8-23-20 Grace - Tucson Sermon

Pastor Tim Patoka

Under The Sun #11: Don’t Let The Sun Go Down While You Are Angry August 23, 2020 Don’t Let The Sun Go Down While You Are Angry Ephesians 4:25-32 1) Do Not Give the Devil an Opportunity 2) Treat Others as God Has in Christ

When you go to a wedding reception, you often hear people give the newlyweds some marriage advice. Sometimes it’s occasioned with the chiming of the glassware and other times it’s unsolicited. But no matter how it comes out, there are some pieces of advice you often hear repeated. Maybe it’s the encouragement for the newlywed couple to actively model the kind of marriage they want to pass on. Or perhaps the advice is the reminder to prioritize time to be with each other so that they don’t unintentionally grow apart years later. For those who liken the newlyweds to a sports team, there’s the marriage coach’s advice that there are no winners and losers in a marriage. Rather, they win or lose together.

Today’s sun reference in the Bible is also used in this marriage advice context which says, “do not let the sun go down while you are angry.” (Ephesians 4:26) While not a hard and fast rule, it is a blanket statement based on common sense. It is generally not good for anger to last for a prolonged time. If it does, the anger will usually escalate and make things worse for the married couple! But this advice about the sun’s setting and anger is not just for newlyweds to consider. It’s also part of the Apostle Paul’s directives to Christians about how to live as God’s sanctified children. To be sanctified means to be called out of this unbelieving and sinful world to be his through faith. And, as we look at all the directives that the Apostle Paul gives us this morning from Ephesians chapter 4, we see that living as God’s sanctified children can consist of two things. First, to not give the Devil any extra opportunities to shipwreck our faith.

And secondly, to treat our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith in the same way that God has treated us in Christ.

1) Do Not Give the Devil an Opportunity Even though this might sound obvious, it is good for us to remember that the verses we’re looking at this morning from Ephesians chapter 4 come after Paul has already written 3 chapters of information to the Christians living in Ephesus. In those previous chapters, Paul has described who they used to be before they came to faith and how it is they became God’s sanctified children. As he writes in Ephesians chapter 2(:8-9), “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” It is by God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, that we go from spiritual death to spiritual life.

Paul then hones in on the sanctified identity that God’s children have by differentiating between the old, sinful self that once defined us and the new, sanctified self we now have. In the 1

Under The Sun #11: Don’t Let The Sun Go Down While You Are Angry August 23, 2020 verses immediately preceding what’s printed for us in our worship folders, the Apostle Paul writes, “As far as your former way of life is concerned, you were taught to take off the old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires, and to be renewed continually in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) When we come to faith in Christ, we are given a new self that is washed clean of sins and empowered to live a life that is pleasing to God. Pastor Tim Patoka

A new self that we will have to struggle if we wish to retain it. Our old, evil foe named the Devil wants nothing more than to trip us up so that we lose our new self and revert back to our original, sinful self. And there are a lot of opportunities he can use to do just that. Things like lying, persisting in sinful anger, stealing, speaking unwholesome talk, and every form of malice like bitterness, rage, anger, quarreling, and slander. While these may seem small and insignificant, they are as deadly as an Achilles’ heel that, if exploited, can soon lead to our spiritual downfall and loss of our sanctified, new self. It’s for this reason that Paul gives the broad directive, “Do not give the Devil an opportunity.” (Ephesians 4:27) But don’t we often give the Devil such easy opportunities? We justify our lying with good intentions and cover it with secrecy. We don’t count to ten when our blood starts boiling nor do we put it to bed before the sun sets for the night. We take what isn’t ours and get ahead with it because no one notices it or catches us red-handed. We let words fly free that hurt far more than sticks or stones break any bones. We find the various forms that malice can take – bitterness, rage, anger, quarrelling, and slander – and delve into them all the more. While we may not realize it at the time, it’s from these seemingly small opportunities that the Devil latches onto and works his evil will to forsake our sanctified, new self and to revert back to our sinful, old self. As a deadly forest fire begins with a single spark, so the Devil stokes the fires of sin to be as eternally damaging to our soul.

We shouldn’t give the Devil such opportunities. If we listen to the Apostle Paul and hold off from such things, then, at the very least, we are minimizing the opportunities the Devil has to work his evil will against us. But we will still give him such dangerous opportunities. We will have lapses of judgment or control and yet again hand-deliver them to the Devil. We will also unknowingly open ourselves up to his attacks in many of these very ways.

And that’s why we need to remember that, if we stand in Christ and what he has done, then we will be able to defend ourselves against the Devil’s conniving ways even when we don’t mean to open the door to him. And that’s because it will be Christ fighting for us on our behalf. We know that Christ has the power to fight him off because he has already defeated him at the cross. With that single, sacrificial death, Jesus has put Satan in his place once and for all and undone his sinful work through the shedding of his blood. He gives us, through faith, a new self that is free from sin and its dreadful curse. We have his promise of forgiveness, even for those opportunities we sadly give to the Devil to work his evil will against us.

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Pastor Tim Patoka

Under The Sun #11: Don’t Let The Sun Go Down While You Are Angry August 23, 2020 2) Treat Others as God Has in Christ

This is not the only thing God has done for his sanctified children. For he has also sealed us with the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption as the Apostle Paul wrote in our verses. I’m guessing that, like me, you were a little confused when you first read that. What could Paul mean by saying we Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption? To be sealed with the Holy Spirit means to be identified as belonging to him. This is simply another way to describe the gift of faith which the Holy Spirit alone brings to all Christians. And to be sealed for the day of redemption is to be identified as his until we are forever marked as God’s redeemed children when we enter our home in heaven above. That could happen on the Last Day or on our last day.

To those who are sealed with the Holy Spirit, we see how graciously he treats us in Christ. It is only in Christ that we receive the full measure of God’s love in terms of frequency, manner, and motivation. God treats us with his love on a very frequent basis. In fact, it would be better to say that he gives his love on a continual basis without any momentary lapses. The manner in which God treats us with his love is one of pure grace. God doesn’t require a quid pro quo contract before he gives it to us nor does he deliver in partial amounts. He gives it in full to those who are his children. And the motivation of such gracious treatment is purely driven by love. As Paul writes elsewhere (Romans 11:35), it’s not like anyone has given something to God that he has to give his love back to us as repayment or because of obligation.

No, it is because of love for his sanctified children that God shows his love in such allencompassing ways.

And as we view our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith, we see that we too share in that sealed identification as members of one body. United by a trust in Christ and equally loved by the one above, we finally turn our attention to the directives that God, through the Apostle Paul, gives to his sanctified children. “Speak truthfully with your neighbor….Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry…. work hard doing what is good with [your] own hands, so that [you have] something to share with a person who is in need…Say only what is beneficial when there is a need to build up others… be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us.” (Ephesians 4:25-32) When we do these actions to our fellow believer, we are treating the shared body of Christ in the same way that God has treated us in Christ.

I hope that such actions are not rare for us. But might there be room for growth in caring for the other members of the body of Christ in terms of frequency, manner, and motivation?

How often do we actually do such things? Is it once in a blue moon or is it a common practice?

How likely are we to require an unwritten quid pro quo contract that demands such actions before or in return for our kindly acts? When we show love and concern for our believing 3

Under The Sun #11: Don’t Let The Sun Go Down While You Are Angry August 23, 2020 neighbor, is it because we want to? Because we have to? Because it will help us in the end? As hard as it is to do all those directives in the first place, so it’s even harder to practice them in the right way and for the right reasons.

Pastor Tim Patoka

But if we look back at what makes us sanctified in the first place, we can see how we are more likely to indeed treat our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith in the same way that God treats us in Christ. As God’s love is continually given to us in Christ, so we mirror that frequency by continually treating our neighbor with that same love. As God’s love is freely and fully to all his sanctified children in Christ, so we don’t play favorites or only give in part. As God’s love naturally flows from him to us in Christ, so we naturally treat others in love as a thankful extension of our new, sanctified self.

And there are lots of ways we can show this Christian love in a frequent, full, and free way to the other members of the body of Christ. Instead of lies, let us speak the truth. Instead of harboring anger, let it go. Instead of stealing what isn’t ours, let us work hard for the good.

Instead of accumulating treasures for ourselves, let us be ready to give them away to those in need. Instead of tearing others down, let us build one another up with an encouraging word.

Instead of engaging in every kind of malice, let us be kind and compassionate to one another.

Instead of leaving a repentant believer in the terror of their sins, let us forgive as God in Christ has forgiven us. For by doing these things, we will treat others as God has treated us in Christ.

If you were to attend a wedding reception, I’m guessing you might hear something like not letting the sun set on your anger be a piece of marriage advice. But this applies to more than newlyweds. It also is good for we sanctified children of the Lord to hear so that we do not give the Devil anymore opportunities than what he already has. He will use each and every chance he has to work his evil will so that we lose our sanctified, new self and revert back to our sinful, old self. But, if minimize the opportunities we give him and remain standing in Christ, we have nothing to fear. For not only will we be protected from the Devil’s evil ways, we will also be encouraged all the more to treat our brothers and sisters in the faith in the same way that God has treated us in Christ with his love. And, as we consider all the ways we can do this as described by the Apostle Paul, we can see how we can truly live as God’s sanctified children who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of our redemption when we enter our home in heaven. Amen.

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