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Grace, Faith, Works

June 1, 2025 · Ephesians

Scripture referenced 14 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Ephesians 2:8-10

the main text for the sermon, salvation by grace through faith unto good works

8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

9 not of works, that no one would boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

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Hebrews 11

definition of faith as assurance of things hoped for, confidence in things not yet seen

1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.

2 For by this, the elders obtained testimony.

3 By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

4 By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God testifying with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks.

5 By faith, Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn’t see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.

6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

7 By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

8 By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.

9 By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

10 For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11 By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised.

12 Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

15 If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.

16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17 By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son,

18 to whom it was said, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac”;

19 concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.

20 By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.

21 By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

22 By faith, Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel; and gave instructions concerning his bones.

23 By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

24 By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

25 choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time;

26 accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

27 By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

28 By faith, he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.

29 By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.

30 By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.

31 By faith, Rahab the prostitute, didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.

32 What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets;

33 who, through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.

35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

36 Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.

37 They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated

38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.

39 These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn’t receive the promise,

40 God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

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John 3

Jesus tells Nicodemus no one can enter the kingdom without being born of water and the spirit

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2 The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’

8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?

11 Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness.

12 If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

13 No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.

20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.

21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

22 After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them, and baptized.

23 John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptized.

24 For John was not yet thrown into prison.

25 There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with some Jews about purification.

26 They came to John, and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, the same baptizes, and everyone is coming to him.”

27 John answered, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.

28 You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’

29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full.

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

32 What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness.

33 He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.

34 For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.

35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.

36 One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

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1 Corinthians 5

recommended for study on being a new creation in Christ

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.

2 You are puffed up, and didn’t rather mourn, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.

3 For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing.

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5 are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?

7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;

10 yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world.

11 But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.

12 For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within?

13 But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”

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John 14

whoever believes in Jesus will do the works he has been doing and greater things

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.

2 In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.

3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.

4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’

10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

12 Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.

13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.

15 If you love me, keep my commandments.

16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,—

17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.

18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

24 He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

25 I have said these things to you, while still living with you.

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

28 You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.

29 Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.

30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.

31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

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Matthew 16:24

take up your cross and follow me, called to die to ourselves

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

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Matthew 28

the Great Commission, go and make disciples of all nations

1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

2 Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it.

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

4 For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men.

5 The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified.

6 He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying.

7 Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”

8 They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.

9 As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.

10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.”

11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all the things that had happened.

12 When they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave a large amount of silver to the soldiers,

13 saying, “Say that his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

14 If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him and make you free of worry.”

15 So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until today.

16 But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them.

17 When they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted.

18 Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

19 Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

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Matthew 22

the greatest commandment, love God and love your neighbor

1 Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying,

2 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son,

3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come.

4 Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast!”’

5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise,

6 and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.

7 When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy.

9 Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.’

10 Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.

11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing,

12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless.

13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’

14 For many are called, but few chosen.”

15 Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk.

16 They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach, for you aren’t partial to anyone.

17 Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites?

19 Show me the tax money.” They brought to him a denarius.

20 He asked them, “Whose is this image and inscription?”

21 They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

22 When they heard it, they marveled, and left him, and went away.

23 On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him,

24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’

25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.

26 In the same way, the second also, and the third, to the seventh.

27 After them all, the woman died.

28 In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her.”

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.

30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven.

31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,

32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

33 When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

34 But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together.

35 One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him.

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

42 saying, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “Of David.”

43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?’

45 “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

46 No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forward.

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Ephesians 4:12

Christ gave leaders to equip his people for works of service

12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;

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John 15

branches that bear no fruit are taken away, bearing fruit proves discipleship and glorifies the Father

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.

2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

8 “In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.

10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.

11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.

15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.

16 You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

17 “I command these things to you, that you may love one another.

18 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

21 But all these things will they do to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.

22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

23 He who hates me, hates my Father also.

24 If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.

25 But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

26 “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.

27 You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

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Galatians 2:20

crucified with Christ, no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

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Galatians 5

do not use freedom to indulge the flesh but to serve one another in love

1 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

2 Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.

3 Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

4 You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.

5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

7 You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth?

8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

9 A little yeast grows through the whole lump.

10 I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you will think no other way. But he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.

11 But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.

12 I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off.

13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.

14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

15 But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you don’t consume one another.

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,

21 envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,

23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

24 Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.

26 Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.

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Matthew 25

parable of the talents, well done good and faithful servant

1 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.

2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

3 Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them,

4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5 Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’

7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘What if there isn’t enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’

10 While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.

11 Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’

12 But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

13 Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

14 “For it is like a man, going into another country, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them.

15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.

16 Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.

17 In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two.

18 But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

19 “Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reconciled accounts with them.

20 He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents besides them.’

21 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

22 “He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents besides them.’

23 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

24 “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter.

25 I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’

26 “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter.

27 You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest.

28 Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents.

29 For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away.

30 Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.

36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink?

38 When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you?

39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’

40 “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;

42 for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;

43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

44 “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’

45 “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’

46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Brad Yates preached from Ephesians 2:8-10, the passage that played a direct role in his own coming to faith in 2010. He walked the congregation through the three-word outline the text gives us: grace, faith, and works, in that order, and only in that order.

What was said

Brad opened by asking whether anyone remembered the moment the lights came on for them regarding the gospel. He shared that in 2010 he would have called himself a Christian, rated his confidence of going to heaven a seven out of ten, and assumed his good deeds would outweigh the bad ones. A friend sat him down, asked him two questions, and showed him Romans 6:23 and then Ephesians 2:8-10. That conversation changed everything, and it is why the congregation was looking at that text on this particular Sunday.

The first point was grace, defined as unmerited favor, kindness from God that we do not deserve. Brad was direct: if someone believes that coming to church and living a good moral life is what brings a person into the kingdom of God, that person is further from the kingdom than someone who never showed up at all, because the honest sinner is more likely to reach the end of their rope and recognize their need for a savior. He used the image of a swimmer caught in a riptide who has exhausted every ounce of strength and finally stops fighting so the lifeguard can bring them in. That, he said, is the picture of Christian faith.

Brad was equally direct about what grace is not. It is not a wage paid to a good person. Every other human religion operates something like a scale of justice, where the good side has to outweigh the bad. The biblical picture, he argued, is different: one iota of sin on the bad side permanently removes a person from the presence of God. The dose does not make the poison when it comes to sin. The only remedy is what Jesus accomplished on the cross, and the empty tomb is the proof that the bill has been paid.

The second point was faith, described as grace awakening a person to the facts of the gospel. Brad used the parable of the prodigal son: the moment the son came to his senses in the pigsty and recognized that his father had what he needed, that was faith. And before the son could finish his rehearsed apology, the father ran to him and threw himself on him. Brad noted that the older brother in the same parable had forgotten this entirely, thinking God owed him something for his loyalty. We can fall into the same mistake, acting as though Jesus died so we would have behavioral modification and a weekly obligation to fill a pew.

The third point was works, drawn from verse 10. The Greek word translated as workmanship, Brad said, is the same root used in the Greek Old Testament to describe God's act of creation in Genesis. We are remade out of nothing, the way God made creation out of nothing, and that remaking has a purpose. He quoted Jesus in John 14: whoever believes in me will do the works that I have been doing. Not can, not might, will. The standard Jesus named in Matthew 22, loving God with everything and loving your neighbor as yourself, is what flows from a genuine faith.

Brad was careful to keep the order straight. Good works can only flow from saving faith, not the other way around. A person who is doing good things to earn favor has either forgotten or never understood Ephesians 2:8-10. The proof of what kind of tree something is, he said, is the fruit it bears. If there is no fruit, no change in a person's life, that person has not yet fully received the grace God has shown. Confession of sin is a provision for people inside the church, not just outside it, and someone who never confesses to anyone does not look put-together, they look like someone who does not fully understand the grace they have been given.

He closed by bringing it back to where he started. On his own, he was a seven out of ten, trying to earn his own salvation. God did a work in him, not because he was strong but because God is strong. The good works God calls us to are not a burden designed to earn anything. They are the response of a person who has already received everything, and one day, in the parable of the talents from Matthew 25, Jesus will look at how those works were done and say, well done, good and faithful servant.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

  1. Brad described a moment when someone asked him two questions: how sure are you that you would go to heaven, and why should God let you in. How would you have answered those questions before you understood the gospel, and how would you answer them now?
  2. Brad said that most of the time in the Bible the gospel is preached to the saints, not to unbelievers, and that our tendency is to fall into routine instead of relationship with God. Where do you see that drift showing up in your own life?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Read the full transcript 6,642 words
0:18 Speaker 2Music, but also played with excellence too and just gorgeous. Thank you. Thank you. Yes.
0:23 Speaker 1And and on her new piano.
0:25 Speaker 2Yeah. She
0:26 Speaker 1put a lot of work into That's right.
0:29 Speaker 2And and if you don't know our one of our elders, this is Brad Yates, and he's our our our official teaching elder here too.
0:37 Speaker 1He's elder.
0:38 Speaker 2And we're twinning today.
0:39 Speaker 1This is Carl's best guess at what I was gonna wear today.
0:42 Speaker 2Yep. But before before he shares the word, can I pray? Lord, what a privilege to be able to meet together together in your name, Lord, and and to open up the word and and just to hear what it says. And lord, this so important message of salvation by grace through faith. Lord, would it fall on fall on open hearts today that we would hear it anew today even if we've heard it our whole lives that we would hear it anew and that it would affect ultimately the way that we live our lives.
1:20 In Jesus name, amen.
1:31 Speaker 1We're getting there. There we go. Thanks, Josh. Do you remember where you were on 09:11? I think for most of us, if we if we still our minds for a second, we can think very specifically to where we were physically located at various parts of the day, as we started to learn the horrible and pivotal truth that was happening over the skies in DC and Pennsylvania and New York.
1:59 Or perhaps, more positively, do you remember where you were when you first met your spouse or held a child in your family or when you met your best friend? Or do you remember where you were when the lights first came on for you regarding the truth and the implication of the gospel message? Now for me, I have several of those moments over the course of about a year as I was really coming to faith, but one in particular stands out. Now for context, in 2010, I would have called myself a Christian. I attended church, I put money in the plate when it passed by, and I even prayed for God's help when I needed it.
2:40 I tried to live what I considered to be a good life. But I was introduced to a mutual friend who was at the time a young adult pastor. And he and I sat down, and he asked me two questions. And I think I've brought these two questions to you before. But the two questions that he asked me were one, if you were to die today, on a scale of one to 10, how sure are you that you would go to heaven?
3:02 And I want you to think about that. On a scale of one to 10, if you die today, how sure are you that you would go to heaven? And then second, if God were to ask you, why should he let you in? So when I was asked those questions fifteen years ago, I said that on a scale of one to 10, I was a seven. I tried pretty hard, thought I lived a pretty good life, went to church, I knew about Jesus, and I prayed.
3:27 But I'd hoped that when I died, that my good deeds would somehow outweigh my bad ones, and that God would let me in. But then my new friend asked me in response to that, had I ever sinned? Had I ever in my life not fully trusted or submitted to God? Had I ever not loved him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? Had I ever had inappropriate relationships with women?
3:50 Had I ever not loved my neighbor as myself? Had I ever seen something that somebody else had and thought that not only I wanted it, but that I was actually more deserving of having that thing? Check. Check. Check.
4:07 He then showed me Romans six twenty three, which says, for the wages of sin is death. A wage is what you're due for something. When you work, your wage is money. When you sin, your wage is death. But then to my great delight, he also showed me our text for today, which is Ephesians two eight through 10, for by grace you have been saved through faith.
4:32 Did I want to be a 10? My friend told me that I could. And then he showed me in the Bible, clear as day that I could have assurance of my salvation, because it wasn't up to me. It's only because of the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And that I and any of us are incapable of racking up so large a debt that we can overcome that payment that Jesus made that terrible and yet beautiful day on Calvary Hill.
5:03 So here's our text for today. For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them. Now, are plenty of texts throughout scripture that give a good stab at summarizing the entirety of the gospel. This is just one of them, but this is such a classic text from Paul because this, there's a depth to this that you could spend a lifetime studying it and yet the the easily most acceptable or accessible meaning is right there.
5:43 If you don't do scripture memory as part of your, you know, regular disciplines in your walk with Christ, I would say this is a phenomenal one to start with because this can come up in any conversation about Jesus. This one also just happens to be special to me because of the way that God used it in my personal life. So that's why you're looking at it today. But here's the thing, sometimes as Christians, we assume that we learn the gospel and that we move on to become more advanced from there. As if it's econ one zero one, econ two zero one, econ three zero one.
6:17 But no, the gospel is something we remind ourselves of constantly. Did you know that in the Bible, the majority of the time when the gospel is presented in the Bible, it's not being presented evangelistically to unbelievers? It's being used to remind the saints of the truth that rocked their world. Most of the time in the Bible, when the gospel is preached, it's preached to the saints. And so I try to make that my primary goal in any quiet time.
6:45 I have a sheet of paper that lives as the bookmark in my Bible, and all it says is my quiet time glorifying to God and increasing my love for him. Is my quiet time glorifying to God and increasing my love for him? Those are my two goals. Because my fleshly tendency in my life is to fall into routine instead of into relationship with God. You may have heard of this as religion versus relationship, And we can all fall prey to it, so we have to strive against it.
7:19 Instead, we reroute ourselves constantly in the truth that I am first and foremost not any role that I have, not any achievement that I have, not any gifting that I have, and certainly not in my sin, but that I am first and foremost a child of God. And I have the opportunity every day to spend time with him. So our summary then for this text today is quite simple. Basic outline, grace, faith, works. But it's in that order.
7:51 Grace leads to faith, leads to works. That gives us our three points that we're gonna look at today. Grace, we're defining as unmerited favor, a receiving of kindness from God that we do not deserve. Faith is trusting in God, a confidence in things not yet seen, an assurance of things hoped for, as the writer put in Hebrews 11. Works then proceed from faith in Jesus and are in accordance with God's law and bring him glory.
8:19 So this is where we're going today. This is our road map. We're just reminding ourselves of the very truth that rocked our worlds. And in case that experience sounds foreign to you, in case you haven't had that moment where the lights came on, I just wanna say thank you first and foremost for trusting us with your time. I hope that this church very quickly feels like home for you.
8:43 Now to be clear also, we don't all have to have dramatic conversion experiences, but everybody's conversion experience should result in dramatic change in that person. Does that make sense? It is. Thank you. So with all that in mind, let's take a look at our text.
9:00 Here's the first part. This is Ephesians two eight. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not of yourselves. This is the gift of God. Do you get that?
9:11 And I mean, really get it on a fundamental level. Because this is the most important truth. How much of your salvation is due to your good works? None. Your salvation is accomplished only through faith in the grace of God and even that is a gift.
9:31 Now at the risk of putting too fine a point on it, but I think Paul does this, so I'm gonna follow Paul as far as he follows Christ. If you think that coming to church on Sunday and living a good moral life is what's going to bring you into the kingdom of God, then you are further from the kingdom than the drunks or the sexually immoral that skipped the false pretense and slept in this morning. Not because it's a race, not because it's a linear progression. When I say you are further, what I mean is that those that live that sort of lifestyle are more likely to get to the end of their rope and recognize their need for a savior and that it's been provided for them. So I don't care if you're teaching Sunday school, if you came yesterday and installed our new fans, which as the guy up front under the lights, I'm really thankful for, Or if you're serving on our board as an elder, you cannot be good enough for God, not on your own.
10:29 Sinners are just more likely to know their need for the savior, just like the thief on the cross. So I don't care what you're doing, and God doesn't care what you're doing in turn when it comes to salvation, but as we're gonna see today, he does care what you do with the salvation that you receive. As a counterexample, think about basically every other human religion. They think of it more or less as the scales of justice. We've all seen this image before in some way, shape, or form.
11:00 And back before I really knew Jesus, this is how I used to think, was that if the good, this, you know, there was more weight on the good side of the scale than on the bad side of the scale, it tipped that way and you're in, or you get reincarnated to the next higher step, or good things will happen for you in your life. But instead, the biblical picture is that if you trust at all in your own righteousness, and there is one iota of sin on the bad side of the scales, then you are forever removed from the presence of God, which is hell. If you put one tiny portion of yeast in the loaf, it leavens the whole bit of bread, or the more modern version of that. Who here has left a little bit of metal in a microwave? How'd it go?
11:52 My point is that any amount is too much. The dose does not make the poison when it comes to sin. Sin makes the poison when it comes to sin. Any amount is too much, and we all have some of it, so we are all in great need of the antidote. But thank God he's already taken care of it.
12:11 And with salvation, it's exactly the same. That's what the Old Testament law was meant to show, that there is an unattainable standard of perfection that you cannot meet apart from the provision of God's grace in your life. And it doesn't matter if that one sin in your life is thinking poorly of somebody or murdering them. Sin is still sin, and it is still in need of a savior. Sin at its core is anything that does not fully trust and submit to God.
12:44 Anything. And the only one who can do anything about it is Jesus. Not me, not your pastor, not your parents, Jesus. Certainly not us in our own. And that's an entirely different paradigm from how the world thinks.
13:02 Because we are not saved by our strength, we are actually saved by the very recognition of our weakness. If you go to the beach in Hawaii, one of the nice parts, there's white sand and big waves and the little flowery drinks, and you're excited to be there, especially if it's February from here. And you get you get out to the beach and you're excited to go for a swim, and there's a big sign and the lifeguard authority has said, hey, do not swim between these posts and these cones that lead out to the water. And you're like, I thought Hawaii was still America. What is with these rules?
13:36 So you go out, you go for a swim. And you're splashing around, and then you get a little bit too close to the area. And the lifeguard, you hear that shrill shrill whistle and the blow of the bull horn where he goes, hey, you're too close. Go back. And so you go back, and you're swimming around, and then you stumble back in, and you get pulled out by the riptide.
13:59 And after you get pulled through the wash cycle, you can no longer see the shore. You don't even know which way land is. And you're hoping against hope, and you're struggling, and you're out of strength, and you're ready to give up, and you're pretty sure there's a shadow underneath you that wants to eat you. But in that moment, right before you give up, right when you've given in on trusting your own strength, the lifeguard comes out and grabs you and you hold on to him. You cling to him and that lifeguard says to you, hey, you can't make this swim back.
14:30 You don't even know which way to go, but I'm gonna do it for you. That's a picture of the Christian faith. You cling to that lifeguard, and you trust in his strength, and in his training, and in his provision. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus famously in John three. Nicodemus was the teacher of Israel.
14:51 He was a Pharisee and a professional holy man. Nicodemus entire life was dedicated to do to doing good works and preaching about the kingdom of God. And Jesus told Nicodemus in John three, he says, truly, truly, I say to you, Nicodemus, unless someone is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, nothing you can do is good enough for God. Now, the good news, of course, is that the real work of justification has already been done.
15:20 The cleansing of sin is accomplished fully, freely, forever forgiven. That's us. The bill has been paid and we know it because of the empty tomb. But the problem is we tend not to stay there. As humans, we have this insidious thought that basically goes something like, thanks for dying on the cross, Jesus.
15:46 I'll take it from here. Now, none of us would say that out loud, of course, but we act like that's our underlying operating assumption. Jesus died for my sins, so I have to be a good person and go to church on Sundays. And it sounds silly when I put it that way. Right?
16:04 And yet that's how a lot of us act. Jesus died, so I go to this old building once a week, and I pretend like I have my entire life put together. No. Instead, grace, as we said earlier, is unmerited favor. From God to us, it is the goodness shown to someone who does not deserve it.
16:24 Grace is not a wage paid to a good person or even an okay person. It is a gift. Grace is showing love to the person that you should hate, to the person that wronged you actively, to your enemy. Someone breaks into your house in the middle of the night. Mercy is not shooting them dead.
16:45 Grace is instead determining what they need, deciding to do it, and loving them in that. That is grace, and we were all, so we're clear, we were all the thief in the night breaking into God's house. And he and his perfect love showed us not just mercy, but grace. Grace, it has been said, is God's righteousness at Christ's expense, g r a c e. Though Jesus through Jesus, we receive not only forgiveness, but righteousness at his expense.
17:20 Sorry. I had that cold that was going around and still got the vestiges of it. But in Jesus, you are not only let off death row, you are adopted into the very household of God with him, with his people, in his house, just like he always intended you to be and living on mission. And that is grace. And we can spend a lifetime studying it and applying it to our lives and still not fully comprehend it and reach the depths of it.
17:48 That's why we have to talk about it all the time. We, as Ray says, re gospel ourselves. But we have faith in the grace, which is our next point. Faith is trusting in God, a confidence in things not yet seen, an assurance of things hoped for. Grace awakens faith.
18:10 Faith is an awakening to the facts of the gospel. It's the prodigal son coming to his senses. Becoming a weight to the reality that is actually already his while he's in the pigsty. That he actually has a father with unfathomable riches. And so he gets up out of that stye and he prepares this, you know, apology speech.
18:35 He's going to ask his father to accept him back, not as a son, but as a slave. And as the son is coming to the father, the father sees him in a distance and runs to him. And before the son can say a single word of his rehearsed speech, the father throws himself upon him, kisses him on the neck, hugs him, puts his own robe on him, and embraces him. The son now knows a forgiveness and a love that he never could have even imagined prior to his experience. Before the son is showered of the filth and the grime that comes with working with pigs, he is showered with blessings and love by his good, good father.
19:16 And we're never too far from God. If you feel that you have something that is disqualifying you from membership in God's family, then join the club. Because the only qualification for membership in God's family is a recognizance that you are on your own entirely unqualified. But if instead, like the older brother in the parable, if you think God is owing you something for you being on his team or in his family, then I think you've forgotten the truth of this verse. Because you don't earn a gift, it is given to you.
19:52 You have to have faith in the giver. And this is what the older son didn't understand, and it's what many of us, myself included, can forget at times. It's that if you receive a lavish gift, no one gives you credit for opening it. For example, Yamazaki 18 is, in my opinion, the best whiskey in the world. We're welcome to debate that.
20:16 You buy a bottle, bring it to my house, we'll do a tasting. My house, your expense. But if you if you buy me a bottle for my birthday, and then we sit we're sitting around the fire on the back porch, and we crack it open, and it's a little poor Baptist. Chill out. And and we have a little sip.
20:35 It's not me that deserves any praise. It's not my generosity that is our cause of celebration there. There is no honor due to the recipient. The giver is the one whose generosity is to be celebrated. But once the recipient opens the gift, you are expected to then use the gift in the manner that the giver determined.
20:58 If you're a rancher, and let's say, like they did when they were homesteading this place, they did all of the work by hand. And let's say, in my amazing, inspiring, benevolent, and theoretical generosity, I buy you a tractor and everything that comes with it. And then a month later, I come back to the ranch to check-in on you, and you're still doing everything. You're still bailing hay by hand. I'm actually going be a little bit upset.
21:27 I bought you this amazing machine and everything you needed to become more productive than you ever had in your life, to be able to feed families instead of just yourself. And instead, maybe you've decided to take the tractor for a joy ride and go get groceries from Whole Foods. The idea is that we are supposed to use the gift in the way the giver intends it and not to clog traffic, Christian. Similarly with God, Jesus did not die so that we would have behavioral modification. Jesus died so that we would be made new.
22:01 He died so that you might be reborn, so that you can't be adopted into the family of God. But then, we take that gift and we use it for the glory of God and we can do so in joy because it's out of gratitude. And that brings us to our third and final point for today, works. This is verse 10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
22:31 What does it mean here when it says created in Christ Jesus for good works? Well, I'm glad you asked because that's my next point. You are a new creation in Christ. And we hear that all the time and I've mentioned it here already. But I don't think we realize how big that is.
22:49 You were made new. You're not an upgraded version of the software. You're not that incidental software upgrade that you get overnight on your phone that makes it slower and more likely to die before the end of the day. No. You are made new.
23:04 You died in Christ and were resurrected with him. You are in God's eyes, and through the Holy Spirit in the flesh, you are a new creation. If you wanna study that and be encouraged by that, it's first Corinthians five. It's all about that. Because we always have to remember that Jesus did not come primarily to teach or to set an example.
23:29 Jesus came to die and be resurrected in glory. His disciples couldn't understand it no matter how many times he told them. And the world still can't understand that simple truth. And sometimes we forget it. If Jesus had only been a teacher, a leader, or an example, then we would just have to try harder, and that wouldn't make us new.
23:52 But the perfect sacrifice of Christ does make us new if we would but allow ourselves to die with him. So our text makes clear today that you were made new in Christ for a specific purpose, to do good works. But when this text says, created in Christ Jesus, it's the Greek word katizo, k t I z o. This is the same word in the Greek that is used whenever it refers back to the Hebrew narrative of creation in Genesis. You see the parallel there?
24:23 God created everything out of nothing, ex nihilo, and he made it new. We are born, we are made new. But why? To do good works. So we need a definition of works.
24:37 And if you get nothing else from today, I just wanna be very very clear that good works only can flow from a saving faith in Jesus Christ. That's true both instantaneously and daily in the arc of our lives. Good works flow from a true faith in Jesus Christ. Good works flow from faith. Faith precedes works.
24:59 Salvation precedes works. They are the source of good works or otherwise they're not good works. Here's Jesus in John 14, he says to his disciples, this is before crucifixion. He says, very truly, I tell you whoever believes in me will do the works that I have been doing and they will do even greater things than these because I'm going to the father. This verse terrifies me.
25:25 Because notice it's not optional. Whoever believes in me will do the works that I've been doing. Not can, now not now is suddenly able to, will. And Jesus did a lot of good works. Greater works than these?
25:42 You don't have to spend a ton of time in your Bible to be humbled by that. So what works did Jesus do that he's talking about here? Because he's not talking about all of us need to turn water into wine. Jesus came primarily to do three things. He came to preach repentance and the coming of the kingdom of God.
26:04 He came to die on the cross, most importantly. And third, he did miracles, healing, and provision for worldly needs to authenticate the message of those two. Does that make sense? So, of course, only Jesus could accomplish the atoning work on the cross. A normal man nailed to a cross does not die for sins, for humanity.
26:29 Only the son of God could do that. But he did call us all to die to ourselves, like he said in Matthew sixteen twenty four. Take up your cross and follow me. The apostles then, as they're building the early church, keep this same idea in mind as they're trying to figure out how do we prioritize ministry. Because they've got to take care of the widows that are among them.
26:50 But the 12 get together and they decide that it would not be right for us, the 12 disciples in particular, the teachers, to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. So there's a clear prioritization going on here. They don't want to neglect the taking care of the of the widows. That's what our friend Stephen ultimately does, if you remember that story. But the disciples decided that the most important thing to love someone well was the preaching and teaching of God's word.
27:20 Now don't mishear me. We do both. This church does both because Jesus did both. We take care of people's worldly needs, but it's an authentication of the love that we have for them because every single person in here and in this world is going to die. So we wanna care for their eternal souls.
27:38 When we meet their earthly needs, it's an intermediate means to the end of telling them about Jesus. And this is similar to what Jesus talked about in Matthew 28. This is after the crucifixion, after the resurrection, right before the ascension. He's got his team. He's got his boys, and they're on the beach.
27:57 And these this, this is the pregame speech from the coach. This is the marching orders from the general. He said, boys, I'm leaving. It's up to you. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you and behold, I am with you always even to the end of the age.
28:18 Those are your marching orders church. Similarly in Matthew 22. What's the greatest commandment? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
28:34 That's our standard church. So all the other one anothers from scripture, all the other commands that we get, they are stemming from these. But we also rightly prioritize them because there are so many claims on our time and on our efforts and our energy. But we need to always check our hearts. Are we rightly prioritizing missions, and are we doing it for the glory of God?
28:59 Because if I even up here preaching, if I do this to earn the acclaim of man, if I do this in some weird way to make God in my debt, then I'm doing this in sin. Preaching in sin from God's word. It's the same with any good deed we do. Installing fans. Is it for the glory of God so that more people will hear about it in delightful comfort?
29:28 I'm a Texan, so I'm prone to air conditioning. We'll get there, church. Don't worry. But if you serve the widows, if you meet for accountability, if you take communion, you are not doing it to earn favor. You are doing it out of gratitude and joy and out of love for the what the provision you've already been given.
29:48 So everything has to be in mind of glorifying God. Make him known to those around you. Disciple others and always to the glory of the only one deserving of glory. For example, this that we do on Sundays, this is not a feel good club. We don't gather to check off a box so that we can feel like good people.
30:08 No. This is a minister's conference. We gather here. You are led by the leaders, by the staff, by the by the pastors, whatever it is, to equip you for the work of ministry, as Paul says famously in Ephesians four twelve. So Christ himself gave, we'll call that the leaders of the church to equip his people for the works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up.
30:37 That's why we gather here on Sunday to glorify and worship God and to equip you for the work of ministry and we seek to do that not just on Sunday but Monday through Saturday as well. How can you best tell what kind of tree something is? It's by what kind of fruit it bears. An apple tree bears apples. This time of year in the Tetons, huckleberries are born by those huckleberry bushes or trees or shrubs or whatever they are.
31:10 Similarly, a Christian tree bears Christ exalting fruit. And I can't tell you specifically what this looks like in your life. This is up to you to figure out what the Holy Spirit. Just unclench your fist. Ask God what you want him to do.
31:28 For me, it's teaching, it's leading, it's administration, it's discipleship. For you, it might be pastoral care, taking care of those that are broken in heart or in body. It might be teaching kids downstairs. It might be taking care of the budget and the building of this church on one of the committees. But you have to first make sure that you have that firm foundation of grace through faith in your life, and then you get to work and you start today.
31:58 Church, this is the coolest place in the world to live on mission, But that's what you all are. You are all missionaries. It's not just Carolyn working here through Compass. It's not just the missionaries that we support oversee. Each and every one of us, we come into contact with people every single day that need to see the love of God played out and need to hear about the good news of Jesus Christ that's available in their lives.
32:24 That's why you're here. But you can't kid yourself and you're not fooling God. If there is no fruit, if there is no change in your life, you have not fully received the grace that God has shown you. You have not opened and applied the gift of faith. You are not yet God's workmanship from our cortex today.
32:48 His poema is the Greek word. It means masterpiece. You are God's masterpiece for doing the work that he's appointed for you to do. Jesus said in John 15, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Says later in John 15, my father is glorified by this that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
33:11 A great summary of all of this that we looked at together in the men's lunch. Thursdays, noon, fellowship hall, be there. Don't have to make it every week. Make it whenever you can. It's great fellowship.
33:27 But we're working through Galatians right now. In Galatians two twenty, I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. Church, that's a verse. It's no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you. We only now live in the faith by the son of God.
33:53 And there are only two options. You are either living for God or you are living for this world that is under the control of the prince of this world who is the devil. There is no third option. There's no neutral party. There is no Switzerland in this war.
34:09 You're either a child of God or a child of wrath. For we have received grace from God in forgiveness and rebirth. That is a gift that cannot be valued and should not be left open because that grace was so expensive, and this is so practically important. This is why these verses are back to back to back in our text. They cannot be inextricably or they are inextricably linked.
34:32 For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that keeps us from living like self righteous Pharisees. Because if you live out of your own strength for righteousness, you are either going to be exhausted from the effort and look down on others or you are going to be cast into an immeasurable amount of anxiety about how you are falling short. Don't you get it? The gospel assumes that even as saints, we will fail. That's why confession of sin is a provision not just for those outside the church, but for those inside the church.
35:05 If you're not meeting with somebody and confessing your sin to them and to God, it doesn't make everybody think that you have your life all put together. It makes me think that you don't fully understand the grace of God that has been shown to you, That you don't trust him with it or that you don't trust others with that confidence. Because church, God doesn't teach old dogs new tricks. God makes old dogs new. And then and only then can we do works for him out of that joy and gratitude.
35:41 This is the burden that feels light. This is the slavery that feels like freedom. This is the deeper level of productivity out of love for good works. Are you closer to God than you were a year ago? Do you delight more in spending time with him and working for him?
36:02 If not, I'm willing to bet that you've forgotten the core of our verse today from Ephesians two. Or maybe you never knew it. And if you never knew it, and all of this sounds crazy to you, will you please have the courage to admit it? We're not gonna think less of you. We're gonna be excited by your vulnerability and honesty.
36:19 I'll be in the back after worship, and I would love to talk with you about that. And if you've made the decision, if you're like, I don't know what you're talking about, Brad, but I want in. Man, it's warm enough outside. Let's go find a river and let's baptize. And we'll go wild.
36:39 Right? Church, that's how this works. It's the recognition not of our strength, but of our weakness. Join with the body of Christ. Fellowship with us.
36:50 Now I'll invite Judy and the rest of the band back up and we'll close with this. Because as we think about what to do with our faith, it's important to think that if God and his wisdom has enabled us to do good works, he is going to recognize them one day. Jesus taught in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 that one day God is going to look at those that did good work for him. And he's going to say, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a little.
37:19 Now I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Can you imagine hearing that from the God of creation? Isn't it worth setting aside time, talent, treasure, and effort in this world to hear that from the creator God? Because church, Jesus is coming back.
37:40 And if I'm not already dead on the day that the sky gets rolled back like a scroll and Jesus descends to us on the clouds, man, I don't wanna have any doubts about how I spent my hours that he gave me. I wanna see Jesus coming for his bride, the church, and I wanna go, yes. And I want you to be able to do that too. That's why we're here. That's why he leaves us here.
38:10 Because my works apart from God are like filthy rags. I'm just a Pharisee. I'm a seven on a scale of a one to 10. I'm trying to earn my own salvation and it's never gonna work. But God did a work in me.
38:24 He forgave me. He put his spirit in me and he's putting it in you. Not because I was strong, but because he is strong. Through grace, through faith. And that is true freedom.
38:38 Christ died to set us free, church. This is Galatians five. But don't use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Use it to serve one another in love And all for the glory of God, the only one deserving of glory. So here it is.
38:56 Oh, I had it in here. Ephesians two eight through 10. Grace through faith, it is a gift so that you may do the good works he appointed in advance for you and you and you and you and me to do. Now let's sing together one more time in worship of the most holy and loving God. And then we go outside and we live our lives on mission and in hope.
39:22 And we have a great week of worship. Thank you, church.

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Written up from the message given at First B Jackson. If something here reads oddly, the recording is the record.

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