Ambassadors in Chains - Ephesians 6:18-24

Ambassadors in Chains Ephesians 6:18-24 20210314 Having received the mystery of the gospel what will you do with it? Declare it boldly! Introduc)on In so many ways we each can recount ways in which our lives have been impacted over the past year by circumstances. Life’s circumstances. COVID19 looms large and the response to it but as much media coverage as it has received that is not all. In the membership of this church family we have had: Significant job changes. A destrucQve building fire. A car accident. MulQple families moving from one house to another – mostly from a rental situaQon to homeownership. The conceiving and birthing of children. Health issues requiring numerous trips to hospitals for everything from emergency room care to specialist intervenQon. As a family of believers when we come together these are oVen the topics we spend a great deal of our Qme discussing. They are important and I know I’m just barely scratching the surface of all that has occurred in the past year. The church in Ephesus wouldn’t have been vastly different from us in regard to the impact circumstances would have had on them. Obviously, no car accidents or emergency room visits for them 2000 years ago. But they sQll had impac[ul life circumstances. The Apostle Paul knew them well, having spent years with them, staying in contact through le]ers and a steady flow of emissaries. I find it very telling aVer studying this le]er that Paul wrote to the church largely apart from divulging his specific circumstances. Instead, he focused on the implicaQons of knowing Christ. He focused on peace, love, and faith. Think about it, even Paul had major life circumstances occur, but instead of anchoring on those he was zealous to proclaim truth about the ChrisQan life. Even in the closing of the le]er, which we will cover today, the Apostle Paul is content to say the details of his life will be conveyed by his trusted brother Tychicus. Paul was a prisoner in some form or fashion! However, that was not of primary significance – it barely makes the le]er! From just a human perspecQve this is remarkable! He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write what has become a porQon of our Holy Bible. And even as a man confined his le]er stayed on track. I’m not sure how many of you make a habit of wriQng le]ers? It isn’t something I widely pracQce, but for many years I have wri]en a le]er to my grandmother each month. AVer carefully considering the le]er to the church in Ephesus and the conclusion to the le]er I readily admit my le]ers are not only uninspired they are not even typical of a Pauline le]er. My le]ers tend to be heavily focused on conveying the circumstances of life. I guess you could say one similarity with Paul’s le]er is requests for prayer that I pass along to my grandmother – because I know she is a faithful woman of prayer. [FCF but even this admission says something about my focus being more on the present and material circumstanQal aspects of life rather than on the eternal treasure of life with Christ.] But in thinking of the end of the book of Ephesians what was on Paul’s mind? What did he want to impress upon the recipients? As I look at the passage before us, I’m challenged by a quesQon: That is having received the mystery of the gospel what will I do with it? Having received the mystery of the gospel what will you do with it? Prayer (vv18-20) 1. v18 “praying at all +mes in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplica+on. To that end, keep alert…” a. Over the course of the previous two Sunday’s Seth covered the in depth the spiritual warfare that surrounds us and the provisions granted to us to withstand the onslaught of the enemy. b. He even took us through the first part of v18 last week which is where we are picking up and moving forward today. Even as we consider the full armor of God we are compelled to prayer. That is exactly where the Apostle goes – to the importance of prayer. i. “praying at all Qmes” ii. “praying in the Spirit” iii. “with all prayer and supplicaQon” iv. This is what Jesus also said frequently – to always be in prayer (Jn 18:1) and it is what he demonstrated consistently (Mk 6:46). It was such a part of his life and ministry that his disciples asked him to teach them to pray (Mt 6:9-13). c. And with that the verse before us conQnues saying, v18b “…To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplica+on for all the saints,…” i. I know we are a li]le disconnected from the armor of God secQon just covered but the language here should help bring us back to the idea of being a soldier supplied by God to do ba]le – spiritual ba]le. “keep alert” and “with all perseverance” are phrases that pulse through the warrior in me. ii. The beauty of the ChrisQan faith and of spiritual ba]le is that you can deliver effecQve blows upon the enemy as a 90-year-old saint or as a 9-year-old grammar school student. It doesn’t take the ability to squat 400 pounds, or the ability to ruck a 90-pound pack up a mountain side in some worn torn country to be a prayer warrior. iii. But one thing it does have in common with such a physical specimen is discipline. Just like the warrior class throughout the ages has disciplined and condiQoned itself, to be a spiritual warrior you need to discipline yourself in the habit of prayer. Always going before the Lord, developing your ability to pray means you put in the Qme and effort. And yes, it does take Qme and effort. iv. Let me put it this way – once upon a Qme I could shoot the M-16 at an expert level. The Marine Corps made sure every basic Marine went to the rifle range – dedicaQng a minimum of a week each year to qualify. Contrast that with elite forces and infantry units and the Qme dedicated to honing marksmanship vastly outweighs the week a year I just menQoned. v. So, if the Apostle Paul is encouraging the readers of his le]er to pray at all Qmes (v18), to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17), to keep alert with all perseverance (v18) what are you and I to do to take steps towards this end? I menQoned marksmanship because now I spend nowhere near a week a year pulling the trigger so I have to use a scope and preferably a solid rest when I shoot. I’m not aware of any such advancements in prayer – so that means it takes dedicaQon, purposefulness for us to devote Qme to prayer trusQng God uses our prayers for his purposes and to ulQmately bring him glory. How are you doing in senng aside such Qme? The quite and devoted Qme of prayer is what is needed to enable a free and ongoing engagement in prayer at all Qmes when, not if, but when life gets more chaoQc. vi. Of course, as we pray, we are spending Qme praying our hearts out to God but here we are also instructed to life up prayer requests for others. Making supplicaQon, making humble requests to the Lord for all the saints. Do you do this? Pray for named or unnamed saints? Our friends the Starks who live in Florida had an evening prayer Qme where a basket full of prayer cards, li]le tri-folds of various missionaries sat in a basket, during their evening family worship Qme the kids would grab up a handful and they would pray for the missionaries. I’ve been praying for Pastor James Coates up in Alberta Canada. I don’t know him other than I know he sits in a jail awaiQng trial. He is a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ and like Paul I believe he is having an effecQve ministry to those surrounding him in jail. vii.We do well to pray frequently for one another. I menQoned the circumstances of this year and the response to COVID19 looms large. It is no secret that it has had an impact on us. We are not all together as a body as a result – this should drive us to be deeply in prayer for one another. In the absence of praying for one another Satan is bound to a]ack our unprotected flank. So, we heed the Apostle’s word to keep alert and pray with all perseverance. 2. Prayer: for Proclama)on (vv19-20) a. vv19-20 “…and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly...” i. Paul dearly loves the saints in Ephesus and in wriQng this le]er he knows they love him. He makes a request for prayer. Like I said earlier my le]ers to my grandma have this one theme in common with Paul – requesQng prayer. But isn’t this amazing what he wants prayer for: look its not for his well being, not for a more secure future in this life, not for any number of things about his circumstances – which we will look at later. ii. His prayer request is for the exact answer to my quesQon as I poised it at the beginning of the sermon. Having received the mystery of the gospel what will you do with it? Paul had received this mystery of the gospel and his prayer request from the saints of Ephesus was that he might open his mouth and declare it boldly! iii. You see once Paul received the mystery of the gospel it became the principle driving force in his life. Let me take a moment to state plainly what this mystery was because Paul’s life was changed by it forever. This is the same man who was zealous for Judaism, learned beyond all others in his age, a persecutor of ChrisQans dragging them in to receive their punishment even approving of their death. So, what changed him? It was the realizaQon that Jesus Christ was exactly who he said he was – the Son of God the Savior. Paul received forgiveness for all the wrong he had done and he repented of his sins and turned his face toward Christ. The summoning of Paul was clearly brought about by God – it wasn’t something he wanted! Also, bear in mind all the wrong he had previously done was done with the approval of the religious authority. A religious authority that had departed from the truth of God’s revealed will as given in the law, as was spoken by the prophets, and captured in the wriQngs. All of which told of the coming fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. iv. READ Eph 3:1-10 v. So, with this treasure, the mystery of the gospel as his, what does he want? To have his mouth opened, for words to be given, to boldly proclaim it. This is what Paul wants! This, church is what we should be clamoring for as well – to make the mystery of the gospel known speaking as we ought to speak! To speak boldly. vi. What stands in our way? Because this isn’t oVen our number one pursuit is it? Paul was in some form or fashion a prisoner at the wriQng of this le]er. He doesn’t ask for prayer for his release. Maybe that is a message entrusted to Tychicus for delivery but on the paper – wri]en in ink – his desire is for those who read the le]er to pray for him to proclaim the gospel! Church – pray that for me. I stand here before you as one who has also been entrusted with the mystery of the gospel and I want this to be my fervent desire as I also want it to be yours! This treasure is worth sharing – it was given so that it might be shared. 1. Persecu)on (v20): Now I said I would touch on Paul’s circumstances and I have no doubt in my mind that he was faithful to minister the gospel. Because of his faithfulness he was rewarded by the earthly authoriQes with confinement. You see how he refers to himself in v20? As an ambassador in chains. Just think about that for a moment. Even in ancient Qmes an ambassador was an honored posiQon. What do our diplomats have in our current day and age as they live on foreign soil carrying out their duQes? They have diplomaQc immunity. 2. Who is Paul claiming to be? An ambassador for Christ! Christ who is Lord of Lords and King of Kings! His rule and authority is overall. Paul is his ambassador and I think it is ironic that he menQons in chains. Chains? What chains of man can do anything against the freedom from sin granted through faith in Christ? Chains can do nothing! Paul is suffering in his circumstances but he recognizes the vast difference between his eternal and secured hope in Christ and his temporal suffering in the present – he weighs that and immediately asks for prayer to be bold as a witness of the truth. He is freer in a Roman cell with chains than the vast majority of the world and he wants to declare boldly the truth of the gospel! Transi)on: Powerful and bold witnessing is what Paul prays for but there is more to the man that is endearing to the recipients and he is not oblivious to this. He has what we would now call emoQonal intelligence, he is tuned in, even though he is hundreds of miles away and now we look at how he provides for the saints in another way. Provision (vv21-22) 1. vv21-22 “So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother...” a. Paul is wanQng to provide for his brothers and sisters in Ephesus in another way here isn’t he? Here he is sending them this le]er and contained within it is very li]le in the way of personal correspondence. b. Yet he knows they want to know more. We are like this more than we probably want to admit in our highly touted and culturally condiQoned autonomy. As a church body we are connected. We are supposed to be connected that is by God’s design. [When we break from our more formal aspect of worshiping together – aVer the benedicQon – what do we turn to? We turn to the discovery of one another!] c. So, what do we learn from Paul’s example here at the end of the le]er that can be applied to our lives? i. Purposeful to Reveal: Paul knew that more communicaQon was needed. Probably much more than could be wri]en and so he empowered his son in the faith Tychicus to let all be known about how he was doing and what he was doing. 1. Tychicus was set loose to tell them everything. I’ve thought about this much this past year. WanQng to know more about other brothers and sisters and likewise wanQng others to know more about how I am and what I am doing. 2. The thing I noQced here in the le]er is that Paul was purposeful to reveal. Not wanQng to hold back and so he empowered Tychicus to do this on his behalf. 3. So, for us how do we give such a freedom where we might be inclined to hold back? How do we dialogue in such a way that we genuinely seek to know each other – to carry one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2) and to go to the Lord in prayer (James 5:16)? 4. [More ApplicaQon/Specifics] ii. Purposeful to Encourage: v22 “I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.” 1. The reason we share with one another is not just to exchange informaQon. To compare circumstances as it were but as brothers and sisters in Christ as we align our lives in such a way that we know one another. And in that knowing we also discover how we can encourage each other. a. SomeQmes this encouragement is to build up (1 Thess 5:11) and other Qmes it is to exhort each other so that we might not be hardened by the decei[ulness of sin (Heb 3:13). 2. Paul was purposeful to encourage the Ephesian ChrisQans’ hearts and he wanted to do so through the le]er we have spent these months going through but through the real human presence of Tychicus who was flesh and blood. A faithful minister of the gospel of Christ who I have no doubt, like Paul, was desirous to declare it boldly into their lives in specific ways. 3. Our community groups are meant to be like this. They are to be a genuine reflecQon of living the ChrisQan life together – they are meant to be places of encouragement. That being said someQmes you are there as a Tychicus an intenQonal encourager. CapQvated by the mystery of the gospel and inspired to declare it boldly. SomeQmes you are there, and it may change for a season, where you need your heart encouraged. Transi)on: The provision that Paul was purposeful to reveal and purposeful to encourage in vv21-22 needs to be appreciated more fully by us as we live out the ChrisQan faith together – open and honest with the truth of the gospel freely mingling into our collecQve circumstances will not only encourage us as a body but will be put on display – the display is peace. Peace (vv23-24) 1. v23 “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” a. Paul a prisoner – one who has been entrusted with the mystery of the gospel – one who wants to declare it boldly – can close the le]er with “Peace be to the brothers” b. Let me ask two quesQons in light of our current cultural moment in a way to compare gospel narraQves. i. QuesQon 1: What has been the result of the protests sparked by ANTIFA or BLM? These groups have a gospel message – and what is the result? ii. QuesQon 2: What has been the result of the incessant pursuit of safety and health? This is a type of gospel narraQve being parroted – and once again what is the result? c. Paul, the faithful minister of the gospel, wants to open his mouth boldly to speak and to proclaim the message given to him. Where did it land him? In capQvity – but do we see weeping and gnashing of teeth – no! Paul is a paragon of peace and can proclaim peace upon the brothers and sisters. d. He can proclaim it because it is one of the giVs given to the believer by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace is given along with love and faith. Peace, love, and faith! e. Church – are we not at Qmes easily deceived by false gospels? The result of embracing a false gospel is far from peace. The treasure of what God has given in Christ is a peace that has carried saints throughout the ages into the most difficult circumstances imaginable: fed to animals, crucified, burned, beaten, looted, ravaged, imprisoned, broken why? Because they embraced the mystery of the gospel and answered the quesQon of what shall I do with it? Like Paul – they declared it boldly! Freedom from sin and death, freedom from the clutches of Satan and his demons, is more than those opposed to God can bear and so they will a]empt to destroy ChrisQans and what happens instead? ChrisQans shine with a radiant beauty a peace that verifies their gospel. Bringing about repentance for some persecutors and further enflaming others in their rage. But brothers and sisters do not be afraid for you belong to Christ. f. Check out how I know this to be true in the next verse. 2. v24 “Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorrup+ble.” a. This is another giV – in addiQon to peace, love, and faith which we receive we have the joy of expressing our love for Jesus. Here it is an incorrupQble love, also it is a sincere love, and an undying love. No ma]er how high the temperature of the furnace gets turned up the love we possess for Jesus never fades – in fact it only shines brighter. Conclusion This is where we are brought to at the end of Ephesians and it reflects the journey we have taken. Paul started the le]er with – “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Here at the end, brothers and sisters, the giVs given to us in love, are grace and peace, which manifest themselves in an incorrupQble love for Jesus. How does one see that incorrupQble love polished most brightly? This brings us back to our quesQon: Having received the mystery of the gospel what will you do with it? So, what is one to do aVer receiving the mystery of the gospel? Declare it boldly! Declare it boldly! Let the circumstances be what they may we will declare the gospel of Jesus Christ boldly.