We come now to the conclusion of this letter to the Ephesians written by Paul. All of what we have learned has brought to me great joy and hope. As we look back in the first chapter I am grateful that God has given to me His grace and mercy, not based off of some work of my own but by the sovereign choice of our God. Also knowing that God has provided redemption through Christ, assurance through the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of our calling to be a slave of our sovereign Ruler, Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the second chapter we see more of the same as we learned that God’s grace provides for us the ability to even believe or have faith. We can not look at the first section of chapter 2 and think we have some choice to believe without first being awakened by God. The rest of chapter 2 and all of chapter 3 also brought into our thinking that we have been saved for the purpose of being unified as believers from all people groups.
Then as we moved along in chapter 4, Paul began to show us practically how to be living out our lives as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the call to live in the calling that you have been called. It was in knowing your giftedness and using that giftedness for the spreading of the Gospel. It was in noticing that there must be a break away from the old self to live for the new self. This brought along many challenges to be loving, forgiving and to seek unity for the common goal of spreading the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
Then chapter 5 brought yet another challenge that went beyond what we know we can achieve as Paul calls us to imitate God. This all pointed to the fact that we should be holy and should be living in that direction all throughout our lives and in every area of our life. This shows up in how you live, that is that you are living as children of the light. This turns us to know God’s will for our lives and to live out that will which is to be obedient. This obedience will transform us and will guide us to live for God in our respected marriage roles and family relationships.
That brought us into the 6th chapter that showed us the parent and child relationship, then the master and slave relationship. These both should be followed if we are to be living in the way that God has designed. Then that brought us to look at what we just finished and that was the section of spiritual warfare and the armor of God.
This recap of what we learned is a reminder to us of what Paul’s goal is in this letter. This topic of why he continues to minister to the people in Ephesus will show to us the motivation we too should have towards others that we are around. This will be what we will look at under this one point for this final study. Let’s look now at this point.
Encourage those you minister to.
Look with me at Ephesians 6:21-22 But that you also may know about all my affairs, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know our circumstances, and that he may encourage your hearts.
Yes we know that the Gospel starts with the knowledge that you are depraved, full of sin and that you are wretched but that is not where we stop. We tell people the good news that God gave His only Son to be the propitiation for your sins so that you can spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Nothing in this letter is meant to be controversial nor is it meant to beat anyone down but rather to tell the truths of the Gospel. This letter shows to us God’s sovereignty in salvation and how He accomplished that work through Christ.
Paul wrote this letter to encourage and to inform these Christians in Ephesus of how God has planned everything in salvation and then executed that plan. It may seem to many in this time of Christianity that there is no hope seeing that many have been tortured, killed for the faith and many more persecuted. Paul is imprisoned for this very reason as he speaks of in Ephesians 3:1 when he says I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles.
He makes mention of this again in Ephesians 4:1 saying I, the prisoner in the Lord. Then again in Ephesians 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains—so that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
This alone could bring discouragement and despair to those that know Paul. So not only does he write this letter but as he always does if he is unable to go to these areas, he sends someone else. Many times in Paul’s ministry we see him send Timothy to churches but here we see that he sends a man named Tychicus. Tychicus is not as well known as Timothy, Barnabas, Silas, Priscilla and Aquila or Luke but he was a man of great use to Paul.
Tychicus is mentioned 5 times in the Bible in which the first time is in Acts 20:4 where he is listed as those traveling with Paul. It says there that he is from Asia or better known to us as Asia Minor. In other mentions of Tychicus we find out that he was sent to Colossae(Colossians 4:7), to Ephesus(Ephesians 6:21) as we see here, to Timothy when he was in Ephesus during Paul’s later imprisonment(2 Timothy 4:12) and then again as referenced by Paul in Titus when Titus was in Crete(Titus 3:12).
Tychicus is of much use to Paul and is very highly valued by Paul. Look with me at what he says in Colossians 4:7 Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow slave in the Lord, will make known to you all my affairs.
This goes right along with what he says in our Ephesians 6:21 text, he says that he is a beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you.
I mention all of this to show that Paul often sends people to inform them of what is going on and to encourage them. It was for this purpose that he says he is sending Tychicus. Look again at Ephesians 6:22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know our circumstances, and that he may encourage your hearts.
This is where I want to break away and speak about the importance of encouragement towards those we minister to. Now do not get me wrong I am not saying to warp the Gospel and preach some form of a prosperity Gospel. Rather what I want to focus on is that even when we are correcting people, or whether we are just informing people through stories of how God is using us or through a sermon or Bible study, we need to encourage people. We do this by first living the way we should before them and then by meeting their needs spiritually and physically if we can.
The goal has to be primarily on the Gospel in our conversations with others to bring about this encouragement. This does not mean that every time you are helping someone that you have to give them a full lay out of the Gospel but rather that we show people love, compassion and care to them. I am not softening the Gospel here but what I am saying is that we need to connect with people on a personal basis. I have been reading a lot recently about the church and evangelistic programs. What I have noticed is that a lot of people are foreign to evangelism in their lives when this is the very command that God has given us all as followers of Him. Jesus clearly says in Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Even though we see this, we are often content with just giving money to these organizations instead of evangelizing ourselves. But if we follow the example from the early church and are wanting to follow the command to evangelize then we need to follow the example like Paul. Even as he sits in prison his focus is on the Gospel and on those that he has ministered to throughout his journeys. I want to look at some examples of this from Paul not just here in Ephesians but in many letters of his.
Ephesians 1:3 says Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Then down to Ephesians 1:15-16 he says For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers.
Philippians 1:3-4 says I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.
Colossians 1:3 says We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.
There are many more examples of this that we could go through but I hope you see the point. The point is that there needs to be a connection in such a way with people that there is a thankfulness of what they are doing in ministry and a love for the people that shows them how much you care for them. Paul encourages in thankfulness for these people but then always shows his compassion for them as well.
He says in Philippians 1:8 For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Galatians 4:19 says My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.
Then also in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 he says But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 In this way, having fond affection for you, we were pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become beloved to us.
I mention all of this to make the point that encouragement in sharing the Gospel shows up not only in seeing people come to Christ but also in seeing people grow in Christ, in seeing people turning from sins, in seeing people excited for the work that God is doing in your life and in others lives. It was this motivation that kept Paul connected to the people he ministered to and with throughout his life, so we too need to heed this call to others. This is not some call just for the pastor or elders, deacons or teachers, this is a call to every believer.
Now we look at our last two verses in this letter. These two verses show Paul’s love and affection for these people as he says in Ephesians 6:23-24 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.
In these last two verses we see what defines Paul’s motivation in ministry. We see the word peace, love, faith and grace that is pointed towards our Lord Jesus. It is those that have been redeemed that know personally about these things. Paul was a true pastor, a true minister of the church that always kept the priority on God and the Gospel. I love how he ends by saying Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.
The original language does not include love but is placed there to bring out the point. That word incorruptible in the Greek is the word aphtharsia (af-thar-see’-ah) which means lacking the very capacity to decay. The goal is that all of those in Ephesus and all of us will never decay or corrupt because we have the peace, love, faith and grace that has been given to us by our Lord. What a way to end this study by thinking about God’s incorruptible love that He has for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you have this grace and I pray that you all are living in a way that is pleasing to God.
Disciple's Direction 