We will finish our series, Ephesians in chapter 6. I do know that we have gone just roughly through the epistle, and there is so much to look at in Ephesians. But the last chapter, and I think it's fitting that mom and dad are here to hear this one, because the first verse says, Obey your parents. And there they are. Looking at all that Paul has dealt with through the Ephesian epistle and what went on in Ephesus, you can read the account in Acts of what he dealt with. And we looked at the first three chapters dealing with theological ideas, and then four, five, and six dealing with application to what we look like as a Christian. And when Paul closes his letter, we see how we don the armor of God and really go out into the world and fight the battles that we engage in. So we will begin with the reading of the chapter, and we'll go to prayer, and then we'll work through it. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and that you may live long on the earth. And you, fathers, promote not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. 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 eye service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With goodwill, doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And you, masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your master is also in heaven. Neither is there respect of persons with him. Now, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you 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 rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the entire armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Therefore stand, having girt your loins about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, your feet shoved with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith. wherewith ye shall be able to stand to quench the fiery dart of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all power 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, 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, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. 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. Let's pray. Lord, we love you and we thank you for the word that you've given us. We know that the grass fades and the flower fades away, but the word of the Lord abides forever. Lord, I pray that you forgive me of my sin, because there are many and they're always before you. And I pray for the ocean of the Holy Spirit. And as I was reading the Westminster Divines this week, Lord, as every time that we open the Bible, we stand in the presence of God and we do await to hear from heaven and we wait to hear your words to us because you've already spoken and we want to hear you. They'll be with us as a church, not just here, but around the world. And as we worship together, that we will be worshiping with the saints and in the presence of Almighty God as we approach the throne of grace. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Fast forward up to the end. But you know my affairs. I have sent to you the same purpose that you might know our affairs and that he might comfort your hearts. We open the epistle with peace, grace and peace to you. The most powerful words God's ever spoken on planet. Grace to you and peace from God our Father. He closes with the same thing. And with love, from faith, from God our Father and Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love Him in sincerity. You all keep coming back every Sunday. You love Jesus with sincerity. Keep at it. Now children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. As I was looking at some of the things going on in the Roman system, Children, women and Gentiles and others that weren't citizens of Rome were dealt with unkindly. Children were dealt as though they didn't exist. The paterfamilias or the head of the family had absolute control over his household, over his wife, over his children, over his servants. He could dispose of them any way he wanted to. If he didn't like his children, he could kill them. If he didn't like the way his wife did, he could divorce her immediately or have her put to death. He could do the same thing with his servants. Jesus comes in and reinstitutes a new society. Children, obey your parents, for this is right. Be subject to them, understand them, listen to them. We saw in the last chapter about marriage, that this is wives not just being subjection to your husband, but be submissive, love them. Love your husbands and respect them. Husbands, you're not just a pattern from these. You are not the iron fist. You are to love your wives. This is a new society that Jesus institutes. And now let's look at children. Now we see the three forms of government that God has set up. Family, church, and state. We can see it's a totally different idea than what the world sets out. Family is number one. That's where children are taught. And fathers would have bring them up in the admonition of the Lord. Thanks, Dad. Obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. And I'm really glad that we're not under the old system, because had I done what I did back in the Old Testament, they could have rightfully killed me. Stoned me to death, because I was unruly and didn't listen. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. And we see a complete opposite thing in our society today. You're not supposed to spank your children in public. Or you're not supposed to lay hands on them. I think Proverbs says, spare the rod, you spoiled child. Do not spare the rod because it is crying. The rod is for foolishness, and it will drive foolishness far from him. I need foolishness driven far from me, as do the generations behind me. Children, obey your parents. Listen to them. They have been set up as authority from God. And I like this, that it may be well with you, and you may live a long time on the earth. I'd like to live 110 years. I think it'd be pretty neat. Joseph was able to live 110. And he got to see his progeny. And look at Jacob. Look at Joseph. Adam, even. Pre-flood, Adam lived 930 years. How many children did he get to see? Of course, we know he sinned, but he came back to Jesus. We see the covering of sacrifice. Children, obey your parents, for this is right. And fathers, don't provoke your children. Don't be mean and unruly to them. Bring them up in discipline and education. We are creating a new society through Christ. And authority is not just to be used in an unresponsible manner. Authority is responsibility. We see that from our heads of family, our heads of state, our heads of church. Those of us that are in authority have a responsibility to those under us. And we that teach are held in a higher account. I think Jesus said if we lead one of these little ones astray, it's better to have a millstone wrapped around your neck and drop in the ocean than lead somebody astray with false teaching. What are we doing in the church at large today? What are we doing in our education system? We need to come to the Word. And I wish I remember which divine I was reading, but every time that we open this, We are taught and we are in the very presence of God himself, awaiting to hear a word from heaven. And I had to repent because I really have never considered that. I know that I'm listening to God when I read his word, but not that every time that I open the Bible, I'm in his presence. Not that I'm not always in it, but when I open the Bible, I am ready to hear from heaven and I am listening to the very voice of God. And now I've got to bring up my kids the same way I was brought up. So that we can pass on this from generation to generation to generation, as we see in the commandments. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling in oneness of your heart. We've seen many times through the epistle, be of one mind, of one accord, think the same things, do the same thing, preach the same things. Servants, be obedient unto your masters. Not with eye service, as men pleasers, doing what just they tell you to do, but as servants of Jesus Christ, because you're doing the will of God from your heart. And people ask all the time, well, what is the will of God? Well, obey authority, live controlled, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. These are the fruits of the Spirit. This is the will of God for your life. It's like gardening. These things have to be pruned. They have to be cultivated. That's the will of God. Knowing that whatever good you do, the same will be received of the Lord, whether he be a servant or whether he be a free man. Paul was a free man, yet he was a slave of Christ. He was in bonds and he was in prison, but he was yet freer than any one of us, which is a great thing to consider having the shackles on his hands, but how free he is. in Jesus. And one of the things I try to teach the guys at the Lighthouse is we understand boundaries. And when we look at the law of God, you can kind of use it as like a fence. You can do whatever you want to in this fence. The law is to restrain sin. That helps them understand because when we are bound by sin, we cannot do anything but sin. But where the Spirit of the Lord is, is freedom. The Spirit of the Lord lies in the law, right? Is that not his moral character to teach us how he looks and how we ought to look? You can do whatever you want to within this boundary. If you remove the fence, utter chaos. And they're kind of hard. And then they're saying you're a Presbyterian and you're saying do whatever you want to. Within the bounds of the law, yes. As long as you're listening to the law of God, And you apply that to your heart, you can do whatever you want to. Marry whoever you want to. Go wherever you want to. As long as you're looking like Jesus, that's what you're supposed to do. Because the Lord's not going to tell you to wear the yellow tie or the blue tie on Sunday mornings. Wear whichever one you want. Go to church. Go get in my presence. Go worship. Go tell somebody about me. And as He told the woman at the well, go tell all those what marvelous things God has done for you. And then she goes back to the city. This man told me everything that I've ever done. And the whole city comes out. Look at the fields white for harvest. And I remember Dr. Reeder speaking at a conference last year, or the year before last. Look at all these white robes coming out. The fields are white with harvest. It's ready. When you walk out the door, look at all these wheat plants that are ready to be harvested. As a Haven of Rest mission, what do we ought to do? We ought to be out saving people, showing them Jesus, bringing them in, and then putting them in churches. The harvest is ripe. Go. Pray for laborers if we go and do it. Be obedient to your masters. Understand the authority that we've been given. And don't do it just to be doing it, but doing the will of God as unto Him from the heart. And knowing that whatever good you do, whether bond or free, you'll receive it back from Him. We can also see that in Matthew chapter 6. And you masters do the same things unto them, forbearing, threatening. Don't threaten, don't be mean. Understand what it is to be in authority and the responsibility that you have to your children, to your family, and to your servants. And also our politicians have a responsibility for us. And I think that it says on a police card, it says to protect and to serve. It's not the law to protect the righteous. to restrain sin and punish wickedness. They have a responsibility for us, to keep us safe, to protect us. They are our authority figures. We must respect them. Masters do the same things, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your master is in heaven who sees and there's no respecter of persons with him. Whether you are from the upper echelons or you're from down in the dregs, the homeless, there's no respect of persons with God. Now finally, if Paul closes, be strong in the Lord. I have unloaded on you all this theology. I've unloaded all this stuff that you're going through in the world. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Your power is the Holy Spirit. We've talked about the ordo salutis. We've talked about the bouquet of flowers you get. All those things in your salvation. The power. is in the Holy Spirit. Once you are converted, you are given the Holy Spirit, you have all the tools you need, therefore, growing grace, as Peter says. Put on the entire armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. And Paul says, we know what the devil does. We know how to attack against him. We know what he does. As Martin Luther said, he's God's little ape. Whatever God does, Satan mimics, twists, turns. And there will be wolves that come among you, as he says to the churches. And we can see the false doctrines, we can see all the negative things that are happening within society and the church. We must stand against all that. How do we do it? Because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, against principalities. We do war against powers and principalities and rulers of the darkness of this world. 1 John 5.19 says that the God of this age has sway over the entire world. That's a hard thing to deal with thinking about how much power Satan really does have. And as I mentioned John Piper last week, that message that he does about letting your words abide within you or letting my words abide. I don't know how anybody in this world can walk through this life without a sword in their hand. Jesus himself said it is written. He physically did not fight Satan. He said it is written. Man cannot live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. That's how we live. We don't wrestle against those things of flesh and blood, horse and chariot. We wrestle against philosophy and ideas, concepts, personalities, spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore, take unto you the entire armor of God that you can withstand in the evil day. And after you have done this, you will stand. Now stand up. When God comes and speaks to Job, he said, stand up and gird your loins up like a man and listen to me. God asked 84 questions to Job, and Job didn't answer one. Stand up and listen to me, Job. Now God gives us the power in his mind to stand up against the world. Because at the end of the book, we win. We win. We have Jesus. We have the Holy Spirit. We have the power within us. Having done all to stand, now therefore stand up and have her ingirt your loins about with truth. What is truth? There is a God who is. There is a God who is not silent. He sent His Son to die for us. Repent of your sins and believe the gospel. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he knew they would repent. Because God is a merciful God. They repented. But a hundred years later, They had fallen back even worse than where they used to be. And they fell. How far are we from the first great awakening here? We must repent. Judgment begins in the house of God. Let us repent. And let us go forward. And stand with the power that we have. And go out with the word that we know is truth. That's truth. Because society and philosophy says that there is no absolute truth, all is in flux. There is no absolute, which is an absolute statement. That's somebody that says there's no absolute if he's absolutely sure. And you see the weakness of their argument. But philosophy and idea is what we deal with. And you hear this coming from all walks of life. And you go to any one of these other secret sensitive churches that just want people in the pews. They're battling against philosophy and ideas. And the world has infiltrated, and that's the wiles of the devil. It's not purity of word. Now there are a couple of things we can look at in persecution. One, God is going to leave a remnant. We may be it. God will purify His church. Amen. to keep his doctrine clean and to keep his church pure. I don't want to see it, but I do want to see it. I'm afraid of what we might go through. That's my flesh talking. But we need it. We need a return to biblical truth and foundation. That is what we do when we girt our loins with truth and we stand up against the wiles of the devil and the philosophies of the world. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. The first thing that people see is righteousness. And you walk. The first thing that they're going to see is the shining light of Jesus. If you look at armor from the medieval times, or even from Roman days, and back into Greek, you see breastplates. And was it Constantine that comes in and says, in Hopsignapensis, in this sign, conquer, his breastplate had a cross on it after that. His shield had a cross. I think he knew who Jesus was. Revelation 21, who is it that comes on that white horse? It's Jesus. Who is it that we follow? Who is it believe? Who is it that we preach? Who do we go to on Sunday mornings? And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Blessed are the feet who bring good tidings and peace of the gospel. You see that in Romans 10, 15. Blessed are the feet that bring good news. Amongst all this, we've got good news. There is hope. There is Christ who has died for us, won us over, bought us back. Now let's go show them who it is. We are to be in this world, but not of it. Not just to be separated. We are to be in it. Because we understand what bread is and how do we leaven our lumps. A little bit of yeast makes a really good bread. It leavens the whole lump. That's what we are supposed to do. Go leaven the world. Go salt the world. Go light the world. Because it's a dark place. Because we war against rulers of the darkness of this world. Now, as we're standing, we go, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you will be able to quench every one of the fiery darts of the wicked. There is nothing that Satan can do to us that cannot be quenched with faith. Now, I'm not saying if you have enough belief you can cure cancer. That's not where I'm at. But when you believe in Jesus, there is not one thing that we cannot do under the power of the blood of Christ. We can quench all the fiery darts, doubt, depression, all these philosophical concepts that come in us. Quenched by the Spirit. We can stand. We can go. No matter what circumstance comes your way. We will all have to face death one day. But I fear it not. Because I know who Jesus is. And I know that when I close my eyes in this life, what's next for me? It's heaven. It's glory. I want that for my children. For my grandchildren. I want that for my own generation. Because we are blind. Stand and go. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. What is it? Hebrews 4.12 says that the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, able to divide flesh and blood, bone and marrow, soul and spirit, which is undividable. The only weapon we have and the only weapon we need is Jesus Himself and He speaks as the Word. And Paul closes this letter saying, give me the power of utterance that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak, no matter what's thrown at me. We must speak. We must stand. Praying always with all prayer and supplication, that's how we get our power. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all your brethren and for all the saints. We go back to chapter 5. See them that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. And the Lord says, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Know your enemy. Stand against him. And for me, pray that the utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel that's preaching. Christ is the Word. I'm the mouthpiece. We speak the Word. We are ambassadors of Christ, and He is in bonds, as Paul says. Therefore, I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. We know the truth. And Romans 1.16 says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. Speak it. His Word does not return void unto Him. But it will accomplish that which He has purposed it to do. Isaiah 55. That you also may know my affairs, and as we mentioned at the beginning of our look through Ephesians, that this letter is probably one that was also written to the Laodiceans. Paul was sending Tychicus, his beloved brother, a faithful minister, that he may make known to the churches all that's going on with Paul in Rome. And that he may encourage and comfort the hearts of the people. As Tychicus was sent from Paul, we are sent as well to comfort the hearts of the people. Take rest, take comfort in the Spirit. Understand why you're here every Sunday. Though we may be few physically, think of how many we worship with right now. We are in the presence of Almighty God and the saints of old. And one day I'll be able to worship with you. with my grandparents. And we need somebody to come and comfort our hearts in a dark world. Because outside those doors, there's no hope. Nobody has hope out there. We do. Take it to them. It was given to me. And as he closes, peace to us and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul tells this to the Ephesians in the face of Rome. We have no idea what it was like to be under the oppression of the Roman Empire. No idea. But Paul says, peace to you. You will grow. Comfort your hearts because you have something that they don't have. Now take it to them. Show them Christ. Show them the light. Because God has shown grace and peace to you through Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ with sincerity. Amen. And that's how Paul closes his letter to Ephesians. To the lay of saints. To Princeton. Grace to you. I hope that we look at Ephesians a little differently now. Because it's for us. Be followers of God as their children. Chapter 5, verse 1. Walk in love. Walk worthy of the vocation where you were called. Walk wisely. Be like Jesus. Because there's a lost and dying world that needs Him. I needed Him. Somebody else does too. Maybe a grandchild, maybe a son, maybe a daughter, maybe a sister, maybe a cousin. Somebody needs Jesus. Somebody's been touched by drugs and alcohol. Somebody's been touched by sin because we all are. Take Jesus to them and give them hope. Because without it, we're going to watch our nation go the way of Rome and Greece. We've got hope and truth. That when we get up every morning and put this armor on, you have got the power within you and you've got the defense. There is no armor on your back. You cannot fight a war walking backwards. We don't have eyes in the back of our heads for a reason. Go forward. And grace be with you. And Jesus says, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the days. And the Greek says, even to the end of this time. In Jesus' name, Amen. Shall we pray? Lord, it's good to be in your presence. Thank you for breaking our hearts, And letting us come, Lord, to the throne of grace. And we do see in Ezekiel chapter 37 that You allow us to come to talk to You and You say that You will be heard of us. Lord, I pray that our prayers ascend to heaven as a sweet-smelling savor. We thank You for the Ephesian letter, Lord, and it's not to them, it's to us. Lord, I pray that we will walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and that we will don the armor of God daily. And that we can go to this lost and dying world and give them hope and light and give them Jesus. You tell us that if Christ is lifted up and he will draw all men to himself, I pray that we do it with love and meekness and kindness, with gentleness, patience and self-control. That somebody can see Jesus in us. Because without him, Lord, you know where we'll be. I pray that our nation will not be a proverb and a byword. and a thousand years as other nations are. Nevertheless, Lord, not my will be done, but yours. And you say that you don't do these things for our sake, but for your own holy namesake. And I pray, Lord, that you will vindicate the holiness of your great name in us. And as we do pray our Lord's prayer, that your will be done on Earth and us as it is in heaven. Lord, I pray that you will bless this congregation and that we will rise up And be a beacon of light for this city and for this community. And that you will prosper us, Lord, in the gospel. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.