The New Way of Walking: Speak the Truth

And so, Father, as we look into the mirror of your word and we read that you say of us that we are new creations in Christ Jesus, we know you're not lying.

We know that this is true.

This is who we are now.

And so, Father, oh, the God who it's impossible to lie.

God, would you remind us that you have created us in your likeness, in true righteousness and holiness, and now we're to put away falsehood.

And now we are to speak the truth to one another.

God, I do pray that you would unite us as a church and are being honest and truthful with one another.

We ask this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Now, I'm not sure if what I'm about to say is a confession.

It may very well be that.

I have owned some ratty, nasty, old t-shirts that I have become sentimentally attached to.

Anybody else?

Yes, I see that hand.

I see that hand.

Come on down.

No, just kidding.

And my dear wife will see me handling one of these delicate t-shirts because they have been through the ringer.

And I'll be holding this t-shirt like a newborn baby to put into my drawer.

And what she'll be doing is something like this.

No way.

No way.

No way.

No way.

No way.

No way.

No way.

No way.

That's got to go.

And sometimes I agree.

And that t-shirt becomes rags.

And other times I just have to say, I'm not ready.

Well, this morning we're going to have to rid ourselves of an old and nasty t-shirt called falsehood.

And we're going to have to put on a new clean and just wonderful t-shirt called truthfulness.

Honesty.

And what you need to know off the bat is that that t-shirt smells like Jesus.

If you would open up your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

We're going to be focusing on one verse this morning, verse 25.

But we're going to start with a run-up in verse 17.

So let's read verses 17 and we're going to read through verse 25.

The Apostle Paul says this.

This is God's word.

The God in whom it is impossible to lie.

Now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds.

They are darkened in their understanding.

Alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart.

They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality.

Greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

But that's not the way you learned Christ.

Assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him as the truth is in Jesus.

To put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.

And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.

And to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Verse 25.

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

For we are members.

We are members one of another.

Our speech matters to God.

What we say makes a difference.

Our words have an effect.

That's God's design.

And as Christians, those who have been made new by God,

our words are to have a particular kind of effect.

We are to rid ourselves of lying, falsehood.

And we must speak truthfully to one another.

And that truth speaking has an intended effect.

It builds the body.

I've been saying for some time now,

who you are determines how you live.

And what we're going to see this morning is,

who you are determines what you say.

How you speak.

And so this morning, three moves to help you see what God means

and to bring it to bear in our lives.

First, we're going to start in front of the mirror.

And we're going to start in front of the mirror.

And from the mirror, we're going to move to the closet.

And from the closet, we're going to go to the church.

So mirror, closet, church.

I hope it all makes sense.

From the mirror.

We all have morning routines, don't we?

And I'm guessing at some point in your morning routine,

you take a look at yourself in the mirror.

Now, I'm sure that some of us,

in this morning glance in the mirror,

you walk by the mirror and you are like,

man, you are stunning.

I can't believe you look so good.

But the most of us,

we wake up and we go and look in the mirror

and it's more like damage control.

For example,

teenagers,

you wake up wondering,

is there a zit on my chin?

And your greatest fear is to see Mount Fuji

on your chin that morning.

Is it not?

Totally.

Brothers,

those of us who are getting on in the years,

we walk in and look in the mirror

and we pull back our hair

and we say,

has my forehead moved to a five head?

Or a six head?

Or a seven head?

I have a three head.

Ladies,

you're looking at your eyes

and the bags under your eyes

and you're saying,

that is like pocketbook full,

kind of size.

That's kind of like Harley Davidson

writing pouch size bags under my eyes.

So we go and we look

and it's damage control, right?

And we're looking at the mirror

because the mirror doesn't lie.

It doesn't.

Did you know there's another kind of mirror

that you can look at in every morning?

James talks about it as

the law of liberty,

God's word.

Every morning,

we can go to the mirror

of God's word

and it doesn't lie.

It shows you

who you really are.

Your true self.

This morning,

we've got to remind ourselves

who we really are.

We've got to look at the mirror

of God's word,

Ephesians 4, 17 through 24,

and we've got to remind ourselves

who we are.

It's like God uses this passage

and He puts it in front of you

and He says,

Daughter, son,

this is who you are now.

You're a new creation

in Christ Jesus.

Don't forget that.

Remember that.

Renew your mind

on this reality.

I've brought this about in you.

You're not what you used to be.

In fact,

the first half of Ephesians,

we learn that God

has eternally loved us.

That God has radically changed us.

That He's intentionally knit us

to a body of believers.

We belong now.

It's who we are now.

And you can sum up all this

by saying this.

We are new creations

in Christ Jesus.

We're not what we used to be.

The old is gone.

The new has come.

We have a new nature.

This is who you are now.

Your former manner of life,

which was the outworking

of your old self,

is no more.

And so verses 17 through 19,

we are reminded of what we used to be.

That's not who you are anymore.

And so now, Christian,

you're no longer futile

in your thinking.

The substance of your thinking

has to do with real truth in Jesus.

You're no longer darkened

in your understanding.

The Holy Spirit's flipped the lights on.

You're no longer alienated

from the life of God.

No, God has reconciled you

to Himself through Christ,

and now you have new life

in Christ.

You're no longer ignorant.

Lights on.

You see truth for what it is.

You see Jesus for who He is now.

Fully God, fully man.

You understand what He's done

on the cross.

You understand what He's doing now,

and you understand that one day

He's coming back.

He's going to make all things right.

You're no longer

the owner of a hardened heart.

God has radically changed you.

Ezekiel 36 is true of you, Christian.

God pulled out your stony heart,

and He stuck back in

a fleshy heart,

a soft heart,

a heart that beats for God,

new affections for Him.

Now, this doesn't mean

you have no longer desires,

sinful desires,

but what it does mean

is now you have

a new set of desires,

a desire to live for God.

Your old self is history.

Your new self

is the present reality.

The old man is gone.

The new man has come.

Last week,

I quoted from The Help

and learned that it's not Abilene,

but Abilene.

Remember what she said?

You is kind.

You is smart.

You is important.

Christian,

you are God's.

You are alive.

And you are holy.

Created in the likeness of God.

Think Jesus.

Created in the likeness of God

in true righteousness

and holiness.

You are the real thing,

brother and sister in Christ.

God's wrought a real work in you.

And He has a new way

for us to live now.

In verses 22 through 24,

Paul uses this language

to put off and to put on.

He's talking about clothing,

believe it or not.

He's saying,

hey, the Christian life

is like putting on new clothes

every day of your life.

You're putting on clothes

that adorn the gospel.

You're putting on clothes

that look and smell like Jesus.

That's who you are now.

All this other stuff is gone.

You don't put that on anymore.

So we are to put off

our old selfish ways

that sprang from a hardened heart.

That's gone.

And what we're to do now is

we're to put on new Christ-ish ways

that spring from a heart

that has been made new

by God Himself.

And here's what this means.

We need to look at ourselves

in the mirror of God's Word

again and again and again.

We forget who we are.

We forget what God has done.

We've got to remember

God's speaking to us.

You is mine.

You is alive.

You is holy.

You is Christ-like.

So we've got to glance

in the mirror here.

We've been reminded of who we are

from verses 19 through 24.

So now from the mirror

we make our way to the closet

because God has given us

a brand new wardrobe in Christ.

A new way to live.

New clothes to wear.

A new way of being.

So now let's move

from the mirror to the closet.

Let me read Ephesians 4.25.

Therefore, having put away falsehood,

let each one of you speak the truth

with his neighbor

for we are members of one another.

And so what lies before us

in Ephesians 4.25 through 5.2

is a wardrobe

of things that are pleasing to God.

Things that adorn the gospel.

Things that God wants us

to put on over and over again.

Things that God wants us

to characterize us.

But you know what?

First I want to notice.

Did you notice the word

therefore in verse 25?

Tell me if you know this song.

Conjunction, junction,

what's your function?

Hooking up words,

phrases, and clauses.

Anybody know that one?

Sing with me.

Conjunction, junction,

what's your function?

Okay, a conjunction

makes connections.

The word therefore

is making a connection.

The Apostle Paul

is moving from

our new nature in Christ

to our new practice in Christ.

That's what the therefore

is there for.

He's making a connection

between who we are

and how we are to live.

And so we're moving

from who we are nature

to our practice.

And in verse 25,

Paul is making this

specific connection

between who we are in Christ

and what we say.

How we speak.

What comes out of our mouth.

Therefore,

having put away falsehood,

let each one of you

speak the truth

with his neighbor.

So God has purchased us

a whole new wardrobe.

So imagine,

you open up the door

of your new

Christian clothes closet.

You're standing in front

of this new wardrobe

that God,

your Father,

has purchased for you

with the blood of Jesus.

Now hanging on that closet rod

are a variety

of righteous

and holy clothes.

And we're to be putting

these on every day.

This is what's to be true

of us day after day.

Now if you get real close

to these vestments

hanging on this closet rod

and you get real close

and you're like,

take a deep smell,

you're going to smell Jesus.

This is Christ-like behavior.

This is what he's purchased us for.

To be like him.

And so,

today we're going to look

at true speech

in verse 25.

Next week we're going

to look at anger.

How not to sin

in your anger

and to be Christ-like.

Then we're going to move on

to honest work

and then gracious speech

and then what it looks like

to have a posture

of pleasing God

and not grieving God.

And then what it looks like

to live at peace

with one another

just like Christ did

with us.

And of course we'll wrap up

by looking at what it means

to walk in love

with one another.

These are Christ-like clothes.

It's quite the wardrobe.

And for us who are dead in sin

and now alive in Christ,

it's time to get dressed.

It's time to put

the right stuff on.

It's time to live our lives

in a way that's pleasing to God.

And so this morning,

like I said,

we're going to focus

on verse 25.

Put off falsehood.

Speak the truth

with his neighbor.

Now, back to the closet.

As you're looking

at these lovely clothes,

freshly purchased,

you noticed

balled up in the corner

on the ground

what appears to be

some kind of

old T-shirt.

And of course,

you do

what any other human being does

when they find

a balled up T-shirt

in the corner of a closet.

What do you do?

You give it the sniff test.

What does this smell like?

And what you find

is that this

T-shirt

reeks.

It stinks.

It's putrid.

And yet,

at the same time,

this T-shirt

is strangely familiar.

You've worn

this T-shirt

quite a bit.

It's a well-worn

T-shirt.

There's a lot of

memories in it.

In fact,

to be honest,

you would say

there's a little bit

of a draw.

Now,

if you were to put

this T-shirt back on,

you'd be tempted

to fall back

into a former

way of life.

This T-shirt

smells like

falsehood.

And since

becoming a Christian,

you can smell

that rot.

You usually can smell

it before you see it.

It smells of your

former way of life,

living in a web

of lies.

Lies about reality

when we are ignorant

of God.

Lies about ourselves,

myself,

what I thought

about myself

before God

lit me up

with the truth

of Jesus.

Thinking more

highly of myself.

Maybe you're thinking

more lowly of yourself.

Lies about other people.

Imputing motives.

Thinking things

about them.

Lying was

a way of life.

It permeated

our speech.

Now,

this particular

T-shirt

that you have

just sniffed

and unballed,

it's all wrinkled

and there is

a word on the front

of it.

Big and bold.

Spinster!

That's the name.

Spinster.

This was our

former manner

of life.

And it's been

put off.

What do spinsters

do?

They spin the reality

of a situation

to suit their

selfish purposes.

That's what spinsters

do.

And that was

our former

modus operandi,

our former

MO.

That's the way

we used to live.

Now,

the Greek word

translated

falsehood

is a Greek word

that we get

the word

pseudo from.

You know,

like pseudo self,

false self,

pseudo intellectual,

pseudo science,

and it literally

means

to lie.

To intentionally

distort

the truth

of a situation.

And we are

not to put on

the spinster

t-shirt

t-shirt

anymore.

It's not

who we

are.

Remember,

God says,

you is mine,

you is alive,

and you

is holy.

Created in the

likeness of God

in true

righteousness

and holiness.

And it changes

the way

we speak.

So what do you

do when you find

the spinster

t-shirt?

t-shirt?

Because you find

it throughout

the day,

don't you?

You ball it up

and you throw

it out.

It's not who

you are anymore.

It's not who

we are anymore

because

we've been born

of the truth.

We've come to

see that the

truth is in

Christ Jesus.

we live in

reality now.

A while back,

a friend of

mine was

trying to help

me with the

colors of my

wardrobe.

And this

person was

very graciously

helping me to

see that certain

colors weren't

becoming of me.

Certain colors

didn't work

for me.

Now,

I know a

mix of

metaphors,

but brother

and sister

in Christ,

lying is

just not

your color.

It's not

who you are

anymore.

It's not

true of you

anymore.

Now,

the fact of

the matter

is that we

all are

tempted to

spin things,

aren't we?

To lie

still.

Even having

been made

new,

we are still

tempted to

put on the

spinster t-shirt.

So what do

you do when

you're tempted?

Well,

you start

by renewing

your mind

on what's

true.

Remind

yourself of

who you

are.

I don't

do this

anymore because

it's not

my color

anymore.

It's not

my style.

I've been

changed.

And Christ

who's changed

me changes

the way I

am to

speak.

Your God

has given

you a new

wardrobe to

put on.

And so we

fight lies

with truth.

We are to

put on a

new t-shirt.

So having

rejected our

former way

of living,

spinning the

truth for

selfish purposes,

we are to

put on a

new t-shirt.

So hanging

in the closet

is a clear

and crisp

bright yellow

t-shirt.

You pull

it out.

And across

the front

it says in

three big

words,

keeping it

real.

And you

flip it

over and

there's one

of those big

circles with

the cross

through it.

It's kind

of like say

no to

spin.

That's on

the back.

Keeping it

real.

Speaking the

truth.

Living in

reality.

Being honest

with one

another.

Genuine with

one another.

That's the

new t-shirt.

And when we

put this

t-shirt on,

we're putting

on a new

way of

Christ-like

living.

A Christ-like

speech.

Speech marked

by honesty.

Because we've

come to know

the truth in

Jesus, and

because he

saved us to

be truly

righteous and

holy, we

are to speak

truthfully to

one another.

Honestly.

We're to speak

truthfully about

God to one

another.

We're to speak

truthfully about

ourselves to

each other.

We're to

represent

ourselves accurately.

We're to

speak truthfully

of one

another to

each other.

We're not

to gossip.

We are not

to hide

reality.

We're not

to distort

the truth.

We are not

to deny

what is

true.

That's

spinster

living.

Rather,

it is

pleasing to

God to

speak truthfully

to one

another because

it's impossible

for God to

lie.

Titus 1-2,

God doesn't

lie.

And we

have been

made in

His likeness

now.

Now, I

can imagine

a situation

in which

you find

yourself in

a web of

lies.

You're a

Christian,

and you've

been spinning

the truth

out of

fear,

out of

shame,

out of

anger,

out of

disgust.

what do

you do?

Well, you

first remember

who you

are,

that you

belong to

Jesus now,

and then

you turn

from your

sin.

It's called

repenting.

These lies

are wrong.

It's not

true of me,

of who God

called me to

be.

I must

change now.

I must

turn away

from these

lies.

That's

repentance.

And the

outworking of

repentance

shows up

in a kind

of truth

speech.

It's called

confession.

Confession to

God,

and confession

to those you

have sinned

against.

We're simply

agreeing with

God that,

yes,

what I've been

doing here is

grievous in

your sight.

And then we

confess to

those we've

lied to,

those who

are believing

our pseudo

truths.

We confess

it.

Now,

if you're a

step ahead of

me,

you're probably

doing the

math.

You're probably

thinking,

what kind of

impact will

this have on

my relationships

with these

people?

And so for

you to take

a step like

this,

you know you're

going to grieve

somebody.

You know you're

going to hurt

somebody.

You know you're

going to strain

a relationship.

Because essentially

what you're saying

is,

I've been lying

to you.

Your trust in

me has been

misfounded.

now you at

that moment

are even

thinking about

this,

you may feel

isolated,

right?

Remember,

God is saying

to you,

you is mine,

you is

alive,

and you

is holy.

Your confession

pleases me.

I see you

speaking the

truth.

In these

kinds of

situations,

the starting

point is

speaking the

truth about

your lies.

Calling a

lie a lie.

Calling a

falsehood a

falsehood.

And then

what?

What does

faith look like

moving forward,

right?

What do you

do then?

What do you

do then?

Well,

if you look

back in the

text,

in 425,

it reads,

therefore,

having put

away falsehood,

let each

one of you

speak the

truth with

his neighbor.

That word

speak,

it's called

an imperative,

it's a

command.

And the

nature of

the verb

is an

ongoing

action.

We are

to continually

speak the

truth to

one another.

And so what

it looks like

moving forward

is we

continually

remember who

we are,

and we

continually

speak the

truth to

one another.

We are

to live

in reality

with each

other.

It's

righteous

and holy

living.

Now,

if you've

strained a

relationship

because of

your lies,

the way to

repair and

restore the

loss of

trust is to

speak truthfully

to that

person.

To say

what you

mean,

do what you

say,

to follow

through,

to speak

honestly.

And what

will take

place as

you're trusting

God here

is that

God will

gradually

regain the

trust.

He'll work

a work of

repair of

the one that

you have

deceived and

grieved.

Now,

let's say

you've been

the one

deceived,

the one

lied to.

You,

too,

need to

remember who

you are.

you are a

new creation.

And so

you read in

verse 27,

I think,

26,

be angry

and do not

sin.

You read in

verse 31,

guard your

heart,

don't be

bitter.

You look at

verse 32

and you read

forgive as

God in

Christ Jesus

forgave you,

walk in

love.

It's tall

order when

you've been

sinned against

this way,

isn't it?

Can I

just,

can I

just say

something

here?

We've got

to realize

that when

we sin

this way

against one

another,

though we

are able

to forgive

each other

when this

happens,

there's still

been a

breach of

trust.

And so

we can't

be thinking

that since

I forgive

you,

all is

well.

It's

not.

There needs

to be a

repairing

of trust

in the

relationship.

And so

if someone's

been lying

to you

and they

confess that

to you,

please,

by all

means,

forgive them

as God

and Christ

has forgiven

you.

But you're

going to be

honest with

them.

You're going

to need to

say something

like this.

Now,

I'm glad to

forgive you

and I want

to trust you,

but it's going

to take some

time to trust

you fully

again.

as you

follow through

with what

you say.

As you

walk the

talk and

talk the

walk,

I will

purpose to

trust you

more and

more.

We're

living in

reality,

aren't we?

Now,

if you are

stuck in

either of

these situations,

the one who's

been lying or

the one who's

been lied to

and you just

don't feel like

you know where

to go right

now,

well,

God has

grace for

you.

Keep it

real.

Be honest

and ask

for help.

Your elders,

we're glad to

help you with

this.

There are

mature Christians

in this church

that can help

you with this.

Go find

help.

The church

has a role

to help,

which brings

us to the

last point.

So we've

looked at the

mirror,

we've moved

to the closet,

now let's

talk about

the church.

Did you

notice

in verse

25

that Paul

provides another

reason to

speak truthfully?

He says

this,

therefore,

having put

away falsehood,

let each

one of you

speak the

truth and

speak the

truth with

his neighbor,

for we are

members one

of another.

For we are

members one

of another.

What Paul

is doing

here,

what God

is doing

is reminding

us that we

are a body.

We have

been intentionally

knit together

by God.

Each of

us are

individual

members of

the body

of Christ

and interdependent

organism with

Christ Jesus

as our

head.

That's what

Paul is

saying.

And he's

saying that

the health

of our

body depends

upon our

speaking the

truth to

each other.

Look at

Ephesians 4

15.

Rather,

speaking the

truth in

love,

we are to

grow up

in every

way into

him who

is the

head,

into

Christ.

Our

speaking the

truth to

one another

builds up

the body.

It grows

the body.

And in

this text,

it's clear

that each

of us

has a

responsibility

to speak

truthfully

to each

other.

Let each

one of

you speak

the truth.

We're to

keep it real

with each

other.

We're to

be honest

with each

other.

Authentic.

that's who

God has

made us

to be.

We've been

created in

the likeness

of God.

And now

we live it

out by

speaking

truthfully.

Two chain

reactions with

two different

effects in a

church.

You ready?

Here it

goes.

Living the

old way,

the former

manner of

life.

It's like

cancer to

a body.

Here's the

chain reaction.

We forget

who we are,

we lie to

each other,

we misrepresent

ourselves to

each other,

and the

result is

mistrust

between each

other,

leading to

disunity in

the church,

which leads

to atrophy

of a church,

which leads

to a

non-believing

world looking

at us and

saying something

like,

God makes

no difference

in their

body.

Is there

a God?

That's one

chain reaction.

Here's the

second chain

reaction.

It's not

like cancer.

This is

health.

This is

goodness.

This is

God's

grace.

We remember

who we

are.

We remember

what God

has done

for us

in Christ.

We are

new

creations,

and we

purpose to

keep it

real,

to speak

truthfully

to one

another.

And in

that truth

speaking,

even when

sometimes it's

hard to say

something to

someone,

when we're

being honest,

it ends up

building trust.

And with

that trust

comes unity,

and with

that unity

comes growth,

and with

that growth

comes God's

glory.

People are

saying,

what's going

on there?

And we get

to say,

God's at work.

Two ways to be

as a church.

I vote for

the latter.

Let's speak

the truth to

each other,

because we love

each other.

Imagine this.

Christ the

King Church,

wearing our

bright yellow

keep it real,

say no to

spinning t-shirts,

spread out

throughout the

week,

throughout the

city,

throughout the

region,

in workplaces,

in schools.

We're speaking

the truth

wherever we

are.

It's how we

do it.

And sometimes

we're going to

catch some heat

for that.

But it's the

right thing to

do.

It's who we

are now.

Now imagine

this.

When we

gather as a

church,

with our

keeping it

real t-shirts

on,

on a Sunday

morning,

at Wednesday

night Bible

studies,

when we come

together in

small groups,

we're purposing

to speak

honestly,

live honestly

with each

other,

there's some

good that's

going to

happen there.

God's going

to be with

us.

He's going

to grow

us.

He's going

to get a

glory unique

to Him.

See,

what's at

stake here

is our

unity and

our health

as a

church,

and ultimately

God's

glory,

witness to

His name.

So we've

looked at

the mirror,

we've checked

out our new

wardrobe in

the closet,

and we've

seen how

Paul lands

that in the

church.

Let me

pray for

us,

and we'll

close.

God in

heaven,

we take

great joy

in knowing

that You

are a

God who

is a

truthful

God,

and You're

calling us

to be

truthful as

well.

God,

would You

make us

a body

that delights

and being

true,

being honest,

keeping it

real.

God,

would You

grow us

here?

Would You

help us

to put off

the old

way and

to live

in light

of who we

now are?

God,

make us a

people who

speak the

truth and

love to

one other.

In Jesus'

name,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.