Holy Scriptures and Israel

Narrator: Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: The study of Ephesians chapter four. I heard your word, God, but I don't want what you offer to me. This is the hardness of the heart. It's not only that they have natural hardness that all men have, natural blindness, but here he's speaking about willful blindness, willful hardness. Just like Pharaoh, when God said to Pharaoh about our people, of all the people of Israel, "Let my people go," Pharaoh said to God, "No, I will not let your people go." He hardened his heart. Because he hardened his heart, God judicially judged him, and God hardened his heart even further. That's what you call judicial hardness.

But here, beloved brothers and sisters, here are those nations of the world that it says their heart is blinded or hardened. That's the ways of the world. And you notice, it doesn't talk about their eyes hardened; it says their heart is hardened. When you harden your heart, you know, sometimes we share with people the message of the Gospel and we appeal to them. We say, "Listen, my dear friend, the only way of salvation is through Yeshua, the Messiah. Take Him, embrace Him as your Lord and Savior. He's going to give you forgiveness of sins."

But one is hardening his heart, is darkening his heart, and he says, "No, I do not want this person by the name of Yeshua." Therefore, this is what is called the hardening of their heart. That is the condition that's existing today in this world. There is one verse that needs to be read in Romans chapter one and verse 21, where Paul said concerning the world in which we live, "Because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but they became vain in their imagination, and their foolish heart was darkened."

It's the same thought. That's the way of the unbelieving world, that their heart has been hardened and darkened. Believers today are not to walk in the ways of the past world, the way we used to be. We are to be different in our life, and it has to be proven in the way in which we walk in this world. And so now, in verse 19, as the Apostle Paul appealed to the Ephesians not to walk as the world does, he is telling about the condition of the unregenerated world, that they've become so callous to the things of God that he calls it in verse 19, they're "past feeling," having "given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness."

This expression "past feeling" is an expression that they ceased to feel any wrongdoing. They stopped feeling anything. You know, when you walk on the road and your feet are not feeling the pain anymore when you are walking on stones or you're walking on glass even. There are some that are able to walk on things that are very hard and sharp and they don't feel it because they have this callous. They have ceased to feel anything that is wrong. The world is carrying on, and they have no longer feeling of the wrongdoing.

Look at the mess that we live in here in this world, the things that are going on. All those things that are going on, people don't feel any limitation anymore. Everything is just carrying on. You watch the television today and you see thousands of people are being put in a grave, and we all can look at this. We are past feeling. All kinds of abuse that is going on in this world, all the things that are going on, immorality, people that are messing up their lives, and people just carry on. They're past feeling. It's happened; we just carry on in our life.

But this expression in verse 19, "past feeling," means ceased to feel any grief or pain because we get used to it. It's like our hearts or men's hearts becoming so callous, so past feeling. The believer should be different. The believer should be sensitive to what's going on around him, sensitive to the needs of the people of God, sensitive to each other. Our hearts cannot be seared, our conscience should not be seared; it should be tender and sensitive to every situation that is going on around us.

We can only do so, beloved brothers and sisters, when we look to the Lord to help us with this. Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter four and verse one and two, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron." You mark the conscience with that hot iron, and no longer having sensitivity to what's going on in this world.

That's what Paul said to Timothy, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and to doctrines of devils, having their conscience seared with hot iron. What a sad condition that man is living in. So Paul is saying to the Ephesians, "Brothers and sisters, I appeal unto you. Don't walk the way that the world is walking. You ought to be different walking here for the Lord in this world." And we need the Lord's help to be so, because we are not different if we are not sensitive to the work of the Spirit of God in our hearts.

He continues now in verses 20 to 24. Now he reminds the believers, the Ephesians, who they are in Christ, in the Messiah, what happened to them when they have accepted the Messiah. And so he says in verse 20 and 21, "But ye have not so learned Christ, learned Mashiach." You didn't learn this way from the Messiah. Verse 21, "If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, in Yeshua." So listen, you are different, brothers and sisters of the Ephesians. He's saying to you and I, you brothers and sisters are really different.

You didn't learn from Yeshua, from the Messiah, from Christ, this type of lifestyle. You have learned differently. Notice he uses the word Christ in verse 20 and Yeshua in verse 21. Christ is the Hebrew word for Mashiach, and Jesus is the Hebrew word Yeshua. He's saying, "Look, you did not learn to behave like this from this Messiah, and you did not learn to behave like this from the life of this person by the name of Yeshua. In His life, He was different."

When Yeshua walked here in this world, He was different. He was sensitive to the nation of Israel. He was healing the sick, the brokenhearted. He was giving light to the blind, the deaf could hear. He was meeting the need of the people. At that time, of course, the people of Israel, the Jewish people with whom He walked, His own people in the land of Israel. Paul is saying to the Ephesians, "You know what? You didn't learn that type of behavior in the person of the Messiah." He was that anointed one who came from heaven. He was different.

He taught us to be different. That's why a believer ought to be different. We are no longer to behave the way we behaved in the past, though from time to time we fall into those conditions unfortunately. But a believer ought to behave differently. That's why he says, "You didn't learn that from Yeshua the Messiah. He is the one that has taught you to be like Him." And he says, "If so be" or "since so be that ye heard him," and they did, "that ye have been taught by him," and they have through the Apostles, "as the truth is in Jesus, in Yeshua."

You have completely received something different, and therefore you ought to be different than the nations of the world that are around you. I want to read some verses that come to my mind. For example, Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28, where Yeshua said to the disciples and the people that were around with Him, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

He says, "Learn of me. Come to me." We have come to Him. "Learn of me." We have learned from Him, even as we are walking every day of our life and reading the Scripture and coming to meetings and learning the Bible together, being under the sound of His word. We learn from Him. That's why Paul said to them in verse 20, "Ye have not so learned the Messiah." Since so be that you heard Him and they did, that you have been taught by Him and they have through the apostles, as the truth is in Yeshua.

I want to read one more verse as well in 1 Peter chapter two. This is another verse that needs to be read, and Peter says about Yeshua the Messiah in 1 Peter chapter two and verse 21. He says, "For even hereunto were ye called: because the Messiah also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps." We are to learn from what Yeshua has gone through and to follow His steps. It is so beautiful to see a brother, a sister, younger one, older one following in the footsteps of the Messiah, learning from Him.

Becoming as a small miniature Messiah, miniature Christ, followers of Christ by example. Every time when you look at that brother or that sister, you say, "Boy, here is an example of the behavior of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah here in this world." And every time we do so, God looks from heaven and He finds pleasure to see many in this world that have learned from Yeshua, from Jesus, as the truth is found in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. In verses 20 and 21, Paul is emphasizing the truth that we have learned differently from Yeshua the Messiah.

He's reminding the Ephesians of who they were in the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Here is another thing that he's mentioning to them in verse 22, 23, and 24. This is very interesting. He says in verse 22, "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Notice he uses this expression "the old man" and "the new man." What does he mean when he says the old man? Obviously, it has to do with the old nature. When we were not saved, before we became believers, we never had a new nature. We had this old nature, the old man, the old sinful nature. Because we had the old sinful nature, we walked in the light of this old sinful nature. The old man means the old lifestyle. We used to be this, but now we are this. That's what he's really saying.

In verse 22, he says, "that ye put off." But what he is really saying is you have already put off. Not only to put off now, but you have already put off when you became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah. You have already put off concerning the former conversation, the old man which was corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. When we became believers, we became new creation, and we have already put off by believing in the Messiah that old man. Now you have to behave in light of the new life that we have in Yeshua the Messiah.

That's why in verse 24, he says, "ye have put on." Not only you should put on, but you have already put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. When you and I receive Yeshua, Jesus, our Lord and our Messiah into our hearts, into our lives, we have put on already this new man. That new man is the new nature that we have, which delights to live in a life of righteousness and true holiness. The old man, according to verse 22, is living in a corrupt life and deceitful lusts.

The new man is living in a life of righteousness and true holiness. So really, the past is before we became believers. We lived in an old lifestyle. Now when we become believers, in light of the new man, we are to live in righteousness and true holiness. In between, notice verse 23 is in between, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Now that you have the new life, now that you have the new man, the new nature, you are a new creation in the Messiah, now you need to have day-by-day evidence of this renewal of the spirit of your mind.

Everything that we process in our life comes through our mind. If the mind of man is focused on our Lord and on His love, His grace, and His provision for us, our mind will be filled with that which is pleasant and it will affect all our lives. But if our mind is being filled with garbage and that which is not pleasant to the Lord, we know very well it will affect everything that we do here in this world. That's why he says, "Constantly be renewed in the spirit of your mind."

It reminds me of Romans 12 verses one and two. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." In Philippians chapter two, he says in verse five, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Yeshua." The mind. And you know how true it is, isn't it? When our mind is being filled with all the things that the world seeks to place upon us, that Satan seeks to influence the believers with, we find very quickly that it affects a lot of things in our lives.

It affects our thinking, our actions, our behavior, our conduct. It does affect the mind of the believer. So we have already put on the new man, we have already put off the old man, and in between those two, we are called according to verse 23 to have a renewal of spirit of the mind day by day. The Lord is able to help us to do so. Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, when we put off the old man, that means that we are new creation now. All things have passed away; all things become new.

So far he told us in these verses, from verse 17 to verse 24, two things. Number one, Paul appeals to the Ephesians not to walk as the Gentile world is walking. Then in verses 20 to 24, Paul reminds the Ephesians of who they are in the Messiah. Remember that, brothers and sisters, you and I are just as much positionally belong to the Messiah because we have accepted Him. We have already put off the old man, we have already put on the new man. Now, day by day, renew your mind with the things that are pleasing to the Lord.

Now here is the thing that is really practical that Paul now, in verses 25 to 32, charges the Ephesians to pursue after godly behavior. This is where we have a lot of problems in practicing this. He's giving them six things that he is encouraging them to really seek to practice. Here is where we fail so much in those things. The first thing he's telling them in verse 25 is, "Stop lying and speak the truth with each other." Very simple. You don't need to be a theologian.

He's really saying, "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another." Here is the first thing that he's telling them. "Okay, you have put off the old man, you have put on the new man. You are a new creation in the Messiah. You have been chosen in the Messiah before the foundation of the world. You're going to heaven. You have eternal hope that is yet before you. Now here I want you, Ephesians, to practice this here and now among yourselves."

Apparently, there were some needs among the Ephesians. He's saying to them, "Look at this, putting away lying, and then speak every man the truth with his neighbor." The reason he says in verse 25 is "because we are members one of another." So what he is really saying to the believers at Ephesus is, "Listen, put away all this lying." Apparently, you know how quickly we don't speak the truth. The father of lies is Satan himself. In Genesis chapter three, he came to Eve and he said, "Hath God really said? Did God really say what He said?" He sowed the seed in the mind of Havah, Eve. And he was lying.

He is called according to John chapter eight, "the father of lies." That's why Paul said to the Ephesians, "Put away lying. Stop with lying one to another. You are members of one body. You don't have to give all the information in your life to one another; you may keep it personally as before the Lord, but don't speak lies." Then he says the opposite of it in verse 25. "Put this away, lying, but speak the truth, every one of you with his neighbor. Speak the truth." The Hebrew word for truth is emet. The Hebrew word for lies is sheker.

Speak the truth with each other. When you say something, say the truth. Don't speak lies. It is sad when we enter into a habit of lying. We are always in danger of it. He is telling them, "Here is practical Messiah following. Stop this lying one to another and speak the truth." And he is adding at the end "because we are members one of another." In John eight verse 44, he says, "For he is a liar, and the father of it." Satan is the father of lies. When we lie all the time, we are doing the job that Satan wants us to do.

When we speak the truth, we do the job or the ministry or the service that Yeshua wanted us to do. That is the beautiful thing when we are submitting ourselves to the will of God. Back in Ephesians chapter four and verse 15, it says "speaking the truth in love." When we speak with each other and with people around us, we are to speak the truth and to do so in love. Here is what you call practical Messiah following or practical Christianity, speaking the truth and stopping to lie.

Secondly, in verse 26 and verse 27, the second thing that he is exhorting or charging the Ephesians to do is to be angry without sin. Now, how is that possible? Because we often time are getting angry, and because we didn't get our own way, we end up sinning. Anger, though, in itself is not wrong if it is a right type of anger. The Bible does tell us that God is angry with the wicked every day. We read it in the Book of Psalms. Psalm seven, verse 11 says, "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day."

Now there is one kind of anger and there is another kind of anger. Righteous indignation is the anger of God, whereas we often time are angry and are not having what you call righteous indignation. We are angry because we didn't get our own way. We are angry because somebody bothered me. We are angry because we wanted to do something and it didn't happen. That is not righteous indignation. This is anger that God does not desire to see in the life of the people of God.

That's why he said in Ephesians chapter four and verse 26, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath." Paul, a Hebrew man quoting the Old Testament Scripture, Psalm four and verse four, "Be ye angry, and sin not." How can we be angry without sin? Well, the only way to do so is to have what is called righteous indignation or righteous anger. Things that are going on in this world that are dishonoring God, it is the right thing to be angry about those things and yet we are not sinning because we see the things are being done wrong. People are being wronged, the way people are being treated, the way things are going on in this world, and that is what you call righteous indignation.

Narrator: You have been listening to Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.