Notes from a sermon on Ephesians 4:25-32
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 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 each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
This excerpt comes after we've been told how to live the new life in Christ (Eph 4:17-24), so this is what we ought to be doing:
- Vs. 25: We should speak the truth.
- Vs. 26-27: Anger is an emotion we will always have, but Satan is ready & waiting to tempt you to sin in your anger. Losing our temper is sin; bitterness and hatred is sin. The only righteous anger is being angry when people are disrespecting God; it's NOT righteous anger when we get angry about something done to us.
- Vs. 28: No stealing. The most common way Christians steal is by not tithing. All that we have belongs to God; the tithe is acknowledgement of God's ownership of all we have. Not reporting taxes, etc., is a way that many steal from our fellow man. We work so that we may share.
- Vs. 29: No rotten talk. This includes having a critical spirit, slander; we should edify and encourage one another. No gossiping! No profanity; rotten talk comes from a rotten heart (see Matthew 12:34-35). We must account for every word we speak (Matt 12:36-37).
- Vs. 30: Doing any of these things grieves the Holy Spirit. It disappoints the spirit of God living inside us, much like when we as parents are brokenhearted over poor decisions of our children. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, so our salvation can't be undone, but we break God's heart when we do these things.
- Vs 31: We must put away these thing (the rotten talk, stealing, anger, & so on).
- Vs 32: We must consider the needs & feelings of others. Be compassionate & empathetic. And we must forgive; this is not an option. God has forgiven us for murdering the son of God with our sins, so we must forgive others.
Even when we fall short, He is still going to be our Dad, and He will never send us away.
