The Book of Acts - The Church of Ephesus: Saturated Sunday (2013)

You Well, good morning, welcome to the church of 1122. If you got your Bible, and I hope you do, grab it. Now this is going to freak you out, but we're going to be in Ephesians chapter 2. I know there are hundreds of you that have never been outside of the book of Acts, okay? In two weeks we'll get back there. Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2, I'm going to give you a long time to find it. It's to the right of Acts. So we're at a crossroads today, and the crossroads meets at Ephesians chapter 2. We're in the third week of a four week series called The Church at Ephesus. And what we're doing here is we're looking at this church that was planted in Ephesus by Paul in Acts chapter 19. So we did a few weeks in Acts chapter 19, and then now we're going to back up a little bit and just see the enormity of this church. You'll remember the very first week, which was actually the last week of the last series, 12 religious guys got saved. And then in the first week of the Church at Ephesus series in Acts 19, the seven sons of Sceva got the pants beaten off of them by some demons, all right? Because they were just trying to operate under the banner of Jesus without knowing Him personally. And if you do that, you'll just be beaten naked and wounded. And then last week, we talked about how the Church at Ephesus exploded to have an impact on the entire city. It changed the socioeconomic construct of the entire city. And so now what we're going to do is we're going to back up a little bit and look at this book of Ephesians that was written to the church at Ephesus by Paul the planter, the guy that planted that church. And so that's where we are in our series, the Church at Ephesus. But we also are on the fifth day of our five-day revival called Saturated. How many of you have been part of Saturated? Raise your hand if you've been here. Amen and amen and amen. So, but even before today, even before Sunday, if you just add up all the attendance of the first four days, it's over 5,000 people have attended Saturated. Praise God. And so on night one, we had Bishop George Davis and he talked about the preeminence of Christ, the preeminence of Christ, that Christ must take first place in your life. And he took us to a passage in the Gospels where he said that 11 of the 12 disciples knew Jesus as Lord and then one, Judas, he knew him as rabbi, just a teacher, and that he didn't have preeminence in his life. And Bishop George Davis' worship band from Faith Christian Center was here and they led us in worship and we did like the Holy Spirit

shuffle. You remember that one to the left and to the right? It was awesome. You should have been here, all right? Trying to talk our guys into, you know, skinny jeans to the left, skinny jeans to the right. Bounce it up and whatever, but we'll see what happens there. And then, and then the next night Bishop Van Gaten was here and he talked about the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit fills and dwells every believer in Jesus Christ. And then on Friday night, Pastor Stovall Weems and the Celebration Worship Band, they were here and Pastor Stovall just unpacked John 3.16 and is Jesus Christ the center of your life, the son, son in that verse, John 3.16 is the center of that verse. There's 12 words on either side and the center word is son. And so is the son of God, Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, the center of your life. And then last night we gathered in this place just to worship, just to worship and lift high the name of Jesus. And so Justin Jarvis, an artist from Jesus Culture led us and we were also led into the manifest presence of God by my pastor, your grand pastor, Pastor Jerry Sweat. And he talked about, he led us into communion. We celebrated Holy Communion together and he said that regardless of the messiness of your life, you were invited to the Lord's table because it ain't your table, it's the Lord's table. And even the very first Lord's Supper, it was a mess. It was an absolute mess. And so it's not about getting your mess cleaned up before you come to the table, but you just come as a mess. And he receives you as you are but will transform you. And then today we find ourselves in Ephesians chapter 2 and I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna talk about the gospel. That's what I do. We're gonna talk about the gospel. And so first I want to do an overview of the book of Ephesus, okay? So you Bible nerds, you're gonna love this. Everybody else, just hang on tight. The book of Ephesians, written to the church at Ephesus by Paul, six chapters long, and you can basically understand pretty simply if you read through it, that the theme of the book of Ephesians is the gospel. The whole thing's about the gospel. It's really just one point, the whole thing.

All six chapters are the gospel. And if you take the book of Ephesians and you divide it in half, the first half of the book, and it almost lines up with the chapters, but the first half is the gospel. Paul just explains the gospel, and the second half is the implications of the gospel. So if you grab onto the first half, if the gospel invades your life, then the implications of the gospel are as such. And if you take the first half, the part that just explains the gospel, you can divide the first half into thirds. And the first third of the first half of the book of Ephesians is a cosmic view of the gospel. That the gospel is not just about Jesus personally saving you, but there's a cosmic impact of the gospel. And you get verses like this from Ephesians one, four through six. It says, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. So this isn't just your little personal experience, but before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us. And so don't freak out about that word predestined. It just means that predestined, that's what it means. And so in love, he predestined us

for adoptions as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved. So before you ever were even born or before he ever spoke the heavens and earth into existence that God had predecided to love you. That the cosmic view of the gospel. It's the first third of the first half of the book of Ephesians. And then it begins to narrow down to talk about you. And in Ephesians chapter two, the gospel goes personal. And he's gonna talk about the gospel for you, that God loved you so much that he would come and rescue and save you individually, not just the cosmos. Then it gets down to you. And then when you get to chapter three, it gets down to the church. He explains the gospel in light of the church and that the church, the church, the assembled, called out believers in Jesus Christ would be the very instrument that would take the gospel to the ends of the earth. And you get cool verses like Ephesians chapter three, verse 20, it says, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations.

And so the first half of the gospel is the gospel explained cosmically, individually, and in light of the church. And so if you think about it, the first half being about the gospel, it's almost like a funnel. It starts cosmically, it goes personally, then it gets to the church. And then the back half, the second half of Ephesians, is the implications of the gospel. And then what Paul will do is he will handle the implications of the gospel in inverse order that he laid them out in the first half of the book. And so it's like a funnel on top of an inverted funnel. And so it goes the gospel cosmically, the gospel personally, the gospel in the church, and then its implications. And so in chapter four, you get if the gospel is what it says it is, and if the gospel has invaded us, then here's how we treat one another in church. And it talks about church unity and bearing with one another and loving one another. And you get a lot of the one another verses in the first third of the second half of Ephesians. And then the next thing it's gonna do is what he did in Ephesians two, in Ephesians five, he's gonna talk about the personal implications

of the gospel. If the gospel has infiltrated your life, then it should affect you personally. And so you get Ephesians 5, 21, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. And then you get the gospel implication in your marriage, in raising your kids, and in how you work and your relationship at work. And then it ends in Ephesians chapter six with a very famous passage about spiritual warfare. And what he's talking about here are the gospel implications cosmically. That you didn't just get saved so that you can quit cussing so much and be a good church attender, but you have actually been saved and you're on the army of Christ and that we are at war. Therefore stand firm against the devil and his evil schemes and put on the full armor of God. And he walks through the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, feet fitted in the readiness of the gospel, take up the shield of faith, grab that sword of the spirits, which is the word of God and get to work. And so it goes, the explanation of the gospel cosmically, personally in the church,

and then it starts to expand back out. Implications as a church, implications personally in your marriage, in your family, at work, and then implications cosmically that you and I are a part of a spiritual warfare. And so as you study the book of Ephesians, And there's lots of famous verses in Ephesians. But as you study it, one of the things that will help you is to figure out, so what part of this inverted funnel over a regular, or this funnel over a regular funnel am I in? Is this about me personally? Is this about the gospel cosmically? Are these the implications of the gospel or an explanation of the gospel? It'll help you sort through all that. So where we're gonna drill down today is Ephesians chapter two, verses one through 10. Ephesians chapter two, one through 10. I wanna talk about the gospel personally for you. Now the gospel is just a Bible word that means good news. Now the thing about good news is that good news has gotta enter a bad place to be good news. That good news has to make its way into a bad place for it to be good news. Because if there's not the diagnosis of bad, then the news really isn't that good. So on Thursday, one of the guys here at 1122, he had a doctor's appointment the next day

to get a spot on his skin biopsied because the dermatologist looked at it and said, I'm pretty sure that's cancer. I'm pretty sure that's melanoma, all right? And so that's bad news, right? That's bad news. And so we gathered here on Thursday night and anointed him with oil and prayed with healing. Now let me tell you, I'm ordained Southern Baptist. So the only thing we anointed growing up, we would anoint our biscuits with gravy, okay? So that wasn't exactly my tradition. But James chapter five says, if anyone among you is sick, let him call the elders of the church, anoint with oil, pray for healing, and the prayer of a righteous man availeth much. So I just do what the book says. So we gather around, we pray for healing, and so he goes the next morning, and the doctor, they do the biopsy, and here's what they say. We have gospel, we have good news. We thought this experienced doctor that's done this for a long, long time that was 90% sure that's melanoma says, clean bill of health, you're clean, okay? Good news, amen, amen. So. So the good news has to come into a dark place.

So if the doctor just called me today and said, hey, I've got good news for you, you're healthy. I'd be like, I know, bro, I'm good. So sometimes people don't hear the gospel as good news because they don't know the diagnosis. So what happens in Ephesians one, two, and three is the diagnosis. It's not the good news. It's the beginning of the good news. It's the on-ramp to the gospel. It's the on-ramp to the good news, and it is the diagnosis. So here we go. So it goes bad first. Please don't leave halfway during the message, or it will be awful for you. It'll be terrible. Here we go. Ephesians two, verse one, and you. Now we gotta stop there. That's why it takes us so long to get through this stuff. All right, and you. Let me tell you the problem. If you think he's not talking to you, that's the problem. Because as soon as we start out, so in Ephesians chapter one, it says, it says, to the saints in Ephesus. Did you know that if you're a Christian, you're a saint? I know it's crazy, but did you know if you are a Christian, you are a saint,

you don't have to wait to die and let some people vote on you and sell you as a necklace at a Catholic store to make you a saint, okay? If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, then that makes you a saint. And so even to the saints, he's writing this. And so just like that John Piper video that we just showed said that the gospel is not just so that you can be justified, but also so that you can be sanctified. It's not just so that you can get saved, but it's also that thing that informs you on how to live like a saved person. And so Paul says, and you. So if you start thinking, y'all better listen to this, then you're in trouble. This is talking about you. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. That the gospel is not about bad people getting better, it's about dead people coming to life. He says you were dead, not bad. Sin doesn't make you bad, sin makes you dead. And so the good news is not God is good, you are bad, try harder. The good news is that God is life and you are death and he wants to resurrect you. He wants to revive you. That's what the revival has been all about.

And so if you think that you're a bad person that needs to be better, if you think you're a mistaker that just needs a life coach, well, good luck with that. Good luck with that. Because you might just become a better version of you and still die and go to a Christless eternity. But the problem is that you and I are sinners in need of a savior. And so he says, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Following the course of this world, following the prince of power of the air, the spirit that is now in work in the sons of disobedience, that we all, every person in here, if you're a Christian, you too were on that path of the world and that path led to a Christless eternity. The wages of sin are death. If you don't know Christ as your Lord and Savior, even if you think you are a good person, that may be true compared to your roommate, your college roommate, compared to your stepdad, that may be fine, but you are on a path that leads to destruction. And if you are a Christian, you were on that path that led to destruction. Verse three, and Paul says, "'Among whom we all once lived "'in the passions of our flesh, "'carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.'"

Part of what Paul wants us to understand, if you're a follower of Jesus, is how dare you look down your nose at any person? How dare you? I still don't understand why the church expects an unsaved world to act saved. Hey, newsflash, that the world has not claimed Jesus as their Lord and Savior, so of course they're gonna do whatever they wanna do because they're their own Lord. And Paul would say here, you too were dead in your trespasses and transgressions. Did you know that you cannot simultaneously look down your nose at other people and look up at the cross of Jesus Christ? In order for us to arrogantly look down at other people and the way they behave, we have to take our eyes off the cross and off of Jesus to look down at those people. You can't simultaneously look up at Christ and look down on anyone else. So Paul would basically say, who do you think you are? Don't you know that we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind? And were by nature, children of wrath like the rest of mankind. You and I were children of wrath. Now that is a very unpopular message. Now the Puritans, they got it right.

I mean, they love to preach this. Jonathan Edwards preaches that we are sinners in the hands of an angry God, and you know what? He's right. Now, if the message ends there, that's a big bummer. So stick around, because it's gonna turn the corner here in a minute, but we can't just rush by the fact that you and I, apart from Christ, are our children of wrath that we deserve by our own decision, by our own choices, the full wrath of God. And nobody had to teach us that. Any of you that have children know that you don't have to teach your kids to sin. They just sin. That your precious little beautiful angel is a wretched, black-hearted sinner. Did you know, never in my home have I walked up to Gretchen and took the remote and said, mine, and just bit her and walked away. Nobody had to teach my children to do that. It's just in there. They are, by nature, sinners. And then some people are like, no, no, no, but I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. I mean, again, compared to who? Compared to an almighty God? Really, you think you are? Let's just go basic ethics 101. I mean, kindergarten-level ethics, the 10 commandments.

The 10 commandments. I mean, they hang in kindergarten classrooms and on the walls of courtrooms in our country, the 10 commandments. This isn't graduate-level ethics. This is the basics. The first one is, worship only one God. You ever worshiped another God? The second one says, don't have any idols. Have you ever worshiped the created things over the creator? The third one says, don't use the Lord's name in vain. If you've ever been on JTB at five o'clock in the afternoon, you're out. You break the commandments. All right, we're 0 for three, right? Does anybody wanna stand up and say, not me, not me. Oh, we'll get to you. The fourth one is, honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. We don't even think that one counts anymore. Let's be honest. Like, whatever, do what I wanna do. The fifth one, obey your parents. If you've ever been a teenager, you're out. You're just out. The sixth one, now here's where we like to rise up and be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, Pastor, I've never killed someone. The sixth commandment is, thou shalt not murder. You know, I've never killed someone.

Well, congratulations. But Jesus comes along and on the Sermon on the Mount, he says, if you've ever hated someone in your heart, then you've committed murder. Well, there you go, all right? If you have in-laws, you're out, number six. Number seven, we're not doing too well, are we? Number seven is, don't commit adultery, to which we go, well, there you go, there's one, there's one, I've gotten that one right. I've never cheated on my spouse. And then again, Jesus screws it up with his preaching, and he says, if a man has ever lusted after a woman. With his eyes or in his heart that he has already committed adultery and every dude in here goes. Well, dang it All right. There you go and Every grown woman that's watched the movie Twilight. You're outed too. Okay You're done So we're over seven The eighth one is thou shalt not steal Okay, thou shalt not steal if you've ever taken anything That's not yours, and I don't care if as you were stealing that music it was called sharing. It's still stealing You're out The ninth one thou shalt not lie This is when you get into this crazy stuff people say well, I'm not are you saying I'm a liar. Yes Yes, because I've had people tell me listen. I'm not a liar. Just sometimes I tell lies Do you hear what you're saying out loud? No, sometimes you tell lies because you're a liar No, I'm not a thief. Sometimes I take things that don't belong to me, but I'm not a thief yet That's what a thief is Then the 10th one is thou shalt not covet

It's called HGTV, that's what it is. So the whole network is about I want that and it's not mine Sinner, that's what you are All right, so you're over 10 and if you want to stand up and argue and say not me not me I'm 10 for 10 there. I got them. All right, then you got the granddaddy of them all it's called pride It's what got Satan kicked out of heaven. You want to you want to claim that one as your own? So see Wretched wretched black-hearted sinners Deserving of the full wrath of God the full wrath of God now again We don't I know in a lot of pulpits We don't talk a lot about wrath and especially listen if you if this this is just you don't have a category for this if you're 30 and under you don't even know what to do right now. You're like, no, wait a minute I thought I was a rainbow when a snowflake and yeah, no, you're not You are not Your biggest problem is you You are the problem you That that you lie to you more than anybody else you've broken more promises to you than anybody else You've broken your own code of conduct. Let alone the Ten Commandments of God's code of conduct You've broken your own promises that you made to you You are your own worst enemy and you are the root of your own problem. And that's the diagnosis and And And in our culture and it maybe maybe I and I know that there was a season in church history You know Especially like when the Puritans were kind of in charge and Jonathan Edwards write sermons like sinners in the hands of an angry guy But let me tell you he was right. He was right. The thing is though after that sermon is a comma not a period That's the only difference. Okay, you don't stop there, but it's true It's true and we have lost that healthy reverent fear of God Jesus is not just a better choice Okay, he's life There's life and there's death and he's not just a better choice so you can be a better version of you

but in him and him alone is life and Sometimes we treat God like, you know He's just the man upstairs and he doesn't really care about sin and it's not that big a deal sin is such a big deal That Christ died on the cross for it When I was in college in Richmond, Virginia There was a this place called Maymont Park and they had a petting zoo there And if you were a broke college kid like me, it was a great cheap date You could just go for a dollar or two and you could go in and go to this petting zoo and feed the goats and you get in there and you know, you feed the goats and one time I was dating this girl and After about the second or third date I realized she was missing a finger like hat just half just the important part the part with the nail You know, she'd always point with it too. And I was like, could you use one of your other none? That's kind of gross And so I knew the future was dark for us Because I just didn't have that and so and again if you're missing a finger God loves you Okay, you're fearfully wonderfully made but we ain't dating. Okay, so So we were out one day feeding the goats and you could put a quarter in the little goat food machine to get a handful of food and then you could Go and you could feed the goats and we're out there feeding and petting the goats playing with the goats and there's a kindergarten Class and they're all feeding the goats too. And so she feeds some of the goats and when she pulls her hand back I go Oh, no, the goat bit off her finger. And then the kindergarten kids are like, ah, and they're running and screaming and panicking. It's crazy That was our last date that was it But sometimes sometimes we treat the Lord like he's a goat at a petting zoo like we say we just jack around with him a little bit See down in st. Augustine. There's this family that has these big cats. I don't mean like large Little house cats. I mean like they have at least one lion and a few tigers and cheetahs I mean, they've got these kind of cats. My brother was telling me about it He went and watched them and and my brother's a police officer in st. John's County So sometimes when there's fresh roadkill a deer gets hit he'll go and scoop up the deer and take it to these folks that have these large cats and they'll take a

Deer a whole doe and just kind of chunk the body in there with this lion this full-grown Male lion named Mufasa and Mufasa walks on over and he like looks at the you know He's eyeball-to-eyeball with my brother and they're just on the other end of this chain-link fence and Mufasa just reaches down and Russ says We just one bite just takes the head of the doe and just and just eats it like a KitKat But nobody's jacking with the lion Nobody's running in there going You know and feeding them out of their hand. No Because you come back with a new nickname lefty. Hey Ripped off his arm Right, you don't mess around with the lion because you have fear and reverence for the lion He's not like a little goofy goat in the petting zoo It's a lion and sometimes we come into church and treat the Lord like a little like a little petting zoo goat and he's the Lion of Judah and When you sin against an Almighty God it requires an everlasting eternal punishment Sin is a big deal a big deal killed Jesus. It's a big big deal There is no little sin Whenever you gave yourself up to that guy that wasn't your husband Not only did you sin against your own body you sinned against the Almighty God whenever you Downloaded that picture of that girl. You didn't just sin against her and against your own body But against an Almighty God whenever you misused your words in a hurtful way Whenever you withheld forgiveness, even though Christ did not withhold forgiveness against you Regardless of what the sin when you lie when you steal when whatever we do It's a sin against the Lion of Judah And he's powerful and he's Almighty and we should stand in reverent fear. I Mean guys in the Bible like Isaiah a prophet of God When he encountered the Lion of Judah, he said whoa I'm not worthy to stand in your presence. I'm a man of unclean lips and I'm of a people of unclean lips And you think no, Isaiah, you're pretty good. You get a whole book like one of the longest books in the Bible When you when you see God for who he is, it begins to expose who you really are at that heart level sinner

Not mistake her in need of a life coach sinner in need of a Savior and then hug you so much better Thank goodness. Here we go. Verse 4, but God But God so do you realize the diagnosis is death? But God there's some big butts in the Bible that you should pay attention to this is a big one right here You got to pay attention But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us that God is love That even in that condition, even when we slap the face of the Almighty Sovereign God He has to be he has to be provoked to anger, but the Bible says that God is love He's rich in mercy The reason we can even sit here today and he didn't wipe you out after your first sin is because he is love that is His very nature the overflow of God is love. It's why you and I are here He was not lonely in heaven looking for some people to sing him songs But he is just he is love and so love begets love and so he he he his love for us just Overflows and he's rich in mercy and he's full of grace and even though we're sinners Being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us Verse 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace You have been saved Grace just means unmerited favor Means praise God we do not get what we deserve But by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus now a couple things here. Do you realize that you're the passive agent you were dead and you've been made alive who did that? God did that God saved not you it's not like well if you come to church enough if you raise your hand if you say the right prayer if you go to Connect Center if you go on a mission trip if you it's not like that's what makes you okay with God But that you are the passive agent That he's the one that comes after you he pursues you and he knows what he's getting into and he pursues you Anyway that ought to just stir and you worship and let you walk in freedom because you didn't earn it to begin with and if You didn't earn it. You can't lose it. It's a gift and he came after you you are the passive agent. He is the active agent He is the one that initiated and pursues you and then not only this look at the tense Look at the verb tense of all the verses here

That we were dead that he made us and he raised us we You're seeded. It's all past perfect dance. That means it's already happened. It's a done deal. I record every Georgia football game. All right, I record them all. And if we come in second, I erase it. And so at the end of the season, I just have all the games that we won, that's it. And so sometimes I sit down when there's nothing else on TV, like when football's over and there's nothing else on TV, I sit down and I rewatch Georgia wins. And here's the thing. If during the game, it's not going so great for us. If we fumble, if we throw an interception, if we get a punt block, whatever, it's okay. You know why? Because the game is past tense. I know the end of the story. I know what's gonna happen. And I say, fear not family, because we're coming back. We're coming back. And so even though these things aren't fully realized yet, they're all in the past tense. So when I get up here and scream and yell at you, you wretched black hearted sinners,

it's not altogether true. It was. And when you get saved, there's still that battle of flesh and spirit that will happen until you are glorified or taken to heaven. But really you were past tense, a wretched black hearted sinner. And now by the grace of God, if Christ is your Lord, you were adopted into his family as a son, as a daughter, that when God sees you, if you were in Christ, you were no longer wretched black hearted sinner, you are righteous, covered by the blood of Christ, that the angels, that God himself, they don't see where Jesus ends and where you begin. Because it's past tense. It's a done deal. So no more, you are a son, you are a daughter of God if you know Jesus. Verse seven, so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. And then verse eight and nine, very famous verses. It says, for by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one can boast. Paul, by the power of the Holy Spirit

wants you to know that salvation is God's, not yours. That you've been saved by grace through faith in Jesus. And it's not anything that you've done, because if you think you had something to do with it, you'd brag about it too. I know I would. I would, if I thought that I'd saved me, because I'm the lead pastor of a church and we've gotten this many kids sponsored and this many people have been saved, if I thought I had anything to do with it, man, I'd put it on a t-shirt and walk around it, but look what I did. Yeah, me and the Lord, how about that? But absolutely not. It's a free gift, cost Christ everything, but it's the gift, not even a gift. It's the gift of God and not by works. That's why we say all the time, the message of the gospel is not, God is good and you are bad, so try harder. The message of the gospel is that you are dead. And by the power of Jesus Christ, by his death and resurrection, by the price that he paid on the cross, he could bring you to new life in Christ and that you could be adopted into the family of God so that you can walk in the freedom that has been purchased for you. And when we begin to move away from the gospel,

because just like the Piper video said, this happens all the time, that Christians think that the gospel of Jesus Christ is that thing that makes you okay with God, but then you've got to move on to some other place for the deep stuff. Don't ever move away from the cross. Don't ever move away from the gospel. That not only does the gospel save you, but sustains you. Not only does the gospel of Jesus Christ justify you before God and make you righteous, but also sustains you and sanctifies you in that growing process with Jesus. And don't ever fall into the trap that you think God got the good end of the deal because he saved you. Well, check it out, God. I was here like all five days of revival. What's up with that? It's by grace that you've been saved. There are two primary illustrations in the Bible when people try to bring their good works to God as if he's gonna be impressed. Look at me, God. Look at what a good job I'm doing. You must love me more now because of all my good works. The New Testament one, Paul talks about in Philippians chapter three, and essentially what's gonna happen in Philippians chapter three verses four and following,

Paul's gonna lay out a laundry list of good works that he's done. He says, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. In other words, if anybody could be saved because they were good enough, Paul would say, that's me. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. He's basically saying, I know this isn't a competition, but I'm winning. That's what he's saying. And then he lists his laundry list of things. I was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted it as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish." We'll come back to that word. "...in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." That word rubbish in Greek is skubilon. Skubilon. Paul says, I did it all. I attended every night of the revival.

I sponsor More Compassion Kids. You sponsor. I don't just pick a trip. I go on all the mission trips and I don't even send out funding letters. I fund the whole thing myself, okay? I do all of these things. I pray morning, evening, night. I download the podcast. I take notes. I lead a disciple group. I'm in a disciple group. I go to the connect center. I work the connect center. I do all those things and I consider all that good work, if I bring it to Jesus to try to impress him, I consider it rubbish. That word rubbish is skubilon. It literally in the Greek, the reason it gets translated rubbish is because the Bible translators know we got to read this in church and not all churches are like 1122 where you can just be real. And so it literally, skubilon is a slang term for animal dung. Now, you can probably tell by my accent that where I'm from, if you step in something, a slang term from animal dung, you don't be like, oh no, I've stepped in rubbish. Unless you're British, who says that? Where I'm from, you call it, the first word's bull and the second word, I can't say right now, okay? That's what that is. So when you try to bring your good deeds, your look at me, God, look how I've put my whole life together. Are you not impressed?

It would be like your child on Mother's Day. Mama, I got something for you. And he or she brings you this beautifully wrapped present and you open it up and you pull off the top and there's a big steaming pile. How impressed are you? You were not impressed, you're offended by that. Are you kidding me? Look what your son did. That's what you do? That's what it's like when we think we can earn the grace of God. You can't earn what's already been paid for. It's rubbish. You need to get the bull skubilon out of your life and lean into the grace and the mercy of Jesus Christ. Amen? Now, the Old Testament illustration is worse. I really think that the Bible is trying to be graphic and gross and shocking. Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah says this. See, it's not that just we need to be saved from the bad stuff. We even need to be saved from the good stuff. Isaiah 64, 6, you should read your Bible. Look, I mean, I'm holding it up so you can see. I'm not making this up. 64, 6, we have all become like one who is unclean. And all our righteous deeds, get that? Our righteous deeds, the good stuff we do.

If we try to bring those to God as God, aren't you impressed with how good I am? And all our righteous deeds are like polluted garments is what the English translation says. Some of your translations might say filthy rags. Literally in Hebrew, the word is used menstrual cloths. Used menstrual cloths. All right, hey, husbands, come on, let's be honest. Is that just the grossest, grossest, the grossest thing you've ever heard of in your entire life? It's in the Bible. Yeah, it's in the Bible. Can you imagine on your anniversary, if your wife was like, baby, I love you so much. I appreciate our marriage. I appreciate you loving me like Christ loved the church. And I've got a gift for you. And she brought polluted garments. You'd be like, oh no, get a woman. What's wrong with you? We are not friends. You are now under my wrath. That's what's going on here. That's what it looks like when we try to, when we think we can earn God's grace. It's that graphic. It's that gross. It's that filthy. See, here's the point. That salvation is found by grace alone

through faith alone in Christ alone. The salvation is found by grace alone. He's just full of mercy and full of grace. And he's rich in love. It's found in grace alone, through faith alone. And some of you might even say, hey, yeah, but I put my faith in him. Right, but the faith that you had to put in him was a gift from God so that you can't even brag about that part. In other words, Jesus plus nothing equals salvation. It's just Jesus alone. It's not Jesus plus good works. It's not Jesus plus baptism. It's not Jesus plus raise your hand or Jesus plus say a prayer. It's none of those things. It's Jesus plus nothing equals salvation because Jesus plus anything screws up everything. Because it means that you don't understand the gospel. Again, it's not about bad people being better. It's about dead people coming to life. It's about a debt that you could not pay being paid on your behalf. And then. When you begin to get that, then you can get to verse 10 that says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So if you think, well, sweet, I can just pray

and become a Christian and do whatever I want. Well, then that's clear evidence that he's not your Lord. That's some kind of easy believism that has nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That you have been purchased to walk in freedom. You've been purchased. And when you understand that you were an enemy of God, an enemy of God, and I know you don't think you were that bad, it's because you can't see as God sees, but that you were an enemy of the Almighty God, but God, rich in mercy, reached down, redeemed you, softened your heart, regenerated your heart, drew you unto himself, paid for your sin, and then adopted you into his family. When you begin to see that, when you begin to see that, you know why I get so fired up in here? It ain't for you, it's because of me. I know what a wretch I was, and he saved me. I can't believe it. Every week, I get a weekly reminder by walking through the gospel with my favorite people in the world that holy moly, I can't believe he would save me. So I get a little fired up about it. And because he saved me, because he redeemed me, because he rescued me, I just wanna herald it from the top of my lungs to anybody that would have ears to hear. And I know that I've been purchased so that I could do good works.

I don't do good works so that he would rescue and redeem me. I wanna illustrate it this way, my favorite gospel illustration. I shared it, I think, three years ago at Easter. We used to have two dogs, two boxers, Sadie and Samson. I wanted English Bulldogs, but they were like $1,000 each, so I was on a youth pastor budget, so I got boxers, because they were a couple hundred dollars. But they kind of looked the same, you know, they got that mean mug look, and they're kind of ripped, and I thought maybe some of that would wear off on me. And so we got Sadie and Samson. And so we started with Samson, and he was awesome. He was regal, and well-behaved, and smart, and he was great. And when we just had him, we could leave him out in our house, and he would just be fine. He was obedient, and wouldn't get into stuff. And then we got Sadie, along with Samson, to be a companion, and it all went downhill. You know, kind of like in the Bible, it just really went rough after she showed up. And so, uh, they would, so one day, we come home in our apartment, and we open the door, it looked like it snowed in there. They had gotten into the couch cushions, and chewed up the couch cushions into a bazillion little white fluffy pieces

all over the room. And she was so dumb, that when we walked in the room, she didn't even know she was in trouble. She's like, hey, what do you know, just all wiggly. She'd wiggle so much, she'd turn in a whole circle. She couldn't even stay straight. And then Samson was like, oh, my bad. All right, so that's how it worked. Now, our dogs were super, super awesome. We loved them, and we were that couple early on that just loved them really too much. We would get them birthday presents, and Christmas presents, and let them sleep in our bed, and all that. And then some of you wise people would tell us, when you have kids, your kids will be your kids, and your dogs will be your dogs. And Gretchen and I would talk all the time, and we'd be like, no, not us, we'll always love our dogs. And then we had kids, and we put them in the backyard to stay out there. So our dogs were living in the backyard, and we have a fenced-in backyard, okay, fenced-in backyard. And our dogs, it's the craziest thing. When they lived outside, they always wanted to be inside, and when they lived inside, they always wanted to be outside and they hated the fence. You see, they saw the fence as a punishment, but what they didn't understand is that the fence

was for their provision and protection. Our house backed up to Hodges. Without the fence, they're dead in Hodges. And so the fence is not to punish them. The fence is to provide for them, to protect them, because we were good masters. We were good masters. It was for their protection and provision. Well, one day, I'm at work, it's about lunchtime, and Maria, one of our worship leaders, used to watch our kids for us early on. And so she gives me a call, and she says, hey, I peeked my head out in the backyard, and I haven't seen Sadie and Samson all morning, so I think you might need to come home. So I think, oh, it's not the first time. So I get in my car, hustle home, and I go around the back, and apparently I'd left the gate open that morning. And I'm sure what happened is that Sadie probably went over to the gate, and was like, hey, Samson, it's open. We should go for this. Samson was probably like, no, we really shouldn't. You know, this is provision and protection. But she nuzzled her way through, opened the gate, and then he followed her, and out to the road they went. And you know, when they got out in the front yard, they're just looking around, and they're like, sweet, no more fence, no more rules. The man can't hold me down. We can go left, we can go right.

We can pee in the neighbor's flowers. We can chase cats. We can do anything we want, baby. Freedom! But you know what I know. Rebellion, those feels like freedom, it only leads to bondage or death. Those are your only options. And so I get home, and I check, and they're out. out and they're running around. I think, oh no, and I've done this before. So I go and I get some cheese and it's so embarrassing. You know, you're rolling down the windows of your car and you're driving slowly around your neighborhood going, Sadie, Samson, I've got some cheese and your neighbors are trying to help you. Like, have you lost your dogs? No, grandma and grandpa wandered away again, but they like to gum down some cheese. Yeah, I lost my dogs. So we used to live in the woods, so we go out to the little guard gate lady and she says, I saw them about 9.30 this morning. At this point, it's after lunch. She said, I saw two dogs, two boxers, and they just went right out on the hodges and they took a left towards Atlantic. And when I first found out they were gone, I was thinking, if I can find these dogs, they were under my wrath.

But at this point, I'm going, oh Lord, please just help me find them. Because I don't want to come back and tell my kids, Sadie and Samson have gone to a happy place, right? Your parents lie to you too? Right, so I'm riding around this apartment complex and Gretchen calls and she says, I found them. I was like, sweet, where are they? She said, they're on the internet. Huh? They start a Facebook page, what do you mean? Well, somebody got the dogs and they took them to the Pound downtown and at the Pound or whatever it's called, they take pictures of the dogs, they put them on their website so people like me can identify them. I thought, great. And so I called them up, hey, I think you got my dogs. I saw them online and they said, all right, well, you're going to have to come on down here. And so we don't go downtown very often, right? Because much like most of you guys, we all live out here at the beach where the Lord lives. And those of you that live downtown and make your drive out here on Sunday, it's to meet with Jesus because he's out here with us. So God bless downtown. And so I go downtown, figure out how to get to the Pound. I walk in and tell the lady,

hey, I'm here to pick up my dogs. And here's what I've realized too, is that there's a reason some people work with animals because they don't have what we call people skills. All right? And so they just keep bacon in their pockets so somebody will like them. And so that was this lady. And she's just mean to me. Like, what kind of dog owner are you? Because we didn't have tags or collars or any of that stuff. And so I'm like, all right, lady, can I just get my dogs? She says, okay, but first you've got to go identify them. We've got to take them, take you into the back. And so we go into the back where all the kennels are, the little doggy jails. And our Sadie and Samson, they were in the seventh kennel back. And I'm walking by all these other little captivated dogs. And they're all running to the front, like, pick me, pick me. And we go to the back and there are my dogs. And when Sadie, the dumb one, sees me, she's like, hey, where have you been? We've been looking for you everywhere. Right, Samson? Samson goes to the back of the kennel, tucks his tail, sits down.

He's like, my bad, dog. You know, he knows. You see rebellion? Though feels like freedom, always and only leads to death or bondage. So I go back out to the front desk to fill out the paperwork. Okay, what do I got to do? Fill out some paperwork, whatever, whatever. And I go, well, actually, it's $290 for each dog to get them back. And I'm like, do what? Now, what am I going to do at that point? I mean, would it make any sense at all to be like, time out, can I go talk to my dogs again, please? And to walk back in there and say, hey, listen, Sadie and Samson, I'm gonna get you out, but you owe me $290. You better get a job, you better deliver a paper or race a greyhound or something, but you owe me $290 a piece. What are they gonna do? They have incurred a debt that they cannot pay regardless of what they try to do. They are unable to repay the debt that they, by their own sin, have incurred upon them. Or what if the dogs would have come to me and said, okay, okay, I'll tell you what, master, here's the deal. If you'll get us out of here, from now on, we'll be perfect. We'll be the best dogs ever. We'll clean up our mess, we'll fetch your slippers,

we'll bring you the paper, we'll teach the kids to walk and talk and add and subtract, okay? We'll be the perfect dogs, the best dogs forever from this point forward. Well, there's a problem. That still doesn't do any, their good behavior from now on doesn't do anything to pay for the debt that they've already incurred by their bad behavior. And so, I asked the lady, well, what happens? Okay, so let's say, you know, that's almost 600 bucks. What happens if I don't wanna pay almost $600 to buy these dogs back? And she goes, well, then you will fill out some paperwork and you'll put them up for adoption. You'll legally turn over ownership to Duval County. And I go, well, what do y'all do? I mean, do you euthanize them or what? They go, no, no, no, we bathe them, shampoo them, clip the toenails, we need to fix the male because he wasn't fixed yet because I just didn't have the heart, you know, because Gretchen and I were having that same conversation about me, so me and Samson, we're just gonna hold strong to the end. So, is that too transparent? Is that, so that's where we were anyway, so. Then we adopt them out, you know, we find some good owners and they'll adopt them. And I go, okay, and I look over to my left, on the way out, there's the door to my truck

and there's a big poster, special today. Adopt a dog for $30, huh? So I looked at the girl and said, all right, I wanna relinquish ownership of my dogs. She looked at me like I was the devil incarnate. And so I fill out some paperwork and she notarizes it and hands it back to me. And I take my piece of paper and I take about three steps towards the door and I come right back to her face and say, hi ma'am, I would like to adopt some dogs, please. And she says to me, you can't adopt your own dogs. Ma'am, I have a notarized piece of paper from Duval County that I don't own any dogs. You own dogs, I don't own any dogs. I wanna adopt two, a male, a female, maybe a boxers. You got anything like that? So she's angry, she scoops up her papers. She goes to the back. I can see through this big glass wall and she's talking to the manager and she's like, you know, they're arguing. And then he comes back out with a clipboard and I found the loophole. And so he slams down the deal and then I have to fill out this paperwork proving that I am a capable dog owner. And so I fill it all out and then I take the money and for $30 each and the little form to adopt the dogs legally back into my family,

I redeem my dogs and adopt them back into my family. All right? And then I say, okay, can I pick them up now? This is even better. Say, no, you have to wait three days. Now don't lose that either, three days. Because we have to bathe them and shampoo them and clip their toenails and even give them back to you clean and better than when you gave them up. And ladies and gentlemen, that's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen. Amen. That. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Rebellion always feels like freedom, but it ends in bondage. And there's a debt that you can't pay. You can't pay it. Even if you're perfect from this day forward, you can't pay for the sin that you've already done in your life. And yet God, rich in mercy, full of grace, who loves you because that's just who he is,

will pay your debt to forgive your sin. And this is huge. It's just been something that's been so clear to me lately. And when he died on the cross and he shed his blood for you, yes, our sinfulness was imputed unto him and he received the full wrath of God and his righteousness was imputed unto us and we were justified before God. We were in right relationship before God, but that's not the end of the story. And then not only did he justify us, but he adopts us into his family as a full heir, a son or a daughter of the most high God. And that's the gospel. It's by grace that you have been saved, through faith and not by works, so that none of us, none of us, none of us could boast. Some of you today, you might believe that there's a God, but you've never surrendered your life to the lordship of Christ, had your debt paid and been adopted into the family of God as a full heir, as a son or as a daughter of God. And that invitation is open for you today. Would you please bow your head right where you are? Would you bow your head and close your eyes? Not because that's some kind of spiritual position, but just to remove the distractions. And maybe today for the very first time, you've heard the gospel.

Maybe today, maybe you've heard it before, but you didn't have ears to hear it. And maybe today is the day that God has been pursuing you and He's softening your heart and you are ready to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, to surrender your life to Him, to have your debt paid, that God demonstrated His love for you in this, that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. And then it doesn't even end there, but that you today could be adopted into the family of God as a full heir. If you were ready to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, to surrender your life to Him, would you raise your hand right where you are, saying, Christ, here I am. I surrender my life to Him. For those of you with your hands up, you pray to Him, because it's just Jesus plus nothing equals salvation. You tell Him that you admit that you have incurred a debt that you can't pay, that you believe on His Son. You believe in Christ and what He did on the cross, and you confess Him as Lord. And there's no kind of magical words. You just pour out your heart to Him, and in this moment, you are being saved. Dear Father in heaven, God, I thank you, and I praise you that salvation's in this place.

God, thank you for saving these men and women. God, thank you that they, like the prodigal son, have come to their senses, and as soon as they take a step home, that you see them from a long way off. You run to them and wrap your righteous robe around them You take the the scene that ring and place it on their finger You put sandals on their feet and you've killed a fatty calf and throw a party for they were dead and now they are alive God we join with the angels and praise you for that salvation And then God also I want to pray for the disciples of Jesus in this place God that we would be reminded of the gospel that we could know you by the power of the gospel Not just as sovereign Lord and judge, but also as heavenly father Abba father and that when we sin and When we fall short God that by the power of the grace because our sin has already been paid for father We can run to you and not try to hide from you So God I pray for every believer in this place that we would confess our sin that we would repent and we would come running back to you and Claim that our sin has already been forgiven God may may the may grace by the power of the Holy Spirit just saturate this place May we be a gospel centered church full of gospel centered people To give you and you alone the praise we pray it in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, would you please stand as we respond? listen Just like how you got saved God initiates and we respond Worship is the same thing. This is our time to respond to the gospel That the gospel has gone out and now we respond we respond by bringing our tithes and offerings to the giving boxes around the room That's an act of worship We respond by coming to the altar and laying down those idols and confessing and repenting That's the way we respond and we respond by joining our voices together To respond to who God is and what he's done. So let us respond