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Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 7.
These two stuff, but in the ages to come you might show the exceeding riches of His grace, and His kindness poured us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus on the good works which God has before ordained, that we should walk in them.
Wherefore remember that He being in time past Gentiles in the flesh.
We are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel.
Strangers from the covenants of drama, having no hope, and without God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus, ye sometimes were far off, or may die.
By the blood of Christ, for He is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between arms, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, or to make himself a plain 1 Newman soul making peace.
And they might reconcile both unto God and one body, by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them there were nine. For through Him we both have access by 1 Spirit under the Father.
Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners.
But fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the buildings fitly framed together grow up onto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are building together for an habitation of God.
Through the Spirit.
738.
One is in connection with the Queen of Sheba.
She came stalled, and concerning the names of the Lord.
It says.
That when she saw everything, he said that, ha.
Does not go.
Is that a little picture for us of what to come? The second scripture I was thinking of, I think it's in law school with the Lord and.
LED into the wilderness and tempted of the devil, that it tells us about how the Dayton showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them in a moment of time.
00:05:05
Garrett says that in the ages to come, he might show the exceedingly Richard.
To me it's just saying that's how long it takes the enemy to show all these guys.
In a moment of time.
What we've seen in this world around us.
Glitters.
That is put before the souls of men and women.
To to, uh, attract them away from Christ and distract the Christians.
Is all fleeting. Is all for a moment.
But here we have this beautiful, beautiful bird that tells us beloved me.
These words every word of God is pure. He chooses the language that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace.
Oh me, we could revel in of what is before our soul.
And umm, it strengthens us to go on in the population.
Apostle Paul, who wrote this was a specimen of that very thing. And as the chief of sinners who God took and made thee his chosen 1 to reveal right to us in him. And so it's beautiful to see that he is an example of that. I I like to contrast Mr. Compare this to that verse seven with the third chapter.
And the ninth verse, there are two distinct thoughts that actually the 10th verse of chapter 3.
Verse seven is the ages to come, how we are displayed.
Of the richness of God's grace exceeding richness of us. We become a public display in that age of God's power through Christ to save us and set us before Him in that place of blessing.
In negotiation with himself, but chapter 3 and verse 10 is talking about now.
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be made be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God and so on. So this is uh, right now that this present age, the Lord, the church is a display of the, the manifold wisdom of God in choosing us and blessing us. And so the angelic.
Hosts and so on look on us in that way as those favored ones who God has chosen to display His wisdom in blessing us and bringing us to where we are. So both are true right now and in the coming age. These two things are wonderful thoughts.
I think that's helpful. And it's not so much that it's a display to us, although we will observe it, but it's that He uses His work in and through us to display to the universe these wonderful things, the riches of His grace. He's doing it now, as you say, in connection with the heavenly hosts looking on. And they ought to see displayed in the church that which is the purpose of God and.
So on. Sometimes I wonder, brother, what do they see when the heavenly company looks down?
And they're the sea, the manifold wisdom of God displayed in the church. What do they see? But isn't it wonderful, brethren, that there's a day coming when he's going to display it as the riches of the trophies of his grace, and the world, the universe is going to look on?
And they're going to see it all displayed in perfection. He's coming to be glorified in His Saints and admired in all them that are about Him in that day. And brethren, then and only then, when we ourselves have a full understanding and appreciation of the grace of God, when we see what He can do, truly do with poor sinners that were the sons of Adam's fallen race and what He has done with us.
And the display that he puts on through us rather than what is it going to cause from our heart. We're going to realize finally the full import of that verse that says it's God that works in you both are willing to do of his good pleasure. We're gonna realize that any response in our hearts. Any work of God in our souls, whether it was to bring us to the knowledge of sins forgiven and salvation or whether it was to anything for his glory after we were saved. We're gonna realize that it was all his grace but.
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It's helpful to see, is it not, that this display here is to the universe?
Through those that He had picked up in His marvelous grace and wrought a work such that He can put us on display in that coming day.
That expression, the ages that come, I have wondered if that refers to the millennial day, because it does say in Revelation that the kings of the earth shall walk in the light of that heavenly city. So as they the it's interesting to think that we do not see that heavenly city now, but it will be visible from the earth in the millennial day.
And as they view it, it will be the display in those ages to come of the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
We did a, uh, we did the display to others or is it, uh, a display to us as to the grace of God that what, how has been, you know, in our lives what he has done for us? I asked that it was an honest question.
It's a display to the world.
Uh, you see it in John 17.
See both sides of it.
In the Lord's Prayer in John 17.
In verse 21 Well, verse 20 this connection John 1720 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word, that they may be one, as Thou Father art in me, and I and thee, that they also may be one in US.
The expression I want to give emphasis to is this one that the world may believe.
Notice the word Believe that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Uh, reading on and the glory which thou gave us, me I have given them that they may be one even as we are.
Umm, I and them, thou and me, that they may be perfect in one. And now notice a different expression that the world may know, in contrast to believe that Thou hast sent me and has loved them as thou hast loved me.
Verse 21 is present.
The desire of the heart of the Lord is that we, the church that's talked about in Ephesians 2, would have a oneness that would be displayed presently to the world that the world might believe.
And all we can do is hang our heads in shame.
And humble our hearts before God that it is not so the world can't see in that sense of this 2420 first verse to believe because the church is shattered as to its public testimony and it doesn't display its oneness. And so the world doesn't see it. And consequently what you have in verse 23 is where it says that the world may believe.
Our verse 20.
Umm 3 Yes, that they may know. The world may know. When we, the church, as in this chapter in Ephesians 2 on the ages to come in the millennial age, are seen in our place with the Lord in glory, then the world will know. There won't be any question. There won't be any difficulty in belief in the world's heart.
The world's gonna say.
What marvellous grace of God that would take, and if I can use this expression, those people and bring them into that place of association with himself. And it's a day when in spite of what we were in our testimony here as to our present portion and as to what we're supposed to be enjoying this afternoon, and all of God's people are supposed to be in in the common enjoyment of it.
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The.
The Lord is going to have the last word, and He is going to display that oneness on which will be the riches of his glory, that he would take what he did and produce the result that he produces. And the purpose of it again is the display of the riches of his grace. And in his glory God will be glorified in it. And the Lord Jesus says in his prayer, as the world sees it, they'll say.
Mankind on the Earth sees it, they'll say. That's his love.
That's His love and He will be honored and, uh, we will be absolutely thrilled and delighted. If I could put it this way, brethren in Ephesians 2 are and other places as well. We want to enjoy our blessings, but more than the enjoyment of what is for us, our hearts are enlarged. If we can say what's in it for Him. That's more important than whatever is in it for us.
And as great as our blessings are, our hearts are gonna be put more at rest and more enjoyment of it all if we rest on what He is going to get and what is going to be to His glory and the display of Himself in His grace and in His mercy and in His love.
The rich man.
Sees Lazarus so far off, comforted in Abraham's bosom.
Will there be some of this display that will actually be seen in hell?
Like people that rejected.
Testimony of God's grace on earth.
It certainly did not add.
To the rich man's comfort.
The last display of it really, I believe, will be at the great white Throne judgment, because there, when the dead, small and great stand before God to be judged, who do they see? They not only see the Lord Jesus on the throne as the judge, but they see the heavenly company with him. They're going to see the Church of God, and they're going to see where they could have been had they accepted God's offer of salvation and mercy.
I believe with the rich man in hell, it's that temporary state of Hades that is referred to there. And there was, seemed to be, there was communication between the two. And though Lazarus wasn't occupied with the, uh, torment of the rich man, the rich man to add to his torment, I suppose understood very clearly that Lazarus was in a place of blessing. But as we said this morning.
When the dead are eventually taken after their judge, the wicked dead, and cast into the lake of fire its eternal separation from God, never will an inkling of the love or grace or mercy of God ever penetrate the bottomless pit. It will be the second death, eternally shut out from everything that from God and everything that emanates from God and His, his person. But they will see this display, won't they? Momentarily, they will see it as they stand there.
And they look into the face of their judge, and they see you and I at His side, The wonderful trophies of His grace. Would you say that's right? Yes. And I also would say the emphasis there is on the glory of His Holiness. You'll see the others. But the great thing is His Holiness will be glorified in His, in what He does in that judgment.
Now it's the day of His grace.
But there's coming a day when his holy character will be manifested to all, and the final need of it with respect to the Lost will be at the Great White Throne.
Those on earth, many will not see what we have in our chapter because at the beginning of that millennial age, in Matthew 25, we have the judgment of the sheep and the goats. And so at that time, those that had rejected Him will be not part of the Kingdom, and they will enter into their eternal.
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Place of separation from God and not as it were. And be very momentary, if it's at all.
Before they're forever shut away.
Having made the comments we've had, we don't want to take away from the fact that we need to have maintain a sense of grace in our own souls, don't we? By grace are ye saved? And we need to realize this at all times. And as we said earlier, though in the context here, it's a display to the world, yet I suppose there will be, as we've already alluded to, a deeper sense of the grace of God.
I suppose it will really come at the judgment seat of Christ for us when we see that which he commends for and realize that it was all his work. If I, if I can put it this way, we'll have finally a full understanding of his grace there, because if there's anything he can reward for, for instance, a cup of water given in his name, the Lord said would not lose his reward. And so if there's anything that he if we've given a couple of water in his name.
And He rewards for it. We're going to realize that He provided the cup of water. He put the desire in our hearts to give it. He provided the opportunity to give it. Well, isn't that going to give us a sense of grace like we've never had before? And to realize that when, as we were saying this morning, in coming to the Lord Jesus and the blessings that we have received through the work of Calvary, the salvation of our souls, the forgiveness of things, the heavenly blessings, the position we've been brought into, all that is displayed in that coming glory, that it was nothing of ourselves.
Well, brother, we're going to have that deeper and fuller understanding then, but I believe what is going to give us the proper spirit and attitude and proper character as a heavenly people now in this world.
Is to maintain in our souls at all times a sense that it's by grace we're saved and it's by grace that there's any response in our hearts as believers in A to his will and following him and so on. And I suggest that that's really why this second chapter of Ephesians is inserted here. You know, to the casual reader of this book, it almost seems out of place to have in the second chapter what we have in the midst of all the wonderful truth concerning the heavenly calling and position and seating of the believer and so on. And then all of a sudden he reminds us what we were and the grace of God.
But brother, if we lose sense of His grace, we can't enjoy His glory. If we lose sense of what we were, we can't really have a full understanding of what we are. If we lose sense of where we are now, we're not going to understand where we're going to be in the coming day. And so we need to keep before our souls that by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. It's all going to be displayed to others in the coming day.
But we need to have it maintained before our own soul, even now.
Explain what grace is, Jim.
Well, perhaps it would be helpful in that connection to speak of mercy. And mercy really saves us from hell. Someone has said that mercy is not getting what I deserve and I deserve help. I I deserved as a lost guilty. We value Sinner son of Adam's race. I deserve to go to a lost eternity. And mercy has reached out to me and saved me from hell. And for for you too, if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
And that's wonderful. We say, well, that's enough. Well, not really. That wouldn't satisfy the heart of God. It might save us from eternal damnation, but it wouldn't satisfy the heart of God. But grace brings us in and gives us a blessing or blessings that we don't deserve. I say that because sometimes I've heard people say grace is getting what we don't deserve. But that really far falls short of the thought.
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I might have given one of my children a spanking because I thought on information I had, but maybe they didn't deserve it. They got something they didn't deserve. But it wasn't great. And when I realized afterwards, I had to go back and apologize and say Dad was wrong. I know you got something you didn't deserve and Dad was wrong. He made a mistake based on the information he had. And so grace is far beyond that. Grace brings me into a position and gives me blessings.
Far beyond what I ever anticipated. We sometimes sing a hymn trembling. We had hope for mercy, some lone place within the door. But there was more than that waiting for us. And so if grace saves us for hell, I'm sorry. If mercy saves us from hell, grace saves us for glory. Grace brings us into all the dignity and position of sons of God, the Church of God. Grace gives us all the blessings.
Mercy Save the Children of Israel from the ******* of Pharaoh in the Egyptians. Grace brought them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. And mercy has saved us from Satan and his hosts and the eternal consequences of hell. But grace brings us through the journey here, gives us all the blessings to enjoy now, and a place where we're going to enjoy them unhinderedly in the coming day.
Grace gives all the glory to the giver God, and we can take no credit. There's no room for boasting these next 3 verses here. Uh, 8-9 and ten, uh.
Emphasize the point that Don mentioned earlier about.
Salvation to those who don't deserve it and bless them so exceedingly. If we hadn't got so far from God, His salvation in bringing us so close to Him wouldn't have been as great. But that's exactly what it was. We were the farthest, we were the worst, and He brings them to the highest of the best place.
So this is the greatest contrast you can think of. And if it's all to bring glory to the Lord Jesus, we often read this verse by grace are you saved? And think of the wonderful thing it is for us.
To be saved that easily, that freely, that abundantly, then that's all true, but there's a, we can rise higher than that. What's in it for Christ in doing all that? This is the point. Uh, we are his workmanship. This is all his plan is workmanship to take us and do that with us and bring us so close and so high.
There's, uh, another thing that we speak of in relation to God at times is.
His government.
And it is something that is true in Scripture. We give the verse, uh, whatsoever a man shall he also read.
And it's true.
Cannot deny it, but grace is a completely different principle that does not undo his government and his government does not undo his grace. And I must say in my own soul, I struggle sometimes because it seems like in my own mind.
And more governed by the principle of government.
You do bad stuff, you're gonna get bad results.
The grace is a totally different principle.
And.
I you speak, uh, brother Jim, about having a sense of grace in our souls and I think that is so important, but, uh, why is it, it is so hard for us to grasp this principle of the grace of God?
Let's say I don't think it really lays hold of our souls.
If it did, we would be willing slaves of God over the Lord Jesus.
So it's that little hymn and he sometimes saying, Oh, to grace, how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter by my wandering heart to thee. It's in the sense of that grace. I don't deserve a thing except eternal hell, the devil and his angels. And God lifted me out of that position and brought me to himself and brought me into the full blessing.
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Of all that we've been talking about in Christ.
What a tremendous thing, but it doesn't mean that his government is set aside because the full justice of God.
Fell on my sins on that fully sin bear on the cross of Calvary so it doesn't undo God's government.
His justice is holiness. They go together.
That a thing to try to grasp in our minds.
But in that verse six, I like to make a couple comments there it says by grace, are you saved? It's on that principle. But then it says through faith.
And I've been speaking about faith.
Principle of simply believing God, Where does that faith come from?
Is that something that just naturally is born in US? That's something that just kind of pops into our minds?
No faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So how important it is when God speaks in His Word to listen to what He has to say, that's where the faith comes in. It's not of ourselves. It is the gift of God. He gives us the faith to believe the message of the gospel and that faith.
Is because of the hearing of the word of God.
Through that means, we're saved. Somebody has put it this way and I have enjoyed it. Just to make a simple illustration, here's the train up front of the engine and behind the cars.
All the power is in the engine. The cars don't have any engines on them. How come they run the same, uh, velocity as the engine up front? Because there is a coupling and that couples them to the power. There's no power in faith in itself, but faith connects us to the power. So when you have that faith in Him, there is where is the power for salvation?
Important to have that simple faith in Him because that's where you will find salvation.
Is the principle of the law which freaks into our life. We take up this, this, uh, temple of law thinking that we have something to offer college, that we have the ability to merit something from him and whatever you have the thought of me marrying something, I'm off the ground. Great. What God has to do is he has to show us the 1St 3 verses in this chapter.
He has to show it.
Standards to to to bring satisfaction to him ourselves. And so we failed miserably when we were under the law. But when I go along because we think that we can offer God something and we do not grow in the race in those circumstances.
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We grow, embrace, and we realize we have nothing to offer to God with all of what we are likely enjoy and bring in that is pleasing to Him is all because of what He's gonna do in the past.
To present to God something that will please him. There's just going to be failure and we're not going to grow into great because we think we have something across the board. And so we grow in grace.
As we realize we have nothing but we are nothing, and that everything he's gonna make, not what he's gonna do and so.
That principle of law that treats into our lives it has to be recognized.
It's something that's just an agree failure into our lives and when we realize it, all the work that he is going to do, well, it brings peace, doesn't it brings it brings us a liberty to the soul.
This is what God is going to work. I like the thought that you brought up bombs on government.
There is a government, but if we're if we can be growing, great. If we enjoy the grace of God, then the government that he brings in our life is gonna be Hanford by the grace of God. And so it's gonna be so much easier for us to.
Except God's government, when we understand His grace.
Might be helpful also to comment that.
Under law, God is under obligation and man is under obligation. It's an agreement established by God between the two parties. And God is under the obligation to man as he says to him, this do and thou shalt live. And if man keeps the law, God is bound to maintain that person's life according to the agreement.
And if man fails and his responsibility, God is also bound by the agreement to put him to death. He must die. In contrast to that type of arrangement between man and God when grace is introduced, grace is something that is sovereign. It is sovereign because God is under no obligation to express it.
He has no He's not bound by anything. It is his own will, his own choice, without any obligation to express his love in acts that are what we call grace. And he does, and he glorifies himself.
In acting in that way without any reason within the object of it.
Without anything there that's even not only deserving, but not even lovely in what he acts. And so he glorifies himself in His grace, because he can act sovereignly in it.
We're not like that. We may be gracious to one another, we may express the grace of God, but we are not as creatures the source of grace because we are never free of obligation in our relationships to God or to one another. If I love you, that's not grace. That is a responsibility given to me of God in the life of Christ, that I have to love you. I'm told to. I'm into command.
To do so, it's not an expression of grace toward you, but God in his grace acts totally sovereignly and it magnifies the greatness of his person in so doing. And so we when we enter into it, we delight because in it not so much, although it's wonderful the results toward us, but it it brings the worship from the soul.
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To a God, that would be that way.
I believed on that. That principle comes out beautifully in the story of Joseph with his 10 brethren who came down to buy drinks from him and he wouldn't sell a smoke. He he would give it to them on the basis of grace, but he wouldn't solve to them on the basis of them deserving them because they didn't deserve food from him. They sold him as a slave and so on. So he governmentally deal with them in that way.
And so that so that he can give to them according to his sovereignty. And when he gives according to his sovereignty, he puts the money back in their sacks and gives it to them because he's a good king, he's a good man.
And Malik, and it took a lot of breaking down with the Tim brethren before Joseph. They were afraid that if the whole truth came out, then he wouldn't, he wouldn't give them grains anymore. They distrusted him and so on.
But he, he pours out, letting, uh, when he can do it on grid.
And before they were restored, all the goodness he showed to them only troubled them that much more. Isn't that amazing? I think a little. We understand Grace.
But that was the best news because he was a wonderful brother.
Yeah.
Well, the bottom line is that when we get home to glory and we see all this, we understand it. We'll have nothing to boast in, will we? And nobody will be able to look around heaven and say that they deserve what they got more than somebody else. No one will be able to look at someone else and say, well, I have more faith than that person, or I had the faith to believe, or I took one step in response to God. No, again, we're going to realize that it was all His work.
So I would like to go back for a moment to something Bob said earlier because I believe it is very difficult sometimes for the human heart to show grace and mercy to others. We love to be the recipient of grace and mercy. We revel in that and we revel in it to some degree in this meeting as we consider what we have received and the glory that is brought and going to bring to the Lord Jesus. We love to be the recipients of grace and mercy.
But I suggest that one of the reasons we don't always love to to show grace or mercy, or to see others receive grace and mercy when we think it should be justice in government, is because we don't always enter into the heart of the one from whom mercy and grace flow. And as we said earlier in these meetings, there are three very important elements earlier on in this chapter. And between mercy and grace, we have his great love.
And brethren, I just suggest that if you and I entered in more to the heart of the Giver than it would be easier for us. Yes, we understand to a certain degree what mercy is. Yes, we can. We understand what grace is. But do we really enter into the heart of the One from whom mercy and grace has flowed so freely to us, to whom much is forgiven the same love as much? I just tell you a little story that kind of impressed this upon me.
And what human nature really is like several years ago, I had a car load of boys and we were traveling from Walla Walla conference to Lassen Pines. And the young man that was driving had a rather sporty car and, uh, with a new car and he was interested in seeing how fast it could go and hold the road. And I was in the passenger seat in the front and there were several in the back. And this young man was driving and anybody who's crossed from the Oregon border, from the Washington border into the O into Oregon at that point.
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Knows that the speed limit suddenly dropped and I don't think it's fair. There isn't much warning and it's quite a drop in speed limit at that point. But the speed limit does drop. And we came flying over the the state line. We were probably going too fast for the Washington side, never mind for the seat zone that we had just hit. And sure enough, it wasn't very many moments until there were blue lights behind us. And I said to the young man who was driving, I said when the police rolled down the window, let me do the talking.
A few Gray hairs and a little age won't help, will help the situation perhaps. And so I explained to the officer of what was happening and that I was responsible for these boys and I was very sorry for what had happened and so on. And he went back to his car and took the young man's, uh, license and insurance. And the young man was in a sweat because he knew if they threw the book at him that, uh, the government of the country wouldn't, uh, be very lenient if they went by the book.
But the officer came back in a few moments and he looked me straight in the eye.
And he said, Sir, I'm going to show mercy to this young man. And he said, uh, and I said, well, I'm thankful I said, and I'll, I'll be responsible, that there won't be any more trouble today. And so we went on our way and we were the recipients of mercy or perhaps even grace. We didn't enter into the heart of the officer and he probably didn't even think about us again, or not very much anyway. But you know, we got into California, we were on I-5 and all of a sudden we heard this terrible noise behind it. And there was a car coming down the road weaving and he was traveling.
At a tremendous speed and I thought he was going to hit us.
He he went by us and everybody in the car drew a sigh of relief. And we got up over the next hill and sure enough, he'd been pulled over by the police. And the four guys in my car said, oh, yes, there is justice in this world. Yes, there is righteousness. And I said, whoa, wait a minute, guys. Back in Oregon, we were thankful when mercy and grace was shown to us and we escaped what could have even been losing a license.
And now we're thankful that there's justice and government shown to this, whoever the driver of this vehicle is. And I use that to show to these young men that we like to be the recipients of mercy and grace ourselves.
But we didn't enter into the heart of the officer and he probably really had no heart for us.
And so we must appreciate it of when there was no or we weren't sorry, when there was no mercy of grace shone to somebody else. But I just said at least smile at a story like that. But rather the more I say we enter into the heart of God and that great love that was the motive behind the mercy and the grace that we have been the recipients of. I say the more that is going to help us in our relationship to others.
To show and appreciate that same mercy and grace that has been shown to our brothers.
In this verse 9, not of works, lest any man should boast. The more we understand grace, the less there will be boasting, and when we get home, the glory rather than we're going to see it all in the light of God's presence, says the judgment seat, and it will be glory in the Lord and not in ourselves. Well, how important that is not of works.
Salvation is not of works.
But it's interesting to me rather than when Scripture makes it so clear about salvation not at work that shortly after it does speak of works and how important they are in the Christian life. And sometimes we forget about this side through the gratitude of our hearts. How in the world am I going to show my gratitude to God for all that He's done for me?
And that's where we get works.
Not to gain any favor with God, but to show my gratitude to Him. So that's what we get in verse 10. We are His workmanship.
Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God had before ordained that we should walk in them.
00:50:01
They was talking about the walk. Here's the second time. The thing it isn't today that walk is mentioned.
Any anyhow, it's uh, it's interesting these good works were.
Before ordained that we should walk in them. And I like to think that God in his eternal purposes knows everything beforehand that he purposes to do. And he purposed that there would be good works that would come out of our gratitude to God. And if you and I are in fellowship with God's thoughts, then we can be instruments in doing.
These good works, they are very much a part of the Christian faith. Good works. May the Lord help us, brethren. It's interesting. There's one other place that comes to mind immediately, but there's a number of places where it speaks about this. Look at Titus chapter 3 where it makes a very important point that salvation doesn't come by works, but.
That works are definitely.
In the pic in the picture for Christians, notice Titus 3/5.
Not fireworks of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. She shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord. Verse 8. This is a faithful saying these things I will, that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain.
Good works.
So brother, may the Lord exercise our hearts. This is the way we can show our gratitude to God. And in the measure that there is a sense of grace in our souls, we will be occupied whatever the work the Lord gives us to do. And there is so much to be done in this world to do good works to show the working out of His grace in our lives.
When we do the work with the sense of this dream, then I believe, uh.
It glorifies the Lord. It's easy to do good works with the sense of what's in it, what's, what's gonna be for your own account, uh, for, for having done those good works. And that's a poor playing field to do good work on. And it will Peter out. It will not last. What will give us to be good workmen will be a sense, a greater sense of God's grace to us in choosing and calling us to that.
And I I believe this is the real secret.
Umm, uh, to learn in your Christian pathway, uh, not to be thinking so much about what I can, you can do for the Lord, but turn around and say what has the Lord done for me?
And how can I respond to that and show my appreciation of it? And I believe then the the the credit will all readily be given to the Lord, and we will be a right display of this purpose that God has called us to, to display not our own glory, but the glory of the Lord Jesus who did all this through us and in US.
I'd like to expand a little bit on the expression created in Christ Jesus and connected as well with what's been said. To do so, go back to chapter one and.
Verse nine will read, Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him. It has been said that this tenth verse of chapter one is the key to the whole Bible.
It's a tremendously important statement about God's purposes concerning creation, concerning everything, and it is that he would gather together and one all things.
In Christ, Rather, Clem suggested what we take up that resulted in Ephesians 2 by reading the verses in First Corinthians where you have the contrast between the 1St man and the last man. In Adam. There was nothing that resulted for the glory of God and His pleasure to rest in it. And so God has started a new creation.
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And everything in that new creation as it relates to us is connected with the expression in Christ.
When you see Christ as the name, or Christ Jesus is the name in Scripture, it's going to connect itself with the new creation particularly but also.
Are bringing all that we are brought into association with himself before God.
It's not in Jesus the man, it's not in the sun, the divine person, but it's in the man, Christ Jesus, that God has purposed all that he is going to do, because the purposes of God are to glorify himself.
In Christ Jesus and all of prophecy and everything else of scripture works things out.
To that end, that God glorifies himself in a man, the man Christ Jesus. And everything that we have in that big picture is our place before God in Christ Jesus. So in Adam there's nothing for God, but what we have is created in Christ Jesus. In this chapter can be seen in 2nd Corinthians 5 to look at it for a moment.
We see how we get there.
Umm, we get to be put in this place where we are a creation, creation for good works. In 2nd Corinthians 5 it says verse 14, the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all, then all were dead. That's the condition we're talking about this morning. We can make the judgment that.
If Christ had to die, then the condition of all men was being dead.
And it was the love of that person Christ that died. And So what did he die for? He verse 15. He died for all the things which lived. So who lives? Those who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody else stays dead. But it says that they which live should what not henceforth lives them to themselves. That's Adam.
That's Adam's creation, every man for himself. Man lives for himself, he's self-centered his whole, and there's nothing for God in it, but in Christ. Those who have died with him, it says, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Same expressions we had this morning.
Wherefore henceforth know we know man after the flesh? Yeah, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more, that is.
We don't know him on the other side of the cross anymore. We don't know Him as a man who came among men. We know about it, we learned from it, we're blessed by the reading of it and learn him his person. But we don't have a relationship with him in the old creation anymore.
We are related to Him in a new creation and so yet now know Him no more that way. So what does it say?
If therefore any man be what in Jesus in the sun know in Christ? If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation.
And all things are passed away. All things are become new in the new creation.
We're creatures created for good works, and those good works are the manifestation of the very life that was given to us to be part of new creation. If you go to John's first epistle, you see that the good works are the very evidence of the life of the new man. And so we obey, which is a good work, and we manifest that we belong to the new creation.
We manifest in that way that we are.
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Creatures created in Christ for God's glory, because God is glorified in creatures that do good works. And those good works are good not only because of the acts themselves, but because the motive for those actions is now according to God. And so in the past we might have done what man would call good things.
But God looks at the motive of those so-called good things and he said, that's not being done for me. That's for man's glory. That's for the doer's glory. But now, brethren, we can, if I could use the expression we can without benefit to self or without the glory to self as a creature of good works, we can express the heart that has been given to us, the life that's been given to us, even without pride and to in a way that gives the proper respect to glory to God.
And he's glorified in Christ. When God sets all things and display, then there'll be all these creatures who do good work, and it will be all that's the fruit of new creation. That's the glory of the One who is the head of it all. That's the honor and the glory of Christ.
Before we were saved, it tells us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags or the best things that we can do. And I sometimes say that tomorrow morning there will be many who present to God a pile of filthy rags. They'll do something that on the surface seems good. They may pray, they may sing some hymns. They may join other believers that need to perhaps even partake of the Lord's Supper. But if they're unregenerate men, it's just a pile of filthy rags to God.
Any good that man does, if that's the way God, uh, esteems it and estimates it. But it's interesting that, uh, the marriage suffer of the lamb. It speaks of the really the results of the judgment seat of Christ. When the bride comes forth, she's arrayed in fine linen, which is the righteousness of Saints, that beautiful and those righteousnesses that are displayed there, those things that were for the glory of God in our lives.
As believers and those things that he could commend and reward for and say well done for, they're gonna be displayed there for our glory. No, brethren, they're gonna bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're going to bring glory to the bridegroom. They're again simply going to be a reflection of himself. And So what a display it's going to be. But I think it's so beautiful to see that again, as Dawn said, it's not for our glory so much, but those righteousnesses of Saints will be brought into full display for the glory of the one who again worked in us to will and do of his good pleasure, implanted the desire to do good in our hearts, gave the opportunity.
Another little thought connection with it in Galatians, I think it's chapter 5 speaks about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of the spirit is Lovejoy, peace, long-suffering and so forth.
It's a wonderful thing also in connection with what we're talking about, but there's not only the actions or the works themselves, but we, the creature, we, the new man in Christ Jesus, the Spirit of God works in that vessel and produces something that God looks at and says, isn't this wonderful fruit? Look at, look at this vessel, that of mine. Look at this creature of mine. Look at the love, the joy, the peace, the long-suffering. They're more, you might say, character traits almost.
Than actions. And he said I by the Spirit produced that and we are that. The result is that which God produces in the creature that he has created. It has nothing to do in that sense with what we can produce. We can't produce that in ourselves, but God does and He does by taking the life that he is given, which is the life of Christ.
And working in it to display that character which is like Christ.
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There's not only the works themselves, but.
It's good to see that God changes by new birth and by the working in the vessel, the character of the person.
Umm, the Apostle Paul started out as in nature as an insolent, overbearing man. That was his character. But after he got saved and after God worked on him and the Spirit worked in him, then he was could say to others, I am among you as a nurse which cherries their children.
That's a tremendous character change. Man can't really do that for himself. The Apostle Peter starts out as an impetuous.
Non thinking, but sort of this personality. And yet when the Lord is done, he's solid. He's he's a rock. He he, he has a personality that shows the working of God in him. And all we can do is is that we're thank God, he's at work. God is presently at work and he's at work and each one of the lives of us in this room and he's working away.
Not only for the honor of the Lord Jesus and the display of good things from our lives, but when he's done, he's going to say, isn't that a nice fruit? I produce that fruit now. I'm going to enjoy it.
This discussion has been very good because I've I've had people tell me.
That you're you're doing too many good works. And then there's others who say you're not doing enough good work. And so there needs to be the balance. But just to go back to verse five, you see, it says by grace, are you saying it says he has quickened us together with Christ, he's given us his life.
And by grace that he did on his life and in verse 6, this is a present possession that we have here.
Interesting in that connection that you have a beautiful example in the Knights of Acts of a sister who it says was full of good works. Wouldn't you like to have that after your name? You know, she had passed away, she had died and the she was remembered because she was full of good works.
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If you were to draw your last breath and people were to stand around at your funeral this afternoon, would they be able to say, well, that sister, that brother, she, ** *** was full of good works? Because Titus really is the book of the epistle of good works. The number of times, as Bob pointed a couple of them out to us, we have good work. And it's interesting in the end of the second chapter, it speaks of a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Can we really do too many good works for the after we're saved? You know, brother, brothers, sisters, there's no shortage of good work. There's no shortage He's for ordained that we should walk in them. And there's no shortage of good works that you and I can perform for the Lord's glory and for the blessing of others while we're here in this world. And when we look into his blessed face and we finally sit down in our eternal rest. Won't if if I can speak this way, I know there's not going to be regrets in heaven. But if we have any regrets, won't it be that we weren't more zealous?
Of good work that we weren't more full of good works there's so much to do you know brothers, sisters there's somebody needs a little encouragement there's somebody needs a little help somebody needs you to take their hand and help them over a difficult spot their souls to be saved and the gospel to get out in so many open doors and opportunities don't ever sit back and think there isn't something good you can do for the Lord today the there's no shortage of opportunities the shortage is often on our part in the diligence and the energy and the faith to take up and do those perform those good works but.
Let's covet the commendation of Dorcas. She was full of good, good works.
First Timothy 2 It tells the women to adorn themselves. Women like to adorn themselves with what?
With good works.
Interesting.
Good works of believers life. But one thought has crossed my mind. Won't heaven be happier when we are thanking the Lord for the US? And won't it be especially precious Anything we can do in this life because it's just that cup of water which was a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus, where we allow Him to live life through us and did that as a love offering to Him. We will be happier with His presence because there's any small things that we have done for Him.
So what I'm blessing it is to think of this with racist saves us is great.
That rewards us as if it was our work and really it is nothing we can do in our own constraints. So it's just grace upon grace. You know it gives to us. And a wonderful blessing Attorney again, it will be joy for us. Anything you can present you can. But the most wonderful thing, he will see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.
A little bit louder, Dave. It's interesting here. That goes back to remember.
Started with the 1St 3 verses where we're reminded of the pit from which we've been dug, and now we've been taken up to see the highest place in heaven where the Lord has seated us in Christ. God has seated us. I should say that's an interesting thought too. It's always been dwelling on from verse four down to the, uh, end of verse nine in God's work, isn't it? Is God doing this in Christ?
Then it goes on.
Verse 10 it should be anyway in verse 11 Wherefore remember.
Where were we? Well, the apostles bringing these Ephesians back to realize.
The pit from which they have been dug remember the evening time in time past can tiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision.
In the flesh made by hand, That at that time ye were without fright, being alien.
From the Commonwealth of Israel and so on, and having no hope and.
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So there's a reminder again of where we were.
And it's important, isn't it, to remember that because.
We always tend to start thinking that we are something important and in the measure that we do, we cease to value what the grace of God is. So may the Lord help us rather, and sometimes I feel that twice, sometimes we have to fail is because we think we're something pretty good.
Because it's only in the measure that we sense is great.
His abounding grace is exceeding grace that we realize that, uh, I should say, I should put it in different ways. When we remember what we were without Christ, without hope, without God, that we realize it's only His grace, the only standing we have before God.
God says to us.
And where we are reminded of where we were.
We remember the Lord, don't we? But.
Certainly that is part of it. We should never forget.
Scripture says of God their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. God alone has the conscious power to decide not to remember something. Sometimes we say I don't want to remember that and it only makes us bring it more and more to our memory. We can't always block out of our memories, umm, things of the past.
But God, when He says that he says their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. It is particular emphasis on the deeds.
And I believe for myself that when we're home to glory, we are not going to remember our own sins and our iniquities anymore. It's not for our good and God will. And that in that place in heaven, it won't be for our good and God will still work, that we don't have them to pester us in eternity. But there is another aspect, and I think there is something that we will always remember.
And we will always know what we were.
Not the actions themselves, but what we were. Because in eternity there is going to be only one physical reminder that sin ever existed. There will be absolutely nothing in your body or mind that will ever give any evidence that sin or its consequences ever existed. In in creation, the heavens and the earth will show. The new heavens and the new earth will be without any evidence that sin ever once existed or that there was a creation that was ever once spoiled.
The exception to it all is in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Will be the marks in His hands and feet and side of the work that was necessary to remove sin. And when we eternally look upon our Lord Jesus, there will be the thankful, eternal, fresh reminder of what it was that had to be done that resulted in those marks. And it will.
'Cause our hearts to be eternally grateful and in worship to the One who.
Took it all away, but there'll never be any pride, there'll never be anything like that lifted up in us, because the wherefore remember will be ever our privilege.
And any remembrance of what we were is always to be in that light, because the children of Israel remembered things, but they desired to go back and get some. We remember the melons and the leeks and the garlic, but it was a hankering to go back and to get some. But for us, in remembering in time past what we were, is always to be in the light of the grace of God and what it cost Him to bring us into the position that we're in.
And when there is that a remembrance in that light, then there's true blessing in the soul.