Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Ephesians 4:25-32 | Date: December 14, 2014 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Proverbs and Honest Business

Verse 1: “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.” Now, for those of you taking notes, if you would like, there are several other Proverbs that deal with this in the same way. If you’d like to jot them down: Proverbs 16:11, Proverbs 20:10, and also chapter 20, verse 23. “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.” This is what is called an antithetical parallel. We have the same point made from two contrasting statements. Both halves of the proverb are really saying the same thing. It’s just that the first is contrasted with the second. The first says it in a negative way: “False balance is an abomination to the Lord.” The second half of the verse says the same thing, only in a positive way: “A just weight is His delight.”

And here, of course, He’s speaking of scales measuring quantities of goods that are to be bought and sold. And He’s simply saying that an accurate weight is what pleases God. False balance is an abomination to Him. Now, before we go any further with that, glance over a couple of pages to chapter 16 and verse 11, the one I just mentioned a moment ago. Proverbs 16, verse 11: “A just balance and scales are the Lord’s, and all the weights in the bag are His work.” Isn’t that interesting? The scales—”A just balance and scales are the Lord’s. All the weights in the bag are His work.” It’s as though every just weight that is, has been issued from God Himself. You’ve weighed out the bag right to the grain; God has done that. It is a true weight.

And of course, what He’s getting at here is that in all your business dealings, make sure it is true. It is honest. And so if it’s a scale, it’s 16 ounces to the pound. A false balance would be, in that culture, a separate set of weights that have been made out. And you’ve got this bag full of the weights, and instead of 16 ounces to the pound, it’s like 15 and a half. And then on the other hand, he’s saying there’s a just weight. It is 16 ounces to the pound. What he’s getting at here would be what? It would be the butcher keeping his thumb on the scale. Or in a lot of businesses where they use scales, you can adjust them back and forth a little and people pay for a little more than what they’re getting. Misrepresenting the car that you sell. Misrepresenting that item at the garage sale. Reporting falsely at the conference room. False balance—he says, here’s what God thinks of it: He hates it. It’s an abomination to him. It doesn’t look like him. He is not like that.

And so a false balance, a false weight, misrepresenting the product, being less than truthful in the business deal—God hates it. But what Solomon stresses is the other hand as well: “a just weight is his delight.” That is, you represent the product fairly. You have true 16 ounces to the pound. God takes delight in that. It looks like Him. He is true in every respect. And, of course, Solomon is stressing one other point here. It’s sort of implicit in it, and that is that God sees. You think you’ve gotten by with that cheating a little, misrepresenting the product, adjusting the scale. God sees it. He hates it. On the other hand, you’ve been honest in your dealings, and God takes great delight in it. And so here is, again, this idea of God putting a premium on truthfulness and honesty.

Now, back to Ephesians, what Paul is emphasizing here in verse 25 is truthfulness, specifically with regard to the church. You might wonder, what in the world does that last clause have to do with the verse? “Having put away falsehood, let every one of you speak truth with his neighbor for,” explanatory conjunction, because what? “Because we are members one of another.” What does that have to do with the command? Well, Paul is simply speaking of truth and trust with regard to the Christian fellowship. These are essential to Christian unity, essential to Christian fellowship. There’s something very wrong about being less than honest with a brother or sister in Christ. It cuts at the very heart of our fellowship. Always speak truthfully, as our Lord said, let your yea be yea and your nay be nay. And so in the interest of honoring God, in the interest of Christian fellowship, in the interest of Christian unity, and in the interest of personal integrity, put away falsehood and put on truth.

Number Two: Put Off Anger And Put On Self-Control

Verses 26 and 27, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Now you’ll notice here, first of all, that Paul is not giving a blanket prohibition of anger. He is not condemning all kinds of anger, and in fact preachers and even commentators have often at this point pointed that out, that there are occasions when we need more anger. Not all anger is sinful. We find Jesus angry at times—angry with the Pharisees and their hypocrisy, angry at the temple with their making a sham of the worship of God. We find him angry with the works of the devil. In John chapter 11, we find Jesus angry at several points. And there are times when it’s very disappointing when Christians are not angry. Part of godliness is having an emotional revolt against what is evil. There’s no virtue in remaining indifferent toward what is sinful. There have been times in the church when you could have wished that people of the congregation would be angry over some things that are trying to be done to virtue.

All of that is true, but it’s not really what Paul is getting at here. Paul is not commanding anger, although on the face of it, that’s the way it reads: “be angry and do not sin.” So however implicit that may be, that’s not quite Paul’s point. I think rather, this seems to be simply an idiomatic expression carefully restricting and regulating our anger. Something like, if we’d paraphrase it: “in your anger, do not sin.” In your anger, do not sin. Anger can be, can be, a spark that ignites all kinds of sin. Don’t let that happen. And so we have here a caution to remember our fallenness, our proneness to sin. And so yes, there may be times when anger is justifiable and called for. But boy, you’ve got to be careful about that, don’t you?

And so because of that, the Apostle here gives us some qualifying commands along with it. So, verse 26 again, “be angry,” and then notice the three negative commands. One, do not sin. Be angry and do not sin. That is, be careful in the heat of the moment. Don’t speak too hastily, don’t speak harmfully, don’t lash out in a way that would be wrong. Be angry, but don’t sin. Not all anger is sin, but be careful in your anger. It is a dangerous point, and given our fallenness, we’re prone to make that an occasion of sin. Be very careful. So be angry, and one, do not sin.

Number two, do not let the sun go down on your wrath. And I think what he’s getting at here is that sustained anger. If anger itself is dangerous, sustained anger can become even more dangerous. Very quickly, sustained anger can become uncontrolled rage, settled bitterness, hatred, spite. You might seethe, seek revenge. You might rehearse it over and over in your mind, become bitter. Or you might be like the guy who says very calmly, “I don’t get angry, I get even.” Carry a grudge. Sometimes this happens in the congregation where there’s been a genuine offense and this matter of anger is not dealt with. And it works out in a way that from then on, for years, that person now in your mind is defined by that offense. It becomes a form of bitterness, sinful anger. So Paul says, be angry, but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Don’t carry this grudge. Don’t become bitter. Don’t keep rehearsing it all in your mind over and again and finding new angles of just how sinful that was.

And then number three follows right on the heels of that: give no opportunity to the devil. That is, don’t give the devil a foothold. Don’t give Satan, in this occasion, don’t give him a foothold. Don’t make it an occasion for him to exacerbate the problem and make it worse than it was. We’ve got to be careful with this. Anger is such a dangerous thing. Not only can our minds become taken up with it, with bitterness and so on, but it can easily become an occasion for the devil to inflame the circumstance and take it well beyond what you’ve ever intended.

One of the things you’ve seen if you’ve ever had two children in the household, or two children in the nursery: They’ll take an offense. They’ll do something the other one doesn’t like, and he’s angry. And pretty soon, they’re fighting. And they’re angry, and they’re fighting. And it just goes on, and finally, you try to deal with it. “What is it you’re angry about?” “I don’t know.” You ever seen that with a kid? “I don’t know, just got in a bad mood, got angry with him.” Oh yeah, that was it, and finally you recall the offense. It’s just gotten to be a bad attitude. The devil can take an advantage of a situation like that in a congregation, take a foothold with our anger and blow this way out of proportion; there can become strife and division. And so Paul says, not only are we to deal with one another truthfully, be careful with anger. Be angry and in your anger do not sin. Don’t nurse that anger and be careful not to give opportunity to the devil. I was intending at this time to go to Proverbs chapter 14 and spend some time there. I don’t think I will because of the time, but if you’d like to jot down Proverbs 14 verse 17. You’ll see a fascinating proverb there about anger and its results in the community. The one guy is quick-tempered; the Bible says he’s a fool. The guy that flies off the handle, he’s a fool. Then you got another guy who doesn’t fly off the handle. He’s cold and calculated about it and scheming and crafty. And this man is hated in the community. This is what Paul is getting at here. In your anger, do not sin.

Put Off Theft And Put On Generosity

Next, in verse 28, put off theft and put on generosity. Now this is an interesting contrast here. Put off theft and put on generosity. Verse 28, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Let’s do it again. “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

Let the thief no longer steal. First off the bat here, what we have is a recognition of the sanctity of personal property. You shall not steal. You are not entitled to that which is not yours. You have your own property, everyone has his own property, her own property, and what is theirs is not yours and you have no right to it. Don’t let the thief steal. This is the 8th commandment: “You shall not steal,” a recognition of the sanctity of private property, personal property. We saw that in Proverbs 11 and verse 1 already as well with the illustration of the scales. Paul says it again in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 6: “let no man defraud his brother in any matter because the Lord is the avenger of all such.” So he’s recognizing the sanctity of private property. You are not entitled to what is not yours.

But notice the new focus of it all in the next statement in verse 28. “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands.” Rather than stealing, rather than feeling like what belongs to someone else ought to belong to you, rather than that, work hard. Use your own ingenuity. Work honestly and work hard and make your own way. That’s the point. And notice what is really fascinating about this: the new motive involved at the end of the verse. “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Isn’t that a fascinating turn? Rather than feeling like what is everyone else’s belongs to me, work hard. Make your own way. Why? So that you can give to others who have need. There’s a turn of events. Sharing, giving is a new motivation. It was a prominent feature in the early church; they shared things in common and would help their brothers and sisters in need. So far from being selfish, they were generous with an open heart for their brother and sister. Work hard. Be industrious. Make your own way. Yes, yes, yes, trusting in God’s providence and saying, “if the Lord will, we will do this or that and make this much money” and so on. Yes, of course. But work hard. Make your own way so that you may be generous.

Put Off Unwholesome Speaking And Put On Helpful Speaking

And then another very important one, verse 29, put off unwholesome speaking and put on helpful speaking. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Let’s repeat: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Here the contrast is not with truth and falsehood, but the contrast is with good and evil. Unwholesome speaking. “Let no corrupting or unwholesome speaking come out of your mouth.” Nothing that’s bad, nothing that’s worthless, nothing that’s of no value. This rules out not only things like taking the name of God in vain, cussing and so on, but it rules out anything that is unwholesome. And notice the contrast: “only that which is useful for building up.” Put away from your speaking anything that’s corrupting or unwholesome, and only speak that which is useful and helpful toward building others up. The wide-reaching restriction that this places on our speaking is just staggering. Never say anything that is intended to harm, to hurt, but only that which is helpful and useful for others. Never speak a word that would be harmful to someone else. Never speak a word that would stab someone in the back. Never speak a word that would be slanderous. Never speak a word that would harm someone else’s reputation. Not just what you speak to others, but what you speak of others to someone else. Never speak, he says, never speak at all unless what is spoken will give grace to those who hear.

I’m convinced that there are some Christians who really think—they seem to think—that they have the gift of criticism. They’re very adept at it. And it’s not so much that their criticisms are always wrong, although they often are, it’s just that that seems to be what they think is their gift. They’re going to analyze this right, and they’re going to give you the score. They’re going to tell you everything bad about it. And often it is about someone else. And the New Testament has a lot, the Old Testament as well, has a lot to say about that. One of my favorites is James chapter 3 and verse 9, where James gives just an awful, awful observation. God, our Creator, gives us a tongue to speak, and we use that tongue to praise God, as we should. And with that same tongue, we slander a man who is made in His image. The inconsistent use of the tongue. The Apostle says, put all that off, and instead use your tongue to bless, to heal, to encourage, and to build up.

Now, I don’t think that in any way this is saying that there’s no place for honest correction. There has to be that. And there are passages that speak to that, even rebuke. Of course, of course, there’s a place for all of that. But let your speech, he says, be characterized by that which is useful to edify others and minister grace. What a lovely experience every congregational life would be. What a lovely experience every home life would be if we followed that. The only time I open my mouth is to minister grace to those who hear me. I sometimes think if we followed that, there would never be a church problem again. It’s just about right, isn’t it?

Notice the motivating factor in verse 30: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Now, I don’t know if Paul means this here only in respect to the speaking command in the previous verse, or if it’s a broad one; it certainly is a principle that fits every prohibition of sin. But to grasp the force of his logic here, we’ve got to understand the last part of the verse to see the force of it all. He speaks, first of all, of the “day of redemption.” Fascinating language. We speak of Christ having redeemed us at the cross. In a very real sense, we have to say that was the day of redemption. That was the day when he purchased his people with his own blood. But of course, there’s the purchase and the full delivery of the goods of what was purchased for us. And the great hope of the Christian, of course, is in the coming of Christ when we receive in full the great consummation of all that God has promised for us and we’re redeemed body and soul and experience never to sin again. He’s looking toward that. And what he says is we are sealed with the Holy Spirit until that day.

Now we came across this back in chapter 1. We’ve been sealed with the Spirit unto the day of redemption. The seal of the Spirit is this mark of ownership, but also a mark of possession. It’s a matter of security that’s involved. This belongs to God. And God’s mark on us is that we belong to Him. The token of His ownership is the Spirit of God whom He has sent to indwell us. He is the down payment, the earnest of that full promise that will come. And we have it already in Him, in part. And so what he’s saying is that that is God’s down payment, and it is his seal, his promise that the payment will come in full. So again, the idea is that of security. We’re safe in Christ forever, preserved by his spirit for that day.

Now, that in itself is fascinating because as you know, the Arminians, those who believe that you could lose your salvation, just abhor this kind of logic. “Well, if you tell someone they’re safe in Christ forever, it’ll make them careless in their living and give them license to sin because if I’m safe, I don’t have to worry about what I do.” That’s their logic and you’ve heard it, you’ve seen it many times probably. It’s not Paul’s thinking. Paul uses this logic precisely as an incentive to holiness. The next important thing done in the verse is what we find at the beginning: sin grieves the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is not some disinterested bystander in our redemption. He has come not only to make us feel and know that we belong to God as his children, but he has come to instill in us the character of Christ and to make us like him and to shape us into his image. And he’s not a disinterested bystander. He is in this heart and soul. And our sin, it says, grieves the Spirit of God. It’s a marvelous statement. It speaks of the Spirit of God in His love, His affection, His interest in the Christian. He has high ambition for us, continually leading us to our predestined goal.

And all of this informs Paul’s command then. How could we possibly, by our sin, grieve the Spirit of God who has been sent in love to accomplish in us that which God has promised and who has been sent to keep us until that day? In a way, Paul is dealing here with very low-level motivation, shaming us. How could you possibly be so insensitive to the Spirit of God who has been sent to make you holy to that day? On another level, he’s speaking in terms of gratitude. Don’t you see what the Spirit of God has been sent to do and what he has been doing? How could you possibly be so insensitive and ungrateful as to grieve him by your sin? And taking this with verse 29, I mean, you think your sins of the tongue do not matter? Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouth by which you would grieve the Spirit of God.

Put Off Animosity And Put On Kindness

Closely in keeping with all of that, we have the last one, verses 31 and 32. Put off animosity and put on kindness. “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamor, and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.” No settled resentment allowed. No hostility allowed. Certainly no passionate rage allowed. No settled hostility, no slander, no ill will, but rather kindness and compassion and forgiveness. We are to display the transformed life by kindness to one another.

For some years, I have been impressed by the value of this virtue: kindness. It’s amazing what a value this is when you’re on the receiving end of it, isn’t it? There have been times in ministry when I was treated like dirt. You know, there seems to be the contest, “let’s see who can insult the pastor the best.” Well, “I can write a better letter than that one.” And you wonder, whatever happened to kindness? And then someone will come and with that little word of kindness, it is enormously encouraging. Or that little act of kindness, enormously encouraging. And somewhere along the line you catch on: this is really a wonderful virtue; I need to be more kind.

And notice the standard, verse 32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven us.” That’s a high standard. The word here translated “in Christ forgave you” carries connotations not only of forgiveness only, but of God’s favor, God’s kindness. God has favored us. We are people who have seen and have experienced kindness like no other. And the Apostle Paul is telling us here very plainly that kindness, kindness to one another is a leading mark of a genuinely gospel-shaped life. Being kind to one another, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven us. Truth. Honesty. Generosity. Edification. Kindness. This, Paul says, is how we have learned Christ. And don’t you know that you look a whole lot better with these clothes on than the other?

I’m sure there’s not any one of us who, after reading through a passage like this thoughtfully, doesn’t feel the ugliness—the ugliness of our dishonesty, our bitterness, our resentment, our vengefulness, our stinginess, our slander, our unwholesome speech, our nursed animosity, our unkindness. These are so unlike our Lord. And we have learned better from Him: to put off that old man, to put on the new man, which is made in the image of Christ.

In the early centuries of the church, various criticisms were leveled against the Christians by the world around them. A group of men arose called the apologists. We’ve had them ever since. They were to apologize for the church. That doesn’t mean to say they were sorry. Apology in the sense of making a defense—to make a defense of the Christian faith to the world around them. We’ve had them ever since. It’s a very needed and a very helpful service to the church, to someone to stand and speak right to the world, to give a defense for our faith. In those early centuries, one of the criticisms brought against the Christians was that they were—this will surprise some of you—they were atheists. Well, you can understand that. They denied all of the gods of the Pantheon, all the gods of the Romans and the Greeks and everybody else, and believed in only this one god. They were called atheists.

Another accusation or criticism that was brought against early Christians—you’ll find this interesting as well—they’re immoral. And the reason they were called immoral was because the world around them began to hear that every Sunday they would come together and have a love feast, which of course in their mind could only mean it was a big orgy. And so the Christians are immoral. And these apologists came back to answer. And in this regard, when they came to answer that charge, what they very often said was not, “look at our doctrine; look how beautiful it is.” What they said, in essence, was, “look at our lives. Look at us. Does what you’re saying match up to what you know about us?” And they were able to argue for the truth of Christianity by pointing to the very lifestyle of those who professed Christ. Their lives were the proof of the gospel that they preached. This is the apostle here exactly. We have learned Christ. Just watch us. Take a close look and see if it’s not true. Amen.

Our Father, we confess this morning that we need this kind of exhortation far too much. We are prone to dishonesty. We’re prone to bitterness still. We’re prone to slander and criticism. We’re prone to unkindness, selfishness. And yet, Lord, we can sense at the same time that you have put it in our hearts to be kind, to be generous, to be honest and truthful. We feel often so confused, torn between these two worlds. We pray with the hymn writer, “finish, finish then, thy new creation. Pure and spotless, let us be.” Make us like Christ, we pray. Use this word to shape us to be more like him, that others may look on and glorify our Father who is in heaven. We pray in the name of Christ, our Savior,