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SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 57

TITLE: PETITIONARY PRAYER FOR PAUL

TEXT: EPHESIANS 6:19&20

INTRODUCTION: (1) I WANT TO BEGIN OUR STUDY TODAY BY QUOTING D. MARTIN LLOYD JONES, THE GREAT EXPOSITOR FROM THE WESTMINSTER CHAPEL IN LONDON, ENGLAND WHO WAS BORN IN 1899 AND WENT HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD IN 1981.

* HE SAID IN HIS COMMENTARY IN EPHESIANS 6:10-26 AND I QUOTE, “THE APOSTLE ENDS ON THE FOLLOWING NOTE:” (SPEAKING OF THE END OF EPHESIANS).

** “HE WANTS THEM (THE EPHESIANS) TO PRAY FOR HIM. WHAT A STAGGERING THOUGHT THAT THIS MIGHTY MAN OF GOD, THIS EXCEPTIONAL APOSTLE, THIS GREATEST PREACHER THAT THE CHURCH HAS EVER KNOWN, THIS INCOMPARABLE FOUNDER OF CHURCHES, SHOULD BE ASKING THESE PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR HIM!”

*** “IT WAS BECAUSE HE WAS SUCH A GREAT CHRISTIAN. THE GREATER THE CHRISTIAN THE MORE HE REALIZES HIS DEPENDENCE UPON THE PRAYERS OF OTHERS.”

**** “THERE WAS NO SELF-CONFIDENCE IN THE APOSTLE PAUL, NONE AT ALL.”

(2) “HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING, HE KNEW WHOM HE WAS REPRESENTING, HE KNEW THE POWER THAT WAS AGAINST HIM.”

* “HIS ONE FEAR WAS THAT, AT SOME POINT OR OTHER, HE MIGHT FAIL HIS LORD AND COMMANDER AND THE ARMY OF THE LIVING GOD.”

** “HE WAS IN A VERY PROMINENT POSITION AND A MISTAKE ON HIS PART WOULD HAVE TERRIBLE REPERCUSSIONS.”

*** “SO HE TREMBLES AND ASKS THE EPHESIAN CHRISTIANS TO PRAY FOR HIM.” (END QUOTE)

**** NOW IN SUMMARY OF WHAT LLOYD JONES SAID: PAUL REALIZED THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER FIGHTS ON HIS KNEES!

(3) PAUL REALIZED THAT PRAYER IS THE FIRST THING, THE SECOND THING, THE THIRD THING NECESSARY TO MINISTER IN THE MIDST OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE.

* BECAUSE OF THAT, “PRAY FOR US” OR “PRAY FOR ME” WAS A REQUEST PAUL OFTEN MADE OF HIS READERS.

** FOR EXAMPLE IN I THESSALONIANS 5:25 HE SAID: “BRETHREN PRAY FOR US.”

*** IN II THESSALONIANS 3:1 HE SAID: “FINALLY BRETHREN PRAY FOR US.”

**** IN COLOSSIANS 4:3&4 HE SAID: “PRAYING AT THE SAME TIME FOR US AS WELL, THAT GOD WILL OPEN UP TO US A DOOR FOR THE WORD, SO THAT WE MAY SPEAK FORTH THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, FOR WHICH I HAVE ALSO BEEN IMPRISONED;”

V. 4 – “THAT I MAY MAKE IT CLEAR IN THE WAY I OUGHT TO SPEAK.”

(4) IN ROMANS 15:30 PAUL SAID: “NOW I URGE YOU, BRETHREN, BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND BY THE LOVE OF THE SPIRIT, TO STRIVE TOGETHER WITH ME IN YOUR PRAYERS TO GOD FOR ME.”

* IN II CORINTHIANS 1:11 HE SAID: “YOU ALSO JOINING IN HELPING US THROUGH YOUR PRAYERS, SO THAT THANKS MAY BE GIVEN BY MANY PERSONS ON OUR BEHALF FOR THE FAVOR BESTOWED ON US THROUGH THE PRAYERS OF MANY.”

** AND THEN IN PHILIPPIANS 1:19&20 HE SAID: “FOR I KNOW THAT THIS WILL TURN OUT FOR MY DELIVERANCE THROUGH YOUR PRAYERS AND THE PROVISION OF THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST,”

V. 20 – “ACCORDING TO MY EARNEST EXPECTATION AND HOPE, THAT I WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME IN ANYTHING, BUT THAT WITH ALL BOLDNESS, CHRIST WILL EVEN NOW, AS ALWAYS, BE EXALTED IN MY BODY, WHETHER BY LIFE OR BY DEATH.”

*** NOW FROM ALL THESE VERSES IT IS OBVIOUS THAT PAUL ASKS FOR PRAYER A LOT.

**** BUT WHAT HE SPECIFICALLY ASKS FOR PRAYER ABOUT IS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT MANY PEOPLE ASK FOR PRAYER ABOUT TODAY.

(5) I MEAN, MANY OF THE PRAYER REQUESTS THAT WE HEAR TODAY ARE NORMALLY HEALTH RELATED OR FOR SOMETHING PHYSICAL LIKE MONEY, TO BE DELIVERED FROM A TRIAL, ETC.

* AND AS I SAID LAST WEEK, IT’S NOT WRONG TO PRAY ABOUT THOSE THINGS, THEY ARE REAL PROBLEMS, REAL HEARTACHES, REAL BURDENS AND REAL ISSUES.

** BUT WE MUST LOOK BEYOND THE PHYSICAL TO FOCUS ON THE ETERNAL. WHAT IS THE LORD GOING TO ACCOMPLISH THROUGH THAT ILLNESS, THROUGH THAT TRIAL, THROUGH THAT DIFFICULTY.

*** WILL SOMEONE’S HEART BE OPENED TO THE GOSPEL? WILL SOMEONE GROW SPIRITUALLY IN A WAY THAT THEY WOULD NOT WITHOUT THAT TRIAL? WILL THIS SICKNESS, THIS DEATH, THIS TRIAL OPEN UP A DOOR FOR THE GOSPEL?

**** WELL, PAUL IN OUR TEXT TODAY WAS IN THE MIDST OF A TRIAL HIMSELF. HE WAS UNDER HOUSE ARREST AND CHAINED TO A ROMAN SOLDIER.

(8) BUT HIS BURDEN IS NOT TO BE RELEASED, TO BE FREED BUT THAT HE WOULD BE USED BY GOD IN HIS PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCE FOR THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.

* PAUL ASKS FOR PRAYER THAT HE MIGHT SPEAK BOLDLY FOR CHRIST, THAT HE WOULD PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL BOLDLY AND THAT HE WOULD SPEAK THE WAY HE OUGHT TO SPEAK.

** AND AFTER INSTRUCTING THE EPHESIANS TO PRAY SPECIFICALLY AND TO PRAY FOR ALL SAINTS IN EPHESIANS 6:18, PAUL MAKES SOME SPECIFIC REQUESTS FOR PRAYER ON HIS BEHALF. PAUL PETITIONS THE BELIEVERS AT EPHESUS TO PRAY ON HIS BEHALF.

*** AND IN OUR STUDY TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT PAUL’S SPECIFIC PRAYER REQUEST WHICH I’VE TITLED, “PETITIONARY PRAYER FOR PAUL”.

**** AND UNDER THAT TITLE, WE’LL LOOK AT 3 MAIN POINTS AS WE EXAMINE EPHESIANS 6:19&20.

(7) NO. 1 PAUL’S PETITION, V. 19; NO. 2 PAUL’S POSITION, V. 20A; AND NO. 3 PAUL’S PASSION, V. 20B.

* SO WE’LL LOOK AT HIS PETITION, HIS POSITION AND HIS PASSION UNDER PETITIONARY PRAYER FOR PAUL.

** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS OUR GUIDE, LOOK AT V. 19 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT, PAUL’S PETITION.

I. PAUL’S PETITION, (READ V. 19)

A. NOW PAUL PETITIONS THE BELIEVERS HE’S WRITING TO, TO PRAY ON HIS BEHALF.

* AND PAUL DID NOT SAY, PRAY ON MY BEHALF, IN ORDER THAT MY ANKLES, RAW AND SORE FROM MY CHAINS, MY SHACKLES MIGHT BE HEALED.

** PAUL DID NOT SAY, PRAY ON MY BEHALF THAT I MIGHT BE FREED FROM PRISON AND SUFFERING.

*** PAUL DIDN’T BRING UP HIS PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF BEING UNDER HOUSE ARREST, BEING IMPRISONED AT ROME FOR HIS FAITH AT THIS TIME.

**** HIS DEEP CONCERN, THE BURDEN ON HIS HEART WAS UTTERANCE MIGHT BE GIVEN TO HIM IN THE OPENING OF MY MOUTH, TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL.

1. AND BELOVED THIS PRAYER REQUEST REVEALS THE HEART OF PAUL AND SHOWS US HIS ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE.

* PAUL’S MIND, HEART AND LIFE WERE FOCUSED, WERE CENTERED ON LIVING FOR CHRIST AND WHAT LASTS, NOT ON HIMSELF.

** HIS WORLD DID NOT REVOLVE AROUND SELF, HIS COMFORT, HIS PROBLEMS, EVEN HIS NEEDS, BUT HIS WORLD REVOLVED AROUND CHRIST, THE LORD WAS THE HUB OF HIS LIFE.

*** HE DIDN’T SAY POOR ME, HE WASN’T FILLED WITH SELF-PITY, HE WASN’T FILLED WITH SELF IN THE MIDST OF HIS FIRST IMPRISONMENT AND HIS SUFFERINGS.

**** IT WAS PRAY FOR ME – YES, I NEED PRAYERS, BUT PRAY FOR UTTERANCE.

2. NOW THE WORD UTTERANCE HERE IS THE GREEK WORD LOGOS WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN.

* AND THE MEANING IN THIS CONTEXT HAS TO DO WITH WORDS, SPEECH, STATEMENTS.

** THE IDEA HERE IS THE USE OF WORDS, THAT IS AN UTTERANCE OR A SPEECH.

*** PAUL ASKS FOR PRAYER THAT WHEN HE OPENS HIS MOUTH HE MIGHT SPEAK FOR GOD.

**** IN ESSENCE, THAT UTTERANCE OR SPEECH WAS TO BE GRACIOUSLY GIVEN TO HIM BY GOD, THAT GOD WILL GIVE HIM UTTERANCE WHEN HE OPENS HIS MOUTH.

3. THAT GOD WILL OPEN MY MOUTH, THAT I WILL BE A VOICE, A HERALD, A MOUTHPIECE, AN ORACLE FOR HIM, AND THAT HIS WORDS WILL COME OUT OF MY MOUTH WHEN HE OPENS IT.

* NOW THIS IS GREAT. I MEAN THIS SHOULD BE OUR HEART’S DESIRE IF WE ARE WALKING WITH THE LORD.

** THAT WHEREVER WE ARE, IN WHATEVER WE ARE DOING, WITH WHOMEVER WE ARE WITH, THAT WE WILL BE A VOICE FOR GOD, THAT HE WILL OPEN OUR MOUTHS AND WE WILL SAY WHAT HE WANTS US TO SAY.

*** AND PRACTICALLY WHAT THAT MEANS IS OUR CONVERSATIONS WILL CHANGE.

**** I MEAN HOW CAN YOU GOSSIP AND BE A VOICE FOR GOD AND SPEAK FOR HIM?

4. HOW CAN YOU GRIPE AND COMPLAIN IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE A VOICE FOR GOD?

* HOW CAN YOU LIE IF YOU ARE BEING GOD’S SPOKESPERSON?

** HOW CAN VENOM COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH WITH ANYONE IF YOU ARE A VOICE FOR GOD?

*** AND THAT IS CONVICTING, CHALLENGING AND COMFORTING TO ME.

**** IT IS CONVICTING WHEN UNKIND HARSH WORDS, COMPROMISING WORDS COME OUT OF MY MOUTH.

5. IT IS CHALLENGING TO THINK THAT I AM ALWAYS TO BE A VOICE FOR GOD.

* AND IT IS COMFORTING AND REASSURING WHEN I HAVE BEEN A VOICE FOR GOD AS I WANT TO BE RIGHT NOW!

** AND BELOVED THIS SHOULD BE OUR PRAYER REQUEST TO OUR SOVEREIGN GOD AND SHOULD BE A PRAYER REQUEST THAT WE ASK OTHERS TO PRAY ABOUT.

*** LET THIS BE OUR HEART, READ PSALM 19:14, PSALM 51:15 AND COLOSSIANS 4:3&4 - “PRAYING AT THE SAME TIME FOR US AS WELL, THAT GOD WILL OPEN UP TO US A DOOR FOR THE WORD, SO THAT WE MAY SPEAK FORTH THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, FOR WHICH I HAVE ALSO BEEN IMPRISONED;”

V. 4 – “THAT I MAY MAKE IT CLEAR IN THE WAY I OUGHT TO SPEAK.”

**** AND COLOSSIANS 4:3&4 TAKE US BACK TO THE CONTEXT OF EPHESIANS 6:19 AND LEADS US TO THE SPECIFICS OF WHAT PAUL WANTS TO MAKE KNOWN HERE, AND IT IS THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL.

6. AND THE MANNER WITH WHICH PAUL WAS TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL AND THAT IS WITH BOLDNESS.

* AND FIRST OF ALL LET ME TALK ABOUT THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL.

** NOW WE TALKED ABOUT THE MYSTERY EARLIER IN EPHESIANS CHAPTER 3.

*** AND THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL DOES NOT MEAN SOME MYSTERIOUS PART OF THE GOSPEL FOR THE WORD MYSTERY DOES NOT MEAN SOMETHING UNKNOWN OR MYSTERIOUS.

**** BUT THAT WHICH IS UNKNOWN UNTIL IT IS REVEALED BY GOD. AND THERE WERE TRUTHS HIDDEN IN THE O.T. THAT ARE REVEALED IN THE N.T.

7. FOR EXAMPLE IN EPHESIANS 3, THE MYSTERY THAT JEW AND GENTILE ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER IN CHRIST IN ONE BODY, THAT IN CHRIST JEW AND GENTILE WHICH WERE SEPARATED BY MANY THINGS BECOME ONE IN GOD’S SIGHT.

* AND THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL HAS NOW BEEN REVEALED. IT IS THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL THAT CHRIST DIED FOR SINNERS, THAT HE ROSE VICTORIOUS FROM THE DEAD AND HE WILL SAVE REPENTANT SINNERS WHO COME TO HIM FOR SALVATION AND BOW TO HIS LORDSHIP.

** AND THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL EXPLAIN THE CONTENT OF THE REVELATION. A HELPFUL TRANSLATION WOULD BE “MAKE KNOWN THE REVELATION THAT IS IN THE GOSPEL” OR “THE MYSTERY, NAMELY THE GOSPEL”.

*** AND PAUL WANTED TO SPEAK FORTH THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL OF CHRIST AND THE MANNER IN WHICH HE WANTED TO SPEAK IT FORTH WAS BOLDLY.

**** AND THE GREEK WORD FOR BOLDNESS IS PAK-RHAY-SER-AH AND YOU CAN SEE IT ON THE SCREEN.

8. AND IT DENOTES, IT LIT. MEANS FREEDOM TO SPEAK WITH NO RESTRAINTS, THEREFORE TO SPEAK FREELY, BOLDLY OR OPENLY, WITH THE RIGHT WORDS.

* HE DOESN’T WANT ANY KIND OF HINDRANCE BUT A LIBERTY TO SAY EXACTLY WHAT HE NEEDS TO SAY UNHINDERED.

** PAUL DESIRES WHAT I WOULD CALL “LIBERTY IN THE SPIRIT” TO EXPRESS THE GOSPEL TRUTHS WHICH ARE OFFENSIVE FREELY, CLEARLY AND BOLDLY.

*** SO HE WANTS TO SAY EXACTLY WHAT HE NEEDS TO SAY IN COMMUNICATING THE GOSPEL, WITHOUT FEAR, WITH CLARITY SO THERE IS NO MISUNDERSTANDING AND WITHOUT COMPROMISE.

**** AND THAT IS PAUL’S PETITION, WHAT A PETITION FOR PRAYER, UNLIKE SOME OF OUR PETITIONS, BUT MAY THIS BE A PETITION OF OURS WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, PAUL’S POSITION. LOOK AT THE FIRST PART OF V. 20 PLEASE.

II. PAUL’S POSITION, (READ V. 20A)

A. NOW PAUL’S POSITION WAS HE WAS AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS.

* AND THIS STATEMENT APPEARS TO BE PARADOXICAL, AN OXYMORON, A CONTRADICTION OF TERMS.

** FOR AMBASSADORS IN THAT DAY AND IN OUR DAY IS A POSITION OF RESPECT, DIGNITY, HONOR AND PRESTIGE.

*** AMBASSADORS HAVE DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY AND THE IDEA OF AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS, AN AMBASSADOR BEING IMPRISONED WOULD HAVE AND STILL IS REGARDED AS AN INSULT BOTH TO THE SENDER OF THE AMBASSADOR, TO THE KING, THE COUNTRY OR POWER HE IS REPRESENTING AND TO THE AMBASSADOR HIMSELF.

**** AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS WAS UNHEARD OF.

1. PAUL’S CHAINS REFER NOT ONLY TO HIS IMPRISONMENT, THEY ALSO TESTIFY SYMBOLICALLY TO HIS CALLING.

* HIS CHAINS INDICATE THAT HE IS UNDER OBLIGATION AND ARE THEREFORE HIS CREDENTIALS AS AN AMBASSADOR.

** IT APPEARS HE IS REVELING IN HIS MISSION, HE’S PROUD OF THOSE CHAINS FOR THEY DISTINGUISH HIM AS CHRIST’S AMBASSADOR.

*** HE’S THE AMBASSADOR OF THE KING OF KINGS, NOT TO SOME HUMAN MONARCH. HIS KING IS THE SOVEREIGN OVER ALL AND ABOVE ALL.

**** SO HIS LIFE WAS WHOLLY UNDER GOD’S CONTROL AND DIRECTION, EVEN TO THE EXTENT OF HIS IMPRISONMENT AS CHRIST’S ACCREDITED REPRESENTATIVE OR AMBASSADOR.

2. PAUL WAS NOT A VICTIM, BUT A VICTOR. HE WAS NOT THE PRISONER OF ROME, THE PRISONER OF CAESAR OR THE PRISONER OF BAD LUCK, BUT THE PRISONER OF CHRIST JESUS AS PAUL SAYS IN PHILEMON 1:1.

* PAUL SAID IN PHILEMON 1:1 – “PAUL, A PRISONER OF CHRIST JESUS, AND TIMOTHY OUR BROTHER, TO PHILEMON OUR BELOVED BROTHER AND FELLOW WORKER.”

** AND BELOVED PAUL WAS CONFIDENT THAT HIS KING WAS REIGNING AND HAD NOT LET HIM DOWN.

*** PAUL’S POSITION WAS HE WAS AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS.

**** AND AS PAUL SAID IN PHILIPPIANS 1:12-14 – “NOW I WANT YOU TO KNOW, BRETHREN, THAT MY CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE TURNED OUT FOR THE GREATER PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL,”

V. 13 – “SO THAT MY IMPRISONMENT IN THE CAUSE OF CHRIST HAS BECOME WELL KNOWN THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE PRAETORIAN GUARD AND TO EVERYONE ELSE,”

V. 14 – “AND THAT MOST OF THE BRETHREN, TRUSTING IN THE LORD BECAUSE OF MY IMPRISONMENT, HAVE FAR MORE COURAGE TO SPEAK THE WORD OF GOD WITHOUT FEAR.”

3. AND MY RESPONSE IS GLORY! THE LORD REIGNS! PAUL WAS NOT A VICTIM BUT A VICTOR!

* AND SO ARE WE IN CHRIST IF WE LIVE WITH AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE AND TRUST IN OUR KING’S ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY.

** FOR YOU SEE WE ARE HIS AMBASSADORS IN THIS WORLD, WE ARE HIS REPRESENTATIVES, WE COME ON BEHALF OF THE KING OF KINGS, THE MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE, READ II CORINTHIANS 5:20.

*** AND WE COME WITH THE MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION. WE COME AS MESSENGERS REPRESENTING JESUS CHRIST WITH THE GOSPEL, AND WE PLEAD WITH PEOPLE OF THE WORLD TO BE RECONCILED.

**** FOR YOU SEE PEOPLE ARE ESTRANGED FROM GOD, THEY HAVE OFFENDED A HOLY GOD BY THEIR SIN, SO THERE IS HOSTILITY, ESTRANGEMENT.

4. BUT THROUGH THE ATONING SACRIFICIAL DEATH OF CHRIST, GOD RECONCILED SINNERS WHO TURN TO THE SAVIOR AS THEIR KING, AS THE MEANS OF RECONCILIATION.

* HOSTILITY IS THEREFORE REMOVED AND THERE IS NO LONGER ESTRANGEMENT BUT FELLOWSHIP, RECONCILIATION THROUGH CHRIST’S DEATH.

** AND WE HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF DECLARING THAT MESSAGE, THAT GOOD NEWS, AND THAT WAS PAUL’S PASSION, WHICH IS A LEAD IN TO OUR 3’D AND LAST POINT TODAY, PAUL’S PASSION. LOOK BACK AT V. 20 PLEASE.

III. PAUL’S PASSION, (READ V. 20)

A. NOW PAUL’S PASSION IN THE MIDST OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE, THE CONTEXT OF THIS SENTENCE IN THE GREEK BEGINNING IN V. 14 IS TO PROCLAIM CHRIST, TO SPEAK BOLDLY AS HE OUGHT TO SPEAK.

* PAUL’S PASSION WAS TO SPEAK BOLDLY ABOUT THE GOSPEL.

** AND THE WORD BOLDLY HERE IS THE VERB FORM OF THE NOUN BOLDLY THAT WE LOOK AT IN V. 19.

*** AND HERE IN ITS VERB FORM, IT’S ACTION FORM, PAUL IS SAYING I WANT TO PROCLAIM CHRIST, I WANT TO SPEAK FOR CHRIST WITH FREEDOM, TO BE CONFIDENT TO BE BOLD IN WHAT I SAY.

**** AND TO SPEAK BOLDLY IS A RESULT OF FULFILLING THE ULTIMATE IMPERATIVE THAT WE STUDIED IN EPHESIANS 5:18 TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, READ IT.

1. AND REMEMBER THIS ULTIMATE IMPERATIVE ENABLES US TO FULFILL ALL THE OTHER COMMANDS IN EPHESIANS.

* AND SPEAKING OF A PRAYER REQUEST IN THIS CONTEXT IN EPHESIANS 6, NOT THAT THE FIRST PRAYER REQUEST RECORDED AT THE FIRST PRAYER MEETING OF THE EARLY CHURCH WAS TO SPEAK GOD’S WORD WITH CONFIDENCE OR BOLDNESS.

** FOR THE WORD TRANSLATED BOLDNESS IS THE NOUN FORM OF THE VERB USED HERE IN V. 20 AND THE EXACT GREEK WORD TRANSLATED BOLDLY IN V. 19.

*** ACTS 4:29 SAYS: “AND NOW, LORD, TAKE NOTE OF THEIR THREATS, AND GRANT THAT YOUR BOND-SERVANT MAY SPEAK YOUR WORD WITH ALL CONFIDENCE.”

**** NOW THE ANSWER TO THIS PRAYER REQUEST IS GIVEN IN VV. 31&33 OF ACTS 4 WHICH SAYS:

2. ACTS 4: 31 – “AND WHEN THEY HAD PRAYED, THE PLACE WHERE THEY HAD GATHERED TOGETHER WAS SHAKEN, AND THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BEGAN TO SPEAK THE WORD OF GOD WITH BOLDNESS.”

V. 33 – “AND WITH GREAT POWER THE APOSTLES WERE GIVING TESTIMONY TO THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD JESUS, AND ABUNDANT GRACE WAS UPON THEM ALL.”

* NOW MY POINT FROM ALL THESE VERSES IS, THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT BRINGS BOLDNESS AND ENABLES US TO DECLARE THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL WITH CONFIDENCE AND POWER.

** IT ENABLES US TO FREELY, BOLDLY, CONFIDENTLY AND WITH ASSURANCE SPEAK THE GOSPEL, TO SPEAK AS WE OUGHT TO SPEAK, TO PROCLAIM CHRIST.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY: (1) PAUL’S PETITIONARY PRAYER REQUEST NEEDS TO BE OUR PRAYER REQUEST TODAY. AND WE NEED TO ENLIST OTHER MEN AND WOMEN TO PRAY FOR US IN THIS WAY.

* I WOULD ASK OF YOU TODAY, THAT AS YOU PRAY FOR ME AS ONE OF YOUR PASTORS, THAT YOU WOULD PRAY THAT UTTERANCE WOULD BE GIVEN TO ME TO OPEN MY MOUTH WITH BOLDNESS THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL.

** PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR ME THAT I CAN BE A VOICE FOR GOD, A GOOD AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST IN PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL PUBLICLY AND ONE ON ONE BOLDLY AS I OUGHT TO SPEAK.

*** WOULD YOU PRAY FOR ME THAT WAY?

(2) AND QUITE FRANKLY ALL OF US NEED TO PRAY ONE FOR ANOTHER THIS WAY.

* FOR REGULARLY THE LORD BRINGS PEOPLE ACROSS OUR PATH AND OPEN DOORS TO WALK THROUGH, BUT SOMETIMES WE LACK BOLDNESS AND FEAR MAN.

** PROVERBS 29:25 SAYS: (READ IT). ALSO READ MATTHEW 10:28 AND ROMANS 1:16.

*** AND BELOVED OUR MAJOR CONCERN SHOULD BE THE SOULS OF PEOPLE AROUND US THAT ARE ON THE ROAD TO HELL.

**** I MEAN IF YOU HAVE FELLOW WORKERS AND FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS AND YOUR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR WITHOUT CHRIST, THEY ARE GOING TO BURN IN HELL SOMEDAY WITHOUT CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR, AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO WARN THEM.

(3) BELOVED BE AN AMBASSADOR FOR YOUR KING AND PROCLAIM RECONCILIATION IN CHRIST.

* AND DON’T PRESENT A SOFT NON-OFFENSIVE GOSPEL, WATERED-DOWN GOSPEL, FOR THAT IS NOT THE GOSPEL. CALL PEOPLE TO REPENTANCE AND FAITH AND TO THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST.

** AND ULTIMATELY WE NEED TO BE MORE CONCERNED OVER WHAT CHRIST THINKS OF US THAN WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF US AND THAT WE DON’T WANT TO OFFEND HIM.

*** AND BELOVED MAY OUR PRAYER LIVES CONFORM TO THE KIND OF PRAYING WE SEE HERE AT THE END OF EPHESIANS.

**** AND MAY WE BE MORE CONCERNED AND FOCUSED ON THE ETERNAL OVER THE TEMPORAL, GROW IN OUR TRUST IN GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND BOLDLY PROCLAIM CHRIST FOR WE ARE HIS AMBASSADORS.

(4) MAY THIS BE OUR PRAYER TODAY AND OUR PRAYER REQUEST WITH OTHER BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST.