WEBVTT 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:05.280 Are you ready for the Word of God this morning? 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:06.719 Good. 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:08.240 It's ready for you too. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:09.679 So you're in good company. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:13.759 Let's look at Ephesians chapter 2, verses 10 through 13 this morning. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:20.800 We're in a sermon series called In Christ, and it's the study of the book of Ephesians, and we're breaking it into two parts. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:30.800 So the first part is about our identity in Christ, and then the second part we'll look at next year, which is the second half of Ephesians, which is all about our purpose in Christ. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:34.799 But today we're going to be focusing, like I said, on Ephesians 2. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:46.719 Um, last week Kelly did a great job of helping us to understand the blessed fact that we who were dead in our sins and trespasses have been made alive unto God by grace through faith. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:48.000 Is that your story? 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:48.960 Amen. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:50.399 We can be thankful for that. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:54.560 Today we're going to look at the fact that in Christ we've been made new. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.000 We've been made new. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:57.920 So let's read these verses. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:07.359 For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:32.879 Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:41.120 But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.400 Let's pray. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:47.280 Father, we are so grateful for this wonderful word. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:02:04.799 Lord, we are so excited always to encounter what it is that you want to say to us through the word that you caused your Holy Spirit to uh to be placed upon men who would write these words down. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:08.319 Jesus, we thank you that you are the word of God. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.439 And so we ask that these words would come alive to us today. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:25.840 We ask that you would help us to process them, that we would understand them in better ways than we have before, and that we would uh implement them in our lives so that our lives would be changed forever because of these powerful words. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:28.400 We thank you for it in Jesus' name. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:29.360 Amen. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:34.319 So I want to start off this morning by giving you some really good news, some encouraging news. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:35.360 Are you ready for that? 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:42.560 That I'm sure there's lots of lots of other kinds of news that you've heard recently, but you've probably heard some of this already. 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:53.039 But I'm excited to tell you that it looks like we could be worldwide looking at a the beginning of a possible revival. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:03:07.919 And I I I've used my words carefully, I'm using my words carefully, but it looks like there are some key indicators that are helping us to see that it seems like the Lord is moving in powerful ways and that he's drawing people to himself. 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:17.280 And some of the indicators of that are that this last year Bible sales are up by about 40%, 4-0% worldwide. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:19.120 That's a massive change. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:20.719 Come on, amen. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:27.280 Also, Christian app downloads, and I'm kind of mixed on this one, depends on which app it is, right? 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:30.639 But they're up by 80% year after year over year. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:33.680 Christian music streams are up 50%. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:39.439 Thousands of college students are being reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ recently. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:51.520 There was an event at UT where thousands of young people proclaimed the name of Jesus together in praise and worship and praying out and crying out to God for this nation. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:58.000 People, especially younger, younger people, look, all you folks over there, thank you for for all of them. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:05.599 People, especially younger people, are going to church for the first time or coming back to church after they've been gone for some time. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:06.719 Amen. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:07.680 These are good things. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:12.080 And there's a heightened emphasis on prayer and worship. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.520 We're seeing a heightened emphasis on prayer and worship. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:31.839 We even heard it in some of the things that were spoken this morning that God is telling us that these two things are vitally important when it comes to uh preparing the atmosphere for God to move in a way that he desires to move when it comes to revival. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:36.240 But as good as all of this sounds, it's not quite good enough. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:38.000 And I'm gonna tell you why. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.120 It's not quite good enough. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:55.360 Jonathan Edwards, one of the ministers that God used in the first great awakening here in the United States in the 1740s, described true revival as a sovereign work of God that was marked by deepened conviction of sin. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:08.079 There was a deepened conviction of sin that led to repentance for sin, realizing that all of us, if we get what we deserve, we deserve the wrath of God. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:15.519 We deserve punishment from God, and yet God in Christ Jesus made a way for us to be made new. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:16.399 Amen. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:37.360 So we must see on the heels of all of the other great indicators, which I'm so excited about, and I want more of them, but we will know that we're seeing true revival when we begin to see people confessing their sin, repenting of their sin, turning away from their sin. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:45.519 We will also see a heightened love for Christ, a heightened love for him and all things related to him. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:47.439 It won't be about us. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:48.959 It will be about him. 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:54.160 To him will be all of the glory and the honor and the power and the praise. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:56.399 This is what true revival looks like. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:58.399 It looks like repentance of sin. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:01.040 It looks like a heightened love for Christ. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:18.800 And it also looks like transformed lives that are aligned with scripture, not with just what somebody says on the internet or what somebody thinks is a good idea, lives that are transformed to the point that they are lived, the lives are lived based on what scripture teaches us. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:26.800 These are true signs of revival that brings about the kind of transformation that changes nations. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:42.160 My friends, these are the things that I'm asking that each of us as a part of this church that we begin to pray and ask God to begin to move in such ways that these things will be preeminent. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:43.680 Does that make sense? 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:51.920 It's not enough just to get around Christianity, it's not enough just to listen to Christian music, it's not enough even just to go to church. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:56.879 We want lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.560 And the Holy Spirit wants it even more than we do. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:02.079 Aren't you glad? 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:13.519 And so we have the privilege of walking with him and working with him as he desires to bring about this kind of transformational moment in the culture in this generation. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:22.160 He also noted, Jonathan Edwards also noted that personal transformation that people were experiencing poured out into society. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:26.399 In other words, it was not contained within the four walls of the church. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:36.879 It began to change and transform the culture and the society around the people who were being influenced and transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:51.120 Bars who once thrived and taverns who were once well visited began to close down, not just because of business, but because the hearts of those who were owning these places of business were beginning to change. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:08:06.079 Crime began to diminish in locations where the Spirit of God was moving in ways that caused people to repent of their sins, to put their faith, hope, and trust in a living Christ and began to live out the values of Scripture. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.000 Things began to change. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:13.040 Poverty was alleviated in regions that experienced true revival. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:19.040 You know, we're hearing all kinds of things in the news about the government's role when it comes to taking care of those who are in need. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:33.679 And we're not here to argue that, but I want you to I want to tell you that a church alive with the power of God and filled with the Spirit of God and that is experiencing revival will be able to care for the needs of the community. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:38.159 And that's the way that God intends it, and that's the way that He designed it. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:38.879 Amen. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:50.960 And I just want to say to you, if you know of people who through this time in our country end up with not having enough food in their cupboards, we want you to tell us about it. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:56.960 We want you to let us know because we as a church want to be able to step up and help however we can. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:58.159 So please let us know. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:04.799 Come to one of the elders, send us an email, let us know, okay, if there are needs that come up that need to be met. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:09.840 We, Trinity Community Church, want to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:10.720 Amen? 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:15.440 So going back to our passage now, I hope that was a good intro for us. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:22.639 Paul in this passage highlights the fact that God is doing an amazing work among the Gentiles. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:43.039 You got to think about how radical this was, how amazing this was, that God had busted out of Jerusalem that the Holy Spirit that had come on the day of Pentecost, and everybody was there together and they loved it so much that actually God allowed persecution to come to Jerusalem for what reason? 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:54.399 Not just not to cause harm to the church, but to cause the church to do his work, which was to be spread out throughout the nation, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:58.320 So there's an amazing work being done among the Gentiles. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:02.399 And this Ephesian church is no exception to that. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:05.519 In fact, they're experiencing a full-on revival. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:12.000 All of the things that we talked about in the beginning of this talk, they were experiencing firsthand. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:25.600 But he gives them some keys on how to keep things in the proper perspective so that the work that God is doing in them and through them will produce fruit that remains in their lives and in the lives of others. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.480 How many of you know that that's what God judges? 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.120 He's the judge of fruit. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.759 He's not the judge just of words, he's not the judge just of heart. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:37.919 He's the judge of fruit. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:40.080 And we want fruit that remains. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:40.879 Amen. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:43.759 We want generational fruit. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.720 And that's what I'm so excited about this morning. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:56.000 Having having uh, you know, uh Noelle's grandmother and and Jordan's grandfather here standing on the stage with us and celebrating together generations. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.840 I don't even know how many generations that is. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.759 Now I can think of it, is it three, four, four generations representing? 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:03.120 That's what we want. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:07.120 Fruit that remains in the kingdom of God. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:10.000 So let's look close more closely at this passage. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.320 The first thing I want you to look at is we've been made new on purpose. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:17.840 It says, for we are his workmanship. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:19.440 We are his workmanship. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.080 Now that word in the Greek is poema. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:23.360 Poema. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.480 Can you think of what English word we get from that? 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:27.759 Poem. 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:30.159 Yeah, we get the word poem from poema. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:36.399 And so um scripture isn't just talking here about literary art primarily, right? 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:42.639 But highlighting God's amazing works of art when it comes to those that he has brought from death to life. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:44.960 How many of you know God is the creator? 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:50.399 He's a workman, he is a handyman, he's a his handiworks are amazing. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.799 The work that he does is literally out of this world, right? 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:57.759 And his amazing works of art he wants to display. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:04.399 For those who may be struggling with believing that you have any intrinsic value, we heard some of those words this morning. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:13.120 Some of you dealing with depression, fear, anxiety, worry, self-doubt, all of those things, I'm here to tell you, God doesn't make mistakes. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:16.720 And God is a mastercraftsman, he's a workman. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.279 We are his workmanship, right? 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:26.000 So um, if you're dealing with those things, God has handcrafted each and every one of us. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:27.759 We are his workmanship. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:30.000 We have not been mass-produced. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:37.200 But I heard that you could get a robot to come to your house to do your chores, you know, to fold your laundry and all of that. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:49.840 But the problem is that the robot has to be controlled by somebody in an office that is literally like doing the action that the robot has to follow. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:13:03.840 So it's like if somebody's already having to do the action to make the robot do the action in my house, can't we just take the middleman out and let that person leave the office and come to my house and fold the clothes? 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:08.720 I don't know, it's worked for centuries, but we feel like we need to make a change, right? 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.039 But God didn't mass produce us. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:17.360 We are not mass produced, we are individually made, and we are fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:20.000 You see, we are God's new creation. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.840 We are God's new creation. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:25.440 It says that we were created in Christ Jesus. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:26.799 We are his new creation. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:34.720 Paul uses similar language in describing this newness of life as we find in the original creation account found in Genesis. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:43.279 In fact, in another one of Paul's letters, the book of Romans, he uses the same word, poema, in Romans chapter 1, verse 20. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:56.000 For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:01.360 That word made is that same word, poema, that we read in Ephesians. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.679 So they are without excuse. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:08.480 So Paul is speaking here in Romans 1 of the original creation. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:13.840 God said, Let there be light, and there was light, and on and on and on, right? 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:15.440 So all of those things were good. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:19.440 All of those things were examples of his handiwork on display. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:27.120 The same God who spoke galaxies into existence also regenerates dead sinners. 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.279 That's the good news. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:45.519 The same God, the same spirit that breathed life into Adam as he was a pile of mud on the ground and caused him to be a living person, breathes life into the unregenerate person, making them alive unto God. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:50.960 We are his new creation in Christ Jesus. 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:54.080 We have been born again. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.159 We have been made new. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:01.039 And the the verse that I'm sure many of us are thinking of is 2 Corinthians 5, 17. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:05.679 It says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:10.639 The old has passed away, and behold, the new has come. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:16.000 How many of you know that you're not who you once were if you are a follower of Jesus Christ? 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.360 You once were this, and now you're this. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:20.559 And how did that happen? 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:29.919 It didn't happen because you willed it so, or because you fought hard enough, or because you were strong enough in your own power and might to cause it to be done. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:40.639 How many of you know you you became that way because the Spirit of God breathed on you and caused you who were dead to God to be made alive unto him? 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:42.559 This is good news. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:43.759 This is good news. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:50.559 See, we are new, we are God's new creation, and God intends for his new creation to do good works. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.240 To do good works. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:16:00.799 It goes on in verse 10, Ephesians 2, 10, for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:05.519 That God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:14.799 Now make no mistake, the verses immediately following, verse 10, make it clear to us that good works don't save us. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:15.279 Right? 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:18.320 Let's just remind ourselves of those two verses, eight and nine. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:23.840 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:29.600 It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.360 So we didn't save ourselves, we couldn't save ourselves. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:48.000 We could there are not enough good works that we could do to please a perfect holy God, and to to to uh build a bridge across the divide that was caused between us and our heavenly Father because of sin. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:54.080 We couldn't do it, we couldn't accomplish it, we couldn't make it happen. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:17:02.799 But this verse speaks to the fact that those who have been transformed by God's grace will perform good works. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:08.640 We will perform good works, such as living obedient lives. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:12.640 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:19.039 Followers of Jesus will obey the Lord, and we will obey those who are in authority over us. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.200 How about living fruitful lives? 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:26.079 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:27.359 Thank you on them all. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:27.920 Right? 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.640 We will live those kinds of lives. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:41.759 Good works that we do based on the fact of what Christ did for us and our faith in what Christ did for us, good works will come from that. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:43.440 Does that make sense? 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:49.039 The purpose of God's creative activity is not merely to have a people. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:51.440 It's great to have a people. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:54.400 As if he were constructing a work of art. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:18:00.000 Like if he just had a bunch of people and he just put us on a wall and said, just hang there nicely. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.920 Would you smile for me? 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:09.680 You know, you're just hanging on the wall and he just points to, you know, he's far removed, but he just points to us and says, Hey, look at my work of art. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:10.640 Aren't they wonderful? 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:11.680 Aren't they amazing? 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:13.279 They're just hanging around. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:22.160 They're just hanging around, they're just they're just there, they're just displayed, they're just, I want you to see who I am by what I did, right? 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.480 He could he could have done that. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:28.799 It would have been maybe right for him to do that, and yet he chose not to do that. 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:38.000 This new creation, the new creation that he's created within us, is to be active and productive like the creator himself. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.759 He created us in his image and likeness. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:52.160 We are called to be like him by the grace of God and through the work of the Holy Spirit, and not perfectly until Jesus returns. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.519 It's like I have to give all these caveats, right? 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:58.640 But it's true, it's absolutely true. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:08.240 We are created in God's image to be like him, to act like him, to talk like him, to walk like him, to work like him, right? 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.400 To rest like him. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:15.039 Usually get a few amens on the rest one at least, right? 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:20.799 By the way, he doesn't rest, he doesn't have Cheeto stained hands while he's resting. 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:25.759 Oh my goodness, anyway, I don't know where that came from, but we'll move on. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:29.759 John Stott's words are not too strong. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:31.599 Listen to the words of John Stott. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:41.599 Good works are indispensable to salvation, not as its ground or means, but as its consequence and evidence. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:47.839 Salvation should create good works. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:55.039 True conversion in a person's life will be seen by the fruit that is that is produced. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:00.079 And the fruit that is produced is not really for our own consumption. 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:03.759 How many of you know we benefit when we produce love? 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.920 But who else benefits? 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:08.000 Everybody. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.039 How about joy, peace, all of those things that we talked about? 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:31.279 When we produce the fruits of righteousness, the fruits of repentance, when we do the things that Jesus asks us to do and commands us to do in scripture, by the grace of God, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, revival comes, change happens, people take notice. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:47.359 I know that some of you have experienced this when you're going through something very difficult in life, and you show up in work and at work, and people know what you're going through, and yet somebody comes to you and says, How is it that you're so peaceful in the middle of what you're going through? 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:53.039 What do you say when somebody says something like that? 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:56.400 Jesus, sometimes that's all you can say. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.000 Jesus. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:18.480 Because we're so grateful for what Christ has accomplished for us. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.200 This should be our natural disposition. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:31.920 As much as being disobedient was the natural disposition of our lives before Christ, obedience should be the natural disposition of our lives since Christ. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:38.720 We have been changed, we have been transformed by the power of God. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:46.720 Paul goes on to encourage his readers, we should never forget who we were without Christ. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.400 We should never forget who we were without Christ. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:56.079 We've been made new on purpose, but we should never forget who we were without Christ. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:22:06.799 It says, therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:10.400 Paul had this unique ministry vantage point, didn't he? 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:14.400 He was a Jewish man who grew up in a Roman province. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:18.480 He was from Tarsus, and so he knew both sides of the coin. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:26.400 He knew what it was like to grow up under Roman law and Roman rule, and yet still be a student of Scripture and student of the Old Testament. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:34.559 And he he grew up being trained to be an attorney, a law attorney based on the Old Testament. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:48.480 But how many of you know all of that changed one day on the road to Damascus when all of a sudden Jesus appeared to him and called him to change, to be transformed by the power of God and to be made new. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:59.599 So Paul is, God is calling Paul to reach the Gentile people, and yet his heart is still so drawn to his brothers and sisters who are Jewish. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:02.720 We see this in the book of Romans in such beautiful ways. 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:24.160 Paul takes entire chapters of the book of Romans to explain to each group how they are really not advantaged when it comes to uh to being right, being made right with God, that there still has to be this element of grace that comes through faith in order for them to be transformed, to be changed, to be made right with God. 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:25.839 Right? 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:29.359 And so he's doing that here in this passage as well. 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:34.480 He's talking to the Gentile people and talking about this this gap that they face. 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:42.480 And the Holy Spirit uses this diversity between Gentile and Jew to allow Paul to bridge the gap between them. 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:48.400 And we're gonna learn next week that we're all called to be one new man in Christ Jesus. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.119 And I'm not gonna linger there, although I'd like to. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:24:29.519 Remember who they once were so that they could appreciate who they are now. 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:32.480 And he uses this word, therefore. 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:34.400 This is so old. 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:36.960 My dad used to say this, but I'm gonna borrow it. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:39.839 When you see the word therefore, you have to ask yourself, what is it? 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:43.200 See, I'm not the only one. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.640 Generations, will you pick that up and run with it for us? 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:48.480 They're all like, nope. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.200 That's so dumb. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:54.640 Anyway, there's a connect, it's a connecting word, right? 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:58.960 So it's connecting the former thought to the new thought, right? 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.880 So therefore, there's a reason why that this is placed here. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:04.880 The first command, I want you to catch this. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:13.519 The first command, up until this point in time in the book of Ephesians, it's all been about what Jesus did and who we are because of what Jesus did. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:15.519 Hasn't that been good? 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:23.599 Haven't you been amazed at the words of God that have that were given to Paul by the Holy Spirit to write in the book of Ephesians? 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:31.200 Haven't you been changed and transformed by realizing that you have an identity in Christ that's far different than maybe what you imagined? 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:35.759 Far greater for sure than what we could know up to this point. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:40.079 But now the corner turns just a little bit. 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:44.079 And the first command in the book of Ephesians is to remember. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:46.240 To remember. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:47.680 Interesting. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:52.960 It wasn't yet to go out and do great exploits, although they were called to good works. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:56.880 Before you perform these good works, you must remember. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:04.799 Remember, Paul spent all of his time, like I said, speaking to them, establishing the fact that they have a new identity in Christ. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:13.119 And these Gentile believers were encouraged to remember the desperate condition they found themselves in before grace came calling. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:17.359 How many of you have been in the church for 30 years or longer? 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:18.559 Raise your hand. 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:21.599 I don't mean Trinity, I'm just saying in the church. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:23.200 Raise them again. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:24.240 Look around you. 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:29.519 Folks, we need to remember. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:32.000 We are called to remember. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:37.920 We're no less called to remember than the Gentiles were in this passage in Ephesians chapter 2, right? 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:39.519 So let's look at this. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:42.559 They should remember how far they were away from Christ. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:46.880 We're going to see five different categories of things that they were called to remember. 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:50.559 Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:57.039 They had no claim to Christ, they had no connection to him, they had no interest in him. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:00.480 This was their story. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.680 This was the reality of their condition. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:12.000 There was nothing of Christ that they were drawn to before God opened their hearts. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:23.039 And how many of you know that that is not just their story, but that is all of our stories, as we as we were once fully surrendered to the God of this world. 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:24.559 That was the first thing. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:28.720 And then secondly, they should remember how far they were away from God's people. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:33.039 It says that they were alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:40.240 They were excluded from citizenship in Israel, even if they lived within that land, they were excluded from Israel. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:46.640 And so they had no natural pathway to be considered the people of God or from being a part of God's purposes. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:49.680 They were on the outside looking in. 00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.960 This was the condition of the Gentiles. 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:58.000 And these were the things that Paul is telling them that they need to remember. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:03.119 The third thing is that they should remember how far they were away from God's promises. 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:07.359 It says that they were strangers to the covenants of promise. 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:15.039 They were excluded from the covenants that God had made with his Jewish covenant people in the Old Testament. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:25.359 As proof of this, Paul describes the fact that they were called the uncircumcised by those who were circumcised because they shared no signs of the covenant in their flesh. 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:34.880 There was not even a mark on them that made them even appear as if they could be considered part of this other group. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.680 They were completely separate. 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:40.160 They were completely isolated. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:44.240 They were completely outside looking in. 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:52.400 Paul is speaking here of the covenants that God made with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and David and others. 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:55.039 These many covenants that he made with his people. 00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:56.880 And what was the singular promise? 00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:59.839 You notice it says the covenants of promise. 00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:03.519 What's the singular promise that all of those things had in common? 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:12.960 That there would be a king who would sit one day on the throne of David and that he would rule and reign forever and ever and ever. 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:14.799 And that king's name is. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:20.640 Boy, one Sunday I'm going to ask you that question. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:22.240 You're going to yell it out. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:24.000 And I'm going to be like blown back. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.559 It's going to be like one of those commercials where somebody's surprised and their hair goes back on them. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:29.359 You know. 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:33.359 Yeah, exactly. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:37.119 Some of you grew up in a church like that where there's some hair flying around. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:41.359 Last we learned at Servants Heart that Mark baptized the hair off of somebody. 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:43.039 So you gotta be careful. 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:43.599 Watch out. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:45.759 When a revival comes, all bets are off. 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:46.799 Things happen. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:49.519 Not enough hairspray in the building. 00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:59.519 So the singular promise is the Messiah that Jesus would come and in whom all the covenants find their fulfillment. 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:03.440 In Him, He fulfills all of them. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:05.200 Thank God. 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:12.480 And Gentiles up to this point have not shared in these covenants, nor have they been included in God's special relationship to Israel. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:25.200 And as we dig down deeper into this place of realization concerning what their condition was, the next one is they should remember how far they were away from the Christian hope. 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:28.079 It says that they had no hope. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:38.240 They had no hope of escaping eternal punishment by which a holy God sends those who are unholy away from his presence forever. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:45.839 They had no hope that there would ever be a moment of change or transformation where they would be included instead of excluded. 00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:52.319 They had no hope in the flesh or in the some formula that they could follow. 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:54.000 They were hopeless. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:00.000 How many of you know that we live in a world that is hopeless? 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:08.720 Hopeless breeds contempt and anger and rage and division. 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:12.640 People without hope live like that. 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:16.319 And that's exactly the way the Gentiles lived. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:17.920 That was their MO. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:24.720 How many of you know that 1 Thessalonians 4 13 tells us that we don't need to live like that? 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:36.160 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:43.519 I'm tempted to jump in there now, but I'm going to wait. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:46.160 I'm going to wait because the scripture waits. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:52.400 Next, it says that they should remember how far they were away from God Himself. 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:57.839 Not only did they have no hope, they were without God in this world. 00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:01.279 Does not mean that they were atheists. 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:05.039 If you know anything about Ephesus, you know they were not atheists. 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:09.920 They served a lot of little gods made of stone and different things. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:15.599 They were all giant temples that were built to the different gods that they worshiped. 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:19.920 And yet they were without God in this world because there's only one capital G. 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:25.039 And that's the one that they were without. 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:28.799 They did not have the God of the universe. 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:34.240 The culture of the world in which they lived was isolated from God and what he was doing. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:42.880 Completely isolated, completely foreign to them, like something they had never known or never experienced. 00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:57.039 And then this realization hit me. 00:32:57.039 --> 00:33:00.400 This is me. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:04.559 This is my story. 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:17.039 And I even thought a little deeper than that because to be honest with you, and I thank God for this, I don't remember my life without Jesus. 00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:22.160 I was born again at the age of five years old in my bathroom, brushing my teeth. 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:27.039 My mom asked me, Tyler, you've been going to church with me, you've been going to Sunday school. 00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:28.000 Jesus is real. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.000 Do you want to put do you want to believe in him? 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:32.640 And I said, Yes, mom, I want to believe. 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:34.160 I want to put my trust in him. 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:38.079 And I prayed and I accepted Jesus into my life. 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:45.839 But I'm here to tell you that I have tasted of the forbidden fruit of disobedience and rebellion in my life. 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:47.440 And I want you to know this. 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:49.119 I want no part in it. 00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:53.359 I know enough. 00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:55.680 I've tasted enough. 00:33:55.680 --> 00:33:58.000 I've experienced enough. 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:06.880 I've fallen from grace enough to understand that I do not want that stuff to have control over me. 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:13.440 And that's my encouragement to all of us who have been churched our whole lives. 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:23.920 We read stories like this, we read passages like this, and we have a hard time connecting with them because all we remember is being in church and being Christians and being followers of Jesus. 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:28.239 But I'm here to tell you but but for the grace of God, there go I. 00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:57.679 Because I've been bought with the price, and I'm a new creature in Christ Jesus. 00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:08.239 I understand what the scripture means when it says that like a dog returning to its vomit is someone who returns to their sin. 00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:13.199 I don't know about you, but the promise of sin never delivers. 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:17.599 It never delivers what it tells you it's going to deliver. 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:20.480 Lust is never satisfied. 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:23.840 One lie always leads to another. 00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:34.719 This is our memory. 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:36.960 This should be our remembrance. 00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:52.400 This should be the things that we are focused on when it comes to making sure that our attitudes stay right, that our heart stays focused, that we continue to do the things that we believe that God wants to see happen in the culture as well. 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:55.840 You see, we were all far off from Christ. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:57.760 We were far from his church. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:35:59.920 We were far from the promises. 00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:03.599 We were far from the Christian hope and from God Himself. 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:07.599 And therefore, we were far from everything that's good. 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:12.239 Every good and perfect gift that comes from God. 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:13.760 We were removed from. 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:16.480 We were far away from those things. 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:24.559 And even if we've only experienced that in moments in time where we've fallen and had to run to our Father and say, Father, I've sinned. 00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:26.559 Would you please forgive me? 00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:29.920 We still know what it's like. 00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:37.760 We should know what it's like to be able to remember and to say to ourselves, I don't want to leave my father's house. 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:50.800