OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW (Eph 4:25-32)

Let's dance in the storm, fear the night

We will walk the path with you by our side

You will go before us, you will lead the way We have found a refuge only you can see

Sing with joy now, our God is for us The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress

Raise your voice now, no love is greater Who can stand against us if our

God is for us? When I stumble, even when

I fall, even when I turn Still your love is sure, you will not abandon

You will not forsake, you will cheer me on Never -ending grace

Our God is for us, look by voice now

No love can separate us

Hell and death will not defeat us He who gave his

Son to free us Holds me in his love One more time

Neither high nor dead can separate us

Hell and death will not defeat us He who gave his

Son to free us Holds me in his love Sing with joy now, our

God is for us The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress

Raise your voice now, no love is greater Who can stand against us if our

God is for us? One more time Sing with joy now, our God is for us

The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress Raise your voice now, no love is greater

Who can stand against us if our God is for us?

In the 12th chapter of Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans He says, for by grace given to me,

I say to everyone among you Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think

But to think with sober judgment Each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned

For as in one body we have many members And the members do not all have the same function

So we, though many, are one body in Christ And individually members one of another

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us Let us use them If prophecy in proportion to our faith

If service in our serving The one who teaches in his teaching The one who exhorts in his exhortation

The one who contributes in generosity The one who leads with zeal The one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness

Let love be genuine Oh, abhor what is evil Hold fast to what is good

Love one another with brotherly affection Outdo one another in showing honor

I wanted us to read that passage because This is where our namesake comes from Romans 12, 5

To remind ourselves, so we, though many, are one body One body in Christ We may be individuals here

But we all come together if we are in Christ as one And so welcome We are blessed, amen

What do you think of our new space that God has provided? We've been meeting in my backyard in a big metal building

For a little over two years now And just praying, God, where do you want us? Where are we going to meet?

The church isn't a building Don't make the mistake, the church is not a building Oh, but the gathering of the saints needs somewhere to gather

And God, in His good grace, with grace upon grace Has bestowed upon us Something far beyond anything we can imagine

So we should be grateful this morning We have much to worship, don't we? So welcome to the gathering

We mention it often, as the writer of Hebrews says Not to neglect the gathering together Which is a custom of the saints

For the purpose of encouraging one another All the more until we see Christ return

That's the purpose And I hope that you will be encouraged today Our desire is that all of you, our covenant members

All of you that are our guests Maybe first time or regular attending guests We pray that you would grow in the knowledge

And fear of the triune God God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit And leave molded more into the image of Christ Because your minds have been renewed by His word

Your soul has been encouraged by the fellowship of the saints This is what

God has prescribed And it is good Well, before we go into our call to worship

We always pray for a specific local church We pick a local church and we pray for them

We pray for their service this morning And today, because it's a special Sunday With us coming into the dead center of Jonesboro We thought that we would go to the

Lord And pray for all true churches Throughout the city of Jonesboro All the true gospel churches

That are out there We long to pray for them We pray that God would bring about revival in this community

Even if He's not going to do it here We pray He does it there We want to see God work

So let's bow our heads Let's pray for the churches of this community Dear Heavenly Father, God We come to you this morning

And we thank you for your great blessings Oh, but God, we're not alone We are not the only saints

Doing the kingdom work in this community You've placed us in this specific spot

Oh God, but you are working through the bride Through the body As you see fit

And we thank you for that Oh God, we pray for all the true churches Throughout this city

The gospel churches That are seeking to be obedient to you That are molded by you

That are used by you We pray this morning That their worship services Would be gospel centered

Their worship services would be filled With what you've called the church To do and worship

With the regulative principle of worship Singing and reading and praying And preaching

And the elements of the Lord's Supper And Baptism God, we pray that you would work in their midst

We ask that your spirit would move We ask that the

Holy Spirit The third person of the Godhead Would do his work

In our hearts In this community Lord, we know

That just resolving Addiction issues We know that just resolving

Outward Adherence to your law Through Preserving marriages

And all that go with that God, we know That none of that has the power

To change Only the gospel can truly change And we ask that your gospel

The gospel of grace would Permeate the hearts of your people Throughout this community That you would save mightily

That you would break out in revival And awakening in this community Oh Lord, we ask

That not only in these walls But in the walls of all The churches in this community

We thank you For how you're working For you are sovereign, you do as you see fit You do all things well

Oh, we have such a finite Perspective Oh, but God, as your children

We come to you and we ask these things And we ask them In the magnificent name

Of our Savior Jesus Christ In his righteousness In Christ's name, amen

Amen Let's go to our call to worship This morning As we prepare our hearts

To go before the Lord and worship And our call to worship comes from Some select verses in Psalm 33

The Psalmist Says the steadfast love of the Lord Shout for joy

In the Lord O you righteous Give thanks

To the Lord with the lyre Sing to him

A new song For the word of the

Lord is Upright He loves righteousness and justice

By the word of the Lord The heavens were made Behold the eye of the

Lord Is on those who fear him That he may

Deliver their soul from death Our soul

Waits for the Lord For our heart is glad In him

Let your steadfast love O Lord be upon us Amen Prayer is such a vital

Component in the life of a Christian and the whole body, amen And so Something that we've been

Given at our disposal Is to be able to go to the Lord in prayer Whenever we go. God not only

Provides for our physical needs daily But he provides for our spiritual needs Daily by going to him to confess

Our sin and to adore him with All that we have And so we get to do this with brothers and sisters

In Christ and so from my own Heart I've been blessed by reading Prayers from the saints of old

The Puritans. On my desk I have the valley of vision. I love Getting to meditate on the prayers

Of the saints that have been filled with the Holy Spirit And so I want to share with you one of my Favorite prayers that's so fitting because We go to God who is the source

Of all that is good. So if you Would please pray with me this morning Oh Lord God who inhabits

Eternity. The heavens declare Your glory. The earth your Riches. The universe is your

Temple. Your presence feels Immensely. Yet You have of your own pleasure

Created life and communicated Happiness. You have made us What we are and given us what we have

In you Lord. We live And move and have our being. Your Providence sets the bounds of Habitation and wisely administers

All our affairs. Yes we Thank you for your riches to Us in Jesus Christ For the unclouded revelation of him

In your word where we behold His person, his character Grace, glory, humiliation

Sufferings, death And resurrection. Give us A feel of the need of Our continual dependence on Him as our savior for we

Cry out with Job I am vile With Peter I perish. With the public Be merciful to me a sinner

Subduing us The love of sin. Let us know The need of renovation as Well as forgiveness in order to Serve and enjoy you forever

We come to you in the all Prevailing name of Jesus with Nothing of our own.

No works No worthiness. No promises We are often straying Often knowingly opposing your authority

Often abusing your goodness Much of our guilt arises from Our religious privileges

Our low estimation of them Our failure to use them to our advantage But we are not careless of your favor

Or regardless of your glory Lord impress us Deeply with a sense of your

Omnipresence that We would be about your path Our ways lining with your ways

Are lying down. Lord looking to you For our end. We love you Jesus We pray this in your name.

Amen Sing this with me

Angels sing Glory to the Newborn King Son of Mercy My God And sinners

Reconciled Joyful all Ye nations rise

Join the Triumph of The skies With angelic

Voice proclaim Christ is Born in Bethlehem Hark the herald

Angels sing Glory To the

Newborn Christ The everlasting

Lord In time Behold him come

Offspring of The virgin's womb Veiled in flesh

The God As seen Hail the incarnate

Deity Pleads with us In flesh to dwell

Jesus our Emmanuel Angels sing

Glory to The newborn Prince of peace

Hail the Son of righteousness Light And life

To all he brings Risen with Healing in His wings

Mild he lays His glory by Born that man

No more may Die Born to raise

The sons of earth Born to give

Them second birth Hark The herald

Angels sing Glory to The newborn

Prince Joy to the world

The Lord is come Let earth receive Her King Let every

Heart prepare Him room Heaven and nature sing

In heaven and nature sing In heaven and heaven

And Jesus Joy to the world

The Savior reigns The men Their songs employ

While fields And floods Rocks hills and plains

Repeat the sound of joy Repeat the sound of joy Repeat Repeat the sound

Of joy Close the world

With truth and grace And makes The nations prove

The light Of His Righteousness In wonders of His love

In wonders of His love In wonders Wonders of His love

What so captive Israel That mourns

Among the exiled Until the

Son of God Appears Rejoice Rejoice Ignorance Shall come

To thee O Israel Thou rod of Jealousy free

Thine own From Satan's Defeated King From death's

Loot will thy People sling And give them

Victory Rejoice Rejoice Ignorance Shall come to thee

O dayspring

Come and Cheer Our spirits Call thy name

Disperse The ruined Dead's dark shadows

Full of Death's fire Rejoice Rejoice Ignorance Shall come to thee

O Israel Be safe The way that Blows the path to Misery Rejoice Rejoice Emmanuel Shall come to thee

O Israel Be to thy tribes

A sign In ancient

Times Believe The Lord In clouds

And majesty And all Rejoice Emmanuel Shall come to thee

O Israel Well as the men are coming by Passing the plates go ahead and open your copy of God's Word to Ephesians chapter 4

We're gonna continue our sermon series through this letter that the

Paul the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus This Christmas season as we just continue to look to our

Savior But we see our Savior in all of Scripture. Amen And hopefully we will see him today in our text

But in Ephesians chapter 4 our primary text is gonna start in verse 25

But I want us to start reading in verse 17. So Look there with me as the

Apostle Paul says now this I say and testify in the Lord That you must no longer walk as the

Gentiles do and the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding

Alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart

They have become callous and have given themselves up to Sensuality greed to practice every kind of impurity.

That is not the way you learned Christ Assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus To put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and To put on the new self created after the likeness of God and true righteousness and holiness

Well, therefore Having put away falsehood. Let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor

For we are members one of another Be angry do not sin.

Do not let the Sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil Let the thief no longer steal

But rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths But only such as good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice

Be kind to one another tender -hearted Forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you

Now this is the reading of God's Word. Oh father be honored in it Your word is true your word is clear your word is good

No, but we are frail finite Oh Lord we we need we need the

Holy Spirit that is within each one of us to illuminate these truths who are our

Corrupted minds that are being renewed. Oh Lord allow us to be doers of the word not hearers only in Christ's name.

Amen Well last Sunday We looked at verses 17 through 24 where brother Keith was was bringing the word to us

Where he showed us how Paul is urging us to no longer live like unbelievers, right?

to no longer live like like our old self with futile corrupted minds and and hardened hearts

Walking in darkness for we ourselves Were darkness, right?

That was the old self. That's who we were and he's saying don't walk in that now We've been brought into light.

We've been brought into the light of Christ. Amen We've been given a heart of flesh The heart of stone has been removed a heart of flesh has been placed and we've been made a new creation

That's a that's a glorious thing, isn't it? And we are to put on this new self

We're to notice he says to put it on as brother Keith rightfully pointed us to you must take action here

And how do we put on the new self by having our minds renewed? Right and how are our minds renewed?

by the Word of God exactly Because here's the thing even though we've been made a new creation, even though we've been given a heart of flesh.

We still currently present Or have residue of this old self don't we otherwise he wouldn't tell us to take it off and put on the new

This is an ongoing battle on this side of glory Constantly if you've been a

Christian for any amount of time, you know Oh man being a Christian is actually harder than being an unbeliever back

Then I had a master and I was enslaved to it and I just obeyed it without question And now now

I have a good master and I struggle going back to the old Because our minds are being renewed

Right, that's an ongoing action During this time here in the flesh

Well, that's why we need God's Word to inform us doesn't it informs us of truth

It gives us the information that we need to have our minds renewed. It tells us what

God loves It tells us what God hates it tells us what God forbids and it tells us what

God commands and Those are all good things, right? We love the law of the

Lord and we're to meditate on it day and night. Those are great things Oh, but praise God That's not where he leaves it in his word

Because if he left it at just what he loves and what he hates and what he forbids and what he commands if he just left

It there you and I would be without hope wouldn't we? Unable to love what he loves

Unable to hate what he hates with no power to do to do anything that he for not to do anything he forbids and Absolutely, no ability to obey his commands.

We would have no capability of doing so And you see that is why every single page anything that we read from this word every

Sentence and every word from Scripture clay just screams out in declaration the glorious gospel of grace, doesn't it?

It's not just God's law and what he hates and what he loves Yes in these words are

God's law and he does demand perfect obedience from all man

He demands it Man who is thoroughly incapable of obeying it.

Well, that would be hopeless That is except one man the

God man you and I oh we can't obey it

Oh, but he did didn't he? The one who obeyed it for us

The one who took their place for us to bear the due punishment for us of our trespasses

Upon himself he bore those Because he was able to fulfill it. Oh And then placing his very righteousness onto us and to you and I if you come in this morning and you're more excited about this new building and The stage and this lights and the sound system and the

TVs and the seats and all of that if that's what excites you this Morning, I'm sorry. You came to worship the wrong thing

This is what it's about That he did this for us. So we celebrate the

Advent season This Saints is what we're looking to to have our minds renewed

You want your mind renewed? Don't just look at the the the specifics of what you were commanded to do and what you're commanded not to do

Look at them through the lens of what he has prescribed Look at look at all of these things through the lens of our

Redeemer You see by the grace of God you and I have been set free to obey those commands now

You see it it's different now. Oh But you cannot and you will not do it perfectly

Oh, but that is where we get to rest in that gospel of grace. You see

I wanted to remind us of this truth. I Wanted to remind you of this truth before we jumped into these next few verses here starting in verse 25 so that you and I won't fall prey to see in these commands that we're about to be looking in detail at as a

List of do's and don'ts that we must obey for God to be content with us because we often do that Don't we we see the

Apostle Paul in these letters telling us don't do this do this and we say all do's and don'ts and oh

Man, God's not gonna be happy with me If I don't we can't see these do's and don'ts as God not being content with us

But as a list of do's and don'ts that we get to obey because God is perfectly content with us

Do you see that? God is perfectly content with us by virtue of being perfectly content with his son who is our righteousness

Well, there's freedom in that isn't there And he calls us to live righteously in the power of that righteousness

So I want you to keep that in your minds as we look at these next few verses Giving evidence to a mind that is being renewed because that's what we're gonna be seeing

So if you want to know if your mind is truly being renewed you ever wonder that am

I really being sanctified I don't seem to see progress. I don't seem to see myself becoming more like Jesus I feel like I'm in the same place.

I was 20 years ago. Is your mind truly being renewed? Is that what's happening? Are you truly putting off the old self and putting on the new?

Well, I think these next five things That will be progressively worked out in and through your life

If your mind is being renewed and Paul lists them as he often does as a negative and a positive

Don't do this. Oh instead do this And I've borrowed these five subheadings that we're gonna see up here on the screen from dr.

John MacArthur. I thought well, they're so good I'm not even gonna try and recreate the wheel, but we're gonna veer we're gonna veer from them as we break each one down.

I follower of Christ should go number one from lying to speaking the truth a

Follower of Christ should go from lying to speaking the truth. Look at verse 25 with me

Therefore having put away falsehood Let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor.

Well Paul immediately gets very practical here, doesn't he? Right. We've been talking about it for months

We've been in Ephesians and all those first three chapters man. That was just straight doctrine It's just all information about who

God is and how he saved us and our position now in Christ And now he's just jumping right into straight application

Look at the verse before it verse 24 and to put on the new self

That's that's what he's calling us to right put on the new self created What's this new self created after?

The likeness of God, right? So you're created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness

Therefore what is true righteousness and holiness? Not falsehood

True righteousness and holiness is not falsehood Yeah, I think as Christians we often look at texts like this and and our self -righteousness just kicks in doesn't it?

And in mine does I immediately think of someone else who is an obvious outright liar

That's what I think of. Yeah, I don't know if you've got any friends I grew up with a friend who he was just a compulsive liar

I mean he lied about everything for no reason. It didn't even benefit him. He just lied about it

Whatever he was coming out of his mouth 80 % of it was just straight lies And so when

I read a text like this man It's so easy for my flesh to immediately think of him and be like, yep, put away that falsehood.

He should have done that We think of someone like this and we feel better about ourselves

We think boy, I'm glad I don't lie like him. I've put away that falsehood. I Speak the truth.

Oh But you see scripture is often giving us a mirror not a window you get that It's showing us who we are

Because Paul uses a word that encompasses so much more than just outright lying

The word that he uses that we translate into falsehood is Sudas in the

Greek Matter of fact, you can hear where we get our word pseudo Which means not genuine.

This is this is more than just straight outright lying Telling an outright lie is obvious sin, right even the world knows that You try and go to testify in court and lie and see what they do to you

Even the world knows lying is wrong, even though they don't mind doing it usually But putting away falsehood.

Oh, it includes leading others to believe in untruth Leading others to believe in untruth and we do this in many different ways.

We can do this through omitting truth We don't have to just speak Every The truth all the time or speak a lie for it to be falsehood

Omitting information allowing someone to think one thing for the sake of controlling the narrative Remember, this is a mirror not a window.

We're all selfish, aren't we? I am We're all selfish and we fall prey to this

You know another way that we do it Actually once served with a with a pastor He would use his facial expressions during conversations to lead someone to thinking one way about another person that person would say something

Hey, is this true about that other person? He'd be like And walk away so that he could have immunity for being caught in a slanderous lie by saying he never said anything

You get what I'm talking about You can feel the falsehood that comes from each one of us in many different ways hmm

But we're to put it put away anything Anything that is disingenuous

Why? Because we're supposed to put on the new man in the likeness of God and in righteousness and holiness

God speaks truth Everything that God does is truth

Perfect truth honest truth So we should also

Look at the second part of verse 25. It says let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor

Paul over writing his letter in Colossians chapter 3. He says do not lie to one another

Don't lie to another one another seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

That falsehood is the old self We're let our yes be yes and our no be no, aren't we?

Now here's the thing this doesn't mean you have to say everything that you know or think but when you do speak

It is to be truth. Your facial expression shouldn't lead someone to be deceived

Your vagueness should not be meant to deceive God's not calling us to go around berating everyone over the head with truth either.

We feel that don't we? Also over in Colossians in chapter 4 Paul said let your speech always be gracious Seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person

So falsehood is and I've actually I've known Christians that have a they have a very Pricked conscience on this matter.

And so no matter what they know they have to speak it at all times. That's not healthy

The purpose is to know in wisdom how do I speak and Or am

I selfishly seeking to deceive someone? I think that's what Paul's calling us to But he tells us doesn't speak the truth to our neighbor

Yeah, neighbor can mean all of humanity, right neighbor can mean a specific nationality

Neighbor can mean geographical location. But in this context Oh Paul defines it. Look at the last part of verse 25 says for We are all we are members one of another that's familiar language, isn't it?

It's like that passage We just read over in Romans 12, right? Members of one another who is that?

He's speaking specifically about believers That we are to speak the truth with our brothers and sisters

Now this does not mean that we have license to for falsehood with unbelievers Right our our

Legalistic perspective we want the boundaries and we're like wait a second. I can lie to my neighbor my actual neighbor is an unbeliever

That's not what this means. It's that Paul focuses here in this letter on The unity of the body, isn't it?

So we've been talking about it's been the whole purpose of this whole section of this letter is the unity of the body and by nature of that unity, there is a

Violation of that union for a Christian to deceive another isn't it?

It's a violation when one body part starts to deceive another body part The whole of that body is brought into chaos

What if your hand decides to deceive your left foot I Don't know.

I don't know what that looks like, but it's not right. Something has gone desperately wrong

Well, this is a body and that's what Paul's purpose is to put on the new self and specifically in the union of the body

This is for the purpose of uniting the body. We are one

We should speak truth to each other put away anything false

Set it aside quit trying to manipulate We're trying to get your way Quit trying to control the narrative

Lay it aside put off the old self that's selfish The only narrative that you should be going after is is the head of that body

Christ narrative And that's one of honesty love compassion grace

That's the Christian. That's the new self The second one that I want us to see is a follower of Christ should go from unrighteous anger to righteous anger a

Follower of Christ should go from unrighteous anger to righteous anger. Look at verse 26 with me.

Oh Be angry and do not sin Do not let the Sun go down on your anger

Paul's quoting Psalm 4 here of be angry and do not sin But you see the word that Paul uses here translated into anger

It's not momentary outward boiling over or or inward seething resentment

That's what we think of when we think of anger, right? This is the only context we have for anger when we get angry.

It's something boiling over inside of us It's something that gets us going right?

But the word that he uses it rather it speaks of a deep -seated determined and settled conviction

That just changed it a little bit didn't it Let me read that again. This isn't what we think of anger.

The word that Paul uses here is a deep -seated determined and settled conviction

You see unrighteous anger is selfish Isn't it it leads to outbursts and rage

It leads to me being determined to get my way It leads to me doing something that is ungodly because my anger is uncontrolled

Oh, but righteous anger, oh, it's rooted in what dishonors God and perverts his creation

There's a righteous anger in there. God has a righteous indignation

God hates the evildoer even there's an anger that God has

Towards wickedness and rightfully so and that is a righteous anger.

We were to be angry but not sin Let me give you an example something something as horrific as abortion think about that for a second

You see we have a deep -rooted conviction that those children are made in the image of God and are being brutally murdered something that perverts

God's creation Something that goes against the heart of God. You see there is such a thing as a righteous anger

There should be something that wells up inside of you all of a sudden when you think of of an unborn child being murdered

There's something that should well up inside of you when you think of of child trafficking There's something that should well up inside of you when you when you think about a spousal abuse

There's something that wells up inside of you when you think of wicked deeds being done to God's creation

Right. It's right. We should have some kind of response to what's wicked the problem is

That our old self still being in the mix Causes an issue

Look at the text, this is why this is why he says be angry do not sin Do not let the

Sun go down on your anger. You see we try to make this passage practical

We try and give it principles like hey now listen if you're angry with your spouse and you guys are in a fight

You better get it right before you go to bed and that's probably some practical wisdom

But I don't think that's necessarily what the Apostle Paul is speaking of here in this text

To not let the Sun go down on your anger. I think Paul's meaning something much deeper

You see Paul knows that our flesh can be turned From righteous anger into run unrighteous anger at the drop of a hat

You see the moment we see injustice the moment we see Unrighteousness and we respond with a righteous indignation our flesh begins to distort and pervert that The very moment it hits our soul

Example of that look at the vile venomous hatred that much of the religious right spews towards obvious unrighteousness

There they're obviously against something that is wicked and we should be against But look at how they do it.

There's not a lot of Christ likeness in that is there that possibly starting as righteous anger turned into unrighteous anger and Starts to come out of them in a wicked way

That initial hatred of it Is it wrong? But we turn it into something ugly and you see

Satan knows this and he takes advantage of it, doesn't he? Look at verse 27. That's why this is tied in here and give no opportunity to the devil

Paul knows exactly what's gonna happen here. Give no opportunity to the devil You allow anger to settle and fester in your life instead of laying your head on your pillow

Having given it over to the Lord Trusting that he is sovereign and in control of even that wicked deed then you are allowing

Opportunity for Satan to plant seed of resentment and unrighteous anger And that begins to bring a virus into the body and what does it do it creates division

Because we are not putting off the old self and putting on the new after the likeness of God God has a perfect righteous indignation.

Oh, but we distort and then it comes out through selfish purposes

It comes out Through the antithesis of Christ's likeness

Even though it initially began as a good thing Do not allow that anger to fester in you

So that Satan has no opportunity so that your flesh has no opportunity So that it doesn't distort the body and it doesn't distort you well, let's look at the third one a follower of Christ should go from stealing to sharing

We're getting a lot of practical information here, aren't we this is very abnormal for us on a Sunday It's usually very doctrinal but here we are from stealing to sharing

Look at verse 28. Oh Let the thief no longer steal but rather let him labor

Doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need

Now at first glance this might seem out of place I Don't know about you, but you think yeah,

I mean falsehood and and anger Those are real issues in our lives and in the life of the church

But how many of us are really out there robbing the convenience store? Is this a real problem for us?

You see Paul is it just merely referring to theft as our civil law would deal with He's he's talking about all unjust dealings all

Unjust dealings what you did might be legal, but is it holy?

The early church or one of the early church fathers Jerome on this very topic. He writes

He writes that Paul admonishes the Ephesians not to commit the crime of theft under the occasion of profit

Calling theft all that is sought at the expense of another all that is sought at the expense of Another you think well,

I don't know that I do that. Let's think about it for a second Do you cheat on your taxes?

You ever hold anything back that's the old self

Do you milk your employers time clock Not giving everything you physically have to every minute you're on the clock for him.

That's the old self Do you overcharge for goods and services?

That's the old self, maybe you're just outright lazy

Paul had something to say about that The church in Thessalonica, didn't he? Said if anyone's not willing to work

Let him not eat if a man's not willing to work. Don't give him no food.

He has to work you say well

Honestly pastor who am I hurting with my laziness? Who am

I hurting? with just Not working my hardest you see

I'm perfectly content with what I have I Work just enough to eat a roof over my head

Paul He gives us some parameters for that. Look at the end of verse 28 So that you may have something to share with anyone in need

What happens when a brother or sister truly has need and you're a part of that body?

You see they may Legitimately not be able to work for health reasons circumstances

It may be a mother who whose husband has abandoned her and the children he has

Completely neglected his duty of providing for a home and he just leaves

Should she have to go to work instead of raising her children?

Or are there able bodies capable of working with their own two hands? So that they and other men in the church can provide for her

So that she can do what God called her to do was raise children and the fear and knowledge of the

Lord That is until she remarries as Paul encourages

And that other man can take that responsibility But you see who am

I hurting with my laziness that's what Paul's calling theft you

To do otherwise is theft God has called us to do all things is unto the Lord. God has called us to work hard is unto the

Lord God has called us not to be stingy or selfish with the resources that they belong to him anyways

Or even another practical way by looking at this particular text so that you may have you may be able to help someone else in need

What else is theft you may work hard? You may have lots of money You may be able to provide for your family.

Well, but you live at a hundred and ten percent of your means I'm not trying to create law where there is no law here guys.

I'm just pointing out some practical things Of what Paul is pointing to? Do I need that boat?

Do I need that fourth car? Do I need that vacation home or do I want to use my resources for the betterment of the unity of the body for those?

That do not have the blessings externally that I have to do.

Otherwise That's the old self that's selfish

Those are selfish desires Now I'm not telling you to spend all your money out there and just give everything away until your family suffers

That's also theft. You just robbed your kids and your wife. Don't do that there's a balance and You have to decide where God lays on your heart legitimately

All right. We got to move on number four. I'm actually getting through five points today guys Can you believe it five?

All right a follower of Christ should go from unwholesome words to edifying words

Look at verse 29. I'll Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths if that didn't hurt

Something's wrong read that again Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths but only such as is good for building up as Fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear

Oh Paul deals with us here in just a few verses Look at chapter 5 in verse 4.

I mean he hits it This is how important it is the Apostle Paul. He nails it again in even greater detail Look at verse 4 chapter 5 let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place

But instead let there be Thanksgiving The old self you see this corrupting talk is not just referring to foul language and explicit joking

I think it also encompasses gossip and slander

Corrupting talk you see there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a word we some of us have had this conversation

Over the past couple of months. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with a word As a matter of fact,

I can tell you that for certain because in Christian circles We're often often comfortable with what some of us call soft cursing

Right. We use the exact same word. That means the exact same thing the exact same way

But it's socially acceptable for that particular circle Right.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with a word What's wrong then the intent of the word?

It's the heart of using that word is is this intent to build up or to tear down?

Is it out of anger or for the purpose of peace? Now you may say well

Well, okay. I know you say there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the word But how in the world would some of these words be used for peace?

You're right They don't So they have no place with us

They have no place with us and I'll be honest I'm gonna put I'm gonna I'm gonna confess something right here before all of you.

I've struggled with this over the years. I Never had any kind of conviction with certain phrases and words.

I Always knew it was the intent But to use those words meant nothing as I've studied this

I've I've gotten a little closer to the idea of it Paul doubles down Because yes, there's nothing wrong with that word.

But again, is it is it building up? Is it productive?

Is it good for the body? So what need is it?

I think this is what it boils down to This is where me and pastor Jeremiah kind of landed on this Does what

I say? Make light of or glorify unrighteousness.

Is that joke? Glorifying or making light of something that grieves the heart of God I'm not even gonna give you examples up here because I don't want any of your conscience is pricked.

Okay, you can use your imagination Is it glorifying

God and building up? Does it fit the occasion does it give grace to those who hear?

Are you are you seeking the sanctification of that brother or sister or are you pulling them back into the old self?

And joking about it. Come on. I don't even mean it It's me hard That's heavy

Because if it does glorify unrighteousness look at verse 30. Oh and do not grieve the

Holy Spirit of God By whom you were sealed for the day Of redemption over in 1st

Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16 Paul says do you not know that you are God's temple And that God's Spirit dwells in you

Speaking to the Saints spirit of God dwells within you a Temple is to be sacred, isn't it?

And what comes out of our mouth is merely what we've brought into the temple That's why we speak it what comes out of a man's mouth is what is in his heart and in his mind

It's why we need our minds renewed and what we're bringing into the temple is Problematic if it's crude joking if it's explicit if it glorifies or makes light of unrighteousness

What is it doing? We're bringing wickedness into the temple and it's grieving the

Holy Spirit that dwells there Here's a good practical bit of advice

Would you say that word would you gossip and slander about that person?

Would you tell that joke if Christ himself was physically standing next to you in that group? Of course you would

I? Know I wouldn't I'd be on my best behavior. I'd have my I'd have my suit on and at my time tight

I Would say only Jesus he words You know what I'm talking about I'd be a nervous wreck.

But here's the problem. The Holy Spirit is in there and we're like, yeah, yeah, he can deal with it

He's it's not the first time he's heard that joke and we're grieving grieving the

Holy Spirit not to mention

How was that brother or sister? Who are you and you were in perfect union with any different?

Why would you grieve them? Why would you prick their conscience?

Why would you hurt their spirit? You see our goal as fellow

Christians in our everyday Conversation should be to become a means of grace to others that it may spiritually benefit them

Do you see a pattern here with all of these me

Keeping on the old self hurts you you you

You Keeping on the old self hurts me and them and it grieves the

Holy Spirit who has Sealed us all together in union. Yeah Yeah, anybody in here had siblings growing up that were close in age, right?

Think about your parents how frustrated they were and how disappointed they were and how you treated each other now

Multiply that by infinity and think of our Heavenly Father The whole intent here is for the unity of the body

It's for us to grow in holiness put off the old put on the new But our speech will be honoring to each other and ultimately honoring to the

Lord fifth and finally follower of Christ should go from natural vices to supernatural virtues look at verses 31 and 32 with me a

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice

I'll be kind to one another Tender -hearted forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you

Notice Paul essentially sums all of this up As he gets to the end of his thought here

Put on or put off the old self put it away from you put on the new self one of righteousness and holiness

You remember at the beginning I reminded all of us to see all of this through the lens of the gospel of grace, right?

You must remember to see all of this through the gospel of grace How can we do these things?

Even though you're sitting in that seat and you're going okay pastor said see it through the gospel grace. Jesus paid it all and You hear these five

Things of don't do this, but do this, you know good and well, you feel the weight of that Don't you if you don't you're not hearing us you feel the weight of it.

So how do I do these things? How can I be kind to one another? How can

I be tender -hearted? How can I be forgiving what all of these other sins against me by my brothers and sisters?

How can I do these things because look at the end of the verse? God and Christ forgave you

Now st. Go and live in light of that grace Live in light of that grace.

You will not achieve this perfection on this side of glory. You won't I'm sorry you won't

Let me tell you what I already know right now is what you should already know this week this day

You will lie to your brother this week.

You will fail to pray and You will fall to unrighteous anger

This week you will steal what is not yours in some way This week you will speak unwholesome words and grieve the

Holy Spirit within you this week. You will fail You will fall prey to your old self.

Won't you let's be honest Anybody in here with their with their holier -than -thou mask on it's time to take it off.

I'm taking mine off You're gonna fail I'm gonna fail

We're all gonna fail at this but just remember your Savior Jesus Christ fell prey to none of those things

That's why we're here and He has given you and I his righteousness

And it is grace. He never condemns you for there's therefore no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus Even the ones that keep putting on the old self

There's no condemnation. What does he do? What is what does our good and gracious Savior do?

He picks you up every time you fail him. He picks you back up and says go child and sin no more.

I Paid for even that failing. That's the

Savior we serve And you see now we have the freedom to stand up in that moment and say

Should I go on sinning that grace may abound Certainly not by no means.

I Don't desire to do it. I desire to grow in holiness I want to put off the old self and put on the new because my

Savior He's good and he's gracious and he's merciful and he's purchased me and he's paid for it and he's given me his righteousness

And now he's placed me on this path to follow him and I desire to follow him and I want to seek the unity of the body

And long to honor my Lord with my life. Do you? We should be encouraged

He's got a plan He's working it out in you What's what's my favorite passage y 'all know it

Philippians 1 6, what does it say? Yep He who began a good work and you will see it to completion of the day of Christ Jesus He will see it completion working in us to mold us more in the image of our

Savior. Amen Amen Well in light of that Let's go to the table together

What a picture The gospel this is our first time in this space to go to the

Lord's table together. I Encourage you if you are in Christ and you were in good standing with a gospel church a

Bible believing church You're welcome to this table. I encourage you if if you've fallen prey to any of those sins or any sins that you have just Refused to repent of you're holding on to them tightly and you don't want to give them up.

I want to keep the old self Lay that at the foot of the cross your Savior paid for it and come to the table boldly

With a conscience clean knowing that it's done if you have something against a brother make it right before you come to the table

This is not penance It's not penance But it is a picture of unity unity with our

Savior Who has brought us into union with the triune God? Who has then brought us into union with each other who were all sealed?

by the Holy Spirit This wine and this bread Symbolizes the sacrifice of our

Savior to bring us into that It's celebratory This is a celebration so We have tables on both sides

They're different than our other tables. I want to give everybody directive What we'll do is we only have one aisle in the middle

But everyone will go around the outsides come to the table and then go back to your seat You can pray individually pray as a group pray as a family partake of the elements will come back together and continue our service

I want you to know that These tables they're round they're different than the other trays and so there is wine on the front

The big portion is wine There is a small portion on the other side of the basket that is grape juice for those who would rather partake in that way but grab drink and bread and Let's honor our

Savior in This great ordinance and by the way if if you need to speak with or pray with me or pastor

Jeremiah We will be up here next to these tables Let's pray dear heavenly Lord thank you for your sacrifice

Sending your son to pay for us unrighteous unworthy

Creatures Adopting us and making us your children And giving us the righteousness of Christ and Lord I pray that you would be honored in our worship through the ordinance of the

Lord's Supper today Father search our hearts forgive us of sin

Help us to lay those things foot of the cross and come boldly To our

Savior But we know that Christ you are

Uniquely present or you uniquely show us your presence at this table

We long to be with you. We long to worship. We long to Fellowship with you be honored in it in Christ's name.