Milford Church of Christ

 

Introduction: Satan wants to kill, steal and destroy. Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly. Satan even orchestrated the death of the God’s dear Son but it was the Father who was “pleased to crush Him.” He became sin on our behalf so that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus won us the victory. That is the Gospel. It is now Satan’s scheme to keep man from this truth; from Jesus; from His blood, for by doing that He keeps him from glory. For the Christian who is more than a conqueror through Jesus, he draws him back to the old manner of life. The Gentile walk.

INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT WALKING – Walking refers to our manner of life.
Walk in faith (Rom. 4:12; 2 Cor. 5:7) Walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4) Walk according to the Spirit not flesh (Rom. 8:4; 1 Cor. 3:3; 2 Cor. 10:3; Gal. 5:16, 25; 2 Peter 2:10) Walk as in the day not night; light not dark (Rom. 13:13; Eph. 5:8; 1 John 1:6-7) Walk in good works (Eph. 2:10) Walk worthy of God and His calling (Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:12; 4:1) Walk in love (Eph. 5:2; 2 John 1:6) Walk in wisdom (Eph. 5:15; Col. 4:5) Walk in the Lord (Col. 1:10; 2:6; 1 John 2:6).

THE GENTILE WALK
Gentiles or ‘nations’ refers to those outside of God’s covenant. Not only were they “strangers to the covenants of promise” but they were excluded from fellowship with the people of God. The only time they were united with the Jews was when they stood with them against Jesus (Acts 4:25-28). Therefore, to be a Gentile was to not know God (1 Thessalonians 4:15). To walk like a Gentile was to live outside of fellowship with God. Satan’s mission to “make war with [those] who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 12:17) is accomplished by making disciples to walk “just as the Gentiles also walk”.

War is made in against the mind and the heart of every man. It is done so with weapons of truth and lies. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6), Satan is the “father of lies” (John 8:44).

WALK NO LONGER JUST AS THE GENTILES ALSO WALK
FUTILITY OF THEIR MIND (v17) - vain and meaningless thinking
Satan attacks the mind to focus on temporary, passing, and fleshly things. Whereas, God says
“1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3)
Satan is working to get us to focus on earthly things as if this world is our home. Whereas, God says
“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)
Focusing on this world and storing up treasures in this world is futile thinking
“7For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:7-10)
This was the very thing that Satan tempted Jesus with (Matthew 4:8-10).

DARKENED IN THEIR UNDERSTANDING (v18) – reason and understanding are clouded.
Remember that Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), conversely, Satan dwells in darkness. Truth and Jesus are always mentioned in correlation to light not darkness (John 1:5-9; Romans 13:12-14; Ephesians 5:8-14; 2 Peter 1:19; 1 John 1:5-7). Satan is the one trying to bring the cloud of darkness through deception and snatching away the seed of truth (Mark 4:13). Christians have been “rescued from the domain of darkness, and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).
The mission of Paul, and I believe the mission of the Church, is in this arena
“To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” (Acts 26:18)
Those kept from the light have veiled hearts and minds; blinded by Satan until light is shone to them
“3And if our gospel if veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-6)

EXCLUDED FROM THE LIFE OF GOD BECAUSE OF THE IGNORANCE THAT IS IN THEM (v18)
Ignorance is not an excuse for not knowing God for He has made Himself known to all
“18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:18-22)
Once again, Paul (and the Church, I presume) is in the business of teaching the good things of God
“For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘To an unknown God.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:23)
Ignorance has brought destruction on mankind in the past, particularly the people of God
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)

BECAUSE OF THE HARDNESS OF THEIR HEART (v18)
Satan wants to make your heart seared, defiled, weak and evil and to eventually make it hard. We have our “hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:22). A hard heart is one that is not discerning or believing truth. Those who disobeyed God in the wilderness are said to have “hardened their hearts” (Hebrews 3). They rejected God and they refused to believe. Furthermore, they were “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (v. 13). This hardening, disobedience and unbelief particularly, is what kept them from entering the promised land (v. 19)

HAVING BECOME CALLOUS (v19)
Satan then wants to make that hard heart calloused. Being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and resisting the word of God will do that. The man has become past feeling and has ceased to feel pain. The Spirit expressly speaks that in latter times people will depart from the faith and follow the doctrines of demons and after following lies for so long they will be as “having their conscience seared as with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:2).

The NIV version of Ephesians 4:19 says they have “lost all sensitivity” which is really getting at the heart of the issue. In the Church in Corinth there was some walking worse than the Gentiles! A man was with his father’s wife. The Church was becoming immune to the things of God because they were engrossed in sin and was becoming slaves to it. Paul rebukes them for not being sensitive about it, mourning and removing the sin from the camp. “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst” (1 Corinthians 5:2). That is what sin does. It makes us hardened and eventually calloused to not feel remorse for our offense to God.

GIVEN THEMSELVES OVER TO SENSUALITY …EVERY KIND OF IMPURITY WITH GREEDINESS (v19)
Once we have become calloused, we may then become immersed in sensuality…with greediness. Notice that they give themselves over to sin, participate in every kind of sin and still want more. In this case sin has affectively become an addiction and the person will do whatever they can to get more frequent fixes and in higher doses. If this cycle is not abandoned through prayer, repentance, bible study and with the help of other Christians, the end will be certain spiritual destruction. Before we point the figure at others, remember that this letter was written to Christians. No one is immune. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

BUT YOU DID NOT LEARN CHRIST IN THIS WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (v20)
Satan wants futility of mind – We are having our “minds renewed day by day”
Satan wants darkened understanding – We have the revealed will of God and “we can understand”
Satan wants us excluded from life by ignorance – God “does not want us to be uninformed…”
Satan wants a hard and calloused heart – God has given us a new heart and new spirit
Satan wants all impurity with greediness – God has freed us from the “power of sin”