Our text is found in Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six, if you would like to turn there. Paul is closing the letter to the church of Ephesus. And at first glance, I thought, well, I'll just add this part to the part that we heard earlier. But I saw something the Lord brought to my attention, something that Paul gives by the Lord's inspiration, and it's three gifts of the Spirit. The three gifts of the Spirit. And there's many more, but there's three specifically found right here. That's what I've titled the message, Three Gifts of the Spirit. Here in his closing words, Paul mentions three precious things that God must supply if we are to have them.

We've said a lot, many times, that everything God requires, he has to provide because he only accepts that which he provides. And that is true in all spiritual blessings, all spiritual gifts, all spiritual things. If God doesn't give it to us, we do not naturally produce anything, spiritually speaking, except spiritual death. That would be it. So the Lord has to be the one to give us these spiritual gifts.

Mankind, by nature, mankind has a nature that is contrary to the God in every way, contrary to God in every single way, and even to the things of God. Listen to 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. For the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. What does that mean to you? What does that mean to me?

The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit because they are spiritually discerned. They are foolishness to him. Now are we in the flesh here physically speaking? Are we not natural men and women? Then our flesh will not receive the things of God because they are foolishness to it.

I've said this once, and I'll say this many more times, I'm sure, if the Lord enables me to continue to stand for a long time. The flesh hates God right now. And Jesus Christ did not come to save the flesh. Jesus Christ did not come to redeem the flesh. That's why the flesh goes back to the dust from whence it came. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, to save the soul that was dead and trespasses it in sin and make it alive.

An eternal creature of righteousness, not a physical creature that is subject to time, but a timeless creature. That's what our Lord did. That's what our Lord did. Our inability to receive the things of the Spirit of God, physically speaking, in the flesh, that never changes. We can't do it. Somebody said, I don't understand this, or I don't understand that. And men have spent lifetimes trying to break down scripture in order to understand more about who God is, or perhaps about theology, perhaps about this, or perhaps about that, when in reality, The believer is relinquished to this simple fact that Christ is our wisdom. Christ is our wisdom. Christ is our hope. Christ is our rest. Christ is our peace. And that is the spiritual blessings by the Lord that he gives to his people. I just mentioned some of them right there.

Our flesh never gets better, never changes for the better. The flesh's lust for power, lust for popularity, lust for pleasure gets worse and worse and worse and worse until we die. But God has purposed his spirit to cause his people to be born again, born from above. And the elder shall serve the younger, the new man created in Christ, created in righteousness and true holiness, Is not subject to the old man of the flesh. The flesh is subject to the new man the new creature and By his spirit and by his power. He keeps his people from themselves So what am I saying?

No matter how bad you get in the flesh where sin doth abound grace did much more abound That's the good news of the gospel your sin cannot be worse than than how good God's grace is, it's not possible. Where sin doth abound, grace did much more abound. Now these precious gifts of the Spirit that the Lord gives to his people, well they're glorious for one, but it's the only way we would have them if the Lord gives them.

Paul said this, in me, That is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Do you believe that? Do you see that in yourself? Do I see that in myself, in me? That is to say, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Well, I'm not that bad. You know, I don't do this or I don't do that. In me. that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

Men have come up with the false notion that sinning is what we do when in fact sinning is what we are. We're sinners by nature. We're sinners by practice. We're sinners by choice. It is our nature to sin. I need to be born again. I need to be saved from myself. I need to be made righteous because I can't work righteousness. I need to be made holy because I can't work holiness. I am a sinner.

And the good news is the angel of the Lord that declared Jesus Christ's arrival in Matthew chapter one told Joseph, call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sin. He shall, he shall. On the other hand, the false religious, false preachers, false gospel, works gospel says to do this and to do that. But do you know such a gospel can never bring peace, only more work?

Think about the law. That's where they get that from is the law. Do this, do that, keep this, keep that, honor this, honor that. Don't do that. Or you can do it sometimes, but you can't do it all the time. I mean, the law was, Not simple. The law was not simple. That's the point. No man could keep it.

The law showed us that we could not please God. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto the Savior, to show us you need Him. Law couldn't redeem, and yet men still say, do this and do that, don't do this, don't do that. And yet, They miss the verse that says, for by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourself, meaning not what you do or don't do.

It is the gift of God. It's not of works. Paul was very clear on this subject. He said, if it's of grace, it can't be of works. And if it's of works, it can't be of grace. They do not mix. If I'm working, I'm not looking to Christ's grace alone. And if I'm looking to Christ's grace alone, I am not looking to my works. This is only achieved by God-given faith, which is one of the gifts we're getting to.

Brethren, the truth is, is every religion says work, work, work, and only God's people are made to rest on the Sabbath, the same thing that God rested on. The picture of the creation of everything was a picture of God's salvation, plain and simple, and on the Sabbath day, he rested.

When the Pharisees were upset with the Lord for healing the blind man, he healed many people on the Sabbath, and I think he did it just to make them angry, in my opinion, I don't know. He just seemed that was the way. Every time he would do something, they would call him out, and he said, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. He was telling them, I am the Sabbath. You've missed everything. I am the Sabbath, I am he. And yet, they were worried about the day, not the person. And that's us, we're gonna miss the person, but we'll keep the day. Keeping the day ain't gonna change anything, is it? It's a work. No, we have to rest entirely upon what God rested in, and that was His precious Son alone. He's the author and finisher of faith.

Now let's read this, Ephesians chapter six, verse 21 through 24. but that ye also may know my affairs and how I do. Tychicacus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord shall make known to you all things whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose that you might know our affairs and that you might comfort, he might comfort your hearts.

Peace be to the brethren. and love with faith from God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with you all. Be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Here we have three glorious gifts, three gifts of the spirit. That's the title of this message. We have three glorious gifts that God bestows to his chosen people, peace, love with faith and grace. And if the Lord has ever caused us to see his face, we know that these are precious, precious gifts, precious gifts.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9 15, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift, his unspeakable gift. And what is it? What an unspeakable gift it is to know that the sovereign creator, the Lord of all things, the eternal I am, he that was, which is, and which is to come, the Lord of lords, the king of kings, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. There's so many names in scripture that describes his glory, describes his isness. What great gift has been given to God's people that we can have peace.

We can have peace with God. Peace with God. What do I mean? I mean when you lay your head on your pillow tonight, whether you take your last breath or not, if you die in your sleep and you wake up, you can die knowing that because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, you have genuine, true peace with God. Not because of what you've done, Not because of what you haven't done. You have peace with God because of Jesus Christ.

All these gifts are wonderful, but they're all, there is none greater than the other one. What a glorious gift the Lord's given to his people. You have peace with God. God no longer looks at his people in judgment and in wrath and in anger and in frustration. Somebody said, well, I've upset God. Well, how do you know? Well, things are bad lately. Been having it rough. You know, God must be pouring out his wrath upon me for this sin that I committed.

No, he poured out his wrath upon his son one time. And God was satisfied with the sacrifice of his son. God was well pleased. with his son in so much that the Lord drank the entire cup of damnation dry. There's nothing left for the child of God but peace.

Right now. When you leave this building and you're driving down the road and something happens, whatever it may be, it's not because God is angry at you, child of God. It's for your good and his glory. No matter what happens outside this building, no matter what happens outside in your home, in your life, your family, It is not, if you're his child, it's not because he's angry at you. No, he's angry with the wicked daily, but to his people, he sees his people as perfectly righteous in Jesus Christ.

Why? We have peace with God. We have peace with God. This was all accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary all by himself. This is the first gift mentioned here. We have real, complete, unchangeable peace with God. I love that word unchangeable. Unchangeable.

You can't change it. That means you can't do something to cause contention between you and God. You can't do something to drive a wedge between you and God. You can't do something that's gonna cause God to turn his back upon you and leave you to yourself. You can't do something where God's gonna say, You're no longer my elect. You know why? He's not looking at your faithfulness. He's not looking at my faithfulness. He's looking at what Christ's faithfulness accomplished. Therefore, his people have peace with God. Peace.

Those of you who are married and, well, you don't even have to be married to understand that experience this. Even the children will understand this because there's contention that they have at school sometimes, different places. When you have a contention, you have strife, you have animosity, you have fights and feuds and fusses, people make fun of you, people pick on you, whatever, and spouses in your home, whenever you have a disagreement, and it's a hard disagreement, you're trying to come to a conclusion, that tension that you feel and that struggle that you're trying to work through and you're trying to figure out how to get over this and move on because it's just grieving you, we don't have that with God.

We don't have to, we're not struggling with God. And he's not struggling with us. He said, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob, mine elect, you're not consumed. You're not lost. You have peace with God. And you can't mess it up. I love that. I can't mess it up. Because if I could, oh, I would, I would.

Romans 5, one says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By faith, we have peace with God. You want peace? Anytime you feel frustrated, you're looking at the world, looking around you, looking at yourself, you're loathing your sin, you're seeing, and all the things in the world are overwhelming to you. You see the ugly and the horrid things that's going on in the world. If you wanna have peace, look to Christ.

That's where our peace can be found. That's the only place we're gonna find it. Do you know why we come here, every service, to hear the good news of the gospel? Because we're hoping the Lord will give us peace. Because Christ is our peace. We have peace with God by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Me? I have peace with God? A vile, wretched sinner? A dead dog sinner without hope? Helpless, lost, dead, and trespasses in sin? I have peace? How can that be? Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not you that wrought peace. It's not you that brings peace into your life. God is the one that gives peace to his people. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter two, just a few pages back. Look at verse 11 through 18. Ephesians 2, 11.

Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. That at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to make in himself of twain a new man, so making peace. and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace unto you which were afar off and to them which were nigh, for through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father.

Why do we have peace? Verse 14 is very clear. He is our peace who hath made one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Why do you have peace with God? Christ Jesus hath slain the enmity that is in your flesh on the cross of Calvary.

Paul said, if we had hope in this world, we'd be of all men most miserable. God's chosen people have eternal peace, everlasting peace. Why? What is the Lord's name? His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father. That's his name. Having Christ is having peace, do we see that? And that's who the Lord has given unto his people, the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is Christ our peace? Well, because he made peace for his people all by the sacrifice of himself, all by his suffering, all by his finish work, God's wrath, was made to pour out upon his son entirely, entirely. That his people would never have to receive payment for their sin. They would never have to receive, hear the words guilty for their sin.

That's why we have peace. The guilt that we have, the Lord took unto himself. The sin that we are, the Lord nailed to his cross on the tree, it says, nailing them to his cross. That's how we have peace. The only way you and I could have peace is if the sin is all gone and the sin is all gone by the blood of Christ. We're going to take the Lord's table in a little bit. He said, when I see the blood, I'll pass by you. That's what made peace.

It's not what you do. It's not what you don't do. It's not what I do or what I don't do. It's not a prayer I've prayed, not a choice I've made, not a place I've went. Not how many times I've read the Bible, not how much scripture I have memorized, not if I can understand everything, every single theological thing in the scriptures, not if I know plenty of doctrine, has nothing to do with that. He said, when I see the blood, I'll pass by you. Why? Because that blood has made peace for the Lord's people.

Listen to what Colossians 1 says. The Lord Jesus Christ has made peace through the blood of his cross. The Lord Jesus Christ has, past tense, made peace through the blood of his cross. Colossians 1 20. By him making peace to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven and you, which were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, you now have been reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight." Now don't miss this. The first part says the Lord Jesus Christ has made peace through his blood, through the blood of his cross.

What did that accomplish? To present you, his people, holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. That's three other spiritual blessings, being holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. That's what the Lord accomplished on the cross of Calvary. When he says he made peace by his own blood, that's what that blood accomplished.

It's already finished. All the God's people have been given an unspeakable gift by the work of Christ. We now have peace. Peace with God, peace with God. What a gift of the Lord. Now go back to Ephesians 6, just two pages over. Let's read verse 23 again. Peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that all of this is coming from God the Father. Peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God's elect have love with faith. Oftentimes we have talked about love. The love that God has towards His people, the love that the Son has towards the Father, the love that God has, or the love that we have towards God, because it's shed abroad in our heart. Matter of fact, the scripture tells us we love Him because He first loved us. Tells us you know that you've passed from death unto life because you love the brethren. So many times people take that love and they try to make a work out of it. Have I done enough? Am I doing this right? Have I showed this person I love them enough?

Perish the thought, brethren. This is faith. This is love with faith. with faith. The scripture tells us very clearly that faith worketh by love. What does that mean? Is this a call that I need to examine myself? That I need to see if I'm loving like I'm supposed to? No. No, this is a love that is in us by the gift of God. This is the love that the Lord has given.

Listen to Romans chapter five. And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us. How can a man or woman, after we've established that we completely are depraved and there's no way that we would have any interest in God whatsoever, how can they love God?

Because his love is shed abroad in the new heart he gives to his people. John 17, 26, the Lord is praying, Jesus Christ is praying to his Father. He says, I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them. That's why you love God, because Christ said, the love that you've given to me, I'm giving to them. So first we have peace with God, then we have love with faith, with faith. This is the gift of God to give to his people. We love him. because he first loved us.

This cannot be merited. This cannot be copied. This cannot be duplicated. This cannot be earned in any way. This is the gift of God. And I'll go back and say what I said before. Every spiritual gift of God is by grace alone. And we're going to get to that at the very end, because that's the last one. But everything that God gives is by grace alone.

It's not because of what you've done. It's not because of what you haven't done. If I work harder, that doesn't mean that I am getting better. It doesn't mean that I'm earning more favor with God. It doesn't mean that the Lord's gonna reward me with more spiritual things. It simply means I'm working. I'm working. And if I'm working, I'm not looking to Christ.

Every spiritual gift that the Lord gives is by his spirit and by his grace alone. Ephesians 5, 2 says, and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself an offering and a sacrifice to God, a sweet smelling savor. Brethren, how do we walk in love? How do you walk in this love? Lord says, walk in love, okay? Now let's try to figure this out. We gotta figure this out. I gotta figure out how to walk in love. If this is what the Lord's telling me I gotta do, I gotta make a journal, start figuring out how to walk in love. This isn't the time to examine self.

You find yourself walking in love, loving the brethren, loving God, God's the doer of it. That's the whole point. Walk in love, brethren, is not to look at evidence at yourself or as part of your salvation. This is love with faith. Don't miss that. Don't miss, religion, false religion misses that completely. They talk about love as if it's something we produce or something that we do.

No, this is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Look to him. You wanna love the brethren, look to Christ. You wanna love the Lord, look to Christ. This is love with faith. Faith doesn't walk by sight. Faith looks to Christ. Like everything that God requires, he must provide. He gives faith in Christ alone and sheds his love abroad in our hearts. Therefore, when his people love, it's by looking to Christ alone. It's by looking to Christ to provide everything God requires.

Okay, Lord, I don't know how to walk in love. That's the point. You need a substitute. Look to Christ. And the day that you're able to look and say, boy, I am loving perfectly. We're not. If that's our opinion, we're not. Because we're seeing something with our eyes.

This is love with faith. It looks unto the Lord because he's the some substance and source of it. Lord really does, don't misunderstand this though, the Lord really does knit our hearts together. Scripture's clear on that. But he knits our hearts together looking unto him alone. Do we see that? The church that falls is the church that doesn't have their hearts knit unto each other looking unto Christ. They just like each other's company. Maybe they all smell good. You know, I don't know. Maybe they all have the same hobbies. I don't know.

When you come together with the Lord's people, you have one desire, and that's to see Him high, lifted up, seated on the throne. That's where our hearts are knit together, in that love for Him that He's shed abroad in our hearts. For in Christ, Galatians 5, 6 says, for in Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Don't you love the verse that said God works that which is pleasing in His sight in His people? God works in his people, that which is pleasing in his insight. What does that mean?

Well, I thought the scripture said work out your own soul salvation. Well, if you examine yourself for a brief moment, you'll find out that there's nothing in you that's good, and if you find something that's good, get rid of it. That's exactly what Paul's saying. Look to Christ alone.

God works that which is pleasing, which brings us to our last point. Everything I have mentioned this morning in the first hour, for those of you in here, the second hour, every gift, every good thing, scripture tells us clearly, all good things cometh down from the Father of lights. Who is that? That's God. All good things come down from God. I can't produce them, I can't merit them, they come down for Him. How do they come down from Him? Let's read it together. Verse 24, grace. Be with all of them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Grace. All by grace.

The difference between what we preach and what every other false religion believes is there's something, some sliver, some thing, some work of some kind that they must do as part or evidence of their salvation, something. It's all the same. It doesn't matter. If there is something that must be done, it's false religion. It's that simple.

Only the Lord's gospel declares that it's all by grace, all by his will, all by his purpose, all by his power, and all for his glory. Where does that leave you and I? Have mercy on me, the sinner. That's where it leaves us. That's exactly where we find mercy, is when he puts us in that position.

Everything mentioned thus far, the peace with God, the love with faith, the love that God's shed has brought in our heart, all the gifts of God that are found in Christ are given for one reason, grace. Grace. Salvation is of the Lord. Scripture tells us clearly, I've quoted this once already, for by grace, Are you saved through faith in that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Grace is not earned, it is the unmerited favor of God. It was by his choice and his purpose, by his determinant counsel.

If we don't see God as absolutely sovereign, we'll never appreciate what it means when he chose to save us. If we don't see him as sovereign, we haven't been given repentance. Men hate God being sovereign. They can't change it, but they hate it because it puts salvation exactly where it belongs, in His hands.

According to His will, according to His power. Meaning it renders us powerless. But I would remind you what the scripture says, He has all power. And just as we've said before, all means all, brethren. The Lord says he has all power. That means I have none. I can't get it. I can't earn it. I don't have any power. He has all power.

Grace is hinged upon the person and finished work of Christ alone. It's hinged upon the person and finished work of Christ alone. It's not hinged upon, I wrote an article about sacrifice, service, and self-denial. That's something that's really popular right now in today's false churches, that you have to examine your sacrifice, your service, and your self-denial. And in doing so, you're walking the, what they call Christian walk. God's not looking at my sacrifice, he's not looking at my service, and he's not looking at my self-denial. He's looking at the sacrifice, service, and self-denial of Jesus Christ for my salvation. and for the salvation of God's people.

If he looks at mine, he'll find it tainted, he'll find it ruined, because they that are in the flesh cannot please God. It's that simple. The difference between our gospel and the false gospel of all false religion is that we have peace, genuine, true peace with God, because we're looking to Christ alone who is our peace. We have genuine love for the brethren and love to God by his faith that is bestowed because he has given us a new heart to do so. You notice both of those are from him. He's done both of those. We didn't do any of that. And lastly, it's all by his grace. All by his grace. freely given to His elected people all for His glory."

It's by grace God elected a people, it's by grace Christ justified those people. Listen to this, Romans chapter 3, being justified freely by His grace to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be the propitiation through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth on Jesus." What is he saying?

You've been justified by the Lord Jesus Christ, his finished work. You've been given peace with God because you've been justified. You've been given love towards God because he shed it abroad in your heart. And you've been given faith to believe the Lord Jesus Christ, all by grace, all by grace. It is all by grace that the Spirit regenerates and keeps his people.

And you know, I quote this often, 1 Peter 1.5, that we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. That's all of grace too. And if we find ourself awaking in his likeness, you know what the reason's gonna be for that? Grace. That's it. No, but I did this and I did that.

We've done many wonderful works in your name, Lord, no. Apart from me, you that work iniquity, I never knew you. But the ones that God have given hope in nothing else but the grace of God and the finished work of Christ by faith alone, his faith given by, that's so important we understand that he's gotta give us the faith. We are made to say, have mercy on me, the sinner. And the Lord says, enter in thou good and faithful servant. Why? Because Christ is our justification. Christ is our righteousness and Christ is our only hope.

Thank God for these three gifts of the Spirit. These three gifts of the Spirit. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would take these words, this message, and you would bless it to understanding. Lord, as we are about to partake in your elements, reminding us of your body and your blood, we ask that you would cause us to remember, as you commanded us to do this in remembrance of you, cause us to remember your truth, how glorious these gifts are that you've given to us. In Christ's name, amen.