Thoughts on Ephesians – Part 2
EPH 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
When you are saved you are a babe in Christ having need of milk. But you are not to stay that way. You are to, “be no more children”. Children in Christ can be easily tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Many new Christians will buy anything some slick sounding T.V. preacher says.
Children in the Lord can be easily deceived by the slight of men who are just looking and waiting to deceive some immature Christian. They are good at it. They are crafty and very cunning. They are smart. They can talk a good talk and make you think that what they are teaching lines up with the Word of God, but it does not.
And do not get immature confused with age or how long you have been a Christian. The sad fact is that many Christians never grow up. Many years after salvation, they are still babes. And therefore they are always at the mercy of false teachers.
This is why I encourage Christians to be in the Word of God for themselves. Be a student of the Word of God yourself.
This is why I am building this website. So instead of hearing junk at the water cooler during a break, they can spend a few minutes reading the Word on-line. This is why boost verses of the Word of God all around the world.
Christians need to grow up. You need to be in the Word of God every day. Then you will not be carried around with every wind of doctrine. When someone is teaching a lie, you will be able to recognize it.
EPH 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
It might be a strange thought to you, but a Christian can give place to the devil. How? God’s word tells us in the verses that surround this admonition to Neither give place to the devil.
In verse 25 and 26 we have listed, lying, and being angry. In verse 28 we have stealing and being lazy. In verse 29 we have corrupt communication proceeding out of our mouth.
When we allow these things in our lives, then we are giving a place to the devil. Lying, anger, stealing, laziness, and corrupt language all give the devil a place to work in our hearts. He will use all of them to hurt our walk with Christ. They also give the devil something that he can use to work his mischief. The devil loves to cause trouble. These things also help the devils cause by hurting our testimony. They rob our witness of its power.
Christian, “Neither give place to the devil.”
EPH 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
There should be no room in the Christians life for foul language. A Christian should not take God’s name in vain!!! They should not cuss. The foul language of the world should not pass out of our lips. That should be a no brainier.
Foul language is only one form of corrupt communication. There are others. For example gossip. It does a tremendous amount of damage. Gossip often leads to misunderstandings, hurt feelings and even devastated lives. Gossip is corrupt and Christians should not let it pass out of their mouth. Lying and slander are also forms of corrupt language that we should never use.
In this short verse we have not only the type of language to avoid but also the type to use. but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Our speech is to edify others. We are to use our words to build people up. Our language would minister grace to those that hear it. Think of good things to say. Encourage others.
I am sure you have heard the old saying. If you don’t have anything good to say, then don’t say anything. That is a good rule of thumb. We do need to be concerned with the things that we say.
EPH 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
In this chapter we see several things that a Christian is not to be involved in, and we see some things listed that we are to be doing. One of those is in verse 4, “but rather giving of thanks.”
We should be a thankful people. We should be thankful for our salvation, thankful for His Great Love and care for us. We should be thankful for the pastor that God has given us. We should be thankful for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should give God thanks for the opportunity to serve Him, for being able to give to His work, support His missionaries, and tell others about Him. We need to be thankful to have a place to worship and the freedom to worship. And on and on the list could go. We have much to be thankful for. We need to be like the one leper that returned to give thanks.
Luk 17:12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
Luk 17:13 And they lifted up [their] voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
Luk 17:14 And when he saw [them], he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
Luk 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
Luk 17:16 And fell down on [his] face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
Luk 17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where [are] the nine?
Luk 17:18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
Are you like the 9 that took from Jesus and did not say thank you?
Or are you like the one that returned to give thanks and glorified God?
EPH 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. Husbands are to love their wives like that. That is a lot of love. Men need to do some deep thinking on that.
EPH 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
EPH 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Christ’s Church (that He gave Himself for) is to be a glorious Church. The Church is not to have any spot on it. The Church is to be holy. The Church is to be without blemish.
When you bring the world’s fleshly music into the Church, It is no longer without spot. It is no longer holy. Singing songs in Church with the devil’s beat to it puts a blemish upon the Church. It is a sin. It is a disgrace to Jesus.
What music should be in the Church? We do not have to guess. The Bible tells us.
EPH 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
It needs to be music that has melody. Melody as opposed to beat.
It needs to be spiritual songs as opposed to fleshly songs.
God is not pleased when we are friends with the world, and that would include the world’s music.
Jam 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
If you think that rock-n-roll music is not of the world, then you certainly do not know much about rock-n-roll music.
We need to have godly music in our churches and not worldly music with godly words put on top of it, and the great old Hymns definitely fit the bill.
EPH 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
EPH 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
EPH 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
The context here is having a glorious church, one that is holy and without blemish. The church is not a building or a group of buildings. The church is not some man made organization. There are many who call themselves churches but are not. So what is a church? It is a called out assembly of born again believers. In verse 25 we see how much Christ loves the church. So much so that He gave Himself for it. Only because He died for our sins can we be saved and then join a group of other believers.
And we see that Jesus wants this assembly of believers to be set apart from the world. He wants us to live in a way that brings honor unto Him. And how is this to be accomplished? The answer is in verse 26.
EPH 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
The Bible has a cleansing effect upon us. Christians are to gather together (that is a church) and listen to the teaching and the preaching of God’s word. The word of God needs to have a high priority in our churches. That is what will change hearts. The conviction that comes from the preaching will lead people to forsake sin and draw closer to our Lord. So many have this wrong today. They gather mainly for entertainment. And thus the rest of the week they live like the world. They listen to the world’s music, watch the world’s entertainment, drink the world’s booze, use foul language, lie, gossip, and the list goes on.
We need to return to God’s plan. Throw the entertainment out. Return to good old fashioned Spirit filled, conviction bringing life changing preaching. What our churches need is to be sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the word,
EPH 6:8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
Once again we see the principal of reaping and sowing in the Bible. Whatever good thing you do, you will receive of the Lord.
The Lord is debtor to no one. You do something good for Him, you will be rewarded. God is righteous and just. His very nature demands that He rewards you for the good you do for Him.
God promises to reward you for your work. However, He does not promise to do it immediately. In His sovereignty He might wait several years, and some rewards are withheld until you get to heaven. He knows best. Be assured that whenever He chooses to reward you is the right time.
So be involved in good works for Him, and you will be rewarded for it.
And the best work that you can be involved in is getting souls saved.
EPH 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
You hear a great deal about verses 1 – 3, but not near as much about verse 4. Children are to obey their parents in the Lord for it is right. I do not want to take away from that truth in any way. However, it is also right for a father to NOT provoke his children to wrath. Fathers need to be concerned for the total wellbeing of their children and not only be concerned with them obeying. Fathers need to use the correct biblical method of discipline. At certain times they do need to apply the board of education to the seat of learning. But it should never be done in anger. It should never cross the line to abuse. A child should understand that the discipline is being done for their good because you love them. They need to understand that God expects them to obey their parents. Discipline is absolutely necessary. But there is a lot more to raising a child than discipline. If all a child ever gets is discipline, it will provoke him to wrath. A child also needs to be loved. He needs to be nurtured. He needs a good portion of the father’s time. Verse 4 is an excellent verse for all fathers to memorize.
EPH 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
EPH 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
EPH 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
There is an enemy. The devil is real and he is a master at deception, trickery, and temptation. In your own power; out of your own resources; you are NO match for him. I don’t care how cleaver of a scheme you come up with you will not stand. The only way to stand is to use God’s plan. You need to stand in His power. And thankfully God tells us in His word how to stand. We are to put on the whole armour of God.
EPH 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
The amour is listed in verses 14-18. They are truth, righteousness, the preparation of the gospel, faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And verse 18 says, Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
That is quite a list and we need all of it! Leave out one piece and you have an open area for attack. We are not to have truth and not righteousness. We are not to have righteousness and leave out faith. You are not to have faith and prayer but leave the Bible out of your life. The different pieces of armour are for different areas of protection. We are to put it all on. This implies making it a part of you. You are to wear it. If you are wearing something then it is with you no matter where you go. As Christians we would do a much better job living for our Lord if we would put on the whole amour of God and take it with us all the time and where ever we go.
See more lessons from Ephesians