Now let us continue our meditation
in the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, in chapter four, and
this evening we'll read the four verses, 20, 21, 22, and 23. So
that's the fourth chapter in the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians,
reading from verse 20 to 24. But ye have not so learned Christ. If so be that ye have heard him
and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, which
he put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which
is corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind." So the apostle really is reminding
us of that which he's already spoken about He says from verse
17, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth
walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind.
And of course we made the statement that Gentiles refer to here as
those who were ungodly, not those who are indeed blessed with the
new life of God in their souls. And so the apostle then comes
and says, but you have not so learned Christ. Well, what a
blessing it is if you and I have learned of Christ and learned
about Christ and learned what Christ came into the world to
do and have learned what the blessed life and death and resurrection
and ascension means to us. It is a spiritual learning, it's
not something that you and I can learn by study. We can learn
the letter, but we cannot learn the blessed experience, and we
cannot learn the wonderful union that the Saviour grants to us
as we are blessed to learn of Him. And so, may we be encouraged
tonight to know that we have truly learned about the Saviour. and learn of the Saviour and
learn of all that he has done for us and indeed for all his
church. It's a vital and so important
question that we all need to be able to answer before God
that we have been blessed with the spiritual knowledge of our
Saviour Jesus Christ. So he goes on and says, if so
be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the
truth is in Jesus. Well, of course, we haven't physically
heard the Lord Jesus Christ ourselves. But of course, we are privileged
to hear the preaching of the gospel. And as we hear the preaching
of the gospel, and as we hear Christ preached and Christ set
before us, surely this word is true. If so be that ye have heard
him, And what a mercy tonight if all of us here have the evidence
that we have heard the voice of Jesus speaking to us through
the preaching of the gospel, through the reading of his word,
through perhaps conversation one with another. What a mercy
it is and how important it is that we have heard him and that
we have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. It's a great blessing to know
that we have such a saviour, who is truth, and his word is
truth, and all that he says is truth. And that is what you and
I can rely upon, the truth as it is in Jesus. And it's gloriously
set before us, right through the whole Bible, from Genesis
to Revelation. And so tonight, as we've gathered
here together, May we have the spiritual evidence that we have
heard him and we have been taught by him, we've been taught the
right way, and that's not an easy way, that's the narrow way,
but it's a good way because it leads to eternal life. And so how necessary it is that
you and I have the evidence that we are being taught by the blessed
Lord and instructed in the right way and to turn away from everything
which is of the flesh, and that which is sinful, and that which
is not in accordance with the truth of God's word, as the truth
is in Jesus. So these are very positive statements
that we have before us in these two verses. And then the apostle
then warns us, and speaks to us, and speaks to the whole Church
of God, and says that she put off concerning the former conversation,
the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts.
When he refers, of course, to the old man, that means our nature,
our old nature, the nature which we were born with, which we know
is corrupt because we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity,
so that we do possess that corrupt nature. But what a blessing if
the Holy Spirit gives us that grace to turn away from those
former things, perhaps our former conversation, perhaps when we
were in the world, perhaps we enjoyed being in the world, perhaps
we enjoyed the conversation of the world. What a blessing now
the Lord has given us grace to turn from it, that she put off
concerning the former conversation, the old man, our old nature,
which is indeed corrupt, It is corrupt, it always was, in the
old nature, and always will be, according to the deceitful lusts. Well, we know, of course, that
Satan is a deceiver, right from the beginning, and as he directed
Adam and Eve to eat of that fruit, she lusted after it, it looked
very attractive, she listened to his deceitful words, and therefore
disobeyed. the great and glorious words
of God, which he remembered, but yet did not obey them. And
so we are warned by these things. And we should be thankful that
the apostle really reminds the Ephesians of such a statement,
which it means we are corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. And as we are told, the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. So we
should never rely on our own thoughts, our own feelings. We
should rely upon the truth as it is in Jesus. That's a safe
place, that's a good place, and a turn away from anything else. And then he says, and be renewed
in the spirit of your mind. And that's the blessing of God,
isn't it? When God gives us a spirit, to desire spiritual things, to
desire the things of God, and that's renewing us, our mind,
in those things which are good and right, and not letting them
dwell upon those things which are corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts. What a blessing, therefore, if
we possess the life of God in our souls, which desires this
good spirit that we might be renewed and truly desire the
things of Jesus, and to be a true follower of our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ. Well, we read that chapter, or
part of it, in the sixth chapter, and as the Apostle commenced,
what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? It's very clear, isn't it? He
comes and says, God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin
live any longer therein. Well, it's the evidence and the
work of God if we desire to truly live unto the Lord and to follow
his great and glorious example. Because he speaks then about
baptism and the relevance of it, and then he says, for if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Whether
nor Jesus rose from the dead, a conqueror over sin, death,
hell and the grave. And what a mercy if we are favoured
to be more than conquerors therefore through him. And so he goes on
to refer to the old man, which he refers to in these verses
we read. He says, knowing this, that our
old man is crucified with him. that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Well, what
a blessing it is if our flesh is crucified with Christ and
we desire therefore to walk in accordance with the blessed path
set before us by the Saviour himself, so that we are able
to confirm this 20th verse really, but ye have not so learned Christ,
not as the heathen did, the Gentiles did, but to confirm that yes,
by the grace of God, we have learned Christ by the work of
his spirit in our soul so that we can go on our way rejoicing,
thankful to know the Lord has been mindful of us and not left
us to ourselves or dealt with us according to our sins. Amen.