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This morning we're meeting Ephesians 4.

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We're going to wrap up Ephesians 4 next week, so two more weeks.

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Here we go.

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This morning Paul is going to continue his theme of taking off the old and putting on

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the new.

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Last week we talked about putting off falsehood and speaking in truth and we looked at putting

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away anger that isn't a righteous anger.

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And this morning Paul is going to give us a couple more things that we need to put away

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and then he's going to give us the reason why.

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So if you have your Bibles Ephesians 4 we're going to read 28 through 30 this morning.

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Paul says, Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with

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his hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

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Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as

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fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear.

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

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Now when Cine and I were in college we didn't have sororities or fraternities because we

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went to Christian schools and those things weren't accepted on our campuses.

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And so they did what a whole bunch of other Christian organizations do is they robbed

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from culture and then they just changed the name.

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And so we had social clubs on our campus.

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At ACU Cine was in Sigma Theta Chi and at Hardin Simmons I was in Beta Delta Gamma.

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Now we had Greek letters, each club had their own Greek letters and these were like massive

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you know sheet of plywood type letters that you would paint and whatever.

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And so we had the Greek letters and we did all the other things that sororities and fraternities

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did on college campuses except we replaced the heavy drinking and partying with pranks

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and Bible studies, right?

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And so now I'm not a small guy, but believe it or not I can move like a cat when needed.

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And there were many occasions where I was tasked with sneaking into a dorm room and stealing

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other clubs letters and then we would hold them ransom for something that we wanted or

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we would place them in places where it would get the other club in trouble.

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Now I was a Bible major and so anytime I would get caught with them which happened occasionally

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I had the excuse that I was studying Greek and these happened to be my favorite Greek

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letters that I was holding on to.

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It was a very spiritual excuse.

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Now I think a lot of times when we think of stealing we think of something like that.

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Even robbing a bank or getting robbed that certainly fits into this category and it was

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for sure the case in Paul's day.

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Now we know that many of the early followers of Jesus Christ came from among the down and

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out of the culture of that day.

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And so many of these people were day laborers, many were skilled tradesmen and many of their

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occupation was seasonal and since there was no welfare system many of them resorted to

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stealing in order to provide for themselves and their families.

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And even though these people had become followers of Jesus they still found it hard to break

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away from the cultural norms of that day.

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But as Paul has already made clear in this section beginning in verse 22, when we become

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followers of Jesus, when we surrender our life to him as a result of his work in our

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lives we have to take off our old ways and we have to put on our new ways.

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He's already described how we put off falsehood and put on the truth and how we put off the

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tolerance for sin in the body and put on our righteous indignation.

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Paul now applies that same concept to our work.

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And so as a follower of Jesus we need to be people who work honestly.

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Now so this isn't just about taking what is not yours but rather making sure that we are

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working in a way that honors the Lord.

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Let's see what the Bible says about stealing because maybe you've never taken anything

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in your life that didn't belong to you.

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Maybe you're like this doesn't apply to me but you still might be living in a way that's

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not in line with what the Bible teaches.

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In Leviticus chapter 6 it says this in verse 2, if anyone sins and commits a breach of faith

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against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security or through

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robbery or if he has oppressed his neighbor or has found something lost and lied about

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it, swearing falsely in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby, if he has

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sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he

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got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he

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has found or anything about what he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall

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add a fifth to it and give it to whom, to him, to whom it belongs on the day he realizes

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his guilt.

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In Psalm 37 it says that the wicked borrow and do not repay.

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Paul writes in Colossians 3 that slaves should obey their masters when their eye is on them

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and when their eye is not on them, that we should work in such a way as if we're working

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for the Lord and not for man.

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Now that is only a small sampling of what the Bible has to say about stealing and work,

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but even in those few passages that we just read we can identify several ways that we

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can be guilty of stealing.

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And perhaps now the command to quit stealing hits a little closer to home.

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For instance, have you ever sold a car or house without disclosing all the things that

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are wrong with it or maybe you've been on the bad end of receiving or buying something

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that somebody didn't disclose?

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Have you ever borrowed something from a friend and damaged it and then never fixed it or

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maybe you borrowed something from a friend and you failed to return it and then you're

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cleaning out your garage and you find this thing from three years ago but you don't remember

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who you borrowed it from?

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Have you ever gotten paid for a full day of work but didn't work it?

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You spend time on your phone playing games, you spend time making personal phone calls.

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Have you ever withheld a tithe or an offering that God has called you to give away?

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So I think it's fair to say that every single one of us at one time or another has been

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guilty of stealing.

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So Paul tells us to put that off.

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He tells us to stop being a thief and instead do honest work so that we have something to

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share.

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The word that is translated work here is a word that means work to the point where it

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becomes weary.

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Exhaust yourself.

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And this is not an option, right?

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This is a command.

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And so Paul is instructing his readers that they are not only to quit stealing and get

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a job but they are to work hard in that job.

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Proverbs 24 says, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to

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rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

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Now we need to work hard but we also don't want to take it to the other extreme and become

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workaholics.

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We don't have time to address that this morning but maybe we can find a good balance using

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Paul's words here.

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He tells us to do something useful with our hands and he tells us to work for the right

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reason so that we are able to share with others that have need.

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Now if you aren't meeting those two standards then you might begin to consider making a

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change.

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I've done it many times in my life where I was working for the right reasons such as trying

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to provide for my family but I was in the wrong role and I would come home each and

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every day miserable.

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There wasn't fulfillment at the end of the day even though I was bringing home a paycheck.

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But now I feel like I'm in the right role and I'm still able to share with those in

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need, mainly my kids who are deprived.

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Now if you are miserable going to work each and every day and the only reason you go to

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work is to provide a paycheck you might want to consider a career change because if you

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are not in the right role, if you are not in the right position you have a greater tendency

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to become a thief because you're not going to work hard as a forker for the Lord and

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not for man.

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You're going to be working for a paycheck.

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The point of this verse is to help us understand that we as believers in Jesus need to live

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lives that are honest and meaningful.

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We don't want to be leeches to those around us but serve as we have been served.

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Now work as if the only person who notices us is the Lord.

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That's how we are to live.

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Next Paul writes that we need to speak to build up.

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Now we all know people who are really effective at manipulating others with their words.

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Unfortunately, the body of Christ is not immune to those who are quite adept at this practice.

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We all know stories of televangelists who will manipulate their viewers for their own

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personal benefit.

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Many are currently being investigated by our government.

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Now we know how investigations from Congress go so there's not a lot of hope in it but

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nonetheless it's occurring.

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But this practice can occur in much more subtle ways within local bodies.

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It can happen anywhere.

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How about those who threaten to withhold their financial support until they get put on church

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leadership?

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Or what about those who begin whisper campaigns in order to undermine some sort of change

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that they don't like?

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Or even those that make personal attacks against the church leadership in an attempt to get

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their own way.

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The Bible and the Proverbs in particular have a lot to say about those who use deceitful

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words to manipulate others.

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Here's just a couple of those.

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It says the tongue that brings healing is a tree of life but a deceitful tongue crushes

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the spirit.

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Or another one as a north wind brings rain so a sly tongue brings angry looks.

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We need to keep in mind if we're trying to stay in the context of Ephesians we need to

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keep in mind that our words have the ability to disrupt church unity.

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It's going to take each of us to remain on guard not just with what we say but also what

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we allow to influence us.

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My children are great manipulators.

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They can say things in the right tone of voice.

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They can look at you as if they actually care about you.

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And they can almost always get their way when that happens.

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Now it's cute when children are trying to get an extra snack from the pantry.

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It can be devastating when it's happening in the church.

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How many times have we said I didn't mean to say that.

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How many times have we heard that.

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I didn't mean to say that.

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I didn't want to say that.

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But Jesus is clear that one day we are going to give an account for the careless words

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that we speak.

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In Matthew 12 he says, but I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of

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judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

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For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned.

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Once again we need to listen to the writer of the Proverbs.

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He says, he who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

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I've learned that the hard way.

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In other words we need to think before we speak.

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And we don't always do a very good job of that, do we?

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I've gotten better as I've gotten older.

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But sometimes that filter doesn't always work.

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Sometimes things come out.

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Another form of talk that comes out of our mouth is gossip.

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Unfortunately it seems that like many of us don't really have a very good handle on what

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the Bible considers to be gossip.

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And therefore many of us are guilty of gossip and we aren't aware of it.

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I looked up a lot of different definitions of gossip this week, but this one seems to

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best reflect the biblical concept of gossip.

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Here it is.

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Gossip is sharing anything about someone.

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When the act of sharing is not part of the solution to that person's problem.

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So gossip is not so much a matter of what we say about others, but what our purpose is

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when we say those things.

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Even things that are true about another person can easily become gossip.

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Even within the church we need to be careful that our prayer requests don't become gossip.

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Have you ever been in a prayer meeting and somebody says we need to pray for such and

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such because I think she's having an affair on her husband?

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We need to pray that the Lord intervenes there.

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Is that not a form of gossip?

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If I wouldn't say something about a person in his or her presence I shouldn't say it

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when they are not present.

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Like we know this to be true, but it's still an issue within the church.

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Once again the Proverbs gives some very clear warnings about gossip in Proverbs 16.

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A perverse man stirs up dissension and a gossip separates close friends.

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I have a feeling all of us have been on the receiving end of that.

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We're not.

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Relationships broken because of gossip.

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Proverbs 20 says a gossip betrays confidence.

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So avoid a man who talks too much.

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So Paul tells us, don't let those things come out of your mouth, but he then tells us what

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to replace it with.

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Our words are to build up.

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That could be words that encourage.

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That could be words that instruct.

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It could even be words that rebuke.

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I've learned that since we've moved to Iowa that there's this thing called Midwest nice.

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I mean, reality is everyone is really very friendly here.

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I really don't think that I've been flipped off once since we've moved here.

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Just wait, I like that.

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But really that might be the longest streak of my life where I haven't been flipped a bird

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as I'm driving.

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Now here's the issue.

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The problem with Midwest nice is that sometimes that isn't always the best option.

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Sometimes we have to say hard things for the betterment of fellow believers.

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Encouragement is always a good thing and that fits into the area of Midwest nice, but sometimes

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we have to instruct.

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If I've learned anything this semester by helping out with crossroads is that if you

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don't take time to instruct those kids, they will run all over you.

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When a kid is jumping from table to table, I don't sit back and encourage them.

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Hey, next time make sure you plant your feet really well before you make the leap.

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I instruct them by making them come down and saying, hey, a better option is walking to

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the next table.

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Now I try to do that in a way that's not scary to them and doesn't want them to come back,

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but kids need instruction.

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At our previous church, there were several opportunities for me and the elders to rebuke

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a member of the church.

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The purpose was not meant to attack them, but rather to correct them.

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We saw them walking down a path that was going to be destructive to their family.

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It was going to be destructive to the relationship with the Lord, and we wanted to do everything

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we could to protect them from themselves.

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Never once in those conversations did any of them say, you all are so nice.

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Thank you.

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Thanks for being such an encouragement to me.

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Instead they get defensive, or even worse, they go on the attack.

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Sometimes the most loving thing that we can do for fellow believers is to call them out

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on their sin.

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I've told this story before, I believe, but I'm going to tell it again anyway.

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When my kids were younger, they had a hard time, I'm sure many of your kids are the same

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way, had a hard time staying out of the street.

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Because I loved them, I would get on to them, and there would be some sort of punishment

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like you can't play outside for a little while.

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Now there's this pretty busy road that intersected with our street.

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When the come inside and stay out of the street didn't work, I had to take it up a level.

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We would go for a walk down to that road that was pretty busy.

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There was always a dead animal on there somewhere.

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I would walk the kids down, show them some roadkill, and tell them that if they were

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to continue to ride their bikes in the street, that's what they would look like.

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I didn't do that to be mean.

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I did that because I love them.

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Sometimes in our relationship with others, we need to take them for a walk and show them

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some roadkill if they don't stop playing in the street.

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When we see that friend walking too close to sin and being comfortable with it, we need

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to call them out on it.

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We need to build them up.

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When we see that fellow Christian leaving a wake of destruction behind them, we need to

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call them out on it.

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Those things are not harsh.

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They are some of the best ways that we can love people.

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Because we live amongst sinful human beings, there's going to be times when people say

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things and people do things that hurt us deeply.

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As we've seen, those words and actions cannot be taken back.

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We can't change the past, but we can't choose how to respond to those hurts.

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We can either dwell on them and allow them to fester into bitterness or we can choose

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to forgive.

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There is no doubt which of the alternatives that I just mentioned ought to characterize

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our relationships within the body of Christ.

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As Paul clearly points out in his letter to the Colossians in chapter 3, bear with each

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other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.

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Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

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When we are hurt, regardless of whether the other person asks for it or not, we have the

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ability to forgive and to speak words of forgiveness to the other person.

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When we speak those three little words, I forgive you.

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We end up edifying two lives, our own and the person that we are forgiving.

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After all, isn't that exactly what Jesus did on the cross?

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He asked his father to forgive those who were crucifying him, even though they hadn't even

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asked for forgiveness?

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Sometimes we wait to forgive somebody until they ask us for their forgiveness.

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That's not what Jesus did.

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And those words had a tremendous impact on at least one person who heard him that day.

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I think that those words are the main reason the Roman Centurion praised God and recognized

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Jesus as a righteous man.

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Now the final verse we're going to cover this morning is verse 30 where Paul tells us not

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to grieve the Holy Spirit.

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Although we certainly don't have time to cover this principle exhaustively this morning,

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the Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is 100% God.

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He is one of the three members of the Godhead or what we often refer to as the trinity.

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Therefore he is not an object.

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He's not as some people would claim merely in essence or an impersonal force such as

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the force be with you from Sarwar.

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Like God, the Father and God the Son, he exhibits the traits of a person.

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We know that he speaks according to Acts 13.

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We know that he has a will according to 1 Corinthians 12.

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And as we see in our passage this morning, he can also be grieved.

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Now the Greek word that Paul uses here denotes pain or grief that is experienced between

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two people.

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In my own life I can grieve the people around me.

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I can grieve my wife, which I've done.

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I can grieve my kids.

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I can even grieve some of you.

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But I can't grieve an object or an essence or a force.

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I can't grieve my TV.

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I can't grieve my car.

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I can't grieve Mother Earth.

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So the very fact that the Holy Spirit can be grieved is evidence that he's a person.

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He's fully God, fully omniscient, omnipresent and eternal.

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The word Paul uses here for grieve originally was used to picture a husband or wife who

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discovered that his or her spouse had been unfaithful.

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As a result of that betrayal, the offended person was shocked and devastated, hurt and

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wounded.

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So when Paul uses this word, he is picturing the fact that the Holy Spirit is in a love

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relationship with a similar but greatly exceeds the way that we love our spouse.

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Basically, what Paul is saying is that when we sin, it is a betrayal of the Holy Spirit

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inside of us.

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One of the ways that we can avoid grieving him is by focusing on our redemption.

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Now like our salvation, redemption has three aspects to it.

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I have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.

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I am being redeemed right now as I live an abundant life in Christ, and I will be redeemed

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in the future where I will experience the full extent of that redemption.

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When we remember and are focused on that redemption, when we're remember and focused on what Jesus

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has done for us, it becomes easier to not have anger.

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It is easier to work hard.

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It's easier for grace to be in our conversations.

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Now my son River, believe it or not, for those of you that know him, can talk a lot.

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You get him on a topic that he enjoys, and he will go on and on and on and on.

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There have been several times that Sina and I will just look at him and be like, you really

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got to stop talking.

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You really got to be quiet.

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This is the same kid that we used to get frustrated with because he was like a closed book, and

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he would just kind of stare at you.

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He wouldn't really talk to you.

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But now he talks a lot.

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Last month when he was laying in a hospital bed unable to talk, there was nothing more

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that I wanted to hear than him talk about anything.

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If he wanted to get on Amazon and talk about 30 minutes of why he wanted a particular pair

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of shoes, and he has, I would have loved that.

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If he wanted to talk about why this particular food was his favorite, then I would have listened

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to that all day long.

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When he started getting back to himself and starting to feel better, I told Sina that

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if I ever complain about him talking too much, slap me.

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Apparently, there are others that will take me up on that.

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But in that moment, I stopped caring about the annoyances that sometimes come from somebody

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constantly talking.

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I focused on the good that I had.

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When our focus is on what Christ has done for us, a lot of these things that we've been

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talking about the last couple weeks will be so much easier.

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When I focus on the forgiveness that has been granted to me, it is so much easier to forgive

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and not hold a grudge.

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When I think about the generosity that has been shown to me with every spiritual blessing,

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it is easier to be generous to those around me.

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When I understand the grace that has been given to me, even when I was at my worst, it

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is easier for me to be a minister of grace to the people in my life.

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Your redemption is the greatest gift you have ever received.

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When you think about what that really means, when you think about what that really means

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to be redeemed by him, even when you're at your worst, it helps us put off our old self.

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It helps us put off our old way of thinking and put on the new.

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You want to stop being a thief, focus on your redemption.

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You want to speak words that build life, focus on your redemption.

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You want to put away anger, focus on your redemption.

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If you want to get angry about sin, focus on your redemption.

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See, it's so, so easy to play church and to come in here week after week after week and

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sing some songs and hear me speak and pray and go to... It's so easy to fall into a

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routine where we fail to remember what we're here for, where we fail to remember all that

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he has done for us, to fail to remember how much we have been forgiven, how much grace

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has been extended.

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It's so easy to forget those things.

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In order to put off the old and put on the new, we have to focus on our redemption.

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We have to think about our redemption.

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I'm going to pray for us and we'll call it another Sunday here in a second.

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As I pray and as we sing, I'm going to really challenge you to focus on your redemption,

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to think about what you've been saved from while you were still sinners, Christ died

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for you.

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All of your sins were future sins when he chose you.

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Do you understand what that means?

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It's the greatest gift you can ever receive.

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We need to give him praise for that.

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Let's pray.

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Father God, I pray.

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I pray, Father, that as we sing and as we respond that you will speak.

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God, I pray that you will protect our minds from the enemy right now to distract us.

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I pray, God, that you will help us understand and be aware of all the good we have around

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us.

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All the good we have because of you.

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God make these moments, holy moments, as we think about our redemption in you.

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As we think about the love you have for us.

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As you forgave those even when they didn't deserve it or ask for it.

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So Father, help us make peace, help us be a church that builds up with our words.

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Help us be a church that works as if you were the only person that can see us.

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Help us honor you with everything that we do.

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So Father, I pray right now for those that need to continue to take off their old self.

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I pray, Father, that you will clothe them in your righteousness.

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I Father, I pray that you will lead this response.

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Let us respond in a way that honors you and what you call this to.

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Let us call these things in your name.