I realize that having a substantial lunch and then coming here on a warm summer afternoon may be a little difficult for everybody to be totally alert, but I'll try to be considerate of the time and certainly hope that I can have an interest in your prayers. We certainly believe that it is necessary to constantly set forth the fundamental principles of the doctrine, both instructing God's people in the truth of sovereign grace, and we trust by the enabling grace of the Spirit to bring the comfort of that truth to speak comfortably to Jerusalem, crying to her that her warfare is accomplished. And I do not agree with statements that I have heard from time to time among our people to say that the problem with Old Baptist today is that they have heard too much grace and that consequently grace has put them to sleep. I think that there are some primitive Baptists who are at ease in Zion, asleep if you please, but I don't think grace got them in that shape. Grace properly preached and understood will enliven God's people, will stir them, stimulate them, motivate them to serve and enthusiastically serve the Lord, because grace not only is a truth to believe, it is something that we experience on a daily basis, and grace is necessary in the pursuit of every spiritual undertaking if it's going to be accomplished in a proper way. And so grace must continually be proclaimed for the enlightenment and comfort and edification of the Lord's people in his church. But grace never leaves us to sit idly by as though there is nothing to be done. We come to the understanding that as far as our home in heaven is concerned, there is not one thing that we can do or have done or that anybody can do for us or that we can do for anybody else, because those arrangements are entirely by God's grace. he having purpose to save his people before time began. Therefore, it was before man had any being in himself and can lay no claim to any merit or effort on his part. The redemptive work took place at the cross long before any of us traveled on this earth. We can take no credit as to participating in what has been accomplished with respect to redemption. The whole matter from start to finish is by grace, and we rejoice again and again to sing, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. What a wonderful truth that doesn't grow old. It's new and encouraging and stimulating to us all along the way. But we learn that this grace of God hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously in this present evil world. Grace is a teacher. Grace teaches us something. There's a lesson to be learned. There's an application to be made from the principles of grace in our life. And I feel like it's that aspect of the gospel that is needed very much in the life of so many of us today, that we may not be confused about how we ought to live and how we ought to serve God. And we find the scriptures to be very specific in those matters, to give us instruction that concerns everyday living, how we get along at home, how we get along in our community, how we're to avoid the ungodliness of the world around us, how we're to deal with one another on a godly basis and try to maintain peace and order in the Lord's Church. Some would make this a very complex situation, but God's Word is quite direct and simple, and if we just follow the guidance and instruction that is there, we'll have all the information that's necessary in His Word. With these thoughts in mind, I want us to look for a few moments at the fourth chapter of the Book of Ephesians, where after the Apostle has set forth so clearly the truth of salvation by grace in some of these preceding chapters, He's speaking in this fourth chapter of the gifts that are put in the church and says that they are there, in verse 12, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Verse 14 says that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine, but the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things which the head even Christ. Having said all of this, established what the gifts in the Church are here to accomplish, not to make children of God, but to instruct God's children that they're not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, he then comes to the admonitions that are very specific and says, therefore, in verse 22, that he put off concerning the former conversation, the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and through holiness. I'm afraid that all of us as ministers of the gospel have many times been too vague as we have attempted to preach on practical things. We talk in very general terms and yet we find the scriptures to speak rather specifically. to give us lessons that we can take home with us, that we can apply to the realities of life. not only tell us in a general way that we ought to live righteously, but deals with specific sins that we ought to avoid and with specific things that we ought to add to our life as far as the proper attitude and conduct and the way we treat other people and the way we live together. And so it is in this regard that the Apostle begins to enlighten the Church on this matter and to deal with such things in a very definite way. It's interesting to see, both here in the Ephesian letter and several others of the writings of the apostle, how there are two things always brought into focus. On one hand, he says, to put off concerning the former conversation. On the other, he says, put on the new man. Both aspects of these truths are necessary in order for us to have the proper balance and understanding of what we're supposed to do. Now, you'll find some who will spend all their time telling you what to put off, and they're constantly negative, and they preach about everything that's wrong, and everything that is set forth is always against something. Always against them and it seems like there's a tendency when we're against something we become rather Boisterous in our manner and trying to get the point across in a way that sometimes gives people the wrong impression You ever notice when little children? Play church and they will do that if they go to church very often they'll play church from time to time and you can learn a lot about their impression just by watching And a little boy will get up and say he's going to be the preacher. And he'll get up there and just wave his arms and hit the stand and stomp and just scream like he's mad sometimes. How terrible that we've gotten the impression that preaching is when a man really gets up there and sounds like he's mad. And then you watch that little girl and she'll take her doll and take it out and just beat the stuffens out of it because to her that's what going to church is. We hope that in our preaching, even when we have to take a firm, bold stand about something, that we're not always on the negative side. There's some negative aspects, too, as the apostle here clearly indicates. But if everything's negative, you'll have a big void and nothing to fill it up. Paul gives you something positive. Here's what you're to replace these things with. Get rid of some things, but put some better things in their place. Put off concerning the former conversation. Quit doing some things that you've been doing. Change your ways. Repent. Give up your ungodly practices. But at the same time, put on the new man. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on this new man. You say, I read that and that's simple enough, but how am I going to do that, Preacher? I don't know exactly all that's involved in that. Specifically, what am I going to put off? Tell me exactly what it is I'm going to put on. Well, Paul goes on to deal with some of these matters. He says, wherefore put away lying, speak every man the truth. There's the negative side. Paul was against lying. He quit lying. Just don't tell something if it isn't so. And as it is with so many things in life, Satan is very enticing and deceptive in the way that he moves upon us and leads us into evil and error. And it may be that a person doesn't just sit down and plan that they're going to tell a lie. They start out by embellishing the truth. They tell part of what's so, but they leave part of it off and leave the wrong impression. They'll add a little bit to the situation. And after a time, that's been so effective that they finally begin to just tell blatant lies. And you've been around some people, perhaps, who have been in such a habit of telling things that are not so, they don't even flinch when they tell it, even when they're telling it. They know it's not so, and you know it's not so, but they'll stand there and look you right in the eye. You know, you hear the old time saying, if somebody can't look you in the eye, there's something wrong there. Some people look you square in the eye and lie to you. Doesn't bother them a bit. Now, the apostle says to quit lying, quit shading the truth, quit stopping short, just tell the truth. Put away lying. And the way to put away lying, put off lying, is to put on telling the truth. Speak every man the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. God's people should have such a reputation that their word can be relied upon. If they tell you something, that's the way it is. They mean what they say. Let your yea be yea and your nay be nay. You don't have to swear. It says, swear not at all. But if you say something, mean it. Make that the truth. Put away lying. Quit shading the truth. Quit adding to it. Quit taking away from it. There's the negative thing. Positively speak the truth. Speak that which is right with your neighbor. For we are members one of another. And secondly, it says, be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. The apostle seems to acknowledge here that there are going to be times we'll get angry. There'll be times you'll just, you'll get mad. You might sit here this afternoon and say, well, I just believe I'm going to control that. I don't believe I'm going to get mad anymore. And you may get mad driving home from church. You come down here Saturday afternoon in your little town, And could be that somebody gets in front of you, and the light changes, and they're not in the mind to move, and right about the time they're supposed to be going, somebody opens the back door and gets out, and you miss a couple of turns of the light, and before you know it, you're mad, and you're blasting on that horn, and you're... if you're not saying it, you're thinking some unkind things about them. You've just plain old gotten mad. Well, it doesn't take much to get this old flesh stirred up. Paul acknowledges there are going to be times that you're going to get angry. But he says, sin not. Deal with the matter. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Deal with it today. Get over it today. Now, you can get angry, then, at somebody out here in the world that you've never met. You don't know their name, but they've irritated you. They didn't go when the light turned. They drove slow in front of you when you were in a hurry. You were late going to work. You were late going to church. And they wouldn't move. They wouldn't get out of your way. And everything was going wrong and you were mad. But I'll tell you, if those people out there that you don't even know by name can make you mad, think about how people you do know can make you mad. Some of the ones that can make you mad the quickest are the ones you're the closest to. You may never have your wife get you mad. She just said something that struck you wrong and you decided that she was so unreasonable and overbearing and you might have been able to take that from somebody else, but due to the fact your wife said it, you were mad. And you women know good and well you've been mad at your husband a time or two. When you have told him repeatedly not to leave things laying on the floor, not to lay things down where they're not supposed to be, to put them back where they belong, and you've been trying to train him for 25 years, and you've about reached the point you've decided he's untrainable, and you get angry and say, how many times do I have to tell you this? I need your help around this house. People that you're close to, you get mad, you get angry at your children. Children get angry at their parents. This is just the real situation of life. We can make all kinds of pretense as though we've reached some higher plane and we're not troubled with this sort of situation, but the Apostle John said that the one that claims that he's without sin is a liar and the truth isn't in him. There are times that just in the normal course of life we're going to become angry. But Paul says, let not the sun go down upon your raft. If you get angry, get over it. Settle it today. Today. Think about that person who's gotten angry at at least a half a dozen people in one day's time, and he refuses to get over it, refuses to deal with the matter, and he goes to bed that night mad at six people. And he gets up the next morning and he's got to review his list to remember who he's mad at from yesterday. And then he adds six more people to it that day, and adds some more to it that day. Think about what a list he's got 25 years later. And indeed, there are people today still holding grudges that they have carried for 20 or 25 years. Still upset, still mad, still won't speak to people. Now, I'm sure that this couldn't possibly apply to anybody here, but do you happen to know of somebody, some of your neighbors or relatives, who have ever gotten a grudge, gotten angry and upset at somebody and literally wouldn't speak to each other for five years or ten or twenty or twenty-five? And young people come along and says, now why is it we're mad at Aunt so-and-so and why is it we can't go to Uncle so-and-so's house? Enlighten me on this. Well, I don't remember the exact details, but we had a terrible fuss 20 years ago and we just don't sleep. That's just a side of the family we don't associate with. Still mad, still angry, still haven't dealt with it. But the preposterous thing about it is you can find that very situation in the church. You go someplace where God's people, who essentially love and believe the same thing, are not walking together and saying, now why is it? Oh, they're good people and they basically believe the same thing we do. But 25 or 30 years ago, a couple of old preachers got mad at each other and the last thing they said when they passed off the scene was, don't quit shooting, just keep this thing going. And so we're still out here on the battle lines trying to keep This division in place, how sad, where younger people come along and don't even know what the battle was fought about, don't even know why they're separated, but they're still mad at the other side because they're the bad ones and we're the good ones and we're mad at them. Be ye angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil." When you fail to deal with today's anger today, you're giving place to the devil. Instead of clothing yourself with that armor that Paul describes in this very epistle, telling us to put it on, that we may do all to stand, Instead of protecting yourself and shielding yourself, you're giving place to the devil. You're saying, come on in, devil. I'm going to give you a little place to occupy right here in my own life. I'm harboring this hurt feeling. I'm angry at somebody, and I'm not going to get over it. I've had a mind to preach along this general theme a number of times over the past few years. I never cease to be amazed about how often somebody will come to me and try to explain a little unique situation that they're faced with and say, I'm sure, preacher, you'll understand that as much as I've suffered and as much as I have endured and as mean as this other person has been to me, that in this case it's totally excusable for me not to forgive them. Oh, the weakness of this old human nature as to how we are always looking to excuse our sin, looking for some way around it, looking to justify ourselves. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. We were talking last night about the tragedy of the modern-day divorce rate. and how there's been a lot of general preaching to say that adultery is wrong, divorce is wrong, and that people ought to stay married. But I'm afraid there hasn't been enough specific preaching about how to deal with marital problems. How do we deal with this situation where the husband is getting angry at the wife, and the wife is angry with the husband, and this is going on day after day, day after day? Invariably, when I've talked to people who have marital problems, it doesn't take but one or two sessions of talking to them till they're going back, digging up things that happened five years ago, ten years ago, and they remembered in specific detail. and talk about how disturbed they are at their mate and how unhappy and angry they are with them because they were hurt and they were done wrong and there was this little problem that existed way back there but they've never dealt with it never faced it and in some cases once it happened they could never even talk about it again and now it's at the point that the marriage is about to fall apart because there has been a total neglect of making the application of practical matters such as the Apostle here outlines. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Deal with it today. And one little expression that all of us need to concentrate on adding to our vocabulary if it's not already there is this. Will you forgive me? That seems to be terribly hard for this old human nature to say. Will you forgive me? It's amazing what a difference that can make. You can have people who are so antagonistic, so angry at each other, anger that's been there festering for a long period of time, and as soon as one of them says, will you forgive me, I've seen changes result that quickly, instantly. All of a sudden, there's a total different attitude on the part of the other individual. And one thing about it, when you've said, will you forgive me? Will you forgive me? You've put the ball in their court. If you just say, I'm sorry, that's not enough. Because you really haven't said exactly what you're sorry about. We don't know really whether you're sorry that you did what you did, or sorry that they reacted like they reacted, or sorry that there is this mess and chaos and confusion, or just what it's about. But if you say, will you forgive me? You've indicated that there has been a wrong, there has been an error, there's been something done that shouldn't have been done, and now you're asking for response. You can say, I'm sorry, and you don't know how they respond. If you say, will you forgive me, that party has got to respond and either say yes, which means then it's dealt with, buried, done for, and over with, or if they say no, then you know what you're coping with, and you can go ahead and try to resolve the problem and deal with it piece by piece. Sin not by giving place to the devil through harboring anger, resentment, an unforgiving spirit. Just as this can happen between husband and wife, just as this can happen among brethren in the church and from one sister church to another, it can happen in every other area of life. How hard it is to work with somebody where there's anger, resentment, How hard it is for parents and children to get along when there is constant bickering and antagonism and anger. It has to be resolved and dealt with biblically just like it will in any other area. What a difference it can make when the issue is faced, the problem is confronted. We talk about it. We deal with it. We settle it. More will be said as we go on in the passage about the matter of forgiveness itself. But anger in particular is here to be dealt with on a daily basis. Let him that stole steal no more. There's the negative side. Get rid of this. Don't be dishonest. Don't steal. And that doesn't mean just the matter of going out here and taking a gun and holding up a bank. That means stealing in any other way. That means that when God's children are out on the job, they have a responsibility to do the best job of any person that's there. It's stealing to go in and draw a paycheck for eight hours work and only work four of them. It's stealing to carry home part of what belongs to the company as though that's your inherent right to take away whatever you might want. It's amazing to me how often I hear people talk that work in large factories and so on about the general attitude that people have toward their employers. Whatever the area, let him that stole steal no more, quit stealing, but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that need it. You can possibly understand that if a person was facing starvation, they might, in the weakness of the flesh, be driven to stealing. But he says, quit stealing, and on the other side, here's what you're to add, here's the positive thing, let him work, let him labor with his hands, not only that he has enough for himself, but that he has enough to give to somebody else. And there's another of our responsibilities. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. There's the negative. Don't use foul language, don't talk in such a way that's going to put somebody down. Talk in such a way that's going to divide and disturb and destroy. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good. There's the positive side. While some people had to quit speaking, only that communication which was ungodly and unprofitable, they wouldn't be able to say a word, because it looks like all of their language is filled with such speech. But on the other side, here's that which is to be added, that which is good, that which is going to be to the benefit and edification of the hearers, that it may minister grace unto them. I'm sure in speaking to this congregation this afternoon, I'm speaking to a people who are, in general, careful about what they say. I'm sure that most of you would not use language that you would be embarrassed for others to hear from the standpoint of the literal words that are spoken. But not only does he say to get rid of that corrupt communication That language, those words that are unprofitable and those words that would be dishonoring to the name of our God, but that which is good. Speak that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Now, how does your communication meet that standard? Does it minister grace to the hearers? Do the things that you say become beneficial to other people? Do you build other people up or do you tear other people down? There's some people that have a unique talent of giving you a compliment and tearing you all to pieces at the same time. They'll talk about some good quality and say, but, and then they'll go back and take it all back and tear it apart totally. What kind of words do you speak to others? Are you building others up in the kingdom of God? Are you encouraging them? The Hebrew letter chapter 10 says that we're to provoke one another to love and to good works. Some people are extremely talented in provoking others. They can upset and irritate and aggravate a lot of people around them. But this says to provoke in the positive sense, to stimulate them, encourage them, stir them to love and to good works. Now, if you're talking about somebody, if you're running somebody down, you're not building up, you're not bringing about unity, you're not producing that which is going to generate a spirit of love and fellowship in the kingdom of God. But you see, it's so much easier in the flesh to talk about people than to talk to people. If someone has offended you, what is your responsibility? What's your responsibility? If somebody has offended you, if you're upset for somebody's conduct, if you're dissatisfied with what they've said or done, what is your responsibility? It's to go to them and talk to them. But what is generally done? Say, well, I better got to feel out the territory and talk to a few other people about this situation. And you'll call up somebody and say, let me tell you what so-and-so did to me, what they said to me, how bad do my feelings are hurt. And then just as you get started, your conscience gives you just a little bit of problem. And so you stop and say, well, you know, really, I shouldn't be telling you this. What you're wanting now is a little encouragement on the other end. So they'll say, oh, that's all right. You know, you can trust me. Just go ahead and tell me anything. Because their curiosity is around. They want to hear the end of this good story. And then finally, you tell a lot of other things you shouldn't have told. You wind it up and say, now, please, please don't tell anybody. I know you'll trust my confidence. Do not tell anybody. Oh, no, no. And they can't wait to get off the phone to call up somebody else and say, now, this is really confidential. If you weren't my special friend, I wouldn't be telling you this. But I got something that'll just burn your ears. You'll just never believe. Let me tell you this. And by the time that kind of talk and information gets circulated around, what kind of trouble is the result of it? But God's word says, if your brother, a fiend, could go to him, you and him alone deal with this matter. If he won't hear you, then take two or three. If he won't hear them, then tell it to the church. The Lord gives us specific steps to take, but we're so wise, we say it won't be necessary to take all of those. I'll just jump over one and two. I'll just handle it my way. This is a little unique. This doesn't quite fit that criteria. I'll do it my own way. And then we wonder why we make such a mess out of things. We wonder why after a while somebody is saying, well, who said this and when did they say that? Was that on this date or that date? Or no, that isn't what I said then. I said this over there. No, no, they said this before that. And total chaos, misunderstanding and confusion that sometimes not only disrupts families but divides churches because we weren't willing to deal with the matter like God's Word said we should. What kind of words do you use? Is it that which will edify? What kind of words do you use in speaking to your children? Some parents have a way of constantly putting down their own children. There was a professional ball player speaking to a group of prisoners who was talking to those prisoners about what an influence his father had had in his life. He said, I'm so thankful to have had a father like I had. Because my father showed a great deal of confidence in me while I was quite young. From the time I was just a little boy, my father told me, someday you're going to be a professional ball player. And he said that was always indelibly in my mind. There were times when I was discouraged and I thought maybe I'd never make it, but those words of my father would come ringing in my ear. My father said someday I'd be a professional ballplayer. And I made sacrifices to practice and I put forth diligent effort because I didn't want to disappoint my father. And ultimately, I became a success and I play for a professional team today. because I did not want to disappoint my father, and I didn't. And one of the prisoners spoke up and said, I didn't disappoint my father either, because he always told me, someday you're going to wind up in prison. What kind of input do we give our young people? What kind of input do we give our children? If a mother or father is constantly telling a child, you haven't got a brain in your head. You don't know what on earth you're talking about. Or starts out, called him a little fella, two or three years old, boy, he is a monster. I mean to tell you, this kid is a monster. He's hearing that, of course. He feels like, I am a monster, I've got a two of them. And generally he's going to put forth all the effort in the world to live up to his reputation. I show them I am a monster. What about the words we speak? Are our words the edification? Are we trying to build up? Are we trying to encourage? Or do we put down, hurt, and destroy? 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 we 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. I'll tell you, that covers a lot. That is a broad, sweeping declaration, talking about the things that we're to get rid of. Let all of this be put away, put off concerning the former conversation. And this is all a part of this. Bitterness, wrath, clamor, confusion, evil speaking, malice. Oh, preachers, that's hard. That is hard! I don't know where people ever got the idea it was going to be easy anyway. I suppose it comes from some of these modern-day evangelists who try to give people the impression that if you will just enter into a covenant agreement with the Lord, that you're going to serve him Everything's going to be better. God wants you to have a better house and a bigger car and a better job and money in the bank. God wants you to be a great, glowing success. And if you just make this covenant agreement right now and show your good faith by sending me a contribution so I'll know that you are sincere about this, life's just going to take an upturn for you and everything's going to be glorious and beautiful from here on out. And there are people literally today that think that serving God and following him is just going to make life one big, happy, festive event. I want to tell you, there are some things when it comes to serving the Lord that are extremely difficult. It's difficult on the flesh. It's hard to do. But it brings us to the realization that to perform it, it's got to be not in the flesh, but by the enabling grace of his Holy Spirit. Be kind one to another. Here's the thing not to do. Don't be filled with bitterness and wrath and evil speaking and malice, but here's the thing you ought to do. Here's what to fill up the gap with. Be kind one to another. Well, now, it's no problem to be kind to people that are kind to us. No problem at all. Somebody says nice things to you, it's easy to say nice things to them. Somebody that's loving and sweet to you, it's easy to return that. But what about those that criticize you? Those that take unfair advantage of you? Those that hurt your feelings? Those that put you down? How are you supposed to treat them? Be kind one to another. I preached some of these things at home a few months ago. And I never enter the pulpit to preach at anybody. Because most of the time, what I'm preaching, I feel like I need it more than anybody there. And I'm trying to pray, Lord, help me not only to have a message to deliver, but help me to be able to apply these things as I live from day to day. And I knew when I preached some of these things that it would be difficult in any area of life to really put it into practice. But shortly after preaching some of these things, a situation arose where, in my secular business, I was put in a situation where I had to work every day with one of the most difficult human beings I have ever met in my entire life. I've always felt kind of good about the fact that most of the people I've ever worked with, I've had no problem with. I was able to get along with people. This woman was absolutely, from my vantage point, unreasonable. There wasn't anything I could say that was right. There wasn't anything I could do that was going to suit her. There was constant undermining and disruption and I'd come home in the evening and just feel like I was wrung out. I would just be drained. I'd tell my wife, I just don't know how much of this I can take. I'm trying so hard. She says, now wait a minute. Remember what you preached last Sunday and what you preached the Sunday before that? I say, yeah, I remember all that, but I'll tell you, this situation is just getting out of hand. I don't know how to do it. And then one day when I was just look like at the end of my way trying to cope with the situation. And my wife reminded me of, well, I'll tell you these wives, they got a memory, they don't forget anything. And she reminded me of another little thing I preached on and said, have you been praying for this lady? I said, pray for her? I'm in no mood to pray for her. She said, isn't that what you preached? I said, yes it was. And it took a lot of grace to pray for her, I'll tell you. But I started praying for her and begging the Lord to give me grace to pray for her. And it was amazing about how somehow we were able to cope with it a little better. Able to resolve some of the problems and deal with it. Didn't mean the problems all went away, I was able to deal with it a little better myself. It's extremely difficult to be kind to people who are unkind to you, unreasonable, illogical, overbearing. But this didn't just say, be kind to those who are nice and sweet and loving. Be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. And there is the foundation of it. You see, a preacher can preach about what is to be put off, preaching negatively, preaching against everything, until it becomes pure legalism. Just constantly, I'm against this, I'm against that, I'm against this, I'm against that, And people get worn out with that after a while. But if the truth is preached like the Apostle outlines it, you've got the one side which is negative, put off these things, but quickly don't leave it a void, don't leave a gap in there, fill it up with doing what's right. Here's what you're supposed to do, here's what you're to add, here's what you're to take on, here's how you're to serve. And here he tells us that we're to be kind one to another, But it tells us the basis of it. Forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Oh, preacher, there's a few things I'll tell you, as much as I'd like to forgive. There's some people that have done things to me that you wouldn't believe. Yes, I would. I'd believe them. Because you hear all kinds of things in this old world. When you see the reality of life, There are some great injustices, some terrible things that occur. I don't care how bad it is, let me ask you this. Whatever somebody has done to you, whatever they've said about you, whatever they've done to hurt you, has it been as great, has that offense against you been as great as your offense against the Almighty God as a great sinner? Surely not. When you beg God to forgive you, let the Lord examine your case and say, your sin has been so great that there's a few offenses there I will not forget. In fact, every time you pray, I'm going to remind you of those offenses. How did God forgive you for Christ's sake? He forgave you totally. Your sins are separated as far as the East is from the West, cast into the depths of the sea. Therefore, you are to forgive others on this same basis, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us. That, you see, makes it not a matter of legalism, but a matter of grace. You're going to forgive for Christ's sake because of the love of God, the grace that you've received. Forgive one another. I'm confident today that many marriages that are falling apart could be saved if this one matter of forgiveness was appropriately dealt with. I'm confident that much of the conflict between parents and their young people could easily be put to rest if this matter of forgiveness would be properly dealt with, I'm sure that many of the division in the Church of God could be immediately resolved if the subject of forgiveness was properly applied. I'll tell you something that disturbs me is to go to a place where old Baptists have had problems and say, well, this generation will never live to see the solution. We'll have to wait. till the two or three of these old timers die off, and when they're out of the way, then we'll be able to fix it. That's a prime chance. I find nowhere in the Word of God where he says, wait till some old codgers die and then fix the matter, my friends. There's a way to deal with problems now if we'll deal with it on the basis of God's Word. Crucifying the old flesh. and being ready to forgive one another even as we have been forgiven. That lesson is presented in such forcible terms over in the book of Matthew chapter 18 after dealing with that matter as to how an offense is to be properly pursued and ultimately brought before the church if it's required. speaks of a man who owed a tremendous amount of money, could not pay it, asked for an extension. He was a little confused about the magnitude of his problem. Even an extension wouldn't have saved him because he couldn't have lived long enough to pay it. And if you've ever been very deeply in debt, you can appreciate what a horrible experience it is to be in debt and not at that moment be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And this man asked for help, and instead of him getting an extension, his Lord said, I cancel it. I forgive you, you don't owe me a thing. What a blessing, what forgiveness, forgiven that entire debt. That man who had just been forgiven went out then to a fellow servant who owed him just a small little pittance, just a small sum, put his hands around his neck and began to choke him and said, pay me now! The man asked for mercy. No, I'm going to have you and your wife and children sold into slavery so that I can get this money that he's owed me. The fellow servant saw that and could not believe it. Went in before the master and said, here's what your servant did. The master called him back and said, how can you, who had been forgiven so much, Turn around and be so demanding of a fellow servant and not forgive it all He said as a result. I am going to deliver you to the tormentors And I believe there are children of God today that have been delivered to the tormentors because they have not been willing to forgive I believe there are people who suffer physical ailments and stress and pressure and confusion of mind because they've been delivered to the tormentors in that they have not dealt with that which is eternal and confessed their sins and sought forgiveness and been willing to forgive others. Have you ever had some experience along that line when for a season at least you felt Such a pang of conscience, such an uneasiness in your spirit, such a distress, it looked like everything was going wrong. The Lord may have delivered you to the tormentors, because you would not forgive as you had been forgiven. In the modern prayer, he teaches us to pray, forgive us our trespasses, even as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. How can you pray that prayer if you won't forgive? Now, this may not be the kind of message that'll cause you to get shoutin' happy. But I believe it's the kind of message God's people need today to know how to deal with the continuing problems of life that bring such pressure and distress upon us that from time to time we see those who have walked in the church for a while and begin to leave and they're distracted and they go another direction. And sometimes when you inquire the reasons, they hadn't learned how to apply practical Godliness. They hadn't learned how. to conduct their own life and maintain their own home on principles of righteousness, to serve the Lord God there as he is so clearly taught in his holy word. As we rejoice in the principles of grace, the truth of grace, the doctrine of grace, let us see to it that we are taught by grace to know how to live and serve him to his honor and praise. May God bless you.