The Experience Of Every Believer

Turn to Ephesians chapter 6. For one final time, this is the last sermon in our verse by verse study through the book of Ephesians. And if you're visiting here this morning, you got here just in the nick of time to observe the finish. To read the end of the book with us.

Ephesians chapter 6. My goal is to look at verses 21 through 24, and we'll be focusing especially on verses 23 and 24. And the title of the message this morning is blessings that God really wants you to enjoy. Blessings that God really wants you to enjoy.

Look at verse 21. Paul says to the Ephesians, but that you also may know about my circumstances. Paul's in prison as he writes this. How I am doing.

Titicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. Every commentator agrees that Titicus is the courier. He's the bearer of the letter. He is bringing the letter of Ephesians to the Ephesian church.

He's also, by the way, the bearer of the Colossian letter. You find him mentioned in the book of Colossians also. and almost certainly he was the bearer of the letter to Philemon. So, almost certainly 3 New Testament epistles were carried by Titicus, to these destinations.

And so I know none of you woke up this morning and said, thank you, Lord, for Titicus. But we have much to be grateful for because of his faithfulness in delivering these letters to their destinations. We have them and can benefit from them today. and so Paul says that you may know about my circumstances, how I'm doing.

Ticus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will make everything known to you. I have sent him to you for this very purpose so that you may know about us and that he may comfort your hearts or encourage your hearts, and one of the primary ways that he will encourage your hearts is by reading to you this letter that I am sending to you in his possession. And so Paul is saying there's details that I don't have personal details. I don't want to get into in this letter, but he will share those things with you.

And then with that, in verse 23, Paul concludes the letter with a wonderful benediction that reveals his heart, and also reveals the heart of our God towards us, when he says, Peace be to the brethren. And love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. The message today is going to focus on these four gospel blessings that we find in these last two verses, and that is peace and love.

And faith and grace. Paul says, peace to you, love to you, faith to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ, and grace be with you. Not only does Paul say this, but God through Paul reveals his heart towards us and says, Here, peace to you, love to you, faith to you. And may my grace be with you.

Always. These are blessings that God really wants us to enjoy. Now, as we look at these four things this morning, there is a certain vantage point that I want us to see these blessings from. And in order to position us to see, these four blessings from this vantage point, I want to tell you a story.

Nothing communicates a point like a story does, right? And so let's go to the Old Testament, the 2 Samuel 23, you don't need to turn there unless you want to. I'll have the verses on the screen. It's just a brief little story, that is found on the pages of 2 Samuel in chapter 23.

And basically, the situation is this, David and his mighty men and his soldiers are at war against the Philistines. The Philistines, who were the enemies. Israel in a lot of ways had essentially conquered Bethlehem and had established a military post there. So there are Philistine soldiers there in Bethlehem and in front of Bethlehem guarding the city.

So now David, his soldiers, and other Jewish people cannot come in and out of Bethlehem like they once were able to. It's a military battle zone. Well, in the thick of dealing with this military conflict, David, had a craving come over him, a most unusual craving come over him, and he uttered this craving. have you ever had a craving come over you?

A really strong craving? I hear that ladies when they're pregnant, have cravings come over them. for ice cream or pickles or whatever. even men have cravings come over them.

I, just this week, I, on Thursday night, I grabbed my keys and started to leave the house. I told my wife I'll be back in a few minutes. She's like, where are you going? I said, I'm going to get some peanut M&Ms, because I had a craving come over me, and so my kids volunteered to come with me.

two of them did. And we went and I got a large bag of peanut M&M's and brought it home and with the help of my children we polished off that large bag that night and by noon the next morning it was entirely gone. There was a craving that came over me and there was an urgency to it, and it needed to be satisfied. We all have cravings like that.

David had a craving come over him in the thick of this battle. And look at what happens here. 2 Samuel 23:15, and David had a craving, and said, oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. David's mouth was no doubt, thick and dry, and he's like, I want some water.

And not just any water, just oh, I would love it if someone would, would give me some water from the well of Bethlehem, the one that is by the gate. I've had that water before, and I would love that right now. He doesn't ask anyone to go get it for him because he knows that's a danger zone, but he's like, Oh, I would love this. Well, there were 3 mighty men who loved David, so much so that when they heard him say this, they looked at each other and said, let's go get him a drink.

From the well of Bethlehem. And so look at what happens next. So the three mighty men broke through. The language there seems to imply that they fought their way through.

They're being shot at. They're in peril of their lives. They broke through the camp of the Philistines. They drew water from the well of Bethlehem, which was by the gate, and they took it and they brought it to David.

I think it is clear. that these men really wanted David to have this water, right? They were willing to risk and imperil their lives so that this craving of David can be satisfied. And no doubt they brought this container of water to David.

And David looked at it, and they said, David, this is for you. And he looked at it. And at first glance, David saw water. But then somehow he found out where it came from.

He may have asked him, where did this come from? from the well of, oh, just from a well. What well? The well of Bethlehem, the one by the gate, the one you wanted water from.

Suddenly now when David looks at the water, he doesn't see water anymore. He sees blood. The blood of the men. Who risked their lives so that he could have this water.

And so look at how David responds. Nevertheless, David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord, and he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore, he would not drink it.

He pours it out. Now I have always wondered what his mighty men thought of that devotional gesture. If they found that meaningful and maybe tears formed in their eyes as they observe this act of worship, or if they're thinking was, well, that's really nice that you would pour out into the ground this water that we risked our lives for you to enjoy. I don't know what they would have thought.

But I think we all know David's heart here. And what his heart is? Here's his thinking. Nobody.

Especially me, deserves this sacrifice. For something to drink. There's only one being in the universe who deserves this love and sacrifice. And that is the Lord.

And so Lord, here, you can have this. I'm not even worthy of this. The amazing thing is that when David looked at the water, His appreciation of the water was enhanced, even transformed by his awareness of the sacrifice that lay behind it. Now with that in mind, here's the reason I tell you this story.

When we look at this concluding benediction, And we see this container in which we find peace and love and faith from God the Father, and Jesus Christ, and grace from God the Father and Jesus Christ. Let us not just see peace, love, faith, and grace, which are beautiful to behold in and of themselves. Let us understand also let our view of these commodities be transformed by an awareness of the sacrifice that lays behind it. There's only one reason that these blessings are being offered to us, and that is because a huge price has been paid.

we got an even better story. Than the story of David and the mighty men. We have a story of God the Father and God the Son and the apostle Paul, who paid a huge price in order that they might bring the cup of these blessings to us and say, Here, peace to you, love to you, faith to you, grace to you. Enjoy.

Let me give you two quick facts that I think will enrich your appreciation of, of these gospel blessings that we find in these two verses. Number 1, please understand this, guys, God made the ultimate sacrifice so that you might have these blessings. He went behind enemy lines, busted through enemy lines, and smote his son. So that His Son would shed His blood, die for our sins, so that now these blessings can be brought to us.

You read through the book of Ephesians. And as you see the gospel blessings that are spoken about in there, it all comes to us, chapter 1, verse 7, through his blood, chapter 2, verse 13, by the blood of Christ, chapter 2, verse 16, through the cross, chapter 5, verse Christ gave himself up for us as a sacrifice. And chapter 5, verse 25, Christ gave himself up for her speaking of the church. And so Jesus paid the ultimate price.

How badly does Jesus want us to experience peace and love and faith and grace from God? So badly that he was willing to endure the horror of the cross. So that he might now come to us and say, Here, peace to you. Plus Faith And grace, I got this for you.

Understand that not only did Jesus pay the ultimate price, and God the Father pay the ultimate price in surrendering his son over to death, but also, I want us to appreciate this, guys, and we see this even from the context that the apostle Paul made a huge sacrifice so that we might have these blessings and even know about them. Paul is not sitting in a posh office, sitting in a presidential leather chair as he's writing this. Where is Paul as he writes this? He's in prison, and he's been in prison for probably about, he's been under Roman custody for about 4 years now.

And as you read through the book of Ephesians, Paul keeps bringing this up in chapter 6, verse 20, working our way backward, he describes himself as being in chains. In chapter 4, verse 1, he describes himself as being a prisoner. And in chapter 3, verse 1, he describes himself as being a prisoner. In fact, in chapter 3, verse 1, if you said, Paul, why are you a prisoner right now?

what his answer would be? For the sake of you, Gentiles. Now, don't be embarrassed by this. It's OK if other people know this.

Raise your hands. How many Gentiles do we have in this room? If you're a Gentile, raise your hand. OK, looks like most of us are Gentiles.

Paul would say, the reason I am in Roman custody and in prison and in chains right now is for the sake of you Gentiles. I wish we can rehearse the whole story. But if you want the full story, read Acts chapter 20 through the end of the book. Basically, Acts 20 through the end of the book is all about Paul being under Roman custody and ultimately imprisoned because of his ministry to the Gentiles.

Paul is out preaching and planning churches that are predominantly. He comes into Jerusalem, gives a gift to the Jerusalem church. He goes into the temple soon after he arrives in Jerusalem. And Jews from some of the other regions Paul has been at recognized him.

And they began to scream against him because of his attachment to Gentiles. And it says literally that there was a mob that formed and they began beating Paul. Because of his attachment to Gentiles and his ministry to Gentiles, the Roman authorities see that, and they come and they deliver Paul. And it's only after they pull Paul away that the Jews stop beating him physically.

Well, Paul then is being taken away up a set of stairs by the Roman authorities. I told you we didn't have time to go through all this, but I'm going through it. How does that happen? Anyway, he's going, they're taking him up the steps and Paul says, please, can I talk to the people?

Paul is just confident that, what, if I can reason with them, they'll, they'll stop wanting to kill me. And so the Roman authorities stop and they let Paul speak to the people, and Paul turns to the mob. And he says, men and brethren, and he begins to speak to them in the Hebrew dialect, and it says literally a great hush fell over the angry mob. That's a good start.

Paul begins to tell a story about how he got saved, how he used to hate Christians, and yet Christ saved him and And then Paul continues in a story, and the hush remains over the crowd. They're riveted. But then, as you read the narrative, Paul used the G word. Gentile.

And he got to a point in his story where he said, I was in Jerusalem, and Jesus appeared to me and said, Get out of Jerusalem, because they're not going to hear your message. They're going to reject it. And I pled with Jesus, please let me stay. I'm sure they'll listen to me, Jesus.

And Jesus said, no, go far from here. I am sending you to the Gentiles. And Luke tells us in Acts 21 that as soon as they heard this statement, They began to scream. And say this man is not worthy to live.

Paul goes into Roman custody. There's a plot on his life. Paul finds out about it through a relative and tells the Roman authorities. They then take him up to Caesarea.

Paul is imprisoned in Caesarea for 2 years, stands before Festus, Felix Agrippa, and then after being in prison in Caesarea for 2 years, he's taken across the sea, and they have a shipwreck. You About that in Acts 27, they end up on the island of Malta for about 3 months, and he gets bitten by a snake there and Paul ultimately is taken to Rome where he is in prison in Rome for 2 more years. From a human standpoint, 4+ years of Paul's life are wasted because of his love for the Gentiles.

That's the way the Jews would have looked at it.

Does this man love Gentiles? Yeah. 4+ years under Roman custody. And here's the reason, because Paul kept going to Gentile people, saying, hey, You can remain a Gentile.

And here's the deal, Peace to you, and love and faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and grace can be yours. It was for that reason. That Paul was hated by the Jews. For that reason, he was incarcerated for 4+ years.

And so when you hear this man at the end of this letter in verses 23 and 24, saying this benediction, this is not someone coming to his door and saying, Paul, I'm hungry. Can you get me something to eat? And he says, be warmed and filled, but you're not getting anything from me. This benediction is coming from a man who has paid the ultimate price and ultimately will pay with his death.

Because of his passion for us to experience God's peace, God's love. Faith in God and God's grace while still being Gentiles. Let's read this again, understanding this history, the sacrifice of Christ, and the sacrifice of Paul. He's sitting in prison, chained as he writes this.

He's in prison because he wants Gentiles to experience these things. And here he is now. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith. From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love, not grace with those who become Jewish proselytes, but grace with all those Jews and Gentile, who simply love Jesus.

As the three mighty men held out that container of water for David, I want you to see Paul handing these blessings to you. And there are chains around his wrist, and he's like, here. I want you to have these, and God. Really wants you to have these so badly, That he sacrificed his son.

So that you might have them. Let's real quickly with the time that we have, try to look at each of these blessings. first of all, peace. God wants us to experience His peace for that to be the daily experience of every single believer.

So many times, guys, we get anxious, we get worried, we fret, and I know I've been struggling with that over the last couple of weeks, and there have been days, that have gone by where I would say I've experienced anything but peace. and then there are times where I failed enough to where I think that God wouldn't even want me to experience peace. But the deal is that if we get up in the morning, and we actually feel the heart of God, and we imagine God in front of us, as we get up in the morning, his arms are extended, and he's saying here, peace.

Peace, I want you to have this so badly.

That I allowed my precious son to shed his blood. Why would we ever doubt whether God wants us to experience this when He paid the ultimate price? I would encourage you to go through the book of Ephesians. And Mark, all the times where the word peace is used.

Chapter 1, verse 2, he begins grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He ends the book, Peace be to the brethren. And then in addition to that, in chapter 2, verses 14 to 17, we find peace all over the place, peace with one another and peace with God. Look at what Paul says in chapter 2, verse 14.

Christ Himself is our peace, who has made both groups, Jew and Gentile. Into one and broken down the barrier of the dividing wall, so that in himself, he might make the two Jew and Gentile into one new man, thus establishing peace. You realize one of the reasons that Jesus died is so that we could horizontally enjoy peace with one another. Regardless of our ethnic, historical, racial, socioeconomic, backgrounds and standings, he came to obliterate all of those hostilities that once existed between us so that we can enjoy peace with one another.

That's how much Jesus values peace, horizontally between people. We need to remember this. When brothers and sisters in the Lord and the church are fighting with one another and angry at one another, they need to stop and take a breath and say to themselves, somebody very important died, so that we can be at peace with one another. What are we going to do with that?

When husbands and wives are fighting with one another, and having anything but peace in their relationship, and there's anger, and there's bitterness, they need to stop and take a breath and remind themselves that somebody died, so that we might have this peace. When brothers and sisters in the home are fighting and being catty and selfish with one another, they need to stop and remember that somebody died. That we might be at peace with one another. Jesus values peace in the family of God so much so that he would say, I died for it.

Verse 16, I didn't just die so that you could be at peace with one another, but also at peace with God. Verse 16, and might reconcile them both in one body to God. I died so that you could enjoy peace with God. What that means, guys, is that God, once you're reconciled to Him, Christ bore all of the wrath of God, that means that never, ever, ever, ever, as a child of God, will you ever look into the countenance of God, and observe that God is angry and wrathful against you.

I don't know if one of us in this room fully believes what I just said, but it's a joy to grow and truly believing that, that all of the wrath of God was absorbed by Jesus. And now as we relate to God, there is never one ounce of wrath left over for us to bear. Never. Never Jesus not only died to accomplish this horizontal and vertical peace, but then verse 17, after he accomplished it, says he came and preached peace to you who are far away, that's the Gentiles, and peace to those who were near, that's the Jews.

He really wants us to experience peace. And so it is up to us to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, as we learned in chapter 4, verse 3, even the gospel that we preach to ourselves every day, and relish and live our lives based upon is called in the book of Ephesians, the gospel of peace. And God says to us, peace to you. I want this piece to be your experience.

There's a second blessing that is in this benediction, and that is love, and specifically, it is the love of God. And let me give you a working definition of the love of God. It is the pleasure of God in making our ultimate good and seeking our ultimate good in all things forever. The love of God is the pleasure of God.

In seeking our ultimate good and all things forever. We do not have a God who does good to us, but he does it begrudgingly, unhappily, because it is his duty, and he's promised it. And so he's obligated. If we could observe the countenance of God, as he does good to us, we would observe pleasure on his face.

The love of God is the pleasure of God in always doing good to us and all things forever. We find this tied together in chapter 1, verse 4 and 5, where Paul says, in love, God predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, literally into himself. So before the foundation of the world, God predestined us to become his sons and daughters, and That we would be drawn into his embrace so much so that it could be said that we are in Him, or in Him. And how did he do this?

According to the good pleasure of his desire. God, why would you send your son to die? Why would you make a sinner like me, who has messed up in so many ways? Why would you make me your son or your daughter and bring me into your embrace?

God would say, because it pleasures me. To do so. I am thrilled to do so. I want to do it, and so when I do this, it satisfies that desire and it brings me great.

Pleasure. When you maybe as you look back over this past week, you have just royally messed up in a number of ways and Ways that you even feel ashamed of as you sit here and you're reminded of those things. Your conscience condemns you. You come into the presence of God, and you're like, I need to ask for forgiveness, but he's probably ticked at me.

And so you went under the Lord's gaze, almost hesitant to look into his countenance, but you get up enough nerve to look into the countenance of God after you have royally messed up. And you say, God, I need your forgiveness, and you look up, and there is a God. Who has pleasure on his face. And he says, I forgive you.

Because I am pleasured to forgive you. Don't we have an amazing God? An amazing God. Just for the sake of time, I'm not going to go through all this, but I would encourage you to go through the book of Ephesians and mark all the times where love is mentioned.

There's a number of times where love is mentioned throughout the book of Ephesians. Some of the passages talking about Christ's love for us, and then other passages speaking of our love for one another, and also at the end of the book, our love for Jesus being a love that is incorruptible. Well, there is a 3rd blessing that Paul sitting chained in prison, is wishing upon us and is extending out to us, wanting us to experience. And that is the blessing of faith.

In fact, what's interesting to me is the way Paul words this. Look at verse 23. And by the way guys, where do we get our theology from? OK, Bible, good answer.

We get our theology from the Bible and, a lot of theology is found in prepositions, where so many connections are made, and there's a very significant thing that is said here. Look at verse 23. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith from God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. What Paul is indicating here is that not only is the peace of God from God, not only is the love of God that we experience from God, but even our faith that we place in God is from God, in the first place.

Some people think that, yeah, the love of God and the peace of God, and the grace of God, that's all something God gives to us. But faith is my faith. It's something that I produce. And as God sees my faith, he then responds by giving me these things.

The Bible teaches that faith even is a gift from God. Ephesians 2, by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift. Of God, all of salvation, including our faith, is a gracious gift from God.

It is not of ourselves. And so Paul is wishing upon us, he's extending out to us this faith that he wants to be our daily experience. Now, why do you think Paul is concerned at this point that we experience this faith from God? Just think about that for a second.

Why would Paul be concerned that we experience faith from God? Why would he mention peace and love and grace? But sandwiched in the middle of that is faith that he wants us to experience. Here's, I believe, the reason why.

Paul is mindful of the fact that throughout Ephesians, he said many, many wonderful things. And Paul knows that he has said enough in this letter to blow us away and to create an absolute gospel revolution in our lives, leaving us utterly amazed at the forgiveness and the grace and the power of Almighty God at work in our lives. And yet Paul also knows that as wonderful as this letter has been, and as wonderful as its contents have been, if What is in this letter is not mixed with faith in the hearts of those who hear it and read it.

Ephesians will do nothing.

For them. Nothing for them. It must be mixed with faith. In fact, let me go to Hebrews 4:2, Where the writer of Hebrews makes this connection.

He says, for indeed, we have had good news preached to us, just as they, the Jews also, but the word did not profit them because it was not united by faith in those who heard. What he's saying is, the Jews heard the gospel, but it didn't profit them because Because it was not united by faiths inside of them when they heard. And so he's saying we need to be careful that we have faith in God. And his point is that if we do have faith inside of us, and gospel truth comes in, once faith touches or makes contact with gospel truth, it's almost like a chemical reaction, and explosion occurs in our lives, leaving us transformed.

And so faith is critical. A person can read through Ephesians and not do anything for them if the contents of this book are not mixed with faith in the hearts of those who read it and study it. I know of one liberal theologian that I learned about in seminary. This guy, was as liberal as all get out, did not believe in the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, And yet for some reason, this guy gave his life to studying the, the scriptures and, and writing theology.

He had the entire Greek New Testament, including Ephesians, memorized in the Greek. And yet the man was as lost as could be. why? Because the contents of the word were not mixed with faith in his heart, leaving him unregenerate.

Now you might say, well, OK, I need to have faith, but faith comes from God. So it's up to God to give me that faith. what, we are actually encouraged in Scripture to cultivate faith within us. Faith comes from God.

It comes from him. Faith comes through the Word of God, as we come to God's word with a surrendered heart. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. As we come to the Word of God, each day with an open and a surrendered heart, our faith is strengthened, it is cultivated, it waxes strong.

progressively day by day, and the stronger the more mighty our faith is, the more explosive gospel truth becomes, as we begin more and more to believe in God, and dare to believe in the fullness of the gospel truth that we find even in this one book of our New Testament, the book of Ephesians. Well, there is one final blessing that Paul extends out to us with his chained hands. And that is grace, grace from God. Grace speaks of favor from God that is not only not deserved, but it is ill deserved.

It's not only a favor that we have failed to deserve. It is a favor that is the opposite of what we actually have deserved. And so this is grace and Paul is saying Verse 24, grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. One of the things that you would notice if you took all of Paul's epistles, and you put them side by side, and observed the beginning and the ending of each of his letters, almost universally with I think one exception, Paul begins every letter with the words grace to you.

He ends every letter with, I think one exception by saying, grace be with you. So on the front end, grace to you, on the back end, grace be with you. Why does Paul change from to to with, from the beginning of a book to the end of a book? Well, people wrestle with this, and the best explanation that I have heard, even the book of Ephesians begins, Grace to you, and it ends, Grace be with you.

why does he do that? Here's the best explanation I have heard. When Paul begins a letter like the book of Ephesians, as he's starting off the letter, he's saying grace to you. In other words, part of what he's saying is the grace of God is coming to you right now.

As I write this letter, as you read this letter, the contents of this letter, you can draw a circle around all of the contents of this letter that I am writing and label it the grace of God, and it's right now coming to you. The grace of God is coming to you in this letter, and then at the end of his letters. He doesn't say grace to you because in a way that grace has just come to them in the form of what he's written. Now his concern is grace be with you.

May, may the grace, Of God contained in this letter. That has come to you in this letter, may it now go with you. You see, we are. Almost done with our study of Ephesians.

We're almost done with Ephesians, but Ephesians is not done with us. Paul, at the beginning of the letter, when we began this study a couple years ago, says grace to you. And have we not experienced and tasted and relished so much of the grace of God? As we've seen the panorama of it just laid out wonderfully in this book and shown how to apply this grace to our lives.

Well, all that we have learned, Paul does not want us to walk away from it and say, wow, that's really amazing, and then set it down. And now let's go to another book and the grace over here that we've just experienced over the last two years, we leave it behind. Now, his concern is that the grace that has come to you through this book, my concern is that it be with you. Tomorrow and the next day.

Take what you've learned, take it with you, and may it be your continued experience in your life. Again, I would encourage you guys to go through the book of Ephesians, and every time you see the word grace, mark that word. These are, peace, love, faith, and grace are all themes to the book of Ephesians, and they all come together in the last two verses of the book, just so beautifully together. And Paul is wrapping it all up.

As a man in prison, as an ambassador of the one who died and went behind enemy lines so that we could have these blessings, and Paul holds out his chained hands. After being incarcerated for 4 years' time. And he says, Here's what I want for you. And God through Paul.

is saying to us, here's what I want for you, so much so. I was willing to sacrifice my life so that you would have this. Peace Love. Faith In grace They're yours, and I am serious about you having them.

As you can tell by the price that I have paid. So that these could be extended to you. Guys, look at anything else that the world has to offer, anything. Can anything match peace?

Love Faith And grace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, can anything match that? At the end of the day, isn't that what all of us really want? Can material things give us peace? And grace and love, now.

Nothing this world can offer can compare. You listen to the pop music artists today, and it seems like all that they can sing about is human love, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it's just so limited compared to what we have with God. It's human love. They're either singing about their love for another, and how I'm gonna love you forever, baby, and my love will never die.

But what happens in the life of the very musician who sings a lyric like that, they're divorced in weeks, sometimes after getting married, or they're singing a song about the love of another for them and how they live for that love and how awesome it is. But they can tell you from their own experience that that person who loved them in that way on this day, ceased to love them at a later date, and now they're with somebody else. The best that the world can do is sing the glories of human temporary love.

But Jesus says, greater love has no one in this that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus, without any fear of sounding arrogant, says, nobody can love you more or better than I can. Nobody, my love can outmatch anybody's. In fact, Jesus would say, I know you love yourself. I know that.

I love you more than you love yourself. And I can love you better than you can love yourself. These are awesome blessings. The peace of God, the love of God, faith in God that comes from God, and grace, the grace of forgiveness and all of the bounty that God gives to us.

Paul holds out his hands and says, here. Enjoy These things. And on this note, the book of Ephesians concludes, and on this note, our study of the book of Ephesians concludes as well. Let's look to the Lord in prayer.

Lord, my, my desire. If, if nothing else happens in response to this message other than this, I would be content. I would love for every one of us tomorrow morning, Lord, to wake up and when our eyes open. In the eyes of our heart, we see the Father.

And the sun Together, holding out your hands. And saying these words, peace to you. Love To you Faith to you and grace. To you from us.

Who paid the ultimate price because we were that serious about you experiencing these blessings. May we feel the heart of God. In these two verses. And realize that this is not just in a sense the benediction of Ephesians.

This is a benediction that you speak over us every single day as your mercies are new every morning. This is your morning benediction to us. This is your afternoon benediction that You speak to us. This is the evening benediction that you speak to us.

This is the benediction you speak to us Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, every day of the week, and every circumstance, in times of blessing in times of hardship. This is your heart towards us. And Lord, we receive that. And we thank you for it, and ask that you would give us the grace to know more of it, and to scale the heights of this.

And to be transformed by the explosions that will occur in us to the degree that we're willing to embrace it by faith. We ask these things, Lord, in the name of Jesus with gratefulness for this grace that is so unmeasured, we can never fully comprehend it. In Christ's name we pray, and all God's people said, Amen. Amen.

Let's stand together and sing of that grace.