A. Beloved brother (Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Peter 2:17; 1 John 3:10-17; 4:20-21; 2 John 5)
B. Faithful minister (Matthew 5:33-37; 23:11; 1 Timothy 3:8-13)
II. Service (Ephesians 6:22)
A. Brought news of Paul (Philippians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 11:18; 2 Thess. 3:11)
B. Brought comfort to the church (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
III. Prayer (Ephesians 6:23-24)
A. Peace (Philippians 4:7)
B. Love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)
C. Grace (Titus 2:11-14)
A. Who is the Servant? (Matthew 12:9-21)
B. He became the Servant by choice (Philippians 2:5-7) and encourages His followers to choose servanthood as well (Matthew 20:25-28)
C. “I have put My Spirit upon Him” (Luke 3:21-22)
D. His ministry style of humility and gentleness (John 8:32; 2 Corinthians 5:11; John 5:41; 8:50; Zechariah 9:9)
II. The Servant’s success (Isaiah 42:5-9)
A. God’s power (Genesis 1:1)
B. The Servant’s righteousness (Matthew 3:15; John 5:30; Luke 23:47)
C. The new covenant (Hebrews 8:8-12; Jeremiah 31:31-34)
D. Warning against idolatry (Exodus 20:2-5; 1 Corinthians 10:14; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Peter 4:3; Colossians 3:5)
E. The proof of prophecy (Isaiah 41:21-24; Deuteronomy 18:20-22)
III. The new song (Isaiah 42:10)
A. Motivation for the new song (Psalm 98:1-2; James 5:13)
B. “Saved people who really appreciate their situation are happy people; and what greater privilege could come to them than the opportunity to express their feeling to God in song?” (Leslie Thomas)
A. Our commander: God (Ephesians 6:10-11, 13; Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 35:4; 1 Corinthians 16:13; 2 Timothy 2:1; Philippians 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:15)
B. Our enemy: the devil (Eph. 6:11-12; 4:14; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 1 Peter 5:8-9)
II. The armor (Ephesians 6:14-17)
A. Belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14; John 8:32)
B. Breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14; Proverbs 13:6)
C. Feet prepared with the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15; Rom. 10:15; Matt. 5:9)
D. Shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16; Romans 10:17)
E. Helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8)
F. Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 119:11)
III. The prayers (Ephesians 6:18-20)
A. Prayer for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18; James 5:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:17)
B. Prayer for the preacher (Ephesians 6:19-20; Acts 4:29)
I. The responsibility of bondservants/employees (Eph 6:5-8)
A. Do what is right with the right attitude (Ephesians 6:5-7)
1. “With fear and trembling” (Ephesians 5:21)
2. “In sincerity of heart” (1 Peter 2:18-20)
3. “Not with eyeservice” (Philippians 2:12-13)
4. “With goodwill” (Colossians 3:23)
B. The motivation behind the attitude: “as to Christ,” “as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,” “as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephesians 6:5-7)
C. The principle of reaping and sowing (Ephesians 6:8; Galatians 6:7-9; Colossians 3:24-25)
II. The responsibility of masters/employers (Ephesians 6:9)
A. “Do the same things to them” (Matthew 7:12)
B. “Giving up threatening” (Acts 4:17, 29; 9:1)
C. Even the boss has a Master (Philippians 2:9-11)
D. “There is no partiality with Him” (Galatians 3:28)
I. The responsibility of children (Ephesians 6:1-3)
A. Obey your parents – listen to, hearken (Matthew 8:27; Acts 6:7; Acts 12:13)
B. This is right – righteous, just (Hebrews 10:38; James 5:16; 1 Peter 3:12)
C. Honor (Exodus 20:12)
1. One cannot honor God if he does not honor his parents (Matthew 15:3-9)
2. Honor also commanded toward widows (1 Timothy 5:3), to all men and to the king (1 Peter 2:17)
D. The first commandment with promise
II. The duty of parents—specifically fathers (Ephesians 6:4)
A. Do not provoke your children to wrath
B. Bring them up (Proverbs 22:6)
C. Training and admonition – a balance of positive and negative (2 Timothy 3:16)
I. Man’s heart, desire, and focus will follow his treasure (6:19-21)
A. Warnings against greed (Luke 12:13-21; Matthew 13:22; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; Psalm 52:6-7; Proverbs 11:28)
B. Our goal: serve God with whatever we have whenever it is needed (Matthew 19:16-22)
II. Good eye vs. bad eye (6:22-23)
A. Where is our focus? (Colossians 3:1-3)
B. The good eye sees the eternal benefits of using one’s material goods for God; he is “full of light”
C. But the bad eye focuses on the here and now; short-sighted; “full of darkness…how great is that darkness!”
III. The decision: God or mammon? (6:24)
A. Mammon = wealth personified
B. Careful stewardship and contentment are in harmony with the Lord’s teaching (Luke 16:1-13; Hebrews 13:5)
C. The decision is ours to make (Romans 6:16-18)
A. We are Christ’s body (Ephesians 5:30)
B. Marriage instituted in Eden (Ephesians 5:31; Genesis 2:24; Luke 14:26)
C. The church, part of God’s eternal purpose (Ephesians 3:10-11), foreshadowed by the marriage of Adam and Eve
II. The wife’s responsibility to her husband
A. Submission (Ephesians 5:22-24, 33)
B. Love for the family, discretion, purity, homemaking, and obedience (Titus 2:4-5)
III. The husband’s responsibility to his wife
A. Lead in love (Ephesians 5:23, 25, 28, 33)
B. Provision and protection (Ephesians 5:29)
IV. Christ is the head of the church
A. Sacrificial love (Ephesians 5:25)
B. He sanctifies and cleanses the church in baptism (Ephesians 5:26)
C. Provision and protection (Ephesians 5:29)
V. The church’s responsibility to Christ
A. Submission (Ephesians 5:23-24)
B. Moral purity and holiness (Ephesians 5:27)
I. The comfort and assurance of pardon (Isaiah 40:1-2)
A. Comfort in the New Testament (Matthew 5:4; Romans 15:4-5; 1 Corinthians 14:3; 2 Corinthians 13:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:18)
B. Comfort through companionship with God (1 John 1:6-7; 2 Cor. 12:7-10)
II. Preparation for the Lord (Isaiah 40:3-5)
A. Common practice for ancient Near East rulers
B. Prophecy of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23)
C. Preparation through repentance (Luke 3:3, 10-14; Matthew 25:31-45; James 2:14-17; Luke 19:8; Colossians 3:23-24; Ephesians 6:5-9)
III. The endurance of God’s Word (Isaiah 40:6-8)
A. Brevity of life (James 1:9-11; cf. Matthew 6:19-21)
B. Man’s inability to save himself (1 Peter 1:22-25)
IV. Shout the good news! (Isaiah 40:9-11)
A. The message goes forth out of Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3; Acts 1:8; 8:1, 4)
B. The Messiah is God’s “arm” (Isaiah 51:4-5; 52:7-10; 53:1; Luke 1:51)
C. The Good Shepherd (John 10:14)
D. Characterized by strength and tenderness (Matthew 11:29)
A. Companion passage found in Colossians 3:16
B. Let the Bible interpret itself! To “be filled with the Spirit” is to “let the word of Christ dwell in you”
II. The music question (Ephesians 5:19)
A. “Speaking to one another” – reciprocation
B. “In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” – focus on the content of the songs
C. “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” – not for entertainment, but for worship – God is the audience, not us
III. Gratitude to God (Eph. 5:20) and submission to the brethren (Eph. 5:21)
A. Our attitude before the Almighty (Colossians 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:16-18)
B. Our attitude toward one another (Gal. 6:1-2; Rom. 12:9-16; Phil. 2:1-4)
A. “New wine…firstfruits…first ripe fruit” (Numbers 18:12-13)
B. “New wine…found in the cluster” (Isaiah 65:8)
C. “Raisin cakes” (Hosea 3:1)
D. The juice of the grape (Isaiah 16:10)
E. Alcohol (Genesis 9:21)
II. What the Old Testament says about alcohol
A. Priests (Leviticus 10:8-11)
B. Civil leaders (Proverbs 31:4-5)
C. Leads to poverty (Proverbs 23:21)
D. Should not be given to others (Habakkuk 2:15)
E. “Whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1)
F. Leads to all kinds of immorality (Proverbs 23:29-35)
G. Don’t even look at it! (Proverbs 23:31)
III. What the New Testament says about alcohol
A. “Do not be drunk with wine” (Ephesians 5:18)
B. It is improper (Romans 13:13)
C. “The will of the Gentiles” (1 Peter 4:3-4)
D. We are to be persons of self-control (Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:5-11)
E. It will keep one from heaven (Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
F. Hope for those who have been deceived (1 Corinthians 6:11)
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12)
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