Walk Worthy / Week 2 / Gifts, Ministry, Growth

Stop Walking Like Those Who Do Not Know Jesus or His Word!

Ephesians 4:17-19 January 31, 2021

I. Introduction:

A. This last year and the beginning of this year was mind-blowing for many of us as

we watched people respond in ways that shocked us all! This was true of the

Covid pandemic, as well as the racial and political issues.

1. We saw in the streets, in the media and among politicians - selfishness, anger,

hypocrisy, divisiveness, the violence, lawlessness and in my opinion, at times

some very, very foolish ideas about what we should do on the part of leaders!

2. The first response of my heart was these people are bad, out of control. They

should be locked up forever. I looked down upon and really want nothing to

do with these kinds of people!

B. Then I heard the question that Roy Patterson asked – do you see the looters as

uncaged animals that need to be locked in a cage or as sheep without a shepherd?

1. That was as if God hit me with a sledgehammer as I realized I was not

thinking at all biblically or like Jesus would about these people!

2. They are lost and they are acting just like angry lost people who have been

locked up in their houses for months, who do not know Jesus or His Word

would act! What should I expect!

3. We know that anger normally puts our worst behaviors on steroids!

C. So this morning I want to take you to a passage of Scripture that can help us better

understand those who do not know Jesus, why they think the way they do and

why they act the way they do!

1. Evidently in the Ephesian church, there were believers who were acting like

those who do not know Jesus

2. He is not just teaching them a principle to live by but actually telling them to

stop doing it, no longer walk like this!

D. I believe the main thrust of this passage is calling believers to - stop walking like

those who do not know Jesus or His Word! Stop acting like them! Walk this way

no longer.

1. In telling them to stop walking this way, he spends most of his time telling

them “why the lost act the way they do?”

2. Watch for all of this as I read 4:17-21

• Let’s start by looking at

II. Why the lost act the way they do?

A. The answer is straight forward here “the way they act is driven by the way they

think!”

1. Reread v17

2. The last phrase in this verse explains how the Gentiles walk – in the futility

of their minds.

3. The mind is the place where all our knowledge and information goes, and it is

the place where we process all that knowledge and information.

4. He says here they walk in the futility of their minds. That means their minds

are empty and useless on the basis that they are lacking the content they

need!

a) Now that does not mean that the lost are not intelligent or have no

content in their minds!

b) Listen to what 2 Timothy 3:7 says

5. It is not that they have no knowledge at all or that they are not intelligent

reasoning people but it is the knowledge of the ultimate truth that they do not

have!

B. What they are lacking is the spiritual knowledge that comes from God and His

Word, which is not just another truth but is the truth!

1. 4:18 further develops the futility of their minds Read

2. Their ability to think through, to grasp, to reason, to understand has been

darkened

3. They are unable to reason well because they are excluded from the life of

God and are ignorant (that means they are unaware and do not have the

information) of the things of God and Word of God because their hearts are

hardened against Him

C. On top of that, they have become callous – that means they have lost the capacity

to feel shame or embarrassment about what they are doing.

1. Then look at what they practice. Read the rest of v19

2. Obviously, this passage goes way beyond politics and race but touches upon

the growing direction of the morality of our whole culture now!

D. So when you put all this together their actions are driven by a way of thinking that

has excluded God and His Word!

• Bottom line I have two takeaways from this, the first directly from this passage the

other from the implications of this passage in light of the rest of Scripture!

III. Applications

A. If you are a believer and you are buying into the ways of the world or doing

things just as everyone else in the world does them, you need to know their ways

are driven by a knowledge that excludes God and His Word.

1. The way of thinking by man today in North America can be described as selfautonomous!

2. That means that each person governs himself and sets his own morals of what

is right and wrong! He is his own boss and determines for himself what is

right or wrong

3. We just learned a few weeks ago that as a church we have one lord, one boss

and that is Jesus and one faith and that is the Word of God which tells us

what is right or wrong!

4. Believer – stop taking your lead on behavior, thinking, sexuality, marriage,

morality, raising children, finances, character building, leadership, solutions

to the core problems in our country from those who exclude God and His

Word from their thinking which drives them to act the way they do!

B. Secondly, do we recognize the lost are sheep that need a shepherd? These are the

people Jesus came to save and sent us to bring the gospel to! You and I are the

greatest hope in their lives right now, not a Republican agenda or Democratic

agenda since we bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.

C. But listen further to the state of the lost:

1. Read 1 Corinthians 2:14

a) The lost man: does not accept … cannot understand because they are

spiritually discerned and understood

b) A person who is spiritually dead does not have the spiritual equipment to

understand the things of God. It is like the things of God are on a “FM”

frequency and the lost’s receivers are only built to receive “AM” waves.

c) Some say simplify the language in translations or sermons or gospel

presentations or give better and clearer illustrations then lost people

would get it.

d) According to this verse, I could simplify the language and even give

better illustrations, but it would be like me speaking in Chinese using a

third grader’s words and illustrations but they only understand English.

e) By the way, I do believe we should do everything to be clear and simple

but we need to know that is not going to cause a lost person to come to

Christ!

f) Our confidence needs to be somewhere else!

2. Read 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. We see two big problems for the lost

a) They are blind in their minds

(1) It does not say they are blindfolded and if we just give them the

right answers, thus pulling away the blindfold, then they would

see. But they are actually blind so if you pull away the blindfold

they still would not see because they are incapable of sight

b) Satan is the source of this blindness

(1) That means human reasoning and human resources cannot

overcome this problem.

(2) Human weapons and reasoning can never overcome Satan!

3. We need to realize that it will take a miracle the size of the resurrection of

Jesus Christ for a lost person to be saved, not our best presentations,

illustrations or arguments and reasoning about the gospel.

D. We need to use the weapons that God has given us that are divinely powerful for

the destruction of fortresses in the mind rather than human weapons and means. I

will give you three:

1. Romans 1 says the gospel is the power of God for salvation

a) Read Romans 1:16

b) There is a power right inside the gospel message that can break the

power of Satan and give light to blind minds!

2. John 16 says the Holy Spirit is the one who convinces the lost world

concerning their sin, what righteousness really is and the fact that some day

they will stand before God and be held accountable in judgment

a) Read John 16:7-11

b) My hope is not in how well I share it, even though I do everything I can

to be true to the gospel clear and simple. My dependence is not in how

well I present it but for the Holy Spirit to work inside of them to

convince them of the truthfulness of the gospel and their need for it!

3. Through prayer God opens up to us opportunities to share, opens our mouths

with words He puts in them and opens up peoples heart to see and respond to

the good news of Jesus Christ!

E. So believers fill your heart with grace and mercy for the lost, arm yourself with

the gospel both in word and deed, and prayerfully depend upon the Holy Spirit to

open doors of opportunity, to open your mouth with the exact words and

illustrations they need to hear and open their hearts to respond as He convinces

them of the truthfulness of their need for the gospel!