This is the final chapter in Ephesians – and it’s a big one!

The key points in Ephesians 6 come down to 3 words for me:

The way we are called to live is RADICAL compared to the way of the world

We are in a BATTLE, a spiritual battle, therefore we need to be armed and ready to fight (not a physical battle with earthly weapons)

PRAY – pray constantly

So in the beginning of Chapter 6. Paul continues the “household code” begun in chapter 5, applying gospel principles to family and work life.

Children
Children obey your parents because you belong to the Lord and it is the right thing to do.

Paul is framing family relationships within a larger spiritual reality:
Children obey earthly parents as an expression of obedience to Christ himself.

Paul refers to the Commandment to honour your father and mother. So he’s reminding us that despite being saved by grace through Jesus, the laws of the Old Testament remain important.

Paul could have used a stick in advising kids to obey their parents:

But instead Paul uses a carrot:

* “This is the right thing to do “ Verse 6

* “things will go well for you and you will have a long life on earth“

Why will things go well?

Family harmony is so important. Loving, harmonious families belonging to Christ are a bedrock of society. It certainly helps things to “go well.”

Let’s consider the context. In Roman times, fathers had the power of life and death over their children; children were often seen as property, but Paul urges fathers not to exploit their authority. This is

“Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” calls for holistic moral and spiritual education—discipline and formation combined.

“Do not provoke your children to anger”

There have been times where I failed miserably on that with my kids.

But failures are a chance to learn and improve and repent, and I have learnt from my failures.

In this instruction to children and parents Paul is saying that Christian households model divine order—authority balanced by nurture; obedience shaped by faith.

Bondservants - Slaves

So in Roman times, slaves were treated like property; a commodity that could be bought and sold. Slaves were often treated very poorly and horribly abused, especially women. So this instruction is again radical.

But despite this Paul asks slaves to “Obey… as to Christ.” He calls for service rendered with sincerity, not mere eye-service, as if you were serving Christ. Wow! But he says that God sees and rewards all faithful labour (v. 8).

One ancient document recovered from Egypt reports that a large group of slaves was set free because of the faithful devotion they showed to their master.

But then he calls Masters to account by treating slaves without threatening, knowing that in God’s eyes you are equal “No partiality with Him”.

Treat your slaves well – really! I’m thinkingslave owners of the time would be mostly laughing orrubbishing this instruction. It’s radical. Even more radical than the call to slaves to obey their master.

But the key is that both master and slaves are called to remember that we all have the same true master in heaven, who treats slave and master equally, and who is concerned with how we treat one another on earth.

Where might this instruction relate to our lives today?

One area is Employers and Employees, especially a senior person with a junior or inexperienced person, possibly any relationship with a power imbalance.

In this area I was very fortunate. When I finished Uni and got a full-time job as an insurance analyst, I was fortunate to have as my first boss, a man who I worked for or closely with, for about 15 years. Woh Choo is his name – haven’t seen Woh for years now. He’s not Christian but he was a shining example of Paul’s instruction to Masters. Woh treated his team like his family, spending time with us, investing his time and resources time in our learning and development, encouraging us regularly. One day he said to me “I want to be working for you one day……”

That’s the sort of action that Paul is taking about. Radical.

Submission is an important aspect of what Paul is talking about in this household code. Both sides of every relationship submit. Give in. Sacrifice. Put others first. Jesus submitted, so should we. Its radical.

SO THEN EPHESIANS TAKES A TURN……

Paul has finished dealing with the horizontal stuff – how we should live in the world – and goes back to the vertical – to our connection to God.

PLEASE STAND UP (IF YOU ARE ABLE) AND REMAIN STANDING FOR THIS NEXT PART – YOU’LL UNDERSTAND WHY IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES

KEY MESSAGE: WE ARE IN A BATTLE!!!

Paul is telling us that life in Christ involves constant warfare.
What do we do in a battle?

1. We suit up!
2. We are constantly on the alert (alert but not alarmed, as God has equipped us)
3. Know how to use all of our weapons and defences

A few standout words in this passage:

“Full armour” – Paul says this twice – clearly we need all parts of the armour. It also stresses the need for complete preparation.

“Stand” is mentioned 4 times - emphasizes steadfastness rather than aggression.

Who finds constantly standing hard? Who has had enough of standing now and wants to sit down? If I suggested we all stand for the length of this sermon or all of church, how many would grumble? How many would grow tired and want to sit? Paul is talking about a spiritual standing but I think there are parallels to the physical act of standing.

SIT DOWN

Louis Zamperini in Unbroken – his story is incredible. A member of the US airforce in WW2 he survived 6 weeks in a raft in the Pacific without any supplies after his plane was destroyed in an attack. But then he was “rescued” by the Japanese imperial army and sent to a POW camp where all prisoners were treated horrendously, but Zamperini was singled out for even worse treatment because he stood tall in spirit.

Amongst other things , he was forced to raise a heavy wooden beam above his head. The beam was six-feet long, heavy, and Zamperini was already emaciated and near death from malnutrition and abuse.

He was forced to hold it in the overhead position until his guard told him he could lower it. During that time, the threat was clear: drop it and face execution (or at least severe punishment).

How long could someone like that hold the beam up? 1 second, 20 seconds, maybe a minute? Zamperini held the beam aloft for 37 minutes. At one point he thought simply: “He cannot break me.”

Zamperini’s example is more a physical one, though his captors were trying to break his spirit. If you know anything about the story, he survived against impossible odds, and years afterwards came to faith.

As Paul reminds us, we need to stand.

“Not against flesh and blood” clarifies that opposition is spiritual, not human. Zamperini’s battle was not against the guards, but the evil spirits working through the guards.

“Rulers… powers… world forces… spiritual hosts” describe a layered demonic structure.

Christian conflict is real but invisible. The enemy’s strategy is deception; the believer’s defence is to stand in truth, holiness and grace. REPEAT

By using God’s full armour we can resist and thrive.

Each item of Paul’s imagery corresponds to an aspect of Christ’s provision for the believer.

Belt of Truth – truthfulness and doctrinal integrity; girding for readiness.

Breastplate of Righteousness – imputed and practical righteousness; protection for the heart. Practical righteousness – right living – avoiding things we know are not righteous - protects our hearts.

Shoes of the Gospel of Peace –
I particularly like this analogy – walking in peace (Jesus’ instruction to his disciples run along similar lines – in Mark Chapter 6, approaching a town in peace but if you are rejected, remain peaceful, simply wipe the dirt from the soles of your sandals and move on)

Shield of Faith – trust in God’s promises; deflects temptations and doubts, especially in the difficult times in my life.

Couple that with the Helmet of Salvation – assurance of deliverance; guards the mind. Knowing in my mind that I am assured of deliverance if I trust in and follow Jesus, will stop doubts creeping into my mind. This is important in the good times – constantly putting on that helmet of salvation so I remember that all goodness comes from God and all I have and do is because God has given me the strength and capability; and not feel that I can make it in my own strength.

Sword of the Spirit – the Word of God; both defensive and offensive.
Jesus modelled this in the wilderness, countering Satan’s lies by speaking Scripture aloud (Matthew 4:1–11).

Applying the Sword (the Word) in our lives:
· Fill your mouth with the Word so that when trials come, your reflex is truth, not doubt.
· Application for us – “fighter verses”
· Speak Scripture over your circumstances, your family, your workplace.
· Refuse to use the tongue for destruction — gossip, bitterness, or unbelief — and instead speak words of faith, hope, and grace (Ephesians 4:29).

The armour is not external ritual but internal appropriation of gospel truths. Our protection is participation in Christ. REPEAT

Where are some of today’s spiritual battlegrounds?

The dark forces seek to attack our hearts and minds but where can the attacks come from?.......

What are my weaknesses – that’s where Satan will exploit.

Hence Paul’s call to use the FULL armour of God.

Conforming to society’s ideas and norms……we are told that truth is personal and different for everyone – that is a spiritual attack; an attack on the truth spoken by Jesus. Dan used the term “morally lazy” last week.

My indigenous Christian friends in NT see alcohol and gambling as two things that Satan uses to drag them down into a bad place away from God, away from the vertical. So they avoid them. Music for me, especially some rock music that I like I feel I’ve needed to avoid at times because I sense dark lyrics coming through with what might seem to be fantastic music.

It comes up so many times, but technology especially the mobile phone are lush fields for attack by the dark forces. Yes we can read the bible on our phones and do many other positive things, but we can also be bombarded by information, have our opinions shaped by social media algorithms, and shorten our attention span, which makes the very act of prayer much more difficult. Its so easy to be constantly distracted or deceived that we drop our guard.

The British journalist Mary Wakefield suggests that if it’s the devil who has hooked us up on smartphone-scrolling; it’s a brilliant tactic; ‘Like a psycho in an old-fashioned thriller, he’s severed the landline before he enters the house.’ We need to be on the alert!

But God gives us the full armour to repel the dark forces that attack us. It’s important that we remember that the armour is God’s, not ours. We don’t need our own strength to survive the battle. We just need to choose to use the armour that God has given us.

But that requires a choice, both when things are going well and when things are not going so well. I think we in most danger when things are going well.

It requires an investment of time, which leads us to Verses 18-20

Prayer takes time. It requires us to remove ourselves from distractions (one of the hardest things to do in these times) and to prioritise. I don’t take anywhere near enough time for prayer. But one type of prayer I have started in recent times (too infrequently) is contemplative prayer, where I go for a short walk – mostly after dinner in the dark – I go down to the river and I either leave my mind as open as possible, or just chat to God in my mind about the events of the day or what is going on in my life. Not asking for anything, but just seeking a word or message that God might have put on my heart.

Paul also calls us here to prayer for each other and asks for prayer for himself. I think that’s an important aspect here – don’t be shy in asking others to pray for you. Its not selfish to ask for prayer. We all need prayer. Paul was empowered by the Holy Spirit and an amazing example of strength in Christ. But even he needed others to pray for him.

I like to think about the armour of God and the call to pray as the vertical dimension – relationship with God. This is where our strength comes from to live in the horizontal – in the world. In the world but not of the world or shaped by the world.

Example: Walking with my head in my phone and almost bumping into a lady. “Always look up” Whilst she meant that in the physical sense, the was she did it with such grace, made me reflect on our need to Always Look Up to God for our direction, our strength and our encouragement. Going vertical constantly is so important. Prayer is fundamental to that.

So Ephesians ends with Final Greetings

“Peace, love, faith, grace” – four central themes of Paul’s writings are covered in this final greeting.

Finish with those 3 words I started with

RADICAL – the way we live (which is radical) should be clear evidence of our faith / our witness.

BATTLE – we need to be constantly aware we are in a battle; we need to be aware of and put on the full armour of God

PRAY – at all times - fundamental to the way we live. “Always look up”

Questions
1. What does the Armour of God look like on me? Are there any aspects that need particular reinforcing?
2. What does living ‘radically’ in Christ, look like for me?
3. Where do I need to stand firm this week?
4. What step can I take to make my home, workplace, or community reflect Christ’s love and truth?
5. How can I encourage or pray for someone else?