Paul's Final Encouragement

Well if you would take your Bible turn back to chapter 6 will be in verses 21 to 24 It's obvious those are the last verses of the book But here we are we are finally there We are finally in the last verses of the last chapter of the book of Ephesians you might not realize it, but we Started our study in Ephesians September the 5th of 2021 and so far we have had 56 messages this morning Will be message 57 and of course we've had some interruptions along the way I usually take some breaks and I do that for various reasons But for just over two years we have been taking our time in the book of Ephesians And we have been studying the believers riches that are ours in Christ Jesus That is the theme of the book the believers riches in Christ Jesus now real quickly I want to glance back at the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus These are truths that we have studied These are things that we need to make sure we understand and know and as a matter of fact We probably need to go back to these things time and time again as we walk with our Lord Now right away in chapter 1 verse 3 we saw that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Then in chapter 1 verses 4 and 5 we saw that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world In love he that's God Predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Christ Jesus and from chapter 1 Verse 6 and verse 8 in chapter 2 verse 7 we saw that he that's God lavished us with his grace From chapter 1 verse 7 and chapter 4 verse 32.

We saw that in him We have redemption and we have been forgiven In chapter 1 verse 9 and also in chapter 3 verses 4 to 6 We saw that the mystery of his will has been revealed to us And then chapter 1 verse 11. We saw that we are receivers of an inheritance Which is an inheritance from God in? Chapter 1 verses 13 and 14 and also in chapter 4 verse 30 We saw that we have been sealed with a promised Holy Spirit And then in chapter 2 verse 5 and also in chapter 5 verse 25 We saw that we are greatly loved by God in the riches just continue to abound In chapter 2 verses 5 to 6 we saw that even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins We were made alive together with Christ.

That is we have been saved by grace through faith In chapter 2 verse 10. We saw that we are his workmanship We were and we are created in Christ Jesus for good works And these are good works that he is prepared before him In chapter 2 verse 14. We saw that he himself is our peace Who has made us both one and is broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility? and then in chapter 2 verses 11 or excuse me verses 13 and 19 and also in chapter 3 verses 4 to 6 We saw that we have been made one with Christ and with every other believer as his own body In chapter 2 verse 19.

We saw that we have been made fellow citizens of God's kingdom and members of God's family And in chapter 2 verses 20 to 22 We saw that we have been built into God's own temple and the dwelling place of his spirit And there's more there are more riches in Chapter 3 verse 12. We saw that we have been given boldness and and a confident access to God And in chapter 3 verse 20, we saw that we have been made powerful beyond our imaginations and in chapter 4 verse 3 We saw that we have been given the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in chapter 4 Verses 11 to 12.

We saw that we have been blessed with gifted leaders to equip us as the body of Christ For the work of ministry and in chapter 4 verses 20 to 21 We saw that we have been taught by Christ Jesus himself and in chapter 4 verse 24 We saw that we have been given a new self in the body in God's holiness in God's holy likeness And in chapter 5 verse 8 we saw that we have been made light chapter 5 verse 18 We saw that the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the life has been made available to us as believers and in chapter 5 Verse 21 all the way to chapter 6 verse 9.

We saw that we have been given the instructions and the resources To make all relationships with others what God wants them to be And then in chapter 6 verses 10 to 17 We saw that we have been given the full armor of God or the complete armor of God so that we would be invincible Against the schemes of the devil in his demonic forces, of course, that's not all that we studied But that's quite a bit of riches in Christ Jesus. Is it not? Now at this point I want to ask two questions After having revealed all of those riches That were theirs in Christ Jesus. What else could Paul have given these believers?

These were real believers in Ephesus and for us Having revealed all of these riches that are ours in Christ Jesus. What else could Paul give us? Well one word the word encouragement the word Encouragement, that's what we have in these concluding Comments the word encouragement and encouragement on many level many levels and in many ways And look church We might not realize it but encouragement can be one of the best one of the most needed things in the lives of believers For believers who are walking with God in obedience for believers that are living the Christian life as they should Spiritual encouragement can be the most think most needed thing in the life Especially if the believer is dealing with the struggles and the difficulties of life and that is what we were all dealing with Well, that leads me to the title of the message.

I call this Paul's final Encouragement now, I'm gonna add to that title at the end of the message I do that from time to time, but this is what I call Paul's Final encouragement now, this is how we will divide verses 21 to 24 We will look at how Paul encouraged these believers These were real Christians there in Ephesus and first he encouraged him through his representative that he sent to them That's obvious to see and then second. He encouraged him through his personal words his personal feelings that he expressed to them so number one Paul's Representative encouragement we see that in verses 21 to 22.

I'll call this Paul's Representative encouragement, let's look at the verses Paul says so that you Obviously the church also may know how I am and what I am doing Ticacos the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything I Have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts Now right away We can see that Paul sent Ticacos to the Ephesian Church and we will see that he was sent for several good Reasons, but before we get into why Paul sent him we need to ask who was Ticacos we may know a lot about Paul We probably do we may know a lot about men like Timothy who were right behind Paul and we probably do But who was this man named Ticacos most of the time when we get to an individual like this?

We say well, I can't even pronounce his name And even though this man is not known to us today scholars tell us that he was very well known in the early church Now Ticacos is mentioned five times in the New Testament And when we look at these verses we can see that he was a man of God that should gain our respect and admiration We may even wish that we had noticed him before this morning He is first mentioned in Acts 20 verse 4 There he is described as being from Asia and he is associated with another man of God named Trophimus And in Acts 21 verse 30 in Acts 21 verse 29 We see that Trophimus was actually from Ephesus now scholars Tell us that it is possible that Ticacos was from Ephesus as well And if that was the case, of course that's some speculation then Ticacos could have been well known to the Ephesian believers Now we also see that he was one of the men chosen by the churches to take the collection to the poor in Jerusalem See that in 2nd Corinthians 8 19 and it seems that he went all the way to Jerusalem with Paul on that journey He was also with the Apostle Paul when Paul wrote his prison epistles And he was sent by Paul to deliver certain letters here in Ephesians 6 verse 21 We see that he carried this letter to the Ephesian church or churches because some believe this was a circular letter And in Colossians 4 verses 7 to 9 We see that he carried that letter to the Colossian church and in both of these circumstances to the Ephesians and the Colossians Paul appointed him to give them a report concerning Paul in his circumstances and Paul appointed him to minister to them as well We also see in Colossians 4 7 to 9 that Ticacos was with Onesimus when he returned to his master Of course, this is seen in the book of Philemon That's what Philemon is all about and in Titus 3 12 We see that Paul told Titus that he may send Ticacos to the island of Crete to replace him in that very difficult ministry situation there on the island of Crete So just with a few verses we can see that Ticacos was close to the Apostle Paul And he was involved in quite a lot of ministry We can definitely say that he was valuable to Paul personally and he was valuable to Paul's Apostolic ministry and we can see now that he was valuable to quite a few churches now for us today Maybe this causes us to see that we need to study men like this Maybe this causes us to see that we need to study these men and these women in the scriptures that we can overlook And and we can even see them as insignificant, you know, it's easy for us to say we should study Paul It's easy for us to say that we should study men like Titus and Timothy.

Those two were seemingly Paul's best But what about men like Ticacos and others? This should cause us to see that we should study these kinds of individuals and also this should cause us to see that we should Strive to be like them and as we get into some details, I think you'll see what I mean Now let's look at some specifics that Paul gives us about this man Ticacos from verse 21 and 22 First I want us to look at the man First I want us to look at the man now. We have already seen big picture.

I gave us a Biographical sketch but here in this verse we need to see that Paul gives us some specifics about this man Notice Paul calls him a beloved brother now this word beloved simply means esteemed It means loved or worthy of love and affection It means loved and dearly loved so Paul was saying that Ticacos was a much loved brother to him and Notice Paul calls him a faithful minister now here is where we see more and more of the man This word faithful means trusted this word faithful means trustworthy And this word minister comes from the word diaconis in the original, which is where we get our word Deacon So Paul here was calling him a faithful a trustworthy servant But if we look at some other scripture where it took a kiss as mentioned we see some language some other language we see this very same language and then some and Colossians 4 7 Paul says to the Colossian church Ticacos will tell you all about my activities He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord Here we can see that Paul doubles up on his description of Ticacos He calls him a minister or a servant and he calls him a servant which comes from the word Do loss or slave in the original so notice how Paul describes this man He calls him a dearly loved brother and he calls him a faithful trustworthy minister and even a slave Listen to Colossians 4 7 in the amplified Paul says as to all my affairs Ticacos who is a much loved brother and faithful assistant and fellow bond servant in the Lord will give you all the information Now this is how I want to apply this to us today May the Lord be able to say this about all of us can he?

Can the Lord say all of these things about us and may the Lord say this about us now? Let me get into the specifics Paul said he was a much loved brother. I Don't know if you've ever noticed it but there are some churches that call brothers and sisters in the church brothers and sisters and May we grow in our love for one another in such a way where we say of one another? Oh, this is my much loved brother. This is my much loved sister This is my beloved brother my beloved sister You see that should be happening in all of us as we grow in the Lord and grow closer to each other We should look at each other and say he is much love.

She is much love now. You can't fake that God has to do that work in us and we have to yield to that But what about these other words that Paul used to describe? Ticacas, he said he was a faithful and a trustworthy minister and servant He was a faithful and a trustworthy servant or slave. Can the Lord say that about us? Now I want to brag on you a little bit This sermon is about encouragement primarily. I want to encourage you one of the things that I see in you is this You are faithful. You are trustworthy to serve and to serve even as a slave We must always see that that is the goal.

That is the standard and I'm thankful that I see that in you You know every now and then I catch wind of things that you do when you're not asked Every now and then I hear about things that some of you do when no one else seems to see and What I'm showing you is this we must be faithful ministers servants Servants and slaves and you are and I'm thankful for that I recognize that and it blesses my heart and we must always Understand that that is the standard that says that is what God expects of us But then second I want us to see the messenger Now let's go back and read the verses With this term messenger in our minds look at verse 21 and 22 So that you also may know how I am and what I'm doing Ticacas the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything I have seen him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts Here it is plain to see that after Paul commends Ticacos to these believers Paul says that he sent him as a messenger to them and we can see that he had two basic purposes Notice Ticacos was sent to give the Ephesians a report on Paul Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to know all about his circumstances He wanted them to know how he and his companions were doing I like the insight that the Bible scholar Leon Morris has here He says that apparently Ticacos had been with Paul for some time That is because Paul was confident that he can make everything known about him and his circumstances to those book believers there in Ephesus and to me this clearly Communicates that the Ephesian believers were concerned for Paul They were concerned for Paul they knew he was in a Roman imprisonment So they must have been concerned for Paul and even concerned for his companions Also, this clearly communicates that Paul wanted these Ephesian believers to know how he was doing and everything about his Circumstances so he was obviously concerned for how the Ephesians felt about him and even how Deeply concerned they were for him and notice also Ticacos was sent to encourage the Ephesians The English Standard says that he may encourage your hearts The New American says that he may comfort your hearts This clearly communicates that Paul trusted Ticacos He trusted that Ticacos could and would minister to these believers Paul clearly saw this man as a faithful and a capable minister not just as someone that could deliver a letter But this also hints at more He was able to comfort these believers.

He was able to teach these believers He was even able to correct these believers. You might say pastor. How do you know that? Some scholars point out that Ticacos probably would have read this letter to the Ephesian church. That was common in that day That was common and expected and that he would even have read the letter and he would have offered teaching or commentary On all that he was reading them and if this was a circular letter as many believe well Then Ticacos would have delivered this letter to the other congregations Offering the same reading and the same commentary and the same teaching So notice how Paul describes this man.

He describes him as an encourager and even one that could tell them everything He clearly believes him to be a faithful minister in every way and he presents him this way to the Ephesians Now think about it Ticacos was going to Ephesus to do what Paul would have done. Isn't that right? How was he going to minister to the Emma to teach them and to encourage them How Paul was in a Roman imprisonment? How could he do that?

Well Paul could minister to them and encourage them through Ticacos and Paul was actually doing that through this man through this Servant through this Brother that he was committing to them and then third the message The message now I've already touched on this son, but think about it What message would Ticacos have brought to the Ephesians his own? or Paul's Some commentators say that Ticacos probably would have read this letter to the Ephesian church and Then when he read this letter They believe he would have offered teaching and commentary to go along with the reading think about it He knew this teaching and he knew the Apostle Paul So who better to read this letter and even to give commentary on the teaching?

And if this was the secular letter I don't have a problem believing it was a circular letter then Ticacos would have delivered this same letter to the other the Congregations doing the very same thing now. There's a big lesson here Our message cannot be our own. It must be God's Word Think about it. Ticacos had no message of his own. He brought Paul's message Well, what was Paul's message? It was the very word of God and no matter where we are in the life of our church if we are the pastor If we are an elder if we are a small group leader if we teach our children It doesn't matter who we are our message must be God's Word.

It cannot be our message So here we see Paul's representative encouragement Ticacos an unknown to us but certainly a very valuable ministry assistant to Paul and a well-known man of God and faithful minister to many churches Let's look at the verses again verses 21 to 22. I'll read them in the amplified Paul says now So that you may know how I am and what I am doing Ticacos the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything I have sent him to you for this very purpose So that you may know how we are and that he may comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts Now question what can we learn here?

Besides Bible knowledge Besides learning about an unknown in the scripture. You probably never ever paid attention to this man. What can we learn? Listen folks. This is a shining example of healthy ministry connections And this is a shot. This is a shot at church and churches Who are into what I call ministry isolationism? Look folks, we need healthy ministry connections We need connections with other ministers and other churches that can bless us Encourage us and even correct us and look we need those corrections so we can do the very same thing That's why we are a part of the anchored in truth network.

We're not lone Rangers and we don't want to be lone Rangers We are a Baptist Church Connected to a network of other Baptist churches who were healthy in their doctrine and in their practice not perfect And that's why from time to time I bring certain men in here men like Jason Johns Men like pastor John O'Sims men like Steve McAllister who is really over the missions arm of anchored in truth He's coming in December why because we believe in ministry associations and ministry connections and as we grow and as we have other opportunities You'll have the opportunities to go do those things yourselves And this is also a big example and lesson from ministry partnership and participation Haven't we learned about ministry partnership and participation in the book of Philippians?

Yes Paul was thankful for the Philippians and their partnership their fellowship their participation And what we see here is this Paul this man tikka kiss the Ephesian believers They were participating together in the work of the local church church ministry So we see Paul's representative Encouragement and then next number two Paul's personal encouragement We see this in verses 23 to 24. I call this Paul's Personal encouragement we'll read the verses here in a moment. But here we see that Paul gives his Addiction or his conclusion and he addresses the entire church body in verse 23 The New American says peace be to the brethren.

That's because this word brethren can mean brothers and sisters That's important to see Paul wasn't addressing the leaders Paul wasn't addressing just the men He was addressing all of the believers in the church and his Paul concludes this letter to these brothers and sisters He gives them a four-fold Blessing or benediction this can be seen as a full Four-fold prayer of blessing because these things must come from God First he prays for peace For the believers you see that in the verse we'll read it in a moment.

He prays for peace for the believers now question What is Paul referring to when he writes or he prays or he wishes that they would have peace? Is he referring to life without conflict most of the time? That's what we think about when we hear the word peace No, that's not the case To understand what Paul is referring to we have to understand the source of this peace and Paul tells us the source of this piece In verse 23 look back at the verse He says peace be to the brothers to the sisters to the brethren in love with faith Notice from God the Father in the Lord Jesus Christ So we see that Paul is praying that they would have a peace in their life And this is a peace that would come from God and we need to understand what Paul was aiming at here They had peace with God They were believers.

They were true believers. They had come to saving faith So they had peace with God but here Paul was praying that they would continue to live at peace with God But more this is a peace with God that would lead to peace in all areas of life and with other people as One commentator said this is a prayer for reconciliation He said that Paul long to see the whole brotherhood of the believers and Ephesus Jews and Gentiles alike to be at peace with one another in the body and That would be because they were living in the peace of God So Paul was writing for and he was praying for a peace from God that would rule and reign in their lives and look church We cannot have peace with others and left unless we live at peace with God You see we cannot have peace in our lives.

We cannot have peace in our families We cannot have peace in our marriages We cannot have peace with others unless we are first living at peace with God And for us as believers if we struggle to live that peace with others That is an indicator that we have sin in our lives and we are not living in peace with God as we should Now I need to repeat that because there's some of you that need to hear this as true believers if We struggle to live at peace with others That is an indicator that we may have sin in our lives and we are not living in the peace of God Now there are people we can never have peace with As best as we know how we should strive to live at peace with men But there are some that just won't let you have peace and they're right and that can be tough But we also remember that those who never have peace with others Never have peace with others They always have bitterness and conflict and fights look the reason they live that way is because they have no peace with God Lost people can never have peace with others because they have no peace with God.

The two are connected But then second and third these two are together He wishes them love with faith which comes from God as well. Look back at verse 23 Paul says peace be to the brethren and Love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Now for me to get at what Paul is saying here. We need to take these in reverse That's just the way it stuck out from me The faith that Paul is pointing to is the complete body of the Christian faith This is a faith that relates to everything in the Christian life This speaks of a faith in God this speaks of a faith in Christ This speaks of a faith in the scriptures This speaks of a faith and a faithfulness to the faith that can only come from God and this faith is Saturated in what a love for God This faith is saturated in a love for God and a love for God To us from God and a love for others and this can only come from the love of God Sepal is writing and Praying for what for love and faith faith and love a faith and faithfulness In them they can only come from the love of God ruling and reigning in their life and Luke Church love and faithfulness Faithfulness and love these things should characterize our lives These things should be prevalent in our lives are they?

Faithfulness and love We should be a people who profess to live the faith and we should live the faith faithfully But notice not out of duty Not out of keeping the rules or keeping the law true faith and true faithfulness comes out of love a love for God The love of God that has been deposited in our lives That is how the true faith is leof and Luke Church faith and faithfulness Void of the love of God void of a love for God is nothing but empty religion and empty religion always leads to bitterness Frustration that's joyless is legalistic and that's what characterized the lives of the religious leaders that Jesus dealt with but then fourth He writes grace Be with all who love our Lord Now Paul's prayer for grace Was common in his letters and grace was a theme that Paul Went to time and time again all throughout the book you can go back and you can read that on your own But here what Paul was praying for is rather simple He was writing and he was wishing and he was praying That these believers would live or possess grace Simply grace was and is God's favor God's favor and notice the end of verse 24 He praised that this grace would be with or alongside love an Incorruptible love this means that this would be without hypocrisy and it would be pure This would come from a pure heart as one commentator summarizes these things Paul invokes grace on all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying uncorruptible love and Luke Church We should be a people who live in God's favor That's called grace we should be a people who possess and who live in and seek after and who possess a Grace God's favor.

We should be a people who possess who live in who maintain who seek after Who exude what God's favor which is grace and where does this come from this comes from God? This comes from God working in our lives. We can't manufacture this and we either have it or we don't I Think many of you know what a light is I Think many of you know what a spotlight is You know a light or a spotlight is used to reveal things. Isn't that right? You know, this is a certain time of the year. It's called deer season in that right.

It's right here on us You know, and if we shoot one of those things we want to go find it and we might need a light or two Isn't that right? We might need several lights. We might need some friends with some lights We might need a spotlight why because we want it to reveal What we're looking for Well, what I'm aiming at is this We're talking about grace. We're talking about a grace that comes from God.

We're talking about the favor of God in our lives There are certain things that act as a spotlight that reveal and show and prove if we have it or not trials Hurts Difficulties, you know trials and hurts and difficulties come into the life and those things prove us They prove us for who we are Look if we profess to know God and walk with God in time in life trial hurt Difficulties all kinds of things will come against us and that will be a giant Spotlight and it will reveal if we have the grace of God or not the favor of God or not Right now I'm thinking about an old friend of mine that I went to seminary with the minister on church staff He's very encouraging to me bless me and minister to me in many ways and I used to be gripped by zeal for evangelism And I'll never forget years ago.

He went through trial and hurt and difficulties in the life of the church And he went one way the wrong way I Prayed for him off and on for years and by God's providence I encountered him at a funeral and I was looking for the opportunity to speak into his life And as I begin to speak into his life he mentioned he said, you know, Chris You went through the same trial the same difficulties the same hurts that that I did He said you went one way and I want the other And you know what he was revealing he was admitting he didn't have God's grace in his life at all He didn't have God's favor in his life at all And what I'm trying to show you is this folks difficulties trials opportunities Things in life reveal if you have grace and God's favor Paul was writing that these believers would have that he wanted that and they needed that So here we see Paul's personal encouragement He writes and he prays for this fourfold blessing in their lives peace peace with faith Grace or God's favor listen to verses 23 to 24 in the amplified Paul says peace be to the brothers and sisters and Love join with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Grace be with all Who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying and?

Uncorruptible love now one more lesson but before we close the message and close out the book We should pray for each other like this Paul was praying for the believers like this in Ephesus We should pray for each other like this Paul wished Paul prayed for this blessing in the lives of these believers that he loved and We should do the very same thing for one another you see folks We should pray for each other in our small groups and as we get to know each other in the life of the church Just like Paul did just like Paul did Now as I close Notice what we have here in these closing verses verses 21 to 24.

This is more than closing verses This is more than a benediction one commentator said that here we have pearls of wisdom Pearls of wisdom and he broke it down in three parts. He says right here. We have the pearl of praise for others He said right here. We have the pearl of life and ministry transparency and he said right here We have the pearl of encouragement.

Let me repeat that here We have the pearl of praise for others the pearl of life and ministry Transparency and the pearl of encouragement and all of those things are seen in the Apostle Paul tikka kiss in the Ephesian believers and as we Finish these verses we need to see that these things should be in our lives as well We should be filled with praise for others Do you look around? You look around the life of the church and do you praise brothers and sisters for how you see them walking with the Lord They just might need that We should be living transparent lives with one another Are you holding up a facade? Are you being pretentious?

Do you look at brothers and sisters and get transparent with what's going on in your life? We should be filled with encouragement for one another So what's the title of the message Paul's final encouragement to the Ephesians and to us? Because this applies to us as well Now before we pray and commit these verses to the Lord, this is the conclusion of our study through the book of Ephesians So what do we do now? You might say pastor. I don't know where we're going. What do I do?

I Had someone in the life of the church sent me a message and said you better hurry up and finish this study through Ephesians Cuz I only have a couple more pages in my notebook You might say I don't know where we're gonna go I'll share that with you next week But what do we do? We don't forget Ephesians. We don't put it in our rearview mirror. We continue to read Ephesians We continue to study these things we go back over our notes Yes, we may even need to go back and listen to some of these messages. Why? Because these are our riches in Christ Jesus So let's pray.

Let's commit these verses to the Lord Let's commit this study to the Lord and let's look for fruit in our lives for the days in the years to come Because of what we have here in these chapters and verses