I AM the Bread of Life

This morning I’ll talk with you about Jesus being “the bread of life” in John 6.  I want to share a story with you first so that you can understand the background why Jesus said what he did to the Jews.  You will see the true heart of the people of Israel and how they compare to the heart of the Jews in John 6.  Hang in there because it will all connect in the end.  

The people of Israel just went through a very traumatic event.  In front of them was death.  They couldn’t move forward because the waters would have engulfed them.  They couldn’t turn back because death was following them.  The Egyptian army was bent on snuffing the light of every single person.  They couldn’t turn to the left or right because the steep mountainsides entrapped them.  They had their children with them.  I can withstand a tremendous amount of suffering, but to see my children suffer, and even face death, is something I wouldn’t be able to bear.  After being freed from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites traveled a grueling 60 or 70 miles to get to the Red Sea.  That’s when they faced all those dangers.  Then, God did the miraculous.  He parted the Red Sea.  They didn’t just read or hear about God intervening.  They saw and experienced it themselves.  It was a miracle that would show to even the hardest of hearts that God was real and that he could provide anything they would need to survive the journey.   

Tired, hungry, and thirsty they finally made their way across.  There was a little hint of faith because they trusted in what God had done for them by parting the Red Sea.  Really, they didn’t have any choice unless they wanted to figure out how to save themselves and die in the process.  When they were under tremendous pressure of impending death they had to trust him.  We go through that in our own lives.  We come to a place where there is no way out.  In a moment of dire need we trust him.  There seems to be some hint of faith.  We believe there’s a God and that he might be able to help us with our money situation.  But we won’t bow down to worship him.  We only relied on him when there was no other choice.  

God did something very interesting that revealed the bitterness that was in the heart of his people.  Their thirst had compounded as they had to travel an additional three days to find water.  Then they found it.  I imagine that even from a distance they could feel the cool water going down their scratchy, dry throats.  I don’t know who was the first to taste it, but they had to spit it out immediately.  It was horribly bitter.  So, as they looked into the bitter waters they saw a reflection of themselves.  Their own bitterness was staring back at them.  The place was called Marah.  The name in Hebrew means bitterness.  You would think it would cause them to call out to God for help.  After all, he did clearly show them that he could provide what they needed.  Instead, they complained saying, “What shall we drink?” (Ex. 15:24).  It was Moses who cried out to the Lord.  The LORD showed him a log and Moses threw it into the water.  God turned the bitter waters into that which was sweet.  God will often allow hard times to enter our lives to reveal what is really inside.  As my family has gone through hard times he’s done the same for me.  I’ve realized my own selfishness.  

They traveled further to the wilderness of Sin.  Just by the name it sounds like a place you don’t want to go.  By now you would think they learned their lesson.  They could have sat down and given thanks to God for getting them this far and give thanks for how he rescued them from slavery.  They had seen ten incomprehensible plagues. Obviously, God had revealed his eternal power and divine nature in this process of rescue.  But what actually happened?  In Exodus 16:2 it says, “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.”  Paul talks about this kind of person in Romans 1:20-23: 

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. – Rom. 1:20-23 

In Exodus 31 and 32, when God was inscribing the Tablet of the Testimony and giving it to Moses what were the people of Israel doing?  They were making an idol.  This is one of the ways of the godless nations around Israel.  What did the idol look like?  It was a calf, a calf made out of gold.  The apostle Paul addressed this kind of people.  He said that certain people made images to look like “mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”  Now, I know that not everyone was doing this.  I think God was dealing with the nation collectively.  For example, Moses wasn’t worshipping the calf.  He was doing the things that God had told him.  In Romans 1:24, Paul goes on to talk about how God dealt with those people, 

Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts… – Rom. 1:24 

How did God respond to the people of Israel in their travels through the wilderness?  In Acts 7, Stephen was preaching to the Sanhedrin.  He’s giving a brief history of their fathers.  He said, 

“But our fathers refused to obey him.  Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.  They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us.  As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’  That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf.  They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made.  But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies…” – Acts 7:39-42)    

Let me go back to our story in Exodus.  In Chapter 16, they had grumbled about their hunger.  

The Israelites told Moses and Aaron, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt!  There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”  Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you.  The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day…” – Ex. 16:3-4  

God was gracious to give them meat in the evening and bread in the morning.  His number one desire was for them to know “I am the LORD your God.” (Ex. 16:12)  He wanted them to know that he desired relationship with them.  He would provide what the Israelites needed each day.  Instead of trusting him they started hoarding the meat and the bread.  They disregarded how he commanded them to collect the meat and bread.  Above that, they were rejecting him.

This is the backdrop of our story today in John 6.  Have you ever sat down to watch a movie that had already been playing for 20 or 30 minutes?  You feel lost.  Certain things seem confusing.  Some people get confused by this story like I was at one time.  They try to interpret this story without using the context of the history of Israel.  It has led many churches to have some very strange teachings about what Jesus meant when he said that he was the “bread of life.”  Now that you know the context, let’s look at a passage from John 6. 

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” – John 6:25-27

Jesus was talking to the crowd.  He wasn’t talking just to his disciples or even just to the twelve apostles.  The people of Israel wandered through the desert.  They followed where God was leading.  But collectively they had no desire to have fellowship with him.  They just wanted some food.  In the same way, there were people that were following Jesus because he was filling their stomachs.

Continuing with the passage:

 

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” – John 6:28-31

Throughout Israel’s journey through the wilderness, God wanted them to trust him.  He wanted to provide for them.  He wanted fellowship with them.  He performed miracles showing that he could be all that they needed.  He would do the work.  What did they need to do in order to be free from slavery in Egypt?  He told them to put the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their homes.  Then the angel of death would pass over them.  He killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt, those whose homes didn’t have the blood on the doorposts.  He would do this.  They wouldn’t have to rescue themselves.  The work they needed to was to believe him…to take him at his word.  God was the one who parted the Red Sea.  He did the work for them.  They only needed to believe him.  He said to cross and they crossed.  They didn’t have to do any work to make bread or capture meat.  He did the work for them.  Jesus was telling the crowd to do the same…to believe him.

Continuing with John 6:

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” – John 6:32-33 

In the desert, the Israelites had very few options for food.  If they went much further they would have starved to death.  They would have been without life.  Without Jesus, the Bread of Life, we are without spiritual life.  

“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” – John 6:34-40

They don’t really understand who he is.  They don’t call him “Lord.”  They call him “sir.”  It sounds respectful but still way far short of who he really was.  This is where he dropped the bomb on them.  He said, “I am the bread of life.”  The people of Israel experienced all the miracles and yet they didn’t believe.  Their hearts were hard.  He, like the manna, or bread, came down from heaven.  He was the heavenly gift.  Jehovah had provided salvation through only one way, through Jesus.  The Jews knew about the resurrection of the dead.  This doctrine didn’t begin in the New Testament.  

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” – John 6:41-51

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. – John 6:52-59

Jesus didn’t just come to those who would accept him.  He came to those who would hate him, reject him, and talk evil of him.  Just like the manna was laid down on the earth, so Jesus laid down his life as well.  The crowd knew what story he was referring to when he was talking about the manna.  They knew what kind of people the Israelites were as they wandered throughout the desert.  They knew he was saying that a rejection of him would be the same as the Israelites who had rejected God in the wilderness.  That’s one reason why they started grumbling.  

This is the kind of people God was dealing with in the desert.  In Hebrews 3 and 4, the author gives us a more detailed picture of the specific group of Israelites that he rescued from slavery and wandered through the desert for 40 years.  He said that their hearts were hard and that they provoked him.  They tested him even though they had seen his works for forty years.  It actually says that he loathed that generation.  They went astray and didn’t know his ways.  He swore in his wrath that they would not enter his rest.  In the Old Testament, rest is often equated with salvation.  He warned them not to come short of entering his rest (salvation).  He said that they never united his word with faith.  

When Jesus talked with the crowd about the manna, like I said earlier, they knew what he was getting at.  They had tasted of the heavenly gift sent down from heaven to them.  But they grumbled against it.  They were partakers in the work that God was doing among them and in them, and yet, they rejected it.  God had given the Israelites his word through Moses on Mt Sinai.  The Father had sent his only son, who John calls “the word” in John 1:1.  The crowd had tasted the word but spit it out.  The Israelites experienced the power of God among them.  In a later age, when Jesus came, the crowd experienced even more of God’s power through the miracles.  But their hearts were too hard to believe.

In John 6, salvation was standing right in front of the Jews.  The bread of eternal life was sent from heaven.  Later on, in John 6, we see that many people in the crowd turned away.  The Jews came right up to the point of finding salvation but they fell away.  Many of those Jews had experience with God.  They participated in the sacrifices and worshipped in the temple.  But if they refused Jesus then they would be without spiritual life.  In America, not many people go without food because of financial reasons.  Some do.  Most of us in this room haven’t experienced anything like that.  We might miss a meal because we forget to eat or we’re too busy.  Bread is something nice to add to a meal.  If you’re eating spaghetti, then you can probably taste the crunchy, buttery bread that’s covered with garlic before you even put it in the oven.  Or you might want to drop by the bakery between breakfast and lunch to get a bear claw with all the sugary icing dripping off the sides.  But for the Israelites who wandered through the desert bread wasn’t a nicety to add to their meal and it wasn’t a snack.  They needed bread to survive.  It was the difference between life and death.  They had to have it.  There was a time in my life when I was just adding Jesus to all the other things I was doing.  But I came to the point where I realized that I had to have Jesus.  It was the difference between life and death.  How do you see Jesus right now?  Is he something that you’re adding to your interests, or do you see him as absolutely necessary for life?  

In John 6, many of the Jews chose to fill their bellies with what this world was offering them.  It wasn’t just the crowd that walked away.  John said, 

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. (John 6:66)  

In other words, there were people who were following him, learning from him, and benefiting from his miracles.  Do you remember what miracle he performed shortly before the passage we went over in John 6?  He fed them fish and bread.  Jesus said that some of them were his followers or “disciples” because he fed their bellies.  But these disciples had rejected the bread of life.  They didn’t walk away because he said some confusing things.  Jesus was very clear.  Why did these disciples walk away?  Read John 6:61. The NIV ‘84 says that they were “offended”.  

I’ve known quite a few people over the years who were reading the Bible and trying to live a different life.  But after a period of time they walked away.  They had come right up to the point of realizing their desperate need for the true bread, but they decided to turn away.  They either wanted to have their bellies filled with the things of this world, or they were offended by Jesus.  What was the one big difference between the disciples who left versus the ones who stayed?  Jesus asked the ones who stayed, 

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…” – John 6:67-68    

 

I AM (Introduction)

Good morning! Today we begin a new series, called “I AM”. This series explores the purpose, the works, and the character of Jesus through metaphorical pictures found in the Bible. Each of these pictures are rich in meaning and help us to better appreciate our Savior and all He has done for us.

Today’s message title is the same as the series title, and we are going to explore what God means by the name “I AM”. To begin, we are going to look at God’s calling of Moses in Exodus chapter 3. For context, recall that in Genesis, the book ends with the death of Joseph in Egypt. Recall that Joseph, through the power of God, saved Egypt from severe famine and even made them immensely wealthy and powerful because of it. This happened because God showed Joseph the proper interpretation of Pharoah’s dreams. Under Joseph’s direction, Egypt stored up massive amounts of grain in the years before the famine and made an extreme profit during the famine by selling that grain. 

Exodus begins where Genesis ends. Jacob and his descendants continued to live in Egypt and multiplied greatly. At first, the Pharaohs remembered what Joseph had done and treated the Israelites honorably, but eventually Joseph was forgotten, and the Egyptians forced the Israelites into slavery. But even this did not stop the God-blessed multiplication of the Israelite people, so the Egyptians treated them more and more harshly. 

Because even this had no effect on the Israelite’s multiplication, the Pharaoh decreed that Israelite baby boys should be killed, thrown into the Nile River. At this time a particular baby was born, and his mother hid him for as long as she could. But eventually she could do so no longer, so she placed him in a basket and put it along the bank of the Nile.  Pharaoh’s daughter picked him up, saving his life, and she named him Moses. 

As a grown man, Moses saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite, and in anger he killed the Egyptian, thinking that no one had seen him. But the next day, he tried to intervene between two Hebrews fighting each other, and one of them revealed that what Moses had done was known. Moses fled and ended up living in Midian, and in time he married a woman there. 

This brings us to Exodus chapter 3. Moses sees a bush that appeared to be on fire but yet did not burn up. It was the LORD, who told Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” He told Moses that He had heard the crying out of the Israelites in Egypt, and explained that He was sending Moses to Pharaoh to bring them out of Egypt.

Moses replied, “who am I to do this?” And God said He would be with them, and the would leave Egypt and worship God on the mountain where they were. Picking up the account in Ex. 3:13:

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” – Ex. 3:13-14 

The phase translated “I am who I am” is in Hebrew “Ehyeh”. Going for a literal translation, this word is best translated “I will be”. It is in the future tense in Hebrew. A slightly less literal translation is “The one who is will be.” What does this mean? It means that He is the forever existing one. He was never created, and He will never be unmade. He is eternal. Again, the literal translation is “I will be” and it is in first person.

Now it would cause confusion if Moses used this exact form of the word when he talks with the Israelites, saying “I will be has sent me to you.” It’s kind of like a very old joke I don’t remember about a person named Yu. I don’t remember the joke, but just imagine this person introducing himself to someone saying, “Hi, I’m Yu.” 

God knows this, so He explains further:

God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is My name forever, the name you shall call Me from generation to generation.” – Ex. 3:15 

The word translated “the Lord” is “Yahweh”. This word is closely related to “Ehyeh” except that the pronouns have changed from “I will be” to “He will be”. It makes perfect sense that Moses would use “Yahweh” as he talks about Him to others. Again, a fuller in-context translation is “He who is will be.” And again, this speaks to his uncreated and eternal nature. 

And this name, “Yahweh” is found repeatedly in Scripture – it appears over 6,500 times in the Old Testament. This is incredible, as the entire Old Testament is about 23,000 verses, less than four times this amount.

Now one of the ten commandments says to not use God’s name in vain. Over time, Jews reasoned that if you use God’s name out loud, even reading Scripture, who can say for sure that they don’t have mixed or slightly imperfect feelings as they say it? God’s standard is perfection, after all. So they decided that the safest thing to do would be not to speak God’s name aloud at all. So when they read out loud passages that had the name Yahweh, they substituted another name for it, the Hebrew word for Lord, “Adonai.” And many translations of the Bible in English keep this tradition by translating Yahweh as all-caps LORD. 

Now the Hebrew scribes went even further, as they didn’t want someone reading from the Old Testament out loud forgetting to substitute Yahweh with Adonai. They also didn’t want to materially alter the Holy Scriptures. Now formal Hebrew writing is without vowels; if you look at a newspaper in Israel it typically does not have vowels. And vowels in Hebrew are little marks like apostrophes and dots above and below the Hebrew letters. They are much smaller than the consonants, so much so that you don’t even have to alter the spacing between consonants to fit the vowels in. And so what the scribes did was add vowels to Yahweh, but not the Yahweh vowels. Instead, they put in the vowels of Adonai, the word for Lord, into the consonants for Yahweh. Now the final syllable of Adonai is what we call the long I sound. But I is not really a single sound; it is two, ahhh followed by eeee. And the eeee sound in Adonai is actually a consonant letter, not a vowel letter. I know this is getting confusing, but bear with me. What I am saying is that the vowel sounds in Adonai is ahhh ohhh ahhhh, not ahhh ohhh aii. And so what they did was stick ahh ohhh ahhh into Yahweh to get Jehovah. 

Now, I can hear you saying, now hold on. Yahweh has totally different consonants than Jehovah. Well in English that is correct, but not in Hebrew. English hasn’t been especially accurate in transcribing Hebrew sounds. This is true with other languages as well. For example, the Chinese city Beijing used to be translated into English as Peking. Now some of this is partially due to the fact that in China there are many different dialects, and in some it sounds more like Peking than it sounds like Beijing. But let’s get back to Yahweh and Jehovah.

In modern Hebrew, and as far as we know, going back at least 1000 years, there was no J sound in Hebrew. There was a yeh sound, and when you combine a yeh sound with an H sound, it becomes even closer to the J sound. So it shouldn’t be Jehovah, it should be Yehovah. 

Also, there is similar situation with the W sound Yahweh. There is no W sound in Hebrew. This should be a V sound. So Yahweh should be Yahveh. YHVH. So now, if you take the vowels out of Yahveh and put in the ahh ohh ahhh vowels of Adona-i, you get Yahovah.

So when Jews read the Old Testament scrolls, they see the Adonai vowels there on Yahveh and do they say Yahovah?  No, because that is too close to Yahveh. So they actually use the real Hebrew word Adonai. 

This is probably not a discussion that Jehovah’s Witnesses want to hear. And I think it is fair to criticize the Jehovah’s Witnesses for their bad theology built upon this word. But I think you can also fairly criticize the Jews. In trying to avoid breaking one of the Ten Commandments, they are instead breaking the direct command to literally call Him Yahweh for all generations in Exodus 3:15. 

Now I want to say a little bit about names in the Bible. Often people in the Bible are named after an event or situation that either took place at or around their birth. It’s interesting to me that people who do through hiking on long trails like the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail are almost always given a “trail name”; that is, people on the trail give a nickname to people they see on the trail based on something they have done. For example, someone might have the name Nahamsha based on their accent or Five-stack based on how many pancakes they ate somewhere at a stop off trail. There are some instances of this also in the Bible. The “Sons of Thunder”, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, are an example from the New Testament. And Peter was called “The Rock.” (Why do these totally sound like the names of professional wrestlers?) Anyway, who gave these men their names? Jesus Himself. And God also gave some people new names in the Old Testament: Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, and Jacob became Israel.  And the Bible seems to say that we will be given new names by God! We don’t have time to go into this, but if you want to explore it, here are some verses: Rev. 2:17, Rev. 3:12, Is. 56:5, Is. 62:2, and Is. 65:15. It’s not completely clear from these verses if we will all be given different names, but I don’t think it really matters. We will be with Jesus, and nothing compares with that.

But the reason I bring this up is that names given deliberately in the ways we have discussed, whether based on events at birth or on later events or personality traits, necessarily focus in on something specific. But what do you name the God of the Universe? Everything seems far too little, far too narrow, far too confining. And so I think the name of God “ I am that I am” or “I who am will be” although vague and perhaps confusing, is appropriately so. The God of the universe is not at all like the thousands or even millions of false gods that people have worshiped throughout the ages.

It is interesting to me that in English we have the word “God” to describe Him, a short one-syllable name with three letters. We use a capital G to distinguish Him from all the false gods. This word comes from the German Gott and, further back, Gudan. But the word was first applied to false gods before it was applied to the true God. When that happened, the word shifted from a feminine ending to a masculine one. We are fortunate that there are no religions today who call their false god “God.” 

But this is not true in every language. Mongolia, for example, has a huge problem because the early missionaries who came there and gave Mongolia their first translation of the Bible decided to use the word Buddha for God. In hindsight, this was a terrible thing to do because Buddha was the name of the false god they were currently worshiping. This issue continues to cause problems for the church in Mongolia. It makes evangelism more difficult, and people are more likely to try to just add worship of the true God to the false gods they worship. 

And so I find the name that God gives Moses to be perfect. It captures the mystery of God, how He is utterly unlike the false gods that the people worshiped back then, gods of the moon, of harvest, of fertility, of the underworld, and so on. The Creator God is beyond names. He who invented all things that have names cannot be named with a conventional name.  

But God’s mysterious name for Moses and Moses’ people, and which was used throughout the old Testament, had another purpose as well, a purpose that would come in the years after the events of the Old Testament came to a close. That purpose was to identify Jesus Christ as God. The Jews had – perhaps misguidedly – made Yahweh, the name of their God, a name that nobody ever spoke, because to say that name at all might make you guilty of breaking one of the ten commandments.

So when Jesus came along and started saying, likely in Hebrew or Aramaic, “I am” and applying it to Himself, this was a shocking thing. It meant that Jesus was either truly God or one of the worst blasphemers ever seen. To those whose hearts were soft, to those who were open, He was the former, and to those who were proud, who liked things how they were and saw no need to repent, He was the latter.   

Let’s look at an account in Matthew 14. Jesus has just fed the 5000. 

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. Later that night, He was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” – Matt. 14:25-27

This is followed by Peter walking on the water towards Jesus, but then his faith wavers and he starts to sink and cry out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately, we are told, Jesus reaches out his hand and saves him. The two of them went into the boat, and the wind immediately died down. And then we are told that those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Now why would they worship Him? Only God Himself should be worshiped. It is not enough that someone does miracles that they should be worshiped. To do so is idolatry. Any other Jewish person would immediately protest strongly and demand that they stop. We see this in Acts, for example, when Paul and Barnabus are worshiped as gods in Lystra. They protested vigorously, saying “Why have you done this? We are only men…”

There were multiple reasons why the disciples worshiped Jesus. They had just seen Him walk on water. They had seen the previous miracles. But there was more. When Jesus said “It is I,” the Greek phrase is ego eimi. This can also be translated, “I am.” This is the Greek version of “I am who I am,” of Yahweh. It is very likely Jesus called to them in Hebrew or the closely related Aramaic. It is likely that they heard Jesus speak the unspoken name and apply it to Himself.

And, by the way, we see the same wording in the parallel account in John 6. John 6:20 says, “But He said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Here too we have ego eimi. 

Let us look at one more account from the New Testament. This is in John 8. The Jews are in the middle of having a long argument with Jesus. He told them plainly that if they did not believe that He was the Messiah, they would die in their sins. They did not like this or anything else that He said. And then the argument comes to a head in the following passage:

The Jews answered Him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor My Father and you dishonor Me. I am not seeking glory for Myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys My word will never see death.” – John 8:48-51

At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” Jesus replied, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies Me. Though you do not know Him, I know Him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and obey His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing My day; he saw it and was glad.” – John 8:52-56

“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to Him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. – John 8:57-59

“I am.” Ego eimi. The New Life Translation puts it this way: For sure, I tell you, before Abraham was born, I was and am and always will be!” 

And so in the first case, on the lake, this astounding revelation of Jesus leads to worship, an act that would never be given to anyone but God Himself. And in the second case, Jesus’ revelation leads to intense anger, so much so that they would have killed Him there if He had not disappeared from them. 

Jesus is not a god. Jesus is not another god. Jesus is God. Jesus is Yahweh, “I am that I am”. Jesus is “Who I am I will be.” He is the eternal one, the uncreated one. He is the Person of the Son, in relationship with the Father and the Spirit, but there is only one God, three Persons in one God. 

It is exciting to me that in Revelation, God’s name is adjusted because the “will be” part is then at last taking place. From Rev. 11:

And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to You, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” – Rev. 11:16-17

And so now, at this time, we want to join in with those who have worshiped Yahweh, who have worshiped Jesus. For us, He is till the one who was and is and is to come, and so we remember Him with the bread and the cup as He taught us to do. As Paul explains in I Cor. 11,

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. – I Cor. 11:23-26

 

Therefore Pray in Him

Eph. 6:18-24

Good morning!  We have reached the final message in the Ephesians series, “… Therefore …”  After we wrap up the final verses of the book, we’ll take a look at Ephesians in summary.  

Last week, Carl shared on the armor of God described in Ephesians 6:10-17: (1) the belt of truth, (2) the breastplate of righteousness, (3) well-fitting shoes with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, (4) the shield of faith, (5) the helmet of salvation, and (6) the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

All that armor is necessary because there is a spiritual battle going on.  I think it is easy to forget this at times.  Sometimes we forget because things seem to be going well.  Sometimes we forget because even though things are tough, we attribute those circumstances to flesh and blood rather than to devil’s schemes. (6:12) Once we have the armor on, what are we to do?

We talked about how the armor and even the sword mentioned in this section were defensive weapons.  

It’s also interesting to note that in the verses above, we have 6 pieces to the armor.  Paul was Jewish.  In the Hebrew language, the number 7 represents completeness.   Today, we will add the seventh item to this kit for the believer to stand firm and be strong in the Lord.

Today, we are going to pick up with the primary offensive weapon of the faith.  With that intro, let’s pray and dig into Ephesians 6:18-24.

Father God, thank you for this series.  I pray that it would encourage all of us to be strong in You, to be fully equipped, and to glorify You in all we do.  Teach us now we pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. – Eph. 6:18

In order to move forward, we need to pray.  Ephesians 6:18 is hardly the only place that the Bible mentions and encourages us to pray.

Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow who kept asking the judge to rule in her favor.  Because of her perseverance, the unrighteous judge gave her justice against her adversary.  Luke 18:1 tells us why Jesus told his disciples that parable.  It says he told that story “to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”  We should always pray and not give up!

Philippians 4:6 exhorts us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” I Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Paul tells us here to pray all kinds of prayers.  That could be group prayer, individual prayer, silent prayer, spoken prayer, prayer in song, prayer while walking, prayer while kneeling, eloquent prayer, groaning prayer, constant prayer, urgent prayer.  Different kinds of prayer.  Prayers of adoration and praise and worship of God.  Prayers of thanksgiving.  Prayers of supplication, asking God for something, asking Him to take action, prayers for other people.

In I Timothy 2:1-4, Paul writes to Timothy, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

All kinds of prayers for others.  Petitions (requests), prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving for all people.  Pray for their salvation, that they may come to a knowledge of the truth.  And, as Paul tells us here, “to be alert and to keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”  Don’t forget about the prayer requests others have mentioned to you.  

How does Paul tell us to pray?  He tells us to pray in the Spirit.  How do you pray in the Spirit?  Praying in the Spirit is not praying in the flesh.  It doesn’t need to be studied or eloquent.  It doesn’t need to sound like an orator.  It shouldn’t feel like riding a bike up hill.

Romans 8:26-27 tells us that it doesn’t depend on us knowing how or what to pray.  You see, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.”

When we don’t know what or how to pray, or if we feel dull and unable to pray, that’s a starting point.  We can confess our inability to God.  He will not be surprised.  He knows us and all our weaknesses.  When we confess, we are then expecting God to work.

Praying includes resting in the Lord, being quiet, listening.  I’ve been reading in the gospel of John the last couple of weeks.  I was impressed by John 3 where Jesus is talking to Nicodemus.  Jesus says, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”  I was reminded of when I came to Christ as a freshman here at Clemson.  That was 33 years ago.  We don’t know where the Spirit is coming from or where it is going, but we can experience and feel Him.  In praying in the Spirit, we are also waiting on the Spirit, to seek fellowship with God in prayer.  I would recommend A.W. Tozer’s Pursuit of God, if you want to go deeper in considering this.

When we pray in the Spirit, we pray with boldness.  We don’t make demands of God.  We don’t claim promises from God.  We come as children of God, asking with the boldness a child asks their parents.  We can pray urgently, plead with God even, but we can’t “boss Him around” in our prayers.  One more recommendation toward praying in the Spirit is to pray the Word.  Pray prayers that are in the bible.  Pray the words of Scripture.  Pray that God would fulfill His commands.  Pray for things God tells us to pray for.  “Pray to the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Matthew 9:38)

Let’s continue in Ephesians 6.

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. – Eph. 6:19-20

Way back at the beginning of the book, in Ephesians 1:16, Paul wrote, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”  Now, Paul asks the Ephesians to pray for him.  Remember, Paul is in prison in Rome a he is writing this letter.  There is no doubt that Paul could have asked for prayer for a lot of things.  How about, “pray that God would take away these chains.”  Pray that God would provide for him in other ways.

Paul did not ask for those prayers.  He asked for words to make known the mystery of the gospel and boldness to declare it.  Twice he prays that he would be able to fearlessly proclaim the gospel.  It is the same root word in each case.  That’s what was really important to Paul.  So much so that he said it twice.

No doubt, he was in intimidating circumstances, chained to a Roman soldier, awaiting an audience with Caesar, the ruler of the largest empire ever known.  His goal was to make known the mystery of the gospel whenever he spoke.  Talking about praying the words of the bible.  These are words that we could pray for one another and even ourselves.

Paul didn’t want to just be bold.  He also wanted to be clear.  He wanted his hearers to be able to understand the mystery of the gospel.  He’s asking for the ability to make the message understandable.  May we all have the ability to share the truth in a way that causes others to see and understand Jesus Christ.

Our last few verses are the closing of the letter.

Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. – Eph. 6:21-22

We don’t know all that much about Tychicus, but he certainly is an important companion and help for Paul.  We first hear of him in Acts 20 when he accompanied Paul at least on the beginning of his journey to Jerusalem.  In that passage (v.4), we learn that both Tychicus and Trophimus are from the province of Asia.  Ephesus was the “capital” of the province of Asia.  Acts 21 says Trophimus was an Ephesian.  So, Tychicus is from Ephesus or the area nearby it.

Then, the book of Colossians closes with a similar line to what we see here in Ephesians.  Tychicus is sent with the letter and will tell the Colossians all the news about Paul.  Paul describes Tychicus as “a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.” (Colossians 4:7) It may even have been that Tychicus carried this letter to the Ephesians and the letter to the Colossians in the same trip.  Ephesus and Colosse are ~150 miles apart from each other and 1200 miles from Rome.

A few years after writing Ephesians and Colossians, Paul wrote to Titus that as soon as he sent Artemas or Tychicus to you, that Titus should come to meet Paul. (Titus 3:12) And finally, II Timothy 4:12 Paul tells Timothy that he sent Tychicus to Ephesus.  I mention all that because Tychicus is clearly an important helper to Paul.  He’s a good traveler, a messenger for Paul, willing to come and go wherever needed.

Tychicus’ name comes from the root word to hit the mark or hit the bullseye.  His name can also mean to obtain or reach or achieve something.  I spend all this time talking about Tychicus because he can be a good example for all of us.  Are we helping and serving those around us as well as we could and should?

Specifically here, Paul has sent Tychicus as one who can share face to face how Paul is and that he may be an encouragement to them.  I find it fascinating that after writing a letter which is part of the word of God, living and active, cannot return void, that Paul still sent Tychicus along as an integral part of his testimony, of how he was, of what he was doing, and for encouraging the Ephesians.  I think we can easily overlook how important it is to visit one another, to spend time face to face.  Yes, texting, email, writing, phone calls, and other means of communication are important.  But, a face-to-face visit is somehow unique and special and should not be overlooked.

Let’s wrap up Ephesians.

Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. – Eph. 6:23-24

This type of ending is often referred to as a benediction.  Benediction is a word straight from the Latin.  It does not mean the last thing or the last word.  It means to bless.  Literally, to say good or to speak well.

Peace and grace echoes Paul’s greeting in Ephesians 1:2, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  In Ephesians 1:3, Paul wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”  As he encouraged us with every spiritual blessing at the beginning, here he blesses the Ephesians (and us) to walk in those blessings.

We have the blessing of peace.  Tranquility.  Contentment.  Peace with God.

We have the blessing of love with faith.  Agape.  Unconditional love with conviction.

We have the blessing of grace.  Undeserved favor.  The merciful kindness of God.

Amen?  Amen!

Let’s go back now and review the series in conclusion.

As noted, Paul writes Ephesians while imprisoned in Rome.  This was around 60-62 AD.  At the conclusion of the book of Acts, Paul had arrived in Rome after appealing to Caesar.  Ephesians was written at that time.

The first three chapters focus on the gospel, the message that by putting one’s faith in Christ, Gentile believers are included with believing Jews in receiving redemption through Christ’s blood and the forgiveness of sins.  Paul prays for them and us that the Spirit would help us to know Christ more deeply, more personally, more richly, and he prays that we would know the inheritance we now possess by faith and the power of God that is available to us.

Paul describes us as God’s handiwork, created in Christ to do good works that He has planned for us to do.  These works have nothing to do with salvation, with saving us, but we are to do these works as we allow the Spirit to lead us, out of gratitude and submission, to the glory of God.  As we live in this way, we, both Jewish and Gentile believers together, are like stones set in a single beautiful building, with Christ as the cornerstone.

Paul goes on to share of the joy he has personally experienced – a joy that makes his many severe trials not worth even mentioning in comparison – as he lives out the calling God has placed on him as a minister to the Gentiles.

And then, after a beautiful prayer for the Ephesians – and for us – that Christ would reign in our hearts through faith, and that we would grasp just how much Christ loves us, we come to Chapter 4, which starts with the word “Therefore.”  And the second half of the book, which includes today’s passage, focuses on a more practical, detail-oriented explanation of how we should live as people “in Christ”.  We are told to be completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  We are told that, to assist in this goal, Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

Implicit in this discussion is the directive that all believers should be joining with other believers in local assemblies, so that these gifts of Christ can benefit all believers. We are told to “put off” our old selves, corrupted by deceitful desires, and “put on” our new selves, created to be like God in righteousness and holiness. We are told to put off falsehood and put on truth-telling. We are told to put off anger. We are told to put off stealing but put on honest work. We are told to put off unwholesome talk and put on speech that builds others up. We are told to put off bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander, and put on compassion and forgiveness.

As God’s dearly loved children, we are told to walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us.

We are told to not have even a hint of immorality, impurity, greed, or unwholesome talk. We are told to seek what pleases the Lord, living as the wise, not as the foolish. We are told not to be drunk on wine, but be filled with the Spirit, worshipping Him and being ever thankful.  And then we are told to submit to one another out of love for Christ, and specific instructions are given to wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, and masters.

Last week’s passage and the beginning of today’s passage take us through Paul’s final point of emphasis which he begins with this imperative.  “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power!”  What are the qualities of someone who is strong in the Lord?  If you’re strong in the Lord, then you are not grumbling and complaining (Philippian 2:14).  If you’re strong in the Lord, then you are believing the best of others (I Corinthians 13:7).  If you’re strong in the Lord, you are not afraid (I Peter 3:6 ESV).  Are we choosing to not grumble, are we choosing to not complain, are we choosing to believe the best of others, are we choosing not to be afraid?  I’m not saying that we can do any of these things in our own strength.  I’m asking whether or not we are choosing to turn away from the things which are weak and turning toward being strong in the Lord.

It is God alone who makes us strong, but we are given the pattern of how to be strong.  We have these six incredible God-given tools for our defense: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, well-fitting shoes with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We are not left undefended in the spiritual battle we face. We are not meant to live a defeated Christian life. We are equipped by God so that we can stand firm. We need to put our armor on and keep it on. And by God’s grace, as we do so, we will indeed stand firm.

And, we must pray.  In every way, and at every time.  Staying alert, we must pray for one another.  Let’s not forget.  Let us pray that we each would be strong in the Lord and stand firm in the spiritual battle.

It’s so easy to forget.  The bible tells many times that the Israelites forgot God or forgot what He had done for them.  As many of you know, I had cataract surgery this week.  I’ve learned more about cataracts in the last 3-4 weeks than I ever knew before.

It turns out that there are 3 main types of age-related cataracts.  Nuclear cataracts that start in the center of your field of vision.  Cortical cataracts that start at the edges and work their way toward the center in streaks or lines.  Then, there are posterior subcapsular cataracts or PSC’s which occur in the center of your field of vision but grow on the backside of the lens.  Another characteristic of this PSC-type is that it grows much more quickly than the others.  In a matter of months, you can have life-altering changes in your vision.  So, I have that last kind.  The one that grows fast and acts like a smudge in the middle of your field of view.  The only data I could find has this type at <10% of all age-related cataracts.

This week was surgery on one eye, the worse of the two.  Before the surgery, I could see about 20/80 with my glasses on out of my left eye.  Out of my right eye, I could see 20/50 with my glasses on or off.  But that doesn’t really tell the story because cataracts mess up your vision in a way that is different than just being out of focus.  So, 20/80 was best case.  In some circumstances, my vision was a lot worse than that.  Now that I’ve had the surgery to pull out the bad lens and put a new clear one in, I can see 20/20 out of my left eye, all the time, at least when my eye is not dried out.  I haven’t seen 20/20 without glasses since I was in my early teenage years, almost 40 years ago.

Yesterday was the first day that I could really get out and see 20/20.  Even Friday night at the house, I was amazed at the colors and textures of things around the house.  Saturday was unbelievable.  In just a few months, I had forgotten what the world could look like.  I’m walking to the car and looking at the texture of the concrete and thinking, “Did I know that’s what concrete looked like?”  I looked at the tree tops and I could see the bare branches all the way to the ends.  I put my music on the stand and then I backed up about 10 feet, and I could still read it.  I told the music team on Wednesday night that if I wasn’t going to have surgery Thursday, it was probably about the last week I could play ukulele and lead worship.  I just couldn’t see enough to play and sing at the same time.  At least, not through the whole worship set.

I used to be able to see, for 50 years I could see.  Then, I couldn’t see clearly for a short time, less than a year.  And that was a gradual decline.  In that short time, I forgot what a lot of regular things that I see every day looked like.  The difference is enough that I’m walking around with a sense of wonder and awe.

Now apply that spiritually.  Certainly, there are aspects of eternal life that we cannot see clearly this side of heaven.  I Corinthians 13:12 (ESV) says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to look more deeply.  And it certainly doesn’t mean that we should forget what we have seen.  James 1:25 says, “Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

Let us not forget what we have heard and seen in the book of Ephesians over the last several months.  Let us put these things into practice and trust the Lord that He is able to make us stand firm in doing them. Let’s pray.

Father God, help us to be doers of Your Word and not merely hearers only.  Help us to remember what You have done for us, and help us to live lives of boldness and clarity in You.  Thank You that You are always with us and that Your Spirit is even praying with and for us in our weaknesses.  We rejoice in You and we pray in Your Son Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

 

Therefore Be Strong in Him

Eph. 6:10-17

Good morning! Today we continue our series through the book of Ephesians, looking at the middle portion of chapter 6. As we have gone through Ephesians, we have seen that chapters 1 through 3 focus on the incredible blessings we have in Christ, on the gospel, and on the supreme value of knowing God and the love of God more personally, more deeply, and more intimately, a blessing that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and is only possible because Jesus willingly went to the cross for our sins. 

And in the start of Chapter 4 Paul says “therefore”, a pivot that splits the entire letter effectively into two halves. The rest of Ephesians focuses on how we should then live. We are to be humble and gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love. We are to join with other believers, availing ourselves of the spiritual leaders that God gives us. We are to put off our old selves and put on the new, forsaking deception, loving one another, building one another up, abounding in compassion and forgiveness, and living by the power of the Spirit with continual thankfulness. 

And then we are told to submit to one another out of love for Christ, and specific instructions are given to wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, and masters. And this brings us to today’s passage, starting in Eph. 6:10.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. – Eph. 6:10-11 

Now, Paul likes to use the word translated “finally” not as the last few words he says, but as the last major topic. It is interesting to look at the various letters that he uses this word, as what comes across is that what comes next is very much customized to the people he is writing to; that is, what comes after “finally” is always different. When he uses it in 2 Cor 13:11, he tells them to be of one mind and live in peace with one another.  When he uses it in Phil. 4:8, he tells them to focus their thoughts on true, honest, just, pure, good, virtuous things. In I Thess. 4:1, he tells them to abound in the works of God in accordance with what they have learned. And in 2 Thess. 3:1, he asks for prayer, that the gospel would go forth from him. 

But here in Ephesians, he tells them to be strong, to stand against the schemes of the devil. But of course, that is not exactly what Paul says. I have left some critical things out.

First, Paul tells them to be strong in the Lord. Before we explore what that might mean, let me point out that throughout the New Testament we are told to be strong in the Lord, never to be strong in our own strength. Phil. 4:13 says that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In I Tim. 1:12 Paul says that he thanks the Lord Jesus who has strengthened him. In 2 Tim. 2:1 Paul tells Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 

What does it mean to be strong in someone else? I think it means to rely on the other person for things that you yourself cannot do well, if at all. In a marriage, the husband and wife are supposed to rely on each other in this way, and together they are to rely on God for what neither of them can do. I am reminded of this passage from Ecclesiastes:

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. – Eccl. 4:9-12

This passage will always mean a lot to Mimi and I because it was one of the passages that was expounded upon at our wedding. And in the passage the picture is given of two people who are strong in each other. Although it does not specifically refer to a husband and wife, it certainly applies to marriage relationship, but it could also apply to a relationship between siblings or business partners, for example. As for the cord of three strands, I do not think this is an unconnected thought from the verses preceding it. And I also believe that the three strands refer to the two people that depend on each other plus the Lord. 

And so, coming back to the Ephesians passage:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. – Eph. 6:10-11 

When two people are dependent on each other, there is an expectation that each one will pull their own weight, that in some situations they will rely on the strength of one person, and in other situations they will rely on the strength of the other. But it would be ludicrous to think that the same is true when it comes to a person depending on the Lord. Our strength is nothing compared to His. And not only does the Lord not take offense when we rely continuously on Him, He expects it. He wants it. If you had powerful oxen and a plow, it would be foolish to only use the team half of the time and spend the other half struggling to clear the field with your bare hands. Our desire and intent should be to 0% depend on our own strength and 100% depend on the Lord’s. 

And in the following verse, Paul begins to explain to us how we do this, and he also explains what we need to be strong against. We are to be spiritually clad in the armor of God, and Paul will give us details shortly. As for what we need to be strong against, it is the schemes, the plans, the methodeia of the devil. This Greek word is the word we get “method” from. Literally, it means something like “travel over” and the picture is that of someone lying in wait at a blind spot on a road so as to surprise the traveler and overcome him when he least expects it.  

Who is the devil? Who is diablos as it says in the Greek, from which we get the word diabolical? He was first an angel. Isaiah 14:12-15 gives his name as Lucifer, meaning bearer of light. He is described in Ezek. 28:12-14 as being created as one of the cherubim, but he became discontent with his exalted position, and wanted to sit on a throne over God Himself. God punished Satan for this sin by removing him from his position. 

Satan became the ruler or lowercase g god of this world in 2 Cor. 4:4 and John 12:31. He is also called the prince of the power of the air here in Ephesians (Eph. 2:2). He is called the tempter in Math. 4:3 and even tries to tempt Jesus to worship him. He is called the accuser in Rev. 12:10. And he is also known as the great deceiver, deceiving Adam and Eve in Gen. 3, and in 2 Cor. 4:4 he is also described as the one who has blinded the eyes of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the glory of God. Indeed, he has deceived humanity throughout its history, leading to endless idolatry, cults, and false religions. He loves what God hates, and he sows discord and conflict, leading to endless wars. His “blinding the eyes of the unbelievers” led to the persecution and murder of God’s prophets and even to the Jews murdering their own Messiah. And in the future, he will deceive countless people into believing that the anti-Christ is the true Messiah. 

Apart from the Lord’s strength, we have no ability to stand against this. So what are we supposed to do? Trust in the Lord, and in faith, wear the “armor” that we will see in the coming verses. But first, we have this:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. – Eph. 6:12

The word translated “struggle” here is literally “wrestling.” Wrestling was practiced in Greece and Rome and was not that different than the amateur wrestling you see today. The sentence begins with “for” which means it is an explanation of what came before. The point of the passage is not that we do not wrestle against people – although there is a kernel of truth in that idea, in that people, even unbelievers, are not really our ultimate enemies; they are simply deceived by Satan and are doing his bidding. But the real point of this passage is that we do not merely wrestle against flesh and blood where we might have a chance of winning using our own strength; instead, our enemies are far more overwhelming, far more untouchable, far more numerous. Apart from the Lord, we don’t have a hope of a chance. 

There are four types of entities mentioned here. The first are rulers (arche), and the Greek word is associated with being first, so these are demonic beings in positions of authority, first. The second are authorities (exousia), and the word implies those who have been given power to do things, to judge, or to carry out judgments. The third is powers (kosmokrator), world-rulers, and the fourth is spiritual forces of evil (poneria), which means depravity, wickedness, malice, it is not so much even a being but a vague spirit-like force. I feel like these terms are not well-defined in Scripture, but I don’t think that is the point Paul is trying to make. Instead, I think he is listing them in order of increasing hopelessness of our ability to attack them in our own strength. How are we going to wrestle against a world-ruler? And even worse, how do we physically wrestle against a force? So again, the point is that we need to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, which we spiritually appropriate through the yet-to-be-explained armor. So let’s continue and look at this armor. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. – Eph. 6:14-17

Let’s talk about the belt of truth. Does Satan attack us by trying to get us to doubt God’s word? Absolutely. Think back all the way to the Garden of Eden, when Satan said, “Did God really say…?” 

How does Satan attack you in this area? Well, first, He tries to get you to stop getting into God’s Word. Now, your flesh also betrays you in this area, as it does in every area. Read first thing in the morning? It would be so much easier to veg out on your phone, or just sleep a little longer. Read at night? It would be so much easier to veg out on your phone, or just go to sleep. With regards to your flesh, it is no different than trying to get yourself to go exercise. But it is not only your flesh. It is also Satan. He can also attack you while you are reading the Word. You come across some passage you don’t fully understand, and he will attack you saying, “You see, it isn’t reliable. Maybe it’s not really the Word of God, but just stuff men made up.” Or if you are sensitive enough to reject that outright, he might say, “You see, you aren’t smart enough to really get much out of these times.” And if he can get you to not spend time in God’s Word, then it is much easier to attack you in this area during the day, when situations come up and the truth of God’s Word seems inconvenient, or maybe not quite squaring with reality. That’s a lie of Satan, compounded by the world. It really is the world, the flesh, and the devil. 

He also works in this area to cause division. He makes you convinced you are always right. He makes you believe that a minor issue is a major issue. He makes you believe that a major issue is a minor issue. This goes for matters of behavior as well as matters of doctrine. The truth is that there is a hierarchy of doctrines, both with regards to their importance and with regards to their degree of certainty. That Jesus is God is at the top of both lists, the list of importance and the list of certainty. How the end times will exactly play out is low on both lists, especially the list of certainty. (But all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read the book of Revelation. I’m saying that you won’t fully understand it, and it isn’t essential that you do. But reading it, along with all the rest of Scripture, will still be a huge blessing in your life.) 

And so what is the belt of truth? It is spending time with God’s Word, hopefully daily. It is memorizing Scripture. It is asking the Lord to help you apply what you read to your daily life. It is going to the Lord in prayer when applying His Word seems inconvenient or difficult. It is coming to church and hearing God’s word explained. It is going to Bible studies. It can be reading or listening to good Bible teachers online or (gasp) in books. 

Next is the breastplate of righteousness in place. How does Satan attack us in the area of righteousness? In so many ways! First, he tempts us. He chooses our moments of greatest weakness to do so, when we are tired, discouraged, or proud. Then when he gets us to give in to temptation, he takes one of two extremes. He can tell us how worthless we are and tell us that God hates us and won’t forgive us anymore. Or he can tell us that it is no big deal, that everyone does it, to forget about it, or that He loves you unconditionally so it doesn’t matter. But whichever approach he takes (and he can use both on one incident, depending on our mode in the moment!), the one thing he will try to keep us from doing is going to the Lord in prayer, confessing our sin, and repenting, telling the Lord that we turn away from this sin and towards Him. He will hide from us the fact that our unconfessed sin separates us from God, and he will try to hide the fact that when we now feel more distant from God, that it is completely unrelated to this incident. 

A breastplate is not effective if it is not in place. Dragging your breastplate behind you along the ground isn’t going to help you. To have your breastplate in place means that you are keeping short accounts with God – and with other people, another activity that Satan will try to keep you from. Instead, he will foster disunity, and separation. He will try to get you to forget that thing you did wrong against someone else. But if someone else did something wrong against you, he will do everything he can to remind you of it every day. If we keep short accounts with God and with each other, confessing our sins to God and to the people we hurt or offend, then Satan cannot gain a foothold, as we were told back in Eph. 4.

…with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. What does this mean? Let’s talk about shoes and feet. After years upon years of problems with my feet including repeated ankle sprains and plantar fasciitis, I made the decision to switch, gradually, to barefoot shoes. These shoes have less support than regular shoes, and one would think that makes them bad. But what they do is force your feet to become stronger, more able to support themselves. And after going through a gradual transition, so that my feet had time to adjust, I have had fewer problems than in the past. That is, until last month. I had thought I had a stress fracture, but it turned out to be a more manageable soft tissue injury. But it has taken a long time to heal – we are 6 weeks in, and although it is much better, it is still nowhere near 100%. What caused the injury? I am convinced it is because I did not wear the shoes properly. When I run with these shoes, I lace them tightly at the ankle, but keep them loose near the toes. But over time, the tightness at the ankle drifts downward and makes the toe area tight. For reasons of laziness, I guess, I didn’t spend the time to restring the shoes to get the looseness near the toes that I normally have, and I believe that this is what caused my injury. 

Now the phrase here is interesting. It is not so much about the shoes, which by the way, for Roman soldiers were called caligae, which were thick-soled sandals with hobnailed soles, soles that had nails screwed or hammered into the soles. These soles protected you against spikes placed in the ground to wound soldiers and to protect against rough terrain. But it is not so much about the shoes, but about the fitting of the shoes for the feet. For, just as happened to me, if you do not ensure your shoe is well-fitted to your foot, bad things will happen. 

So what fits these spiritual shoes? Readiness, or preparation, that comes from the gospel of peace. Now this passage does not mean that we are to go out and preach the gospel. We are to go out to preach the gospel, and I have no question that this also protects us from Satan’s attacks in some ways, as it fires us up and gets us to depend on God as we go. But that is not what the Greek is saying here. What this passage is saying is that our understanding of the gospel should go far beyond mere intellectual understanding. It should be the core of the intimacy we should have with God. Recall earlier in Ephesians, when Paul prays that the Ephesians would grasp the depth and breadth of God’s love for them. This is what we are talking about here. The gospel isn’t just “Jesus died for our sins.” It is “Jesus died for me. He loves me. He is with me, always, literally, every step I take. My understanding of His love for me, demonstrated by what He did on the cross, is like a perfectly fitting boot. This protects me from all kinds of attacks from Satan. He cannot tell me that God doesn’t love me. He cannot tell me that I am alone. He cannot tell me that my salvation depends on my works. Because of what Jesus has done, I am at peace with God. I know Him, and He knows me. I love Him, and He loves me. And Satan is powerless to intrude or split apart that relationship. When Satan tells me that I am weak, I agree. But when I am weak, I reply, Christ is strong. 

Next is the shield of faith. The Greek word here refers to a large oblong (literally, door-shaped) shield, as opposed to some smaller shields. These shields were heavy, and arrows could not go through them. In addition, soldiers would line up and make an impenetrable defense. The arrows would sometimes have something attached to them that they would light before they were sent out. If they landed on a person, they could set their clothing or hair on fire. But the shields prevented this, as they were wood covered by metal. 

Now the flaming arrows come from Satan, but the passage does not specifically tell us what they are. Presumably they include all of the things we have discussed already. But it doesn’t really matter – the idea here is that faith overcomes Satan’s attacks, whatever they happen to be. And it is important that the core of most, if not all, of Satan’s attacks is actually an attack on faith. Faith in God is about believing what God’s Word says about God. When Satan tempts you, he is trying to get you to believe something else about God – that He doesn’t see everything, or that what He said is big deal isn’t that big a deal, or that maybe you misunderstood His word, or that His promises don’t work, or any of countless additional lies. This is why faith is like a huge shield – it doesn’t really matter what lie he says – a simple childlike faith that says “I know my Father, and you are wrong about Him” causes his attacks to just bounce off of you.  

Next is the helmet of salvation. Now the Roman helmets were made either entirely of metal, or of leather with bits of metal throughout it. Some had plumes, that were for identifying officers and regiments. In any case, the Roman helmets had a different purpose from the everyday helmets we see today, helmets for bicycle riding, or motorcycle riding, or skiing, for example. These modern helmets are designed to protect your brain from rattling around too much when you hit your head in an impact. But the Roman helmets were primarily designed to protect you from a broadsword, a very large sword wielded with two hands, often while on horseback. 

So what does Paul mean by a helmet of salvation? I don’t think it means that he is telling his readers or listeners to get saved. That has already happened. This entire letter is addressing saved people, people that have already repented and trusted in Christ for salvation. Now the life of believer starts with justification, which means we no longer await the due penalty for our sin, as Jesus has paid the price for us. And it continues with sanctification, which is the process of helping us to become more like Him, and helping us to restore our relationship with Him when we continue to sin. This is the idea behind Jesus’ washing people’s feet. Recall how Peter asked for all of himself to be washed, but Jesus told him, effectively, you have a full bath once, and from then on, you only need your feet washed. And then the life of the believer moves to glorification, which occurs when Christ returns. The “problem” with the word salvation is that it is not precisely defined. It can refer to the first step, justification, but it can also refer to all three steps as a whole. 

I believe the helmet of salvation refers to this broader meaning of salvation. It means that we know from where we have come (justification), we know where we are (sanctification), and we know where we are going (glorification). All of these together are salvation, and all of these together help us to stand against Satan, who can attack each of these three aspects of salvation. 

An attack to the head with a broadsword is serious, and likewise, Satan’s attacks on our salvation could also be quite serious, if we were not protected with the helmet of salvation. This helmet protects us from believing the lie that we don’t have a relationship with God, and never had one, if we ever fall to sin, it protects us from believing the lie that our present sins separate us from God in such a way that there is nothing we can do about it, and it protects us from believing the lie that we will never change. The helmet of salvation keeps us from despair. And it helps us to echo Paul’s words that to live is Christ and to die is gain. 

And last but certainly not least is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I have heard it said in many messages that the sword is an offensive weapon, unlike the rest of the armor. And while I agree that is true in principle, I don’t believe that this is the way that Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is describing it. Paul is describing the sword as part of the armor. And although it is true that a sword can be used offensively, it is also true that a sword can be used powerfully as a defensive tool. As the opponent swings his sword at you, you parry, you block his move with a countermove. If you did not have that sword, or did not use it, every strike of his would hit your armor, and even if your armor held, your body would feel the force of every blow. The “defensive” sword makes a huge difference. 

I can think of no better illustration of the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, than that of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. We don’t have time to read the passage, but you can read it in Matthew 4 and in Luke 4. Jesus had just gone through 40 days of fasting in the desert wilds, and he was very hungry. Jesus, as God incarnate on Earth, was continually submitting His will to the will of the Father, and each of Satan’s temptations were ultimately about tempting Jesus to break out from His Father’s will and do His own thing. Although the details of the temptations were different from the temptation of Adam and Eve which led to the fall, and also different from the temptations we face, they were similar in that the core purpose of Satan is always the same. But returning to Jesus in the wilderness, we see Satan even use Scripture incorrectly applied in an attempt to get Jesus to sin. But Jesus responds in kind with Scripture, correctly applied, sword parrying against sword.

Satan will tempt us with things that, in our own wisdom, we will not even be able to tell are sin. He may even misuse Scripture to confuse us, or to get us to self-deceive ourselves and justify actions that are clearly wrong. The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, will help us to see through Satan’s deceptions and defend his attacks with Scripture properly used. To wield the sword we need to be regularly in God’s Word, learning what is good and proper and true and correct from God through God’s love letter to us. That is a necessary first step. But a second, I believe, is why the sword is called the Sword of the Spirit – we also need to bathe our lives with prayer that God’s spirit would guide us in the midst of the battle, that He would bring scriptures to mind as we need them, that we be able to wield the sword effectively, parrying against Satan’s attacks.  

And so these are the six incredible tools God gives us for our defense: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, well-fitting shoes with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We are not left undefended. We are not meant to live a defeated Christian life. We are equipped by God so that we can stand firm. We need to put our armor on and keep it on. And by God’s grace, as we do so, we will indeed stand firm.

I want to close with something I stumbled across while preparing this message, the story of Reuben “Uncle Bud” Robinson. He was born in a primitive log cabin in 1860 in the mountains of Tennessee. His father died when he was sixteen, and his mother moved with him to Texas. At the age of the 20, at a revival meeting, he gave his life to Christ, and from that moment he felt that the Lord had called him to preach. He had no education and a severe stutter. But he became an evangelist, and during his long ministry until he died at the age of 83, he travelled over two million miles, preached over 33,000 sermons, and was responsible (along with the Lord, of course) for more than 100,000 people coming to faith in Christ. The reason I bring him up is because of what he told people he prayed every day, a prayer that seems to embody the essence of our Ephesians 6 passage. Before we go through what he prayed, I will need to “translate” some of the “country” terms he used as they may be unfamiliar to many of us. 

1. A sawlog is a full-sized tree log large enough to saw into lumber.
2. Sleepers under a floor are a raised sturdy construction on a dirt floor used to keep a floor lifted away from the ground. They often span out from a central piece kind of like ribs.
3. Iron shoes are a term for horseshoes, and horseshoes last a long time, since they are metal. But I don’t think he means horseshoes in his prayer. Instead, I think he simply means shoes that last forever. He may have been thinking of Deut. 33:25 in which Jacob blesses Asher and says “Your sandals shall be iron and bronze. As long as your days, so shall your strength be.”
4. Galvanized breeches are metal-studded sturdy pants worn when riding horses.
5. A gable is the triangular section on the exterior wall of a house or barn immediately below the roof. On a barn, there are often doors on the gable opening out into the air, and there is often a pulley system for pulling heavy items directly up to the upper floor.

And here is what he prayed:

 

“O Lord, give me a backbone as big as a sawlog and ribs like sleepers under the church floor, put iron shoes on me and galvanized breeches and hang a wagon-load of determination in the gable-end of my soul, and help me to sign the contract to fight the devil as long as I have a vision, and bite him as long as I have a tooth, and then gum him ‘til I die. Amen.”