32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
33 I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.
34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.
35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
37 Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him,
38 sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.
The Word of His grace (v.32) was, of course, the particular message which Paul had been commissioned to proclaim. It was the message for the dispensation now dawning, and it was this message that God would use to establish them in the faith, especially as its glories were further revealed to Paul and through him in his epistles.
How similar is this benediction to that found in a letter the apostle had so recently written: Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began (Romans 16:25). — Stam, page 253.
inheritance (v.32) — This word is used three times in Ephesians.
these hands have provided (v.34) — Paul had paid his own way and that of his companions by working as a tentmaker.
I have shown you in every way (v.35) — I was an example in all things …
laboring (v.25) = fatiguing toil
It is more blessed … (v.35) — This quote is not recorded in the Gospels. It’s the only direct quote from Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth that is recorded somewhere other than the Gospels.
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