Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.

To be a truly new man, one must put away the old. Paul says the old man is filled with bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour (which is outburst), evil speaking, and all malice (which means, ill-will; Malice is a deliberate attempt to harm another person). Some versions translate the verse this way:

(CEV) Eph 4:31  Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude.

(ERV) Eph 4:31  Never be bitter, angry, or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil.

What is bitterness? It is resentment. Its root cause is hatred. It is a cause of many relationship problems in the church: “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15). Bitterness stirs up troubles and destroys peace wherever it goes.

Hebrews 12:15 used the term “root of bitterness.” What is a root? A root is an important source of nutrients for a tree. We don’t normally get to see the root system but we see its results above the ground. The same is true with bitterness in a person's soul. It is a hidden element that lies under the surface, and out of it springs up anger, wrath, outbursts, evil speaking, malice and other negative emotions. People who are bitter find it easy to get upset over things that others are doing around them.

We see that wrath, anger, outbursts, evil speaking, and wickedness, all have to do with bitterness or resentful spirit. This is the price one has to pay for bitterness: he gets angry all the time. Bitterness is emotional suicide; it robs you of your peace and joy.

Now, the important question: How to overcome bitterness?

1. Desire Peace: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). If we want to meet God, we need to seek peace with all men.

2. Choose To Forgive: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (Ephesians 4:31,32). Remember that we have been forgiven by Christ and we need to forgive others. Forgiveness will remove bitterness.

3. Repent. Bitterness is a sin. And it is a sin that leads to other sins. Allowed to fester, it will blow up with destructive consequences. That’s how Cain killed his brother Abel; he lost control of his emotions (Genesis 4:5-8).

4. Love. Peter wrote: "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (1Peter 4:8). It's hard for you to see anything good in someone you don't love. But if you really love someone, it's much easier to overlook and forgive their faults.

Bitterness is a burden that is heavy on the heart. It’s like a dark cloud that is hovering over your head. Love is the cure to bitterness. Replace bitterness with love; for why should you want to carry the burden wherever you go. Ask God to forgive you for being bitter and resentful. Then forgive those who have hurt you even as God forgives you. I guarantee that your life will change. You will find peace, joy, and a clear blue sky.

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.

                                     

Now that we are Christians, how shall we live? Paul addresses this issue in his Letter to the Ephesians. He mentions 6 walks – walk in good works (2:10), walk worthy of the vocation (4:1), walk not as other Gentiles walk (4:17), walk in love (5:2), walk as children of light (5:8), and walk circumspectly (5:15).

All those walks can be summarised in this one walk – walk as children of light. It goes without saying that children of light are people who walk in love, who are careful how they walk, and who walk not as the world walks.

What is so special about light? Well, light is opposed to darkness. The scripture says that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). So as believers, we are called to walk in the light of God (1 John 1:7).

Darkness is associated with evil deeds. Paul says that we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (v.11). Our Lord says that the people of this world “loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:20).

As darkness represents evil, light represents all that is good. Paul reminds the Ephesians: "For you were once darkness" (v.8a). It was their former life before they became Christians. But now that they are Christians, they are to walk as children of light. The fruit of those who walk in the light can be seen in their lives: “for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (v.9, ASV). See a Christian who does good, is righteous and truthful - this Christian is walking in the light.

How does one walk in the light?

1. He does not associate with those who do wickedness (v.11; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Psalm 1:1).

2. He walks circumspectly (v.15). “Circumspect” comes from the Latin circirmspicio, meaning to look round about on all hands; to be every way watchful, wary, and cautious, in order to avoid danger. He is careful with how he walks – in thoughts, words, and deeds (Matthew 15:18-20).

3. He is not a time waster; he makes the best use of time (v.16).

4. He makes it his business to know the will of God (v.17; Psalm 1:2).

5. He stays away from wine (v.18). He knows the ill effects of the wine and knows the way to stay sober is to stay away from wine (Proverbs 20:1).

6. He is in the assembly of those who worship God (v.19). He knows the importance of congregational worship and praising God (Hebrews 10:24-25).

7. He is ever thankful to God (v.20). He gives thanks for everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

8. He is not proud but submitting one to another in the fear of God (v.21). He submits to those who have the rule over the church (Hebrews 13:17).

9. He is a loving husband. She is a loving and submissive wife (v.22-33).

10. He is a filial son. She is a filial daughter (6:1-3).

11. A good father who brings up his children in the way of God (6:4).

12. A good employee (6:5-8).

13. A good employer (6:6).

And, when you add up with those things that Paul mentioned earlier in the new man in chapter 4:17-32, you have one very good Christian who is walking in the light.

In actual fact, we know what we must do to be considered as one who is walking in the light, but our flesh is weak and we let sin overpower us causing us to walk in darkness (Romans 7:15-17). Let us find strength in the Lord that we may walk in the light (Matthew 26:41).

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Quick sermon outline

“He Came Down From The Mountain But Not The Cross”

By Tom Wacaster    If the Sermon on the Mount were all that Matthew recorded, that small piece of inspiration would declare the very majesty of the One Who spoke those words. The very first words we encounter as we enter the eighth chapter of Matthew capture our attention: “And when he was come down from the mountain” (8:1). Strictly speaking those half dozen English words describe His descent from an earthly mountain to the plains below. But suppose Jesus had stayed in the mountain? What if He had built some monastery and lived out His life in isolation? Had He done so, the miracles in this chapter, yea the whole of Matthew, would never have been recorded, and the teachings and instructions delivered on the mount would have been nothing more than the wisdom of just another Rabbi speaking to His band of devoted zealots who, at the end of their lifelong journey, would have summed up the experience in the words of the two men traveling to Emmaus: “But we hoped that it was he who should redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). Thank God that Jesus did come down from that mountain! Consider the following. He Came Down From The Mountain Of Happiness To Bear Our Sorrows Each of the three miracles of healing in this portion of our study is vitally connected with that beautiful chapter of the Suffering Servant in Isiah 53. Matthew told us these things were done “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases” (8:17). The Old Testament passage is Isaiah 53:4-6:  “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; ye we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” “Griefs” and “sorrows” – pay attention to those two words, keeping in mind the context of Isaiah’s prophecy. The sorrow to which Isaiah refers was deeper and more profound than the emotional ache in the hearts of men. The Suffering Servant did not come to open grief counseling center. He did not suffer simply to wipe the tears of those whose lives had been disrupted by physical disease and multiple maladies. Our Lord was fully aware that back of all the disease is the problem of sin. The true sorrow of the world can be traced to sin, whether a person’s own individual sin or the sin of humanity. Sin was introduced into the world by Adam (Rom. 5:12-21), and it spread into every corner of this globe and every generation by the power of each individual’s choice. Jesus’ power to heal the leper by the touch of His hand, or to heal the centurion from a distance by His spoken word, finds its basis in His overall mission to “seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). Was this not the point in the case of the man sick of the palsy where Jesus asked His critics: “Which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk?” (Luke 5:23). When it is said that Jesus bore “our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4) it is heaven’s way of telling us of the great mission of our King to address the root cause of those sorrows. He did this by being “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities” (Isa. 53:5). Can you imagine a king who would be willing to pay the penalty for the crimes of the citizens of his kingdom? Pick your dictator or despot, and the story is the same. It is most often the case that the innocent suffer for the crimes of the king, but our King came down from the mount of happiness to bear our sorrows. He Came Down From The Mountain Of Honor To Become A Servant Prior to His descent to this world of woe, our Lord enjoyed honor and majesty alongside the Father. He basked in heavenly sunshine, and was worshiped by the angels (Heb. 1:6). He enjoyed the “power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Rev. 5:12) deserving of the Godhead. Existing in the “form of God,” He “counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Phil. 2:6). Words cannot be found that can adequately describe the majesty of our Lord prior to that moment when He took upon Himself “the form of a servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:7-8). His descent from that ‘heavenly mountain’ was for no other purpose than to be a Servant of God and humanity, and to give His life a ransom for all. He washed the feet of the disciples thereby teaching them the importance of being a servant (John 13:1-15). He was obedient to the Father in every respect, remaining faithful even unto death. In the thirty-three years that our Lord sojourned upon this earth, He never once demonstrated a single shred of selfish desire; never seeking to “be served” but seeking rather “to serve.” He never had to turn His back on material things because He never sought them in the first place. On one occasion his disciples encouraged Him to eat, but He said unto them, “I have meat to eat that ye know not. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work” (John 4:32-34), and warned all of us, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rush doth consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through and steal” (Matt. 6:19-20). He not only preached that message, but lived that message to its fullest extent. Our Lord never owned any property, never built a house, never lay by in store, never had a passbook savings account, never organized a “garage sell,” and never placed an ounce of importance on what one might possess in this life. When His life was finished and His course completed, the only thing He could call His own was stripped from His sinless body and gambled away at the foot of the cross by the Roman soldiers while their Master and Creator hung on the cross close by. Having no place to lay His head (Luke 9:58), He found His rest in the homes of those who were gracious enough to provide His daily sustenance, and grant Him a place of repose when the day was done. All this, because He was willing to come down from the mountain of honor to become a Servant! He Came Down From The Mountain of Heaven To Be Our Savior Prior to His incarnation, Jesus shared in the glories of heaven with the Father. He basked in the glory and essence of deity (2 Cor. 8:9). In the beginning He filled the universe with the stars and planets (John 1:1-3) with the simple sound of His voice. He sustained (and still sustains) all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3). Yet He was willing to give all that up so that He could set before mankind the feast of abundant life. The New Testament rings with the message of salvation: “Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15a). “And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall shave his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). W.N. Clarke wrote almost a century ago, “The glory of Christianity is salvation.” The great challenge to the church in this century is getting men to realize their need for a Savior. Too many have lost the awareness of this need; too few are inclined to perceive of Him as Savior. One reason for this is the diminished concept of sin in the modern world. Jack Cottrell wrote, “Of course he recognizes that the world is filled with evils, failures, social ills, and conflicts of all kinds; but he just does not want to think of them as sin. This is because sin connotes a wrongdoing for which one is responsible before God, and modern man does not want to see himself in this light. He will take his evil and his failures to sociologists and psychologists, but not to God.” When our “problems” are discussed in social circles they may be described as “disgraceful,” “corrupt,” “prejudicial,” “harmful,” or even “evil,” but never “sinful.” It is obvious that without a sense of sin there can be no real sense of God as our Savior. May God give all of us a deeper appreciation for Jesus as Savior. Yes, Jesus came down from the mountain of happiness to bear our sorrows. He came down from the mountain of honor to be a Servant. He came down from the mountain of heaven to be our Savior. When the mob cried for the blood of Jesus, they were granted their wicked desires. And while Jesus hung on the cross they taunted the Son of God and challenged Him to “come down from the cross” (Matt. 27:40). He could have; but He refused to do so. Thank God that while Jesus was willing to come down from the mountain, He refused to come down from the cross.  ~~~~~

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