Well I want you to come back
with me again this week to Ephesians chapter 4 and the second half
of it. I did intend to complete all
of this last week but it was clearly biting off far too much. It's very practical Christian
living that we're talking about and it's the cause of great disagreement
amongst those who call themselves Christians. There are those who
preach law, and they say that the law of Moses is the believer's
rule of life, and you are subject, you're saved. by the Lord Jesus
Christ into a life of bondage under this law of Moses and you
must do this and you must not do that and your whole life is
judged and measured by the law and there are those who by contrast
and I would say that we're amongst them by God's grace we attempt
to be, who preach the grace of God, that it's by the grace of
God that we're saved, and that that which the believer is called
upon to do is to produce the fruit of the Spirit, which only
comes because of that which God has already done. There are those
who talk about progressive sanctification, gradually, in the flesh as you
live this life under the law of Moses becoming gradually more
and more holy so that in heaven you get more or less of a reward
for that living. You know, how's your sanctification
doing? Are you a better Christian this week than you were the week
before? That sort of thinking goes on and by contrast to that
there are those who talk about growing in grace and the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There are some at one
end of the spectrum who are clearly legalists, who preach a legalistic
religion, a religion of law, bondage, and obedience to it. And at the other end of the spectrum,
they accuse those at the other end of the spectrum of being
antinomians, which means against law altogether, having no law,
living lawlessly, living as if they have a license to commit
sin, because Christ has died. So whatever we want to do, we
can do, because it's already done. And there are accusations
of false teaching that fly around, and people quote creeds at one
another. They say, you know, well, what
did so-and-so write, and what did somebody else write? But
what says the scripture? This is it. What says the scripture?
Let's remind ourselves of some basic, basic things. I need righteousness
for eternity. I must face God. It's appointed
to man to die once and then the judgment. And how shall a man
be just with God? I need righteousness. I need
the righteousness of God. I need that righteousness. And
Paul tells us in Romans that we can never get that through
the works of the law. By the law, it's just the knowledge
of sin. And the flesh is too weak. The weakness of the flesh. That's the strength of sin, is
the weakness of the flesh. The flesh cannot do these things.
And so, I know that in and of myself, I stand facing eternity. And who knows when? I stand on
the brink of eternity, in need of righteousness. in need of
that which God must judge perfect and good because those things
are inevitable and yet I have nothing other than the weakness
of the flesh and I have the sin that is in the flesh and I am
completely insufficient for those things but then the scripture
points me to Christ because now the righteousness of God without
the law is revealed says Paul in Romans 3 that righteousness
which is through faith of Jesus Christ his faith his faithfulness
in doing that which was necessary to save his people from their
sins so that the Lord Jesus Christ saves Not, he doesn't just give
you a leg up and then leave you to your own devices to make yourself
holy. He saves to the uttermost. And how shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation? You see, the scripture is clear.
If you're a child of God, your relationship with God, my relationship
with God, is established in eternity, not in time. When he chose a
people in Christ from before the foundation of the world,
And all those who think otherwise are preaching error. Those who
are appealing to the flesh to understand and think rationally
about these things are preaching error. God chose a people in
Christ before the foundation of the world and now in time
as we're looking at these aspects of practical Christian living
we need to be absolutely right about these things you know Paul
says to the Galatians in Galatians 5 verse 2 that if you start adding
works religion whatever it might be to that which is faith in
Christ he says this you'll lose out on one or two things. No,
he doesn't. He says, Christ shall profit you nothing. Nothing. It will be as if, if you try
and live this life, that, oh yes, I'm saved by Christ, but
then all of these other things I need to do to add to it so
that I become a better Christian, Christ will profit you nothing. I do wish that people would listen
to what the Word of God actually says when they go forming their
doctrines, when they go having their big conferences to tell
us all how needful it is for us to be under the law of Moses.
I do wish they would read what the scriptures actually say.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to those who
believe. The end of it. He's fulfilled
it. He's completed it. He's done it. So this is about
practical Christian living. Because as we've already seen
in Ephesians 2 verse 10, his people are created in Christ
Jesus for a purpose unto good works which God hath before ordained,
ordered, predestined, set in place before the beginning of
time that we should walk in them. None of this is in any way in
the strength of the flesh. None of what we're going to look
at is in any way in the strength of the flesh. Absolutely not,
because the flesh is always corrupt until death, until we leave this
body. There is no innate ability in
flesh to hear the things of the Spirit of God, to respond to
them. You know, there's this idea that
if you just present things logically, then reasonable, rational man
will look at it and say, oh, well, that doesn't sound unreasonable,
and then they'll all come flocking into the church. No. In the flesh,
it's impossible to please God. Romans 8, verse 8. The flesh
cannot please God. Cannot please God. Don't ever
think you can. And the flesh that you are in
remains flesh until the day that you die and you leave this flesh.
Flesh is sinful. Flesh is fallen. Flesh is corrupt
in the eyes of God. Flesh cannot please God. So what
does Paul appeal to? In this how should we then live,
what does Paul appeal to? He appeals to the new man of
the Spirit of God. Look at verse 24. that ye put
on the new man, which by God is created in righteousness and
true holiness. There must be a new man. There must be that which is the
creation of the Spirit of God. Nicodemus came to Jesus, and
Jesus said, he's talking about the kingdom of God, and Jesus
said to him, unless a man be born again, except a man be born
again, except there be a new man inside that flesh, you cannot
see. Don't talk to me about the kingdom
of God, you can't see the kingdom of God, except there's a new
man there. You can't reason with flesh about
the Spirit of God. There must be a new man there.
And it's the Holy Spirit that puts that new man there. Self-reformation
is impossible. It's the Holy Spirit that makes
alive. It's the Holy Spirit that takes
one who is dead in trespasses and sins, and gives them ears
to hear, and eyes to see, and faith to believe. That's the
work of the Holy Spirit. So then there's this new man,
and this new man, look in verses 20 and 21, but you, he's speaking
to believers, you have not so learned Christ, if so be that
ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is
in Jesus. A new man taught of Christ. Have you been taught of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Jesus said this to his followers
in Matthew 11 verses 28 to 30. And you know these verses well.
He said, come unto me, all ye that labor. You say, oh, well,
that's an Arminian invitation, isn't it? Isn't it absolutely
wide open? Yes, of course it's wide open,
but look who it's to. Come unto me, all ye that labor. and a heavy laden. Who gives
them a spirit of labour and heavy ladenness? Is it not the spirit
of God, who burdens a sinner with a consciousness of sin?
Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. You know
the idea is of the oxen ploughing together with a yoke to pull
the plough or the cart. Take my yoke upon you, and that
was a heavy burden to share, but he says this, take my yoke
upon you and learn of me. You have not so learned Christ,
if so be that you've heard him and have been taught by him.
Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall
find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy. Not like that
heavy yoke of the law. Not like that heavy burden of
responsibility. Christ's yoke is easy. My burden
is light. So what is this truth in Christ
that you have learned and been taught? What is it if you are
this new man, if you have this new man residing in your sinful
flesh? What is it? Well, you've been
taught the true nature of the flesh. the true nature of it
and the insufficiency of your own righteousness and I saw in
Don's bulletin this week a quote from Robert Murray McShane who
was that faithful minister of the gospel of grace up in uh...
Aberdeen I think it was somewhere up there yes and you know he
died at the age of twenty nine that man a powerful minister
of the gospel and yet he did everything he did before he was
twenty nine he died at the age of twenty nine and he wrote this
clear conviction of sin is the only true origin of dependence
on another's righteousness you know clear conviction of the
lostness of my soul of the state of sin that I am in conviction
of that and what it is like in the eyes of the living God whom
I must face that conviction is the only true origin source of
dependence on another's righteousness. What drives me to depend on the
righteousness of Christ other than this? A total, total absence
of trust in the sufficiency of my own righteousness. I know
I have none. I know I need it for I must see
God. Where do I find it in Christ?
It forces me to go to Him. And strange to say that clear
conviction of sin that beating of the breast God be merciful
to me the sinner strange to say that that is the source the origin
of the Christians peace and cheerfulness the cheerfulness that comes because
you know nothing in me but all in him it's all done by him and
so this is what I'm taught of Christ The total lack of anything
good in me, but the total sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
total sufficiency of everything he has done, that I might be
counted right in the sight of God. That I might be counted
a child of God. That I might cry, Abba, Father,
because he's brought me And he's taken me from that situation
of sin, and he's put that glorious robe upon me, and that ring on
my finger, and he's killed the fatted calf, and he's saved me
from my sins. And it says here, and have been
taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. I've heard him preached. It's not that I've heard him
preach because he lived on this earth 2,000 years ago, but I've
heard him preached by faithful preachers who have preached Christ
to my soul. There is so much preaching in
the name of evangelicalism, in the name of reformed truth, and
it never goes It never goes within a country mile of preaching the
Lord Jesus Christ. Of preaching, they don't know
what it is. They write books about what it is to preach Christ,
and yet they still don't preach Christ. They still don't do it. It's just words that they use.
He is not the center of everything that they say. But I've heard
Him preached. If you know, if you've got that
man inside, that new man, you've heard Christ preached. And that
preaching has taught you the true gospel. Not the man-made
gospel, not the idolatrous gospel of a false god and of falsehood,
but the truth of substitution, of particular redemption, of
eternal election, of sovereign grace, of complete satisfaction,
of God who became man to save me from my sins. You see, it's
not logic or apologetics that bring you to a knowledge of salvation
at all. It's the preaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It really is. In a way, I don't
object to things being written to show that believing God, because
believing God is an act of faith by the gift of God, but it's
not an irrational thing. It is perfectly rational. It
really is perfectly rational to the new man, to the new man,
to the flesh, it won't ever be. To the flesh it won't ever, ever
be logical. So stop wasting your time. What's
the mission that the church has been given by Christ? It's to
preach the gospel. It's to preach the gospel. It's
not to argue apologetics with people about whether God exists
or doesn't. Sorry, don't care how clever
and smart it appears, it does nothing for it whatsoever. It's
the preaching of Christ that teaches us and plants that new
man within. Preaching and scripture, the
reading of scripture has taught you to know the Lord Jesus Christ
as God. You don't need these arguments
putting to, if you've got that new man inside you, you don't
need the arguments to line up against the Jehovah's Witnesses
when they knock on your door about is Jesus God. You know
he's God. He's God in your heart by his
spirit, you know he's God. You don't need somebody to write
you a clever book to show you that God exists when others are
saying he doesn't exist. You don't need somebody to show
you all the arguments for creation as opposed to evolution. By faith
we understand those things. It's the work of the Spirit of
God who teaches us these things. If ye have so learned Christ.
If you've heard him. If you've been taught by him
as the truth is in Jesus. And look what else about this
new man. Look in chapter 5 and verse 2. You see, what is this
new man, if I can use this term, based upon? It doesn't really
sound right, but if I can use that term. Walk in love, he says,
as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. You know, this new man knows
the love of Christ, or knows something of the love of Christ.
Who knows something of the self-sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who
knows that this love was an everlasting love. As Jeremiah, God wrote
through Jeremiah, I have loved you with an everlasting love. And a particular love. a love
upon a particular people, not for any good in them, but because
of his sovereign grace. You know as he says to Israel,
I haven't loved you because you were the strongest and the mightiest,
in fact you were the weakest and most pathetic, he says, but
I loved you because I loved you. I loved you because of sovereign
grace. And the new man knows, why me? But I do know this, I'm
loved of the eternal God. And I know that Being able to
be loved and being accepted by God is not just something at
a whim, it's bought at great price, because there's a sweet
smelling sacrifice, because our Lord Jesus Christ in love in
self-sacrificing love gave himself for his people. He gave himself
as a sacrifice to bear sin, to establish righteousness, to stand
in the place that they all might be judged in him. a complete
sacrifice, and it's sweet-smelling to God. Why is it sweet-smelling
to the justice of God? Because the sin debt is paid
in full. Because peace with God is established. Because nothing can change it.
Paul says in Romans 8 38 and 39 he says I am persuaded I'm
convinced that neither death nor life nor I'll forget them
all but principalities and powers and height and depth and all
nothing can separate us from this love of God which is in
Christ Jesus nothing and so it's based on love and knowing that
love this new man This new man is taught the gospel. He's taught
the gospel of love in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a soppy love
that the world talks about, but love which was an eternal love
to come and stand in the place of his people. And then chapter
4 verse 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. This new
man is sealed unto the day of redemption. Sealed by the Holy
Spirit of God unto the day of redemption. I think what that
means, you know, you say, well isn't the day of redemption gone
because Christ died on the cross in the past? I think what this
is talking about is this, sealed unto the day of redemption. It's
like, you know, have you seen on a farm or on a ranch in the
States where they burn the brand into the side of the animal,
the cow, and that brand, that's mine. That's my one. Or in the
Lake District, they paint different colors on the sheep. That one's
mine. The brand is on, or they clip in the ear with a tag on
it. Or nowadays with modern technology, one of these smart chips that
gets inserted under the skin. And you know, it's theirs. It
belongs to them. And somebody can pinch it and
do all sorts with it. But that chip is there, and that
chip says this cow belongs to this farmer. And I think it's
that idea, sealed with the Holy Spirit, sealed by the Holy Spirit
of God unto the day of redemption. His brand is burnt into you.
You with that new man who've learned of Christ, his tag of
ownership is on you. And he's going to claim his redeemed
purchase. He's paid for it in Christ. And
come the last day, the day of judgment, he's going to claim
that redeemed purchase for eternity. And he's caused that new man.
Look at verse 24. This new man which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness. He's caused that new man to be
created in righteousness and true holiness. There is a new
man within. Am I appealing, am I speaking
to those who although they're in the flesh, I can see you're
all in the flesh, but is there a new man inside? Is there a
new man who knows something? I'm not saying you know it perfectly,
but you know something of the love of God which is in Christ. You know something of the gospel
of his grace. You know something of the total
insufficiency of your own goodness in your own flesh, your own sin. You know how it condemns you.
You know how hopeless and such a lost cause is any righteousness
ever in yourself and you look to him and you see it all there
for he has fulfilled all righteousness for his people he is the end
of the law for righteousness to his people so we have an exhortation
And this is what I want to spend the rest of our time on. Verses
22, look at 22 to 24. That ye put off concerning the
former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and
that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness. Putting off and putting on. The
creation of the new man is the work of God's Holy Spirit. Let's
not be in any doubt. I'm not appealing to flesh to
reform itself and put on a new man and turn over a new leaf.
I know that's futile. What we're doing here, what Paul
is doing, what the Spirit of God is doing, is appealing to
that new man. That which is the creation of
God, the Holy Spirit, in the child of God, to put on that
new man and put off the old man. You see, that new man is now
residing in the old flesh, which is always there. The old flesh
will never be reformed. The old flesh in and of itself
will only ever be flesh. It will only ever be sinful. You know, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death, Christ Paul at the end of Romans
7? I thank God through Christ Jesus. So, what do we have to
do? This is what people so much like
to ask. Don't bother me with doctrine.
Tell me how I ought to live. Just give me the Sermon on the
Mount, they say. That's the sort of religion I
want. Just the Sermon on the Mount. Don't bother me with all
of your highfalutin doctrines. Just, you know, do unto others
as you would have them do unto yourself, and then you'll be
right for eternity. oh that they would read deeper
into it and see how lost is their case how they would look into
it you see the sermon on the mount isn't uh... an easy way
of living the law of moses you know those who are legalists
in our day you know honestly what they say is is they read
the law of moses to which they would subject man and then they
say Well, in these days in which we live, in these New Testament
days, of course, that law still applies, but, but it has a modern
interpretation, which is a much easier one to live with now.
So, for example, it's Sunday today, which, of course, they
all say is the Sabbath day in its Christian form, and there's
a law about not doing things on the Sabbath day. And let's
say you're cold at home and you need a fire and so you go out
into the woods and pick up some sticks. according to the law
of Moses, that one should be stoned to death. But they say,
well it still applies, but we don't stone people to death these
days. But, you know, don't do it. I mean, we'll chain up your
swings on the Hebrides so that your kids can't play on the swings
on a Sunday afternoon. And as a church that we were
once at, going for a walk on a Sunday afternoon was a wholesome
thing to do for the soul. But you better not walk too far
because that's really, you know, and how they determine subjectively
how long a walk was fulfilling the law of God and how long a
walk was then breaking the law of God was just beyond me. Just
the futility and stupidity of such things really is. How do
we live? Well let's have a look. You see
Belief is entirely the work of God. We know this because Jesus
said it, you know, the Pharisees said to him, the people said
to him, what must we do that we do the work of God? And Jesus
said to them, this is the work of God, that you believe in him
whom he has sent. Oh, right. So I, God gives you,
this is the work of God that you believe in him who he has
sent. And then from that springs the
fruit of the spirit. it's God's work but we believe
absolutely in sovereign grace but don't forget this you know
I said it last week fatalistic passivity is not part of the
Christian gospel oh well it's all of God therefore I'm not
going to do anything I'm just going to sit back and do nothing
at all It's just going to wash over me and I'll just take it
as it comes. Nobody was ever saved who didn't exercise faith
in the Son of God. It's all of God's grace. So what
are you going to do? Nobody was ever saved that didn't
exercise faith in the Son of God. Everybody that is one of
God's elect will come to faith and will exercise faith in the
Son of God. They will believe The jailer
said to Paul and Silas, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And what did they say? Oh, nothing.
It's all in the sovereignty of God. Just sit back and do nothing.
What was their reply? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And anybody else in your household
who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Believe. So what do we have to do? Well,
what this says is this. Put off and put on. Put off the
old man, put on the new man. But it's not in your fleshly
power. I haven't got the fleshly power to do it. How do I do it?
How do I put off the old man? This is what I do. You know the
idea is like taking off that dirty old coat and putting on
something that's nice and new and clean. This is the concept. How do I put off? This is an
appeal to the new man. You see, the believer is a camp
of two armies, it says in the Song of Solomon 6.13. What do
I see in the Shulamite? I see a camp of two armies. There's two natures within the
believer, there's the old nature with which you were born, sons
of Adam, in the flesh, fallen sinful flesh, but by the Spirit
of God there's a new man. So that those who were children
of wrath, even as the others, become children of God, by the
Spirit of God. And a new nature is given, and
a new desire, and a new manager is put in. So imagine it like
this, this was an illustration I heard years ago. imagine the
believer like a factory that had lots of old broken down machinery
in it and a corrupt manager sitting in the in the head office in
the heart of the factory and uh... a new manager is brought
in it's it's pictured in john bunyan's holy war you know the
the the way that the where the believer is pictured like a city
that is inhabited and ruled by satan and his uh... and his and
his uh... administrators And Christ comes
and takes over. And that's what it's like. Imagine
it like a new manager comes into the factory. Now, what's put
off? Well, that manager, that old manager, that old corrupt
manager is still there. But take him down from his seat
of government. Evict him from his office. As
much as he's in you, even though he's still there all the time,
take him away from his seat of government in your heart and
put on Put on the new man. Let the new manager have his
sway, have his desires. Live in conformity to and agreement
with the new man. And in the middle of the two
verses of putting off and putting on, be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. Renewed thinking, renewed management. Paul says in Romans 12 verse
2, he says, Be ye transformed, changed, by the renewing of your
minds. What is it that renews your minds? It's the Word of God. It's the
Spirit of God bringing the truth of the Gospel of Grace. Use the
scriptural ministry gifts. Look at them in verse 11. He
gave some apostles. This is foundational doctrine.
The doctrine which is founded on the chief cornerstone, our
Lord Jesus Christ. He gave some apostles, one off,
never to be repeated. No apostles today, haven't been
since the scriptures were completed. He gave some apostles, some prophets. I've told you before, I thank
God for prophets in our day. Prophets whose writings we have
available to us. I think our studies in Isaiah,
if it was just left to me, would be significantly more poverty-stricken
were it not for the fact of access to the writings of prophets in
the past. Some evangelists, geographically
dispersed, itinerant. preachers of the gospel and pastors
and teachers in local assemblies those are gifts that God gives
and that's how the mind is renewed use the scriptural ministry gifts
read the word for yourself with prayer and let as Paul says to
the Colossians the word of Christ dwell in you richly Colossians
3 16 you see let the word of Christ dwell in you richly fill
your mind with it get to know it Get to understand it. Read what prophets say about
it. And be on your guard, he says, in verse 27. Neither give
place to the devil. Just turn over to 1 Peter, chapter
5. 1 Peter and chapter 5. And verse 8. where Peter has encouraged them
to cast all their care upon Christ, for he cares for you. And then
in verse 8, be sober, as you who are now with this new man,
this new manager inside, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary,
the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may
devour. Whom resists steadfast in the
faith? Resist him. The devil's walking
around seeing whom he may devour. Neither give place to the devil.
He's like a lion wandering around seeing what he can eat up. Be
sober, be vigilant, be on the lookout. Have your mind transformed,
changed. Have it renewed by the word of
God, by the gospel of his grace. Put all of these things in place
and promote the management of the new man. And demote and suppress
the management of the old man. And I know we fall. I know we
fall. But the tendency is always in
the true child of God with the new man to promote those things
which are the desire of the new man. Now let's look at the list
that's given here of the garments of the old man and the garments
of the new man. In verses 17 to 19 he's talking
about these people, these who have
learned Christ, that they walk not from now on as other Gentiles,
as other godless people walk in the vanity, the futility of
their mind, because their minds, unlike yours, taught of Christ,
are darkened, and are alienated from the life of God, because
of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
heart, their past feeling, they're insensitive, they have given
themselves over to lasciviousness, sinfulness, to work all uncleanness,
with greediness, with selfishness. He says, don't be like that.
Verse 22, put off concerning the former conversation, the
old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. the godless
mind, the heart of blindness, the darkened understanding, that
which is ignorant of God. You know, there's only true knowledge
of God. I think we touched on it in the
study, didn't we? Romans 16, 27. To God only, wise, be glory
through Christ. to God only. There's only true
knowledge and wisdom in him. And yet they don't have it, those
without this new man. They don't have that knowledge
of God. They've got darkened understanding.
And because of it, the tenor of their conversation, verse
22, is the conversation of the old man. Do you know one of the
things that is so obvious, that when a person becomes a child
of God, when a person is given that spiritual light to see the
truth of the gospel, the company, the associations, the conversation
that they used to relish as their way of life, suddenly becomes,
well, gradually becomes not so appealing. And you find yourself
in a place that you used to love and you think, you know, I really
don't like it here. I don't like what the people
are thinking about or talking about or planning to do and the
things that they think are right and the things that they think
are wrong. I don't agree with those things it just doesn't
conform to what I have been taught by the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and I know that that is true because it is God alone
who is wise only him that wisdom is only in him and the more you
know of the wisdom of God the more we interact with the world
we still have to interact with the world and be gracious and
be as uncontentious as we can, but yet there are things more
and more that you think that just doesn't conform to the gospel
of his grace. Not at all. No, they're in that
situation, whereas the new man is created, verse 24, in righteousness
and true holiness. Created in righteousness and
true holiness. There's, if I can put it this
way, the aroma of Christ about the person that has the new man
inside because there are certain things that you just won't do
and that you'll shy away from and that you'll want to do. And
then verse 25, put away lying, very practical, put away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members
of one another. And by contrast, just that, speak
truth with one another. You see, lying, I think it was
John Gill that said that lying is, I can't remember the words
he used exactly, but a disconnect between the mind and the speech.
So there's a thought in the mind, But what comes out of the mouth
is a distortion or a twisting or a denial of that. I know that that is the truth
in my mind, but what I speak with my lips is untrue. And he
says, that's not the characteristic of the new man. That's the characteristic
of the old man. Speak truth one to another. And
verse 26, be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your
wrath. unholy anger you see I think
the scripture is clear that there is a holy anger there is a righteous
anger at the things we see around us Jesus was angry when he saw
what was going on in the temple. John chapter 2. He overturned
the tables. He cast out the money changers
and those that had turned the house of God into a den of thieves. He was angry. He drove them out. Just a mere man drove them out.
I mean it was an amazing miracle. We don't often think of it as
a miracle but we saw that when we looked at John 2 a few months
ago. And he was angry. But there is
a holy anger. There's an anger at the immorality
that we see around us in society. At the sin that we see. Though
not at the sinner. Not at the sinner. The world
finds this so hard to understand. You know? There are sins that
I hate. I don't hate the sinner because
I think there but for the grace of God go I and the sinner needs
compassion but the sin hate the sin hate the sin idolatry this
is this is something very strong idolatry anything which is a
perversion of the gospel there's a there's a righteous holy anger
against that I get grieved and angry when I see that which I
had long assumed to be standing for the truth of the gospel,
distorting it and perverting it for whatever reason, I know
not what. But there's a holy anger. What
he says here is, don't let the sun go down upon it. The idea
being, let it be short-lived. Don't let it fester. Don't let
it sit there simmering and boiling over day after day. Don't let
the sun go down on it. Let it be short-lived. and verse
28 verse 28 again very practical let him that stole steal no more
rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which
is good that he may have to give to him that needeth so instead
of stealing instead of defrauding do that which is honest and based
on industry and based on hard work that you might have to give
rather than be in a situation where you're always looking for
that which you can get for no work or no effort whatsoever. And verse 29, let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is
good to use in edifying that it may minister unto the hearers.
Philippians 4 verse 8 says there, and it's a good thing to bear
in mind in respect of the things that we read and the things that
we watch on the television. Whatsoever things are good, whatsoever
things are wholesome, whatsoever things are pure, think on these
things, says Paul, because your eyes will be easily distracted.
Jesus said, if your eye offends you, pluck it out. don't go there
don't look at it don't don't be distracted by it think of
the things that we look at and the things that we do don't don't
look at these things don't be sidetracked by these things but rather down in uh... where
are we uh... verse twenty nine again but that
which is good uh... to the use of edifying that it
may minister grace to the hearers talking about wholesome speech
We can be good-humored, we don't always have to have a long face
and be somber. We can be good-humored, but not
coarse and flippant and not... you know, that which is light,
that which is wholesome, that which is good for the building
up of our brethren. And be kind, verse 32, be kind
to one another, tender-hearted, I've missed verse 31, let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and evil speaking be put away
from you. These things that are the marks of the flesh, with
all malice But be kind, be kind-hearted, be self-sacrificing to one another,
be forgiving. Look, in the end of verse 32,
as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you, God has forgiven
you, so be forgiving. Do you know, is it not, you know,
it's in the heart of the old man not to forgive. It's in the
heart of the old man to bear resentment, to hoard up resentment for something,
to keep scores. and to bring them out in days
to come. No, forgiven you. God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. Jesus said a lot about the need
to forgive, to be forgiving. You remember the parable of the
unforgiving servant who was forgiven an enormous debt and then went
away and and through one who owed him very little relatively
into the prison and everybody listening thought how dreadful
that was but he said that's what you're like by nature that's
what you're like no be forgiving be forgiving as God for Christ's
sake has forgiven you forgetting is what it's talking about what
is it how does God describe forgiveness He's removed it as far as the
east is from the west. He's forgotten it. It's as if
it never happened. And so we must be with one another,
forgiving one another, as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. And then, chapter five, verse
three, all sins to do with the flesh and sexual immorality to
be put away, and covetousness, covetousness. you know, Paul
says he didn't know that there was, you know, he thought he
was perfect until the law said to him, thou shalt not covet,
but to be content with what we've got. And rather than there being
this affection based on physical lust. Love, true love. Chapter
5 verse 2 we've already looked at it. As Christ has loved us. Because Romans 13 10 says this,
and verse 8 ahead of it says this, that love fulfills the
law you want to talk about fulfilling the law love has fulfilled the
law he that loves another has fulfilled the law that's what
Paul says to the Romans and thankfulness verse four thankfulness chapter
five verse four thankfulness to God contentedness so then
very very practical but here's a reality check just as we close
it's all of grace as I've said it's all of God there's no change
of relationship if I am Christ's whatever I do but if I am Christ's
I will have a new man within who will overwhelmingly want
to put off the old man with his desires and put on the new because
look what verse 5 of chapter 5 says here's the reality check
we'll need to realize this for this ye know Those who say they
are the true people of God, we saw them in Isaiah 33 this morning,
the hypocrites, about halfway through the chapter, the hypocrites.
They said they were in Judah, they said they were in Zion,
but they were hypocrites, they were false. He says, there are
those that say they're true, but they're false. This ye know,
no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
because covetousness is idolatry, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. We're always sinners. We will
always, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us. But those who habitually practice
the desires of the old man, and are happy so doing, have no right
to say that they're amongst the true people of God. Just like
we saw in Isaiah 33, one of the marks. Confidence in God, but
a conversation which is godly. A conversation which is along
the lines of, or compatible with, the desires of the new man of
the Spirit of God. We're still sinners in a world
of sinners, but does it vex us? You know, this is what Peter
said about Lot. Righteous Lot lived in Sodom, but their evil
deeds vexed his righteous soul. Does it vex us? If it doesn't,
you have to wonder, is there a new man in there with a righteous
spirit? that's content with those things,
that actually rather likes them? Or is the old man just too much
to the fore? If so, heed these words, put
off and put on with God helping us. Jude says this, he talks about
hating the garments of sin, hating them, hating them. That's the
desires of the new man. Well, those things apply if you
have a righteous soul. Do you have a righteous soul?
Is there a new man within who can be put on and that can suppress
the desires of the old man? This is what Paul is talking
about. This is the practical outworking of the gospel of grace.