Love Is Gracious, Love Don’t Die (Ephesians 6:21-24)

Ephesians 6:21-24 – ²¹ Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed. ²² I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

²³ Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Tonight, we part ways with the Church at Ephesus. Of course, for them it wasn’t the end. They had decades of history yet to experience. Closing this letter, Paul didn’t expect to see his Ephesian friends again, but he very much expected God to continue His work of grace in their church.

Ephesians 6:21 – ²¹ Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed.

Paul wrote while under house arrest waiting to testify before Caesar Nero. After finishing his letter, he put it in the hands of Tychicus to personally deliver. But not just one letter – on this trip, Tychicus would also deliver the New Testament letters to the Colossians, to Philemon, and Paul’s non-Canonical letter to the Laodiceans. So who was this Christian mail man?

He’s mentioned five times in the Bible. He was a convert from Asia Minor. Some believe he was actually from Ephesus and saved during Paul’s stay there in Acts 19. He became a close friend and ministry partner of Paul’s. He traveled with Paul on some of his journeys. In fact, he left Ephesus with Paul in Acts 20 with the group that delivered financial aid to Christians in Jerusalem.

As Ephesians closes, it’s about 62AD. Tychicus is with Paul in Rome. Now, with letters in hand, he’d travel to Asia Minor to visit multiple churches. Five or seven years later, when Paul was imprisoned a second time, Tychicus is by his side again. Paul would send him once more to Ephesus, this time with a letter we know as 2 Timothy. Paul had Tychicus fill in for Timothy so that Timothy could go to Rome to visit Paul and bring him a coat and some study materials.

It’s possible that Paul also sent Tychicus to relieve Titus so he could come for a visit. It was either going to be Tychicus or a fellow named Artemas.

So, we see Tychicus going back and forth, here and there, dropping off letters, filling in for this guy or that guy, carrying funds to help hungry people. If he had a job description, it would be gofer. There’s no record of him performing miracles or planting churches or preaching to thousands. But, reading the verses that mention him, we get a sense of how valuable and meaningful his regular faithfulness really was.

Yes, Paul wrote the letter, but if there’s no Tychicus, who would ever read it? He stood and walked in the gap, not just for the Ephesians, but in all these other situations. His helpfulness, his willingness to do small things, his availability and reliability extended the reach of Paul’s ministry. He was an agent of God’s help and relief and wisdom and provision and truth and so much more.

He wasn’t just a mail man. I get packages all the time. I don’t think I could pick out my Amazon driver from a lineup of one. But Tychicus didn’t just drop the message and move on. He also told them all the news about Paul. The word there means the “who, what, which, and why.” Tychicus would give personal testimony of what God was doing through Paul’s life and imprisonment.

The book of Acts closes with this sentence, “Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”

Remember: Most of the recipients of this letter didn’t know Paul personally. Tychicus could be a witness. He could tell them that Paul wasn’t faking. God was fulfilling His promises. Paul wanted the Ephesians to know these things. He said, “I’m sending Tychicus so that you may be informed.”

This has been a major theme of the letter – that God’s people understand and grow in knowledge, and apprehend more and more of the truth of God and the power of God for day-to-day living. God wants you to be informed. Informed of His truth. Sharing in His wisdom. Growing in your understanding of His heart and His work and your place in it.

Ephesians 6:22 – ²² I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

From a human perspective, Tychicus might look like a gofer. In reality, his service to Paul and to the Church and to the Lord changed the world. He was an encourager. It’s the same term Jesus used of God the Holy Spirit when He said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth.” Tychicus was full of Spirit and therefore was used by the Spirit to do the work of the Spirit.

This is a wonderful example of what God wants to do in our lives. In 2 Corinthians, Paul said:

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – the God of all comfort…comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

The word comfort used again and again in those verses is the same word used to describe what Tychicus did: Encourage, build up, come alongside to help. Do the work of the Spirit.

So, on the one hand, the job Tychicus was given was relatively routine: Deliver a letter and share some news. But, on the other hand, this wasn’t necessarily an easy thing to do. This was a long trip – dangerous and difficult. It didn’t come with a lot of recognition or fanfare. But it was so needful, so beneficial. He was able to represent both God and Paul to these Christians in Asia Minor.

Ephesians 6:23 –  ²³ Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians is a blatantly Trinitarian book. We see both Father and Son here. In chapter 1, all three Persons are listed in a verse together. Keep that in your pocket for when you need it.

What God wants for His people is peace and love and growing faith. God does not want us to spend our lives full of fear or confusion. He doesn’t want us to waste our days in constant aggravation or discontent. He offers us peace and calls us to it.

Peace means tranquility, freedom from worry, harmony. The city of Ephesus was a city full of tension. You had all these cultures coming together: Romans and Jews and pagans. There were all sorts of religions and cults. There were 25-30 different pagan temples in the city. The great harbor was constantly silted by the river, threatening the commerce and economics of the area.

There was a gladiator school in Ephesus, and many fights in the theater. There was, of course, political unrest. This was the time of revolts, of assassinations, of Emperors perhaps burning their own capitals.

In a climate like that, God’s plan for His people was peace – harmony when the world is full of dissonance. Tranquility when the world was full of animosity. Rest and well-being.

Paul reminded them that this life-changing, counter-cultural love and peace was from the God of heaven and earth – from Jesus Christ, Who is Lord. It’s found nowhere else. You see, in Ephesus, the message was: Caesar is lord. The Emperor Cult held great sway in the city. As an example, in the early Second Century AD, a prominent citizen of Ephesus built a fountain with a great statue of Caesar with his foot on the globe. Ephesian Christians walking downtown would see a sculpture of the goddess Nike, holding the wreath of victory in her hand. The messaging was in your face.

Every day would be a choice to believe God, rather than man – to walk with Him in spite of the world’s flow. So Paul encouraged them: Have faith. Receive the peace of God, the love of God, all the promises and power that he talked so passionately about in this letter. The Lord would follow through on His promises and provision.

Ephesians 6:24 – ²⁴ Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

All of the victory and the peace and the love and the spiritual strength and the unity was possible because of God’s grace and only by God’s grace.

A few verses earlier, Paul spoke of the armor of God. We remember the images of the battles coming our way. We’ve heard about our everlasting inheritance and our place in God’s eternal, cosmic work. We’ve seen how much God loves us and His affection for us. It’s all from His grace. God loves us and delights to pour His favor and His kindness into us so we can experience life more abundantly.

Compare that to what Rome’s warriors experienced. Before beginning their fights, gladiators would say: “Hail, Emperor. We who are about to die salute you! And then the emperor forced them to destroy one another.

But the Christian’s King is no Roman Emperor. The King of love, our Shepherd is, Whose goodness faileth never.

For the third time in four verses, Paul mentions love. Here, he calls the Ephesians (and us) to an undying love. Your version may say love “in sincerity,” or, “incorruptible.” Linguists tell us that the words literally read, “in incorruption, incorruptibility, immortality.” You could also use the term, “unfading love.”

This was Paul’s closing prayer for these precious people: That they would grow and flow with God’s grace as their love for Christ endured, day after day.

Of course, most of you know what I’m going to say next. 30 or 35 years after this letter was read in their assembly, a new letter was delivered. This time it wasn’t from Paul, it was from Christ Himself. We can read it in Revelation 2. There, the Lord commends the church at Ephesus for their good works and their unwillingness to tolerate evil people. They had good doctrine. They had good programs. They endured hardships and had not grown weary in doing Christian things. But they no longer loved the Lord.

The Ephesians teach us that loving God isn’t just about serving. Serving is part of it. Enduring is part of it. Defending orthodoxy is part of it. Suffering patiently is part of it. But, at the base level, our hearts must belong to the Lord, personally, passionately, affectionately. Their love had faded. And, from what we can tell, it faded imperceptibly over time. But, one day, it was gone. And so, the Lord wrote them a very loving, but very direct letter, urging them to return to that love they once had.

What happened in-between Ephesians 6:24 and Revelation 2:1? The story is pretty interesting. During the first century, Ephesus “was one of the largest centers of Christian activity in the Gentile world.” The church was world famous for their Godly activity.

Timothy became their pastor for many years. In fact, when Paul wrote 1 and 2 Timothy, that’s where he was ministering. But, during those Timothy years, false teachings started to creep in from outside. Paul had predicted this back in Acts 20, so many years before.

Paul was set free from his first imprisonment. Church history teaches that he went as far as Spain preaching the Gospel and then, on his way back, returned once more to Ephesus, maybe 5 or 7 years after he wrote this letter. Shortly after that visit he was arrested again. This time he would be martyred for his faith.

A few years after Paul died, when the Jews revolted against Rome Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. Around that time, the Apostle John came to live in Ephesus. Church history suggests that Jesus’ mother, Mary was with him there for a few years. There’s a traditional site where it believed that they lived.

While in Ephesus, John wrote his Gospel, then 1, 2, and 3 John. During this time, it seems, there was a split within the church – something John wrote about in his letters.

In the mid-90’s, John was exiled to the island of Patmos, about 60 miles off the coast of Ephesus. While John was there, Timothy, now an old man, continued to preach the Gospel in the city. He was beaten to death after preaching against idolatry.

The Church Father Ignatius, who lived and wrote at the time, records that Onesimus then took over as pastor at Ephesus. That would’ve been a full-circle thing for this friend of Paul’s who was once a slave. You see, when Tychicus came to Ephesus with Paul’s letter, Onesimus was with him! He would’ve been quite an object lesson, by the way. Remember when Paul was teaching about slaves being faithful as unto the Lord? And there’s Onesimus, standing by, waiting to go back into slavery in Philemon’s house.

After a few years of exile, John was released from Patmos. He returned to Ephesus. It was then that he delivered Jesus’ letter to this beloved church.

We don’t know how they responded. We don’t know if they ran back to the Lord or continued in lovelessness. What we do know is that the Ephesians had everything they needed for growth, success. Think about it: They had received teaching ministry from Paul, Apollos, Timothy, John, Onesimus, and Tychicus. All these New Testament writings were there: Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1, 2, 3 John, the Gospel of John, the Revelation. The church became prominent and influential. They had room to grow and had everything they needed to succeed.

So what happened? The problem was within.

Research shows that one in 13 Americans has an undiagnosed disease. The Ephesians weren’t lacking in anything they needed. They problem was within their own hearts. There was a slow drift away from love into programs. Into gestures. Into the motions of Christian activity without any real passion for Christ. These Ephesians, who had been saved out of such pagan culture, had now become cultural Christians.

This is not just a sad story, it’s a serious warning. The Ephesians church was a powerhouse of Godliness, truth, activity, and growth for decades. But in the end they were in a position where the Lord had to say, “Look, I’m about to remove your lampstand.”

If it could happen to this church, it could happen to any church. And so, no matter what lies ahead, our personal and corporate focus should be to walk with the Lord in love. Love for Him. Love for His truth. Love for His leading. Love for His people. As we love God, His grace flows in us. And when grace is operating in our lives and in our midst, we see what’s possible. Ephesians has shown us that.

This isn’t some new idea. It’s been God’s plan all along for all His people. He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to lavish His grace on us so that we could be saved and transformed and assigned in His purposes and then put on display forever to prove His greatness and kindness.

How could we stop loving a God like this? We will stop if we don’t remind ourselves of what is true, of Who God is and what He has done. As we grow in our knowledge, our love should increase, not fading but become richer and deeper and more alive.

Training Pray (Ephesians 6:18-20)

Ephesians 6:18-20 – ¹⁸ Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. ²⁰ For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

The average Christian feels like they don’t quite have prayer figured out. Most of us have moments where we’re not sure we’re doing it properly – like seeing some of those machines at the gym and wondering how they work. We try our best but suspect we used the wrong muscles altogether.

Books on prayer mean well, but some slice more than they assist. I see quotes like, “A [person] who does not spend much time in prayer cannot properly be called a follower of Jesus Christ.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a man who God dramatically used in the 20th century. He personally witnessed the Welsh Revival of 1904. He wrote definitive books on preaching and revival, Romans and Ephesians. But when it came to preaching about prayer he sounded like many of us:

“God knows at this point I find myself more hesitant than I’ve ever been in a pulpit or ever can be in a pulpit. To pray in the Holy Spirit. How much do we know about this?…Would that I knew more.”

If you, like me and like Dr. Lloyd-Jones, feel like you come up short in your prayer life, be encouraged. Tonight God offers us comfort. The Bible meets us right where we are and gives us what we need. You see, it’s not a secret to God that we struggle in prayer. And why shouldn’t we? It is a heavenly activity! How could we be masters of it without God’s assistance and revelation?

In Romans 8, Paul says, “we do not know what to pray for as we should.” The disciples themselves approached Jesus and said, “We don’t know how to pray. Can You teach us?”

The Bible is crowded with instructions, examples, encouragements, and opportunities about how to pray. Our text tonight is specifically geared to help us – to set us on a path of prayer from this day forward. By the end, I hope we see that for the Christian, prayer is our tradecraft. It is a major purpose and enterprise in the function of our faith and it is ours to enjoy.

Ephesians 6:18a – ¹⁸ Pray at all times…

The U.S. Marine Corps’ motto is Always Faithful. Our Coast Guard’s motto is Always Ready. Paul would say the Christian’s is Always Praying.

Perhaps this is one reason why we’re intimidated by prayer. We hear these phrases – pray at all times, pray without ceasing. We hear stories or read books by other Christians who seem to have broken through to ‘true’ prayer with deep spiritual power. And I suppose some have. But Paul assumes that all of us can pray in all times and circumstances. Every one of us has the same access.

What does “prayer” even mean? If it’s this important – this essential to the Christian life – we should make sure we know what it is. Is it a posture? Is it an experience? What does it require?

At the most basic level, prayer means to “address a Deity.” Talking to God. That’s it. What do we talk about? Anything you’d like. The Bible shows us many types of prayer. Look to the Psalms and you’ll see a huge variety of conversations people had with the Lord.

Paul says, “pray at all times.” The last verses were full of battle imagery. The Bible shows the importance of praying before the battle. David was a good example of that. We see God’s people praying during the battle. Joshua did. There is prayer after the battle. The apostles, having faced serious spiritual warfare, gathered to pray after a scuffle with spiritual foes in Acts 4.

The Bible shows us prayer in caves and dungeons, in houses and mountains, in the wilderness and in palaces, in the church and in courts, in joy and in crisis. There is no time, place, or circumstance where prayer isn’t a benefit to us. The Scriptures present it almost like spiritual breathing – happening all the time, naturally, in every situation.

So how do we do it right? Paul gives us the key when he says:

Ephesians 6:18a – ¹⁸ Pray at all times in the Spirit…

It’s not about formulas or quotas. It’s not about systems or a certain level of emotions. What God wants is for us to pray in the Spirit. What does that mean?

Well, we remember what Paul has already told us about the Spirit in this letter: That the Holy Spirit was given to us as a down payment of what God has promised and that He seals us into those promises. That the Holy Spirit fills us and dwells in us.

When I was in college I had a great relationship with one of my roommates. We lived together for a couple of years and got to know each other pretty well. We talked with each other throughout the day. We did things together, laughed together, were open with each other. It would’ve been strange if we only spoke to each other at set times or with memorized dialogue.

But my first year I had a different roommate. We did not get along. We very rarely spoke with each other. There was no cooperation or openness. It was more like we lived next to each other in the same room, with invisible partitions between us.

When we have a healthy relationship with God the Holy Spirit, when we acknowledge Him and agree with Him and give affection to Him, He is able to  develop our prayer lives. It’s what He wants to do. Our prayer lives grow as He fills us and strengthens us and teaches us.

In Romans 8, where Paul said we really don’t know how to pray, here’s the rest of what he wrote:

Romans 8:26 – ²⁶ In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

We already have a conversation running in our minds. Praying in the Spirit means we remember that He is with us and in us and we bring Him into the conversation. As we do, we’re reminded about what is true and what our perspective on life should be and what has been promised by God, which then shapes our thoughts and prayers. We become aligned with the Spirit.

Ephesians 6:18a – ⁸ Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request…

Paul separates out prayer and requests (or your version may say supplication). That doesn’t mean that asking God for things isn’t prayer. He’s just highlighting the fact that there are many types of prayer. There are prayers of praise or thanksgiving or asking God for things or confessing to God or crying out to God or lamenting before God. There are all sorts of conversations we can have with the Lord. And, you know what? He wants to hear all of them. Every prayer. Every request.

We don’t have to be shy or pretend we aren’t thinking what we’re thinking. The Lord already knows! Now, if we are in right relationship with the Holy Spirit, our prayers are going to be shaped according to God’s truth and His purposes. But we should never hesitate to converse with the Lord and to bring requests to Him. James, at one point says, “You have not because you ask not.” But he also says sometimes we ask and don’t receive because our motives and desires aren’t aligned with the heart of God. As we walk with the Lord and grow in spiritual maturity, as we deepen our personal friendship with God, our thought lives and prayer lives become more conformed to Him.

With that said, I would encourage all of us to remind ourselves that not every prayer should be a request. If all of our prayers are just asking God to do things for us, then our relationship with Him is not as healthy as it should be. There are a lot of other things to focus on in prayer. For example:

Ephesians 6:18b – and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

Here we see that a major part of our prayer life should be focused on other Christians. It’s fine to pray for yourself. But so much of Ephesians has been about our unity in the Body – how we’re all connected and integral to each other’s spiritual lives and how good that is. And so, each Christian has a duty to be in prayer for other Christians.

“Stay alert” means “be on guard,” and “watch with concern.” In can also mean “linger.” Linger in prayer for other Christians. We intercede for one another, meaning we take on the heart and mission of God. The Holy Spirit intercedes for each of us and now we join that same work as agents of God’s grace in the lives of others.

We want to be Spirit-filled Christians. One way for us to be Spirit-filled is to pray for other Christians. Intercede for them. And to persevere as we do.

I’m sure some of you here have been praying for certain people in your lives for years, maybe for decades. The same prayer again and again. I tend to want to give up. I’m afraid of becoming the kid in the back seat saying “Are we there yet?” over and over to God. But that’s not how the Lord sees it. Jesus taught to keep on asking, keep on knocking. Paul tells us to persevere.

Now, there are times when God tells His people to stop praying about certain things. He did that to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. At one point in Exodus, the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp.” There are times to stop praying about a specific situation and do something else. But, meanwhile, don’t be shy to keep petitioning, keep interceding.

By the way: We’re to pray for the saints, not to the saints. Those believers who have gone before us into heaven cannot hear you – they aren’t omnipresent. They are not a go-between for you. There is One Mediator between God and man and that is Christ Jesus. We approach the throne of grace directly and boldly because God the Father has granted us that access.

Ephesians 6:19 – ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

There’s so much to love about this verse. First, even though these Ephesians were novices, even though some of them were barely out of paganism, even though none of them were apostles or knew much at all about the Word of God, Paul wanted their prayers.

You’re a brand new Christian? Your prayer is just as legitimate as Paul’s prayer. Your prayers matter.

Paul practice what he preached. He’s talking about unity, about the value of prayer, and we see earlier in the book he prays for them. Now he says, “How about you pray for me?” He wasn’t too proud to ask for prayer. He knew he needed it. Paul the Apostle! A man who spoke to Jesus face-to-face. Author of the New Testament. Miracle-worker, church planter, who walked the streets of heaven then returned to tell us about it. That guy says, “I need your prayer so that I won’t be too afraid to do what God has called me to do. Your prayers clear obstacles for me.”

And that reveals another beautiful thing from this verse. Paul was the smartest guy in the room. Paul was the most spiritual guy in the room. The mysteries of God were revealed to him. And yet, he did not rely on his intellect as he served God. He relied on the Spirit, working through his mind and experience and everything else, but it was the Spirit working in him. Paul asked that they pray he would be able to serve God with boldness.

Paul talked about Christians being bold a lot. It doesn’t mean loud or cocky. It means uninhibited – to speak frankly, without fear of reprisal. Paul knew there would be reprisals – he was shackled as he wrote those words, potentially facing death. But he asked his friends to pray that he would experience a heavenly freedom of speech.

Now, Paul was in real trouble. But that did not change his mission or determination. The Lord had stood in his cell and said, “Have courage, Paul. It’s necessary for you to testify about Me in Rome.” And so, in this case, Paul did not ask his friends to pray that he would be released from prison.

At other times, Paul did ask people to pray for his deliverance. In Romans 15, he outright says, “Please pray that I would be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea.” In Philippians, Paul talks about their prayers leading to his salvation – not spiritually but physically. But Paul filtered his circumstances through the revelation of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. And so, he said, “Ok, today, this is what I need you to pray for.”

We should never be shy to ask for prayer, but God help us to be mature enough to recognize what we should ask for. To know that, we need to be in tune with the Spirit, in harmony with the Word.

Ephesians 6:20 – ²⁰ For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

Ambassador in chains is a bit of an oxymoron. Rome did not recognize his authority, nor his King. Scholars tell us Paul used a pun here, no doubt smiling as he wrote or dictated this portion of the letter with a heavy chain attached to his wrist and a Roman guard on the other end.

One commentary notes, “The term ‘chain’ signifies among other things the (golden) adornment(s) worn around the neck and wrists by…high ranking men. On festive occasions ambassadors wear such chains in order to reveal the riches, power, and dignity of the government they represent. Because Paul serves Christ crucified, he considers the painful iron prison chains as most appropriate insignia for the representation of his Lord.”

And so, we see Paul had a great boldness and a very spiritual understanding of his situation. But he also recognized that, though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. He knew he would be tempted to retreat, to shrink from his mission. And so he said, “Pray that I might be the way I should be.”

How should we be in our Christian life? We should be confident in our Lord and vigorous in our callings. Faithful to our King. Trusting Him. Communing and communicating with Him. About His business. Conducting ourselves as ambassadors of the God of heaven and earth.

What an amazing reminder of God’s tender grace. He keeps sending emissaries to His enemies to offer them peace, to offer them forgiveness, to offer them life everlasting. Rome mocked God. They attacked His children. Their whole empire was an affront to the Lord. And how did God respond? He sent people like Paul over and over to their centurions and their governors and their emperors with the Good News of the Gospel.

Paul gave the Ephesians instruction on prayer and then asks them to get right to it. He did not condemn them for not being masters of prayer. He invited them to enjoy it, grow in it, and wield it. To recognize how essential it is, but also revealing what a powerful, accessible gift it is.

We should be encouraged that prayer is ours to enjoy, grow in, and wield. I’m not against books on prayer. I’ve read some wonderful ones. I’m not necessarily opposed to trying one of the methods that encourage prayer like A.C.T.S. But you don’t need those things to pray. God is your Father and Friend. He wants to hear all your prayers and then develop your prayer life as you cooperate with the Holy Spirit. So, anything that makes you think you can’t do real prayer right here, right now, isn’t Biblical.

At the same time, we should be fine with the fact that not every time of prayer will be dramatically spiritual. Martin Lloyd-Jones said there were two times in his long life of faith where he experienced an unusual work of the Spirit in a prayer meeting – and they were both when he was a young boy.

Even in the Bible we see most times of prayer that were what we might call normal. Nothing unusual or particularly fantastic happened. Only rarely did the room shake at a prayer meeting. Only once was Peter in a trance as he prayed.

Otherwise, God’s people are just shown praying normally. Praying for themselves. Praying for one another. Praying that God’s will would be done. Giving Him thanks and praise for His goodness and power. Confessing their sin and calling on His promises. These prayers are every day but that does not make them unimportant. They are all-important. They are ours to make use of at all times, in all places, in all circumstances, for all the world, and especially other Christians. The Bible’s teaching on prayer is: Do it! As you walk with God, He will teach you to do it “better.” But we need not hesitate. Instead, gravitate to it, gravitate toward the Lord by speaking with Him all the time.

Fight In Shining Armor (Ephesians 6:10-17)

Ephesians 6:10-17 – ¹⁰ Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. ¹³ For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. ¹⁴ Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, ¹⁵ and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.

On January 16, 1991, President Bush announced the invasion of Iraq. In his speech, he outlined the ferocity of the enemy, the suffering of the innocent, and the valiance of American troops who joined the battle. He said, “No President can easily commit our sons and daughters to war. Ours is an all-volunteer force, magnificently trained, highly motivated. The troops know why they’re there…Our goal is not the conquest of Iraq. It is the liberation of Kuwait.”

It was a costly fight that demanded much of those volunteers.

In our text, Paul points our way and says, “There’s a battle going on and the Lord wants you to join it.” We have all we need for victory. But, the Lord’s army is made up of those who volunteer.

Ephesians 6:10 – ¹⁰ Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

We’ve come a long way from chapter 1, verse 1. Paul took us from eternity past to eternity future. He’s described where we’ve been and where we’re going. He talked about the spiritual wealth we have – the grace and the power and the protection and the enabling. He just finished describing day-to-day Christian life in the home, in the workplace, in our relationships. Now he says, “Finally.”

It’s a term that can mean “for the remaining time,” or “from now on.” These are marching orders. And they begin with, “Be strengthened by the Lord.”

Life is difficult. We face hazards and challenges. But you can be strong as a Christian. In fact, you’re supposed to be strong – spiritually strong, mentally strong, emotionally strong – more and more capable as a believer. That doesn’t mean we don’t struggle, but God’s plan for you is strength. And He’s the One Who does it. You don’t strengthen yourself. Be strengthened by the Lord and His vast strength – the strength that Paul said is working in us back in chapter 3, verse 20.

How do we receive this strength? How do we cooperate with God’s desire to increase our spiritual capability? Verse 18 says prayer is one way. Through prayer we are strengthened and we help strengthen others.

We’re made strong by walking with God. As we walk worthy, God is able to fortify us and do His powerful, cosmic work through us in the city and the home, on the job and at the kids’ soccer game.

Isaiah says, “Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength.” It happens as we exercise faith.

We’re also made strong, the Bible says, in our weakness. As we surrender to God’s will, as we allow His grace to operate in us, we become stronger and stronger.

Ephesians 6:11 – ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.

Spiritual strength is not just so we can look good. We used to watch Survivor. There were always contestants with perfectly sculpted physiques, but when it came to dragging the heavy box out of the surf, across the sand, onto a platform, it became clear their muscles were for looks, not labor.

God’s strength is for application, not appearance. We need to be strong because we have a very powerful, highly organized, savagely motivated adversary. He is no tin-pot tyrant – he’s the ruler of this world. And he has declared war on the Lord and all His people.

How powerful is the Devil? Consider what he did to Job. After given permission by God, the Devil exerted power over people, inciting them to violence. He exerted power over the elements, bringing a hurricane to Job’s house. He even exerted power over the health of Job’s body.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that Satan has enough power, and enough pride, and enough of a winning record that he had total confidence when he came against the Son of God Himself.

With that said, he is no match for the Lord. There is no question Who will emerge victorious in this cosmic struggle. In fact, the war is already won. And the Lord now turns to us and says, “Take My armor. Take my weapons. Take my battle plan and you can share My victory over this enemy.”

Thanks to God, you can stand against the Devil’s schemes. “Schemes” is the word we get the word “method” from. What are the Devil’s methods? There are lots of them – he’s an expert at his craft.

His attacks come in the form of persecution against God’s people. Or pollution of their minds and  culture. He attacks us with fear and deception and temptation. He conspires to get you angry at God for one reason or another. He sends wolves into the Church, spies among friends, to do his terrible work undercover. He has many effective methods.

This is why we need the armor of God. There’s that great moment in Captain America: Civil War where Iron Man and Cap are punching it out and Tony Stark is getting thrashed. The voice in his suit calls out, “You can’t beat him hand-to-hand!” And it was true. Tony Stark needed the armor to analyze the fight pattern and harness its fantastic power to defend himself.

The Devil is real but, the New Testament is clear: We don’t have to be afraid of him and he has no power over us because God has given us His armor, His power, His revelation, so we can stand. Stand means not only up on our feet, but to “hold out in a critical position on the battlefield.”

But, as one commentator points out, “Standing firm requires effort. It does not automatically happen.” We have to understand what’s going on on the spiritual level and take our position and duty seriously. We need to recognize that the Devil’s plan is to devour anyone he can. His life goal, his job, his hobby, his side-gig, his five year plan is to destroy your life if he can. And he has lots of resources at his disposal. But we have more. We have greater. We have the splendid armor of God – the very armor He wears Himself. But it will not help us if we don’t put it on.

I read a story of a Georgia police officer named Tim Smith. His department issued him a bulletproof vest, but he decided not to wear it. He responded to a call about a man with a gun. He pulled the car over, the suspect came out shooting and hit Tim in the chest. And now Tim is dead.

Ephesians 6:12 – ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

This is such an important verse. Humans are not your enemy – not really. It’s the power behind the bad boss, the schoolyard bully, the deadbeat dad, the political antagonist that is the problem. Think of Abigail and Nabal, Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, Paul and Felix. For the believer, the other person was not a hated enemy. They understood that there was a spiritual situation unfolding.

Our fight is with this dedicated group of demonic forces. Paul describes it as close up, hand-to-hand wrestling with a unified coalition of foes who have colonized every corner of the world.

Ephesians 6:13 – ¹³ For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

I like this because, in verse 11 Paul says, “Here’s your armor.” And we might think, “Ok, great. I’ll hang that next to my rain coat in case I need it.” But then Paul says, “Take a look right outside your door here at the battlefield and the enemy troops headed your way.” And then we get to verse 13 and Paul again says, “So, here’s your armor. Go ahead and put it on. You’re in this fight.”

For the second time Paul calls it the full armor of God. We need every piece. It won’t do to pick and choose. It’s sufficient to defend our lives and gain ground against our enemy, but we need it all.

I saw a part of a football game over the holidays and during one play a receiver, apparently, decided he didn’t need the chin strap on his helmet. Well, he caught the ball and was hit by a defender. The helmet immediately popped off and, as the receiver went down, another player’s knee went straight into his head. He was missing a piece. Put the chin strap on!

Our orders are to resist the Devil. There are those who make a big show of talking to the Devil, even taunting him. I have to agree with Skip Heitzig who said, “Don’t talk to the Devil.” He’s smarter than you, stronger than you, more experienced than you, and totally dedicated to destroying you. Resist him and he will flee from you. But don’t trash talk the Serpent of Old.

Ephesians 6:14 – ¹⁴ Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,

Paul keeps telling us to stand. Christians need not cower. Standing means we’re stable on our feet. It means we’re ready to fight or rescue. There’s not much we can do from the ground. God’s desire is to keep you on your feet – to keep you from stumbling or getting knocked down.

In these verses, Paul describes our gear. Based off some of the terms he used, you can make the case that he was envisioning a certain type of infantry soldier that could do the job of a skirmisher when necessary or fall back to be a part of the phalanx of defense.

As Paul speaks, he makes many references to Isaiah, particularly chapter 59. In Isaiah we see God wearing many of these very items, which makes sense because it’s His armor that He shares with us.

We start with the belt of truth. A belt is central. It hold things together. Soldiers would hang things on the belt. Recently, my beloved, $16 ratchet belt broke. It was a Sunday morning before first service and I felt a snap and suddenly my belt wasn’t a belt anymore. I had to ask Kelly to bring me some other belt from home because I was having a wardrobe malfunction.

It’s the belt of truth, not of feelings. Not of fads. It is God’s eternal, constant truth that holds and girds everything together. That’s what we hang the rest of our life on.

Next, we see the breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness protects us – our hearts and other vulnerabilities. And remember: It’s Christ’s righteousness that has been given to us, not our own self-righteousness. Paul’s not saying, “Make your own armor out of good deeds.” All your righteousness is just filthy rags. That’s no good for combat. Instead, we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness, and that protects us when we put Him on.

Ephesians 6:15 – ¹⁵ and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

Shoes make a difference. No one wants to hike in high heels. The Gospel keeps us on our feet, giving us navigation and direction. But the Gospel also keeps us on our toes, reminding us that time is short and every day we can engage on mission. Readiness means prepared for combat.

But, notice: Paul uses the word peace here. It’s a good reminder that we are liberators, not subjugators. God’s goal is to save captives, reconcile enemies to Himself. To bring peace.

We live in a very antagonistic time. Everyone is against everyone else. Let’s walk in forgiveness and peaceful reconciliation as far as it depends on us. God calls us to unity, not hatred.

Ephesians 6:16 – ¹⁶ In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

The missiles are coming. Maybe an arrow, maybe a javelin, maybe something big launched from a catapult. The shield of faith is strong enough to protect us. Paul is referencing a large shield, probably around 2 feet by 4 feet. They helped you and the people around you. Soldiers would often line up together to create a wall of shields.

Faith helps us and the people around us. There was a Roman battle that happened a little before Paul wrote Ephesians. After the fight, a centurion counted 220 darts sticking into his shield.

Soldiers would soak their shields in water to help protect from fiery projectiles. That’s a great picture: Our faith being soaked in the Living Water. Soaked in the Word, soaked in the Holy Spirit.

The shield of faith is for every situation, not just times of obvious spiritual warfare. Fiery arrows can come out of nowhere. Maybe you see the archers up on the hill, or maybe there’s an ambush set for you. An ambush of temptation. An ambush of discouragement. An ambush of disappointment. We hold the shield of faith in every situation because we believe that it would be a bad thing if that arrow of temptation hit us – that arrow of discontent. It always comes back to understanding what God has revealed and believing that what He says is true and then responding accordingly.

Now, it’s no fun to think about fiery darts coming our way, but on one level, if they’re not, that’s probably a problem. If you are not a target, maybe you’re not in the fight. Maybe you’ve been incapacitated, or in the mind of the enemy, you’re more of a help than a hindrance.

Ephesians 6:17 – ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary says, “‘Take’ is really receive or accept. The previous items were laid out for the soldier to pick up. The helmet and sword would be handed him by an attendant or by his armor-bearer.”

The Lord provides all these resources, but in a special way He hands us salvation, He sends us the Spirit. Take them. Put them into operation. Walk in the provision you’ve received.

If you’re a Christian here tonight, you are saved. You’ve got the helmet. You know it works. Markus Barth writes, “[We] go into battle and stand the heat of the day in full confidence of the outcome…for [we] wear the same battle-proven helmet which God straps on His head  (according to the original meaning of Isa 59:17).”

With this armor we receive a sword – the word of God. Paul doesn’t use the word logos here, but the word rhema. Jesus Christ is the Word, the Logos. He’s right there beside us on the battlefield. In our hands is the rhema – that which has been said and revealed to us in the inspired canon. When Jesus wrestled with the Devil He said, “Man shall not live on bread alone but on every rhema that comes from the mouth of God.” And we remember how, after each volley from Satan, our Lord used Scripture to resist him. That was the weapon and it was absolutely effective.

These are heavy images. A new Christian might say, “Hey, I’m not ready for the front lines.” But we are ready because it’s the Lord’s strength, the Lord’s equipment, the Lord’s strategy, the Lord’s power working through us. We don’t have to be afraid of spiritual warfare.

But we should be realistic about it. It’s no laughing matter. Our enemy will fight to the bitter end. And our involvement may lead to heavy blows falling on us. What did Paul say to the Galatians? “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” But this is our calling and privilege.

Witold Pilecki was a Polish soldier who fought the Nazis. The Poles heard some things that didn’t add up when it came to what the Nazis were doing with their prisoners. And so, in 1940, Witold intentionally allowed himself to be taken to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. For two and a half years, Witold gathered intelligence and worked to get the truth out.

At times, Witold felt overwhelmed by his mission. But, he soldiered on, even once “[giving] up his own planned escape through the sewers to an inmate in more imminent danger.” He eventually did escape Aushwitz and then kept fighting the good fight. He was captured again in 1944 and sent to a POW camp. There, he cared for the younger inmates, who took to calling him “Daddy.”

Witold was liberated from that prison at the end of the war. And then there were other fights to join – other dark forces to oppose. I won’t spoil the ending, I’ll just tell you that from man’s perspective, Witold’s final chapter was a tragedy. From the perspective of the lives he saved and the good work he did? The life of The Auschwitz Volunteer was a triumph of good over evil.

Christian: Are you ready to get in the fight? Put on your gear, go where you’re commanded, stand in strength and victory and confidence that the Lord will do what He has promised in you and through you.

Slave Yourselves! (Ephesians 6:5-9)

Ephesians 6:5-9 – ⁵ Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. ⁶ Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. ⁷ Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, ⁸ knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord. ⁹ And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

You should embrace your role as a slave. That was Paul’s message to the Christians who really were slaves in the church at Ephesus. The slave population was somewhere between 10% and 33% of the empire and probably quite a few of the members of the church were from this group.

After many words promising God’s power and His using you in His unfolding work in the cosmos – after hearing that the Lord breaks down all these walls and grants us access to Himself and gives us hope and purpose and so much more – now Paul says, “Be the best slave you can be.”

If you were actually a slave, how might that make you feel? But, did you notice? He didn’t just say it to actual slaves. He included freemen. He included masters. And, as a matter of fact, he includes all of us. But he also includes himself. Paul, James, Peter, Jude, and Timothy all identify themselves as slaves of God in their New Testament writings.

Now, we live in a culture that prizes – almost worships – personal freedom. Personal liberty. My rights. It’s baked into our American mentality. And while I’m extremely glad that we live in a relatively free society, the truth is you and I should embrace our roles as slaves.

The Biblical perspective on life, even daily life, is that we are God’s children, we are His friends, but we are also His bondservants, assigned and distributed into a life path by our King. Our actions, attitudes, and behavior in the home, in the workplace, in the public square, in relaxation, in crisis, are all supposed to filter through this perspective, where we recognize that my life is not primarily about how comfortable I am or how successful I am. The point of my life is to receive God’s love, be a conduit of His grace, and glorify Him in the process.

Because this is the Biblical perspective, because God is doing an eternal work through my life, because the Gospel applies in every generation and in every situation, that means that my circumstances do not determine who I am or what I should do. Circumstances are real, they matter to us and to God, but they are not the determining factor of your life and your walk with the Lord.

Some of the people listening to Paul’s letter had very difficult circumstances. Some did not. The message was the same. And it’s the same for us.

Ephesians 6:5 – ⁵ Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ.

What did it mean to be a “slave” in Ephesus? Scholars are often quick to point out that slavery then wasn’t quite the same as it was in American history. For example, people sometimes put themselves into slavery voluntarily to pay debts. Some data shows that, around this time, 50% of slaves were freed before age 30. Some slaves were cooks or bakers or furniture makers. Some were carpenters, some letter carriers, some musicians or actors or teachers, or even physicians.

But that was not the case for all slaves. Others experienced extreme abuse and misery. Slaves working in mines and quarries worked with no downtime and died in large numbers. One historian wrote, “Death in their eyes is more to be desired than life, because of the magnitude of the hardships they must bear.”

In a home things might be just as bad. It was not illegal for a master to rape his slaves. And, some were taken as sex slaves. Not everyone volunteered for indentured servitude. Many were kidnapped or taken through conquest. Ephesus was a hub for the Roman slave trade. Slaves might come from Israel, or Arabia, or Africa. Slaves came from Ireland, Scotland, Eastern Europe.

So you have the skilled craftsman working with gold and jewels who signed up for slavery to pay off debts. And then you have people be brutalized and abused after being kidnapped from their homeland. In-between, you had jobs that weren’t so bad, but weren’t so good. There were things that you certainly wouldn’t do if you were self-employed. For example (and I’ve been saving this piece of research since our very first study in this book): You may recall that Ephesus had a famous public toilet that was used by people throughout the day. You can visit the ruins today and sit on the seats, though they ask you not to utilize the facility.

Ephesian masters would send their servants to go down and warm the seats before using the toilet. So, there you are, working in the house, and your master says, “Head on down and warm my seat.” Your job was to go and sit there, while other people sat around you doing their business, and wait till your master came to do his. I’ve plunged a few toilets at work, but I’ve never had to do that!

So this is the range of experience. And to all of these slaves, Paul says obey as if your master was Christ.

When he says fear and trembling, he doesn’t mean to cower, he means with respect. And then he says in the sincerity of your heart. This way of living comes from the depths of the new life we have in Christ. Our attitudes, words, and behaviors well up from the fount of grace the Lord has put in us.

Sincerity is a word that means integrity, and bountifulness, and generosity. God commands them to be generous as slaves. Now, we are not slaves, though I’m sure some of you feel chained to your desk or your boss is a taskmaster. These verses apply to our life at work.

You may not love your job, you may want out of your job, you may be overqualified for your job, you may see a lot of wrongdoing at your workplace. But, the fundamental command God has for you as you work is: Work respectfully, treating your fellow employees and your boss with grace and generosity because you should think about your job as if you were doing it for Jesus Christ. Because as far as He is concerned, you are!

Ephesians 6:6 – ⁶ Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart.

What Paul is saying is not only challenging to us, it was also challenging to the Roman culture. You see, guys like Aristotle said slaves were just living tools. They had no rights. Culturally and legally they did not have the option to obey. But here’s Paul, speaking in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and he’s says, “No, you are a free moral agent. You are an individual with value and dignity and the capacity to choose whether you will do what God says you can do or to not do that.”

And it wasn’t just “have a good attitude.” Paul challenges all of us to have the highest quality of work, not just for our own career advancement, but because it is right. In a mind-blowing revelation, Paul says, “You’re in a job somewhere. It may not be what you want, but there you are. As you work, energized by God’s grace, as you accomplish your job with integrity and respect and diligence, you are doing God’s will! He counts it as ministry. He counts it as service to Him.

Some Roman slaves had very individualized or limited roles. One job, for example, might be to drape the toga on his master. That menial, seemingly unnecessary job, can be spiritually glorious. God is that involved in our day-to-day. He’s that interested in our lives.

Ok, but what if my slave job was in the mine? What if I’m being sexually exploited? Those are very hard circumstances and hard questions. We can look to a Biblical example like Joseph in the book of Genesis. He knew something about being enslaved, about serving in a cush job and in the worst job imaginable. He dealt with situations where his Godliness clashed with his circumstances. It wasn’t easy, but he was able to stay true to his faith and be used by God all along the way.

At the same time, he suffered greatly. It’s not that God wanted him to suffer, but that difficult road led to the salvation of thousands of people. He is an Old Testament example of the New Testament reality that God’s strength is made perfect not in our comfort, not in our ease, but in our weakness.

That’s one reason why Paul didn’t say, “Just escape your slavery.” Some say, “Why didn’t the New Testament writers come out more strongly against slavery?” Some go as far as saying the Bible endorses slavery. It doesn’t. What Paul recognizes is that slavery was a reality in their time. Just like having to work is a reality for the vast majority of people. And God does scatter His people into all these places and corners so that they can shine the light of the Gospel in all places.

The Gospel does lead to the abolition of slavery. We’ve seen that in history and we’ll see elements of it in our text. But Paul is talking about here-and-now Christianity in practice. And he says, “Ok, you are slaves. Here’s the way you should slave.” Now, if you could buy your freedom, great. If you master wanted to free you, Paul didn’t say, “No, stay as a slave.” But it was always about glorifying God and doing what was Godly, even if your circumstances weren’t good.

Paul met this guy named Onesimus. He became like a son to Paul. As an old man, Paul was so helped by Onesimus and he wanted him to stay and be a part of the ministry. But then he found out that Onesimus was a runaway slave. And he told him, “The right thing to do is for you to go back and present yourself to your master.” Luckily, his master was a Christian and Paul even knew him. But that’s how serious Paul was about not reacting to circumstances, but living with Christian character. “Go back to the slavery you escaped and be a Christian there.”

If you are a Christian, the goal of your life is not the exaltation of yourself. The goal of your life is the exaltation of Jesus Christ in whatever circumstance you’re in.

Ephesians 6:7-8 – ⁷ Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, ⁸ knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.

So, for like the millionth time, Paul says “As to the Lord. As to the Lord.” You’re not actually working for your boss, you’re working for Jesus. You’re not a cog at your company, you’re an emissary of Christ’s Kingdom, on location. Everybody wants to be stationed in Hawaii. But Lemoore needs staff.

In verse 8 Paul includes free citizens, too. This isn’t just a slave thing, it’s a Christian thing. And though a Christian may be unrecognized or under-compensated, the Lord promises to reward our day-to-day faithfulness in the life He has scattered us into.

In Colossians 3 and 4, Paul says very similar things as we’re reading here. But there he says, “the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done.”

God is watching. He cares about our conduct. He pays attention to the things we do and the things done to us. You may have a terrible boss who doesn’t treat you right. In the end, God will hold them accountable. Meanwhile, we must keep a Biblical perspective. Your boss isn’t the problem! In fact,  your boss is an opportunity. They are a potential sibling in the family of God. And your behavior may be the one demonstration of Gospel grace they see.

One of the important things we learn here is that oppression is not an excuse for wrong-doing. That’s a popular idea in our culture right now. If I decide I’m oppressed, then I’m excused for bad behavior or lashing out or abandoning my duties. But that’s not Godly. It’s not the Christian way.

Slavery wasn’t a “good” thing. But, for the Ephesians, their work situation was an opportunity to exercise faith. Did they believe that God was in charge? Did they believe that vengeance belonged to Him? Did they believe that the best is yet to come? Did they believe that life was not defined by circumstances but by the power of God? For some of these people, this was a very hard ask.

It shouldn’t be so hard for us. That doesn’t mean some of you don’t face difficulties at work. But do we believe God? That my work is really about me doing it for Jesus? That I can be gracious and diligent even when circumstances aren’t good? Do I believe that the Lord is looking out for me, or do I think I should demand all of my rights and take revenge for the wrongs done to me?

In our final verse, Paul turns to masters.

Ephesians 6:9 – ⁹ And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Some commentators say, “Paul didn’t have much to say to the masters because there were so few attending the church.” But notice the beginning of this verse: “Masters, treat your slaves the same way.” So verses 5 through 8 apply to masters and verse 9 applies to masters.

He tells them, “In addition to being respectful and generous and having the proper perspective on who you’re really serving in your day-to-day life, you need to give up the threat of violence against your servants.” Frank Thielman writes, “[with these words] Paul has cut the thread that held the institution of slavery together.”

The threat of violence was all masters had to make slaves obey. But Paul reprograms the perspective here, too. He says, “This person isn’t your property. They aren’t a living tool. They aren’t a tea cozy to warm up your toilet seat. They are just like you, because guess what: You are a slave, too. You have a Master in heaven. And He sees every single person as equal.”

When Paul wrote to Onesimus’ owner he told him, “I want you to receive Onesimus back into his job as a slave, but you are no longer to think of him as a slave. He is much more than a slave, he’s your brother, and not just your brother, but a dearly loved brother.”

When Paul says “without threatening,” it not only means don’t threaten to hurt them. It literally means, “you need to loosen up.” Masters had a moral responsibility to their slaves. That was very counter-cultural. It would require a serious dedication and change of heart for a Roman owner.

Ben Witherington writes, “Both parties are called on to be proactive, not reactive to their situations. In both cases their eyes must be on the Lord and on how to please Him.” To do so, they must ignore what culture said. They abandoned the Roman ideas of how this relationship was supposed to work. Instead it was all about my duty to Christ and how to be flowing in grace toward others.

Now, of course, not all masters were Christians. Not all slaves were Christians. But these callings weren’t about whether the other person was a believer and doing what they should. It was about your life, your choices. As a slave, you’d have to set aside some wrongs. As a master, you’d have to set aside a lot of your “rights.” But God says, “If you do this, I am glorified, lives are changed, and reward is waiting for you.”

So now for you and me. We live in a culture obsessed with personal freedom and personal rights. We live in a time when it’s accepted and expected for everyone to just sue their way out of discomfort. We live in a society where any time we feel unhappy one of the first solutions is to find a different job or work to change our circumstances or escape as quickly as possible.

These are not the Biblical answers. God may want you to change jobs. But Ephesians 6 reveals that your circumstances are not the determining factor of what you should do. Earthly circumstances may discourage or deflate you, but they do not define you. You are defined by the calling of God and the power of God and the specific path carved out for you to discover and walk in. As we walk, God tells us, “By the way, My strength is made perfect in your weakness.” But that’s good news. Because we do face difficulties. We are surrounded by nonbelievers. What a wonderful thing to know our 9-to-5 has value and worth and dignity. That our faithfulness in small, seemingly menial things, counts as doing God’s will, and He will reward us for it. We can be excited about whatever we do, because God says, “I’m with you and you’re doing it for Me and I’m watching and I’m counting it.”

Our part is perspective which should make us the best workers in whatever job we have. We recognize that we are children of God and friends of God, but we also want to be like the apostles and self-identify as the slaves of God, or we can use bondservants if that feels better. It may not make every circumstance feel easy, but it keeps our purpose in the forefront. And it gives us a rudder and fuel and spiritual navigation for daily life.

Foster The Children (Ephesians 6:1-4)

Ephesians 6:1-4 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. ² Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, ³ so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.^{,, 4} Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

In 1990, when thousands of American parents were asked to select five valuable characteristics that “children can be encouraged to learn at home,” only 39% put “obedience” on the list. If you think that’s bad, by 2017 that number fell to 21%.

Among 24 countries, from us to China, Australia, Iran, Brazil, and all sorts of places in-between, the United States ranks dead last in valuing “good manners” in children. Just 28% of Americans say “not being selfish” is an important quality in kids and only 32% said religious faith matters.

That’s the latest finding from The World Values Society, an organization that has surveyed perspectives across 120 countries for the last 40 years. These data points were from a report titled, Parenting Priorities: International Attitudes Towards Raising Children. 

7 out of 10 parents don’t think it matters if their kid is unselfish. 6 out 10 don’t think obedience matters. 7 out of 10 don’t think religious faith matters.

But what is on God’s priority list for children and parents? He definitely has an opinion. Much more, He has a path for us. That’s what Paul will teach us about tonight as we begin the final chapter of Ephesians.

Remember: Paul has been explaining how we put salvation into practice – how we walk worthy of the calling we have received as Christians. How the Church can function in power and vitality. He’s already talked about how we should think about things, how we should interact with unbelievers, how we should look at life, and how we should live with our spouses. Now he looks to that second most important life relationship: Parents and children. And, once again, Paul’s instructions would be counter-cultural, but rooted in the eternal truth and world-changing grace.

Ephesians 6:1 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right.

Paul does a few interesting linguistic things in these verses. The first is how he directly addresses the children. He doesn’t talk to mom and dad about them first, he goes right to the kids. This would’ve been an unusual thing to do in that time. But, once again, we see that God values every individual equally. We saw last time that women and men are totally equal in worth to God. Here, Paul assumes that children would be listening and that they were capable of taking steps of their own in their walk with the Lord.

Of course, children don’t usually have the strength or the wisdom that an adult believer should have, but God wants to speak to kids. He wants to interact with them. He wants to receive worship from them and reveal Himself to them. He wants to have a relationship with them from the earliest age possible.

We shouldn’t allow ourselves to slip into a mindset that kids can’t handle spiritual things, or that spirituality is for later in life – a mentality that says, “Church doesn’t matter to kids, so just give them a coloring book in church and hope that one day, when they’re older, they’ll be excited about the Lord.” Instead, consider Samuel. Consider David. Consider Naaman’s servant girl. Consider Mary. Consider Miriam. Consider Josiah. Consider the boy with his simple lunch of five barley loaves and two fish. God loves to interact with young people, to reveal Himself to them, to use them in all sorts of meaningful ways. They have a place in His unfolding work.

Paul speaks directly to the children in the Ephesian church and says, “Obey your parents in the Lord.” That doesn’t mean they were to only obey their parents if they were Christian. Like husbands and wives are to obey the Lord whether or not their spouse is a believer, kids are to obey their parents regardless of whether or not they are Christians.

Obey is an active word that includes conscious listening. In another verse it refers to answering a knock on the door. This is a call to willful action. Like their parents, kids are free moral agents. The Lord desires that they come under His proper design for the family. It’s not just about doing what they’re told, it starts with the tilt of the heart: Does the child believe God can be trusted? Do kids believe that the Lord has a plan that we can participate in?

Paul says kids obeying their parents is “right.” The term means “righteous,” or, “Being in accordance with God’s compelling standards.” So, children can do righteousness as they obey their parents.

Of course, this doesn’t mean kids have to obey a command to sin or do something wrong. But, generally speaking, they are to listen to their parents, do what they are told to do, and acknowledge that God has placed parents in a position of authority in their lives, for their own good and the good of society at large.

You see, disobedience is a contributor to the breakdown of society. In Romans 1, Paul lists “disobedient to parents” alongside the other sinful activities that lead to the destruction of nations. Meanwhile, righteousness exalts a nation, and young people can contribute meaningfully to the benefit of human society by walking with the Lord.

Sometimes people today will say, “I don’t want to bring kids into this world, because it’s so bad.” The fact of the matter is, Godly families make the world better. Godly kids advance civilization.

Ephesians 6:2-3 – ² Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, ³ so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.^”

Frank Thielman points out that Ephesians was written in a time when 40% to 50% of kids did not live to see their 10th birthday. Even today, many Christian children have their lives cut short by sickness or accident or violence. So, how can Paul make this promise of long life?

It’s not an individual promise to every believer. It is a general principal that going God’s way leads to lifely outcomes. There are some very practical advantages to obedience. In many cases, a child’s life is literally saved when they obey the commands of their parents. And, we know that when we go God’s way, ultimately we are rewarded with everlasting life in the Kingdom. So we understand this promise in a generalized sense.

But there are a couple of important principles for us to consider here. The first is that God’s desire for your life is that “it might go well with you.” Interestingly, Bible dictionaries will tell you that the phrase used here means, “to come into being.” What will come into being? Well, God has all sorts of good plans for you – promises He’s made to you. The Lord really does have our best interests in mind. We might not agree with some of what He allows, but His care for us is unwavering. And the work He began He is going to accomplish.

Why did God ask the Israelites to obey His commands? What was His purpose in bringing them out from slavery in Egypt to become a new nation? Then and now, the Lord’s desire is to accomplish good things for us. And if we are willing to trust Him and walk His line, then life more abundantly will be the result.

A second important principle here is how Paul directed our attention back to the Old Testament. An attentive listener in Ephesus might have raised their hand and said, “Wait, a few paragraphs ago Paul said, ‘ Jesus made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations,’ so why would the Ten Commandments matter?”

It’s true: Jesus fulfilled the Law, but that doesn’t mean everything in the Law is nullified or that we have nothing to learn from the Old Testament and its dispensation. The Law of Moses was man’s guardian until Christ came and fulfilled it. Now we are under what Paul calls “The Law of Christ.” That term is found in Galatians 6:2. The Law of Christ contains many of the same principles and commands that were found in the Law of Moses, though not all of them. The ceremonial laws are done. The rituals are gone. The divisions and barriers between God and man are gone because Jesus cleared them out on the cross when He paid what the Law demanded.

So now we can turn to the Word of God in the Old Testament and learn things about Him and about ourselves and about our relationships to others and see how He did things in that time and find all sorts of application, even though we are no longer bound captive under the Levitical Law.

Have you heard someone use the term, “Red-letter Christians?” There’s a heretical group that officially uses that name, but I’ve also heard it used more widely as people who just want to focus on what Jesus said in the Gospels – “the red letters” – and ultimately deemphasize the black letters.

But that’s not how it works. For one thing, Jesus said not even the smallest letter of God’s Word in the Old Testament will pass away until all things are accomplished. And Christ was constantly quoting the Old Testament as authoritative. Here also, we see Paul the Apostle directing our attention back to the Old Testament, and he was encouraging young people – children – to study and apprehend all the Word of God and to apply it to their lives.

Now, in verse 4, Paul turns to dads.

Ephesians 6:4 – ⁴ Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

There’s another interesting language thing happening here. Paul spoke of both parents up in verses 1 through 3. Now, he specifically talks to fathers. Again, in a Christian family, the husband and father has the greatest responsibility of all the members. It is his duty to lead his family as the greatest servant and to focus his attention on their spiritual provision and development.

Paul says, “Bring them up.” It’s not just that dad needs to shout orders at people, like a field commander. “Bring them” indicates togetherness. Together, dad and mom and kids are walking toward Jesus, growing in strength, bearing fruit, making progress as a unified group.

As I pointed out last time, we recognize that Paul is speaking about the ideal arrangement. Even in Ephesus, not everyone had a Christian dad. Not everyone had a Christian mom. Not everyone had kids. But the Lord is placing goals before us and bearings to navigate by as far as is possible for us.

The phrase “bring them up” also reveals the how for dads. The term means to nourish someone. He’s telling dads they need to be kind to their kids. And that would have been a revolutionary idea to the Roman mind. You see, in the Roman Empire, the father was the center of the family universe. Everyone existed for him and beneath him. He had absolute authority over his children. One source writes, “If they angered him, he had the legal right to disown his children, sell them into slavery or even kill them.” But now, a Christian father is being told that his life should be spent in servant-leadership of his family, defined by kindness and grace, and dedicated to their development and benefit, not his own.

So Paul says, “Nourish your kids.” And he gives a don’t command alongside it. He says, “Don’t stir up anger in your children. Don’t provoke them.” There’s a lot we could say about that, but I like the list Bible commentator R. Kent Hughes provides. He says, “[Provocation] can be done in a number of ways:” Unreasonableness. Fault-finding. Neglect. Inconsistency. These and other abuses of the parental position like “excessively severe discipline, arbitrariness, unfairness, constant nagging and condemnation, subjecting a child to humiliation,” are totally outside of what’s acceptable for a Christian parent, particularly fathers.

Instead, we’re called to gentleness toward our children. Not weakness – not just allowing kids to do whatever they want, but gentleness like Jesus is gentle. Patiences like Jesus is patient. Gracious like Jesus is gracious.

But not only was the how a challenge to the Roman culture, the what was, too.

For one thing, Roman girls weren’t formally educated. But, notice, Paul doesn’t say “bring up your sons in the Lord,” he says, “Bring up your children.” And so, again, God reveals that He values every person, equally. The Lord challenged these parents to value what He valued and to orient their family-life according to heaven’s standard, not Rome’s. Christian culture does not align with the secular culture around us.

Paul changes the goal of parenting. A Roman boy was taught reading and writing, Roman ethics, philosophy, rhetoric. He was groomed to become a great Roman. But Christians must have a different perspective. The goal of Christian parenting is not that their kids get the finest education or the highest paying job or the best stats on the sports field. Those might be a part of your kid’s life, but your goal is to bring your child to spiritual maturity. Your goal is to introduce your children to the Lord Jesus, teaching them His ways and His Word, and then show them how to walk worthy on their own – teaching them to know God and love God and how to hear from God and how to follow Him.

Paul says we accomplish this goal with “training and instruction.” Training is a term that includes discipline or punishment. It also carries images of form and execution and practice and development of skill. Kids aren’t going to perfectly execute all the time. Adults don’t either, but sometimes we parents expect our kids to be able to accomplish something they haven’t been trained to do. It’s our job to help get them there. Show them the form. Help them practice the mechanics of faith. Guide them as they develop the skills of spirituality.

The second part is “instruction.” The term means, “to place before the mind” or “confront.” Fathers (and mothers by extension) are to engage with our kids, intellectually – to present the truths of God before their minds and to confront the false teachings of the enemy and help our children navigate through, learning how to apprehend God’s truth in a world full of lies. And of course, if we want to teach our kids God’s truths, we’re going to have to know them ourselves and prioritize them. One commentary says, “Fathers are not to teach personal preferences, but spiritual truths. The goal is not parental authority, but passing on God’s authority to children.”

Christian parenting demands a lot of attention and effort. It demands that we align our perspective with the Lord in contradiction with the secular world. But, when a family walks this road together, God’s grace flows out in power. And a Christian family is one of the best tools we have for saving society. It is a special vehicle of God’s grace and power and, as we’ve seen, each of us as husbands or wives or fathers or mothers or children, each of us has a part to play. It starts in the heart, believing God and being humble enough to go His way, trusting that it’s the only way to get where we want to go, and then walking in the steps that have been laid out before us.

Ephesians 5:22-33 – Marriage Material

Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but at the end of romantic comedies I often find myself thinking, “That couple isn’t going to make it.” I hate to break it to you, but Danny and Sandy in Grease, Johnny and Baby in Dirty Dancing, Joel and Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Ariel and Prince Eric? They’re not going to live happily ever after. These are stories of selfish people who are motivated by feelings, not by a real love that puts others first.

Rome had a marriage problem. It was so bad that Caesar Augustus passed laws making marriage mandatory. The result was the opposite of what he intended. More people divorced. Seneca, writing around the same time Paul wrote Ephesians, described divorce as “rampant.”

Of course, not everyone in the Roman Empire was Roman. In Ephesus, you’d find people who followed the Roman culture, some the Jewish culture, Hellenists, and pagans. There were different types of marriages, legally speaking. Most wives stayed under the legal authority of their father, even after marriage. Some were transferred to the husband, almost like a slave or piece of property. Jewish couples did things a little differently.

Now here’s Christianity. What would marriage be in the Church? Paul has been talking about God’s unfolding, cosmic plan – a new way to be human. What form would marriage take? The answer is given in our text tonight. It was shockingly countercultural at the time.

The truth is, it’s still countercultural today – controversial, even. Whole denominations go their separate ways at this crossroads. This passage is often misunderstood or ignored or misapplied. Even those of us who take a conservative approach to the doctrine here squirm at how some of the words sound. But, let’s remember what Paul has been talking about for 5 chapters now: God’s incredible, powerful, world-changing grace filling us up and flowing out of us to put Christ on display. We’re in a long, inner section where Paul teaches us how to walk worthy of this grace, how to walk with Jesus and experience all He desires for us. He has been talking about our relationships with others generally. Now he will move to specifically address husbands and wives, then parents and children, and finally masters and slaves. We take the first pair this evening.

Ephesians 5:22-33 – ²² Wives, submit^, to your husbands as to the Lord, ²³ because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. ²⁷ He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, ³⁰ since we are members of his body. ³¹ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. ³² This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

If we read that and feel uncomfortable or offended, then we either do not understand correctly what God is communicating or we are allowing rebellion to rattle in our hearts. Because we know that God is good, we know that God is right, and we know He has our best interests in mind.

I want to be careful when a text is controversial, so let me get a few disclaimers out in the open. First, here at Calvary, we are complementarian. That means we believe the Bible teaches that men and women are absolutely equal in the eyes of God concerning His love for them and their value in His plan, but we recognize that God has established distinct roles for men and women in the family and in the Church. The other side of that debate is called egalitarianism. That view says there are no distinctions between men and women when it comes to roles in the home or the Church.

Second, this doctrine is a non-essential issue. It’s important, but salvation doesn’t hinge on whether you interpret Ephesians 5 the way we do.

Third, if you are in an abusive relationship, even if that person claims to be a Christian, you need to remove yourself from that environment, call the police, get safe and seek help. Submission does not include victimization.

In verse 21, Paul told all Christians: “submit[ting] to one another in the fear of Christ.” How do we do that? This is what Paul is going to explain. He begins by giving specific direction to wives.

Ephesians 5:22 – ²² Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,

So, verse 21 says, “submit to one another,” and then Paul says, “Wives, here’s how you do that.” In fact, the word ‘submit’ isn’t actually in verse 22. It’s supplied by translators for clarity.

The word means to place yourself under authority. This does not mean “blind obedience or docile servility.” Paul will use the word “respect” in verse 33. We might also say, a woman is to recognize the husband’s leadership in their relationship. It’s not just about doing whatever the husband says. That’s the way this term is often interpreted by egotistical men who do want to control women. But Paul didn’t say, “obey your husbands,” as if the wife is a child. She is not a slave. She is not a child.

The spirit of submission is demonstrated for us in the story of Jonathan and his armor-bearer. They we’re in it together. They moved together. They each had a role but it was a partnership. There was communication and cooperation. They were both walking by faith. The armor-bearer advised but, ultimately Jonathan was the one responsible for their actions. Jonathan was in the lead and the armor-bearer said, “Do what is in your heart. Go ahead! I’m completely with you.”

Now, in the Roman empire, most married women were not subject to their husbands, legally. Most were still legally under the authority of their fathers. On the other hand, some of these ladies had probably won the legal emancipation that Augustus offered to women who had at least three children. Either way, they would have to turn from the cultural norm and choose God’s design. And if your husband wasn’t a Christian, that was a hard ask. Roman husbands were not the kind of husbands you want. Adultery was normalized. Men weren’t expected to care about their wives. In fact, wives were supposed to manage things to such a degree that the men could just be out doing what they wanted, enhancing their own social prestige. Among Jewish couples things weren’t much better. Some rabbis advised, “Do not talk much with a woman…not even with one’s wife.”

But that’s not how a Christian marriage was going to be. Paul presents husband and wife as equals in worth, equal in agency. Marriage would be a partnership. Husbands and wives are a special relationship. It was not that all women had to submit to all men. It was wives to their husbands.

But notice: Paul does not say, “submit to your husband as long as he does his part.” Instead, the commands to both husband and wife are disconnected from whether the other person is walking worthy. Paul said, “submit…as to the Lord.” They had a voluntary choice to accept this special purpose. And, even though it seems counter intuitive to the human mind, and even though our culture still today says this kind of arrangement is oppressive, God says this is how a husband and a wife can be elevated to something beyond human understanding.

Ephesians 5:23 – ²³ because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.

Egalitarians work hard to strip any sense of authority out of the word ‘head,’ but it’s clear that Christ’s headship includes authority. But, what does Christ do with His authority? Does Christ act in selfish ways? In arbitrary ways? In harsh ways? As Head, Christ is totally gracious, totally kind, totally understanding, totally tender. Men have authority, not to reign with swagger. It’s a responsibility to serve. That’s what you’re authorized to do.

The problem is, many Christian men are asleep at their post – disengaged from their duty. Or, instead of mimicking Christ, they imitate some teapot tyrant. You’ve heard a man say, “I’m the king of my castle!” Well, ours is a Servant King. One Who left His throne on behalf of those He loves.

These verses are not a license for Christian husbands to demand wives do whatever they want or to force submission. This is presented to ladies as a choice. At the same time, it is a line in the sand for Christian wives. You see, way back in the Garden of Eden, which Paul is going to reference, after Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord said that one of the consequences was that Eve’s “desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.” We understand that to mean that, generally speaking, Eve and her daughters would “contend with [their husbands] for leadership in their relationship.” So now, Christian wives have a choice to go God’s way and to recognize God’s established order and trust that His way is the best way for individuals and families and the Church and society.

Ephesians 5:24 – ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.

This doesn’t mean every command a man might give. After all, no wife needs to obey a husband who asks her to ignore God’s commands. It means in all spheres of life. Paul really wants us to understand the husband/wife relationship by looking at the Christ/Church relationship. The Church has a great deal of freedom and opportunity and agency. Yet, we are to be led by the Lord and in constant communion with Him.

Now Paul turns to the husbands. And, let me say from the start, he has three times as many verses to husbands as he does to wives.

Ephesians 5:25 – ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

Husbands, you have been put in a position of leadership in your marriage and family so that you can protect them, provide for them, help them thrive and grow in the Lord and become what God has made them to be. You are to use your authority, your power, your strength, for your wife.

So, the wife is to submit to her husband. But where we might expect Paul to say “husbands, rule your wives,” or, “Husbands, manage your wives,” he says, “Husbands, love your wives.”

In the Roman culture, a husband didn’t have a duty to his wife. Men lived for themselves – for their own greatness and their own pleasure and their own whims. Not so the Christian. We are commanded to fulfill our wives – to build her up the way Christ builds the Church. Romantic love isn’t enough. We’re called to agape love, which is a continuing, deliberate attitude of care and affection that goes beyond words into action. It’s not enough for you to bring home a paycheck. It’s not enough to just be a good man or to not be a bad man. God calls His disciples to be husbands who give themselves for their wives, just as Christ gave Himself for the Church.

This is a total commitment. In Isaiah 54 the Lord says, “Though the mountains move and the hills shake, my love will not be removed from you.” Paul says to husbands, “Love your wife like that.”

It’s interesting: There are teachers and churches that really major on wives needing to submit. I’ve never heard them ask whether the husbands are properly loving their wives.

Christ is the model. Can you imagine Jesus saying, “I don’t need to say ‘I love you.’ I do that by going to work every day!” Can you imagine Jesus Christ complaining about dirty dishes? Or failing to help with the dirty dishes? Can you imagine Jesus Christ being excited to spend all His free time away from His Bride?

Now, remember, in verse 21 Paul said we submit to one another. This is how husbands fulfill that calling. Both husband and wife are called to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the marriage, the husband taking the lead in duty and responsibility.

Ephesians 5:26 – ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.

Paul takes some time to describe how Christ loves the Church, so husbands can better understand how to properly imitate Him. Now, husbands do not make their wives holy. But God wants us to have more than a day-to-day view of our marriage. Husbands should have a comprehensive concern for their wives’ physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Paul does something interesting when he says by the word. There are a couple of terms used in the Bible for the Word of God. This is rhema, which means a spoken word. Jesus does a great work of cleansing through personal, active communication. Men, as we follow our Lord’s example, we must be husbands who actively communicate with our wives. Sitting in silence will not do.

Ephesians 5:27 – ²⁷ He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

Take a moment to be relieved by this promise. Because of Christ’s love, because of His faithfulness, one day you and I will be absolutely blameless before God. The tenderness of Christ is on display here. The image is of Him choosing His Bride, and then paying a ransom fee to save her from captivity, then paying all that was necessary so that He could marry His Bride and bring her to a home He made Himself. Then, on the day of the wedding, He goes and gets her dress prepped. He does her hair. He readies the party. He puts everything in order, then delivers His Bride to Himself. It’s an amazing portrait of care and affection and gentleness.

Jesus does not compete against His Bride. He does not harbor grudges or resentment toward her. He doesn’t demand we do certain things to keep Him from leaving. His love is constant. And His value of you does not change depending on how you look on a given day. You are lovely because Christ loves you. And He will never stop loving you. He will never fall out of love with you.

When it says He “presents” the Church to Himself, the term means “to place beside.” So, again, even though Christ is the Head, there’s no oppression or subjugation here. After all, Christ says we will reign with Him. The inheritance that belongs to the Son has been shared with us!

Ephesians 5:28 – ²⁸ In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Husbands, you and I are to examine the methods Jesus uses and apply them to your marriage. Your wife is not a subject to be ruled. She is part of who you are. You are one flesh. God carved Eve out of Adam’s side. There she was, beside him, and then they spend their lives together as a new thing: Two who became one.

Researchers have proven that heart rhythms synchronize when couples in long-term loving relationships are close to each other. This is what the Lord desires. a fusing of two into one, physically and emotionally and spiritually. A special unit, purposefully ordered for best results.

By the way: Where my version says “husbands are to,” yours may say, “ought to,” or, “must.” The term refers to a debt you owe or a moral requirement.

Ephesians 5:29-30 – ²⁹ For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, ³⁰ since we are members of his body.

Provision is more than a paycheck. God calls husbands to nourish and cherish his wife.

At this point, one may ask: “Ok, so if I’m not married, am I some kind of second-class citizen? In God’s plan?” A single person was second-class in Augustus’ Rome. But no, not in God’s Kingdom. Paul elsewhere explained that sometimes it’s better not to be married. If you’re single, you need to seek the Lord and ask Him whether He is calling you to marriage or not.

Meanwhile, we’re reminded that the Lord is thoughtful of you. You’re not just a cog in a machine. You’re not just a number on a report. He cares for you individually and personally. Every member of His Body matters.

Ephesians 5:31 – ³¹ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

Paul quotes Genesis 2. This has been God’s plan all along. He established these relationships and designs on purpose for our good and so that we can reveal the glory of God through our lives.

Christian marriage is meant to illuminate Christ’s love for the Church. It’s meant to be a visible Tabernacle, modeling the realities of heaven.

The joining of husband and wife is meant to happen on the deepest level. Canadian scientists have developed what they’re calling “hyper glue.” It’s glue that bonds things at a molecular level. Materials that can’t bond with other glues can now be fused together. This is what God wants to do between one man and one woman for life.

Ephesians 5:32 – ³² This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Paul admits that this is a hard topic to understand. It’s not easy to apprehend and it’s not easy to carry out. But, what are mysteries in Ephesians? They are things God wants to reveal to and through His people. Back in chapter 3, Paul said God was revealing mysteries so that God should shine light in the world and make His wisdom known through the Church. So, as we believe God and trust that He is telling us the truth, as we walk with Him by faith according to His design in our marriages, God makes His power and grace and wisdom known to the world and to the authorities in the heavens through our example.

Because this is one of God’s mysteries, what we’re learning here cannot be totally reconciled by human logic or strategy. How can I be elevated by humbling myself to serve my wife or by submitting to my husband? How can lowering lead to my increase? It doesn’t work in the human mind, but it works through the power of God’s grace. That’s power that moves mountains.

Ephesians 5:33 – ³³ To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband. 

That’s the deal. If you’re a Christian, do it! A critic might say, “Oh the Bible just promotes the patriarchy.” No, the Bible is promoting Christiarchy. And here Paul has detailed the ideal arrangement between a Christian husband and Christian wife.

Of course, not everyone has a Christian husband or Christian wife. And those who do don’t always have a spouse who is walking the way God asks us to walk. The Lord understands that. There’s no condemnation. This text is an invitation. The bids me to come and die and find that I can truly live. If you’re a Christian and you’re married, you have a part to play. Now, culture wants to dismantle part of this. The world around us wants women (in particular) to reject God’s design. Some Christians today would say, “Yeah, women submitting isn’t a thing anymore.” One wonders if they would then turn and say men loving there wives isn’t a thing anymore?

God’s desire is that His people experience power and grace and fulfillment and ministry in their marriages. And He has revealed a mysterious truth that this is the way to do it. Love and respect.

Wise Men Still Sing Hymns (Ephesians 5:15-21)

Ephesians 5:15-21 – ¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—¹⁶ making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

“What’s the best way to get there?” If you’ve been a driver for any length of time, you’ve asked that question. You ask it when you type in a destination in your Maps app. You can toggle a switch to avoid tolls or highways. You choose a route based on which is the fastest or has the fewest turns.

We’re on our way somewhere. Your life is progressing toward certain outcomes. If you’re a Christian, the Lord has placed you on His highway of holiness and, in the end, you will be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. As we go, we participate and cooperate with Him.

In Ephesians, Paul shows us the best way to go. It’s more than his opinion or just one way of doing things. These are commands. Paul knows what he’s talking about. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to deliver the Word of God to us. And he lived out one of the most powerful testimonies ever. He knows the best way to get there. And the best way is to walk like a wise man.

Ephesians 5:15 – ¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—

For the fifth and final time, Paul talks about walking. Walk worthy. Don’t walk like the Gentiles. Walk in love. Walk as children of light. And now, pay careful attention to how you walk. Your version may say to walk “circumspectly.” That’s not really a term we use very often. Bible dictionaries will tell you that the word means to walk, “more exactly, more accurately, with more thorough investigation.”

Does that make you feel overwhelmed? As if we need to walk perfectly? God does call us to His high standard. But, our Lord is a God of grace. We’re not going to walk perfectly, but we have everything we need to walk in power and victory and to be bearing all sorts of spiritual fruit as we go. And, what we do matters. Paul has been reminding us of how important the choices we make are. Our words and our conduct and our perspectives really matter and they lead to outcomes and consequences in our lives. They impact our families and our church and our community. Our walk can please God or can grieve Him. We need to pay careful attention to our lives, not just stumble through as life happens to us.

Paul says, “walk like the wise men.” We can look at the Christmas Wise Men as an example of these things. In Matthew 2, when Herod spoke to the Wise Men, he said to them, “Go and search carefully for the Child.” He used the same word Paul uses here.

As the Wise Men traveled, they did not have all the answers. They didn’t know exactly what they would encounter. But they they followed the light and, in the end, there was Jesus. They weren’t overwhelmed by the difficulty or the doubt or the obstacles on the road. They pressed on, step by step in faith, and we’re told, when they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.

So, as Christians, we’re to walk as the wise and we’re to pay careful attention as we go. Normally, we don’t pay close attention to routes we’ve taken many times over. There are probably times that you don’t actually remember your drive from work to home. “Did I run that stop sign?”

We don’t want to develop that kind of inattentive mentality in our spiritual lives. Paul calls us to attention and precision. We’re meant to be testing what is pleasing to the Lord. We’re meant to be working out our salvation. We’re meant to be moving past simply knowing things into actually doing something with what we know.

Ephesians 5:16 – ¹⁶ making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

Psalm 90 tells us we develop wisdom by numbering our days. Your Bible may say redeeming the time. The phrase means to buy up time like a shopper finding a great bargain in the marketplace.

One commentary says it this way: “Gobbling up every available opportunity.” Did you know that we live in the land of opportunity? I mean spiritual opportunity. We look around and are disgusted by the evil around us. It’s our natural inclination to want to flee to somewhere less evil. But that’s not always the best choice for God’s people.

Light is most effective in the dark, right? Rescuers are most necessary where there are people who need rescue. “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick.”

Ray Stedman said, “Most of us look at evil days as obstacles, as defeating circumstances, as pressures which tend to make us unable to be Christians…[But] evil days create opportunities, and, therefore…we must make the most of those opportunities which are created by evil days.”

Hearing this we might feel pressured again. “Ok, I guess God wants me to keep a ledger of every minute I spent today. Wow…1 out of every 3 minutes I was alseep? I better cut that down to 2 hours a night since I have to buy up the time…”

That’s not the way we’re supposed to feel. In fact, Paul specifically used the term kairos, not chronos. Linguists explain that chronos refers to specific amounts of time. Kairos means the right time, the opportune time, the appointed time.

As we lwalk, we pay careful attention to the opportunities around us to be light in the dark, conduits of grace, broadcasters of His truth, ambassadors of Christ’s love. When you’re on the hunt for a deal at a garage sale, you don’t buy every item you see. You buy the right items.

The Wise Men didn’t drive their camels around the clock. But they cared a lot about progress. They kept pace with this light that was leading them. Around the campfire, they didn’t say, “It doesn’t matter if we get off track today.” They had a focus and a goal and did the work, watching the path, reading the terrain, keeping an eye on their supply and making sure they weren’t going in circles.

Ephesians 5:17 – ¹⁷ So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

What is the Lord’s will? We often ask, “what is the will of God for my life? What career? What spouse? Where should we live?” Those sorts of things. Those are good questions to ask. But,, God’s Word reveals a lot about God’s will right here, right now, concerning who you are supposed to be. It’s His will to make you like Himself. It’s His will for you to do good. It’s His will for you to avoid sexual immorality. It’s His will for you to bring praise to His glory and for you to give thanks in all circumstances. More on that in a few moments.

We know enough of God’s will to fill our days. And then, as we walk in His will, we discover the particular paths that He sets before us individually.

But, here is the contrast: Don’t be a fool, be wise. Don’t walk with the world, walk with the Lord.  Foolish here means senseless. The Greeks used it to describe a crazed, frantic person. It may also describe someone with a petrified heart. It’s another comparison to the cult of Dionysus – one of the very popular mystery cults that some of these Ephesians may have come out of or may have still been a part of!

The cult of Dionysus had wild rituals. In some, people would walk up a mountain “in the Dionysus gait which involves staggered walking, backward head flip, and loud chanting” while drunk.

Paul says, “Don’t be crazed. That’s foolish. Be wise.” To live in this wild way is ungodly.

Ephesians 5:18 – ¹⁸ And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:

Dionysus was a god of wine and drunkenness and insanity, among other things. Plato suggested “that the Dionysian festivals were symbolic of the joys of the afterlife.” One scholar writes, “to live a riotous, wanton, debauched, drunken life was characterized as a ‘Dionysian mode of life.’”

Paul says, “No! That’s NOT the way to live!” Reckless is the opposite of careful. The mystery cults were the opposite of what the Church should be. The mystery cult was about excess and perversion and personal gratification. The Church is about a family, growing together in love and harmony, building one another up, under the direction of a true and loving God, Who fills us with His power and His character and His grace.

Your Bible may say being drunk leads to “dissipation.” The term means riotous or wasteful. It’s pictured by the Prodigal Son. His life was dissipation. That’s reckless living, leading to the pig pen.

But, intoxication was a major part of Roman life. Pagan Gentiles viewed drunkenness as a means of unity with the spiritual world. Christianity is totally different than human culture.

We’re not to be out of control, we’re to be self-controlled. We’re not to be filled with toxins and chemicals that bring out the worst in us, we’re to be filled by the Spirit. Literally, the words say, “Be filled in spirit.” Contextually, Paul has been talking about the filling of the Holy Spirit, but we’re to be filled with the word of God, the grace of God, the peace of God, the character of God, His Divine nature, which we are partakers of.

Paul’s words here are that we Christians are to “go on being filled’ by the Spirit. A person filled full of the Lord should show the effects of His presence. A drunk person certainly demonstrates the presence of alcohol. So, are we a joyful people? Are we a spiritually exuberant people?

As for alcohol, Paul does not say “you can’t drink it.” But the Bible does want us to be careful about ingesting things that can inebriate us. It’s a sin for a Christian to be drunk or high. And, as people who are called to wisdom and understanding, we should take verses like Hosea 4:11 to heart:

Hosea 4:11 – ¹¹ Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away one’s understanding.

Ephesians 5:19 – ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord,

Are these things ways that we fill ourselves with the Spirit or are they the result of being filled? The truth is, you can make the case either way. So, if we’re Spirit-filled, we’re going to be a singing, worshipping people. And if we want to be filled full, then be a singing, worshipping people.

After all, we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. What happens in a Temple? Praise and prayer and offering and thanksgiving.

We learn here that our singing of Godly songs has two audiences: The Lord and each other. As you come in to church and sing the praises of Jesus, the people around you are able to witness His goodness and see your faith in action. We show our kids that we don’t just sit there with apathetic hearts, we adore God for Who He is and magnify His greatness and thank Him for His love.

Markus Barth writes, “Early Christian congregations were singing, jubilant, exulting assemblies.” They were writing songs and going back to the Psalms. A few Sundays ago, our pastor challenged us to start writing songs about the Lord. It’s said that Charles Wesley wrote 6,000 hymns during the Wesleyan Revival. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul indicated that everyone was coming to church with a new song they wrote!

Worship is an important thing. It’s supposed to be our mode of life. We speak these songs to each other. And it says “making music,” or your version may say, “making melody.” Our friends in the Church of Christ will cite this verse as a proof text that churches should not have instruments in their worship. The fact of the matter is that the term “making music” originally meant “pluck a string,” or even to “twang!”

Let’s be a twangin’ people! Let’s make it our business to show our kids, show our brothers and sisters, show the world around us the power of songs sung to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:20 – ²⁰ giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Always for everything. Wow. Paul can’t actually mean that, right? It can’t be done!

The truth is, it can be done. Paul said, “I’ve learned how to do it. I’ve learned how to be content in every circumstance.”

Complaining is a cancer to the spiritual life. The Lord warns us about it so many times. Can you imagine the Wise Men complaining on the road? If they did, we’d say, “Stop it! You’re about to see Jesus face to face and be a part of one of the most glorious stories of all time!”

When we see the disciples complaining in the Gospels, we think, “Stop it! Don’t you realize what a wonderful story you’re a part of?”

We need to convince ourselves that complaining is the stone in our shoes. We get upset about our circumstances, and we get frustrated and complain. That’s human nature. But complaining is the problem. And it causes damage down the line. It chokes out thankfulness, just like thankfulness chokes out complaining. But when we walk away from thankfulness, it has a very bad impact on us. In Romans 1, Paul said:

Romans 1:21-22 – ²¹ For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools

Ah, and now we’re back to wisdom and foolishness. Walking in wisdom means giving thanks always for everything. Circumstances will not always be good, but God is always good and we can always be thankful.

Ephesians 5:21 – ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

Submitting is a military term meaning to rank under. A Christian is to think of others more highly than he does himself. In Roman culture, servility was not a virtue. Paul keeps commanding counter-cultural things in these passages. There aren’t status levels in God’s Church. We’re all brothers and sisters. There are roles and assignments, some of which we’ll see in the coming verses, but we all have equal standing in the Lord’s family. And churches should behave that way.

But, how does it work if everyone is submitting to each other all the time? Well, it helps me to think back on the Wise Men. Sometimes as they traveled I’m guessing they were side by side. In some cases one was out front. During another stretch, that same guy might be bringing up the rear. But they were all going together. And, depending on the terrain and the experience and the way things shook out, one would be leading, another would be following, or they would be pushing a wagon over a hill together, or they would be scouting out a resting spot. It was a harmonious group effort.

One commentator writes, “Submission describes the placing of oneself in response to another or to something.” We are called to walk attentively, responding to each other, responding to the Lord’s leading with the Lord’s fullness. We’re called to make the most of these days, knowing this road we’re on leads us to the presence of the Messiah. Biblical Christianity, in action, is not only the best way to get there, it’s the only way to get there. Let’s get going together, singing as we go.

Glow In The Dark (Ephesians 5:6-14)

Ephesians 5:6-14 – ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things. ⁷ Therefore, do not become their partners. ⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light—⁹ for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth—¹⁰ testing what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. ¹³ Everything exposed by the light is made visible, ¹⁴ for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Did you love glow-in-the-dark toys as a kid? It was always so exciting to unwrap the little plastic bug and hurry to the nearest closet and close the door to see it shine. Then came the let down.

Those toys glow because chemists mix phosphors in with the plastics, which absorb energy from one source and then emit it as glowing light.

The discovery of phosphorus itself was a happy accident all the way back in the 1660s. A German fellow named Hennig Brand was trying to create gold out of urine. He collected 1,500 gallons of it in his basement lab and started cooking. At the end of his experiments, there was no gold, but there was a glowing substance: phosphorus.

Three hundred years later, in 1962, glow sticks were also developed accidentally. The chemist who stumbled upon the formulation had no idea glow sticks had become a thing in American culture. 50 years later, after being told his fluorescent goop had become a staple at events across the globe he responded, “Is that so? Maybe my granddaughter will think I’m cool now.”

You Christians have been made to glow in the dark. It wasn’t an accident – this has been the plan all along. Before planet earth was spinning on its axis, God, the Creator of light, planned to illuminate the darkness. He did so with His word and He continues to do so with His children. He scatters us into time and place so we can reflect His light in this dark world.

Paul is deep into a description of the differences between the Christian life and the non-Christian life. In these verses, his focus is on how we light up the dark by walking with Jesus.

Ephesians 5:6 – ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.

Paul is referencing the sins listed in verses 1 through 5. The lifestyle of ungodly sexual expression, greed, foul language, impurity, and idolatry – the ways of the Gentiles – the way of the world. Paul was very blunt in verse 5: “For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ.”

To live a life in these habits – to practice these things – reveals that a person is not a Christian. They do not have a place in the coming Kingdom. More than that, Paul reveals in verse 6 that God’s wrath is coming to judge the nations and the people who practice these sins. There is a future judgment coming on the whole earth. These is also here-and-now judgment. It’s not just coming someday, it comes now.

If we want to glow in the dark, we have to have a proper understanding about what is right and what is wrong. Paul gives us these warnings: The Devil is going to try to trap you. False teachers are going to try to deceive you. The world system is going to lie to you and tell you that sin isn’t really bad, it doesn’t have consequences, it’s going to gratify you and liberate you and benefit you.

But Paul says don’t be deceived by the empty arguments – the “shallow words,” devoid of substance and truth. These words encourage you to abandon the Lord’s guidance and principles. They offer liberation but they deliver bondage.

We need to learn how to recognize spiritual propaganda, how to recognize false teaching, and recognize messages that may seem appealing but underneath are just that same lie from Satan which says, “Has God really said…”

Talk of wrath against the wicked might arouse a feeling in us of, “Yeah, they have it coming!” But Paul would have us remember the grace of God, the mercy of God, the compassion of God – that, no matter the sin, such were some of us, but the Lord reached out and saved us. We’re here not to crush evildoers, but to rescue them. As we consider the sin in the world around us, it’s always a good reminder that judgment begins in the house of God. Paul referenced judgment 80 times in his writing. 60 of those references are directed toward Christians.

Ephesians 5:7 – ⁷ Therefore, do not become their partners.

In chapter 3, Paul used this word “partner” when he said Gentiles had become partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. This whole section is about difference and choice. We can either participate with God or we can participate with the unbelieving world.

Your life, your activities, your words are part of a greater whole. John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, no man lives alone.” Through your words, actions, and relationships, you partner either in the family of God and His unfolding work, or you partner with the kingdom of darkness as a son or daughter of disobedience. One partnership leads to growth and life and glory. The other leads to corruption and waste and death.

If you habitually practice the way of the Gentiles, specifically the sins Paul listed in the previous section, you cannot further the Gospel, you cannot build up the Church, you cannot bear spiritual fruit, you cannot fulfill your life’s purpose, you cannot delight God, you cannot grow in the likeness of Christ, you cannot be who you’re supposed to be. Paul cannot be clearer. It can’t happen.

When a person practices sin, their life becomes futile, their understanding becomes darkened, their heart becomes hard, and they will be excluded from the life of God.

Verses 7 and 11 call us as Christians to radical non-conformity. Don’t partner, don’t participate. It doesn’t mean we completely remove ourselves from interaction with unbelievers. That would be impossible. It means that we live, think, decide, and conduct ourselves in a totally different way.

Ephesians 5:8 – ⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light—

It’s not just that you were in the dark. You were darkness. Our hearts, depraved and dominated by sin, generate darkness in this world. This is why human society is the way it is. It doesn’t matter the political arrangement. It doesn’t matter the number of laws or the quality of the laws. It doesn’t matter the level of wealth or poverty. In every society you will find theft, violence, hatred, corruption, because our fallen hearts manufacture the darkness. We need heart transformation more than societal rehabilitation.

But now, if you have been born again, you are no longer darkness, you are light in the Lord. That’s an important clause. You were darkness, generating corruption and wickedness on your own. Now, as a Christian, you are light as long as you abide in Christ. Because He is the Light. He is the One Who brings fruit in your life and shines through you. We can’t be light unless we abide in Christ.

Christ is the Great Alchemist. He can take waste and turn it into gold. Beauty from ashes. He can take a ruined human life and fill it with His glorious purpose, bringing death to life.

There’s no starker difference than between dark and light. We were trapped, blind, hopeless. Then Jesus shined the Gospel into the dark. And we who believe have been rescued out of darkness and made children of light. A new identity. A new reality. New ability and perspective.

Since this is the case, walk as children of light. It’s the fourth time Paul has talked about our walk. Walking means the way we live life – our thoughts and choices and actions. He said, walk worthy of your calling, do not walk as the Gentiles do, walk in love, and now walk as children of light.

How do we do that? First, by reflecting the Light of the World. We reflect the character of God as we imitate Him. In 1 Thessalonians 5 and Romans 13 we’re told that walking in the light means living with self-control, wearing the armor of faith, encouraging one another, not quarreling, being spiritually awake.

So, we might apply verse 8 this way: You are no longer what you were. The question is, are you what you are? God has done these great things. Are we walking in them? Are we glowing?

Ephesians 5:9 – ⁹ for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth—

The supernatural result of walking with Jesus is that spiritual fruit will grow in our lives. That’s the work the Spirit does in us. But, if left to our own devices, we will slide back into the natural production of sin.

So, it’s not that we make ourselves good or generate our own righteous light. That’s impossible apart from the Lord. He will do it by His power. But we partner with Him and walk with Him.

Going back to our glow-in-the-dark analogy – those little toys don’t shine unless they’re exposed to light and then that light from the other source radiates from them. But when they are exposed to light, they can’t help but glow in the dark. It is how they have been made to function.

The fruits Paul lists here – goodness, righteousness, and truth – they’re all characteristics of God Himself. As we walk with God, orienting and calibrating our lives according to His truth and His will, His likeness shines through us, manifesting in Godly kindness, Godly generosity, Godly truth.

Ephesians 5:10 – ¹⁰ testing what is pleasing to the Lord.

Testing means, “analyze, trying to learn,” or, “examine,” or, “discern,” or, “find out by experience.”

A legalist comes along and says, “I’ve identified all the things I shouldn’t do and all the things I should do, and I do them and God is therefore obligated to be pleased with me.”

The fact of the matter is, living life isn’t as cut and dry as legalists want to pretend. There are things that are specific and definite, but much of our Christian lives will be spent figuring out what the Lord wants us to do in the situations we find ourselves in.

One resource says, “The Bible gives general principles for life, but followers of Christ must use wisdom to discern how to apply those principles to the concrete issues of their lives.” Elsewhere, Paul wrote, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

How? Paul said in Romans 12: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

What an exciting thing to know that our lives can please God. We can bring Him delight. Living the Christian life is not about getting God’s rage off of us. He loves us and is interested in us. He loves to hear you sing and he loves to be with you and to use you and enrich your life with His grace.

Ephesians 5:11 – ¹¹ Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.

What does it mean expose the works of darkness? The term can mean rebuke or convict or refute. But remember the analogy we’re in: The world is dark, you were part of it, now you’re saved and, as a Christian, you reflect the light of God’s truth and righteousness and goodness. As you glow in the dark, Christ’s light exposes evil for what it is.

One version puts it this way: “Let your life show by contrast how dreary and futile these things are.”

How does this work, practically? There are at least three ways: Through words spoken in private, by public preaching against them, or simply by our conduct, which will contrast the fruitlessness of darkness with the fruitfulness of light.

Our goal in exposing sin is not to harm the sinner. The goal is that the exposure therapy would convince them of what’s really going on – that they realize they’re stuck in rotten corruption and there’s an alternative. God shined a bright light on Saul of Tarsus, didn’t He? He did so in an effort to rsecue him. And aren’t we glad the Lord did that?

We can expose fruitlessness by simply being people who bear fruit. If I’m fed up with the evil around me, if I’m enraged by the corruption of society, one of the best things I can do to combat it is simply to bear spiritual fruit, which will happen as I walk with God and obey His commands.

Ephesians 5:12 – ¹² For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret.

Wait, are we supposed to expose the works of darkness or are we not even supposed to talk about them? Paul wants us to have a proper perspective on sin. It’s not a trifle. It’s not a joke. It’s not a small thing. It is shameful, terrible, rancid, and dangerous. Klyne Snodgrass writes, “[Paul] wants to convey the seriousness of these sexual sins without discussing the details of the depravity.” We shouldn’t take sin lightly in our own lives or in our church or in our society. We should see it the way God sees in and respond accordingly.

Ephesians 5:13-14a – ¹³ Everything exposed by the light is made visible, ¹⁴ for what makes everything visible is light.

You’ve probably seen those terrible experiments where they shine a blacklight on a hotel bed. The light makes the grime visible and then some choices can be made.

So here we are, glowing the light of Jesus Christ, by preaching the truth, by lovingly but faithfully calling out sin in our society and especially in the church, and by simply bearing spiritual fruit. We glow, and as we glow, the fruitless grime of evil is exposed. And, when it’s exposed, choices can be made. When sin is revealed in our lives, we can cleanse ourselves of it, and when unbelievers are exposed to the light, they often turn to Christ to be saved! Not always, but that’s what happened to Paul, and to the Ephesians, and to you and I.

Ephesians 5:14b – Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Scholars generally agree that this quote came from an ancient Christian hymn that would’ve been familiar to the church at Ephesus. There are some who make a case that Paul himself wrote it. I think that’s pretty neat. We don’t think of Paul as a songwriter, but there’s evidence that songs are hidden in Ephesians chapter 1 and Colossians 1.

The line of the song given come from Isaiah 26 and 60. We want our worship to be Scriptural – that’s a really good way for our services to glow in the dark. God’s Word is a lamp and a light, after all.

But, as we close considering this song, what does the Christian life offer to a person trapped and dying in the dark? Life where there was death. An awakening of the mind to truly understand for the first time. Real enlightenment. Most of all, the presence of God Himself in your life. “Christ will sin on you.” How? Because He comes and is with you, personally. He draws you to Himself and pours into you His power and grace and goodness and then you start radiating it back out.

He’s not some wizard behind the curtain. He is God with us. He’s turned His face to us. He lets His face shine on us. His presence gives us power.

In Exodus 33, the Lord said to Moses, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses answered, “If your presence does not go, don’t make us go up from here…I and your people will be distinguished by this from all the other people on the face of the earth.” And, after meeting with the Lord, what happened to Moses? He glowed! He was radiant. May God shine the light of His goodness through our lives as we walk with Him in this dark world.

The Imitation Aim (Ephesians 5:1-5)

Ephesians 5:1-5 – Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, ² and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. ³ But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. ⁴ Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. ⁵ For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Does God want you to be a good person? We might think, “Well, God is good and He commands me to do good, so, yes.” I’d suggest living to be a “good” person sets the bar too low. What does it mean to be “good” in our culture? What did it mean to be a “good” German in the Third Reich, or a “good” communist under Stalin? Stalin once said to Winston Churchill, “The Devil’s on my side, he’s a good Communist.”

Research shows that 75% of Americans consider themselves to be fundamentally good and 46% believe they are better than everyone they know. I wonder how that works when those people get together. I’m sure they spend hours arguing over who is going to pick up the check.

As Paul continues to explain the deep-yet-practical aspects of Christianity, we learn that the goal is not for us to be good, but to be Godly. Tonight’s verses are a list of things we should do and things we shouldn’t, but it’s not about checking boxes. The Apostle is still dissecting and revealing what it means to put on Christ, what it means to walk worthy with Him, what it means to be a Christian.

He begins this section with the bottom line up front: We are to imitate God in our conduct, attitudes, and words.

Ephesians 5:1 – Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,

Paul says, “Therefore!” Throughout this letter, we’ve been learning what it means to be saved, what power and resources are available to us, our place in God’s unfolding, cosmic work. Now it’s time to go do what we’ve learned.

Have you heard of “method” acting? That’s when actors stay in character for the whole duration of a film’s production. Steven Spielberg talked about working with Daniel Day-Lewis, who is a method actor, and Spielberg said, “[Daniel] so had Lincoln embedded in his psyche and his soul that I would come to come to work at the morning and Lincoln would [be sitting] behind his desk.”

The term imitate means to mimic. It refers to an actor taking on a role. And “[this] verb is always used…in the continuous tense, suggesting a constant habit or practice.”

Imitating God means reflecting His character to the world around us. It means to think like He does, to react like He does, to value what He does, to treat others the way He does.

Christians are to imitate God to such a degree that others can then imitate us as they follow after the Lord. Paul told the Thessalonians and the Corinthians, “Imitate me the way I imitate Christ.” Hebrews tell us that, as we walk with the Lord, we should identify Godly, Christian leaders whose life outcomes demonstrate faithfulness and spiritual vibrance, and we should imitate them.

We get to practice Christianity. To put on Christ, like a method actor. Not being phony, but allowing Him to redefine the way we think and act and move in this world as we take on His characteristics. This is possible because we share in His Divine nature. That’s what Peter said in 2 Peter 1.

This imitation isn’t just a should. This is who we’re made to be. We are children of God. Just as you grew up in a family, sharing genes and heritage and traditions and ways of thinking, to a much more profound degree we are children in God’s house. The natural progression of our lives is that we mature into spiritual adulthood, formed and fashioned according to God’s will and truths.

And, notice, you’re not just a child – you’re a loved child. It’s the same description God the Father used of Jesus at His baptism when He said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

Now, a child needs protection and provision and guidance and correction. And, a child is always growing and developing. So, don’t stay a baby, but grow into spiritual adulthood. We’ll still need that guidance and provision and all the rest from the Lord, but we expect to grow and progress.

Ephesians 5:2 – ² and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

This Book gives us a lot of practical items for living the Christian life, but the fundamental way we imitate God is by mimicking His agape love. Without love the rest is a waste of time.

The Father didn’t make the Son lay down His life. He did it willingly because He loves us so much.

That’s the kind of love we’re to practice. There is no greater love than when a person lays down their life on behalf of others. Of course, that can mean dying for someone, but remember: We’re called to take up a cross every day and live in that same kind of love. To love like living sacrifices.

1 John 3:16 – ¹⁶ This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

To love is to give. And loving in this way is a fragrant offering to God.

Now, Ephesus was a pagan place. We’ve talked a little about the mystery cults that thrived in the Empire and some of these Christians may have been part of. The mystery religions were very secretive, so we don’t always know a lot about what they did, but historians do know some things. And, from what we know, it looks like Paul was drawing some direct contrasts between Christ and these cults. Some of the commands he gives in this section would contradict the normal, regular practices of an Ephesian. And, it’s possible that people within the church were still practicing some of these things and Paul wants to set them straight and explain that Christianity must be distinct and set apart and counter-cultural. It can’t be blended with paganism or humanism or earthlyism.

The city of Ephesus was filled with the worship of Diana and the worship of Dionysus. The other name for this god is Bacchus and the festivals in his honor were known as Bacchanalia.

In mythology, Dionysus…was son of the divine ruler of the world and a mortal mother. He came in human form, was killed and was raised to life. And wine was a symbol of his blood.

Newcomers to the cult of Dionysus would go through a ritual in order to liberate themselves from their worldly constraints. The rituals included things like lots of intoxication, scourging yourself, music, and offerings. Participants would spread musk from the glandular secretions of animals around the ritual area as a fragrant aromatic offering.

Ephesian Christians needed clarity on the difference between the one true faith in the One true God and these other religions and cultures they had been steeped in all their lives. In the case of verse 2, Christ’s loving self-sacrifice is the fragrant aroma, one that we emulate as we love others.

Verse three highlights more differences.

Ephesians 5:3 – ³ But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints.

Debauched, sexual excess was part of these religious activities. It was normalized and expected. “You’re in the cult of Dionysus? This is what you do.” But it wasn’t just the religious people. Ephesus was a sinful city like every city, ancient or modern.

The library of Ephesus is a famous site that you can still visit today. Nearby, archaeologists have discovered what may be the world’s oldest advertisement: It’s for the brothel across the street from the library. One interpretation of the sign is, “up at the crossroads, on the left, you’ll find women whose love can be purchased.” But this wasn’t love. And it had no place in the life of a Christian.

The term Paul used is a general one, covering all sexual sins. Adultery, homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, pornography, and all other sexual behaviors that are outside of the Biblical boundaries that have been lovingly given by God. These are the boundaries God has given when it comes to sexuality: Sexual activity may only take place within a marriage between one biological man and one biological woman in a loving and consensual manner. Anything outside of that boundary is sin and is detrimental to your life, your partner’s, and society at large.

Paul says these sinful, sexual practices are not proper for saints. That can also be read, “there must not even be a hint of this stuff among you.”

Alongside sexual sin, Paul lists impurity and greed. Scholars argue from the language that these things were happening in the church of Ephesus. But these things do not fit the Christian life.

Have you ever had to wear clothes that don’t fit? Shoes that are too tight or pants that won’t stay up? It’s a problem. These practices Paul is talking about, which are so normal to the world are in total contradiction to the life Christ has given us.

Pure, living water, is supposed to flow out of us in streams of love and grace. These things – the sexual sin, the greed, they defile that water. And we need to have a strong reaction to pollutants in that water. In America, more than 50% of our water is too polluted to drink and 50% of our drinking water is contaminated with forever chemicals. We can’t accept that on a spiritual level.

It’s hard to know the true numbers, but based on the research I could find, somewhere between and 54% and 64% of Christian men admit to viewing pornography at least monthly. That’s a lot more than a hint. That’s just one issue. There isn’t a lot of research on greed. But the sexual ethic in our culture is totally rancid. Our goal isn’t to be good when it comes to sexuality, but to be Godly.

Ephesians 5:4 – ⁴ Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.

Does Paul mean we shouldn’t joke around? The Puritans were famously not a very jokey bunch. Jonathan Edwards said, “One great reason why religion is judge[d] to be melancholy is because it has no tendency to raise laughter, but rather to remove it; but that is no argument against the pleasantness of religion, for the pleasure that raises laughter is never great.”

Paul is talking about coarse, sexually vulgar speech. During those cult of Dionysus rituals, they would sing perverse and vulgar songs. Paul says, “That kind of thing isn’t suitable.”

We can expand obscene and foolish talking as, “speech that lacks…a godly perspective on life.” Again, it’s not about having speech that is better than the cussing sailor, it’s about Godliness.

Our words matter. Matthew 12 says that, “on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak.” Instead of dirty jokes are curses and Godless speech, we should give thanks. That’s the antidote to the vices of verse 4. Verbalized thankfulness helps to protect us from negative and unsuitable speech. It helps us imitate God.

Ephesians 5:5 – ⁵ For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

These sins are symptoms of idolatry. A few weeks ago, in our Sunday morning studies in Isaiah we heard about idolatry in our hearts and how we need to identify it and deal with it.

On the one hand, it seems like Paul has become very severe, especially after the excitement of chapters 1 through 3. But, as one commentator points out, it was a hard sell for Paul to tell these Ephesians, “You need to stop doing a lot of the things your culture and heritage finds acceptable and commendable.” Why? Because these things invade the heart and change the trajectory of your life and are an affront to our holy God.

So, is Paul saying if I tell a dirty joke I lose my spot in heaven? No. But he is pointing out that Christianity is completely, absolutely, fundamentally different in thought, attitude and behavior than regular, unsaved life. Our words and behaviors reveal who we are and whose we are. You could look at a life and evaluate whether that person belongs to Christ or belongs to Dionysus. The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. From the heart comes sexual immoralities. And from the heart flows God’s living water. The question is: What is the condition of the heart?

In the cult of Dionysus, participants would go up this mountain, totally intoxicated, in a weird ecstasy, maybe slashing themselves, and as they go they believed they were liberated from their constraints and became god-like, or at least like this god of wine, fertility, and insanity.

But a Christian is the one who is actually set free. Jesus was the one scourged for us. He walked the hill to Calvary, not to indulge Himself, but to die for us. And now we have the chance to put on His likeness, to share in His Divine nature. Now, we believers take off our former way of life, which was corrupted and ruined by our selfish, sinful desires, and are renewed in the spirit of our minds, made righteous and pure as we imitate our Holy God.

It doesn’t mean you lose your salvation if you fall into sin. Paul is talking about the habitual pattern of our hearts and lives. But falling into sin is a terrible, defiling thing. And a life given to sin is not a life that leads to the Kingdom. It leads to destruction. We must put off the old way.

Instead of going the old ways, the world’s ways, we are to walk with God, in love, imitating the Lord as we go. One commentator boils it down for us by saying, “Christianity is an initial decision followed by lifestyle discipleship.”

We’re on our way to glory – to an eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of God. We choose to go God’s way, trusting that He is right and He is true and He knows better. We throw off the defilement of the world’s culture around us. We progress in our relationship with Jesus, not perfectly, but increasingly. We grow and progress as we imitate God – not trying to be good people, but living as Godly people.

I’ll close with these words from the Apostle John:

1 John 3:2-3 –  ² Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.

The Several Habits Of Highly Corrected People (Ephesians 4:25-32)

Ephesians 4:25-32 – ²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor,^, because we are members of one another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and don’t give the devil an opportunity. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹ No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. ³² And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

Clothes make the man. Mark Twain is often cited as the source of that famous phrase, but versions of it are found in the works of Shakespeare, Erasmus, and Homer.

We also find the sentiment in the second half of Ephesians, where Paul tells us to strip off the old man and instead put on Christ. Take off the old self, no longer walk as the Gentiles do, put on the new self and walk worthy of your calling. That’s what Paul commanded, but how does that work out in real-life terms? That’s what our text tonight provides. Paul starts to give us the practicalities of Christianity. By the end of the letter he will have covered many aspects of life.

Some of the things he talks about are very elementary. These early Christians were, in some cases, “learning the most basic ethical lessons.” We may think we’ve come a long way from needing to be told that we shouldn’t lie or steal but on the other hand, take a look around. We live in a culture that is coming apart at the seams. The foundations of ethics and morality are crumbling. Those who don’t know the Lord do need the basic lessons of Biblical ethics. And, those of us who have been instructed in these things can always benefit from a reminder of the fundamentals.

Because, left as we are, in our fallen human nature, we will deteriorate into lying, thieving, shouting monsters who cause pain to those around us. But, thanks to the grace of God, we are empowered to take off that old nature and put on Christ, and with Him a powerful newness that generates an overflow of grace in our relationships with other people and with the Lord Himself.

Ephesians 4:25 – ²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

This is the third of four “therefores” between chapter 4, verse 1 and chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore, walk worthy. Therefore, no longer walk as gentiles. Therefore put away certain behaviors and instead put on other behaviors. Therefore, imitate God.

The therefores flow out of the mysteries and truths that were revealed in the first three chapters. All that God has done. All that God has provided. All that He has called us to. All that He has chosen and predestined us for. All that He has accomplished and is accomplishing in our lives. Therefore we can put on the equipment, operate in the power, and experience the transformation of salvation. This is how we exercise our faith. This is how we put the power of God into practice.

Paul begins with “put away lying.” Another way of reading it would be “strip off falsehood.” He’s still using clothing words.

Why do we lie? Why is it one of the first things we do as children? We lie because we either want something for ourselves or we don’t want someone to know the truth about us. We lie to manipulate or to excuse or to try to cover guilt. It’s a selfish action.

One of the big themes of Ephesians is that your life is not just about you. Your life is meant to be joined into the massive, ongoing work of God. Your life has been designed and handcrafted so that you can be connected to other people. You are now a neighbor. Notice what Paul said. “Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor.” Well, who is my neighbor? That was a question someone asked Jesus and He gave us one of the greatest parables ever.

If you’re a Christian, God wants you to see yourself as a neighbor to the people around you. And, when it comes to other Christians, you’re more than a neighbor, you are members of one another. Living stones, conjoined and (hopefully) harmonizing together as you walk with the Lord.

This proves to be a challenge in our individualistic culture. America has always loved individuality, but now, coming out of the pandemic, individualism has a new malignancy. Many people see others as enemies, others as infectors, others as the source of all the problems in the world. Paul will remind us that our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil.

The Christian life is about community. Yes, you have an individual faith and you are an individual part in God’s work, but we are always connected to others and we always have a responsibility to others – to build them up and unify together and grow as we each walk with the Lord.

So, we are to put off lying and live by the truth. We don’t just give the Lord lip service. Instead, we live with our lips in service of His truth. Because words matter. Our speech matters.

Ephesians 4:26-27 – ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin.^, Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and don’t give the devil an opportunity.

These verses are often yanked out of the passage and, generally, the idea is “Anger is not a good thing, but we all get angry, so if you get angry don’t sin and make sure you deal with it by bedtime.”

But, does that make sense in the context? If I took out anger and put in a different sin, would we feel comfortable with that interpretation? In the context of the passage, what do we see? Paul – multiple times – presents a do/don’t formula: Don’t lie, speak the truth. Don’t steal, work honestly. Don’t rage, be compassionate. But here, “Well, you’re gonna be angry…I guess just don’t do it too much.” It doesn’t fit with how Paul has been talking. Strip off lying. Put away the old man. No longer walk as the Gentiles do. “Eh…you’re gonna be mad sometimes…just keep it to a dull roar.”

There are a couple of great papers that demonstrate that Paul is not saying “If you get angry,” or, “When you’re tempted to anger,” but that this is a command: BE angry!

A lot of commentaries will admit that Paul seems to be talking about “righteous anger,” but then they quickly say, “Yeah, but even righteous anger is going to lead to sin, so don’t do it.” Some point to verse 31 where we read “Let all…anger…be removed from you” and say, “There you go.” Well, which is it? Is it “remove anger right now,” or is it, “anger is a part of life, so give it the rest of the day, but if you stay angry while you sleep, the Devil is gonna get you good!”?

Paul is differentiating anger and sin in verse 26. It seems he’s giving us a command. The Ephesian church may have been struggling with lying, with theft, and with relational conflict. We know from Acts 20 that men from within their own group were going to rise up and become what Paul called “savage wolves,” seeking to distort the truth. And so, there’s a good case to understand verse 26 as Paul saying, “be angry about the fact of such sin in your midst and do something about it! Don’t wait, but act now! Because if you don’t Satan will establish a beachhead in your congregation.

Think about it this way: The Ephesians were just told to put on Christ, right? In chapter 5, verse 1, they’ll be told to be imitators of God. Does God get angry? Is it a sin when He gets angry? When did Jesus get angry? He was angry at the moneychangers who were defiling His Father’s house and putting barriers between God and man. He was angry at the Pharisees when they tried to stop Jesus from healing a man on the Sabbath. He was angry when the communion of God and man and believers together was obstructed or taken advantage of. God’s anger is against sin.

Now, anger is not God’s leading attribute. He is slow to anger. Isaiah 28 tells us it is His unexpected and unusual work. But righteous anger is a part of Who He is, and therefore, if we are putting on Christ, there should be an element of righteous anger against sins that divide. That’s what we need to act quickly on because, when we don’t, the Devil is able to get a foothold in the church.

Paul’s letters are full of exhortations to act quickly in response to some open sin among the church body. With that said, in these angry times, it is important that we differentiate man’s anger and God’s anger. Man’s anger is something we need to put off. Stephen Fowl writes, “Anger cannot and should not be the Christian’s constant disposition.” So, let’s not indulge ourselves in human anger and pretend like it’s all righteous indignation. God’s anger is not just about feeling mad.

There’s one more hint that this is what Paul meant when he said be angry. In Jesus’ letter to this church in Revelation 2 we read: “I know that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.” So it seems they were faithful to do something about the lying wolves Paul warned them about. They were provoked to do what was necessary to protect the life and health of the Body, and that was a good thing.

Ephesians 4:28 – ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

It seems this was a current problem. He didn’t say, “Some of you used to be thieves, now you don’t steal anymore.” He said, “Stop stealing.”

Of course, stealing isn’t just pocketing something that doesn’t belong to you. It includes uneven scales. Leeching off others when you’re able to provide for yourself. Not being honest on your taxes. We should take this verse to heart as we watch our society become more and more rife with theft. We need these basic reminders of right and wrong.

Why do people steal? It’s like lying. It’s for self. I want something, so I take it. But the Christian life is oriented around others – loving neighbor as yourself. So not only should we not steal, we should swing all the way to the other end, where we work to store up a surplus so we can give to others.

Notice though: Paul encourages us to share with those in need, not in want. What’s the difference? Just because someone wants something, doesn’t mean they need it. But who decides? The Spirit does. When we decide, we tend to make arbitrary, restrictive lists. But, in the Bible, we see God signing off and all sorts of things. Sometimes a cup of water is what is “needed.” Sometimes it’s medical care. Sometimes it’s a warm welcome. Sometimes it’s clothing. Sometimes it’s borrowing a donkey for an afternoon. “The Lord has need of it.”

Sometimes it’s a box of presents for a child on the other side of the world. Or giving someone a ride when they’re walking home in 115° heat. The Spirit knows and will guide. Our part is to prepare to share. It takes a willing mentality and, in some cases, a stored up supply of resources.

Ephesians 4:29 – ²⁹ No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

Just like our earnings can help those in need, so too our words can help those in need. How? because our words can be a conduit of God’s grace and truth. Truth sets people free and grace builds them up. It gives them strength for living.

Since our words can be such a help for those in need, like a spring in a desert, of course we don’t want anything foul to come out of it. Foul literally means “rancid fish, rotten wood, withered flowers, or diseased lungs.” To speak ungraciously is like poison – like stealing from a neighbor.

Ephesians 4:30 – ³⁰ And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption.

Paul breaks in with this reminder that life is not just about our conduct toward others, it’s also about our closeness with God. Specifically, Paul talks to us about our relationship with the Holy Spirit. He is our Helper, our Comforter, the One Who will guide us in all truth. If you’re a Christian, He permanently indwells your heart. He is here with us, right here, right now.

Did you know you can hurt him? Not in the sense that you could weaken Him in any way, but “root idea of the word ‘grieve’ is ‘to cause pain.’” It’s possible because He’s a real Person you are in relationship with. He cares about your life and your words and your activities.

God has so much love for you, so many intentions and thoughts toward you, He has done so much on your behalf. When we rebel against Him, when we yank away from His tender touch, when we stamp our feet and dive into the filth of sin, of course it brings Him sorrow. God is a Person. He is a God Who weeps. He is a God of emotion – perfect emotion, but still He feels. He cares.

You see, it’s not just that God has done a lot for us. It’s not that God has provided a bunch of awesome equipment and now we can choose to wear it or not. It’s also that God is with us now and He is whispering to our hearts even now. He has taken up residence with in us. He walks with us. He calls to us. He works in and through us. He attaches Himself to us. He is bringing us to this final day of redemption where all will be made right and we can either bring the Lord joy or grief. When we forget what God’s plan is, when we forget what He has made possible in our lives by the power of His grace, we will fall back into the old nature and bring Him grief.

Ephesians 4:31 – ³¹ Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice.

These are all things we’re to take off. These are the old garments of the sin nature. The word “removed” can also mean “weigh anchor.” We’re to sail our lives away from these things because they are incompatible with Christianity.

But, again, these characteristics define our culture right now. Every cable news show. Every viral video. Every political email. These are the vices being sold to us as virtues.

All of these attitudes are rooted in unforgiveness. Which is why instead of being clothed in resentment and hatred, we should:

Ephesians 4:32 – ³² And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

Who did Christ forgive? He forgave the thief dying beside Him who had spent some of his last breaths blaspheming the Savior of the world. He forgave Peter, His dear friend who denied Him three times. He forgave the rest of the disciples who abandoned their Lord when trouble came. He forgave the very people who pounded the nails into His hands and feet. “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” He forgave Saul of Tarsus, killer of Christians. He forgave you and me. He forgives anyone who will surrender to Him and receive His gift of grace. Anyone.

That’s how big His mercy is. That level of compassion, that breadth of forgiveness is ours to put on. That’s the robe Christ gives us – the clothes of the Kingdom. And we must put on this forgiveness, not only for the benefit of others and the furtherance of the Gospel, but because our forgiveness of others is tied to God’s forgiveness of us. We read about it in the Sermon on the Mount and in the parable of the unforgiving servant. Serious passages worth our study.

People remember Mark Twain saying that “clothes make the man.” Actually, that’s a paraphrase. Here’s the full quote: “[One] realizes that without his clothes a man would be nothing at all; that the clothes do not merely make the man, the clothes are the man; that without them he is a cipher, a vacancy, a nobody, a nothing…There is no power without clothes.”

The garments of Christ, the new self He has provided and invites us to put on, transform us into the people God has created us to be. There is no power without these clothes. Without them, our lives wither. With them we become part of something eternal, supernatural, magnificent. Put on Christ.