and receive justification in the Lord. God pray for us and bless our time together in this. He'll take your Bible and turn to the Book of Ephesians. For one final sermon. Ephesians Chapter 6. Verses 21 to 24. Ephesians 621 Apostle Paul writes, beginning in verse 21, but that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing. Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. I have sent him to you for this very purpose so that you may know about us and that he may comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible Love. Let's pray together once more. Lord, we come before you in prayer because we know that Everything is of grace, common grace, special grace. And any good here today, Lord, will come from your grace and your grace is not owed to us. There's nothing we can do to get it from you, but. It is it is all by your decision and your will. And so, Lord, we acknowledge that and we want to acknowledge that we can understand anything that. Even if we could understand rightly, Lord, we we can't have the will. To obey what you would reveal to us. Apart from your grace, we might be offended at something or we might. Not be ready for a certain truth in our life. And so Lord, we need you in every way through the whole man. Our mind. Needs you to see the truth. Our hearts need you Lord to feel the truth. And our wills need you to submit to the truth and follow the truth. So Lord, for those reasons we pray and just acknowledge your Lordship over your word and ask for your help this morning. In Jesus name, Amen. From time to time, I tell a certain story. I guess if you had to title it, it would be, You Really Nailed Them This Week. And it's a story about how there was once a church and a minister in this church. And every day they went along as normal, until one day this certain individual joined The church, and this was an older church where it was still cultural. They were still practicing, you know, where the preacher would go to the back and shake everyone's hands when they would leave. And this one individual, every Sunday, no matter what the sermon was, he would come and when he shook the preacher's hand, he would say, you really nailed him this week. And he would walk on. And one time it happened that about half the people were gone and the brother was still there. Same thing. He would come out and he'd say, boy, you really nailed him this week. And this went on and on and on and until eventually it was some meeting they were having where there was just a couple of people in there. And lo and behold, he leaves out and he says the same thing. You really nailed him this week. And then one time there was this pandemic that happened. And this is fictional story. And it happened that he was the only one that could make the meeting. Preacher. went ahead and led the service and gave the sermon. And he didn't have to wait at the back door for it. But as they left and they shook hands, he said, I sure am glad we have sermon audio, that they'll be able to listen to this one, because this is really going to nail them when they hear this one. And so it's a perpetual problem. that when you or I study the Bible, when we hear it preached, to think that it's for someone else, or to think that it's only for someone else, to think that it is not also for me individually. And we're singing that hymn, Ben sings, my soul, when I look, when I walk, And so as we come to this last section of Ephesians, Ephesians 6, 21 to 24, we're reminded of the doctrine, if you had to put it as a doctrine, that the grace of God is not just for others, it's for ourselves also. You see this in this text, first of all, in verses 21 to 22. where we see the grace of God for Tychicus, this man Tychicus. Then in verses 23 to 24, we see this shift to where Paul then looks at us and the grace of God is for us as well. Taking these as the two points then, first of all, We think about this man, Tychicus. Point one, if you're writing these down, is the grace of God is for others. Verses 21 to 22. We know this is a true proposition because we see here this man, Tychicus, and we see all that is said about him. indicates to us that the grace of God was for the life of this man, and he's not us. So that tells us that there's grace of God for others beside ourselves. If you start looking at it in the beginning of verse 21, you see why he was mentioned immediately to start with. It begins with but. So Paul had just told us to pray for him in his imprisonment. And he had asked for prayer about several things. And he says, but that you also may know about my circumstances. So in a sense, the shift is Tychicus is going to give them the particulars of the situation. Paul has written about the generals, and he's going to get more particular about his situation, make them know that Paul's OK. along with carry the letter to them. This man, Tychicus, if you go to Colossians, a similar place at the end of Colossians, you'll see he's mentioned there. He carried the letter to the Colossians. And then through this other man, Onesimus, who's with him, He also seems to have carried at least part of the way the letter of Philemon. So this is quite an individual. And you remember Paul is in Rome. And if you haven't looked at geography this week, that's a long way from Rome to Ephesus. Ephesus is in what you would call modern day Turkey. which is just Asia Minor, which just as you go above Jerusalem there, that little part of Asia that hangs off to the left. Ephesus is right there on the coast of that, not far from Troy. Well, if you go left, you got to go across the Aegean Sea, and then you got to go through Greece, and then you got to go through another section of the Mediterranean, and then you get to Italy, then you get to Rome. So, it's a long journey. And Paul's in prison and Paul is giving this man Tychicus upwards to three of the letters that we have in the New Testament to deliver them and to some degree interpret them and comfort the hearts of the saint, help them know what Paul meant by certain things. So if this man, I thought, wow, if he had an image that represented his life. It would be the messenger boy in the old Whitman sampler box. Remember that? I used to think that was an interesting little piece of chocolate that my dad always would get that. I'm looking there and it would almost be a battle to see who's going to get the little chocolate messenger boy. But there he is carrying these letters and that was that sums up And he is a fitting messenger for several reasons. In Acts chapter 20, verse 4, we learn that he's a native of Asia Minor. So that's where he grew up. His people are there. He lived there. So think of where you grew up. So Ephesus, Colossae, and Asia Minor in general, he's familiar with those parts. That's where he was born and raised. But if you read also in Acts, you see that he teamed up with Paul on his third missionary journey, traveled with him through Greece, all the way back through the Aegean, all the way back to Jerusalem where he was arrested. And then Paul went on that big journey where Acts ends, where he went all the way to Rome. And somehow Tychicus went there, so maybe he was on the ship. Luke says we, so maybe he's with him, maybe he traveled in his own way to get there, to minister to Paul, to be with Paul. So this man has traveled and done a lot. And so he's a fitting messenger, I guess I would say, because he knows the people to whom he's going to go talk to. He was born and raised there, and he's well acquainted with what's been happening with Paul. And there we find another analogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the ultimate Tychicus, the ultimate Whitman sampler, messenger boy, the word made flesh. He became like us in every way except sin. So however you're feeling this morning, he's intimately acquainted with those thoughts, those feelings, those struggles. But he also is well acquainted with God since he is God. And so he both is now a native of our land and also well acquainted with where he's coming from. He's the perfect messenger in him. And so Tychicus is a wonderful analogy of that. So he's a good messenger because of where he's from and where he's coming from. It also makes sense that since he's on such an errand, such an important errand, that having served in all these ways that Paul would describe his character in the three ways that he does. Notice he calls him brother. faithful servant, and he thinks he's able to comfort hearts. Verse 21, Tychicus, the beloved brother. So brother here is not being used in the sense of normal sense of just Christian. Paul is really looking at him like a colleague. So this is like army men would call someone that's not their physical brother, their brother. It just means you're in this with me. And you could see how Paul would do that. Like I said, he'd been with him all the way on his missionary journey, all the way to Rome, and now he's running this errand across the Middle Eastern world, the Western world. So he calls him a beloved brother, a dear brother. And then a faithful minister in the Lord, a faithful servant in the Lord. He's got a long track record of ministering to the saints, ministering to Paul, traveling here, running errands. And then he says, I've sent him to you for this very purpose, not only to deliver the letter and that you may know the details about me, but that he may comfort your hearts. He's seasoned Christian. after all of this. And he knows what people are struggling with. He knows what the truth is. He knows about the whole dynamic of talking to people and helping them with the contents of this letter. So it makes sense that Paul would trust him to this task. I remember Mr. Ford's here today when he wanted to, my Bible was falling apart and he wanted to, he offered to graciously have it rebound. And the problem is I had worked at UPS. And I still remember the first day I walked into UPS, and I started handling. I thought, well, I better. They'll fire me. I'll lose my job on the first day if I start breaking things. So I was very, you know. And the manager, no, no, no, no, moves me out of the way and shows me how they do this. And UPS essentially figures that they make more money You know, going fast for the labor force and whatever they break, they'll just pay for. And so they have a whole section in the building called D cap, where you just you bring stuff that needs to re wrapping because it's just been tore up and they pay for it if they have to. And so I knew that, and I thought, well, this isn't really replaceable. It's not like you could give me some money for it. And I think, oh, OK, well, that's even. So I was very reluctant. And eventually, when I could use it no more, I accepted the fate and trusted the Lord that maybe it'll come back. And it did. But Paul didn't feel that way about Tychicus. He felt he could trust him. And it's an amazing thought. He put the letter of Ephesians and Colossians and Philemon in his hands to be delivered. That is something. But the final thought, I think, on this section of Tychicus is such qualities, the very letter that he's carrying, teach us to think, don't come naturally. Remember chapter two? What does chapter two say about Tychicus? And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. That means that was true of Tychicus. He used to be dead in his trespasses and sins. in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power there of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. So Tychicus used to march like the hyenas to scar. You know, the devil was always saying, Love self, Tachikos, love self, love self, love self. And Tachikos used to say, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And just follow the devil. And he goes on among them, we too, we too. So that includes him. All formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. And so how did Tychicus change such that he becomes faithful and a dear brother and able to comfort the hearts of the saints that he would be entrusted with such an errand as this? Well, verse four says, but God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, so God is so rich in mercy. That's how you get a Tychicus who's trustworthy. God has a great love for men. So he says, even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you've been saved. So Tychicus wasn't ever seeking God. We don't know what he was doing. He may have been working and he may have been an accountant. He may have been working on AI or something, whatever Ty Chikus was doing. He may have been a comedian. He was right in the middle of his task, right in the middle of his purpose. And God made him alive. He didn't say, Lord, make me alive. God made him alive. And so he says, by grace, you have been saved. That means by grace, Tychicus has been saved. So he goes on, of course, to say he prepared some good works. We would walk in them, and this is one of them. He prepared for this man, Tychicus. So what do we see here in verses 21 to 22? What we see is that the grace of God is for others. That's what we see in seeing it in the life of this man, Ty Chicka. So that's one thought that should possess us today. I see Tim, I see Kerry, I see Mr. Ford, Dad, Jeremy, any of you, Mercy. I should be confronted with the fact that you wouldn't be here apart from the grace of God, at least not genuinely. You might be here because, you know, you have to go to church and all right, we got to go to church. You wouldn't be here genuinely. You wouldn't have any desire for him genuinely on your own where you're doing what you really want to do. You really love the Lord. You really want to think about it. So what we should see when we see each other, we should be reminded that not only that there is grace of God for sinful humanity, but it is for others. I'm in the stands here. I'm a spectator in one sense. I'm looking out, I'm seeing the grace of God in other people. But we also see in this text that the grace of God is not just for others. Because after Paul makes mention of the life of Tychicus in whom the grace of God has been so greatly manifest, he then wishes it upon others in verses 23 to 24. So we go to point two. The grace of God is for others. The grace is for ourselves. I mean, the grace of God is for ourselves. This is a basic. Grace wish, you know, if you thought, well, how do people write letters today? How do you do mail? Well, you put this in this corner and you put the recipient here. If you write a basic letter, most people would say dear so-and-so and probably sincerely so-and-so. Probably statistically, it'd be the high average of what you'd get. And in the ancient world, they had a way of doing letters too. And one of them was at the end, there would be a well wish. you know, where you just, and it'll start that way too. I trust you're doing well. And then you would end with saying, wish you well. Well, Paul has transformed those into grace wishes. So instead of just saying, I hope you're doing well and you know, your business is going all right and y'all are all healthy and nobody's sick. Paul starts with a grace wish and says, May there not just be physical health and just temporary things, but may grace be upon you. And then as he leaves you, he says, and he tells you goodbye, he says, I wish grace upon you. And so that was his way. Now, so then if we look at 23 to 24, I think you see, first of all, he wishes the effects of grace on them, peace and love. He says, peace be to the brothers, or peace be to the brethren. This is just a way of referring to all Christians, which is amazing because this is a circular letter. This is not like you wrote it to one particular church. So he's talking about all the saints in Ephesus, as we've seen, whether they're Jew, Gentile, whatever. He just says, my heart is, Benevolent, I wish for you all to have peace. And what peace would he be talking about? You think back to chapter 2, verses 1 to 10, it's reuniting the things in the heavens, right? Peace with God. So Christ has died that there would be peace between you and God. So that'd be one part of the wish. Peace be to the brothers. I want you to know that there's peace with you and God. And then the second part of chapter two, that the cross of Christ is not just there to propitiate the wrath of God, but the wrath of men. You hurt me, I hurt you. You sin against me, I'll sin against you. I anger you, you anger me. So in the same way that God forgives me by looking at the cross and having his wrath appeased, you are to forgive me. by looking at the cross and having your wrath appeased. That's what it means to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven you. So often it doesn't happen because we're just trying to forgive by just finding goodwill within ourselves. But that's not the way to gospel forgive. As long as we look in ourselves, all we're thinking about is how we're offended and been wronged. And we're just full of bitterness and rage and wrath and punishment. But he says, no, no, no, look, look at the cross and think Christ died for that sin. And therefore, based on that, go forgive them. And if it's a lost person thing, well, they're going to be punished forever for that sin. God's just he's going to punish that sin and therefore, you know, go forgive them, because if not, you have to say that. The suffering of Christ wasn't enough on the cross to cover this sin that this believer committed against me. It was pretty good, but I need to get a lick in. It wasn't quite perpetuatory enough. Or this lost person, you're in the position of having to say, well, The lake of fire is just not enough. You know, there needs to be more suffering before I can forgive. So the gospel is wonderful because it really allows us to be at peace. It gives humanity the real option of peace between humans who have offended each other. So he's wishing for peace with God, peace with others, and then just peace within ourselves, right? Knowing that God is going to put everything right in the end. God is summing up all things in Christ. Everything will be right at the end. And as Shakespeare puts it right, all's well that ends well. Well, it ends well. And therefore, we ought to be able to say it is well with my soul. no matter the circumstances. So I think he's wishing for all of those effects of the grace of God under the category of peace. But he also mentions love, doesn't he? He thinks about love. He says, and love with faith. So what does this mean? He might mean the love of God and that he's wishing the love of God on you and that you would that it would cause you to stir up your faith. The way Anna sacrificed herself for Elsa and that thawed out Elsa. He may be having that in mind, that may the love of God constantly generate faith in you. Maybe how we sang that song, you know, you think about these certain truths and it says, then sings my soul. So there's a flow, right? God has shown His love for you. He loved us first, right? John puts it in 1 John. And therefore, that conjures up your faith. You may have that in mind, or it may be subjective, and he's referring to our love, in which case, with faith would mean don't have moralistic love. What is moralistic love? Well, it's just a, you know, well, you know, let me use Joe, always use Joe. Joe's such a good guy. He brings old people vegetables and he goes and fix their AC when it's out. And you say, okay, well, you talk to Joe and you say, Joe, everybody in town, you're such a good guy. You're such a kind man. You know, what is the reason for the kindness? Well, my mom just always taught me to teach people respect. It's sad to say that that man is lost and does not know the gospel. You realize that? I mean, for the Christian, you're so aware of your own sin. And you're so aware that anything good you're doing is the grace of God. For people to flock around you and say, Wow, look what a wonderful guy you are. Where is it coming from? And you don't mention Christ. It just is unthinkable. You just have to say the lights are out on the inside. This man is not illumined. He doesn't have the spirit of God. So that's not the kind of love we're supposed to have. John tells us we know love by this that he laid down his life for us and so we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Now you could put it in your own words and Well, the grace of God or this Christ treated me. Be organic. Put it in your own words. But you somehow are saying that my launching pad for all my good deeds, if I just smile at you and want you to know that I'm happy to see you, I have a reason for that. He shed His blood for my soul. That's the reason. Christ has regarded my helpless estate and has shed his own blood for my soul. Not only then sings my soul, but then I hug you. And then I wish you well. And then I tell you truth. Or then I try to encourage you. Or then I rebuke you. Or then I want to find out about you. The whole thing is motivated by that. So that could mean what he means by Love with faith. This means love on its own, just you generating it to show the world that you're a kind person is not Christian. But love mingled with faith makes it Christian love because the whole point of faith is you're depending on someone else to save you. And now your love is flowing from the fact that you've been rescued. So either way, the point would be right that they all flow from God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, because he says from God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You ever think about some of these songs we sing? Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Does that mean your faith? Does all include your kindness? And if it's from Him, shouldn't we, to quote another one, come to the Father through Jesus the Son and give Him the glory? Great things He has done. I've told this one before. My mom come and give me $20 one day. Then I went to go to lunch with someone. and I bought the lunch, and they just poured on so much praise about how kind I was to buy them lunch. I just couldn't handle it. I had to say, well, actually, my mother came by right before I saw you and gave me this $20. So it wasn't even my $20. And there should be a sense of that, that everything that we have that is good, faith, grace, kindness, care, all of these things didn't have to be there. They are from. Paul says, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ain't that amazing? It's like I could preach the doctrines of grace from the end of Ephesians. Just that verse. It's almost like just you pick a verse and give it to me, and I will find it in the verse. But then he mentions grace, doesn't he, in verse 24? Which, because that's the source of it all. And this is the ultimate wish I think you could ever wish upon a person. Grace be with you. You realize that? The highest thing you could ever say to a person is grace. You remember Joseph? He was so full of love for his little Brother Benjamin, when he saw him, it just came out of his mouth. He said, may God be gracious to you. God be gracious to you. It's the most amazing thing. It's not really in our culture. We don't do it. I wish somehow we could somehow enculturate it because it's biblical. But it's almost like a prayer. At the same time, so it's like I'm looking at Jeremy Poe, but I'm speaking to God. You see, the direct object of my statement is God. I'm saying, God be gracious to you. So it's like a prayer and an encouragement all jumbled up in the one. It's quite a thing. So this is Paul's wish. He says, grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus with incorruptible love. Notice the responsibility note that is struck. He wishes for grace upon all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love, so it's restricted. to those who love. Now, you wish it upon everyone, but here Paul is talking about those who love. And so this would be a response of those who have responded to God's grace. And we're just reminded that the grace of God is not something to just be revealed, it's something to be responded to. Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5, Remember that? The grace of God. And after that wonderful justification verse, he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us and all that. He says, he begins chapter six and we urge you after he says we're pleading with you as though God were pleading through us. He says, and we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. What would that be to receive the grace of God in vain? It would be like having a plant and the sunlight is shining straight to that plant. But you put it in like, you put it under some kind of, like you build a little lean-to tin thing over it to block the sunlight. Like you build some kind of door that you lock and cover where the sunlight can't hit it. So you're receiving the sunlight in vain. It's not having its effect on the plant. And man is urged to open up his chest, to open up his heart, to be honest with the Lord and let the grace of God in and let it shine on your soul and make your soul turn into light. Then notice it's not just the doctrine we're talking about. We're not just talking about reformed theology. We're not just talking about statements. Here's a statement. Do you believe that? Yes or no? Here's a statement. Do you believe that? Yes or no, but it's a person. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. He's a person. Who loved you and gave himself for you? Another time, Paul said the life I now live. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Lewis said one time. People are wrong to say that, you know, when Christ died on the cross that. He died as if you were the only person in the world. He died free that way. He said, but when Paul says for me and he gave himself for me, it does mean this. If you were the only person in the world, he would have done it. That is something. Not just a faceless multitude, but the Lord Jesus Christ loved you particularly and died for you particularly, personally. And that's supposed to be the whole root of your faith. Like Joseph said, how can I do this thing and sin against God? You should. His love should be the thing that melts you that how can I do this thing and not love him? Is he not beautiful? Is he not wonderful? And. Since he's an incorruptible person, Paul finishes by saying that to love him is to have an incorruptible love. And this means it's unspoilable. I mentioned UPS, you have some packages like, well, this is perishable, so handle with care. And sometimes the Christian feels like they're going to get knocked out of this race. I mean, your emotions get hammered by so many different things. You experience loss and things happen, and it's only with enough experience of getting kicked and thrown around in the world and having so many different struggles that you finally realize that nothing can separate you from, that nothing in all creation has the power to change what God has done in your heart. this and that and the other disappointment. Oh, you may weep. I mean, you could you could wail gut busting tears, but wailing gut busting tears from the bottom of your being will not corrupt the love that God has put in your heart for the Lord. That is something. It's imperishable. It's like on Monsters, Inc. You remember that show Monsters, Inc. for the kids where the whole plot is they're afraid of children, you know. Something human is like corruptible to them. And so it comes into their world and they have the yellow suit guys and oh there's this thing. Well, this is like the opposite. It's like there's this other world than this one. And something has come into it. And that other world is an incorruptible world. And something has come through the doors and it's going into your heart. There's something now in you that is incorruptible, a sort of diamond or gem or ruby that nothing can change or alter or soil or defile or ruin or scrape or scratch or nothing. And that is to be such an encouragement to you that there's this Other figure in literature that I never learned about until I started reading the books, if you've watched Lord of the Rings, because he doesn't show up in the films, but his name is Tom Bombadil and the ring has no effect on him. And I guess that's why they didn't include him because he didn't fit with how maybe they were doing it. But he plays with the ring at one time. He's just this kind of angelic, happy, jolly guy coming through the field singing. And he grabbed, they hold out the ring to see if he can help him. He grabs the ring and they're all like. What is about to happen? He's gonna put on the ring and he's just Just playing with the ring and and it had and it has no power On him. I'm not saying we need to live a fully flippant life We don't like there's many many times of seriousness But somehow there should be some kind of sense in which it's not possible for you to fall away There there is nothing That can change what God has done in your heart. No matter what happens on the other end of it, there will still be you who love the Lord more than anything. So in conclusion. She was there at the bedside. He was devout Roman Catholic. Far as I know, that's the way it ended. And there were. Having known Ted for 30 years and being one of his stepdaughters, obviously had some liberty to speak that not everyone did. And she pulls up a chair beside him and whispers in his ear. And she says, Ted, you know that you know the gospel. You know that there's only one way to heaven. And you know it's not based on anything you could do. And you know that God loves you and wants to forgive you. Don't let pride get in the way. Of calling on his name and trusting in him. Here at the end. And as I reflected on that and how the sermon began, I thought that's another picture of the very same thing. chalice sort of Tychicus. There's grace of God manifested in her life. But here she is speaking to another human being. Why? Because what have we seen? The grace of God is not just for others, it's for ourselves. And so as we draw to close this series, the message then would be this. You receive the grace of God. You, through the gospel, have your life summed up and put back together again. You follow him, not just others. God has brought you here, and every time God brings you here, it's not just to look at me. It's not just to look at another Christian, but to see the grace of God in them and to see that that's the difference between teaching and preaching. It's the difference between third and second person. The Bible is not written in the third person, it doesn't always say in them and them and them. It says, and God has told you, oh man, what is good. Or it says in Romans 2, you teach others, do you not teach yourself? Or even in the Gospel of Mark, it's going along saying this and this and this, and then it stops and it says, let the reader understand. And you're like, wow. So it's saying you, it tells you that this is written to you. It's written to the reader. So I just want to ask you as we close, have you received the grace of God? And if not, why not? He loves you. He not only created you. But he's aware. The perfect messenger is aware of every single thought you're having, every single emotion that you're having. And he became like you because he loves you. But he never sinned and he reversed everything that Adam did. And he started the process and it's going to finish. And if you don't get on this train, if you don't get in Christ and you're headed the other direction where it's not just that your body is going to corrupt, your soul is going to corrupt. Absolutely everything, your teeth and your fingernails and your feelings and your thoughts that you currently have. Every relationship you have is going to perish. But God is a kind God. Has a great love, doesn't he? That's what Paul said. And isn't it amazing? A man can live his whole life suppressing the truth. And then God would still have one of his children pull up a chair beside him. and whisper the gospel into your ear. God is kind to God. And he loves men, and that means you. So the grace of God is for you. Amen. This concludes our series on