1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:06,040 It's a very familiar story. In the 1540s in Scotland, there 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,680 was a group of Protestant refugees that kind of took their 3 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:14,360 refuge in Saint Andrew's Castle. And I don't know how you get the 4 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,520 job to minister there, but John Knox got it. 5 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,720 And he was called to kind of lead as a chaplain and as the 6 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,480 preacher of those preachers. And he was preaching and 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:30,400 teaching there until July of 1547, when the French, under 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,840 Mary of Geese came and brought their warships and their fleets 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,200 against this castle. And this is one of the most 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,960 devoutly Catholic families in all of France. 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,920 And she comes and takes that castle. 12 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:51,560 And she takes with it John Knox, captures and enslaves him, and 13 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,840 he's sentenced to imprisonment aboard a French galley ship, a 14 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,320 French worship. He's chained in place as a rower 15 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,720 and was enslaved in this manner for 19 months. 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,800 And so it was his heart and his soul's desire and his continual 17 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,840 prayers that he could once again minister in Scotland. 18 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,080 And if you know the story, there's one point where the the 19 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,520 ship that he's on comes to Saint Andrew's Bay and he can see the 20 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:20,320 Spire of the castle where he used to minister and this. 21 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:21,680 And his heart was already on fire. 22 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,040 He wanted to be with his people. And from that moment he prayed 23 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,600 this prayer, somebody was there with him and in his captivity, 24 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,120 weakened from his captivity, he said, I know not how long it may 25 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,680 be before my eyes behold it, but I'm sure that I shall once again 26 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:36,680 preach there to the glory of God. 27 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,400 And you read his commentators, his biographers, they say his 28 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,320 entire life's prayer was sentenced was was stated like 29 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:48,160 this, this sentence, Lord, give me Scotland or I die. 30 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:51,560 And so if you're a fellow prisoner, if you could have been 31 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:55,600 on that ship with him and asked him how did this come to be that 32 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,120 you're chained to a chair on a French galley ship as a 33 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:04,000 Scotsman, A Protestant Scotsman, he would have said I'm not a 34 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,640 slave of France. I am a slave, a prisoner of 35 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:12,000 Jesus Christ. And I was entrusted by God with 36 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,880 a service as a steward of his grace. 37 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,720 And this was a service that's not for myself, it's not for my 38 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:20,360 benefit. It's I was entrusted with 39 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,240 something on behalf of other people, whatever the cost might 40 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,280 be. And for him, he was entrusted on 41 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:30,400 behalf of Scotland, his kinsmen according to the flesh. 42 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,840 And his words are like Ephesians 3, one to six with Paul. 43 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,400 Paul is a prisoner not of his own doing, not by his own 44 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,520 design. He says I am a prisoner of the 45 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,480 Lord Jesus Christ. And he's chained not to his seat 46 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,520 on a ship, but to a predatorian guard under house arrest. 47 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,560 And like Knox, his imprisonment was not the result of selfish 48 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,840 motives. His imprisonment was the result 49 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,920 of living according to divine purpose and living no matter 50 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:00,320 what the cost might be. Because when you follow Jesus 51 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,200 Christ and you you're burning out for Him and you're living 52 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:05,840 with zeal, it doesn't always take you to the places you would 53 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,320 have designed to go. Sometimes you end up in some 54 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,120 places that you don't particularly want to be. 55 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,560 He's living and his imprisonment is the result of compulsion. 56 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:18,680 A compulsion to go and to preach and it's living with zeal and a 57 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,320 sense of urgency for the glory of God and for the good of his 58 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,200 church. That is why Paul was a prisoner. 59 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,320 And he says it this way. Necessity is laid upon me or 60 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:30,320 another way to say it is I am under compulsion. 61 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:32,560 Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. 62 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,800 You remember him saying those words go back one verse in that 63 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,680 passage and the the verse that came before it is so important 64 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:42,800 especially for understanding our passage today. 65 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:48,000 He says I am entrusted with a stewardship, I've been entrusted 66 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,920 with a stewardship, therefore I must preach the gospel. 67 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,160 And so John Knox and the heroes of the faith who came before 68 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,880 him, those heroes of the faith that came after him knew they 69 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:00,760 were stewards of what God had given them. 70 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,400 They were stewards of grace. And this made them zealous for 71 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,360 the gospel. This made them zealous for good 72 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,040 works. Have a few quotes from church 73 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,440 history from our forebears. I want you to listen to them 74 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,120 with this in mind and just hear the emotion and the passion that 75 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:18,959 come off of their words. Moses Exodus 3232. 76 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:22,960 But now if you will forgive their sin, but if not blot me 77 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,160 out from the book that you've that you've written. 78 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,600 Paul may be inspired by that says in Romans 93. 79 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,400 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 80 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,440 For I could wish that I were a cursed and cut off from Christ 81 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,120 for the sake of my brothers, my kinsman according to the flesh. 82 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,640 That's for evangelism and even for discipleship in Galatians 83 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,800 4/19, he says, my little children, in whom I am in the 84 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,160 anguish of childbirth, until Christ is formed in you, it's my 85 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,200 responsibility to preach to you and to see you formed into the 86 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,880 image of Jesus Christ. David Brainard said I cared not 87 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,920 where or how I lived or what hardships I went through so that 88 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,160 I could but gain souls to Christ another Whitfield Lord, give me 89 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,960 souls or take my soul. How's that for a prayer? 90 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:11,280 You can't buy zeal like this. You can't will yourself to live 91 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:13,160 like this. If we could just will ourselves 92 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:15,760 to live like this, with this kind of conviction, we would do 93 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,600 it. Zeal being great energy or 94 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,560 enthusiasm in pursuit of A cause or an objective. 95 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,000 These men and women knew what they were created to do, and now 96 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,920 they were doing it. From all eternity past. 97 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:29,800 There were good works that they were to walk in, and now they're 98 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,200 walking in them. They're inspired and they're 99 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:34,960 motivated. This is their glory and their 100 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,160 courage and their conviction comes from understanding the 101 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,440 theological concepts that are outlined for us in Ephesians 3, 102 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:43,920 one to six. You can't will yourself into 103 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,000 this. And this is where we find our 104 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,320 motivation. This is where we find our 105 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,480 enthusiasm for Christian service and charity. 106 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:53,840 We get it from a correct understanding of who we were 107 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:58,440 made to be in Jesus Christ, and we're doing what we're designed 108 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,800 to do. You get it from a right theology 109 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,000 and read with me Ephesians 3, one to six. 110 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:07,600 These are the words of the apostle Paul. 111 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,920 He says for this reason, in the light of all that's come before, 112 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:14,600 I Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, 113 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,440 assuming that you've heard of the stewardship of God's grace 114 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,240 that was given to me for you. How the mystery was made known 115 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:23,800 to me by revelation, as I've written briefly. 116 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,480 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the 117 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,200 mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men 118 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,200 and other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy 119 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:34,440 apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 120 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,120 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, 121 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,560 members of the same body and partakers of the promise in 122 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:46,480 Christ Jesus through the gospel. So all great men and women of 123 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,360 faith who've done all the amazing things that we, that we 124 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:53,400 read about that inspire us, it all begins with a work of divine 125 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,600 supernatural grace. This is the starting point. 126 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,720 It is by grace, Paul's already said this, Chris taught us, you 127 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:01,400 2 believer have been saved by grace. 128 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,120 Ephesians 28 to 9 is where this began in Ephesians. 129 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,840 He says by grace you have been saved through faith. 130 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,320 This was not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not of 131 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:16,560 works so that no one can boast. And so God's plan for your 132 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:20,480 salvation doesn't end there. This is paramount to understand. 133 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:22,920 It doesn't end there and neither does the paragraph end there. 134 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,200 If you flip back and you look at it, there's another verse. 135 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,680 The verse 10 comes after and it says this. 136 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,600 For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good 137 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,840 works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk 138 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,360 in them. So with our experience of grace 139 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:44,000 comes ministry and fruitfulness. And our Christian culture sees 140 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:48,560 salvation as the end goal or the finish line for discipleship 141 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,880 and, and evangelism. And we, you see this in church 142 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:52,000 planners. You want to go out and we're 143 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,320 going to get people saved, get them across that finish line. 144 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,280 And then we're going to go on and we're going to plan another 145 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:57,120 church. We're going to move to a new 146 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,360 area, just get them over that finish line and then we're off 147 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,600 to the next one. But when you read scripture and 148 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:07,560 you read Paul, salvation is the starting line, not the finish 149 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,280 line. Salvation is when we begin our 150 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,160 good works. This is where you're gifted with 151 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,800 a stewardship. This is where it all starts for 152 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:16,920 you, believer. Then comes the pouring yourself 153 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,240 out for Jesus Christ. So you receive the grace and 154 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,400 outcomes channelling the grace outcomes ministry. 155 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,120 And so we're not saved. Paul says buy good works. 156 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:33,080 We're saved for good works or we're saved by grace alone. 157 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,880 And and we love that mantra and then the reformers would add to 158 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:37,440 it. But the grace that saves is 159 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,400 never alone. It's inseparable from 160 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,840 fruitfulness. Jesus says this, I am the vine, 161 00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:48,800 you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, what bears 162 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:51,880 fruit, bears fruit. He says, you, you follow me. 163 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:53,640 This is the mark of being a Christian. 164 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,200 You're going to be light to the world, you're going to be 165 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:58,480 righteousness, you're going to embody this, you're going to 166 00:08:58,480 --> 00:08:59,920 bear fruit. And then he says for the 167 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:01,880 believers, and this is the part we like, we close our ears, we 168 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:03,920 don't like it. He says, I'm going to refine you 169 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,400 and I'm going to prune you and it's going to be painful because 170 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,080 I'm going to trim back all of the the noise in your life and 171 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:11,360 I'm going to make you more fruitful. 172 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:13,880 And then he says, as a matter of fact, I'm going to go even 173 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:15,920 further. And then you're going to bear 174 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:17,200 much fruit. There's going to be fruit. 175 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,440 There's going to be more fruit and there's going to be much 176 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:20,640 fruit. And by the way, if you don't 177 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:25,280 bear any fruit, I will cut you off and you will be burned is 178 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,520 what Jesus says there will be fruit. 179 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:29,320 This is the metaphor of the vine dresser. 180 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:34,920 Paul last week says that we are a building that he is building. 181 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,600 And in verse 10 that Chris preached to us a few weeks ago, 182 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:43,400 we are his masterpiece created in Christ Jesus for good works 183 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,000 that he's been planned in eternity past. 184 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,840 And if you're looking at this passage, Paul's keyword is the 185 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,760 word stewardship. You can write that down. 186 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:53,920 We'll dig into that in just a minute. 187 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:55,680 We are stewards. He was a steward. 188 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:59,480 And so you, you receive grace. Now you become a conduit of 189 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:01,960 grace. You serve according to your 190 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:03,720 spiritual gifts, not for yourself. 191 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,680 It's all for other people. And so if you live insularly, if 192 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:12,040 you live for yourself and you see this is actually the gravest 193 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:16,240 sin, this is a a grave sin, you're living out of step with 194 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,320 how you were created. And so Paul, he calls your 195 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,400 ministry, your responsibility, your stewardship, your 196 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,680 fruitfulness. He calls this a grace. 197 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,880 That's the words that he uses. You're entrusted with a grace. 198 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:32,840 And having understood that, there's another step. 199 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,000 You're saved by grace, you are entrusted with grace, and then 200 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,840 you become a steward of grace. And this is the movement that we 201 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,320 see that began all the way back in Ephesians 2, verse 8. 202 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:46,200 It's not going to be the outline for our sermon, but I want you 203 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:49,960 to see theologically and logically how this progresses. 204 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,200 Grace is received by you. Grace is entrusted. 205 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,040 At that same time, grace is entrusted in you, and then you 206 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,880 have to steward that grace is stewarded by you. 207 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,280 That's the order. So I want as we look to the 208 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,120 sermon outline, I want one of two prayers to be yours this 209 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:10,680 morning, depending on where you are spiritually. 210 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:12,840 And I'm going to steal these prayers from words that we've 211 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,200 already heard this morning from Saints, simple prayers from 212 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:17,760 Saints throughout the history of the church. 213 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,080 My prayers that you would desire these things with all the 214 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,240 urgency that they're meant to evoke in your heart and in your 215 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:25,080 soul. If if you've never received the 216 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,360 grace of God, then my prayer is that your prayer would be give 217 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,520 me Christ or else I die. And you would experience those 218 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:36,880 words with all the urgency that was intended by the one who 219 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:38,400 wrote them. And if you have experienced 220 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,560 grace, he hasn't trusted you with the stewardship that my 221 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:45,080 prayer is that your prayer would be now give me Scotland or I 222 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:47,960 die. Whatever I was created to do, 223 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,760 whatever I was created to be, give me that, help me to walk in 224 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:57,720 that or take away my life. So the first prayer is wash me 225 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,640 Savior or I die. And this was written by 226 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,640 Augustus. Top lady always funny names. 227 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:08,040 A reformed Anglican clergyman wrote a song called Rock of 228 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,880 Ages. You've probably heard of it in 229 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:15,560 the song the the back story to it is probably embellished. 230 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,800 Know that. But the the story goes that Top 231 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,520 Lady was traveling through the Mendip Hills of Somerset, 232 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:28,880 England in 1763. And a violent storm comes on and 233 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:33,040 he finds a gap in the rock or a cleft in the rock where he hides 234 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,000 himself until the storm is over. And while he's waiting, the 235 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,840 image comes. This is like unto salvation. 236 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,800 God's wrath is being poured out like Noah's flood. 237 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,800 His wrath is being poured out. And I can hide myself in Jesus 238 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,840 Christ and be spared from all the fury and all the wrath. 239 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,320 And so after that he gets out his pen, and he writes nothing 240 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,000 in my hand. I bring simply to the cross. 241 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,200 I cling naked. Come to thee for dress helpless. 242 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,680 Look to thee for grace. There's our word foul. 243 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:06,800 I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. 244 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,440 You have to receive grace to be saved. 245 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:13,720 You have to receive grace or there is no stewardship. 246 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:16,880 There's nothing to steward. You get your spiritual gifts, 247 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:18,200 you get your service. You. 248 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,520 You can accomplish true works once Christ's righteousness has 249 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:23,960 been applied to you or there are no good works, there is no 250 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,400 stewardship. There's no truly good works. 251 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:28,920 So if you've never come to know Jesus Christ. 252 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,880 The first point is your prayer. The words of top lady give me 253 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,720 Christ or else I or wash me Savior or I die or even as we 254 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,960 just saying give me Christ or else I die. 255 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,760 We pray that that would is that that would be impressed on your 256 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,080 heart. You have to understand if you're 257 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:45,440 going to understand that statement. 258 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,560 You have to understand how God made us all the way back in the 259 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:53,960 garden, male and female, to work and to to live according to 260 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,040 God's law. And you go all the way back to 261 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,120 the garden. The first man, Adam, could not 262 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,680 live up to God's law. And if you were in his place, 263 00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:02,280 you couldn't either. And I can tell you why, because 264 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,080 you've sinned too. And so from that moment, there's 265 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,480 cosmic upheaval entered into the whole world. 266 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,320 And what I mean by that is every relationship, every faculty, 267 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,480 your mind, your will, your imagination, your body, every 268 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,680 relationship, your own relationship with yourself, your 269 00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:19,080 relationship to other people, your relationship to nature, 270 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:20,800 most importantly your relationship to God. 271 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,040 It's all been tainted. It's all been marred. 272 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:27,320 It's not as bad as it could be. And we say yet even that by the 273 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,520 grace of God. And so this is how we've 274 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,920 continued as enemies of God, separated from his grace, 275 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,920 separated from his fellowship until the focal point of all 276 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,520 human history. Jesus Christ came to the earth 277 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:47,200 as the God man born of a woman, and he lived his entire life as 278 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:53,240 the second Adam without sin, fully submitted to God's will, 279 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:57,160 fully obedient to his law. And he became our our 280 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,800 righteousness. He achieved righteousness. 281 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:03,360 It was one holy perfect life, the life that none of us could 282 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,880 have ever lived. And when he went 30 to 33 years 283 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,440 later, when he goes to the cross, he dies of death that we 284 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:10,560 deserved. He lived a life that we could 285 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:12,240 not live. He died as our substitute. 286 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,440 So that at that moment Scripture says that he counts us 287 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:17,320 righteous. He looks at Jesus's life and he 288 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:19,520 he attributes it to ours. He looks at our lives, He 289 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:23,200 attributes them to Jesus. Our sins are counted as 290 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,080 righteous. And now Scripture goes a step 291 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,280 forward and says, if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, 292 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:33,640 and if you believe that the work that he did from the time he was 293 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:37,640 born until the time that he died actually achieves salvation for 294 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,280 you, you believe in your heart and you confess with your mouth 295 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,720 that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. 296 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,760 But the the pressure comes, the urgency comes from recognizing 297 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,560 you are a Sinner and you are without the mercy of God. 298 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,520 You're separated from him. There is no fellowship, and 299 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,000 until you confess him as Lord, the relationship is not healed. 300 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,840 So there must be an urgency and there must be an awareness of 301 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,760 guilt. And then you come to Ephesians 302 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,200 28 and 9, and there's this movement of grace for the Sinner 303 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,440 where Paul says it is by grace that you have been saved through 304 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,760 faith, through belief, through trust, and this is not your 305 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:18,080 doing, it's the gift of God. And when you look to Ephesians 3 306 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,840 verse one, you see the imprint of this in Paul's life. 307 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:24,520 He's been trying to impress on you that you have a new 308 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,000 identity, who you were before the Sinner that you were before. 309 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,760 You have a new identity now. It's not just about you seeking 310 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:33,920 after your passions. Now it's about us as God's 311 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,880 building. And he says of his own identity. 312 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,800 He says I used to be a Hebrew of Hebrews, of the tribe of 313 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,000 Benjamin, a respectable tribe, and I used to be a Pharisee, a 314 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,520 respectable occupation with all of the influence and with all 315 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,480 the power and with all the money. 316 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,320 And he says I was an educated Greek scholar with all the 317 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:55,960 wisdom and intelligence, and I was a Roman citizen, that 318 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,240 coveted position in the ancient world. 319 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,720 And you look at his identity, it goes even it extends to his 320 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:04,280 name. Paul's name was Saul. 321 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,960 He's named after the first Israelite king. 322 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:11,160 It's a kingly name. And Saul meant desired one or 323 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,040 asked for. And all that shifts when I look 324 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:17,760 at chapter 3, verse 1. He calls himself for this 325 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,960 reason, I Paul. There's a new identity that he 326 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:22,760 takes on. He introduces himself not as 327 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,760 Saul, but as Paul. The name Paul means humble or 328 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,640 small. And he goes from considering 329 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,400 himself for considering himself the greatest of God's 330 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,760 messengers, zealous, but not according to knowledge. 331 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:39,720 And now he says I'm the least of the apostles. 332 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:45,280 He's got a new identity and he adds, I'm a prisoner of Christ 333 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,360 Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles. So not only that, he says I've 334 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:52,280 been in, I've been a prisoner. He's not Knox, he wouldn't 335 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,120 enslave, but he's, he's a prisoner. 336 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:56,000 And he says it wasn't even for me. 337 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,880 It's because I became the slave of all as Christ did before him. 338 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,320 He became the servant of all. And look where it landed and it 339 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:10,200 brought him to prison. Ephesians 2, eight to 10 showed 340 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,960 us that there can't be a separation of the reality of 341 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:14,920 grace. This is true for Paul from the 342 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,480 reality of the works that flow from grace. 343 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:20,720 And so the the grace that saves is never fruitless. 344 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,720 There's the mantra of, of the reformers, one of their five 345 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,200 sayings that kind of epitomized that whole movement is that 346 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,080 we're saved by grace alone. And they would add to that 347 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:30,840 mantra. But the grace that saves is 348 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,400 never alone. And the reason that they said 349 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,280 that the reason that they say the grace that saves is never 350 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:40,040 alone is because of Ephesians 3/2 and you can look it down to 351 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:41,720 it. It says assuming that you've 352 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:46,160 heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me 353 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:50,640 for you. And so grace is given the moment 354 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,840 that you confess Jesus as Lord, you become a steward of his 355 00:18:53,840 --> 00:19:00,360 grace and choosing to submit to Jesus Christ against the popular 356 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:02,360 evangelist is not a no strings attached. 357 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:06,320 This isn't a just come to him and all will be well. 358 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,440 This is a no. This is a submit to Jesus as 359 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,160 Lord. This is you're enlisting in his 360 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,320 army. It it, it costs everything. 361 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,480 This is not a a weak decision. It means faithful service. 362 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,920 It means, as we said last week, taking on Christ's work of 363 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,440 binding the strongman and plundering his goods. 364 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,840 You do that in this world, it's going to cost you something. 365 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,680 You take on the ministry of reconciliation, which means that 366 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:33,760 we go and we preach the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and 367 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,920 nation, and we say whatever the cost, if it means prison, 368 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,320 imprisonment, if it means martyrdom, if it means staying 369 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:43,480 right here, being chained to a pulpit and preaching every week 370 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,120 for the rest of your life. We do what he calls us to do, 371 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:48,480 He's the Lord. It means you take on the work of 372 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,720 loving others because God says this is what you were made to 373 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,160 do. You're made to love, you're made 374 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,560 to serve, you're saved by grace and when you're regenerated, 375 00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:00,760 you're born again. God's Holy Spirit gives you 376 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:05,320 certain spiritual endowments and he's going to elaborate on these 377 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,200 in chapter 4, but he says everybody gets just like you get 378 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:08,760 physical endowments when you're born. 379 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,240 Some of us are strong in stature, us not being me, some 380 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,840 of us are weaker in stature. Some of us are meant to work 381 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:19,120 and, and, and haul heavy things. Some of us get high calves with 382 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,280 high twitch muscle fibers and some of us get low calves with 383 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:26,040 slow twitch muscle fibers. This governs what we do, he 384 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:27,400 says. So it is with your spiritual 385 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,400 gifts. Some of you are going to be 386 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,000 overwhelmingly generous and you're going to go out and 387 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:33,440 you're going to be successful entrepreneurs. 388 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:34,560 You're going to image God in the world. 389 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:37,040 You're going to fund the church. Some of you are going to be 390 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,880 serving and you're going to serve according to the service 391 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,360 of 10 men and 10 women because this is what called you to do. 392 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,200 Some of you are are fueled with mercy. 393 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,840 Some of you are going to be inspired for evangelism and 394 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:51,920 you're going to go and work primarily outside the church 395 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,200 winning people to Christ and others are going to be preachers 396 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,800 and teachers and you're going to primarily be within the church, 397 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,040 operating within the church. This is your stewardship. 398 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,800 You become a steward of grace and entrusted with the 399 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:07,400 stewardship. Stewardship is literally the 400 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,120 word oikonamia. We get our word economy from it. 401 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:13,080 It means literally house management. 402 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,360 That's what we're doing. And this is a deliberately 403 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:20,360 building on last week, as God said that we became his 404 00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,080 building. This metaphor of, of a building 405 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,600 and a structure and architecture is what drove us through. 406 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,200 And if you remember, we said there was 4 words that had that 407 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,960 word Oikos house. There's 4 words that contain 408 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,160 that as God is dwelling and he's building and he's increasing and 409 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,000 building together. And there's, here's a fifth one, 410 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,160 Oikonamia. And I think this is 411 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,720 intentionally last because he says as God is building this 412 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:43,840 house, now there's house managers. 413 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,960 Now we're, we've got to take care of this entity that God is 414 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,800 building. There's work to be done and so 415 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,960 the grace becomes stewardship, salvation, transitions into 416 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,720 responsibility and very important to understand, we're 417 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:58,960 going to we're going to dwell on this in Ephesians 4 is that each 418 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,800 one of these gifts, all of this management, none of it is for 419 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,240 you. Every gift that God has given 420 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,720 you is for somebody else. It's for others. 421 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:10,720 Paul says in verse 2, you can read it. 422 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,840 It's an administration that was given to me for you. 423 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,280 And to illustrate this, one of the greatest anti abortion 424 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,240 arguments that I've ever heard came from a lady named Stephanie 425 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,080 Gray, a hero doing exactly what called God called her to do. 426 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,560 She had a moment. I was watching her in an 427 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,240 interview and she said she's in a debate and she was stumped. 428 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:35,760 And maybe you've been there. She's in an argument with 429 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:37,480 somebody. She says way smarter than her, 430 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,280 way more qualified than her. And she had nothing to say. 431 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,120 And she said it just took a moment. 432 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:45,120 And I closed my eyes and just as quickly as I could said, Lord 433 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,880 help give me something in this moment to respond on behalf of 434 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:51,640 the Christian faith and those who are listening. 435 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,480 And she said, I had this argument come to my head and 436 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,440 this is what it is. She said that the womb is the 437 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:03,000 only body part, male or female, that exists solely for the 438 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,320 benefit of somebody else. She says the heart is exist to 439 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:11,040 pump blood to the individual. The stomach is for digestion and 440 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,240 bringing nourishment to the bodies, to the body. 441 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,840 The stomach, the lungs exist to oxygenate the blood of the 442 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,520 individuals. She said the womb is different, 443 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,680 it's design, it's telos, it's not for the woman at all, but 444 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:23,800 for another. It's function is ordered toward 445 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,640 nurturing, housing and sustaining the life of someone 446 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:29,800 else. She uses that as an argument 447 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,240 against the my body, my choice, the logic, and the declaration 448 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,600 of the woman's autonomy over her own body. 449 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,080 Her conclusion is that pregnancy is not a violation of a woman's 450 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,920 bodily autonomy. It's actually a fulfillment of 451 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:43,520 how her body was naturally ordered. 452 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,360 This is a functioning according to its purpose. 453 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,000 It exists for somebody else. And that's true. 454 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,480 We could say the same is true for you and the gifts that 455 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,800 you've received. Your gifts are not for you, and 456 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,760 you're not going to be satisfied if you're using the gifts for 457 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,400 yourself. You've received spiritual gifts, 458 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,240 and serving God and others with urgency is not somehow a 459 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:09,320 violation of your autonomy. That word meaning literally self 460 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,200 rule. It's not a violation of 461 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,320 something that you could be doing with your time if you 462 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,640 weren't having to do this. It's actually what you were made 463 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:18,760 to do. It's you cooperating with your 464 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,000 very purpose, the natural order of how your salvation is 465 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,720 ordered. And this is what Paul's saying 466 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,600 with respect to his own spiritual giftings. 467 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,800 And you might be tempted, I'm sure as he was tempted of saying 468 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,600 a very similar thing of saying, you know, my resources are for 469 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:34,760 me. My time is for me. 470 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,280 My time, treasure and my talents are all for me, my benefits, my 471 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,360 liberties, my freedoms. Paul says spiritual 472 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:46,240 responsibility was given to him for the church and his context. 473 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,920 It says for for him, for Gentiles specifically. 474 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,680 This is my stewardship was for Gentiles. 475 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,280 And you see when we get to spiritual gifts, I'm just going 476 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,480 to read a few. They're all for other people. 477 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:02,320 None of these are self-serving. Hospitality is not for you. 478 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,200 Mercy, leadership, administration, evangelism, 479 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,120 service, preaching, teaching, giving. 480 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,920 You don't exist to serve yourself only you exist to serve 481 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,920 your family. You exist to serve the church. 482 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,520 You exist to serve the world and yourself. 483 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,000 You're in there too. But Paul says we look not only 484 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,080 to our own interests, but also to the interests of others. 485 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:27,640 And Romans is going to go one step further and he's going to 486 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:29,320 attach attitudes to our giftings. 487 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,560 He's going to say not only the gifts, but how you use them has 488 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:35,880 to be for the glory of God and the good of the church. 489 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:38,440 He goes on. He says we serve in generosity. 490 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:44,480 We serve with cheerfulness. We serve with zeal. 491 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,960 That's how you were made to be, which is a reminder not to come 492 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,160 to church as a spiritual consumer. 493 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,440 We have enough people in the church who come and they consume 494 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,720 doughnuts and they consume air conditioning and they consume 495 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,000 the services and the Wednesday nights and the content. 496 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,120 We come to church to follow Paul as he followed Christ when he 497 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:09,680 said to the Philippian church, even if I'm being poured out as 498 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,480 a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your 499 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,360 faith. I am glad Philippians and 500 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:19,760 Ephesians or both in the context of Paul's imprisonment and he is 501 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,560 literally pouring himself out as a drink offering. 502 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,200 Romans 12 says that we are a sacrificial offering present 503 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,920 your bodies to God as a as a sacrificial offering. 504 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,480 This is the Christians reasonable service and the the 505 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:37,520 the image of the the wine being poured out is is like his blood. 506 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,600 He's saying, I'm pouring myself out, whatever the cost. 507 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,200 And, and for him it ended in martyrdom, it ended in death. 508 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,960 He gave the ultimate price. He suffered and he died solely 509 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,960 for his love for the Gentiles. And he said, and I would have 510 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:56,000 done so much more were I able. I would have given my very soul 511 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,920 on behalf of my kinsmen if it were possible. 512 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,320 So we pour ourselves out as a sacrificial offering for their 513 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,880 faith, whoever them is. In your context, we're a an 514 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:08,960 offering. Ephesians 47. 515 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,320 Every Christian is given a measure of grace for the 516 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:16,720 building up of the body, which leads to the second prayer. 517 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,720 If you've received God's grace, walk in it and pray that would 518 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,920 God would increase your sense of the stewardship that he's given 519 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,080 to you. And you can pray this prayer, 520 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,520 Give me Scotland or I die. And to do that you have to 521 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,320 answer this question, what was I made to do? 522 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:39,480 What were you made to do? What did God equip you to do? 523 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,840 What passions do you have? What can the pastors of this 524 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,040 church come alongside you to accomplish for the glory of God 525 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,000 and the good of his church? And you can compare Paul's zeal 526 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,480 here with that of the consumeristic American church. 527 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:56,480 There's a book called Brand Jesus. 528 00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:59,080 You can find it upstairs by Tyler Stevenson. 529 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,920 He says our church age is characterized by a consumer 530 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,480 theology made-up entirely by market logic, where he says, 531 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,120 what project, what product do you want, What product do you 532 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:10,560 want? And go and find it in the 533 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,800 church. How will this church meet your 534 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:15,240 needs? And we say to that heritage, we 535 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,160 are not spiritual consumers. We are not a Church of spiritual 536 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,120 consumers. We are contributors, we are 537 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:22,080 producers. We are multipliers. 538 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,800 He says it's also represented by a commodification of faith, 539 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:29,360 where faith is a transaction where you come and you pick your 540 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:32,360 style of Christianity and you pick your style of worship. 541 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,000 It goes on to say it's individualism. 542 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:38,000 We've been toward individual choice rather than communal 543 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:39,640 discipleship. All you got to do is go to last 544 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,960 week and you see Paul says you are no longer you. 545 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,400 You have become we. We are God's field. 546 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:47,200 We are God's building. We are God's body. 547 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,400 We are God's church. The individuals are pictured as 548 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:53,600 wheat. We are all of these individual 549 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,920 strands of wheat which have been cut down and baked together into 550 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,400 one loaf. Some fundamental ontological 551 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,040 difference has now been made. We are the bread. 552 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:06,720 We are the church and so if this is where you are, if you're a 553 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,920 spiritual consumer or if you like the church but you don't 554 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,920 love the church, or if you serve but not with zeal, you're 555 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:15,960 committed, but you don't pour yourself out. 556 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:18,800 You've been saved, but there's no burden to go and buy in the 557 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:23,040 strongman and plunder his goods. Then you have to pray that God 558 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:26,800 would reveal your work to to you that he's entrusted to you, that 559 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:28,440 he would give you a burden and a zeal. 560 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,080 And you can pray the prayers after them of Jonathan Edwards. 561 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:36,240 He begins, Lord, commit me thy work that I might not labor in 562 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,080 vain. If you don't know the work that 563 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,680 he's given you, then say that commit to me my work. 564 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,960 Don't let me waste my life. Don't let me waste the 565 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,160 stewardship. John Calvin Lord, let me serve 566 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,120 thee with all the gifts thou hast given me. 567 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,480 Whatever you spiritual inventory you've given me, may I pour it 568 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:57,600 out on behalf of somebody else. Amy Carmichael Lord, make me 569 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,520 wholly available, wholly at Thy disposal to do whatever thou 570 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,400 wilt and you can hear their prayers. 571 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,800 They all begin the same way. Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, use me. 572 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:10,680 Please don't let me squander this. 573 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:12,360 Please don't let me waste my life. 574 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:18,040 And if you're a believer and you don't have Christian zeal, Jesus 575 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,640 says you are in the worst possible spiritual state. 576 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,640 He says this to the the Laodiceans in Revelation 315. 577 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,840 He says I know your works. I know you would that you were 578 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:32,840 cold or hot. You're neither hot nor cold 579 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,720 would that you were either one. But because you are lukewarm and 580 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,160 neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 581 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:40,760 And that is a euphemism from our translators. 582 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,240 The word is, oh, I will vomit you out is what he's saying. 583 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,840 Literally says if you're lukewarm, you're squandering 584 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,920 your stewardship. If you're lukewarm, you are of 585 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,800 no practical use to Jesus Christ and his church. 586 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,640 If you're lukewarm, you are an offense to the to the Savior who 587 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,600 was zealous to seek and to save you and to pursue you, who is 588 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,160 zealous for you and your works. To be lukewarm is to be 589 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,840 repulsive. And that's the context of these 590 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,040 words that that famous passage. He says, Behold, I stand at the 591 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,160 door and knock. That's that's here. 592 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,720 That's this passage. And Jesus is not knocking, as 593 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,960 you well know, at the door of salvation of the lost, hoping 594 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,320 that he can come in and and bring them this grace. 595 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:28,840 He's knocking at the door of a complacent church that they 596 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,040 would repent and let him in and he would restore to them their 597 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,080 zeal for gospel ministry. That's what he's doing when he 598 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:36,760 says, I stand at the door and knock. 599 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,200 We know this because his command to that church is be zealous and 600 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:44,480 repent so that the application is clear. 601 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,040 If there is no zeal, repent of it. 602 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,480 Jesus stands at the door of your heart and in this context he 603 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,560 knocks. He says don't squander my grace. 604 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,560 Don't waste your life and you can pray to him as you repent. 605 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:58,840 Say give me zeal, give me enthusiasm, give me a holy 606 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,440 intensity, give me a holy energy so that I might serve outside of 607 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,000 myself. Give me Scotland or I die. 608 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,520 You were not saved to be lukewarm and idle. 609 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:14,360 You are not saved to be of no effectual use to your Savior. 610 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,840 You were saved to be a steward of his grace and I have a 611 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,200 wonderful illustration of this. David didn't know I'd use it, 612 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:25,200 but you sent me a prayer on Thursday of a Puritan when he 613 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:29,960 was confessing these words. He says, Lord, I need your 614 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:34,040 support, I need your comfort, I need your strength, I need your 615 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:39,040 holiness that I might be a pure channel of thy grace and be able 616 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:43,240 to do something for thee. And he goes, keep me from lack 617 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:48,400 of warmth and fervency. So this is Paul's goal for 618 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,320 himself. And this is Paul's goal for us 619 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:54,400 after him to be a pure channel of his grace, that we might do 620 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:59,000 something for him in warmth and fervency with urgency. 621 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:02,120 And then Paul explains, he goes on to explain his own calling 622 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,000 and the rest of these verses as a minister to the Gentiles. 623 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,280 He says salvation was coming to the Gentiles according to the 624 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,200 Old Testament prophets. We, we knew, we, we just studied 625 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:12,920 Isaiah. We, we saw the whole book was 626 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,280 about salvation is coming to the ends of the earth to every 627 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:19,880 tribe, tongue and nation, multi ethnic, multi generational New 628 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:22,960 Jerusalem. And he uses this word again, 629 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,040 mystery. And the, the idea that salvation 630 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:26,960 was coming to the end of the world was not the mystery. 631 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:30,680 The mystery was how, how was salvation going to come to the 632 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:32,880 ends of the earth? And it's not, no man could have 633 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:36,360 written this. The mystery is that salvation 634 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,520 was going to be offered to the Gentiles with no obligation to 635 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,960 become Jews, and salvation is going to be offered to the 636 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,640 Gentiles with no obligation to keep the law. 637 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,640 And that salvation was going to be taken away from the Jews for 638 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:54,200 a time and given to the Gentiles and that the world was going to 639 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,040 be won through Gentile missionaries. 640 00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,480 And Israel, when the time of the Gentiles is going to is 641 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,440 complete, would be jealous of the relationship that we have 642 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,840 with their Savior, and then they would turn and repent. 643 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:07,680 We can't, we couldn't make this up. 644 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:12,560 This is the plan that the church would be the evangelist. 645 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:15,159 And he describes this stewardship, this plan in verses 646 00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:16,679 3 to 6. Read it with me again. 647 00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:22,280 This was his unique calling, how the mystery was made known to me 648 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,080 by revelation. As I have written briefly verse 649 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:26,600 4. When you read this, you can 650 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,120 perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which by the 651 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:32,120 way, we can't. We read chapter 1 with all the 652 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,719 Trinitarian theology that's worked out and the the Gentiles 653 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:37,920 coming and being of one building, all this is 654 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,120 incredible. We've perceived into it. 655 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,560 And he says verse 5, which was not made known to the sons of 656 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:45,560 men and other generations, as it has now been revealed to his 657 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,080 holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 658 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,639 This mystery is that Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the 659 00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:56,000 same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through 660 00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:59,200 the gospel. And this is even more powerful 661 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:02,000 because this is the fulfillment of the covenant that God made 662 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,520 with Abraham all the way back in Genesis 12. 663 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:07,840 This is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic, Abrahamic covenant. 664 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:10,320 He told Abraham, I'm going to bless those who bless you. 665 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:13,000 In him who dishonors you I will curse. 666 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,720 And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. 667 00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:19,040 And you Fast forward to the New Testament. 668 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:23,040 Paul says in Christ, this is Galatians 329. 669 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:28,240 In Christ we are all Abraham's seed and heirs according to the 670 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:31,640 promise. And so he says we as the church, 671 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,880 as Gentiles or fellow heirs, members of the same body, 672 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,640 illustrated as the same building, partakers of the same 673 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,560 promise. And Paul says this mystery 674 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:45,440 revealed by the Spirit in Christ must be proclaimed to the ends 675 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:47,600 of the earth. And he says, the buck stops with 676 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:49,160 me. I'm going to be the one to do 677 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:50,640 it. He entrusted me with the 678 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:52,760 stewardship. And it doesn't matter if I end 679 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:54,520 up in prison. It doesn't matter if I die. 680 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,560 This is worth me going to the far corners of the world. 681 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:00,480 This is a worthy ministry. This is a worthy cause. 682 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:02,440 The Gentiles have to understand this. 683 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:06,760 The gospel is for them. He says I'm going to go and I'm 684 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:10,360 going to take it to them. And for Paul it meant here 685 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:13,120 prison, and ultimately it would mean martyrdom. 686 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:15,880 He said the ministry of stewardship that was given him 687 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,400 was a cause worthy of imprisonment and worthy of 688 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,560 death. Because God is building a 689 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:24,120 building and as stewards, he needs stewards. 690 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,520 He needs house managers to manage his building. 691 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,120 Romans 10/2. He needs Christians who have a 692 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,680 zeal according to knowledge. We'll pause here and say we have 693 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,320 enough men and women in the church with zeal. 694 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:42,040 We need men and women who have a zeal according to knowledge that 695 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:45,000 are out working according to God's revealed will. 696 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:49,560 According to theology, we need Philippians 22 selfless 697 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,360 Christians who look not only to their own interests but are bold 698 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,480 enough to look to the interests of others. 699 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,920 We don't want lukewarm Christians who have no role to 700 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,000 play. We want inspired men and women 701 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:03,880 of God in this church. We need Isaiah, men and women 702 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:07,360 like Isaiah who say, here I am, Lord, send me. 703 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:10,680 And we need those who say, as Paul did, I do not account my 704 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:14,600 life of any value if only I may finish my course. 705 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:18,840 What is your course that he's given you to finish? 706 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:24,320 This is what Paul has taught us. God has lavished his grace on 707 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:27,560 you, and by grace you have been saved through faith. 708 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,240 God has prepared works for you to walk in, and he did it in 709 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,560 eternity past, before you were ever created, before you were 710 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:37,840 ever born. Verse two of our passage, he's 711 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,720 entrusted you with a stewardship of grace. 712 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:46,960 Verse one, he's given this, he says on behalf of others, people 713 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:51,480 you don't know yet, people you don't like, people who don't 714 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,240 like you, people who don't know you yet. 715 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:59,080 You're made to serve is the Puritan prayer read to be a pure 716 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,400 conduit of His grace, And you can try to complete the sentence 717 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,080 for yourself. By grace I've been entrusted 718 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,680 with a stewardship. Woe to me if I do not What? 719 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:13,160 And you're going to find the answer to that by understanding 720 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,280 this fundamental truth about yourself as a Christian, that 721 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,200 you were made to serve. This is how you were designed to 722 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:19,920 live. This is what the blessed life 723 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:22,720 looks like. You will be most fulfilled when 724 00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:27,360 you order your life that way, and you won't be content until 725 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,840 you order your life that way. That is where the blessing comes 726 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:33,080 from. And as an aside, if you hear the 727 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:37,840 sermon and you hear these words as do more, be more, try harder, 728 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:42,240 do better, accomplish more than you've missed the point. 729 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,520 The point is, be motivated by the lavish grace that has been 730 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,800 poured out on you. And you can go back to Ephesians 731 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:51,960 2, verse 11. He says remember where you came 732 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:54,560 from and allow that to motivate you. 733 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:58,400 Verse 12 of chapter 2, remember where you came from and consider 734 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:02,000 where you're standing now and allow that to motivate your 735 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,040 service. Remember what God has designed 736 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:05,680 you to do and to be fulfilled in. 737 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,800 Recognize you're a steward of a precious gift given to you by 738 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:12,600 Christ. Be motivated by what he's done. 739 00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:17,000 Be motivated by the gospel and in his energy go and walk in the 740 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,360 good works that he planned for you long ago. 741 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:22,400 It's whatever your spiritual state is. 742 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:24,400 Now, one of these two prayers is for you. 743 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:27,440 If you do not know Him, then I want you to pray with gospel 744 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:30,520 urgency. Give me Christ or else I die. 745 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:34,600 If you do know Him, then pray this with gospel urgency. 746 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:38,520 Give me Scotland or I die. Church, please pray with me. 747 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,800 Lord, there is so much that you have given us to do, and we're 748 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:47,720 beginning to see in this replanted body what it is that 749 00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:48,880 we're called to do. We're beginning. 750 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,880 We're getting glimpses that we are here to serve vulnerable 751 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,440 families, that we're here to minister to the people of this 752 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:57,760 context that we're called now with 11 going through counseling 753 00:39:57,760 --> 00:39:59,320 training. We're called to be counselors, 754 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:01,480 we're called to to plant churches. 755 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:02,720 We're called to send missionaries. 756 00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:08,200 And we're doing it, Lord. But you have a, a calling, a 757 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:11,000 stewardship for every soul that is in this room. 758 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:13,400 And my prayer is that we would live up to that. 759 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:15,960 There's good works that you've planned for us long ago. 760 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:18,800 God and, and we want to walk in those things. 761 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:20,440 Help us not to squander our life. 762 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,600 Help us to live according to our stewardship and press it on us, 763 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:25,360 Lord, so that we can say these words. 764 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,800 I'm in the pains of childbirth. Until this ministry happens, I'm 765 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,400 in the pains of childbirth. Lord, give this to me or I die. 766 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:35,440 Give us a cause worth fighting for, worth dying for. 767 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:38,800 Teach us to share the gospel and to fulfill whatever works, 768 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:40,720 whatever endowment you've given us. 769 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:45,560 Lord, for your glory, Amen. Thanks for listening. 770 00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:48,240 To learn more about Heritage Church or if you'd like to 771 00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:50,720 respond to this sermon, visit our website at 772 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:54,360 www.heritageshawnee.org.