FINAL CONCERNS GRACE TO YOU (Ephesians 6:21-24) Landmark day. Finishing Ephesians. Has it changed you?

? The Word must change us. Most major Bible teaching is covered here in grand fashion. In his concluding remarks, Paul briefly reveals his own heart. These are his final personal concerns, and they show what dominates the heart of one of Gods choicest servants as he nears the end of his life and ministry. They reveal what is really important. Paul is like the expectant mother who attended a baby shower for a friend. Everyone was encouraging the first-time mother to save every item, even the gift wrapping paper that could be used to line drawers. The expectant mother finally spoke up. She said, With my first baby, I saved absolutely everything. With the second, I saved a few things. With this one Im just going to save the baby. She was down to basics and so is Paul. This is the raw, naked version of what really matters. This is how a man or woman of God thinks. Last week we looked at his personal concerns. Chained 24-7 to a Roman guard, and suffering the pains of age, prior persecutions and his present shackles, Pauls prayer request was that he not wimp out, but share the gospel faithfully, with grace and boldness. Not a word about praying for his release or physical comfort. He was focused like a laser beam on eternity. Thats verses 19-20. Now in vv. 21-24, we see his heart for others. And its not their physical wellbeing or their worldly success or their new church building. Instead, he focuses on 4 things that matter most. Shouldnt we care if a fellow-believer is hospitalized or out of work or being treated unfairly? Shouldnt we care and pray? Of course, but we stop there! We stop short of the ultimate. We shortchange ourselves by majoring on the minors. Paul did not do that. II. For Others A. Encouragement Pauls first concern is so like Paul and so unlike us. Look starting in verse 21, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. Tychicus was an Asian believer who became part of Pauls entourage on his third missionary journey. He became a close companion and faithful confidant of the Apostle. During
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Pauls long imprisonment, he served as a messenger, being sent at various times to Ephesus, Colossae, Crete and Ephesus again. And look! How would you like to be called a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord by Paul? Or by Christ? Wouldnt we want that commendation for faithfulness? Tradition tells us that Tychicus eventually suffered martyrdom. Paul sent Tychicus that he may encourage your hearts. How like Paul that he, the one in jail, would be sending encouragement rather than receiving it. Paul was humble. But he knew thousands loved, honored and rallied around him. He was concerned that his captivity would be discouraging. How would we feel if Billy Graham or John Piper or Chuck Swindoll or some other trusted leader in our time should be thrown in jail for his faith? We would fear for them as well as ourselves. So Paul reaches out to encourage. You know what causes discouragement? It is nearsightedness. Spiritual nearsightedness. If you saw Paul in jail and Christians everywhere being persecuted and killed, it would have been easy to get discouraged. It would be impossible not to. But Paul urges an unnatural perspective -- an unworldly perspective. Better, an other-worldly perspective. He sent Tychicus to encourage their far-sightedness. How? Well, Paul notes that Tychicus will report on how I am and what I am doing. And how was Paul, and how was he doing? Paul wrote to the Philippians at this same time that his imprisonment served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ (Phil 1:12-13). So Paul was saying, I may be in prison, but the Lord is using it to spread the gospel and to make others bolder. So rejoice! That is what Tychicus reported. Further, Tychicus reported Pauls words in Phil 1:21-24: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Paul is saying, Dont worry about me. If I had my druthers, Id go be with Christ now. Im ready to go. But if God wants me here for your sake, its all in Gods hands. Oh, Beloved, I think we do not really begin to live until we get that it is all in Gods hands everything. That is the ultimate encouragement. The long view sees that God is on the throne, in control and and circumstances mean nothing. God can and does use anything. He uses human success and human failure. He uses health and He uses pain. He uses jail and He uses
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release. That is what Tychicus reported to encourage their hearts. God is in control. Circumstances are irrelevant. A few years ago some workers were erecting a TV tower in Minneapolis. One night the temperature took a drastic plunge. The next day guys were working at a minus 40 windchill. About 9:00, a tall, lean Texan climbed down from the tower and entered the office trailer. He grabbed his lunch pail and headed for the door. The foreman asked, Whats up? Are you sick? The man replied, "Nope, just goin home to get my jacket." "Wheres home?" the foreman persisted. "Dallas," the man replied, and off he went. A common reaction to adversity, right? Im checkin out! I cant do this! But Paul is urging, Take heart. God is in control. Hes got amazing long-term plans -- way worth living for! Get encouraged! Be far-sighted. B. Peace Verse 23, Peace be to the brothers. Peace is in the emphatic position. Its been a major theme of the letter. Peace comes in three flavors, right? There is peace with God, peace with self and peace with others. Which does Paul have in mind? I think all three. Without a doubt. He wishes for them a life of contentment and peace. This is not possible apart from peace with God. Rom 5:1) Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. To be justified is to be declared righteous by God and thus at peace with Him. Not everyone is justified. Only those who have trusted Christ as Savior and as Lord are justified. Those who have been saved by grace through faith. But, of course, implied is that if you have not been justified, you are not at peace with God. You are, in fact, at war with God. If God has not captured your heart and mind and will, you are Gods enemy. If you blatantly put your will above Gods, you are at war with your Creator. That doesnt mean that God doesnt love you. He does. It doesnt mean that God does not want you to choose for Him. He does. But until you do, you are in mortal danger as Gods enemy. He loves you like thousands loved brothers who fought against them during the Civil War, yet they were enemies until something changed. And until we yield our wills to the lordship of Jesus Christ, even His love is powerless to help us. Thats why Paul said Romans 8:7, For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to Gods law; indeed, it cannot. If you are No. 1 in your own mind, you are at war with God until you submit to his lordship by grace through faith.
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Now, once we choose for Christ, a whole new world opens up. And just as trust in Christ is the basis for peace with God, it becomes the basis for peace with self and with others. Anxiety, worry, inner turmoil always reflects a focus on the circumstances, and not on Christ. So, God advises in Phil 4: 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Peace with God (salvation), leads to the possibility of the peace of God flooding our hearts as we rest in Him. And the whole message of Ephesians 2 is that it is faith in Christ which is the basis for peace with otherwise mortal enemies when both have been reconciled to God. But it all comes through Christ. Without Him, no peace. The first major battle of the Civil War was the Battle of Bull Run, fought in Virginia, 20 miles southeast of Washington DC. During the battle, Confederate General PT Beauregard was eating dinner in his headquarters at the Wilmer McLean house when a cannonball dropped right down the kitchen fireplace, destroying his dinner and part of the house. After the battle, McLean moved 120 miles south in Virginia, seeking peace for his family. Four long years later, General Lee, with his army decimated by battle, disease and desertion, was forced to offer his surrender to General Grant. The place chosen for the surrender was Appomattox specifically, Wilmer McLeans House at Appomattox. Some of you may have visited; it still stands. Once the surrender proceedings were over, the home was stripped bare by souvenir hunters. The Civil War literally started and ended in McLeans front yard. He found peace to be an elusive dream. But Paul knew how to find peace. He said it in the most simple terms in 2:14, For he himself is our peace. Peace is not a place and it is not a process; it is a person. The person of Jesus Christ. In wishing peace to the brothers, Paul was wishing and praying for Jesus to be Lord of their lives. Do we wish that and pray that for our friends and relatives? Is He foremost in our concerns as He was in Pauls? He Himself is our peace. C. Love with faith Verse 23: Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Love with faith. It is noteworthy that Paul says love with faith -- love from God the Father. Its a family thing. Youre a
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Christian? Christians love. And the Lord Jesus Christ, our elder brother, is the primary example. So Paul crams a lot of content into one short sentence. Paul commended them for their love in 1:15, For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you. These are the marks of a true Christian, already exhibited in their lives but Paul wants these qualities to grow. Love with faith. Why love with faith? Why not just love? Ill tell you why. Some people very easy to love. Then there are the others. Those that we find very difficult to love sometimes for very valid reasons, sometimes not, but we just dont cotton to them. It takes faith to love those! Faith that believes God loves them. Faith that believes God is transforming them. Faith that believes God wants me to love them faith that says, I cant, Lord, so you are going to have to love them through me. Faith with love. I can remember being almost traumatized in the early 1950s by one of the early Christian films that depicted the life of Jacob DeShazer. I was too young to get it at the time, but later the story inspired me. DeShazer was a bombardier in the surprise raid led by Jimmy Doolittle over Tokyo in April, 1942. The US at the time was nowhere near ready for war in the Pacific, but following Pearl Harbor, they needed a moral boost and something to slow the Japanese juggernaut. No one considered a raid on Tokyo possible. Planes couldnt fly that far. But Doolittle came up with an ingenious plan to strike a surprise blow, then land in China, not going back to the aircraft carriers. The raid succeeded, and the psychological effect on both sides was incalculable. But, DeShazers plane was hit and he and 3crewmembers bailed out. Two were executed. The other two spent the remainder of the war 3 years and 4 months in prison camps where they were routinely beaten, tortured and starved. At one point, DeShazer asked for a Bible and was given one for 3 weeks. He later commented, I eagerly began to read its pages. I discovered that God had given me new spiritual eyes and that when I looked at the enemy officers and guards who had starved and beaten my companions and me so cruelly, I found my bitter hatred for them changed to loving pity." God saved Jacob DeShazer through his Word, and God transformed his life. He replaced revenge with love with faith. Rather than see what they were, he saw what his enemies could be. Do you see? Love with faith. Seeing what people can become. DeShazer survived and, amazingly, went back to Japan as a missionary. One person he led to Christ was Mitsuo Fuchida Fuchida, the lead pilot in the Pearl Harbor attack. Fuchida also
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become an evangelist. Beloved, that is love with faith. That is seeing what men might become thru the transforming power of God. If DeShazer could love those who starved and beat and tortured him, can we not love our own brothers and sisters in Christ seeing them for what God is making them to be? Love with a lot of faith. D. Grace Pauls final item. Still nothing about success and prosperity. But finally, grace. He wishes them grace. In 1:2, grace is also the first thing he wishes for them: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First and last, Paul wants Gods grace for them, and he prays for that. Paul soars in what he desires for his friends. It is grace first and last. He has already reminded them that it is grace that took them from the lost condition of 2:1-3 -- dead in the trespasses and sins -- following the prince of the power of the air living as sons [children] of disobedience living in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind -- by nature children of wrath -- it was grace that saved them from themselves and their Godless past. In verse 5: by grace you have been saved. Then verses 8-9 one of the great mountain peaks of Scripture: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. How slow we are to learn that when we deal with God, we bring nothing to the party. There is no merit in any work we can ever do. Those who teach that salvation is by grace plus works they lie. Baptism is great as the outward sign of a transformed heart; it is powerless to transform the heart. Church membership is wonderful and biblical as the fruit of a transformed heart; it is powerless to transform the heart. Good works come naturally from a transformed heart; they are powerless to save. If we are trusting in anything other than faith in Christ, we are as lost as we can be. Salvation is all grace. But now first and last Paul wishes continued grace in the lives of these believers. Even as believers, we continue to need Gods grace, dont we? It is grace that enables us to become in practice what we are in position. We are all a different points on the road to maturity but that journey is sustained by grace, just like it was initiated by grace. Gods grace is evident every time we choose against selfishness and for God. Gods grace is evidence every time we give of ourselves and our resources in
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faith. Gods grace is evidence every time we speak up for Christ, even though someone makes fun. It is by grace we give up the grudge we hold so tightly and forgive from the heart. And Gods grace is never more evident than when we daily confess our sins and accept the ongoing forgiveness of God in our own lives. Remember Romans 5: 20 Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. When we think our sin is too big; when we give up; when we go back to the world; when we fail to live like who we are in Christ, we violate the grace of God. Paul prays that will not be the case. In in invoking grace, Paul is is urging that our conduct match our calling; that our practice match our position; that we live like who we are in Christ. Who are we? We are the chosen of God who have been forgiven, redeemed, adopted, sealed, seated in heavenly places in Christ and blessed with every spiritual blessing. We are in short the most privileged people in the whole world. Now, says Paul -- act like it! Be graced!! Dont muck around in selfpity or past failures; dont continue to experiment with worldly enticements. Such living is not worthy of a child of the king. Be thoroughly graced! Do you sin? He expects it more than you do. Confess it and move on. Dont wallow in it. Are you tempted? Focus on His supremacy. Has life knocked you down? Does the other side seem to be winning? Remember who you are and whence you are going? Be overwhelmed by grace. Are you unworthy? He is worthy? Are you unfaithful? He is faithful. Do you fear? He is all sufficient. Do you fail? He never fails. Be graced! In 1954, Edith Sitwell, a British poet, was given the exalted title of Dame of the British Empire. It represented the highest honor that the queen could bestow. On a visit to the United States, one rather officious, democraticallyinclined journalist was interviewing her and asked, Why do you call yourself Dame? To which Edith Sitwell replied, I dont. The queen does! The queen does. That is the message of the book of Ephesians. God calls us son or daughter. The highest honor He could possibly bestow is ours. Were part of His family. By grace, He has given us the gift of Sonship. And now, He is asking us, by grace, to give Him the gift of living like who we are sons and daughters of God, with all the rights and privileges and resources that entails. God help us to live up to the name we carry. Thats the message of the book of Ephesians Grace to you first, last and always! Lets pray.