Paul commends a man named Tychicus who brought Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This man is mentioned several times in the New Testament and serves to show how God will use anyone who is part of the body of Christ to serve as needed and enabled. He was also sent to encourage the Ephesian believers. This underscores the need for believers to encourage others with God’s hope and comfort.

Paul ends with a benediction that emphasizes the key truths and virtues from earlier in Ephesians: peace, love, faith, and grace. He also mentions “incorruptibility” that means “lack of decay” and is applied in 1Corinthians 15 to our future, resurrection bodies. What we have in Christ is “incorruptible.” The applications portion of this sermon is about the reality that that believers have a different destiny than those who do not know Christ. There are two destinies: wrath or salvation. Those who trust Christ are not destined to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10) but salvation. We then expound John 15:18, 19 where Jesus warns His disciples that the world will hate them because He chose them out of the world.

We cannot expect that we will be loved by the world. We are incompatible with the world in its rebellion against God.