Ephesians 6 - Stand - 05/17/26

Ephesians 6:1-24

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),

3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,

6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,

7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,

8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,

20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

21 So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything.

22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.

23 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:01

Good evening, everybody. My name is Simon, and I'll be reading, well, like he said from Ephesians 6, 1 through 12. Give y'all a minute. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother for this commandment with this is the first commandment with a promise. That it may go well with, that it may go well with you, that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but discipline them with instruction of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Bond servants, obey your earthly masters with fear of trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ, not by the way of eye service, as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ. Doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as for the Lord and not for man. Knowing that whatever God, whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Masters, do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

SPEAKER_05 1:49

For we we do not wrestle against flesh and floods, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic power over his present darkness. Against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. This is the word of the Lord. It is active and true.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Good job, family. Dennis family. Thank y'all for doing that. Stay standing as we decree over the service. Father, we thank you today. Just put yourself in an attitude of worship, of prayer to the King. We thank you today, Father. We thank you that you are in control of all things, that you are working things out, not only for our good, but for the good of your your church, for the good of your people. And Lord, today we decree. I decree in the mighty name of Jesus we are strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. We put on the full armor of God and take our stand against the schemes of the devil. We are not ignorant of his devices, we are not afraid of his threats, and we are not moved by his deceptions. We honor in our homes, children honor parents, parents do not provoke their children. We work as unto the Lord in every workplace. Having done everything, we stand. The belt of truth is fastened, the breastplate of righteousness is in place, the shoes of the gospel are on our feet, the shield of faith is raised, the helmet of salvation is secured, and the sword of the Spirit is in our hand. We stand and we do not fall, because we walk in victory, not to it in Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen. Let's get into this sermon today. We're at the end of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter six. How have you liked uh the first five chapters so far? Good. I feel confident about that one hand clap. Thank you so much. We're going somewhere with this. Uh so we're on our sixth and final chapter, six weeks in, one letter, and Paul has gone from heavenly places, and today he's gonna end up in your household. He's gonna end up in the home. And so if you've missed any of these, you can go back. Uh if you you can find the podcast somewhere. It's on a website or somewhere, or anywhere that you get a podcast, is what I'm told. So you can find those and you can catch up. Uh so Paul is coming from this from the heavens uh to the household, from chosen to standing. Paul has been building towards something this entire time as he's uh written this letter. And Ephesians 6 is actually the landing strip for this entire letter that he's written. Uh he's gonna land the plane, if you will. He's gonna take us somewhere and then, or he's been taking us somewhere, he's gonna land it. Everything will land right here. And he's gonna go into this place of in how children are supposed to act with their parents, and how parents are supposed to raise children, uh, how workers are supposed to show up for their jobs, and how leaders treat those under their authority. It's also gonna go as far as uh how the Church of Jesus Christ stands armed against principalities and powers, against darkness and rulers of this age. And so he's gonna do all these things in this one chapter here. He's gonna lay them out for us. So the letter that started in heaven in the heavens ends in the household. Because the God who seated you above every principality also walks with you in everyday life. So remember what I told you in the beginning that God, uh in the very first chapter, he identified you and he gave you your identity, and he's telling you where you're seated. He's telling you where you're where you're placed. And so today, out of all that he's been telling you, all this identity, today he's gonna land it and he's gonna tell you exactly how you're supposed to act, exactly how you're supposed to fight, and what you have that's on your side, so uh on your side to fight. And so those are the things that we're gonna jump into. This first point or first movement is the household, the children, the parents, and the Lord. And so you got he they just read it to you, but Paul is writing into, let me kind of set it up for you. You're gonna hear a word here you've probably never heard before, but Paul is setting this up uh in the Roman world. Now remember, when he's writing this uh uh letter to Ephesus to the Ephesians, uh, we didn't exist, so our world didn't exist. And so we have to understand what he's writing into, and then we can see how it works in our own lives, right? And how it applies to our life. And so this is what he's gonna do. And so he's in this in the Roman world and he's in this paterfamilius, right? Pater familius, which is it what it actually means is the male is the head of the household. And the reality in the Roman world is the male, the father, he was the end-all be-all. Whatever he said went. And it's interesting because in that time he was talking to not only children and wives, but he was also talking to slaves, people that served in the house. And that's why he goes into all of this in this chapter. And so, in the in the Roman world, he had all of these things that he was in charge of, and everybody, slaves, children, wives, everybody had to do what he said was to be done. Now, I know some of you guys are like, man, I wish I was in my house right now. I could just get her to do one thing. But the reality is this what Paul lays out is gonna change the dynamic of how you think. Now, last week, guys, I kind of hammered on you a little bit about how you're to be in your marriage and how you're supposed to um act and how you're supposed to lead. Why am I hammer on you again today? Just because that's what Paul did. He hammers. And so that's how we're gonna go into this. So he just begins with the significance of addressing the household relationships, and yet he reframes how authority is to be exercised amongst Christians around Jesus, like self-giving love. So he wants us to have our life like Jesus' life, where we're actually loving people by giving to people, not just being uh selfish and wanting things for ourselves, but we actually wants us to give to those that are around us and those that we're leading. And so he begins to show us that this responsibility rather than domination. Children, wives, slaves, no exceptions. And instead of attacking that system from the outside, see Paul didn't come at it and say, you know what, the Roman system, this pater familias is wrong. He just says, I know what the culture is, now I'm gonna speak at the culture and tell you what you're supposed to be like in this culture. Now I know what you see, like uh for us, I know what you see on social media, I know what you see on TV how people act and the way they are, but he's going to not come against that culture, like that system. He's actually gonna tell you, okay, if you're in the system, here's how you're supposed to act, here's how you're supposed to live as a Christian. This is the way that you're supposed to approach this. And so this is the depth of this part of the letter that Paul is coming at us uh with. And so Paul places Christ at the center of every relationship, and it contains it contains uh this letter contains exactly who Christ is, especially this chapter, and it's gonna be, I think, powerful for you. So hopefully you'll take notes, and of course, we have been uh uh giving you the notes after the service on Facebook, and of course, putting up devotionals if you haven't found that. Uh we are parents, I see a bunch of kids over here, but we are uh launching something new, and you'll be able to find that, and Stephanie will be at the end of the service and tell you all about that. Uh kids zone that they can go on, and we've made devotionals for uh age groups uh so that you can find those devotionals wrapped around what we're giving the adults for devotionals. We're also doing something for the kids as well. So um I if you're your first time here, we find it important to have this age group in the service, worshiping with us, hearing the word, and uh just developing alongside the adults. And I think that we can do things like what we're gonna do through this, giving them devotional, giving them a way to interact with you as parents, but also the word and grow them uh in what the truth is. And so those things will be available. All right, let's get into this uh Ephesians 6, 1 through 3. Bible says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right on your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise. That's important. That it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land. See, Paul quotes the fifth commandment out of ten. But he points something out that most people skip over. This is the first commandment that's attached to a promise. This is actually it when he says this, he says, Listen, if you obey your parents, you're gonna live long. You're gonna have a healthy life. Things are gonna go good for you. So obey. And so it's a powerful thing that he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing as he lays this out. And so he tells them to make sure that they listen to this detail. This is the first commandment with a promise, he tells them. God did not just command honor of parents, he attached a covenant promise to it that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Hey kids, you want to live a long time? Anybody over here? Yeah? Well, the scripture tells you I know there are other kids everywhere, but I got a bunch of them right here. The scripture tells you, each of you, to obey your parents. And there's a promise that's attached to that commandment that says, if you'll obey your parents, if you'll honor your parents, then you'll live long in the land. So you remember that when you're wanting to go, I don't want to do that, then you go, oh no, if I obey my parents, I'll live long. You said you wanted to live a long time, so there you go. It's on you now. Got it? Okay. So there's parents are like, yes, yes. Remember what Pastor Billy said? You're not obeying. Your life is shortened. Don't do that, parents. Don't do that. So honor towards so this word obey your parents, though, it's different than just obey. Because in our language, obey, we we understand that. Like I just follow the rule, what you tell me to do. But it's literally honor. Honor your parents. Not just obey them, not just do the action there, but honor them. And here's the key to that it's speaking to all children, no matter what age. Honor your parents. You could be old today, and your parents are older than you, but honor your parents. And so we all need to learn that. We all need to have that going on in our lives. As a matter of fact, the Greek word here that he uses is tomato, and it's honor, to prize, to esteem highly, to treat as valuable. It carries the idea of ascribing worth to someone, not merely complying with their instructions. So it's not just doing what they tell you to do, it's actually looking at your parent and going, man, they're worthy. They're worthy to be honored, they're worthy to be prized. I love them. I don't always agree with them, but I definitely love them and I want to honor them. And this is what he's trying to lay out so that we can grab this. In the very first couple of verses, as he puts it out, he says, Children obey or honor your kid, tomayo, your parents. You can comply externally while holding contempt internally. Anyone know what I'm talking about? You can be like I'm doing the action, but I'm griping about it the whole time. I can remember when I was younger, my my mom said, Go take out the trash. And I went, but I griped the whole time. The unfortunate thing was she had the windows up because it was a cool day. And she heard me go to the trash can as I was taking a wind, and when I got back in, I got in trouble because I said some things about my mom I shouldn't have said. I was obeying, but I wasn't honoring. And what he's saying is, obeying and honoring are the same thing. And so when you get an instruction from your parents to honor them is to not only obey them, but to actually esteem them as a prize, to esteem them as somebody that's worth uh following. Okay? Now I know what you're thinking, like, man, you don't know my parents, and uh you don't know how they are. And and I think that you know that as you follow God, God is not going to lead you in a place where you do something out that's morally wrong, that that's against his law. And so if you have a parent or somebody that's leading you, that's leading you in something that's morally wrong or or is not acceptable, God's not asking you to do that. He's asking you to honor a parent and give them the worth that they're owed in anything that will fall under what God would cover, right? And so if somebody's asking you to do something that you shouldn't be doing, if somebody's telling you I'm your parent, you should do this, and it does this doesn't fit in God's word or God's law, then he's not telling you to follow that. What he's telling you is to follow a parent that's worth it, that's worthy of that. Most of our parents are, and we should we should give them the due respect of that. And so this is what he's saying. He's saying honor or obey is so important for us. And for the adults in the room, this is does not expire, like I said, when you turn 18. Remember that, graduates. We just prayed for you and you're graduating, so I know you just became officially adults on Tuesday when you graduate and you get the diploma and you think you got it all figured out. You don't, and we're still your parents, and we're still going to try to help you. And uh, as long as you listen, you'll be in good shape if we're giving you great advice. But the honor due to parents does not have an age limit. The expression of it changes as life stages change, but the posture does not. The honor does not. Just because you're getting older doesn't mean that your parents aren't due that honor. And in the Lord, where it says is the governing phrase. And so it says, honor your parents in the Lord. And this is the government of the entire phrase. This is not an unconditional obedience, like I said, to every word a parent says. It is honor that flows from your relationship with Christ, honor that would not require you to violate your conscience or your God. And so this honor that I'm talking about, it just grows with the person that you're honoring, but it wouldn't ask you to violate anything, it God or anything in your conscience, okay? And so this is a very important thing as he moves us into six. Now, he moves on. Here we go, fathers. He moves on in Ephesians 6, 4. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. You see, Paul addresses fathers specifically because in the Roman household the father held absolute power, as I told you a moment ago. And this absolute power without accountability produces children who are crushed or bitter or both. You see, sometimes you get into where a father gets to a place where he leads with a strong, strong, strong hand, but he causes bitterness and he crushes your spirit. And that's not what God's calling us to do as fathers. He's calling us to love and lead, be strong, but also be able to love and hold on to and grab your children when they need it and all the different things. Sometimes you get one or the other. You get one that's too soft or one that's too hard. And what he's actually telling us is the best way to father is to have a little bit of both. Be strong when you need to, but be loving when you need to as well. Be disciplinary, but also make sure that you can look them in the eyes and tell them when you're wrong. Look them in the eyes and tell them, explain to them. Not always come down with the hammer. And so Paul's word to fathers is a word of restraint and responsibility. Do not provoke your children to anger. I didn't really study this out. I'll have to go back, but I told Stephanie this morning as I was reading, we were at breakfast and I was reading her the chapter. Um you notice he doesn't say mothers. He didn't even mention mothers. Just mentions fathers. And last week he was on the husbands and he was coming down on them on how they were to act, and then this, and I thought, you know, I think it makes a lot of sense because we're supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the house. We are supposed to lead and guide and move things. And so, as men, he's writing, particularly because he is a man, but more importantly, because he understands the culture, and I think we're in the same place of culture where men have have come up, been raised up, or even in this world, there's two things going on. Some of us are a little bit older. We've been raised up where we just take care of what we have to take care of, and then she takes care of everything else. Or the flip side of that, of what we're uh emasculating men a little bit in this day and age, is we're going, hey, listen, don't worry about the women will take care of everything. You just you just show up, you just come and they'll they'll make all the decisions. And I don't think either one of those are right. What Paul is saying is, men be men, read your word, pray with your family, lead them. You know, in Seminary I had this discussion, right? Didn't come out of a Christian home, and so I had to learn kind of from from scratch, of, and so I didn't do everything right with my children. I didn't probably do all the things that needed to be done, but we got something started. And so the hope and the prayer is that those boys that I have three boys, so those boys will push that farther and have something to build upon. And what we want to do for here at the gathering is we want to pour into families enough that they can go home and have some sort of foundation and structure that they can give their children. They may not be able to fix it all or do it all right, but can we get something that we can go and do with our kids? That's why we want to develop devotionals that we can sit down with our kids and read those. That's why we want to do those little things that give you some tools so that you can go sit down because you don't know where to start. It's like I don't even know how to read the Bible, and you're telling me I've got to do all these things with my kids. I just want to know how to understand what I'm reading. And so we want to take that little by little. And the the whole point of the gathering is that we're a team, we're a family. And so we'll figure it out together. We may not get it exactly right, but we'll figure it out and we'll keep moving towards the next goal. Amen. And so here's this bring up or nourish, which we talked about in Ephesians 5, verse 29, and that word is ektrepho in the Greek, and it bring it means bring up, nourish, or nurture. And the same word was used in Ephesians 5, 29 for how Christ nourishes the church. Fathers are called to parent the way Christ cares for his church, not with domination. Listen to me, fathers. You're called to parent your kids, not with domination, but with nourishment. Feed them. Cause them to grow. Give them the nutrients that they need. Speak the encouragement in their life. Help them the best that you can. And this is this is the call, he's just saying, to nourish, not with tyranny, but with discipline that aims at flourishing. Listen, we're not going to just beat them to beat them. But they at times have to have some correction, correct? Not asking you your parents to hell. Some of you may say, go put your nose in the corner. We tried that, that doesn't work as well. It it works really well with just an effective correction. You guys know what that means. Okay. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings in here. We don't parent that way. Okay, you don't have to. But it really helps if you parent a way that the Bible says you don't spare the rod. That's right. And so you want to have this stern discipline, but you don't want a tyranny and you don't want to break them down in their spirit. So there are two ways to uh a father can provoke a child to anger. The first is uh severity without love. The fa father produces children who feel they can never be enough. Some of you grew up in those households where you just felt like you could never please your father. Right? That was the wrong way. I'm just gonna tell you, but your father in heaven says, Listen, if you'll let me, I'll fix that. I'll fix it in you. You might be 75 or 80 years old, but he can fix it right now. You just gotta let the love of God come into your heart, and he can repair what was broken by an earthly father who didn't know any better. Most of them. Just they just strong armed because they were strong armed. So the first one causes this uh hurt. That father produces the severity without love, produces children who feel they can never be enough. The second is absence without accountability. The father produces this father produces children who feel they do not matter. Both are a form of provocation, both can produce anger that lasts decades. So there's one where you just never got any love, and there's another. Where they were just absent. And most of you have are on one side or the other. Some of you had a great dad and he was there, but a lot of you are dealing with one or the other of those. And I just want to tell you tonight, kids in here, but more importantly, the parents on this one, he can fix it. He can fill your love bucket up, is what we'd like to say at our house. He could come in and grab you and hold you and make you experience something you've never experienced before. But you have to be willing to allow him to come in to the hurt places to work on those and fix those. Amen. And so this is Paul. He's saying, hey, do not provoke your children. But Paul does not only say what not to do, this is what's great about Paul. He says what to do. Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Teach them about the Lord. Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. And not your preferences, not your cultural script, the Lord's discipline, the Lord's instruction. Your children need to see you honoring God. Your children need to see you praying, reading the word. If you haven't been doing it, start. There's never too late. If you're a grandparent and your kids are out, but you have grandkids, start. Just start. Wherever you're at. It'll make a difference. Starting right now. It'll change somebody's life, one of your children's life. Your children need to see that. Not just talking about him. They need to be in a home where the fear of God is not a concept, but a lived reality. That is the formation Paul is calling fathers to. This is what he wants, dads, fathers. He wants you to take a little bit of the reins at home. He wants you to lead. Lead in a way that's difficult. It's not difficult, but it's difficult to you because of the culture you've been raised in. And so I'm just imploring you and pushing you a little bit. Grandfathers, everybody in the room, just hear me. Just spend a little time praying for them. Let them know that you're praying for them. Put a hand on them. Bless them. Doesn't have to be, you don't have to be eloquent and a theologian. Just bless them. We'll move on to the second part here. I think that's important for you to know the fathers, parents, mothers, you can have a part in this as well. He didn't reach out and say mothers, but I'm telling you, you can have the same effect by filling in the gap and praying and blessing and laying your hands on. I just think that Paul was being specific because the fathers have to rise up. And in a day and age that we're in, we need dads. We need fathers. The gathering needs dads to say, I'll lead. I'll step out first. But it also needs mothers that will come behind and fill the gap in all the different places and bless the fathers and bless the grandfathers and bless the children. Amen. We all have a part to do in this. And I think if we do it, we're going to see great results in what God's doing. All right, this second part, Ephesians 6, 5 through 9. Says, bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling with a secret heart, sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. Paul is writing to people who were actually slaves in the Roman Empires. He's actually talking to slaves. Now, in this day and age, when we say slaves, everybody's got a picture of it because there's all kinds of stuff going on talking about slaves. Most of us have never even seen anybody that's a slave. Okay. We hear people talking about it, but we've never met somebody or owned a slave or put anybody into slavery. But it's still important to talk about because what Paul is doing here is he's setting up a way that we're to act. And so this weight, the weight of this context, he's not writing about inconvenient work schedules or difficult work co-workers. Okay? It's not what he's writing about. But the principle he lays down reaches far beyond slavery into every workplace in every generation. And so when he's talking to the slaves here, he says, whatever work you do, do it as unto Christ. Make sure you work as under Christ. Many of you have heard that. Your parents have probably told you, or somebody has probably told you, hey, you're a Christian, do your work as under Christ. And what happens to us where this slavery or service idea comes from is we work for somebody. And because we work for somebody, they're telling us what to do. And because they're telling us what to do, at times we think they're stupid. None of y'all, of course. But we think they don't know what they're talking about. And so we get a little frustrated with them. But he tells them, hey, you're in service to them. Do your work as unto me. Not unto them, but unto me. And so he's laying out, he's laying out a great bridge here for us to walk across. So Paul names the opposite when he says, not just eye service. I used to tell my children when they were in basketball practice, uh, when the coach has you running lines, make sure you run all the way through and make sure you touch the line. Not just touch it when the coach is watching, but touch it when he's not watching. Because I want to, I'll guarantee you, he's seeing more than what you think. And the best way for you to be the best person and the best athlete and the best version of you is to do it right, even when nobody's watching. And so touch the line. And then we come home and like, I touched the line, but so-and-so doesn't touch the line. And when coach is not looking, they stop three feet and they win the, they win the thing because they didn't. I'm like, yeah, but coach knows. I promise you, he knows. And you know what? Even if coach doesn't know, God knows. And there's a whole portion of that we're going to get into. God keeps record. And so just do it. Do it right. Push yourself. Do the right thing. Even when it's hard, and you're like, I don't know. I don't, if I just turn right here, I can win it, and then I'll get the whole high fives because I want it. But you didn't really win it. Unless you go all the way. Amen. And so this is what Paul's saying. He's working, he's saying, when the boss is watching, it's great. Everybody's working right, but when he doesn't look or when he's not watching, this is not about your evaluation of how you perform when he's looking. It's an evaluation of how you perform when he's not looking. And for us, it's an understanding that God's always looking. God's always watching. God's always got his eyes on us and paying attention to what we're doing. This is not uh this place, the people-pleasing worker whose work ethic changes based on the audience. You see, I know a lot of people, and I've seen a lot of people like, man, when you know what, when the boss comes around, they can dig a they can dig a hole, and they're like, man, that guy can dig a hole. As soon as the boss leaves, they can lean on a pole. Am I right? Boss ain't looking, I'm gonna lean on a pole. Whoa, there's a boss. The problem with that is he can see how you can dig that, he can see the performance of how you can dig a hole. He comes back next time, he's like, why is it the same hole? Because you haven't been working. He understands. So it's not a performance-based evaluation. This is not the spirit-filled posture to lean when somebody's not looking. The spirit-filled posture is to do it the right way every time, all the time. And so the spirit-filled worker has a different audience in mind, not the manager, not the performance review that's coming, not the co-workers who will notice. It's Christ, the one who serves everything and forgets nothing. The Greek word for eye service there is a long one. And so it'll be in your notes. I'm not even going to try to say it. I will try to say it. Of course. Means eye service, a compound of eye and service or slavery. Literally serving only under the eye of the master is the meaning of that. And so that word for eye service, what it's saying, what Paul is saying is it's literally serving under the eye of one? The master. Not this master, the master. And so whatever you're doing, whenever you're working, whatever your task is, whatever you're putting out, it's under the master, not the master that's in front of you, the master that has his eye on everything. It's very important for us to work that way. So working only when watched is not what we want. And this is Paul's word. He's trying to prevent that. Matter of fact, the Bible tells us when you go read any type of commentary on this, Paul invented that word. That word wasn't even around until he wrote it right then. He made that word up for this letter to make a point. Don't do things out of just eye service. Work hard. So it may not have existed before he wrote it, is what the commentary says. Now, as you think about this, this reframes every ordinary workday. The Monday morning meeting, the afternoon when motivation is low, the project nobody notices, the task that goes unacknowledged. Do it as un to the Lord. And verse 8 gives the reason. Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. God is keeping the accounts. He's keeping your account on how you work and what you're doing and how you approach things. I love what Ben was saying about these graduates. About no matter what you go, if you go to school, if you go in the workplace, the prayer from here is that you have an encounter with Christ, that you have this calling that you'll meet to share Christ with people out in the world. And do that as unto the Lord. That's what he's calling us to do. When he's talking to each of us in this room, he's calling all of us to be witnesses unto him and do it as unto the Lord. Not in a, oh, maybe next time I'll do it, I'm busy, but in a this is the time right now. It's a very difficult thing because we are busy. I think he's trying to tell us to slow down and see what's going on. All right, let's get on to leaders here. When he says, remember your master in heaven, Ephesians 6, 9, masters, do not threaten them, for you know that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. And then Paul turns this whole thing. He just goes from the ones that were serving, the slaves, and he goes right to, you're in charge. You're a master. You're a father. You're in charge. I want to talk to you. I want to be specific with you and what you're to do and how you're to do this. And the people with powers who he's focused on. And he tells them, don't threaten. Don't threaten them. Do not wield your authority as a weapon. Do not use your position to intimidate, to control, or to dominate. And here's the reason: this is the most leveling statement that Paul gives in this chapter right here. He says, Your master is in heaven. He says, You are a master over people and slaves and family. Don't wield it with authority and with a strong hand. Because your master is in heaven. Because your master is watching. And so you live your life in such a way that honors him. Even if you're a leader, Mary, you lead people with a hand like Christ. Not a hand that comes down with a hammer on people, but you lead them and you love them. As an authority should, as you've been given authority. And there's no power partiality with God. The boss and the employee stand before, this is great. The boss and the employee, the slave and the employee, the child and the and the father, the child and the mother, all stand before the same God. And so this is what he's trying to remind them. I know you're in charge, but you can't treat people like that. Because you have a master. And your master doesn't treat you like that. And so you should not treat others. You should treat people with respect. You have authority, use it, but respect them. Because your father is your master. He's watching you, he's looking at you. Amen. And so your title in the org chart means nothing. You're the senior leader or the newest hire, it's the same Lord. If you're the one who sits at the head of the table, you still have a master. It's God. Every created person in every seat. This is why we say everybody has uh a seat at the table. Because he made the table. Because he's in charge. And you could have people that you put on the orc chart and you say, look, he's up here in the orc chart. And you got people all the way down here in the orc chart. And the truth is, either way, we're here to serve each other. Because this is how God has made it. You be the president of the organization. And when you lose the idea that I am here to serve the people under me, is when you begin to lose the balance of what God has called you to do. And so he's just inverting this whole thing and saying, You serve, you serve. So he tells the slaves, hey, you do it as unto the Lord. And he tells, he tells the leaders, he tells the fathers, he tells the authoritarians, he says, You do it as unto the Lord because you have a master. My goodness. The God who sees the bondservant working in the dark also sees the master behind the closed doors. There is no partiality with him. God sees both. We'll move on to this part that you guys have heard so many times and it's been preached so many times, Ephesians 6, 10 through 17. And so we've just walked through children are going to obey their parents. Fathers are not going to provoke their children. Slaves are going to work us unto the Lord. And leaders are not going to be heavy authoritarians because they have a master. And so they're going to love people and lead them that way, serve them. And now he brings the boom. Okay. Ephesians 6, 10 through 17. Let's read 10 through 12 first. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Paul plants his feet and says, Finally, everything is written. He talks about the identity of grace, which we got in the beginning, the mystery, the worthy walk, the light life, the field life, the household. All of it has been building towards this one moment right here. He's about to give you everything you need. You're in a war. It's not a metaphorical war. It's an actual war that you're in. And this is what Paul is telling us. It's not a spiritual self-improvement challenge. You're in a war. A real war with a real enemy, with a real hierarchy of opposition against you. And there are real stakes on the line. There are real things that are on the line right now. Families. Lives. And Paul names who the enemy is not and who he is with surgical precision. The person who hurt you is not your real enemy. Hear me. The person who hurt you is not your real enemy. The circumstance pressing in from every side is not your real enemy. The institution opposing you is not your real enemy. The political figure that you disagree with is not your enemy. Not your real enemy. That's the hard thing for us to grasp. It's been a long journey for me to understand that. People hurt you. You look at them. It still hurts you. But that's not the real enemy. The real enemy, he lays it out for us. There's a spiritual dimension behind the visible world, rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. This is organized, strategic, it's purposeful. It's purposeful opposition, aimed specifically at the people of God. But Paul tells you who your enemy is so you can fight the right battle, not so you can be paralyzed by fear. You see, what Paul's doing right here, he's going to tell you exactly what you're up against, not so that you will be paralyzed, but actually so you'll stand up. I'm going to tell you, Christian, in this place tonight, whatever you're facing, whatever you're battling, whatever you're going up against, things may be great. But I'll tell you, there'll be a day that there's a fight.

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Maybe tomorrow.

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We have to stand up. We can't be in fear to the opposition. What does he tell us? He says the armor that he's about to describe to you is more sufficient for everything that you'll face. It's exactly what you need, is this armor. And I know as you heard it as a kid and coming through, you always picture the armor on, but you're not sure exactly what it does or how you put it on or how you work with it. That's what we're going to talk about just a little bit here this evening. The Greek word for wrestle is pele. And it's hand-to-hand comment combat. That's what he said. You're not wrestling against natural things. But you're in hand-to-hand combat against spiritual things. You're in a full-on, all-out fight against spiritual things. And you need to know it. You're not wrestling. You're not in a hand-to-hand combat with the people in front of you. This is what we do. I've said this many times over the last seven or eight weeks. What we do normally is we just fight with the person in front of us because that's the object that we see. And they're making me angry right now. And so I'm fighting with them. The truth is, we'll step back. What's the spiritual thing that's going on here? God, let me see. Open my eyes. And the fight, the stakes that are at hand is a lost relationship or a one battle. You can win this battle. This armor sets you up. And so Paleo is this hand-to-hand combat. It's the most intimate and intense force of fighting that he's laying out there. You're not wrestling against flesh and blood. You're fighting. You're in hand-to-hand combat. It's personal, it's close, it's exhausting. Paul does not say we observe the war from a distance. He actually says you're in it up close. You're in the battle right here. It's on. It's in your space. But we're not unarmed and we're not fighting alone. The enemy is not confused about who you are. He's read Ephesians. Ephesians 1. He knows your identity. He knows what the word says about your identity. But the problem is, for us, we don't know. And if he can confuse what you what says here, if he can confuse you about your identity, he can keep you in a place where you're not fighting. He can keep you in a place where you're not coming against this attack. And so your identity in Ephesians 1 is very important for you to know. And in Ephesians 6, this armor, this time of wrestling, this fight is very important as well. He knows, he knows what it says in Ephesians 1 that you're seated above. He knows that there's an entire strategy out there that he's defeated. But he also knows his strategy is to keep you from remembering who you are in Christ and what's on your side. You're seated in heavenly places. And so let's talk about the whole armor of God. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm. Whole. It's not some, it's all of it. It's not the comfortable pieces, it's the whole armor. And notice whose armor this is. Whose is it? It's the armor of God. It's not your armor. This armor doesn't come around because you're disciplined and show up on Sunday nights. It doesn't come around because you're disciplined and you read on Monday mornings. It comes because God gives it to us. Because God has given us this gift of this armor. And so we get it. Now we have to figure out what to do with it and make sure that we put it on. So the belt of truth. In verse 14.

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In Roman armor, I didn't wear a belt, which is unusual. Oh my pants don't Roman armor, the most key piece of the armor is your belt.

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The belt of truth. Truth is the most key piece of your armor. Why? Because everything attaches to the belt. If you don't have the belt, all the armor won't attach. You can't wear it correctly. But once you put the belt on, you can attach everything to it and it holds it secure. And so the very first thing I would tell you, he's telling you, you need the truth. You have to stand on the truth. You have to live in the truth. Truth is what holds the spiritual life together. Truth is what keeps you going. You need to fasten it every morning. Lord, I wake in your truth. Share your truth with me. Show me your truth. I need your truth. Before the lies start in your life, get in the truth. Speak the truth. Before the day makes us claim, you make sure the truth is first. The second thing is the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate protected the vital organs, the heart, the lungs. And Paul says the breastplate of the believer is righteousness. Whose righteousness? Not yours. His. So you put on the belt, you put on the breastplate of righteousness, and you're covering your heart and your lungs with his righteousness. With him. Moving on to the next. Matter of fact, the scripture tells us what? If you put that breastplate of righteousness on, and as you have it on, it tells us that now, therefore, there is no condemnation. You see, if you put on that breastplate of righteousness, you can cover yourself when the lies come. You've got the truth. Now you put on the breastplate, and when the lies come and tell you you're not a man of God. You're not a woman of God. You don't belong here. You shouldn't go to church. You shouldn't be in that place. If everybody knew who you were, they would kick you out. But this is what it tells you. It tells you that there is no condemnation in God. And when you have the truth and you have the breastplate of right his righteousness, he says, you won't feel condemned. You'll feel the love. You'll feel the peace of God. Amen. We move on to the next thing, which is the shoes of the gospel of peace. As in verse 15. It says Roman soldiers were wore studded sandals and gave them, that gave them traction and stability of any terrain. They had cleats on. That's basically what they had. They had football cleats on, soccer cleats on, so that when they're running across any terrain, they actually could get some grip and keep their balance. So they could go and share, or so they could go and fight. But for you, it's so that you can go and share the truth. I have truth. I have the breastplate of righteousness where I'm not condemned. And now I have shoes that are shod with peace of the gospel. I have the truth in me. I'm going to walk it out. I'm going to share the gospel. If we could do one thing in this place, it would be that we have a bunch of gospel sharers. If we could do anything, it would just be that we have a bunch of people that want to share the gospel. Amen. See, the gospel shod believer moves through enemy territory with readiness and stability. Everywhere a gospel shod believer walks, they carry the possibility of rescue. Every hard conversation, every difficult relationship, every neighborhood, wherever your foot lands, you carry the good news. Did you hear that part that I said? Every person that is shod with the shoes of peace has an opportunity to rescue. You can go into the enemy's terrain and walk in it. Where others would stumble, you can walk in it and you can save. You could bring people out, you could rescue. Just like you were rescued. Just like you were brought out. He's giving you those shoes so that you can do that.

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Whew.

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Y'all still with me? We're almost there. Alright, the shield of faith. The Greek word for faith is an act of trust. It's pistis. Act of trust, it's confidence, reliance. It's not a passive belief in abstract propositions, but a posture of the whole person toward the living God. The shield of faith is raised by decision, not a feeling. You choose to trust what God has said, even when the flaming darts are coming at you. You're choosing. Even in the midst, I said this in the class the other day, even in the midst of uncertainty, you still choose to believe. Like, you remember the guy in the Bible said, I believe, but help me with my unbelief? He had uncertainty.

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But yet he said, I believe, though.

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So help me. This is what I'm telling you. Even in the midst when you're not sure how it's going to turn out, you're still saying, I've got a shield of faith. I'm raising it. Even when I don't understand everything, even when I don't know what's going to happen, I'm still putting up faith. So here you are. You got your belt, you got your righteousness, you got your shoes, you got your shield. You're getting there. This is a daily walk. This is a daily putting on. This is a daily. Some of you need to get up and be like.

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Trying to think of all of them. Where am I at?

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There's a lot of clicks for me there. But you need to actually act it out. Put it on until you realize, oh, this is who I am. This is what I have. I have peace. I have the gospel of peace. I have the shoes. I have the shield. You see, God has God is moving in such a way you choose to trust what God said when the flaming dart of doubt is screaming the opposite. Every flaming dart has a message. And it says, God has forgotten you. This is too far gone. Your sin disqualifies you. There is no way through this. You raise the shield and say, there is a way through this. I have the shield of faith, and your darts are not hitting me today. I'm winning this battle. I don't care what it looks like on the outside. I can see it from God's view. And his view says, He will protect me. He's giving me this armor against that attack. And I see what's going to happen now. He's going to throw his darts, and I'm not going to blink. I am not going to back up. The uncertainty is there, but my faith is rising up above it in Jesus' name. Raise the shield. What God has has said about you is more true than any old stinking flaming dart from the enemy. Amen. Alright, let's get on to the helmet of salvation. Different noise. The helmet protected the mind. The enemy targets the mind above everything else. If he can produce confusion, doubt, discouragement, and hopelessness in your thought life, the battle is effectively over. The helmet of salvation is the settled knowledge of who you are and where you stand. Are you settled tonight? Are you settled with who you are and where you stand with God? If you are, then you have the helmet on. Because you're like, I know salvation. I know who he is, and I'm settled in it. If you're not settled, if your mind is, you haven't put it, you haven't put it on. You haven't put that helmet of salvation on to keep your mind. The helmet of salvation is that settled place. You know who you are, you know where you are going, and you know how the story ends. This is why we say we walk with victory, not to it in Jesus' name, because we know how the story ends. When you know the end of the story, the middle chapters do not have the power to destroy you. You can be right in the midst of all the fire and still know. I know how this is going to turn out. I'm coming out. On the other side. Amen. Alright, here's the one that a lot of you like. I love it. The sword of the Spirit. When we're talking about the sword, I gave you this word uh not too long ago. It's the Rhema. It's that, it's that not the written word, it's the uh revelation word that God gives you. The Rhema word, the specific active word. It's not logos, the written word in general, but rhema, the specific declaration spoken in a specific moment about a specific lie or thing that's going on. The sword is not merely owning a Bible. We call this the sword. But it's not just merely owning one of these, it's actually owning one. Owning it. Inside, reading it, and knowing what it says. And when you have the sword of the Spirit, it's speaking the word of God over your specific situation. It's the targeted, declared truth that cuts through the specific deception of the enemy. When you have the Rhema word coming out of you, you can specifically say the word that needs to be said and cut to the quick of what's opposing you. Every other piece of armor is defensive, but not this one. This is the offensive piece. Jesus said it in the wilderness. Every temptation, he said what? With the devil. He said, It is written. He said, I have the Rhema. It is written. You can come at me with your lies. You can try to sell me beachfront property, wherever. But he says, it is written. In other words, you don't have anything I want. And this is where we're at in our lives. The world's trying to tell you, we'll give you everything you need. Just put him aside. And I'm telling you today, the sword of the Spirit is what allows you to see the untruth and the lie and the fiery dart of the enemy and cut it off and say, uh, I know what I need. I know how I'm getting to where I'm going through the sword of taking the enemy out. This is why I believe, and I start every service with a decree. This is why I believe decrees matter. It's why I believe declarations matter. It's why I believe that you need to write your own, start your own. You need to decree one word, one sentence, one scripture. Declare it. Not because words have magic power, but because you're wielding the sword of the Spirit against a specific lie. Like I said today, I declared today in this service that children would obey their parents, that fathers would not provoke their children, that slaves or people in service would work as unto the Lord, that leaders wouldn't wield their authority except for to honor the master. I declared those things over us today. Why? Because I know if we declare before you hear the word, it's going to already be opening things up that can come into your heart and you can receive, because there's a truth that's already been declared over us. And the enemy cannot stand against the word that created the universe. He can't. Alright, here we go. Two more things I got to give you, and we'll be done. Notice that he didn't make prayer the seventh piece of armor. It says in Ephesians 6, 18 through 20, it says, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end. Keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel. He didn't make that prayer a seventh piece of armor. He said, prayer stands alone. Okay? Prayer is the atmosphere in which the armor functions. So prayer is like, think of it like this: you got uh any of you guys are going in the army or been in the Marines, you got you're fully outfitted, and these days they got earpieces in your ears so they can tell you where to go and what's going on, and you can communicate with each other. Prayer is the earpiece in your ear to tell you where you can go. You're fully armored up, but that earpiece is where prayer is where you get your instruction, where you can hear the king, where you're attached to him, where you understand what's going on. And so this is why he leaves it out to the next, because this is the connection, the communication piece. Prayer keeps you connected, praying at all times in the spirit, all kinds of prayer: intercession, declaration, uh, warfare, thanksgiving, listening, crying out, whispering in the dark at 3 a.m., all of it, all the time. That's prayer, talking to God. Waking up. Some of you have woke up in the last, I'm just gonna go for it. Somebody in here, at least one, have woke up six times in the last month at like 3 a.m. or a specific time. And some of you went, I must be get I must be waking up for a certain reason, so you get up and you go pray. And some of you are like, I don't know what that is.

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That was pizza, I'm going back to sleep. What I have found, when that happens, and I go to pray, something's happening.

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Something's on. And so I'm just gonna give you that. If you wake up, just take a minute. Maybe get out of bed. I usually get out of bed, go in the living room, and then come back to bed later. But I think he's waking you up for a reason. Because there's warfare. There's things that need to be spoken out, decreed, and declared at 3 a.m. And then Paul asks, this is where he goes. He goes from this place of, hey, now y'all need to keep praying. That's how you keep connected to God. And then he goes about himself. And he says, the man who has all this revelation he's writing us. He's like, hey, y'all pray for me. Y'all lift me up. Y'all pray that I have boldness to share the gospel. What does that tell me? That tells me that nobody's above being prayed for. Everybody needs people praying for them. Everybody needs people lifting them up. And what our culture we hope to have here is that we have a culture of people praying for each other and lifting up. We don't want to single out one person and say, that's the person that you go get prayer from. We want to say, look to your left and your right and look in front of you and behind you. Those are the people that you get prayer from. Because we are the people that are armored up and praying for each other. Amen. But Paul, here he is, he's saying, Man, help me that I would have boldness to proclaim the gospel. No one is too anointed to need the intercession of the church. No one is operating at a level where prayers of the saints become irrelevant. None of us. If we feel like we're there and I don't need your prayers, we're in the wrong place. If Paul needed it, so do you, and so does every person sitting in this room. We hold the line for one another. We carry one another in prayer. This is how the armor is sustained. You know, sometimes you have your armor on, and sometimes with your armor on, you're not, you still can't get that connection to hear what's happening, what you need to do. And that's why you need people around you. That's why you need people in your corner that are praying, that are standing in. You see, this is not about being in isolation. This is about being in communion with God and his people. This is about God who wins every single time. And brothers and sisters, we can win. We will win. We just have to stay connected. Not only to him, but to each other. Praying for one another.

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When you leave here and throughout the week, you're like, I don't have anything to do, but pray for somebody. Alright. I promise this is it. Having done all, stand. Stand firm. In that scripture base, he uses stand four times.

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He says, Stand, stand firm, take your stand, and have done everything, stand. Standing is warfare. Standing is the most active, costly, determined posture available. When you stand in this spiritual fight, and fiery darts are flying at you, and you have your armor on, and you stand, and then you stand again, and you stand some more, and then you stand, you're telling the enemy, I'm not bagging down. I'm not quitting. I'm not running. I've seen plenty of people come into the church, get on fire with God, got the fire of God running all through their veins, want to go take the whole entire world, and one attack comes. They take off the armor and they take off.

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And I'm imploring you, young and old, stand.

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Stand in the face of the enemy. Don't back up. No matter how hard it is, no matter what's going on, stand. It means to stand means I refuse to retreat. I refuse to be moved from the ground that Christ has purchased. I refuse to abandon the position he placed me in, no matter what is coming at me. Have done everything. There will be moments when you have prayed, fasted, sought God, declared truth, raised the shield, and the battle is still raging. And Paul's instruction is in that moment is not try harder.

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It's not find a new strategy, but stand. Just stand. Just don't go anywhere. Go visit somebody in their in their home who's fighting cancer and just tell them just stand. Just stand. Because the victory does not depend on your next move or the enemies.

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It depends on what Christ has already accomplished. So just stand.

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And Christ never loses. So just stand. The resurrection was not the beginning of the fight. It was actually the end of it. You're not fighting toward a victory. It's already happened. Paul starts his letter in Ephesians chapter 1, and he says, Grace.

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And he ends this entire letter with Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, this entire letter is about grace.

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Grace.

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His grace is sufficient. And he starts in the beginning with, before he ever tells you who you are, he says, Man, for those of you that know Christ, grace. And then at the end of the letter, as he talks to Ephesus, the Ephesians, he goes and he stops and he says, I've told you everything, and you're going to win the battle and the fight. Grace on your life.

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Grace to you. So I implore you today, walk in the grace of Christ.

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Receive the grace and stand in the grace. He gives us six chapters. Week one, he says, Bless before you breathe every spiritual blessing already yours before you drew your first breath. Week two, he said, dead men need grace, not uh not deserve it, dead, but God, rich in mercy, made you alive. He raised you, he seated you. Week three, he tells you the mystery is out, the wall is down, you are a fellow heir. God can do far more than you have ever asked or imagined. That's three chapters in this letter. In four, he says, walk worthy, put off the old, put on the new, do not grieve the spirit who sealed you. In chapter five, he says, walk in love, walk in light, walk in wisdom. Let your life preach. In chapter six, he ends it with stand, the household, the workplace, the battlefield, armored, covered, and unafraid. Six weeks, one story, from heaven to household, from chosen to standing. This is the life God has called you to, and you are equipped for every single part of it.

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So here's what we're gonna do. You guys go ahead and stand to your feet. I'm just gonna ask you some specific things.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:06

And then you can look at your neighbor and you can ask them those things or say, Hey, can I pray for you for any of these things? Maybe your household needs covering. Maybe it's just been your family needs to be brought before the Lord because there needs to be transformation. Let this be the day the atmosphere changes in your home. You just think about these. If your household needs covering, when somebody asks you in just a moment, tell them, man, I need you to pray for my house. We need this. Maybe you've been carrying a wound from your workplace, and work's just been hard, and you're sick of it. When somebody asks you in a moment, just tell them. Man, I need you to pray for me. I'm I'm tired. I need help. My work's beating me down. Maybe you've been running from battle to battle and can never get to the altar of God. And you're like, man, I just need some relief. Help me. The spiritual warfare is just knocking me down. And tell them. Maybe you just lost ground. Maybe you don't even know what your armor is or how to put the armor on. And I'm just so tired that I just need help. I'm so exhausted. When they ask you, tell them. Casey's gonna play for a minute. I'm gonna let you pray for each other. Talk to your neighbors, ask them a question, give them an answer. Be vulnerable for just a moment. Trust the people around you. Say, you know what? I'm gonna be in this game with you, this fight with you. So you guys go ahead and share with each other, pray for each other.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:46

We'll give you a moment.