The Old Man And The New

SERMON OUTLINE

TRANSCRIPT

Our text this morning is taken from the epistle to the Ephesians. Please turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4. And let me read this text from verse 17 to verse 24. “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 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: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Amen.

Again, as we have seen from our study of this epistle, the major theme here in this chapter and onwards has to do with our calling. We are new creatures in Christ. Given the election of God, his redemption, given his purpose to bring together in one all things in Christ and to bring in the Gentiles as part of his kingdom, together with the Jews on the same footing, one people, one citizenship, one body of Christ, given all these things, we are to walk worthy. We are to walk appropriately. We are to walk in a manner befitting such a calling. This involves being no longer what we used to be.

This is what the Apostle Paul says here in verse 17: “that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk.” The Gentiles, remember, began outside, far from the kingdom, in the environment of paganism. God's law written in their hearts, yes, but without such a direct representation of God's law as Israel had in the covenant, in the law of Moses. But now in Christ, as Paul has already made clear, those who were far off have been brought near by the grace of God. And now we are called to walk accordingly.

We are not like the other Gentiles. Not that we are better in ourselves. Of course, by grace alone, we have been saved. We saw that again already in chapter 2. But the point is that we are not to be like that anymore. Henceforth, there must be a difference. Something has happened. God has worked. It was not our works, but it was God's work. And that work makes a difference. That work cannot pass unrecognised. That work cannot be like a mere ripple on a pond that just fades away. It is a transformation. It is something that must continue to be evident henceforth.

Walk not as other Gentiles walk. We must live the life that we have been given by God. This is the connection that we see all throughout God's work and our work. God has given life. We must live that life. God has redeemed us. We must now live as those who have been redeemed. Our work brings us no glory. We accumulate no merit for ourselves. And yet our work is necessary because this is what God has ordained. We must work out what God has worked in us. And the rest of the chapter is concerned with this, with this walking worthy, with this working out, especially in the individual aspect of the Christian life.

The first part of the chapter focused on the corporate aspect, the body of Christ, the church. Walk worthy in unity, using your gifts that the Lord has given, serving the body of Christ. But now in the more individual aspect of the Christian life, our own individual behaviour and manner, and yet even as there is now this focus on the individual, that corporate aspect is never really out of the picture. In fact, I think it was mentioned first so that we might keep in mind that really our individual growth, our individual walk is meant to contribute to the whole.

There is no such thing as an isolated, solitary Christian life. The Christian life, by definition, fundamentally is a corporate life. To be a Christian is to be part of a whole, to be part of a body. And however we live as individuals, that corporate aspect, it never vanishes. It never disappears. So it's still in view here.

We are growing up into Christ, as we saw last time in verse 15 and verse 16, that this growing up into Christ is what involves and requires our individual growth and sanctification. Putting off the old man, putting on the new, part of learning Christ and putting that learning into practice in our lives. This is Paul's testimony. This is what he testifies. He's bearing witness to this truth and reality. Bearing witness to the will of God, the will of Christ, the purpose of God, the glory of Christ. The purpose of God. As believers, part of the body of Christ, we are to walk worthy of this calling.

So here in these verses that we read just now, we see an exhortation to this individual aspect of the Christian life involving a putting off and a putting on. And there are two things happening here. In the first place, we have a contrast between the old man and the new. A contrast between what we used to be and what we are now called to be. And in light of that contrast, we have the exhortation. Put off the old, put on the new. The two things have to go together.

If you don't see the contrast, then the exhortation makes no sense. Put off the old, put on the new. But if no, if there's no big difference, then why that endeavour? We have to recognise the contrast. Then the exhortation has impact. But recognising the contrast is not enough. Of course, it's not just seeing the difference between the old man and the new man but realising that difference by actually putting off and putting on. So, these two things go together.

But let's look at them in turn as Paul lays this out here in these verses. First of all, the contrast: The old man, the old life, the walking of the other Gentiles. This is characterised by ignorance and vanity. Henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. And this again is not vanity in the sense of pride. This is really vanity in the sense of futility, meaninglessness, purposelessness, a vanity of their minds. Their thoughts are without purpose and direction, without meaning and profit because they are not grounded in the fear of the Lord, not submitted to the will and purpose of God. This is a mind that is vain, a mind that is futile.

Now, of course, this does not mean that Gentiles, unbelievers, those who are outside of Christ are useless. They cannot think, they cannot do anything. Of course, that's not true. We know that they can do more than we can. In many cases, they are made in the image of God as we all are. The common grace of God is operative. The Gentiles can think, they can accomplish. They cannot escape from vanity apart from God. They cannot escape from futility.

This is what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes very clearly: “Vanity of vanities, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? “ (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3) All that thinking that Solomon was able to do, all that planning, all that building, all his great political achievement, all his great economic achievements, all of that still came under the umbrella of vanity. It was still under the shadow of futility and meaninglessness.

He did great things by one way of looking at it. And yet at the same time he did useless things. The great works that he built. Yes, they were accomplishments, but at the same time they were meaningless. They would all come to nothing. They would not last. All these things would crumble and fade and disappear.

This is what the apostle Paul is speaking of here. The vanity of their mind because their understanding is darkened. They cannot see the truth. The ultimate truth. The truth that must ground all other truths. The truth of God. They cannot see. They will not see. They cannot acknowledge. They will not acknowledge that there is a God, that all things must be done and known in light of him.

This is not an excusable darkness, an excusable ignorance because God has revealed himself clearly, clearly enough that we ought to know. The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead. So that they are without excuse because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but their foolish heart was darkened. They became vain in their imaginations.

This is what Paul is describing here. And significantly he puts it here in these terms. Their minds are vain and futile. Their thoughts, their understanding is darkened. And this is to be alienated from the life of God. They are strangers from the life of God, estranged from life in bondage to death. Because of this rejection, because of this darkness, because of this vanity, a vanity of mind. I think this is something we can ponder.

The mind is a great thing. It is something that we prize. We prize our minds. I think especially in this day and age as we look around us, all the things that we are able to invent, all the things we are able to build, look at what progress we have made, how much we have achieved with our minds. Look at this great city around us. Buildings that reach up almost to touch the sky. Vehicles that can travel at great speeds. This world so vast. We have conquered. We have made ourselves masters of practically every corner of the globe. Our presence is there. Our presence is felt. We can do so much. And we are looking ahead, aren't we? All of us. This is our culture. We are looking ahead with great enthusiasm, great anticipation, great optimism. What more can we do with our minds? What new worlds can we conquer?

But apart from God, apart from Christ, this mind that we prize is futile. These things are vain. What profit is there in all these accomplishments? In all these grand buildings, in all these intricate inventions, what profit is there? Ultimately, apart from God, we are alienated from life. We have no real life. We breathe but we do not live. This again is a wilful ignorance and blindness. A blindness that refuses to acknowledge itself. As the saying goes, there is none so blind as he who will not see. This is a helpless and hopeless condition.

But we have been rescued from this very condition. When Paul says the other Gentiles, again, he is not making such a distinction that should cause us to be puffed up; that should cause us to say, "Well, that's them, but I'm not like them." He is making a distinction that should cause us to recognise what God has done in us and for us because we were just like that. Our minds were vain. Our understanding was darkened. We were estranged from the life of God. We were living in vanity and futility. But we have been rescued. We have been redeemed.

That's the contrast here. That's the henceforth. The henceforth is grounded in God's work of redemption. Henceforth, let there be a difference. Now you can see. Why choose to be blind? Why live as if you are blind when you can see? Who among us would do that? Would you go about with your eyes closed? Why do that? You can see. You don't live as if you're blind. You live as those who can see because you can. Now we have life. Why put that life aside? Why be estranged from life anymore? Henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk.

But this is what we see and experience all around us. There is a need for this reminder. There is a need for us to keep in mind this contrast because it's easy for us to forget. It's easy for us to forget that what we see around us is vain. We are easily allured by this idea of progress, by the glitter of the world. There is a need for us to be diligent in maintaining this right thinking to live as strangers and pilgrims in allegiance to Christ, not the world, to walk. That's something deliberate, that's something purposeful, that involves concerted, committed effort to walk, to live, not as other Gentiles.

Other Gentiles, you see, that phrase serves these two functions. On the one hand, it reminds us what we used to be. On the other hand, it reminds us what we are surrounded by, other Gentiles. So that we might have this exhortation, so that we might recognise, we must keep remembering this is not me anymore. I'm surrounded by this. But henceforth I am not to walk like this. Something has happened. God has done something in me and for me.

No more am I to be past feeling as I used to be and as those around me are. They are past feeling. No longer any appreciation for what is good. No joy in God and his will. Dull and dead when it comes to spiritual things. But we are not to be like that anymore. Henceforth we are not past feeling for us. We are to be lively when it comes to spiritual things. We are to feel something.

Are you past feeling? Feelings are important. Feelings are not irrelevant. Feelings are not everything. We should not make too much of our feelings. But feelings are part of human life. We must endeavour that our feelings should be right. And we ought to feel something when it comes to God, when it comes to his worship, when it comes to his service. We ought to feel something. We must not be past feeling. We ought to feel something when it comes to sin. We ought to feel something when it comes to righteousness. We are no longer past feeling.

We have life now. There must be no more a seared conscience, but a tender conscience. No more have we given ourselves over to lasciviousness. No longer do we indulge every evil passion. We restrain what is evil. We align ourselves to what is good. We delight in what is good. “If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8b) That's what we do now. Henceforth, that's the contrast.

This is what we see around us. But it is not what we see in us. In us, we must see the life of God, which is not like what we see around us. Again, we used to be part of that. The world has given itself over to evil, to sin, to depravity, to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. These are the things that displease God. This is what the world has given itself to. We see that. But henceforth, we must not walk like that.

We present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. We do not serve the lust of the flesh. We serve our creator. We serve our redeemer. Because we have found the truth in Jesus. And this is what Paul says. Vanity of mind, understanding darkened, blindness of heart, now contrasted with learning Christ, the truth that is in Jesus. Light, true understanding, true knowledge. We have been taught the truth by Christ. We have heard from him. We have learned Christ.

This is not an abstract message. This is not merely something that we learn about. It is Christ himself whom we appropriate, whom we take for ourselves. We abide in him. This is the life of God. We are not estranged from it anymore. We have that life in us. This is what the Lord Jesus meant. Remember in John chapter 6 when he said to the Jews, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” (John 6:53)

This greatly offended the Jews. They had been taught the life of the flesh is in the blood. But that's precisely what the Lord was saying. You must have my life in you. That's why Paul confesses with such wonder and rapture, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Galation 2:20a) That's what we have now in Jesus. We are not estranged from the life of God. We have that very life in us. Christ living in me. This is what we have learned.

Now that feeling has awakened. We feel and know our guilt. We feel and know the filthiness of sin. We feel and know the love of God in Christ. We feel and know that effectual call drawing us to Christ to put our faith in him, uniting us to him by faith, his death for our sins, his life, our righteousness. This is what we have now. Henceforth, we are growing up into Christ. A life that begins and continues to grow. This is what we have learned.

But Paul says, you have not so learned Christ if you are going back to these things. If you are walking like the other Gentiles, that's not what you have learned from Christ. What Christ have you seen? What Christ have you believed? A Christ who is like the world. A Christ who is full of lasciviousness and evil. God forbid. What have we seen in Christ? We have seen glory and beauty and perfection. We have seen love and grace. This is what we have learned. That's how we must walk. That's what it means to be a Christian. Our life must no longer be characterised by these things. It is the life of Christ living in us.

To be a Christian is to be taught by Christ how to live and henceforth to live that way. That's what the Ephesians had been taught. If so be, verse 21, this is not an expression of uncertainty. In fact, quite the opposite. We learn from the book of Acts that Paul spent a fair bit of time in Ephesus teaching the believers. When he was thrown out of the synagogue, he went into the school of Tyrannis and stayed there and taught.

In Acts chapter 20, when he called the elders of Ephesus, Paul testified to them. You can testify to this. He said, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) Paul had taught the Ephesians. Ye have heard him and have been taught by him. Paul is the appointed representative of Christ. You remember the gifts that Christ gave to the church. Right? “He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the ministry of the world.” (Ephesians 4:11-12) Christ through his servants, through his gifts, has taught the Ephesians. They cannot just abandon that teaching. They cannot live like the other Gentiles. They cannot.

We have been taught the truth. “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,” (John 15:7a) Jesus said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;”(John 8:31b) “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) This is the truth that we have learned, that we have heard, that we have believed, that we have embraced. So we say, the truth that sets us free.

Why do we go back to bondage? How can we? “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,” (Ephesians 4:17) Falsehood, error, darkness contrasted with truth and light and life. You see the contrast? That's what the exhortation is built on. Put off the old man and put on the new. Put off that and put on this. That's something so obvious. Put off death and put on life. Who will not do that?

And yet we need to be reminded. We need to be exhorted to put off darkness and put on light. We have learned the truth. Freedom from deception, from vanity, from futility, from fruitlessness. We have learned the truth about who we are. Fallen creatures in Adam, but sons of God in Christ. We have learned about the truth about who God is, full of love and mercy as well as justice and holiness. We have learned the truth about salvation and redemption. We have learned the truth about eternity.

We know where all this is headed. We know what eternity looks like. We have learned the truth about the kingdom of God. We know what actually lies ahead. When we look into the future, not the glory of man, but the glory of God. We have learned the truth about how we ought to live now. A life that is not in vain. We have learned how to abound, what work we are to abound in so that our labour is not in vain. The work of the Lord. We have learned the truth. We see the light.

When I was much younger, my dad took us on holiday to Hawaii. Sadly, I was quite young, so I really don't remember much at all. It's as if I've never been. But there's one thing I do remember, and that's the time that we went to see the volcanoes. That's something I was very excited by when I was young. Volcano National Park in Hawaii. And I think in my mind I had this idea that this park is like our parks in Singapore. Our parks in Singapore are very small. You stand at one side, you can see the other. There's one car park, if any, for the whole park. Of course, it's not like that in Hawaii. Volcano National Park is actually huge.

And again, I had this idea in my mind growing up in Singapore that you can just park your car and the volcano will be right there because that's the way things are in Singapore, right? You park and then whatever you need is right in front of you. But again, it's not like that. You have to park and then you have to walk for some distance before you can see the volcanoes. So, as a result of all this, we drove there, but we timed it wrong because by the time we got there, by the time we found the car park, by the time we realised the volcano is not there, it was already getting dark. So, we decided to just leave.

But as we were leaving, darkness fell. And again, not like Singapore, there were no street lights, no street lights at all. It was completely dark. The only light was the headlight of the car. And very soon we were lost. We had no idea how to get out of this huge place. We were just driving around. When we come to a crossroads, we don't know which way to turn. Is it right? Is it left? We can't see. We don't know. So, we just drove, and I was sitting in the back and, as I recall, I turned around and looked behind us and, lo and behold, I saw a long line of cars, and I thought to myself, "These people are following us because they think we know the way out, but we don't know the way out. We're all just driving around in the dark."

And it occurs to me that's a picture of our lives apart from God, apart from Christ. We are driving around in the dark. We don't know the way out. We don't really know where we're going. We don't know which way to take. All we can see is a little patch of road in front of us. That's not the way we want to live. We follow people whom we think know the way, but they don't know the way. We are all wandering around in the dark. This is the vanity of our minds. This is the understanding that is darkened. This is life apart from God. We think we are making progress. No, we are fooling ourselves.

But you see, now in Christ we have learned the truth. Now the sun has risen. Now we can see clearly. Why go back to darkness? Why go back to living, to walking like the other Gentiles? Why go back to vanity and futility? You know what life is. You know how life ought to be lived. When you come to a crossroad, you know which road to take. You can seek the Lord and his will. That's a life worth living.

And all we are called to do is to live that life. We are called to live the best possible way. We are called to live in light and joy and peace. That's our calling. It's not something onerous, not something burdensome, not something we should be reluctant about. It's our own foolishness when we don't see this contrast and therefore we don't embrace and don't enjoy the life that we have in Christ. We think of it as burdensome. We think of it as restrictive when it is liberty.

To learn Christ is to learn everything. The answer to all the struggles and perplexities of life. To know and be known. To love and be loved. That is what it means to know Christ. It's transformation. New birth, new life. Why go back? Who ever heard of a sapling retreating back into the seed? No. It bursts forth and then it grows and it seeks out the light. That's you and me. That's the Christian life. Why go back? Why go back to darkness? Why cover ourselves up?

This is the wonder of salvation, the wonder of the gospel; Forgiveness. Life is given to us as a gift freely received by faith. So we live not in order to earn life, but we live because we are alive. Henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk. Walk in newness of life by putting off the old and putting on the new. That's the exhortation. Once more, we see this conjunction of God's work and our work. Put off the old and put on the new.

That's something we cannot do on our own. In fact, that's something God does. What have we to put on but what God has given to us freely. And yet we are called to put off and put on. We must work out this salvation. And so now as we come to this exhortation, there are two questions we need to ask and answer. First of all, what are we to put off and put on? What is the old man and what is the new man? And secondly, how are we to put off and put on?

First of all, what is the old man and the new man? The old man is a reference to the old nature. As some commentators put it, the old man is everything that we are apart from the grace of God. The old man, in other words, is what we are in Adam. What we are as represented by Adam, characterised by this corruption. The old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. This is a picture of corruption and ongoing deception. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, enticing the old man, deceiving the old man, seeking to keep the old man in bondage.

This is a struggle described very starkly by Paul in Romans 7. “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. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But 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.” (Roman 7:19-23) “For to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Roman 7:18b)

That's what Paul describes. That's the struggle. There is a struggle against the old man. There is a newness. We are not what we used to be, but there is still this struggle. We are dead to sin. We cannot live any longer in it. As Paul says in Romans 6, “how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” (Roman 6:2) There is an impossibility, and yet there is still a struggle. We are still enticed.

This deadness to sin is something we have to remind ourselves of. This deadness to sin is something we have to realise and keep realising. God's people can fall into grievous sins. King David could fall into lust, adultery, and murder. Peter, the Apostle Peter, could fall into pride, boastfulness, fear. The old man is dead. I am crucified with Christ. And yet the old man must be put off continually. The deadness of the old man must be realised day by day. We must remember that we are free and exercise that freedom.

The new man then is a reference to the new creation in Christ. What we are in Christ. And again, this new man is in one sense already here the moment we believe. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away. All things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) And yet that newness must be realised day by day. We are born again, regenerated. But that life must be lived. The new creation must be reflected through our lives daily. The new man must be put on constantly, committedly.

This new man is characterised by righteousness and holiness after God in the likeness of God, the image of God restored. We have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. We are being conformed to his image. We are being sanctified. We are being enabled more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness. The new man now lives as a servant, a servant of righteousness. We yield ourselves, as Paul says again, Romans 6:18, “as servants of righteousness.”

Now that we have been set free, the new man is striving after holiness and piety, striving after the love and worship of God, striving after the adoration of God. The new man is striving to set his affection on things above, not on things on the earth. That's what we are to put off and put on. Put off the old man. Put off that corruption. Put off those lusts. Put off those sins. Put off that death. Put on the new man. Put on righteousness and holiness. Strive after these things, the image of God, what pleases God.

And that brings us to the second question. How to do this? How to put off the old man? We put off the old man by way of repentance. We cannot come to Christ without repentance. The gospel message is repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance, of course, is God's gift. It's part of our regeneration. And yet repentance is to be preached as a duty. We are called to repent. We are called to do as ever what we ourselves cannot do. But God enables us and we must perform this duty of repentance. And this is something that continues throughout the Christian life.

The Christian life is a life of repentance. We put off the old man by repentance. Repentance involves turning away from sin and turning towards Christ. It involves a true sight of our sin, a true recognition of the filthiness of our sins in light of the holiness of God. Repentance involves seeing sin for what it is. Not just something that is inconvenient for me. Not just something that will turn out badly for me, but an offence against God. An offence against his holiness. Something vile in his sight. Not just the danger of sin, but the defilement of sin is something we must see when we repent.

So that there is a great desire to put away sin. And that must characterise our lives as Christians. To walk worthy of our calling is to walk in daily repentance. We must be a penitent people day by day. Continually we come to the Lord. We confess our sins. We repent of our sins. That's one of the reasons we must come to the Lord every day because we have to confess our sins. We have to repent. We have to seek his forgiveness.

No longer do we take sin lightly. That was the old man. Remember, the old man was past feeling, not the new man. We are not past feeling anymore. We must not be. We must repent of our sins. Repentance involves also a purposeful and settled endeavour to walk in obedience to bring forth fruit, meat for repentance. That's something we must endeavour to do every day. We must be examining ourselves every day. Again, we have to emphasise this also, not in a despairing sense.

We don't examine ourselves and beat ourselves up, tally up our sins and say, "Woe is me." At least we cannot stop there. Remember what Paul says again in Romans 7. “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Roman 7:24) That's good and true and right, but it's not complete. Oh, wretched man that I am. It never ends there. Repentance never ends with, "Oh, wretched man that I am." That's not true repentance. That's just wallowing in self-hatred.

“O, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Roman 7:24-25a) That's repentance, both the deep sorrow for sin and also the great comfort and peace and joy in Christ. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up. That's what we need day by day to confess our sins, to grieve our sins, but to embrace with delight the promise of God in Christ. That's the vitality of Christian life. We put off the old man by repentance.

Another way to put it, we put off the old man by mortifying. That's another term that is used to describe really the same thing. We repent of our sins. We mortify our sins. We put to death our sins, our lusts, our corruptions. As Paul says in Colossians 3:5a, "Mortify your members which are upon the earth." Again, this is the paradox. This is something that is dead and yet it must be daily put to death. Our sin, our corruption, we are dead to sin and yet we must every day die to sin. That's our human responsibility. We must live out this reality. We have to mortify our sins and our corruptions.

The Christian life is not automatic. Nowadays, of course, we like everything automatic. Self-driving cars. How long, I wonder, before we have self-reading books and self-appreciating paintings and then there'll be no need for us anymore. We like everything automatic, less effort, someone else to do everything for us. But not the Christian life. The Christian life is not an automatic life. It doesn't happen while we sleep.

We are called to this calling. Put off the old man. Put on the new. Mortify your members which are upon the earth. Put to death these things. We are involved in this struggle. We are in a campaign against our own corruptions. To walk worthy of Christ is to be waging war against our own sinful tendencies. You must know your sins. I must know mine. As one writer puts it, a Christian must know his sins the way Wellington knew Napoleon. This is my enemy. I study him. I know his tactics. I know his strategies. I know what he will try to do. I prepare my defences. That's part of the Christian life.

We are struggling against our sins. We are mortifying our own corrupt. We don't take these things lightly. We don't go through our lives blindly with our eyes half closed, sleepwalking. Sin comes our way. We don't notice it until it's right in front of us and then, oh no, I can't resist. It's too late. It's not the Christian life, we are striving against sin to put off the old man. You know the things that tempt you to sin. Put them away. Others may not need to put them away, but you may need to because you are engaged in this struggle.

“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Roman 13:14) That's your calling. That's what we must be doing. That's how we must be thinking. How can I live today more righteously than before? How can I overcome this temptation? With the Lord's help, of course, we do none of this in our own strength. Nor do we do any of it for our own sake. We do it because we are new creatures in Christ. We do it because Christ has redeemed us. We put off the old man and put on the new because this is our calling. We want to walk worthy of it.

So then how do we put on the new man? We put off the old man by repentance, by mortifying. We put on the new man by being sanctified. That is by making use of the means of grace that God has provided for our sanctification. We are sanctified by the word as the Lord prayed. "Sanctify them by thy truth: Thy word is truth.” (John 17:17) Therefore, if we want to put on the new man, what will we do? We will seek out the word of God.

We will as babes desire the sincere milk of the word that we may grow thereby. That's what we will do because that's how to put on the new man. How to put on the new man if we are not in the word of God, how to grow if we are fed with a little drip of food every now and then. None of us would feed a baby, none of us would feed himself or herself that way. We feed our spirits, our souls so sparsely, we have so little of God's word, how to put on the new man?

To put on the new man is to desire the sincere milk of the word. We want to study the word of God. We want to know it well. We want to apply it constantly. That's our life. The blessed man. His delight is in the law of the Lord. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” (Psalm 1:2-3a) As the plant seeks out the light, as its roots seek out moisture, we must seek the word of God.

That's why we come to study his word. That's why we come to hear the preaching of God's word. Come for the Sunday school, take classes, study on your own. We have 2,000 years of Christian literature. You realise that? 2,000 years of preaching and teaching that has been recorded. We have 2,000 years to draw on to learn more about God's word. There is so much available. Put on the new man. Desire the word of God. Study it. Use all these resources. Use them wisely. Use them diligently.

We put on the new man also by engaging in the worship of God. The goal of this new creation is the glory of God. The activity of the new man is the worship and praise of God. And this is something we must be involved in. This is our life. Our life is to praise the Lord. It's not something we do only on Sunday mornings. It's something we do all the time, but we do it especially in a special way here on Sunday mornings when we gather together as God's people. We must not absent ourselves if we can help it at all.

This is the new man. How to put on the new man if we stay away from worship. It is in worship that we are reminded of who God is. Worship is all about acknowledging God for who he is, praising him for who he is and what he has done. And the more our thoughts are filled with who God is, the more we will be conformed to that image, that holiness. Is it not so? How to be more holy if we have no conception of holiness.

We are sanctified by worship. When we worship the Lord, we are putting on the new man because this is what we will be doing for eternity. When the new man is fully realised, when the old man is fully abolished, this will be our occupation forever and ever to praise and worship the Lord. And then also we put on the new man by fellowship with God's people. Iron sharpeneth iron. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend in fellowship with God's people. We help one another. We exhort one another. We edify one another.

Again, what we have seen last time, we speak the truth in love. We grow up into Christ from whom every part, every joint makes its contribution, supplies what it has been supplied by the head. And so also if we want to put on the new man, if we want to be sanctified, we will not withdraw ourselves from fellowship. We will come together with God's people.

Again, there is no such thing as a solitary, isolated Christian. There is no such thing as a Christian who is sufficient in himself. No Christian can say, "I don't need you. I minister to myself. We all need one another. I need you. We all need one another. That's why we come together in fellowship on the Lord's day chiefly, but we have so many other opportunities. And why should we despise them?

Come to join in fellowship with God's people. It may not be your inclination, but it is what you need to put on the new man. This is part of the Christian life. Because again, what will we be in eternity? We will not be isolated. Don't think that when we get to heaven in the new Jerusalem, you will have some private place all to yourself. You can just be there, never have to talk to anyone. We will all be together. We will be together with the Lord. We should be together now.

Come for the fellowship meetings. They are provided for that purpose. That we might grow together. That we might exalt one another. Why absent yourselves from what is good, what is beneficial to your own spiritual growth? Put on the new man. This is something we are to seek out. Again, this is our human responsibility. Not automatic.

We cannot stand before the Lord on the last day and say, "God, why didn't you sanctify me?" He will say, will he not? Why did you not use the means I provided for your sanctification? It's our responsibility. It is all by the grace of God. But we are called to walk worthy. You have this high calling to be the people of God. He has given you what you need that you might be equipped, that you might be built up. It is your responsibility and my responsibility to use these means of grace to put off the old man and put on the new. This is to be our striving.

Again, this is not a solitary, desperate struggle. There is renewal full and free. There is victory already won in Christ. “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Roman 8:28-30)

We have this assurance. The victory is already won. And yet we are called to engage in this struggle. We are called to do our part in this battle. We are not to say the victory is won, so I can sit back and do nothing. That is not walking worthy of our calling. An automatic life is a miserable wretched life. A life of just sitting back and doing nothing is a miserable life. That's not what the grace of God has called us to. The grace of God has called us to live, to be active, to be engaged, to be involved.

We have the light of the word. We have the strength of the spirit. Now, we must live, must strive against sin and towards righteousness. We must do battle against the flesh and nourish the things of the spirit. Every day this is our calling. Every day that we fail to do this is a wasted day. A day that we have failed to walk worthy of our calling. And of course, we do all this in hope. Holiness, righteousness. These things have great promise. It's not in vain. We are already created in righteousness and true holiness.

But putting on the new man means being in every aspect in every practicality of life. Being what we already are in principle in the new creation in Christ. So this is what we need to see. The Christian life involves striving and activity. Put off the old man, put on the new. God willing, next time we will see in the remainder of this chapter some more specific examples of putting off the old and putting on the new. And hopefully again by God's grace we will see more and more clearly what this means and how we can put this into practice ourselves. But this is the basis. You must see the contrast and you must feel the force of this exhortation. Put off the old man, put on the new.

Let's close with a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, how we thank and praise you for wonderful message of the gospel, the wonderful truth of salvation and forgiveness full and free in Christ. Oh, we thank you that there is the new man who after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. This is something you have done. We have not done it. And yet now you have called us to walk worthy of this calling that we should put off the old man and put on the new. Help us to do this. Help us to see the importance of this. Help us no longer to be lax, to be flippant, to be indifferent, but fill us with holy zeal every day to live for you. All this we ask and pray in the name of the Lord Jesus and for his sake. Amen.

THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS

All Spiritual Blessings

All Spiritual Blessings

Ephesians 1:1-7

The Exceeding Greatness of His Power

The Exceeding Greatness of His Power

Ephesians 1:20-23

God’s Workmanship

God’s Workmanship

Ephesians 2:1-10

Message 1: Hindrances to a Personal Relationship with God (Part 1)

Message 1: Hindrances to a Personal Relationship with God (Part 1)

Ephesians 2:1-10

Message 1: The Nature of Faith

Message 1: The Nature of Faith

Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 11:1

Message 2: Hindrances to a Personal Relationship with God (Part 2)

Message 2: Hindrances to a Personal Relationship with God (Part 2)

Ephesians 2:11-18

Reconciliation with God

Reconciliation with God

Ephesians 2:11-18

One Body, One Spirit, One Building

One Body, One Spirit, One Building

Ephesians 2:11-22

Unity Of The Church — Members Of The Household Of God

Unity Of The Church — Members Of The Household Of God

Ephesians 2:18-19

The Amazing Prospect And Awesome Responsibility Of Being A Christian

The Amazing Prospect And Awesome Responsibility Of Being A Christian

Ephesians 2:19-22

God Is Able

God Is Able

Ephesians 3:20-21

The Glory Of God In His Church

The Glory Of God In His Church

Ephesians 3:21

Walking Worthy — In Unity

Walking Worthy — In Unity

Ephesians 4:1-6

Walking Worthy — In Diversity & Activity

Walking Worthy — In Diversity & Activity

Ephesians 4:7-16

The Old Man And The New

The Old Man And The New

Ephesians 4:17-24

Walk Not as the Gentiles

Walk Not as the Gentiles

Ephesians 4:17-24

A Walk to Remember

A Walk to Remember

Ephesians 4:17-32

Truth And Temperance

Truth And Temperance

Ephesians 4:25-27

Contribution And Communication

Contribution And Communication

Ephesians 4:28-29

Be Ye Followers Of God

Be Ye Followers Of God

Ephesians 5:1-2

Be Careful How You Live

Be Careful How You Live

Ephesians 5:15-17

Message 2: Redeeming The Time

Message 2: Redeeming The Time

Ephesians 5:16

God’s Instructions For The Family: The Christian Wife

God’s Instructions For The Family: The Christian Wife

Colossians 3:17-18; Ephesians 5:22-24

Message 6: What is a healthy and strong marriage? One that obeys God’s model!

Message 6: What is a healthy and strong marriage? One that obeys God’s model!

Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:22-33

God’s Instructions For The Family: The Christian Husband

God’s Instructions For The Family: The Christian Husband

Colossians 3:19; Ephesians 5:25-33

Honour and Obey Thy Parents

Honour and Obey Thy Parents

Deuteronomy 5:16; Ephesians 6:1-3

Message 7: What are children for? Heritage of godly seed for Christ!

Message 7: What are children for? Heritage of godly seed for Christ!

Psalm 127:3, Malachi 2:15, Ephesians 6:4

Be Prayerful

Be Prayerful

Ephesians 6:18