EPHESIANS 4:26,27 - THE PROBLEM WITH ANGER

 

The next subject under the general heading of our theme, “Practical Christianity” from Ephesians 4 is the matter of anger. It is a delicate subject, and it concerns us all. Ephesians 4:26,27 says, “Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down  on your anger, and give  no opportunity to the devil.“ 

Our text shows us at least 4 things which we need to know and understand about anger:

1.      There is room for righteous anger.

2.      We must be careful to not let this anger spill over into sin.

3.      We must keep short accounts of our anger.

4.      Satan easily abuses uncontrolled anger.

From this  outline we can see that anger is a complex emotion, since it has both a good and a bad side. It requires a godly heart and biblical wisdom to manage. In the English language anger is just one letter short of danger. It is not surprising then that God's instructions through the apostle Paul about anger here are comprehensive and profound.  

1. There is room for righteous anger

Paul here  alludes  to Psalm 4:4,  “Be angry and do not sin; ponder  in your own hearts on your beds and be silent.“   Be angry and do not sin! The Bible recognizes that there a valid emotion called anger. But what is righteous anger? We are righteously angry when we are angry with that which God would be angry with. The best illustrations in this regard are taken from the life of the Lord Jesus Himself.

(i)                 In Mark 3:1-6 Jesus was in the synagogue on the Sabbath. There He found a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees were looking to see whether He was going to heal him on the Sabbath. The Scripture says, "Jesus looked around at them in  anger, grieved  at their  hardness of heart...".  This was a common observation (cf. Mk. 8:17;10:5). Jesus was angry because these Pharisees constantly  made a  false distinction between the law, and  the God of the law. Remember that the law is always God’s law and not man’s. The law in question here (the Sabbath cf. Ex 20:8-11) was made for the good and for the benefit of man (Mk 2:27). But the Pharisees made the good law into a burden. They used   it in a negative, fault finding, legalistic way. And since they saw themselves as the custodians of the law they, as it were, took the law out of God’s hands and into their own hands. They worshipped and served the law (the created things) rather than the Creator who is to be forever praised (Rom. 1:25).  By the way, if Jesus  were here among us  today, I  am convinced  that He  would also be righteously angry with  our society for the  opposite  sin of the Pharisees. In Jesus day the problem was legalism; in our day it is libertinism or antinomianism. He would be angry with us for the carelessness  and casualness with which we consider the gift of the  Lord’s day. The 4^th commandment is given  to us as a means of grace  to  align our souls  and  to delight ourselves in the Lord, but  our society  thinks that this arrangement is now  a matter  of private choice. No wonder our society is falling apart, for now we have lost a vital means by which we rest in the Lord one day in seven.

(ii)               Jesus was also angry  when He cleansed the temple, for He saw that the house that was built originally for the glory and worship of God had been turned into a den of robbers (Mk. 11:15-19). 

(iii)              Jesus was angry when His own disciples resisted the work of God (e.g. Peter in Mk. 8: 31-33).

(iv)              Jesus was angry whenever children (or believers) were abused or tempted to sin. He has strong words for such abusers (Mk. 9:42-48).

As a rule then we find that Jesus became angry when He saw the truth of God abused and when He saw people abused.   As a rule He did not get angry when people sinned against Him in person (e.g. Matt 12:32). Even at the cross He prayed for those that hated Him and crucified Him (Lk 23:34).

When you as a Christian   get angry  at godless  behaviour and  our societal hypocrisy  and abuse  you are sharing  in God’s anger.   John Stott writes[1], ”… there is a  great need in the contemporary world for more Christian anger. We human beings compromise with sin in a way in which God never does. In the face of blatant evil we should be  indignant not tolerant, angry  not apathetic. If God hates sin, His people should hate it too.  If evil arouses His anger, it should arouse ours too.

In  this spirit  Psalm 119:53 says,  “hot indignation seizes  me because of the wicked , who forsake your law.”  There is room for anger, provided that is in agreement with God. Our general rule  then should be: Be angry  at  that which violates God’s honour and  that which violates men and women  created in his image; but  be slow to  get angry when people insult you and accuse you.

2. In your anger do not sin

Here’s the tricky part about anger. Righteous anger can so easily spill over into self- righteous anger and judgementalism, and therefore sin.   Someone said that, “anger is a wind that easily blows out the lamp   of the mind ” and “people who fly into a rage, always make a bad landing”. There is a powerful illustration of this in 2 Samuel.  David had committed adultery   with Bathsheba in chapter 11, and in chapter 12 the prophet Nathan, in a very diplomatic way led him into a journey of self- discovery of this sin. He tells David a story about a rich farmer who had a large number of sheep. But he took the only ewe lamb from one of his poor employees, as  a meal  for his guest.  This story “kindled David’s anger“,  but David had to  swallow his words  when Nathan reminded him  that he was in fact that rich man who took  away Bathsheba, the wife  of his loyal servant  Uriah. David was caught out – for he had engaged in hypocritical unrighteous anger. Getting angry with others, he did not see the log in his own eye. Sadly there was much wrong in his own family – the rapes and the murders among his sons and daughters. David seemed to rarely have expressed a principled godly anger at any evil that they did. In many ways David had lost the moral high-ground to express his anger. He was in no position to judge his children, because he himself was guilty of these things. Godly anger is necessary, but be careful that  you are not guilty of those very things that you accuse   others of.

The way to avoid  unrighteous anger   is  to take note of what James 1:19-20  has to say:  “ … “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”   If we are slow to anger,  and if we control ourselves in it  and consider the matter carefully, then our anger, if it  arises  at all may very well be godly anger, when we  treat the problem at hand  as owing to the fact that God's character is dishonoured  and not ours – if  God's plans are resisted, and not just ours.

Righteous anger is not self-centred. Again we learn from Jesus. He does not express anger when He is abused. He prays for his enemies and He forgives them. But He is angry when   God’s Name, God’s law and God’s people are dishonoured.  So it is important that we look at the motive for our anger.  The Bible discourages self- centred anger, and impulse driven anger i.e. when we are just in a bad mood,  or when we do not get our  own way, or when someone confronts us.  Remember  also verses like Romans 12:19 : “ Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 

3.  Keep short accounts with anger

“Do not let the sun go down on your anger" means, that we should resolve our anger on the same day. Sometimes, reconciliation is impossible on the same day, because it always takes two to settle a matter. When it takes more than one day (and sometimes forever) then make sure that you do not hold on to or nurse that anger. Make sure that it does not grab you and make you a resentful, bitter person and defile you (see Hebrews 12:15).  Anger has this uncanny ability to do that. 

So we see that anger is a tricky emotion.   John Piper put it like this: Anger is the moral equivalent of biological adrenaline. It is good and healthy to experience periodic secretions of adrenaline in reaction to dangerous situations. But a steady flow of adrenaline would damage the heart. So it is with anger. It has damaged many hearts because it was not quickly dealt with, but nurtured again and again into a life-destroying grudge.[2] Seek to  settle your anger  as quickly as possible , and for this  final reason…

4.  Satan easily  abuses uncontrolled anger.

“ …and give no opportunity to the devil.” The Scripture says that uncontrolled anger gives Satan an opportunity – an entrance point into your life.  Satan uses  uncontrolled  anger  to  ruin and destroy  persons,  marriages, families, churches and countries- by causing it to  develop into resentment and bitterness, exploiting  this to his own evil ends, producing  fruit  of   hatred, violence  and   breach of fellowship.  The great danger with anger is that it easily makes us irrational. Don’t be fooled into thinking that when you become irrationally angry or unforgiving that you are ‘entitled’ to these feelings. Know that the devil is laughing, because he has found an effective grip upon your soul.  And, ultimately uncontrolled anger always ends up causing  more hurt to yourself than the one  that you  are angry with.

In 2 Cor. 2 :10,11  the apostle  Paul warns  the Corinthians  that unforgiveness is a foothold for  the devil:   “Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would no  be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.”  If Satan can capitalize  on anger and unforgiveness among God's people, he will have achieved a great goal—  hiding of Christ's reality from the world.

The Importance Of Having A Biblical Mind-Set On This Matter  

The best way to handle and understand anger starts with a renewed heart and a renewed mind. Christians are people who have received a new nature and new attitudes because  they  are  created  to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (4:24).  The starting point for effective Christian living starts with the grace that we receive from God. 

Have you been born again?  

Have you confessed your need of a Saviour? 

Have you been to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and have you received assurance of sins forgiven by the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit? 

And have you  in repenting, received  that new life by which you can say with Paul  …”I  can do  everything  (even  dealing with anger)   through Him who gives me  strength” (Phil. 4:13)?  

If you struggle consistently with anger,  then ask yourself whether you are a Christian.  There is a great difference between moralistic Christianity and biblical Christianity. Moralistic Christianity stresses self–effort and focuses on mere outward behaviour, whereas biblical Christianity draws strength from Christ and the new life  which He gives.  That life which draws strength from Him issues in obedience whereby you ‘put on‘  new, godly behaviour and ‘put off’  the old nature which hinders your spiritual progress.  Spiritual progress will be made  visible in godly attitudes and behaviour.   And that includes anger management, God’s way.   

---

[1] John Stott: Ephesians ( BST) , p,  186

[2] https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/satan-seeks-a-gap-called-grudge

Ephesians 4:25 - The Problem with Lying

 

A pastor once told his congregation, "Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark 17." The following Sunday, the pastor wanted to know how many had read Mark 17.  A good number of hands went up. The pastor smiled and said, "Mark has only 16 chapters. I will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying." A wise woman reminded him that he lied to the congregation as well!

Previously we saw that being a Christian means becoming a new person, with new values and standards. We put off old habits and put on new habits.  In Eph. 2:1 Paul reminds the Ephesians, that they “were formerly dead in their sins and transgressions... but were made alive with Christ even when they were dead in sins and   transgressions."   A Christian is not a person who has made a new start in life, but a person who has received a new life to start with. We are made alive…

We saw that church life is not only a call to unity (4:1-16), but it is also a call to purity (4:17ff). This is because we are "created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (4:24).The subject of unity and purity needs constant re-emphasis and reminder. Paul writes these practical reminders because he knows that churches easily become compromised in these two areas.  Destroy unity and you destroy the church.  Neglect purity and you invite Satan into your midst! Can you see why an emphasis on the new birth - conversion and discipleship is so necessary? Can you see why requiring a testimony of conversion and membership classes and membership interviews and maintenance of ordinary church discipline are so important for church membership?  If we don’t guard our gates with an insistence upon these, we will soon be in the hands of the unconverted, the ungodly, and Satan.   

And now, from 4:25ff  onwards  we are reminded  concerning a number  of  practical issues  with respect  to   the  purity of the church.  Today we will consider 4:25:  “Therefore, having put away falsehood (lying), let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are  members  one of another.”   From this we learn three things:

·         A strong commitment to “put away falsehood”.

·         A strong commitment to “speak the truth”.  

·          A strong reason for  doing this :  “… for we are members one of another”

  1.      PUT AWAY FALSEHOOD  (LYING)

Let me give you a general idea from the Scriptures   how serious lying is in the eyes of God.

a.      God hates lies  

·         “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are His delight. [Prov. 12:22]

·         “There are six things that the LORD hates…among which is a lying tongue” [Prov. 6:17 – 19]

·         The sin of lying is implied among the acts of the sinful nature in Gal. 5:19 – 21. Note the warning in v. 21

·         Lying has no place amongst God’s people  – Eph. 4:25 see also Col.3:9 - “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self  with its practises…”;

·         Psalm 34:13:  “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit”.

b.       God punishes those who lie

·         The punishment for all liars shall be the lake of fire [Rev. 21:8].

·         “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.” [Prov. 19:9]

·         “You destroy those who speak lies; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.” (Psalm 5:6 - see the greater context  in Psalm 5: 4 – 9!)

·         Psalm 12: 2-4 “Everyone utters lies to his neighbour;  with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,  the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

c.       The root of lying is hate! “A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering  mouth works ruin.” [Prov. 26:28]

d.      Lying is a futile exercise!  ”Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” [Prov. 12:19]

e.      Jeremiah  9:1-9 -   case study  of a nation  of pathological liars and God’s  response.

I trust that you can see from these selected scriptures that God is not indifferent to lying - whether it is lying to ourselves or lying to others. If you are a Christian and lying is a habitual problem, you must hear the warning of the Holy Spirit now and repent. Lying is contrary to kingdom principles. It may mean that you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.  

Many years ago I had counselled a family with profound problems. One of the problems was  that each  one had become so skilled at lying, that when I spoke to any individual, I  thought  “surely this one is telling the truth“  -  until what they said was contradicted by the next family member. Each family member was a compulsive liar. Lying was part of their family culture, and as one might have expected, it drove them apart.

Paul says here that falsehood (lying) is a characteristic of the "former manner of life” (4:22).   This helps us to understand where it comes from.  It comes from our old nature, which is corrupted by darkness in our understanding, ignorance, hardness of heart and sensuality (4:18,19). Our old nature was controlled by Satan, the Father of lies (John 8:44).  His nature is our nature before we were converted.  

When lying is habitually done by many it becomes a feature of our society. Such a society, says Paull is darkened, ignorant, hardened, insensitive and driven by sensuality.  Sadly, we see it everywhere in the world. Every day our newspapers are reporting fraud, corruption, lying and betrayal in families, commerce and society.  People even lie under oath in our courts.  Why is this? Because there is no moral compass.  There is no ultimate accountability to truth. Proverbs  29:18 says, ”Where there is no prophetic vision (NIV revelation) the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law”. The more a society is  law abiding and affected  and reformed by  the truth as it is in Jesus (4:21), the more the rot stops.  This brings us to our second observation.

2.      A STRONG COMMITMENT TO  SPEAK THE TRUTH

When we become a Christian we put off our old self which belongs to our former manner of life, which is corrupt through deceitful desires and we are renewed  in the spirit of our minds. We are called  to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God  in true righteousness an holiness. (4:22-24). Timothy, Paul’s son in the faith struggled with a fearful spirit. He was converted with this mind-set. But Paul had to remind Timothy that he was not a slave   of his natural fearfulness and timidity. He reminds him that “God gave us a spirit not of fear,but of power  and love and self- control”[2 Tim. 1:7]

Christians are no helpless pawns in the hands of Satan.  Christians have received His ‘incomparably great power’ (Eph. 1:19).  Later, in  Eph. 5:8, Paul reminds the Ephesians  that they no longer live in darkness, but in the light. They have received power and strength  and a new nature to  escape  the darkness  and futility of this life.

I want you to see a pattern in Ephesians 4 & 5. The Bible not only teaches us not to do certain things any longer, but the Bible asserts that we have received power from God  to  replace  the old life with the new life.  Peter says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him…” [2 Pet. 1:3].

The influences that have shaped our past are undoubtedly  very strong. Mere will-power will not help us to overcome these.  We need God‘s resurrection power to overcome sin. The new birth makes the difference.  Having been born again helps us to replace old habits with new godly habits.   If you have been addicted to fear, or  anxiety,  or alcohol or drugs  or pornography or any other life dominating sin, and you have received Christ, you must  put these away  and replace  that   void with  the truth as it is in Jesus.  We must understand that replacement of old ungodly habits with new godly habits  is utterly essential.  In  Luke  11:24-26  we find a vivid  application of this in the case of demon possession. We  cannot  drive evil spirits  out of people, without  having the assurance  that the void left will be occupied by Christ  - otherwise 7  more evil spirits will come back to that empty house, and they will be worse off . And so falsehood must be replaced with truth. Anger must be dealt with before the sun goes down;  stealing must be  replaced  by honest work and by working to meet the needs of others; unwholesome talk must be replaced by positive up-building talk ; un-forgiveness must be replaced by forgiveness  etc. The remedy to lying is to be steadfastly committed to telling the truth. Telling the truth begins in our minds. That is why  4: 23 is so important - “the renewing of the spirit of our minds“. The battle for the lie versus truth begins in the mind. Satan put doubt into Eve’s mind: “Has God really said?“ (Gen. 3:1).  When anxious  about anything must learn to  affirm in our minds  whatever is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely … (Phil 4:8). Out of  such a commitment  to the truth comes a lifestyle of  righteousness and holiness.

3.       OUR REASON FOR DOING THIS : We are  all members of one body

Remember the context of this letter. It is written to the church at Ephesus. Paul is concerned with godly relationships in that body. And the first purity producing quality of life in that body is the matter of   dealing with falsehood. The members of your natural body do not lie to each other. When my big toe gets hurt, the nerve endings in that toe  inform my brain, and my brain  tells my voice box  “ouch!”. The terrible thing about leprosy (a disease that kills the nerve endings in our extremities) is for instance that if your foot gets hurt, the nerve endings do not respond. You can stand on hot coals, and your brain will not register the pain. That is why you see these terrible pictures of leprous people with malformed extremities. Leprosy lies to the body. That is what sin does, and that is a picture of what happens in the church when falsehood and deception rules. The whole body gets hurt.  We have seen this all too many times.

Summary and application:

Lying is part of the corrupt old nature. Its roots are satanic. Therefore it should be  put off in its many forms, whether it be plain  lying, or hypocrisy, or deception, or  exaggeration, or evasiveness.  We must avoid this at all costs  here at Eastside. Instead,  we must learn to  deal  with each other honestly, candidly,  plainly,  frankly, openly, accurately and truthfully  and above all -  in the spirit of love (4:15). 

The beauty of our Christianity lies in the taking care of the  small   details  of our lives. These small details tell great  truths.   We may be looking great on the outside, but the ultimate test of our church is a test like this: Do we lie  to one another? Therefore put off falsehood, and speak truth  to one another  for we are members  of Christ’s body.

WHY THE THOUGHT OF CHRIST'S ASCENSION SHOULD BRING US GREAT JOY

I have two texts for us. Our first text leads us to the consideration of our second text: 

Luke 24:50-53

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Taking leave of our loved ones is never easy. Sometimes there are goodbye’s where we even have to say to one another,  “see you in heaven!”  The thought of parting always fills us with sorrow.  It was now  time for Jesus to  go back  (to ascend)  to the Father and amazingly,  we read  here that this parting   was not characterized by grief  or sorrow – in fact,  it was characterized by  great joy. We read that they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy! What made the disciples so joyful  at Christ’s ascension?  And what implications might the thought of the ascension have on our joy?  

There are at least  four  reasons  why Jesus’ ascension, should bring us joy, and for this I refer you to our next scripture reading :

John 17:4 -11   (Context: Christ’s high priestly prayer)  

[4]“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [5] And now Father glorify  me in  your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the  world existed. [6] “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. [7] Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. [8] For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. [9] I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. [10] All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. [11] And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.“

FOUR REASONS  WHY THE THOUGHT OF CHRIST’S ASCENSION SHOULD BRING US JOY

 (i)         The thought of His finished work

(ii)        The thought of His present heavenly ministry

(iii)       The thought  of  our empowerment for effective ministry  in this world

(iv)       The thought of His return,  and the prospect of our finished work

1.         The  Joy that comes at the thought that Jesus’ Work is truly finished.  [John 17:4]

I don’t know about you, but my present work as a pastor never feels as if it is finished. There is always more to do; more people to visit and to attend to; more  counsel and help to offer; more church admin, and emails, what-apps  and writing to do ; more  preparation for many different kinds of meetings; more prayer, more preparation for the Bible studies and Sunday sermons. Our work never seems to have an end. There are aspects  here and there  where I can say, “Well, thank God  that  this is  now finished”, but then when I look at the bigger picture,  there is still so much that is not finished, and it won’t be finished   until Jesus returns.  The Lord Jesus, however at this moment can truly say that His work on earth was   now finished! He had accomplished what He had come to do. He could now  go back to the Father  knowing that He had glorified Him on earth, having accomplished the work that the Father  had given Him to do. The night before He died, He told His disciples: “I came from the Father and  have come into the world and now  I am leaving the world  and going to the Father” (Jn. 16:28). His work was now truly finished! 

How can this fact make us joyful?   Let us think about this for a moment.   He accomplished His work for us on the cross.  By this work He made atonement for our sin, in two ways. 

Firstly, He fully dealt with the consequences of our sin by substituting His life for ours (expiation), and secondly He fully bore the just wrath of an offended, holy God (propitiation). Jesus therefore   perfectly accomplished His work  as Mediator between God and men.   From our perspective in particular  the joy comes  as a result of knowing  that  we have been freed to go  to heaven, knowing that there is no condemnation awaiting us there  (Rom. 8:1).   

Your sins are forgiven in His name.  

You are ready for heaven. 

You  can worship Him and rejoice in Him because His earthly ministry for you and for all His church  is  now completed. Nothing more needs to be added on your part to Christ’s finished work. 

The only thing that you can do  is to be obedient to His commission   for you  in terms  of sharing this good news in your generation,  so that people may hear, believe  and be saved from their sin and go to heaven!

2.  The Joy of  thinking about   Jesus'  heavenly ministry.  ( John 17:5)

In  John’s gospel Chapters 13 – 17 (The Upper room discourses)  the Lord  Jesus had told His disciples on a number  of occasions  that He was going to leave them.  At that  stage their hearts were troubled  and He needed to remind them,  “If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father  is greater  than I” (John 14:28). He is reminding them here that they did not need to grieve, for  in  returning to the Father, He would be restored to that  place of glory and power that was His before  He became the incarnate Son of God.    

How does the fact of Jesus’ ascension, and session  in  heaven help us to be  joyful? 

Consider  these 4 facts:

(i)         We are joyful because we have a glorious, enthroned King in heaven.  He is our representative and guarantee before the Father.  Jesus is our man in heaven. He is our Advocate before the Father.  He is our brother in heaven (Hebr. 2:11). He is the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18) and therefore He is the hope of our resurrection (1 Thess. 4:14-18).   When we shall receive our resurrected bodies one day, we will also share in His glory (John 17:22-24). But think also about this: He is now  worshiped, loved and adored by our    departed brothers and sisters gathered before the throne, saying “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing.”  They also say, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and dominion forever and ever” (Rev. 5:12, 13).

(ii)        We are  joyful   that He represents us  and intercedes  for us in heaven. (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25). This  prayer involves not only presenting our prayer petitions and needs before the Father. Hebrews 9:24 tells us that He appears in the presence of God on our behalf.  1 John 2:1, 2 tells us that He is our Advocate in heaven. We have  continual access to God through  Jesus our Advocate. 

(iii)       We are joyful knowing that He is preparing a place for us,  knowing that we may be where He is. (John 14:1-3).

(iv)       We are joyful   knowing that that at the ascension Jesus has declared His  dominion over heaven and earth.  Peter tells us that Jesus is now “at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him” (1 Pet. 3:22). Paul says that Jesus is seated at God’s “right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet” (Eph. 1:20b-22a). There is, of course  a sense in which all things are not yet subject to Him (1 Cor. 15:27-28; Ps. 110:1; Heb. 10:13). But when He comes again in power and glory, He will conquer every  enemy and reign forever and ever. So,  it is as good as done, and this knowledge fills us with joy.

3. We may be joyful because we may effectively continue His work in the world until He comes.  (Jn. 17:14)

"I have given them your  word..." 

Why did the Lord Jesus not take His followers with Him into heaven when He ascended? The answer is simple. He has work for them to do in His name.   Future generations still have   to be reached. The church’s mission   is to continue to proclaim the saving work of Jesus to every generation and to all nations.  However, the Lord Jesus also knew that in our own strength  we could not do  it. So He promised  us to send the Helper- the Holy Spirit.  He told the disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away;  for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I  go, I will send Him to you” (Jn 16:7).  Jesus had promised,   “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (Jn. 14:18) He had to provide His church with power and authority.  For this reason the church had to wait until it was endued with His power (Lk 24:49 ; Acts 1:4,8).  When Christ ascended, the Holy Spirit descended. It is essential that we are clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit if we want to succeed in that mission. So, joyfully thank God that  we  have the Holy Spirit who effectively enables us   to do this work.  

We need Christ’s blessing in order   to be effective representatives for Him in the world. Note that He blessed the disciples before He left (Lk.  24:51; Acts 1:12). “He lifted up His hands and  he blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (Lk. 24:50b-51). The picture is that of the Old Testament priest blessing the people after offering the sacrifice for them (Lev. 9:22).  Jesus wasn’t just wishing the disciples well when He blessed them. His blessing was absolutely essential for them and for us, if we are to carry on His work. Without Jesus’ blessing, we are reminded   of Psalm 127:1, “unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain”.  In God’s work, His blessing means everything.  Thank God that we are empowered  to do this work by our ascended Christ.

4. We may be joyful at the thought of His return and the prospect of our finished work

The promise of Christ’s ascension is also the promise of His descension, that is, His second coming. No man knows the day or hour (Matt. 24:36). We are to be prepared at all times (Matt 25:1-13). But this we know, that when He comes, our work will be done and then we too shall ascend with Christ to heaven (John 14:3; 1 Thess. 4:17). Then too all suffering, challenges, tears, sorrow, sadness, sickness, pain etc. will be over and our work will be done, and our eternal rest (Hebr.  4:9-16)   will have begun.

The ascension of our Lord Jesus began the final step of His great plan of salvation. 

It is the pen ultimate step. 

The next step will be his descension, His second coming. 

What a day that will be!

I trust that this brief meditation on the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ has helped you too, to worship our Lord Jesus  with greater expectancy and  with greater joy!  

We thank and bless our God for the remembrance of this day. Amen

Ephesians 4:17 – 24 - "The Purity of the Church"

 

We are considering the subject of practical Christianity through the lens of  the letter to the Ephesians.  

Last time we  considered  Eph. 4:1-16 and the subject of unity. Biblical unity is a practical matter,  for there can be no practical progress where the church is not united. We noted  there that (i) unity is given by the grace of God (ii) it is grounded in the work of the Tri-une God (iii) it is promoted by the people gifts  which God gives to the church (iv) it is  manifested in a mature  approach  and ministry  by every member of the church. We have yet  a lot to learn  at Eastside.

From this follows another practical subject - the purity of the church,  which expresses itself best in the small, seemingly insignificant, everyday details of life. There are at least 6  practical  issues addressed  in  4:17- 5:5. I do not have to remind you that the world continuously judges the church on these matters.

i.                    The  issue of telling the truth versus  lying  (4:25)

ii.                  The matter of anger (4: 26 – 27)

iii.                The matter of stealing versus  productive  working and  sharing  (4:28)

iv.                 The matter of using our mouths for evil versus  constructive talk (4:29 – 30)

v.                   The matter  of  bitterness versus  compassion  and forgiveness   (4:31 - 5:2)

vi.                 The matter of  sexual immorality, obscenity, foolish talk  versus  a pure, holy, thankful lifestyle (5:3-5)

Christian character, exhibited in godly demeanour or mind-set and living is what purity is all about. Purity is a heart issue. Jesus said, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander." (Matt. 15:19). Our human default thinking easily substitutes religious activity (appearing good on the outside) for cultivating godly character (i.e. taking care of our inner life).  It is harder to be good than to do good, and  God is  deeply concerned about our  hearts.  1 Cor. 13:1-3  teaches us  that mere words, mere knowledge,  mere  good works  have an air of  respectability, but they can  also be cheap substitutes for the hard work  of  having the Holy Spirit revamp our heart (the seat of motives) and our  character. Good works and even displays of spiritual power and knowledge without attention to one’s own character may result in a person’s complete failure before God and men. Matters such as  lying, stealing, poor work ethic, uncontrollable anger, abusive, bitter and sexually immorality  are heart issues, and Jesus is concerned about  our hearts  and what comes out of them. 

# Purity matters!

Let us then follow the biblical logic and  trace the pattern of  Paul’s thinking in this text  from 4:17-24, which sets the scene  for much of the  rest of the Ephesian letter. We may divide our text into two parts, recording for us the difference between impurity and purity.

(i) The way gentiles (unbelievers) think and behave (4:17-19)   in their futility of thinking; darkened in their understanding; separated  from the life of God; ignorance due to the hardening of their hearts; having lost all sensitivity.

(ii) The way  Christians   think and behave  (4:10-24): taught in the  truth  as it is in Jesus; to put off the old  self  …  to put on  the new self ;  to be renewed in the spirit of our minds; to put on the new self  in true righteousness and holiness.

Paul starts with our history- what we were, and he presents a penetrating analysis of the futility, darkness, separation, ignorance and insensitivity of the human heart before Christ has come to conquer it.  Why does he start here?  He starts here because we need to understand  where the root of  the human problem lies. There is no point in going on in this text and telling us how to manage lying (4:25) anger (4:26), money (4:28), the tongue (4:29) and our sexuality (5:3), if we do not first understand the origin or root of all our problems.   Once we have recognized the fact that we have sin-sick souls, we need to be led to that Great Physician  to find healing for our souls, to find new loves – the most important which is a deep  and grateful love for God Himself.

Our past – rooted in  gentile futility   (4:17-19)

We note that  these Ephesians  Christians (and  by implication  ourselves ) were once among this number – see  Ephesians 2:1-3. The pre-Christian state  is  characterized  by  at least 5  aspects:

(i)         Futility of thinking: Our mind-processes are mixed up and driven by all sorts of world views, philosophies and influences, except the Word of God. There is no such thing as true objectivity. We are all influenced by something. Which worldview do you subscribe to and live by?

(ii)        Darkened in understanding: When you don’t know something, it is as if it didn’t exist. It is like asking  a person  in  a pitch dark room  in which  they have never been before, to reveal  the contents of the room.  They can’t! Now with regard  to the  things  that  God  wants us to know, our sinful state  has induced  a deep darkness that swallows up our understanding, and keeps us from seeing the glory of the gospel  and the truth about God in that state.    

(iii)       Separated/ alienated from the life of God: Before you become a Christian you are dead in your transgressions (Eph. 2:1). You are alive, but not truly alive. You have no relationship with my Creator. You have no desires for Him. Strangely, at the same time your heart yearns for meaning and true identity, but you go look for that in all the wrong places.   

(iv)       Ignorance due to the hardening of the heart:  It is a deep and profound ignorance  rooted in a heart that is hard as stone. A heart  is incurable from a human perspective. It requires a miracle

(v)        Callous and given up to sensuality, greedy to practise every kind of impurity: When you are possessed by mixed up thinking processes, walking as it were in darkness, with no sense of God and your true origin, when your heart is as dead as a stone, then it follows that the life that you have can only be lived  by what your 5 senses tell  you. Since you are   ignorant of the true meaning of things, and the true values of life as God sees them,  then you will make  something else  your  goal  and your god in life. And  so  you become  a slave  to the sensual – if it feels good , do it! … whether it be sex,  substances, food  or  even   the gratification of my   ego  with   the pursuit   of   intellectual and cultural things  - anything but God, and everything apart from God!  

So, before  we came to Christ we were lost in the  futility of our minds, darkened in our understanding, alienated from the life of God, ignorant  and hardened, callous and  given to sensuality. This was the state of your heart when Jesus found you.  This is what Almighty God, your Creator saw when He looked into your heart.  And until you see what He sees, and agree with God that this is true about you, you are going to focus on the superficial, sense driven life. Sadly this sort of life has even invaded the church, and the extent to which people domineer the life of such churches to that extent those churches will become liberal, descending into mere external, powerless Christianity that now defines so much of Christendom.

Have you come to a place in your life where  God has shown you  the greater picture, and where you have seen yourself  for what you truly are? And have you despaired of yourself? Have you seen yourself for what you truly are- a sinner and rebel against God? And have you been to Jesus for the forgiveness and full pardon of your sin?    

Becoming a Christian means that you become a new person, with new desires, new values and new standards, and in a new kingdom.  You live in God's new society (the church). Your view of truth and work and talk and sexual purity etc. will be affected  and  it  will become  progressively purified.

Our present calling : Genuine Christianity (4: 20-23)

Note then, that Paul begins in 4:17  with this insistence,  “Now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds…”.   “If you are a Christian“, says Paul – “then I insist  that you stop thinking and acting in futility  like gentile pagans“.   Paul further insists, “But that is not the  way you learned  Christ …  as the truth is in Jesus !“ (Eph. 4:20,21).

When you become a Christian you are, as it were under new management. The old has gone, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17). You  have a new CEO.  You are  now  hearing  and following the voice of Jesus your good Shepherd. You are being taught by Him (4:21).  And if you are His sheep, then you will gladly hear His voice now,  for He has said in  Jn. 10:16, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me; and I give them eternal life".

If you hear the voice of Jesus this morning, and not just my voice, and if you follow Him (like a sheep follows a shepherd), then your mind will not be darkened; your life will not be separated from God; you will not be ignorant about the things that really matter (i.e. whether lying is serious or not. You will develop a proper perspective on anger, on work ethics, on the  use of your tongue, on the danger of bitterness and the seriousness of  un-forgiveness, marriage, parenting  etc.).  This we will consider in the weeks to come.

Becoming a  Christian involves a radical change, and that change is not  driven primarily by yourself. It is made possible by the imputation of Christ’s  righteousness  through the new birth (John 3:1-8). It  is manifested  by your God given ability  to put off  the old man (the old nature 4:22) and  to  put on the new man (new nature  4:24).

In that new state we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness. The Bible is not saying that we must change ourselves!  The Christian life is not  another self- help  fad or  man- driven religion. The Christian is promised real help and power by the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

However  the Christian life also  requires real obedience and commitment to  the Word of God, and if you do this you receive power for godly and pure living. Once we have been  born again  by the Spirit's  agency  through Christ, having experienced the forgiveness of our sins,  it is our  responsibility to grow, under the leadership of the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit,  and  through  the truth  of His Word as it is brought to us by those that are appointed to teach us from His Word.

From this follows that by our behaviour we show to which family we belong! We will pick up on this next week.