00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
your congregation of our Lord
Jesus Christ to appreciate and profit from the passage in God's
Word that is before us this evening. You may have noticed that it
comes like a series of staccato-like exhortations, the one tumbling
out after the other. And so it's a text, it's a passage
that has everything to do with the kind of life that we are
called to live as members of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ,
as believers, in the Lord Jesus Christ. But to rightly understand
this text, there are some things I'd like to observe by way of
introduction to set a kind of context for our consideration
of the text together this evening. And the first thing is, this
is, of course, in that portion of Paul's letter to the church
in Ephesus that has to do with what some have called the gospel
imperative. If you read the book of Ephesians,
and I'd encourage you to do that in the week that is to come if
you have time, you'll notice that it nicely divides into two
parts. There are chapters one to three
where the Apostle gives what might be called a rather expansive
and a rather lustrous description of God's great and saving purpose
with respect to His own people whom He loved before the foundation
of the world, whom he elected, he says in chapter 1 of Ephesians,
in Christ, that they might be holy and blameless before him. And if you read through chapters
1, 2, and 3, they're rich in what might be called gospel indicatives. You know, of course, that the
indicative mood, if you remember your studies of language in school,
Good review for the young people as they come to the end of another
year of study. The indicative mood has to do
with statement of fact. What is the case? Don't you know,
says the Apostle, who you are? Loved of Christ from before the
foundation of the world. Once dead in sin by nature, an
object of God's wrath, but now made alive in Christ. You are
God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. that God prepared in advance
for you to walk in them. Now, in the section that's before
us then this evening, we have the second part of Paul's letter
to the church in Ephesus. And the way we're to understand
this text, you might think it's just a bit moralistic because
it's all about exhortations to a certain pattern of life and
conduct. You're to understand it as Paul's
way of saying, and he hints at that in a variety of ways in
the context, you are to live, Christians, in accordance with
who you are. Don't live self-forgetful lives. Be by way of imperative, and
the imperative mood, as you know, is the mood that comes in the
way of command. The relation between indicative
and imperative is like this. If this is who you are, then
live accordingly. If I was to use a very simple
analogy, if you're a school teacher, if you were to say using the
indicative mood, I'm a school teacher, then I would have every
right to say to you, then teach. Do what you are. If you're a
laborer, then I could say to you, then work with your hands.
If you're a preacher, then preach. If you're a parent, then parent
your children. That's the idea of the passage
that is before us. Live up to who you are as a Christian. Don't belie who you are in terms
of your identity in Christ by a life that is not worthy of
the Gospel. Incidentally, there's a transitional
word at chapter 4, verse 1, that I believe, if I'm not mistaken,
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, in his great
series of sermons to the book of Ephesians, actually spends
more than one sermon on just that transition, that word, therefore. So important is it, this transition
from who I am in Christ to what I am called to do. The second
thing I would observe about the passage that's before us, and
it might at times seem to you rather simple and rather ordinary,
having to do with the stuff of what comprises my life from Monday
through Saturday. The way I talk, the way I spend
my energy, my money, how I deal with anger, how I relate to others,
what I say with my mouth. And I would just observe, congregation,
that this is a reminder to us that God, when He takes hold
of us in Christ and indwells us by His Spirit, His call to
us spans the whole of our life, in every part. There is no part
of our life, no piece of our conduct concerning which the
Lord Jesus does not say, it belongs to me. and not to you. And you are to do with it as
is pleasing to me." The third observation about the passage
as we look at it together is this. It's governed by an interesting
metaphor that Paul uses in the context. You should think of
your former way of life outside of Christ as a patterned piece
of clothing, as a form of dress or adornment that you are putting
off, putting away. Not sending the goodwill or salvation
army, but dispensing with it, destroying it, putting it to
death. And you are at the same time
by the Spirit of Christ to be adorned with that dress, that
apparel, the kind of clothing that bespeaks your new identity,
your new self. You know, of course, that a soldier
doesn't, when he's in service, dress in civilian garments. He wears his military uniform. The same is true of doctors,
of nurses, and many other professions. And that's the sort of metaphor
that pulls all of these exhortations together. Put away that former
clothing that is bespeaking an identity that is no longer yours. Put on that clothing that befits
your status as a Christian. And then one last thing, and
it explains the theme that is in the bulletin this evening,
living under the smile of the spirit. I stole it from some
other preachers. I'm not original in this, let's
just note that for a moment, but we may borrow, I guess, I
shouldn't say stole it, I'm borrowing it from him, because as he points
out, it's interesting that in the midst of all of these exhortations
about what it means to live according to who you are as a Christian,
putting off the old, putting on the new, and the whole of
life, there is this comment, this observation in verse 30,
this exhortation, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom
you were sealed for the day of redemption. And you could say
in a manner of speaking that that exhortation stands in a
sense as a kind of heading over all the exhortations underneath
it. Live this way so as not to grieve
the Spirit. with whom you are sealed unto
the day of redemption. That's a rather striking thought,
isn't it? That our lives, if they are out
of accord with our identity in Christ, if they belie the gospel
concerning who we are, that that form of life is witnessed by
the Spirit and brings the Spirit grief. By comparison, by contrast, implicitly,
A life that is in accord with these gospel patterns before
us this evening is the kind of life that brings a smile in a
manner of speaking to the Holy Spirit. You know, you children
probably have by now, long ago, learned that when I've done something
and Mom and Dad are looking at me rather sternly, a bit cross-eyed
and a bit furrowed in the brow, and rather peeved and unhappy
with me, that's not a good thing. And on the other hand, when they
greet me with a broad smile and open arms and with that look
of delight, well, that's a good thing. I can remember one time
my wife, when she was at the organ in the front of church,
and I'm here preaching and our children are there in the pew.
I guess I wasn't preaching. She was at the organ prior to
a song. And the children are misbehaving. And she gave them
a look, I'm told, by members of the congregation that even
frightened them. Because they knew these children
were in a heap of trouble after the worship service. Well, you
get the idea. Living under the smile of the
Spirit is not to live so as to grieve. To bring to the Spirit
as He bears witness to our lives a note of despondency that such
persons who belong to Jesus are walking in a way so contrary
to their identity. Well, having said all that, bear
that in mind as we look at these imperatives together. And we're
just going to run through the text together as quickly, but
we mustn't go too quickly, as quickly as we can to see what
some of these life patterns of a man or woman who walks worthy
of the gospel, who's dressed according to the apparel with
which God in Christ adorns His people in all areas of life. And the first one is very simply
put away the old garment of falsehood and put on the new garment of
speaking the truth in respect to your dealings and relations
with others. Do not, or as verse 25 puts it,
therefore each of you must put off falsehood, and speak truthfully
to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body." Now, as I said before, you might
think some of these are rather simple. rather even pedantic
and so easily to be anticipated exhortations. Of course, as a
Christian, I should put off falsehood and speak truthfully the one
to the other in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, for we are
members of one body. But you have to remember, congregation,
that when Paul is writing this letter to the church in Ephesus,
he's speaking the Gospel into a pagan culture. You may even
remember that rather striking It almost makes us uncomfortable.
Epitaph of the Apostle Paul at one point in his epistles where
he says of Cretans, those who live in Crete, all Cretans are
liars. And he says that because in the
ancient pagan world, not penetrated by the light of the gospel and
the truth of the word of God and the gospel of the Lord Jesus,
who is the way, the truth, and the light, speaking falsely, and not being
a truth-telling person, a man or a woman of integrity, a person
who knows that as an image-bearer of God, the gift of language,
which enables communication and fellowship with others, is to
mimic and reflect the perfect truth that God is in His abiding
faithfulness It was not thought to be in any way a particularly
grievous offense to twist the truth, to distort one's words,
to manipulate language in order to achieve one's purpose or one's
end. As a matter of fact, congregation,
if you've ever had experience in cultures and places in the
world that have not really been touched deeply by the truth of
the Word of God, you will be surprised at how rife such cultures
are with a failure to recognize that we are image bearers of
God who is the God of the Amen, the true and faithful witness
whose Word is abidingly the same, the grass may wither, the flower
may fade, but the word of the Lord stands fast, fixed forever. That it's very casual and easy
to manipulate and abuse the truth. This is a theme that you'll find
often in Paul's epistles and in the exhortations of his epistles.
But I mention pagan cultures and the culture in Ephesus because
ours in North America congregation is becoming increasingly a neo-pagan,
a newly paganized culture, not a world that any longer respects
the infallible truth of the Word of God, a world that recognizes
that as those who bear the image of the God of the Amen, whose
son is a son full of grace and of truth? Well, in our culture, falsehood
in many respects is endemic. All I have to do is ask the question,
do you believe the politicians as they scramble after and pursue
higher office in the United States, Have we cultivated a culture
of truth-telling on the campaign trail so that you're straight
as an arrow? No bending, no flexing, no manipulating
of words or of truth so as to gain a hearing? Well, it's not
only in politics. Take economics, advertising,
the way in which people sell their ware. even the promises
that they make, you talk about political promises, what about
these promises that if you just had this new Lexus, and I don't
mean to be unkind to anyone who drives a Lexus, good for you.
If you just drive this Lexus, why then you'll be able to settle
back in your plush leather chair and feel a little bit like you're
on the top of the world. You've got the world by the tail,
you've succeeded, what about that? Well, you fill in the blank. Vows people make to each other
in marriage. Promises that they express to
people at work. Christians are, too, says the
Apostle, dressed in the dress of the Spirit of Christ, children
of the God of the Amen, their straight arrows. They distinguish
themselves in their employment. In their public service, they're
a breath of fresh air. They bring a kind of truth-telling
culture that stands in striking relief in a world that deals
in so many forms of falsehood and perversions of the truth.
Not to pick on our culture or anyone in particular, but I was
struck not too long ago by a football coach of a college team, I think
it was, who was rumored to be exploring the possibility of
a better job with a professional NFL team. And he was being interviewed
on the news. And I think he said something
to the effect, I can't tell you, I don't know how many ways I
can tell you. I'm not interested. I'm not talking to them. I'm
not going to take the position. Period. Is that enough? Well,
then you see him a week later packing his bags and off to the
airport for the new job. And we become so jaded that that
doesn't surprise us. That's just the way it is. Well,
that's the first life pattern. Speak the truth. Put away all
falsehood. For we are all members of one
body. The second pattern is put away all unrighteous anger. In
your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down. while
you are still angry. And do not give the devil a foothold.
That is a very striking exhortation and life pattern. I say put away
all unrighteous anger because Paul quotes actually from the
psalmist and the language is, in your anger, do not sin. In other words, there may well
be a righteous and a holy anger in the face of sin and disobedience. Whether in your own life, you're
upset with yourself, you're angry with yourself, or in the lives
of others. Think of our Lord when He saw
what they had done to the Lord's temple, turning it into a den
of robbers, when it should have been a house of prayer. He took
a whip and went through the foyer, you
might say, among the tables and overturned them and drove them
out of the temple court. But notice, unrighteous anger,
in your anger to be sure it could be righteous, do not sin, do
not let the sun go down while you are still anger. The anger
of which the Apostle Paul here is speaking is the sort of anger
that we keep alive, that we nurse, that we hold dear and won't let
go to our own hurt and to the hurt, injury, of others. I think it's Thomas Boston who
used a very rather graphic expression to refer to this kind of anger,
the kind of anger that is destructive and ruinous in relationship to
others. He calls it the vomit of a proud
heart. It's the sort of anger that you
harbor against someone who's offended you, who's done you
wrong, who perhaps at some point in your life, took advantage
of you, didn't treat you rightly in business. Now maybe I'm talking
to somebody tonight, in this very room, who harbors that kind
of anger against someone else in this very room. Don't let
the sun go down on that anger. Don't let the sun go down on
that anger. Because it's destructive. I can
remember once as an elder in a church visiting a family in
the congregation and there was some discussion about joining
ranks with a neighboring church and the father of the house said,
if that happens, he says, I'm going to have to leave the church.
And I said, well, why would you do that? Well, because there's
a man in that church who happened to be a relative of his. I could
not worship with him. Because he did not pay me what
was my due some years ago in business. Now, unhappily, congregation,
you find that sort of thing in strange places. And the strangest
place where you find that sort of thing is in the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Put off that old garment and
throw it away. And put on the new garment. that
is in keeping with your status as a member of the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But now there comes a third exhortation.
Not only put away falsehoods, speak the truth, put away unrighteous
anger. It goes on, verse 28, and says,
he who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work
doing something useful with his own hands that he may have something
to share with those in need. And now you may say, that's really
humdrum. Do wholesome and proper work. Work doing something useful with
your own hands and steal no longer. We're all already taken with
what sometimes is called the Protestant and Puritan work ethic,
and so this is not a word for us. But it's a rather interesting
thing that we who are created in God's image and placed in
His creation so as under His authority to exercise dominion
over the creation. And though our work and labor
as God's image bearers in that task has been corrupted and is
under the curse that follows upon our sin, so that in the
sweat of our brow and in the context of a creation that groans
under the curse of the Creator, we engage in our labor as Christians,
we know that also in Christ, labor, work, honest, industriousness
is pleasing to the Lord. And it's also true that in the
day in which Paul is writing this epistle to the church in
Ephesus, that not only was falsehood endemic in that culture, the
idea of hard labor of an honest day's work, of working responsibly,
using the gifts God has put into our hands to unfold things and
serve thereby the well-being of others, all of those themes
were foreign in that culture. That was a culture that commended
leisure. Slaves would be assigned menial
tasks and labor, but those who had means They would spend their
times in leisure and in the enjoyment of the labor of others. That
too sounds a little too familiar for comfort. I remember when
I was a student in college, this was a long time ago now, I'm
getting older, but we all are, this was driven home to me when
I read a book by a sociologist in the United States that says
Americans have for the most part lost the sense of the of the
goodness of honest work. The book was entitled The Uncommitted,
and the idea was people labor and work for as few hours as
they possibly can in order to really enjoy life off hours. It's called the weekend, or the
extended weekend, or whatever it might be. There, too, we have
a summons in the Word of God as God's people to set a different
pattern. that is in keeping with the Gospel,
that bespeaks who we are as those created in Christ Jesus, putting
off the old, putting on the new for those good works that God
has prepared for us to walk in them. It's a good thing, fathers,
mothers, to teach your children that God gives them opportunities,
God supplies and furnishes them with ability and talent, in order
that they might use everything they have to serve the King and
to bring glory to His name. And if I might just throw in
here something just by way of a close connection with my father.
One thing, my father has some faults. Don't tell him that I
said that, but he has some faults. My wife reminds me of that sometimes
when she says to me, you know, you're acting there a little
bit like your father. It's one of those things that
might be a fault. But one fault he never had, and it was this,
no dust under his feet. No time for not making the most
of the opportunity. No lazy, lethargic, slothful,
that's one of the seven deadly sins, pattern of life. Let's burn the candle at both
ends. Let's make the most of the short
time the Lord has given to us. Let's put our hands to the plow.
Let's do whatever we can do for the king, and that's the idea
of this exhortation. But now there are two more, the
first of which is put away unwholesome talk and speak that which is
helpful for building others up according to their needs, that
it may benefit those who listen. You know, that language, do not
let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, is very,
in the original, very striking and graphic language. Let no
putrid Let no corrupting, unwholesome, has the strong idea of decay
and the stench that accompanies something that is thrown in the
garbage and is left there too long. You hold your nose. It's offensive. It's unpleasant. It's in no way uplifting nor
positively contributing to the well-being of others. Well, some
speech is like that. And then there is the kind of
speech that is wholesome, that is uplifting, that is beautiful,
that brings a pleasant aroma into the conversation and the
room. The same preacher I mentioned
It gave me my theme, living under the smile of the spirit, refers
to someone of whom it was said that all of his geese are become
swan. You know, that's a very interesting
thing, because if you're familiar with geese, particularly Canada
geese, we have them around the seminary. I don't know if you
have them here in this part of the country. I imagine that you
do in too great a number. Now, those are not a pleasant
creature. I'm sorry to say, they bring
a lot of, well, we won't go into the description. They make a
mess, a very unhappy mess. And I'd love to be able to deal
with them, but I'm not allowed to shoot them or anything like
that. But I'd like to be able to do
that. They are a filthy creature. They look good, but they're filthy.
But swan, what about swan? Happens to be one of those in
the neighborhood, apparently swan, are actually sometimes
rented. There's actually a fellow, you
talk about ingenious, who rents swan. You put them on your pond
and they scare off the Canada geese. Well, a swan is a graceful,
gloriously beautiful, splendid creature. Dazzling. Well, that language, all his
geese become swan, you get the idea. Could it be said of your
speech? that all of your geese become
swan. I'm not saying be a flatterer.
I'm not saying bend the truth and speak what is not the case.
But why is so much of our conversation destructive? Sometimes we excuse it because
it belongs to our particular culture. That's the kind of people
we are. We're just sort of blunt and
straight speaking. Well, I've met one too many persons
whose constructive criticism wasn't anything constructive
about it at all. It was just a little excuse to
use their words, not in a wholesome fashion, but in a fashion that
was not building up, but destructive. And so that too is a life pattern. that bespeaks those who are members
of Christ and dwelt of the Spirit, who bring a smile to the Spirit
and not grief by the manner in which they speak to and about
others. One last life pattern, and it's
this. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander. Along with every form of malice,
be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other
just as in Christ God forgave you. Now, there's a sermon all
in itself. And we don't have the time. But you see what the
Apostle is saying. If you feel in connection with
these other life patterns, I fall so far short. I'm ashamed of
myself. If you don't feel that, I certainly
do. Perhaps we haven't been listening
to what the Lord is saying through this text tonight. The pinch
of it has to be felt by us. But there's good news. How does
God deal with us? He's kind. He's considerate.
He's long-suffering. He doesn't repay us according
to our iniquities. He is not angry forever. He remembers that we are dust. And He deals with us in a way
that, as Paul says earlier in Ephesians, He, in a kindly and
in the richness of His mercy, provides for us in the Lord Jesus
Christ. How then should we not also exhibit
with the kind of dress, adornment that bespeaks the gospel, not
only putting away falsehoods, speaking the truth, not only
working hard with our hands, not only speaking well of one
another, building each other up, but exhibiting in our dealings
with one another. That's why, how could you let
the sun go down on your anger? When God poured out His own anger
on the brow of His own Son. The Word of the Lord tonight
for us congregation is just very simple. Is your life a life in
these respects that brings something of a delight to the Holy Spirit
with whom you were sealed to the day of redemption? Or is
yours the kind of life that furrows the brow, brings a sense of dismay,
a sort of, how is it possible? These people who know this Christ,
they should act like that. Let our lives so adorn the gospel
we preach that there is a correspondence, at least some resemblance, between
the gospel of the Lord Jesus and the life that we live in
every part. Amen.
Living Under the Smile of the Spirit
| Sermon ID | 420082249482 |
| Duration | 33:01 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Psalm 1; Ephesians 4:17-32 |
| Language | English |
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.