NOTE: As we continue our studies in the New Testament book of Ephesians, we are reading and meditating upon the text to be examined during the next sermon. There is no better preparation for hearing the teaching of God's Word than prayerfully reading the Scriptures and asking God that "the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18).

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:25-28.

²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

What has God done for us in Christ? Everything. He's changed us at our very core! An old self--one decaying and corrupted--has been replaced with a whole new nature that has been created in the image of God Himself.

But that doesn't mean old habits, social patterns, and behaviors aren't going to creep into our actions, thoughts, and words.

You've been changed, Paul tells us, so now make sure you've changed your clothes!

In the concluding verses of chapter 4--what we'll study this week and next--Paul gets as specific as he has thus far in Ephesians, addressing a number of particular actions and behaviors with which human beings, even believers, struggle.

As you read and study these specifics, they convey greater value and power when we understand them in the context of all we have learned thus far in Ephesians: How at the moment of belief, we were joined to Christ (1:3); received all the amazing riches of Ephesians chapters 1 through 3; were transformed from dead to alive, from slavery in sin and the desires of our sin nature to a new way of life in Christ (Ephesians 2).

Now, alive in Christ, we are freed to choose how we will live. Will we let our sin nature and its unholy passions determine our actions? Or will God's Spirit--Who now lives in us--be given full and complete control?

That's the issue that overarches the specifics of today's verses--and those are questions worth asking every day, every hour, every moment of our lives.

Father,

I want to think and speak and act as one of Your children. Give me ears to hear Your voice. Increase my faith and overcome doubt. Direct my steps today. Guide my actions, and control my tongue--so that my life will bring You joy!

Amen

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:25-28, the text Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, January 2. Today we'll read verses 17-28 in the New Living Translation:

¹⁷With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. ¹⁸Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. ¹⁹They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

²⁰But that isn't what you learned about Christ. ²¹Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, ²²throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. ²³Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. ²⁴Put on your new nature, created to be like God--truly righteous and holy.

²⁵So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. ²⁶ And "don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

²⁸If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

For the most part, growing up--the simple passing of the years--has cured us of the kind of blatant lies that Mom and Dad could easily spot, but which as children we were sometimes foolish enough to try and get away with.

If we struggle with honesty today, it is likely our problem is with lies of a more sophisticated sort--perhaps even varieties of dishonesty that can be hard to recognize for what they are. Therefore, as we seek application for this instruction from Ephesians, let's rely on the work of God's Spirit within us to show us how and where we can be more transparent. Let's look to the Spirit to point out how we can be fully and appropriately honesty in our relationships--especially within the body of Christ--as we continually put off the patterns of our former way of life and put on our new selves, "created to be like God--truly righteous and holy."

Father,

Thank You that You have given me a new nature and a whole new set of standards for how I am to live. Through the power of Your Spirit, help me to be a person who speaks the truth. In all my relationships, let loving honesty guide my words. And Father, help me today to speak Your truth at every opportunity to the people You've brought into my life.

Amen

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:25-28, the text Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, January 2.

²⁵So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. ²⁶ And "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

²⁸If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

Don't lose your temper. That's the simplest way to restate Paul's instruction in verse 26, (which is in quotation marks because Paul is quoting from Psalm 4:4).

Anger is an emotion that needs to be handled carefully--even when it is justified by someone's wrong actions.

When Paul says, "don't sin by letting anger control you," he's saying, "Don't let the devil use your anger to trip you up, or to cause you to say or do something because your anger is in control."

We are also given two other instructions about anger in these verses: 1) Deal with it quickly, before it builds up and does damage, and 2) Don't let Satan use your anger to grow resentment or bitterness that can hurt your relationships with others, and harm you as well.

Pause before you pray to consider your current ways of dealing with anger. Has the devil been able to use anger to gain a "foothold" in your life? How well do you do in dealing with feelings of anger quickly? Are you inclined to grow resentments?

Father,

When anger rises in me, I invite Your Spirit to remind me of the damage anger can do if I don't bring it under Your control. Make me sensitive to any bitterness that I've allowed to take root in my heart and show me today how to begin healing those hurting places and damaged relationships.

Amen

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:25-28, the text Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, January 2.

²⁵So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. ²⁶ And "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

²⁸If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

While verse 25 challenged us to live lives of integrity relative to our speech, verse 28 calls for integrity in our actions, particularly those that deal with possessions and finances.

Integrity is a high value among members of God's family--that's a standard that comes from the Head of our family Himself.

While our old nature might have suggested that we "take what we can while nobody's watching," we are now new creations in Christ. We've "put off" that old nature with its "deceitful desires" (v. 22), and "put on" our new selves, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Humanly speaking, righteous and holy represent a high, even unattainable target--but thank God He's made it possible for us to live up to His standards when He made us alive in Christ and transformed us from the way we used to live. We are reminded of what we learned from Ephesians 2, verses 2-5 and 8-10:

"You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil--the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. . . . But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!). . . . God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

Freed to live with integrity, created anew in Christ Jesus--with a nature that is capable of true righteousness and holiness"!

Father,

Thank You that I am free to choose how I will live. Thank You that I am no longer a slave to sin, but have a source of supernatural strength that makes true integrity in words and actions my new standard for living. Demonstrate Your power in me today, through your Spirit, so I can bring glory and honor to You in all I do and say.

Amen

This week we are focusing on Ephesians 4:25-28, the text Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, January 2.

¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

 ²⁰You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 ²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Making resolutions is a self-help tool of dubious reliability, one that often fails before the ink is dry--or even before the good intentions have been committed to paper. Even so, the new year offers us a useful opportunity to draw for ourselves "a line in the sand," and an occasion on which to ask ourselves some important questions: Do I want to know Jesus Christ better this year? Be more sensitive to His Spirit? Grow more mature in my walk with Him in the year ahead?

If that is your desire, then the verses in Ephesians we've been studying in recent weeks provide a great place to start. Read today's verses again, and ask God to speak through His Word about areas He wants to work on in your life.

Then, find the encouragement you need to make 2011 a year of spiritual significance by revisiting Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21. Turn to that passage in your favorite Bible, or read here in the New Living Translation:

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Father,

As Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus, I make this my prayer today and for the year ahead--for myself, for [names of others, friends and family members for whom you pray], for my church, and for its leaders. Help me to know and experience Your amazing love and mighty power, and to give all glory for everything You do to You.

Amen and Amen!