8 to 12 Sessions in the Book of Ephesians LEADERS GUIDE
How to Teach This Book These lesson plans are designed to provide guidance, yet leave you free to structure your class in a way that is most comfortable for you and for the particular group you teach. It will be important, however, to incorporate as much participation by class members as possible. As each student will have a copy of the textbook, and you will give reading assignments, most of your class members will have some understanding of the basic teaching of Ephesians and its treatment of the armor of God. Feel free to use or dismiss suggestions in this Leaders Guide, and trust the Holy Spirit to touch and heal the hearts of those in your class who stand in special need of these truths. Larry
CLASS 1 To introduce the topic and distribute books to your students Ask your students to recall three incidents from the gospels where Jesus cast out demons or evil spirits. Or select three yourself, and have a different class member read each respective passage aloud. Ask: What do we learn about evil spirits (demons) from these accounts? Jot down responses on a chalkboard. Satan s Lie [mini-lecture] Today many people in our culture assume that beings who inhabit the spirit world have a beneficent attitude toward human beings. Individuals seek to contact the spirit world, and many invite spirit guides to enter their lives and help them make life-shaping as well as daily decisions. These beliefs have no support in Scripture, which portrays the spirits humans can contact as evil and as demons who owe their allegiance to Satan and not to God (see Matthew 25:41). Ask your students to come up with one word that describes how they think many people would feel about undertaking a study on protection from demons and evil spirits. [Often people are concerned that to even study about such things makes them vulnerable to demonic attack. It is good if such concerns can be expressed at the beginning of your study.] Read or have one of your students read Ephesians 6:10 12. We may not want to think about demonic activity, but that doesn t stop Satan from launching attacks on us. We need to understand the devil s schemes to be able to stand against them. Have your students list all the questions they may have about the powers of this dark world Paul warns of. List their questions, and promise that many of them will be answered during this study. Respond to Ask your students to concentrate on Jesus as you read aloud Ephesians 1:17 23. We need not fear the powers of darkness when we have a relationship with Jesus, who is incomparably greater than all the forces evil can marshal against us. Keep Jesus in focus, and He will not only calm any fears we may have but mark the way to victory over every evil spirit that might assail us. Assign part 1, Understanding Spiritual Forces (pages 11 26), to be read before the next class.
CLASS 2 To become oriented to Ephesians and the spiritual forces of evil List the following questions on the board: 1. How did people of the first century view the spirit world? 2. How do moderns tend to view the spirit world? 3. What are demons, and what are they trying to do? 4. What is the significance of the book of Ephesians as far as defending ourselves from evil spiritual forces is concerned? Either let your students respond freely to answer these questions, or divide the class into four groups and assign one question to each. The groups can use the textbook to review, and then report their answers to these questions. Satan s Lie [mini-lecture] Satan seems to stress one of two extremes in dealing with humans. In some cultures the activities of evil spirits are recognized by all. In such cultures Satan uses fear to control people and keep them from faith. In our culture the activities of evil spirits are disguised, and Satan s goal is to have people believe that he and demons do not exist, or that they are irrelevant to their daily lives. Introduce this simple test: How many of us believe in Satan and demons? [Most will raise their hands.] Who can tell me how evil spirits have attacked you this past month? [Almost no one will respond!] If we truly believe Satan and evil spirits are real, we need to know how they are attacking us and how we defend ourselves. Review the material in chapter 4 (pages 23 26). Read together Ephesians 6:14 17. [You may want to include some outside research on Roman armies and Roman armor.] Be sure to show how the development t of the book of Ephesians is related to the list of armor in this passage. Respond to Ask each person to pick a partner. These partners will help each other put on the armor God supplies as you study together each week. The only commitment is to talk at least once, on the phone or in person, about how each is doing in putting on the armor studied in the most recent class. Assign part 2, The Helmet of Salvation (pages 29 47). Also Ephesians 1:1 23.
CLASS 3 To help students understand and put on God s helmet of salvation Copy the list of Satan s lies (pages 32 33) on the chalkboard. Ask each student to pick one of the lies. Each is to share the lie chosen with the partner selected last week. Together let them imagine experiences that might have planted such a thought in a person s mind and heart. Have several report on what they came up with. Satan s Lie [mini-lecture] Satan is intent on making our lives miserable and convincing us that we are useless and have nothing to contribute to others or to God. He does this by using the mean or thoughtless words and actions of others their sins against us to distort our self-image and convince us that one or more of the lies we see on the chalkboard is true about us. This distorted image of ourselves opens the door to continuing defeats that support Satan s initial lies. The truth is that God shaped us to be the persons we can become. What s more, each person is so important that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have been working to bring us a transforming salvation, a salvation that frees us to become the person God intended each of us, as individuals, to become. Have class members read Ephesians 1:3 12. As each verse is read, comment on its significance, guided by the notes on pages 38 41. Responding to Prior to class, invite one of your stronger students to prepare an explanation of the Roman soldier s helmet and how it protected him in warfare. He or she will also review how an understanding of the salvation God has provided for us can protect us from buying in to Satan s lies. Responding as a Class As you close, read aloud in unison the confessions, renunciations and declarations on pages 44 45. Assign part 3, The Shield of Faith (pages 51 69), and Ephesians 2:1 10. Also remind study partners to talk during the week and share how they are doing in putting on the helmet of salvation.
CLASS 4 To help students understand and put on the shield of faith Read the story in 1 Samuel 13:5 7. Then ask your students to suggest words that express how Saul must have felt under these circumstances. When the class s suggestions have been listed on the board, ask each student to think of but not to share a time in his or her life when he or she felt much as Saul must have. Go over how the Roman soldier s shield was used to make the enemy s fiery darts bounce harmlessly away. Have a student read Ephesian 2:1 10, and then review the commentary on the passage in the textbook, emphasizing the change of faith to faithfulness. Satan s Lie Return to 1 Samuel 13 and finish the story by reading verses 8 12. Invite your class to discuss. What was the lie Satan was telling Saul? What drove Saul to buy the lie and act on it? What would Saul have done differently if he had raised the shield of faithfulness? Responding to God s truth Ask your students to recall the illustrations of God s faithfulness in difficult circumstances provided in the textbook. Then have each one think of a time when he or she felt pressures like those on King Saul, but found God truly was faithful and met their needs. Encourage as many as are willing to share their personal stories of God s faithfulness. Responding as a Class Close by reading Psalm 3 in unison. Assign part 4, The Sandals of Peace (pages 73 90), and Ephesians 2:11 4:16 for next week. Encourage study partners to share more personal experiences during the week as they recall how God has been faithful to them in difficult circumstances.
CLASS 5 To help students understand and put on the sandals of peace Write on the board, That really makes me angry. I ll never speak to you again! Divide the class into groups of four or five people each. One set of groups is to imagine at least two scenarios of what might have made the speaker angry, and the second is to imagine how this statement might play out in the future and how it might impact the speaker and others. Or simply ask volunteers to tell how bitterness and hostility have impacted family or friends they have known. Satan s Lie [mini-lecture] Read aloud the true story of Marti [under the heading The Lord of Chaos ] on pages 75 77. Satan is eager for us to remember slights, to hold tight to bitterness and anger. Review the function of sandals in the Roman legionnaire s equipment, and why it was so important. Ask someone to read Eph 2:14 16, against the background of the hostility between the Jew and the Greek. There are two biblical emphases in this section: (1) that Christ s cross makes cultural and interpersonal differences irrelevant, and (2) that we do not have to feel responsible to make a person who has mistreated us and others pay for what they ve done [see pages 84 85, under the heading The Cross Is the Key to Peace ]. Responding to Encourage your students to think through their relationships and identify any in which they feel particularly uncomfortable. Discuss: How hard is it to maintain peace? What keeps us from forgiving others? What does and what doesn t forgiveness imply? Encourage each class member to do the exercises at the end of chapter 16. Close by reading in unison Colossians 3:12 15. Assign part 5, The Breastplate of Righteousness (pages 93 108), and Ephesians 4:17 5:7.
CLASS 6 To help students understand and commit to personal righteousness Ask students to list typical sins people might commit. Write their ideas on the board. Then ask them to vote on which sin is worst. Satan s Lie [mini-lecture] Satan wants us to think that some sins are unimportant. That our habit of gossiping isn t worth dealing with, as long as we don t rob banks or beat our spouses. Invite your students to look together at the list of works of the flesh in Ephesians 4:25 and following. Somehow anger and sexual immorality make the same list! Each is generated by what Paul calls the old man. Explain the function of the Roman legionnaire s breastplate. Carefully review the different usage of righteousness in the Scripture. We Christians are to put on the new self and take off the old we are responsible for the kind of lives we live. You may wish at this point to review the demonic entry points (pages 102 104). Very probably the most subtle is Satan s efforts to let us slide into a way of life that, while not obviously sinful, reflect the values and attitudes of the old self rather than the person God intends to shape into Christ s image. Responding to List the old self issues from pages 107 108 on the board, and take five minutes during which each class member can engage in self-examination. Or look at and discuss the process on page 108 for dealing with personal sins. While point 3 is probably the most difficult thing for a person to do, it is often the key to breaking a sinful habit or pattern. Closing Observation Note that in Galatians 5:19 21 Paul lists acts of the sinful nature. But in verse 22 23 he lists character traits produced in us by the Holy Spirit. God doesn t ask us to reform. He invites us to be transformed. As long as we re living in the realm of the sinful nature, we re vulnerable to demonic attack. Putting on a righteousness that comes from the inside out is what Paul is calling for in directing our attention to the breastplate of righteousness. Assign part 6, The Belt of Truth (pages 111 127), and Ephesians 5:8 6:9.
CLASS 7 To help students understand the nature of and need for truth Read Genesis 3:1 13. Your students are to stop you each time they hear a lie. List the lies on the chalkboard. Satan s Lie Review the previous pieces of armor (helmet of salvation, shield of faith, sandals of peace, breastplate of righteousness). How does Satan use lies or deceit in each attack against us? Review how the belt of truth was the first piece of armor a Roman soldier put on. The text suggests that truth is key to wearing the rest (see page 116). Encourage your students to suggest ways the story of David Balfour (see pages 117 118) is an appropriate illustration of Scripture s use of the idea of truth. Responding to Put John 8:31 32 on the board: Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Invite your students to explore the significance of what Jesus is saying. [They should note that the key to being set free isn t simply to understand the truth, but to know it in such a way that we hold to or follow Jesus teachings. Truth is not simply to be known. It is to be accepted, and lived.] You may wish to close this class with a review of chapter 25, Biblical Demonology. Give no assignment for the next class.
CLASS 8 Select any one of the eight Live Free lessons included on pages 161 186 in the book. If you ve chosen to commit a full twelve or thirteen weeks to this study, select different Live Free lesson plans to use for the remaining weeks.