with Elder Elico Manenji
✝️Continuing from the previous chapter, the Apostle exhort children to obey their parents as it is the only commandment with a promise of long life on earth. Parents also not provoke their children to wrath, servants should show all obedience and fidelity to their masters. Masters should treat their servants with humanity and give to them their due wages.
Since we war against evil forces, Christians should put on the whole armor of God, having loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. For our enemy the devil is a deadly force, so we need the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome him, so we need to be vigilant and watchful unto prayer. So the Apostle sent Tychicus with this letter as he was a prisoner in Rome.
*1️⃣Ephesians 6:1-9: Duties of children, parents, servants and masters to each other.*
⏹️ Both in civil society and Christian family, children have a responsibility to obey and respect their parents in the Lord. This duty has an both an earthly reward,that of longevity of life and blessings on earth and eternal life if we obey our heavenly Father. The Lord said to Moses, *"Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you"(Deuteronomy 5:16).*
⏭️ Parents also should treat their children well and must combine wise teaching with understanding, disciplining were possible their children in love to the honor of their children's respect. The wiseman says, *"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it"(Proverbs 22:6).*
*"Correct your son, and he shall give you rest; yes, he shall give delight to your soul"(Proverbs 29:17).*
⏹️The same principles apply also to employers and employees in any society. Masters should treat their employees with respect, giving them their pay in die time, employees must work honestly and well for their earthly masters as if they were working for Christ. The Psalmist says, *"Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait on the LORD our God, until that he have mercy on us"(Psalm 123:2).*
⏭️Masters must act with similar honesty and concern towards those who work for them, remembering that in the eyes of God they too are servants of God as they give account for either their good deeds or evil deeds. The Lord said, *"For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regards not persons, nor takes reward"(Deuteronomy 10:17).*
*2️⃣Ephesians 6:10-18: The Christian armor to live a victorious life.*
⏹️ The Christians life is a battle and march, our warfare is a spiritual warfare, a struggle against hostile demonic powers who have rebelled against God and oppose his people.
⏭️In order to overcome their enemy, Christians need to get strength and support from God, they should put on the whole armor of God:
i.Having their robes tied with the belt of truth. Jesus said, *"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"(John 8:32).*
ii. Then put on the breastplate of righteousness. The prophet Isaiah says, *"For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation on his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak"(Isaiah 59:17).*
iii, Their feet with shoes ready for spreading the gospel of peace. The prophet Nahum says, *"Behold on the mountains the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace!.."(Nahum 1:15).*
iv. Having the shield of faith. The Apostle says, *"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report"(Hebrews 11:1-2).*
v. Having put on the helmet of salvation. The Apostle says, *"But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation"(1 Thessalonians 5:8).*
vi. Having the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
vii.Praying always with supplication of the Spirit and and for all saints. The Apostle says, *"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart"(Hebrews 4:12).*
*3️⃣Ephesians 6:19-24: Encouragement to continue prayer and supplication to all saints.*
⏹️As we pray for others, we need to pray for ourselves and others to pray for us, not to escape the troubles of this world, but to endure trials in the Lord as Jesus Christ our Saviour endured and triumphed over principalities and powers. The Apostle James says, *"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much"(James 5:16).*
⏭️Our prayers should Paul be that we speak boldly, without shame for Christ, the Saviour of the world, we as His ambassadors. The Apostle says, *"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God"(2 Corinthians 5:20).*
⏭️We should always remember that God is faithful, he will not abandon His own people even if we are troubled and persecuted. The Apostle says, *"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body"(2 Corinthians 4:8-10).*
*🅰️Appeal*
If the gospel of salvation is concealed, it is concealed to those who will be lost. There is no two ways about it, its either you will be lost or saved. The whole gospel was a mystery, unknown to many people but it has been made a revelation in the work and coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah. So all of the ministers of God should publish it as the only means of saving people from their sins and so avoid eternal damnation. I invite you to accept this gospel of truth, their non other truth besides that Christ died to save mankind. The Apostle says, *"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that,denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ"(Titus 2:11-13).* Amen!!!
Elico Manenji
('263712952704).
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