SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning, church.
SPEAKER_00: Turn with me, if you will, to Ephesians chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 4, and today we will be looking at verses 25 through 32, which is all about walking in the truth.
SPEAKER_00: If you remember from previous studies, we've been working through the letter of Ephesians.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul is writing from prison to remind these Christians about who God is, about what God has done, about the nature of our salvation, the purpose of the church.
SPEAKER_00: And it's this glorious and wonderful theology.
SPEAKER_00: But now we arrive at a turning point in verses 17 through 24.
SPEAKER_00: We saw this turning point where Paul now shifts gears from teaching us what is true to showing us how to live it.
SPEAKER_00: He tells us, as followers of Christ, that we are no longer to walk as the world walks.
SPEAKER_00: We are to put off the old self, the sinful patterns, the habits, the ways of thinking that once defined us, and we're to put on the new self, the life that we have been given in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the incredible reality, church.
SPEAKER_00: If you are a redeemed child of God, then you have a new life.
SPEAKER_00: A real, tangible, spirit-filled new life.
SPEAKER_00: And we can now walk in the newness of life that God has graciously given us.
SPEAKER_00: This is not wishful thinking, it is a life made possible by God's power and his presence.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing about a new life: it's new, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's a new thing.
SPEAKER_00: Think about, for example, someone who has spent years driving on the wrong side of the road.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: The steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car.
SPEAKER_00: The traffic flows in the opposite direction.
SPEAKER_00: So all of their instincts, where to look, when to turn, how to merge, have been shaped by that old system.
SPEAKER_00: Now imagine if they move to a country where everything is reversed.
SPEAKER_00: They're given a new car, new laws, a new way of driving.
SPEAKER_00: Technically, the person has everything they need to drive correctly.
SPEAKER_00: But their old instincts don't disappear overnight.
SPEAKER_00: Even though they're in a new country with new standards and laws, they revert back to what feels natural.
SPEAKER_00: They look the wrong way at an intersection.
SPEAKER_00: They drift towards the wrong lane.
SPEAKER_00: They need to learn the newness of this change.
SPEAKER_00: And that is exactly what Paul does for us in the rest of the letter of Ephesians.
SPEAKER_00: He shows us how to walk in this new life.
SPEAKER_00: He shows us how to walk in truth, how to walk in love, how to walk in light, how to walk as a wife, how to walk as a husband, how to walk as a child or a parent, how to walk as a boss or an employee.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't just say, hey, you've been given a new life now.
SPEAKER_00: Good luck.
SPEAKER_00: Figure it out.
SPEAKER_00: He gives us a detailed blueprint for living as God's people in a world that is still very much ruled by the old ways.
SPEAKER_00: So where does Paul start?
SPEAKER_00: Where should our walk begin?
SPEAKER_00: Our walk begins with living in the truth.
SPEAKER_00: He starts in verse 25 saying, Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
SPEAKER_00: So the Apostle Paul starts with speaking the truth.
SPEAKER_00: So throughout the Bible, it is very clear that the Lord hates lying, he hates falsehoods.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 12, 22 tells us that the Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 19, 5 says, a false witness will not go unpunished.
SPEAKER_00: Even in Revelation 21, verse 8, on judgment day, we're told that the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and then he says, and all liars will be in the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
SPEAKER_00: And this isn't a speech problem, by the way, it's a heart problem.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus taught us that.
SPEAKER_00: He says, out of the abundance of the heart, our mouth speaks.
SPEAKER_00: And we can read passages like this and often think to ourselves, well, I don't know about you, but I'm not a pathological liar.
SPEAKER_00: And we try to excuse ourselves from this command.
SPEAKER_00: But all of us, because we're sinners, lie in all kinds of ways and forms.
SPEAKER_00: Do you not embellish stories to make yourself look better?
SPEAKER_00: Do you exaggerate to impress people?
SPEAKER_00: Do you intentionally leave information out to create a false narrative?
SPEAKER_00: Do you manipulate facts to avoid hurting someone's feelings?
SPEAKER_00: What do all of these forms have in common?
SPEAKER_00: It's deceitful speech, it's falsehoods.
SPEAKER_00: None of it is honest or truthful, and it has an impact on our relationships and our conscience.
SPEAKER_00: I tell this story all the time because it's funny.
SPEAKER_00: I might not be an elder after I tell it, but here we go.
SPEAKER_00: But a couple of years ago, I went to Lowe's and I'm in a rush to get a new fridge.
SPEAKER_00: Our fridge went out.
SPEAKER_00: And they were expensive.
SPEAKER_00: There were a lot of money.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm checking out at the front desk for this new fridge I just bought, and they pulled up my account, and they saw that I could get a military discount.
SPEAKER_00: Me and my dad have the same name, right?
SPEAKER_00: They pulled up his account.
SPEAKER_00: And they were like, man, you could, we would you like to use your military discount?
SPEAKER_00: Because you could save like 50 bucks.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, apply that military discount, right?
SPEAKER_00: Little did I know, the guy at the front counter just got out of the military.
SPEAKER_00: And so he starts asking me questions, and he's like, so where did you serve?
SPEAKER_00: What branch were you in?
SPEAKER_00: He's like, thank you for your service.
SPEAKER_00: Even gave me like a military hurrah, you know, like.
SPEAKER_00: And I just stood there speechless because I was caught in a lie.
SPEAKER_00: And so our natural bent is to lie, and it's destructive.
SPEAKER_00: Lies have ruined marriages.
SPEAKER_00: Falsehoods have caused wars.
SPEAKER_00: Is it not the lies of Satan that cause us so much harm?
SPEAKER_00: Which is why Paul says, put away falsehood and be truthful in what you say.
SPEAKER_00: Be honest.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this isn't a license to go around and tell people how ugly you think they are, or to scream from the rooftop that the dress that your wife's in doesn't look good.
SPEAKER_00: You're missing the point.
SPEAKER_00: In your interactions with others, Paul is commanding us to be honest, be truthful.
SPEAKER_00: It's a loving thing.
SPEAKER_00: If you were to ask me how was my week, I don't have to put on this Christian facade and say, well, it was spiritually amazing and just give you the big smile.
SPEAKER_00: Just because I'm a pastor and I want you to think highly of me, I can be honest.
SPEAKER_00: I can say, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I didn't.
SPEAKER_00: It was a rough week, and I need prayer, and I'm struggling.
SPEAKER_00: We should be honest with each other because look at the verse.
SPEAKER_00: For we are members one of another.
SPEAKER_00: We're all a part of the same body here.
SPEAKER_00: We're so deeply spiritually connected, more than I think we can imagine.
SPEAKER_00: We are a family that have been saved by the truth, who are now people of the truth.
SPEAKER_00: So shouldn't our speech match up with that reality?
SPEAKER_00: We're all cut from the same cloth, we're all fighting the same battle with sin.
SPEAKER_00: We have all experienced the same salvation, worshiping the same Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We're all heading towards the same eternal glory.
SPEAKER_00: So why lie?
SPEAKER_00: Lying, it discredits our witness, it creates a culture of confusion and manipulation.
SPEAKER_00: But when we speak truthfully to each other, we create an atmosphere of honesty and transparency.
SPEAKER_00: Our Lord Christ, He embodies truth, He is truth.
SPEAKER_00: So let us be like Him in this regard and keep it real.
SPEAKER_00: So next, Paul moves from our mouth to our emotions.
SPEAKER_00: The next category he tackles is anger management.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verses 26 and 27.
SPEAKER_00: He says, be angry and do not sin.
SPEAKER_00: Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that Paul first, he actually validates anger as a true emotion.
SPEAKER_00: He says, be angry.
SPEAKER_00: He is not condemning this emotion.
SPEAKER_00: Who gave us the ability to get mad?
SPEAKER_00: God did.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_00: Thank God that if I watch the news and kids are dying in Africa from a warlord, that I'm angry about that.
SPEAKER_00: Thank God that if someone hurts one of my children, I get angry about that.
SPEAKER_00: It's an emotion that is often associated with deep love and compassion.
SPEAKER_00: So anger, the initial emotion, it's not inherently evil.
SPEAKER_00: We need to understand that.
SPEAKER_00: That's good and right theology.
SPEAKER_00: However, it is an emotion because of our fallen nature that often leads us to sin.
SPEAKER_00: It's a very intoxicating emotion that can cause all kinds of problems.
SPEAKER_00: It's an emotion that many of us don't know how to handle it very well.
SPEAKER_00: Which is why Paul says, be angry and do not sin.
SPEAKER_00: Because we lack self-control, because we love to take matters into our own hands, because we are prideful and act as if we're the divine judge and prosecutor, anger will often lead us to sin.
SPEAKER_00: It leads us to lash out.
SPEAKER_00: It leads us to scream at our spouse or drag our kids across the house.
SPEAKER_00: It causes us to flip someone off in traffic when they cut us off.
SPEAKER_00: It causes us to be passive aggressive and neglect people.
SPEAKER_00: It leads to verbal and sometimes physical harm.
SPEAKER_00: Anger will cause us to become hateful, bitter, unforgiving, all of which in the Bible are described as acts of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times, our anger isn't even justified.
SPEAKER_00: We're just angry because we're prideful.
SPEAKER_00: We feel so special and important.
SPEAKER_00: We get offended over the most ridiculous things.
SPEAKER_00: How dare you inconvenience me?
SPEAKER_00: You know, how dare things don't go my way?
SPEAKER_00: How dare you don't do what I want you to do?
SPEAKER_00: We literally have fury and rage because someone ate the last Pop-Tart.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: I'm screaming at my child because they interrupted me watching TV.
SPEAKER_00: We can be so selfish.
SPEAKER_00: But unresolved and unchecked anger will always lead to sin.
SPEAKER_00: It will always lead to sin.
SPEAKER_00: Think of Cain and Abel.
SPEAKER_00: Think of King Saul and his jealousy towards David.
SPEAKER_00: It never ends well.
SPEAKER_00: Even though it's an emotion that God allowed us to experience, allowed us to have, it should never be held on to for long.
SPEAKER_00: Which is why Paul says, do not let the sun go down on your anger.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, deal with it quickly.
SPEAKER_00: It's the principle of hold it briefly, but release it quickly.
SPEAKER_00: So if you cook with a cast iron skillet, the heat is very useful.
SPEAKER_00: It sears, it cooks, it does good work.
SPEAKER_00: But if you leave it on the burner after cooking, it keeps heating.
SPEAKER_00: And eventually it burns everything in it, and it can even warp the pan.
SPEAKER_00: And so anger can alert you, alert you that something's wrong.
SPEAKER_00: But if you leave it on, it keeps intensifying and destroys what it was meant to help.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, be angry, church.
SPEAKER_00: Feel the hurt, vent a little bit, but you need to deal with it before the sun goes down.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you let it linger, if you dwell on it and let it consume your thought life, replaying the scenario in your head, letting it stir your emotions, escalating your thoughts, you are cracking the door open for Satan to come in and have his way with you.
SPEAKER_00: Being offended is breeding ground for the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the verse.
SPEAKER_00: And give no opportunity to the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see the connection here?
SPEAKER_00: Unchecked, unresolved anger allows Satan to come and have a heyday with you.
SPEAKER_00: It's fuel to his fire.
SPEAKER_00: He will work you up, he will distort the narrative, he will cause you to hate people who actually love you.
SPEAKER_00: Enhancing evil and vengeful imaginations towards people who are actually created in the image of God.
SPEAKER_00: I see this all the time.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen it a lot, even in my own life.
SPEAKER_00: Nancy comes up to me and she says that Joe really hurt my feelings.
SPEAKER_00: I can't believe he said that.
SPEAKER_00: I thought he was my friend.
SPEAKER_00: And I help Nancy to try to process through it.
SPEAKER_00: And she just refuses to forgive.
SPEAKER_00: She's mad, she's angry, she's stewing on it, marinating on what was said and done, leaving it unaddressed.
SPEAKER_00: And then days later I follow up with Nancy.
SPEAKER_00: Say, hey, just wanted to follow up.
SPEAKER_00: I know you were mad at Joe the other day.
SPEAKER_00: And she's way out there.
SPEAKER_00: She's way out there.
SPEAKER_00: She's holding on to the offense.
SPEAKER_00: Her sleep is all messed up.
SPEAKER_00: She's awake at night thinking about it.
SPEAKER_00: It's consumed her thought life.
SPEAKER_00: Every time Joe is in a room with her, she interprets everything he does as if he's out to get her.
SPEAKER_00: He just gave me a bad look.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't open the front door for me.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't say hi to me.
SPEAKER_00: She's paranoid.
SPEAKER_00: She thinks the whole church is on his side now.
SPEAKER_00: And she's coming up with ways to get back at him.
SPEAKER_00: She's thinking about leaving the church because we won't escalate with her and execute justice on her behalf.
SPEAKER_00: And I go and I talk to Joe, and Joe's like, I didn't even know.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I didn't even know I offended Nancy.
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't even aware.
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, Nancy, because of her unchecked anger, has given Satan ammunition.
SPEAKER_00: She now has this delusional narrative that Joe is evil, the church is taking his side, that everybody is out to get her, and her mind is consumed with the hurt.
SPEAKER_00: And Satan is using her pain and her pride to cause her to see things through his twisted lens.
SPEAKER_00: This happens all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, be angry, but don't sin in your anger, and don't hold on to it for long.
SPEAKER_00: It's not an emotion that we should indulge, lest we allow the enemy to deceive us.
SPEAKER_00: Anger is an emotion we should feel, but it is an emotion that we should control with the help of the Holy Spirit, and it's an emotion that needs to be dealt with quickly.
SPEAKER_00: It was unresolved anger that caused Cain to pick up a rock and kill his brother.
SPEAKER_00: Every premeditated murder in history has come from unresolved anger.
SPEAKER_00: This is historical, it's common, it's the natural response for humanity in our fallen condition.
SPEAKER_00: The world is uncontrolled in their emotions.
SPEAKER_00: Just look around, read the news.
SPEAKER_00: There's people fighting on the streets, screaming at each other on Facebook and social media.
SPEAKER_00: They're burning dumpsters, screaming in each other's faces.
SPEAKER_00: And they live in and they feed on unrestrained anger.
SPEAKER_00: It's a very hard drug to come off of.
SPEAKER_00: But not us.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: This is not the trait that Jesus wants us to walk in in the new life.
SPEAKER_00: You can grow spiritual thick skin and say, yep, that made me mad.
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to brush it off.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to choose to forgive that person.
SPEAKER_00: It's a choice, not a feeling.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to choose to forgive that person because of how much Christ has forgiven me.
SPEAKER_00: How can I be angry at someone over$10 when Christ has forgiven me of trillions?
SPEAKER_00: Be angry, don't sin, deal with it quickly, and don't give the devil a foothold.
SPEAKER_00: Be set apart in this regard.
SPEAKER_00: Next, Paul deals with honest work and generosity.
SPEAKER_00: He says in verses 28 and 29, he says, 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: So the the city of Ephesus during this time, it was a massive commercial city.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure Paul brings this up because humanity is very creative when it comes to getting money dishonestly.
SPEAKER_00: There are all these schemes and scams and ways to take money off the top, cooking the books, online scams.
SPEAKER_00: In America, we are sold on this dream that says the more your money works for you, the less you have to work for money.
SPEAKER_00: We're sold on this dream.
SPEAKER_00: We're sold on this lottery dream of never working, but somehow getting just lots of free money.
SPEAKER_00: But it is always, almost always, wrapped up in dishonest, corrupt methods.
SPEAKER_00: And it's just downright lazy.
SPEAKER_00: So when we think of fevery, we often think of Bonnie and Clyde, you know, crashing into a bank, busting out guns and put your hands up, right?
SPEAKER_00: How about lying on your taxes to get more money?
SPEAKER_00: What about lying at Lowe's with a military discount that isn't yours to save a buck?
SPEAKER_00: What about not working a full day's wages and then going home early?
SPEAKER_00: We steal because we're all about us.
SPEAKER_00: I'm all about me.
SPEAKER_00: We are greedy and we are lazy by nature.
SPEAKER_00: We want more reward for less the work.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul addresses this tendency in us, and he says, Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands.
SPEAKER_00: The new man must live truthfully in the workplace.
SPEAKER_00: The average person works 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime.
SPEAKER_00: That translates into 13 years roughly.
SPEAKER_00: We spend a lot of time at work, and that's the way God designed it, right?
SPEAKER_00: He designed us to work.
SPEAKER_00: So we are to work unto the Lord for his glory, being a witness to our boss and co workers.
SPEAKER_00: And so the new man works hard with With his own hands, with the ability that God has given him to earn his wage, but then we take it a step further and we give some of it away.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the verse.
SPEAKER_00: We give to those in need.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of thinking about ourselves all the time.
SPEAKER_00: How can I scheme to get fast and quick money?
SPEAKER_00: How can I earn more and do less work?
SPEAKER_00: How can I take from others?
SPEAKER_00: Instead, we say, I will work honestly for money, and then I'm going to share some of it.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give what I earned to someone in need.
SPEAKER_00: The new man realizes that everything he has, he doesn't deserve.
SPEAKER_00: And everything he does earn is God's money, anyways.
SPEAKER_00: And he realizes that hard work is a gift from God, it's a mandate from God, and therefore anything that is earned should be earned honestly, truthfully, and some of it given away generously to those in need.
SPEAKER_00: That we would glorify God and make him famous by how we work and what we do with our paychecks.
SPEAKER_00: Next, Paul, he circles back around to the subject of our speech.
SPEAKER_00: He then says, Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths.
SPEAKER_00: So the word corrupt here means harmful.
SPEAKER_00: It is speech used to tear down someone, degrade people, which would include gossip or slander.
SPEAKER_00: As James tells us in his letter, the human tongue is hard to tame.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a world of evil.
SPEAKER_00: It can create a great deal of harm.
SPEAKER_00: It's like a spark that causes a forest fire.
SPEAKER_00: The tongue, although it's small, it's a small thing in our mouth, it can cause some of the most tragic and destructive events in life.
SPEAKER_00: Church, did you know that most people who commit suicide were verbally abused?
SPEAKER_00: Most of them.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that most school shooters are people who were verbally bullied and listened to extremist words online?
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that millions of marriages have been destroyed, not over physical abuse, but over verbal venom that was spewed between spouses?
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that entire lives and careers have been ruined because of a rumor?
SPEAKER_00: You see how unfitting this is for the children of God.
SPEAKER_00: We should rather speak words that build people up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear, that we would use our vocal cords to bless others, to pray for people, to encourage the weak, to declare the excellencies of Christ to those around us, that we would participate in what I call vocal holiness.
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing how often our speech is used to harm other people, to shed other people in a bad light.
SPEAKER_00: My mother, if you don't know her, she's a hairdresser, and in her profession, she deals with so much gossip and slander every day at work.
SPEAKER_00: She experiences the worst of it.
SPEAKER_00: People come in, I don't even think they want a haircut.
SPEAKER_00: I think they just want to rant about everything and everyone.
SPEAKER_00: And their hearts come out and they start tearing down the government and sharing about how John down the road had an affair and you know, complaining about their neighbor and talking about how the local uh school superintendent is such an idiot and he doesn't do his job.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like this negativity that's just so contagious.
SPEAKER_00: And one day I asked my mom, I said, How do you deal with that all day, every day?
SPEAKER_00: Like, how do you not get caught up in it?
SPEAKER_00: And she told me, she said, Jimmy, whenever someone starts tearing down another person, especially someone I know, I intentionally just say something really good about the person.
SPEAKER_00: I just say something that I really admire about that person.
SPEAKER_00: She combats corrupt speech with speaking words of encouragement, words of life.
SPEAKER_00: She actually gives grace or favor to those who hear.
SPEAKER_00: Our culture, it just wants to complain about people and point out every fault and character defect and rant about how stupid Tom is and how lazy Anthony is or how misbehaved the Alexander kids are.
SPEAKER_00: It makes us feel better about ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: It makes us feel like self-righteous judges.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we do it.
SPEAKER_00: It stems from our own insecurities and lack of self-worth.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus did not purchase us with his own blood for us to be walking around saying harmful things that harm others.
SPEAKER_00: That's not his will for us.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't just want us to be obedient in action.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to sanctify every department of our life, which includes our mouth.
SPEAKER_00: What we say to people and how we say it matters to God.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a reflective thought for us.
SPEAKER_00: If someone recorded all of your private conversations, all of your speech throughout the day, what would it be filled with?
SPEAKER_00: Corrupt, inappropriate, harmful speech?
SPEAKER_00: Or would it be filled with words that are building people up, lifting people up, encouragement and affirmation?
SPEAKER_00: Remember, church, that what comes out of your mouth reflects your heart.
SPEAKER_00: The mouth is a megaphone of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And as citizens of heaven, we should use our speech to bless and to build up.
SPEAKER_00: Lastly, in verses 30 and 32, Paul concludes his whole argument with a powerful summary statement.
SPEAKER_00: He says, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
SPEAKER_00: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
SPEAKER_00: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
SPEAKER_00: So all of these things, lying, stealing, corrupt speech, can be boiled down, if you will, to one thing.
SPEAKER_00: You are grieving the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You're not just hurting yourself or others.
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, you are causing the Holy Spirit, the hope of glory, Christ in you, you are causing him to be sad.
SPEAKER_00: Let us be reminded that on the day that we were saved, that God took his spirit and he permanently sealed you with him.
SPEAKER_00: God's personal presence now dwells inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: He is a person, he is the one who comforts you and leads you and empowers you.
SPEAKER_00: And he is the one that will carry you to glory the day of redemption.
SPEAKER_00: And his ministry is to make us more like Christ, to sanctify us, to make us more fit for the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And when we go against his ministry by willfully sinning, we grieve him.
SPEAKER_00: Do you not feel it?
SPEAKER_00: Before I was a Christian, I could use God's name in vain.
SPEAKER_00: I could look at forbidden images online, I could mistreat someone, and I felt nothing.
SPEAKER_00: No conviction, no discomfort.
SPEAKER_00: But now, as a carrier of the Holy Spirit, when I choose to willfully sin, something inside of me just yearns.
SPEAKER_00: Sin doesn't taste the same anymore.
SPEAKER_00: I can't enjoy sin like I used to.
SPEAKER_00: And there's this great sense of just sorrow inside of me.
SPEAKER_00: What is that?
SPEAKER_00: What am I experiencing in those moments?
SPEAKER_00: The spirit in me is grieving.
SPEAKER_00: And thank God for it.
SPEAKER_00: It's actually a good thing for us.
SPEAKER_00: It motivates repentance.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit grieving, it reminds us that sin is bad.
SPEAKER_00: It's really bad.
SPEAKER_00: We are reminded of whose we are and that my life is not my own anymore.
SPEAKER_00: If the spirit did not grieve, there would be sin in our lives that we might not ever leave.
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit lets us know in real time, hey, it's not okay to speak or to act that way.
SPEAKER_00: That grieves me.
SPEAKER_00: So in light of this reality, Paul now gives us a list of traits that we need to throw away, a list of characteristics that are sinful, fleshly, and that grieves the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is bitterness.
SPEAKER_00: This is cynical resentment towards someone.
SPEAKER_00: It's the idea of being hostile towards people.
SPEAKER_00: The next is anger.
SPEAKER_00: This is sinful anger.
SPEAKER_00: It means agitated passion.
SPEAKER_00: It's the idea of being irritated towards someone.
SPEAKER_00: The next is clamor.
SPEAKER_00: This is the idea of being loud and insistent and having unrest.
SPEAKER_00: It's a trait that's often linked to conflict, division, the absence of peace.
SPEAKER_00: Like you're always ready to brawl, you're always ready to fight and protest and make noise when something doesn't go your way.
SPEAKER_00: The next one is slander.
SPEAKER_00: This is lying about someone.
SPEAKER_00: It's shedding other people in a bad light with the intent of causing harm towards someone's reputation or character.
SPEAKER_00: And the last one mentioned is malice.
SPEAKER_00: This is a desire to hurt or harm, wishing evil on others.
SPEAKER_00: It's an inward attitude that leads to harmful actions.
SPEAKER_00: And he even makes it a point to say, and all malice, meaning any form of it, we are to take such traits and attitudes and do what?
SPEAKER_00: Put them away.
SPEAKER_00: Literally meaning destroy.
SPEAKER_00: Totally remove.
SPEAKER_00: So take these desires, attitudes, and tendencies, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, destroy them.
SPEAKER_00: Get rid of them.
SPEAKER_00: They belong to your old man, anyways.
SPEAKER_00: They are deeds of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Forsake things that grieve the spirit and walk in the things that rather feed the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Paul gets after in verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Be kind to one another.
SPEAKER_00: This literally just means being friendly.
SPEAKER_00: Like be friendly and generous and considerate towards people.
SPEAKER_00: The next one mentioned is tenderheartedness.
SPEAKER_00: This word, it's actually an idiom meaning much bowels, which is the ancient idea of just you're easily moved to love.
SPEAKER_00: You're eager to show empathy and compassion.
SPEAKER_00: You're easily drawn to just love on people.
SPEAKER_00: The next one mentioned is forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
SPEAKER_00: This one is huge.
SPEAKER_00: It's as if God knew that we would offend each other.
SPEAKER_00: It's as if God knew that we would get on each other's nerves.
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a reason Jesus told his disciples that they should forgive their brothers 70 times seven.
SPEAKER_00: There's a reason why there's 59 one-anot commands in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: It's because God knew that we would have a hard time with this one.
SPEAKER_00: Which is why the command to forgive is always linked with the theology of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: To the natural man.
SPEAKER_00: How in the world could you forgive someone who stole from you?
SPEAKER_00: Who hurt your family?
SPEAKER_00: Who betrayed you?
SPEAKER_00: Why would you even consider forgiving someone?
SPEAKER_00: How could Corey Tenboom, if you've read her story, forgive the Nazi prison guard who tortured her and her family?
SPEAKER_00: It's like they deserve her wrath.
SPEAKER_00: They deserve her disapproval, her utmost hatred.
SPEAKER_00: But this is not so for the children of God who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, who have been totally and completely forgiven, and have received a merit that is not their own.
SPEAKER_00: We must forgive because we have been forgiven of so much.
SPEAKER_00: Church, think about it.
SPEAKER_00: Every awkward and perverted thought that you've ever had, all of them.
SPEAKER_00: Every bad deed that you've ever committed in public or behind closed doors.
SPEAKER_00: All of the vain, empty, terrible things that you have said or imagined.
SPEAKER_00: Think about all the ways that you fall short in just worshiping God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
SPEAKER_00: Your sins are so great.
SPEAKER_00: They are so great before a holy God.
SPEAKER_00: Your sins alone, if they were piled up, they would cover the brightness of the sun.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, at the cross, Jesus paid every penny for every sinful crime that you have committed towards an infinitely holy God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, he bore your punishment in anguish and torment to satisfy God's wrath that burned against your sin.
SPEAKER_00: And in exchange, by grace through faith, he gave you his merit, he gave you his life, he gave you his reward, and you now have a clean record before your creator.
SPEAKER_00: But more than that, you've been adopted into God's family and you have a restored relationship with him.
SPEAKER_00: And so despite your sinfulness, because of Christ's forgiveness, you have eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, we must forgive.
SPEAKER_00: The measure of our forgiveness towards others, it reflects our understanding of the forgiveness that we have received in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This doesn't mean that we condone people's actions.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what forgiveness means.
SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness doesn't mean that trust is instantly restored.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what forgiveness means.
SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness doesn't mean that we need to be the person's best friend.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what forgiveness means.
SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness doesn't mean that our memory is suddenly erased, magically erased, and we don't remember.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what forgiveness means.
SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness doesn't mean that we need to be a doormat and allow people to take advantage of us.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what forgiveness means.
SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness says, I'm choosing to show you grace and let it go.
SPEAKER_00: Let it go in my mind and let it go in my heart, because my life has been radically transformed by grace.
SPEAKER_00: And by doing so, we entrust judgment to the judge.
SPEAKER_00: In church, that's his job, anyways.
SPEAKER_00: It's not your job, it's his job.
SPEAKER_00: The person then no longer rents space in our hearts and in our minds.
SPEAKER_00: Extending forgiveness reflects the very nature of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: To withhold forgiveness is to forget the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And to give, to give forgiveness is to remember the price that He has paid for us.
SPEAKER_00: So what we have before us, church, in this passage is this war, right?
SPEAKER_00: We've got this war going on.
SPEAKER_00: The old man and the new man, walking in the flesh, walking in the spirit, living in lies or living in the truth.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the battle we find ourselves in as Christians.
SPEAKER_00: And because God loves us, because He wants the very best for us, He tells us the bad things that need to get out and the new things that we need to start walking in.
SPEAKER_00: So what is the conclusion?
SPEAKER_00: I first want to say, church, as a word of caution, because there is a big temptation in passages like this, that you will not accomplish any of these godly traits in your own strength.
SPEAKER_00: I want to make that clear.
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of the knee-jerk reaction to sermons like this is to hear it and say, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Tomorrow I'm gonna look in the mirror, I'm gonna pull myself up by my bootstraps, and I'm just gonna, in my own willpower, I'm just gonna change these areas of my life.
SPEAKER_00: It will not work.
SPEAKER_00: All of these things, all of these commands are not possible without drawing strength, not from yourself, but from God.
SPEAKER_00: We need his power, his enabling grace through the Spirit to help make us these things.
SPEAKER_00: The power to do and be these things is by abiding in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He is the vine, and we are the branches, and we can only bear fruit by abiding in him.
SPEAKER_00: That is where our strength comes from.
SPEAKER_00: So, with that disclaimer in mind, I ask which of these areas needs spiritual attention for you?
SPEAKER_00: Don't compare yourself to others.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let your inner lawyer try to defend or excuse yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Be honest and own it.
SPEAKER_00: You're not fooling God.
SPEAKER_00: Do you lie?
SPEAKER_00: Is what you say truthful?
SPEAKER_00: Do you steal even in small ways and justify it in your mind?
SPEAKER_00: Do you indulge your anger?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have an anger problem?
SPEAKER_00: Do you work hard for the glory of God, giving your money away to those in need?
SPEAKER_00: Do you use your words to tear down people or build up?
SPEAKER_00: Are you indulging the acts of the flesh, things like bitterness, anger, slander, malice?
SPEAKER_00: Or are you walking in kindness, compassion, forgiveness?
SPEAKER_00: Whatever area God is highlighting for you in this passage, realize this, church.
SPEAKER_00: He's not shouting at you.
SPEAKER_00: God's not shouting at you saying you're a pathetic failure.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: He's looking to you as a beloved child.
SPEAKER_00: He's pointing out work that still needs to be done in you.
SPEAKER_00: We are an ongoing construction site.
SPEAKER_00: I know I am.
SPEAKER_00: And he's pointing to a new room that he wants to remodel for our good and for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: This is why what what the Word of God it does.
SPEAKER_00: It continually exposes our sin so that God can heal and deliver and conform us more into the image of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Conviction, as painful as it is, church, it's a really good thing.
SPEAKER_00: So don't feel condemned this morning, but allow that holy conviction to motivate you to confession, to receive forgiveness and extend it, and to rely on God's power in the days ahead that you might walk in a greater degree of holiness.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't about behavior modification.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't merely about Christian ethics.
SPEAKER_00: Church, this is about gospel transformation that comes from a real relationship with the true and living God.
SPEAKER_00: This is all about God's glory, his plan, his will for our lives.
SPEAKER_00: This is about us walking in the new life that God has given us, in experiencing it in a fuller, more blessed way that results in the exaltation of God.
SPEAKER_00: What does this new life look like?
SPEAKER_00: It starts church with walking in the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.