WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:10.620 Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us. 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:21.240 Amen is right. Thank you, guys. That's a huge ministry to our hearts to have you prepare us 00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:27.620 like that. What a glorious song. What a glorious thing to look forward to as well. 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:34.520 So, we come to the portion of our service where you're used to seeing the bulletin say, 00:00:34.620 --> 00:00:39.420 Preaching of the Word. We call it a sermon. I thought it might be worth just a few seconds 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:45.679 this morning stopping to ask the question, why? Why do we always do this besides that Will likes 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:55.219 to talk a lot? So, we give him a few minutes and we humor him. Why always a sermon? Why is that part 00:00:55.219 --> 00:01:01.019 of a worship service? We talk about our giving of tithes and offerings as a part of worship. Why is 00:01:01.019 --> 00:01:07.760 listening to God's Word a part of worship? First and foremost, that's why we do it because 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:14.439 the King of Glory that they just sang about is worthy. If He is that King of Glory, if He's that 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:19.620 glorious and that great, then what He has to say to us is much more important than what we might think 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:25.920 for ourselves. So, we set aside time and say, God, we're coming to Your Word. What You would have to 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:31.780 speak to us is of vital importance. It's foundational for our lives because You're the King. So, we worship 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:39.980 You by listening to what You have to say. And also because our hearts and our lives need to be evaluated, 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:45.500 need to be shaped. We do this in worship because we come saying, I don't have it all figured out. 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:51.760 I need to be challenged. I need to have my thoughts and my heart corrected. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:59.980 So, first, because He deserves it. And secondly, because we need it. That's why we open God's 00:01:59.980 --> 00:02:06.079 Word together. Turn back this morning to Ephesians 2. We'll start at verse 8. 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:09.580 Hear God's holy Word. 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:32.920 Pray with me. 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:42.779 Father, that's true that we're here before Your Word because You're the one that we trust. 00:02:43.379 --> 00:02:50.919 Only these words are ones we can count on that we know are true, that we know will direct us rightly. 00:02:51.079 --> 00:02:58.159 We know Your Spirit would use them to teach us, to instruct us. And Father, we do this as a part of 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:06.859 our worship. We love You. We're so grateful for how You have loved us. We want to hear from You. Would 00:03:06.859 --> 00:03:14.319 you speak? Would you speak clearly? In spite of the words of this preacher, would You speak to our hearts? 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.780 We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:18.900 Amen. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:28.460 Many of you know that I was an English major in college. So, among other things, that means that I'm a word guy. 00:03:28.920 --> 00:03:36.300 I love words. I used to be a journalist. All of that usually makes me described as a grammar nerd. 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:40.280 That is what people prefer to call English majors, like me. 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:45.979 But one of the things that's very important to me because of that background is emphasis. 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:51.740 Where is the emphasis put in words? If you don't keep the emphasis in the proper order, 00:03:52.020 --> 00:03:56.879 you can completely change what you're talking about. Let me give you a couple examples of this. 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:04.340 You have the word produce, where if you say it that way, you're laboring and working hard to make 00:04:04.340 --> 00:04:11.599 something. Or you have produce, if you emphasize the first syllable. You have a lot of fruit, which is 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:21.360 very different. You have incense. You might even smell the incense wafting up to your nose. Or you can 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:29.899 incense someone and make them very angry without changing a letter, just by emphasis. You have a very 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:37.799 content person who's calm and happy. Or you could be talking about the content, if you emphasize the 00:04:37.799 --> 00:04:43.459 first syllable. What's making up the book or the story? All of this seems not to matter much at this 00:04:43.459 --> 00:04:49.179 point. When you string some words together, you can really, really change things, though. This is my 00:04:49.179 --> 00:04:57.299 favorite. You have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Let's eat, grandma. Or let's eat, grandma. 00:04:57.300 --> 00:05:04.319 And so, all of that and grandma's life hanging in the balance, all on your matter of emphasis. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.000 That first comma here on let's eat, grandma, is known as the comma that saved grandma. 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:16.860 It is there for people who love grammar to say, see how important commas are? Can save your life. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:25.699 Emphasis is important. When you reverse the emphasis, it's not just a minor matter of emphasis. 00:05:25.699 --> 00:05:32.740 You actually change the thing you're talking about altogether. That's what we see in this passage this 00:05:32.740 --> 00:05:39.819 morning when we think about God's works and our works. In biblical Christianity, the emphasis, 00:05:40.219 --> 00:05:48.300 the focus, the priority is on God's works. They always come first rather than our works. 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:54.699 And in fact, when we reverse the order of emphasis between the two, between our works and God's, we 00:05:54.699 --> 00:06:01.699 lose biblical Christianity altogether. It's that serious. It's that significant a change. In 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:09.180 Christianity, the emphasis is on what God has done for you, not on what you do for God. The story is 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:16.319 first and foremost about His glory, right? Not ours. So whenever our actions become more important, 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:24.099 get more in the spotlight than God's, we miss Christianity. It's not a matter of I say tomato, 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:30.659 you say tomato, but it's all the same thing. It's a matter of emphasis that actually changes what 00:06:30.659 --> 00:06:38.300 we're speaking of altogether. Now, those are big words to say that a matter of emphasis could change 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:43.439 Christianity altogether and we could lose it. Let me show you what I mean in the text this morning. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:48.719 Remember what Chad preached last week in this wonderful passage. It's so beautiful all the 00:06:48.719 --> 00:06:56.920 way back to verse 1 of chapter 2. It's our story of being dead and then verse 4, but God, 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:08.420 but God, verse 5, made us alive. It's about what He has done. We were dead, but God made us alive. 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:15.840 By grace, you have been saved. End of verse 5. It's multiple times in this passage. Your salvation 00:07:15.840 --> 00:07:23.980 is based on grace, on what God has done by grace alone. And it's not just one time at the beginning 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:28.980 of your salvation, the first time you're made right with God. It's salvation from beginning to end, 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:35.600 focusing on what He has done. Look, verse 6, all the way to glorification where He's raised us up with 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:41.540 Him, seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Because we're connected to Christ, 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:48.939 because of our union with Christ, salvation from beginning to end is about what God has done, 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:56.080 connecting us to Him. And then He makes clear what's the purpose of all of our salvation. Is it 00:07:56.080 --> 00:08:01.900 so that we'll be safe? Is that the only goal to rescue us? It certainly does that, but the goal, 00:08:01.899 --> 00:08:07.560 what's He doing? Verse 7, so that He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:14.399 toward us in Christ Jesus. His purpose wasn't even so much about us. The goal of it, yes, we would be 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:22.779 saved for the purpose of His grace and His kindness being magnified. It's about how great He is. It's about 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:30.019 Him. Then we get to the verses we're looking at today, and it just continues. By grace, you've been saved, 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:37.720 not your own doing, the gift of God, not a result of works. So don't boast. Do you hear Him being 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:44.600 redundant there? Not what you've done, what God did, not what you've done. He's redundant for emphasis. 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:51.000 Don't boast because it's not about you. It's all about Him. He couldn't be any clearer where the focus 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:57.779 is, where the emphasis is in this story. And He keeps going. This passage is beautiful. It's like 00:08:57.779 --> 00:09:05.419 preaching all the solas of the Reformation at once. A hearing from Scripture alone that salvation is by 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:11.919 grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, with the goal being the glory of God alone. 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:18.240 Oh, it's great. This is wonderful. We should stop and just have a review, and that would be good enough 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:25.399 for today. It's good news, right? Salvation by grace alone. He's doing it. It's His gift to you. 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:30.699 It's good news for all of us. Salvation from beginning to end, it's especially good if you've 00:09:30.699 --> 00:09:38.959 never heard it before. Hear it again for the first time, Southwood. But God, you were dead, 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:46.459 but God made you alive. You were without hope apart from Him. Nothing you could do that was part of the 00:09:46.459 --> 00:09:51.899 story Jonathan Edwards said, the meditation we used this morning, we brought to the table nothing for 00:09:51.899 --> 00:09:59.779 our salvation except our sin that made it necessary. That was our contribution. We made it necessary for 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:07.340 us to be saved, but God's the one who accomplished our salvation. And then we get to verse 10. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:15.899 I want to tell you how I've always read verse 10 since I was a young boy. I read it to be saying, 00:10:15.899 --> 00:10:24.360 yes, isn't that wonderful? But don't forget, what you do matters too. Your behavior is important. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:31.519 God cares about your works too. And it does say that. We're going to talk about that in a minute, 00:10:31.779 --> 00:10:37.899 but I want to tell you I'm convinced that's not primarily what it says. It's not mostly why that 00:10:37.899 --> 00:10:45.659 verse is there. The primary function of verse 10 is to strengthen and further explain the point Paul 00:10:45.659 --> 00:10:52.539 is making, not to offer a contrasting or balancing statement in this passage. It's actually further 00:10:52.539 --> 00:11:04.579 explaining verse 9 why we shouldn't boast. Why is it that no one may boast? It's for. It's because 00:11:04.580 --> 00:11:12.600 God's workmanship we are. That's actually the emphasis in the Greek text that we lose in English. 00:11:13.300 --> 00:11:20.720 It's emphasizing the primacy or priority of God's work. Again, it would read, if we translated italics 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:29.420 in our English Bibles, it would say for His workmanship we are. So don't boast even when your 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:36.299 works come up. We're works come up. We're His workmanship. He's the one working. Then He says we're 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:43.899 created in Christ Jesus. Who does the work in creating? Who's the one active there? That's God, right? 00:11:44.139 --> 00:11:51.919 He takes a dead person and makes him alive, makes him into a new creation in Christ Jesus, uniting us to 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:58.879 Christ, making us new again. It's His work again getting the emphasis. So don't boast even when your 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:05.539 works are so good. They feel so new and so different, but don't boast. He's the one who's done that. 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:13.799 And then the final nail Paul drives home is that the works we do are works that God prepared beforehand. 00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:21.179 He's the one who planned it. Do you feel like you've done these wonderful things? God planned those for 00:12:21.179 --> 00:12:28.399 you. He had it in mind all along. It was His idea. He designed them. He gets the glory, not us. So don't 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:35.699 boast even on your best day is what Paul's saying. Do you see how that understanding of verse 10 fits 00:12:35.699 --> 00:12:42.559 with the rest of the passage? It's still about God's glory, about His incredible grace to come to us. 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:48.059 And it would have to be since the salvation being described, remember, is from beginning to end about 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:56.899 what God has done for dead people. So we say not to us, not to us, O Lord, but to Your name be glory. 00:12:56.899 --> 00:13:04.179 That's biblical Christianity from beginning to end of this book. Every single page. Not about our glory. 00:13:04.299 --> 00:13:12.199 It's about yours. It's about what He has done. God gets the glory. His work comes first. The relationship 00:13:12.199 --> 00:13:20.939 that we have by His grace always precedes our obedience to Him. In grammatical terms, grammar nerds 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:28.680 would tell you. The indicative, the statement of truth comes before the imperative, the command to 00:13:28.680 --> 00:13:35.960 obey. This is, as I said all through the Bible, Paul's epistles are often framed this way. Ephesians 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:41.840 is no exception. We're going to read three chapters telling us what God has done in these great theological 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:49.600 truths. And chapter 4 will then begin, therefore, walk in a manner worthy of the calling you've 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:57.040 received. Romans, Paul spends 11 chapters telling us what God has done and the glorious things that God 00:13:57.040 --> 00:14:04.460 has done on behalf of His people. And chapter 12, verse 1, therefore, in view of God's mercy, 00:14:04.860 --> 00:14:10.720 because of the things that are true, what does he say? Offer your bodies as living sacrifices and 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:16.540 many other things that come after that. It's not just something Paul invented in the New Testament. 00:14:17.139 --> 00:14:22.379 Go back to the Old Testament. What's the classic example of God's commands to His people in the 00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:27.860 Old Testament? The Ten Commandments, right? Where does God tell us what we're supposed to do? Where 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:35.779 our works come in? The Ten Commandments, which He starts by saying, I am the Lord your God who brought 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:42.839 you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and here, therefore, in response to my works, 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:50.439 have no other gods before me, and so forth. God moves first. He delivers. He establishes a relationship 00:14:50.439 --> 00:14:57.299 with His people and says, you're mine. I brought you out of Egypt to be my very own. Then He tells us 00:14:57.299 --> 00:15:06.099 how to respond and live in relationship with Him. The relationship God establishes by His grace is 00:15:06.099 --> 00:15:14.240 always the motivation for our obedience. You'll hear people say that there are 50 plus motivations 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:21.120 for obedience in the New Testament alone. And at one level, that's true. But hear me, don't be confused. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:30.259 Not a single one of those ever, ever, none of those motivations ever comes apart from or outside of the 00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:39.480 relationship God established first. Never. That story of His grace, His work first, is biblical Christianity. 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:47.159 That's what it is. Do you see how you can't reverse the order of emphasis on those things and maintain 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:53.120 biblical Christianity? It would be a religion where I get the glory, where it all rests on me, where I 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:59.579 actually have reason to boast because I've done something, where I'm responsible to see that salvation 00:15:59.579 --> 00:16:07.159 is completed. I own my own good works and all the credit for them. You'd have a shredded Bible if you 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:14.860 tried to cut out all the places that pushed back in the other direction. God coming to us versus our 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:21.320 coming to Him is the story of Scripture from cover to cover. If you reverse the order of emphasis, 00:16:21.539 --> 00:16:29.180 you may still fit the story that you tell into Mormonism. You may be able to fit the story you're 00:16:29.180 --> 00:16:38.220 telling into Islam, but you won't fit it into biblical Christianity. God gets the glory. He acts first. 00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:45.220 My dad and I, as I was growing up, loved watching the good old TV shows like Andy Griffith, 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:49.779 Leave it to Beaver. I still love watching those. I love that they still show them. 00:16:51.259 --> 00:16:57.320 I was surprised one Sunday because I knew how much my dad loved those shows, especially Leave it to 00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:02.000 Beaver. That was a favorite of his. I was surprised to hear him preaching and saying there was a potential 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:07.299 danger in these kinds of shows. I thought, no way, we've been watching them for years. 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:14.759 He said there's a potential danger. He said it was that the focus can become on man's works. 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:22.759 You know, the Cleaver family, all nice and moral and put together and just the way they ought to be, 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:29.480 and that's all that mattered. So there was a danger in emphasizing morality 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:37.980 without the power to live a moral life. A danger in offering changed lives without offering the 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:46.339 change agent, the one who could actually empower such living. A focus becoming on man's works. 00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:54.640 The mere morality was a wrong emphasis and actually was not just a kind of a wrong emphasis. It was 00:17:54.640 --> 00:18:02.060 sub-Christian when it becomes the focus. Mere morality, just living a little better, is sub-Christian 00:18:02.060 --> 00:18:08.920 when that's the focus. Donald Gray Barnhouse was a Presbyterian minister of a previous generation. 00:18:10.100 --> 00:18:15.580 He spoke on a radio program about what he thought things would look like in Philadelphia if Satan took 00:18:15.580 --> 00:18:21.020 control of the city. And you might have all sorts of ideas of what he would say would happen if 00:18:21.019 --> 00:18:28.220 Satan were in control. Here's what he said. All of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:32.940 and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:39.819 There would be no swearing. The children would say, yes sir and no ma'am, and the churches would be full 00:18:39.819 --> 00:18:49.839 every Sunday where Christ was not preached. People living their lives and coming to church 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:55.259 every Sunday to be affirmed in how they were living and not hearing of Christ. 00:18:57.319 --> 00:19:03.599 Barnhouse said Satan would be okay with our works being a little bit better, with us looking a little 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:10.819 more moral than we did last year, as long as we lost sight of God's work. As long as the emphasis 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:16.379 on the cross of Jesus Christ went by the wayside, Satan would be delighted with that. 00:19:16.380 --> 00:19:26.200 How do we do that? How do you and I lose the right emphasis? I know we don't have it on the books that way. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:33.880 You know that. We've said it all morning. Nothing that we teach or claim as our confession of faith would 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:39.040 teach that. What does it look like in our lives to reverse the order of emphasis? 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:45.859 I think the most obvious way is being prideful. Verse 9 addresses that directly, doesn't it? 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:52.059 The whole reason behind God having salvation this way, that it's not of works but by grace, 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:58.299 is so no one may boast. So when you hear in your own words or recognize in your own thoughts that 00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:06.339 you're better than others, be careful. Whom do you think you're better than? Perhaps a better Christian 00:20:06.339 --> 00:20:12.939 than? Watch out. In biblical Christianity, boasting is excluded. It has no place. 00:20:14.699 --> 00:20:21.039 We do it by being fearful too. It's the other side of the coin of pride where the focus is on our 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:26.439 works but instead of thinking we've been really successful, we're afraid we've failed God. 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:33.019 The focus is on my works but I haven't come through. When have you worried that God wouldn't 00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:41.559 bless you because you did something bad or failed to do something good, I'm not ignoring the consequences 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:48.579 of foolish living or the blessings of wise living but our relationship with God is not based on our 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:56.480 works. He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, does He? He's not one for one matching up His response 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:06.059 with what we have done. Third way we do it is being judgmental. Closely related to being prideful, 00:21:06.140 --> 00:21:11.519 looking down on others but what I particularly mean is think about what you lead with in your 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:17.559 relationships with others. Where's the emphasis in your relationships? Do you relate to people as God 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:25.559 has related to you with grace leading? Does the grace, the relationship really come first or do you start 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:31.159 with judgment? Do you move toward people in compassion or do you make sure they feel that 00:21:31.159 --> 00:21:39.759 they don't measure up so you can feel a little better about yourself? Parents, do you lead with 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:46.700 grace with your kids? Do you make sure your kids feel the reality that your love isn't based on their 00:21:46.700 --> 00:21:55.179 performance or is it sometimes easier to leave them wondering? I had to read that because I needed to 00:21:55.180 --> 00:22:00.779 hear it. Do you make sure your kids feel the reality that your love isn't based on their performance 00:22:00.779 --> 00:22:05.940 or is it sometimes easier or more helpful to get through the night by making sure they're not certain? 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:12.700 Christians, do you lead with grace with your friends? Do you make sure your friends feel the safety of 00:22:12.700 --> 00:22:18.940 your relationship no matter what? Or is it sometimes easier to leave them feeling they could never measure up 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:25.880 to you? Never be quite as good? I'm not talking about compromising on sin. I'm talking about demonstrating 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:34.580 biblical Christianity that says the focus, the emphasis is on God's work, not yours. His grace leads, 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:44.240 our obedience follows. Southwood, it must be more important to us to see our neighbors experience God's love 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:53.460 for them than to see our neighbors live a life that resembles love for God. It must be. That has to be 00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:59.440 our heart because that's how God came to us. He didn't come to us and say, start living a little bit 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:08.279 more like you love me. He said, I want you to know how much I love you. I've moved towards you. We've got 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:13.819 to show our neighbors that kind of love if we want to be offering them Christianity at all. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:21.220 If we reverse the order of emphasis between our works and God's, we miss biblical Christianity 00:23:21.220 --> 00:23:28.440 altogether. But when we maintain the emphasis on God's works, our works can be beautiful. 00:23:29.980 --> 00:23:35.759 This is, I said we would get here, verse 10 is an acknowledgement of the importance of how we live, 00:23:36.460 --> 00:23:41.660 of good works. It's there as long as we have the emphasis correct. 00:23:41.660 --> 00:23:49.440 The Bible and biblical Christianity doesn't ignore or denigrate our works. Rather, it dignifies them 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:55.160 within the proper emphasis. This is the only way, in fact, that they're properly appreciated. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:01.640 Read our Confession of Faith chapter on good works this afternoon. It says they're fruits or 00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:08.440 evidences of our faith in Christ. They're the consequence, the outworking, the result of our 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:14.420 salvation that is by grace through faith from beginning to end. So our works are not, you'll 00:24:14.420 --> 00:24:21.880 read the Confession say, meritorious with God at all. Not earning anything with Him or from Him. 00:24:23.340 --> 00:24:29.580 And so just as in other New Testament books, Paul isn't establishing the importance of good works in 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:36.779 this verse. He's assuming it. Of course we're going to live differently after all God has done, 00:24:36.839 --> 00:24:42.779 he's saying. Of course there are these good works. I know you already have those categories in mind. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:47.980 I want you to remember it doesn't change whose works are emphasized and who gets the glory. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.199 What does this verse say about those good works? Specifically, three new things 00:24:54.200 --> 00:25:02.380 words for the believer in verse 10. We're a new creation. A new creation in Christ Jesus. 00:25:02.860 --> 00:25:09.840 Whereas beforehand we were dead, verse 1, in our sins. Now connected to Jesus, we're not the same 00:25:09.840 --> 00:25:16.420 dead person we once were. We're alive. We've been given new life. And as a result, we have a new master. 00:25:17.380 --> 00:25:24.039 Remember verse 2 says, we followed Satan and served our sin as slaves. As we wandered after 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:30.359 Satan, now no longer is that the case. God's created us. He's the one who's given us life. He's 00:25:30.359 --> 00:25:37.960 our master. He's recreated us in Christ and dwelt us by His Spirit. We serve Him, not sin and Satan. 00:25:39.659 --> 00:25:46.619 And so finally we have a new walk. This is the word that ties the contrast together. The works which 00:25:46.619 --> 00:25:52.700 God prepared beforehand that we should walk in those good works. That word walk is in verse 1 too. 00:25:52.700 --> 00:25:58.759 Back when we were dead, when we walked, when the pattern of our life was following after the sons 00:25:58.759 --> 00:26:04.580 of disobedience and rebelling against God and following after Satan, now our walk is different. 00:26:05.080 --> 00:26:12.000 Rather than dead people doing dead things, serving destruction instead of life, we now have good works. 00:26:12.539 --> 00:26:20.539 Verse 10, that God has prepared for us to walk in them. Different footsteps to follow. A holy 00:26:20.539 --> 00:26:27.639 lifestyle, righteous ways. Righteous ways. Following the pattern of Christ. Because God's recreating us 00:26:27.639 --> 00:26:34.639 in His image, right? For walking like that. He's created us in Christ Jesus for good works. 00:26:36.379 --> 00:26:41.220 They're called good works for that reason. Don't make it too complicated. Don't get confused. 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:48.099 They're actually good works. They're meant to be beautiful. This is meant to be a beautiful picture 00:26:48.099 --> 00:26:54.980 of what God's recreating you for. Not the ugly, evil things that we used to follow after and be driven by. 00:26:56.199 --> 00:27:05.500 They're good works. New works are a given for the Christian. They cannot be left out. They're so 00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:10.939 fundamental to someone captured by God's grace. You know how fundamental they are? That God goes ahead 00:27:10.940 --> 00:27:17.019 and prepares them ahead of time for you. That's how connected they are to who He's making you. He 00:27:17.019 --> 00:27:22.920 prepares the works for you to do. I love the beauty of that verse. It's so encouraging. 00:27:23.580 --> 00:27:30.539 That God has prepared works for you to walk in. Isn't that awesome? I mean, think about what that means. 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:38.559 To be fully human. The way He made us to be and intended us to be. God made works not for God to walk in. 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:44.519 Oh, He could have done it that way. He would take care of it without us. But He's chosen instead to 00:27:44.519 --> 00:27:51.480 dignify us. What an exciting way to live. The way He created us to. He designed us ahead of time. 00:27:51.740 --> 00:27:57.240 Specific good works with you and me in mind. Things for us to do that bring glory to Him. That 00:27:57.240 --> 00:28:00.779 advance the cause of Christ in the world. He made those things for you. 00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:07.660 In addition to being a grammar nerd in high school, I was an offensive lineman. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:13.539 What you may not know, there aren't a lot of grammar nerds who are offensive linemen. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:14.899 It doesn't go together a lot. 00:28:17.139 --> 00:28:22.740 In football or basketball, you may know that you can design and call plays to get the ball to a 00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:28.059 particular player. Typically, you're fast, athletic guys who are going to do something really good with 00:28:28.059 --> 00:28:35.339 it. Not typically offensive linemen getting plays called for them. And so having spent many years as 00:28:35.339 --> 00:28:41.079 a lineman, I get especially excited when I'm watching a football game and there's a tackle-eligible play 00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:46.720 called. For those of you who don't watch football, that means that the play is designed to get the ball 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:52.779 to a lineman who would usually never see it. And I'm excited because it may be the one play of the 00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:57.920 season or even of his career where he's actually supposed to touch the ball. And you get really 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:02.900 nervous when this happens because it's your one chance. But you're excited. You can't wait to run 00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:09.319 that play. You've practiced it. And there's a dignity and honor in them saying, we actually want you to 00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:15.180 get the ball in this play. Usually that's not at all the case. And so there's a play designed for you 00:29:15.180 --> 00:29:22.500 and you feel important and excited and you can't wait to run that play. Listen, God didn't need you 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:28.580 or me to show the world his glory. He could have done it differently to tell them who he is and how 00:29:28.580 --> 00:29:35.560 much he loves them. But he's chosen to dignify us, to honor us with being a part of his work. He wrote 00:29:35.560 --> 00:29:43.220 each of us a role. He called the play for you. He's prepared for each of us good works to do. 00:29:43.220 --> 00:29:49.100 I don't have to tell you what they all are. All sorts of things. Hurting people to serve. Broken 00:29:49.100 --> 00:29:57.380 systems to improve. Tarnished aspects of creation to renew. The question is, are you open to doing 00:29:57.380 --> 00:30:03.339 what he's prepared for you? More than that, more than just being open, are you zealous to run the 00:30:03.339 --> 00:30:07.039 play he's called for you? Do you feel like you would if you were an offensive lineman getting the 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:13.100 ball headed your way? Are you brimming with excitement and thanksgiving that you get to be a part 00:30:13.099 --> 00:30:18.899 of the work God is doing? What a great opportunity and privilege. Something really worthwhile. 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:24.419 Something finally a chance to invest in something that will last. An opportunity to play on the 00:30:24.419 --> 00:30:30.199 winning team. That's what he's given us. Each of us should be zealous for that. Actively looking for 00:30:30.199 --> 00:30:36.699 ways to love God and love neighbor. We should also be spurring one another on to love and good works, 00:30:36.779 --> 00:30:42.959 right? This means challenging the sin in each other's lives. The ugliness that we see still being 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:48.220 lived in. It means highlighting the gifts we see God having given to our brothers and sisters 00:30:48.220 --> 00:30:52.420 to encourage them toward the good works he has specifically for them. 00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:59.519 It means celebrating the beauty of seeing someone walk right in the pathway God has prepared for them. 00:31:00.660 --> 00:31:07.880 Listen, you'll know who gets the glory, right? It's not about them getting the glory. What a privilege, 00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:12.760 though, to be watching intentionally so you can actively encourage each other. One of the great 00:31:12.760 --> 00:31:17.700 gifts of being part of the body of Christ. Watching to see where God sets someone else up 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:24.260 and the works he prepared for them to walk in. Encouraging them, celebrating with them. Where do I see God 00:31:24.260 --> 00:31:30.000 at work in and through you? A great opportunity for encouragement. Spend a whole night as a small group 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:37.480 or with your friends. Celebrating how God is using each of you, the things he's prepared for you to do. 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:43.660 Southwood, let's together celebrate the beauty of our being able to work now that all the pressure is 00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:51.380 off. The focus is on God and his works, not on us. Let's celebrate that beautiful opportunity to work 00:31:51.380 --> 00:31:56.019 as he's called us to. One last thing and we'll come to the table together. 00:31:56.019 --> 00:32:06.480 Father, how is it that you experience or imagine God when he is calling you to obedience, to good works? 00:32:07.299 --> 00:32:19.559 What's the emphasis in his voice when he asks you to obey? Is it, if you love me, you will obey my 00:32:19.559 --> 00:32:29.500 commandments? Or is it, child, if you love me, you'll obey my commandments? How many of us have lived years and 00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:41.960 years trying to measure up? Hearing the frowning, doubtful words of God, if, I guess we'll see, living under 00:32:41.960 --> 00:32:52.579 that burden of proving ourselves and our love again and again. It's not true, Southwood. That's not the God of the Bible. 00:32:54.400 --> 00:33:02.920 In Jesus, we find his commandments are not burdensome. There's a joy in following the commandments of the God 00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:09.819 smiling upon us because we're his beloved children. If you love me, you'll obey my commandments. 00:33:09.819 --> 00:33:18.019 He's not asking you to measure up. He's telling you where life is found. We get to do good works, not we 00:33:18.019 --> 00:33:26.159 have to do good works. That's the beauty of the proper emphasis. Remembering that because God's works 00:33:26.159 --> 00:33:33.240 get emphasized, he's now satisfied. He's offering you the opportunity to be a part of it. If you know the 00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:38.679 glory of God's grace having been lavished upon you in Christ Jesus, the way we've been reading every week 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:44.820 in Ephesians, if you remember that is the essence of Christianity, then the pressure's off. The yoke 00:33:44.820 --> 00:33:53.100 becomes easy, the burden light, and you can rejoice in the works that God has prepared for you, especially 00:33:53.100 --> 00:34:02.500 for you. And so God has set before us a table where we're regularly supposed to come for the purpose of 00:34:02.500 --> 00:34:08.500 being strengthened for good works. He wanted to give us something where week after week, month after 00:34:08.500 --> 00:34:15.179 month, we would be fed and strengthened towards the good works he's prepared for us. And so it's a table, 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:24.000 very appropriately, where we remember the emphasis is on his works. That's what we celebrate here at this 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:27.719 table. Listen to how Paul wrote it in 1 Corinthians 11. 00:34:27.719 --> 00:34:33.319 I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was 00:34:33.319 --> 00:34:39.619 betrayed, took bread, and when he'd given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for 00:34:39.619 --> 00:34:46.159 you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup 00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:52.759 is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you 00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:58.260 eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Do you hear what 00:34:58.260 --> 00:35:04.840 he's saying? He's saying this is not Southwood's table. This is not a Presbyterian table. It's my 00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:13.780 table where we come and celebrate what I've done. It's his body and his blood, not ours. It's his work 00:35:13.780 --> 00:35:21.560 on the cross where we deserve to be, that we remember here. It's his perfect performance that 00:35:21.560 --> 00:35:28.980 invites us to the table, not ours. If you know him, if you've publicly professed that you're dependent 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:35.640 on what he's done by being baptized and joining a body of Christ that professes that together, then come. 00:35:36.019 --> 00:35:42.920 Come and eat and feast on him. If you're here today but you don't yet know Jesus, if you don't know what 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:49.079 it would mean to trust his works instead of yours, if you came today thinking, I just need to balance 00:35:49.079 --> 00:35:53.559 the scales a little bit, I need to do a little bit more so that I might come out on the right side 00:35:53.559 --> 00:35:59.700 with God in the end, let me invite you not to come to this table but to something that could be for you 00:35:59.700 --> 00:36:06.220 so much more beautiful and joyful this morning. To come to Jesus and to have it be finished. 00:36:06.980 --> 00:36:12.880 To have the exhausting treadmill of trying to improve yourself and trying to 00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:18.980 prove yourself to God, be done in his works. To have the focus be on what he's done rather than 00:36:18.980 --> 00:36:23.480 on what you need to do. Let me pray and we'll come to the table. 00:36:24.740 --> 00:36:31.400 Father, these elements are not ones that we've offered but ones that you have given in your son, 00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:36.920 his body and blood. Would you keep us ever mindful of that? Would you set them apart that they would 00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:43.460 indeed spur us on to love and good works because of what you have done for us? We ask in Jesus' name. 00:36:44.260 --> 00:36:51.180 Amen. The Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and he broke it and he gave 00:36:51.180 --> 00:36:57.460 it to his disciples as I'm ministering in his name, give this bread to you. And he said, take, eat, this is my 00:36:57.460 --> 00:37:05.179 body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner after supper he took the cup and said, 00:37:05.380 --> 00:37:11.619 this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Drink from it, 00:37:12.019 --> 00:37:19.320 all of you. Our host team members will usher you to the tables forward and back and we will celebrate together. 00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:27.519 For more information, visit us online at southwood.org.