Series:
Ephesians
Title: Speak Every Man Truth
Text:
Ephesians 4: 25
Date:
June 15, 2014
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Ephesians
4:25: Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour:
for we are members one of another.
Speaking to believers, the Holy Spirit instructs
us to “put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts”
and “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness.”
Next, he comes to particulars.
Ephesians
4:25: Wherefore putting away lying—that is one way the believer puts off
the old man—putting away lying,….lying is of the old man of flesh—put away lying.
Ephesians
4: 25:…speak every man truth with his neighbour:—that is how
the believer puts on the new man—speak every
man truth with his neighbor…
Then he gives believers the reason or
the motive for doing so—Ephesians 4:
25:…for we are members one of another—every believer, as well as those
which Christ shall call out, is a member of Christ, therefore we are members
one of another.
Proposition: The very life
of this body of Christ, the very nourishment of each member in particular and
the tie that binds us each together is truth.
Ephesians
4:25: Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour:
for we are members one of another.
I must not preach this as a bare
precept. Imagine if someone here today has
never heard the gospel preached. If I
preached this as a precept only it would leave them thinking salvation is by
man’s doing—when salvation is all of Christ’s doing. So I want to do as Paul
did later in the letter when he exhorts us to submission. He preached Christ and him crucified as he
gave the exhortation. I want to do that
here with this exhortation.
I. SO
FIRST HE SAYS, V25--“PUTTING AWAY LYING.”
Father
of Lies
The father of lies is the devil.
John 8:44: Ye
are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar,
and the father of it.
Christ said the devil “was a murderer
from the beginning and abode not in the truth.” It was Christ that the devil
sought to murder from the beginning, from eternity past. Because the devil abode not in the truth—he
would not have Christ, as the GodMan, to reign over him, who was a created
angel. Christ said for that reason “There is no truth in him.”—the devil fell
into darkness from the state God created him. Christ said, “When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” It is
natural for the devil to speak a lie. Lies are of his own nature, of his own
will, of his own devising because he is a liar—that is his being, that is all
the devil is, a liar. And he is the father of lies.
First
Lie, Mass Murder
The way the devil sought to murder Christ was
by murdering Adam and Eve through whom Christ would come into the earth. He
sought to do so by a lie. The first word
God spoke to a man, he spoke to Adam. Of
course it was the truth—
Genesis 2: 16: And
the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat: 17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
But the first word the devil spoke was a
lie. He deceived Eve, saying, “Thou shalt not surely die.” (Gen 3: 4) That was
the first lie ever told in this earth. It led to the fall of Adam which was
also the fall of all mankind, including us.
1 Corinthians
15:22…in Adam all die,…
Romans 5: 19:
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners,…
Natural
Born Liars
Therefore, man comes forth from the womb
with a nature like the father of lies.
Ephesians 2: 2:
ye walked…according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit…3:…in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;…
As Christ said “the lusts of your father
ye will do.” And we did. The description Christ gave of the devil is also a
description of our “old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.”
The old man within us was a murderer of Christ from the beginning—enmity
against God. The first and chief lust of our old man is to lie, chiefly, against
the truth of God. In our old man we would not abide in the truth because there
is no truth in the depraved old man of flesh. When it came to God, our
condition, and how God saves sinners: we lied, we listened to lies, we believed
lies, and we approved of lies. When we spoke a lie—abasing God and exalting
ourselves—we spoke of our own: of our own nature, of our own will, of our own
wisdom, of our own works, of our own devising, and it was all of our own
approving
The
Law against Lying
We broke the law of God constantly
because the law says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
(Ex 20: 16) We spoke plenty of lies against our neighbor for sure. But first
and foremost we bore false witness against God in Christ. We spoke of little
God and big I!
Isaiah 59:3:…your
lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4: None calleth
for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies;
they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
Illustration: Brethren, whether in
religion or not, when you were dead in sins, do you ever recall speaking of God
as just?
Dead sinners never speak of God being
just to condemn us to hell in truth. Dead
sinners never speak of the justice of the cross in truth. Instead, we trusted
in vanity and spoke lies.
We spoke lies and iniquity about Christ’s
death on the cross. When we said Christ died for all men we spoke iniquity. If
he died for men already in hell that is not justice, that is iniquity. There is
nothing equitable and just about Christ satisfying justice for a sinner who is
suffering eternal condemnation and or who shall—that is unjust. We spoke lies
saying “God loves you.” What if we said
that to an Esau, of whom God said, “Esau have I hated?” (Rom 9: 13) We lied. We
bore false witness, saying, “God wants to save you.” God does not want to do anything. It was
a lie against the sinner because it exalted sinners to think they have power to
forbid or let God do as God will.
Daniel 4:35: And
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and
none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
A
Lying Nature
Furthermore, we lied all the time. We
were in the flesh. So we were a liar by nature. We were nothing but lies. We
may have spoke a true word but it was a lie because it came from a heart in
defiance against God. Listen to God speak of fallen man:
Jeremiah 9:3: And
they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for
the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not
me, saith the LORD. 4: Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye
not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour
will walk with slanders. 5: And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will
not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary
themselves to commit iniquity.
Hell is for Liars
Believer, had God left us in that state,
we would have been condemned for our lies.
Revelation 21:8:
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second
death.
Revelation
22:15: For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers,
and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
The reason we did not perish in our
lies:
Ephesians 2: 5: BUT
GOD…who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;)
Wherefore, put off the old man…put away
lying…Ephesians 4: 27: neither give place to the devil. Understand
what this putting away and this putting on really means. It is a state, a
character of the inner man, peculiar only to the true believer. This is the grace given of God; it is not
common virtues. Only the inner man created of God hates every false way and
loves truth. The old man is incapable of this.
Brethren, in the new man God has brought
us to entirely, thoroughly abandon and renounce, not in outward speech only,
but in the inmost heart, all falsehood. So put away all falsehood in your
thoughts, put away all lying in your speech and actions, put away all false
doctrine, all false preachers, and everything else that is false.
Colossians 3:9:
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
II.
SECONDLY, OUR TEXT SAYS, SPEAK THE TRUTH—Ephesians 4: 25: Wherefore, putting
away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour:…
Father
of Truth
God is Truth. As lying is of the devil,
truth is of God.
Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before [Moses], and
proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and
abundant in goodness and truth…
God is “God, that cannot lie.” (Tit 1:
2) God neither deceives nor can he be deceived. He does not have to lie, God can
bring to pass what he promises.
Numbers 23:19: God
is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should
repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he
not make it good?
Furthermore, the Second Person in the Trinity
is not only the Son of God, not only the Word of God, he said, “I am the
truth.” (Jn 14: 6) “If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by
him, as the truth is in Jesus.” (Eph 4: 21) He was made flesh and dwelt among
us, “full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1: 14)
Also, God the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit
of Truth” (Jn 14: 7; 15: 26) He guides his people “into all truth.” (Jn 16: 13)
So our triune God in Christ Jesus is
Truth. Therefore, a lie, being contrary to the truth, is contrary to God and is
the utmost abomination to God.
Pr 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but
they that deal truly are his delight.
“Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every
man TRUTH with his neighbor.”
Redeemed
in Truth
Not only is our God truth, brethren, we
have been redeemed in truth.
Psalm 33:4: For
the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
Along with the works of his hands, God’s
law is truth.
Psalm 111: 7: The
works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. 8: They
stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
But we broke God’s law in Adam and came
forth lying lawbreakers by nature. Therefore the law and justice of God of God
would swallow us up in death. God’s law must be fulfilled in righteousness;
justice must carried out on the guilty. We had to die for God to remain just! How
then could God’s righteous and holy precepts be fulfilled by us? How can God be
true in justice, kill us as the law demanded, yet still have mercy on us.
Psalm 57:3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from
the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his
mercy and his truth.
By his sovereign grace, God sent from
heaven God’s own Son, Christ Jesus who is God’s Mercy and his Truth. Christ
Jesus did not come to destroy the law we broke; he came to fulfill the law we
broke and to do so for his people.
Have you ever sat and thought how that
his entire life, Christ Jesus never spoke a lie, only truth. Believer, can you even imagine what it would
be like to never have never spoken a lie?
Christ fulfilled the whole law in perfect righteousness in thought, word
and deed. He did it for those he came to save.
When he had finished that work, he went
to the cross and finished upholding the penalty of the law. The way God showed his
chosen people mercy and remained true to his justice is by Christ Jesus his Son
suffering the just judgment of God in our place unto death. When Christ cried,
“It is finished”, for each and every
person for whom he died,
Psalm 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness
and peace have kissed each other.
Proverbs
16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is
purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
You who have been taught of God, that
the only way we establish the law is through faith in Christ, you can no longer
bear false witness against Christ, boasting in the lies of your so-called
lawkeeping! Believers do not “change the
truth of God into a lie, and worshipp and serve the creature more than the
Creator.” (Rom 1: 25) We say Ps 115:1: Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but
unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.
Proverbs 8:7: For
my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
Proverbs 12:17: He
that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
Wherefore, putting away lying—the way we
lie now is by not speaking, when we should--“as we ought to speak.” Speak every
man truth with his neighbor—declare and bring forth clear witness of Christ in
your speech to one another and to all who show an interest in the truth.
New
Man Created in Truth
The reason the Holy Spirit is teaching
us to speak the truth of the gospel is because the new man is created of God in
truth.
Psalm 51:6: Behold,
thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make
me to know wisdom.
We were a lost
sheep. We had to hear the truth and be
brought to faith in Christ in order for his body to be complete. So Christ the
Truth brought the truth to us through one of his members speaking the truth in
love.
Jeremiah 33: 6: Behold, I will bring it
health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of
peace and truth. 7: And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity
of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. [that is, Christ
will do the building as he did at the first] 8: And I will cleanse them from
all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all
their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed
against me. 9: And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour
before all the nations of the earth, [as we speak truth to our neighbors] which
shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble
for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
Not all shall
fear and tremble-but those who are the true members of Christ’s body, his lost
sheep. The Holy Spirit declares that is what Christ has done for us who
believe:
Ephesians 1: 16: And that he might
reconcile both [Jew and Gentile] unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby: 17: And [he] came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
..19:
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with
the saints, and of the household of God;
“Of his own will
begot he us with the word of truth.” (Ja 1: 18) The Holy Spirit of truth guided
us into all truth (Jn 16: 13) Christ, the Truth, is now formed in us. We
worship God in spirit and in truth (Jn 4: 23-24) And he has put us together
that “speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is
the head, even Christ.” (Eph 4: 15)
So
We Speak Truth
Christ said, “Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Lu 6: 45) What do we speak to one
another and to those who are interested?
We speak the truth that “in my flesh dwells no good thing.” We speak
truth that, “My wisdom is not of me—Christ is my Wisdom.” My righteousness is
not of me—Christ is my Righteousness. My sanctification is not of me--Christ is
my sanctifier and my sanctification (Heb 2: 11; 10: 14) My redemption is not of
me—Christ is my Redeemer and my Redemption—“Ye shall know the truth and the
truth shall make you free…if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be
free indeed.” (Jn 8: 34-35) We speak the truth when “he that glories, glories
only in the Lord.” (1 Cor 1: 31) Those who speak the
truth of Christ, God says,
Revelation 14: 5: And in
their mouth was found NO GUILE: for they are WITHOUT FAULT before the throne of
God.
III. LASTLY, HERE IS THE REASON OR THE MOTIVE FOR
PUTTING AWAY LYING AND SPEAKING TRUTH WITH OUR NEIGHBOR—Ephesians 4: 25: For we
are members one of another.
The
Body of Society
There is a sense in which all men are
members one of another. Lying is detrimental to human society. If I lie it will only hurt me because it hurts
my fellow man, which hurts the society of which we are both members.
Illustration: When is the
last time you were trusted or trusted others with anything of great importance
without a contract? It is because we
have lied to each other to the point that we do not trust the other is telling
the truth.
So indeed, do not lie to your fellow
man.
The
Body of Christ
But in context, Paul has been speaking
of believers oneness with Christ and with one another in the body of Christ. Here is the meaning
of our text: speak truth because you, those Christ has already called out, as
well as those he shall call out are members of Christ and members one of
another. Christ shall call out his lost sheep and Christ shall edify your
brethren already called out but he shall do so through you and I “speaking the
truth in love” to one another.
And being members of Christ’s body, they are members of your body.
So if your brethren are edified, the whole body is edified, therefore you are
edified. And when the last one is called out, so that Christ’s body is complete,
then shall Christ return to take us all home!
So
the way you and I, as believers, will be a blessing, is by every one of us
speaking truth of Christ with our neighbor: that is with one another who
already believes, as well as with those who show a sincere interest in the
gospel.
In what Paul has written in Ephesians
concerning believers being citizens of heavenly Jerusalem, being one body in
Christ, being a blessing to each other edifying the body by speaking the truth,
it appears Paul had been reading Zechariah 8. The LORD is not speaking to all
men in this passage, he is speaking of his true church, his body.
Zechariah 8: 3: Thus
saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem: [his church, heavenly Jerusalem] and Jerusalem shall be called a
city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. 7: Thus
saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country,
and from the west country; 8: And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in
the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in
truth and in righteousness….13: And it shall come to
pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and
house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but
let your hands be strong….16: These are the things that ye shall do;
[here is how we shall be a blessing] Speak ye every man the truth to his
neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: 17: And let
none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no
false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
Ephesians
4: 25: Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor,
for we are members one of another.
Amen!