Good for edification, Eph, 4:28-29

One of the things that we're going to be doing is, because these verses kind of split out nicely, verse by verse, we'll be doing that. Before we get there, though, let's take a look at a few things. You're going to see a pattern in some cases, and this is true of both these verses.

In the passages ahead, you're going to see this kind of a negative statement, and then a but, and then the positive statement, as we illustrated before, kind of a red light, green light type analogy. And we're going to see that starting negative pattern there, that's going to be the lifestyle of the old man. He said, that must, from here on out, stop. No longer would that be the case. And then we're going to see a word or two of sharp contrast, and then a positive statement about the new man, about who you are in Christ as a believer. So, to put it succinctly or simply, not this, but this. Not the old man and his behavior and expression, but the new man, expression of the life of Christ.

Okay. We're going to see that in verse 29 as we go through it as well. Similar kind of pattern there. A red light, green light pattern, if you will. And not the confusion, because it'll be not the old man, but the new man, so there's no confusion. That didn't work. Anyway, you get the idea.

There's another pattern that we're going to see. It's true in both of these verses, and you'll see it somewhere else as well. And that is that Paul, in the green light portion, if you're willing to bear with me on that, in the part that is a positive statement, so that this positive activity with this outcome, so that there is this resulting outcome, there is an intended, an effect, an outcome from the life of the new man. All right, now we'll split these verses up here, take a look at them one at a time, and isn't it nice, we'll start with verse 28.

Makes sense? All right, now, situation here is you had, and this is an artistic rendering, obviously not a photograph of an archaeological site. This is the Temple of Artemis as reconstructed from descriptions that we have. and some interesting things.

It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was something that the Ephesians were very proud of. It was the center of the worship of the goddess Artemis and there were a thousand temple prostitutes there. Just an amazing number that were involved in the temple prostitute activity. It was also interestingly enough a safety deposit box location for that part of the Roman Empire. A good deal of personal treasury was held there. This is the site now. Not very glorious, is it? Out of over 120 columns, that's the only one standing.

A legal quirk of the Temple of Artemis was this. A criminal who could make it, and the measure was within a bow shot, the Temple of Artemis could not be charged with the crime. If you have stolen something, for example, you would not be charged with the crime as long as you could get within a bow shot of the temple before they caught you.

Isn't that amazing? So you can imagine this was a magnet for thieves and swindlers and those who would like to get something out of somebody for less than a work. Just imagine if we were here, and so let's say there was some strange quirk of law here in Denver, and that if you could get within say 600 yards of Holly Hills Bible Church, okay, that they couldn't charge you with any crime. Can you imagine what that would do? Imagine how full we'd be. Anyway, that's just to kind of give you some thought along the line. This is why Paul would write here in 428, he who steals must steal no longer. He didn't have to write that to any other church, not that there wasn't some kind of a problem, but such an explicit statement.

Ephesus was this magnet for those who had hot fingers. This home base rule obviously encouraged theft, but that isn't the only reason that people would steal. There were all the other reasons that are the same reasons that we have for people stealing now. Sometimes work was erratic, people had sometimes severe needs and they say, hey, you know, I got to feed my family or feed my face or whatever the need was. There was also just the usual jealousy, envy, you have that, I'd like it kind of thing. Laziness and dishonesty went on top of it. So the problem was severe for all the regular reasons in the Temple of Artemis home safety rule, home base rule on top of that.

So what does Paul say? He who steals, That's a present active participle. So this isn't a, you know, you who used to be stealing, it's you who have been stealing up to this point right now. Okay? So it's a present problem. It isn't something that Paul was saying, you know, in the past you had this problem. Right now, some of you have this problem. Okay? Now, it's pretty easy to see that stealing is not a very productive activity. It doesn't really produce anything. It is taking from one who has and giving involuntarily to the one who doesn't.

So perhaps immediately come to mind, you're thinking of, you know, all right, some pickpocketing, shoplifting, that kind of thing. And certainly that must have gone on. But, you know, today we've invented new ways of stealing. Have you noticed that? Stealing utilities. Here's something in my engineering past that I encountered. going through various, you know, projects, stealing utilities.

That meter on the right has an illegal tap on it. Somebody's getting free juice. Ran into one project where we had one fellow who was in the project area, extremely antagonistic, and then we found out why. For the last 20 years, he'd had an illegal water tap, okay, around the meter.

And so that sort of thing goes on. These days, there's, by the way, a sweeping mechanism available. They can pick up within a one-mile radius, all the cell phones, and get all the codes, and then use all those numbers. That sort of thing goes on these days. Identity theft, big problem, okay? And then there's all the other usual.

There's lots of other things that death can mean, and some of the things doesn't immediately come to mind. Some of the things are very relevant. This is not an ancient problem. It's a very present problem in our culture, and some of the things may be a little bit less obvious, but once you think about it, it's along the same lines.

That's why Paul gave Timothy instructions. In his day, when Timothy was sent to Ephesus, he says, I want to tell you, this is how we deal with the widows. Those who really have needs, we want to meet those needs. Just make sure that they're really valid needs. And so that's what he said to Timothy, finishing it with, the church must not be burdened so that we may assist those who are really widows indeed.

All right, so then, Those who have been stealing must steal no longer. The Greek word klepto, and that ends up being sort of a shorthand term for those who steal today. Interesting. It's a present active imperative there, must right now, no longer be continuing to steal. Those who have been stealing up to this point, so the people imagine there's someone hearing or reading this letter. Those who have been stealing up to this point, from this point forward, no more. Okay? It must stop. Now, some folks might look at this verse and they'd think, you know, that sounds an awful lot like some verses I've heard in the law.

How is this really any different from the, just the law of Moses sort of restated? Exodus 20, 15, for example, says thou shalt not steal or you shall not steal in the modern versions. But bottom line is it lays it out. Deuteronomy 1511, you shall freely open your hand to your brother, to the needy and poor in your land. Now doesn't it sound to me like you just got law all over again? What's going on here?

Isn't Ephesians 4.28 just like the law? So what's the difference? What is the difference? Why did he not just list the Ten Commandments and get on with it?

Let's take a look. The law points to an earthly location, the land, points to the people in Israel, a specific people, they'll be blessed in earthly ways if they obey in their own strength this law. Grace points to a heavenly location where the church saints have already been blessed, not blessed if in the future, but already been blessed, done deal.

Because remember, these people in Ephesus that he wrote to, they're saying, you who are stealing, he already told them In 1.3, you've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Done deal. Energized to carry out the imperatives by the life of Christ.

Ephesians 3.20 and 21. So let's look at that.

You get what? The law or grace? You get who? Is it Israel or the church? You have when? Are you blessed after, if, depending on, Or, are you blessed unconditionally beforehand? You see, the law says if you do the right action beforehand, you do the action first, then God blesses you afterwards. If you do the wrong action, you'll be cursed.

You want to read about that in more detail? Deuteronomy 28, the whole chapter is full of it. Or, grace says you're blessed first. And then what Paul is exhorting them to is the right action after and on the basis of having been blessed. Now, what if you're blessed and then the wrong action follows? You're still blessed. How about that? That's grace. Very different from law. How about the where?

The land of Israel. One of the things that keeps cropping up in the Old Testament law is the land, the land, the land, the land, the land, the land. Truth is, as I've looked through those laws, It is almost impossible to carry out the law if you're not a Jew in Israel with a temple, because at some point you're going to have trouble. So much of it is in the land. So much of it has to do with the temple. So much of it has to do with the distinction between the Jew and non-Jew. So in the land of Israel or seated in the heavenlies. And finally, the law done in your own strength or the life of Christ.

Now, I kind of surprised Wendy this morning, and I told her, well, I'm going to do the praise songs in the middle of the message, so you can stand with me here, okay? We'll sing this together. Do this and live, the law commands, but gives me neither feet. Nor hand a better way His grace does bring, it bids me fly and gives me wings. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the Lord! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the Lord.

Thank you. You may be seated. Okay. The law says do it. You do it. Paul is not saying you do it. He's saying the life of Christ does it. Big difference. The law doesn't give me feet or hands. It says you must do it. And believe me, it's a problem. Instead, he says, no, that's why I've just spent three chapters telling you who you are in Christ before I even told you to do anything or not do anything. Because we've been provided by God's grace with the power, the enablement, His energizing, in order to make these things happen, not by our own strength.

So, why must the stealing stop? There is no basis in stealing in the believer's position. It is not because there's a law that says you will not steal. The truth is many of them have been getting away with this for a long time. And with the law in Ephesus the way it was, they could steal.

He says that's not the point. You may have been able to get away with it for decades. You may up to this very moment have been able to get away with it. That's not the point. The point is your position in Christ, which is already established, is completely inconsistent with your continuing to steal. But it's not all about stopping something. It's about what must go on instead, isn't it?

And that's what both of these verses point out. The believer's eternal position in life and Christ have a positive expression, not just a, don't do something. I talked to an unbeliever one time, and he says, I can tell when people are Christians They don't do stuff. Christians are people who just don't do things. But Paul's point here is quite the opposite of that, isn't it? It is not just a question of what don't you do, but what happens instead. And notice that he elaborates more on that than on the negative.

Working for the good and sharing in order to meet the need of another person. He says, but rather, here is the strong aversive or strong negative or contrast. But rather, instead of that negative thing, strong contrast, this instead. That's his point. It's a radical difference not only in behavior, but also the source. Instead of the sinful nature calling the shots, which looks like this, in sharp contrast, It is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ as the source, which looks like this.

That's what he's describing. He must labor. Now, as a present active imperative, he must labor. Not that it's a good idea, not to be advised, not considerate, but it is something he must do, okay? Must right now be continuing to labor. From this point in time on, that's what he's to do.

It's kapia'o, which is to work hard Some places it has the meaning even of to work to the point of exhaustion. Interestingly enough, it is the word for working or laboring that is commonly used of those who work in ministry, and not just those who are an elder or a pastor, although it's used for that. But people in a lot of different aspects of ministry, this is those who work hard, tapiao, who labor in the ministry here.

Performing with his own hands what is good is the positive statement. He isn't saying that Christians must do manual labor, that that's the only thing that they're doing. The point is, what have they been doing with their hands up to this point? Hot-finger Luigi, right? They've been out there trying to, you know, use the hands to grab something quick. Quick hands and then quick legs, okay? He's saying no. Instead, what has to happen is those hands that have been used for something negative Now it must be used for something positive, a different use of the hands.

That's his focus, not restricting us to manual labor. The hands are now constructive, a good outcome instead of a bad one. Think about this thing, working. Working is not something that came because of the fall. It is something that the Lord created from the very outset.

You look at Genesis 2.5 and I think 2.15, you could add that on there too. Work didn't come about as a result of the fall, but its nature was changed as a result of the fall, and the nature of the worker was changed as a result of the fall. See the difference? So, work has changed, but it is still a good thing. It's something that God instituted before the fall. It's not a result of the fall. Now, work is a good thing. One of the places that we could point is the Lord himself. He worked in a demanding trade. It was recognized in Mark 6 3, isn't this Jesus, this carpenter? This is the carpenter, it said.

And by the way, in those days, it wasn't just what you did in the carpenter's shop. There wasn't any lumber yard in Nazareth or any of the other towns. A carpenter had to also be a logger. So if somebody said, I need this done, you didn't just go down and get a piece of lumber and make something. you went out and picked the tree and felled it and dragged it into the shop with however you had to do it. So it was a hard job. Jesus worked hard as a carpenter. There wasn't any Home Depot in Nazareth. Paul himself said, you know, we work and toil with our own hands, told the Corinthians. He told the church at Thessalonica. Certainly we work, but we don't want to be a burden to anybody.

He even says in the second letter to them, apparently this was a chronic problem there, that the believers most certainly ought to be working and earning their own keep and their own bread, and that they not be weary of doing good. So that, here's the so that outcome, he will have something to share with the one in need. The one who stole not only needs to stop the stealing, but be constructively occupied. Not only to the point of meeting his own needs, you notice Paul just assumed the meeting his own needs point, but he says to be able to share with another, going beyond meeting my own needs to sharing. It's not just a question of am I self-sufficient, can I provide for myself, that's assumed. But looking for and meeting the needs of another, that's going to be key. You see, it goes down to the heart, doesn't it?

The thief says this, you're going to share with me, involuntarily, I'm not going to ask, and I couldn't care less about your needs. That's the mindset of the thief. The life of Christ and the believer, and what he's saying here is this is the radical change that is going to take place in those who even were formerly thieves, says, I'm going to share with you, voluntarily, because I do care about your needs. Now, let's go on to verse 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.

One of the things we'll notice is Paul isn't done talking about talking. He's actually bringing up a subject that he's going to elaborate on two more times. And one of the things we point out when we're studying through Philippians, it's good to keep in mind, is that when a point is brought up in a letter, it's probably because it was a problem. If it's brought up more than once, it's probably because it was a big problem. So one of the things we're seeing using that principle here is that the way that people talked to one another and to others in Ephesus was a big issue. So he is introducing the subject.

Ephesians 4.31, he's going to deal with other expressions related to language, but explicitly clamor and slander. Clamor is just disorganized angry racket. We'll get into that more when we get there.

Ephesians 5.4, there must be no filthiness or silly talk, coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. So he's going to continue to address this issue.

It is a big one among the church at Ephesus. You see, the word that comes out of here, and here, and here, and here, goes into ear, and ear, and ear, and ear. And if it goes into these things called ears, it also goes into here. It goes into the mind and into the heart.

What we say does matter. What we say does matter. If you look at this here, there's no unwholesome word, it's a present active imperative. The Greek there, the King James has it corrupt, the Greek is sapros, and it has a kind of a range of different meanings. It includes, as we pointed out here, worthless, putrid, and rotten. Those are the ideas that are conveyed. The Greek word for word is logos, it conveys content. That's why the King James has it as no corrupt communication, because it is the content that's being focused upon. So what's the increment of communication that matters?

When does it have to start being a point of concern? Is it paragraphs? Sentences? Then you start getting worried about it. Does it come up when it's phrases? No. It actually breaks down to words. Can we Enter into the issue that Paul's bringing up with one word. Ever had one word that really lit the forest on fire? Yeah, can happen. One word is maybe all it takes to cause a big problem or to make a big difference in somebody's life for the better.

It's at that level, the smallest point of communication. That's the pivot, if you will. Notice Paul's distinction. It's either worthless and putrid or it's edifying. It's one or the other. What Paul's asking us to continue to do here is consider the source, where is this coming from, and what's the effect, what's the impact.

The musts and the must-nots, because we've got both of them here, those are based on our position in the life of Christ. The must-not is not just because he wants to be legal or he wants to be heavy-handed. but because he wants to communicate, that is completely inconsistent with the position we have in Christ and the life of Christ. The must is because that is indeed what is consistent with the life of Christ. We are given one singular conclusion with this, our position from the life of Christ. Notice that he doesn't just say, this is an imperative and you've got three of them here and you can take your choice. He's saying, there is one logical conclusion out of this, from the life of Christ.

Singular, logical conclusion. There's something else that's interesting. If you look at the negative, they're fairly short in these verses, aren't they? The positive is what he elaborates on. The positive is where he puts the so that. The positive is where he gives several different kinds of instructions. And that's a good thing. He is elaborating on the impact of the life of Christ in each believer.

What does that look like? Now, proceed from your mouth. Now notice, here is the gate, okay? Once the putrid word is out, it's out. You know, it's funny, we got undo buttons on computers. Maybe you've used them enough and see those where you go click on the undo icon or you hit, you know, edit undo and it'll undo stuff. This thing, there's no undo function I have found yet, okay?

It's a funny, it should be nice sometimes. You go, whoops! Okay? Especially on your kids, you'd really like that. You know, when something comes out and to click the undo button would be great. Especially when your friends and relatives are around. Anyway, he puts the relevant increment here as one. Okay? A single. That's the relevant communication. A single communication, a single word is all it takes. And the relevant gate is this thing. Boy, big difference.

You see, there we have a rotten tomato and some moldy strawberries and a rotten apple so bad that there's a hole clean clear through it. We can do that with this. This rotten stuff can come out. In Matthew 15, 11, our Lord said, It's not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth. This defiles the man.

You see, it's not the stuff that goes in here That's an issue. See, the Jews would be inclined, of course, to make sure we get the rules right on all the stuff that you eat and don't eat and all that. But Jesus says, no, it's the words that come out. Now, those words don't change your position, do they? But the outcome, the logical outcome from your position in Christ is not what people see, unless it's the very life of Christ expressed through the believer.

What they will see is the rotten stuff. But only, ah, here's the contrast again. We had a negative imperative before and the standard on that was no, none. He's going to turn it around and contrast it, only this. It's interesting, our world likes to talk in shades of grey. This is as black and white as they come. Absolutely not this, not even one. Only this, entirely.

The outward expression of the life of Christ isn't just a little bit better than the sin nature. It's relatively nicer if you have the life of Christ live through you than the sin nature. No. It is an absolute difference, and that's why he uses absolute imperatives and absolute descriptive words. Notice here we have this critical level of communication again, this single word or single communication. Paul does not intend that words be used casually.

You ever hear somebody say something pretty severe or make some joke and then say, I was only kidding? I notice that that probably is not something that works with a policeman. I was only kidding doesn't fly. Why? Because the reality is things can oftentimes get far more severe than we intend. Joking around can be injurious. if we're not thinking of what are the real consequences.

We have this word Lagos again, focusing on content here in a positive way. Good for edification, oikodome. This means building up. Now this isn't a word that shows up here for the first time. Paul's been talking about that early in chapter four. He used it twice in the building up of the body of Christ. He talks in verse 12 about building up the body of Christ, and then in verse 16, as the body builds itself up in love. So this same word is cropping up, and he's applying it, saying, you know those words that keep coming out of your mouth? That fits right here. That fits. So the building up is a theme that he has now brought up for the third time in this chapter. That's the point. That's the life of Christ. The life of Christ builds up the body of Christ.

Several weeks ago, we had this, what is the purpose of local church on the back of one of the handout sections here. If we apply that to this passage where he has so that, so that's indicating purpose, right? What that says, if edifying words fulfill the valid purpose of the local church, then words that are putrid have no purpose at all. They don't fit with God's intent for the church. They don't fit with the intent of building up the body of Christ. According to the need of the moment. Now here's something interesting, and you've probably noticed this as well. According means consistent with or measured by.

But what he's saying is that there's a time value in words. You've probably noticed that in your own life. intend to say excuse me, you probably don't want to say it an hour after the event that made you decide to say excuse me. If you intend to say I'm sorry ten years later is probably not the right time. There is a time value in these words. There is a particular moment where it matters. That's something he's saying to be sensitive to. In the moment, in the situation, with the people that you're with, That's when the right words come out. So there's not only a sense of, are these words good, but is the timing right? Now, give grace to those who hear. Notice the word grace is charis.

By that, I don't mean that this girl is that girl. That's not what we're talking about. It means giving without expectation of return. Remember, this is a word that was used in the pagan culture for something if you did something as a favor with no expectation of return and it was done for friends or relatives.

This word, the way Paul uses it, widens it much larger for the believer because it's not a matter of just doing it for those who are friendly and those who are related. It may even be done for one who is an enemy. This is grace. This is marvelous grace. This is amazing grace. It's because it's part of God's character. This grace that goes way beyond doing a favor for a friend or a relative goes way beyond the world's definition. But this is God's character. Grace is not incidental to who God is. It is a part of who God is. It's essential to His being.

Now, I want us to stand up and sing a song again. This one I want to caution you about here. Sorry you have to put your papers down unless you don't want to. Hold on if you want. I want to caution you about this because the words are a little different, so be paying careful attention to them. Okay?

Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see. wonderful words of life. Words of life and favor said through me by the Savior, beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Christ the Blessed One gives to all wonderful words of life. Saints were blessed with a holy call, wonderful words of life. All so freely given, seating us in heaven, beautiful words, wonderful words Wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.

You've been real patient with me, but now you can sit down. Okay. Now, about those words we just sang about. Between husband and wife, there is a stereotypical battle of words. You notice, just about everywhere you turn the clicker on, if it's a sitcom, if it's a married couple, boy, they're just chewing each other up, right? That's the stereotype. Our culture makes a lot of it. Some folks never learn that what's on that boob tube isn't reality, okay? It is certainly not the reality of the life of Christ. So, where's the application here? This is first place, okay? First place on planet Earth.

Between husband and wife, Not these words that are rotten and putrid, but the words that are designed to build up. The question, do we offer this, the moldy strawberries, or good ones? So very relevant. This is not just something for ancient Ephesus. This is right here, right now. You see, as men, if we're not careful, we can be like a moose in a China shop. It's really bad that way. Those harsh words can cause a lot of damage. And Paul's saying no. The life of Christ in the believer, and this is between husband and wife, looks like this.

It builds one another up. What kind of words are we serving at home? About among family. Sibling rivalry is as old as Cain and Abel. Okay? Long time ago. It's funny here. Somebody got a clip of a couple of little kids and they can't even talk and they're staring at each other. The putrid words come easily. I can tell you, I grew up with five kids in the household.

But the life of Christ and the believer, the new creation, the second Adam, expresses itself not with the putrid, but with the up-building. Big difference. How about among the church body? Obviously, Paul is putting a focus here on the church body. That's the issue where it comes up. He's going to deal with family issues more head-on than we made the initial application to here.

As believers, we have the life of Christ, and of course, you know, here we have potlucks. So the question is, what do we serve at our verbal potlucks? What goes on between believers? Do we have a potluck table full of this, verbally speaking, or this? We have those kinds of choices.

And believe me, it's not tomato species we're talking about here. It is a different species, spiritually speaking. Is it the sin nature or the life of Christ? You see, our words are either a building project, because that's the word that Paul's using, is building up. Our words are either part of a building project and are building up other believers in the various ways that we encounter them. Or, they're a part of something else, something quite different here. Our words can be profoundly destructive. And it's one or the other, and that's the point Paul's making. He has said here in verse 29, "...let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is, first point, good for edification."

That's the criteria. And then how does that get further defined? According to the need of the moment. How does it fit the circumstances and the time? And then finally, so that it, and here's the outcome that he's looking for, will give grace to those who hear.

It's giving. This is what the life of Christ looks like in real life. It is intended. It is intended by God to be the various expressions of the life of Christ among us. Imagine, here we are, the body of Christ. The body of Christ is headed by the head of Christ. The life of Christ is expressed throughout the church, each believer here to one another. That's where it's to be lived out. I'll leave it to you to go through the expanded and explained portion here.

But just as we look at these, I think it's real critical for us to look at this and see this isn't just a list of outward behaviors. Yes, it's intended to be applied. It's intended to be very real. But he's done this only after telling us who we are in Christ.

This is the life of Christ lived out. This is what it looks like. It doesn't look like this. It most certainly looks like this. And it lifts up and it builds up. And it looks for needs. real needs and meets them. That's the life of Christ. Let's pray. Lord, as we look at these verses, simple, structured very similarly, and yet how wonderfully and marvelously they spell out to us the very life of Christ, your life. And so we behold you even this morning, Lord, that you would be growing us from glory to glory, as you've told us you would do, as we behold you. In Jesus' name, amen.