Ephesians 6:21-24

A1 Scripture

B1 Ephesians 6:21-24 NKJV  But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you;  (22) whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts. (23) Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  (24) Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

B2 Ephesians 6:21-24 GNB  Tychicus, our dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord's work, will give you all the news about me, so that you may know how I am getting along.  (22) That is why I am sending him to you—-to tell you how all of us are getting along and to encourage you. (23) May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give to all Christians peace and love with faith.  (24) May God's grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.

A2 Outline

B1 Sharing with the brethren

C1 Sent by Tychicus

D1 Beloved brother

D2 Faithful minister in the Lord

C2 Purpose

D1 How we are getting along

D2 To comfort your heart (encourage you)

B2 Ending/blessing

C1 From

D1 God the Father

D2 The Lord Jesus Christ

C2 To give from them to you

D1 Peace to the brethren

D2 Love with faith

B3 Prayer: Grace be with all you love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity

A3 Notes

B1 Sharing information

C1 Nice to update

C2 Gives information for the brethren to know how to pray.

C3 To ensure accountability.

B2 Tychicus

C1 With Paul on third missionary journey. Acts 20:4 NKJV  And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

C2 Took letter from Paul to Colossians. Colossians 4:7-8 NKJV  Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.  (8) I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts.

C3 Also went to Ephesus. 2 Timothy 4:12 NKJV  And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

C4 According to tradition, he was Bishop of Chalcedon.

C5 Characteristics

D1 Beloved brother

E1 Same objectives

E2 Same goals

E3 Same motivations

E4 Same Lord

E5 Same salvation

E6 Same forgiveness

E7 Same grace from God

D2 Faithful minister in the Lord

E1 To Lord

E2 To church

E3 To Scriptures

F1 To read

G1 In plain, normal sense

G2 As God's word

G3 Only source of 100% truth

G4 As completely sufficient

F2 To study

F3 To believe

F4 To teach

E4 To Doctrine

E5 To Christian life

E6 To study

E7 To preach

E8 Delivers the same message that he received

C6 Sent by Paul to

D1 Give update information to church

D2 Comfort their worrying hearts

B3 Paul's prayer. Three things

C1 Peace

D1 Not world peace, though that would be nice. Social justice may be nice, but the heart needs to be changed. When God gives a new heart, we treat everyone the way God wants us to (or at least we should).

D2 Is to the brethren. This is both sisters and brothers. It is a general term for those who have placed their faith and trust into Jesus Christ.

D3 Defined

E1 Rest and calm

E2 Words

F1 Old Testament (Hebrew)

G1 Shalom

H1 Health and prosperity

H2 Safety

H3 Friendship

G2 The verbs and adjectives are from the same root word

F2 New Testament (Greek)

G1 Eirene

H1 Quietness, rest and contentment.

H2 From war and unrest

H3 With individuals

H4 With God

G2 The verbs and adjectives are from the same root word

E2 God is the author of peace

F1 Isaiah 9:6 NKJV  "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." As the old saying, "No God, no peace. Know God, know peace."

F2 There is no peace for the wicked (rebels).

G1 Isaiah 57:21 NKJV  There is no peace," Says my God, "for the wicked.

G2 Romans 3:17 UKJV  And the way of peace have they not known.

C2 Love

D1 A choice, a choosing something to be special.

D2 Words

E1 Old Testament (Hebrew)

F1 Ahabah. A general term for love of various types of love as in English.

F2 God’s love to His people. Husband to wife. Friend to friend. Sexual.

E2 New Testament (Greek)

F1 Agape (the word used here)

G1 A choosing of something/one special

G2 Romans 5:8 NKJV  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

G3 Romans 8:35 NKJV  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

F2 Phileo

G1 The feeling of friendship

G2 With the idea of loyalty and seeking the best interests of another

G3 Being fond, really liking something/one as fond of ice cream.

G4 Matthew 6:5 NKJV  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

G5 John 5:20 NKJV  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

F3 Eros

G1 Physical love

G2 Not used in the New Testament

F4 Storge

G1 Not used in the Bible.

G2 It is the love of parent for child that is more and higher than for the children of others.

G3 Astorgos is used. It is translated "without natural affection."

G4 2 Timothy 3:3 GW  And lack normal affection for their families. They will refuse to make peace with anyone. They will be slanderous, lack self-control, be brutal, and have no love for what is good.

G5 Romans 1:31 KJV  Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.

D3 Love with faith

E1 Two nouns. It is not love (something/someone) with faith. It is love along with faith. Two nouns.

E2 Love is a blessing. It is good. It is of God. This love in this passage is for the Christian fellowship of all believers.

E3 But not only love, but love with faith. The same faith in Jesus Christ, His words, His goals, His rules, His way of life. All the Christians in love and in faith.

E4 With is not the word sun, it is meta. Meta means with as in accompanying. Faith is accompanying love. They are together. As one writes, "love goes with faith."

C3 Grace

D1 Receiving what we do NOT deserve.

D2 Words

E1 Old Testament (Hebrew)

F1 Khane

F2 Same idea as in the New Testament

F3 Proverbs 3:34 NKJV  Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.

E2 New Testament (Greek)

F1 charis Favorable actions, kindness, even in the sense of a unasked for, undeserved gift.

F2 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 GNB  For I am the least of all the apostles—-I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God's church.  (10) But by God's grace I am what I am, and the grace that he gave me was not without effect. On the contrary, I have worked harder than any of the other apostles, although it was not really my own doing, but God's grace working with me.

B4 Parting words/blessing

C1 To those who love (agape) our Lord Jesus Christ

D1 Not necessarily an emotion as in boyfriend/girlfriend love

D2 John 14:15 GNB If you love me, you will obey my commandments.

E1 Keep is used as in keep the speed limit, that is, obey the speed limit. If it is 55 mph, then one doesn't drive as 85 mph.

E2 Commandments as outlined in the New Testament

C2 In sincerity

D1 Sincerity is the opposite of being a hypocrite, liar, false, having a facade, or fake.

D2 The Greek word is aphtharsia.

E1 Genuine, incorruptible

E2 1 Corinthians 15:42 NKJV So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption." Compare:

F1 Matthew 22:37 NRSV  He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

F2 2 Corinthians 8:8 NRSV  I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.

F3 Titus 2:7-8 NRSV  Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity,  (8) and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us.

A4 Applications

B1 Love God

B2 Love the brothers and sisters

B3 Have faith

B4 Be faithful

B5 Be encouraged

Why Do People Lie About Us?

People lie.

People lie about us.

Why do people lie?

1. To cause pain

a) Physical

b) Emotional

c) Spiritual

2. To seek advantage (manipulate)

a) Money

b) Power

3. To destroy

4. To spread rumors

5. Because they are misinformed

6. To hear a compliment

7. To avoid people knowing us too well

8. To avoid helping someone

9. To brag and look good before others

10. To get benefits as a better job

11. To get out of trouble or punishment

12. To win an argument

13. Because of a poor memory

14. To control others

15. To give a joke (practical jokers)

16. To avoid know our true self (lying to yourself)

17. To avoid guilt

18. To help someone (as in crime, giving an untruthful alibi)

19. To cover up our crime (as abuses from pastors, teachers, etc.)

Dr. Phil’s Opinion:

Three common reasons are:

1. Escape accountability.

2. Get access to things that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

3. Embellish reality.

The Bible says this about people who lie about us:

• Because they hate us: Proverbs 26:24-28 GodsWord Whoever is filled with hate disguises it with his speech, but inside he holds on to deceit. When he talks charmingly, do not trust him because of the seven disgusting things in his heart. His hatred is deceitfully hidden, but his wickedness will be revealed to the community. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone will have it roll back on him. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
• Because their conscious is seared, that is, they do not feel guilt: I Timothy 4:1-2 GodsWord The Spirit says clearly that in later times some believers will desert the Christian faith. They will follow spirits that deceive, and they will believe the teachings of demons. These people will speak lies disguised as truth. Their consciences have been scarred as if branded by a red-hot iron.
• The Psalmist experienced this. This is also a prophecy about Messiah Jesus: Psalms 41:5-13 GodsWord My enemies say terrible things about me: "When will he die, and when will his family name disappear?" When one of them comes to visit me, he speaks foolishly. His heart collects gossip. Then he leaves to tell others. Everyone who hates me whispers about me. They think evil things about me and say, "A devilish disease has attached itself to him. He will never leave his sickbed." Even my closest friend whom I trusted, the one who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. Have pity on me, O LORD! Raise me up so that I can pay them back and my enemy cannot shout in triumph over me. When you do this, I know that you are pleased with me. You defend my integrity, and you set me in your presence forever. Thank the LORD God of Israel through all eternity! Amen and amen!
• Jesus experienced it, too. Matthew 26:59-68 GodsWord The chief priests and the whole council were searching for false testimony to use against Jesus in order to execute him. But they did not find any, although many came forward with false testimony. At last two men came forward. They stated, "This man said, 'I can tear down God's temple and rebuild it in three days.'" The chief priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Don't you have any answer to what these men testify against you?" But Jesus was silent. Then the chief priest said to him, "Swear an oath in front of the living God and tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?" Jesus answered him, "Yes, I am. But I can guarantee that from now on you will see the Son of Man in the highest position in heaven. He will be coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the chief priest tore his robes in horror and said, "He has dishonored God! Why do we need any more witnesses? You've just heard him dishonor God! What's your verdict?" They answered, "He deserves the death penalty!" Then they spit in his face, hit him with their fists, and some of them slapped him. They said, "You Christ, if you're a prophet, tell us who hit you."

Sometimes people will not believe us, even when we tell the truth.

What to do?

1. Tell the truth.

2. Stay calm. You want to respond angrily immediately, but that will only give them satisfaction.

3. Take comfort that you know and tell the truth

4. Admit to yourself the hurt

5. If you have witnesses, you can confront the liar. Speak calmly. Don’t yell.

6. Someday, some place it will be exposed as a lie.

7. God will judge, so we don’t need to take revenge.

8. Calm tell someone about. First to God, next to a sympathetic listener.

9. You can be in peace when you go to sleep as you have placed your trust in God.

10. Document your actions, if possible.

11. Usually, the liar wants a reaction, so try not to, which denies them any satisfaction.

5 Verses That Help Me Understand

1. Truth is more important than lying: Proverbs 19:22 GodsWord Loyalty is desirable in a person, and it is better to be poor than a liar.
2. The truth will be revealed some day, some time and liars will be punished: Proverbs 19:5 GodsWord A lying witness will not go unpunished. One who tells lies will not escape.
3. The Lord Jesus stayed silent: Matthew 26:63 GodsWord But Jesus was silent. Then the chief priest said to him, "Swear an oath in front of the living God and tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?"
4. I have the example of the Lord Jesus: I Peter 2:23 GodsWord Christ never verbally abused those who verbally abused him. When he suffered, he didn't make any threats but left everything to the one who judges fairly.
5. God honors those who tell and live the truth: Matthew 5:11 WEL You are blessed when people verbally abuse and persecute you and say all kinds of evil, wicked things about you falsely for my sake.