Sermon Tone Analysis

The Family Tree

Last year Elisabeth and I decided to get some fruit trees for our house, we went and bought a few peach trees and a cherry tree.

I wasn’t all too familiar with the best practices for planting trees and making sure they survive and thrive.

So I did some research and I went for it.

I dug the whole about twice the size of the root ball, I mixed native soil with some fertilizer, I watered the tree and once it had been the right amount of time I gave the tree more nutriends through some fruit tree food.

Let’s just say I nailed it.... (We’ll never know)

But what about the rest of the tree’s life.

We’ve moved away, who is going to take care of it, who’s going to prune it, keep animals and birds away from the fruit, how is it going to thrive now?

These are the types of questuons that our passage answers, but for a different tree.

In Ephesians so far, we have been shown the eternal spiritual blessings that Christ has given to us,

we’ve seen how we were dead, not able to make ourselves alive

we were hopelessly lost and yet Christ made us alive and saved us through faith by His grace

and he put us together as the church to build one another up and be an example of the Gospel to the spiritual and physical kingdoms that surround us.

Picture us the church as a Family Tree

The lower limbs are our older Godly members who have been around a while, nice and thick limbs, (spiritually speaking) strong and healthy, lots of fruit.

At the other end we have new shoots, young children, youth, other adults who are new believers, growing quickly and starting to bud.

So far in the book of Ephesians the APostle Paul has shown us how the tree was planted, he showed us the hole that God dug, the soil that Jesus mixed and the water that the Spirit poured.

He’s shown us the purpose of the tree and placed a T-bar with some wire to help hold us straight and true.

But in these last verses Paul has started to tell us more about what’s next.

He tells us what we have to do now, He’s called us to put off the self, be trnsformed in our mind and put on the new self.

And in our passage he get’s specific, he tells us exactly what it looks like to be clothed in the new self and to live in a manner that’s worthy of the Gospel!

He gives us instructions for the family tree,

he says if you want the tree to thrive, these are the characrerisitics that you must embrace.

I’ve used the tree as a metaphor for the church but Paul in Ephesians and elsewhere has used the body, so my outline will reflect that as I would rather you remember Paul’s metaphor than mine!

Our passage is made up of 5 commands, our first point includes the 1st.

Command, our 2nd point includes commands 2, 3 and 4, and our 3rd point is the 5th and final command.

The first thing Paul addresses is what it is that the body needs.

That’s my first Point, what does the body need?

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1.

What Does the Body Need? (Vs.

25)

Paul begins by saying therefore, reminding us that this is simply implications of what he has already said.

Since we have to be rid of the old self and put on the new,

here now are things we ought to embrace and things we ought to exclude.

All of the commands Paul has for us in these verse contain 3 parts.

A Negative command or concession, a positive command and a reason to oben by.

Paul starts here with the negative.

He says: “having put away falsehood.”

That is to say Lies ought to have no place in the Christian vocabulary, they ought not to be present in the kingdom of God.

One author writes:

“The opportunities to shade or hide the truth, to avoid personal consequences or advance personal gain are constant challenges and frequent causes of sin.”

(Brian Chappel)

It’s not hard for us to think of opportunites for sin in this area.

Whether it in our workplaces, our homes or in the church it is often easier and better for us in a worldly sense to misrepresent the truth in order to protect ourselves or make ourselves look better than we ought to.

Friends God has called us to put away falsehood and be people of the truth.

This is primarily speaking about our relationships with one another in the church but it certainly applies to all of life.

Students, it’s an act of rebellion against God to lie to your teacher, to lie to your parents, to lie to your friends.

Often we justify our lies and we reason with ourselves about why it’s better for the person we are lying to.

but proverbs 12:22 reminds us.

Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.”

Friends, Christian must be people who have put away falsehood!

Think of body that lies to itself.

The eyes say to the feet, there’s no hole there, just keep walking.

Or the ears lie to the body, that’s not a car horn you hear, just keep walking.

Or the nose tells the body, that’s not a fire you smell, just keep sleeping.

Friends, Paul reminds us we are members of one body, we depend on one another and we depend on the truth!

Brian Chappel helpfully writes:

“Relationships of trust are the wheels on which the ministry of the church progresses.”

Where falsehood and lies dwell, trust is eroded and the body suffers.

So this morning, if you haven’t left falsehood behind let me encourage you to repent, look to Christ for forgivenss knowing that he died for all your sins and He will joyfully forgive you!

If you’ve lied to people in your life, confess it to them and ask for their forgiveness!

You’ll be surprised at the joy and life that comes from living in the truth and being honest with others, don’t put it off!

Now, we’ve talked about the negative side of this first command but there are a few more unique elements to the positive side.

Paul Says: Let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members of one body.”

The rationale for the command is our being of one body!

Paul here reminds us of what he has already said in this book.

He’s reminds us of our primary place in the world as the display of God’s infinite power and the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ!

He tells us to speak the truth because we are the very body of Christ and not only that but this is how the Body is built up!

Look back up at Ephesians4:15 Paul says: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,”

This is the job description, the primary responsibility, the most important task of all believers!

How is the church to gorw?

How are we to make disciples?

How are we to be build one another up?

We must speak the truth in love!

The truth’s of the gospel that Paul has been dwelling on for three chapters, these truths are to pervade our speech, we are to remind one another of these things!

In Titus 3 :8 Paul says: “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

These things are excellent and profitable for people.”

What is it were supposed to insist on Paul?

What are these things?

He covers that in Titus 3:4-7 where he tells them about the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour, and how he he saved us according to his own mercy by the Holy Spirit and by His Son Jesus Christ so that we might herits of the hope of eternal life!

This is the saying Paul tells us we must insist on!

so that beleiverse are careful to devote themselves to good works!

These are excellent and profitable!

So Christian, let me encourage you, speak the truth of the gospel in love to someone else today!

We need to speak it, we need to hear it, so remember the mission, the central task of Christian discipleship and speak the truth in love to others this morning,.

Brothers, speak the gospel to your wives, your siblings, your coworkers, your kids and watch as the truth changes them.

Sisters, speak the truth’s of the gospel to one another and to your husbands and children and grandchildren and friends and rejoice as God uses his appointed means to save and sanctify those around you!

We all long to see fruit and change but how often do we step out of our comfort zones and remind someone that Jesus died for them, that he loves them, that he paid for all their sins, that there is no more condemnation, that the Spirit of God is in them and He will not let them fail, that God has adopted them to be his daughter or son, that we are heirs of eternal life!

Friends, we have such rich gospel truths, OH that we would not keep them to ourselves!

Paul here reminds us to speak the truth to our neighbours and in so doing reminds us of our central task in vs. 15

but he also points us back to Zechariah 8:16 which says “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace;”

Here the word of YHWH is coming to Zechariah the prophet.

He is prohpesying about the remnant of Israel.

Israel of the New Jerusalem and YHWH calls them to “speak the truth to one another”

Paul quotes this phrase and applies it to the church, showing the link between the Old Testament prohpesies of a New people of God, a remanant of Israel, and the modern day jew and gentile church.

One commentator writes:

“What is predicated of the eschatological future of God’s people in terms of new Jerusalem language in the Old Testament passage is picked up by Paul in relation to the new person, God’s new community in Christ, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

Friends, Paul reminds us of the significance of our place in the history of redemption and the significance of our unity as the body and calls us to speak the truth!

Paul turns now to the next 3 commands that I’ve put together in our 2nd point:

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