Life after Death Now (Ephesians 2:1-10)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:06.519 Please reign standing and turn your attention to Ephesians, chapter two, Ephesians two, 2 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:11.789 verses one through ten. This is God's word. Let us give our 3 00:00:11.789 --> 00:00:18.350 attention to it. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which 4 00:00:18.350 --> 00:00:23.539 you once walked, following the course of this world, following the Prince of 5 00:00:23.579 --> 00:00:27.539 the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the 6 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:32.579 sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived, in the passions of 7 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:37.450 our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and whereby 8 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:43.850 nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich 9 00:00:43.969 --> 00:00:47.890 in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when 10 00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:53.560 we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive. Together with Christ. 11 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:58.240 By grace, you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated 12 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:02.079 us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, so that in 13 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:07.510 the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards 14 00:01:07.510 --> 00:01:11.510 us. In Christ Jesus, for by grace you have been saved through faith, 15 00:01:11.750 --> 00:01:15.269 and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, 16 00:01:17.189 --> 00:01:19.859 not a result of works, so that no one may boast, for 17 00:01:21.019 --> 00:01:26.379 we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works which God 18 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:33.650 prepared beforehand that we should walk in them praise God. You may be seated. 19 00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:41.370 As we read through and considered the various verses that we had in chapter 20 00:01:41.569 --> 00:01:47.319 one, we came to see where many, many reasons why we ought to 21 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:52.280 praise God, why we ought to bless his name, why we have every 22 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:57.840 reason to be filled with thankfulness and joy and the Holy Spirit for the things 23 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:02.310 that God has done. If you even just let your eyes sort of scan 24 00:02:02.549 --> 00:02:07.710 down that page or scan down that column and Ephesians One, you'll remember some 25 00:02:07.830 --> 00:02:10.990 of these things or even see them for the first time, if you're looking 26 00:02:10.990 --> 00:02:15.219 at them for the first time. You'll notice things about his electing love, 27 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:22.379 about calling us in the beloved, about redeeming us, about giving us an 28 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:27.259 inheritance, about lavishing us with blessings, about giving us victory over all the 29 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:36.810 powers of darkness and and many other things. Having been elected in Christ and 30 00:02:36.930 --> 00:02:42.610 even given the very spirit of God himself, we arise up and call God 31 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:46.639 blessed, even as Paul does in verse three. Blessed be the God and 32 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:51.400 father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every 33 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:55.520 spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. When we come to chapter two, then, 34 00:02:55.759 --> 00:03:00.870 in effusions, we get a little more of the backstory. Paul has 35 00:03:01.069 --> 00:03:06.710 poured out in this great section of praise all of these things that God has 36 00:03:06.750 --> 00:03:09.389 done for us, these gifts that he has given to us. When we 37 00:03:09.430 --> 00:03:13.900 get to the beginning of Ephesians chapter two, we come to understand what the 38 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:20.500 context was for those gifts, the things that we have received. Now, 39 00:03:20.580 --> 00:03:24.819 they were hinted for us or to us in chapter one in phrases like redemption 40 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:31.770 through his blood or the forgiveness of our trest passes. These phrases tell us 41 00:03:31.849 --> 00:03:38.610 something about the context in which God has poured out these blessings. The context 42 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:42.520 really matters. You know, if somebody comes up to you and just gives 43 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:49.000 you a check, you might say thank you, but it does matter what 44 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:54.439 that check is for. Is it a gift because it's your birthday? Is 45 00:03:54.520 --> 00:04:02.430 it the repayment of alone? Is it perhaps a Alane that you are taking 46 00:04:02.469 --> 00:04:05.909 out that you will need to be repaid? You will need to repay or 47 00:04:05.990 --> 00:04:11.580 even with interest, a hundred dollar check is a hundred dollar check. But 48 00:04:12.819 --> 00:04:17.220 the context matters, and Paul has addressed that and spoken to that in chapter 49 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:20.980 one. But in chapter to he he really gets into it. He really 50 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:27.170 helps us to understand how it is, in what the in what situation we 51 00:04:27.329 --> 00:04:31.209 were in which God has given us these blessings. Remember, too, is 52 00:04:31.250 --> 00:04:36.370 we begin to read this, that he is speaking firstly to these ephesian Christians, 53 00:04:38.250 --> 00:04:44.319 a first generation church, people that have come out recently, out of 54 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:48.079 a lot of paganism, the magic, the temples, the sorcery, the 55 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:55.350 all kinds of idolatry, both in their hearts and visibly before their eyes, 56 00:04:56.110 --> 00:05:00.310 temples and places filled with Gods. That now they are and but now they 57 00:05:00.310 --> 00:05:05.149 are singing praise to the one and true God, the only living God. 58 00:05:06.029 --> 00:05:12.819 They're living in a context. This culture is around them which has before or, 59 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:17.339 I'm sorry, the culture around them, which had pulled them in to 60 00:05:17.420 --> 00:05:24.529 darkness and to idolatry. But now they are singing to God and seeking his 61 00:05:24.689 --> 00:05:31.170 his mercy. What happened? What was the context? Let's look at it 62 00:05:31.209 --> 00:05:36.000 in effusions to the first thing Paul says is that they were dead in the 63 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:42.920 trespasses and sins in which they once walked. They were dead, they were 64 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.519 not doing okay, and then somebody came to guide them to a better life. 65 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:53.310 They were like dead people, incapable of doing anything good and capable of 66 00:05:53.509 --> 00:05:57.629 walking in darkness or, I'm sorry, in light. The death that they 67 00:05:57.670 --> 00:06:01.990 had was characterized by walking in darkness. It was a lifestyle that they led, 68 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:06.620 a darkness that was characterized, as he continues on in this way, 69 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:12.939 following the course of this world, following the Prince of the power of the 70 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:16.980 air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 71 00:06:18.209 --> 00:06:21.649 The life that these Ephesians led was, another words, a demonic one. 72 00:06:23.410 --> 00:06:26.529 When it speaks of the Prince of the power of the air, he's talking 73 00:06:26.569 --> 00:06:31.850 about Satan, who has remaining power, for he is now at work in 74 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:36.920 the sons of dies disobedience, and even was at work in them, causing 75 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:43.399 them and calling them to the worship of idols, to giving themselves up to 76 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:46.430 the lusts of their bodies, as he says in verse three, among whom 77 00:06:46.509 --> 00:06:50.949 we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires 78 00:06:51.069 --> 00:06:55.949 of the body and the mind, and we're by nature children of Wrath, 79 00:06:56.589 --> 00:07:01.019 like the rest of mankind and Colossians. Paul talks about this in a similar 80 00:07:01.060 --> 00:07:04.620 way. He says that you Christians the to the Colossians. You Christians have 81 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:11.579 been rescued out of a dominion of darkness and brought been brought into the Kingdom 82 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:15.089 of God's beloved son, a Kingdom of light, a kingdom of Health, 83 00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:24.209 a kingdom of salvation. In Ephesus it was magic and temples and materialism, 84 00:07:25.209 --> 00:07:30.879 but things haven't changed all that much. We may not have giant temples devoted 85 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:35.639 to gods and Goddesses, though of course we do as well, but these 86 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:41.720 things are still present, and we could even predict that from this passage. 87 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:47.750 Why? Because he says that they were by nature sons of disobedience. They 88 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:54.829 were by nature children of Wrath, like the rest of mankind. This tells 89 00:07:54.870 --> 00:07:59.420 us something not only about the Ephesians, but about us. The EPHESIANS were 90 00:07:59.459 --> 00:08:03.019 not dead in their trespasses and sins. The PHESIANS were not bound in slavery 91 00:08:03.100 --> 00:08:11.339 and darkness because of their social conditions or because of the the the particular culture 92 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:16.490 at that time and that alone. It was in them. It was because 93 00:08:16.569 --> 00:08:22.250 of their nature, their fallen nature, which God had made holy, but 94 00:08:22.370 --> 00:08:28.199 which man, in sin, brought into darkness and corruption. That matters and 95 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.919 should matter to us, because it means that when Paul writes to the Ephesians, 96 00:08:31.960 --> 00:08:35.559 he's not writing only to them, but writing to all of us who 97 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:41.279 bore born with this nature of Adam. It means that when we think of 98 00:08:41.429 --> 00:08:43.629 the salvation of God, we have to think about it in these terms. 99 00:08:45.750 --> 00:08:48.549 We were not those who just needed a little bit of help or those who 100 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:54.470 are walking fine and doing okay. We were dead in our very births, 101 00:08:56.740 --> 00:09:01.139 David says, in sin did my mother conceive me? There is a way 102 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:05.340 in which we are brought into this world, which we are born into unrighteousness, 103 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:13.129 born into fleshly desires and sin. This is the context in which the 104 00:09:13.210 --> 00:09:18.529 Gospel came to the Fesian Christians, and it's the ago. It's the context 105 00:09:18.649 --> 00:09:22.529 in which the Gospel comes to all of us. So then Paul continues on 106 00:09:24.169 --> 00:09:30.000 and he continues on with these two great words, but God. That's been 107 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:33.159 said before that in these two words you have the whole essence of the Gospel, 108 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:41.830 and it's true these words but God are a kind of divine interruption on 109 00:09:41.950 --> 00:09:46.549 the way that things are. If you walked out to your garden one day 110 00:09:46.750 --> 00:09:52.629 and saw that it was covered in in in bugs and caterpillars and things are 111 00:09:52.789 --> 00:09:56.340 eating it all up, and so you go to the the the local nursery, 112 00:09:56.419 --> 00:10:00.419 and you pick up a pesticide and you spray it all off and you 113 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:03.340 you revive your garden. You're telling someone this story, you say, my 114 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:11.009 garden was dead, but the pesticide right there is this savior that came and 115 00:10:11.289 --> 00:10:15.769 revived it. We experience this in some ways in our lives, but in 116 00:10:16.009 --> 00:10:20.049 no way do we experience it like we experience it when it comes to our 117 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:24.399 very souls, when something that's not just here and now for a moment, 118 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:31.440 but something will be eternal, that has eternal consequences. To have not just 119 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:35.710 a little bit of help with our gardens or a fixing up of our house 120 00:10:35.830 --> 00:10:39.750 or a plus to our bank account, but to have our very soul saved 121 00:10:39.870 --> 00:10:46.230 by God is an amazing thing. But God, that's a divine interruption that 122 00:10:46.269 --> 00:10:50.779 I want every day of this week and for the rest of my life. 123 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:56.940 No matter what situation I'm in, no matter what desires are going on in 124 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:01.620 my heart, I always want it to be but God, God, doing 125 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:05.929 these things. God working these things, God interrupting the patterns and the habits 126 00:11:05.970 --> 00:11:15.250 and and the thinking of this world to conform me and you and two children, 127 00:11:15.370 --> 00:11:22.320 not of wrath but of light. Paul tells us what this means, 128 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.320 but first before he tells us what God does does in Verse Four, he 129 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:30.639 tells us why God did it. So, he says, but God, 130 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:35.710 and here are the two reasons he gives, being rich in mercy, because 131 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:39.990 of the great love with which he loved us. That's why there is this 132 00:11:41.230 --> 00:11:46.820 divine interruption. God doesn't stumble into salvation, he doesn't happen to help us. 133 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:52.419 He loves US, he chooses US, he lets us in his love 134 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:58.899 and says, I'm going to do something special here, something saving, something 135 00:12:00.019 --> 00:12:05.570 miraculous. I'm going to bring someone who is dead in their trespasses and sins, 136 00:12:05.250 --> 00:12:09.769 someone who is an enemy of mine, and I am going to bring 137 00:12:09.049 --> 00:12:15.409 them to life, and not just a life where they could have stumble out 138 00:12:15.490 --> 00:12:18.159 of the Tomb and go, Oh, I donno, not a not a 139 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:26.080 kind of Zombie state, but true life, living life, life that is 140 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:30.110 filled with the light of God and is worked towards his glory. As he 141 00:12:30.230 --> 00:12:33.350 says at the end, in verse ten. We are his workmanship, created 142 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:39.950 in Christ Jesus for good works which God preharit prepared beforehand that we should walk 143 00:12:41.029 --> 00:12:46.779 in them. When an artist sits down at her table, when a craftsman 144 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:52.779 pulls up his potter's wheel, they have this intention. They're going to create 145 00:12:52.980 --> 00:13:00.009 something good, design it, make it useful, make it beautiful. Well, 146 00:13:00.049 --> 00:13:05.330 if we are able to do that with painting and clay, what do 147 00:13:05.370 --> 00:13:11.769 you think God can do when he decides to work on us? Amazing things 148 00:13:11.889 --> 00:13:13.759 right, and that's what he does. He brings us from death to life. 149 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:18.159 He sits down at his potter's wheel and says, I'm going to make 150 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:24.879 something wonderful here. I'm going to create this thing, not so it can 151 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.389 just sit on a shelf, but so that it can do good works instead 152 00:13:31.389 --> 00:13:35.149 of walking in sin and walking in darkness, walking according to the flesh, 153 00:13:35.429 --> 00:13:39.350 walking according to the devil and the power and the powers of this world, 154 00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:46.700 walking in Christ Jesus, created in him for good works, a new lifestyle, 155 00:13:46.740 --> 00:13:52.340 a new way of being, of thinking, of acting, of feeling, 156 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:58.649 of living. This is what Christianity is. It's being saved by God 157 00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:05.129 from death, being brought unto life for this for the glory of his name. 158 00:14:05.330 --> 00:14:09.360 Why? Because he is rich in mercy and because he has loved us 159 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:16.440 how much. Verse Five says so, even when we were dead in our 160 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:22.480 trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ. And then he inserts this 161 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:28.470 comment, an important point. By grace you have been saved, something he 162 00:14:28.509 --> 00:14:33.070 will come back to and develop more. But continuing on in the work that 163 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:35.710 God has done in His mercy, in his love, in verse six we 164 00:14:35.830 --> 00:14:41.220 read that we have been raised up with him. See that he has seated 165 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:45.100 us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, so that in 166 00:14:45.179 --> 00:14:50.500 the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward 167 00:14:50.580 --> 00:14:56.370 us. In Christ Jesus. Have you had prayers answered in this life? 168 00:14:56.370 --> 00:15:01.610 Have you asked for things and had God give you them? Has He taken 169 00:15:01.690 --> 00:15:07.090 you through dark times? Has He given you strength for difficult times? Says 170 00:15:07.129 --> 00:15:11.440 he lifted you up. How many blessings could you count if I gave you 171 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.759 five minutes, a piece of paper and a pencil? How many do you 172 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:18.840 think you could list down? But if I give you an hour, if 173 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:26.110 I gave you a day, or even eternity, whatever God has given us 174 00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:31.070 or given you already in this life, what he will give you even more 175 00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:37.460 in the rest of your life. He promises yet more when we come into 176 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:41.299 glory. These things he has given us. He has worked these things in 177 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:46.820 us so that in the coming ages, in the future, he might show 178 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:52.570 the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us. In Christ Jesus. 179 00:15:52.649 --> 00:15:58.090 It just keeps coming. This morning we talked about water and the waters of 180 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:02.730 eternal life and the way that the imagery of the Bible, and the New 181 00:16:02.809 --> 00:16:07.919 Testament in particular, and connection with Jesus, gives us these images of ever 182 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:15.399 flowing streams feeding this garden of blessing, of Delight, of of goodness, 183 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:19.110 and consider how Jesus gives us all that we need in our lives, and 184 00:16:19.230 --> 00:16:25.629 he gives it to us continually in perfect measure. We think of the tree 185 00:16:25.870 --> 00:16:30.110 and Psalm one, being planted by streams and just drinking up that water and 186 00:16:30.269 --> 00:16:37.740 bearing forth fruit, never going away, never not enough, never too much, 187 00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:41.899 just right, or psalm twenty three, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, 188 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:48.610 leading US beside still waters, restoring our soul. This is what God gives 189 00:16:48.690 --> 00:16:52.809 to us. This is how he continues to pour out his blessings, and 190 00:16:52.929 --> 00:17:04.160 it just keeps coming and coming and coming. Now we come to this final 191 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:11.200 thought. We've seen where we have come from, what God has done and 192 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:18.829 where we are going. But he reminds us and underlines in multiple ways this 193 00:17:18.109 --> 00:17:23.990 fact that it is all by grace that we have been saved. A Work 194 00:17:25.230 --> 00:17:30.900 of divine grace is what has caused all of this. This, of course, 195 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:36.259 should be abundantly clear by now. Throughout chapter one he emphasized over and 196 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:40.380 over that all of this was according to his good will and his pleasure, 197 00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:45.170 but nothing was the result of us, only of God's will and God's desiring 198 00:17:45.329 --> 00:17:48.049 and God's planning. And when we come to chapter two that becomes even more 199 00:17:48.170 --> 00:17:55.009 clear, because God has not merely pitying poor people or helping out sick people. 200 00:17:55.690 --> 00:18:02.400 He is resurrecting dead people, and not just dead in a sort of 201 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:07.880 a neutral term, but cursed people, people that are walking in death, 202 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:12.670 acting in death, that are corrupted and polluted. If you go and you 203 00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:21.549 read Leviticus, you'll read all kinds of laws that deal with ceremonial cleanliness or 204 00:18:21.589 --> 00:18:26.140 uncleanliness. You shouldn't touch this and you can't be near this and you shouldn't 205 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:30.900 eat that, but you can eat this. A lot of those laws, 206 00:18:30.980 --> 00:18:33.900 I won't say all, but a lot of them, have to do with 207 00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:38.059 the nature of death. The closer things come into contact with death, the 208 00:18:38.140 --> 00:18:44.289 closer things come up and to contact with corruption, the more impure they are, 209 00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:48.410 the more unholy they are. There's a separation that needs to happen because 210 00:18:48.450 --> 00:18:52.769 God is God of life, the God of joy and peace. That is 211 00:18:52.890 --> 00:19:00.119 for the aim he has for his people. Death is a polluted thing, 212 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:06.279 a corrupting thing, and so when we are saved, we're not saved out 213 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:11.390 of this some kind of neutral category where we just were and then God gave 214 00:19:11.430 --> 00:19:18.190 us something. In other words, God didn't give us undeserved favor. God 215 00:19:18.349 --> 00:19:23.500 gave us demerited favor. He gave us something not only that we hadn't earned, 216 00:19:23.859 --> 00:19:27.900 but that we had earned the opposite of. We weren't just in a 217 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:32.539 neutral category, and then God sort of piled on these great this grace to 218 00:19:32.619 --> 00:19:37.690 us. We had done the opposite. We deserved condemnation instead of justification. 219 00:19:38.210 --> 00:19:42.049 We deserved his wrath and his judgment instead of blessing. But then God just 220 00:19:42.250 --> 00:19:47.690 comes in and pours out his love on us. This is why he is 221 00:19:47.809 --> 00:19:52.720 called rich in mercy, he's called rich in grace. These are, of 222 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:57.599 course, amazing things. I'll quote you a little bit from a jerome, 223 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:06.279 the one who translated the Bible into Latin for us. He says, now, 224 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:11.390 so there is this secret thought, and it goes like this. If 225 00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:15.950 we have not been saved by means of our works, perhaps we have been 226 00:20:15.990 --> 00:20:19.109 saved by means of faith, and it is another manner in which we are 227 00:20:19.109 --> 00:20:25.660 saved of ourselves. Jerome says, do not let this sneak into your thinking 228 00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:29.539 by chance. In reference to this, he thus goes on and says that 229 00:20:29.700 --> 00:20:33.180 faith itself is also not of our will, but is the gift of God. 230 00:20:34.259 --> 00:20:38.369 It is not that human free will, or it is not that human 231 00:20:38.490 --> 00:20:42.970 free will is removed. In accordance with what the apostle says to the Romans, 232 00:20:44.049 --> 00:20:48.450 it is not of him who runs or of him who wills, but 233 00:20:48.609 --> 00:20:52.799 of God who shows mercy. The very freedom of the will has God as 234 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:57.839 its author, and all things are referred to his benefaction, since it is 235 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:03.440 he himself who permits us even to will the good. But all of this 236 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:07.670 has been said so that no one may glory as if he has been saved 237 00:21:07.710 --> 00:21:12.710 by himself and not by God. This is the great teaching of the Bible 238 00:21:14.470 --> 00:21:17.910 that we stand in the rich mercy and grace of God, and it matters 239 00:21:17.990 --> 00:21:22.140 a great deal for many reasons. First, it matters because who are we 240 00:21:22.299 --> 00:21:26.660 going to praise? Who are we going to glorify? Are we going if 241 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:30.220 the if our salvation is as any is in any way a part of ourselves, 242 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:36.009 we have reason to boast. But Paul undermines that. He pulls out 243 00:21:36.009 --> 00:21:40.250 the rug on our self righteousness and he says so that you have no reason 244 00:21:40.369 --> 00:21:45.490 to boast. It is not the result of works, not just bad works, 245 00:21:45.569 --> 00:21:48.559 but even good works. It has nothing to do with your works. 246 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:56.759 It has to do everything with the work and the Gift of God. So 247 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:00.319 this doctrine matters very much for how we praise God, who we glorify, 248 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:03.349 who we worship? Do we serve ourselves? Do we worship ourselves, or 249 00:22:03.390 --> 00:22:07.869 do we glorify him? Do we serve him and worship him? It also 250 00:22:07.910 --> 00:22:12.470 matters when we face dark times and difficult times, when we're looking around for 251 00:22:12.589 --> 00:22:17.579 something to cling to, as I mentioned this morning, when we're drowning are 252 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:19.900 you going to grab onto your own arm? Are you going to grab onto 253 00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:23.059 your own leg? How far is that going to get you? How much 254 00:22:23.099 --> 00:22:27.779 will that help you rise up out of out of the watery waters of judgment? 255 00:22:27.819 --> 00:22:33.809 Not at all. You Need God, you need his strength, you 256 00:22:33.930 --> 00:22:38.130 need his gift, you need his life, not your own. So this 257 00:22:38.329 --> 00:22:44.009 doctrine matters for the praise of God, it matters for your own salvation in 258 00:22:44.210 --> 00:22:48.079 knowing where to turn, in whom to turn, in all times and in 259 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:52.319 all ways, and it also matters, and all end with this, it 260 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:56.799 also matters for how we go forth in our lives, in the new ways 261 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:03.869 in which we walk. People who despise this doctrine, though it is obviously 262 00:23:03.349 --> 00:23:10.470 taught in God's word with perfect clarity and, I think, without any ambiguity. 263 00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:14.660 People despise it because they say, well, if you tell people that 264 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:18.859 gray, that their salvation is all a gift of God, well then what 265 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:23.339 becomes of good works? Will they not do them? Will they ignore them 266 00:23:23.500 --> 00:23:29.970 and despise them? Well, let me ask you, from the word of 267 00:23:30.049 --> 00:23:34.049 God, what does God's word say? Right? What does it say? 268 00:23:34.809 --> 00:23:41.130 It says that we have been given this gift and that we are as a 269 00:23:41.289 --> 00:23:45.119 result of that. His workmanship, as I read, already created in Christ 270 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:52.440 Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 271 00:23:55.990 --> 00:24:00.630 There are things that you and I will or plan, desire choose all the 272 00:24:00.750 --> 00:24:07.190 time that never come to pass right. Sometimes that's in reference to other people. 273 00:24:07.309 --> 00:24:11.619 Maybe you have employees at work or a coworker you're trying to get to 274 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:15.539 do something, or you're a mom of a child that doesn't like vegetables. 275 00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:21.500 There's all kinds of ways in which we decide such and such a thing will 276 00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:26.930 be and we can't seem to make it happen. We can't seem to affect 277 00:24:26.089 --> 00:24:33.849 that. God is not like that. Don't make him in your image. 278 00:24:33.410 --> 00:24:41.079 You are made in his image. He's different than us. He's powerful and 279 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:45.599 Almighty and when God chooses to do something, he doesn't get frustrated in it. 280 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:52.079 He doesn't make someone, he doesn't get put his workmanship and his craftsmanship 281 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:56.589 on someone, call them to good works and then be frustrated and wring his 282 00:24:56.750 --> 00:25:00.630 hands and say, Oh, I wish they would do better, if only 283 00:25:00.750 --> 00:25:06.269 I could do something. He doesn't sit up in heaven and wine. He 284 00:25:06.430 --> 00:25:10.900 sits up in heaven and laughs. Is What Psalm to says. He laughs 285 00:25:11.140 --> 00:25:15.380 in derision and all those who would seek to break apart the bond between him 286 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:22.609 and his anointed one, who is Christ Jesus, who has done these things 287 00:25:22.009 --> 00:25:27.650 for our salvation. God takes the plans and the will of many breaks them 288 00:25:27.730 --> 00:25:33.769 to pieces, like holding a rod of iron and a Potter's vessel. Psalm 289 00:25:33.849 --> 00:25:40.119 too says crash, as easy as that. We read throughout the scriptures over 290 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:42.799 and over and over and over again about the mighty hand of the Lord. 291 00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:48.640 And so if he lets you in love, he he calls you before the 292 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:56.349 foundation of the world, he covenant within himself to Save Your Soul and to 293 00:25:56.549 --> 00:26:00.150 call you unto good works. Do you think this doctrine, this this teaching 294 00:26:00.349 --> 00:26:06.180 of God, this gift of God, is going to fail? Of course 295 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:11.140 it won't, because it's God who's doing the work now. Of course we 296 00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:17.180 know that in our lives we do sin, that we don't walk according to 297 00:26:17.259 --> 00:26:21.369 the ways in which we are called to, we don't walk according to obedience 298 00:26:21.410 --> 00:26:26.329 and the will that he has decreed. But we believe and trust him that 299 00:26:26.529 --> 00:26:33.160 his spirit is at work in us, sanctifying US and bringing us into as 300 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:37.079 Paul says here the coming ages that he might bless us more and more. 301 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:42.640 That's the promise. Now, if you want to, you can reject it, 302 00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:47.269 you cannot believe it, you can walk away from it and say, 303 00:26:47.269 --> 00:26:49.990 well, I just don't think that's true, that it's your option, I 304 00:26:51.109 --> 00:26:55.390 guess. But that's not what God says, that's not what he promises. 305 00:26:55.750 --> 00:27:00.069 It's not what he gives to us. And he calls us to believe. 306 00:27:00.109 --> 00:27:03.859 It calls us to trust in him, and when we do we are then 307 00:27:04.099 --> 00:27:11.420 walking in that newness of life. I want to read a one other passage 308 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:18.650 of scripture to you and then we'll close. This comes from Titus, titus 309 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:29.809 chapter three. Now, this same Paul who wrote Ephesians is now writing to 310 00:27:29.890 --> 00:27:33.079 titus, and he's writing to titus as a as a church planter. Right 311 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:38.640 he's writing to this pastor giving him instructions for ministry. Right here, titus, 312 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:42.440 this is how you be a minister of the Gospel, this is how 313 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:48.670 you really execute this mission that we have been given. Okay, gives him 314 00:27:48.670 --> 00:28:00.099 various instructions, many of which are are similar, similar to I'm sorry, 315 00:28:00.299 --> 00:28:03.619 I'm I'm skimming here, as I'm talking about many which are similar to what 316 00:28:03.740 --> 00:28:08.819 Paul has has said in Ephesians. I want you to note a few things 317 00:28:08.859 --> 00:28:11.579 here. First and titus. One of the things we notice is that Paul 318 00:28:11.740 --> 00:28:18.609 is not nonchalant about good works. Paul doesn't talk to titus and this church 319 00:28:18.690 --> 00:28:22.690 it's and say, well, you all know that you're saved by faith alone 320 00:28:22.890 --> 00:28:26.930 and grace alone, Christ alone. So you know you're fine. Don't don't 321 00:28:26.970 --> 00:28:30.279 worry about obedience. I don't really care. If it comes, it comes, 322 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:33.200 if it doesn't, it doesn't. He doesn't say that. For example, 323 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:37.480 in Verse Seven of Chapter Two, Paul says to tie us, show 324 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:41.670 yourself in all respects to be a model of good works and in your teaching, 325 00:28:41.710 --> 00:28:48.190 show integrity, dignity and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that 326 00:28:48.269 --> 00:28:52.150 an opponent may be put to shame having nothing evil to say about us. 327 00:28:52.150 --> 00:28:59.339 What does Paul want of somebody who is charged with ministering the Gospel to be 328 00:28:59.539 --> 00:29:06.980 a model of good works? He goes also on to say to him to 329 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:10.569 incur, not just model that, but to call the people toward that. 330 00:29:11.329 --> 00:29:15.369 Look at Verse Fourteen, Chapter Two, verse for Okay, Chapter Two, 331 00:29:15.410 --> 00:29:19.930 verse thirteen. He says we're waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of 332 00:29:21.049 --> 00:29:25.440 the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself 333 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:30.880 for us to redeem us from what all lawlessness and to purify for himself a 334 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:37.920 people for his own possession. Who are what? Zealous for good works again, 335 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:41.269 do you hear the purpose and intention of God? Does he save us 336 00:29:41.430 --> 00:29:45.109 so that we can just be set free and sort of stumble out of our 337 00:29:45.190 --> 00:29:49.589 cages and wander around the world and darkness? No, he saves us, 338 00:29:49.950 --> 00:29:56.339 fills us with light and he is purifying us so that we would be a 339 00:29:56.460 --> 00:30:00.299 people zealous for good works. He says then to titus in Verse Fifteen, 340 00:30:00.740 --> 00:30:07.809 declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard 341 00:30:07.890 --> 00:30:11.009 you. Get up in their faces from time to time. He says to 342 00:30:11.130 --> 00:30:17.369 titus, be a thought, have authority about this. Don't be shy in 343 00:30:17.609 --> 00:30:22.240 calling people to good works, in calling people to be zealous. Right, 344 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:29.240 this is Paul taking the doctor doctrines of election and justification and sanctification and glorification 345 00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:32.839 and saying, Ah, you see good works here, are there or whatever? 346 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:37.549 Obviously not. And if we don't know how to put those things together, 347 00:30:37.589 --> 00:30:44.950 then we don't understand the doctrine of the Bible. Well, can I'm 348 00:30:44.950 --> 00:30:48.910 going to continue reading, having too much fun. Verse. Three remind them 349 00:30:48.950 --> 00:30:52.900 to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready 350 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:57.420 for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, 351 00:30:57.779 --> 00:31:03.579 to be gentle, to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Now, 352 00:31:03.660 --> 00:31:06.170 listen to this, it sounds a lot like effusions. Next, for we 353 00:31:06.289 --> 00:31:11.609 ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, let us stray say it, slaves to 354 00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:15.730 various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by 355 00:31:15.769 --> 00:31:21.000 others and hating one another. But right, but God, here it is. 356 00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:26.279 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our savior appeared, 357 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:32.440 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but 358 00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:37.150 according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the 359 00:31:37.230 --> 00:31:42.750 Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on US richly through Jesus Christ, our 360 00:31:42.869 --> 00:31:49.380 Savior, so that, being justified by His grace, we might become heirs 361 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:55.660 according to the hope of eternal life. Now get this vers eate. The 362 00:31:55.859 --> 00:32:02.250 saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things so that 363 00:32:02.450 --> 00:32:08.009 those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. 364 00:32:10.690 --> 00:32:14.930 So listen to that last verse that I just read and put that into 365 00:32:14.970 --> 00:32:19.599 connection with the things that we've been talking about. He says to this pastor, 366 00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:23.519 I want you to speak to these people in such a way that you 367 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:29.640 insist on these things. You impress them, you don't let them go. 368 00:32:30.309 --> 00:32:35.710 Push, Push, push. Insist. That's a strong word, sometimes an 369 00:32:35.750 --> 00:32:42.509 obnoxious word perhaps, but nevertheless he says insist. And what are the these 370 00:32:42.750 --> 00:32:46.539 things? It's the things that he's just mentioned that you, who were dead 371 00:32:46.660 --> 00:32:52.099 in your trespasses and sins, were made alive together with Christ Jesus, so 372 00:32:52.259 --> 00:32:55.900 that in the coming ages he might pour out the immeasurable riches of His grace. 373 00:32:57.539 --> 00:33:00.529 Well, that's EPHESIANS language, but he says the same thing basically here 374 00:33:00.609 --> 00:33:06.369 in Titus, and he pulls it out in so many ways. He taught, 375 00:33:06.410 --> 00:33:09.089 he talks about all of these things that God has done. Insist on 376 00:33:09.289 --> 00:33:15.440 the Gospel, in other words, insist on telling people, over and over 377 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:22.519 and over again, the good news of justification by faith alone. Of sanctification 378 00:33:22.839 --> 00:33:28.869 by faith alone, of glorification by faith alone, of adoption by faith alone, 379 00:33:28.910 --> 00:33:31.430 that all of these things so that we, who are being justified by 380 00:33:31.549 --> 00:33:37.789 His grace, might become heirs. According to this hope, what is the 381 00:33:37.950 --> 00:33:44.420 result? What's the sort of practical pastoral result that Titus can expect as a 382 00:33:44.539 --> 00:33:49.539 result of this insisting on the Gospel, he tells them, so that those 383 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:52.940 who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. 384 00:33:53.779 --> 00:33:59.490 That's what happens when you preach the Gospel, when you insist on the Gospel, 385 00:33:59.769 --> 00:34:05.170 when you feed on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, good works happen. 386 00:34:05.970 --> 00:34:08.570 That's what he says. That's his pastoral advice to titus, and, of 387 00:34:08.690 --> 00:34:13.440 course, this is applicable to all of us in our lives. If we 388 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:17.440 want to be people that are devoted to good works while not depending on them 389 00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:22.760 for our salvation, what do we do? We put our faith in Jesus. 390 00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:28.989 We trust him, not in our own work so that we can then 391 00:34:29.150 --> 00:34:34.630 boast and praise ourselves, but in his works so that, being justified by 392 00:34:34.710 --> 00:34:39.059 His grace, we can have hope and life and a lifestyle, a way 393 00:34:39.300 --> 00:34:45.579 of living that is pleasing to him. Do you get that? That is 394 00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:51.820 the doctrine of the Bible. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. What 395 00:34:51.940 --> 00:34:54.369 it is that God has done in the things it results in. And I 396 00:34:54.530 --> 00:34:59.849 promised you that as long as I'm a pastor here, this is my job 397 00:35:00.050 --> 00:35:04.449 too, to preach these things, to insist on these things, and as 398 00:35:04.690 --> 00:35:08.199 the and as I do so and as I'm lifted up in your prayers, 399 00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:13.920 and God is Gracious, this is what will happen. We will grow, 400 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:20.559 will grow and sanctification, souls will be saved. Why? Not because of 401 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:23.869 any great thing in me, but because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 402 00:35:24.030 --> 00:35:29.070 Was it which is at work in the world through his word? It's what 403 00:35:29.230 --> 00:35:31.869 I have to depend on week by week, it's what you have to depend 404 00:35:32.030 --> 00:35:37.300 on week by week. And together, as we depend and live on and 405 00:35:37.539 --> 00:35:45.099 in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are being saved. Amen, let's pray