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Reformation in Life

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 13, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 19.

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Reformation in Life

Chapter 4, Verses 25-32, A.R.V.

Questioning the Text

1. In view of the new creation wrought in us through Christ, what ought we to do?
“Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.” Verse 25. Note 1.
2. What injunction is given regarding anger and wrath?
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Verse 26. Note 2.
3. To whom should no place be given?
“Neither give place to the devil.” Verse 27. Note 3.
4. What admonition is given to the former transgressor of God’s law?
“Let him that stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.” Verse 28. Note 4.
5. What is said regarding conversation?
“Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.” Verse 29. Note 5.
6. How ought we to regard the Holy Spirit?
“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom we were sealed unto the day of redemption.” Verse 30. Note 6.
7. What disposition ought we to put away?
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice.” Verse 31. Note 7.
8. What disposition should we cherish?
“And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.” Verse 32. Note 8.

Notes and Comment

1. “Putting away.”—Surely the apostle’s exhortation is pertinent, that when God has accepted the sinner,—nay, has purchased him with the precious blood of Jesus,—there should be a putting away of everything that is contrary to Him. And right at the very base of this putting away lies falsehood. Put the falsehood away. “Speak ye truth each one with his neighbor.” The heart that loves truth, that lives truth, that speaks truth, will invariably find the God of truth. It is easier to reform a thief or a drunkard or a gambler than it is an inveterate liar. Sometimes, of course, the element of falsehood lies at the base of all these other crimes. There are those who tell falsehood and persist in it, thinking that it does no harm,until they scarcely know that they are telling lies. They do not know what truth is. If there is one thing that a person who longs to form character for eternity ought to cherish, that thing is truth. It is not always pleasant to tell the truth; sometimes it means humility of heart to us, sometimes it means unpleasant duty toward others. It always ought to be preceded by earnest prayer that truth may be told in a way to bring results for God, and not stir up the wicked passions of the heart. There are those who feel that they ought to tell unpleasant truth to others sometimes as a duty, but they put it off and put it off, until they get desperate over it, and then make the matter a great deal worse by the way in which they tell it. There is a way in which, after coming out of the audience-chamber of God, with the heart melted and tender, the truth can be told so as to win. Cherish this way of doing, first of all putting away falsehood from your own heart, and then speaking the truth in the Master’s way. One thing which will help us to do this in His way is to remember the apostle’s reason, “For we are members one of another.” We would not wish our brain to lie to our hand, or to our eye, or to any other member of our body. Let us cherish that thought. It will help us in our dealings with others.
2. “Be ye angry.”—The expression is a quotation from Ps. 4:4, not from the Hebrew version, but from the Septuagint. The Septuagint reads: “Be ye angry, and sin not;” but the latter part of the verse is not at all like our Common Version: “Feel compunction upon your beds for what ye say in your hearts.” Our Common Version is, “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.” The apostle quotes only the first part. There is an anger against sin which it is well for the Christian to cherish. And that anger against sin may be cherished in a proper way without sinning more.
In 2 Cor. 7:11 the apostle tells us what true repentance wrought in the heart of the penitent Corinthians,—“what earnest care it wrought in you, yea what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation,”—not against individuals, but against sin and the disposition to sin. We may see many deeds of injustice done which arouse our indignation because of the unrighteousness of them, but let not our anger be that which will lead us to sin, or do that which is wrong. Let it be against the deed, with pity for the doer. There may be times when our wrath is stirred because of overflowing wickedness on every side, but let not the sun go down upon it. In other words, put away these things just as soon as possible. The Greek is “provocation” instead of “wrath.” The devil will do all in his power to provoke God’s children; but before the day closes, let us settle it with God, and leave it with Him. There is nothing that will undermine health and take away all peace of heart like cherishing a hard spirit, a revengeful spirit, a wrathful spirit, toward others; and there is no other way of truly getting rid of it but in putting it away for the Master’s sake, and leaving all with Him.
3. “Neither give place to the devil.”—In other words, let there be no place in your heart for him. God has cast him out. He has, through the grace of Christ, cleansed the temple. We remember the parable of the gospels, of the demon that was cast out, and the house swept and garnished, but nothing was put in the house, and so the demon comes back and brings with him seven others worse than himself. The only means of keeping the devil out of the heart is to let Christ dwell there; as we read in the third chapter, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” If we desire Christ to dwell there, and in a general way be better than we have been before, but specifically yield to little sins and the things that our natural hearts long for, every one of them that is admitted and cherished gives place to the devil. Every hard feeling which we indulge gives place to the devil. Jesus could truly say that “the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in Me.” God and His holy will filled the heart of Jesus. If we would possess His character, free from the power of the enemy, we must let Christ in the heart, that He may fill it. James has told us, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Give him no place.
4. “Steal no more.”—It was a common thing among some of the heathen nations to make stealing a virtue. Children were taught to steal. The greater wrong seemed to be in being found out, or getting caught at the stealing. Thus they could better prey upon their enemies, for there was constant war among such. Slaves practised stealing because they felt that injustice was done them continually, and in such way they would get even with their masters. Then, too, stealing stands here as an example of the transgression of every one of God’s commandments; and the apostle would have Christians understand that whatever they had been doing in the past, before they knew Christ, they must put all these away now. “Let him that stole steal no more.” Let him that used profane language use it no more. Let him that committed adultery do it no more. Let him that worshiped idols refrain from that. And so with every other precept of God. There is a better way to do, and that is to fill heart and mind and hands with the things that are good. Let the thief labor, “working with his hands the thing that is good.” Need lies all around him. Let him give to that need of that which he himself has earned.
5. “No corrupt speech.”—It is an age of corruptness. One hardly knows how common corrupt speech is among some classes. It is common among men where men are together, and we have been told that in some cases it is not uncommon among women when women are together alone. And one of the sad things is that it gets to be more or less common even in mixed companies and neighborhoods. Sometimes it is indicated by sly and artful suggestions and insinuations, rather than in open speech, and is even more potent for evil than some things grossly corrupt. Let Christians avoid all these things. The speech of men together ought to be as clean and pure as tho they were with women. It adds naught to dignity, or strength, or power, or manliness, to indulge in anything save that which is good for edifying, or building up.
6. “Grieve not the Holy Spirit.”—Very mighty and powerful is the Spirit of God. By that agency was the earth created and the heavens garnished with beauty. The character of Jesus our Lord was formed and kept by the eternal Spirit, and by the same is the soul regenerated. Very sensitive is that Spirit. It is because of this that it is able to mold such a difficult thing as a holy character. Do not grieve it. Mere unconscious roughness will not do that; pain or sickness will not grieve the Spirit of God. Trouble or calamity or misfortune will not do it. But sin will. Sin cherished and sin followed in any form will drive away the mighty Sealer, the one thing which the Christian needs above all things else, because in the Holy Spirit is all the fulness of the Christian’s needs. We grieve the Spirit of God sometimes by the things we do not do, by the neglect of reading His voice in the Word, by failing to speak to other souls on the subject which is of more importance than anything else,—their own salvation,—by failing to rebuke wrong when duty demands it, by suffering sin upon a brother. In very many ways may the Spirit be grieved. Grieve it not.
7. “Put away.”—The apostle again recurs to the putting away. He takes in the things that are very common indeed among men, things that are not considered very sinful. They are social sins and conventions. Put them away. Put the bitterness away. Cherish none in the heart toward any one, even tho they have wronged us. Put the wrath away, and the anger. Do not clamor for rights or privileges. Do not rail against this one or that one, against the good, or the seeming good. Let all these, and all malice, be put away forever. As the apostle expresses it elsewhere, “In malice be ye children, but in understanding be ye men.” Children do not cherish malice or ill feelings. Hard feelings go from them like a swiftly passing cloud. Let the Christian cherish the same disposition as regards evil feelings.
8. “And be ye.”—First of all, “Be ye kind one to another.” There are so many rough things in this world, so many hard ways, so many cruel things.
“So many paths that wind, and wind, While just the art of being kind Is all the sad world needs.”
It is marvelous, the power of kindness. It is discouraging, of course, when kindness has been shown again and again, and there seems to be no response. Nevertheless it pays to be kind,—pays the individual who exercises it, whether any one else will accept the benefits or not. It develops the character of the Master. Says the psalmist to the Lord whom he worships, “Thy gentleness hath made me great.” It is hard, under some circumstances, to be kind and tender-hearted and forgiving, especially when abuse and injustice and blame have been heaped upon us by those against whom we have wrought nothing of evil. But we are not to look to this; we are to look to the One who has had mercy and compassion upon us when we for years perhaps sinned against Him. And so, whatever others may do toward us, we are to forgive,—whether they ask us or not, we are to forgive. “When ye stand praying,” says the Saviour, “forgive, if ye have aught against any.” And the apostle presses it home, “forgiving each other, . . . even as the Lord forgave you.” This is the teaching of the Lord’s prayer,—“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us.”