Ephesians 4:25-32, “Paul Warns The Ephesians To Avoid The Kind
Of Behavior That Destroys Fellowship”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 17-24 of chapter 4.
1.1.1. Paul in that
study began to build an argument for the fact that because the believers in the
church in Ephesus had come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior and as a
result received new natures within themselves, that they were now to live their
lives in such a way that is consistent with the new nature that now dwells
within them.
1.1.2. Paul told
the Ephesians not to walk according to their previous, before Christ,
lifestyle, which he described carefully and graphically.
1.1.3. Paul told
them to just as with a garment lay aside the old self and put on the new self.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses
25-32 of chapter 4.
1.2.1. Being in the
second half of the book of Ephesians which begins with chapter 4, in our past
three studies Paul has now been applying to the lives of the Ephesians the
incredible truths he had taught them in the first three chapters about the
riches of God’s grace, the incredible inheritance we have in Christ, the
unfathomable riches of Christ, etc.
1.2.2. Since we
began chapter 4 we have seen that Paul first told the Ephesians to walk in a
manner worthy of their calling (4:1-10), next he began telling them about God’s
intended use of offices and spiritual gifts in the church (4:11-16), then in
our last study we saw that he taught them the importance of living life as that
new creature that they were in Christ (4:17-24).
1.2.3. Now in our
study today, we are going to see that Paul begins to discuss several things
that we Christians need to avoid in our lives because they end up having our
fellowship with Him and with each other to be damaged.
1.2.4. We will
discuss the importance of remembering that everything that we as Christians do
causes a ripple or effect in the body of Christ. None of us live to ourselves and therefore
every single thing that we do has an effect in the body of Christ, whether good
or bad.
1.2.5. As we
consider these admonitions by Paul lets keep in mind the fact that as we do
these things he admonishes us to do that we are simply being like the
Lord. He acts a certain way and He
expects all of His children to act in that same way, to be like Him.
2. VS 4:25 - “25 Therefore, laying
aside falsehood, speak truth each one of
you with his neighbor, for we
are members of one another.” - Paul tells
the Ephesians to lay aside falsehood and speak truth
2.1.
The ‘therefore’ refers back to Paul’s reminding
the Ephesians that they are new creatures in Christ and that they ought to live
their life that way, putting on that new self that God has made them.
2.2.
Paul tells us here that we are to lay ‘aside
falsehood’ and to ‘speak truth,’ and yet we know from our
experiences that there is so little of this in the world we live in, for people
are constantly telling lies and deceiving:
2.2.1. People lie
and cheat each other, flatter people that they really care nothing about, brown
nose their superiors making them believe that they are something more than they
are.
2.2.2. In their
speech people exaggerate and embellish when they tell stories, they pass along
lying gossip at work, and they feel justified about telling lies because they
have made some sort of a case against another person, etc., etc.
2.2.3. Lying is
very common in business and the work place, whether it is lying to clients,
employers, employees, supervisors, co-workers, etc..
2.2.4. I wonder how
many divorces could have been prevented if one or both spouses would simply
have been honest with each other. When
one has a habit of lying about things there comes a point at which vital trust
is broken and then a marriage cannot be saved.
2.2.5. We even
speak of a “white lie” which is a lie that a person feels justified in
telling because it is just a little lie that is of no great consequence.
2.3.
We who have come to saving faith in Christ have been
translated into what is now a new realm for us, namely, one of living in and
being a part of the “the truth” :
2.3.1. Jesus has
taught us that He Himself is the way, “the truth,” and the life.
2.3.2. Coming to
salvation is described in the scriptures as a coming to a knowledge of “the
truth” (see for instance 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:25, 3:7; Titus 1:1; Hebrews
10:26).
2.3.3. The walk
that we as Christians are to walk is a walk that is to be in “the truth”
:
2.3.3.1. 1 John 1:6,
“6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk
in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
2.3.3.2. 1 John 1:8,
“8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and
the truth is not in us.”
2.3.3.3. 3 John 4, “4
I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the
truth.”
2.3.3.4. 3 John 12, “12
Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from
the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is
true.”
2.4.
Just as being truthful is essential in a healthy
marriage, so also being truthful is essential in the body of Christ. We in the body of Christ must put aside all
falsehood and lying. Some of us are
perhaps more given to telling lies, and some of us are more acutely aware of
telling lies than others. Some people
who lie really don’t believe that they lie often and regularly, however they
are the type that are constantly in
their own minds justifying their actions.
2.5.
Most Christians have some sort of a difficulty maintaining
honesty. I have to be honest with you
that I struggle with the sin of lying.
When Jill and I were first married I worked for a couple of years as a
salesman. My sales trainer once told me
that the real key to being a good salesman was sincerity. And, as soon as you learned to fake that you
could do pretty good! But honestly, I
finally had to leave my career in sales because though I was successfully
selling I knew that at times I would tell a lie to a customer. The conviction of the Holy Spirit was upon me
until I left that profession because of my own weakness.
2.6.
God wants us to be honest with each other in the body
of Christ, tell the truth to each other, and not deceive each other. Lying destroys fellowship.
2.7.
Notice the motive that Paul gives the Ephesians for
being truthful with each other ‘for we are members of one another.’ Everything that we do affects the body of
Christ as was mentioned.
2.8.
Now, I do want to point out here that the fact that we
are to be honest with each other does not mean that we have to tell everyone
everything about ourselves or about our every situation. We need to learn to be wise about revealing
things. I’ll give you an illustration of
this. Many years ago I was a new
Christian and going to this church and had lots of young friends in the
church. One day a friend invited a bunch
of us over to play a game she had bought called, “The Ungame.” In this game you have to be completely honest
with the other players. A bunch of us
played this game that day and during the game you have to answer certain
questions honestly. Well, in my state of
immaturity as a new believer in response to a question I told this one sister
in the Lord that I would not have liked her before I was saved and that I
really had to pray a lot about my attitude towards her now. Well, this erupted into a verbal fight
between us, and in fact, every single person got into some sort of verbal fight
with someone that day. Needless to say,
we never played that game again. There
are some things that are better left unsaid because they stir up trouble and
hard feelings or bring out things that are inappropriate for sharing.
2.9.
We
Christians need to be people of our word.
When we say we are going to do something, we need to do it. When we say we aren’t going to do something,
we need to not do it. We need to live
our lives in such a way that if we simply tell someone we are going to do
something that they know we are going to do it, or if we say something is a
fact that they know from our history that it is a fact.
3. VS 4:26 - “26 Be angry, and yet do not
sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,” - Paul tells the Ephesians to be angry and do
not sin
3.1.
Here in this verse, Paul gives us as Christians a
command however it is a command not of the type that we might expect. He tells us to ‘be angry.’ Now if we took this command at face value or
if we did not read the rest of what Paul wrote here we could come to some very
wrong conclusions. You see, Paul says
here that we are to ‘be angry’ and yet we are to do this in such a way
that we ‘do not sin.’
3.2.
When we Christians examine our lives and the things
that we have done we can quickly deduce from our history that most of the times
when we have been ‘angry’ we have also been sinning. Man’s anger is unlike God’s anger. In our anger we fly off the handle and react
or over-react to situations in an unjust type of way. However, the Lord’s anger and wrath is very
different for it is slow building and never expresses itself unless it is
completely deserved by whomever He is angry with. It is a very controlled and focused
anger. God’s anger is a “righteous
anger,” and that is the type of anger that each of us as Christians are
commanded here to have. We are commanded
to be angry in the same type of way that the Lord becomes angry.
3.3.
Unrighteous anger destroys fellowship.
3.4.
God is totally
holy and just and because He is such He hates sin and the sinful way of living.
3.4.1. Warren
Wiersbe has written the following about the fact that God hates sin, “Because
He is holy, God hates sin. Evangelists remind us that “God hates sin but He
loves sinners,” and certainly nobody will question God’s love for a lost world
(John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). But people can willfully sin so much that they become
abominable to God. The perverse man is an abomination to God (Prov. 3:32;
11:20), and so are the proud (16:5), liars (12:22), cheats (11:1; 20:10, 23),
hypocrites (15:8; 21:27; 28:9), and the unjust (17:15). Sin becomes so
identified with the sinner that the very person becomes reprehensible to the
Lord. This doesn’t negate His love, but we must keep in mind that God’s love is
a holy love as well as a sacrificing love. It’s a dangerous thing to
play with sin and defy the living God. “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his
neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (29:1, NKJV).”
3.4.2. The
scriptures tell us about God’s holiness and how that He hates sin (loves the
sinner) and also how that when a person loves God he must likewise hate sin,
for instance:
3.4.2.1. God hates
sin:
3.4.2.1.1.
Proverbs 6:16-19, “16 There are six
things which the Lord hates, Yes,
seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying
tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises
wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who
utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”
3.4.2.1.2.
Psalm 89:14, “14 Righteousness and
justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before
You.”
3.4.2.1.3.
Romans 1:18-20, “18 For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is
known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal
power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what
has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
3.4.2.2. We are to
hate sin:
3.4.2.2.1.
Proverbs 8:13, “13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance
and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.””
3.5.
One of the tests of our spirituality is whether or not
we become angry over the sin of others, as we well as the sin in our own
life. Do you hate sin? Do you have the same feeling towards and
opinion of sin as our God tells us in His word that He has towards it?
3.6.
One of the reasons that the church is losing ground to
the world today in the battle for souls is because we are not incensed when sin
is allowed to rule. When our country
legislates laws that promote sinful lifestyles, we Christians should become
angry and yet not sin. Because we are
complacent we have been losing ground and our country is sliding further and
further away from God’s standard of righteousness.
3.7.
Parents when you are rearing your children, do you get
angry when they sin, angry with a righteous anger? I don’t think we need to disciple our
children harshly, we just need to be consistent in our disciplining of them. However, as we discipline them we need to
communicate to them how wrong the things are that they do, and express a
righteous anger towards their sin. If we
do not have a righteous anger towards sin then our kids see this and they begin
to believe that it is really not so bad to live a life of sin.
3.7.1. Raising our
kids, my wife and I let them know early that if they did something wrong that
was one thing. However, if they lied
about what they had done they were now in really bad trouble. Lying raised the consequences for their wrong
doing to a much higher level as it caused a righteous anger within us.
3.8.
The fact is that for many or most of us there are
times when our anger is not a righteous type of anger, and thus Paul writes
here that we are not to allow the sun to go down on our anger. If we lose our tempers with others we must be
quick to confess that anger and that we are in the wrong. We should not go to sleep before we have
gotten right with our wife, our kids, our brothers and sisters in the Lord, our
non-Christian friends and neighbors, etc., whoever we have gotten angry
with. Allowing anger to continue without
making reconciliation with people produces no good result.
3.9.
Many Christians have a problem with their anger and
they can’t seem to get a handle on it.
However, if they simply would apply this principle when they have let
that anger express itself in a bad way, and then go and confess their sin to
that person that they got angry with, then they would be able to get over their
anger problem. After suffering the
embarrassment of asking for forgiveness a bunch of times a person is eventually
going to do something about his anger.
It is because Christians let the sun go down on their anger that they
have such a hard time conquering their anger.
3.10.
Now, if after considering what I have said so far you
are thinking that you just need to exert a little more control over your
temper, or let your temper express itself a little less, you are looking at
this problem the wrong way. Why would
you want to just reduce the amount of anger that you have? If you are having a problem with your temper
then the solution you need is to do what we studied in our last study, lay
aside the old self with its sinful practices, and put on the new self. You need to die to that old self and by faith
do what Paul told us to do in Rom. 6:11-14, “11 Even so consider
yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore
do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and
do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments
of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For
sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Believe that your old self has been crucified
with Christ and you are now walking in Christ’s resurrection life, and, in
faith begin to act upon that promise of God.
4. VS 4:27 - “27 and do not give
the devil an opportunity.” - Paul Tells
The Ephesians To Not Give The Devil An
4.1.
Whether its lying or losing your temper, or whatever
other sinful thing a Christian may do, he/she is giving the ‘devil an
opportunity’ in his/her life. We
need to realize that the devil doesn’t need us to help him out by giving him
more opportunities to make us stumble in our sin or cause others to stumble in
their faith.
5. VS 4:28 - “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 tells those who steal to stop doing so
5.1.
Believe it or not our English word “kleptomaniac”
is derived from this word for steal here which is “klepto” in the Greek.
5.2.
Stealing destroys fellowship.
5.3.
There are so many ways that people today steal. People pad their expense reports, take credit
for work they have not completed, do not report income on their income tax
forms, collect unemployment compensation without looking for a job, etc., etc.,
etc. However, all stealing is wrong and
a sin.
5.4.
We as Christians need to be people who instead of
looking for ways to get things for ourselves, we should instead look for ways
to serve and help out others. We need to
work jobs and make money so that we can use our resources for the winning of
souls. We need to be people who have
that thing that is called the “Protestant Ethic.”
5.5.
A Christian who is a hard worker is a great testimony
to others. On my job I want to be the
best employee for my company that I can be and thus I try to work hard
always. Is this your attitude towards
your secular work? It should be if you
belong to Christ.
5.6.
We Christians need to set a higher standard for
ourselves than the world has. For
instance, have you ever called up a company because they under-charged
you? I have a couple of times. The person on the phone was stunned and it
provided an opportunity for witness.
6. VS 4:29 - “29 Let no unwholesome
word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification
according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those
who hear.” - Paul tells
the Ephesians to not speak any unwholesome words but rather to use their tongue
for edification
6.1.
Here we see that the speaking of an ‘unwholesome word’
is forbidden. As Christians we must not
use our mouths as others in the world use their mouth. Our mouth is to be used for praising the
Lord, sharing the good news with a non-believer, and encouraging a brother or
sister in the Lord in God’s word. We
must never use our mouths for the speaking of what is considered to be
profanity.
6.2.
Profanity and abusive speech destroy fellowship.
6.3.
What constitutes “profanity” is not defined
here, and people in every culture have many different ideas about what it
is. However, in general “profanity”
is any type of speaking, any word, which may have a tendency to offend the
consciences of other people.
6.4.
James in his epistle writes about how that the tongue
is such a hard thing to control and yet that the controlling of the tongue is
really an accurate barometer of our spirituality, “James 1:26, “26 If
anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but
deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless,” 3:2-10, “If anyone does not stumble in
what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. 3
Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us,
we direct their entire body as well. 4 Look at the ships also,
though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by
a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. 5 So
also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great
things. See how great a forest
is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very
world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which
defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is
set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles
and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. 8
But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full
of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and
with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; 10 from
the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things
ought not to be this way.””
6.5.
Paul writes here that with our tongues that instead of
speaking profanity that we are to bring ‘edification’ or “building up”
of others in the things of the Lord.
But, not only are we to use our tongue for edifying we are to learn to
use it to meet the need that a person might have at any given time. We need to learn to speak appropriate words
of encouragement, etc. In Prov. 25:11 it
says, “11 Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken in right circumstances.” What a great blessing a person
can be if he can speak a word that contains just what people are needing to
hear at that time to be encouraged in the Lord.
7. VS 4:30 - “30 Do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” - Paul tells the Ephesians to not grieve the
Holy Spirit
7.1.
Here in this verse we see the Lord’s reaction to us
His children when we sin, He grieves.
7.2.
There is a teaching in some churches today that
because we Christians are in God’s grace now that the Lord is never
disappointed in us, however this verse dispels that myth. This verse reveals that the Lord is grieved
or “pained” whenever His children sin.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following definition for this Greek
word translated ‘grieve’ here:
3076 λυπέω [lupeo /loo·peh·o/] v. From 3077; TDNT 4:313; TDNTA 540; GK 3382; 26
occurrences; AV translates as “be sorrowful” six times, “grieve” six times,
“make sorry” six times, “be sorry” three times, “sorrow” three times, “cause
grief” once, and “be in heaviness” once. 1 to make
sorrowful. 2 to affect with sadness, cause grief, to throw into
sorrow. 3 to grieve, offend. 4 to make one
uneasy, cause him a scruple.
7.2.1. If God is
not disappointed in His children when they sin then why does 1 John 1:9 tell us
to confess and repent of our sins? If
God isn’t disappointed why would He listen or care? Though He loves us greatly He as a righteous
anger because of our sin.
7.3.
I have often mentioned to Christians when I hear them
swear that it is no accident that the exhortation to not let any unwholesome
word proceed from our lips is immediately followed by this one here that
admonishes us to not ‘grieve’ the Holy Spirit. Our swearing greatly grieves the Holy Spirit.
7.4.
Whenever we as God’s children sin we ‘grieve’
the Holy Spirit.
7.5.
Sin destroys fellowship.
7.6.
Paul reminds us here of the Holy Spirit’s sealing of us
for the day of salvation when the Lord shall return for us. If we know that we are saved and that Jesus
shall soon return for us this is great incentive for us to not ‘grieve’
Him here in this life.
8. VS 4:31 - “31 Let all bitterness
and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all
malice.” - Paul tells the Ephesians of a
bunch of things that they are to put away from themselves: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander,
and malice
8.1.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this Greek word translated ‘bitterness’ here :
4088 πικρία [pikria /pik·ree·ah/] n f. From 4089; TDNT 6:122; TDNTA 839; GK 4394;
Four occurrences; AV translates as “bitterness” four times. 1 bitter
gall. 1a extreme
wickedness. 1b a bitter root,
and so producing a bitter fruit. 1c metaph.
bitterness, bitter hatred.
8.1.1. We
Christians must be careful not to allow ourselves to become bitter and
unforgiving towards people. This is not
God’s way.
8.2.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this Greek word translated ‘wrath’ here:
2372 θυμός [thumos /thoo·mos/] n m. From 2380; TDNT 3:167; TDNTA 339; GK 2596; 18
occurrences; AV translates as “wrath” 15 times, “fierceness” twice, and
“indignation” once. 1 passion, angry, heat, anger forthwith boiling up and
soon subsiding again. 2 glow, ardour, the wine of passion, inflaming wine
(which either drives the drinker mad or kills him with its strength).
8.2.1. Here Paul is
speaking of the angry passions of men which are ungodly in nature. You can’t even drive on the freeway or go to
a sporting event without seeing something of this these days?
8.3.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this Greek word translated ‘anger’ here:
3709 ὀργή [orge /or·gay/] n f. From 3713; TDNT 5:382; TDNTA 716; GK 3973; 36
occurrences; AV translates as “wrath” 31 times, “anger” three times,
“vengeance” once, and “indignation” once. 1 anger, the
natural disposition, temper, character. 2 movement or
agitation of the soul, impulse, desire, any violent emotion, but esp. anger. 3 anger,
wrath, indignation. 4 anger exhibited in punishment, hence used for
punishment itself. 4a of
punishments inflicted by magistrates.
8.3.1. This is a
word that simply speaks of unrighteous anger that people in this world can
sometimes have towards others.
8.4.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this Greek word translated ‘clamor’ here:
2906 κραυγή [krauge /krow·gay/] n f. From 2896; TDNT 3:898; TDNTA 465; GK 3199; Six
occurrences; AV translates as “cry” three times, “crying” twice, and “clamour”
once. 1 a crying, outcry, clamour.
8.4.1. This word
may speak of causing disturbances, being a general problem to others,
complaining, etc.
8.5.
We Christians are not to go around “slandering”
others. We are not to speak poorly of
others and if we can’t say something good about someone we should not say
anything at all.
8.6.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this Greek word translated ‘malice’ here:
2549 κακία [kakia /kak·ee·ah/] n f. From 2556; TDNT 3:482; TDNTA 391; GK 2798; 11
occurrences; AV translates as “malice” six times, “maliciousness” twice, “evil”
once, “wickedness” once, and “naughtiness” once. 1 malignity,
malice, ill-will, desire to injure. 2 wickedness, depravity. 2a wickedness that is not ashamed to break
laws. 3 evil, trouble. Additional Information: For
synonyms see entry 4189, poneria.See entry
5855 for comparison of synonyms.
8.6.1. This word
speaks in general about intending to harm or in some way injure others.
9. VS 4:32 - “32 Be kind to one
another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has
forgiven you.” - Paul tells
the Ephesians to be kind and tender-hearted towards one another, and to forgive
each other
9.1.
The Lord wants His people to be ‘tender-hearted’
towards others. We are to treat others
in the same way that the Lord treats us.
How our lives would be different if we always treated others as the Lord
treats us.
9.2.
We must not become hard-hearted and not have
compassion upon people in their suffering.
The Lord wants us to always maintain a tender-heart towards others.
9.3.
Hard-heartedness and unforgiveness destroys
fellowship.
9.4.
I am amazed at how some Christians can claim that they
have received the incredible grace of God in their lives and yet they are not ‘kind’
to others and they refuse to “forgive others.” How can someone be forgiven such a huge debt
by God as each of us as sinners have amassed and yet at the same time refuse to
forgive someone else for doing something to us that is such a paltry
offense. In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus
taught the following parable about a man forgiven a great debt who wouldn’t
then in turn go and forgive someone who owned him a small debt, “23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a
king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him
ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord
commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had,
and repayment to be made. 26 “So the
slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying,
‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him
and forgave him the debt. 28 “But
that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred
denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay
back what you owe.’ 29 “So his fellow
slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying,
‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until
he should pay back what was owed. 31 “So
when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came
and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave,
I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in
the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the
torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of
you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
9.5.
Are you known for being a kind person? Some Christians get the wrong notion that we
Christians are not supposed to be kind to others.
9.6.
CONCLUSIONS:
9.7.
It is such an important thing for us as Christians to
avoid the things that destroy fellowship, both between us and the Lord and
between us and others. It is so
important that we as Christians learn to treat others in the same way that the
Lord treats us. So, lets:
9.7.1. Lay aside
all falsehood and lying.
9.7.2. Be angry with
righteous anger towards sin, loving the sinner in the process.
9.7.3. Not give the
devil any opportunities in our life.
9.7.4. Not let any
unwholesome word proceed out of our mouth but rather use our mouth for
edification.
9.7.5. Not grieve
the Holy Spirit.
9.7.6. Put away bitterness,
wrath, anger, clamor, slander.
9.7.7. Be
tender-hearted and forgive others as Christ has forgiven us.