Then we move on with Phase 1 as we go to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, we picked up there this morning in verse 25. So we're moving to the remainder of this chapter in verse 33. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 25 through verse 33. So in turning there this morning we continue on with a passage that we have begun in chapter 4 with regard to the new life that we have in Christ. Understanding the calling that God has given us. Now as we have already established often in chapter 4 here that we find that Paul is taking us through a transition. A transition from speaking of that, of the doctrine, of the truth of our justification in Christ, the fact that we are the elect, that we have been set aside, chosen before the foundation of the earth. Then he changes in chapter four, not away from that truth, but points us to the application of that truth when he says, now walk. walk, he says, in chapter 4 and verse 1. I remind you, we've done so many times, walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. In other words, take that step in the direction, living the life of application of this truth. Now, as we have been looking these last couple of Sundays and what that application is, We have certainly in this last Sunday talked about the idea of the new wardrobe, if you will, that we are to wear in Christ when He speaks about putting on the new man, that continuous action on a daily basis whereby we are to live. He continues with that thought here this morning with regard to another inspiration, motivation to live this life by virtue of the relationship that we have even with the Holy Spirit. So before we go any further, I'd like to read our text this morning, beginning at verse 25, where the Bible says, 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. 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. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. I want to take us back and call our attention to verse 30 of our texts this morning, where the Bible says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed under the day of redemption. Paul takes a moment here in this text to remind us the relationship that we have with the Holy Spirit. And therefore, in effect, I believe that we can certainly put in context the words that we find within these verses this morning relating to that relationship and the desire that you and I as believers ought to have to not only please God the Father, God the Son, but in fact God the Holy Spirit. We often lose track of this at times with our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We imagine in such terms as the Holy Ghost that we're speaking of a spirit and not the person of the Holy Spirit. When we deny that, we somehow relegate Him to another place in the Holy Trinity that He does not occupy. But in fact, God's Word reminds us, as it speaks here in verse 30 of Paul, that we are to grieve not. Do you understand what that means? That means we are not to inflict pain. by displeasing the Holy Spirit in our life. It's important that we understand that the Holy Spirit is a person of the Godhead, of the Trinity, that God desires for us and teaches us in his word that we ought to care about with regard to his feelings and his being pleased and honored. To understand it in this way changes the dynamic of our lives just a little bit more as a Christian in inspiring us in how we are to live. Number one, it reminds us again just how much we are loved. and cared for by God that he has said his Holy Spirit to indwell us to be a part of us. Secondly, it ought to be a motivation to live a life of holiness, to live a life of obedience to the father. After all, that is the word that we continually center ourselves upon with regard to our lives in Christ. What is to be the hallmark? What is to be the evidence? What is the the expression of our life in Christ, our obedience to his word? Without a doubt, Now, when we imagine this, let's not forget the work of the Holy Spirit that makes this that important. We should be reminded of the work that God has given Him to do in our hearts and our lives. First of all, the Bible clearly declares that it is the Holy Spirit that baptized us into the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13. The Bible says, For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. It is the power of God's Holy Spirit, the minister of the Holy Spirit, that literally unites us as a church body today, as the body of Christ. Not Sandy Creek Baptist Church, but the church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its entirety. The second thing we know of the work of our Holy Spirit is that He sealed us. He sealed us. Look at where we've already been in the book of Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 13. where Paul declares, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Not the least of which we looked at our own chapter four here today in our texts in verse 30, when it says grieving, not the Holy spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed. What until the day of redemption. So it is the work and ministry of the Holy spirit that not only baptizes us, but also is that which seals us and keeps us for all eternity and complete until the completion of the redemption of our heavenly father, Jesus Christ. Thirdly, there is the incredible truth to know that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Now the Bible says that we are in Christ and Christ is in us, but how does He accomplish that? The Bible says He does so through the Holy Spirit, that He indwells us. It begins with a promise that is found in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36, verse 27. where the prophet wrote, as God had given it, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. That's a powerful verse because it not only speaks to the idea that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, but to what end, to what point? Notice what he says. He didn't leave it there. He put an application to it. He says in order that he stays there in order to help us walk in the statutes or the commandments of our heavenly father to keep the judgments and in fact, do them in other words, obedience. To follow the instruction of Christ. Not only that, we find in John chapter 14 and verse 16 where Jesus makes the promise to his disciples and to us of this coming of the Holy Spirit where he says, and I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him, but ye know him for he dwelleth in you and shall be in you. To emphasize the point further, Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19 when he said, What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own? So the grand glorious miracle here of our salvation is no less in part of the fact that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. And by doing so, as someone put it, though, is surrounded by a body at this body surrounded by as a means of leprosy itself spiritually deep within it. The Bible says that there is a temple. A temple there. of the Holy Spirit that has indwelt us and sealed us. And the glorious truth of that is, the glorious wonder of our salvation, is that even though we dwell in this body of flesh where we are tempted every day, remember we spoke about putting on the new, that it required every day you get up? with a desire and an effort to put on the new because the old is going to be standing there ready. It's going to be wanting. It's going to be willing. It's going to be comfortable. And God says, no, you are a child of God. You are my redeemed children. You're to put off the old and put on the new. The wondrous truth is, is that even though you and I are going to struggle that on a daily basis, it does not change nor take away from the fact that within us there is a temple found that has been sealed and has been kept pure and holy by the Holy Spirit. That cannot be damaged or destroyed even by us. The Holy Spirit teaches us. In the gospel of John chapter 16 in verse 12, the Bible says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the spirit of truth is calm, he will guide you into all truth for he shall speak, not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come. Paul's other letters, 1 John 2, verse 20, he says, But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Later in that same chapter, in verse 27, he would say, But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, meaning it remains, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Now we look at that verse of scripture and it needs clarification when it speaks of the idea that you need no man to teach you, but the same anointing of the Holy Spirit will help you understand. What does that mean? Does it mean that you don't need me this morning? That's not what it's saying. What it is telling you with regard to teaching is, is that no matter how persuasive I am, no matter how compelling I am in speech, that it's only by virtue of the Holy Spirit that you're going to understand the Word of God. Does that make sense? It doesn't mean that there's not a place for me because God's ordained that place. God's ordained that place for any man of God and even the teacher. But what is it that the teacher is supposed to do? What is it that the man of God is supposed to do? He is supposed to declare the word of God. Expose the word of God. Bring it to your understanding, your attention in the plainest way possible and rely upon the Holy Spirit's work to help you understand it. Now, why is it important that you don't have to have me? Because the fact of the matter is God can use me or God can work in spite of me or God can get along just fine without me. That's how important I am to this mix. My importance is only found in my obedience to God's word and God's calling, just like you. So we understand that he's a teacher. In fact, so much so that not only does he teach, but in fact, he acts on our behalf, even in our ignorance and our lack of understanding or our emotional stumbling. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 26, the Bible says, likewise, the spirit also helpeth what our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So now the Bible tells us that not only does the Spirit do all these things, not only is it there to teach us, but in fact it is there within us acting on our behalf, knowing better even when we don't. praying for us, even when we don't know how or what to pray for. I'm sad to say that I think for many of us as Christians, that constitutes most of the time. Every day is supposed to be a journey to understand that prayer is not simply securing things from God, but in fact is a matter of worship of honor to God. And so we find that God has provided for us. In our stumbling here as well, for the Bible says that not only is the Holy Spirit there to teach us, but in fact, it will indeed make intercession for the saints. But according to what? He'll do so according to the will of God, thank goodness. Not according to our will. but according to the will of God. Now why is that important? Why should we go? I want to remind our hearts and our minds today of what the Holy Spirit does for us so that we may better understand the weight of the statement that Paul makes here, that we may understand the importance. For the fact that the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us is just another reason, another motivation, another inspiration such that you and I should give thought to what Paul is saying about putting on the new man and putting an application or action behind the truth that we know in our hearts and our lives, such that we would not want to bring pain even to the Holy Spirit. Well, now that we understand the inspiration, we've got now to get down to the dirty details. When last we spoke, we talked about what you're wearing. Now we're going to be talking about what you're saying, what you're doing as a believer. There's no rocket science to be found in these verses this morning. You could easily discern them as I can in their application to our lives. But we would do well. We would do well to explore them and remind ourselves of what's being said here and why. In verse 25, he tells us that we are to, in this new life in Christ, exchange a life of deceit and lies for a life of truth and honesty. He says here, wherefore, putting away lying, speaking every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. An incredible, difficult concept for us to grasp because dishonesty was commonplace in the days in which Paul wrote this letter, and it is still commonplace in the days in which we live now. We have become so accustomed to lying and dishonesty that is very incredibly difficult, not only for us to recognize the truth, but in fact, for those who are lying to discern whether they just told the truth. What a troubling place. But it doesn't make this any less important. In fact, Paul gives us a parallel passage found in Colossians 3, verse 9, where he says, We live in such a facet today that to understand this part of putting on the new man, because that's what Paul just identified it as, That every day we must put on this new man of the idea and the desire to speak the truth. Now you and I need to put that in its proper perspective what it means to speak the truth. It doesn't mean that because I've got a thought in my head I need to share it with you because that's the honest thought in my mind. God forbid. It is not the fact that if you ask me what day it is of the week and I tell you so to the best of my ability and then I go back and find out I told you the wrong day. That's not lying. What's lying is when I purposely know that it's Monday and I tell you it's Friday just because of some demented kick I'm going to get out of it. And messing with you, do we understand the difference? So the idea of speaking the truth here and being honest is not about hurting someone or being overt sometimes and telling things that don't need to be told, sharing things that don't have to be shared. What is it that we speak of with regard to lying? Well, it certainly speaks to the base of it because we live in a life today in our world that lying is such a matter of business, such a matter of everyday living that if you speak to some people, if they were to consider this honestly, they would tell you that it would be absolutely impossible for you to be honest and survive in our culture. I used to work for a company years ago. that at first, before they were changed legally, were well-renowned for their ability to do polygraph tests. In fact, they were training police departments from other countries to do polygraph tests. And they were able to do polygraphs for companies, for there was a time when companies had the right to use that even as a screening process before they were hired into a job. In fact, I took one before I was hired to work at this particular company. Well, then the laws were changed and no longer were you allowed to do so. So they began to start using psychological tests, written exams, if you will, to try to determine your ethics, to try to determine your behavior, if you will, as being suitable as a candidate to work. One of the most fascinating things I found out about this test was, as we began to give exams to people, was that it absolutely anticipated and expected some level of dishonesty. And in fact, if you were truly too honest on the test, you would not be hired. Honestly, no pun intended. That was the expectation. And if you appear to be too honest, you are not to be trusted. If you didn't admit some failure, if you didn't admit some lie, if you didn't admit stealing pencils from your last employment, we've got concerns about you. We live in such a dishonest area. There is the famous old story that shows the epitome of where we are with dishonesty. is a story of the baker and the farmer. It's been told many times. The baker begins to suspect that the farmer is lying to him because the farmer is supplying him with butter, and he believes his pound weights are coming in short, that he's not getting a full pound of butter that he's paying for. And so he begins to measure them. He begins to put them on the scales, and he confirms his suspicion over the next few deliveries and wastes no time. in having the farmer arrested, having the farmer prosecuted. But the case was thrown out because when he finally got before a judge, when somebody finally started to ask the question, the farmer admitted that he had no scales and as yet was using the pound weight loaf of bread that the baker had been selling him for a measurement. Case dismissed. This is the level upon which we operate with regard to dishonesty. So the exception is that God mentions no words and says we are not to lie. But for what reason? We look at this and say, well, goodness sakes, it won't accomplish anything because we'll never be successful in the world if we don't lie. We would say it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt us or hurt my family. But the fact of the matter is God's desire is you stop lying because not only is it a sin against God first and foremost, but Paul says you're hurting the body of Christ. You're hurting the body of Christ. He says, for we are members one of another. Romans chapter 12 and verse four. For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another. And so Paul has now set the bar and saying that we are forsake lying and deception because it grieves, it brings pain to the Holy Spirit that is with us at all times, by the way. And in fact, it brings harm to the church of Jesus Christ. It's just that simple. I didn't say it was easy, but it is simple. Verse 26, be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. In the very first phrase here in verse six, he says, be angry. Paul acknowledges here that there is such a thing as a proper anger. We certainly see it put on display by our heavenly father, Jesus Christ. However, the problem is, is incredibly dangerous and difficult for believers to have any measurable form of righteous anger. In order to do so, we must be angry about sin, sin itself, not the center, not even about the damage that it does. Now that becomes a very difficult thing for us because when we become emotional, which always comes along with our anger, our emotions expose how we are tainted with sin, how we desire to act or overreact. And that's the reason why Paul says in your anger, sin not. Why? Because the potential for harm is great. In our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount, he took special pains to help us understand that, that the anger, that the thoughts in our mind are incredibly dangerous. Because he says, you have been told, it has been declared that it is wrong to commit murder. But I would tell you that anyone who desires to kill someone in their mind and their heart is guilty of such. And that you and I should be careful, should be on guard. And to suggest that anyone whose life is controlled by such anger is now tantamount to asking the question, are they really redeemed? You see, there's one thing for us to be caught up in anger, in our emotions. It is another to be controlled by it. It is another to be habitual in it, to be consumed by it, to let it carry us for lengthy periods of time. Imagine the picture, a life that is controlled by anger, a church filled with angry people. Can this not anything but answer the question here of what would grieve the Holy Spirit? Because Paul concludes that someone who is sinning in their anger is actually giving place to the devil. It's giving a resting place. He's giving a home, if you will, giving an opportunity to be there. And there's no question. There's no doubt when, when anger controls us and keeps us and holds us in our actions and in our thoughts, if we do not deal with it and deal with it quickly, then the danger there is of great pain. First and foremost, sin against God, which means it is a sin against the Holy spirit, grieving him and doing damage to the body of Christ, the church of Jesus Christ. So we must deal with our anger. You say, but pastor in my mind, in my heart, I know I'm right. It's got nothing to do with being right. Has everything to do with being controlled by your anger. I have been wronged. I have been harmed. Amen. But it's got nothing to do with that. You see, Paul is acknowledged even here that there's an opportunity. to have a position of being angry, even a righteous anger. However, he says, sin not. Now, when do we sin? We sin when it becomes about us rather than about God. When we turn it within, when we turn it within us and make it against us, then now we're heading down that slippery slope and giving place to the devil because Satan is perfectly at home with the idea of you and I desiring to protect only ourselves when God has called us to honor and glorify and make precious him and his truth in our lives. Such that he tells us that we're to deal with this anger. Verse 28, a life of sharing, as opposed to a life of stealing. It would seem that we wouldn't have to explain this, but I fear that in the actions of our life, we need to explain it over and over again, both outside the church and inside the church. Let him that stole still 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 needed. There's a fascinating idea here. In God's economy, God desires that you work, that you labor. God is perfectly fine with blessing you materially. In fact, he says, whatever you do, do it heartily unto the Lord. But the emphasis here is different. Are we accumulating just for us to consume? No. In fact, God desires that you accumulate, that you make wealth with a desire towards sharing it. Now, this isn't communism or socialism. It's not an idea where someone holds a gun to you and says, give it. Instead, it's the desire that someone in their knowledge of the Lord recognizes that all they possess, all that has been given them, even after it has seemingly at the result of their hard work and labor is in fact, still a gift of God and a gift of God to share. On the flip side of that is theft. We live in a society and a world that's been documented time and time again that is one of thievery and that is one of stealing. There have been numerous studies, some of them several years old and even more modern. When you examine the department stores and the retail chains, when they begin to assess the billions of dollars that are lost in inventory each year, you know how they account for the vast majority of it being gone? It has been stolen, not by shoplifters, but by their own employees. I remarked just the other day reading an article where some employee was speaking about the idea of striking and the idea of doing such things and accounting for the disparity they felt was in their job. And they simply said, we are to get our share. I have no doubt that many of those people who stole from their employers thought the same thing. that they were not being paid well enough, they weren't being cared for. For goodness sakes, Paul addressed this issue in Ephesians in a time in Asia Minor when slavery was absolutely commonplace. When there must have been story after story of slaves not provided for, not cared for, no doubt tempted to steal from their masters, tempted to steal from others for the sake of caring for themselves and family. And yet in the face of all of this, the Apostle Paul says, As a believer, do not steal. For it grieves the Holy Spirit. Now, the people of our environment and our culture would say this is absolute cruelty because we have a measure of rationalizing and justifying in our community this day. If somebody were to steal from someone and they were poor, impoverished, needed to feed their family, there's a vast number of people, Christians included, who would say, you know what, I don't blame the guy. He was desperate. And someone say, but he had a need, he was physically deprived, I understand that my heart is moved by it. There's no question. There's opportunity for somebody to minister him, but yet God still remains and says there's no justification for it and says, don't steal. Now, that's tough. But the scripture gives us illustrations of it over and over again. We look at the, uh, at the message of the Macedonian church that Paul spoke of a Macedonian congregation that was impoverished, that did not have material wealth. And he, and he, he boasted of their faithfulness into the fact that they gave all that they could give. They didn't let that hold them back. They gave of what they had. They sacrificially gave. It's not a measure of whether you've got it to spare. It's not a measure of your place of desperation. God's call to obedience is one that is absolute. It is a truth. I say, Pastor, are you telling me you've never failed? No, absolutely not. I'm not telling you that. I failed many times over, but it doesn't take away from the truth of what God's word demands of me not to do it. And to know that when I do carry that out, when I do stumble, when I do fall, that I have grieved the Holy Spirit. I have brought pain to him and I've brought harm to the body of Christ. And for that, I ought to be convicted, I ought to be sensitive to, and I ought to want to turn immediately and be grieved myself. See, my friend, it's not a question of whether you will sin or whether you have sin. It's a question of how you deal with that sin. It is one thing to be broken and come before God and ask his forgiveness for you realize that you failed and you brought hurt to him. It's another if we were to act like the world and suggested that there's some rationalization and justification that says, hey, you can't hold this against me because of the circumstances of my life. Number one, my friend, it's not about me holding against anything against you. Some of some will say after a message like this, Pastor, you went to meddling today. Jokingly, and I know it and love, I accept it that way. Well, I'm going to have to one up you today. I'm not meddling in your life. God is. And the word says he's got every right to. A life of sharing, not stealing a life in which we do everything we can to avoid what is described here in God's word of destructive or corrupt communication or talk. It says in 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. Wow. Well, how are we going to define this? There seems to be no other idea of defining it as such as to avoid speech that in effect runs others down and in fact, delights in their weaknesses. There's no joke in our lifestyle that says it's not gossip if we're telling the truth. But the truthfulness is really not the point here that Paul's addressing. He's addressing, is it a matter of edifying or is it a matter of demeaning, of destroying? Instead, the Bible says our speech, as he put it in Colossians chapter four and verse six, should be full of grace and seasoned with salt. Now, let's take those words for a moment. The idea that it is full of grace means that it's full of unmerited favor. Isn't that the definition of grace? So that means as we speak, we are to err on the side of grace. And the idea of being seasoned with salt is the idea of preserving, caring for, restoring, or keeping something. in effect, have the influence on whatever it's applied to. And that influence being a positive one. Now, when we think of all these things put into a proper perspective, it's easy to turn to the last three verses here, again, of what Paul is telling us and recognize that not only is it a summary, but it's a summarizing command. He says, Grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby you're sealed, unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake have forgiven you." And so we are told, in effect, by the list that Paul gives us, that every day Every day as we make the effort, as we look to God's Word and are reminded that we are no longer the old man, we are now the new man. Then we resist. We resist putting on the clothes of our sin. We resist putting on the clothes of our old life and instead, by God's Word, seek to put on the new man. In effect, what Paul is saying here by the list he gives us beginning here in verse 30, Notice what he said, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away with all malice. In other words, he knows it's all there. What Paul is saying is every day we've got to make an effort to change out to exchange. If you will turn from what is natural to what is supernatural. To what is condemned to the flesh, to that which is of the spirit. Now that's no easy task. But it is the demand of God's Word. And notice the standard that he places here. He says, And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Notice the standard. Even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Let's be reminded of Romans chapter 5 and verse 8 where the Bible says, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He would say two verses over. In verse 10, 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. In Paul's letter to the church at Colossae, some stirring and some very familiar words. If ye then, being risen with Christ, seek those things, which are above where Christ said it on the right hand of God, set your affection on things above, not on things on earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. Mortify, or put to death, therefore, your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. In other words, these actions are associated with those who do not know God. and are suitable for the children of disobedience, not the children of God in the, which you also walk sometime when you lived in them. But now you also put up all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew. circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian bond, nor free, but Christ is all and in all put on. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering for bearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against he, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things, put on charity or love, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body. And be you thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. By the way, that's That's worship. And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the father by him. Now, when scripture commands us to do whatever we do in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, there's a moment here of accountability after we have lied. After we have acted sinfully in anger, after nothing less than corrupt communication has come out of our mouth, can we then honestly say, I'm doing this in the name of the Lord? That would seem ridiculous, wouldn't it? And yet that is the ultimatum, isn't it? That is the challenge. That being able to say what we have done, we have done in the name of the Lord because we have done so with the desire to do what? To honor Him. To honor the Holy Spirit and not grieve him to act in a manner in which he has taught us a matter in which he has shown us in his word, as opposed to being defiant. And thus we come to understand what Paul is saying here. Thus, we come to understand when the scripture says, do not let the sun set upon your wrath. You see, it's not supposing that you're not going to be angry. It's not supposing that you're not going to be guilty of deceit. It's not supposing that you're not going to say something that is less than honorable, less than edifying. It says that when that occurs, deal with it and deal with it quickly. It's a matter of urgency. Why? Because the Word of God says that when we allow anger, when we allow these things to remain undealt with, we've given place to Satan in our lives and in the life of the church itself. All these are challenging words, challenging words for each and every one of us. They hurt each and every one of us, don't they? I don't know about you. They hurt my feelings. They strike me emotionally because the Holy Spirit dwells within me. And when I read these words, I hurt because I am offended at these words. You say you're offended, yes. I'm offended at the truth of them. And my guilt in the face of them. Now, the question is a you and I are believers to stay. How do we react to this message? How to react to this word, to this text? Now we can say, oh my goodness, aren't we all guilty of that? And then somehow find consolation that there's misery in numbers and walk out the door and say, wow, tough stuff. We all ought to do better. Or do we as every individual child of God and believer Let these words truly slap us in the face individually and say, Oh, me. Lord, forgive me, for I have sinned against you. I have brought harm to the body of Christ. But there is no compelling reason, there is no human excuse that I can bring before you that is able to excuse my sin. Lord, help me not grieve the Holy Spirit. Help me put away these things. And notice what he said with malice, with determination. Lord, help me be kinder, more tenderhearted, more forgiving of those around me. Help me remember. Just how ugly, sinful and corrupt I was when you forgave me. It is no easy task, and yet it is the task that God has given us. For this same Heavenly Father, through His love, mercy, and grace, who has so gloriously saved us, set us aside before the very foundation of the earth, the one who calls us the elect, the one who calls us His children, the one whom Jesus cries, that all whom the Father has given me, I'll not lose a one, the one whom Jesus declares in John chapter 10, that we are in His hand, and there is no power, no entity, including ourselves, that can take us out. And that same Lord says, Now you walk worthy. Obey my commands. Give evidence. Give evidence, not to me. But to the world and to the church. Of the saving work that has been done in your heart and your life. Stand with me as Terry comes with a song invitation.