Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, friends, when you look into the mirror, what do you see?
[00:00:07] Well, you see a reflection of yourself in that mirror. That's the function of a mirror.
[00:00:15] Well, let me nuance that question a little bit.
[00:00:18] When you look into a mirror, do you like what you see?
[00:00:25] A little chuckling there. You know, when you're young and beautiful and handsome, you kind of like looking in that mirror, don't you?
[00:00:34] You look at it, say, oh, yeah, looking good.
[00:00:39] But as the years go by, I've learned I don't really like looking in that mirror so much anymore.
[00:00:46] As the wrinkles come, it's not as fun. It's more duty than it is delightful.
[00:00:55] And I've noticed that if I don't have my glasses on, I don't see the reflection quite as well. So if I ever come in here with a little toothpaste on me or some shaving cream in my beard, help a brother out and let me know, it's because I didn't wear my glasses.
[00:01:11] But mirrors have an important function, don't they?
[00:01:14] They enable us to see what we otherwise cannot see.
[00:01:19] As useful and I would say necessary as a physical mirror is in helping us maintain our physical appearance.
[00:01:26] Much more necessary for our Christian lives is the need for a spiritual mirror, something to help us assess how we're really doing and growing as a Christian.
[00:01:40] Now we can get input from other Christians, and that can vary from super encouraging and kind to some sharp criticism and maybe some invalid judgment.
[00:01:54] What others perceive of us will always be flawed because we can't know everything about the motives of the heart.
[00:02:02] We can only assess according to what we observe of someone's life.
[00:02:07] Though input from others can be helpful in our spiritual growth, it certainly can lead us to the dangerous path of fearing man more than we fear God.
[00:02:18] Proverbs 29:25 warns us of that. It says, the fear of man lays a snare.
[00:02:23] But whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
[00:02:28] So thankfully, God has given us a perfect spiritual mirror by which to our lives.
[00:02:37] It's the word of God, the only reliable standard for self evaluation.
[00:02:44] It's the perfect mirror for our lives.
[00:02:47] Proverbs 35 says, Every word of God proves true.
[00:02:51] He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
[00:02:56] We are safe then, in assessing ourselves by God's word, because it's true and it's trustworthy.
[00:03:03] And so we have that opportunity today from our text in Ephesians.
[00:03:08] We're going to look into the mirror of God's Word and let it give us a true reflection of ourselves as we seek to live in a manner that is worthy of our calling in Christ Jesus.
[00:03:18] So please turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians. We'll be in chapter four today.
[00:03:23] Our text specifically will be 4:25 through 5:2.
[00:03:28] So if you're using one of the Bibles provided for you, you can find that on page 1161.
[00:03:37] Now, before we get to our focal passage, I want to briefly walk you through the letter to establish the context of where we're going to be in chapter four.
[00:03:46] The Apostle Paul has written this letter to the church at Ephesus. That is a church that he planted by God's grace and his power in the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:03:59] Paul spent about two and a half years there making disciples as God added to the church.
[00:04:05] You can read more about that in Acts chapter 19.
[00:04:09] This letter was written about five to seven years after Paul last saw the elders of the church there.
[00:04:16] In an emotional farewell to them, he charged those leaders to pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood a divine responsibility, then followed by a warning that fierce wolves would arise from among them seeking to divide and destroy.
[00:04:41] So Paul writes to encourage them with doctrine truth and instruct them with the application of that truth.
[00:04:50] So I'm going to touch on some important points in the first three chapters, just briefly before coming to chapter four.
[00:04:58] So, friends, I invite you to hear these words.
[00:05:01] We've sung much of it, this rich truth, but hear it from the word of God as God's love letter to you.
[00:05:09] Be reminded of the glories of his grace to redeem us.
[00:05:13] Paul begins the letter by saying, God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world for this purpose, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.
[00:05:27] In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, through the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
[00:05:42] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.
[00:05:52] Beloved, remember what God has saved you from.
[00:05:55] He goes on in chapter two to say, you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.
[00:06:07] But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when you were dead in those trespasses and sins you made us Alive, together with Christ by grace. You have been saved.
[00:06:24] You've been saved through faith.
[00:06:27] This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. That faith is a gift from you.
[00:06:32] It's not a result of your works so that no one may boast.
[00:06:37] Beloved, God has saved us to make us one in Christ.
[00:06:43] Paul says in chapter four, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling into which you've been called.
[00:06:50] With all humility and gentleness, with patience bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
[00:07:01] There's one body, one spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call.
[00:07:07] One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
[00:07:15] Beloved, because we are united to Christ by faith, we must no longer live as we once did.
[00:07:24] So now in chapter four, Paul says, now this I say and testify in the Lord.
[00:07:31] This is from God that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds. You are to put off your old self, which belongs to the former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
[00:08:02] Therefore, read with me now, starting verse 25. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
[00:08:19] Be angry and do not sin.
[00:08:21] Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.
[00:08:28] Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
[00:08:38] Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear.
[00:08:50] Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
[00:08:57] Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice.
[00:09:07] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
[00:09:19] Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
[00:09:35] This is God's word, the perfect mirror for our lives, the main idea of our text.
[00:09:44] Our union with Christ makes us part of each other.
[00:09:50] So now love each other well by leaving behind the works of the old self and imitating God.
[00:10:00] Our union with Christ makes us part of each other.
[00:10:05] So now love each other well by leaving behind the works of the old self, imitating God Two simple points to guide us through our text Point number one as members of one another, imitate Christ's love by putting away the works of the old self.
[00:10:29] As members of one another, imitate Christ's love by putting away the works of the old self. Verses 25 through 31 and then secondly, as members of one another, imitate God with sacrificial love and forgiveness being the consistent pattern of your life.
[00:10:49] As members of one another, imitate God with sacrificial love and forgiveness being the consistent pattern of your life. It'll be verses 4, 32 through 5. Two well as you can see, our text is a series of Christian imperatives.
[00:11:07] An imperative expresses an obligation confessing ourselves as Christians, we have an obligation to respond to God for what he's done to save us and redeem us to Himself.
[00:11:23] Our church covenant speaks of this.
[00:11:25] Having been buried with Christ and raised from the symbolic grave, there is on us a special obligation now to lead a new and holy life. By the power of the Holy Spirit.
[00:11:37] We've been given life. We've been made new in Christ Jesus, made in the likeness of God, in true righteousness and holiness.
[00:11:47] So let's check our progress in holiness by looking individually at the comparatives.
[00:11:53] Starting in verse 25, he says, Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor.
[00:12:01] This word translated neighbor, means near, close by.
[00:12:07] So neighbor could be what you think of naturally, literally, the people that live next to your home, the people that live in your neighborhood.
[00:12:16] Certainly we want to speak truth with those neighbors, don't we? And especially gospel truth.
[00:12:23] We should evangelize our neighbors at every opportunity that the Lord providentially brings to us.
[00:12:30] But remember that our context here is a letter to the church, those near us through our union with Christ.
[00:12:38] His body is the church.
[00:12:41] So Paul clarifies this by saying, for we are members one of another.
[00:12:47] That's not just a tag on phrase that has major implications in our understanding these imperatives, because this whole letter is written and repeats this essential truth that we are one in Christ Jesus.
[00:13:02] Chapter two tells how both Jew and Gentile are reconciled to God in one body through the cross, fellow citizens now and members of the household of God.
[00:13:15] And we're members of one another.
[00:13:17] There is one body and one Spirit, and we're to be eager to maintain that unity.
[00:13:23] So we must replace lying falsehood with telling the truth.
[00:13:28] We're to put off what belonged to the old self. That's part of the old nature.
[00:13:32] Falsehood.
[00:13:34] This is one reason why membership matters.
[00:13:38] Speaking truth to a covenant church member takes on a completely different tone and message than speaking to a non member. A non Christian membership makes known those that belong to Christ.
[00:13:51] Membership makes the true church visible.
[00:13:55] When a person becomes a member, the church affirms their credible profession of faith in Christ and welcomes in a repentant sinner into the body through the ordinance of baptism.
[00:14:07] And with that comes the responsibility to help one another to put away the works of the old self and conform increasingly to Christ.
[00:14:17] That's why to speak truth with one another from a heart of love with a true desire for them to grow in Christlikeness is a vital part of being a healthy church member.
[00:14:29] Speaking truth to a non member, a non Christian, is also essential, but it's different.
[00:14:35] That's called evangelism.
[00:14:37] We want to make them aware of their need for salvation by lovingly and winsomely telling them their sin separates them from God and that the judgment of that sin awaits them unless they repent and come to faith in Christ Jesus.
[00:14:54] But here Paul is addressing how we live with one another as members together of Christ's church. So falsehood.
[00:15:02] Speaking lies is destructive to unity.
[00:15:06] Lying breaks trust.
[00:15:09] You know, if you lie to someone and it comes to light, they now will have a valid reason not to trust you.
[00:15:17] And distrust destroys unity.
[00:15:20] That makes this imperative to put away falsehood all the more serious.
[00:15:27] Because we're not just simply members of the same church. Through a choice we made, we're part of one another by the grace of God.
[00:15:36] His providence, his guidance has brought our lives together to be part of one another and to fulfill a divine purpose.
[00:15:44] Truth in our relationships maintains this unity.
[00:15:50] So how do we live this out with one another?
[00:15:54] Simply, always tell the truth.
[00:15:56] When God gave the law delivered by Moses to the people of Israel, six of the ten commandments had to do with how we relate to one another.
[00:16:04] In the ninth commandment, God said, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
[00:16:09] So Paul reiterates that command here, saying, put away falsehood.
[00:16:14] And what you must do is speak truth with your neighbor.
[00:16:19] Now, I'm sure as parents, you've seen this with your children.
[00:16:23] When you've caught them doing something what that they were told not to do, what's the reaction?
[00:16:29] I didn't do it. My sister did it. My brother did it. The dog did it. I don't know how that got broken.
[00:16:37] It's always that quick tendency to not tell the truth, to cover up and blame shift right out of the Bible. We look in Genesis and see that's exactly what Adam did, right? When God said, what have you done?
[00:16:53] Well, he hid.
[00:16:55] Blame shifted, said the woman that you gave me, even blamed God.
[00:17:02] I've had to correct my own children and instruct them in falsehood.
[00:17:08] I've had to tell them that, you know, I'm not pleased at what you did, the act that we were talking about, but I'm far more upset that you would not tell me the truth.
[00:17:19] So kids always, always, always tell the truth. It's far better.
[00:17:25] Tell the truth to every adult in your life, your friends.
[00:17:31] Don't lie to make yourself look better. Don't lie to cover up.
[00:17:36] Because in the end, when that's discovered, your character is damaged and friendships are broken.
[00:17:43] So if you're a Christian, you've brought shame to the name of the character of Christ.
[00:17:47] It's never worth it to tell a lie.
[00:17:50] So we see that lying destroys trust, distrust destroys unity.
[00:17:58] It's true in friendships, it's true in marriage, it's true in the church. So we must put it away.
[00:18:06] Let me give you one more way that we live this out as members of one another, and that's to speak honestly and transparently about our temptations to sin.
[00:18:19] It's really easy to not say anything about our sin.
[00:18:23] We can just put on a face and say, we're good.
[00:18:28] We can keep friendships at arm's length.
[00:18:33] We can keep friendship in the shallow end of the pool.
[00:18:37] This is a more subtle form of falsehood, but it's just as destructive to the unity of the truth church.
[00:18:46] To speak truth with one another is to stop hiding our weaknesses, stop hiding our temptations to sin and confess them to one another.
[00:18:57] Why should we do that?
[00:19:00] So we can be loved and helped, not judged and abandoned.
[00:19:07] That's what members of Christ's body do for one another.
[00:19:11] That sure isn't our natural tendency, though, is it?
[00:19:14] Pride says, don't let anyone know what's really going on in your heart, how lustful you are, how greedy you are, how critical you are, how angry you are.
[00:19:24] Don't let anybody know that.
[00:19:27] But we're to put away this falsehood by confessing those weaknesses so that we get help.
[00:19:34] I would even say it's essential to maintain a healthy church body, because our sin is a disease that attacks the health of the body and we need the encouragement of other members speaking truth to us, holding forth this mirror of God's word, interceding for us in prayer and urging us to endure in the faith.
[00:19:58] Marshall Siegel comments about the necessity to of having heart level friendship like this.
[00:20:07] He quotes from Proverbs 27:9, which Michael read earlier. Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
[00:20:20] He asks friends, who do you have in your life that knows and loves you enough to guard your soul this way?
[00:20:28] The God soaked joy of friendship springs from its commitment to give each other God.
[00:20:35] That's what this earnest counsel is, right?
[00:20:39] It's a friend saying whatever we need to hear right now, whether we want to hear it or not, to keep us from wandering away from the way, the truth and the life.
[00:20:53] So I urge you to cultivate heart level, deep friendships with other members.
[00:20:59] And that's going to take time. It's going to take effort.
[00:21:03] But build trust with another mature brother or sister in Christ and tell one another what's really happening in your life, the depths of your heart.
[00:21:14] Encourage one another in the promises of God.
[00:21:17] Give each other God, Help one another. Look to Christ and imitate him well. Paul then moves to another subject.
[00:21:29] Anger.
[00:21:31] Look with me at verses 26 and 27.
[00:21:34] He says, Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.
[00:21:43] So some first observations about these verses. Be angry. It's permissive. He says.
[00:21:50] You can be angry, but he follows, do not sin with that anger.
[00:21:56] Quickly address the reason for your anger and here's a warning.
[00:22:02] The devil will seize the opportunity if you don't address it quickly.
[00:22:07] The anger we are called to call to have is to be imitative of God.
[00:22:16] Well, how do we do that?
[00:22:18] To answer that question, we need a biblical understanding of anger.
[00:22:22] God expresses anger.
[00:22:25] It's written throughout Scripture.
[00:22:27] God is holy and righteous and he is angry with sin.
[00:22:33] And God is always good.
[00:22:36] God has anger without sin.
[00:22:40] It is a good and righteous anger.
[00:22:43] So for us to have anger without sin, we must then imitate God in when and how he expresses anger.
[00:22:50] First we see that God is slow to anger. Psalm 86:15 says, but you, O Lord, are a God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
[00:23:04] God's anger is always in response to evil.
[00:23:09] The Old Testament contains several hundred references of God having anger or being angry.
[00:23:16] 18 times in the book of Deuteronomy, God is described as either provoked to anger or his anger kindled against Israel for turning away from him to serve other gods.
[00:23:28] In chapter 29, Moses gives a prophetic warning to those that stubbornly refuse to obey God's covenant.
[00:23:35] All the nations will say, why has the Lord done this to the land? What caused the heat of this great anger?
[00:23:42] Then people will say it's because they abandoned the covenant, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt and went and served other gods and worshiped them.
[00:23:56] Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book.
[00:24:03] And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath.
[00:24:09] God's anger always comes for a good reason.
[00:24:14] It's in response to sin and we see that God's anger is righteous.
[00:24:22] The supreme example of God's anger and wrath expressed righteously against sin is the cross.
[00:24:31] The cross is the vivid display of the justified wrath of God for the rebellion of mankind.
[00:24:37] Christ Jesus bore in his body the full wrath for our sins.
[00:24:45] God is a just judge and is angry with the wicked.
[00:24:51] To my non Christian friend, if you've never been reconciled with, you must hear that God is angry with your sin every day.
[00:25:03] The call to you today, the appeal to you today is to receive the grace and mercy of God by faith in Jesus Christ who bore your sins for you and bore that wrath for you.
[00:25:21] There is good anger.
[00:25:24] We have to rightly express it as God does.
[00:25:27] There's bad anger.
[00:25:29] David Palleson explains.
[00:25:31] Good and angry is the polar opposite of all forms of bad and angry.
[00:25:37] And it that is good anger acts constructively in the presence of wrong.
[00:25:45] There's injustice in this world, isn't it?
[00:25:49] You can look at your newsreel on your phone and see there's evil every day. There's injustice, there's evil against the innocent.
[00:26:01] Good anger acts constructively first when the truth of God is maligned and distorted and when human beings are violated by evil. In this world, friends, when we are not angry in those situations, it reveals a profound indifference to the things of God.
[00:26:24] God gets angry at those things.
[00:26:27] God acts if we don't. That reveals a heart problem. Absent anger in the presence of wrong reveals a heart ruled by self love and bound in apathy.
[00:26:42] We're members of one another, so we must have a righteous anger. When other members have evil acts committed against them.
[00:26:50] We're members of the body of Christ.
[00:26:52] Absent anger would be like someone pounding your arm repeatedly with as much Force as they could inflicting pain, even damage to your arm. But you just standing there and doing nothing about it, that would be absurd, wouldn't it? You wouldn't do that. You would react.
[00:27:10] Maybe in anger you might hit back, but that's what it's like. We're members of the same body. So if we show apathy for evil that comes against a member and do nothing, if we're not righteously angry over that, we need to examine our heart, apathy and self. Love is ruling.
[00:27:34] Good anger reacts, but with control.
[00:27:38] Good anger does not wait too long.
[00:27:41] Good anger comes at the right time.
[00:27:44] Good anger acts decisively, so the devil has no opportunity to destroy.
[00:27:51] Good anger brings light to the darkness by holding forth the light of God's word.
[00:27:59] Good anger imitates God.
[00:28:02] So we must watch out for one another and be moved in righteous good anger when another member is in trouble.
[00:28:10] But Paul warns, don't sin in your anger.
[00:28:15] R.C. sproul said, There is any emotion that is laced with danger and can be the occasion for the destruction of other people and the destruction of our own souls if not guarded and tempered by the truth of God.
[00:28:31] It is anger.
[00:28:33] And James one tells us that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
[00:28:40] Bad anger is sinful anger.
[00:28:43] Bad anger is a sin problem that is to be put off because it's a characteristic of the old self.
[00:28:50] Here's a quick self evaluation for typical patterns of unrighteous anger.
[00:28:56] This is from David Palleson's book titled Good and Angry.
[00:29:03] Irritable?
[00:29:04] Are you known as the grouch?
[00:29:06] Always cranky, argumentative?
[00:29:11] Are you quick to disagree with anyone and want to prove your point?
[00:29:16] Bitter Paul Tripp describes bitterness as anger that is allowed to age violence. Are you the hothead that wants to throw something, hit something, or even worse, hit someone and inflict harm on them?
[00:29:35] Passive?
[00:29:37] Are you quietly boiling inside over something, a person or a situation that occurred in the past, but nobody knows?
[00:29:46] Occasionally it leaks out in some sharp words or an attitude about self righteous anger. Do you enjoy airing your grievances and flashes of anger and push to get your way?
[00:30:04] So let me ask you, do you think you may have an anger problem?
[00:30:11] Friends, we all have an anger problem.
[00:30:15] We all deal with anger in some form or another in our lives.
[00:30:22] But here's the warning. If bad anger is a consistent pattern in your life, you need to understand what it's revealing about your heart.
[00:30:32] If that anger is toward another person, it's in essence saying, I love myself more than You.
[00:30:40] I want my needs met more than yours.
[00:30:44] Self love is leading your heart and that's the work of the flesh.
[00:30:49] Paul Tripp made a statement about love and anger that has been so helpful for me in my own self assessment, in dealing with own manifestations of anger in my life.
[00:31:04] Here's his statement. He says, love is being willing to take on the needs and complexities of others without impatience or anger.
[00:31:16] Let that sit for a minute.
[00:31:19] It's being willing to take on the needs and the complexities of others without impatience or anger.
[00:31:31] Our bad anger says, I don't want that complication in my life.
[00:31:36] I don't want to take on another need.
[00:31:40] It's saying, I love myself more than I love you.
[00:31:46] Now, I know that's tough to hear. We don't want to think of ourselves this way.
[00:31:50] But it is true.
[00:31:52] Self love leads to irrational ways of justifying our anger.
[00:31:58] But I don't want you to despair. Listen, don't despair. There is hope in putting away that consistent pattern of anger. It's the spirit of God in which you were sealed for the day of redemption. Because the fruit of the Spirit is love and not a self love.
[00:32:16] It is a sacrificial love that will be willing, willing always to take on the needs and struggles of others.
[00:32:26] Well, how do we do that? It looks like this. You pray. You pray. Lord, I submit to you.
[00:32:32] Kill the works of the flesh in me. Kill the love for self that makes me react in anger.
[00:32:38] And cause me listen. Cause me to yield to your spirit within me.
[00:32:45] What is the fruit of the spirit? It is love.
[00:32:49] We don't have to make it more complicated than that.
[00:32:52] We pray and we yield to the spirit of God that's within us.
[00:32:56] The scripture says, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Well, that's good news.
[00:33:05] Now, if this bad anger exists between members of the church, the seriousness is amplified because the glory of God is at stake here.
[00:33:15] Paul is warning us that sinful anger left unaddressed is an opportunity for the devil. And that's what he wants. He wants division in the church.
[00:33:26] He wants to destroy this unity we have. So the devil will whisper to you in that anger and say, don't tell anyone. Don't obey what Christ has taught you. That said, if you have something against your brother, go at once and reconcile.
[00:33:41] Let that anger simmer.
[00:33:44] Let it keep growing.
[00:33:46] Don't forgive. Don't reconcile.
[00:33:50] But Hebrews 12 warns us, Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see The Lord see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, so that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. That's exactly what our enemy would take opportunity with if we hold on to anger between one another.
[00:34:20] Friends, the church is the visible means by which people will see the Lord.
[00:34:26] Love for one another is what they should see.
[00:34:30] So anger towards each other must be addressed quickly by offering and granting forgiveness. And we're going to go deeper on that when we come to verse 32.
[00:34:39] Let's look now at verse 28.
[00:34:42] Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
[00:34:52] Here again is a call to obey God's law, this time the eighth commandment that said you shall not steal.
[00:35:01] Jesus taught that God's commands were not just list of rules to be kept by discipline and determination, but rather we fulfill these commands from the heart.
[00:35:13] Stealing from others reveals a heart that is greedy and apathetic to others and is the outworking of an unchanged heart for the one made new Christ. Greed must be replaced with generosity.
[00:35:30] And generosity reveals a heart that's sympathetic to others.
[00:35:35] The special obligation now for the Christian is to do honest labor. The things that you need to sustain life work with your own hands instead of taking what someone else has worked with their own hands to obtain.
[00:35:51] That's a straightforward principle, isn't it? Don't steal work to obtain what you need.
[00:35:58] God designed us for work. God set the pattern for work. When he created six days he created on the seventh, he rested.
[00:36:07] God appointed Adam to work the garden.
[00:36:10] And this was before the Fall.
[00:36:14] So it's God's perfect design for us to work.
[00:36:20] Work imitates our Father.
[00:36:23] Work imitates Christ.
[00:36:25] Christ's work bought our redemption.
[00:36:29] We also are to imitate Christ in generosity. We should work to meet our true needs.
[00:36:35] But we should also work with the aim to share our gain with others.
[00:36:41] We're to be generous with the fruit of our labors.
[00:36:44] John Wesley summarizes this imperative very well. He says, work as hard as you can, make as much as you can, and then give as much as you can.
[00:36:58] Church family I want to encourage you by saying that you are a generous church.
[00:37:05] You share the fruit of your labors to support the work of this ministry.
[00:37:11] You're generous and faithful in your giving and you're generous in helping others in times of special need.
[00:37:19] Several times I've been handed a check or an envelope with some cash in it from a church member and asked to meet that need that they've been made aware of.
[00:37:32] They want to do it anonymously.
[00:37:36] You see the need and you meet the need with what God has given you.
[00:37:41] That generosity imitates Christ. It's humble, generous.
[00:37:48] So keep growing in that grace.
[00:37:51] We can do that by asking God to reveal any tendencies in us to be greedy and withhold from others, especially when you know you can meet that need.
[00:38:03] Because sin is deceitful.
[00:38:05] And we sure can find many ways to justify keeping for ourselves what God intends for us to share.
[00:38:14] Ask God to create in you what is lacking in a generous spirit.
[00:38:18] If you seldom think about giving, ask God to create that desire in you.
[00:38:26] Ask God to bless your honest work so that you're able to share with others and thus imitate him.
[00:38:34] Be diligent and above reproach in your work so that another will praise you, not your own mouth.
[00:38:41] Trust the Lord to bless you with wages that are commendable to your labor.
[00:38:47] Then Paul instructs us about the words that we use, how they reveal what's in the heart.
[00:38:54] He says in verse 29, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear the word. Translated, corrupting means putrid, rotten, filthy.
[00:39:16] The same words used in Matthew 7 in describing the bad fruit from a diseased tree.
[00:39:23] And Jesus said in Matthew 12, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
[00:39:29] On the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak.
[00:39:35] Christian filthy language must not be in our speech.
[00:39:40] No curse words, no cussing, as we'd say here in Arkansas.
[00:39:46] That's pretty plain to understand, isn't it?
[00:39:49] But corrupting talk also includes lying that we've already talked about. Vulgar language, inappropriate references, vicious words meant to bring to inflict emotional pain on someone. Unkind words, just plain rude.
[00:40:07] Rudeness, gossip, slander.
[00:40:11] These are the rotten outflow of the sinful nature, the old nature. They're destructive words. They tear down the esteem of others that are made in God's image.
[00:40:22] So, being made new in Christ, our words must now reflect the righteous desire of a new heart.
[00:40:29] Our words must imitate Christ.
[00:40:31] And the apostle John tells us that Jesus spoke with grace and truth.
[00:40:39] We're to speak words that build up, words that encourage words of grace and truth.
[00:40:48] An encouraging word at just the right time is so good for your soul, isn't it?
[00:40:54] For those that are weary, frustrated, anxious, fearful, an encouraging word can be life giving.
[00:41:04] I hope you've experienced that as part of this church.
[00:41:09] I'm sure thankful for how God has used you in my life to encourage me at just the right time.
[00:41:17] Think of those times when someone's done that for you and how that impacted you, your outlook on life.
[00:41:23] Strengthen your faith in the promises of God.
[00:41:26] When someone sent you an encouraging text message, an email, an actual handwritten letter. I've got letters I've saved.
[00:41:35] That's kind of rare these days.
[00:41:37] A phone call, an actual face to face conversation.
[00:41:43] It's those kind of life giving, grace filled words that should flow from our speech continually as the pattern of our lives.
[00:41:53] Our words give grace.
[00:41:57] We use that word, grace a lot.
[00:41:59] I like to end my emails and text messages saying much grace to you.
[00:42:04] It's an expression that means I want much of God's unmerited favor to keep coming to you continually.
[00:42:13] I think we more often think of receiving grace rather than being able to give it.
[00:42:18] But this whole text is about living out what we've been given from God.
[00:42:23] We've been given grace, so therefore having received it, we can give it.
[00:42:29] The Apostle John also said of Christ, from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
[00:42:37] So because we've received, we must give. Pray for the Spirit's help to increase encouraging grace filled speech in all of our relationships.
[00:42:49] And then in verse 30, Paul adds this important motivation for edifying speech. He says, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
[00:43:02] Paul explained earlier in this letter at the end of chapter two that our unity in Christ is like a structure. We're all being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
[00:43:15] All these sinful actions of the old nature, the lying, the sinful anger, the stealing, the filthy speech, bitterness, slander, malicious intent, these are all inconsistent with the Spirit of God.
[00:43:30] So for those actions to come out of us grieves the Spirit.
[00:43:35] This shows us that the Spirit is a person.
[00:43:38] Spirit is the third person of our triune God, not just some mystical presence that we can talk about.
[00:43:46] The Spirit is the power by which God is working in us for our continual sanctification.
[00:43:54] Just consider how you might feel if you had the opportunity to help someone out, help bring them out of a destructive, sinful lifestyle.
[00:44:04] You opened your life to them, you invested your time with them, you opened your home to them.
[00:44:09] You led them in the truth of the gospel. You, you showed them unconditional love, gave them unmerited favor.
[00:44:18] And then they simply walked away, returning to that old self destructive lifestyle.
[00:44:26] How would you feel?
[00:44:29] You would be grieved, wouldn't you?
[00:44:32] It would break your heart because you have joined yourself to them, to help them.
[00:44:40] So it is with the Spirit of God we can grieve the Spirit if we're not active and intentional in yielding daily every day to the Spirit of God that is within us, that enables us to put away that destructive sinful life.
[00:44:59] So don't grieve the Holy Spirit. Submit daily to the spirit.
[00:45:05] In verse 31, Paul concludes this series of these negative, these prohibitive imperatives.
[00:45:13] Works that we must put away. He says in verse 31 let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
[00:45:28] That is quite a list.
[00:45:32] Let's look briefly at it. Bitterness.
[00:45:34] As stated earlier, bitterness is born from anger that is held onto.
[00:45:39] It's allowed to simmer, just keep rolling over and over in your mind.
[00:45:46] It leads to a hard heartedness that harbors resentment about the past.
[00:45:52] That's what bitterness is.
[00:45:54] Something in the past occurred that made you angry and you're holding on to it.
[00:46:00] It's embittered your heart.
[00:46:03] Christian, we must put that away.
[00:46:06] Wrath.
[00:46:07] This could be interpreted as rage. It's the uncontrolled anger.
[00:46:12] This rage is the same as the fits of anger included in a list in Galatians, five of which are there works of the flesh of which no one will inherit the kingdom of God.
[00:46:24] So Christian, this must be put away from you.
[00:46:28] Anger.
[00:46:29] We've already talked a lot about anger there. Paul was instructing earlier about a righteous anger, but here this is unrighteous, selfish anger.
[00:46:40] I'm angry because I didn't get what I want.
[00:46:44] Christian, this must be put away from you.
[00:46:48] Clamor.
[00:46:49] Now that's a word we don't use every day. Might not know what that one means, but it means to shout back and forth. It's the quarreling, fighting, the irrational, the harsh words we throw at each other.
[00:47:02] Woke you up, didn't it?
[00:47:05] Clamor.
[00:47:06] That should not be so among Christians.
[00:47:09] You must be put away.
[00:47:12] Slander.
[00:47:13] This is speaking falsehood with intention to ruin slander someone's reputation.
[00:47:19] It's the speech of false teachers and hypocrites.
[00:47:23] Christian, this certainly must be put away from you.
[00:47:29] Paul just sums it all up along with all malice, all malicious evil intent.
[00:47:37] It's the culmination of this inglorious list that all those actions are done maliciously.
[00:47:44] A desire to harm others that must not be so among Christians.
[00:47:51] And notice that Paul says put away all, address it all, don't let it sit. Don't just deal with the easy stuff, you need to deal with the hard stuff.
[00:48:06] All these works of the flesh are exceedingly destructive to the youth unity of the body.
[00:48:12] I don't think we're really surprised by these imperatives. Even if you're relatively new Christian and just learning what the Bible teaches about God's truth and about his character, how he commands us to live, we intuitively know that lying and stealing and filthy speech and bitterness and anger and loud yelling at each other and slandering and malicious intent does not belong to a Christian.
[00:48:40] But what I hope you see, friends, remember we're looking into the mirror of God's word is this is what we all once were.
[00:48:52] This is what we all were before Christ, before the power of God made us alive in Him.
[00:48:57] And we're battling against the remnants of that flesh until we go to be with the Lord.
[00:49:03] We're going to have to battle against it continually. And we're to be growing and helping each other because we are now part of one another, our unity with Christ.
[00:49:15] We're to put away these old works of the flesh and help one another in this fight.
[00:49:21] We're in community together, to grow in holiness together.
[00:49:25] This leads us to point number two.
[00:49:28] As members of one another, imitate God with sacrificial love and forgiveness being the consistent pattern of your life.
[00:49:39] Look with me at verse 4:32.
[00:49:49] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
[00:50:03] Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
[00:50:18] So up to this point we've been focused on the former works of the the flesh, everything that we're supposed to put off.
[00:50:25] And now we get to focus on what to put on.
[00:50:30] How should the pattern of our lives be described as a community of Christ followers?
[00:50:39] Kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiving imitators of God, sacrificially loving.
[00:50:54] Contrast that. It's stark contrast that to what we've just been talking about.
[00:50:59] Bitterness and angry anger, maliciousness, self love.
[00:51:06] That's the power of God to make us new.
[00:51:09] God's wisdom and power is on display through his church and it shines the brightest in the darkness of this fallen world.
[00:51:19] When God's children imitate him in how we live as part of one another.
[00:51:25] That's exactly what God in Christ has graciously shown each of us.
[00:51:31] Friends, we are no more like our Father than when we forgive.
[00:51:38] To forgive is Christian and sacrificial.
[00:51:44] Unconditional love is how we are forgiven.
[00:51:49] Likewise, it enables us to forgive.
[00:51:55] God has demonstrated his perfect love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[00:52:03] The Lord Jesus Christ took us our sins in his body on the cross and bore the justified wrath of God for us, so that by his shed blood, his death, the forgiveness of our sins was purchased.
[00:52:18] We have new life because Christ rose from the grave. And we're seated in him right now in the heavenly places, looking, looking for that blessed hope, the assurance that one, one day we will be with him and glorify him forever.
[00:52:36] Now, beloved, we can sing.
[00:52:40] It is done, it is finished.
[00:52:44] No more debt I owe, paid in full, all sufficient merit, now my own. That's grace.
[00:52:55] We're forgiven.
[00:52:57] And that's the reason that we must forgive each other.
[00:53:02] But we sure can be reluctant with it, can't we?
[00:53:06] Oh man, we just want to hold, hold on to it.
[00:53:13] Matthew 18. Peter asked Jesus, lord, how many times should I forgive my brother? Up to seven times.
[00:53:23] Don't you just laugh at that. Peter's like, man, I'm being magnanimous here. I'm going to offer forgiveness. Seven times.
[00:53:33] Jesus just smashed that ridiculous thinking to pieces when he answered peter, disciples, listen. I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times now was Jesus telling us, make a spreadsheet, title it People that offend me and keep track. And when you get to 78, they're done.
[00:53:59] You're good to not forgive anymore.
[00:54:02] Of course not.
[00:54:04] Jesus was speaking in a hyperbole. He was talking about the unlimited forgiveness that we have been given. So we also must forgive.
[00:54:18] We must look to Christ and see the immeasurable debt that we've been forgiven and respond, likewise, Christian, we're members of the household of God.
[00:54:30] The more we involve our lives together with one another, the more we're going to need to extend kindness, mercy, and yes, forgiveness.
[00:54:44] Because what are we?
[00:54:47] Repentant sinners, but still sinners nonetheless. Right?
[00:54:52] We're going to sin against each other.
[00:54:57] So what Paul is saying is we've got to be quick to forgive.
[00:55:00] Friends, look in the mirror of God's word right now.
[00:55:04] Do you see anger?
[00:55:07] Do you see bitterness, hard heartedness, unforgiveness?
[00:55:15] Who in your life is the spirit of God telling you that you need to forgive?
[00:55:21] If it's any member of this church family, resolve to do that. Quickly resolve to do that in humility and love and seek reconciliation with your brother or sister.
[00:55:33] If you're the one that offended, ask for their forgiveness.
[00:55:38] If you're the one that was offended, but the other person has no idea, has no idea that you've got those feelings. You know that can happen.
[00:55:50] We can say something, do something, and not even realize what we've done to hurt another member.
[00:55:57] What should you do? God's word is clear.
[00:56:00] You cannot hold a grudge against another member because it gives opportunity for the devil, for offense to grow into bitterness and for division to be sown in the body.
[00:56:13] So you should ask to meet with them in humility and in love, the spirit of love, tell them what they did or said that hurt you.
[00:56:25] And here trust in the spirit of God that indwells both of you for that to be received in a spirit of love, for them to see and repent of that, and to ask for your forgiveness and be reconciled to one another.
[00:56:43] Friends imitating God by showing kindness, tender mercy, forgiveness and sacrificial love should also be the consistent pattern of our lives and our relationships with those outside the church.
[00:56:57] This can be extended family, people you work with, people you go to school with.
[00:57:04] This is how the gospel is lived out in a world that desperately needs to see it, to hear it.
[00:57:13] When we extend mercy and grace and forgiveness to unregenerate sinners, that is the gospel in action.
[00:57:23] We must realize that they are deceived by their sin, therefore that's why they sinned against you.
[00:57:29] They're slaves to sin.
[00:57:32] It's all they know. Remember, you were once a slave to sin before Christ freed you.
[00:57:37] So therefore have kindness and have compassion toward the sinner.
[00:57:43] It's God's kindness that brought us to repentance. Romans 2:4 says, and it's his grace that brought us faith. Ephesians 2:8.
[00:57:53] So who in your life do you need to offer forgiveness?
[00:57:58] Is it a father that turned his back on you and your family?
[00:58:03] Is it a mother that did the same? Is it a sibling whose selfish behavior has made you bitter hard hearted toward them?
[00:58:12] Is it a classmate that's made fun of you, embarrassed you, said hurtful, slanderous things about you?
[00:58:20] Is it a long time friend that pulled away and you're not really sure why?
[00:58:26] These can be complex situations to process.
[00:58:32] So if the Spirit is putting that upon you and and you need help, come and talk to one of the elders. We will walk beside you and help you see what God's word is saying, helping sort out those things. But we must offer forgiveness even in those most painful of relationships.
[00:58:53] Well, walk in love.
[00:58:55] Paul says, walk in love.
[00:58:58] That means let love be the consistent pattern of your life.
[00:59:04] Our life is to be characterized by love, but not just any love.
[00:59:09] We've already mentioned self love, and that leads to some bad stuff.
[00:59:16] You know, we use the word love a lot. So we need to clarify this love. We say, you know, we love football. We love music.
[00:59:23] We love fall weather. Oh, thank you, Lord.
[00:59:27] Cheeseburgers, soccer. We love our spouse.
[00:59:32] We love ice cream. We love our parents.
[00:59:35] We love books. We love our children. We love movies. We love God.
[00:59:42] See how confusing that gets?
[00:59:45] I'm glad Paul clarified it. Here, listen to what he says. This love that we're to walk in, that's to be the pattern of our life, is the same love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.
[01:00:00] A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. It's sacrificial love.
[01:00:09] Jesus willingly offered himself as the once and for all sacrifice for sins.
[01:00:15] He said, no one takes my life, I willingly lay it down. For that's why we sing amazing love.
[01:00:26] How can it be that Thou, my God, would die for me?
[01:00:33] That's sacrificial love. The love of God is so pure.
[01:00:38] God loves us so much that Isaiah tells us that it pleased him to crush his own son so that the likes of us could be reconciled to him.
[01:00:52] Now, friends, we don't love that way.
[01:00:54] That's not natural.
[01:00:57] This kind of love is supernatural. It requires us to walk in the Spirit, to yield to the Spirit. But the good news is the Spirit of God in us provides that.
[01:01:13] That's why Paul prayed at the end of chapter three.
[01:01:16] So much of the emphasis of that prayer was on the Spirit strengthening us in our inner being so that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith and that we would be rooted and grounded in his love.
[01:01:32] Even that we would comprehend the dimensions of Christ's love.
[01:01:39] But it's a love that we can't even comprehend. Paul said, I want you to comprehend that which you can't comprehend.
[01:01:47] Why? So that we would be filled with the fullness of God. So that we would imitate God in love.
[01:01:56] Friends, that is a prayer our Lord will answer in ways that far exceed anything we can ask or think.
[01:02:05] Because it's according to his great power at work in us to manifest that kind of love as the consistent pattern of our life.
[01:02:17] The Word of God is the perfect mirror for self evaluation.
[01:02:24] Look into it daily.
[01:02:26] Look into it every day so that you put away the works of the flesh, the old self.
[01:02:33] Look into it daily and see God in the person of Jesus Christ and imitate him.
[01:02:42] Friends, seek out and commit to discipling relationships with other members to help one another imitate Christ.
[01:02:51] Give each other God.
[01:02:55] Brothers and sisters, our union with Christ makes us part of one another.
[01:03:02] So now let's love each other well by leaving behind the works of the old self and imitate God as the consistent pattern of our lives together.
[01:03:18] Let's pray.
[01:03:25] Oh Father, we come before you just amazed as we've looked into the mirror of your word and seen our old self.
[01:03:39] We've looked at your word that said how deceitful we were in sin and how we were children of wrath. And yet even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us to be our wrath bearer, to save us from your sure and righteous anger over our sin.
[01:04:05] Father, we are astounded by this love.
[01:04:09] We are thankful for this love.
[01:04:13] So Father, cause us to be a people marked. The pattern of our lives together is marked by kindness, showing tender mercy and compassion for each other and all that you put in our lives by being quick to forgive, offering forgiveness to all with no limit, and cause us to walk in love, sacrificial love, being willing to take on all the needs and struggles that we all have and to help each other.
[01:04:56] Imitate you so that through your church your manifold wisdom would be on display for a world that needs to see it and hear it all to the praise of your glorious grace.
[01:05:12] This we pray in Jesus name.
[01:05:14] Amen.
