A Guide to Holiness In Life (Ephesians 4:25-32)

You're listening to preach the word with David Rue, sermon archive. Church, let us pray together, our most holy and gracious God. You do not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is your love for those who fear you. As far as east is from the west, so far have you removed our transgressions from us. And so thank you that you loved us even when we were so unlovable. For in Jesus Christ, you displayed how rich you are in love and grace. Lord, teach us not to take advantage of your grace, but would you grant us a broken and contrite heart that you take pleasure in and make this church more holy and more fit for your service. Now, as we incline our ears to the preaching of your word, we ask for the illumination of the Holy Spirit. You promised that your word that goes forth from your mouth shall not return to you empty. So accomplish what you sow desire in us today and sanctify us by your truth. We pray all this in the most holy name of Jesus Christ, amen. We'll let us continue in our sermon series through the book of Ephesians. So please don't put your bibles with me to Ephesians chapter four, and we'll be looking at verses 25 to 32. Ephesians 4, 25 to 32, hear the word of the Lord. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor. For we are all members of one body. In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. And do not give the devil a full hold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer. But must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you are sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. Amen, this was reading of God's word. Last time we loved at the goal of the Christians redemption. In the preceding verses, the Apostle Paul has told us that Christians are redeemed and created anew to be like God, in true righteousness and holiness. He uses the language of wearing new clothes to illustrate the Christians repentance and holy living. We are to put off our old filthy clothes or a simple nature and we are to put on the new clothes of Christ. Now, in our passage today, Paul outlines five practical ways that Christians are to put off their old self and to put on the new. Five practical changes in the lifestyle of the saints. And before we dive into these five things, I want to point out two significant observations. Firstly, notice how Paul's imperative to refrain from a negative behavior is always followed up by an imperative to reinforce a positive behavior. This is significant because holiness in life involves both the displacement of our sinful habits and the replacement with holy habits. And so we must replace falsehood with truthfulness and integrity. We must replace unrighteous anger with righteous anger and self-control. We must replace stealing with hard work and generosity. We must replace unwholesome talk with edifying talk. We must replace bitterness, rage, and slander with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. You see, holiness in life is not just about avoiding the attitudes and behaviors that this pleases God, but it is just as much pursuing the attitudes and behaviors that pleases God. Holiness is not just saying no to ungodliness, but it is saying yes to godliness. Secondly, notice how Paul's imperatives are always attached to a theological reason. This is significant because what we believe actually shapes what we do and how we behave. And so we must replace falsehood with integrity and truthfulness because we believe we are all members of one body, verse 25. We must replace unrighteous anger with righteous anger and self-control because we believe the devil schemes to divide into destroy, verse 27. We must replace stealing with hard work and generosity because we believe Christians are commissioned to serve the needy, verse 28. We must replace unwholesome talk with edifying talk because we believe corrupted speech grieves the Holy Spirit of God, verse 30. We must replace bitterness, rage, and slander with kindness, compassion, forgiveness because we believe God forgave us in Christ, verse 32. You see orthodoxy motivates us towards orthopraxy. In other words, right belief motivates us toward right practice and right living. Yet if we have right doctrine but do not have right practice, we prove to be religious hypocrites. And if we have right practice but do not have right doctrine, we prove to be moralistic legalists. Therefore, Jesus says every good tree produces good fruit. By their fruit, you will recognize true disciples. The Christians' faith must be evidenced by their lifestyle. Well then, with these things in mind, let's dive deeper into these five practical changes that must take place in the Christian's life. First, the Christian must replace falsehood with truthfulness and integrity. In verse 25, Paul writes, "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor for we are all members of one body." Lying is no small offense. It's a big deal to God. That's why he includes it in the Ten Commandments given to his people, "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor." And the first sin that separated humanity from God began with a lie from the serpent. The fall of mankind and the great rebellion against God started from one single lie. One single lie ignited can spread like wildfire, burning down trust, relationships, and entire communities. It only takes one lie to potentially destroy someone's life. It only takes one lie to potentially divide a church and create hostility. It only takes one lie to offend God and encourage wrath. And if we are honest with ourselves, we are all found to be liars. Perhaps if I ask you, those of you who are liars here in this room raise up your hand. Not all of us would raise up our hands, perhaps you don't identify as a liar. But if I were to ask those of you who have ever told a lie in your life, raise up your hand without a doubt, everyone should raise their hands. And I tell you, just as it only takes one crime to make you a criminal, it only takes one lie to make you a liar. And the horrifying reality is that liars are found among the list of those who shall be judged most severely in Revelation 21. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers are sexually moral. Those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars, they will be consigned to the fiery lap of the burning suffer. This is the second death. You see the sin of falsehood and deception is no small offense. It is a big deal to our most holy God. Of course, deception can take many forms when we deceive other people by telling a lie, by exaggeration, by fabricating details, by cheating, by withholding information which we should not withhold, or by making foolish promises which we cannot keep, we are guilty as charged in the eyes of God. In John 8, the Pharisees protested Jesus and insist that they are the children of God the Father. And Jesus responds in this way, "You belong to your Father, the devil, and you want to carry out your Father's desires." He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the Father of all lies. Jesus makes it absolutely clear, when you and I lie, we speak the native tunnel of the devil. Therefore, anyone who has ever told a lie resembles the devil more than they resemble the holy God. The children of the devil are deceivers just like the serpent in the garden, but the children of God are committed to speak the truth, even if it will cost them, even if they know that no one will find out, they speak the truth because they fear God. And so let there be no deception on our lips, especially within the body of Christ, falsehood threatens the peace and unity of this church. The truthfulness and integrity builds up the body of Christ and pleases our Heavenly Father. Second, the Christian must replace unrighteous anger with righteous anger and self-control. Paul writes in verse 26 and 27, "In your anger do not sin, do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. The command is not, do not ever be angry, but it is in your anger do not sin." And so Paul is implying that anger is not always sinful, but there is a kind of anger that is actually righteous. You know there are times when we should be angry, because anger is the only appropriate response. When we witness injustice, oppression, and evil in the world, but we remain indifferent and apathetic while there is something terribly wrong with our conscience. You see anger is sometimes the appropriate response, even God becomes angry in the face of evil. Whereas one of my theology professors would say, "God's wrath is God's love burning hot." God's love burns hot against all that is evil. Because God loves the poor, God is angry with the greed of men. Because God loves babies, God is angry with the abomination of abortion. Because God loves peace, God is angry with the violence of war. And so God's anger is justified, holy and righteous. Hence it is entirely appropriate for Christians to be angry with the things that anger God. We must be angry with sin that we see in the world. And we must be even more angry with the sin that we see in ourselves. However, Paul warns us and your anger do not sin. Even when the wrong is done against us, we are responsible for our thoughts, our attitudes, and our behaviors. Anger is unrighteous if it is unjustified and out of proportion. Moreover, anger is unrighteous if it begins to control us. When anger takes control, it is not pretty. Of course, we can respond with cursing, yelling and violence because all we see is red. But there are also more subtle, but toxic ways that anger actually controls us. For instance, we can have simple thoughts and even ruminate as we obsessively dwell in a cycle of negativity. Or we can be passive, aggressive and silently punish the person who offended us instead of seeking reconciliation, or we can be rash and make rash decisions, make unfounded conclusions and spread gossip, or we can be disrespectful by interrupting, rolling our eyes, exchanging prideful remarks and using biting sarcasm and the list goes on. However, when the Christian is angry, they must exercise self-control, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul instructs us, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." What he is saying is, "Do not let your anger fester. Do not let your anger consume you, but seek to resolve it as soon as possible. Because if we allow our anger to grow, it will soon overtake us, and the devil will see it as a golden opportunity to cause more pain, more hurt, more destruction." That's why early on, when my wife and I married, we made a rule that if we have any conflict or unresolved hurt, that we talk it out immediately, we resolve it immediately, or at least before we go to sleep at night. We do this to protect the harmony of our marriage and to not give the devil any foothold thereby glorifying God. Third, the Christian must replace stealing with hard work and generosity. Paul writes in the first half of verse 28, "Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer. Nothing may enrich your account, but it will impoverish your soul." In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul sternly warns us that these will not inherit the kingdom of God. Why is stealing such a big deal to God? Stealing is not just a violation of the law of men. It is a violation of the divine law of God. The eighth commandment that God gave his people was thou shalt not steal. Stealing constitutes any kind of dishonest gain, fraud, plagiarism, purchase and resell stolen goods, piracy of digital property, and the list goes on. Maybe you don't steal frequently so you don't feel so bad. You don't steal a big amount so you don't feel so bad. Maybe you've never gotten caught so you don't feel so bad when you steal. But remember that God sees your every action moded and thought and one day you will have to give an account before God. Consider this a crazy psychopath who mergers people for final is driving down Youngstreet. He approaches a very busy intersection and the traffic lights turn red. What does the psychopath do? Well, he stops. The psychopath has no regard for the law. He does not care about other people, but he stops at the red light because if he doesn't, he will be crushed by incoming traffic or the police will chase him down and arrest him. You see the worldly man is deterred from committing a crime because of earthly consequences. But more often than not, if the worldly man knows that he will never get caught, he could steal and build his pockets and still sleep like a baby in the night. But the spiritual man is deterred from committing a crime not only because of earthly consequences, but because he fears God who can destroy both soul and body and health. Maybe they can make a lot of money from this honest game and nobody is watching. Nobody will ever find out. But the spiritual man trembles at the thought of dishonoring the Lord Almighty. Dear friends, if you are guilty of violating the divine laws, may God strike your conscience today and consider it a loving act of the Holy Spirit. Repent and turn to God so that your sins may wipe the way and the times of refreshing may come. Anyone who has been stealing must deal no longer, but must work. Doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. The apostle follows up with an imperative to reinforce a holy habit. It is not enough. It is not enough for the Christian to steal no longer, but they must work hard. They must do something with their hands so that they can practice charity. In other words, the goal of our redemption in Christ is not that we should no longer be thieves, but that we should become generous servants of the Lord. And so I ask, dear Christian, are you a generous person? Do you give your money, your time, your service, to the needy, and to the work of God's church? Maybe you don't have much to give, and that's okay. Give what you're able. But if you're not able to give because you're too lazy to work, then you forfeit the opportunity to share in the character and ministry of Jesus Christ. You see sinners can steal to make a living, and sinners can even work to make an honest living, but the call of the Christian is to work in order to give and to bless. You know, people often ask me, pastor David, is it wrong? Is it wrong for me to be want to be rich as a Christian and to want to make a lot of money? And I tell them, what's your motivation? Do you want to be rich so that you can make a name for yourself and live a comfortable life and indulge in luxury? Then you idolize wealth, and you cannot serve two masters. But if you want to be rich so that you can give to kingdom work, then go get busy. Make a ton of cash, make a lot of money, and leverage it all for the spread of the gospel to all the nations. But the reality is that the average Christian only gives 2.5% of their income as an offering to God. 2.5%. We spend more money on our pets, and we spend more money on tipping our waiters and waitresses, and we give our leftovers to God. And what's just as shocking is how churches are spending the offering. The North American church only spends 2% of all offering, all their income, only 2% on global missions. While spending the majority on themselves and building beautiful facilities and comfortable chairs and stuffing themselves with food, you see both the individual Christian and the church at large must reassess their priorities and their spending. Because I'm convinced that God has blessed us so abundantly here in North America, and he gave us all that we have so that we can be a blessing to all the peoples, and for the evangelization of the world. Brothers sisters in Christ, let us not be found stealing from God what belongs to him, and what do you have that does not belong to your master? What do you have that does not belong to your master? For we are not the owner, but the managers of all that we possess today, and in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ from Luke 12, from everyone who has been given much, much more will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Now let us move on to our next point. Fourth, the Christian must replace unwholesome talk with edifying talk. In verse 29, Paul writes, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." The Greek word translated here as unwholesome is sapros, and more literally sapros means rotten or corrupted. Like a bad rotten fruit or fish that is no longer good to eat. And if you've ever eaten something bad and got some poisoning before, well you know that it's going to be a terrible trip to the bathroom. Likewise, unwholesome talk can make you very, very, very sick. Consider what James says about the tongue. All kinds of animals, birds, reptile sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is our restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. Sometimes we don't even realize what's coming out of our mouths. But the Christian must be sober and alert at all times. The great theologian Augustine hung up a sign on his dining room table that read, "Whoever speaks evil of an absent man or woman is not welcome at this table." That's a good sign to hang up in your house. Gossip, cursing, lying, slander, baller's speech are all not appropriate for the redeemed. Your hearts and your lips must serve to glorify God. In Paul says, "We must speak only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen." The average person speaks 25,000 words per day, and along with the calculate how much of the words that you speak every day are unwholesome and worthless words. And how much are edifying and encouraging works? Are you using your words to bring people down or to build them up? And that includes your typing, right? Because God's intended purpose for your speech is blessing. The children of God speak the language of blessing, not cursing. And then verse 30, Paul adds, "And do not group the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Whenever Christians sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit who lives in us. We cause him great sorrow. Have you ever done something stupid or said something really foolish that broke your mother's heart and made her cry?" So it is with God. When God's children sin, we drive a dagger into his heart and we drive another nail into our precious Christ. And this is the imagery that Paul employs to have Christians be cautious of what comes out of their mouths. We must think before we speak and consider whether the words we say will please the spirit or grieve the spirit. Now we come to our final point. Fifth, the Christian must replace bitterness, rage, and anger with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Paul writes in verse 31, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander along with every form of malice." I've heard it said that resentment is like drinking poison and then waiting for the other person to die. It makes no sense. You're killing yourself. Happiness kills you from the inside, it eats away your soul. Left untreated, it spawns many other sinful habits of rage, brawling, slander, and Paul adds along with every form of malice, every form of evil. Let me choose to drink the poison of resentment and withhold forgiveness. We are susceptible to commit all kinds of things, all kinds of evils, too many for the Apostle to list, but such vices are incompatible with the Christian. And so the Apostle reminds us of our calling to holiness in verse 32, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you." A once-discipled, a young Christian man who was very passionate about theology, about evangelism and missions, and he was a leader of the praise team, but he had one big problem, one big issue, he resented his father who walked out of his life when he was a little boy. In our Disappointed meetings, we would often talk about his estranged relationship with his father. I helped him process his hurt, comforted him with the gospel hope, and then eventually I confronted him and I said, "Brother, because now that you're a Christian, you can't keep holding on to your resentment toward your father. You need to bring it before God and you need to let it go." And then you know what he said to me? He said, "I'll consider it." Dear Christian, listen to me very carefully. Resentment and withholding forgiveness is not an option that you have. It is not an option. You have no right to withhold forgiveness. So it means to be a Christian, you have no right to sin. This entitlement needs to stop. Forget your ego, forget your pride because there is something much more important at stake. Let me ask you this, would you rather deny yourself or would you deny your Christ? Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus says, "I tell you not seven times, but seven times." But Jesus, you don't know what this person did to me. You don't know how much this person wronged me and how hurt I am. It's too hard to forgive, it's too hard for me to let it go. And the Roman soldiers crucify Jesus and he says with his dying breath, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." It was not some Roman soldiers and rusting nails that held Jesus on the cross. But it was his love for you that held him there. He sacrificed his life for you and for all who would trust in him. He paid for our sins so that we would be forgiven. And God didn't forgive us because we deserved to be forgiven. We don't deserve to be forgiven. What we deserve is hell and the wrath of God for our sin. But God demonstrates his own love for us and this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is the essence of grace. The unmerited, favor and love of God towards sinners who don't deserve it. This is the Christian message. And if we have truly experienced this grace, we cannot be indifferent with resentment and bitterness bestowing in our own hearts. Our forgiveness is the evidence that we have been touched by the grace of God. Therefore, we can obey the Apostles' command, forgive each other just as in Christ, God forgave you. And so beloved Church, let us put off our old self and put on the new. Let us drive for holiness in life. But I hope you didn't think that this was just another sermon about self-improvement or about being a good person, a good moral person because it's not. Far from it, this sermon was about how the grace of God redeemed us to be holy. God did not demand obedience from us in order to be forgiven. God does not demand obedience to him to receive his grace. But it is because God has graciously forgiven us in Jesus Christ and He gives us the strength to obey through the Holy Spirit. That is why we seek to live holy lives. all to his glory alone. Let us pray. Father, we thank you so much for your words, your truth that sanctifies us. Lord, we want to be holy just as you are holy. Help us to be children of God and help us to prove that we are truly your disciples as we long for holiness, as we long to be like Jesus Christ, which will help us by your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen.