Let's take our Bibles and I want
you to turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter
6. We've gone through this book
of Ephesians, and now Lord willing I'd like to finish the book this
evening. Ephesians chapter 6. I'm going to be looking at verses
18 through the end of the chapter, but before we do, let's ask our
Lord's blessing. Our Father, how thankful we are
for the blessed time that we have to meet together. Lord, I pray that Christ be honored. Help us to hear. Keep us according
to your good pleasure. Forgive us where we fail you.
For Christ's sake. Amen. Directed by the Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul, and we looked
at it last week, had set forth the weapons of a believer's warfare. These weapons that only a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ has, and that by grace, we've obtained
weapons. Paul said, the loins of a believer's
heart is girt about with truth. Upon his breast is the imputed
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And every believer is
walking in the light of God's revelation as his feet are shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And then the Apostle
says, above all, taking the shield of faith, the Lord Himself, who
is our shield, He is our protection, He's our deliverer. And it's
not by our faith, but it's by His faith, His obedience, imputed
to us. And the helmet of salvation,
the assurance, the confidence, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God. weapons of our warfare. But I'd like to begin this last
message tonight in verse 18. And there's actually one other
great weapon that a believer possesses. And it's this thing
of prayer. Verse 18 says, Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Now, that is
a marvelous, wonderful, blessed weapon. Prayer. To be able to knock, to seek,
and to ask at the door of God's mercy. Prayer. Praying always with prayer and
supplication. I looked at those two words,
prayer and supplication. Prayer is the actual addressing
of God. It's addressing Him. Supplication
is asking, beseeching. So we approach Him in prayer. and make supplication, making
supplication for all the saints. Just look at the word supply. That's what we're asking. Lord,
undertake for me. Lord, You said that You would
supply all of our needs according to Your riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. We don't even know what to ask
for. All supplication. How comforting, what peace there
is to be able to speak from the heart to the God of all grace
and to know this, that He hears. There's times that I have that
thought run through my mind, the Lord hears. Somebody would
say, well sure He hears, absolutely. I said, yeah, but for me to be
able to consider it, for myself, that the Lord hears, and He cares,
casting all of your care upon Him, for He careth for you, cares
for you. God Almighty, who is our Father,
what a promise that He's given His people. Paul the Apostle,
writing, no I'm sorry, the Lord said this, when you pray, enter
into your closet, pray to your Father in secret, and the Father
who heareth in secret shall reward you openly." He's real. He's real. I know that sounds so simple.
It almost sounds like, you know, you say, well Martin, I can't
even imagine you not thinking. I'm telling you just to realize
that He is. He is, that He hears, and that
He cares. Praying always with all prayer
and supplication of the Spirit, watching thereunto with all perseverance,
supplication for all saints. Praying always. Now you know,
obviously, There is no time that is not the right time to pray. There's no time that's not good
to pray. How easily we forget when everything
seems to be going well, and everything seems to be calm, but how quickly
we're reminded to call upon the Lord in the time of adversity. David said, it's good that I've
been afflicted. I might learn of your statutes. Pray without ceasing. Pray always
with all prayer and supplication, approaching the Lord and asking,
beseeching, asking for guidance, asking for direction. Lord, hear
my prayer. I say, undertake for me. Keep
me. Whether it's in the secret place
of your closet, whether it's here when we're praying in a
congregation of believers, whether you're driving. How about the
night seasons? You know, that's a precious time. You know that. You know what
I'm talking about. Time that you don't really know if you
were awake or not. Probably were. And it's just in the night. There's times when you just wish,
especially in times of adversity, you know, I just wish you'd get
daytime. I wish the sun would come up. Lord, help me. Lord, hear my prayer. Lord, I seek you this night. I seek you right now. Lord, keep
me according to your good pleasure. I tell you the most secret sigh
of a believer's heart is heard by the Lord. When you don't even
know what to say, when you don't know what to ask for, prayer
verbalized from the heart, with no words spoken, thanking God
for His mercy. Lord, just thank You that I can
just think upon You. Thank You that You would give
me A heart that wants to pray. Because I know this, without
a new heart, a sinner doesn't want to. No. Praying always with
all prayer and supplication. How about this? In the Spirit. In the Spirit. Praying in the
Spirit. A lot of people, you know, they're
going to really try to get some mileage out of that, you know,
and it's going to be some outward manifestation of their, you know,
making some kind of big show, you know, but praying led and
directed by the Spirit who instructs us concerning the needs of our
heart. Like I said, I don't know. I
don't know what to pray for. I don't know what to pray. But
asking Him, Lord, bring to my mind that which I need to speak
to You about. I am an ignorant sinner and I
don't know what to say. Lord, cause me to think upon
those things that You would have me speak to You about. I know
this, it's the Holy Spirit that gives the grace and the desire
and the power to pray, that you would actually pray. The Spirit of God, Scripture
says, helpeth our infirmities and intercedes for us and in
us. I truly believe one of the greatest and maybe hardest, if I'm saying
it correctly, exercises of the soul. Because it's so easy to
just not pray. And a believer wants to. He says,
and watching therein too. Watching. It was amazing. I love looking
these words up. You know that. I'd always encourage
you to look them up. Watching. Watching. You know
what it means? Staying awake. Staying awake. Watching against the wanderings
of your mind. Wandering thoughts. Now, what
believer doesn't know something about what I'm talking about?
Watching, being watchful against wandering thoughts, against those
things that would hinder us as we pray. Watching against meaningless
things that come into our minds, suggestions, Are they from the
flesh? Are they from the wives of the
devil? I don't know where they come from. I don't know. But
oh how easily I see myself wandering, trying to pray, wanting to pray,
desiring to pray, seeking the Lord, watching to stay awake,
watching to be alert. It is times that I will try to
pray. And it seems as though the first
thoughts out of my mind seem in my mind to have some consistency
to it and have some direction to the Lord. But oh, how quickly,
all of a sudden, where in the world did I go watching Watching
thereunto with all perseverance. Be on guard. Be persistent. Watching with
all perseverance. Seeking the Lord to keep us from
discouragement. How easily we're discouraged.
Persisting against overconfidence. Thinking that we've actually
been able to do something because we were able to pray, how quickly
pride enters in. I don't know about you, but I
spent quite a bit of time in prayer. You'd never say that
outwardly, but I'm going to tell you something, how quickly you
can think it. How much time I spent in the Word, A believer that's
honest is going to say how little I spent in prayer. Watching therein
too with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Oh, when we pray. Let us be found
praying for each other. How easily we fail. How easily
we stray. praying for one another. I do desperately want to pray. I want to pray for this congregation. I want to think of, you know,
and I've told you how in my mind this is the only way I know to
do it. I just go down the aisle because I can remember where
everybody's sitting. That's how I can remember. And
just thinking upon them and asking the Lord's blessing You come
to a person, you think about a particular need and ask Him
with all supplication for all saints. When we pray, praying
for God's people. Why should we be praying for
God's people, for the saints? Well, because we're commanded
to. But I'll tell you another reason, because they're our brethren. We're family. Pray for your family. I've got family sitting right
here that's a whole lot closer to me than many of my natural
brethren. After the flesh, this is the
family praying for one another. Why do we need to pray for one
another? Well, because we all have an old man in us that's
all prone to evil. But I'll tell you, there's nothing
that tends to remind us more of our love for each other than
our need to forgive one another and not find fault with another. Nothing does us good like praying
for them. Just pray for them. Lord have
mercy on us. Lord have mercy on us. Because
when we pray for one another, we're reminded to be thankful
to the Lord for that privilege. I look in the book of Philippians,
just right there, maybe on the same page you're on. Philippians
1, 3 to 6. I love this passage of Scripture. I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you. Always in every prayer of mine
for you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel. from the first day until now,
being confident of this very thing, that he which hath done
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. But while we're praying for the
saints, let us be especially mindful, and I say this because
of the wording of the apostle right here in verse 19. He says,
making supplication, For all saints, without a doubt, Paul
had himself involved in the all saints. He was one that knew
the Lord. But look what he said in verse
19, And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I
may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Paul said, pray for me as God's
ambassador, as God's preacher, as a mouthpiece, That's what
John said. John said, I'm just a voice.
I'm just the voice. I'm the Lord's voice. A position
that no believer ever called himself to, but it's a position
that has been given them. They've been appointed. Paul
said, pray for me. Pray. Listen to this. I thank
Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted
me faithful, putting me into the ministry who was before a
blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly and unbelieved. Paul said, pray for
me. I ask you that. Pray for me. When I stand before
you, I've tried to seek the Lord. Try to seek the Lord's guidance
and direction in preparing a message. There's times that you desperately
want the mind of the Lord, and for a while you don't know. I
read something Spurgeon said one time concerning preachers.
He said, until you step into the pulpit, until you feel the
Lord's giving you the message, he said, just continue to wait.
I think, oh my. I know it's so, but you want
the Lord to give you something, don't you, Freddie? You want to have something to
say. This thing of just getting up and just taking a Bible and
just open it up and just say, well, I'm going to be led by
the Spirit. I don't know. Maybe so. Paul said, pray for
me that utterance may be given unto me, that the Lord might
open the doors for me to preach the gospel, that I may open my
mouth boldly, that is, with frankness and bluntness. When I preach, I do want to be
plain. I want you to understand what
I'm saying. I want you to perceive what the Scripture has said.
I don't want you to walk out. I know there's probably people
that has heard me preach and other preachers preach and they
don't agree with me. But I want you to understand
what I'm saying. That's what he's saying right here. And for
me that utterance may be given unto me that a door might be
opened, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery
of the Gospel. The Gospel! is a mystery. It's a glorious mystery. A mystery that must be revealed. Listen to this mystery. Our God
is one God. Father, Son, and Spirit. One God. How about the imputed
Righteousness of Christ. Justification by faith, which evidences justification. How is a man justified? By the
imputed righteousness of Christ. Christ's righteousness imputed
to me. The law looks at me and says, no guilt. There's nothing
to judge. Justified. No sin. No sin. No sin. That's a mystery. That God Himself made flesh. And in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Scripture says, dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. That's a mystery. Paul said,
pray for me. Utterance may be given unto me
that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of
the gospel. He said, for I am an ambassador.
I speak as I have been instructed. Do you know, you that know him,
you that believe, do you know that as long as what you hear
from this pulpit or any pulpit, as long as it's consistent with
these scriptures, You have absolutely no problem. But you hear something
that is inconsistent with these Scriptures, and you think, oh,
hold on, hold on. Hang on just a second. He says, I am an ambassador in
bonds, been sent by God, entrusted with His commission, qualified
by the Lord, and I'm bound to Him. bonds of love, bound to the preaching of the
gospel. Oh, may I speak boldly as I ought to speak. Paul said,
pray for me, that I might preach with liberty, that I might preach
freely, that I might preach Him, that I might honor the Lord and
deliver the message of God. He says, Verse 21-22, For that
ye also may know my affairs, and how I do. Tychicus, a beloved
brother, faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to
you all things whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose,
that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your
hearts. It's in closing this letter Paul
wrote to the church at Ephesus, he addressed it to them, but
it's to God's people. What he's saying is this, it's
good to keep open communion and communication with our brethren. We're a family. I always would
tell my kids, good communication makes good
friends. Just be honest, be honest with
me. Shoot straight with me. Tell
me what's going on. Don't try to hide anything from
me or something. Just tell me what's going on.
Paul said, I've got a faithful, faithful minister that I'm going
to send that you might know of my affairs. I don't doubt for
one second that this church supported Paul. I mean, Paul was a missionary. Paul didn't pastor in one church.
He went around. And it's just good to let everybody
know what's going on. I have a financial report out
here on the bulletin board. You want to know where every
dime, every penny from this congregation, you want to know where it goes?
Go out there and look. It's a financial report. Why? Because it's good
to give a good report, good open report. I heard Brother Henry,
when he had a preacher school, all these preachers that was
coming up, Todd Nybert, Tom Harding, Paul Mahan, all these guys that
came up on 13th Street, that's what Brother Henry would tell
them. He said, don't you ever, ever, ever, fail to just openly
disclose everything that's going on right here. That's what Paul
says. He said that you also may know
my affairs and how I do. Tychicus, a beloved brother,
faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things,
whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that you might
know my affairs and he might comfort your hearts. How's our
brother Paul doing? He's doing well. He's doing well. He sends His greetings to you.
He sends His love to you. Verse 23, Peace be to the brethren
and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Peace be to you who are brethren. That's what He said. Peace be
to the brethren. Peace be to you who are brethren.
Peace before God. That peace has been established
by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace in your conscience. Peace for your soul. You know,
I cherish this thought. When we come together like this,
and we come and we fellowship around the gospel, you're just
able to settle down, aren't you? It just feels good just to be
at peace, to think upon our precious Savior, what He has done for
me, all those things that the Lord has wrought. Peace be to
the brethren, and love with faith. May love be united with faith. How is faith manifested? Love to the brethren. Faithfulness
to the Lord. From God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. The only place that faith originates,
love originates. Then he says in verse 24, Grace
be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. within corruption. That's what
my marching says, within corruption. May God's divine favor be found
upon you that love the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who gave Himself
for us. May His grace be with you that
love Him genuinely, not with just lip service, but
from the heart. And then Paul says, Amen. I pray that the Lord bless this
book to our hearts. What a blessed book. The book
of Ephesians. The first three chapters tell
us of God's divine favor, sovereign, saving grace that He shows His
people. The last three chapters give
the evidence of those that the Lord has shown mercy. I pray
that he calls us to remember these things we've considered
and do it for Christ's sake. Amen.