Escape from Futility

September 2, 2007

Ephesians 4:17-21

“This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus.”

Why am I preaching on this particular text?

One reason is that many of us have sensed the need to ponder the significance of our faith in the area of personal relationships and related practical matters. Do we treat each other the way Christians should?

The other reason is that I am deeply convinced that the upshot of this whole series on Ephesians should be a new way of life in all its most ordinary parts. That's what this portion of Scripture is about.

I think it would be a fair question if someone were to ask, "Why do you focus our attention on such small, personal matters when there are large social and global issues to be concerned about? What about racial unrest in South Africa, and religious oppression in Russia and eastern Europe, and war in the Middle East, and the export of terrorism, and the threat of AIDS, and the almost forgotten hunger and refugee problems.

My answer would not be antagonistic, because I really believe that the Christian message of salvation in Christ does have something to say about every problem the world faces. I would simply say two things:

1. The More Common Application in the New Testament

First, when you read the New Testament, what you find is that by and large, God inspired the writers to apply the great doctrinal truths of his Word to the most ordinary personal matters and daily relationships of family and work and neighbors.

I read on the internet recently a letter in which the person said, "Theology is not optional or a toy. It is intensely practical. My view of God will determine how I live every day. It will determine how I respond when my computer crashes." That's absolutely right, and biblical preaching will reflect this emphasis.

2. The Humbling Scrutiny of the Word

The other thing I would say is that the reason for this personal focus in the New Testament is probably because on the one hand it is fairly easy to be a crusader for a distant cause, say in South Africa or Central America, and yet at the same time be a very self-exalting, corrupt, and God-belittling person. But on the other hand it is very hard to endure the personal, practical scrutiny of New Testament commands about our eating habits and sexual habits and the way we use our tongue and our money—it's hard for us to stand under this kind of moral searchlight and not be humbled by the corruption of our hearts and feel the need for a deep work of renovation in our very nature.

And wouldn't you agree that the message of Scripture is that what the world needs most—from South Africa to Central America and from Libyan terrorism to North Korean oppression—is the supernatural, spiritual renovation of human hearts? For Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts," thoughts like atheistic oppressions, and racial degradation, and calculated terrorism—"out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander." And therefore the world is full of futility, because hard and darkened hearts have not been renovated. And so that is where our very practical text begins today.

It begins with a very penetrating analysis of the hardness and darkness and ignorance and corruption and futility of the human heart. Why does Paul do this? Because it's so important that the root of our problem be recognized. There is no point in going on in this text and telling people how to manage their anger and their money and their sexuality and their time and their tongue if you don't help them to know and heal the disease that turns all these things into futility.

If we want to escape from futility in the practical affairs and relationships of our daily lives, we have to first of all become deep people—people who look deeply within ourselves for the cause of our futility, and people who don't settle for quick fixes and superficial, upbeat attitude changes. We don't want the surgeon to keep back anything! Tell us everything you found, God! We want to be healed. We want to be free from the very root of futility.

So in 4:17–19 we get the surgeon's report on the human heart.

“Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live [literally: walk] as the Gentiles do, *in the futility of their minds; they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness.”

Paul’s readers were once among this number; in fact, Scripture says we were ALL among this number; in other words, apart from the renovation that Christ brings, what we read here is the universal condition of the human heart. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

This is what God sees when he looks into the human heart. Until we see this clearly and agree that this is what we are by nature, we probably will be healed very lightly and very superficially, and the disease will break out more easily, and we will wonder why our external clean up operations so consistently fail. We haven't seen the real disease and haven't severed the root of our futility.

As I have meditated on these three verses I have seen six levels of evil in my own heart that stand in opposition to Christ and the work he is doing.

1. Hardness

First, the deepest problem is hardness (v. 18 at the end): "due to their hardness of heart." My deepest problem is that apart from the free and sovereign grace of God my heart is hardened against God. I am like a stone toward all that is spiritual. It does not move me, attract me, delight me. This is a far deeper problem than ignorance. It is the cause of ignorance, and the guilt of ignorance.

Do you see this in the last two phrases of verse 18? "The ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart." The hardness is deeper than ignorance. And therefore my ignorance of spiritual things is not innocent. It is evil. It is blameworthy, because it comes not from lack of truth or evidence, but from a deep hardness in my heart against God. That is the first and deepest problem that the surgeon shows me about myself and why my life is so futile.

2. Darkness

Second, there is in me a deep darkness that swallows up my understanding, and keeps me from seeing the glory of the gospel or the excellency of Christ: "they are darkened in their understanding." Notice 5:8: "Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of the light." Before the Lord shined in my heart, I was darkness says Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4–6. There was no light in me. And Jesus said in John 3:20 that I would not come to the light because I hated the light. And this is true whether I am a college professor or an illiterate native.

3. Deep Ignorance

Third, the result of this darkness is a deep ignorance of reality (v. 18): "alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them." I say it is a DEEP ignorance, for there is a superficial knowledge in the darkened mind of man. Apart from spiritual light I can know ten thousand things, but I can't know the true meaning of anything—not one thing. Because to know the true meaning of a thing is to know why it exists. But Colossians 1:16 says, "All things were created through Christ and for Christ." So until I know in my heart that every molecule in this universe exists for the sake of Jesus Christ, I don't know the true, deepmeaning of anything. I misunderstand everything, until the darkness of my mind is taken away.

4. Licentiousness

Fourth, the hardness and darkness and ignorance of my heart results in licentiousness. Verse 19: "They have become callous [which is the same as 'hard'] and have given themselves up to licentiousness." The sense of the passage seems to be that when a person is ignorant of the true meaning of things, and the true values of as God sees them, that person will make his goal in life something other than God. It may be the gratification of his body in sex or drink or drugs or food. Or it may be the gratification of his ego with more refined intellectual and cultural pursuits. Anything but God, and everything apart from God. The heart that is hard and dark and ignorant of God will also be a licentious and covetous heart.

5. Uncleanness

Fifth, inevitably the hardness and darkness and ignorance and licentiousness spill over into practices of uncleanness. Notice how verse 19 ends: "greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness." Literally, their covetousness drives them to pursue practices that in God's eyes are impure.

So we have finally reached the level of outward behavior, or what verse 17 calls "walking" or "living"—"don't walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds." In other words, Escape from futility! Live a different way. Walk a different path.

But now that we have read the surgeon's report in verses 17, 18, and 19, we know that the disease is massive. The cancer of hardness and darkness and ignorance and licentiousness has spread everywhere. And we will never be healed, we will never escape from futility by means of a psychological quick fix or a superficial, up-beat seminar on how to change our attitude. Why do I call seminars, even good ones, superficial? How many of you have been to a great inspirational seminar or study in the last year? Hands up! Okay, now how much do you remember? See what I mean? That's man's way, not God's way.

6. Alienated from the Life of God

God has a way. But that leads to the sixth level of evil in my disease that I haven't mentioned yet. Verse 18 says I am "alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in me, due to my hardness of heart." Hardness and darkness and ignorance and licentiousness and the practice of uncleanness cut me off from the one thing that could save me—the "life of God," and leave me dead (2:1, 5).

But even though there is no man or woman or book or seminar or program that can save me from the disease and futility of my own deep depravity, God can. It is possible not to live in futility. That's what Paul assumes when he says in verse 17: There is an escape from futility! "Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds."

What is it? He begins his answer in verses 20–21. The reason, he says, that you must not follow the Gentiles in futility is that, "You did not so learn Christ [then he mentions what he is assuming!], assuming that you have heard of him [literally: not 'heard OF' but 'heard': assuming you have heard him] and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus."

What is the escape from futility this morning? It is hearing the voice of Jesus and being taught by him (verse 21). If you have heard him and if you have been taught by him, you need not and you must not walk in futility. Jesus said, "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" (John 5:25). No longer alienated from the life of God. Jesus Christ has spoken this morning in the truth of his Word. He has diagnosed our disease, and now he gives himself as a cure and as a teacher to everyone who hears his voice and becomes his pupil.

On another occasion he said, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me; and I give them eternal life" (John 10:16). If you hear the voice of Jesus this morning, and not just my voice, and if you follow him (like a sheep follows a shepherd), then you will no longer be alienated from the life of God. Nothing will be futile for you any more. Jesus will make you live forever in the presence of God and every detail of your ordinary life will have meaning in him.

The text ends with these great words: "The truth is in Jesus." Listen to these verses about being free: John 8:32, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." ; John 8:36, "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” Romans 6:18 : “and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:22: “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.” Romans 8:2: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” 1 Corinthians 9:1, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?” Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Freedom! Jesus came to set us free!

And Jesus said, "The truth will make you free." Free from hardness and darkness and ignorance and licentiousness and uncleanness and alienation. The truth shall set you free from futility. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” And the truth is in Jesus and Jesus is the truth.

The Spirit-filled life is a life of freedom from sin and, instead, dependency on and sensitivity to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Distinguishing Him from the messages around us is no easy thing. But it’s essential for our survival. And it is essential to the survival of the church.

Within you is housed the power necessary to face whatever life throws your way, for you are a recipient of the very life of Christ. Through the person of the Holy Spirit, He longs to express His life through your personality, your lips, and your hands. You have been granted the incredible privilege of being His representative on earth. It’s true; you may be the only Jesus some people ever know.

You are a unique blend of gifts and talents. There is a special niche in the family of God that only you can fill. Exercise your gift every chance you get. Stay closely involved with the body of Christ. As you exercise your gift in conjunction with others, you will experience the power of God, and freedom from futility.

I hope this story will illustrate this clearly:

Stephen Saint is the missionary pilot son of a pioneer missionary pilot, Nate Saint, one of five missionaries killed in Ecuador in the 1950s by Stone Age Auca Indians. Stephen Saint has written: "For years, I'd thought Timbuktu was just a made-up name for `the ends of the earth.' When I found out it was a real place in Africa, I developed an inexplicable fascination for it. In 1986, on a fact-finding trip to West Africa for Missionary Aviation Fellowship, that fascination became an irresistible urge. Timbuktu wasn't on my itinerary, but I knew I had to go there." Saint hitched a ride from Bamako, Mali, 500 miles away, on a small plane chartered by UNICEF. He knew he would need to find his own way back.

Saint recounts, "The pilot said, `Try the marketplace.' Someone there might have a truck. But be careful... . Westerners don't last long in the desert if the truck breaks down, which often happens.' Suddenly Saint had a powerful desire to talk to his father, who had known what it was like to be a foreigner in a strange land. However, his father, Nate Saint, had died in the jungles of Ecuador when Stephen was a month shy of his fifth birthday. He had only a few fleeting memories of his dad. In place of memories, a question had lingered in Stephen's mind through the years: Did his father have to die? He wondered if there was a purpose to the murders.

"God," Saint found himself praying in the marketplace, "I'm in trouble here. Please keep me sale and show me a way to get back. Please reveal yourself and your love to me the way you did to my father."

No bolt of lightning came from the blue, but he remembered that just before he'd started for Timbuktu, a fellow worker had said, "There's a famous mosque in Timbuktu .. . but there's also a tiny Christian church, which virtually no one visits. Look it up if you get the chance."

Saint asked a group of children, "Where is Eglise Evangelique Chretienne?"

The youngsters led him to a young, handsome man with dark skin and flowing robes. Saint learned his name was Nouh. He led Saint to a compound on the edge of town where an American missionary lived. With the missionary translating for him, Saint asked Nouh, "How did you come to have faith?"

Nouh answered: "This compound has always had a beautiful garden. One day when I was a small boy, a friend and I decided to steal some carrots. It was a dangerous task. We'd been told that Toubabs [white men] eat nomadic children. Despite our agility and considerable experience, I was caught by the former missionary here. Mr. Marshall didn't eat me; instead, he gave me the carrots and some cards that had God's promises from the Bible written on them. He told me if I learned them, he'd give me an ink pen!"

"You learned them?" Saint asked.

"Oh, yes!" he exclaimed. "Only government men and the headmaster of the school had a Bic pen! But when I showed off my pen at school, the teacher knew I must have spoken with a Touhab, which is strictly forbidden. He severely beat me. When Nouh's parents found out he had portions of such a despised book defiling their house, they threw him out and forbade anyone to take him in. He was not allowed in school.

But something had happened: Nouh had come to believe that what the Bible said was true. Nouh's mother became desperate. Her reputation as well as her family's was in jeopardy. Finally she decided to kill her son. She obtained poison from a sorcerer and poisoned Nouh's food at a family feast. Nouh ate the food and wasn't affected. His brother, who unwittingly stole a morsel of meat from the deadly dish, became violently ill and remains partially paralyzed. Seeing God's intervention, the family and the town's people were afraid to make further attempts on his life, but condemned him as an outcast.

"It couldn't have been easy for you as a teenager to take a stand that made you despised by the whole community," Saint said.

"Where did your courage come from?"

"Mr. Marshall couldn't take me in without putting my life in jeopardy. So he gave me some books about other Christians who'd suffered for their faith. My favorite was about five young men who willingly risked their lives to take God's good news to Stone Age Indians in the jungles of South America." Nuoh's eyes widened as he continued, "I've lived all my life in the desert. How frightening the jungle must be! The book said these men let themselves be speared to death, even though they had guns and could have killed their attackers!"

The missionary translator said, "I remember the story. As matter of fact, one of those men had your last name."

"Yes," Saint said quietly, "the pilot was my father."

"Your father?" Nouh cried. "The story is true?" "Yes," Saint said, "it's true."

The missionary and Nouh talked with Saint through the afternoon. When they accompanied Saint back to the airfield that night, they found there was room for Saint on the UUNICEF plane.

Saint recalls: "As Nouh and I hugged each other, it seemed. incredible that God loved us so much that he'd arranged for us to meet ‘at the ends of the earth.' Nouh and I had gifts for each other that no one else could give. I gave him the assurance that the story that had given him courage was true. He, in turn, gave me the assurance that God had used Dad's death for good. Dad, by dying, had helped give Nouh a faith worth dying for. And Nouh, in return, had helped give Dad's faith back to me.

Abide in Him. You are a lousy producer on your own! We all are. But as we abide in Him, the quality of fruit He will produce in our lives will amaze you. There will be the type of fruit that draws your unbelieving friends and neighbors into the kingdom. The fruit you bear will aid in keeping the body of Christ working in harmony together. Through the virtues of self-control and faithfulness, you will be protected from the schemes of the enemy and the futility of sin.

Begin every day with a commitment to yourself to walk in the Spirit. Set—and leave—your mind on the things above. The mind set on the things of the Spirit results in life and peace. The mind set on the things of the flesh … well, you know where that leads. Think through your day. Go ahead and claim victory over your anticipated battles. Faith activates the power of the Spirit in your life. Get a head start.

The Holy Spirit will become as important to you as you allow Him to be. He won’t force Himself on you. He sits back quietly and waits. Give Him control. He’s not asking for rededication. He’s asking for surrender Only when you raise the white flag is He able to assume control. Only then is He able to slide over into the driver’s seat of your life. It’s at the point of surrender that you begin to experience —and enjoy—the quality of life that I have come to know as the wonderful Spirit-filled life.

The truth is not a system of beliefs; the truth is a person – Jesus Christ. The door to his hospital and to his school is open this

morning. And I urge you in his name, become his trusting patient and become his eager pupil. Come to Him. Come to Him now – He is ready to receive you and relieve you of all futility!