We have been in this book, this
epistle of the apostle for quite some time. This will be the last
lesson on this book. I've never looked at a book as extensively,
so extensively as I have this book. I have learned so much
from it, about it. And I trust that it's been a
blessing to you. I have no idea, Larry, how many
messages we preached on this. It's been several, hasn't it?
Several messages. And it's been a blessing, and
we'll look at the last portion of it this afternoon. And I want
to begin reading here in verse 18. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse
18. Praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit, Watch and learn, too, with all
perseverance and supplications for all saints. 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, for which I am an
ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought
to speak. But that ye also may know my
affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and 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. Peace be
to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Pray for me. That was the Apostle's last request. This great Apostle. Pray for
me. There had never been a servant,
I am sure, in the Old or New Testament that devoted himself
to the glory of his Master. as this man had done. We often
call him our apostle because he is ours. He came to preach exclusively
and particularly, let's use that word, to the Gentiles. He never
preached a different gospel than the other apostles. He never
preached a different gospel than the prophets in the Old Testament.
He preached the gospel of the grace of Christ, but he preached
it in particular to the Gentiles. Look here how he says it in chapter
3, and look in verse 1. Ephesians 3 and verse 1, he says
this, For this cause I call the prisoner of the Lord for you
Gentiles. If you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given me to you, how that by
revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore
in few words, whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge
and the mystery of Christ." He's an apostle to the Gentiles. And he was ordained, he was chosen
as our apostle from the very beginning. No sooner had the
Lord saved this man, made himself real to him on the Damascus road,
and he says to him, Paul, I am sending you from here to the
Gentiles. And he told us why he was sending
him to the Gentiles, to open our eyes. Deliver us from the power of
Satan, to turn us from the power of Satan to God, to turn us from
darkness to light, that we may receive forgiveness of sins and
that inheritance among all them that are sanctified by faith."
That's in Christ. He's our apostle, the apostle
of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. And he was not only
our apostle, but we could truly say about this man that he was
the chief. of the apostles. He was the greatest
of all the apostles. And you ask Peter, and Peter
would tell you that. And I bet you all the other apostles
would tell you, that apostle that preaches to the Gentiles,
he's the greatest of all of us. In laboring, in missionary work,
in establishing churches, in travelings, here's what he said
about himself, I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God
that was in me. In knowledge, oh my, he was a
wise master builder. He knew more about God, the purpose
of God, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the way of redemption,
how to follow God as dear children. This was a wise master builder. He said, I received abundance
of revelation. He knew God. He knew the Lord
Jesus. He knew his purpose, probably
more than all the other apostles. And in sufferings, in sufferings
for Jesus Christ, in sufferings for his church, my goodness,
he could have wrote books about it, couldn't he? Page after page
after page, this man wrote of his suffering. But more than
what he could write about him, I tell you, he could manifest
them in his body. You look at that man's body,
and he had stripes on him, he had scars that never healed from
the stones where they stoned him. He said, I bear in my body
the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sufferings, suffering for
his cause and suffering for his glory. What a great apostle this
was. He was stoned, he died, and he
was raised from the dead. And not only that, but he raised
others from the dead. There was a young man who fell
out of an upper story building. Paul went down and they said,
he's dead. And he fell on him and raised him from the dead.
This was a great man, a gifted, gifted man. We're told that he
was caught up into the third heaven by soul. He said, I heard things there.
I saw things there that's not lawful to express in human language. The glory of that place. And
here was a man who lived with a burning desire to depart this
world and be with Christ. And I'll tell you something else
about that desire to depart and be with Christ. He had the assurance
that when he departed, he would be with Christ. He said, He's
able to keep that which I've committed to Him against that
day. And He said, when that day comes, the Lord of glory will
give to me a crown of life which fadeth not away. Oh, what a great apostle. What
a great man of God this was. Probably, if I had to say, brothers
and sisters, speaking of men, gifted of God, this was probably
the greatest man that ever lived upon this earth. apart from the
Son of God Himself. That's what I think about this
apostle. And he was our apostle. And how
does he close his book? What's his last request that
he has? Pray for me. Pray for me. Never outgrew his felt desire
and need for the prayers of God's people. Pray for me. Let God hear my name from your
lips. Pray for me. You know there's
people in this world who never pray. Jeremiah said there's whole
families that never call upon the name of the Lord. There are
many people who pray, but they don't pray in truth. Their prayers
aren't heard. And you know there's some people
that never have their names mentioned. and the heirs of God. One of the most affectionate
ways to me that God is described in all the Scriptures is this,
O thou that hearest prayer. What a way to describe the eternal
God, O thou that hearest prayer. You know I'd be afraid, I'd be
ashamed of myself if I come before you this afternoon, the church,
here in this community, and I hadn't mentioned your names before God. If I come here and after asking
Brother Glenn and Brother Larry and Brother Terrence to teach
to us, how would I feel? How could I face these men, our
teachers, if I said to them, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention
your name in prayer? I wonder how we can face our
children, our neighbors, that we see so often, if we had to
confront them some day and say, I know God is a God who hears
prayer, but I'm sorry I forgot to mention your name. Oh, thou
that hearest prayer, forgive us. Forgive us of our failings
to mention one another in prayer to God. Oh, the last great request. This man had his last request. Pray for me. Pray for me. And you know, I think if he needed
our prayers, if he felt like he needed the prayers of God's
people, don't you and I need them. I told you just a few days
ago, I covet your prayers more than I do anything else that
you could give me. I appreciate such a, oh, such
a fine display of your love for me and my wife that you gave
me this morning. I'll go home and read those letters
and probably laugh at some and cry at others. And what a wonderful
gift that was. But there's something I value
more than that or anything else, and that's pray for me. And if
I thought, brothers and sisters, that I come here and studied
to preach to you Sunday after Sunday, and you didn't pray for
me, you didn't get along somewhere, and hold my name before him who
hears and answers prayer. I tell you, I'd probably be so
discouraged I'd quit. Pray for me. If this great apostle,
if this great man of God, if this man who has such confidence
and clear knowledge of Jesus Christ needed the prayers of
God's people, oh, how much more you and I pray for me. And he tells us here in the second
portion of verse 19 what his request was. Pray for me that
utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel. Now there are so
many things this man could have requested in his prayer. And he did request it other places. I'm sure that he would have wanted
them to pray, may God sustain me. Pray that the Lord may sustain
me in my afflictions. That I don't fail in them, or
don't deny Him in my afflictions. Oh, we need that, don't we? I
talked with dear Mary Bell this morning, and she said, all she
said I want to do is glorify Him in my dying. Boy, isn't that
a desire? Just pray for me more than the
comfort that I feel like I need in my body, that in this affliction
that I face, that I will face it for His glory. Paul could
have prayed for that. He could have prayed for this.
He could have prayed for hell. John prayed for that. John was
writing in his epistle and he said, Brother, I pray that you
may prosper and be in good health. I don't want to be sick. Lord,
keep me healthy. But he didn't pray for that.
Here anyway, he could have prayed as he did in another place and
asked them to pray for him that the Lord would deliver him from
ungodly and unreasonable men. He said, I don't want to have
to argue. I don't want to argue all the time. There are some
men that don't have any faith at all, he said. They're unreasonable
men. You can't reason with them. I
pray and I want you to pray for me that God deliver me from those
men. He could have prayed, would you
ask the Lord to deliver me from the prison at Rome? He did ask
that in Philippians 1. But what's his request here?
Well, he said pray and ask the Lord this. that utterance may
be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make
known the mystery of the gospel." That utterance may be given to
me? That I can speak? Is that what he was praying for?
Why, here was a man, he never wanted for any matter in a message.
I just go searching and seeking through the Bible and all my
religious books, trying to find something to preach on. It wasn't
that way with this man. His heart and his head was full
of spiritual truths from the Word of God. No matter what subject
you found in the Bible, I'm telling you what, he knew about it. He
was a theologian in every truth in the Word of God. He didn't
need an outline. I doubt seriously if he ever
used a manuscript at all. The type of preaching and where
he preached at didn't call for it, did it? Usually he was in
a religious service and they said, you got anything to say?
And that's when he stood up and preached. He didn't get in his
pocket and pull out his outline. He didn't need one. But here
he says, pray for me that utterance may be given. What is this word,
utterance? What does it mean? Well, here
in verse 19, he tells us two things about it. The first thing
he tells us here, it's something that is given. Utterance is a
gift. And then he goes on to tell what
happens when this gift is given, that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of The gospel. There's what this
utterance is. It's a gift. It's something that's
given. And when it's given, it makes
known the mystery of the gospel. The mystery of the gospel. Well,
no wonder utterance has to be given. It's making known something
that's a mystery. Something that can't be known
apart from revelation. The gospel is a mystery. The
doctrines of the gospel is a mystery. Did you ever understand anything
about the triune God when you were lost? Man, you heard about
that, that God's a triune God. You heard about His will. Who
can understand the will of God? Be ready for us. He's made known
to you the mystery of His will, the mystery of the two natures
in the Son of God. We look at that all the time,
don't we? Here He is as God, and He's rebuking the winds and
waves, and yet He's been asleep. The two natures. He's the God-Man. What a mystery that is. What
a mystery it is in the new birth. when we were dead in trespasses
and sins, and then suddenly we're given life. Life comes into us. The mystery of faith. How did
we believe? When did we first believe? Oh,
all these mysteries of the Gospel. And we could go on and on and
on in talking about the mystery. But here's one thing about these
mysteries. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. He cannot know them. It has to
be given to Him to know these things, and it is usually given
to Him when God, the Holy Spirit, grants utterance. He moves upon
the preachers preaching. Not just upon the preacher, but
upon the preachers preaching. And when He does that, what happens?
The Word goes out, but it reaches the heart. It reaches the understanding. It makes these mysteries known. It makes them manifested. Peter
was talking about those in his days that preached the gospel
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. That's the most
wonderful thing. Preaching with the Holy Ghost. I've been aware of that probably
once or twice in my lifetime, that I was preaching in the Holy
Ghost. Isn't that awful to preach for 25 or 30 years and you can
kill them with one finger? How many times do you know that's
happened? Charles Spurgeon said it happened to him often that
while he was up preaching, he was so aware that really it wasn't
even him doing the preaching. He said, the words were coming
through me. But he said, I became almost
a bystander. And he said, I knew the words
were going to people's hearts. They were captivated. And what
was happening? Well, he said the Spirit was
giving him utterance. He was the Spirit preaching through
him. And he said sometimes while I
was preaching one message, I got three or four outlines from that
message to preach another message. The Spirit of God giving utterance. Let me show you some examples
of that. Hold Ephesians and turn over
to your left. to Acts chapter 2. We have a
very good illustration of what it means for the Spirit of God
to give utterance. Look in Acts chapter 2 with me. You remember this day. This was
the day of Pentecost, the day that the Old Testament had foretold
over and over again the Spirit of promise was coming. Let's begin reading here at verse
1. And when the day of Pentecost
was fully come, they were all with one accord, one mind, in
one place. And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak
with tongues, other languages. Look at this. As the Spirit gave
them utterance. Now what a miracle this was.
And here is the miracle. And you read on, beginning in
verse 8 and 9 and 10. There was about 18 different
countries gathered here at this place. and they all spoke different
languages. And here was the Apostle Peter
and these others preaching, and look here what happened in verse
5. They were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every
nation under heaven. And when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together, and were confounded, because
that every man heard them speak in his own Language. Now that's a miracle, isn't it?
Peter was speaking one language. It may have been Hebrew. It may
have been Greek. I don't know what he was speaking. But he
was speaking what he always spoke. But all those different people,
foreigners, they heard what he said. What a miracle that was. And we're told down there in
verse 11, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our
own tongue the wonderful works of God. They not only heard Him
speak, but they understood what they were saying. What are they
saying? They're talking about this great
God and the wonderful works that He's done. What a miracle that
was. And how did it come to pass?
The Spirit gave them utterance. And brothers and sisters, there
are times when here the preacher is up in the pulpit and there
are lost people in the audience. He might as well be speaking
in a foreign tongue. They cannot understand what he
is saying. He is speaking mysteries until
the Holy Spirit takes his preaching and takes it home to that heart.
And then what happens? It goes home to the heart. Look here in chapter 14 of Acts
right quickly. Look at this place. Acts chapter
14. Here is where Paul and Barnabas
went on their first missionary journey. They came here to Iconium
in Acts 14 and verse 1. And it came to pass in Iconium,
that they, Barnabas and Paul, went together into the synagogue
of the Jews, and they so spake. They so spake. What happened
when they so spake? A great multitude, both of Jews
and also of Greeks, believed. When the Spirit gives utterance,
that means He opens the men's hearts And they hear what the
preacher is saying. And he brings them to faith in
Christ. Utterance. Utterance. That's
what we need in our day. Did you know that? That's exactly
what we need. I've never seen it manifested
in any preacher in my day as I've seen it in Pastor Henry
Mayhem. You can preach. I remember I was assistant pastor
at a church just north of Muncie. And those people would go home
and they'd never hear a thing I said. Sometimes I'd get so
frustrated. Henry came up. The first night
he came up and preached. Two or three people come to me
and said, I want to hear more about that. I had been preaching
that and preaching that. And the first thing they'd hear,
when Henry, what happened? The Holy Spirit gave him utterance. That's it, isn't it? I preached the message one time
And Todd Niagara had just preached the message to his congregation.
It was a little bit different, but he had just preached it to
his congregation. And then I preached it to his congregation. And they
come up around me and says, you know, Ben, I've never heard that
like that before. And Todd finally just said, I just preached on
that. Here he is, got his degree, has his big education. Use these
big words, I don't even know what. But you know something?
Here's what it is, brothers and sisters. When the Spirit of God
gives utterance, that's it. That's it. When what I'm saying,
though it be said so meanly, unlearned, but when the Spirit
takes the truth of it to the heart, utterance may be given
to me. Why? that I may make known the
mysteries of the gospel." And until that happens, the gospel
will be a foreign language to people. Don't get mad at lost
people. Don't be mean to them because
they come and leave and don't understand the gospel. They cannot. It's a foreign language until
the Spirit gives utterance. Look back over my text again.
Ephesians chapter 6. He repeats this in verse 20. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse
20. That I may make known the mystery
of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds. We just had an ambassador killed
a few weeks ago, didn't we? Here wasn't an ambassador from
heaven. He was Christ's ambassador. They
had him in chains. He was a prisoner, ambassador
in bonds. That therein I may speak boldly
as I ought to speak. This is the second time he's
used this word, boldly. And sometimes when you and I
use this word, we think it just means, boy, you know, forcefully. We speak forcefully. But it don't
mean so much that. It don't exclude that. But what
it means is to speak frankly and plainly and keep nothing
back. To keep nothing back. To make
all known. You remember when Paul called
the Ephesian elders there in Acts chapter 20 to say goodbye
to them? Remember the last thing he said
to them? I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel
of God. That word shun means to hold
under, to hold out of sight, to cover up, to shrink, to conceal. It is right the opposite of the
meaning of this word bole, which means to speak frankly. To speak
plainly, openly, to make something known. Making the truth known
in a straightforward manner. Have you ever seen anybody, either
they get up to preach, or they write something, and it doesn't
make any sense? I have seen people be asked to
explain the doctrine of election, and by the time they are finished
with it, it is all cloudy. It makes no sense. Paul said,
God deliver me from covering up, from concealing, from clouding
the truth. God give me utters to speak plainly,
simply in words and phrases and terms that men can understand
what I'm saying. Boldly, plainly. We don't need
brothers and sisters. We don't need men that you have
to get you a dictionary to listen to. I don't care who he is, educated
or uneducated. What we aim at under God is speaking
Boldly, speaking plainly, where men can understand. Even the
children. I told David Mitchell yesterday,
I said probably one of the qualifications for a preacher, he should be
required to begin teaching the children. If we can't teach children,
I don't know if we should teach adults or not. Do you? Plainly. Plainly. And look what he says
in the last portion of verse 20, as I ought to speak. If I'm not speaking plainly,
I'm not speaking as I ought to speak. This word ought, well, that's
a very, very strong word. It means necessary, binding,
a must. It doesn't mean Like you and
I used to say, well, I ought to do this, but I probably won't.
We ought to obey God rather than man. That's pretty binding, isn't
it? And Paul said here that I may
speak boldly. And he said, that's necessary.
It's essential that I speak plainly, that I don't cover up the truth
and cloud it with human wisdom and human intellect and all of
this other stuff. We have no right, we have no
authority, we have no permission to cloud or confuse or darken
the doctrines of the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ with
unclear speech. I used to know a preacher, some
of you know him. He used to come up here and preach and the mystery
of that was he could preach to Church of God folks, he could
preach to Nazarenes, he could preach to Baptists. He could
preach to all sorts of denominations. And you could go there and you
could hear what you thought you believed. And the Nazarenes could
go there and they could hear from Him what they thought. It
was almost an unknown tongue. You could just come and He had
such a way of speaking out of every side of His mouth that
He could please everybody. Paul said, God forbid that we
speak like that. That's not the way to speak,
is it? Get up here and tell you about the grace of God and be
unclear in it. Preach to you for a year or two
years or five years and somebody says, what is your past to preach?
I really don't know. It's either me not being clear
or you're not hearing. I ought not to speak that way. We ought to be clear. That's
the way we ought to speak. Now, let's read the remainder
of this epistle. He says in verse 21, but that
you may know my affairs and how I do. I tell you, this man's
life was an open book. He had nothing to hide. He didn't
have any secret accounts that poor old Whitta sent their money
into. He didn't live in a big mansion with his doghouse air-conditioned. Everything about this man was
an open book. I want you to know how I live.
I want you to know my affairs, and I've sent this man, Tychicus,
to let you know." And what does he say about this man? Well,
before he calls him a minister, he calls him a beloved brother. I tell you, there's something
more important than being a faithful minister, and that's a brother. I was a brother in Christ to
you before I was your pastor. And the most important thing
to me now is being your dearly beloved brother. I'm a minister
second. I'm your brother first. And he said, In whom I have sent
unto you for the same purpose, that he might make known our
affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. Peace be to the
brethren, and love with faith, from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Grace be with all of them that
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Let me close with
a little statement from Al Barnes. He said, This word sincerity
is incorruptible with a pure heart, without hypocrisy, without
guile. There will be nothing more needful
for us when we come to the close of this life than the consciousness
that we truly loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. To
the writer and to the reader, may this be equally the consolation,
the comfort, that we did truly love the Lord Jesus Christ. Better,
far better, than will be the evidence of such sincere love
than all the wealth which toil can gain, all the honors which
the world can bestow, more than all the splendid mansions and
the widest fame. What is it? This is it. This is worth it all, to have
a heart that God will bear witness to, that I love the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, brothers and sisters, do
we love the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we love Him in sincerity?
Do we love Him without hypocrisy or guile? If we do, then grace
be unto you and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ our
Lord. Let's pray.