Sunday's Sermon Notes
Ephesians 6:13-17 17th July 2011
Get Kitted out
Scott Rickard
I must just tell you a funny story about what happened yesterday .....God...not responding.
Who has ever had to wear a uniform?
Who can say they were proud of their uniform? That is an interesting response because that is a trick question; do you think you were proud of the uniform or what the uniform represented (was it a school, sports team, club, affiliation)??
When I read this passage the first time in preparation for today, although I had read it before, I was amazed at
1. How I interpreted the passage literally, i.e. I imagined each item of the uniform or armour and could picture it in my mind. They say that picture paints a thousand words, and I could really see this picture in my mind and apply this to my own life.
2. Secondly I really felt proud that I had this armour available to me, not that I could honestly say that I had the full armour on, but that as a born again Christian, it was available to me and there was a full set of armour that was custom made for me. AND most importantly, that I was serving the most amazing commander ever.
Now I would like to read the passage again and I want every person here to imagine that you are the soldier and that you are wearing this armour. I wonder now how many people would answer that they are proud of their uniform?
I must say however, that if I picture myself before I had accepted Jesus Christ as my personal saviour I really did kid myself that I had on the full armour.
God could have defeated evil and cast the devil away somewhere, but instead he gives us the tools to defeat evil if you have the faith in Him and what He has done. God wants us to be victorious even though we are on this earth for such a short time.
However, as a newly born again Christian, I felt so privileged that I was now going to be saved; I wore my badge of salvation with pride. But I wasn’t winning any of the battles that I faced, and it is obvious to me now why that was the case – I didn’t have on the full armour of God, only the helmet, only the helmet of salvation. Wearing your helmet is not enough! I believe there are many Christians, like me, who have been running around with their helmet of salvation on and nothing else (and clothes of course, not only a helmet, that would be a worry). This passage teaches us that there is more to overcoming the devil than just being saved – in fact that is normally the beginning of the battle. But we are only equipped to fight the battle if we
1. Understand salvation
2. Appreciate our righteous position in the Lord,
3. if we understand faith,
4. if we embrace the Word of God
5. understand and accept the gospel of peace.
So Ruth described last week that we are in a battle. Why are we in the battle? Well I hinted earlier that the battle normally begins when you come to know Christ and the main reason for that is that in this spiritual warfare, you have suddenly declared yourself as part of Christ’s army as opposed to the Devil’s You have become a threat to the evil ones. Therefore you could say that there is conscription in God’s army, once you join you have to fight.
Andrew Wommack who has been a real blessing to Liezel and I uses a great saying which goes if you never bump into the devil, it is because you are both going in the same direction.
Before we sift through these verses, there are a few things which the previous verses say about the way we can be successful in this battle. We need to listen to the commander, we need to take orders without questioning because our commander knows best. The first order we are given in verse 10 is to be strong (Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of the Lord). It does not say sit back, relax, God will fight for us. Having said that, it does imply that if we do not acknowledge and use the power of God in us, and we rely on ourselves alone, then we do not have a hope in hell of winning the battle. It is very clear that WE need to be strong in the Lord and trust in Him to supply us with the power and the courage. We can’t be a passive passenger.
The second command in verse 13 is to withstand or STAND. That could mean literally stand because we can’t fight a very good fight lying on our backs, but I think it means MAKE A STAND.
The American Heritage Dictionary of idioms defines Making a stand as: Hold firm against something or someone, as in The government was determined to make a stand against all forms of terrorism. This idiom transfers the early meaning of holding ground against an enemy to other issues. [c. 1600]
WE need to take an active part in the battle.
Dallas Willard says this, “There is of course no question of fighting the battle purely on your own. But we must act. Grace is opposed to earning, not to effort”.
James 4:7 says “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”.
By all accounts, the emphasis of this entire passage is not actually on the armour but on standing. The armour is a simple tool that we are to use to carry out God’s command but the armour of God doesn't protect us automatically; we have to use it. That's what Paul is referring to here by saying we must do all to stand. So in basic terms, we are instructed not to run away from the enemy, stand up and face them.
When do you make a stand?
1. Continuously.....Ruth told us last week how he works, he tries to trick us and deceive us. Paul talks of the wiles of the devil. He uses his tricks to steal God’s word from us; He will make us question ourselves, he’ll twist God’s word around and he will make us doubt our self-worth as a Christian. These things don’t normally happen overnight, they creep in unnoticed at first. In fact they are probably expected in a way and they conform with the rest of the world’s view.
2. We need to act immediately. If we do not act immediately these lies and deceit will start to erode away at our belief. In Ephesians 4:27 Paul says, “do not give the devil a foothold”. The devil is like a bad headache, once it sets in you’ve had it! But if you do something about before it gets too bad, you can shake it off.
What happens if we don’t make a stand?
1. If we don’t make a stand, we become powerless to the devils lies and deception. We will forfeit our righteousness which is portrayed by Christ living within us and we will be led to sin. Once we succumb to sin, the good news is that we can repent and receive forgiveness. The problem comes when that behaviour becomes repetitive and our justification becomes the knowledge that we can receive forgiveness from God. Ultimately we become a slave to those things: I would like to read you a passage of scripture from Romans chaper 6: starting in verse 16 it says: Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
So the sooner we counteract those negative thoughts, those deceitful lies, those slanderous words against our God and against us, then the closer we get to becoming a slave of righteousness and a committed and loyal soldier of the righteous Christian army.
But how do we make a stand?
This is really the main message that I think I want to get across this morning. I want to talk about the analogy that the armour represents in our lives today but remembering that God’s armour doesn’t protect us automatically, we need to make a stand. But how?
1. We can make a stand by remembering who we are in Christ and admitting who we are. We are Christians and we are not boastful so I don’t mean bragging about it to everyone on the street. You know that you are a Christian but we need to profess it and the more we profess it the wearier the devil becomes. The more we proclaim and admit to ourselves and outwardly who we are, the less of an opportunity the devil gets to make inroads into your mind and your thoughts. We have to try and get to a point where the devil can’t get a word in edgeways.
The problem is as hard as we try, there are silences and avoidances of opportunities to proclaim who we are. We try our best: At home, we have a chalk board in the kitchen, which has a scripture on it, my passwords are bible references, Liezel has an armband in her car from a Christian conference which she went to. So we try our best to remember and keep those thoughts of who we are in the conscious part of our brains. But the silences and the missed opportunities are where the devil attacks. For example..... engaged – what do you think I said.....nothing!!!! I went away with those darker thoughts, what a coward, what a rubbish witness, etc...
2. We need to proclaim and exalt the One who is on our side, the commander, the General, the King Jesus Christ and we need to use His word to defend against the attack. It is essential that we not exalt ourselves. When we are under attack we need to continue to glorify God and thank him for our blessings – it drives the devil mad! Rejoice always – 1Thes 5:16. It builds up our faith, it starts that constant conversation with God and it starts to make us realise that the situation is not that bad. CONTEXT
In the crisis it helps to glorify God for other things he has done.
3. And we need speak to the enemy directly and we need to tell him to back off! Shake those negative thoughts from your mind. We need to go back to our bible and get some ammunition - use the word of God (the sword of the spirit). We need to say, 1 John 4:4 He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
4. Lastly, from verse 18, which will be the message that “Ron brings us next week – we need to pray always. We can pray for courage, pray for the Lord to strengthen our faith, pray for wisdom to recognise the threat and when it is time to make a stand, and we can pray for the Holy Spirit to show us the best course of action and the best way to make a stand in any given situation.
Before I move on to discuss the armour of God, I would like to answer the question:
Why do we need to make a stand?
Ruth touched on this last week so it is plain to see that it is because the devil can indeed be powerful.
His deception only works, however, if we give into it. Without our consent the devil is absolutely powerless. Think about the Garden of Eden, Satan did not send a vicious predator to attack Eve; he sent a deceitful and cunning snake instead. The snake did not wrap itself around their necks and threaten to kill them it merely tricked them. I believe that Satan does not have the power to physically harm us, he cannot force us to act. He is like the big bad wolf, his aim is to steal, kill and destroy but he cannot do that if you build your house with bricks, with God’s bricks of truth from His word.
John gives us a great illustration of the lack of Satan’s power in revelation 20:1-2 where he describes how the devil gets defeated (yes we know that we will win the battle). After the great tribulation, an angel binds the devil with a great chain and throws him in a bottomless pit for 1000 years and then seals the pit “so that he should deceive the nations no more”. It was no special agent, 007, super angel either. God did not send Michael the Archangel or Gabriel, He just sent some ordinary angel to bind this so-called “powerful” Satan.
So we have spoken about how our commander tells us to be strong and to make a stand. Now he tells us to put on God’s armour – to get kitted out - not just our helmets, but the whole armour. And we need to be equipped with weapons of our own.
Paul, who was in prison at the time of writing this letter to the Christians in Ephesus, in my opinion, uses a very clever analogy of a soldier’s armour. He would have been guarded by soldiers and the people of that day knew how they used to dress for battle and therefore it was a perfect analogy to have chosen.
Seven pieces of armour are mentioned. Five are defensive and two are offensive, with one being preparatory. The armour is mentioned as being: a belt, a breastplate, shoes, a shield, a helmet, a sword, and prayer.
1. The belt of Truth
Firstly let’s consider what the roman soldiers wore in that day. Roman soldiers wore tunics, which were two pieces of rectangular cloth sown together with holes cut for the head and arms. It was worn below the knees under normal circumstances, but when preparing for battle it was hiked up and held by the belt. Now when we think of a belt it serves a purpose most of the time doesn't it? For a soldier it had three functions:
First: It held up the tunic so that it didn’t get in the way when they ran or when they were involved in close combat with another soldier (remember we were told to stand, not trip over our clothes).
Second: It carried a sheath for their dagger
And Third: It offered some protection for the personal area! Now I learnt that lesson the hard way when I was about 11 or 12 years old. I used to do karate (not Matt’s level) and at a completion once I was on the receiving end kick below the belt. Now I don’t remember too much but I do remember been woken up with smelling salts and feeling so embarrassed because there were all these people standing over me and not all of them were feeling pity. But the most embarrassing or infuriating thing was she didn’t even get disqualified!
Anyway back to the soldier, the belt was always the first thing that a soldier would put on before putting on the rest of their armour.
Now we know what the belt is as far as military gear would go; but what does it represent? It is referred to as the Belt of Truth. Truth is the foundation on which everything is built. If we don’t know what is true, we cannot avoid deception, and we will fall prey to the ‘wiles’ or deception of the devil. There are not multiple truths. The Bible expressly rules out anything but itself and God’s truth. THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. We must choose whose word we believe. This belt is what holds all things together. Everything in our spiritual life is fastened and held in place by truth. In the NKJV Psalm 91: 4 reads, “He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler” Truth protects us and without a solid understanding of His truth, all of our defences are compromised.
2. The Breastplate of righteousness
As a literal piece of armour the breastplate is quite easy to imagine. It was made up of small metal plates which were tied together in a similar fashion to the way roof tiles are placed on a roof. The armour was then placed over the shoulders to protect both the front and back of the soldier. The bottom of the armour was tied to the belt (another reason why you need to put on the belt first). On a Roman Soldier’s armour, the breastplate was custom made to fit that soldier. It was specifically designed for him to protect him from attacks. This breastplate protected the soldier’s heart and major organs from a potentially devastating wound by protecting their area of weakness.
RIGHTEOUSNESS - God’s righteousness means we are in right standing with God. We need to remember that we are only worthy to stand before God because of Jesus and what He sacrificed for us. Our own righteousness has never been enough and never will be enough in God’s eyes. If we were putting on our own breastplate of righteousness it would be full of holes and would offer no protection. God is perfectly righteous and He gives us the perfect armour to wear.
As Christians we know that righteousness was imputed to us by God through Jesus Christ. 2 Corintians 5: 27 reads, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteous of God in Him.”
So our breastplate is made impenetrable by the perfect righteousness of God. The devil will use our impurities and our sins as ammunition for his attack. He will lead us to believe that we are not worthy of God’s love because we are just sinners (which we are). However, God has given us righteousness through the death of His Son and no matter how far short we fall of perfection in our own lack of righteousness; we will always have God’s righteousness to make a stand on.
3. Shoes of the Gospel
I think we all agree that good footwear in battle is paramount. This was no different in the days of Paul and from all accounts the soldiers had very different footwear to what they wore casually. They were probably still sandals of some kind but in the NKJV they use the word shod which means “to bind on”. This implied that they were securely fastened probably almost up to the knee. It is also believed that the soles were thick and studded with nails for extra traction. A soldier could not risk falling in battle.
So what Paul is saying is that the shoes we wear need to give us a firm foundation and a secure footing. If we are asked to stand and fight then the shoes we wear will prevent us from falling and slipping up along the way. In this passage the shoes signify the Gospel of Peace but it signifies more the preparedness that the Gospel of Peace gives us to fight the battle. So what is the gospel of peace and how does it prepare us for the battle? If you think of a sportsman, he can be in perfect shape physically but if he enters the game without tactics, a game plan or if he is not mentally prepared, his chances of success are drastically reduced.
The easiest way for me to summarise the Gospel is to quote one of the most famous passages from the bible: John 3: 16 "16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We need to be mature enough Christians to know what the truth is.
The devil is going to through all manner of garbage at us but the bottom line is Christ has already given us the victory. What you need before you enter a battle is to have the courage. The Gospel has prepared us for battle by encouraging us and giving us the knowledge of what God has already done for us through Jesus. Through the victory of the gospel that was prepared for us, we can be courageous in battle and we can in full confidence MAKE A STAND!
4. Shield of Faith
“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”. Roman soldiers carried lightweight shields that consisted mostly of wood. Enemy archers would shoot flaming arrows, so to protect themselves, they would soak their shields in water so the flaming arrows and darts would be extinguished.
(Mark 11:22-23). “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says”. Do we have faith like this? Let’s see if you can relate to this...some of you would have prayed for something, something big and meaningful. Like a healing or a solution to a real crisis or something like that. Now when it did become a reality you rejoiced, you really celebrated and hopefully praised God, but how much of that was out of shear disbelief that your prayer was answered? If we believe so steadfastly as in the passage, then we shouldn’t be surprised when our prayers get answered. We should definitely praise God but we shouldn’t be surprised.
An American minister said that “A defeated Christian who lacks faith is one who quickly falls away when problems arise. Their focus is on circumstances and have expectations that must be fulfilled in order to believe. They expect God to exempt them from the struggles of life. When pain or trials come along, they don’t trust God so they abandon the battle and feel like God has failed them.”
If you trust God’s complete plan beyond what you can see, you will stand strong and your faith in God’s purposes will quench the devil attempts to use to draw you away or create doubt.
5. The Helmet of Salvation
This is the piece of armour that we are probably all familiar with, even non-believers know about this. I think that the challenge for us here (well especially for me) is not just to receive the helmet of salvation and then to go back to doing what we have always done with the safety net of salvation in the back of our minds. I heard someone describe it like this, “It is not sufficient for your life to be changed following salvation, your life should be exchanged”. There needs to be a complete surrender, a change of citizenship. We need to surrender our sinful lives and exchange it for the righteous life that God has prepared for us. Our lifestyle then needs to match our new citizenship. 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin”.
Our helmet of salvation is in place to protect our minds from those negative thoughts. We can control our thoughts; whether we take a negative thought and talk to it or refuse to accept the thought.
God’s forgiveness and promise of eternal life is all the courage we need for the battle.
6. Sword of the Spirit
The sword of the spirit is the word of God. It is not necessarily the ink written on this paper in these books set out on the chairs, it is the word of God that we have taken into our hearts where it has come alive and is transformed to reveal unique and individual knowledge to each of us.
This sword is our weapon; this is how we attack back. If we know the word of God, it terrifies the Devil. He consistently twists the word of God, which is essentially how he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden – he misquotes scripture. If we know scripture, he has lost this route of attack. We can also quote scripture to build up our shield of faith, to counteract the messages from the devil. If the devil tells us we won’t be healed, we can quote scripture which disputes this. We will always be able to contradict the devils argument.
In this day and age it seems as though the word of God has been pushed so far down the prescribed reading list of life. We spoke about this in our home group last week and I am not sure if we really reached a conclusion. Which word do we put first, is it the word of God or the countless other authoritative words that we are supposed to adhere to (policy, legislation, etc.). We need to decide who our commander is going to be and who we take our orders from. Now I don’t have that problem because I take my orders from Liezel.
To summarise, CONSCRIPTION, God’s armour, have to stand, admit and remember, proclaim and exalt, fight back, pray.
if we know Christ as our saviour, we are in a battle. There is no way to escape it but there are clear instructions of how to fight the battle. We have the gift of God’s armour but we need to actively make a stand in order for it to be effective.
And as if you were ever in doubt, I just want to end with one of my favourite, scriptures of all time:
Romans chapter 8 and verse 31 reads, “If God is for us, who can be against us”.
Ephesians 6:10-12 Know Your Enemy 10 July 2011
Ruth Colderwood
Introduction
This morning I have some good news for you and some bad news.
The bad news is:
Devil is real
He has got power
And he is out to get you.
Good News
Our God is sovereign and all power belongs to Him.
He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world 1 John 4
And our God has done everything necessary to keep us in His hand.
Recap
So we are coming to the end of Ephesians and this last section speaks to us about the battle we are in.
In verse 10 we are told 10Finally, (Finally, A)be strong in the Lord and in (B)the strength of His might. 11(C)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm
The finally is there for a reason-This section of scripture cannot be applied to our lives in isolation from the rest of Ephesians we need to take the book as a whole.
So a brief recap. At the beginning of Ephesians we learn what Christ has done for us and who we are in Christ. So for example we read chapter 2v 6 that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places.
This is not just a useful fact we need to apply it so firstly we are not on our own-thats great we have Christ with us and we also need to be seeing whatever is going on in our lives and situations from Christ’s perspective.
There is then a practical section of how we are to live godly and holy lives in relationship to one another, in the world, at home and at work. If we are not living holy lifes in accordance with Gods ways we leave ourselves open to the devil getting a stronghold in our lives for example we read in chapter 4 v 26-27 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. If we don’t deal with our anger as it says here the devil will be able to get in and rob us of Gods blessing.
So it is after all this that we are then told to Finally be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might and to stand firm. Why? What are we standing firm against?
The Battle.
Well there is a problem there is a battle going on-Jesus has an enemy; one who does not want us to stand firm, who does not want us to live in the good of who we are in Christ, he does not want us to get on with each other and neither does he want us to tell others about the good news of Christ so that they can be saved.
So at the end of verse 10 we are told that we need to stand firm against the (D)schemes of the devil. The devil wants us out of the battle, out of the way, distracted or injured so we are not effective and he will do anything to achieve his aims. If you have chosen to follow Christ it is guaranteed that you will face opposition. If you are a member of the body of Christ you are in a war and you will remain so until either you die or the Lord Jesus returns to earth. Pg 25
So as we are in a war we need to know who our enemy is:
We are told here that it’s not just the schemes of the devil we have to stand against but that there are also others in his camp. 12For our (E)struggle is not against (F)flesh and blood, but (G)against the rulers, against the powers, against the (H)world forces of this (I)darkness, against the (J)spiritual forces of wickedness in (K)the heavenly places. We are not fighting one another inside the church neither are we fighting people outside the church. The battle we are in is a spiritual battle; now where this battle goes on; whether it is up there; round here I do not know for certain but we can be sure it is a very real battle.
As well as the devil the bible also speaks about us having to stand against the things of the world and of putting our flesh to death we cannot just blame the devil for everything, sometimes it is purely our fleshly desires that cause us to sin and fall away however I believe that the three are interlinked and cannot necessarily be separated out, often the world and our flesh are used by the devil to bring us down and we need to ask the Holy Spirit for discernment to know which is the most predominant but today we are focussing on the devil.
Before I was asked to preach on this subject I saw very clear evidence that as a body of people here at Kings Road there were a significant number of key people who were under spiritual attack.
This war that we are in is an unusual one in that we already know who will win-us!!! Christ has won the victory over the enemy at the cross and we are in the last skirmishes before the devil and his angels end up in the lake of fire. However even though the war has ultimately been won it does not always seem like it has. It is hard and sometimes we get hurt.
Although we are told we have an enemy we are not to fear him. We are told in 1John 4 v4 that He (Holy Spirit) who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Now that is the truth, however we need to be careful not be flippant about satan either. I believe we need to have a healthy respect for him and his army; he does have power ;we know that as otherwise we would not be being told to stand firm against him neither would we be told to resist him as in James 4 what we do need to know though is that the devils power is limited.
In 2 Cor 2 v11 we are told not to be ignorant of satans schemes so it is my task today to share with you what some of them are. Later we will look briefly at some principles by which we are able to stand firm in this battle.
Many of the devils schemes can be seen in the names given to him. I have picked out 6.
The Devils Schemes.
1. Deceiver of the world. Rev 12 v9 9And the great (A)dragon was thrown down, the (B)serpent of old who is called the devil and (C)Satan, who (D)deceives the whole world; he was (E)thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
2. Father of lies. Liar John 8 v 44 John 8:44 (New American Standard Bible) Pg36
44"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The first two names given to the devil are the deceiver of the world and the father of lies.
I have put these 2 together as deception and lies are closely linked. This battle I believe goes on mainly in our minds.
The word deceiver 4105 means to cause to wander, lead astray, in this specific case to seduce specifically into idolatry.
Lie 5579 5883 A lie, falsehood.
Satan wants us to worship anything or anyone other than Jesus.
So what does satan lie about?
1. Satans lies about himself.
He is a master liar. He tells his best lies about himself.
I don’t exist at all.
I do exist but I have been defeated at the cross so you can ignore me.
I am just a joke red in colour with a pitch fork in my hand
The best lies are those with some truth in them. It is true satan has been defeated at the cross but we must not ignore him. As I said earlier we are in the in between time when the devils downfall is certain but he is still kicking and screaming and trying to bring down as many of us with him as possible. Sadly in the church we often believe the lies satan says about himself and I think we have had a tendency to ignore him.
So what other sort of lies does he tell?
2. Doctrine
Hell is not a real place do you really think that a good and loving God would send people to hell.
Or you are right hell is a real place; punishment for sin is needed but don’t worry it’s not for ever.
Satan won’t tell you the truth that although hell is a real place BUT Jesus Christ has made it possible for total forgiveness, a transformed life here on earth and the gift of eternal life when we die.
3. Personal lies –specific to you
Then there are the more personal lies. These can come as a thought or the devil may use off the cuff comments or negative words from other people.
We need to discern what is constructive critism or a godly rebuke which would need to be taken on board but we must reject any lies from our thought life that the devil might use.
So for me one of the lies I would battle with is ‘OK whats been the point of your life? What have you achieved? You’ve have missed Gods call on your life, you’ve missed His plan.’
As I said Satan’s tactic of deception and lies are closely linked. Satan will get you to question whether Gods word is it true.
On who wants to be a millionaire Chris Tarrant says to a contestant as they are about to give their answer to the million pound question are you sure, absolutely sure, final answer and sometimes you see the contestant begin to falter, the doubt has been put in their mind; is their answer right; that is exactly what satan does to us. The truth is God does have a plan for my life and that even if I had missed it and gone the wrong way He can redeem the time I have left; the bible says in John that God has chosen me and appointed me to bear good fruit, it also says that Jesus is the good shepherd who will lead and guide me.
Satans wants me to believe the lie that He doesn’t have a plan for me or I have blown it so he says ‘Ruth are you sure? ‘‘Yes’ ‘Are you absolutely sure; what if you have missed it; what if you’ve wasted your time. If I allow my thoughts to dwell on that lie I will start to question Gods truth and then I will start to believe that I have missed Gods plan for my life that theres no point in carrying on so then I give up and become ineffective. I need to reject the devils lies and replace it with Gods truth[R1] . There are endless others like God won’t provide for you, Does God really love you, why would Jesus bother with a waste of space like you. These all need to be replaced with Gods truth that we find in His word.
He will also appeal to our self interest so in the garden of Eden Eve was told she could become like God if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So what might he say to us? He may whisper you know times are tough you would have much more money if you were not to tithe and you know you can’t really afford it. The truth is God is Jehovah Jireh God who does provide, the truth is also that sometimes we are called to give sacrificially.
3.He is the Accuser of the brethren Rev 12 v10 "Now the (G)salvation, and the power, and the (H)kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the (I)accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. Please note in this passage that the devil accuses the brethren before God day and night so we need to be alert all the time. There is no time off. In Ephesians we are told to put our armour on, we are not told to be taking it off. We need to be ready for the schemes of the enemy at all times. We need to be alert and identify as to when we are most vulnerable or where we are a bit sensitive as this is where the devil will attack us. For me it is if I wake up in the middle of the night and cannot get back to sleep, when I’m tired, if I end up spending a lot of time on my own or when I need to deal with things like house maintenance. But it could also be when out of your normal routine, you have become over busy, spending time with colleagues or relatives who maybe put you down. How does the devil accuse us? He whispers God will never forgive you for that sin, how could He; you knew you should not do it. How can God use you now? Your ministry /service for Christ is over. True forgiveness will only be given when as well as repenting you also have to do this and this as well.
As a young Christian I was taught to have a QT every day. This is a good thing but the devil would take that and when say I didn’t have a QT because I couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed he would whisper. You are a rubbish Christian now you will have a bad day you will not be effective witness for Christ and I would feel condemned. The truth is I do need to spend time with the Lord but here there is one of the tensions in scripture of working out our salvation with fear and trembling and Gods grace; it’s by grace that I am saved not through my works any witness I do is not cause I’m great at it but because God chooses to use weak human beings to do His work. The truth is if I did give into my flesh and just laze in bed when I knew I should have gotten up I just need to confess that receive God’s forgiveness and move on. He does not come down with a big stick and hit me over the head the bible says God is slow to anger the devil wants to bring us under law rather than where we should be which is under grace. He wants us to feel condemned so that we are then ineffective in Gods kingdom.
4. Adversary 1 Peter 5v8
1 Peter 5:8 (New American Standard Bible)
8Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
The devil wants to devour us that’s not nice but we know it’s true as it is written here. So who will the devil be looking for? When a lion is looking for its food it looks for those who are weak or young or on the edge, maybe drifting away from herd.
One of devils schemes is to isolate us so he can pick us off ;so he persuades us to stop reading our Bibles, stop praying, stop going to church, stop going to house group, then hey presto suddenly you’re having little contact with believers, your isolated, your relationship with Christ is distant and you are no longer accountable to anyone. So there again you are taken out of the battle.
You know this can happen to anyone, it’s not particularly aimed at those on the fringes of the church. Even those at the centre of everything your pastors and leaders we are all vulnerable and need to be on our guard.
5. Angel of Light.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (New American Standard Bible)
13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
So who are the devils servants here? This can be a hard one to grasp and one we may not want to accept there are people who look like believers maybe even be believers but are being used by the devil to cause disruption and destruction in the church which was what was happening here in the Corinthian church. Can one truly be born of God and be deceived and lead others astray?
I believe the answer is yes why is that? Well if I am told to be on my guard against deception it is possible I can be deceived if I can be deceived I can therefore be used by the devil especially as I said in my last point if I have isolated myself so I am not accountable and cannot be corrected. We need to make sure we are we open to being corrected? That’s not easy hits our PRIDE our ego but it is essential.
How do we know what is of God and what is not? 1. Test against scripture. 2 1 Corinthians Gift of discernment which comes only by the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
6. Abaddon/Apollyon.
Revelation 9:11 (New American Standard Bible)
11They have as king over them, the angel of the (A)abyss; his name in (B)Hebrew is (C)Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
The name here means destroyer in both the Hebrew and the Greek.
In John 10 v 10 10"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they (A)may have life, and have it abundantly.
Devil wants to steal us of Christ’s blessing. He doesn’t want us to believe all those wonderful truths we read in Ephesians 1 of who we are in Christ. Satan is out to destroy us. He wants to destroy our relationship with Christ he wants us to destroy our relationships with one another. He wants to destroy the joy which it is possible to have in spite of difficult circumstances. Ultimately he wants us dead not only spiritually but sometimes he will even try to get us to want to destroy ourselves through suicide.
How do I know it is possible to live in the good of Gods blessing no matter what-well Paul when he wrote this letter which so many Christians love to day was in prison having gone through horrendous troubles and afflictions, yet what a message he brings not a hint of self pity but full of joy and encouragement. I have also met several believers who have been severely persecuted for their faith yet their faces are radiant. They have learnt the enemies’ schemes and how to stand firm and overcome. 20 mins.
Satans Army
So on to verse 12 ‘ 12For our (E)struggle is not against (F)flesh and blood, but (G)against the rulers, against the powers, against the (H)world forces of this (I)darkness, against the (J)spiritual forces of wickedness in (K)the heavenly places. Satan does not work alone and he can only be in one place at a time but he has an army evil spirits and fallen angels or demons working with him.
In the west we do not have the world view of the spiritual realm as they do elsewhere.
Incidentally this I believe is one of the lies and deceptions of the enemy. If the spiritual realm does not exist; we don’t deal with it, therefore we stay in bondage and therefore are less effective for Christ and his kingdom.
We know these things exist how? well it’s written here.
So what are these rulers, powers, world forces of darkness, spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places?
We know they’re not flesh-and-blood but the supernatural beings/demons working behind people and geographical places.
Where is the evidence for this in the bible?
1. People. The enemy often uses people to do his work by a spiritual power /demon working behind them. There is the example I mentioned earlier in 2 Corinthians where the devils servants are described as servants of righteousness.
We read in Luke that satan entered Judas heart before he went off to betray him. and Jesus in Matthew 16 says to Peter when he is saying to Jesus that he mustn’t die ‘get behind me satan you are a stumbling block to Me for you’re not setting your mind on Gods interests but mans.’ Jesus did not use His words lightly. He did not tell Peter to get lost but instead addresses the enemy working behind Peter. Peter was still used by God he went on to be a leader in the early church. (Judas)
2. Places Daniel 10 v 12-13 12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince[a] of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, [b] came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. [c] Daniel had been praying for 3 weeks –we struggle for 3 days waiting for an answer why did it take so long we are told in v 12-13. There was a battle going on in the heavenlies the spirit prince of Persia had blocked the way of the messenger who was trying to get to Daniel we are told here for 21 days. In the end Michael one of the archangels had had to come and help him get through only then could the messenger get through to Daniel to give understanding to him.
So we see here not only evil spirits at work here but also good angels working all in response to a man praying. You can read more about ministering angels in Hebrews.
How do we fight back?
So how do we if we are not struggling with flesh and blood deal with these rulers and powers.
There is only one way. Prayer, Intercession and spiritual warfare.
I believe there is a difference between these three. Spiritual warfare is prayer but not all prayer is spiritual warfare. Another lie of the enemy is that prayer does not work, is not important, or that doing things for God is more important than praying to Him.
This is why prayer meetings are so poorly attended. Then when we do get to them the enemy then tells us ‘you can’t pray out loud; you have to pray like this , you can’t do that so keep quiet; What you’re about to pray isn’t scriptural; if you pray that everyone will laugh at you.
You know for 7 years I never prayed out loud because I was too scared and embarrassed to but you know at corporate prayer meetings we need to pray out loud why? So I can say amen to your prayer and because God gives direction through our prayers.
For example we are currently going out into Bucks meadow as a result of what has come out in prayer meetings-I cannot remember the specifics but I am guessing that someone prayed about the possibility of reaching out to the youth in the meadow; the Holy Spirit then witnesses strongly in someone else who then prays that they witness to it too, and so we carry on praying round the subject until it becomes clear what we should do. Then we obey and go out.
So back to v 12 it says that there is a struggle going on.
Struggle 3823 means to shake, vibrate. A wrestling, struggle or hand to hand combat.
If the bible says it’s going to be a struggle it is going to be a struggle!!!!
Sometimes Prayer intercession and spiritual warfare flows easily like during out last P&F other times it is going to be really hard work; we have had some really heavy going p&f sessions it’s like a brick wall but we have had to just persevere sometimes crying out to God.
This is talking to God not like you would talk in a library but rather a crying out as you would shout stop to your child as they are about to run into the road or as you would at a football/rugby match
God is not interested so much in beautiful words but the cry from your heart. Sometimes we have needed to cry out to God in a prayer language given to us by God which the bible calls speaking in tongues and this has allowed there to be a breakthrough. It somehow releases something in the spiritual realm that then shows us how to pray in English and to then get Gods direction of how to move forward. I have found this to be true in my own personal prayer times but is especially so in corporate times of prayer.
So now a recommended easy to read book with all this in to get you going-actually there isn’t one but I am going to tell you a guaranteed way in order to learn to pray.
The only sure way to be taught how to pray is to pray and whether you want to be on your knees, lie on the floor flat on your face or wander up and down it does not matter and it is probably helpful if you want to pray for any length of time to do a variety or these postures –it saves you getting stiff and from falling asleep.
I will guarantee you if you are prepared to start praying God Himself will teach you by His Holy Spirit. Prayer is how HE acts on the earth; Spiritual battles are fought in a spiritual way it is God who will deliver us and come to our aid as we pray it is not by our cleverness, plans or programmes these must be born out of prayer.
So if He looks down and sees someone who is willing to put themselves out to seek His face He will come.
Again If you want to be transformed if there are issues in your life you want dealing with; again pray if God looks down and sees someone willing to pray He will change you to think like He thinks and be as He is cause then he can work through you and fulfil His purposes. God wants to see the breakthrough in situations even more than we do.
In my early 20’s I was challenged to pray for the nation for 10mins a day this does not sound very long but when I started it was a real struggle and it seemed like an eternity but I learnt a lot through it and God dealt with a lot of things in me as a result. If you are willing to pray if you need to know something God will either show you through His word or He will bring someone alongside you to teach you get a book into your hands.
As we learn to pray on our own then there will be a real rising up when we then come to pray corporately.
I said earlier that we would look at how it is we can stand firm. You will be hearing more next week when we look at the armour God has given us but in what other ways can we stand firm and overcome. 30 mins
Standing Firm
Standing firm is all about living the truth as we find it in the bible.
It says in verse 10 To stand firm in the Lord and in the strength of His might so our focus should be on the Lord; our strength is found in Him and this is where we are to have our trust. We are not to trust in ourselves, our family, our church, our church leaders, mentors or friends. These are all essential but the Lord should be our focus.
In Revelation 12 v 11 we read 3 ways that believers can stand firm
11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
a) Blood of the Lamb
We need to make sure we are in a right relationship with God. Christ’s blood was shed that we could be free from sin and the guilt that follows. We need however to appropriate this by confessing our sin and receiving His forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness.
To have a right relationship with God we need to be in right relationship with one another and to be living Holy lifes.
b) Word of their testimony.
Do you have a testimony is it up to date? How is your personal relationship with Jesus? People can give you direction in how to build your relationship with the Lord but only you can build it. What has God said to you this week, done for you today? Then do you speak it out or are you silent? Do your friends and family know what God does in your life? Share this week at house group what Lord has done for you or said to you. It builds up faith both yours and those who hear it?
c) Did not love their lives even when facing death.
We have no idea whether we would have to face death for our faith at the moment it is unlikely here in UK but you never know what is coming in the future. Guaranteed though we will have to make sacrifices which will be a death to our self life.
There is also:
1. Waiting on the Lord.
We sang the song Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord. We need to spend time in Gods presence just for who He is. We are then strengthened by this.
2. Having the joy of the Lord as our strength.
What does this mean? It means that our joy is not dependent on our circumstances our joy is in knowing the Lord. So even in difficult times we will still follow Him and worship Him and in so doing He strengthens us to continue.
3. Worship.
Awesome focuses our minds on Him! Satan hates us worshipping Jesus. We are reminded of how great HE is gets the focus off of us. I loved the worship at the gathering but I need to learn to worship on my own too.
4. Prayer-specifically submitting self to the Lord and resisting the devil.1 Peter 5 v 8-9 One of the lies of the enemy is that all we have to do is ignore him rather than resist him. Resisting the enemy is not just a little token prayer if we are going to be in the battle and win it sometimes it will mean hard work with weeping angst and calling out to God. And if we do resist the devil the bible says he will flee from you.
Matt 5 Praying for your enemies, those who persecute you. That’s much easier to do when you remember that it is not flesh and blood you fight against but he enemy behind them.
5. Declaring the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous run into it and are safe.
In knowing the names of the Lord we find He can meet our every need. I have found 60
6. Winning the battle for your mind. 1 Peter 1 v13-16
If we can win the battle going on in our mind we will win the battle against satans schemes.
7. Knowing the truth will not help you, I repeat knowing the truth will not help you. only when it is applied to our life and we believe the truth can it have its effect. We live what we believe not what we know.eg I can know the truth that God has forgiven me through Christ’s blood being shed on the cross however if I do not believe that to be true and apply john 1 v9 to my life I will feel condemned and live life feeling guilty. We need to be bringing every thought captive the devil lies need to be replaced with Gods truth. Every thought has to be measured against what we read in Philippians 4 v 8 is it true, honourable, right, pure, lovely, of good report. Our mind is renewed by Gods word so we need to be meditating on it be memorising it, reading it, speaking it out, listen to it. Ray talked about Truth decay to the children a few weeks ago and the need to get into Gods word how have we been doing? Look over what we have been learning in Ephesians, remind yourself of Gods truths, Freedom in Christ course. Then when the lies come we can reject them and replace them with Gods truth.
Lindsey mentioned 2 weeks ago about praying scripture over your children do this when worrying thoughts come-a colleague at work has set her phone to chime at her once every hour to remind her to touch base with God.
Can we win the battle for our minds-Yes
Is it a hard battle-yes
Will we fail-probably if you are like me
Is there a way back –always through repentance and Gods grace and forgiveness through Christ’s bloodshed on the cross-Amen
8. Fellowship
We need one another for encouragement and to be accountable to one another. Example of Moses arms being held up by Aaron and Hur whilst Joshua was at war.
9. Persevere
10.Living in the light of eternity.
This life is not it! Our identity and purpose are not for this live but the next when we live this life in the light of eternity many of our worries, trials become less significant and actually can be used to prepare us for our true destiny which is to spend eternity with Christ.
11.Armour of God which Scott is going to be speaking on next week.
Basically apply whole of Ephesians to your life then you will stand firm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ephesians 6:1-3 Good Kids? 26 June 2011
Lindsey Toms
Before I start I want to say that there is no condemnation in Christ and whatever I say today, if you think to yourself ‘I have blown this, I haven’t done or not done these things while bringing up my children or as a child myself.’ Then there is always room to ask forgiveness of someone or of God. None of us get it all right all the time and God’s grace is sufficient for us.
I also want to say that the most important thing we can do for our children is to pray for them. All our children are adults now but we regularly receive texts or calls from all of them, asking for prayer for areas of their lives. Children need to know we are praying for them
Mark Twain on ‘How to raise kids’
‘Things run along pretty smoothly until your kid reaches thirteen. That’s the time you need to stick ‘em in a barrel, hammer down the lid nice and snug, and feed ‘em through the knot hole. And then, about the time he turns sixteen plug up the knot hole.’
We can look back in the book of 1 Samuel at an example of how raising children can go terribly wrong.....
Eli was a priest and he also judged Israel for 40 years (1Sam4:18)
He was a responsible man and highly respected, we know from the story of Samuel that Eli was spiritually sensitive. He was also a father of two sons...Hophni and Phinehas.
We are told in 1Sam 2:12 ‘Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord.’
They may have been priests by profession but their hearts were far from God, they lived scandalous lives.
It is a fact that the children of pastors and others in ministry can often live notorious lives and we could discuss the reasons for this if we had time...someone once said “The reason preachers kids are so bad is because they hang around all those deacon’s kids!”
It was common knowledge about Eli’s sons, he had been told of their behaviour not only by the public but also by God Himself via an unnamed prophet who tells Eli in v 34 that his sons will die due to their behaviour. The problem was that by allowing his sons to behave as they were, Eli was honouring them above God. You may ask ‘What could Eli have done?’ and you may not want to know!
Let’s look at Deuteronomy 21:18-21
18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,
19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.
20 They shall say to the elders, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.
21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
If we had time we could go through this account of Eli and his sons and probably pick out reasons why the sons turned out like they did and of course if our children are out of control we won’t be taking them to the elders to be stoned!
Let’s go on to the NT
The label ‘House Codes’ is often given to the sections in Ephesians, Colossians and 1 Peter that give instructions to wives and husbands, children and parents, and slaves and masters.. These relationships were often addressed by Greek and Jewish writers but no source for Christian house codes had been discovered. As Christians were being accused of destroying society with their focus on freedom, love and following Christ, these House Codes were put in place and focused not only on wives, children and slaves, but also on the responsibilities of husbands, parents and masters.
Christians needed to show they did not threaten order and decency in society.
Paul envisioned a different pattern of relationships between those who are ‘in Christ’.
For these people, Christ is King, Master and Lord.
Paul thinks that if we can get our minds around first submitting to Christ as Lord, then many other relationships will fall into place. Even in the most difficult of times Paul’s core identity is defined by his relationship with the Lord. See Ephesians 3:1 and 4:1 where he describes himself as a ‘prisoner of Christ’ or ‘of the Lord’
All Paul’s teachings about human relationships flow from this idea of being ‘in’ the Lord and of doing things ‘for’ the Lord and as if they were done ‘to’ the Lord.
We need to look back over the past few weeks and put everything in order.
Our homes become spiritually powerful when
-wives submit to their husbands
-husbands love their wives and
-children obey their parents
There is success, peace and a powerful witness.
We relate to our heavenly father in the same way – with obedience
‘Obey your parents in the Lord’ does not mean ‘obey your Christian parents’ it means to obey as part of your relationship to the Lord.
The meaning is virtually synonymous with ‘as to the Lord’ in verses 5:22 and 6:6
Where this scripture speaks of children it can be understood to include adults, in the society of the day, the father maintained authority often until he was old or until his death. But here if we look to v 4 we can see that Paul is talking about children still in the process of learning and being shaped so it would appear that he is speaking of younger children.
Verse 2 talks of the commandment in Exodus 20:12 ‘Honour your father and mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you’
There is a difference between obeying and honouring, children are expected to obey while under their parents care but the responsibility to honour is for life. If our faith in Christ is real it will usually prove itself in the home, in our relationships with those who know us best. Children and parents have a responsibility to each other. Children should honour their parents even if the parents are demanding and unfair. Parents should car gently for their children even if the children are disobedient and unpleasant.
That children should obey their parents was a given in Pauls society, but for him it was right because of their relationship to Christ.
In the OT commandment, the promise of a long and good life had to do with life in the land of Israel, which God had given His people. Honouring parents was an essential foundation for God’s covenant people (Lev 19:3). This promise applies to the community and is not a guarantee to the individual. To live in peace for generations in the promised land, the Israelites would need to respect authority and build strong families. This passage should not be spiritualised to refer to future life. Paul omits the focus on Israel, however, to make the statement more general. God’s promise is based on the presumption that obedience to parents leads to order and stability.
When it comes to teaching children to obey their parents we must ask ourselves as parents what example we are setting.
The ultimate meaning of marriage—the ultimate purpose of marriage—is to dramatize on the earth the covenant-keeping love between Christ and His church. This is the God-designed setting for making children—and for making them disciples of Jesus. These are two purposes for marriage. And the ultimate one creates the God-ordained setting for the other one. Ultimately, marriage is a flesh-and-blood drama of how Christ (shown by the husband) loves his church, and how the church (shown by the wife) is devoted to Christ. And this flesh-and-blood drama creates the setting—the physical, emotional, moral, spiritual nest—for the other purpose of marriage, namely, bringing children into the world and bringing them to Jesus
Billy Graham: ‘children will invariably talk, eat, walk, think, respond and act like their parents. Give them a target to shoot at. Give them a goal to work towards. Give them a pattern that they can see clearly and you give them something that gold and silver cannot buy’
Paul speaks directly to the children.
In the Lord
A Christian home should be ‘in the Lord’ ‘under the worship of Christ’ this should be the atmosphere of our home
Children are instructed to obey their parents according to the Lord’s will. If a parent tells a child to do something that it contrary to the heart of Jesus and the Word of God...such as in an abusive relationship....then the child is not obligated to do it.
The scripture says to obey ‘your parents’ not just father or mother but both parents...the Biblical model is of both parents being equal in authority
Equal authority does not necessarily mean equal in leading.
This leading responsibility in raising the children is simply the natural continuation of the leading responsibility in relation to the wife. As we heard a few weeks back, in Ephesians 5:23, 25, Paul said, “The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church. . . . Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion , , Paul said, God doesn’t make the husband the leader in relationship to his wife and then make the wife the leader in relation to the children. Husbands bear the responsibility in both directions. If it were otherwise the children would be very confused. In fact, millions of children today are confused and a host of personal and social problems can probably be traced to this confusion We see this when we get to verse 4. We might expect Paul to continue the united focus on parents and say, “Parents, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” But that is not what he says. He says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” So here he is simply extending the implications of headship in relationship to wives to the leading responsibility for the upbringing of our children. That is what it means to be a married man: sacrificial, loving headship in relationship to our wives, and firm, tender leadership in relationship to the united task of raising our children in the Lord., do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” But that is not what he says. He says, So here he is simply extending the implications of headship in relationship to wives to the leading responsibility for the upbringing of our children. That is what it means to be a married man: sacrificial, loving headship in relationship to our wives, and firm, tender leadership in relationship to the united task of raising our children in the Lord.
‘In the Lord’ means not in their own strength but by relying on the Lord
‘This is right’ this is in keeping with the righteous character of God.
It is in the home that children first get the opportunity to learn about authority. If they are not able to respect their parent’s authority it becomes more difficult for them to understand the same concept in relationship to the Lord. The ground work has to be laid while the child is young.
The scripture often used when talking about bringing up children is Proverbs 22:6
‘Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it’
This is often interpreted as meaning to train up a child in the ways of God. However, ‘in the way he should go’ literally means ‘according to his (the child’s) way. This is talking about the makeup of the child; it implies that parents should discern the individuality and special strengths that God has given each child. As parents we need to invest time in learning how our children are designed by God.
We teach our children to obey by loving them.
Max Lucado in his book Facing Your Giants says
‘Your children are not your hobby, they are your calling.’
God has given us our children....every aspect of their lives are our priority....discipling them in the Lord is our calling above any role we may play in the church or our workplace.
· We love our children by educating them – it is the proper thing for children to obey their parents, they may not obey perfectly but they should obey consistently. When children obey their parents it’s as if they are obeying the Lord.
In Deuteronomy 6 when the Israelites were being told the greatest commandment, to love the Lord you God we read in verse 6 and 7
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
Fathers are being told to constantly teach their children how God’s Word works in our lives and how we should love Him before all else.
· We love our children by entering into their worlds as God enters into our world....this is how we know God loves us.
· We love our children by loving our spouse; this gives greater security to our children
· We love our children by disciplining them; we have a responsibility before God to discipline our children.
· We love our children by touching them...hold, hug and kiss your child
· We love our children by spending time with them
· We love our children by listening to them...remember the teaching in James 1:19-20
‘My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.’
· We love our children by blessing them rather than cursing them...use words that build up not tear down.
· We love our children by having fun with them
· We love our children by nudging them out of the nest
· We love our children by admitting when we are wrong
And most importantly....
· We love our children by introducing them to the perfect parent, the Lord God...the Father who will never leave them nor forsake them
Ephesians 6:4 19th June 2011
Ron White
4 Fathers, [or legitimately Parents] do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Col 3:21 Fathers, [a] do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Introduction
Where have we got to in our journey through Ephesians? Paul has taken us on an amazing journey. He has told that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (1:3). That in Christ we have all that we need, but we need to unpack that and apply it day by day to our needs. If a rich uncle left you £10 million pounds in a bank account entirely for you, you would imagine yourself rich, and so you would be. But you might still live a life of wretched poverty if you did not use the money. You could sit at home and worry yourself sick about how you were going to pay the electricity bill and find money to afford food. When each month through the post a bank statement arrives showing that you have millions and all you do is open it up and say “Isn`t that lovely” and then stick it on the mantelpiece and admire it, yet still live in poverty you would be a fool. Yet that is how many choose to live their Christian lives. Paul reminds us that once we were dead towards God, held captive by Satan because of all the bad stuff in our lives and the wrong things we have done. But God, by grace, forgave us and gave us a new life. Not merely a new start, but a totally new life. Not because we had done anything to deserve or earn it, for we had not and cannot. Utterly without any merit on our part whatsoever he saved us solely because he loved us because he loved us. What is more he has not only forgiven us but has raised us so that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Have you woken up to that yet? We could not have been in a worse place, now we cannot possibly be in a better.
Furthermore he has placed us in the church which is Christ`s body “The church is to be a new society in which the world can see what family dynamics, business practices, race relations, and all of life can be under the kingship of Jesus Christ. God is out to heal all the effects of sin: psychological, social and physical” (to quote Tim Keller in Ministries of Mercy p54).
Having painted this glorious picture of the church Paul then goes on to show how it is to be worked
out in daily life. What is the key? Well it is in 5:18 where we are commanded (it is an imperative and a present continuous) “to be being filled with the Holy Spirit”. What does that mean? In essence it is to be Spirit empowered to live a Christ like life-to have a mind, a disposition, like his. What in a phrase does this look like? 5:21 tells us. We are to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”. The Bible then tells us how this should work out in everyday relationships: wives/husbands; husbands/wives; children/parents; parents/children; employee/employer and employer/employee. Today we are looking at how a disciple of Christ should care for his children. To “be being filled with the Spirit” is not some rarified blessing to enable as to enable us to do some Christian service, it is essential to enable us to live as God wants us to live in our homes and at work day in day out.
But you may say “I am not a dad and I am never going to be one, so how can this be relevant to me?” In two ways: Firstly we all have had fathers. It may be that your dad was not a good one and you are carrying various hurts in your life as a result. As I speak there will be two voices speaking; mine and God`s by his Spirit. If painful memories surface then take it as a sign that God wants to heal those memories and come forward for prayer at the close of the service. It will be a great opportunity to be set free from the spoiling or controlling influence your past may have on your present.
Secondly, you may have responsibilities for which the skills and values of a good father are important. What do I mean? You may be a supervisor at work, or a teacher, or manager, or in a position of leadership somewhere. In any of these roles the values and attitudes of a good father will be enormously helpful. So switch on and tune in!
Let me illustrate this. The Bible tells us in 1 Cor 4:15 “Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel”. Similarly Paul says in 1 Thess 2:11-12 “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory”. Earlier in verse 7 he said he had been like a mother to them and in verse 9 he calls them brothers. So there is quite a range of family relationships that we can with Biblical authority appropriately apply to many aspects of life. But for the moment we are concentrating on one: being fathers, or as the text legitimately allows being parents. But I will simply refer to fathers.
Fathers. Fatherhood is a vital topic for today for the health of our families and our society. Many people in government and among sociologists, psychologists and the caring professions trace a large proportion of the problems that young people are suffering not merely to poor parenting but to inadequate fathering. There are many studies by psychologists and sociologists in the field of “father absence theory”. A number of which show that the absence of fathers leads to increased vulnerability to teenage pregnancy among girls and poor attainments by boys; with the subsequent generation being locked into poverty and deprivation.
A government report issued last December entitled “The Foundation Years: Preventing poor children becoming poor adults” argues that parents are the most important part of a child`s upbringing. Thus “a modern definition of poverty must take into account those children whose parents remain disengaged from their responsibilities” as many are.
Parenthood, and especially fatherhood, is not only important because of the poverty and societal stresses that result from poor and failing fathers, but also because of the value that God places on fatherhood. God has made us that way. God is the “original” Father. Fatherhood is a tremendous calling. God says “I love being a father and I want you to have the privilege of being a father and share in the excitement, fun and challenge of fatherhood”. Nothing can be greater than bringing up children, they are precious to me and I am entrusting you with their upbringing and care. I want you to share the joy and task of raising true sons of God. What an awesome task! What a thrilling and fulfilling one.
Earlier in Ephesians Paul writes (3:14-15) “For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name”; and (4:6) “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all”. Parenthood and especially fatherhood is a great vocation for a man to have. It is a God designed and God ordained role.
Have you noticed in the Bible the sort of man that God looks for when he wants a special job done? What is the sort of person description that God has in mind when looking for someone to do a special job? You know the sort of thing I mean “The person we are looking for will have good communication skills, enjoys meeting people and will have lots of initiative with a proven track record in....” Well God drew up such a profile for one of his top jobs when he wanted to get his plan of salvation underway. What do you think it included? Must have a proven track record in signs and wonders? No, the man he chose never worked a miracle. Must show unflinching courage when faced with opposition? No, in fact the man he chose when confronting a king in trying circumstances lied-or at least used a half truth to cover the plain truth. When God chose Abraham to be the founding father of the Jewish nation and the means through which the salvation of the world was to be accomplished, it was because he was fit for purpose. What was it? We read it in Genesis 18:19
“For I know him (Abraham), that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD”.
In other words God is saying I want Abraham to be the founding father of the family of faith as part of my great plan to bless all the nations of the earth because I know that he will be a great dad. That is how highly God values a father`s role.
When we turn over the pages to the New Testament what is the primary qualification for a Christian to be a leader in God`s church? It is that he should be a good dad! 1 Tim 3:4 says “He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of fullrespect.” That shows how God values being a good dad!
I read a book by a management guru some years ago and one point that stands out in my mind was his advice about making management appointments. He said find a person who has a well run family, because if they can manage a family well, running a multinational corporation will be a cinch.
Verses 1-3 tell children to obey their parents and parental authority is assumed. But for parents it is not the exercise of, but restraint, of the use of authority that Paul urges.
So what makes a good father? In this passage God gives fathers 4 instructions: one “don`t” and 3 “do`s” Do not exasperate your children. Or do not provoke your children to become resentful. I am going to focus now or avoiding building up resentment in a child. Implicitly the Bible recognises how delicate children are. Think of them as eggshells that need careful handling.Don`t demand of a child something that is beyond its capacity. This is a danger to which high achieving parents and those that are ambitious for their children are particularly prone. Be reasonable, listen to what your child has to say, especially when it is trying to explain why it has behaved badly and give reasons for your actions. Children have an innate and strong sense of justice: “It`s not fair” is one of their favourite phrases. Take care not to leave piles of resentment buried within your child. In King David`s family there was a particularly terrible occasion when one of his sons (Amnon) raped his half sister (Tamar). David was furious but did nothing about it. 2 Samuel 13:21-22 “When King David heard all this, he was furious. 22 And Absalom [Tamar`s full brother] never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon.” This unresolved evil and consequential resentment eventually resulted in Absalom murdering Amnon, and Absalom fleeing from the palace into exile. All this sorry sequence of events was set in train by David`s being a poor father-more about that anon. Small incidents can cause resentment. Ann and I, a little while ago went to the funeral of a lady who had been in her nineties when she died. After the funeral I was chatting to the deceased`s older sister and she told me of a parental injustice that she had suffered when she was 5 years old. She had been sent by her mother, with her 2 or 3 year old sister to a nearby shop to buy some butter. Having made the purchase she went home by a slightly circuitous route. When she and her sister got home she was confronted by a distraught mother and an angry father. Her father insisted on her apologising for all the distress she had caused. However, she could not for the life of her see that she had done anything wrong and absolutely refused to apologise. Eventually, she was punished for not saying “sorry” by being sent to her room. But, as she could not see that she had done anything wrong she resented being punished and that resentment sat there, inside her mind for years. Eventually, the night before her wedding (her dad was the vicar and was conducting the wedding) she sat down with her father and got it sorted out-about 20 years later. Then she said to me “And I am so glad that I did, because 6 months later my father died.” Perhaps, if her father and mother had been more willing to listen and to look for a just solution rather than placate their overwrought feelings, years of simmering resentment could have been avoided.
What if we wrongly punish a child? Spending half an hour an hour looking for a tool in order to do a job that takes 2 minutes is something that makes me really angry, I soon boil over with frustration. I have a couple of minutes to spare and think “Great I can fix it!” Then half an hour later the job is still not done, my schedule is thrown out and well....One Saturday some years ago I went to do a 2 minute job, and I could not find the all important tool. I was soon charging round the house calling out my battle cry “It`s a 2 minute job and it takes me half n hour to find the tools!” This time it was different. I knew the culprit, because I had seen him recently using that particular tool. I tracked him down and berated him for being so careless and inconsiderate. He made matters worse by having the nerve to say that he had in fact put it back. Obviously he hadn`t otherwise it would have been there. I then stormed off. Seconds later I found it. Where was it? Not where it should have been. It was exactly where I had left it! As soon as I saw it I remembered what had happened. What should I do next?
Declare that I had found it at last, do the job but say nothing about who had put it where it was? Say nothing and do the job? Ignore it for a couple of days...and so on. I also knew that I had wrongly accused and berated one of my sons. Should I apologise? To do that might undermine the whole authority structure of the family and make me look ridiculous. Or I could try to rationalise it by saying “OK I was wrong on this occasion, but there have been plenty of occasions in the past when he has got away with it and now he knows how I feel about it” What should I do? I went straight away to him and apologised unreservedly for wrongly accusing him and owning up to the fact that I was the one who had failed to put the tool back in its proper place. By unreservedly apologising I mean there were no buts! If I had not apologised that child would undoubtedly have felt resentment for mistreatment, how he would have handled it would have been another matter, but it would have been there and over time could have been damaging.
Underlying what I have been saying is the key Biblical value that children are not possessions to treat as we will. But a child is a person in its own right. Parents are stewards of a sacred trust given to them by God himself.
Negatively we are to avoid causing our children to be exasperated or resentful. Positively we are to do other things.
“Bring them up” ie nurture: Firstly we are to nurture them. The word for “bring them up” means “nurture” and is exactly the same as the word used in 5:29 “After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body”. Calvin “fondly cherished...deal gently with”. We nourish and cherish our own bodies: how much more should we nourish and care for our children. Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones comments that “if parents gave as much thought to rearing their children as they do to the rearing of their animals and flowers, the situation would be very much different”. A key element in nurturing is encouragement. There are only 3 occasions in the whole of the New Testament when God the Father spoke audibly from heaven to the crowds. These occasions are often used by theologians to demonstrate the Trinity, which they do powerfully, but they are also a tremendous demonstration of an important aspect of bringing up children. The occasions when the Father spoke from heaven were all at critical points in Jesus` ministry: at the beginning of his ministry when baptised by John; at the Mount of Transfiguration as his death on the cross was coming into sharper focus in his teaching and purpose and very shortly before he was crucified. Each time the Father said the same thing, which-if I may freely translate the Greek-was “This is by boy and I am so proud of him!” More poignantly on the first occasion, Mark and Luke, make it clear that the Father speaks personally, publicly and directly to his son “Thou art my Son in whom I am well pleased” as the older versions put it.
Let us turn to two other elements of nurturing which Paul now specifies: “training and instruction of the Lord”.
Training or discipline. By discipline the Bible has primarily in mind responsible love. There was rightly a strong reaction against Victorian discipline. In “The King`s Speech” there is a bit where George Vth is quoted as saying something like “My father was scared of his father, I was scared of my father and I am going to make sure that my children are scared of me.” That is a million miles away from Biblical concepts. Today there is in some quarters an extreme reaction against such harsh Victorian methods. It seems to believe that children are of themselves incapable of wrong and all they need to have explained to them what right behaviour is and they will happily do it, and if they don`t then the fault lies with you. That too is as far away from the Bible as Victorian cruelty. As Christians we are not in the position of having to react against one school of thought or to mindlessly follow another. We have the incomparable benefits of God`s Spirit inside us and God`s word beside us.
Part of “be being filled with the Spirit” is experiencing more and more of the father heart of God where we cry out to him “abba father” or “daddy, daddy it is me your child and we run to him knowing that we are always welcome.” Knowing this sets the tone for the treatment of our own children. If we are too often saying to our children “Not now, I`m too busy” should we not ask “is that how God treats me”. Promises to children should be regarded as sacrosanct. If you break them what you are saying to your child is that other things matter more to me than you. Is that the message they should be getting? I used to be secretary to what was then the most important committee in the Ministry in which I worked. The committee was responsible for making recommendations involving millions of pounds of expenditure. One meeting still had business to consider when one of our most senior advisers said “Please excuse me I have to go now. I have promised 3 young ladies that I would take them out.” What was no less impressive was that the committee was not in the least put out by coming lower down in his priorities than his daughters.
We have God`s Spirit and God`s word. The Bible has many case studies in looking after children. Study them! Do you want to know what happens if you don`t discipline children properly? King David`s life story shows us clearly because he spoilt his kids. In 1 Kings 1:6 we read of one of David`s sons called Adonijah that “His father had never rebuked him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” And what was the outcome? Amnon was murdered by Absalom for raping his sister. Absalom got killed when a rebellion he led against his father failed. Adonijah tried to seize the throne shortly before David died. I don`t know why people watch soaps when there is the Bible to read!
An important part of discipline is to treat children equally. That is not easy when you have one child who will burst into sobs of inconsolable grief if you speak disapprovingly and another one who is unimpressed by anything less than your most extreme punishment. Nevertheless you must ensure that you do not have favourites. Read the Bible. Jacob had a favourite son. He gave special favours to Joseph and as a result he had 10 brothers who hated him. They hated him so much that they plotted to murder him and all that stopped them was a decision to make a quick buck by selling him as a slave to some passing traders.
A lot of the news recently has been about labour negotiations. Who do you think make the hardest negotiators-Trade Unionists or business tycoons or barons of industry or government ministers? All of them are mere novices compared with a toddler of 15 to 24 months. I said earlier that a child needed careful handling because it is fragile, like an egg. But if you squeeze an egg inwards at the ends it is very strong. Toddlers are tough. They will relentlessly test the boundaries. All the time you have to make a judgement. Was squeezing the tomato ketchup over the new wall paper a genuine artistic endeavour, or was it wilful disobedience? If the latter the child must be immediately and unmistakably disciplined. It must know right away that wilful disobedience will not be tolerated. Children will always test boundaries and it is essential to their sense of security and well being that they know exactly where these boundaries are. And they must be consistently adhered to. Parents who one day say “Isn`t he cute” when their child is doing something obnoxious and the next day come down on him like a ton of bricks for doing the same thing are courting disaster for themselves and their child.
However, you must make it clear to the child that it is the behaviour that is unacceptable not the child and you should make sure that the way is open for an early reconciliation. A good example to follow is God`s. David had blown it big time. He had committed adultery and murder. God, through the prophet Nathan confronted David with his wrong doing and in one short verse (2 Sam 12:13) David says I have sinned and immediately God says you`re forgiven. Sadly however David failed to show the same grace towards Absalom that he had been shown by God. When Absalom murdered his half brother Amnon he fled and after sometime David allowed him back into Jerusalem but said he has to stay in his house and not see David. Months later Absalom contrives to see his father and they kiss, but there must be a question mark over the quality of their relationship, since later Absalom is killed in leading an unsuccessful coup against his father.
We have considered the importance of not exasperating children in terms of not causing them to be resentful; we have looked at some of the issues involved in bringing children up-in nurturing them; we have explored a little the matter of training, especially discipline. The last thing mentioned in this verse is instruction.
Instruction. God`s word makes it clear that as parents we have the responsibility to teach them God`s word and the way they should live. But, the first book they will read is you. You will be their role models. Are we the best role model we can be. The other day the news reported the findings of research by the Joseph Rowntree Trust. One of the findings was that children who get drunk at a young age usually have parents that they have seen drunk on at least two occasions: a glimpse of the obvious. This is a vital task which we must not delegate to others, by all means enlist help. But we must take care to instruct our children in the scriptures, leading by example too. We should encourage them to pray and to give thanks at meals.
Conclusion
Big task-huge resources
Strong marriage?
Are you a failed father?
Single-parent?
|