We're in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17, if you have a Bible, I invite you to follow along with me as I read. So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live as a Gentile in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to no Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which has been corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Amen. How many of you were alive in 1968? Most, how many weren't born yet? Well, okay. 1968, I was a junior in high school and I went to Sydney, linear high in Montgomery, Alabama, a school that was built for about 1800 students but there were 32 hundred students when I was there in three grades. It was big. And study hall at Sydney, linear high was in the auditorium that was only placed big enough. There were several hundred people during any period of the day in study hall. My study hall teacher was Miss Sadler and being a typical high school student a friend of mine got hold of a stack of hall passes from the office. And in time, we learned how to forge Miss Sadler's name on those hall passes and we could write you a pass to go anywhere. We wrote ourselves passes to go anywhere we wanted to go. Want to go to the library here? We can give you a pass. You want to go to the athletic building? Want to go out in the parking lot? We could make it happen. No questions asked. If somebody stopped you, we had an official pass and we had Miss Sadler's name on it, which we forged. And I know something about you. At some point in your life, you're tempted to do the same thing. All of us have a tendency to write ourselves a pass in some area of the Christian life. It might be telling the truth without shading it or keeping your promises or being faithful to your spouse. Or you might write yourself a pass in terms of your church attendance or the stewardship of your spiritual gifts or your financial resources or write yourself a pass in the area of gossip. Well, I know what the Bible says, but I've got my pass here. Or it might be a pass in the area of bitterness or forgiveness or in the area of sexuality. I know what I'm supposed to do. I know what the Bible says. I know what's right and wrong. I know where I'm supposed to be, but I have my pass. In 1968, it's really not so long ago. And what was happening in the church of Ephesus is that people had begun to write themselves a pass. It's not only been going on since 1968. It's been going on for two thousand years. Paul's been hammering away at the theme of unity in the church of Ephesus because there were a variety of cultures, languages, people. And so he said, there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who's overall and through all and in all. And now, Paul shifts from the theme of unity to the theme of purity and says these words. I insist on this in the Lord that you no longer live as the Gentiles do. Do you know how the Gentiles lived? In the first century in Ephesus, Gentile culture was known for its paganism. No, that doesn't say it well. Gentile culture was known for its great paganism. It's excessive paganism. You've heard me speak of the temple of Artemis that it was one of the seven known wonders of the world, 450 feet long, 225 feet wide, 60 feet tall, columns made out of marble. It was incredible. But the temple of Artemis was a temple to the goddess of fertility, also known as the temple of Diana. She was the goddess of fertility and the temple of Artemis was a hotbed, no pun intended, of sexual perversion. There were a thousand temple prostitutes at the temple of Artemis that was a part of their ritual. It was a part of their pagan worship. And so as Paul says these words, look, I insist on this in the Lord that you not live any longer as the Gentiles do. It spoke powerfully in that day, and if you think about it, it speaks powerfully in our day as well. What's the Gentile culture in our day? Well, if you have it sometime, click on Jerry Springer. I brought you here on Jerry Springer to tell you that I've been sleeping with your brother, your sister, your father, your mother, your cousin, your friend, your neighbor, whatever. The more shameful the confession, the more screams of delight and the more laughter from the audience. And there is a guest, be it a man or woman, sitting weeping in a chair while Jerry Springer wisecracks through the show. It's not the only show like that. We live in a tabloid culture where there is a darkened understanding and what Paul says there's a loss of sensitivity. It just abounds. This passage that we're looking at today is a big part of what it means to live out the gospel. How do we live out the gospel in a day of paganism and perversion? Paul says, therefore, because we're one people, because we've been called out of the darkness of our culture and into a way of life in the light of Christ, he says, now live it. Now live it. So what is the world that Paul is describing? First of all, look at the world. Notice the words, the futility of their thinking. Don't be like the Gentiles who live in the futility of their thinking. What's behind that? The Greek idea of the mind was this. The mind was all important. The mind is the noblest, the best part of being human. The mind was everything. And while your flesh may drag you down at times, it's the mind that will pull us back up. This is why in Greek thought, philosophy was treasured. Philosophers were worshipped because they were seen to be so intelligent in their minds. Philosophy was seen as more or less a savior. Philosophy will make you better. Philosophy will make you different. Why is the thinking of the natural man futile? Paul says it's because the natural mind is in darkness. Now think about that in your own experience. When you look back at your life, the last 10 years, 20 years, 30 years or more, where do you say, oh my goodness, what was I thinking? Why couldn't I see it? In the news just this week, I saw news report that NASA has given money to help fund the study of aliens attacking the earth because of the abuse of carbon emissions. I'm not making that up. It's a scenario described by... This is by scientists have come up with this. At NASA and Penn State University, yes, that's your tax dollars at work. And people think Christians are loony. What does a natural mind like? Its futile Paul says it's in darkness. But it strikes more closely to home, too. I was raised in a southern culture that was predominantly racist. I'm not blaming anybody else. I couldn't see it. I'm not going to tell you I see it clearly even now. But as I look back on that, what was I thinking? 16 years ago, my sister adopted a black child and then four years later adopted another to go along with the three that she had given birth to. Everybody in my family is smitten with Josie Love and with Stone. They are just part of our family. And when I look at them now, and when I think about the culture that I was raised in and how I saw people from other races, I just think, what in the world was I thinking? You know what I was thinking? Not much at all. My sinful heart and mind were darkened. I grew in other cultures as well. William Wilberforce was greatly used by God to end slavery in Britain and in other places as well. Did you know that Wilberforce was converted in 1785 under the preaching of Richard Cecil? I don't know much about him, other than he was an Anglican clergyman. But it was Cecil's preaching Wilberforce rights that spoke to his heart and fed his soul. Wilberforce not only had a burden about slavery, but he had a burdened, William Pitt, who in that time was the prime minister of England that he regularly prayed for. And he invited Pitt on numerous occasions to come with him to church and hear the preaching of Richard Cecil, only to hear excuse after excuse after excuse. He didn't give up. And finally, one Sunday, William Pitt had no excuse and went with him to church. And as it so happened that day, Wilberforce wrote that Richard Cecil preached most powerful sermons ever. And as Cecil preached, Wilberforce himself was so moved in his heart, he began praying for his friend who was seated right next to him and leaving the service, Pitt said these words. You know Wilberforce? I don't have any idea what he was talking about. True story. Why did he say that? Because he was spiritually blind because his heart was darkened. This word here for the futility of their thinking, the same phrase is repeated in Romans 1. Perhaps you caught that as I read. Paul says in Romans 1 verse 20, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power, his divine nature, have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God, nor gave thanks to them, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. What does that mean? It means when the world looks at the world that we look at, they don't see the same things that we do. When you go into an import store and you pick up something that you're interested in buying and you look at the bottom of it, it always says something like, made in China. But if you're a believer when you look in the world, when you look at the world, some aspect of creation, you rightly think this was made by God Almighty for his glory. But that's not the way the world looks at it. You know the world looks at money, and success, and sex, and possessions, and the whole created universe, the world looks at it this way. I don't know where it came from, and I don't care where it came from but it's all mine. It's about my enjoyment. It's about my glory. Paul says, that's the futile thinking of the world. He also mentions the darkening of their hearts. The hardening of hearts is the same darkened understanding that's been taken to a deeper level. It's the same futile understanding that's been taken to a deeper level so that not only is their thinking skewed, but their hearts become hard. In fact, the Greek word for hardness here is a word that is used to refer to stiff joints and brittle bones. It's the Greek word perosis from which we get the English word osteoporosis, except what Paul is describing here in the Harding of Hearts isn't because of age. It's not because of brittle bones. It's the natural progression of sin. If we were to dig a foundation out front, a slab for concrete and the trucks come and pour the concrete in about an hour, the concrete sets up and gets pretty hard. Four hours later, it gets harder. Eight hours later, it gets harder still. Twenty-four hours later, it's even harder. Did you know that in concrete is a crystal that continues to harden for a hundred years? That's the condition of the human heart. Our heart start out hard, but that hardness intensifies. And then he says, there's the loss of sensitivity and the loss of conscience. You may have heard the name origin. He was an early church father in the second century. When people in origin's day committed adultery in what he called hordom, he said that the people of his day, when they did that, didn't regard themselves as having violated good manners. When they were immoral, he said, they don't really see themselves as violating good manners. Why is that? You see, even though they never attended my high school and even though they weren't in my study hall, they knew how to write themselves a pass. And that's what we do. On the MSN news site this week, I read that the Animal Rights Group PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is planning a triple X porn site for its next marketing campaign. I promise you I'm not making that up. This website is to erase awareness for veganism. Can you imagine? In order to raise ethical standards for animals, we're going to objectify men and women. The loss of sensitivity, it's the loss of conscience. It's the mindset of Romans 1 all over again. It's the mindset of 1968 in study hall and we have a pass. We have a pass. Paul says, don't look at the world. Don't imitate the world. Second, look at Jesus. Notice the words. But you did not come to know Christ that way. Chapter 4 verse 21. Surely you have heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former way of life and your old self, which is being corrupted in its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Here's Paul's point. It's not enough to give up certain sins. Well, all right. I think I'm convicted. I'm going to give up movies. I'm going to give up cussing. I'm going to give up gossip. I'm going to give up porn. I'm going to start being a good spouse, a faithful parent, an obedient Christian. That's not what Paul's saying. The tendency of human nature when we hear God's word and God's law is to make changes in ourself out of our own determination. But the problem with that is that your life becomes centered on what you must do for God instead of what Christ has done for you. And instead of the changes that God wants to make inside of you. Paul is not preaching and advocating here simply behavior modification. Don't live like they live, be different, and so forth. What Paul is advocating here is spiritual transformation as a result of a relationship with Jesus, via repentance and faith. Now hear this. It isn't accomplished simply by letting go of sin. It's accomplished by contact with Jesus. That is what enables you to lay aside the old self. This is best illustrated in a passage like John 11. You remember the death of Lazarus? Mary and Martha's brother and Jesus on purpose delayed going when he heard Lazarus is sick and when Jesus gets there, Lazarus has been dead for four days buried in Bethany, buried in a tomb. And Jesus says, roll the stone away. And Martha says, Lord, you don't want to do that. He's been in there four days and there's going to be a terrible smell. But Jesus said, roll the stone away. And then said, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus came out still bound in his grave clothes. And Jesus said, take off the grave clothes. Why is that? It's because it wasn't fitting for a man who was alive to wear a death shroud. And that's Paul's point here. Take off the death shroud. Take off the old, he says, put on the new. Throw away that hall pass that you've been carrying around with. You think exempts you from this particular part of the Christian life. Take off your grave clothes and put on the righteousness of Christ. Now let me ask you a very practical question. Why do you think Paul writes these words? I'll tell you why. It's because Christians struggle here. Becoming a Christian doesn't mean that you don't still struggle with sin. In fact, in one sense, becoming a Christian means that the struggle with sin has really begun. Before conversion, you don't struggle. It doesn't bother you to do whatever you want. You think totally in selfish terms. This is why there are two words that will just do not suffice in terms of change in the Christian life. The first word is the word legalism and the second word is the word moralism. Legalism says this. Live life this way. Follow these rules. Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't kill. Don't bear false witness. Read your Bible. Make God holy. Go to church. So forth. Moralism says, Become a better person yourself. Be a better person. Work on being better. You were born in this world. Chuck the Bartolabin 1.0. Become Chuck the Bartolabin 2.0. But I want you to notice this about legalism and moralism. Legalism focuses you on rules. Moralism focuses you on yourself but what Paul is saying here is you need to become focused and captured by grace so that Christ is at the center. It's not rules are at the center. It's not that you're at the center. The essence of the Christian life is that Christ is at the center. So the whole of the Christian life is connected with your relationship to Jesus. Your relationship to Jesus. Friday night, Stacey and I went to see the movie, Crazy Love. Some of you have seen it, I'm sure. Man's wife has an affair. She wants a divorce. She wants to be with a new boyfriend. The husband is crushed. He goes to a bar several times and meets a young guy in the bar who teaches him how to pick up women. He learns slowly at first but then he learns really well. He learns the younger guy's technique, pick up lines and so forth. But as he pursues that, it becomes evident in the movie that he's not really happy with it. In fact, he can't get past the fact that he still misses his wife and family. And at night, you see him sneaking back to his former home into the backyard to water the grass to aerate it, to throw out grass seed, fertilizer, to water it, to do chores in the backyard while he watches his family through a window. Even though he's running around with a lot of new gals, he isn't fulfilled. Now, since his wife cheated on him, he feels entitled in one sense to his hall pass but by the end of the movie. The young guy who gave him the lessons on how to pick up girls ends up wanting the family life that he had. You see, with both of them, they didn't really want a pickup. What they wanted was a relationship. And I want you to know the same thing is true with you. The whole Gentile way of life. The whole hedonistic way of looking at life is really empty. What you really want and what you really need is a relationship with the one who knows you best. It's Jesus. Paul says here, don't live like the Gentiles. Get rid of the darkness. Now, let me ask you, when you're in the dark, how do you get rid of the darkness? You get rid of the darkness through rules about how to get rid of darkness? Or do you get rid of darkness by saying, begone darkness? No. You get rid of darkness by coming into the light, by spending time in the light. And what Paul is saying here is that Christianity is not about legalism. It's not about moralism. It's about coming into the light. It's about spending time with Jesus by faith. It's about remembering his obedience and his sacrificial death. It's about talking to a living Jesus. It's about fellowshiping with him. It's about confessing your sins to the living Jesus. It's about taking off your sins to a record of righteousness that only he can give. I want to ask you a question this morning. You got your hall pass? Well, let me tell you, in the end, it will do you no good. It's time to throw it away in whatever area of your life you've been thinking about and it's time to come into the light. You see in the gospel, God isn't telling you to produce a new, improved record of your own. This is not about what you can produce. The gospel is what God does in you as you commit yourself to Christ and come into the light. And so I ask you, have you? Have you come into the light? Will you? Come into the light? And if so, then tell him now and let's pray. Father, the Gentile world, the secular mindset is all around us. It's not just Jerry Springer. It's us. It's our flesh. It's the natural direction of our sin natures. But you made us for better. And you did something that we could not do for ourselves. You Jesus became a man and lived a life that we could never have lived. And you died of death for us so that we might come into your light and experience new life with you. Lord, I pray that all of us would throw away those hall passes that aren't any good and that we were today and tomorrow. And this week spent time in the light with you, Jesus. And thank you that you've promised to meet with people just like us. Thank you that you know our frame that you know that we are but dust. And thank you, Jesus, that you gave up your glory and entered the darkness so that we might come into and live in the light of your presence. And will you do that this week in us as we open the Bible as we read as we pray, Jesus. Flood our darkened lives in hearts with your glorious light. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.