Practical Advice for Christian Living (Part 1)

Ephesians  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  45:41
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Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church. Please take your Bibles and turn with me to Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4.
We’ve been studying this chapter for the last several weeks and are going to close out our time here this morning. We’ve learned over the last few weeks that there are expectations of us as Christian believers. We are to be marked by certain characteristics as we are built into this new entity that Christ has instituted called the church. We are to treat each other with grace, with patience and love. The source of this treatment of one another is our humility as we walk worthy of the calling that we have received in the Gospel. Only a humble man can walk that path. Recognizing our sin and our unworthiness is the only way that we can walk that way. The Getty’s have captured this paradox well in their song lyrics for the song “My Worth Is Not In What I Own” Two wonders here that I confess my worth and my unworthiness. It is only through the blood of Christ and the calling of the Holy Spirit to respond to His Gospel that we are worthy and it is only through the recognition of our own unworthiness that we can walk in that truth.
We are to seek unity in the Spirit through our adherence to the one true faith, the true doctrines that are a part of that faith, that have been handed down to us as we seek to worship and glorify the one true God. But in seeking to worship Him we are called to recognize that our’s is not to be a passive worship. We have been gifted according to the measure of Christ’s grace to accomplish tasks that lead to the maturity of the church as a whole. There are no individualistic plans of maturity in Christianity. This life that we’ve been called to is not meant to be an exercise in independence but rather in dependence on one another as we seek to be built together into the temple of God. He has given some men who were specially equipped to assist with that - first the apostles and prophets and then, when they had passed from the scene - or were passing from the scene of church history - the evangelists, pastors and teachers. They are those tasked with equipping those who will do the work of building the Kingdom of God in whatever ministry area they have been uniquely gifted to fulfill.
The purpose of this is that we will mature from babes in Christ to mature Christians - Paul uses the example of a fully mature man - aspiring to the very stature of Christ Himself. In so doing we must put away the practices of our former lives, we can’t live with one foot in the world and the other in the church, we can’t live as the Gentiles do but rather we are called to be renewed in our minds - Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.” - and to put on the new self created in the image of God righteous and pure.
Now Paul is going to give us some very practical and direct instructions this morning. He’s going to do so with six successive examples that are all going to follow a negative/positive pattern. He’s first going to tell us what not to do and then going to follow it up with what we in fact should do. And along the way he is going to challenge each of us to a deeper standard of living that gets beyond the mere surface but instead is completely penetrated by His Spirit and permeates the Spirit. I have heard it said that you can tell what a bear has been feeding on after killing it by the scent of its body fat. We used to say of people particularly dedicated to the Navy that if you cut them open they would bleed blue and gold. If this could be said of the Christian and you were tested today - what would the result be? Look with me at Ephesians 4:25-32 and test yourself today as we examine these Scriptures together.
Ephesians 4:25–32 CSB
Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and don’t give the devil an opportunity. Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need. No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
We’re going to progress through this passage just as Paul gives it to us this morning taking each element as it comes to us. What we may find as we go through this this morning is that some of these may not be as simple as we might think and that if we truly tease out some of the implications that these imperatives bring to bear on our lives that we just might have much work to do.

Do Not Lie

Paul starts off with the familiar phrase therefore - this is now the third time in this short section that he has used this conjunction. In 4:1 he used it to say in light of all that I’ve been writing to you in the previous section of the letter live this way and has been explaining just exactly how we should live. In verse 17 he challenges us saying therefore I say this and testify in the Lord. Now here is verse 25 he again begins “Therefore” pointing us backwards to something that he has said. In this case he is pointing to the context of what he has just told the Ephesian church regarding taking off the old man and putting on the new through a renewal of their minds.
Notice the next thing that Paul says - putting away. The word here is apotithemi and it is essentially the same word, it has the same root word, as the phrasing he used saying take off your former way of life. Paul is now going to explain exactly what he meant when he admonished them to take off the old man.
Look with me at what he says - putting away lying, speak the truth, each on to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. We of course can agree to this. Of course we shouldn’t be lying to one another. There are lots of warnings in Scripture regarding the penalties and dangers of lying.
Exodus 20:16 CSB
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Moses warned the Israelites as a part of the ten commandments not to lie or give false testimony against one another. At the close of the Bible the Lord establishes the fate of those characterized by habitual lying
Revelation 21:8 CSB
But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Revelation 22:15 CSB
Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Charles Spurgeon used this example for the power of a lie
300 Quotations for Preachers (Lies Go around the World While Truth Gets Its Boots On)
It is a great deal easier to set a story afloat than to stop it. If you want truth to go around the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go around the world, it will fly. It is as light as a feather, and a breath will carry it. It is well said in the old proverb, “A lie will go around the world while truth is pulling its boots on.” Nevertheless, it does not injure us; for if light as a feather it travels as fast, its effect is just about as tremendous as the effect of down when it is blown against the walls of a castle. It produces no damage whatever, on account of its lightness and littleness.Fear not, Christian. Let slander fly, let envy send forth its forked tongue, let it hiss at you; your bow shall abide in strength.CHARLES SPURGEON
Now, his example has to do with our ability to withstand the lying lips of the world as they cast dispersions upon us for being Christians. But how much worse is it when the lies are told or come from those within our own body. Paul will finish this admonition with the statement that “we are members of one another.” Oh how awful would it be if our bodies were in the habit of lying to itself. There is a condition called Charles Bonnet Syndrome where that is essentially what happens. Charles Bonnet syndrome causes a person whose vision has started to deteriorate to see things that aren't real (hallucinations). The hallucinations may be simple patterns, or detailed images of events, people or places. How awful it would be if you couldn’t trust your own eyes.
This is also essentially what happens to one afflicted with leprosy. They begin to lose sensation in their extremities and often experience horrific burns or mutilations to their appendages simply because they can’t feel the damage happening.
So of course we can agree that we shouldn’t lie to one another. At least not explicitly. But how often are we guilty of implicitly lying to one another? We would all readily agree that lying has no part in a Christian’s life but I guarantee you that in a room of this many people there are people who have implicitly lied to someone this morning. What do I mean by that?
How many of you (and don’t raise your hand if this is you) answered the question this morning “how are you doing” with fine when you know very well that you are anything but fine? I’ll tell you this - I’m not fine this morning. I’m exhausted. It has been a long week. Sick kids. A recovering wife. And all the normal activities that still have to happen have been very taxing on me this week. On top of that I did something to my throat when sneezing, this sounds crazy, and it hurts to swallow and sometimes to speak. So it is a challenge to be here this morning but I serve a faithful God who enables me to be where He wants me to be. What a change would be wrought in our body if we were actually honest with one another about how we are really doing.
How about this question - how many of you know that you are stagnant in your Christian growth but you aren’t willing to do anything about it? How about church attendance. If we’re committed to one another and to seeing the church grow to maturity the surprise should be that you are missing on a Sunday morning not that you are present. Now I’m not trying to be legalistic with this saying that you can’t be saved unless you are at Dishman Baptist Church at 9:30 for life groups and 11:00 for service. But a question that should be asked is if you don’t desire to grow or progress in your Christian walk and you don’t deeply desire to be in fellowship and corporate worship with other believers - are you actually saved?
The point is this - we need to stop lying to one another. And of course we are to challenge one another gently - probably less gently than this is coming across - and in love but we are to challenge one another none the less. When we know that there is something to be said and we fail to say it we implicitly lie to one another.
We cannot build one another up, we cannot pray for one another and we cannot see mature growth happen unless we are able to be honest with one another.
Maybe anticipating the reaction of his readers Paul offers the next admonition - Be angry and do not sin.

Be Angry?

He writes “Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and don’t give the devil an opportunity.” Paul is quoting from Psalm 4 here. Psalm 4 was written by David and this particular phrase that Paul is quoting from is a reminder to himself that the Lord is faithful and will hear him when he calls. So instead of being sinfully angry he should reflect on the goodness and faithfulness of God. There are some commentators who surmise that what David is actually saying in Psalm 4:4 is that you should tremble before God - the Hebrew word that the Septuagint translates as anger is most often translated as tremble - and forget the sinful anger you were harboring and reflect on Him instead. While that has merit, Paul as a former Pharisee surely would have known the Hebrew translation of the word and yet he chooses to use the Greek translation here so it would do us well to sit up, take notice and understand his meaning here.
Is Paul legitimizing anger here - saying that it is possible to be angry without being in sin. Would that not contradict what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount if that were the case? Paul’s point here is that the only legitimate expression of anger is righteous anger. Therein lies the rub. Francis De Sales said
300 Quotations for Preachers (We Never Think Our Anger Is Unjust)
There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.FRANCIS DE SALES
There is never a time when we are angry that we don’t think that we’re justified in our anger. That would be the thrust of what David writes in Psalm 4 as well. Earlier in verse 2 he is lamenting that his honor has been insulted and that he is being maligned. In truth there is only one man who was ever so innocent as to say that he could be righteously angry at the treatment that He received and yet His request was for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying Him.
Yet that doesn’t mean that He was never angry and in that we find our example of how to be angry without sinning. Christ was angry at the hardness of the Pharisees hearts toward a man who was afflicted with a shriveled hand in Mark 3, He was angry at the money changers and animal salesmen who turned the temple into the Bazaar of Annas rather than the house of prayer that it was meant to be.
Psalm 69:9 CSB
because zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
We should be angry at those who seek to mar the image of God through wicked practices like abortion or the legitimization of gender changes. We should be angry at those who seek to mar the worship of God through low ecclesiology or man-centered doctrine rather than the truth of His Word. But we mustn’t sin in that anger. This is the anger that was written about by F.W. Robertson - a great English preacher - when he once met a certain man who was trying to lure a young girl into prostitution, he became so angry that he bit his lip until it bled. Now the resource that I found that story in doesn’t clarify whether he was biting his own lip or the man’s - but I think we can recognize the anger that he felt. It is the same that often rises within us when we read articles or see things on the news or the internet regarding the degradation of our Christian values.
Yet the challenge is to be angry at what is happening without devolving into sin. Paul gives this helpful caution to the church in Rome
Romans 12:17–21 CSB
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
We must remember that at the end of the day that God wins and His vengeance will be complete. That’s probably not what Paul has in mind when he says don’t let the sun go down on your anger - but it is the attitude and mindset which will prevent us from ruminating on our anger and allowing Satan a foothold in our hearts. The Greek word for anger is orge. Parorgismos (anger) is not momentary outward, boiling-over rage or inward, seething resentment, but rather a deep-seated, determined and settled conviction. The way that anger becomes a deep seated conviction is by continual reflection on that situation which makes us angry. Notice what David writes about his own condition in Psalm 4 and let it remind us how to combat this condition within our own hearts.
Psalm 4:3–4 CSB
Know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him. Be angry and do not sin; reflect in your heart while on your bed and be silent. Selah
Our reflection should be on the faithfulness of God and know that the same faithfulness that guarantees our good also guarantees that the wicked will be treated appropriately in God’s good timing.

Go to Work...

This next statement from Paul is rather interesting not for the command itself because much like lying the command not to be a thief is pretty agreeable to us. At least on the surface. Many of us would again readily agree with the seventh commandment
Exodus 20:15 CSB
Do not steal.
in principle but how many of us may be guilty of breaking this in practice? When we are on social media during work are we not stealing time from our employer? If you stand around a few minutes longer so you can clock out a few minutes later are you not stealing?
Instead of theft Paul tells the Ephesians to be about good honest labor - something that is almost looked down upon in our current society. We live not in the midst of the Great Depression nor a great recession but in the midst of the great resignation. People are resigning from their jobs because they have found it more profitable to live on the handouts of the government than to actually go to work. If you’re an able bodied person and you are choosing not to work then you are stealing from the government and you need to get a real job.
The real interesting thing that Paul hits on here - and the one that I think probably hits home the most in a congregation like ours is the intended result of our earnings. We live in a society that is deeply concerned with the future and the prospect of retirement. The question that is most often asked financial advisors - other than questions to determine whether they are legitimate - is how much can you help me save for retirement. How much of a nest egg can you help me squirrel away. But this is not to be the attitude of the Christian - look at what Paul writes here. So that he has something to share with anyone in need. Now I don’t think this means that you should work to pay your bills and then keep the rest in your pocket to hand out to any panhandler that you see on any corner. What it means is that we should be generous with our resources when we know there are those within the body of Christ who have a need.
The early church modeled this. In Acts 4 there is a passage regarding the care that the believers demonstrated for each other.
Acts 4:34–35 CSB
For there was not a needy person among them because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need.
Now I don’t think this means that they all sold their houses and lived on the street. What it means is that when someone had a need they were so devoted to God and saw all that they had as being His with them as His stewards that they were willing to do whatever was necessary to care for a brother or sister in need. What if we viewed our finances the same way. If we don’t have finances to spare - what if we viewed our time that way. What a change would be seen amongst us if we structured our lives around opportunities for ministry instead of structuring our lives around making enough money to retire.

What Change

If we were to put off just these three things - lying (whether explicit or implicit), controlling anger and theft (or even the selfish hoarding of our resources rather than generosity) what a change we would see within our body. We would see greater encouragement toward maturity and an openness and genuine love for one another. There is much more in this passage and so we’re going to stop here and pick up the rest next week.
But we can’t stop without recognizing that this change is beyond our capability. One thing that is often overlooked from the story of the Garden and the Fall is that even before she sinned by eating the apple, Eve embellishes the command of God resulting in a lie. An embellishment is just as much a lie as an outright fabrication. We are incapable of preventing ourselves from lying.
We are incapable of being angry without sinning - remember Francis De Sales observation “There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust”. We are often angry unjustly but piously cover it in the cloak of righteous anger. We are incapable of discerning the difference on our own.
We are also incapable of being honest with our resources - is not the harboring of resources and keeping them back when you know there is a need not stealing from the God who gave you those resources for just such a time as this - in and of our own volition.
There is only one way that we are capable of any of the positive admonitions that Paul delivers through this passage - whether it is speaking the truth to one another, putting away our anger before the sun goes down or even being angry without sinning, or being generous with our resources. That is through the shed blood of Christ and the growth that is effected within us by the Holy Spirit. Only when we are truly His and have been made new are any of these things possible. It is only when we are, to borrow the phrase that Paul has used frequently throughout Ephesians, in Him that we are able to act the way that He expects us to act.
So how are you doing so far? If you recognize there is room for improvement don’t despair - take it to Christ and seek His help as your desires are grown and changed to greater service and openness in His kingdom and presence.
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