Ephesians 6:18-24, The Believer’s Prayer Life

turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians tonight we're going to finish the book of Ephesians yes we're gonna be looking at chapter 6 verses 18 through 24 in a message I'm entitled the believers prayer life Ephesians chapter 6 verses 18 through 24 as we've been talking about spiritual armor and I've come to believe that prayer is a part of the believers armor let's pray Heavenly Father I do pray for this service and I pray for these men and women lord I pray for their hearts and their holiness lord I pray that you would awaken within them a profound distaste for sin and a real desire to repent of sin and to turn to you in submission and obedience lord I pray for their marriages I pray for their children lord I pray that you would awaken in each and every heart a keen sense of your presence and a profound sense that you love them and you care for them and you are concerned about each and every aspect of their life and so Heavenly Father again I pray that for the empty heart you would fill it for the guilty heart you would forgive it and for the person who is just inundated with worry and distress that Lord you would invite them to trust you and so father we commit this time to you and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen Ephesians chapter 6 beginning in verse 18 Paul writes praying always or as my spanish-speaking friends say arundel siempre praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints and for me that uh pterence maybe given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in Chains in that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak but that you also may know my affairs and how I'm doing tisha 'kiss a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will make all things known to you whom I have sent to you for this very purpose that you may know our affairs and that he may comfort your hearts peace to the Brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity amen years ago I read a story that troops training and fighting in Iran or Iraq and Afghanistan there was times where they were firing more than one-billion bullets a year this caused an ammunition shortage all over the world police departments were unable to get much needed ammunition or carry adequate rounds and according to the story dozens of police departments were experiencing delays for as long as your for handgun and rifle ammunition the shortages also caused the price of ammunition to double few things are more troubling than entering a battle ill-equipped or unprepared no one wants to see soldiers or police officers fighting a war on armed or unprepared Paul was no different we're called to battle a foe that we cannot possibly defeat without the spiritual armor that God gives us remember what we've already learned our enemy is Satan and his demons and hosts of wickedness our enemy is personal and deceitful and invisible and powerful and persistent and cunning and wicked we fight with truth our belt we fight with holiness and righteousness our breastplate we fight with the gospel our shoes the sacrifice of Jesus provides peace with God and the peace of God we fight with faith and confidence in the Lord Jesus that's our shield with confidence we know that we can stand whatever spiritual assault the enemy brings against us we've already learned that we can submit to God we can resist the devil and he will flee with assurance of salvation in the Lord Jesus our helmet we can hold our heads high in the battlefield knowing that we're protected against the crushing blows of doubt and discouragement that's brought to us by the enemy our modern weapon of choice is the handgun but what good are guns without bullets and you see prayer is the ammunition of our warfare there's a huge debate in our culture in society right now about what kind of a society and a culture where that we're going to be but can you imagine can you imagine there there would be no gun discussion if there were no bullet discussion prayer is our ammunition but prayer is more than our ammunition prayer is firing the winning shot prayer is the decisive shot in our battle prayer is our supply line prayer is our link with Heaven's headquarters both our orders and our supplies come through prayer without fervent effectual prayer we won't be able to fight effectively we won't be able to preach persuasively we won't be able to communicate convincingly we will find it difficult to minister peace or love or grace apart from persistent prevailing prayer without prayer it's like hitting the battlefield imagine imagine you have all of the sophisticated body armor known to man you have advanced weaponry you have no ammunition Paul reminds us to stay strong in prayer we're to be bold in battle were to cultivate closeness with faithful friends we're to make sure that the love of Jesus is found everywhere and so look at the believers prayer in verse 18 look what it says praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints Paul lays out for alls of prayer the Christian begins and ends the battle on his knees on her knees so what are the four all's number one we pray at all times that means we pray on a regular basis and on a consistent basis number - we with all prayer and supplication or request that means we pray things generally and we pray things specifically and number three with all perseverance because good soldiers stay alert good soldiers don't fall asleep on duty good soldiers don't abandon the mission and with all supplication for all the saints since God's people are united in one new society one new man what Paul is making reference to as the body of Christ in the Church of Christ Edward Payson said prayer is the first thing the second thing the third thing necessary to minister pray therefore my dear brother pray pray and then pray again I suspect that Paul continues with the theme of the bullet believers spiritual armor if that's the case I'm gonna suggest you that it is the case then this would mean that this is number seven on the list of the Christian and complete armor seven of course is the number of perfection or completion I'm gonna suggest you that it gives us a hint at how complete prayer makes you as an equipped Saint we pray at all times this means constant continual regular consistent prayer I've already said that prayer is an admission that you can't and that God can in other words it's an attitude of the mind and of the heart it's a temperament if you will it doesn't mean vain prayer it doesn't mean repetitious prayer I grew up in a culture and a society at least so religious culture in society where you did repetitive prayer I mean who can't say our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power the glory forever and ever you don't have to even think about it you just it's you just put it in gear and there you go that's not what it's talking about the prayer is a wonderful prayer and a perfect prayer but a meaningless prayer unless you think about what it is that you're doing and why you're doing it so when is it a good time to pray always now in Acts chapter 1 verse 14 we read these all continued in one Accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers when we see the birth of the church and the awakening that takes place in the descent of the Holy Spirit they were in one place and they were praying Paul writes to the Thessalonians and he says pray continually in first Thessalonians 5:17 Abraham Lincoln like to tell the story of two Quakers and their discussion about Lincoln and Jeff Jefferson Davis the president of the southern states I think mr. Jefferson will win this war said the first one what does thou think or why does now think so because Jefferson is a praying man and so is Abraham a praying man that's true answered the first man but the Lord will think Abraham is joking now yes life has room for joking but prayer is no joke if you were with Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War you would have found him often his knees praying interceding pleading for his country and pleading for the people Christians are to exert effort there to exercise some sort of discipline this doesn't mean that that prayer is a continuous uninterrupted stream or strain but it does mean that it's a position of the heart it's a posture of who you are on a regular basis Thomas Kelly says in the testament of devotion quote there's a way of ordering our mental life on more than just one level at once on one level we can be thinking and discussing and seeing and calculating and meeting the demands of external affairs but deep within behind the scenes at a profounder level we may also be in prayer and adoration song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathing's unquote there are times when you are speaking or talking or reading and you're having a conversation but in the back of your mind you understand that you need to pray for that person you need to pray for their marriage you need to pray for their employment you need to pray for their holiness you need to pray because things are happening in their life that are going to require a supernatural intervention we pray and petition that means all kinds of prayers I have a note in my Bible to remind me about meditation number one confession number two adoration number three submission number four petition number five so when I am praying I am thinking about this I'm reflecting on what the Bible is saying I'm confessing my sins I'm worshiping the Lord submitting to his his principles and then praying and petitioning him for my needs General Eisenhower said quote prayer gives you the courage to make the decisions you must make in crisis and the confidence to leave the results to a higher power unquote this president wasn't quote-unquote religious by any stretch of the imagination but he knew that there was a supernatural intervention that was necessary and Paul writes with all perseverance it was Spurgeon who said it was by perseverance that the snail made its way into the Ark of God this means obedience one step at a time this is persistent prayer this is what he means by perseverance let me just be blunt it means you don't give up and it's easy to give up if you've been praying for your father forever your mother forever your loved ones forever and nothing seems to change nothing seems to ever change Paul is encouraging us to sit and say don't give up who are you praying for are you praying for your unsaved husband are you praying for your mother are you praying for your father are you praying for your child Jesus encourages us and he says be persistent don't give up in Matthew chapter 7 verse 7 the Lord says ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you Jesus uses strong language to communicate the fact that prayer grows in intensity ask implies that we know and that we're aware of our need the moment that someone asks me something it's a concession that they need something from me we ask because we need something the moment you ask you become aware that you have a need people ask when they have a need the word ask suggests humility and the reason why it suggests humility is because the person who asks also believes the person asked has an answer or resources that might be available seek involves asking but adds action to the request in other words seeking is I need something but I'm willing to go out and look at how I might obtain it we don't just ask for help but now we're gonna get up and we're gonna look for someone and we're gonna look for something who can give us help that takes effort the final step not it includes asking looking but it also insists on persevering or prevailing the picture is a picture of a person who knocks then keeps on knocking until he or she gets an answer we call that the way that I think about it is you call someone and and it keeps ringing and ringing and ringing and you don't just let it ring one time or two times or three times most people who are phone solicitors are gonna hang up at that point but you're gonna go no I'm going for four and I'm going for five and finally when you get to 10 you get the voicemail and you go look I want you to call me you don't give up the famous Englishman William Gladstone told of a little neighbor girl who really believed in the power of prayer her brother made a trap in order to catch sparrows and she prayed a prayer she prayed that the trap would fail for three days her face was radiant when she prayed and her absolute and confidence in the futility of the trap was noticeable especially to her mother who asks Julia how can you be so positive she smiled because dear mama I went out three days ago and I kicked the trap to pieces well you laugh because you get it you understand that we pray like it all depends on God and then we do something like it all depends on you do you need to persist in prayer remember we're in a battle and the person who persevere in prayer is going to receive the answer and they're going to trust God Jeremiah 33:3 I will answer thee and I'll show thee great and mighty things when you're not hearing something you need to be able to go to Jeremiah 33 and go Lord I know and you said ask seek knock you said in Jeremiah 33 I'll answer you and I'll show you great and mighty things you see prayer isn't God reluctantly caving in to your persistent pressure he says with all supplication for all the saints most Christians pray sometimes for some people with some perseverance but Paul says pray for all the saints not just for the Christians in your family not just for the people in your group not just for the people in your church not just for the people in your denomination but all brothers and sisters all over the world and I confess my primary prayer is going to begin with my family and it's going to continue with you I think about you throughout the week even though you don't always know sometimes I'm thinking about your marriage and I'm thinking about your life and I'm thinking about your circumstance and I'm overwhelmed because there's so many people who are so hurt but then I have to continue with my prayers one of the things that I found to be one of the most helpful tools that I've ever had is my personal prayer diary and daily planner I found out about this 30 yeah 30 years ago I was introduced to it it's put out by ym in Seattle Washington it's a it's a personal prayer diary but what it does is it gives me a weekly prayer plan it gives me a minder but it also gives me a guide to intercession and reflection in January the persecuted Church in February the disability in Ghana building hope the tribes of Israel when I'm looking at like for instance just this week as I'm going through February and I'm praying throughout the week I'm praying for the people in Poland I'm praying for the people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in South Sudan and Burkina Faso the disabled in Guiana Mongolia what this does is it insists and it reminds me to go a little bit further and pray a little bit harder all Christians everywhere we pray we pray for the mature and the immature because guess what no one ever outgrows the need for prayer when I was traveling and teaching in California this week and I I texted several people and I said just please pray for me pray for me pray that God will help me no one ever out grows the need for prayer and no one ever becomes immune from Satan's fiery darts we all need protection and with the protection we need a United not a divided defense there are so many things that are worthy of our prayers but Paul makes sure that we understand that a great deal of our prayers should be devoted to one another so how do we pray we pray definitely we pray specifically we pray consistently to the Lord behind every great move of God behind every great outpouring of the Spirit are men and women who pray daily and definitely Paul says don't forget to stay awake and don't forget to stay alert and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress Christian quote perceived the mouth of Hell hard by the wayside in the valley of the shadow of death and saw flame and smoke and heard hideous noises that he was forced to put up his sword and be take himself another weapon called all prayer so he cried in my hearing O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul unquote it reminds me of what he's talking about to remain vigilant Jesus said watch he said watch because of his imminent return but he also said watch at the outset of temptation when the Apostles failed to watch it led to the results in the Garden of Gethsemane with some disloyalty on the part of some and cowardice on the part of others no wonder Jesus says watch and pray so what does it mean to pray in the spirit it has to mean minimum that we need the Holy Spirit it's helped that praying in the spirit means in sensitivity to and submission to and an awareness of what the Holy Spirit can bring to us we need the Holy Spirit's help to pray and we need the Holy Spirit's imparting of strength to pray Paul talks about this in Romans chapter 8 verse 26 where he says likewise the spirit also helps in our weakness for we don't know what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered in other words whatever this speech is it's not verbal it's not articulate it's not necessarily auditory but there's something inside of you sometimes you're awakened in the middle of the night and you feel something some sense of urgency it's okay for you to pray you go lord I I have no idea maybe you're even aware someone's in trouble someone's sick someone's hurt you plead and you intercede and sometimes it's okay to even go I have no idea what to talk about many people have a prayer language that they exercise and certainly I'm one of those people who believe in the gifts of the Spirit in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and in chapter 14 it talks about speaking with the tongues of men and of angels apparently this is some sort of speech that isn't from the planet Earth but there is a celestial language that for whatever reason God imparts to some is that possibly part of it possibly but minimum it has to mean a complete submission to the presence of the Holy Spirit and a deep desire for the strength of the Holy Spirit and so we have the believers prayer and the believers preach look what it says in verses 19 and 20 and for me he adds himself to the list pray for all the saints and look what he says in verse 19 and for me that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel it's interesting to me Paul doesn't say pray for me I'm in jail pray for me I don't eat every day pray for me because I don't get water on a regular basis Paul includes himself in the supplication and he makes a specific request remember what I've said prayer is an admission of dependence and a reliance upon God even Paul needs prayer even Paul who has this incredible testimony who's so used by God Paul asks the Saints and Ephesus for prayer for safekeeping for encouragement but most of all he says I want the opportunity to preach the gospel note what it says with words and for me the that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly the reason why I think this is so important Paul doesn't just go you know just hope that they see by my good behavior what a swell guy I am or that just because I'm a good person someone's gonna stop me and say you know what I couldn't help but notice noticing you're you're some sort of observant rabbinic Junot you're a swell guy and a great guy that's not what he says he goes I want to open my mouth and I want to say preached boldly the mystery of the gospel we often say pray for me I know that I do but sometimes it's this vague religious request but it can be a specific request in the heat of battle Paul's missionary adventures in certain ways had come to a halt or at least put on hold he's awaiting trial he's chained to a Roman guard now Paul makes a request for spiritual reinforcements he's basically saying I want an opportunity to continue what God has asked me to do wisdom knows where personal strength begins and ends and Paul is wise enough and humble enough to know that he can't make it without the prayerful support of brothers and sisters and that's why it's so important that you pray for me and that you pray for one another let me just put it to you differently are you praying for one another or are you waiting for an invitation often that's exactly what we do we think that maybe nobody needs to know later on and the text Paul is going to say that ticha kiss is going to make his way there and that he's a faithful minister and he's going to make all things known to you Paul wants them to literally know what's going on in his life and so he says again it's interesting he says don't pray necessarily that I have strength to bear the chains or to release me from the chains or to help me with my with my plea as I as I go to court before the Emperor he's asking for boldness for the gospel now you've got to understand something he's asking for boldness to preach the gospel I'm gonna pause for just a second do you know why it could very well be that there were moments of fear and trepidation this from Paul he's thinking you know really do I have to preach the gospel to every single soldier who's assigning to me when they're taking shifts in this prison it could very well be that something was happening where that boldness was starting to retreat just a little bit now again why because the world is hostile to the gospel you know that you already know that you're already disturbed by that you understand that if you say to a person hey you know are you a Christian or do you have any spiritual beliefs or tell me what you believe about Jesus or tell me what you believe about the Bible or tell me what you believe about heaven and hell there are gonna people who who go they're gonna roll their eyes and they're gonna go oh no you're one of those people and you want to have one of those kinds of conversation now remember Paul is a prisoner and I want you to see the inside he's a prisoner but he doesn't want to leave the battlefield he's under house arrest but he doesn't want to leave the battlefield and sometimes sickness will cause us to want to leave the battlefield or depression or unhappiness will cause us to want to leave the battlefield or we've got some physical or financial or personal difficulty and we think you know because of my physical or my financial or my personal difficulty I'm unprepared to wage the war that God has called me to fight Paul's missionary adventures may have been placed on hold but Paul wants the opportunity to make the mystery of the gospel known and what is that mystery what is he talking about when he talks about the mystery of the gospel in a word it means that believing Jews and believing Gentiles are united in Christ that Gentiles and Jews share equal privileges with Jesus as the head of a new man he calls it the mystery because it was something that was up until that point not necessarily known it was a revelation everyone could read Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy they could read the prophets they knew that the Jewish people had special claims they knew about Abraham Isaac and Jacob they knew about the imprisonment and the slavery in Egypt and then God calling Moses and the people to leave Egypt and occupy the land they had all of that stuff available to them they knew about the sacrifices but they didn't know that there was a God in heaven who loved everyone and he wanted to save them and reconcile them no matter who they were slave or free Jew or Gentile male or female so the reason Paul calls the gospel of mystery is because it's a message that came by revelation and it was given to Paul he's preaching the gospel it's called the good news the gospel of grace in acts 20:24 because it's proclaimed to the undeserving it's called the gospel of power because God never asks us to do anything without providing the power in Romans chapter 1 verse 16 so when God says I want you to turn from your sin and I want you to believe the gospel I want you to believe that God sent Jesus from heaven to the earth to live for you and then die for you and come back to life for you Paul understood the gospel and so again he calls it the gospel of glory because it's the gospel that declares about a better state of things in the future in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 elsewhere he actually talks about what is the gospel and I want you to just turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 3 because if you don't understand what the gospel is that none of this is gonna make sense but in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 Paul talks about it he says in verse 1 moreover brethren the idea being your brethren your people who actually know love believe what's been said moreover brethren I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you which also you received and in which you stand by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture and that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day according to the scripture and he goes on and says and he was seen alive by Cephas and then the rest of the twelve and then he says and then finally eventually by me and he uses the term as if one born out of time he uses a phrase that speaks of a person that you would normally speak of a stillborn or a premature baby that is whose lifecycle is thrown off course but Paul says look this Jesus who I'm telling you died on the cross for your sin and rose from the dead for your justification he's alive he's alive and he can change you and so that's what he's talking about that's the gospel that he wants to preach that Jesus died for our sins heed that Jesus rose for our justification Romans 4:25 his grace can save us Titus 2:11 his blood can cleanse us 1st John 1:7 his power can keep us first Peter 1:4 Jesus says him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out John 6:37 the Spirit says whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved acts 2:21 over and over again he does Jesus is inviting you the spirit is inviting you forgiveness of sin as promised to everyone who believes and trusts in in John 1:12 it says and as many as received Christ he made children of God people ask me all the time how can I know that I'm saved my answer no I'm gonna ask you a question do you have a driver's license most people know they know if they have one they know if it's suspended they remember taking a test and they remember going to the DMV and they remember getting their photo and they remember it being issued to them how do you forget something like having a driver's license and how do you forget something like coming to the realization that your sin is overwhelming and the only person who can take your sin and guilt go away is the Lord Jesus and you receive him and you pray and you say Lord if this gospel is true I want I want this for my life I want to believe it and you receive it and then you understand you get to open up your Bible and you see things you've never seen you pray for things that you've never been able to pray for in verse 20 Paul says for which I am an ambassador in Chains that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak the expression is very interesting in the original language it translates a Greek word which is linked to the idea of freedom of speech when he says for which I am an ambassador in Chains that I may speak boldly that expression speak boldly is an idiomatic expression that literally came into the language from the Greek people now our Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech or the right to speak or to write about ideas or to think thoughts that you have the freedom to think what you want to think and say what you want to say even though it's odd or even though it may not even be true Greek citizens were given a similar freedom of speech it was called the word to speak boldly it meant the freedom to be outspoken bold fearless in the presence of people even though they were of high rank in other words it's the Greek idea that you mind your P's and Q's because there's certain things that you don't say to certain people like when I met with the president and I said to the president well the president said to me you look so familiar to me there's just something about you that's so familiar do I know you I want here's what I wanted to say well mr. president we have something in common we're both half white and we're both half trash but you can't say that to the president that's just wrong there are certain things that you just don't do but for the Greeks they were given this special privilege to speak and so Paul refers to himself as an ambassador and chains in that culture in that world an ambassador was a person who was sent by a king or a sovereign or a dignitary and that ambassador carried with him the speech and though and the message that was entrusted to him and he was to be afforded all of the privileges and considerations that were that were to be given to an ambassador earlier Paul had called himself a prisoner on behalf of you Gentiles chapter 3 verse 1 a prisoner of the Lord for verse 1 why is he in prison he lists three reasons number one I'm in prison for the Lord number two I'm in prison for the Gentiles and number three I'm in prison here for the gospel in a real sense these three reasons are really one reason Paul preached that the Gentiles are no longer alienated from the Covenant of God Paul preached that jesus reconciles what was previously divided men from God men from each other Paul is preaching that there's forgiveness and grace and mercy that's available to everyone and there were people who did not like that message John Stott writes he was faithful to the gospel itself to the Lord who had revealed it to him and to the Gentiles who received its blessings his faithfulness to these three cost him his freedom unquote Paul prays for freedom not for from jail but in jail the freedom to preach the gospel and share Christ he repeats the word boldly verse 19 20 as I ought to speak this is a reference to clarity and completeness of speech when he's saying as I ought to he is inviting us to consider that he wants clarity conviction completeness of speech he doesn't want to muddy the waters or compromise the Gospel message and so that's the idea we pray for similar opportunities to share Christ to preach the truth to speak the truth and love we want to tell the truth in such a way that it will be understood and embraced you see this is the one thing that most I shouldn't say most I don't want to say that this is a thing that many churches find themselves struggling with and that is to be faithful to the gospel and what is the gospel remember what I've said the gospel is the good news and what is the good news the good news has to be preceded by the bad news the bad news is that we are sinners estranged from God that this holy God in order to exercise justice and love and mercy wants to forgive your sin your rebellion and your disobedience the evil black dark wickedness that is inside of us God wants to forgive and he's willing to forgive in Christ by faith he's already talked about in Ephesians chapter 2 because you're saved by grace through faith and that not of yourself but imagine a person who here's this message and they want to believe that their religion can save them or their culture can save them or their language can save them or their gender or their ethnicity or their sexual expression can save them but nothing could be further from the truth what a description of the war Paul is an ambassador think about it in Chains this is the visible evidence of the Invisible War William MacDonald writes quote ambassadors are generally granted diplomatic immunity from arrest and imprisonment but men will tolerate almost anything better than they will tolerate the gospel no other subject stirs such emotion arouses such hostility and suspicion and provoked such persecution unquote at least now just for a moment there's a tiny window in our culture where Democrat and Republican believer and unbeliever even though there are some unbelievers who hate it they see Billy Graham lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda and they have the freedom to go online and watch any one of his many messages and Billy Graham repeatedly repeatedly repeatedly said God loves you God sent Jesus Christ into the world to save you he told presidents that message he told stars and celebrities that message he told prisoners that message when he was a young man when he was just a Bible student he went with J Edwin or two to England where there's this little Methodist Museum it was the house where John Wesley live and and there was this one particular place in the house and and the the tour guide said this is where John Wesley slept and this is where he prayed and you could see the indentations on the wooden floor where John Wesley prayed and so they all left the room and they got back into their tour bus but they looked around and one of them was missing and J Edwin who or went back and there was a young Oh Billy Graham with his knees on the place where John Wesley used to pray and he was praying Lord let it happen again hallelujah is right what will happen if you actually believe what the gospel says about you and your life and we see the believers peace look what it says in verse 21 but that you may also know my affairs and how I'm doing tisha kiss a beloved brother and faithful minister and the Lord will make all things known to you we don't know very much about Paul's frantic ekeus he may have been Paul's secretary writing the letter that were reading at this very moment we know that he was a faithful friend we know that he's called a beloved brother we know that he's loved by Paul and the church I mean this in the true sense of the word he was a soul brother he was loved pause for just a second do you have a friend like that do you have a friend who knows about you who knows what you're doing who's a beloved brother or sister and a faithful minister and the Lord when I was reading this verse you note I was thinking about again it's every preachers nightmare to use himself as the illustration do you realize that when you're taught in seminary or in Bible College to preach you're repeatedly told don't talk about yourself and I've tried to do that but every once in a while it's important that you know about me here's Paul saying I want you to know about my affairs and how I'm doing you see I'm doing great guess what I have no plans to leave my wife I love her she loves me my children and their children are serving the Lord and I'm so grateful to God for that my health is improving I am grateful for that do you want to know how I'm doing how I'm really doing is I'm really concerned about you your the thing that that preoccupies me that troubles me and that stirs me every time I hear that a husband is leaving his wife every time I hear that a marriage is falling apart every time I hear that someone has taken their own life every time I hear that that some horrible and terrible thing is happening in your life I cringe and it isn't the kind of cringe where I I don't want to do anything about it it is I want to pray for you I want to love you I want to minister to you I want to tell you that there's a provision for you that there's grace and there's mercy I'm not saying that everything is gonna always go right and that there's never gonna be a problem but it's okay for you to tell me because I care about what's happening to you for Paul to Titus is entrusted with the very letter that we've been studying all of this time can you imagine tisha cos has this jewel that we have been studying and learning so much about can you imagine if he was beaten up and somebody took the letter and then burned it but God had a plan and a purpose Paul is going to send the letter to the Colossians he's going to send a brief correspondence to Philemon his second job was to tell the saints how paul was doing tisha Casas mentioned in Titus chapter 3 verse 12 and in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 before Paul actually is going to die he's by the way he's gonna be found guilty at a later trial and he is going to be beheaded in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 these are some of the final words that he'll ever say he says quote only Luke is with me that's dr. Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke get mark and bring him with you they were estranged for he is useful to me in the ministry he wants reconciliation and usefulness and teach ekeus I've sent to Ephesus when he writes those words apparently these guys knew who did kiss was and he goes I'm sending him back to you he knows you and you know him he'll be honest with you she won't misrepresent me just like he hasn't misrepresented you to me we're not aware of any correspondence the chicka-chicka sever wrote we're not aware of a sermon that he ever preached he's not given credit for any notable deed but we know that Paul was a great man and like most great men he had to surround himself with faithful brothers and sisters who serve someone once said that for the loss of a nail lose a horseshoe for the loss of a horseshoe lose a horse for the loss of a horse lose a soldier for the loss of a soldier lose the battle for the loss of the we'll lose the kingdom how could a nail or a horseshoe or a horse or a soldier matter it's only when what that soldier does turns the tide of the war you've already learned that your soldiers in a battle and that you're called to know Jesus to love Jesus to walk in Jesus and remember you put the whole armor on and you leave the whole armor on in verse 22 he says whom I've sent to you for this very purpose that you may know our affairs and that he may comfort your hearts this tells me something it tells me that Paul is willing to disclose his very real circumstances to people who actually cared that's why he says that he may comfort your hearts why they're concerned he's in jail why they're concerned he might not live why they're upset that things aren't going the way that they're supposed to go but Paul says you know what God has a plan and a purpose it's all unfolding exactly as he said it would and in verse 23 look what it says peace to the Brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Paul has already mentioned that Jesus is our peace who's broken down every wall in chapter 4 verses 2 and 3 and that the sacrifice of Jesus creates this single Humanity that makes peace possible and then in chapter 5 verse 2 were told to walk and love as Christ loved us He loves us sacrificially were to love each other sacrificial love is rooted and sacrifice and yields the fruit of peace love produces peace peace is the supernatural fruit of the REC silly ation piece makes possible the reality of the gospel you get to have peace because Jesus brings it pause Satan offers no peace you can't negotiate with them you can't argue and negotiate with the spiritual hosts of wickedness you may say to dark powers leave me alone how many of them do you think go okay none of them in verse 24 it says grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus in sincerity Paul offers a final prayer grace for everyone who loves the Lord Jesus in sincerity I've told you what sincerity means it comes from a it's a Greek word that's translated into the Latin see NACA which means without wax it means what you see is what you get remember it's the ancient custom that they would make marble busts and sometimes they would break off a nose or an ear and they would mix marble powder with wax and they would stick the person's nose back on or the person's ear back on and when the wax melted in the sunshine of the day the ear would fall off or the nose would fall off so sin I see it it came to mean without wax that means what you see is what you get here's the big question do you really love him not just pretend to love him not just pretend for your wife or your husband or your friends or your family do you really love him do you love him when no one else is looking another translation reads grace to all who love Jesus with an undying love the text reads in in corruption literally in in corruption the idea of being not subject to decay grace is loves companion grace and love produce an immortal outlook hope this is a love that's never exhausted it's never consumed it's the kind of love that never goes away for those of you who are mothers or fathers hopefully and I ask you do you love your children hopefully you say yes if you're a grandparent you go do you love your grandchildren yes can you imagine the love ever going away no this is why it's so heartbreaking to me when people say I never loved her I never loved him the moment you say those nasty filthy words to me I'm gonna say you've repented right you understand that that's a sin your sin is an egregious offence against God and God wants you to repent he wants you to turn from that sin he wants you to obey Him remember the Bible says that you're to love one another well I don't I can't love her well the Bible says you to love your neighbour who lives closer to to you than her I can't you can do that the Bible says love your enemy would you say you hate her you're not gonna give me any way out of this are you no because the Bible doesn't give you any way out of it a long time ago in the March 1978 Reader's Digest it carried this story from a Sunday school teacher quote for st. Patrick's Day I asked our five-year-olds in Sunday school to bring something green that you loved the next Sunday they brought the usual green hats green sweaters green books but one boy entered with a great big grin behind him wearing a green dress was his four-year-old sister bring something that you love do you love Jesus do you bring him with you Paul began the letter by wishing grace and peace for the reader no two words summarize this letter with greater power than those two words grace is the means and the reason that God saves sinners through Jesus Christ peace is the result of that salvation we can bear with one another in love it says in Ephesians 4 20 we can walk in love as Christ did it says in 5:2 and we can love Jesus with a love that never ever goes away even when you go away according to verse 24 read it again grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity so be it Amen do you love him now really according to the Bible you can love him forever Jesus would never send us into a fight without the equipment or the ammunition need to survive we can't fight our spiritual battle without prayers bullets we can't experience grace or peace or genuine love apart from Jesus no wonder Paul begins and ends his letter with grace we've reached the end of Ephesians but we haven't reached the end of its importance or its impact so stay strong in prayer hold on to courage and then stay close to faithful friends let me pray for you Heavenly Father lord I pray that we would be unwilling to simply open up our Bibles and read it we would be unwilling to pray without thinking or caring that we would be unwilling to allow the instructions to go unheeded Lord again I pray I pray by your Holy Spirit that you will allow these men and women to care about each other to pray for one another and to be really concerned about what's going on in each other's life and again father we thank you for grace we thank you for salvation we thank you for mercy in Jesus name that's it ladies and gentlemen let's stand

Channel: Calvary South Denver

Views: 1,747

Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gino Geraci, Christianity, Bible Study, Ephesians, Spiritual Armor, Armor of God

Id: LCRfvN9Aecg

Length: 69min 37sec (4177 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 01 2018