Let's begin reading in verse 8. We've come here to
this passage in our study of the book of Ephesians. Ephesians
chapter 2. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not 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."
You and I looked at this passage last week in a general way, but
I want to look at it this morning more specifically. And Paul makes
a wonderful statement here when you and I just think about this.
By grace, ye are saved. This word saved simply means
delivered. To be rescued. It's almost a
word that you know what it means. We almost grow up knowing something
about being saved. Being saved. By grace, you are
saved. And what Paul does when he says
this here, he says more than salvation is a possibility or
a probability. Because He tells us and He tells
them that there are men and women who are truly being saved. By grace, you are saved. Now, that's a very encouraging
thought, isn't it? He doesn't say that you're put
in a savable position. He doesn't say that at all. He
said you were dead in trespasses and sins, but now you're saved. You're saved. If I had to come
here this morning and tell you that salvation was possible,
or it was probable, that should encourage you to seek the salvation
of your soul. But I have no such message. I've
got something more certain than that. Salvation is indeed a certainty. It's a reality. Paul tells us,
and he was writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, And he said,
you are saved. There are men and women there
at Ephesus who are saved. Now isn't that a wonderful thing? Isn't that so encouraging? When
you seek the salvation of your soul, you can seek knowing that
it's real, that it's certain. If nobody had ever been saved
before, then you may despair. You may be justified in saying,
I'll never seek to be saved. Because there's really no such
thing. But there is such a thing. Because the Holy Spirit tells
us here in our text that men and women have already been saved.
By grace you are saved. You remember on the day of Pentecost?
There was 120 people, just a small group of people. That's the way
the church started out. But that very day, there was
3,000 souls, and the Scripture says they were saved. God added
to the church daily such as should be saved. Just a few days later,
there was 5,000 saved. And then there was multitudes
saved. And then there were many saved. The Philippian jailer
asked the Apostle Paul, what must I do to be saved? You mean
there is such a thing as being saved? Sure there is. Sure there
is. You know, as you and I are here
this morning, heaven is being populated with a number of humanity
that nobody can number. They're there. It's certain.
It's certain. That's a very encouraging thought,
that when we look here this morning at this verse of Scripture, that
we can realize and know that salvation is a certainty. It's
not a possibility, it's not a probability, but it's a certainty. And John
closes the book of Revelations that Bob read in the 21st chapter,
and this is what he says. He said, I saw that heavenly
city, the New Jerusalem, and it had no need of the sun, nor
of the moon, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb
is the light thereof, and the nations of them that are saved
shall walk in the light of it." The nations of them that are
saved? Yes, brothers and sisters. Men
and women are being saved. By grace, ye are saved. Well, I looked at that and I
thought, that's encouraging. Maybe I can be saved. If others
have been saved, why not me? But secondly, as I read this,
I thought of the necessity of salvation. Not only is it more
than possible, it's a certainty, but it's absolutely necessary.
We must be saved. We must be saved. There's one
name under heaven given among men whereby we must. We must
be saved. If you and I aren't saved, we'll
lose our souls. If you and I aren't saved, we'll
perish in our sins. The Son of Man must be lifted
up. How necessary was that? You must
be born again. How necessary is the new birth?
You must be saved. I must be saved. Yes, it's a
certainty, and it's a must. The Lord Jesus said, what would
a man give in exchange for his soul? If a man gained the whole world
and lose his soul, I don't know of anybody that's gained the
whole world, do you? But if a man could gain the whole
world and yet lose his soul, what's he gained? We can lose
the world, but can we afford to lose our souls? We have precious
souls and they must be saved or they must perish. Thank God
there is such a thing as salvation. But it's a must. It's a must. He that believeth on the Son
of God, he hath everlasting life. But he that believeth not shall
not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
upon him. And with that thought in mind,
I thought also of this, how careful you and I should be then, how
sober we should be, how diligent we should be in seeking the salvation
of our souls. If salvation is real and certain,
and if we must be saved or lose ourselves, then how careful we
should be, how diligent we should be, Salvation is more important
than anything else to you in this world. It's more important
than your health. It's more important than your
marriage. It's more important than your job. The salvation
of your soul is the single most important thing in this world.
There was a man who came to the Lord Jesus one day, and he had
this business of being saved on his mind. He said, Lord, are
there few that be saved? How many is going to be saved?
Is it a bunch? Is it just a few? And the Lord
Jesus made this statement to that man. He said, Strive, labor,
seek to enter in at the straight gate. For many will seek to enter
in and shall not be able. You and I should be sober and
careful in seeking the salvation of our souls because many will
seek to be saved and they won't be able to be saved. That's what
the Master said. Why, if a man sought to be saved,
would he not be saved? Because he doesn't seek it rightly.
He doesn't seek it according to the Scriptures. Salvation
is a certainty, but it's only one way that we can be saved.
I heard a man preaching on my way to church this morning, and
he said, we're too dogmatic. We ought to be more open-minded.
Well, we should be open-minded. But when it comes to salvation,
we can't say more than the Scriptures say. There is but one way. There is one mediator. There's
one life. There's one Savior. Look unto
me and be ye saved. I am God. And besides me, there's
no other Savior. There's none else. If a man is saved, he must be
saved by Christ alone. And you and I must never rest
unless we rest in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. How many,
and we've seen them to the breaking of our hearts, have professed
to be saved. And they profess to be saved
by Christ. They profess to be saved by grace.
But it's not long when you watch them. The way they live and their
whole attitude indicates they're not saved at all. How they feel
about God, how they feel about sin, and notwithstanding their
profession, they're not saved. And they get this whole idea
because they think they're saved. They don't even strive to enter
in at that straight gate anymore. They live in sin, they serve
their sin, notwithstanding their profession of being saved. Unless
a special work of God takes place in their hearts, they perish. They perish. Strive to enter
in at the straight gate, for many will seek to enter in and
shall not be able. By grace, ye are saved. And I tell you this, brothers
and sisters, When you and I are saved by grace, we're really
saved. And that's what I want us to
see this morning. When we're saved by grace, we are really
saved. But look what he says in the
last portion of verse 8. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
yourselves. We must be saved. And salvation
is certain. But here's the dilemma that we
find ourselves in. We can't save ourselves. Salvation
is not of ourselves. Salvation originated with the
God of heaven. He planned it. Jesus Christ accomplished
it upon the cross. And the Holy Spirit comes and
applies it to our hearts. By grace are you saved through
faith, but not of yourselves. Faith is not of ourselves. It
doesn't originate with us. It's a gift of God. Grace doesn't
come from my heart. It's a gift of God. There is
nothing concerning our salvation that originates with us. It's
all a gift of God. All you and I are born with is
our sin and our misery. And there's where we lay until
God comes to us and gives us this new life, this life eternal. And when he does that, Paul said,
it's not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. Isn't that a very humbling thought?
That we must be saved or we'll lose our souls. But everything
that's required to be saved must come to us as the gift of God. Let me show you some scriptures,
or give you some scriptures. I'll quote them to you. In Ezekiel
chapter 18, verse 31, listen to this. The Lord was speaking through
Ezekiel and he made this astounding statement. He said, Make you
a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die? Did you
ever hear of such a demand upon anybody? Make you a new heart
and a new spirit or you will die. Now, if you read Mr. Charles Finney on that particular
verse, he says if God demanded it, then you could do it. Well, God demands a lot that
you and I cannot do. He demands perfection. Can we
perform it? No, we cannot. And if Mr. Feeney
had just read a few chapters over in Ezekiel chapter 36, he
would have found this verse of Scripture. The Lord said, I will
give you a new heart and a new spirit. I will take out the stony
heart out of your flesh and I will give you. We must have a new
heart and a new spirit. But it's a gift of God. Not of
works. Not of works. God requires faith. He requires
that we believe Him. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. But we're not born with faith.
None of us are born with saving faith. Oh, we've got faith all
right, but it's not saving. Devils have faith, but it's not
saving. God requires saving faith, but
we don't have it. Well, He gives it. Listen to
Philippians chapter 1, verse 29. And to you it is given in
the behalf of Christ to believe on Him. It's given, the gift
of God, faith. Have you ever been without faith?
Have you ever talked to somebody that said, I've had faith all
my life? That's too long. That's like
the fellow that said he was saved when he was a baby, and the fellow
said, you've been saved too long. We're born without faith. God
gives it to us. on the behalf of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Master was preaching one day, and you remember that
wonderful message in John chapter 6? And He was telling a multitude
of the Jews that you've got to eat of My broken body. You've
got to drink of My redeeming blood or you have no life in
you. And this offended them. And they were ready to go away
and leave Him and walk no more with Him at all. And He said,
I already told you why you can't come to Me. Nobody can come to
Me except My Father which sent Me." Draw him. And then he makes
almost the same statement again. He said, Therefore said I unto
you that no man can come to Me except it were given him of My
Father. If you've come to the Lord Jesus
this morning and to God by Him, God's given you a precious gift.
It's given you to come. You see that poor old thief upon
the cross? And he's ready to die and he's
in his dying hours, dying in his sins. And he turns over to
the Lord Jesus hanging next to him. And he says, Lord, remember
me. What did that man just do? He
just came to Christ and was saved too. How did he do that? A gift of God. That poor Philippian
jailer sprang out and was trembling, said, give me a life, I'm lost,
and was ready to stab himself. I'm in my misery, he said. And
he asked the Apostle Paul, what must I do to be saved? And Paul
told him, and he came to Christ. How did he do that? The gift
of God. And you were without Christ.
You were without hope. You were dead in your sins. But
what happened to you? You came to the Lord Jesus Christ
and you were saved by Him. Why did you come? And you know
this, if you've come to Christ, God gave you this precious gift.
It is a gift of God. God requires righteousness, does
He not? God requires perfect righteousness.
This is why the whole Jewish nation, as a whole, lived and
died lost. Paul said they're ignorant of
God's righteousness. Luther said when he used to read
about God's righteousness in the Old Testament and the New
Testament, it scared him to death. It scared him to death. Because
he said, I realize that God required, He required of me what I could
not provide. And he said, I looked at the
righteousness of God and it scared me to death. Then he said, one
day I began to see in the Scriptures and realized that this righteousness
which God requires, He gives. He provides to those who believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ for it. There's a wonderful statement
that the Apostle makes in chapter 5 of Romans. He says, "...if
by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which
receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ." Righteousness! Righteousness
that God requires, He gives. And who does He give it to? Poor,
naked sinners. to clothe the shame of their
nakedness. This is the righteousness of God's Son that He worked out
Himself in the days of His flesh. He requires it and He gives it.
It's not of works. It's not of works. You can't
work up this righteousness. You can't work it out. But God
requires it. Well, if you want it, believe
in Christ for it. That's what Abraham did. That's
what David did. That's what I've done and many
of you. You've got perfect righteousness.
You've got the righteousness God requires. You can stand before
God in this righteousness. And where did you get it? He
gave it to you. Is life a gift of God, or
is it of man's works? The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. Who makes you to differ, Paul
said to Manasseh? What in the world do you have
but what you've received? We've received everything anyway.
If you have life this morning, thank God for it. He's given
it to you. He's given it to you. Life. Life. But not of works. Not of works. Lest any man should boast. You
know the Bible tells us what a man has to do if he's going
to save himself by his works. Not of works. It's the gift of
God. He says here in verse 9, not
of works. Not of works. Everybody has his
own criteria for what he has to do to be saved. Did you know
that? I never will forget, and I think I've told you this before.
When Todd wrote Grace Church, before it was Todd wrote Grace
Church, they were a little mission there in downtown Lexington,
and they wanted to get down in what they called the Red Light
District. And Todd told me, he said, there's more sinners down
there, and we want to reach sinners. So they got right down in a rough
part of town. Some of the people wouldn't even
come because it was bad. And they went out and started
talking to the harlots and the winos, And Todd said, I found
out that those people are just as self-righteous as some of
the religious people out in the suburbs. This one whore wasn't
as bad as another whore. This one wino didn't get as drunk
as often as the next wino did. Every man has his own criteria
for what he has to do and how he has to live to be saved. But
you know the Bible tells us what a man has to do if he's going
to be saved or works. Did you know the Bible told us that?
And it has to do with the heart. It ain't so much what a man does
with his hands. It's his heart. It's his conscience. It's his
attitude. It's his thoughts. It's his imagination. Have you perfected these things?
Do you know any man that has perfected his thoughts? Here's
what the Bible says. Cursed is every man who does
not love God with all his heart, all his mind, all his soul, all
his strength, all his power, all his imagination, all his
motives, all his conscience. And I don't
know of a man that's perfected these things. If you know of
a man, I've never met one, but if you know a man that says he's
saved by his words, would you take me to him? I want to watch
him for a while. I really do. I've never seen
anybody like that. I've never heard of anybody like that. I
want to meet somebody that says, I'm saved by my words. But I
bet you this, as ignorant as I am, and as blind as I am, I'll
watch that fellow for a while and I'll find some sin in him. And if I can find sin in him,
you bet God can find sin in him. God sees sin in us when we don't
see it in ourselves. He looks at the heart of an individual,
and that's what he requires to be holy and perfect. Not by works. Why, Paul? Because we're sinners. We're bad. Our hearts are bad. And you can't take a bad heart
and do good works with it. You can't take a corrupt tree
and bring forth good fruit. It won't produce it. Not by works. Not by works. Not by works. If a man is saved by his works,
I'll tell you this, that eliminates sick people. That eliminates
people on their death bed. That eliminates the dying. I was told not long ago, and
this has happened quite often, somebody calls you late at night
and says, I've got a dying brother. I've got a dying dad or a dying
mother. Would you go talk to them? And
there they are on their deathbed. You call back the next day or
go back the next day, where's those so-and-so? They died. You
left here last night at 10, they died at 11. They died. If salvation is by words, what
am I supposed to say to a person like that? Am I going to bend
down in his ear or her ear and say, your only hope is that you'll
recover from this sickness and start over and work to be saved? I might as well just stay at
home. Everybody has to be saved alike. Everybody has to be saved just
like that thief on the cross. You say, He's the exception.
No, He's the rule. He's the rule. He wasn't saved
by His works, and you and I cannot be saved by ours. Not by works. Why is it not by works? Well,
He tells us, look in verse 8, look at the last verse, "...lest
any man should boast." Lest he begin to brag about it. I tell
you, heaven will be an awful place. And I don't know if I'd
want to even go there if it was full of people who had saved
themselves by their works. Wouldn't it be an awful place
to be? Does any of us, when I was growing up down in Tennessee,
we had a neighbor and he came and visited us. He hung around
the house quite a bit. And that was the braggingest man I ever
heard in my life. And he would sit and brag on himself. We were
ashamed for him. And we'd start avoiding him.
when He came. Nobody likes a bragger. Nobody
likes a boaster. Wouldn't heaven be an awful place?
There the Lamb of God sits, and you see the wounds in His hand
and the hole in His side. But He sat in there alone. Nobody
is around Him. Nobody is glorying in Him. Nobody
is singing, worthy is the Lamb that was slain and redeemed us
to God by His blood. No. They are over there singing,
if anybody makes it all the way, surely I will. Look at me. Look who I am. Look what I've
done. Wouldn't heaven be a-sickening
place? We sing here every Lord's Day
almost. Thank You, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. And that's what they sang yonder
too. If they don't, God Himself would get sick. The holy angels
would be sick. Can you see them leaning over
the balcony, vomiting? They're sick. What's the matter
with them? All these braggers. I'm saved by my works. I got
you by my works. Paul said salvation is not by
works. For this reason. Heaven will
be full of braggars, boasters. The lofty looks of man shall
be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought down,
and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. God saves sinners,
and He saves them in such a way that they're going to give Him
all the glory. Verse 10. Look in verse 10. We'll
deal with this verse right quickly. Paul had just said here now in
verses 8 and 9 that he'd give a reason why we can't boast when
the Lord saves us, because it's a gift of God. All we do is boast
in the giver. You can't marry the gift. You
can't earn the gift. If you do, it's not a gift. Then
he gives another reason that we cannot boast in works and
say we're saved by works for this reason in verse 10, for
we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Oh, there's a work all right.
It takes a work to save a man. But it's not yours, and it's
not mine. It's His. We are His workmanship. Turn over to the left, if you
would, for just a minute. Turn over to Romans chapter 9.
Look at this. We're told here about God's work,
and He's like unto a potter. Look here what He said in Romans
chapter 9, verse 21. God's workmanship. In the Old
Testament, you're sometimes told these beautiful pictures of these
potters. They take a piece of clay and
they put it on a wheel and they farm it to a vessel that they
wanted to farm it at. Sometimes they put one on another
and mired it and they just threw it away because they were imperfect
potters. God's a potter. He's a workman. He's working. And look here what
he's doing in Romans chapter 9 verse 21. Hath not the potter
power over the clay? Well, sure he does. Of the same
lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? Well, sure he has that power
to do that. What's he making? What kind of vessels is he making?
Well, he says here he's making one of honor. Honor. You see a man or a woman that
is being broken, their hearts being broken over their sin,
over their bad attitude that they've had against God all these
years. You see a man or woman who's
being stripped of self-confidence. They're being stripped of self-righteousness. And they begin to believe. They
begin to pray, God be merciful to me a sinner. They begin to
desire to be saved by Christ. They begin to desire to come
and worship with His people. They seek Him in private. They
seek Him in public. They begin to read His Word and
begin to understand some of it. And they grow in grace and knowledge. What's happening to that person?
That's not natural, you know. This sovereign potter has reached
down in this mass of humanity, and he's pulled that piece of
clay loose from it, and he's forming it for himself. He's forming it into a vessel
of honor. That's his work. That's his work. And he'll never cease his work.
Read on here in chapter 9. Look at this in verse 23. "...that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy." These vessels
that he's farming, that he's beginning to make, they're not
vessels of merit. They're vessels of mercy. When
you see a poor sinner begin to cry, God be merciful, you know
what he is? He's a vessel of mercy. God forms
his vessels of mercy to cry for mercy. And he hears them. But
read on in verse 24. Even to us whom he hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, as he said also
in Osi, I will call them my people. Oh, what an honor. I will call
them my people. which were not My people. And
I will call her Beloved, which were not Beloved. And it shall
come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them,
You are not My people, there they shall be called the children
of the living God." What's happened? Here's people who weren't children,
but now they're children. They weren't called Beloved,
but now God calls them Beloved. God's begun to work. God has
begun a work in their hearts. Look at one more verse of Scripture.
Look in Isaiah chapter 26. I love this passage. Isaiah chapter 26. We're His
workmanship. Look what he says in verse 12. Isaiah chapter 26, verse 12. Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace
for us. Jesus Christ obtained peace by
the blood of His cross. He gives us His peace in our
hearts. For Thou, look at this, for Thou also hast wrought all
our works in us. Ain't that amazing? We said before
that it's a gift of God. If you've come to Christ, that's
a gift of God. If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, that's a gift of God. But now we see it's more than
just a gift. It's something He works in us. If you're here and you've been
saved very long, you're beginning to realize this, aren't you?
That God is working in you. It's not really you. Well, it
is you. Because He said, it's our works. But once you realize there's
a power behind it all that's causing you to work, causing
you to believe, helping you, strengthening you, do you realize
that, dear child of God? I'm in Mya, last summer especially,
when Mya got her new bicycle, my granddaughter. I'd go walking
and she'd want to ride her little bicycle and go with me. We got
some steep hills there in the community and she started up
one of those steep hills and she just couldn't make it. And what
I would do, I would get behind her. I'd sneak up behind her
and put my hand on the back of the seat and I'd push her up
that hill. And she just paddled away. Boy, girl, you were going. Look at you go. Man, look at
those little legs. And all along, who was it? It was me. It was me. You fall, dear child of God,
but you don't remain down. You get up. You repent. You pray. You endear hardness as a good
soldier. You endear temptations. And you
love and you believe and you follow the Lord Jesus wherever
He leads you. But all along, it's Him working
in you to do it. Ain't that amazing? And He's
so generous, it's almost like we're doing it. He works in us
to will and to do, and He turns right around and says, well done,
thou faithful servant. Isn't He a gracious God? Isn't
He a generous God? Brother Glenn read this morning
about, you visited the sick. You visited me when I was sick.
And you came to me when I was in prison. You clothed me when
I was naked. And why did they do that? God was working in them to will
and to do. And He turns right around and
says, you did it. You did it. It's His workmanship. That's why, Clarence, you'll
never be lost. If your work saved you, you ain't
even saved to begin with. But if your work saved you, you'll
be lost. But if His works, if He's working in you, Glenn, you'll
never be lost. You know why? He's not a man
like us. being confident of this very
thing that He who has begun a good work in you shall perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ. It's His work. That's why we
can't brag and boast in ourselves. It's His work. But notice what
else He says in our text, and I'm almost finished. Be patient
with me for just a minute. I'm almost finished. We are His
workmanship. Look at this. Created. Created. God is not in the business of
remodeling. He's in the business of creating. A Christian is not
a man that's just turned over a new leaf. He's a new creature
created in Christ Jesus. Oh, so-and-so got religion. That's
not Christianity. Christianity is God working a
new creature, making a new creature in your heart. He's a new creature.
He has a new beginning. He has a brand new life. Have
you noticed something about yourself? That this new being that's within
you now, this new life that's within you, isn't getting old.
Have you ever noticed that? Somebody asked me this morning
something, if I could tell the difference, that I was getting
old. If I felt how old I felt. How old I felt. There's a new
man within. that is not getting any older.
And you know why? He's a new creature. He has a
new life. And you know what that new life
is? Jesus Christ Himself. Now this is a mystery. This is
a mystery. And I can't understand this.
But here's what Paul said. He said, I'm crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Christ is our life. And therefore,
this life doesn't get old any more than Christ gets old. This
is eternal life. It's fresh. It's vigorous. And Paul said it like this. He
said, though the outward man perish, the inward man, this
new man, this new life is renewed day by day. Day by day. You notice that in yourself.
I am getting old. How do I feel? In my body, I
feel just about 95 years old sometimes. I left you yesterday
after we got done, you're climbing around on ladders, and I'm telling
you why I went home and took a couple of pills. I felt awful. I felt awful. I'm getting old.
I'm having aches and pains in places where I used to. I didn't
even have places. I'm getting old. But there's
this new life, this new creation that is young and hopeful. and waiting and watching. For
that day when the Son of God shall descend from heaven with
a shout, and this old body that's laying in the ground, it's gone
back to the dust, the Lord Jesus is going to speak to it, and
it's going to get up. A brand new body. And He's going
to fashion it like unto His glorious body. And listen to this. We
talk about His workmanship according to His working. whereby He's
able to subdue all things unto Himself. And then that day, that
day, the work of God upon His saints will be finished. There'll
be a brand new body as well as soul. What a day that will be. What
a day that will be. And last thing, here's my last
point. I'll close with this. We're created in Christ Jesus
for good works. for good works. You and I were
studying the Sermon on the Mount a year or so ago, and I remember
one of the statements I made to you about that sermon was
this, that that sermon is not for lost people. The world is
telling us that we should teach the Sermon on the Mount to lost
people. This is the rule of life for
lost people. A lost person cannot live out
the Sermon on the Mount in his lifetime. He cannot do it. He
can't live that kind of life. Listen to this. That sermon says
this, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. Only a believer can do
that. Listen to this one. Only a believer
can walk through this world utterly dependent upon his Heavenly Father
to supply all his needs. That's a good work, Andy. To
be dependent upon the Heavenly Father to supply all your needs,
that's good. Only a believer can do what he
does for the glory of God without doing it to impress man. Nobody
else but a believer can do that. When you fast, don't let man
see what you're doing. When you pray, don't let man
see you pray. When you give, don't let man
see you. Only a believer can live like that. Only a believer
seeks to be pure in his heart before God and before man. Nobody
else. And listen to this. A Christian
is not a man who is just a little more moral than his neighbor. That's what the world thinks
Christianity is. What is it to be a Christian? Well, he's just
a little bit more moral than your average fellow. He's a little
bit better than his neighbor. No, Christianity is much, much
more than that. Being a Christian is this, he's
the only man who can truly be patient and kind and forgiving
to those who mistreat him. That's a good work, ain't it?
He's a man who can truly render good for evil and pray for his
enemies and love his enemies. A Christian who is a person,
a person who can continue to do good when the good that he
does is not rewarded by man. He does good, but the world doesn't
see it. The church doesn't even see it.
And nobody pats him on the back for doing it, but he does it
anyway. Why? Because it's good. And God has made him good. And
therefore he does it. He does it. There's things that you do. I
think about it just every once in a while. You here, you members
of this church, all of you do things. And if you did it just
to get a pat on the back, you're going to quit doing it. Because
there's a lot of things you do that nobody even knows you did.
Who mowed the yard yesterday? Anybody know who mowed the yard
yesterday? I didn't mow it. It's mowed. I wonder who did
that. I bet whoever wrote it didn't get a thank you or a pat
on the back. All kinds of things that you
do that nobody praises you for it. The world doesn't praise. It goes unrecognized. But you
do it anyway. Why do you do it? It's a good
work and why do you do it? We're His workmanship. You don't
do it to be seen a man. Somebody slaps you on the right
cheek and you'll turn to them the left. And they'll slap you
again and you'll go off home and never say a thing about it.
No, a Christian man is not somebody that's just a little more moral
than his neighbor. He's a man that God is working
in to do this good and to be good. Let's pray.