Life of the Church, Ephesians 4:1 - 6:20
Conclusion, Ephesians 6:21 - 24
Six Walks
1. Walk worthy of the position
Verse 4:1-3 We are to walk with all lowliness, meekness, longsuffering and forbearance endeavoring to keep the unity of the body. Application: Think back over the last week. How have you been patient and forgiving? Why do we get so frustrated with poor drivers and conveniently forget when we make driving mistakes.
Verse 4-6: God’s plan for unity includes seven things, one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father of all. Application: The Lord makes it clear there is one way. Why do we insist on going our own way? What have you done to foster unity or what have you done to cause dissension?
Verse 7-11: To walk worthy we are given gifts from Christ. Christ has gifts to give because He overcame death and ascended to the Father. These gifts are people who have received a measure of grace to perform the functions of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Application: We have all been given a measure of grace and gifts with which to minister. What are your gifts and how are you using them?
Verse 12-16: The purpose of these ministry gifts is to perfect the body of Christ. We are to become Christ like in faith, knowledge and maturity. Application: Where do you stand in terms of Christian maturity?
2. Walk as a new man in Christ Jesus
Verse 4:17-29: We cannot go back to the way we were before we believed. We were unclean, greedy, deceitful, liars, angry, lazy and foul mouthed. As a new man we are holy, generous, honest, meek, hard working and ministering grace to others. Application: What is your track record of behavior? Are you slipping back into old bad habit patterns?
3. Walk in Love.
Verse 5:1: Christ gave Himself for us and we should give ourselves for others. Application: God has given us so much grace. Should we not be gracious with others? We are to love like Christ loves and that is sacrificially. Read 1 Corinthians 13.
4. Walk as children of light.
Verse 2-14: Christ gives us light. We need Christ to enable us to walk in light and turn from the darkness. How easy it is to be sucked into the darkness of the world. Application: We are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of the world. We are to reprove them but how hard it is to be confrontational. How easy it is to go along with the crowd. How have you stood up for Christ? How have you given in and gone along with the crowd?
5. Walk circumspectly.
Verse 15-20: Redeem the time. We are wise if we understand what the will of the Lord is. We are not to be drunk with wine but we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with God’s Spirit is key to knowing the will of the Lord. Our inner spiritual life is to filled with praise of God as we sing to ourselves psalms and hymns. Our attitude is to be one of thanksgiving to God. Application: How are you doing inside? Are you filled with peace or is your heart filled with contention? Give thanks to God continually and see the difference it makes.
Verse 21-33: The married life of spirit filled believers is a parallel to the relationship of Christ and the church. Wives are to submit to the husband and this goes back to the original curse in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:16 God says to Eve, “and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” This desire is to be the boss in the relationship but God establishes the man as the one to rule. This God given authority is one the world would have women rebel against.
Men have no reason to get their feathers up. The key question is to what is the woman supposed to submit? Husbands are challenged to love their wives which is what they have problems with. Wives have trouble submitting and husbands have trouble with loving. Here the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul addresses the key issues head on. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church. How does Christ love His church? He died for it. Husbands are to die to themselves for their wives. What wife wouldn’t like to submit to that? Application: Do these verses characterize your marriage relationship?
Verse 6:1-9: Instructions are given to children, parents, servants and masters in these verses. These instructions are characterized by humility and service. We are to serve one another.
6. Walk strong in the Lord.
Verse 6:10-20: In order to walk in the strength of the Lord we need both defense and offense. First we have to put on the whole armor of God in order to stand up against the devil. We are engaged is spiritual warfare. Society believes they can educate morality. They don’t understand the nature of the battle and fight it with both hands tied behind their backs. The don’t understand that character can only be changed through the spirit and secondly, as a result, they don’t use spiritual weapons.
Verse 14: Our loins are to be girt about with truth. If we are living or hiding a lie our innermost person is vulnerable to attack. We have to be standing on the truth in every area of our lives or we can be destroyed. Think about what a lie does to a person’s reputation. If someone is caught in a lie all trust is lost and that person cannot be effective in their work. Application: Are our lives based on truth or are we hiding a lie?
Verse 14: We are to have the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate protects the heart. If we are involved in sin our heart is sick. That place made for God within us is empty. God cannot live with sin. When we sin we alienate ourselves from God. We have to be right with God or we have no hope of standing against the evil one. Application: Are we harboring some secret sin which we do not want to let go of?
Verse 15: Our feet are shod with the gospel. Isa 52:7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” We are to carry the gospel with us and that puts us on sure footing. If we say and do everything in accordance with the gospel we will not slip and fall. We can stand before all evil and be victorious. Application: Are we carrying the gospel of Christ to the unbelievers around us?
Verse 16: The shield of faith protects us from Satan’s attacks. He is going to throw everything at us. Circumstances around us can be bad but we have to continue to have faith. Our faith in God gives us hope and is a witness to those around us. Satan hates for us to have faith. It makes the stuff he throws at us all the more powerful as a testimony of the love of God to those around us. God’s deliverance will come. We need to just have faith and it will come. Application: Are we focusing on God or on our circumstances?
Verse 17: The helmet of salvation protects the mind. We know that we are saved and that gives us confidence. We know that no matter what happens we have a home forever with Christ. We know the end of the matter and with Christ we win! All we have to do is turn to the end of the book and we see how it all turns out. No matter what we can have peace and real joy. This is how the early Christians were seen to be joyful as they went to the lions and martyrdom in the Roman Coliseum.
Application: Are we at peace knowing that our salvation is secured by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross?
Verse 18: With our defense secure we can now go on the offense. Our greatest weapon is prayer. It is truly an unfair advantage because against prayer there is no defense. Nothing can resist the Holy Spirit as He works within the hearts of those for whom we pray. We have to persevere in prayer as some things take time. Application: What is our prayer life like. Prayerlessness is a sin.
Verse 19, 20: Paul desires that God would give him the voice to speak boldly. We are to declare the Gospel and go on the offense with it. God’s word when it is sent out will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. We have this promise from God. (Isaiah 55:11) Application: What is our testimony? Are we ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Have we led anyone to the Lord? I would rather be a fool for Christ rather than have the praise of men.
Conclusion 6:21 – 24
Verse 21, 22: Paul speaks of his friends who will be comforted by news of him as he is in bonds. We have this comfort in this life and that is the love of the brethren.
Verse 23, 24: Paul gives us a blessing. We have a blessing of peace, love with faith and grace. Application: Do we love the Lord Jesus in sincerity? Remember the Lord’s admonishment to this church in Revelations 2:4. He has this against them in that they have left their first love. Application: Remember when you first fell in love? You were head over heels and full of passion. We are to love God with all our hearts, minds and strength. Take your temperature. How is your love for God? Is it becoming cold?
