If you would open your Bibles this morning again to the letter of Paul to the Ephesians. Today to chapter 4. And we continue today with our consideration of the last half of this letter in which we are given God's agenda for Christian living. And Paul continues to unpack what it means for us to live a life that is worthy of the calling you've received. We've already considered how each of us is to make every effort to preserve the unity of the one body of Christ, even as we exercise a diverse set of spiritual gifts which He has showered upon each member. How we are to live not as sons of Adam, but as sons of God in Christ, with immediate and vigorous obedience to the will of God. And having your minds renewed by the Spirit of God, through the Word of God, You are to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Beginning in verse 25 of chapter 4, Paul shifts from these general principles, if you will, to particular and specific things we are to put off and put on. Now, lest we misunderstand that what follows is a prescription for legalism or for hypocrisy, Paul takes time to remind us that God's agenda is for us to live a life of love. A life marked by selfless change. A life lived ever mindful of our unity. A life of love mirroring God's love. Follow along as I read from the letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4, beginning in verse 25. Therefore, having been taught to put off your old self and to put on your new self, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor. For we are all members of one body. In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his hands that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Here ends the reading of God's Word. Well, the most obvious thing we hear when we hear this text about the life of love is that it's to be marked by change. A selfless change. Now to be a Christian means that you've already been changed. You're no longer dead in trespasses and sin. You're alive in the righteousness of Christ. You're no longer an enemy of God. You are a child of God. You're no longer alone. But you are a member of His body. You've been justified by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. You've been changed. But to be a Christian also means that there are still changes yet to be made. The pursuit and accomplishment of these changes through the power of the Holy Spirit is known as progressive sanctification. And the arena in which this is most exercised is that of our relationships with others. And Paul begins in verse 25 with the most basic of all behavior changes to be made in our relationships with others. You must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor. In other words, you must put off the lie and speak the truth. Stop lying and tell the truth. Like the Ephesians, we live in a culture of deceit and illusion. Our entertainment, whether it's our video games, our romance novels, or the latest movies, present us with illusions that blur and deny the distinction between truth and falsehood. Our journalists, our politicians, educators, and corporations deal in distortions that they pass off as truth. We're surrounded by deceit. And whether we enjoy it as our entertainment or resent it in those we should be able to trust, It fits us to a T. You see, as Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. We are born comfortable with lying. We lie to others. We lie to ourselves. We lie to God. We lie to defend ourselves and to attack others. We lie to promote ourselves and to put others down. You see, by nature, we're children of the devil, the father of all lies. But for the adopted children of God, recreated in the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness of the truth, Paul says in chapter 4, verse 24. This cannot continue. God is truth. The Lord Jesus Christ is the truth incarnate. And we've been joined to Christ and we partake of His truth. So to lie, to lie is to deny the truth, to deny Christ. and to deny God our Father. Whether in a court of law or around the kitchen table or in the foyer after church, we're to tell the truth in love. Well, Paul continues in verse 26 with another needed behavior change. In your anger, do not sin. Now, Paul's concern here is not primarily with our anger, whether it be righteous or self-serving. His main concern is what we do when we're angry. We are too quickly provoked to anger by the faults and frailties of others and how quickly we turn that response into an attack. Why is this so? Because our anger is triggered. Our anger reveals that which we hold most dearly and most important, that someone we think has offended. In your anger, do not sin. If this is what we're to put off, then what are we to put on instead? Remember we talked last time that putting off is not enough. In order to put off, we have to put on. And what are we to put on? Paul doesn't say here exactly, but he speaks more directly of it in his Discourse on Love found in chapter 12 of Romans. There he says, Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. We're to bless those who provoke us to anger. We are to heed James' instruction found in chapter 1 verses 19 and 20 of his letter. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. But Paul goes further because even if we put off sinful, knee-jerk responses against people in our anger so that it might appear that our anger has been diffused like a piece of meat hidden in the back of the refrigerator, Eventually it festers into something much more wicked. A wreaking resentment. A hostile and hurtful response. Or a baneful bitterness that will undermine even the closest of relationships. We're not to hide our anger. We're to get rid of it. Paul says in verse 27, Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Get rid of it. The sooner the better. For even to entertain it in your heart and your mind for a day is enough to give the devil a foothold with which to frustrate you and your relationships, to cause you to sin. Face it, people of God, you're going to be provoked to anger by people. In fact, you are going to provoke other people to anger. As the children of God, we are called to not sin when we get angry. We're to respond in love. And how do we do that? Very simply. Scripture teaches us two responses. Number one, we either overlook it as a minor offense and put it away. And if it's something we can't put away, then of necessity, gently we're to go and confront, seeking to be reconciled. But to do neither of those two things is to sin in your anger. Now, Paul draws our attention to a third behavior. In need of change. In verse 28. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with his hands. Conceived and born in sin, we will always want more than we need. And because our labor is frustrated by the curse on sin, we will always want more than we can afford. In our sin, rather than learn to be content with that which God provides us, or to put away our pride, we are quick to steal from others. Whether it's in the playroom, the nursery over here where little Joe steals Johnny's toy because he wants it, or the boardroom where the books are cooked in order to steal from investors. By nature, we're thieves. But we don't just steal things. We steal time. We steal labor. We steal information. We steal affections. We steal anything and everything we want from those who have it and telling ourselves all the time, well, I really deserve it and they really won't miss it. That won't do for Christians. Not only must we steal no longer, we must put on, we must work and not just at anything but at something useful, something good, something fitting with our call to be righteous and holy. And Paul goes on to specify that a Christian is to do this with his hands. And here I agree with Calvin when he says that we go too far if we conclude that the only good work is manual labor. Although it never hurt anybody. I think his point here is that there is no good work that is beneath us as a Christian. There's no work for which we are too good, too experienced, too specialized that we can refuse it and instead choose to steal. that's a lot of change but Paul goes on and in verse 28 we get a little glimpse the first glimpse into a change behind the change a change behind our change in behavior a change in our motivations and this is what separates the true believer from the legalist or the hypocrite the motive you see the thief steals to satisfy his own selfish desires and that same selfishness that motivates his stealing is what motivates deception and what motivates his sinful response and anger you see it's all about me but the believer is to work so that he may have something to share with those in need with others you see for the believer it's not about me it's about others and we're taught this very clearly in chapter 2 of Paul's letter to the Philippians where Paul writes do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves each of you should look not only to your own interest but also to the interest of others and then in verse 29 Paul expands on this and he expands on how this change in motivation determines the impact the effect of our behavior towards others. Specifically our speech again. Notice the speech is very important to this whole passage. And in this verse 29, we are commanded to not let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Now the word Paul uses that is translated unwholesome was used by Jesus to describe rotten fruit. and putrid fish. And if we take this as the meaning, then we are not to have what my mother used to call a potty mouth. And this is true, but I don't think that's Paul's point here because he really addresses that in chapter 5, verse 4. Our understanding of verse 29 is improved when we know that this word was also used in ancient times to describe certain stones as rotten. Stones that easily crumbled. Stones that if you were to put them into a building would lead to its destruction. And that's the key. With this meaning in mind, note the clear contrast that Paul makes in verse 29 when we read it this way. Do not let any destructive talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up others. See, our words to others, as well as our actions, are never neutral. They can serve only one of two possible purposes. Either they will break others down or they will build others up. Now that power does not reside in the words themselves. We're not magicians. The power lies in how we use them. And that is determined by what motivates us. Therefore as Christians we are to speak only what is helpful for building others up. And that, that which we speak, is according to their needs. so that it may benefit them, that it may show them grace when they listen. And likewise, when we act, we are to act in a manner that demonstrates our consideration for their needs. See, our words and actions are to be governed by their needs, not our preferences, not our convenience, and certainly not our humble opinion. Their needs. And even in the smallest of things, We are to look out for the benefit of others. The smallest thing. See, this is where the life of the legalist and the hypocrite may look very much like the life of a believer. But his motives are still selfish instead of selfless. And his impact is still destructive instead of helpful. The difference is that the believer is motivated from a new heart that desires to love his neighbor as he already loves himself. But more than this, he has a heart that's motivated to love God with all his heart, soul, and mind and strength. Therefore, the believer's ultimate motivation is to be, as Paul writes in verse 30, to not grieve the Holy Spirit. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. This is not a statement out of the blue. has to do with all that He's been speaking of. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. This is a unique expression in all the Scripture that serves to remind us of how intimate and personal is our relationship with God. See, not only does our sin offend other people and break down our relationships with them, it offends God and breaks down our relationship with Him. Proverbs 6 lists several of the behaviors and motives that we are speaking of today as things that are detestable to God, things that He hates. There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him. Haughty or proud eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, A false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among his brothers. The Lord detests these things. Put them off, Paul says. And put on what pleases the Spirit. The author of Hebrews tells us that this requires faith. As he says in chapter 11, verse 6, without faith it's impossible to please God. And this means that only those who've been saved by grace through the gift of faith can do anything pleasing to God. That's why Paul can give this command to us as Christians. We've been given faith. Therefore, it is possible to please God. And it is this faith that enables us to act through Jesus. The same author says in Hebrews chapter 13, verses 15 and 16, Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others. For with such sacrifices, God is pleased. And Paul says as much in Romans chapter 14, verse 18, when he says, Anyone who serves Christ in this way, that is acting in love, is pleasing to God and approved by men. A life of love requires selfless change. There can be no doubt. Not only in our behavior, but also in our inner disposition toward others. Paul continues in verse 31 and 32. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other. Now we need not spend a lot of time with each of the emotions and actions listed here. These two lists can be boiled down to the contrast between malice and kindness. We're to put off malice. Our inborn ill will toward other people that finds expression in bitterness, rage and anger, and that can bubble over into brawling, which is the raising of a lot of noise, a loud complaint in order to get people to join you in your federal case, if you will. Or can bubble over into slander the purposeful speech to injure another person or his reputation. We're going to put that off. Put away malice. But putting away malice requires more than putting on a happy face. Even evil men can do that. Psalm 28, David speaks of how evil men can speak cordially with their neighbors, but harbor malice in their hearts. That's not what it means to put away malice. No, to put away malice requires that we put on kindness. The Holy Spirit imparted goodwill toward other people that finds expression in a compassion and in a willingness to forgive when asked. There's a lot there. This small portion of Scripture commands much change in our lives if we're going to live a life of love. But if all we see here is a list of do's and don'ts, we may fall into legalism or into hypocrisy and thereby ultimately into despair. Who are we that we could ever hope to meet these demands? Time and time again we've tried and we've failed. See, the law is the law, whether in the Old Testament or the New. And apart from the Gospel, we find ourselves condemned by the very lack of obedience to the law of this text. But our text today is not only law. As much as we need to hear it. It also contains the gospel. And in order to live a life of love, we must be continually reminded of the gospel. And thereby be ever mindful of our unity. If you remember, Paul has, in the first half of this letter, spent three chapters on gospel, gospel, gospel, gospel, gospel, gospel. You should have it. And I'm going to remind you of it as I tell you what God requires. He reminds us of the gospel with two brief references to our unity as believers. In chapter 5, verse 1. He reminds us of our unity as the family of God, where he speaks to us as dearly loved children. through the mystery of the gospel we have become adopted children of God who together enjoy an eternal inheritance we must be mindful of this as we live a life of love and in chapter 4 verse 25 Paul reminds us of our unity as the body of Christ when he says that we are all members of one body when we are mindful of this reality how can we go on lying to one another our own experience tells us that this should not be as the church father Christensen said it he said it this way he says if the eye sees a serpent does it deceive the foot of course not when we are mindful of our unity in Christ how can we lie to Christ how can we in anger sin against Christ how can we steal from Christ how can we be malicious toward Christ when we are mindful of our unity we will better make every effort including these efforts to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace but we are to be mindful of even more we are to be mindful of our unity not only here and now, but also for eternity. Paul reminds us in verse 30 that it is because of the work of the Holy Spirit that we've been sealed for the day of redemption. By this he draws our mind back again to chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. You were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth. The gospel of your salvation. Having believed it, you were marked in Him with the seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guarantee in our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession. Have you heard the gospel? Have you believed it is for you? If you have, then the Holy Spirit has sealed you. And in Christ you are joined for eternity with the saints of all ages. And you are to be mindful that the Holy Spirit not only lives within each of you individually, but He lives in you in such a way that He builds you together into a single temple, a single dwelling place in which He lives for eternity. Through our text today, God calls us to live a life of love that is marked by selfless change and in which we are to be ever mindful of our unity, ever mindful of the gospel. And as we live this life of love, we are to be mirroring God's love. In no uncertain terms, Paul calls us in chapter 5, verse 1, to be imitators of God. Be imitators of God? How can we imitate the God who cannot even be fathomed? How can we imitate the thrice holy God who when Isaiah beheld him in the fullness of his glory was undone? Should we not fall down on our knees and say with Simon Peter, depart from me for I'm a sinful man, O Lord. Or with John who beheld him in the revelation and fell at his feet as one dead. Yes, we should. Yes, we should. And it is right there in that awful, dreadful, humiliating, humbled reverence that we can rightly see what it means to imitate God. Now, we must know that it is possible for Christians to obey this command to imitate God. That which God requires, God gives grace to do. And we know that from this letter for three reasons. First, we have been recreated for this purpose. Chapter 4, verse 24. We've been recreated in God to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. That's our purpose. To be like God in righteousness and holiness. Second, His Holy Spirit dwells within us and enables us by His power. Chapter 3, verse 16. And thirdly, by His regenerating and transforming grace we have become, according to chapter 5, verse 1, His dearly loved children. The imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, Paul writes, And just as your children imitate you, as God's children, we are to imitate Him. Now to be sure, we cannot imitate God by creating the universe and by sustaining it day after day. We cannot imitate God by determining and fulfilling a plan of salvation for men from their sins. And we cannot imitate God by raising the dead, to be sure. But in our own finite and imperfect way, we can and must imitate God and we must imitate His love, Paul writes. Look again at verses 1 and 2. The and at the beginning of verse 2 is not a different thing. Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love. Or by living a life of love, if you will. Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love. Just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. To imitate God is to imitate Christ. And specifically, the love of Christ. 1 John 3.16 tells us, This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. One major way we lay down our lives for our brothers, as is Paul tells us in chapter 4, verse 32, by forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. All the injuries that we will ever suffer because of the ill will of our fellow man will never compare to the abuse Jesus Christ endured for us. The righteous Son of God was maligned, unjustly condemned. He was spit upon, beaten, crowned with thorns. He was crucified unto death on a cross for our sins. And yet He forgave. And He forgives. He forgave even Paul who called himself the chief of sinners. He forgave even me. Has He forgiven you? He's forgiven us so much to make us His brothers. How can we not forgive? He's loved us so much by redeeming us. How can we not love? God calls us by His Word today to live a life of love. And He confirms this call in the sacrament we will partake of today, the Lord's Supper. See the Gospel today. Those who partake in faith will be nourished by the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who sacrificed Himself for our salvation. By this sacrament we are also reminded of His life of love that lived not only for us but in our place. His life of selfless love that took Him to the cross in order to meet our deepest needs, selfless. His life of selfless love that through death and resurrection and ascension secured our unity by the work of His Spirit. His life of selfless love unto sacrificial death by which He showered God's love upon us, the unlovable. His life of selfless love that is to serve as our example for the life of love we are to live. A life marked by selfless change. A life lived ever mindful of our unity. A life of love mirroring God's love to us in Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, You have ministered to us this day through Your Word. You've confronted us with the requirements of Your law, which are holy and righteous and just. You've reminded us of that to which you have called us as your people. To speak the truth. To respond in love when we get angry. To work not only for our own needs, but for the needs of others. And to put on kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. And Lord, we fail. We thank you, Father, that you have also reminded us of the gospel. The salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus that binds us together as one body that we are to be ever mindful of so that we do not continue to sin against you in your body. We thank you most of all, Father, that we are reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His selfless sacrifice motivated entirely out of his concern for others. For us. Lord, He's loved us so much. How can we not love? He's forgiven us so much. How can we not forgive little? Father, we thank You for the work of Your Spirit this day. Through Your Word. We thank You in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.