Today on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, we'll learn how to face the issues that are holding us back.
Do not live in stuckness. Deal with it now so that you can continue to go from glory to glory to glory. Deal with the issue that's holding you from the past. Let it go and say, by the power of God, I put on the new. I don't just repent of the old, but I put on the new. Today is the day.
Nobody likes to be around and Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But why do we have such a hard time shaking our old man off? Welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe. Mark is the senior pastor of New Life Community Church and also president of Moody Bible Institute here in Chicago. And I'm Wayne Shepherd. Our current series is called When You Believe Everything Changes. And Mark is going to show us why we can't keep living in the past and holding on to our old lives if we've
become a new man in Christ. Today's message from the book of Ephesians chapter four is titled putting on the New You. And it starts now.
He's basically saying, listen, your old life. Maybe you were a taker when the boss wasn't looking. You would take things from your job. Uh, I heard when revival struck in Wales years ago, the great Welsh revival, it was a mining community, and they talked about people getting things right. And if they had stolen, making restitution, so many miners had stolen tools from the mining place that they all
started returning the tools they had stolen. And the bosses finally had to say, stop returning the tools, because they had piles of tools from the miners who had been stealing them from their mining jobs. Hey, you know, there's a lot of ways of stealing. Oh, maybe you're not a shoplifter, But you know what? You can steal at your job with a time card. You could steal cable with a little black box you figure out that your cousin gave you. I'm not hurting anybody. I mean, hey,
you're really stealing. It's illegal. Well, I wouldn't call it stealing, pastor. I mean, I'm just kind of borrowing. You know, I'm just borrowing, you know, television stations and. No, no, you call it what it is. Come on. We allow stuff to get into our house. We allow the compromises to start getting into our our system and start taking. Stealing is taking that which doesn't belong to us. And we take it, and we use it and act like it's
our own. That that's that's called stealing. Now, Paul says, listen, you used to be like that. You used to look for opportunities to take which was not your own and use it, But now you belong to God, so therefore you still no longer. In fact, you know what you do. You get a job. Yeah, you get a job and you get a job. Why not just so that you can meet the needs of your yourself and your family, but you get a job in order so that you can actually give to other people that are in need.
You see, I take off my stealing, I get a job, and now I become a giver. I'm not just taking stuff off, I'm putting it on. And I went, you go from stealer to giver. You go from the person that was trying to put their hand in the offering, take and take some out to someone that's putting it in. You go from someone that was trying to figure out how you could take tools away from your cousin. You would borrow them on an unlimited basis, and now you're looking to to figure out how you can give things
to people. Why? Because now you've taken off the old and you're putting on the new. You're starting to walk like God. Talk like God. You're starting to walk like a new person, a new believer. Uh, people can trust you now. Why? Because now you've you've you've begun to change. The Bible says that that you do something useful with your hands. That you may have something to share with those in need. Verse 29. Well, if I haven't gotten to you yet, now this is really going to get
to you here. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to the needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Now Paul starts messing with the way we talk. He's saying, in your old life, a lot of unwholesome words used to come out of your mouth. You would cut people down. You would gossip about people. You would tell dirty jokes. You would laugh at the expense of others to build yourself up. You would call
people names that hurt them. You would use your tongue and cutting ways. That was the old Jew. A lot of stuff used to come out of your mouth and cussing and dirty jokes and and just talk. That was rude and, and and crass kind of talk that would come out of your mouth. But now it's a new you. And what God has begun to do is begun to clean up your talk. He's taken that away from you. And now he says, and some people learn, I can't
talk that way anymore. But some of you, if that's the truth, if that's so, you would have just lost about 70% of your vocabulary. Come to Christ and people say, can't say much. Doesn't tell you not to talk anymore. It's telling you now I want you to talk. But when you talk, build people up. Use your tongue to encourage, to be positive, to speak truth, to speak goodness. Listen, husbands and wives, sometimes we we've been in the old world so long that we are used to cutting and
being negative and critical. What would happen if your husband came back from work sometime and you said, hey, it's so good to see you, and how was your day? And have I told you recently that I really appreciate you? You know, he would say, like, what are you hiding? Huh? What'd you spend now? Tell me. What would happen if you if you got back to your house and saw your wife and you said, hey, you're looking great today. Is that a new dress? Have I told you recently
how beautiful I think you are? And what would happen if you began to encourage and speak into her life and encourage her about things? And, hey, I know you're trying to do this, and and you're doing a great job at doing that, and and have I told you I appreciate how you work with the kids in their homework and man, this meal is so good. And how what would happen if you began to change your lingo and if you became an encourager, rather than looking for
something to cut down and discourage about? What if you began to use your tongue and your words to speak into the life and destiny of your children in a positive way so that they don't just hear what they're bad at, but they begin to hear what they're good at, and they begin to hear that they could do something, and they don't hear just negativity, but they begin to hear that they can do something that you believe they can do something, and that they have it in them,
and that you are praising them when they do well and you are encouraging them to go forward, it could change the atmosphere of your household if you began not just to not say the bad stuff you used to say, but if you begin to use your words to build people up because that's what it says, he says. So that you will build others up according to the needs, that it may benefit those who listen. You understand what
Paul is doing. He's not only saying, take off the old, he's saying, put on the new, take off the old and put on the new. There's power in our words. There's power in our words. It affects people when we speak certain ways into their life. And many of us have gotten so used to speaking negativity that there is very little encouragement and positive reinforcement that actually comes out of our mouth, and we wonder why we walk in our household, and it's full of complaining and and sadness
and bickering and fighting. We wonder, because what's coming out of the mouths of the people that are in that household. Ask you that question what is coming out of the mouths in that household? You want to change that household? Start speaking something different into that household. Start speaking other words into that household. Start changing the words that are that are reverberating from the walls of that household. Start changing the environment by the way you speak in that house.
And then lastly he says in verse 31. Verse 30, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. You see, the Holy Spirit is not a power. He's not a force. He's a person and you can grieve the person of the Holy Spirit. You can make the Holy Spirit sad. Have you ever gone to visit a friend that you haven't seen in a while? And when you hang out
with that person, their life's a mess. They're doing bad and you remember what they were, and you remember what they could be. But they're living way beneath their potential. And so it makes you sad to be around them because you think, why are they living this way? They could live such a such a different life. Why are they choosing this way? And so being around them just makes you sad. Have you ever been in that situation because you realize that they could live a different way,
and it grieves you to be around them? Listen, the Holy Spirit is inside of you and the Holy Spirit grieves when you are living way beneath your calling. The Holy Spirit is saddened when he knows what you could be, but you live down here when he knows you could live up here. The Holy Spirit is grieved inside of you when you live like the old Jew, when you've been given the power to be become a new you, the Holy Spirit grieves inside. And here's the thing about
the Holy Spirit. Listen, when the Holy Spirit grieves, you cannot be full of joy because the Holy Spirit is the transporter of joy.
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We'll continue today's message in a moment. But first, Mark, I want to talk about something that's become a growing concern within Christian leadership circles. Our world is going through a whirlwind, pretty dramatic developments and changes, not just here in America, but around the globe. And we need to remind ourselves, as Christians, we have a much higher calling than any political movement, don't we.
Wayne? Turn on the news. And there is drama all over the place.
From rumors of wars to economic crisis to actualization to actual wars that are happening to bombings, and it is easy to get distracted by all this, worried by it, anxious by it, sort of sucked into it. But here's what I want to say. This is a great time for the good news of Jesus Christ and the hope of the gospel.
Amen.
There are a lot of people coming to Christ throughout the world, and you may not hear about it, because there's other news that is prominent and is taking people's attention. But there is an undercurrent of a harvest evangelism. And that's what we're all about right now, is a moment where people are shaken, where there's concern. But there are so many people that are turning to the heavens, and we at Bold Steps have determined we will not miss
that moment. And so we are asking you to partner with us, help us out, because right now is a great time to be calling people to Jesus.
We urge you to give online at Bold Steps. Org or you can call us. The number is 800 Moody. And that works out to be (800) 356-6639. And when you do give, we'll be sure to send you a special gift which will tell you more about later in the program today. Well, thank you for that, Mark. But let's go back to your message now here on Bold Steps.
The Bible tells us that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Joy comes through the Holy Spirit. So when the Holy Spirit is grieving, you cannot be full of joy. So when you are living your life in a way that's grieving the spirit, then it robs you of your joy and you start living your life when you have no joy. You have no energy. The joy of the Lord is my strength. It tells us in the Old Testament, so when you have joy,
you have energy. When you have energy, you have joy. When you have joy, you're not grieving the Holy Spirit. When you start grieving the Holy Spirit, you lose your joy and you lose your energy. Listen, when you begin grieving the Holy Spirit and you lose your joy, then you lose the energy to tackle life, and you find yourself in a state where you are just surviving in life. Ever been there? Hard to get out of bed? Drag yourself just one more day. I don't know if I
can do this another day. You just dragging yourself through, forcing yourself to get up, forcing yourself to go to work, forcing yourself to just handle basic existence in life. Listen, there could be there could be a lot of things that bring that about. But spiritually, you could be bringing that about because you are grieving the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is is not producing joy in your life. And when you don't have joy in your life, then
you don't have energy in life. And when you don't have energy in life, you lose the strength to do the things you know you need to do. So do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you've been sealed unto the day of redemption. He sealed you. He lives inside of you. You can't take him out. We've talked about this before. Listen, you can't go to the nightclub on Saturday night. The Holy Spirit is. You can't check the Holy Spirit out at the coat hanger checkout counter.
You can't say, Holy Spirit. I'm going in. Can I check you here? Hey, you wouldn't like the music anyway. The words are bad and the dancing would really grieve you. Listen, I'll catch you on the way out, okay? Go do your thing and then. Hey, come on, Holy Spirit. I'm ready to go. No, no, no, no, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit. You take the Holy Spirit wherever you go.
He's inside of you. When you grieve the Holy Spirit, you can't check him out and check him in and then say, hey, I'm going to take you to church, man. You're going to love it. No, no, no, no. He goes with you wherever you go all the time. The Holy Spirit. So here's what happens. How do you grieve the Holy Spirit? Listen, you are grieving the Holy Spirit.
If right now there is bitterness, rage, anger, a contentious or brawling, slanderous kind of spirit, or if there's any kind of malice or evil intent in your heart, you are grieving the Holy Spirit. If right now there's someone that is you've locked in the jail of unforgiveness, you're grieving the Holy Spirit. If you are bitter right now, you're grieving the Holy Spirit. If you're full of rage
right now, you're grieving the Holy Spirit. If inside of you there is a contentiousness, a critical spirit inside of you, you are grieving the Holy Spirit. And if you're grieving the Holy Spirit, you will not have joy. And if you do not have joy, you will not have energy. And you're going to drag through life trying to do the things you're called to do. There's something that's released inside of you. When the joy of the Holy Spirit
comes upon you. You're living right in God and there's energy. Oh, listen. I think some of you know what I'm talking about. When you are living right in God and you are fueled by the energy of God, there's a joy in your heart and you have this zeal and this power. Oh, it doesn't mean that life is easy, but it means that you have the strength to do what is right, because there's a joy of God inside of you, and
you have this energy that faith gives. And though life may be hard at times, you know that he's in control. You worship and you thank him and you praise him. Then he goes on to tell us this. But instead of this kind of bitterness, rage, anger, brawling inside of you, verse 32, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ, God forgave you. So instead of rage and anger and bitterness, there's compassion. There's forgiveness.
There's a willingness to release people just the same way that God has released you. That's why I'm I am so, so strong. And I emphasize it so much. This whole issue of not living your life with bitterness or unforgiveness in your life. Because here's what I know that if you are, if you get that in your heart and if you don't release it, it will do damage to your spiritual life. It will bring you down. It will
clog up your spiritual arteries. It will it will put a a stop on the spiritual funnel of God's grace and goodness into your life, and you'll find yourself drying up spiritually if there's anger, bitterness, unforgiveness in your life towards someone in your life. What is the new you? Let me close with this. I believe that we are all on a journey of transformation. From now until the day you die. You will be going from glory to glory, to glory, to glory, to glory, to glory, to glory,
to glory. Some of you are going to get stuck. When you're unwilling to let go of the old and you stop going from glory to glory and you get stuck in just one glory. I believe until the day you die, they're going to be stuff from the old that you're putting away and you're putting on the new. I don't believe it ever stops. I don't believe anybody ever on this life ever arrives to a point where they don't need to change anymore. I don't believe that
you ever reach a point of perfection or holiness where. Hey, I'm there. Nothing needs to change. I think I've arrived. Nothing needs to be worked on. I don't think. I think when you're 91 years old. You're going to be saying, alright, from glory to glory, I'm taking off the old and putting on the new. That's what it means to continue to grow in our spiritual life. You get stuck when you're unwilling to let go. And if you're stuck today,
here's what I want to say. Hey, we all reach points that are things that are hard for us to release. But if you're stuck today, I want to challenge you. Inspire you by the Holy Spirit of God. I want to urge you in Jesus, whatever you know you are stuck in, do not do not leave this place without dealing with it before God. Do not live in stuckness. Do not say, well, I'm just going to put it off for another month. Hey, if you are stuck today, then deal with it now so that you can continue
to go from glory to glory to glory. Deal with the issue that's holding you from the past. Let it go and say, by the power of God, I put on the new. I don't just repent of the old, but I put on the new. Today is the day.
Mark job with bold steps. Mark. You said that when you put on the new man, God is putting you on a path that takes you from glory to glory. Give us a final word of encouragement on this, if you would.
Yeah. So I want to encourage you, if you're a believer right now and you know, there's stuff you have to take off, there's elements of your life that God has been convicting you about, and maybe steps of obedience that you need to take to put on. I want to pray with you, and there may be some that are listening. And you say, you know what? I have a whole new person I need to take off and put on. We call that being born again. And maybe
you're not born again yet. Maybe you've never taken that complete, powerful step to surrender your life to Jesus and say, change me from the inside out. I'd like to pray for you right now. And then afterwards, if you need to grow and understand more about what it means to be born again, we'd love to give you some resources and direct you to a place where you can get more information. Father, I pray right now for that person
that's struggling with taking off the old. They know what they have to take off, but it's so hard to let go. I pray, Holy Spirit right now that you would give them a boost of power, a gentle conviction, but a powerful urge forward. And I pray, father, for that person that right now is realizing I need to be born again. I don't know God. I need to
transform my entire person. I pray in Jesus name that you would lead them to a realization that that can only be done through the sacrifice of Jesus when they repent, believe, and invite you to be Lord of their life. And so I pray God that you would lead them down that path, even right now in Jesus name. Thank you for the decisions that are being made today. Not being procrastinated on, but today I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. Thank you Mark. And if you would like to learn more about taking your next step with Christ, even your first step, we'd love for you to go to our website and explore the video Mark put together to help you discover who Jesus is and why. Having a relationship with him is the most important thing you can do. You'll find the video online by clicking the connect tab at bird-stamps.org. Then look for the button that says my
Next Step in Faith. And when you send us your name and address, we'll not only pray for you, we'll also send you a personalized letter from Mark, a New Testament Bible, and the latest edition of Moody's newsletter Devotional Today in the word. Speaking of valuable resources, let me remind you that we have a new bold step gift available that we recommend. In a world of social media and constant comparison, the temptation of envy has never been
more prevalent. That's why pastor Mike Fabares of Focal Point Ministries took the time to write an entire book about the unique issue of envy, specifically how to identify this destructive emotion and find freedom through Christ. Pastor Mike makes some great distinctions on where this sin often creeps into our lives, and what we can do today to start
living with authentic joy. The book is titled envy A Big Problem You Didn't Know You Had and a copy is yours is our way of saying thanks for your gift of any amount to support bold steps to give a donation today. Just give us a call. The number is 800. D.L. Moody that's (800) 356-6639 or give online at Bold steps.org. And that's our time today I'm Wayne Shepherd inviting you to join us again tomorrow. Mark will show us what it means to be choosing to walk in
the light. Learn how you can reflect the goodness of God's love. Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.