“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
As we come to the end of our study of this great epistle to the Ephesians, we take note of the progression of it. Paul began in the way that perhaps should mark not only our prayers, but even our communications with one another. He began by blessing God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only after acknowledging Him and praising His name, does he then begin to establish for the readers that they, as believers in Christ, are recipients of all the blessings of Heaven in Him.
From there He goes on to teach us that the mystery of the ages has been uncovered and revealed through Jesus Christ; that is, the way to be right with God and the things He had planned for us from eternity past.
He assures us that we now have free and constant access to the Throne of God Himself, and are invited and even commanded to draw near to Him there. Then he goes on to exhort us to walk according to what we are now reckoned to be. You were darkness, he says, now you are light. Walk as children of light, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
He exhorts us to unity as those made one by the Spirit of Christ, then teaches about successful interpersonal relationships, as those purchased with the blood of Christ and all under Him as our head.
Then, having established all of these essentials, he considers us ready to stand in grace, and go forward to build the Kingdom and battle the forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So he has taken the reader from a babe, brought him up through the fundamental doctrines that, as he understands them will give him assurance and faith and a sure and lasting hope of future glory, and then sends him out into the work of ministry.
This is the goal of the scriptures, Christians; that you might be adequate, and equipped for every good work.
I’d like to take the liberty today to talk about this great man, Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ, and in his own words, ‘ambassador in chains’.
Now here is where someone might say, ‘but Paul himself would not want the focus to be on himself, but on Christ!’ And you’d be correct. But I submit to you today, Christian, that to talk about Paul is to talk about Christ.
You simply cannot go far talking about the Apostle Paul, before you are talking about Jesus Christ.
“For me to live is Christ and to die is gain”, defines Paul’s very existence after the Damascus road experience. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” he said, and his life and ministry manifested that truth daily.
What I’d like to impress upon you today, as we take a closer look at this great Apostle, is that of all men who ever lived, second only to Christ Himself, Paul has the God-given authority, and the earned right to exhort you and me to faithfulness, and sacrifice, and martyrdom if it comes to that, for the sake of the gospel.
I doubt that anyone has lived in all Christendom, who has more completely divested himself of the world and all it has to offer, of self –pride and self-service, of any worldly drive or ambition, to offer himself a living sacrifice to the One who sacrificed Himself for Paul.
We consider the monastics of the ages who, whatever the title of their order or their distinctive doctrinal persuasion, have utterly removed themselves from society and the things of the world in order to stay pure and focused on their devotions.
But Paul did this while, rather than secluding himself from society, immersing himself in it. Everywhere he went he sought, not to avoid people, but to present to them the message of a crucified and risen Christ. He would go first to the temple or synagogue, where he knew he was certain to be rejected, and then to the gentile population, where he would preach to them and encourage them to believe in the good news and be saved.
I repeat, second only to our Lord, in Paul we see the most shining example of one being described by Jesus when He used the term, ‘in the world, but not of the world’.
We can stay almost exclusively in our text verses, here in Ephesians 6, and be witness to these qualities of Paul that I’ve been talking about.
THAT UTTERANCE MAY BE GIVEN
Look first at the humility of Paul. “…pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth”
Now here is a man who has literally lived for Christ for approximately 30 years. The accumulation of all sources of information available to us put his death somewhere between A.D. 62 and 67, although most tend to lean toward the later date of A.D. 67.
So if Paul’s Damascus road experience was somewhere within 3-4 years after the crucifixion, then we can safely estimate the duration of his ministry to have been around 30 years.
Now I just want you to stop for a moment and for the sake of perspective, think back 30 years in your life (if you are that old or older). In my own memory that takes me back to 1974, before I had any children, before I had any inkling that I would be going to Bible College; I had surrendered my life to Christ only a year before.
So at this point in time, my life as a believer in Christ has been approximately as long as Paul’s ministry was.
This sobers me, friends as I hope it does you as you think back on that same length of time in your own life, and consider all that has transpired in those years.
Because Paul, I’m certain, saw some very wonderful and encouraging things done by Christ in that time, but we also know of the things he suffered for the name of Christ and the sake of the gospel.
So here he is, getting up there in age, scarred, probably suffering chronic pain and discomfort in numerous places on his body as a result of the beatings he took with rods, and the various whippings he suffered under the hands of the Jews. Not to mention just the aches and pains that come with a hard life on the road with none of the creature comforts we enjoy today.
He has been faithful to preach the gospel at every stop, arguing persuasively with the Jews and demonstrating the power of God to the gentiles by the working of the Holy Spirit through his ministry.
He has planted a number of churches, which he has kept track of and wept over and prayed over as they have gone through testings and trials from within and without.
He’s been in and out of jail many times, and I’ll just point you once more to the 11th chapter of II Corinthians, for a list of the trials he went through for the sake of the gospel. I won’t go over it here.
I just want to make this point. Most of us, I think, if we went through a tenth of what Paul did in a thirty year ministry, would be ready to claim that we had paid our dues. Our inclination would be to think that we deserve a rest, and it’s time for younger folk to take over.
We would hope at least to receive some recognition for our efforts and some degree of respect offered for thirty years of faithfulness to ministry. Some might handle it a little better than others; being careful not to be seen as boasting or demonstrating what we might refer to as a ‘martyr complex’, but in our heart of hearts we’d hope that our efforts had not gone unnoticed by our peers, at best.
Now take a look at Paul’s present circumstances.
Here, after 30 some years of absolute surrender to the will of God and pouring himself out like a libation offering for the sake of the gospel message, Paul is a prisoner in Rome.
He is chained around the clock to a Roman guard. Not the same one; they come and go in shifts.
Yet, instead of asking the readers of his letter to pray for his release and his freedom, instead of asking for comforts to be brought to him, he asks them to pray that ‘utterance may be given to (him) in the opening of (his) mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel’.
Even at this stage of his life, and in these circumstances that most of us would see as inhibiting and uncomfortable and probably more than a little unfair, his prayer is not so much that he would be persuasive with the gospel, but that the Holy Spirit would give him utterance in the opening of his mouth!
Now let me rephrase this to impress on you the spiritual depth of this desire in this great man’s heart.
After 30 years of ministry and preaching, and kingdom building, this man who could just off the top of his head say all the right things and repeat sermons he has probably preached many times, and depending on his learning in all the Scriptures and the things that have been revealed to him over the years since his conversion,
…are you with me…?
…is humbly praying that as he opens his mouth, the Holy Spirit would give him boldness, confidence, and the right words!
Christian, you and I will never, as long as we walk this earth, know enough or be wise enough in any time or circumstance, to have the right words within us, either by accumulation of knowledge or life experience, to effectively speak for Christ apart from the inspiration and divine unction of the Holy Spirit of God.
The very moment we cease depending on Him to give us the right words for the occasion, is the moment we have ceased to be effective in any way for the kingdom of God. Whether the man or woman on the street, or in the workplace, or the preacher in the pulpit, if we have failed to recognize or ceased to be aware that without Him we can do nothing, we have become useless.
Now listen to what Paul wrote to the Philippians in the early verses of his letter to them.
“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else,…” Phil 1:12, 13
He was chained to one guard at a time, and this boldness and inspired utterance he had prayed for in his letter to the Ephesians, was so he might witness in the power of the Spirit, to the men he was chained to!
And he had converts! The cause of Christ was becoming well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard! These were the elite troops assigned to guard Rome itself, and Paul was winning them one by one to Christ.
Why? Because he was first concerned that utterance would be given him supernaturally, to speak with boldness and have the right words to say. Even at the very end, he was continuing to depend on the leading of Jesus, and not his own strength or ability or human knowledge or experience.
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL
Next, adjust your focus just slightly on the message Paul wanted Holy Spirit utterance and boldness to speak; the mystery of the Gospel.
Now we know that Paul said of the gospel message to the Corinthians that it is “to those who are perishing foolishness…”
And in Romans 9:33 he quoted Isaiah 8 as saying that the Lord is a ‘stone of stumbling and a rock of offense’.
Here again, believer, try to put yourself in Paul’s place for a moment. And think back on the times you’ve withheld opening up to tell someone the gospel, because you were afraid of rejection; perhaps that they’d laugh at you, or not treat you friendly any more.
I’m sorry to say I’ve seen preachers in the pulpit who were afraid to preach the whole counsel of God, because some part they were coming to seemed to fly in the face of modern day philosophies and social customs.
Here was Paul, chained to armed and dangerous pagans who worshiped pagan gods if they worshiped anything at all.
Over the years he has been beaten and slapped and whipped and stoned for this very message, yet, he prays for boldness to speak with clarity, the message he has suffered for so many times.
Remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoons, where he’s contemplating some mischief and says, “If I dood it, I get a whuppin’….I dood it” and then he goes ahead with his plan.
Well, I don’t think Paul saw his circumstances as humorous at all. But he had to be considering the possibility that if he kept preaching this gospel message, at some point he was going to suffer again. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been praying for boldness.
But praise God, Christians, he preached it anyway. He expounded this good news that in ages past had been a mystery, but now was made known in Christ, and God blessed his boldness and his faithfulness to do so.
“…my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel” he declared in Philippians 1:12. Furthermore, we see in verse 13 that his example was contagious. “most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear’.
Well, just some thoughts and observations about the Apostle Paul, and the circumstances under which he wrote this letter to the Ephesians, to give you inspiration and encouragement to surrender yourself more completely to the leading and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in your own life. And it speaks to me too; I do not exclude myself from the need to be reminded of these things.
As was written to the Hebrews, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you, and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith” (13:7)
You are all aware of the contempt I have for pithy, shallow little fad sayings like, “What Would Jesus Do?” But in regards to our daily walk in Christ and our effectiveness for the Kingdom of God where He has placed us, we might do well, in the day to day routine of our lives to ask as various situations arise, ‘what would Paul do?’. I think in very many cases the simple answer that would come to our mind would be, ‘he’d put his dependence on the Holy Spirit of God, and no matter the cost or the potential discomfort involved, he would speak boldly as he ought to speak, the mystery of the gospel of Christ’.
AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS
Now in closing I just want to make one or two more observations about the amazing life of this man, Paul.
Again, going back to our text, in verse 20 he calls himself an ambassador in chains, for the gospel.
An ambassador is one who is appointed to be the official representative of his government to a foreign government.
He is not home. He is often far from home. But he goes where he is sent to be, as closely as possible, the accurate representation of the government he serves.
So note a couple of things about this; Paul considered himself to be precisely where he was sent. He was in chains, in Rome.
Rome did not put him there. Festus did not put him there. Agrippa did not put him there. Indeed, although he appealed to Caesar, Paul himself did not put himself there. He was sent by his Liege, his Master, the One he served, to represent Him in a land that was not his final home.
Secondly, he was an ambassador for the gospel, and no other message. He wasn’t there to argue that the Jewish nation should be set free from the oppression of the Romans. In fact, he did not consider himself to have been sent to argue that persecutions against Christians should stop, because they were no threat to Rome, or for any other reason. He was not there to decry the pagan philosophies and practices of Roman society. He was not there to plead for the rights of his peers to go about preaching the gospel unhindered and unharmed.
He was an ambassador for the good news of Jesus Christ, and as one faithful to his charge, many were saved and many were emboldened to continue the work.
Final observation about Paul.
Just one more thing I want to bring to the surface as we look at these closing words of Paul’s
Here was a man who began his life in a way that promised great human potential. He learned at the feet of the greatest minds in Judaism, and he was able to declare openly that before his conversion experience he was “…advancing in Judaism beyond many of (his) contemporaries” (Galatians 1:14) and “…as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless…” (Philippians 3:6).
So powerful was he, even as a young man, that he was able to procure letters, arrest warrants if you will, from the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem to go across the countryside, arresting Christians and dragging them back for martyrdom.
Yet he was in chains. The chains of legalism, self-righteousness, and hopelessness.
Man or woman of the world, I want you to see today, if you will try, that there is no office to which you can climb, no social status to which you can attain, no financial position with which you can encase yourself, that will give you freedom from the truth that without Christ you are ‘without hope and without God in the world’.
See the example of Paul. All the good that the world had to offer was either his or laying in wait before him, as he, using all the benefits of worldly gain and wisdom and youth and energy available to him, relentlessly pursued the highest of goals.
But he came face to face with Christ. At the height of his career, at the zenith of his strength, when his vision in life was clearest before his eyes, he was confronted by a risen Christ, and two things happened.
He was forever blinded to the allure of a passing world, and his chains fell off.
Paul, from that day forward, went forth with the clarity of sight that can only come from the regenerating and enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, that all in this life was loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ his Lord.
He ended his days physically in chains. But those that had held his heart in bondage had lost their grip forever.
I want to tell you a brief story in closing.
When we lived in Del Norte, Colorado, I worked part time at the county jail as jailer and occasional dispatcher.
I worked mostly at night, so some of the deputies saw me only on occasion and hadn’t learned to know me very well.
Two of the inmates who had responded to the message of the gospel in faith and were now steeping themselves in the scriptures and day by day becoming more and more joyous in their new relationship with Christ, were sharing a cell.
One day I was working an earlier shift and had the duty of putting these two men back into their cell after visitation by family members.
As I closed and locked their door, a passing deputy heard one of them openly praising the Lord because of something about their visit with their family.
Sneering, and giving a snort, the deputy stopped and with disgust in his voice said, “These low-lifes are in jail for various crimes, and they think they’re fooling anyone by acting all pious? Hypocrites!’
As I turned away from the cell door I looked him in the eye and said, “If they were to die today, they would go straight to Heaven and be with Jesus. They know that. Can you say the same?” His eyes grew wide for a moment; I suppose in shock that I would defend these two inmates. He opened his mouth and I thought he was going to speak, but then he turned in silence and walked away, still in his chains.
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering,
and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” - II Timothy 4:6-8
Paul, according to F.F. Bruce, was the “Apostle of the Heart Set Free”. And the message he went to the headsman’s block for, declares that same freedom to all who believe.
How important is that message to you?
