“Effective Connections”
REVIEW
I. Our Wealth and Worth In Christ 1-3
Paul first called the Ephesians to bless the Lord (speak well of the Lord) who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. He then wrote a gigantic 14 verse sentence packed with a grocery list of those blessings ending with a prayer that the Holy Spirit would enlighten us as to the wonder and nature of those blessing.
II. Our Worthy Walk in Christ 4-6
In light of the great blessing of God granted to every believer, Paul exhorted them to live worthy of those blessings by living differently; by living like Christ in every area of our life.
III. Our Warfare through Christ 6:10
The formidable opposition against us living worthy in a fallen world is an unseen but brutal spiritual enemy out to destroy us and our testimony. As we have seen, God provides both offensive and defensive resources to effectively wrestle this enemy. Paul commands us to be connected an empowered. Paul instructs us to be fully armed. Paul encourages us to continually resist enemy’s offensive with constant prayer. Paul enlists us to stand firm against all the schemes of the enemy with His power.
All of the resources have to do with a clear understanding of our standing in Jesus.
The Truth of Jesus to combat the devil’s lies
The Righteousness of Jesus to crush the devils condemnation
The Peace of Jesus to combat the devil’ chaos and conflict
The faith of Jesus to extinguish the devil’s fear
The Salvation of Jesus to squelch the devil’s doubt
The Word of Jesus to destroy the devil’s fortresses in us and our loved ones
Conversation with Jesus to bring His power to bear on the situation
This special conversation with Jesus acquires and affirms each piece of armor needed for battle.
The core instruction here is to do whatever is necessary to stand against these brutal attacks while in constant prayer for ourselves and each other in the body. Like most actions in scripture, spiritual warfare is not just about us. We are to war not only for ourselves but for our brethren who according Peter are suffering some of the same battles. Like all the other spiritual disciplines, spiritual warfare is not just an occasional practice. The war is not over until the Savior returns in victory.
While Paul encouraged constant prayer for one another in the context of a battle field, Paul also enlisted prayer regarding himself and his ministry. As we close this section of Ephesians I want us to observe the place of connections in ministry. God intended ministry to be done in partnership with others. We ask God for empowerment and so often He answers our prayer through our connections to other members of the body. Some Scripture prescribes specific directions to be understood and followed. Other Scripture describes various events and interactions of people to serve as examples. There have been plenty of specific directions passed on to the Christians gather in Ephesus. The concluding verses of Ephesians deal with some personal interactions of Paul and a final blessing. In such Scripture we look for principles that can be drawn from personal interaction. I think that Paul highlights for us the importance of connections. Effective connections lead to effective ministry.
Specifically:
Empowering connections
Enlightening connections
Encouraging connections
We connect with others for all kinds of things. How do those connections cause us to be more effective in our ministry? Why should I tune into this message? Beyond what I may say today, God has something to say to you. God wants to speak. Jesus stands in the midst of the church calling out for those who have ears to hear, HEAR! Hear what the Spirit has to say to us as a church and to you personally today.
Empowering connections
Paul shared a personal prayer request for effective bold proclamation of the Gospel
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:18-20
On the heels of instructing them to continually pray for one another, Paul slipped in a personal request of his own.
Paul’s circumstance
This letter was written while Paul was imprisoned for his proclamation of message of Jesus.
While awaiting trial, Paul was allowed to serve his time in a house rented at his own expense.
Since they didn’t have electronic ankle bracelets in those days, guards were assigned to him to prevent his escape but not others from visiting. This would not be the case later. Later he would be dropped in a dark and damp hole in Rome cold and alone. In fact, a decree stated that visitors not be prevented from seeing Paul. Paul used this as an opportunity to write (Prison Letters) as well as to bear testimony to the power and grace of God to the various guards assigned to him and disciple many who visited him. One such visitor was Onesimus a runaway slave brought to the Lord by Paul. Paul wrote to Onesimus’s former owner Philemon to encourage restoration now that Onesimus had become a believer in Jesus. That letter to Philemon has been preserved as one of the books in the New Testament.
Paul’s prayer request
Given the similar circumstance as Paul what might have been our request?
“Pray that God gets me outta here!”
“Pray that God protect me.”
“Pray that more people come to see me.”
“Pray that my circumstance change for the better.”
Paul’s primary concern was the effective communication of the Gospel.
and (praying) also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. 6:19-20
He is concerned about two things.
Words to speak
Boldness to speak them
Still on the top of the greatest fears people suffer is public speaking. You never really get used to it. Paul asked for prayer to boldly proclaim the mysteries of the gospel. He wanted the words to be given him and the courage to speak them. Remember where he was! It is his words that got him where he was. He was chained to a prison guard; not the friendliest of people. Paul knew that such empowerment came from the prayers of others.
It was a familiar request.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Colossians 4:2-4
What greater need for proper and bold proclamation but chained to a hostile pagan. In such a circumstance there is a great need for the right words and a whole lot of boldness. He asked for the right words to be given. This a passive point in time verb. He was thinking of his particular precarious circumstance and was asking them to ask God to grant, give, show, or deliver proper words into his mouth and give him the boldness to speak them.
This is a legitimate request in times of stress and difficult circumstances. God promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would give them the right words to say.
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:19-20
The disciples all remembers a dramatic answer to their prayers for boldness to speak. In the early development of the church Peter and John were dragged before the hostile religious Supreme Court to answer for proclaiming the resurrected Jesus. Peter answered them after being filled with the Spirit.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13
After they released Peter and John, they returned to their friends.
When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:23-31
Maybe we are praying the wrong prayers. Again, you would have thought the prayers would have been for protection and deliverance. They prayed for boldness to speak the word in hostile conditions.
Did God answer Paul’s prayer? It seems that He did.
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much bolder to speak the word without fear. Philippians 1:12-14
When was the last time you asked other to pray for God’s words to be given and boldness be granted to confidently speak those words concerning the mysteries of the Gospel? We need connections with people who can pray on our behalf for empowerment not just to speak the mysteries of the Gospel but to live them.
Enlightening Connections
So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 6:21
They didn’t have email, “Facebook”, or any of the social media tools as we do. They didn’t have the ability to get information to others quickly. Our “One Call” service can call every member of the family simultaneously. We can be informed and enlightened concerning any number of things. The important thing is not the means but the fact of connections at a personal level for the purpose of ministry and prayer concerning one another. I am not sure “Facebook” is best. In an age where there is more verbal connection that ever before there seems to be less personal connection. People feel lonely in the crowd. People absence of 80% of communication often caused more miscommunication that communication. It is said that 80% of communication comes from “body language”. Written letters sometimes fail to convey a true picture; smile, touch, look, tone.
Paul did not just write a letter to the Ephesians with whom he has spent nearly three years teaching them daily with tears; he sent a person.
Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. Acts 20:31
He sent Tychicus to provide personal information, eternal perspective. He did not want them to worry about his condition. He did not want their minds to be preoccupied with “what might be” so they could pray accurately about what was.
Enlighteners help bring eternal perspective to life. They help us keep focuses on what is instead of being distracted by what might be. In the midst of life in a fallen world we need continual perspective adjustments to God’s perspective.
Encouraging connections
Paul sent this faithful servant Tychicus to encourage the Ephesians. Letters are incomplete.
We need a face, we need, a touch, we need a smile. We need connections that will encourage our hearts. Paul used a very rich word here. It is the same word used to describe the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I have heard people say, You can’t be the Holy Spirit in someone’s life.”
I know what they mean but the fact is we are called to ministry as the Holy Spirit. The word means called alongside to help. It is translated encourage, comfort, exhort, urge.
Many of us are all too familiar with VDP – very draining people. Howard Hendricks described them as people walking around holding there umbilical cords look for some place to plug in.
You can only handle so many such people in your lives.
We need at least a few VEP—very encouraging people in our lives. Paul sent Tychicus who was a faithful servant to be such a person on his behalf because he was unable. Paul did not always have such people around Him. (2 Timothy 1:15; 4:16)
What is God teaching us by Paul’s example here? What has nudged your heart?
At least two possibilities come to mind.
I need an empowering, enlightening and encouraging connection.
I need to BE an empowering, enlightening or encouraging connection to someone.
God may be saying both.
Anyone can pray for empowerment on behalf of someone else.
Anyone who is connected to the Holy Spirit can bring enlightenment for someone else.
Anyone can encourage someone else by their service.
The final stage of our current patter of communication with God is the “SUBMIT” stage.
It is the part where we purpose to do something based on our need and His provision.
“I WILL …”
Paul concluded his letter with a blessing on the Ephesian followers of Jesus.
It is a prayer/benediction of sorts that calls on God to bless the church. Paul already included two prayers in this letter and thus concludes. After encouraging them with information on their amazing worth and wealth in Christ who had blessed them with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenly realms, he concludes with four most vital and longed for blessings whose source is God.
Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. Ephesians 6:23-24
Paul began his letter with a plea for God to shower them with Grace and peace.
He concludes with two other sandwiched between.
PEACE – LOVE – FAITH -- GRACE
This was his prayer and longing for every genuine follower and lover of Jesus and mine.
BLESSING
May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ shower your life with His peace in every circumstance.
May His unadulterated love for you return to Him and others with the same measure.
May He fill your life with the motivation to trust Him to continue to bring about any and everything He has promised and planned to do in and through you.
May His empowering grace; His unfathomable power strengthen you for the trials and battles of life in a troubled and fallen world.
May He bring into your life with connections people that will empower, enlighten and encourage you.
May you be filled with His Spirit in order to become a connection of empowerment, enlightenment and encouragement.
