Episode Transcript
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Please reign standing and turn your attention
to Ephesians, chapter two, Ephesians two,
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verses one through ten. This is
God's word. Let us give our
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attention to it. And you were
dead in the trespasses and sins in which
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you once walked, following the course
of this world, following the Prince of
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the power of the air, the
spirit that is now at work in the
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sons of disobedience, among whom we
all once lived, in the passions of
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our flesh, carrying out the desires
of the body and the mind and whereby
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nature children of Wrath like the rest
of mankind. But God, being rich
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in mercy because of the great love
with which he loved us, even when
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we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive. Together with Christ.
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By grace, you have been saved
and raised us up with him and seated
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us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, so that in
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the coming ages he might show the
immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards
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us. In Christ Jesus, for
by grace you have been saved through faith,
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and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God,
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not a result of works, so
that no one may boast, for
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we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus, for good works which God
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prepared beforehand that we should walk in
them praise God. You may be seated.
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As we read through and considered the
various verses that we had in chapter
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one, we came to see where
many, many reasons why we ought to
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praise God, why we ought to
bless his name, why we have every
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reason to be filled with thankfulness and
joy and the Holy Spirit for the things
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that God has done. If you
even just let your eyes sort of scan
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down that page or scan down that
column and Ephesians One, you'll remember some
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of these things or even see them
for the first time, if you're looking
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at them for the first time.
You'll notice things about his electing love,
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about calling us in the beloved,
about redeeming us, about giving us an
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inheritance, about lavishing us with blessings, about giving us victory over all the
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powers of darkness and and many other
things. Having been elected in Christ and
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even given the very spirit of God
himself, we arise up and call God
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blessed, even as Paul does in
verse three. Blessed be the God and
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father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every
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spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
When we come to chapter two, then,
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in effusions, we get a little
more of the backstory. Paul has
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poured out in this great section of
praise all of these things that God has
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done for us, these gifts that
he has given to us. When we
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get to the beginning of Ephesians chapter
two, we come to understand what the
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context was for those gifts, the
things that we have received. Now,
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they were hinted for us or to
us in chapter one in phrases like redemption
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through his blood or the forgiveness of
our trest passes. These phrases tell us
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something about the context in which God
has poured out these blessings. The context
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really matters. You know, if
somebody comes up to you and just gives
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you a check, you might say
thank you, but it does matter what
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that check is for. Is it
a gift because it's your birthday? Is
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it the repayment of alone? Is
it perhaps a Alane that you are taking
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out that you will need to be
repaid? You will need to repay or
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even with interest, a hundred dollar
check is a hundred dollar check. But
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the context matters, and Paul has
addressed that and spoken to that in chapter
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one. But in chapter to he
he really gets into it. He really
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helps us to understand how it is, in what the in what situation we
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were in which God has given us
these blessings. Remember, too, is
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we begin to read this, that
he is speaking firstly to these ephesian Christians,
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a first generation church, people that
have come out recently, out of
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a lot of paganism, the magic, the temples, the sorcery, the
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all kinds of idolatry, both in
their hearts and visibly before their eyes,
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temples and places filled with Gods.
That now they are and but now they
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are singing praise to the one and
true God, the only living God.
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They're living in a context. This
culture is around them which has before or,
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I'm sorry, the culture around them, which had pulled them in to
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darkness and to idolatry. But now
they are singing to God and seeking his
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his mercy. What happened? What
was the context? Let's look at it
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in effusions to the first thing Paul
says is that they were dead in the
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trespasses and sins in which they once
walked. They were dead, they were
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not doing okay, and then somebody
came to guide them to a better life.
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They were like dead people, incapable
of doing anything good and capable of
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walking in darkness or, I'm sorry, in light. The death that they
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had was characterized by walking in darkness. It was a lifestyle that they led,
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a darkness that was characterized, as
he continues on in this way,
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following the course of this world,
following the Prince of the power of the
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air, the spirit that is now
at work in the sons of disobedience.
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The life that these Ephesians led was, another words, a demonic one.
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When it speaks of the Prince of
the power of the air, he's talking
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about Satan, who has remaining power, for he is now at work in
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the sons of dies disobedience, and
even was at work in them, causing
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them and calling them to the worship
of idols, to giving themselves up to
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the lusts of their bodies, as
he says in verse three, among whom
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we all once lived in the passions
of our flesh, carrying out the desires
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of the body and the mind,
and we're by nature children of Wrath,
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like the rest of mankind and Colossians. Paul talks about this in a similar
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way. He says that you Christians
the to the Colossians. You Christians have
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been rescued out of a dominion of
darkness and brought been brought into the Kingdom
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of God's beloved son, a Kingdom
of light, a kingdom of Health,
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a kingdom of salvation. In Ephesus
it was magic and temples and materialism,
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but things haven't changed all that much. We may not have giant temples devoted
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to gods and Goddesses, though of
course we do as well, but these
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things are still present, and we
could even predict that from this passage.
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Why? Because he says that they
were by nature sons of disobedience. They
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were by nature children of Wrath,
like the rest of mankind. This tells
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us something not only about the Ephesians, but about us. The EPHESIANS were
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not dead in their trespasses and sins. The PHESIANS were not bound in slavery
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and darkness because of their social conditions
or because of the the the particular culture
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at that time and that alone.
It was in them. It was because
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of their nature, their fallen nature, which God had made holy, but
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which man, in sin, brought
into darkness and corruption. That matters and
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should matter to us, because it
means that when Paul writes to the Ephesians,
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he's not writing only to them,
but writing to all of us who
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bore born with this nature of Adam. It means that when we think of
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the salvation of God, we have
to think about it in these terms.
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We were not those who just needed
a little bit of help or those who
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are walking fine and doing okay.
We were dead in our very births,
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David says, in sin did my
mother conceive me? There is a way
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in which we are brought into this
world, which we are born into unrighteousness,
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born into fleshly desires and sin.
This is the context in which the
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Gospel came to the Fesian Christians,
and it's the ago. It's the context
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in which the Gospel comes to all
of us. So then Paul continues on
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and he continues on with these two
great words, but God. That's been
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said before that in these two words
you have the whole essence of the Gospel,
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and it's true these words but God
are a kind of divine interruption on
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the way that things are. If
you walked out to your garden one day
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and saw that it was covered in
in in bugs and caterpillars and things are
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eating it all up, and so
you go to the the the local nursery,
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and you pick up a pesticide and
you spray it all off and you
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you revive your garden. You're telling
someone this story, you say, my
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garden was dead, but the pesticide
right there is this savior that came and
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revived it. We experience this in
some ways in our lives, but in
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no way do we experience it like
we experience it when it comes to our
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very souls, when something that's not
just here and now for a moment,
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but something will be eternal, that
has eternal consequences. To have not just
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a little bit of help with our
gardens or a fixing up of our house
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or a plus to our bank account, but to have our very soul saved
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by God is an amazing thing.
But God, that's a divine interruption that
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I want every day of this week
and for the rest of my life.
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No matter what situation I'm in,
no matter what desires are going on in
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my heart, I always want it
to be but God, God, doing
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these things. God working these things, God interrupting the patterns and the habits
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and and the thinking of this world
to conform me and you and two children,
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not of wrath but of light.
Paul tells us what this means,
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but first before he tells us what
God does does in Verse Four, he
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tells us why God did it.
So, he says, but God,
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and here are the two reasons he
gives, being rich in mercy, because
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of the great love with which he
loved us. That's why there is this
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divine interruption. God doesn't stumble into
salvation, he doesn't happen to help us.
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He loves US, he chooses US, he lets us in his love
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and says, I'm going to do
something special here, something saving, something
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miraculous. I'm going to bring someone
who is dead in their trespasses and sins,
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someone who is an enemy of mine, and I am going to bring
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them to life, and not just
a life where they could have stumble out
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of the Tomb and go, Oh, I donno, not a not a
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kind of Zombie state, but true
life, living life, life that is
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filled with the light of God and
is worked towards his glory. As he
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says at the end, in verse
ten. We are his workmanship, created
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in Christ Jesus for good works which
God preharit prepared beforehand that we should walk
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in them. When an artist sits
down at her table, when a craftsman
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pulls up his potter's wheel, they
have this intention. They're going to create
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something good, design it, make
it useful, make it beautiful. Well,
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if we are able to do that
with painting and clay, what do
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you think God can do when he
decides to work on us? Amazing things
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right, and that's what he does. He brings us from death to life.
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He sits down at his potter's wheel
and says, I'm going to make
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something wonderful here. I'm going to
create this thing, not so it can
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just sit on a shelf, but
so that it can do good works instead
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of walking in sin and walking in
darkness, walking according to the flesh,
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walking according to the devil and the
power and the powers of this world,
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walking in Christ Jesus, created in
him for good works, a new lifestyle,
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a new way of being, of
thinking, of acting, of feeling,
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of living. This is what Christianity
is. It's being saved by God
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from death, being brought unto life
for this for the glory of his name.
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Why? Because he is rich in
mercy and because he has loved us
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how much. Verse Five says so, even when we were dead in our
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trespasses, God made us alive together
with Christ. And then he inserts this
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comment, an important point. By
grace you have been saved, something he
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will come back to and develop more. But continuing on in the work that
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God has done in His mercy,
in his love, in verse six we
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read that we have been raised up
with him. See that he has seated
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us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, so that in
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the coming ages he might show the
immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward
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us. In Christ Jesus. Have
you had prayers answered in this life?
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Have you asked for things and had
God give you them? Has He taken
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you through dark times? Has He
given you strength for difficult times? Says
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he lifted you up. How many
blessings could you count if I gave you
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five minutes, a piece of paper
and a pencil? How many do you
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think you could list down? But
if I give you an hour, if
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I gave you a day, or
even eternity, whatever God has given us
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or given you already in this life, what he will give you even more
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in the rest of your life.
He promises yet more when we come into
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glory. These things he has given
us. He has worked these things in
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us so that in the coming ages, in the future, he might show
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the immeasurable riches of his grace in
kindness toward us. In Christ Jesus.
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It just keeps coming. This morning
we talked about water and the waters of
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eternal life and the way that the
imagery of the Bible, and the New
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Testament in particular, and connection with
Jesus, gives us these images of ever
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flowing streams feeding this garden of blessing, of Delight, of of goodness,
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and consider how Jesus gives us all
that we need in our lives, and
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he gives it to us continually in
perfect measure. We think of the tree
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and Psalm one, being planted by
streams and just drinking up that water and
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bearing forth fruit, never going away, never not enough, never too much,
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just right, or psalm twenty three, Jesus, the Good Shepherd,
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leading US beside still waters, restoring
our soul. This is what God gives
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to us. This is how he
continues to pour out his blessings, and
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it just keeps coming and coming and
coming. Now we come to this final
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thought. We've seen where we have
come from, what God has done and
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where we are going. But he
reminds us and underlines in multiple ways this
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fact that it is all by grace
that we have been saved. A Work
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of divine grace is what has caused
all of this. This, of course,
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should be abundantly clear by now.
Throughout chapter one he emphasized over and
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over that all of this was according
to his good will and his pleasure,
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but nothing was the result of us, only of God's will and God's desiring
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and God's planning. And when we
come to chapter two that becomes even more
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clear, because God has not merely
pitying poor people or helping out sick people.
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He is resurrecting dead people, and
not just dead in a sort of
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a neutral term, but cursed people, people that are walking in death,
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acting in death, that are corrupted
and polluted. If you go and you
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read Leviticus, you'll read all kinds
of laws that deal with ceremonial cleanliness or
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uncleanliness. You shouldn't touch this and
you can't be near this and you shouldn't
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eat that, but you can eat
this. A lot of those laws,
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I won't say all, but a
lot of them, have to do with
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the nature of death. The closer
things come into contact with death, the
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closer things come up and to contact
with corruption, the more impure they are,
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the more unholy they are. There's
a separation that needs to happen because
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God is God of life, the
God of joy and peace. That is
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for the aim he has for his
people. Death is a polluted thing,
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a corrupting thing, and so when
we are saved, we're not saved out
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of this some kind of neutral category
where we just were and then God gave
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us something. In other words,
God didn't give us undeserved favor. God
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gave us demerited favor. He gave
us something not only that we hadn't earned,
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but that we had earned the opposite
of. We weren't just in a
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neutral category, and then God sort
of piled on these great this grace to
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us. We had done the opposite. We deserved condemnation instead of justification.
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We deserved his wrath and his judgment
instead of blessing. But then God just
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comes in and pours out his love
on us. This is why he is
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called rich in mercy, he's called
rich in grace. These are, of
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course, amazing things. I'll quote
you a little bit from a jerome,
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the one who translated the Bible into
Latin for us. He says, now,
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so there is this secret thought,
and it goes like this. If
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we have not been saved by means
of our works, perhaps we have been
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saved by means of faith, and
it is another manner in which we are
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saved of ourselves. Jerome says,
do not let this sneak into your thinking
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by chance. In reference to this, he thus goes on and says that
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faith itself is also not of our
will, but is the gift of God.
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It is not that human free will, or it is not that human
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free will is removed. In accordance
with what the apostle says to the Romans,
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it is not of him who runs
or of him who wills, but
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of God who shows mercy. The
very freedom of the will has God as
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its author, and all things are
referred to his benefaction, since it is
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he himself who permits us even to
will the good. But all of this
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has been said so that no one
may glory as if he has been saved
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by himself and not by God.
This is the great teaching of the Bible
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that we stand in the rich mercy
and grace of God, and it matters
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a great deal for many reasons.
First, it matters because who are we
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going to praise? Who are we
going to glorify? Are we going if
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the if our salvation is as any
is in any way a part of ourselves,
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we have reason to boast. But
Paul undermines that. He pulls out
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the rug on our self righteousness and
he says so that you have no reason
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to boast. It is not the
result of works, not just bad works,
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but even good works. It has
nothing to do with your works.
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It has to do everything with the
work and the Gift of God. So
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this doctrine matters very much for how
we praise God, who we glorify,
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who we worship? Do we serve
ourselves? Do we worship ourselves, or
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do we glorify him? Do we
serve him and worship him? It also
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matters when we face dark times and
difficult times, when we're looking around for
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something to cling to, as I
mentioned this morning, when we're drowning are
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you going to grab onto your own
arm? Are you going to grab onto
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your own leg? How far is
that going to get you? How much
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will that help you rise up out
of out of the watery waters of judgment?
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Not at all. You Need God, you need his strength, you
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need his gift, you need his
life, not your own. So this
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doctrine matters for the praise of God, it matters for your own salvation in
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knowing where to turn, in whom
to turn, in all times and in
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all ways, and it also matters, and all end with this, it
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also matters for how we go forth
in our lives, in the new ways
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in which we walk. People who
despise this doctrine, though it is obviously
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taught in God's word with perfect clarity
and, I think, without any ambiguity.
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People despise it because they say,
well, if you tell people that
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gray, that their salvation is all
a gift of God, well then what
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becomes of good works? Will they
not do them? Will they ignore them
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and despise them? Well, let
me ask you, from the word of
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God, what does God's word say? Right? What does it say?
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It says that we have been given
this gift and that we are as a
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result of that. His workmanship,
as I read, already created in Christ
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Jesus for good works which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.
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There are things that you and I
will or plan, desire choose all the
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time that never come to pass right. Sometimes that's in reference to other people.
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Maybe you have employees at work or
a coworker you're trying to get to
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do something, or you're a mom
of a child that doesn't like vegetables.
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There's all kinds of ways in which
we decide such and such a thing will
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be and we can't seem to make
it happen. We can't seem to affect
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that. God is not like that. Don't make him in your image.
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You are made in his image.
He's different than us. He's powerful and
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Almighty and when God chooses to do
something, he doesn't get frustrated in it.
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He doesn't make someone, he doesn't
get put his workmanship and his craftsmanship
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on someone, call them to good
works and then be frustrated and wring his
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hands and say, Oh, I
wish they would do better, if only
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I could do something. He doesn't
sit up in heaven and wine. He
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sits up in heaven and laughs.
Is What Psalm to says. He laughs
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in derision and all those who would
seek to break apart the bond between him
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and his anointed one, who is
Christ Jesus, who has done these things
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for our salvation. God takes the
plans and the will of many breaks them
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to pieces, like holding a rod
of iron and a Potter's vessel. Psalm
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too says crash, as easy as
that. We read throughout the scriptures over
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and over and over and over again
about the mighty hand of the Lord.
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And so if he lets you in
love, he he calls you before the
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foundation of the world, he covenant
within himself to Save Your Soul and to
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call you unto good works. Do
you think this doctrine, this this teaching
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of God, this gift of God, is going to fail? Of course
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it won't, because it's God who's
doing the work now. Of course we
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know that in our lives we do
sin, that we don't walk according to
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the ways in which we are called
to, we don't walk according to obedience
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and the will that he has decreed. But we believe and trust him that
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his spirit is at work in us, sanctifying US and bringing us into as
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Paul says here the coming ages that
he might bless us more and more.
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That's the promise. Now, if
you want to, you can reject it,
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you cannot believe it, you can
walk away from it and say,
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well, I just don't think that's
true, that it's your option, I
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guess. But that's not what God
says, that's not what he promises.
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It's not what he gives to us. And he calls us to believe.
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It calls us to trust in him, and when we do we are then
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walking in that newness of life.
I want to read a one other passage
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of scripture to you and then we'll
close. This comes from Titus, titus
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chapter three. Now, this same
Paul who wrote Ephesians is now writing to
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titus, and he's writing to titus
as a as a church planter. Right
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he's writing to this pastor giving him
instructions for ministry. Right here, titus,
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this is how you be a minister
of the Gospel, this is how
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you really execute this mission that we
have been given. Okay, gives him
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various instructions, many of which are
are similar, similar to I'm sorry,
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I'm I'm skimming here, as I'm
talking about many which are similar to what
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Paul has has said in Ephesians.
I want you to note a few things
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here. First and titus. One
of the things we notice is that Paul
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is not nonchalant about good works.
Paul doesn't talk to titus and this church
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it's and say, well, you
all know that you're saved by faith alone
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and grace alone, Christ alone.
So you know you're fine. Don't don't
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worry about obedience. I don't really
care. If it comes, it comes,
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if it doesn't, it doesn't.
He doesn't say that. For example,
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in Verse Seven of Chapter Two,
Paul says to tie us, show
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yourself in all respects to be a
model of good works and in your teaching,
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show integrity, dignity and sound speech
that cannot be condemned, so that
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an opponent may be put to shame
having nothing evil to say about us.
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What does Paul want of somebody who
is charged with ministering the Gospel to be
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a model of good works? He
goes also on to say to him to
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incur, not just model that,
but to call the people toward that.
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Look at Verse Fourteen, Chapter Two, verse for Okay, Chapter Two,
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verse thirteen. He says we're waiting
for our blessed hope, the appearing of
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the glory of our great God and
Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself
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for us to redeem us from what
all lawlessness and to purify for himself a
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people for his own possession. Who
are what? Zealous for good works again,
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do you hear the purpose and intention
of God? Does he save us
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so that we can just be set
free and sort of stumble out of our
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cages and wander around the world and
darkness? No, he saves us,
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fills us with light and he is
purifying us so that we would be a
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people zealous for good works. He
says then to titus in Verse Fifteen,
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declare these things, exhort and rebuke
with all authority. Let no one disregard
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you. Get up in their faces
from time to time. He says to
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titus, be a thought, have
authority about this. Don't be shy in
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calling people to good works, in
calling people to be zealous. Right,
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this is Paul taking the doctor doctrines
of election and justification and sanctification and glorification
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and saying, Ah, you see
good works here, are there or whatever?
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Obviously not. And if we don't
know how to put those things together,
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then we don't understand the doctrine of
the Bible. Well, can I'm
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going to continue reading, having too
much fun. Verse. Three remind them
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to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready
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for every good work, to speak
evil of no one, to avoid quarreling,
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to be gentle, to show perfect
courtesy toward all people. Now,
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listen to this, it sounds a
lot like effusions. Next, for we
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ourselves were once foolish, disobedient,
let us stray say it, slaves to
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various passions and pleasures, passing our
days in malice and envy, hated by
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others and hating one another. But
right, but God, here it is.
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But when the goodness and loving kindness
of God, our savior appeared,
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he saved us, not because of
works done by us in righteousness, but
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according to his own mercy, by
the washing of regeneration and renewal of the
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Holy Spirit, whom he poured out
on US richly through Jesus Christ, our
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Savior, so that, being justified
by His grace, we might become heirs
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according to the hope of eternal life. Now get this vers eate. The
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saying is trustworthy, and I want
you to insist on these things so that
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those who have believed in God may
be careful to devote themselves to good works.
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So listen to that last verse that
I just read and put that into
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connection with the things that we've been
talking about. He says to this pastor,
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I want you to speak to these
people in such a way that you
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insist on these things. You impress
them, you don't let them go.
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Push, Push, push. Insist. That's a strong word, sometimes an
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obnoxious word perhaps, but nevertheless he
says insist. And what are the these
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things? It's the things that he's
just mentioned that you, who were dead
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in your trespasses and sins, were
made alive together with Christ Jesus, so
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that in the coming ages he might
pour out the immeasurable riches of His grace.
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Well, that's EPHESIANS language, but
he says the same thing basically here
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in Titus, and he pulls it
out in so many ways. He taught,
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he talks about all of these things
that God has done. Insist on
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the Gospel, in other words,
insist on telling people, over and over
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and over again, the good news
of justification by faith alone. Of sanctification
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by faith alone, of glorification by
faith alone, of adoption by faith alone,
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that all of these things so that
we, who are being justified by
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His grace, might become heirs.
According to this hope, what is the
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result? What's the sort of practical
pastoral result that Titus can expect as a
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result of this insisting on the Gospel, he tells them, so that those
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who have believed in God may be
careful to devote themselves to good works.
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That's what happens when you preach the
Gospel, when you insist on the Gospel,
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when you feed on the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, good works happen.
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That's what he says. That's his
pastoral advice to titus, and, of
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course, this is applicable to all
of us in our lives. If we
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want to be people that are devoted
to good works while not depending on them
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for our salvation, what do we
do? We put our faith in Jesus.
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We trust him, not in our
own work so that we can then
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boast and praise ourselves, but in
his works so that, being justified by
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His grace, we can have hope
and life and a lifestyle, a way
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of living that is pleasing to him. Do you get that? That is
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the doctrine of the Bible. That
is the gospel of Jesus Christ. What
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it is that God has done in
the things it results in. And I
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promised you that as long as I'm
a pastor here, this is my job
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too, to preach these things,
to insist on these things, and as
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the and as I do so and
as I'm lifted up in your prayers,
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and God is Gracious, this is
what will happen. We will grow,
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will grow and sanctification, souls will
be saved. Why? Not because of
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any great thing in me, but
because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Was it which is at work in
the world through his word? It's what
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I have to depend on week by
week, it's what you have to depend
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on week by week. And together, as we depend and live on and
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in the Lord Jesus Christ, we
are being saved. Amen, let's pray
