you Thank you, choir. Thank you so much for being here. We're looking forward to a great day today, asking God to meet with us. Many of you are aware, but Brother Doug and Miss Leanne, they're at the hospital there in Bristol and waiting on this baby. She'd been there working at it for about 24 hours, and right before I came, Brother Doug texted me and said they're gonna have to have a C-section, so they're getting that scheduled. but she's worked on it for over 24 hours, but that little boy should be here before we know it. We're grateful, we're praying that God would give them safety there. Let's pray this morning, ask the Lord to use our time together, and then pray for them there at the hospital this morning. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, we're grateful for your many blessings on our life, and we pray in the busyness of the day, the busyness of the week, God, we would quiet our mind and heart. Lord, this morning, we do think of Doug and Leanne, the baby there in the hospital, be at the doctor's. Lord, give great wisdom and help everything to go smooth and safe there. God, we pray very soon, have a smooth delivery. Be with us now as we worship you, as we sing these songs, as we look in your word. God, that it would stir us to a greater fellowship and walk with you. In Jesus' name, amen. If you'll stand to your feet and have a hymnal there in front of you, hymn number 188, he lives, he lives. You gotta sing it with enthusiasm if you know that he does live. Hymn 188. Hey, here we go. I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer. At just the time I need Him, He's always near. He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along my sterile way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart. In all the world around me, I see His loving care. And though my heart grows weary, I never will be fair. I know that He is waiting in all the stormy parts. He lives, He lives, as Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me, along my stairway. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian Lift up your voice and sing ♪ Eternal hallelujah to Jesus Christ the King ♪ ♪ The hope of all who seek him, the help of all who find ♪ ♪ No other is so loving, so good and kind as he is ♪ He lives, He lives Christ Jesus lives today He walks with me and talks with me Along life's terrible way He lives, He lives Salvation to impart You ask me how I know He lives Amen. Be seated, folks. ♪ Darling, darling, darling, darling, darling, darling ♪ It's the brand-new Jesus. Oh, it's coming soon. New ones are not our new. It will meet their due. Something truly sound. Heart and flesh arise. Match the year. ♪ The people's about ♪ ♪ When the sun's in the sky ♪ ♪ And the land's blue ♪ ♪ There'll be rest from the sun ♪ ♪ When the sun's in the sky ♪ ♪ When the sun's in the sky ♪ ♪ When the sun's in the sky ♪ ♪ When the sun's in the sky ♪ ♪ When the sun's in the sky ♪ ♪ When the sun's in the sky ♪ It's Best to be involved and do your best to help us with all these events. We do have an organizational meeting coming up here for the trunk retreat, just to try to get everybody in their place. We'll run it very much so like we did last year, but we'll have an organizational meeting here in just the next few days, October the 9th, after the evening service. You'll see we're working on our loop team group. Brother Doug and Leanne are heading that up for us, and it's been growing. They're doing very well here in the last several days, having these folks come at youth group. We're looking forward to that. This Wednesday night, you'll notice in our Bible study time, that we are gonna finish up our time at First Corinthians. We've been going through the book of First Corinthians. The following week, we'll prepare some things for the mission conference, but this Wednesday night, thank you for being so faithful, those that are able to attend the midweek Bible study, and you'll see those dates there. We are working on a trip for our seniors to Asheville, North Carolina, and we'll eat at the Moose Cafe, and then we'll go over to the farmer's market there in Asheville. If you have any questions about that, you can see myself or Ms. Susie. We're putting all the details together for that, but it'll be a wonderful outing for our seniors there. So many things coming up here in November. We do have a gospel singing to raise money for the Tri-State Children's Home. We have that just around the corner. Some other things, you'll make note of our mission conference and on that Sunday morning, we will have a combined Sunday school, Sunday morning, October the 16th. So everyone will meet in here from the, let's say the teenagers up and all the children will still have their children's classes, but all of the teenagers and up will have a combined Sunday school class. Those are several things. If the men will make ready for our offering, Brother Harold, can you play an offertory for me? Is that what you got ready for? Thank you so much. If not, I would have had to hum or sing or something. Embarrassing we're glad Harold is going to play for us, but tonight We are playing on having a ton of practice at five o'clock and then several other things coming up And let's do our best to be involved here busy busy days here tabernacle Baptist Church God is using his word. He's using us to minister for him We're very grateful for his faithfulness. Let's pause and pray and I remember Brother Wayne, Brother Doug, Miss Leanne, a lot going on here this morning. Lord, we pray that you'll help us. Lord, such an unusual service. Lord, we pray for Brother Wayne, Miss Kim, that you would help them, Lord. Doctors, check Brother Wayne out, make sure he's well. Lord, we pray for Brother Doug, Miss Leanne, this little baby on the way, that you'd be at the doctors here at the hospital in Bristol. Lord, be with others in our church family that could not be here today due to illness and sickness, great concern and need. And Lord, we just pray that we'd prepare our mind and heart for the preaching and teaching of your word. Lord, help us just to yield ourselves to you. Be with these, Lord, be with Brother Wayne, be with Doug and Leanne. Help us in this hour, in Jesus' name, amen. Praise the Lord, church. Amen. Too quiet. Somebody say amen, amen. Merry Christmas or something, just something like that. Just make some racket. Dig some tampe, just dump your feet. You got to remember that first man Adam was made into a living soul. That second Adam was made into a lively hope, and we've been begotten into a lively hope. So we're lively people this morning. Amen. Looking for a glorious appearing of Jesus. We got the privilege of visiting a dear lady yesterday in Bristol. She said she'd been in the hospital for over a month. And she said she'd asked the nurses to ask different ministers to come by and visit. She's in her fourth stage of cancer. Nothing they can do for her. And she said not one minister visited her hospital room. It broke my heart. I'm glad we got a pastor that'll go and visit people. Amen. I'm glad we got a pastor to talk to him in the Walmart, or at home, or at the hospital, or wherever they're at. I heard him testify of it, and I'm so thankful this morning that he's got a heart for the people. We got people here that's got a heart for the people. We got some ladies here that's the best cooks in the world. This is exciting to be in the church this day and age. If you're not excited, would you raise your hand? Amen. ♪ There is coming a day ♪ Where no heartache shall come ♪ No more clouds in the sky ♪ No more tears to fill the eye ♪ All is peace forevermore ♪ On that happy golden shore What a day, glorious day that will be What a day that will be When my Jesus I shall see And I look upon His face The one who saved me by His grace When He takes me by the hand ♪ Push me through God's promised land ♪ What a day, glorious day that will be ♪ There'll be no more sorrow there, no more burden ś No more sickness, no pain ś No more parting over there ś And forever I will be ś With the one who died for me ś Day ś Glorious day ś What a day that will be ś When my Jesus I shall see ś And I look upon His face ś The one who saved me by His grace ś When He takes me by the hand ś And leads me through the promised land What a day, glorious day that will be What a day, glorious day that will be good to be here. Thank the Lord for saving me. I don't want to take a lot of time, but the preacher's not here, so I guess I can say what I want to. But I just thank the Lord for saving me. You know, it's exciting life. It seems like the older you get... I was telling my brother down there at three score and 10, I said, I'm lucky that I did honor my father and mother, because I'm 70 years old, and my time is up. My timeline is up. It's on 12 o'clock. But Jesus knows when we're going to leave this world. But I think our days are numbered. Amen. I mean, without a doubt. But I'm just so glad he lets me do what I need to do. Yes, sir. And when he's ready to take me home, I'm ready. I was ready 20 years ago. You know, I've worked for my Lord. Faith come to hear and hear come to the word. But it's been so exciting. It seems like these last, the older you get, the sweeter it gets for some reason. Because I don't think about death. It doesn't bother me any. My goodness, it's moving. I've moved a couple times in my life. And if the Lord wants me to move again, that's fine. But it's just good to be here. And I thank you for saving me. ♪ While strolling through the fields of time ♪ There's many things to see ♪ But nature is the greatest sight there could ever be ♪ The greatest of them all to me is how the world was formed ♪ And why the roses had to live ♪ Each day among the thorns ♪ One day among the world of thorns a rose began to grow It was the greatest gift of God this world will ever know. It was the will of God to show that since the world was formed, there had to be a rose to live and die among the thorns. 2,000 years has come and gone since God looked down in love. There in the town of Bethlehem a rose began to bud. He lived and bloomed until one day was crushed with awful frown. And then in love from God above was moved to higher ground. One day among a world of thorns a rose began to grow. It was the greatest gift of God this world will ever know. It was the will of God to show that since the world was formed, there had to be a rose to live and die among the thorns. Amen. We're ready for the Word, brother. Thank you so much. to Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four. Brother Wayne is here in the hallway out, and the medical team has came, and they're getting him checked out. They're checking his blood sugar. He's very, very stable, and just trying to make an assessment about exactly what happened there. He said he didn't feel bad, and he wasn't really lightheaded. He just kind of went down on us there, and we called the rescue squad, and they're here already caring for him, checking on him. We're praying for him, not exactly for sure what happened there. but we're asking the Lord to help him. That's a difficult, difficult thing there with Miss Kim. Of course, that's her daddy to see him go down like that, asking the Lord to help us here. Let's pray and we'll begin Ephesians chapter four, unusual, unusual service. Have you ever got your day started and thought that's not a lick, how I thought it was gonna go? And that's where we're at here, 1125 on Sunday morning, but the Lord knew when I got up this morning, that's kind of how today was gonna go. and we're just gonna mind him here and try to do our best to preach the word. Let's pray. Lord, we pray for this moment so much in our heart. Lord, think of Brother Wayne. God, think of Doug laying in there at the hospital. Think of others in our church family physically that need you at this time. And Lord, I pray that you would quiet our hearts, allow your spirit to use your word in our life. Lord, help us in these few moments be honest enough with ourself about our spiritual standing before you. Help us, in Jesus' name, amen. Ephesians chapter four, we're gonna begin reading in verse 17, and last week we actually covered several of these verses, and what we covered was taking off the old man and putting on the new man, and we addressed that our sin nature does not leave, or our sin nature does not change, We're always battling the sin nature. And when you come to the end of Ephesians chapter number four, Paul really gives some practical application about when you have the new man, when you're walking in newness of life, when there has been an evident change in your heart, Paul begins to lay out some specific things that will not be in your life. and some specific things that will be in your life, a very practical application. And Paul spells out for these believers at Ephesus. Now keep in mind, the book of Ephesians is actually a circulatory letter written to many churches. While Paul is writing these churches, those churches are both filled with Jewish believers and Gentile believers, and he's writing to them saying, listen, in your life, in your walk, in your vocation, there is a marked difference when you come to know Jesus Christ, and these things should be in your life, and these things should not be in your life. Look with me at verse 17 of Ephesians chapter number four. Verse 17 of Ephesians chapter number 4, we'll read to the end of the chapter and we'll do our very best to kind of analyze this, several things he reiterates or he repeats himself here in the text. Verse 17, the Bible says this, this I say therefore in testifying the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened and being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them. because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over into lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. Verse 22, that you put off concerning the former conversation or the former way of life of the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lust. Verse 23, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God has created unrighteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Verse 29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace into the hearers. Verse 30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed into the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. He gives them this long list in verse 32. And be ye kind. one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. I wrote down in the margin of my Bible, as Paul is writing these believers at Ephesus, I wrote down this, we should give some evidences of what he's done on the inside. We should give some evidences of what he's done on the inside, some principles. I titled the sermon this, the principles of the new life. When you come to know Jesus Christ and you take off that old man and you put on that new man, there are some marked things or some specific things that should not be in your life. and there are some specific things that should be in your life. By way of introduction, I wrote these two things down. There's a transformed tongue and there's a transformed temper. He talks about your mouth, he talks about your attitude, he talks about your actions, he talks about your reactions. Now he begins to lay out for us practically what it will look like to have the Holy Spirit indwelling our lives. And as we're walking in this new man, and Paul's making a practical application of the idea of when we put on the new man, there will be some evidence that things aren't the same. There'll be some marked differences in my life and some marked differences in your life when the new man is dwelling in us, when the new man is abiding, or when the new man is at work in our heart. The first thing he addresses in verse 25 is this. Last week we worked from verses 17 to 24. We come to verse 25, it says this. We're for putting away lying, speak every man the truth his neighbor, for we are members one of another. You'll notice up in verse 24, he talks about putting on the new man. As soon as he talks about putting on the new man, the first thing he addresses is our mouth. The first thing he addresses is our tongue. He says that we should put away lying, we should put away anger, and we should put away stealing. Paul is saying that these believers, there's a marked difference in your life when Jesus comes in. I put it this way, he affects our mouth in verse 25. It affects our motives in verses 26 and 27, be you angry and sin not. It affects our mission in verse 28, let all these things be put away. There's a marked evidence, there's a marked difference in my life when I came to know Jesus Christ and I had that old robe and I took it off and threw it away and I put on that new robe. From that moment forward, there's a marked difference in really the way I live my life and the attitude I have and the things that come out of my mouth. He really deals with having a Christian testimony in the midst of a terrible society. He's writing these believers at Ephesus. Ephesus was filled with idolatry. Ephesus was filled with immorality. Ephesus was filled, and the same believers he's writing to are the believers who one time worshiped these false idols, who at one time were filled with paganism, who at one time were living in sexual sin. And so Paul writes to these believers and he says, listen, when you take off the old man and you put on a new man, let me give you a list of some practical things that should be That work in your life, your mouth, your motive, and your mission will be very much different. By way of introduction, he tells them last week, and we discovered this, or we talked about this, he said, you did not learn these things, verse 20, but ye have not so learned Christ. There's two little children in the nursery this morning. If we went over here to the nursery and we got some goldfish and juice, every nursery has to have goldfish and juice. But we have goldfish and juice. Do we really have to teach those children how to be angry, yes or no? No. Do we have to teach them how to lie? No. Do we have to teach them? Those things are our natural tendencies. And Paul says, listen, when you come to know Jesus Christ and he comes to abide in your heart, there is a marked difference. The things that come out of your mouth, the things that go in your mind, the things that you used to be involved in are no longer the same. He says, you have believed the truth. You have received life, now walk in the way. You believe the truth, you've received this life, now walk in the way. The application is this, there are five sins that Paul names. And he tells us in verse 31, there are some things to discard. And he tells us in verse 32, there are some things to display. By way of introduction, I wrote this verse down this morning, Proverbs 15, one, a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Verse 25, the first thing Paul addresses is lying. A lie is a statement that's contrary to fact or spoken with intent to deceive Christians. The Christian's life should be a life controlled by truth. He talks about lying. Verse 26 and 27, he talks about anger. Anger is an emotional response and tied to that anger, he deals with malice. and he deals with wrath. Anger, if not quenched by loving forgiveness, will spread and defile and destroy the work of God. Most, this is just a sad fact, but most of the murders that are committed here today are due to domestic disputes because one got so angry at the other and they eventually took the other person's life. You say, well, I'm gonna control my anger, I'm gonna control my temper, I'm gonna control my mouth. Do you not realize all that stuff ties together? You ever get, let's just be honest, we live in a real world. How many of you have ever gotten in an argument with a coworker? How many of you, your first response is like this little vein pops out here, then your voice gets louder, and before you know it, you start balling up your fist? And I mean, you're talking about, I mean, I've had arguments with coworkers over trash bags, over fuel cans left in the wrong place. I mean, when you really think about it, it's just stupid stuff. But before we know it, we fly off the handle. If there was a spiritual gift listed in the Bible, mine would be flying off the handle. Patty said I would win an award every time for flying off the handle. Now, we chuckle about that. But honestly, does that really display Jesus Christ? No, because it affects my mouth, it affects my anger, it affects my temper, it affects all those things. And some people still to this day are mad about something someone said in high school. And they're holding grudges and they're holding bitterness and they're holding anger. It's like, man, you're 45 years old and bald, get over it. But if we don't address it, Who does it really hinder? And Paul, writing these believers at Ephesus, he gives them some super practical applications. Like, listen, when you have the old man's taken off and you've got the new man, you're still fighting the same nature, but there's gonna be some obvious stuff going on in your life, some obvious stuff coming out of your mouth, some obvious stuff going on in your being that will be much, much different. He talks about lying, verse 25. He gives a five list. He talks about anger. Then he says this, lying in anger, look at verse 27. Lying in anger, look at verse 27 with me. Neither give place to the devil. The lying or inability to be truthful in all things in my life, the inability to control my anger, those things give place to the devil. They give the devil, if we'll use the term, a foothold. Now, we have a living room in our house, and the girls' bedrooms, and a bathroom, and a kitchen, and a pionized bedroom. Now, how many of us would honestly, here's a knock at the door, Well devil, come on in and make yourself at home right here on the couch. Here's your remote control and watch a little football this afternoon. How many of you would honestly say we're gonna do that to the devil? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That's silly. But how many of us don't address lying or anger and what's it say we do? We leave the door wide open, we give place for the devil. Now here's just a common sense thing. If you and I give place to the devil, can we really represent Jesus Christ in our testimony in the workplace? The answer is no. Can we really affect the community for the gospel of Jesus Christ? The answer is no. Because we've given place to the devil, because we didn't take care of something as simple as lying in anger. And so Paul, writing to these believers at Ephesus, he says, listen, there's some super practical things that you can have in your life that will affect your community, that'll affect your relationship with each other, and it'll affect your ability to move the gospel forward. He talks about lying, he talks about anger, he talks about stealing in verse 28, in Paul's day. Stealing was a particular common thing here in the day. Many of those believers had slaves or servants that would live in their home or would be there in their facility, and many of them were not well taken care of, and many of them made a practice to take things, and they may have taken it out of necessity, but it was still wrong to take it. It was still stealing. And so Paul, writing to these believers, he said, listen, I know that many of you have a hard time and I know that many of you have a difficult season, but you've got to get to the place where you quit stealing in your life. You think, well, Pastor David, you know, I'm a grown man. I haven't stole a piece of bubble gum in 55 years. And how often do we steal time from work? How often do we steal from Uncle Sam? How often do we steal small insignificant things? and we give ourself a pass. And so Paul, he says, okay, lying, stealing, anger, these things should not be in our life. When we steal, we hurt others. John 10, 10, the thief cometh not forth to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I am come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Verse four here, excuse me, number four, look at verse 29. By way of introduction, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace into the hearers. Let me ask you this, verse 29. Did everything that come out of my mouth edify Jesus Christ this week? Did every word, every piece of gossip, everything I said, did those things reflect Jesus Christ to my coworkers in the break room? Did they reflect Jesus Christ to my wife? Did they reflect Jesus Christ to my children? What is Paul realizing? Paul realizes that, listen, living the Christian life is harder than you think. And you have Satan bombarding you with images on television. You have Satan bombarding you with an opportunity to blow your testimony. And Paul just as plainly, he says, listen, things like lying, things like anger, things like stealing, things like corrupt speech or corrupt communication, the mouth and the heart are connected. Change the heart and you'll change the speech. Fill the heart with the love of Christ so that only truth and purity can come out of your mouth. Your words have power either for good or for evil. Matthew 12, 35, O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Colossians 4, 6, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. So Paul, writing these believers at Ephesus, and he's giving them these lists that these evidences should not be in your life, and then he gives us a list here of these evidences should be in your life, and he ends here, verse 30 and 32, he ends with this one, bitterness. Bitterness. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed into the day of redemption. And he says this, verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with malice. What did Paul realize that these who are one time enslaved to idolatry and these who are one time enslaved to living in sin and these who are one time lived there in Ephesus and when bombarded, he says there comes a place where you need to set bitterness aside so that Jesus Christ can abide and work in your heart and life. Wrath leads to anger and anger leads to brawling. Someone gets mad enough, someone gets angry enough, someone blows their top. Psalm 133 verse one, behold how good and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity. He gives us this list and then he tells us these things, this bitterness, this sin, these things, if we have them in our life, it grieves the Holy Spirit. Not only does it grieve the Holy Spirit, it grieves God the Son, and it grieves God the Father. I read this statement this week, it says this, an unforgiving spirit is the devil's playground, and before long, it becomes the Christian's battleground. We don't forgive for our sake, we forgive for Jesus' sake. Satan wants to get a foothold in our life and we ought to share with others. We ought to build others up. Verse 27 of the text, neither give place to the devil. Each one of these sins undermine the body of Christ and there should be a list of old sins. These things listed should be discarded since I became a Christian. These things in my life have been discarded since I became a Christian. And so now I have five principles of new life, five principles of new life. The only reliable evidence of a person's being saved is not a past experience of receiving Christ, but a present life that reflects Christ. The only reliable evidence of a person being saved is not a past experience of receiving Christ, but a present life that reflects Christ. 1 John 2 and verse 4, he that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. New creatures act like new creatures. Old things are passed away, what's the Bible say, and all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. God is not progressively making new creations of believers. Believers are those whom he has already made new creations. Based on newness of life, the believers are to change from lying to speaking truth. Based on newness of life, the believers are to move from unrighteous anger to righteous anger. Based on newness of life, we should move from stealing to sharing. Based on newness of life, we should move from unwholesome words to edifying words. Based on newness of life, we should move from natural vices to supernatural virtues. So the first admonition he gives them is this, he says, listen, we should move, number one, from lying to speaking the truth. A believer can fall into lying as he can fall into any sin, but if his life is habitually a flow of life that proceeds from the heart that seeks to deceive, he has no biblical basis for believing he's a Christian. Do you know the easiest person to deceive in this room? I'm better than so and so. I've got it all together. I'm not as bad as they are and we lie to ourselves to make ourselves feel better about our sin. to give ourselves a pass for my lifestyle, to give myself a pass for the things that come out of my mouth and the way I live, I find myself justifying or I find myself lying about my own attitude and actions. The Christian is to have no part in any kind of lying. He is to be characterized by laying aside falsehood. When a person becomes a believer, he steps out of the domain of falsehood and into the domain of truth, and every form of lying, therefore, is inconsistent with his new self. I wrote this down, God's economy is based on truth. God's economy is based on truth. You can't come to the altar this morning and think you got saved. You either got saved or you didn't. You either confessed your sin or you didn't. He either did what he said he was gonna do or he didn't. It's very black and white in God's scheme of things. It is truth. God's economy is based on truth. We cannot effectively minister to each other. We cannot effectively minister to each other or with each other if we do not speak the truth. Can't happen. Again, who is Paul writing to? He's writing to the believers at Ephesus. He's writing to both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, all in the same building. And he says, there's got to come a place where deception is no longer part of your life, where deception is no longer part of your mouth, and you speak the truth. And when you speak the truth, one with another, it forms unity. And when you have unity, the gospel advances. Speaking the truth. speaking the truth, number two is this, we should move from unrighteous anger to righteous anger. Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Every now and then I have the opportunity to give some pre-marriage counseling. And one of the things I always tell them is don't go to bed mad at each other, letting out the sun go down upon your wrath. Patti and I hadn't been married very long and I should have took my own preaching. And Patti and I were fussing back and forth. I know that's hard to believe we fuss back and forth. None of y'all ever fuss back and forth. And she rolled over and went to bed. And I sat there and stared at the ceiling all night just mad, oh I was mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. She got up the next morning, I fixed a cup of coffee, I said, I can't believe, I can't believe you went to bed mad. She said, I know you. She said, you're gonna be mad when I went to bed, you're still mad when I went to sleep, and I just got a good night's rest. The idea of righteous anger. Jesus made a cord, remember this story? Went in and drove out the money changers. Righteous anger. 26 and 27, be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. What did Paul know? Hey, when you blow your top at each other, hey, when you can't get along with each other, hey, when you spout off at the mouth with each other, don't let it go on. Don't let it fester. Don't let the sun go down upon your earth. In biblical days, most of us would all be day laborers, and what happened at the end of the day? They reconciled what had occurred. In other words, you made $5, you made $3, you made $4. At the end of the day, don't let the sun go down upon your earth. What Paul is saying, before the sun goes down, You need to rectify the situation. You need to make things right. You need to make an amends, this idea of unrighteous anger, this idea of letting the sun go down upon your wrath. Anger that is sin, on the other hand, is anger that is self-defensive and self-serving, that is resentful, that is done against oneself. It is anger that leads to murder. So he addresses these things here in the text. He addresses bitterness. He addresses resentment and he addresses self-righteousness. He says, don't let the sun go down upon your wrath. Hold your place here and turn with me to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 verse 17 says this, recompense no man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto the wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if in thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst, give him drink, or in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Number two this morning was moved from unrighteous anger to righteous anger. Don't give the devil an opportunity. Be on guard that Satan will feed your anger. He feeds our anger with self-pity and self-pride. He feeds our anger with self-righteousness. He feeds our anger with vengeance. He feeds our anger that we should defend our own rights. Number three is this, we should move, these are evidences, when you take off the old man and put on the new man, and Paul gives a very plain list of some evidences when you have that new man, these things are at work and or should be at work in your life. Number three is this, you should move from stealing to sharing. He let him that stole, verse 28, let him that stole, steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him and that needeth, this idea of moving from stealing, the idea from the old self to the new self. Look at verse 24, put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. The alternative that instead of stealing is to labor. The alternative to stealing is to work. The alternative to stealing is to labor. And then when you labor, you have to share. Now again, the context he's writing to is these believers in Ephesus, and some of them are more well-to-do than others. And there's Jews and Gentiles all in the same building. And Paul tells them, listen, if you work hard and you see someone that has a need, then you should be benevolent enough to help that person in need. The idea of a day's work for a day's wage. I remember when I got a job, I got my first job when I was 13 and I remember the foreman on the job, I poured concrete. Listen, I don't believe in purgatory but if there was they would pour concrete and lay bricks in purgatory. That's a hard, hard job. But I remember my first job, my first job, I remember Vance Langhorne, he said, listen, when you work, you always work. He said, if you're gonna stand around and lean on a shovel, go hide somewhere. In other words, it taught me an honorable day's work for an honorable day's pay. In other words, when I show up for the company, or when I show up for the employer, and when I show up, I'm gonna work hard and do the very best I can with the time I'm given. And so the idea here is this, we move from stealing to sharing. The idea that when God blesses us or God gives to us, we can have to give to others. In the church context, no doubt, many were suffering or many were in a hard time and Paul's saying, look around at one another, look in the congregation and those that have needs, when God has blessed you, you should be willing to part with some of your blessing to be a blessing to others. You know what, I have a hard time with that because I'm tight. I am, I have a hard time with that because I worked hard. And then have you ever said this, this is mine. They need to get their own job. They should have worked overtime. Is that what Paul tells them to treat each other? He says, listen, when God's been good to you, and you know someone's hurting, when God's blessed you abundantly and you know someone's been in the hospital, when God's been very gracious to you, can you not be benevolent one toward another? Stealing, move from stealing to sharing. Our labor should be in what is good and in work that is honest. The idea that our labor is honorable, our labor is productive. Not only should our work not harm each other, but it's for the specific idea of helping one another or sharing for those that have needs, the idea that we should not be selfish, but move to be benevolent. I wanna pause here and commend the Timberdeckle Baptist Church on you being benevolent, being benevolent. Here's just an example. Since June, our church has helped several families in our church. They had great needs, medical needs, rent, things of that nature. That's the benevolence on your account. We had four guests, five guests come between the last Sunday of July and the first Sunday of September. And if you have a guest come, everybody cringes because what's that mean? It means that offering plate's gonna get passed the second time. Do you know the Tabernacle Baptist Church in those 30 days gave away, this is not the tithe, this is not the tithe, this is extra offerings. The Tabernacle Baptist Church gave away $2,400. That's to your account that you are very benevolent, that you are being obedient, that you are working on what Paul is teaching here. We're benevolent one to another, we're helping one another, we're being gracious with what God has given us. Number three, we move from stealing to sharing. Number four, we move from unwholesome words to wholesome words. How many of you, like me, wanna skip this one right here? We move from unwholesome words to wholesome words. Look at verse 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 34, the idea of what's in our heart is gonna come out of our mouth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Our speech should be transformed with everything else. Not only is your thinking transformed and your heart transformed and your actions, your labor and your work is transformed, he comes down now to your words. The way you talk to each other, the church at Ephesus, the Gentiles and the Jewish believers, this circulatory letter, Paul says, listen, the way you speak one to another, it should be wholesome. It should be edifying, it shouldn't be derogatory, it shouldn't be cutting, it shouldn't be hurtful. Our speech should be transformed. He uses the word corrupt. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. It goes back in the Greek, the idea of rotten or putrid fruit. Here in Ephesus, they had fish. How many of you have ever been by a fish market? Right here. That's the idea that Paul is saying. When you have corrupt things come out of your mouth, when you have vile things, when you have derogatory things, when you have hurtful things, when you have demeaning things, it's the same idea as the garbage pail. It's the same idea as rotten fruit. It's the same idea, this idea of corrupt. It has an odor, a stench. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Foul language should never proceed out of the mouth of a Christian because foul language is totally out of character with the newness of life. Let's just be honest, the tongue is difficult to control. Look at James, very familiar passage of scripture. You can write this down, I'll read it for you. James chapter number three, verse six. And the tongue is a fire, a whirl of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that defiled the whole body and set on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast and birds and serpents and things in the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind. Verse eight. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. The tongue is difficult to control. He speaks about our tongue. Our tongue is a tattletale of our heart. One of the things I read, it talked about the well is your heart and the bucket is the tongue and what comes up out of the well is what's in your heart. Does the language I use, does the way I speak, the things that come out of my mouth, whether it's the lady at Food City or whether it's Patty or Ella or Kate or whether it's a member of church, a friend here at Tabernacle Baptist Church, do those things speak wholesome words? Are they filled with gossip? Are they filled with derogatory statements? Are they filled with things that do not identify with the newness of life? The tongue speaks what the heart tells it. A foul mouth comes from a foul heart, and the only way to clean the tongue is through his word, which fills our heart. You got a hard time with your mouth, you need to work on some scripture memory. Got a hard time with your mouth, you need to spend some time in the word, because as the word is here, it's gonna dictate what comes out here. We also have a speech. Our speech should be pure. It should be helpful. It should be pleasing to God. Paul here mentions three characteristics of wholesome speech. Number one, verse 29, it says, wholesome speech is good for edification. Is my speech helpful? This idea of edification, is my speech encouraging? Number two, this idea of the appropriate speech, is what I'm saying appropriate according to the need at the moment? Is it wholesome? You know what I have a hard time with but I've learned along the way? Everything that comes here does not have to come out here. How often would a dispute, how often would a disagreement been resolved had I not spoke all my mind? Here's where we get into trouble. I'm going to give them a piece of my mind, but the problem is it never got filtered through here and it just spouted off here. And so often we have to take a broom and pick all the pieces up after of the idea of our speech. Is it edifying, number one? Number two, is it appropriate? Number three, what I am saying should be gracious. It should be gracious. The mature Christian, the mature Christian not only speaks truth, but he speaks truth in love. Graciousness is always characterized by Jesus. Colossians 4, 6, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer every man. Fill the heart with the love of Christ so that only truth and purity can come out of the mouth. A powerful motivation for put away an unwholesome talk is that it will grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Quench not the spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5, 19, Paul is not saying that we should avoid sin in order to keep our salvation, but that we should be eternally grateful to the Holy Spirit for making it impossible for us to lose our salvation. If you were to make a list, Paul basically says this, stop lying and be honest. Stop stealing and have integrity. Use lines of conduct and practice morality. That's really, Paul makes this list here for us, and number five is this, and we'll move quickly. We should move from sin or our natural vices to true virtues, things that are right. Look with me as we conclude verse 31 and 32. Paul writing to the believers at Ephesus, he's writing to the church at Ephesus, it's both filled with Jewish and Gentile believers, and he's preaching that they would get along one with another, and he's like, listen, if you would watch your tongue, if you would watch your mouth, if you would watch the way you act, it's obviously gonna help you move forward and allow the gospel to advance. Verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Don't let that stuff stew, don't let that stuff grow, don't let that stuff fester, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. If not checked, our inner sins, bitterness, wrath, and anger, will lead to outer sins, clamor, slander, and malice. These sins break fellowship and destroy relationship. They weaken the church and they mar its testimony before the world. Verse 32, rather than these, Paul points them to Jesus Christ. Rather than living over here in squalor, rather than living over here in sin, rather than living over here in bitterness, rather than living over here with malice and hatred and all the things he listed, what does Paul do in verse 32? He points them to Jesus Christ. If God is so gracious to us, how much more should we be kind and tender hearted one to another? Romans chapter 5 verses 8 through 10, but God commendeth his love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Tenderhearted brings the idea of compassion. Each forgiving one another. It's a characteristic of God himself. It's a picture of salvation. The idea of forgiving an unforgivable debt. Can we who have been forgiven so much not forgive relatively small things done to us? By way of conclusion, I want you to write this reference down and for the sake of time we can't read it all but Colossians chapter number three, Colossians three Paul opens up If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ saith on the right hand. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life shall appear, ye shall also appear with him in glory. Mortify your members. He goes on to talk about the new man. He goes on to talk about the newness of life. He goes on to talk about that our actions are much, much different. Tenderhearted. Brings the idea of compassion. You should live like the one you have become. You should live like the one you have become. Live in unity and mutual ministry with others. Corrupt speech, stealing and lying, sins of the flesh, bitterness, anger, clamor, sins of the spirit. Here's four questions I wanna ask by way of conclusion this morning. Question number one, we must accept the challenge of living like the person we have become. Am I living in the newness of life? Am I living with that new robe? Am I living in the newness? Number two, we must get involved with other Christians and allow them to minister to us and allow us to minister to them. What did Paul realize? Paul realized that relationships are messy and if we watch our mouth and we watch our motives and we watch our heart, it's gonna help us in our mission. Number three, we must get serious about sin and do whatever is necessary to turn our backs on things of darkness. And number four is this, we must develop a love and respect for others, for out of love we will be able to be helpful for Jesus Christ. A complete deliverance from the old nature is expressed in a converted disposition, including a transformed tongue. I don't know about you, this idea of the principles of the new life or this idea of putting on the new man, it caused me to look at my own heart and say, you know what, God, there are some areas that I need to give some attention. There are some motives that I need to address. There are some things in my own mind and heart, Lord, that I need you to help me with. And Paul, right in this church at Ephesus said, listen, if the gospel will advance, If the gospel will move forward, if souls will be saved, it's gonna start when you as believers in the church of Ephesus get along one with another, when you watch your mouth, when you serve with the right motive, when you put him first in all things. Then he finishes in verse 32, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. In light of Calvary, In light of what Jesus has done, in light of the payment of your sin, would you not serve him? Would you not address these areas in your heart? Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. We'll make ready for a song of invitation. Brother Harold, if you could help us this morning. With heads bowed and eyes closed, we've had an unusual service and the word of God is preached. I appreciate Brother Wayne's faithfulness, Miss Kim, others, praying for Doug and Leanne. But in the quietness of this moment as we finish up here this morning, I wonder if there'd be one that would come this morning at the altar and say, you know what, Lord, I need you to help me in these areas. God, there's some areas of my life I've neglected. There's some things that I haven't given the attention. And God, I've allowed Satan to have a foothold. Whether we admit it or not, there's some things that we need to address and some things that we need to make right. There's some things that, some issues in our heart and maybe you're harboring bitterness, maybe there's kindness or compassion not on your tongue. Father in heaven, Lord, we pray this morning through the preaching of your word that we would be so honest enough to say, God, we want your blessing on our life, but we need to address these areas. There are some things we need to make right. There's some people we need to go back to. There's some situations we need to resolve. And I pray even this morning that we'd be honest enough to address those things, to come clean with you so that the testimony of Jesus Christ would move forward. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. If you'll stand to your feet for a song of invitation as Brother Harold plays. Folks are coming, would you come this morning? ♪ I wonder where you are Ž Now I'm coming home Ž Ž A pass of sin Ž Ž Through long I've fought Ž Ž Lord I'm coming home Ž Ž Coming home Ž Would you take the hymnal there, hymn 153 on the second? Now I'm coming home I now repent with bitter tears Thank you so much. Thank you, Brother Harold, for stepping in. Did Brother Wayne get some attention there, Brother Mike? He's getting squared away. Okay. They, the rescue squad came and they gave him some instructions there. We do have some good news. Baby Overbay has arrived. That's all I know is the baby has arrived. I don't have any of the particulars, how long and how big and every which way, but we do know he is here and we're hoping they're all, oh, you got them back here. Whopper. 1139, well congratulations to Doug and Leanne. So all went well, we're grateful for that. Let's pray one for another, be praying for Brother Wayne, continue to pray for Doug and Leanne. Pray that the Lord would continue to help them day by day. Looking forward to a great week ahead. What you need to work on is I want you to go home and write this Ephesians 4.32 on a card. And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted. You know why? There's some people I just don't like. It's true. You're going to have to live it day by day. You're going to have to apply that verse. I'm going to have to be kind whether I want to or not. I'm going to have to mind the Lord whether I like it or not. Be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Paul realized, oh, it's one thing to be kind. It's another thing to forgive. It's another thing to live it out. It's another thing to put some action to what's going on there. We don't know what's going on yet. Let's be much in prayer. Let's be dismissed. Larry, will you dismiss us with a word of prayer this morning? Thank you, Father, for doing this.