 better begin again. Yeah, so we were looking at the first few verses of Ephesians chapter 4 before the break and we have a lot of ones mentioned over here in verses 4 and 5 where it talks about how we have been, you know, brought together Jews, Gentiles, people from all communities. We have been brought together under one Lord by one faith. I know we've been baptized into one baptism so and we have one God and Father over all of us and therefore he says, Paul says, keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace because when Jesus Christ, he came to the earth, in his body he brought together the Jews and the Gentiles because now we are literally, you know, when we use the imagery of the human body for the church, you know, Christ is the head and we are the body. So Jews and Gentiles are together the one single body of Jesus Christ. He is the head and we are the body. So in this body, all the believers are getting united as one, as one family. So there's no longer a distinction being made between Jews and Gentiles. We are all together as one body and this one hope that we are all looking forward to, you know, that one day we would be in eternity with him and then that day he would reward us for, you know, all that we have done for him faithfully. So therefore he says, keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. It distresses the Holy Spirit when we are against each other because we are all members of one single body. In the human body, we do not see the hands hitting the legs. You know, the hands and legs love each other. Imagine how much distress it would cause you in your mind if your hands were to constantly keep hitting your legs, you know, and your hands keep hitting your face. It would upset you deeply because it is your body and you would like all the members in your body to be united in harmony. So if you were to take that example, it causes distress to the, you know, to the Holy Spirit. It displeases him when we do that. And therefore, because he has brought us together, you know, into the body of Christ through his Spirit, for his sake, we must maintain this bond of peace. So this bond of peace is not just some lovey-dovey wonderful feeling that, you know, just descends upon us. It's a bond that we choose to establish even when there are differences between us. It's a bond which we consciously choose to place, you know, binding us with the others, even when they are being unhelpful and lazy and we are putting in all the hard work. So it's a bond of peace that we choose to maintain, even when we find out that somebody has been saying mean things about us behind our back. So we choose to bind ourselves to them in peace rather than, you know, what would be the opposite of forming a bond with a person? The opposite would be that where you walk away from them and try to harm them, you know, either by maybe talking about them behind their back or, you know, taking some kind of action which will bring hurt to them or something. So we choose to maintain that bond of unity even when things go unpleasant. So this is the first point that he makes. He says, the same way I become a prisoner, so that I can live a life which is worthy. Are you people also willing to live lives which are worthy of this calling, this calling to this incredible inheritance? And how do you live a life worthy? It is by firstly, bearing with one another in love and maintaining that bond of peace, you know, which has been created by the Holy Spirit. A second thing that is mentioned, he says in verse five, you know, we have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. But when it comes to the grace which is given to us, it differs from person to person, which is what he says in verse seven. But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Now over here, we should not misunderstand this because we know this one single grace which is given to all when we are referring to the divine favor. One single divine favor has been given to all. In the same way, when we are talking about grace in the sense of the divine enabling and empowering, you know, where God says my divine enabling is sufficient for you to get through any circumstance. Yes, that divine enabling, that grace is also given an equal measure. I mean, how much ever you need of it, it is available to you in your situations, in your struggles, you know, so that also is a common grace. And then when we also talk about the other, the grace, okay, we talked about divine favor, we talked about divine enabling. What is the other one? Oh my, I don't remember it. If I can just quickly go back to that. Just on page one of my notes. Divine favor, divine enabling. Oh yeah, the other grace that we are supposed to grow into. That also obviously is one single grace. We all are supposed to grow into Christ likeness. We are supposed to grow into the character of God. But when it comes to this fourth grace, this grace is measured out differently to different people according to the will of Christ. So here it says it is Christ who apportioned that is what it says in your NIV. In the NKJV it says according to the measure of Christ's gift. So depending on the task which has been given to each believer, the grace which is required for that particular task would be given to that believer. So another believer would not receive that measure of grace because their task is maybe different. So what maybe we could use an example to better understand this because there's no partiality being done over here. It's just that our roles are different. What we need to fulfill the calling that God has given to us, we would need a different set of things. So based on that different graces are given. To use the example of Epaphras in Colossians chapter 4 verses 12 to 13. Epaphras is somebody who is mentioned actually in Ephesians. He's one of the persons that Paul goes and visits. I'm not sure he's mentioned in Ephesians or whether he was mentioned in Acts. So anyway Epaphras was an apostle. Colossians 4, 12 to 13, we get to know that this is a man who is amazing. It says in Colossians 4 verse 12, he's always wrestling in prayer for you. It's what it says. And then it says in the next verse, verse 13, he's working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and here are Paulists. So it looks like Epaphras ministry is in Colossae and in Laodicea and in a place called here are Paulists. Now I'm not sure whether his ministry extended to other regions or not. He's an apostle. You know he's basically he has planted these churches. He intercedes for them, wrestles for them in prayer, works hard on their behalf so that they will grow in God. He's doing all of this. Now compare him to another apostle, you know, Apostle Paul. Apostle Paul's ministry extended throughout the region of Asia Minor. Whereas Epaphras ministry is extending over one single portion of Asia Minor. So obviously the grace that would be given to Paul would be in greater measure because he requires it for the larger ministry, you know, that he is doing. On the other hand, the grace which would be given to Epaphras would be in a lesser measure simply because he is working in a smaller region with less demands, less requirements. So the grace of Christ is also extended according to maybe the kind of people that you have to minister to because some, you know, audiences are very tough to cater to. It's very difficult to minister among them. They are so resistant to the word of God. They're so hostile. So obviously a greater, you know, measure of grace would be required to minister among such people groups. On the other hand, if God has called me to minister among a group of people who are open and receptive, a lesser grace of measure would be required. So over here, you see it's nothing about status. It's not that God regards somebody as more important and so he gives them a greater amount of grace. No, it's got nothing to do with status. According to the requirements that we have, God gives what we need for the work that he has called us to. Now, of course, whether we have been given a greater measure or a lesser measure, it becomes our responsibility to grow completely into that grace which is given to us. So if my, you know, what God has called me to is maybe just to teach two subjects and not to do anything else, then I would need to grow into the full extent of teaching these two subjects to the very best of my ability. If I'm being lazy in the way that I'm using this grace which has been given to me, then shame on me. So whatever grace has been given to you, whether it is for a small ministry or whether it is for a large ministry, are you trying your very best to develop yourself and grow into that grace to the extent possible from your side? Are you spending time in prayer for those particular people that you are ministering to? Because that also would become part of grace. Because all these people who minister over here in the New Testament, they don't just simply teach and preach. They even pray for the people that they are ministering to. They in fact sit with them, interact with them, get involved in their lives. So ministry would involve all of that. So the grace which is given to us for our areas of ministry, it is not restricted to just sharing the gospel with them and then giving them a discipleship lesson. It goes beyond teaching and preaching. It involves praying for the people that who are entrusted to us. It would involve helping them in case they reach out to you for something. You've got to get involved in their life and help them. So it would involve all of that. So as long as we are being sincere in the grace that is given to us and we are developing ourselves so that we can make use of that grace to the best of our ability, then the Lord is pleased with what we are doing. Now in verses 8 to 10, Paul just kind of moves away from the main theme that he's discussing over here because he just wants to clarify one point. He wants to talk about how these gifts first of all came to us and so he makes this small comment on how the gifts came to the people in the first place. If you could just have someone read out these three verses for us, Ephesians chapter 4 verses 8 to 10 please. Before he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captain and gave gifts to men. Now he ascended, what does it mean? But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. Also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. Yes. The reason that we're kind of spending time on these verses is because of the wrong doctrine that some people teach based on these verses. They have a wrong understanding of these verses because it says over here that he descended into the lower parts of the earth. They have come up with this rather silly theory that because you know when Christ was hanging on the cross, all of our sins were placed on his shoulders. God's wrath and judgment was released upon him. God's righteous anger was full in full measure was released upon Jesus. So they say Jesus was punished, he was sent off to hell and so then once he was there in hell he literally had to fight his way out of hell and so in the process of fighting his way out of hell he took captives. That is a rather you know a wrong theory because we don't have any verses which back up that. We see Christ going into the lower regions. You know it's mentioned over here in this passage and it's also mentioned in another passage and in both of these passages we do not get any impression about him having been punished and placed over there. No. Let us look at 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 19 and 20. We kind of get an idea of why he goes into those lower regions. So one reason why he goes over there is mentioned in 1 Peter 3 19 to 20. The other aspect is mentioned over here in our passage itself. Let's look at 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 19 to 20 if someone could read out that for us please. 1 Peter 3 19 to 20. I find also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who formerly were disobedient when once the divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few that is eight souls were saved through water. Now the general belief is that when it talks about the imprisoned spirits over here in this verse it's probably referring to the demonic spirits you know not people not the humans who died during the Noah's flood but rather some of the evil spirits which were involved in all the events that were taking place in Noah's lifetime you know when the wickedness of people increased greatly. So some of those evil spirits which were involved in the rebellion at that time those particular spirits have been placed already in imprisonment. You know they're not roaming they have not been allowed to roam around freely here on the earth. Maybe they are they're extra while and they were more wicked than all the other spirits so maybe the Lord has already placed them in imprisonment so that's basically where they are right now. So here in 1 Peter 3 19 to 20 we are told that Jesus Christ after being made alive he goes to those spirits and he makes a proclamation. I think you know one of you has kind of unmuted if you could just check your laptop screen and yeah thanks, thanks a lot. So what was I saying? Yes it says that after Jesus was made alive he goes to these imprisoned spirits and he proclaims to them his victory. Okay so it's like he's making a declaration to them and saying see I have won the victory on behalf of the humans and now judgment is going to be declared against you. Now I do not know why it was necessary for him to go and do that. We are not given any details about that but that is one reason for which he goes over there to the lower regions to go to those imprisoned spirits specifically from Noah's time and declare to them and say that judgment is indeed going to come upon you one day. The other reason that he goes over there is what it talks about over here where it says you know in our Ephesian passage Ephesians chapter 4 verse 8 where it says he took many captives and gave gifts to his people. So this is the second reason why he goes into the lower regions. So now what do we know at all about these lower regions which are being talked about over here? The little bit of knowledge that we gain is basically from Luke chapter 16 verses 19 to 31 where you have the story of the rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. So over there in that passage we get to know that these lower regions is some the term the Greek term used for these lower regions is Hades. So in Hades you have two compartments and this rich man you know who did not place his trust in Yahweh and live according to Yahweh's principles. This man has ended up in the compartment which is reserved for those who are in rebellion to God. So it's a place of torment and pain that's the term that is used in Luke chapter 16. It's a place of torment and pain that is basically where you would have these spirits imprisoned in that place of torment and pain. So Jesus goes over there makes a proclamation of his victory of his resurrection and he declares that judgment will come upon them. The other compartment is basically what is referred to over here in this passages Abraham's bosom and in other places it's known as referred to as paradise. So in this other compartment you will basically have all the Old Testament people, people belonging from the Old Testament times maybe those who are in Israel, people from outside Israel all the people who chose to place their faith in Yahweh and not in the other gods of those times. They chose to place their trust in Yahweh and they chose to seek forgiveness for their sins using the method which he had prescribed you know at that time it was unable sacrifices they had to go and do a particular thing. So all those who had righteously chosen to follow that and live to honor God all of those people have been no waiting for thousands of years in this paradise compartment waiting for a day when Jesus will come to collect them and take them into heaven. So the second reason that he goes to these lower regions is to collect his people from there and why are they being called captives over there because all of them had become captives under the law. If you remember James you know in James we were taught even if you break one single law it is equal to having broken all of the law. So now you become a captive of sin. So all these people even though they had you know followed Yahweh they were imperfect people who had sinned but because of the faith which they had placed in Yahweh and because they had righteously followed the systems of purification which he had laid down in the mosaic law because they were people who had trusted in him God temporarily covered over their sins because the washing of the sins happens only after Christ's you know work of atonement is done. So up to that point their sins were covered over and these captives were placed in paradise which is also called as Abraham's bosom so including Abraham and all and Moses and Daniel and all these other Old Testament people and also people from other nations who had placed their faith in Yahweh. All these people were waiting captives eagerly waiting for the day when those you know when the covering would just be taken off because no covering would be needed anymore their sins would be just washed away totally by their turning sacrifice of Christ. So they were waiting for that and once Jesus did that he went down there he made his declaration of victory to the imprisoned spirits in the other compartment and he comes over here to the paradise compartment picks up his people and he says the work of redemption is done now you're free to come with me and he takes them you know he ascends on high with them and when he's ascending on high those who are on the earth the church the people who are still living on the earth he gives gifts to them because now they are going to be his hands and feet in future to continue the work which he began when he came to the earth as a human. So the work which Christ started off now the church is going to take up that so he imparts gifts to them and leaves this work of the kingdom in their hands and he goes so the point that Paul is making over here first he says keep the unity of the spirit by maintaining the bond of peace second there is another way that you need to you know live worthy of your calling that is make use of these grace gifts that are given to you use them to build each other up not to tear each other down because you know in case they start competing with each other and saying oh you have a better gift and I have a worse gift and I wish I had your gift and you have all of those jealousies and greed and lust that will not that is not living worthy of the calling to which you have been called so here he tells a different grace has been given to each and he goes on to say use these graces to build each other up you know that's the wording that is used where is my passage okay verse 12 okay he says to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ these gifts have been given to all of you to use to build each other up so that we can all together attain the fullness of Christ so that we can reach unity in the faith and have a full knowledge of the Son of God so we are supposed to use these giftings not to you know be jealous of one another but rather we have been given these giftings to build each other up so in the in this context he just very briefly mentioned some of the grace giftings in verse 11 he just refers to the five-fold ministers the apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers he does not refer to all the other you know grace giftings that are available that of course you guys being third-year students probably know all of this by heart you know if I were to shake you awake in the middle of the night and say sit up and tell me all the give me a list of the giftings I'm sure you'll just be able to tell now for those of you who have not done this three years of course and you know if you have just kind of joined in for this one particular course so I'll just very quickly talk about that the detailed explanation is available in the APC publication gifts of the Holy Spirit but basically as we know you know if you were to look at that book there are three kinds of gifts grace gifts which God has given to his church to the believers you have the common gifts and they are given out commonly in equal measure to every single believer those are your nine gifts which are mentioned in verse Corinthians 12 7 to 11 these are common gifts given to all the believers we are all supposed to enjoy them we're not supposed to store them in the shelf we are supposed to use them on a daily basis to build ourselves up to build others up you know to make use of these gifts those are the common gifts and then you have a role and function gifts that is mentioned in your Romans chapter 12 verses 6 to 8 so I I a believer I may be given I know the the the gifting of mercy where I'm able to show mercy and compassion to people I'm able to minister to them more deeply than others because I have this gifting of mercy and compassion and then you know my friend was sitting across the table maybe you know she's been given a gift of prophecy so she will use her gift of prophecy to prophesy over people to encourage them in the Lord and maybe even to give direction to them when it comes to certain things because the Lord is telling her to convey that message to someone and then she conveys it it gives them direction where to go in their life things like that so we all use different different giftings because these are giftings that have been given to us to perform a role and a function now I may be holding a full-time job and working somewhere my my friend may be holding a full-time job and working somewhere so we are not full-time ministry people but we all because we are believers every single believer is given certain specific roles and functions so no believer can say oh I have been appointed by God to just go and warm the chair on Sunday in the church no every single believer they have they are given the nine common gifts to use for their benefit and for the benefit of others but they also are specifically given role and function gifts so if you as a believer have never really done anything for the kingdom of God which I think is untrue because you know the Holy Spirit automatically starts helping us to start serving him and others no what I'm saying is become find out what are your role and function giftings and start using it to bless the church every single believer has at least one or one two three at least maybe three role and function giftings without fail so those are your role and function giftings the formal term that people use they are called membership gifts but basically it's your role and function and you all have a we all have a role and function and there are some gifts given to us specifically pertaining to those particular roles and functions the third one which is mentioned over here you know in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 that would be your full-time ministry gifts now this is something that God calls only some people to do they too may be engaged in some you know secular work to earn their livelihood like the way Paul Paul used to do tent making to support himself but the majority of his time majority of his 24 hours would be devoted to ministry work so the people in this category they may be holding secular jobs to support themselves but they are meant to devote most of their 24 hours to this particular ministry full-time calling that they have been given so that would be your apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers and one of the responsibilities that that is given to this category of people is that they should equip the other believers in doing the works of service because you see an apostle will have experience in how to plant churches so when he sees another ordinary member of the church who is you know exercising a role and functional gift of apostleship that person is not a full-time apostle but he has that gifting he has the ability to go and interact with a group of people and get a cell group going in a new area so now this apostle who is in full-time ministry he is in a position to you know equip and encourage and help this other believer to develop in his role and functional gift because this man has more experience he has been an apostle for many years he can teach that person you know how to get that cell group going and slowly that cell group if it grows enough it will become a many church you know so there are people who have role and functional gifts in the church that's just the particular giftings that God has given them but they may not be in full-time ministry so the ones who are in full-time ministry do it for a longer period of time they have more experience and so when an evangelist recognizes an ordinary believer who has that same gifting he walks up to him and he says brother can I help you learn how to improve yourself in your evangelistic gifting so these five-fold ministry people because they are spending most of their time doing this thing which they have been which has been given to them they have become specialists in their areas and they are in a position to equip other believers that they recognize holding the same gifting which they have the only difference is for that believer it's a role in functional gifting which they only do part-time but for this person it's a full-time thing and they have more experience and they can help the other person in developing that gifting so this is an additional responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the five-fold people not only do they do the calling that they have been called to when they recognize that same calling in other people they go to them and help them perform their role so that they also can contribute in works of service and it says here in verse 12 so that the body of Christ may be built up so if the five-fold people think that on their own they can do all of the ministry that's foolishness the world is too big there are too many human beings to be reached out to they need to start watching out for all the people who have the same gifting that they do and they need to go and tell them you know what there's a role in functional gifting on your life i can see that you're that you're good at this so can i help you develop in your gifting so that you can go and serve so the five-fold people equip the others in the area in which they are specializing okay so this is just some of the things and the reason that you know paul is talking about all of this over here he says why are we doing all this he says in verse 14 then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching you see if we don't make use of these gifts to build each other up to train each other up and to you know cause all of us to together move into the fullness of Christ if you don't do that we'll all stay immature infants and when you have immature infants in the church every new doctrine which comes along they go running after it because they have they don't they don't know they're ignorant and that is the stage at which people will stay if we don't consciously use our giftings and build each other up deliberately it's something that you would have to do know if we just simply say hi to people they don't get automatically built up so we would have to consciously get into cell groups be part of cell groups and there in that cell group small setup you know where we all know each other well we make a conscious effort to use our giftings to be a blessing to those people and build them all up and when you're done building them all up fully then you know you can maybe go and to other people and start building them up so you can you can you'll never run out of ministry work whether you're in full time or whether you're having a secular job we are required to do this so that they will no longer be any infants left in the church who are you know getting tossed about from this doctrine to that doctrine and creating confusion in the church and you know creating a lot of problems to avoid that he says please use your grace giftings he says and then he goes on to say in verses 15 um if we could have someone read out for us uh verses 15 to 19 yes please if someone could read out verses 15 to 19 please you know this is supposed to be a classroom setting even though uh you have chosen not to switch on your cameras uh this is a classroom so please if someone could read out for us Ephesians chapter 4 verses 15 to 19 but speaking the truth in love may go up in all things into him who is the head from whom the whole family joined and made together by what every joint supplies according to to the effective working by which every part does it it's here because this goat of the body for the edifying of itself in love this I say therefore and testify in the law that you should no longer walk as the rest of the gentiles walk in the futility of their mind having their understanding darkened being alienated from the life of god because of the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart who been uh past feelings have given themselves over over to lividness to work all uncleanness with quatiness yes so he says now because you people have understood your status and all the riches that have been given to you the grace giftings that are given to you please no longer live as the gentiles do he says in the futility of their thinking their thinking has become so futile they have lost their sensitivity now they are driven by just one thing their greed you know that they they were their lust for sensuality and know that they agreed for impurity that's what drives them so the entire 24 hours goes on sat trying to satisfy these needs but you on the other hand you are part of a body the body of christ so he says you should be busy doing something else which is what he talks about in verses 15 and 16 he says you see in the human body every supporting ligament it's supporting the other ligaments each is doing its part and because each organ is doing its part that entire body is able to grow so you should be busy busy with those things don't be like the gentiles anymore once upon a time you were exactly like the gentiles you were running after money just like all the gentiles you had no time for anything else and no it was your sensuality and your greed and your impurities which drove you day and night but now you have a purpose now you have been created for something else so now each of you should be doing your part to build up the body there should be no stagnation and so to be able to do that he says in verse 22 he says put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires you know so this old self even now you know the deceitful desires come and they attack it they attempt it and all of that so he says put off the old self and he says 23 verse 23 he says be made new in the attitude of your minds and verse 24 he says put on the new self created to be like god now over here it's not talking about the old self which was crucified on the cross that was crucified that's gone the funeral for that happened already so it's not talking about that old self we got to look at this in the context in which this passage is set so over here in verse 22 he says put off the old self immediately in verse 23 he clarifies and says in what sense am i saying talking about this i'm saying be made new in the attitude of your minds so over here the old self is not referring to that old you who was crucified and is dead and gone you are now the new creation which the holy spirit literally gave birth to that in that sense you were born again so it's not talking about that old self which died it's talking about your unrenewed mind which is still getting drawn by those deceitful desires because before salvation you know your mind completely yielded to those evil desires you only worship money you were only interested in in the the fleshly lusts we were like that and our mind is you know so used to that habituated to that if you keep it unrenewed it's still wanting to go in that same direction it's still wanting to pursue those those same things so now it's time for you to start putting off these old thought patterns and become and be made new in the attitude of your minds so god will make you new but you should be willing to cooperate with him in the process if you want to continue holding the thing you know watching the things which you used to watch before if you continue listening to the music that you used to listen to before if you continue running after your career 24-7 the way that you used to do before then you're not leaving any room you're not putting off the old those old thought patterns are continuing so the old thought patterns are continuing then how can Christ make you new in your in the attitude of your mind so you got to cooperate with him right so which is why he says over here it's time for you to stop living like those Gentiles put off the old and allow the Holy Spirit to make you new in the attitude of your minds and so he repeats that he says put on the new self created to be like god okay so yeah and having given them this advice now he goes into a step of points this is how you will be putting off the old and putting on the new these are all the things which you would some practical things which you would be doing in putting off the old and putting on the new and so over here is very specifically speaking to the audience to which he is writing so you know the Lord made place other things also additional things on our hearts because you know we may not have a problem with stealing so on the other hand they were having a problem with stealing because like I told they were a mixed crowd you had the rich well of people you also had the really poor people so you know in verse 28 it talks about you know don't steal anymore rather you know find a job and start working is the advice that he gives so coming to this practical things that he talks to them about first thing that he says is put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor for we are all members of one body when we are all members of one body it's very very wrong to deceive one another to cheat one another to take advantage of one another so you know especially I mean if we are running a business or something we need to be very fair in the way we run our business so that we're not cheating other fellow believers you know by charging extra or taking advantage of them in the same way if we are believers in the church and you know we have somebody in our church who is running a business we should not go to them and say give me a discount give me a discount it's unfair that poor man is trying to earn his livelihood you know by running that business just because you are a believer you know you can't go to him and unfairly say you know you please give me a discount because I'm a church member maybe he's not in a position to you know start giving discounts for everyone in the church so we concentrate you know do not deceive your fellow believers be truthful in the way you speak to them is what he says and then the next point that he's talking about is about anger where he says in your anger do not sin so there will be many times when you will get irritated there will be times when you will get angry and when that irritation and anger comes upon you be careful do not sin so he says do not let the sun go down while you are still angry as quickly as possible try to resolve that issue which made you irritated that issue which made you angry try to resolve it as quickly as possible so that it doesn't grow into bitterness or you know grudges because then the devil will have a hold so whenever you that I mean nobody you know plans on being angry right it's an emotion so it just happens to you you get irritated in a moment you get angry in a moment and when the emotion comes upon you be careful very careful not to sin rather you know you go to the Lord and the Lord will help you to deal with that issue you know whether the first step would obviously be forgiving the person the second step would be trying to act in compassion towards them you know doing something for them that will be a blessing so these are two immediate steps we know which can help in dealing with the anger and that irritation which has come upon you step one forgive the person second step you choose to act in compassion towards them so with that attitude then if you go to them and you know sit with them and talk to them about this whatever whatever difference you have between the two of you you would have gone to them with the right attitude and so it's it there's a chance that they'll be more responsive to what you have to say so step one will will definitely always be forgive the person don't go on holding on to the grudge and second try to act in compassion because when you when you do something your emotions fall in line with your action so try to act in compassion towards them by doing something nice for them or something and then once you have that attitude right it becomes easier for you to go and discuss that issue with that person and resolve it okay so then Satan will not get a foothold in your heart in your life so that's the second point which he touches upon the third thing that he talks about is the one about stealing thankfully you know I mean God has blessed all of us to an extent where we don't really have to feel the need to go into our neighbor's homes and steal from them but then in those days with some of the people were in a very poor condition it was easy for them to steal so rather than trying to find a job and and trusting God to give them the income they need it was easy to just go and steal so he says anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer but must work doing something useful with their hands and why so that they may have something to share with those in need so don't continue to be in a position of need allow God to give you a job you know if you pray and if you're willing to work hard the Lord will give you openings so be willing and then you will no longer be in a place of need and you can start helping others who are in need you know is what he teaches so in that way you're putting off the old thought patterns and now you're putting on the new attitude the new attitude is that you don't want to just be a person who's always stretching out your hand rather you'll get a job you will start earning and now you will be in a position to help those who are in need so that would be the new attitude which you are putting on and then the next point in verse 29 he says 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 so there will be many times where we would have to maybe give words of correction but how do we give those words of correction are we giving it just so that we can tell them what we think of them or are we telling those things to build them up so there's a wrong way of correcting and there's a right way of correcting if you correct a person in a way where they feel condemned and put down chances are they will not change their ways on the other hand if you correct them in a way where they feel encouraged to try out something new you know that would be more beneficial so when any when any talk comes out of our mouths let it be talk which builds up the other person rather than make them feel condemned or crushed and would make them want to move away from the church so we should be careful that we benefit our listeners so we put off old patterns of talking and we become we are made new in the attitude of our mind so that we talk with this careful idea that whatever I was coming out of my mouth it should be something done carefully because it may harm or crush someone and make them feel like oh christians are like this then where's the point let me go away you know so that should not happen with anyone and then verse 30 he says do not grieve the holy spirit of god because you see it's the holy spirit who has bound us together in unity so don't grieve him get rid of all bitterness rage anger sprawling and slander because all this anger and rage we are directing it towards fellow believers who are the body of christ so it's not that you're you know expressing this anger directing this anger towards some outsiders that also is bad but here especially when you're directing your anger and your rage and your bitterness and your hatred towards a fellow believer you're literally disrupting the body of the body itself it's like the hand slapping the face you're harming your the entire body by doing that so if you are the hand be a good hand and do not slap any of the other members of the body so in that sense you know he says get rid of all bitterness all rage because you know that would grieve the holy spirit who has united all of us so you know we've kind of reached the end of our time so let's quickly close with a word of prayer not there are so many things that you have placed before us today we pray a lot that even as we are walking with you you would remind us of these things so that we will be people who appreciate the glorious riches that have been given to us we will be eager to use these glorious riches to be built up in the inner man we will make the holy spirit our focus so that he can come and walk beside us and teach us and cause us to grow and become more and more christlike we pray a lot that you would help us in all of these things so that lord day by day we start putting off the old thought patterns and we start thinking the way christ would think we would start responding the way christ would respond oh lord do this work in us because we do want to see it we we we do long for it lord thank you lord in jesus name amen thank you so much thank you thank you