In Ephesians 4, I want to read
the text again, beginning in verse 20, down through verse
25. Ephesians 4, verse 20. But you have not so learned Christ,
if so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by
him, as the truth is in Jesus. That you put off concerning the
farmer conversation, the farmer lifestyle, the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting
away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for you are
members one of another." Our subject this evening is putting
off and putting on. Put off the old man with his
deceitful lusts and put on the new man, which is created in
righteousness and true holiness. Now, I said this morning, when
the Lord regenerates us, It's not long before we realize that
we're in a warfare. We're in a war, and the war is
not only without us. As Brother Larry said this morning,
people that would persecute us, or mock us, or challenge the
gospel that we believe, but the warfare mainly is within. That's
where we have the problem. Now I want you to look at a very
familiar scripture in Romans. I want you to hold Ephesians,
but I want you to look at Romans. Romans 7. This describes the
warfare, really, that's taking place inside a believer. And the whole problem with the
believer is that he's two people. Now, that is a mystery. But that's
the truth. He's two people. He's a wretched
man, and he's a holy man. He's a carnal man and yet he's
a spiritual man. And that may be difficult to
understand. It's sure difficult to explain.
But we've experienced it. If you are a believer that the
Lord has begun to talk of what it means to be a Christian, you
know this chapter by experience. There have been some who have
tried to deny this chapter and say that this was all taking
place in the past with the Apostle Paul. But this is present language. He is describing himself and
the warfare that he is in. I want you to begin reading here
with me in verse 14, Romans chapter 7, In verse 14, we know that
the law is spiritual. It reaches the heart of a man.
But I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. Can you see two men here already?
What I hate, that I do. Why don't he quit doing it if
he hates it? There's two men there. There's one that loves
and there's one that hates. There's one that loves sin and
there's one that hates sin and loves holiness. If then I do
that which I would not, I consent unto the law, I agree with the
law that it is good. Now then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that
is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that,
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. I delight in the law
of God after the inward man. Now he said up there in verse
14, I am carnal. Carnal man cannot delight in
the law of God. But Paul says, you are I delighting
in the law of God. He is two men, isn't he? In verse
23, I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then, with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God. But with the flesh, I serve the
law of sin." He's a servant to God. He delights in God. At the same time, he's a servant
of sin. That's two men. That's the problem. That's the trouble. That's the
cause of this warfare. the old man and the new man. They're opposed one to another. They're as opposed as darkness
is to light, as truth is to error, as sin is to holiness. They're
as opposed to one another as Christ is to Satan. And note
this, you can see it in the way over here in our text. Back over
here in our text. You can see this in the way that
these two men are described. Here in chapter 4 of Ephesians,
in verse 22, look how he describes this old man. He calls him an
old man. He's old. He's older than the
new man. He's more experienced than the
new man. This, in other places, is called flesh. It's called
carnal nature, corrupt nature. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. And here he said this old man
is corrupt, he's deceitful, and he's lustful. And then in verse
24 he describes another man that he calls a new man. He's a new
creature. In chapter 2 and verse 10 we're
told that he's God's creation. He's God's workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. And we're told here in verse
24 that this new man is created in righteousness and true holiness. He's born from heaven. He's born
of the incorruptible seed. So do you see when we compare
these two men why we have this warfare? You've got this old
man that is corrupt. He's deceitful. He lusts. You have this new man And He's
created in righteousness and true holiness. And they're in
this same person. They are the same person dwelling
together. And when you've got that combination,
you've got a warfare on your hands. I don't see how anybody
could honestly read verse 22 and verse 24 and deny that a
believer has two natures. It seems so simple, doesn't it?
I love Horatius Bonar, the old preacher that lived back in the
mid-1800s. He wrote excellent things, was
an excellent preacher. I loved the dear man and would
recommend his works. But he wrote a thick pamphlet
in which he said, a believer does not have two natures. And
to me, I just cannot understand when you read these two verses
here how anyone could deny Because what is the opposition? Who are
these two people that oppose each other? It's an old man and a new man. And notice this in verse 22 and
verse 24. There are two phrases you're
used in the present tense. He said that you put off the
old man which is corrupt. That's present tense. He is corrupt. Now that tells me this old man
is not converted. He's not changed since we were
made new creatures. He's just like he always was. He is corrupt at this present
moment. And then in verse 24 he said,
put on the new man which is created in righteousness and true holiness. You have these two men, the old
and the new, and at present They are what they are. Neither of
them are capable of changing. The old man cannot change. He
will be the old man with his deceitful lust until the body
dies. He will never change. The new
man cannot change because he is created of God. He is born
of the incorruptible seed. He cannot change. And you have
these two men at present with each other in the same person.
Therefore, you have this warfare. A corrupt old man who loves sin
dwelling in a new man who loves righteousness and true holiness,
and these are distinct one from another. They are opposed one
to another. Listen to Galatians chapter 5
and verse 16 and 17. Paul gives us just a little bit
more light on this. And here's what he says. And
he's still talking about this warfare. He said, walk in the
Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now that flesh there is this
old man. Walk in the Spirit, and you will have to walk after
that old man. And these two, he says, are contrary
the one to the other. The Spirit of Christ in this
old flesh is contrary the one to the other. That word there,
contrary, means repugnant. They're opposite one to another.
They're repugnant one to another. The old man is repugnant to the
Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ is repugnant
to the old man. They hate each other. And here's
what he continued to say. They're opposed, they're contrary
the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that
you would. What would a believer do? If
I asked you this evening, if you could do what you could,
what you could, if you had the ability to do what you would
do, what would you do? Well, it depends on which man
I'm talking to, doesn't it? If I'm talking to the old man,
What would the old man do? What has he always done? Sin,
eh? Lust, hate, hatefulness. That's what he's always done.
But he says here, the old man cannot do what he would. He is hindered. Why? The Spirit won't let him. He
puts up a shield and says, Here are the two, shall you come,
and no further. The Scripture teaches us that
the old man is crucified. Now that doesn't mean he's dead.
That means he's suffering. That means he's limited. But
that doesn't stop him from lusting. That doesn't stop him from cussing
and complaining. But he can't do what he wants.
And if I'm talking to the new man this morning, this afternoon,
what would he do? If I was speaking to your heart
and I say, what would you do if you could? You know what you'd
say? I'd believe God perfectly. I'd love Him perfectly. I'd follow
Him fully. I'd know Him perfectly. I'd never
sin again. That's what you say in your heart,
ain't it? Oh, you love holiness. Well,
what's the matter? You can't do what you would.
Why? You're hindered. The old flash,
the old man, he sets up this boundary and he says to the new
man, here therefore shall you come, but no further. Therefore,
you've got this warfare going on in the heart. And when you
and I begin to think about this very thing that we're talking
about now, It gives us and furnishes us with good motivation to put
off this old man and put on the new man. When we think of how
corrupt the old man is and the problems that he's caused us,
and how at one time he deceived us, this serves us with good
motivation to put him off. And when we think of this new
man that is created in righteousness and true holiness, and the peace
and joy that comes through Him by the Holy Spirit that serves
us with good motives to put Him on. Now, this putting on and
putting off is not a one-time act. It's not just a one-time
act. But it's something that takes
place all of our lives. You put Him on and you put Him
off. You put off the old man today,
and I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, tomorrow you'll
put him off again. You put on the new man today, tomorrow you'll
put him on again. This is something that takes
place in the Christian experience over and over again. There's
a blessing in this. I think Brother Larry may have
mentioned this morning. Romans chapter 6 says that the old man
is crucified with Christ. Now just to think about that,
he's crucified with Christ. See how limited he is? He'll
never get off that cross. He is judged. He's already been
judged, found guilty, and he's there upon the cross with Christ.
That enables us to put him off, to crucify him. But you'll be doing it every
day. You'll be doing it every day. And I'll say that for this
reason. Do you think maybe tomorrow that
you'll have the opportunity to lie? Do you think tomorrow the
opportunity may present itself and the temptation may come for
you to lie? If you have put off the old man
completely, you wouldn't have that opportunity. Doesn't that
tell us that he's still there? And that he must be put off again
and again? If we had completely put on the
new man, you know what we would do? We'd always be speaking the
truth every time we opened our mouth. If we had really and completely
put on the new man, we'd always be speaking that which would
edify another. But how often, brothers and sisters,
do we open our mouth in anger, How often do we open our mouth?
And it's not for edification, but it's for hurt. How often
does this old man rise and get his way? And how seldom does
the new man rise and get his way? If you'll finish reading
this chapter in chapter 4, you'll see the distinction Paul makes
here with what it is to put off and put on. Lie not one to another,
he said. What is that lying? That's the
old man. Speaking the truth in love. That's
the new man. Let me read to you what Gil said
about this putting off and putting on. Here's the comment that he
made concerning verse 22. Putting off concerning the farmer
conversation, the old man. I thought this was very interesting.
He says, putting him off is not a removing him from the saints,
nor a destroying him in them, nor a changing of his nature. For he remains and remains alive
and is the same old man he ever was in regenerate persons. But
it is a putting him off from his seat. a putting him down
from his government, a showing no regard to his rule and dominion,
to his laws and his lust, making no provision for his support,
and particularly not squaring the life in conversation according
to his dictates and directions. And therefore it is called a
putting him off concerning the former conversation. The change
lies not in the old man who can never be altered, but the change
lies in the conversation. He is not in the same power,
but he retains the same sinful nature. to get the upper hand. Put him
on. Put him on. It's like going in
the house and having your old stinking clothes on, and you
pull your clothes off, but you can't put them out of the house.
Can't. You still smell it. You still smell it. Here's what
he said, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. The old
man, he said, has his lust, and these are deceitful. They promise
pleasure and profit, but they yield neither in the issue. They promise liberty, but they
bring into bondage. They promise secrecy, but they
expose us to shame and render liable to punishment. They sometimes
put on a religious face, and so deceive, and fill men with
pride and conceit who think themselves to be something when they are
nothing. And through these, the old man is corrupt. By these
the corruption of nature is discovered, and the corruption that is in
the world is produced thereby. And these make a man deserving
of, and liable to, the pit of corruption. And this is a good
reason why this old corrupt man, with respect to this life and
conversation, must be put off. Put off the old man which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lust. Put him off. Put him off. And it's a daily putting off.
A daily. Put off the old man which is
corrupt. according to the deceitful lust.
And then in verse 24, notice this, "...and put on the new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Look at this man's origin. He is created. He is created. In chapter 2, in verse 10, we're
His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. What is a Christian? He's
God's workmanship. He's somebody that never existed
before. He's a new creation of God. God created man in the beginning
when He said, Let's create man in our image and in our likeness. God created us and He created
good people. He created a good man. In the
image of God, He created him. And man made himself an old man,
a sinner. God made us good, we made ourselves
sinners. Did we not do that? Listen to
Romans 5.18. As by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. Let us make man, and He made
him good, and we made ourselves sinners. But God has made us
new again, and He has made us in His image. The parallel passage
to this is in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 10. Listen to this.
Put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of Him that created him. This new man is in the image
of God. You know it was God's purpose
when He made man. to make him in His image, and
He did that. Let us make man in our image,
in our likeness. But when sin entered Adam, it
marred that image of God. The image of God is marred. It's
not completely destroyed. We still, even the lost people,
have the image of God. But it's marred there. And what
has happened now, God has purposed to make us anew in the image
of Jesus Christ. And where this image begins is
in this new creature, in this new nature. Right now, this afternoon,
as you said to your dear child of God, you have been created
in the image of God's Son. And Scripture says that He has
predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His Son. And
that has already begun in this new man. You're the image of
God's Son. And you know something? When
the last trumpet sounds, you and I will be in the full image
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's God's purpose to do that.
Look over here and let me show you that. Look in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Look
at this. You remember when Adam had fallen
and marred that image? And it was said that Adam begate
a son in his own image, in his own likeness. What image was
that? That was a marred image. Adam's image. Fallen image. The Father sent the Son into
this world. He looked upon Him and He said,
this is my Son. I love His image. He looks like
me. He's of my image. And the Father
said, I'm going to have a whole people, a whole host of people
just like Him in His very image. And He comes to us and He creates
us anew. And we're just like Christ. As
He is, so are we in this world. We look like Him. We think like
Him. We have the mind of Christ. But look here what He says the
consummation will be. Look in 1 Corinthians 15, verse
47. The first man, 1 Corinthians
15, verse 47. The first man, Adam, is of the
earth. He is earthy. The second man
is the Lord from heaven. Two men, two Adams. One was made
out of the dust, the other one came down from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of Adam the earthy, look at this, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly. See that? image were made in
the image of God's own blessed Son. And this is how it's going
to happen in verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. I show you a mystery. We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the
living shall be changed. For this corruptible, this earthly
man, this old Adam, must put on the image of Christ physically. Incorruption. And this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
I put on incorruption, and this mortal shall I put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying, Death is swallowed
up in victory. In victory. Look in Philippians
chapter 3. One more place. Philippians chapter
3. Look in verse 20 and verse 21. This is the image of this new
man. God has already begun to restore His image within us. And it's in every child of God,
a new creature. Our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is
able to subdue all things unto Himself, made in the image, remade
over in the image of God's blessed Son." That's wonderful thought. That's God's purpose. Being a
Christian is not just turning over a new leaf. It's not stopping
doing some things and start doing other things. It goes much beyond
that. It's a new creation. The restoration
of the very image of God in us. Now verse 24 of Ephesians chapter
4 instructs us to put on this new man. Put him on. Put on this new image of Christ.
To be and to live and to think and do as Christ Himself Be like
Christ. And you can do that now. Through
the grace of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you
can do that now. Why? Because you're created new. You have the mind of Christ in
you. We don't do this to be saved. That would be silly, wouldn't
it? And it's only the believers, it's only the saved that's commanded
to do this. You wouldn't go to a lost man
and say, put off the old man and put on the new. There first
has to be this new creature there. Then, after He's creating you,
then you can tell Him, put off the old man. Put on the new man. So we're not talking about justification. We're not talking about imputed
righteousness. We're talking about the warfare
of the Christian and what he's told to do. Put him off and put
him on. I want you to look in Colossians
right quickly in chapter 3. Here's this parallel passage,
just a minute, I told you about just a minute ago. Here in these
Scriptures here, we're told to put on the new
man. And here's some things that's
consistent with this new man who's created the image of God.
And always be putting him on. Look what he says here in verse
10. And you have put on the new man. In verse 9, he tells us to put
off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. Where there is neither grief nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision,
barbarian, scythian, bond of free, but Christ is all and in
all. Put on therefore, look at this,
put on as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one
another, and forgiving one another? If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. And above all
these things put on charity, love, which is the bond of perfectness."
Put on the things that pertain to this new man. Put off the
things that pertain to the old man. That old farmer conversation. The lying, and the bitterness,
and the deceit, and the blasphemy, and the vulgar and filthy communication. Put all that off, and put on
the things that pertain to this new man. Now, one last verse, and I'll
close with this. Look back over at our text. In
Ephesians chapter 4, or this little verse right here, verse
23, this is essential. This is essential. If you and
I are going to be putting off, and we're going to be putting
on, this little verse right here is essential. And we can't just
be putting off. I have a dear neighbor that she's
always talking about putting off, putting off, putting off.
But we can't just be putting on. As we put off, we put on. We can't just be putting on.
We're putting off and putting on. Putting off and putting on. I read, I may have told you about
this, one dear man. I found him very helpful, but
I read a sermon that he preached. concerning laying aside the weight
and the sin, which just so easily beset you. And he spent that
whole summer talking about sins that we should lay aside. And
it was all good. It was all true. But he spent
the whole message saying, laying aside every weight and sin. And
the last little paragraph, he left out how we can do that.
Looking unto Jesus. And here is the verse, the secret. Here's the key. to being enabled
day after day to lay apart the old man and put on the new man. It's in verse 23. And be renewed
in the spirit of your mind. You and I cannot continue to
put off this old man with his deeds and put on the new man,
but as we are renewed in the spirit of our mind. That's the
key to doing this. Just let me read you some Scripture
concerning what it means to be renewed in the Spirit of your
mind. Turn in this same book. Let me
read a couple of places. In chapter 1, here's what it
means to be renewed in your mind. Look in verse 16 of chapter 1. Paul was telling them that since
the day that he heard of their faith in Christ and love to the
saints, I cease not to give thanks to God for you, making mention
of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, would give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His
calling, what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
to us-ward who believe according to the working of His mighty
power." That's one of the things it means to be renewed in the
spirit of your mind. It's a growing in grace and knowledge. It's knowing Him and knowing
Him better. It's realizing your hope. What
He's called you for. Look here in another place in
the third chapter of this. And look here in verse 16. Here's
another prayer of the Apostle. That He would grant unto you,
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
might by His Spirit in the inner man. that Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the height,
the length, the depth, and the breadth, and to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God." That's what it means to be renewed in
the Spirit of your mind. Let me quote you another passage.
In Colossians 3, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, set your affection on things above. That's what it means to be renewed
in the spirit of your mind. Setting your affections upon
things above. Getting your mind and the spirit
of it out of this world. and what appeals to us concerning
the temporal advantages of this life. Set your affection, set
your mind upon things above. And listen to Hebrews, I quoted
this to you before, laying aside every weight and the sin that
doth so easily beset us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. Consider Him. who endeared such
contradiction of sinners against himself," listen, "...lest you
be wearied and faint." Word! In your minds! In your minds! How are we renewed in the spirit
of our minds? Looking unto Jesus. Setting our
affections where He is. Thinking about Him and what He
endeared when He was upon this earth. These things revive the
mind. Let the words of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another. That's the way we revive in our
mind. And listen to this last one in
Isaiah 26.3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on thee. The renewing of the spirit
of our minds. That's the only way, brothers
and sisters, we'll not get so discouraged from laying aside
the old man and putting on the new. Let me read one thing in
closing. And here's another one of Gil's
articles on verse 23. And here's what he said about
being renewed in the spirit of your minds. He calls it a renewal
or an increase of spiritual light and knowledge, of life and strength,
of joy and comfort, and fresh supplies of grace, and a renewal
of the exercise of grace, and in short, he says, a renewal
of spiritual youth, and a restoration of the saints to that state and
condition they were in in time past. And the exhortation to
this can only mean that it becomes saints to be concerned for such
revivings and renewings and to pray for them even as David did
when he said, Lord, create in me a clean heart and renew in
me a right spirit. For otherwise, this is as much
the work of the Spirit of God as renovation is at first. And He only who is sent forth
and renews the face of the earth year by year can renew us daily
in the spirit of our minds. So it's not just applying ourselves
to the means, but it's the Lord blessing the means to us and
renewing our minds. I pray God this has been a help.
Through much weakness, but I pray God it's been a help.