Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 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, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.  Ephesians 6:18-20

What is Pauls advice here to the Church? Pray, pray, and pray some more! Prayer should be an essential part of our lives, just as oxygen to breath. Prayer should never be an afterthought or an act of a emergency, prayer should be a daily routine. Can you have a relationship with your spouse or anyone without communication? Of course not, then how do you expect to have a personal relationship with God, if you don’t have a strong prayer life?

The late Leornard Ravenhill once said this ““No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.

Ravenhill always had a way with words, however his point is clear, someone who doesn’t have a strong spiritual life, probably has a weak prayer life. As the Apostle Paul says here “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” We need the Holy Spirit also, we can’t expect to understand God or want a relationship with him unless we are Born Again.  The natural man doesn’t understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Paul also insisted on praying for the saint (Christians) and hoping they would pray for him also. We should be actively praying for one another daily, praying for your family, praying for your children, praying for your Church, praying for your Pastor, there should never be no enough people to pray for. Pray for your community and neighbors, that the Holy Spirit will work in their lives and unhardens their hearts to hear the gospel. Instead of Christians arguing and fighting with each other, pray for one another, allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us during our daily walk

When we examine Jesus’ ministry on Earth, prayer was an essential part of his life. Often The Lord would get alone and spend time praying with our Heavenly Father. This should be the model of our lives. No matter how busy our lives become, we always need to find time alone with God. We need to pour out our hearts to The Lord so God will pour out the Holy Spirit on us, Amen!

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. 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. Ephesians 6:10-13

The Armor of God is one of Pauls classic teachings that almost everyone remembers from Sunday School. Paul is introducing the spiritual warfare we will face as Christians on a daily basis. This is more practical spiritual advice that we all can take and apply it to our daily lives and walk with Christ. If we don’t put on the Armor of God, we are really opening ourselves up for demonic attacks, which is what you really see in society today

“Put on the Armor of God, so you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” Notice without the Armor of God, you won’t be able to stand against the demons. Without the Word of God as your sword, without the Holy Spirit living inside of you, you are opening yourself up for demonic attacks and schemes that will destroy your life and eventually your soul

“We don’t wrestle with flesh and bone, but against the principalities and powers of darkness” We are all fighting a spiritual warfare, you are not just fighting against your enemies or maybe your health problems, you are fighting against demonic forces that have orchestrated this attack on you. You need to realize, you will not win this fight on your own, the only way to victory is Jesus Christ, the Lord over all things including Satan and demons. 

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  Ephesians 6:14-17

What are some things we can learn from Paul’s analogies? You need the shield of faith, meaning you need to have strong faith in Christ so when the demonic attacks come, you will be able to withstand them. Without faith, when the arrows of Satan come after you, you will fall away and be devoured. Put your faith in Christ, your rock and foundation, then you will be able to stand against anything in this world

Secondly , you need your swordy, the Word of God. You can never go to battle without being equipped with your spiritual sword, the Bible. Without your sword you will be quickly destroyed by the lies and deception of Satan. However when you have your sword of truth, the Word of God, you can stand against any form of evilness and rebuke them in Jesus name!

Don’t go anywhere without your Armor of God, build your faith, pray without ceasing, study the Word of God and be filled with the Holy Spirit, Amen!

Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. Ephesians 6:5-9

Today we look at passages that are considered controversial today, mainly because it’s a misunderstanding from the Greek to English language and a lack of understanding of the context of the scriptures. Many Atheists and skeptics will jump on these scriptures to say “Aha, the Bible is racist” or insist Paul is promoting slavery as we known it from a Western culture. However taking a deeper look and doing a little bit of research, you will find that its not the case here at all

The original Greek word here is “Doulos” this word can be translated as slave but also translated a “bondservant” which is the way the NKJV translated it “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;” (Ephesians 6:5 (NKJV) When translated to bondservant , it gives the context a total different meaning to this teaching.

In Roman times, the term bondservant or slave could refer to someone who voluntarily served others (gotquestions.org)  A bondservant was someone who voluntarily served others, much like an employment agreement we have today. In today’s world , a company recruits you for work, you agree to their terms, and you have an agreement to be their employee.Technically you then have a master/servant relationship.  This was the same relationship with a bondservant and a master in the first century. Paul is not talking about slavery as we know it from a Western cultural perspective

Now to understand the principle Paul is teaching here “Serve with good will, as to The Lord and not man” (v7) Whatever we do in life, we should do it for the glory of God. If you are working a job, you should do your best with honesty and integrity, as to represent Christ. Maybe you have a bad boss, or maybe you hate your job, you should still do your best as if you are working for The Lord Jesus Christ himself

This goes the same for “Masters” or employers/businesses. If you are a business owner or manager, you should treat your employees with the love of Christ. You should operate and conduct your business with integrity as Jesus Christ is your Lord. While these scriptures are usually taken out of context in today’s society, there are great principles here that we can apply to our daily lives Amen!

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:1-4

Previously we looked at the roles of the wife and the husband, in the covenant of God. Today we look at the role of the children, now it may seem obvious or common sense that children should obey their parents, however we are living in the last days and I’ll explain in more detail later.

Now just as we talked about, if a Husband is a man of God and actually loves his wife as Christ loves the Church, then it would probably be easier for a wife to respect her husband. However as we see many Godless marriages and many men who have failed their roles as Husband and Father, we see alot of broken homes and marriages.

This is the same with the Children, kids are more likely to obey their parents if they truly love and respect them. However most parents raised their children in a Godless and broken home, therefore the love and respect is non existent. We can’t expect Children to have morals if the parents don’t lay down the moral foundation first. How do the parents lay down a moral foundation? The foundation for a marriage and a family needs to be built on Christ

Jesus said “Whoever hears my words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24) The family who builds their marriage on Christ is building it on the rock, a solid foundation. However a husband and wife who are building their life without Christ, is building a foundation on sand, and when the storms of life come in, their entire house will collapse. It all starts with the covenant of Marriage being built on Christ

1But know this, that in the last days [a]perilous times will come: 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving, [b]unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7)

Notice what Paul says here, in the last days we will see an increase in children being disobedient to parents, unthankful, unloving, without self control, unholy, ect. Doesn’t this describe most households today? We are living probably in the most Godless generation in history, the foundation of the family has been cracked and crumbling, because the Men of God have abandoned their positions with Christ

The only way to fix our families is to fix ourselves first. We must all come to Christ, repent and become Born Again! Build the foundation of your marriage and family on Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Amen!