is placing others before yourself (Agape Love).  It is not a feeling but a choice and a willful decision.  It is focused on giving and not receiving.   It is also self-sacrificing.
• Paul cautions about Satan appearing wherever real love can be found.   Satan only offers a counterfeit love.
• Selfish instead of Selfless, indulgent instead of self-giving, and self-serving instead of self-sanctifying.
• Paul also warns about false teachers entering the scene to deceive the people.   Their message will be full of deception and immorality.  They can come as pastors, religious leaders, authors, and seminar leaders.   
• The reality is God’s wrath is coming against the world and the “Sons of Disobedience”.
• For now God’s grace and forgiveness are extended to everyone to freely accept by repenting and turning to the LORD.  We need to be reminded that God’s justice will be revealed at the end of times.
• Grace is a gift.   Grace is also a responsibility and a privilege.  It is also an obligation.   It is not a license to cover sinning intentionally knowing that your sin will be forgiven.   (Romans 6:1-4)
• To be an imitator of God means we should hate sin as God hates sin,   we need to live and walk in the light of God.  Sinning is an offense to the Holy God.
• Verse 5:8-17   (Darkness or Light).
• Before we accepted Christ we were living in the darkness.  With Christ we are now living in the light.
• Notice how Paul writes “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are the light of the LORD” instead of saying “We are living in the darkness and now we are living in the light”.
• Jesus was the light of the world.  The apostles would be the light of the world after Jesus returned to the Father (Matthew 5:14).
• We do not reflect the light of Jesus but we are the light of Jesus instead.   Darkness hides things while light exposes it.   Light is transparent and authentic where darkness is concealment.
• If you go into a closet and shut the door, the darkness overcomes the light and the light now becomes hidden..  When you open the door the darkness disappears and is overcome by the light.   The light still exists whether the door is closed or open.   The darkness does not overtake the light when the closet door is open.
• Paul mentions that a Christian who is walking as in a “deep sleep” is living his life in the shadows.   He is hiding his actions and true nature of life.   (Psalm 14:1, Proverbs 9:10).
• Wisdom is the application of God’s word to everyday situations.  It is not to be confused with knowledge.
• The amount of knowledge accumulated by mankind from Creation to today.
• Creation to 1845 - about 1” on the scale.
• 1845 to 1945 - about 3” on the scale.
• 1945 to 1975 - about the height of the Washington Monument.
• 1975 to 1995 - about the height of the Empire State Building.
• 1995 to Present - beyond our imagination.
• The growth of wisdom through time has not increased at the same pace as the growth of knowledge.   The question can be asked where knowledge increases wisdom tends to decrease.
• Conclusion.
• We need to read God’s word daily.   We need to be walking in wisdom and seeking the wisdom of our creator.
• As we look at our culture today, we can see that we live in evil days.   Life is uncertain, the economy is unpredictable.   Any unforeseen event could impact our life at any moment.   We need to make the best of our day.
• Start by serving God and others.
• Stop focusing on money and possessions.
• Turn off the television, turn off our computers, and silence our cell phones.
• True joy is found in serving others.   True joy can also be found by telling others of Jesus.

Ephesians 4:17-32 The Old Life and New Life

Ephesians 4:17-32     The Old Life and New Life

• Main Theme.
• After we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, we are given a new life and our old life is put behind us.
• The walk of the believer - What we do with our life after we accept Jesus?

• An obedience and to walk with Christ daily.
• Similar to a marriage in that it is a commitment for a lifetime and we make a vow as well.
• Likened to not high we jump but how straight you walk when you are on the ground.
• I do not know what tomorrow brings, but I do know who holds tomorrow.    (Gary Hirshberg - CEO of Stoneyfield Farm - Headline for an article he wrote about Global Warming)
• The Old You.
• Aimless.
• Heathen Gentile who was walking aimlessly in life.  We were looking for significance and a sense of purpose in our life.

• The Book of Solomon - Solomon was constantly looking for a meaning in life but everything he found was senseless.
• Senselessness and Blindness.
• We had been blindfolded in a world of illusion.
• We lacked the capacity to understand the things of the Spirit.   (I Corinthians 1:18-30, I Corinthians 2:14-16).
• Shamelessness.
• Guilt is involved with sin but we need to get past the feelings of guilt.
• Baal and Ashtoreth - Worship for Fertility.
• Ephesians - Greco/Roman lifestyle and ways to worship.
• Jewish history - Stoning for Adultery.
• Sensuality is being pushed in our culture.  (1 of 9 marriages are broken by Adultery).
• The New You - A whole new makeover.
• Putting on the new man by applying the truth of God, discipline, righteousness, and holiness..   (II Corinthians 5:17-21, Romans 6:1-14)
• Putting away the old sinful nature through repentance.
• Knowing what you have turned from, leaving your old walk and actions.
• Renewing your mind - where the battle is won and lost against sin.
• If you sow a thought you reap the action (habits, lifestyle, character, and destiny).
• God loves us the way we are, God accepts us.   But God also loves to changes us as well, cleanse us.
• Putting away lying and speak the truth.
• 90% of people regularly lie, 36% of all lies involve the hurting of the other people..
• Proverbs 6:16-19.
• Putting away aggravation and put on indignation (being angry without sinning).
• Righteous anger.
• Jesus and the money changes in the Temple.
• After the Glory of God not your personal anger.
• Our modern culture ways of calling good evil and evil good in our culture.
• The Christian Faith being attacked.
• People lying to our young people about moral and spiritual values.
• Putting away stealing and start sharing.
• 1 out of 3 people steal something from a hotel.   Taking items from work, stealing time from work, making long distance phone calls from work.
• Putting away corrupt speech and putting on kind speech.
• We live in a culture that compromises on what is acceptable to say.
• 1946 movie - It’s a Wonderful Life
• The Phrase ‘Garlic Eaters’ was removed as it was deemed unacceptable speech.
• Bitterness, wrath, and clamor (Gossip)..
• Clamor grieves the Holy Spirit and is responsible for breaking up friendships, ruining marriages, and pits members against one another in church.
• Pray over these items and let it go. (Psalm 141:3)
• Overview.
• These verses best describe what Christianity is and what it is not.   
• Verse 4:17-19   The non-Christian Life
• We all need the light of Christ as our eyes are darkened by our human way of thinking.   Without Christ we have deliberately chosen to live contrary to God’s original design for humanity.
• Strongholds are not a sudden decision, but come gradually.   We take the first baby step at questioning the Word of God.  The second step involves rationalizing some habit that we refuse to give up, which includes a subtle rebellion with God’s word.  We then become more insensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and next losing sensitivity for God.  Finally, we no longer have feelings for God.
• Addictions start slowly, one step at a time and they continue to grow.   You begin to promise yourself you won't do this again, but yet you continue to do so in private while feeling dirty.  You then begin to crave it to where you begin to lose all sense of shame.  The addiction at this point has claimed its victim.
• The sinner at first comes to the point where you can not reason with them.   The sinner deliberately ignores the truth.  The sinner finally becomes callous or hardened.
• We start down the road of destruction once we rebel against God.  We turn aside from God’s will, we choose not to live according to his standards and principles.
• Verse 4: 20 - 24   The Christian Life.
• When Jesus comes into our life, he radically changes us.
• A Christian is someone who freely acknowledges his own failure, his fallenness, and his sinful nature.   He lives by faith, not by sight, feelings, or emotions.   God gives us a new heart, mind, nature, and a way of life when we become a Christian.   A Christian lives a life of renewal and repentance.   He must make a daily choice to live in his new identity in Christ.   He remembers his sinful nature of old and he remembers where he came from and where he is now.
• We all will be tempted to return to our old ways.  We need to remember our old life of sin and how our King, Jesus, has transformed our lives.
• Verse 4: 25 - 32   The Old Life Versus the New.
• Old Life - Corrupt and led us to ruin and destruction.   New Life - A new creation in Christ.
• Old Life - Dominated by uncontrollable and undisciplined pursuit of self-indulgent pleasure.   New Life - Righteous, holy and pure, a lasting pleasure rooted in a love of God and a love for others.
• 5 Contrasts of Before and After.
• Without Christ - Perpetual lying, cheating, destroying the reputation of others, a life of deception and falsehood.   With Christ - Speaking the truth of love for one another.
• Without Christ - Uncontrollable anger, rage, resentment, bitterness, a selfish hostility that lashes out whenever pride is injured.    With Christ - Not sinning when we are angry   (Ephesians 4:26).
• God’s anger at sin and injustice.
• Our righteous anger on behalf of the weak and helpless, those who suffer injustice and persecution, and not getting angry on our own behalf.
• Bitterness results from not settling our anger with others.  By allowing bitterness into our life leaves the door open to Satan to step in and use that bitterness for evil.
• Without Christ - Stealing, taking what is not ours, violating the rights of others, and bringing harm to others.   With Christ - Letting yourself do good work with your hands so that you have something to give to others in need, and focusing on giving rather than getting.
• Without Christ - A life of cursing and abusive speech.   With Christ - We offer encouraging words to others that help build them up instead of tearing them down, and speaking words more consistent to Christ instead of Satan.
• Without Christ - A life full of bitterness.   With Christ - Being kind to one another, tender hearted, and forgiving one another just as God and Christ have forgiven us.
• Bitterness has a way of taking root in a person’s life (Hebrews 12:15).
• Can I go to a person who has hurt me deeply and give them a hug and truly mean it?
• Bitterness can choke the life out of your soul.  It removes our joy and love for others.
• Conclusion.
• Are we emotionally involved in the moral and spiritual battle going on in our culture?
• Great reforms were accomplished in history by rightly channeled righteousness and Godly anger.
• Abolition of Slavery.
• Early Education reform.
• Childhood Labor reform.
• Civil Rights reform.
• We need to know the difference between sinful anger and righteous anger (Ephesians 4:26).
• God has never held a grudge against us even though we have deserved his wrath.
• We deserve judgment but God offers us forgiveness.
• We live a life of sinning in rebellion to God but Christ died on the cross for our sins.
• Quote from John Wesley: “Give me 100 men who fear nothing but sin and who deserve nothing from God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake up the gates of Hell and set up the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth.”