KJV

KJV

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Prior Book Prior Section Back to Commentaries Author Bio & Contents Next Section Next Book
The Blue Letter Bible

Chuck Smith :: Sermon Notes for Ephesians 4:30

toggle collapse
Choose a new font size and typeface
I. GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.
A. This is one of the proof texts to point out that the Holy Spirit is not an it or essence, but a person. How can you grieve the wind, or air?
B. What are the things that grieve the Holy Spirit?
1. In the days of Noah, God said, "My Spirit will not always strive with man. In verse 6 we read that it repented God that He had made man upon the earth and it grieved Him in His heart."
a. In the days of Noah we read that the wickedness on the earth was great.
b. That every thought and imagination of man's heart was evil continually.
c. How that must have grieved the heart of a pure holy God.
d. As God reads your thoughts and knows the imagination of your heart, do you suppose that He is grieved?
e. We read that the earth was corrupt.
f. Also that the earth was filled with violence.
2. The psalmist asked, "How oft did they provoke Him in the in the desert, and grieve Him in the wilderness?"
a. They kept lusting after their flesh.
b. They did not believe the promises of God.
c. Psalm 95:10 says, "Forty years long was I grieved with [this] generation, and said, It [is] a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:"
3. Mark tells us that Jesus was grieved at the hardness of the hearts of the people.
4. Stephen accused the religious council in Jerusalem of always resisting the Holy Spirit.
5. In the context Paul speaks of being past feeling giving themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greed.
6. He speaks of lying, stealing, and corrupt communication.
7. In the following verse he speaks of bitterness, and wrath and anger and clamour, and evil speaking and malice.
C. The result of grieving the Holy Spirit of God.
1. Hebrews 10:3 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in [their] heart; and they have not known my ways. So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
2. They did not attain all that God had prepared and desired for them.
D. Paul again speaks of being sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.
1. In Chapter one he spoke of being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which was the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.
2. Here he declares that we have been sealed until the day of our redemption.
a. God has redeemed from the powers of darkness.
b. Jesus paid in full the price of my redemption.
c. He has claimed ownership of me, and put His seal of ownership upon me which is His Holy Spirit.
d. One day He is coming to claim me as His possession, I am waiting for that day.
e. Paul wrote to the Romans that we and all creation groaned together as we waited for the manifestation of the sons of God, to wit the redemption of our bodies.
II. LET ALL BITTERNESS, AND WRATH, AND ANGER, AND CLAMOUR, AND EVIL SPEAKING BE PUT AWAY FROM YOU WITH ALL MALICE.
A. He had told them to put off the former life, the old man which was corrupted with his deceitful lusts. These were the marks and characteristics of that old man which we are to put away.
1. Bitterness. (pikria) Long standing resentment. Letting something just continue to simmer inside, until it begins to eat away at us.
2. Wrath. (thumus) Like the flame that comes from dried weeds when a match has been lit to them.
3. Anger (orge) Anger which has become habitual and inveterate.
4. Clamor (kroge) To scream, or cry out.
5. Evil speaking, (blasphemia) Swearing or cursing.
B. In contrast to this,
III. BE YE KIND ONE TO ANOTHER.
A. Kindness is a characteristic that I in my mind always associate with Jesus.
1. I see Him as the kindest and most gentle person who ever graced this earth.
2. I see the kindness with which He dealt with sinners.
a. The woman at the well.
b. The woman taken in adultery.
c. The man suffering from palsy which was a disease that was usually associated with sexual promiscuity.
d. The prostitute that anointed His feet with oil in the house of Simon the Pharisee.
3. I see the kindness as He dealt with the demanding crowds. He never seemed to be irritated with the pushing and shoving that was going on about Him.
4. The kindness toward those who were physically afflicted. Up into the late hours of the night ministering healing to those who had come to Him for His touch.
5. We are to be kind one to another.
B. Tenderhearted. It is so easy to harden our hearts when we have been wronged and taken advantage of.
1. We must constantly guard ourselves against becoming hard hearted.
2. Sometimes when we have been deeply hurt by someone we determine "I will never let them hurt me again" and we harden our hearts against them or against situations.
3. This tender heart is in contrast to the bitterness of which Paul spoke in the previous verse.
4. Have you ever seen the tragedy of an older person who has become bitter and hard hearted?
C. Forgiving one another.
1. How often am I to forgive a person the same offense? Be honest now, can you rise to the suggestion of Peter and forgive seven times? But we know that it is not seven times but seventy times seven.
2. Who do you think suffers the most, the guilty party, or the one who refuses the forgive the guilty party?
a. The truth of the matter is that they both suffer.
b. It is important to know that I have been forgiven, many neurotic behavior patterns can develop from a guilty conscience. But it is equally important to forgive, for a bitter heart can be dangerous to you physically creating chemicals in your body that begin to eat at your stomach lining.
D. What is the measure or extent of our forgiveness? "Even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."
1. Remember the story of the Master who had a servant that owed him 16 million dollars? You are that servant, you have been been forgiven a mammoth debt.
2. God has forgiven you completely. You are to forgive completely.
3. God will never bring it up again, you should never bring it up again.
4. God has forgiven you graciously, you should forgive graciously.
Sermon Notes for Ephesians 4:27 ← Prior Section
Sermon Notes for Ephesians 5:1 Next Section →
Sermon Notes for Galatians 1:3 ← Prior Book
Sermon Notes for Philippians 1 Next Book →
BLB Searches
Search the Bible
KJV
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
KJV

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

CONTENT DISCLAIMER:

The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.