WEBVTT 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:10.880 Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the senior pastor of The Road at Chapel Hills. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:12.320 This is the Road Podcast. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:13.679 Thanks for joining us. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.960 My heart is to empower you to change the world. 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:19.839 I hope this message impacts you. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:24.640 Ephesians chapter 2. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:28.879 What a joy to be in Ephesians chapter 2 and 3. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.120 Man, it's it this fires me up. 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:35.280 So I love the mountains, and I love being in the mountains. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:38.159 I love fly fishing, I love hunting, I love hiking. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:40.799 It just, there's something invigorating about it. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:01:02.640 And one of the things that happens if you're a big game hunter is that you get up early in the morning when you're hunting and you go down a lot of times into valleys, and you're always on the shady side because you know you don't want to be on the sunny side because that's when the animals come out, and then you raise it up and you've got nothing but light in your scope. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:05.040 So you're always on the you're always on the cold side. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:06.319 So it gets really cold. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:08.319 Usually you get out there like 4 a.m. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:10.719 and for two hours you're just chattering. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:13.280 It's so cold, and sometimes it's 15, 20 below. 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:16.799 I've been in some situations as much as 25 below zero. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:19.760 And then, you know, you start walking out of that. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:26.799 And as you do, you come up to peaks and you you you crest different peaks, and it's just majestic when you get to the top. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:31.200 But it's cold and it's and it's really uncomfortable in the valley. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:43.040 And I think there's no better illustration than Ephesians 2, 1 through 10, than this idea of being in the valley and coming up to the majestic peaks that God has for you. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.560 And so what Paul is doing is he's taking us on a journey. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:48.719 So in Ephesians 2, we're on a journey. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:50.079 We started last week. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:54.640 I don't want to repeat everything that I said last week, but let's start at the beginning. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:02:04.319 And it starts off with the good news that you're alive in Christ, you've been made alive in Christ, but then it drops down into the chilly, cold valley. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:07.760 Some of you are in that valley right now. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:09.680 This describes you. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:15.120 And for some of you others, you've come out of that valley and you're experiencing new life in Christ. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:24.159 In a church like this, we're gonna have various groups of people at various places in their journey with Christ, and it's okay. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:25.120 It's okay. 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:26.560 I'm glad you're here. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:29.039 You know, and some of you sleep in church. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:32.879 And I want you to know, no better place to sleep than in church. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:37.039 Because you might catch something along the way right before you fall asleep. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:42.639 My granddaddy uh was a rancher on a farm, he worked hard all week, and his only day off was Sunday. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:54.719 And so I remember in Wittenberg Lutheran Church, wooden pews, he had his cushions, and you dare would never sit, no one would ever sit where Joe Taylor and Ola Taylor sat. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:55.919 That was their place. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.840 And the church never grew, as far as I know, for all the years that I went there. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:03.680 The same people sat in the same places, and everybody got older and older and older. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:09.840 But he would sit there, and I'm telling you, it was amazing, and I would, and I had my watch, and I'd sit there. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:24.560 We didn't have stopwatches like we do now, but I'd have my watch and I'd sit there and then he would soon, if Pastor Beck got up, I mean, he hadn't said one thing yet, but you know, it was one of these, one of these raised-up pulpits like you have in the Lutheran church, you know. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:25.120 You remember those? 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:26.800 Maybe your Catholic church or whatever. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:27.840 He's in the raise up. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:32.879 As soon as he gets up there, he was gone, man. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:35.520 And then it was like on cue. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:37.199 It was unbelievable. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:38.159 On cue. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:39.360 He'd be coming to the end. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:44.719 We'd wake up, you know, and so if you do that, that's okay. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.159 It's fine to do that. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:54.240 But but we all go through highs and lows, and verses one through ten is an incredible journey into the majesty of God. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:55.439 I want you to write this down. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:56.800 Write this down first. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:03:58.000 You're a masterpiece. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:00.479 Right, said I am a masterpiece of God. 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:01.840 Write that down in your notes. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:04.960 I am a masterpiece of God. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.080 Write that in big letters if you're taking notes. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:14.400 I'm a masterpiece of God, because that is the theme of verses 1 through 10. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:16.000 So let's go into the valley first. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:44.399 And you, he made alive who were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:47.120 So if you don't know Christ, this is your life. 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:58.959 If you've not given your heart to Christ, you're living according to the course, there's a course, a course of this world, and Satan's the principle. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:00.399 Satan rules it. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.680 He's ruling, and he's ruling your life if you don't know Christ. 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:18.399 You don't know it, I doubt anybody's like dedicated themselves to the devil, but you're dedicated to the devil because you don't have anything of greater power breaking through what the devil's doing in your life. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:19.680 And you probably remember this. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:22.720 I'm reading Keith Green's biography again, No Compromise. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:29.519 Love this that book by Melody Green, and she's talking about the first time she went into a bookstore to buy a Bible for Keith. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:36.560 He's not a believer yet, but he's seeking after God in all kinds of cultic ways and stuff, and she thought he should go get him a Bible. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:44.160 And she walks in, and then here's this guy with the shortest hair she's ever seen in a guy that age. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:49.600 Because this is 1972, and everybody that she hung out with had hair down to their shoulders. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:55.040 So he's there, and he's got his little three-piece suit on, and she thought, what a nerd, you know? 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:56.879 This is what Christians are. 00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:59.360 And that's the way some of you were, right? 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:00.319 Maybe you are. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:04.000 It's like, ah, Christians, they never have any fun. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:05.680 I mean, I'm free. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:06.639 I'm free. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:08.000 I can do what I want. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:10.800 I'm not, I'm not shackled by religion. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:13.600 I'm not shackled by organized religion. 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:15.759 I'm free to get STD. 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:17.120 I can just go out and get it. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:18.240 It's really awesome. 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:20.319 I can go and get addicted to drugs. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:21.759 Oh, I'm so free. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.639 I'm so free to get hooked on pot and then heroin. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:25.759 It's just awesome. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.519 And look at those nerds right there. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:29.920 They're like, they're not even addicted to anything. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:33.040 I mean, and they love their wives and they're true to their wives. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:34.959 Oh, I don't want any of that. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:36.959 Right? 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:38.399 Right? 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:39.839 That's freedom? 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:41.519 You call that freedom? 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.199 So he's saying, look, you're trespassing. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:46.879 Men and women, write this down. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:47.920 Don't miss this. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:52.720 You have God's operating system within you. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:59.040 You've got God's operating system within you, whether you're a believer or not. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:00.079 It's there. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:02.800 You are created in the image of God. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:06.160 You have his operation, it's just not plugged in yet. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:07.680 It's not plugged in yet. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:12.319 So if you don't, you've got God's operating system, you know your stuff you're doing's wrong. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:12.879 You know it. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:14.240 I don't have to say you're a sinner. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:15.279 You already know you're a sinner. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:16.240 That's the reason you're here. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:20.879 Part of you is here because you know if you're not here, you're gonna be up to no good. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:27.839 And so following Christ is plugging in the operating system. 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:31.920 So what happens in our life is kind of like trespasses. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:32.480 That's what he says. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:33.839 It's like trespassing. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:46.000 So, for two years in my life, we lived on a farm and ranch of Joe Taylor, that was my grandfather, and Ola Taylor, my grandmother, had thousands and thousands of acres, and we lived in a cabin. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:56.319 And when I say cabin, some of you had this like romantic image of a cabin, like when you put in uh Rocky Mountain cabin images, and you look, whoa, that's like they're all like four million dollars, right? 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:59.040 Okay, this was like a cinder block cabin. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:00.160 It was really ugly. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:06.959 But it was pretty cool because I was on 200 acres and I could hunt and fish anytime I wanted to, had never done that before, was learning how. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.160 But there was Mr. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:09.279 Mr. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.319 Kraps, that was his name, I kid you not. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:13.040 Mr. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:19.279 Kraps had hit that that's a pretty common name in the Sandlapper part of Batesburg, Louisville, South Carolina, by the way. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.199 Sheeley and Kraps was a lot of them. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.439 I'll take Sheeley, how about you? 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:27.920 But right next to our property was another thousand acres that Mr. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.800 Kraps owned, and it said no trespassing. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:37.679 And me being the law-abiding, what are y'all laughing about? 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:41.360 The law-abiding citizen that I am, I never crossed over. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:47.600 Even if I saw a whole covey of coil over there, I would just pass it up because I was obedient to my dad. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:49.200 Not. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:52.159 But you see what trespassing is? 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:54.080 Trespassing is crossing the line. 00:08:54.879 --> 00:09:00.080 It's leaving God's territory and you going on your own in new territory. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.759 And that's what we call wrath. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.360 That's being in wrath. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.759 That's being under the judgment of God instead of the grace of God. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:11.919 So he's saying we've all been there. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:13.279 You've all been there. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.039 Some of you are still there. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:17.679 But we have compassion for you. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:19.360 Because we were there. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:21.919 And somebody loved us out of there. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:23.039 You know? 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.080 And it's so much better not to trespass. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:27.919 And it's really smart. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:32.720 Because God has the operating system. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:44.080 And in Genesis 1, 26 through 29, he created you in the image of God that you might prosper, that you might have dominion over your life. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:46.399 You can have dominion over sin. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:48.720 You can have dominion over your anger. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:56.960 You can have dominion over your lust because you've plugged in to God's operating system and he's working in and through you. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:58.240 He continues. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:01.919 And this is where we start to climb the mountain. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:03.360 But God. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:07.360 Best words in the Bible, I've got it circled in my Bible. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:08.240 But God. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:22.559 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:29.840 By grace you've been saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:30.720 Now look at that. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:31.919 Look at verse 4. 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:34.720 I want you to circle Bud God. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:37.279 And then this is really important. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:41.919 I want you to circle in verse 5, alive together with Christ. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:42.879 Alive together. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:46.799 Circle that if you've got a hard copy Bible. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:48.320 Alive together with Christ. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:11:02.080 Then in verse 6, he says, raise us up together, circle together again, and made us sit together, circle, sit together, three together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:04.399 Now, look at my Bible if you can see it. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:09.279 Draw arrows down to workmanship in verse 10. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:14.000 Draw arrows down with your pen to workmanship. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:16.159 Here's where he's going with this. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:28.480 What he's about to tell us is if you'll link up with me, if you will walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and be in a partnership with me. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.480 The Bible calls it abiding. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:31.679 John 15. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.399 Abide in me and I in you. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:45.120 You can even ask for anything you want, and I will answer it because your desires are being infused by my desires. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:54.240 And when your desires, which tend to be selfish, start to get infused with his desires, you start to become selfless. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:56.399 Because you want God's glory. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:57.759 You fear God. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.919 And that's the biggest problem today is that we fear man. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.320 We're always worried about what other people think. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:12.879 We're always worried about, that's why, I'm not saying it in all cases, because some of you guys might believe in this stuff, but I've done the study and I don't believe in it. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:20.159 But you wear a mask, you say for other people, but really down deep in your heart, you just don't want to be targeted. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:20.799 Okay? 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:23.759 I don't care if they target me. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.519 And I I revel in it. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.480 It's like, okay, so can there's no evidence. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.159 There's no evidence. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:34.000 There's no evidence that this helps anything. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:41.919 And so if you don't believe that, then start doing some homework on anything but mainstream media. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:54.080 Because the mainstream media narrative is out to capture us and to enslave us and to make us the little peons on their little chessboard of the things that they want to do. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.120 And I'm just saying, I'm just saying. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:11.919 We had a young lady Liz told me, and I don't know the whole story of it yet because she was whispering it to me right when I was coming up, but there was a lady out here after the first service who was raised in Russia under communism. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:19.440 And the stuff they did to her to fight God, to take God out of everything, was huge. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:21.600 Folks were headed that way. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:26.799 And when we fear God, we don't fear man. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:33.759 And so he's saying right here, look, this is, I've raised you up together with me to sit in the heavenly places. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:38.879 What he's trying to say here, I think, is that you don't have it if you just stay in the valleys. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.360 You've got to go to the higher levels in worship. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:45.840 You've got to go to the higher levels in being in my word because there's so much more. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.879 And it's and it's sitting down in Christ. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:55.120 It's not our effort, it's our surrender that makes all the difference. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:57.519 It's surrendering and resting in Him. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:10.320 And when I see what's happening in our country, when I see what's happening in our city and in our families, if I can't sit down in Christ and re-surrender everything to him, I'll go crazy. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:21.440 And so and so you look at the landscape, and you've got to put the word over the top of the landscape and say, God, show up in Washington. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:24.159 God, you've got to show up in Denver. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.399 God, you gotta show up in Colorado Springs. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:27.440 Use me. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:29.919 Right, Jeff? 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:31.120 Right? 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:43.919 So Jeff gets up, gathers men, whole-hearted men, and they go into D49 and they battle the stuff that they're wanting to teach our kids, and they're winning. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.320 Because they did something. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:52.879 So to me, talk is cheap. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:54.399 Action. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.240 In the power of the Spirit is what makes all the difference. 00:14:58.399 --> 00:14:59.279 Look at verse 7. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:05.279 In the ages to come that he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us and believe. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:06.480 Let me give you two terms here. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:07.039 Mercy. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:07.759 Write this down. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:12.960 Here's what mercy is mercy is not getting what we deserve. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:18.320 Mercy is not getting what we deserve. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:24.000 So let me say it again. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:26.080 Mercy's not getting what we deserve. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.080 Grace is getting what we don't deserve. 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:29.039 So here's the idea. 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:49.919 The idea of God as judge is a judge over us, is that He, by the cross and by the resurrection of Christ, we just studied, you know, as we went through Easter, Good Friday and Easter, is that God took away the wrath of God by what he did in taking it upon himself. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:51.279 That's mercy. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:55.120 But then he gives us new life. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:59.360 We don't deserve new life, we don't deserve richness and mercy. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.320 We don't deserve the riches of grace, but he gives it to us. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.519 That's grace. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:05.360 So here's the thing. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.279 And please don't miss this. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:20.559 Lest this become a theological sermon, when it should be an experiential sermon because it's a letter written to the Ephesians, is this that he's saying that we would be that. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:26.639 That we would be rich in mercy, that we would be full of grace to our fellow man. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:30.879 So even people we disagree with, we show mercy and we show grace. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:33.360 We walk in that, we walk in love. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:37.279 Yes, we battle for our freedoms, but we can do it with a smile on our face. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:38.879 We can do it with joy in our heart. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:41.519 We don't have to be arrogant or prideful about it. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:42.559 We can be joyful in it. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.360 So, you know, I just totally disagree with that. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:46.000 Man. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:51.200 And uh and this is the home of the brave and the land of the free. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:52.720 And so I'm gonna walk in that. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:53.360 And you know what? 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:54.879 You get enough people doing that? 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:55.600 Hello. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:57.360 You change the world. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:16:59.120 You change the world. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:02.240 You're world changers. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.160 You guys are world changers. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:06.559 Don't bow down to anybody. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:08.880 In Christ, you're a masterpiece. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.359 You're a beautiful, beautiful masterpiece. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:19.279 Now, verses 8 and 9 is probably the most powerful set of verses in all of the Bible describing the gospel. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:24.240 No better gospel explanation than Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:31.279 And when I was sharing my faith a lot in Asia as a missionary all those years, I always went to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:36.400 I started there, then I went to John 3.16 and John 10.10 and other passages. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:38.240 But I loved Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:39.279 So let me read it to you. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.559 For by grace you've been saved through faith. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:50.799 That not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of worse, lest anyone should boast. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:58.000 So I heard a preacher one time say, well, no, I didn't hear him say, I heard someone say that they heard him say. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:06.079 But he said, salvation is like a frog in a jar of milk. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:13.440 And you can't quite get out unless you just keep churning and churning and churning, and then you make butter. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:16.799 And when the butter hardens, you jump out. 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:23.279 That's about the dumbest little thing I've ever heard. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:26.240 Work salvation. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:30.720 You're gonna somehow work your way making butter and jumping out. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:32.640 Here's a better illustration. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:41.359 So if you can imagine a plane leaving LAX and it's flying to Hawaii and it crashes a thousand miles away from Hawaii, and three people survive. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:47.440 And the first guy can't swim, he lasts for about three minutes, he goes down to Davy Jones locker. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:52.079 You know, second guy, pretty good swimmer, able to swim for two hours. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:53.119 Two hours. 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:54.640 That's pretty good, you know. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:57.039 He got he got a mile and a half. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:02.720 But the other guy, the third guy, is an Olympic swimmer, gold medal Olympic swimmer. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:06.640 He swims for 35 hours. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:11.680 And he goes, um, let's we'll say, he went 50 miles. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:19.759 So I don't care if you're a thousand miles away from Hawaii or 950 miles from Hawaii, you're not gonna make it. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:23.440 You can't make it on your own, gang. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:28.640 And some of you come out of traditions where it's all about work, work, work to get your salvation. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:31.119 I'm telling you, it's all about grace, grace, grace. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:32.880 That's how you get your salvation. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:37.440 So I like what Martin Luther said during the Protestant Reformation. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:41.279 He said, it's by grace alone, but not grace that is alone. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:42.880 Let me say it again. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:47.359 It's by grace alone, but not grace that is alone, because look at verse 10. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:53.440 Verse 10 goes with verse 8 and 9, and we sometimes skip it, but it's really important. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:20:01.119 For we are as workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:06.880 Workmanship is the Greek word poema, which is where we get the word poem. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:11.519 Here's literally what the Greek meaning here is. 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:18.720 The Greek meaning here is of that which has been made, a work, a making. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:21.839 It's sometimes translated poem. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:29.519 It literally means, quote unquote, any work of art, architecture, a poem, a painting. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:32.000 FF Bruce translated best. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:34.319 We are his work of art. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.720 We are his masterpiece. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.720 Men and women, you are an intelligent design. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.000 Made by an intelligent designer. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:54.160 Do you realize that with science and all the marvelous inventions that we have today, still scientists don't understand the human eye? 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:58.720 And yet they want us to buy into Darwinism? 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:00.799 I'm sorry. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:03.359 How many of you ever heard of Jed Smock? 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:04.880 Anyone out there? 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:06.079 Okay, nobody here. 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:06.960 This is Colorado. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:07.759 I always forget. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:12.559 People from Georgia in the South, they know Jed Smock is who went to some of the universities there. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:25.839 But every year, once a year, Jed Smock would come and he was a fundamentalist, white-suited, white shoes, white Bible-carrying preacher that went on campus and just hammered people. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:28.160 I mean, he just hammered them with the gospel. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:35.519 And then we used to, Jed Smock's back, let's go! And we'd all run down to the student center and he'd gather 500 people out there. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:40.079 And I remember one time he was walking along, and he's walking on this brick wall. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:45.039 He's got his Bible and he goes, I don't believe in Darwinism. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:47.440 I don't believe in evolution. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:51.039 I've never believed in evolution until I saw someone like you. 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:53.119 And then he points at someone out there. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:58.559 So there's a more effective way to communicate the gospel, let me just say. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:06.240 So I was a gymnast, but I'm not a monkey. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:09.359 And neither are you. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:12.640 You're a masterpiece. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:16.240 Made by a creator God. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:20.400 Made with intelligent design. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.079 Made to have the mind of Christ if you want it. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:33.519 Made to plug into an operating system that gives you supernatural abilities that you do not naturally have if you want it. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:39.200 And to the extent that we plug into that, you become this beautiful work of art. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:49.440 It's like Michelangelo coming up to that huge rock, the story goes, and he's chipping away, and he goes, There's an angel in there somewhere. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:52.480 There's an angel in there somewhere. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:58.000 And maybe some of you feel that way that you're kind of looking for the angel that's within you. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:22:59.599 Keep chipping away. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.039 Keep chipping away. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:02.400 Don't quit. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:03.839 Keep believing. 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:05.200 Keep trusting. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.599 Get people around you that believe in you. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:10.000 Get around people that you believe in them. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:17.279 They're called blood-stained allies because here's what you need: you need Christ, but you also need the church. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:20.079 You gotta have Christ in the church. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:21.839 There's two creations going on. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:23.680 Listen to listen, it's important. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:25.440 Two creations in our lives. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.960 The first is God's creation in you. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:31.279 God's creation in you. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:34.240 You are a new creation in Christ. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:38.559 The old life, the old ways have passed away, behold, new things have come. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:45.039 But there's another part to this, and that is the creation of God through you. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.359 There's the creation of God in you, but then there's a creation of God through you. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:54.640 He puts you on this earth to do something, to make a difference. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:24:02.559 And I mean, I look across, you know, five or six hundred people in this room right now, and the reality is every one of you are so unique and you're so different. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.359 There's something churning in your heart and in your mind. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:09.599 And you gotta break out. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:16.319 You gotta break out of this surfacey, earthly, wrathful thinking. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:17.920 Quit fearing man. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:18.960 Fear God. 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:20.000 Go after God. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.119 Say, God, what did you, why have you put me here? 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:28.720 Some of you, he wants you to be used in your family in a whole new way. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:30.559 You've been a lousy father. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:32.799 You've been a lousy mother. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:37.200 And you're so out there that you need to come home and be home. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:46.319 For some of you are called out of the home and through your home to build warriors that are going to go out through the discipleship you're going to bring to them. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:51.200 Some of you men, you're in work and you're messing around with lust. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.960 You're messing around with lust. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:57.839 You're looking at the secretary, you're looking at this, and you don't even know why you're there except for a paycheck. 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:06.240 And I'm saying God's put you there to be a kingdom worshiper and warrior, and he's created you as his masterpiece to make a difference there. 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:09.599 You're the only Jesus that anybody in that office may ever see. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:15.359 So here's the reality: that's where the fun is. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:18.240 That's where the joy is. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:22.079 What a great thought that you can wake up every morning with a mission. 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:24.160 I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna make a difference. 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:32.160 I don't care where I go, whether it's at King Supers, 7-Eleven, or my job, or my family, God use me in a mighty way. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:38.720 You start thinking that way, and you'll be rich in mercy and rich in grace because you're gonna say, Well, there's something different about that guy. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:42.079 That's what we need in Colorado Springs. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:51.119 We need more and more men and women who are wholehearted disciples to such a degree that people see Jesus in us. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:52.960 Isn't that exciting? 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:54.400 Isn't that exciting? 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:56.400 Just lie for me a second. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:57.359 Isn't that exciting? 00:25:57.839 --> 00:25:58.880 Yes, yes. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:25:59.759 All right. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:07.839 Yours workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, that he prepared beforehand. 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:10.799 He's already got this thing mapped out. 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:12.079 He does. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:22.000 And you go, well, man, Steve, if you only knew how much I've messed it up, you ought to look at my marriage, or you ought to look at my single life, or you look at my finances, or whatever it might be. 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:23.839 Okay, fine. 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:32.640 But you're a new creation in Christ, and now is the best day to start believing Him for revival. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:34.160 Just start today. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:36.640 Don't wait for conditions to be right. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:38.960 Don't wait till everything falls into place. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:45.279 It falls into place because you make a decision to follow Christ, not the other way around. 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:50.559 And so it's a road less traveled. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.119 It's a road less traveled. 00:26:53.279 --> 00:27:06.960