Ephesians chapter 2 and verse
1. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and in sins, wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through
faith and that nor of yourselves it is the gift of God not of
works lest any man should boast for we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. Our Lord Jesus Christ told the
Apostle Paul My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made
perfect in weakness. That was a post-ascension statement. It was a word from the Lord after
he had risen and ascended back into the presence of his Father.
And the Apostle Paul was going through a period of distress,
a period of anxiety, and the word of the Lord, the risen Christ,
came to him and said, my grace is sufficient for you, my strength
is made perfect, in weakness. The apostle received that word
during a time that he described as being like repeatedly punched
by the devil. Now, we know a little bit about
the history of Paul. We spent a little bit of time
recently going through the book of the Acts, and we are here
thinking together about the book of Ephesians, which is one of
the apostles' many epistles to the churches that he ministered
to and amongst whom he carried the gospel. But the wonderful
thing about these intimate glimpses into the life of Paul, and indeed
the other apostles as well, is that we do not simply leave them
as experiences that these men had, but we apply them also to
ourselves. That's the beauty of the living
word of God, that it is not that these blessings just apply to
Paul, but that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient
for all his people. Now, while our paths differ,
each one, the Lord is no respecter of persons, and his salvation
is common to all his people. And the Holy Spirit is the comforter
to all his people, such that no matter what our need is, the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for that need,
sufficient to sustain God's people in and through their troubles. Now, That is something that we
should lay hold upon. That is something that should
be an immediate comfort. Dare I say, first aid. It should be like first aid to
a needy soul. That we keep that little phrase,
in our minds and draw upon it in those moments of distress
and anxiety, that the Lord Jesus Christ says to his people, said
to Paul, says to you and me, my grace is sufficient for you. But it's more than just first
aid. You know, sometimes we're tempted
when we come to the Word of God and read these promises to, as
it were, pick the low fruit off the branches. Go for the easy
wins. And certainly there is an easy
win in that little phrase as far as our consolation and comfort
is concerned in times of trouble. but there's more to that verse
than perhaps might immediately meet our eye. Because the Lord
Jesus Christ also tells the Apostle Paul and therefore also tells
us that my strength is made perfect in your weakness. The Lord Jesus
Christ is telling his people that in the midst of their trials,
his glory is more manifest. His strength is perfected and
his praise is amplified by our weakness. Do you see that? Do you see that? Do you see how
there's these two aspects in that little phrase? If it were
not that we were left some weakness in ourselves, the strength of
Christ would not be so evidently seen or so perfectly understood. So much so that our frailties,
our faults, and our failures magnify the Lord's grace. they testify to his power. And Paul can say then, in the
context of this word that came from the Lord Jesus Christ to
him, Paul can say, and I would not say this if he didn't say
it first. Paul could say, I glory in my
infirmities. The Lord says to him, Paul, my
grace is sufficient for you. And Paul can say in response, I glory in my infirmities more
than I glory in the revelations that I have had of heaven and
more than in the visions of Christ that I have seen. I think that's
quite extraordinary. I think if we were to pause and
reflect upon that a little bit, we would be quite staggered at
what the Apostle is telling us here. That he gloried in his
infirmities more than he gloried in the revelations of heaven
or the visions of Christ that he had received. Why? Because
it was evidence that Christ's grace was sufficient for him
and that Christ's strength was perfected in his weakness. If I saw trouble and discomfort
in my life, if I saw weakness and infirmity or sickness and
death in this light, I would not count it a loss to witness
the decay of this body and of this mind. or I would not be
too precious about my reputation amongst men and in this world,
or how I am perceived by the people around about me. Rather,
I would count it a gain, even a delight, to suffer for Christ,
to know and to grasp both of the elements of this word from
the Lord. The Lord came back from heaven
to whisper this in the Apostle's ear and he speaks it to our hearts
today. How much more content would my
life be if I trusted and I remembered Christ's words in every situation
that providence brings. My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. These are beautiful words and
beautiful thoughts and there's something in them which I think
is important for us to notice with respect to today's verse. Our verse today is verse 10 of
this little passage. We've spent a few weeks in it
now and I feel that perhaps we've come to the end of our thoughts
herein, but our thoughts today will centre around the 10th verse. We are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. And there's something important
for us to notice in today's verse with respect to this claim that
the apostle is setting before the Ephesians, that we are God's
workmanship. And right now, I want to make
a point clear so that no one accuses me of saying something
that I don't intend to say. Let me make this point very clear.
God is not the author of sin. Let me nail that down before
we even begin to concentrate on this verse. But he uses our
sin to his own ends. He uses evil to accomplish his
purpose. He is not the author of confusion. He is the author of eternal salvation,
and he is the author and finisher of our faith. But he is not the
author or initiator of our sin. That flows from our flesh. That flows from our human heart
and the passions and lusts of our flesh. But what we are going
to see today, if the Lord will enable us to hone in on some
of the themes in this little verse, is that we are His workmanship. and that God's workmanship is
all glorious in the lives of his people, no matter where they
come from, no matter what they have done, and no matter what
paths we have walked in in this life. Here's the first point
that I want to draw your attention to. Our God is a master craftsman. Indeed, he is the master craftsman. Let me show you something interesting
with respect to the work of God. And I guess we see the handiwork
of the craftsman around about us in various ways and in different
places, but I don't know I don't know personally a skilled worker
who is not acutely aware of the flaws in his own work. Whether that's a builder or a
carpenter, whether it's a sculptor or a painter, whether it's a
writer or a musician. To my mind, it appears to me
that the more skilled the craftsman is, the keener is the craftsman's
eye, the more intolerant he is of defects and mistakes and blemishes
and imperfections in his own work. Now, as A man who is an amateur or a
man who is a non-craftsman. I would look at something and
I would think that's beautiful, that's marvellous. but the craftsman
knows better. The craftsman knows it's not
quite right here and it's not quite right there. And if he
had to do it again, he would do it slightly differently in
this aspect or in this place. That's the nature of the skilled
craftsman. He is always looking to improve. Now let me take you back to the
creation of the world, the heavens and the earth. It's the end of
creation. It's the completion of God's
work. It's the end of the sixth day. And in Genesis chapter one, verse
31, we read these words. And God saw everything that he
had made, and behold, it was very good. it couldn't be improved upon.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Do you see
this? When God creates something, it
is very good. It's perfect. There are no flaws
in what God creates. And this is what men were compelled
to acknowledge in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Mark
7, verse 37, we read there, they were beyond measure astonished,
saying, he hath done all things well. Mark that down, if you
will. Jesus has done all things well. Now let me say something here
to some of the young people in particular that may be listening
at the moment, and really, nevertheless, it's to all of us. God made you
as you are. God made you as you are. Now,
maybe you don't like something about yourself. Maybe you don't
like that you've got brown hair. Maybe you don't like that you're
too tall or you're too small or something about yourself that
you just don't like. God made you as you are. God gave you these parents. God gave you these grandparents. God gave you this life in this
town, brought you under this gospel. And Jesus has done all
things well. He knows who you are, he knows
what you need, and he knows where you'll go, and he knows the paths
in life that you will walk. Because we are his workmanship. And whether it's to think about
all men and women, in the sense of the whole world and the creation
of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal word, created
all things, and he created them all very good. John 1, verse
3 says, all things were made by him, and without him was not
anything made that was made. We did not make ourselves, we
did not evolve from nothing, but we were made by God, by the
master craftsman, the master builder. And hence we are all
by creation the work of his hands. And therefore we are all by creation
his workmanship. But if we are thinking spiritually,
and if we are thinking in the context of the gospel, the context
of the family of God, the people of God, the elect, as he calls
them, and if we're thinking in the context of conversion, then
the Father in election and God the Son in redemption and God
the Holy Spirit in the quickening and making alive has done all
things well. The Holy Spirit, we're told in
this passage, calls and converts sinners who are dead in trespasses
and sin, sinners who are dead because of sin in their lives,
because of the fall of Adam, and he takes them and he makes
them new creatures and he makes them very good. And here the
Holy Spirit is active in applying the benefits of God's grace and
the benefits of redemption. But it's God who's at work in
this spiritual new creation. And it's God who is the master
builder. He works upon man. He works upon men and women,
boys and girls to regenerate, to energize, making us his workmanship. And after that, the Lord God
conforms these people that he has elected and redeemed and
quickened by conforming them to the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father accomplishes his
covenant purpose, his eternal plan of grace, by making his
people one with Christ. Justifying us, making us righteous,
and uniting us to the Lord Jesus Christ, as is his want, as is
his will, as is his purpose in grace. God is at work doing this. Creating, justifying, joining
to himself a people according to his good purpose and according
to his will. Determining to do them good by
bringing them into the knowledge and experience of his grace and
ultimately his glory. So Jesus, when he was alive and
when he was performing his ministry, Jesus could say, my father worketh
hitherto and I work because it was God who was accomplishing
his will in the world for the salvation of his people. And indeed, we see that still
going on today. God is still working, bringing
those that he has chosen, those that Christ has redeemed, to
a knowledge of the truth by the quickening work of the Holy Spirit
through the preaching of the Gospel. No doubt that is what
is meant when in Acts chapter 13 and verse 41 the statement
goes forth, Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish. For I
work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe,
though a man declare it unto you. So here we are told that we are
God's workmanship and whether we're thinking about that in
terms of creation or rather in the recreation, in the new birth,
we see that God is accomplishing his purpose according to his
will and his way as that master craftsman. And Paul goes on in
this little verse, Ephesians 2, verse 10, to show us what
God's purpose is in this great work which he is fulfilling. For the elect are, says the apostle,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. That is, they are
created to be holy. We have been born again in order
to be holy. Now let me remind you of something. that is of immense importance
whenever we come to read and consider the Word of God. There
is a Bible principle that ought to undergird our understanding
of God's dealing with his fallen sinful creatures, and it is this. God never demands from us what
he does not first give to us. And whatever God asks for from
us must first come from God to us. God never demands from us
what he does not first give to us. and whatever God does ask
from us must first come from God to us. Let me give you an
example. In Leviticus chapter 19, verse
2, Moses is there being spoken to by the Lord, and Moses is
instructed by God in this fashion. unto all the congregation of
the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy,
for I the Lord your God am holy. And then a little later in the
next chapter, verse 26, we read, And ye shall be holy unto me,
for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people,
that ye should be mine. Now do you see what this is saying
here? The Lord is saying that we shall
be holy. and then he goes about to sanctify
us. Then he goes about to make us
his separated, his distinct, his severed people. So this is
both the command of God, you shall be holy, and the promise
of God, you shall be holy. It's not a request, it's not
that God is asking us to be holy, he's commanding it, and then
he is providing it. God commands us to be holy because
without holiness, no one shall see the Lord. Hebrews chapter
12, verse 14. But the holiness without which
we cannot see God is not something that we perform, but something
that he gives. The Lord God declares to his
chosen covenant people, that they shall be a holy people. Not partially holy, not mostly
holy, but entirely holy. Why? Because we are his workmanship
and all that he does is very good. Jesus does all things well. Again, this is not a recommendation
but a declaration. A declaration of grace and goodness
made to a specific people. A people specifically created
by Christ Jesus are in Christ Jesus unto good works, a people
chosen and predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. Romans chapter 8 verse 29. So this is what Paul is telling
us in this verse 10 of Ephesians chapter 2. We are God's workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And then he goes
on to tell us about this holiness. He says the holiness that God
requires he first provides So although God is holy and demands
holiness, he justifies us, that is, he makes us righteous by
the death and blood of Jesus Christ, by the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. He takes that blood, receives
that blood, is reconciled by that blood. The blood of Christ
atones for our sins and we are made holy in Christ. So we are justified by the blood
of Jesus Christ. God is holy and he makes us holy
by the blood of Jesus Christ. Because God desires to do us
good. The people of his choice, the
people of his purpose. He wills to bless and this is
his workmanship to do so. God has ordained that his people
should walk in holiness, walk in the good works that he has
ordained. Now, that word ordained, it means
to set in order, to put into place. by decree, by a sovereign
declaration to put in place those things that God wills and wants
to happen. So that even the good works of
the Lord's people are not in the first instance our own works,
but works that God has already decreed and put in place, ordained,
that should be performed by those that he saves. You see what we're
getting at here? Do you understand the point that
God requires holiness from us so he gives us holiness. God
requires that we serve him in holiness so he establishes and
ordains these good works that we should walk in them because
whatever he requires of us, his people, he first supplies to
us. And I think that we should regard
and consider this as something that is very exciting and something
that is very encouraging. We shall not go to heaven filled
with remorse and regret that we didn't do enough or we didn't
do right by what we did. Rather, the Lord's people will
go to heaven rejoicing that the Lord has made us fit to serve
and counted us worthy to labour in his service in this world
in time. Do you know that God has forgotten
all our iniquities? God has put behind him all our
sin and all that God sees is the good works that he has ordained
that we should walk in them. We are so blessed as the people
of God because this is His accomplishment, the accomplishment of His purpose
in time for eternity. Now, excuse me, God could achieve
all this. He could achieve all His glory
by the mere word of His power. just as he created the heaven
and the earth and the sea and all that in them is by his spoken
word. But rather, he chooses to accomplish
his will in this world by employing sinful men and women like you
and me to fulfil his good pleasure. Hebrews 13, 21 says, Now I wonder
if you're shaking your head right now and you're saying to yourself,
that's not me. I don't do God's will. I'm not
perfect in every good work. Okay, I get that. I get that. You're not perfect in yourself. And neither am I. Nor in this
flesh, nor in this body. But you are in Christ. and the Lord accomplishes his
perfect will by our imperfect efforts. Even our failures redound
to his glory because his grace is sufficient for us and his strength is made perfect in our
weakness. This is God's accomplishing of
his purpose using these earthen vessels that we are. This is God's workmanship in
our lives. I've always been intrigued at
the conversation that transpires between the Lord Jesus Christ
and his people, his little flock, when he comes in his glory to
gather them in Matthew chapter 25. I wonder if you remember
it. He talks there about when the
righteousnesses, the good works that they have performed, and
he says to his people about their good works, and his people say
to him, Lord, when did we do good works for you? When did
we ever do a righteous act in our life? And the Lord says,
when you gave to eat, one of these little ones that was hungry,
when you gave a drink to one of these little ones that was
thirsty, when you visited those that were in prison, when you
looked after those that needed help, you did it unto me. The elect can't rightly identify
a good work, and yet they have been fulfilling them all their
lives, those very works having been ordained that we should
walk in them. Do you see this, brothers and
sisters? The Lord God Almighty, by the
work of his sovereign, free, distinguishing grace, takes such
things as us, such things as we are, such things as he finds
in the dung heap of fallen humanity, and he makes us holy. God makes
sinners holy by the total removal of all sin and guilt from them,
and by imputing righteousness to them in free justification
by the precious blood of Christ, and he makes us holy in regeneration,
he makes us holy by creating a new holy nature in us, he makes
us holy by his almighty grace, and soon, very soon, we shall
be made holy in these bodies in resurrection glory when these
bodies are changed into the likeness of His glorious body. That's
the gospel. That's the gospel that we believe
and that's the gospel that changes everything. We are His workmanship. The Saviour
says, Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. And Paul can tell us, you are
God's building. What a master builder, what a
glorious saviour, what a wonderful Lord who has done all things
well. Amen. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us.