Walking in Newness of Life and Love

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we need you to speak.

We are not here to hear a man's words or a man's insight.

We want to hear the word of God.

We want to be addressed by you,

and we need your spirit to illuminate the minds of our hearts.

So please, God, move now.

Help us to appropriate these truths,

to apply them so that we can live and grow in Christ-likeness as a church.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

In Victor Hugo's classic novel, Les Miserables,

on his jail to feed his sister's starving children,

and after he escapes from prison and he has a life transfer to a bishop,

he tries to live a virtuous life.

But for the following 19 years, even though he seeks normalcy,

even though he's really become quite the virtuous man,

he can't escape his past because of this tireless police inspector named Javert.

And Javert continues to hunt him down,

and though this doesn't actually happen in the book,

but in the musical adaptation of the book,

Javert repeatedly refers to John Valjean as prisoner 24601.

And that conveys that even though it has changed to Javert,

he remains this anonymous prisoner.

He can't escape his past,

even though for 19 years he's been trying to.

And sometimes I think that's how we think of ourselves as Christians.

We call ourselves sinners,

which is a true, wonderful statement of our lives.

But often in the way we think about it, in the way we live,

the accent falls on the fact that we're sinners,

still sinners.

And that's a true statement too, right?

Indwelling sin is reality.

Even though sin has been defeated,

it's been eradicated,

it lingers on.

There's still life in it,

even though it is diminishing and weakening.

But if you survey the New Testament epistles

and search for the word sinner

as a way to describe those who already have faith,

you'll find true instances when believers are called sinners.

James 4.8,

Cleanse your hands, you sinners,

and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

And in 1 Timothy 1.15,

the saying is trustworthy and deserved

that Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners,

whom I am the apostle Paul speaking.

But throughout the New Testament epistles,

Christians are addressed as saints 56 times.

That's 1 to 28 ratio, right?

The biblical accent on our new identity in Christ

falls on the fact that we're now saints.

We are called to Christ,

to live a new life in Christ,

not on the fact that we're sinners.

And of course,

sinners are saved by grace.

In order to live as those saints

who have been called to us,

but we need to recognize this radical change

that has taken place in our lives.

In fact, we have gone from death to life,

as the Bible describes.

We've gone from darkness to light.

And so because of this reason,

we should live in a way

that is characterized and motivated

not by our indwelling sin,

but by the indwelling spirit of God

that enjoins holiness

and brings new life to the way we live.

And that's the main point of this passage from Paul.

He says,

we should live in keeping

with our new identity in Christ.

That's what he calls us to.

If I may outline it this way,

I'll follow.

He says,

the first,

I will describe the old man

in chapter four,

verses 17 to 19.

And then the new man

that we're called to be,

420 to 32.

And then I'll lastly talk about the God man,

the Jesus Christ,

chapter five,

verses one to two.

Look at first

what Paul says about the old man

starting in verse 17.

Now this I say

and testify in the Lord

that you walk as the Gentiles do

in the futility of their minds.

In the original Greek,

there's a transitional word here

at the beginning.

It says therefore.

So the NIV actually has the word

so there in the beginning.

And it's connecting the exhortation

here in this passage

to what's preceded in verses one to 16 of chapter four.

We have been equipped with God

and because we have been equipped for God,

now he's saying,

I adjure you,

you must no longer walk

as the Gentiles do.

And there's a repetition

of the theme of walking,

right?

Of living in a manner

that's appropriate, right?

So he called us to walk

according to the calling

that we have received

in earlier in chapter four,

verse one.

And then that's all kind of

hearkening back to chapter two

where Paul said that we were saved

so that we would walk

no longer in the sins

but that we would walk

according to the good works

that God prepared for us to do.

And so he's continuing that theme

and explaining what it looks like

to walk in the newness of life.

And Paul explains that the way

that the old man walks,

the way the Gentiles,

which is a reference

to all unbelievers really,

referring to the unbelieving Greeks

at the time.

So they walk in the futility

of their minds.

It says,

they are darkened

in their understanding,

verse 18,

alienated from the life of God, right?

And this is echoing

what Paul said earlier, right?

In Jesus Christ,

God broke down

the dividing wall of hostility

between Jews and Gentiles

and between humanity and God

and in them created one new man, right?

And so we are no longer alienated

but we are citizens in God's kingdom.

We're no longer separated from God

but we are included in his family

and that's what he's talking about.

But unfortunately for Gentiles,

because they have no faith

in Jesus Christ,

they're still alienated

from the life of God

because they're spiritually dead,

not alive.

And life,

spiritually,

comes from God.

So they're alienated

from the life of God.

That's why they're spiritually dead

as described in Ephesians 2.

And that's what Paul means

by the futility of their mind.

That's how the old man walks.

The Gentile lifestyle

is essentially futile.

It's meaningless.

It's purposeless.

And if you're here with us this morning

and you are not yet a follower of Jesus,

then of course at this point

you're probably indignant

like what are you talking about, right?

My life is full of meaning, right?

I do all kinds of things

that is good for this world

and I have a lot of purpose

in the way I live.

And of course in a way

you would be right

because you are fulfilling

a part of God's call

for humanity.

We have been created

in God's image

to rule over creation.

He gave us creativity.

He gave us the ability

to communicate

with one another.

He gave us rationality,

morality.

He taught us

and because of that

when we live in those ways

and you serve the world around you,

you are fulfilling

a part of that call

that God's given

all of humanity.

But God didn't just create us

to rule over creation.

He created us also

to represent Him.

So, what good is it

if you dedicate your life

to serving human beings,

working to improve

the life of the impoverished,

researching for a cure

for cancer, etc.

If you do all of this

without ever acknowledging

the God in whose image

we are created

and from whom we derive

our value as human beings

and to whom every single human being

is supposed to point.

what good is it

if you dedicate your life

to exploring the laws

of nature,

to physics,

and to exploring

the biochemical properties

of different elements

in order to shed light

on the wonders

of this world,

if you do all of this

without ever acknowledging

the marvelous creator

to whom our creation

is supposed to be.

To use an analogy,

what good is a house sitter,

right,

who admirably fulfills

all the duties

of a house sitter,

takes great care of the house,

keep things in order,

keep things clean,

but then when the time comes

to it,

refuses to handle the key,

saying,

oh no,

owner doesn't exist.

that's a useful purpose

for which that house sitter

has been sitting in the house.

Same way as human beings

created in the image of God,

when we are not living for Him,

if we're not fulfilling our call

that we are allegiance to Him,

living essentially in futility,

in vanity.

And think about it,

what difference does it make

in the end,

right,

in a life without God?

You will eventually die,

and not just you,

but everyone whose lives

you touch will die.

And like every other star,

our sun too will die,

and even before it dies,

it will be so radically changed

its composition

that it will make Earth

longer inhabitable.

Everything will be destroyed,

no survival will be around,

and then no one will remember you

or celebrate your accomplishments.

Everyone and everything

you ever did

will be forgotten.

Every good deed,

every discovery,

every accomplishment nullified.

That's why Ecclesiastes,

Ecclesiastes chapter 1,

Ecclesiastes 1:2–3

verses 2 to 3 says,

Vanity of vanities,

says the preacher,

vanity of vanities,

all is vanity.

What does man gain

by all the toil

at which he toils

under the sun?

It's the designer

who gives the product

meaning and purpose.

It's the eternity of life

that gives mortality meaning.

It's God who gives humanity meaning.

That's why Paul says,

the Gentiles walk

in the futility

of their minds.

Then Paul gives two reasons

why Gentiles walk

in the futility of their minds.

With God in verse 18,

because of the ignorance

that is in them

due to the hardness of heart.

So the first reason he gives

is that because of the ignorance

that is in them.

And Paul is not saying,

oh no, the poor Gentiles,

they just,

that's why they're doing this.

That's not what he means.

Because he says

in Romans 1, 19 to 20,

that they are without excuse

because God has revealed himself

manifestly in creation.

And he's not saying

they're ignorant

in the sense that

they haven't had the opportunity.

He's saying that

they're ignorant in the sense

that they have been

un-righteousness.

It's not an ignorance

of lack of a,

so it's a culpable ignorance

in their ignorance.

And the second reason

for the futility

of Gentiles

is that they're,

due to their hardness

of heart.

So the ignorance

of the heart

is that they're not

That's why it's,

those two things

are frequently related

in scripture,

even though we like

to kind of separate them

in our minds,

and they are distinct ideas.

But throughout scripture,

there's a lot of overlap

between the heart

and the mind.

That's why sometimes

several times

the Old Testament word

for heart

in Hebrew

is translated

in the Greek translation

as mind

because there's a lot

of overlap

between the two.

It's the inner self,

right?

And their heart

has been hardened.

And so futile thinking,

it goes hand in hand

with a foolish heart,

a hardened heart.

And Romans 1,

21, 24

explicates this further.

It says,

for although they knew God,

they did not honor Him

as God

or give thanks to Him,

but they became futile

in their thinking

and their foolish hearts

were darkened.

Claiming to be wise,

they became fools

and exchanged the glory

of the immortal God

for images resembling

mortal birds and animals

and creeps.

therefore God gave them up

to the lusts of their hearts

to dismay

and their bodies

among themselves.

So futile thinking

goes hand in hand

with a calloused,

foolish heart.

And that's why

for you,

in the following verse 19,

to describe that

they become callous

and give themselves

up to sensuality,

greedy to a...

Is the mic going on

in and out?

Yes.

Okay.

Is that bothering you guys?

It's okay.

Plug it in.

It's plugged in,

so I guess

we'll have to deal with it.

But when you get calloused

to something,

you don't feel it anymore, right?

So a lot of string instruments

have calluses

on their fingertips,

so you feel pain

when they press down

on those steel strings, right?

And imagine,

I mean,

this is a really important function

of our body

to feel.

So imagine if you

are so callous

that you are not able

to feel when you put

your hands on a burning stove

and you don't feel anything,

right?

That's dangerous, right?

Because you won't be able

to escape the danger

that's posed by that fire.

And so in a similar way,

he's saying that the Gentiles

who walk in the futility

of their minds

become callous

in a spiritual sense.

They're no longer feeling

their loss, right?

And they're increasingly

becoming desensitized

to sin

and they're becoming dull

to the feelings

of their conscience.

their hearts

have hardened

and they have lost

their way.

So because of that,

they give themselves

over to sensuality,

greedy to practice

every kind of impurity.

And it's ironic, right,

that because of their

callousness,

inability to feel,

that they become

given to sensuality,

excessively to sensuality.

I mean,

it's our appetite for God.

It's our sensitivity

to Him and His ways

and the delights

that He offers us

that keeps us

from going into those

sinful, sensual things.

And notice how Paul describes it

as they're greedy

to practice

every kind of impurity.

It's not like, you know,

when we're in sin

and lost apart from Christ,

we just, oh,

like there's a little bit of sin,

I'm just going to enjoy it

a little bit at a time.

That never happens

because sin,

it's in the very nature of sin

to always overgrow

its boundaries

and to try to take over

your life

and to control you.

And so what happens

is that they become

grieved to practice

every kind of impurity,

the insatiable desire

for things that make us

profane in the eyes of God,

separate from God,

because I'm not fit

in the eyes of God.

to say the least.

So that's the old man.

But this is not the case

for believers,

for Christians.

And that brings me

to my second point,

the new man.

He says,

Christians are not

talking

because of the ignorance

that is in them

due to the hardness

of heart.

And the reason why

they're not like this,

they're not like the Gentiles,

is because of verses 20 to 24.

But that is not

the way you learned Christ,

assuming that you have

heard about Him

and were taught in Him

as a truth

that belongs to your

former life

and is corrupt

in your mind

and is created

after the likeness of God

in true righteousness

and holiness.

Our understanding

is not darkened

and we are not

ignorant anymore

because we have

learned Christ,

it says,

because we were

taught in Him.

And Christians were taught

two things,

according to Paul.

He says,

we were taught

to put off

our old self

and to put on

the new self.

Right?

And the principle

putting on

is extremely important

for Christian living.

No one likes to wear

sweaty,

soiled,

stinky clothes

after coming out

of a shower.

Right?

It's in the same way

as people

who have been

created

created,

made new in Christ

have to put on

the new man

and put off the world.

And the change

is so significant

and theologians

call this

the process

of mortification

and vivification.

Right?

You mortify,

you kill your old self,

your sin

and then you vivify,

you make alive,

you stir on,

you spur on

the new way

of living in Christ.

And this is important

because that means

we don't just

mortify sin,

it doesn't end there,

we don't just

mortify our sinful

greed,

instead we have

to vivify generosity.

We don't just

mortify,

let's say,

pride

and we have

to vivify humility

by serving

one another.

It's,

we can't,

I mean,

and this is,

it sounds like

such a simple thing

but if you think about it

this is really profound.

It's very insightful truth

into how we ought

to grow as a Christian

because our minds

and hearts

are a lot like

our bellies,

right?

And what I mean by that

is our bellies,

they always have to be filled,

right?

It's,

if you want to quit

eating junk food,

you have to fill your bellies

with healthy food.

I mean,

you can't go get around it

because it has to be

filled with something.

Our minds and our hearts

are the same way,

they have to be filled

with something,

they're always filled

with something

and so the best way,

our minds are never

blank slates,

even though some people

like to believe that,

and our hearts are never

just empty vessels

waiting to be filled,

they're always filled

with something.

That's why you have

to displace what is there

and you have to fill

the things of God

in order to get rid

of the things

that are not of Him.

That's the only way

to get rid of sinful habits

and to do vices

is to replace them

with virtue.

And that's why he says

fill your minds

and to have true righteousness

and holiness in your life.

It's when we are relishing

the treasures of God

and what He's given us

that we lose our appetite

for the trinkets

of this world.

We have to do both.

Mortify sin

and vitify virtue.

And in verses 25 to 32,

Paul provides a series

of specific applications

of this principle.

He says in verse 25,

Therefore,

having put away falsehood,

let each one of you

speak the truth

with his neighbor,

for we are members

one of another.

He's saying living

in keeping

with our new identity

in Christ

involves truth-telling.

So Paul mentioned

the truth earlier

in Ephesians 1.13

and 4.15,

and there the context

was one of evangelism

and discipleship

that referred to the gospel

as the truth.

But here,

he's speaking about truth

in a more general way,

and we could tell

because he contrasted

with lying,

right,

with taking off falsehood.

And truth-telling

is important

for obvious reasons,

and it's because

God is described

in Numbers 23.19

and Hebrews 6.18

as incapable of lying,

right?

So we imitate God

when we tell the truth.

And Satan,

in contrast,

is described repeatedly

throughout Scripture

as the father of lies,

right,

in John 8.44.

So that's one obvious reason

to tell the truth,

but that's actually

not the reason

that Paul gives here

in this passage,

right?

So look with me.

What's the reason

that Paul gives

in this passage

for truth-telling?

It's not our

vertical accountability

to God,

even though that

certainly exists.

It's our horizontal

accountability

to one another.

That's why he tells us

to speak the truth.

He says,

for we are members

one of another.

Right?

We are part of the one

and the same body

of Christ.

We are members

of one and the same

family of God,

and how can we lie

to each other?

Lying erodes

our trust

for one another,

and weakens our bond

with one another.

For this reason,

honesty,

which cultivates trust

and foundation

for the church

that is trying

to build itself

up in love.

Imagine there's a child,

right,

that is in the habit

of lying

to get out of things

or feigning sickness,

right?

So,

oh, mom,

I'm sick,

so I can't do that chore.

Oh, mom,

oh, dad,

I'm sick,

so I can't go to school.

Right?

So imagine that this child

is in the habit

of doing that.

When this child

is actually sick

and the child says,

oh, I'm really sick,

I can't do this,

the mom and dad,

even though they're

the ones that love her most

and want to do

what is best for her,

can't tell what is best

for her

because that child's

been lying.

How do they know

if the child's telling

the truth in that moment

or not?

They don't.

So they have to second guess

what the child says

and they have to,

you know,

that's an erosion

of trust

that cripples

the parent's ability

to care for the child

that they love

and they have their,

then that's exactly

similar to what happens

in the church context

as well.

When we don't tell

the truth to one another,

it erodes trust

in the same way.

So think about it,

right?

I mean,

there will be times

as a church,

as we live together

and try to,

in love with one another,

we're going to hurt

each other,

right?

There's going to be times

when we offend each other.

There's going to be times

we're going to be wrestling

with difficult theological issues.

There are going to be times

when we're sick,

when we're grieving,

lost,

right?

And then when someone

asks you,

hey,

what's going on?

Or,

hey,

where have you been?

And you make something up

so that,

because you don't have to deal

with the other member.

Well,

you're,

eroding trust

by not telling the truth.

The very family of God

that have your best interest

in mind

and want to care for you

are,

are precluded,

are unable

to care for you

because

that foundation of trust

has been eroded.

That's why this is so important.

It's the first thing

he tells us

as an example

of what a community

is supposed to look like.

It's,

this is really

a hard lesson

and it's,

I was convicted by it myself

as I was just thinking

about how so easily

we just kind of think

that our words

and things that we promise

are fungible.

You know,

you can change it.

And that's the culture

we live in.

Words are cheap

in our culture,

isn't it?

Right?

I mean,

people,

you know,

take the vow,

oath of office

and then they turn

to,

you know,

demagoguery

and take bribes

or like,

I mean,

people take,

say the wedding vows

and then they quickly,

you know,

say,

oh no,

this is not going

to work out.

Let's call it a day.

Right?

I mean,

people just,

words are cheap.

But here,

the person that,

the Christians,

the church that is

building itself up

in love

has to speak

the truth.

And in Psalm 15,

God describes

a blameless man

as someone

who speaks truth

in his heart

and swears

to his own hurt

and does not change.

When we say things like,

oh,

just circumstances change

or when we make excuses

in that way,

we betray the fact

that our word is good

only when it's

to our advantage.

But for Christians,

speaking the truth

is not about

our expedience

or convenience.

It's an expression

of our love

for one another.

Because we're

members of one another,

that's the truth

to one another.

Put away

from the truth.

Speak the truth

with his neighbor.

For we are members

one of another.

Paul gives another example

of putting off

the old man,

putting on the new

in verse 26.

Be angry

and do not sin.

Do not let the sun

go down

on your anger.

This puzzles

a lot of people

because we usually

think of anger

as a bad thing, right?

Be angry.

And that is

an imperative.

And the reason why

is this,

because he's not saying

that we should be

in a perpetual state

of anger

because anger

is a good thing.

He's saying that

when the occasion

is appropriate

for anger,

you should be angry.

And so be angry

in those situations

is what he's saying.

Jesus is described

as being angry

in Mark 3, 5.

He says he looked

around at the

hypocritical Pharisees

and then he said

he had anger

and was grieved

by their hardness

of heart.

When we see

God dishonored

and besmirched

by sin,

we should be angry.

When we see injustice,

when we see

people oppressed,

we should be angry.

Right?

And John Stott

puts it this way.

He says,

there is great need

in the contemporary world

for more Christian anger.

In the face

of blatant evil,

we should be indignant,

not tolerant.

Angry,

not apathetic.

If God hates sin,

his people

should hate it too.

If evil arouses

his anger,

it should arouse

ours also.

Right?

Indifference to injustice,

indifference to sin,

that's not a virtue.

But of course,

there is sinful anger.

Right?

And if our anger

is misplaced

or mismeasured,

then it becomes sinful.

If we're angry

for a selfish reason

or for no reason at all,

which also happens,

right?

And that's a sinful anger.

It's misplaced.

Or if we get carried away

in the heat of the moment,

we get angry

and then we lash out

and we yell,

we say harsh things

that we don't mean

in our anger.

See,

that's when the anger

is mismeasured.

Right?

Then we sin

in our anger.

And so we need to balance

this injunction

to be angry

with Paul's earlier exhortation

to be patient,

which literally means

slow to anger.

Right?

We need to hold

those two things together.

And because Paul knows

that angry people

are prone to sin,

he adds immediately

after saying,

be angry and do not sin.

Do not let the sun

go down on your anger.

Paul's here quoting

from Psalm 4-4,

which says,

be angry and do not sin.

Ponder in your own hearts

on your beds

and be silent.

So what the psalmist

is saying is,

you know what?

When you're angry,

you're probably going

to say things

that are really going

to be sinful

and cut people down.

So you know what?

Just be silent

and lie down in your bed

and think to yourself.

That's what the psalmist

is saying.

So that's the context

of the psalm

that he's quoting.

So he's saying here,

so don't dwell in anger,

but quickly and decisively

deal with anger.

And that's the meaning

of the admonition.

Do not let the sun

go down on your anger.

I've seen some people

who take that very literally.

And I mean,

I think it's better

to take it literally

than not take it at all.

But I mean,

I don't think that's the sense

that's intended here.

It's like,

oh, you have to make sure

you're not angry

before the sun goes down.

Because then, right,

every day the time changes.

You better check the newspaper

to make sure

what time the sun sets, right?

But that's not what he's saying.

But he is saying,

deal with it promptly, right?

Do it today.

Don't postpone it.

Deal with your anger now

so that you don't sin

in your anger.

If there's someone, right?

I mean,

that's what Jesus says

in the Beatitudes, right?

He talks about

when you're offering

your gifts off the altar

and there remember

that your brother

has something against you,

leave your gift there

in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled

to your brother.

Then come and offer your gift.

Concilation is not

something to delay.

We,

with it,

off, right?

Being, you know,

being rash in our anger

and put on

quickly,

decisively

dealing with anger.

And then Paul

strengthens his exhortation

even further

in verse 27.

He says,

and give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity.

Right?

Considering the fact

that there's a lot

of spatial language

in Ephesians

of filling

and indwelling,

he's probably

referring and using it

in a more spatial sense.

Don't give

the devil

a place.

Right?

And

John Calvin

explains it this way.

He says,

I have no doubt

that Paul

was warning us

to beware

lest Satan

should take

possession

of our mind

and do

whatever

he pleases.

The prolonged

anger

gives

the devil

opportunity

to give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity

to give

no opportunity

gives him

a place

within our minds

and hearts.

So he's saying

don't do it.

Now,

one qualification

because by that

I don't mean

that Christians

can be possessed

by an evil spirit.

That's not what

I'm talking about.

Paul says

in 2 Corinthians

6, 16,

what agreement

has the temple

of God,

that's our body,

that's us,

with idols,

for we are the temple

of the living God.

The Holy Spirit

will not stand

to cohabit

with evil spirits.

That's not going

to happen

to Christians.

Colossians 1, 13

tells us,

God has delivered us

from the domain

of darkness

and transferred us

to the kingdom

of his beloved son.

That means we no longer

belong to the devil

and the devil

can't possess us

because he has

no claim over us

and this is why

even though

the word

that is consistently

used

when a person

is possessed

by a demon

throughout the gospel,

the thing that Jesus

always does

is to exorcise,

to cast out.

That's the word

that is used.

When it comes to,

and by the way,

every single example

in scripture

of someone

being demon possessed

has to do

with unbelievers.

It's in the context

of evangelism usually.

And now,

and when it,

and then,

that's also the reason

why throughout

the epistles

when Paul instructs

believers

about how to deal

with evil spirits

and how to

wage spiritual warfare

against them,

he never says

exorcise them

from believers.

The words that he uses

are remarkably consistent.

1 Peter 5, 9,

resist the devil.

Ephesians 6, 11,

stand against

the schemes of the devil.

James 4, 7,

resist the devil.

He will flee from the devil.

When it comes to believers,

it's not about,

you know,

internal possession

but external oppression.

Believers are never

to exorcise themselves.

They don't need to,

but they do need

to resist the devil

and stand against the devil.

So that,

that's just a qualification

so you don't think,

oh man,

am I about to get

possessed by a demon?

No,

if you're a believer,

that's not going

to happen to you.

But you know what?

You can give ground

to the demon.

You can give ground

to evil spirits

by prolonged anger,

harboring anger.

You smolder in your heart

and affect in color.

And so he's saying,

don't be angry

and do not sin.

Do not let the sun

go down on your anger

and give no opportunity

to the devil.

Paul continues

in verse 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.

I got to,

it was shocking.

I hadn't seen anyone

steal anything

until yesterday,

just shopping

at Market Basket

and there was this man

who was just

at this table

full of grapes

and he was just

taking bunches

out of each grapes,

just eating them

for like two minutes.

I mean,

he's just like eating

and I had to tell him

like, hey,

you got to buy that

before you eat it,

right?

Because one,

you're taking grapes

away from other people

who's going to buy that

and pay the full price

for it to get less grape

than they paid for

and then you're also

robbed from Market Basket.

I mean,

they're trying to make

honest money

and then you're stealing

from them, right?

I mean,

so it's like,

and then he's just like,

oh,

he took the grapes

and left, right?

But that's exactly

what happens, right?

When you steal, right?

I mean,

you're benefiting

from the fruit

of other people's labor,

right?

Instead of working

hard yourself,

you're benefiting

from,

you're stealing

and you're benefiting

from other people's labor.

That's why Paul says,

put off stealing

and put on labor.

And labor,

the word refers

to hard work.

It's the word

that is used to refer

to when you work

to exhaustion.

It's labor.

You need labor

so that we can be

self-sustent,

so that we can care

for ourselves

and not just

for kids.

The ultimate goal

is so that he may

have something

to share

with anyone

in need.

Isn't that a beautiful

picture of community?

That's how the early church

was described,

right?

Acts 2.44,

they had all things

in common.

Acts 4.34-35,

there was not

a needy person

among them,

for as many

as were owners

of lands or houses,

sold and brought

the proceeds

of what was sold

and laid it

at the apostles' feet

and it was distributed

to each

as any had.

When we earn money

by doing honest work,

our goal is not

simply to get richer,

but it's to have

enough to share

with someone in need.

What if that was

the mindset

that we had

as a church community

together?

What if we were

intentional about

budgeting things

not just for

our own goods,

but to share

with people in need

in the church?

What if because

we did this so well,

people could look

at the church

and say,

oh, there's not

a needy person

among them?

That's love.

That's the love

that Paul's

enjoying here.

Paul also tells us

in verse 29

to put off speech

that tears down

and to put on speech

that builds up.

He says,

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.

Paul is using

a very colorful word here.

The word corrupting

is the same word

that can be translated

rotten

or putrid.

So think about

a rotting fish,

putrid apple.

right?

Just,

that's what he wants

you to think of

when you think of

unwholesome talk

that come out

of our mouths.

He wants us

to have this visceral

reaction against

unwholesome talk

that tears

each other down.

And notice

how categorical

this command is.

Let no corrupting talk

come out of your mouths.

None whatsoever.

It means no,

zero sarcastic

cutting down,

zero profane swearing.

It means zero

flirty talk

that tempts people.

No corrupting talk

whatsoever.

And he doesn't

stop there.

Let everything

you say

before the purpose

of building up people

and giving grace

to those who hear.

He says,

only such

as is good

for building up

as fits the occasion

that he may give grace

to those who hear.

The phrase

as fits the occasion

is a translation

that can be

more literally rendered

according to their needs.

We need to,

as a church,

be aware

of each other's needs

and concerns

so that we can speak

to them in a manner

that fits

that particular occasion

and need

so that we can build them up

and give grace

to those people

who hear

what we say.

And we don't take this,

I think,

nearly seriously enough

in general.

I think churches

all over the world

and I think

Paul,

this is helpful,

this author,

a Christian author

named Paul Tripp

writes this in his book,

Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands

of how we should be

ministering to each other

through what we say.

He says,

if you teach

a Sunday school lesson,

preach a sermon,

or lead a Bible study,

you would immediately

ask yourself,

do I have the time

I need to prepare?

We often respond

to our neighbor,

golfing buddy,

or church volunteer

with little preparation,

reflection,

or prayer.

Why do we spend

hours preparing

to teach

while we offer

important personal direction

without a second thought?

We forget

that God uses

those interactions

to apply

the transforming power

of scripture

to people's hearts.

We forget

that God's word

is our primary tool

of change.

Instead,

we come up

with a little personal wisdom

and personal experience

and let the words fly.

an average person,

research varies wildly,

but an average person

speaks about

16,000 words per day.

Can you imagine

if in all

are speaking

to one another,

if every word

was made to count

and harness

to build each other up?

What an impact

that would have

during the passing

of the peace,

right?

during our monthly luncheon,

before and after

the service,

during community groups,

during the week.

These are opportunities

for ministering

to one another,

speaking the truth

to one another.

And then Paul

wants to motivate them

further

and he adds

this kind of

summarizing statement

in verse 30.

He says,

And do not grieve

the Holy Spirit

of God

by whom you were

sealed for the day

of redemption.

This is a staggering

statement

because he's saying

that by what we do,

by what we think,

and by what we say,

we can grieve

the Holy Spirit

of God himself.

See,

God is not

this disinterested

bystander,

right?

He is intimately

involved

in our community,

in our church,

in our lives,

and he is

invested in us

so much

so that it grieves

him,

it saddens him

to see us

living in the manner

of this old man.

This statement

also proves

that the Holy Spirit

is a person,

isn't he?

He's able to grieve.

He's not this

impersonal force,

right?

But it's interesting

to note at this point,

we just preached

on Psalm 51

on our Friday service.

We go through

the Psalms

during our corporate

prayer services

on Fridays.

And there,

actually,

David is at one point,

this is after he commits

adultery with Bathsheba

and is confronted

by, you know,

prophet Nathan.

And so now he's

kind of really remorseful

and he says this

in verse 11,

cast me not away

from your presence

and take not

your Holy Spirit

from me.

It's so desperate,

right?

He's like,

please don't take

the Holy Spirit

from me.

But notice what

Paul doesn't say here.

He doesn't say,

if you don't do this

and if you don't

put off these things

and put on these things

that the Holy Spirit

is leaving you,

right?

Instead,

he reassures them

that the Holy Spirit

is with them.

Look at what he says.

You were sealed

for the day of redemption.

He told us

earlier in Ephesians

that it's the Holy Spirit

that sealed us.

He is the seal,

the guarantee

that we would have

our heavenly inheritance

and our ultimate salvation.

So what he's saying

is that,

you know what?

The Holy Spirit

is committed to you.

He's always by your side.

He's sticking to you,

with you,

through thick and thin.

He's not going to leave you,

but you can grieve him.

Don't grieve the Holy Spirit.

Then in verse 31,

he offers his last exhortation

to put off the old self

and put on them.

You let all bitterness

and wrath and anger

and clamor and slender

be put away from you

along with all malice.

And the positive counterpart

to that,

to put on,

is verse 32.

Be kind to one another.

Tender-hearted,

forgiving one another

as God in Christ

forgave you.

Put off bitterness

and resentment

toward one another.

Instead,

put on kindness

to one another.

Put off wrath

and anger

and clamor

toward one another.

Instead,

put on tender-heartedness.

Put off slander

of one another

and put on forgiveness

of one another.

And notice how

all of these virtues

that Paul commends

are social virtues.

Right?

We often think

of Christian maturity

in such individualistic context.

Oh, like,

how diligent have I,

right,

been in serving God?

Right?

And I'm prone

to this as well.

Like,

how diligent have I been

in my devotions?

And we think

that's a sign of maturity.

But for Paul,

he can't separate

Christian maturity

from the corporate context

of the church.

Because Christian maturity

happens when we're

ministering to one another

and growing together

as the body of Christ.

that's Christian maturity.

That's why all the virtues

he enjoins here

is social virtues.

Because we're members

one of another.

And then,

in case he left off anything,

he adds malice,

along with all malice.

The word malice

is kind of the generic

Greek word for evil.

Right?

It's the word that is used

to describe good and evil.

So he's saying anything evil,

anything bad,

make sure you don't do

any of those things.

And that contrast

with Paul's repeated

use of the word good.

He used the word good

twice in this passage.

He said in verse 28,

let the thief no longer steal,

but rather let him labor,

doing honest work

with his own hands.

The honest is a translation

of the word,

generic word for good.

Same thing again,

verse 29,

let no corrupting talk

come out of your mouth,

but only such as is good

for building up.

So by drawing this contrast

from malice or evil things

with the good things

that he is enjoining,

he's basically telling us

to walk the good works

that God prepared for us to do

that he mentioned

in chapter 2,

verse 10.

And we can't just do one

and not the other.

We have to put off evil

and put on the good,

put off the vice

and put on the virtue.

And this is for us

a daily and hourly

and moment by moment activity.

It takes intentionality.

We have to take

every thought captive

to obey Christ.

We need to guard our hearts

with all vigilance

for from it flows

the spring of life.

This is something

we have to be vigilant

about to do every day.

I mean,

especially as the winter months

are approaching,

we had daylight savings,

right?

In New England,