June 17, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Because it is popular, it doesn't make it right. Because
everybody else we know happens to do it doesn't mean
we ought to be doing it.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Doctor Tony Evans says, when culture becomes your compass, you
lose your direction.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
If you look too much like the culture, that means
you don't look enough like Christ.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. You can't walk
in two directions at once, and the same is true spiritually. Today,
doctor Evans calls us to leave behind our old way
of living and step into the new identity we've been
(00:39):
given in Christ. Let's listen as he takes us to
Ephesians chapter four to explain what it means to walk
the heavenly walk.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
They are four thoughts that I want to bring out
of verses seventeen through verse thirty two. The first one
is recorded for us in verse seventeen, and that is
the contrast of the Christian walk. Our focus is on
the Christian walk, and you'll see why here. In verse
seventeen he says this, I say, therefore and testify the Lord,
(01:10):
that you walk no longer as the gentiles walk in
the futility of their mind. The first thing he wants
you to do is have a contrasting walk. That is,
if you're going to be heavenly in your walk, then
it must be contrasting the walk of the world, or,
(01:33):
as he says, the walk of the gentiles. Now, the
phrase walking like the gentiles was a reference to walking
like those who are outside of Christ. The euphemism walk
means conduct, how you carry yourself, what you do.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Versus what you don't do.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
It has to do with the direction of your spiritual life.
He says that now that you are in Christ, that
you are no longer to conduct or act like the
mass of humanity that surrounds you. Because it is popular
doesn't make it right. Because everybody else we know happens
(02:15):
to do it doesn't mean we are to be doing it.
That God has a different standard for his church and
for his children, so we are to march out of
step to the world because we are listening to a
different drummer. Paul puts it this way in Romans twelve
to two.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Be not conformed to this world.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Don't let the world squeeze you, mold you, shape you,
arrange you into its mold. You know, it was used
of a potter who took a piece of clay and
molded it into a cup or sauce, or a plate
or bowl. In other words, he took this glob of
clay and reshaped it into the image he wanted it
to be. Well, the walk of the Gentiles is the
(03:02):
popular image of the culture. In fact, if you look
too much like the culture, that means you don't look
enough like Christ because the more you look like culture,
and the more secular culture becomes, the.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
More out of step you will seem to be.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Secondly, the control of the Christian walk not only is
their contrast, but there is a control factor. Why do
the Gentiles walk the way they walk? And why should
we walk the way we walk? Verse eighteen says having
their understanding darkened, The second half says, through the ignorance
(03:44):
that is in them, notice verse twenty but you have
not so learned Christ now talking to Christians. And then
notice verse twenty three, and that you put on the
new Man, which is creating and righteousness and true holiness,
and be renewed in the spear of your what mind.
So he uses phrases like understanding ignorance, learned and mind. Now,
(04:09):
what's the common denominator of all that you're thinking?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
You're thinking? You see, your.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Lifestyle is not controlled by your lifestyle. Your lifestyle is
controlled by your brain. As a man thinks, so is he.
He says that the unrighteous walk the way they walk
because they think the way they think.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Well, how do they think? Well, he says, first of all.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
In verse eighteen, they have a darkened understanding.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
They are living in a spiritual.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Fog where they cannot perceive things very clearly, and so
he calls this a darkened understanding. He goes on and
he says, they're alienating from the life of God verse eighteen.
That is why, because they do not have the life
of God, they have no divine perspective.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
But in the same control.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Factor where they're thinking is affecting them. He makes the
contrast with our control factor, which affects us. He says
in verse twenty, But you have not so learned Christ.
But what do you do you learn in the mind
that you're thinking. If so be that you have heard him,
(05:30):
have been taught by Him as truth is in Jesus,
you have this new spiritual capacity for learning, spiritual phenomenon
that the non believer does not have. It is possible
to grow in your religious knowledge and decline in your
(05:51):
spiritual experience. To learn Christ is not only to get
more information, although it includes that, to learn Christ means
to heighten a relationship. If in fact, you want to
come to know Christ better, you have to be committed
to truth. Now, let me tell you what that also means.
(06:14):
Unlike the gentiles the unredeemed, who focus on their feelings,
that's when the Bible uses sensuality, the feel the unregenerated
want to feel it. God never denies feelings. Feelings are
an important part of our human composition, but feelings are
(06:40):
to always be subjected to revelation. Let me say it again.
Truth is in Jesus. Let me define truth so we
on the same page. Truth means an absolute, objective standard
by which reality is measured. That's true and absolute, nonnegotiable objective.
(07:04):
It sits outside of myself. It's true when I like it.
It's true when I don't like it. It's true when I
feel it's true and I don't feel it.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
It's true because it's true.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
It's an objective standard, an absolute objective standard by which
what is real is measured.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
It cuts between.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Good, bad, false, true, positive negative.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
It is an objective standard. Truth is in Jesus.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Now, Jesus had no problem with this because he hit
jump out in a minute and say I am the Way,
the Truth, and the life. No man comes to the
Father but by me, period any questions. He was not
only knowledgeable about truth. He lays out a claim that's astronomical.
He says, I am truth. And that's why there is
(07:51):
no middle ground with Christ. To you, this good man's
stuff won't work. He was a great prophet.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Oh no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Because if he was a great prophet, he was a liar.
Because he says, totally rich, young ruler, don't call me good.
There's none good but God. So either I'm no good
or I'm God, but don't call me good. That's a demotion.
I'm either God or I'm like every other man sinful,
(08:21):
So don't call me good. See, the call Jesus good
is not a compliment. It's an insult. You just devalued him.
He's claiming deity. So that's no compliment to Jesus to
say he's a great prophet, a good man in a
nice example. Well, he is all those things, but he's
all those things because of who he is, in his
uniqueness and the uniqueness of his person, and that is
(08:41):
he's the God Man, and so he claims to be truth,
the non negotiable truth. Look at first John five, verse twenty.
And we know that the Son of God is come,
and hath given us an understanding that we may know
him that is true, know him that is true, and
(09:03):
we are in him that is true, even in his son,
Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
The better you know Christ, the better you'll make sense
of truth. And the less you know Christ, you may
have more information, but you'll be ever learning and never
(09:24):
coming into the knowledge of the truth.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Because the truth is tied to a person.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Intimacy with Christ means depth in truth, a reliable standard
by which reality is measured. So Christ is the subject,
the source, and the sphere of knowledge.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
That means in.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Living our Christian life. You know, they wear these risk
bands today the kids do what would Jesus do?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well?
Speaker 1 (09:51):
This passage would say a question to you, and I
should ask, is what would Jesus think? Because he as
a man see I can ask myself what would Jesus do?
But that doesn't help me if I'm not thinking like
Jesus thinks. If I'm not thinking like he thinks, then
(10:13):
I have two problems. One I may not come up
with the right conclusion about.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
What he would do.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Or if I come up with the right conclusion about
what he would do, I would not have the power
necessarily to do what he would do because I'm not
thinking like he thought. And like he thought was I've
come to do my father as well he thought in
terms of his relationship with his father, And because he
had this relationship with his father, he.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Could do what he did. Out of our relationship with him,
we can do what we ought to do.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Paul can say I can do all things through Christ,
who strengthens me.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Because that's how he thought.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
But when you and I say, well, I can't do
this even though Christ wants me to do it, that's
because that's how we think. See, he says, you haven't
learned Christ yet. Yeah, you may quote the verse, but
you haven't learned the person. It's intimacy with the person
that produces it.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Real transformation doesn't come from just knowing about Christ. It
comes from walking with him. Doctor Evans will show us
how to renew our thinking when he returns in just
a moment. First, so I want to tell you about
Tony's popular book, Kingdom Living. It's a powerful guide to
spiritual growth that can help you develop a deeper relationship
(11:24):
with God and discover how to live out your identity
in Christ every day. It's full of practical insights on
how to overcome temptation, grow and grace and experience real
transformation right where you are, and for limited time, we'll
send Kingdom Living to you as a thank you gift
when you support doctor Evans Ministry with a contribution. In addition,
(11:47):
we'll also include all sixteen messages from his current audio
series Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. It's available
on CD or USB and as instant digital downloads everything
you need to revisit and share these life changing truths
from the Book of Ephesians. Call us at one eight hundred,
(12:08):
eight hundred thirty two twenty two and let us know
we can count on your help or make your donation
and request this special double offer online at Tonyevans dot org.
I'll repeat our contact information after part two of today's message.
Let's join doctor Evans again as he digs into the
heavenly walk, as outlined in Ephesians chapter four.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
So the control center is the mind, our thinking. Thirdly,
the clothing for the Christian walk got a dressful success.
God wants us to wear, to wear our lifestyle verse
twenty two. That you put off concerning the former manner
of life, the old man, which is corrupt according to
(12:55):
deceitful Nuss verse twenty four, and you put on the
new man, which after God has created in righteousness and
true holiness. When you were saved, you got a new wardrobe.
The tense here is an accomplished act. He's talking about
something that occurred. What occurred is an all.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
The wardrobe was the started.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
And a new wardrobe was received. This deals with your
position in Christ. When you were saved, you and I
became a new creation. Second garand this five seventeen. Any
man being Christy, he's a new creation, he's a new creature.
(13:44):
All things passed away, all things become new. Something cataclysmic
happened at conversion, and that is you received a new.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Nature, a brand new pseudo clothe, a new nature.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Now the problem is theologically, if I received this new nature.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
How come I'm still having problems with.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
These old habits, desires, all things I used to do?
Why is this? Turn your Bible to Romans chapter seven?
Romans chapter seven, This great passage is really the clearest
explanation for the tension that exists between the new you
(14:34):
and your new wardrobe, and.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Yet so often you still looking like the old clothes.
Paul had the same struggle verse fifteen.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
For that which I do I understand not for what
I would that do I not, but what I hate
that I do. In other words, stuff I hate to
do I find myself doing sometimes. If then I don't
do the things that I would not, I consent that
the law is good because I don't want to do it.
So I'm saying, if there's something I don't want to do,
there's something wrong with it. So the law where God
(15:08):
said something wrong with it is good. Now then it
is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me. There it is right there. It may
not be quickly apparent, but there it is right there.
He raises the possibility that you could do things wrong without.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
It being you who is happening to do it.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
He says it is no longer when I do the
things I hate to do, but I do it anyway,
it is no longer I who did it.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
The question is how can that be? How can it
no longer be I who did it?
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Because when you came to Christ, you got a new eye,
that is, a new nature was depositive within you. It
didn't change your personality in terms of changing yoursel You're
still the same person, but the essence of your being
was totally reconfigured or totally transformed by Jesus Christ. Well
(16:11):
wait a minute, then, If then I was transformed by Christ,
when my hand wants to touch, when my mouth wants to.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Say, when my brain wants to think.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Things that are not pleasing to God, if it's not
the eye who did it, who in the world did it?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
The only person living in me is me?
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Well, he tells you, because he says in verse seventeen,
But sin that dwells in me. In other words, the
new youth, the converted you, was.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Placed inside of the old shell your body. Your body
is the old body.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
God did nothing to your body when you got saved.
There was nothing that took place to your body. Why
because the old you that used to live in the
old shell contaminated the body.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
You see, the old you that was full of sin.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
The gentiles totally completely contaminated your body.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Your body is taught.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
It is so contaminated that in order for you to
get to Heaven, Jesus has got to give you a
new body. So you got to dress for success by
having the clothing of the new life. That leads to, finally,
the conduct of Christian walk. What does it mean to
look like Christ? He named five things back in Ephesians.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Chapter four.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
That is reflective of a person who is put on.
And remember the key between taking off verse twenty two
and putting on verse twenty four is renewing your mind
verse twenty three. The conduct of the Christian walk. First
of all, he says, stop lying.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
That's what he said. Why should you not lie, he
says verse twenty five, because we're members of one another.
He says, we.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Need each other here. This is a family issue. Secondly,
control your anger. Control your anger. It's not wrong to
be angry. It's not wrong to have anger. It is
wrong for anger to have you to be angry at.
Sin is righteousness. God is angry with the wicked every day.
(18:38):
Jesus turned over the tables in the temple John two,
because of his anger at their unrighteousness. But let not
the sun go down on your wrath. Now you know
what wrath is. Wrath is anger going public. Anger becomes
a spark, and Satan uses it to light a fire.
That's why he says in verse twenty seven, don't give
(19:00):
place for the devil, because the devil.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Likes to see you mad.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Because he can get you mad enough, he'll get you
to say something you regret, do something that you regret
and wish you didn't do it. Many people are in
prison to day because they killed somebody because they got angry. Certainly,
stop stealing, because if you steal, it means you gotta
hurt somebody else.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
See, let's just talk about you talking about other people.
Stop stealing pencils from the office, paper from the office,
time from the balls. Stop stealing, but rather let him labor,
working with his hands the things.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Which is good.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Why why work just so I can have money in
my pocket? No, so you can have enough money in
your pocket that you can give to him that needs.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
See. To conduct yourself as the gentile is to be selfish.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
To conduct yourself as a believer is to be a
giving person so that you are able to see.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
And that's the problem of debt. Debt never.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
If you live in debt, then you can never fulfill
your biblical purpose toward others because you're always paying for
stuff you're spent on you. Fourthly, watch how you talk.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Stop cussing, slander, gossip,
dirty jokes, he says, stop it. But that which is
(20:24):
good and edifies the Greek word. If I neither build up.
In other words, does this word help or hurt? If
it hurts, why am I saying it? Finally, remove the
vices thirty one thirty two Bitterness an attitude of resentfulness, wrath,
(20:45):
that explosion of anger, that ongoing seething within clamor, he says,
that's shouting and screaming and.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Evil speaking, putting down.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Put away from you with all malice, ill will, and
be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another.
Why even if God, for Christ's sake have forgiven you,
He's got the whole Trinity in this passage.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Don't grieve the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Jesus died for you, and God forgave you the whole
Trinity is involved in this new wardrobe that you have
create a new atmosphere for your own spiritual growth.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Doctor Tony Evans calling us to live in a way
that honors the one who made forgiveness possible, and he'll
come back to wrap up this message on the Heavenly
Walk in just a moment before he does, though, don't
forget to request your copy of his current sixteen part
series on the Book of Ephesians called Ordinary Holy. It
includes the full length versions of all the messages in
(21:52):
this series, including a couple that you won't be able
to hear on the broadcast, and we're adding a special
bonus gift to go along with this series, doctor Evans's
powerful book Kingdom Living. Receive this entire package with our
thanks when you make a donation to help keep Tony's
teaching on this station. Get all the details and make
(22:12):
your request online at Tonyevans dot org before this limited
time offer runs out again. That's Tonyevans dot org. Or
call our twenty four hour resource request line at one
eight hundred eight hundred three two two two and let
one of our team members assist you. That's one eight
hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two. Children naturally imitate
(22:37):
the adults they look up to, and spiritually the same
should be true for us. Tomorrow, doctor Evans explains what
it looks like to reflect our heavenly Father in the
way we live, the way we love others, and the
way we make our everyday decisions. Right now, though, he's
back to wrap up today's message with this closing observation.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Well, the great demonstrates of nature is when a caterpillar
becomes a butterfly, and that old shell. It's slimy and slow,
and I really don't see a lot of people going
caterpillar collecting.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Most people see caterpillars and squash them.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
They're viewed as empty and vain and feudal and meaningless.
But then one day it is converted and sitting on
the side of the tree on the bark. A transformation
occurs and it cocoons and a.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
New life, a new life emerges.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
But a struggle ensues because that new life wants to
break from that old shell, that old shell that's.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Been in control all this time.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
But as that butterfly grows, the influence of the shell
shrinks and the power of the wings take over. And
outcomes something totally different. This is something you want to hold.
This is something you want to collect. This is something
(24:17):
that you and I at. Look at how pretty that is.
God has put a new u in an old body,
but he wants it to grow and get bigger and
bigger and bigger, so that instead of the old you
telling it what to do, the new you tell the
old flesh what to do, because you have been converted
Because it is popular, it doesn't make it right. Because
everybody else we know happens to do it doesn't mean
we ought to be doing it.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Doctor Tony Evans says, when culture becomes your compass, you
lose your direction.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
If you look too much like the culture, that means
you don't look enough like Christ.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. You can't walk
in two directions at once, and the same is true spiritually. Today,
doctor Evans calls us to leave behind our old way
of living and step into the new identity we've been
(00:39):
given in Christ. Let's listen as he takes us to
Ephesians chapter four to explain what it means to walk
the heavenly walk.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
They are four thoughts that I want to bring out
of verses seventeen through verse thirty two. The first one
is recorded for us in verse seventeen, and that is
the contrast of the Christian walk. Our focus is on
the Christian walk, and you'll see why here. In verse
seventeen he says this, I say, therefore and testify the Lord,
(01:10):
that you walk no longer as the gentiles walk in
the futility of their mind. The first thing he wants
you to do is have a contrasting walk. That is,
if you're going to be heavenly in your walk, then
it must be contrasting the walk of the world, or,
(01:33):
as he says, the walk of the gentiles. Now, the
phrase walking like the gentiles was a reference to walking
like those who are outside of Christ. The euphemism walk
means conduct, how you carry yourself, what you do.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Versus what you don't do.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
It has to do with the direction of your spiritual life.
He says that now that you are in Christ, that
you are no longer to conduct or act like the
mass of humanity that surrounds you. Because it is popular
doesn't make it right. Because everybody else we know happens
(02:15):
to do it doesn't mean we are to be doing it.
That God has a different standard for his church and
for his children, so we are to march out of
step to the world because we are listening to a
different drummer. Paul puts it this way in Romans twelve
to two.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Be not conformed to this world.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Don't let the world squeeze you, mold you, shape you,
arrange you into its mold. You know, it was used
of a potter who took a piece of clay and
molded it into a cup or sauce, or a plate
or bowl. In other words, he took this glob of
clay and reshaped it into the image he wanted it
to be. Well, the walk of the Gentiles is the
(03:02):
popular image of the culture. In fact, if you look
too much like the culture, that means you don't look
enough like Christ because the more you look like culture,
and the more secular culture becomes, the.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
More out of step you will seem to be.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Secondly, the control of the Christian walk not only is
their contrast, but there is a control factor. Why do
the Gentiles walk the way they walk? And why should
we walk the way we walk? Verse eighteen says having
their understanding darkened, The second half says, through the ignorance
(03:44):
that is in them, notice verse twenty but you have
not so learned Christ now talking to Christians. And then
notice verse twenty three, and that you put on the
new Man, which is creating and righteousness and true holiness,
and be renewed in the spear of your what mind.
So he uses phrases like understanding ignorance, learned and mind. Now,
(04:09):
what's the common denominator of all that you're thinking?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
You're thinking? You see, your.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Lifestyle is not controlled by your lifestyle. Your lifestyle is
controlled by your brain. As a man thinks, so is he.
He says that the unrighteous walk the way they walk
because they think the way they think.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Well, how do they think? Well, he says, first of all.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
In verse eighteen, they have a darkened understanding.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
They are living in a spiritual.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Fog where they cannot perceive things very clearly, and so
he calls this a darkened understanding. He goes on and
he says, they're alienating from the life of God verse eighteen.
That is why, because they do not have the life
of God, they have no divine perspective.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
But in the same control.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Factor where they're thinking is affecting them. He makes the
contrast with our control factor, which affects us. He says
in verse twenty, But you have not so learned Christ.
But what do you do you learn in the mind
that you're thinking. If so be that you have heard him,
(05:30):
have been taught by Him as truth is in Jesus,
you have this new spiritual capacity for learning, spiritual phenomenon
that the non believer does not have. It is possible
to grow in your religious knowledge and decline in your
(05:51):
spiritual experience. To learn Christ is not only to get
more information, although it includes that, to learn Christ means
to heighten a relationship. If in fact, you want to
come to know Christ better, you have to be committed
to truth. Now, let me tell you what that also means.
(06:14):
Unlike the gentiles the unredeemed, who focus on their feelings,
that's when the Bible uses sensuality, the feel the unregenerated
want to feel it. God never denies feelings. Feelings are
an important part of our human composition, but feelings are
(06:40):
to always be subjected to revelation. Let me say it again.
Truth is in Jesus. Let me define truth so we
on the same page. Truth means an absolute, objective standard
by which reality is measured. That's true and absolute, nonnegotiable objective.
(07:04):
It sits outside of myself. It's true when I like it.
It's true when I don't like it. It's true when I
feel it's true and I don't feel it.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
It's true because it's true.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
It's an objective standard, an absolute objective standard by which
what is real is measured.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
It cuts between.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Good, bad, false, true, positive negative.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
It is an objective standard. Truth is in Jesus.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Now, Jesus had no problem with this because he hit
jump out in a minute and say I am the Way,
the Truth, and the life. No man comes to the
Father but by me, period any questions. He was not
only knowledgeable about truth. He lays out a claim that's astronomical.
He says, I am truth. And that's why there is
(07:51):
no middle ground with Christ. To you, this good man's
stuff won't work. He was a great prophet.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Oh no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Because if he was a great prophet, he was a liar.
Because he says, totally rich, young ruler, don't call me good.
There's none good but God. So either I'm no good
or I'm God, but don't call me good. That's a demotion.
I'm either God or I'm like every other man sinful,
(08:21):
So don't call me good. See, the call Jesus good
is not a compliment. It's an insult. You just devalued him.
He's claiming deity. So that's no compliment to Jesus to
say he's a great prophet, a good man in a
nice example. Well, he is all those things, but he's
all those things because of who he is, in his
uniqueness and the uniqueness of his person, and that is
(08:41):
he's the God Man, and so he claims to be truth,
the non negotiable truth. Look at first John five, verse twenty.
And we know that the Son of God is come,
and hath given us an understanding that we may know
him that is true, know him that is true, and
(09:03):
we are in him that is true, even in his son,
Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
The better you know Christ, the better you'll make sense
of truth. And the less you know Christ, you may
have more information, but you'll be ever learning and never
(09:24):
coming into the knowledge of the truth.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Because the truth is tied to a person.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Intimacy with Christ means depth in truth, a reliable standard
by which reality is measured. So Christ is the subject,
the source, and the sphere of knowledge.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
That means in.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Living our Christian life. You know, they wear these risk
bands today the kids do what would Jesus do?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well?
Speaker 1 (09:51):
This passage would say a question to you, and I
should ask, is what would Jesus think? Because he as
a man see I can ask myself what would Jesus do?
But that doesn't help me if I'm not thinking like
Jesus thinks. If I'm not thinking like he thinks, then
(10:13):
I have two problems. One I may not come up
with the right conclusion about.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
What he would do.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Or if I come up with the right conclusion about
what he would do, I would not have the power
necessarily to do what he would do because I'm not
thinking like he thought. And like he thought was I've
come to do my father as well he thought in
terms of his relationship with his father, And because he
had this relationship with his father, he.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Could do what he did. Out of our relationship with him,
we can do what we ought to do.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Paul can say I can do all things through Christ,
who strengthens me.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Because that's how he thought.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
But when you and I say, well, I can't do
this even though Christ wants me to do it, that's
because that's how we think. See, he says, you haven't
learned Christ yet. Yeah, you may quote the verse, but
you haven't learned the person. It's intimacy with the person
that produces it.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Real transformation doesn't come from just knowing about Christ. It
comes from walking with him. Doctor Evans will show us
how to renew our thinking when he returns in just
a moment. First, so I want to tell you about
Tony's popular book, Kingdom Living. It's a powerful guide to
spiritual growth that can help you develop a deeper relationship
(11:24):
with God and discover how to live out your identity
in Christ every day. It's full of practical insights on
how to overcome temptation, grow and grace and experience real
transformation right where you are, and for limited time, we'll
send Kingdom Living to you as a thank you gift
when you support doctor Evans Ministry with a contribution. In addition,
(11:47):
we'll also include all sixteen messages from his current audio
series Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. It's available
on CD or USB and as instant digital downloads everything
you need to revisit and share these life changing truths
from the Book of Ephesians. Call us at one eight hundred,
(12:08):
eight hundred thirty two twenty two and let us know
we can count on your help or make your donation
and request this special double offer online at Tonyevans dot org.
I'll repeat our contact information after part two of today's message.
Let's join doctor Evans again as he digs into the
heavenly walk, as outlined in Ephesians chapter four.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
So the control center is the mind, our thinking. Thirdly,
the clothing for the Christian walk got a dressful success.
God wants us to wear, to wear our lifestyle verse
twenty two. That you put off concerning the former manner
of life, the old man, which is corrupt according to
(12:55):
deceitful Nuss verse twenty four, and you put on the
new man, which after God has created in righteousness and
true holiness. When you were saved, you got a new wardrobe.
The tense here is an accomplished act. He's talking about
something that occurred. What occurred is an all.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
The wardrobe was the started.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
And a new wardrobe was received. This deals with your
position in Christ. When you were saved, you and I
became a new creation. Second garand this five seventeen. Any
man being Christy, he's a new creation, he's a new creature.
(13:44):
All things passed away, all things become new. Something cataclysmic
happened at conversion, and that is you received a new.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Nature, a brand new pseudo clothe, a new nature.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Now the problem is theologically, if I received this new nature.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
How come I'm still having problems with.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
These old habits, desires, all things I used to do?
Why is this? Turn your Bible to Romans chapter seven?
Romans chapter seven, This great passage is really the clearest
explanation for the tension that exists between the new you
(14:34):
and your new wardrobe, and.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Yet so often you still looking like the old clothes.
Paul had the same struggle verse fifteen.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
For that which I do I understand not for what
I would that do I not, but what I hate
that I do. In other words, stuff I hate to
do I find myself doing sometimes. If then I don't
do the things that I would not, I consent that
the law is good because I don't want to do it.
So I'm saying, if there's something I don't want to do,
there's something wrong with it. So the law where God
(15:08):
said something wrong with it is good. Now then it
is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me. There it is right there. It may
not be quickly apparent, but there it is right there.
He raises the possibility that you could do things wrong without.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
It being you who is happening to do it.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
He says it is no longer when I do the
things I hate to do, but I do it anyway,
it is no longer I who did it.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
The question is how can that be? How can it
no longer be I who did it?
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Because when you came to Christ, you got a new eye,
that is, a new nature was depositive within you. It
didn't change your personality in terms of changing yoursel You're
still the same person, but the essence of your being
was totally reconfigured or totally transformed by Jesus Christ. Well
(16:11):
wait a minute, then, If then I was transformed by Christ,
when my hand wants to touch, when my mouth wants to.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Say, when my brain wants to think.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Things that are not pleasing to God, if it's not
the eye who did it, who in the world did it?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
The only person living in me is me?
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Well, he tells you, because he says in verse seventeen,
But sin that dwells in me. In other words, the
new youth, the converted you, was.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Placed inside of the old shell your body. Your body
is the old body.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
God did nothing to your body when you got saved.
There was nothing that took place to your body. Why
because the old you that used to live in the
old shell contaminated the body.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
You see, the old you that was full of sin.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
The gentiles totally completely contaminated your body.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Your body is taught.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
It is so contaminated that in order for you to
get to Heaven, Jesus has got to give you a
new body. So you got to dress for success by
having the clothing of the new life. That leads to, finally,
the conduct of Christian walk. What does it mean to
look like Christ? He named five things back in Ephesians.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Chapter four.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
That is reflective of a person who is put on.
And remember the key between taking off verse twenty two
and putting on verse twenty four is renewing your mind
verse twenty three. The conduct of the Christian walk. First
of all, he says, stop lying.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
That's what he said. Why should you not lie, he
says verse twenty five, because we're members of one another.
He says, we.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Need each other here. This is a family issue. Secondly,
control your anger. Control your anger. It's not wrong to
be angry. It's not wrong to have anger. It is
wrong for anger to have you to be angry at.
Sin is righteousness. God is angry with the wicked every day.
(18:38):
Jesus turned over the tables in the temple John two,
because of his anger at their unrighteousness. But let not
the sun go down on your wrath. Now you know
what wrath is. Wrath is anger going public. Anger becomes
a spark, and Satan uses it to light a fire.
That's why he says in verse twenty seven, don't give
(19:00):
place for the devil, because the devil.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Likes to see you mad.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Because he can get you mad enough, he'll get you
to say something you regret, do something that you regret
and wish you didn't do it. Many people are in
prison to day because they killed somebody because they got angry. Certainly,
stop stealing, because if you steal, it means you gotta
hurt somebody else.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
See, let's just talk about you talking about other people.
Stop stealing pencils from the office, paper from the office,
time from the balls. Stop stealing, but rather let him labor,
working with his hands the things.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Which is good.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Why why work just so I can have money in
my pocket? No, so you can have enough money in
your pocket that you can give to him that needs.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
See. To conduct yourself as the gentile is to be selfish.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
To conduct yourself as a believer is to be a
giving person so that you are able to see.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
And that's the problem of debt. Debt never.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
If you live in debt, then you can never fulfill
your biblical purpose toward others because you're always paying for
stuff you're spent on you. Fourthly, watch how you talk.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Stop cussing, slander, gossip,
dirty jokes, he says, stop it. But that which is
(20:24):
good and edifies the Greek word. If I neither build up.
In other words, does this word help or hurt? If
it hurts, why am I saying it? Finally, remove the
vices thirty one thirty two Bitterness an attitude of resentfulness, wrath,
(20:45):
that explosion of anger, that ongoing seething within clamor, he says,
that's shouting and screaming and.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Evil speaking, putting down.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Put away from you with all malice, ill will, and
be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another.
Why even if God, for Christ's sake have forgiven you,
He's got the whole Trinity in this passage.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Don't grieve the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Jesus died for you, and God forgave you the whole
Trinity is involved in this new wardrobe that you have
create a new atmosphere for your own spiritual growth.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Doctor Tony Evans calling us to live in a way
that honors the one who made forgiveness possible, and he'll
come back to wrap up this message on the Heavenly
Walk in just a moment before he does, though, don't
forget to request your copy of his current sixteen part
series on the Book of Ephesians called Ordinary Holy. It
includes the full length versions of all the messages in
(21:52):
this series, including a couple that you won't be able
to hear on the broadcast, and we're adding a special
bonus gift to go along with this series, doctor Evans's
powerful book Kingdom Living. Receive this entire package with our
thanks when you make a donation to help keep Tony's
teaching on this station. Get all the details and make
(22:12):
your request online at Tonyevans dot org before this limited
time offer runs out again. That's Tonyevans dot org. Or
call our twenty four hour resource request line at one
eight hundred eight hundred three two two two and let
one of our team members assist you. That's one eight
hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two. Children naturally imitate
(22:37):
the adults they look up to, and spiritually the same
should be true for us. Tomorrow, doctor Evans explains what
it looks like to reflect our heavenly Father in the
way we live, the way we love others, and the
way we make our everyday decisions. Right now, though, he's
back to wrap up today's message with this closing observation.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Well, the great demonstrates of nature is when a caterpillar
becomes a butterfly, and that old shell. It's slimy and slow,
and I really don't see a lot of people going
caterpillar collecting.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Most people see caterpillars and squash them.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
They're viewed as empty and vain and feudal and meaningless.
But then one day it is converted and sitting on
the side of the tree on the bark. A transformation
occurs and it cocoons and a.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
New life, a new life emerges.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
But a struggle ensues because that new life wants to
break from that old shell, that old shell that's.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Been in control all this time.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
But as that butterfly grows, the influence of the shell
shrinks and the power of the wings take over. And
outcomes something totally different. This is something you want to hold.
This is something you want to collect. This is something
(24:17):
that you and I at. Look at how pretty that is.
God has put a new u in an old body,
but he wants it to grow and get bigger and
bigger and bigger, so that instead of the old you
telling it what to do, the new you tell the
old flesh what to do, because you have been converted
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