Four. Ephesians chapter four. Amen. Ephesians four, and we're gonna begin with verse 17. By time I get through with this, you should have this memorized.

Alright? Should sound familiar to you this morning. This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, Who being past feeling have given themselves over until lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ.

If so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him and as in as the truth is in Jesus that she put off concerning the former conversation or conduct, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which after God has created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying speak every man truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that need it. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear heavenly Father, thank you Lord for this day that you've given us. Thank you for the opportunity to worship and praise the name of Jesus Christ today. May you work mightily in our hearts. May you expose any sin, issues, Lord, that we need your help to conquer today.

Lord, may we be willing to confess those before you. May we be willing to let you work in our life that we might be a better testimony before the world for our savior who loved us so. Lord, meet with us today. Work in our hearts, we pray. In Jesus' name.

And Lord, also, we pray for Betty. Lord, be with her and bring healing to her body, we pray. Give comfort to her heart and the very best care in Jesus' name. Amen. So first Corinthians five seventeen, therefore, any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation.

Old things are passed away, behold behold all things are become new. The Bible says in John one twelve, if you receive Jesus, you become a what? A child of God. If any man received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of the children of God, even to them that believe on his name. If you have put your faith in the name of Jesus, who he is and what he did for you on the cross of Calvary, and the promise he made to save your soul.

If you've entrusted your soul to Christ by faith, you have become a child of who? A child of God. As Paul puts it here, you are in Christ and you are a new person, a new creation. You are different. You're different than you were before you came to Christ.

You are different set apart from the rest of the world. You are a saint. You are a saint, meaning a sinner saved by Grace. Grace. Okay.

Thus, as children of God, God has expectations for his children. We have expectations for our children. We have hopes for our children. God has expectations of his children. We were saved by God's grace, but God also wants to change us by his grace into the image of Jesus Christ.

And he expects us to put off the old ways, the ways of the world, and to put on the new ways which are made after the similitude, the likeness of who? Of Jesus Christ, our savior. First Peter one, it says this, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to former lusts in your ignorance. But as he which has called you as holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation because it is written, be holy for I am holy. Is it possible for God's children to be disobedient?

Unfortunately, it is. We still have a free will. As we yield that free will to the Lord, as we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the what? The lust of the flesh. But if we do not yield our will to his as we should, we end up doing the work of the flesh.

But we don't have to. And the works of the flesh are terrible list that Paul gives in Galatians chapter five. It's not a pretty picture. And Christians, we're not immune to those things if we choose not to walk in the spirit. If we don't take seriously what Paul is asking us to do here in Ephesians and what Peter is reminding us of here in first Peter.

As children of God, don't be disobedient, don't be satisfied with the ways of the world because you're not part of the world anymore. You are a child of who? Child of God. So walk, live as a child of who? God.

Put off the old ways and put on the ways of Jesus Christ. In Ephesians four, Paul begins then to give us some some examples of things to put off and put on. First of all, in verse 25, he says, wherefore put away what? Lying and speak truth with your neighbor. Put away lying.

Lying is the way of the what? The world and the devil. It is not the way of Jesus Christ. So cast it aside. Don't let it be part of how you live.

Put away anger. Put on self control. Spirit control. That's the next verse. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Put away thievery, instead, work. Work to earn, to provide not only for yourself but also for others. There are those who cannot work. There are little children who cannot work. There are elderly that cannot work.

There are handicapped that cannot work. But if you can work, work that you may have to not provide only for yourself, but also to share with those who need it. Be a giver instead of a what? Instead of a taker. Be a giver instead of a taker.

And then this morning, verse 29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that is building up of others, that it may minister grace unto the hearers, unto those who hear the words that you say. It says, take notice, let no corrupt communication. Whose words are these? They are God's words. And God says, as my children, as born again believers in Jesus Christ, let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth.

Let no foul language come out of your mouth. Let no gossip or slander come out of your mouth. Now, is that easy to to keep that? No. Because our human nature is very much opposite of that.

And James is gonna discuss that. We'll go back there in a minute. However, by God's grace, we can change how we communicate. And our heavenly father expects our communication to reflect his. If we call ourselves Christians, we are saying that we are following Christ and that we represent Christ to the world around us.

One of those areas that is important is the words we say. Matter of fact, it is extremely important. How I wish I had a larger audience today to speak on this subject. I'm glad you're here. We have a good group here.

But how badly Christians need to be reminded that God takes this matter of our language and our words very, very seriously. Does your language matter? The words you use. Aren't some Christians just a little holier than thou when it comes to speech? God doesn't say specifically not to use any cuss words, expletive or off color words or harsh language, does he?

What about when I'm angry or hurt or surprised? Everyone curses and cusses a little and sometimes it seems like others don't seem to care unless you curse a little. And why are those words bad anyway? Just a few questions that no doubt must cross the mind of many Christians today. For they certainly must have some justification for the foul language that comes out of their mouth unless they just simply don't care what God thinks.

To be honest, this is one that has always puzzled me personally. I have my problems. I am a sinner saved by grace just like every one of you. I am by no means perfect. Praise God.

I have a perfect savior. But this one has always puzzled me. Why the need to use God's name in vain? Why the need to use his name in a degrading, dishonoring fashion? Why the need to wish people eternal damnation?

Why the need to use flippantly words that convey very serious matters? Why the need to use vulgar, off color vocabulary? Why the need? Particularly for a what? For a child of God.

Now, don't have a problem understanding why many of the lost use that kind of language. There are obviously many who have no regard for who? No regard for God. And so they need feel the need to throw his name around in a degrading flippant manner. And likewise, have little regard for their fellow man so as to belittle them by the use of degrading terms.

Others have a hot temper and they don't care who they hurt in the process and they don't care if everybody knows about their hot temper. Others just love to use foul and dirty speech to get a rise out of the do gooders or as a slap in the face to who? To God. Some have just learned this manner of speaking because that's what everybody around them does and don't even really give any thought to it because they have heard it from the time they were what? Little.

And while I'm sadly not surprised at their speech, their sin before a holy God will not go unpunished. And using foul language, taking God's name in vain, our sins. And who is watching? The Lord is watching. But child of God, you should what?

You should know better. That's what Paul's saying. You have not so learned Christ. You know that that is not the way of Christ. It is the way of the world.

And instead, your language should be honest. Your language should be kind and gracious and just. Our words should be edifying, that is to build other people up instead of to demean them and tear them down. Our language, our words should be instructive, instructing other people in the way that is right and good. Our language should be excuse me.

Fitting that I'm losing my voice this morning. Our language should be seasoned with salt. In other words, it should be refreshing and pleasant unlike the language of many others. People get plenty of the unpleasant. They need to hear things that are pleasant and refreshing coming out of the mouths of God's children.

God's word actually has a lot to say about our speech. We could go to dozens of passages this morning, and we're not gonna do that. We're only gonna mainly look at three today. But literally, we could go to dozens of passages, many verses in Proverbs that talk about the language that comes out of our mouth and how destructive it can be or how productive it can be depending on what it is. But let's let's start this morning with the 10 commandments.

What do the 10 commandments say? Well, one of them says, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in what? In vain. Another one says, honor your father and mother. We say that doesn't say anything about speech.

Well, yeah, it does. Because one of the primary ways you honor or dishonor your parents is by how you talk to them or how you talk about them. I I remember when I was a kid and I had a neighbor friend and my neighbor friend, his grandparents lived up the hill from me. He he had a pretty bad mouth and he was always insulting, demeaning his the adults in his life. I mean, we were just like in middle school at the time.

And I remember I was walking on our front porch and he was saying something about his parents and I agreed with him about my parents. Well, unbeknownst to me, my mother was in the kitchen on the other side of the window from where I was standing on the porch and she heard every word I said. And I never forgot the punishment I got for dishonoring my parents by the words I said to my friend. And I didn't get to see my friend for about a month because of it. How about thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor?

That that's what you say, being deceitful with your words. God clearly expected the Israelites to use his name carefully, seriously, and treat it with honor. A matter of fact, the Jews took it so far that they actually quit pronouncing the name of God, Jehovah or Yahweh. We do not know exactly how to pronounce it today because for fear that they would take God's personal name in vain, they they they they didn't even say it. They replaced it with Lord, which is how it's translated in our Old Testament.

When you see Lord in all capital letters, that's God's personal name. It means I am that I am. But that's how seriously they took that command. And yet today, I don't know how often I hear Christians say, oh my Lord or God, over and over and over again. When they're not actually talking to God or about him.

We just don't take his name as seriously as we should. God's name represents his character. To use it in a flippant way dishonors him. To use it in a false way to impress or to deceive others is akin to something called blasphemy. Likewise, to speak to or of one's parents using degrading language certainly dishonors them as it does everyone you speak of or to in such a way.

I understand there are many people in this world who do not care, but you, child of God, should not be one of them. Look if you would in James chapter three. Brother Boat read that for us a few minutes ago. First thing we learn from James chapter three is the tongue is a very powerful thing and it also a very unruly thing. He says here, if you can control your tongue, then you can have control over every many other areas of your life as well Because the tongue is a hard thing to control.

He says here in in verse six, it says, in the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body, set it on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell. That's awful strong language. What does that tell me? Well, it tells me this. The church in James's day, this is probably the first epistle written in our New Testament, the earliest one, the book of James.

And it tells me this, these early Christians were having a problem controlling their what? Tongue. And James needed to address it. God needed to address it. And that problem is a problem today, Just the same as it was then.

We struggle to control our tongue. But by God's grace, we can what? We can control it and we must. Because if we do not control it, it is going to leave a whole lot of damage in its wake. Damage to our testimony.

Damage to our fellowship with God. Damage to our fellowship with others. Damage in the lives of others because we thought, well, it isn't any big deal and we just let our tongue go. And it it did damage that can hardly be undone sometimes. The things that hurt the most in our life are often the things that people say to us.

I was one of those kids in elementary school that got picked on a lot. I've always been chubby and that brought ridicule. I was a sensitive kid. It was easy to make me cry and feel bad, so people did it and it hurt. Some of you have been in that same situation.

I get called names because I had such a cool last name, Polar. My my dad worked at GE for years and years. His nickname was Polock. Now he he didn't take that, to mean much, but that's what they called him. He he made up a name to deflect their their picking and he said, well, you should have heard my name before I changed it.

We shortened it to Polar from Polarzkoviccioloni Burgerheisenstein. So see if that rolls off your tongue. I memorized that when I was a kid. The fact is sticks and stones might break my bones but words will never hurt me is very much not what? True.

True. And oh, how much damage our tongue can have. And it is up to us as God's children to get control of that member. If we do, that which can bring so much destruction will bring glory to God and grace in the lives of others. As destructive as it can be, it can also be a very great tool of ministry.

Just being kind, just being gracious, just being encouraging and speaking truth can be a incredible testimony and minister to others. Regardless of how difficult it may be, we must learn to bridle or bite our tongue. Not not literally. But it is up to us with God's help to reign it in. It is flat out wrong and a contradiction in us as God's children to use our tongue to praise God and then get angry a few minutes later and curse or insult others.

Is that a true statement? It is. That's what James is saying here. Therewith bless God we God, even the father, and therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God, verse 10, out of the same per mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Can a fountain bring forth both sweet and bitter water? Can a fig tree bring forth olive berries? The answer to that those are rhetorical questions. The answer is no. And as a child of God, our tongue should reflect the character and nature of our God which is not filthy and dirty, which is respectful of others and respectful of him as he is respectful of us.

Our words are something that others clearly see and hear. And our words can either be a great testimony or bring great dishonor. God sees the cursing as well as the praising. Which one do you think reveals the condition of our heart more? The praising or the cursing?

Probably the latter. Because the praising you can kind of put on a face, come to church, sing a song. The cursing is what comes out from the what? From the heart when we aren't what? Really thinking it just kinda what?

Bubbles up. Hopefully, the praising does too. But oftentimes, I'm afraid the cursing comes natural and the praising comes more difficult. Look if you went in Ephesians chapter five, turn back to Ephesians five one through eight. Ephesians five one through eight.

Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become a saints. I'll give Faye a moment. There you go. You got it, Faye?

Alright. That's alright. You were the second one today. It happens. Now everybody back to verse three.

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become saints. Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks. For this you know that no home whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, nor idolater, who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things come at the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be ye not therefore partakers with them.

For ye were sometimes in darkness but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Now this this passage is just a few verses past the passage we've been studying. Okay? The chapter four ends in a few verses and we move right into chapter five.

These verses tell us this. It should not be the way of God's trial to treat immorality lightly because God doesn't. Under the Old Testament law, immorality, sexual immorality in several forms was punishable by death. Rape, incest, adultery, homosexuality, under Old Testament law, were all punishable by death. Now, does that tell us that we should do that today?

Execute people for those? No. What that tells us is this, God saw those things as very, very, what? Seriously, very serious sins. Things that were a breach in the expectations of the Lord and in his law.

That's why they were punished so in the Old Testament. Human sexuality while beautiful, clean, and God honoring in its proper setting, marriage, is defiling in the sight of God outside that proper setting. Marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will what? Judge. What does that say?

Well, God says, I take this seriously. Now does the world we live in take this seriously? No. No, they don't. No.

Not as a general rule. But as Christians, we should take this seriously. Satan loves to take that which is good and sacred and turn it into something common, meaningless, degrading, and dirty. That is not the work of God, that is the work of who? The devil.

God created something beautiful. The devil takes it and makes it something dirty. The use of such vulgarities are just as bad as the vulgar acts themselves in the sight of God. In Ephesians five, Paul says, but fornication, all uncleanness and covetousness, let it not be once named among you. And then he goes on in verse four to say neither filthiness nor what?

Foolish talking nor jesting. What is he saying is, shouldn't be joking about this because it is a what? It is a sin. It is a serious thing in my sight. It is a degrading thing for humanity.

It is extremely destructive. You shouldn't be joking about it. You shouldn't be using these terms that apply to something that should be sacred in a vulgar way. And it has gotten what's the word I'm looking exponentially worse than when I was 10 years old. There are words used in common everyday language by Christians that I never heard till I was in high school or later.

And this ought not so to be. Christian, you should know better. But then again, we watch and listen to so much of this that we have start to become what? Callous to it. It doesn't bother us.

We have let too much of Hollywood, the devil's playground into our homes and our minds and our hearts. And it's no wonder what goes in all the time to our mind eventually pops what? Out. Especially when we're angry, or when we're surprised, or when we're upset, or when we hit our thumb with the hammer. Oh, but that's okay.

You know, you did hurt. It's okay if you cussed. Is it? What do you think God thinks? The problem doesn't just lie in the tongue.

The problem lies in our mind and in our heart. Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth what? Speak it. If there's a problem with our mouth, begins in our heart and in our mind. If we filled up our mind with so much rot, we need to get into God's word and ask God to help wash it out.

You know, he can. He can help us. The word of God cleanses if we will hide it in our heart. God can help, but we need to take it seriously. And so often we don't.

What does God expect of us? How does he expect us to use our tongue? Well, brief list here quickly. He expects us to be honest as Paul wrote earlier, speak every man what? Truth with his name.

He expects us to be instructive and encouraging to others. That's what the word edify means. In other words, saying those things which are constructive and helpful and not destructive and discouraging. Number three, he expects us to use our tongue to exalt the name of the Lord. In word and in song, speaking to other each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs making melody in our hearts to the Lord and pointing others to who?

And pointing others to Jesus by our witness. He expects us to use clean language that brings glory to him and demonstrates that our hearts are under his control. Because when our mouth spouts off something foul, we're demonstrating that it's not under his control. He expects us to be kind and considerate, to minister to others by the use of our words, To speak the truth in what? To speak the truth in love.

To speak the truth in love. To demonstrate compassion by the words we say, not hate. He expects gratitude. He says here in Ephesians five, but giving of thanks. He expects gratitude and not attitude to come from our mouth.

Yes, there are times we may need to speak up. There are even times we may need to be more blunt, maybe even a bit harsh, but never hateful, demeaning, or filthy. Those things should not come out of our mouth. These things should not be coming from our mouth or our heart. Look, if you would, in verse 30 of chapter four, if you're in Ephesians four verse 30.

Paul goes on to say, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed until the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, that's hatred. And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. That's what God wants. That's what God deserves.

And that's what we want from others. That's what we need to show them. Now don't get me wrong. If you have adopted the world's pattern of speech rather than Christ's, it's gonna take some work and effort and determination to change that. But with God's help and by his grace, you can.

But what is step number one? First John one nine. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What's the first step? Recognize that some of the language you may be using is vile in the eyes of God and confess it.

If you're in the habit of taking God's name in vain all the time, it is a sin. If you're in the habit of using vulgar terminology, it is a sin. If you're in the habit of gossiping, it is a sin. If you're in the habit of being of using insults and putting others down with the words of your mouth, it is a what? It is a sin.

What are we supposed to do with sins? We're supposed to confess them and admit to God where we have failed. And God will cleanse us, which means God's will then help us to change that area not only of our mouth, but also of our heart, which is where the problem originates. And if you're here today and you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as savior, know this. God says in his word that we will give an account of every what?

Idol word that we have said. The Bible says, behold, your sin will find you out. There is a God in heaven who hears every word you say and you will give an account for that. But there is also forgiveness for that to be found in who? In Jesus Christ.

There is a way of escape from God's judgment and the power of that sin in your life. That way of escape is Jesus Christ. And if you'll come to him, he will forgive you. He will not cast you out. He will be patient with you.

He will give you a home in heaven. He will wipe clean your account before him. He will forgive all your sins. But you must come into him come to him in repentance and faith. You must recognize not just that you have a problem with your language, but that you have a problem called sin that you need his forgiveness for.

If you will, he will save your soul today. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for your word. Thank you for the opportunity you've given us to use our tongues to bring glory to our God. Forgive us where we have failed.

Help us, Lord, to recognize when we have failed in this regard. Help us, Lord, to change, to become more like Jesus Christ our savior. Lord, help us to use this tool that you have given us, our mouth and our tongue to do good, to point others to Jesus, to bring praise to our father in heaven, and help us, Lord, to have better control of it that we might not dishonor him by his use today. We pray, Lord, if there's one here that's just yet to receive Christ as Lord and Savior of their life, that they'd come as we give this hymn of invitation today. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.