06/10/2023
Do not get angry. What a challenge. As I studied this message and the verses it became clear that I get annoyed many times a day. Annoyance is a softer version of anger but it can clearly lead to anger and once this takes hold in our soul then Sin moves in. I'm really trying to see people thru the eyes of Jesus since, because of Grace, that's how God sees us.
This week's notes from Alistair Begg Ephesians message #40. Begg did 84 sermons on Ephesians totalling about 3 full days. 72 hours of Bible study on one book.
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Ephesians 4:25-28
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
29Do 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. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Two Headings Do Not Give the Devil a foothold & Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit
All those who dispossess God from their lives walk this world in their own imagination. They believe that their morals are as good as any in the world. They can lie and deceive themselves and others by suppressing the truth they have exchanged the truth of God with a lie in which they believe.
Speak the truth
Learn to be angry about the right things not all anger is wrong.
Be angry and do not sin. Hot indignation seizes me because of the wickedness against the law.
He who gets angry and does not sin may be angry at sin.
What does it mean to live in a kingdom of all light? What does it mean to be created after the likeness of God? When we are made new we are recreated in like to Jesus. The behavior of a Jesus believer must be entirely consistent to which they have become. Put off the Old and Put on the New.
Three things: Paul in Ephesians is clearly not giving an how to become a Christian instruction manual. He is giving an example of what the nature of progress in Christian desciplship and is explaining making it clear a principal of displacement and replacement. One does not exist without the other.
There is so much around us to infect us that we need to worship and fellowship because we constantly wrestle with what is means to be a new person in Christ. Commitment to marriage is a ratification that must take place every second, every minute and every hour of the day lest we give way to the Devil getting a foothold.
God has provided His Law of the 10 commandments to show us our sin so that we might understand that daily we fall short. Even the smallest sin has made you a law breaker. God does not grade on a scale. The law of God serves as a mirror to show us how dirty we are and how we are needing of a savior.
We can’t just have an intellectual agreement of Jesus as our Savior. The Law of God Honeyed with the Love us Christ makes us not wanting to do one thing to violate his covenant. A universal respect for the commandments of God is the only preservation from shame.
Pilgrims I walk by the working of my Master and you walk by the worldly walk of your fancies.
Speak the Truth. Absolutely crucial that we do not lie to each other. Un Godly suppress the truth. The have exchanged the truth for a lie. Put off lies, pretense and hypocrisy.
Don’t be angry and do not sin. Learn to be angry at the right things and for the right reasons. The absence of anger in the blatant disregard for the law is a sign of moral laxity. We’re all frogs in this gigantic kettle we call life. We have become accustomed to the blatant disregard for the laws of God.
Blatant evil should make the believer intolerant. Most of us have a greater problem with unrighteous anger. He that will be angry and will not sin, let him be angry about nothing but sin.
A justifiable angry reaction to impurity can then lead to a feeling of righteousness with can be a sin which then leads to a feeling of resentment which is sin, which then can become animosity which is sin and then that animosity then reflects itself in an action of revenge which is sin.
For most of us we are on the wrong side of anger. When someone is angry the devil loves that. Angry people cannot worship, sing, fellowship of pray together. It’s virtually impossible.
Christians have a new identity in Christ that should be reflected in our lifestyle. Alistair Begg reminds us that walking in a manner worthy of the calling we have received involves speaking truthfully, distinguishing righteous from unrighteous anger, and working diligently in order to give generous...
