Ephesians 4-25a

Our reading is in Ephesians chapter 4, and we'll begin to read at verse 25. And as our brother Indumated is reading this morning, there is certainly a connection between what has gone before and what we will read now, and a hint for that is in the word wherefore at the beginning of verse 25. Sandy, by the way, there was a question that was asked to me about the reading this morning, the last you just read about, because it's quite straightforward.

The implication was given that people are not willing to receive truth because of their preference of lifestyle or sin. Does that, therefore, lead us to the conclusion that if they are devoted to a lifestyle of sin, then we shouldn't even bother to present the gospel to them or reasons to believe? No, I don't think that people should be given up in that sense. I think that we still present the word of God to them and look to the spirit of God to use it in their awakening and in their convicting them and in leading them to Christ.

Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor. For we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not.

Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Either give place to the devil, let him that stole steal no more. But rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all balance.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given us, given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be what is named among you as becometh saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish conversation, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.

Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove that. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore, he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I crossed the boundary, only allowed to go to verse 18, but I did resent a little bit that I had a Bible reading and ended with making melody in your heart, and I wasn't allowed to read it, so I went over to the next paragraph. Now, our brother gave us not only an excellent foundation for our readings for this weekend, but an excellent example as to handling and moving through the passage, and I hope we will be able to give fair coverage to both the beginning and the middle and the end of our passage that we're looking at.

Just a reminder of the doctrinal connections with what has gone before and what we are looking at now. We have been reminded about our conversion in the verses immediately preceding where we were. This is what happened at conversion.

The old was put away, the new was put on. And we will notice as we trace down through the passage before us, it will be not this, but that. So it's not the old, but the new.

And in fact, there's another great connection between that and the law, but I'll come to that in a moment. But not only is there that immediate connection with our conversion, but just a little reminder of what the Ephesian epistle is telling us. You and I have been made one with Christ.

We have now the full right to speak to our Father, and we are indwelled by the Spirit of God. We are not visitors in the divine community. We do not somehow or other every once in a while go to see the Father, Son, and Spirit.

We have been brought into the society of heaven. We belong there. Strange as that sounds, we belong there.

By rich grace, our community is divine persons. That seems to me to have tremendous impact when we're looking at interpersonal relationships, which is what we are looking at here in the passage. I think it will be interesting to find that there is the number three appearing quite often in what we will look at, and it has appeared already in the Bible readings, and I think that has some connection with the community into which we are brought and the divine persons and the revelation of divine character.

I want to talk to you for a moment not only about the doctrinal connection, but about the ethical constraints. Now you say, David, ethical, what do you mean? We're looking at what is right, what is determined by God to be right for Christian behavior. Ethics.

And I was impressed with this. Take it for what it's worth. Coming from the present source, you can undervalue the reason.

But God gave the law, and there was a moral constraint when he gave the law. Now what I want to remind you about is that God's ethical standard does not change. Old Testament, New Testament, age-wide, the ethical standard is always the same.

But when God displayed his glory in the law, his character, it was with the sound of trumpets exceeding shrill and the mountain trembled and Moses said, I did exceedingly tremble. There was the overwhelming power of God's character and God's person. The awesomeness of God.

And the people trembled. That was external. Was it effective? What was communicated was effective.

But the doing of it was not produced by the external. Is that right? And does the external yet produce divine righteousness? Does my force of personality produce righteousness in me or you? Does my scorning you for not doing what you're supposed to do produce righteousness in you? Do externals produce righteousness? The standard was given and the external power of God evident. But the people immediately disobeyed and continually disobeyed.

There is an ethical standard given to us in the Book of Proverbs. Great book. There's a great book written about the Book of Proverbs, too.

You get a signed copy. But the ethical standard, the constraint of the Book of Proverbs, I think has to do with the providence of God. What you sow is what you reap.

So continue in doing right things because there will inevitably be a right result. This is a moral universe that God has made. And whatsoever man sows, that shall he also reap.

And so there is every good reason to do what is right because it will produce what is right. And it will produce what is right for the next generation because that's what the Book of Proverbs is about as well. That's good.

It didn't preserve the monarchy, however. But it's good for us to keep in mind that doing the right thing is always the right thing to do. I think that's well put.

But what you come to now in Ephesians seems to me to be of a different character altogether in this sense. Is the standard the same? The standard is the same. But the constraint is so much more effective.

In that, the Spirit of God is given within to produce that. The grace of God and the marvelous position into which we have been brought. We're brought to that standard so that while the Old Testament, while the law says thou shalt not, the standard that's presented to us here and the constraint that's given to us here says not only thou shalt not, but it says thou shalt.

Not this, but this. The positive is emphasized for us in what we are looking at in Ephesians chapter 4 and 5. That just brings to mind some biblical comparisons that I'll just suggest to you. Maybe we'll pick them up as we go along.

But there are the commandments. I think if we look through what we'll be dealing with today in this reading, we will find an answer to each of the commandments in the second table of the law. Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not bear false witness.

I got them out of order. And thou shalt not covet. I think they're all here.

All five of the man who are beside. Because this is interpersonal relationships. But I'll be interested to see if we don't pick up here and there a reminder that it's first of all in connection with God and then it's in connection with others.

So you have the first and the second table of the law. My point, again, in mentioning that is this is still the same standard that God has given, expected to be lived in the power of the Spirit of God. Second thing that I want to point out is what we have been reminded of in the section just before what we have been reading, or we are reading, is that the old life has been put off, the new man and what is consistent with the new man has been put on.

Because we have so learned Christ and we have heard him and we have been taught of him as the truth is in Jesus. So all the moral features that we're looking at that are expected to be seen in believers, I would like to just keep a little bit of a devotional touch in our Bible reading. Every one of them will point us to the Lord Jesus.

And there's nothing more delightful than to find him in the Word of God. So I hope we'll keep that in mind as we move through these. We were reminded already we may have occasion to go to the Book of Colossians to see the parallels.

Sometimes when you look at one book versus the other it helps to amplify or clarify the truth that is involved. And then I'll trust someone who has studied the Book of Proverbs to help us with this. But I would love to think that every one of the ethical injunctions that are here are actually reflected from the Book of Proverbs as well.

About speaking truth, for example, and so on. So I think there is a connection with the wisdom of the Book of Proverbs. Now, with that in mind then, let me just suggest to you I've got a little permission in what was said this morning by the good doctor.

And I'll just suggest to you what I want to follow as an outline for us in the passage before us. I'm thinking of keying on the truth of our walk. So I want to talk in the first verses which are running down through the remainder of chapter 4 verses 25 to 32.

I want to look at the likeness a likeness and our walk. Because it is, after all, if we have put on the new man, which is vitally connected with Christ if it is because we have so learned Christ and the truth is in Jesus and his moral qualities manifested here in this world then all of these features are really a likeness to him to be seen in our walk. Obviously, at the beginning of chapter 5 you have the truth of love and our walk and I'm dividing that down through verse 7. Now, it's a little difficult to make the division exactly but that will help us looking at love and our walk.

Then we have light brought in and our walk and that will take us down through verse 14 from verse 8 through verse 14. And then finally, and this will need some explanation when we get there, loftiness and our walk in verses 15 through 18 and actually runs down through verse 21. So that will be the paragraph breakdown that I'm going to ask that we follow and we'll look at those things together as we look at the passage before us.

Are there any general comments or background comments? They are welcome and then we'll begin to move through this paragraph by paragraph, four sections and that leaves us until 3 o'clock. Just this suggestion. When it comes to interpersonal relationships which is really what we're looking at now in a body, the interconnections between each one that's part of that body I think everybody here as we go along will recognize there are other people here that need to hear this part of the Bible.

I'm going to ask all of us except myself if we will all take away at least one thing from this present Bible reading that needs to be changed in my life. Just one thing, not about others because if there is one area that needs to be guarded in assembly life it is interpersonal relationships. The greatest amount of damage in assembly testimony, my beloved brothers the greatest damage is through our carelessness.

Just the way I am, I got to take me the way I am and so I am the way I am. Instead of being was and something new we're happy to have interpersonal relationships just the way we were, just the way we are by nature. It cannot work.

Therefore, there must be divine grace in our interpersonal relationships. Would you think, Brother David that often times that is for words carelessly said? Actually, probably we do need to put our words through a biblical sin. And we all like to just speak what comes from the top of our head but maybe grace would teach us to stop and consider.

Now, first verse here. Let's see if we can get started. Wherefore, not the lie but the truth.

Therefore, not the old man but that which is like God. Wherefore, not like the life you used to live which was led by deception relative to idols, et cetera but led by deception. Those that worshiped them are like them but now, those that worship the God who is true characterized by truthfulness.

In chapter one it was the word of truth the gospel of their salvation. So truth is what actually led to their new life. He's reminded them of the truth that is in Jesus.

Now he takes them to this. This should now stamp you as well. So, not the lie.

Is that covered just by our words? Is it possible to lie by looks? Acts chapter five gives their actions, doesn't it? Ananias and Sapphira. They were blinded by those. We can fail to speak the truth when we're responsible to speak the truth.

Is that lying? Just by being quiet? The silence is... Lies by action. Oftentimes lies by suggestion. The words themselves.

My wife asked me a question and I gave an answer. And she said, Well, that was a pretty evasive answer. You didn't answer my question.

It is possible to not answer or pretend that that's true. It's obviously dealing here with believers in a fellowship, because it says we are members one of another and that's the reason not to lie. But I don't think that we want to get the idea that we only don't lie to those that are believers.

That honesty ought to be the characteristic of our entire life, no matter where we are. Well, you're pushing this. Right.

But to me, his saying we are members one of another puts the ethical constraints, sorry, I'm stuck on this, at the highest level. Look at what we have been brought into. We have this relationship by divine grace with one another.

Therefore, what happens in a body if part of the body does not communicate accurately to another part of the body? You're moving on to the next Bible reading, I think. Oh. But that's good, because the idea is that if we are members one of another, we are in the same body, we ought to do nothing that will harm other members of the body.

See, and I'm also thinking about the physical body, because this, my mind goes to this too often. When part of the body doesn't communicate accurately to another part of the body, you have what's called paralysis, you have spasms, you have all kinds of dysfunctions. We're members one of another.

Remember, wouldn't we, that in William's suggestion, Acts chapter 5, while the lie by action there is in relation to believers, the apostle points out that it's against the whole of the Goliath, the whole of the trinities involved. One of the best examples we can give is John 13, the Lord washing His feet, washing the feet of His disciples, and showing that the service is not greater than His Master. And then He goes on to say that you are to love one another, and in verse 17 says, happy are ye in any of these things.

All right, we're moving on now from our candor to our control, our self-control. Be angry. Okay, that's a great lesson.

And sin not. Verses 26 and 27 are linked together, so we'll have to see that. But how is it possible to be angry and not sin? What are we talking about here? If I'm angry because I have a right to be angry because I'm the one that's been violated, that's not sin, right? That's allowed.

I could be angry when you trample my toes, but you're not allowed to be angry. Is that what it's involved in? Do we not want to avoid the idea of becoming angry when it has to do with a wounded personality, when it is a personal offense? And I think we'll get to that further along in the chapter. We have the example of the Lord Jesus that was angered at the hardness of the heart.

And so it's not so much that somebody has offended me and I will become angry, but that it has something to do with the righteousness of God, the character of God. That example from Mark 3 is all important. Anger because of what it means to God.

Not anger because of what it means to me or my wife. But anger because of what it means as far as God is concerned. And I think here is also talking about how that anger is manifest.

Anger as far as what offends God handled in a way that is not sinful. Because so often we may be doing a right thing, but do it in a wrong way, and it's equally wrong. So having anger relative to God, relative to the things of God.

In fact, Artemius, whatever his other initiative is, Stott, makes the comment that probably we need to have more anger when it comes to what offends God. Because I think we're pretty lackadaisical. If it offends God, that's bad.

It's too bad. If it offends me, boom. Again, it would spring from verse 24, created after the likeness of God through righteousness and holiness.

If our anger is in keeping with that, then that's good. What is the thought about let not the sun go down upon your wrath? Don't you think that again is a statement that's not so much literal as it is don't let your anger keep on burning. Don't brood.

Don't nurture it. Don't keep score. Right.

So, be angry and sin not. There's no revenge. Don't take it into your hands to right the wrong.

No resentment. Don't let the sun go down on your wrath. But I think there's something else in the next statement.

We'll talk about that in a moment. Listen, when we're talking about interpersonal relationships, if somebody wanted to sit down with a married couple and talk to them about how to get along, I think they could use this as a textbook. If you wanted to talk to brothers in assembly about how to get along in the assembly, brothers meaning brothers and sisters, you could use this as a textbook.

This has principles of interpersonal relationship that apply in every kind of interpersonal relationship. So, when it comes to marriage, the need for honesty between two. When it comes to marriage, the need not to hold grudges and not to never to go to sleep without making sure that everything is right between you and your partner.

So there are three phrases here that run together. Be angry and sin not. That's not a question.

It's a statement of fact. And as our brother said, there are areas of righteous anger. The second phrase gives us the danger of it.

Not to be brooding over things. And I appreciate what our brother just said. Don't go to sleep with a grudge.

The next phrase, of course, is shown as an angel placed to the devil. But you brought it up. And that's what it says in this passage.

And the fact, the problem is where there is anger, uncontrolled, unresolved, we are actually opening the door. We're retreating from ground that we're holding. And we're allowing the devil actually to take advantage.

The devil has used misplaced anger more than once. You have that actually at the very beginning of our Bible, Genesis chapter 4. We would not know that Satan was behind the slaying of Abel until we come to 1 John. He was of that wicked one.

Wherefore slew he his brother? He was of that wicked one. So anger gave an opening for Satan and Cain slew Abel as a result. I'm going back just to be angry and sin not and thinking about Jonah in the Old Testament.

Do I not dwell to be angry? If it weren't so terrible, humorous, talking to the Lord. I have every right to be angry. Don't I do well to be angry? Because you took away my umbrella.

But we all kind of think we have a right to be angry. But be angry for God's honor and sin not. Don't lose control even when you're angry for God's honor.

Would it not be easier to sleep? A lot of people have trouble sleeping. I'm serious. Really? I don't.

But you know what I mean. If we go to bed and we have all these unresolved things that we could resolve and we let them brood, it's a lot better to have the slate clean when you go to sleep than to have to think about it all night. A husband and a wife and there's a little something between them and one waits for the other one.

Because she was wrong. And then finally, somebody's going to break the ice because it's just difficult to go to sleep. David, can I then just ask you a question? What does the spiritual person do even if they feel they've been wronged? Bringing this now to all relationships.

Does the spiritual person wait or does the spiritual person always take the lead in resolving difficulties? If thou bring thy gift to the altar and there remember that thy brother hath fought against thee go and tell his father in heaven. Take that gift. Leave that like gift at the altar and go and be right beside thy brother.

So, I think the answer to your question is first of all, it's never one-sided. I have participated in the problem, maybe only in the way I have reacted. Maybe only in the thoughts that I have had in the way I have reacted.

And there's always reason for me to be the first person to go and say look, there's a problem between us and I have not acted properly in this or whatever it may be to take ownership for my problem and to break the ice. So, in Matthew 5, if my brother has offended me, I go. Matthew 18, if I've offended my brother, I go.

So, no one can sit back and say they have to come to me. Totally unscriptural. Wherever there's a difficulty between two people, God expects you to take responsibility to go and resolve the difficulty.

So, if you had two spiritual people, they'd meet somewhere in the middle. Which would be a happy thing. Neither give place to the devil.

We're going to pick up the idea of a soldier in positions later on, but that's really what we're doing, is we're turning territory over to him. We're going to let him encroach into an area where he doesn't belong and we're losing ground. So, I've said no revenge, no resentment, no retreat when it comes to the devil.

Is it okay to move on to the next? We have talked about the Lord's anger. Just to bring this up, I want to make sure we keep it sweet. Bring the Lord Jesus in.

But anyway, we'll move on now to the next, which is our care for others. Here is a classic example now. Let him that stole steal no more.

Thou shalt not steal. But look at what the New Testament says. Stop stealing, no? But rather, labor for the needs of others.

That is just the exact opposite of taking from others. It's laboring to give to others. Turn the burglar into a benefactor.

Then I restored that which I took not away. So, you have the Lord Jesus, the exemplar of this, isn't he? Never taking, but laboring to the extent of death in order to give. But as well, he labored with his hands.

In reality, to think of the creator of the universe, laboring with his hands probably to provide the needs of a family. A widowed mother, perhaps? A widowed mother in a family growing? Amazing. Including all his brothers that later would not believe on him until at least the end of his days of his flesh.

Well, there may be exceptions. Stealing generally is the epitome of self, isn't it? Self-exaltation. Get for individuals.

Get wrong. As you've been saying, the opposite here for the new man is self-indulgence, giving unto others, and furthermore getting by your own labor to be able to help the other ones. It's such a contrast.

Could I suggest something for young Christians that are thinking about a career? I remember in school, we had to do research on different careers and decide what we wanted to do. And of course, one of the things that was first to be observed was what's the annual salary? I want to be a doctor. I want to be a lawyer.

I want to be whatever. Airline pilot. Big income.

A Christian ought to be choosing his vocation in order to maximize his ability to benefit others. To meet the needs of others. I think that's a side line, but it's relevant to the principles here.

Thinking of others. What can I do to meet the need of others? What are we embracing the idea of stealing here? Is it okay to steal from the phone company? If it's a big company, they won't be able to tell how much was stolen from them. Huh? Well, I mean, if you work for me and steal pencils, is that all right? Why do you want to find out? I remember the days when the long-distance service was a lot different than it is now.

People devising ways to phone somebody but not answer the phone and give them the signal or whatever. This honesty of not actually trying to take advantage of others. No matter how remote they may be, insurance companies and automobile accidents and how I can just get a little advantage over them.

Are those things stealing? Income tax? Oh, but that, I don't know. I'm not an American citizen. I wouldn't know.

But would that be included here as well? Oh, yes, maybe. Of course, it's custom to do so it must be. Of course, there's another thing.

I'm pretty good at this one, too. Like, there's some laws I don't think are good laws. So, I mean, why would I have to cooperate with those laws? They don't know as much as I do.

Is that okay? I think reading Romans 13 would probably help you out. Always have an answer from the Bible. But it's all... I mean, when you look at what the Lord embraces in Thou Shalt Not Steal, when you look at the ways in which Thou Shalt Not Steal, the judgments that flow from that, like in the law, you're looking at a wide variety of things entrusted to me.

It's a large field of ways that I can wrong someone else when it comes to stealing. My brother Sandy said this morning, it's black and white things that are in me. So we really have, then, the thought of doing what's wrong in contrast to doing what's good.

We have the taking in contrast to the giving. We have the self in contrast to others. We have, of course, that thought permeated through here.

These are characteristics. If you're on the one side, you see the bad in the world, on the other, we speak hard for ourselves in contrast. An absence of what is in the world is not sufficient for the Christian.

It's the presence of all that God is that sets the standard. We would notice that working with his hands is the thing which is good, because by implication, a person could stop stealing, but still be with their hands doing that which is not good. Would this include, perhaps, the fact that Ephesus had all these men that were making these little idols, and so somebody that had been saved from idolatry would have to look at their vocation and say, can I continue doing this that is taking people's attention away from God? Now that has immense practical implications, Marcus.

There are other occupations besides making idols that actually, I mean, jobs are scarce these days. Should we judge the character of the work we're doing, what we're contributing to, in terms of what we feel is suitable for Christian occupation? I think that that is the teaching here when he says that which is good. I can think of a couple saved, pardon the reference, but saved in the state where we live, and their income is from selling beer, and it didn't take them too long to realize that this is not good.

And so they changed their occupation. So yes, there is a tremendous implication here when we look at the Word of God and see a person saved, no longer wanting to steal, wanting to give, but how am I going to do it as well? Even when investing in a stock market, investing in things that are evil. There is a degree to which we should know what our money is being used for.

I think there are some limits on that, but I think that where it's blatantly clear, I think that's something to be avoided by a Christian. So the law, thou shalt not steal, the old man had no power to keep that. But yet God's standards are far above the law.

Let him labor working with his hands, and so on. The new man has the power to do that. Do you not think the Spirit of God here is really indicating to us that when God gave the law, it really was with this in mind.

Loving your neighbor as yourself, which summarizes the man which sighed with me, not just that I don't steal, but that if I really love him, I will do all I can to benefit him. So it's almost like the Spirit of God is interpreting the law for us here, but giving us a new power and a new motivation for it. Yeah, in fact, the mention of the neighbor in verse 25 kind of just gives you the hint for what you're saying, that this is all embraced under thou shalt not labor.

So I wouldn't have said, brother, that the standard in the New Testament is higher than the law standard. It's more defined, it's clearer, but it's still the same standard of righteousness. In other words, God didn't give an inferior standard in the law.

Otherwise, it could not be called the glory of God. And I think that that's maybe what we're looking at. But the point is, it's much, it's obviously much higher for us in terms of what we're responsible to do.

The law was given, though, provision was immediately made for failure. The principles are there, but provision is made when we come into Leviticus. We come to our New Testament, and while we have the great principles of the law, now we have the tremendous provision that we have in Christ.

We not only have provision, we have an example. And of course, the empowering of the Spirit of God is that which changes lives and enables this different attitude. The truth is, it isn't Jesus.

It's just a reminder that He is the Word. God is fully revealed in Jesus. And while God manifested Himself in Austin, Howard, and Sinai, there's a, I was going to say, world of difference between that and God incarnate and God made flesh.

Now, we're working okay on the statements moving down. Is it okay to move down now to our communication? And it speaks about corrupt communication compared with that which is good. First time you have the word corrupt communication, you can't get good fruit from a corrupt tree.

So, you have what is useless, what is actually will propagate harm and danger in our speech. No corrupting, you could say, speech. That expression in verse 29, that which is good to the use of edifying.

I think that is actually the same word, isn't it, as need. Right. It's the idea of meeting a need.

So that in verse 28, we are meeting a material need. In verse 29, we are meeting, whether you want to call it a spiritual or an emotional need. So, how am I going, like I'm working with my hands, I'm saving money to be able to meet a material need.

How do I go about meeting this need? Is this just a spur of the moment, what's on the top of my mind? How do I actually fulfill verse 29? He opens my ear morning by morning to hear, as the verb, that I might give a word in season. I think that's what you have here. So, it's the Lord Jesus in touch with heaven, beforehand getting his preparation for the day.

What you say, of course, he was omniscient, he knew all that was coming. Yes, but he got it day by day, moment by moment from fellowship with his God. And I take it that if we're in fellowship with God, there are times that we'll say things that we had no idea would be a help, but God uses them.

The other thing, if I can harken back to one of your memorable sermons, the Samaritan, not really, the Samaritan, he had all that was needed for the Jericho room, because he knew it was a place he would meet people in need. So that we as well should be exercised, recognizing we're moving to a scene where there are people who will have needs, and seeking by God's help to, from the Word of God, have what is necessary to meet that need when it occurs. Part of that involves a sensitivity to need, too.

If I'm only thinking about myself, I can think about my needs, and maybe somebody else might have the same needs I do, but then there's a whole world of needs beyond my experience. And I think what we're looking at here is, you go to a Bible reading, okay? Now, I hope we've come to this Bible reading with a sensitivity, but do we know needs among the people of God here? Will we try to give something that will be of help to that particular need, or will we just be rolling on down through the passage? To have something for the people of God suited for the need that we're aware of, and trusting God to help us to address a need we don't know anything about. Again, the word Jesus is the personification of this, isn't it? He saw us in all of our need.

He being the Incarnate Word, He was good. He edified others. He ministered grace to all the earth.

You know, they're tempting Him, and putting Him to the test. And He sees the way a man answers, and He goes after that man's soul. Always interested in a good outcome, no matter what the circumstances may be.

No matter how illegitimate or improperly directed they input from others to Him, He was always attempting to bring good to them. That's a lovely study for us to consider. How do we turn every circumstance to the communication of what will bring good to the need of others?