Monday, March 12, 2018

March 10-12, 2018 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Ephesians 2:1-10 AMAZING GRACE!


LENT 4

March 10-12, 2018

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Ephesians 2:1-10



AMAZING GRACE!

1. The Reason We’re Saved.

2. The Reason We Serve.



Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV 1984) “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”



          So how many times do you think you have sung or heard that hymn we just sang, Amazing Grace? A hundred, a thousand? Depends on your age. It’s been around a long time. Its simplicity and catchy or haunting in a good way tune is hard to forget. It’s difficult to avoid an emotional reaction when your hear the bagpipes playing Amazing Grace at the funeral of a police officer or fireman. Amazing Grace, a great hymn. My question for you today is “Are you?” Amazed at God’s grace that is. In the Bible we hear a common reaction to a great thing God has done, a miracle or a teaching of Jesus as this, “And the people were amazed.” Are we? Are we amazed at God’s grace? Today as we dig into a word of God that highlights God’s Amazing Grace we do so with the prayer that the Holy Spirit would build up or restore if necessary our appreciation for God’s Amazing Grace.

          Amazing grace is first of all the reason we are saved. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”  Do you consider yourself a wretch? One online dictionary uses this definition: “a base, despicable, or vile person.” Do you own that description? I’m reminded of one of the corporate confessions of sins we used when I was younger. Some of you will recognize it. “O almighty God, merciful Father, I, a poor miserable sinner confess all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended Thee and justly deserve Thy temporal and eternal punishment.” Do you consider yourself a poor miserable sinner, a wretch that has offended God? Those are powerful words. And they describe me to a T. You too.

          God put it this way. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”  God uses powerful words here. Dead. Helpless. Unable to do anything for ourselves spiritually. Dead in another way. Dead to God like when you say someone is dead to you. We’ve offended him. By nature, objects of wrath. We’ve all seen the pictures of our military with the laser sights on the target, the house, the tank, the truck and then boom. God’s laser sight is on us, targeted for wrath, anger over sin. And just in case we are smirking instead of squirming who would you say has a greater degree of culpability, guilt? Someone who breaks a law they didn’t know about, out of ignorance, or someone who breaks a law they know very well. Of all the people on this planet most of us in this building know far better than most what they ways of the world are and that Devil is behind it. We know that the cravings or our sinful natures are wrong. And yet I’m guessing we would consider a drug addicted prostitute who has never known Jesus Christ to be a worse sinner than we are. Do you think she would be amazed to know that Jesus wanted her in heaven so much He died for her?

          And yet even though we have greater guilt than a drug addicted prostitute who has never known Christ we are saved. God says so! “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9not by works, so that no one can boast.” Did you hear that? It’s grace, all grace. Note the adjectives. Because of God’s great love. Rich in mercy. That’s why. We were dead. Needed faith is not our decision, not our work. It’s a gift from God, a grace. Something given to someone who has not earned it and does not deserve it. That’s not how we act. Think of what you would do with someone in your life who made promises but broke them often, who repeatedly did the opposite of what was right even though they expected others to do right, who hurt you, mistreated you, offended you, daily? And instead of letting us remain objects of his wrath, pushing us out of His life as we deserve, God saves us. That’s amazing. That’s how great His Grace is.

Grace goes on. “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Did you hear what it moved God to do? He raised, (past tense, done deal), us and seated us with Jesus to share in heavenly riches. Picture it this way. At the heavenly banquet that has joy beyond all measure there is a seat reserved with your name on it. Some day you will take your place. What do you do now? Some of you may remember me talking about my farmer friends, the Eberts, that I worked for growing up. Dairy farmers, hard daily work. I remember times when they had to go to an event for their grown daughter who lived in town. But first we have to do the chores. They understood that as dairy farmers before the fun there was a responsibility and purpose.

That’s us too. No we are not dairy farmers but before we get the glory and joy of a heaven we don’t deserve as ones saved by grace we have responsibility and purpose. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” That little word “for” connects what God is about to say to what he just said. Because grace is the reason we are saved, it’s also the reason we serve. Have received the gift of faith, having been made alive with Christ, until we take the place that Christ reserved for us have responsibility and purpose. Grace is the gas in our tank. It’s the reason we want to do what we are created to do, good works. We’ll get to them in a minute but before we do savor the fact that you are God’s workmanship, think handiwork or hand crafted. God in grace has made each one of us just like he wants and knows is best. He has given to each one of us the right gifts and abilities and circumstances for what He has planned for us.

What has he planned? Good works prepared in advance. God knows, shapes and directs our lives. He does that daily for each one of us. Good works are things God says are good. They are done out of love for Him appreciation of grace. They serve God and help others. Don’t think about big things like ending world hunger or establishing world peace. Think of things Jesus pointed to as great. Giving a cup of cold water to a fellow believer who was thirsty. Taking care of those who can’t care for themselves, like babies or aged parents, like the widow’s mite. What will it be today, tomorrow? A hug for mom when she’s said? Inviting a classmate to play at recess? A kind word to a down co-worker? These and more each according to the way God hand crafted you, all prepared in advance, just waiting for you. “Do or do not, there is no try,” someone once said. Grace leads us to do.

God’s grace is amazing. It’s the reason He saves us. Nothing we do helps or contributes. It’s the reason we serve, our motivation. Grace is unearned. There are two things people tend to do with what they have not earned. They will either consider them worthless or an entitlement or they will cherish them as a precious gift. What’s your plan for God’s amazing grace? Amen.

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