Eph4v25 to Eph5v2: BE IMITATORS OF GOD

Introduction. (Read the reference)

The previous passage was about putting off the old self and putting on the new. This theme is continued in verses 25 to 32. Paul now becomes more specific and deals with behaviour that must be abandoned and behaviour that must be adopted. He urges the Christian to change his clothes; to cast aside some articles of clothing to put on something better.

He suggests five changes:

(1) Put off falsehood to put on truth. Therefore each of you must put of falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body. v25.

Lying is widespread and common in the world and we need to be very careful that it is not imported into the church. There are many kinds of falsehood:

    (a) A declaration that something is right when it is wrong. This was the tactic first used in the Garden of Eden by the serpent who told Eve it was quite all right to eat of the forbidden fruit. "Ye shall not surely die." AV. What a whopper!

    In the early church there were Christians in Corinth who were teaching that it was permissible to use prostitutes, attend pagan feasts and belong to factions. Not so long ago there were Christians in the South of U.S.A. who thought it right to segregate the races for worship. Today there are ultra liberal Christians who want to "marry" homosexuals in their churches.

    (b) A declaration that something is wrong when it is right. The serpent in the garden suggested to Eve it was wrong to abstain from eating fruit that would make her wise, like God himself.

    In the early church Judaisers from Jerusalem went down to Antioch and persuaded the Jewish Christians it was wrong for them to take Communion with uncircumcised Gentiles. This led to much unrest.

    Today Christians are sometimes criticised for making a stand. There are a few highly principled Christians who will not play sport on Sunday if it interferes with their worship. Some might counsel that they are wrong to be so narrow and so rigid. But Jesus said, "Seek first the Kingdom of God ...."

    (c) Lying in the excuses we make. Many, many people invent untrue excuses to justify themselves and avoid censure. This can rebound to the discredit of the liar. For example:

    The story is told of four high school boys who couldn't resist the temptation to skip morning classes. Each had been smitten with a bad case of spring fever. After lunch they showed up at school and reported to the teacher that their car had a flat tyre. Much to their relief, she smiled and said, "Well, you missed a test this morning, so take your seats and get out a pencil and paper." Still smiling, she waited as they settled down and got ready for her questions.

    Then she said, "First question--which tyre was flat?"

    I have a friend who manages a firm of electricians. He said to me a few months ago, "I've had a bad day at work - two electricians off sick. I've had to invent some stories to fob clients off today. You can't be truthful in business." Well you can. You only need to be found out in a lie once or twice and all credibility will be lost.

    When Christians do not give the support they should, when they get irregular in their attendance at church services, excuses will be provided that are not always the truth.

    (d) Spin. There is a widespread tendency today to make out that things are better than they are. This happens in all walks of life. Some politicians seem unable to admit mistakes. There are pernicious head teachers who cannot admit that any problems exist in their school - bullying, what bullying!

    I very much dislike spin in Christian circles. Why do the biographers of eminent Christians air brush out their failings? It was so refreshing to read Roy Hattersley's biography of William Booth because the author did not sweep the great man's failings under the carpet. It is wrong for pastors when speaking about their churches to pretend that no problems exist - it just depresses other pastors who encounter numerous difficulties in their ministry.

    (e) Making promises that we either cannot keep or have no intention of keeping. We can be like the store manager who heard his assistant tell a customer, "No, ma'am, we haven't had any for a while, and it doesn't look as if we'll be getting any soon."

    Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, "Of course we'll have some soon. We placed an order last week."

    Then the manager drew the assistant aside. "Never," he snarled, "never, never, never say we're out of anything - say we've got it on order and it's coming. Now, what was it she wanted?"

    "Rain," said the shop assistant. (Told by James Dent, in Charleston, W.Va. Gazette.K)

    It is easy to make a promise so that someone feels good about us - or to feel good about ourselves - without ever intending to honour it. This may turn out to be a great let down for the person who received the promise. Some of my old pupils tell me that they are going to visit - or take me out to lunch - or write - but they never seem to get round to it. See my story: 'The football Match.'

    (f) Misrepresenting ourselves. This is very common. People make out that they are better than they are. It is quite common among teachers in secondary schools where eveyone seems to be in competition with everyone else. Such is one of the consequences of the government making schools publish their exam results. I've have heard teachers give the impression that they have no problems with any of their pupils. All of them are well behaved and work industriously. This a sheer fabrication. The church hasn't a monopoly on hypocrisy!

    Christians must be very careful not to emulate the Pharisees who pretended to be better than they were - even praying on street corners and whitening their faces to give the impression that they had been fasting. Jesus hated pretence. Consider what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. We must avoid claiming to be better than we are at all costs.

    (g) Misrepresenting others. Poor old Paul was badly misrepresented by the super-apostles from Jerusalem who poisoned the minds of some in Corinth against him. He spent much of his second letter to the Corinthians defending himself. See exposition on 2Corinthians10.

    I can remember our former pastor saying to me as he neared the end of his ministry with us, "Well John - we've got on well together. You know, before I started at Brockley, someone told me I would have no trouble with the members - but I would have to watch out for John Reed." It is a good job the pastor did not tell me who was responsible for this slur. I would, like Paul, have defended myself with much energy. My dear father was a pastor and I know how difficult it was for him. I would always try and be as supportive of the pastor as I possibly could for my father's sake - if for no other reason.

    Christians need to be very careful that they do not have the planks of bias, prejudice, ignorance or self-love in their eye before making judgements. Opinions distorted by bias or prejudice will be lies - as the criticisms of Jesus by his opponents were lies.

    (h) Mischief making. This is achieved by mis-quoting, quoting out of context, putting the worst possible construction upon what someone has said or done, exagerating or, indeed, inventing.

    When we lie in order to deceive; when we lie out of malice or spite; when we lie to ruin a man's reputation we do something very bad indeed. Such is the purport of this poem:

              First, somebody told it,
              Then the room couldn't hold it,
              So the busy tongues rolled it
              Till they got it outside.
              Then the crowd came across it,
              And never once lost it,
              But tossed it and tossed it,
              Till it grew long and wide.
              This lie brought forth others,
              Dark sisters and brothers,
              And fathers and mothers--
              A terrible crew.
              And while headlong they hurried,
              The people they flurried,
              And troubled and worried,
              As lies always do.
              And so evil-bodied,
              This monster lay goaded,
              Till at last it exploded
              In smoke and in shame.
              Then from mud and from mire
              The pieces flew higher,
              And hit the sad victim
              And killed a good name.

Paul urges Christians to tell the truth. He does so for a reason: For we are all members of one body. v25.

Chrysostom wrote: If the eye sees a serpent, does it deceive the foot? If the tongue tastes what is bitter, does it deceive the stomach?

Very bad consequences occur when false messages are sent. The belly might send out a message that it is full when it isn't. The body would eventually starve to death. The foot might send out the message, "No pain, no pain," when there should have been pain. Eventually sores and gangrene develop. The ear can produce all sorts of loud, unreal noises that drives the body to distraction.

Christians need to be open and perfectly truthful one with another if the church is to be healthy, effective and united.

The first governor-general of Australia was a man by the name of Lord Hopetoun. One of his most cherished possessions was a 300 year old ledger he had inherited from John Hope, one of his ancestors. Hope had owned a business in Edinburgh, where he first used this old ledger. When Lord Hopetoun received it, he noticed that it had inscribed on its front page this prayer, "O Lord, keep me and this book honest!" Such should be our prayer and practice.

(2) Put off settled anger and put on charity. "In your anger do not sin." Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. v26.

Anger is a subject I know a great deal about as I am very prone to it. I think there are three sorts:

    (a) Righteous anger at gross injustice to others and wickedness in all its forms. Jesus was angry on several occasions. He was angry at the profiteering in the Temple, the legalism of the Pharisees who objected to the man with a withered arm being healed on the Sabbath (Mk3v5) and the spite of his opponents who revelled in his apparent failure to save Lazarus from death.

    I was angry with the local authority who banned two Christians from fostering because of their views on homosexual relationships. I was so angry I wrote to my MP! I was very angry at a profiteering company who charged an old blind friend of mine a call out charge of £140 for changing the battery in her stair lift. Wicked!

    It would be wrong not to be angry at some of things that have happened in Britain recently: reckless behaviour by bankers, fiddling by MPs and phone hacking by newspapers.

    (b) Anger that arises out of being in a bad mood. An executive comes to work with a hangover and then proceeds to take it out on his employees. A cricketer gets a duck at cricket and takes it out on the pavilion and any team-mate who is foolish enough to stray into his vicinity. A bank holiday family outing gets caught up in a horrendous traffic jam and everyone in the car snaps and snarls at each other.

    We can all inflict bad tempered outbursts on innocent parties when we are disappointed or frustrated. This is unrighteous anger.

    (c) There is another kind of anger that is neither especially good nor terribly bad. I suppose you could say it is understandable. There is:

    • Anger produced by other people's stupidity. This can result in frustration and a sense of grievance. I experienced this over and over again as a school teacher. Children's idleness and gratuitously disruptive behaviour always made me angry. Pupils who did not do their homework made me angry. Idiots who flicked paper pellets at one another behind my back made me angry.

    • Anger at personal injustice. I think it is highly likely that if we are accused of doing something we haven't done, criticised unfairly or belittled we shall be angry.

    • Anger at the selfishness of others - thoughtless, unhelpful and disloyal behaviour is liable to upset the best of us.

    Now three things are essential if we are to 'sin not':

    • Our anger must be proportionate to the offence. This is where I sinned. During my career as a teacher there were times I blew up quickly and violently. I overreacted and my anger was way over the top.

    • Our anger must be tempered by extenuating circumstances. Before we flare up at a perceived wrong we should ask ourselves what might have caused it. Perhaps someone was brusque or abrupt because they were preoccupied with a problem.

    • Our anger must be short lived. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. v26.

      The worst thing to do is to hold on to our anger and to feed it. Someone has written: Of the 7 deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savour to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back - in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.

      One of the ways to ensure our anger is short lived is to focus on the positives. I can remember having a student teacher in the classroom to observe how I taught Geography. During the course of the lesson I checked that the children had completed their homework. Several had not. I was furious! After the lesson I said to the student: "What a shower - a third of them hadn't done their homework." She replied, "You should be pleased that two thirds of them had done it." A brave lady!!

      But it does help to moderate our anger with someone if we focus on their good points.

    I found as a teacher that children accepted short-term anger when they had clearly been in the wrong. What they couldn't abide was the teacher who harboured a grudge - who had it in for them - who actively disliked them.

    Paul said that the great danger of nourishing anger is that it gives the devil a foothold. Our enemy will ensure resentment and bitterness flourish and relationships suffer.

    I can recall many years ago now making a relatively innocuous remark to our pastor about his sermon. He went ballistic! I wasn't all that pleased! However, I knew why he was so angry. The pastor had overheard one of the ladies complain to me about his habit of removing the flower display from the communion table whenever he gave his children's address. I also bore in mind that the pastor was an invariably good humoured, affable and amiable man. Thirdly I had to remember the many, many occasions my temper had flared in the classroom. So when the pastor phoned me later in the day I wasn't angry with him and his outburst never affected my relationship with him. But it could have! A careless remark about flowers on the communion table could have had disastrous consequences.

    We must follow the advice of the psalmist: In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Ps4v4. Perhaps this means, before you enjoy the sleep of innocence - fill your mind with charitable thoughts and be at peace.

    (3) Put off theft and put on generosity.

    He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Eph4v28.

    This seems strange advice to Christians. Surely this couldn't be a serious problem in the church. However there are many kinds of theft:

      (a) Tax avoidance. In a sample of 400 nurses, more than 90% failed to report all their income. In an audit of 4000 California returns that showed large charitable contributions, the vast majority of those filing the returns were found to be cheating. On average, they each owed additional taxes of $5,800. Tax evasion is becoming not just sickness but an epidemic, no longer kept secret but widely admitted, even joked about and accepted.

      Everyone who avoids paying tax ensures the honest pay more. One man's tax avoidance is another man's tax increase.

      Christians have a financial obligation to the church they attend. Those who do not fulfil their obligation either ensure others have to pay more or the ministers of the church are not adequately remunerated. There is no doubt that in the past, the parsimony of God's people kept many Grace Baptist pastors, including my own father, poor. I decided at an early age never to be dependent upon God's people for my income.

      (b) Time theft. . Robert Half estimates that time theft costs U.S. businesses $230 billion a year. These crimes cover the fake sick day, getting someone else to punch in your card on the time clock, making personal telephone calls, conducting private business in the workplace.

      There is little doubt many Christians in large churches are guilty of time theft. They may attend a service on Sunday but that is the only time they render to God. The drones in the church will not take responsibility for anything. Their inactivity means that others have to do too much - or essential work remains undone.

      (c) Make false claims to receive benefits you are not entitled too. In Britain car insurance premiums have rocketed skyward. The reason for this is a huge increase in personal injury claims. People are claiming for injuries they never incurred.

      Social security fraud is endemic. People claim invalidity benefits who are not invalids. This just increases the tax bill for honest folk.

      In the early church young widows were a problem. They expected to be looked after whereas in fact they could have worked for a living. There were others - plausible, eloquent, impressive men - who claimed to be prophets and charged fat fees for their services.

      There remain in the church loaves and fishes disciples - people who attend church for what they can get out of it.

      (d) Defraud by promising a service that is either not delivered or not necessary; or overcharging for a service.

      There are all sorts of scams out there. I got caught up in one. I was persuaded on the telephone to pay a set sum each month to insure my Sky Box against developing a fault. In the event of a fault it was impossible to contact the company. You just got a phone engaged signal. At present there is another scam where elderly people are contacted by crooks who pretend to be Microsoft engineers and told that their computers have a virus that means they will catch fire. They are invited to pay £70 to have the virus removed!

      I think churches in which the prosperity gospel is preached are running a scam. Congregations are told that if they make hefty contributions to the church God will give them all they desire. Health and wealth, fame and fortune will be theirs. Preachers out to line their own pockets with preaching like this are little more than confidence tricksters.

      (e) Robbery - taking what is not ours to take. The theft of goods has to be paid for by the honest majority either in increased insurance premiums or in higher prices.

      How does the church rob people? I think it is robbery to demand payment to enter a church. Great cathedrals were not built to be tourist attractions or commercial businesses. Christians can be robbed of their opportunity to serve. I met an old lady when I was visiting my brother in Hastings. She and a few other elderly folk were having a Spartan meal in a cheap cafe. They were the remnant of a former church luncheon club. The new, young, charismatic pastor closed the luncheon club. In so doing he robbed those who ran it of an opportunity for service, the elderly of a decent meal and happy fellowship one with the other. It was a wicked thing to do.

    What we should do instead:

      (a) Work hard - even if it is only menial, manual work.

      (b) Use part of what we earn to help those in real need.

    We don't work hard just for our own benefit or the benefit of our families but to help others. Two contrasting characters in the New Testament set us a fine example. The apostle Paul worked with leather in order to support both himself and his companions on his ministry travels. He was a burden to no one.

    Then there is the certain poor widow who Jesus noticed putting her two lepta into the temple collecting boxes. She worked hard at some menial task for a pittance - but, nonetheless, was determined to share that pittance with her God. See exposition on the poor widow.

    (4) Put off destructive talk and put on constructive conversion. Do 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.

    A lot of our talk is neutral - about the weather, our work, news of mutual acquaintances, our health and so on. It doesn't do much harm nor does it do a great deal of good. But there is:

    (a) Destructive talk - talks that spreads rottenness in the world. Such talk:

    • Is over critical - focusing on the weaknesses and failings of our fellow Christians.

    • Is negative - putting a damper on any new initiatives.

    • Dwells on what might have been.

    • Rakes over old coals and stirs up bad memories and old hatreds.

    • Recycles juicy scandal.

    • Publicly airs doubts about the gospel story.

    • Deals frivolously and irreverently with Divine truth.

    (b) And Constructive conversation. Such talk:

    • Revels in how good the Lord has been to us. John Bunyan was mightily impressed by the conversation of a few old woman in the street. They were just chatting about how good God had been to them in their daily round and common task. It set him on the road to life. Many years ago now I used to visit Doris Golding. Her favourite conversation was the Lord and his goodness to her. She always raised my spirits.

    • Delights in how good our fellow Christians have been to one another. When I used to visit my old friend Henry Underwood he loved me to speak well of fellow Christians. He didn't want to hear any complaints!

    • Discusses the great things the spirit is doing all over the world. After I had finished a very tough game of Scrabble with another old friend Dorothy she reminisced about the pain she suffered from an arthritic hip. At that time she had a CD of my sermon on Nicodemus and Jesus. She played the section on the Holy Spirit over and over again. Her morale was very, very low but the Spirit himself used that sermon to thrill her soul and cheer her up. I was remarkably eloquent when I preached on that passage. It was an all too rare instance of the Spirit taking hold of me and using me to bless another. See exposition on John3v1to12.

    • Is hopeful and cheerful - confident in the promises of Jesus.

    • Appreciative and encouraging. I was preaching at Occold recently and a lady, Mrs Noller, said, "I am always pleased when my husband speaks at your church. He always comes home so happy and encouraged." The few folk who worship at Brockley Baptist chapel are appreciative and always thank God's servants for their ministry.

    • Gives sound advice and good counsel. We read in Proverbs15v23: A word in season, how good it is. Happy is the man who can find an appropriate word for the situation: a word to guide, a word to encourage, a word to reassure, a word of hope, a word of love - a word from the Spirit.

    On a windswept hill in an English country churchyard stands a drab, gray slate tombstone. The quaint stone bears an epitaph not easily seen unless you stoop over and look closely. The faint etchings read:

              Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,
              lies Arabella Young,
              Who on the twenty-fourth of May,
              began to hold her tongue.

    I hope this would never be written of you - or me!

    (5) Put off what upsets the Holy Spirit and put on what makes you more like God.

    (a) There are certain kinds of behaviour that grieve the Spirit. Some of our behaviour grieves our friends and family. Some of my pupils who had real affection for me never liked to see me rant and rave because then they saw me in the worst possible light. My temper spoiled me and it grieved them.

    The Spirit is upset by:

    • Bitterness - a settled resentment of someone's past behaviour brooking no possibility of reconciliation. Some time ago I read the obituary of Mr Wilful Misconduct in the Daily Telegraph. The man changed his name by deed poll after being dismissed from his job for wilful misconduct. He was never going to forgive and forget - nor, sadly are some Christians.

    • Rage - violent, frightening outbursts of temper that flare up and as quickly subside. This does a great deal of harm. My father used to tell me, "John, you can undo a lifetime's good work with one outburst of bad temper." It is a pity I didn't pay more attention to him.

    • Anger - a disgruntled, belligerent spirit - a kind of settled antagonism, perhaps caused by a boring, ill-paid job or unhappy marriage. People who are angry all the time tend to be disagreeable, disobliging, truculent and difficult. We have all met these surly individuals doing jobs where they can make life difficult for others - eg church caretaker.

    • Brawling and slander - loud, insulting and intimidating language. This is the language of the parade ground - the language of the Sergeant Major bullying new recruits. It can also be the language of the classroom or even the pulpit. Some preachers shout, threaten and dangle sinners over the fires of hell. It is an approach that grieves the Spirit.

    • All malice - every kind of nastiness including spiteful, hurtful, cutting remarks. Some Christians are very good at cutting someone down to size, putting them in their place. I can recall taking a funeral, doing my best and receiving thanks from some of the mourners. One old lady thought I had had quite enough compliments and said, "John, my son reckons he's a better Christian than you are - you're such an old misery." That was a shaft from Satan!!

    All these traits make us very, very unattractive.

    (b) There are qualities to cultivate that make us like God. Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children, and live a life of love.

    Paul mentions four qualities:

    • Kindness - making concessions to the weakness of others or providing help in time of need. Jesus showed much kindness during his earthly ministry. I love the way he helped his mother save the day at the wedding feast when the wine ran out. He ensured 5000 got a good meal before setting off for home late in the day. The risen Lord cooked breakfast for his disciples on the shore of Lake Galilee. And so I could go on.

      I sometimes watch a man help two old ladies with their shopping in Waitrose. He shows great patience as they slowly perambulate round the store. He fetches and carries, packs the bags, pays at the till and then goes on a search and rescue mission for one of the ladies lost in the aisles on her remorseless search for gin.

    • Compassion or tender heartedness such that assistance is provided thoughtfully, carefully, gently and lovingly.

      The way we help is very important. It is possible to help grudgingly, sparingly, roughly, impatiently and coldly.

      There is a great deal of difference in the way nurses take blood. Some do it in a way that causes some discomfort. Others have a tender touch and are able to perform the task with the minimum of pain

      I would usually help pupils who asked for help - but I often did so in a fairly brusque fashion. My old colleagues Es and Ros did so graciously. These two teachers were greatly loved by their pupils not least for the solicitous way they helped.

      Jesus had a tender touch; just read the lovely story of how he brought back Jairus' daughter to life. See exposition on Luke8v40to56.

    • Forgiveness. If we are wronged we must be put the wrong behind us. We mustn't let it affect our relationship with the person who has wronged us. If we achieve this we will be like God of whom Isaiah wrote: I have swept away your offences like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Is44v22.

    • Love - live a life of love. It is clear from the context that Paul is thinking of a life of sacrificial service motivated by love. It will ascend, he says, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. We need to serve God's people and to do so graciously and winsomely. There is absolutely no shortage of ways in which to do so. My mother did so by visiting or entertaining the elderly and lonely. I have her 1960 diary before me. In it there are numerous references to visiting Nellie or having Nellie for the day. Poor old Nellie had a cleft palate and couldn't talk properly. She lived at the village pub with her sister. It could have been no easy task having her for the day.

    If we can only exhibit these qualities we shall be like God - decked out in his clothes - bright shining as the sun.

    ANY COMMENTS FOR JOHN REED: E-mail jfmreed@talktalk.net

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