that ye henceforth walk not, as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past failing, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ, If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, Wherefore putting away lying, speaking every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands a thing which is good, that ye may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption, that all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. We'll conclude at the verse 2 of this chapter. Let's briefly unite in prayer together. Loving Father, we come now around thy word. And we thank thee for the word of the living God. And we rejoice dear father today that we can open the book and we can gather around as the family of God. We can hear from our father in heaven through the spirit of God who comes and speaks to us through the word. He is the great instructor. He is the one who brings us to Christ. And oh to be brought to Christ today. Oh to see our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To learn of him. Oh bring us to thy yoke. We pray, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Oh, to learn of the master today. May we take the better part, the part that Mary took. Oh, may we not be like Martha. Oh, so busy. Busy, busy, busy. And yet, Lord, not still. Oh, help us to be still and to know that thou art God. And minister to these our hearts, we pray. For we now come and offer present these our prayers in and through our Savior's precious name. Amen and amen. Well this afternoon we come to preach the seventh message in our series regarding our walk with God. Now just to quickly recap for maybe those who haven't been here on a regular basis, in this series of messages we've considered in week 1 how we are not to walk as a Christian. We read that over there in the opening verse that we read this afternoon, verse 17 of chapter 4, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. In other words, we're not to walk as believers as we once walked in our unsaved state. We're not to walk after the flesh, we're not to walk in craftiness, we're not to walk disorderly, and we're not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. In week number two, we came to consider how the Lord Jesus Christ walked in this world. And I drew your attention to the fact that the Savior's walk was one that was marked by holiness, by obedience, by self-denial, by loneliness, and by humility. In week three, we came to consider about the three H's that are to mark our walk as a Christian. A believer is to walk humbly, they are to walk honestly and they are to walk harmoniously in week four we came to consider what paul says here in chapter four in the verse number one where he exhorts the believers to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they have been called and we thought about that what that walk looked like where that walk is to take place and how that walk is to be achieved in week five we thought about what it is to walk in the spirit a walk A life that is to be marked not by the works of the flesh, but by the fruit of the Spirit. And then last time we thought about walking in faith. And we did so by employing both Mary and Joseph as examples of people who exhibited such a walk in their lives. We thought about the commencement of the walk of faith, saving faith, the exercising of faith in Jesus Christ. And then we thought about how that our walk of faith just doesn't stop the moment that we come to trust in Jesus Christ, but rather there is to be a continuation in that walk of faith, and we saw that particularly in the life of Mary and how her walk, though at times it was faulty, though at times she had to be rebuked by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, her own Son, yet we found her the last event that we met her, we found her in the upper room praying with the disciples, and how she continued to walk by faith, and then we thought about the completion of a walk of faith whereby we are brought in to God's presence Himself. Well, today I want us to consider another exhortation with regard to our walk, and really it is the words that we find in the verse 1 of Ephesians chapter 5. or the verse number 2 in Ephesians chapter 5, where Paul writes, And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering, and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. So, for the rest of this meeting, I want to simply preach on the matter of walking in love. Walking in love. In the first instance, let's think a little bit about this exhortation to walk in love, the exhortation to walk in love. Paul exhorts the Ephesian saints and all who would read his letter subsequent thereafter to be followers of God as dear children, and as dear children, we are then to walk in love. We must note from the outset that Paul is not addressing here the culture of his day. He's not addressing godless society here, but instead he is addressing the church of Jesus Christ. Godless society cannot walk in love. They have never experienced the love of God in the gospel. They have not yet been captured by love in God, the love of God in Jesus Christ. However, the follower or the imitator of Jesus Christ is to live a life that is characterized by love. The fruit of the Spirit is love. And that love, that fruit will eventually work itself out in a walk that is marked, characterized by this grace, this Christian grace of love. Now, Paul is not making here a kind of suggestion to the Ephesian believers. It's not some kind of take-it-or-leave-it proposal by God's servant, but rather this is a divine directive under the penmanship of the Apostle Paul that every Christian, every believer, every child of God is to walk in love. We are to walk in love. I remind you that this directive to walk in love comes fast on the heels of Paul setting forth to his readership Their identity in Jesus Christ, who we are in Jesus Christ, precedes what we have here in Ephesians chapter 5 and the verse number 2. And thus, as Paul sets forth this thought of our identity in Jesus Christ, as he reminds them that they were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, Ephesians chapter 1, that they had been adopted or they had been predestinated onto the adoption of sons, that they had been redeemed by the blood of Christ and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, these beneficiaries of this blessing of this gospel requires them to walk in love. You see, the Apostle Paul is reminding his believers that with the blessing comes the responsibility. He reminds them that there are requirements, there are expectations. There are expectations placed upon believers because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Because He has chosen us in Christ. Because He has adopted us into His family. Because He has redeemed us by His blood. Because He has reconciled us to God and made us heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Then it is expected of us that we walk in love. It isn't that we're just saved and then, brethren and sisters, we choose how we want to walk thereafter, how we want to live our lives thereafter. No, God expects those whom He redeems and brings into His family that they walk in love. And this is the directive that He now issues to His people through the penmanship of the Apostle Paul. As the redeemed of God, you are to walk in love. You know, brethren and sisters, we need to reject a prevailing mindset that has taken hold of many in Christendom with regard to Christ's commandments. and Christ's statutes. We must never take a pick-and-mix approach when it comes to what we obey and what we choose not to obey when it comes to God's commands and God's directives. You see, adhering to God's commandments is the mark It is the hallmark of a genuine work of grace and thus to purposefully and to habitually disobey God's command is at best to place a question mark over the veracity of our claim to be a Christian and at worst is evidence that a work of grace has not been done within our lives. Jesus Christ said, if you love me, keep my commandments. And this is one of his commandments. We are to walk in love. The Holy Spirit, he places no Get out claws, no loophole, no means of evading this commandment. We are simply to obey this commandment of God. We are to walk in love. And I want you to notice that this walking in love isn't just something that you do when you initially come to Jesus Christ, but rather this walking in love is to be habitual. It is to be constant. It is to be ongoing. Because you see the Apostle Paul, he uses here the present imperative, which simply means that our walk is to be consistently marked by love every day. Every day the believer is to walk in love. Now as we unfold this exhortation then to walk In love, we come to see this commandment, that it could be considered in one of two ways. First of all, we could consider this exhortation to walk in love in light of our relationship with God. in light of our relationship with God. You see, no Christian can walk in love with their fellow man until they first walk in love with God. That obviously requires the miracle of the new birth. Man by nature will not walk in love with God. man by his nature, his sinful nature, walks at enmity with God. He walks at a distance from God. His walk is marked by hatred. He despises God. She despises God. Maybe that's where you are today. Maybe you're one here unconverted. not saved, nor nothing of God's saving work within." Well, you cannot walk in love with God because the love of God has not yet triumphed in your soul and in your heart. However, whenever salvation visits the soul, then, thank God, a new heart is given, and that person begins to love God, and therefore, they begin to walk in love with God. You see, because God is love and God comes to dwell within us, then God's children begin to walk in love. And Paul encouraged his readership to walk in love. He's not asking them to do something that is foreign to the Christian life. No, this new nature that has now come to take possession of the child of God expresses itself in such a walk in love. To walk in love is to be guided. It is to be governed by the love of God. It is to have a life that is governed and guided by the love of God. And I say, brethren and sisters, that that which should motivate us to do anything in our Christian life is love for God. You know, you should read your Bible because you love God. You should pray because you love God. You should engage in Christian service because you love God. You should come to the place of public worship because you love God. You should gather for corporate times of prayer because you love God. You should give your tithe and your offering into the work of God because you love God. You should live a life of holiness for no other reason than you love God. Brethren, sisters, I don't want to be the minister of a congregation whose attendees only come to meetings and only serve God because that's what the minister expects. I want to minister among a people who do what they do and do simply what God expects them to do because they love God, because they love God. And so, brother, sister, in all that you do, in all that you do in your life, do it because you simply love God. because you're walking in love with Him. This exhortation to walk in love can also be considered in with our relationship with our fellow man. Why the first great commandment is that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The second is like onto it we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. And so whenever we come to love our neighbor as ourselves, we're going to find that we walk in love toward them. That will automatically lead to us seeking after their spiritual welfare and the good of others. In every sphere of life, we are to walk in love. We are to walk in love within the family. Open warfare, And families is not an indicator that you are walking in love. Open warfare among families is not an indicator that you are walking in love. We are to walk in love within the church. Hatred and envy and bitterness and jealousy among the members of a church fellowship is a sign that that church is not fulfilling the command to walk in love. And then as we make our way out into the world, love should motivate our actions and our interactions with those that we will come into contact with at school, in our places of employment, in our neighborhoods. And all of this, Paul, will subsequently unfold within the next few chapters of this book of Ephesians. He'll deal with the marital relationship. He'll deal with the parental relationship. He'll deal with the employer and the employee relationship. Now, walking in love, brethren and sisters, we must put this on record that walking in love with our fellow man does not mean that we shy away from exposing that which is wrong. Some people think, well, if we're walking in love with one another, we just can't offend anybody. We can't, as it were, show them their faults and their feelings. No, no, no, not at all. Love requires us to do that from time to time. to show a person the error of their ways. But even whenever we do that, we are motivated with love. Paul will speak about speaking the truth, but to do so in love. And so the motivating factor is that we're walking in love and we're speaking the truth in love. You know, it is an amazing thought to even think that Paul would have to write this among a company of God's people, but he had to. It must be evident then by him writing such a thing that at least one of two things, either that they were not walking in love or he knew that there was a susceptibility even among God's people that there would be bickering and there would be infighting and jealousies and envies and that there would be no walking in love. And so he puts it on the record that as the dear children of God you are to walk in love. walk in love with one another, first of all with me and then with one another. I come to ask you this question as I come to ask myself, am I one who walks in love? In my family, my relationship with my wife and daughter, do I walk in love? My words and my actions and my deeds Are they marked by love? And then among the family of God, as the minister of the congregation and the pastor of a company of people, do I fulfill my duties of comforting and correcting the saints? Do I do it in love? And then in the world, when I go out into the world, do I conduct my affairs and my business in love? I tell you, there are times that I feel miserably, miserably. We need to be reminded of this very basic instruction. It's not complicated. It's not rocket science, brethren and sisters. You're to walk in love. You're to walk in love. What Paul is saying to us is that that every act of life is to be dictated by the love of God and love to God, which will then in turn overflow in loving our fellow man. And so we have this exhortation to walk in love. It's a commandment, so are we going to obey it? We're going to leave this building 20 minutes from now. Are we going to walk in love from this moment on? Are we going to make that choice? Are we going to resolve by the grace of God, by the help of the Spirit, Lord, whatever this is to walk in love, help me from today walk in love, because this is God's commandment. This is God's commandment. As we think about this walking in love, I wanted to consider in the second place the expression or the exhibition of walking in love. The apostle Paul, not in this book, but elsewhere, We'll give a detailed description of how such a walk of love is to be expressed or exhibited in the church and in the world. I'm sure you're familiar with the words of 1 Corinthians chapter 13, but turn there because here we find the Apostle Paul speaking about charity or speaking about love. And in this particular chapter, we don't have time to read it all, the words are familiar, but we do have marks, distinguishing characteristics that mark out this walk of love. We find that he's spacing the verses four through to six, and so we want to go through those verses and just to prise out, to prise out from the verses what distinguishing marks characterize a walk of love. If we're going to walk in love, well then, I believe these things will be exhibited within our lives. I want you to notice, first of all, from the words of the verse number four, that the one who walks in love is a walk that will be marked by patience. Charity suffereth long. Charity suffereth long. Long-suffering and patience characterizes the person who walks in love because Love suffereth long. It suffers long. Are you a patient husband? Are you a patient wife, a patient child? Under provocation do you show self-restraint? Do you forbear with the infirmities of the weaker vessel, husband? Do you bear long with the faults of others within the home. Are we patient? in discipling those believers who have not yet reached the stage of spiritual maturity. John Wesley said, the love of God and of our neighbor for God's sake is patient toward all men. It suffers all the weakness, ignorance, errors, and infirmities of the children of God, all the malice and the wickedness of the children of the world, and all this not only for time, but to the end, patient endurance and long-suffering are the marks of a person who walks in love. But it goes on to say that a person who walks in love is a person whose walk will be marked by kindness, for charity is kind. Instead of the word kind, William Tyndale, in his translation of the New Testament, he placed the word courteous. Courteous. Those who walk in love are inclined to perform kind deeds to their fellow man. I'm told that the Greek word, the root word, means to be useful, and hence the meaning is to be disposed to being useful. Let's take this sort of kindness into the setting of our homes and ask ourselves the question, does kindness mark our interactions with others in the home? Christian husband, are you kind to your wife? and vice versa. What about brothers, sisters? Are you kind? Kind to your fellow siblings in the home? And then you can extrapolate this thought of walking in kindness and in love. You can take it out of the home and take it then into the work environment. And that individual that riles you and gets under your skin, if you're going to walk in love, you're going to have to show kindness. kindness towards them, and then into the church that believer that just seems to be that there's a clash of personalities. Aye, but are you going to show kindness to them regardless of, as it were, this clash that there is, that exists? If you're going to walk in love, you're going to have to show kindness to them. What about those that you work or you interact with at school, those who mock you and scorn you and laugh at you because you're a Christian and you're a believer? There's things that you do that others will not do. Are you going to show kindness to them whenever they revile you, when they persecute you, when they say all manner of evil against you, when they post something on social media with regard to your life? Are you going to show them kindness? is to walk in love. To be one who is possessed with charity is the one who will be kind. Note whenever one walks in love that that walk will be marked by contentment. Contentment, charity envieth not. It envieth not. Now if ever there was a rare jewel to be found, it is that rare jewel of contentment. Paul will say elsewhere that godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness with contentment is great gain. You see, when a person is content with their lot, they'll not succumb, they'll not succumb to the sins of envy or the sins of jealousy. Paul, he states here that charity envieth not You remember that the next time when a fancier car drives into the church car park. You remember that. Charity is content. It envieth not. And whenever maybe some sister invites you to come round to the house and to see their latest home improvements, you remember that, that love or charity, it envieth not. And whenever someone else enters into an office within the church that you sought to enter yourself and were unsuccessful, you remember that charity envieth not. And ponder it whenever some other believer, some Christian worker finds greater success in the ministry or in the work of God than you do. Remember, charity envieth not. The person who walks in love will not be envious of others. There's a verse in Romans there, Romans 12 verse 10. I'll just read it to you. It says, be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another. That's what it is to walk in love, to prefer others before yourself. When brotherly love exists in a fellowship of believers, God's people, instead of being envious and jealous of one another, they prefer one another. They're happy when another finds position within the church and not themselves. There's contentment. There's humility. It goes on to say there in verse 4, that charity vaunteth not itself. It's not puffed up. When we come to understand God's love for us and become We become the beneficiaries of that love. We are humble before God. There's no room for arrogancy. There's no room for pride in the life of the Christian who walks in love. Pride would put ourselves on the podium. However, when we love God and we come to love our neighbors, then we'll think less of ourselves. We will not be those who push ourselves forward to walk in love. It means to walk in humility. It means to walk in holiness. Doth not behave itself unseemly. Walking in love will mean that we will walk in a way that becometh the gospel, that is fitting for the gospel. We'll not behave ourselves in an unseemly way that crosses the boundaries or the limits of decency. Holiness will be the mark of the person who walks in love, the love of God. When one walks in love, that walk will be marked by unselfishness. It goes on to say, seeketh not her own. It will be marked by serenity, is not easily provoked. It will be marked by non-maliciousness, thinketh no evil. And it will be marked by a proper estimation of sin and truth. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. And so the person who walks in love We'll have a life that is marked by patience, by kindness, by contentment, humility, holiness, unselfishness, serenity, non-maliciousness. We'll hate sin and we'll love the truth. I think if we were honest with ourselves, brethren and sisters, we would have to say that there's a long way for us to go to be able to say that we're walking in love. A long way to go. And yet that's what God would have us to do, walk in love. Let me say on the third issue, it relates to this mark of love. It is our final point. I want you to think about the exemplification of a walk of love. The exemplification of a walk of love. Walking in love was exemplified by none other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If ever there was one who walked in love, it was the Savior. It was the Master. This is what Paul goes on to say within our text. He says, yes, walk in love as, and so he gives us the great example, the great pattern to which we are to pattern our lives around, as Christ also has loved us. Christ is the great example, pattern that we are to mimic in this walk in love. That's really what the word follower means. It is to be a mimic. and mimic, one who mimics another. And so we are to mimic Jesus Christ. And you think of all that I brought to your attention from 1 Corinthians chapter 13, and now you apply those marks of a walk of love, and you apply them to Jesus Christ, and do you not see that all of these things find their fulfillment, their exemplification in the person of Jesus Christ? Was there anyone more patient than the Son of God? In Jesus Christ, perfection had its, or patience had its perfection. He patiently bore the ignorance and faithfulness of his disciples. He patiently bore the rejection and the hatred of his nation. He patiently bore the scorn and the malice of his enemies. I and even ourselves, when it came to us, he patiently bore along with us, did he not? The patience of Jesus Christ. And yet the wonderful thing is that he never grew impatient. He never wearied of offering the gospel or offering blessing. He never withdrew His gracious gift from us or from them. And so we see in the life of Jesus Christ the exemplification of this walk of love. It was a walk of patience. J.R. Miller put it well, never did the world see any other patient so loving. He prayed for his murderers. He gave back the most gentle answers to the most cruel words. His response to the world's enmity was the gift of salvation. From the cruel wounds made by nail and spear came the blood of human redemption. The patience of Jesus Christ. Think about the kindness of Jesus Christ. Was there any as kind as he? gentle Jesus, meek and mild. What a kind God He is. The Gospels relate the kindness of the Son of God, kindness that earmarked His public preaching and His healing ministry, the curing of the soul coupled with the healing of the physical frame, evidenced the kindness of the Son of God. And then when every climb Golgotha's hill, And he made his way to the cross, and there he laid down his life as a ransom for many. The Son of God, he manifested his kindness to the most undeserving of his creatures, a kindness that has never been and will never be trumped by another. His kindness. Oh, how kind Jesus Christ is. There is a kindness to him. that surpasses any human person's kindness. There's a kindness in all that he says and all that he does. There's a kindness in his promises, a kindness in his chastenings and in his rebukes. There's a kindness in what he gives to us. There's a kindness in what he withholds from us as his children. The Savior's kindness exhibited in the walk of love. Think about the contentment of Jesus Christ. Was there ever a man more content than him? He who was the possessor of heaven and earth had no reason to be envious or jealous of any other. All things were made by him and all things were made for him. There was nothing that he grasped after because of a sense of jealousy within. Despite him being the form of God, we're told that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, as if it was something to be grasped after. No, rather he took upon himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man. Walking in love made him the most contented man in this world. walking in love will make you a contented man, a contented woman, a contented young person. Was there anyone more humble than the Son of God in His becoming a man, that great act of condescension, Christ becoming man? In His humanity, He humbled Himself when He became obedient unto death, even The death of the cross, walking in love, certainly took him to a place, to that humble place, whether that was washing his disciples' feet or hanging on a cross in naked shame. The humility of the Son of God, the one who walked in love, walked in humility. His holiness, never did divine holiness appear more beautiful and glorious than in the person of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. A better pattern of holy living you'll not find than Jesus Christ. Holiness would mark all that he did and all that he said. Was there anyone more selfless, more serene, more pure, more sin-hating, more truth-loving than the Son of God? And so we have set before us in the person of Jesus Christ the greatest example of one who walked in love, and that walk in love, brethren and sisters, it exhibited itself It, as it were, worked itself out in the life of Jesus Christ. I was thinking about this just this morning. I thought about the Savior whenever He walked to Sychar's well in John chapter 4, and He conversed with that prolific, adulterous woman. What caused Him to go to Sychar? It was love, love for that woman, and He walked in love to her. He could have called her many things. All he called her was woman. He could have dragged up her sinful past. He could have made her a public object of scorn and shame. He could have rehearsed all of her sins before the disciples, but he simply said woman. That's it. Because why? He walked in love toward her. He loved her. he walked into the temple in John chapter 8 and was confronted with a woman taking an adultery, he walked in love. When he met Judas Iscariot there at the entrance of the garden of Gethsemane and he called him friend, he was walking in love. I and brethren and sisters, when he walked the road to Calvary, When he walked the road to Calvary and there he laid down his life for us, he was walking in love. Love made him walk the Calvary road. Oh, the love of our Redeemer. It's exemplified, this walk of love. It's exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus' lover. of my soul. Love moved him from the throne. Love brought him down into this world. Love, love took him to the cross. Love, divine love caused him to share his precious blood and give his life as a ransom for his people. He walked in love. And so we are to walk in love. Brethren and sisters, we're not simply to admire. We're not simply to admire the Savior's walk of love. We are to mimic His walk of love. At this point in human history, while as difficult as that may be, we are to walk as Christ walked. We are to walk in love, in love to God. in love to our fellow man. You may say, Preacher, that is a very difficult thing for us to do. I know it is. I know it is. How can I walk such a walk as Christ walked, this walk that is marked by these particular graces? How can I walk this walk? Well, I point you again to the words within this very epistle. It is the key that unlocks living the Christian life successfully. Ephesians 5, 18. And be not drunk with wine wherein is access, but be filled with the Holy Ghost. Be filled with the Spirit. Only by the filling off the Spirit of God, you and I will be enabled to walk this walk of love. And so before you even leave your pew today, ask God to fill you with His Spirit, if you haven't already this day, and ask Him to fill you again, that you might be able to walk in love. For if your car Is anything like our car? You might need this help to walk in love before you reach home today. To walk in love. May God help us, within the church and without, to be believers who walk in love. Let's pray. We've got our Father today, maybe more difficult message today with regard to the explanation. And yet, Lord, whatever this means, to walk in love, and we've tried to explain the various marks and characteristics of what this walk is going to look like. Whatever this walk of love is, Lord, help me to walk it. Help me to walk in love in this world. Among my brethren and sisters, help me to walk in love. And in my family, Lord, help me to walk in love. May we not be bickering. May we not be finding fault with one another, whether it be in close quarters or whether it be in the wider family circles in which we live. Lord, may we walk in love. May we love, O God, Thee, and may we love one another. For this is the commandment. This is the commandment, a new commandment I give on to you, that you love one another. Oh, help us to love one another. We recognize, Lord, we cannot love sin. We cannot do that, Lord, for, Lord, Thou art the one who hates sin. So help us to have done with our sin. And whenever we're rebuked and whenever we're corrected and whenever, O God, we're challenged about our sin, may we have done with our sin. And may, O God, the one who rebukes and who corrects and who comes with that word of exhortation, may that person come to us in love, considering themselves. Help us, Lord, we pray. Help this congregation to walk in love. Bless, Lord, our witness here. Take away anything that would mar the blessing and would quench the spirit of God. Grant in these days a baptism of heavenly love a love for thee, and then a love for one another. And so prayer, part us with thy blessing, and in thy fear, we offer prayer in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen.