And so, Father, as we look into the mirror of your word and we read that you say of us that we are new creations in Christ Jesus, we know you're not lying.
We know that this is true.
This is who we are now.
And so, Father, oh, the God who it's impossible to lie.
God, would you remind us that you have created us in your likeness, in true righteousness and holiness, and now we're to put away falsehood.
And now we are to speak the truth to one another.
God, I do pray that you would unite us as a church and are being honest and truthful with one another.
We ask this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Now, I'm not sure if what I'm about to say is a confession.
It may very well be that.
I have owned some ratty, nasty, old t-shirts that I have become sentimentally attached to.
Anybody else?
Yes, I see that hand.
I see that hand.
Come on down.
No, just kidding.
And my dear wife will see me handling one of these delicate t-shirts because they have been through the ringer.
And I'll be holding this t-shirt like a newborn baby to put into my drawer.
And what she'll be doing is something like this.
No way.
That's got to go.
And sometimes I agree.
And that t-shirt becomes rags.
And other times I just have to say, I'm not ready.
Well, this morning we're going to have to rid ourselves of an old and nasty t-shirt called falsehood.
And we're going to have to put on a new clean and just wonderful t-shirt called truthfulness.
Honesty.
And what you need to know off the bat is that that t-shirt smells like Jesus.
If you would open up your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4.
We're going to be focusing on one verse this morning, verse 25.
But we're going to start with a run-up in verse 17.
So let's read verses 17 and we're going to read through verse 25.
The Apostle Paul says this.
This is God's word.
The God in whom it is impossible to lie.
Now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds.
They are darkened in their understanding.
Alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart.
They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality.
Greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
But that's not the way you learned Christ.
Assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him as the truth is in Jesus.
To put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.
And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.
And to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Verse 25.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor.
For we are members.
We are members one of another.
Our speech matters to God.
What we say makes a difference.
Our words have an effect.
That's God's design.
And as Christians, those who have been made new by God,
our words are to have a particular kind of effect.
We are to rid ourselves of lying, falsehood.
And we must speak truthfully to one another.
And that truth speaking has an intended effect.
It builds the body.
I've been saying for some time now,
who you are determines how you live.
And what we're going to see this morning is,
who you are determines what you say.
How you speak.
And so this morning, three moves to help you see what God means
and to bring it to bear in our lives.
First, we're going to start in front of the mirror.
And we're going to start in front of the mirror.
And from the mirror, we're going to move to the closet.
And from the closet, we're going to go to the church.
So mirror, closet, church.
I hope it all makes sense.
From the mirror.
We all have morning routines, don't we?
And I'm guessing at some point in your morning routine,
you take a look at yourself in the mirror.
Now, I'm sure that some of us,
in this morning glance in the mirror,
you walk by the mirror and you are like,
man, you are stunning.
I can't believe you look so good.
But the most of us,
we wake up and we go and look in the mirror
and it's more like damage control.
For example,
teenagers,
you wake up wondering,
is there a zit on my chin?
And your greatest fear is to see Mount Fuji
on your chin that morning.
Is it not?
Totally.
Brothers,
those of us who are getting on in the years,
we walk in and look in the mirror
and we pull back our hair
and we say,
has my forehead moved to a five head?
Or a six head?
Or a seven head?
I have a three head.
Ladies,
you're looking at your eyes
and the bags under your eyes
and you're saying,
that is like pocketbook full,
kind of size.
That's kind of like Harley Davidson
writing pouch size bags under my eyes.
So we go and we look
and it's damage control, right?
And we're looking at the mirror
because the mirror doesn't lie.
It doesn't.
Did you know there's another kind of mirror
that you can look at in every morning?
James talks about it as
the law of liberty,
God's word.
Every morning,
we can go to the mirror
of God's word
and it doesn't lie.
It shows you
who you really are.
Your true self.
This morning,
we've got to remind ourselves
who we really are.
We've got to look at the mirror
of God's word,
Ephesians 4, 17 through 24,
and we've got to remind ourselves
who we are.
It's like God uses this passage
and He puts it in front of you
and He says,
Daughter, son,
this is who you are now.
You're a new creation
in Christ Jesus.
Don't forget that.
Remember that.
Renew your mind
on this reality.
I've brought this about in you.
You're not what you used to be.
In fact,
the first half of Ephesians,
we learn that God
has eternally loved us.
That God has radically changed us.
That He's intentionally knit us
to a body of believers.
We belong now.
It's who we are now.
And you can sum up all this
by saying this.
We are new creations
in Christ Jesus.
We're not what we used to be.
The old is gone.
The new has come.
We have a new nature.
This is who you are now.
Your former manner of life,
which was the outworking
of your old self,
is no more.
And so verses 17 through 19,
we are reminded of what we used to be.
That's not who you are anymore.
And so now, Christian,
you're no longer futile
in your thinking.
The substance of your thinking
has to do with real truth in Jesus.
You're no longer darkened
in your understanding.
The Holy Spirit's flipped the lights on.
You're no longer alienated
from the life of God.
No, God has reconciled you
to Himself through Christ,
and now you have new life
in Christ.
You're no longer ignorant.
Lights on.
You see truth for what it is.
You see Jesus for who He is now.
Fully God, fully man.
You understand what He's done
on the cross.
You understand what He's doing now,
and you understand that one day
He's coming back.
He's going to make all things right.
You're no longer
the owner of a hardened heart.
God has radically changed you.
Ezekiel 36 is true of you, Christian.
God pulled out your stony heart,
and He stuck back in
a fleshy heart,
a soft heart,
a heart that beats for God,
new affections for Him.
Now, this doesn't mean
you have no longer desires,
sinful desires,
but what it does mean
is now you have
a new set of desires,
a desire to live for God.
Your old self is history.
Your new self
is the present reality.
The old man is gone.
The new man has come.
Last week,
I quoted from The Help
and learned that it's not Abilene,
but Abilene.
Remember what she said?
You is kind.
You is smart.
You is important.
Christian,
you are God's.
You are alive.
And you are holy.
Created in the likeness of God.
Think Jesus.
Created in the likeness of God
in true righteousness
and holiness.
You are the real thing,
brother and sister in Christ.
God's wrought a real work in you.
And He has a new way
for us to live now.
In verses 22 through 24,
Paul uses this language
to put off and to put on.
He's talking about clothing,
believe it or not.
He's saying,
hey, the Christian life
is like putting on new clothes
every day of your life.
You're putting on clothes
that adorn the gospel.
You're putting on clothes
that look and smell like Jesus.
That's who you are now.
All this other stuff is gone.
You don't put that on anymore.
So we are to put off
our old selfish ways
that sprang from a hardened heart.
That's gone.
And what we're to do now is
we're to put on new Christ-ish ways
that spring from a heart
that has been made new
by God Himself.
And here's what this means.
We need to look at ourselves
in the mirror of God's Word
again and again and again.
We forget who we are.
We forget what God has done.
We've got to remember
God's speaking to us.
You is mine.
You is alive.
You is holy.
You is Christ-like.
So we've got to glance
in the mirror here.
We've been reminded of who we are
from verses 19 through 24.
So now from the mirror
we make our way to the closet
because God has given us
a brand new wardrobe in Christ.
A new way to live.
New clothes to wear.
A new way of being.
So now let's move
from the mirror to the closet.
Let me read Ephesians 4.25.
Therefore, having put away falsehood,
let each one of you speak the truth
with his neighbor
for we are members of one another.
And so what lies before us
in Ephesians 4.25 through 5.2
is a wardrobe
of things that are pleasing to God.
Things that adorn the gospel.
Things that God wants us
to put on over and over again.
Things that God wants us
to characterize us.
But you know what?
First I want to notice.
Did you notice the word
therefore in verse 25?
Tell me if you know this song.
Conjunction, junction,
what's your function?
Hooking up words,
phrases, and clauses.
Anybody know that one?
Sing with me.
Conjunction, junction,
what's your function?
Okay, a conjunction
makes connections.
The word therefore
is making a connection.
The Apostle Paul
is moving from
our new nature in Christ
to our new practice in Christ.
That's what the therefore
is there for.
He's making a connection
between who we are
and how we are to live.
And so we're moving
from who we are nature
to our practice.
And in verse 25,
Paul is making this
specific connection
between who we are in Christ
and what we say.
How we speak.
What comes out of our mouth.
Therefore,
having put away falsehood,
let each one of you
speak the truth
with his neighbor.
So God has purchased us
a whole new wardrobe.
So imagine,
you open up the door
of your new
Christian clothes closet.
You're standing in front
of this new wardrobe
that God,
your Father,
has purchased for you
with the blood of Jesus.
Now hanging on that closet rod
are a variety
of righteous
and holy clothes.
And we're to be putting
these on every day.
This is what's to be true
of us day after day.
Now if you get real close
to these vestments
hanging on this closet rod
and you get real close
and you're like,
take a deep smell,
you're going to smell Jesus.
This is Christ-like behavior.
This is what he's purchased us for.
To be like him.
And so,
today we're going to look
at true speech
in verse 25.
Next week we're going
to look at anger.
How not to sin
in your anger
and to be Christ-like.
Then we're going to move on
to honest work
and then gracious speech
and then what it looks like
to have a posture
of pleasing God
and not grieving God.
And then what it looks like
to live at peace
with one another
just like Christ did
with us.
And of course we'll wrap up
by looking at what it means
to walk in love
with one another.
These are Christ-like clothes.
It's quite the wardrobe.
And for us who are dead in sin
and now alive in Christ,
it's time to get dressed.
It's time to put
the right stuff on.
It's time to live our lives
in a way that's pleasing to God.
And so this morning,
like I said,
we're going to focus
on verse 25.
Put off falsehood.
Speak the truth
with his neighbor.
Now, back to the closet.
As you're looking
at these lovely clothes,
freshly purchased,
you noticed
balled up in the corner
on the ground
what appears to be
some kind of
old T-shirt.
And of course,
you do
what any other human being does
when they find
a balled up T-shirt
in the corner of a closet.
What do you do?
You give it the sniff test.
What does this smell like?
And what you find
is that this
T-shirt
reeks.
It stinks.
It's putrid.
And yet,
at the same time,
this T-shirt
is strangely familiar.
You've worn
this T-shirt
quite a bit.
It's a well-worn
T-shirt.
There's a lot of
memories in it.
In fact,
to be honest,
you would say
there's a little bit
of a draw.
Now,
if you were to put
this T-shirt back on,
you'd be tempted
to fall back
into a former
way of life.
This T-shirt
smells like
falsehood.
And since
becoming a Christian,
you can smell
that rot.
You usually can smell
it before you see it.
It smells of your
former way of life,
living in a web
of lies.
Lies about reality
when we are ignorant
of God.
Lies about ourselves,
myself,
what I thought
about myself
before God
lit me up
with the truth
of Jesus.
Thinking more
highly of myself.
Maybe you're thinking
more lowly of yourself.
Lies about other people.
Imputing motives.
Thinking things
about them.
Lying was
a way of life.
It permeated
our speech.
Now,
this particular
T-shirt
that you have
just sniffed
and unballed,
it's all wrinkled
and there is
a word on the front
of it.
Big and bold.
Spinster!
That's the name.
Spinster.
This was our
former manner
of life.
And it's been
put off.
What do spinsters
do?
They spin the reality
of a situation
to suit their
selfish purposes.
That's what spinsters
do.
And that was
our former
modus operandi,
our former
MO.
That's the way
we used to live.
Now,
the Greek word
translated
falsehood
is a Greek word
that we get
the word
pseudo from.
You know,
like pseudo self,
false self,
pseudo intellectual,
pseudo science,
and it literally
means
to lie.
To intentionally
distort
the truth
of a situation.
And we are
not to put on
the spinster
t-shirt
anymore.
It's not
who we
are.
Remember,
God says,
you is mine,
you is alive,
and you
is holy.
Created in the
likeness of God
in true
righteousness
and holiness.
And it changes
the way
we speak.
So what do you
do when you find
the spinster
t-shirt?
Because you find
it throughout
the day,
don't you?
You ball it up
and you throw
it out.
It's not who
you are anymore.
It's not who
we are anymore
because
we've been born
of the truth.
We've come to
see that the
truth is in
Christ Jesus.
we live in
reality now.
A while back,
a friend of
mine was
trying to help
me with the
colors of my
wardrobe.
And this
person was
very graciously
helping me to
see that certain
colors weren't
becoming of me.
Certain colors
didn't work
for me.
Now,
I know a
mix of
metaphors,
but brother
and sister
in Christ,
lying is
just not
your color.
It's not
who you are
anymore.
It's not
true of you
anymore.
Now,
the fact of
the matter
is that we
all are
tempted to
spin things,
aren't we?
To lie
still.
Even having
been made
new,
we are still
tempted to
put on the
spinster t-shirt.
So what do
you do when
you're tempted?
Well,
you start
by renewing
your mind
on what's
true.
Remind
yourself of
who you
are.
I don't
do this
anymore because
it's not
my color
anymore.
It's not
my style.
I've been
changed.
And Christ
who's changed
me changes
the way I
am to
speak.
Your God
has given
you a new
wardrobe to
put on.
And so we
fight lies
with truth.
We are to
put on a
new t-shirt.
So having
rejected our
former way
of living,
spinning the
truth for
selfish purposes,
we are to
put on a
new t-shirt.
So hanging
in the closet
is a clear
and crisp
bright yellow
t-shirt.
You pull
it out.
And across
the front
it says in
three big
words,
keeping it
real.
And you
flip it
over and
there's one
of those big
circles with
the cross
through it.
It's kind
of like say
no to
spin.
That's on
the back.
Keeping it
real.
Speaking the
truth.
Living in
reality.
Being honest
with one
another.
Genuine with
one another.
That's the
new t-shirt.
And when we
put this
t-shirt on,
we're putting
on a new
way of
Christ-like
living.
A Christ-like
speech.
Speech marked
by honesty.
Because we've
come to know
the truth in
Jesus, and
because he
saved us to
be truly
righteous and
holy, we
are to speak
truthfully to
one another.
Honestly.
We're to speak
truthfully about
God to one
another.
We're to speak
truthfully about
ourselves to
each other.
We're to
represent
ourselves accurately.
We're to
speak truthfully
of one
another to
each other.
We're not
to gossip.
We are not
to hide
reality.
We're not
to distort
the truth.
We are not
to deny
what is
true.
That's
spinster
living.
Rather,
it is
pleasing to
God to
speak truthfully
to one
another because
it's impossible
for God to
lie.
Titus 1-2,
God doesn't
lie.
And we
have been
made in
His likeness
now.
Now, I
can imagine
a situation
in which
you find
yourself in
a web of
lies.
You're a
Christian,
and you've
been spinning
the truth
out of
fear,
out of
shame,
out of
anger,
out of
disgust.
what do
you do?
Well, you
first remember
who you
are,
that you
belong to
Jesus now,
and then
you turn
from your
sin.
It's called
repenting.
These lies
are wrong.
It's not
true of me,
of who God
called me to
be.
I must
change now.
I must
turn away
from these
lies.
That's
repentance.
And the
outworking of
repentance
shows up
in a kind
of truth
speech.
It's called
confession.
Confession to
God,
and confession
to those you
have sinned
against.
We're simply
agreeing with
God that,
yes,
what I've been
doing here is
grievous in
your sight.
And then we
confess to
those we've
lied to,
those who
are believing
our pseudo
truths.
We confess
it.
Now,
if you're a
step ahead of
me,
you're probably
doing the
math.
You're probably
thinking,
what kind of
impact will
this have on
my relationships
with these
people?
And so for
you to take
a step like
this,
you know you're
going to grieve
somebody.
You know you're
going to hurt
somebody.
You know you're
going to strain
a relationship.
Because essentially
what you're saying
is,
I've been lying
to you.
Your trust in
me has been
misfounded.
now you at
that moment
are even
thinking about
this,
you may feel
isolated,
right?
Remember,
God is saying
to you,
you is mine,
you is
alive,
and you
is holy.
Your confession
pleases me.
I see you
speaking the
truth.
In these
kinds of
situations,
the starting
point is
speaking the
truth about
your lies.
Calling a
lie a lie.
Calling a
falsehood a
falsehood.
And then
what?
What does
faith look like
moving forward,
right?
What do you
do then?
What do you
do then?
Well,
if you look
back in the
text,
in 425,
it reads,
therefore,
having put
away falsehood,
let each
one of you
speak the
truth with
his neighbor.
That word
speak,
it's called
an imperative,
it's a
command.
And the
nature of
the verb
is an
ongoing
action.
We are
to continually
speak the
truth to
one another.
And so what
it looks like
moving forward
is we
continually
remember who
we are,
and we
continually
speak the
truth to
one another.
We are
to live
in reality
with each
other.
It's
righteous
and holy
living.
Now,
if you've
strained a
relationship
because of
your lies,
the way to
repair and
restore the
loss of
trust is to
speak truthfully
to that
person.
To say
what you
mean,
do what you
say,
to follow
through,
to speak
honestly.
And what
will take
place as
you're trusting
God here
is that
God will
gradually
regain the
trust.
He'll work
a work of
repair of
the one that
you have
deceived and
grieved.
Now,
let's say
you've been
the one
deceived,
the one
lied to.
You,
too,
need to
remember who
you are.
you are a
new creation.
And so
you read in
verse 27,
I think,
26,
be angry
and do not
sin.
You read in
verse 31,
guard your
heart,
don't be
bitter.
You look at
verse 32
and you read
forgive as
God in
Christ Jesus
forgave you,
walk in
love.
It's tall
order when
you've been
sinned against
this way,
isn't it?
Can I
just,
can I
just say
something
here?
We've got
to realize
that when
we sin
this way
against one
another,
though we
are able
to forgive
each other
when this
happens,
there's still
been a
breach of
trust.
And so
we can't
be thinking
that since
I forgive
you,
all is
well.
It's
not.
There needs
to be a
repairing
of trust
in the
relationship.
And so
if someone's
been lying
to you
and they
confess that
to you,
please,
by all
means,
forgive them
as God
and Christ
has forgiven
you.
But you're
going to be
honest with
them.
You're going
to need to
say something
like this.
Now,
I'm glad to
forgive you
and I want
to trust you,
but it's going
to take some
time to trust
you fully
again.
as you
follow through
with what
you say.
As you
walk the
talk and
talk the
walk,
I will
purpose to
trust you
more and
more.
We're
living in
reality,
aren't we?
Now,
if you are
stuck in
either of
these situations,
the one who's
been lying or
the one who's
been lied to
and you just
don't feel like
you know where
to go right
now,
well,
God has
grace for
you.
Keep it
real.
Be honest
and ask
for help.
Your elders,
we're glad to
help you with
this.
There are
mature Christians
in this church
that can help
you with this.
Go find
help.
The church
has a role
to help,
which brings
us to the
last point.
So we've
looked at the
mirror,
we've moved
to the closet,
now let's
talk about
the church.
Did you
notice
in verse
25
that Paul
provides another
reason to
speak truthfully?
He says
this,
therefore,
having put
away falsehood,
let each
one of you
speak the
truth and
speak the
truth with
his neighbor,
for we are
members one
of another.
For we are
members one
of another.
What Paul
is doing
here,
what God
is doing
is reminding
us that we
are a body.
We have
been intentionally
knit together
by God.
Each of
us are
individual
members of
the body
of Christ
and interdependent
organism with
Christ Jesus
as our
head.
That's what
Paul is
saying.
And he's
saying that
the health
of our
body depends
upon our
speaking the
truth to
each other.
Look at
Ephesians 4
15.
Rather,
speaking the
truth in
love,
we are to
grow up
in every
way into
him who
is the
head,
into
Christ.
Our
speaking the
truth to
one another
builds up
the body.
It grows
the body.
And in
this text,
it's clear
that each
of us
has a
responsibility
to speak
truthfully
to each
other.
Let each
one of
you speak
the truth.
We're to
keep it real
with each
other.
We're to
be honest
with each
other.
Authentic.
that's who
God has
made us
to be.
We've been
created in
the likeness
of God.
And now
we live it
out by
speaking
truthfully.
Two chain
reactions with
two different
effects in a
church.
You ready?
Here it
goes.
Living the
old way,
the former
manner of
life.
It's like
cancer to
a body.
Here's the
chain reaction.
We forget
who we are,
we lie to
each other,
we misrepresent
ourselves to
each other,
and the
result is
mistrust
between each
other,
leading to
disunity in
the church,
which leads
to atrophy
of a church,
which leads
to a
non-believing
world looking
at us and
saying something
like,
God makes
no difference
in their
body.
Is there
a God?
That's one
chain reaction.
Here's the
second chain
reaction.
It's not
like cancer.
This is
health.
This is
goodness.
This is
God's
grace.
We remember
who we
are.
We remember
what God
has done
for us
in Christ.
We are
new
creations,
and we
purpose to
keep it
real,
to speak
truthfully
to one
another.
And in
that truth
speaking,
even when
sometimes it's
hard to say
something to
someone,
when we're
being honest,
it ends up
building trust.
And with
that trust
comes unity,
and with
that unity
comes growth,
and with
that growth
comes God's
glory.
People are
saying,
what's going
on there?
And we get
to say,
God's at work.
Two ways to be
as a church.
I vote for
the latter.
Let's speak
the truth to
each other,
because we love
each other.
Imagine this.
Christ the
King Church,
wearing our
bright yellow
keep it real,
say no to
spinning t-shirts,
spread out
throughout the
week,
throughout the
city,
throughout the
region,
in workplaces,
in schools.
We're speaking
the truth
wherever we
are.
It's how we
do it.
And sometimes
we're going to
catch some heat
for that.
But it's the
right thing to
do.
It's who we
are now.
Now imagine
this.
When we
gather as a
church,
with our
keeping it
real t-shirts
on,
on a Sunday
morning,
at Wednesday
night Bible
studies,
when we come
together in
small groups,
we're purposing
to speak
honestly,
live honestly
with each
other,
there's some
good that's
going to
happen there.
God's going
to be with
us.
He's going
to grow
us.
He's going
to get a
glory unique
to Him.
See,
what's at
stake here
is our
unity and
our health
as a
church,
and ultimately
God's
glory,
witness to
His name.
So we've
looked at
the mirror,
we've checked
out our new
wardrobe in
the closet,
and we've
seen how
Paul lands
that in the
church.
Let me
pray for
us,
and we'll
close.
God in
heaven,
we take
great joy
in knowing
that You
are a
God who
is a
truthful
God,
and You're
calling us
to be
truthful as
well.
God,
would You
make us
a body
that delights
and being
true,
being honest,
keeping it
real.
God,
would You
grow us
here?
Would You
help us
to put off
the old
way and
to live
in light
of who we
now are?
God,
make us a
people who
speak the
truth and
love to
one other.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.