The Way to Change
Text: Ephesians 4:25-28
By: Ken McKinley
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As we continue on with our study of the Book of Ephesians we remember that last time we talked about how God expects us to change. God expects us, and even commands us to change. He tells us to put off the old self and put on the new. And in our text we are told several ways to know if we are doing that.
Paul tells us to stop lying, to not engage in sinful anger, to give no place to the devil, to not steal, and to watch what we say. Now to command those things is easier to do them, but if you remember last time we talked about how you and I can’t do these things unless we are in Christ. We also talked about how we can’t just get rid of something and not fill the void that that thing; whatever it was, left when we got rid of it.
So Paul says, “Put off lying,” but then he goes on to say, “Let each one of you speak the truth to your neighbor.” Why? Because we are all members of one body. You would think that after 2000 years of Christian teaching, we would know better than to go around telling lies. But in our world, lying has become more and more common place. Commercials lie to us, politicians lie to us, bankers lie to us, lawyers lie to us, huge corporate business owners lie to us, even pastors – when they are caught in scandals, will twist the truth this way and that.
There is no more thorough way to destroy a person’s character than to lie about them. Even if it is shown to be a lie, people often don’t remember the truth. Our news papers focus on this, when a damaging fact comes out about someone it makes the front page, but if that so called fact turns out to be a lie, then the truth is relegated to the 20th page, in a section that is usually not read. So Paul tells us that we should put off lying, and that we should tell the truth to one another.
In Colossians 3:9 Paul command us not to lie because of the exchange which has taken place. It says, “Do not lie to one another, since you’ve put off the old man with his deeds.” In other words, he is saying that you are in Christ now, and lying does not reflect the character of the Lord. In essence, that’s why we tell the truth – because it reflects the character of God. God is not a man that He should lie.
We lie to impress people, we lie to please people, we lie to please ourselves, we lie to get revenge, we lie to escape punishment, and very rarely do we tell a lie in order to protect someone. In most of those instances we see that a lie is something to make ourselves likable and comfortable.
Now the last one I mentioned, lying to protect people… that’s a tricky one. Rahab the harlot lied to protect the spies. But we need to remember that Rahab was a new believer, she didn’t have an understanding that a mature Christian should have. So in a sense God winked at her ignorance. Daniel on the other had was a mature Christian, and he was put into several positions where lying would’ve been to his advantage, but he trusted in the Lord, and told the truth. David also was more mature in his faith, and when he lied, he suffered the consequences.
We are responsible for what we know. And if we know that God is all powerful and that He can deliver us from affliction, trouble, danger, or whatever, we should not sin in order to escape those things, but instead trust in Him and leave it up to Him to resolve things.
Let’s go on to verse 26 – “Be angry and sin not. Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath.” This is actually two commands, or two pieces of advice.
Tolerance is the word of our times, but anger seems to be the emotion of choice. But our text tells us that we can be angry and not sin. This tells me that there is a place for anger. I’m sure we’ve all heard or read in the Bible where Jesus chased the money lenders out of the temple. There are times when anger is the proper response.
The early church fathers said it this way, “He who is not angry when he has cause to be, sins. Unreasonable patience is the hotbed of many vices; it fosters negligence and incites not only the wicked but also the good to do wrong.”
Pau was quoting from the Psalms; Psalm 4:4 to be exact. That verse says, “Be angry and do not sin; meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. Selah.” Now if you know the context of that passage then you know that David was struggling with how to deal with wicked people who were lovers of this world rather than lovers of God; and this really upset David. He was angry because men would not glorify God. This is one of the reasons Scripture describes David as a man after God’s own heart, because to David; the glory of God was of supreme importance.
But look at the answer we are given there – Be angry and do not sin, meditate on this, and then in Psalm 4:5 it says, “Offer the sacrifice of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord.” In other words, “David, you do what’s right, and let God handle those people.” And so there are times when anger is justified; but then there are also times when it isn’t.
In our text, Paul then tells us that we shouldn’t let the sun go down on our wrath. This is great advice if we understand it properly.
Let me tell what this means and what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that we don’t go to bed angry. If that was the case, then some people couldn’t go to bed for days on end. In-fact we just read in Psalm 4 that David was to meditate on this in his bed. So what this means is that whatever is causing us to be angry must be given over to God and given over as quickly as possible. Even if it’s anger that is justified, we need to give it to God. We are not God; it is not our job to set all of society’s problems in order. We are to take it to the Lord in prayer, cast our cares on Him, and seek His will and His way’s of dealing with whatever it is that is causing us to be angry.
In verse 27 Paul goes on to tell us, not to give the Devil a foothold.
This is actually tied in with being angry. If our anger leads to sin, that’s exactly what we’re doing. We are giving the Devil an inroad. And this can go either way. If we are the type of person who blows up when we’re angry we often find ourselves saying something sinful, or doing something sinful. But on the other hand, if we are the type of person who lets anger fester within us, it can develop into bitterness, unforgiveness, or something worse.
Remember; Paul’s concern for the church in Ephesus was that they come to unity in the faith. Lying and anger can quickly destroy years of unity. Character can be damaged by lying, hurtful words can be said by anger, and this unity that we are to working toward can be destroyed in a split second. And that is not good, and that’s not what we want, as we are all one body of believers.
Verse 28, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give those in need.”
Part of our financial crisis is due to theft. White collar theft. We call it embezzlement.
But the fact is that theft is theft.
The U.S. Commerce department reports that over 4 million people are caught shoplifting every year in the U.S. And for every person that is caught; they estimate that 35 get away with it. If you total that up, it means that about 40 million incidents of shoplifting occur in our nation every year. Crime statistics say that about $16 million dollars a day, A DAY, are lost due to employee theft.
Stealing is a direct violation of God’s Law. The 10 Commandments say, “Thou Shalt Not Steal!” But stealing also tells us about the person who is doing the stealing. It tells us that they might not trust in the Lord. If you trust in the Lord to provide your daily bread, you won’t be stealing. It tells us that the person who steals may be selfish, they think to themselves that they are owed whatever it is they have stolen. This is more evident in people not paying their bills. And yes that is a type of theft. If a person has performed a service for you then you should pay them for that service. If you go to a doctor and that doctor uses his knowledge of medicine to get you well, then he should be compensated for it. If you go to a repair shop and get your car fixed then that mechanic should be compensated for his work on your car. By not paying what we owe, we are stealing. And I fully understand that there are times when money is tight (Believe me I fully understand this), but we should pay the people we owe; whether it’s a doctor, a mechanic, a credit card company, a loan company, a plumber, a dry cleaner, or whatever.
Paul goes on to say, stop stealing and go to work.
In today’s society often times work is seen as something that isn’t fun. But in reality, work was instituted before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. God had created all things and He told Adam to tend to the garden. So work was a gift from God, but like everything else, when sin entered the world, work became affected by sin, just like everything else. That doesn’t mean that we are to stop working. It means that our work will be labor; it will no longer always be something we enjoy and find pleasure in.
Paul goes on to say that part of the reason for our work is so that we can give to those who have not. To those who have a need.
What this does is that it eliminates greed.
A person might steal because he or she is greedy, but a person might work for the same reason. But the fact of the matter is that everything belongs to God, we are merely stewards.
And so the way to change is not just to stop doing things, but to first of all understand that we ourselves have been changed. We have been brought from death to life. We have been united to Christ. We have been saved by grace, even though we were undeserving.
When Jesus was crucified; He hung between two thieves. One had contempt for the Lord, the other recognized his need and asked for forgiveness. Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Those words aren’t just for criminals sentenced to die, but for sinners like you and me. We should never forget that before coming to Christ, we too were debtors, and the bill we owed could never be paid in full by ourselves. We deserve nothing but to be thrown into “debtors prison” for all eternity.
But God who is rich in mercy, set us free from slavery and has made us sons and daughters by His grace, and so now we too should live and give graciously to others whenever we can.
INVITATION
