Put Off the Old Man and Put On the New Pt. 4
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25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
We continue this morning looking at the putting off of the old person and the putting on of the new. We put off the old garments of the old life and we put on the new garments of this new life in Christ. This is death and this is resurrection. We cannot be resurrected until we have first died. You cannot put on the new person until you first put off the old. This is sanctification. Christ will make us new but that process begins with death of self and this is the hang up point that so many of us have. Are you willing to die to self? Are you willing for God to strip away every bit of yourself? Are you willing to count everything else as loss, as rubbish, that you might have Christ?
The thing is we are all willing to make great sacrifices for what we value in life. Some have sacrifice family for career, others career for family. We make sacrifices in order to purchase a car that we like or to buy a house. So it’s not that we don’t understand the idea of sacrifice. I think that we struggle because we do not understand the infinite value of Christ.
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,
46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Two ways here are given for how people find the Kingdom. The first is a man who is plowing a field. He stumbles upon a great treasure in the field. He was not seeking it but there it is. So he hides it in the field and goes and sells everything that he has and buys the field in order to get the treasure.
The second man is searching for beautiful pearls probably for many years and he finds the most beautiful and perfect pearl at the market. Recognising its great value he go and sells all that he has and buys the pearl.
Some people stumble upon the truth of Christ. They were not particularly looking for Christ but there He was. Others are seeking for truth and looking for answers when they find Christ. But with both parables they recognise the infinite value of the gospel and of Christ and they go and sell everything else that they have in order to have Christ.
Some have said that salvation cost nothing, it’s free.
But what did Christ say?
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
I want to focus on vs. 28 and 29 of our text this morning
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Put off and put on, die with Christ and be resurrected to new life.
Put Off Stealing
Put Off Stealing
What is stealing?
It is taking something that belongs to someone else without permission.
At its heart is covetousness. Wanting something that belongs to someone else so badly that you are willing take it from them.
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Why does he say that covetousness (wanting something that doesn’t belong to you) is idolatry (worshiping god’s other than the one true God)? Because when we lust after something or someone and desire to have it we lift it up in our heart and it becomes an item of worship. It takes the place in our heart that belongs solely to God.
So at the heart of stealing is idolatry. Not giving God the rightful place in our life and in our heart. It is first and foremost the sin of idolatry. However, is is also a sin against our follow man. When we steel we are taking something from someone else. Something that they have probably laboured to own. So we are putting our needs and desires above their right of ownership.
This makes Paul’s instruction so fitting.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
Let him labour, woking with his hands what is good.
Yes, instead of taking what is not yours, what someone else has labour for you should labour with your own hands. Hard work instead of taking what someone else has worked hard for. This is a fitting solution, it’s just, it is certainly better than steeling. But it is also not uniquely Christian. The world could offer this same advice. Stop steeling and get a job so you can buy the things you want and need. This would address the sin against our fellow man as we would no longer be taking from them. However, what about the sin of covetousness which is idolatry. I can still covet something and work hard and save so that I can buy it. So I would still commit the greater sin of idolatry. This is why Paul instruction doesn’t stop here.
He says work hard with your hands doing what is good so that you will have something to give to those who have need.
So that after you have covered your expenses you will have excess and that that excess would be used to give to others. So not only are you not taking from others you are giving to others, being a blessing to your fellow man and you are not labouring so that you can get that thing that you covet rather you are content with what you have.
So put off steeling (the old man) and put on work ethic contentment, and generosity (the new man).
Put off covetousness and put on contentment.
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
The way to overcome covetousness it to be content with such things as you have.
But how do I know that what I have now is enough?
Because all we need is Christ “For He Himself has said ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” We have need of nothing if we have Christ, because if He is with me then He is my helper.
In our psalm last Wed night we looked at ps 34
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
We have been blessed in New Zealand for many many years. But we live now in uncertainty of what the future holds. Everything has become more expensive and one wonders how much more pressure can our economy handle. But for us, for the children of God, the Lord is our helper so we may boldly say “what can man do to me”?
We can still be generous in uncertain times because our faith is in God and He is not uncertain. If we have Christ we can be content because He is all we need.