[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:07] Welcome back to the Nomad Pastor Podcast.
[00:00:10] Look, today we're going to finish up Ephesians. We're going to go through chapter six, and then we'll. We'll kind of pivot a little bit and, and kind of see where the podcast takes us.
[00:00:20] So when I open up Ephesians chapter six and start going through it, it's almost like you can see Paul leaning forward, like he's sitting right there with you, right? Like he's sitting right there with me.
[00:00:33] It's the last chapter of this letter to the Church of Ephesus, and it's almost like you can hear the urgency in his words, like in his voice, like he's talking to you. Everything he's been saying throughout chapters one through five come to this moment.
[00:00:54] He's not given some nice idea or some feel good encouragement. What he's doing in this chapter is he's preparing us for life.
[00:01:01] And he knows that life, real life, isn't easy. He knows that following Jesus doesn't just happen in a vacuum.
[00:01:11] It happens with our families. It happens in our workplace. It happens in our minds.
[00:01:17] It happens everywhere that the battles are fought that nobody else can see.
[00:01:24] So Paul is closing this letter to the Church of Ephesus with some practical and some spiritual things, and we're going to try to go through those. And so as he starts this chapter, he starts with relationships, which to me always felt odd, but it makes a lot of sense. You would expect him to start with prayer or some big, bold statement because of everything that he's already done in the first five chapters.
[00:01:56] But he goes right to the family.
[00:01:58] He says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and your mother so that it may turn out well for you and that you may live long on earth.
[00:02:13] Now, when I read this, I instantly think about my own childhood.
[00:02:19] I wasn't the easiest son. I know that I gave my parents more gray hairs than they wanted or deserved.
[00:02:28] I can't tell you how many times that I did something and I knew better. I should have never done it.
[00:02:35] When I look back and I read this letter, I realize Paul wasn't saying, honor your parents because they're perfect.
[00:02:43] My parents certainly weren't.
[00:02:45] He was saying, honor them because God built this world with order, with a design.
[00:02:54] And when we follow his design, when we follow God's design, there is a blessing in it.
[00:03:02] And then Paul shifts to fathers. He says, fathers, don't provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in discipline and instruction of the Lord, and for me, that hits really, really hard when it says, don't provoke your children with anger.
[00:03:25] Because I can think of in my life, many times when I've said things to my kids that were harsher than they needed to be.
[00:03:36] I've said words that really probably hurt them instead of healed them, words that broke them down instead of building them.
[00:03:46] And even though I didn't always mean to, that's still how it happened, right? That's still how they felt.
[00:03:56] And as I was preparing for this podcast, I'm reminded of just how heavy Paul's words are. Don't crush their spirit.
[00:04:06] Don't parent out of anger or frustration.
[00:04:10] Instead, guide them with grace. Show them the love of God by how you discipline, by how you teach, and by how you model that faith.
[00:04:20] And look, I know I wasn't following Christ.
[00:04:26] I hadn't acknowledged or accepted that Jesus was my Lord and Savior when I was raising my kids when they were little.
[00:04:34] But it doesn't change the fact that I should have showed them the love of God and I should have modeled faith for them.
[00:04:46] And so that, you know, this part of the letter, and maybe that's just yet another reason that I love Ephesians so much, because Paul's teaching here how we should be.
[00:05:04] And so after, you know, he talks about children, he talks about parents, and then he takes it even further, and he addresses masters and servants.
[00:05:13] Now, look, I recognize that our culture today is different when it relates to masters and servants, but what he's teaching us here still applies.
[00:05:26] So, look, if you've got people who answer to you, whether it's work or anywhere else, what Paul is saying is you're not to lord over them.
[00:05:37] He's saying, lead with humility.
[00:05:40] Remember that you're not the final authority that God is.
[00:05:45] And if you're under someone else's authority, you're to work as if you were working for Christ himself.
[00:05:55] And that is so hard.
[00:05:58] I know it is. It's hard for me.
[00:06:01] And the reason it's so hard is because most of us at some point in our life have had a boss who was extremely difficult to deal with and probably very unfair.
[00:06:13] Maybe they didn't respect you. I know I've had bosses that didn't respect me.
[00:06:18] And in those situations, our natural instinct generally is to do the bare minimum and then push back.
[00:06:27] You see? But Paul tells us here, don't work for their approval, work for God's.
[00:06:35] Because in the end, he's the master of everybody, the master and the servants.
[00:06:41] And Paul said God doesn't play favorites.
[00:06:46] So if you're in charge of people, that should be humbling to hear.
[00:06:55] But it also should be comforting if you're the one being led, that that's the type of master boss, whatever you want to call it, that you want to work for, that should be the model.
[00:07:10] So after Paul models this, after laying the foundation in relationships, now Paul is going to shift.
[00:07:18] And. And it's like you can hear him saying, like, here's this, here's how you do these things.
[00:07:26] And as you're reading this, this last chapter in Ephesians, you can almost hear him get serious because he says, finally, finally, after what I've already told you, finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
[00:07:46] Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
[00:07:53] That word schemes, that hits me hard. And if you listen to a couple podcasts ago, I talked about the whispers of the enemy, right?
[00:08:05] Because look, the devil rarely comes at you head on.
[00:08:11] He's not coming at you like a bull, head on, horns out, right, with a pitchfork.
[00:08:17] He slips through and he digs in through the whispers, through the lies, through the shame, through the guilt, through the discouragement, through the temptation.
[00:08:27] And at first it all looks harmless because, look, the Devil, he's strategic.
[00:08:33] He knows where we are weak.
[00:08:36] He knows how to press our buttons.
[00:08:40] And Paul, in this moment, wants us to see that we're not just dealing with people here. He says our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but it's against the rulers and the powers, against the forces of this darkness, against spiritual forces of evil.
[00:09:00] What he's telling us is there's more going on than what we can see in our daily lives.
[00:09:09] And when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense because I've noticed how sometimes the biggest battles aren't the ones outside of me.
[00:09:26] They're not the ones in the world.
[00:09:28] The biggest battles are the ones inside of me, in my mind, in my heart. It's that voice that tells me I'm not enough.
[00:09:38] It's that temptation that won't let go. It's the despair that creeps in at night.
[00:09:44] That's my biggest battle.
[00:09:46] And Paul is teaching us right here and telling us that those battles are real, that you're not imagining it, but there is good news because we don't have to win the war by ourselves.
[00:10:06] He didn't say go out and conquer.
[00:10:10] He said stand firm.
[00:10:12] That's the call. Stand firm. God's going to do this fighting, right?
[00:10:18] We just have to hold the line.
[00:10:24] You know, there.
[00:10:26] There's been plenty of times in my life where standing was all that I could do.
[00:10:31] When prayers didn't come easy, when my faith felt thin as paper, and when the only thing that I could do was say, lord, I'm still here.
[00:10:46] And why, it surprises me.
[00:10:51] I don't know. I don't have an answer.
[00:10:54] But in those moments where I've been able to say, lord, I'm still here, that was enough.
[00:11:00] That was enough.
[00:11:02] Because it's not my strength that holds me up, it's God's.
[00:11:08] Maybe that's where you are right now.
[00:11:10] Maybe life has knocked you down so many times that you don't feel like you can get back up again.
[00:11:19] And I'm telling you right now, just stand.
[00:11:23] God's strength is enough to hold you up.
[00:11:28] That is why Paul starts to talk about the armor. He says, stand firm. Having belted your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having strapped on the feet, strapped on your feet, the preparation of the gospel of peace. Taking up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
[00:11:54] And for me, when I read this, I can picture, piece by piece, the soldier's army.
[00:12:07] The belt of truth comes first because truth is what holds everything together. Without it, we are completely exposed.
[00:12:16] And in a world that's full of lies and confusion and half truths, we need.
[00:12:23] We need the truth of God's word to be our anchor.
[00:12:29] And after that, it's the breastplate of righteousness.
[00:12:33] Not my own righteousness, not your righteousness, because, let's be real, ours doesn't go very far.
[00:12:40] It's Christ's righteousness that protects our heart.
[00:12:44] And when the enemy throws our past in our face, those whispers, those lies, the breastplate reminds us we are forgiven, we are covered, and we are redeemed.
[00:12:58] That's power.
[00:13:01] And then the shoes of the Gospel of Peace come next, right? Shoes give stability.
[00:13:06] They let you move forward.
[00:13:09] Paul says we're to be ready with the Gospel of Peace, which means everywhere we go, everywhere we go, we are carrying the good news. When we walk into work, when we come home, if we go into recovery meetings, if I go into the rescue mission, into a store, wherever my feet take me.
[00:13:32] Paul's saying, bring Jesus everywhere.
[00:13:38] Bring Jesus, because if you bring Jesus, you will have stability.
[00:13:45] And then comes the shield of faith.
[00:13:47] I personally love this picture because the enemy man, he is firing arrows.
[00:13:53] Every opportunity he gets, he fires arrows through Those little whispers, right? Doubt, fear, shame, guilt, accusations, whatever it is.
[00:14:04] And that shield of faith, that faith is what blocks those arrows.
[00:14:10] And I know for me. Sorry, I know for me that that shield feels heavy sometimes and it feels like I almost can't hold it up.
[00:14:20] But here's the. Here's the news, right? Here's what I need you to understand.
[00:14:26] Even shaky faith that may feel unsteady is still faith, and it still works.
[00:14:33] Never forget that even when my faith was thin, like paper thin, it still worked.
[00:14:44] The helmet of salvation comes next.
[00:14:47] This is the one about protecting your mind. Because the enemy loves to attack us through our thoughts. He loves to whisper, you're not good enough. God doesn't love you. You're never going to change whatever he's saying.
[00:15:02] But the helmet says, that's a lie.
[00:15:05] I belong to Christ. I am saved, and I am his.
[00:15:12] And then comes the sword of the spirit. That's the word of God. It is the only offensive weapon that is on this list, right? Everything else is defensive, but the sword, the word of God, that lets us push back.
[00:15:28] When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he didn't argue with Satan. He quoted scripture and Satan backed down.
[00:15:40] That same stance will work for us.
[00:15:45] But here's the thing.
[00:15:47] You cannot use a sword that you never pick up.
[00:15:53] For however many episodes I've done, I think this is like 146 or something.
[00:15:59] We continually say, spend time in the Word every day.
[00:16:05] You can't use a sword that you don't pick up.
[00:16:07] That's why we got to stay in the Word.
[00:16:12] It's important, you know, you may be listening and thinking, that's great.
[00:16:18] I don't feel like I have that armor.
[00:16:22] Well, that armor is not something you can earn.
[00:16:26] You don't qualify for it by being good enough.
[00:16:30] God gave it to us freely.
[00:16:33] All you have to do is put it on. It's not automatic. It just doesn't magically get put on every day.
[00:16:41] You get to make a choice, am I going to put on the armor of God or not?
[00:16:49] And in this letter, Paul doesn't stop there.
[00:16:52] He takes the time to tie it all together with a prayer. He says with every prayer and request, Pray at all times in the spirit, be alert, with all perseverance, pray for all the saints, and pray for me, too, that I might speak boldly.
[00:17:09] I love that.
[00:17:11] I love that. Because prayer isn't just another piece of the armor.
[00:17:16] It's the communication line. And if you think about battle, right, somebody out on the front line has a radio Or a walkie or something, and they're talking with the commander.
[00:17:28] But if that radio breaks, if that radio doesn't work, well, you're cut off.
[00:17:36] Prayer is our communication line to God.
[00:17:41] And if we're not praying, we're cut off.
[00:17:46] So think about that, right? If Paul, the great apostle, asked people to pray for him, how much more do I need it?
[00:17:59] How much more do you need it?
[00:18:03] You know, throughout my life, I've always thought.
[00:18:06] Not lately, but early on in my walk, I thought that prayer had to be this eloquent, polished, you know, get on your knees full of the right words thing.
[00:18:22] But I've had times in my life where prayer was just silence, just tears.
[00:18:31] And Scripture teaches us that even those are heard by God.
[00:18:36] Prayer isn't about saying it perfectly. It's about showing up. It's about staying connected to Christ.
[00:18:45] So when we put all this together, this last chapter in Ephesians, the last part of the letter to the church in Ephesus, we see the full picture.
[00:18:58] That picture is honor God in our relationships, stand firm in the battle, put on the armor every day, and stay connected to prayer. That's the life Paul is teaching us to live. That's what he's calling us to live.
[00:19:18] And look, you're not alone.
[00:19:20] You are not alone in this.
[00:19:24] If you feel like you are barely standing up, that's okay. Because standing is enough.
[00:19:32] Because God can hold you up. God will hold you up.
[00:19:36] And if you are in this season of.
[00:19:39] Of strength right now, don't forget to lift up the ones who aren't. Encourage them. Encouragement is like oxygen.
[00:19:49] We don't fight these battles alone.
[00:19:53] That's the beauty of being a part of the body of Christ.
[00:19:57] We get armored up together. We pray for each other. We stand shoulder to shoulder. And no matter what the enemy throws at us, we know that the war has already been won.
[00:20:11] So next time you feel like giving up, read Ephesians, chapter six. Remember it. Remember Paul's words.
[00:20:20] Remember, God has not left you unarmed. He's giving you what you need to stand.
[00:20:28] And honestly, if we were having a private conversation right now, here's what I'd tell you.
[00:20:38] You may feel like you're barely hanging on.
[00:20:42] You may feel like the enemy has been louder than God's promises.
[00:20:48] But you don't have to fight this battle alone. You don't have to fight it in your own strength, because God already won it.
[00:20:57] All he's asking you to do is stand, put on the armor, hold the shield, keep praying.
[00:21:05] Even if the words come out broken and trust.
[00:21:10] The one who called you is faithful. Trust that God is faithful.
[00:21:19] If you get one thing out of this right now, I need you to remember your story isn't over.
[00:21:28] No matter what your past look like, no matter what battles you're fighting today, God has more for you.
[00:21:37] You are loved, you are covered, and you are not alone.
[00:21:42] So stand up.
[00:21:48] I want to thank you for listening today. This is Rick with the Nomad Pastor podcast. I want to remind you that if you need prayer, if you want to talk about anything, if there's a topic that you would love me like me to cover, send me an
[email protected] hey, if this spoke to you, like it? Subscribe. Share it with your friends. We're on all the major podcast platforms. Let somebody else who needs to recognize that all they have to do is stand and God's got them.
[00:22:17] Share it with them. There's somebody in your life who needs to hear it. I want to remind you to just have a blessed day and to love God and love people. It.
