Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
View this message at: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com/episodes/125186
Introduction
I recently received a newspaper from Pastor Matt from the Washington Times, entitled, “America’s Church Leaders Now Wolves in Shepherd’s Clothing” written by Dr. Everett Piper. He gives a scathing warning about the declining biblical understanding of the world by pastors. The problem we are facing is that just under two-thirds of American Senior Pastors do not possess a biblical understanding of the world. The trend among associate pastors is even more alarming at 28%, and only 12% of youth and children pastors have a biblical worldview.
According to the Bible, there are two humanities co-existing in the world, two ways of living, and two eternal destinations (Phillips). There is a stark difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of this world. It can be difficult to understand the distinctions for someone new to the faith. We must remember that this world is not our home and the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus is substantially different from the world.
The fact of the matter is, that Jesus tells us the church here on earth is made up of true believers and false believers; of wheat and tares (Matt 13:24-30), sheep and goats (Matt 25:31-46), and it can only be found by taking a narrow road (Matt 7:13-14). At the end of the age, the Lord Christ Jesus will sit down and separate the two apart - the false believers from the true believers.
?On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:22–23 ESV)
The sad reality is that there will be people who believe they are going to heaven only to find out they are not. The false teachers and pastors who compromised the truth will bear a portion of responsibility for their souls.
We’ve sold an American Gospel based on cheap grace. A message that tells people all they have to do is say a prayer and they’re good; the way they live their life does not matter. The Gospel of Jesus is the message of repentance. It is an understanding that sin is repugnant to a Holy and Righteous God. It is a surrendering of the believer's life as a result of rebirth and transformation of the heart. It is the understanding and knowledge that our salvation cost God everything.
Someone will then ask if it is possible to know for sure of my salvation. The answer is absolute yes. The assurance of our salvation is the sealing of the Holy Spirit upon our lives. He is our assurance that we are Children of God and the evidence of that assurance is the godliness of our living.
he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5 (ESV)
There is a practical as much as a spiritual application to our salvation. The evidence of salvation is a distinction in how we live, think, and believe. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). We live differently because we live by God’s moral law. We think differently because He’s transforming us by renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-3). That is Paul’s point to the Ephesian church.
Last week, we read Eph 4:17 “you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” ‘Gentiles’ is referring to an unrestrained world. Verse 19 says that they pursue sensuality with greediness - they can never have enough.
You and I as believers still struggle with sin but were not longing for sin, lusting to sin. It doesn’t dominate us. Why because we did not learn from Christ that way (Eph 4:20). You no longer live like that or think like that because of the work of Christ on the cross. Your pursuit is no longer selfish sensuality, but godliness.
Our passage is a continuation of the “therefore” at the beginning of the chapter. It points back to our redemption, our salvation, our eternal security, and every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3). Now we come to another ‘therefore.’ It is a continuation of verses 17-24. Since you do not walk like the rest of the world; since you have put off the old self and put on the new self, how you respond and live is completely different. You have virtue in your life and that is your assurance because the qualities of God are obviously expressed in how you live.
?Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 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. 29 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. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:25–32 ESV)
In verses 25-32, Paul leads us through a series of transformations in the believer’s life. It is not exhaustive, but it is foundational. For example, in verse 25 Paul tells us the believer is transformed from lies to the truth. In verse 26 the believer’s anger is transformed into righteousness, and in verse 28 the believer is transformed from stealing to sharing. Let’s start with verse 25:
I. The Believer’s Life is Marked By the Pursuit of Truth
Paul previously commented in verse 15 that the leaders of the church are to be marked by speaking the truth in love, less the believer be given over all kinds of false doctrine that will make their lives like a ship being tossed in the ocean. The more you come to understand the Cross the greater your commitment to pursue what is right over what you prefer.
Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). So if the believer struggles with living and speaking truthfully, how can his life be an expression of God? There are many ways we can lie with our mouths or our lives. How we represent our work. Cheating on tests, taxes, or other forms. Honesty in our businesses. How we express our own lives, especially before the congregation. We can twist facts or not give credit to sources we’re using for writing or our jobs. Someone once said that integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. But perhaps the greatest way we can lie is by how we represent others - lying about others, putting someone else down in order to gain a promotion or notoriety, and gossip are all tools of the enemy of God.
I would say that in the last couple of years our society has become an environment of lies. Our leaders openly lie to us. Truth is hidden; labeled misinformation. “Truth is protected by a bodyguard of lies.” (Churchill). How many times have we heard a national leader claim they never said something or did something with video footage showing the opposite?
We even use our media to play into this hand of false seduction. We entertain ourselves with the false seductions of the visual, indoctrinating ourselves and our children with ideas that are abhorrent to God but trivialized in the name of entertainment. But what happens when the truth is no longer exclusive and valued. Justice is the handmaiden of truth, and when truth dies, justice is buried with it. Society wants to protect itself from the truth because they erroneously believe that if they are absolved from the truth they are impervious to God’s justice.
?Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20 ESV)
The Greek word translated here as “falsehood” is pseudos which is literally translated as “the lie”. This is the same language John uses in 1 John 2:20-23 to describe the spirit of the antichrist. Here, Paul may have in mind the Christian’s reputation as a basis for urging truthful speech upon him. In becoming Christians the believers at Ephesus had repudiated the lie and had embraced the truth. That is, they had turned from false gods, idols, or Satan to Jesus, who is said to be “truth” (John 14:6). If they are known for speaking falsely they cannot witness the truth of Christ. (Boice). We, therefore, must be deliberate in cultivating a lifestyle of truth.
?Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:9–10 ESV)
2. The Believer’s Life is Marked By the Pursuit of Righteousness
?Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26–27 ESV)
We live in a world that is being fueled by anger. The Apostle Paul issues a dire warning: Anger is a close neighbor to the devil which damages our souls and gives the devil a foothold into our lives. Our problem however is not a problem of mere anger but a deep-rooted issue of spiritual poverty. That is why we need a Savior.
It seems there’s anger wherever we turn. Road Rage, killings, mass shootings, racism, protests, political divisions, marriage and family disputes, all are becoming more and more common. A Pew Research Poll suggests that America is the angriest of countries and we are angrier today than in previous generations.
Sadly, we see this anger in the halls of our churches as well. It is not supposed to be that way. The Christian life is different from the world. Sure, there are plenty of reasons we can be angry, but should we?
If there is anyone who has the absolute right to be angry, it is God. Num 14:18 “18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression”
?Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; (James 1:19 ESV)
Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. (Proverbs 14:29 ESV)
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. (Proverbs 15:18 ESV)
Paul is quoting from Psalm 4:4 “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.” He will repeat his exhortation to “put away all bitterness, wrath, anger and clamor and slander (Ephesians 4:31). The reason this is so important is that anger is the way satan divides God’s people because at its core, being quick to anger is rooted in pride (Prov 8:13; 11:2; 16:18; 29:23). Whenever I have allowed myself to become angry I almost always regret it. I regret my words, my actions, my thoughts. I grieve the Spirit.
?What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? (James 4:1 ESV)
James tells us that the problem of anger is not an outward source, but an inward battle; a spiritual condition. Anger is a choice. Whenever I see quarreling in the church, I know the devil is at play. Small quibbles quickly turn to quarrels that divide people and split churches.
Instead of anger, we should seek humble discernment from the Holy Spirit and wait patiently for the Lord. We should seek peace in our relationships. We should speak well of our brothers and sisters, especially those in leadership. If we do find ourselves in a disagreement, the Bible is clear that we must first talk directly with that person in love (Matthew 18:15-17). Our goal is always reconciliation over our prerogative to be correct.
The phrase, “do not let the sun go down on your anger” means we are to resolve our conflicts quickly, but also not risk the opportunity for anger to cause a permanent division.
?Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1 ESV)
I can vividly recall the initial receiving phase of Marine Corps basic training. New recruits barely sleep for the first few days. They are run from place to place, have their hair cut, and are generally given the very distinct impression that their old life has passed and a new, more disciplined life has arrived. The end result is a distinct warrior that thinks and acts differently from the rest of the world (Chris Surber, Sermon Central)
The church is in some ways the same (with less yelling). We are uniquely different from the rest of the world because we battle forces that require us to see the world differently. Sin sears the conscience, dulls our hearts to God, and feeds an appetite that leads to our destruction. Evangelism is the Church calling the sinner to repentance because of their spiritual poverty, not calling them to a banquet of prosperity.
We fail new Christians when we neglect their discipleship. Because the road to heaven is narrow and the path to destruction is wide. Will you come to him today and surrender your life to him completely?
