Thursday, July 22
Read Ephesians 6
Think About It:
Paul starts this chapter talking about obedience. Obedience is right, obedience is commanded, and obedience brings blessing. The child must learn to obey father and mother, not only because they are his parents, but also because God had commanded it to be so. Disobedience to parents is rebellion against God. The sad situation in homes today is the result of rejecting God’s Word. By nature a child is selfish, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, a child can learn to obey his parents and glorify God.
Paul instructs fathers to not provoke their children or discourage them. The text reads, “But nurture them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.” The verb translated, “bring them up” is the same word that is translated “nourisheth”. The Christian husband is to nourish his wife and his children by sharing love and encouragement in the Lord. He must nourish them emotionally and spiritually.
The word “servants” undoubtedly refers to Christian slaves, but we may certainly apply these words to the Christian employee today. In our daily jobs, we are really serving Christ. The fact that employee or his employer are both Christians is no excuse for either one to do less work. Rather, it is good reason to be more faithful to each other. The employee is to show proper respect for their employer, and not take advantage of him. We are to devote full attention and energy to the job at hand. The best way to be a witness on the job is to do a good day’s work.
As Christians we face three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil. “The world” refers to the system around us that is opposed to God, caters to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” “Society apart from God” is a simple but accurate definition of “the world.” “The flesh” is the old nature that we inherited from Adam, a nature that is opposed to God and can do nothing spiritual to please God. By His death and resurrection, Christ overcame the world, the flesh, and the Devil. In other words, as believers we do not fight for victory –we fight from victory! The spirit of God enables us, by faith, to appropriate Christ’s victory for ourselves. Paul discussed four topics so his readers, by understanding and applying these truths, might walk in victory.
Sooner or later every believer discovers that the Christian life is a battleground, not a playground, and that he faces an enemy who is much stronger than he is –apart from the Lord. Paul used the military to illustrate the believer’s conflict with Satan. He himself was chained to a roman soldier, and his readers were certainly familiar with soldiers and the equipment they used.
First though, Paul tells us who we are fighting. He likened them to a rank of army commanders and soldiers, down to the pawns. This illustration will help visualize this.
The Armor will allow us to stand against the attack of the enemy. Paul shows us that the weapons in our arsenal are both offensive and defensive. They are the Weapons of our Warfare.
DEFENSIVE WEAPONS:
The Girdle (or Belt) of Truth (verse 14). In Paul’s day both men and women normally wore long, loose garments that came down at least to their knees. Before undertaking any strenuous activity, the first thing they had to do was to gather up their loose garments and tuck them into their girdle. Only after this were they free to undertake any vigorous action. Hence the phrase that occurs several times: Gird up your loins.
Using the girdle of truth requires that we renounce every form of dishonesty or compromise. If we do not “tuck them up” out of our way, they will hamper our spiritual progress. We must be faithful to the truth of Scripture even when it is controversial or unpopular.
We must also be completely open and sincere in all our personal relationships. This is essential condition of proper spiritual growth. Writing to new Christians Peter says: “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”
Above all, we must be absolutely open and honest in our dealings with God Himself. This is a condition for receiving spiritual revelation. In Psalm 51:6 David says: Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. God reveals His hidden wisdom only to those who have truth in their inward parts.
The Breastplate of Righteousness (verse 14). This protects our heart. In Proverbs 4:23 we are warned: Keep [guard] your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Our success in the spiritual life depends on maintaining a right heart relationship with both God and man. We must follow the example of Paul and “always strive to have a conscience without offence toward God and men.” The kind of righteousness God looks for is not mere intellectual assent to doctrine. It is a condition of the heart, not the mind. “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness…” Neither is it the observance of religious rules. Paul had been occupied with those for many years, but when he met Christ, his ambition changed: “…that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
The Shoes of the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace (verse 15): Roman legions were equipped with very strong sandals. These made them highly mobile. They could make long forced marches at short notice. As Christians, we need to be mobile – available to God for His purposes wherever and whenever He calls upon us – even at short notice or in unexpected circumstances. This requires preparation. We must familiarize ourselves with the basic truths of the Gospel and how to present them to an unbeliever. Spend time memorizing it.
Also, it is a gospel of peace. We can only communicate it effectively if we have real peace in our own hearts – a peace that is not dependent on our external circumstances. To a troubled, perplexed sinner the tone of our voice may communicate our message more effectively than the actual words that we speak.
I love the saying:
No peace, no Christ. Know peace, know Christ. Get to KNOW Christ by His Word.
The Shield of Faith (verse 16): The word here translated shield is connected with the word for a door. Its length was greater than its width. A trained soldier could so crouch down and draw his body in that he was completely protected. But he had to be fit and athletic. Our shield of faith must likewise be complete in all its dimensions.
It must cover our total personality – spirit, soul, and body. We must also be so spiritually training and exercised that we can draw ourselves together within an area that is completely covered by the promises of Scripture. Anything in our lives that is self-indulgent will be outside the protection of our shield.
At times the arrows Satan uses against us are “fiery.” They have been set on fire. They are designed not merely to wound but also to set on fire whatever they are aimed at. They can start fires of gossip or slander or division in families or even in whole congregations. Look at how in the world, a little “tweet” ignited hailstorms that destroyed lives and careers.
But the shield of faith – vigilantly and effectively used – will not merely stop the arrows, it will quench them. It will extinguish the flames.
Three different soldiers. IF their shield represented their faith, which one would the enemy go after first?
We need to stand behind our faith, it is the first thing the enemy will see in the battle.
Which of the images best represents your faith?
The Helmet of Salvation (verse 17): Just as the breastplate protects our heart, so the helmet protects our mind – our thought life. The mind is the area in which Christians are most regularly attacked. Inside our minds, there is often a continuing war. Satan seeks to plant thoughts that will disturb us, or distract us, or in some other way, make us ineffective in our war against him.
From Derek Prince – Christians in Ephesus to whom Paul was writing were already saved. Yet Paul still instructed them to take the helmet of salvation. Clearly, therefore, I needed to do the same. But what was this helmet of salvation that should be the protection for my mind? Fortunately, I was using a Bible with cross references in the margin. The cross reference to Ephesians 6:17 was I Thessalonians 5:8: “…and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” That scripture revolutionized my thought life. If pessimism was my problem, then optimism was the logical solution.
I set myself to seek out – and in many cases to memorize – passages of Scripture that provided me with a basis for strong, continuing optimism.
Up to this point all the items of equipment that we have considered have been solely – or primarily – for purposes of protection or defense. Only at this point does Paul turn to weapons of attack.
For this there is a logical and practical reason: if we attempt to attack before we have secured our defense, we are unprepared for the enemy’s counterattack and we are likely to become casualties.
This is one main reason why some Christians are hit and become wounded.
The Lord gave us spiritual weapons for a reason. USE THEM!
AGGRESSIVE WEAPONS:
The Sword of the Spirit (verse 17): which is the Word of God. This sword can be used for both attack and defense, but it is primarily a weapon of attack. Someone has said, “The best defense is attack.” – and this is often true in spiritual realm. The word here translated Word is rhema, which usually denotes a word that is spoken. It is not the Bible in our bookshelf or even on our nightstand that is effective, but when we take Scripture in our mouth and proclaim it boldly through our lips, that sharp, two-edged sword.
Note too, that it is “the sword of the [Holy] Spirit.” We can take God’s Word in our mouth, but it only achieves its full effect when it is the Holy Spirit within us who actually wields it.
The perfect pattern of how to use the sword of the Spirit is provided by the encounter of Jesus with Satan at the time of His temptation in the wilderness. Three times Satan approached Jesus with a temptation and each time Jesus drove him back with the same phrase: “It is written.” Five times Jesus used no other weapon but the rhema – the spoken word of the Lord. God has made the same weapon available to each Christian.
Parents and grandparents: recite scriptures out loud to your children as you pray with them. All of the top 10 spiritual warfare scriptures I have memorized were imprinted in my mind as a child, by my mother. When I was an adult, I did not have to memorize them, they were already there.
All Prayer (verse 18): This seventh weapon is not listed in exactly the same way as the previous six, but is I definitely needed to make the equipment of the Christian soldier complete. Of the previous six items, only the last one – The sword of the Spirit – is a weapon of attack, and even the sword is effective only as far as a soldier’s arm can reach.
But this seventh weapon of all prayer is subject to no such limitations. We may fairly call it our ICBM – our intercontinental ballistic missile. Focused prayer, directed by the Holy Spirit can reach across continents and oceans and strike with unerring accuracy at any target assigned to it. Undoubtedly, it is the most powerful and the most effective of all the weapons in the Christian arsenal.
Like the sword previously mentioned, this weapon of all prayer depends on the Holy Spirit for its effectiveness. It must be prayed “in the Spirit.” God does not commit such a weapon to Christian who are guided only by their carnal desires and emotions. All prayer includes many different kinds of prayer – such as those listed in I Timothy 2:1; supplication prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks.
All Prayer is not a solo instrument to be played by one Christian on his own. Rather it is produced by an orchestra of many instruments blended together in harmony by the Holy Spirit. In our society it takes apparently insurmountable obstacles to provoke this kind of prayer. That is sad.
In Acts 4:15-18 the apostles were confronted with a Satanic strategy that could have put a stop to all further evangelistic activity.
Supplication = Act or instance of supplicating; humble prayer, entreaty, or petition
The Jewish council, which was the supreme religious authority of the Jewish people, officially commanded the apostles “not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.”
The opponents of the gospel were perceptive enough to recognize the unique importance of the name of Jesus. The entire effectiveness of the gospel was dependent on it. As Peter himself had declared to the council: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
By this decree of the council, Satan had built a “stronghold” that would have prevented all further progress of the gospel or growth of the infant church.
Confronted with this Satanic scheme, all the believers came together to seek God’s help. Blended together into an orchestra, they cried out to the Lord for His intervention. (Corporate Prayer was born….)
God responded with such a demonstration of His power that “the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” The weapon of all prayer had demolished Satan’s stronghold.
In many parts of the world today Satan has built up obstacles and opposition to the progress of the gospel, which resist all normal evangelistic methods. It is time for the church to deploy its most powerful weapon: the weapon of all prayer. Use your weapons with Fellowship, Communion, Fasting, and Intercessory Prayer in your family and church.
Family Time:
- What is significant about the commandment to obey your parents?
- How would a father provoke a child to wrath?
- Make it your summer goal to memorize the Armor of God in verses 16-17. Maybe you could draw pictures of each.
….. Check out Armor of God – Covenant Kids Worship on YouTube for a song with motions to help you memorize the Armor of God.
