Listen, people, if we could be a community in the midst of this world, a community of people who never lie but always speak the truth, if we could be a people who never steal but only share, if we could be those who have no bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, but are characterized by an incessant kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness, do you think the world might take a note of our message? Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Maybe you can remember a teacher who had a veritable laundry list of don'ts for your class. Don't talk, don't leave your seat, don't write in red pen.
Of course, limitations are important, but when everything seems to fall into that don't do category, you might end up wondering, what then am I supposed to do? John MacArthur helps answer that question today as he works through a biblical list of do's where your speech is concerned. This practical look at how you should speak is part of John's current series titled, The Portrait of a New Life. Now follow along as John begins the lesson. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 25 to 32.
This is a very practical section. This is one of those sections that you really don't need me for. You can just allow the Spirit of God to convict you as you read it and it says much in and of itself, but I'll do my best to guide a little bit of your thinking to help you to see the impact in its fullness. Now keep in mind that in verses 17 to 24, the Apostle Paul gave a general statement and his general statement is simply this, Christians are to be different. You're to be different. You don't walk as the Gentiles or the heathen walk, verse 17. You don't walk in the blindness and the darkness and the hardness of heart and the insensitivity and the lasciviousness and the uncleanness and the greediness. You're different.
You're different. You didn't so learn Christ. You put off verse 22, the old man.
Verse 23, you put on the new man. That's general. You're putting on a new lifestyle. You're putting on a new walk, a new pattern of living. So he gave that generality. Based on who you are in chapters 1 to 3, chapter 4 to 6 tell you how to live.
You put off the old, you put on the new. Well, somebody might say, well, what do you mean, John, specifically? Well, he gets very specific in verse 25.
And the first thing he does is this. He makes specific the general fact of changing from an old lifestyle to a new one. And he gives you five categories in which the change takes place. Five areas of illustration. First, exchange lying for speaking the truth and second, unrighteous fury for holy wrath.
Third, there's another practical one. When you become a Christian, he says you're to exchange stealing for sharing. Stealing is a problem for everybody, isn't it? Well, I remember when I was a little kid, I had a little phase in my life when I thought it was kind of neat to steal things.
I got out of that, fortunately, but I went through that little time. And that's something in us. That's another part of the human system. The old man steals, but the new man doesn't. Look at verse 28. It's a great verse. Let him that stole steal no more. Pretty simple.
You don't have to be a great exegete to figure that out. But rather, here's the exchange, let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needed. Instead of stealing, work so you can give to other people.
In other words, be a Robin Hood, you know, only without the stealing part. You ever go into a store or something and the guy rings up your change or a restaurant or something and he under does it, you know, and he gives you the bill, you know, he's like $3 off or something. And you say to him, hey, you know this? It's more than this.
I'd like to pay what it is I think you're under. He'll go, huh? You know, I look with a stunned look. An honest man. See? What's up his sleeve?
What kind of a con game is this? People don't know how to handle honesty. Whether you're talking about grand theft or petty theft, whether you're talking about robbing from the store or the market or whether you're talking about stealing money off your dad's dresser, kids, I don't know. It's all stealing. Stealing is taking anything doesn't belong to you.
Finding something before it's lost. Now the Bible talks about a lot of different kinds of stealing. Psalm 37 21 talks about non-payment of debt. If you don't pay your debt, you're stealing from your debtor or your creditor rather. It talks about falsifying expense accounts. That's stealing. Cheating on your taxes. Jesus said you better render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.
Not making note of a clerk's error is another way. Another way that you can steal is by not paying fair wages to somebody who's worked for you. James 5 says that the cry of the workers reaches the very ears of God when they haven't been paid what they were due. So you can steal a lot of ways.
A lot of ways. And by the way, if you are a thief, if you are somebody that steals, I warn you from 1 Corinthians 6, Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Thieves. Thieves don't inherit the kingdom of God. Neither do drunkards, and fornicators, and homosexuals, etc.
But verse 28 tells us the opposite. Rather, let him labor, which may be a new thing to thieves' work. Boy, the Bible has a great deal to say about work. It's an honorable thing.
But work with his hands, the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needs. The whole idea is to labor. It uses a word here that means a manual labor, hard work. Exodus 20 verse 9, six days, shalt thou labor and do all thy work.
Crowded into six days. Proverbs says so much about this. 2 Thessalonians also, chapter 3, and verse 10, it couldn't be more straight than this. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Now that would do a lot of things in our society. You don't work, you don't eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you, disorderly working, not at all but our busybodies. God condemns that you're to work. 1 Timothy says, If any man provides not for his household, he is worse than an infidel.
And I think that's the extended household, not just your children, but those who are related to you who have a need. Work. And you're to work that which is good.
You're to work a good work. It should be unselfish. And the point is that when you're all done with this, you're doing it to give to him that needs. In other words, work hard not to pile it higher and get more and more of what you need less and less of. Not just stacking it on and stacking it on and getting more and more, but you're to work in order to give, not get. That's the idea. If I can only get a raise, then I'd have more to give to somebody who has need. Boy, what a great way to go at it. This is radical, revolutionary. The natural approach is to get more and hoard your stuff.
Stick it in the floor, stick it in the wall, get it in a safe, put it in a bag, send it to Switzerland, pile it up. New Testament principles are work harder and harder and more diligently and more diligently doing good things so you can have more and more and more and more so you can give more and more and more and more to people who have need. That's the whole biblical ethic.
That's the whole base of our working. Verse 13 of Luke 14 says, When you give a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, and thou shalt be blessed, for they can't pay you. Isn't that good? They can't pay you.
They can't buy a ticket. And God will bless you. That was Paul's manner. In Acts 20 he says, I worked.
When I ministered to you, he says to the Ephesian elders, verses 33 and 34, I worked and not only did I supply my own living, so you didn't have to pay me, but I supplied the living of everybody who worked with me. Now that's hard work, isn't it? Fourth, another exchange. He says, The new man will exchange in another category. Corrupt communication will be exchanged for edifying words.
This is very practical. Verse 29, 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 I'll be very frank with you. Nothing, nothing is more distasteful to me than filthy communication. I just really can't tolerate that. I don't like that. I don't want to be a part of that. I don't like to be around that.
That's not something that interests me. By the way, it says no corrupt communication. Corrupt is sopras. It means rotten. And it has to do with something that is worthless and useless that is diseased.
A rotten vegetable or a rotten fruit is something that is useless and worthless. It smells. It is offensive.
It doesn't do anything for anybody. In fact, you don't want to get near it, let alone eat it. That kind of talk has no place. Whether it's off-color jokes, profanity, dirty stories, crude things, there's no place in the life of a Christian for that stuff. Let me give you a verse to remember. Psalm 141, 3.
Mark it down. Psalm 141, 3 says, Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips. Listen, if Jesus Christ is the doorkeeper of your lips, then He'll be the one who determines what comes out. There's no place for corrupt communication. I'm not interested in off-color jokes and dirty stories. I'm not interested in innuendo and double entendre. I'm not interested in outright crude and dirty and talk.
That doesn't interest me at all. Colossians talks about that. The Apostle Paul in chapter 3 talking about killing all the old things says, verse 8, Put off filthy communication out of your mouth.
No place for that. You know what? When anybody talks like that, it's pretty obvious what's going on because Matthew chapter 12 says, Out of the abundance of the heart, what? The mouth speaks.
You can tell a lot about somebody's heart by what comes out of their mouth. In chapter 5 of Ephesians, look over in the next page, verse 3, Fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, let it not be once named among you. I mean, once it shouldn't even be there. Neither should filthiness nor foolish talking. There's no place for dirty talk, filthy or foolish, obscene talk. And you know, in Romans chapter 3 when it discusses the depravity of man, it shows how man's depravity starts from inside and it comes up through his mouth and his tongue and his lips and it comes out.
Get rid of all that. And in its place, here's what you do, three features of the speech of the new man, verse 29. First, it should be edifying, which is good for edifying, good for edifying. Whenever you talk, if the Lord is keeping watch over your lips and you open your mouth, whatever comes out should build other people up. Edifying means building up. It should build them up. It should be encouraging. It should be strengthening.
It should be spiritually edifying, spiritually positive, spiritually strengthening, spiritually building them up. Is that what happens when you talk? When you pass by someone and they talk with you for a matter of a few moments, do they go away built up in Jesus Christ?
Do they go away edified in Jesus Christ? Is that what it is that happens? And all around the house during the day, Mom, when you're with your kids, is what you say that which edifies and builds up? Dad, when you take your sons out and you spend a day with them, when you talk to them is what happens, edifying and building and strengthening and encouraging to them? Secondly, it ought to be necessary. It says in verse 29, the little phrase, to the use, and literally it means as it fits the need, as it fits the need.
Listen, my mom used to say to me when I was a kid, I'd start to say to them, hey, Mom, do you know what so and so and she'd say? Now is that necessary? Is that necessary? It's interesting. Is that necessary?
I don't know whether it's necessary, but is it necessary? If we just said what was edifying and necessary, people would flock to be near us. Third, gracious, the end of verse 29, that it may serve grace to the hearers. It's just like coming out like a waiter and giving them a feast of grace. It is their sweetness in what you say that blesses and ingratiates. You know, every time you open your mouth, it should be building, it should be fitting, and it should be gracious. That's the way we ought to talk.
That's what ought to come out of our mouths, not filthy communication. We have a new heart, and out of the abundance of a new heart should come a new speech. I love what it says in Luke 4 22, and everybody bore Jesus' witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
Oh, I love that. When Jesus opened his mouth, graciousness came out. And when he spoke, it was edifying, it was necessary, and it was gracious. And if you let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, according to Colossians 3 16, when you open your mouth, that's what will come out too. And if the Lord sets a watch over your tongue, and if the Lord is the one who keeps your lips, yours can be the same.
Check your words. Colossians, it talks about that our speech should be seasoned with salt. You know, there's a corruption in the world, and salt, we ought to be salt to that. You know, when something would corrupt, they'd put salt on it, and salt would retard the corruption.
What about when you talk? Are you a part of the corruption, or do you retard the corruption? Are you salt, or are you just more of the corruption? When you open your mouth, are you the salt that retards the corruption, or are you just part of the corruption? Something to think about.
And the result of it all? Verse 30, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed to the day of redemption. Did you know the Holy Spirit can get sad?
That's what grieve means. Do you know God weeps? Read him in Jeremiah. Mine eye shall run down with tears, he says. And God's heart was broken in Hosea. And Jesus wept over Jerusalem. And Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus. And here the Spirit of God grieves. And what makes him grieve? What makes him grieve is when you as a believer don't exchange the old for the new. The Holy Spirit is grieved when he sees lying instead of the truth, when he sees anger instead of forgiveness, when he sees stealing instead of sharing, and when he hears corruption instead of graciousness. And the point that he's making in verse 30 is, how could you possibly grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed to the day of redemption?
The idea that I want you to see here is this. When you were saved, the Spirit of God put a stamp on you that said, this is God's, this is genuine, this is authentic, and this is forever. And listen, if the Spirit of God has been so gracious as to give you an eternal salvation, if the Spirit of God has been so gracious as to seal you forever, if the Spirit of God is so gracious as to hold you in the palm of his hand to the day of redemption, how could you willfully grieve such a gracious spirit?
That's what he's saying. How could you do that? How could you grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you're sealed? You know your salvation is forever. You know what he's done for you can't be changed.
You know he's given you an eternal gift. Now would you abuse it by grieving him? How could you do that? How could you grieve the very one who has made your body the sanctuary of his own holy presence?
How could you do that? He is the one who has done the magnificent work of setting you apart eternally for God. How could you grieve him? So, says Paul, the new man is to put away lying and take truth, put away unrighteous anger for holy wrath, put away stealing for sharing, put away useless vile speech for edifying gracious words and not to give place to the devil and not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Then a final contrast. We are to exchange natural vices for supernatural graces. Verse 31, and he just kind of sums it up. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all evil. Now listen to what he said.
He sums it up. He says, Look, bitterness, that smoldering resentment, that brooding, grudging, unforgiving spirit. And then he says, And all wrath and all of that, that wild reaction, and all of that anger, that inside, illicit kind of resentment and all clamor. You know what the word clamor means? It means a violent outburst, yelling in public. You know, all I have to do is, you know, be around your neighborhood for a while and you hear that.
Especially in the summer, when the windows are open. Yelling publicly, that's clamor. Or really screaming at the guy who cuts you off on the road. You stupid.
Now watch something. He's saying, if you have bitterness and wrath and anger, you're going to have outbursts. You're going to smolder on the inside. You're going to yell at people. You're going to publicly yell at them. On the other hand, he adds evil speaking. Sometimes you're going to whisper behind their back.
Slander can be public or it can be very quiet, whispery. But the point here is this. You've got the wrong relationship to people, see. It's all relational here. He's not talking so much about your relation to God. In this whole passage, it's how you relate to people because the body is the concept here in this book.
And when you deal with people, you can't be bitter or wrathful or angry or clamorous or slanderous, evil speaking, blabbering behind their back in secrecy. Get rid of that. Put it away. And along with it, put away all kakia. That means all evil, general evil, all of it. Just get rid of all of it. You know, as Christians, we've got to deal with each other properly.
And these are all personal issues. How are you getting along in your family with these things? How are you getting along with certain people in the fellowship, in the church? Is there any bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking? Put it away. And in its place, take this, 32.
Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. You say, oh man, but you don't know what they did to me. I have a right to be angry.
They've never changed it and I'm bitter. And when I see that guy, I'm going to clamor. And meanwhile, I'm going to evil speak.
And I got a right. Look what he did to me. And that's just why verse 32 ends the way it does. Even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. You want to hear something interesting? God was kind to you. And God was tenderhearted to you. And God was forgiving to you. And you want to know something?
You didn't what? Deserve it. If you're going to base it on that premise, you've missed the point. You don't yell at somebody because they deserve it, you yell at somebody because you're sinful. You don't evil speak about somebody because they deserve it, you evil speak because you're sinful. You don't get angry at somebody because they deserve it, you get angry because you're sinful. You don't get wrathful and clamorous because somebody deserves it, you do it because you're sinful. Because the character of God says I don't care what you've done to me, I'll love you, and I'll be kind to you, and I'll be tender to you, and I'll forgive you. And Paul says, and that's exactly what God expects to see out of you Christians. If you're a new creature, it ought to be there.
If you're new in Jesus Christ, it ought to be there. Oh, wouldn't it God that these things were true? Listen, people, if we could be a community in the midst of this world, a community of people who never lie but always speak the truth, a community of people who never get angry so that it's a sinful anger but always act in love, if we could be a people who never steal but only share, if we could be a people who never speak filthy communication but always minister grace to people who are listening, if we could be those who have no bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking but are characterized by an incessant kindness, tender heartedness, and forgiveness, do you think the world might take a note of our message?
I think they would. That's the way new men are to act. Examine yourself, whether you're in the faith. Do you speak truth? Do you have control of anger so that it only operates in righteous ways?
Do you share? Do you speak graciously? Do you love in kindness, tender heartedness, and forgiveness?
New men live new lives. Father, we are agreeing with what the Spirit of God is saying in our hearts, and we've all been convicted. We see the way we've often spoken to the ones we love the dearest, our wives, husbands, children, friends. Some of us have spoken evil behind someone's back, gossiped.
Some of us have been clamorous and spoken out in public in an unruly way. We've all fought through the battles of anger, lying, evil speech. Lord, help us to know the victory that only you can give so that on the one hand we never give place to the devil, and on the other hand we don't grieve the blessed Holy Spirit who is gracious enough to give us an eternal salvation. Since we have been eternally related to Him, help us never to violate that in a way that would grieve Him.
And Lord, we know that unless we deal this way with each other, the body can't function. And if the body can't function, Christ can't be manifest, and if Christ isn't manifest, the world can't see and know. May it begin with us, Father, as we obey. Work Your work by Your Spirit in us, in Christ's name, amen.
That's John MacArthur continuing his look at what he calls the Portrait of a New Life here on Grace To You. Now the central theme of this series is that if you are in Christ, you are a new creation. And yet a point that many people miss is that even as a new Christian, even as a person with new life in Christ, you still face a battle with sin.
And so, John, for that new Christian who might be listening right now, talk about the challenges he can expect as he grows spiritually. Yeah, before you become a Christian, there's really no battle, because you are a slave of sin. Sin has dominion over you. Sin is your master. You can't do anything but sin. Even human goodness is still categorically part of your sinful life, because it lacks the right motive, which is the glory of God. So whatever good you do, if it's not done to the glory of God, falls into the category of sin. So that's the default position of living without God in the world. Everything is tainted by sin. When you become a believer and you are transformed and you have new loves and new desires and new longings, all of a sudden you find yourself at war, because the new man in you, the new creation in you, is still incarcerated in human flesh.
And so the battle is on. We know God's will, but we struggle to be able to do it. We long to do His will, but we find difficulty. Romans 7, the things I want to do I don't do, the things I don't want to do I find myself doing. Paul says, I see some principle still in me fighting against the law of my mind, which is the law of God. So all of this is the struggle that every new believer faces. And as you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, that struggle becomes less and less powerful.
You will see the diminishing of that power. But it's really important to get off to a good start. So along that line, I just want to mention to you, if you're a new Christian particularly, we have a booklet called Welcome to the Family, and we would love to get one into your hands. Special offer. If you're a new believer, Grace T. wants to give you a free copy of Welcome to the Family. Contact us now, email, phone, regular mail. If you've been a Christian for a good while and would like the book, it's still available for a very reasonable price. Yes, and this book lays out the most important truths young believers need to know, and how they can avoid common traps that new converts fall into. To get your copy of Welcome to the Family, free if you're a new believer, contact us today. Call our toll-free number, 800-55-GRACE, or go to gty.org. Welcome to the Family shows you basically everything you need to know about spiritual growth.
It can help new believers, or mature believers for that matter, make biblical decisions, build discernment, and honor Christ at work, school, or home. Again, we'll send you a free copy of Welcome to the Family if you're a new Christian. Our toll-free number, 800-55-GRACE, or go to gty.org. Also keep in mind, we are grateful for letters from men and women like you who have benefited from John's verse-by-verse teaching. If that describes you, take a moment to jot a note and send it our way. You can email us at letters at gty.org, or if you prefer regular mail, you can write to Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week off with Grace to You, and invite a friend to join you tomorrow when John looks at how the Bible defines love, the love Christians should have and demonstrate. Just another half hour of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.
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