Sunday Services

The total depravity of mankind, Pt3.

Ephesians 4:17-19. 

4:17-19. The total depravity of mankind.III. SEPARATION IN LIFESTYLE BECOMES ALL THE MORE NECESSARY GIVEN THE OUTWORKINGS OF THE DEPRAVED HEART.
We are commanded “not to walk” as the unconverted Gentile. Their problem is not just one of the mind and heart but it is also one of practice. That which their heart and mind contemplates must be seen in their actions and deeds.
See what Paul says is the consequence of having the understandiug darkened and the heart blinded.

1. The sinner is past feeling. Literally “beyond feeling”. They cannot feel that which a living soul feels. Why did not David “feel” his sins? Because for a time he was under the rule of the old nature which is devoid of such feelings.
The sinner has no sympathy or empathy with the saint and his fears and dreads. Public morality is a morality “imposed” by Christians. That is why it constantly resisted and eroded. Unconverted members of a family outwardly abide within the parameters of acceptable behaviour but inwardly desire the ways of the flesh.

2. They have willingly become the slaves of depravity. “Given themselves over”. Thus they pass from one sin to another without restraint. “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries,” 1 Peter 4:3. “How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?” Job 15:16. That the world has not swiftly sunk down into a Sodom is due to the restraints exercised by God through the witness of His people rather than any lack of zeal or desire on the part of the wicked, Romans 1:24, 26.

3. Sin is the business of the sinner. That is what he works at.He works at uncleanness and that with greed. He has a large and insatiable appetite for sin.
From such we must, for our own safety and for the honour of the Lord, withdraw.
The way of the child of God takes them on a different path altogether as the next section of the chapter sets forth.

The total depravity of mankind, Pt2

Ephesians 4:17-19. 

Stream or download The unsearchable riches of Christ, Pt 52

---

II. GIVEN THE CHARACTER OF THE SINNER, SEPARATION IS A NECESSITY.
If it is right for the child of God to understand what God has wrought in him and what he has become by the grace of God, it is also right for the Christian to understand the true character of the sinful man. Thus he will see that he has nothing in common with the worldling. Isaiah 51:1.

1. The sinner is moved by a vain mind. Their mind is void of truth. Vanity fills it and governs it. That is its natural condition from which it cannot move in and of itself. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee,” Proverbs 23:7. What hope of self-regeneration is there for one whose fountain of thought is so utterly corrupted? Rich young man’s vain notions of his own desires, Matt 19:16.

2. This vanity springs from the utter darkness within. They are in darkness concerning the chief of all light — God. They know nothing of the life of God. This why Christ says man requires to be “born again.” How can they act in accordance with the will of Him of Whom they cannot know anything.

3. They are and will remain alienated from God because of the hardness of their hearts. Nothing of good can make an impression on the natural heart. The word “blindness” means “covered with a callus.” So we see where the idea of blindness and hardness comes from.
How can those who separated unto God walk with those who are separated from God?

The total depravity of mankind. 

Ephesians 4:17-19.

Stream or download The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, Pt 51

---

Having spoken of the unity that exists between the saints and the need to safeguard it an strengthen it, Paul now calls for separation from the sinful society in which they dwell.

I. SEPARATION IN LIFESTYLE FROM THE WORLD AROUND IS A  NECESSITY FOR THE CHILD OF GOD.

1. This call came with the authority of Christ behind it. Paul calls Christ forward as a witness in support of what he is saying.

2. The call was for immediate obedience. Henceforth. It was not just something that must begin immediately but it must continue. It was henceforth and hereafter. How incongruous is walking in worldliness with a profession of faith in Christ!

3. Separation in lifestyle was all the more required given the contrast between the child of God and the unregenerate sinner. Having seen something of the mind of the child of God and given the nature of the mind of the sinner as Paul now displays it, how can there be anything other than separation? 4:1 (2:10), 17. Two walks of very differing character.