The Thirtieth Sermon, which is the Tenth upon the Fourth Chapter - Ephesians 4:23-26
in our affections and in our thoughts, as He rightfully deserves that we should be wholly given unto Him.
Now, let us fall down before the majesty of our good God, with acknowledgment of our faults, praying Him to make us feel them so deeply that it may make us truly sorry for them and lead us to walk straight in the path wherein He has set us. And that, to bring the same to pass, we may consider to what end our Lord Jesus is sent to us, so that the things He has done for us may not be lost and perish through our lewdness and carelessness, but that we, being renewed, may learn to serve our God in holiness and righteousness, showing how greatly we value the most noble and excellent redemption which He performed, in that He spared not His only Son for our sakes. And so let us all say, Almighty God, heavenly Father, etc.
The Thirtieth Sermon, which is the Tenth upon the Fourth Chapter 23. Be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24. And put ye on the new man which is created after God in righteousness and holiness of truth.
25. Wherefore put away lying, and speak truth every one to his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
26. Be ye angry, and sin not We have now to lay forth the second part of the well-ordering of our life set down here by Saint Paul, which is that we must walk in newness of life, because it behooves us to be reformed by God's
Spirit. And to the intent that we may know that our changing must not be in part only but in whole, Saint Paul takes here the thing that seems most excellent and most esteemed in man's nature: namely, knowledge, understanding, wit, reason, and all manner of ability of mind.
Then, if there be any wisdom in us, Saint Paul says, it must be corrected. And why? True, it is that our reason, of itself, is always commendable, but we are so corrupted by Adam's sin that we have not the skill to think so much as one good thought, which is not crooked and full of malice and rebellion against God (Romans 8:7).
And although this be not perceived openly, yet there will always be some secret hypocrisy lurking, which is enough—and too much—to condemn us before God.
You see then, that the thing we must enforce ourselves to, if we purpose to please God, is that, being rid of all our own conceits and affections, we get us a new guide—that is to say, God's Spirit.
According to this, he uses a like manner of sentence in the twelfth chapter to the Romans, in speaking of the Christian life: "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2).
It behooves us to be transformed, not only in our affections, which are sinful, as every man may judge, but even in the thing which seems faultless—that is, in the reason that we have spoken of. To be short, we must be sacrificed, or else our life will always be unholy and unclean. And this sacrificing is expounded by Saint Paul in the text before alleged, to be the laying away and mortifying of all that
we have of ourselves. Our true perfection, then, is that, fighting against all that is of our own nature, we suffer ourselves to be governed by God's Spirit so that it may be perceived that we are utterly changed.
For it is not enough that our life has some honesty to the worldward, so as it may be commended and had in good reputation among men; but also ambition and all other vices that lie lurking within us must be cleansed away, and our Lord must have the guiding of us.
And for that cause also, he adds that we must be reformed according to God, namely in true righteousness and holiness. Just as he has previously condemned the old man, which (as I have told you already) is all that we bring from our mother's womb, so now he says that we must be new creatures. For the same reason, he directs us to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ in the sixth chapter of Romans, saying that we must be crucified and die with Him, namely in respect of the old man, and also be fashioned like His rising again, to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4-6).
It is true that he uses other words there; however, it all comes to the same thing: that just as our Lord Jesus is the second Adam, so must
He be a pattern to us, and we must be fashioned after Him and His image, that we may be like Him. Now, surely this will not come to pass of our own nature. Yet, this exhortation is not more than needed, because when the Holy Scripture brings us to our Lord Jesus
Christ, it does not mean that we should be as blocks of wood, but that we should come and offer ourselves to God so that He may work in us.
Indeed, these two things agree very well: that the power which is in us should come from God, for it is He who moves us unto good, it is
He who brings us to it, it is He who gives us both the will and the
ability to perform His will, as we have seen in another text (Philippians 2:13). Yet, God works so in us that, by His gracious favor, the good works that are done are called ours. And, truly, when we are so led by Him, we go.
It is not to be wondered at that God's goodness stretches so far as to make the things ours which are His, and whereof He alone deserves the praise. For we call the bread that we eat our own, though we have it only by title of gift. Even though people labor for it, it could not benefit them without God's free blessing. Thus, whatever is given to us, we call it our own. In the same way, Saint Paul exhorts us to put on the new man—not that we can do it by ourselves, for Jesus Christ must clothe us with His righteousness and make us partakers of the gifts of His Holy Spirit.
And I ask you, what is meant by putting on the new man? I have told you already that it is the utter changing of us in our thoughts, our desires, and (to be brief) in all the parts of our soul. Now, is not such an alteration the special work of God and the gift of His Holy Spirit?
Saint Paul, therefore, does not mean that we can do anything by our own power, but yet that every one of us ought to strive to follow wherever He calls us. Moreover, he warns us that all our life is very dangerous until we change and that the newness appears in us.
Now Saint Paul says that the new man is created after God and His image. In this, he confirms the matter I am about to touch upon: that is to say, although we strive to the utmost that we can, we can do nothing unless we are first moved by God's grace. Which of us can be our own maker? We know that honor must be reserved for God alone. But here the case stands upon a new creation. Therefore, it cannot be in man's will, nor in his power.
Saint Paul also resolves that doubt and scruple by saying that the new man is created by God. As if he should say, "My friends, indeed you ought not to abuse the grace that is offered to you by the Gospel, but nevertheless, be assured that even when you have exerted yourselves to dedicate yourselves to God's service, you can do nothing further than what He works in you by His Holy Spirit."
Accordingly, he says in another place that we do work out our own salvation (Philippians 2:12), as though we could do something of ourselves. Yet, he adds that it must be in fear and trembling, meaning with the putting away of all presumption, knowing that we must depend upon another. He adds the reason: "For it is God who gives both the will and the ability to perform it, and all of His own free goodness" (Philippians 2:13).
In this manner, then, we must endeavor ourselves. Yet, we must not therefore conceive a vain overconfidence in the meantime, as though we had some resource and were able on our own side to do even the smallest thing without God's grace. Saint Paul exhorts us rather to fear and caution. And why? Because we are as weak as can be, and not only that, but also dead, as good as rotten carcasses in all cases of our salvation, and have not so much as one good thought of our own.
Seeing (I say) that we have all at God's hand (James 1:17), and that He must be the one to work it by the power of His Holy Spirit, let us learn to walk in humility.
Moreover, let us not cease to make His grace available, assuring ourselves that His working by His power will always be in such a way that the praise must ever redound to Him alone, and no drop of it remains over for ourselves. You see then what we have to remember upon this speech, where Saint Paul says that the new man is created.
Indeed, in this, he shows how we have fallen from our original state and from the place to which we were advanced by God's grace in the
person of our forefather Adam. As if he said, "Adam's fall is to us a spiritual death, whereby we are cut off and cast away from the number of God's creatures."
And not without cause does God so often utter this dreadful saying, "It repented the Lord that He had made man" (Genesis 6:6). For therein, He detests the corruption and sin that are in us. Not that God has any human passions in Him, but to show us that He utterly dislikes us until His image is renewed in us. It is said, "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). But when our father Adam once fell and made himself a stranger to the fountain of life, he was immediately stripped stark naked of all goodness. For being separated from God, what could he be but utterly lost and past hope of recovery?
Shall we find either life, righteousness, holiness, soundness, or uprightness outside of God? No. You see then that Adam was, as it were, cut off from the array of creatures; he was not worthy to be reckoned even among the frogs and other vermin of the earth. Brag as much as we like, that is our nature: we bear a greater curse of God than is on all the lice, fleas, and worms of the earth. That is the reason why Saint Paul shows us that God cannot acknowledge us for His children until His image is restored in us, which is done by this new creation.
For just as Adam drew us all down and plunged us with himself into the gulf of death, so are we created anew by God in the person of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And for that reason, He calls Himself the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25). For we must rise again in Him if we want to live indeed. Which thing cannot be, except we have first been dead, as was declared more fully this morning.
Therefore, we ought always to remember this reason: that we do not presume ourselves to be righteous or to make our lives acceptable before God, but instead, be fully resolved and persuaded that God will take nothing from us in good worth except that which He knows to be His own. For, as I said, without Him, there is nothing but evil.
By that means, His image was defaced in us by Adam's sin, and therefore it stands us in hand to be made new again in Jesus Christ.
Now he shows us how that may be done, saying, "in righteousness and holiness." By the word "righteousness," he means soundness and uprightness, so that we live with our neighbors without deceit, without malice, and without doing harm, yielding to every man what is his. When such soundness reigns in us, we will show by our deeds that we are fashioned again after God's image in righteousness.
But it is not enough that men have their rights unless God also has His. For what purpose is it to not be thieves towards men and yet to be traitorous towards God? Or to abstain from stealing away our neighbor's goods while, at the same time, robbing God of His honor?
Therefore, righteousness must be matched with holiness, for the two tables of the law are inseparable. Under the word "holiness," Saint
Paul comprehends all things that belong to the service of God.
The newness of our life, therefore, is this: to walk purely before God, to eschew all corruption and uncleanness, to separate ourselves from all the defilements of the world, and to offer ourselves in sacrifice to God; and, on the other side, to walk soundly and uprightly with our neighbors. The performance of these two things is all that is required for the perfection of a Christian life.
Now, it is certain that God's law has not taught us halfway what we have to do; God has there shown us a right rule to which nothing may be added or taken away. For in those two points is all our
righteousness contained: namely, that God be honored with all fear and reverence on our part, and that we serve one another without doing harm.
Again, forasmuch as men are pitiably inclined to feigning, and always think it enough to set some fair countenance upon the matter, therefore does Saint Paul add "truth." As if he said that we may be taken for the holiest people in the world and yet nevertheless be condemned before God if we are not cleansed from all hypocrisy so that God may be our witness and judge that we are not doubleminded or have any duplicity within us, but go on in straightforward simplicity before Him.
So then, although our hands are clear from theft, extortion, and all other things that are against charity, if we have lusts lurking within us, we will still be unclean before God. Not without cause, therefore, does Saint Paul add the word "truth," even though he had already comprehended the whole perfection of our life in the two former points. It is because we would always try to content God with some outward show, according to the vanity and lies with which we are filled.
Therefore, it was necessary to add this: that just as God is a spirit, we also must be faithful and true before Him. For He abhors all doubleness of heart, which the Scripture terms "heart and heart." If we fall into making partitions and keep some hidden chamber behind, everything that comes from us must be filthy and corrupt, as it springs from an evil and infected fountain. Then, if we desire to have our hearts approved by God, the fountain must first be cleansed, and truth must reign in us.
Now we see, in effect, where we ought to apply all our endeavor as long as we live here below. To boast of being Christians and not to
consider on what condition Jesus Christ is our head and has knit us unto Him is to turn all things upside down, as was said this morning.
Therefore, whatever manner we desire to be counted and esteemed among men, the same must we be before God and His angels.
Therefore, we must fight against our own vices until all that is of our own nature is done away with. Not that this can be done in one day, but we must continually move toward it more and more. Further, let us assure ourselves that our Lord Jesus Christ is given to us as a pattern and example, and moreover, it is His office to reform us by the Spirit of God His Father, so that we may walk in newness of life and become God's creatures, and so that all that we have drawn from the corruption of Adam's sin may be completely cleansed away.
Along with this, let us also consider the essence of the things that God allows and which is the rule of good life: namely, first to honor and serve God, and afterward to walk neighborly with one another, endeavoring to do good to those who have need of us and abstaining from doing all manner of evil and harm. This doctrine would be easy enough to understand if we were not utterly perverted by our wicked affections. Indeed, there is not a man who is not a great preacher when it comes to teaching others; but yet, as clear and plainly known as these things are, no man can apply them to his own use. Yet, there will be no excuse for us when we must come to account before the great Judge. Wherefore, let us bear this doctrine well in mind and take good heed to it, seeing that it is so poorly practiced throughout the whole world.
Among the Papists, there is plenty of talk about God's service and living holily, but yet the world sees how those wretched souls stand buzzing about a heap of petty trifles, and for all their over-laboring of themselves, they are never the further forward but rather the further
off from God. And what is the cause of it? Even this: that every man, in his own mind, devises a rule to his own liking; and in the meantime, God, speaking familiarly and without any darkness, is not heard at all, but men give themselves to things that cannot avail them. As for us, although we have the light of the Gospel and can say that the superstitions of Papistry are but trifles, yet we are nevertheless far off from this doctrine.
And if a man were to sift our lives, where is this true holiness? Where is this righteousness? For as for the Gospel, most men take what they like of it and tread God's truth under their feet as often as they please. In short, you will find that those who most brag of their reformation nowadays are unholy and unclean people, yea, and (for the most part) even dogs that bark against God, despise His truth, and rail at His Word unless they let it slip because they think it neither here nor there. That is the holiness of a number who would be counted today as great Christians and pillars of the Church, insomuch that they would make themselves greater than God if they could; yea, and although they are but worms and worm's meat, they do not cease to blaspheme so far as to cast forth their thunderbolts and madness, saying that men shall speak as they will have them, or else they will conquer God for it.
And as for the said righteousness, where shall a man find it?
Everyone says there is nothing but deceit, nothing but craft, nothing but forswearing, extortion, outrage, and violence. Everyone complains of his neighbors, and his neighbors complain of him.
However the case stands, we see that righteousness is as good as banished out of the world. Therefore, inasmuch as the name of Jesus
Christ and of His Gospel is so shamefully unhallowed by those who falsely abuse it, we have so much more need to remember what Saint
Paul says here: namely, that God will disclaim us until we bear His
mark and are created anew in Jesus Christ. How? By being truthful.
Or (as I have said already), though we were esteemed as angels, yet our hypocrisy will always be loathsome before God if we are not cleansed of it and endeavor with a true and right-meaning affection to employ ourselves in the service of God and in helping our neighbors.
Now, hereupon, he divides this doctrine into several points, applying it to specific exhortations. For first, he says that every man must leave lying and speak the truth to his neighbors, because we are all members of one body. Not without cause does Saint Paul here lay forth things particularly, which he had previously spoken of generally. For we would always shift our hands from the doctrine, that it might vanish away in the air and not come near us.
Not that God's speaking to us in general might not suffice, if we were teachable as we ought to be, to receive instruction at His hand; but because we are so entangled in our vanities, if God says generally that we must be reformed according to His image, and utterly renounce ourselves, it does not touch us at all, but we let it pass.
Therefore, He is compelled to decipher it in detail, as if He should make an anatomy of our thoughts and affections, and bring to light the vices we would gladly hoard up in secrecy.
That is the thing which Saint Paul goes about now. He had said that it behooves us to be reformed after the image of God by our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the new man, and the head to whom we must be fashioned. Now, if he had gone no further than this, that doctrine would have been received without opposition, but in the meantime, no man would have been bettered by it as by a lively instruction.
But now, he speaks of whoredom, theft, deceitfulness, drunkenness, hatred, resentment, and the subtle conflicts that arise between
neighbor and neighbor. When things are thus laid forth in particulars, men are more awakened; and although every man shrinks back and invents excuses and devises shifts, whether we like it or not, we must needs feel some pricks of conscience within us.
That is the order which Saint Paul keeps here.
Therefore, let us make it clear that it is not enough for us to have been taught our duty in one word, and as it were, at a glance; but God has need to warn us and show us plainly both the vices to which we are subject and inclined by our own nature and also the vices to which the devil draws us by his temptations and wiles. In short, God must be compelled to guide our hands, our feet, our eyes, our ears, and our mouths. He must make us see that we may overreach ourselves in this way and that way, to the end that we may be wellarmed on all sides, so that the devil does not find any gap open or be able to breach us.
This is what we have to bear in mind, to the intent that we do not take ourselves to be so able as to think that hearing a matter once is enough for us. For we shall wonder to see how the devil will nevertheless overreach us in many ways. Therefore, let us be well aware that we give good heed to all the warnings given to us because it is not more than what is needed.
And forasmuch as Saint Paul had spoken of truth, he says, "Put away lying, and speak every man the truth." He sets the word "truth" in a different sense here than he did before. For in calling holiness and righteousness truthful, he meant that there ought to be no glossing over or disguising, but rather a right-meaning simplicity, so that when God looks as a witness into our hearts, He may find no doubledealing in us. That was how the word "truth" was taken before.
Now, he speaks of the truth that ought to reign among us when we trade or bargain with one another. Then, we must be faithful and trustworthy in all our business and dealings, and we must use no wiles or deceit. Yet, that is not enough; we must note that this truth, of which Saint Paul speaks, is such a plain dealing that we lay open all that is in our hearts, if need requires, and by no means should we attempt to gain other men's goods by subtlety and craftiness, nor profit ourselves by another man's loss.
On the contrary, under the word "lying," he comprehends not only the lies that are made in speech, such as when a man says that white is black — for example, if one should ask a man the price of a thing, and he would sell for a crown that which is not worth a shilling. Saint
Paul does not speak of the lies that are so gross and far out of proportion that even little children can condemn them. Rather, by the name of "lying," he means all manner of counterfeiting and conning, and, to be brief, all the policies and shifts that men employ and in which they glory.
What the world calls wisdom or policy, Saint Paul calls outright lying. And why? Because a man is not considered to be witty nowadays unless he can filch and deceive, I mean, by byways and covert conveyances, which men shall not perceive. But this behavior is worse than picking a chest lock, breaking apart the ironwork to get at the money, or even murdering a man when a thief comes with a naked sword to cut a poor traveler's throat.
Therefore, these crafty murderers, who insist on being counted as honest men, may disguise themselves as much as they wish by their hypocrisy; yet they are called here both deceivers and thieves and murderers. Not that they appear so before men, but God, who sees
deeper than we do, will judge their doings as they truly are. And what shall men gain by excusing themselves? Nothing.
Then, if we mark this matter well, we shall see that, in speaking of lies, Saint Paul condemns the things that men make most of, such as subtlety, cleverness, and the skill to behave oneself in all company.
For, as the world says, a man must "hold with the hare and hunt with the hound"; he must beware that he is not overreached and must always prevent being prevented.
The fashion of the world, then, is that every man stands so much on his guard as to have his nets ready to entrap other men and to entangle them a hundred times before they are aware of it. But Saint
Paul says we must use such soundness and plain dealing that we must speak truth to one another. And he brings us back to what he had spoken of earlier, to another purpose: namely, that we are all but one body.
Now then, let us come to our own members. If one of my hands were to play tricks and convey all things to itself to the harm of the other, or if my foot were to conspire against my leg, or if my belly could work some sly trick against my stomach, what a thing would that be?
Now then, if we are members of our Lord Jesus Christ, is it not a separating of ourselves from His body when we use such fine shifts and sly tricks, even if they are not condemnable before men? No doubt we will protest with our mouths that we are Christians, but whatever we pretend, Jesus Christ will not be misfashioned after our fancy.
Just as He is one, so He wills that we should all be one in His body, with this condition: that each of us serves our neighbors. This cannot be done unless all counterfeiting is first put away, just as we see that the hand simply yields itself to the service of the rest of the body, and
likewise the foot and every other member do their duty. If any one part is in danger, the rest do not withdraw but all employ themselves to help it. Among them, there is no attempt at deceit, but all cling together according to the order of nature.
In the same way, we ought to prove ourselves to be the members of Jesus Christ by such plain dealing. Saint Paul then applies this particular exhortation to what he had spoken of generally: namely, that if we are cleansed from all hypocrisy and deceit before God, we will show it in our whole life. For when we deal with one another, we will use no guile but walk plainly. That is one point.
From this springs another point: that we must not provoke or anger one another. For we see that if someone so much as moves us a little, we immediately become angry, and our passions are so excessive that there is neither reason nor measure with us. And when people are so carried away, they forget themselves to such an extent that nothing can weigh with them, no matter what persuasion is used. Therefore,
Saint Paul says that if we are not at peace with one another, we cannot be united into the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and, besides that, as much as lies within us, we deface God's image in us by giving such headway to our passions and becoming so heated against one another.
It would seem likely that he meant to take this common saying from the fourth Psalm. Not that he quotes the Psalm to convey its natural sense, but rather to apply it to his own purpose. For we may well take many texts of Scripture and apply them to various things, albeit without altering their meaning, while still maintaining their natural sense. In the same way, to make his saying better received, Saint
Paul says, "Be angry, and sin not," as if it had been a common saying, almost taken for a proverb.
Now, David uses a word that properly means to "chafe" or "storm."
This was in rebuking those who wrongfully persecuted him because they were hardened in their malice and possessed by such great and venomous rage against him that they made no conscience of oppressing him. Therefore, seeing such willful stubbornness in his enemies, he says to them, "Be angry, and you shall not sin." This means he advises them that the reason they were so carried away with rage against him was that there was neither fear of God nor honesty nor conscience left to hold them back, but that they had become like wild beasts.
That is why he says, "Be angry," meaning, enter a little into questioning and reasoning with yourselves; examine what you are doing, and then you will not sin anymore. If each of you will go into his chamber and think carefully, you shall perceive that, until now, you have been driven by a diabolical rage. Now, this doctrine is necessary for all men because we see the headiness in us, so much so that no sooner do we conceive any notion in our heads than we immediately, without inquiring into God's will or asking for counsel from His mouth, as the Prophet Isaiah exhorts us to do (Isaiah 30:1), take what we have conceived for good and try to subdue everyone to our liking.
Therefore, the reason we overshoot ourselves so much is that we do not enter into the examination of the matter with ourselves to discern between good and evil by giving God His due authority and listening with all reverence and modesty to the things He shows us through His Word. We need to be angry, that is to say, to be grieved with ourselves, to complain about ourselves, and to stop soothing ourselves as we have been wont to do. If we do this, we shall not sin; that is, the great impudence that is so deeply rooted in us will soon be abated, for we shall abhor fighting against God. If our affections
get ahead of us, God will set His foot against them and say, "How now? Will you make war against me unaware?"
Now, hereupon Saint Paul says, "Be ye angry, and sin not." As if he were to say, "My friends, what makes you storm so against one another? For if even a small fault is committed against you, you are immediately in a rage and would rend up heaven and earth to be avenged for the offense, yet in the meantime, you have enough reason to be offended with yourselves. Do not seek to find reasons for anger outside yourselves, for how many ways do you offend God every day? You cease not to provoke Him early and late. Yet, if someone but touches the tip of your finger, you are by and by in a pelting rage. And what is the cause of this but that, as it seems, you have conspired with Satan to torment yourselves so? You persuade yourselves that you shall be well at peace when you have avenged the wrong done to you. But it is a cursed peace when men rest by being avenged on those who have offended them.
The way, then, to assuage all these wicked heats is for every man to think within himself that he surely has enough reason to be grieved with himself, to be angry with himself, and to be avenged on himself.
According to this, Saint Paul, in the second letter to the Corinthians, declares what true repentance is, stating that the sorrow we conceive upon recognizing our sins brings with it a grief that does not allow us to be at peace or rest but makes us chafe against ourselves, considering the terribleness of God's wrath that we have provoked against us, while not ceasing to remain of good hope, resting upon God's goodness and mercy.
Therefore, if one comes to the point that they can be angry with themselves when they know they have sinned and do not seek revenge on their enemies but are instead ready to do good to them
and pray for them, that is a good exercise, and every man ought to spend himself in that battle. For surely, these are good and holy passions when a man's anger proceeds from a zeal toward God and a love that he bears toward Him. And if we do this, that is to say, if each of us is grieved at his own vices, certainly, we shall never find leisure to be at enmity with others or to spite our neighbors. If we have a true zeal for God's honor, undoubtedly, we will forget the offenses committed against us and will not be so hasty as to say, "I will maintain my honor or honesty." For we shall have a greater and worthier motive to hold us back: the avenging of the fault that we ourselves have committed against God and whereby we have dishonored Him as much as in us lay, and the forgetting of the offense committed against ourselves.
Thus, you see, in effect, what we have to consider regarding this, where Saint Paul shows us that men must turn their eyes away from the occasions they may conceive to avenge themselves against others.
For if a fly but crosses our eyes, we are immediately in spiteful anger, so much so that there needs no more to make us fall out with everyone who does anything that displeases us. So, let us learn to forsake ourselves and think of our own faults so that we may be so displeased with them that it may rid us of our choler, through which we fight against God, and make us angry at the great number of vices to which we are too much given.
That is the thing we have to remember in the first place. As for the second point, we will delay it until next Sunday, at which time it shall, by God's leave, be discoursed at length.
Now let us fall down before the majesty of our good God, with acknowledgment of our sins, praying Him to make us perceive them more and more, and to enlighten us so by the doctrine of the Gospel,