If you have your Bible, would you open it to Ephesians chapter 4? Lord willing, we are going to try to finish chapter 4 today. I really wanted to be done with Ephesians before Christmas, but that ain't happening. I mean, it's just not going to... When did we start Ephesians? Does anybody have a June when? June the 2nd. Wow. Well, we're blazing through this. I covered two verses on the first... Wow. I'm impressed I got two verses out on Ephesians 1. Wow. Okay. Oh, 20-24. Okay. Well, let's go to the Lord and ask Him to help us. Help us. Lord, we humbly come to you and confess openly that there's nowhere else for us to go. Lord, for us to rely upon our own strength and our own wisdom, our own intellect. Oh, how it fails us so many times, Lord. and should remind us of our great need, our need for our Savior, our need for You to come and just overwhelm us and to not leave us to ourselves, to help us. Lord, thank You for Your Word. and for the Spirit that comes alongside the Word. Lord, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit. Lord, You know every heart that's here this morning, everything that we're facing in life, nothing is hidden to You. You know all the troubles, all the burdens, the struggles, the joys, Lord, would You speak to us this morning, not because we've done anything, not even because we've come here, but simply because we're Yours and You're pouring Your grace out upon us. Speak to us. Grant us repentance. As Sonny said and prayed earlier, Lord, we can't even repent without Your help. Help us, Lord, we pray. Show us. Help us to see You high and lifted up. May we see You and You alone. Change us, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Cheyenne, those kids are not bothering me. Okay? Don't worry. If he runs, let him run. Where is he going to go? Right? Amen? Don't worry about those young'uns. What a blessing. Thank you for coming. It wasn't too long ago when you were that little and sitting in a pew, but you weren't that sweet. She's a lot sweeter than you. Well, I'll grade her after the sermon. How's that? Don't let her fool you? Okay. Alright. Alright. What a blessing. Okay, Ephesians. Let's jump into this. So we are now at this point in verse 25, if you have your notes from the back. It's really a simple title, the practical changes which happen with this new life. As we've entered into chapter 4, we've gotten to basically, if you remember, we're in the exam of our lives. He's testing us. And the Apostle Paul is telling us, are we worthy of the calling? And what this looks like, and what it means to walk in Christ, and he's teaching us these great truths practically. And so if you remember, from two weeks ago that we were talking about putting off the old man and putting on the new man. and we talked about the emperor's new clothes, and we discussed what this was like spiritually, and how the church is weak today in America, because we're not speaking the truth in love, and we're not sharing the truth, and holding each other accountable, and it's like we go around and say, oh yeah, you're so wonderful, all of these things, and it's the emperor's new clothes all over again. So when we get to verse 25, right here, the very first word, some of your versions may say therefore, some may say wherefore, but he's including all of this whole chapter. Chapter 4. He's saying, okay, now because we've covered all of this, we are now going to give you some instructions, some principles to lay forth in these verses, Lord willing that we get through them today. So, Christians, in principle, We have put off the old man. And in principle, we have put on the new man at conversion, which is called justification. In this being justified, it's a part of this great plan of salvation. It's what we call as when many people say, are you saved? What they're really saying in the South theologically are you justified before God Almighty? Hold your fingers right here and turn to 2 Corinthians 5, a verse that you should know. It's a verse that was one of our memory verses a couple of years ago. I'm not going to test you, although I should call on one of you. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says this, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is what?" Do you remember? A new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. This is talking about the act of justification. So, when we get to these verses, this passage that we're looking at this morning, The principle, the practical principle is, yes, you have put off the old. Yes, as a believer in Christ, you have put on the new. But what is true already in principle, it needs to be worked out and made reality in the practical sense. which is what we refer to as sanctification. Being sanctified. Now the confusion between being justified and sanctified is what has caused a lot of doctrinal error in the church. Not understanding these two principles. and not understanding when you get to what it means by being saved, or you have been saved when you read Scripture, and not understanding these points, brings a lot of confusion and wrong, false doctrines. And so, this principle that has already happened, meaning we are justified, we are a new person, a new man, and it's what Paul has been writing about, but he's now saying, okay, let's make this principle that is a reality, let's have it worked out in our practices. Let's talk about sanctification, right? I know you guys are way excited about this, right? This is part of the test that we are going to fail. You're going to get a bad mark on this, but it's part of the test that you should be encouraged in Christ to repent and walk anew. This new life which is imparted to us at conversion, this new life that the Lord has given us, must be cultivated. You need to learn as a believer in Christ, you need to learn how to die to yourself. how to die to your fleshly wants, how to die to the things of this world, and to live more and more and more for Christ. Listen, holiness is not this mystical, emotional experience. It's not something that you come to church and you get emotionally whipped up and moved and then you know that you've been touched and you leave. That is not what holiness is. Holiness is when you experience the Lord's truth and you are able to go out and live in a fallen world. and live before all man and God rightly. We don't live in a spiritual, sterile vacuum. We live in a fallen world. of fallen creation. Matter of fact, Scripture says that everything has fallen. It's not just man, it's creation. All of creation is groaning for the Savior. We don't live in this sterile vacuum that we go, okay, I'm saved, I love Jesus, I've been baptized, and now, oh, I can't handle this temptation. Let's take the principle of justification and let's learn how to practice what the Lord has done in our hearts, right? Which is working out salvation in our sanctification. This new life, that Paul is begging us. He has been begging us in this letter to walk. Just look. Y'all turn to verse 1 in this chapter. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Please walk worthy of this calling that the Lord has done in your life. Please do this. This calling that Paul has done, remember, You know, this was a church with Gentiles and Jews mixed, and it was in Ephesus. I mean, a thriving metropolis. And I mean, He was begging them to walk accordingly. And in this list that He gives us, in these verses that we're about to look at, There's three things that we need to take note of before we start dicing it up. One is, each of the points that he makes concerns our relationships in this world. Each of them. It's not just our relationship with him. It reflects our relationship with the Lord. But it's directly related to all of our relationships, whether with believers or non-believers. It relates to every relationship in the world. Number two, each of these points show the transformation from old to new. Each point that we're going to look at today, you will clearly see that there is a change from the old to the new. And three, each example that's given here, if you look at the construction of it, Paul isn't really saying, well, I want you to try to do this. He's not making a suggestion here. It's a command, basically. So in these verses, Paul gives us examples of classic sins, classic stuff, that every one of us struggle with. And he's saying, listen, you're going to be able to see these transformations and all of these things we struggle with. And so he's using these examples to help us. Paul is giving us clear practical examples that we should look at and view and examine. And have we taken off the rags that he took off? And are we living in the robe that he has put on? The rags that He took off, and are you living with the robe that He's put on? If you've ever read Spurgeon's sermon, The Robe, or if you haven't, you need to spend time, look it up and read it. That's really in a way where this thought has come from. The outline that I have used is really a pretty common outline. I've, of course, tweaked it a little bit here and there. But it's really a common breakdown of this passage for hundreds of years. And so, we see these points that he's laying out. and is really showing us a drastic contrast of really how it should be in every believer's life. Right? We were once like this and now we're like this. And he means for it to be a drastic example and a drastic contrast. And he means for it to be from rags to robes. So, I'm going to read it as a whole. And then we're going to take it point by point. Follow along with me, starting with verse 25. It says this, Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one body. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who is in need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." All right, point number one. From lying to speaking the truth. Verse 25. Therefore put away lying. Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one body." Some of your translations may have one another, which means the body of Christ. He's referring to the body of Christ. Not the visible church. The invisible church. The real body. This seems easy enough. Right? Stop lying. Right? That's simple? Check. Okay, I'm not going to lie. It seems so easy, but somehow we still get caught in the snare way too often. Amen? Lying must be put out of a believer's life. And in its place, as Scripture says here, truth needs to be put in its place. Truth needs to be cultivated. It needs to be nurtured. It needs to be protected. These are the things that... So you work at stop lying and telling the truth, and in this picture or this structure here, it's a work that you have to do. It's not just saying, okay, I'm going to stop lying. It's saying, put the truth in place of that. So, real quickly, how are you going to know the truth? Right here. But you won't know it unless you spend time in it. You've got to cultivate this. You have to work at this. This is not just some passive, okay, I'm going to stop doing this. Paul's saying, you have to stop doing this and you have to do this. Why is that? Why is He telling you you have to replace it with the truth? Because He knows who we are, how we are. It's so easy to slide back in this. This word lying, just so you can understand, it's a specific word in the Greek that Paul uses. And I want you to know that it includes every type of deception. Meaning, if you know the truth and you're allowing somebody else to believe something that's not true, that's lying. Exaggerating. Let me tell you this, Southerners. Flattery. Making excuses. Do you know that? Making excuse when you should be doing something, that's a lie. This word is very specific, and Paul uses it for a reason. It's seen as just all around us, right? Don't we see dishonesty all around us? Look at the relationships, marital relationships. Husbands not being truthful to their wives. Wives not being truthful to their husbands. That's wrong. It's against God. And Paul's saying, stop this and replace it with the truth. Work and cultivate this. How about unscrupulous business practices? And I don't even want to get into all the corruption and deceit amongst leaders. Right? Listen to me. Lying is a practice of the lost. Thank you. Matter of fact, it even really goes beyond that. Lying is a sign of unbelief. John 8, verse 44. You guys all know that verse. You don't know it by memory, but you know the verse. It's when Jesus says that your Father is the Father of all lies. He says, you are like your father, Satan, who is the father of lies. So when we participate in this lying, you are exhibiting signs of unbelief. But he goes further in this verse. Instead of lying, the Christian is to speak truth. And he's to work on this and to try and to do this all the time, no matter how difficult it may be, speak the truth. What if you've been given a position of authority and you don't speak the truth? Like, let me give you an example. Dads. When you see your children that you love dearly, and you know that what they're doing, and how they're doing it, and what they're saying, and how they're living, and you don't go to them broken hearted, I'm sure if you're like me, sometimes fired up mad, which we're going to get to that in just a minute. But if God has placed you in a position of authority, like a mother or a father, maybe you own a business, maybe you have people underneath you, and you don't speak the truth to them, you are lying. Even though you may love your children and say, you have to understand what you're doing and how you're living, this is the life of an unbeliever. That's hard work, isn't it? and to do that rightly with a broken heart in grace and do it with the right emphasis to say, child, you don't know what's best for you, even grown children. I'm tired of hearing all this stuff. Well, they're 18. Listen to that statement. Well, they're 18. I don't know if God gives a child a brain until they're about 25. Sometimes longer than that. But you know, this is what I'm saying. You know, it doesn't matter the age of the child. If you are in that position that God has given you, speak the truth in love. Do it rightly, lovingly, brokenly, humbly. And yeah, it's hard work. Part of our motivation for this, and you may have never seen this, if you look in verse 25, it says, for we are members of one body. Let me explain to you what Paul is saying. Part of the motivation to help you live this, to put away lying, which means not saying things sometimes is even lying. and putting away lying, and cultivating truth, and learning how to speak the truth, and learning how to do this. Part of the motivation to help you do this is that we're all part of one body. Do you know what, Paul? Do you understand what Paul is saying here? Listen, he's saying this. Believers, your lying affects A. or reflex on all of us. If you're known to be like this, let me just give you an example. And you're part of New Hope Baptist Church, what do you think the other people in the world think that's out there? They go, well, you know how he is. Hey, guess where he goes to church? How does that reflect on a marriage? Husband? Wife? How do you think that reflects on your marriage? You may not be the liar, but how does it reflect? Why is that? Why does it reflect back? Because you're one flesh. We're in one community. So let me ask you this, the bigger picture, how does it reflect on Christianity? When the world sees us as a bunch of liars, what does that do with all these false teachers that get up and preach the gospel and they live like Hades? How does that look to unbelievers? No, why would they want to listen to us? And when we say, this is the truth, this is the truth, but we live a life of lies. Do you understand? So Paul is saying, this matters. It matters because it affects other believers. It reflects on us. I remember telling my children as they grew up, Calvin was a scoundrel. And I remember saying to him a thousand times, son, this right here reflects on the rest of your siblings. Right? We're interconnected. It should motivate us. Now let's get to another hard one. Do y'all need a break? There's a safe place. Let me tell you where it is. If you walk out this building and get in your car and go out of the parking lot and go home, that's your safe place. All right, just kidding. Y'all didn't laugh. All right, 26 and 27. It says this, I'm not going to get through this, I don't think. 26 and 27, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. So we go from unrighteous anger to righteous anger. There is a place, if you look at the construction here, there is a place for anger in the Christian life. Look at it. It says, be angry, right? But don't sin. So we can say, oh yeah, it's righteous anger. And you know, we use that and hold on to that because that is true. But I'm about to help you knit this up together, sew it up together. I want to turn to a pat because everybody goes, oh yeah, righteous anger. It's when Jesus flipped over the tables and that was it. I mean, I remember as a new believer in Christ, When I read that, I was like, wait a minute. I thought Jesus was like this nice, really calm person, and He's flipping over tables and making a whip? A whip? I was like, I'm in trouble! Let me give you another verse. You've read it and probably never really made note of it. Turn to Mark chapter 3 real quick. Y'all got to hurry now. Mark 3. If we're going to get through this list, Mark 3 verse 5 says this. I still hear pages. And when he had looked around, at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to them, He said to the man, stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Jesus healed this man, and they were calling Him evil for doing it. And Jesus looked around at the hardness of their hearts, and it made Him angry. There's a place for anger. It's not the momentary outrage, boiling over rage. That's not biblical anger. It's not the seething or the resentment. That's not biblical anger. Biblical anger is this deep-seated truth that is determined and set in your heart that when unrighteousness comes against it, you know it and it hurts. It buffets against. It ignites. And yeah, even sometimes into anger. But there's some things that we need to look at here. In the Greek of this word, it's a permissive imperative. When it says, be angry, it is in a way a command, but it's a permissive imperative. Instead of just saying, okay, be angry, what it says is that you may be angry. You could be angry. It depends on the circumstances of what you're being angry about. So often when parents discipline children, they, and I've said this a thousand times, parents discipline children out of their own inconvenience. That's selfish. You're supposed to discipline children not based upon your own righteousness and what puts you out or in, but upon God's righteousness. When God says something's wrong, daddy needs to say something's wrong, right? When God says something's wrong, mama needs to say it's wrong. And when there's punishment in a child's life, it needs to be because a dad looks at his son and says, You did this. It's wrong against God. If daddy doesn't punish you, then now I am wrong against God. And it makes both of us wrong against God. You would be shocked how many of those conversations, and my kids were like, well dad, I don't want you to be wrong. Right? But we so often, when we have places of authority that God places us in, not that we work and we want and we desire, but God places us there, when we have those places of authority and we abuse that, no wonder children don't know what's right and wrong. Because a mom and dad will say, yeah, yeah, you can do this. And then, you know, because we're torn up inside and going, we go, no, okay, you can do it. Because we're wishy-washy. But if we say, son, you're a knucklehead. This is wrong and I'm sorry, but if I don't discipline you, dad's now wrong. This is against God. And so you see righteous anger and you may go, how does this go about? Well, it says that it's a permissive imperative. You may be angry. And it gives two qualifiers here with your anger. He says, okay, you may be angry if it's against me, and I'm giving you two qualifiers. Here they are. Write them down. Here they are. Number one, it must be guarded so that it doesn't pass into sin. Anger that is selfish, vindictive, undisciplined, explosive, all of these things, this is always sin. And even if it starts, this is where I fail the test. Even if it starts out as righteous indignation, it slides into sin. Because it may start, and listen, even the best motives sour, right? So Paul is saying, don't let that happen. You may be right. It may be right to be upset about this, but don't let it slide into this explosive, undisciplined anger. That's the first thing. The second thing is this. Anger must not be cherished. It must not be held on to. He says, don't sleep on it. Meaning, basically, the practical thing is, he's saying, don't let it go on. Don't sleep on it. So the two qualifiers, really, he's saying, okay, you can be angry about things that are against me and this, but you have got to have two qualifiers here. And he lays it out. We must be careful with our anger. Right? Listen, anger is a great motivator. Did you know that? Oh boy. Boy, it'll plow a field in a New York minute. Serious. You get me fired up enough and I'll work all day. Anger is a great motivator. and it's a doorway for evil. Anger has a lot of power and it needs to be handled carefully is what Paul is saying. Anger that is not speedily dealt with soon takes deep roots in the heart. And that is when Satan gains a foothold, right? I want you to turn to Romans. Romans 12. Verse 17. I'm going to read verse 17 through 21. We need to get this. So we need to come back and revisit this. So 17 through 21, look at what it says. You guys know this. Y'all have read this. How many times? Look at it. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. if it is possible as much as it depends on you." So that's something that he's saying you've got to try. This is a part where you're working at it. Okay? As much as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves. but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him drink. For in so doing, you will heap coals of fire on his head." Just so you know, that doesn't mean you go around going, hey, we got to do this, and when we do this, it's going to heap coals on him. You've missed it. Okay? He's saying, really do this and let God deal with it. All right, verse 21. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Amen? 2 Corinthians. I want you to turn to another passage. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians 2. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 10. Verse 10 and 11. Now this is a situation where they're dealing with sin in the body of Christ, and Paul comes down to this and he says this with them. He's writing this in the letter to the church in Corinth, and it says this in verse 10, "'Now, whom you forgive anything, I also will forgive.' For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sake in the presence of Christ." Verse 11, "...lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices." What Paul is saying is that when you let anger fester, And you don't do what you're supposed to. You're opening the door to demonic attacks. That's exactly what Paul is saying about Satan. When he's saying, be angry and sin not, that statement is so loaded. And he's saying, you need to wield this power rightly, correctly. And do you know who does this? Spiritual people. Mature spiritual people can deal rightly with this. Now I'm not saying all the time. And I will be the first one to tell you, your pastor turns green sometimes. Do you all get that? The hawk, if you don't. Okay? And there are times that I have to go to my children and say, I am sorry. But it's important for us to understand this. So, if anger does overcome us, which it will, because we're not perfect, and because it has the tendency to fester and grow and become a fire out of control, that's why Paul says, you need to deal with this quick. That's what he's saying. He's saying it's powerful, it will move you beyond belief, You need to make sure it's godly, and you need to deal with it quickly. That's loaded, isn't it? I think we could all say here that we all have a problem, right? Just in the first two. Just in the first two. I hate to tell you this, but we have like six more. but you're going to have to come back next Sunday. Because there's no way I'm going to try to fit the rest. But I think lying and anger are loaded enough for us. Amen? So with that said, I didn't finish chapter 4. and come back so we can finish chapter 4. Maybe we can get through chapter 4 before Christmas. I'm talking about the Christmas season, y'all. Angie's over there going, Lord, what Christmas? Two Sundays, right. We have two Sundays, and Phillip is going to be dressed up and ready to preach, and then we go into the holiday season. So, hopefully I have two Sundays to finish chapter 4. I was even telling Beth this morning, I was like, honey, pray for me, because I've got two Sundays that I've got to finish. We've got to close this up. But I pray that the Lord has blessed you and you are growing in your faith, and you're being challenged, and you're understanding His Word more and more, and you're understanding how God wants you to live in this world and in your family, and that you are being equipped to walk like you should. Amen? That's what this is all about. It is not a game. It is not a game. I'm going to close with a benediction. 2 Thessalonians 5, it says this, Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you. Amen. you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus. He who calls you is faithful who also will do it. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, thank You for this time in Your Word that it's powerful, but it slices to the bone. Lord, You know every life here. You know every circumstance around us. Lord, these two things that we discuss today and look at, they are mountains in our lives. Help us to handle them rightly before You. to not play with these things, to deal rightly with them. And you will do what's right for your honor and for your glory. Lord, you will do these things. Thank you for your grace. Lord, we need it. We need you to do this in our lives. Please, God, don't leave us to ourselves. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.