Paul’s advice for us today – be imitators of God, walk in love, be faithful in life and love your family. Put on the whole armour of God.
Ephesians 5: Walk in Love
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not become partners with them;
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,
14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives and Husbands
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
30 because we are members of his body.
31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 6: Children and Parents
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 "Honour your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise),
3 "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land."
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
The Whole Armour of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Final Greetings
21 So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything.
22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.
23 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.
Things to think about…
1. Love from the Lord is described as sacrificial, sweet and when displayed imitates God, Eph 5:1,2. The Father displayed His love for us via His Son on the cross, but there is no way that it felt good for him at the time, even though it was ‘all good’. How do you maintain Paul’s challenge to sacrificially love others when the feelings are waning or even non-existent? Paul says it must be done in the context of “a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” Eph 5:2. Easier said than done at times, depending on the situation.
2. Some of the social media posts I read by Christians clearly violate Eph 5:4 in my opinion. Then again it comes down to your interpretation of filthiness, foolish talk and crude joking. But I think in many cases there is a fairly discernible line. All communication by Christians whether face to face or online should reflect the character of Jesus.
3. Are there any married women who struggle with Eph 5:22-24. Yet there it is. It’s easy to make excuses for not honouring your husband. The Lord does not ask that you wait for your husband to be perfect before you honour the Lord with what He says. Obviously, this teaching must be balanced within a context of a loving marriage where there is a mutual desire for a successful marriage. Any abuse within a marriage should never be tolerated.
4. Likewise, which of you married men struggle with Eph 5:25-28… and yet there it is, …as above, stop making excuses, honour your Lord and go to it. It is dishonouring to God when our Lord has sacrificed Himself for you. You are called to love and cherish your wife in the same sacrificial way. Husbands are to be leaders in displaying a Christ centred sacrificial witness within the home.
5. The ‘mystery’ that Paul spoke about earlier referring to Christ now being revealed has a profound significance in a marriage. If every marriage in the church simply carried out Eph 5:33, we would have 0% divorce among Christian couples. An excellent resource on this is written by Emerson Eggerichs PhD, “Love and respect”.
6. When our boys were younger and they didn’t always carry out Eph 6:1,2 as they should have, and I didn’t always keep Eph 6:4. We are told to not be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good, Rom 12:21. As was mentioned yesterday, we cannot wait for someone else to be obedient to Christ before we are obedient. Parents are to be the main ones to set the spiritual culture within the home. These things come with a promise, vs 3 living long in the land. There is nothing longer than eternal life in Immanuel’s land.
7. Eph 6:5-9 in a modern context concerns the relationship we have between employers and employees. Our Lord’s eye is on all our work and His ear over every word. Honouring our Lord begins and ends in the heart. Jesus says everything else flows from there, Mt 15:18.
8. Had any doubts concerning your faith lately? What about questions concerning God’s will and character? How about acknowledging and believing in the supernatural. Do you doubt the spiritual realm even exists at times? Do you struggle with seeing the influence and power of the Holy Spirit in your life? If you answered yes to any of these questions – welcome to the Christian life and the spiritual war that is being waged within the soul. Paul encourages us to put on the whole armour of God to be more than protected. We are to go on the offensive and take ground. If you are not reading God’s word, your sword is blunt or not even on you. As such you cannot go on the offensive. Without salvation your head is not protected, and you have no battle plan. If you are not praying, your shield of faith is down and you are open to Satan’s arrows hitting your heart. If you are not being obedient, your breastplate of righteousness is exposed to a heart wound from the enemy. Put on the whole armour of God.
9. Faithful Tychicus, Eph 6:21. May we be like him, bringing a word of encouragement to others. I would encourage you to always bring a good word and an encouragement about what the Lord is doing in the church and in His people. Anyone can criticise and pull down. Sometimes rebuke is needed, but more often than not may we encourage one another so that “Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.”, Eph 6:24. A wonderful final word of encouragement from the Apostle Paul.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Prayer points
1. Pray for the church in Australia that it focuses on Christ, His Word and holiness and away from trying to mould character aside from the cross and repentance.
2. Pray for our leaders in Australia that they press in closer to Christ.
3. Pray for the Liberal party as they wrestle with leadership issues.
4. Pray for the people of Iran that they finally get their freedom from an oppressive regime
5. The Royal Commission that the Jewish people will feel safe in Australia.
6. One for Israel ministry.
7. Conflict zones – especially within Africa, Israel, Iran and Ukraine
8. Pray for new people to step into ministries at CBC – eg worship, café, sound/technical, giving, podcast.
9. Reform and Revival over our city and country.
10. Finances to cover our needs
11. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for His blessing over our service on Sunday
2. Another day of joy on Sunday with new folks arriving.
3. Praise God for ministries starting this week – Life Groups and Kids@Church
4. Café team every week. Thankyou to all those who serve and bring food. Especially Fiona, Maddie and Suzy.
5. Worship, Admin and Technical teams – Nita, Brendon, AJ, Suzy, Maddie, Mathys, Doug.
6. Kids Church teachers – Jacqueline, Maddie, Elise, Anastacia and Fiona
7. The Lord’s faithfulness this year to CBC and all who have served in ministries
8. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. All ministries on break over the school holidays
2. Kids@Church starts back Sunday 1st Feb
3. Members Meeting – Sunday 22nd Feb after the service
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for February...
Q. 5. Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever sin? A. No; he was holy, blameless, and undefiled.
