The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Ephesians 4:25-32the main passage preached through, covering truth-telling, anger, stealing, corrupt talk, and grieving the Holy Spirit
25 Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
26 “Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 and don’t give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear.
30 Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
the Gentiles walking in futility, darkened understanding, alienated from the life of God
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts;
19 who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
the tongue is a fire, no one can tame it, with it we bless God and curse people made in his likeness
3 Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body.
4 Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires.
5 So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!
6 And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.
7 For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind;
8 but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Paul urges the Corinthians to be imitators of him as their father in the gospel, and sends Timothy as his emissary
14 I don’t write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
15 For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News.
16 I beg you therefore, be imitators of me.
17 Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every assembly.
1 Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2 Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.
3 But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.
5 But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved.
6 For if a woman is not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or be shaved, let her be covered.
7 For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.
8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man;
9 for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man.
10 For this cause the woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.
11 Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord.
12 For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God.
13 Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled?
14 Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?
15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering.
16 But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies.
17 But in giving you this command, I don’t praise you, that you come together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it.
19 For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you.
20 When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.
21 For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken.
22 What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly, and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.
23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
24 When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”
25 In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.
30 For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
31 For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
33 Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.
the Thessalonians became imitators of the churches in Judea, enduring suffering from their own countrymen
14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews;
beloved, be imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises, an encouragement to persevere
9 But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this.
10 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
11 We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,
12 that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message worked through Ephesians 4:25 through 5:2, a passage Pastor Ray said is easy to understand and hard to do. He traced Paul's rapid-fire sequence of commands, each built on the pattern of a negative command, a positive command, and a rationale underneath. The whole thing rested on what he had laid out in previous weeks from the first three chapters of Ephesians, without which, he said, this section becomes nothing more than behavior modification that does not work.
What was said
Pastor Ray began by grounding the passage in its "therefore." He was clear that the commands in this section only make sense if you have already absorbed Ephesians 1 through 3. The reason Paul can tell people to live differently is that something has already happened to them in Christ. The old self belonged to a former manner of life that was corrupt and deceitful. The new self is created after the likeness of God. The commands that follow are not a self-improvement plan but a description of walking in a newness of life that God has already made available.
The first command is to put away falsehood and speak truth with your neighbor, because we are members of one another. Pastor Ray noted that people tend to split on this one. Some are plain spoken but not loving. Some are loving but never say the hard thing. The goal is both, at the same time, because it is not loving to withhold from a sick patient the news that they need medicine.
On anger, Pastor Ray said every person in the room is going to get angry, and some of that anger is righteous. Jesus had righteous anger. But righteous anger does not give anyone license to act out on it. The danger he kept coming back to is what happens when anger is fed and steeped rather than released. When someone steeps their anger like a tea bag, he said, they become a ticking bomb. The command not to let the sun go down on your anger is the permission to let it go, because God has said vengeance belongs to him.
The command to the thief is the plainest of all: stop stealing, do honest work with your own hands, and do it so that you have something to give to anyone in need. The goal is not building up personal wealth or bigger barns. Pastor Ray said he has seen this congregation meet needs generously and sometimes anonymously, and that generosity is only possible because people are willing to work first.
The section on corrupting talk got the most attention. Pastor Ray listed slander, gossip, and malicious tearing down alongside the more obvious examples, and leaned on James to make the point that the tongue, though small, sets a fire. He made the connection between what we say and what we are stewing on inside, drawing on the line from Luke that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, and the word from Jeremiah that the heart is deceitful above all things. The antidote is not silence but purposeful speech that builds up and gives grace to those who hear. He pointed to Scott Eichen, who served at the church before him, as a living example of a relentless encourager, and said that kind of person is always welcome.
The closing command of the section is not to grieve the Holy Spirit, and it is accompanied by a call to let go of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. Pastor Ray framed this not as a burden but as a release that is possible precisely because God in Christ has already forgiven the believer. The rationale for all of it is Romans 5:8: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
The passage then turns to chapter 5: be imitators of God as beloved children, walking in love just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us. Pastor Ray traced the word for "imitators" through seven uses in the New Testament, each time describing a positive, admiring emulation of someone walking a God-approved path. He closed with the practical observation that you imitate who you spend time with. His daughter picks up habits from whoever she is around most. The same is true of anyone who wants to walk like Christ: spend time with Him, study the Bible, and find someone whose walk is attractive and get close to them.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Stacy described Jesus as her rock, redeemer, deliverer, strength, and fortress through some very dark valleys. Where have you seen God show up in a season you did not think you could survive, and how did that shape the way you talk about Him to others?
Pastor Ray said that if you do not have the first three chapters of Ephesians, what follows in chapter four is just behavior modification that ultimately does not work. What is the difference, in your own experience, between trying to change your behavior on your own and change that comes from what God has already done for you?
Okay. Josh says it's time to begin. You've had your fun. Now it's time to pay attention.
Let's
open up today with a word of prayer. Thank you, Lord, for our day this morning, our day to worship you. We've had six of them so far, Lord, and now this one is special. We're dedicated to you, and we thank you, Lord, for all that you've done. Lord, for what you did for us in living a perfect life in a very poor and downtrodden area and then dying the worst death.
Thank you, Lord. We thank you for rising again so we can live with you forever. I ask, Lord, this morning our worship would reflect the grandness of what you have done for us. In Jesus' name, amen.
Rest my I
Let's give it up for the moms today. Yeah. Thanks, mom. Wonderful to have you all here. First BBQ is coming out May 17.
I think that's next week. That's out on the lawn in between services. We usually have food down the hall. Today is the same, going to be down the hall. But then First BBQ will be outside, out on the lawn, bring a hat, bring some sunglasses.
It's always super bright that day. I'd love to have you. A great time to invite people. My Sister's Closet is a clothing exchange for women, May 30. You can shop from 10AM to 12:30.
There are volunteers needed. Is Casey here today? No, Casey. But, if you have any questions, you can also ask me too. I'm one of the church workers here, and I can answer your questions.
Please bring your items new and gently used the week before or during that week sometime, and that way they can get them all set up in advance. Lost and Found, speaking of which, has not emptied out. You guys are really good at the lost part. Would you check back there? Even if you think, I don't have anything back there.
Let's check it out back there. Lots of stuff. Lots of good stuff, and it might be mine soon. Vacation Bible School, Amy Jordan was gonna come up and give a little talk about that. Amy, you all said?
Okay. Let's give it up for Amy Jordan. She's our head of the children's department here.
Here you go, Amy. Thank you.
Wow. Happy Mother's Day to all of you. I tried to simplify the slides. Here's one slide. You can use it to donate items, to volunteer, and to sign up your kids.
Please sign them up. We're really excited. It's going to be about Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and his return. So we are super excited about this year. It is June twenty second through twenty fifth, same time, nine to twelve.
And, yeah, y'all would sign up, your kids volunteer, and any donations. So that link will take you to all three. Thank you.
Yay for VBS. It's super fun. And, if you are in in music, if you can do that, if you can decorate cookies, there's there's loads of ways to volunteer no matter what your skill level or desire to help is. Speaking of which, church cleanup is coming up May 23. This whole building is usually full of people washing windows, painting, fixing the sidewalks.
We need doors that need to be repaired. We have doors that need to be repaired. If you have any level of of skill at all, come on by nine to one. And if you would sign up in the fellowship hall today. Tim should be down there.
I don't know if Tim's in here either. Oh, he's in the back over here. You're looking for him. Raise your hand one more time there, Tim. He's looking for volunteers.
Would you please sign up for that too? And any more, things we have going on are all listed on the church website. You can also sign up for weekly emails and, daily emails throughout the week for Bible readings and stuff like that too or just give the church office a call. Meanwhile, we'll just stand up, greet each other and we'll bring you back with song. Okay.
Well, we also have a special event. If you all be seated for a second. We have a baptism.
So good morning everybody. This is Stacy. Stacy Woods. And if she has anything to say, she's about to say a big statement about being baptized, but I'm gonna give her a chance. If she has anything to say, here you go.
Thank you. Hi. I am just so excited to be here today. I gave my life to Jesus last May, and it's just been incredible to see just the transformation he's made in my life this last year. I've walked through some really dark valleys the last couple years and especially with my
mental
health. And if it wasn't for Jesus, I really don't know that I would be here today. He's everything to me. He is my rock, my redeemer, my deliverer, my strength, my fortress, and I am just so happy that I get to live my life for him. Psalm 23 is a verse that I hold dear to my heart.
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.
He's just broken so many chains in my life, and he's healed me from so much. From addiction to alcohol to OCD, depression, because I feel like the list goes on. But he's just so good. He's rescued me again and again, and I'm just I'm just so grateful to be here. Warm.
It is warm. Yeah. Honestly, y'all I feel like I've already had church. Jesus is still in the same business of seeking and saving those who are lost and in transforming their lives. And she's just witnessed that by her testimony and now in obedience to Jesus' command, I now baptize you my sister in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life.
Amen. And now y'all can stand up and they'll lead you in a song. You can come on down the back steps right over there.
It seemed like a good song to do after baptism. Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Now we drugged that one out just long enough for Ray to get up there and play the bass. It's hard when you have to do everything, isn't
it? Pastor Ray. Yes. Can I say something this week?
I'm gonna give her the chance right now.
Here you are.
I just wanna thank I just wanna thank for I just wanna thank praying for me over the weeks that we had our car accident in in Idaho Falls and finding out that I had breast cancer. And you have been a blessing to both of us. They couldn't they couldn't believe that I was so upbeat during all this time. And did surgery, nothing found under the arms, nothing found in the lump. And as a result of that, and it being a stage one, They were able to do the radiation here.
I didn't have to have chemo. I had two treatments a day for four days, and they told me that had they not found it when when we did, that the the story wouldn't be as simple as it is right now. And and so in a couple weeks, I have to go on a radiation pill for the next five years. But what's that to one more to add to all the rest I'm taking. And so I just I just wanna let all you know what you've all meant to me over the these last few weeks.
Like, I know I couldn't have done it without your all your prayers.
Amen. Amen. So, this week, I'm knowing there was a baptism and asking, Jeff, would you fill in for this? And he chose the songs and it turns out that Stacy's Psalm that she just quoted is this next song that we're gonna sing. So, would you sing out?
The Lord is my shepherd. Here we go.
This one's a new one. Some of you have sang it before. It's an old hymn. I don't even know the hymn. I know a lot of hymns, but not this one.
And we're gonna try it out. Raise your hand if you've sang this one before and get an extra point.
All my life long, I panted for a drink from some cool spring that I thought would cleanse a burning of the thirst I felt the one my soul so long has grave. Jesus satisfies all my longings. Through his blood, I now am safe. Well of water, ever springy, brand of life so rich and free.
I'm going invite the ushers to come forward. Y'all can have a seat. Just play something. Ushers are coming forward for the worship through giving time, the operatory time. So, if you would pray with me where you sit.
God, thank you. Thank you that you are still in the business of changing lives today, of saving lives today. Thank you that you're still in the business of sanctifying. I keep thinking of the the line from the hymn. Lord, let your blood be of sin, the double cure.
Save from wrath but also lord, make us pure. So, lord, we pray that you would be washing us, that you'd be cleansing us, that you'd be using us to do your will in your way. Lord, for what goes in the plates this morning, I ask that we would use them always and only for the advance of your kingdom. We want to do your will and your way, lord. So, would you do would you bless the the gift and the giver to do your kingdom's work here in this valley but lord reverberating to the very ends of the earth.
Today, I pray for our missionaries that are in France right now. Paco is hurting and he is going through medical stuff that he just can't get ahead of. So, lord, I pray that you would heal Paco's body. Do it however you see fit, lord. For Didi, for the kids, that they would be encouraged as they walk out advancing the gospel.
In Jesus name, thank you for all of those missionaries that are serving in faith. Amen. Amen. And it's time for children's church. There's and there they go.
Amen. Alright. So, This week, we are up to, oh, there we are. We're up to Ephesians four twenty five. Four twenty five to 32.
I left off at 24 last week and it starts off with a therefore. So that next slide, we're gonna of course go back and read what we read last week. But that therefore, I'm gonna get to in a minute. I was sort of elected to be the president of the married students association when I was in seminary. I don't know how that happened.
I did not run for it. I did not want it. I had hoped I would not get it. I didn't know that it even was a thing until right before they said you're it. So in the very Presbyterian sense, I was elected to be the married student.
And then that means that you have to get up in seminary like two one Thursday a month to or one Wednesday a month to do a presentation or sermon to all of the married folks in the seminary and all of the married folks that are the teachers in the seminary. So, I didn't wanna do that. I mean, it's bad to preach in front of anybody. I'm sorry. It's I'm sorry.
It's a blessing. It's hard. It's hard to preach in front of anybody but if you've got seminary professors in there, they're teaching you Greek and New Testament theology and everything else. It's like, come on. Like, I don't I don't know.
I chose this passage. So this passage because I wanted something that's really easy to understand and really hard to do. So that's what this is. It's really easy to understand. He explains everything he says he explains it three different ways.
Negative command, positive command and the rationale behind it. And then he closes kind of strong. So this is the people who made the chapters in the Bible were not really paying attention to Paul's flow here. They just kind of it looks like they just chopped it up with a spatula like slam. That's it.
But four twenty five to five two I think is enough for this morning. Therefore, and therefore in this case is referring back to the last couple of paragraphs which I covered last week. And if you're here last week, I also covered all of the first three chapters of Ephesians because that's the grounding in which this makes any sense whatsoever. If you don't have the first three chapters of Ephesians, this is behavior modification and ultimately just a human endeavor that does not work. Okay.
The reason for the 12 steps having, I know I have a problem I can't do anything about and there is a higher power who can restore me to sanity as the first two steps is the reason for the first three chapter of Ephesians. So I'm not gonna read them again like I did last week. But read them again when you get home. Okay? Therefore, now I say this and I testify in the Lord.
This is last week. I say this and testify in the Lord. She must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. That is your former life, but it's the futility of mine. That's the behavior modification that ultimately just doesn't work because they and we used to be darkened in their understanding.
They're alienated from the life of God because of ignorance that is in them and if you hear ignorance that's in them, it gives you a little bit more mercy to go. They just don't know what it is that they just don't know and to have an elevated position only because of the gift of God is where we find ourselves. So, it's not what we did. Right? It's not what we did.
Not that we deserve a greater understanding. They're alienated from the life of God because of ignorance that's in them. That's it's a hardness of heart issue like I don't want anything outside of myself. And so the hardness of heart there does not allow anything in. So they become callous and they've given themselves to up to sensuality, greedy, to practice every kind of impurity because if life doesn't make any sense at all and there's nothing, there's no meaning to the cosmos whatsoever, I might as well enjoy it.
So, that's Ephesians four seventeen through nineteen twenty three twenty four says this, but that's not the way that you learned in Christ. So, in Christ, assuming that you have actually heard about the actual Christ and that you were actually taught about the actual Christ because the truth is in Jesus. To put off like a garment when they were singing that song while I was changing clothes. It was pretty appropriate. It's putting off and putting on is like taking off a garment and putting on a garment.
So to put off the old self which belongs to your former manner of life, it's corrupt through its deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self which is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. This is the purity that will your robes be white. Yeah. He's saying, Christ has made the way available for you. You will have to walk in it though.
If you just keep on doing the same things you've always been doing the same way you've always been doing because that's normal to you in your former life, then you don't get to walk in the newness of life. Going buried with Christ and raised to walk how? In newness of life. That's what this is about. So old self belongs to the former manner of life.
Yeah, you're still dragging that around. The flesh is still with you. There's a fellow in the second service that's right here. He calls it the walking around man. It's like this dead man that you're dragging around with you everywhere.
It belongs to the old former manner of life, still has the the thoughts but they're corrupted, deceitful, and tend to be greedy. But the new self is created after the likeness of God and God is good. He's really, really good. He causes his blessing to come upon the just and unjust. He is very gracious towards us.
He's created after the likeness of God. It's in truth. It's true righteousness and true holiness and that is available. But renewing of your being renewed in the spirit of your minds is what's necessary and so Paul uses the first three chapters of Ephesians to say, because all of this is true and then he gets to that portion of four where it says, be walking like this. Now, here we are.
Therefore, one word in. Notice the pattern. There's a negative command, then there's a positive command, and then there is the underlying motivation. In front of that group of seminary professors, I was like, hey, quick advisory word, maybe it'll sound like a disclaimer. I've not had the homiletics course.
I don't have that excuse anymore. I got not had the preaching course when I did this before all those professors. I tend to find myself ministering much more often by coming alongside, not by standing up front. I can't say that anymore. But both of them are valid forms.
I'm more comfortable with the one not in front of people, but here today, I'm in front of people. So, here we go. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you be speaking the truth with his neighbor. For we are members one of another. So having put away falsehood is the negative command.
And I think that the New American Standard has it right. It's saying that this is something that happened when you accepted Christ. You said, I don't want that nonsense anymore. I don't wanna be just fudging things for my own good. I wanna be honest about myself so that God can make me better.
So having put away falsehoods one way of understanding it. It is though imperatible. It does have the force of a command to say, put away falsehood, really. It's already true in the heavenlies that you are truly a believer in Jesus now live like it. Right?
Put away falsehood and speak the truth in love because we're members of one another. There are folks who find it very easy to speak the truth, plain spoken. Says what he means. Right? And there are folks who love and it's great when they're the same people who will speak the truth in love.
We a lot of times get one side or the other and we think it's loving not to say something And we think, I'm just not gonna say that because I think that hurt their feelings. Well, it's not wrong to tell a sick patient that they need medicine. Right? So going right on. These are rapid fire.
There are four or five of them depending on how you look at it. And the first one is speak the truth and love. Positive command. The second one says, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.
So this is rapid fire. Be speaking truth and then don't let the sun go down on your anger. That's the positive and the negative command. Actually Psalm four four, I think it is. Psalm four four.
I didn't write it down and I didn't put it on the screen so I might be wrong about that. I think it's Psalm four four. It says in your anger do not sin. That's what it says. So everybody in this room is gonna get angry.
Alright. Some of you all get angry easier than others. But every single one of you is gonna get angry and the state of anger makes us more likely to act out and to feel justified in acting out. So in your anger, do not sin is the that's the that's the one command. And then don't let the sun go down on that anger is the positive command.
It's saying, I recognize God is saying to you. I recognize that things make you angry. Think about Jesus. There were some things that made Jesus angry and they were righteous anger. So, some of the stuff y'all are upset about is righteous anger But that doesn't mean you get to act out on it.
It doesn't mean that you get to go there. Okay? In your anger, that's reasonable. Everybody gets angry. When you hear of an injustice, something comes up in you, especially you justice oriented people.
Something says, that's not the way it should be. But you don't get to try to set it right. God says leave space for me. Says, vengeance is mine. I will repay.
You don't have to worry about that. In your anger, don't act out and sin. Don't become a people where the ends justify the means. We are a people of the means. We're people who has to walk the path.
In your anger, do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger means, if God will set everything right, then my anger, I can allow that flash to come down And you know what I've been assuming because I'm a mercy guy, I've been assuming all of y'all's anger is righteous. It ain't. Okay? All of our anger is not righteous.
Some things just make us mad and they're they're not okay. But even if it's righteous anger, don't hold on to it. Don't dwell in it. Don't let it don't steep that anger like a tea bag and just let it get to be so strong within you because then you're set up for the next time something happens to just go off. And I give you testimony after testimony in my own life and in the lives of this block where that's happened.
So in your anger, don't sin. Take a beat. Take a deep breath, calm down and pray and think about it. Don't let the sun go down in your anger and don't move to Alaska so you get a longer day. I'm just kidding.
I'm kidding Alex and Emily, I'm just kidding. Alright. Don't let the sun go down on your anger. And if you take those two and you look at them and say, in your anger, you're gonna get angry but don't sin and don't let the sun go down on your anger. And then the rationalist says give no opportunity to the devil.
Okay. We've got an enemy. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He comes to divide and we know Ephesians is about the unity of the church. So if I start to get upset about how another fellowship is doing something And I say, they're far to the left of this issue and they're far to the right of this issue or they're far to the that's the same thing we use in theology, the same thing we use in politics.
Left wing, right wing, whatever. They're too far that way or too far that way and you know, all it takes for somebody to be too far that way is that they're on that side of you because we all are human beings and we tend to justify from the center of our being. Right? And so, let Christ be the center and we work towards him. If you are angry and you're steeped in it and you're feeding that anger and there are plenty of people feeding your anger.
If you're allowing that to happen, then the devil has you right where he wants you and you're a time bomb that's just ticking and waiting to go off. Do I get a witness here? Can I get a witness here? Okay. Alright.
I said it's easy to understand. It's hard to do. Here we go. Let the thief no longer steal. Can it be more plain spoken than that?
Let the thief, that's how they were identified in their past life. The corrupt way that this person was was they stole and it says, let the thief no longer steal. Quit it. Don't steal any longer. It's just an admission of this is how I was before and then it says, but rather, let them labor.
Do an honest work with their own hands, and then the rationale comes next. But don't steal where you take advantage of a situation and you can go through, I could go through all the different ways that we're stealing from one another, from our employers, from God, from anything. I could go through all that, but it's just plain spoken. If you pilfered before, don't keep doing it. Do honest work with your own hands, do the best you can.
At the time you're at work, do the best that you can for your family, do the best that you can for your God. Do honest work with your own hands and then the rationale behind this one is so that you may have something to share with anyone in need. Now, it's not so we can build up treasures on earth and build bigger barns and have more stuff or more toys, but so that you may have something to share with anybody that's in need. And I can say, I know the generosity of this congregation and I know how when one of you finds out about a need in another family, you meet the needs sometimes anonymously, generously, beautifully, and it's an amazing thing to see. But it's because you're willing to work that you had that in the first place.
So if thief is what you were, stop stealing. Thief is not what you are. What you are is a hardworking, obedient, humble servant of the king, Jesus. And so that you may have something to share with anyone need. You just gonna walk away from that former life.
Now, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth. Do you hear the rapid fire nature of this? It seems like, are these things joined at all? Yes. They're very joined.
Let no corrupt and talk come out of your mouths. Do not talk corruptingly. Okay. I was going to define this biblically. I want you all to define this biblically.
What can you think of biblically speaking that is corrupting talk? Taunting, cussing, right? That's the big one. Back home, it's does he cuss? Obviously, cussing.
But there's more to it than that. Slander. When there's malice in your heart towards someone and all you do is tear them down, that's corrupted speech. Gossip. Oh, it's hard to read this and not think of James.
Connor. It's hard to read this and not think of James saying the tongue is just such a small part of our body but man it sets a fire. Know, we put a bit in the horse's mouth and we stare wherever it wants to go. The things that we say really make a difference in our life. Let no corrupt and talk come out of your mouth but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion.
So do not talk corruptingly. Last few weeks during the unity passages that we've covered, the closing benediction has been from Thessalonians five eleven. It says, encourage one another and build each other up. If you will take the time to think about what you say and go, should I or should I not say this? And you measure it through this grid.
Is this corrupted talk? Is it gossip? Is it slander? Is it I mean, libel is written down, but you know what I mean. There are plenty of ways to tear people down.
And we can and Paul will get to it next week, so I will get to it next week. But we can joke with one another and what we're trying to say comes through loud and clear When we're joking with one another, we're tearing each other down. Walk away from that. Do not talk corruptingly, but speak to build each other up. A relentless encourager is always welcome.
Sincerely. The guy who was associate pastor right before I got here, Scott Eichen. Somebody wrote a book about him. The name of the book was the relentless encourager. He texted me this week out of the blue.
Out of nowhere. I hadn't heard from him in a few months And he said, hey, man. I just wanted to encourage you. It's like, thank you, Scott. You know, if he were to say, hey, was watching that online thing and man, y'all are all over the place.
What in the world is going on? The sound sounds terrible. This sounds terrible. You're you're I can't even believe that they let you still do that. I've heard that before.
Okay. I have heard that before. I much rather hear from Scott. Okay. So speak to build each other up.
The relentless encourage is always welcome. Why? The rationale here is that it may give grace to those who hear. I might not deserve the encouragement quite honestly. But man, it's so gracious.
It makes you feel like it's okay to get back up there again in order to give grace to those who hear. So don't talk corruptingly. In marriage, there is a better way to say most things. Okay, sincerely. Ninety something percent of the people that come through the door looking for marriage counseling, 90, it's born out more than ninety percent.
If you ask them, what do you think I might be able to do for you here today? Over 90% will say, we're I don't just don't think we're communicating. We're talking past one another. Communication is the issue. I had a professor in seminary and he said, look up this verse from Luke and look up this verse from Jeremiah.
And so he says, they say it's communication that that's the issue. We're human beings. We're carrying around that flesh and that dead man. And this is the person that knows us better than anybody else in the whole wide world. They're a better mirror of who we are than anybody else in the whole world.
And so, this communication, he said, what does this verse say from Luke and what does this verse say from Jeremiah? He says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. What does the verse say from Jeremiah seventeen twenty six? Our hearts are absolutely deceptive, deceitful above all else and who can understand them? So if our hearts are full of this, deception and it's self deception, right?
We're talking ourselves into our story being the one that's right. If that's the case and out of the overflow of what we're stewing on there, it comes out of our mouth. There we go. So let's think about what we say before we say it and refuse to tear each other down. It's still okay to speak the truth and love.
I love you and you've got a blind spot here and you can't see it. Oh my goodness. Is Tanya here? Okay. This might be not good.
Okay. She's we have a symbol. This is our symbol. This symbol from across the room. If I do this to Tanya and or she does this to me, we haven't done it but a couple of times in our life.
Okay. But this symbol right here means apologize for whatever you just said and walk away. You have no idea how you've torn that person down. I'll go try to fix it later. Okay?
That's the truth. Yeah. Maybe you don't want to talk about slaughterhouses with the head of the Cattlemen's Association, maybe you do. I don't know. Let no corrupt and talk come out of your mouth.
This is a challenge for all of us but only such as is good for building up. As fits the occasion, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and settings of silver. It's a beautiful thing when you say the right thing at the right time. It gives grace to those who hear. And this is that passage from James I was talking about.
So the tongue is a small part of the body. It boasts such great things but see how great a forest is set a flame by such a small little fire and the tongue is a fire. The very world of what? Unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our bodies parts is that which defiles the whole body.
Jesus said it was not what goes into your body but what comes out. He's talking about the words that you use. Is that which defiles the whole body sets on fire the course of our life and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds and reptiles and creatures of sea is tamed and has been tamed by the human race, but no one among mankind can tame the tongue. I realize it's not easy.
Okay? James realizes it's not easy, but it is necessary. No one among mankind can tame the tongue. It's a restless evil. It's full of deadly poison.
With it, we bless our lord and father and with it, we curse people who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. If you seek to do anything great for the kingdom and you are by yourself, great. But you can't do it by yourself.
So it's gonna require other human beings and those human beings need communication. And when you start, man, we can take things the wrong way and we can intend them and we can hide behind the way we said it. Plausible deniability. It's so ugly. So take care with what you say.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Last one with these negative positive and then the rationale is this. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander almost always motivated by malice.
It's saying drop the malice. Malice is when you intend ill for another person. When for whatever reason you intend ill for another person. They're a bad person. I hope something bad happens to them.
That is malice towards that person. Let God be the judge. Let all bitterness. Let all wrath. Let all anger, let all clamor, and let all slander where you put somebody down be put away from you along with all malice.
And be kind to one another. Is this easy to understand? It's easy to understand. Is it hard to do? Lord, have mercy.
It is hard to do. Be kind to one another. Be tender hearted. Be forgiven one another. Just as God in Christ forgave you and if you think about how God in Christ forgave you, Romans five eight gives you a indication.
While we were yet sinners, better put, while we were yet sinning, we were still wrong. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He laid down his life for a sinner and I mentioned last night or last night, probably mentioned it last night. Mentioned it last week anyway. A sinner saved by grace is a saint.
So when Christ laid down his life and you recognize that and said, he gave his perfect record for me, a slandering, malicious, foul mouthed thief according to this. Right? That's the way he forgave. He was already leaning towards me with goodness. Be kind to one another just like Jesus.
Be tender hearted just like Jesus, man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, wept over the city of Jerusalem, wept with Martha and Mary about the death of their brother. Tender hearted and be forgiven one another just as God in Christ forgave you. So, that is the last of this negative positive and then we'll jump over into chapter five and wrap up. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. God has transformed you by your belief in Jesus.
He has given you a new power which is the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, Holy Spirit speaks with a still small voice and when we react to it and say, yes, lord. I agree with you about my sin. I'm convicted of my sin. I agree with you about your righteousness.
I've got a problem I can't do anything about and there's a higher power who could restore me to sanity. Lord, I want you to do that. That's the third step of the 12, right? I'm giving over my will to you, lord. I don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit and so the positive is this, let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slammer.
You might think that's a negative command. No. No. No. No.
It's saying this stuff is hurting you. You're gonna be able to let it go because Christ has forgiven you, because Christ is sanctifying you, you're gonna be able to let this stuff go and that is very positive. Okay? The rationale is just as God in Christ forgave you. He is good and he is gracious.
So, Ephesians five one says, therefore, the imitators of God. The word for imitators there is mimitai. Mimitai. Mimic is where we get our word for mimic, one who emulates. I don't know.
I'm gonna test the room here. How many how many of y'all know what that is? Yeah. X all knows and maybe a little further back than that too. That is a mimeograph machine.
A mimeograph machine is what we had all of our papers run off with. The smell. The smell of the mimeograph fluid from all of these things. That's a mimeograph. And what it was was you put one thing there and it made copies and they weren't always good copies.
They were kind of a blue tinted estimation of what the original was. They weren't nearly the laser copies we have now. But man, that was it was an imitation of that. So this in the New Testament, this word is used seven times, one time here and six more times. But it is the positive imitation that arises by admiring the pattern set by someone that's worthy of emulation.
It's a mentor mentee sort of situation. It's always used positively in the New Testament. It's always used of followers of Christ emulating a God proved or God approved example. So the supreme model has got itself and in this case it says be imitators of God. Does that sound like a tall order?
It's really easy to understand. It's really hard to do. It also follows an old testament command to be holy just as I'm holy, you know. So it's not something new. Here are the other here are the other uses of it.
First Corinthians four, therefore Paul says, urge you to be imitators of me. Does that sound like a little bit puffed up? He's saying, I'm not writing these things to shame you. They were involved in really really heinous sin. The church was involved in really heinous sin.
He wrote a lever, a letter speaking the truth and love and he says, by the chapter four, I do not write these things to shame you but I'm admonishing you because you're my beloved children. I love you too much to let you just keep on acting like you used to act. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers. I'm the one that introduced you to for in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the gospel. So, therefore, I urge you, be imitators of me.
We'll get to it in chapter 11 just a second next slide but for this reason, I've sent you Timothy. He's my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He'll remind you of my ways. He'll tell you about Jesus just as I teach in every church everywhere. I can't get to you but I'm sending an emissary to you.
And then he says in 11 what he really means. Be imitators of me just as I am imitating Christ. Copy So of a copy is not as great as a copy of original, but a copy of a copy is better than not copying anybody. Does that make sense? Okay.
Sorry, Sonny. You also are becoming imitators. I'm trying to stop saying does that make sense? You also became imitators of us in Thessalonians. Now Thessalonians is not one that's primarily concerned about sin.
He's just trying to clear up some theological issues and some some day to day issues. He's not really talking about sin so much. He said, y'all already have become imitators of us and of the Lord and you have received the word during great affliction with joy and the Holy Spirit. You recognize the hard times are hard but at the same time, you are already imitating us as we imitate Christ. Thessalonians again, for you brothers and sisters, you became imitators of the other churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen even as they did from the Jews.
Any culture ever that you become a Christian and really start to imitate Christ, you're gonna stand out as being different from all the world around you. And so, be imitators. And the last one's in Hebrews six nine through 12. Beloved, we're convinced of better things regarding you. We're convinced of things that accompany salvation even though I'm giving you a little rebuke, a little exhortation.
We're speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the and the love which you've shown towards his name. He's not gonna put all that aside. By having served and still serving the saints, y'all are doing a good job and we desire that each one of you demonstrate the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. This is an encouragement to persevere so that you will not be sluggish, but you'll be imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises.
Look at the examples of the past of the walk that was good and imitate that and keep on walking. Do not grow weary in doing good. So therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children. So, the last time that I presented well, the first time I presented to that married students chapel, Paschal had just turned four years old. We had a late birthday party for her after I had gotten home from a Greek class the night before.
She's grown up, and sometimes I think she acts just like her mama. Sometimes I'm afraid she acts just like me. But ever since she was in a little preschool class where that first Thessalonians five verse I mentioned, encourage one another and build each other up. That one, she started to act just like miss Meg who was her first teacher outside the house, you know? So if I ask her to act like mommy, she can still imitate mommy.
If I ask her to act like me, she's probably gonna stand like this for some reason. My whole family stands like this. I don't know why we put our thumbs forward but this is the way we stand. How do you begin to imitate someone? You spend time with them.
She spent more time with me and Tanya and miss Meg than she did anybody else. So she started acting like them. I'm looking around seeing her teachers all over the room. She got a little bit of you in there too. As dearly beloved children, there are a lot of us who do not want to act like our parents.
The imitators of God as beloved children. Don't run from him. He loves you. He cares. Be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love or be walking in love is a better translation.
Be walking in love. Just as Christ also loved you. It just said a second ago that he died for you. As God and Christ has forgiven you, he died for you. So just as Christ also loved you, be willing to lay it all down for others.
He gave, he loved you and he gave himself for us. So, again, you cannot get away from the theme of unity in Ephesians. Everything that you see that you think is individual immediately comes back around and it's about all of us together. So, Christ also loved you, y'all, and he gave himself up for us together. An offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
And we see elsewhere in scripture that that fragrant aroma is gonna be something that rises to heaven and it is acceptable in God's sight and it is beautiful and it is the fragrant aroma of Christ for those who are believing and it is the stench of death for those who are rejecting it. So it's gonna separate, but don't let it separate within the church, within the body. We are supposed to be an example of how God can work in human hearts together. I think that's the last slide. Five one five two, be imitators of God.
Spend time with God. Get to know what he's like. If you're gonna mimic him, you need to know what he's like. You find that in scripture. You find it in studying the Bible with others.
If you find an example of someone that you believe is walking it out and it's attractive to you, their their walk in Christ, saddle up next to em. Get to know em. Would you stand? Lord, I need you as the last hymn. Here we go.
The altar is always open for prayer. If you want to talk to me, I'll turn the microphone off. If you want to talk to me in between, I'm here. If you want to be baptized, let me know. We got another service coming right now.
The water's still in the tank, okay? If we're gonna walk together, it's gonna be because God is in the midst. So, lord, we need you.
Lord, I come. Can bowing here. And when I cannot stand, I'll fall on you. Jesus, you're my whole bad state. Lord, I defense, my righteousness, oh God, how I need you.
You're my one defense, my righteousness. Oh, God, how I need you.
Amen. And as a benediction, I've heard it said a lot of times from pastors that you may be the only Bible anybody around you ever reads. So, therefore, be imitators of God as dearly beloved children. You're the best picture some folks have of God. So, treat them the way that he would treat them.
