Ephesians 6

Intro

This is the last sermon in our Ephesians series

We have a reading plan for you to go through as we Go through this book.

Here is the cool part

If you go through the reading plan, and get a parent to sign it for you.

I will give you some candy

So make sure you grab a sheet

For those who remember a couple of weeks ago when we started this series

I did a little trivia for y'all about the book of Ephesians

So if you remember the book of Ephesians is believed to be written between 60-62AD

It was written by who? Give away

it was written to the Ephesians who are from the city of where? Give away

Paul was writing the letter because of the persecution that the Ephesians were facing

However one thing that was different about this letter compared to many of Pauls other was that he wasn’t addressing a bunch of problems in the church

But instead he gave encouragement and simply just wanted to motivate

That being said, very often the book of Ephesians is known as the letters of what?? Love giveaway

Today as we go into chapter 6 I want to talk about what I see as the main theme of this chapter

I feel like more than anything Paul is talking about DEFENSE

Specifically how we can defend ourselves from the devil

Everyone say defense

When you hear the word defense what do you think of?

Right there are all sorts of things we can think of

The truth is when it comes to defending ourselves from the devil

It doesn’t come from our own power but rather the power of God

In many different parts of scripture it talks about how are hearts can be deceived

There are times we can get frustrated, angry, jealous, disrespectful

As we go through chapter 6 I want to talk about 4 ways that Paul explains that we can defend oursleves

1. Defend your relationships

Ephesians 6:1–4 “Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

The first way that Paul talks about defending ourselves is in our relationships with our parents

Now I know For many of us as I talk about this there are some mixed feelings

Some of you have parents who are honoring the Lord

And maybe for others of you you may be the only Christian in your family.

But look at what Paul says:

“Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.”

It is the RIGHT thing to do

You and I are called to honor our parents

I know it may not be what you want to do

But ultimately they brought you into this world

And it is their job to take care of you

Now Pause though I want you to hear me

I am not just saying that in ever circumstance ever

“Kids must submit to their parents”

“Obey or else”

And I am saying this to you because there are real situations where relationships between parents and their are not healthy

We have heard about it/ maybe some of you have experienced

But sometimes there is real abuse in the home

And I only want to say that to you this morning

Because if that is you in this room, you need to make sure that you speak up

But Paul explains this isn’t just for the children of parents

Remember this applies to all of our relationships

Verse 4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

I JUST WANTED TO PREFACE THAT BEFORE WE WENT ANY FARTHER

The main point that I believe that Paul is trying to make in this scripture

is that in our relationships we are supposed to treat each other the way that Jesus would

Treat each other with respect

love one another

And as kids with parents they have authority over us until we become adults

How many of you have ever been mad with your parents before?

I remember one time when I was in 7th grade

I remember one specific time my parents wouldn’t let me over to somebody house one time to spend the night

I begged so much, but my friend had a really bad home life

And parents didn’t want me spending the night there

I remember I was so mad at them

“Everyone else can”

“Why not me”

Well i go to school the next day and find out that at the party the cops got called because they were shooting peoples houses with BB guns

Took all the guns away

So look back on that my parents were trying to protect me

So I know this might be the last thing you want to hear

But many times we can defend ourselves by obeying our parents

Look at what Paul says next

Ephesians 6:5–9 “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.”

Paul takes this a step further

However one thing that you need to know

Slaves and masters that it is talking about in this scripture is not the kind of slavery that often envision

slavery in the bible was not used a form of a punishment or ownership of another person

That slavery existed but that is not what this scripture is talking about

Many times salvery was used as way to pay debt to someone else

If I bought something from you and couldn’t afford it

So in many ways we can compare this scripture to our modern day jobs. working for a boss

And so same as before the scripture shows us to serve each other in our relationships

Work out of love

Work as if we are working for the Lord

Here how I want to wrap up this point for us this morning if I can

Make sure your service stays rooted in God—not your emotions.

When we serve people why do we do it?

Genuinely I think its the question that Paul wants us to ask oursleves

Is it so we get recognized?

Is it because thats what makes us look good in front of the right person?

Is it because everybody else doing it and we want to look good?

When you get a job someday you will understand this one Is it because we just want that bag?

Paul is saying however you serve. do it as if you are serving the Lord!!!

NOT PEOPLE

2. Defend your Heart

Ephesians 6:10–15 “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.”

How many of you guys have heard of the armor of God before?

In this scripture Paul starts off talking about exactly what I shared at the beginning of our message

There are times in life where we face challenges

We can be deceived, angry, Jealous, we don’t reflect Jesus the way that we should

After this he give us this spiritual analogy of a suit of armor

Where he goes through each piece of armor and talks about how we can defend ourselves

I believe with the first few pieces of armor that he shares show us how to defend our hearts

So here is what I want to do to show you this morning

How many of you know that we live in a COLD WORLD????

people can be cold to us

We can be cold t other

Even more so

How many of you know that Ohio is COLD????

And so we talk about defending oursleves today

And as we talk about each peiece of the armor of God

I wanted to get real practical today for us

So lets look at our Scripture again

Ephesians 6:14–15 “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.”

Alright we are going to skip the belt truth for a second, because I believe it fits even better with another portion

But “putting on the body armor of God’s righteousness” COAT

What does he say next

“For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the good news” (many times called the shoes of peace) BOOTS

remember as I put these on we are talking about guarding our what?

Our hearts!!

so lets look at the body armor

The bible says the body armor of righteousness

you and I are called to strive to live righteously

First of all who can tell me what righteousness means

simply put when we are talking about the context of the bible it means “What is right and pleasing to God”

Paul starts off super strong with that when you and I follow the things that are pleasing to God we protect our heart

There are many things in this world that are looking to shift our hearts

Some things I believe directly from the enemy

And other things just we live in a broken world

at the end of the day when it comes to living righteously it means don’t compromise

So here is what I want you to hear about the body armor of righteousness

If righteousness guards your heart, then compromise is what leaves it unguarded.

When you and I choose to compromise we leave our heart exposed

And so in real life terms

don’t compromise

“That friend asks you to do something you shouldn’t do”

“They are talking about something you shouldn’t be talking about”

“You are on that website that you know you shouldn’t be on”

“very similarly put on the shoes of peace that come from the good news”

If we want to keep our heart guarded we need to walk in peace

How many of you guys like Vans shoes?

I used to work there

But I remember when I bought my first ever pair of vans

Spilled pepsi all over them

Went back into the store gave me cleaner

Here is what I want you to hear this morning

I share that story this morning, because when they gave me the cleaner It brought me peace

I was messed up before I was frustrated

But when cleaned up those shoes I had peace

Have peace about who has cleaned up your heart

Like I already said, there are so many things in this world trying to shift your heart

remember who has saved you

Have peace

in those moments that the devil wants to remind you of parts of the past remember what Jesus has done

Live in that peace

3. Defend your Mind

Ephesians 6:16–17 “In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith SCARF to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet HAT

Lets talk about the shield of faith first

Now just like our hearts

There are tons of things in our world that are competing

And would say maybe even more than our hearts

Who can give me some examples of things that compete for your mind

The list could go on forever and ever

Paul explains that if we want to be protected from this cold world

YOU GOTTA HAVE FAITH

Last week I don’t remember someone in here can the definition of faith

And loved it because it is perfect for what we are talking about today

the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen

When we walk the christian life there is an element of it that is unseen!

The Bible says that we walk by faith, not by sight

Well in many ways that is literal

there are so many times in life where we don’t know what is going to happen next

We struggle and maybe even wonder what God is doing

But are we going to use that that shield of faith protecting our mind

What I find interesting is that this is one of the only parts of the armor that has a graphic image with

I love this because it give us a heads up

Many of you have already experienced

But our faith gets attacked

We can have this amazing experiences that boost our faith

But then we can have super low moments that follow

NEXT PAUL TALKS ABOUT THE HELMET OF SALVATION

very similar to the shield of faith

this protects your mind

Not only that, but this one is literally on your head

I think Paul says this on purpose because truth of our salvation needs to always be on our mind

I shared some of my story before

I got saved when I was in highschool

But I didn’t really take my faith seriously until college

And what changed was that I started to really think about and remember my salvation

It meant so much more to me

Our Faith and our Salvation always guide our mind closer to God

4. Protect your Identity

Ephesians 6:17 and take the sword of the Spirit, SHOVEL which is the word of God.”

Ephesians 6:14 “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth ZIPPER

We have talked about protecting our heart

Protecting our mind

Now we talk about identity

Paul shows us the last pieces of the armor

Or the last pieces of the puzzle

I don’t have a legit belt to use for this example

But I think the zipper works perfectly

But similar to a belt a zipper holds everything together right

If you are going into battle without a belt

your pants are falling down

If you are going out into the cold and you don’t have your coat zipped up its cold

And this is why beleieve these 2 pieces are all about our identity

Because everything that we do should be based on the truth

not only that but the truth of scripture

The way we live

Treat people

Talk

look at life

Everything should be based on the truth of God

In our stop the Cap series we spent some time talking about identity

But we live in a world that doesn’t look to the truth of God for identity

We try to be things that we aren’t

Fit into boxes that we were never meant to fit in as people

Mean while God is saying. I made you exactly how I wanted to

With purpose

fearfully and wonderfully made

Paul is telling us that we need to follow the truth to protect our true identity

lastly Paul talks about the sword of the spirit

I love that he ends this way

because if you notice

This is the only piece of the Armor of God that isn’t meant for defense

The Sword of the Spirit

A sword is for striking

a sword is for swinging

a sword is for doing damage against the enemy in battle

As Christians we use the word of God to fight back

Here is what I want you to hear this morning

The Truth tells us who we are; But the Word is how we wield it

This why we say what we say

Practically every Sunday

Every Wednesday

We always talk about reading your bible

Knowing scripture

Memorizing scripture

Its not because we just want to grill you

Its how we fight back against the enemy

Does anyone remember what Jesus did when he was tempted in the desert?

He knew the word Of God

And he knew it well

Here is how I want to end today

Looking at the last thing that Paul says

Ephesians 6:18–20 “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.”

Pick a piece of the armor of God and pray over that for someone else!