Ephesians Chapter 6
(Ephesians 6:1)Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
- A very short statement with no mincing of words, to the point
- Obey your parents as saved children (saved or not)
- Obey your parents according to the LORD's Word
- Obey your parents because it is the right thing to do, according to the LORD's Word
- "In the LORD"; really the only way to do it properly, is with the aid of the Holy Ghost
- "In the LORD"; really the only way to do it properly, is with the reading of the Scriptures
- "In the LORD" is also by doing only things that are right according to the Word of the LORD, avoiding, for instance of any covert, subtle or blatant, evil sin the world demands you practice.
Honour thy father and mother;(which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
- Obedience is honouring
- Ten main commandments; only one with a promise
- The promise is not wealth, health, peace with neighbors, love from anyone-no, just a longer life!
Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother
(Exodus 20:2-17)I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. ¶ Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
(Ephesians 6:4)
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
- Provoking is a deliberate action, even if the intended consequence is not wrath, when one knows that the action will bring wrath anyways
- Discipline/corporate punishment are not provocations
- Discipline/corporate punishment are not abuse!
- Rebellious children are already self-provoked
- David basically never said no to Absalom-look at the result
- Nurture and admonition are corrections, training, raising
- Avoiding all aspects of "human psychology, which has infiltrated the Church, is an excellent start-and finish
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
NUR'TURE, n.
- That which nourishes; food; diet.
- That which promotes growth; education; instruction. Eph 6.
- To feed; to nourish.
- To educate; to bring or train up.
He was nurtured where he was born.
- To warn or notify of a fault; to reprove with mildness.
Count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. 2 Th 3. - To counsel against wrong practices; to caution or advise.
Admonish one another in psalms and hymns. Col 3. - To instruct or direct.
Moses was admonished of God, when he was about to make the tabernacle. Heb 8. - In ecclesiastical affairs, to reprove a member of the church for a fault, either publicly or privately; the first step of church discipline. It is followed by of, or against; as, to admonish of a fault committed, or against committing a fault. It has a like use in colleges.
(Ephesians 6:5)
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
- This goes for employees, as well as servants and even slaves
- The easiest way to do this is to remember the words, "after the flesh", as they are only temporal, and your real, true Master forever is the LORD Jesus Christ Himself.
- Singleness is without phoniness, in sincerity, and as though your boss is the only one you serve on earth, not yourself, not another person, just the boss.
- In doing so we serve Jesus Christ, not only the boss
- The state of being one only or separate from all others; the opposite of doubleness, complication or multiplicity.
- Simplicity; sincerity; purity of mind or purpose; freedom from duplicity; as singleness of belief; singleness of heart.
(Ephesians 6:6)
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
- This is the exact opposite of the singleness, sincerity, real service
- The purpose of doing it is to act, to be a duplicitous, deceitful friend
- Remembering who we work for in the end, the Real Boss of Bosses, LORD of lords, King of Kings
DUPLICITY, n. [L., double.]
- Doubleness; the number two.
- Doubleness of heart or speech; the act or practice of exhibiting a different or contrary conduct, or uttering different or contrary sentiments, at different times, in relation to the same thing; or the act of dissembling ones real opinions for the purpose of concealing them and misleading persons in the conversation and intercourse of life; double-dealing; dissimulation; deceit.
- In law, duplicity is the pleading of two or more distinct matters or single pleas.
With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
- This whole posture and attitude is reflected in the perfection or excellence of our work
- Again it is repeated.....there is the earthly boss(the man) and the LORD Jesus Christ (God)
- The service is what we do, the good will is how, our attitude in doing it, thankful to God we have work
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
- Not the only motive, but rewards do motivate
- In either case, as a slave or free man, same actions, same commands, both rewarded,
And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
- Christian bosses are to be the best kind to work for. Yet, unfortunately, they are way too often the absolute worst
- The source of this is pride, arrogance, which has no place in the Christian, let alone the Christian boss
- The source of the pride is forgetting that God is their boss, and God Who is everyone's boss, especially those who are saved
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
- Being strong in the LORD is knowing His Word and words, daily prayer and reliance on God moment by moment
- There is no substitute
- It is His Might, not ours, that vanquishes all; we are nothing without Him and His Might
The Whole Armour of God
No doubt Paul had seen his share of Roman armour on troops prepared for battle, or keeping peace on horseback, doing crucifixions as he did before he got saved, etc. He was exposed to them constantly. This armour we are to wear consists of prayer, careful study of God's Word and faith. It is a spiritual armour, not a physical one, whose effectiveness will become known only when we engage in spiritual warfare, which for some is daily, for others occasional.This battle can come in the form of friends, family, co-workers who will persecute us, hound us, watch our every move to see us sin, ready in an instant to accuse (or even falsely accuse us) us, usually with the old saying, "You call yourself a Christian??". This assault comes both in the physical realm and the spiritual one, the enemy using people or fallen angels to harass us daily. If we do what Jesus did in Matthew chapter four and Luke chapter four, like those instances, we will see it works.
(Matthew 4:4)
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
(Matthew 4:7)
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
(Matthew 4:10-11)
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
(James 4:6-7)
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
(James 4:7)
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
(Ephesians 6:11)
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
- It is presumed that Paul would have been looking at a Roman guard, or simply knowing and recalling their gear
- There is no other way to stand, quite literally none
- It is not our armour, it is not just any armour, as both would be ineffective in spiritual battle. It is God's armour
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
- This is always true, even with the person who on earth is against you at every turn. it is spiritual, and must be fought that way
- It must be fought first always in the spiritual realm, using the Holy Spirit, because we will win that way, because our God is bigger.
- Again, this is through prayer and careful study of the word
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
(Ephesians 6:13)
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
- One cannot fight very well when they are not on their feet!
- Notice the repeat of putting on the whole armour of God here...repetition mean significance
- This also implies that we do not even have our own armour
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
- This is the belt, which cinches it all together, and the Truth is the Word of God
- Take that Truth, study it, read it, believe it, memorize it.....you will need it
- The breastplate of righteousness is the 100% assurance of our salvation, and that it will never be lost, when fiery darts are hurled at us, they will bounce off if we are saved (v. 19)
- Breastplates were not carried, but worn on the body, on the chest, heart area
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
(John 10:28-29)
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
(Ephesians 6:15)
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
- The Gospel is to go forth, not stay with us, as in the Great Commission
- Spreading the Gospel is designed to protect our walk (feet), like shoes
- It does not say to ever take off those shoes, so spiritually we are to always be ready to go
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
(Matthew 28:19)
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
(Ephesians 6:16)
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
- A shield is not a breastplate and, as such, is not worn, but carried and swung to avoid arrows and darts
- Our righteousness is internal and eternal; whereas our faith is external, wielded, carried, swung when needed
- We can not lose our breastplate in battle because we are wearing it as part of ourselves, but we can lose our shield, our faith
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
- This helmet is again something worn to protect the mind, the thought life, and especially to protect against the accusations of the enemy/enemies that "You can't be saved! Look what you just did!"
- Jesus is our attorney who got us off, and had us declared "NOT GUILTY" before the Father
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
- Prayer: Talking to God as a Father, Our Father
- Supplication: Asking for things for ourselves, others
- In the Spirit: According to God's Word and Will, and no other sorts of prayers
And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
- If Paul asks for prayer for himself here, should we not ask, always?
- The prayer is for opportunity(open doors), boldness, words to speak, convincing words, revealing words about God and the Gospel to the lost
For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
- Which we also are, representatives of the Gospel, bound to preach, compelled by the love of fellow man
- Boldly means strongly, unashamedly, without any fear or doubt, but humbly and not arrogantly
But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:
- Paul says here, "Speaking of ambassadors, I am sending one to you to let you know all that is happening with me!"
Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.
- News can be good or bad, but sometimes, no news is not good news, it is uncertainty, fretting
- Tychicus was being sent with the letter to Ephesus to let them know what they wanted to know
- Paul had had great fruit in Ephesus, releasing many from the bondage of idolatry, them burning pagan books, etc.(Acts 18-20)
- This was also a threat to the local economy, so they ran him out of town
- When he presumably went there the very last time, he told them that he was going to Jerusalem to be be persecuted, probably even martyred (Acts 20:23)
Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Peace. Love. Faith. God the Father and God the Son.
- "Send on that peace, love and faith for me, please"
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Written from Rome unto the Ephesians by Tychicus.
- Grace is the reason for the peace, love, faith.
- Tychicus was not only the letter carrier, he was the "ghost writer" for Paul, who possibly was unable, perhaps because this was his "thorn in the flesh"?
- History may record that this was his eyesight, making it impossible to write, but no dogma here.
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
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