The Believer's Weapons (Part 2) and War Cry

Last time we were here, one week ago, I wasn't able to finish at least what I had planned to cover.

! We're going through the various elements of the armor, the armor of God. We're in Ephesians, of course, Ephesians 6. And if I am not mistaken, we were ready to start the shield of faith.

All right, so what have we looked at so far? We have looked at the girdle or belt of truth and talked about that. And we've looked at the breastplate of righteousness and the sandals of the gospel.

At least this is kind of the wording that I used in my outline. All right. And now the shield of faith. And then after the shield of faith, what comes after that?

The helmet of salvation. Verse 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith. The shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

So I was going to really kind of imagine this. And, of course, I provided a picture for you so that you would know. Jerry did bring back his little armor caricature.

By the way, Jerry, I was in Lifeway yesterday or day before yesterday. Not my day before yesterday. When was it? It was yesterday. And they were selling those things. Had them all over the place.

In fact, they had a whole section of different gifts. Gift things you could buy and different figurines. Different things about the armor of God. I don't know if there was some kind of emphasis on the armor of God.

And I think, what's her name? Priscilla Shire. If you've done any Bible studies by Priscilla Shire.

Priscilla Shire, she has a new study out on the armor of God. So that may have been why they had that. They had several of those neat little figures there. Well, you know, a little better than the one I've got here.

But, yeah. So here's the shield here. Now, there are a couple of words, by the way, in the Greek text. Or in the Greek language, rather. That could be translated or translated shield.

This one is the word that refers to a large shield. We can kind of picture that, even if we didn't have the little picture that I provided. You know, this big, long shield.

About two and a half foot wide and four and a half foot long or deep. And, as a matter of fact, the Roman soldiers, many times, they would, of course, they would use these on the front line.

Because those who carried this type of shield were usually the front line soldiers. And you may have even seen this in movies. Where they, on the front line, they put those shields all in a row.

It just kind of makes a barrier, a wall there. Kind of a fortress. And then sometimes they would put it above them when arrows were being shot. And that would protect them there.

So, you can picture the kind of shield, the size of the shield. Which really doesn't have all that much to do with the meaning of it. But this is the word that Paul chose.

And so, that's what we ought to visualize. But it is the shield of faith. Alright, so we're not talking about an actual shield. I mean, you can go out and buy one if you want to. And have that and carry it around with you all day.

But it won't help you against the devil. Alright, not a real shield. But the shield of faith, on the other hand, is what Paul is talking about. And the word faith here, and I've mentioned this a number of times, I think.

And it bears repeating. You know, in the Greek language, nearly every noun will have the definite article in front of it. And that's not always translated.

I mean, you don't have the in front of every noun in the Bible. That would be silly. It would be hard to read. But in the Greek text, there is almost always a definite article in the word the in front of every noun.

And when it is missing, it is significant. I guess it's more significant when it's missing than when it is present.

Alright, so this time it's missing in it. It's called anarthris. That's the terminology for it. Alright, so since it's not there, since there is no the, then it does not refer to...

So it does not refer to the body of faith. That is the faith. The body of faith or the whole doctrine of faith handed down to us through Scripture.

Rather, the faith of which Paul speaks is the kind of practical faith. It's the active faith. A daily faith in Christ.

It's the faith that we exercise every day. And activate in our lives. It's trusting him for all things in our lives, no matter what.

So you can see the difference between the faith in the sense of the theology or the doctrine or the whole body of truth that comes under the heading of faith. Or faith in the sense of its practical application.

How you live according to it and act according to it and so forth. Alright, so that's the kind of faith he's talking about. The shield of faith. So the fiery darts then, or I think in the new American standard it has flaming missiles.

I kind of like fiery darts better. But of course they're not throwing little bitty darts like, you know, the game where you're throwing little darts at a dart board. It's not bad because it's more like a spear type of thing.

Or flaming missiles is another translation for it. That would be, of course, the temptations of Satan. The temptation to sin.

And it would include all forms of sin. Alright, so the fiery darts are his temptation. His little jabs, his little temptations, his allurements, his deception, and so forth.

So the temptations of Satan then cannot be turned away by self-determination or self-will or self-discipline.

God is not calling upon us to just, you know, hunker down or pull up our boots, you know, the bootstraps to discipline ourselves and just, you know, I'm just going to defeat Satan myself.

He's not calling on you to do that because you can't. It won't work. It doesn't come by self-determination or self-will or discipline. 1 John 5, 4 says, For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world. What? Our faith. Our faith. Not the body of faith, though that certainly is the foundation. But our living according to faith.

Our trusting God. Our applying the principles of the scripture to our lives, our daily walk and so forth.

This is the shield of faith. And so we, every day, we put on the shield of faithfulness, we could say it in those terms. Alright, the next one is the helmet of salvation.

The helmet of salvation, verse 17, and take the helmet of salvation. I know, you know, obviously you can kind of picture it. The soldier's helmet is there to protect his head.

Alright? Head from mortal injuries. And I kind of like the picture here. Very much like the little model that Jerry had. And this is the type of helmet that is meant here.

Not some of these you see in movies where it just kind of fits over the top of the head. It goes down the back and to the sides. And sometimes even covers the face and just has slits for the eyes.

It is a helmet that completely covers, or not completely, but effectively covers the head to protect it from injuries. And protecting a very vital part of the body.

I mean, you know, if you sustain a head wound or injury in battle, then it's very likely going to put you out of the battle. So it's very, very important. Now, one of Satan's most effective tactics is to cause the believer to doubt God.

And to doubt his or her salvation in Christ. So you see, the helmet of salvation, and it's applied, or it's connected to the head.

So the idea is the mind, the thinking, where doubts can occur, where fears begin. It begins in the mind, in the thinking, in the head.

And so we need the helmet of salvation because that's one of Satan's most effective tactics. Is to attack our thinking. And specifically in those two areas.

Our thinking about God. Our thinking about our salvation. Our confidence in God. Our assurance of our salvation. You can't fight the battle if you are constantly doubting your position in Christ.

And so the helmet of salvation is, that represents our constant hope. And our enduring assurance of final salvation. And so we know that our struggles with sin, with Satan, will be over one day.

And so that makes a difference in how we fight the fight. We need to put on that helmet of salvation. I guess, you know, really, it's been my experience over the years to discover the most miserable Christians that you ever want to meet are those who do not believe in eternal security.

Who are always doubting whether they're saved. And wondering if by, you know, because of this circumstance or this fall to temptation or, you know, this or that is going to somehow rob them of their salvation.

Most miserable Christians I've ever met. Where they are saved on Sunday and the rest of the week, they're just really not sure about it. How miserable. And this is the idea here.

Put on daily the helmet of salvation. Which is your confidence, not only in God, who he is, but also an assurance of your salvation in Christ.

All right, so the helmet of salvation. Now, finally, then, the sword of the spirit. The sword of the spirit. Verse 17. And take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

So we know exactly what the sword of the spirit represents. Now, obviously, you know, this is not armor in the truest sense. This is a weapon.

Though, in kind of a broad sense, every article of the armor of God is, in that sense, a weapon, a weapon of protection.

Or whether it's a weapon of defense or a weapon of offense. And so the sword is certainly a weapon of offense. And it is the soldier's chief weapon.

The sword. And, you know, and so we could say that that would be equally true in the spiritual sense of the believer's weapon of warfare, which is the word of God.

The word of God. We often call it the sword of the spirit. We call it that because that's what Paul said. So the sword of the spirit refers to the inspired, Holy Spirit inspired word of God.

The scriptures. The Bible. The scripture. Scriptures was Jesus' weapon against Satan. Remember? In his wilderness temptations and the temptations very soon after his baptism.

Remember, immediately he was led by the spirit out into the wilderness and there was tempted for 40 days. Satan who tempted him, of course. And you can read about that in Matthew 4, 4 and Luke 4, 4.

It's pretty easy to remember. It's in chapter 4, verse 4 in both of those gospels. And so with each temptation, remember, each temptation of Satan, Jesus answered with scripture.

He said, it is written. It is written. That was always his answer. I had a young man come by the church last week.

And he came, and we get, you know, a lot of people come by the church who are needy and so forth. Sometimes they come for more than just some physical need.

They actually come asking for some spiritual help. And so this young man came to the church. And I had met him before. And he said, I just need some help.

I need you to pray for me. And so we came on in and got alone in the conference room. And he shared with me some difficulty with drug addiction and so forth.

And so the very first thing I asked him is what I always ask. And that is, well, tell me about your relationship with Christ. And he said, oh, I'm a born-again believer.

And I said, well, tell me your story about that. So he related a very recent story, you know, that I don't have to go into it.

But it really wasn't based on anything on scripture. It was based upon some experience that he had by looking at a picture of Jesus and so forth. So you can kind of tell how this story was going.

And you probably could just picture what maybe my face looked like. It's hard to hide that. I said, well, no, let me just stop you in here and say, you know, there might be another possibility that your struggles in your life are because you don't have a true relationship of salvation with Jesus Christ.

And more from there on, it went downhill. And he just got belligerent and mad. He said, you're calling me a liar. And I said, oh, no, let me just, I'm just saying you need to think about this possibility.

And I said, what you need to do, we need to do is turn to the scriptures and see what God has to say. And I said, the truth you need is not God speaking to you through some picture.

What you need is God speaking to you through his word. And so I shared with him about that. And he said, you're just one of these Bible thumpers, aren't you?

And I kind of laughed and said, well, I guess I know what you mean. I guess I am. He said, with you, it's just always the word of God, the word of God. Does God ever speak to you? You know, just speak to you in your ear and without the word of God?

I said, no, he always speaks through his word. And so it was just not really nice, pleasant. In fact, he eventually got a little bit belligerent and used some foul language.

And I said, well, you know, if all you want to do is pick a fight with me, I guess we'll just have to park company. I'll pray for you. And I'm sorry, but I don't have anything else to tell you.

So it all comes down to the word of God. And the sword of the spirit. And if Jesus were, if using scripture is what worked for Jesus, then it works for us too.

If in his spiritual warfare there in the wilderness, his warfare against Satan who came to tempt him, if his approach was to use the word of God, then we must use that same approach.

It worked for Jesus. It will work for us. I don't know if I put this quote from Thomas Guthrie. Did I put that quote there on your notes? Thomas Guthrie, Scottish pastor. I want to read it even though you have it there in front of you.

The Bible is an armory of heavenly weapons, a laboratory of infallible medicines, a mine of exhaust, exhaustless wealth.

It is a guidebook for every road, a chart for every sea, a medicine for every malady, and a balm for every wound. Rob us of our Bible and our sky has lost its sun.

That's kind of flowery language, but the meaning, the heart of that, the spirit of that is really quite amazing. All right, so our warfare. We looked at that.

And our weaponry, that's what we've just ended here. And the third point in our outline actually is going to carry us all the way to the end of the book, is our war cry.

Our war cry, and it is prayer. It is prayer. Now, verse 18 presents a kind of a question of interpretation that really needs to be answered.

It says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. All right, now there are three possible interpretations here.

I mean, we've just been talking about, or Paul has been laying out before us the various articles or pieces of the armor.

And then here in verse 18, he brings up this idea about prayer. And so there are three possibilities of interpretation.

Prayer, number one, prayer is a separate piece of the armor that the believer must put on. So really what we have here is just another piece of the armor. Prayer.

I mean, we just talked about the sword of the spirit, and now here we have prayer. So that's one possibility. I would say to you that if that is the intended meaning, then why would Paul break from using kind of his formula he's been using to having it being a metaphor, or the piece of the armor being a metaphor to the spiritual armor that we're to put on?

It doesn't attach prayer to any part or article of a soldier's armor. So if it is indeed just one more part of the whole suit, then what part is it?

So I don't think that that's what he means here. Prayer. Prayer doesn't liken it to any specific article in the soldier's armor. Number two, the second possibility would be that prayer is related only to the last piece of the armor mentioned, the sword of the spirit.

So it is kind of a further explanation of or in addition to the sword of the spirit. So the idea being the sword, which is the word of God, is to be wielded in an attitude of prayer.

That is Paul's idea. And indeed it should be. Right? I mean, even if this is not what Paul intended, it makes perfect sense that prayer and God's word, they go together.

All right. So that's one possibility. Now, both of those two, these first two interpretations have some merit. But I think that the third one is the more plausible interpretation.

That would be that prayer is to be applied to all, all articles of the Christian soldier's armor and weaponry. All pieces of it.

Prayer applies to all of it. And so the believer then, as Paul has said, is expected to stand. He said, and stand therefore. So the believer is expected to stand, but to stand only when fully clothed in the armor of God.

And when completely immersed in prayer, that all goes together. So it's really applies to all parts of the armor. Let me point out something else here in verse 18 before we really get down to Paul's primary point in that verse and really carries this on to the end of the chapter.

That is, our prayers are to be in God the Holy Spirit. He says, pray at all times in the Spirit.

And this has caused a lot of confusion with people over the years. And there are a lot of different interpretations of this as well. I must tell you, I do not believe that Paul is talking about speaking in tongues here.

Praying in the Spirit is a reference to some static utterance. Some speaking in tongues. I don't think it refers to what others have called a prayer language.

A prayer language. You know, it's kind of a tongues type of thing that is private. It's part of your prayer life. And there are many who believe in that.

Paul also not describing some emotional manifestation in prayer. All right. So not tongues or this prayer language, but just kind of an emotional experience in prayer.

You know, sometimes somebody will get real happy and, you know, and get excited. And I'll hear someone say, well, they just got in the Spirit.

Well, that's not what he's talking about. So what is Paul talking about when he says pray in all times in the Spirit? Well, Paul has several things in mind here.

We refer to praying in the Spirit. One is that the word Spirit is a reference to the Holy Spirit. Okay. That we probably could have guessed. I mean, in every translation, every modern translation, the S is capitalized with Spirit.

And so we kind of have the clue from the translators that at least they believe that it's a reference to the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. And it is. So it's not some spirit of man.

All right. So it's not just get in the Spirit, a prayer, you know, kind of reference to maybe a seriousness in prayer or maybe an emotion in prayer.

It's not talking about the Spirit of man. It's the Holy Spirit. Two, to pray in the Spirit is to pray. And this is implied is to pray in the name of Jesus Christ.

In his name. I don't mean just simply verbalizing his name. You know, in Jesus' name I pray. I'm not just talking about that. I'm talking about in the sense of your prayer is consistent with the character of Jesus.

That prayer is in agreement with his will. You can't pray contrary to the will of Christ. And expect that to be honored and answered.

It's also to pray in obedience to his word. You can't pray unscripturally. And ask for things that are contrary to the word of God.

Or to even pray in a manner that is contrary to Scripture. And then a third thing, to pray in the Spirit, is to pray in unity, in partnership with the Holy Spirit.

The word in, and that's the word we have in the text, in the Spirit. The word in is used in the sense of in the sphere of something.

In the sphere of something. That is to be in the sphere of God as you pray. Richard Henderson, professor of Mid-American Baptist Theological Seminary.

He's been dead for a lot of years now, so he's with Jesus. But he said this, The Holy Spirit becomes the atmosphere. The engulfing, permeating presence, which alone is the climate in which effective prayer is waged.

And I've also included Romans 8, 26-27. Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. But we do not know what we should pray for as we are.

Have you ever had that experience? You just don't know how to pray. You don't know what to ask for. You don't even know what is the right thing to ask. Or you just can't put it in words.

And we've all experienced that. You can't pray as we ought. But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.

Now there are some who have gone to this passage and said, Well, here's this prayer line. So, you know, you kind of go into a kind of an altered state and you, you know, you can grunt or groan or.

But it's not talking about your groaning. It's actually the Holy Spirit speaking in behalf of you. But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now, He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So this is, I think, Paul describing in this place in Romans 8 what it means to pray in the Spirit.

All right, now, having said all that, then let's get to Paul's primary point in the passage. That is, Paul uses the Greek word, it's Greek word pas, meaning all, four times in verse 18.

Now, if you have a, if you're looking at the King James, New King James, then it's four times we have the word all and one time it's the word always. But it still comes from the same root word in Greek text.

And so that's why I want, I put in your notes the New American Standard because it brings out all four of those alls. With all prayer and petition, praying at all times in the Spirit.

And with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. Now, you know, if you're a school kid writing a paper for your teacher, probably be criticized for writing in that way.

Redundant. All, all, all, all in one sentence. But Paul, what he's doing is giving us a fourfold kind of the pervasiveness of prayer in our spiritual warfare.

It's fourfold. First of all, or A on your outline, praying in all supplication. All supplication.

And I'm pulling that word supplication right out of the King James and New King James version of this. In the New American Standards, with all prayer and petition. Or supplication.

So, in all supplication. Now, Paul uses then two words here to identify the prayers of the believer.

First, the word prayer. All right. Well, I mean, you can tell that just how it's translated that we're talking about a word that is very general.

It's a general, kind of all-encompassing term for prayer. Prosuke is the Greek word. It's found 37 times in the Word of God in the New Testament.

Prayer. Just kind of the general, all-encompassing kind of term for this activity, this spiritual discipline. Prayer. Second, we have the word petition. Or supplication, as it's translated in New King James.

And this is a more specific word. And it refers to the lifting up of petitions. All right. So, it's actually making requests. And that's why, of course, the New American Standard, and I think the ESV does this as well, uses the more specific word petition.

So, not just all kinds of prayer, but it is that, but then more specifically, petition, where we actually lift up our requests to the Lord.

That's the word supplication. All right. So, the idea is Paul is talking about the form, that's prayer, and the content, the form, the form, the activity, and the content.

That's the supplication of prayer. The form and the content. We have the words coming together in a couple of places. Philippians 4, 6. Be anxious for nothing.

They just don't worry about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication. So, the two words are put right side by side there as well. Prayer and supplication.

Prayer in the general sense, kind of the form of prayer. And supplication in a more specific sense. Petitions that are lifted up. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Actually, it's 1 Timothy 2, 1. Therefore, I exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.

So, you had the words appearing together there as well. Now, the point that I want us to see pertains to this word all. It's a pretty important word in the verse.

It appears there four times. Paul is conveying the word all in this particular instance. He is conveying the idea of a life that is saturated in prayer.

And so, in this instance, the word all, pas in the Greek, could be translated every kind of prayer.

Every kind of prayer. Meaning public as well as private. Verbal as well as unspoken prayers. Songs of praise.

I don't necessarily mean singing necessarily, but psalms or songs. It's praising God in your prayers. Something we don't do very often.

We usually come to him asking for things, you know. Or torn up about sin. But we don't spend enough time celebrating and praising and adoring him and worshiping him.

It includes that. It includes words of thanks. Thanksgiving must be a part of our prayer life. Cries for help. I mean, it includes that.

Please for provision. Prayers of intercession. I just tried to think of every possible kind of context of prayer.

But every kind. So, that's the idea here behind this word all. Every kind of prayer. Then Paul says a word about the timing of prayer.

And so, not only pray in all supplication, but then also pray for all seasons. For all seasons. Pray at all times.

Pray at all times. Now, the phrase at all times, and that's how it's translated in the New King James. Excuse me, New American Standard. The King James just says always.

Always pray. But, when you get down to the actual language, it's at all times. Those words are right there in the text. At all times.

It is kind of a, you know what an idiom is? Kind of an idiom. Example, we use idioms all the time.

How about beat around the bush? That's an idiom. Alright, now, beat around the bush. Or, have a ball. No, have a ball.

That's an idiom. It doesn't mean have a spherical kind of object that you can bounce or throw. It means have a good time. Alright. Well, this is an idiom here.

At all times. And ponte cairo. Write that down. It means in every kind of season. In every kind of season.

And so, as Christian soldiers, the spirit-filled believer is to pray in every kind of experience. Not just in times of crisis.

In all kinds of experiences. Now, see, what this identifies is a problem for most of us. The problem with most of us is we don't get really serious about prayer until we're in some kind of problem.

Some kind of crisis that we can't solve on our own. It's not just that we get into some problems. I mean, there are problems we have and we think we can solve them. So, why pray? Right?

Right? We're to pray in all seasons. Even in those times. Even if it's something that we can take care of. We can handle. We pray.

But we usually only really get serious about it when we have problems we can't solve. We're at a dead end. Or we don't have a leg to stand on.

You know, whatever. There's another idiot. All right. All right. So, we're to pray. Pray in all supplication.

It's in every kind of prayers. Pray for all seasons. And then next, with all steadfastness. All steadfast. With all perseverance is the word from the text.

And, you know, you don't have to have a lot of explanation here. It's pretty clear. Spiritual warfare requires a constant vigilance of prayer.

Remember the parable that Jesus told in Luke 18, 1 to 8. We'll not turn to it tonight. In the interest of time. But, you know, it kind of begins by it saying Jesus told this parable to convey this idea that men ought to always pray and not faint.

Remember that? And then he tells the parable about an unjust judge. You know, a person that keeps coming back for satisfaction. And then he ends the parable by saying, when the Lord comes, is he going to find faith on the earth?

That kind of faith. What kind of faith? The kind of faith that prays without fainting. Prays without giving up. Prays with endurance. And that's the idea here.

With all perseverance. Pray in all supplication, all seasons, all steadfastness. And then one more. For all the saints. A petition.

And petition for all the saints is what he says there. So as spiritual warriors. We don't stand alone. We're not just an island unto ourselves.

We must pray for our fellow warriors that they might also stand. So it's not just enough that I stand. I am called upon to pray so that you will stand as well.

We're to pray for others. This is kind of intercessory prayer. It's kind of praying that is not self-centered. It's interesting that the word.

We have the word for there. Comes from a Greek. It is a Greek preposition. But it's not the one that we would normally find. It is a word that means about.

Or around. And so here's the idea. We're to pray circles. Around or about. More and more and more of our fellow believers in the body of Christ.

Pray. Kind of include them in our circle. I guess we could put it in that sense. To encircle them with prayer. To bring them into the circle of prayer.

And as we grow in our spiritual lives. We include more and more people in that prayer. To pray about them. To pray around them.

And it's interesting that Paul is including himself in that circle. Of prayers. Offered up by the Ephesian Christians. And so. Paul presents himself.

As an illustration of this. Final all in the believers war cry. He's an illustration himself. In this spiritual warfare. Verse 19. We know this is a continuation.

He says and for me. And for me what? Pray for me too. You know. Pretty amazing thought. Think about Paul needing prayer.

I mean. I can't think of. In all of Christian history. I can't think of anyone that. That was. Was. Was greater than the apostle Paul. Other than of course.

The Lord Jesus Christ. And does Paul need people to pray for him? I mean. Did he? He did. And if we don't know it. He said so. And for me.

Pray for me. And. And so. He's going to read through. The next few verses. Paul is asking for a. Threefold prayer. For his ministry. And it's all about his ministry.

All about his preaching. He said. Number one. Prayer. To preach effectively. Verse 19. First part of verse 19. That utterance.

Or readiness. And liberty to preach. May be given to me. That's what he means. A readiness. When he says that utterance. May be given to me.

Pray that. I will be ready to preach. And have the freedom. The liberty to preach. I think. If you want to pray for me. Pray that for me. A readiness to preach.

And a liberty of freedom. To preach God's word. And. I need you to include me. In your circle. Of prayer. And. I hope that I am. Two.

Prayer. To preach boldly. To preach boldly. Verse 19. Again. That I may open my mouth. Boldly. To make known. The mystery of the gospel.

Right. Doesn't need much. An explanation there. Except maybe for that. That word. Mystery. And. It's not mystery. In the sense of something. Hidden. Or something that's unknowable.

Not in the broadest sense. A mystery. In the sense that it is. A revealed secret. Which remains unknown. And. Unfathomable. Until God makes it known.

Through his. Through his word. Or through his prophets. His teachers. His preachers. Makes it known through you. As you share. The word of God with others. It's the mystery. Of the gospel.

And then third. Prayer. To preach courageously. Courageously. Verse 20. For which I am. An ambassador. In chains. That is.

It's in prison. I'm in prison. That. In it. In what? In prison. I may speak. Boldly. Or courageously. As I ought to speak.

Now. Think about this. Why is Paul in prison? I don't mean. The specific set of circumstances. But why is he in prison? Well he's in prison.

For opening. His mouth. And to open it. Boldly. To make known. The mystery of the gospel. That's what he said. Just in the. The sentence before. That's why he's in prison. He's in prison.

For doing that. For opening his mouth. And speaking boldly. The gospel. The mystery of the gospel. And so now. What is Paul praying for? He's. What's he asking for? He's asking for prayers.

That he would continue to do. What landed him in jail. To begin with. I just think about that. You know. I think. In our. Our sinful.

Kind of flesh. And we all have it. We would be more apt. To be thinking. You know. Or saying to ourselves. You know. I think it's time. To be quiet. For a little while.

I'm in prison. Because I've been. Speaking boldly. About the bible. About Christ. About the gospel. And so maybe. For now. I ought to just kind of. Bite my tongue. For a little bit. You know.

That's how we would be thinking. You know. To think. You know. I think. It. It'd be good. To just. Let things cool off. For a little while.

You know. Can you. Imagine yourself. Thinking that way. I mean. Don't rock the boat. You know. It's. It's. It's at the tipping point. Right now. And so.

You know. Maybe I can get out of here. And I'll just be quiet. For a little while. But that's not how Paul prayed. Paul said. I want to continue. Speak boldly. So pray for my courage.

So that I'd speak. As I ought to speak. And then finally. You know. Really. In the rest of the letter. And this will. Finish this up. With the letter to the Ephesians. Paul helps the Ephesians.

To be informed. In their prayers for him. And he doesn't give. Specifics here. But. He's referring. To the specifics. Of information. That he's providing.

To the. Ephesian believers. So that they'll know. How to pray for him. He says in verse 21. But that you also. They know my affairs. And how I'm doing. I want you to be informed.

In how to pray. Tychicus. And you can read about him. In other places. Tychicus was. Well he called him. A beloved brother. But he.

He traveled with Paul. On some of his missionary journeys. He. Visited with him. In the prisons. He. Delivered letters. Both to the Colossian church.

As well as here. To the Ephesian church. He says. A dear brother. Beloved brother. And faithful ministering. The Lord. Will make all things. Known to you. Whom I have sent to you.

For this very purpose. What purpose? Tell you about. How things are going. So that you can pray for me. That you may. Know. Our affairs. And that he may.

Comfort your hearts. Peace. To the brethren. Love. With faith. From God the Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be. With all those. Who love our Lord Jesus Christ.

In sincerity. Amen. So that concludes. The letter to the Ephesians.