INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• AUGUST 8, 2011. MOBILE COUNTY, Alabama -- A minister of music at a church in the St. Elmo community Tased the pastor who had just fired him Sunday, touching off a fight and various knife slashing’s, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Mobile County deputies were called just after 1 p.m. to New Welcome Baptist Church in the 8600 block of Boe Road.
• The mayhem erupted when the Rev. Darryl Riley told minister of music Simone Moore that he was no longer needed and gave him a final paycheck, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
• Moore disagreed with the amount of the check and an argument broke out, in which Moore wielded a Taser gun, according to the account given to deputies.
• Several church members became involved, including Agolia Moore, the music minister’s mother, who suffered a stab wound at the hands of a deacon, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
• The deacon was identified as Harvey Hunt. People hurt in the fight were treated at a hospital and released to go home, officials said.
• As we continue with our series TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF, we have been contrasting our old way of life before we were in Christ, with the new life we are called to live.
• Today we will continue with that theme.
• When you look at the world around you, it becomes apparent that folks have problems getting along with one another.
• We see this in the world and unfortunately we have seen it in the church.
• We are seeing the worst in people in our country since the elections because folks have no comprehension of what tolerance is nor do they know how to respect those with opposing views.
• We live in a tumultuous world, and a big reason for is that people are treating one another in ugly ways, in selfish ways.
• Today we contrast the way the world has taught us to treat people with the way one in Christ is called to treat others.
• I think most of us want a better world, that better world will never happen until folks learn how to treat one another the way God calls us.
• It must start with the church; we must be the example if we hope to change the world for the better.
• This world will never be the utopia we would all like it to be, but if we learn how to treat one another, we can all make it a better place to live until we get to see Jesus in our permanent home in Heaven!
• Let’s begin in the book of Ephesians 4:31
• SLIDE #2
• Ephesians 4:31 (HCSB) All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. The old way of treating one another.
• Throughout this series we have been seeking to help folks understand that when we come to Christ, we are expected to begin our new way of life that we have in Him.
• We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and that the fact that we are a new creation will become evident in part by the way we deal with one another.
• In verse 30, Paul shares something with us that connects what we have been examining thus far in this series.
• SLIDE #4
• Ephesians 4:30 (HCSB) And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by Him for the day of redemption.
• When one follows the path laid out in verse 31, one of the results is that we will grieve the Holy Spirit.
• Paul is telling his readers to STOP grieving the Holy Spirit with abuse of their brothers and sisters in Christ.
• An offense against a brother or sister in Christ is an offense against the Holy Spirit!
• As we get back into verse 31, we see a list of actions that express various levels of hostility that lead to actions that destroy human relationships.
• This list is what the old self was programmed to do, it is what we do naturally.
• The issues in verse 31 are ones we are told get rid of.
• When we are told these things MUST be removed, it denotes that these actions are things we are to have nothing to do with and that every trace of these actions must be removed from our lives.
• The list is a nasty one to live by! When we get through this list in verse 31, I will give you what I see as the root reason we foster these attitudes and actions. If we understand why we do them, we can correct the issues.
• It nasty list starts with BITTERNESS!
• Bitterness is a spirit that refuses to reconcile with others. It is the temper which cherishes resentful feelings.
• A bitter person feels a sense of entitlement and enjoyment over their feelings resentment.
• Bitterness in the New Testament is the feelings of animosity or spite, and it usually manifests in one’s speech.
• Bitterness is the disposition of the person with a tongue sharp as an arrow, keen as a razor. He resents his neighbor, and so he “needles” him, is ever ready to “fly off the handle” with a reply that bites or stings. (Baker NTC)
• Anger and wrath are often overlapping synonyms. Anger is the initial explosion of a hot temper whereas wrath is a more settled feeling of hostility.
• Now as we uncover these ugly traits, be thinking of what is at the root of them. I believe there is a common thread that ties them all together.
• Shouting.
• Some translations call this BRAWLING. This is the loud self-assertions of angry people determined to make their grievances known. We SEE THIS WITH THE RIOTERS ERRR PROTESTERS.
• Then we go to slander.
• Slander is destroying another person’s good reputation by lying, gossiping, and such. Malice often manifests itself through slander.
• Have you ever been slandered? I have and I know most of you have. When someone slanders you, they do not do it because they love you, they seek to hurt you.
• We see this happen in the media more than we should. When someone’s reputation is damaged by slander, it can be hard to undo the damage.
• Then the ugly list concludes with MALICE!
• Malice is an extremely ugly attitude. Malice is doing evil despite the good someone has done for you. The term refers to an evil force that destroys relationships. It is a deliberate attempt to harm another person.
• Warren Wiersbe in his Bible Exposition Commentary shares a story from his past ministry.
• A handsome elderly man stopped at my study one day and asked me if I would perform a wedding for him.
• I suggested that he bring the bride in so that we might chat together and get better acquainted, since I hesitate to marry strangers. “Before she comes in,” he said, “let me explain this wedding to you. Both of us have been married before—to each other!
• Over thirty years ago, we got into an argument, I got mad, and we separated. Then we did a stupid thing and got a divorce. I guess we were both too proud to apologize.
• Well, all these years we’ve lived alone, and now we see how foolish we’ve been. Our bitterness has robbed us of the joys of life, and now we want to remarry and see if the Lord won’t give us a few years of happiness before we die.” Bitterness and anger, usually over trivial things, make havoc of homes, churches, and friendships.
• The list in verse 31 is ugly and if we give these attitudes refuge within us, we will grieve the Holy Spirit and we will do damage to others. In our next observation, we will unveil the root cause behind these ugly ways.
• Let us turn to verse 32, I want to focus on the first part of the verse for this observation.
• SLIDE #5
• Ephesians 4:32 (HCSB) — And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another…
• SLIDE #6
II. The new way to treat one another.
• Now we see what God calls us to do. When we examine what we are called to do, we will find a couple things that are obvious. First, we cannot do this on our own.
• Looking at these three things that are to replace the old way, they can sometimes be impossible, but with God all things are possible.
• The second observation is that I do not see any lawyer FINE PRINT exceptions to verse 32.
• This makes this task seemingly impossible, therefore we need to turn things over to Jesus.
• We are called to be kind to others
• Being kind is more than gentle and polite; the word also means “useful” and “serviceable.” It has the flavor of action and productivity. God showed his “kindness” to us (Eph 2:7) when he took steps to save us.
• We are to be people who help build up other people. Imagine working for a boss who wants to add value to you, their desire is to see you be your best.
• When we are kind to people, we are seeking ways to be helpful and benevolent towards them.
• It is refreshing to see people be kind to one another.
• WE are also called to show compassion to others.
• “Compassionate” originally had reference to the inner organs of the body, especially the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.
• This area of the body was noticed to produce strong feelings, even pain, when a tragedy was encountered. For this reason, these organs were considered the seat of deepest emotion.
• Compassion is a deep-seated emotion that moves us to action. This is why you see the SAVE THE ________ commercials, they seek to move you to compassion then they hope that emotion leads you to pull out your credit card to help them.
• The denotes one showing how one’s heart feels toward others.
• Then we are told to FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER!
• “Forgiving” is literally “extending grace.” Those who are re-created in the image of God should reproduce the free grace of his forgiving love. The word family forgiving includes the ideas of happiness, pleasure, favor and goodwill.
• This is the key to being able to rid oneself of the nasty stuff in verse 31.
• When we lack forgiveness, it will lead to all the bad things found in verse 31. If you think about it, you know it is true.
• I have seen WAY TOO MANY CHRISTIANS lack the faith to forgive others, and that lack of forgiveness drives their anger, malice and all other negative things.
• When you refuse to forgive, you are DAMAGING YOURSELF, your family, as well as your relationships with others.
• We must quit holding on to wrongs or PERCEIVED wrongs lest we allow the enemy to take refuse with in our lives.
• Satan will use your lack of forgiveness to destroy, your relationships along with any hope to experience joy in your life.
• When you refuse to forgive, do you have compassionate feelings, and do you extend kindness to those you REFUSE to forgive is all you can selfishly think about is YOUR FEELINGS?
• Remember, I am not making light of your pain and hurts, but by refusing to forgive, you are hurting yourself and you are damaging your witness for Christ to others.
• If you want to talk more about forgiveness, see me after service.
• Let’s look at the last part of verse 32.
• SLIDE #7
• Ephesians 4:32 (HCSB) And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
• SLIDE #8
III. The motivation to integrate the new way.
• This observation will be short and sweet!
• We do what we do because God has forgiven us in Christ!
• God does not forgive us because we forgive others, but solely because of his great mercy. As we come to understand his mercy, however, we will want to be like him. Having received forgiveness, we will pass it on to others. Those who are unwilling to forgive have not patterned their lives after Christ, who was willing to forgive even those who crucified him (Luke 23:34). (Life Application Commentary)
• What you cannot do on your own, you can do through Christ who strengthens you!
• We do what we do because God has done it for us and He has given us power through Jesus to the same.
CONCLUSION
• Think about how the world would be, no, think about how your life would be if you would be willing to submit yourself to allowing God to help you rid yourself of the ugliness of verse 31 and to usher in the beauty of verse 32 into your life.
• We are called to be different, and one way we are to be different is in the way we treat one another.
• Take the risk, God will bless you for it, and your life will be SO much better for it!
• You will experience joy and freedom in Christ!
