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[0:00] Some words from Ephesians, the letter of Paul to the church at Ephesus about love really! and about human relationships and human relations and really how to face the bitterness of life,! the bitter times of life, how we can handle that and find God's sweetness. In contrast, I like to think of, Julie and I were talking about some Chinese food lately, about sweet and sour.

[0:28] We want the sweet tonight. Sometimes it's nice to have the sour, we have the sweet and sour food, but sour words and sour attitudes are not good. But we're concentrating on the sweet things.

[0:40] Sweet things. Just trying to use an analogy there that probably failed a bit miserably. But talking about the sweet things in the bitter times of life, all right? In finding that goodness of God, the sweet heart that he wants us to know to have, that sweet fellowship with him. And we go to Ephesians 4, verse 21. It says this, Ephesians 4, verse 21. He tells us some things to put off.

[1:07] If so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. Paul's telling them, put off something. The picture is of taking off a set of clothes, like a cloak or a coat. Put off that former conversation, that formal way of living, the old man. Put it off. Take that off and put it away. Put it off. Take it off. The old man.

[1:40] Put that off. And then he goes on, verse 23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on. So you put off the old. Now he says, put on the new man. Put off that, as it were, that cloak, that coat of the old man. Put on now the new man. There's a picture of that new set of clothes. So we renewed in the spirit of our mind. Then he says, put on, verse 24, put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour. Notice verse 22, put off the old. Verse 24, put on the new man. And then he says, verse 25, put away. Put away. So put on the new man, put off the old man and put away these things that we ought to put away. Get rid of. Put away lying, he says, speaking every man truth with his neighbour. For we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your wrath. Verse 27, neither give place to the devil. Don't give the devil an opportunity.

[2:56] Verse 28, let him that stole, steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands, the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth.

[3:11] Verse 29, let no corrupt communication. In other words, no foul language. Corrupt communication, foul language. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good.

[3:23] To the use of edifying that may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath, wrath you could think of bad temper. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Put away again. These are things to put away. Put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking. Let all be put away from you with all malice.

[3:58] And be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. There's a whole lot here in these few verses really about good human relations, building good human relationships, building good human relationships, about love, to put off the old man, to put on the new man, to put away lying, to put away this that, put away bitterness, put away wrath, put away anger, put away clamour, put away malice. And be, be ye kind one to another.

[4:34] We're going to go through this passage, just drawing out some truths about being sweet. The point is tonight to be sweet. In a world that's full of bitterness, a world that's sour and bitter, oft times, and life can be like that, that we can notice sweetness in our lives.

[4:57] And I've got a confession to make tonight. I am a sweet tooth. People who know me know that I like sweet things. My dear little wife is short and sweet. So I really like her a lot.

[5:12] But I'm going to talk about three sweet things tonight. Three sweet things that the Bible calls for us to show in our lives. Three sweet things, if you like, as a new man. To put on that new man.

[5:23] Firstly, be sweet in your talk. We see that verse 29, Ephesians 4 29, concentrating on that firstly. And before that, it talked about put away lying. Paul says this, he says, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.

[5:44] No corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. So words that build, let words that build come out of your mouth, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. So in other words, let those words that we speak be words that bring a blessing, words that bring a benefit to others. And verse 31, it reads further, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.

[6:17] Notice it says, let all, A double L. Now in the Greek, that means all, because that's what it means. Let all, all bitterness, not just part or some or a little bit or most of it, but let all bitterness be put away from you. And what you say shows what you are. What you say shows what you are. God is telling us here to watch what comes out of our mouth. What comes out of our mouth? Watch your tongue.

[6:45] Are your words words that bless, words that build, words that benefit? Watch your tongue. Are your words words that bless, build and benefit? We can make the mistake of our words being the opposite of that, can't we? There's much that we can say. And you know, it's, I don't know how many thousands of words you speak per day. Someone's reckoned it up. Is it tens of thousands, I think. You have to look that up on Google to, to know that statistic, but it's lots and lots of words. We all speak every day.

[7:16] Are they good things or are they bad things? Is it sweet or sour? Is it sweet or bitter? Does our speaking glorify God or does it not? It's an important question. Is our communication corrupt or is it fresh and clean? Does it edify? Does it build up? Do the words that we speak build up others or does it pull people down? Does it bring God's grace and love or does it show condemnation and harshness? Now there's, if you like, an important theological concept called the duck test. The duck test, you might have heard this one. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then most likely it is a duck. And of course, I'm being somewhat tongue in cheek there. But the Bible does talk about, by their fruits, you shall know them. It's the fruit test, if you like. Do you walk like a Christian?

[8:07] Do you talk like a Christian? Do you have control of your tongue? Or are you showing the fruits of a true Christian? Paul says, be renewed in the spirit of your mind. There was an interesting analogy I heard from the missionary, Dave Crowe. And he was preaching to some folk in Papua New Guinea. And he said that he hadn't pressed them to make a quick decision for Christ because he didn't want to take the flowers.

[8:31] He wanted to see the fruit. In the sense that some might mistake the flowers for conversion. Maybe a light, empty decision. Maybe more of a profession than the real possession, where there's no heartfelt change, no true conversion of life. It's just the flowers.

[8:48] But we want to see the fruit, don't we? We want to see fruitful Christians. And part of that fruit will be how we speak, how we act, how we behave, how we relate. Be renewed, Paul says, in the spirit of your mind.

[9:01] That's verse 23. There, be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now, one of the evident fruits that we will show when we're saved will be how we speak, in the transformation of the tongue. You know, we'll speak with new tongues, if you like, in that sense, that we'll have a new tongue. We'll speak with a tongue that is different than the world's tongue, which is often tainted and corrupt. But the words that we speak, the language that we speak, the words that we give and share and minister to others will be from a mouth that's free from gossip and slander and ridicule. Our mouth won't spew forth obscenities and other negative qualities.

[9:46] It's a question we all need to consider. Is our talk wholesome or is it toxic? We can make the mistake, the world's full of toxic talk, isn't it? Just full of toxic talk. But God calls us to have a clean tongue, not a corrupt tongue. You see in Colossians 3, verse 8 through 10, again, similar vein of conversation from Paul to the church at Colossae. And he says this, but now ye also put off all these anger, wrath, malice, those things of wrath, of anger, of, you know, that abusive kind of way of talking and also that filthy communication, there it is again, out of your mouth and lie not one to another. Seeing that you've put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. So again, that newness of mind, that the new man, and then Colossians 4, verse 6 says, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man. So there's that thought again, let your words be gracious words, words of grace, that you may know how to answer every man. Again, it's that thought of witnessing. How can we witness to people if our mouth is filled with trash talk, with toxic talk? Ephesians 5, verses 3 through 4, it says,

[11:14] But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become of saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. Again, these are the words that the world would use, you know, going on about smutty things, about crude and vulgar things, about just that worldly mind of the filth and corruption of this world. And the foolish jesting, which is, you know, you think of the smutty jokes and the crude kind of comedies, that it's almost like the popular comedians of Australia, their words are full of foul words, and foul thoughts. It's corrupt communication, that's what it is, that's the world, and the things of the world. The Bible says, let no corrupt communication, no, no, no corrupt communication come out of your mouth, no foul language. You know, as a Christian, let's, let's determine, I don't want to let one word that is foul come out of my mouth, not, not one word that is corrupt. And this word rotten, corrupt, it means rotten. It's literally talking about rotten words. You know, it's, if you can picture it, it's just that foul picture, as you would picture rotting food, like rotten fruit, or who's, who's ever smelt rotting fish down at the, down at the port there? I'm sure Jimmy would have smelt some rotten fish down there, down at port, down at Port Adelaide. There you go. Just smell Jimmy's compost.

[12:50] That's what the corrupt communication is the, is a picture of. It's, it's, it's disgusting, isn't it? That's the world, people. That's the world, and the ways of the world, it's the words of the world.

[13:01] We need to speak with a new tongue, as it were, a word, that, a language that is not tainted by this corrupt communication, that foul language. And also, do you always speak the truth? The Bible talks about how we should always speak the truth in Ephesians 4, 15, but speaking the truth in love, that we may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. We've got to speak the truth.

[13:24] People don't always want to hear the truth, because sometimes the truth is offensive, but nevertheless, we should speak it. Of course, mind you, it says to speak the truth in love. So do you tell others what God has done and is doing for you? These are the kind of words that we should want to relay to others. Are your words negative? Are they toxic? Are they words that are gossip or words that are corrupt and crude and vulgar? Let's rather speak words that will encourage, words that will build up, words that will challenge and edify. So let your words testify. And so this point number one is really be sweet in your talk. Be sweet in your talk. We started there with, to let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. So that's the first point is be sweet in your talk. And then we're going to go to verse 31 again. Let all bitterness and wrath, or in other words, bad temper and anger or clamor, which means about contention and shouting and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice. Malice means that kind of, you know, being out to get even with someone and that kind of hateful, spiteful kind of way of being malicious and attacking and such. So my second point here tonight, we said be sweet in your talk. Point number two is be sweet in your temper. Be sweet in your temper. So think of the attitude of our Lord. He, mind you, there's times he got angry and there's times he was righteous in his anger, but he was, he was loving. And even in his rebuking, there was, there was love there in, in, in speaking the truth in love. There's times to talk turkey and to, to say it like it is and to be straightforward. But be sweet in your temper. Let your temper not be such that the world would have a bad temper. You know, we have that, you know, and you can have that in the home situation, at the home front, when there's this kind of contention going on, this kind of, this clamor, this, this bad temperedness, and that, and that often breeds a kind of bitterness as well.

[15:46] Hebrews 12, 15 says, let, it talks about any root of bitterness, that, that it will trouble you, and that many will be defiled. And when you think of bitterness, we're talking about sweetness, but you think of the opposite of sweetness as bitterness. Think of bitterness tonight, what, what that reflects to us. And the Bible says it's like a deep root. It's like this deep-seated hurts and hatred. And really, when you think of bitterness, it can eat you up from the inside out, can't it?

[16:18] Now, as deep-seated hurts and wounds and maybe hatred, it eats us up from the inside out. And it says that, that will be defiled. There's a defiled mindset there that, um, so bitterness is, when you think about, and I was, as I was preparing this message, I was thinking, really, as I was doing a little bit of gardening, and I was thinking about the roots of the weeds in my garden. And, you know, we can, we can weed our garden by just getting a whippersnipper and slashing, or, you know, just chopping them off.

[16:51] But if we don't deal with the roots, the weeds come back, don't they? Who can identify with that? You see all the green thumbs put their hands up? You know, that bitterness needs to be uprooted. It needs to be torn out, just like you tear out those weeds. I know we've got a professional gardener in our midst here tonight. He's got to, goes around and he, and he pulls out those weeds out of the ground.

[17:14] And that deals with the weeds. And it's the same with bitterness, people tonight, isn't it? Isn't it? Let's be honest. If there's bitterness in us, some bitter experience, some bitter memory, some bitter hurt, you've got to uproot it and pull it out of the ground. Roots and all. Don't just cut as you would cut weeds. Pull them out. Roots and all. And so the question is about our temper. To be sweet in your temper. Paul says, let most of your bitterness and wrath be put away. No, he says, let all, all the bitterness and wrath be put away. Now, don't hang on to any of it. Are you sweet in your temper?

[17:54] Do you show the attitude of calm and, or, or, or stress? Do you act in anger and self-will? Or do you show God's love and mercy? Or do you just rage and have bad attitudes towards others? Now, all around us, we're living in a world which is often violent, isn't it? And I used to be involved with a secular cause to help reduce violence in, in, in homes. And it dealt with the reality that there is violence in, in the home place. And often that comes because of bitterness, doesn't it? Because there's deep-seated hurts there. There's deep-seated things that are not resolved. And we can see that violence comes, sometimes it erupts in workplaces, even in schools, and where you see children just, just steamed up, you know, that they're blowing smoke out of their ears, because that's how they're used to dealing with things at home. That's how they've seen mum and dad talk to each other. And some are called the, the time that we're living in, the age of rage. It's just this, this rage, it's in, it's seething in people and they just blow their stack and get all stroppy and agro and abusive. It's been said that last year, four million women were beaten by their husbands, who professed to love them more than anyone else. That's shocking, isn't it? Shocking statistics. Four million women beaten by their husbands. More than 10 million children were abused by their parents. That's in one year.

[19:29] You know, these are worldly statistics. In fact, they're old statistics. They're probably worse these days. But the point I'm making is this world is, it's the age of rage, isn't it? There's a lot of violence and hatred and anger and people are venting it and hurting even the ones they would, you would think surely they would love. People are quick to destructive anger. It's a real, it's demonic really, isn't it? It's the devil. Destructive anger, hasty and damaging words. And when you think about it, anger is just one letter short of danger, isn't it? And so, how is your temper?

[20:09] How is your temper? Be sweet in your temper, in your temper. Julie tells me she has lost her temper and she hopes she will not find it again. You know, that's a good attitude to have, isn't it?

[20:23] If you lose your temper, don't go and get it back. You know, that bad temper, as it were. Don't be bad tempered. It's easy to lose your cool and that's just how the world is, isn't it? The world would make you like that. You see one of the latest popular movies and TV series at the moment? They're violent.

[20:42] They're just full of violence and killing. It's just mayhem and slaughter. You know, the video games that people play now. You know, it's just shoot them up, blast them away and it's just full of violence and destruction. And we can be affected by that. The attitudes and nature of this world, it can affect us.

[21:06] And we can, likewise in the workplace and home place, when you rub shoulders with those who don't know the Lord and they utter those unthinking, savage, angry words, sometimes we can say the same words.

[21:19] And it should not be so. It should not be so. We ought not to hurt and damage another. And those hurtful temper, that hurtful words, sometimes they can find a lodging place in us.

[21:35] And we can harbour hurt for ages. There is a time and a place for anger. It is an emotion that has its rightful place. As we know, our Lord went into the temple and he cast out the money changers. He was forthright with the Pharisees and the false teachings. When there is a time for anger that is rightfully placed.

[22:00] But in the human relationship space, it's always wise to consider where are others at in their own situations. When you see people being hurt and suffering wrong or being cheated, it's appropriate to feel anger on behalf of them, like that they're being treated unjustly. And when we see evil and we see our world rejecting God, it's right to be angry about that, isn't it? It's right to be angry against false teachings and such. But when we feel anger against someone who has upset us, then the anger needs to be managed. You know, let's be honest, there's people that get under our skin and they're doing the wrong thing. But don't lose your cool. Keep your cool. Our Lord wants us to show patience and love towards others. Think of it. We cannot be a good witness for Christ if we have bitterness in our relationships. We need to be wise and careful how we speak and how we react. When we think about how much God has done for us. He loved us while we were yet sinners. When we were totally undeserving, he loved us. How much more should we be patient and loving towards other people who may annoy and frustrate us? So be sweet in your talk. Be sweet in your temper. Try to have a Christ-like temper. And thirdly, be sweet in your tender-heartedness. It says this in verse 32. And be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Now, I'm told sometimes you get these quotes on the internet, so I'm not sure, but someone attributes these, and I think they are wise words to Confucius. He said this, to put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order. To put the nation in order, we must put the family in order. To put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life. And to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right. So I think the wise words from Confucius, I don't know whether he got his heart right with God, but the point is that you've got the nation, the family, the personal life, and then it's your heart. And it's about being tender-hearted, being tender-hearted. Paul says be tender-hearted. It's a scriptural admonition.

[24:34] Our text tells us, it talks about the heart. And we are urged to have a large heart, a loving heart, a compassionate heart. The heart must be set right. Is our heart right? Is the question. Of course, we can only have our heart set right when we trust Christ for our Saviour. When we trust Him, when we believe in His saving work, and we seize it and take hold of it, we receive His gift as our saving grace. It's interesting when you think about all the problems of the world, when you boil it right down to it, it's a heart issue, isn't it? It's a heart issue. You know, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Someone has said, really, even embarrassment is due to pride, because we don't want others to think ill of us. We're concerned about what others may think of us.

[25:23] But what about when we stand before God? Have we got that embarrassment? How does God see our heart? Has our heart been changed? How is our heart? The heart must be changed. The heart must be saved in order for us to know Him. And the Lord wants us to humble ourselves before Him, to set our hearts to seek Him, to set our hearts in harmony with His Holy Spirit. Think of the great tender hardness of God towards you. God is love, it says. I think sometimes we forget God is love. We forget that great love wherewith He has loved us. The great love that He has for us, He's called it everlasting love, from everlasting to everlasting. This great love, this everlasting love, is the love for the unlovely.

[26:11] It's the love for the unworthy. While we were yet sinners, yet sinners, Christ still loved us. We see in Ephesians 5 verse 2 that He calls us to walk in love. It tells how the Holy Spirit is shed abroad in our hearts. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by His Holy Spirit. And it says that the love of Christ constraineth us. It moves us. It prompts us. It pushes us. It sends us. The love of Christ is a great driving force. And I think, friends, if you think of it, we should keep sweet in our words, with our tongue. We should keep sweet with our temper. And we should also have that tenderheartedness, that tenderheartedness. Because it's the great love that God has loved us with is that moving force in us, that motivational force for us. And I think we need to show the love of Christ more, to truly be tenderhearted. How can we be tenderhearted? Our Lord says we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. That's the greatest commandment. And then he says the second is, after this it says, love our neighbour as ourself. Now that, it sounds simple, doesn't it? Love our neighbour as ourself. But when you think about it, that really is a very strong, it's a very profound statement, isn't it? That we should love our neighbour as we love ourself. And, you know,

[27:51] I don't know about you, but our self-motivation is pretty strong, isn't it? That we want what's best. We want what's satisfying to us. We should want that for others. We should want that, the good things for others that we would want for ourselves. Someone has said, it's no chore for me to love the whole world. My only real problem is my neighbour next door. It's when it becomes right by you, isn't it? The ones in your circle, the ones that actually you've got to live near or live with. You know, love your neighbour. It could be really that, it could actually be your neighbour.

[28:30] And the one that you actually have to see quite a bit and it might get on your nerves. Someone has said this little poem, love this world through me, Lord, this world of broken men. Thou didst love through death, Lord, O love in me again. Souls are in despair, Lord, O make me know and care. When my life they see, may they behold thee, O love the world through me. When you think about it, we are his living letters, aren't we? We are his hand extended. We are the ones that he's using as his messengers, as his ambassadors to be tender-hearted and to reach out, to have that heart for souls. An old preacher said, if you're not very kind, you are not very holy. Now there's a sense where kindness and holiness are together. Kindness and tender-heartedness is a real mark of Christ-likeness and holiness.

[29:26] You know, sometimes, look, I've got to be honest, sometimes I can be difficult with other people. You know, you go down the shop and you don't get what you want. You know, sometimes I can be a grumpy customer and I've got to watch that because it's in me sometimes. And I, you know, we can be like that, can't we? In certain settings we might be grumpy and maybe difficult to get on with or, you know, maybe we don't always show the fruit of the Spirit like we really should. I'm talking about myself here, but you might be able to identify that with situations with tradespeople that do jobs for you or different situations, workmates or, you know, different settings where you have difficult people in your life at times that can get annoying. But we've all got to think of what would Jesus, our Lord, want us to be like with those in our lives. There was a little child who prayed one day, oh Lord, make the bad people good and make the good people kind. And we can be, we can be a saved person, a Christian, we know the Lord, but sometimes kindness is lacking, isn't it? Do we show the love of Christ?

[30:38] We've got to extend that love. How are they going to know his love if we're not loving and we're not truly tenderhearted? Do we truly live out? 1 Corinthians 13. Paul says, if I don't have love, I'm nothing. Electricity can't get into you unless it can get out of you. Likewise, the love of God, in that sense, we want to be channels for the love of God. Not that we want to go zap people with an electric lightning bolt, but that sense where electricity can't get out of you and can't get into you unless it gets out of you. So the love of God comes into us, we should reach out with the love of God, to be a channel of his love, to be a channel of his blessing, to be tenderhearted, be tenderhearted. It's a Christian quality. Are we tenderhearted? When D.L. Moody, he was an evangelist of old time, he was, as a youngster, he was an ignorant, ragged, shoeless boy on the streets of Chicago. And he found his way to Sunday school by what some would call chance. Little D.L. Moody, just a young strapping lad, ignorant, ragged, no shoes, found his way into a Sunday school, outreach Sunday school. And he was shy, sensitive, and nervous. He thought the other kids were going to laugh at him because he couldn't find things in the Bible. But the teacher spent time with young Moody. The teacher took time with him to show love and care, helping him to find places in the Bible, helping him to learn about God. And this love and sympathy helped to reach him. And of course,

[32:18] Moody became a wonderful evangelist for the gospel's sake. So it's taking time, even for the little ones, for the ones that we might not always be conscious of caring for such, rather than being harsh and critical. You know, that can be quite an off-putting thing when you have circumstances. And I know it can happen in the best of churches where you might have a little one being a bit noisy or this or that, and people are harsh and critical and standoffish and give the parents a funny look. That can be off-putting for a lifetime. And that can be so damaging. Rather, let's be tenderhearted. Let's love and be loving Christians. Let's not be negative and unforgiving, holding grudges and hurts and resentment.

[33:08] Friends, do we care? Do we show kindness? And sometimes it's about just being thoughtful and being mindful of others. There was a, just bear with me another couple of little illustrations, but just to make the point here. And this is a man, a Russian writer called Tolstoy. He was a great writer of materials in the secular realm. And Tolstoy was going down a street one day, and there was a beggar there pleading for arms, you know, asking for charity, asking for money.

[33:41] And this Russian searched through his pockets for a coin, but he couldn't find any as much as he wanted to give something to the man. He says, please don't be angry with me, my brother, but I have nothing with me. If I did, I would gladly give it to you. And the beggar's face lit up and he said, you have given me more than I asked for. You called me brother. Now think of it, brothers and sisters, and I know we had a situation just last Sunday gone where we had a homeless person on the doorstep of the church virtually. And I know numbers of you, as well as me, gave something to encourage the man, words of comfort, some practical help. I know some gave him a coffee and a cake and just had words of comfort and encouragement to the man. And friends, we need to have that tenderheartedness.

[34:28] Some would say, oh, just shoo away. You know, you're not a good look in front of the door of the church. And they would just give that kind of offhanded, kind of, you know, care, uncaring kind of remark.

[34:41] But friends, we've got to realise, if it's but for the grace of God, we would be in his shoes. Friends, do we care? That's the point. Do we care? Do we really care? Are we really showing the kindness that our Saviour would want us to show? There was a busy judge approached in wartime by a soldier who presented him a letter. And the judge wasn't inclined to pay much attention to the visitor because he was busy at the time. But his attitude changed when he saw that the letter was from his own son. He picked up the letter and he realised his own son had been on the front in wartime. And the writer, his son said this, Dear Father, the bearer is a soldier discharged from the hospital and he's going home to die. Please can you assist him in any way you can for Charlie's sake. And all the tender emotions of the judge just welled up as he saw these words written by his son. And the judge said,

[35:43] I took that soldier to my heart for Charlie's sake. I clothed him in Charlie's clothes. I let him sleep in Charlie's bed and I supplied him with every comfort for Charlie's sake. Because of his son appealing to him, because it was for Charlie's sake, his son Charlie had asked him, he gave and gave and gave to this unknown man. What about you and me? What will we do for Christ's sake? For Christ's sake?

[36:13] Will we have that tender heartedness? Will we understand? Will we empathise? Will we sympathise? Will we make the decision to be sweet? In a world that's full of sour things, let's face it. In a world that's bitter and corrupt, a world that's full of smelly fish like Jimmy's compost pile, you know, we don't want to be spewing forth corrupt communication out of our mouth. We want to be sweet in our talk.

[36:43] Amen? Determine to be sweet in your talk. To be sweet in your temper. In those situations where you're dealing with people face to face, be sweet in your temper. And thirdly, be tender hearted. Be tender hearted.

[36:59] It's the likeness of Christ, isn't it? In a world that's full of selfishness, selfish words, spiteful words, sour, cursing, spiteful, bitter words. Our Lord says to be tender hearted. Now how many commandments are there?

[37:21] Ten. The Lord Jesus says a new commandment. A new commandment. I give unto you. I know it's a trick question. A new commandment. I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you. Isn't that important, people? Isn't that important? And friends, in Genesis 3 verse 9, one of the, well, it's really the first question of God to man. Our Lord says what? Adam, where art thou? Adam, where are you? And a teacher was leading a Bible class and commented on these words, Adam, where are you? And she said this, if you read this as though God were a policeman, you can never be a preacher. But read it as though God were a broken hearted father looking for a lost child. Adam, where are you? Think of the tender heartedness of God. Adam, totally blown it. The one thing that he was told not to do, just like little ones, if you're a parent, tends to be the case, doesn't it? The one thing you say, don't do, they do. And Adam just went and did the one thing God said, don't do it. But he says, Adam, where are you?

[38:44] And, you know, the thought of this Sunday school teacher was really, God wasn't shouting that out like a policeman, Adam, where are you? But Adam, where are you? With that heart to save, that heart to appeal, that heart to reach that lost child. So friends, be sweet. And your tenderheartedness, have that tenderheartedness.

[39:08] It's so easy to lose the sweetness in a world that's bitter, isn't it? It's bitter, it stinks, it's sour, it's corrupt, it's foul. Be sweet. And be sweet in your talk. Determine those words. Let no corrupt communication, not one word, no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Look, I'm still working on my talk and God helping us.

[39:32] I won't talk like I used to talk. I'll avoid those toxic things. Be sweet in your talk. Be sweet in your temper. When you interact, when you relate, don't hold things. Forgive. Be sweet in your temper and be tenderheartedness.

[39:50] Be tenderhearted. Friends, life's so short. You know, as you get older, and I know there's a brother, a tweet he's passed away. Different ones, the saints passing away every week, every day, it seems.

[40:03] Different ones that we know are saved people, that have gone to glory. But friends, there's people that are not saved people that are passing away. Life's too short, isn't it? Life's too short to hold a grudge.

[40:14] Life's too short to bear unforgiveness. Life's too short to hold on to that bitterness that you might have. Let it go today. Give it to him. Let it go. Release it. Put it off, the old man. Put on the new man. Be clothed with the new man. He's Christ Jesus our Lord. The Bible speaks how we can have a newness of life.

[40:35] It talks about a renewing of your mind. It talks about a renewing of the spirit of your mind. It talks about being renewed in your mind. And friends, these are words that we can take to heart and I pray put into action. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that truly you are the one who is fully and wholly sweet. You are full of of such tender grace. Lord, to the most undeserving of men and women. Lord God, that we know that you should bear our guilt and shame and pay the very penalty of our sin at the cross. Lord, we cannot understand it.

[41:14] Lord, that cruel cross, Lord, that you should bear the wicked hatred of men to be nailed and scourged and spat upon, that we should be such recipients of such grace. Lord, we cannot ever deserve it. Lord, help us not to take it for granted or to be careless. Lord, but help us to have that sweetness of your salvation. We pray here tonight, Lord, for any that might be present or perhaps listening in. Lord, that each one personally might know the sweet, sweet love of Jesus, the sweet grace of God, the sweet salvation gift. Lord, the sweet mercies that you would grant to such as we. Lord, that we can put off the old man with all of its bitterness and hatefulness and and hatefulness and self-pride and wickedness. Lord, the deceitfulness of our own heart.

[42:16] Lord, let us put that off and let us put on as you would give it to us that garment of that salvation, that robe of our righteousness, who is yourself, Lord, that you would clothe us with yourself, that new man, that new mind, that renewing of the mind, and that, Lord, our talk, our temper, and our tenderheartedness would be sweet. And unto your praise, Lord, help us to walk in love, help us to walk in that tenderheartedness, to walk in forgiveness, to walk in that newness of life, to know the great joy that it is that everything of that old man is gone. And you grant us that new life.

[42:59] If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature, a brand new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Lord, we pray for each one that might know that, how to be born again, by simply trusting, receiving your grace. Lord, knowing that you turn us around on the inside and turn us inside out. Lord, you give us a whole new way of living as we simply trust and receive your gift.

[43:27] Lord, it's a whole new life begins. And Lord, we pray that that conversion might be evidenced in our footsteps, Lord, until we see your face. Lord, give us that life of tenderheartedness and love and kindness by your Spirit's power. Lord, help us to know that, that tenderheartedness. In Jesus' name we pray.

[43:53] Amen. Amen. He gives us a new heart, a new spirit, a new direction, a new way of living.