Speak The Truth

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Join us on Sunday Mornings at 9:30 am for Sunday School, Wednesday evenings at 6 pm

Prepare for Worship

Call To Worship

44 Come Praise and Glorify

Confession

Prayer of Confession

Almighty Father, forgive our sins. Forgive the sins that we remember, and the sins we have forgotten. Forgive our many failures in the face of temptation, and those times when we have been stubborn in the face of correction. Forgive the times we have been proud of our own achievements and those when we have failed to boast in your works. Forgive the harsh judgments we have made of others, and the leniency we have shown ourselves. Forgive the lies we have told to others, and the truths we have avoided. Forgive us the pain we have caused others and the indulgence we have shown ourselves. Father, have mercy on us and make us whole for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Assurance of Faith

And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again. Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel. People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Confession of Faith

I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church*, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Worship

359 My Soul Finds Rest

363 Every Promise of Your Word

338 O’ Church of Christ, Invincible

Prayers of the People

Prayer Request

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Putting on the New Self

Turn to Eph 4:22-32

Beginning a new series, the putting on of the New Self

Must show caution, not legalistic

This part of Scripture shows us how to walk in Christ, as we are commanded

Cannot jump straight to these passages w/o seeing God’s grace in salvation before

This part is borrowed: Union with Christ 2:13, salvation by grace alone 2:8-9, our already being seated with Christ in the heavenly places 2:6, of our holy perfection before God because of the righteousness of Christ being applied to our account 1:7, of His indwelling resurrection power 1:19-20, 3:20, of our being fully loved by the Father as Jesus Himself 3:18

we are not dealing this day with the text of salvation, but rather of the results of salvation

knowing that all we do as Christians is empowered by God himself, our own salvation is not of our works, lest we boast, but rather that we are created for good works that He prepared before hand

in God’s commands for our lives we see more than a list of do’s and dont’s, we see the amazing grace of God, in that he through His continuing work of salvation in us through our whole lives is removing us from the slavery to our sins

that said let us now look as Paul gives direction to the Christian life

Ephesians 4:22–32 ESV

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 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. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Point of the Series

over the next few weeks we will break this passage down line by line, hoping to see how to put off the old self, and what comprises the old self

and find out what it means to put on a new self,

and why, what are the motives behind this change. What is it that God is accomplishing in and through us as we begin to walk in the new self

today look at structure and begin with the first imperative

Old and New

interesting structure found in passage, old and new

told to put off old self, “to lay aside you in reference to your former manner of life, the old self”

Christians are commanded to not live in the old, the life of the unregenerate, those first hearing all had led a full life as unbelievers

we therefore can look at this call for the newly saved man to not live as the world lives, not to look like those we are trying to reach with the gospel

instead we are called to put on the new self, something that is different, put away our sins

seems hard, seems like we are being called to work so we can be saved

but Paul has already covered that issue, but he does call us to work in our salvation, to turn our hearts away from deceitful desires

Philippians 2:12 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

We are already justified (sins paid for) before God, but still His word calls us to work out the sin that still remains, this is the amazing grace of the saved person’s life

we are empowered to put sins behind us, this is called sanctification, and it is a life long process,

this life we are able to not sin, able to overcome specific sins with the guiding of the Holy Spirit, little by little

Even though we know we cannot overcome all sin in this life

1 John 1:8 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

We are called to strive to put it behind us, so that we might truly be free and find joy in this life (we all look forward to eternity, when we will not be able to sin, it will all be behind us)

Pauls Direction for Sanctification

rest of the book gives us instruction for a holy life, but here in these passsages we see some specific instruction over some specific sins

5 points, each with a don’t (old self) and a do (new self)

Ephesians 4:25 (ESV)

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,

Ephesians 4:26 ESV

26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Ephesians 4:28 (ESV)

28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands

Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion,

Ephesians 4:31–32 (ESV)

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another

Motives given by Paul

In the OT we are given a great gift in God’s law. He shows us what a righteous life is made up of, and what sin is. Why so that we may know what a good life is (one without sin, living as Christ) and what a poor life is (one enslaved to our own pitiful sinful desires)

Paul as always just assumes the abiding nature of these laws in our lives, as seen in the above list, do not lie, do not steal, and others. But when he addresses these sins, which I think he picks out because he is still dealing with the individuals requirement within the church, he give us motives

v25 put away falsehood because “we are members one of another”

v 26-27 do not sin in our anger so “we give no opportunity to the devil”

v28 stop stealing and work so “that he may have something to share with anyone in need”

v29-30 don’t have unwholesome speech but rather speak words that build up so “that it gives grace to those who hear, so that we do not grieve the Holy Spirit”

V 31-32 do not be cruel to one another, but rather kind because “God in Christ forgave you!”

so over the next few weeks we will dig into each of these a little more, seeking to understand how we are to put off the old and put on the new

Truth and Falsehood

This week we start with the first imperative,

Ephesians 4:25 ESV

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

Falsehood is found in the old self, and speaking truth is found in the new man

Falsehood

“pseudos” the word that we get pseudo from, a lie

Romans 1:25 ESV

25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

This is what we were told to put away, it is actually assumed in the text that we have put away falsehood in our own beliefs and understanding, that in our salvation we have exchanged the lies of the world for the truth found in Christ

Speak Truth

since we have put lies away from ourselves, then it seems only natural that the new man speak the truth with his neighbor

Paul has made truth a central focus within Ephesians

Ephesians 1:13 ESV

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Ephesians 4:15 ESV

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Ephesians 4:21 ESV

21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,

Ephesians 5:9 ESV

9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),

Ephesians 6:14 ESV

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

As Christians, we cannot rightly speak anything other than the truth to our neighbor. This would include our friends and family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, the people we do business with, and the stranger on the street

Application

So what truth are we to speak and when and how

The truth of the gospel

Plagiarism - giving credit where credit is due (many of the points I have given today, I draw from lessons I have studied and learned myself)

truthful representation of oneself - not lying to impress, not lying to gain trust

accurate truth about a situation - not avoiding controversy by lying

not withholding facts or information - in business deals - in relationships

finally in hard truths - don’t lie or twist or avoid the truth (especially that which is explicitly stated in Scripture) so that you can keep people happy - keep them in the pews - keep them tithing - truth is more important than all of our earthly wants and desires

But Why

Paul does not simply list out the do’s and dont’s

he provides reasons for why we should follow these directives

Ephesians 4:25 ESV

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

I used the tern neighbor in the general sense before, but as we look at the whole of the passage, it is clear that Paul in this sense is directing this command in regards to how we deal with one another in the church. after all that is the main jist of chapter 4

this however, does not give us license to go and lie for our own gain with our unbelieving neighbor

to the question is it ever ok to lie in any situation, the answer is ultimately no, but there are a number of views on how Christians should handle situations in which the full truth could put a life in risk

since that is not in view of today’s text, we will save that for another time

We are members

once again Paul brings in to focus our relationship as believers, using again the body metaphor for the church

Ephesians 1:22–23 ESV

22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 2:16 ESV

16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Ephesians 3:6 ESV

6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Ephesians 4:4 ESV

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

Ephesians 4:15–16 ESV

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 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.

It is clear that Paul truly wants us to see ourselves in such a relationship with one another, that we cannot rightly imagine oursleves divided

Why would we risk damaging a part of our body with a thing such as a lie

One of Another

The foot is not the hand, the hand is not the heart, and the heart is not the mouth

Imagine the church as a body, knowing that in order to function properly we need each part, and we need each part to do what it was designed to do

Now imagine a foot that thinks it has no need of the hand, or a hand that thinks it is the most important part of the body and all other parts are there for its benefit

herein lies the danger of speaking falsehood to one another.

if I am willing to lie to you it means one of two things, I don’t think your an important part of the body, or I think that I am so important that lying to you is justified

But Paul tells us this is not the way.

We must speak truth to one another, in order to maintain proper functioning. Because when any body part stops functioning or cuts itself off out of distrust, we will be unable to do our job correctly

Pros and Cons

It is probably important for us to see the dangers of lying and benefits of truth within the body

Cons - distrust, inability to communicate, degraded worship (Ananias and Sephira), division, lack of intimacy

Pros - increased productivity, meaningful worship, trust and confidence in one another, ability to count on one another, true knowledge of God’s word

Conclusion

I am so glad that my eternal destination does not depend on me living out this sermon perfectly, or even in a mediocre sense. I am so blessed to know and trust that Christ’s perfect sacrifice has paid for every lie that has ever proceeded or will proceeded from my mouth. I am equally grieved by that fact as well.

So I say if you do not yet know Christ as Lord and Savior, understand that the weight of every lie is upon you and you alone. You must stand before a Holy God and answer for those sins, and bear the punishment yourself. But if you turn to Him, trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you can know the peace that comes with His salvation that He offers.

I have a not here on my pulpit. (Red Note)

I know I cannot overcome my sin of lying on my own. But because as believers we are indwelled with the Spirit, we need simply turn to Him for help, ask him to give us repentance, empower us to turn away from that sin.

And Paul lets us know that the world of lies, the one in which Satan is father, is no place for us as a church, rather we need to speak truth to one another in love. This is how we cooperate as the body of Christ, this is how we together can accomplish the unimaginable for the Kingdom of Christ.

Benediction & Doxology

Closing Prayer

If anyone has any questions or concerns feel free to catch me afterwards. And a quick reminder we do have plates in the back for anyone who desires to worship through giving today. The plate to the right is general giving, and the one to the left is specific for our missions giving.

Join us as we sing the doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”