THEY’LL WANT TO KNOW

Ephesians 6:18-24 (KJV)

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication 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.

I am finishing preaching through the book of Ephesians and the book of 2 Timothy today.

I find it is interesting that it has worked out this way because they are written

·   By the same person – Paul

·   At about the same time, while he was in prison in Rome

·   To the same audience, although one was written to the church and the other to the pastor of the church and

·   Delivered by the same person - Tychicus

The ending of the two books is, not surprisingly, quite similar.

Since this is the last message in this series from Ephesians, I want to repeat the basic lessons of the book.

The book of Ephesians is the foundational resource for the doctrines concerning the local church.

The purpose of the book is to show how God, through Christ, reconciles both Jews and Gentiles and places them both into one new body, the local church.

Paul explained that:

·   The local church is the mystery of godliness

·   The local church is the fullness of Jesus Christ and

·   Christ loved and died for the local church

Paul’s preaching and teaching on the local church is the reason he said he was a prisoner – it was a doctrine for which he was willing to die.

Paul used the marriage relationship to demonstrate what a local church is and stressed that, in each case, effort was essential to maintain unity in that church.

I have repeatedly said, based on what I think is the lesson of Ephesians, that:

·   You will only see Christ properly when you see God properly and

·   You will only see the church properly when you see Christ properly

One of the major reasons we see the problems we see in some churches today is because:

·   People have a lower view of God.

·   That leads to a weakened view of Jesus Christ and

·   That leads to a casual view of the church

I said:

·   The most important thing to God is Christ

·   The most important thing to Christ is the church and

·   The most important thing in the church is unity

Unity is the result of submission to the Holy Spirit of God.

After building his case for the local church through all of that, the Apostle finally gets to one vital application - Ephesians 6:10-18.

We are in a battle.

And that battle can only be won as we work together as one unified body.

There are stories of great heroism in battle.

But wars are not won by the heroes.

Wars are won by the common, every day soldier being in his place and performing his duty as he was trained to do.

Notice as we finish the book of Ephesians tonight,

I. A TRANSITION TO PRAYER

Ephesians 6:18-20 (KJV)

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication 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.

In verses 18 Paul was finishing up this “whole armor of God” discourse with prayer.

I read this week, “Prayer is general, supplication is specific.”

Prayer is general – it includes ever sort of prayer:

·   Asking

·   Confessing

·   Thankgiving and

·   Supplication

Supplication is one specific kind of prayer, pleading.

Paul ended the whole armor of God by saying, “watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

You are on guard duty, watching and

The weapon in your hand is perseverant, non-stop pleading for all of the saints.[1]

How many of us can honestly say that we pray that way for one another?

This would be:

·   Meticulous

·   Determined

·   Purposeful

·   Planned

It would include everyone in the church, even the ones you aren’t as “connected” with.

And it, I am sure, would make a huge difference in the effectiveness of any church.

Paul transitions from that, to his personal need for prayer

And for me,

He didn’t ask for rescue from execution or a way to escape from prison

He didn’t ask for grace to get through it,

He asked

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

He asked for boldness to preach the gospel to the very end.

Our prayer requests are too often earthly.

I am not saying that we need not pray for those things.

But I do not believe that our focus in prayer ought to be those things.

There is secondly,

II. A MESSENGER OF PAUL’S AFFAIRS

Ephesians 6: 21-22 (KJV)

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.

This is what struck me as I was working on this message:

A person in the place where Paul is, if he or she isn’t careful, might choose to sullen up and not let anyone know what’s going on.

“No one cares about me.

God has abandoned me to die

I have given up everything for Jesus and now look what’s going to happen.

I think I’ll just hide away in the darkness of my dungeon and rot until they kill me.

That’ll teach them.”

That wasn’t Paul’s reaction at all, was it?

He sent Tychicus, at his own loss of companionship and comfort, so that

·   the believers in Ephesus could know how he was doing and so

·   they could be comforted.

All of us get down and depressed sometimes.

When it happens, we are tempted to hide away from people.

Don’t do that!

You need people to see you and to know your affairs.

But be careful!

Paul didn’t send Tychicus to tell them how badly he was doing. He sent Tychicus to tell them that he was still in the battle for the Lord.

Everyone already knew the bad stuff.

What they needed to know was that he was still serving Jesus.

If you will get out there and serve Jesus, those who need to know will figure out the other stuff.

There is lastly

III. A FINAL EXPRESSION OF PAUL’S CARE

Ephesians 6: 23-24 (KJV)

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.

It’s a prayer. He asked for them:

Peace

Of heart and of unity in the church

Love

For the Lord and for our neighbors

Faith

Confidence in the teaching of God’s Word

and

Grace

God’s goodness and blessings in the issues of their lives

Conclusion

I want to ask you to pray for your church.

I want to ask you to make it a matter of purposeful, meticulous effort to pray for every member and every part of your church.

And I want to ask you to ask God to give you the grace to do that with perseverance and unwavering persistence.

That’s how we will change our world!

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[1] While I think we can make a general application to all Christians everywhere the obvious context and most practical application would be for those saints who are members of your very own church.

ANY LAST WORDS?

2 Timothy 4:19-22 (KJV)

Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

There is, I think, the chance that the Apostle Paul and Timothy saw one another one last time after this letter was sent – at least that was Paul’s desire.

But we can’t know that they did see each other again, and Paul would not have known for sure either.

He has wound down.

The instructions are finished.

His final request is made, “Do thy diligence to come before winter.”

Paul has to know he may never see or hear from Timothy again.

It made me think of that question you always hear them ask in those old westerns just before they hang a guy, “You got any last words?”

Here are the last of Paul’s last words to Timothy.

His final words are all about people.

*I. SOME PEOPLE TO GREET

2 Timothy 4:19 (KJV)

Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

I am immediately brought back to the crucifixion where Jesus, suffering as He was, took the time to care for the welfare of his mother.

Apostle Paul has to be filled with emotion as he closes out this letter to Timothy but rather than drowning himself in self-pity, he has others in his heart.

He had met Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth.[1]

Paul had arrived in Corinth is sort of a low time in his ministry. He was alone and depressed, having left Athens with little success in preaching the gospel.

It appears he might also have been at a low time financially as well, so the Bible says that, while he was in Corinth he worked with Aquila and Priscilla in the craft of tent making.

When he left Corinth, Aquila and Priscilla went with him to Ephesus, where they stayed behind and supported the ministry there.

Here it is, years later, and Aquila and Priscilla are still there, serving the Lord in the church.

Paul, you have noticed, shortened Priscilla’s name to Prisca.

My mother knows my name is Marvin. But sometimes, for whatever reason, she calls me Marv.

Nothing else is known of the house of Onesiphorus

He is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible except 2 Timothy.

·   He had often refreshed Paul

·   He was not ashamed of Paul’s chains

·   He was from Ephesus but had reason to travel to Rome where he visited with Paul

“Timothy, be sure to tell them I said, ‘Hello.’”

*II. SOME NEWS TO SPEAK

2 Timothy 4:20 (KJV)

Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

Still expressing care for others, here Paul delivers some news about a couple of people Timothy might have an interest in:

·   Erastus – he stayed in Corinth, didn’t make it to Rome

·   Trophimus – he was going to come to but got sick

*III. SOME WORDS TO REPEAT

2 Timothy 4:21 (KJV)

Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.

I spent quite a bit of time on Paul’s desire for Timothy to come visit him earlier so I will skip that here.

Paul had asked Timothy to say hello to some people for him.

There were also some people who wished for Paul to say hello to Timothy for them in this letter.

*IV.  SOME PRAYERS COMPLETE

2 Timothy 4:22 (KJV)

The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

Some prayers don’t have to be long and drawn out to be meaningful and heartfelt.

My last prayer for you

That Jesus Christ be with your spirit –

·   To counsel you in difficulties

·   To comfort you in distress

·   To strengthen you in duty

That grace be with you

The favor of God, undeserved but so essential in our lives.

*Conclusion

All of this hints of a tool to stay composed in difficult times of life – think about others.

Paul wasn’t in denial.

He was fully aware of what the future held for him.

But he had great faith in his eternal reward and so – until the time for his to depart, he would keep his heart set on others.

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[1] Acts 18:1-3