Sermon Tone Analysis

Christian Warfare

Ephesians 6:1-20 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for 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 enjoy long life on the earth.”

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

And masters, treat your slaves in the same way.

Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on the ful…d”

Fight for the family (6:1-4)

Fight to be a good witness (6:5-9)

Fight for yourself (6:10-17)

Fight for your brothers (6:18-20)

Fight for the family

As a Child - how do you talk/honour/legacy your parents as a model

As a father to your children or father figure in the church (village)

Victory is joy and a good life

Fight to be a good witness

as an employee/citizen (Bosses, Government)

as Managers, Leaders, Owners

Victory they get to see Christ & Lord will reward you

Fight for yourself

God is your rear guard - always advancing

Protection against the enemey (he hates God and the gospel)

Victory is standing firm in a world that is quicksand

Fight for your brothers

Your weapon of choice - Prayer

Your fellow Ambassadors

Victory = Fearless Gospel Warriors

Ephesians 2:14-16 “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

Two enemies (Jew and Gentile) become one harmoniuos unit = Unity in Christ the ultimate Peacemaker

Ephesians 4:13 “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Unity is a sign of Maturity

Christian Warfare = Peace

Colossians 4:2-6 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Commentary & Articles

6:1-4)

Understanding Your Child A father was berating his child for doing something wrong.

Finally in exasperation he added, “Every time you’re bad I get another gray hair.”

The little guy looked at his dad and said, “Wow!

You must have been a terror!

Look at Grandpa!” As parents we may forget the problems we caused our parents.

Submission within divinely ordered relationships

Submitting to one another in fear of Christ

This type of submission characterizes the ‘Spirit-filled living’ of those in Christ

a display of understanding Gods will

6:4 Paul’s exhortation to fathers not to ‘exasperate’ their children echoes his earlier concern about ‘anger’ in 4:26–27, 31.

The positive exhortation to bring up children in the training and admonition of the Lord recalls the earlier emphasis on learning the tradition of Christian teaching (4:20–21) - (Peter Thomas O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 440.)

In contemporary society the Roman patria potestas, that is, the authority of the head of the house, gave the father unlimited power over his children, and this law exercised a considerable degree of influence in the Hellenistic culture generally.

In Hellenistic Judaism severe punishment could be meted out to disobedient children.

- (Peter Thomas O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 445.).

Picture of secular vs Christian parenting (it should look different).

The term tekna here can include adult children, but it certainly is not limited to them, who in any case would not necessarily be living in the household any more.

As Lincoln says, “the children in view here have to be old enough to be conscious of a relationship to their Lord and to be appealed to on the basis of it, but young enough still to be in the process of being brought up (cf.

6:4).

- (Ben Witherington III, The Letters to Philemon, the Colossians, and the Ephesians : A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Captivity Epistles (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007), 335.)

Article

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you [not just your children!], along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31).

Fathers cause their children’s souls to shrivel into small, hard, angry shells mainly by being like that themselves.

A few behaviors dad should avoid so as not to make kids mad (yelling, excessive discipline, boundaries that are too narrow or too harped on, bossiness, etc.)

Anger is the cannibal emotion: It eats all the others till none is left.

It does this first in fathers, and then this constricted soul is passed on to the children.

Anger is absorbed as the dominant emotion and all the tender feelings die.

Paul says don’t let that happen.

“Fathers, don’t provoke your children to anger.”

The remedy is the gospel—“as God in Christ forgave you.”

Even though both mother and father work together in raising the children (“children obey your parents,” v. 1), fathers are the special focus of verse 4. Fathers have a leading responsibility for raising children.

This is a natural extension of the headship of the wife in Ephesians 5:23-25.

Dad should take the initiative to make sure that plans and processes and people are in place to build a vision of God and truth and holiness into the lives of the children.

Rearing children with a connotation of care.

The solicitous feel to the word shows up in Ephesians 5:29 where Paul says, “No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishesand cherishes it.”

That word nourishes is the same word as bring up in Ephesians 6:4.

So the focus is on the fact that, in all that a father does to bring his children to maturity there should be a provision and a care that assures the child that, behind all the discipline and instruction, there is a great heart of love.

This earthly father is working all things together for the good of his child.

And so God’s character is being displayed.

In the discipline... (paideia)This word signifies the actions a father takes to give his children the abilities and skills and character to live life to the glory of God.

It is not synonymous with teaching.

It is more full and more active.

For example, it is used in 2 Timothy 3:16 for “training.”

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

The word often refers to the painful part of training: “It is for discipline that you have to endure.

God is treating you as sons.

For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Hebrews 12:7-8).

Growing up with a Christian father’s help involves being shown how to do the things that a Christ-exalting life requires and being held accountable to do them as well as you can.

Words for a father raising children:

1. Be a real father figure to your children.

2. Let your love show.

3. Don’t be afraid to discipline.

4. Devote yourself to your child’s development.

5. Set the emotional and spiritual tone in your home.

Conclusion All of this

can be summarized into two sentences: Let your children know you’re their father.