I. Intro.
A. Recap on Ephesians 5.
1. Vs 1&2.
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
2. Sacrificial love is the basis and motivation from which we do everything else.
3. If love is not our motivation, then holiness becomes legalism, worship becomes performance and submission becomes slavery.
B. Backstory of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
1. To fully grasp what Paul was saying in his letter to the Ephesians, it’s helpful to understand the condition and culture of the city in that day.
2. Ephesus was a wealthy port city, a hub of commerce and witchcraft.
a. Known in the ancient world as a center of magic and divination.
b. Massive temple of Artemis (Diana) one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
c. Pliny: 425ft L x 225ft W, 127 columns that were 60ft H.
d. The Ephesians believed that they were the true keepers of Diana worship.
e. Acts 19:28 “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”
f. Large yearly festival of Diana and people came from all overt the ancient world.
g. Paul’s ministry was so effective with miracles, signs and wonders (Acts 19:11) that Jewish exorcists tried to copy him. (Seven sons of Sceva)
3. Prominence of women.
a. Cult of Diana was a fertility cult, so they worshipped her for success.
b. Believed that all light and life came through the first woman, who was a goddess.
c. Female priests, female leaders in highest civic positions.
d. This wasn’t equality, it was the worship of women and the domination of men.
4. So many Ephesians came to faith in Jesus, that it disrupted the market for occult products.
a. Acts 19:18-20
18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
b. Most likely the Greek drachma, worth about $6 million today.
c. This caused a riot by the idol makers.
5. So this is the backdrop of Paul’s letter and knowing this will help us to understand the book of Ephesians.
II. Verses 8-21
A. Verses 3-5
1. Call to holiness, personal sanctification.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
2. All of these behaviors are consistent with a society that is self-seeking, self-indulging and self-promoting, and they are totally inconsistent with the Kingdom of God.
3. Just like the Ephesian Christians, we find ourselves endeavoring to live a godly life in the midst of a culture that is actively indulging the pleasures of the flesh and worshipping wealth and success.
4. Fornication: Gr porneia
a. root of pornogrpahy
b. in Paul’s day, it implied prostitution, ritual prostitution, idol worship
c. We tend to think of fornication as the act of sex outside of marriage and looking at pornography as lust, but I think the case can be made that just looking at porn is fornication.
5. Covetousness: this was a wealthy city, rich by trading. We also live in a wealthy society, especially by the standards of the rest of the world, and we should be on guard against greed, always wanting more, jealous of other people’s lifestyles, not being content with what God has given us.
6. The list goes on:
a. filthiness: impure motives
b. foolish talking, coarse jesting: vulgarity, dishonoring words, etc.
7. These behaviors are normal in the kingdom of darkness, but the person who does these things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Experience the benefits of God’s kingdom here & now.)
a. We are charged by God to live out the culture of His kingdom even while we are surrounded by there culture of darkness.
8. Vs 6 “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
a. Ephesus was big on syncretism. That means the blending of religions.
b. Paul was warning them about this heresy. (Still at work today.)
c. One foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world.
7. Revelation 21:6-8
6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
B. Vs 8-14 Walk in Light
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
1. Paul is saying, now that you have been saved out of the darkness of that witchcraft, now that you are light in the Lord, continue on in that light. Live in that light.
2. Vs 10 “…finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”
a. ‘finding out’ is dokimazo and it means “proving what is acceptable to the Lord.”
b. It means that as we walk in this light, as we put into practice the ways of God, we prove by experience the lifestyle that is acceptable and pleasing to God.
3. Proverbs 16:7 “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
4. Vs 11 “… have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but…expose them.”
a. Not in a fault finding way, there is no love in that.
b. In a loving, compassionate way that cares for the safety and well being of your brother to sister.
c. Pointing out the dangers, the traps and snares that are hiding in the darkness.
d. Not fault finding aimed at people… but the practices that lead to darkness.
C. Vs 15-21 Walk in wisdom.
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
1. Walk circumspectly: live with intention, take thought to our ways.
2. Redeeming the time: make the best use of our time. The Lord redeemed us, He gave us life and eternity, so we should make the best use of it.
3. Think of a prisoner who spends the time in confinement thinking about what he would have done differently, what he would do if they could only be free again. And then one day, he receives a pardon, gets his life back.
a. Do you think he have a new appreciation for his freedom and their time?
b. What would you think of him if he went back to his old lifestyle of crime?
c. In the same way, we have been given an incredible opportunity from the Lord to use our time wisely, in ways that give life. (Life to us and others)
d. If it’s rest, then rest, if it’s to serve others, then serve, worship, then worship, etc.
4. A NOTE ON PRAYER, WORSHIP, ETC.:
a. Worship, prayer, bible study, etc. is not a waste of time.
b. John 12, Mary poured oil on the feet of the Lord costing about a year’s wages.
c. Judas thought it could have been put to better use but Jesus rebuked him.
d. God is extravagant in His giving to us, in pouring out His grace, mercy and love. Shouldn’t we pour out our hearts extravagantly back to Him?
5. Vs 18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”
6. The Lord is calling us to turn away from the things that intoxicate and distract us because they are a false refuge, there is no hope in them, no life in them.
a. Again, this creeps into our lives because drunkenness is acceptable in the culture around us.
b. My experience about alcohol and church, worship teams.
7. Not a coincidence that alcohol is called ‘spirits’ Alcohol is a counterfeit of what the Spirit offers us.
a. Drunkenness opens a door for unclean spirits to gain access to our lives.
b. Rom 6:16 Principle
c. Prov 23:21 “The drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty.”
d. Also mocking, critical (Prov 20:1) and error, poor judgement (Isa 28:7)
e. This will keep us from talking in wisdom.
8. Instead of counterfeit spirits, we are to be filled with the Spirit, keep on being filled with
the Spirit. Keep drinking in the Spirit of God to maintain your spiritual euphoria.
9. Worship; the number one takeaway from this is that worship is one of the main ways that
we stay filled why the Spirit.
10. Paul is saying “Don’t get drunk, worship instead.”
a. Think of a drunken party (football, birthday, etc.)
b. Paul says have a worship party instead.
III. Submission to one another and to Christ.
A. Vs 22-32
1. Remember from previous verses…
a. Vs 1&2 Everything must be done in love, daily sacrificial love.
b. Vs 21
2. Remember the culture of Ephesus that these Christians were saved out of.
a. Female worship, fertility cult, etc.
3. The point of this passage is to bring the culture of the kingdom into our households.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular
so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
2. When it comes to talking about submission and respect between husband and wives, we need to understand three things…
a. One, these are ideals, these are what we strive for. They are not meant to be rules that we punish each other over when we fail to walk them out.
b. Two, these do not exist in a vacuum, they are not stand alone. The source of them is the sacrificial love mentioned in the 1st two verses of Ephesians 5.
c. Three, these are not demanded by the husband or the wife, they are voluntarily given.
3. At the core is submission to Christ.
a. Vs 21 “…submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
b. Vs 24 “…just as the church is subject to Christ…”
4. Wives: “…submit to your own husbands…”
a. Your own husband, peace & unity in your house, not submission to a male dominated hierarchy. (Just your husband, not to every man.)
b. Gr: hypotasso, to voluntarily submit to their leadership, voluntary cooperation, to share a burden; used in a military sense to mean “take your position on the battlefield.”
c. Wives are also to respect their husbands (Gr. reverence)
5. Husbands: love your wives, even as you love yourself.
a. Headship is not so much about ruling as it is taking responsibility for the household.
b. Laying down our lives for our wives as Christ laid His life down for us.
c. As Christ is the head of the church… how did Christ do this? He was determined to obey the Spirit, He was totally uncompromising, and He sacrificed Himself to provide for our salvation.
d. He didn’t argue or try to force submission, He maintained a standard of holiness and said “Follow Me.”
6. The wive’s submission and the husband’s sacrificial love are both rooted in their submission to Christ.
a. Keep the big picture in mind.
b. We all submit to one another, we all submit to Christ.
c. Submission and sacrificial love in the home is God’s model to show His kingdom to the world.
7. What the Lord is trying to do with us is something like this:
a. Be motivated by sacrificial love at the core of our being.
b. Imitate God by adopting a lifestyle of sacrificial love.
c. Walking in wisdom when it comes to the influence of the world because the world’s wisdom is foolishness to God, demonic in nature and leads to death.
d. Make our households a lamp on a stand by how we treat one another, so that those in darkness will see the light of God’s way.
e. Make our church a city on a hill for the same reason.
8. GIVE IT TIME for your MARRIAGE TO GROW INTO THIS.
IV. Closing.
A. Ephesians 5 isn’t just a list of rules—it’s an invitation into a lifestyle.
1. A walk. A daily rhythm where love becomes our core, light becomes our witness, and wisdom becomes our compass.
2. The words of this chapter are not meant to restrict us from having fun. They are meant to show us how to live in the freedom that Jesus provided for us.
3. It all begins with a heart of love, for God, each other and the lost.
B. A fresh start.
1. The Lord offers us a fresh start today. His mercies are new every morning.
2. A fresh start by turning away from alcohol, vulgar talk, etc. A fresh start for marriages by extending forgiveness, letting go of past hurts and offenses, being willing to trust again, to stop being critical.
3. Can we walk in love with one another in a fresh new way?