Key Points:
1. Depend on God to face spiritual warfare.
2. Stand and persevere with fellow believers to advance the gospel
Key themes:
o Paul exhorts the Ephesians to depend on the Lord(10)
o Paul instructs the Ephesians to arm themselves with God's might to stand against the Enemy(11,13)
o Paul reminds Christians that we are in a spiritual war and our true enemies are not people, so be prepared(12-13)
o The weapons of a believer are truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, our salvation, and the Word of God. (14-17)
o Paul reminds believers to stay in constant communication with the Lord(18)
o Paul ask believers to pray for all believers to stand against the enemy and have boldness to present the gospel(18-20)
o Paul sends Tychicus to encourage the Ephesians(21-22)
o Paul reminds the Ephesians to continue trusting God and to let His peace remain in the body as they love one another. (23-24)
Reflective Discussion Questions:
1. Who does Paul tell the Ephesians to be strengthened by in vs 10?
a. Why does Paul remind the Ephesians of God's great strength?
b. How does knowing that God is immensely strong affect how you face difficulty?
c. What keeps you from being strengthened by the Lord?
2. Why does Paul tell us to put on the armor of God?(11,13)
a. How would the understanding that you are in a spiritual war change the way you live? Priorities? How you handle issues?
b. How does Paul's assertion in vs 12 affect how you view relationships with people? How you view politics local/global?
c. What are some practices a person can cultivate to be ready to fight in spiritual battles?
3. Why does Paul associate the tools God gives us to fight spiritual warfare with specific parts of Roman Armor? (14-17)
a. How does the image of a belt help us understand the role of truth in our lives?
b. Breastplate and righteousness?
c. Shoes and the gospel of peace?
d. Shield and Faith?
e. Helmet and Salvation?
f. Sword and the Spirit?
4. What do we understand about offensive spiritual warfare from vs 17 and the sword of the Spirit?
a. Who does the actual attacking in spiritual warfare?
b. What is the responsibility of the believer in spiritual warfare according to vs 14-17?
5. Why does Paul emphasize the need to be in constant communication with God?(18)
a. How does our constant communication with God affect the way we view our role in spiritual warfare?
b. What is the relationship between individual believers in spiritual warfare according to vs 18-19?
c. How can this knowledge change the way you relate to other believers and face difficulty?
6. Why does Paul send Tychicus to the Ephesians?
a. How does Paul's intent in sending Tychicus relate to everything else in Ephesians?
b. How does vs 23 serve as a synopsis for the book of Ephesians?
Individual Challenge:
Would you commit to contacting two Christian friends and asking how you can pray for them this week? Would you commit to praying for them everyday? How would your priorities and attitude to life change if you interceded for someone else everyday? How would your relationships with Christian people change? What would the impact be on your relationships with the lost?
Community Challenge:
How would our community change if everyone in our group regularly contacted each other and prayed for each other? How would this affect the way visitors feel coming into our group? What would the testimony of our group be to the lost in our community?
1. Depend on God to face spiritual warfare.
2. Stand and persevere with fellow believers to advance the gospel
Key themes:
o Paul exhorts the Ephesians to depend on the Lord(10)
o Paul instructs the Ephesians to arm themselves with God's might to stand against the Enemy(11,13)
o Paul reminds Christians that we are in a spiritual war and our true enemies are not people, so be prepared(12-13)
o The weapons of a believer are truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, our salvation, and the Word of God. (14-17)
o Paul reminds believers to stay in constant communication with the Lord(18)
o Paul ask believers to pray for all believers to stand against the enemy and have boldness to present the gospel(18-20)
o Paul sends Tychicus to encourage the Ephesians(21-22)
o Paul reminds the Ephesians to continue trusting God and to let His peace remain in the body as they love one another. (23-24)
Reflective Discussion Questions:
1. Who does Paul tell the Ephesians to be strengthened by in vs 10?
a. Why does Paul remind the Ephesians of God's great strength?
b. How does knowing that God is immensely strong affect how you face difficulty?
c. What keeps you from being strengthened by the Lord?
2. Why does Paul tell us to put on the armor of God?(11,13)
a. How would the understanding that you are in a spiritual war change the way you live? Priorities? How you handle issues?
b. How does Paul's assertion in vs 12 affect how you view relationships with people? How you view politics local/global?
c. What are some practices a person can cultivate to be ready to fight in spiritual battles?
3. Why does Paul associate the tools God gives us to fight spiritual warfare with specific parts of Roman Armor? (14-17)
a. How does the image of a belt help us understand the role of truth in our lives?
b. Breastplate and righteousness?
c. Shoes and the gospel of peace?
d. Shield and Faith?
e. Helmet and Salvation?
f. Sword and the Spirit?
4. What do we understand about offensive spiritual warfare from vs 17 and the sword of the Spirit?
a. Who does the actual attacking in spiritual warfare?
b. What is the responsibility of the believer in spiritual warfare according to vs 14-17?
5. Why does Paul emphasize the need to be in constant communication with God?(18)
a. How does our constant communication with God affect the way we view our role in spiritual warfare?
b. What is the relationship between individual believers in spiritual warfare according to vs 18-19?
c. How can this knowledge change the way you relate to other believers and face difficulty?
6. Why does Paul send Tychicus to the Ephesians?
a. How does Paul's intent in sending Tychicus relate to everything else in Ephesians?
b. How does vs 23 serve as a synopsis for the book of Ephesians?
Individual Challenge:
Would you commit to contacting two Christian friends and asking how you can pray for them this week? Would you commit to praying for them everyday? How would your priorities and attitude to life change if you interceded for someone else everyday? How would your relationships with Christian people change? What would the impact be on your relationships with the lost?
Community Challenge:
How would our community change if everyone in our group regularly contacted each other and prayed for each other? How would this affect the way visitors feel coming into our group? What would the testimony of our group be to the lost in our community?
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