What Should we be Speaking Truthfully About?

What Should we be Speaking 

Truthfully About?

 

Click here for Audio

Speaking the Truth in Love -

What Should We Speak About?
Ephesians 4:17 – 5:20
Psalm 8
18/05/2014

Response cards – really important!!

Intro – the Peril of Godlessness

Recently I was driving at around sunset and I pulled out in front of a car that didn’t have it’s headlights on.  Thankfully it was in a 50 zone and the car was far enough back that the driver could slow down and we didn’t have a crash.  But a lack of light when you’re driving can be dangerous.  About 20 seconds later another car pulled out behind us – this one had it’s lights on, including a set of spotties.  Spotlights are great when you’re driving in the country to help light up the road and roadside for a great distance, but in the city they’re plain dangerous.  The light shines in people’s mirrors or through the windscreen of oncoming cars and it can blind those drivers making things pretty dangerous for them.  It’s nice for the person in the car with spotties to be able to see better, it’s not OK for them to be putting other people in danger.

The absence of light is dangerous.  The unwise use of light is also dangerous.

The Bible very often uses light as picture of truth.  Scriptures like Psalm 119 and John 1 would be well known to you. 

Just like we don’t want to drive without light, we never want to live without truth – that’s a recipe for danger.  Similarly, we never want to use truth in a way that might serve our needs but put other people in danger.  We want to be speaking truth so that it builds people up and helps them to live in a way that glorifies God and blesses other people. 

So how do we speak truth well?  We do it in love.

We build our relationships in such a way that we are able to speak truthfully to each other even when it hurts, for the sake of helping one another grow to be like Christ.

We also care enough to want to speak skilfully.  We seek out the practical advice from God’s Word about how and when we should speak truthfully to one another to build people up rather than tear them down. 

That’s what we’ve spent the last few weeks in Ephesians 4 discussing.

We now come to the end of this topic.  We’ve talked about:

• Who should speak truth in love?  People who are growing in the depth of their love for God and each other.

• Why should we speak truth in love?  So that together we may grow up into Christ.  That is, so that we will experience the Unity with God and each other that Christ’s death and resurrection has won for us.

• When should we speak truth in love?  When we are ready to speak and they are ready to listen.

• How should we speak truth in love?  As people speaking the very words of God to each other.

• What truth should we speak about in love?  That’s today’s question!  It’s what Paul goes on to do for the Ephesians, having established the need to do so in the preceding verses.

Ephesians 4:17-25

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord,

No beating around the bush here!  Truth spoken in love is still expressed with the appropriate authority and seriousness.  What is Paul

that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

Stop and think about this for a minute.  This is Christian husbands and wives being told that they must no longer live in the same way their unbelieving spouses or children live.  This is Christian converts being told they can no longer live the way they were brought up to live.  This are people being told they can no longer live the way their friends or workmates live.  Paul is about to get very specific about the kinds of differences that will result from our changed thinking as we have received and believed the truth of God.

Let me give you a few things that he talks about over the next chapter or so:

• Christians should not lie.  Others may think lying is the best way to get what they want or protect themselves from what they don’t want, but a Christian knows that lying dishonours God and hurts people.

• Christians should not get drunk.  Others may turn to substances to escape their pain or to manufacture joy but a Christian knows that there is a better refuge and a deeper joy.

• Christians should not steal.  Others may think that stealing in some circumstances is OK but for a Christian to steal is to distrust God’s provision for them and to reject God’s intention that they share with others not steal from others.

• Christians should not speak obscenity, foolishness or vulgarity.  Others may think it funny, or do it to have a go at someone or to vent their anger.  Christians love what God loves and want to speak only that which honours God and is useful to build others up.  Good joking around is fun, but how often do people stray into foolishness or vulgarity in order to get a laugh?  The world might say that getting a laugh and making people feel happy is worth a bit of vulgarity, that’s not how a Christian thinks.

• Christians should not be sexually immoral, this dishonours the body given to us by God.  Other people may consider their bodies as their own to do with as they please.  Christians have been purchased by the blood of Christ – we are set apart for Him.

So there’s just a sampling of what gets talked about in the second half of the letter to the Ephesians.  Paul wants to speak truthfully and lovingly about how a Christian must live differently to those who do not follow Jesus.  He wants to describe what the journey to living in the fullness of Christ looks like – it’s to increasingly say “no” to these kinds of things and “yes” to Christ.

And he says that our speaking the truth to each other in love has an important role to play in helping us to do that. 

¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

²⁰ You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹ Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body.

So we’re meant to be living as new creatures unlike the old ones.  Let me give you a picture that might help you really grasp what is being talked about here.

In Romans 1 there is a very similar passage that talks about the way people in general have rebelled against God. 

Romans 1:21-25

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

The progression –

• Knew God but did not glorify or thank Him

• Thinking became futile and hearts darkened

• Worshiped and served created things instead of the Creator

• Gave themselves over to wickedness

This is the opposite to the progression described in Romans 12, Ephesians 4 and many other passages that describe the Christian life:

• Did not know God but God revealed Himself to us in Christ

• Our minds were enlightened and our hearts changed so that we,

• Worshipped and served the Creator instead of created things and therefore

• Gave ourselves over to righteousness

Think of it like this….

Solar System analogy!

Our lives are meant to revolve around something!  What you worship will determine what your life is like.

I’m excited that while I’m away you’ll be studying a selection of Psalms together.  There are so many Psalms - like Psalm 8 – which express so beautifully the glory of God and how it changes our experience of life.

That’s why after speaking very clearly about what the life of a Christian should and should not be like, Paul brings this section of the letter to a conclusion with:

Ephesians 5:19-20

¹⁹ Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What we worship determines how we live.  Notice this isn’t the same thing as worshipping at home with a CD playing – we are to “speak to one another” in these ways – musically and without music.

Conclusion:

So let’s get very practical – what will these two alternative lifestyles look like for you?

You could have such a passion for the glory of God that it orders your whole life.  You can’t wait to gather together with God’s people on Sunday to sing out together your praise to Him, to share His wonders with each other and give thanks together for what He’s done for us.  You’ll love speaking about God in your conversations with other believers as you have fellowship on Sundays and when you gather in homes and other places during the week.  You’ll love speaking about God whenever you have opportunity with those who don’t yet know Him.  You’ll pray constantly because God is always in your mind and your heart longs to be living with an awareness of His presence and in obedience to His will.  You’ll believe that He is so powerful and so good that He will answer your prayers in the best possible way.  You will care most about the things He cares for and hate the things He hates.

The alternative is not so good.

You could become indifferent to the glory of God and follow the pattern of this world instead.  You would rather sleep in or play or watch sport or even watch church on TV than gather with God’s people to glorify Him.  Playing it safe with people will become more important than speaking of God to them.  You will not feel inspired to pray except if God can serve some need you have, and then you wonder why He feels so distant.  You will find ways to get what you want in life that don’t fit with God’s ways.  Somehow they don’t seem to satisfy yet you begin to believe that this is as good as life gets.  You stray further and further from God and your heart becomes resigned to the fact that this is who you are.  Your definition of right and wrong bears little resemblance to God’s.  If it’s true that God will judge everyone according to His standards, you know that you’re in trouble.  Let’s hope He doesn’t really exist.

You might think that I’m overplaying the importance of gathering together to glorify God.  I’m just trying to get more people attending church more regularly.  I want to feel more successful as your Pastor by being able to say we’ve got so many people attending on Sundays and so many people in home groups etc.

If you’re thinking that, I want to say that you’re following the futile way of thinking of our culture.  You’ve taken on board our love of individualism.  We don’t want to feel responsible to anyone.  We want to be free to do our own thing.  We don’t need other people.

That is completely contradictory to what the Bible teaches.

Hebrews 3:12-13

¹² See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵ Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

How is it that we best encourage one another in the hardest times of life?  King David had it right:

Psalm 34:1-3

¹ I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

² My soul will boast in the Lord;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³ Glorify the Lord with me;

let us exalt his name together.

Friends that’s what we want to make sure we do together as well as we possibly can.  If you have ever been going through a tough time and have stood in a congregation to sing “It is Well” or “Blessed be the Name of the Lord” or “How Great Thou Art” or “Burdens are Lifted at Calvary” or “How Great is Our God” etc. then you’ll know what David means here.

(maybe ask for other suggestions!)

(This is why we don’t ever want our PA system to be louder than our congregation – we need to speak to  each other in our singing!  There’s a place for worshipping individually but in church we need to do it together.)

If you’ve ever had someone ask how you’re going who has detected there’s something not quite right in your response of “yeah, I’m fine”.  Someone who took some time to listen and pray with you in such a way that you found yourself being reminded of the love and faithfulness of God then you’ll know what David was talking about here.

There are times when our lives start to revolve around our problems and we need to be reminded that our problems are not worthy of God’s place.

There are times when our lives start to revolve around our pleasures and we need to be reminded that our pleasures are not worthy of God’s place.

There are times when our lives revolve around our fears and we need to be reminded that… our fears are not worthy of God’s place.

Nothing is worthy of God’s place.  Our ambitions.  Earthly relationships.  The opinions of others.  Possessions.  Whatever.

Every week we get together to glorify God and give thanks to Him and we need that reminder because other things are always trying to steal His place in our lives.  That’s why the book of Hebrews said “Don’t let your heart turn away from God.  Watch out for sin’s deceitfulness.  Think about how you’re getting together to spur each other on”. 

Today I want to give you an opportunity to think about your own commitment to helping us to be a church that glorifies God together.  I want to give you the chance to consider your own participation with the people who make up your church family – are you speaking to them in ways that glorify God and thank Him?  In ways that show that God is at the centre of our lives together?  In our singing and in our speech?

What can we do to help you with that?

If God is not being sufficiently glorified in our gatherings, other things will take His place.  Any church that has lost sight of the glory of God and instead seeks to please people or champion certain causes etc soon loses it’s way and ends up as Romans 1 says - not only producing deeds of wickedness themselves but approving of others who do so.  Haven’t we seen that happen?

Response Cards – how will you help and how can we help you?

So, What do We Speak Truthfully About in Love?

We speak about the glory of God, our worship of Him and what is appropriate for those who worship Him as opposed to the deeds that result from hearts and minds darkened by idolatry.  To speak clearly is the only loving course, because those paths lead either to our welcome into His eternal home or the suffering of His eternal wrath, not just for ourselves but for those who watch our lives.

May God grant all of us to have people in our lives who help us to steer clear of the seductions of the Romans 1 path and to recognise it quickly when we have allowed our hearts to turn away from the Living God.

Prayer – courage to examine our own lives and courage to go to those who have lost sight of God’s glory.