Efésios 4
John MacArthur · Citado em PreceptAustin
Efésios 4:30
MacArthur - OUR GRACIOUS SPIRIT Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. EPHESIANS 4:30 The Holy Spirit grieves (is saddened) when believers don’t exchange their old lifestyle for the new one. He is grieved when believers lie and obscure the truth, when they’re angry and unforgiving, when they steal and refuse to share, and when they speak corruptly and lack a spirit of graciousness. When you were saved, the Spirit of God put a seal on you, declaring that you belong to God forever. Since He has been gracious enough to give you eternal salvation, seal you forever, and keep your salvation secure until the day of redemption, how could you willfully grieve Him? He has done so much for you that, as a token of gratitude, you should not grieve Him. (Truth for Today: A Daily Touch of God's Grace) Tongue Control Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. EPHESIANS 4:30 One day I was talking with my father, and I heard the familiar sharp, ugly tone in my voice as I spoke with him, this most gentle of men. The Holy Spirit sliced my mind with Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.” Immediately I gave up tongue control to God and asked my dad’s forgiveness for my words—something unheard of in my mouthy world. I headed home with a new awareness that in spite of my mouth, my dad loved me, just like my heavenly Father did. REFLECT: Where have your words gotten in the way of relationships? What does it take for God to help bring your mouth under control? Jane Rubietta (My Heart Christ's Home Through the Year ) A W Tozer - Honor God’s Spirit Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30) I think there are great numbers of Christian believers who ought to go home and go into their places of prayer and apologize to God for their demeaning attitudes toward the Holy Spirit of God. Included in their numbers are Bible teachers who are guilty of leading us astray. They have dared to teach Christians that the Holy Spirit will never speak of His own person or position, as though the third Person of the Godhead may be ignored and His ministry downgraded! Jesus said, “[When He comes] He shall not speak of himself, but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak” (John 16:13b). Jesus was actually telling His disciples: The Comforter will not come to stand on His own, to speak on His own authority. He will guide you into all truth—He will speak and act on the authority of the divine Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If you do not yield and honor the Holy Spirit, your lives will not show forth the blessed fruits of the Spirit! J.R. Miller - Our New Edens: Chapter 8 - Grieving the Holy Spirit Ephesians 4:30 We are exhorted not to grieve the Divine Spirit. So the Spirit is a person, not a mere influence. You cannot grieve an influence. You may resist it--but it will not care, will not feel hurt. You can grieve a person, however, give him pain, and the Holy Spirit is a person with feelings, affections, and a heart that can be pained, like your mother's. The Holy Spirit is also your friend. You cannot grieve a person who dislikes you or is indifferent to you. But when one loves you, cares for you, is deeply interested in you--you grieve him if you do not trust him, if you do not prove faithful and true, if you treat him ungratefully or unkindly, if you slight or despise his love. There are children who grieve their parents. There are people who grieve their friends. Perhaps there never is love that is not hurt sometimes, many times--we all are so heedless, so ignorant, so thoughtless; such blunderers in living and loving. Now we may grieve the Holy Spirit of God--for He loves us. We do not think often of the love of the Spirit. We know that the Father loves us, for He gave His only begotten Son to redeem us. We know that the Son of God loves us, for His coming to this world in the Incarnation and all His wonderful life of service and sacrifice for us, proved His love. But we do not speak much of the love of the Spirit. Yet His love is no less than that of the Father or the Son. Think how He follows us patiently and unweariedly in all our wanderings, through all our unfaithfulness, never giving us up until He gets us home at last. Think how He makes us His companions, entering into closest relations of friendship with us. We speak of the condescension of the Son of God in coming to earth and living in a human body in a world of sin and sorrow, meeting the conditions of ignorance, enmity, unbelief, rejection, and wrong. Have you ever thought of the condescension of the Holy Spirit in living with us, not three years only--but continually? We are told, too, that He lives in us. "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit." What kind of a place is your heart for the Holy Spirit to live in? Think of all the evil there is in it. Think of the unholy thoughts, feelings, desires, affections, of the rebellions, the insubmissions, the brood of unclean things there are in your heart. Now into that heart the Holy Spirit comes, not for a transient visit, as when some pure and gentle woman goes into a place of wretchedness and degradation for half an hour on an errand of mercy--but to make His home there--to live there until He has changed all the evil into good. Do you not think that the love of the Holy Spirit in making our hearts His home for all the years of our life--is quite as wonderful as was the love of Christ in spending His thirty-three years in this world? The Holy Spirit loves us tenderly, yearningly, infinitely. Now, we may grieve this Holy Spirit whose heart is so gentle and who loves us so. Nathaniel Hawthorne had a little daughter called Una, who often made up stories for her younger brother. One day she was overheard telling him of a boy who was very naughty. "He grew naughtier and naughtier," said her brother, "and every day naughtier still, until at last--at last--he struck God!" That was terrible! But there are many, many people who do strike God not once only--but again and again. The Holy Spirit is God. "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." We must remember that this counsel is addressed to Christians, not to the impenitent. The exhortation against grieving the Spirit, is for those who have opened the door, admitting the heavenly Guest, and have then grieved Him as a guest, as a friend. The connection of the words is very suggestive. They stand in the midst of exhortations concerning speech and concerning unlovingness. Notice this reading: "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." So we may grieve the Spirit--by our words. Jesus laid great stress on speech as an expression of the life. "By your words," he said, "you shall be justified; and by your words--you shall be condemned." Paul's teaching here makes it very plain what kind of speech a Christian should make use of. He should not use any unwholesome talk, which scholars say means rather worthless speech--like the idle words which the Master condemned. What a mass of worthless words, good for nothing, empty, vain, inept, doing nobody any good, are spoken every day! These grieve the Spirit of God, for our wonderful gift of speech is given to us that with it we may bless the world. (Click here to read the rest of this article) His Spirit fill my hungering soul His power all my life control; My deepest prayer, my highest goal, That I may be like Jesus. —Chisholm C H
Efésios 4:30
MacArthur writes "The Holy Spirit grieves (is saddened) when believers don’t exchange their old lifestyle (Ed: See discussion of Old Man) for the new one (New Man). He is grieved when believers lie and obscure the truth, when they’re angry and unforgiving, when they steal and refuse to share, and when they speak corruptly and lack a spirit of graciousness. When you were saved, the Spirit of God put a seal on you, declaring that you belong to God forever. Since He has been gracious enough to give you eternal salvation, seal you forever, and keep your salvation secure until the day of redemption, how could you willfully grieve Him? He has done so much for you that, as a token of gratitude, you should not grieve Him. J I Packer - “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,” Paul says (Eph. 4:30), and this plea is a witness both to the Spirit’s personhood and to the fact that divine holiness is his nature. As with the first and second person of the Godhead, so with the third: some ways of behaving please him and others distress and offend him. In the second category come bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, slander, malice, and stealing (Eph. 4:28, 31), and in fact any other transgressions of moral law. For Christians to fall into these sins directly thwarts his purpose and spoils his work of making us Christ–like. Knowledge that our bodies are temples of the Spirit and that this “gracious, willing guest” is hard at work in our hearts to sanctify us should induce reverent awe and quickly shame us out of all moral laxity. To dissuade us against grieving the Spirit, the Bible calls us to the positive counterpart—to be filled with the Spirit. The words imply a constant obligation. “Filled” conveys the thought of being wholly concerned with and wholly controlled by the realities which the Spirit makes known, and the ideal of life to which he points us. From what source should satisfaction be sought? Not from indulgence to alcohol (the worldly person’s way of raising his enjoyment level), but from being occupied entirely with the Spirit’s concerns. Then we shall have something to sing about, for the gratified Holy Spirit will sustain in us a joy which the worldly person never knows. (Life in the Spirit: A 30-Day Devotional ) Do not grieve the Holy Spirit! (Thomas Charles, "The Operations of the Holy Spirit" 1838) "Do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16 "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:30 See how great is the sin of grieving the Spirit. We grieve Him, when we take little or no notice of His amazing condescension and love—in coming freely and willingly to be our Comforter and Sanctifier. We grieve Him, when we make no returns of love to Him—by bringing forth in a holy walk and conduct, the fruits of the Spirit. We grieve Him, when by careless neglect and unwatchfulness, we fall into those habits and courses which He abhors. He is grieved, because He loves us and has our happiness much at heart—for to promote our holiness and happiness is the object of His indwelling us. When we put obstructions in His way, and we promote our own misery—how is the Spirit of love grieved! Let us therefore, above all things, attend to His motions, and beware of a barren and unfruitful profession of religion, and of defiling by secret indulgences—the temple and habitation of the Spirit. Shall we grieve Him who dwells with us as our Comforter? How unworthy—how base a conduct! Shall we, who have tasted that the Lord is gracious—by our negligence, sin and folly, grieve Him who has come on purpose to comfort us? Shall we grieve Him, without whom we cannot live, cannot think one good thought, nor breathe one good desire! Shall we grieve Him, whose presence in the soul is Heaven, and whose absence is a Hell of corruption, darkness, and misery! Is it possible that we should make such base returns for such love, and be such enemies to our own happiness! Alas! what is man! In what dust and ashes ought even the best of us to lie down before Him! Shall we not rather take notice of His love and His kindness, and thankfully receive all our comforts from His hands, and observe His love and grace in every refreshing thought put into our minds? Yes, shall we not carefully watch and promote all His strivings and motions within us, and cheerfully comply with them, however self-denying and contrary to flesh and blood? When He convinces of sin—let us set our hearts mightily against it. When He speaks comfort—let us hear Him as the Lord our Comforter, making known the riches of love and grace to our souls. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS A MIND And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. ROMANS 8:27 The Holy Spirit clearly has a mind. In Romans 8:27 we read, “the mind of the Spirit”—this is in connection with prayer. He is also the one who loves, because we read that “the fruit of the Spirit is love” (Galatians 5:22); and it is His function to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts (Romans 5:5). And, likewise, we know He is capable of grief, because in Ephesians 4:30 we are warned not to “grieve” the Holy Spirit. The ultimate doctrine about the Spirit, from the practical, experiential standpoint, is that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, so that whatever I do, wherever I go, the Holy Spirit is with me. I know nothing that so promotes sanctification and holiness as the realization of that. If only we realized, always, that in anything we do with our bodies, the Holy Spirit is involved! Remember also that Paul teaches that in the context of a warning against fornication. He writes, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you . . .?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). That is why fornication should be unthinkable in a Christian. God is in us, in the Holy Spirit: not an influence, not a power, but a person whom we can grieve. I am going through these details not out of an academic interest, nor because I happen to have a theological type of mind. No, I am concerned about these things, as I am a man trying myself to live the Christian life, and as I am called of God to be a pastor of souls, and I feel the responsibility for the souls and conduct and behavior of others. Wherever you are, wherever you go, if you are a Christian the Holy Spirit is in you; and if you really want to enjoy the blessings of salvation, you do so by knowing that your body is His temple. If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit is in you. (See Walking with God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotional Selections) He is tender, He is sensitive, He is holy; do not grieve Him. Robert Hawker - The Poor Man's Evening Portion - And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.—Ephesians 4:30. Methinks I would make this scripture the motto of my daily walk, to keep in remembrance more than the dearest friend that wears the ring of love upon his finger, and bears it about with him whithersoever he goeth. And is the Holy Spirit grieved whenever a child of God forgetteth Jesus, and by indulgence in any sin, loses sight of those sufferings which he endured for sin? Yes, God the Holy Ghost is grieved, communion with God the Father is interrupted, and all the agonies and bloody sweats of Jesus forgotten, if there be a loose and careless life. And shall I ever grieve the Holy Ghost by any one allowed transgression? Would not my soul feel shame on the consciousness of it, even if no eye but his had seen the foul act? Wouldst thou grieve for me, O Lord, at such a sight? Can it be possible that a poor worm of the earth, such as I am, should excite such regard and attention? And shall not the consideration have its constant, unceasing influence upon my soul? Shall I grieve the holy Lord by an unholy conduct? Shall I quench those sweet influences which first quickened me, and recompense the kindness which, had it not been called forth to my spiritual life, would have left me to this hour as it first found me, dead in trespasses and sins? Oh! thou holy, blessed, gracious Lord God! withdraw not, I beseech thee, thy restraining influences; leave me not for a moment to myself! Thou knowest that I shall grieve thee, if unassisted by thy grace. Self-will and confidence, sloth and forgetfulness, pride and presumption, will afford an opportunity to the great enemy of souls to betray me into sin, if thou do not keep me; but if thou, Lord, wilt keep me, I shall be well kept. Thou wilt lead me to the all-precious Jesus, thou wilt take of his, and so effectually show it to me, that I shall be prepared for, guided in, and carried through, all acts of holy obedience; and by thy sweet influences, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, I shall be enabled to mortify the deeds of the body so as to live. My soul! be thou constantly viewing Jesus, seeking communion with the Holy Ghost, and crying out to God the Father, with David, “Take not thine Holy Spirit from me;” that I may not grieve that holy Lord, by whom I am sealed unto the day of redemption. Andrew
Efésios 4:31
MacArthur points out that "These particular sins involve conflict between person and person—believer and unbeliever and, worse still, between believer and believer. These are the sins that break fellowship and destroy relationships, that weaken the church and mar its testimony before the world. When an unbeliever sees Christians acting just like the rest of society, the church is blemished in his eyes and he is confirmed still further in resisting the claims of the gospel." (See The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) Gregory Brown - Obviously, if we are going to stop from going down the path to brawling and malice, we must stop it at the heart level. We must repent of bitterness—feelings of resentment that lead to wrath and anger. Again, Christ taught that anger is the seed that leads to murder (cf. Matt 5:21-22+). Are you bitter or angry? Repent before God and ask him to give you a right heart—one that loves him and people. John Eadie on this "dirty laundry list"... All feelings inconsistent with love—all emotions opposed to the benign influence and presence of the Divine Spirit—were to be abandoned. Wrath (thumos) is that mental excitement to which such bitterness gives rise—the commotion or tempest that heaves and infuriates within Anger (orge) (Deut. 9:19) is resentment, settled and dark hostility, and is therefore condemned. Clamour (krauge) is the expression of this anger—hoarse reproach, the high language of scorn and scolding, the yelling tones, the loud and boisterous recrimination, and the fierce and impetuous invective that mark a man in a towering rage. Ira furor brevis est. “Let women,” adds Chrysostom, “especially attend to this, as they on every occasion cry out and brawl. There is but one thing in which it is needful to cry aloud, and that is in teaching and preaching.” Slander (blasphemia) signifies what is hurtful to the reputation of others, and sometimes is applied to the sin of impious speech toward God. It is the result or one phase of the clamour implied in krauge (clamor), for anger leads not only to vituperation, but to calumny and scandal. In the intensity of passion, hot and hasty rebuke easily and frequently passes into foulest slander. The wrathful denouncer exhausts his rage by becoming a reviler. Col. 3:8; 1Ti 6:4. All these vicious emotions are to be put away. Evil (kakia) is a generic term, and seems to signify what we sometimes call in common speech bad-heartedness, the root of all those vices. 1Pe 2:1. Let all these vices be abandoned, with every form and aspect of that condition of mind in which they have their origin, and of that residuum which the indulgence of them leaves behind it. The word is in contrast with the epithet, “tender-hearted,” in the following verse. Now this verse contains not only a catalogue, but a melancholy genealogy of bad passions—acerbity of temper exciting passion—that passion heated into indignation—that indignation throwing itself off in indecent brawling, and that brawling darkening into libel and abuse—a malicious element lying all the while at the basis of these enormities. And such unamiable feeling and language are not to be allowed any apology or indulgence. The adjective "all" belongs to the five sins first mentioned... Indeed, the Coptic version formally prefixes to all the nouns the adjective —“all.” They are to be put away in every kind and degree—in germ as well as maturity—without reserve and without compromise. (Ephesians 4 Commentary) Bitterness (4088) (pikra from pikrós = pointed, sharp, "pungent" smell, "penetrating" pain, "piercing" sound, from pik- = to cut, prick) originally meant pointed or sharp, as describing arrows, and then more figuratively of what is “sharp” or “penetrating” to the senses, a bitter, pungent taste or smell and finally what is “painful” to the feelings.This is the person with a chip on both shoulders. "When someone is irritable, they are sour and venomous and they have lost their smile. People often speak of it as a sour spirit and sour speech." (Gordon) It is the opposite of sweetness and suggests acrid, sharp, severe, sarcastic. This gives us our English word Picric acid which as noted above is an explosive compound! This is not a bad picture of the potential impact that bitterness can have on the one who retains it and the one on whom it is "poured!" (See also related verb pikraino) Pikria - 4x in 4v - Acts 8:23; Ro 3:14+; Eph 4:31; Heb 12:15+. In Acts Peter confronts Simon the sorcerer declaring "I see that you (Simon) are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity" (Acts 8:23+). Comment - Observe the context in Acts 8:13+ which says "Simon himself believed" but his subsequent actions and Peter's assessment make it clear that this was not belief unto salvation but was intellectual and/or a belief only in the signs and wonders. Do not be deceived! As Spurgeon said "Sin is the gall of bitterness; a drop of it would turn an ocean of pleasure into wormwood." Tozer adds "I think there is little doubt that the teaching of salvation without repentance has lowered the moral standards of the Church and produced a multitude of deceived religious professors who erroneously believe themselves to be saved when in fact they are still in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." Romans 3:14+ (THIS IS THE OLD GARMENT OF THE OLD MAN IN ADAM!) “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; Hebrews 12:15+ (NOTE THE DEADLY POISON SPREAD BY BITTERNESS - IT WILL DESTROY A BODY INCLUDING THE BODY OF CHRIST!!!) See to it (episkopeo in the present tense = to be our habitual practice) that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; THOUGHT on "See to it" - Note the verb "see to it" -- From the English translation I thought "see to it" was a command but to my surprise it is a participle but this still describes the general bent (strong inclination) of our mind (our mindset - see 2 directions we can "bend" our mind and the consequences in Ro 8:6+) which is (or at least should be) ever toward the transforming power of the grace of God dispensed by the Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29b+). The purpose is that no root of bitterness might spring up. Oh how we all need to daily depend on the Holy Spirit to enable us to fight off the seductive tendency toward the unholy behavior of becoming bitter or resentful at some wrong or injury done to us by another (saint or not). See to it in the present tense is clearly something we can do only by continually being filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18+, cf Eph 3:16+, Eph 3:20b+). So I think as you look at many of the exhortations/instructions in Scripture, especially when they are in the present tense (calling for a lifestyle or habitual practice), you can begin to see our desperate need for the continual filling by the Spirit. And this is why I say I think we are more often filled with Him then we might think -- e.g., someone says something wrong, injurious, hurtful to us and yet "somehow" we don't respond, react or begin to nurse a grudge! How is that possible? That's the point - it is IM-possible, but praise God it is HIM-possible - the Spirit has just demonstrated that He is in us, filling us, controlling us, empowering us to wear the "new garment" of Jesus Christ! Indeed, unto "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever." Amen? Amen! Pikria - 19v in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX)- Ex 15:23 (pikria translates marah from marar - to be bitter - cf Nu 33:8-9); Dt 29:18; Dt 32:32 (= bitter taste); (Observe the concentration of figurative meaning of bitter/bitterness in the Book of Job!) Job 3:20; 7:11; 9:18; 10:1; 21:25; Ps 10:7; 14:3; Isa 28:21, 28; 37:29; Jer 2:21; 15:17; Lam 3:15, Lam 3:19 (= a good prayer! Note what happened La 3:20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27!); Ezek 28:24; Amos 6:12; Pikria was used literally to describe plants that produced inedible (bitter tasting) or poisonous fruit. Greeks defined this word as long-standing resentment, as the spirit which refuses to be reconciled. (think of it as synonymous with the deadly poison of an unforgiving spirit!) So many of us have a way of nursing our wrath to keep it warm, of brooding over the insults and the injuries which we have received. In the NT pikria is used in a metaphorical sense to describe animosity, resentfulness, harshness or an openly-expressed emotional hostility against an enemy. Pikria defines a settled hostility that poisons the whole inner man (it does more damage to the one who is bitter, than to the intended "victim"!). Somebody does something we do not like, so we harbor ill will against him. Bitterness leads to wrath, which is the explosion on the outside of the feelings on the inside. In the first use of pikria in the OT (Septuagint - LXX) Moses records - And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter (pikria); therefore it was named Marah. (Ex 15:23) Pikría or bitterness is the spirit of irritability that keeps a person in perpetual animosity, making him sour and venomous. Bitterness applies to the bitterness of spirit to which men give vent by bitter words. Related Resources: What does the Bible say about bitterness? | GotQuestions.org What is a root of bitterness? | GotQuestions.org Who/what is Marah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org Bitterness—extreme enmity; sour temper A. Kinds of: Death 1Sa 15:32 B. Causes of: Childlessness 1Sa 1:5, 10 C. Avoidance of: ISBE has this note on bitterness... 1. the physical sense of taste; 2. a figurative meaning in the objective sense of cruel, biting words; intense misery resulting from forsaking God, from a life of sin and impurity; the misery of servitude; the misfortunes of bereavement; 3. more subjectively, bitter and bitterness describe emotions of sympathy;’ the sorrow of childlessness and of penitence, of disappointment; the feeling of misery and wretchedness, giving rise to the expression “bitter tears”; 4. the ethical sense, characterizing untruth and immorality as the bitter thing in opposition to the sweetness of truth and the gospel; 5. Numbers 5:18+ the Revised Version (British and American) speaks of “the water of bitterness that causeth the curse.” Here it is employed as a technical term. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on bitterness - He starts with the word bitterness, ‘Let all bitterness be put away.’ Bitterness is a state of the spirit. It denotes a sort of persistent sourness and an absence of amiability. It is an unloving condition. Indeed, it is a condition which never sees any good in anything, but always contrives to see something wrong, or some defect and deficiency. The proverb tells us that ‘All seems yellow to the jaundiced eye’, and the same is true about bitterness of spirit. It puts into everything it looks at some unworthy element. Because the person himself is jaundiced and bitter, everything he looks at is tinged by the same thing; it is like looking through coloured spectacles. The Apostle brings this out in many places, as for example in the third chapter of his letter to Titus, ‘For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.’ We need not stay with this. I would remind you that we have already had ample opportunity for seeing the sham, and the pretence and the veneer which the world puts on. It gives a wonderful expression of affability, while the fact is that behind the paint and the powder there is nothing but bitterness, the result of brooding upon wrongs, either real or imaginary. We are all bitter by nature when in an unregenerate state; for which reason, as Christians, we have to put it away from us. I grant that there may be genuine grievances; but what makes us bitter is that we ponder them and meditate upon them and stay with them; in other words, we nurse our grievances, we dwell on them, we pay great attention to them, and if we are tending to forget them we deliberately bring them back and allow them to work us up again into a state of bitterness. But, of course, this happens not only with real grievances; many grievances are purely imaginary, and have no real substance at all, but because we have become bitter we see them where they really are not, and we nurse them, and, in turn, become more and more bitter. Bitterness, then, describes the kind of life which has become sour; it is not ready to believe good of anybody or anything, but always ready to believe evil; it is always somewhat cynical, takes the glory out of everything, tries to spoil everything. When it is shown something beautiful, it does not praise the ninety-nine per cent that is beautiful but always points to the one per cent of defect. We all know the kind of individual who is always pointing out the troubles and the defects and the faults and the blemishes. There are many such people. Every preacher, I am sure, could name them. There are some people who never write and thank you for sermons, but if you should by a mere slip of the tongue say something wrong they write to you about it. It is the only time they do write. The bitter spirit sees the faults and the blemishes but never seems to see the good. I do not want to stop with this. There are, of course, many people who feel that they have had good cause for being bitter; there were many people in the two World Wars who lost a husband or an only son. It is very easy to understand how they have become bitter with regard to the whole of life; but it does not excuse it, it is wrong, they should never have allowed themselves to become bitter. They have been dealt certain hard blows by life, but that is no justification for bitterness or for sourness or for becoming cynical. Even if life is described to them at its best, their very expression lets you know that they are not really disposed to allow themselves to enjoy anything. The saddest people I know in this world are these bitter people; they make themselves miserable and for the time being they make everybody else miserable. It is a terrible thing to be nursing a grievance, real or imaginary. Put it away from you, says Paul, put it away from you; that is the old man, that is the pagan, that is the unregenerate world, it should never appear in the Christian. (Forgiven and Forgiving - no Mp3 available) Helen Grace Lesheid writing on on bitterness - It grows. It distorts reality. It keeps us chained to the past. Like bad air, it pollutes not just the bitter person, but those who come in contact with the person (He 12:15). (Breaking Free from Bitterness - Discipleship Journal, Vol 14, No. 6, Nov/Dec 1994) Self-pity weeps on the devil’s shoulder, turning to Satan for comfort. His invitation is: “Come unto me all you that are grieved, peeved, misused, and disgruntled, and I will spread on the sympathy. You will find me a never-failing source of the meanest attitudes and the most selfish sort of misery. At my altar you may feel free to fail and fall, and there to sigh and fret. There I will feed your soul on fears, and indulge your ego with envy and jealousy, bitterness and spite. There I will excuse you from every cross, duty, and hardship, and permit you to yield unto temptation.” (From Green, M. P. Illustrations for Biblical Preaching) The Cure for Bitterness is a Heavenly Vision (Pun intended) - The story of the blind songwriter Fanny Crosby (Click for additional bio and links to many of her hymns) who wrote more that 8,000 songs is a powerful example of a heart that refused to let the seeds of bitterness and unforgiveness germinate. When Fanny was only 6 weeks old a minor eye inflammation developed and as some tell the story, the doctor who treated her was a quack and the potion he prescribed resulted in her becoming totally and permanently blind! Talk about having a reason to be bitter! And yet this Spirit filled woman harbored no bitterness against the physician and was quoted as having said of him If I could meet him now, I would say thank you, over and over again for making me blind. Indeed Fanny Crosby considered her blindness to be a gift from God to help her write the 8000 hymns that flowed so freely from her pen. Warren Wiersbe in commenting on Fanny's life wrote that... It was said of another blind hymn writer, George Matheson, that God made him blind so he could see clearly in other ways and become a guide to men. This same tribute could be applied to Fanny Crosby, who triumphed over her handicap and used it to the glory of God. (Editorial comment: Here are words from his most popular hymn) O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, That in thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be. O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day May brighter, fairer be. And so when God allowed life to give Fanny Crosby "lemons", instead of choosing bitterness, she turned the lemons into some of the sweetest hymns ever penned! In short, Fanny filled with the Spirit and the grace of God, turned tragedy into triumph, becoming better instead of bitter! May her tribe increase! English essayist and critic Charles Lamb (1775–1834) once commented about a person he did not want to meet: Bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. Myth: "You must forget in order to forgive." Truth: Forgiving is not forgetting. The key is how it is remembered.... Forgiving is remembering without bitterness, hatred or resentment (June Hunt - Biblical Counseling Keys - Biblical Counseling Keys) Bitterness always inflicts a deeper wound on the person who harbors it than the person against whom it is directed. A man who had car trouble on a lonely road asked a farmer to tow him to the nearest garage. On the way his wife was protesting to her husband the fee the farmer charged. “It is scandalous,” she said, “to charge us ten dollars for towing this car only three miles.” To which her husband replied, “Never mind, dear. I’m having my revenge—I’ve got my brakes on.” Many a person has thought himself to be getting revenge, but all the time the major damage was being done to him. (Speaker's Quote Book)
Efésios 4:31
MacArthur - To slander people, however, is to blaspheme God, inasmuch as He created men and women (cf. James 3:9)...People are to be treated with dignity because they are made in the image of God. The believer’s speech must not be marred by insults or disparaging remarks directed at others. James laments that “from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way” (James 3:10). (MacArthur, J. Colossians. Chicago: Moody Press) (Blasphemia in context is) the ongoing defamation of someone that rises from a bitter heart. (MacArthur, J: Ephesians. Chicago: Moody Press) Webster 1828 - An indignity offered to God by words or writing; reproachful, contemptuous or irreverent words uttered impiously against Jehovah...In the middle ages, blasphemy was used to denote simply the blaming or condemning of a person or thing. Among the Greeks, to blaspheme was to use words of ill omen, which they were careful to avoid. Blasphemia in the present context is related to wrath and anger but is a more enduring manifestation of inward anger, that shows itself in reviling. It refers to an attempt to belittle and cause someone to fall into disrepute or receive a bad reputation. Blasphemia is the ongoing defamation of someone that rises from a bitter heart.
Efésios 4:32
MacArthur commenting on Jesus' parable in Mt 18 concludes that our Lord... vividly drives home the importance of forgiveness in the Christian life (in) the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. In this passage Jesus’ teaching underscores not only the necessity of forgiveness but also the imperative that if God, Who has received the greater offense, can forgive us, then believers, who have been offended far less, must forgive fellow believers. (Ed: cp Lk 7:40, 41, 42, 43,47)... When God does need to chasten believers for any grievous sin, it is perfectly evenhanded, more so than any king’s punishment could be. The Lord, while always angry at sin, disciplines his own because He loves them (He 12:6+, He 12:10+, He 12:11+). If they forget the forgiveness they’ve received (as the first slave did) and refuse to forgive fellow believers, God causes them to endure such “torturers” as stress, hardships, troubled consciences, and other trials until they deal with the sin. James says: “Judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy” (Jas 2:13). I believe the lesson of the parable is clear: any believer who offends a fellow believer has offended God much more, and God has forgiven him; therefore, the offended believer should always be willing to forgive the brother or sister who sins against him or her and asks to be forgiven. Christians must always reflect God’s forgiveness because they have experienced that same forgiveness. Genuine forgiveness, however, does not excuse the wrongs of others. Compassion and mercy will not rationalize an offense away but will always call it what it is. But in confronting a sin, the forgiving believer will eliminate bitterness and all other negative feelings that can only increase the sin rather than eliminate it. Then he or she can confidently and sincerely pray the familiar prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12see notes on forgiveness related to this passage). (MacArthur, J. The Pillars of Christian Character: The Basic Essentials of a Living Faith. Page 88. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books) The subsequent verses in Ephesians 5 draw a conclusion based on Paul's instructions at the end of chapter 4 (which is why I think chapter breaks can sometimes distract from the flow of thought)... Therefore (term of conclusion - What's Paul concluding? What has he just said in Eph 4:32?) be (present imperative) imitators (mimetes = One who mimes = acts a part with mimic gesture and action usually without words Let your actions speak louder than your words) of God, as beloved children and walk (present imperative) in love, just as (Paul introduces our great Example we are to seek to imitate) Christ also loved you (How did He love us? How much?), and gave Himself up (the ultimate surrender of self or death to self) for us (in place of "for" we could also insert "in our place" which depicts substitution), an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Eph 5:1,2+) Comment: So Christ is the pattern we are to imitate. Notice the two commands (be, walk) which are both present imperatives which call for this imitation to be our daily practice! Just attempt to imitate Jesus in your own power! It is impossible. But it is "Him" possible! We must daily choose to renounce self-reliance and to wholly rely on the indwelling Spirit, Who "energizes" us supernaturally by giving us the DESIRE and the POWER to walk in a manner which is pleasing to our Father (see Php 2:13NLT+) We are not teaching "Let go and let God" but "Let God and Let's go!" for Php 2:12+ teaches that our responsibility is to work out what the Spirit works in! Salmond: The "therefore points to the same connection of ideas...and the one most immediately in view is that of the forgiveness of those who wrong us—a forgiveness which should be free, loving, ungrudging, complete as God's forgiveness is. (Ephesians 5 Commentary) Forgiving ("given as an act of grace") (5483) (charizomai from charis= grace) means literally to give freely and unconditionally or to bestow as a gift of grace and then to remit a debt, and hence to forgive. Look at the word "forgive" and observe the last 4 letters which speak volumes about what is required to forgive others (forGIVE). Charizomai means to extend grace, to show kindness or to bestow favor. The concept came to include both the gracious action and agreeable human qualities. The present tense calls for this to be the believer's continual practice, our new way of life (our "new garment" worn continually) as saints. Don't say you can't forgive, for what you are really saying is you won't forgive. We can forgive others because He forgave us! As an act of mercy make the conscious choice to extend grace to others who don't necessarily deserve it. In fact Paul uses the Middle voice which pictures believers as those who are to initiate the action of forgiving and then to participate in the results of forgiveness, not the least of which is we free ourselves from the "prison" and "poison" of unforgiveness! Another way to explain the tense using the context of Paul's exhortation to put on new garments, the present tense pictures that those who have put off the old man and put on the new man and now are to wear this "garment" at all times and in all places. The middle voice indicates that we as new men (and women of course) in Christ are to initiate the decision to put on the "garment of forgiveness" and that we participate in the effects of this new "attire" (the freedom that comes by living with an attitude of letting the injuries of others go, of remitting the debts they owe us). I found a little remedy To ease the life we live And make each day a happier one: It is the word "forgive." —Anonymous By the very nature of the word charizomai (from charis = grace) requires one to be a grace (Spirit) filled believer (Eph 5:18) in order to fulfill the requirement to forgive freely, graciously and ungrudgingly (a supernatural, Spirit empowered work! Little wonder that earlier Paul had prayed the Ephesian saints would be "strengthened with power [dunamis] through God's Spirit in the inner man" = Eph 3:16+). Stated another way, charizomai represents the exercise of grace in freely forgiving. Geneva Bible Notes (1599) - "An argument taken from the example of Christ, most grave and strong, both for the pardoning of those injuries which have been done to us by our greatest enemies, and much more for having consideration of the miserable, and using moderation and gentle behaviour towards all men." Pfeiffer says that "The only way we can be enabled to forgive is through the forgiveness which we ourselves already have received for Christ’s sake (Ed: And which is "dispensed" by the Spirit of Christ). As God’s love produces our love, so our realization of God’s forgiveness produces our forgiveness of others (Ed: Enabled of course by the Holy Spirit). (cf. 1Jn 4:19)." The People's Bible - What our Father has done—that makes all the difference in the world! His actions not only set a pattern and serve as a model, but they give loveless sinners new hearts and new minds. It is God who creates the new man in Christians, who now have the power and the ability to forgive a repentant brother or sister (Ed: And even those who don't repent!). And Christians will do it. They will not merely go through the motions but will forgive sincerely—from their hearts. They can do so because they are now living lives of love, in imitation of their heavenly Father. “We love because he first loved us” (1Jn 4:19). (Panning, A. J. Galatians, Ephesians. The People's Bible Milwaukee, Wis.: Northwestern Pub. House) Warren