Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. In today's message, titled Walk in Newness, Part 2, we will hear four ways that the transforming power of the gospel changes our attitudes and interactions with others. When we live surrendered fully to Christ, we begin to see and treat others the way Christ did. Let's dig into Ephesians 4, 25-32 together. This is the third and final segment of a sermon first preached on October 29, 2017. Spreading dis-ease.
That's corrupting talk. Why is this a problem? Why is this real? Why is so practical about this?
Here's why. Let me tell you. The mouth is the exhaust system of the heart. What's going on in the heart comes out of the mouth, and it's a truth.
Once again, the list in verse 31, resentment, judgment, punishment, lashing out, hateful feeling, desiring harm. If those are the things that are going on in the heart and mind of a person, if those are the attitudes that you are harboring, then when you get bumped, that's what's going to spew out. Let me guarantee you something. You will get bumped, because we live in a fall in a created order. Getting bumped is a part of living, and whatever is going on in here, whatever attitudes you're harboring, when you get bumped, that's what comes out. I could put this cup on the floor, of course. It's water.
You understand that. I could say it's coffee, maybe like some of you have. But I come along, I don't even notice it, and I bump it, and it spills out. And you can say, oh man, why did that coffee spill all over the floor?
Because it got bumped. No, that's not why coffee spilled all over the floor. Why did coffee spill?
Because coffee is what was in the cup. So, folks, do you see where the work needs to be? Not in trying harder not to say bad things. The work needs to be in what's occupying you in here, because when you're bumped, that's what will come out. You see, that's why this is all about a work of transformation. Ephesians 4 to 6 is not just a moral checklist.
It's the natural outflow of knowing chapters 1 to 3. So the harbored attitudes, I wish that person or those people would just go away. If you harbor that, then when you get bumped by that person or those people, guess what's going to come out? Instead of grace. James 1 20 says, the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. And in doing so, you grieve the Spirit. And he says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by which you were sealed for the day of redemption. But we do grieve the Spirit when we are choking out the fruit of the Spirit by harboring attitudes that are contrary to the character and the purpose of God. And when you grieve the Spirit, you are giving your adversary a foot in the door. But no, no, we are called to a radical new community of one new people in Christ.
That's the church. And instead of attitudes and words that dehumanize and divide, we ought not to be doing that. Words and attitudes that dehumanize and divide, what those do is they grieve the Spirit. And when the Spirit is grieved, listen to me, the devil is dancing.
Don't make the devil dance because he's bent on sabotaging your faith and this church. There are particular parameters of communication that are presented in this text. So he doesn't just say no corrupt communication and don't grieve the Spirit. Okay. But he says, what are the parameters for communication?
And here they are, two of them specifically. Number one, good for building up. The words that come out of your mouth ought to be good for building up.
You know what that implies? That before words come out of your mouth, the attitudes in your heart are, I want to build this person up. I care for them.
I love them. I want to see them walk in a God-ward direction. Good for building up means it fits the occasion. It's staying in the present.
It's not harboring up old wounds from the past. It fits the occasion and it gives grace to the hearer. When you have encountered, when another person has encountered you, if indeed the light is shining continually and increasingly and you're being transformed in the spirit of your mind and another person encounters you, when you part ways, they will leave with this sense.
You helped me in my God-ward direction. Do you know what's a fascinating truth? Sociologists have discovered this in their studies. What you remember about other people is not so much what they say, but how they made you feel. Think about that.
Do you approach somebody just to give them a piece of your mind to put them in their place, to dehumanize them, to make you feel more important? Then they're going to leave sensing that. And you know what the sad part of that is? They're not going to remember a thing you said, but they're going to remember how you made them feel. But so it is with the grace of God. As you communicate grace, if you communicate life, freeing truth, when that person leaves you, they will have the sense that this person helped me walk in a God-ward direction. Grace flowed from this person. Folks, this is not a natural thing. This is a spiritual thing.
But you see how it's so practical in the day-to-day? The words that we say, the people that we live with, the people that we work with, the people that we worship with, the people that we play ball with. Here's the second. The first one, parameters of communication, good for building up. The second one is kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving. That's three.
Okay, so build a box. Kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving. Good for building up, kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving. Kind. Be kind. Be kind. With your words, be kind. Tender-hearted. Now this goes right back to what's informing your heart. The word tender-hearted means compassion. So it's compassionate, blessing, and forgiving.
But you know what? We could unpack that, but here's the simple truth. Here is the gospel once again. Here's the gospel once again. Here's the gospel once again, and he says it right in the verse.
Kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another. Why? Because the Bible says so?
No. Because God forgave you in Jesus Christ. It's not just a moral checklist. You need to be kind, and compassionate, and forgiving. You're supposed to do this because you're a Christian. That's not grace.
But Paul presents the gospel right here. Why should you be kind, compassionate, and forgiving? Because that's how God treated you.
And how arrogant of me that I think I could lash out and dehumanize another person when God has treated me with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Folks, this is a spiritual thing. This is the spirit of God at work in me. As the light shines in me continually and increasingly, what's going on in here? That's where the work needs to be. You with me? You listening to me? I'm not telling you leave from this place and try harder to be kinder, and more compassionate, and more forgiving.
No, that's not grace. Where does the work need to happen? It needs to be on you letting the light shine constantly, increasingly. Because as it does, then your heart and mind are transformed. You will be changed at the level of thought and desire.
And on those occasions when you get bumped, what will come out will be truth and grace instead of vitriol. The triune God that we learn from in this text, the triune God is in the business of changing lives. That's what the church is at. The triune God is in the business of changing lives.
For what purpose? To reflect Christ. Because He's the perfect standard.
Not you or me. We are not the perfect standard. God is in the business of changing lives to reflect Christ. To what end? To point people to God.
Loved ones, that is the business of the church. And Paul is here essentially saying the same thing that Peter did when he says that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. So He has called you out of that dark prison cell of self-preeminence. He has shown the light into your heart. So let that light shine into your heart and mind and let the newness be a manifestation of what God is doing in here.
That's how grace works. And it's so neat that this comes right at the tail of our discussion on the fruit of the Spirit in our care groups on these schools. What an excellent discussion we had this morning. Thank you Dwight for putting that together.
Really, really good. So we're called to this folks. This is the business of the church. This is what we're called to. And God equips us for this. He doesn't just leave us up on the earth. He doesn't just leave us up to our own efforts and our own power. He equips us for this.
So know those truths from Ephesians 1 through 3. Would you stand with me please? Father, we are grateful for your self-disclosure. Once again, so humbled and thankful that you have made yourself known to us so that we can know you. And you have not left us to our own imagination, our own devices, and our own strength. But Father, in redemption and reconciliation you have inhabited us and equipped us with newness and the resource of truth and the Holy Spirit to live in the outflow of newness. So Father, I pray that you would find in our hearts the resolve to let that light shine continually and increasingly. And I ask you to consider this morning.
I'm just going to pause for just a few minutes. God's working on your heart. His Spirit is working on your heart. How does He need to challenge? How is He challenging you this morning? What's going on inside of you?
What needs to change? How is He going to change that by shining the light? Are you letting that light shine? Are you reading and studying and meditating on the Word of God?
Is He changing your thoughts and desires and attitudes? Thank you, Father, for what you've done. Thank you for your truth, your transforming truth, and the power and presence of your Holy Spirit within us. Father, may we know these truths. May we live in the outflow of your Spirit with joy and delight and satisfaction. We want to be your people. Thank you for that calling, Father.
Thank you for the equipping. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight and Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightandgrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight and Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-01-23 20:33:22 / 2023-01-23 20:38:16 / 5