Subscribe: https://youtube.com/StJohnDC?sub_confirmation=1
The Pastoral Epistles of Saint Paul
Talk by Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen), part 23, Ephesians 6
November 15, 2022
 
Topics include: 
(1) Obedience: in the family, in the workplace, etc. Parents are to be obeyed in whatever way they are not offending God; In ancient Rome, a large percentage of the population, and certainly of the Church, were slaves. In the modern context, we can think of the relationships between employees and employers. St. Paul teaches that we can transform slavery into a spiritual vocation of serving Christ. We will answer for how we serve and the attitude we have. Rebelliousness and anger or hypocrisy won't do us any good. "Masters" have a double responsibility: they must answer for their servants and themselves before God. These relationships must be based on mutual love and respect and synergistic cooperation. They are an image of the love and respect within the family of God --- honesty without hypocrisy in whatever ministry we are assigned. 
(2) Opposing Satan: We struggle not against people but against the world, passions, unrighteousness, and ultimately against, the demons that are behind them. We are called to avail ourselves of the Spiritual armor that God provides, to persevere in vigil/watchfulness, to stand firm against evil, and to pray for one another in that struggle. 
(3) Praying at all times in the Spirit: prayer is not asking for stuff but consciousness and glorification of God. It is actualizing our identity in Christ and recognizing the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Through prayer, we enter into that flow of love between the persons of the Holy Trinity. We should strive to remain in an attitude of prayer at all times. We must persevere and let the Holy Spirit pray within us and unite us to Christ. We must be continually vigilant against the enemy's lies and the lies we tell ourselves to boost our own egos. It is God's will that we persevere and fight against the Evil One because it is by means of trials and temptations that we grow. We have left synergy with the devil and entered into synergy with the Holy Spirit and with one another to do the will of God together in His family.