Seven Signs of a Seasoned Christian

 SEVEN SIGNS OF A SEASONED CHRISTIAN Spring Valley Mennonite; May 16, 2021; Ephesians 4:25-32 Some years ago, there was a tremendous ice storm which hit right after New Year's Day. I remember it well, for we lost a large Bradford pear tree in our front yard. In the morning we observed the ice covered limbs bowed down to the ground, and soon we heard a loud "pop" like a rifle shot. One of the large branches had split off the trunk. Soon another pop and another branch. The tree ended up with one tiny branch sticking up from the trunk. After things had thawed out, I got out my chainsaw and began to cut up the larger branches and trunk and split the larger pieces into firewood. It was green when I cut it up, but it made a large stack of firewood. It became much more useful when, over time, it dried out and became seasoned, which is my main point from the story. One of the benefits of church life is the association with mature, experienced, seasoned Christians. God does something special in those who have walked with God for 40, 50 or 60 years; they lend strength and stability to the church. As we observe the lives of mature believers, we find specific character qualities present, qualities God has built over time. This element of time is vital as we consider spiritual growth. We are going to look at seven qualities of a seasoned Christian this morning, but before we begin, let me warn you of a danger in this type of study: there might be a tendency for such a study to "put us under the pile." Many of us may already feel inadequate and "under-achieving" in our Christian lives-to increase those feelings is certainly not my goal this morning. We all struggle to live as we know we ought. We are all in the "not yet" category, even seasoned believers. On the other hand, if we never are challenged to become more than what we are, we risk living in spiritual complacency, stagnated in our Christian growth. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, God provides power to do everything He calls us to do. However, spiritual growth takes time and effort. A squash develops overnight; an oak tree takes decades. Our goal is to be "oaks of righteousness." In the 4th chapter of Ephesians, the great apostle has given us seven signs of seasoned Christians, seven qualities that God desires to be built in our lives. To set the context and background for these verses, look at verse 22: (read 22-24). 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold new things have come." We have been given a "new self" as verse 24 calls it. Like dirty, smelly clothes, we are to be continually stripping off our old self and putting on the new self. Paul begins then to describe what our new self, our new life is to look like. He begins with a very basic quality, that of: I. HONESTY Verse 25: "Therefore, laying aside falsehood, Speak Truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. The old way: falsehood; the new way, honesty and truth. Colossians 3:9-10, a parallel passage to this one, says it this way: "Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. I wonder why honesty is the first sign of a seasoned Christian. Maybe because it is so basic to successfully living with one another. One of the characteristics of the old nature is self-protection. We live in a perpetual dilemma: we always want to look good, yet our human nature is flawed, and we make mistakes. Few people want to take responsibility when they do something wrong. How often do children lie to get themselves out of trouble? Adults do the same thing. We don't like to admit we have made a mistake and we try to cover it up. That is dishonesty. It is so universal in human culture that someone who is honest really stands out. And that is why God places such a premium on honesty. Light always shines brightest in the darkness. Believers who live with integrity really stand out in our culture. Honesty is also one of the foundational concepts in successful relationships. An honest person can be trusted to do what he says. But honesty is much more than just telling the truth. Honesty is to be our lifestyle. We are to strive toward total honesty in all our relationships and dealings. Honesty is crucial in our dealings with one another in the church. An application of honesty is admitting we are struggling, confessing our faults to one another. It is very difficult to experience healing if we are hiding our problems. How often do we find out that someone is struggling, but it is too late to be much help? We say, "If only I had known, I might have been able to do something." Honesty is the first sign of maturity. The second is: II. INTOLERANCE FOR SIN Verses 26-27: Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. These verses have often been used to teach that we should resolve all our differences with our spouses before going to sleep! That is a good personal application, but this verse says much more. Let's look more carefully at this idea that we should "be angry without sinning." God is saying here that we should be angry about some things. We shouldn't buy into the idea that anger is always wrong. Clearly, we see that anger can lead to sin, but that it doesn't necessarily need to do so. We are speaking of controlled anger, carefully directed. The question is this: when is it right to be angry? The English language does not distinguish between different types of anger. But in Greek, three different words are used for anger: the first is "thumas": a turbulent, boiling agitation. The word "thermal" comes from this root. (Read v. 31) "Thumas" is the word for anger in verse 31-it is to be put away from us. Someone given to this type of anger suddenly explodes when provoked; we say they easily "lose their temper." Such outbursts are a product of the old nature; we are to confess such as sin and with the power of the Holy Spirit, are to get rid of that tendency. It is so neat to see how, over time, God "mellows" those who trust Him for this area. In contrast, the second word used for anger "orgai" describes a controlled indignation. It is used to describe how God feels about evil. The third term adds the prefix "paro" to orgai, intensifying the term, and this word is translated "wrath". It also is mentioned in verse 31. Now, "orgai" is the word used in this phrase "Be angry and yet do not sin." This controlled type of anger is described Psalm 4:4, "Tremble and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. I'm sure Paul was thinking of this "meditation which brings stillness" when he said "do not let the sun go down on your anger." Anger must be controlled and correctly directed . Over what things should a mature Christian be angry? Question: What makes God angry? Is it not evil, injustice, sin and unrighteousness? We have an illustration when Jesus drove the money changers out of the Temple. He was angry, yet He was not sinning. The point I want to make is that one mark of a mature Christian is that he is intolerant of evil and unrighteousness. Listen to me: anger is not only allowed, but commanded: we are to be righteously indignant at blatant sin and evil. Murder should make us angry. Injustice should make us angry. Abuse of women, children, and the unborn should make us angry. Terrorism should make us angry. Our problem is not that we get too angry; it is that so often we don't get angry at all! We have become anesthetized to sin; we've been desensitized and callused and we tolerate evil easily. For example, take the issue of abortion: we once were horrified and repulsed by the issue; now we yawn when it is mentioned, and accept it as a matter of course. This anger should motivate us to action. But even righteous anger must be controlled anger. That is why Paul tells us to take it in small doses-do not let the sun go down on this righteous anger. Even righteous anger, when uncontrolled, can consume and dominate our lives. Righteous anger is like fire: when controlled it is necessary and good, but out of control, it is destructive. Satan likes nothing better than to make us unbalanced; verse 27 tells us that uncontrolled anger gives Satan opportunity to work. Such a powerful emotion as anger must be taken in small doses. "Be angry and yet do not sin." A seasoned believer should be increasingly intolerant of sin, but he does not let such feelings dominate him. The third sign of a seasoned Christian is: III. GENEROSITY Verse 28: Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. Why do people steal? There may be the infrequent theft of someone to provide food for their family, but most stealing is motivated by selfishness: "I want what you have for myself, or I want to sell it to get what I want." That is the old nature speaking. It tells us that we are deserving of much more than we have; why should another have something that I don't have? The tenth commandment tells us that to covet what another person has is sin. God works in the new man to turn us from selfishness to generosity. Rather than an attitude of taking, there should be a growing desire to be generous. The advice given here is fascinating: we are told that we should work with our hands, we should work diligently-to what end? So that we might accumulate lots of things for ourselves? No! So we will have the ability to give to those who have a need! I am convinced if Christians were truly mature in this area of development, there would never be unmet financial needs in the Lord's work. So the third sign of the seasoned Christian is generosity. The fourth sign is: IV. GRACEFUL SPEECH Verse 29: Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment that it may give grace to those who hear. The unwholesome speech of the old nature carries the idea of something "foul or rotten." There is nothing I can think of which is so repelling as the smell of something dead. That is how profanity and coarse words are from a believer. It stinks! As a child, I can remember going outside to play with my dog and finding he had tangled with a skunk! I had no interest in being around him because he smelled so bad. That is the effect of "foul or rotten" words coming from one of God's children. Such unwholesome words are more than just profanity or crude, lewd or indecent speech, but also include any words which result in belittling, mocking, or putting someone down. Some folks think their place in life is to bring people down a "notch or two." Critical, negative words that tear someone down are unwholesome, as are words of gossip. By contrast, a growing Christian watches over the tongue, and is known by gracious words that build up people. Part of maturity is the desire and ability to say the right thing at the right time. Someone has called this "speaking Christ into a situation." Such words help people regain their spiritual perspective. It is helping others with a word of compassion or encouragement that builds them up. Gracious speech demonstrates spiritual maturity. The first four of these signs have dealt with our actions toward others; the last three deal with inward attitudes. The fifth sign of a seasoned Christian is: V. KEEPING SHORT ACCOUNTS WITH GOD V. 30: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." When growing up on a small farm in Missouri, we had a small dairy herd. We sold our milk to Kraft, who made it into cheese. Once a month we received the milk check from Kraft. As soon as it came, my dad and I would drive over to the feed store and pay off our feed bill. Cattle feed and a few groceries would take the whole milk check, but we were glad to be able to pay off our account that had been accumulating for the last month. My dad tried to keep a "short account" with the store. A mature believer keeps a short account with God; dealing with any sin quickly. The Bible makes it clear that "if we say that we have no sin, we lie, and the truth is not in us." Only Jesus lived here on earth without sinning. If we breathe, we will do something wrong or choose not to do something we know we should do; sins of commission or sins of omission. The issue is not whether we sin; the issue is what do we do when we sin? Keeping short accounts with God means that we respond to the Holy Spirit when He convicts us of sin and confess it quickly. I've told this story before, but it illustrates this truth so well. As a child, I grew up in a church that had summer revivals. At some point in the revival, I felt compelled to "walk the aisle" and confess to God all the sin accumulated since the last revival. It was like I kept a bucket into which I put all my sins and once a year I would "dump my bucket" out. I would feel so clean! But soon the bucket began to fill up, and by the next summer, I could barely carry that bucket full of sin. That concept was never taught in my church, but it was a lie of the enemy to keep me from growing as a Christian. I did not keep a short account with God. The refusal to deal with our sin grieves the Holy Spirit. To remind you how to deal with sin, 1 John 1:9 has been called the Christian's bar of soap: "If we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Confession is to agree with God that something we have done is wrong. The word is "homolegeo" Homo=one; legeo=to speak. Confession is to say the same thing God says about our sin. What does He say? He says to turn from it; to forsake it; to purpose in my heart that I will not repeat it, with God's enablement. Confession for the believer is to be as common as breathing. Sin will come; quickly confess it, put it behind you and go on walking with God. It is an awesome thought to me that God the Holy Spirit loves me so much that when I ignore His leading, He experiences the emotion of grief, personal pain and sorrow! And although He may GRIEVE, He will never LEAVE. My old selfish nature suggests a question: if the Holy Spirit will never leave me, and I am assured a home in heaven, why should I bother to keep short accounts with God? (Remember this is the old nature asking...) Why should I bother trying to live a holy life? What do I forfeit by refusing to deal with my sin? The first thing I lose is power. The Spirit is the source of power to live the new life. Without His controlling influence, His filling, there is no abundant life. We are left unprotected and powerless against the onslaughts of the world, the flesh, and the devil. When I refuse to deal with sin, I am in deep trouble, up a creek without a paddle. My life begins to fall apart, nothing seems to go right. All fruit of the Spirit-love, joy, peace, etc. are gone. I can become negative, critical, bitter, angry, --all the negative attitudes you can think of: I become miserable and miserable to be around. And-Holy Scripture is very clear on this-because God loves us so much, He will not allow us to continue living in sin without lovingly disciplining us. Hebrews 12:6: "Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines." God takes no pleasure in causing pain to His children, but so many of us are so hard-headed and hard-hearted that we will listen only to pain. If it sounds like I am speaking from experience, I am! It is no fun to be taken to the woodshed by God! The growing believer keeps short accounts with God. The sixth sign of a seasoned believer is what I choose to call: VI EMOTIONAL STABILITY Verse 31: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Spiritual transformation goes far beyond our actions but extends to our attitudes also. Last Sunday I spoke of the importance of right thinking. This characteristic of seasoned believers, like keeping short accounts with God, is an inner attitude that leads to change of actions. There is a child's prayer that goes, "Lord, make the bad people good, and the good people nice." We all know people who live upright, moral, honest lives but are thoroughly unpleasant to be with. Such a person's experience as a Christian is certainly incomplete, and possibly counterfeit. There is to be inner transformation, not merely outward conformity to a set of rules. Frankly speaking, it is very possible to look spiritual on the outside but be wretched on the inside. We can cover these sinful attitudes over with a smile, or hide them temporarily, but sooner or later, they will surface. Remember the Pharisees whose actions looked good on the outside, but were filled with corruption on the inside, and Jesus described them as "whitewashed sepulchers." A believer who can control these attitudes has a calm stability which is a sign of the Holy Spirit's control. The spiritual fruits of kindness, gentleness and self-control are evident. Look at the list of inner attitudes we are to put aside: bitterness-this is a hard, cynical attitude toward others that soon contaminates others; wrath-hotheaded fury or rage that makes us lose control; anger: here we have "thumas", an inward boiling resulting in a desire to punish someone, to strike back or seek revenge. The word clamor means the desire to scream, shout, rail, or bawl someone out; slander is speech that injures someone, like spreading gossip or passing along rumors. Malice is the desire to harm someone or to see them suffer. What a terrible list of sins this is! These sins are deadly because often they are buried so deep within. Some people have carried grudges against another Christian brother or sister for years. Such thoughts may be in your heart right now. You may be boiling in rage at someone while covering it over with a smile of pretense. The Spirit is telling you this morning to put it away. That means to repent of these attitudes, change your mind about them, stop justifying them to yourself, stop saying you have a right to think this way, stop defending these attitudes. Once you let them go through confession, them immediately God can open you up to love them. And once those attitudes are put aside, we are able to demonstrate the seventh sign of a seasoned Christian, that of: VI. TENDERLY FORGIVING WHEN WRONGED Verse 32: And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Notice the contrast with the attitudes of the previous verse. Forgiveness is the second step after dealing with those attitudes of anger, rage, wrath, bitterness and slander. My dear friends, such attitudes are like acid that eats away your inner peace and joy. There is absolutely nothing so freeing as forgiveness! I am talking of someone who has done something wrong to you, and it doesn't matter whether they have asked forgiveness for the offense or not. Forgiveness is choosing that I will not hold that offense against them. For, sadly, they may never ask forgiveness. If you wait for them, holding onto the offense, it will invariably lead to the attitudes of verse 31. Look at the standard God makes possible: being kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another JUST AS GOD IN CHRIST HAS FORGIVEN YOU! The Lord Jesus forgave us our sins even before we asked for forgiveness. Yes, we personally repented and changed our minds, but that was a response to what Christ had already done on the cross. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we finally responded to His love, we found His forgiveness was already waiting for us. He forgave us despite the pain our sins caused Him. That is our problem with forgiveness; we say, "I know I should forgive, but he doesn't know how much he has hurt me, and I can't forgive that hurt." Well, God did. God held no desire for revenge or getting even with us. He doesn't pay us back for what we did to Him, and what we continue to do when we grieve Him. Seven signs of maturity. We all fall short of God's standards, but if you were listening to God this morning, He spoke to you about at least one of these areas. In these closing moments, follow His leading; begin today to walk closer with Him, working toward becoming a seasoned believer. 7