Give No Opportunity

Good morning, welcome to new Horizon Christian Church. Please open your Bibles to Ephesians 4.

Paul speaking of process.

From one way of being, one manner of life, to another.

Move on from your past life.

We see the transition in our text. From one thing to another.

Read Ephesians 4:25–28- “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. 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.”

Pray.

Two connections to what has come before:

Therefore.

Put off your old self, put on the new self.

Put on the new self that is created in the likeness of God.

Created- not by you.

It is because of God’s grace in giving the new self to a person that they can begin to live the way that Paul instructs.

Once again, it’s all grace. God’s creating, God’s sustaining, God’s empowering.

This means that all of what Paul speaks in our text today requires at it’s root a life of prayer and dependence.

Not this, but that.

Put off the old self, put on the new self.

Paul in our text never merely says not to do things, but also instructs what life is to look like as a Christian.

Will likely say much that you are already aware of, but will hopefully give some context for why we should believe and behave the way in which we do.

Three questions this morning that Paul answers in our brief text.

1. How should we speak?

Ephesians 4:25- “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

Put away falsehood.

Intentional falsehood and deceit.

Notice the language that is used- put away.

Get rid of it entirely. Stay far away from it.

Catching children in a lie.

Can see them working through the entertaining of dishonesty- Figuring out whether or not they can get away with something.

Speak the truth.

If we have put aside that which is false, all that remains is what is true.

Thinking of this another way, we rid ourselves of that which tarnishes truth.

We have no place for it, so that what is left is the truth, no matter the difficulty of that truth.

Gives us the ability to speak to one another with a clear conscience.

For we are members one of another.

What is the reason for which we speak truth and put away what is false?

Think of the answers that could have been given here.

God hates lies.

God is completely truthful.

Speaking truth is good for you.

Instead, Paul highlights the damaging effect of lies on the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:15–16- “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

The church’s witness in this world requires truth and integrity, even those truths that are difficult to both speak and hear.

To take off your old self and put on the new self is to move from falsehood to truth.

2. How should we think?

Ephesians 4:26–27- “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”

Be angry and do not sin.

Notice what is not said- Paul doesn’t say, “Don’t be angry.”

Things that happen in the world that ought to rouse anger within us.

Things that happen in the world that rouse anger and wrath within God.

As we seek out the character of God, we cannot find ourselves to be indifferent.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger.

Not “Do not let the sun go down on your issue.”

Some issues cannot be settled quickly.

Instead, our minds can be settled, and that is what Paul is instructing.

Why?

Because anger that is allowed time breeds bitterness, resentment.

When anger is not dealt with and settled quickly, it becomes much more difficult to deal with.

Bryan Chapell- “Even when we have a just cause for our anger, if we let it simmer so that our minds nurse the grudge at night and repeatedly plow the furrows of our pain, what grows in us is of little use to us and of little attractiveness to others. Our anger spoils us.”

Consider the bitterness that you have seen in people that seems impossible to root out.

Give no opportunity to the devil.

Greek word for opportunity translated elsewhere as a place, or a room. A marked off location.

Bitterness gives the devil room in our lives to mess with our minds and hearts.

Azariah eating in Florida with birds surrounding him.

The birds represent Satan here- they take away the joy of life by way of their presence.

Where is the bitterness to be found in our minds and hearts?

What are the situations where we have continually turned to and held onto anger?

How have these situations overshadowed not only our lives, but our faith as well?

Where has Satan made a dwelling place in the homes of our minds? Where has he settled in?

To move from your old self to the new self is to move from anger and bitterness to forgiveness and mercy.

3. How should we live?

Ephesians 4:28- “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.”

Let the thief no longer steal.

Seems a bit obscure.

Stealing is not something that we often think of having a prominent place in our lives or in the life of the church.

In fact, we would like to think that any sin does not hold a prominent place in our lives or in the life of the church.

But is it possible that there are pockets of sin that we can find blatantly in our culture that have begun to find their way into the life of the church as well?

Let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands.

Work and produce.

Paul here condemns laziness.

Don’t provide for yourself by taking away what others have.

We have considered what bitterness can do to a person, have we ever considered what uselessness does to a person’s life?

We so often say, “You need to take care of yourself, think of yourself.”

What if instead, we encouraged usefulness and producing particularly in the lives of others.

So that he may have something to share with those in need.

While we may not think it difficult to avoid stealing, the second half of Paul’s instruction becomes much more difficult.

Produce something useful in order to provide for the needs of others.

Paul gives a GREAT motivation for our work, and it’s fascinating that it doesn’t rest on what we can do for ourselves.

Paul turns the focus away from providing for our own needs to providing for the lives and needs of others.

Live with an outward focus.

Michelle Bailey- planting a flower garden.

Live this way- and teach our children to live this way as well.

To move from your old self to the new self is to move from stealing to giving, from consuming to providing.

Live a gospel life.

Share. Word used in 1 Thessalonians when Paul speaks of sharing the gospel.

Take what you have and use it for the provision of others.

Look outside of yourself. Look beyond your own needs.