Growing in Strength

Ephesians 6:10-17

Growing in Strength

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Eph. 6:10a   (Holman)  Finally. . .

 

Our text begins the third major division of Ephesians, as Watchman Nee outlined: sit (1-3), walk (4:1-6:9), stand (6:10-24). The order is significant. We first exercise our privileges; we sit with Christ in heavenly places (2:6). Second, we walk worthy of our calling (4:1); we lead an exemplary life. Until we do these two things, our Christian life is only talk. Satan can afford to ignore such a person.

However, if we commit to use our heavenly seat and to display Godly conduct, then watch out, there will be trouble. Thus "finally" Paul will make us scrutinize the opposition we face. We must learn how to stand before the foe.

Our text starts the most famous part of Ephesians, the passages about putting on the armor of God (6:11-17). We need all the armor we can muster.

The loving Apostle could see the intense storm looming before the Ephesian Christians. He had weathered its relentless fury often. He knew whereof he spoke. His words rose from a battle-scarred soul. Paul had been in the furnace, and felt the flames. He could smell smoke in the Ephesian Christians' future, and in ours.

Having no illu­sions about the obstacles the Ephesian Christians would face, he felt he must hide nothing from them. They must not be given an unrealistic view of life. Paul refused to sugarcoat the news or mislead them. He sounded the alarm.

 

Eph. 6:10b   . . .be strengthened. . .

 

            This verb is passive voice. This means the subject is acted on. In other words, God must provide for us the strengthening required of us. Left unaided, we are power­less, doomed to defeat (John 15:5). We are insufficient in ourselves.

Giving us His strength is God's way of enabling us to live as He commands. Our goal is not only to be a Christian, but to behave as a Christian should, at church, at home, and on the job. These high God-ordained standards of conduct are fixed, non-negotiable, and, as we quickly learn, unattainable in our own strength.

Unfortunately, many Christians, due to repeated failures, give up the effort to live by God's standards, complaining they are humanly impossible. The tragedy is, these people quit trying one short step shy of victory. They are halfway to the goal, and halfway is good if still making the journey, but not okay as a destination.

Acknowledging our weakness is not to be a stumbling block over which we trip, but a steppingstone on which we rise to appropriate God's strength. We never have the right to say we cannot accomplish a certain duty. To say God's standards are unrealistic or too high is irreverence. Everything God requires of us He enables us to do. Thus, all His commands are promises. Weakness is not merely a calamity to be endured and grieved, but a sin to repent of. To be strengthened is our duty.

Our reliance on God must be ceaseless, unbroken, never ending. We must be empowered, not once for all, but constantly for each given situation. The drain on our spiritual resources is never-ending. Our supply must be replenished often.

The Christian's struggle is relentless, life-long, constant to the end. Failure to accept this fact helps explain the widespread downfalls among believers. Many believers deem defeat normal, and take no thought of the relentless ongoing war waged against them. Defeated before they begin, they consider no other option.

Victory requires constant vigilance. We err if we think after conversion we can put our lives on automatic pilot and use Cruise Control to be holy. Spiritual growth is never a given. Even after years of being a believer, we have no more power in us against the foe than when first saved (Rom. 7:18). We ought to leave this life in a blaze of glory, but many fizzle. Due to carelessness, their spiritual pilgrimage ends in a spiritual zero. Remain on guard. Always seek God's power.

 

Eph. 6:10c   . . .by the Lord and by His vast strength.

 

Paul knew human weakness. He told the Cor­inthians, "I was with you in weakness" (1 Cor. 2:3). A winning Christian is ever humble, knowing strength is never inherent in us. Paul knew God's strength. God had told Paul, "My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Human weakness and God's strength intermingle. Strength in weakness sounds like a paradox, but Paul acquiesced to God's plan, saying, "When I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).

Paul won the victory due to his humbly admitting personal emptiness and to his letting this emptiness become saturated with divine fullness. We claim to agree with Paul; this raises a serious question. If we know what needs to be done, why do we not do it more? We often lack three critical triggers: intimacy, time, and focus.

One, God's strength is triggered in human weakness by intimacy with God. Our union with Jesus is the channel that conveys strength to us. People forgetting this fact explains why many believers fall by the wayside after their aged parents die or their last child leaves home. These are dangerous times because many slip into the habit of practicing religion by proxy, doing it only for the sake of parents or children. Somewhere along the way, vital, personal intimacy with Jesus waned.

Power is not extracted from Jesus, as much as it is a by-product of our life in Him. God's power flows into human weak­ness via bonding between Jesus and us. In­­timacy with God is a conduit whereby His strength flows into our weak­ness.

The power is available, readily accessible. How well and how much we acti­vate it at a given moment depends on the condition of our intimacy with Jesus.

In prayer, commune. We do not believe words have mystical powers. Our faith is in God, not magic. In prayer, words matter, but atmosphere is more vital. Do not begin private prayer by speaking immediately. Before talking, meditate.

Even after the prayer is begun, our words must continue to rise from a sensed consciousness of God's presence. Prayer thrives best when its primary focus is kept away from our pressing problem, and turned instead toward the Lord.

Two, God's strength is triggered in human weakness by time. The hymn well says, "Take time to be holy, Speak oft with thy Lord, Spend much time in secret." Take time--there's no other way--to be holy. Chadwick said, "Hurry is the death of prayer." We cannot have our eyes on God and the clock at the same time.

Since our success depends on a sustained, ongoing relationship, we must be willing to commit ourselves to the long haul, and to investing time in the effort for a lifetime. No shortcuts lead to personal godliness. It is a lifelong, every day, all day, quest. No believer grows strong by willing on the whim of a moment to be so.

Our bodies gain strength by daily dis­ciplines such as exercise and a good diet; our spiritual vitality hangs on daily disciplines like private Bible time and prayer, and discipling. Quick fixes won't do; prayer-ettes produce Christian-ettes.

Three, God's strength is triggered in human weakness by focus. Believ­ers are often too scattered, trying to live the Christian life in a hectic, helter-skelter, take it or leave it, way. To succeed, we must focus on the particular difficulty or situation at hand, and apply to it what we know. Believers must concentrate.

We must mentally converge our resources onto our circumstances. We cannot think of spiritual empowerment only in general terms or from time to time.

The housefly helps illustrate this. A fly is able to walk on a ceiling due to the vacuum its webbed feet produce when pushed hard against the sur­face. The insect does not merely flit against the ceiling and accidentally stick. It must consciously press its weight against the surface and push out the air un­der ­its feet, thereby creating an emptiness which results in the needed vacuum.

Similarly, our power lies in consciously pressing the weight of our thoughts on the great principles we know. We cannot casually flit about. Let­ our troubles force us to concent­rate. We lean, as it were, on our weakness, tru­ly expecting the result to be a vacuum drawing God's power into our emptiness.

Spiritual success hinges on our determination to concentrate in the time of need. Having done our homework, having been faithful in the daily, lifelong disci­plines, whenever a need arises, we are ready. The habit is formed. We focus on the difficulty at hand, concentrate on our weakness, and rivet our pray­ers on God, calling for His strength. This concentration causes us to turn often throughout the day toward the Master's face for fresh supplies. We re­fuse to let go, to turn aside, to break concentration, until we are blessed. Power cen­ters in unrelenting focus.

 

Children and Parents

Ephesians 6:1-4

Growing in Parenting

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Eph. 6:1-3  (Holman) Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

 

We are learning what it means to be submissive to each other when we are Spirit-filled. Wives submit to husbands as the Church submits to Christ (EP 5:22-24). Husbands submit to their wives as Christ serves the Church (EP 5:25-33). Now we will consider how children and parents are to submit to each other.

Considering their lowly standing in society at the time, it is amazing to see children addressed directly. Jesus broke sunshine into their dismal existence.

The ancients by and large dishonored the young. If a father tired of caring for his chil­dren, he could set them loose to fend for themselves, sell them into slavery, or execute them. If not pleasing to its father, a newborn was aban­doned.

It was common for as many as 30 babies to be deserted daily in the Roman Forum. They died of exposure or became the property of anyone who took them. Healthy babies were often collected by people who raised them to make them laborers, sell them as slaves, or stock the brothels of Rome. Unhealthy babies were forsaken. Seneca said with pride, "Children born weakly and deformed we drown."

Christianity fought against this dehumanization of young human life.  Children were not a burden to Jesus. He called them to Himself, "took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them" (Matthew 19:14).

The young must realize they live with ones who have a right to command. Knowing obedience would be difficult for us, God graciously ordained the ones assigned to pun­ish us are the ones who­­, until our own marriages, love us most.

Parent, your wild child will eventually be tamed and corralled by some­one--a school official, a policeman, a warden, a military officer. God, though, wants the disciplining done by those who love the children the most. I am glad my parents, people who loved me, disciplined me. If spanked at school, I was spanked again at home. One day, in the second grade, I skipped school. A church member saw me walk­ing the streets and called my parents. Dad came to find me. He laid me down on my stomach in the back seat of the car, knelt in the front seat, and spanked me. (I still don't like 1957 Chevrolets.) At school, he told my teacher to spank me, too. Thank God for a merciful teacher who could tell I had suffered enough that day.

The young who claim to be followers of Jesus must act like Jesus. He is our role model. Christ lived with His parents, "and was subject unto them" (LK 2:51).  The Creator of the Universe took the place of submission. Follow His example.

In addition to obeying parents, we must honor them. We grow too old to obey, but never too old to honor, parents. Even if our parents are dead, honor them.  Cherish their memory, though they are gone. Youth and adults, honor your parents.

Honor parents by providing for them. Scripture mandates believers to care for their parents as long as they live. We are obligated to our own parents and, after we marry, our spouse's par­ents. Never leave them needy or lonely. Be good to them always, and provide for them when they can no longer care for themselves.

Honor parents by making them proud. Never cause them pain or embarrassment. Most parents deem their children the pride of their life. Suc­cess­­ful children make parents proud. We owe our parents the best we have to give.

Do not hurt your mom and dad. To hurt parents scars them, and haunts our memory­. Dr. Samuel Johnson, as a lad, was often asked by his dad to help him sell books in the marketplace. Samuel, too proud, would not lower his dignity. Fifty years later, Dr. Johnson's con­science haunt­ed him. Unable to forget what he did to his dad, he one day put on com­mon clothes, and went to the spot where his dad stood to sell books. Boys laughed, adults made fun, but Samuel did not care. He was doing an act of penance to soothe his conscience. Honor your parents. Now!

 

Eph. 6:4 Fathers, don't stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

 

Paul, turning to the proper discipline of children, aims directly at men, God's ordained family leaders. Christian men cannot abdicate child-­rear­ing to women, for God holds fathers primarily responsible for the training of children.

Un­for­tu­nately, America has moved toward being a matriarchal society with regard to child-rearing. We too often let men abdicate their rightful role.

This absence of dads spells serious trouble in America. Father­less­ness ­is the piston, the driving force, impelling most of our social problems.

Some 70% of juveniles in long-term cor­rec­tional facilities, 80% of drug dealers, and 80% of convicted felons, grew up apart from fathers. Chil­dren in single-parent fam­ilies are six times as likely to be poor, three times as likely to have emo­tional and behavioral problems, more likely to drop out of school, be expelled from school, get preg­nant as teens, or be in trouble with the law.

Dads, be present and be careful. "Don't stir up anger in your children." Avoid harsh, cruel punishment that drives a child to inner bitterness and outer hostility. Our text is a safeguard. Parents do not have the right to act as they please toward a child. Scripture always handles author­ity/submis­sion relationships with balance and fairness. God protects the submissive by for­bidding harshness in those to whom He gives authority. Do discipline children, but not excessively.

"Don't stir up anger in your children" with anger. Angry parents produce angry children. Chil­dren tend to imitate parents who lose control, throw temper fits, and punish too harshly. It is hard for children to learn self-control from parents not self-controlled. Disciplining during a temper fit does more harm than good.

It is better for our children to see us sad rather than mad. A parent's broken heart has more effect than a raging fit. When I was about twelve, I helped a group of boys steal sodas from church one day after VBS. Stealing from a church was more than one of our saintly ladies could abide. She told Dad, with me standing close by, "I couldn't steal from a church. I'm afraid God would strike me dead." Dad agreed. I piously did, too, knowing I was as guilty as sin itself. Weeks later, Dad learned I was in on the heist. He brought me into the living room and had me sit on the couch. He told Mom to leave the house and to take with her my sister and brother. Once they left, Dad locked all the doors, closed all the blinds, pulled out his belt, and walked straight toward his sobbing son. I truly be­lieved my life was ending. Dad wrapped his belt in a circle, laid it on the coffee table in front of me, leaned over me, and said, "Son, I am sorry you stole the sodas from church, but what hurts me most is that all these weeks you have lied to me about it." He then turned and walked away, leav­­­­ing me alone in the living room. It is the only time in my life I can remember wishing I had received a spanking. That was the most effective use of disci­pline I ever saw from my dad. He punished me with his grief rather than his anger. I have never forgotten it, and was made much better by it.

"Don't stir up anger in your children" through manipulation. Do not bulldoze your children toward what you want them to be. It is not our job as parents to determine what our children should be in life. We are to love them and help them prepare for whatever role they decide God has selected for them.

Some fathers try to make a son into the ballplayer they once were or always dreamed of being. Some mothers try to make a daughter into the debutante or social success they were, are, or always wanted to be. Let's not try to live out our own fantasies through our children. They have their own set of dreams to fulfill.

Parents must focus on raising our children for the Lord. A lady once said she would not prejudice her children with religious in­struc­tion. Archbishop Sharpe replied, "If you do not teach them, the devil will!" If we do not guide our children Christward, we will be the only one that's neutral, not influencing them (Criswell).

We are seriously fooled and naive beyond credulity, if we think the world, the flesh, and the devil are not using elements in our secular society to seek to subvert the moral values of our children, and to win their hearts, minds, and souls. Our culture offers no diplomas, and confers no degrees, but does educate with terrible precision (Criswell).  Parents must counter­act the flow of evil being flooded on our children.