Preached in Markham Baptist Church, October 30, 2005

BECOME WHAT YOU ARE! PART 7: WALKING IN PURITY

A Dialogue with God

Do you like my suit? I have to admit that I’ve had it for some time. It’s my old suit. I don’t wear it all the time but occasionally I take it out of the closet, dust it off and wear it again.

You know, it’s more than a suit - it’s a reflection of who I am. At, least that’s what “they” tell me - a suit reflects the man. What do you think this suit says about me?

I must confess that ever since I came to faith in Christ it hasn’t fit me as well as it used to. There’s something not just right about it. So I’ve decided to speak to God about it. I’m going to step into the heavenly tailor shop and speak to the divine tailor himself. His storefront is right here, in fact. I’ll just be a moment, I’ll leave the door open so you can eavesdrop if you like.

Ų Yes?

O, hello God - I wasn't sure if you were here.

Ų I am with you always.

Thank you. Hey where’s the big booming voice? Don’t you usually speak to people in a big booming voice?

Ų Not always.

O yeah there was that time in the book of Daniel when you spoke to king Belshazzar by writing on the wall. (Daniel 5) Okay, well, I’m here to see you about my suit.

Ų I was wondering when you were going to come in.

Hey, I happen to like this suit.

Ų It’s your old suit. Why do you insist on still wearing it?

Well, I know it’s old but it’s so comfortable. It’s what I’m used to. You know how slippers are all stiff, hard and uncomfortable when you first get them but then after you’ve worn them for awhile and the soles begin to get thin and your toes begin to poke through a bit that’s when they’re comfortable. That’s the way it is with my suit. It’s comfortable, it’s what I know.

Ų Ah my child, don’t you know that I have made you new?

Hey, wait a minute, I’m talking about my suit and now you’re talking about me.

Ų Well you know what they say - the suit reflects the man.

Yeah, I know. There are some old attitudes that I’ve held on to but they’re comfortable. They’re what I’m used to.

Ų Don’t you know that I have made all things new?

O yes, I know the promise you made in Ezekiel 11:19 : “I will put in them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”

And then you fulfilled that promise in Christ we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17 -“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come!” Yes, I know that truth. I’ve preached it many times. It is the great truth of Christianity. We are new creations, like we are born all over again.

Ų So why are you wearing that old suit?

Okay, I get it. (Going to leave) I’ll try a little harder I’ll try to be a new creation.

Ų Wait!

What? There’s something else? You know this would be a lot more effective if you had a big booming voice.

Ų Maybe, but you are missing the point. I have already made you new.

I don’t need to try, do I? You have done all the work. We have been learning that in our study of the book of Ephesians. On the outside we may look the same as non-Christians but on the inside you’ve made us different through faith in Christ. Certainly our text for this morning emphasizes that.

You’ve made us new. So verse 18 says that we have a new relationship with you, God. We are no longer separated from you. We can say with the Psalmist, “You are my God.” and we can say with Jesus “Abba, Father, Daddy.” As close and as intimate as that, a relationship of love and trust. We are no longer in the darkness of ignorance but you have revealed yourself to us.

And verse 18 tells us that you have given us a new heart. We no longer have a hard heart but an open heart. The same circumstances and difficulties that made us feel like you were far from us and didn’t love us – well those same circumstances instead of hardening our hearts make our hearts open so we say, “We recognize you God even in these trials. I know you love me and are growing me.” Same situations, different heart, it makes a difference.

And you’ve given us a new power to overcome sin, that’s what verse 19 says. I remember the first time I did something I knew was wrong – right after I felt awful. My conscience was strong and I felt guilty about having done it. But then the opportunity came to do it again and again I felt bad, but not quite as bad as the first time. Then the opportunity came again and again and again and each time I was able to suppress my conscience so that what used to make me feel bad now made me feel good. That’s the power of sin. We lose all sensitivity to its horror, to its awfulness, to its sinfulness.

But God, now through faith in Christ we are no longer slaves to sin. We’ve been freed from sin’s power and even its pull. You’ve given us our conscience back – by placing the Holy Spirit in us. So now when sin comes our way we are sensitive to it and know that we need to turn from it and if we fall into it we need to repent of it.

And you’ve given us a new purpose, we read in the last part of verse 19. We used to lust, that is to have an insatiable desire for those things we have no right to possess. We used to be like that, but now we want more, but want more of you, we want more people to come to faith to grow in faith. You’ve given us a new relationship with you, a new heart, a new sensitivity to sin, a new purpose. Truly you have made us new.

Ų So why are you still wearing that same old suit and still acting the same way you did before you came to faith?

You do go on to say in verse 20 and 21, “You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.”

That’s true, I do know Christ, I do have a relationship with Him.

Ų That’s where change begins, with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

And I do know that Jesus Christ is the truth.

Ų And what did I tell you about the truth?

You said truth is really… uh… good?

Ų No, I said the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

O, yes, yes, now I remember. Jesus Christ is the truth and the truth sets us free, having a personal relationship with Christ is the beginning of change.

Ų Yes, but also, Jesus Christ has changed you. You are a new creation.

But Lord, this is why it’s so hard to change. I find my old way of doing things, my old way of dealing with difficulties, my old way of looking at the world to be comfortable. Like I said, it’s what I’m used to. The old patterns of dealing with difficulties, sure they were destructive and harmful to myself and to others, but they are like this suit, It’s what I’m used to.

How can I change to be the new person you’ve made me to be?

Ų Glad you asked, First you’ve got to realize that I’ve made you new, and then, look at verse 22 - you’ve got to put off the old.

That’s why you keep asking me, “Why are you wearing that same old suit?” I guess it’s not my job to make myself new, you’ve already done that. Hey, I’ve got an idea Lord why don’t I just put on the new over the old. (takes down new jacket and tries to put it over the old).

Ų Because you can’t put new wine in old wineskins. (Matthew 9:17)

Oh, yeah, I remember Jesus saying that. When the grape juice was poured into wineskins it would be put out into the sun to ferment. The wineskin would expand and harden and then you could pour out the wine. If you took new wine and poured it into old, hardened wineskins when the wine started to ferment and try to expand it would burst that old wineskin and the wine would be lost.

So, you are saying that you can’t take this new life that you give to us and superimpose it on the old life. I’ve got to renounce my old way of life?

Ų Yes!

(Takes off both jackets) But it’s comfortable!

Ų So I’ve heard. But that’s not who I’ve made you to be.

I guess that’s what it means to put off the old. (puts on the new jacket) It is a nice jacket, Lord.

Ų Yes, And it looks good from the back too.

Thanks!

Ų This leads to the next step you need to take, look at what my words says in verse 23.

Let’s see, verse 23 says, to be made new in the attitude of your minds. So to take on this new self I need to be made new in the attitude of my mind. What does that mean?

Ų It means to see things the way I see things.

You mean I need to see myself as dead to sin but alive to Christ, like you say in Romans 6:11. The old master is dead. I need to see who I am in Christ before I can become what Christ wants me to be.

Ų It means you see those old habits as destructive.

I bet as I wear this jacket that the things I used to find so hard to do will become easier. Like, that one time I used to have this continual desire for more, but now that you have made me new I don’t have that any more. And at one time I found it hard to serve others but now that you have made me new I realize that I am able to serve others now.

Ų It means that you no longer think like the world.

Yes, in Romans 12:2 you say do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So you’re saying I need to stop thinking like the world. That’s a hard one too. It used to be that Christians were told they shouldn’t dance, shouldn’t go to movies, shouldn’t do anything fun on Sundays. It seems like all they approved of was sitting and reading the Bible all the time. And we mock them for living a cocoon existence. But it’s almost as if we have gone to the other extreme – where we have said it’s okay to participate in the entertainments of the world, but we have left the Bible behind and we’ve allowed the culture to shape our thinking instead of your Word.

Ų Don’t forget to set your mind on things above.

That’s what the book of Ephesians is all about. You are trying to get our focus back on heavenly truths.

Ų If you look at verse 25 onward, you will see how I see things.

Put off falsehood. Okay, that’s the old way of doing things. And I need to put on truth. Got it.

Ų But do you see how you need to be renewed in your thinking?

For we are all members of one body?

Ų Exactly.

O, I get it. Being renewed in my mind is to see things the way you see them. So, the way you see it, is if I tell a lie to my fellow Christian, I’m not just hurting them, I’m hurting myself. If I lie to them and don’t help them grow in the faith I’m keeping the body of Christ from growing.

Then you say, “In your anger do not sin”. Got it - I need to put off sinful anger. It’s okay to be angry - it’s an emotion - but we are to put off sinful anger. I need to deal with it immediately, not letting the sun go down on it.

But what’s the new way of thinking about anger?

Ų Don’t give the devil a foothold.

Ahh, anger is not just being mad or me being stubborn or getting back at that person. If I let anger go on in my life, I allow Satan to get his foot in the door of my life and make me into something I’m not made to be.

There’s another here. “Steal no longer but do something useful with your hands”. Put off the old put on the new, what’s the renewing of my mind part?

Ų So you may have something to share with those in need.

That’s thinking in a new way. I would have said, do something useful with your hands so that I could earn an honest living. You say it is so I can share with those in need. I need to stop thinking about myself, my comfort and do something useful so I can share with those in need.

That is a new way of thinking.

You continue at verse 29, “Don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up.” Put off the old and put on the new – and the renewed way of thinking? I grieve the Holy Spirit when I speak in a way that tears others down. When I hurt God’s children, I hurt God’s spirit.

Then there’s a last series, get rid of the old - bitterness, rage and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice. Put on the new - be kind and compassionate forgiving one another – and the new way of thinking? Just as Christ forgave you. If I’m going to have the power to forgive anyone in my life I have to think in a new way. Jesus forgave me of everything so I in turn am able to forgive anything. When I begin to think in that way it gives us a renewed mind.

I see how it how it works Lord.

Ų There’s one last step for change.

What’s that? We need to realize that you have made us new, we need to put off the old self, and be renewed in the attitude of our minds, what’s next?

Ų Verse 24, “Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Of course, we need to put on the new self. And God you are so wonderful. You have truly made us new. And the new character you have given us, is your own. “Created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

So the reason we put off falsehood is because we now are created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness and God is not a liar.

We are to deal with anger because God’s anger lasts but a moment but his favour lasts a lifetime. (Psalm 30:5). God is pure and never sins or allows Satan a foothold.

We are not to steal because God does not steal.

We are not to let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths because God only speaks that which builds people up.

We are to get rid of bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander and every form of malice because God has none of those characteristics. He is abounding in love, forgiving.

So the new self that you have given us is your character.

So we are to be imitators of God as dearly loved children. (Ephesians 5:1)

Hey, God. Thanks for showing me the truth!

Ų No trouble. But there is one more thing.

No, I think I got it. Even if the old way is comfortable, it’s not the way you called me to live. And to live the life you want me to live I need to realize that you have made me new. Put off the old self, be renewed in the attitude of my mind and put on the new self. I got it.

Ų Good… but now go and lose the suit!

Got it!