Faith Alone leads to Works Shown (Eph 2:8-10)

TWELVE 5 CHURCH

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He will keep you from all evil, He will sustain you through this journey, from now and evermore.

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Good morning. Good morning. Hey everybody, if you're back there, come on, make your way in here.

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Welcome. We are glad that you are here this morning to worship with us.

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I love what David said in the Psalm, Psalm 122, he said, I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the

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Lord. And I hope you're glad this morning. Are you? Does your heart leap with joy when you get to gather with the saints?

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When you get to come before the presence of a holy triune God? Worship Him in spirit and in truth together as a people.

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Well, before we start our time of worship, we've got a few announcements that we've got to get out of the way here. There is a sign -up deadline today for anyone that wants to go on the

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Riverbend trip with us, July 18th, which is a Friday, through July 31st.

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It's the weekend. Our supporting church, Riverbend, there in Ormond Beach, Florida, has been gracious enough to offer

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July 28th through the 31st.

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Oh, did I say 18th? Thank you. What's sad is

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I'm looking at the number right here, 28th through the 31st. We're not going to stay for like 10 days straight, just a weekend.

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But Riverbend, their elders are going to be doing some training and some things along the lines that we need as we grow, as far as evangelism, children's ministry, greeting, all those types of things that come with growing pains.

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And so for you to be able to experience what that's like, we're going to be there on a Sunday so that we get to worship with them.

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They are going to have us in one of their, they call it BFGs, Bible Fellowship Groups.

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It's a Sunday school. Josh Brown leads one and he wants us in there to be able to discuss what's going on here, maybe answer a few questions.

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It's going to be an excellent time. Anyone is welcome to come. If you want to come and be a part of this, see

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Keith. Don't tell me because I will forget and I'll tell you it's on the 18th, right? You got to go to Keith because he's going to have all the information.

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And we're going to get all of that together until we're all flying down at the same time.

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We rent a van together. We're staying in the same hotel. All that so we can do this as a group effort.

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If you want to go, go see Keith. Deacon training, this Wednesday starts. It's exciting.

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As we are growing, we're less than three years old and part of growing as a church is maturing as a church.

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And so we have four elder candidates right now that are starting training this

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Wednesday. If you're one of those guys, remember, we're covering Chapter 1 this Wednesday at 5 o 'clock.

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Please be here at 5 o 'clock. We have limited time. But the deacons that are these nominees,

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I encourage you, pray for them. Pray for them as they go through this. There's some reading involved.

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There's some homework involved. There's a lot of discussion involved. Because deacons are a very misunderstood office in many churches today in the

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West. And so we want to see what does Scripture teach a deacon truly is and if they are called to this.

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With that being said, Wednesday also, Wednesday night, if you're in the systematic theology class with us as adults in here at 630 on Wednesdays, we are in Chapter 16.

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We're starting a whole new section. We've come out of theology proper. And I believe this new section is anthropology and creation,

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I believe is what it is. But, yes, if you want to come be a part of that, we're in Chapter 16 this week.

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This Tuesday, we open the doors, well, we do it every Tuesday, for prayer meeting. If you want to be a part of praying as a church from 7 to 8 a .m.

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every Tuesday morning, those doors are open. You are welcome to come and pray with us for the future of this church, for the members of this church, for the people that are coming, for the community and all that comes with seeking the source.

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And then lastly, we have a members meeting next Sunday, the 11th.

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Did I get that date right, the 11th? It's next Sunday. We will not have our sermon discussion at the end of Koinonia Feast because we will be having a members meeting.

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We're voting on a budget. We have a few things to present and some things that we need to be together as a church body.

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You're going to want to be a part of that. If you're a member here, I encourage you, if at all possible, you are going to want to be here next

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Sunday on the 11th after Koinonia Feast.

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All right. So that's our announcements. Let's pray for another local church. As we do every single week, we want to pray for another body of believers that are meeting in this community to worship

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God together. And today, we want to pray for Community Fellowship Church.

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Does anyone have any connections at Community Fellowship Church? Any relationships? Yep. We do.

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Just our family. Okay. So we know a few families that go there, and we just want to lift them up this morning as they gather for worship.

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So pray with me if you would. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning. Before we officially start our time of worship, we just want to thank you for other brothers and sisters all over this community, other brothers and sisters all over the world that are gathering today, setting aside all of the things that distract us throughout the week and saying this is the

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Lord's Day. This is the day that I am going to set my full attention and focus on the

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God that has created me, the God that has chosen me, the God that has redeemed me. And so,

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Father, I pray for our brothers and sisters at Community Fellowship Church this morning. I pray that you would prepare their hearts to worship you in spirit and truth.

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I pray for their elders, their pastors, their leaders. I pray that you give them wisdom and discernment.

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God, I pray that as they proclaim the word, that they would proclaim it boldly, full counsel. They wouldn't leave anything out,

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God. They would lay it out there. No opinions, no stories, none of the fluff, just true meat from your word,

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Father. I pray that they would be bold in doing so and that the people would consume that and then they would leave the building today and be doers of the word, not just hearers only.

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Father, we lift them up to you this morning and we thank you for them in Christ's name. Amen, amen.

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Let's start our service. You ready? All right, let's stand. We have a call to worship.

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This is adapted from Ephesians 2, verses 8 -10, which is the text that we are going to be looking at today.

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But I thought, what a beautiful text for us to read and have a response to, to get our minds geared towards what

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God has for us as a people. And Paul says, for by grace you have been saved.

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And this is not our own doing. This is not a result of our works, for we are

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His workmanship, which

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God prepared beforehand. Praise be to God our

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Father and Lord Jesus Christ and all of God's people said, amen. Let's pray a prayer of adoration to our great

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God this morning. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you once again and we thank you for who you are. Father, we thank you that you have chosen us as a people.

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God, that you have sent your Son to redeem us, to purchase us. God, that the

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Holy Spirit is now at work in us, dwelling in each one of us that are in Christ.

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Lord, we are sealed for that ultimate day of glory and it is not our works.

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God, we bring nothing to the table. You've done it all. You do everything because you are sovereign and you are good.

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Father, all glory belongs to you. You have accomplished all that you set out to do and you will accomplish everything that your will has in store.

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We rest in that. Lord, help us as a people this morning to rest in that. Father, help us to look to you, to see you in greater ways.

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Not greater ways than your word is proclaimed. But Lord, we haven't even exhausted what you've told us about you and your word.

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Oh, Father, let us glean from it. Let us see it. What you have in store for us, the knowledge of the

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Lord. Help us, Father. Help us to worship the triune

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God this morning. For you and you alone are worthy of our praise.

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In Christ's name, amen. Okay, everybody knows this song.

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It's called, What Can Wash Away My Sin? What can wash away my sin?

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. You can make me whole again.

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my heart is at sea.

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Through my heart of this I see. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

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For my cleansing is my plea. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

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See, oh, precious is the blood that makes me white as snow.

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No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

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For sin atone.

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For all the good that I have done.

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. See, oh, precious is the blood that makes me white as snow.

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No other fount I know.

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace.

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness.

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. See, oh, precious is the blood that makes me white as snow.

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No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

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See, oh, precious is the blood that makes me white as snow.

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No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

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See, my hope is built on happiness.

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Then Jesus' blood and righteousness. Then I trust the sweetest faith.

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But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

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On Christ the solid rock I stand.

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All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.

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Darkness veils His lovely face. I rest on His unchanging grace.

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If the high and stormy gale My anchor holds within the veil.

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On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

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All other ground is sinking sand. He shall come with trumpet sound.

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He shall come with trumpet sound. Oh, may

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I then in Him be found. I trust in His righteousness alone.

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Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid rock

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I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

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All other ground is sinking sand. On Christ the solid rock

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I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

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All other ground is sinking sand. Our scripture reading this morning comes out of Psalm 70.

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Verse 1 reads, Make haste, O God, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me.

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Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my love. Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.

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Let them turn back because of their shame who say,

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Aha, aha. May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

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May those who love your salvation say evermore, God is great.

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But I am poor and needy. Hasten to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer.

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O Lord, do not delay. Amen. My hope is found.

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He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground.

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Firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace.

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When fears are still, when strivings cease.

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My comforter, my all in all.

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Here in the Christ of love I stand.

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Christ alone, who took on flesh.

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Flawless of God in helpless pain. This gift of love and righteousness.

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Scorned by the ones who came to save. Till on that cross as Jesus died.

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The wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on Him was laid.

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Here in the death of Christ I live. There in the ground

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His body lay. Light of the world by darkness slain.

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Then bursting forth in glorious day.

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Up from the grave He rose again. And as He stands in victory.

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Since curse has lost its grip on me. For I am

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His and He is mine. Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

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And as He stands in victory. Since curse has lost its grip on me.

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For I am His and He is mine.

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Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

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No guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me.

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From life's first cry to final breath.

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Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man.

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Can ever pluck me from His hand.

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Till He returns or calls me home.

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Here in the power of Christ I stand. No power of hell, no scheme of man.

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Can ever pluck me from His hand.

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Till He returns or calls me home.

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Here in the power of Christ I stand. The Savior's hand my strength indeed is small.

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Child of weakness watch and pray. Jesus paid it all to Him I owe.

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I'd let the crimson stain be white and snow.

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Indeed I will change the leopard's paws.

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Once the heart of stone. Jesus paid it all.

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All to Him I owe.

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Sin had left the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

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Before the throne I stand complete.

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Jesus died my soul to save.

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Shall still remain. Jesus paid it all.

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All to Him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain.

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He washed it white as snow. Jesus paid it all.

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All to Him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain.

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He washed it white as snow. God we thank you

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Lord for this time of worship and singing songs. God we thank you that Jesus paid it all.

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God there was nothing of us and only of you God. Your plan. God we just praise you for this time.

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God we get to extend our worship and giving and offering. God I just pray that you would use these church offerings to glorify you.

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God to expand it here in this church body. Father we just thank you

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Lord. Thank you for what you're doing in this church. God that you've given us a vision to expand and just reach out to those around us

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God. Thank you Father. Amen. Would Jesus paid it all.

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Amen. Well let's go ahead and open up your copy of God's word. If you've got a copy with you to Ephesians chapter 2.

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As we continue our study through this great letter. Ephesians chapter 2 and our primary text today is going to be verses 8 through 10.

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But just as we often do we want to make sure that we are in line with the context.

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And so we are going to start reading in verse 1 of chapter 2 here. The Paul's letter. And he says and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.

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Following the course of this world. Following the prince of the power of the air.

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The spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh.

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Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

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But God being rich in mercy. Because of the great love with which he loved us.

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Even when we were dead in our trespasses. Made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.

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And raised us up with him. And seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace.

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And kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith.

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And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Not a result of works. So that no one may boast.

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For we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

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This is the reading of God's holy inspired word. I want us to be sure to be clear on what it says.

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So let's go to the source once again. And let's ask that he illuminate our hearts and minds to this truth. Pray with me.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you humbly. Acknowledging our childish frailty.

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God, we so often misunderstand your words.

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And it's not because they're not clear. It's because we don't have the wisdom and discernment to see it at times.

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Sometimes it's just a matter of us being lazy and not working towards understanding it. Oh, Father, forgive us for that and help us.

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God, help us this morning. I pray that the Holy Spirit that is indwelling each believer in this room.

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That you, Holy Spirit, would illuminate these truths to our hearts and our minds. That they would penetrate into our lives.

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That we would not just come to these truths and acknowledge them. For acknowledgment's sake.

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Or try and use them for selfish benefit or gain, Father. But that we would come to these very words of life and truth.

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So that we could just set in the presence of our creator.

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Of our redeemer. Of our sustainer. We would know you more. In Christ's name, amen.

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Well, I've titled today's sermon, Faith Alone Leads to Works Shown.

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And we believe that scripture teaches what the reformers referred to as sola fide.

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You probably hear that quite a bit around here with the five solas. Sola fide, this is simply

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Latin for faith alone. Which stood in stark contrast to Roman Catholicism at the beginning of the

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Reformation. Which taught and subsequently teaches still today that salvation is by faith plus works.

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There are obviously not many Roman Catholics here in our area. There's a few, I know a few. But it's not like where I'm from in Florida.

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Where if you talk to anyone that professes to be a believer at all, more than likely they're Catholic.

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That's not the way it is in our particular demographic. However, there are many religious groups who essentially teach the same thing as Roman Catholicism.

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Things like faith plus baptism. Faith plus the law.

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You're getting where I'm going, right? Faith plus whatever it might be. And while we hold to what scripture clearly teaches is that faith plus nothing equals salvation.

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Faith alone. And we proudly proclaim this glorious truth. And then the accusations begin to be thrown at us, don't they?

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They begin to mock us for faith alone. They say, okay,

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I get it. Y 'all are teaching that somebody can say some prayer and accept Jesus in faith.

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And then go on living like the devil and they have their heavenly insurance card. They get to go to heaven still, no matter what they do.

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Even if they don't have any good works in their life, they can go to heaven. What do you do about James 2, right? Faith without works is dead.

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Those are the immediate reactions that many of these groups that believe in some form of faith plus works throw at us when we proclaim this glorious truth of faith alone.

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And the reason that they ask these questions is really because they fundamentally misunderstand the relationship that scripture teaches about faith.

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True saving faith is justification. Made righteous before God and works.

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God, given works. Sanctification. The ongoing working of the

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Holy Spirit within somebody, making them more into the image of their Savior. Making them more and more holy as they go on.

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Positionally righteous in faith and repentance. And then continual growth in that through their works.

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They misunderstand this completely. They don't have categories for those two things. And in our text today, we see that contrast clearly and beautifully portrayed.

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In a way that removes any doubt. In a way that removes any confusion about this important matter.

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Unfortunately, even still, many have tried to explain it away. We talk about many people doing theological gymnastics around here.

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Contorting themselves, trying to make something fit. They have preconceived ideas to what scripture should say.

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And so they're going to do this roundabout idea of trying to get to that point and make it say what they want it to say.

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It's an eisegesis, not exegesis. Just as they've tried to do with many other clear texts in scripture.

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And I understand why. Just as I believe the Apostle Paul did, as we will see in the text.

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It's because the natural man, our natural flesh, feels the need to earn our own righteousness, don't we?

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It's within us. You can see it all around the world. Look around at every single other religion.

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This is their inclination, isn't it? That's the whole purpose of it. I must give an account for my actions because I must appease a higher power.

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I must make the higher power happy with me because they are not going to be happy with me unless I obey, unless I do this, unless I do that.

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I must play a part in my redemption. Or at least within Christianity, or claiming to be

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Christianity, I must play a small part in my salvation. That is the opposite of what we have seen over the past few weeks here in this letter, isn't it?

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All through chapter 1 and up so far in chapter 2 of Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus.

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According to him, this salvation thing is a sole work of the triune God, isn't it?

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This whole thing has all been about God. The Father has chosen.

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The Son has purchased. The Holy Spirit has sealed for that guarantee.

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And then there in chapter 2, verse 7, it says, So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

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Not in conjunction with us, not with us, but towards us.

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This is a work of his grace and his grace alone. And now, as we get to verse 8,

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Paul makes this unmistakable declaration. For by grace you have been saved through faith.

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And this is not your own doing. It is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

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If you notice that Paul has already used this phrase, where he abruptly interjected it in this great declaration in verse 5.

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Remember that? He's carrying out this thought. He says, Because he's interjecting this.

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It's as if to say, hey, don't forget what I'm saying. You were dead in your trespasses and sins and you and I didn't deserve this.

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This is grace and grace alone. And now here in verses 8 and 9, he's saying,

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Not only did you and I not deserve it, we didn't earn it either. We had no part in this.

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We didn't choose for God to choose us. Anyone in here choose for God to choose you?

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Did you go back all the way before the creation was ever in existence and you go before the triune

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God and say, God, I would like for you to choose me whenever I get created. As a matter of fact, no.

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It happened, as he said, before the foundations of the world. None of us were a part of choosing.

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We had no say in whether or not Jesus' blood would be spilt on our behalf.

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God didn't seek our counsel in this. We didn't participate in being sealed by the

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Holy Spirit, did we? We had no part in it. No, this was a gracious act of God alone, a triune

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God. Some look at this text like this. They read verse 8.

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They say, For by grace, yes, by grace, by the grace of God, you have been saved through my faith.

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You see, here's the problem with that. They fundamentally misunderstand what faith actually is.

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They believe that faith is that outward expression of something that they themselves chose to trust in.

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They did it. They were a part of it. That's my faith. And, yes, by the grace of God, God provided all the means.

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They say, Yes, by grace, God's grace, all God's doing. And we accepted that grace by means of our faith.

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But look at it. For by grace, you have been saved through faith. See, the problem with this interpretation is the whole of Scripture never speaks of faith in this way.

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We're not going to chase that rabbit trail. We've already done that quite a few times here, and we'll do it again. It's not the topic of today that we want to hound on, but all of Scripture teaches a faith that is a

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God -given faith. It's nothing that you conjure up. It's nothing that you did. It's not a work on your part. It's not you believing.

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It was God giving you the belief. But secondly, Paul's next phrase destroys this idea, even without leaving the text.

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We could say right here in the text, and his next phrase in verse 8 just decimates it. He says, And this is not your own doing.

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It is the gift of God. You see, Paul could have left that phrase out. Paul could have left this phrase out.

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He could have started there in verse 8 and said, For by grace you have been saved through faith. Go right to verse 9.

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Not a result of work, so that no one may boast. And the point that he is making would be clear, wouldn't it?

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The point would be clear, yet Paul wanted to be crystal clear on this matter. He wanted us to know exactly what this means, because this is at the heart of the one true gospel, the gospel that was delivered to the saints once for all, and that is faith alone.

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This is the gospel. And so he puts this phrase right here in the middle, and this.

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So what is, the question is, what is this? What is the this that he is talking about?

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Because here's what we know about this, is it's not our own doing.

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Whatever the this is, isn't our doing. That's what he says. And this is not your own doing. And he tells us what it is.

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He says it is the gift of God. It is the gift of God.

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So what is this? What is he referring to? One perspective is that this is referring to, for by grace you have been saved.

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It's referring to the grace. And again, they say, yes, this grace, it's not of our own doing.

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We didn't choose for God to send his son to redeem a people.

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We didn't choose for the timing that God did all of this. It's the fact that God made a way is his grace.

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And on that, here's the thing, we would agree. However, it's only part of the picture that Paul's painting here.

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Because remember, Paul said, for by grace you have been saved through faith. So does the this, there in the second part of verse 8, look at your

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Bibles, please. If you write in them, write in them. Because I want you to see this. I want you to be secure in this.

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Does the this only refer to grace, as many would like to apply it to?

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We have to take a look at the grammatical structure, don't we? To know for sure, how did

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Paul write this? So please bear with me. I know some of you are gonna check out in this very moment because I am one that when you start using these words,

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I start to check out. Please bear with me. Even if you don't understand fully, we're gonna bring this together, okay?

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But I want you to be sure and know that this, what this is referring to. And this helps us understand what

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Paul is saying. Pronouns, the this in our case, okay?

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The this is our pronoun. Usually have a gender of the preceding antecedent.

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Told you I was gonna lose some of you for a second. Bear with me here. Meaning that it is in the same form as the word it is referring to previously.

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Some people that are grammar Nazis, you're following, you're tracking, like, yes, pastor, that's right. Okay? Well, stick with me here, okay?

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It's meaning that it's the same form as the word it is referring to. So if the word grace is in the same form, this is referring to it.

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If grace is in the same form as the this, right, the pronoun, then it's referring to it.

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But here's the thing, if the word faith is in the same form, then the this is referring to it.

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So which one is it? Is it the grace that this is referring to, that it's not our work? Right?

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It's a gift of God? Or is it the faith? That being said, which of these words?

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Both of them. Both of them are in the same form.

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The this that Paul writes here is in the feminine form, and so is grace, and so is faith.

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So what does this mean? What does this mean? It means that this is referring to the whole of the sentence.

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It's not referring to one singular word. It's not referring to the grace that he's talking about, and it's not just referring to the faith that he's talking about.

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It's referring to the entire structure of, by grace you have been saved through faith. The this is encompassing that entire phrase.

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What does that mean? Well, this means according to Scripture that faith is not your own doing.

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You and I had no part in the grace that was bestowed upon us, and equally so we had no part in the faith that was granted to us.

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If you believe in Jesus and repent of your sins, you are only doing so because God freely gifted you that faith and repentance.

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And why is this important for us to acknowledge this distinction? Why is it important for us to know that this is not your doing, you had no part in it, it's a gift of God solely, it is by grace you have been saved through faith, the entirety of it.

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Why is this so important for us to acknowledge? We'll look at verse 9. Not a result of works.

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Now, not what? This. This grace and faith are not a result of works.

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So that, here's why. Here's why Paul wants to be clear here, so that no one may boast.

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You had no part in the grace, and you had no part in the faith. These were gifts, given solely by God.

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But see, faith plus works equals boasting. God said in Isaiah 42 .8,

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He says, I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory I give to no other. He repeated the same phrase later on in chapter 48, in verse 11 of Isaiah.

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My glory I will give to no other. You see, God receives all the glory, doesn't

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He? Every single molecule of it.

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Every single ounce of it. Every single small bit.

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And when we boast, what are we doing? We're seeking to rob that from Him, aren't we?

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Rob Him of His rightful glory, that is His alone, that He will not share with anyone. Because no one deserves it.

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No one has earned it. No one has the right to it, except for the triune God, and God alone.

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You may say, well, that's egotistical of God. Well, then you don't know the God of the Bible, because He has the right on His throne to do as He pleases, however

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He pleases, and He deserves all the glory. And your response is to give every bit that you can possibly to Him, and then some.

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That's the God of the Bible, isn't it? See, we don't understand God, though, do we?

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That's how we get to this faith plus works, because we don't understand that God is only interested in Himself.

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He's not interested in you. You say, well, wait a second.

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He said that He loved me before the foundation of the world. Yes, He did with a great love that is unfathomable love, but He's doing so because of His love for Himself.

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Because He gets the glory for it. He can do without you and I.

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He doesn't need us. He has no need of anything, does He? Does the triune

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God need anything? Did He need companionship? Did He need people to worship Him?

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No, He did not. He could make rocks rise up to worship Him and do His bidding. It was

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His good grace to allow us to bring glory to Him in that way. And we think for one second that our works, any works, any works you could fathom, our act of being baptized, if you think that the sinner's prayer that you prayed that somebody led you in, if you think that your good deeds, if you think that your obedient actions, if we think for one second that our

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Scripture reading today or our prayer or our church attendance or anything outward expressing our faith at all have anything to do with our standing before God, we have room to boast.

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If you played a part in this, you have room to boast. And yes, we may categorize it in our minds.

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I know many that do and they acknowledge, listen, pastor, let's get down to the brass tacks of it. Here's the thing, 99 .999

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% of the glory belongs to God. He did it all. But you gotta understand, He gave us free will in a way that we're a part of this and His whole plan.

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And so let's be honest, .0001 % was my act of obedience, my work, my faith, my baptism, my obedience had to play some part.

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Or you might say, well, God offered His grace as a gift and all I have to do is to reach out and accept it.

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I have nothing to boast about in that. Have you ever heard that argument? I've heard many people say that it's just a gift.

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When I give my child a gift, they just reach out and grab it. They didn't earn it. They didn't work for it.

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Here's the problem. Yes, you do have something to boast in by reaching out and accepting that gift.

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And here's why. Because the person next to you didn't reach out and accept the same gift. Let's be honest.

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You reached out and accepted the gift because you were smarter than they were. Maybe you were wiser than they were.

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Maybe you had a little greater humility than them. Why didn't they choose to accept, but you did?

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Whatever the reason, you now have room to boast. According to Paul, God has stripped any ounce of our ability to boast from us.

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Thankfully, it's not a result of any work on our part. This leads us to what?

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What does this lead us to? You say, well, okay, I get it, Pastor. Stripping everything from me.

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God alone did it. To what purpose? To what end? We've already talked about that. So that we may boast only in God.

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Because God's getting all the glory. Philippians 1 .29,

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Paul wrote, for it has been granted to you. I like that language.

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It's been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.

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What's Paul saying? He's saying it's been granted to you to believe in him. It's been granted to you to suffer.

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Both of those go together. He granted that. Turn to 1

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Corinthians 1 .26. I want you to see what Paul says to the church in Corinth. Chapter 1 of 1

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Corinthians. We're gonna start reading in verse 26 there, of 1

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Corinthians chapter 1, where Paul says, 4. Consider your calling, brothers.

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Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful.

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Not many were noble birth. But God chose...

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Hold on just a second. What's he referring to? He's referring to believers, isn't he?

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He's saying, hey, consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise. Not many of you were powerful.

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Not many of you were from noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.

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Here it is again. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. Verse 28.

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God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are.

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Verse 29. So that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

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No human being. God doesn't tolerate boasting in self and what

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I have to offer in any way. Verse 30. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus.

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What? Because of who? Why didn't

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Paul say, because of him and your acceptance of him, you are now in Christ Jesus.

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He said him. Stop. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

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Verse 31. So that, as it is written, and he quotes I think Jeremiah 9 here, where he says, let the one who boasts boast in the

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Lord. God's glory. We can only boast in what

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God has done. You think you're wise? If you think you're wise, then you have something to boast about.

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You think you're noble? You think you've done anything? Some of you may be more well off in here than others.

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You think you did that? God's the one that grants riches.

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God's the one that grants poverty. God's the one that grants everything in between, everything past, everything under, everything before, everything after.

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And what is our response? To boast in him because he does all things well.

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All things well. So if this is true, where do works come into play?

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That's what we title the sermon, Faith Alone Leads to Works Shown, right? Where do works come into play?

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After all, James said, faith without works is dead. If faith alone is what saves, then can't we just go on living like heathens?

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I'm going to respond as Paul did. By no means. By no means do we go on living like this.

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Paul addresses this in verse 10 of our passage here in Ephesians 2. Look at it. He says, for we, who's the we?

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Believers, right? Recipients of that grace and faith, the they, you know, right?

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For we, believers, are his workmanship.

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We are his workmanship. The Greek word for workmanship here refers more to the creator than to the created thing.

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The potter has the right over the clay to make what he sees fit. Paul could have used other words, but he chooses this particular one here.

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And what Paul is saying is essentially what he said in Philippians 2. In verse 13, when he says, for it is

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God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

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It is God who works in you both to will. What does that mean?

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Our will. When I desire something good, a good deed, if I want to follow and do good works for the

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Lord, he's the one that gave me that desire and worked it into me. I didn't conjure it up because it wasn't there.

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Because anything inside of me is going to want to rebel against God. But God gave me that because that's what he says.

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For it is God who works in you. And a believer, in those that are in Christ, that are indwelt by the

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Holy Spirit, is God, is the triune God working within you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

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He's doing it. It's comforting, isn't it? Once again,

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Paul is pointing us to the fact that it's God doing it all. We are the clay. He is the potter.

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He is doing it all. For we are his workmanship.

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And what does he say? Look there at the text again. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus.

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Okay, so what does this mean? If you remember, he said back in the beginning of chapter 2, he says we are vessels of wrath, or were.

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We were children of wrath. But, just as Paul says in 2

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Corinthians 5 .17, if anyone is in Christ, he says created in Christ Jesus, right?

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And if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away.

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Behold, the new has come. That's what Paul is saying. He's created in Christ Jesus. We are his workmanship.

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We are the ones that he is molding, he is using, he is conforming. And he is created in Christ Jesus, a new creature, for what?

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For his glory, but what's he saying next? Created in Christ Jesus for good works.

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He's created us for good works. Do you see what this means?

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Notice we are in Christ before good works.

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Did you catch that? Right? No work of ours so that no one may boast.

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And now all of a sudden there's works being introduced into it. But we are brought into Christ before good works.

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As a matter of fact, we are in Christ for good works, according to Paul. So we can't get the cart before the horse here.

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We are brought into union with Christ. That means made righteous. That means justified. By the work of a triune

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God, alone, faith alone. Before any works are done on our part.

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But now that we are brought into union with him, that we are made righteous, that we are justified, that we are created anew, good works begin.

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Faith alone leads to works shown. That's why a truly saved person will always desire to be obedient.

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Well, not always. Will desire to be obedient. They will desire to be baptized.

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Right? Somebody comes to faith in Christ, they've seen what God and God alone has done through faith and faith alone.

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Right? And so now they look at scripture and they go, Oh, my Savior that redeemed me, that bought me, he told me to be baptized as he was baptized.

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But as an example for me, I'm going to go get baptized. This is a work on my part. I desire to do this.

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I desire to read my Bible. That's what he told me because I love his word. I desire to attend church because that's what he told me to do.

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I desire to love my neighbor. I desire to care for the needy. Remember, those works follow

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God -given faith. They come from it. It goes even further there in verse 10.

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Those works, look at the end of verse 10 there, which God prepared beforehand.

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You can't escape God's handiwork in all of it. God's just molding everything as he sees fit, isn't he?

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It's like everything is prepared. God declares the end from the beginning. What does this look like?

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God has prepared every single good work to be done at a specific time and in a specific way, and he's done so beforehand.

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I don't know about you, but that's comforting for me. I don't have to go conjure up good works.

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I don't have to do this on my own. He's already prepared them for me.

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What does this mean beforehand? The same thing that it meant back in chapter 1 when he says that he chose us before the foundation of the world.

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God doesn't learn anything. There was never a time when God, the triune

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God in perfect counsel, right? We're sitting there going, you know what? I bet one day

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Nathan, who we redeem by faith alone, is going to be here, and then there's going to be that other person over here that we're going to redeem.

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Ah, perfect timing. We'll have him. We'll prepare him to be able to share the gospel with this other guy.

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You think God learned anything? God didn't learn that. God had a preset plan from eternity.

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Throughout all of eternity, it never had a beginning. There's no genesis to God's plan.

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It's eternal. What? What? When you have that figured out, come talk to me and Pastor Jeremiah.

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We want to know, right? He has chosen us before the foundation of the world in order to accomplish his purpose.

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He has a precise plan, and he's been using you and I as part of it. He's working in me to do good works that he prepared, that he had already laid out with precision.

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It says, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

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I'm going to let you in on a little theological secret here. What does that mean?

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This is deep. I want you to bear with me, okay, because this is going to get intense, all right? What does he mean here?

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He means that we should walk in them. You get it?

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Real deep, right? Pretty straightforward, isn't it? He's created them before.

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He's prepared them beforehand. God has laid the foundation, and he knows exactly what is meant to do, when it's to be meant to be done.

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According to his purpose, I'm getting all tongue -tied here. I'm just excited about it because it gives me encouragement because now he says you,

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Nathan, walk in them. Obey the prompting of the

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Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit is telling you, share the gospel.

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Go. Obey me whenever the Holy Spirit is reminding me of that passage in Scripture, that imperative thing that I'm called to do or to be.

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Walk in it. Obey it. You see, faith without works is dead because it's not saving faith.

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It's a said faith. It's a hollow faith. You've not truly been redeemed if you're not walking in those works.

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I love what James said in 2 .18. He says, but some of you will say, you have faith, and I have works.

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Show me your faith apart from your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works because God's prepared them beforehand for me to walk in them, to be obedient to him, knowing that even in my obedience

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I have nothing to boast about because he's the one that prepared it. He's the one that gave me the ability to obey it.

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And when I fail to walk in what God's called me to walk in, that was still his sovereign plan for me to fail at it.

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And he's going to use it to chasten me and make me more in the image of his son, which turns out to be a good work.

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Here's the point. We win. We win, and we can rest.

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It doesn't mean that we sit around, and we're lazy, and we're indifferent, and we say, well,

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God's going to save who he's going to save. If it's faith alone and God chooses for the foundation of the world,

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I'm just going to sit in here and enjoy the music and the fellowship and all the good food that we have, and I'm not going to walk in those good works that he called me to because he's sovereign, he's just going to do it.

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And if I don't do it, he's just going to provide somebody else to do it. Well, tell that to Jonah, right?

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We preached through Jonah a little while back. This just came to my mind. It's in my notes. I'm sorry. I'm going a little long. Look at Jonah disobeying

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God. Remember what happened to the sailors on the ship that Jonah was trying to escape Nineveh in? God saved them.

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God had an elect from every tribe, nation, and tongue sitting on that boat that he had planned on saving, and he used

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Jonah's disobedience in trying to run from him to carry out that good work, and Jonah didn't even know it.

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And ultimately, God kept telling Jonah, Oh, no, you're going to Nineveh. You're going to spend three days in a fish, but it's going to happen.

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You're going to submit. I'm sorry. It's going to happen. You're going to follow those good works that I have prepared beforehand.

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And I can only imagine if Jonah somehow, some way, was outside of the will of God and walked into Nineveh a day before and proclaimed the same truth, there'd be no fruit.

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But see, it doesn't work like that because there's no way Jonah could have shown up a day before. God wasn't going to let him.

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He showed up at the exact time when God had prepared the hearts of the exact people and the whole city repented.

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That's good work, isn't it? So trust in it. Rest in it.

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Knowing that even your disobedience is carrying out God's good works. That doesn't mean you chase disobedience.

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That's painful. I don't advise that because a good father chastens those that he loves, right?

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But God is sovereign. If faith alone is justification, works shown is sanctification, isn't it?

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Faith justifies us before God. Works are sanctifying us, making us more into the image of our

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Savior. Those distinctions are important, aren't they? Let's now prepare our hearts to go to the table as we're reminded of the sacrifice of our

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Savior that did redeem us. That faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

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Amen? This is a beautiful picture for us to see the Word portrayed before us, the blood that was shed on our behalf, the body that was given for us.

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Oh, what a glorious truth. And now we share in union with Christ.

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So you know the routine. If you're not familiar with it, we go out the outside aisles here, come up.

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You can take the elements from these two tables, go up the middle back to your seats, set, pray as a family, pray individually, take the elements, and then we come back together to sing.

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Let's pray that God will be honored in our time of going to this table. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you.

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Thank you for choosing us. Jesus, thank you for purchasing us by blood ransom at such a cost and defeating death so that we may share in that perfected body one day without sin, without death, without sickness.

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Holy Spirit, thank you for indwelling and sealing us. We thank you, triune

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God. Be honored in our worship as we partake of these elements. I pray that you would search our hearts.

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If we are in unrepentant sin, if we are holding something back from being obedient to you,

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I pray that we would lay it at your feet, lay it at the foot of the cross, knowing that our great Savior has already paid for it, that we would do so before we come to this table.

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If we have something against a brother or sister, that we would make that right before we come to this table, that we would be reminded of the glory of the cross, the glory of our great and mighty