Topic : Ephesians

The Believer’s Walk

Seven times the Apostle Paul speaks of the believer’s walk, in the book of Ephesians. This walk refers to how the Christian is to conduct himself before a holy God and a Godless world. It speaks of a course of life that one is following; a manner of living; a lifetime experience. How one walks (behaves himself) reflects on his entire Christian testimony.

(1) Our previous walk: “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air” (v.2). Our old walk is finished.

(2) Our present walk: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Our manner of living should be filled with good works.

(3) Our privileged walk: “I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (4:1).

(4) Our humble walk: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour” (5:2). The essence of love is self-sacrifice.

(5) [This item inadvertently omitted.]

(6) Our changed walk: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (5:8).

(7) Our wise walk: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Ephesians 5:15).

NPS

Days of Praise, August 27, 1992

As Much as We Will

The great Scottish Bible expositor Alexander MacLaren once wrote: ‘We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the treasure-chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank and told to help himself, and comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor?”

Today in the Word, October, 1997, p. 24

Unclaimed Insurance

To most people, the great depression of the 30s has been forgotten in the wave of prosperity that followed. Out of those hard times, however, came a story which has a strange ending yet teaches us a powerful lesson.

When a timid old lady approached the first desk she saw in an insurance office in Minneapolis, she was asked what she wanted. With trembling hand, she took from her well-worn purse an old policy and explained regretfully that she was unable to meet the current premium. She explained that it was hard for her to get work and what little she did get was hardly enough to clothe, feed her and keep a roof over her head.

After quick investigation, the clerk recognized that the policy was very valuable. He warned the old lady that she was making an unwise move to stop payment. Did not her husband have anything to say? It was his policy made out to her benefit, he explained. “My husband? Oh, he has been dead for three years,” she remarked sadly.

Immediately the company officials went into action. They soon discovered that she was indeed telling the truth. What she didn’t understand was that the policy was her husband’s and that she was the beneficiary at his death. They were thus obligated to refund the overpaid premiums plus the full amount for which the husband had insured his life in her favor. The money was sufficient to keep her in comfort the rest of her life.

Listen: The greatest life insurance policy of all time became due when Jesus Christ died on the cross! Thousands of people continue trying to make payments on their own salvation while all they need to do is accept the immeasurable gift that is theirs through the death and resurrection of our Savior.

To become the beneficiary of God’s Life Insurance Policy, we need simply to acknowledge our need as sinners and thank Him for the gift of His only begotten Son who died on the Cross and rose again (II Cor. 9:15) that we might have God’s forgiveness.

Source unknown

Accepted in the Beloved

Years ago I was preaching in the small town of Roosevelt, Washington, on the north bank of the Columbia River. I was the guest of friends who were sheep-raisers. It was lambing time and every morning we went out to see the lambs—hundreds of them—playing about on the green. One morning I was startled to see an old ewe go loping across the road, followed by the strangest looking lamb I had ever beheld. It apparently had six legs, and the skin seemed to be partially torn from its body in a way that made me feel the poor little creature must be suffering terribly. But when one of the herders caught the lamb and brought it over to me, the mystery was explained. That lamb did not really belong originally to that ewe. She had a lamb which was bitten by a rattlesnake and died. This lamb that I saw was an orphan and needed a mother’s care. But at first the bereft ewe refused to have anything to do with it. She sniffed at it when it was brought to her, then pushed it away, saying as plainly as a sheep could say it, “That is not our family odor!” So the herders skinned the lamb that had died and very carefully drew the fleece over the living lamb. This left the hind-leg coverings dragging loose. Thus covered, the lamb was brought again to the ewe. She smelled it once more and this time seemed thoroughly satisfied and adopted it as her own.

It seemed to me to be a beautiful picture of the grace of God to sinners. We are all outcasts and have no claim upon His love. But God’s own Son, the “Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the World,” has died for us and now we who believe are dressed up in the fleece of the Lamb who died. Thus, God has accepted us in Him, and “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” We are as dear to the heart of the Father as His own holy, spotless Son.

“So dear, so very dear to God,
More dear I cannot be;
The love wherewith He loves His Son,
Such is His love to me.

So near, so very near to God,
Nearer I could not be,
For in the person of His Son,
I am as near as He.”

Illustrations of Bible Truth by H. A. Ironside, Moody Press, 1945, pp. 33-34

Interest in Advance

The Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer, gives us a foretaste of the coming glory of heaven. He is therefore called the “earnest” or pledge of the inheritance we shall receive by God’s grace in eternity (Eph. 1:13,14). In biblical times, the word “earnest” was a trade term for the initial payment on a debt. It was made as a promise that full payment would be forthcoming. In principle, then, when an earnest was given, the final installment was guaranteed. Likewise, the joy we experience now through God’s Spirit is just a kind of first installment of the rich blessings that His children will receive in eternity.

A wealthy man called his faithful assistant into his office one day and said, “I’ve put your name in my will, and someday you’ll receive $10,000. Since it may be a while before you get that legacy, I want to make you happy now by paying you the interest on that amount each year. Here is a check for $600 as a starter.” The surprised clerk was doubly grateful. The prospect of the inheritance was certainly good news, but the money he received in advance gave him complete assurance that someday the entire $10,000 would be his.

As God’s children, let’s rejoice in the riches we now have in Christ through the Holy Spirit. He is our guarantee of the “exceeding and eternal weight of glory” that our Heavenly Father will one day give to the heirs of salvation (2 Cor. 4:17). Our present blessings are but a token of the greater inheritance we will eventually receive.

Our Daily Bread

Christ, our Peace

• Christ preached peace (2:17)
• Christ made peace (2:15)
• Christ is our peace (2:14)

Source unknown

Resource

• The Church and Israel in Ephesians 2, A. Lincoln, The Best in Theology, Vol. 3, p. 61ff

God Ran Him Down

In his book Illustrations of Bible Truth, H. A. Ironside included the story of a new convert who gave his testimony during a church service. With a smile on his face and joy in his heart, the man related how he had been delivered from a life of sin. He gave the Lord all the glory, saying nothing about any of his own merits or what he had done to deserve the blessings of redemption.

The person in charge, who was very legalistic, didn’t fully appreciate the reality of salvation by grace through faith alone, apart from human works. So he responded to the young man’s comments by saying, “You seem to indicate that God did everything when He saved you. Didn’t you do your part before God did His?”

The new Christian jumped to his feet and said, “Oh yes, I did. For more than 30 years I ran away from God as fast as my sins could carry me. That was my part. But God took out after me and ran me down. That was His part.” Commenting on this testimony, Ironside wrote, “It was well put and tells a story that every redeemed sinner understands.” - R.W.D.

Our Daily Bread, December 10

Resource

• Z. Hodges, The Hungry Inherit, p. 33

Red Cross

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba. One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, wanted to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders. But she refused to sell him any. Roosevelt was perplexed. His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds. When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, “Colonel, just ask for it!” A smile broke over Roosevelt’s face. Now he understood—the provisions were not for sale. All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely.

Our Daily Bread, October 11, 1992

Instant Cake

I read about an instant cake mix that was a big flop. The instructions said all you had to do was add water and bake. The company couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell—until their research discovered that the buying public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. Apparently people thought it was too easy. So the company altered the formula and changed the directions to call for adding an egg to the mix in addition to the water. The idea worked and sales jumped dramatically.

That story reminds me of how some people react to the plan of salvation. To them it sounds too easy and simple to be true, even though the Bible says, “By grace you have been saved through faith.; it is the gift of God, not of works” (Eph. 2:8-9). They feel that there is something more they must do, something they must add to God’s “recipe” for salvation. They think they must perform good works to gain God’s favor and earn eternal life. But the Bible is clear—we are saved, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy” (Titus 3:5).

Unlike the cake-mix manufacturer, God has not changed His “formula” to make salvation more marketable. The gospel we proclaim must be free of works, even though it may sound too easy. R.W.D.

Our Daily Bread, June 2, 1992

When Faith …

When faith in God goes, man, the thinker, loses his greatest thought.
When faith in God goes, man, the worker, loses his strongest help.

When faith in God goes, man, the sinner, loses his strongest help.
When faith in God goes, man, the sufferer, loses his securest refuge.

When faith in God goes, man, the lover, loses his fairest vision.
When faith in God goes, man, the mortal, loses his only hope.

Source unknown

Saddest Words

Several famous people were asked what they felt was the saddest word in the English language. Here’s what some of them said. Poet T.S. Eliot: “The saddest word in the English language is, of course, ‘saddest.’” Lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II: “But.” Writer John Dos Passos quoted John Keats: “Forlorn! the very word is like a bell.” Psychiatrist Karl Menninger: “Unloved.” Statesman Bernard M. Baruch: “Hopeless.” President Harry Truman quoted John Greenleaf Whittier: “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” Alexandra Tolstoi: “The saddest word in all languages, which has brought the world to its present condition, is ‘atheism.’”

Put all of these answers together and you have a faint picture of a soul without Christ. I think of that word which Keats used so dramatically—“forlorn.” It is the English form of the Dutch word verloren, which means “lost.” But the Word of God, through the apostle Paul, gives the ultimate description, “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12).

Source unknown

We Have Access!

The word “access” is found only 3 times in the N.T. (Rom. 5:1-2; Eph. 2:18, Eph. 3:12). These 3 passages teach us 4 things about access.

1. We have access into grace (Rom. 5:2) God’s throne is the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16).

2. We have access unto the Father (Eph. 2:18). Though He is sovereign, we can still approach Him as a child does a father (Luke 11:11-13, Rom. 8:15).

3. We have access through Jesus Christ (I Tim. 2:5). The blood gives us boldness (Heb. 10:19).

4. We have access by our faith (Rom. 5:2; Eph. 3:12). The essential ingredient is prayer (Heb. 10:22).

Walter L. Spratt, Galt, Missouri

Unclaimed Insurance

To most people, the great depression of the 30s has been forgotten in the wave of prosperity that followed. Out of those hard time, however, came a story which has a strange ending yet teaches us a powerful lesson.

When a timid old lady approached the first desk she saw in an Insurance Office in Minneapolis, she was asked what she wanted. With trembling hand, she took from her well-worn purse an old policy and explained regretfully that she was unable to meet the current premium. She explained that it was hard for her to get work and what little she did get was hardly enough to clothe, feed her and keep a roof over her head.

After quick investigation, the clerk recognized that the policy was very valuable. He warned the old lady that she was making an unwise move to stop payment. Did not her husband have anything to say? It was his policy made out to her benefit, he explained. “My husband? Oh, he has been dead for three years,” she remarked sadly.

Immediately the company officials went into action. They soon discovered that she was indeed telling the truth. What she didn’t understand was that the policy was her husband’s and that she was the beneficiary at his death. They were thus obligated to refund the overpaid premiums plus the full amount for which the husband had insured his life in her favor. The money was sufficient to keep her in comfort the rest of her life.

Listen: The greatest life insurance policy of all time became due when Jesus Christ died on the cross! Thousands of people continue trying to make payments on their own salvation while all they need to do is accept the immeasurable gift that is theirs through the death and resurrection of our Savior.

To become the beneficiary of God’s Life Insurance Policy, we need simply to acknowledge our need as sinners and thank Him for the gift of His only begotten Son who died on the Cross and rose again (II Cor. 9:15) that we might have God’s forgiveness.

Source unknown

We Have Access!

The word “access” is found only 3 times in the N.T. (Rom. 5:1-2; Eph. 2:18, Eph. 3:12). These 3 passages teach us 4 things about access.

1. We have access into grace (Rom. 5:2) God’s throne is the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16).

2. We have access unto the Father (Eph. 2:18). Though He is sovereign, we can still approach Him as a child does a father (Luke 11:11-13, Rom. 8:15).

3. We have access through Jesus Christ (I Tim. 2:5). The blood gives us boldness (Heb. 10:19).

4. We have access by our faith (Rom. 5:2; Eph. 3:12). The essential ingredient is prayer (Heb. 10:22).

Walter L. Spratt, Galt, Missouri

Ask …

Ask
All that we ask
Above all that we ask or think
Abundantly above all that we ask or think
Exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think
Able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

Source unknown

Needling Each Other

In his book Great Church Fights, Leslie B. Flynn tells how two porcupines in the freezing north country of Canada huddled together to keep warm. But because they were pricked by each other’s quills, they moved apart. Soon they were shivering again and had to lie side by side once more for their own survival. They needed each other, even though they needled each other!

Says Flynn, “How like Christians! Through the centuries the church, instead of majoring in communion, has often muddled in contention. Despite the halo of spirituality imagined over the apostolic church, the dust clouds of sharp collisions were equally visible. There was Paul’s dispute with Barnabas, the clashes of the cliques at Corinth, the contention of the women at Philippi, and sever other controversies.” Flynn goes on to show that even though there may be conflicts among Christians, they should not overshadow the greater spiritual warmth received from gathering with the family of God. Because of Jesus’ redemptive work, the Holy Spirit binds us together and gives us the help and strength we need.

The Rest of the Story, p. 96

Resource

• Loving Across Our Differences, by Gerald L. Sittser, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), pp. 62ff

Willing to do Little Things

A good many are kept out of the service of Christ, deprived of the luxury of working for God, because they are trying to do some great thing. Let us be willing to do little things. And let us remember that nothing is small in which God is the source.

D. L. Moody, quoted in The Berean Call, Bend, Oregon, March 1997

Too Much

The following letter, which speaks for itself, was circulated in a large congregation:

Dear Friend:

Our church membership … 1400
Nonresident members … 75
Balance left to do the work … 1325
Elderly who have done their share … 25
Balance left to do the work … 1300
Sick and shut-ins … 25
Balance left to do the work … 1275
Members who do not give … 350
Christmas and Easter members … 300
Balance left to do the work … 625
Members who are overworked … 300
Balance left to do the work … 325
Members with alibis … 200
Balance left to do the work … 125
Members too busy with other things … 123
Balance left to do the work … 2
Just you and me, friend, and you had better get busy, because it’s too much for me!

Source unknown

Clericalism an Impediment

Among the clergy, clericalism can impede body life. Clericalism is a conspiracy. It is a state of affairs in which the minister said, “You leave the spiritual ministry to me; that’s my job.” And the congregation says, “Yes, that’s absolutely right, and so we will.” Or the congregation may say to the minister, “We hired you to do the spiritual ministry. Get on with it.” and the minister says what he should never consent to say: “I accept that, and so I will!” For those who serve God as clergy and pastors, it is necessary to challenge that conspiracy and decline to be a party to it—to insist on the principal of every-member ministry.

We should aim at the state of affairs reflected by a letterhead I once received. It stated first the name of the church, second, “ministers: the congregation,” and third, “assistant to the ministers”: the name of the pastor! That is how it should be in every church.

Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, page for September 16

Measurable Qualities

A survey of hundreds of pastors has allowed us to compile a preliminary list of measurable quality factors in the life of a congregation in ranking order. The twelve factors are:

1. Bible knowledge. Church members are increasing in their grasp of the teachings of the Bible. They can integrate this with a theological system that enables them to apply the Bible’s teachings to their life situation.

2. Personal devotions. Members spend time daily in prayer, Bible reading, meditation, and other personal spiritual exercises.

3. Worship. Members regularly participate in the worship services scheduled by the church.

4. Witnessing. Members regularly attempt to share their faith in Jesus Christ with unbelievers.

5. Lay ministry. The lay people of the church are engaged in such ministries as teaching and discipling. In some cases this happens through consciously discovering, developing, and using their spiritual gifts.

6. Missions. The church actively supports missions, organizing and sustaining a strong program for recruiting, sending, and financing home and foreign missionaries.

7. Giving. Members give an appropriate portion of their income to the local church and/or to other Christian causes.

8. Fellowship. Members are growing in their personal relationships with each other through regular participation in church fellowship groups of one kind or another.

9. Distinctive life-style. Members generally manifest their faith in Christ by living a life-style clearly and noticeable distinct from that of non-Christians in the same community.

10. Attitude toward religion. Church members regard their involvement in the church primarily as a service to God rather than a means to fulfill personal needs.

11. Social service. Members are serving others outside the congregation. This includes direct personal involvement with the poor and needy, or in programs designed to help the needy.

12. Social justice. Either through the congregation as a whole or through specialized Christian agencies, members are striving to make changes in sociopolitical structures that will contribute to a more moral and just society.

Leading Your Church to Growth by C. Peter Wagner, Regal Books, 1984, pp. 25-27

Sportscasters

Imagine that we are TV sportscasters standing on the sidelines of a football game to give the play-by-play.

Scene #1: The team nearest us is standing together, heads bowed in prayer, with the coach in the center. Suddenly they give a great cheer, and the coach trots out onto the field by himself. The players go sit on the bench. “What’s going on?” we ask as we stick a microphone in front of a 250 pound guard. “What’s the coach doing out there?”

“Oh, he’s going to play today.”

“All by himself?”

“Sure, why not? He’s had a lot more experience and training than the rest of us. We’ve got a lot of rookies on this team, and we might make mistakes. Anyway, they pay the coach well. We’re all here to cheer and support him—and look at the huge crowd that’s come to watch him play!”

Bewildered, we watch as the opposing team kicks off. The coach catches the ball. He valiantly charges upfield, but is buried under eleven opposing tacklers. He’s carried off half-conscious.

You think that’s ridiculous? But isn’t it the picture many of us have of the church? The members expect the minister to do the preaching, praying, witnessing, and visiting because he’s paid to do the Lord’s work and he’s better trained. But listen to God’s Game Plan. According to Ephesians 4:11, 12, Christ has given the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers “to prepare God’s people for works of service.” God gives leaders to the church, not to do all the work, but to help all of God’s people to do it! Lay people are not there simply to pay pastors and evangelists to do the Lord’s work. Rather, pastors, evangelists, and teachers are to equip the so-called lay people to be ministers!

Your pastor is meant to be a kind of playing coach. His main function is to help you as a Christian discover your spiritual gifts, develop them, and use them to build up the Body of Christ.

Now look at Scene #2:

The team realizes they’ve all got to play, so they’re on the field in a huddle. They huddle and huddle and huddle. The referee calls a penalty for delaying the game and moves the ball back five yards. Still the team huddles, huddles, and huddles. The referee calls penalty after penalty, until finally the ball is moved all the way back to their own goal line.

“Hey coach!” shouts the quarterback to the sidelines. “This is the greatest huddle I’ve ever been in. What a group of guys! We have the best fellowship and some of these guys are amazing students of the play book. Some have memorized over a hundred plays and can analyze them precisely. We learn so much in this huddle!”

“But why don’t you get up on the line and play?”

“Why should we? What we want are bigger and better huddles! Besides, we might get hurt. No one ever got hurt in a huddle!” Your church and mine are in big trouble if they become a “holy huddle” a band of saints gathered Sunday after Sunday, singing, praising, enjoying each other—but never setting out on the line to apply what they learn. The church is supposed to be Christ’s body—his hands, his feet, his voice—by which he carries out his plans in the world. God intends that “through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known” (Eph. 3:10).

The church is to be God’s light in a dark, corrupt society. The Christian life was never meant to be lived only in church for a couple of hours on Sunday. It’s meant to be lived in the public arena—on the firing line at school, the office, and in the neighborhood, seven days a week. Of course, we need worship and training and fellowship with other Christians—a football team needs the huddle. But it’s what happens after the huddle that the game is all about.

Here’s scene #3: the team breaks out of the huddle. But instead of lining up against the opposing squad, they break into groups of two or three, arguing with each other. Soon they start shoving, and two of them actually get into a fight.

“What’s wrong now?” we ask as one of them walks off the field in disgust.

“That bunch of malcontents can’t agree on anything,” he says. “Those two over there are arguing over the color of the uniforms. A couple of others are quarreling over the right way to kneel in the huddle. Those two guys are arguing because one believes in what he calls ‘personal’ football, and the other believes in ‘social’ football. They can’t agree whether the individual or the team is more important. Some of the white players say the blacks should go play on their own field, and some of the black guys don’t like the band music. A couple are fighting over whether women should be allowed to play. And I’m quitting because I can pass a lot better than that other guy, and they won’t let me be the quarterback.”

The Game Plan says that Christ “is our peace. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two [Jew and Gentile], thus making peace to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Eph. 2:14-16). Christians talk a lot about the peace of Christ. Can the world see that peace in our church relationships'

Within the Body of Christ there is plenty of room for diversity of gifts, but underlying that diversity is unity. “Be completely humble and gentle,” writes Paul, “Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all.” (Eph. 4:2-6). Isn’t it time to show our oneness in truth and love to a watching world'

So the first half ends. The team drags off to the locker room defeated, demoralized, beaten. But when the second half begins, we see a different team. Suddenly they’re playing together with a new spirit. They huddle, slap each other on the back, and take the line. They’re off the ball with split-second timing, there is no hesitation, they know where they’re going. Each player carries out his assignment, and soon they score a touchdown, then another, and another. When the game ends, they’ve won! Afterwards in the locker room the players are exhausted, cut and bruised, but happy.

“What happened at halftime to change this team?” we ask, the coach.

“We were sitting here beaten,” he says, “and suddenly a kind of presence seemed to come over us. I started talking to the players, pointing out my mistakes, and theirs, and they started talking. Everyone was honest. Nobody blamed the others. We took a good look at ourselves. Then someone recalled that the Great Coach, the one who invented the game, also wrote the Master Game Plan. Wouldn’t it make sense to see what he said?

“We remembered how he literally gave himself to get the game started and to teach that first team everything he knew. So we got out the original Game Plan and read about basics such as each player knowing his place and dedicating himself to it, about pulling together, being willing to sacrifice, knowing the aim of the game, and using the proper equipment he designed. Well, we were quiet. It felt as if the Great Coach was with us, as if somehow his Spirit got inside us. Suddenly, we were up! Motivated! Ready to go! We can’t take the credit. It goes to Him!”

Source unknown

Misplaced Comma

We have been operating on “the fallacy of the misplaced comma” in the fourth chapter of Ephesians! Most of the older versions and some newer ones translate Ephesians 4:11-12 in this sense: “And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ” Actually, there should be no comma between these first two phrases. Even a different preposition is used. In “for the equipment of the saints” it is pros, while in “for the work of the ministry” it is eis—or, as it would be better to say, “unto the work of ministry.”

A more accurate translation, then, runs: “And these were his gifts: some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip God’s people for work in his service.” Or as Phillips correctly paraphrases, “His gifts were made that Christians might be properly equipped for their service.”

The error is a small one in grammar, but a great one in practical consequences. For it now appears that the clergy’s main task is not to do the work of the Church, but to equip God’s people to do this work. The clergyman still has a particular ministry—evangelizing or shepherding or teaching. But this is a means to fulfill his main business: preparing Christians to serve.

In terms of evangelism, the old pattern will not do. It is not enough for the layman to pay the preacher to win souls, or even help him to do so. The pattern is that the minister helps the layman to evangelize. He conceives his main task as that of training the Christian mechanic how to witness in the garage; as showing the Christian student how to have a relevant testimony in the classroom; as inspiring the Christian housewife to be a godly influence in her neighborhood. As a coach, he learns the talents of each player and fits him in the best spot, so that the whole church becomes an effective witnessing team.”

Good News is for Sharing, Leighton Ford, 1977, David C. Cook Publishing Co., p. 79

Resource

• Leighton Ford, Good News is for Sharing, pp. 67ff
• The Strong Family, Bible Study Guide by C. Swindoll, p. 153

Equipping

1. Equipping is the responsibility of the teacher.

2. Equipping occurs best when the teacher assumes the biblical role.

3. Equipping should impact both character and conduct.

4. Equipping should focus more intensely on the most committed.

5. Equipping requires knowledge, skill, and long-term commitment.

6. Equipping has as its ultimate goal independent equippers.

Seven Laws of the Learner, B. Wilkinson, ch. 6

Sitting in the Stands

A well-known coach was once asked, “How much does college football contribute to the national physical-fitness picture?”

“Nothing,” the coach replied abruptly.

“Why not?” the startled interviewer asked.

“Well,” said the coach, “the way I see it, you have 22 men down on the field desperately needing a rest and 40,000 people in the stands, desperately needing some exercise.”

A similar situation exists in many churches today. When you compare the members who actively participate, you often find a rather pathetic situation. It’s not unusual to have a small group of diligent Christian workers struggling “down on the field” while others in the congregation are acting like spectators, “sitting on the sidelines, eating hot dogs and popcorn.”

God’s strategy for the accomplishment of His program is not like a sports event. It does not call for the job to be done only by the “professionals.” In the game of life, all believers have their own positions and spiritual gifts that they must exercise “for the profit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7).

My friend, if you’ve been sitting in the stands, you’re badly needed down on the field! - MRD II

CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE ON THE FRONTLINES, NOT THE SIDELINES.

God calls into action today
All those who are children of light;
Whatever our hand finds to do,
Let’s do it with all of our might. - Hess

Our Daily Bread, Sept.-Nov. 1997, page for September 21

Speaking the Truth

In a Moody Monthly article entitled, “To Be Perfectly Honest,” Calvin Miller recalls a woman in his former church who became angry because he wouldn’t let her son sing more solos in church. She jotted down in a notebook every instance in her contact with Miller in which he did things “that were not in the spirit of Christ.” Several months later she showed him all he had done that was offensive to her. Miller says, “What amazed me was that her list was mostly true. She didn’t say anything that was untrue, but what she said was unkind.”

Speaking the truth without love can serve the cause of evil, whether preaching or teaching God’s Word, rebuking a believer, or disciplining our children. Truth can be devastating. When clothed in love, however, it eliminates error, builds trust, and promotes the good of others. Calvin Miller states, “Malicious truth gloats like a conqueror. Loving truth mourns that it must confront and show a brother his error. Malicious truth struts at its power. Loving truth weeps to find that the correction it inspires may for a while cause great pain. Malicious truth cries ‘Checkmate, you are beaten!’ Loving truth whispers, ‘I correct you with the same pain you feel. But when the pain is over, we shall rejoice that honesty and love have been served.’”

Calvin Miller in Moody Monthly

Take the Trouble

An agnostic scientist once asked author Dorothy Sayers to write a letter to his scientific organization setting forth her reasons for believing in the Christian faith. The letter he received back was not at all what the scientist had expected. It read:

“Why do you want a letter from me? Why don’t you take the trouble to find out for yourselves what Christianity is? You take time to learn technical terms about electricity. Why don’t you do as much for theology? Why do you accept mildewed old heresies as the language of the church, when any handbook of church history will tell you where they came from? Why do you balk at the doctrine of the Trinity—God, the Three in One—yet meekly acquiesce when Einstein tells you that E=MC2? I admit you can practice Christianity without knowing much theology, just as you can drive a car without knowing much about internal combustion. But when something breaks down in the car, you humbly go to the man who understands the works; if something goes wrong with religion, you merely throw the works away and tell the theologian he is a liar. Why do you want a letter from me? You will never bother to check on it or find out whether I’m giving you personal opinions or Christian doctrines. Go away and do some work on your own and let me get on with mine.”

From God Still Speaks in the Space Age, quoted in Connections, a publication of Search Ministries, Vol. 1, no. 6, June 1988, pp. 19-20.)

Resources

• Orgizesthe in Ephesians 4:26: Command or condition? Dan Wallace, The Best In Theology, v.4, p. 57ff
• C. Swindoll, Questions Christians Ask, p. 92; You and Your Problems

Two Brothers

The story is told about a little boy who got into a fight with his older brother one morning. Somewhat outmatched, he took quite a beating. It was his pride, however, that suffered the most. The whole experience left him feeling bitter. In fact, he refused to talk to his brother all day. Bedtime came, and their mother, very much wanting to see the two make up, said to the younger, “Don’t you think you should forgive your brother before you go to sleep? Remember, the Bible says, ‘Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.’“ The youngster looked perplexed. He thought for a few moments and then blurted out, “But, Mommy, how can I keep the sun from going down?” The boy’s question revealed that he had no intention of getting rid of his grudge.

Source unknown

The Kite

When a suspension bridge over the Niagara was first proposed, the question arose of how to get the first cable across. With a favoring wind, a kite was sent aloft. When it landed on the far shore, a cord was attached to its tiny line. The cord was drawn over, followed by a rope in the same way. A larger rope followed, then a small cable, then the iron cable which would support the bridge. Through the small beginning of a seemingly insignificant kite string, the builders overcame a major obstacle.

Today in the Word, May, 1989

The Door

It is startling to think that Satan can actually come into the heart of a man in such close touch with Jesus as Judas was. And more—he is cunningly trying to do it today. Yet he can get in only through a door opened from inside. Every man controls the door of his own life. Satan can’t get in without our help.

S. D. Gordon in The Bent-Knee Time

On a recent trip to Haiti, I heard a Haitian pastor illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ. His parable:

A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.

After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

The Haitian pastor’s conclusion:

“If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation.”

Dale A. Hays

A Little Grudge

A little grudge can create a huge gap in human relationships. The Philippines Daily Express reported on a couple in England who had lived together as “silent partners” for 12 years. The wife was finally seeking a divorce. “For 12 extraordinary years they had lived their lives so that they wouldn’t have to meet each other,” said lawyer Simon King, who was handling the case. “When one would come into the house, the other would leave. And when they did communicate with each other, it was with notes.” They had lived happily together for the first 18 years of their marriage and had raised a son. For the last 12 years, however, they didn’t speak to each other. Ironically, neither one could remember what the hassle had been all about.

Our Daily Bread

Abraham Lincoln

Despite his busy schedule during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln often visited the hospitals to cheer the wounded. On one occasion he saw a young fellow who was near death. “Is there anything I can do for you?” asked the compassionate President. “Please write a letter to my mother,” came the reply. Unrecognized by the soldier, the Chief Executive sat down and wrote as the youth told him what to say. The letter read, “My Dearest Mother, I was badly hurt while doing my duty, and I won’t recover. Don’t sorrow too much for me. May God bless you and Father. Kiss Mary and John for me.” The young man was too weak to go on, so Lincoln signed the letter for him and then added this postscript: “Written for your son by Abraham Lincoln.” Asking to see the note, the soldier was astonished to discover who had shown him such kindness. “Are you really our President?” he asked. “Yes,” was the quiet answer. “Now, is there anything else I can do?” The lad feebly replied, “Will you please hold my hand? I think it would help to see me through to the end.” The tall, gaunt man granted his request, offering warm words of encouragement until death stole in with the dawn.

Heir to a Fortune

In the early church, when a man gave his life to Jesus Christ as Savior, he often had to leave his job because it conflicted with his profession of faith. William Barclay points out that some years ago, the same thing happened to F. W. Charrington, the heir to a fortune made by brewing.

Barclay writes, “Charrington was passing a tavern one night. There was a woman waiting at the door. A man, obviously her husband, came out, and she was trying to keep him from going back in. With one blow of his fist, the man felled her.

“Charrington started forward and then he looked up; the name above the tavern was his own. Charrington said, ‘With that one blow that man did not only knock his wife out, he also knocked me clean out of that business forever.’”

Charrington gave up the fortune he might have had, rather than touch money earned in such a way.

Morning Glory, July 26, 1993

Enslaved

The story is told that a friend of Augustine named Alypius was often urged by his neighbors to watch the gladiators in combat. He refused to do so because he abhorred the brutality of those barbaric contests. One day, however, he was forced into the amphitheater against his will. Determined not to witness the gory spectacle, Alypius kept his eyes tightly closed. But a piercing cry aroused his curiosity so much that he peeked just as one of the fighters received a fatal wound.

J. N. Norton says of the incident, “No sooner had Alypius discovered the bloody stream issuing from the victim’s side, than his finer sensibilities were blunted, and he joined in the shouts and exclamations of the noisy mob about him. From that moment he was a changed man—changed for the worse; not only attending such sports himself, but urging others to do likewise.” Even though Alypius had entered the arena against his will, his exposure to evil and eventual addiction suggests what can happen to the best of people when they get one small taste of lustful pleasures. Their appetite is whetted. They develop a liking for what they once abhorred. And without realizing it they become enslaved.

Source unknown

Resource

• “Evangelical Preaching,” Charles Simeon, p. 127

Lost Opportunity

“Seize each opportunity to do righteous deeds, because the pull of the times is downward towards moral debauchery.” In 1979, while in seminary in Texas, I was painting for some men who invested in older apartment buildings and renovated them. One of them commented that Texas Instruments was about to unveil a new personal computer, and that if I had any extra cash, I should invest—their stock was certain to go up. I didn’t have extra money, but watched the stock reports, and sure enough, within a year T.I. stock had climbed substantially. But I’d lost the opportunity!

John Underhill, Spokane, WA

We Missed Him

We missed him. Our chance to change things came and passed and we did not know it was there. A dark-skinned little boy sat through Sunday School classes for three years at a great Baptist Church (First Church, San Antonio) but someone missed him. His name was Sirhan Sirhan, and at age 24 he shot and killed Senator Robert Kennedy. In a welter of words and the shudder of grief throughout our nation, the persistent thought keeps recurring—someone missed him.

Dr. Jimmy Allen, former pastor of First Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas in Pulpit Helps, May, 1991

School Discipline Problems in 1940

Our youth are in desperate trouble today. The top seven school discipline problems in 1940 were: talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, getting out of turn in line, wearing improper clothing and not putting paper in the trash can.

Today, the same questions were posed and these were the answers: drug abuse, alcohol, teen pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery and assault.

California Department of Education, in Sept, 1987, quoted in Homemade.

Kingdom Opportunities

The idea here is not clock time but what one writer calls “kingdom opportunities,” those openings for ministry that often come at inconvenient times; a friend who wants to talk, a child with a problem, the chance to lend a hand to someone in need.

Paul is encouraging us to keep our lives uncluttered so that we can respond when the need arises—because kingdom opportunities can get squeezed out of an overly tight schedule.

Today in the Word, September, 1989, p. 36

Resource

• Swindoll, The Quest for Character, Multnomah, p. 205

Resources

• The Fight, J. White, IVP, pp. 197ff
• Counter Attack, Jay Carty, Multnomah Press, 1988, pp. 192ff
• Difficult Passages in the Epistles, R. Stein, Baker, 1988, p. 46

Resource

• Loving Across Our Differences, by Gerald L. Sittser, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), pp. 45ff

Resources

• The Hidden Value of a Man, Smalley, Trent, pp. 43ff
• The Fight, J. White, IVP, pp. 124ff

Headship in a Nutshell

If I could define headship in a nutshell, I would put it this way: biblical headship for a husband is giving the best of all that he is to those under his care and authority. I would define submission in a complimentary manner: biblical submission for a wife is giving the best of all that she is to the one that is in authority over her. Several hundred years ago, Martin Luther described it this way: “Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.

Steve Farrar, Point Man, p. 173

Men and Houswork

The more housework a woman sees her husband do, the less likely she is to think of divorcing him. That’s the conclusion of researchers Joan Huber and Glenna Spitze, who note that each one of the following tasks performed by a husband at least half the time lowers the chances that his wife is thinking about divorce by 3 percent:

• Meal preparation
• Food shopping
• Childcare
• Daily housework
• Meal Cleanup

Source: Robert Bellah, in The Good Society, Signs of the Times, February, 1994

Resources

• “Submission” has the sense of voluntary yielding in love (BAG, p. 855).
• The Grace Awakening, C. Swindoll, Word, 1990, pp. 244ff
• Between Two Truths, Klyne Snodgrass, Zondervan, 1990, p. 90

Mr. Choate

Joseph H. Choate was a thorough gentleman as well as a distinguished lawyer in this country some years back. He had a quick wit which made him good copy for journalists. Someone once asked him, “Mr. Choate, if you were not yourself, who would you most like to be?”

Without a second’s hesitation Choate replied, “Mrs. Choate’s second husband.”

Bits & Pieces, May 27, 1993, p. 23

Mr. Thatcher

Denis Thatcher, the husband of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, is remembered for his good-humored answer to a question from a reporter probing for some sign of jealousy or discord owing to Mrs. Thatcher’s post. As the Thatchers were moving into the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street in London, the reporter queried Mr. Thatcher, “Who wears the pants in this house?”

“I do,” he answered, “and I also wash and iron them.”

Today in the Word, March 20, 1993

Resource

• The Strong Family, Bible Study Guide by C. Swindoll, p. 63

Resource

• Tell it to the Church, Lynn Buzzard, p. 7

Resource

• The Moral Catastrophe, David Hocking, Harvest House, 1990, p. 91

Constitutional Privilege

Like every other president, William Howard Taft had to endure his share of abuse. One night at the dinner table, his youngest boy made a disrespectful remark to him. There was a sudden hush. Taft looked thoughtful.

“Well,” said Mrs. Taft, “aren’t you going to punish him?”

“If the remark was addressed to me as his father, he certainly will be punished,” said Taft. “However, if he addressed it to the President of the United States, that is his constitutional privilege.”

Bits & Pieces, May 27, 1993, p. 20

Role of the husband.

The father is the parent responsible for setting the pattern for the child’s obedience in the family. Any discipling the mother does is an extension of the father’s authority in the home. The husband and father must take leadership in this area of the family, and the wife and mother must be in submission. The father’s responsibility is set forth in two ways: first, what the father is not to do—”do not provoke your children to wrath.” He is not to over-discipline them or reign in terror, with the result that the child can only react in a blind outbreak or rage. Second, what the father is to do—”but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” To “bring them up” involves three ideas:

1. It is a continuous job. As long as the child is a dependent, the father is to be responsible for providing for the child so that he becomes what God wants him to be.

2. It is a loving job. To “bring up” means literally to nourish tenderly; children should be objects of tender, loving care.

3. It is a twofold job involving nurture (lit., child- training)—all that a child needs for his development physically, mentally, and spiritually, and admonition (lit., corrective discipline) of the Lord.

The father is God’s constituted home authority who is to discipline the child when he does not obey as God intends. The father who does not discipline his children is a father who is undisciplined himself and disobedient to God’s will. A child’s disobedience is not to be tolerated.

See Ex 21:15-17; Deut. 21:18-21; Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13,14; 29:15-17 New King James Version Notes, Thomas Nelson, p. 1200

Parental Balance

Every conscientious parent recognizes how difficult it is to exercise his God-given authority over his children. The delicate balance of being tough yet tender is not easy to maintain. Many parents intensify a rebellious spirit by being dictatorial and harsh. Others yield when their authority is tested. When a strong-willed child resists, the pressure to give in for the sake of peace and harmony can become overpowering. I am reminded of the mother who wanted to have the last word but couldn’t handle the hassle that resulted whenever she said no to her young son. After an especially trying day, she finally flung up her hands and shouted, “All right, Billy, do whatever you want! Now let me see you disobey THAT!”

Our Daily Bread, August 7

Parenting

How to provoke: favoritism, comparison, unrealistic standards, over-indulging, rescuing, discouragement, lack of rewards, unfulfilled promises, treating them like boarders rather than children, not admitting mistakes, ridiculing, neglect, abusive words, sarcasm, physical abuse.

Nurture: positive teaching which is enforced.

Admonition: warning of the dire consequences if the path is not changed.

Source unknown

Resource

• Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. - Zig Ziglar

On Being a Good Employee

1. Be loyal. Bosses will forgive carelessness, stupidity, tardiness and the occasional temper tantrum. These can be corrected, but disloyalty is a true character flaw. You cannot—and will not—be trusted.

2. Keep the boss informed. The boss should be informed about what you are doing, where you are, whom you are talking to and why. If you must err, err on the side of overkill. Bombard the boss with bulletins, memos, and FYI’s until he or she says, “Stop.” No one had ever lost a job because they told the boss too much.

3. Embrace change, even if you do not understand it. Any boss must, as part of his or her job, instigate change. It is not your job to resist.

4. Respect the boss’s time. If you need thirty minutes with him, don’t take sixty. Better yet, take twenty.

5. Don’t tread on his turf. At least, don’t do it without permission.

6. Follow up quickly. Bosses don’t pull out a stopwatch when they give a command. But their internal clock is ticking.

Bits & Pieces, May 27, 1993, pp. 2-3

The Supervisor

A retired friend became interested in the construction of an addition to a shopping mall. Observing the activity regularly, he was especially impressed by the conscientious operator of a large piece of equipment. The day finally came when my friend had a chance to tell this man how much he’d enjoyed watching his scrupulous work. Looking astonished, the operator replied, “You’re not the supervisor?”

Howard A. Stein in Reader’s Digest

Average Working Hours

Employees, on an average, spend 34% of their paid time not working.

Homemade, September, 1985, quoting U.S. News

Resource

• C. Swindoll, Growing Strong, p. 58

Good Salesman

They used to tell this story around the 20th Century-Fox offices in New York. The company had advertised for a salesperson and got this reply from an applicant:

“I am at present selling furniture at the address below. You may judge my sales ability if you will stop in to see me at any time, pretending that you are interested in buying furniture.

“When you come in you can identify me by my red hair. And I will have no way of identifying you. Such salesmanship as I exhibit during your visit, therefore, will be no more than my usual workday approach, and not a special effort to impress a prospective employer.”

Despite hundreds of other applicants, the redheaded furniture salesperson got the job.

Bits & Pieces, March 3, 1994, pp. 8-9

His Best Effort

In her book Today’s Good Word, Ethel B. Sutton told the story of a young British soldier who was blinded in battle. He was a trained musician, so after he recovered from his injury he spent much of his time playing the piano for the wounded who had been sent to a London hospital. He sometimes wondered if anyone was paying attention to his music, for he often heard the tramping of feet through the corridors as visitors came and went. But he never let this distract him. He always put his best effort into his playing, hoping his music would encourage and comfort those who were depressed by their painful injuries.

One day when he paused to rest, he heard somebody nearby heartily clapping his hands. Turning his sightless eyes in that direction, he asked with a smile, “Who are you?” “I am your King!” was the reply. The British monarch was visiting the wounded to cheer them and strengthen their morale. Without realizing it, the young man had been using his talent to entertain royalty.

Our Daily Bread

The Valley of the Shadow of Death

My soul is sad, and much dismay’d;
See, Lord, what legions of my foes,
With fierce Apollyon at their head,
My heavenly pilgrimage oppose!

See, from the ever-burning lake,
How like a smoky cloud they rise!
With horrid blasts my soul they shake,
With storms of blasphemies and lies.

Their fiery arrows reach the mark,
My throbbing heart with anguish tear;
Each lights upon a kindled spark,
And finds abundant fuel there.

I hate the thought that wrongs the Lord;
Oh! I would drive it from my breast,
With Thy own sharp two-edged sword,
Far as the east is from the west.

Come, then, and chase the cruel host,
Heal the deep wounds I have received!
Nor let the power of darkness boast,
That I am foil’d, and Thou are grieved!

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

My Witnesses

Ye are My Witnesses through earth’s battle field, a holy war to wage.
Think not you’ll stand the onslaught of the foe as on ye go.
No human power avails when devils clash their arms
And fiery serpents hiss their wicked lies.

‘Tis well ye are aware of Satan’s powers, but list
Into the clashing tremor of the foe I let you go.
Not for one moment must ye trust your own, nor yet bemoan
That Satan seems to triumph.

Onward press, the fight will grow no less.
Into the battle with you I will go. The foe I know.
And every conquest I have won, e’re yet it has begun.
Ye fight not toward the place of victory ground

But in Me it already can be found.
I am thy Master Captain.
Raise faith’s shield
And see the hosts of Satan vanquished yield.

Frances V. Bailey, Source unknown

Union Carbide Accident

Doubled over and choking, they staggered to hospitals by the thousands, crying for help and refuge from a colorless cloud of gas that turned Bhopal, India into a tomb on a terrible December day in 1984.

“We have been working nonstop to treat people and still they are coming,” said one volunteer who tried to help doctors and nurses cope with streams of injured at five jammed hospitals. Several thousand died in the accident at the Union Carbide plant, many never fully aware of what hit them.

Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 13

Resource

• Satan is No Myth, J. O. Sanders, Moody, 1975, pp. 91ff

Equipped Christians

Christendom must have people who can beat down their adversaries and opponents and tear off the devil’s equipment and armor, that he may be brought into disgrace. But for this work, powerful warriors are needed, who are thoroughly familiar with the Scriptures and can contradict all false interpretations and take the sword from false teachers—that is, those very verses which false teachers use and turn them round upon them so that they fall back defeated.

But as not all Christians can be so capable in defending the Word and articles of their creed, they must have teachers and preachers who study the Scriptures and have daily fellowship with it, so that they can fight for all the others. Yet each Christian should be so armed that he himself is sure of his belief and of the doctrine and is so equipped with the sayings from the Word of God that he can stand up against the devil and defend himself, when men seek to lead him astray.

Martin Luther, from a sermon preached in 1531, quoted in Sanctity of Life, C. Swindoll, Word, 1990, pp. 101-102.

Resource

• The Satan Syndrome, Nigel Wright, Zondervan, 1990, pp. 142ff

Alaska Bull Moose

Recently NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ran an article about the Alaskan bull moose. The males of the species battle for dominance during the fall breeding season, literally going head-to-head with antlers crunching together as they collide. Often the antlers, their only weapon are broken. That ensures defeat. The heftiest moose, with the largest and strongest antlers, triumphs. Therefore, the battle fought in the fall is really won during the summer, when the moose eat continually. The one that consumes the best diet for growing antlers and gaining weight will be the heavyweight in the fight. Those that eat inadequately sport weaker antlers and less bulk.

There is a lesson here for us. Spiritual battles await. Satan will choose a season to attack. Will we be victorious, or will we fall? Much depends on what we do now—before the wars begin. The bull-moose principle: Enduring faith, strength, and wisdom for trials are best developed before they’re needed.

Craig Brian Larson

Resource

• Neil Anderson, The Bondage Breaker, pp. 79ff

Collision

In his book, A Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football, Paul Zimmerman quotes a physicist who made a rather startling discovery. When a 240 pound football lineman (capable of running 100 yards in 11 seconds) collides with a 240 pound running back (capable of covering the same distance in 10 seconds), the resultant kinetic energy is “enough to move 66,000 pounds—or 33 tons—one inch. The scientist says further that in all likelihood, the collision would deliver to the player’s helmet a blow nearly 1000 times the force of gravity.

Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 26

Ambassador’s Responsibilities

Paul considered himself Christ’s ambassador. What is an ambassador? He is an authorized representative of a sovereign. He speaks not in his own name but on behalf of the ruler whose deputy he is, and his whole duty and responsibility is to interpret that ruler’s mind faithfully to those to whom he is sent.

Paul used this “ambassador” image twice—both in connection with his evangelistic work. Pray for me, he wrote from prison, “that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph. 6:18-20). He wrote also that God “gave us the ministry of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:18-20).

Paul called himself an ambassador because he knew that when he proclaimed the gospel facts and promises and urged sinners to receive the reconciliation effected at Calvary, he was declaring Christ’s message to the world. The figure of ambassadorship highlights the authority Paul had, as representing his Lord, as long as he remained faithful to the terms of his commission and said neither less nor more than he had been given to say.

Your Father Loves You by James Packer, (Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986), page for July 24

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints? (Ephesians 6:18).

We are in a state of spiritual warfare. This is made clear in a remarkable passage (vv. 10-18) on the spiritual armor of the believer, equipping him for the great battles he must fight.

A glimpse of this warfare also can be seen in Daniel 10. When Daniel prayer, God sent the answer immediately, but it was twenty-one days before the angel conveying the answer got to Daniel. The answer was hindered by the "prince of the kingdom of Persia? (Daniel 10:13), even though Daniel, himself, was situated in Persia. The implication is that key emissaries of Satan (not flesh and blood) (Ephesians 6:12) rule over each geographic area of the world. Not one inch of progress will be uncontested by Satan and his cohorts.

Paul warns of the "wiles? (v. 11) of Satan, which mean stratagems or specific plans directed toward each of us. In other words, Satan tailors his attacks to fit each person.

The hierarchy within the Satanic organization is mentioned as well (v. 12). Remember that we are also fighting a countless host of demons and fallen angels who are now in league with Satan.

Since we are in a very real war, we need to be dressed in full armor. In this passage, the only unprotected part is the back. This surely implies that we must not turn and run.

We must also note where the battle is being fought. This information is given in verse 18. The first activity mentioned once we have donned the armor is PRAYER. The place and time of prayer will be focal point of the battle.

However, we can go into battle knowing that we are not alone (v. 18 tells us the Spirit is there). Satan is already defeated. Remember, "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world? (I John 4:4). JGH

Days of Praise, (ICR, El Cajon, CA; December, January, February, 1998), page for January 30

Eph 4:15

From: Ed Silvoso, Prayer Evangelism

"Speaking the truth without love is like kissing someone with bad breath."