Ephesians 6
How encouraging it is to find our God and Father interested in all that concerns His children, and to have directions given us to carry out all our relationships of life in obedience and subjection to Him; and to find in all, as with wife and husband, children and parents, servants and masters, His love and grace the power to carry out the obedience and subjection to, and with each other.
Verses 1-3. Here He claims the attention of the children of Christian parents, and speaks to them, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” He teaches them their duty to their parents, thus helping children to be subject and to obey, with a promise of His governmental care over them attached to their obedience.
Verse 4. “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Surely this is after the pattern of His government over us. A loving father seeks the best he can do for His children, and even his discipline over them is ever with a view to their good; and so we believe it is with our God and Father, though often our natural hearts are slow to give Him the credit. How much we need to think of Him as slow to anger and of great mercy.
How carefully we need to guard our tempers in chastening our children, or in speaking to them. Instruction and advice are to be given with patient grace and love. How much many of us can see how we have failed in this. We are slow learners in divine things.
How perfect, was our Saviour in all. “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.” He carried it out in thought and word and deed.
Verses 5-8. “Servants (slaves, bondmen) be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ: not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart: with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not unto men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.”
It is not fear and trembling in dread of punishment, it is holy reverence lest he should grieve his Master in heaven who is giving him these orders, and on whom he can count for the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. What dignity is here given to the Christian slave who thus carries himself through grace, serving his Master as if he was the Lord Himself. And it was to be the same, no matter if his master was a wicked man, he was still to be the servant of Christ. His reward is sure.
Verse 9. “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.” Here we get the Christian master tested; forbearing threatening intimates that his slave might fail in his obedience and behavior, yet the master is to have grace in his dealings with his servants, even as our Master in heaven has to bear so much with us in our poor service, so often marked with slothfulness and cold neglect. What abundance of grace is in the Lord for us, to carry us through in our behavior to all others, to His glory.
We are now to see what enemies we have, and how to defeat them, and before he mentions them he says:
Verses 10-13. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Israel under Joshua had to fight for the land that was given them (Deut. 32:88When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 32:8), and 7:16), but others had possession of it, and had to be exterminated or subdued.
Israel’s possessions were the land of Canaan. Our possessions are our blessings in heavenly places in Christ. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread on shall be yours,” was said to them (Deut. 11:2424Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. (Deuteronomy 11:24)). Likewise, we need to claim our blessings before we can enjoy them.
The twelve spies sent by Moses to view the land, reported that it was a good land, flowing with milk and honey, but the cities were walled, and there were giants of great stature. Ten of the twelve discouraged the people, but the two, Joshua and Caleb said, It is “an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land flowing with milk and honey. Only ‘rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.” Numbers 14:7-97And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. (Numbers 14:7‑9).
Unbelief cannot enter into the land. Now it is the same with our blessings in heavenly places. We have read in these former chapters what the purposes of God are concerning His Son, and what He has given us in Him.
We need to lay hold of it all by faith, and having taken possession, we need to keep ourselves in the enjoyment of it. So we have, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” We are weakness in ourselves. But now we are to “put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
It is good to begin with, to know that Christ our Lord has defeated this enemy. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” is the word, and in this we see that it is not against flesh and blood that we wrestle, but with the unseen powers of darkness, against wicked spirits in heavenly places. We know little about them, only Satan and his host are the inveterate enemies of God and truth. In dependence on God and confidence in Him, every enemy is overcome, and the armor of God is provided for us to have on. Seven parts of it are mentioned, but in their use, like the colors of the rainbow, they are all blended together and all used together. The last mentioned is prayer, and that underlies the use of all, for unless in dependence on God, we cannot profit by it.
Self-confidence is the armor of the flesh, and while we speak of these wicked principalities and powers, it is good to remember that there are others (Eph. 3:1010To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, (Ephesians 3:10)) who are the willing messengers of God, ready to carry out the mind of God for His people. As the centurion said to the Lord Jesus “Only speak the word, and my servant shall be healed.” Wonderful to think that these heavenly beings can learn from us (Compare also 1 Cor. 11:10; 110For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. (1 Corinthians 11:10)
10Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10) Peter 1:12; Heb. 1:1414Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:14); Psa. 68:1717The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. (Psalm 68:17) Margin). We are children of the light now, and do not walk in darkness; and in the light of God’s presence, for God is light, these creatures of darkness have no power. God is ever supreme (Psa. 103:1919The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. (Psalm 103:19)).
Verse 14. “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,” that is, truth controlling the conscience and heart, truth in the inward parts. The Lord when tempted by Satan said, “Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word of God.” It is the obedience of Christ in us, and is the fruit of walking with God.
“Having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” This is practical righteousness; without this on we cannot stand before the enemy. He will roar at us, and our guilty conscience makes us powerless to stand. We must maintain a good conscience in practical righteousness.
Verse 16. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” This is a defensive part. Satan tries to throw into the soul some suggestion of doubt that will irritate and inflame, unless quenched, the shield of faith. “I believe God quenches at once all spiritual doubts. We have our confidence in God and His Word.”
Verse 17. “And take the helmet of salvation.” Yes, this is our helmet. We are saved (Eph. 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)), we know it, we have it, we rejoice in it.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:88But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:8), where we are seen in the wilderness, and on our journey, we have as a helmet, “the hope of salvation,” that is the Lord’s coming to save us out of the world; that is all right there, but in Ephesians we are in our promised land in spirit already, and we have salvation already in blessed assurance.
“And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” This is active warfare, both offensive and defensive. If the soul is not in communion with God, it cannot use this sword. If the Word has not done its work in our soul, how can we use it for others. When the Lord met Satan in the wilderness, He quoted the word in its application to Himself – He lived in obedience to it. That completely defeated the enemy, whose effort was to get Him to do His own will, without the word from His Father. So we need the Word for our own path, and that defeats the enemy.
Verse 18. “Praying always,” this lies under the whole armor; this is our constant dependence on God. It is not “saying our prayers,” it is “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” It is the reality of having to do with God, and it goes out in all God’s interests, “watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” It takes in God’s message going forth in this world. We have not the ambassadors now, but we have heralds, messengers, who can echo out the message of reconciliation, “Be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20, 2120Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:20‑21). Watchful perseverance is needed here. The Apostle desired their prayerful interest in his service and suffering for Christ.
Verses 21, 22, show their affectionate interest in him. Tychicus conveyed it.
Verse 23. “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Verse 24. “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, Amen.”