Do not grieve the Holy Spirit Ephesians 4:30 Practical Christianity (Part 2) Text: Ephesians 4:25-32 Series: Ephesians [#15] Pastor Lyle L. Wahl July 22, 2007 Introduction Today is the second of two weeks in the last paragraph in Ephesians 4 looking at Practical Christianity. At the beginning of chapter 4 Paul s emphasis moved from our position to our practice how we are to live for Christ. We know about external and personal, static and legalistic standards that are used to determine godliness. Last week I ran across this: The road to a healthier, more Godly lifestyle can start TODAY! How? What? It was an ad for a Christian personal fitness program. The standards of godliness, of living worthy of our calling are not personal or passing takeoffs on, or expressions of Biblical truth, but the basic truths themselves. Practical Christianity. Last week we saw that the new godly lifestyle includes truthful, edifying speech and sin-free anger. Today we are looking at the final three aspects of a godly lifestyle Paul mentions in this section: (1) working to provide and share; (2) living in harmony with the Holy Spirit; and, (3) understanding and forgiving each other. The New Godly Lifestyle Includes The new godly lifestyle includes working to provide and share. Verse 28, He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.
Paul opens with a startling command! Stop Stealing! When the church in Ephesus received this letter, they would have read it out loud as they met together. The letter is grand. But a few people may have begun to nod off at this point, two-thirds of the way through. But not for long. Paul booms, You who are stealing you who are thieves stop stealing! Let s explore what Paul says here about stealing. He gives no specifics on any particular people or problems. For a bit of perspective, think about the church and city of Ephesus, typical of many churches and cities in that day. There would have been slaves, bondservants, unskilled and skilled laborers, skilled trades people, along with business and professional people in the church. The level of morality in Ephesus was not high. Many there undoubtedly had sticky fingers, and liberated things from their employers or masters. Or, in the case of business people, from their customers. And then there always have been some who see stealing as easier than actually working. Today is really not different. The five-finger fringe benefit plan is alive and well. Excuses people give include: They re rich! They won t miss it. I deserve it. Businesses have long been concerned about what they call shrinkage, that is, the difference between what their records show they should have on hand, and what they actually have. A Retail Council of Canada report in 2003 estimated that shrinkage averaged about 1¾ % of total retail sales in Canada (excluding the automotive and including the grocery sectors). Now, 1¾ % may not sound like much, but it amounted to $8 million each day, or $3 billion for the year. The breakdown by the four standard categories that are used was, from low to high:! Supplier dishonesty = 7%, or $210 million/year! Administrate error = 18%, or $540 million! External theft (shoplift, thieves) = 35%, or $1 b.! Internal theft (employees) = 40%, or $1.2 billion In one survey of employees, 87% of them admitted to falsifying time sheets. In most surveys, between 60-70% of employees admit to stealing office supplies. And, less than 10% state they steal because of need. Whatever the rationalization, Paul says Stop Stealing! God s prohibition of it goes back to the 10 Commandments. Stealing takes from others. It doesn t line up with your new nature in Christ. It s not part of a lifestyle that fulfills your calling. 2
Now, the positive. Work to provide and share. Look at verse 28 again, the last section of the verse, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. The word labor Paul uses means to work to the point of being tired, to the point of being exhausted, or worn out. Work is hard. We are not to try to find a away around or out of work, but to get the job done. Before Adam sinned, he had work to do to cultivate and keep the garden (Genesis 3:15). After he sinned God pronounced, Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground (Genesis 3:17b-19). Also, Paul says here in verse 28, we are to do good work, meaning doing a good job, and also that which is good or helpful to others. While the point is different, it fits in with chapter 2 verse 10, we are [God s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Then there are Paul s words to the church at Colossae, Whatever you do, do your work heartily as to the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve (Colossians 3:23-24). Theologian Carl Henry wrote, When man loses the sacred significance of work and himself as worker, he soon loses the sacred meaning of time and life. Work has the purpose of providing for us and our families. Paul only hints at this here with the word share, which we will look at shortly. But he wrote very clearly about it in other letters. In 1 Thessalonians 4 he says attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need (verses 10b-12). Again, in 1 Timothy 5, if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (verse 8). Once more, in 2 Thessalonians 3, if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either (verse 10). All of these statements talk about be wiling to work. Not about those who are unable to work. Not about those who are unable to find work. 3
Paul says we are to work so that we will have something to share with one who has need. God does not condemn being wealthy. He condemns self-indulgence. The word share means to give part of. Paul did not use the familiar word to give, which some could misinterpret to mean giving away everything we earn. In Romans 12:13 Paul directs us to contribute[ing] to the needs of the saints. To share with them. This was the pattern in the first days of the church, as we see in Acts chapters 2 to 6. Generosity is to mark our attitudes and actions with respect to material things (see 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; 9:6-12). The new godly lifestyle includes working to provide and share. In addition to working to provide and share, the new godly lifestyle includes living in harmony with the Holy Spirit. Move forward to verse 30. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Following his pattern in this section, Paul begins with the negative: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. The sense is: Do not go on grieving, do not regularly or continually grieve the Holy Spirit. The word grieve has ideas of grief, sorrow, pain, distress. Jesus disciples were deeply grieved [distressed] when He told them He was going to die (Matthew 17:23). The rich young man who wanted to follow Jesus went away grieved because he was unwilling to put Jesus ahead of his wealth. Now we come to a very important question, How can we, how do we grieve the Holy Spirit? There is some insight in Isaiah 63. The chapter opens with recalling God s great lovingkindness to Israel. Yet, in spite of that, verse 10 tells us, they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. Rebellion, sin, whatever is not in line with God s character and His will grieves God the Holy Spirit. Another good question is, Why? After the command Paul states, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Go back to chapter 1 verse 14 which tells us the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God s own possession, to the praise of His glory. The Holy Spirit cleansed us. He has taken up residence within us. He is the mark of God s ownership of us, looking forward to the day when we will be complete. Paul describes that day in chapter 5, verse 27, as the time when Christ will present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. This is what we are, and what we will be. Because God loves us and lavishes such great grace on us, when we rebel by sinning, we grieve the Holy Spirit. 4
And so, Paul asks us, How can we, why would we sin and do things that are discordant, that displease and grieve the Holy Spirit by whom we are sealed for that wonderful day of our final, complete redemption? Rather, he says, Live in harmony with the Holy Spirit. The new godly lifestyle includes living in harmony with the Holy Spirit. There is one more part of the new godly lifestyle Paul touches on here, understanding and forgiving each other. Here Paul states only the positive. Look at verse 32. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. First, we show understanding for each other by continually being, by continually growing in being kind to one another. The original idea behind this word for kindness was to be useful, or helpful; to be advantageous for the person/thing. Then it came to include being kind or loving. You can see from its origin that kindness has an emphasis on action, on what is done. We saw this word earlier in Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 7, in the ages to come God is going to show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Another form of this word is found in Galatians 5:22, where kindness is part of the fruit, the character the Holy Spirit is growing in believers. God is kind to us. Jesus ministry was marked by kindness. King David, the warrior-king, displayed kindness. After King Saul and his sons died in battle, David became king. There wasn t much left of Saul s family. David was now in the place of power after years of being on the run from Saul s attempts to kill him. Yet David did not forget his promises to his good, now dead friend Jonathan, Saul s son. In 2 Samuel 9:1 David asked his court, Is there yet anyone left in the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan s sake? A former aide to Saul told David s people, There is still [one] son of Jonathan. They brought this man, Mephibosheth, to the court. Imagine what Mephibosheth may have thought when he heard king David was looking for him. He may have thought, This is it. My time is up. David is going to kill me to make sure there never will be a threat to the throne from Saul s family. I can t run I m lame in both feet. But David was kind to Mephibosheth. From that time on he and his family lived in the court, being supported by David. All the property that belonged to Saul had become David s. Now David gave it to Mephibosheth. David also assigned people to manage those properties and run the farms for Mephibosheth. 5
Kindness. We show understanding for each other by being kind by thinking and doing what is useful, helpful, advantageous for each other. We also show understanding for each other by being tenderhearted to each other. The word literally is good-hearted. It begins with what is good, and continues through being open, tender, to being good for others from the heart from your innermost thoughts and motives. It is sometimes translated, compassion and, again, it is more than the feeling, it too emphasizes action. Think of Jesus example. Matthew 9:35-38 tells us, Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. So, in Colossians 3:12 Paul tells us, put on a heart of compassion. Be compassionate at the very core of who you are. A godly lifestyle, living worthy of our calling, includes being tenderhearted, having compassion for each other. Finally, give each other the grace of forgiveness. The root of this word means to give freely, to be gracious; to show yourself to be truly gracious to others. The idea here is to be gracious by forgiving the person and act that was wrong, that hurt you. But some say, If you only knew what terrible things he has done! If you only knew how much she hurt me! In Colossians 3:13 Paul directs us to [bear] with one another, and [forgive] each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. There is no way we can know the depths of offense our sin brings to God. He never pretends the sin did not occur, or that it is unimportant. But the price has been paid by Jesus, and God forgives freely, fully, forever. A biography of C.S. Lewis records some of the difficult experiences he had in a boarding school under a very difficult, harsh, tyrannical headmaster. One of Lewis friends felt great anger and resentment toward that headmaster for the next 50 years. The man did become a Christian, and said he tried to forgive the headmaster. But he did not succeed until the last year of his life, when he was ill and in a 6
nursing home. How tragic, how sad. How much time and energy was wasted. How much of the light of Christ in him was obscured by that failure to forgive. Is there anyone with whom you are not really understanding? Anyone for whom you do not have a kind, tender heart, that you have not freely and fully forgiven? Is it always easy? No. Is it always possible? Yes! What was true for Paul is true for us, I can do all things through Him [God] who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13). Our new, godly Lifestyle Includes (1) working to provide and share; (2) living in harmony with the Holy Spirit; and (3) understanding and forgiving each other. These go along with the opening two we looked at last week: (1) truthful, edifying speech; and, (2) sin-free anger. Conclusion. A number of years ago Christian youth and adults were wearing bracelets with four letters on them: WWJD, which stands for What Would Jesus Do? That was started by a youth leader who had bracelets made for the youth in her church after she read the 1896 sermon /novel In His Steps, which posed that question to a church through a tramp they tried to ignore, who then collapsed and died. The next week 50 people of the church in the story pledged that for one year they would do nothing without first asking What Would Jesus Do? The story goes on describing both the cost and rewards of this practical Christianity. True Christian living, true Christ-like living, is not theoretical, but practical. I ve talked about crossing the bridge from position to practice, about practical Christianity. In His Steps asks What Would Jesus Do? God s call through these verses is to live worthy of our calling. How are we doing? How are you doing? How am I doing? Reflect and review where you are right now regarding the marks of Christian lifestyle we ve seen in these last two weeks. Make your own commitment to cross the bridge, or to keep on crossing the bridge in faith to practical Christianity; to be, to do what Jesus wants you to be and do. Let s do that now, in these next few moments. 7
2007 Lyle L. Wahl Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. 8