What is the "first love" which our Lord says the Ephesians have "left"? And how do they get it back?

The Apostle Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians with an urgent call to prayerfulness. All of us must confess our praylessness. In Ephesians 5:18, the Apostle lays before us all the reasons why we should pray and the key to finding time to pray.

Each of the seven letters to the seven church of Asia Minor in Revelation 2 and 3 contain characteristics, and warnings, and encouragements which apply to every church since the ascension of Christ more than 2,000 years ago.

Listen as we examine the first of these letters.

The Apostle Paul and his Ephesian audience would not have had a physical Bible with 66 books like we do.

So what does Paul understand to be "the word of God" when he calls on us to "take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"?

Why does the Apostle Paul identify the word of God as the sword "of the Spirit"? This is the 11th time Paul has referred to the Holy Spirit in his letter to the Ephesians. Only as we understand what he has already said about the Holy Spirit can we understand how to effectively wield the Spirit's sword.

The Helmet of Salvation is the gospel realities which the Apostle Paul delineates in Ephesians 1. In 2 Corinthians 4 he describes these gospel realities as "treasure in earthen vessels," and then proceeds to model for us how to use the helmet of salvation as a defense against the "weariness of our minds."

In the Old Testament, God gave clear prohibitions against "imaging" Him. He went further, even telling Moses that no man could see Him and live.

And yet here in the opening chapter of the Book of Revelation, God paints for John - and for us - a picture of the glorified Christ.

What do we learn about the character of our risen and reigning Savior from this picture?

In Obadiah 1:10-16, the prophet contrasts "the day of Jacob's calamity, distress, and destruction" at the hands of Edom with "the day of the Lord's retributive justice" against Edom. God always vindicates His people.

As the Apostle Paul comes to the end of his letter to the Ephesians, he is at pains to remind us that the believer is engaged in a cosmic spiritual war. The devil is bent on wearing you out, to cause you to become weary and to faint in your minds.

The helmet of salvation is the gift that God has given to us to guard our hearts and minds against Satan's attacks on our assurance. What is this helmet and how is it to be used?