We'll take our Bibles and turn to Ephesians. We'll read from chapter one before we come to chapter six. So Ephesians chapter one. And we read from the first verse. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption. through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. We'll end the reading there and then turning over to Ephesians chapter 6 And we just come to the last two verses of the chapter and of the whole letter. Ephesians 6 and verse 23. It's really a closing prayer or statement. Peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them. that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. If my records are correct, we began this study through Ephesians back in March of 2017. And today we bring that whole study to a conclusion. And we do so by turning to these last couple of verses, which you can say really contain two closing benedictions. for the people of God. The first one in verse 23 and the second one in verse 24. It was the custom of the time in which Paul was writing for correspondence and letters to conclude with a desire for the good of the reader, maybe a wish for health or happiness, something like that. And as Paul concludes his letter, he does something similar, only he's not just making some vague wish, he's actually concluding his letter with really a prayer onto God for the true blessing of God's people. He expresses this desire and The prayer contains certain things that Paul wants to see known and enjoyed by the believers in Ephesus. Now in terms of the structure of it, I suggest that verse 23 gives you the specific things that Paul desires to be known. He wants believers to know peace and then also to know love, which accompanies their faith, all from the hand of God. That's really the specifics of what he desires for them and is praying for them. And then verse 24 says, since God is the giver of these things, these peace and love with faith, since God is the giver, since these things come from his hand, then they are bestowed by God as out of God's sovereign grace. And so he's praying in verse 24 then for this grace to be given, to be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Now what I'm going to try and do with these words is to Take them and use them as something of a recap and a summary to try and tie together the book for us now that we've come more or less to an end of it. But we'll do so as we look at these gracious gifts for God's people. And that's if you want a title, there you go. Gracious gifts for God's people. Now we'll come to what they are in more detail in a moment. But first of all, let's begin with the source of these gifts. The source. Where do these things come from? How can we know peace? How can we know this love with faith? Well it's very clear from verse 23 that these things proceed from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now do take note as you read those words that these things are said to proceed from both the Father and the Son. God the Father, set side by side with the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul brings in no distinction at this point in terms of rank between Father and between Son. So you can legitimately talk of these graces, these gifts, peace, love and so on, coming from the Father. But Paul also legitimately speaks of them coming from Christ. Throughout the letter, there is a distinction made between the persons. Jesus Christ is not spoken of as the Father. In fact, throughout Ephesians, when Paul mentions God, he is usually speaking particularly about God the Father. He often speaks about God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. and he distinguishes Jesus Christ as another person. But you do find in places such as this, Jesus Christ is set on a par with the Father. So there's no division in rank. Paul is not saying that Christ is any less than the Father. And here's a little place where you see that, even in practice. Grace comes to us from both Father and Son, from both the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, it is appropriate that Both Father and Christ are put together as the benefactors, or rather as the ones who give these benefits to us. You see, the words of verse 23 really echo the introductory greeting of Paul to the church back in Ephesians 1. In verse 2 of chapter 1, he wrote, grace be to you and peace from God our Father. and from the Lord Jesus Christ you have the same thing again God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ set side by side both of them together giving us these precious things. It then goes on in verse 3 of chapter 1 to praise God the Father and because he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places but you'll notice in verse 3 of that chapter that he has done this in Christ. These blessings aren't bestowed upon us without Christ It's in Christ. Everything that follows then in chapter one, really, even into chapter two, emphasizes this theme from all sorts of different angles that God the Father has poured blessings upon we who are saved, but always, always through the work of Jesus Christ. The Father, if you like, is portrayed as the fountain of blessing from which all blessing originates, but that blessing always flows to us through God the Son, without whom we could never receive these benefits. So for example, verse 4, we're in chapter 1 here. In verse 4, we're chosen by God the Father, but we're chosen in Christ. In verse 5, we're predestinated by the Father onto the adoption of children, but we receive that by Jesus Christ to himself, to God, to the Father. In verse 6 of chapter 1, you find that we are by the Father made accepted and yet we're made accepted in the Beloved, that's in Christ. This work of God the Father in making us acceptable to himself, it's all performed through the redemption that's found in Jesus Christ. In verse 7, in whom? In Christ. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. verses 11 and 12 again speaks of how God the Father has predestinated us to obtain an inheritance and what an inheritance we have everlasting life and the joy of that with the Lord but again it's in Christ we obtain this in Christ in fact from that point on until the 10th verse of chapter 2 You have emphasis placed upon this wonderful truth that this wonderful thing that God has done for us. It speaks of how just as God the Father raised Christ from the dead and powerfully set him at the right hand far above all principality and power and might and dominion. so too he makes that same power known when dealing with his people. He raises us up from spiritual death in our sin. He quickens us together with Christ and as it says in chapter 2 verse 6, he hath raised us up together with Christ and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. There's a sense in which already we who are blessed in Christ are seated in heavenly places because there, if you like, we are seated in our representative, your head, and that's a theme that's in Ephesians. Christ is your head, you're his body, if you're a believer. Your head is in heaven, he's seated there, and therefore you're seated there in him. It's all our blessing bestowed by the Father through Christ. Again you could say God has blessed us abundantly through Christ and it says in verse 8 of chapter 2 that by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. Really all that comes to that point builds up to that theme. We have all these different blessings that, well, we've looked at in more detail in time gone by. I'm trying to summarize quickly now. You've all these different things in which God has blessed us abundantly. And it comes to this conclusion really, you know, by grace are ye saved through faith and not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. You know, it says in verse 10, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. You've got the Father blessing us as the source, but always, always in connection with Christ, always through the work of Christ. And you can speak of the Father being the source of blessing, you can speak of Christ being the source of blessing. Together, Father and Son, both God, they are the source of our blessing. And that's important to keep in our minds as we proceed through the Christian life. Where does spiritual advancement come from? in our walk with the Lord. Where do we gain strength to ascend the holy hill, as it were, and to draw closer to our God, to serve him all the more? Where do we gain what we need for that? Well, it's always bestowed from God's gracious hand, Father and Son, and we could say the Spirit too. And therefore, instead of just striving in our own energies, which is always our instinct, Instead of that, we're to come like the beloved pet dog and lick the hand of the master and to receive good things from him. Here's the source. All this blessing, and to use the words in the last chapter, peace and love with faith, it comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to come to God by Jesus Christ on the ground of Christ's finished work we can expect that God is pleased to pour out these needed blessings upon us. So there's the source of these things but then let's think about the substance of them, the substance of these gifts. Now as I said in the introduction I take the word grace in verse 24 to be really the summary of what's said in verse 23 because these gifts they flow to us from the grace of God, not from our works, but purely from his free grace. Therefore, these items themselves that we're looking at are, first of all, peace, and then we'll put the two together and we'll say love with faith, peace, and then love with faith. So think about peace, first of all. Paul writes in verse 23, peace be, this is chapter six, peace be to brethren. Obviously women are included there in that word brethren as well it's just a it's just a word that's used to summarize the whole body of the Lord's people. Peace be to the brethren. Paul's prayer is that the people of God brethren in Christ whether male or female that will know this peace which proceeds from God the Father and from God the Son. Now most believe that primarily that the peace that's spoken about here is dealing with peace and toward fellow man. Certainly we could tie in peace with God as well, peace with him through the gospel because you're not going to have any other kind of peace without that. But most think that the main emphasis here is on peace among the brethren. Paul's prayer is that there might be this attitude of peace, this enjoyment of peace among the fellowship, among the people of God. Certainly peace is a key theme in this whole letter, and we've picked it up a few times going through. But to go back to chapter two, that's really where we left off in what I'm taking as a little bit of a summary here. In chapter two, you'll notice that it's one of the main things being considered there as well. In fact, in verse 11 and following it, really sets out the wonderful New Testament reality. that Christ by his great work has secured peace. First and foremost, peace with God, but also then peace with one another. Because verse 11, it sets out this great distinction, the divide that was between people in Paul's day. I suppose one of the main ones known in the early church was the divide between Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised, the divide between the Commonwealth of Israel and then the alien outsiders, the Gentiles. However, in verse 14 of chapter two, you read that Christ is our peace. He is the substance of our peace. That is, Christ is the one who unites men and women together. And of course, the more our lives are lived in connection with Jesus Christ, the closer we draw to the Savior, but also the closer we draw one to the other. If you're walking close to Christ and I'm walking close to Christ, we're going to be fairly well aligned. we draw closer together by drawing near to Christ. He is our peace. This peace that Paul prays for as a blessing from God, it's found in Christ himself as we walk with Christ. But chapter two in verse 14 emphasizes Christ has secured this peace between men. He has done so by breaking down the wall between us. He has broken down the middle wall of partition, it says. Now particularly in view there, is that wall that was erected between Jew and Gentile. You have these two totally different categories. Jew on one side, Gentile on the other. Firm wall in the middle. Those two don't mix. If you want to be among the Lord's people, you have to become literally a Jew. If you want to join the Lord's camp, you have to be a Jew. You have to get out of that camp of the Gentiles. You have to become a Jew. And there's this division between the two because the Jew looks down on the Gentile as an outsider and as beneath them. The Gentile looks at the Jew with hatred as well because, well, I suppose they have something that the Gentile doesn't. They have all these blessings that historically God has given them. There's this division. But Christ makes peace between the two parties. As Christ hung on the cross, one of the wonderful New Testament truths is that he did so as the representative for his people both Jew and Gentile. He was at the same time representing Jews and Gentiles, men and women, young and old. The believing Jew had his sins put away by the work of Christ on the cross, and here you are as a Gentile, very far removed, and likewise, in exactly the same manner, your sins are put away by the work of the cross. In that one act, Christ was representing all who come unto him from every tribe and tongue and nation and therefore the work of the cross it destroys all the barriers between men and women it brings us into one body as it says in verse 16 of chapter 2 he did all this reconciling both that is both Jew and Gentile onto God in one body by the cross having slain the enmity thereby Christ has reconciled the two together and in fact he comes through his apostles, through ministers of the gospel and he has preached peace. He has preached peace as it says in verse 17, to you that were far off and to them that were nigh. And such is his great work that this chapter, the end of chapter two teaches that the believing Gentiles from whatever part of the world He's now part of what we could call spiritual Israel. See, it specifically says we're not strangers. We're not foreigners anymore. Rather, we're fellow citizens. We're not to think in those categories of the Jew on one side and the Gentile on the other. No, it's saying no, there's no outsider among those who are in Christ. Rather, we're fellow citizens, verse 19. We're with the saints. We're of the household of God. We're of the same country, of the same kingdom. On top of that, we're of the same family, of the household. and then it even goes further and says we're we're built together from every tribe and tongue and nation to form one holy temple as God's habitation in verse 22 shortly after Christ's life the earthly temple in Jerusalem was destroyed but God has built a new temple he's built a spiritual temple It's made up, that's what it says here, and it's made up of men and women, boys and girls who are brought peaceably together to dwell together, built together in Christ. Well, Paul is praying here that the believers in Ephesus might know this peace from God. And we can know peace from God, peace with God, but then peace from God that is worked out in the Christian community among the congregation of the Lord's people. We can know it because Christ has secured it for us at the cross. World peace is a good goal. Sometimes you hear those who, I think half the time they just want to sound very noble. They're asked, if you had only one wish, what would it be? And they'll say, oh, I would wish for world peace. Now, if that's a genuine wish, well, that's a good one. It's a good desire that there'd be world peace. But it's never going to be achieved through any scheme manufactured by man. The only way world peace will ever be achieved is through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's through the gospel. There's no other way and in fact Christ will achieve that end. There's a wonderful statement in Isaiah chapter 2 speaks of high in the last days and You can bear in mind that the last days began with the first coming of Christ. It says, in the last days, Isaiah 2 verse 2, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow onto it. And many people shall go and say, come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths. It even says they shall beat their swords into plowshares. their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. I put it to you that the first steps at least of that wonderful prophecy have already been seen because many from the nations have been flowing onto the Lord and many continue to flow onto the Lord. Yes there's more to come in those words but a degree of this peace has already been accomplished. You only have to look in many different congregations and you see people there who otherwise would not be joined together and yet there's this unity and it's formed through the gospel That's what Ephesians 2 sets out for us. God has worked through Christ to bestow all blessings upon us and this one as well in particular to give us peace. Peace with himself and peace with one another. Paul's desire is that the Ephesians might know it and grow in it practically in their fellowship one with the other. And how it ought to be the case that there's peace in any body of Christ's people, in the body of Christ's people, how there ought to be peace. And how devastating it is when there's not peace. When you bear in mind that believers are similarly bought onto God at the cross, when we're meant to be united through the work of the cross, how dreadful it is when peace is harmed among the people of God. God grants this peace as we ever live our lives in light of the cross. Why should there be bitterness between us when we're dealing with brethren or sisters who are fellow sinners? but forgiven the same debt that we've been forgiven, great debts, all by the costly work of the one and the same saviour. How can there be room for division among those who confess the faith when Christ has given of his blood to unite us in himself with all of these shared spiritual blessings bestowed upon us? So Paul's prayer is that the church in Ephesus, and we could extend it to any church that we know, peace from God and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that, but Paul's desire is that they might know love with faith. In verse 23 of chapter 6, peace be to the brethren and love with faith. Now the Ephesians already had faith and love to a degree. as they already knew peace to a degree. Paul's prayer is that these things might be increased, that God might increase these graces. He wants them to know all the more love and faith. Now again here, most commentators think that the emphasis in the word love there is upon the relationships between fellow man. You'll come to verse 24 and you'll find love that's very focused on Christ himself. But most think that the love in verse 23 is with regard to fellow man. A love for brothers and sisters in Christ. I suppose it ties in with peace then. But the way it's written, certainly, there's a close connection between love and faith. And that's quite appropriate because those two things do go together. In fact, you'll see them put together in close connection in numerous places in scripture. To give you one example, you'll see them put together in Ephesians 1 and verse 15. Because Paul speaks of having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints. Those things go together. A faith in the Lord and then naturally a love. for the Lord, yes, but also for all the saints. John Gill, in his commentary, he said, faith works by love, and love discovers faith. And his point was that one of the key ways faith practically works itself out is through love. And to reverse that, you would say love discovers faith. That is, faith is seen, very obviously, when we practically set our love on those around us. When we act in a way that shows our love for the Lord. Paul's prayer is that to accompany faith, to accompany faith, the Ephesians might have this very practical love displayed in their midst and no doubt in their hearts as well. One of the key points when you see that connection, faith and love going together, is that love while flowing from God is practically increased in our lives in direct connection with the increase of our faith. And so it emphasizes again to us that we don't just grow in love for one another or for the Lord merely by trying harder. We don't grow in love for a fellow brother or sister in Christ just by deciding one day, right, I'm gonna really try today. That's, I mean, we should be making the effort to try and be loving to those around us, but that's not the way it increases this love in our hearts for those around us. If you don't feel that loving affection for some brother or sister in Christ, how do you get it? How do you increase that love? Where does it come from? Well, it's going to increase in connection with your faith. First and foremost your need is to get your attention upon the cross and to meditate upon the love of Christ to you there and what Christ has done for you. You grew in your knowledge of Christ and of his person of his work and that's where love for God but also for fellow man will spring up. Your faith needs to be increased. Of course, we can reverse this whole thing of gaining love by looking to grow in faith as we come to the Word of God. We can reverse it and say, well, if you have a very small love for those around you, it indicates quite a feeble faith. And if that's the case, what a desperate need there is to get to the Word of God and to have your faith strengthened by the Spirit of God as God has promised to do. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. If your love for others around is waning, you need to get to the Word because it indicates your faith is very feeble. Now praise God we can be saved even with a feeble faith. Praise God our salvation doesn't rest on how strong or weak our faith is, so long as it's there, so long as there is true faith. But we don't want to be left floundering with a weak faith. And we don't want to be left with a small and shallow love for those around us, no. These things are to grow. We're to go on in these things. We're to grow in our love for Christ and our love for those around us. And in connection with that then, growing in our faith day by day, increasing in dependence upon the Lord. Now I've been using these verses to give a bit of a recap for the book. We can do that very well here when you move into chapter 3 because Paul begins that chapter by speaking about God's mercy to him in that he was given the privilege of ministering the gospel to the Gentiles. However, the overall point of chapter 3 is that once Paul has really come to terms with this fact that the Gentiles, particularly these Ephesians, have an equal place with Jews in the plan and purpose of God. He then says in verse 14 that he is bowing his knees, he's bowing his knees, praying unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he's praying in order that the believers might be strengthened with might, verse 16, by God's spirit in the inner man. And the result being in verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. And then that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ. Pope Paul's desire here is that they might know this strengthening of the spirit, that is to be strengthened in the faith, that Christ might dwell within them. Immediately in connection with that he says that ye being rooted and grounded in love that you might be able to to know the love of Christ which Passeth knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God and you have the the result there of increased faith It's that we're more and more grounded in love rooted and grounded in love and able to grasp the unbounded love of Christ and Therefore filled with that appreciation of Christ's love to us. What's it going to produce? Well, you could say it's naturally going to produce a heart that's overflowing Like the cup that's that's water continually continually is poured into it and it's just running over it's running over and pouring out upon those around That's what it'll produce the more you grasp the love of Christ to your soul by faith The more it'll stir love up in your heart for God for Christ for others around you Here's a prayer of Paul's that the Lord would, as it were, infuse love as a driving principle into the very hearts of Christ's people. This is what we need ever. We need the working of God in our lives to increase our faith, to give us fresh views of the love of Christ poured freely upon us so that love might be cultivated in your heart and in mine. a love for Christ, but then a love flowing on to others as well. These graces, they must be found in our lives, peace, love. They're graciously received from God, from Father and Son, we could say Holy Spirit as well, and they are received in connection with faith. Therefore, by faith, with your eye turned upon God and upon the great work of Christ for you, you're to grow in peace, you're to grow in love. as God would produce these fruits in your lives. Let me finish by stressing the recipients of these gifts. The recipients. We've already seen the recipients described as the brethren in verse 23 but if you move into verse 24 you have another description. Paul's prayer is that this grace of God would be known by all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. He's talking about the brethren here. And the brethren, the saints, you'd say, they're described as those, all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. So first of all, we can say here, the brethren are those who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we're certainly not talking here about earning God's grace, God giving these things to us because we love him. We're not talking about that. But the point is that all who are brought onto Christ for salvation, all who are truly his, will be those who love him. And you know, that is a great test of faith. It's one thing to say that you believe the gospel, but believing the bare facts of the gospel in a cold manner, like a scientist, while at the same time remaining indifferent to Christ himself, That's not going to be sufficient. And yet it's all too common. The devil believes the gospel, he understands and accepts the facts of it, but he has no love for Christ, the person. True believers are not merely those who sign their name to a creed. It's not just about praying the prayer and agreeing with the right statements. It's not just about saying, well, you know, follow the Roman road. And yes, I accept all these truths. Theoretically, that's not it. No true saving faith begins from a changed heart. There's a transformation there. It's not just deciding on certain facts being true and saying, right, I'll go with that. No, it's a changed heart. It's a new creation, a changed heart, and therefore a heart that loves Christ. I know this is a prayer meeting and yet it's worth asking the question anyway. Do you have such a heart? Do you love Christ? Do you love this Saviour? Now love can be weak at times and certainly for all of us and virtually at all times it's much weaker than it should be. Which of us can say that we've ever loved Christ sufficiently? Our love is so often weak or at least much weaker than it should be. But do you love Christ? And today, can you say, yes, I love Christ. We're not talking about the truths here concerning him. We're talking about the person. Do you love the man of Calvary? Do you love God the Son? Do you love God? Do you love him? That's a much stronger question than we ask ourselves sometimes. Is Christ my chief love? Not just have I signed my name to the creed, but is he my chief love? Is my heart set on him? If the choice is given between Christ and some other thing, the chief idol, whatever it might be, am I willing, am I ready to forsake that idol because I love him. I love this saviour who has given himself for me. Paul describes the saints as those who love the Lord Jesus Christ. and they do so in sincerity. He adds those little words in sincerity. Now the translation of that final word is a little bit disputed. The basic word literally means incorruption. So some think it has the idea of an unending, that is a never dying, a never corrupting love. See the same word is used in 1 Corinthians 15 to contrast our corrupting bodies. which die to the incorruptible body with which we'll rise again. So some take it along those lines, loving the Lord Jesus Christ in an undying way, in an enduring way, which obviously will be the case for the child of God. Obviously our translators took it more the idea of love that is sincere, that is love that is unblemished by falsehood, love that doesn't have corruption lying there below the surface. You could think of maybe the Pharisees who outwardly everything's clean, everything's in its place, and yet inwardly there's all this filthiness and corruption. I do think that's closer to the mark and that our translators have got it right. The idea is not just of a verbal profession of love but of a true sincere love from the heart. That there is to be this sincerity, this genuineness in our love for Christ. But in connection with that, the word itself, incorruption, we could read it that way. Grace be to them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in, or you could say with, incorruption, with incorruptibility. That word is very fitting for us as we go about this purpose of trying to summarize the letter. Because so far we've got to the end of chapter three and linking some of these words back. And don't be panicking, I'm not going to take the same time going through 4, 5 and 6 as I did with 1, 2 and 3. But we could really put all these chapters, 4, 5 and 6 under this same phrase, loving the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity or loving Christ in corruption, without corruption. Because I believe the idea of sincerity there. has this aspect to it of actively living for Christ, actively loving Christ with a life that is set on dealing with corruption. And that certainly brings us to the emphasis in chapters 4, 5, and 6. You see, the same word that's used here for incorruption is used in chapter 4, or at least the opposite word I should say is used. Not incorruption, but rather the opposite, corrupt. Ephesians 4 in verse 22 tells us that we are to put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt. It's the same word but in Ephesians 6 it's got the wee negative prefix to it, incorruption. Here it's, we're to put off that which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. You know, really the emphasis in these last three chapters is that in light of all that God has done for us, in light of the grace of God poured out upon us in Jesus Christ, We are to respond with a love for the Saviour that causes us to flee corruption, to put away all uncleanness, and as it says in verse 1 of chapter 4, to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. See, that's how we're meant to respond to this whole message. Ephesians is really a letter of God's grace. It's emphasizing to us how much the Lord has done to us, right from the high notes in the first chapter, right through how much the Lord has done for us. God has worked in such a marvelous way that through Jesus Christ, our greatest needs are met. He bestows upon us every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, including peace, including love, and other things beside. And the response in believers, that ought to naturally spring up within our hearts is that we're to become militant against our various sins. And with a true, sincere love of Christ, we're going to be looking to drive out corruptions and to live lives that are marked with incorruption. That's going to be the case with a sincere love. A sincere love isn't just a love in words, it's a love in action. And it's going to mean shaping our lives according to what our Saviour desires. To walk worthy of our calling then. That we're to respond to God's grace by standing in the power with which Christ was raised from the dead and sat in heavenly places and we're to be standing grounded in the love of Christ for us with a holy zeal. never to surrender in that war upon sin, but rather we're to live new lives as new creatures for our saviour who is worthy of it all with a love that is sincere. We're to love Christ with sincerity, with incorruption, putting away all that is filthy because we love him. We love him who first loved us. Chapter five more or less begins by saying walk in love. as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given us for an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. And it says, verse 3, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not once be named among you, as becometh saints. We're to walk in love. as Christ loved us, and it's going to mean, in connection with other things, putting away these areas of uncleanness from our lives. We're to walk in the Spirit, so that we're not going to fulfil the lusts of the flesh. We're to walk in the power of the Spirit, clothed, as we've been saying recently, in the armour of God, making war on sin and on the devil. And then, therefore, with holiness as our watchword, in response to God's grace, not to earn his favor, but in response to what he has already done with holiness as our watchword and the power of Christ to attack the forces of darkness and to prevail. There's the thrust of Ephesians. Here's what God has done for us, how great things he has done. Therefore, here's the response. to give of our lives in loving, sincere service for Jesus Christ. And may God give us grace to respond with such a zeal and to respond aright to his merciful dealings. Amen.