I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Ephesians chapter
4. Ephesians chapter 4. I'd like to look at verses 25
through 32. And what I'm going to do is I'm going
to start, I'll start, Verse 25. But I want us to read verse 32
and then ask our Lord's blessing. Verse 32, Ephesians 4, 32, And
be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. this evening as we call upon
you. Lord, we do so in the name of
the Lord Jesus and only in his name are we able to approach
you in prayer as he takes the prayers of your people and presents
them in his merit. calls us this evening to hear.
Help us. Help us for Christ's sake. We
pray for Pat. I pray you to have mercy. Forgive
us where we failed you for Christ's sake. Amen. The Apostle Paul in this chapter,
and you remember now the first three chapters of Ephesians,
sets forth the truth. of God's eternal sovereign love
for His people. Choosing them in Christ, predestinating
them unto the adoption of children. I was thinking about that song
we just sang a moment ago, Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. And
I thought to myself, Lord, help me to sing this heartfully and
realize what I'm singing redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The
Scripture sets forth in Ephesians 4.4, there is one body. There's one body. Many assemblies,
but we're one. The body of Christ. The Lord
Jesus is the head of the body. And all believers are brethren. We're brethren. We're members
of one body. Think of your body. You have
two hands, two feet, two eyes, nose, mouth, ears. One body,
working in harmony. Ephesians 5.23, For the husband
is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the
church, and He is the Savior of His body, of the body. Colossians
1.18, He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have
the preeminence. He reigns, He provides, He instructs
for His glory. Now He's given us some instruction. I was looking over these passages
that we're going to try to deal with for a few minutes, starting
in verse 25 and go to the end of the chapter, and I thought
to myself, the question came back to my mind. Someone asked
Brother Henry something like this one time. Does a believer
led by the Spirit of God know the right thing to do or does
he need instruction? Brother Henry said, yes. They know what's right and they
need some instruction. This evening, I want us to look
at what the Spirit of God has set forth. We don't live by rules and regulations. We walk by faith. We walk by
faith. The Spirit of God has been pleased
to give us, that we might walk by faith, some instruction concerning
our conversation. Verse 25 to 31 gives the body
that instruction concerning their walk, their attitude, especially
toward each other. Now here's the one thing I want
us to remember as we look over these verses for a few minutes.
We're one body. This is our attitude toward our
body, toward the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 25 to
31 gives the instruction. Verse 32 gives the heart or the
motive for what? The Spirit of God. has instructed
us in. Alright, there's one body. Now listen, every believer in
this room, every believer throughout this world that's ever lived
or ever shall live, every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is God's
elect. They were everlastingly loved. and eternally chosen by the Father
and given to the Lord Jesus Christ, mysteriously, wonderfully charged
to Him. And as being charged to Him,
the Father elected Him first, and us in Him. Elected Him first. Chose Him first. As His servant. As the surety of the sheep. As
the Redeemer. The Messiah. Chosen by the Father. That we should be holy. Holy. And without blame. Now you think
of the without blame. Charged Christ to make good on
this. as the surety. He'll make good
on this. He'll live for us, die for us,
charge to us His righteousness, imputed righteousness. We're
chosen by the Father. One body, one body. We're all
redeemed. All of us redeemed by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And every one of God's elect
redeemed by Christ, absolutely shall be regenerated by the Spirit
of God. And one body, we've all been
called to life. In this one body, though I have
different parts, and different parts have different purposes,
different place. My ear can't do what my hand
does. My hand can't do what my foot does. But I'm going to tell
you this one time. All my parts are alive. They're
all alive. It's life. Now, one body, life
in Christ, we're one. 1 Corinthians 6, 19, 20. What? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost? which is in you which you have
of God, and you are not your own, for you are bought with
a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's." That is, in your
attitude and your action. You know, I thought to myself
as I read over these verses here going over my notes a while ago,
I thought, how it should arrest my heart as I'm reading this
instruction from the Lord. Here's God's Word to His people. It should arrest my heart to
devote myself to Him. Why? I'm His. That's what the
apostle Paul said. You're not your own. You've been
bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body. Now let's just listen. Let's
just read for a few minutes this instruction. Verse 25. Wherefore,
putting away lying. You know, we're all born. in Adam. And we all come forth
from my mother's womb, what? Liars. Liars. When Adam sinned
against God, that old man, that old man now that we're born with,
which is directly from the blood of Adam, Satan is a liar. He lied to Eve. He's a liar. He's the prince
of lies. And before we're converted, we're
all liars. Our heart is desperately wicked
and it's deceitful above all things. Listen, it's bad enough
that I'd lie to you. Much less lie to myself. Lie
to it. Deceitful. The apostle, under
the inspiration of God's Spirit, says, we're putting away lying. Truth. Truth is the foundation
of a believer's life. Based on truth. Truth. Found in Christ I am the way,
the truth, and the life. A believer, just be able to lie,
just lie. Exaggerate. To speak in a way
to deceive, just to deceive somebody. Apostle Paul says, put that away. Putting away lying. Speak every
man truth with his neighbor. Why? For we're members one of
another. You know, wouldn't it be kind
of silly for me to, just think about it, just think about what
I'm trying to say here. For me to try to speak to myself
and try to lie to myself. You say, well, you know, that's
kind of far-fetched. No. No. That's what I'd be doing if I
was doing it to you. We're one body. Why would I want to lie
to myself? We're members, one of another.
Whenever we speak to each other, Apostle Paul is saying, don't
speak. with a spirit of exaggeration,
deception, scrutiny issue. He said, let truth be that which
was set forth. Truth. Verse 26. Secondly, be
ye angry. Now listen to what he's saying.
Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun
go down upon your wrath." Now, anger. Anger. Anger is an agitation
of the mind that is aroused by a real or a supposed injury to
me. And it's always attended. I'm talking about anger that
is sinful. I should have prefaced that.
Anger is that agitation of the mind aroused by real or supposed
injury attended with a desire for revenge. That's anger. I'm going to get you. I'm going
to get you. Now, obviously there is an anger
that's not sinful. For anger is said to be found
in Almighty God. Psalm 61, O Lord, rebuke me not
in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Whenever the Lord Jesus Christ
in John chapter 2 observed the disrespect of the temple by the
money changers, he was stirred in his spirit and plaited a little whip And
for the glory of His Father, for the glory of His Father,
for the glory of that which set forth, the Father's honor, that
temple, He drove them out and He says, the zeal of thine house
hath eaten me up. So here's what I know, here's
what I know, that anger, For the glory of God is not sinful. But even in that, we're commanded,
let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Don't cherish anger, don't sleep
on it, and let me tell you why. You can say, I'm doing this for
the glory of God. Be careful. We can't control
it. We can't control it. Be angry
and sin not. I would truly desire to say that
every time I got mad, it was for the glory of God. But brethren,
I'm going to tell you right now, the Spirit of God set forth concerning
anger. Don't let the sun go down on
your anger. Don't you sleep on it. Don't
you mull on it. Because what's going to happen
is the longer you kicking around, chew on it, stuff like this,
let me tell you what's going to happen. You're going to get
madder. Don't do it. Don't do it. Verse
27, neither give place to the devil. Now that just, really
I see that if you look down there, don't let the sun go down upon
your air colon, neither give place to the devil." Holding
that grudge, sleeping on it, mulling on it, kicking it around
a little bit, thinking it through a little bit more. It always
gets worse, I'm telling you. I know what they meant. Holding a grudge and letting
anger and resentment continue is to do nothing more than to
give Satan a place, an opportunity to hinder the peace of the body. This is the body of Christ. And we're passionate people,
I understand that. And I know that we're offended,
I know that. But recognize this, we're not
able to control our passions. And if we disregard what the
Lord has to say about, don't let the sun go down upon your
wrath, I tell you what we will do, we will give place to the
devil. He'll take that opportunity and I'm telling you, he'll run
with it and it will wreak havoc in the body. Don't do it. Verse
28, let him that stole, Steal no more. Now, you know, it would
almost be, you'd think, well, there's one I'm going to be in
pretty good shape with. I'm not going to... And telling
a believer not to steal is good instruction. The Lord gave it. The Lord gave it. But, here's
the thing. It sets forth, as that Scripture
continues, the depth of what the apostle was speaking of under
the inspiration of God's Spirit. "...Let him that stole steal
no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing
which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth."
Now, the Spirit of God is setting forth here, and this is what
He's saying. Idleness, laziness is referred
to as stealing. He's not talking about going
up and getting a can of beans off the shelf and putting them
under your shirt and walking out. He qualifies what he's talking
about. Let him that stole steal no more,
but rather let him labor, working with his hands that which is
good that he may have to give to him that needeth. Honest industry is good for us. Work is good for us. We owe one another. We owe one another. Primarily,
we owe love to each other. Kindness, consideration. Listen
to this. Owe no man anything but to love
one another. For he that loveth one another
hath fulfilled the whole law." As members one of another, we're
instructed not to be lazily dependent, just waiting on someone to provide
for us. That's what he's talking about.
Don't let him that stole, don't do it anymore. but rather let
him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good that
he may have, to give to him that needeth." Somebody that needs
it, needs it, is in need. Don't steal by being lax and
being sensitive to the body. Now remember, if this body is
injured, you know what the rest of the body is going to do? It's
going to come to its aid. If I cut myself, at the end of
last year, I'm going to throw a tarp over a burn pile. This just came to my mind, the
only thing I can think of right now. And it was snow on the ground,
and I slipped and hit a stick on the ground. opened up my wrist,
right there. And you know what the rest of
my body wanted to do? My eyes wanted to look and see if I was
okay. My feet wanted to get me to the hospital as quickly as
possible. With my mouth, I told Glenda,
I hurt myself. The body is concerned with the
body. And the rest of my body was not
going to neglect my hurt. Let him that stole steal no more."
Before a person is converted, they don't really care for somebody
else. But brethren, we're a body. We're
a body. We care for each other. We don't
shoot our own. We don't shoot our wounded. 29.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but
that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers." This corrupt, I looked that up, and
what it actually means is rotting, rotting. Now you think about
something that's been hit in the road, and it's been there
about this time of the year, it's been there about, say, a
week. And when you drive past it, you know it, you know it.
You get some food. It's been just a little bit too
long. You just had it a little bit too long. Smell it. That's not that bad. It's corrupt. Let no corrupt, stinking communication proceed out of
your mouth. That angry, proud, arrogant attitude
and speech which is never becoming to a believer. And all it does
is convey corruption to somebody else. There's an old man that
is within every one of us that desires to divide. Now that's what the old man wants
to do. He wants to divide, he wants
to hinder, and he wants to corrupt. It's 180 degrees from the attitude
of the new man. Don't give him any place. Don't
give place. Avoid worthless talk and gossip. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth. But that which is good, I would
pray, Number one, I'm guilty. But I tell you, I would pray
that when I said something to somebody, every time I said something,
it was a gracious, kind word. One that edified. One that built
up a believer. One that would lift them up in
the Lord. Just be nice. Just be nice to
them. Nice. And grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed unto the day of redemption. Now, in the context of our passage, whenever you read something,
always read it in context. Why was something placed where
it was? What have we been talking about?
We've been talking about our attitude. Our attitude toward
the body. There's one body and that's what
I'm talking about. I'm talking about us. Don't be
angry and sin not. Don't let the sun go down on
your wrath. Put away lying. Don't give place to the devil.
Let him that stole, don't steal work, labor, help. Communicate
that you might give to him that needs it. Let no rotten, stinking
communication come out of your mouth, but that which is good,
edifying, minister grace unto the hearer. And grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God. whereby you're sealed until the
day of redemption. Obviously, there is that which
is said to be a grieving of the Holy Spirit and the unity of
the faith. And when we neglect, when we
read these verses right here and we just neglect them, not taken to heart, but the grieving
of the Holy Spirit were sealed, the scripture says, were sealed
into the day of redemption. How many believers are sealed
to the day of redemption? All of us. All of us. How many have been called? All
of us. How many are led by the Spirit? All of us. All of us. Regenerated, taught, led, sealed. Stamped. That's what it means.
You know, a seal. The seal. There's the seal of
the state of West Virginia. Right, there it is. The seal. You've been sealed. You're mine. You're God's. You're not your
own. Bought with a price. Paid for with the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit
in our attitude toward each other. Right here, the Spirit of God
is teaching us all. And when we neglect what's being
said right here, corrupt communication, insensitivity, there's a grieving
of that which Almighty God has wrought. It's not that the Spirit
of God Himself endures that grief or that pain, but what the brethren
endure. It's what's being spoken of those
who have been regenerated and are indwelt by the Spirit of
God. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God whereby you're sealed until the day of redemption. 31. Let
all bitterness and wrath and anger, clamor, evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice. Same thought, bad attitude, resentment, contention,
strife, slander, backbiting, angry expressions. The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, says, put it away. Put it away. Any unbecoming deeds of the old
man is that which wars against our new man. That which is born from above
is peaceful, kind, considerate. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and evil speaking put it away. And in verse 32, here's
the reason. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. Now, there's two different thoughts
here. for Christ's sake, has done something
and we, for Christ's sake, ought to do something. For Christ's sake, God has forgiven
us. God Almighty, for Christ's sake,
He who chose us in Him, loved us in Him, redeemed us by Him,
called us by His Spirit for the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He has forgiven us. He did it
for Christ's sake. Now let me tell you the motive
for all of these things, lying, anger, stealing, Corrupt communication,
put it away. Don't grieve the Spirit of God.
Bitterness, wrath. Here is the reason that we are
to do it. For Christ's sake. For His sake. That's the purpose, the heart
of everything that we've looked at this evening. For Christ's
sake. He has forgiven us freely. There was no cause in us. Well,
you say, well, I tell you what though, wait a minute, wait a
minute, wait a minute. I was wronged. I was wronged. So was
the Lord. I didn't deserve, I didn't deserve
what they did to me. Neither did He. There's not going
to be any justification for it. You're not going to find any
ground to justify yourself. We were totally in the wrong. Ephesians 2, 1-7 says this, And you have be quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked,
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in time past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others, but God, who is rich in mercy, For
His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by gracious save,
and hath raised us up together, made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ, that in the ages to come He might show the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus." Now you think of where He's brought us from.
What were we? Well, we were dead in trespasses
and sins. What was our attitude? We were
children of wrath toward Him, just like everybody else, but
God, who is rich in mercy. Mercy. We did not deserve it. Scripture says back in Ephesians
4.32, Be ye kind one to another. Tenderhearted. forgiving one
another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. He's forgiven us fully. Colossians
2.13, And you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven
you. Listen to this. All transgressions. All of them. Brethren, For Christ's
sake, for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake, be ye kind one
to another. We're one body. Tenderhearted,
compassionate, understanding, forgiving one another. Let it go. Let it go. For Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake. Amen.