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SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 17

TITLE: GOD'S WORKMANSHIP

TEXT: EPHESIANS 2:10

INTRODUCTION: (1) IT CANNOT BE OVER-EMPHASIZED THAT WORKS PLAY NO ROLE IN GAINING SALVATION.

* WE ARE SAVED, MADE RIGHT WITH GOD, BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH ALONE, BY GRACE ALONE, BECAUSE OF CHRIST ALONE.

** SO NO GOOD WORKS OR RELIGIOUS DEEDS OR ANYTHING CAN EARN SALVATION.

*** BUT GOOD WORKS HAVE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH LIVING OUT SALVATION.

**** MANY GOOD WORKS RESULT FROM GENUINE SALVATION.

(2) GOOD WORKS ARE NOT NECESSARY TO BECOME A DISCIPLE OF JESUS, BUT GOOD WORKS ARE THE NECESSARY MARKS OF ALL TRUE DISCIPLES.

* FOR GOD HAS ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM.

** AND NEVER FORGET THIS: BEFORE WE CAN DO ANY GOOD WORK FOR THE LORD, HE DOES HIS GOOD WORK IN US.

*** BY GOD’S SOVEREIGN GRACE GOD’S ELECT BECOME HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS.

**** IN FACT, THE SAME GRACE THAT MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST AND RAISED US UP WITH HIM ENABLES US TO DO THE GOOD WORKS UNTO WHICH HE HAS SAVED US.

(3) FOR WE WILL SEE TODAY IN OUR STUDY, IT IS GOD WHO “PREPARED” THESE GOOD WORKS. EVEN OUR GOOD WORKS ARE WORKS OF HIS GRACE.

* WE MIGHT CALL THEM “GRACE WORKS”. AND THESE WORKS ARE THE CORROBORATING EVIDENCE OF TRUE SALVATION.

** BELOVED, THESE WORKS, LIKE EVERY OTHER ASPECT OF DIVINE SALVATION, ARE THE PRODUCT OF GOD’S SOVEREIGN GRACE.

*** AND AS WE RETURN TO EPHESIANS 2 TODAY, REMEMBER PAUL’S PRIMARY MESSAGE HERE IS NOT EVANGELISTIC.

**** HE IS WRITING TO BELIEVERS, MANY OF WHOM HAD COME TO CHRIST EARLIER. SO HIS POINT IS NOT TO TELL THEM HOW TO BE SAVED, BUT TO REMIND THEM OF HOW THEY WERE SAVED.

(4) THE REASON BEING, SO THAT THEY COULD SEE HOW GRACE IS MEANT TO OPERATE IN THE LIVES OF THE REDEEMED.

* BECAUSE OF THAT, WE WILL SEE IN OUR TEXT TODAY THAT THE PHRASE “WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP” IS ONE OF THE KEY PHRASES TO THIS WHOLE PASSAGE.

**THERE IS A REMARKABLE FLOW IN THIS WHOLE PASSAGE THAT IF STUDIED CONTEXTUALLY, WILL TESTIFY TO GOD’S AMAZING WORK.

*** THINK OF IT THIS WAY, AS A HANDLE TO OUTLINE EPHESIANS 2:1-10, AND I’M BORROWING THIS FROM R. KENT HUGHES.

**** EPHESIANS 2 BEGINS WITH AMAZING DEPTHS IN VV. 1-3, AS PAUL TAKES US DOWN TO THE DEATH VALLEY OF THE SOUL WHERE ALL ARE SEEN TO BE DEAD IN THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS AND SINS.

(5) THEN IN VV. 4-7 WE ARE TAKEN TO AMAZING HEIGHTS, TO THE VERY PINNACLE OF LIFE AS WE ARE SEATED IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS WITH CHRIST.

* THEN, THIS INCREDIBLE JOURNEY FROM THE AMAZING DEPTHS TO THE AMAZING HEIGHTS IS CAPSULIZED IN THE AMAZING GRACE DESCRIBED IN VERSES 8&9 (READ VV. 8&9).

** SO AMAZING DEPTHS, AMAZING HEIGHTS, AMAZING GRACE, AND NOW WE COME TO VERSE 10 – GOD’S AMAZING WORK, (READ V. 10).

*** AND WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT GOD’S AMAZING WORK TODAY AS WE STUDY V. 10 OF EPHESIANS 2, WHICH I’VE TITLED: “GOD’S WORKMANSHIP”.

**** AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS TODAY BY THE GRACE OF GOD: NO. 1 THE WORKMANSHIP, V. 10A; NO. 2 THE WORKS, V. 10B; AND NO. 3 THE WALK, V. 10C.

(6) SO WE’LL LOOK AT THE WORKMANSHIP, THE WORKS AND THE WALK UNDER GOD’S WORKMANSHIP, GOD’S AMAZING WORKING.

* AND WITH THAT OUTLINE IN MIND, WE’LL LOOK AT OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE WORKMANSHIP, LOOK AT V. 10A OF EPHESIANS 2 PLEASE.

I. THE WORKMANSHIP, (READ V. 10A)

A. NOW IT’S INTERESTING THAT THE GREEK WORD FOR WORKMANSHIP IS THE WORD FROM WHICH WE DERIVE OUR ENGLISH WORD POEM.

* AND THIS WORD IN THE GREEK DESCRIBES ANY WORK OF ART, A WORK OF GOD.

** AND THIS WORD REMINDS US THAT OUR LIVES ARE LIKE A DIVINELY WRITTEN SONNET, A LITERARY MASTERPIECE.

*** BELOVED, WE AS BELIEVERS ARE GOD’S WORK OF ART, HIS MASTERPIECE. AND CAN THERE BE ANY MORE EXALTED DESCRIPTION OF A BELIEVER IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE?

**** I MEAN YOU AND I ARE GOD’S WORK OF ART, HIS MASTERPIECES!

1. AND MANY TIMES WE THINK OF GOD’S HANDIWORK IN CREATION AND THE BEAUTY OF CREATION, AND THAT THE GALAXIES, THE STARS AND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM ARE HIS HANDIWORK.

* YET AS WONDERFUL AS THE UNIVERSE AND CREATION IS, IT IS NOT HIS MASTERWORK. WE ARE AS BELIEVERS.

** WE WERE CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE AND THAT IS GLORIOUS, BUT GET THIS, AT CONVERSION WE WERE MADE ALIVE AND BECAME NEW CREATIONS IN CHRIST JESUS.

*** MEANING: GOD’S GREATEST CREATION IS MAN MADE ALIVE, HUMANS, THE CROWN OF GOD’S CREATION MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SIN, READ II CORINTHIANS 5:17.

**** SO GOD’S WORK OF CREATION IN MAKING US NEW CREATIONS IS ONE OF HIS GREATEST WORKS OF GRACE, WE THEN ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, HIS MASTERPIECE, HIS DIVINELY WRITTEN SONNET, GOD’S WORK OF ART!

2. AND THINK OF THIS TRUTH THIS WAY: FROM ETERNITY PAST, GOD DESIGNED US TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, READ ROMANS 8:29.

* SO GOD PREDESTINED US TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, AND ALL OF US ARE STILL IMPERFECT, UNFINISHED WORKS OF ART BEING CAREFULLY CRAFTED BY THE DIVINE MASTER, THE DIVINE CRAFTSMAN.

** MICHELANGELO WAS ONCE ASKED WHAT HE WAS DOING AS HE CHIPPED AWAY AT A SHAPELESS ROCK. HE REPLIED, “I’M LIBERATING AN ANGEL FROM THE STONE.”

*** AND THAT’S WHAT GOD IS DOING WITH US. WE ARE IN THE HANDS OF THE GREAT CREATOR, THE ULTIMATE SCULPTOR WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE OUT OF NOTHING, AND HE HAS NEVER YET THROWN AWAY A ROCK ON WHICH HE HAS BEGUN A MASTERWORK.

**** AND HIS TOOLS ARE THE HOLY SPIRIT, HIS WORD AND TRIALS, AND HE USES THOSE TOOLS TO REFINE US, AND MAKE US INTO CHRIST’S IMAGE.

- AND HE IS NOT FINISHED WITH US YET, AND HIS WORK WILL NOT CEASE UNTIL HE HAS MADE US INTO THE PERFECT LIKENESS OF HIS SON, WHEN HE COMES BACK FOR US AND OUR BODIES ARE REDEEMED, READ I JOHN 3:2.

- SO ONE DAY WE WILL BE LIKE CHRIST, BUT UNTIL THEN WE ARE IN PROCESS, A WORK IN PROGRESS, AND THE ENERGY THAT IS USED TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK IS GRACE.

- AND SOMETIMES THE WORK IS SLOW AND ARDUOUS; SOMETIMES IT IS IMMEDIATELY TRIUMPHANT, DEPENDING ON OUR OBEDIENCE.

3. BUT EITHER WAY, PHILIPPIANS 1:6 IS IN VIEW, READ IT.

* AND THE WORK GOD STARTS BY GRACE, HE WILL FINISH BY GRACE, FOR WE ARE GOD’S WORKMANSHIP.

** I EMPHASIZE GOD’S WORKMANSHIP, THE TEXT SAYS, HIS WORKMANSHIP. WE BELONG TO HIM, AND WE ARE HIS WORK OF ART, HIS POEM, HIS MASTERPIECE.

*** DOESN’T THAT GIVE YOU SOME ENCOURAGEMENT? SOME MOTIVATION? SOME PURPOSE? GREAT WORTH IN CHRIST AND BECAUSE OF CHRIST?

**** AND WE NEED TO MATCH UP OUR PURPOSE WITH OUR PRACTICE, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE WORKS.

- LOOK BACK AT V. 10 PLEASE.

II. THE WORKS, (READ V. 10A&B)

A. NOW WE WERE CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS, WHICH HAS TO DO WITH US BEING MADE ALIVE AND MADE NEW CREATIONS IN CHRIST AT CONVERSION FOR SOMETHING.

* WHAT IS THAT SOMETHING? WHAT WERE WE SAVED FOR?

** FOR GOOD WORKS. FOR YOU SEE GOOD WORKS GLORIFY GOD AND FULFILL HIS PURPOSES, READ MATTHEW 5:16 AND JOHN 15:8.

*** NOW FRUIT, GOOD WORKS BRING GLORY TO OUR FATHER AND IS AN EVIDENCE OF GENUINE SALVATION.

**** NO FRUIT – NO FAITH, AS JAMES 2:26 SAYS: (READ IT).

1. NOW MY POINT FROM JAMES 2:26 IS THAT FAITH BRINGS ABOUT FAITH, FAITH WORKS.

* AS JOHN CALVIN SAID, “IT IS FAITH ALONE THAT JUSTIFIES, BUT FAITH THAT JUSTIFIES CAN NEVER BE ALONE.” (END QUOTE)

** AND BELOVED, WE ARE NOT SAVED BY FAITH PLUS GOOD WORKS, BUT BY A FAITH THAT WORKS.

*** WE DON’T WORK TO BE SAVED, BUT BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED, WE WERE CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS!

**** SO IF THERE IS NO SANCTIFICATION IN A PERSON’S LIFE, THERE HAS BEEN NO SALVATION.

2. R.C. SPROUL SAID, “IF A PERSON IS JUSTIFIED, HE IS NOT JUSTIFIED ON THE BASIS OF THE WORKS, BY THE WORKS OR THROUGH THE WORKS, BUT HE IS JUSTIFIED TO THE WORKS.” (END QUOTE)

* SO THE PERFORMANCE OF WORKS ARE THE RESULT OF FAITH AND THE FRUIT OF JUSTIFICATION.

** GOOD WORKS MUST BE A PART OF A BELIEVERS LIFE, WE WERE SAVED FOR THAT PURPOSE, READ

II CORINTHIANS 9:8, TITUS 2:14 AND II TIMOTHY 3:16&17, I CORINTHIANS 15:10 AND MATTHEW 7:21.

*** NOW THIS LAST VERSE, MATTHEW 7:21 REMINDS US THAT DOING THE WILL OF OUR FATHER SHOWS THAT WE ARE CHRISTIANS.

**** OBEDIENT FAITH IS SAVING FAITH, NOT THAT WE ARE ALWAYS OBEDIENT, BUT OUR FAITH GIVES US A DESIRE FOR OBEDIENCE!

3. AND IN EPHESIANS 2:10 GOOD WORKS IS A GENERAL AND COMPREHENSIVE EXPRESSION FOR GODLY BEHAVIOR AND OBEDIENCE, DOING THE WILL OF OUR FATHER.

* PUT SIMPLY, IT IS GOD’S WILL THAT THOSE WHO BELONG TO CHRIST, TO THOSE WHO ARE NEW CREATIONS, SHOULD BE CHARACTERIZED BY A LIFESTYLE AND ACTIONS, FRUITS, ACTS OF SERVICE, THAT REFLECT GOD’S OWN CHARACTER.

** AND GOD HAS ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THESE WORKS, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE WALK. LOOK BACK AT V. 10 ONE LAST TIME PLEASE.

III. THE WALK, (READ V. 10)

A. NOW BELIEVERS ARE GOD’S WORK, AND HE HAS ORDAINED, PREPARED BEFOREHAND, PREPARED IN ADVANCE, TAKING US BACK TO ETERNITY PAST WHEN HE CHOSE US TO BE SAVED, HE HAS PURPOSED IN ADVANCE THAT WE WALK IN GOOD WORKS.

* LET ME SAY IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY, BELIEVERS ARE GOD’S WORK, AND THE GOOD WORKS WHICH HE HAS PURPOSED FOR US TO WALK IN, WHICH ARE ACHIEVED ONLY THROUGH HIS ENABLING POWER, CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS ALREADY PREPARED IN HIS MIND AND COUNSEL FROM BEFORE ETERNITY.

** IN OTHER WORDS, LIKE OUR SALVATION, A BELIEVER’S SANCTIFICATION AND GOOD WORKS WERE ORDAINED BEFORE TIME BEGAN.

*** GOOD WORKS BY US WERE INCLUDED IN THE ETERNAL FOREORDINATION BY GOD.

**** THE DIVINE INTENTION, EXPRESSED BY THE PHRASE “PREPARED BEFOREHAND” IS THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN GOOD WORKS.

1. AND THE WORD WALK HERE HAD TO DO WITH OUR MANNER OF LIFE, THE WAY WE LIVE, OUR COURSE OF LIFE, OUR MANNER OF BEHAVIOR.

* WITH THAT IN MIND, GOD HAS PREPARED A PATH OF GOOD WORKS FOR BELIEVERS WHICH HE WILL PERFORM IN AND THROUGH US BY HIS GRACE AS WE WALK BY FAITH OR WALK BY OBEDIENCE.

** NOW WHEN WE WALK IN THESE WAYS WHICH ARE ACCORDING TO GOD’S PURPOSE, IT IS GOD HIMSELF WHO IS POWERFULLY WORKING IN OUR LIVES.

*** AS PHILIPPIANS 2:12&13 SAYS: “SO THEN, MY BELOVED, JUST AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS OBEYED, NOT AS IN MY PRESENCE ONLY, BUT NOW MUCH MORE IN MY ABSENCE, WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING.”

V. 13 – “FOR IT IS GOD WHO IS AT WORK IN YOU, BOTH TO WILL AND TO WORK FOR HIS GOOD PLEASURE.”

**** SO THROUGH CHRIST’S GRACE, THE PURPOSE OF THESE PREPARED-IN-ADVANCE WORKS IS NOT TO WORK IN THEM, BUT TO WALK IN THEM, AS GALATIANS 5:16 SAYS: (READ IT).

2. NOW AS WE WALK IN THE SPIRIT WE ARE YIELDING TO HIS WILL, WHAT HE HAS ORDAINED, WHAT HE WANTS AND THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT WILL FOLLOW, WORKS OF THE SPIRIT, NOT THE WORKS OF THE FLESH.

* SO IN A SENSE WE ARE DOING A WORK FOR GOD, BUT THROUGH HIS POWER WE ARE YIELDING TO WHAT HE HAS ORDAINED AND GOD PERFORMS HIS WORK IN AND THROUGH US THAT ALL THE GLORY GOES BACK TO HIS GRACE, HIS ENABLING POWER.

** SO HERE’S THE BALANCE: THOUGH GOOD WORKS ARE A DIVINE PREPARATION, THEY ARE AT THE SAME TIME A HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY.

*** AND THESE TWO MUST NEVER BE SEPARATED.

**** WILLIAM HENRICKSEN SAID: “IF SALVATION CAN BE ILLUSTRATED BY THAT FIGURE OF A FLOURISHING TREE, THEN GOOD WORKS ARE SYMBOLIZED NOT BY IT’S ROOTS NOR EVEN BY IT’S TRUNK, BUT BY IT’S FRUIT.”

3. “JESUS REQUIRED OF US FRUIT, MORE FRUIT, MUCH FRUIT IN JOHN 15:2&5&8.” (READ V. 5)

* NOW TO BEAR MUCH FRUIT AND TO WALK IN GOOD WORKS IS THE SAME THING.

** HENDRICKSEN WENT ON TO SAY, “THIS DOCTRINE OF GOOD WORKS, WHEN ACCEPTED BY FAITH, DEPRIVES MAN OF EVERY REASON FOR BOASTING IN SELF, BUT ALSO TAKES AWAY FROM HIM EVERY GROUND FOR DESPAIR. IT GLORIFIES GOD.” (END QUOTE)

*** NOW I LIKE WHAT HENDRICKSEN HAD TO SAY, THOUGH GOOD WORKS ARE A DIVINE PREPARATION, WHAT GOD HAS ORDAINED, THEY ARE AT THE SAME TIME, A HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY.

**** BELOVED, WE MUST YIELD TO GOD’S PURPOSES TO WHAT HE HAS ORDAINED AND THROUGH HIS POWER GREAT WORKS WILL BE DONE FOR HIS GLORY.

NOW AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY, THESE TRUTHS IN EPHESIANS 2:10 LEAD US TO SOME PRACTICAL APPLICATION QUESTIONS: (1) NO. 1 WHAT FRUITS, WHAT EVIDENCES, WHAT WORKS ARE THERE IN YOUR LIFE THAT GIVE EVIDENCE OF SAVING FAITH?

* REMEMBER NO FRUIT, NO FAITH. NO SANCTIFICATION, NO SALVATION. ARE YOU BANKING ON A PAST PROFESSION FOR SALVATION OR A PRESENT RIGHTEOUSNESS OR A PRESENT DESIRE FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR EVIDENCE OF YOUR SALVATION?

** I BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE A MULTITUDE OF PEOPLE IN OUR CHURCHES TODAY, THAT FROM BAD THEOLOGY THINK THEY ARE SAVED, BUT ARE NOT.

*** I QUOTED MATTHEW 7:21 EARLIER AND WANT TO DO IT AGAIN AND ADD VERSES 22&23. (READ THEM)

**** FOLKS, I WOULD ASK EVERY ONE OF YOU TODAY TO APPLY II CORINTHIANS 13:5 AND II PETER 1:10. (READ II COR. 13:5)

- II PETER 1:10 – “THEREFORE, BRETHREN, BE ALL THE MORE DILIGENT TO MAKE CERTAIN ABOUT HIS CALLING AND CHOOSING YOU; FOR AS LONG AS YOU PRACTICE THESE THINGS, YOU WILL NEVER STUMBLE.”

- FOLKS, MAKE CERTAIN OF YOUR SALVATION AND FRUITS AND EVIDENCES, NOT YOUR FEELINGS AS ASSURANCES.

(2) NO. 2 IN APPLICATION. FOR YOU THAT ARE ASSURED OF YOUR SALVATION, REMEMBER GOD IS GLORIFIED BY THE GOOD WORKS HE PERFORMS IN AND THROUGH US.

* SO I ASK, IS THERE FRUIT, MORE FRUIT OR MUCH FRUIT?

** DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR PURPOSE? DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR MISSION THROUGH CHRIST’S CHURCH? ARE YOU OBEDIENTLY USING YOUR GIFTS AND TALENTS FOR CHRIST THROUGH HIS CHURCH?

*** AND DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE GOD’S WORKMANSHIP, HIS WORK OF ART, HIS MASTERPIECE? DOESN’T HIS WORK OF SOVEREIGN GRACE TO SAVE YOU MOTIVATE YOU TO SELL OUT FOR HIM?

**** BELIEVER, GOD DOES HAVE A WONDERFUL PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES, MAY WE FULFILL IT. MAY WE YIELD TO THE SPIRIT AND MAY WE FULFILL OUR PURPOSE FOR GOOD WORKS AS GOD’S WORKMANSHIP IN 2004, AND MAY WE BE A HIGH IMPACT BODY FOR CHRIST IN 2004. (LET’S PRAY).