Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.highlandparkbaptist.net/sermons/96179/the-portrait-of-the-church-purity-part-2/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Let me just go ahead and begin by reading.

[0:31] Starting with verse 25. Verse 25. Then I'll do a little bit of a review and kind of get us up to speed so we can keep all this connected because it all goes together and there is a flow of thought here and we need to keep that in our minds.

[0:50] Very important in our study of scripture. So let me begin by reading verse 25 to the end of the chapter. Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

[1:08] 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 has need.

[1:27] Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that he 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.

[1:41] Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

[1:56] So quite a list of things there. And I guess we could kind of read that through that and identify those various things that are mentioned.

[2:10] And we know pretty much what those things are. And even though you already know all that, I'm still going to spend the next 35, 40 minutes telling you what all this means.

[2:22] At least actually just confirming in your heart what you already know these things mean. And so we'll get to that. Let me kind of again bring us up to speed.

[2:35] As I've said for the past several weeks, the theme here in the larger text. When I say the larger text, you know, it started all the way back there at the beginning of chapter 4.

[2:46] And it runs all the way to the 21st chapter, verse rather, of chapter 5. So that's the larger text. And I know sometimes God's people would wish their pastor would just get the larger text done in one sitting.

[3:02] But it takes some time to move our way through these things so that we can kind of dig out as much as we possibly can. And yet at the same time try to keep in our minds the flow of things, the theme of the larger text.

[3:18] And so that's why I keep reminding you of what that is. And it is the portrait of the church. Portrait of the church. And we kind of see two things going on here in this portrait.

[3:31] Two kind of strokes of the brush, even though there are more strokes than that. But two broad strokes under the portrait of the church. And the first one would be unity. We've already studied that portion of the text there all the way up to verse 16 of chapter 4.

[3:51] And then from chapter 17 all the way to the end of this larger text, the broad stroke of the brush is purity. So unity and purity. And to again remind you the key word here that Paul uses and uses over and over again.

[4:08] It's one of his favorite words. Not only in the book of Ephesians but also in other letters. That's the word walk. And we know what that means. Peripeteo. I mentioned that Greek word last week.

[4:21] Two words. Peri around and peteo walk. So walk around. But we know there's a spiritual meaning here. We're not just talking about walking.

[4:33] By the way, I got a new phone. And on this phone it has a kind of a health application. And I didn't even know it was on. And my wife and I were out walking.

[4:44] Got back to the house and it dinged. And said, congratulations, you met your goal today. What goal is that? Your walking goal. So I was really proud of myself.

[4:58] But then I looked a little further and it said, more exercise is needed. Your goal was too low or something? Yes, too low. Just one day, once in a while, I'm going to cut it, I guess, is what it's trying to tell me.

[5:14] But anyway, who cares what the phone tells you. Remember, I just use it for a phone. I've got to figure out a way to get in there and turn that thing off. That part of it.

[5:24] I don't want to be reminded. Anyway. So walk around. Walk around. And you know it means to conduct how you conduct yourself. Conduct oneself in life.

[5:36] And it refers, of course, to the way we live our lives. And I mentioned last week, that includes every context of life. Every, every, everything. Not just those things that we kind of want to categorize as spiritual or sacred.

[5:51] The things we do here. It's every context. And so Paul's point, again, is everything about the walk of a true Christian is or should be different.

[6:04] Should be different. Followers of Christ are different. Right. Now, it doesn't always appear that way, sadly. Especially with the church in the West, in America.

[6:18] You go to many other places in the world. Muslim world. Communist world. And Christians really stand out. They live different. They are different. And we should also be different.

[6:30] And we are different. Different from every other person on planet Earth. All right. So, here's number one. This is number one. We started this last week. Believers walk differently.

[6:41] And that's the subject of verses 17 all the way to verse 32. We studied about half of that last week. As I, again, pointed out last week, we divide these verses into two parts.

[6:55] First, there's the description of the difference. Verses 17 and 24. And then there is, and this will be our focus tonight, the implication of the difference.

[7:05] The implication. All right. So, first, the description of the difference. Believers, remember, keep putting off what is natural. Keep putting off what is carnal.

[7:17] And, on the positive side, keep putting on what is spiritual. Now, it is that description, the putting on what is spiritual, that Paul is now going to launch from here in the next several verses, really, to the end of the chapter, as he talks about the implication.

[7:36] The implication of that. Of putting on the spirit. What's the implication? What does that look like? The implication of the difference. And the implication, again, of putting on the new man.

[7:49] Back to verse 24. And there are a number of implications, plural, as we're going to see tonight. And the implications of the difference between us and the rest of humanity are practical.

[8:06] Very practical. It's very practical implications. And so, as we look at these implications, I think you're going to notice. In fact, if you don't notice, I'm going to make sure you notice.

[8:17] That Paul follows a pattern here as he describes these implications. It's kind of a pattern for each one of these. First, a negative statement.

[8:29] Second, a positive statement. And then third, a motive. So, you're going to see that pattern with each of these implications of putting on that spiritual, putting on the new man.

[8:44] Implications of the difference between us and everyone else. He's not going to follow that scheme every single time. In fact, there's really just one exception where he changes the order.

[8:56] But in each one, you have those three things. A negative statement, a positive statement, then a motive. A motive for these. And this will become really clear as we go along.

[9:07] So, let's look at the implications of the difference between the members of God's new society, that is the church, and the rest of the world of man. And we're going to just name these as we find them so I didn't come up with some neat little alliteration.

[9:22] Okay? I'm just going to take the words right out of the text. Is that okay? All right. Number one, lying. Lying is the first one, verse 25.

[9:37] And Paul first states it negatively. Stating it negatively, he says, putting away lying. And I don't mean that's a negative thing.

[9:48] You understand what I mean by wording it or stating it in a negative sense and then in a positive sense. In a negative sense, put it away. Put away lying. Put away lying.

[9:59] That's what he says. Now, the Greek word here is pseudos. Pseudos, from which we get our word or comes our word pseudo.

[10:10] I mean, we're familiar with that word. It means false or spurious or erroneous or, you know, it's a falsehood.

[10:20] It's a pseudo, like pseudonym. What is a pseudonym? It's a fictitious name. All right? Some people use a pseudonym. Or how about the word pseudoscience?

[10:35] Well, there's a lot of that out there today. You know, what's a pseudoscience? It's kind of a collection of beliefs or practices that deceptively, they're deceptively presented as being based on scientific methods when they're not.

[10:50] Evolution comes to mind right off the top. It's a pseudoscience. There isn't any science to it. But it's presented as science, isn't it? I would even add global warming to that, but not everybody would agree with me on that point.

[11:06] But the Greek word could refer to any form of falsehood. All right? It's just any form of falsehood. Just taking the word out of the text, it would mean and could apply, refer to anything that's false.

[11:23] A falsehood. But it's interesting, the word in this verse is a noun. It doesn't look that way in the English versions, but it is a noun. In Greek, it's ta-soudas.

[11:37] Ta-soudas. So, it should be translated the lie. Ta is the definite article, the. The-soudas. The-lie.

[11:48] And so, really, strictly speaking, it is a reference to the greatest lie of all lies. The greatest lie of all lies, and what would that be? Well, I think Paul tells us, because he used that same word and combination of words in Romans 1.25.

[12:06] I put that in your notes for you. Those who, he talked about those who exchange the truth of God for the lie. For the lie. That's ta-soudas.

[12:17] Same, same two, same combination. All right, the truth of God. What is the lie? Well, he goes on to say, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever.

[12:29] Amen. So, strictly speaking, then what? The lie, the lie to which Paul refers is idolatry. The lie is idolatry. So, the new birth.

[12:40] Here's the idea. The new birth. Those who are a new creation. Those who are part of God's new society. The church. That's us. The new birth has delivered us from the lie.

[12:55] The lie of false gods and false worship. All right, so strictly speaking, when he says the lie, or lying, he's talking about the lie.

[13:07] Now, stated positively, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor. Let each one of you speak truth.

[13:17] Now, so what, how does this go together? Well, in the first place, he's quoting an Old Testament passage, Zechariah 8, verse 16. But the word truth here, in this passage, aletheah, meaning the truth in any and all matters.

[13:40] All right, so this is very, very generic here. He's not talking about the truth or any specific truth. He's talking about all truth. Speak truth on all accounts.

[13:51] All right, so it's not just a reference to the lie of idolatry and paganism. So the positive idea is this. Since you have put off the great lie of idolatry, since you've put that off, that great lie, the lie, then you should now forsake all lesser lies and speak the truth.

[14:14] So put off the lie, and that's exactly what they had done when they were, when they, these are young Christians. Many of them brand new believers. And what have they done first?

[14:26] Well, they put off the lie, the lie of paganism and idolatry, which many of them were very much involved in. And so he says, since you've done that, you've put off the lie, then this should be your conduct.

[14:42] This should be what makes you different from all others, and that is that you speak the truth, you know, and you forsake all other lies, all other lies, all lesser lies.

[14:55] And every other lie would be a lesser lie than the lie of a false god and false worship. All right, so we have it stated negatively, then we have it stated positively, and then the motivation.

[15:10] The motivation, what motivates us to follow these instructions. For we are members of one another. The church, then, is like a body.

[15:21] It's like a body. And, you know, no member of a healthy body would deceive and damage any other member of the body.

[15:34] You're not going to have one member of your physical body, you know, doing damage to another part of your body, at least not purposefully, I mean, in a healthy situation.

[15:47] So you have to liken that to the body of Christ. Someone has said that a lie is a stab into the very vitals of the body of Christ. So when there's falsehood within this new society, within the church, when there is lying, it's like a stab to other members of the body.

[16:10] And so then there is damage done. There is disunity there. John R. W. Stott said fellowship is built on trust. Trust is built on truth.

[16:22] So falsehood undermines fellowship while truth strengthens it. So, see, this is an application to the body of Christ. That doesn't mean that we can lie to people outside the church.

[16:34] It's all right. We can lie out there, but we can't lie in here. Well, it's not true. But Paul is not, his focus is the church. All right.

[16:45] And so there should never be any falsehood, never deceitfulness, never any lying, never any white lies or little fibs or, you know, deception of any kind within the body of Christ because it does damage to the body of Christ.

[17:01] We put on the new man, the new spirit, spiritual, putting on the spiritual. And the implication of that is we're truthful people. We don't tell falsehoods to bring us some kind of advantage.

[17:17] We don't tell falsehoods to protect us from some kind of damage. You know, sometimes people will lie just out of self-preservation, you know, to protect themselves.

[17:27] Or they lie out of pride because they want to be thought of as spiritual or thought of as, you know, good at this or that or perfect in some shape or manner.

[17:39] All right. So we're talking about implications of the difference between the members of God's new society and the rest of the world. And so the first one is lying. The second one is anger. Anger gives us a couple of verses on that.

[17:54] And in this instance, here's one of the exceptions, really the only exception. Paul begins with the positive first. It may not sound positive. The positive statement is, be angry.

[18:06] Amen. Okay. All right. So there's permission from the Apostle Paul. You can be angry. And actually it is. In fact, it's more than permission. It's a command. Be angry.

[18:17] Now, we have to qualify it. Paul's going to qualify it to a point. And there's a lot about this that we need to understand. But we, first of all, just should understand that anger in and of itself is not sin.

[18:32] Not sinful. And we know that because Jesus became angry. And he was sinless. All right.

[18:42] And I gave you one example. Mark 3.2. And this man with a withered hand. Did I just give the reference? All right. Let me just explain what's going on in that reference.

[18:53] It's that occasion where Jesus is in the temple, as a matter of fact. And the Pharisees have kind of staged this guy with a withered hand. And the text didn't just come out and tell you that.

[19:08] But it's pretty obvious that they did that. Because it says that they were then kind of watching to see what Jesus would do. Now, it's in the temple. It's on the Sabbath. And this was kind of their modus operandi, the Pharisees.

[19:23] They were always trying to trip Jesus up, trap him, so they could accuse him and prove him false to the people and so forth. So here's the Sabbath. And there's this guy with a withered hand. And they're kind of nudging him up there and waiting to see what Jesus does.

[19:37] And they didn't care anything about this poor crippled man. They had no compassion whatsoever. They were heartless. They were heartless. So that's the first thing you know. You know these Pharisees are heartless.

[19:48] They don't care anything about humanity. They don't care anything, have any compassion for this poor guy who's handicapped. And they also, they only cared about what?

[19:58] They cared about tripping Jesus up. And, you know, condemning Jesus. So they were also hypocrites. So they're heartless. They're hypocrites. And what does Jesus do?

[20:10] It's a level of the way the text is where it says, Jesus said, step forward. Come on up here. You know, did Jesus know this was staged? And they've set this snare for him?

[20:22] Of course he did. And, in fact, it's interesting as you look at the Gospels how many times this happened. And how many times Jesus healed people on the Sabbath.

[20:34] And I think he did it on purpose on the Sabbath. I think he healed people other days too. But he, you know, he just loved the Sabbath day to heal people. Because the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders were hypocrites.

[20:48] And they had it all wrong about the Sabbath. Anyway, so he says, come on up here. And so he's got the guy. And I just kind of think he's standing him up there in front of everybody.

[21:00] And so he turns to the Pharisees. And he says to them, is it lawful? On the Sabbath to do good? Good. So who is actually trapping, doing the trapping here?

[21:15] Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? You're not even talking about this guy. He's just saying in general, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Is it, or excuse me, to do good on the Sabbath?

[21:26] Or to do evil? Now how are they going to answer that? Well, of course, to do good. Is it lawful to save a life or to kill? Now how are you going to answer that?

[21:39] Well, I don't see. Well, that's kind of the problem they had. And the Bible says that they just stood there and said nothing. Which was probably the best thing they could do.

[21:51] But Jesus, of course, he can see all the way into the heart. And so then the Bible says, and when he had looked around at them with anger. That's what it said.

[22:01] It says anger. You look at these Pharisees with anger. Being grieved, it says, by the hardness of their heart.

[22:12] Is it okay to be angry? Yes, it is. Jesus was angry. He was sinless. And you know, there's also the example, even though the word anger doesn't appear in the text, or the example of Jesus driving out the money changers.

[22:26] That's probably the one that we think of more often when we think of Jesus becoming angry. And he, you know, he's turning the tables over. And he's kind of made a little makeshift whip.

[22:37] And he's getting these money changers out of there. He's clearly angry. He's angry. Now, I'll mention this here in just a minute.

[22:49] But at this point, let's think about something. Is he angry because of something they did to him personally? No. In fact, a little later, they're going to do some pretty terrible things to Jesus.

[23:02] Lie about him. Did he get angry then? No. He's angry on behalf of something else and someone else, chiefly because of how they're treating God, treating the holiness of God and the word of God.

[23:23] All right, so Jesus is clearly angry. It's okay to be angry. It's not sin to be angry in and of itself anyway. He's angry in and of itself. God's word in verse 26 then actually commands us to be angry.

[23:39] Be angry is one word in the Greek text, and it is in the form of an imperative. That means it's a command. Again, I like John R. W. Stott.

[23:51] I like his commentary on Ephesians, by the way. I guess you can tell because I've quoted him twice here now. But listen to this. There is a great need in the contemporary world for more Christian anger.

[24:08] We human beings compromise with sin in a way in which God never does. In the face of blatant evil, we should be indignant, not tolerant, angry, not apathetic.

[24:23] If God hates sin, his people should hate it too. If evil arouses his anger, it should arouse ours also. I think that's true.

[24:35] David wrote in Psalm 119, 53, Hot indignation seizes me. I think that's the ESV. The ESV really brings out the power of the words, the seriousness of it.

[24:49] He says, Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Your law. Alright, so that's positive.

[25:00] Be angry. That's a positive statement of this implication. Then the negative statement, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.

[25:10] Alright, so that's putting it in the name. Do not do this. Do this. That's positive. Do not do this. Do not sin.

[25:21] Be angry, but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Righteous anger never justifies sinful behavior.

[25:32] He said, you can be righteously angry, as long as you understand what that is and where it's appropriate and what kind of anger that is.

[25:46] So, righteous anger, yes, but it never justifies sinful behavior. One can't lead to the other. For example, it's right to be angry at abortion, the murder of the unborn in our country and in our world.

[26:06] It's right to be angry about that. We should be angry about that. But that does not give me the right to go blow up an abortion clinic. Or worse, as some have, murder an abortion doctor.

[26:22] See, the righteous anger cannot justify sinful behavior. It doesn't then give me a pass so that I can go murder or destroy property or things like that.

[26:34] So, pride and spite and malice and animosity and spirit of revenge, we can go on and on with the list, are really kind of some of the sins that we must avoid in our righteous anger.

[26:48] It's kind of the result of our righteous anger or what activity it leads us to. Even some things that go on in our own hearts and minds can then become sinful.

[27:02] Righteous anger is never connected. Now, here's the point. Righteous anger is never connected with personal injury. You know, that someone's done something against me.

[27:12] I have no right to be angry. Now, I take Jesus as the example. Righteous anger is always connected to the honor of God and to His holy word.

[27:27] When God is defamed or His word is denigrated or blasphemed, then I should be angry.

[27:38] I should be angry. Now, the warning, do not let the sun go down on your wrath or your anger, is to a point figuratively. Though there can be a literal application, it's a good idea not to let the day end with you still angry at someone.

[27:59] Especially if it is an unrighteous anger. If there's some anger, you need to repent of that and get reconciled and don't let the day end without getting that done.

[28:12] But He's not talking about that kind of anger. He's talking about righteous anger. He says, be angry. But don't let the sun go down on it. It's figurative. This is figurative. Not meant to be literal here.

[28:23] Literal language. And what it refers to is this kind of nursing your anger. Kind of nursing it.

[28:34] Kind of pumping it up. Feeding it. You know, kind of stoking the fire. You know, in your anger.

[28:45] So you keep it hot. And that can lead to sin. So He's talking about just kind of a habitual attitude of anger.

[28:59] You know, you don't want to, as Christians, and some people see us this way, and there's some believers who deserve to be seen this way because this is how they are. They're just angry all the time.

[29:10] Just hateful. Angry. Ugly. Mean. You know, just angry people. Never happy. You know, that's not who we are to be.

[29:23] So, all right. So there's the negative. And then the motivation. The motivation. Nor give place to the devil. Give place or give opportunity to the devil.

[29:37] And there are two possible applications here. One could be applied this way. The lack of Christian anger. Talking about righteous anger.

[29:48] Righteous anger. When you don't have any of that. When that's absent. That gives the devil a greater opportunity to increase sinfulness in the church. So we never get angry at sin in the church.

[29:58] Then that gives the devil an end. An opportunity. And that anger will grow and spread. And it will do its damage. And it kind of gives the devil an end.

[30:08] So don't give him opportunity. And I think that really is the idea here more than anything else. Because he begins this whole thing by saying, Be angry.

[30:20] Be angry. And so if you be angry. And if you don't obey that command when the anger is appropriate. Then that gives the devil opportunity. But the other application could be this.

[30:34] Unrighteous anger. Now we're talking about unrighteous anger. That is fed and allowed to persist. That certainly will give the devil a foothold in an individual's life as well as in the church.

[30:46] Now that's true. Biblically true. And practically true. I think we could all agree on that. I don't think that's what Paul's talking about here. We'd have to go somewhere else. But either application presents a good motivation for obedience to these instructions.

[31:03] Alright. The next implication. Stealing. Stealing. Verse 28. Paul begins with a negative statement.

[31:14] Let him who stole steal no longer. Alright. Don't do it. Or if you've been doing it. Certainly stop.

[31:24] Don't keep on doing that. If you have been stealing. Well we'll get to the participle here in a minute. But anyway. The word steal here. Is from the word klepto.

[31:36] Isn't that interesting? You wonder where all these words we use come from. You know. Kleptomaniac. You know. Habitual thief.

[31:48] Chronic thief. Although I don't think anybody has. Is a true kleptomaniac. It just centers. That's what they are. But the application here is pretty broad.

[32:00] And it applies to every form of theft. Not just in the. You know. The biggies. That we. You know. Robbing banks. Stealing.

[32:11] Shoplifting down there at Walmart. Or something like that. I mean. Those are easy to identify. But it also applies to employees. Who are not giving their employers. A fair. Fair. Day's work.

[32:23] There's more. Fievery going on. Even among Christians. At their places of work. And it's a. Terrible. Sad. Testament.

[32:33] I. I was a manager. I was a manager. Uh. For. For quite a few years. With Walmart. You know. 200. 250. Employees. And. Uh. Stealing.

[32:44] All the time. Not. Not. Products. Or. You know. Money. But. Stealing time. Getting paid for time. That they. They.

[32:55] They never worked. Or did not work. Uh. In the way that they should. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's stealing. And. Uh. Believers. Should be. Should be.

[33:06] Uh. Admonished. On this. Stop your stealing. Uh. Tax. Taxes. You know. Taxpayers. Cheating on their income tax forms. You know.

[33:17] And we could go on with. Kind of those. Peripheral things. That. Sometimes. You know. In our culture. We. We. We. We. We. Kind of. Kind of. We.

[33:27] We. Kind of. Kind of. This idea. That's not. That's not. Really serious stealing. I mean. Everybody does it anyway. You know. Kind of thing. Now. Both. Instances of the word.

[33:38] For steal. And it. Appears. Twice. Right. Side by side. Stole steal. Stole steal. It's the same word. Twice. But in both instances.

[33:49] They're actually. Participles. That means. Literally. The one. He's saying. The one who is stealing. Let him.

[34:00] No longer. Go on. Stealing. You know. We come to a place. Where the Holy Spirit. Opens our eyes.

[34:11] And convicts us. Of some. Some behavior. That God. Defines as stealing. And I've been stealing. And so Paul.

[34:22] Says. You're now different. Don't. Keep on. Stealing. Change. That. Behavior. Change that pattern. Stop stealing.

[34:35] All right. Then the positive statement. But rather. Let him labor. Working with his hands. What is good. We don't need a lot of comment on that. Do it. An honest day's work.

[34:47] To the best of your ability. There's a work ethic taught in scripture. Really. It's over and over again. And then the motivation.

[34:58] That he may have. Something to give him. Who has need. So. You know. An honest labor. Honest labor. Gives.

[35:09] The opportunity. The ability. For Christian charity. To. Help. People in need. Number four.

[35:22] Corrupt words. Verse 29. Negative statement. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. No corrupt word.

[35:34] Greek word there is. Sapros. And it means rotten. Rotten words. Putrefied.

[35:45] In fact. In the lexicon. There are places in scripture where it's used. In that sense. Putrefying. The same. It's a synonym for rotten.

[35:57] Or worthless. I didn't give you all those words. You can jot them down if you want. In Matthew 12.33. Jesus is talking about the use of the tongue. He's talking about the use of the tongue in a particular way.

[36:10] Blaspheming the Holy Spirit. But it's still the use of the tongue. And he says. He kind of uses this metaphor. Either make the tree good. And it's fruit good.

[36:20] Or else make the tree bad. That's sapros. Rotten tree. Make the tree. The tree of your life. Rotten tree. And it's fruit bad.

[36:31] The fruit. Sapros. Same word there again. Rotten fruit. Rotten tree. Rotten fruit. For the tree is known by its fruit. And the context is the use of the words you speak.

[36:45] The use of your tongue. And I think. You know. Everybody knows that there's more damage done in the body of Christ.

[36:56] Through the use of the tongue. Than by anything else. Tongue is a powerful thing. Destructive thing. And then. Positive.

[37:09] Positive statements. But what is good for necessary edification. So. No corrupt word. Don't speak corrupt words. Rotten words. But. What is good.

[37:19] Speak what is good for necessary edification. So. What? Our words either. Tear down or they build up. You know.

[37:33] Sometimes. We can speak the truth. And it shouldn't be spoken. I say. Well. It's the truth. You know. I even had a lady.

[37:45] Tell me one time. My church. Not this church. We're talking. I was talking about gossip. And she said. Said. I only tell people what's true. I only pass on to other people what's.

[37:58] What's true. Well. May or may not be true. But even if it is true. Does it tear down. Or does it build up. See. That's a good rule of thumb. On. On sharing a bit of news with someone.

[38:11] It may be. True. But does it need to be said. No. If it tears down. It should not be said. It should not be said. So. So.

[38:23] Our words either tear down or build up. And. Good words. Should always be appropriate. In January. It's interesting. Here. And the New King James. Doesn't really bring this out.

[38:34] But a literal translation of this. Would be. And I think. New American Standard. In ESV. They kind of bring this out. But. It could go like this. A word. As is good.

[38:45] For edification. All right. For building up. According to the need of the moment. That's a literal translation. According to the need of the. So.

[38:55] A good word spoken. According to the need of the moment. Now. All kinds of applications. Could make there. Examples. But have you ever had anyone. You know. Who just said.

[39:06] Wonderful. Encouraging words to you. That. And yet. There was nothing really. To warrant it. But just. You know. Just. Speaking. And.

[39:16] Kind of a person. That just always. Senses. That you know. You just. Have done a great job. Here. And you are just. Always. An encourager. You are just. Always. You know.

[39:27] This. Glowing. Flowery. Complimentary. Words. Flattering. Kind of words. When they're. There really wasn't any. Cause for it.

[39:38] Call for it. No. No. No. No. Occasion. In fact. Even the words they said. Were just. Out of context. Have you ever. Know people like that?

[39:49] And. And you're thinking. If you're. If you're. Smart. You are. You're thinking. To yourself. You know. I doubt the sincerity of that. I didn't really mean that.

[40:02] Yeah. I try to be one of those. I try to be one of those. I try to be one of those. I try to be one of those. I try to be one of those. I try to be one of those. I try to be one of those. I try to be one of those. Well. When it's appropriate. See. That's the idea. There are times.

[40:12] And appropriate reasons. To say. Good things. To lift somebody up. Well. What if. What they're saying. Is not true of you. You know. They've complimented you.

[40:22] For something. That you didn't do. Or. Or. Have overlooked. Maybe. Something you really need. Need to be. Instructed on.

[40:34] Does it do any. Do any good. See. So. It's according to the need of the moment. That you speak. These. Good words. You don't. Speak them. Flippantly.

[40:45] Or. Inappropriately. Or. Without any. Reason. Or good reason. And then that leads to the motivation. That. It may impart grace to the hearers.

[40:55] See. It always has a purpose. The words you speak. Imparts grace to the hearers. Not saving grace. Alright. Job 4.4.

[41:06] And this is Eliphaz. In Job. Who says this about Job. He says. Your words have helped the tottering to stand. And you have strengthened feeble knees.

[41:17] And. That's how our words. Should be. Alright. One more. Grieving the Holy Spirit. First. A negative. A statement. And it's a long one. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

[41:29] By whom you were sealed. For the day of redemption. That's a very positive thing. But it's all part of. Stating this negatively. Let all bitterness. Wrath. Anger. Clamor. And evil speaking.

[41:40] Be put away from you. With all malice. That's stating it in the negative. First of all. Though. The phrase. Sealed. For the day of redemption.

[41:50] Sealed by the Holy Spirit. That points to eternal security. Eternal security. Of the believer. That's not the only place. In scripture. But it is.

[42:02] A clear word. I believe. It's talking about the eternal security. Of the believer. The word grieve. Lupeo. Lupeo. Means to make sorrowful. Sorrowful.

[42:13] Or sad. Even offended. Something by the way. That you can only do to a person. Is the Holy Spirit a person?

[42:24] Yes. Yes. Not human. But a person. Alright. You can make a person sad. You can make the Holy Spirit sad. So the Holy Spirit is grieved by words.

[42:38] Words that we speak to one another. Also grieved by attitudes that we have. You know, attitudes are pretty visible most of the time.

[42:51] Kind of the way we react to people. And attitudes we have about things. And people can read that on your face. And the Holy Spirit is grieved by bad attitudes.

[43:03] He's also grieved by actions. Things we do. And we know that. He's grieved by these things when they serve to destroy the unity of the body of Christ.

[43:17] He's grieved by them. And these things that grieve the Holy Spirit are listed in verse 31. Verse 1. Bitterness. Bitterness.

[43:27] Or a spirit. Kind of a spirit that holds on to resentful feelings. You know, you've been wronged. And you react with resent.

[43:41] You resent that. And you hold on to that resentment. Bitterness is a terrible thing. It always begins someplace.

[43:52] And if it's not dealt with, it continues and grows. In fact, there are people who can be bitter based on something that happened, you know, decades ago.

[44:05] In fact, oftentimes they don't even remember what it was. It's bitterness. Somebody did them wrong. And they resented it and they held on to it.

[44:17] That's bitterness. So, bitterness, that grieves the Holy Spirit. Then wrath. Thumos. Thumos. Word means fire.

[44:28] And wrath is a form of anger, but it's a kind of sudden outburst of anger. A heated, kind of fiery anger that just bursts out.

[44:40] And then anger. Anger. The word orge. And that is a kind of anger that's deep. It's a settled anger.

[44:53] It's not a flash in the pan. It's something settled in your heart. And it's seething in there and gnawing away at you. It's a gnawing kind of anger. Anger.

[45:03] Then clamor. And that is a kind of a observable behavior of anger.

[45:16] It's a, you know, suddenly it just comes out in your mouth. You know, you get loud and ruckus and noisy. And it's usually unintelligible.

[45:26] It comes out, you know, anger. Vocalized in some way. It's not necessarily an intelligible thing.

[45:37] You know what I'm talking about. People get angry and they just get loud. And then there's evil speaking. And evil speaking is a deliberate, premeditated speaking of hurtful words.

[45:53] Evil speaking. And then malice, finally. Malice, which is the desire to do injury. Bodily injury.

[46:04] To hurt somebody. And even to destroy someone. It's malice. You see the progression. It's progressive.

[46:14] Where does it begin? Some bitter, point of bitterness. And you know, and you'll go along with that kind of resentful, bitter, and it grows.

[46:27] And then that leads to outbursts of anger. All somebody has to do is a little thing. And suddenly, you just blow up.

[46:39] And then comes next, the deep-seated kind of anger. And then, if still unchecked, clamor.

[46:51] And you just get, you know, loud. After that, then, comes evil speaking. And then, after that, malice. See, it's a progression of things.

[47:03] And so, that's putting a negative. The positive statement. And be kind to one another. Tenderhearted. Forgiving one another. All right. So, the string of sins that damage the body of Christ, thereby grieve the Holy Spirit.

[47:18] The string of sins we just looked at. Begins with some actual or perceived wrong that was done. So, it begins there, doesn't it? That leads to bitterness.

[47:30] So, it begins there. So, right then, the correct response is to deal with that. And it's kindness. So, when somebody does you wrong, you respond with kindness.

[47:40] It's tenderheartedness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. You know, returning a blessing for a curse. Rather than a curse for a curse.

[47:53] And then, the motivation. What's the motivation? Just as God in Christ forgave you. Can we even fathom the offense we have done and do still every day to the Lord Jesus Christ?

[48:07] The offense of our sin. And yet, what? He forgives us. He forgives us. That's the motivation to forgive others when they do wrong against you.

[48:18] All right. So, this is the portrait of the church. And it's purity. The implication of the difference. Now, next time, we'll get into chapter 5 and look at the believer.

[48:29] Look at believers walking lovingly. So, we're walking differently. And then, chapter 5, walking lovingly. And then, we're going to end with walking divinely. Good by.

[48:40]  Good by. Good by.