Passage: Ephesians 6:21-24

The Big Idea

Paul ends Ephesians in chains, yet thriving. Instead of asking for pity, he sends away his dear friend Tychicus to comfort others, trusting Jesus to be the friend who sticks closer than a brother. That’s living by grace: drawing on the life of Christ so fully that you’re free to give yourself away. And his final words show how it happens: grace is with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ sincerely. We love Him because He first loved us.

Not About Me (Ephesians 6:21-23)

Paul writes: So that you may know how I’m doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. I’ve sent him to you for this very purpose, so you may know our situation and he may comfort your hearts. Peace to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

From Rome to Ephesus was a journey of well over a thousand miles. And Paul sends one of his closest friends all that way, for them.

Paul is a prisoner, an ambassador in chains for the Lord.
In effect he says, “Don’t be bummed out for me. Don’t feel sorry for me.”
“Because I care more about you than about me, I’m sending one of my closest brothers to encourage and comfort you.”
“You can’t be as effective for Jesus as you could be if you’re constantly worried about me.”

That’s not me! I love it when people feel sorry for me. I like hearing, “It’s not fair what you’re going through.” I want the comforts of the flesh so often. I want things to get a little easier, and if they can’t, I at least want people to notice how much I’m suffering.

But the Holy Spirit wants all the attention to go to Jesus. Jesus said the Spirit would testify about Him (John 15:26).

Paul wants the Ephesian church to understand clearly that he is not disappointed with his situation. In fact, he’s thriving. God is with him, and that’s all he needs. He’s experiencing peace, and love with faith. He’s living in the realities of God’s grace, supplied with supernatural power in an invisible, mysterious way, simply by abiding with Jesus.

So Paul becomes their example of how to receive everything they need from the Father through Jesus Christ. That’s the whole point of Ephesians! This is a living illustration of the mystery of the gospel. Nothing shows the living power of God in this world more clearly than seeing someone suffer, and still have a fountain of life flowing from their soul.

Paul was the real deal.

He didn’t just write a letter full of things to do and facts to know.
He actually lived by the realities of this letter.
He actually received a vast supply of spiritual riches every day to live on.

That’s called living by grace, or growing in grace: feeding on and drawing from the very life of Jesus Christ.

The Friend Who Sticks Closer

Paul was nearing the end of his life. Soon he would write 2 Timothy, and near the end of it he mentions that he sent Tychicus to Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:12), and hints at how lonely he was. He missed his friends. But I don’t think he regretted it.

Proverbs says a man who has friends must show himself friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).

Jesus is that Friend. The grace of God provides everything His children need, and the greater the need, the more grace is poured out. Paul needed a friend, and Jesus was all he needed.

Sometimes we live based on what we think we need: friends, companionship, a spouse, a job, a thing.
Paul was willing to give up something very dear to him for the sake of others. He wasn’t even worried about how he’d be provided for. He left that in his Father’s hands. He was others-focused.
Paul trusted God’s provision so completely that he jumped whenever Jesus said jump.
What a rich, deep, glorious, powerful life he lived!
He was victorious in ways we can hardly comprehend.
He was completely sold out to Jesus, like a replica of Jesus living in the world.

How did he get that way? How did he become so skilled at drawing on God’s power and grace? And could I possibly live with that same holy abandon?

He tells us in the very last verse.

Grace for Those Who Love Him (Ephesians 6:24)

Paul’s final words: grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying, sincere love.

Grace is what it’s all about.

Paul is always talking about grace, and he closes most of his letters by pointing back to it.
Grace isn’t just forgiveness of sins, or help when you fail. That’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Grace is God’s supernatural enabling to actually live a godly life, to actually be spiritual, to actually be Christlike in this world.

And Paul says grace will be with all who love Jesus Christ sincerely.

Grace doesn’t come to those trying to impress God.
Grace doesn’t come to those trying to earn it by keeping all the rules.
Grace isn’t experienced by those just trying out this Christian thing or sitting on the fence about Jesus.
People who treat church as a social club have no idea of grace’s real power.
People waiting for God to impress them, or for the pastor to entertain them, won’t see God’s wonders in their lives.

Rather, it’s a real, genuine, simple love for Jesus.

You don’t need to be the best at doctrine.
You don’t need to be the smartest person in the room.
You don’t need to be able to quote every verse in the Bible.
You just need to love Jesus, sincerely.

Marriage is about love, not trivia. It’s about a person, not how much you know about the institution of marriage. So is our relationship with Jesus.

How Do You Love Jesus?

That leads to an important question: How do you love Jesus?

Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15).

So what are His commandments? What does He say they are? (Not what other people say.)

Abide in Me (John 15:4).
Let My words abide in you (15:7).
Continue in My love (15:9).
Love one another as I have loved you (15:12, 17).
And when asked for the greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).

It always flows that way. It starts with simply staying close to Jesus, and it ends with a heart that loves God and loves others.

Jesus said that whoever loves Him will keep His word, and the Father will love that person, and They will come and make Their home with him (John 14:23).

What happens when you love Jesus? A closeness we can only describe as family. He comes and makes His home with you.
It’s mutual. He loves us first. We respond by loving Him back. Then we receive even more of His love, the deeper realities of His love and favor.

Wisdom says, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me” (Proverbs 8:17).

God is an equal-opportunity lover.
And He’s worth loving!
When you love Him, you get grace and peace. But most of all, you get Him. He gives Himself completely and without reservation to those who love and seek Him.
What’s better than the very source of everything good?

The Alternative

So who would decide not to love Him? Lots of people. And compare what they receive. Instead of grace, Paul says, anathema: “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22).

Anathema means cursed, devoted to destruction.
I believe Paul is describing the natural end of anyone who refuses to love Jesus. It’s like trying to breathe in outer space. That’s not a thriving life!
Not loving Jesus brings a curse into your own life.

“But I’ve had days, even parts of today, when I didn’t love Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. What then?”

Paul says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us, as it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).

We’re so free in Jesus! We don’t have to redeem ourselves from that curse.
So we’re free simply to grow in love with Him.
His love and grace are so powerful that they redeemed us from the curse all the way back at the cross.
We don’t have to live in fear of proving ourselves to Him anymore. We just abide with Him in humility and faith, and He grows true love for God in us: the ability to love Jesus day by day.

Keeping God’s commands is right and good. But we can either try to keep them in our own flesh and live in constant fear of being cursed when we fail, or we can simply love Jesus with all our hearts, and then, as Augustine put it, “Love, and do what you will,” trusting the Spirit to shape our actions to line up with God’s commands. That’s walking in the Spirit.

A hymn attributed to Francis Xavier (1506-1552), translated by Edward Caswall (1814-1878), says it beautifully:

My God, I love Thee; not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love Thee not
Are lost eternally.

Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me
Upon the cross embrace;
For me didst bear the nails, and spear,
And manifold disgrace,

And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony;
Yea, death itself; and all for me
Who was Thine enemy.

Then why, O blessed Jesus Christ,
Should I not love Thee well?
Not for the sake of winning heaven,
Nor of escaping hell;

Not from the hope of gaining aught,
Not seeking a reward;
But as Thyself hast lovèd me,
O ever-loving Lord.

So would I love Thee, dearest Lord,
And in Thy praise will sing;
Solely because Thou art my God,
And my most loving King.

Because He First Loved Us

Do you love Him? John says, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Do you love Him to impress Him, or in response to how He has loved you?
If you’re pursuing Him in your own effort, that isn’t the kind of love He’s looking for.
He has already loved you! Don’t ignore that!

Imagine a bride who won’t marry her groom because she wants to prove herself to him over and over. She feels she has to keep showing she’s worthy of his love. She’s really thinking about herself, instead of simply receiving her groom’s love. And he just wants her to stop talking and come snuggle up!

Is that what you’re doing?

How Can I Love Him More? (Luke 7:36-50)

A Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to dinner. The Pharisees had a reputation as the people who loved God most: they tithed meticulously, memorized the Law, and wore their religion proudly.

Then a woman in the city who was known as a sinner came in. There’s so much packed into that word: shame, failure, worthlessness, pain, mistakes, rebellion. Her reputation was only half as loud as her own conscience.

She brought an alabaster flask of perfume, stood behind Jesus at His feet weeping, washed His feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them with the perfume.

That’s love.

Simon thought, “If this man were a prophet, He’d know what kind of woman is touching Him.” Jesus answered with a story: a lender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. When neither could pay, he forgave them both. “Which of them will love him more?” Simon said, “I suppose the one who was forgiven more.” “You’ve judged rightly,” Jesus said.

Then He turned to the woman: “Simon, do you see this woman? I came into your house, and you gave Me no water for My feet, but she washed them with her tears. You gave Me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing My feet. You didn’t anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little loves little.” And He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Her faith, not her works!)

Has your relationship with God gone dry? Has reading your Bible become a burden or a duty?

How can you love Him more? Remember how much you’ve been forgiven, and how great His grace is.

The End of the Letter

Paul ends Ephesians by pointing us to life by grace. He shows it by sending away his own safety net, Tychicus, for others’ sake. And he shows us how to receive the grace he lives by: through a sincere, loving relationship with Jesus.

From “sit” in chapter 1, to “walk” in chapter 4, to “stand” in chapter 6, it’s all grace, received by those who love Him because He first loved them.

Grace Takeaway

Paul could live all in, giving away even his closest friend from a prison cell, because Jesus was the Friend who stuck closer than a brother. That’s the grace Ephesians has been describing all along, and it rests on everyone who loves Jesus sincerely. You don’t need to impress Him or earn it. Remember how much you’ve been forgiven, let His love melt your heart like the woman at His feet, and let that love carry you into a life that’s all in.

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