Let's look at Ephesians 6 now. We're going to look at this text, Ephesians 6, 21 to 24. We're continuing with the series in Ephesians. The text is Ephesians 6, 21 to 24, and the title is Ephesians Personal. So, up until this point, generally, The epistle, the epistle, what does that mean? It just means the letter. Why do we call it an epistle? I don't know. I did not look that up. We just know it's not the wife of an apostle, okay? It's a letter. And the epistle. And this letter, he's been speaking, yes, written to the Ephesian church, but able to be widely applied throughout the church, generally applicable. Now he's given some specifics, more personal matter, to the church at Ephesus, the church that Paul started, okay? Paul started the church. And it's got a variety of people, but I think the main group there is Gentiles, not Jews. So when he wrote the letter, he wrote it especially towards Gentiles, which made it really applicable to us, since we're Gentiles. But now he's writing to them personally. He says, now, now. I like that. Now, so that you also may know about my circumstances, Probably the church knew about Paul circumstances. He'd already just said You know, I'm I'm here. Let's see He said Verse chapter 3 verse 1 for this reason I Paul the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles we just mentioned earlier that In Galatians, he says, I rejoice in the suffering, my sufferings for your sake. Right? And in my flesh I am, I'm sorry, it's in Colossians 124. Get that right. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I am supplementing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions in behalf of his body, which is the church. So Paul says, I'm in jail, I'm suffering, but it's a good thing because it's because I did some things that resulted in the church growing, the church being strengthened, the church accomplishing what it needs to do. And so I'm rejoicing in my circumstances, which are in jail. That's my circumstance. So here he says, so that you also may know about my circumstances as to what I am doing. I'm going to give you the details. You already know I'm in jail, but what's the detailed situation? Don't be overly concerned. But, you know, eventually, I believe, according to history, he was, it's not in the Bible, but he was executed. But he says, I'll let you know through Tychicus. Rather than writing a letter, I'll send a letter. Sometimes Paul calls people letters. You are my letter. I think he wrote that to Corinth. You are my letter that I've sent out to the world because of what I've done to, by the will of God, to start the church in Corinth. And so here he's sending a letter named Tychicus. He's a beloved brother. Paul maybe, in jail, or he may be under house arrest, depending on what part of his arrest we're talking about. But in any case, he's able to do some things. And the guard, the royal guard, has been witnessed to by Paul. And he's able to communicate through letters. And he's able to meet with people like Tychicus and send them on. even Onesimus. So he says, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord. What a great thing to be able to be called those things by an apostle or anyone else in the faith. A beloved brother. I have sent him to you for this very purpose. He will make everything known to you." He says, he will make everything known to you. He will make what everything known? About my circumstances. I've just written you a very deep letter about important things that you need to know, that's good for the whole church to know. But there's other things that we need to know. We need to know about people, right? And we need to know more than just teachings about God, but we need to know about people. And Paul says, he'll make everything known to you about my circumstances, my personal situation, and my ministry and things that are going on. I've sent him To you for this very purpose, why? So that you may know about us." So he's there, and he's got other ministers of the gospel with him, working together. He's in jail. Not everyone's in jail. And he can work with them from jail, or from his house arrest, possibly. So you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts. So he wants them to not be overly concerned about him, himself, and know that things are going on there in spite of his situation. Then he says in verse 23, peace be to the brothers and sisters. Now, and sisters is added, but the reason they add it is because now in English language it's changing where People think if it says a man, it just means a man, not a man and a woman. So in the Greek, it meant both. And so in English, if you say brothers, you think it might just mean men. So they put brothers and sisters. Peace be to the brothers and sisters. I've said that the book of Ephesians heavily emphasizes the idea of peace. Peace, I believe, occurs in three ways, right? And the first and the most important is peace with God. Now, I forgot the fellow's name, but a famous preacher, famous missionary, I wish I could think of his name right now, but he said, I have, the most horrible news from you from the Bible. That wasn't the word he used. He used the worst news. I forgot. I posted it on Facebook. But I've got very awful news for you from the Bible. God is good. And we aren't. You see. God is good. That's the most awful news from the Bible for you. Because if God is good, we're in trouble. Now he's using good in the vernacular, not the Bible sense. Okay. What he means is God is righteous. Okay. Which when we say somebody's good, we mean they're righteous. Okay. But that's really not what the Bible means when it says something is good. It usually means that they're gracious. But he's not using the Bible meaning for good. He's using the vernacular good in his statement that God is good. God is righteous is what he means. And we're not. That's bad news. But God's good. Yeah, but we're not. So that's awful news for us. So what do we need? God's against us because we've rebelled against him. Paul says, peace be to you. When there's enmity between God and man, peace somehow has to come. Otherwise man loses that battle. And so he is wishing peace upon everyone in the church. So what is this peace? Well, like I said, there are three categories of peace. The first is the peace we just described, I just described, peace with God. You need to have peace with the God of the universe who's good and we aren't. But Christ, he's made peace with God for us. The next category of peace is peace of personal peace. You want to have peace in your heart. You don't want to be troubled. You want to realize that your conscience can be cleansed. Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient not only to forgive us, but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We are cleansed. Our conscience is cleansed. We should have a clear conscience before God and not think that he hates us or that we are unworthy or that we're unuseful to him. We are. We are useful to him. And we are qualified by Him to enter into His presence and to enter into His service. He qualified us. So there's a peace in us about the situation, okay? The peace of God. But often we see the word peace and we don't realize that He's really talking about a third type of peace, okay? That's peace between two people. A peace between two categories of people. A peace inside the body of Christ. So the book of Ephesians heavily emphasizes this peace. The peace between the Jew and the Gentile. They were made into one body. There is enmity, not only between God and man, but there is enmity, it says in Ephesians, between Jew and Gentile. Because the law divided between the two. And I repeat this over and over again, because I don't know why we don't think of this piece that much, okay? This, what pieces? He made peace between them, it says here. So, in chapter two, he said, and we'll just read quickly again, Verse 12, 2-12, remember that at that time you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded, strangers to the covenants, having no hope. Verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace who made both groups into one. and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in order, so that in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace. Okay. I believe there are pieces of talking about peace between the two. Okay. And then they're reconciled as one body, it says, verse 16, might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. So he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. And so, look at chapter four, verse three. Four three, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There's one body and one spirit, et cetera. So, you know, peace inside the body. We are to do things that lead to peace, right? And so, Chapter 4, verse 29. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word. This is 429. Only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. So all that's about peace inside the body. And so he wishes peace on the brothers and sisters. Which peace? I would say all of the above, but since the book emphasizes peace with God and peace between Christians, that's probably what it's talking about, those aspects. Not so much personal peace. And love with faith. Love with faith. from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He began the book talking about God's sovereign action at saving us and his sovereign action, you know, at the cross in saving us and the sovereign action in bringing us to himself and uniting us. And so now he says these things are also coming from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Any of our sanctification, okay, these things that come After we've been saved, we would classify as sanctification. It's part of our sanctification. He says that's coming from God too, right? Some say, there's all kinds of things people say. Sometimes they say, well, it's up to you to get saved, but God keeps you. Or they'll say, God saves you, but you've got to keep yourself. All kinds of crazy stuff. But God saves you and God keeps you, okay? And you are involved in all the process, but God is the one ultimately who saves you, and God is ultimately the one who keeps you, okay? We rest on him for all aspects of our salvation and our sanctification. And so he was wishing these sanctificational things on us from God, because that's where every good gift and perfect gift proceeds from you know, the Father of Lights, with whom is neither variableness or shadow of turning, you know. He's not changing, and if He saved us, He's going to keep us. Every good gift and perfect gift comes from Him, the Father of Lights. And so, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, this is where they're coming from, these things. Peace in the body, love with faith, He at the beginning had said to the church in 115, okay, 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." Faith and love, right? I heard about it. You are famous, you church, you folks. You're famous for your love and, well, your faith for Jesus, in Jesus, and your love for all the saints. He's thanking God for them. And then he asks that God would give them even more things, right? Wisdom and revelation and knowledge of Him. We're not going to go into all that. But the point is, they've already got fame for their faith and for their love for the saints. But he says, hey, more love and faith to you. OK? Love and faith to you. Love and faith. Somewhere it says, nothing to no one except love because you can never run out of paying enough love okay love yes I've loved them a lot okay love them some more now you still owe the love oh just love only love but from so love it with faith and you know love and faith What do you think if someone only has faith and there's no love? Well, then the faith is false. What if you think if someone has love, it seems, and they have no faith? They cannot have love without faith because love comes from God. And so you must have faith in God in order to truly have love, the love of God. He's talking about the love of God. It's coming from God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants us to have His love, right? A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, said Jesus, right? That's God's love. That's what we need. That's what we need to have, we should have. And so He wishes this on them. He's praying this for them. Peace be to you 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. This word, grace, it's neat. In Greek, it's, I think it's gracia. Oh, it's like the same word. Isn't that neat? The Greek word for grace is something like gracia. I don't remember exactly. It's similar to the English word. And if you look at Ephesians 2, verse eight, For by grace you have been saved through faith." All right. We'll just stop in there. You're all familiar with that verse, that thou of yourselves are good to God, not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, creating Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. That's an approximate quote. And so, by grace, you have been saved. And so even in our bulletin, we have the Sola, saved only by grace, through faith, faith in Christ, only grace, through faith, in Christ. And we start to think that grace is some kind of tangible thing, okay, when we think of that. But it's really an aspect of how he saves us. It's sort of an adjective. Grace is a noun, okay. But it's describing how he saves us. Like an adverb or an adjective, see. We start to look at that and we think grace is this thing. It's an object, which it isn't really. And so when he says, grace be with all those, we think well saving grace already came to these people so why does he need to wish grace upon them is that that they continue to be saved well that's true I mean he he's wishing that that's part of it but instead of thinking of grace so much as an object okay think of it what it is okay it's It's undeserved treatment, positive undeserved treatment. He's treating us in a very positive way that we don't deserve. So we're saved by that method. He saves us. though we don't deserve to be saved, and it's a very, very positive thing to be saved. That's being saved by grace, okay? It's not like grace is some kind of object. It's more the way we're saved, okay? We're saved by grace. Well, that makes it sound like it's an object. I don't think it really is, okay? And so it's unmerited favor, literally what people always say what it is, unmerited favor. So why don't we just put that here, okay? Unmerited favor be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't have to be, just because the word, and this is the same root word as in the chapter 2 word, you're saved by grace through faith. Okay? Same word, or same root anyway. And so, so you might think, well that means it's got to be salvation. No, I don't think so. Just the same word doesn't always mean exactly the same thing. Okay? It's unmerited favor. We're saved by unmerited favor. through faith, right? God showed us favor, unmeritedly, and he did it through our faith. And here, he's sanctifying us through our unmerited favor that he's showing us, okay? It's not talking about salvation, but he's keeping us to, I mean, that's part of our sanctification is he's keeping us, but all the good things that he could show to us Unmerited favor is being prayed toward us, wished upon us, by Paul. OK? He's not saying, I hope you get saved. You follow me? Grace is more of an aspect of our salvation than the source, the way it's provided. The only way it can be provided is by unmerited favor. And so, but it's not only salvation is provided by unmerited favor, but everything else that we have is provided by God's grace and by unmerited favor, right? It's only by God's grace that we have anything that we have. So that's what I'm trying to say. Just because it says grace doesn't necessarily mean it's salvation. It's just by God's grace that We have whatever we have, including salvation. And so I know I've beaten a dead horse here, but grace, God's unmerited favor, be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. And love is added, but it's an incorruptible one. Who love our Lord Jesus with an incorruptible kind of love. Okay, there's no word love right there. There's love in the earlier part where it says who love our Lord Jesus Christ. You can say incorruptibly. Okay. Incorruptible love. So he's wishing all the good undeserved things that God will give you on you. He's praying for that. And like I said, even though this is being real personal, but now as he's closing it, he's making it a little more general, right? Even though he says, to the brothers and sisters, right? At first, here in verse 23, but now he's saying, be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incredible love. So he's wishing all good things from God on you, right? Paul is praying for you. Paul is praying for you, the unmerited favor of God on you. And that's if you have this incorruptible love, the love that comes from God. First he says, love to you from God the Father, okay? And then he says, now that you have that love, grace to you you know you think it's grace and then love well it is but it's also love and then grace okay uh we love god and he shows us grace we he gave us grace and so we love god Now we love God, and so He shows us grace. They can both be true. So, but you know, we would not know what love was except that God first loved us, and we love Him because He first loved us. He's always the source. Well, let's have a word of prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, thanks for this beautiful closing to this deep letter where Paul shows his concern, especially for the Ephesian, members of the Ephesian church and also for the whole church. And his prayer for blessings from you, his prayer for grace from you, unmerited favor in our lives. May we experience it and realize that we are actually receiving it. even though sometimes it seems like we are not. Lord, convince us, give us faith, as it's said here, in the truth of your statements. We ask it in the name of Jesus, amen.