In worship, I think that was amazing. I loved worshiping with you guys, and thank you, Brother David, for leading us in our Scripture reading as we read through Psalms 100. Let's go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to bless this time as we go through His Word together. Father God, we come before you. We thank you, Lord, for this day. We thank you, Lord, for all of your many blessings in our lives. We thank you, Lord, for the wonderful time of worship. We thank you, Lord, for the songs that have so touched our hearts, reminding us, Lord, that we are so indebted to you, that you, Lord, through your blood have made us clean, Lord, that we can face tomorrow because you live, Lord. You are not in that tomb. Father God, we also just thank you, Lord, that you are the King of kings, Lord, And the Lord of Lords, Lord, we have so much to be thankful for this morning. And I pray, Lord, as we explore and look at your gospel this morning, I pray, Lord, that we would see the need for the gospel in this fallen world because of the need that we had and pray, Lord, that we would see the absolute beauty of the gospel. While the world tells us that the gospel is not beautiful, that it's scandalous, that it is something that is not good, we know otherwise. We see the beauty in the gospel, and I pray, Lord, that we would see just how beautiful it is this morning as we go through your word. Father God, I ask that you help me, Lord, to preach your word this morning. I pray, Lord, you would just help me, Lord, to rightly divide the word of truth for your people this morning. I am a weak, weak man, Lord, and I need your strength. I need your clarity. And I pray, Lord, you would speak through me. And I ask all of these things in Jesus Christ's name, and amen. Thank you guys for being here. Last week we looked at the Word of God. We looked at how we as Christians should have a big view of the Word of God. We saw that the Word of God is inspired, we saw that it is profitable, and we saw that it is sufficient for not only the growth of God's people, but also for the work that God has called us to do. Make no mistake, it's the Word of God that is how we are equipped as Christians. But it's also in the Word of God that we find the most important message of the Bible, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. If the church is going to stand on anything and get any message right, it better be the gospel of Jesus Christ. So here's what we're going to be looking at. We're going to be looking at the need for the gospel, and we're going to be looking at the beauty of the gospel. Make no mistake, in this fallen world, you just have to turn on any news cycle to see the need for the gospel in this world. You just need to look at our community and we can see the need for the gospel in this world. But we also need to remember, recognize, communicate to this unbelieving world the beauty of the gospel. The gospel is not just needed, but the gospel is beautiful in what it represents, what the realities that you and me are right now living in. is made possible through the gospel. So we're gonna be looking at the need of the gospel and the beauty of the gospel. Let's go ahead and read our passage of scripture. It's gonna be in Ephesians chapter two, verses one through 10. Ephesians 2, verses 1-10, if you would read this word with me. And the word of God says this, And you were dead in your trespasses and sin, in which you previously walked according to the ways of the world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our flesh. and our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts. And we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who was rich in mercy because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ, even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace. He has also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming age, he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith. This is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God. not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do." Do you see the need for the gospel in this passage? But you also see the beauty of the gospel, which we're gonna unpack. So let's start off with the need for the gospel. We see that in verses one through three. the need for the gospel. You know, as we proclaim the good news of Jesus to those who need Jesus, there will be many times where you have to reveal to the unbeliever their need for Jesus. We have to reveal, show the unbeliever, those who need Jesus, their need for Jesus. There are many in our community, in the US, around the world that think that they're good, right? Especially if they're well off. It's like, I have, I'm saving up for retirement. I've got my family's all good. We're all healthy. I'm good. I'm living the life right now. I don't need Jesus. Jesus is for people who are really jacked up, right? You see that spirit around in our country, in our community, maybe even in your own families. Maybe you know friends that have this sort of attitude. Let me read to you a quote in which Ray Comfort is expanding on a quote from John MacArthur. So you get a quote within a quote. I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, some people chuckled at that. That's fine. Ponder this quote by John MacArthur. This is me quoting Re-Comfort. Until it is written in the corridors of your mind. We need to adjust our presentation of the gospel. We cannot dismiss the fact that God hates sin and punishes sinners with eternal torment. How can we bring a gospel presentation by telling people on their way to hell that God has a wonderful plan for their lives? God indeed has a wonderful plan for their lives, but it is that they would repent and trust the Savior and receive the righteousness of Christ. How can we accurately present our gospel without mentioning that God hates sin, that God hates unrighteousness, that God punishes sinners with eternal torment? That's reality, isn't it? God punishes sinners with eternal torment. How can we communicate the gospel without communicating that? Sometimes it's really, really tempting for us to omit that part of the gospel, right? Hey man, accept Jesus, it's gonna change your life and it will. Man, accept Jesus, turn away from your sins and receive him as Lord and Savior. Put your faith and trust in him because he's going to make your life great. He's going to transform your life in a way that you will hardly recognize, which he does. He does. He does transform our lives. But we can't, let me just say this, we cannot accurately present the gospel to the unbelievers unless we show them the need for Jesus. And let me just say this, there's people who, right now, walking our streets, walking past this church, that need Jesus, but they don't know that they need Jesus, if that makes sense. They think they need a self-help book. They think they need to get their lives together. They think they need to do X, Y, and Z to clean up their lives and everything like that to live that good life. People walking all over the place, not knowing they have a need for the gospel. Hear me now, if we're gonna be good gospel proclaimers, you and me need to communicate why they need Jesus. Ray Comfort has this wonderful illustration of which a doctor just hands you medicine, a prescription for medicine, and says, you need to take this. And you don't know what's going on, right? Your knee-jerk reaction, especially after 2020, your knee-jerk reaction is like, I'm not gonna take any medicine that the doctor's gonna prescribe me without knowing what it is. But what if that doctor came to you and said, you have this deadly disease, I'm gonna write you a prescription because it's treatable, it's curable. How likely are you to take that medicine? Very likely, right? That's what we need to do with the gospel. There are people who are dead in their trespasses, dead in their sins, and they don't even know it. So as we ponder this quote, let's reflect on why the gospel is needed, and how we're gonna do that is the way that Paul does it in Ephesians 2, verses 1-10. Paul reminds the Ephesians of who they were before Jesus, right? So let us reflect on the need for the gospel, why the gospel is needed by remembering why we ourselves needed the gospel. There was a point in time where you were dead in your trespasses. There was a point in time where you were after the lusts of the flesh. There was a point in time where you were under wrath of God before somebody proclaim the gospel, before you heard the gospel, before you believed, before you became a Christian. So let's reflect on why we needed the gospel. And that's really gonna show us why everybody else needs the gospel. And so it says here in our passage, we were dead in our trespasses. Just look at the book of Romans, what the book of Romans says, right? It says, we all fall short of the glory of God, meaning we all have sinned and committed trespasses before God. Our sins don't only separate us from the God that loves us and created us, but our sins also made us spiritually dead. Do you realize that? Before you came to know Jesus as your Savior, you were spiritually dead, and you were set on a collision course. into eternal separation from God. You were set on a course to experience death in your sins. The book of Romans tells us this in Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin, what we deserve for our actions is death. What we deserve for our sin is death. And not just like death, the lights are out and that's it. Death as an eternal separation from God. Imagine you were dead in your sins on your way to be one, forever dead in your sins, separated from God in a place where you will be begging for a drip of water on your tongue. But Romans 6, 23 goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So we were dead in our trespasses and sin is what Paul tells the Ephesians as he's reminding them of the gospel that brought him from death to life. We were walking in the way of the world. Paul goes on to tell them that they were dead in their trespasses and sins because they were walking in the ways of the world. We were dead in our trespass because of the ways that we were following, the wisdom of the world that we were living by. And we were living in the spirit of disobedience that is ultimately, again, as James showed us, that was already in our sinful hearts stirred by Satan. In fact, James tells us this about the world's wisdom. So we were dead in our trespasses and sin because we were following, we were walking in the ways of the world, the ways of Satan. James says this about the wisdom of the world in James 3, verses 13 to 16. And we've been through this before. Who among you was wise in understanding? By his good conduct, he should show that his works are done in gentleness that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter envy, selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. Four, where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is a disorder in every evil place. Hear me out. People, when you walk in the ways of the world, here's what they will tell you. Look out for number one, your desires are validated. You need to pursue your desires and no one has a right to tell you what you can and can't do, right? If you wanna pursue the desires of your flesh, you're free to do so. No consequences, no anything. It's rooted in envy and selfish ambition. I want this thing that this person has. Selfish ambition. I want what I want and nothing's gonna stop me. It's because we were walking in the ways of the world that we became dead in trespasses and sin, isn't it? As we followed the wisdom of the world, we sinned against the holy and righteous God. We were seeking to satisfy our desires, is what he goes on to say. In our walking in the way of the world, in the wisdom of the world, we sought our fleshly desires. I want you guys to think back before you guys became a Christian. What desires were you feeding into every day? Before Jesus saved us, we were about satisfying our desires. and ourselves what we wanted with minimum concern about pleasing and seeking after God. Maybe we knew about God. Maybe you guys have been in church for years before you became a Christian or exposed to it. Maybe you believe in the existence of God. Maybe you believe that Jesus died on a cross. Maybe you believe that church was a place that you go to to get brownie points from God. Maybe you thought church membership, being a part of a church was going to save you. But in all of that, I think between all of that, Those thoughts, those convictions was you and me satisfying our flesh, pursuing our flesh. We had very little regard of what honored God. Our lives before Jesus was marked by us. trying so hard to fill the longings of our soul. Why do we pursue sin? Because it promises fulfillment. Why do you and me pursue sin? Why is sin so attractive? Because our flesh, our sinful hearts, you know what it says? It says, if you do this thing, you're going to be fulfilled. If you do this thing, you're going to find happiness. If you do this thing, you are going to be completed. We try to supplement, fill the longings of our heart with substances, food, drink, intimacy, personal ambitions. The world's wisdom leads us to thinking that if we go down this path of self-gratification, self-satisfaction, self-pursuit, that we are going to ultimately find the peace and fulfillment that we long for. But hear me now, ultimately this path will lead you to emptiness, brokenness, death in sin, and hurt. We see as we go through these things, we see that we have earned the condition of under wrath. We had earned that condition of under wrath, haven't we? Because of our rebellion against a holy and righteous God through the following of the world's wisdom and the pursuit of our desires, we have earned the condition under the wrath of God. What does Paul say? He says, as we carry out every inclination of our flesh and thoughts, we were by nature children under wrath, as others were also. Not only were we under wrath, but we had the nature of children that were under wrath. Have you guys ever tried to wrangle in a five-year-old? All right, it's my first time doing it. She's five. There are just sometimes that she says things that she just doesn't fly, right? And then you discipline them, you put them in timeout, and then what happens? Five minutes later, they're doing the same thing. Doesn't that categorize our lives before Jesus to Christ? First Colossians says this. Colossians chapter one, verses 21 says this. Once you were alienated and hostile in mind. We were alienated from God before Jesus, right? And we were hostile in mind. I remember before I became a Christian how hostile I was before the gospel, the gospel message, what the Bible said. So we were alienated and hostile in mind as expressed in your evil actions, is what he says. This is Paul talking to the Colossians as he's reminding them of what Jesus brought them out of. And he says they were alienated. They had no fellowship with God. They had no togetherness with God. They were like illegal aliens in a foreign country, hostile in mind, rejecting the very nature of God, the commandments of God. And it was expressed through their actions. Our rebellion against God was expressed through our actions. Our indifference to what was holy, right, and just was expressed through our actions. Paul is reminding the Ephesians, and by extension us, of our condition before we believed in the name of Jesus and repented of our sins, which we were walking dead people. We were walking dead people, hopelessly awaiting the wrath of a righteous God. That's where we were before Jesus. This condition, and this, hear me now, as we reflect on our need for the gospel before we were saved, This is the same condition. This is true for billions of people around the world, whether they know it or not. They are dead in trespasses. They are under wrath. They are fulfilling every inclination and thought of the flesh. They are walking in the ways of the world and the wisdom of Satan. This is the condition. This is the standing that they have with God right now, whether they know it or not. This is why we often try to reveal and to show the unbeliever that they do not stand with God the way that they do. There are some people that think, I can get right with God when I stand before God. Can I say that if that is the case, it's far too late. If you are standing before a holy and righteous God and you do not have the righteousness of Christ on you, it is far too late. to get it. Hear me now, we cannot effectively. Do you see now why we need to communicate the need of the gospel? Do you see now the need of the gospel to the world? Because the whole point of this sermon is I want you guys to have a big view of the gospel, because here's my fear, and I have experienced it. Sometimes we think the gospel It's just the gospel. Sometimes we think the gospel is just like, almost like a given. What's your view on the gospel? Do you have a big view of the gospel that it's something that the world absolutely needs right now? Or do you think the gospel is just a message that you give somebody and hopefully they believe it or not, you know, you don't really care. Hear me now, we can preach on a number of topics. I can give you guys deep theological truths from God's word, but hear me now, the gospel is the most theologically, if you want to get into deep waters, get into looking into the gospel. The gospel is deeper than you think, it's more important than you think, and it's bigger than we give it credit for. We need to have a big view of the gospel. And to have a big view of the gospel, we need to understand the need of the gospel. Why does the church preach the gospel? Because there's a great need for the gospel. So we cannot effectively preach the gospel if we're not effectively showing the need of the gospel. We need to let those around us, those that we love, know their need of the gospel. So Paul goes on from this reminder of our past condition to a reminder of our present condition. Now, give you guys some context here. When I was preparing this sermon, I was like, okay, we're gonna go into the gospel by grace alone, by faith alone, by Christ alone. Simple, it's gonna be great, right? As I went through verses one through 10 of Ephesians two, It took me deeper and deeper and deeper. And I realized that the gospel isn't just, hey, I am saved by faith alone, grace alone, through Christ alone. But it's so much deeper than that. And there's so much beauty in the gospel that Paul is communicating to us here. And so to be faithful followers of Jesus and proclaimers of Jesus, we have to not just reveal the need of the gospel. Hey, you're a sinner, you're jacked up, you can't save yourself, you need Jesus. But we need to communicate the beauty of the gospel. The beauty of the gospel is so beautiful in the fact that it is full of grace, life, and mercy. The beauty of the gospel is shown to us in verses four through five, that God had mercy for us. That's rooted in his deep love for us or his great love for us. In verse four, he says, but God, who is rich in love because of his great love that he had for us. In verse five, made us alive with Christ. We were dead in our trespasses and through Christ he has made us alive. We are spiritually alive because of the mercy and love of God. We were dead in our trespasses and then he ends it like you are saved by grace. Paul reminds the Ephesians that even though we were dead in our trespasses, dead in our sin, rebelliously following the wisdom of Satan, and sought to please ourselves rather than please God, God was rich in mercy to give us new and real life through Jesus. And we are saved by his abundant grace. Do you guys ever just ponder on how amazing that is? That sinners owed nothing by God. You and me were owed nothing. You and me were not owed anything from Jesus. You and me were not owed anything from God. You and me were wretched and righteously under wrath. That's reality. But God, rich in mercy and grace, fueled by his deep love for us, sent his son Jesus to die for us. So the beauty of the gospel is the mercy that's rooted in this deep love. The beauty of the gospel is also in the grace that he had for us. Grace is a love that, again, you and me did not deserve. It's through the grace of God that he provided the perfect lamb, Jesus, to go to the slaughter so that we would be able to walk in the newness of life and have true and everlasting life and be forgiven of our sins. He didn't just give us life for this life right now. He gives us life for the life after this one. Real life and eternal life is found in the gospel. As we were dead in our sins, God made a way for us to be made alive in Christ. You and me are no longer walking dead people awaiting the wrath of a righteous God. You and me are alive in Christ, children of God, forgiven. And when God looks at us, when we pass on, he's not gonna see our sins, but the righteousness of Christ that he gave us. Hear me out through our union with Christ. We have been given a spiritual resurrection and a spiritual revitalization. Jesus tells us in the gospel of John that he is the bread of life. John 6.35, I am the bread of life. Jesus told him, no one who comes to me will ever be hungry. Will ever be hungry. and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again." This is the abundant life that Jesus gives us through the gospel. Do you guys realize the life that Jesus gave us? How beautiful that is. That he doesn't just make us alive for this life right now, but he makes us alive for the life to come. He has given us life that will never run out. How many of us remember how we were before Jesus? And we think, I was a walking dead man, because that's what we were. So the beauty of the gospel is found in the life, the mercy, and the grace that we have in it, that he has given to us in. So we've seen the need of the gospel in light of our sinful natures and rebellious stuff. how the gospel offers the beauty of the gospel and the life that it gives us, the mercy that it shows and the grace that provided it. And we were saved from the wrath of God through his only son, Jesus Christ. And in our last chunk of scripture, we are gonna be looking at verses six through 10. And this is where things go deeper than you think with the gospel. The beauty of the gospel is how It is radical in its grace. One of the beauties of the gospel is how it attacks our human sensibilities and expectations of how to become a righteous person before God. Have you guys ever met the person, worked with them, talked with them that said, I'm going to come to Jesus. I'm going to become a Christian. when I clean myself up enough, right? When I know enough, when I have hit this benchmark, when I stopped drinking, when I stopped doing drugs, when I stopped looking at porn, when I stopped cussing, when I stopped doing X, Y, and Z, I'm ready to come to Jesus then. Can I say that Jesus doesn't want the future you think that would be clean enough for him, he wants the you now. And this attacks our sensibilities, because what do we see in this world? Hey, to make it in this world, you have to do X, Y, and Z. You have to make it as a businessman. You need to have a plan. You need to follow through with that plan. You need to know what your business is. You need to do X, Y, and Z. You need to prep before you launch your business. And all around us, we see This thing of earning your way, working toward what you need. And that works for a lot of things in this world, but not for salvation in Christ. So it attacks our sensibilities on who becomes righteous before God. The gospel is scandalous in this way. It presents a picture of a perfect, innocent, holy, and righteous God, who in his deep love for us, sacrifices himself to redeem us. from the curse of sin. And this is despite our rebellious nature. Paul goes even more profound by telling us that the gospel doesn't just save us from eternal separation from God, which is huge enough, right? You think, hey, God, I don't deserve this. The fact that you've saved me, I mean, that's amazing enough. When I look back at my life, I know it's like, Jesus, I did not deserve your grace upon that cross. I did not deserve your righteousness put on me. I'm sure you guys can say the same thing. But it's also scandalous. Not just like, hey, God is gonna save the sinner free of charge. You don't have to do anything. It's by faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone. But also there are certain realities that we have as believers in Christ that we did not earn. And here it is. Let me read it for you. And I guys want you to read with me. and follow me in this, as we see that beyond just saving us from eternal separation from Him, we get things that we do not deserve. Verse six says, He also raised us up to be with Him, raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens in Christ. so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith. This is not from yourselves. It is a gift of God, not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for Good works was God prepared ahead of time for us to do. Here's the first thing. Guys, we're gonna be seated with Christ in heaven. Do you see that and how amazing that is? Paul says that we will be raised with Christ and seated with Christ in heavenly places. Sinners who were owed nothing by a righteous and holy God who are saved by grace through faith in Christ will be seated with Christ in heaven. Man, I just feel lucky. I just feel blessed enough to be saved from the wrath of God. And now God is saying, you're gonna be seated with Christ in heaven. And then Paul goes on to say, not only will you be seated in Christ in heaven, you're gonna be seated with Christ because God is gonna present us, we will be presented or displayed as proof of God's grace and kindness toward humanity in Christ Jesus. Not only are we gonna be seated with Christ in the coming ages, but it's so the coming ages will be able to see the grace of God, the kindness of God in humanity that he had through his son, Jesus. Not only are we gonna be seated with Christ, we're gonna be used as, we're gonna be presented and displayed as proof of God's righteousness, as proof of God's grace, as proof of God's kindness. Sinners, saved sinners through their faith in Christ are gonna stand as testaments to God's goodness. If you go through the Word, you will notice that God doesn't use the type of people we would expect a holy and righteous God to use. We're going through the Bible in a year. We will see that often God will use broken, weak, and jacked up people to reflect His glory. Just look at Abraham, right? I don't know about you, but my wife would have some choice words for me if we walked into a new town. I said, tell everybody you're my sister. Right? Because he did that. He did it twice. Right? It didn't go well for him the first time, but he does it again. And he had his reasons, but he does that. He also tries to speed up God's plan by laying with Hagar, agreeing with Sarai to lay with Hagar. And they have Ishmael, but God says, no, he's not going to be the chosen seed. I have already chosen. Sarah's going to bear you a son. You'll call his name Isaac. But we also see in the New Testament, Saul of Tarsus. Saul of Tarsus, do you realize that he murdered Christians, imprisoned Christians? From our human sensibilities and expectations, does that man deserve to be seated with Christ and be displays of God's goodness? No. But here's the crazy part. Neither do we. And yet, God chooses people like us to magnify himself. God is magnified in our weakness and in our helplessness, in our brokenness. The gospel is no better example of this truth than this, right? The gospel is no better example that you and me, despite our past, despite what we came from, you and me will be seated with Christ. And you and me are displays of God's kindness and grace to an unbelieving world. How crazy is that? Some might say, how scandalous is that? But that's how beautiful the gospel is. That a man on death row can reflect and magnify the kindness and glory of God. Paul then declares that we are his workmanship. We're just jumping on the verse 10 here, and we're gonna circle back to verses eight through nine here after this. And we are made new in Christ for God's good work. He says that in verse 10. See, we're not just saved to live. You and me are saved to serve. You and me are saved to serve a holy, just, and wonderful God that made everything in the universe. Isn't it amazing that we as sinners, saved by grace, will be used by God in his good works? Isn't that crazy? God, you've given me new life, that's enough. No, I'm gonna seat you with Christ. You're gonna be displays of my kindness and grace, and I'm gonna give you a job. That's what God did. And do you realize, when we talk about serving the Lord, doesn't click with you of who we're serving and what a privilege it is to serve God. He has called us to His good works that He has already prepared for us ahead of time, is what the Bible says. I want you guys to imagine this scenario. Imagine President Trump, because he's the president, imagine President Trump calls you up and asks you, I want you to be a part of my cabinet in a role I specifically made for you. You don't have to have any prior experience or anything like that. I am going to hire you on and you're going to help me in my administration. How many of us would be honored by that? How many of us would be like, yeah, 100% I'll help you? How honored would you be to get that call? And I wanna reveal this to you guys. I wanna just remind you of this. How much more honorable it is to serve the God of the universe? How much more honorable is it to serve the God of the universe? How much more wonderful is it to serve the God of the universe? We are sinners saved by grace, and we are called to be representatives of Christ. Isn't that crazy? We are called to represent a holy, just, wonderful God. Yet we are sinners saved by grace. Yet you and me fail daily in bringing glory to God. We didn't deserve the new life he's given us in Christ. And now the Bible says God wants to use us for his work to save those who are lost. We are beggars telling other beggars where to find bread. Isn't it crazy? For some people, companies that they built, careers that they've had, people they've worked for, are the highlight of their lives. They remember them fondly. And some of it, yeah, it is fond. And some of those people reflect so fondly on it that it's like, that's their glory days. Can I just pose this question? If serving the God of the universe is so wonderful, so honorable, why do some Christians treat it like a part-time job at McDonald's? Why do we treat serving the Lord oftentimes as a hassle rather than a privilege? How many of us have had that in our hearts? How many of us have been called to serve, and yet sometimes we treat it more like a part-time job that we don't want to be at. Let's make some eye contact here, guys. You don't deserve to serve God. I don't deserve to serve God. You and me have no business in serving God. We didn't earn that right. The fact that God calls us to serve Him is a privilege, not a right. We can't take that for granted. Have you guys ever looked at your service to God like that? Like it's the most important thing that you could ever do with your lives? And yet one of the beauties of the gospel is this, we're saved from the wrath of God. We're gonna be seated with Christ. We're gonna be representatives of Jesus. We're gonna reflect the kindness and glory and grace of God. And then God will use us in this good work to do that. How many of us look at our service to God like that? Like it's something that we get to do. And it's the most important thing that we will ever do with our lives. Hear me now, your 401k is going to run out. Any inheritance, you're not gonna take it with you. Any business that anybody built, it's all gonna come to naught. Any possessions that you have is just gonna be the junk for the next person that's eventually gonna find itself into goodwill. But what we do for God, matters eternally. And we didn't deserve that. And he makes this abundantly clear in eight through nine. It's through the gospel that we are given new life, our trespasses are forgiven, that our sins are paid for, that we get to be seated with Christ in heavenly places, that we get to reflect God's grace and kindness, that we get the privilege to serve God. And you know what's crazy about this? God provides all of these things because of our faith in Christ and we didn't earn a lick of it. We didn't earn the privilege to serve God, which it is. It's a privilege. It's not a hassle. It's a privilege. We did not earn the right to be representatives of Christ to reflect His grace and kindness. We did not earn the right to be seated with Christ in heavenly places. We did not deserve the right to be saved from our sins. We didn't earn any of that. But it was given through grace. That's why Paul reminds them. after he gives all of these beautiful truths, he says, for you are saved by grace through faith. This is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not from works, so that no one can boast. You can't boast about anything that the gospel has given you. You guys tracking with me? You cannot boast about anything the gospel has given you, but that's the beauty of the gospel. is that these things are provided by grace through faith in Christ. Paul is revealing to us the radical nature of the gospel by reminding us in verses eight through nine that we didn't earn any of the blessings of the gospel because salvation in Christ and the blessings of being in Christ don't come from our own self-willed efforts. It comes from the grace of God, from our faith in Christ, and it's paid for in Christ alone. And that is a wonderful gift of God. Now to some, that's scandalous. Are you saying that some guy who kills 12 people on death row gives his life to Christ and he is saved? He's gonna be seated with Christ in heaven places? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's what it is, all right? The guy who wrote most of the New Testament, that was his testimony. He was a murderer, he imprisoned, and he didn't just murder and imprison anybody, he murdered and imprisoned the church that he would go on to minister to and love deeply. We didn't earn any of it, and let me just say this, that's the wonderful thing, that's the beauty of the gospel. Do you see what I'm saying now? Is that the gospel is deeper than you think, it's bigger than you think, and it's more beautiful than we as a church, 20, 25, Christianity gives it credit for. There are churches in China, in the Middle East, that know the beauty of the gospel. They cling to the beauty of the gospel. And yet churches around here and in our Western nations treat the gospel as just something on a track that you hand to people. No, it's the words of life. It is the message of life. It is the most important message that we have for this fallen world. And one thing that the gospel does, see, You would think that the gospel, after everything that we have covered, man, God is just really into us. Now God does love us deeply. God does have mercy and grace upon us. Can I just tell you this though? The gospel ultimately is about reflecting the glory of God. The gospel is ultimately about the glory of God. The gospel is ultimately about displaying God's glory through his grace, mercy, and righteousness. Paul reminds the Ephesians that this gift wasn't earned by what they did, lest they fall into sinful boasting of themselves. That's what he's kind of going through. He's like, hey, all of these things are great, but remember, you are saved by grace through faith, not by your works. So you guys can't boast. Let me just tell you this. If we could boast about it, we would boast about it, right? That's our human hearts. If we could boast about it, we would boast about it. And then, but here is the truth of the gospel. It reflects the glory of God. Only God gets the credit for salvation. Only God gets the credit for a soul coming to know Jesus. Only God gets the glory for the gospel. After all, he came down to pay for it. You think, hey, why does God get all of this glory? I've heard atheists say God's conceited, because God wants all of this glory. But I'll just tell you this, God deserves all of the glory. that he claims to have and he wants people to give him. Because here is reality. He came to pay for the greatest message, the greatest thing to ever happen to humankind, right? The forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus. God came down in the flesh in the form of a baby to pay for that on that old rugged cross. God gets the glory. God gets the glory. That's why the gospel is as free as it is, so that no one could say, I did that, that was because of me. So we've seen in our passage that the gospel is needed in the world that we are right now in. There are many today that are under the wrath of God, that are walking dead people, waiting to when they will receive the wrath of a righteous God. That's the need for the gospel. That's why you and me need to have a big view of the gospel. When we have a big view of the gospel, know that it is the only way to save sinful humanity. The latest self-help book is not gonna save people. It's not gonna change people. The gospel is the only hope for this fallen world, not a political system, not a candidate, not any kind of president, not any prime minister, not any kind of economical reform. The second amendment's not going to do that. The gospel is what changes the world. The gospel is what saves. The gospel is what the world needs. And the gospel is the only message that we should be preaching to this fallen world. I'm not gonna stand before unbelievers and preach that you need to uphold the Second Amendment, although I love the Second Amendment, right? I like guns, it's fun. I'm not gonna come up here and tell them you need to vote conservative, although conservative preserves the goodness in our society, prevents social decay. I'm not gonna tell them that. I'm gonna tell them what you need. on a spiritual level, on an eternal level, is faith in Christ. You need the gospel. You need to repent of your sins and turn to Jesus. So this passage is showing us the need for the gospel by having us reflect on why we needed it where we were. This passage has shown us the beauty of the gospel in the life that it gives us, the mercy that it shows, and the grace that God displays through Christ. Finally, we have seen the nature of the gospel and it shows in the beauty and how it goes against our sensibilities, against our expectations, with radical grace from God, and how the riches of the gospel are free to those who would believe in Christ, despite their past, despite their sins, despite what they may have done before. and how the riches of the gospel are just free to those who would turn to Christ and repent of their sins. It is truly terrific that the gospel, that salvation in Christ is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It is truly wonderful. How do we apply this to our lives today? Well, We can apply this to our lives by remembering what the gospel has done in our lives. Reflect on the gospel and how it's transformed your life. And I want you guys to do that today and give God the glory for what he's done. Also recognize that serving God is the most incredible privilege it is for a Christian. You and me, the most important thing we'll ever do with our Christian lives is serving God. It's not building wealth. It's not building a big family. It's not whether or not your kids are college graduates. It's not any of that. It's not anything that we can build our lives on here. The most important thing that we could ever do with our Christian lives and the most incredible privilege that we have as Christians is to serve God. Because you and me don't deserve to serve God. God has told us, hey, I want you to be my representatives in this world. We don't deserve that. But also guys, I want you guys to be encouraged by the reality of our internal hope that we will be seated with Christ in heaven. No matter what we go through, no matter who we lose, We can have confidence that if they have believed in the name of the Lord, they're seated with Christ. And that's a huge comfort. That's a gift. Lastly, be a gospel proclaimer and share your faith because it's through the gospel that people will experience the life, mercy, and grace found in Christ. And they will enjoy, truly enjoy true eternal fulfillment in Christ. I go without many things, and me and my wife go without a lot of things in life, but we never walk away saying, we never have a moment where we're not fulfilled in Christ. There are times we forget that, but there's never a moment when we are not fulfilled in Christ. That's why we preach the gospel, because people need life because they're dead in their sins. People need the mercy of God. Why? Because they're under wrath of a righteous God, and it is coming for them. and we need to show them the grace of God through Christ Jesus. But also, we want them to experience the wonderful eternal fulfillment of what it is to be in Christ. I am going to close this out in prayer, and then my wife Beth is going to come up, and we're just going to have one more song of worship before we are dismissed. If you're here today and you need prayer, You need to come to God in prayer, wherever you are or at the altar, come and lift your burdens up on Calvary. If you're here today and you would like to be a member of our church, have a conversation with me after services. I'd be glad to talk with you. But another thing is this. Pray, I want you guys right now, if you're saying, pastor, I'm good, I don't need to pray anything. Okay, I doubt that, but okay. But right now in your seats, as we are worshiping, I would ask you to pray in your hearts that you would just have a big view of the gospel, how it deeply has changed you, how it has transformed you, and how the world needs this same sort of transformation through Jesus. Let's go to the Lord in prayer before we go into worship.