Well, this morning if you would open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4, I'm going to be preaching to you from verses 20 to 22, but I'm going to begin reading at verse 17, and I will read down to verse 24. I want to speak to you this morning about what it means to learn Christ, from that phrase, you have not so learned Christ. And I want to try to open up that phrase and what it means for us to know Christ. So let's pray together before I begin to speak to you. Thank you, Father, that you are here with your gathered church. We thank you that this morning we can call upon your holy name, bless and praise you for giving us Christ as our savior. the one who is perfect, the one who is pure, the one who is holy, the one who loved us enough to die on a cross for our sins, was raised again for our justification. And so we pray that you will come and meet with us here today and instruct every heart by your Holy Spirit through this message. In Jesus' name we ask it, amen. Ephesians chapter four, and begin reading in verse 17. This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness, but you have not so learned Christ. If indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. So it's a very good thing, my brothers and sisters, when you can see the Christian life as you're learning from Christ himself. In connection with the Holy Spirit's working, I want you to see that you as a Christian have a responsibility to begin and to continue to do certain things in relation to living your Christian life. And I want to talk to you about the first two of the three things that are listed here. First of all, I want to explain to you what it means to hear Christ and to be taught by him. And second, I want to begin to explain to you what it means to put off the old man who grows corrupt. So let's consider these truths together now and try to understand better what God is looking for from us in living our life to him. First of all, you have the responsibility to hear Christ and to be taught by him, verses 20 and 21. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. Interesting wording, is it not? It does not say, if indeed you have heard about the Lord Jesus, but it says, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him. In other words, to hear Christ is to have learned Christ. And you can know that you know Christ when you can spiritually hear his word. Hearing Christ is not simply thinking about information that you have heard about the Lord Jesus from someone. a teacher of the word or someone who is sharing biblical truth with you, that's not what gives you this personal ability to hear him. It is the Holy Spirit's working in your heart which gives you this ability to hear him. Now, this is not an audible voice that you hear. It is Christ's voice speaking to you through and by means of his word in your heart, in your mind, by the power of the Holy Spirit. I want you to turn with me over to John chapter five and verses 24 to 27. It says here, most assuredly I say to you, Jesus says, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment. but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself and has given him authority to execute judgment also. because he is the son of man. Now, if we were to go on to read verses 28 and 29, we would see that Jesus was speaking of two different types of resurrection. In verse 28 and 29, Jesus goes on to talk about physical resurrection from the dead, which his voice will bring about on the last day. But before that, he mentions spiritual resurrection, which comes to those who have faith in him. A person comes to know the spirits working in their heart, giving them spiritual resurrection from their death in trespasses and sins. The first resurrection that he mentions is a spiritual resurrection. How do we know this? is because of the wording of verses 24 and 25. In verse 24, Jesus says, whoever hears his word and believes in him who sent him has, present tense, everlasting life. So that person who believes in him will not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. He's talking about being converted to himself, becoming his disciple, becoming his follower, because he has given you life. So now you have, if you believed in Jesus, this hearing heart. In verse 25, Jesus says that the hour is coming and now is. when those who are dead, that is spiritually dead, will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. He cannot be talking about physical resurrection because this verse follows just after what he said in verse 24, in which he plainly states the matter when you believe in Jesus, you have this spiritual life in yourself. He says that you should not marvel over this. That is his blessed work of giving you spiritual life. The ability to hear his voice. He can do this. In verses 37 to 40, Jesus says concerning those who were unwilling to believe in him, and the father himself who sent me, has testified of me, you have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form, but you do not have his word abiding in you because whom he sent, him you do not believe. You search the scriptures for in them, you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of me, but you are not willing to come to me. that you may have eternal life. That is, they never came to saving faith in Jesus. Even though they had heard the scriptures many times, they never heard his voice speaking spiritually to their hearts in and through the scriptures because they were unwilling to come to him. when he personally came to them, preaching his word to them, having been sent by the Father to preach the gospel to them. Now this is the way it is with all people by nature, before they are saved. But I want to show you that this matter of hearing of Jesus's voice is something that all of his disciples, all true believers need to see the importance of as they walk with him day by day on the path of righteousness. Christ himself, I'm trying to show you, is really teaching you the spiritual truth of the Bible, reinforcing it to your mind and heart. And not all Christians progress at the same rate of hearing. I hope that you understand this. I want you to turn over to John chapter 13 with me. And I want to read to you verses 31 to 38. So when he had gone out, Jesus said, now the son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify himself immediately. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come. So now I say to you a new commandment that I have given to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake. And Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times. Now we need to ask ourselves, how is Jesus going to be glorified immediately in God at that point? Well, it would be by his going to the cross. It would be by his dying for our sins. Where he was going, he was going to heaven. After he finished the work of redemption, they could not come, not yet. And it's very interesting here that Jesus says right at this point, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. And Jesus said this because they especially needed to hear this. at that time. It was a time when they were very confused about the future. They were greatly troubled about not being able to follow Jesus to the place that he was going, that is to the cross and beyond, to heaven itself. And Jesus wanted to teach them how to love one another even when they were troubled. And Peter right away mentions his own loyalty to Christ. He mentions his own determination to follow the Lord, even if it meant laying down his life for him. And he questions why he could not follow Christ at that point. And Jesus had just said that Peter would follow him afterwards. But Jesus knew that Peter was not hearing his voice at that point. As of yet. He was hearing Jesus, but he was not hearing him spiritually in relation to what Jesus knew that he was really like in his heart. How strong the thoughts of his old man were. And so he plainly tells Peter that the rooster would not crow till he had denied him three times. Now, I want you to see the connection between what Jesus said to all the disciples a moment before about loving one another, even as Jesus was loving them at that point, and that in relation to his going to the cross. We need to understand that as we read the scriptures, that we too as Christians are going to have many things to learn from Christ. And this is the most important thing. Jesus says that they would learn to love in times of difficulty, trial, and trouble. That's my first point. Second, I want you to see that you have a responsibility to put off the old man, which grows corrupt. Verse 21b and 22, as the truth is in Jesus that you put off concerning your former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now we've just seen In my first point to you that Peter's holding to his own self-determination and his own evaluation of his own abilities was the very thing that led to his denying his Lord. Even though Jesus had told him of this danger, we know that he held to this all the way through the time that Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane praying. He held to it all the way through the time when Jesus was being apprehended and being betrayed by Judas and the temple guard. And he held to it all the way into the courtyard of the high priest where he was confronted by a servant girl about his being one of Christ's disciples and he denied it. This leads me to say that when you learn the truth as it is in Jesus, and you believe this truth and are saved, you still will have much to learn about your putting off the old man. What is the old man? The old man is the person that you once were before you came to faith in Christ. It is the person that you were with all of your wrong thoughts, all of your wrong conclusions about God and Christ. And there were many times where, as an unbeliever, you thought that you could live the life of a Christian by your own strength, by your own wisdom. Even though you weren't a Christian, you thought this way. But when you learned that Christ was the only perfect person and you believed in him, then all of this began to change. You learned that because you were learning from Christ, that there were still many things to learn about your old man. You had to learn that he was still there in you. Now there's a lot of Christians who honestly, they just don't see this. They think that when they became a Christian, that the old man was completely eradicated, like David C Needham used to write about years ago in his book Birthright, where he talked about Christians as being a flawless prism in their heart. No, beloved, we are not flawless prisms in our heart. Sadly, there is much work that needs to be done in putting off the old man. But we have Christ. who is the flawless prism and who is transforming us by His grace and power to become much better at living for Him than we once were and will continue to do so all the way to glory. So what I'm trying to show you is that there's much to learn. about this person that you once were, and much to put off. He's been dethroned from your life. I hope you know that. When you believed in Jesus, there was a radical break that took place between you and sin, and you and your old nature, and you died to sin. It was a real spiritual death that you experienced the sin in your heart. And you may have thought as a young Christian for a time that that old man was entirely gone and that the flesh was no longer there. But then you came to experience and to understand the strength of the old man is still there. He can't dominate you. And you are not forced to do anything that he would want you to do. But you do have to do battle with him every day. That is with your flesh. The old man are synonymous terms in the scriptures and should be seen so by us. That's what we're putting off. That's a present ongoing work of ours in the sight of the Lord Jesus and for His sake as well as for our own. Now that's something that you have to learn. You learn Christ in this good way that I'm talking to you about here. You have to grapple with these things that I'm trying to talk to you about. The strength of the suggestions of the old man to your mind and heart. Oh, this is what I can do and either nobody sees this or I can get away with this in my heart, my life, my secret sins, my secret thoughts, my secret actions. But Jesus sees it all. And beloved, we need to understand just how lovingly patient and kind the Lord Jesus is with us in teaching us day by day where we need to change. There are some things which we need to take notice of here. Verse 22 of Ephesians 4 is saying that since you have been crucified with Christ, that you have put off the old man who grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts And this means that if the old man is growing corrupt, or grows corrupt, that he's not completely dead yet. Because there's still a part of your fallen corrupt nature, the flesh, that remains after conversion to Christ. And so you, as a believer, have the responsibility, as one who is saved, one who is forgiven, to put off this old man. What does it mean for you to put him off? It means that when you are tempted to live the way that you once lived before you came to Christ in sin in any way that you put off those sinful thoughts. Now that is not easy because we have grown up And we've inclined our hearts a lot of times to our own wisdom, our own understanding. We like to evaluate ourselves. And we think we're pretty good at it. But the Lord will show us things by the power of the Holy Spirit that need to change, and we may not receive it very well right away. Maybe we aren't as patient. or kind, or loving, or caring, or thoughtful towards other people as we should be. Maybe we aren't really recognizing the fact that God is with us at all times, and that he wants to have fellowship with you day by day, in your heart, in your mind, in your life, as you walk. That's what your walk is all about, your walk with Jesus. Walking with Jesus, we used to sing years ago, there is no greater thrill. When you understand that the Lord is with you at all times, he sees your thoughts at all times. He knows your motives. He knows your goals. He knows everything you're striving to be and to become for him. Don't you think that he wants to have fellowship with you and your heart over these things? I believe he does. day by day. So, these sinful, unbelieving, deceptive thoughts may still try to cling to you like a cloak that you used to wear. But now you have new clothes, new spiritual clothes that you have been given by Christ, and you put them on by the power of the Holy Spirit. You clothe yourselves with Christ. Now do you think about it that way? It's good for you to think about this. Good for me to think about this. Am I clothing myself with Christ? So we should try to understand that the fleshly thoughts of the old man are still going to try to continue on with you. This is only because you have to learn the new and better way. You have all the blessings. of salvation that have been given to you have the robe of righteousness which covers you as a garment so that God sees you as perfect and complete in Christ. That is always with you and always upon you, but you must consciously clothe yourselves with these things that have been given to you. You have clothes, but you need to clothe yourself. You need to learn this new and better way. You've been girded with truth. But these things you must consciously put on. In other words, you go out into your day every day and you should take up your Bible before you go out and just look at one verse. Just reflect upon it. Let it speak to you and carry it with you as you go through your day. So that you will learn from Christ by it. Old sinful thoughts must not reign in you. anymore. But it's even more than this. It means that you will not trust in the strength of your own determination and in your own self-evaluation to do things for Christ you think will help forward His cause either. Now this is where the rubber really meets the road for most of us. In other words, we have to learn to rest in God's Word that He will be with us and that Christ will be with us by His Spirit to teach us in accordance with His Word. You will pray and you will listen for Christ's voice to you, speaking to you through His Word. That's why it's so important that you abide in the Word. If you abide in my Word, you're truly disciples of mine. And what will happen? Well, Christ will speak to you through His Word. He will do this day by day. And He'll bring thoughts into your mind, the things that you should think about in relation to the Bible. That's the Holy Spirit's work. He leads you into the truth and He teaches you. What a great thing this is, beloved. This is just a great thing. This is what the essence of your relationship with Christ is all about. So, We need to be careful that we do not do what Peter did in this particular situation. Peter was a true Christian, but he had much to learn in this regard. There were some things that he failed to do to put off the old man. When it came to his wanting to help the Lord Jesus and to defend him, Peter truly wanted to help the Lord Jesus. Now I want you to turn with me over to Matthew 26, and I wanna read to you verses 36 to 41. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, sit here while I go and pray over there. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death, stay here and watch with me. And he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, what? Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. So you can see here how unable Peter and any of the disciples were to be able to support the Lord in the time of his greatest agony. Because even though they truly loved him, and wanted to help, they did not watch and pray. The reason that they did not watch and pray was because they did not put off the old man in this situation. In just the same way, you and I will sleep at crucial times in the life of our church. and we will not be able to do anything to help anyone if we do not watch and pray. Our spirit is willing, but the flesh, that is the old man who grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, is weak. The old man does not have the spiritual strength to do what is right, on occasions in which other Christians need us the most. And I want you to turn with me to see this over to John 18, and I want to read to you verses 7 to 11. This large band is coming to arrest Jesus. And in verse seven, Jesus asked them again, whom are you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. Therefore, if you seek me, let these go their way. That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spoke, of those whom you gave me, I have lost none. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? Now notice how wonderfully the Lord Jesus was teaching Peter how to put on the new man, how to love others, when he himself was being wrongfully taken away as a criminal. I'm talking about Jesus now, is instructing Peter right at that very time about how to put on the new man and how to love others. This gentle rebuke. which Jesus gave to Peter was not given by Jesus in order to tell us that we should not defend our loved ones from being taken from us during times of unjust governmental actions. Not what he's saying here. What it's warning us of. is our thinking, it's warning us against our thinking fleshly thoughts and taking fleshly actions such as Peter took there at that time. Peter was trying to keep his master from having to be arrested. He didn't want Jesus to be taken away, to be crucified. But you remember that Jesus had already told Peter that he was going to have to go to the cross even before this. And Peter, as Jesus told him earlier in Matthew 16, 23, was not minding the things of God, but rather only the things of men. So we need to take heed to ourselves that this will not be the case with any of us either. It should be a warning to us against our thinking that we should take matters into our own hands to violently accomplish earthly justice when we know at times that we or others that we love will have to suffer for the faith. Now again, this is not to say that defense of Christians or loved ones is wrong. I'm not saying that. But earthly, selfish, carnal means to accomplish that end are not right in the sight of God. Now you can see, I trust, why Jesus gave his disciples the new commandment just before he went to the cross. Cross bearing and love to the brethren go hand in hand. Do you see that? They go hand in hand with Jesus. Because Jesus knew that they had much to learn. And having learned it, He wanted them to be patient, kind, and loving when personally things were most difficult. Even when they were suffering for righteousness sake, He wants this to be the case with us as well. We should be able to receive the idea that when we are receiving the greatest opposition from wicked men, or even great opposition from righteous men, that we can demonstrate the love of Christ to them at that very time. That's what each of us must ask ourselves. Now, I hope that you will remember that you as a Christian may have many things to learn in terms of what it will mean for you to put off the old man and put on the new, but you have Christ and he will be enough. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this amazing passage. And we pray and ask that you would seal these truths to our hearts so that we will know more of what it means to put off the old man and put on the new, realizing that you, our teacher, are with us to most practically lead us into the truth by the Holy Spirit and teach us day by day. Help us to glory in this. Help us to rejoice in this. Help us to live according to these truths that I've given to your people. And even now that we will resolve in our hearts according to the power that you give us, to live our lives having fellowship with you in such a way that we will grow in respect to putting the old man off and the new man on. We pray it in Jesus' name, Father. Amen.