In this message we come to the conclusion of Ephesians, Eph. 6:21-24.
In verses Eph. 6:19-20 Paul asks the saints to pray on his behalf. Then in verse 21 he goes on to say, “But that you also may know what concerns me, what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make all things known to you.” This indicates that, on the one hand, Paul needed the saints to pray for him, but, on the other hand, he had a real concern for the saints and sent Tychicus to them both to bring them information regarding him and also to comfort their hearts (v. 22).
This indicates that there was an excellent relationship with good fellowship between Paul and the saints in Ephesus. It also points out the need for a go-between such as Tychicus. The apostle, the believers, and Tychicus were one. Firstly, Paul set an example by asking the believers to pray for him. Then he sent Tychicus to them to bring them information concerning him and to comfort them. How sweet and beautiful this is! Although we rarely practice this today, we should endeavor to have such a practice. We need this kind of fellowship.
Tychicus was not sent to carry on a great work. On the contrary, his task was to inform the saints about Paul’s situation and to comfort their hearts. Although in the time of Paul, there were no modern means of transportation, such as steamers or airplanes, he had Tychicus make the long journey from Rome to Asia Minor just to visit the saints on his behalf. The goal of this long journey was fellowship between the apostle and the saints. This is so important that it is recorded in the Word of God. The apostle was concerned for the church, and the church was concerned for the apostle. Therefore, Tychicus was sent from Rome to Asia Minor for the purpose of fellowship. In the Lord’s recovery today, such a loving concern between the apostles and the churches needs to be restored. We need this concern, not to carry out a commission or do a work, but to have the necessary and proper fellowship. Today there also is the need for messengers to visit the churches to relay information and to encourage the saints.
In the Body of Christ we need much more traffic. The sending of Tychicus by the Apostle Paul to a local church created a kind of traffic. Traffic strengthens a country. Consider the impact of all the highways the federal government has built. These are the veins of the prosperity of the United States. Traffic, even across great stretches of open land, results in mutual supply and improvement. When I was growing up, just to travel the distance from our little village to Chefoo was a whole day’s journey on foot. We had to make preparations the day before, then leave very early in the morning to get there by evening. It was such an effort to go just that distance that many people spent their whole lives in that village without ever going to Chefoo. It is traffic that has made the United States prosperous. In addition to the highways, the airlines with so many cross-country flights have increased the prosperity of this nation.
The more traffic among the churches, the better. Whenever we meet together, there is traffic. Without it, the churches are isolated. If we stay away from the meetings and meet together with just a few in our homes, the traffic is cut off. This is a subtlety of the enemy to cut the veins. When the blood flow is cut off, the result is death. However, by the proper traffic among the saints and between the churches, life multiplies. Therefore, we need to pay attention to Paul’s word concerning this matter in the last chapter of Ephesians.
In speaking of Tychicus, Paul recommends him as a “beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord.” As a faithful servant in the Lord, Tychicus was a ministering servant. We have pointed out that he was sent to make all things known to the saints and to comfort their hearts. Once again I say that this reveals a sweet fellowship and intimate concern that need to be restored fully in the Lord’s recovery today.
Verses 23 and 24 are Paul’s blessing: “Peace 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 in incorruption.” In the opening of the book, the apostle’s greeting is with grace first as the enjoyment and then peace as the result of the enjoyment (1:2). But at the conclusion it is the other way around, from the result, which is in peace, to the enjoyment of grace.
In his opening word Paul spoke only of grace and peace. In his concluding word, he not only changes the order of grace and peace, but also mentions “love with faith.” It is important to see why grace and peace are reversed and why love with faith was included. We have seen that grace is the enjoyment of the Lord and that peace is the result of this enjoyment. This book opens with grace, with the enjoyment of the Lord Himself as our life, life supply, and everything to us. But eventually this Epistle brings us into peace. However, after we have come into peace, we still need grace. We enter into peace through grace. Now as we are enjoying peace, we need more grace. This is grace upon grace. It also indicates that our experience is from grace to grace.
But why is love inserted between peace and grace? No other epistle written by Paul has such an insertion. The reason for this insertion is that the only way we can be kept in a situation of peace is by continually enjoying the Lord in love. The phrase “in love” is used six times in this book (1:4; 3:17; 4:2, 15, 16; 5:2). This connects this Epistle to Christ’s word to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7. There the Lord rebukes the church because she left her first love (v. 4). The problem with the church at Ephesus was not the lack of works or knowledge, but the loss of the first love. Because Paul realized that love is crucial, he spoke of love in relation to peace and grace, indicating thereby that love is needed to preserve us in a condition of peace.
This love is from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This indicates that love does not originate with us; it originates with God. Eventually, however, God’s love becomes our love. This is the reason Paul speaks, in verse 24, of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s love to us becomes our love for Him. Peace is maintained by this kind of love. By living in the intimacy of God’s presence, love comes to us. Then this love returns to the Lord and becomes our love for Him. By this traffic of love, peace is maintained, and we are preserved in the enjoyment of grace. This is the reason Paul speaks of peace, love, and grace.
Notice that in verse 23 Paul uses the phrase “love with faith.” Here, in contrast to 1 Timothy 1:14, he does not speak of love and faith. Love and faith are the two means by which we partake of Christ and experience Him. Faith is related to our receiving of Christ (John 1:12), and love is related to our enjoying Him (John 14:23). In the Gospel of John we are firstly told to believe in the Son in order to have eternal life (3:15). To believe in the Lord Jesus is to receive Him. The Gospel of John also emphasizes love. In chapter twenty-one the Lord asks Peter concerning his love for Him (vv. 15-17). Furthermore, in John 14:23 the Lord speaks of the Father and the Son making an abode with the one who loves the Lord Jesus. Therefore, by faith we receive the Lord Jesus and by love we enjoy Him. For this reason, in 1 Timothy 1:14 Paul puts faith and love together.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 Paul also speaks of faith and love. In this verse he encourages the saints to put on “the breastplate of faith and love.” Comparing this verse to Ephesians 6:14, we see that there are two kinds of breastplates, the one for our daily living and the other for fighting. For our daily living we need the breastplate of faith and love. Faith and love are both tender; they are signified in the Bible by the breasts. Such tender parts of our being, our spiritual breasts, need to be covered with the breastplate. By means of the breastplate, our faith and love, which are necessary for a proper Christian life, are preserved. The breastplate of righteousness in 6:14, on the contrary, is for fighting. Whenever we take part in spiritual warfare, our conscience must be protected from Satan’s accusation by the breastplate of righteousness.
The verses concerning faith and love in the Gospel of John, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 Timothy indicate that faith and love go together. But in 6:23 Paul does not say faith and love, nor love and faith, but love with faith. This indicates that we need faith to match, support, and serve our love. According to Galatians 5:6, faith operates through love. This operation is very delicate. In Galatians, a book that emphasizes justification by faith, we are told in 5:6 that “in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Have you ever realized that believing in the Lord Jesus is a matter of love? Do you know that your faith operates through love? A person who hears the gospel, repents, and then comes to appreciate the Lord Jesus and feels that He is altogether lovable, will have a strong faith. This faith operates through his love for the Lord. The more we love the Lord, the stronger will be our faith in Him. This is Paul’s thought in Galatians.
Ephesians, however, emphasizes love, not faith. According to Galatians, the more we appreciate the Lord Jesus and love Him, the more we shall believe in Him. This is for salvation. But in Ephesians Paul’s concern is not salvation, but continuation and fellowship. This requires love with faith. If our faith is weakened because we accept doubts and questions, we shall find it difficult to love the Lord. Whenever faith is damaged, love will be damaged also. In order to continue in fellowship with the Lord through loving Him, we need a strong faith. Therefore, we need both the faith that operates through love and the love that is with faith.
We have pointed out that love is from God. This means that love is on God’s side. Faith, on the contrary, is on our side. Hence, the phrase “love with faith” implies traffic between God and us and between us and God. Love is from God to us, and faith is from us to God. God gives us love, and we respond with faith. This is the traffic between love and faith. Through this traffic peace remains our portion. We are kept in peace by God’s love coming to us and by our faith going to Him.
This traffic will also keep us in grace, in the enjoyment of the Lord. In verse 24 Paul says, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption.” Grace is needed for us to live a church life that fulfills God’s eternal purpose and solves God’s problem with His enemy. The enjoyment of the Lord as grace is to those who love Him. For the proper church life we need to love the Lord in incorruption, that is, in a condition which is incorruptible. Our love for the Lord must be incorruptible, immortal, and imperishable. Such a love is genuine and sincere.
The way Paul composed the writing of the blessing in these verses is significant. Here, at the conclusion of this Epistle, we have been brought into peace. We remain in this condition of peace by the love which is from God with the faith which is from us. By this traffic of love with faith we have a continual supply of grace. Hallelujah for peace, for love with faith, and for grace!
