“Outfitted for the Walk”

The Call to Walk Worthy and Be Outfitted for the Journey

Our scripture reading today, we want to read verses 20 through 32. There's 20 through The end of the chapter. He's in chapter 4 a little long in your copy of scriptures. I read beginning in verse 20 He says but you have not so learned Christ.

If so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust and Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man Which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Wherefore putting away lying speak every man truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not let not the Sun go down upon your wrath neither give place to the devil.

Let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good That he may have to give to him that needeth. But no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers and Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed under the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and Be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another Even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Prayer. So our father I pray that as we Examine this passage today Our hearts would be open to your spirits a challenge of us Individually and as a body of believers, we pray in Jesus name Amen. On one of our hiking expeditions adventures Chris and I were in Vermont and we took the.

It's called the Sunset Ridge Trail. It starts in the Underhill State Park just north and a little west of Stowe and it started off in Underhill and we followed this Sunset Ridge Trail as it ascends up to the summit of Mount Mansfield.

Mount Mansfield is the highest peak in Vermont which in terms of like the 14 ,000 footers in Colorado isn't all that high. It's only 4 ,500 some feet the trail itself is a pretty rigorous trail. It's about a 2 ,500 foot elevation gain hike.

So in two and a half miles up the mountain, you're gaining quite a bit of elevation pretty pretty quickly along the way we encountered some hikers. A few passed us up a few we passed up and there were many more at the summit when we reached the summit and summit is a rather interesting thing because you you can get to one point of the summit and then hike along the ridge and come to.

You come to what's called the chin of Mount Mansfield if you look at Mount Mansfield from a profile. It looks like a person's head. You see the forehead and then the nose and the chin. Anyway, we hiked up to the chin.

Now. Here's a fascinating thing in that. That entire hike all along the way up the ridge up the Sunset Ridge Trail up on the summit. We saw a bunch of guys who were hiking and Not a one of them not a one of them was wearing a shirt and tie and we saw some lady hikers.

Do you know there wasn't one? Single lady hiker wearing a skirt and heels. Now you're looking at me like you know, what's this? You're silly. You're being silly with us here. Yeah, I actually kind of am being silly.

I've done a lot of hiking and I've never yet seen anybody hiking. Any guy hiking in a shirt and tie. Or any girl hiking. Any woman hiking in a skirt and heels. The hikers I've seen have all been dressed.

Comparably, you know a pair of hiking shoes. Maybe hiking boots hiking pants or shorts inappropriate shirt that goes along with the weather. Depending on the time of year and so forth and some sort of pack their backpacking.

It's gonna be a big pack if it's a day day packing a smaller pack, but they you know, they're all dressed, you know. Basically with the same kind of stuff. Now, of course, there's nothing strange about that at all.

That's exactly what you would expect, isn't it? You would not expect in the least bit to be out hiking and see somebody dressed up in a tux or a three-piece suit or a certain tie or a skirt heels. That would be Absurd that would be insane.

You're on a rigorous 10 mile hike. You want to be outfitted properly? Well the Ephesians 4 verse 1 Paul exhorts the believers in Ephesus and therefore since this is the inscripturated word he is Exhorting us as well.

To walk worthy of the calling with which we are called to walk. Worthy of our calling as a Christian as he goes on and develops this in chapter 4 he says that walk is supposed it needs to be a thoughtful and Intentional walk.

You can't be exhorted to walk. Worthy of some in some way without thinking through. Well, what would that mean to walk in a worthy way and it also has to be very intentional. In verse 2 He tells us that that walk is to be a humble walk to walk with all lowliness meekness long-suffering forbearing one another in love.

Most of the rest of the next section verses 3 through 16 Tell us this walk that we are to walk worthy of is to be a church centered walk. There is a unity in the church that needs to be maintained but there's also a diversity a diversity of spiritual gifts in the church that needs to be appreciated and those who are members of the church need to employ their giftedness as measure as a means of appreciating the diversity of spiritual gifts in the church and This church centered walk involves a loving of the body.

The church and the members that are in it. It's to be a church centered walk and then in verses 17 through 19 passage. We focused on last Lord's Day verses 17 through 19. Show us that this walk that were called to walk and to walk in a particular worthy way is indeed a Particular walk.

It's a distinct walk. It's a walk that is distinct from the path that the Shy using quotes Gentiles walk the Gentile path the non-believers path. Yours is to be a distinctive path. You're on a distinctive walk.

So we are to walk worthy in all of those ways. Well now in verses 21 through the rest of the chapter and the balance of this chapter Paul reminds you who are followers of Christ. That if you're going to walk worthy of The Lord gonna walk worthy of this calling as a Christian to which you've walked and you're gonna be walking on the the path.

The Christian path that you've been called to walk on. You really need to be outfitted properly for that walk. You need to be dressed right? For the walk now notice in verses 20 and 21 That it is Jesus himself who prescribes the outfit for this walk now you think about this this this shouldn't really be too surprising because Those who are experts in a particular field if you're going to let's let's just take hiking for an example.

Those who have who've done a lot of hiking and they're they're kind of experts. They're in the know. They will they will give you guidance they will say listen if you're gonna do this particular hike.

This is what you need to take along with you this is the kind of clothing that you're going to need for this particular hike at this particular time of the year and You would listen to them if you were wise.

Well, Jesus is the one who is leading the way on this walk as a follower of Christ. And he's the one that tells us how to be outfit. He prescribes us for us the outfit for that walk, but I want you to notice again that Paul Affirms that you who are on this path.

You are on this path because you heard him. You see this in verse 20 your verse 21. He says you've not so learned Christ. You haven't learned Christ in the sense of walking in the path of the Gentiles.

If so be verse 21 you have heard him. You have heard him. So first question we need to consider this morning is have you? Have you heard Christ? Have you heard Christ? Not in an audible voice where all of a sudden you're walking along and all of a sudden this voice comes from heaven and speaks To you in some way.

No, not that at all. But have you heard the voice of Christ as he calls out in the pages of Scripture and he says Come unto me all you who are all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

This is the invitation. This is the gracious call the gracious offer that Christ gives to you. Come unto me. Have you heard that call? Personally. Where you said that's me. He's talking to me. He's calling me.

I will go to him because he's calling me. It's a gracious offer that he's made and if you have heard him if you have heard that call if you've heard that offer It's because of his own gracious call to you.

Remember what Jesus said in John chapter 10. In verse 16 He's he's speaking to his disciples and he says to them other sheep I have which are not of this fold. He's speaking metaphorically here the sheep his followers.

He says them also. I must bring and listen. He says they shall hear my voice and There shall be one fold and one shepherd later on in verse 25. Verse 26 he says You believe me not because you are not of my sheep as I said unto you my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand so this Hearing of Jesus is the hearing of his call as he says to you as he says to you come unto me you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest and the fact that you can hear that call is because Christ calls to you personally as One to be his sheep.

My sheep hear my voice. Those who don't hear my voice are not my sheep so if you're on this path following Christ, you're on this path because you heard him and hearing him. You then follow to learn of him.

Again, that's what Jesus said in Matthew 11 after he said verse 28 Come unto me all you that labor under heavy laden and I will give you rest. Then he says take my yoke upon you and learn of me learn of me.

So in hearing this call of Jesus to come unto him It is not simply a call to come say hello and then say goodbye. It's a call to come and to yoke up with him to partner along with him on the journey. You join with him in the journey.

Take my yoke upon you and If you have heard that passage explained before, you know he's talking about like a yoke of oxen that are matched together where you you have the You have the yoke and Jesus is in one side of that yoke and you are in the other side of that yoke and you go along together and This journey you partner with him for the journey and as you go You learn of him.

He says take my yoke upon me upon you. And what? Learn of me learn of me. Now what's interesting is after he says that He communicates Some of what you're gonna learn. He says for I am meek and lowly.

Does that sound familiar. Maybe you still in Ephesians chapter 4. We look back at verse 2. You're to walk worthy of this Calling with what you've been called this calling to be a Christian and what is that to look like?

What does that worthy walk look like you are to walk with all? Lowliness and Meekness. Why why walk with lowliness and meekness. Because if you're yoked together with Jesus. And you have heard his call and you've answered that call and here you are Yoke with him following along with Jesus you are learning of him.

And what you are learning of him is that he is meek and lowly of heart. So hearing the call you follow along to learn of him and While you're learning He teaches you to change clothes for this journey.

Because look as look as this verse continues here in Ephesians 4 verse 21 He says if you have heard of him you've heard you've answered the call you've yoked together. You're following to learn of him.

If so be you have heard him and have been taught by him there is the learning and you've been taught as the truth is in Jesus and Then notice at least in my edition of the Bible. There's a colon. What is that truth that is in Jesus.

That you have been taught that he teaches you he teaches you to change clothes for the journey. Verses 22 through 24. This is what he has taught you. He's taught you that you need to put off some clothing and in verse 24.

You need to put on some other clothing. Teaches you that you need to change clothes for the journey so in verse 22 He tells you Jesus tells you teaches you that you need to put off concerning the former way of life.

The old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts now what he says Put off the old man. He's not he's not simply talking about a Abolishing a human being he's talking about put off the way of life.

That is characteristic of the old man your Preconversion days put off the way of life. That would be typical of one who is not following Jesus. I Don't know when you heard that call To follow Jesus it may have been when you were young and in that case then your life experience of a way of life that is described here as corrupt according to the deceitful lusts May not have come to much fruition.

In other words, the corruption may not have been able to manifest itself in all of its Degradation, but it was nonetheless there. Some of you came to Christ much later in life. And when you came to Christ, there was a radical transformation there was a you were you were going in a direction of life that where the Corruption according to the deceitful lusts had had reached fruition.

I mean it was blossoming all over the place and everybody could see all of that and then you heard Jesus. You heard him. You heard his call and you came unto him and you yoked up with him and You followed after him and you started learning of him.

And as you learned of him you learned I Need to get rid of some clothing here. I need to put some stuff off. I Need to discard that those inappropriate Garments that have no place on this particular journey.

Again going back to the idea the the analogy of of a hiking journey. I had to learn this Practical matter and the first real hike that I ever took again, we were living in Vermont and the Guy that was leading the young people in our church.

He wanted to take I'm going to take the young people on an overnight excursion. And hike up Camels Hump, it's another it's this I think it's a second tallest mountain in Vermont second I think it's a second.

Anyway, I wanted to hike up Camels Hump and So what I decided to do since you know, I'm the pastor I want to bond with the young people in this experience and all this kind of stuff. I had never really done Any hiking to speak of before that?

But I wanted to do this, you know, I wanted to climb I've seen Camels Hump. Many I mean we lived right near it. I mean you could see it just about every day. We could see Camels Hump and I always saw I'd like to climb up there something so he says let's do this so I didn't do the overnight thing, but what I did is I got up Saturday morning and I drove to a Trailhead and I was gonna hike up this one particular path and meet them at a juncture.

And then we were gonna go together up to the summit of the mountain. So I got to the trailhead and I started off on the hike and I'm about a two-tenths of a mile up this trail and I am like I Am sucking wind, you know.

And I don't know that I'm gonna make this and my legs are like wobbly and all this kind of my feet are starting to hurt and I've got another I've got another half a mile or more to get up to the meeting point and then it's like a couple of miles or more Up to the summit.

I don't know how in the world I'm gonna make this so I stopped to rest and I got my breath and I got back to you know, my pulse rate down below a hundred again and and took off and and I had to do that again, and I finally finally met up with the with the leader Who does an awful lot of hiking?

I mean lived in the outdoors and the young people and they get up there and meet with him and I Get a leader get the leader. So I said man I don't know. I don't know if I can do this. He said yeah, I just stay with me.

You can do it and He said but honestly He said Whenever you're gonna go hiking don't wear blue jeans. I'm gone on a rugged hike. I did that just was seemed like a logical thing to do is wear a pair of blue jeans.

He says don't wear blue jeans. They restrict your movement. They're heavy and they don't breathe. Never wear blue jeans when you go hiking and he said and Where'd you get those boots? And I was wearing a pair of brand new hiking boots.

I knew I was gonna do this trip. You know, so this this hike and so I went out and bought a pair of hiking boots and I bought them. They were cheap, you know 20 bucks for a pair. I thought I was getting a good deal.

I mean they had leather uppers and all the rest of this kind of stuff and I knew I was gonna wear thick socks. So I got him a little big. I got him way too big. That's why my feet were hurting so bad and they were stiff and They weren't broken in and my feet were hurting.

My legs were hurting. I was miserable and he basically said it's because You're not dressed properly. You need to get rid of the inappropriate garments for this kind of thing. Now this is this is what this is what the Lord Jesus is teaching us here in verse 22 He says there are garments that you need to put off if you're gonna follow me if you're gonna be walking on this journey with me the garments that you need to put off are those that are suited for walking the old path the former the King James puts a Conversation or the former way of living the former way of life.

Those things need to be put off. They are garments that are and here's how he puts it here. They are ruined by deceptive desires. They're ruined by deceptive desires. In other words due to the following of sinful patterns of thinking and desiring and behaving.

Those that way of living has tended toward the ruining of things this is the way I used to live this is what you used to live and if you were a Child when you were converted and you were spared a lot of the fruition of the deceitful lust.

This is all the more of what you would have been you you have missed out on patterns of thinking sinful patterns of thinking sinful desiring sinful ways of behaving that have tended toward the ruining of things.

Even if you were converted as a child you still engaged in enough of that kind of Stuff you wore enough of that kind of clothing to know exactly what I'm talking about. These are not just Jeans when you're trying to hike a long rigorous hike these are jeans that are soiled and Holy not HOL.

Why as in holy holy holy? Filled with holes and rips and tears. Ready for the ragbag. These are Inappropriate garments that need to be discarded. Now before in verse 24, he tells us there are some garments to put on he says.

You know, really you need to radically change your thinking. Your thinking needs to be radically changed you see this in verse 23. He says and it's in the present tense be Being renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Be being renewed in the spirit of your mind. This is calling for a radical reorientation of the way you think. So again with the hiking analogy you you you can't. You can't go to the Sunset Ridge Trail at Mount Mansfield and Think that this is going to be like walking the the walking path out by woodlawn.

You know a nice paved Asphalt paved path you put on your tennis shoes and your and your you know Athletic socks and it doesn't much matter what else you wear. You just walking along a fairly level path and it's nice and smooth and comfortable an easy thing to do.

Now listen if you're if you're going to make it to the summit of camels of Camels hump or Mount Mansfield you have to orient your thinking toward the kind of path that you're going to be climbing. Likewise This new walk that you're on as a follower of Jesus calls you to radically reorient your thinking.

Paul speaks of this as well in Romans chapter 12. You remember that a couple of verses? Romans 12 1 and 2 Paul does a similar thing in Romans that he's doing in the book of Ephesians and that is In the book of Romans the first 11 chapters of the book Paul talks a lot about doctrine a lot about theology.

The way theologians put it a lot of Bible teachers put it. He does a lot of the giving of Indicatives. This is the way things are. This is the truth that you need to accept and you need to hold to and then after sharing a wealth of Indicatives he follows it with the imperatives.

This is all right with this truth. This is what you need to do. This is how you need to live. So in Romans chapters 1 through 11 Paul provides a whole bunch of indicatives. This is the truth this is the way things are and now in Romans 12 1 and 2 he says I beseech you I Exhort you earnestly therefore by the mercies of God.

What. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service? So this radical reorientation of our thinking must begin with a Whole self submission to our God.

We offer up ourself completely to our God. Okay. This is my life. It's my body. It's yours. You bought it. You take it. I offer it unto you. And now in verse 2 He says and be not conformed to this world.

That's the same thing as saying put off all the old clothes those inappropriate Garments that have no place on this new journey. He says be not conformed to this world. Instead he says be transformed be being transformed.

How. You know the verse what does he say? By the renewing of your mind by the renewing of your mind. So this radical Reorientation the same thing Paul says in Ephesians 4 verse 20 verse 23, right be being renewed in the spirit of your mind.

So this radical reorientation of our thinking occurs as God's Spirit. God the Holy Spirit uses the ordinary Means of grace if I can use that phrase. To renew our thinking to reorient our thinking what do I mean by that?

He uses the ordinary means of grace. God's Spirit takes the Word of God that he himself inspired as we as you partake of that word. In your time every day when you get into the Bible and you read the scriptures to for yourself.

Whenever you do that first thing in the morning last thing at night sometime during the course of the day. When you get in the word yourself. What the Holy Spirit does is you depend upon him and you're reading and Endeavoring to understand the word.

What the Holy Spirit does is he takes that? Interaction with his word and he uses that word to work on the reorienting of your thinking as You yourself engage in the Word of God as you sit and listen to the preaching and teaching of God's Word as you Meditate on what you have heard and of what you have read and learned of the scriptures as you pray through the scripture even something as maybe you don't normally think of it this way, but even the Lord's Table is a means that God's Spirit uses to help reorient your thinking.

Why? Because when we gather we'll do this next Sunday. We'll do this next Lord's Day when we gather together at the Lord's Table. What did Jesus say? He says do this. What in remembrance of me? So, what are you doing?

What are we doing? Collectively together when when we see these elements spread before us and we know what they are and We're we're reflecting that these things represent Jesus. What do they represent about Jesus.

Jesus God became man lived among us. Lived a perfectly sinless life. Went to a cross. Why did he go to the cross? Did I need him to go to the cross for me. I absolutely did. What did he do on that cross?

Why did he do that on the cross? You see Jesus has do this in remembrance of me and if I actually do it in remembrance of me I am meditating on the truth of Scripture. I'm meditating on the truth that is in Christ Jesus and that meditation that reflection.

Helps to reorient my thinking. That's critically needed but there's another means of grace that God's Spirit uses to help reorient our thinking and that is the local church itself. Let me show you this turn to Colossians chapter 3.

Two books later the companion letter that Paul wrote when he was in prison when he wrote Ephesians, he also wrote at the same time Colossians and Look what he wrote in chapter 3 verse 16 and and bear in mind that he's writing this to the local church at Colossae.

And he says to the church. He says let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly let it dwell among you richly in all wisdom. And what are you to do? What are we to do together? Teaching and admonishing one another how in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

So even even the church the local church as we gather together assembling ourselves together in worship of our God and we lift our voices in praise and we Sing and we sing doctrinally sound hymns and songs and psalms as we read together the psalms.

Selection of the day as we send sing these hymns to one another. What are we doing? We're teaching each other. We listen if I can put it this way all of these things what we're doing with all of these things is we are reorienting our thinking.

Why? Because this is what Jesus is telling us. We need to do to change our clothes for this journey we need to get rid of some old garments that are not appropriate for this hike and We need to completely reorient our thinking about this hike and Then he tells us in verse 24.

We need to put up put on some appropriate garments. Look at verse 24 back in Ephesians 4 you put on the new man the garments that are consistent with being a Christian walking on the Christian path. Following yoked with and following Christ along this journey you put on the new man.

Which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness? The idea of verse 24 Could be expressed this way. The nature of your journey the nature of your hike is Going to determine the kind of clothing you need to wear.

Makes sense when we think of it on a very practical level, right? So for example a Few years back. We had the opportunity of visiting the Grand Canyon. We were there in late May it was the end of May around Memorial Day was a Memorial Day and So Chris and I wanted to hike down into the canyon on the bright angel trail very popular trail now the thing about that hike is On the way out on the hike you're going downhill the whole time into the canyon.

So I'm three miles down into the canyon and the farther down you go the hotter it gets. They tell you to start early in the morning and be finished with your done would be finished with your hike by Late morning because it's gonna get hot and it was I mean we we ended up finishing the hike around 10 30 11 o 'clock I think and it was already Around 90 degrees in the canyon.

Well now when you know that's going to be the case see when you're thinking has been oriented properly. You know, what's going to you're gonna be facing. You dress accordingly hiking shorts a t-shirt and Lightweight hiking socks now in contrast to that if you're going to be in Northern Vermont in early October and you want to summit Mount Mansfield.

Then it's gonna be maybe 50 degrees if you're lucky when you get to the summit and you're not gonna be wearing Lightweight hiking socks and a pair of hiking. Well, you might wear the hiking shorts, but you're not gonna be wearing a short-sleeve polyester Moisture wicking t-shirt.

Why it wouldn't be appropriate not for that hike. All right. Jesus is telling us here. You're on a journey with me. You need to put on appropriate clothing for this journey. Reorienting your thinking is going to help now follow along.

He says you need to put on the garments that are consistent with the new way of life. The new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. These garments that you're gonna be put on that you're gonna put on are Suited to the new you if you will to the new path the new man and they are garments that are crafted.

Notice, they're crafted by the divine Designer you see that here. They are after God created in righteousness and true holiness. Literally, you could read this this way. They are created after the likeness of God.

In other words these new garments that you need to put on Will reflect him. It's like you're you are made in the image of God and the likeness of God you reflect certain things about God. Well, likewise on this new journey as you put on the garments consistent with the new man.

They are going to be garments that will in some way Reflect him what he is like. They reflect him and their garments that are consistent with this path of the truth that is in Jesus. Look at look at our verse again, and I want you to draw a connection here draw a line.

He says put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness now literally that could read this way created. They are created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Now draw a line there from that word true. Back up to verse 21 the end of the verse you have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. So the garments that that Paul is talking about here that Jesus is teaching us to put on here in verse 24 are Garments that are consistent with the path of truth in Jesus.

Well, what is that like? Righteousness and holiness righteousness and holiness. Now there can be some overlap in the understanding of those two words righteousness holiness and the application of them and so on.

But when those two words are put together in the same sentence like they are here. There's a distinction and the distinction is this. Justness has to do with your behavior toward your fellow man toward other people.

Holiness has to do with your behavior toward God. Another way we can put it is this. Righteousness has to do with the second half of the Ten Commandments holiness the first half of the Ten Commandments.

Or if you like we can put it like this Righteousness has to do with loving your neighbor as yourself. Holiness has to do with loving your God with all your heart soul mind and strength. The garments that you put on in this new path are Garments that will reflect those two fundamental truths That are in Jesus.

You need to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and you need to love your neighbor as yourself. You will live that out. These are the garments that we need to put on. All right.

Now all this so far you might think well, that's all you know, that's all yeah. Okay, it's all really Right. I get that. Now see the rubber meets the road in the rest of this chapter Paul Gives some specifics About the kind of clothes you need to throw away and the kind of clothes you need to put on so in verses 25 through 32 notice how he begins he says therefore All right, because Jesus has taught you this because Jesus has taught you there are garments.

You need to put off you need to reorient your thinking and there are garments you need to put on. Therefore put off a bunch of stuff and put on some other stuff and specifically he says put on or put off discard throw away all About me garments and put on I care about you garments.

You say what? Well, look at the look at the lists. Now we're not gonna take the time to go through each of these items One by one and describe them and define them and all the rest that I think you pretty much know what these things are.

And if you think about it the stuff that he tells you the garments he tells you you need to put off and throw away. They're all about you they're all about me. Put away lying. He says put away lying lying is any form of dishonesty deceiving somebody to try to Make yourself look better or to get out of trouble or whatever.

He says put away lying. Lying is all about you, isn't it? It's all about making you look better all about covering up your Trail or whatever? It's all about getting what you want. It's all about deceiving the other person so that you Accomplish something that you want to accomplish.

It's all about you throw it away. Throw away that garment. It doesn't belong on you. He says also you need to throw away the garment of seething anger seething anger. He puts it this way in verse 26 be angry and sin.

Not but not this let not the Sun go down upon your wrath. Now what he's dealing with it. We'll come back to that in a few minutes. But what he's dealing with there is the garment that we can so easily wear when we've been offended or whatever.

Where where we get angry and it just seeds we just hang on to it we just we're just constantly angry and he tells us in verse 27 that that kind of behavior Gives place to the devil. It gives the it gives the devil an opportunity to do all kinds of damage and you know You know as well as I.

Because you've experienced the damage yourself. That seething anger has inflicted upon you. You've felt the pain and Maybe you've inflicted some of it and And you you probably have also Seen how the wicked one has used that seething anger to as an opportunity to cause further damage in a relationship in a marriage in a family in Extended families in churches.