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You're listening to audio from Faith Church Indy. This fall we're studying the book of Ephesians, learning about the new life that we find in Christ. Now here's the teaching.

This is the word of the Lord as written in Ephesians 6, verses 18b through 24. 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.

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. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. 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. This is the word of the Lord. Good morning.

Good to see you all. I am Jeff Schultz from the pastors here. Glad that you are here to join us in worship today as we wrap up this series that we've been going through in the book of Ephesians.

Before we get into our passage, let me just take a quick poll. How many of you have ever taken long car trips with your family? Like more than 10 hours? How many of you enjoyed the long car trip? A lot fewer hands, right? My wife Amelia's family has had a small place on the Gulf of Mexico for many years. So that meant when we got married, we had lots of long car trips traveling down to South Florida.

And when our children were little, that meant, you know, if you think about it, we didn't have mobile phones then, we didn't have iPads, we didn't have car entertainment systems. So we had to figure out how to keep them from being miserable and cranky while being strapped down like astronauts for 20 hours driving from the Midwest to Southwest Florida. But my wife Amelia is very smart and creative.

In fact, I don't think Snickers is the one who came up with, when you're hungry, you're not yourself. I think that was my wife. Our kids snacked across every state line through multiple time zones.

Amelia also had this great idea. She created what she called like a big mystery toy bag. It was just like this big, kind of like the size of one of those huge oversized Amazon bags, right? And she filled it with toys and games.

Pro parenting tip, don't leave all the toys and games out all the time. Like hide some of them strategically so that when you go on trips, your cars will pull out things that they haven't seen in like three or four months. You're like, oh, I forgot we had this.

This is so fun. So when you're going on a long journey like that, you know, you want to know, of course, where you're going. You want to know what to expect and whether or not it will be worth it.

And in this letter of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul has lifted our eyes up to see the glory of God enthroned in heaven and coming down to earth and the person of his son. And he's humbled us and called us to himself by his grace. And he's challenged and encouraged us to walk worthy of this life that we've been giving and calling that we've received.

And now as we come to the end of this book, we have the question, so now what? Now what do we do? And Paul's answer in these last few verses is not just about how to survive the trip. This is not just a sort of a pro forma close to the letter, right? This is about more than, you know, just making sure that we don't end up at our destination tired and cranky. Paul shows us something profoundly important at the end of this passage in these last verses, how to live as followers of Jesus in the reality of the ordinary, in the reality of our everyday lives.

Our journey through this book of Ephesians is focused on how God has given us new life, how he has renewed us in Christ, and how we live out of that newness, how we live as genuinely new people. And so this final passage answers a critical question. What does a renewed life look like in a world that is often hostile to the gospel or uninterested in the message of Jesus? Paul is reminding us here where we're going, what to expect, and why the journey is worth it, and how we live and follow Jesus on the way.

I think if we could summarize what I hope we see in this passage is this, that people who are renewed by Christ are sent out as witnesses. Witnesses, people renewed by Christ are sent out as witnesses. And I think there's three things that I want to help us see from this passage, what defines renewed people, what shapes renewed people, and what sustains renewed people, what defines us, what shapes us, what sustains us.

So if you haven't already, whatever you do, open your Bible, if you pull up, access God's Word on the phone, turn to Ephesians chapter 6, and we're starting in the middle of verse 18, looking first at what defines renewed people. And the first thing is this, that renewed people depend on prayer for boldness. Renewed people depend on prayer for boldness.

Now Pastor Nathan did a great job last week taking us through this really well-known passage in Ephesians 6 about the armor of God, the spiritual battle that we are all living in, and how God equips us to be able to live in all that spiritual conflict that we engage in, that our enemy is not flesh and blood, not other people, but evil forces that want to pull us away from Jesus, and how God helps us for that battle. And he's urged us then to pray in verse 18, at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. And then, almost surprisingly, Paul says, and also for me, in verse 19.

Pray for all the saints, pray for perseverance, pray for me. Paul asked the church to pray for him, Paul the apostle, Paul the missionary, Paul the seasoned church planter, Paul the theologian. He asked for prayer because I think he knows, and he's modeling something essential for us, that gospel ministry, that new lives in Christ do not run on gifts or willpower or personality or experience.

New life in Christ runs on prayer. On prayer. And notice what Paul does not ask for, which is interesting.

He doesn't ask for comfort, he doesn't ask for safety, he doesn't ask for provision, he doesn't ask for protection, he doesn't ask for release from prison, he doesn't even ask for justice. And all those things would be actually totally normal and understandable, even appropriate to pray for. Paul is unjustly imprisoned, he's suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ.

He's facing real hardship. But his greatest concern is not his chains, it's his witness. It's his reflecting Jesus in what he's going through.

Look in verse 19, pray also for me that words may be given me in opening my mouth boldly. And he states it again in verse 20, that I may declare it, the message, boldly. Paul knows that the greatest danger that he faces is not imprisonment, but unfaithfulness.

Improper witness to Jesus. The challenge that he's facing is responding to his challenges in the wrong way. And when he asks that we pray for him to have boldness, I think we need to understand what he's saying.

It doesn't mean arrogance, it doesn't mean sarcasm, it's not being offensive, it's not disdain, it's not disrespect. There's no shortage, right, of yelling and chest thumping and finger pointing in the world that we live in. Paul is asking to speak boldly, and it means to speak with confidence, yes, to speak freely without hindrance, to not hold back out of fear.

But how do we know that that's what boldness means? What is it that he wants to be bold about? Paul says in verse 19, pray that I would open my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel. It's a phrase that should sound familiar to us, right? We've heard this over and over again in Ephesians. It's this stunning revelation from God that he is reconciling sinners to himself, that he is tearing down hostility between people to make one new humanity, and that he is summing up, he is bringing together all things under the lordship, the rule of Jesus Christ.

And this is not a safe message. It's not a message that the world wants to hear, really, because it threatens our confidence in our religious activity. It challenges our cultural boundaries.

It undercuts our human confidence and boasting, right? So, that makes it clear that boldness can't be about getting in people's faces or owning the people that you disagree with, right? Because how does any of that accurately reflect the gospel of God's grace, His undeserved kindness and patience? No wonder Paul prays that he would speak it boldly, appropriately, confidently. And we need the same kind of prayers for ourselves. Then comes one of the most poignant phrases in this letter, that I may proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which, in verse 20, I am an ambassador in chains.

An ambassador is someone who represents a king. It's someone who speaks with authority, who carries the message of a sovereign power. So ambassadors are usually protected and honored and respected, right? This is, Paul is saying, this is a weird irony and a contrast here, because Paul is none of those things.

He's an ambassador in chains, in prison. That's why Paul prays for boldness. Because it's one thing to go out into the world and offer a message that people want to hear, you know, that flatters our ego, that says God cares about making all your plans succeed, that there's nothing really fundamentally wrong with you.

Follow Jesus, you know, so He can make your every dream come true and fulfill all the desires of your heart. But that's not the message of the gospel. Take up your cross and die to yourself so that you can find life, because narrow is the path that leads to life, and broad is the path that leads to destruction.

I'm not come to bring peace, but to bring a sword to divide members of a family against themselves because of me. And if they hated me, they will hate you, Jesus says. That's a message you need boldness from God to preach faithfully.

The chains don't cancel the calling, right? The imprisonment doesn't undercut or negate the mission, because suffering is not supposed to silence the message or the messengers. This Paul's identity, his mission is not defined by his circumstances. It's anchored in Christ, and he's saying, I'm willing to follow the rejected, maligned, misunderstood, suffering, crucified Savior through the suffering that He's taking me in.

I'm willing to follow Him all the way through rejection and mistreatment and beating and slander and imprisonment and shipwreck. It's a reminder, right, that the old life that God has called us out of often defines success by comfort, power, pleasure, notoriety, influence. But a new life that He calls us into in Christ is usually defined success by faithfulness and obedience and witness.

It's hard to keep focused and keep going forward the right way, especially when it's hard. So Paul calls us to stay alert, in other words, to avoid all the temptations and dangers on different sides. Any of you, like me, maybe driving on one of those really long car trips or late at night or maybe it's mid-afternoon after you've had a heavy meal and the sun is all shining in and the car's all warm and it's easy to just sort of, you know.

And thankfully, they, you know, they put those little rumble strips in the side of the asphalt, right? How many times have those saved my life? And you jerk the wheel back across, right? Nobody intends to fall asleep at the wheel. Nobody sets out on a journey saying, you know, tonight I'm going to drift over the shoulder and into the median. It happens gradually.

Heavy eyelids, drifting attention, a few seconds of nodding off. I think Paul would tell us that's the spiritual danger and how it works too, that a crash doesn't usually happen in some momentary dramatic fashion. It's because we drift slowly.

And that's why Paul says in verse 18, keep alert with all perseverance so that you stay focused, that you stay on task, so that you remember what the mission actually is and why you're here. Paul's prayer request, I think, suggests a couple of things for us to consider. Am I praying for gospel boldness for myself, right? Not just for pastors, not just for missionaries, but for me, for ourselves.

Boldness not just to speak because that sure can be challenging for some of us, but boldness to witness to Jesus by persevering through difficulty. The confidence to keep claiming Jesus is worth it when things are hard. Am I praying for that? And then maybe one of the reasons I don't pray for it is enough is maybe do I believe that boldness is really something that God gives or something that is just kind of what I manufacture, right? Like Paul is saying boldness is not about our personality, right? It is something that Paul is praying that we have and pursue from God.

Boldness is essentially just faithful obedience. It's not about being extroverted. It's not about being loud.

It means being clear and unashamed and confident in God's truth and presenting it faithfully. And Paul knows that he needs prayer for that like we need it because he's facing pressure. And when we're opposed, when we feel threatened, we respond to it in different ways, right? Like some of us may tend to get loud, right? Like the old fight, flight, freeze, fawn responses.

We may push back. We may get aggressive. For some people, it's maybe the temptation to hide, to be quiet, maybe to soften the message, to be kind of vague and non-confrontational.

Paul says, pray that I will speak the way I ought to. That's a prayer for all of us, right? People who have been renewed by Jesus pray because we know that we cannot be witnesses. We cannot follow Jesus faithfully in our own strength.

We depend on prayer for the right kind of boldness, the right words at the right time with the right courage. You cannot live a new life in Christ in your own strength. Renewed people are sent out as bold witnesses, which is why renewed people depend on prayer for boldness.

And then secondly, renewed lives bear witness in suffering. Renewed lives bear witness in suffering together. Paul doesn't hide his chains.

Look in verses 20 to 22, but he refuses to let them define the story, right? Instead of pointlessness to this suffering, Paul says there is purpose. Instead of hopelessness, there's encouragement. And he says, I want you to be encouraged by what I'm going through.

So in verse 20, that you may know how I am, what I'm doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. I'm sending him to you for this purpose that you may know how we are, that he may encourage your hearts. Why does that matter? Because the church needs to know that the gospel is still going forward and making an impact even when the messenger is imprisoned, even when God's people are suffering.

Paul's suffering is not a detour. It's not something that's gone wrong. It's actually part of the mission.

Paul never suggests that suffering is good in itself, but he consistently says that suffering can be used by God for good and can do good things in us. And throughout Ephesians, Paul's modeled this, right? He's writing from prison and yet he speaks about being free. He's confined, but he's proclaiming Christ's cosmic eternal rule.

And he's weak in himself, but he is strong, he says, in God's limitless power. People whose lives are new, are renewed in Christ, we bear witness to that reality, not just when things are going well, not when, you know, blessings abound and life is success and joy and ease. In fact, I think maybe we could argue that our witness is more meaningful when obedience is costly, when it's difficult, when we're going into headwinds in our faith.

It's one of the hardest lessons to learn and to remind ourselves of in the Christian life because it's just so natural to assume that if things are going poorly, if things are hard, then God is disappointed or God is distant. And if God is with us and God is happy with us, then things will go well. And yet Paul's life tells the exact opposite story.

Faithfulness does not always lead to ease, but it always points us to purpose. And Paul wants the church, he wants us to be encouraged, not impressed. Does that make sense, right? Like seeing someone successful and platformed and speaking to crowds of thousands, that's impressive, right? That's not this.

Because Paul wants to make it clear that he's not the hero, Jesus is the hero. Paul is simply a servant sustained by grace. And so he sends another servant to show them how that faith gets lived out in ordinary life.

And that matters for us. Because renewed people, faithful churches don't thrive on image management. We thrive on honesty and vulnerability and mutual encouragement and hope that is shared in Christ as we bear one another's burdens.

Paul sending Tychicus tells us a couple of things. Look at how he's described Tychicus, the beloved brother. He's not an apostle, he's not famous, but Paul calls him a beloved brother.

And I think that's significant for a couple of reasons, one, you have to know and remind yourself in your heart of hearts that you are in fact loved, deeply loved, unendingly loved by God in Christ if you're going to persevere. You have to know that you are treasured by Jesus if you're going to walk faithfully. And you need to be part of a community.

You have to be part of a community where you are known, where you are cared for, where your hurts matter, and people can pour grace and healing into the brokenness and the longing and the emptiness, and where you can offer one another encouragement. We're made for that. And he calls him a faithful minister.

Now, this man Tychicus, we don't know much about him. He's mentioned less than a handful of times in the New Testament. He's not an apostle, so far as we know, he never wrote any scripture, he didn't write any books, he didn't plan any churches, he didn't go on any missionary journeys.

He runs errands, and he delivers messages for Paul. But he's faithful, and that means that what he does matters. Because he's doing it in Christ, and with Christ, and for Christ.

And that is true for every one of you, that what you do matters. You are called and commissioned as a faithful servant, a minister. It's a reminder of what we said before, like Paul wants us to be encouraged, not impressed.

The gospel doesn't really advance through big names, right? Like our world wants us to believe. It advances through the faithfulness of ordinary sisters and brothers. It goes forward through people who write letters, and change diapers, and manage resources, and pray faithfully, and encourage hearts.

Jesus is witnessed to by people who show up. By people who show up, again, and again, and again. And that's most of the Christian life.

Encouragement matters, because the battle is real. Paul sends Tychicus to encourage their hearts, because spiritual warfare is exhausting. It's just wearying, it's hard, staying alert is tiring.

Because we can become discouraged when we see faithful people like Paul, and people that we love suffer. So Paul wants us to know that suffering is not failure, and struggle is not defeat, because Christ is still reigning in all those things. So Paul is saying, listen, don't interpret hardship as abandonment.

Don't assume it means something is going wrong. We tend, again, naturally to sort of think maybe God stepped away, maybe he's frowning, maybe he's disappointed, but Paul says the opposite. Paul says God is at work, especially when the path is difficult, and the reality is painful.

Paul's change did not mean that God's plan was failing. It means that it's unfolding, and we need that perspective, Paul says. Because if we interpret hardship the wrong way, we will stop persevering.

We will lose heart and give up, but people who are renewed in Christ learn to say God is not absent in difficulty, he's working. Because those who are renewed by Christ are sent as bold witnesses who bear witness to Christ in suffering with one another. What sustains us through that? What keeps us going? How do we keep showing up and keep doing that? Renewed people are sustained by grace.

Renewed people are sustained by grace. This is so important. Paul ends this letter not with a command, but with a blessing, with a prayer.

Verse 23, 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. This is so important.

The Christian life does not run on try harder. Get your act together. What's wrong with you? The Christian life runs on take God's grace, his undeserved kindness, his love, his mercy and run on that and live out of that.

Look at what Paul prays for them, peace. Peace to the brothers, and he's not talking about just males, sisters and brothers. Peace is one of the great themes of this letter.

He reopened with a prayer of peace and grace to us. He tells us in chapter two that Christ is our peace. He's called us not just to keep peace with other, but to maintain the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.

He tells us to prepare to go out into the spiritual battles that we will face in the gospel of peace. Not merely an emotional state, it's a calm, settled reality in our hearts and our lives out of the confident awareness that God is for you and God is with you. And then peace then becomes a community reality that we are reconciled to one another because God has made peace with us and we follow Jesus.

We become peacemakers. We become people who go out of our way to make peace, to build bridges, because we have been reconciled. It's not emotional calm, it is wholeness, it is flourishing, it is what God created us for.

And love with faith, and we talked about this before too, it's not a sentimental affection, it's not even an emotional state, it is covenant loyalty. It is love anchored in trust in Christ, a renewed life flows from faith that trusts in God's love over and over again. It means that the love that Paul has in his mind is not personality-driven affection, it's not relational warmth, it's love that is anchored, it is rooted, it is tethered to trust in Christ.

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