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Welcome to day five of our look at this great chapter of the Bible, Ephesians
chapter four. We're going to be looking at verses 25 to 32 today. Remember
yesterday we began this look of this process of growth that God is doing in each
of our lives as believers.

Put off the old, put on the new, but in the middle is be renewed in your mind.
And I find that that is the one that most of us as believers do not quite have a
grasp on, and it's the most important one. You put off the old, you're renewed
in your mind, and then you're able to put on the new.

How do you do this? How are you renewed in your mind in a practical way? Well,
God knew we'd have this question.

So in verses 25 to 32, the Bible gives us some answers. How does this renewal of
the mind work? Listen to what the Bible says beginning in verse 25.

"Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his
neighbor for all members of one body. In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the
sun go down while you're angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but he must work, doing something
useful with his own hands that he may have something to share with those in
need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is
helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit
those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander, along with every
form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you. " As I read through these verses, Paul gives
us a number of examples of places in our lives where we need to be renewed.

Put off the old, put on the new by being renewed in the spirit of our mind. He
talks about lying, falsehood. He talks about anger.

He talks about stealing. He talks about unwholesome talk. He talks about
forgiveness.

In this list, we see how this works. A renewed mind What is a renewed mind? A
renewed mind is the ability to see something the way that God sees it.

A renewed mind is the ability to see something the way that God sees it. A
renewed mind comes from God's truth in my mind. Now, why is this so important,
this renewed mind?

Because the reason we do not change is that we're buying into a lie, Satan's
lie. And because of that, we're conforming to the world. You've bought into the
lie that selfishness in some area of your life is what makes you happy.

In order to change, you need God's truth to replace that lie. Until God's truth
replaces that lie in the spirit of your mind, you are not going to change. Oh,
you might change for a week or a month or a few days, but you're not going to
really change.

You need God's truth. So look at how this works. When we talk about falsehood,
he says, "Put off falsehood.

" That's putting off the old. Then he says, "Put on the new. Speak truthfully to
your neighbor.

" But he says, "Why should you do this? What's the new way of thinking? Because
we're all members of one body.

" Now, as we just walk through this together, think this through with me. You're
in a situation where you're tempted to lie to someone. Maybe it's a family
member.

Maybe it's somebody you know from church. Maybe this lie would bring you
financial gain. Maybe this lie, it just seems like it would make life easier.

Maybe it would make people think better of you. And so you're tempted to lie.
But you know that God wants you to speak truthfully.

What's going to empower you to live out the truth? As long as you're buying into
the lie, as long as you're thinking, "If I lie, my life will be better and
easier," you're likely to lie. Because who doesn't want their life to be better
and easier?

You've got to start by thinking in a different way. That person I'm going to lie
to, they're a fellow member of the body of Christ. If I lie to them, it's going
to hurt the heart of God.

It's going to hurt the body of Christ. And it's going to hurt me as well. Lies
hurt all of us because we're fellow members.

We're members together in the body of Christ. You see, that's a new way of
thinking. The reason people lie is they're trying to get ahead just for the
themselves.

But once you realize we're all tied together in the body of Christ, you realize
how dangerous a lie really is. And Paul walks through this same thing in several
different areas. He then talks about anger.

And he says, "Don't be angry. In your anger, do not sin. " A lot of people
wonder what that means.

Well, we all have the emotion of anger. That just flares up. That's not the sin.

The sin is, well, he says, "Don't let the sun go down in your anger. " The sin
is letting it last and last and last. The sin is sleeping on it so that the
anger turns to bitterness, and that's what happens.

Overnight, anger turns to bitterness. So if I have a problem with anger, and I
use anger to get my way, what do I need to do? I need to be renewed in the
spirit of my mind.

I need to see the truth that God teaches here. And what he says here is, "Don't
be angry. Do not give the devil a foothold.

" The truth is anger always gives the devil a foothold. In a relationship, in a
business, in a church, it gives the devil a place to stand and work. And once I
really get a hold of that truth, it does something to my anger.

As long as I'm buying the lie that anger helps me get what I want, I'm just
going to keep being angry. But once I see this truth and believe this truth,
that anger gives the devil a foothold, it changes me. Paul continues to walk
through this.

He talks about stealing. He says, "I want you to stop stealing and start
working. " Now, by the way here, when he says start working, he's not talking
about somebody who's looking for a job.

If you're out of a job and looking for a job, these aren't verses about you.
These are verses about somebody who doesn't want a job, that they're gaining
everything they need in life by stealing from somebody else. And notice what
Paul says here.

He says to those who have fallen into this kind of lifestyle, "I want you to
stop stealing and start working, and here's how I want you to be renewed in your
mind. " A different way of thinking. Paul says, "I want you to start working,
not just to meet your own needs.

" Did you notice what we just read? "I want you to start working so that you
have something to give to others. " You see, stealing is taking.

And the problem with taking is then you have nothing to give, and God wants you
to be a giver. So even if you've justified the stealing that you're doing in
some way in your mind, you're not a giver. And one of the most important things
about our lives, our growth, is that we are givers.

One of the most important reasons to work, Paul is saying here, so that you have
something to give to somebody else. Isn't that an amazing new way of thinking?
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and the attitude of your mind.

When you start to think that way, "God wants me to be a giver," the lie starts
to go out the back door of your heart, your mind, and the truth starts to flood
in. You gotta let that truth change you. Paul also talks about the way we talk
in these verses.

He's just giving practical examples of how we're renewed in the spirit of our
mind, how God's truth helps us to stop buying the lie of Satan and replaces it
with a new truth, a new way of living. Paul says here, "Don't speak unwholesome
words. " Why?

Because God is shocked by swear words? Well, he obviously doesn't like them.
We're going to read about that in Ephesians 5 and in our study next week.

But that's not why. Why? Because the words that God gave you, the ability to
speak, to communicate, they are given to build others and to benefit others.

Paul says, "I want you to use the words to build others up and to benefit those
who are around you. " Build and benefit. I call that construction and care.

Build is a construction word. I'm building something up and benefit is a care
word. I'm comforting and caring for people.

Paul says, "Be renewed in your mind. I want you to use your words to build and
benefit others. " That's why you don't use unwholesome words.

And in everything, he says, "You want to be renewed in your mind? " In
everything, don't grieve the spirit. The spirit who loves you so much, he's
sealed you for the day of redemption.

You see, as I read these verses and I read this phrase, "Don't grieve the
spirit," it causes my mind to think with a different truth, to realize that sin
is personal and God is personally grieved by our sin. The renewing of my mind is
recognizing that sin is not just something I get away with or don't get away
with. I get caught in or don't get caught in.

I'm punished in or not punished in. Sin is personal and just like in the Garden
of Eden, the sin of Adam and Eve immediately hurt the relationship that Adam and
Eve had with God. When I sin, it hurts my relationship with God.

Now, it doesn't hurt God's forgiveness of me. The minute I became a believer, he
forgave me and I am forgiven, I am going to heaven based on that forgiveness. I
have no doubt about that based on the teaching in the New Testament.

But it does hurt my relationship with God because I feel far from him because
I've sinned. And it also hurts the heart of God. Don't grieve the spirit.

That's a different way of thinking. That's a renewing of my mind. So all of a
sudden, the reason I stop sinning is not just because I think I might get
caught, but the reason I choose not to sin is because I love God and I wouldn't
do anything to hurt the one who loves me so much.

Now, this renewing of our mind that we're talking about, it does not happen in a
single day. It takes time. I still got a lot of renewing in my mind to do and
you probably do too even if you've been working on it for a long time.

But it's a project that's worth it. You might think of your mind as one giant
remodeling project. I don't know if you've ever been involved in restoring or
remodeling a building or maybe watched a movie, old movie like The Money Pit
where they've done that.

I've done it a few times and I know that when you're remodeling a house, some
parts are in worse shape than others and some parts are likely to take longer to
repair. And I've also noticed that it's always the hidden things that take the
longest. When you're remodeling a house, it's the plumbing and the wiring behind
a wall or under the floor.

To repair these, you sometimes have to tear into a perfectly good wall or floor
and then you fix the hidden damage and then you replace the wall. And here's the
point. Sometimes God has to tear down some walls before he can begin to redo
your wiring.

It's helpful to see why he's tearing down those walls. That's the truth. He is
working to grow you even in the hidden areas of your life.

Now remodeling can be scary because when you first tear into things, it looks
like a huge mess and you wonder is the work ever going to be finished? As God
grows us, sometimes it feels like things get worse before they get better. It's
a common feeling as he changes us from the inside out.

But never fear. He is the one doing this work and he's working to grow us, to
help us to put off the old and to put on the new as we're renewed in the
attitude of our minds. So as we pray today, I encourage you to take a courageous
step of faith right now.

Tell God that you're willing for him to do this work in your life. Pray
something like this, "Lord, I make myself available for your restoring work.
Help me to not just try to patch over the problems or do the job myself.

I want you to do this work. " And God, when I'm afraid, help me to remember that
the old dilapidated shack that I've grown comfortable with is going to have to
undergo some drastic changes as you're making a mansion of me. Thank you for
what you're doing.

Thank you for growing me in Jesus. In your name I pray. Amen.