Ephesians chapter four, and we'll begin reading with
the seventeenth verse through the end of the
chapter.
Ephesians four and seventeen.
This I say, therefore, and testify of the
Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their minds,
having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the
life of God through the ignorance that is
in them, because of the blindness of their
heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves
over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with
greediness.
But ye have not so learned Christ, if
so be that ye have heard him, and
have been taught by him, as the truth
is in Jesus.
That ye put off concerning the former conversation,
the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lot, and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind.
And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness.
Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth
with his neighbor, for we are members one
of another.
Be angry, and sin not, let not the
sun go down upon your rod, neither give
place to the devil.
Let him that stole, steal no more, but
rather let him labor, working with his hands
the thing which is good, that he may
have to give to him that needeth.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your
mouth, but that which is good for the
use of edifying, that it may minister great
unto the hearers.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and
clamor, and evil speaking be put away from
you with all malice.
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you.
Now we mentioned last night that we'd be
beginning with chapter four of this epistle.
We begin, shall we say, the practical section,
which we entitled Duties of Grace, chapters four
through six.
And we saw that chapter four began with
a plea for unity, verses one through six,
and then with God's program for the growth
of the Church, verses seven through sixteen.
Now beginning with verse seventeen of this chapter,
Paul begins a plea for personal purity, and
that plea extends down through the twenty-first
verse of the fifth chapter.
This is a very practical section, and you'll
notice that the remaining part of chapter four
is made up of a series of contrasts.
Beginning with verse seventeen, down through verse nineteen,
you have a description of pagan life.
You have a description of the type of
life which the Ephesians lived before they were
saved.
And what characterized that life?
Well, what characterized it was a lack of
self-control, a lack of restraint.
They just gave themselves over to evil passions,
to sensual greed, to moral covetousness.
And so Paul exhorts them in verse seventeen,
This I say therefore, and testify in the
Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk.
That word walk is a characteristic word in
this epistle.
In fact, a very excellent title has been
given to the epistle, The Wealth, Walk, and
Warfare of the Christians.
Wealth, that is what he is in Christ.
Walk, that is what we're studying now.
And warfare, that is what comes in the
last chapter of the Christians.
Now, I say in these verses, seventeen through
nineteen, you have a description of that life
of evil passion.
And Paul says in verse twenty, But ye
have not so learned Christ.
Those are the things that are characteristic of
the Christian life.
The Christian life is a life of self
-discipline, a life of restraint, a life of
godly living.
And so he's contrasting the pagan life and
the Christ life.
Now, I think we should just stop here
to emphasize that the Christian life is nothing
that a person can live in his own
strength.
It's absolutely impossible for a man to live
the Christian life by himself.
The Christian life is not me living the
way I want to live, but it's the
Christian turning his life over to Jesus Christ
that the Savior might live his life through
us.
It's absolutely impossible.
Beyond human attainment, we can only do it
as we're yielded to him.
So he says, But ye have not so
learned Christ, if so be that ye have
heard him and have been taught by him
as the truth is in Jesus.
Then in these next verses, twenty-two through
twenty-four, he contrasts the old man and
the new man.
Now, the old man is all that I
was as a man in the flesh.
All I was as born into the world.
All I was, let us say, as a
child of Adam.
And in the reckoning of God, that old
man has been crucified with Christ.
God couldn't do anything with it and didn't
try.
He couldn't improve it, couldn't reform it, couldn't
make it over.
God condemned that old man and nailed it
to the cross when the Savior died.
Now he says, That has happened in my
reckoning.
I want you to practice what has happened
at Calvary.
I want you to put off the old
man.
He has been crucified positionally.
Now put him off practically.
You see, there are two creations.
There is a creation headed by Adam.
He was the federal head of the human
race.
And all that creation led to was sin
and failure and misery.
But God has brought in a new creation,
and that new creation is headed by the
risen Lord Jesus Christ.
And that creation brings in life and victory
and glory.
Now the Christian is to live practically putting
off the old man and putting on the
new man.
And so he says in verse 24, and
that he, no in verse 22, that he
put off concerning the old manner of life.
His conversation means manner of life, not the
words we say.
That he put off concerning the old manner
of life, the old man, which is corrupt
according to the deceitful law.
It's hard for Christians to realize that their
old nature is no better after they're saved
than it was before they were saved.
Awfully hard to realize that, isn't it?
But it's true.
The old nature doesn't improve a bit at
salvation.
God gives a new nature.
And he says, now keep the old nature
in the place of death.
I crucified it positionally at the cross of
Calvary, God, so now I want you to
reckon it to be so, and keep it
in the place of death.
And that he put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness.
Now how do you do that practically?
Well, you do it by occupation with the
Lord Jesus Christ.
You do it by being occupied with him,
by going back to the Gospels and going
to the Word of God and studying the
Savior.
And you know, a wonderful transformation takes place.
The more we behold him, the more like
him we become.
It's one of the great principles of life
that what you worship, you begin to resemble.
They say over in India that it's often
the case that men go into those heathen
temples and they sit with their knees akimbo,
and they watch those Buddhas and just gaze
upon them, those bronze statues, and they look
and they look and they look, and it
is truly said that after years those men
just become like the Buddhas.
They just come to look like them.
It's absolutely true.
The scripture tells us that we're changed into
the same image from glory to glory by
beholding him, and that's how we put on
the new man.
Now the next contrast is made between lying
and truth.
Verse 25, it says, Wherefore, putting away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbor, for
we are members one of another.
Now does it not seem a bit strange
to you in an epistle that began with
such exalted truth as the Christian seated with
Christ in the heavenly, that we should talk
about such a mundane thing as lying?
Well, someone has very pointedly said that Ephesians
begins in the heavenly, then ends in the
kitchen, and that's true.
It tells us what we are in Christ,
and then brings us right down to earth
and says, now look, in practical everyday living,
this is how you're to work it out.
It ends in the kitchen.
And so it says, putting away lying, speak
every man truth with his neighbor.
Now neighbor here means Christian neighbor, doesn't it?
Not just his neighbor in the community, although
that should apply too.
But it must be his Christian neighbor because
it says, for we are members one of
another.
And truth is a debt we owe to
one another.
Now to me, this gives a very blessed
view of Christianity.
Many people think that Christianity is don't do
this, and don't do that, and don't do
the next thing.
Well, it does say putting away lying, but
it also says speak every man truth.
There's a positive side to Christianity, and that
is more beautifully brought out down below.
It says, be ye angry and sin not,
let not the sun go down upon your
wrath.
And the contrast here is between sinful wrath
and righteous anger.
Now there is such a thing as righteous
anger.
I believe the Lord Jesus manifested it when
he took the scourge of small cords and
drove the money changers out of the temple.
And they remembered, it says the disciples remembered
that it was written of him, the zeal
of thine house has eaten me up.
What does that mean?
Well, it means that the Lord Jesus Christ
was consumed with a passion for the things
of his father.
And when he saw those men coming into
the temple and defiling the sanctuary of God,
he became righteously indignant.
There's no sin connected with that.
But for the Christian, it can issue in
sin when righteous indignation becomes intemperate.
I think that can be true in the
case of parents disciplining their children.
There is such a thing as righteous discipline.
But then when our passions run away with
us and we just begin to take it
out on one another, then it is sin.
Be ye angry and sin not.
Let not the sun go down upon your
wrath.
Even in the case of righteous anger, keep
short account.
Square things up before the end of the
day.
Now, you know, the Bible is good for
you, not only for your spirit, but for
your soul and for your body as well.
And one of the great fields in medicine
nowadays, I understand, is called psychosomatic medicine.
For many years, I believe that many men
in the medical profession just thought that man
was a body, and that whatever ailed him
was the result of bodily processes.
But now men increasingly are finding out that
the spirit and the soul and the body
are very closely linked.
And if a thing is good for your
spirit, it's good for your body, too.
And it seems to me that this is
true in the case of anger.
A person who's given to anger, to willful
intemperance, reaps the fruit of that in his
own bodily health.
I don't know whether it'll manifest itself as
ulcers or some other way, but I have
no doubt it does.
And if we would just go by the
teachings of the word of God, I'm sure
a lot of those things would be avoided.
Be angry and sin not.
Let not the sun go down upon your
rock, neither give place to the devil.
Don't give him any chance.
You know, the devil is clever.
The devil looks upon my little life as
an acre of land.
And he doesn't come to me and say,
now I want the whole acre.
He says, I just want that little spot
in the middle of that acre.
And he knows very well if he can
get the little spot in the middle, he
can tromp all over the rest of the
acre to get to it.
He has that right.
And so the scripture says, neither give place
to the devil.
Don't give him that little spot in the
middle of the acre.
Don't give him any place at all.
Now notice verse 28, and here the distinction
is between stealing and giving.
So this is very precious to me.
It says, let him that stole, steal no
more.
Writing to Christians, let him that stole, steal
no more, but rather let him labor, working
with his hands the thing which is good
that he may have to give to him
that needeth.
Now this is beautiful.
Christianity isn't a matter of don't steal, but
it's work so that you can have money
to give to people that need it.
Isn't that lovely?
That's certainly going beyond the claims of law.
The law would say thou shalt not steal,
but Christ says work hard so you'll have
a little extra money so that you can
give to the work of the Lord, so
you can give to him that needeth.
I could mention a friend of mine in
the north who doesn't have to do it,
but she takes a job for two months
every summer working in a flower shop, and
every cent she earns goes to foreign missions.
Isn't that lovely?
Who would have ever thought of such a
thing?
I think she must have read Ephesians 4
.28. I really think she must have read
it one time, and it must have sunk
down to her heart.
And she said, well, I don't have to
work, but I can make a little extra
money.
She sends every cent of it off to
the mission field.
It must be of great price in the
sight of God.
Let him that stole, steal no more, but
rather let him labor, working with his hands
the thing which is good, that which is
good for himself and for his fellow men.
Let it be productive labor that he may
have to give to him that needeth.
Now, the word of God is really wonderful.
Perhaps if you and I were writing this
to Christians, we'd never say that him that
stole, steal no more, and yet God knows
when he wrote this book.
God knows it down to the history of
the world.
Even Christians would slip.
Satan would get an advantage of them.
Perhaps they'd do things they shouldn't do.
Perhaps they'd even take things that perhaps they
didn't think it was wrong at the time,
and yet the word of God is seen
fit to include this admonition, and not without
reason.
Now, next to contrast, speech that defiles and
speech that edifies.
It says, let no corrupt communication proceed out
of your mouth, but that which is good
to the use of edifying, that it may
minister grace unto the hearers.
Now, this is a lovely thing.
It isn't just that my speech should be
negative, that I shouldn't say certain things, but
it's that I should make a deliberate effort
to edify my hearers.
One of the highest compliments I ever heard
paid to a man was this.
You can't get his conversation off the Lord
Jesus.
And I remember when I used to be
with Dr. Ryanside and visit, invariably he'd say,
say, did you ever think about that verse,
do ye set them to judge who are
least esteemed in the church?
And then he'd just give you a little
exposition of a difficult verse that perhaps you
had never even thought about before, and you'd
never forget it.
He made it a point that his speech
would edify his hearers.
It wasn't just that his speech was pure,
but that it was profitable.
And then it says in verse 30, and
grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby
ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
The scripture speaks of various attitudes we can
take to the Spirit of God.
One is, he can be grieved.
Another is, he can be quenched.
Another is, you can do death's fight unto
the Spirit of God.
And you can resist the Spirit of God.
Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.
Now, this word grieve, how do we grieve
the Holy Spirit?
Well, I would suggest, first of all, that
only a Christian can grieve him.
The unsaved can do death's fight to him
and resist him, but only a Christian can
grieve him.
To grieve the Holy Spirit is to do
things he doesn't want you to do, or
fail to do things he wants you to
do.
You can only grieve someone who loves you.
Your neighbor's children don't grieve you, the brat.
They annoy you, don't they?
That's the way you feel toward them.
But your own children grieve you.
Why is that?
Because you love them.
And the Holy Spirit loves us.
And when we refuse to let him have
his way in our lives, he's grieved.
When we refuse to allow him to occupy
us with Christ, he has to turn from
that ministry, which he so loves to do,
to restore us to fellowship to himself, doesn't
he?
And so it says, "...grieve not the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption."
Of course, this verse teaches the eternal security
of the believer, doesn't it?
It doesn't say, whereby ye are sealed until
the next time ye sin.
It says, whereby ye are sealed unto the
day of redemption.
When the Holy Spirit comes to indwell a
man, he stays there as the seal of
ownership, as a mark of ownership until the
day of redemption.
And then the next contrast, and the final
contrast here, is between all evil and all
goodness.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and
clamor and evil speaking be put away from
you with all malice, and be kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you.
In other words, once again, it isn't just
a matter of the negative side putting these
things away, but it's the positive side.
Treat your brethren the way the Lord Jesus
has treated you.
How has God forgiven me?
Well, he's forgiven me when I didn't deserve
it, and that's just how we should forgive
one another.
He has forgiven me freely.
He has forgiven me in love.
And he forgets my iniquities.
He puts them far away from him.
And so it says, be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God,
not for your own sake, but for the
sake of his beloved Son, has forgiven you.
Now, chapter 5 goes on with other exhortations
intimately connected with these, the first of which
is follow love.
And verse 1 of chapter 5 is closely
connected with verse 32.
It says, be ye therefore followers of God
and dear children.
And that word followers means imitators.
Did you ever think of that?
That God wants you to imitate him?
God wants you to be like him.
You say, well, I couldn't do that.
Well, then that's what it says in the
Word, doesn't it?
Why should we say we couldn't do that
when God is telling us, be ye therefore
imitators of God and dear children?
How can I do that?
By forgiving one another, even as God, for
Christ's sake, has forgiven me.
You see that therefore, in verse 1, refers
back to the previous verse.
And it tells you how to be an
imitator of God.
Be ye therefore imitators of God and dear
children, and walk in love, as Christ also
has loved us and given himself for us,
an offering and a sacrifice to God for
a sweet-smelling savor.
Now, the Christian can never enter into the
atoning sufferings of Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ suffered once and for
all on the cross of Calvary.
And it was said of him as he
hung there, himself he could not save.
And you know, in a sense, that's true
of Christians, too.
If we're going to be a blessing to
others, we can't save ourselves.
And so the example of the Lord Jesus
Christ is constantly brought before us, his example
of self-sacrifice, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savor.
Now, the next thing is to flee impurity,
and that thought is carried out in verses
3-14.
And we must remember that these people were
saved from lives of evenism, lives of immorality,
lives of idolatry, and human nature hasn't changed
until the word of God stands for all
time.
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let
it not be once named among you as
become a saint.
One of the things that characterizes a person
when he gets saved is that he even
stops talking about things that formerly he discussed
quite freely.
The Christian is quite discreet, isn't he, in
his conversation, and it says, don't even let
these things be named among you as become
a saint.
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which
are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks.
Now, the thought here is evil communication.
I think even the word jesting has the
idea of impure jesting, filthiness, foolish talking, and
jesting.
Rather be occupied with giving of thanks.
God loves a thankful spirit, and one of
the greatest condemnations of man written in Romans
chapter 1 is that neither were thankful.
God cannot stand that attitude of unthankfulness.
For this she know that no whoremonger, nor
unclean person, nor covetous man who is an
idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God.
If a man's life is characterized by these
things, he's not saved.
He has no inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God.
It doesn't teach that a man who has
committed these sins can never be saved.
It doesn't teach that at all.
But it does teach that a man whose
life is continually characterized by them is not
saved.
He's not on his way to heaven.
He will not get there until he repents
and trusts Christ as Savior.
Let no man deceive you with vain words,
for because of these things cometh the wrath
of God upon the children of disobedience.
Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are
ye light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light.
He doesn't only say, you were at one
time in darkness, but he says, you were
darkness.
In other words, they were not only in
the darkness, but the darkness was in them.
And now he says, it's all changed, and
you're light in the Lord.
They're not only in the light, but the
light is in them.
The light of the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ has shined upon them.
Now he says, you are light, walk in
the light.
And here we have that blessed truth again
of the Christian position and the Christian practice.
God puts us in the place by grace
and then tells us to walk in that
place through love to him.
For the fruit of the Spirit is in
all goodness and righteousness and truth.
And I suppose that that means the fruit
of the Spirit is manifested, is witnessed for,
is shown forth in all goodness and righteousness
and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the
Lord and proving what is well-pleasing unto
the Lord.
And this is a great touchstone for every
action in the Christian life, isn't it?
The great question when I'm about to do
a thing is, is it well-pleasing unto
the Lord?
And that decides everything.
You remember Samson when he was going to
get his bride, he said to his parents,
she pleases me well.
He should have asked, does she please God
well?
And he would have saved himself quite a
headache, wouldn't he?
This verse says, proving what is well-pleasing
unto the Lord.
We're so apt just to please ourselves and
to do the things that we like to
do instead of asking Him if it's what
pleases Him.
Now it says in verse 11, have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them.
And this is an interesting thing.
The Christian is not only to stand aloof
from that which is darkness, the unfruitful works,
but he's to reprove them.
How?
By his lips, yes, and by his life
as well.
You know, the greatest reproof that the Christian
can bring upon the ungodly is a godly
life.
Remember, it speaks of Noah building the ark,
preaching righteousness, and he says, and by it
he condemned the world.
And it's possible for a Christian leading a
life of purity to bring upon himself the
hatred of the world just because of that
life.
Isn't it so?
How many times it has happened.
It's when we have a straight edge that
we know when a thing is crooked.
If there wasn't such a thing in the
world as a straight edge, we'd never know
that a thing was crooked.
And it's when the Christian is standing there
at the workbench and all those other crooked
people are beside him that their crookedness is
shown up, isn't it?
It's that life of holiness and that conversation
that's well-pleasing to the Lord that condemns
them.
So it says, have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
For it is a shame even to speak
of those things which are done of them
in secret, that is, which are done of
the ungodly in secret.
But know it, for all things that are
reproved are made manifest by the light, for
whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
Now the thought here is that the Christian
working in an ungodly environment brings the light
of God upon the ungodly.
He shows them up without even trying.
For everything that is made manifest is lightened,
is illuminated, is brought out into the light.
It's that single Christian in that ungodly company
that shows them all up, that illuminates them.
Wherefore he saith, or that is, wherefore it
says, Awake thou that sleepest, that arise from
the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.
Now this is not a quotation from any
other part of the Bible, verse 14.
It perhaps could be a quotation from a
hymn which was current in the days of
the Apostle Paul, or Paul can just use
this as the language of light, as the
language that is characteristic of light.
Awake thou that sleepest, that arise from the
dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
And my own personal thought is that as
Christians are brought into contact with the unsaved,
and the unsaved are revealed as being wicked
and unclean, the gospel invitation goes out to
the unsaved.
Awake thou that sleepest, that arise from the
dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.
Then in verse 15 we begin another exhortation,
and that is, is, walk circumspectly.
Circumspectly means carefully.
Walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Verses 15 and 16.
Then the next exhortation is, understand what the
will of the Lord is.
Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the
will of the Lord is.
Now, how do we understand what the will
of the Lord is?
Well, we understand it by studying his word.
That would be one way.
In other words, God has revealed his will
to us positively and negatively in his word.
He says, for instance, wherefore come out from
among them and be separate, and touch not
the unclean thing.
Just that simple verse of scripture gives you
God's will in a thousand and one decisions
in life.
Doesn't it?
Tells you to disassociate yourself from evil company
of every kind.
Then God reveals himself to us in other
ways by the converging of circumstances, by the
advice oftentimes of godly men.
Through the ministry of his precious word, perhaps
just the needed word of advice comes to
us at the needed time.
He reveals himself to us as we pray,
as we're before him on our knees.
And our responsibility is to understand what the
will of the Lord is.
The next exhortation is to be filled with
the spirit, verses 18 through 21.
And be not drunk with wine wherein is
excess, but be filled with the spirit.
There's something very similar between drunkenness and being
filled with the spirit.
Remember on the day of Pentecost when the
Holy Spirit came, some said, these are drunken
with new wine.
Why was that?
They saw a connection apparently, didn't they?
These are drunken with new wine.
It's interesting to me how the world is
always trying to give a natural, supernatural event.
A noise comes from heaven and some say
it's thundered.
They couldn't hear the voice of God, so
they say it's just a clap of thunder.
These men are filled with the spirit on
the day of Pentecost.
They say, oh, they're just drunk with new
wine.
Well, the spirit of God tells us here
that there is a connection between being drunk
and being filled with the spirit.
What is it?
Well, when a man is drunk, he doesn't
have to tell anyone.
When a man is filled with the spirit,
he doesn't have to tell anyone either.
You can tell a drunk man by his
walk, and you can tell a spirit-filled
man by his walk too.
You can tell a drunk man by his
talk, and you can tell a spirit-filled
man by his talk too.
If he's filled with the spirit, you know
pretty well what he's going to be talking
about.
He's going to be talking about the things
of the Lord.
Now, being filled with the Spirit is not
the same as being indwelt by the Spirit.
We're indwelt by the Spirit the moment we're
saved.
But being filled with the Spirit is a
momentary experience, requiring momentary dependence upon Christ.
How can I be filled with the Spirit?
Well, in order to be filled with the
Spirit, I have to be emptied of myself,
don't I?
You have to empty the glass of its
air before you can fill it with water.
The air has to be out.
And we have to be emptied of ourselves
before the Holy Spirit can fill us.
And to be filled with the Spirit is
to be filled with the Word of God.
Because the Lord Jesus said, the flesh prophet
of nothing.
It is the Spirit that quickens it.
The words that I speak unto thee, they
are Spirit, and they are light.
A man who's filled with the Spirit doesn't
go around telling people.
He doesn't attract attention to himself.
His language is, he must increase, I must
decrease.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is
excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
This is a continuous process.
Yesterday's filling won't do for today.
It isn't a case of a once-for
-all experience.
It's a case of momentary dependence upon the
Lord Jesus, walking by faith in him.
Now it's interesting to me that the marks
of a Spirit-filled man as given in
this portion, there are four of them.
First of all, speaking.
Secondly, singing.
Thirdly, giving thanks.
And fourthly, submitting.
Do you notice that?
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, number one.
Singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord, second.
Third, giving thanks always for all things unto
God and the Father, in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
And fourthly, submitting yourselves one to another in
the fear of God.
Now these are all, these are all participles
modifying be filled with the Spirit.
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs.
What is the difference between a psalm and
a hymn and a spiritual song?
Well I would say that the psalm primarily
is a portion of Scripture.
The Psalms of David.
A portion of Scripture in meter.
Not only the Psalms of David, but there
are psalms in other portions of the Word,
too.
Various songs.
The song of Moses, the song of the
Lamb.
And then hymns are poems not necessarily inspired,
that is, in the sense of the Scripture,
addressed to God.
Hymns addressed to God ascribing praise to Him.
We mentioned that one last night.
Lamb of God, our souls adore thee, while
upon thy face we gaze.
And many others that we could mention.
Speaking directly to God in our own language,
as it were, not particularly in the language
of Scripture, although in the scriptural language.
And then spiritual songs might be any songs
about, let us say, Christian experience.
This world is a wilderness wide.
Something like that.
It isn't particularly speaking directly to God, and
yet it is something which the Spirit of
God speaks through us.
So I would suggest that as the main
difference between these.
A psalm would be an inspired portion of
the Word of God, a hymn of praise.
And then a hymn is something not inspired
in the sense of the Scripture, but ascribing
praise to God, directly addressed to Him for
His matchless perfection.
And then a spiritual song might be a
description of our experience here on the earth.
So that's the first.
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs.
Singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord.
Now a happy spirit goes along with being
filled with the Spirit.
I was amused recently to be in a
city.
There was a young man there, and he
was bubbling over with songs for the Lord.
And after the meeting, he'd go out in
the lobby, and he'd burst out into the
song.
And some of the sisters went, shh, shh.
I really believe it was the Holy Spirit
just working through him.
But we don't want anything that would, you
know, out of the ordinary.
Something like that.
And I suppose that's what happened after Pentecost.
These great outbursts of joy to the Lord.
Shh, we mustn't have anything like that.
Well, that's what it says here anyway.
Singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord.
Giving thanks always for all things unto God,
the Father, in the name of the Lord
Jesus.
A thankful spirit, once again, for all things.
And then submitting yourselves one to another in
the fear of God.
Esteeming others to be better than ourselves.
And that goes with being filled with the
Spirit.
Then in the next portion of the epistle,
we have specific instructions to various classes of
people.
I have to put my Bible down, yes.
Here we are.
Specific instructions to various classes of people.
And as we go along, we'll notice that
the Apostle Paul, children and parents, servants and
men.
He says, why submit yourselves unto your own.
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ,
so let the wives be to their own.
At the end of verses, husbands, love your
wives.
And gave himself for it.
That he might sanctify it and cleanse it
with a washing of water by the word.
That he might present it to himself of
glory, his church.
He that loveth his wife, no man ever
yet hateth his own flesh.
For we are members of his body, of
his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his
father and mother, and shall be joined unto
his wife.
That they too shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery, but I speak
concerning Christ and the church.
Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular
so love his wife, even as himself, as
the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Now the word of God is absolutely marvelous.
In this sense, if the instructions in this
portion of the word of God, for instance,
were carried out, there would be no divorce,
there would be no trouble in the home.
Every case of difficulty you would ever think
of and ever imagine results from departure from
the word of God.
It's an infinite book.
And just in those few verses, the Lord
Jesus Christ has given us the secret for
happy relations between wives and husbands.
Now it has been very well said that
no woman would mind submitting to a husband
who loved her as Christ loved the church.
And that's exactly the case.
You see?
It's not a case of instruction for one
side of the family and not for the
other.
It's a case of mutual truth.
And when the husband loves the wife as
Christ loved the church, then there's no cause
of difficulty at all, no reason in the
world why the wife should not submit.
Then the apostle goes on to children and
parents in chapter 6, verses 1-4.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord.
Now I take it that that expression in
the Lord refers to the word obey.
I don't think it's your parents in the
Lord, those who led you to Christ, but
it's obey in the Lord.
That is, obey as far as their instructions
are in connection with the word of the
Lord.
For this is right.
Honor thy father and mother, which is the
first commandment with promise, that it may be
well with thee, that thou mayest live long
on the earth.
Now this raises a question, doesn't it?
The apostle Paul tells children to obey their
parents, and then he quotes from the Ten
Commandments, the commandment which says to honor your
father and mother, the first commandment that had
a promise attached to it, and the promise
was that if you do this, you'd live
long on the earth.
But haven't you known young people who loved
their fathers and mothers and didn't live long
on the earth?
Well, I have.
You say, how do you explain it?
Is it a contradiction?
And I say, no, it's no contradiction.
What the Lord is saying in this is,
in a general way, that young people who
live obediently to their parents live the kind
of a life that's conducive to long life.
God makes a promise that if you live
this kind of a life, it's the life
in which you're free from certain kinds of
diseases, free from certain kinds of violence, free
from the danger of certain kinds of accidents.
It's the life that's conducive to long life.
Well, you say, has God broken his promise?
If a young person who has been obedient
doesn't live to a long life, I say,
no, he hasn't broken his promise at all.
When God makes a promise in his word,
he always reserves the right to give you
something better than he has promised.
Never anything less, but he does reserve the
right to give you something better.
And I say, in any case where the
Lord has ever taken a young person away,
a person who was obedient to his father
and his mother, well, the reason is he
has something better for him.
And ye fathers, provoke not your children to
wrath, but bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.
Now, nurture has the idea of chastening, discipline,
and admonition has the idea of warning.
And those are the two parts of child
training, are they not?
Discipline and warning.
And then the Apostle Paul has a section
of servants and masters.
And do you know what interests me greatly?
To find that more space is devoted in
the New Testament to slaves, to servants, than
to any other group of people.
Did you ever think of that?
If you want to be the President of
the United States, you can't go to the
New Testament and get any specific instruction for
that job at all.
But more space is devoted to the subject
of slaves than to anything else in the
New Testament.
And I believe that there's a good reason
for it, and that is this, that no
matter where you are in the social scale,
you can achieve God's very best by doing
all as unto the Lord.
You don't have to be great, you don't
have to be prominent to be pleasing to
him.
You can be in a very obscure place
in life and fulfill his very highest will
for you.
And that's exactly what it says in this
passage.
Servants, be obedient to them that are your
masters according to the flesh.
The thought is they're only your masters according
to the flesh.
They don't control your spirit, they don't control
your soul, only your masters according to the
flesh.
With fear and trembling.
Now I don't think that means cringing before
them, but fear means respect, and trembling means
having a horror of offending them.
In singleness of your heart as unto Christ.
Now that's the beautiful part of the verse,
as unto Christ.
No matter what the job I might be
given to do, mop the floor, sweep the
streets, it doesn't make any difference.
What my job in life is, I can
do it unto Christ and it's very blessed
to him.
Now I think we should remember that in
whatever work we get to do.
Sometimes around the assembly we're asked to do
something that's pretty menial.
Oh, there they are, they're all up on
the platform and here I am peeling potatoes,
you know.
Peeling potatoes can be just as beautiful in
the sight of God as speaking from a
platform.
It can be just as important in his
sight it says, as unto Christ.
You can cobble shoes to the glory of
God.
And this is very beautiful too in another
sense, that it tells us there's no difference
between what is secular and what is sacred.
We have a funny little way of saying
in our own mind's hour, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, that's secular.
Sunday, oh, that's sacred.
Oh, this pastor doesn't know what it is.
They're all sacred and everything you do should
be done with an eye to the glory
of God.
Not would I service as men-pleasers, not
doing a good job just because the boss
is looking on, but as the servant of
Christ doing the will of God from the
heart with goodwill, doing service as to the
Lord and not to men.
Now remember that the next time you're asked
to do something that's a little bit disagreeable.
We'll say, I might not like to do
it, it might run against the grain, but
I'll do it to the glory of God.
You know, you hear a lot of people
in Christianity, they're quitting, they're offended and some
little thing happens and they say, well, I'm
quitting.
Well, who are you quitting?
What are you quitting?
We should be doing it as unto the
Lord and not as unto our fellow men.
And that would take all the sting out
of us, wouldn't it?
It would take all the stigma out of
it.
Notice verse 8, Knowing that whatsoever good thing
any man doeth, the same shall he receive
of the Lord, whether he be bond or
free.
It doesn't say whatever Christian service any man
doeth.
No.
It says, Whatsoever good thing a man doeth,
the same shall he receive of the Lord,
whether he be bond or free.
And the thought is that everything we do,
we should do well.
Everything we do, we should do perfectly because
men are looking and they're judging the Lord
Jesus Christ by us.
Well, let's do it even if we don't
like it.
Let's do it even if other people don't
want to do it.
Let's do it just to please the Lord.
I was touched recently by a dear old
lady from St. Louis.
I was visiting in Davenport, Iowa, and she
was there well on in years.
And they were having a conference in Davenport,
and all the younger sisters were busy preparing
meals, entertaining guests.
And she says, You know, I'm just a
little bit jealous.
She says, I look back to the time
when I used to love to do this
for the Lord, and I can't do it
anymore.
I thought that was very, very sweet.
And I'm sure the Lord will give her
credit for just having the desire in her
heart, even if she couldn't do it.
And that's what this passage teaches.
Whatever we do, we're doing it as unto
the Lord, in our daily work as well
as in the things of the Lord.
And then it says that ye masters do
the same things unto them.
That is, show the same spirit unto your
servants.
Forbearing threats.
Don't use threats on them.
Knowing that your master also is in heaven.
Oh, yes.
Authority doesn't stop with you.
If somebody over you, neither is the respect
of persons with him.
And that brings us down to verse 9.
Then verse 10 begins a new section, which
is preparation for conflict.
Now, I'm five minutes over time, and any
that have to leave should feel free to
do so at this time.
I realize that there are folks that have
obligations, so please feel free to leave.
And I'll just try to finish the rest
of this chapter quickly.
Preparation for conflict.
Chapter 6, verses 10 through 20.
It says, Finally, my brethren, be strong, not
in yourself, not in human might, but in
the Lord, and in the power of his
might.
Put on the whole armor of God, that
ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.
It describes to us the nature of the
battle.
What kind of a battle do we fight?
Do we fight with swords and guns and
spears?
No, we do not.
It's a spiritual conflict.
And this spiritual conflict is carried on in
the heavenlies, where Satan is and where our
position is.
It says, For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood.
It's not a carnal warfare like the Chinese
are fighting right now, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
That is where Satan fights.
Now, God has given us an armor for
this, and so the whole armor of God
is described in verses 13 through 17, which
I've just listed here.
The belt of truth.
Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of
God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all
to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girded about with
truth.
That is the belt of truth.
And that is a great support, a great
girdle for us today, truth.
And having on the breastplate of righteousness.
That is, I believe, referring to the person's
own character.
If you have a righteous character, it's a
great defense against the darts of the wicked
one.
The breastplate of righteousness.
You know, if there's a little bit of
defect in your breastplate, watch out.
There was in David, and Satan knew just
where to find it.
And there was in Samson, and David knew
just about that weakness, didn't he?
And there was in Peter.
Satan knew just where Peter was weak.
He just knew that little flaw on the
breastplate of his righteousness, and it doesn't take
him long to find it.
And your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace.
Feet that are ready to run in the
errand, taking the gospel of peace to others.
It says, above all, taking the shield of
faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench
the fiery dart of the wicked.
And I take it that faith here means
dependence, and the Christian's great defense is that
shield of dependence upon the living God.
As long as I go forth, and depending
on my own strength, I am a conquered
foe.
But as long as I go forth, nothing
in myself, and looking to God for all
my strength, Satan cannot reach me.
And take the helmet of salvation.
And I think this refers to the hope
of salvation.
Now, we are saved, and yet we're looking
for salvation in its fulfillment.
And I think the Christian warrior goes forth
into warfare, looking forward to the day when
he'll be saved body, soul, and spirit.
And then it says, the sword of the
spirit, which is the word of God.
Now, all the weapons, all the parts of
the armor, except the last, are defensive.
Defensive.
And then the last one, the sword of
the spirit, is the offensive weapon.
And you remember the Lord Jesus used the
sword of the spirit in the temptation with
Satan, when he said, it is written, man
shall not live by burden alone.
It is written, thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God.
He used the sword of the spirit, and
Satan fled.
And then you have the two standing orders
of the Christian soldier, pray and watch.
Praying always, verse 18, with all prayer and
supplication.
I think that means all kinds of prayer
and supplication in the spirit, and watching their
run to, with all perseverance and supplication for
all saints.
And then he adds, and not only for
all saints, but for me.
Now, if I were writing this letter, this
verse would be just a little bit different.
That only proves what a fool I am.
I would write in, for me that I
might soon get out of this prison and
breathe God's free air again.
Paul never prayed for that.
He never prayed to get out of prison.
What did he pray for?
Boldness.
Isn't that lovely?
Boldness to preach the gospel wherever he was.
Thank God for such a man.
And for me that utterance may be given
unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the
gospel.
Why did he need boldness?
Because he was preaching a message that men
hated, and that offended men.
It offended the Gentiles.
It told them that all their wisdom was
as nothing in the sight of God.
And it offended the Jews, because it told
them that Christ was the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believed it.
So Paul prayed not for his relief, but
for boldness.
For which I am an ambassador in bonds.
A strange expression, an ambassador in bonds.
You ever hear of it before?
No, you never did.
One thing this country won't do, or any
other country, is put the ambassador of another
country in bonds.
They just don't do it.
You remember when the Japanese negotiators were at
the White House, just before Pearl Harbor, talking
with the President of the United States, and
while they're talking the bombs are falling over
in Pearl Harbor.
They put those men in prison?
No they didn't.
No.
They're granted safety to get out of the
country.
But Paul says, for which I am an
ambassador in bonds.
And he just wasn't representing an earthly country,
but the blessed Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And they threw him into jail.
But therein I may speak boldly, as I
ought to speak.
But that ye also may know my affairs,
and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother
and faithful minister of the Lord, shall make
known to you all things.
How would you like to be called that?
I tell you, that's better than being known
as Prime Minister, or Secretary of State, or
President, or anything else.
Just to have that appellation.
I wonder, did Tychicus know, when he was
serving the Lord so faithfully, that he would
be memorialized down through the centuries, and for
all eternity, as a beloved brother and faithful
minister in the Lord.
What a wonderful epitaph to have written on
one's life.
Whom I have sent unto you for the
same purpose, that ye might know our affairs,
and that ye might comfort your hearts.
Peace be to the brethren, and love with
faith from God the Father, for the Lord
Jesus Christ.
And how does Paul end his epistle?
His grace be with all them that love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.
Amen.
How did the epistle begin?
It began with grace, didn't it?
How does it end?
It ends with grace.
What's the story?
The story is that Christian life is grace
from beginning to end.
Shall we pray?