Ephesians Series

by Athol Walter

Part 43 - Grace & Benediction

The whole armour of God (Eph. 6:13) is provided by the Lord for our defence and protection against the wiles of the Devil. It was suggested in the previous study that, rather than equipping us to rush out and attack all and sundry in the Name of the Lord, the armour is to enable us to stand against whatever the Enemy of the Truth throws against us.

 

There was also the thought brought out that most, if not all, of the enemies we are to fight against and subjugate are those within rather than without. More often than not, it is the lusts of our own sinful natures that cause us to sin rather then Satan. "The Devil made me do it" is not really a valid excuse for the child of God.

 

Certainly, Satan tempts us in the matter of faithfulness to the light we have received through the Word, but I think that most of our struggles in our Christian walk are to do with our sinful natures fighting for supremacy.

 

When I was a babe in Christ as a young teenager, all I knew about Ephesians was the passage about the Armour of God. I can remember taking part in little presentations at the Sunday School Anniversary, where I carried a sword or a shield for instance, onto the platform and stood in line with other children while the relevant passage was read out. But I did not know, and I cannot remember it ever being mentioned, that we find much of the imagery concerning the armour in the Old Testament. It may well be true, as some expositors suggest, that Paul's circumstances in being chained to a Roman soldier as he wrote this epistle, influenced his choice of the illustration of armour etc. I personally believe, however, that his prepared mind, being full of the Scriptures he had known all his life, supplied the images he needed. Of course, there is also the inspiration of the Holy Spirit! So let’s have a look.

 

The Armour in the OT

 

Isa. 11:5 has this, "Faithfulness (shall be) the girdle of His reins."  The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures is known as the Septuagint (LXX), and this is the version commonly in use in the days of the Lord and Paul. It translates the word "faithfulness" as "Truth" and the word "reins" as "sides". We tend to forget that the word "reins" has the underlying thought of checking or restraining. We still speak of having to rein someone in, for example. Anyway, Paul, familiar as he was with the LXX, finds his girdle of truth in this verse.

 

Isa. 49:2 gives us, "He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword."

 

And Isa. 52:7 says, "How beautiful ... are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace."

 

Still in Isaiah, this time 59:17, we have, "He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation." I'm sure you can see how these three verses refer to the Ephesians passage we're considering.

 

The last reference is in Psalm 91:4: "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." These scattered references are brought together by Paul to show us how we are protected and enabled by the Lord's provision.

 

Just one other comment before we move on. Does the shield of faith refer to our faithfulness or the Lord's? We are undoubtedly called to faithfulness, but the certainty of us meeting the obligation is a little shaky, to say the least. The verse already quoted from Psa. 91 tells us that His truth is our shield and buckler, and I would remind you of the comments above regarding the connection between faithfulness and truth. To be clear and straightforward, it is the Lord's faithfulness, not ours, that is around us to shield us from "terror by night and the arrow that flieth by day". (Psalm 91:5)

 

Stand ... and withstand

 

Going back for a moment to vv. 11 to 14, I want to bring to your notice the word STAND. It is instructive that the word "fight" does not occur in this passage at all, but "stand" is very prominent.

 

v. 11. "... STAND against the wiles of the Devil ..."

v. 13. "... that ye may be able to WITHSTAND in the evil day, and having done all, to STAND.

v. 14. "STAND therefore ..."

 

It is perhaps more true now than in past times that Satan's strategies are starting to come out into the open. Witness the almost open contempt towards the Bible even in Christian circles, the breakdown of morals and the sexual perversities that are becoming acceptable to society at large, and even promoted as normal. However true or otherwise those statements may be, we are certainly headed for the EVIL DAY of v. 13. If we have not exercised our faith and courage by standing against evil when things are not so bad, it will be much harder to withstand when the full onslaught of evil comes.

 

Fortunately, the Lord does not leave His people to their own strength and devices. He has provided for us, and we must not only believe, but practice in our daily lives that "we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

 

I think there are lessons for us to learn from the experience of the Israelites when they stood on the shore of the Red Sea with Pharaoh's army bearing down on them. Were they instructed to turn and fight? No. Were they told to run and hide? No. The Word of the Lord to them through Moses was "Fear ye not, STAND STILL and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today ... The Lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace."

His Word to us is similar, "Stand ... withstand ... and having done all, stand." His grace will prove more than sufficient for us.

 

Prayer and Watchfulness

 

We must not overlook v. 18. Yes, we are to put on the whole armour of God. Yes, we are to stand against Satan, and subdue the enemies within through the resurrection power that operates in us, but over it all, through it all, under it all, there must be prayer and watchfulness.

 

There are shades of meaning in this verse that don't make it through our usual translations. This is how it is rendered in the Amplified Version:

 

"Pray at all times - on every occasion, in every season - in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints."

 

We should not fall into the trap of thinking that the only prayer that matters or works is when we are in church, or on our knees with eyes closed and hands clasped together. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, the right atmosphere being of help. But prayer is as much an attitude of heart and mind as saying words, whether set or spontaneous. Is it not possible that whatever our hands may be occupied with at any given time, our thoughts can be tuned to our Saviour and Lord at the same time. Could we say that if we are occupied in any activity that prevents our thoughts dwelling on God at the same time, that activity might not be one in which we should engage?

 

Notice that Paul's instructs us to pray for all the saints, i.e. all of God's people. I trust that none of our readers need to be told that all believers are saints, not just a special few who have done something extraordinary. And perhaps in that context, I should remind you that Paul's instruction was to pray for the saints, not to them!

We are members of the One Body, and we should ever remember the joints and bands (sinews) that bind us all together, as our own bodies are held together. We suffer together, we rejoice together, we work together, and together we wait in faith looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and our Saviour Christ Jesus. (Tit. 2:13)

 

The break between vv. 18 & 19 is a little unfortunate, as sometimes our eye stops and does not read straight on as it should. After commanding prayer for all the saints, Paul goes on to say "and (pray) for me". Pause for a moment, and let this sink in.

 

This is Paul the Apostle writing. He is arguably one of the greatest instruments in the hand of God in both the forming of the Christian Faith and also its spread. He had wonderful experiences, receiving directly from the Lord Himself the Gospel and Truth he was to teach. And this is the man who says to his fellow believers "Pray for me."

 

None of us are above or beyond the need for prayer. How regular and consistent are we in praying not only for all the saints, but particularly for those who have the burden of ministry, or service in the Lord's work in some way? Does the minister at your church fall short in some way in your estimation? Then have you prayed for him, or just criticized him?

 

Do you think I have missed the point and gone astray in these studies? Then have you prayed for me? I hope so, for I greatly need it. We certainly have a debt to love each other, and I don't think we do any injustice to God's Word if we add that we also owe it to each other to pray for each other. As James says in another context, "The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available - dynamic in its working". (James 5:16. Ampl. Version.)

 

Going back to Paul's request for prayer, notice that he wanted utterance to be given to him that he might open his mouth boldly to make know the mystery of the gospel. The fact that this powerful man of God feels the need for boldness in his witness, while being something of a surprise, nevertheless reveals how much he is one with us after all. I find it all too easy, when reading of these great Bible characters to forget that they were ordinary people like ourselves. They tend to take on an almost superhuman standing in our minds, which in my case anyway, makes me think that I could never measure up to the standards they have achieved.

 

This is not so, of course, and Paul's request for prayer reminds us of this. Obviously he felt afraid at times, we know he suffered from the cold while in prison, he was wounded to the quick (as we would be) when some friend betrays him. He was even known to lash out with an ill-considered and rather harsh rejoinder when he perceived his rights being trampled upon. In short, a person much as myself. But he realised how much help he needed, so asked for prayer and trusted only in the strength of His mighty Lord and Saviour.

 

Mystery of the Gospel

 

The phrase "the mystery of the Gospel" in v. 19 needs a comment perhaps. We Dispensationalists give so much prominence to The Dispensation of The Mystery (as we should), that we can be misled whenever we read the word mystery. If you think back to Eph. 3, you will recall that there are two mysteries spoken of there, viz. the mystery of Christ and another one called simply The Mystery. The mystery of Christ, as we saw back there, was something that had been gradually unfolded throughout the ages ever since the first hint was given about it in Gen 3:15.

 

The Mystery, on the other hand, was a secret hid in God until God made it known through Paul at the point where Israel were to be finally set aside at the end of their probation period recorded in Acts. So to which does Paul's term in 6:19 refer?

 

I think Colossians can help us here. We find that the context of Col. 4 is the same as that of Eph. 6 and we read in Col. 4:3, 4 these words:

 

"Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak."

 

We lose nothing by seeing that Paul refers in Eph. 6:19, not to the Mystery but to the mystery of Christ, because no matter what "good news" is being preached at any time over the millenia of God's dealing with Adam's race, in other words, no matter what the dispensation at the time may be, it is always founded upon, and centred in, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

If the message from God is the Gospel of the Kingdom, then the advent of the King must be proclaimed. When the time came for the preaching of the Gospel of grace, the central theme of that Gospel was Christ crucified, dead and resurrected. Similarly, to preach the "good news" of the Mystery which places the believer "far above all, seated at the right hand of God", it must first of all be shown that Christ is not only crucified, dead and raised, but that He has also been "seated at the right hand of God, far above all ...".

 

Concluding Remarks

 

In this wonderful epistle, we have been taken to heights of glory and depths of truth encountered in no other Scriptures written before it. And yet, as in his other epistles, Paul concludes on a very personal note.

 

He knows that if the members of the assemblies to whom he wrote were to pray for him intelligently, then they had to know something of his circumstances. He does not put these details into the epistle, however, but sends Tychicus who would not only deliver the epistle to them, but also make known to them "all my affairs". In addition to this, however, Tychicus had the task of comforting their hearts.

 

The epistle concludes with Paul's trademark statement about grace being with them all. This was done in order to guard against forgeries, which had occurred.

 

It is interesting that the last word in the Greek of this epistle is the word "incorruptibility". (The word "amen" is not in the Greek.) The margin of your Bible should show you that "incorruptibility" is the more accurate word than "sincerity". Is Paul saying here that our love for the Lord should be incorruptible? That certainly should be the ideal, but how possible is it? One expositor named Beza thought that the word incorruptibility should be read with the word grace and not love. It is God's grace that is incorruptible, unchangeable and imperishable. Well, this side of the resurrection we may never know for sure which way it should be read, but acknowledging that God's grace never changes, our aim should be to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds and bodies, as sincerely and consistently as we possibly can. And it is this epistle that tells us we have the same power available to us to help, as God used to raise our Lord from the dead.

 

I think the words of Frances Ridley Havergal are not out of place as this study of Ephesians concludes.

 

Take my love; my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure-store;

Take myself, and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee.

 

Amen.

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