Benediction

Ephesians 6:23-24. “Peace be to the brethren and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.”

Benediction means to say a blessing.  This one is a little shorter than some of Paul’s others, but it is to the point.

He prays for peace for the believers in Ephesus.  Peace of heart and soul, especially during times of persecution. He prays that they will have love with faith from God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Love with faith.  I had to stop and think about that one.  Why love with faith?

Well, I think it’s because they actually come as a packaged set 🙂  On the spiritual level,  we love God because of our faith in Him, and our faith in Him increases our love for Him.

Grace is a wonderful blessing.  Grace is getting what we don’t deserve, and not getting what we do deserve.  The grace of God during times of difficulty is such  a wonderful thing.  It gives hope, strength, perseverance, and great inner peace.

We have finished our study of Ephesians for now.  I always complete one of these studies thinking that I could go back and do it all over again and learn completely new things that I missed before.  That’s the wonder of God’s Word. It’s never, ever plumbed to the depths.

I’ve been thinking about Genesis next.   It’s huge, and it’s full of wonderful things.

Comfort Your Hearts

Ephesians 6:22. “Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.”

Paul was in prison when he wrote the letter to the Ephesians.  He didn’t know how much longer Rome would let him live, and he knew the people in all the churches he’d helped establish prayed for him and wanted news of him. It was for this reason that he sent men like Tychicus to take his letters to the churches. Not only would the messenger deliver the letter, which was usually read to the entire body; he would also bring news of Paul’s health, his legal status,  and whether there was any hope that he would be able to visit them again.

As far as we know, this epistle was written in a.d. 64.  Best estimates are that Paul died sometime in a.d. 65-68. He felt. toward his converts, as a loving father does toward his children. He considered the fears they would have for his well-being, That is why his benedictions are often so tender.

Tychicus

Ephesians 6:21. “But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:”

Acts 20:4 tells us that Tychicus had accompanied Paul into Asia, with several others. He is mentioned again in Colossians 4:7 as a messenger from Paul to the church in Colosse, and again Paul describes him as a faithful minister and fellowservant. Paul mentions him again in II Timothy 4:12, and again in Titus 3:12.

Apparently Tychicus was a member of Paul’s retinue, and stayed with him through his imprisonments, bearing letters and news from Paul to the churches, and back from the churches to Paul.

What a privileged position! To be so close to the one God chose to pen so much of the New Testament, talking with him, serving him, being the messenger back and forth between him and the people in the churches he’d helped establish.

Sometimes the most obscure people in the Bible had some very precious, very important tasks to fulfill.  I think Tychicus was one of those.

Ambassador in Bonds

Ephesians 6:20. “For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Paul wrote  this letter to the Ephesian church from a position of bondage. He was a prisoner of Rome,  because he would not stop preaching Christ as God.  In Rome, Caesar was God.  Paul would eventually die for his boldness in continuing to speak boldly for the sake of the gospel.

I’ve always loved this phrase,  ambassador in bonds.  It teaches us that we can still maintain our testimony for Christ, still preach the gospel, still offer those around us the freedom of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul knew what he ought to do, and he did it.

Paul Asks for Prayer

Ephesians 6:19. “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.”

Some have painted Paul as a man of unusual courage.  Maybe, but this verse indicates to me that he was just as human as the rest of us, and he wasn’t too proud to admit it.  Paul did not think more highly of himself than he ought to think.

I’ve wondered what might have been going through his mind as the Roman soldiers tied him to a whipping post for the first, second, third time. Surely there was fear.  A Roman scourging was no small punishment.  Some died under it. There had to be a degree of fear.

Al the other physical brutality he endured?  He was stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, snake-bitten, and more. I can’t imagine he just  shook it all off fearlessly and went about his business.

But this verse is not a litany of complaints.  What he is asking is that no matter what may be his next episode of fear, he wanted prayer that he would open his mouth to speak the truth, the mystery, of the great love of God, because that was his mission from God and he couldn’t let fear get in the way.

I think perhaps his last few minutes of life, as they beat him before beheading him, were perhaps the most fearless moments of his life.  He knew he was soon to see the Savior that he served.

Praying Always

Ephesians 6:18. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in  the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, and supplication for all saints.”

We need the armor for the battle, but without undergirding prayer, we won’t use the armor as well.

We are to be praying always. That doesn’t mean we spend 24/7 on our knees, because God knows we have to work and take care of the family and so on. But we are to spend as much time as we can in focused prayer. We are to be always in an attitude of prayer.  I do some of my best praying when I’m alone in the car, radio off. Multi-tasking, I guess, but that’s just a good place for me. Also while I’m swimming.  Hmmmm.  Seeing a pattern here. I do better with praying when I’m moving.

We are to pray with supplication.  Begging. Pleading. Beseeching.

And we are to pray for all the saints. Everywhere.  The ones we know, the ones we don’t.

A young man in Germany reported being assaulted for wearing his kippah, the head covering that identifies him as a Jew. We need to pray for him.  Is he a believer?  I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. We need to pray, because the persecution of Jews, Christians, women–it’s all an attack of Satan, and it’s leading to nothing good.  Pray. God is our power source. We need to be plugged in.

The Helmet and the Sword

Ephesians 6:17. “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

The helmet protects the brain, the eyes and nose, and the back of the neck.

The Bible tells us that “as a man thinketh, so is he.” If Satan can tempt us to think unbiblically, he has made a major victory. It is our thinking that motivates our emotions, words, and behaviors.  I wish I’d had a clearer understanding of this principle when we were rearing our kids. The importance of teaching them to think biblically cannot be overstated.  Biblical thinking eliminates pride, anger, selfishness, malice, rebellion, jealousy, disobedience–well, it’s the antidote to sin, obviously.

The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is the only piece of offensive armor we have. Everything else is defensive, for protection but not for hurting the enemy. The Sword, however, is the very best offense there is.  Jesus used it against Satan when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness after 40 days of fasting and praying. Each temptation was answered with a direct quote from God’s Word  (Matthew 4).

In order to wield the Sword effectively, we MUST use it daily, studying, memorizing, taking into our thoughts and hearts the truth of the Word of God so that we can effectively use it in the spiritual warfare that surrounds us.

I’m still committing verses to memory on a regular basis.  It takes me longer than it used to, but it is so well worth it.  Also, I’m finding that there are passages I’d forgotten I’d memorized until something comes up, usually in my office, where the passage is perfect to respond to a client’s needs.  Sometimes I have to look up the reference, but my computer always finds it in just a few words.

“ For the word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12.

Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6:16. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

This portrayal of the devil is nonsense, of course. He’s never that obvious, and I don’t believe he has horns or a tail of the lower body of a snake.

However, he does shoot fiery arrows at us. Despair, doubt, lies, fear, hatred, countless temptations to indulge in wrong thinking and wrong behavior.  One of his favorite “arrows” is wrong interpretation on scripture, casting doubt on the very foundation of our faith and doctrine.  The Bible clearly states that ALL scripture is inspired of God (II Tim. 3:16-17) and is profitable.  No one part of God’s Word can be set aside as not so important. It’s an all-or-nothing deal.

Our faith, founded in God’s Word and strengthened by the Holy Spirit of God, is a piece of armor that we can move, when necessary, to deflect all the arrows Satan throws at us to keep us from standing strong in the battle for the truth.  He won’t settle for a simple frontal attack. We have to understand that he is NEVER guilty of telling the truth; that if we are entertaining wrong thinking, Satan is doing a happy dance.

There are many verses I cling to when I find myself struggling with fear, doubt, and all the rest.  One is Psalm 119:165. “Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend (trip, cause to stumble) them.”

Another is Philippians 4:4-8, which teaches us the importance of supplicatory (begging) prayer, the deep peace of God, and the importance of biblical thinking.

Keep your faith strong. Be in the Word. Pray. Stand.

Girt About With Truth

Ephesians 6:14. “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.”

Again, we are told to stand. When scripture repeats something over and over, we need to pay close attention. There is a concept out there that we need to chase the Devil away. That’s not how it works. We are fully equipped with the whole defensive armor of God through His Word. We are to wear it, and to stand firm.

So the first piece of armor is  a belt of truth.  In Paul’s time, men still wore long, loose robes. When they needed to work, or to run, they would often pull those robes up above their knees and hold them in place with a belt or “girdle” tied around the hips. The belt, and the way it was fastened, needed to be reliable so that the man didn’t find himself tripping over his own garments.

Roman soldiers wore short tunics. It was not to show off their manly legs, but to prevent having a longer garment twist and trip them up in battle.  Makes sense.  I guess they weren’t wearing long pants back then.  In any case,  the girdle or belt of truth  was a primary piece of a soldier’s clothing, allowing him freedom of movement.

Doesn’t truth do that for us? Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).  Of course He was speaking of Himself, since He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Knowing Him frees us from the power of sin and death.  We are to have our minds girt about with truth so that our thoughts are not carried about by every wind of doctrine.

The second piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness. This armor protects the heart and other internal organs that are not protected by the bony rib cage.  It is righteousness that protects us from Satan’s lies, which penetrate first our minds, and then our hearts. This is a practical righteousness, gained through understanding and application of the truth of God’s Word. Without a breastplate, or perhaps in more modern terms, a  kevlar vest, we are easy prey for Satan’s darts.

Stand!

Ephesians 6:13. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

The whole armor of God:  We are to arm ourselves against the attacks of Satan and the evil spirits who work for him. Each piece of armor has a specific use and purpose. Notice, however, that there is no armor mentioned to protect the back. It is clear that we are not to turn and run. We are to stand and face the enemy, and when we have done that, we are to keep standing. We are never told to chase after Satan. Just to stand.

Withstand in the evil day:  Most commentaries I’ve checked translate this phrase as “being able to stand against evil in its day of power.”  Surely we are seeing the power of evil in our own times, as people have seen it in their day all through history. Never forget that although Satan is not omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, he is still powerful. We need to be watchful and prepared.

Having done all, to stand: Again, the commentaries I’ve consulted agree that this indicates victory for the believer when that person has donned the armor of God, fought the battle, and come out victorious.  Keep in mind that believers down through the ages who have lost their lives to Satan’s wiles are still victorious in the Lord.

We can’t lose. “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21.